"So we're gonna jackrabbit this?" Vega asked, sounding a little nauseated. He looked a little nauseated as everyone regarded the passageway made by the dreadnaught's main gun. The shaft of it ran almost completely through the geth ship, and it was the easiest, fastest way to get to the center of the dreadnought where the signal was originating.
Liara would call it the safest, listening to Tali and EDI discussing how to block or stall the weapon's usage while they were inside the structure, with Shepard, Garrus and Alenko listening intently.
Liara shivered inwardly, her biotics flickering uneasily. They wanted to run through the barrel of a loaded gun. It would be a gauntlet unlike any she'd ever heard or read about! Part of her was excited—this was the sort of problem the Normandy's crew encountered rather frequently, the kind of solution they would come up with—but most of her was horrified.
Liara's heart pounded in her chest as she looked at the weapon shaft through which they were going to… jack-rabbit? What was a jack-rabbit?
"What's a jack-rabbit?" she asked Vega, as the planning session continued.
"Huh? Oh…it's an Earth critter," he answered. "About this big, long ears and big back feet. They move really fast and kind of zig-zag when they run."
Liara failed to see the connection between this Earth animal and the lot of them running through the main gun of this ship.
"Alright!" Shepard's voice brought everyone's attention to her. "EDI is going to activate the main gun's maintenance lock. It'll buy us some time, and hopefully enough time. However, once we're in the shaft, she's calling the shots. She'll know if the geth are close to reacquiring control of the gun, and she'll know what we need to do if they do. EDI, is there anything you'd like to add?"
"It is essential that you understand," EDI began calmly, "although the maintenance lock will be engaged, the weapon will not be inert. There will be a great deal of static energy, and if the geth are fighting me for control of the lock, it is likely to come in pulses. Given the layout of this particular weapon, it would be wise to take cover in the alcoves you will see when the pulses come. They will drain your shields, or damage unshielded organic material. As such, I will take the rearguard position, and alert you if such a pulse is incoming."
"Alright. Tali, you're up front with me. Liara, you and Alenko. Garrus, Javik. Vega, you're rearguard with EDI," Shepard dictated briskly. "Each team, give the other a five-second head start before you enter the shaft, so we don't end up jumbled together in a group too big to take cover. If EDI says take cover, don't try to get to the next alcove—stick to the closest one."
Everyone nodded that they understood.
"Okay, EDI. Say when," Shepard declared, moving to stand beside the entrance to the shaft.
"Now," EDI announced a moment later. Then, as Liara and Alenko took Shepard's and Tali's places, "Team Two." Her word ended at the five second mark.
Liara took off at a sprint and immediately shuddered. She could feel the charge of energy, something like a powerful engine or generator throbbing loudly in the confined space. The whole shaft smelled strongly of something she couldn't quite place. Not the ozone of biotics, but something sharp, synthetic, and unpleasant.
Up ahead, Shepard and Tali, running flat-out, suddenly turned sharply to the left, clearly having reached the end of the passage.
"Cover!" EDI rapped out suddenly, though her voice remained as calm as ever.
Liara and Alenko threw themselves in opposing directions. Alenko was left-handed, Liara remembered. Of course he'd dodge left.
A split second later, a pulse of burning white-blue whooshed through the barrel, crackling and leaving behind more of that sharp synthetic smell. "I still have control of the maintenance lock. Run!" EDI commanded.
Liara darted back into the shaft, packing on as much speed as she could. At the point where Shepard and Tali disappeared, she found a kind of grate over the shaft. It must be, she thought, a focusing mechanism or something for the energy moving through it. A ramp lead off to one side, up, then down a short hall, then back down into the shaft.
Tali and Alenko reentered the shaft at a run, almost immediately pulling into an alcove at EDI's command. Then, after another assurance that she still had control of the gun, they sprinted through the next segment.
Liara's chest ached, her lungs burned. She hadn't thought herself out of shape, but apparently sustained running was something she needed to work on! Up ahead, she could see Shepard and Tali again, Shepard with one hand on Tali's arm as if to steady her.
Another path around another piece of unidentifiable technology.
"There are three segments to the shaft, you are in the final stretch. Exit is on the left," EDI announced over Liara's radio.
Liara and Alenko reached it, Garrus and Javik arriving a moment later. Garrus didn't even look winded, Liara thought grimly, as the team clustered on the ramp, waiting for the rest of the team.
"Shepard. I have lost control of the gun."
"Are you and Vega getting close?" Shepard demanded, shifting her weight from foot to foot in agitation as the shaft suddenly lit up, blue light flashing.
Discreetly, Alenko turned away from it, covering his eyes with one hand.
It wasn't much, but it was the most she could do. Liara took him by the arm. "I'm going to walk you up the ramp, then help you keep watch," she announced, knowing about Alenko's migraines, and that the way the lights now flared and pulsed would undoubtedly send him plunging into one if he had to stand around and watch for long.
They did not need that complication any more than he did. Not here. Not now.
"Thanks," Alenko answered quietly.