Note: Spoils Of War, Pt.1 - Ramin Djawadi

Chapter 9: Breaking and Entering

Jack was used to seeing the Normandy in the skies during his missions as a savior and protector. From Therum all the way to the Omega-4 Relay, the Normandy had saved his life more times than he could count. Unfortunately, it was time for him to readjust how he viewed the ship now that it was shooting at him and the Shadow Brokers ship. He knew this was a possibility when he chose to side with Victus instead of The Illusive Man but, he didn't think the consequences would hit him quite this soon. If Joker was at the helm, Jack wouldn't have been as worried about their chances as he was right now with Griff piloting the ship. Under the pressure of getting shot down by the Normandy's Thanix cannon, the Batarian appeared as though he had forgotten how to fly the shuttle. Maybe Liara would've been a better choice to fly but, it was a little late to make a change right now.

Griff grunted with frustration, gripping the controls with both hands, "I thought that the Normandy took a beating in the final fight with the Collectors? How the hell is it zipping around in the storm like this?"

It was a good question and Jack didn't know the answer. Not only had the Normandy's stealth drive been damaged in the Collector dreadnought attack but, the hull had also taken a beating during the suicide mission. If the Normandy had been in the hands of Quarian engineers, he could potentially acknowledge the possibility of the repairs getting finished within a month. However, as far as he knew Lazarus obtained control of the Normandy through Kai Leng during their escape from the Collector Satellite. Jack didn't know which answer was the more troubling one; Lazarus had engineers that could match the average Quarian in skill, or, Lazarus was able to build another version of the Normandy within a months time frame. Cerberus had built the SR2 after all and thus had to have it's blueprints on file somewhere. What was stopping them from building an army of Normandy's to fight the Alliance? No matter where the ship came from, it was better if Griff focused on their survival instead of the Normandy's origin.

He was about to say as much when Liara answered for him, "Cerberus stole the Alliance's state of the art Lunar shipyard system two years ago. It would be foolish not to assume they weren't going to use it in that time."

Griff pulled a lever to punch up the speed to dangerous levels obviously hoping to beat the Normandy to the Shadow Broker's hangar, "Well, it won't matter when we're inside the safety of the Prothean shield. Hang on everybody, this is gonna get rough.."

Jack glanced through the cockpit viewport to see the hangar door was already closing rather quickly, "Are you sure we're even going to make it inside?!"

The Batarian had a confused tone to his voice, "What?" His tone changed when he saw the door, "Oh shit!"

Realizing they weren't going to make it inside the Shadow Broker's ship before the hangar door closed, Griff was forced to pull up away from it. They were sitting ducks right now trapped out here between a hostile Normandy and the winds of the gas giant. Even if they were in a gunship or fighter, Jack would've been seriously concerned about their odds of survival. They were in a Kodiak shuttle equipped with Claymore shotguns to clear a landing zone of infantry, not pierce ship hull. He was tempted to take control of the ship himself, at least he would be in control of their own fate. That would almost guarantee death though since switching pilots in the middle of a battle could lead to a deadly mistake.

Garrus was trying to look out the door window of the Kodiak to try and see if he could find the Normandy, "Open the shuttle door, I'll try to snipe the pilot to give us a breather."

Griff shook his head, "Are you crazy? This shuttle doesn't have a drive core so the moment I open the door we'd all get sucked outside because of the wind. I don't think your sniper rifle would be able to get past their shields anyways."

Garrus motioned towards the Normandy which was coming around for another pass, "Yeah, you might be right... I just don't see any other way to get out of this in one piece."

Griff tapped a few buttons and started turning the Kodiak to face the Normandy, "Don't worry, I have a plan to get him off our ass. Your just going to have to trust me."

Kal gripped his seat tighter not liking the feeling of where this was going, "You haven't even told us why we're here, not really. How are we supposed to trust you with anything?!"

Griff shrugged giving them an anxious yet toothy grin, "I guess you have a good point... Maybe just trust in the fact that I'd die too if this goes wrong?"

Jack's eyes were widening upon seeing at least the beginnings of what Griff was trying to do, they were headed straight for the Normandy's guns. It was usually suicide to play a game of chicken with a fully armed warship but, what else were they going to do? The safest option was to leave and contact the Alliance for reinforcements. However, by the time the Alliance would be bothered to come get him, Lazarus would take over the Shadow Broker's ship and any chance of finding Feron alive were slim to none. Then there deal with President Doalia would be over and they could add a charge of resisting arrest a second time to their list of growing crimes. The way he saw it, they were better off dying in an explosion rather than spending the rest of their lives in an Alliance prison. Kal took his hand and squeezed it to brace for the inevitable impact.

The Thanix cannon missed it's first two shots not used to firing at something so close to them. At the literal last possible second, Griff shoved the joystick forward dipping the Kodiak so the viewport wasn't looking directly into the barrel of the cannon. The problem was that since he performed the maneuver so late, the Kodiak's engine fins smashed into the cannon. In retrospect, it was a brilliant move worthy of something Joker might have suggested in the heat of the moment, the Normandy just lost it's firepower. The trade off though was that they had no engines and were spiraling out of control towards the hull of the Shadow Broker's ship. Just the lack of engines alone was enough to be a death sentence on Earth but, they were in the middle of a gas giant. Strong winds whipped them about in unatural angles and Jack had to cling to his seat belt to keep him from becoming a bouncy ball off of the hull. When Jack caught a glimpse of the viewport, he assumed that the Kodiak was within seven hundred meters of the ship's exterior.

At six hundred meters, the decent became less wild and they were merely spinning towards the front of the Shadow Broker's ship. Just like the Collectors Satellite and Sovereign before it, this ship must've had the same shielding technology to create an envelope around them to protect from the elements. He had no idea what that discovery said about what technology the Shadow Broker was comfortable playing with but, it was probably going to save their lives right now. The Kodiak miraculously landed flat against the top of the larger ship and started skidding across it. Jack was worrying that they were quickly going to run out of room to slide across the top of the ship when what seemed to be a solar panel jutted out from the interior stopping them.

Griff immediately started removing his seat belt, "We aren't safe inside of this ship, everybody move!"

Jack lifted a hand to stop him, "Hey wait a minute, some of us don't have armor by the way. How are we supposed to breath out there?"

Griff whipped past them and opened a storage container in the back of the ship before tossing a Cerberus branded helmet to him, Liara, and Thane while putting another one on himself. "It won't help you against the cold so you'll be freezing your balls off but, you'll be able to breath at least."

He gave a worried expression towards Thane, "You gonna be ok out there?"

The Drell gave a polite nod and stood calmly at the door looking silly with a Human helmet on, "I appreciate the concern but I feel fine Shepard, truly. Even if I was still afflicted with Kepral's I would do worse in wet climates, not cold ones. I'm more fearful over what has become of my son."

Garrus started to stand by the door as well and yet he had a skeptical look on his face, "What happens if the Broker's ship tilts itself at all? Won't we just slide off of the side?"

Liara shook her head quickly and opened the door, "We'll be fine, those capacitors that stopped our slide discharge built-up lightning. We have to get out now!"

Jack trusted Liara to know what she was talking about and the six of them scrambled out of the Kodiak as fast as they could. Sure enough, as soon as they got just a few feet away from the crash, a lightning strike hit the capacitor and the Kodiak exploded since the ship was in such close proximity to it. Jack had occasionally walked on the top of the Everest early on in his career but, it was always stationed on a planet. Walking on top of the hull of a ship in atmo during the middle of a battle wasn't the same thing. How was he going to do something good for Miranda when they had no way to escape and more importantly, no way to actually get inside? At least the Normandy was nowhere to be seen, he had no doubt that if Kai Leng was a part of whatever was going on here, he would sacrifice the Normandy just to make sure they died in a ram.

Garrus looked around clearly fearful of the same thing, "Any idea how we're going to get inside? I don't know about anyone else but, I don't want to tumble around forever in the middle of a gas giant as soon as we lose shields."

Griff looked around with a frown on his face, "There has to be an entrance somewhere so his Salarian crew could perform repairs. I just haven't been here long enough to get a good look as to where those might be from the outside."

Jack gave him a curious tilt of his head, "How long have you and Miranda been here exactly Griff?"

The Batarian gave a noncommittal shrug, "Long enough for us to know we needed to risk going to the Alliance for help to get out."

Liara filled the silence while glancing at her omni tool, "It's hard to pinpoint an exact location in this lightning, but I'm picking up signals from a communications array near the back of the ship. That would definitely have an entrance near it for repairs."

Jack sighed realizing they were on the front of the ship that was at least 600 meters in length, "It never can be easy..alright we better get moving now then."

Kal gave him a gentle pat on the shoulder as they started moving, "The exercise will be good for us both after sitting for a few weeks in a jail cell. Think of it like it's the most dangerous marathon we ever have to be a part of."

Jack made sure that the others were following him before starting to move across the surface of the ship as quickly as he could. He was especially worried about Thane wondering if only getting his air supply from his helmet would effect his Kepral's. To his amazement, the Drell appeared as though he was holding back just so he wouldn't get too far ahead of them which Jack appreciated. Looking at a ship of this size from far away made it seem like it was incredibly smooth but, they were having to struggle over each exposed bulkhead layer and fuel line just to get a few feet. If they jumped too high or ran too fast, Jack was afraid they would lose their protection from the ship's drive core envelope and float endlessly in the atmosphere of the gas giant. That fear made traveling towards the back of the ship a painfully slow process however, it was far better than the alternative to him.

The roar of the Normandy's engines zipping by directly above him made Jack's stomach crawl. The Normandy flipped around past them going past the front of the ship so it could make another pass at them in a few seconds. Just as he started to turn his head back around to see where he was going, the ground beneath his feet started to shake and Kal reached out to grab him out of instinct. A moment later, several large, green, and glowing missiles shot out of the Shadow Broker's ship and headed towards the Normandy at top speed. He could tell that the Normandy was faster as it rolled around the missile with ease. Unfortunately, the problem was that the missile was heat seaking and thus turned around to follow it again. When he saw the Normandy was coming straight at them, he knew they had to get out of the way.

His voice would have been loud and booming even though everyone would be able to hear him in their own helmet comms, "Run! Run! Run!"

With no regard for his earlier concern of falling off, Jack ran as fast as he could looking for something he could take cover behind. He wasn't necessarily concerned about being vaporized by the missle because of the shields, his concern was what was going to happen to the area around the shields if the missile hit next to them. If a traditional shield on an Alliance ship was hit, the immediate area around the impact would ripple for a few seconds and lose power until the drive core could compensate for the loss. In a normal space battle that design flaw wasn't as crippling a blow as you might think because the compensation rate was usually faster than a mass driver cannon could fire. Even though they were dealing with a potentially Prothean ship with advanced technology, it was about to be hit with it's own weapon system and so it was safe to assume traditional rules of space combat applied. Jack knew that if they were in the area of the ripple, they would be exposed to the high winds of the gas giant and blown who knows where before the drive core could readjust if they didn't grab on to anything.

Jack and Garrus got separated from the others choosing to hide behind another capacitor when the Normandy pitched upward at the last moment making the missile hit the shield. The Shadow Broker's ship shook violently even dipping to the side and Jack could feel his feet starting to slip. The only thing keeping him on the ship was ironically the wind. It's full blast was knocking him backwards into the offline capacitor he had been hiding behind a minute earlier. Without his Onyx or palladium armor the pain and pressure to his ribs was intense, luckily he had suffered through stereotypical astronaut training when he joined the Alliance so, he wasn't going to pass out immediately. All he had to do was stay calm and he would probably be fine by the time the drive core came back online.

All that training went out the window when he saw Kal start to fly by him, obviously having found nothing to grab in time. He couldn't move no matter how desperately he wanted to because of the wind thinking this might be the last time he saw his husband alive. The panic inside of him was going to make his heart burst from his chest and then to make matters worse, Garrus jumped after him in the hopes of catching him. Jack had forgotten in the heat of the moment that Garrus didn't have his weapons and armor confiscated by the Alliance, so he was stunned when the Turian used the jetpacks on his feet to catch Kal before he got too far away in mid air. Garrus then used the blades on his wrist armor to snag them both on the edge of the ship. His first consideration was to jump after them but, by the time he was able to do it, the shield was coming back online and the wind disappeared.

Garrus had a joking tone to his voice as the two of them dangled on the side of the ship, "Not even a guardrail... I'm sure the Broker's agents just love patrolling the hull."

Liara used her biotics to lift them back to stable ground, "Let's just hope he doesn't decide to do that again while we're outside. I don't think I can take being in the middle of that kind of windstorm again."

As soon as his feet touched the ground, Jack was wrapping his arms around Kal in a panicked hug, "Don't you dare do that again, your going to give me a heart attack with those kinds of stunts."

Kal chuckled pressing their helmet's together in his best attempt at a kiss in the moment, "Now you know how I feel whenever you go on a mission without me. And hey, I wouldn't have fallen that far.." They both glanced over the side of the ship to the sight of endless clouds, "Okay. Looking down was clearly a mistake, the important part is I'm safe."

Griff cleared his throat glancing around the area, "I know what happens to Batarians that try to separate you two but, the Normandy is going to come back any minute to try and stop us and we still have a long way to go."

Kal nodded and pulled away from him, "From what I could tell, it looks like Griff's maneuver made a big enough hole in the Normandy for people to fit through. Liara, I want you to toss me into the ship and I'll take it over."

The relief of seeing Kal safe and sound on the ground disappeared the second that he made that suggestion. It definitely wasn't that he thought Liara wasn't capable of such a feat, in fact she had done so multiple times on Feros, even over Kal's protests. He was far more worried about Kal fighting on the Normandy which was full of Lazarus crew members. Once he was up there, he wasn't going to have any backup if the situation got worse. What was stopping the pilot from taking the ship back to their base effectively kidnapping Kal? An even worse possibility was that Kai Leng was on the ship just waiting for one of them to be bold or wreckless enough to attack them. Jack had a lot of faith in Kal's ability to fight but, after their confrontation on the Collector Satellite, he was convinced they were going to have to work together if they were going to kill him once and for all.

Liara raised an eyebrow, "Are you sure? I seem to remember you weren't exactly a fan of being thrown around biotically last time."

Kal was looking more at Jack then Liara, "We're going to need a way to get out of here and I don't think the Shadow Broker is going to give us a shuttle that will fit everyone. Plus, maybe the Alliance will forgive us for leaving their custody if we steal back the only stealth ship in the galaxy."

Garrus folded his arms over his chest speaking for him, "Do you even know how to fly the ship? You couldn't even get transports to drive right on Omega."

Kal shook his head and stared at the Normandy which was rapidly approaching, "Your right I don't, which is why I need a volunteer to go with me on this stupid adventure."

Griff sighed knowing he was the odd man out, "Fine, do whatever you need to just, let's go quickly. The Normandy is coming in for another pass fast."

Jack watched as the two of them started to be wrapped up in Liara's biotic energy, "I love you, and be careful.. We have a promise to your Mom to keep, remember?"

Kal smiled under the helmet and was bracing himself for a launch, "We have a couple of promises to keep as I recall. I'll see you in a few minutes and we can see what kind of damage Leng did to our room."

He watched trying to hide the horror in his eyes as Liara tossed Kal and Griff up into the Normandy where the Thanix cannon used to be. The ship didn't immediately bolt away out of the planets atmosphere so that meant the pilot hadn't noticed their little trick or just didn't care about it. If the Normandy had a full crew they were dealing with a hundred people against two. It was odds that would make anyone sweat but, Kal was a good soldier and Batarians were known for their combat abilities. If they were quick and careful, they could potentially make it to the cockpit and take over the ship without anyone else noticing until it was too late and the rest of them were on board. At least, that was what Jack was telling himself so he didn't keep worrying about his husband and focus on getting inside the ship he was currently standing on.

Liara gazed at the engine fins ahead of them with some fear in her eyes that he could see through the helmet's visor after years of staring at Kal to see his emotions, "Navigating this storm is brutal on a normal day. Add in the fact that we're in the middle of a battle and it has to be a nightmare for the crew. If the ship's engines stop even for a moment... Well, at least the Shadow Broker would go down with us."

Thane kept marching forward as if Liara didn't just imply they could die any minute now, "Do not be afraid of death, the place beyond the sea is very beautiful and will comfort your every need."

Jack grimaced climbing over a fuel line so that he could keep moving, "While that's oddly comforting you two, I'm not ready to go beyond the sea just yet. Let's hustle people, we have to get inside as soon as possible."

It took probably ten more minutes of carefully walking on top of the Shadow Broker's ship until he could finally see the communications array. The array itself was a stereotypical tower with multiple radar dishes coming off each side and were currently spinning like a top. If Jack had to guess, he'd assume that the Shadow Broker was inside right now desperately trying to get the Normandy on sensors so he could fire on it again. He knew the Normandy well enough to know that the effort was pointless but, the Shadow Broker surely felt like he was stuck in a difficult situation with no way out. Glancing at the bottom of the tower Jack let out a sigh of relief when he saw a door seemingly waiting for them, Liara had been right. To be clear, he knew they weren't out of danger as long as they were in the atmosphere of the gas giant but, being inside the ship was a massive improvement to their chances of survival.

Before they could get to the door, the Normandy zipped around the back of the engine fins until it was hovering above the array directly in front of them. Once again he was now thankful for Griff's wild maneuver to get them here since the Normandy surely would've melted them to dust if they still had the Thanix cannon. However, Jack's anxiety started to bubble up to the surface when the cargo hold door opened, his mind racing. Had Kal been caught already? Was Lazarus going to negotiate a release if he had been caught or, just kill him in front of Jack to make a point? Should he have argued with Kal about how foolish of a plan that was instead of just letting him go do it? His fear merely turned into disgust instead of horror when he saw Kai Leng as well as several other Phantom Knights drop out of the cargo hold blocking their way to get inside through the comms array.

Leng's helmet sweeped over the group of them with a tilt of his head, "You really broke off your relationship with the Quarian just because he saved a little girl instead of stopping your precious Reapers? It's what I would do but for you that seems awfully cold."

Jack was about to deny the accusation and point out Leng had more to do with the Reapers imminent return than Kal, he stopped himself though. It would be better for Kal's chances of taking back the Normandy if Lazarus assumed the relationship was over and he was nowhere near here. The curious thing though was that The Illusive Man and by extension Leng should know better than to assume a break up was the reason for Kal's absence. One of the first things he had asked The Illusive Man was where 'his team,' translation Kal, was after two years of sleeping in a cryo pod. The commitment between them was solid and someone as smart as Cerberus' leader would know this on a normal day. Maybe he was losing his edge, or maybe Leng wasn't listening to him anymore and Lazarus was just his doing.

He was glad his own helmet was on so he could better lie, "Someone that can't put aside one life for trillions doesn't belong anywhere near me."

Even through the helmet, he could hear Leng's amused tone. "Honestly rather ironic coming from you but, you were always a bit of a hypocrite. Now, if you'll excuse me I have some traitors I need to exterminate."

For some reason he felt like he needed to buy them more time, "Leng, I know we haven't always seen eye to eye but, let me talk to The Illusive Man. With the Reapers on their way we need to put our petty differences aside for the sake of Humanity. We worked well together to stop the Collectors."

Leng lifted his sword to point it at him, "You made it quite clear how you view our methods in your last conversation with The Illusive Man and we appreciate everything you've done for us. Truly, Lazarus thanks you for your servi-"

A biotic blast was starting to come out of the sword but, Liara and Thane caught the shockwave with their own biotics and sent it flying back in his direction. Jack couldn't help but smile when Leng flew through the communications array door with a sickening crash. He was about to charge into the Phantoms to get to Leng when unfortunately, another emergency door sealed shut separating them with Leng now inside. Without their leader, the Phantoms appeared to be considering trying to get back on the Normandy. They never had the chance though because the cargo hold door was suddenly closing and the ship was leaving the area. From the way the ship had an odd tilt to it, Jack could tell the pilot at the helm wasn't as skilled as before, probably meaning Kal and Griff had taken control.

Jack had a confident tone as he stared down the Phantoms, "I'd surrender now if I were you. Me and my friends here have killed countless buddies of yours on Luna and Illium."

They disappeared all at once and Garrus just sighed, "You just had to say something snarky didn't you...? Liara on your left!"

She barely avoided a nearly invisible sword strike to her waist and Jack started vaguely shooting in that vague direction, "Tell me you have a plan to get us inside Liara."

Liara sent another biotic blast towards the door but it wouldn't move this time, "The emergency door must be magnetically sealed, it won't open. Hang on, I've got a bypass shunt program that can crack it."

Garrus interrupted them with another shout, "Thane, behind you!"

The Drell immediately dropped to one knee before sending a kick spinning behind him in a wide arc. He obviously felt contact with something because he leapt forward to grab at a sword now floating in the air. Without pointing out another target, Thane threw the sword in a ninety degree angle only for it to miraculously puncture the helmet of another Phantom. It was truly a magnificent sight to watch a Drell assassin in his prime get to work even against invisible enemies. A part of him had wished he had told Mordin to make it a priority to cure Kepral's a long time ago. Thane operating at this level would've been extremely useful who knows how many times against the Collectors. Jack couldn't keep watching though, without armor a single lucky strike from a Phantom could prove fatal if he wasn't paying attention.

He looked over at Liara tapping away on her omni tool, "How long do you think it will take exactly? We're kind of pressed for time here."

Liara's tone was a little frustrated trying to ignore him a little, "I don't know, Jack. I'm not Kasumi Goto, I've never broken into the Shadow Broker's base before. Well, not this one, anyway. It's illegal even on Illium which you'd think means it's effective. That's until you discover it didn't come with a warranty."

Jack gave her a weary glare before firing at a few Phantoms harassing Garrus, "But you tested it, right?"

Liara had an evasive tone, "Look out, here come more of them!"

Jack used the body of a Phantom as a shield for protection while trying to shoot at another, "I really don't like that tone Liara. Reminds me of the time you lied and said you knew how to use a gun."

Liara rolled her eyes blasting yet another Phantom away from her with biotics, "I didn't lie, I just never answered you either way. Besides, I'm sure it won't be much longer!"

Jack tried not to laugh before tossing the dead Phantom he had been using as a shield into another who was fighting with Thane, "Fair enough I guess. Remember the old days when you could just slap omni-gel on everything and it would open? I'm missing that right about now."

Liara turned her attention back to the door, "That security upgrade certainly made a lot of people unhappy. Their attacks are disorganized. They'd be more effective if they all attacked at once."

Jack sighed reloading the gun he had in his hand sounding exhausted, "Please don't give the invisible assassins any ideas Liara. They have the killing thing down on their own."

He had a feeling this was going to be a long fight. And it was only going to get worse once whenever they finally managed to get inside.