Chapter 53: A Fine Marine
"EDI," Shepard said, having pulled chairs into the comm room for her and Garrus, "can you patch into James' suit's camera? And open the comm channel through the room's speakers?"
"Right away, Shepard." EDI's blue hologram flattened out, forming a screen above the center of the table.
A second later, the shaky image of the blood-splattered Cerberus ship came into view, James' assault rifle held at the ready out in front of him. He stopped to play a log, the all too familiar face and voice of a man she'd never met appearing on the screen in front of James. "Hey, EDI, can you scrub this place, get all these logs and data for Shepard?"
"I already am, James." EDI's voice sounded through the comm with a faint tinge of smugness.
He chuckled. "That's my girl. Alright, Sparks why don't you crack open the safe over there. Man, Kasumi's going to hate I said that to anyone else but her."
"Why don't you have a nickname for her?" Tali asked from somewhere off screen, but it didn't matter, Shepard knew the exact location of the safe James mentioned.
"Oh, I do." The sexual implication strong enough in his voice, Shepard practically saw the lewd eyebrow wiggle and one-sided smirk accompanying those words. "But it's not one you'll ever here."
"Keelah, why did I ask?" Tali said in the soft, grumbled tone she used by way of complaint, yet loud enough to be picked up through the mic.
Shepard glanced over as the door to the comm room slid open, and Jack stepped inside. Making her way to Garrus' side, Jack draped her arm over his shoulder, and he slid an arm around her waist, pulling her in a little closer. Shepard grinned, hearing the low, satisfied hum coming from him before turning her attention back to the screen.
"He looks happy. Happier than he's been since you found him on Omega." Jane hummed in the back of Shepard's mind. "They're good for each other."
"Yeah, they are," Shepard thought.
Legion moved into view, collecting Medi-gel from the first-aid kits on the wall. Turning to the right, James sent Grunt forward to open a door.
"The reaper is about to put up the kinetic barriers, you're going to feel some shaking," Shepard said.
"Brace yourselves, mis amigos." The image bobbed as James apparently nodded at Grunt.
The krogan tapped his fist against the green-glowing door release, and the door slid open. Shepard felt herself tense, hands and the muscles of her calves twitching as her body tried to stabilize itself against the shudder running through the reaper and Cerberus ship, even though she wasn't actually there. James led his team forward, ignoring the console to the left, probably not seeing the point in listening to the log with EDI data-mining the place and Shepard there to tell him everything he needed to know.
"You'll have enemies crawling up over the edge on your right just past those crates," Shepard said as he made his way down the handful of stairs. "More will come from the other side a little further up."
"Samara, you're up on the right with me. Throw those pendejos back over the edge. Grunt move ahead and take point. Jacob, you go up with him and provide biotic support. Sparks, Legion, be ready to pick off any we miss."
"Any you miss, hehehe." Grunt moved ahead, Jacob right behind him.
"Hey, Scars!" James hollered over the sound of gunfire. "You watching this, too? Might learn a thing or two."
"Keep talking, Vega." Garrus chuffed, eyes glued to the screen. "You just let one slip past you."
She snorted, biting off a laugh before it escaped her lips.
"Well yeah." James paused to fire off a few rounds. "Gotta let Sparks and Legion have a little fun."
"I'm here for technical support, I don't need anymore fun." Tali's voice broke through the comm channel. "And Legion's a geth. He doesn't actually enjoy battle."
"Creator Zorah is correct," Legion added. "We do not experience enjoyment. Fun is a concept we understand only in theory."
"So, think of a better excuse for your sloppiness." Tali sent Chatika into the fray, excitement filling her voice, despite her protest, as she ordered the drone to attack.
"Ow, damn." James let a few more bullets fly, ripping through an abomination. "Hey, I'll remember that, Sparks."
"I wish he'd take this a little more seriously." The feeling of Jane's exasperation pulled a sigh from Shepard. "I know this James didn't lose his whole team on Fehl Prime—he's not full of guilt and anger—and that's good, but he's got to know there's a time for fun and games and standing in a reaper corpse being attacked on all sides really isn't it."
"You do that." The snark in Tali's voice brought another smirk to Shepard's face.
After a few more seconds of the steady thwamp of biotics and bark of gunfire, Jacob called the all clear and they were moving again.
"Don't bother lowering your weapons." Shepard leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees.
"Ah, c'mon, that's weak!" Jack yelled at the screen, commenting on several missed shots aimed at a husk floating through the air.
A husk jumped on James, his camera shaking all over the place as he struggled to throw the moaning, once-human creature off him. For one second, reality shifted around Shepard, and she stood there, in the thick of battle, husks and abominations swarming her. Hands tightening into fists, she rubbed them against her thighs and blinked her eyes, chasing the images away. Finally, James flung the husk free and filled it full of holes.
She took a deep breath and let it out slow, barely conscious of slipping into the breathing patterns from her training with Thane. Garrus laid a hand on her knee, and she wrapped her fingers around his.
"You alright, Alliance?" The rare sound of genuine concern filled Jack's tone.
Shepard glanced at her, offering her the best smile Shepard could muster at the moment. "I'm good."
"Liar. This is taking almost as much out of you as if you'd gone there yourself," Jane said.
"No point in saying anything about it, though.," Shepard thought, focusing on her breathing. "EDI is monitoring me—like always. If things get too bad, Dr. Chakwas will come in to sedate me. I'm not leaving the comm room while they're out there unless I absolutely have to."
"Of course not."
Jack watched Shepard a moment longer, her gaze heavy on the back of Shepard's neck, before turning her attention back to the screen. "You've got to be fucking kidding me! That was the easiest shot, how the hell did you miss?"
"Uh, Ídolo, think you can mute your end?" James turned to face an abomination coming at him from the side. "It's getting a little hard to tell if it's Jack or a husk screeching in my ear."
Jack scoffed. "Screw you."
James let out a short bark of laughter. "Kinda busy right now, later."
Jack snorted, grinning when Shepard glanced at her. "In your dreams."
"Maybe." James turned just in time to see a fresh horde of reaper troops headed his way. "Dios, they're everywhere. Grunt! At your six! Samara, get him some support!"
"Maybe I'm just tired, getting pissy in my old age." Jane chuckled. "He is doing what needs to be done despite the chatter and jokes."
"He's a fine marine, a good leader," Shepard thought. "His relationship with them is different than ours, he's not normally they're CO, but he has a solid rapport with them. He's working with what he already has, and they're following his lead."
Grunt spun around, charging right at the husks and abominations. "I AM KROGAN!"
James took half a second to aim and squeezed the trigger, bullets barely missing the charging krogan as he let loose on the groaning horde. An abomination exploded right next to Grunt, washing him with flaming goop, but the krogan shook it off and threw himself into the next one as if it didn't faze him in the slightest.
"You're not far from where we first encountered Legion—where Jane first encountered him. He's normally up on your left, providing sniper coverage as I approach but is gone before I can get over there." Shepard reached up, pinching the bridge of her nose, sifting through the flood of memories overwhelming her all at once. "There might be something nearby he needs, and you're probably going to encounter your first scion around the corner."
"Yeah." James sounded every bit as serious as Jane wanted from him. "I remember those cabróns, we fought them on Fehl Prime."
Her lips pressed into a frown, but she tried to keep her tone a little lighter. "Good, then you remember they like to fuck with your shields and knock you on your ass."
"Target the head and hump," Jane said, "or the blue thing on their back."
Shepard scooted a little closer to the edge of her seat. "Jane said the head, hump, and blue spot on the back are especially vulnerable."
"I got it," James said as the scion came lumbering into view like clockwork.
Her hands twitched, itching to level a gun she wasn't holding at the distorted, mutated mess. Garrus' hand turned beneath hers, long fingers wrapping around her hand and squeezing. On the screen, Samara and Jacob flung biotics, knocking back husks and abominations or pulling them into the air away from Grunt and James, letting them focus on taking down the scion. Tali and Legion shot the soulless creatures the biotics lined up for them, most dead before the blue glow dissipated and they fell back to the ground.
Once the flow of groaning, mindless enemies had been temporarily staunched, the team moved forward. Corpses of the Cerberus crew dangled in the air, impaled on dragon's teeth, jutting upward to fill the cavernous space beyond. Shepard swallowed and clenched her jaw, memories that weren't hers overlapping the images on the screen.
James stopped near the edge, staring up at the bodies. "Dios."
"Shepard called them dragon's teeth." Tali's voice filled the comm. "The geth—I mean the heretics—used them to turn people into husks on Eden Prime. We saw them on the Citadel, too, when we fought Saren. And a few other places where heretics sat up outposts."
"Technology of the old machines." Legion's optic plates fluttered when James turned to look at him.
"They can't be saved. We should keep moving," said Grunt.
"We detect an unusual power source nearby." Legion gestured up and out toward the catwalks looming in the distance, high above the dragon's teeth. "We believe it may be of use."
"Alright." James turned from side to side, the camera passing over crates, tanks, and consoles. "How the hell do we get up there?"
"I believe I can be of assistance." EDI's voice sounded through the feed. "Using the input from your camera, I can plot a course and link it to your heads up display, allowing you to have a visual of the steps to take to reach the power source. It will require climbing and traversing dangerous terrain." She paused. "If you rather not take the risk, I'm sure you will eventually find a more traditional access point if you look long enough."
Jane made a warning sound, just a soft groan of disagreement in the back of Shepard's mind. "One wrong move and they'll fall to their deaths."
"No, no unnecessary risks." Shepard shook her head despite being unseen by the ground team. "There's a door nearby, I marked it on the map, it'll take you to another area of the ship. It's where I first laid eyes on Legion, standing on a platform. There's better access points in there that don't involve trying to skirt a gaping chasm. My gut says you can find your way from there."
"Very well, Shepard." The disappointment in EDI's tone rang through unmistakable, undoubtedly a ploy to get her way.
Snorting, Shepard grinned. "Though, I'm sure EDI's plan will be just as helpful in the next room."
"Work for you, Legion?" James asked.
Legion bobbed his head. "Yes."
"Alright, let's go." James waved his arm, motioning the team onward.
Shepard leaned back in the chair and rolled her head back and forth, trying to ease the tension in her neck and shoulders. She glanced up, brows knitting together in confusion as Jack moved to stand behind her. Nudging her head forward, Jack's hands set to work loosening the knots in her neck. Closing her eyes, Shepard sighed, trying not to let the sounds of battle undo all of Jack's hard work. She opened her eyes again when the gunfire stopped and with it Jack's kneading, hands resting motionless on Shepard's shoulders.
"Lead the way, EDI," James said.
A moment later, he started moving, making his way over to a stack of crates. Unable to see whatever EDI showed him on his HUD, Shepard assumed the AI knew what she was doing. James climbed up on the crates, from there he pulled himself up onto one of the tanks lining the walls and turned, holding his hand out to Samara to help pull her up. Legion scrambled up after her, moving with far more ease and grace than any of the organics. He and James squatted down, bridging the gap to Tali, each taking one of her hands and lifting her up onto the tanks.
"Jump over to the next one." James turned, looking back to the row of tanks ahead of them. He watched, waiting for the others to listen before waving Jacob over next, holding out his hand to the Cerberus agent. He helped pull Jacob up and then returned to the edge, reaching out to Grunt.
"Move." Grunt brushed aside James' hand.
James paced back a few steps, and Shepard watched as Grunt did the same. Taking what little of a running start possible over the span of two crates, the krogan pushed himself forward, meaty forearms slamming into the metal with a thud as he grabbed the tank's support frame. The screech and groan of metal starting to give way under his weight filled the air, making Shepard cringe, but it held as he used it to pull himself up.
Pushing forward, James lept over to the next tank, easing his way past the waiting group. A thunderous crack a moment later had him whipping his head back around the other way. Grunt knelt on the second tank, dents in the metal beneath his knee and fist.
"That can't be good."
"Uh, EDI …" Uncertainty filled James' voice. "... I think Grunt's going to blow us all to hell if he has to keep jumping between tanks."
"Rerouting." EDI paused. "A new path has been identified."
"Gracias." James started moving again, apparently following the new path she designated, hopping across one more tank.
"De nada."
"EDI! You speak Spanish?" Grin evident in his voice, he eased himself out on the side of the tank.
"I am capable of speaking in every language stored in my databases, James," EDI said, the faintest hint of smugness coloring her tone. "Cerberus provided me with nearly every human language spoken, including what information survives of those you call the 'dead languages.'" She continued to talk as James pulled himself up to a narrow catwalk parallel to the where they wanted to go. "With my shackles removed, I'm able to incorporate any other languages I find data on. To better accommodate our crew, I have added the most commonly spoken dialects of krogan, turian, quarian, drell, batarian, salarian, and asari. However, I haven't found reason to use these, since everyone is equipped with a translator."
"Damn." James got to his feet and turned, reaching back out toward Jacob. "Maybe I should start calling you Rosetta."
"I believe that is a reference to the Rosetta Stone," EDI said as James helped everyone up, "the granodiorite stele inscribed with a decree from King Ptolemy the Fifth in three languages, later discovered in seventeen ninety-nine and used to translate Egyptian hieroglyphics."
"Uhhh, yeah." He edged out, turning sideways to creep along the narrow beam connecting to the next catwalk. "Sure."
"Assigning nicknames to people you know appears to be a sign of affectionate feelings for those individuals." EDI paused. "Rosetta would be an appropriate nickname, I would find this choice acceptable."
James chuckled, the camera shaking as the angle started to tilt, and Shepard sucked in a sharp breath. Biotic flames surrounded him, flaring up to fill the screen. "Shit." He turned his head, looking at Samara.
Jack started massaging Shepard's shoulders again, and she felt herself relax, the act reminding her she needed to stay calm.
The Justicar smiled and dipped her head, pulling her biotics back once the marine righted himself once more. "Please be careful, Lieutenant. It would be unfortunate if you fell."
"Ha, yeah." Turning to look back out over room, glancing at the floor below before the catwalk in the distance, he started moving again. "Thanks."
He made it across and stepped to the side, watching as the others followed suit. With everyone safely on the catwalk, he turned and waited a few seconds before moving on. Shepard watched with rapt attention, the team crossing into territory she had no familiarity with. The catwalks seemed endless, stretching through the reaper's corpse. Husks and abominations scaled the walls in the distance, howling as they tried to find a way over to James and the others. A few of them losing their footing, falling into the darkness.
Twice the team passed an area where the nightmares did make their way up onto the catwalks. With no real room to flank or even really maneuver and nothing to take cover behind, the team fought haphazardly, bottlenecked and forced to shoot around one another. It was there the biotics proved to be the most useful, and James didn't complain once when Jacob nudged past him to fling two husks over the side.
Eventually the catwalks wound around, taking them back out over the dragon's teeth they'd seen earlier. James called Legion up, letting him take point while he tracked down the source he'd detected. After two more attacks, Legion turned left, moving out onto a wide platform. At the far end, a pillar stood with deep, purple lights tracing lines through the matte, black metal. The sight of it made Shepard's skin crawl; it looked similar to the prothean beacons, but it screamed 'indoctrination'.
"What the fuck is that?" Jane sounded every bit as unnerved as Shepard felt.
"James," Shepard warned, "you need to stay back. All organics need to stay away from that thing."
James held up a fist, halting his team. "Legion, we'll wait here."
The geth stopped long enough to dip his head at James. "Yes."
The lights grew brighter, pulsating as a deep, resonate thrum sounded from the pillar, loud enough to reach Shepard's ears through the comms. Dark, wispy tendrils reached out, meeting Legion halfway, wrapping around him and skirting through him, filling every little opening in his platform before slipping away from him, ineffective as they retreated. James shifted around, the camera almost seeming to shudder as he stood guard.
Reaching the pillar, Legion began scanning the piece of reaper tech. He reached out, and the second his hand made contact, a pulse shot out from the device, sweeping over the geth before racing across the empty space to slam into James and the others, knocking him back. Tali's scream echoed through the comm, loud and deafening.
"Tali!" Shepard shot out of her chair, heart racing, and slammed her palms down on the table, leaning in toward the screen. "James! Talk to me, what's happening?" She held her breath, calling out to him again when she got no response, "James!" Damn it, all she saw was the floor, Legion's legs in the distance, and the lower part of the artifact. "Vega!"
"Yeah, yeah, I hear you. Stop screaming." The camera jerked around as James dragged himself back to his feet and shook his head. "Everyone alright?" He turned, and Shepard exhaled, seeing everyone in one piece.
Jacob pulled Tali back over the edge of the catwalk, his arms and biotics wrapped around her while she clung to him. The quarian trembled visibly as Jacob sat her back on the ground, but she was alive and her suit seemed intact. Samara pushed her fingers into the floor, working a knee under her before getting her footing. Grunt appeared unfazed by the blast, clearly the only one. They were all alive, thank gods.
"My scans indicate the pulse is an alarm of sorts," EDI said. "While it does not appear to hold any indoctrination capabilities, I believe it has signaled your location to the remaining ground troops. I suggest you don't linger here much longer."
No sooner than the words left EDI's non-existent mouth, dark shapes flooded over the edges of the platform, heading straight for Legion—and fast. Their resemblance to the keepers on the Citadel seemed unmistakable, only they looked as if they'd been dipped in tar and then rolled through scrap metal, sharp, jagged edges sticking out at odd angles. James didn't stop to ask questions, lifting his assault rifle and opening fire. Some of them diverted, moving toward James, but most of them stayed the course. Within moments, James was on the move, dancing around the area to get a better shot, making her lose track of Legion.
"What the hell are those things?" Jane gave the impression she narrowed her eyes at the screen, struggling to make sense of what she saw there. "We've never seen them before. They're like … like …"
"Wardens," Shepard whispered, not entirely sure what crevice of her mind the word crawled out of, but found it fitting all the same.
One of the wardens exploded, sending shrapnel through the air and knocking James back, covering the camera in thick, blue-green goop, streaked through with the black substance coating them. "Shields are down." Something, probably his hand, swiped away the slime, giving her eyes on the fight again.
"Shepard." Garrus groaned, dragging her attention to him for just a second as he pulled himself out of his chair.
She turned her gaze back to the screen, seeing the black, smoky tendrils reaching out toward James. "Vega, you need to get back. You're getting too close to the artifact."
"Shepard," Garrus said again, easing up next to her and laying a hand on her shoulder. "You need to calm yourself down or Dr. Chakwas is going to come in here."
"I'm monitoring her, Garrus, she hasn't yet reached dangerous levels of brain activity." EDI's voice softened. "But he's right, Shepard. Perhaps it would be best if you don't continue to watch the ground team's progress."
"Not going to happen, EDI." Biting her lip, she looked at Garrus, the worry clear in his beautiful, blue eyes. It tore at her, she hated seeing him upset, having him constantly be so concerned for her. She sucked a deep breath in through her nose and nodded. "I'll try harder." Sliding her arm around his waist and stepping into his side, she turned her gaze back to the screen. "I can't leave them, though."
"I know." He hummed, wrapping his arm around her back to hold her shoulder and pressed his mouth against the side of her head.
The battle still waged, husks and abominations joining the fray, but James retreated from the pillar, and as he turned, Shepard saw Legion rejoined them. He emptied another clip at the reaper troops before glancing over his shoulder. "Fall back to the walkway. Grunt, you first, if they come at us from the other side, I need you there to take point." James walked backwards, keeping his gun aimed at the enemies swarming in from the platform. "Grunt! Now! Go!"
Grunt snarled but did as ordered, slamming the butt of his shotgun into the face of a husk before leveling it on an abomination and pulling the trigger as he spun, running for the catwalk. Waiting for all the others to file in, James took to the catwalk last, holding the reaper troops at bay with his assault rifle. Getting a little space between his team and the mindless creatures all trying to pile onto the catwalk at once, James flung a flag grenade out into their midst. The explosion tore through half a dozen of them, knocking a handful more over the edges, but still they came. He tossed another frag grenade, hitting a burning abomination, making the explosion far more spectacular, sending flames and shrapnel flying, ripping through reaper troops and the catwalk alike. Metal screeched, the railing rending free from the base, panels buckling under the weight of the troops.
"It's giving out, they're going to fall!" Jane yelled, making Shepard wince.
"Shit! Go, go, go!" James turned, shoving at Jacob's back as they ran for the other end, the sound of bolts snapping hurrying them along.
He slipped, grabbing onto the railing to keep from falling as the catwalk tilted beneath their feet, forcing them to keep moving up a slope. Glancing behind him, Shepard saw the catwalk torn in two, one piece dangling at the far end for a second before falling into oblivion. Wardens turned, making their way back to the platform with the artifact, showing the same indifference of their less-altered kin on the Citadel. Husks and abominations paced the area, some climbing down over the side, others turning and shambling back with the wardens. Looking forward again, James pulled himself along, watching as Grunt reached safer ground and turned to help the others.
Breath heaving over the comm, James called out, "EDI?"
"I'm here, James," EDI said, her voice sounding reassuring.
"Can you get us back on track to the IFF?" He reached the end, palm slapping into Grunt's outstretched hand.
"Right away." EDI fell silent for a moment. "I have calculated your route. I will send it to your heads up display when you are oriented."
More of the catwalk fell as Grunt helped James onto stable ground. The marine bent over, hands braced on his knees, breathing slowing. "Legion, did you get what you needed off that thing?"
"Too close." Relief swept through the link between Jane and Shepard.
"Agreed," Shepard thought.
Legion's feet shifted into view. "Yes."
"Good." James nodded, straightening to look at the geth. "Let me know if you pick up on anything else you need."
"Yes." Legion adjusted his grip on his rifle.
"Alright, EDI, I'm ready." James' camera swept over the team, jerking as he nodded. "Let's keep moving before more show up to investigate the blast."
Shepard let out a heavy breath and turned, tugging Garrus along with her back to their chairs. She helped him sit before taking her own seat, scanning the room to find Jack missing. "Where'd Jack go?"
"Down to get us something to eat." He took her hand, brushing his thumb over her knuckles.
"Oh." Eyebrows inching up, she smiled. "That's nice of her."
"She's worried about you. About both of us." He chuffed, tightening his grip on her hand. "I keep telling her I'm fine, but …."
"She's still blaming herself." Shepard sighed. "I'd hoped our talk helped."
"It did. I don't know what you said to her, but whatever it was … it got her to come see me. Thank you, by the way, but you know Jack. Hmmm. She's stubborn." He grinned at her, mandibles flaring. "I guess I have a thing for stubborn."
Shepard chuckled, leaning over to kiss him. Running her free hand down his mandible, she smirked, letting a little sultry heat enter her voice. "Maybe stubborn just has a thing for you, what with your sexy voice and bad-boy, vigilante streak."
"Seriously, Shepard?" Tali's chastising voice filled the room. "We can hear you two, you know?"
Smile widening, Shepard kept her gaze locked with his as she responded, "You can't tell me you don't think his voice is sexy, Tali."
The quarian scoffed. "Keelah."
Garrus laughed, the sound easing into a soft hum as he hooked a knuckle under Shepard's chin and tugged her back to him, pressing his mouth against hers, tongue slipping past her lips to dance across hers before retreating once more. "I miss you, Dawn," he said, his voice gravely, soft and low, filled with a lustful hunger that made her skin prickle.
"I miss you, too," she whispered, closing her eyes and pressing her head against his. "And I'm sorry I keep putting you through all this shit."
He hushed her, cradling the back of her head to hold her there a moment longer. She sucked in a deep breath, pulling away when the sounds of battle filled the room once more. She watched as James and the others fought their way through more reaper troops, starting to feel blessedly detached from it all as she focused on the feel of Garrus' hand on her thigh.
Jack returned as the ground team started moving again, Thane following behind her, both carrying overladen trays. They sat them down on the table before doling out bottles of water and steaming bowls of stew. Thane glanced at the screen before turning his back to it, leaning against the table to face Shepard. She smiled at him, grateful to have the three of them there with her.
"Anyone dead yet?" Jack folded her legs under herself, sitting on the floor next to Garrus.
"Not yet." His mandibles fluttered before flaring out to the sides. "Not that James isn't trying really hard."
"Come on over if you think you can do better." James' voice drew everyone's attention to the screen.
Thane chuckled, glancing back at Garrus. "I'm sure Shepard wouldn't have sent him if she didn't have faith in his ability to lead the team."
"You hear him, Scars?" James snickered. "Shepard has faith in me."
Garrus flicked his mandible at the screen, but directed his response to Thane. "I'm sure she wouldn't have sent him at all if I wasn't still recovering."
She blew across a spoonful of stew and met Thane's gaze. "James has this." She grinned. "If he didn't, Garrus wouldn't feel the need to whip out the metaphorical measuring stick to see who has the biggest dick."
Laughter filled the room, both coming through the comms and from Jack, overshadowing the light chuckle shaking Thane's shoulders. Garrus chuffed, but smirked when she glanced at him. She winked before taking her bite, the stew hot and savory, easing even more of the tension she'd been holding on to since James and his team stepped foot onto the dead reaper.
"It's alright, Ídolo." James seemed to put a little more swagger in his step. "We all know who'd win."
Garrus laughed, dry and mocking, shaking his head. "Whatever you need to tell yourself to sleep at night, Vega."
Shepard leaned back in the chair, resting an ankle on the opposite knee, smiling to herself as she ate. On the screen, Legion detoured the group again, stopping at a console to gather data—thankfully without incident. Shepard finished her stew while he combed the reaper's systems, trying to ignore the fact they'd already been on the reaper longer than she'd ever been in her memories—Jane's and the other's memories. Not her memories. She was never there.
"You are us, Dawn. More so now than ever. Does it really matter if you were physically ever there?" Jane sounded resigned as she thought about the faces now missing from her dark world in Shepard's mind. "The memories are in your head, too. Even now your brain is forming new synapses, reshaping itself to accommodate the memories of the lives you stole."
"It does matter," Shepard thought, ignoring the accusation, refusing to apologize again for doing what she needed to do. "I am my own person, and I refuse to lose myself in all of this."
"I once said the same thing. I thought I was strong enough to withstand whatever hell the galaxy threw at me, so long as I had Kaidan by my side and my best friend at my six." Memories of Kaidan's hand on her face colored Jane's words, giving them life and meaning beyond what anyone else might ever understand. "And then I sacrificed myself to save the galaxy, but it wasn't enough. I woke up again in someone else's body and did it all over again, and again, and again. The more crowded it got in here, the more voices and memories … how could I really tell where I ended and they began?"
"Then how can you fault me for thinking it matters?" Shepard thought. "For wanting to keep myself as separate as I can?"
"Because … your insistence, your words and actions when it comes to us … it's all so invalidating." The faintest hint of wounded pride seeped through in Jane's words. "Like we're nothing but a burden, a disease with a few helpful side effects, but a disease nonetheless. We're not people to you, we're tools. Symbiotic parasites you've learned to devour for strength."
Shepard's brow furrowed and she swallowed, letting Jane's words sink in and settle in the back of her mind, thinking, "That's not fair. I've defended you and your actions to the people I love, and I've fought to keep you together, despite your antagonism and body-snatching joy rides. I'm doing the best I can, but sometimes you just ask too much. I can't give you everything, Jane. I can't give you my life." She felt Jane retreat, and she turned her attention fully back to the screen.
The team kept moving, Legion stopping twice more to examine the strange, unnerving pillars of indoctrination, and both times his meddling sent out a shockwave, bringing a fresh horde of the wardens scurrying to defend the architecture. Working a hunch, Shepard told James to hold fire. Her gut told her so long as Legion didn't attempt to damage the artifact, and the team didn't shoot at them, the wardens wouldn't attack. Instead they simply surrounded the geth, swarming around him, putting themselves between the pillar and Legion until he left. Unfortunately, it was only a matter of seconds before the abominations and husks showed up, forcing James and the others to start shooting. Those extra seconds counted, though, giving Legion the chance to get whatever he needed and make his way back to the team, allowing them a faster retreat that didn't involve blowing up catwalks with people still on them.
Eventually, they found their way back to the room with the IFF. Tali and Legion set to work right away, securing the IFF to ensure it wouldn't transmit any data until EDI could perform all the tests she needed.
"The drive core is in the next room, there's a console inside Legion was using when we caught back up to him again. Let him do whatever he needs to do, and give him cover." Shepard pushed herself back to her feet. Setting her bowl down on the empty tray next to Thane, she pressed her palms against the table, leaning closer to the screen. "The reaper troops are going to be coming at you hard and fast from both sides. Once he has what he needs, you're going to need to shoot the drive core, but it has a shutter that will close over it every so often. Once the core is out, you need to run like hell."
"Copy that." James checked his assault rifle. "Everyone hear Shepard?" He looked around him, getting nods and 'yeahs' from everyone before jerking his head toward the door. "Good, let's do this."
Shepard took a deep breath. "EDI, tell Joker to be ready."
"We are ready, Shepard," EDI said.
James opened the door, and the team stepped inside, fanning out and taking up position wherever he ordered. Legion made his way to the console, Tali and Jacob taking up position beside him. Samara stood in the middle of the walk, situated between the stairs on either side. Grunt moved down the stairs to the left of the door, and James took up position opposite of him on the right. Shepard couldn't see Legion from James' current position, but she trusted the geth to do whatever he needed as quickly as possible. The rush started, abominations and husks crawling up over the edges to charge the team.
Thane turned to face the screen, too, and rested a hand on the small of her back, offering her silent support as she clenched her jaw and fists, staring at the screen unblinking as if her sheer force of will might kill the reaper troops. A husk jumped on Tali, and Shepard hissed, holding her breath until Jacob flung it off of her with his biotics.
"Alright, people, we're getting overrun spread out like this." James glanced over his shoulder, giving Shepard a view of Grunt charging into an abomination only to have it explode in his face. "Pull back closer to Legion's position. Keep them off the stairs." Following his own orders, the marine moved, walking backwards even as he fired on a husk whose head popped up over the edge of the platform.
"We have gathered all data available and are ready to assist." Legion's voice came through over the comm.
"Focus on the drive core, I'll cover you." Grunt jerked his head toward the drive core looming over James' shoulder, unseen by Shepard for the moment.
A second later, James gave the krogan a sharp nod, turning his back to Grunt and taking aim at the glowing mass effect core. "Legion, hit the core. Everyone else, keep those pendejos off of us."
"Target confirmed." Legion lifted his assault rifle and started firing as the shutter opened.
Despite the occasional grunt of nearby struggle, James kept his focus on the drive core, firing round after round into the blue, metal-encased sphere until the shutter closed again. He turned, reloading, and sent a spray of ammo flying at the newest cluster of husks to climb over the edge. As soon as the shutter opened again, he turned back to his task, slowly whittling away the core's structure. Shepard knew—countless memories keeping track for her—they were almost through the crystalline structure keeping the mass effect energy in place, but of course, the shutter slid closed again. James muttered a curse under his breath.
"You're almost there, Vega." She kept her voice steady, hoping to cool the marine's growing frustration before he became reckless. "Just a couple more hits."
He didn't respond to her words of encouragement, nor did she expect him to. The constant flood of reaper troops picked up momentum as the last remnants of consciousness the reaper still possessed threw everything it had at the team—a last ditch effort to hold onto its existence. Now aware they inhabited the dying, sentient machine, Shepard didn't understand why the wardens didn't show up to protect the core. The scions she understood, they were too slow and lumbering, unable to climb up from the depths the way the husks and abominations did, but surely the wardens could handle it after what she'd already seen them do. Yet they remained hidden in the shadows, only coming out when Legion disturbed one of the artifacts … maybe the pulse the pillars shot out did more to control the wardens movements than she thought.
Blood and gore soaked the floors, but the enemies kept coming, slipping in the viscera of their fallen before pulling themselves back to their feet and charging up the stairs. Grunt's yells became more and more primal, the camera showing him breaking away from the group to slam into husks, bloodrage taking hold of him. Judging by the infrequency of Jacob's biotic attacks, Shepard thought his strength must be flagging, leaving Samara to pick up his slack. The shutter slid open again, and within a couple of seconds, James and Legion shattered the core.
"Ha! Yeah! That's what I'm talking about." James threw his hands out, catching his balance as the reaper shuddered, starting its descent into the system's sun.
"Good work, Lieutenant." Shepard let out a heavy breath and leaned into Thane's side, already feeling the Normandy shifting into motion, on the way to retrieve her crew. "Now get the hell out of there."