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Shepard, Wrex, and Kaidan went through a doorway and up a ramp to another level of the Archives. As the doors slid open and they saw the offices and display rooms stretching before them, Wrex whistled. "Think about all the history stored in this place. Must stretch back thousands of years."
"Never took you for a history buff, Wrex," Shepard remarked.
"Yeah, I wasn't much of one, but Bakara's teaching me a few things about the history of the krogan. Makes me wonder where we fit in. Not to mention that crazy Prothean you have on the Normandy. He's almost tough enough to be a krogan."
Through the comms, Shepard heard Javik snort. "I was fighting Reapers when the krogan were still struggling to grow legs."
"Yeah, and I see where it got you, too," Wrex answered. "Straight to the best damn ship in history, that's all."
Shepard was nearly deafened by the whoops of all the company in response to that one. She had to smile. How could anyone surrounded by these amazing people not prevail?
Which brought her thoughts back to their current predicament, and she sighed. "I can't help wondering what … the other me is looking for in here."
"We'll have to ask her later, Commander." Cortez's voice was tense. "We're about to run into some trouble up here."
"Double-time, everyone. Converge on Hammerhead's position!"
They came around a corner to find Steve's team under cover behind desks, trading fire with a bunch of the clone's mercs.
"Eight hundred pound krogan here providing the boom!" Wrex called out, charging into the room.
A loud groan of disappointment came from the mercs' side of the fight. "They've still got the krogan! Will someone please kill him?"
Wrex grinned and plucked the merc out from behind a desk, headbutting him. "Not a chance, princess! Like to see you try, though."
"How many more of these guys are there?" Brooks complained. "My gun's burning my hands."
Meeting Shepard's gaze, Kaidan rolled his eyes and shook his head.
Over the comms, Liara called out merrily, "Just follow Shepard's lead and let the rest of us do the heavy lifting!"
That was it. Shepard stood up, aimed, and shot three times in rapid succession, taking out a merc with each shot. Over the comm, she snapped, "Any time one of you comedians wants to start hitting something, I'm more than ready to let you do some work."
"You go, Lola!" Vega crowed.
The few remaining mercs were shooting more and more half-heartedly. Shepard heard one of them say, "I'm beginning to think we picked the wrong Shepard."
"There's only one Shepard." Garrus picked the complainer off with a clean headshot.
"Attention, low-life mercenary wannabes!" Vega called out. "Say 'please' and we'll accept your surrender."
From the silence that followed, it seemed they were considering it.
"Say 'pretty please' and maybe Wrex will take a break!" Tali added.
"Heh," Wrex chuckled. "For you, I'd consider it."
"Why, thank you, Wrex. I think that's the nicest thing you ever said to me," she responded.
"I'm pretty sure it's the nicest thing he's ever said to anyone," Garrus drawled. "You feeling all right, Wrex?"
"Just bored. Not enough turians in here to shoot."
"What can I say? Turians are too smart to get mixed up with anything but the real Shepard."
Eventually the last couple of mercs surrendered. Brooks stood in the middle of the room, looking at the carnage. "I can't believe we got them all! I mean … the rest of you did." She held up a hand. "I think I have a blister."
"Why did we bring her?" Kaidan whispered.
Shepard was wondering that herself. "It seemed like a good idea at the time?"
"Commander Shepard!" Glyph was hovering in front of her, practically vibrating with excitement. "I have cataloged eighteen previously unknown historical events. Also, the other you is searching for a secret vault. She did not wish to be disturbed."
"A secret vault? What kind of secret vault?"
"Aren't these all secret vaults?" Tali asked.
"That would explain why she was searching for one among many," Liara pointed out. "Glyph, why were you talking to the … clone?"
"I thought she was the Commander."
Shepard clenched her jaw. She'd had about enough of this.
"Commander, a large contingent of soldiers calling themselves the 'Razor Squad' is just ahead," Glyph informed her. "They wish to inflict bodily harm on you. Also, I discovered an elcor mating totem in vault 347B. Fascinating."
Silence followed that particular piece of information as the whole team tried to imagine what that might look like—or tried not to.
"More mercs, Shepard?" Cortez asked. "Where is … the clone getting the money for these guys?"
"They are not particularly skilled. I doubt they are highly paid," EDI said.
Wrex shook his head. "I've fought volus bankers tougher than these guys."
"Still, it's a good question." Liara frowned, and Shepard could tell she was thinking she should have seen this coming. Still, even the Shadow Broker couldn't know everything.
She patted Liara on the shoulder. "Ready for 'Razor Squad', guys? Let's stay sharp. It's always possible she saved the good mercs for last."
"I don't know what you're all complaining about," Brooks said, almost sulkily. "They seem fine to me."
Glances were exchanged, but no one responded to her. They formed in their teams and headed out.
Razor Squad was actually more of a challenge than the previous teams, but still couldn't compare to Shepard's people. Especially not with Glyph bouncing between the mercs trying to sell them on defecting to the Alliance by explaining its benefits and retirement package.
They paused for a breather after that. Shepard knew they needed one, but the farther into the Archives they got, the more she worried about what the clone was doing ahead of them, and what was happening to her ship. Joker was out there, Joker would never let anything happen to the Normandy, but he was only one man—and he had Vrolik's Syndrome. He could be hurt so easily.
"Hey." She looked up to see Garrus standing over her. "He'll be fine. He fought off the Collectors, remember?"
"He had EDI then."
"He has her now. She's only partly here—the rest of her is still in the ship. They haven't cut that off," Garrus said softly. "Now, have some water."
"I'm not—"
He held out a bottle, and obediently she took it and drank it down. It was good, and she did feel better, and Garrus heroically refrained from saying he'd told her so.