Chapter 12

They nearly made it to the anti-aircraft cannon before they were set upon by a horde of turian husks. They were faster and stronger than their human counterparts, and it wasn't long before Shepard and Garrus were back to back, breathing hard. Kaidan was also close, flinging husks away with a huge biotic push that Shepard felt like a pull behind her navel.

"This is taking too much time!" Garrus yelled, dodging a clawed swipe from a lurching husk. He pumped it full of assault rifle rounds, and Shepard shoved the body away into a group of three more oncoming enemies. "Shepard, you make a break for the battery. Alenko and I will hold them off."

"You sure?" she yelled back.

"Do it!" Kaidan yelled. "We've got your back!"

Shepard flung her arm out in a biotic wave that sent a tide of incoming husks falling over and ran through the newly created gap. A few came after her but looking back, she saw Kaidan getting their attention. She caught his eyes once before he focused again on the battle at hand, and her breath caught in her throat. They hadn't said anything before arriving on Taetrus—hadn't had time to themselves since that moment in her cabin. No time for regrets now. Focus, Shepard.

The anti-aircraft cannon was a huge construct sitting on top of a building that housed the few soldiers meant to operate it and perform maintenance. She heaved aside a chunk of debris from the entrance to the building and entered, pistol at the ready in case husks were guarding it. There seemed to be no one inside though the smashed panels showed that some damage had been done as the husks passed through the area. She activated her omni-tool and examined the panel. This would take a few minutes. She tapped her earpiece.

"EDI, I'm going to need your help on this." She removed her helmet to better see the damaged electronics. Hotwiring was Kaidan's domain. She knew enough to get by in the field; how to defuse bombs and the like, but this was too important, time was too critical to leave this to her brain alone.

"Of course, Commander."

She was up to her elbows in wiring, listing to EDI's patient instructions when the building rumbled around her and the open channel connecting her to Garrus and Kaidan went silent.

"Kaidan? Garrus?" she said, pausing in her work. "What was that?"

Silence.

Fighting a rising sense of panic, she tried again. "Guys, don't leave me hanging here…"

"Sorry, Shepard," Kaidan's voice came and she blew out a breath in relief, turning back to her wires as his voice continued. "Someone just suicide bombed a ship into the Reaper—a huge explosion; whoever it was must have jury-rigged the drive core. It didn't stop the Reaper but its shields are wavering—at least that's what it looks like from here. How soon can you have the artillery up?"

"Almost there," she grunted, scowling at the panel.

"Commander!" Vega's voice came over the comm. "That turian—Corporal Tallon—she just hijacked a ship and kamikazed the Reaper! We were helping some civilians and she just disappeared. I didn't see what she was doing until it was too late."

Shepard sucked in a breath as Garrus swore viciously over the channel.

In that moment, the panel lit up. "Got it!" Shepard shouted in triumph. She hurriedly closed up the wires and activated power on the main system—it would need a few moments to warm up, but the cannon was on.

A noise on the right made her whip around. Two husks came shambling toward her, screeching in that creepy, open-mouth way that always sent a chill down her spine. She fumbled for her gun, but the husk was on her before she could get it and her helmet was on the ground. The first swipe knocked the gun from her; the second had her seeing stars. She reached up a hand to wipe blood trickling down into her eyes. Swinging her free hand, she managed to knock one of the husks back, one of its mandibles hanging loose on its jaw. The other advanced, claws gleaming. Shepard cursed under her breath. There was no room to maneuver here—she couldn't get enough space for a mnemonic.

The husk loomed over her. Then it was falling to the ground. The other that she'd knocked back disintegrated into a mush of gray paste as a shotgun went off at point blank range. Ashley stood behind the fallen husks, a disgusted look on her face visible through her helmet's visor as she kicked the bodies aside.

"Ash! What are you…" Shepard winced as Ashley hauled her to her feet. "What are you doing here?"

In answer she pulled off her helmet, revealing her usual regulation bun, but something white was poking through the strands of hair. Ash pulled her hair band loose and Shepard saw it: a bald batch had been shaved from the top of her head. A white bandage covered most of it.

"That salarian—Mordin, right?—had an idea after you left," Ash said, hooking her shotgun back in its place at the small of her back. "Something about an override chip. I didn't really understand all the mumbo-jumbo, but the long and short of it is that the Cerberus chips are permanently disabled by this new thing he put in there."

Shepard winced as Ash used two fingers to smear medi-gel over the torn flesh on her head from where the husk had gotten her earlier. "You're on the ground fighting after brain surgery?"

"Nah, nothing that fancy." Ash said, putting away her tube of medi-gel. "Well, I mean, I suppose it was brain surgery technically speaking, but it was only this one area and I was only woozy for about half an hour. This isn't 2110, Shepard. Brain surgery isn't such a big deal anymore." She grinned and popped a heat sink from her shotgun.

Shepard shook her head. "You shouldn't be here, Ash—"

"Skipper, I need to be here. I need to be able to do something other than lay in that bed."

Before Shepard could say anything further, a door burst open down the corridor and a troop of heavily armored troops moved through, rifles at the ready. Shepard turned toward them, ready to hail them as backup when she saw the gold Cerberus logo gleaming on their chests.

"There she is!" One of the troops shouted, pointing at Shepard.