A/N - Buckle your seatbeats, folks, this is gonna be a bumpy ride! All credit belongs to Bioware, and I just love playing with their creations~!
At 04:00, Kaidan looked up from his last minute (and promised) checks of weapons and armor to see Kat approaching. He had gotten his wish, and they had spent the time between yesterday's briefing and when he began his preparations two hours ago locked in each other's arms, aside from a minor and half-hearted attempt by Kat to get him to include her on at least the support team. When he reiterated in no uncertain terms that she was not going anywhere near a shuttle, she gave up without protest. He smiled now to see her, datapad in hand and brow creased in concentration, and recognized her coping mechanisms. He sincerely thought that this mission would be tougher on her than anyone, and she'd be aboard the Normandy the whole time.
He turned his attention to his teams and nodded in satisfaction to see that all 7 of them had completed their gear checks and were standing at ease, calm and ready for him. He signaled them to the shuttle with a wave of his hand and watched as they all filed in, then took up position behind them. Before he boarded, he turned back to Kat, meeting her eyes and communicating silently. They had touched and spoken and generally reveled in each other all night, and nothing more was necessary now but the unspoken emotions they conveyed in that long look. He turned away and boarded the shuttle, closing the doors behind him and giving the order to be off to Cortez.
Once they were underway, he turned to his team.
"Once we got into orbit this morning, we could see it's a shitstorm down there. There are multiple debris fields and both long-range and short-range scanners are being jammed. Added to that, our target is a platform in the middle of a raging sea – there's currently a gale-force storm blowing – and our day just got much more interesting," he told them.
"Are there Reapers, too?" Garrus asked, tongue-in-cheek. "Because Reapers would be all I would for the trifecta."
"No Reapers as yet," Kaidan replied with a chuckle. "I'm sure we can expect Leviathan to be calling any and all thralls to them, if they haven't already, though."
"Just line 'em up and we'll knock 'em down," James drawled, cracking his knuckles for emphasis.
"Pick your targets carefully," Kaidan warned. "We're landing on something the size of a teacup and there's a lot of us. We don't need to worry about friendly fire. I'll lead the cover team out first and we'll scout and clear the area. Then we'll deploy the remaining teams while cover sets up their perimeter. We want to be fast and clean – I'd like to have the dive team in the water within an hour. Any questions?"
When, as expected, there were no further comments, Kaidan sat back for the rest of the ride. There was nothing more to do or discuss until they were on the ground and or could see the situation for themselves. On the heels of that thought, the shuttle was rocked and Kaidan grabbed for the chicken bar to keep himself upright.
"Leviathan defense pulse, Major," Cortez reported from the pilot's chair. "I was expecting it so I had max power to the shields, but it's still gonna cause us a rough landing."
"Just do your best, Lieutenant," Kaidan replied with a nod.
"Aye, aye, sir," Cortex replied and Kaidan watched as the pilot's hands flew over the controls, his face set in grim concentration.
A few minutes later, Cortez set the shuttle down, but not until they were hit twice more with the energy pulses.
"Status?" Kaidan barked, performing his last-minute systems checks.
"One of the engines is pretty fried," Cortez reported, reading off his gauges, "But only minor structural damage otherwise."
"Ground team to Normandy," Kaidan called over his com. "Shuttle is down, minor damage, cover team is ready to deploy to scout the LZ."
"Roger," Kat's voice returned, firm and business-like. "ETA to dive?"
Kaidan turned to Cortez who muttered a quick 'thirty' under his breath as he began to uncrate the dive mechs with Tali's and Miranda's assistance.
"Looks like thirty minutes, assuming we don't find any other surprises waiting for us out there," Kaidan reported.
"Acknowledged," Kat replied. "Good luck, Major. Normandy out."
Kaidan waved his team into position, taking point. He was completely non-plussed by the brusque conversation with his wife – he knew that at this point, they were partners, a well-oiled machine, but that this was business. There was no place for sentiment in a military mission, and her 'good luck' was as close to it as she would get until he was safely back on the Normandy.
As he stepped down onto the unsteady footing of the old wreck, Kaidan took a moment to remember their last visit here and reflect that it had been one of his least favorite outings of the War. Although Kat had eventually returned to the surface and had suffered no lasting repercussions (partly because of his quick intervention and first aid training), they had both known then – and now – two things. First; that it was the closest that she had come, prior to ending up in a heap of rubble under the remains of the Citadel, to being defeated during her struggle against their enemy. Not even when she went toe-to-toe with the Reaper on Rannoch had she been as close to death. Second; that she only returned to the surface – and to him – because she had been able to persuade the Leviathan of her value in the war against their common enemy.
Kaidan remembered those long moments after they lost communication with her during her dive as some of the most harrowing of his career. He winced a bit at the thought that he was about to put his pregnant wife through the exact same ordeal. Still, he knew the reasons for their mission today, and believed in them – and Kat – with all his heart. Ultimately, he was a pragmatist, as any good soldier must be, so he shoved the thoughts of the distress his wife may have to endure in favor of a very real survey of the area before them.
As he had reported on the shuttle, the seas mimicked their behavior of the previous visit and were raging. Waves swelled underneath the wreckage that was their floor and created slippery and unsteady footing. Winds and sea spray blew against their gloves and armor, chilling everything and making grips on weapons and tools tenuous at best. Visibility was hampered by the constant moisture inundating their helmets inside and out. However, only the sea and the weather seemed to oppose them, and they returned to the shuttle after an uneventful scouting trip around the wreck.
Kaidan stood and watched the support team readying the dive mechs while he reported their status to the Normandy. He wondered if the rough seas would be the only opposition on this day, but he was too combat-savvy to hope for it. His gut was telling him this had been way too easy so far, and it wasn't likely to stay that way. He turned his attention to the two asari who would be accompanying him to the depths of this ocean.
"What can I expect once we're all down there?" he asked.
"We were just thinking we should do a trial shield – that's what it is, really, a biotic mental shield – before we enter the mechs and dive," Liara said with an earnest look.
"We believe it would benefit you to know our mental feel and it would aid us in establishing the… shield," Samara added.
"Right," Kaidan replied with a nod. "So what do we do?"
"Just relax and try to clear your mind," Liara instructed. "It may take a few…" Her words faded and Kaidan felt the odd sensation of being in two places at once. He could see and interact with the world outside his head, but the landscape inside was a separate place, something he didn't recognize – even from his dreams. It was disorienting, disconcerting, and he found himself searching for control, synchronicity.
"Do not try to struggle, but rather try to see through the filter," he heard Samara instruct – and her voice echoed. He knew she had spoken aloud, but he could also hear her in his thoughts. He shook his head as if to clear it.
"Can you dial it back a bit, ladies?" he asked impatiently, both verbally and for emphasis he also thought the request at them. "I'm not asari – this is totally unfamiliar to me."
"We can," Liara began and the first words were the same echo and then it lessened, "although we worry that we may not be able to stop an incursion before it starts."
"From what Shepard said, Leviathan communicates telepathically," Kaidan replied. "Although I don't expect we'll be able to reason with them, I doubt we can totally prevent an incursion, and I'm not sure we should. As long as the two of you can monitor the communication and pull me out if Leviathan tries to enthrall me, we should be fine."
"Understood," Liara replied, and Kaidan noted that the echo was barely noticeable. He nodded in satisfaction.
He was aware that the asari remained connected to him, taking up residence in the back of his mind like a not-unwelcome memory, when he approached the support team to check on their status. Cortez reported that the mechs and bomb would be ready to go in about five minutes, so Kaidan stayed close, catching the occasional jargon of the three as they worked in sync and comprehending it, but not really concentrating on it. Their rhythm was familiar to him – he had, after all, been a part of plenty of tech teams himself – and it provided the comfort of routine.
Once Cortez signaled that the mechs were ready, Kaidan waved his team over. He was about to ask Cortez to begin a quick rundown of their features when a frantic signal from his com caused him to swing his head to the perimeter. He saw what James had just roared in his ear – Leviathan had summoned reinforcements and they were coming in waves. He turned back to his team and raised a finger asking for a moment, then wandered to the side.
"Lieutenant, do your best to hold that perimeter," he ordered James. "Ground team to Normandy," he called over a different channel.
"Normandy here," Kat replied, and he could hear the stress in her voice, though he doubted anyone else could. "We see them, Major."
"Can you give us any additional support?" Kaidan asked.
"Negative," Kat said with finality. "Joker and EDI are taking out anything we can get to before they breach the defense grid, but the Normandy is too big to crash land on that wreckage and we can't chance the pulse hitting the drive core." Again, Kaidan knew his wife well and could tell from the tone of her voice that she was less than happy and barely resigned to that answer. He imagined Joker's ears were ringing right about now.
"Acknowledged," he replied, military correct, as Kat had been. "Cover team will have to hold the perimeter; we're preparing to dive now."
"Dammit, Kaidan…" Kat exclaimed, distinctly not military-correct. Then she sighed and collected herself. "Acknowledged, Major. Be safe and good luck," she said, adhering to the strictures that so many years of training had set for her. She sighed again and growled. "When this is over, I'm gonna be waiting for you. You better show up," she said in a voice full of emotion. Kaidan recognized the words from their 'goodbye' before the final battle in London.
"I'm gonna fight like hell for the chance to hold you again," Kaidan repeated his previous response in an equally emotional tone, then he cleared his throat and fell back into form. "Ground team out."
He turned back to his crew, his friends, and took stock of the situation. In just milliseconds before he moved to help the cover team eliminate the waves of ground troops that had begun to inundate the wreckage, he noted the support team working in sync to complete the last minute checks on the dive mechs as well as his asari teammates performing their last minute equipment checks and preparing to board their mechs as soon as the support team indicated. He did not have to verbally order Liara and Samara to do so, he found with their mental connection, he could just think that he would be last into the mechs so that he could provide as much fire support as possible in the meantime. Having this advantage would be an amazing gift to many military leaders, and he set that thought aside to pursue once the mission was complete. As he raised his assault rifle and fired up his biotic barrier, he studied the enemy they faced. As with the mission what felt like so long ago on Demeter, there was no rhyme or reason to the troops clambering to attack them. They wore no common uniform, bore no insignia, and were of varied races and gender. The only commonality that they seemed to have was their desire to eliminate the Normandy crew.
Kaidan saw Cortez signal with the wave of his hand and holstered his weapon and let his barrier fall. He walked over to the dive mech and followed Cortez's instructions to enter it. Once he was sealed inside, he checked his link with the asaris and found them awaiting his instruction. He tested his theory and thought his instructions to them and nodded in satisfaction when he saw them begin to move as requested. He fell into formation with them and the three of them made their lumbering way to the side of the wreck and over into the black roiling water.
He found himself glad of Liara's and Samara's presence in his mind a moment later as the dark water swallowed them, and the quick descent cut off the minimal light from the surface. He considered himself a steady and nearly unflappable combat-tested soldier, but the darkness enveloping them was an unknown enemy; an unfamiliar foe and it was disconcerting to someone of even his experience. He reminded himself that his wife had faced this demon in a much more harrowing and unknown situation and done it with typical aplomb. The least he could do was honor that.
He steeled himself against the darkness and found his companions were also setting aside their unease and sending him reassurance, and he smiled to himself to realize that even in their own fear, his friends were thinking of him first. It was that quality that made them so special to him, and he appreciated their efforts all the more for realizing that they, too, were uneasy and unsure. In turn, he sent his reassurance and confidence in their mission back.
As Kat had warned him, communications to the surface cut off before they reached two thousand meters, and the three of them were truly alone in the depths. They continued to dive, in search of the probe that had been launched from the Normandy so many years ago, and that EDI had confirmed was still in place. They passed the probe and Kaidan peered through the darkness in front of them, lit only by the flares the dive mech deployed every 500 meters automatically, trying to ignore the red glare of the pressure warning on the HUD's gauge.
As they descended deeper and deeper, he began to wonder precisely what to expect once they reached this ancient enemy. Kat had been uncharacteristically reticent about her mission here during the War, whether from lack of recall or inclination he didn't know and hadn't pressed as they had had higher priorities at the time. When they realized they'd need to return to Despoina and the depths of the ocean, Kat had once again given him a bare facts account of her time with Leviathan during the War and so he was left with more questions than answers. He hadn't considered the need for more until this moment.
In the space of one moment to the next, the cold black parted and his questions were answered. Before him appeared three massive forms shaped more like Reapers than his gut was comfortable with.
"Where is the one who breached the darkness?"
Kaidan knew that they had spoken telepathically, but he felt the voice thunder and echo around him. He remained silent, disconcerted and unsure of how to react.
"Where is the Shepard?"
Kaidan felt that the voice was deeper, more forceful, in both his head and around him.
"She sent me in her place," he answered finally, unwilling to give these creatures more details than they had.
"You were with her before, yet she was the one to challenge us. She is our only worthy opponent."
"She will not come," Kaidan replied. "She has sent me to question you."
"We will assess your value," came the reply.
In the next instant, Kaidan felt his vision shimmer and go dark and the shapes before him faded and a vision of Kat, in the armor that she wore during the War and standing on a wet surface with empty space behind her, appeared before him.
"You are a warrior, a protector of some merit," Leviathan said with her voice. "We will accept your tribute until our rival arrives."
Kaidan felt a literal tug inside his head and watched as the vision of his wife faded and shimmered but remained in place. He blinked his eyes and concentrated on the love and connection he felt for the person this vision represented. He imagined a dark tunnel appearing behind her, swallowing her, and followed her through it. When he opened his eyes, the image was gone, replaced by the true face of his enemy once again.
"We will not be your toy," he hissed through gritted teeth. "You need to stop your games!"
"There is no harvest, there is no challenge. We do not fear, we do not need to hide."
"We are not your playthings," Kaidan repeated. "We will not bow to you."
"We are the origin. We are the apex. You will recognize our glory and pay tribute. We will protect you in return."
"Like you protected us before?" Kaidan asked. "By creating the Intelligence? Which led to countless suffering and loss of life?"
"It was… unfortunate. We have learned from our mistakes."
"We can't take that chance," Kaidan replied, shaking his head. "You've gone too far."
"You cannot defeat us!" The voice roared through Kaidan's head and shook him.
"I already have," he replied, simultaneously pressing the button on his console to deploy the bomb, signaling with his thoughts for his team to begin their ascension, and then engaging the thrusters to start his own return to the surface. He didn't spare the towering enemy a single backwards glance.
"We need to get down there," Kat repeated for what seemed like the tenth time, pacing the cockpit behind Joker and EDI.
"It's not safe," Joker replied with gritted teeth. He had repeated those same words every time.
"He's been down there too long, the ground team is getting inundated, and I don't fucking care anymore," Kat replied. "Take us in, Flight Lieutenant. That's an order," she growled over her shoulder as she headed out of the cockpit.
"Where are you going?" Joker called after her even as he sighed and complied with her order.
"To the armory – I'm getting on the turret," she replied, still moving to the elevator.
"She's going to get us all killed," Joker muttered under his breath.
"We will do our best to make sure that doesn't happen, Jeff," EDI replied from the seat beside him.
"Yeah, well, let's hope that's enough."
Kat reached Deck 5 moments later and scurried as quickly as she could in her condition to the armory. She withdrew her helmet, gauntlets, arm and shoulder armor, knowing they would still fit and then searched the locker beside hers. She knew Garrus had left a spare chest piece in his locker, and she theorized that it would cover her enough to man the turret, even if it dragged to her knees and she couldn't fasten it completely. She quickly outfitted herself in the makeshift gear and then withdrew her shotgun from her locker and holstered it behind her back in its familiar place. She knew the chances that she would actually shoot the gun were slim, and she didn't really intend to. It was simply her favorite security blanket, and its weight comforted her.
She headed to the massive doors at the end of the bay and slammed her gloved fist against the controls that would swing the large mounted turret into place. Once the gun was safely locked into its track, she nodded in satisfaction and pressed another button on the console. The bay doors swung open with a massive mechanical clang and she stepped into position on the turret. The wreckage below her was a barely perceptible dot in a storming sea, but she concentrated on it, not wasting her shots on any of the targets in the air around her. She knew Joker and EDI could and would employ the Thanix cannon to eliminate those targets and saw the bright explosion portside a moment later to confirm that thought.
The sea below her drew closer and closer and she could begin to see actual figures, like tiny ants, crawling on the dark grey wreckage. Still, she held her fire. Her vision was good, but she wouldn't take any chances of hitting a friendly target. She held her breath and waited and felt it rush out of her in a whoosh as the ground beneath her shook a moment later.
"And that would be Leviathan telling us we're not welcome, Captain," Joker's angry voice floated over the com once she had her balance again.
"Damage report?" she asked, noting but not begrudging the acid in her pilot's tone.
"Our kinetic barriers are holding at 90%," EDI replied. "I am shifting power from non-essential systems to compensate."
"So as long as no one needs a hot shower, we should be good," Kat muttered.
"That is only one of the non-… oh, that is a joke," EDI corrected herself.
"You're catching on," Kat replied. "Keep me updated."
She turned her attention back to the platform looming below her and she realized she could now clearly make out the shape of the shuttle and the figures huddled around it. She watched the furious firefight for long moments, recognizing the blue flashes of Miranda's biotics, the white crackles of tech powers from Tali and Garrus, and the red-orange glow of James', Kris', and Cortez's assault rifles firing.
"Can we get a com channel to them?" she asked Joker and EDI, knowing that they were monitoring her.
"We should be able to since we are within the defense grid," EDI reported. "Com channel open," she reported seconds later.
"Normandy to ground team," Kat called. "We're coming in hot with cover fire; stay in position."
"Acknowledged," Garrus replied. "Just in time, Normandy. We're running low on heat sinks."
"Figured you could use a hand," Kat replied, opening fire on a group of thralls that were inching their way to her team.
"Nice shooting!" James exclaimed with enthusiasm.
"Ok, keep the channel clear and your eyes peeled for the dive team," Kat ordered, turning the gun to the next group and watching in grim satisfaction as her efforts began to thin out the crowd of enemies advancing on the ground team. The battle progressed that way for several long tense moments before Kat finally heard Cortez call her name over the com. She swung her eyes to the edge of the platform that he had indicated and saw with great relief the dive mechs surfacing. She kept up the steady fire with the turret to ensure that all three mechs could emerge safely.
"Dive team to Normandy," Kat heard Kaidan's voice over the com in an auditory confirmation of what her eyes had already told her. He sounded tired and worn, but he was very much alive.
"Normandy here," Kat replied, knowing that all her relief was flooding her voice, and not caring.
"Glad you are; we're coming in hot and live," Kaidan said.
Kat sucked in a breath, knowing what his message meant – they had deployed the bomb. After long discussion with the turian techs, they had agreed on a timer for the bomb that was, by both Kat's and Kaidan's estimates, just long enough to deploy, return to the surface, and get back on the Normandy and out of range before it exploded. If everything went perfectly. It was a tight timeframe, but neither of them were willing to leave any chance that Leviathan could escape if they had to deploy. The last thing they wanted to do was leave this end loose again, or have to come back and try again.
"You heard the Major," Kat called to the ground team. "Let's bug out – fast."
She watched as her team began to fall in, slowly but steadily making their way back to the shuttle, while Cortez already had the repaired vehicle fired and ready to go. She kept up steady fire on the turret to cover their retreat, but the lack of extra guns quickly became obvious as the thralls began to move toward the dive mechs and block the dive team's path to the shuttle.
"Cortez, bring the Kodiak in," Kat ordered, using the controls to move the turret out of the way. "Dive team, you'll have to cut your way over and straight on the Normandy." She closed the com channel and then spoke to her pilot. "Joker, keep her nice and steady here."
"Will do, Captain," Joker replied.
Kat watched with bated breath until the Kodiak had barely cleared the shuttle bay entrance and then swung the turret back into position. She emptied her mind of everything but the enemies blocking the passage of her three remaining crew and took them out, slowly and steadily, not even noticing until the last moment that her crew had jumped out of the shuttle and were standing in the bay door with her, rifles in hand. She saw James, Garrus, Kris and Cortez help the mechs on board and then she jumped out of the turret. She nearly doubled over on the way to the middle mech, but stumbled and forced her legs back under her. She reached his side just as he emerged from his metal enclosure. Kaidan extricated himself from the mech just in time to catch his wife as she fell into his arms.
"Kat?" he called in alarm, trying to push her hair back from her face and cursing as his gloves caused him to fumble. He vaguely heard Garrus calling for Joker to get them the hell out of there as he took precious seconds to pull off his glove. He shoved her hair back and sucked in a breath to see the pain suffusing her face. "What's wrong, baby?" he asked when she still didn't respond to him.
"Baby is what's wrong," she replied through gritted teeth. "As in, baby is coming now."
"Are you sure?" Kaidan heard the question leaving his lips before he considered that it was likely one of the more inane things he had ever said. The look she gave him in return confirmed his suspicion.
"My water broke while I was on the turret," Kat hissed and then grimaced in pain once again. "And I've been having contractions ever since."
Even as Kaidan moved into action, lifting her in a bridal carry and heading to the elevator, he shoved aside the thought of her manning a turret in cobbled-together armor and in labor. Some horrors were not worth dwelling on, and the immediate situation needed all his attention. Kat lay passively in his arms, not objecting to the treatment in front of her crew, which caused him more worry than satisfaction. In fact, the only time she made any objection was when he tried to instruct the elevator to Deck 3 and the med-bay.
" . . -bay." His wife gritted out, between huffing breaths and with obvious effort.
He simply looked a question at her in return.
"Go to our cabin – the walls aren't transparent there," Kat replied after a deep breath.
He nodded and accepted the destination, asking EDI to send Dr. Chakwas to their cabin. Apparently this long and trying day was about to get more interesting.