The atmosphere on the Normandy had been tense, especially in the mess hall, where those who anticipated being deployed later were congregated, waiting, their nerves and apprehension charging the air in the most unpleasant way. Cortez was glad to get the Kodiak off the Normandy, which peeled away after making the drop to find somewhere safe to loiter until the rest of the fleets started to arrive.
The airspace around Earth was still, except for the masses of Reapers hanging around. But even they were quiet, almost as if minding their own business since there wasn't much to shoot at.
Not at the moment, anyway.
"Come on, Cortez," Shepard, strapped in as copilot, grinned, knocking a hand on the armrest of her chair as if in reassurance. "This thing's got a stealth drive, and have you ever tried to eyeball a target this small on a deep space backdrop? I think that's a tall order even for the Reapers."
"I have," he answered robustly. The truth was, it was hard to pinpoint a moving object with the naked eye against the backdrop of space unless that object either radiated or reflected light. Light always made things easier to see. "But I've gotta tell you, Captain," and he hated to admit it, "I didn't get the odor eaters under my seat changed out. Of all the things you couldn't get for love or money on the Citadel, and I couldn't find fresh insoles."
The lunacy still bothered him. On the Citadel and no one had basic odor eaters? You could get guns, weapon, drugs, alcohol, all sorts of exotic items, and he couldn't find basic odor eating insoles. He didn't even need a special size, since he wasn't planning on putting them in his boots!
"It's okay. Everyone on board has their own juju." Shepard reached into the thresher maw leather bag she wore on her web belt, then pulled out a chunk of yellow crystal, which she put on the dashboard. "There's always a way out, if you can find it," she said, and retracted her hand, leaving the crystal there. "All the juju we need right there."
Cortez chuckled nervously, glancing at the yellow crystal. He didn't think it worked like that, but…maybe it could. "Fair enough. Thanks, Captain."
Shepard nodded. "Just make sure I get it back."
"Will do."
"Alright, you're away and ground forces have cleared some of those cannons; updating the LZ. Hopefully you'll be able to put down okay. Normandy's going quiet," Joker announced.
Cortez checked the new coordinates. He knew that London was ringed around with massive cannons—being called Hades cannons, though he wasn't sure if 'Hades' needed an apostrophe to indicate ownership. All he did know was that he didn't want to rely solely on the Kodiak's stealth drive once they entered atmo.
He glanced over his shoulder at the cabin, where the entire ground team was packed in and waiting, most of them with tense expressions, wincing at the usual bumps and turbulence.
"Stay safe," Shepard answered.
"Will do, Captain."
"I am really starting to wish we had better guns on this shuttle," Cortez muttered.
"You don't want to be playing door gunner in a place like this," Shepard answered vaguely.
He supposed she would know. "Coming up on the LZ. Weather's awful, and it doesn't look like there's going to be any improvement."
"Awful cold-and-rainy, or chance-of-falling-ordnance?" Shepard asked.
"Rainy with probability of falling ordnance," Cortez responded.
"Shepard," EDI called. "I am in contact with Adm. Anderson. One of the teams he sent to create strategic gaps in London's defenses? It failed in its objective. He wants to know if you will take over. He wishes to reinforce that the more damage to the defensive ring, the easier a time further disembarkations will have."
"Alright, change of plan, people," Shepard announced, unstrapping herself from the copilot's seat and rolling to her feet. "Fortunately, we brought the big guns."
"Anderson has sent me the location," EDI announced.
Cortez's map updated, and he adjusted course accordingly. Behind him, he could hear Shepard moving cases until, "Aha, I knew we had one of these…"
"That's a Cain!" Vega almost squeaked.
"One tactical nuke launcher for Tank," Shepard declared.
"Damn, it's heavy!"
"You've got two shots. Don't waste either."
"Not me, Lola," Vega grinned. Cortez could imagine him caressing the overpowered weapon lovingly. "I'll be the poster boy for responsibility."
Cortez snorted.
"Damn, that does not look good," Alenko muttered, apparently in response to images of the terrain. "That's gonna be hard going if you've gotta do it on foot."
"I'm so sorry, Alenko," Liara offered.
"We'll get it fixed," Alenko answered stoically.
"It's gonna be hot, no matter where I put you down. I'm not seeing any clear spaces, unless I take you further back from the objective," Cortez announced.
"Then drop us in the clearest space you've got. Alenko, Liara, cover us so we can disembark. Javik, you're clear to smash anything that looks at you funny. Vega, don't let that thing put you off your game."
"Yes ma'am," Vega answered, tone suddenly serious.
"Opening the door in three…two…one," Cortez counted down, then winced. No sooner had the door opened than the sound of gunfire became audible.
"We're out!" Tali, apparently the last one to hit the ground, called. "Get out of here!"
Cortez didn't linger, closing the cabin door. His instruments began to screech at him, indicating an airborne presence. He hated Harvesters. He hated them so much…
"You've got airborne hostiles incoming! I'm gonna try to keep them off you!"
He turned the Kodiak tightly, took out the first unit—then the whole ship lurched as something hit him. It felt, as far as he could tell, like something clipped him.
"I'm hit!"
Further impacts like gunfire, and another clip—this time, he hit the Harvester. He was going down, but he might be able to take the Harvester with him, if he could keep it from regaining its bearings…