"How's that ya son of a bitch!"

"Enemy still engaged, Jeff..."

"Right, right... Everybody buckle up, this is going to be tight!"

As if to give meaning to Joker's words, a crimson jet sliced through the air beside the Normandy, and Harbinger let out a vicious snarl. Flames billowed from one of the firing chambers beneath his eyes, and jagged metal ran like scars in all directions, but he was still very much in the fight.

"EDI, give me something!" Joker yelled, desperately twisting the Normandy around to avoid another shot. "Anything!" he yelled again.

"Scans confirmed," she mused, from the seat beside him. "Commander Shepard is on the Presidium... vital signs are dropping, though..."

"Then we'd best make this quick!" the pilot muttered, sliding a hand over the console and sending the Normandy veering to the right. "Normandy to Hackett, we've got a situation! It's Shepard!"

"What?" the Admiral replied, through the static of the radio. "Normandy, please repeat."

"We've found Shepard!" Joker roared at the console, as another shot narrowly missed their wings. "He's on the Presidium, we just drew Harbinger off but the bastard's after us now! We need support!"

"Confirm that," Hackett murmured, with a hint of urgency. "Sword, we have confirmed ID on Shepard, Project Crucible is back on! All available ships, direct fire towards the Citadel!"

Almost instantly, a bevy of shots began racing towards the Normandy – Joker veered upwards, and a wall of shells and missiles crashed towards Harbinger, marring him with flames and ugly scars.

"Harbinger's mass effect core is depleted from the landing," EDI informed him, serene as ever. "We have a window."

"Some good that is if we're dead!" he cried, swinging the Normandy around again to avoid another of Harbinger's desperate blasts. Much to his frustration, he now found himself amidst a squadron of turian ships, and with Alliance fighters zipping past above them, they had little room to manoeuvre. Slowly, ominously, Harbinger's one working scarlet orb began to ignite, until the red glow was cast across every ship in the vicinity. The whirring cry was rising, and then –

"Everest to Normandy, get the hell out of our way!" the emphatic cry filled the cockpit amidst a mess of radio static, and somewhere off to the right, Joker spotted the titanic form approaching. The SSV Everest was a huge ship, not to mention symbolic, the very first dreadnought the Alliance had produced. Her hull was trailing smoke and flame, trophies from the surrounding battle, but the most prominent feature, her gun, was still intact and practically glistened in the light of the sun. The huge barrel was swinging around, and ever as Harbinger's cry reached its climax, he could see the glint of light beginning at the base of the Everest's gun.

"Normandy," the ship's captain breathed, through a ragged bout of coughing, and the crackle of flames in the background. "Get out of the way..."

"Nowhere to go!" Joker cried, in frustration, then clawed at the console. The Normandy swung right, and for a moment everything went dark, before a juddering shockwave rocked the cockpit. Yells rang out over the radio, and Joker toppled out of his seat – the Normandy had crashed against one of the turian frigates, and both were spinning away, but the Everest's lane was clear...

A white flash filled the air, rushing against a vivid burst of scarlet, until the two met head on, and blinded the onlookers. There was yet another screech, a cataclysmic bang, and the light began to fade.Looking up, Moreau was aghast – the Everest was torn and battered, one of her wings had been ripped off, and scars ran the length of her gun barrel. To the left, however, Harbinger had been punctured by the dreadnought's shot – Joker was eerily reminded of Rannoch, as he saw the gaping hole where the Reaper's charging weapon had once rested. Two of his eyes had been extinguished, and he gave a mournful cry as he barrelled forward. The Everest too was rushing onwards, on a collision course.

"Everest, watch your approach!" he yelled desperately into the radio, clambering back into his seat – adrenaline was pounding furiously in his head, and something felt broken. Static answered his call. No reply. A moment later, as the Normandy and the turian frigates all scattered desperately to safety, the two hulking forms smashed together, and a mass of rending metal silently filled their view.

"Everest?" Joker murmured, but he already knew he would receive more silence in reply. The Everest was a mangled wreck, venting eezo as she drifted away – they could take some satisfaction, however, in Harbinger's ruined corpse, impaled on her gun, moaning forlornly in his last moments, before those golden eyes finally died.

"Normandy," the radio crackled, as Hackett's voice filled the cockpit. "Normandy, come in. I saw fireworks, what happened?"

"The Everest's down, sir..." Joker murmured, sadly. "But she took Harbinger with her."

"Damn it..." Hackett scowled. "But Shepard's got his window. We just need to hold them back..." There was a moment's indecision, before Hackett spoke again, this time broadcasting to the fleet at large. "Shield! All forward! Give 'em hell!"

With a tired groan, the Normandy span around, as Joker set it on the course it had followed so many times before. Destination Shepard.