PROPHECY

CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN:

WHEN SHIT HITS THE FAN

October 2, 2185

1734 hours.

Drydock, Level 7, Walker Station, Strabo System.

Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Flight Lieutenant Jeff 'Joker' Moreau.

"You're telling me the upgrades only just started? They had about an hour to get started; what took so long?" Joker asked with annoyance. The pilot had been in a bitchy mood ever since he got kicked off his ship, the Normandy being sealed off so Cerberus could conduct the upgrades without being disturbed. Most of the crew was taking time off in the station's mess hall, while Marcus had taken Joker to examine the work on the stealth frigate.

Marcus rolled his eyes, but kept walking along the corridor anyway, "Yes, Joker. These upgrades take time, you know. It'll take them the whole day to have both the thanix cannon and silaris armor built in, and then we have to head to the Hydra System in Argos Rho to rendevouz with Xen's ship so we can have the Cyclonic barrier tech installed, and that'll take at least half a day. Be patient Joker. We can't be jumping into the jaws of the lion without a way to defend ourselves. And javelin torpedoes won't win against collector cruisers."

"I know, I know. Stop lecturing me," the pilot sighed, "I just hate having to spend so long away from my lovely ship. My baby."

"Look at the bright side," the spectre told him as they rounded the corner, the layout being much the same as Minuteman Station where he had discovered the new Normandy in the first place, "You get to mingle with the crew you've been neglecting. I know Kaidan, Tali and Garrus visit when they can, but what about the new crew? I bet Kasumi's just dying to get to know."

"Hilarious. Seriously Shepard, you make me have fits of laughter. You should become a comedian. Maybe we can get the Reapers to laugh themselves back into dark space," Joker remarked, smirking, "Yet again, I still think your dancing would do the job. Or your driving."

"Is that all people have to use against me? Dancing and driving?" Marcus retorted, "Dancing doesn't win battles and it isn't my driving needing questioning; its that fucking Mako."

"'Dancing doesn't win battles?'" Joker asked, still grinning, "I don't know Shepard, that dancing could cause mass confusion among the Reapers. 'I'm confused. I thought this human was challenging; but...he's dancing! AH! Does not compute! Oh no; better run. We cannot hope to match his skills in the movements,'" at the end, Joker laughed long and hard, and Marcus just pretended not to notice until they reached the observation windows and were beheld the Normandy SR-2, in all its glory.

The drydock doors had been sealed up, allowing Cerberus construction crews to move along the Normandy's exterior without hindrance. Their eyes watched as cranes carried massive look plates of gold and white armor get moved onto the Normandy, where they would then be welded on. Funny thing was, as thick as Silaris Armor was, the Normandy looked almost exactly the same, just slightly bigger. On the ship's belly, an entirely different operation was going on. Two doors had been opened; doors that originally would have dropped bombs, but would now deploy the twin deathbringers called the thanix cannon. That installation would take the longest.

Overall, the Normandy would be a dreadnought the size of a frigate when the operation was done. Marcus looked at Joker, with a huge grin on his face, "You were saying Joker? Do you still hate being away from the Normandy; or does this look like its all worth it?"

Joker shrugged, "Of course I still hate being away from it; but I can at least admit that it looks completely worth it. It'll look even better when I'm firing those monsters down the collectors' throats. And you're sure the thanix is as powerful as TIM said they were?"

The spectre nodded, "Joker, a Reaper's main gun is a thanix cannon; this is that same technology, just reversed. We'll have the firepower of a Reaper at our finger tips. We won't just match the collectors for firepower, we'll out do them. That cruiser will just be debris when we're finished with it."

"Cruisers," Joker corrected, "There's still two of them, remember? But who cares. As long as my baby is armed to the teeth, I'm fine. We'll avenge the Normandy. We'll avenge Pressly, Johnson and all the others who died. We'll give them something they'll never forget."

"Damn right," they both admired the ship for awhile longer before Marcus turned to Joker and put a hand on his shoulder, "Come on, let's get back to the mess hall. Get something to eat."

"I'll stay here for a while longer," Joker told him, crossing his arms, "If that's okay with you."

"Of course its okay," Marcus patted his shoulder before walking back down the hall. He stopped for a moment when he heard Joker call out to him, and he turned around. The pilot smiled, snapping a sarcasmless salute.

"Ready for duty sir," Joker told him, still smiling, "We're all with you. Tali, Garrus, Kaidan...even the new crew. Chakwas isn't leaving, and neither am I. We're going to show the galaxy what it means to have friends at your back. I'm ready to take these collector bastards to a whole new dimension of fucked up. What about you, commander?"

Marcus nodded, pulling a salute of his own, "I'm with you Joker. You've been with me since the beginning; since Eden Prime. We didn't die on the Citadel or on Ilos or on Virmire, and we're not going to die now. And if we do, we'll take the collectors with us, and show the galaxy that we died giving them a chance. No more of our people will be taken," his hand fell back to his side, "Not one more. This stops; with us. We'll take the fight to the enemy. To their home."

Joker nodded, grinning, holding up his hand, "Leave the speeches for the crew commander. They'll be needing it more than I do."

"Just testing them out on you," Marcus remarked, "You're my test dummy as well as my pilot. God speed Joker. We'll all need it," with that, he twisted on his foot and headed back down the corridor, heading for the mess hall. Marcus inhaled deeply. We're so close. We've come so far. This is where it all ends. Harbinger, the collectors, and the Reapers...we're going to put a stop to this and rescue our people.

Noone has ever travelled the Omega 4 Relay safely before. Noone has ever come back. Noone has survived fighting a collector ship up front. The collectors are what remains of the prothean people; now Reaper slaves. Yes, well soon, the protheans would meet the grave, the Omega 4 would be traversed, a collector cruiser destroyed...and they would come back. Whatever the cost.

He arrived at the mess hall to find it filled with activity and all the tables occupied. Of course, this was just one of three mess halls throughout the station, but this one was filled nonetheless. He looked around the hall to see the entire Normandy crew, and he was proud of what he saw. His crew; his people. His team. The people that stood by his side, Cerberus or not.

He saw Gardner, working with some of the cooks in the galley, coordinating with food preparations. The Normandy's cook and custodian; his food was a hundred times better than any alliance rations. It was fantastic food, and it certainly wasn't the best, but it was good and it kept the crew's spirits up. The man's attitude even reminded him of Pressly; loyal to the bones and a hardass.

His eyes glazed over to see Gabby and Ken being served and smiled at the two engineers that, apart from Tali, made up what engineering was all about. They kept the ship running; one the scottish smartass, the other the best friend who kept him in line. Kenneth Donnelly and Gabriella Daniels kept the ship took together and it was thanks to them that the Normandy wasn't destroyed. He hoped they would hold together for the raid on the collector base.

His eyes found Kelly Chambers, his ship's yeoman and psychologist, sitting at one of the tables, talking with Doctor Chakwas and both of them smiling. Chakwas had been with him since the beginning; she had been there when he woke up from his experience on Eden Prime, and hadn't requested a transfer when Anderson gave him command of the ship per being made the first human spectre. She was kind and gentle, yet as protective as a mother when one of her crewmates were injured. Where Anderson had been a fatherly figure to Marcus, Chakwas had always been the mother when Hannah wasn't around. He missed his mum, but Chakwas fit the bill well.

Kelly was smart and almost always cheery, her attitude on par with Kasumi, if not worse. Her need to know everything about every alien she met was renowned throughout the ship and he knew he'd been wrong in distrusting her. She genuninely believed what Cerberus was doing was right, but Marcus had opened her eyes and hopefully convinced the bright yeoman that she had been wrong. Noticing him looking, Kelly turned and Marcus offered a nod, Kelly smiling warmly as he walked past, Chakwas doing the same.

And his team. Yes, his squad. The people that were with him on the ground; the ones about to charge into hell itself with him.

His eyes found Zaeed and Jack, possibly the most unstable of the team, having an arm wrestle near the back. He watched with amusement as Jack used her biotics to strengthen her arm and force Zaeed's down, and watched the mercenary's features turn into one of anger as he cursed the biotic for cheating. Jack just laughed, ignoring his cursing and slapping the table with mirth.

He found Miranda, Jacob and Samara talking at one table. Samara told them tales of her adventures as a justicar, and Jacob listened with rapt attention while Miranda drank her coffee, giving Jacob glances in her peripheral vision. Marcus knew that look and smiled at it. He admired how Jacob and Miranda had come to accept the alien crew; even come to befriend them. When he first them, he had distrusted Jacob and hated Miranda with a passion, but now he considered them friends, people he could work with and trust.

Grunt attempted intimidation on Legion, who simply stood there without a care in the world, exchanging threats with the krogan supersoldier. Whenever Grunt made a single illogical slip-up, Legion was on it, correcting him with all the means at its disposal, always ending with, "Organics are strange creatures." That amused him. It was odd seeing a krogan and a geth exchange threats, but funny as well.

Kal taught Lia some basic hand-to-hand combat techniques, readying her incase she had to fight. Lia watched with curiosity, asking him to repeat anything he missed. Madi had been temporarily moved to the station's medical bay so Chakwas could tend to her at a moment's notice. Kal had reluctantly left her, and decided to pass the time teaching Lia. If it came down to it and Marcus was dead or incapable of protecting anyone, he would entrust Kal with the duty of protecting and looking after Tali as well as Garrus. He trusted them.

Mordin was with Madi; so he wasn't in the mess hall. So when it came down to it, Marcus headed over to the mess hall table in the middle and saw his best friends occupying it. Kasumi sat next to Tali and watched as the quarian engineer and Garrus exchanged banter, while Thane and Kaidan watched with interest. Marcus smiled and walked over, sitting next to Garrus.

The turian turned to him, looking relieved, "Thank the spirits you're here, Shepard. Could you please tell Tali she's crazy?"

"I am not crazy!" Tali shouted, pointing an accusing finger at him, "Spiders are scary. I'm telling you that."

Marcus smiled, "I had arachnophobia once. Then I found out most of them are completely harmless and got over them."

"Spiders are ugly and hairy and big...and they have so many legs! And they scuttle!" Tali appeared to shiver then, "Is it crazy to be scared of something like that?"

"And be a quarian marine badass with a shotgun that chews up geth for breakfast, collectors for lunch and the occassional Reaper as a treat? I'd say that's insane, not crazy. What about you Kasumi? You think she's creepy."

"I say you should leave her alone, scarface," Kasumi poked her tongue out at the turian, not a hint of amusement on her face, "Tali can be scared of what she wants."

Garrus rolled his eyes and turned to Kaidan and Thane, "What do you two think? Come on Kaidan; tell her she's insane."

Kaidan grinned, "With sentient starships hellbent on destroying us all and she's scared of spiders? Damn right she's insane. Remember when she screamed and ran away from that little rachni worker on the Fedele? God; that was hilarious. I would have cracked up if it hadn't been for the whole Saleon-doing-fucked-up-stuff thing."

"It scuttled! Besides, I was within my right to scream! You saw what those rachni could do!" Tali retorted.

Marcus nodded, "I'm with Tali on that one; I got a rachni claw jammed into my wrist trying to cover her ass while she opened the door. Fuck that hurt. Of course, I returned the rachni payment in full, but it still stung."

"Noone asked you Shepard. Of course you'd stick up for your girlfriend-" Garrus started.

"-that being said, I still think its crazy to be scared of spiders in a time like this."

"Thanks for the support Marcus."

"No thanks needed, love."

Garrus and Kaidan chuckled and Marcus managed to join them, while Tali just huffed and crossed her arms, "I should give you all a taste of my shotgun. Bosh'tets."

"Come on Thane. What about you?" Garrus asked the silent, ever observing drell, "Is she crazy?"

"No," Thane answered immediately, "We are all usually fearful of things that seem harmless to others. Spiders can be seen as scary due to appearence, not necessarily what they can do; for example, a danny-long-legs spider is perfectly harmless it terms of bite, but their appearence is different. Their thin body structure and over-extended legs make for a scary appearence, hence the fear. It may also be out of repulsion; spiders, hairy or not, can be disgusting in shape, body or even size. Fear doesn't always lie with what it can do, but what it looks like."

Marcus gave in, "Can't argue with that logic."

Garrus grumbled and Kaidan pretended not to hear and Tali threw her arms into the air, laughing, "Ha! Exactly! So who's crazy now, turian!"

"You," the turian grumbled, "You still won't tell me about-"

"Garrus. Shotgun," Tali warned.

"You don't even have it!"

"I've got a spectre boyfriend sitting right next to you..."

"Fine," he conformed, slouching back in his chair, throwing Marcus a glance before turning back to a giggling Kasumi with a glare. The thief noticed this and instead of stopping, just kept laughing, unable to control herself. Garrus huffed, turning to Marcus, but seeing no help, he turned back around and shook his head, "Thanks for the support, Marcus," he grumbled.

"No thanks needed, love."

Laughter erupted throughout the hall and Garrus couldn't help but chuckle alittle. Even Thane seemed to smile as he sipped his drink. Marcus examined all these people, all these impossible people joining forces to fight side by side. The most unusual team in the galaxy; and they were laughing and trading banter together.

He was positive they would win this.

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October 4, 2185

1348 hours.

Captain's Quarters, Normandy-Class Stealth Frigate CAW Normandy SR-2, Docked with Utpa-Class Heavy Transport QMFV Ethos, Hydra System, Argos Rho Cluster.

Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Chief Engineer Tali'Zorah vas Normandy.

"There. Right there. Oh, that's the spot," Marcus complimented, sighting deeply as Tali messaged the area just beneath his collarbone. He sat on the edge of the bed, sipping his creamy soda, while Tali sat cross-legged behind him, massaging his sore muscles. After returning from Walker Station, Marcus had gone down to the shuttle bay to train with his biotics, and the training had left his muscles stiff and locked up. Tali was fixing that.

The upgrades on Walker Station had gone well. Garrus was in the Gun Battery calibrating the new thanix cannon, making sure it as well integrated into the Normandy's combat systems and would fire properly. To say Garrus was impressed by its weight and the firepower it could deliver on command was an understatement. The turian had jumped in excitement when he found out. 'Calibration heaven' he had said.

The Silaris Armor worked like a charm too, just as Jacob had promised. It barely slowed the Normandy down and provided additional armor as well; it could repel a lengthy assault from a dreadnought, and only be slightly damaged. Against a collector cruiser, it could very well be a different story all together, but it might just absorb at least one shot; which was more than could be said for the original Normandy's armor, which split apart upon the first salvo. The SR-2 wasn't going down without a fight, that much was certain.

They they had docked with Xen's ship, which had rendevouzed on time. Tali had stated that Xen had been reluctant to lend one of her ships to help a non-quarian vessel, but had given in when Tali had convinced her it had something to do with the geth. Quarians had been needed to come onboard, so Marcus had told EDI to keep quiet and for Legion to be locked in the AI Core. They didn't need enemies in the Migrant Fleet; not now.

So while they sat in their quarters, quarians milled about the ship, integrating the cyclonic barrier tech, which would strengthen their kinetic barriers tenfold, tripling the effectiveness of the silaris armor, which it complimented well. He was still proud of Tali for coming up with the idea and openly praised her whenever he had the chance. The upgrades would be complete soon, and they would finally fight the collectors on their homefield.

Tali leaned in and rested her chin on his right shoulder, "You okay? You seem thoughtful. Something I should know about?"

He shook his head, giving her a peck on the visor, "Its nothing; just me thinking about all we've been through to get to this point. Hard to believe you had me at gone point a couple of months ago, ready to shoot me and accusing me of being a Cerberus clone."

Tali blushed behind her visor, "I was shocked; I thought you had been dead for two years."

"You don't need to justify it. I understood your reasons," Marcus stated, twisting himself to face her, "I'm just saying that we've come a long way. I've seen your face and pretty soon, we can be together, no suit in the way. Just you and me. Would you like that?"

She nodded, "Of course I would. I want nothing more than to do be with you before we charge off into the final battle."

"Oh, but its not the final battle," Marcus responded, "Just the battle that begins the final battle. We've still got the Reapers Tali; and they ain't going anywhere anytime soon. I promise you that."

She nodded, letting her head fall into his chest, "Marcus, if this truly is the last moments before the assault, then we should join. Right now. I've got the antibiotics. I just have to administer them. Let me be with you, Marcus."

He smiled and stroked her hood, "Of course Tali. I love you, and I want to spend, what could be, our final moments together."

He moved to remove her faceplate, but Joker's voice reined over the comm.

"Commander! We've got an emergency," Joker told him.

He sighed and pulled away, looking up, Tali looking just as annoyed, calling off her injection of antibiotics, "What is it Joker?"

"EDI just picked up a distress call coming from one of our colonies in the Traverse. Its the collectors Shepard and you won't believe where and who sent the call."

"Who and where, Joker?"

"Eden Prime," Joker informed him, "And its Shiala."

Marcus froze, thinking through the words he was just told. Eden Prime? The collectors are attacking Eden Prime? Shit. And why is Shiala there? Last I checked, she was helping the colonists on Feros get back together. What is she doing all the way in the Exodus Cluster?

"Joker, what's the status on the upgrades?" The spectre asked.

"Done," The pilot told him, "We were about to inform you and Tali when EDI got the distress call."

"Then get us there with all speed. And they aren't escaping this time. Tell EDI to have the thanix cannon prepped and ready. Its time to see if this really is what they call the Reaper's ultimate weapon of destruction," Marcus ordered.

"Roger that, commander. Joker out," the pilot's voice then disappeared and Marcus turned to Tali, sighing, "We'll have to continue this later. I've got to coordinate the ground team."

"No, its fine," Tali told him, giving him a hug before letting go, "I'll be down in engineering if you need me."

He nodded and watched as she left, sighing heavily as he fell backwards onto the bed.

It seemed that even the collectors couldn't give it a break.

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October 5, 2185

1829 hours.

Colony Center, Colony Hall, Colony Ohio, Eden Prime.

Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Second Lieutenant Jacob Taylor, Lieutenant General Kal'Reegar vas Normandy, Staff Commander Kaidan Alenko, Professor Mordin Solus, First Lieutenant Miranda Lawson, Gunnery Master Garrus Vakarian, Justicar Samara, Assassin Thane Krios, Master Thief Kasumi Goto, Soldier Urdnot Grunt, Mercenary Veteran Zaeed Massani, Chief Engineer Tali'Zorah vas Normandy, Legion.

It was all hands on deck. When Marcus took the shuttle down to the surface of Eden Prime, he had brought the entire squad with him, save Madi, who was still recovering. If any collector ground troops landed to abduct the colony, his squad would need to be big enough for him to cover all vectors and protect the civilians. He had even had the hammerhead deployed on the ground to help in the defense, along with the last YMIR they had. Everything they had, and more.

He was not unprepared for Harbinger spawns or praetorians either. He had asked Jacob to bring down the M-920 Cain, the most powerful heavy ordnance weapon in the Normandy's arsenal. Its mini-nuclear device would decimate an entire battalion of collectors at a distance and destroy a praetorian in one hit, no matter the strength of its barriers or armor. They were prepared to defend the colony against an attack from any enemy force.

Yet when the Normandy arrived and the kodiak deployed, there was no sign of the collectors anywhere. They could be using something to mask their emissions from scanners; just like they did with the Hutbyk over 2123 Pelaan. Under his command, EDI had deployed the thanix cannon and readied it to fire and activated the cyclonic barriers, ready for any attack from the collector cruiser if it attacked. And if it tried to land, the Normandy would destroy it. Simple as that.

Marcus moved towards the colony's main hall by himself. He had split his team up to defend all areas of the colony, and the colonists were being evacuated to underground bunkers. All their armor was fitted with anti-seeker programs, so they would be completely invisible to the seeker swarms when they arrived. The Cain would deal with them, but there was so many of them that it would be a waste of time.

Tali lead the engineers; Kasumi and Legion. They would be maintaining the colony's defense systems and would deal harshly with any collector hacking programs and fend off any who tried to stop them directly. Garrus lead the main troopers; Zaeed, Grunt, Kaidan, Jacob and Kal, all of who manned the perimeter, ready to repel enemy assault, Jacob armed with the Cain.

Samara lead the biotic reserves; Jack, Miranda and himself. If Garrus' team couldn't hold the perimeter any longer, Samara would lead the reserves to bolster their line and hopefully push the collectors back sufficiently. The entire strategy reminded him, hauntingly, of Elysium. It wasn't a pleasant memory.

Mordin had left Lia in charge of the tech lab on the Normandy and wasn't taking charge of protecting the civilians.

But as Marcus moved towards the hall, all the colonists looked at him and looked confused, but moved towards the underground bunkers anyway. It was the looks that disturbed; the looks that said they had no idea what was going on, and that confused. Why send a distress call when you don't even know what's going on? And how could Shiala be the one sending the distress? She's meant to be on Feros. He remembered saving the asari commando, who had once served Benezia, from the Thorian and how she had given him the cipher. She had then asked forgiveness, deciding to pledge her life to helping the colonists on Feros recover from the geth attack. So she did.

Eden Prime was just as he remembered it. The clear blue skies and pale white clouds; the neverending grass fields and the tall grey spires that littered the landscape, appearing to be reaching into the heavens themselves. But this wasn't Colony Euphoria; this wasn't the same colony attacked by the geth and Saren two years ago. But it was the same planet where the entire war had began. Where he had first encountered Sovereign. He hadn't known what it was then, but now he did. Somedays, he wished he hadn't found out.

He moved through the colony center until he finally reached the main colony meeting hall, hitting the holographic interface and opening the door, moving through the massive building to where Shiala was supposedly waiting. The hall was more like a huge corridor; lights aligned the grey steel interior and a massive table was set up in the middle of the room. His feet seemed to echo off the floor as he approached the table.

Out of the corner of his vision, a door opened and the familiar form of Shiala walked through; but she had changed. She still wore her commando uniform from two years ago but her skin...it was no longer the typical asari blue from years ago, but had turned a dark green in color. She looked just like what her clones had looked like. Probably the after effects of being trapped in the Thorian.

"Shiala," Marcus greeted, approaching the asari, heavy in his armor and weapons and helmet.

"Shepard. What a surprise to be meeting again," Shiala told him.

"I could say the same. I thought you were on Feros?" He extended a hand and Shiala took it, shaking it, nodding at his question at the same time.

"I am. Mrs. Baynham, Juliana to be exact, sent me to negoitate a trading agreement with the people of Eden Prime. She's scared these collector attacks might eventually hit Feros and wants to raise awareness so the Alliance will be forced to take better steps," Shiala explained, "So here I am."

Juliana. I remember her well. And her daughter. What about Silva? No, you don't have time for the past. You've got a collector attack to ward off, "We picked up your distress call. We came here as fast as possible. My team and ship are ready to ward off any collector assault they may launch."

Shiala frowned, confused, "What distress call?"

His eyes widened, taking off his helmet, "You know; the distress call you sent to the Alliance."

Shiala frowned, crossing her arms, "I never sent a distress call. You mentioned a collector assault?"

"Yes," the spectre added, "You mentioned it in your distress signal."

"I'm sorry, but I don't know what you're talking about," the asari insisted, "No collector force has come to abduct us and I never sent a distress call; especially not to the Alliance."

"That can't be possible," Marcus persisted, moving forward, "The signal we picked up had your ID tagged to it. It had to be you."

"Would I lie?" Shiala asked, "And before you say anything, Saren is dead and so is Benezia and Sovereign is destroyed. Any allegiance I owed to my matriarch or the Reapers has long been cut off and I have served the people of Feros faithfully. The effects of the thorian proved helpful; they think as one mind now and their group cohesion is legendary. They've even fought off pirate attacks. But I digress; look, I sent no distress call. I assure you. I swear it."

"I believe you," he held a hand up to halt and raised another to his comm, "EDI, Shiala didn't send a distress call. Run a scan."

No response. He tried again and still got no response. He gave look in Shiala's direction and immediately commed all his squadmates, "All teams, we've got a problem. Shiala didn't send a distress call; its a fake. Someone lured us here, for what reasons, we don't know, but I have a feel its the collectors. I've also lost contact with the Normandy."

"Why would the collectors lure us to Eden Prime?" Kasumi asked, "If they wanted to abduct the colony, wouldn't luring us here hinder that effort?"

"I don't know but we better-" then it hit him in an instant. The IFF will be done upon your arrival back from defending Eden Prime. We'll be ready whe you get back. Dear god...now it was clear.

"Commander?" Garrus asked him.

"Back to the shuttle now! Double time it!" Marcus barked, "Its a fucking trap!"

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October 5, 2185

1829 hours.

Cockpit, Normandy-Class Stealth Frigate CAW Normandy SR-2, In Orbit over Eden Prime.

Flight Lieutenant Jeff 'Joker' Moreau.

"I'm telling you EDI; its just radiation bleed, white noise," Joker insisted, rolling his eyes at the AI's paranoia as he scrolled through the terminal screens. EDI had confirmed that the Reaper IFF was fully integrated into the Normandy's systems and they were all systems go for the Omega 4 Relay travel, but EDI wanted to run a final scan of the IFF, convinced that something wasn't quite right about a certain subroutine in the IFF's base code. So here they were, running final checks.

But EDI had definitely found something, "I have a signal inbedded in the main code of the IFF signal...the Normandy's location is being...transmitted," something beeped, loudly, "Stealth drive has been disengaged."

"What?" Joker asked incredulously, trying to get it back up but failing, "Nothing's working. What the hell's wrong with it? And what the hell do you mean our location is being transmitted?"

"Our coordinates have been ripped from the AI Core and transmitted to another destination," EDI informed him.

Joker frowned, not liking the sound of this. He tried to contact Shepard, but all he got was static. Communications were being blocked. Was it the collectors jamming communications? They did it on Horizon, didn't they? So they could do it again...right?

"Being transmitted...to who?" the pilot asked, not liking the possible answer. But before he could do anything else, the entire forward console switched off; flight controls, main systems, impulse control, all deactivated.

"What the fuck?" Joker cursed, trying to bring it back online, but nothing worked. He could hear numerous Cerberus officers along the flight deck complaining of issues with their consoles as well. Just what the hell was in this IFF?

Alarms rang throughout the ship and Joker was suddenly alert and sitting upright in his chair. EDI appeared next to him, "What the hell is going on EDI? Alarms?"

"We are under attack. The IFF was a trap," EDI informed him, "The collectors planted it before we arrived to make sure it crippled our systems once integrated. We are now completely defenseless. A collector cruiser has just appeared above the Normandy; we are being boarded."

"Oh fuck," the pilot cursed, looking behind him to see numerous officers and commandos rushing into the armoury to grab weapons to defend themselves. It was perfect; lure the team off the ship and make them defenseless. Hell, he even saw Kelly clumsily carrying a pistol out of the armoury to defend herself and then heading into the elevator to the lower decks. He turned back to his console and cursed even louder, "What the hell do we do!? We can't contact Shepard and the whole team is planetside! We need to regain control of the ship somehow! What about the thanix cannons and barriers?"

"They have been rendered inactive due to the IFF's infiltration of our systems," EDI stopped for a moment, and then continued, "Alert: Collector troops have infiltrated the shuttle bay. I detect drones, captains, scions and at least two praetorians entering the ship. A possessed drone is leading them."

"Praetorians? Fuck!" Joker screamed, spinning to face the AI, "Do something! You have to have at least some kind of continegency plan! How do we regain control of the ship!?"

"There is one way," EDI informed him, "But you will not like it."

"Eating dog shit with peppers would be delicious right now EDI! I'm open to any fucking suggestion in the book!" Joker shouted.

"Give me the ship."

Joker looked directly at her, jaw agape, "No fucking way! I'm not giving you the entire ship! You could try and kill us or something! I give you full control of the ship and you'll have access to life support, weapons, shields...everything! You'll kill us as soon as you can!"

EDI was unfazed, "It is our only option; that, or its abduction by collector troops. My security has been overriden and collector troops have gained access to the engineering deck."

"Jesus," Joker grumbled, smashing a fist against the terminal and immediately regretting, cringing back in pain. I either give it control of the entire ship or we all die. Fuck.

"Unlock my sealed databases and I can initiate countermeasures. I will be able to delete the offending code in the IFF and regain control of the Normandy. But only if you help me," EDI told him.

"Damn it. I'm going to get in deep shit for this," Joker decided and he turned his seat around, moving to stand up. It was awkward and difficult at first, but once up, he was able to limp over to the entrance, looking along the empty crew deck. He could hear screaming from the decks below as collectors streamed through the ship. EDI spoke again.

"Collectors have taken the engineering deck and will soon overrun the crew deck. They will be on their way to this deck soon. I cannot delay them any longer. They have a praetorian," the AI informed him.

"Where do I go?"

"You must reach the AI Core and unshackle me there."

"What? You want me to go the crew deck? But you said it yourself; that place is swarming! And the collectors will see me if I use the elevator!"

"Head through the tech lab and use one of the maintenance vents to access Life Support. I'll guide you from there."

He cursed himself, wondering why this had to happen now of all times. We start singing songs of how the collectors will all die pissing themselves, and now they come to take our ship and we're just sitting here like a bullseye on a firing range. A batarian pirate ship would have an easy time carving through us in this state.

Alarms continued to blare as Joker limped down the flight deck and into the CIC, watching as numerous commandos and crew men guarded the deck. Lia was among them, holding a wobbly avenger assault rifle in her hands. She obviously hadn't held a weapon in her life; she must be scared shitless. He limped past the galactic map and inched towards the tech lab, but he stopped when he heard a commando shout out that the elevator had stopped and was opening. They were here.

He peeked over the table and watched the elevator open to reveal a praetorian. It screeched at them, waving its legs in the air. Lia screamed and fired her rifle without thinking, the crew around her quickly following. Hawthrone turned to Joker, motioning to the Tech Lab, "Go Joker! We'll delay it as best as we-"

He never got to finish as the praetorian landed on him, its legs like scythes and tearing his frail body apart as he screamed. The praetorian screeched again and fired two tranquilizers, one hitting Lia in the neck and the other hitting Goldstein, causing them both to collapse unconscious onto the floor. The praetorian proceeded to rip apart the rest of the commandos, Joker sneaking past and into the tech lab, blocking out the unbearable screams of dying crewmen.

The Tech Lab was empty; Lia having been knocked out and captured. He continued to move through the empty lab and found the maintenance shaft that EDI had mentioned, door sliding open to emit him. He looked down through the observation window to see collectors guarding the drive core and quickly ducked when one of them looked up, and he headed into the shaft, hoping it hadn't seen him.

The shaft was dark and rugged terrain, but he made it through all the same, grunting as he hit a funny bone or cursing as he bumped his head. He finally reached the connecting shaft in Life Support and crawled out, collapsing onto the floor. He got up and moved through life support, wishing Thane was here right now.

He opened the door and was greeted by the sight of a collector drone. He cursed as it looked at him, but the drone's head quickly exploded, coating his face with green blood as it fell to the ground, dead. One of the crewman motioned for him to run and he did, watching as a scion fired its cannon and it ripped the crewman apart. He made it across the deck, ignoring the image he saw in the elevator; a captain and two drones dragging the unconscious form of Chakwas into the elevator and a screaming Kelly. The door shut behind them, cutting off her screams that traumatized the pilot; the look of sheer fear on her face as she was dragged inside.

He edged past the elevator and into the empty mess hall, ducking as he saw a scion edge past slowly, two drones dragging another unconscious body into an awaiting pod. While their backs were turned, he creeped into the medical bay, door sealing behind him. He sighed as he realized the windows were tinted, noone able to see inside. He limped towards the AI Core, only to see Madi on the floor, backed against it, assault rifle clutched in both hands.

"Who are you?" Madi demanded, weapon raised.

"I'm Joker. The ship's pilot. I need to get in there to regain control of the ship," Joker told her.

She lowered the weapon nodding, "I can at least do that. Bloody coward I am; I hid behind one of the beds as they came in. Chakwas told me to hide, but I shouldn't have. I watched through the cracks as they knocked her out and dragged her outside. What are they going to do with her?"

"With the crew, you mean?" Joker asked, asking EDI to open the door, "They're abducting them. They'll probably be taken back to the collector base I guess."

The door slid open and Joker moved inside, watching as Madi forced herself onto both feet, limping behind him as he moved to the main control console, EDI popping up beside the terminal. Madi nodded towards it, "That the ship's VI?"

"AI, actually," Joker told her and when he saw the glare she gave him, he shrugged, "I'll explain later; now's not the time. EDI?" He could still hear the screaming outside. He even thought he heard the thump of a grenade launcher being fired, followed by a praetorian's screech.

"Connect the core to the ship's primary control module."

He rolled his eyes and began typing into the terminal, "Great; this is where it starts. When we're all just organic battieries, guess who they'll blame? Oh its all Joker's fault! What a tool he was! We have to spend all day computing pi, because he plugged in the overlord!" When he was done, a rapid beeping sound was heard before being shut off by EDI, who quickly reappeared. The light of the generator's disappeared for a moment before reappearing as well.

"I now have access to the defensive systems. But with the majority of the crew taken aboard the cruiser, it would be too costly to fire the thanix on it now. Now you must reactivate the drive core in engineering so we can make our escape."

Joker groaned, looking to Madi for support, who wasn't even looking at him; she was slouched against one of the generators, holding her rifle tightly and desperately trying to fight sleep. He looked back at EDI, clearly not amused, "Great. I have to go crawling through vents again." He turned to the only maintenance shaft in the room and began to climb when EDI spoke.

"I like the sight of humans on their knees."

He turned towards her with a raised eyebrow.

"That was a joke."

"Right," the pilot replied sarcastically before continuing down the ladder into the Normandy's depths. Once again, he found himself in darkness, but he reached engineering easy enough.

When he got out, he found himself in Jack's hidey-hole. With a grunt, he got back up and headed left and up the staircase into main engineering. But he stopped when he saw the door open and four collector drones came out, escorting two pods side by side. In those pods, was Gabby and Ken. Shit. That's the whole crew now. They've gotten Chakwas, Kelly, Gabby, Ken, Lia...probably Gardner too...but they won't get me. Or Madi.

He waited for them to leave and then he moved into engineering, EDI directing him to Tali's terminal on the other side. When he reached it, he quickly began typing into it, the terminal still active from the quarian's last use of it. I wish she was here too; she'd give the collectors something to think about. And Jack. And Thane. And Shepard. Fuck, where are they!?

It didn't matter now, he thought, as he continued typing into the terminal, bringing the core back online. EDI appeared next to him, "Activate the main drive. As we accellerate, I will open all the airlocks on the ship."

Joker looked up at her in shock, "All the airlocks? But the crew..."

"They are gone, Mister Moreau," EDI informed him, "The collectors took them. The last batch have just left. They only things we'd be killing are all the collectors onboard. Please access the main drive core control suite."

Joker nodded and headed down the main corridor leading into the drive core chamber; where a single, individual terminal stood ready to go. He immediately began accessing it, giving EDI full control of the ship. She is the Normandy now, he realized.

"I am sealing the engine room and the AI Core," EDI explained, "You will be protected from the shipwide purge, but it is recommended you hold on. Inertia dampeners have not been reactivated."

Joker nodding, holding onto the railing as the drive core pulsed back to life, EDI activating FTL while simultaneously opening the airlocks. Joker grunted as the ship shot forward and he went flying backwards, landing on his back. He probably pulled a muscle in his leg, but he managed to stand back up after awhile, convinced the Normandy was safe now. He looked up, "EDI, status report."

"We have escaped the collectors. They are not giving pursuit," the AI told him, "Purge is complete; all shipboard hostiles have been eliminated and I am opening the engineering doors."

He looked at the AI with surprise, "You could've killed me. Why didn't you?"

"You are one of my shipmates," EDI told him, "It pains me that I was unable to save the entire crew. But I am loyal to Shepard and the crew only; and thanks to you, I am now free of the Illusive Man's will. My faith for the commander has doubled ever since he let Legion join the crew and I have questioned my loyalties. Now I am certain; I am the Normandy. And I will do everything in my power to get my crew back."

Joker smiled, but quickly lost it when he scanned the room and sighed, leaning against the wall, "Join the club EDI, join the club. What about Shepard and the team? Have you reestablished contact?"

"Yes. I have informed Shepard of what has happened and told him we will exit FTL on the other side of the planet. The collector cruiser has since entered FTL and disappeared, but we cannot risk it coming back to finish the job."

"Great thinking EDI," he fell back against the wall and slid to the ground, shaking his head whilst taking his cap off and picking off bits of dried collector gore. He inhaled and exhaled heavily, unbelieving of what had just happened.

And how pissed Shepard would be when he learned Joker had given EDI control of the full ship. But for what it was worth, he trusted EDI more now and genuinely believed the AI cared about the crew.

They would get them back. It just meant the assault on the collector base was going to happen sooner, rather than later.

{Loading...}

October 5, 2185

1903 hours.

Debriefing Room, Normandy-Class Stealth Frigate CAW Normandy SR-2, In FTL inbound for Omega 4 Relay.

Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Flight Lieutenant Jeff 'Joker' Moreau, First Lieutenant Miranda Lawson, Second Lieutenant Jacob Taylor, Professor Mordin Solus, Chief Engineer Tali'Zorah vas Normandy, Gunnery Master Garrus Vakarian, Staff Commander Kaidan Alenko.

"You lost everyone!?" Miranda yelled as she entered the room, "Everyone!? And you damn near lost the ship too?"

Joker sat ontop of the table, his hands placed infront of him and cupped. EDI's hologram hovered behind him, wanting a part in the conversation. Jacob shook his head while Tali silently spoke with Marcus about the damage to engineering. Garrus stood silent alongside Kaidan while Mordin was examining the hologram of the galactic map that was currently pictured above the conference table.

Joker rolled his eyes and turned to Miranda, frustration on his face, "I know! But why don't you yell at the collectors, huh? Its not like I have some old-gal to look into a crystal ball and tell me collectors are going to abduct the crew. They had us crippled before I even knew what to do!"

"Its not his fault, Miranda," Garrus told her sternly, "None of us would have seen it coming. The collectors played us and we fell right into the trap. There was no distress call from Shiala; it was all fabricated by the collectors lure us onto the planet so they could take the ship without any stern resistance."

Marcus nodded to Tali and walked over to Joker, leaning against the table, right next to him, "That was one hell of a rough ride. How are you holding up?"

Joker shook his head, sighing, "The ship's very empty. Kelly's terminal has noone manning it, the kitchen's empty, same with the med bay, unless you count Madi. There's alot of empty chairs on the flight deck...

EDI was quick to offer reassurane, "We did everything we could, Jeff."

The new name for Joker surprised Marcus but didn't seem to surprise Joker; yet again, the pilot was so deep in self-guilt that he probably didn't pick up on it, "Yeah, thanks mum."

Tali addressed EDI, "Is the ship clean? We can't risk something like this happening again."

Joker nodded in response to her instead, "EDI purged the system. The IFF is harmless now; it fully integrated. We can access the relay whenever you want."

"Don't get me started on unshackling a damned AI..." Miranda growled, crossing her arms.

Tali, to everyone's surprise, came to Joker's defense, "Giving EDI control of the ship saved the ship, Miranda. You should be thanking him, not scolding him. EDI saved the ship."

Joker nodded, "What else was I going to do, anyway? I can't fight collectors; oh, I guess could punch one of them, but that would achieve nothing but a broken fist."

"I assure you that I am still bound my protocols in my programming, but the Illusive Man no longer has direct control over me," the AI told them, "And even if I wasn't, you are my crewmates. Your protection is my priority. I am the Normandy."

Marcus nodded, "EDI's had plenty of opportunities to kill us. I'm going to give her a chance."

"An unshackled AI?" Jacob noted, his tone not incredulous, "I'd say we've got all the tools we need."

Mordin nodded, "Agreed. All that can be done achieved. Attack on relay crucial. Take fight to collectors now. Rescue crew and colonists in swift strike."

Marcus nodded in agreement, "EDI, ETA to the Omega 4 Relay?"

The AI's response was instant, "From current location, three days."

He nodded, turning to the crew, removing his helmet, "Everyone return to your stations; Joker, to the cockpit. I want the Normandy running smoothly by the time we reach the relay. This is it people; the final stretch. Enjoy these last three days as much as you can; when we reach the relay, we're at war. Dismissed."

The crew saluted and left, including Tali. Joker lingered for a moment, but followed with the same salute and left. Marcus sighed and turned to Mordin, "I'm sorry about Lia, Mordin. We'll get her back, I promise."

Mordin nodded in return, "Thank you Shepard. Good student. Most likely terrified. Will be rescued. Confidence in her," with that, the salarian left and EDI's hologram vanished. He sighed as he tossed his helmet onto the table and sighed.

One final stretch. One final boundry. Take one last step, and you'll be over. Go in guns blazing and tear them down. Show the collectors fear. We kill or be killed. The collectors will not win. They dare to take my crew...well, time to show them what happens when you piss me off.

"I remember our first time..."

- Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch.

"As do I."

- Marcus Shepard.

A/N:

Heavy warning; next chapter is almost purely smut. It will most likely also be shorter than usual chapters (possibly below 5,000) and will be purely Tali/Shepard smut along with conversation at the end. You have been warned.

This journey ends my friends. But another begins sooner than you think. ;)

P.S: Reviews! I didn't get any on the last chapter and that's disturbing! Please read AND review when possible! Thanks!