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Despite a couple of hairy moments, Shepard, Kaidan, and Javik were able to repel the Reaper forces' attack. As soon as the last one was down, Shepard hurried to Cortez's side. "Status report, Lieutenant."
"Not great, Commander. I think I can get her in the air again, but if it was that easy, none of these ships would still be here." He gestured to the ocean surrounding them and the many wrecks floating on its surface. "And there's no chance I feel comfortable using this to dive down to wherever Leviathan might be."
"If we can't dive, we can't find Leviathan, and this whole trip will be for nothing." Shepard was infuriated. She walked to the edge of the ship and looked down into the water. What she had come for was so close, and yet she couldn't get there—and if she couldn't get there, not only would she not be able to gain the ally she sought, she wouldn't be able to get off this water-logged planet, and they would all starve to death. Or drown.
Fury swept through her. That was not going to happen. She was Commander J.R. Shepard, and she ate crises like this one for breakfast.
For a moment, she imagined Thane teasing her with just such a comment, as he had many times, and she smiled. Perhaps she was thinking melodramatically, but it was surprising how often refusing to accept defeat had worked for her in the past.
"Cortez!" she snapped. "Options."
He frowned, looking around the ship. "Wait, hang on." Squinting through the spitting rain, he approached a closed compartment, using his sleeve to rub a space clear on the window. "Commander! There's a mech in here. Must be a diving mech; makes no sense for it to be anything else, not located on the bridge of a ship like this."
Between them, they managed to break open the compartment door, and Cortez moved inside to study the mech more closely.
"I was right," he said to Shepard as she joined him. "This thing is rigged for diving. It's old," he added in response to her doubtful look, "but not as old as you might think." He circled it, nodding to himself. "It's a Triton model. Military grade, repurposed for deep-sea exploration. And not too corroded by the sea water. I think you should be good to go."
Shepard took a moment to consider the risk she was taking. But she trusted Cortez—his word on transport had never failed her before—and, really, she had little other choice. "Well, if that's what we have to do, let's get started."
"Wait a minute, here," Kaidan objected. "Are we seriously considering—"
Over her shoulder, Shepard looked at him sharply, and he stopped.
"It appears that we are," Javik concluded. He stepped closer to Shepard, looking uncharacteristically concerned. "Commander, risk is rarely a hindrance, but this plan … even I would hesitate."
"If we're going to get off this planet, I have to talk to Leviathan. I can't do that without going down there, and I can't go down there without this mech. If either of you have a better idea, I'm all ears." They were both silent, and she nodded crisply.
Cortez had been studying the mech more closely, doing a full diagnostic check on its systems, while they talked. "Okay, seals check out. Oxygen pressure is nominal. Systems are a go. It's as ready as I can make it, Commander."
"All right. Let's go." Shepard waited as Cortez opened the hatch of the mech, and then climbed inside. It was surprisingly roomy and comfortable, and she settled herself into the seat, familiarizing herself with the controls.
Kaidan came to stand in front of her, his brown eyes troubled as he looked up at her. "Shepard …"
"I'll be fine," she assured him. She didn't dare think any other way. To not be fine would be to fail. To fail would be to lose the war, to know that everyone she loved, everyone in the galaxy, was going to be food for the Reapers. And she simply could not consider that, not and do her job properly.
Seeming to understand that, Kaidan nodded and backed away without another word.
"Reaper forces incoming!" Cortez shouted. "If you're going, Commander, you need to go now!"
Kaidan and Javik looked at each other and pulled their weapons, readying for the next attack. Shepard closed the hatch of the mech and started it on its ponderous journey to the side of the ship, agonizing at every slow step it took. For a moment, she paused just at the edge of the deck. If she leaped, she had no idea how she was going to get back. If she was going to get back.
But there was no other choice. Putting her hand on the throttle, she took that last step and felt the weightlessness as the mech hit the water and began to descend beneath its surface.
Behind him, Kaidan heard the splash as the mech left the ship. He controlled the urge to turn and look, to watch Shepard disappear into the depths of this unknown ocean. She was right—she had no other choice. He had to trust her to know what she was doing, to be able to reach Leviathan, to come back to him. Any other future was unthinkable.
And would likely be very short, he thought, aiming at a husk and watching as its head exploded with the impact of his bullet. Next to him, Javik was putting slug after slug into an oncoming brute, and behind them Kaidan could hear shots as Cortez maintained a perimeter around the shuttle.
This was their job—repel the Reapers, keep the shuttle safe, give Cortez as much time as they could to repair it. Beyond that, Kaidan dare not think.