Vega watched with relief as the Kodiak appeared, winding down towards them. And, just as good, comms were back up.
"Dorn? Dorn! This is Zaal'Koris. Come Are you there? Come in!" The admiral's voice wasn't panicky, just strained.
"This is Lt. Vega, SSV Normandy, Admiral," Vega announced, feeling a bit odd. "Dorn didn't make it."
There was a pause, as if the Admiral winced and considered the loss in silence. "…I see."
Not much else to say, really. Fortunately, there was business to conduct. "What's your location, Admiral? We're coming in with a shuttle." Which Cortez landed almost on cue. There was something reassuring about climbing into the Kodiak; it meant Stage One was over and successfully at that.
"My surviving crew has found their way to a clearing."
Meaning Dorn's attempt to buy them some time had been somewhat successful.
"I'll upload their location."
"Stay together," Vega said as Cortez gave the thumbs-up and lifted the shuttle. "We'll bring the shuttle around and pick you up."
"Curbside service at its finest," Cortez noted quietly.
Vega grinned at the back of the pilot's head. True, every word true.
"No," the admiral answered, a fatalistic note in his voice that Vega didn't like. "The geth have cut me off, and I hear another wave approaching."
Vega shot out a hand, tapped Cortez's chair. When Cortez turned, he mouthed 'wait a sec' to which Cortez nodded.
"We've got a bigass gun on this shuttle." He waved for Garrus' attention, then unfolded the gun which slid into place.
The turian studied the weapon for a few moments, then stepped behind it, fastening the anchor strap into place.
"Give us your coordinates, Admiral." It was feeling a bit like Fehl Prime all over again. Fortunately, this time he had fallback.
"Leave me. My crew will soon be overrun."
Vega muted the channel. "Change of plan, EDI. I need you to take the spare shuttle and pick up the civilians. Tap Dr. Chakwas, in case they have injuries. And…" Vega paused, wondering who was available. Not Javik… "Campbell and Westmoreland—you'll need extra hands."
Garrus nodded approvingly.
"Understood," EDI answered.
"So will you," Vega said, un-muting the line to Koris.
Fresh gunfire on Koris' end made Vega tense. "My people are noncombatants! They'll be slaughtered—rescue them!"
For a moment Vega considered telling Koris they had a rescue already underway, but didn't. Just in case EDI's team was too late. Better not to get the guy's hopes up only to have them crushed; the galaxy was pretty perverse that way. "Negative, Admiral. My job is to get you off this rock and back to the Flotilla. The Civilian Fleet's dead in the water without you."
"Civilians…our entire race took up arms for this insanity. It's too late for us."
Vega saw red. Then he saw blank, which wasn't a color but which definitely filled his head at that moment. "The hell did you just say to me?" Vega snarled. The idea that this admiral—one of two sane ones on the Admiralty Board—wanted to lie down and quit when the fight wasn't over…when people were still trying to make this work…made him want to throw something.
Giving up wasn't an option. Not getting Koris' idiot ass out of this mess wasn't an option either—they needed him, his fleet needed him because Vega had the nasty feeling that without a unifying voice the civilians would panic and scatter like chickens.
When he spoke, it was low and intense with the effort of not wasting time by saying everything that was on his mind. "Shepard's busting her ass to pull your people's out of the fire, and my team's about to get our asses riddled with geth slugs to come get your ass and you're telling me you're just gonna give up? What the hell kind of Admiral are you, quitting when it gets tough?"
"I'm a realist—"
"Bullshit! You think the Civilian Fleet's going to have one guy to step up and take your place, pull things together? No, they're gonna have however many dozen captains each doing his own thing without coordinating with the others. Some are gonna run, some are gonna stay and those deaths will be all on you if you don't upload your damn coordinates!"
So much for his resolution not to shout.
Silence, except for more pop-pops of gunfire. Then, just when Vega felt that further application of guilt was needed…
"Ancestors forgive me," Koris almost whispered.
"I've got his location!" Cortez called. "Taking us…uh-oh."
"What's uh-oh?" Vega demanded. "I really don't wanna hear 'uh-oh' today, Steve!"
"I've got Shepard on the line!" he hissed. "Captain! Aw, dammit…"
Vega's radio coughed, indicating a separate link. "Team Two?" he asked, hopefully.
"It's Westmoreland, El-Tee. We're underway. EDI's driving, and thinks she found us a safe, fast way in. We've got Javik on the door gun."
"Don't let him push you around," Vega advised.
"If he tries, Doc'll give him the evil eye—we'll be fine." Her chuckle was brittle with nerves.
"I'm fine! Sorry, Captain, I'm in the middle of a rescue mission…" Cortez sounded wrung over it.
"Contact!" Garrus barked, the door gun exploding into life.
"Good. Let me know if the situation changes." Vega's stomach lurched, but he pushed the sensation down. The Kodiak had weapons and the door gun, and Garrus knew his way around both. Tali knelt near him, though they weren't close enough for her shotgun to be effective.
"Roger that!"
"We're picking up Admiral Koris, his ship went down…alright. Okay…are you sure? Yes ma'am. Will do." Cortez didn't turn around, his tone tense. "Shepard says she's withdrawing to a safer location to wait for us. She seems to think her team will be okay until we can get to her."
"Then let's get this pendejo Admiral." Maybe Shepard would yell at Koris a bit once she heard what kind of stupid he'd been infected with.
"We're setting a speed record," Cortez assured him.