Naturally, storming the dreadnought wasn't as easy as the plan had indicated it would be. Eventually Shepard ended up having to get in on her own, with Joker in her ear the whole time asking her if she minded soloing the thing and complaining that the geth were going to see her through all their nonexistent windows. She appreciated Joker's sense of humor, but sometimes she wished he came with a mute button.

At last she managed to get Tali and Kaidan on board, and they worked out a way to get to the central drive core and disable the dreadnought. Shepard took point, while Tali and Kaidan strolled along behind her and talked tech.

"Nexus shield enhancements are years behind the curve!" she heard Kaidan exclaim.

"That's why you overclock the microframe," Tali replied smugly.

At that point, Shepard turned to them both. "Do you two mind? I'd like to get off this thing eventually."

"Sorry, Shepard."

"On it, Shepard."

The geth figured out they were there relatively quickly, and sent successive waves of units to stop their progress. Given Shepard's overall moodiness in recent weeks, it was something of a relief to be back to shooting geth again. With Tali and Kaidan at her back, it was a lot like simpler times. Who would ever have imagined she'd miss the days when geth were all she had to worry about?

Kaidan caught up to her as they moved through the dreadnought. "Geth," he said, shaking his head. "Who would have thought? I certainly could have lived happily without coming face-to-face with another one of those."

"They're not all bad," Shepard argued. She wondered where Legion was these days, and what it was up to.

As it turned out, she didn't have to wonder for long. Legion had gotten itself captured by its fellow geth, and it was being used to power the Reaper signal coming from the dreadnought. Kaidan wanted to shoot it, but Tali and Shepard stopped him.

"Do you really think you can trust this thing?" Kaidan asked skeptically.

"Yes. Yes, I do." She couldn't have said why, but she believed Legion was more than a simple machine. Just as she believed EDI was more than a simple machine. "Legion, how did this happen?" she asked him as Tali was working out how to get him free without causing the ship to melt down with all of them on it. "I thought we dealt with the heretics."

"We did, Shepard-Commander," Legion confirmed. "The creators attacked. The geth wished to live. The Old Machines extended an offer."

"Simple as that?" Kaidan asked. "They signed on with the Reapers to save themselves?"

Shepard shrugged. "Is that any different than someone who's indoctrinated, or who does desperate things to stay alive?"

"Nothing excuses an alliance with the Reapers!" Tali argued. "They could have found another way."

"Creator Tali'Zorah, if there had been no attack, the alliance would have been unnecessary," Legion reminded her.

"I know. I know, all right? I argued against this attack. Damn it, I begged them to negotiate!"

"Then you did all you could do." As Legion spoke, the bonds holding it released, and it dropped lightly to the ground. Without wasting a moment, it went to a nearby terminal, typing rapidly.

"What's going on?" Kaidan asked.

Before Shepard could venture a reply, Legion turned to them. "Shepard-Commander. The Reaper signal has been stopped, and the dreadnought's defenses have been disabled. It only remains to leave the ship and return to the Normandy."

"You're coming with us, Legion?"

"Yes."

"That's good news," Shepard said. They hurried through the ship back the way they had come. A strange sound began, as though something was hitting the hull.

"Shepard-Commander," Legion said.

"What is it, Legion?"

"The creator fleet is firing upon this vessel."

"No. They wouldn't!" Anger rose in Shepard, because of course they would. Koris wouldn't waste a second.

Not bothering to argue with her, Legion pointed out, "Without barriers, this ship will be detroyed. We must evacuate."

"All right, Legion, you get us out of here while I try to raise the fleet." She punched the button in her comm. "This is Commander Shepard! Stop attacking the geth dreadnought! We are still aboard. I repeat: We are still aboard the geth dreadnought!"

Static. Then Admiral Koris's voice came through. "We can't waste this chance, Commander. Heavy Fleet, all forward. Take out the dreadnought!"

"Damn it, Koris!"

But it was no use. He wasn't listening. Shepard hoped Raan had gotten the civilians out of harm's way through the mass relay, but for the moment she was mostly concerned with getting herself and her people off this damned dreadnought.

"Legion, how far to the escape pods?"

"There are no escape pods, Shepard-Commander."

"Then what the hell are we doing?"

"We are going to utilize a fighter."

"Great. Let's get there!"

Eventually, they managed to pile into a fighter—a tight squeeze, since geth fighters were really only designed for a single machine unit. With Legion at the controls, the rest of them were stuck in the storage compartment.

Shepard hit her comm link. "Joker, we're getting out of here in a geth fighter. Think you can find us before someone shoots us to hell?"

"I'll do my best, Commander. Say, are we okay with the quarians trying to blow up a ship with you still on it?"

"We are not," she ground out between clenched teeth.

"That's what I figured. Wouldn't want to be them when you get back here. See you soon, Commander."

"Shepard, I had almost forgotten what this is like," Tali said. "Never a dull moment."

"I wouldn't mind a few dull moments here and there," Shepard told her. "Or maybe more than a few."

She felt Kaidan's gloved hand squeeze hers, and was grateful for the reminder that there was some measure of peace and happiness to be found, even in the midst of all this chaos.