The Best Laid Plans

Varick felt like smashing his fist into the communication console. He wanted to kick his chair over, march into the next room, and beat Commander Shepard with the heaviest thing he could find for all the trouble he was causing her. But even as his rage threatened to consume him, Varick knew that the ultimate pay off would be worth the headache that pathetic excuse for a turian, Garrus Vakarian, and his human companion were causing. And at any rate, there was no stopping what had been set in by the Shadow Broker. Shepard would become the ultimate biotic soldier. That was a given. The only questions that remained were how many more men Varick was going to lose, and how much longer it was going to take Kamala and Tayir to break the commander's defenses down.

As calmly as he could manage, Varick said through his teeth, "Casualties?"

"For the Gemini Towers, or in total?" Kamala drawled from where she was posted at the main observation screen. After replenishing her energy, the asari took on a healthy lavender glow, and her smile was slow and lazy. The high she was riding on was far more intense than any drug could produce. Varick found himself resenting her. "The total, if you please," he said, his dual voice boxes revealing a note of anxiety.

Languidly, Kamala entered a few commands into the control panel, then said, "Eighty-six. Wait." Varick held his breath. "Make that eighty-seven."

Eighty-seven of the Broker's best agents were dead? It was... inconceivable. Twelve of Shepard's mismatched crew, six unlikely duos had killed eighty-seven of some of the best-trained killers in the galaxy. It was far more than Varick had imagined, than had even seemed achievable. Then again, Shepard's team was known for impossible odds. And none of them had even been killed off yet. Varick frowned. The assault they'd been planning on the Normandy would have to be delayed until they could recuperate from the losses they'd suffered. He'd probably have to appeal directly to the Shadow Broker if he wanted any more troops for the mission, which was already an absurdly high number.

Kamala was watching footage from security cameras on Gemini Beta. She observed Garrus and Kaidan's progress with a predatory hunger. So this was what Shepard had fought so hard to told onto. She had to admit, they looked like they were worth it. Kamala's first encounter with Kaidan, when she'd first taken Shepard from Illium, hadn't left much of an impression on the Ardat-Yakshi. But seeing them again after glimpsing the two of them in Shepard's memories shed new light on their assets.

Maybe Varick would let her keep them. The turian vigilante and the Alliance biotic. Trophies. Yet even they were mere trinkets compared to the ultimate prize: Shepard.

Kamala was stronger than ever. The victims she'd consumed had heightened her power like never before. She was so close to finally forcing the commander to submit, to accept the Shadow Broker as her god, Kamala her priestess. That fire inside Shepard would burn so brightly. She'd fight in the Broker's private army. Kill in his name. It would be glorious.

That moment was closer than ever. Varick's omni-tool beeped, and he jerked his head towards the door. "Go. Tayir's done."

Kamala rose to her feet gracefully. "Don't worry so much," she said on her way out. "Everything is going to turn out exactly as it should." Kamala was sure of it. And she was rarely wrong.

Teeth clenched to brace against the kick of the grenade launcher, Kaidan took aim. He already knew that there weren't enough rounds left to take the gunship out completely, but he could damage their weapons systems. As soon as he had a clear shot, he squeezed the trigger. He was rewarded with a small explosion on the gunship's left ammo pod and a stinging arm from where the stock of the grenade launcher bucked into him.

That infuriated the ship's pilot. The gunship swung forward, butting against the back of the skycar. The engines wailed. "Any bright ideas?" Kaidan shouted to Garrus. They had maybe a minute before the skycar gave out, or they were crushed by the gunship.

Garrus was unbuckling his seat belt and shifting around, his legs tensing. "Just one."

For the plan to succeed, they needed the gunship to pull up right alongside the car. Kaidan knew that if he took out the other ammunition pod, the only way the gunship could do any more damage to them would be by letting their troops open fire. That would lure them just close enough for their insane idea to work.

Kaidan ground his teeth. He hated it when the only way they were going to get out alive seemed like it was surely going to get them killed. Nevertheless, he had a job to do. He unloosed two more rounds. The first smashed into the bottom of the gunship, causing metal shrapnel to spin off into the tunnel. The second found its mark on the ammo pod. "Got 'em," Kaidan said. There was one round left in the gun. Hopefully, it would be all they needed.

Garrus hit the turbo for what would be the final time, enticing the pilot to pull up closer since their weapons system had been decimated. Just as expected, the pilot engaged their thrusters. Instead of smashing into them from behind, the gunship fell into line right next to the skycar on the driver's side. Leaning out of the carriage were four rifle-wielding agents. Kaidan handed the grenade launcher to Garrus. He was going to need that single round.

Garrus stood up on the seat clumsily. His under weave was growing sticky with his own blood and wasn't exactly making things easier on him. Not to mention the drunken sway of the skycar threatening to toss him into the roaring river of traffic below.

The agents opened fire. Kaidan threw up a barrier to shield Garrus. "Go, now!" Taking a deep breath to steel himself, Garrus braced his legs and jumped.

It was short enough gap that Garrus barely had time to think about the screaming abyss below him. More worrisome was the fact that his landing zone wasn't clear. He squeezed the trigger of the grenade launcher, releasing that final round, sending it exploding into the closest three agents. They were blown back, giving Garrus enough room to stumble forward.

His troubles hardly ended there. Packed into the gunship were six more agents, all jostling shoulder to shoulder for a chance to kill him. Garrus swung the empty grenade launcher at one of them, catching him in the head and sending him tumbling out. Five more to go.

The skycar was swiftly losing altitude. In a moment, Kaidan was going to miss his chance at saving himself. Standing on his own chair and hopping over to the one Garrus recently had vacated, he tried to judge the distance between the two vehicles. It was rapidly increasing. He wanted a second to prepare himself for the suicidal stunt he was about to pull, but that old standby, "Look before you leap" didn't have much of an application in his situation. The last thing Kaidan wanted to see was the rush of traffic that would pummel him like a sack of meat if he fell short. He sucked some air into his lungs and launched himself over the void.

Time seemed to slow as he flew through the air. He could hear the skycar's engines choke and die, sending the vehicle plummeting to its final tomb, where it would inevitably crash and explode. The howling whine of the other vehicles threatened to consume Kaidan, to swallow him up in sound and metal. And the gunship. The gunship was passing him by. His hands were nowhere near the carriage and he could feel himself falling as his jump reached its peak and gravity claimed him. But Kaidan hadn't gotten that far to fall short of his goal. Fueled by the inexhaustible source of his own will power, he propelled himself through the air biotically, hurtling towards the gunship like a blue comet.

Garrus was grappling with an agent of the Shadow Broker, putting his hand-to-hand to good use, when the gunship was jerked to the side, as if it had been hit by a missile. Barely managing to keep his own feet, Garrus tossed his unbalanced opponent out the side door. He watched as the black-clad soldier bounced off the front bumper of a speeding skycar, sending him soaring into the distance. That was when Garrus noticed a set of biotic blue fingertips gripping the the lip of the carriage. Alenko. Garrus dashed to the edge and kneeled down by the door.

It was Kaidan, all right. Garrus grabbed him by the forearm and yanked him up, pulling him into the gunship. He was about to ask the human how the hell he'd managed to make it across the gap. That was before he was interrupted by a shot to the head.

Kaidan didn't waste time checking to see if Garrus was still alive. Realizing he'd left his assault rifle back on the destroyed skycar, he punched the pistol-wielding agent right in the ribs, hitting his center of mass and sending him flying out of the gunship. He screamed loudly as he fell. Kaidan dropped to his knees to determine whether or not Garrus had been killed.

He hadn't. In fact, he was already getting to his feet. The wild shot from the pistol had only grazed his fringe. It was barely even bleeding. Garrus was surprised that a soldier in the Broker's elite private army had missed so easy a shot when he realized that the shooter wasn't a soldier at all. He was the pilot.

"Dammit!" Garrus stumbled over to the cockpit and easily entered the coordinates for the Normandy's docking port, letting the auto pilot take over. Its familiar dashboard was a comfort after the confusing controls of the civilian skycar. Piloting was hardly the reason why Garrus was distraught. He turned back to look at Kaidan. "Do you realize what you've done?"

Kaidan glanced out the door, then back at Garrus. "I saved your life." He'd killed the guy who had shot Garrus in the head. So why was the turian looking at Kaidan like he had eaten his favorite pet varren?

"You just threw the pilot, our only chance at finding a way to Shepard, out the door!" Before Kamala had lured them out into Illium with the promise of being reunited with Shepard in twenty minutes, Garrus already had a plan. They were supposed to figure out the schedule that the prisoner transport shuttles followed, then hijack one of the ships and force the pilot to take them to wherever it was that prisoners were shipped off to. Then, they'd find Shepard and save the day.

But, thanks to Kaidan, they were without a pilot. It was going to cost them valuable time, time that the Shadow Broker was going to use to hurt Shepard. To send his troops to launch an attack on the Normandy. To do any number of things that would make their mission impossible.

"How was I supposed to know he was the pilot?" Kaidan shot back. Garrus was making it out to be his fault. He couldn't believe the turian was blaming him for the pilot's death.

"He was the last one on the gunship. He could barely shoot straight!" Garrus had lurched to his feet and was leaning against the pilot's chair, unfortunately empty, for support. His warrior's instincts kept him from feeling much pain from his wounds during battle, flooding his blood stream with adrenaline, but now that they were out of immediate danger, he felt himself slipping. The pain's razor edges were only sharpened by his frustration at losing the pilot. It would have been so easy to subdue him, to make him fly to Shepard and end their battle once and for all.

But no. "He was about to put a bullet between your eyes," Kaidan retaliated. "The only reason you're even alive is because I stopped him. And now, you're being an ass." He had to shout to be heard over the dull roar of wind that entered through the gunship's open doors.

"Oh, I'm the one who's an ass?"

"Yeah!"

"This could cost us the whole mission, you know!"

The two of them were so busy arguing that they didn't notice they were practically on the Normandy's doorstep.

From the cold, watery depths of her misery, Liara heard a commotion inside the briefing room. She wondered what anyone could possibly be getting worked up about. Especially since everyone that mattered was dead. Still, she had an appearance to keep up. So she pulled herself to her feet, using the railing of the galaxy map to help her up. She wiped her damp face on the back of her glove and took a deep, steadying breath. She was falling apart on the inside but no one had to know that.

Thane suddenly burst out of the armory, his expression one of alarm and anxiety.

"What is it?" she asked. Something in the drell's features made her blood go cold.

"An airborne vehicle is locked on to the Normandy's position."

Airborne vehicle. Could it be? Her heart fluttered. Were her friends alive? "The Kodiak?"

Thane crushed her hope with a shake of his head. "It's a gunship. It belongs to the Shadow Broker."