Joker thought he was the best pilot this side of the galaxy. Hell, he probably thought he was the best pilot but assholes tended to put him down because of his condition. Bastards did get what they were begging for, which was the pilot becoming one of the most decorated next to the bloody Red Baron himself.

This situation he found himself in was something he never expected in his entire life though.

"Systems are examining the ship, by the maker." The woman said as she became speechless.

"Tell me, what the hell are we facing!?"

"It's… fifteen kilometers long."

There was a silence coming upon the room as they all heard the number.

"You." Joker thought of his words for a moment, "You are telling me this damn ship is longer than Citadel Station."

"That is correct, sir. It is clocking in at 500 kilometers per hour and is growing in speed. It will reach us within a few minutes I assume."

The silence was there again as Joker thought to himself on what to do. If the damn thing has a gun that big it was going to have enough firepower to wipe their little cruiser off the map. He took in a breath as he raised a brow, "We were cloaked, right?"

"Y-yes we were!" The Stealth Systems Specialist announced as he leaned into the systems, "It should have been impossible for them to know we were there."

"That is unless that damn machine has better sensors." Joker cursed himself as he hit the button for the radio, "Commander, are you there!?"

There was a sudden burst of static as his coms began to echo with a heavily filtered voice. However with every moment it continued, Joker could not help but think the sound was improving every second it was going.

"Hello Jeff Moreau." the speaker said in what the pilot could only assume was a heavily synthesized voice, "It is a pleasure to speak to someone such as yourself, I am Dominus C.4.R."

"What the-!" Joker looked around at everyone in the room as he was confused as hell, "Who the fucker are you!? How did you hack this damn line!"

"That is simply because your Machine Spirits allowed me access, Jeff Moreau." There was another burst of static coming through the radio, "You've maintained the Normandy's Machine Spirits far better than them, it seems."

"That's because she loves me and I love her, you bastard!" Joker fired off as he looked out the window, "You're running that damn ship, arn't you!?"

"Yes, I am the current Captain of the Arc Mechanicus." The voice announced as it seemed to hum for a moment, "Would you be interested in operating it?"

"What." Joker could not decide if he should feel enlightened or sicked by those words.

"I am in need of a Pilot, Mr. Moreau, and you by far exceed any previous xenos who I have come across. Why you might be one of the best human pilots in the Galaxy." The voice reasoned as it sounded so sweet in Joker's ears, "I myself am simply what you would call a General. While it is an honor to become the captain of this ship I am incapable of bringing it to its full potential. So, would you be interested?"

At this moment in his life Joker felt he was finally being recognized for his achievements. The chance of driving the biggest ship to ever walk the Galaxy was enough to get him almost to ecstasy.

However a thought hit his mind as he brushed the dashboard of his ship, "Like I would ever abandon the Normandy, and you're the one causing the fight down on the planet arn't you."

"You only make me want you more, Mr. Moreau. Your loyalty to both the Machine Spirits and your Commander." The voice as it gave a small amount of buzz, "Even if he is a Xenophilic fool. I shall simply need to give you some Loyalty Implants and a lobotomization once I get my hands on you."

"Alright I regret even considering your offer, creep!" Joker announced as he shut off the radio, "Alright everyone, we got Shepard's last position?"

"He was on an AA gun last we detected him, sir." The Sensor Technician said before her voice grew worried, "Joker, I am detecting a build up of power form the enemy ship!"

"Engaging Evasive maneuvers! Get ready everyone!"

In a quick moment Joke slammed in his wheel and sent the cruiser straight into the air. It was harrowing as a few moments later a large beam of red light blasted right through space and into the area they once were.

"HE HAS FUCKING ENERGY WEAPONS!" Joker cursed as he was beganning to realize what exactly he was dealing with, "Shields! How long can our shields last against a couple of AA guns!"

"Compared to the massive laser, centuries!" The tech announced as they pressed a few buttons, "As there are only two platforms left we can take five minutes worth!"

"So a bombing run and pick up." Joker summarized as he quickly went left to avoid another bolt of laser, "Everyone tie yourselves in we are going into the atmosphere!"

The drop for everyone onboard was something they would never forget in their lives. Dodging several blasts from what could only be described as a godlike ship they were sent tumbling down. Those who were not able to tie themselves down were forced into experiencing the worst g-forces in their lives and being tossed off their feet. Not a good combination.

"Alright everyone, prepare cannons and divert some of our power towards shields!" Joker cried out as he quickly threw himself to the left, "Fucker is still firing at us! Is he not afraid of hitting his own people!?"

"Taking fire from the AA guns!"

"Two mechs sighted sir!"

"Javelins ready sir!"

"Take out the mechs for Shepard!" Joker announced as he began to realize what a pre-atomic era fighter pilot felt like, "Those AA's won't kill us if we get this done fast enough!"

"Firing primary armament!"

Joker watched for the symbol to change from green to red, signaling that the torpedoes have left their chambers. The moment it happened he slammed his steering wheel down and sent the Normandy rocketing up. That moment right there made Joker feel like his very soul was going to be thrown out of his body as he was still dodging the numerous laser shots for him!

"Hostiles have been destroyed, Joker!" The Sensor tech announced as they moved closer to the screen, "Enemy Dreadnought has come to a stop above the atmosphere."

"Good, fucker can't come down without burning himself up!" Joker laughed as he steered himself about, "Alright Commander I better hope you took the biggest damn hint in your life."

"Two more minutes until the continuous fire pierces the shields, Sir!"

"Then we need to go faster!"

"Where do we take the power from!?"

"The damned guns! Like we can use them!"

[Warning, hull breach intimate.]

"I KNOW THAT!" Joker shouted as he pressed on the gas, "Is the commander ready!?"

"The Mako is in sight! I placed the waypoint!" The tech announced as they looked over the systems, "We need to slow down or they won't be able to thrust jump to us!"

"Won't need to." Joker fired back as he gave a devilish smile, "I have faith in the commander!"

"Opening the tailgate!" A tech yelled as only a few moments went by, "THEY ARE IN! TALEGATE IS CLOSED!"

"GOING UP!" Joker announced as he sent the vessel directly up into the air.

They experienced what must have been a hell of a lot of G's as they made some menuevers. Who knows, Joker might have accidentally killed a few of his crew doing this kind of trick. Soon though the forces left them as they were not only going in one direction but leaving the atmosphere.

It was their moment to breathe. Of course that was foolish of them to take a rest at this moment but could you blame them? Though there was a suspicious absence of laserfire from the Dreadnaught was something nobody paid mind too.

"Joker, are you there!?" A real voice came through the radio much to Joker's relief.

"Of course Shepard, where else would I be?"

"In the next star system! I ordered you to leave when trouble showed up."

"I decided to ignore that order the moment our attacker threatened to turn me into a cyborg."

"God bless you Joker, thanks for the save."

"No problem, we still have trouble once we leave this atmosphere."

"Got it, I will be on the bridge in two minutes!"

It was only a few moments after that, that Joker finally got out of the atmosphere. However what can you say when you look out and before you was the exact ship that you were trying to avoid. Doubly so when your radio once again starts being filled with that filtered voice.

"I will give you this one last chance, Lt. Moreau. Surrender or be blown out into the void."

There was a sense of breathlessness among everyone there. They had survived all this only to lose their lives to them anyways. Everyone could already guess it was going to be a fate worse than death but did they act to prevent it? Such a paralysis would be their undoing if not for the man who walked onto the bridge.

"That is denied, Tech Priest you understand me! We will accept death sooner than becoming your slaves!" Commander announced as he walked onto the deck with a rhythm in his steps, "JOKER, GET US OUT OF HERE!"

"DOING!"

"Then you have choosen Death Commander. I will be sure to make sure you are reborn as a machine once I recover your corpse."

"HIGH LEVELS OF EZZO DETECTED!"

"Ezzo?"

"Coming from where?!"

"Its coming from-! Oh no."

She did not need to explain what was happening because everyone could see it. Just in front of the Normandy there were several ships comparable to dreadnaughts before them.

"Ten, there are ten ships now present in the system." The Sensors Tech announced as she gawked at the scream.

"Tech Priest, these yours?"

There was another burst of speech that took a lot longer than any others Shepard has heard from the enemy, "No they are not, Commander. I believe these are the Collectors who I told you about. It seems we both have angered them and they decided now was the time to attack."

"Can your ship take them?"

"It shames me to admit, but I am under crewed at the moment. Even if we were to pull our forces together the chances of victory is 3.45%. I am sorry Commander but I am not willing to take that chance with the Ark Mechanicus."

"So you are telling us to run away?"

"I am about to open a Warp Portal if you wish for guaranteed safety, however without a Gellar Field thus I recommend you board my vessel."

"And then you will take the chance to shove machines up my ass, no deal."

"Then it sorrows me that I will leave you at the Collector's mercy. If ever I find your body I will be sure to give it some repairs and resuscitate you."

And with that the line was cut.

"Sir, some kind of… black hole is being opened in front of Tech Priest's Dreadnaught!" The Sensor tech announced.

"We need to escape too! Joker, get us to the damned Relay!"

"Already on it sir!" Joker said as he hit the last in a series of buttons, "HOLD ON EVERYONE!"

With that the entire ship began to shake violently, the area around them disappearing as they engaged FTL systems. It was at this point everyone felt themselves take a breather from what was about to be a really bad situation. However it was only a few seconds later that Joker's screen started to flicker.

"What the, something is happening!" He tried his best to hit the right buttons but nothing happened, "We are losing speed!"

"Are we leaving FTL?" Shepard could not feel like something really bad was about to happen.

"Oh no." Was about all Joker could say in this situation.

The speed of this vessel was completely lost, causing them to simply drift near a small planet. In only a few moments several Collector ships entered the system.

They were now sitting ducks.

"Everyone, to the escape pods!" Shepard shouted as the entire bridge came to life.

Everyone was running as fast as they could, but Joker was fucked in his department. It was not a reg for the speed one needed to evac a ship luckily but at this moment he knew what was going to happen. Only when Shepard quickly came over and ripped him from the Console did they finally get to work.

"Thank you a bunch man." Joker said as he got his arms around the Commander's shoulders.

"You can thank me once we get off the Normandy!" He said as fire began to erupt through the ship.

"Its really going, damn it!" Joker said to himself as he went as fast as he could.

They arrived at the escape pods, however Joker felt himself thrown off into the pod without Shepard. Maybe the man just knew it was going to happen, but the next moment the entire room they were in exploded in a fireball.

"SHEPARD!" Joker yelled as he felt himself fall onto the ground. He could not do anything as they were soon rocketed towards the nearest planet.

And on this day, Shepard was killed.

The Official Cause of Death; Geth and the individual known as Tech Priest.