The level below the one they'd found Erica on was empty, confirmed both by scanners and Erica herself. The next level however was not at all empty. They could hear the sound of mechs and the hum of generators for portable cover systems. Shepard glanced around them. They were in a warehouse type district. She frowned in thought.

"Liara, stay with Erica here. Ash, Miranda, and I will go on ahead to take out the turrets and those damn mechs," Shepard ordered, checking the map on her omni-tool.

"Don't you wish now you hadn't overloaded my missile launcher?" Erica quipped, earning an unseen glare from Shepard.

Shepard tapped her helmet a little bit, causing Erica to tilt her head to the side. Shepard used her omni-tool to 'break into' Erica's and send the frequency for their helmets.

"So we can keep in contact. If you're going to be part of the unit you're going to need to be able to hear our warnings," Shepard explained.

"I'm not a part of your unit, Shepard. I'm a prisoner," Erica said.

"Think of it as a trial membership. You help us, don't betray us, and follow orders and maybe we'll take you with us instead of leaving you with Aria to let her... interrogate you," Shepard said.

"You must think I'm stupid on top of everything else. I know how someone like Aria T'Loak deals with people who have wronged her!" Erica blurted.

"All the more reason for you to be a good girl and stay with Liara while we clear out this floor," Shepard said.

"Fine. Just... there should be a platoon out there," Erica said, knowing the only way she was going to get out of this with the least amount of scrapes and bruises was to cooperate.

"Right," Shepard said, unhooking a grenade from her belt. She smiled a bit before heading off. Miranda and Ash followed her lead and went to find flanking positions. Shepard used her free hand to hold her shotgun as she wandered forward. She crouched down behind a crate then peeked over the top. The VI in her suit showed three hostiles clumped together around a corner. Sticking her tongue out of the corner of her mouth she aimed carefully then removed the pin from the grenade. She tossed it to where it bounced lightly off a wall before dropping around the corner. She heard a chorus of 'shit!' before the explosion. Flames erupted thanks to the modifications she had made to the grenades. She rolled out of cover.

Shepard popped up from her spot. She pressed her back against the wall of the building the Cerberus soldiers had been hiding near. She looked around the corner to pop off a few shots in order to finish them.

Her attention was grabbed when she saw an orb of blue appear. Seconds later two soldiers were jerked together. Their armor clunked at each impact. She then heard both soldiers scream as the circuits in their armor were overloaded. Miranda... Shepard thought. She looked down when she felt a hand clutch at her ankle. She growled softly. Her other foot came up then smashed down on the soldier's helmet. She used her shotgun to send flaming buckshot at his back. The scream was blood curdling as the ammo pierced through his armor and burned both skin and spandex bodysuit. Shepard was sure if she had engaged the olfactory sensors on her helmet she could smell the burnt flesh.

She brought her gun up as two more soldiers rushed at her. They fired their submachine guns but her shields held against the onslaught of bullets. Both were blown back by the force her gun had when she fired. Over the sound of her gun firing she didn't hear another soldier drop down behind her. A snarl left her as bulky arms went around her neck. She struggled valiantly before getting a hold on the soldier. With a shout she flipped him over her shoulder. He landed on his back on the ground with a thunk. A mass effect field erupted around her body. She brought her hand up but paused. She shook her head, the field dying. She then fired at his face. A scream of pain before he choked on his own blood. She didn't even bother to check if he had died from his wounds. She looked up.

Ashley was being held in a full-nelson by another soldier though she kicked mightily at a second who was advancing on her. Shepard leapt over a couple of crates, swapping weapons as she went. She ducked when suddenly the soldier grappling with Ashley went flying in her direction. She blinked.

"Sorry, Skipper!" Ashley called out, picking up her dropped shotgun then turning to fire icy buckshot in the face of the soldier who had tried to help his friend in taking her down. Shepard spun, sending her boot to a soldier's neck. He crumpled from the force and she finished him off with a shot from her own shotgun.

"Ahh!" a scream echoed throughout the area, heard even above the din of battle. Both Ash and Shepard whipped around to find the source of the scream. Eyes widened within helmets as they watched a soldier hanging helplessly in the air, his armor disintegrating around him as if acid had been thrown on him. Shepard looked around quickly before catching sight of Miranda.

"You son of a bitch!" Miranda damn near roared before throwing him as hard as she could into a wall. The force was so strong that he actually went through the warehouse wall. Shepard ran over, still in shock.

"Miranda! What the fuck are you doing?" Shepard demanded. Ashley ran up behind Shepard after shooting another Cerberus soldier.

"Is everyone on our crew completely losing their marbles?" Ashley asked.

"Quiet. Miranda!" Shepard said, grabbing the woman's arm before she could step through the giant hole in the wall. She ducked a punch then grasped at Miranda's other arm, jerking her close so she couldn't flail or try to kick her. Ashley ducked into the building, slamming her foot onto the soldier's now unarmored stomach to keep him down. She aimed the muzzle of her shotgun right at his face but didn't fire.

"I'm sorry, Shepard. I don't normally make a habit of losing my temper. But he... he called me the Illusive Man's errant whore. I would've been able to handle it if he hadn't asked if I had a more obedient sister," Miranda mumbled, her head resting against Shepard's armored chest. Shepard could almost hear Ashley's ears prick up at the conversation going on behind her. Shepard heard a crunch! as Ashley slammed the butt of her shotgun into the man's face, breaking his nose instantly. He gave a shout of pain before gurgling as he tried to breathe through the blood draining into his throat.

"Well, then that's understandable. But try not to punch me next time," Shepard said, releasing the former Cerberus operative. She watched as Miranda took in a deep breath then nodded.

"Will do, Shepard," Miranda said. She turned to duck into the building, coming up behind Ashley. She unholestered her pistol then fired off two shots at the man's head.

"All right everyone. Let's find those damn mechs and turrets," Shepard said. She pulled out her assault rifle. She jumped out of the hole in the wall to lead the way down the street.

She stopped dead as she heard the unmistakable hum of a turret. The first couple of shots hit her shields before she jumped behind a wall to get out of the way. Ashley jumped then landed sprawled at Shepard's feet but was unharmed. Miranda had taken cover behind the building on the opposite side of the street.

"Holy mother of turrets," Miranda murmured when she got a good look at what they were up against.

"I think that's the same type of turret we were up against on Mars, Skipper. A wee bit more portable of course and... not strapped to the ceiling. But I'm sure it's the same type," Ash said once she got to her feet and looked around the corner for herself.

"Okay. So you know how to destroy it. Right?" Miranda asked, raising her voice a little so she could be heard over the whirr.

Shepard and Ashley shared a look.

"Right?" Miranda repeated.

"We... didn't even destroy the stalactite turret on Mars," Shepard admitted. Shepard was sure if Miranda wasn't wearing a helmet she would've seen her jaw drop. Miranda seemed to opt for slamming her palm to her helmet.

"Look, you have your ruddy biotics right? You or I can just Overload the damn thing!" Shepard said.

"I don't think you quite understand the mechanics behind that power, Shepard. That thing is gigantic. I can overpower a damn power conduit. But this? Not even you could!" Miranda said.

"What, Miss Perfect can't handle a big responsibility like makin' a turret explode?" Ashley asked, checking over her weapons as they all tried to come up with a plan.

"I don't see you making anything explode without the use of munitions," Miranda snapped.

"Enough. Both of you. Sheesh, I thought you two finally bonded. Okay, look. Miranda, you at least take down its shields. Ash and I will pop grenades. Then I'll finish it off with a Biotic Slam. How's that?" Shepard cut in.

"Oi, that gives you a free kill," Ashley said.

"Turrets don't count, Ash," Shepard said patiently.

"Oh but Mechs do?"

"Well, yeah. They have troops inside. Now gimmie a damn answer about the plan."

"Seems sound enough," Miranda said, shifting her feet to get closer to the corner of the wall she was hiding behind. A mass effect field appeared around the ex-Cerberus operative before she flung her hand forward, directing her attack at the turret. She hid behind cover again before it could target her. An explosion hit the air as the shield generator exploded. Shepard removed the pin from her grenade then leapt across the gap between the two buildings. As she did the VI in her suit targeted the turret. She tossed the grenade when she got a good shot. Ashley's grenade bounced along behind Shepard's. Miranda helped Shepard up just as another explosion sounded.

The Commander peeked around the corner, assault rifle at the ready. The turret was smoking but not necessarily out of commission. Annoyingly, a combat engineer was already on his way to fix the damn thing. She popped off a few shots, ending his career rather early. His body fell limply next to the turret. She tapped a command into her omnitool, causing her rifle to almost glow. She then fired a single shot that slammed hard into the turret, sending its parts flying.

"Nice concussive shot, Skipper," Ashley praised, offering a thumbs up as well.

"Thanks," Shepard said with a nod before taking point to advance.

A couple of smaller turrets were set up down the way with a-

"God damn mech!" Shepard ground out, her hands gripping her assault rifle hard. Her leg was throbbing thanks to a missile that had slammed into it when she had tried to dive out of the way. She gasped with pain, glancing down at the damage. The missile had actually gotten through her shields in one blow and made a dent in her armor. She was sure her leg was bruising but was also sure it wasn't broken. Unlike the handheld missile launcher Erica had been toting, the mech's missile launcher had a lot more oomph behind the shots.

"I just got my legs working again," Shepard sulked while her hands went to her belt to find another grenade.

"Basic strategy, sweep the leg," Ashley said.

"Yeah, no kidding. How many grenades you got left?" Shepard asked, counting three on her belt, one of which she had nicked from the dead engineer.

"Uh... four. You?" Ash replied.

"Three. Miranda?"

"I have three as well. I couldn't fit that many on my belt," Miranda replied, shrugging her shoulders.

"All right well they fucked up grouping the mech in with the turrets. Same as last time, we throw the 'nades altogether. Miranda... how're your amps? Are you okay for another-" Shepard began.

"I told you before, I'm not like normal humans. I'm fine. What do you need me to do?" Miranda said, cutting the Commander off.

Shepard frowned a little bit, glancing over at Ashley. They both had plenty of experience with biotics to know there was a breaking point for everyone. Even a strong biotic like Jack got tired after a good hard fight. And so far they had been fighting for quite a while. Even Shepard with all of the upgrades Miranda was more or less responsible for got tired. The... pitfalls of being an organic.

Shepard chewed on her lower lip.

"I need you to hit that mech with a Warp and an Overload. Since they're all so close together it should leech over to the turrets. Can you do that or should I?" Shepard finally asked.

"I can do it," Miranda assured the Commander.

"You don't have to prove anything to me, Miranda. You more than proved yourself at the Collector base. I just don't need you to- Damn it!" Shepard growled out as Miranda rushed past the Commander, mass effect field glowing vividly around her body. She darted out into the open, energy flowing from her hands to the mech. The Warp went first followed by the Overload. The mech jerked violently while the turrets made a high pitched squeal like an old teapot before exploding.

"And I thought you were stubborn," Ashley quipped before getting up to let loose with her Revenant against the mech. Shepard got to her feet before charging head long at the mech, dodging its machine gun fire and missiles as she went. A mass effect field wrapped around her form for protection as she got closer. A blade formed quickly thanks to her Omni-tool and she used it to smash the canopy of the still jerking Atlas. A shout of surprise came from the pilot of the mech before she used the omniblade to stab him in the throat. He gurgled and gagged on the blood. She grasped him by the front of his armor then jerked him out of the canopy, throwing him down. The Atlas had stopped firing some time ago. Ashley came up and executed the Atlas mech pilot with a douple tap of her Revenant to his head.

Shepard used her omniblade again to disable the Atlas entirely so that no side could use it. The omniblade disappeared moments later, its parts to be recycled by the omni-tool.

Once that was finished Shepard rounded on her former XO. She grabbed Miranda by the front of her armor then shoved her up against a building. An audible through her helmet growl was heard from the Commander.

"Just what do you think you're doing, Lawson? Rushing head long into battle like that is not what I want from you!" Shepard ground out. Ashley walked up behind the two, her hands holding her Revenant in a casual pose rather than pointed at either one. She knew not to get in the way of one of Shepard's tongue-lashings.

"You gave the plan of attack. If we dawdled any longer our opening would have disappeared. The Atlas was getting further and further away from the turrets as we argued over who would attack where," Lawson said calmly.

"You destroyed the plan in two seconds, Lawson! You follow my orders to the letter, do you copy?" Shepard snarled out, pushing Miranda further into the wall. Cracks formed in the wall from the pressure being exerted by the for all intents and purposes super human. Miranda winced inside of her helmet.

"I copy. Now let go before you bring this building down around us," Miranda said, her voice icy.

"We'll continue this discussion back on the Normandy when this mission is over. Until then you stick to the plan. I give the orders and you obey. We may be going up against simple humans instead of Collectors or Reapers but they can kill us just the same," Shepard said, releasing the woman. Miranda dropped the inch or so to the ground and easily regained her balance.

"Yes sir," Miranda said. Ashley glanced between the two as Shepard began to walk away. There was a lot of tension between the two, perhaps built up way before the mission even started. But it wasn't Ashley's place to figure it out. She followed dutifully after the Commander while Miranda brought up the rear. They had more or less cleared out the floor so they were heading back to pick up Erica and Liara.

Once they got to where the two were hiding, Shepard grunted with pain then scrabbled to get a grip on the door to stay upright. Her leg was throbbing from the encounter with the mech.

"By the Goddess. Shepard!" Liara called out, leaving Erica's side to help the Commander up.

"I'm fine. My leg's just sore as hell. How many more levels until we get to Afterlife?" Shepard asked, brushing off her bondmate's concern.

"Just a few more levels but they should be more or less clear save for a couple of scouts unless the people you killed managed to send out a warning," Erica said. She had taken off her helmet some time back at Liara's behest to make sure the woman couldn't call the rest of Cerberus on Omega about the assault. The lack of the helmet gave Shepard a clear view of the copper hair Erica had. She had green eyes to match but no freckles to speak of. At least on her face. The scar on her cheek looked even nastier in proper light.

"I don't think we gave them a chance. C'mon, let's move," Shepard said. She extracted herself from her lover's grip then set off, holding her pistol rather than her rifle or shotgun. It was easier and faster to move with just the pistol. The others followed her lead, warily and wearily going down the multiple flights of stairs.