The cockpit seemed to be one of the few areas that held only a few people. Two men occupied the pilot and co-pilot seats. The heavier footfall of Garrus's boots alerted them to their arrival. One man wore an old-fashioned baseball type hat; he swiveled around to see who was intruding on his workspace.
"Holy shit. Commander Shepard. Err, Agent Shepard," said the ball cap wearing man. "And one huge ass alien," he said under his breath as his gaze traveled up the long lines of the turian.
Amala raised one eyebrow at the man's rambling. "Shepard is fine, and this is Garrus Vakarian."
"Uh, Jeff Moreau. Pilot. Most people call me Joker."
"I'm Chief Navigator Pressly," the other man stated. "It's an honor to have you on board, ma'am."
Garrus looked about, his head cocked, obviously listening for something. After a few moments he turned to Amala.
"Amala, don't they have a version of EDI?"
Amala laughed. "No, they don't. EDI is one of a kind."
"Holy shit, I mean, I knew Admiral Anderson had me update our translator software, but I had no idea it was for them," Joker said.
"Mmm, yes, contrary to popular galactic information they are a sentient species," Amala replied, a little of the anger of that whole situation coming through in her words.
"So, uh, Edi? What's an Edi?" Joker asked.
"My pilot."
"So, uh, your pilot hangs on the ceiling or something, because that's where your friend was looking."
"EDI is an A.I."
Joker's mouth dropped open. "Seriously? You're going to trust an A.I. to get you safely down to a planet under siege?"
"She's saved my life several times. If anyone can get us safely down, it's her."
Joker snorted in disbelief. "It's your funeral."
"Possibly, but it won't be because of her. How close to Palaven do you think you can get?"
"We know the layout of the system, so Admiral Anderson has requested we head to the far side of the planet, and that is where we will open the bay door and then you are on your own."
"How long until we hit the relay?"
"Two hours. Once we come out, it's about 45 minutes to reach the far side while at stealth drive speed."
Amala nodded at him. "Thank you, Joker. I'll be sure and let EDI know that you think your flying skills are superior."
"No, no, NO! I do not want some A.I. targeting me for retribution because I bad-mouthed them."
Amala leaned down closer to him. "I can hook her up to your system for you. I'm sure you could share tips or something."
Joker's face paled for a moment at the thought of an A.I. let loose in the Normandy's systems. Whatever he was going to say was interrupted by the arrival of Major Alenko.
"Ah, there you are, Shepard. Anderson said everything is stowed onto your ship, but he would like you to go see Dr. Chakwas before you head to the cargo bay."
"Thanks, Major. I'll head down now. You want to stay here, Garrus, or come with me?"
"Right behind you, Amala," Garrus said.
Garrus had barely turned to follow Amala when he stopped once more.
"Did you hear that? That turian is on a first name basis with Agent Shepard. Did you know her first name, Kaidan?" Joker whispered urgently.
"I know it from her files. It's not that big of a deal, Joker," Kaidan Alenko said with a shrug of his shoulders.
"Yes, but would you use her first name?"
"Oh, hell no. Not unless she told me I could."
"Exactly."
Garrus jogged to catch up to Amala, chuckling to himself. He had thought to say something, but decided he didn't know enough about humans to guess what might be okay.
"Hear anything interesting?"
"Yes, they are speculating on the fact I used your first name. Should I not use it?"
Amala laughed, "No, its okay. Alenko I only knew from when I was in the Alliance, and we never entered that first name basis sort of friendship. The other two, I have never met before."
Only one person moved about the med-bay, and Amala assumed that was the good doctor herself.
"Doctor Chakwas?" Amala asked upon entering the room.
"Ah, yes, Agent Shepard. Please come in. And one of our guests with you, I see."
"Garrus Vakarian, ma'am," he said with a nod of his head.
She gave him a delighted smile. "Lovely to meet you. Wish it was under better circumstances."
"Trust me; these are better circumstances than where I was before Amala found me."
"I'm sure. Now Agent Shepard, Admiral Anderson wishes me to run a quick diagnostic on you and give you some emergency supplies before you leave us."
The older woman waved Amala over to one of the beds. Amala hopped up to sit on the edge of it. Chakwas bustled about, taking various readings with several different tools before grabbing a couple of kits off a table.
"Okay, everything looks good. Now this one," she thrust at Amala, "is for you. The other one is for the turians. They both have medi-gel, pain relievers, and antibiotics. I can't guarantee how well the dextro ones will be, since they were made with the only other dextro species in mind, but they should help, I hope."
"Thank you," Garrus said, taking the bundle from the woman.
"Good luck to you both."
"Thanks, Doc. Come on, Garrus, let's get down to the ship."
Carrying the supplies that the doctor had given them, they made their way down to the cargo bay. There they found Saren and Nihlus already aboard the Wildcat. Saren was going over a rough topographical map of the planet with EDI. The rest of them watched Saren as he talked.
"These areas have numerous cave systems, or here is a dense forest. Either spot would be good for us to land at; they are both near some of our strongholds."
"Where did you get this?" Amala asked.
"It was on one of the data drives we took. It wasn't relevant at the time, so I filed it away as there were no specifics, just this map and some other basic information about Palaven. I am unable to choose a landing spot until we are dropped, since we have no idea exactly where we will be."
"Far side of the planet is what they are aiming for. Can you estimate what land will be there?" She looked down at her omni-tool to see how long it had been since they had been in the cockpit. "Looks like another hour to the relay and once out of the relay another forty-five minutes to reach the planet."
"One moment, calculating. Based on the known orbit and rotation of the planet, the caves will be our best choice."
"Good. Probably the easiest place to hide the ship as well. General, once we are down, do you know any radio frequency we can use to contact your people?"
"Several, but I would rather approach them on foot. Although no other species we have encountered can accurately imitate ours, they would not trust any initial contact from someone they knew was taken by our enemies."
Amala nodded. "How big of a problem will it be with me there?"
Saren exhaled slowly. "It is very likely they will view you with mistrust, but I do not believe it will be insurmountable. You will have to give up your weapons, at least initially, until we can convince them that you are an ally and not an enemy."
"Understandable. Can I spread my weapons among the three of you so they are near if we run into trouble?"
"That would be prudent."
"I would recommend that you all wear your helmets and rely on your suits until we reach the surface; some systems may need to be shut down to provide maximum power to others," EDI added.
"Noted."
The three turians headed to where their gear was stored, while Amala went to the main cabin and quickly divested herself of her uniform and donned her armor. From her weapons locker, she took out her personal weapons. Slapping them in place, she grabbed her helmet and went to meet the others.
She nearly ran into Garrus, his helmet in one hand and eating something with his other. Taking the pistol off her hip, she put it on his. He looked down and sighed.
"Really? I get your pistol and not your rifle?"
She grinned at him. "You are already carrying one; your pistol slot is empty, so that's what you get."
Nihlus got the sniper rifle and Saren her assault rifle. It was all she could do not to pace up and down the small hall; her being in armor with her weapons gone just seemed wrong on so many levels.
"Amala, the Normandy is hailing us. Should I open a channel?" EDI asked.
"Of course!"
"Uh, Shepard, we will be reaching the relay in thirty minutes," Joker said.
"Roger that, starting a countdown now. EDI, set the timer for seventy-five minutes."
A small display with the timer appeared on the console's screen.
They could hear Joker clear his throat before finally saying, 'Normandy out'.
"Amala, that pilot, Joker, he seemed uncomfortable. Is it the mission?" EDI asked.
Amala gave a soft laugh. "No, it's more I outed you. He let me know that you couldn't possibly be good enough to get us safely down to the planet. I, uh, may have suggested letting you loose on his ship."
"That wasn't very nice. Although, I would love to have a bigger ship and think of how much easier our missions would be if we had a stealth drive!"
"I'll be sure and let them know that if they need an A.I., you would love to help out."
They settled into their seats. Amala and Saren taking the pilot and co-pilot seats, while Nihlus and Garrus took the secondary seats behind them. The time creeped slowly as they watched the timer count down. Then it seemed to speed up and suddenly they were looking at single digits on the clock.
"Helmets on and strap yourself in tight. This is likely to be a bumpy ride," Amala stated.
The cargo bay door yawned open, revealing the world below them. The Wildcat left the safety of the Normandy and their ship accelerated quickly, heading for Palaven at a dangerously fast speed.
"Diverting power to the forward shields and the engine," EDI's voice rang out in their suits.
The blockade appeared to be centered around the relay in the system and this side of the planet was not actively patrolled. The ship's engines whined and they could hear the metal groan from the stress of their rapid entry into the planet's atmosphere. Although their heat signature would register on any nearby vessel's systems, their speed was their only hope for making it to the ground in one piece. Well, assuming the ship didn't break apart.
Amala bit her tongue even though part of her wanted to ask EDI for reassurance that the Wildcat wasn't about to fly apart in a million pieces. The ship burst through some high clouds and the land below them began to take shape. Rather than slowing down, the little vessel seemed to be picking up speed. Finally, Amala couldn't take it anymore.
"EDI, shouldn't we start slowing down now?"
"Not quite yet; I've calculated out exactly how long we can maintain this speed without the ship breaking apart. Are you concerned, Amala?"
"Hell yes! I've never had a combat drop go at such a high speed before. But if you say you have it all figured out, I'll shut up now."
The craft continued to hurtle towards the ground until some magic point had been reached, then they were all flung against their restraints as just as suddenly the ship began to slow down before it began racing along the ground.
"Scanning the terrain. I have located a large enough cave for the ship to settle in. I have detected no other aircraft in the vicinity at this time."
The ship hugged the contours of the surface as EDI directed the craft to the spot she had selected. The mouth of a cave opened before them and the vessel came to rest in the back of it.
"EDI, can you show me where you brought us down?" Saren asked.
"Of course."
The map appeared on the console, their location indicated by a small flashing dot.
"Best estimate, we are at least a few hours away from the last location I knew of for one of our outposts."
Amala nodded before she unhooked her safety harness, and then stood up, stretching. The rest of them followed suit, but unlike her, they could remove their helmets. They quickly gathered what supplies they would need for the trek to find an outpost. The munitions and QEC would have to wait until they could bring enough people back to carry it all out.
"EDI, no communication unless it's an emergency. Take whatever action you need to keep yourself safe."
"Understood, and good luck."
"Thanks," Amala replied.
Only diffused light reached the back of the cavern where the ship rested. Saren took point as they began the trek out into the light. Once outside, Saren stopped and scanned the area around them. Nihlus and Garrus both had their faces turned up to the sun. Amala could hear the wind as it whistled past some nearby rocks, making her wish more than ever she could take her helmet off.
Garrus looked over at her and grinned. "Welcome to Palaven."
~Thanks to Mordinette for all her help and thank you to the readers as well! I'm delighted so many of you are enjoying this!~