"Will this even work?" Kaidan asked after letting Tali explain her idea with a jump in her words. He'd called Javik and Liara down so they could hear this idea as well. Though it seemed too far-fetched to even work.
"Yes, in theory. I cannot compare with other ships, Normandy is too technologically advanced to know for sure. But it's worth a shot." Adams had come up with the numbers and it seemed possible, but they needed enough biotic power to do it. He looked at Javik, the Prothean didn't seem all that bothered about the conversation and kept looking over at Liara, his lips turning slowly into a smile.
"Can your biotics create mass effect fields?" Gabby asked the Prothean. Javik narrows his eyes at her before answering.
"Of course, my biotics are much better than most primitives," he snarkily replies. Kaidan scratches the back of his head, sighing up towards the ceiling.
"Javik, seriously shut up with the primitive shit. We need to work together!" Liara lays her hand on Javik's armoured shoulder, silently telling him to be quiet. Kaidan looked up at the drive core, it was their best chance but he was too tired to even try to activate his biotics. "I need some sleep before we try, my migraine is too painful. All of you meet me here in four hours. Ken, go speak to Joker and warn him about it. We need him in the helm if the ship does come back online."
"Yes, sir," Ken salutes as he rushes off to find Joker. Liara gives Kaidan a sympathetic smile as he turns to head towards his bed. His migraine had gotten even worse and he felt sick. He needed some medication.
"Me and you could do it ourselves," Javik whispers as he and Liara leave engineering. They both head towards his room.
"Kaidan wants to help, he is our commanding officer and we need to listen to him. Having the extra biotic help would mean less strain for us two as well." Javik understood Liara's words, but they needed to get going sooner than in four more hours.
"What about the Drell? He is biotic, correct?" Liara shakes her head as they both enter his room and sit at his new sofa, now making it much more homely for him.
"No, Thane is too sick to be of any help, it's down to us three." Javik leans back into the couch, letting there be enough room between them both. "How have you been feeling about all this? Happ the Reapers might be defeated?" Javik looked at the empty space in front of him.
"Yes, I am relieved we have some breathing space. I believe the Crucible machine did its job. We have not seen anything related to Reapers since the crash." Liara nodded, it was a very quiet planet. They hadn't even seen any wildlife when they were scouted ahead, they'd only travelled about two miles from the ship.
"I think you could be right. We will hopefully find out in the next few hours. Let's get some rest whilst we can," she says with a smile. Javik only pulls her into his chest, happy enough to rest on the couch. "Will you be comfortable?"
"Hmmm," he says as his eyes drift closed. Liara can only chuckle as she follows suit.
"It's just a nightmare," Gemma told herself as she finally woke up from the third time of falling to sleep. Her leg ached, but it was much better from the previous pain. She rolled over to her knees, using the broken panels to get herself up.
The smoke was still strong and lingered with a stench of flesh and metal. It made her gag, she could only hope there weren't dead bodies around. She held her breath as she got to her feet, groaning at her screaming muscles and bones. She looked around for an exit, but the smoke didn't help. Looking at her arm, her omni-tool was broken, she was truly alone.
"Follow us," a new voice called. It was kind and warm. Gemma instantly perked up and followed the sound at a slow limp. She held her stomach tightly, knowing her skin was grazed under what little was left of her armour. "This way," the voice says from her left. She follows it, seeing a light at the end of the torn-up tunnel. It was an omni-tool light.
"Hello?" she calls in a croaky voice. The light pauses on its search, shining at the tunnel she was slowly making her way out of. "Can someone help me, please?" she begged as her leg buckled and she screamed as she caught herself against some broken wiring.
"Hello?" the voice calls back, this time it wasn't in her head. It was a real person's voice. The relief flowed over her, she was safe. The light comes to a stop at the end of a Salarian as he shines the light in her eyes. "Are you okay?" he asks with worry as he looks her over.
"No, I need help, please," she gasps as her biotics give out on the help of her leg and she falls to the floor again.
"How did you walk with glass in your leg?" he asks in shock. Gemma can only slowly shake her head, her vision going blurry. "Hold on! My boss will help you," he says as he tries to pull her up.
"Please do-," her head hits the floor hard, her world falling dark. The last thing she saw was the Salarian shouting for help and the body of a Krogan and human rushes in. At least this time she was safe.
"Gemma!" Kaidan screams as he snaps his eyes open, but all he saw was Shepard's room before him. He looked up at the skylight, the clear skies of Zorya stared back at him. It was a nightmare, he remembered seeing Gemma again at the docking bay doors of the Normandy, just before she left him.
Harbinger killed her though, she never successfully got away, its beamed fried her body into nothing. He wipes the sweat from his head as he rolls out of bed to get changed. He was twenty minutes late meeting everyone else in engineering.
"Kaidan you okay?" Laira asks as Kaidan nearly flies into her as he arrives by the drive core. His pupils were dilated to hell and his uniform wasn't correctly on.
"Yeah, sorry. I overslept. Are we ready?" he asks, breathing heavily and sorting his untucked shirt out. Gabby and Ken stare at him before being shooed away by Adam. They both climb the drive core and get into position. Tali was stood by the main connection wires, ready to move back up power to the drive core wires.
"Yeah, Joker is ready as well. If this works we must get into the air as soon as possible. The ship isn't designed to be in the ground and the mass effect field will only break if we don't get up straight away." Adam passed Javik and Kaidan one end of some wires, Liara was to stand in the middle of them both and they all held hands to share power.
"You will almost be one big battery together, better bloody work," Ken shouts as he pulls the panel free to turn the systems on. It sparks at him in protest.
"The whole crew knows and are at their station, ready for the power jump," Tali explains. "We are ready when you three are." They all stand in a line and hold hands with Liara in the middle. Javik and Liara both have their biotics activated, Kaidan waits a moment before closing his eyes and nodding towards Tali.
"Start reconnecting power now," Adam shouts as Tali turns the power relay over. Liara and Javik both activate their biotics, but the drive core only sparks as Kaidan struggles to meet their power withdrawal. "You need a minute?" Adams asks as Tali turns the relay off, not wanting to waste all their power in one hit.
Kaidan shakes his head, relaxing his shoulders and closes his eyes again. "No, do it again," he commands. Tali turns it on, they all glow a soft blue as their biotics share power and the mass effect field is formed above them. The drive core sparks but some systems start to slowly turn on. Ken and Gabby are fighting the power draw so the core doesn't overheat.
"You're doing great, but we need a bit more," Adam says as he starts to frantically type on his console. Kaidan groans as he pushes for more biotic power, Javik feels the strain but holds it well and Liara was doing just fine.
The mass effect field nearly engulfs the whole ship, reports flying in that the ship is glowing blue from all corners. "Nearly there," Adam shouts in encouragement. "Tali, turn back up power off and let it all go to the drive core."
Tali does as she's told and the terminal sparks in front of her, burning her suit as the power relay hits the biotic field and goes straight to the drive core. "Yes!" Joker shouts over the comms. "We have power, hold on everyone," he warns as the engines of the ship kick in and they start to rise. Kaidan drops to his knees, not able to hold it any longer. Ken and Gabby are thrown from the drive core as the ship starts a bumper incline.
"You okay?" Liara asks as Javik helps Ken and Gabby. Kaidan rubs his head but nods at her.
"Just dandy, are we getting reports?" At that moment Traynor came through the doors.
"Sir, Admiral Hackett has been trying to contact us!" she shouts as a stake of datapads falls from her arms. Kaidan grabs them to read. Hackett had been trying whatever means he could. The Reapers were dead, their bodies lifeless and had no power. The Citadel had paid the ultimate price for it though with it being completely destroyed.
"We won," Kaidan shouts in praise. "The Reaper's are no more." The room erupts into cheers. Kaidan quickly types a message up, they couldn't contact Hackett over a live feed, but he can send a message that would be received to him in a few hours.
Sir,
The Normandy as her crew is alive. We have Shepard, though she is in a coma and cannot be woken up without medical attention. We crashed on Zorya but have repaired the ship enough to get off the planet.
We will be heading to Omega for repairs before making the full journey back to Earth. Confirmation on the destruction of the Reapers has been acknowledged.
Major Kaidan Alenko, acting Captain of the Normandy SR2.
Kaidan wondered for a moment if he should ask, but his feelings were too strong to ignore. He added a small message at the bottom.
Sir, do you know anything about Gemma? The sentence read, he shed a tear before finally sending it. Kaidan passed the datapad back to Traynor, giving her a pat on the back. "Joker, get us to Omega. We need repairs and help for Shepard. Well done everyone, we will head home soon," he says with a smile. It was a victory for them all, but his heart still stung; he could not celebrate with his love.
"Where am I?" Gemma asks as her eyes flutter open, only to snap shut again with the bright lights shining down on her. A human stood next to her bed.
"Well, hello Gemma. Glad you're finally awake," the dark-haired woman said in her thick Australian accent.
"Where am I? And who are you?" The woman's brows furrowed, she did the scans, but to know for sure she needed Gemma to wake up.
"Sorry, you should know me. But as I feared, you have amnesia." She gets up to stand at the end of her bed. "I'm Miranda Lawson."