Chapter 16

"Lets kick some Reaper ass!" Joker exclaimed as the Normandy un-docked with the crippled Reaper they dropped the Commander and others off on. Liara quickly brought up the communications as she hailed the Turian flag ship. "This is the Spectre vessel, Normandy. I repeat, this is the Spectre vessel, Normandy, do you read me?" Liara called out.

A moment went by as the Normandy wove around some wreckage, firing off it's Thanix cannon at an unnamed Reaper ship, nearly tearing through the kinetic barriers of the Reaper ships with one blow. "This is General Te'ral, we hear you, Normandy." came a Turian voice.

Miranda quickly stepped up behind the Asari as she leaned over her chair. "This is Miranda Lawson, XO of this ship, we are here to assist in any way we can." Miranda said in her best commanding voice. The reply she got back was filled with light static. "We've lost many ships, tell me there's back up coming."

Liara quickly punched up the sensor read outs. "The Alliance fleet is close by, General. Twenty minutes out." Liara replied as the ship shook and groaned at a power blast. "Our shields are at fifty percent!" Joker called out. Miranda gritted her teeth as the ship shuddered again.

"The Alliance fleet is on it's way, we have to hold out until they get here, we'll coordinate our attacks until then." Miranda said as she quickly turned towards Joker. "Jeff, the back up shields and are online." Edi said from her spot to his left. Jeff quickly brought up a new command prompt as his fingers moved quickly over the console. "Reroute non critical power, boost those shields Mr. Monroe." Miranda ordered.

VWVWVW

"There's too many of them!" Jack growled loudly as she summoned her biotics, her lithe frame beginning to glow a brilliant blue. Shepard herself began to glow as she called onto her own biotics while Grunt ripped through a few husks with his Krogan shotgun. "Commander, I can over ride the door lock but it'll take a few minutes!" Tali called out as she ducked behind a wall working furiously at her omni tool.

"Hurry it up, Tali we wont last a few minutes!" Shepard yelled as she and Jack let loose a biotic shock wave, sending a dozen husks flying every which way. But for every dozen two dozen more would show up. "Shepard behind you!" Grunt roared as he spun around pumping his shot gun before a deafening blast came from it, spraying buck shot into the air. One husk fell, another stumbled but began to ran full speed at the Krogan.

A door opposite from the small group opened up briefly as a wave of mechs came pouring from the opening. "Just great!" Shepard yelled as she unloaded a thermal clip from her assault rifle ducking behind a computer console. Jack let forth a fierce roar of her own as she flung a large warp field at the mechs who began to open fire at the group.

These mechs weren't like their own however. They were reinforced by material that looked similar to the make of the Reapers. Their shields powerful as they flew back by the biotic blast to only start getting back onto their feet. "Tali hack their systems!" Shepard called out. "Working on it!" Tali called back as Grunt and Jack took cover next to Shepard.

Shepard quickly loaded a new thermal clip into her weapon as she began to summon as much biotic power as she could from her body. She began to glow an angry blue as she gritted her teeth feeling the power over whelm her senses. "Shepard you're going to get yourself killed!" Jack called out as Shepard rose to her feet.

She then propelled herself forward at blinding speeds with her biotics. She ripped through several husks before she skidded to a stop, once more filling herself with a biotic flare. She then charged forth again before she stumbled to a stop turning herself around to fire a rain storm of bullets at what remained of the husks.

"Fuck me!" She yelled out as she became the target of the mechs. Her shields flickered at the dozen mechs shooting in her direction. They held in their mechanical hands powerful guns, the likes of which Shepard had never seen. "Tali hurry it up, my shields are failing!" Shepard yelled over her ear piece.

"Come on you bosh'tet!" Tali squeaked at her omni tool as she yelled through her glass face plate. The omni tool chirped once as the command was sent. She quickly glimpsed around the wall as she watched the mechs begin to over load, a few turning on each other and began to fire sloppily at their fellow mechs.

Not before Kate cried out once stumbling back. She bit her lip under her helm as she reached up grabbing her left arm. A bullet punctured clear through her shields and armor and embedded itself into her arm. "Fuck!" She yelled as she quickly dived back behind the console she started at.

"Give me some medigel." She held her good hand out towards Jack who quickly grabbed some from her belt. Shepard all but tore the tube in half before she jammed the open end into the sizable hole in her armor and squeezed the stuff with all her strength. The medi-gel quickly went to work sealing her injury as she tossed the tube aside.

"That was close.." She sighed in relief as the pain quickly faded away. She glimpsed over her cover as she took note of the mechs fighting amongst themselves. "Alright, lets get that door open." Shepard panted out of breath. She knew she had used too much of her biotic power to get through the hoard of husks. Any more use and she could drain herself completely.

VWVWVW

"Switching to back up barriers!" Joker called out as the Normandy groaned under the main guns of the Reaper ship ahead of them. "We could use some back up!" Liara called into the com with the Turians. Sparks filled the corridor leading to the cockpit as a man screamed out in pain before falling limp in his chair.

Miranda quickly rushed over to the downed man as she pulled him out of the chair. His arms and face blackened from being burnt as she quickly checked for a pulse. It was weak but still there. "Someone get Thomson to medical!" she called out before hopping into the chair.

She quickly and deftly ran fingers over the controls as she worked to reroute more power to the main shields again. "This is Gabby, engines are at seventy-five percent! The power is dropping steadily!" she called out to Miranda's ear piece. "Damnit!" She cursed as rammed her fist into a button to fire off the Normandy's more conventional weapons.

An explosion rocked the ship once more as the lighting flickered through out to CIC before emergency lighting came on, leaving the upper deck filled with a dim red light. "Our Turian escort is gone!" another man called out from behind Miranda. Backup needed to get here, and soon.

"Main power down in half the ship, back ups are holding." Edi said over the intercom. This day was just getting better.

"The Alliance fleet is almost here, ETA 10 minutes." Liara called out from her chair. "Lets hope we're still here in ten minutes." Joker muttered from his seat. "I'm detecting an enemy craft heading for the air lock." Edi then reported.

Outside the ship a small pod quickly came up along side the Normandy and began docking procedures, hacking into the air lock systems. "Erecting additional fire walls. Warning, prepare for boarding party." Edi then said as she quickly went back into her systems to begin fighting off enemy hacking attempts.

"Get a security detail to CIC asap!" Miranda called out.

VWVWV

"Come on move faster!" Ashley Williams yelled at her helmsmen as she gripped the back of his chair. She could tell from the sensor read outs that friendlies were losing in numbers. If they didn't get there in time the fight above Invictus was lost. Behind her was a small fleet of 20 other frigate class warships. Two cruisers were also with them.

The Alliance had given them some extra ships, but they were already preparing for a defensive around Earth and the Citadel back in Council space. Hopefully it was enough. "We're going at top speeds, Captain, any faster and the FTL drives will over load." Her helmsmen said as he glimpsed over his shoulder.

She muttered to herself. If she only had another Joker to fly her ship he'd find a way around that issue, she knew it. "Incoming distress signal." Her communication officer called out from behind them. "Patch it through." She said to the younger woman as she turned to face her.

She quickly opened the channel. "This is the, Normandy, we need assistance, I repeat we need immediate assistance!" called out an old familiar voice. Williams quickly trotted up to the com terminal as she leaned over the chair. "T'soni is that you?" Ashley asked. There was a short pause, with some static. The lag this far from the relay was obvious.

"Ashley, we are under heavy fire, the Turians have suffered - casualties, we can't - much longer." came back a more garbled reply. Liara sounded frantic, Ashley instantly fell concerned. She turned around and barked at her helmsmen, "Quintan, get this rust bucket moving! Take power from life support if you have to!"

The man cringed at the order as he began to reroute power from the other systems to give the engines an extra boost in power. "Hold on, Liara we're on our way." Williams tried, but the line cut off. Her eyes widened as she twisted around and made way for the sensors.

She pushed the man behind the console out of the way as she quickly brought up a reading. There was so much going on around and on Invictus she couldn't get a proper reading. She slammed her fists onto the console. "Damnit!"

VWVWVW

The team of four rushed at best possible speed deeper into the Reaper, fighting through more husks, and powerful mechs. "It is pointless." Came an electronic voice from within the ship. No doubt the Reaper. "Ya go fuck yourself." Shepard retorted as she pulled a panel off the wall and quickly began to manually over ride a door.

"You will all die." The Reaper said calmly. Kate scoffed at the comment as she quickly worked on the hardware to open the doors. Meanwhile her team covered her from behind, shooting down more husks as they charged after them. "If I die, I'm taking you all with me!" Jack called out the Reaper.

The door finally opened as Kate grabbed her weapon from off the floor. "Everyone in now!" She called out. They took no time in obeying her order as they filled in, one by one, shooting at remaining husks. Kate was the last in, firing over a biotic wave, knocking what remained off balance before ducking behind the door as it slid shut.

"How much further, Tali?" Kate asked as they took the moment to catch their breaths. Tali brought up the schematic as she began to read it. "One more level down.." she said half defeated. Kate walked up to the young Quarian as she patted her shoulder. They had to stay focused.. "Is there another way off this ship?" she asked as she looked around.

"There's a cargo hold three rooms from the com center. There's an airlock inside." she said before letting her omni tool go into standby. Kate muttered. "It would've been easier to dock there." she then said half annoyed. Of course they didn't look into it at the time either.

"This is way more fun." Jack replied with a smirk. Kate shook her head at the other woman. "I agree." Grunt said with his own Krogan toothy grin. "Come on we don't have much time." she then said as she took point.

VWVWVW

End of this chapter. Let me know how it's going =o