Survival of the fittest
chapter 13
"Approaching the Omega 4 relay-Everyone stand by." Joker informed them over the intercom.
"okay people- Let's make it happen." Jane was hella mad and determined.
"Reaper IFF activated; Signal acknowledged." Edi chimed
"Commander, the drive core just lit up like a Christmas tree!" Jacob informed them.
"Drive core electrical charge at critical levels," said EDI.
"Rerouting," Joker responded determination lacing his voice.
The Normandy entered the relay, "Brace for deceleration," Edi warned.
After a lot of chop they were through to the other side.
"Oh shit!" Joker shouted, He quickly manoeuvred the Normandy around debris and wrecks, eventually making it through thanks to the Normandy's new upgrades, "Too close."
Aki looked out the window and shook her head once, "creepy" it was a wasteland... how many ships had crashed here
Garrus nodded, "yeah- all those wrecks…"
"These must be all the ships that tried to make it through the Omega 4 relay, Some look…ancient." Joker near whispered.
"I have detected an energy signature near the edge of the accretion disk." Edi informed them
Jane looked ahead in the distance, "That has to be the Collector base, Joker take us in for a closer look, Nice and easy."
"Careful, Jeff. We have company," Edi warned
laser flyers had detected them and were coming in hot, already shooting, no wonder nothing had survived with those bastards swooping in.
"Taking evasive manoeuvres," the flyers were too hard to shake off, they kept close, hugging against the Normandy, if it wasn't for the upgrades they'd have broken through the exterior by now.
"Now they're just pissing me off!" yelled Joker. "EDI, take these bastards out!"
Joker continued to evade them, he was the best for a reason, even with his condition he was a fantastic pilot, all instinct.
"Alert, hull breach on engineering deck," Edi informed them.
"It's in the cargo hold," Joker yelled.
"I'll deal with it- get the rest off our tail" Jane assured him, "Aki, Garrus and Jack, get your ass to the cargo hold"
Jane and her squad were focused on getting the obliterating the threat in the ship.
"We're sitting ducks out here! I have to try to lose them in the debris field!" said Joker over the comm.
"Do it!" Jane replied
"I'm going in,"
The ship shook as Joker took them in into the debris field, one wrong move and the ship would be blow to hell.
Jane and her squad continued their attack on the intruder… eventually it exploded in a haze of fire.
Joker was on the comm, "We're about to clear the debris field, Commander."
Jane nodded to the others "good work- i'm heading back up"
She got to the cockpit, "There is it…the Collector base." Joker muttered nodding out of the window.
"See if you can find a place to land without drawing attention," Jane placed her hand on Joker's shoulder, "good work by the way"
"Looks like they're already sending out an old friend to greet us," replied Joker steely.
It was the Collector ship
"Fire the main gun" Jane ordered
"How do you like that you sons of bitches!" Joker roared as he fired the guns.
"alright- now get in closer and finish them off." Jane nodded "I never want to see that ship again"
"oh- you got it" he grinned hitting the main guns, "Give 'em hell, girl!"
The blast hit the Collector ship ripping it apart, the explosion ripped through space between them, he Normandy still in the blast radius.
"Look out!" Jane roared
The Normandy shook violently as it was hit by the blast Jane grabbed hold of anything she could to steady herself narrowly avoiding falling on her arse.
"The mass effect field generators are offline! EDI, give me something!"
"Generators unresponsive," she replied, "Brace for impact."
Joker grunted steering the ship as best he could, he managed to land – albeit crash land- onto a flat level of the Collector base's hull.
Jane looked over at Joker worried, she ran over to him, "hey- You alright?"
"A broken rib…or all of them," he grunted in pain doubled over.
"ahw shit- just… take it easy"
"Restoring operation will take time," EDI informed her running diagnostics.
"How long until the Collectors find this landing zone?" Jane asked.
"I do not detect an internal security alert," replied EDI. "It is possible the Collectors did not expect anyone to ever reach the base."
"Well, that's some good news I guess," Jane half smiled, "Joker, help EDI get this ship up and running again. I'll be back later with our crew"
"Go get 'em, Commander." He moaned.
Shepard and the entire squad made their way out of the Normandy and onto the Collector base, this was it, the final hurdle… Aki looked around to each of her friends and inhaled deeply, she glanced to Garrus and ground her teeth… no-one is dying today. Jane divvied up teams.
"Look out!" yelled Thane, "Seeker swarms!"
They began to fire as they made a run for the entrance into the base.
"We're in position," Jane yelled over the fire, "We need this door open now!"
Aki looked to Legion, "Go! We'll cover you!"
Legion ran over to the door's terminal and began to hack the system, "The door has malfunctioned. Path blocked…complete."
The door whooshed open and they made their way inside ducking behind the doors to fire out, using it as cover.
"Here they come!" yelled Jane, "Get that door closed Legion!"
"Suppressing fire! Don't let anyone through that door!" Garrus roared
The swarms were getting closer, too many enemies… it was like being back on the battlefield, the door closed, and relief washed over them.
Jane signed heavily and nodded to the Geth, "Nice work, Legion. I knew I could count on you."
"Shepard," Miranda interrupted. "You need to see this."
They came upon a bunch of pods, "Jane.." Aki frowned, "these have people in"
Jane wiped her hand over the front of the pod and grunted… Ms. Chambers...her eyes were closed but she was breathing, "it's chambers, she's alive", the crew gathered around, Chamber's skin was breaking apart, disintegrating before their eyes…she opened her eyes and began pounding against the pod, her blood curdling screams tearing through the eerie silence. They watched horrified as she turned into a bloody pulp and was sucked out of the pod.
"get the rest out of there! Now!" Jane shouted, each of them frantically pulling the pods apart to free their crew mates. Garrus broke open the pod that held Dr. Chakwas, she fell forward limp, Jane reached out to catch her holding her tightly.
"are you okay?" she pressed softly
"Shepard? You…you came for us."
Jane smiled, "No one gets left behind. Do you know where we can find the missing colonists?"
"The colonists were…processed. Those swarms of little robots, they…melted their bodies into grey liquid and pumped it through these tubes."
Jane hung her head, "Yeah…I just saw that happen to Ms. Chambers…I couldn't save her in time." Aki placed a hand on Jane's shoulder a small yet reassuring act.
Chakwas extended her hand to Jane's arm, "It's not your fault, it's the Collectors."
"Why are they doing this? What are they doing with our genetic material?"
"I don't know. I'm just glad you got here before it happened to us."
"So are we, But we've still got a job to do." Miranda stated almost coldly.
"Joker, can you get a fix on our position?" Jane radioed in.
"Roger that, Commander. All those tubes lead into the main control room right above you. The route is blocked by a security door, but there's another chamber that runs parallel to the one you're in."
"I cannot recommend that," EDI chimed in. "Thermal emissions suggest the chamber is overrun with seeker swarms. Mordin's countermeasure cannot protect you against so many at once."
"What about biotics?" Shepard asked. "Could we create a biotic field to keep them from getting near us?"
"Yes," replied Samara. "I think it may be possible. I wouldn't be able to protect everyone, but we might be able to get a small team through if they stayed close."
"I could do it too," said Miranda. "In theory any biotic could handle it. Shepard, who do you want to maintain the field?"
"Jack- you can handle it?" Jane asked.
"whatever cheerleader can do, I can do better"
"okay then. Jack and I will take a small team through the seeker swarms," Shepard responded. "The rest of you provide a diversion by going through the main passage. We'll open the security doors from the other side and meet you there."
"Who should lead the diversion team?" Miranda asked.
"Aki you handle the diversion"
"aye aye"
"What about me and the rest of the crew, Shepard? We're in no shape to fight." Chakwas prompted.
"Commander? We have enough systems back online to do a pick-up but we'd need to land back from your position."
"We can't afford to go back, Shepard. Not now," Miranda scowled.
"would you rather they die?"
"no-"
"then someone needs to lead them back" Jane looked to Mordin, "I want you to lead the crew back to the Normandy, give them a thorough examination"
"Understood," Mordin replied.
Dr. Chakwas looked over at her Commander, "Good luck, Shepard. I hope we'll see each other again soon."
"We will," she nodded giving the woman a small smile before she turned to look at the rest of her squad, "We've all got our assignments. Let's move out!"
Jack managed to make the biotic shield to cover Jane, Garrus and Thane. They made their way through the Collectors, Jane looked to Jack who was growing increasingly more fatigued, "We need- to- get there soon," Jack groaned.
They continued on, the team spurring Jack on, "Hang in there, we're almost there!" Jane grinned, never prouder. They ran faster now, Jack holding the field up as the others relentlessly fired.
"We need to get out of here, Shepard," Thane frowned "more incoming"
"Alright, let's move!" she replied.
They ran towards the door, Jack focusing with all her might, "Hurry, Shepard!" yelled Jack. They made it eventually, Jack began to gather her biotic field sucking it inside before exploding it outward towards the Collectors with everything she had.
Jane ran to the terminal and slammed the doors shut.
"Jane- do you copy?!"
"I copy. What's your position?"
"We're at the door. They've got us pinned down!" Aki snarled over the gunfire, Shepard ran over to the other side of the room by the other set of doors.
"We're coming; just hold on!" yelled Jane. She looked at Tali, "Get this door open!"
Tali worked the terminal, the door opening…
"Come on!" Jane roared motioning Aki and her team inside, the entered in and continued the hail of bullets.
"Seal the door!" Jane shouted to Tali
"It's jammed!" she replied panicking, attempting different sequences.
"Damn it!" Jane grunted as she and Jacob manually worked on closing the door, the door eventually shut, one round of fire made it through…straight into Jacobs chest…
"FUCK!" Jane roared as running to him, he coughed a little before laughing "God damn it" she exhaled in relief
"I'm fine commander" he assured "just winded"
"We need to keep moving" Garrus frowned "come on Jane"
"Joker, are you at the rendezvous point?" she pressed into her com.
"I'm here, Commander. Mordin and the rest of the crew just showed up."
Jane let out an audible sigh of relief, "Good. EDI? what's our next step?"
"There should be some nearby platforms that will take you to the main control console. From there you can overload the system and destroy the base."
"Commander?" Joker interrupted. "You've got a problem. Hostiles massing just outside the door. Won't be long until they bust through."
Miranda looked at Shepard, "Pick a team to go with you, Shepard. Everyone else can bunker down here and cover your back."
"Aki, Thane and Miranda with me," Shepard commanded.
She looked at the rest of her squad, "The galaxy is depending on us…on all of us. We've made it further than anyone ever has before, we are the first to make it to their base and fight back. The Collectors have never had to stand and fight the best of us, that's you. Make me proud, make yourselves proud…and give 'em hell!"
The crew all nodded, bolstered by their commander's faith in them, "Let's finish this!"
Aki passed by Garrus "stay safe"
"you too" he purred.
The platform moved them further into the ship, following the tubing…
"This is it," Jane pointed "All the tubes lead to this spot.", Jane got on the comm, "EDI, what can you tell me?"
"The tubes are feeding into some kind of super-structure. It is emitting both organic and non-organic energy signatures. Given these readings, it must be massive."
The platform came to the end of the tunnel and into a large open area, up ahead…they saw it, "what the-"
"fuck"
"If my calculations are correct, the super-structure…is a Reaper." EDI finished
"It's a human Reaper." Jane gasped. They looked up at its massive size, a huge metal hulking human skeleton reaper. The platform they were on connected to the other platforms near it.
"It appears the Collectors have processed tens of thousands of humans," EDI informed them, "Significantly more will be required to complete the Reaper."
"explains all the colonists" Thane muttered
Jane looked at it attempting to form a plan, "It's too big for our guns. EDI, find me a way to blow this thing to hell."
"The large tubes injecting the fluids are a weak structural link. Destroying them should cause the supports to collapse and the Reaper to fall."
"Got it, EDI," Jane looked at her squad, "Let's get to it!"
They fired at the supports, taking them out one by one until the Reaper fell to the depths below.
"Jane- did this feel-"
"easy… yeah" Jane got on her comm again, "Shepard to ground team. Status report."
"Samara here. We're taking them out as they come but feel free to call for an exit anytime."
"Head to the Normandy. Joker, prep the engines. I'm about to overload this place and blow it sky high."
"Roger that, Commander."
Jane pulled up the core, Joker got on the comm, "Uh, Commander? I've got an incoming signal from the Illusive Man. EDI's patching it through."
"hang up" she demanded
"too late"
The Illusive Man was displayed on Miranda's comm, "Shepard, you've done the impossible. You did what you had to and you acquired the Collector base. I'm looking at the schematics EDI uploaded. A timed radiation pulse would kill the remaining Collectors and leave the machinery and technology intact. This is our chance, Shepard. They were building a Reaper. That knowledge…that framework…could save us. "
Jane scoffed loudly, "They liquefied people…turned them into something horrible. We have to destroy the base."
"Don't be short-sighted. Our best chance against the Reapers is to turn their own resource against them."
"or you could use it against other races- an argument and you unleash a reaper" Aki chimed in.
"They were working directly with the Collectors. Who knows what information is buried here? This base is a gift. We can't just destroy it."
Jane shook her head laughing softly, "No matter what kind of technology we might find, it's not worth it."
"Shepard, you died fighting for what you believed. I brought you back so you could keep fighting. Some would say what we did to you was going too far but look what you've accomplished. I didn't discard you because I knew your value. Don't be so quick to discard this facility. Think of the potential."
"I won't let fear compromise who I am! We'll fight and win without it." Jane snarled.
"Miranda…do not let Shepard destroy the base!"
"Or what? You'll replace me next?" she replied coldly.
"I gave you an order, Miranda!"
"I noticed. Consider this my resignation."
The Illusive Man focused again on Jane, "Think about what's at stake! About everything Cerberus had done for you. You.."
Miranda cut off the transmission, "I think that's more than enough of that"
They all nodded in agreement and Jane turned her attention back to the core, "Okay, let's move. We've got ten minutes before the reactor overloads and blows this whole station apart."
the platform began to shake, defending roars echoing out, hands reaching up from the darkness as the human reaper pulled itself up and onto the platforms.
"Oh fuck me" Aki shouted
"Go for the eyes! Shoot out the eyes!" Jane grunted
They ducked around the platform avoiding the Reaper's attack on them, aiming for the eyes whenever they had the chance.
The Reaper was getting weaker, the attacks less frequent, "Give it everything you've got!" Shepard yelled to her squad.
After what felt like an eternity the reapers head exploded in a flash of blinding light its body slumping, arm smashing against the platforms before it fell taking them with it.
The platforms flipped on an angle, the reaper falling back into darkness, Miranda and Jane grabbed hold of the platform, Thane managing at the final minute to steady himself, Aki grunted, trying to get some traction, she grabbed her sword off her back as she slid, using it to slow her momentum.
Jane watched as her sister dangled off the edge, sheer willpower keeping her holding onto the swords hilt, the Reaper exploded below them, sending a massive shock wave up, a force so hard and powerful that it threw them all backward and caused debris to fall…
"Look out!" Jane hollered.
Aki grunted attempting to stand, she managed to get herself from her stomach onto her hands and knees before curling her back and forcing the debris off her body, she ground her teeth and pushed with all her might. Once freed she looked around and ran to Jane checking her over before shaking her "we need to go"
Jane looked to her younger sister, blood trickled down from her eyebrow other than that she was fine, "I'll help the others-"
Joker was on the comm, "Do you copy? Commander? Come on, Shepard, don't leave me hanging. Do you copy?"
"I'm here, Joker. Did the ground team make it?"
"All survivors on board. We're just waiting for you."
Jane looked at her squad and nodded, "Let's move it people!"
They ran down the corridors swarms of collectors chasing after.
"Go! Go! Go!" yelled Jane, "Don't bother shooting back! Run as fast as you can! We're almost there!"
Up ahead they could see the Normandy waiting, Joker had the airlock open.
He was waiting there…gun in hand, Miranda and Thane ran up the platforms…onto the Normandy, Aki was next as she cleared it as the debris fell from above. Jane moved out of the way, it took out the platforms.
"fuckin' jump!" Aki yelled to Jane
She stepped back and ran, sprinting before she jumped with all her might…
Shit!
Jane reached her arms out as far as she could, the panic building… she wasn't going to clear it distance too far, she was going to miss.
Aki watched as Janes fingertips grazed the airlock, she started to fall. Jane closed her eyes almost accepting what was to come... her eyes snapped open as a gloved hand seized hers.
Aki held on as tight as possible as she dangled over the edge, Thane holding onto her, "I've got you," she ground her teeth as she pulled her into the airlock, they all made their way back inside the ship, "Detonation in ten, nine, eight…"
"Yeah, I got the gist of it, EDI! Hold on!" said Joker as he took the pilot seat.
The Normandy exited the Collector base just as it started to explode.
The ship went double time, they were clear of the blast, they did it…they had won and they had survived.
Cheers echoed throughout the ship, "suicide my ass" Aki smirked patting Jane's shoulder.
Jane had a blunt conference in with the Illusive Man, "Shepard. You're making a habit of costing me more than time and money."
"Too many lives were lost at that base. I'm not sorry it's gone." She replied sternly.
"The first of many lives. The technology from that base could have secured human dominance in the galaxy. Against the Reapers and beyond."
"Human dominance, or just Cerberus?"
"Strength for Cerberus is strength for every human. Cerberus is humanity. I should have known you'd choke on the hard decisions. Too idealistic from the start."
"I'm done listening to you. I'm doing things my way from now on. The Reapers are coming and I'm going to make sure we're ready when they get here. You can fall in line or step aside." Jane was mad, she couldn't hold back.
"You sure that's what you want? You're taking a hell of a risk, Shepard."
Jane scoffed, "Joker, lose this channel." She shook her head "fuck Cerberus"