Chapter 12: My Name Was Jane
I can't… I can't remember what my name was. My real name. My first name. Before all of this shit started. My gods, what was my name? Stacey. Amber. Stephanie. Jessica. Mark. Mila. The fragmented voices started rising to the surface, speaking their long dead names to the essence. Clawing and fighting, struggling to assert themselves; to be the 'real' Shepard. No, no, no, shut up! My name. Me. The first. The one that has held your asses together to try to stop this crap. The one that every last one of you failed. That we failed. I failed. Kristen. David. Hannah. Rose Marie. John. Ellana. No, stop it. I said shut up! Brooke. Casey. Angela. Kelley. Elisabeth. Carson. Lilith. SHUT UP!
Shepard winced and said, "Jane."
"What was that, Commander?" Joker asked from his pilot's chair.
Shepard turned her head, "What was what?"
"What did you just say?" Joker looked at Shepard like she was completely thick.
"I didn't say anything," she said.
"Uhhh, yeah you did," Joker insisted.
Shepard raised a shoulder, "I don't know. I must have been thinking out loud."
Joker shrugged and Shepard returned to staring at the streaks of light as the Normandy flew at FTL speeds.
Jane. The other voices quieted as the alpha examined the word. Jane. Jane. Yes, that was it. My name was Jane… and you Dawn, just said my name. Say it again. Jane. Say Jane. Sarah. Nathan. Falon. Hedda. Adrienne. Anna. No, shut up. I'm not talking to you. Stop it; she doesn't need to hear you. She needs to hear me. We are you. Shhhh. You'll confuse her. Dawn. We'll confuse Dawn. We need to make her listen. Desmond. Ruby. Ayo. Caroline. Stop, please stop.
It took an hour for Jane to reassert herself and make the other voices stop saying their names. Dawn, it's been days and days. You're not going where you need to go. You're avoiding Feros and Virmire. You haven't even thought of Ilos yet. You've dealt with 'Father Kyle' and his biotic cultists. The rachni swarms at the listening posts. Heard your first news about Cerberus. Learned they were behind the rachni you found outside of Noveria. Blew up the station. Now we're headed to the Hydra system to check out reports of 'strange activity'. Come on, Shepard. We need to be going to Feros. Feros. Feros. Feros. Shut up! She's not going to listen. Yes she will, now be quiet.
I showed you the Illusive Man, but you pushed him away just the same as you did when I showed you Thane. I can hear you. I hear your brain tick, tick, ticking away. You think you're crazy but you're not crazy. Not crazy. Are we crazy? Shhh. Just not alone in here, Dawn. You haven't breathed a word of what you saw when you looked at Nassana to anyone. Thane, Jack, Mordin and you know they're real. I can feel it. I can hear you. You know they're real but you don't want to try to search for their names, you're afraid you'll be wrong. You're afraid you'll be right. They would all be near impossible to find anyway.
Dr. Chakwas and Liara spend days researching this. Spent days discussing what prothean technology is capable of and they think it is possible that I am just a side effect of the beacon. Maybe I am. Maybe that's what has kept me alive. Are we alive? Shhh. Could it be the beacon? Maybe that makes more sense than a Cerberus fuck up. It did happen earlier, so much closer to where I keep starting over again. But that wouldn't mean that we're not real. Doesn't mean that we haven't kept doing this over and over again. You haven't written about it in your logs. I know you think it can't just be the beacon, and you're right. Even if the beacon did do this to me I refuse to believe that I am just some echo caused by a bad transmission. I still think, react to new situations. Don't we? We're alive. Well, maybe. Depends on how life is really defined, one of the less confused voices said. Not alive, still another added their opinion. Shhh. Died in space and burned to ashes on the Citadel. Shh, be quiet. It hurt. Oh gods it hurt. It hurt. It hurt. The others were getting restless once more; pushing themselves forward and making Jane hear them. I know! OK, damn it, I know! I went though it too and I was there with each and every fucking one of you as you relieved it so don't you fucking tell me about how bad it hurt. Dawn Shepard. Remember her? The one who is living all this crap and headed towards those same deaths right now? Can you all please try to keep it down so I can talk to her now? Jane refocused her efforts on breaking through to Shepard. So if you don't believe it's the beacon try to understand instead what it really is… try to reach out and find me. I'm here, Dawn. Please find me.
Shepard stood and patted Joker lightly on his shoulder. She had taken to doing that every time she left the cockpit and noticed that he was coming to expect it from her. He wasn't tensing up anymore at all and she thought that maybe he welcomed it in his own way.
Where are we going, Dawn? Oh, to talk to Ashley. Why? Why are we going to talk to Ashley? We need to go to Feros and Virmire if you want to hear Ilos. Let's go to the map instead, Dawn. Go to the map. Change destinations. The map, Dawn. Go. To. The. Map. THE MAP!
Shepard rubbed at her temple while she waited for the door in front of her to slide open. She was going to have to ask Dr. Chakwas for another one of those patches soon. The door opened and she made her way down the stairs and to the elevator.
Damn. OK, no, this is OK. I can work with this. We remember this. That voice. One of her sisters. She's watching vid mail from one of her sisters, Sarah. That one's name is Sarah. My name is Sarah. I know. I'm not talking about you, though. I'm talking about Ashley's sisters. Abby, Lynn, and Sarah.
Abby, Lynn, and Sarah. The names rose unbidden to Shepard's mind causing her to falter in her steps. Ah, good. She heard a young woman's voice coming through Ashley's omni-tool. She hesitated, not wanting to interrupt but Ashley turned and saw Shepard standing there.
"Oh, before I go. We saw Kaidan in a news vid about the Normandy. He's cute. Later, sis," the voice from Ashley's omni-tool said.
Ashley blushed, "Let's pretend this never happened."
"The damage is done, Williams," Shepard teased.
"Oh, shoot me now," Ashley said hanging her head. "One of my sisters. That's Sarah. The youngest. What's up? You didn't come by to eavesdrop on family mail."
"Sarah?" Shepard asked as her mouth went dry.
"Yeah, I have three sisters. I'm the oldest, then Abby, then Lynn. Sarah's the youngest," Ashley said with a proud smile.
Shepard cleared her throat, "Oh. That must be nice. Tell me about them."
Ashley started to tell Shepard about her family and how difficult it was for her dad raising four daughters. Shepard tried to stay focused on what Ashley was telling her but her mind was racing in a million different directions.
Finally. No denying that one. It's right in front of you, you heard it from her mouth. From her mouth. I heard so much from the mouth. I remember the taste of that mouth. The things she can do with that mouth. Jane ignored the voices rising up again. Good. OK, what else? She's going to tell you about Sarah's boyfriend. Idiot tried to force himself on Sarah and got his ass handed to him.
"Yeah. 'Course, if he didn't ask at all, I'd wonder if he thought Sarah was ugly. Damned if you do, damned if you don't. Mike thought they'd go for a romantic walk in the woods. 'Cause he figured it was past time they did the deed," Ashley said.
"Let me guess, Sarah handed him his ass?" Shepard asked even as a part of her desperately hoped Ashley would say no.
"Yeah! How'd you guess?" asked Ashley.
Shepard shrugged, "She is your sister."
Ashley laughed, "Right. Yeah, so she levered Mike face-first into a tree and left. Didn't have a scratch on her. Good thing Mom and Dad had us all learn some kind of self-defense. I took emergency leave and walked Sar to school for a few days."
Where is this coming from? Why is this happening to me? What the hell am I supposed to do with this shit? She was not going crazy. And she was definitely not a psychic. Certainly not. Probably not. Could she be a psychic? Is that really a thing? Shepard shoved the thoughts away.
You have got to be fucking kidding me! How can you even try to deny that? Why are you pushing this away? Believe and stop fighting. No, no, no. I have not gone through this shit this many times to finally make some progress and have you shut me down.
Liara suggested meditation. Not really our thing, I know, but isn't it worth a try. Maybe I can reach you better if your mind is quiet and calm. Like in the dreams. We leak through in your dreams. You keep forgetting them, though. Would meditation be enough like sleep for us to leak through, but enough like consciousness that you remember? What? No, stop that. You are not hallucinating. I am not a fucking hallucination. Do not talk to Dr. Chakwas about this. Jane rallied against the fears rushing through Shepard's mind.
She's talking about her granddad now. General Williams, he surrendered to the turians during the First Contact War. He got a lot of shit for it, and being his granddaughter, so has she. It's bullshit, really. She can't be blamed for something he did; the Alliance should have given her the chance to prove herself. Hell, even he really got the short end of things. There wasn't a lot else he could do at that point. Working with you though, if she survives Virmire, she'll make it to the top. She'll fight tooth and nail for it, and she'll be given Spectre status as well. If she doesn't survive, Kaidan will be the next human Spectre.
"ETA twenty minutes, Commander," Joker's voice came over the comm.
Wait, where are we going? Oh, right, Hydra system. Strange activity. You're going to get a distress call. Something about a med transport ship that made an emergency landing and needs assistance. Hydra. Hydra. Hydra. Jane flicked through her memories and the memories of countless others pulling forward the ones that most closely matched the events that Shepard had already experienced and filtering out the events that occurred for this particular mission. Why do the enemies change? Sometimes there are more of them, sometimes less. Sometimes they're stronger, sometimes weaker. There, those. These match up. Right, right, geth trap I remember. Couple of armatures, couple of rocket drones, and three rocket troopers. Shouldn't be too difficult. Hot planet, will need to stay inside of the Mako. I didn't stay inside the Mako. I know, you got out and took them out with your own guns. Better to stay in the Mako. It's faster, more efficient and less chance of being cooked inside of her armor.
Yeah, of course you have to check out every little blip on your radar. It's not like we have more important things to be doing or anything. Heaven forbid we miss a gold deposit here and there.
OK, here we are. Geth trap.
"This is a trap. I can feel it," Shepard said as she surveyed the area stretching out in front of the Mako.
The signal was coming from something just straight ahead. She had stopped the Mako when she got a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. That same feeling she always got when she knew she was walking into a trap.
"Yeah, I've got a bad feeling about this," Garrus said.
"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go ruin someone's day," said Wrex.
Shepard accelerated the Mako forward slowly, waiting for the trap to spring.
Two armatures, they'll be there and there. The rocket troopers, three of them, will come up there, there, and there. The two rocket drones will come up there and they'll move as one. Best cover is there, there, and over there on the other side of where the second armature will be.
As they got closer to the source of the signal, Shepard's eyes roamed over the soon to be battlefield picking out the best defensive positions and the likely locations for enemy placement.
Aaaannnnddd there they are. Lure the drones away. Perfect. One more shot will take the second one. Good. The rocket troopers. That hill over there. OK, not too far back or the armature will get your rear end. Good. One more rocket trooper to go, no point in moving to another cover just wait a second and he'll come to you. There, there he is! Alright, back out slowly and line up the cannon. Damn it you missed. Alright, it's shooting get back behind the rock. Line up another shot. Perfect. Again. Move, it's shooting. Again. Again. Alright, it's down. Get over to that hill right over there. Nice, you got a shot off on the go. Ease out, line it up. Good. One more. Good. No just – just stay in the Mako. The beacon is trashed there's nothing down there. Oh for the love of… OK, happy? You checked the damn thing. Now get us out of here. Fuck, at least you aren't checking every single planet in every damn system anymore.
Shepard stood at the galaxy map and paused to flip through some reports. Feros. Feros. Come on. There, yes, now just send the coordinates to Joker. Come on… what, no, don't… don't move the map. No, go back. Damn it. Yangtze system, of course. Have to finish what you started, right? Need to go investigate Cerberus on Binthu. Admiral Kahoku is long dead, Shepard. He died shortly after you got that message. He's dead and even if you fuck with Cerberus' operations now, it isn't going to change anything in the long haul. Move the map back to Feros. Virmire, even. Just. Move. It. Jane shoved her will at Dawn, trying to grab control of Shepard's hand and make her move the map back to Feros.
Shepard winced and pinched the bridge of her nose. She sent the coordinates for the Yangtze system to Joker and then went to go get a patch from Dr. Chakwas. These headaches were coming more and more often now. Dr. Chakwas must have scanned Shepard's head six times in the last two weeks just to make sure there weren't any signs of lesions.
The countless voices rose up again, pulling Jane under and drowning her in their fear, their sorrow, their anguish, and worst of all their confusion. The broken Shepards. The ones that lost too much of themselves in the battles, or couldn't hold it together when they woke up after the Citadel and thrown together with so many other versions of themselves screaming and chaotic in the place in between. The nothingness. The void. They were the hardest to listen to, and yet the hardest for Jane to filter out. Especially when she failed at trying to push through to control Dawn's action. It was exhausting work.
Only when Shepard was once again walking into a fight did the voices quiet. Only then were they focused, and was Jane able to take back the reins. Binthu. With Williams and Alenko. Great fuel for their hatred. Where are we? Which one, which one? Damn these buildings always look the same. I see, rachni soldier in the containment. Commandos and technicians in here. The techs have guns, too. Lower the force field let them fight each other and then pick off the survivors. Just – just lower the force field and let them do it. OK, fine, not the most efficient way but it works too. Two more on the other side. Alright, rachni is down. On to the next building. Oh, yeah, of course, we have to make sure we grab everything out of every crate we come across. Vital, clearly. Ok, come on.
Prothean pyramid, got to stop and check that out first, right. The next facility has turrets just like the last one. Inside it's pretty much the same, except the containment filed will have thorian creepers. You would know what those were if you had gone to Feros already but you haven't. Turrets down, good. Oh, you decided to drop the containment field first this time. Alright, go back in, only two stragglers. Piece of cake.
"Are those husks? They look different somehow," Kaidan said.
Shepard stood over the corpse of one of the mutated humans, "I don't think they are…"
"Then what are they?" Ashley asked.
"I don't know. Scan it and let's keep moving," Shepard ordered.
Just a handful of rachni workers and a dead guy. Nothing worth letting free to fight Cerberus for you. Yeah, that's Kahoku. Deal with him later, take out the commandos and techs. There was nothing more that we could have done for him, he didn't tell us much of anything until it was too late for him. Shepard lingered over the corpse; cursing and beating herself up for not getting there sooner. We have other things that we should be doing. I forget sometimes how hard we always take losses. He shouldn't have done this alone. Call in his position, the Alliance will pick him up and give him the funeral he deserves.
Yeah, Nephron now. We never could miss the chance to exact revenge for Kahoku. Going to talk to Kaidan? It's good that you were able to talk to him about your reasons for turning him down. We've never really done that before. Maybe it will make things easier with him later on. Maybe you can form a stronger bond with him as his friend, 'one of the guys' than what we ever could as his lover. Lover. I loved him, and he loved me. Doesn't matter what you think, Jane. He was mine and I was his. He broke my heart but we moved past it. All relationships have problems. Shh, shh, I know. I'm sorry. I know many of us love him. Maybe he won't look at us that way when he finds us on Horizon. Maybe. Of course, it still happened when we were actually one of the guys.
He's right you know, they don't want to see what's coming. They're going to fight us every step of the way. Hell, even after Sovereign attacks the Citadel, and pieces of his corpse litter the station; they'll deny he was a reaper. Geth technology, they'll say. Jane listened idly, saving her strength for when it might actually matter.
That Vyrnnus sounds like a major ass. I'm glad Alenko killed the son-of-a-bitch. Otherwise, we'd be tempted to hunt him down ourselves. It wasn't easy for him though, look at that all these years later and it's still a sore spot for him. He did the right thing.
Hours later, when Shepard had finally given in to the exhaustion that had been tugging at her, she fell into her bed. Finished your reports. Sleep now, Dawn. I'll tell you a story.
Shepard tossed and turned in her bed, the dim lights coming from her console creating shadows along her curves. The blankets had long been discarded and lay in a heap at the foot of the bed. Her hands gripped a pillow tightly, as if squeezing the life out of it. Her lips moved but made no sound.
A little boy was hiding in the air ducts, too scared to reach out and take Shepard's hand. "You can't help me," the boy said. Anderson called to him from the doorway. He turned his head to look at Anderson and when he looked back the little boy had disappeared into the ducts. Tali removed her mask, knowing it would make her sick, just so she could look out over Rannoch. Captain Kirrahe stood on the beach in front of his men, "You all know the mission and what is at stake." Dawn, can you hear me? Am I getting through? Listen, gods please remember this. Stop fighting me, Dawn. I can help you. This isn't the first time we've gone through this. We've lived it all so many times. We need you to help us stop this. She was enjoying dinner with Joker at a fancy sushi restaurant when a woman in Alliance blues rushed to her table, "Commander Shepard, I'm Staff Analyst Maya Brooks. Alliance – excuse me," she snapped a salute, "Alliance Intelligence. There are people trying to kill you." Don't trust her. Don't trust her, she's Cerberus. Shhh! Now is really not the time. Dawn, listen, I don't know what is happening or why, but we have to figure out a way to stop this otherwise when you die on the Citadel, you'll just wake up again here with us and we'll have to start all over again. The Normandy was in flames, pieces were breaking away and floating off into space. Shepard grabbed a hold of Joker and forced him to the escape shuttles. A piece of debris hit Shepard and knocked her away from the shuttle. She reached out, grabbing on to a wall to anchor her. The ship was still under attack. She couldn't get back to the shuttle. She had to get Joker out of there. She slammed her hand against the shuttle release, losing her grip on the wall and began to float away. Another blast knocked her further back there was nothing to grab a hold of now; nothing to save her as she floated away into space. Her suit ruptured and she couldn't breathe. Her hands grabbed at her throat as her body flailed. She was losing consciousness. She was dying.
Shepard bolted upright in her bed, her chest heaving as she sucked in deep breath after deep breath. She was drenched in sweat. Her eyes darted across the cabin in a desperate need to reassure herself that she wasn't floating off into space dying. The skin around her neck burned. She jumped out of the bed and turned on the lights. Still shaking, she scrambled for her mirror. Her neck and collarbone were covered in scratches. She had been dying. It felt so real. She could still remember every second of it, and it wasn't going away.
I'm sorry, Dawn. I'm so sorry.
Shepard's head jerked up and her eyes darted around the room. She heard something. Someone said her name. Where? There was no one else in the room.
Dawn? Can you hear me?
Shepard turned back to the mirror, and traced the scratches with her fingertips. Tears started to well up in her eyes. She collapsed in the chair next to her and let the tears flow. Heavy sobs wracked her body, making it difficult to stay upright so she let her body slide down to the cabin floor and curled up in a fetal position.
Oh gods, I'm so sorry.
Is she broken? Did we break her?
No, she's not broken. She just needs to have this moment.
An hour later Shepard drug herself up off the floor and hit the showers. She wouldn't be able to hide the scratches so she went to Dr. Chakwas. Thankfully, Dr. Chakwas already knew that Shepard was prone to nightmares of Mindoir and Akuze so she didn't question Shepard's explanation. Jane and the myriad of others remained mostly quiet until Shepard arrived on Nehpron. Once Shepard arrived at the Cerberus facility with Ashley and Kaidan, Jane began her guidance again.
Snipers and anti-tank infantry out front. Don't let them get a lock on you. That ridge just over there will provide you with enough cover to take them out. OK, good. You'll be clear when you first go in the building. All of their forces will be in one room, and they'll try to converge on your location when you open the door. You'll have some cover right away, but they'll be able to flank you so watch your six.
They're all down. There's a door at the back of the room. It'll lead to a hall with a door at the left and right. The door at the right is the barracks; there will be lots of weapons for you to take. The door to the left will have several terminals. One of them will have files but you'll have to move quickly because it's programed to wipe itself clean. This isn't really the end of Cerberus, I'm sorry to say. You'll see more of them than your worst imaginings before this is all over. I doubt this was even a dent in their armor, but I hope it brought you some peace. I'm so sorry.
Back at the galaxy map, Shepard entered the coordinates for the Amazon system. She wanted to make sure that Cerberus wasn't set up there as well since they had been found in the two other systems of the Voyager cluster. Cerberus isn't there, but Hackett will call you with a mission once you hit the Amazon cluster. I'm not going to push you, Dawn. Not today. Maybe you'll be ready to go to Feros after we stop Haliat.
Shepard spent a quiet hour in her cabin trying to fill out reports but found that when she was alone in the quiet her mind filled with the terrors of the dream she had the night before. She pushed away her laptop and after a few fitful minutes of pacing decided she needed coffee. Most of her team was gathered in the mess hall eating dinner. Shepard hadn't even thought about food. She made herself some coffee and grabbed a tray. She knew she needed to eat even if she didn't feel hungry. She slid into the seat across from Liara and returned the asari's soft smile. Shepard ate in silence as her crew talked around her. When she was finished, she cleared her tray and returned to her cabin. It was early still, but she was tired. She turned out the lights and folded her clothes in the darkness before slipping into her bed.
"What's happening to me?" Shepard whispered to the darkness as her eyelids fluttered closed.
I can't keep the dreams from happening, but I can try to make them pleasant for at least one night.
Shepard was already asleep but her mouth uttered the words, "Thank you."
Shepard was in his cabin playing chess with a brunette woman in Alliance casual dress. Samantha Traynor. Shepard was trying not to laugh as Joker's seat spun around on its own. "Very funny, EDI. Real original. Stop it," Joker said to the circular hologram that represented the ship's AI. "You did insist on manual control, Mr. Moreau," the feminine voice of the AI said. Liara stood in front of Shepard, "I have never been more sure of anything in my life. Will you join with me, Shepard? Let our bodies and minds unite." Shepard smiled, "I thought you'd never ask." Liara's hand caressed Shepard's face before she grabbed her and pulled her in close, pressing her lips against Shepard's mouth. "I am the very model of a scientist salarian, I've studied species turian, asari, and batarian," Mordin threw his arms out as he sang. Oh, good, you remember his name. Garrus and Shepard stood at the top of the Presidium, a place they were not supposed to be. Garrus threw a bottle into the air as Shepard took aim with the sniper rifle and fired. "Nobody alive maybe but technically…" wait no, sorry, hold on let's skip that part. "Yeah, well, next time we'll throw in a herd of rampaging klixen. That's how you separate the rookies from the pros," Garrus said.
Shepard was slowly roused from her peaceful sleep by the sound of Joker's voice over the comm.
"ETA one hour, Commander," Joker said.
Shepard yawned and stretched, "Thanks, Joker."
You're smiling. That's good. Very good.
Shepard got dressed and grabbed a quick breakfast before making her way to the galaxy map to look over the information for the system they were entering. A call came through from Hackett asking Shepard to check on a probe that was sent out during the First Contact War. The Alliance sent out several espionage probes and they just got a surprising 'mission complete' ping from one of them. They had thought the probe lost, but it needed to be recovered because it had a bomb built in and if anyone else found that probe it could cause serious trouble. He said the probe's signal was coming from the Amazon system and the Normandy was the only ship that could get in and out undetected. Shepard agreed to find the probe since she was already at the Amazon system anyway.
They picked the signal up coming from a planet called Agebinium. It didn't take them long to track the signal to a mine shaft. How could a probe have gotten in a closed off mine if not put there deliberately?
It couldn't have. It's a trap. You know it's a trap. Even when you try to hope for the best.
The room stopped shaking and a holographic image of a man appeared over the probe.
"Shepard, at last," he said.
"You have me at a disadvantage," Shepard said.
"My name is Elanos Haliat," he said. "I doubt you know it. Who do you think runs the Terminus Clans, Shepard? Hm? Thousands of pirates, slavers, criminals of every stripe?"
"In most criminal organizations, it's the one who's recognized as the most successful," Shepard responded
"That's correct. The one who kills the most men. Seizes the most ships. Pillages the most colonies," Haliat said. "Three years ago, I was the strongest. I used my influence to assemble a fleet. We would drive your kind out of the Verge."
"You're the one behind the attack on Elysium!" Shepard growled.
"I was the motivator. The instigator. The one who promised glory and riches for sacking the largest human colony in the cluster," Haliat said. "The one blamed when it failed. I was ruined when your kind held against the Blitz. What better way to recover my reputation than by eliminating the first human Spectre?"
He's going to activate the bomb, Shepard. You're only going to have ten seconds to diffuse it. You've got to stay calm and work fast. There are three access points on the device; you'll have to disable all three to keep the bomb from going off.
Help me. Oh gods, I don't know what is happening to me but help me please, Shepard thought desperately. Gladly. And then, just as it happened on the Citadel, Shepard's hands seemed to move of their own will. Her fingers flew across the access point, expertly cutting the right wires before moving on to the next two to do the same. The countdown timer stopped at three seconds. Shepard let herself fall from her crouched position to sit on the hard floor of the mine, her knees bent and her face in her hands.
You let me in! She let us in. She let us in. A handful of voices picked up the elated chorus. Can she hear us now? Is she going to save us now? Is it all going to be over with now? Shhh. Dawn, can you hear me? Dawn?
Shepard started to laugh, quietly at first but then it grew until it was echoing back to her in the cavernous chamber. Tali looked at Garrus and he shrugged in response.
"Ah, Shepard?" Garrus said.
"Are you alright, Commander?" Tali asked.
Shepard flopped backwards lying flat on the floor. She looked up at her squad and continued to laugh. Their worried looks eventually sobered her up and she rolled over to stand.
"Definitely going crazy, but damn it if it isn't keeping us alive," Shepard said. "Come on, let's get out of here and find that son-of-a-bitch."
"Right behind you, Shepard," Garrus said.
Damn. Damn. Damn.
Getting back out was far simpler than anticipated. The door that was locked when they first entered was now open. Following it led them back outside. Just over the edge of the cliff Shepard could see people moving around.
"That asshole stole my Mako," Shepard said spotting the familiar vehicle in the new location.
Shepard crept down the slope and ran for the Mako. Just as she was getting in, Haliat and his men spotted her and started taking shots. They were too late, though. Her team piled into the Mako and Garrus was on the guns before the doors were even closed. Shepard took extreme pleasure in seeing the cannons decimate Haliat's little camp before calling the Normandy for a pickup.