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25 July 2183—Bridge, SSV Normandy, en route to Ilos

Corinthia hadn't sat in her assigned post since the Normandy had first shipped out of Norfolk. It didn't feel right, honestly, to be next to Joker instead of Shepard. Of course, Joker was having the time of his life, and hadn't stopped babbling about being a pirate for the last six hours.

"You know, I've always wanted to be a pirate," he was saying, not caring at all if she was listening or not. "Like every other stupid kid that was out there. Except that they wouldn't let me play, because of my legs and stuff." He sighed. "Do you think we're going to find any treasure?"

"Probably a horde of batarian pirates," Corinthia answered quietly.

"Didn't Shepard kill all of them on Torfan?"

"No, but he made every other living batarian hate him and the Alliance." Corinthia rubbed her eyes. "They'll probably come after us as soon as we get Saren."

"Do you think the Alliance is going to court martial us?" Joker asked. "I mean, the Commander might take all the blame, but he's not, you know, nice like that."

"Believe it or not, John is a far better man than he lets people believe," Corinthia murmured. "I wouldn't be with him if he wasn't."

Joker slowly looked over at her. "Uh… Did you mean to say that out loud? Because it's not like it's a secret with how you keep sleeping with him…"

"Did it ever occur to you that I stopped caring?" Corinthia snapped, rising to her feet. "This is your first assignment, isn't it?"

"Well…"

"You haven't walked into the kind of shit that Shepard and I have. You don't know the kind of fear that's going to grip you and suck you down. You're supposed to remember your training and how they changed your instincts, but you'll start to doubt that. Then your filters turn off and you become inhuman as you do things you had no idea you were capable of. You see things that will show up whenever you close your eyes. It's going to shake you to your very core and you will never, ever be the same."

"Sounds like the first time I got to fly."

"Except that I'm not talking about euphoria. Maybe you'll feel that way when you take the Normandy through the paces against whatever it is we're going to face, but that isn't what anyone on the ground is going to think. Be grateful you're not coming along and forgive me if I forget protocol so that I don't go insane for fear of what's going to happen when we land."

Joker opened his mouth to answer — maybe even apologize — but she was already gone. He sighed and turned on the comm to Shepard's quarters. "Commander?"

"Yeah, what?" Shepard answered irately.

"You may want to talk to Ci-Ci. She sounds pretty nervous about what's about to happen."

There was silence on the other end of the line for a long moment. "Where is she?"

"Not sure. She just left the bridge."

Shepard walked out of his quarters, hoping to intercept her. The elevator doors were closing just as he approached them. Shepard cursed. "Fuck…"

"You alright, Commander?" Alenko asked. "Did your shirt get stuck in the elevator?"

Shepard glanced down at his shirtless torso. "No," he answered. "I was looking for Cassie."

Alenko shrugged. "I thought she was up on the bridge, but you could check with Liara. She goes in there to talk about the Protheans and whatever else they have to chat about from time to time. Actually, she goes in there a lot."

"She's allowed to have friends," Shepard said, going towards the medbay.

Dr. Chakwas looked up. "Commander, is everything alright? You must be freezing. Where is your shirt? And your shoes?"

Shepard waved her off. "Seen Ci-Ci?"

"No, I haven't. She was here briefly before we left the Citadel, but that was just to make sure that I was alright with what was happening." She chuckled. "Honestly, I find it rather exciting."

"That's great," Shepard replied, not actually having heard a word of what she said. A quick scan of the back room showed that Liara was in there alone, so he ran back to the elevator.

Alenko leaned in the doorway of the medical bay. "Maybe you should make sure to give him a full physical before we leave," he told Dr. Chakwas.

"He's just worried," she answered. "We all are. I suggest you get some rest, Lieutenant. He's going to have everyone go down with him, I'm certain of it."

"I don't think any of us would want to stay behind, unless we were actually needed on the Normandy."

"Or unless I order it. How are your implants doing?"

"I have a mild migraine right now, but I'll be fine."

Dr. Chakwas pursed her lips. "Sit down, Kaidan. Let me have a look."

Corinthia sat in the passenger compartment of the Mako, staring ahead into the wiring and searching for any errors. There weren't any, but it was a way to occupy her mind and think of anything other than what was about to happen.

Needless to say, she was nervous. Against her will, memories of the Blitz, Akuze, Torfan, Eden Prime, and Virmire were flooding back to her. Yes, she'd come out of every situation alive, but it had been thanks to Shepard every time. Well, almost every time; on Eden Prime he had been mindfucked by that Prothean Beacon. The list of situations was longer than she liked, especially as every other mission they'd been on in the last few months struggled to come to the forefront of her memory.

Without the Alliance on their side, she didn't know what would happen. Well, that wasn't quite true; she knew that she and Shepard would be court martialed and, in all likelihood, dishonorably discharged from the Navy. Shepard would just become a mercenary, but she… What would she do?

Her mind lapsed into daydream — images of a life outside of the military. The more she thought about it, whether it was being an information broker or an art dealer, the more appealing it seemed. Maybe it was just because she was afraid she wouldn't come out of the next fight alive, but another part of her felt that she had never really been meant for fighting. For war. For everything that she was.

That thought brought up a worse one: What if she wasn't meant for Shepard? What if she was just enfatuated because he was everything she wished she could be as a soldier? What if he wouldn't let her leave?

The hatch opened and he dropped in, his bare feet barely making a sound. His back was to her, so she debated not even speaking.

"Cassie?" he asked softly, looking around. When his gaze rested on her, he reached up and closed the hatch behind him. He took a deep breath before carefully taking a spot next to her. From how she had her arms wrapped around her knees, she needed to be held. Still, she flinched when he made to put his arm around her. "Are you alright?"

"Not really," she answered, voice muffled by her thighs.

He lowered his arm to his side. "What's going on? Usually when you're like this, you want to be close to me. What did I do?"

"Nothing."

"You're lying."

"No, I'm not." She sat up a little and lowered her legs. "I just… started thinking about what's going to happen on the other side of the relay… What will happen after we get back…"

Shepard's stomach began to tie into knots. Had he fucked something up? Was she going to break up with him? Or did she expect more out of him? Like… marriage. As much as he cared about her, the thought of that made him cringe. He wasn't ready for that, and if she wanted it, he wasn't sure he could give it to her.

"I don't like this," she continued.

He stared at his feet, not sure how to answer, if he could at all.

"I don't like the fights. I don't like the pressure. I don't like anything about this."

He took a steadying breath. "'This' being the fact that you're a marine and not a scientist," he finished for her, hoping that he was right. They fought enough and he hoped that he wasn't pressuring her about things, but he knew there was no way to avoid it.

"I wouldn't have picked 'scientist', but that's basically what I'm feeling right now," she murmured.

"If you don't want to be part of the team…"

She shook her head. "I'm not doing that to you."

"So what are you doing to me?" he retorted.

She shifted nervously. "Is it… a problem that I wouldn't want to stay with the Alliance?"

He sighed, buying time before he answered. His first reaction was to be angry with her and try to force her to change her mind, but if she wasn't happy, it would only get worse as time went on. He had never given thought to if he was happy with the Alliance or not. After spending so long using the military to, essentially, sever his ties to the Reds, he hadn't given thought to what he would do if he had to leave. Admiralty was looking less and less appealing after he'd tastes the freedom of being a Spectre.

"It's… Being together would be harder," he began slowly. "Much harder. But it was never easy to begin with, either." He paused, gathering his thoughts. "I don't know if it's a problem or not. This is all I know and about the only way I know you or can think about you. I don't have time to figure that out right now. It's bad enough that you're telling me this when—" He stopped before said anything else he'd regret. "I'm sorry, Cassie. You're important to me and that's what matters, but Saren is my priority right now and I don't need you bringing up emotional shit and confusing me."

Her brow furrowed and she swallowed an angry retort. "Just to clarify," she carefully and calmly said, "my emotions and feelings are also important to you, but kicking Saren's ass takes precedent at this moment."

"Yes." He realized that he had been insensitive, but he wasn't about to apologize because he was right. When her expression didn't brighten, he reached out and took her hand. "Look, this whole thing… Having to care about someone… It's all new to me and I'm still trying to figure out how to deal with the ways you make me feel. What I do know and can admit is that I will not let you die. I can't afford that. I'll do everything I can to stop you from getting hurt, but we both know that I can't make that promise because I haven't done it in the past." The fingers of his free hand drifted to the scar at her temple before lightly tracing down the side of her cheek. "I'm sorry that I let it happen. I'm sorry that I can't be here like you need me to, but I swear, I'll learn. When Saren is gone, I'll take a leave of absence and focus on you and figuring things out between us. Just… tell me what you need from me and I'll do it if I can."

Her expression softened a little and she shifted closer to him. "There wasn't anything you could have done to have stopped Saren on Eden Prime." She was choosing to ignore the rest of his speech, since any discussion on it would frustrate him more.

"Yes, there was."

She rolled her eyes and placed her hand behind his neck. "Just shut up and let me be right."

With that, he closed the gap between them and kissed her. His teeth raked against her lips and his tongue delved into her mouth. She reciprocated, clinging onto him as if he were the only thing keeping her on the ground. It wasn't often that she let her need of him reflect in her physical affections, but now he was beginning to wonder how he'd ever had any doubts. He was hardly even aware that his hands were running over her body until she caught his wrist and drew away.

"Not in here," she murmured, her chest heaving for breath.

Shepard's eyes flicked up and down her body. "But if we go back to my quarters, I can't promise that we won't… At least here I won't just push you up against the seats and..."

She ran her fingers through his hair, at least what little there was, and thought. "But if we die…"

"I'm not going to use that as an excuse." He swallowed hard to keep his desire out of his voice. "And you're too important for anything other than a full night, somewhere comfortable and beautiful and isolated…" He leaned his forehead against her. "Believe me, I want you, more than I can describe, but I'd rather take a cold shower tonight and then just hold you in my arms. You know I don't sleep well, anyway, and I'll need every edge I can get."

She nodded and leaned in to put a gentle kiss on his cheek.

His brow furrowed. "You're trembling…" He caught her hands. "What's wrong?"

She shyly met his eyes. "I… There is something else…"

He pushed her hair behind her ear. "You can tell me."

"D-do you love me?" If he answered that he did, she could put aside every hurtful thing he'd just said. It wasn't logical, but she told herself she would. It would explain his concern for her and his difficulty in dealing with it.

"Yes," he answered without hesitation. Even if he hadn't expected her to ask it — even if he couldn't find the courage to say it to her face — there was no doubt in his mind that he loved her. Better, it didn't even make him nervous to admit it.

She grinned, her arms flying around his neck and she kissed him again. This time, though, it was different in a way that Shepard couldn't express or explain. He wrapped his arms around her waist and held her against him. Maybe he was feeling that, for once, he could be confident and do more than just hope the mission would end well. He knew it would. It had to.

"I take it you feel the same way," he murmured once she'd calmed down her affections.

"Of course I do… I have for ages…"

"I know."

She blinked. "So… how long have you known?"

"Does it matter?"

"If it would've made the last few years less uncomfortable…"

He shook his head. "I wasn't ready. I wasn't good enough for you. I'm still not."

"Hush. We're not having that conversation right now." She stood up and took his hand. "We should go to bed before we say anything else we'll regret or that'll keep us up for hours."

He kissed her forehead. "Agreed. Maybe I can walk into this cocky."

"John?"

"Yeah?"

"No."

26 July 2183—Docking Bay, SSV Normandy, orbiting Ilos, Refuge System, Pangea Expanse

Corinthia tightened her grip on the steering wheel. Her stomach was puddling somewhere beneath her feet, always slipping out of her grasp before she could pick it back up and put it where it belonged. She wriggled her fingers nervously, trying to stretch the rubber sealing between the armor plates, and tried not think about how idiotic she looked. In honor of the new mission—and in honor of Shepard's ever-increasing concern for her safety—she had upgraded from her regular light armor for a larger, heavier suit. She felt like a krogan, which wouldn't have been a bad thing if Wrex hadn't laughed so hard at the sight of her that he fell over.

"I don't like the new armor," she muttered. "I feel like it's eating me whole."

Shepard didn't look at her, since it would probably make him burst out laughing, too. "Can you move?"

"Yes."

"Then deal with it."

She pouted, remembered what they were doing, and felt her stomach slide back to her feet. "Hurry up, Joker. No, wait. Don't hurry."

Shepard almost reached over to touch her arm, but they both needed to focus on the mission. She had to land the Mako on a strip one twelfth of the usual length. Joker was positive that he could get them on target and she had said that she could do it, but it was only because she couldn't afford to think in 'if's and 'maybe's.

"Okay, Ci-Ci, we're fifty clicks from the strip. ETA thirty seconds," Joker radioed.

Wrex smirked and reached for his shotgun. "Good. I hope Saren's there. I can't wait to make him bleed…"

"Agreed," Garrus added. "I never did like a turian who couldn't be loyal."

Tali had her omni-tool out. "Preliminary scans show increased geth activity. They may know we're coming."

"It is good to have that warning," Liara added.

Alenko leaned forward to put his head between Corinthia and Shepard. "We're all behind you, Commander. We'll do everything we can to make sure that Saren doesn't get away."

The cargo hatch opened. The brown-green surface of Ilos rushed by, the occasional ruin poking up through the trees like an infected scab. Corinthia could see the landing zone. She focused on it, trying not to see the geth Colossi waiting for them.

Shepard took a deep breath and cut off his emotion. Thankfully, he had managed to rid himself of most of it the night before, between conversing with Corinthia and the kisses they exchanged whenever one of them woke.

Whatever it took, Saren would die. Sovereign would be destroyed. This fight was going to end.

Corinthia gunned the engine, simultaneously igniting the ground thrusters to slow their fall. Her target: the clear spot just outside a large, stone drainage tunnel. The doors to the passage were rapidly closing. She wasn't doing to make it. She jerked the wheel to change their course, beheaded two Colossi, and used their bodies as a ramp to come to a stop just short of the doors.

Just out of reach, Saren stood surrounded by geth. He locked eyes with Shepard.

The Commander smirked: The turian was scared. Shepard held up his middle finger, growling, "Run."

Corinthia checked the Mako. "We're going to have to repair before we go anywhere."

"Can you get the doors open?" Shepard demanded.

She opened her omni-tool. "No. Everything here's Prothean. Would you mind killing the other geth?"

"We're on it," Garrus answered, already halfway out of the hatch with Tali and Liara on his heels.

Shepard drew his assault rifle. "I thought you got that whole beacon onto that."

"I do, but it doesn't mean that I've got the compatible tech." She started the Mako's repairs with twice as much omni-gel as necessary. "I've got the control center! It's close, but there's an army between us and it."

"Hasn't stopped us before," Wrex answered. "Shepard and I can get there and back before you've fixed this heap of junk."

"I'll stay here," Alenko offered. "Ci-Ci, you can go with them and let Tali fix the Mako."

Shepard nodded. "Ci-Ci, get me those coordinates and get ready to hack like you haven't before in your life."

Corinthia smiled. "What do you think I was doing all night?"

Wrex smirked. "Shepard."

"Shut up." She glared at the krogan before continuing. "I was writing a program to auto-hack these things and expand the—I just created a program to make them die faster," she concluded after seeing Shepard's bored and slightly annoyed look.

"We're clear for now," Garrus radioed.

Wrex pushed Shepard out of the way of the hatch and climbed into the open. The krogan inhaled deeply, though it was more for the sake of it. Like any quasi-intelligent creature, he had on a helmet and was breathing filtered oxygen. "Aah, the smell of impending death… This is going to be fun."

Alenko landed on the ground next to him. "I'm glad someone's going to enjoy himself."

Shepard exited the ATV, reaching back into the cabin and helping Corinthia out. "You bet your ass I am," Shepard growled. "I'm going to enjoy tearing that turian apart limb from limb."

Corinthia rolled her eyes. "Don't get too carried away. I think he'd technically supposed to go before the Council to answer for his crimes."

Shepard's eyes flashed dangerously; she could see them through his helmet. "I don't give a fuck. Right now, I'm judge, jury, and executioner, if only for what he's done to you," he said, his voice so low and dangerous that a chill ran up her spine.

Shepard hopped off the Mako. The gravel crunched gratifyingly beneath his boots. Ilos was dull, like dust, moss, and algae had settled onto every surface. Flanking every staircase was a pair of horrifying sculptures—robed, melting, ghostly forms of screaming, tortured men clawing at the armrests of their seats.

Corinthia's eyes widened. "Whoa… Prothean art…"

Shepard grabbed her arm and jerked her away from them. "No. If you want one, you can come back."

"Oh, yeah, right..." She shuddered. "Creepy, though." She scanned one and moved on.

"No wrong turns," Shepard warned. "No exploring. We kill what we have to and get to Saren as quickly as possible. I don't know what he's up to out here, but it can't be good."

Corinthia shifted her omni-tool's main process to tracking Saren. "He's moving down that drainage tunnel. The geth are filling in behind him and fortifying. Looks like he's being stopped by things, though. Debris, maybe, so we have a bit of extra time, but not a lot."

Tali bustled about the Mako. "I can have all the repairs done in ten minutes, Commander," she said. "She will be ready to leave as soon as you return."

"Alenko and I will go in as soon as the doors open and clear the way," Garrus added.

"We've got this here, Commander," Alenko finished. "We'll watch the tunnels. You three just go on."

Shepard nodded. "Move out."

Corinthia was already ahead of him, her omni-tool held out in front of her as she sprinted towards something. With little other choice, Shepard and Wrex followed. She jumped off a twelve-foot drop, rolled for a landing, and kept moving, hardly even thinking about if she could get back or not.

"Know where you're going?" Shepard radioed.

"Yep," was her only answer.

Shepard picked up his pace, dropping Wrex, but still unable to catch Corinthia. If anything, he was left to pick of the geth pursuing her, every so often hopping over a body of an AI she actually decided to shoot.

They wound through overgrown and spore-covered corridors and ramps, but within five minutes they broke into a large room. Shepard saw Corinthia roll between the legs of a geth colossus as she headed to the overlooking control room. Shepard slid into cover, narrowly avoiding being obliterated by a colossus's cannon.

Wrex joined him, his smirk widening into a sadistic grin as he set about taking down the colossus. Shepard focused on the smaller geth, pulling them together with a singularity and picking them off.

"Shep, it's speaking Prothean to me. I need you up here," Corinthia radioed.

"I got this down here," Wrex assured the Commander. The colossus fell with a digital cry.

Shepard nodded and dodged his way up to her side in the room. There were geth scattered about the floor and she had an ancient green device open.

"You called?" he said, shooting a twitching geth in the head.

She gestured to the console. "Interpret, please."

"And you know it's Prothean because…"

"Uhm, we're on an abandoned Prothean planet? And you're the one that got the cypher thingy from the green asari."

"Oh, yeah. Right." He stepped forward to the console. Even though the symbols were foreign to him, he knew exactly what they said: OPEN/CLOSE DOORS. He selected the appropriate command and radioed Alenko. "The gates should be opening. Start down it without the Mako and clear the path as best you can. We're on our way back."

"Understood," Alenko answered.

Wrex jogged up into the room. "I found some more geth out back. Should I kill them?"

"We're gonna have to, since that's our way out," Corinthia replied. "Everyone's shields charged? Guns cool? Yes? Good. Let's go."

Ten minutes later, they were back at the Mako. Corinthia checked her maps. "Saren's got a pretty good lead on us. We need to move."

"I'm driving," Shepard told her.

She was four steps ahead of him and was sliding down the Mako's hatch. "Yeah, right. I have the most hours behind the wheel and I've already seen where we're going. You can also just jump out if you need to."

"Commander," Alekno radioed. "We're pretty far down the path and we haven't seen anything. I don't know what Corinthia saw before, but Saren isn't even bothering leaving patrols. Whatever he's doing, he's moving in a hurry."

"Shit," Shepard answered. Wrex had just slipped through the hatch and Shepard was holding on to the door when Corinthia started driving. Thankfully, his armor's electromagnets turned on and he kept his grip. "DAMN IT CI-CI!"

"I have to stop to pick up everyone else!" she answered, not caring if he heard her or not. She skidded to a halt less than a minute later, allowing Shepard to drop in and the others to scramble aboard. "Everybody, hold on. I don't intend to hit the brakes."

Shepard gripped the back of her chair. "Garrus, get on the gun. Wrex, the cannon. Just get stuff out of the way. Tali, keep the ship as repaired as you can. I don't care how much omni-gel you use, just do it."

"Sir," they all answered, saluting and rearranging accordingly.

"Liara, keep an eye on the map. I want to know what Saren is up to." Shepard kept an eye on the road, focusing every ounce of his energy and concentration on the image of ripping Saren's head from his shoulders. As vicious as it was, it would satisfy the primal, revenge-driven part of him that thirsted for blood.

The Mako jolted and skidded to a halt. "Damn door," Corinthia muttered.

Shepard's gaze instantly settled on the small corridor to his right. "I'll be right back."

Corinthia turned, as if to get up, but Shepard shook his head. She sighed once he was gone. "I really, really, really hope that it's not a trap…"

Garrus and Alenko were already moving. "If it is, we'll let you know," Alenko assured her with a grin.

Less than two minutes later, the doors opened and Shepard came running back, Alenko and Garrus at his side.

"Just another box?" Corinthia asked, kicking the Mako into gear and taking off down the path.

The men exchanged looks. "No," Shepard answered. "I'll tell you later."

"There is a large accumulation of geth ahead," Liara chimed.

Corinthia leaned forward a little to see better. "And what looks like a mass relay… Looks kinda like the one on the Citadel."

"It connects to the one on the Citadel," Shepard explained. "The console was pretty clear about that. Apparently the whole thing's one big relay and Saren is opening it for the Reapers."

"Oh, marvelous," Corinthia muttered. "Well, shall we? I've always wanted to play in the fountains with an oversized personnel carrier…"

Shepard slid into his seat. "Everyone, strap in. Tali, keep the shields up. Don't even bother firing at the geth. Saren is our number one priority. No distractions allowed."

"Yessir," Corinthia answered. "Dear God, let us not blow up…"

"NOT a good time!" Shepard growled. Enemy fire echoed through the hull like rain on windows. If there wasn't the threat of impending death and doom coupled with it. The thick metal began to dent and, just when it was about to rupture, the blue light of the relay's energy pulled them in forward and shot them through space. The Mako shook and rattled, threatening to crush like an old aluminum can, and finally landed in the Presidium. There wasn't enough room to slow, let alone avoid the debris already in place, so the Mako skidded, thumped, and finally rolled until it slammed into a wall.

Corinthia groaned, opening her eyes a little. The world was upside down. Or she was. Yes, she was. Her head was pounding as all the blood rushed into it. Shepard's face blurred into her vision. "You alright?" he asked, unable to mask his worry. His hands were already working on her harness.

"Fine…" she muttered. "Did I land us wrong?"

He wrapped his arm around her waist to support her as he worked on a stuck clasp. "You crashed us into the Council Tower."

"I thought I hit some people on the way, too…"

"Geth," Shepard explained, finally managing to free her. She fell awkwardly into his arms, but he quickly released her; there would be time for relieved and victoriously passionate kissing later. "Fit for duty?"

"Was I ever?" She rubbed her temples. "I'll be fine. Where's everyone else?"

"Outside already, trying to see what's going on."

Corinthia nodded, but her mind was still dazed. "So… the Citadel is a mass relay?"

"Yeah." He hesitated before adding, "The Reapers destroyed the Protheans. They were totally annihilated. All those pods we saw on the walls of the waterway? Stasis pods for the rest of the Protheans. All drained to keep that computer powered. The Keepers have been keeping this place running and working for the Reapers."

"Ah. Beautiful." She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and finally grinned at him. Not that he could see through her helmet, but it was the thought that counted. "Ready when you are."

Shepard barely had time to be grateful she was resilient. "Get on the radio and get the Alliance, Joker, anyone you can think of over here. We need to destroy Sovereign. Killing Saren won't be enough."

She nodded. "Yeah… Probably." She checked the Mako's radio to see if it functioned. When it didn't, she took out her omni-tool. "Don't wait up for me. Take everyone else and go. I'll catch up."

"No, you're coming. Do it on your way," he ordered, helping her out of the Mako. "I need you there."

"Gotcha, Shep." She took a moment to regain her bearings before she joined Shepard and the others at the elevator. "This is Lieutenant Commander Corinthia-Imreas of the Alliance Navy. I'm with Commander Shepard in the Presidium Ward and the Council Tower. We're going in to find Saren. Sovereign needs to be disabled, repeat, Sovereign needs to be disabled. All ships attack him."

No one responded.

"Looks like we're on our own," she murmured, exchanging glances with Shepard. She pulled up a map of the area. "I bet he's in the Council Chambers… Seems like a good place to hide Prothean technology. Also, I tracked him there."

"Then let's get moving," Shepard answered. The adrenaline of the mission kicked in. Saren was within reach; Shepard could feel it. The elevator shot towards the Council Chambers.

"Probability that this thing will go all the way up: five percent," Corinthia guessed. "If the first thing I'd do is jam the elevators, you know he will."

"Don't talk like that," Shepard warned.

She shrugged. "I'm being realistic. The second the Keepers see something moving that isn't supposed to they're going to shut it down."

Within seconds, the elevator jerked to a halt, all power cut off. Shepard sighed, taking out his pistol. "It looks like we'll have to do this the hard way." He shot out the glass, watching as it serenely floated into space as if nothing had happened.

"Anyone for a nice, scenic walk up the tower?" Corinthia asked perkily, stepping out onto the side. As much as she wanted to tease Shepard about holding hands, she decided not to.

"Wrex and Alenko, stay with me," Shepard commanded. "We'll clear our own path to Saren. Garrus, you'll be right behind us and set up to take Saren out when the bastard isn't ready. Liara, keep me covered with biotics. Stay with Garrus and keep Saren contained. Ci-Ci, keep trying to get to Joker and the fleet. If you have a chance to peel off and help them, do it. Tali, you go with her, if you can. If not, you'll jump in with me, Alenko, and Wrex. Questions?"

Corinthia set her message on loop. "We have geth coming our way. Seriously, how many of these things are there?"

"Too many," Shepard replied. "Lock and load, people. We end this now."