Friendly Fire

Liara felt powerless to do anything besides stand there numbly while Thane rushed into the elevator. So the Shadow Broker had timed his attack, waiting until Garrus, their leader, had been killed. Without Shepard or Garrus to guide them, the crew of the Normandy was just a handful of disjointed parts.

But they'd be damned if they were going to give up the Normandy without a fight. Inside the comm room, Jacob was making an announcement over the shipwide speaker system. "We need every able-bodied person to bring their gear up to the bridge, now. Looks like the Shadow Broker is bringing the fight to us." He hoped they could all be ready in under a minute. The Broker's gunship wasn't exactly going to wait for them. Jacob turned to Kasumi. "Get anyone without a gun into the med-bay. Bring Daryn and Joker with you. And tell Mordin to stand guard with you."

"Stand guard?" Kasumi parrotted.

Jacob nodded and she understood. He wanted her to be there in case the Normandy was boarded. She shuddered at the thought. She sincerely hoped Jacob was only being extra cautious, and that there wasn't any actual chance that they'd have to fend off an invasion. But if it came to it, they could hide a few people in the AI core. For a while, at least.

"Wait," Daryn protested. "Let me join you. I'm good with tech -"

"Absolutely not," Jacob said, rejecting him immediately. They might be in a tight spot, but there was no way that he was sending a kid into battle. Especially an untrained one.

"I can help," Daryn pleaded. Kasumi shot him a look, shook her head. He wasn't going to win this one.

Jacob exhaled loudly. He had enough on his plate without having to deal with a hormonal turian teenager. "Look, maybe if you had military training I'd say yes. But you're not a fighter. There's nothing you can do except make my life easier and get into the med-bay." When he caught sight of the kid's crestfallen face, Jacob softened. But only a bit. He ran a hand over his buzz cut and said, "You can get a pistol from the armory in case you need to defend the med-bay. Last resort only."

Daryn sensed that was the best he was going to get out of the Cerberus operative. He thanked him, then followed Kasumi out. Jacob had other matters to attend to as well. He located T'Soni in the command center, looking sort of dazed and lost. She didn't look like she was in much of a condition to hold a gun, much less focus her energy on biotics. That was fine, though. She was needed elsewhere. "Dr. T'Soni?" She snapped out of her daze.

"Are we really under attack?" her voice wavered.

Jacob nodded. "Yes." Then, to business. "There's something you can help with."

"What is it?" Sure, she was mourning the loss of her closest and only friends, but there were lives at stake. Maybe she could still save some of the Normandy's crew.

"I need you to man the comm room and alert me or Krios if any more gunships approach." It was likely that the single approaching ship was merely a scout, and that the real force was a few minutes out. Jacob had to know when the rest were going to show.

"Of course." A little shamefully, she realized that she was not fit for battle. And evidently, so did Jacob. She shouldn't have let it show how much she was affected by the news of Garrus and Kaidan's deaths. But she wasn't about to argue with him. There were more important things at hand.

"And if the perimeter is breached, you need to get down to the med-bay and alert Kasumi. Then lock yourselves in and don't come out 'til EDI gives the all-clear."

He wanted her to abandon them, then. Lock them out of the last safe place so that she and the others could live. But all she did was nod. If the perimeter was breached, she'd tell EDI to pass along the message to Kasumi. Then she could go and help keep the intruders at bay. "Understood. I'll go there now."

When the rest of the crew arrived on the bridge, Jacob explained the situation to them. "There's an armored gunship with Shadow Broker designations headed our way. We think they waited until Garrus..." He stopped himself. " – until they knew they'd weakened our numbers."

"Speaking of," Jack said, making her way through the group of crew members that had assembled. "Where is Blue?" He should've been back by then. There was something that the Cerberus operative was hiding.

A hush fell over them. Jacob wasn't sure how to answer. Luckily, Thane did. He stepped forward, taking his place at Jacob's side to address the crew. "We lost contact with the Kodiak a few minutes ago. We'll attempt to reestablish a connection after we deal with the Broker's agents."

"So he's dead, then," Zaeed Massani drawled from the back of the pack. Murmurs were rampant amongst the crew, voices loaded with worry and fear. Vakarian, dead? And so soon after the commander, too. How the hell were they supposed to fend off an invasion?

"We don't know that," Thane replied, his soft tone barely carrying over the humming discord of the crew's muttering, swelling in volume until they drowned out everything else.

They didn't have time for this. The gunship would be upon them in a matter of minutes, and they were standing there like frightened schoolchildren.

"Hey!" Jacob silenced them with his booming voice, getting their attention. Wide eyes focused on him, waiting. They weren't looking at him as their leader, Jacob knew. He was just another crew member. But that didn't mean he was going to let the Shadow Broker win. "I'm not Shepard, okay? I'm not Garrus either. I'm just a soldier. The same as the rest of you," he said. Now they weren't just watching; they were listening. "But that's what makes us great. We can set our differences, our reservations, and our fears aside to become a team." He looked at them. Really looked at each one. Near the front was Samara, the ruthless, lawful justicar who had bound her allegiance solely to Shepard. Then there was Jack, who hated Cerberus, but was a formidable killer because of them. Grunt's unmistakable form was visible over the heads of the other crew members. Shepard was his battlemaster. The perfect krogan had no vested interest in Cerberus. And the pessimistic, crass Zaeed Massani. Former merc boss, blind in one eye, and a devil with an assault rifle. On Jacob's right was Thane, the ultimate lone wolf, hell-bent on making the galaxy a better place until it killed him.

And Jacob. Who was Jacob? He was an Alliance turned Cerberus jar head who was better at following orders than giving them. He had no business bossing around Shepard's team.

But there was no choice left to them. They'd band together or they'd die in vain. "If the Shadow Broker thinks for one second that he can just waltz through here, well, that son of a bitch has another thing coming to him. We're gonna make 'em fight for every inch of ground. This is our ship, people. Defend it."

There were no more rumors about whether or not Garrus lived. No more guessing at how long the commander was going to last in the clutches of the Shadow Broker. They steeled themselves and marched toward the airlock, ready to set up their line of defense.

Jacob noticed a handful of Cerberus servicemen, their blue and orange uniforms setting them apart from the rest. Among them was Gardner, the mess sergeant, and Gabby, one of the engineers, both wielding assault rifles.

"Like you said, Mr. Taylor, this is our ship. We ain't giving her up," Gardner said, saluting to Jacob. He nodded in return, signaling for him to be at ease.

Gabby gripped her assault rifle. "They killed our crewmates, sir. Our family. I'm doing this for Kenneth, and the commander."

They both looked ready to die for the Normandy and its crew. Jacob prayed they wouldn't have to.

As they were getting into formation, Thane pulled Jack aside. "I believe that now would be the proper time for some heavy weapons."

The biotic's face lit up. "Cain?" Ever since she'd laid eyes on that baby, she'd been frothing at the mouth to just hold it in her hands. Of course, Shepard never let her. And Jack hated her for it. She couldn't believe she would actually get to fire it.

"No." She felt like punching the wall. "Grab the missile launcher."

Well, if that was the best she was going to get, then she wasn't going to complain. She supposed that there was an upside to Shepard being gone. Usually, she didn't even get to touch the heavy weapons. Not without good reason, though.

Thane strode back over to the airlock, where everyone was assembled. Jacob and Grunt were in the front, taking cover on either side of the outside door, their shotguns drawn. Samara stood behind Grunt, using him as cover. She could be ready with her biotics at a moment's notice. Thane took his place opposite her. Tali's shotgun was on his back holster. If it came to close quarters, he would need something better than his submachine gun. Massani was behind him, sniper rifle in hand. Taking out the pilot would be ideal, but failing that, Zaeed could pick off advancing troops at a distance. Behind the five of them was the rest of the Cerberus crew, positioned to lay down cover fire when necessary.

"EDI, what's the ETA on that gunship?" Jacob asked the AI.

"Shadow Broker gunship should touchdown in twenty seconds."

Twenty seconds. From the front of the formation, Jacob called over his shoulder, "You know the drill, people. Shoot on sight. No hesitation." He cocked his shotgun. Sure, he was just a soldier. But sometimes, that was all it took.

They could hear the gunship before they saw it. The blaring drone of its engines was unmistakable. Behind him, Jacob could hear the crew flicking the safety off their weapons, preparing themselves for the arrival. Then, the gunship swung into view. It was an unremarkable vessel, but the sight of it made their hearts pound and their brows perspire.

"Steady," Jacob said, waiting until the gunship was in range. It drew closer, slowing down as it prepared to land. "Now! Open fire!"

"Well, whose idea was it go running around Illium when we should have been looking for Shepard?" Kaidan shouted at Garrus.

"We were looking for Shepard! And let me remind you that you didn't exactly have any great ideas of your own," Garrus snapped back. His hand was resting on the pilot's chair, but he was facing Kaidan, his back turned to the dashboard. He was oblivious to the proximity warning beeping meekly in the background of their argument.

"You should have gone with Liara's idea," Kaidan said. "If we had narrowed down the locations, we wouldn't have wasted as much time as we did. But of course you're the captain now so we have to shut up and do what you want!"

"You just can't stand that I'm Shepard's right hand and you're still a little Alliance bitch!" Kaidan looked aghast. And furious. Garrus continued. "That's right, Alenko. You're not the favorite anymore. She moved on!"

Kaidan glared at Garrus. "What the hell are you -" He never got to finish his question. The gunship was struck with a barrage of incendiary rounds that tore into the outer plating, devastating the hull. Kaidan flattened himself inside the carriage, risking a glance out the door to see who was shooting at them. The gunship was hovering almost right on top of the Normandy, and the shooters were none other than its crew.

"Hang on!" Garrus called to Kaidan, their previous argument abandoned for the moment in favor of more pressing matters. With some difficulty, Garrus slid into the pilot's chair. The Normandy thought they were the Shadow Broker's forces. They were, after all, riding in a stolen gunship. And they were about to get blown out of the sky.

Garrus opened a comm link to the Normandy. "Cease fire! Joker, call off the attack! It's me and Alenko, tell them to -" The message was cut short by the impact of a missile.

Liara had been pacing restlessly in the briefing room ever since the gunfire started. They were officially under attack. There were no other approaching gunships, which was somewhat of a relief to Liara since she thought they'd barely be able to hold off one. She was on the verge of asking EDI to scan the area one more time when she received a badly mangled transmission, punctuated with gunfire and bursts of static.

"... -ease fire! … me and Alenko -" But Liara didn't need to hear the whole message to understand what it meant. She'd recognize that voice anywhere. The gunship's occupants weren't Broker troops. There was no doubt in her mind that it was Garrus Vakarian and Kaidan Alenko.

She sprinted out of the comm room, legs pumping as she vaulted over the nav station in the command center. They were still alive. For the moment, at least. If she didn't warn Jacob soon enough, it would be her fault that Kaidan and Garrus died.

She reached the airlock just in time to hear Jack yell, "Eat shit and die!" Then, the distinct pfff of a missile being launched.

"No!" Liara screamed. She pushed past the Cerberus crew, their eyes wide in alarm at the sight of the panicked asari. "Stop! Stop shooting! It's Garrus!" She elbowed Zaeed as she ran, making sure his concussive shot never left the barrel of the gun. She nudged Thane into Samara so that both of their warps went wide. With a throw field, she forced the missile launcher out of Jack's hands and sent it clattering to the floor. When she reached the front, she grabbed Jacob and shouted, "It's them!"

He looked at her in bewilderment before realizing what she was saying. "Hold your fire!" he commanded the others. But they'd already stopped. They were all holding their breath as they watched the gunship lose control and crash on the Normandy's doorstep, flaming. One of the external thrusters had been completely shot off and the entire vehicle had just dropped out of the air.

Liara clapped a hand to her mouth to stifle her cry. Her knees hit the ground. Everyone stared at the wreckage of the gunship. They were the ones who had brought it down. They'd killed Garrus and Kaidan.