Inside the Hammerhead, Vido was opening the package containing the bio-toxin. He hooked up the toxin to a terminal and began typing some commands. When the last button was pushed, the terminal displayed a timer and a beating heart. Vido smiled when the display came up. He then walked up towards the driver's seat. The turian that met him in his quarters on the freighter was in the driver's seat.
"The bio-toxin is hooked up and ready for dispersal," said Vido, "how much longer until we reach the city?"
"Not much longer sir," the turian replied, "we are just about to reach the point where we will begin to cause casualties. The further we go past that point, the more casualties we will inflict."
"Excellent."
Suddenly an alarm sounded on the dashboard. The turian pushed a few buttons and the alarm silenced.
"What's wrong?" Vido asked.
"Sensors are picking up a vehicle within our radar range. Based on its course, it will end up in front of us and block our path to the city."
"Shepard," Vido growled.
Suddenly a thought came to Vido and a smile began to form on his face. He then leaned forward and whispered something to the turian. The turian sharply turned to face Vido. What Vido said had terrified him.
"SIR THAT'S SUICIDE!" he shouted nearly losing control of the Hammerhead.
"I don't recall ASKING you to do it. I recall giving you an order. DO IT!"
With that last order, Vido walked back to the passenger compartment. The turian looked back to see that Vido was out of earshot. Convinced Vido was, he pulled up his omni-tool and patched a call. When the call went through, he put it off speaker so there was no chance Vido could hear the recipient's voice.
"It's me….Boss I may have a problem….Shepard is blocking our path into the city….yes… well Commander Santiago has an idea but….Boss it's suicide!...(gulp) I understand….yes Boss….don't worry….the mission will still be completed….Out."
The turian's omni-tool disappeared as the call ended. He sat quietly driving the Hammerhead as many thoughts ran through his head. Finally he decided that he had no choice but go along with Vido's plan. He may die doing it but it would be a better death than whatever one his boss would give him if he didn't. He turned to face Vido in the passenger compartment.
"Sir I'm ready to go whenever you are."
Following Grunt's directions, Shepard steered the Mako into the tunnel that would allow them to reach the city before Vido. He knew Zaeed was right about the Mako's slow speed being a problem but Shepard always preferred the Mako vs. the Hammerhead. The Mako could travel over most of the terrain a Hammerhead could. Also, in his opinion, the Mako's lack of speed was compensated by the fact it could take more hits than a Hammerhead. This was the edge Shepard was hoping would help them when they confronted Vido.
The tunnel was narrow and Shepard could see why Grunt recommended the Mako. Even a skilled pilot like Cortez would have a hard time flying through it without crashing. With a ground-based vehicle like the Mako, Shepard navigated the tunnel with no problems. He kept glancing at the radar but so far they weren't picking up anything. He figured the tunnel was blocking the radar's signal. Eventually they reached the end of the tunnel and ended up on the path to the city. As soon as they exited the tunnel, a blip appeared on the radar. Based on its location, the Hammerhead had not passed them yet. Grunt's plan worked and they still had a chance to stop Vido from reaching the city.
"Look," Grunt said pointing at the radar, "something's wrong."
Looking at the radar, Shepard could see that Grunt was right. The blip that was Vido's Hammerhead was not moving. The Hammerhead was just sitting there.
"Zaeed," Shepard said turning to face the passenger compartment, "take a peek outside and see if you can get a visual on what Vido's doing."
Zaeed nodded and began climbing up to the hatch on the roof. Shepard and Grunt continued watching the radar. What was Vido doing? A few seconds later, Zaeed came back down. He was shaking his head.
"I can see the Hammerhead but there's no movement coming from it," he said, "they're just sitting there. I don't like it. That bastard's up to something."
Shepard was about to nod in agreement when the radar started beeping. Everyone turned their attention back to the radar and saw that the Hammerhead was moving and it was coming full speed right at them. A second later, an explosion outside rocked the Mako. The Hammerhead was firing at them.
"Zaeed get on the gun!" Shepard ordered. "Grunt get us moving!"
Grunt gunned the engine as soon as Shepard gave the order. Zaeed was already making his way up towards the gun. The Mako charged fast towards the Hammerhead. Shepard watched as the blip on the radar moved closer to the center. He knew that the Hammerhead had maneuverability but if they timed their fire just right, they could disable the Hammerhead before it had a chance to react.
Suddenly Shepard's attention was caught by the sound of the Hammerhead firing on them again. Fortunately Grunt saw it coming and was able to drive the Mako up the slope of canyon. The Hammerhead's shell impacted right where the Mako originally was. Now that the Mako was moving it was harder for Shepard to notice the explosion rock the tank.
Suddenly Zaeed's voice was heard, "hey can you guys keep the tank still? It's hard enough to aim this thing with the Hammerhead moving."
"Steady Zaeed!" Shepard replied. "Just do your best to get the Hammerhead in your sights!"
Zaeed called back, "will do Shepard. Just say the word and I'll blow this bastard to hell!"
"Steady….steady…..FIRE!"
The Mako's mass accelerator cannon let out a loud boom as a 155mm shell shot out towards the Hammerhead. A second later, another explosion came as the shell made impact and the Hammerhead swerved a bit. Unfortunately, despite direct hit, the Hammerhead was able to straighten itself out and continued to come at the Mako. As the Hammerhead drew closer, Shepard realized that it was not making any efforts to move around them. It was like the Hammerhead was playing chicken with them. Shepard was not one to consider himself chicken but he was not extremely suicidal either.
"HIT THE THRUSTERS GRUNT!" Shepard shouted. "GET US IN THE AIR NOW!"
Grunt hit the thruster button hard. The four micro-thrusters ignited and began to lift the Mako off the ground. It took a second but the Mako managed to lift off high enough that the Hammerhead clearly flew by underneath it. Not stopping to continue engaging the Mako, the Hammerhead continued on course towards the city.
As the Hammerhead flew away, Zaeed was already trying to turn the cannon around to get the Hammerhead back in its sights. Grunt was also trying to turn the Mako around to continue pursuit but Shepard knew that it would be pointless. The Mako was just too slow and would never catch the Hammerhead before it reached the city. The best they could do was pray that Zaeed would nail the Hammerhead before it got out of the Mako's gun range. At the speed the Hammerhead moved however, that meant Zaeed had only one shot to do it. Shepard didn't plan on telling him that though.
"Take the shot when you have it Zaeed," he called.
Zaeed kept his finger squarely on the trigger and his one good eye focused on the Hammerhead. Once he was certain the Hammerhead was locked on, he fired. The shell seemed to fly through the air in slow motion towards the Hammerhead. After what felt like minutes, the shell struck the Hammerhead on the right side hoverjet. The explosion that followed damaged the hoverjet enough that it powered down. Without the second hoverjet to keep it blanced, the Hammerhead tilted to the side and made contact with the ground. It then began to spin uncontrollably until it crashed head-on into the canyon walls.
The trio in the Mako let out a loud cheer after watching the Hammerhead crash. Once they settled down, Grunt drove the Mako closer to where the Hammerhead crashed. All the while the trio closely watched the wreckage. They had to be sure that the Hammerhead didn't try to fly away again. At the rate Hammerhead's could repair themselves, anyone still alive on board could get the vehicle moving again quickly. Eventually the Mako reached the Hammerhead and there had still been no sign of movement.
"I think we got him Shepard," said Grunt.
"You bet we got him," Zaeed called above, "that shot was brilliant."
"Well there's only one way to find out" Shepard said as he got up from the driver's seat to open the Mako's door.
As soon as the trio was out of the Mako, each one of them pulled out their assault rifles and advanced on the Hammerhead. Shepard was concentrating on the Hammerhead's door, Zaeed watched the back end and Grunt focused on the roof. The plan was to cover all possible spots where Vido could pop out and fire on them. Shepard knew however that it was unlikely he would. Unless Vido was dead or severely injured, he would have had the Hammerhead up and running before Shepard and the squad had a chance to approach it. The fact the Hammerhead stayed where it was meant that the former options were true.
When they finally got close to the Hammerhead, they got in a line along the wall next to the door. Grunt was in front with Shepard and Zaeed behind him. Shepard signaled for Grunt to open the door. When it was opened, Shepard and Zaeed moved around Grunt and stood in front of the doorway with their rifles raised. They scanned inside and didn't see anyone inside the passenger compartment.
"(Moan)"
A moan from the driver's seat caught their attention. Shepard signaled for Zaeed to wait outside while he went inside to check it out. Slowly Shepard moved his way inside. He continued to scan for any other signs of life. Upon seeing no movement, he came to the conclusion that the lone moan in the driver's seat must have come from the only person who was inside with him.
Shepard's attention was then caught by the bio-toxin. The container the toxin was in appeared to be intact. He also noticed it was connected to a terminal. The terminal displayed a timer but for some reason it wasn't counting down. There was also a picture of beating heart next to the timer. Shepard figured that as long as the timer wasn't counting down he should be okay. He continued moving towards the driver's area.
Shepard holstered his rifle and pulled out his pistol. The pistol was better suited for close quarters. Finally he jumped into the driver's area with his pistol pointed towards where he heard the moan. The sight that greeted him left him confused.
"Zaeed," Shepard called out, "we have a turian in the driver's seat but Vido is nowhere to be seen."
"What are you talking about?!" Zaeed shouted back. "We saw him inside before the Hammerhead left for the city. When could he have gotten off?"
Suddenly Shepard put it together. The long time the Hammerhead held position before it charged at the Mako now made sense. Vido had to have gotten off during that time. That meant that the Hammerhead's charge was a diversion for…
"GET TO COVER!" yelled Shepard.
The order came too late. No sooner did Shepard give it that gunfire was heard outside the Hammerhead. It was followed by the sounds of Grunt and Zaeed groaning in pain. Shepard raced to the open hatch and saw Grunt and Zaeed on the ground. Their bodies were littered without bullet holes. Shepard wanted to run out to help them when he saw Vido step out from behind some nearby boulders with his rifle raised and began firing at him.
Shepard was barely able to duck back into the driver's area as bullets flew into the Hammerhead. When the bullets struck the walls, shrapnel and other debris started flying around. The wall between the driver's area and the passenger compartment was the only cover protecting Shepard from the debris. He wanted to return fire but with so much debris flying it was impossible for him to do so without getting hit. Finally the gunfire ceased and Shepard heard footsteps from Vido entering the Hammerhead.
"I know you are in there Shepard," he called. "very slowly I want you to throw all your weapons out to me."
Thinking about the potential fate of Zaeed and Grunt made Shepard want to just step out from the driver's area and blow Vido away. But he knew it was pointless as Vido would gun him down before he had a chance to pull the trigger. Trapped and alone with no obvious way out, Shepard had no choice but oblige. He tossed out his pistol and then pulled out and tossed his assault and sniper rifles. The next sound he heard was Vido kicking the weapons out of the Hammerhead. This was followed by the sound of Vido walking towards him. Finally Vido stepped into the driver's area and held his pistol right at Shepard's head. All the while he was menacingly smiling at him.
"You really should have stayed on that moon Shepard," Vido said with a laugh, "now I have no choice but to kill you too. Nothing personal you understand. I just can't have you continuing to interfere with my business. Goodbye Shepard."
(BANG)
Shepard had closed his eyes in anticipation of the shot. To his surprise, his eyes opened again and he was unharmed. The same could not be said for Vido. There appeared to be a bullet exit wound on his forehead and he appeared to be as confused as Shepard about what had happened. Vido's eyes then rolled up into his sockets as he fell to the floor dead.
After Vido had fallen, Shepard looked up to see Grunt and Zaeed in the passenger compartment. Zaeed was holding "Jessie" in his hand and there was a small trail of smoke coming from it. Grunt was standing next to him and appeared to be holding Zaeed up on his feet. Despite the bullet wounds, Grunt seemed to be fine. Zaeed on other hand started to collapse. Shepard shot up to help as Grunt began setting Zaeed down.
"You okay Grunt?" he asked.
"I'm fine Shepard," he said, "it takes more than a few bullets to bring me down. I don't think Zaeed is doing so well though. He told me to play dead and wait for Vido to pass. He lost a lot of blood while we were on the ground."
Zaeed's face was pale and his head started to drop like he was trying to go to sleep. Shepard gently patted his face to try and keep him awake.
"Zaeed stay with me," said Shepard, "I'll give you some medi-gel, Grunt and I will get you out of here and you'll be patched up in no time."
"Don't bother Shepard," Zaeed groaned, "It's too late. I know I'm not going to make it. I always knew it would end something like this."
"Come on Zaeed don't talk like that. I'm not going to let you die now."
"Please Shepard. It's okay. I've been dead for more than twenty years, ever since Vido betrayed me and shot me in the head. I'm just lucky I lived long enough to take him down with me."
A tear started to fall down Shepard's face, "you did more than that Zaeed. You helped me save the galaxy…twice."
"Yeah, we ended up becoming big goddamn heroes after all. I never could have done any of this without your help Shepard. Thank you."
"You bet."
Zaeed then did something Shepard couldn't remember ever seeing him do. He smiled. Then Zaeed's head bowed down as he breathed one final breath. The legendary bounty hunter Zaeed Massani was dead.