"Permission to come aboard?" asked Kira.
"Permission granted," said Shepard, opening the airlock. She was already wearing her armor.
Kira removed her helmet and crossed the threshold. "You said something about hostiles? Let us help."
Shepard nodded, and began walking aft, towards the CIC. The Defiant crew members followed her.
"We have small arms and armor, but Garrus was injured and I don't have anyone else," Shepard said.
"Shepard, I'm fine," said Garrus.
"Like hell you are! You can barely walk."
"Put me in armor. I can fight on a sprained ankle." Calling the injury a "sprain" would be rather generous. Technically, though, he hadn't done that.
Shepard sighed. "Garrus, please don't do this."
He looked into her eyes, then nodded.
"Commander, these suits are fine against vacuum, but not so great against bullets," said Dax.
"We have portable shield generators," said Shepard. "If we had more time, I'd have EDI fabricate custom armor for you." She paused. "EDI, do we have Mordin's countermeasure up here?"
"The collectors are not using seeker swarms. Presumably they are unnecessary in an enclosed space."
"Well, that's nice to hear." She turned to Kira. "Now, tell me about your phasers."
"They have 16 levels," said Dax. "Level 10 is enough to kill a humanoid, but Nog tells me some of your enemies are larger than that."
Shepard nodded.
"Higher levels can drain too much power, though, so there's a balance. I'd recommend a level 12 setting to start with, then we can adjust-"
"Commander!" said EDI. "The collectors are attempting to access life support."
"Damn. So much for 'disoriented.' How long do we have?" asked Shepard.
"Minutes at most. The door will not hold long."
"Major, who's most experienced with firefights?"
"Chief O'Brien and me," said Kira. Dax had hand-to-hand experience, but her gunplay hadn't been tested in quite some time.
"Let me give you backup guns in case your phasers die. Either of you ever fire a projectile weapon?"
"I have," said Kira. "Phasers weren't always readily available in the resistance."
"Think you can handle this one?" Shepard asked, handing her Garrus's Vindicator. "Three round bursts, moderate recoil."
Kira inspected the weapon briefly. "Shouldn't be a problem."
"Chief, take this," she said, handing O'Brien a Kassa Locust. "Very low recoil, but it's not a phaser. Just remember it takes a two-handed grip."
O'Brien nodded and strapped the gun to his belt.
"What about you?" asked Dax. "Take my phaser."
"My fighting style doesn't work that way," said Shepard, grabbing the Claymore. "Both of you, watch your fire. We've got friendlies down there, and I'm going to be moving around a lot."
"Any friendly non-humans?" asked Kira.
"Just you, Garrus, and Nog," replied Shepard. "Any last questions?"
Silence.
"Garrus, fix the elevator."
As the elevator doors opened, Kira caught her first sight of a collector. It had clearly once been humanoid, but something had changed. It was deformed, mutilated almost beyond recognition, its organs augmented or outright replaced with cybernetics. Its face bore a lifeless expression. She had thought the Jem'Hadar, with their ketracel-white addiction and brainwashing from birth, were the worst thing one lifeform could do to another. Now she realized how mistaken she had been. She raised her phaser.
"Don't bother with the small ones, Major, I've got those!" said Shepard, charging them. The biotic display bowled over the collectors, and Shepard finished them with a blast from the Claymore.
"Neat trick," said Kira.
"I've jammed the elevator again," said Garrus over the comm. "You can get out."
O'Brien and Kira stepped out of the elevator.
"EDI, any friendlies on this deck?" asked O'Brien.
"There are three crew members, including Engineer Donnelly, locked in Operative Lawson's quarters, forward and port of your current location. There is also a scion in the mess hall, with a number of minor hostiles."
"Anything in the crew quarters or lounges?" asked Shepard.
"Negative. All hostiles are in the mess."
Shepard closed her eyes momentarily, thinking. "You two take the starboard side, I'll take port. Concentrate your fire on the scion. That's the big ugly one. I'll mop up the smaller ones. Don't let it get too close!"
Kira nodded an acknowledgment. The three of them split up as Shepard ordered. They walked forward into the mess, taking cover by the entrances.
"Now!" said Shepard, charging.
Her biotic charge knocked down most of the collectors in the room, and staggered the scion. Before the scion could respond, Kira and O'Brien opened fire. The phaser beams burned right through the scion's armor, and it fell in mere seconds. Meanwhile, Shepard took out the remaining collectors with her shotgun.
"Deck secure," said EDI. "Remaining hostiles are concentrated in the shuttle bay."
"Great, looks like we can end this," said Kira.
"Not yet," said Shepard. "EDI, they still have control over most shipboard systems, right?"
"Correct."
"What's to stop them from venting the hangar once we get down there?"
"Nothing."
"They can't affect anything down there. We have time. Let's figure something out."
"Maybe we should start by releasing your engineer," suggested O'Brien.
"You have a minor concussion," said Dax, scanning Donnelly with her tricorder. "I'm no doctor, but it looks like you just need some rest."
"Really? That's all?" asked Donnelly, leaning forward.
"Yes. But you need that rest now, so lie down."
Donnelly nodded and reclined on the medical bed, but didn't close his eyes.
"Shepard, what's our plan?" asked Garrus. Much to his annoyance, Shepard had put him in another bed and elevated his leg. At least she hadn't made him wear a medigel cast. The standard turian onesie wasn't designed for that sort of thing.
"Actually, I was hoping Nog could tell us. How do we 'officially' solve this problem?" asked Shepard.
"In the original story, you two weren't here," Nog said, gesturing to Shepard and Garrus, who shared an uncomfortable glance. "Joker and EDI had to figure something out, so-"
"So he unshackled her," guessed Shepard.
"Spirits!" said Garrus.
"How did you know?" asked Nog.
"Isn't it obvious?" said Shepard. Faced with blank looks, she continued, "It's a story. Unshackling is the next step in EDI's character development, and it's not like Joker would have any other options."
"Shepard, this isn't a story," said Garrus. "This is reality... The collectors are taking real people!"
Shepard paused. "Well... yeah, it is real. But it's also a narrative. It has structure. If we want to save those people, we need to exploit that."
"So you're going to just unshackle her and hope for the best?" asked Donnelly.
"I didn't say that," said Shepard. "But..."
"But?" asked Kira.
"We need the Normandy if we want any hope of rescuing our people. Garrus and Donnelly could flush the virus manually, but I don't even want to think about how long that would take."
"Hours, at least," said Donnelly. "Maybe days. I'd have to run the numbers."
"But EDI can do that now," said Kira.
"Exactly," said Shepard.