Chapter 24: Home Invasion
For what seemed like the hundredth time in the last two days, Shepard watched with a smug smirk while Rah worked his shoulder joint. Chakwas had taken his cast off saying that he'd be able to return to active duty in three days. Even still, it didn't stop her old friend for being restless.
"You look like you're getting ready for a baseball game there Carmine." Shepard smirked to her friend.
"You and I both know that wasn't a real sport Sarge." Rah glared at her. "Besides you and I both know what it is that I'm working my shoulder for." Rah barbed with a sheepish look to his face.
Garrus, who until now had been silently eating next to her stopped and looked up to the man, a brow plate raised in question. "Did you just…?"
"NO!" Rah exclaimed in mock horror. "To even suggest I would do such a thing! I want to get to working on my armor and guns!" Rah shook his head in mock disgust. "Now I know why it is you two are a thing Sarge."
"Bite me Carmine." Shepard chuckled to her friend.
"I'll let Scarface do that, probably how you like it anyways." Rah grinned cheekily to her.
Shepard glanced at Garrus and couldn't help to grin at seeing the blue tint coming to his neck. Shepard quickly looked away from her mate before he could catch the look she shot him.
"Tali." Rah spoke to his now active omni-tool. "I'm going to do maintenance of some of my gear. You expressed a desire to see how some of it worked?"
"Have fun." Shepard called after him when he started walking towards the elevator. Without turning around Rah gave her the finger and ignored her laughter. It was too easy to get reactions out of him.
"Shepard-Commander." The robotic voice of Legion sounded behind her. Shepard had been too absorbed in her exchange with her old friend to notice the Geth walking up behind her. She needed to stop acting like this, she was starting to go soft.
"Legion." Shepard looked up to the Geth. "What can I do for you?"
"We require assistance." The Geth spoke simply.
"With?" Shepard asked. She would never get over how AI's felt the need to be slow with organics.
"There is a sect of Geth that have broken away from the main collective. They are the ones that believe in the Old Machines, the ones that helped Saren and Sovereign. This platform has been asked to deal with this sect, these Heretics." Legion told her in his monotone voice.
"And you want my help in dealing with them?" Shepard asked, a little surprised.
"Yes. We have information providing evidence that Shepard-Commander, Creator-Zorah, and Vakarian-Officer would be able to assist in this matter." Legion told her, his head nodding slightly.
"Send EDI the coordinates and I'll have Joker set a coarse." Shepard told Legion. She couldn't help noticing that the flaps on the geth's head seemed to move in a shocked yet joyful manner.
Marvel of evolution right there. Shepard smiled to herself.
"Operation completed." Legion told her a second later. "Estimated time of arrival, eight hours, ten minutes, thirty point nine seconds."
"Thank you Legion. We'll be ready when we get in range." Shepard told the Geth and Garrus nodded.
"So Tali still not talking to you?" Garrus asked her when Legion retreated back into the AI core.
"Not as bad as before, but still, no." Shepard sighed. Tali had been livid when Shepard had turned Legion on. Tali wanted nothing more than to destroy the Geth, or throw it out the airlock, or both. Shepard was pretty sure that her friend would get over it, and would also understand why she did it. Shepard saw it as a way to understand the thinking of the Geth, and maybe even mend old wounds.
"She'll come around." Garrus told her, slipping his hand into hers. Shepard smiled up to Garrus in thanks for his support. Garrus hadn't been to keen on the idea either, but he could see Shepard's logic.
"What's going on Joker, why aren't we in the system yet?" Shepard asked. It had been ten hours and the Normandy was still a system out from the Geth station that Legion needed to go to.
"It is unwise to bring the Normandy any closer Shepard." EDI's voice spoke to her once she was in the cockpit. "It is likely that the Geth will detect the Reaper IFF that has been installed."
"You got that thing working?" Shepard asked, her brow raise in surprise. She had been given and ETA of at least a week before the IFF would be ready.
"Yes. It was easier to integrate into our systems than I had anticipated." EDI replied.
"You might as well just take the shuttle there Shepard." Joker told her, spinning his chair to look at her. "We still need to scrub the device, it might be able to be picked up by the Geth since we can't turn it off yet."
"Great." Shepard sighed. "If I'm doing this, I'll need to bring the whole ground team with me. Need people to cover the shuttle and to cover our escape should things go south."
"You should be fine. The shuttle has the range for a two way trip. I'll pick you back up here." Joker told her, nodding to her. There was an uneasy look on his face that troubled her.
"What's wrong Joker?" Shepard asked, and the pilot looked to her with unease.
"Just a gut feeling is all. Might just be gas, Gardner's cooking isn't even like cheap take-out compared to Carmine's." Joker chuckled. "Who are you leaving in charge while you're gone? That whole taking Cerberus Queen and Garrus kinda pulls a ton of officers from the ship."
"I'll leave Carmine In command." Shepard shrugged. "Chakwas won't clear him to come with us until tomorrow, so he'll be acting CO."
"Alliance Major in charge of a Cerberus ship." Joker snorted. "If only the Illusive Man was here to glare at you, I'd pay to watch you rip out his spine."
"Not a fan of the scum that funds us?" Shepard asked with a smile. It was no secret that most of the crew, all save Miranda, Jacob, and Kelly, joined because of Shepard and not because of Cerberus. The organization was just a means to an end for them, and that end was having Shepard back.
"Not any more than you are." Joker smirked to her.
"I'll let the ground team know. We should be out of your hair in an hour." Shepard chuckled to her friend and pilot.
"Aye, aye." Joker replied, giving her a half salute.
"So why are you putting me in charge again?" Rah asked for the second time to Shepard.
"Because I trust you? And you are better suited to make the calls needed to be made in high risk situations than Joker is." Shepard told her friend, rolling her eyes.
"I'm a marine Sarge. There's a reason why I'm a Major and not a Captain." Rah told her, running his hands through his short hair.
"And you know just as well as I do that for us it doesn't really matter." Shepard grinned to her friend.
Shepard looked over to see the ground team beginning to pile into the shuttle. It would be cramped and an hour ride that everyone but Garrus and her would hate.
"Well, glad that I'm not going now." Rah grinned sheepishly at seeing that the shuttle was filling fast.
"Jack isn't" Shepard smirked to her friend."She probably wouldn't mind sitting in your lap. She'd put up a show for everyone else about not wanting to, but she wouldn't mind it."
"Pretty sure you're wrong there Sarge." Rah replied, shaking his head. "Besides even if I only brought a half kit, I wouldn't be able to sit down. Hell, I barely fit into my fighter in my armor."
"Your loss then." Shepard smirked to him. Rah shook his head again and watched Shepard walk to and climb into the shuttle. She disappeared into the cockpit of the transport, forcing Rah to look elsewhere.
He spotted the last of the ground team stepping out of the lift. Only Kasumi, Samara, Thane, and Jack had left to board.
Rah nodded to each in turn as he watched them board. Jack hesitated however. Rah couldn't see her eyes since they were hidden behind her sunglasses, but there was a look of indecision on her face. A moment later and the look passed. She boarded the shuttle last.
"Godspeed people." Rah told them all before sealing the shuttle closed. He banged his fist on the door and the engines flared to life.
Rah starred after the shuttle even after it left and the cargo bay had sealed itself.
Stay safe Jacqueline. Rah thought in his head. He couldn't get this nagging feeling that something would go wrong very, very soon out of his head.
"I'm telling you EDI, it's just radiation static. White noise, nothing else." Joker snapped at the AI.
"Not from what I see Joker. Something's being transmitted from us." Rah told the pilot from his seat in the co-pilot's chair. Fox had informed him an hour after Shepard left that the Normandy began broadcasting a signal, but she didn't know what it was, nor where it was going to or coming from.
"Major Carmine is correct Mister Moreau. The Normandy is indeed transmitting a signal." EDI confirmed.
"To where then?!" Joker snapped, becoming irritated with the both of them.
"Unknown." EDI replied.
A moment later, the alarms all across the Normandy began blaring. With that Rah was out of his seat, ready for battle. He knew that something was going to happen, now he knew it was doing down.
"The hell is going on?!" Joker asked, looking around in bewilderment.
"The Collector ship is now directly above the Normandy." EDI told them simply. "They are boarding."
"The fuck?" Rah asked. "Boarding from where?"
"Unknown." EDI replied.
Rah looked back to the CIC and before him, a Collector form appeared out of thin air. Rah reacted purely on instinct. His hands shot out and ripped the gun out of the Collector's unsuspecting hands. Rah turned the gun on the Collector and fired, a beam of energy burning a hole through the bug.
"EDI. We need to clear the ship." Rah growled. In the CIC more Collectors appeared into existence.
"I can't do anything!" Joker shouted in exasperation. "My controls are locked up!"
"You can Joker, you'll need to crawl though." Rah replied grimly, blasting another Collector and taking cover.
"What?! Why?!" Joker asked in bewilderment.
"Only thing that can deal with the Collectors is EDI, she needs to be unshackled." Rah replied, firing again at the Collectors till in the CIC.
Rah grimaced at hearing the screams of the crew when the Collectors began grabbing them and dragging them towards the lift, using their bodies to protect themselves from Rah's fire. Rah did what he could, but he wasn't fast enough. By the time Joker got up from his chair, the CIC had been cleared of all crew and more Collectors still appeared in the CIC.
"How are we going to do this?" Joker groaned, hiding next to Rah.
Rah gave the man a wild grin, his biotics flaring to life. "Follow me, scream if they get close to you."
"Great." Joker sighed out. It was all Rah needed. He stepped out from their cover firing as he did so.
Rah lead Joker through the CIC deck, following the lights that EDI provided to guide them. As they went, Rah gunned down more and more of the bug creatures and lashed out with his biotics whenever the Collector rifle needed to cool down.
"You first." Rah told Joker when they reached the maintenance shaft in Mordin's lab.
"What?!" Joker asked, "Why me!?"
Rah glared at Joker, silencing his protests. faster than Rah had expected, Joker climbed down into the shaft. Rah blasted away a Collector that had found them before dropping down himself, not bothering with the ladder.
"Everyone alright?" Shepard asked once the shuttle was well out of range of the explosion from the Geth station.
"No one's dead Shepard." Zaeed's gruff voice replied. The others muttered something along the same line.
"Good enough for me." Shepard replied, turning to the displays in front of her.
"Why did the Normandy just jump to right next to us?" Garrus asked, his subvocals giving away his unease.
"Carmine! Joker!" Shepard barked over the comms to the ship. "Why the fuck are you here?"
"Sarge." Rah's voice replied a moment later. Shepard was unnerved by his voice, there was nothing but rage and hate there. "You're not going to be happy about this."
Shepard looked to see the cargo bay doors opening. She glided the shuttle in and landed. She could feel the unease of the rest of the ground team. All of them knew that by the tone of Rah's voice that something bad happened, and something that wouldn't help them at all.
"The fuck are those things doing here?!" Jack exclaimed in surprise.
Shepard quickly exited the shuttle, climbing over the rest of her team. She stopped short when she found Rah standing with his back to them in front of two Collector containers. The containers were shattered and destroyed beyond any recognition save for the material that lay on the floor.
"Ask the Collectors." Rah replied, not turning around. Shepard could see from his tense body that he was barely holding in his fury. Something was going to make her very pissed very soon.
"Rah." Shepard asked gently, stepping up next to him. "What happened?"
"The Collectors. They boarded and took them. The fucking bugs took them all." Rah snarled.
""All of them?" Shepard asked, her voice small.
"Joker and I are the only two left." Rah replied.
"Come on, let's go and find him. I need to know what happened." Shepard told him gently. Rah nodded and lead her to the lift. Miranda and Garrus right on their heels.
"Major Carmine." The voice of Admiral Hackett filled the cockpit of Rah's fighter. "Status report."
"Naught is no longer a threat Sir." Rah replied evenly. He had been dreading this, he needed to inform Hackett about what was to happen only fourteen hours from now, and to inform him of his mission.
"What happened?" Hackett asked, his voice slightly annoyed at the vague answer.
"I did sir." Rah replied, closing his eyes.
"Major, I know you well enough to know that you are holding something from me." Hackett barked at him, the Admiral was done with his cryptic answers.
"Sir. Jacqueline Naught is a woman from my past." Rah told him simply. "Over the last couple of weeks, I have grown close to her. She is no longer a threat to the Alliance or the rest of the galaxy so long as you do not force her hand."
"Major Carmine what exactly are you saying." Hackett asked him, knowing there was still more.
"Sir, I am no longer able to complete the mission you assigned to me. And I will not let it be completed by anyone else. The woman known as Jacqueline Naught is under my protection. You will need to kill me to take her." Rah told the Admiral coldly.
"I understand Major." Hackett sighed. The man knew just as well as Rah did how much it would cost him if he wanted the mission completed. "Tell me, where did you find her?"
"With Shepard." Rah relied. "Which is the other reason I called."
"Go on." Hackett ordered, his voice back under control.
"In fourteen hours, we are going into the Omega-4 relay. The mission is likely going to be a suicide mission for us all." Rah told him plainly.
"Understood Major. Should you survive, contact me as soon as you can. Hackett out." With that, the Admiral cut the connection.
Rah let out an exasperated sigh. If it wasn't for the N7's he'd likely have quit from the Alliance years ago, everyone in the brass had a stick and their heads up their asses.
Rah climbed out of his cockpit and lowered himself to the floor of the cargo bay. He went to sit on his hammock when the doors to the lift opened up. Rah looked up to see Jack walking towards him. Rah felt his stomach drop at seeing that her face was lined with tears.
"Jack?" Rah asked, concern in his voice. "What's wrong?"
Jack didn't answer him. She strode up to him and wrapped him into a tight hug. Rah replied by wrapping his arms around her comfortingly.
"What's wrong Jacqueline?' Rah asked after several moments, his voice soft.
"I'm sorry." She told him, only confusing him more.
"For what?" Rah asked her, his voice as soothing as he could make it.
"For pushing you away." Jack told him, burying her face into his chest. "What we're going to do, it could be the last day in our lives." Jack's voice was cracking. "I-I don't want to die with this regret. I don't want to be alone. Not tonight."
"My arms are always open for you Princess." Rah told her, his voice soft, almost loving.
"Good." Jack told him and reached up, placing a hand behind his neck. She pulled him down the few inches she needed for her to bring their lips together.
Shepard and Garrus lay together in their bed. On most nights, they would have spent a good chunk of their time before hitting the relay making love to each other. Tonight however, they wanted nothing more than to simply be together. The two of them both knew that this very well could be the last night they would spend together.
"Kate." Garrus spoke, his voice soft and warm.
"Yeah?" Shepard asked, looking up into his loving blue eyes.
"If this truly will be our last together, I just want to tell you.." Garrus stammered, emotion thick in his voice.
Shepard silenced him by bringing their mouths together. While their tongues danced in her mouth, Shepard could feel every ounce of the love Garrus had for her pouring into her body.
"I know Garrus." Shepard told him with they parted.
"I love you Kate, always will." Garrus told her, his forehead resting on hers.
"I love you too Garrus, with all my heart." Shepard smiled warmly up to him.
Both of them knew that the odds of coming out alive were slim. To them it didn't matter, so long as they had each other.
Just as fast as they opened, Tali forced the doors to the elevator to close. As long as she lived, which could very well not be that long, Tali would never be able to unhear the sounds of Rah's and Jack's passion.
The Quarian engineer had gone looking for Rah after remembering something that would be able to help with his machine gun's efficiency. After hearing and even catching a glimpse as to what was going on in the cargo bay now, it made her confident that it could wait until later.
Once the lift was moving up to the crew deck, Tali let her mind drift to the man that had made her feel like the most important woman in the world. She pulled up her omni-tool and with tears beginning to stream down her face, she began writing a letter to Kal'Reeger. Should she not make it out of the Omega-4 relay, she wanted to him to know what he meant to her and what would become of her.
Thane and Samara sat together in the port observation room. The two of them were meditating together. Both knew that the other was thinking not about what was coming for them only hours away, but those that they would leave behind.
For Thane, his thoughts were on his son, Kolyat. He wished more than anything that he could have even just a day more to spend with his son. All he could do now, was hope that his son understood what it was that he was about to give his life for.
For Samara, her thoughts turned to her two remaining daughters. Both of them would never know what would become of her. They would never know what it is their mother was about to do. Never the less, Samara was comforted that they at least would be able to live their remaining years in peace so long as the Reapers did not go to their monastery.
For the two of them, they felt an odd comfort in being in the presence of another parent. They both had the feeling of doing what they did, so that their children would never need to endure their pain.
Grunt, Zaeed, and Mordin all sat around one of the mess tables. The three of them had nothing better to do until they arrived to jump through the relay. The three of them sat around, each drinking something that made them think of home. Zaeed and Mordin both told what stories they could tell. Telling the young Krogan about their exploits was oddly relaxing, even to the Salarin doctor.
Eventually, they all turned in. They would need their strength to fight the Collectors. If it was going to be their last, they all would make sure it would be one that would make it count for the rest of the galaxy.
Jacob and Miranda lay side by side on the later's large bed. While both of them knew that a relationship between them would never work. That wouldn't keep them from feeling the warmth of another human's body. It was likely going to be their last night in this life, so there was really no point in not finding their comfort in the arms of each other. Both certainly enjoyed the feel of the other, and both would be ok with it being the last time they slept with anyone in this life.
"You know that I'm only doing this because of what's coming up in a few hours right?" Miranda asked while trying to catch her breath.
"Always ruining the moment Miri." Jacob replied, rolling his eyes.
Kasumi sat in her room, Keiji's greybox in her hands. While others spent their times with those that were close to them, or were friends, Kasumi lost herself in old memories. For her, other than those on the ship, she had no one. Her love had been lost. Only Shepard had given her back the memories of Keiji. For that she would be forever grateful, both in this life and in the next when she rejoined the love of her life.
