"Major, we have activity on the other side of the mass effect." EDI told Kaidan. It was the moment of truth. It had been hours and everyone had been scrambling. Now it was time to see if any of their carefully laid plans held up against the odds.

"Acknowledged EDI. Tell Plava to get her team in position. Have James and the others take up ground locations and start feeding me info as soon as you get it."

There had been no word from Shepard since he had sent the message attempting to communicate with her, only the continual loop of that last recorded message. If she had gotten the reply she didn't dare let them know. He understood that but who else could it have been if not Shepard on the other side of the gate?

"At least three ships Major, all similar signatures. I believe they are all Cerberus." EDI's voice clipped at the name of her former employer…creator…whatever.

"That's what we were hoping for."

He was walking briskly even though he felt like running. He had to maintain the look of the cool composure. Now more than ever he needed to be the cool collected soldier Shepard had always put on for the crew. But he knew better and now he truly understood the amount of effort just doing that took.

"The one in the lead appears heavily damaged, leaking atmos but still flying under pilot control "EDI said to Kaidan directly as soon as he rounded the corner to the cockpit.

"That ain't Shepard driving." Joker said his eyes fixed on the space roach as it bobbed and weaved. With the amount of damage it had taken it was a feat that the thing was still ahead of its pursuers but by the looks it couldn't be for very much longer.

Shepard was a lot of things but a trained combat pilot was not one of them. That made Kaidan nervous. Why would she be maintaining radio silence if they were within tight beam and she wasn't flying….unless…. No he couldn't think of that now.

"Holy shyyyttt" Vega's voice came in over comm and Kaidan searched the approaching hostiles. His eyes were immediately drawn to the second ship which was now training smoke from a wing. His eye went back to the limping first ship and he supposed he shouldn't have been surprised to see a figure leaning out the open door with a rifle taking aim before another wing was clipped and smoke started billowing from the other side.

At this distance it was impossible to make out who was the shooter but considering the only2 people in the galaxy he knew that could make that shot was a scarred up Turrian he had left behind in the Normandy and the crazy commander who dealt with him Kaidan had a strong suspicion who the sniper that was hanging out the bay door was. Hell it wasn't like she hadn't done the same thing on Rannoch for Han'Garrel.

"Major. The teams are in position. Shar and Tali are requesting final approval." Plava's voice snapped him back to the present. Across the billowing snow covered expanse of mountains he could barely see the small figures of her team on another peak. A crazy plot to be sure but the Normandy was in no condition to do a take off without damaging the tunnels underneath. Everything had to be calculated out perfectly. And when did Shepard ever do perfect?

"Go for it Plava."

" Unauthorized Cerberus ships you are entering restricted Asari airspace. You have one chance to turn around and get back to the relay before we begin taking offensive actions. "The Commando's voice broadcast with such authority over the airwaves that even the ground troops seemed surprised when the ships ignored it and started to veer toward the cliffs EDI had sent Shepard the nav points for.

"Or you know don't" Vega chimed in hopefully on local chatter. The two latter ships closed in on the first ship which was now slowing down and wobbling considerably. Whatever fire they had taken before hitting the relay it was no small miracle that the roach had held it together but the Kodiaks were not made for several long term jumps under pristine conditions and this one was anything but.

"You were warned." Plava's voice sounded so steely it was as if her Justicar training had taken over. Her teams were up first and Kaidan put on his HUD to keep track of movements in the heavy snow. He saw the Asari's outline front and center and even at this distance he could see the second ship begin to waver in the air as if it suddenly was encountering heavy resistance.

At once the second ship dipped in the air and turned toward the peak where the trainees were putting their new skills to the test. Combining biotics was something that they had not practiced but Plava had assured him that with her, Samara and Falere they would be able to overpower the thrusters provided the ship got within range which EDI had ensured them was possible based on her coordinate calculations. For a few more moments the ship struggles against the blue lights now encompassing it before finally crashing into a mountainside, sending off a small avalanche of burning debris and snow.

"Woooooohhhh! Nothing like a mass effect field up your ass eh boys?" Vega jeered but the third ship was too far for the commandos to reach with their biotics. It must have seen what the Asari were up to and circled out of range just for that reason. Another variable Plava had anticipated.

"Shar I hope your plan works you got a ship with your name on it." Kaidan alerted the other girl. The idea was crazy but Plava had supported the younger Asari and Tali was intrigued enough to try out the crazy plan.

" On it. Tali and I are in position. Just get Vega to herd them our way."

"Shit didn't have to tell me twice. Alright ladies lets practice what we call cover fire." From another peak shots ring out and the ship takes several direct hits before taking evasive maneuvers turning its more reinforced hull to the side where the shots were coming from. Perfectly exposing the windows and computer systems to Shar and Tali who had come out of a tunnel lower down the mountain, unseen in the chaos.

The third ship had slowed to right itself and Tali and Chatikka began assaulting its firewalls immediately while Shar was busy typing a million miles a second on her omni. The seconds stretched into minutes and Kadian was convinced it was not going to work before the cool voice of EDI chimes in with no small amount of relish in her voice.

"Legion 5 now has control of the shuttle. He is granting me access."

The ship abruptly broke off and began to turn around to find a place to land for extraction. Apparently as good as Cereberus's systems were against normal hacking attempts they were little defense against a Blue Sun Merc, an awakened AI, and a synthetic life acting as a computer virus from hell all working together.

"I can't believe you got the geth into the ship from my suit!" Tali broke in, her voice filled with awe.

The feeling of joy was however short-lived. The earth below Kadians feet suddenly rumbled and as a longtime winter boy he knew that sound.

"Avalance! " He yelled into the mic. Everyone get inside now!" But he saw the side of the mountain where the first shuttle had struck begin to slide directly in the path of Tali and Shar's little ledge. From this distance he knew it was too fast for them to get back under cover.