Running Silent:

Out of the Frying Pan

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An alternate ME3. Commander Shepard and her team are on the run from Cerberus and trying to make alliances before it's too late. In a galaxy with no reaper kill switch, how can they hope to defeat something so ancient and powerful? Their last hope is a desperate plan that may cost them everything. Shepard/Garrus, other side pairings.

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Disclaimer: This author in no way profits from the writing of this story. All characters, dialogue, or other referenced material from the Mass Effect trilogy belong to Bioware.

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Shepard barged into the comm room in full armor, weapons strapped to her back and ready to go. "What's the situation?" she asked as she stepped into the QEC alongside her deputy commander. By the sounds of things on the other end, the situation was not good.

Lieutenant Kyran's hologram shook violently as they heard a low rumbling noise. Gunfire and muffled voices followed. He turned away briefly, calling out orders to someone they couldn't see before answering Shepard's question. "We've got a reaper on the ground approaching the command base and shooting at anything that tries to take it down," he stated brusquely. "They've also started bringing ground troops."

"Husks?"

"Among other things," he said with a grimace. "I'm sending you the specs on the new ones. Their numbers are small so far, but they are enough to keep the men from focusing on the reaper."

"Ground weapons wouldn't do much against a reaper anyways," Garrus interjected, his mandibles clamped tightly to his face in worry.

"Hold tight, Lieutenant," Shepard said firmly. "We're coming in with the Normandy. We'll get the reaper off you."

Kyran's mandibles flared in shock. "Commander, the reaper is shooting down everything that comes in close. Most of our fighters barely get a shot off before the reaper destroys them."

"Let us worry about that," she said sharply. "We'll see you soon."

The hologram flickered out, leaving Shepard and Garrus staring at one another. Her mind was already racing with ideas, but she didn't miss the worried expression on Garrus's face. She placed a comforting hand on his arm. "We'll get it done, Garrus."

"We have to," he said quietly. "If we lose that moon, we lose Palaven."

"Then we won't," she said with more conviction than she felt.

He let out a mirthless laugh. "You make it sound simple."

She took a step back towards the door, and shot him a smirk. "Kill a reaper. What could be more simple than that?"

Shepard's thoughts were in overdrive as she walked briskly towards the elevator. She had a few ideas, but she couldn't do this alone. She stepped into the elevator and pressed the button for the cargo bay. "EDI, call my techs down to the armory. I'm going to need some help on this one."

…

Tali wrung her hands nervously as she watched the ground team suit up. "Are you sure this is going to work?" she asked Shepard.

The commander shrugged, giving Garrus a brief nod as he handed Shepard her rarely-used Kuwashii visor. "You tell me," she deadpanned, fitting the visor in place. "You and Solana are the ones who rigged it up. As much power as a small nuclear bomb, you said."

"You know what I mean, Shepard," the quarian retorted, voice tight with anxiety. "This is too dangerous for you. There's got to be a better way."

"Maybe," Shepard conceded. "But not with the time and resources we have right now." She put a hand on Tali's shoulder. "We'll be fine. You need to stay focused."

She straightened. "Yes, Commander."

"Get to engineering," Shepard ordered. "This could be rough. I want your eyes on everything."

The commander joined Garrus, Zaeed, and Solana in the shuttle, moving past them to the cockpit. "Time to prove yourself, O'Connor. We've got a reaper to evade."

The usually boisterous shuttle pilot was focused. "You should strap yourself in, Commander. It's going to be a bumpy ride."

Instead of joining her teammates in the hold, she buckled herself into the co-pilot's chair. She heard a snort from behind and turned to see Garrus smirking at her. "I guess that's one way to avoid getting hit. Not even a reaper could predict your driving." A valiant effort, but for his benefit or hers? She would play along; anything was better than waiting and worrying.

"Better shut that smart mouth of yours, Vakarian, or I'll sacrifice you to the reaper as a peace offering."

"Sound strategy, Commander," he said dryly.

"It'll solve at least one of my problems."

"Engines are go," O'Connor interrupted, cutting the conversation short. Garrus went to strap himself in, and Shepard turned back around. It was time to show that damn reaper what they were made of.

When the Normandy's cargo bay door opened, Shepard got her first look at Palaven.

A globe of darkness was sliced and pockmarked with fire, the only light on a world now gone dark. Reapers blockaded the planet, shooting red, angry beams at anything that dared fly too near. In the distance she saw a civilian transport ship, flanked by two fighters—decoys, distractions to get the transport out safely. The fighters zoomed towards the blockade with their charge protected between them until one beam cut through one and then the next before all three were charred to ash.

We're no more than ants to them, she thought, feeling sick.

Below them was Menae, embroiled in battle both on the ground and in the air. She caught sight of Menae Command as they approached, and of the reaper that threatened its existence. It walked the scarred terrain, red beams cutting through ships and ground vehicles alike with a casual ruthlessness that made her shudder. Fighters swooped past it to distract from the base, but each was decimated in turn, falling out of formation in smoke and flame.

"Bring us in," Shepard ordered quietly, eyes on the reaper. "Opposite the camp from the reaper."

"Yeah, I know the plan, Commander," O'Connor muttered, but there was no heat behind the sarcasm. He, too, only had eyes for the reaper. The pilot cracked his knuckles and placed his hands back on the controls. "Might want to grab onto something," he said.

A tense silence reigned in the cockpit as the reaper loomed steadily larger in their vision. The beam shattered a fighter—then another—and flaming debris went flying, headed straight for their shuttle. "Shit," O'Connor swore, and sent the kodiak into a sudden nosedive. They dodged the flying wreckage and pulled back up, their vector now on intercept course with the reaper itself. And the reaper took notice.

O'Connor banked a hard left as the reaper changed focus, its red eye following them and glowing hot. Now in atmo, Shepard heard that terrible low sound vibrate through the shuttle, the one that her memories told her meant death. She opened her mouth to warn O'Connor.

Just as the beam appeared, the pilot dropped behind a turian fighter ship. The fighter's explosion rocked the shuttle, but the red beam did not touch them.

Shepard stared, heart racing in her chest. "Did you just use that fighter as a shield?" she demanded angrily.

"Kind of busy here, Commander," O'Connor replied shortly, brushing her off. But she already knew the answer.

He carved an erratic path through the jagged terrain, ducking low into crevices and up over cliffs, never keeping to one direction for long. The beam carved charred lines into the dust behind and around them but never quite hit.

"Engine's running hot," the pilot muttered to himself, hands flying over the control panel. Shepard's eyes snapped back and forth between him and the display in front of her, hoping he could keep this up until they reached their landing zone.

"I think we've got it more interested in us than the base for the moment," Shepard said. "See if we can lead it any further away."

"Because I don't have enough to do here," O'Connor snarked, his green eyes darting over the console.

"I've got faith in you, O'Connor," she said tightly.

They raced across the foreign landscape, playing cat-and-mouse with the most dangerous cat imaginable. One wrong move and it could all come crumbling down.

A blast of red hit the rocks below them, throwing them off course. Lights began to blink across the control panel. Shepard turned to her pilot. "What's happening?" she asked tersely.

He swiped a wrist across his forehead, coming away with a sheen of sweat. "Blast damage," he answered. "Now would be a good time to bring in the Normandy."

Shepard gave him a nod. "Joker, do you copy? Phase two's a go."

"Understood, Commander," came the tinny reply.

After a few long minutes of limping along, the Normandy swooped in to save the day.

Shepard's chest constricted when she saw the reaper shooting up at her ship, but Joker had always known how to make her dance. The interplay between him and EDI made their course unpredictable and efficient. She hissed when the beam glanced upon the hull, but the shielding held… for now.

"As close as you can," Shepard reminded O'Connor, and she unstrapped herself from the seat. "Slow down just enough for me to make the jump."

"Aye aye, ma'am," he replied, and she stepped into the hold.

Shepard gave a quick nod of acknowledgement to her team before strapping Cain to her back and stepping up to the hatch. "Take account of their defenses and get them organized," she reminded them. "I'll meet you in the camp."

Garrus was quick to unstrap his safety harness. "Shepard," he said quietly, eyes showing his protest. He hadn't liked the plan when she announced it, and he didn't like it now.

"I'll be fine, Vakarian," she said firmly. "Stick to the plan. I'll be in radio contact."

He hesitated a moment, but her gaze was solid on his. She felt the weight of his hand press her gauntlet, silently lending the support he would always give. I've got your six, Shepard.

He went to strap himself back in as she turned to the hatch, hand hovering on the controls as she waited for the signal.

"Now's your chance, Commander!" O'Connor hollered.

She landed in an awkward roll to break her fall as the shuttle zoomed away. Cain was heavy upon her back, throwing her with more than her usual momentum. She crawled behind a rock for cover, looking around to take account of her situation.

The landscape was gray and jagged, eclipsed by the burning silhouette of Palaven. The sounds of battle were distant and quiet now that the fighters had stopped coming in. Perhaps Joker had been able to get a message through. Or perhaps they'd run out of pilots to throw at it.

Either way, it was just Shepard and the reaper now. Shepard, the reaper, and a field of smoking wreckage.

She moved from one piece of cover to the next, trying to get to the right distance and angle. Every now and then the Normandy would swoop in for a distraction, keeping the reaper from moving too close to the camp. Her heart caught in her throat every damn time.

She activated her comm. "I'm in position. Joker, can you turn that thing in my direction?"

"You got it, Commander."

Within moments, the Normandy made another entrance, dancing through the reaper's space and tempting it to attack. A heavy step shook the ground, the sound of thunder. A red beam sliced the air but didn't touch her ship.

"Appreciate it," Shepard said low, into her comm. "Stand by for phase three." Eyes on the reaper, she hefted the Cain into her arms.

"One shot, Shepard," Tali said nervously as she passed her the newly-modified weapon. "You can't miss."

She wouldn't.

Shepard angled the weapon. Her visor did the calculations for her, adjusting for windspeed, density of atmosphere, and gravitational force. She held her hands steady, breathing in slowly and holding as if she were firing a sniper rifle rather than a flying bomb.

Shepard held down the trigger. It vibrated through her as the Cain powered up to maximum readiness. The reaper's red eye wandered. She released the trigger, and breathed.

She stowed the now empty weapon on her back slowly, never taking her eyes off the shot she'd fired. It grew smaller until it was only a speck, flying straight into the eye—into the firing chamber. She stood still and silent, and the reaper took an earth-shaking step. It hadn't even noticed.

"Begin phase three, Joker," she ordered quietly, watching the reaper as it turned.

"Understood," came her pilot's nerve-tinged voice through the comm. "Try to get clear, Commander."

Shepard wove back through the wreckage as quickly as she could, pausing and ducking behind cover when she saw the Normandy fly overhead. Missile bombardment and a burst of the Thanix cannon, she knew without looking as she felt the ground tremble beneath her feet.

The reaper was firing back when she glanced behind her, and she scrambled to further cover. Another swoop overhead and the grating sound of the Thanix against metal. They would be launching the missiles again now. She peeked over the edge of her cover.

The missiles were flying straight for the reaper's red, burning eye. The plating around it was moving, closing in protectively over its one great weak spot. It was time.

She pulled up the orange interface of her omni-tool, her face emotionless in its glow. She didn't look up to see the casing seal over the firing chamber. She didn't look up to see the missiles glance uselessly off the reaper's carapace. Only after she had entered her command did she look.

For a moment, all was still.

Then light and fire burst forth through the reaper's seams. Cracks formed, blasting outward from the pressure within, allowing the flames to roll forth. Armor fell away as it crumpled from the force, the Cain's timed blast magnified by containment. The ground shook as the reaper's legs gave out and dropped it to the ground.

"Hit it, Joker," Shepard ordered into the comm.

Fire rained down from the Normandy, crushing and burning until the red eye's glow flickered and died. Smoke and twisted metal rose from the flaming wreckage, an eerie silhouette against the sky.

"Send the shuttle to my location," Shepard said, rising from behind the rock she'd used for cover. She shut off her comm and moved towards the reaper. Something was drawing her to it, calling her to investigate.

Even a dead god can dream. The eye gave a dull flicker.

"You are Shepard," it said.

The world around her seemed to stop.

She took a cautious step forward. "You know who I am?"

"All reapers know your name."

Should she feel pride or fear, she wondered?

"Then you know what I can do," she said calmly, staring into that red, flickering eye.

"You are no more a threat to us than a fly buzzing about your ear. You struggle in vain as we lay waste, darkening the sky of every world."

She crossed her arms. "I was more than a fly to you."

"Your resistance is pointless. Even now, Harbinger is coming for you."

She paused. "Coming here?" she asked. Her heartbeat rushed to fill her ears in the following silence.

"Like countless before you, you will fall. Prepare yourself… Shepard."

The reaper's light flickered and dulled into nothingness. In its dying moment, Shepard couldn't shake the distinct feeling that the reaper was laughing at her.

She stared at that unmoving eye until she heard the sound of the shuttle behind her. She turned on her heel and strode to the hatch with purpose in her steps. Her expression hardened until nothing was left but the commander. "Joker?" she commed as they lifted off. "We have a problem."

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