Jane felt the hairs on her neck stand up in fright. Her fight or flight response screaming at her as adrenaline coursed through her veins.
"Eyes up, Guardians!"
The fireteam quickly huddled together, back to back. They focused their visuals on the entire area. All across the ground. Stop the upper level balconies. Even speeding in on sky cars, soldiers made their presence known. Each one armed with the most lethal guns they could find, ranging from heavy pistols to rocket launchers and machine guns. Combat engineers began setting up attack drones and automated turrets across the ground. Biotic specialists powering up and erecting force fields across all possible escape routes.
Among the many soldiers atop the upper levels, members of the Normandy Crew, led by Liara and all armed to the teeth. There were two new faces among them as well.
One was a human woman with long brown hair at the top of her head that was tied into a ponytail, while her sides were shaved down. Her body was completely covered with tattoos of all sorts of designs. There were several incision scars hidden beneath the tattooed areas. Signs of surgical implantation, perhaps. She wore a black punky studded leather jacket with an inscription on the back that read; "Psychotic Biotic", with a white top underneath that revealed her midriff, and tight fitting camo pants. She basically looked like a violent street brawler.
The other was an asari, who looked much more mature than Liara. The woman's build was slightly buff. Eyes a bright galactic blue, accompanied by a look of stoic conviction. Her outfit was a red, dark purple, and gold-lined bodysuit with an open chest, and a red metal circlet adorning her forehead.
"So I take it those fucks down there are the ones who blew up C-Sec?" Asked the human woman, arms crossed over her chest."
"They seem to match the description Commander Bailey and Liara gave us." Replied the asari in a calm and formal manor. "They also said not to underestimate them, Jack. As they possess strange powers."
Uncrossing her arms, Jack cracked her knuckles and felt biotic power coursing through her. Her lips curling into a bloodthirsty smile.
"C'mon, Samara. When do YOU ever back down from a challenge?"
A hand reached over to her side. Samara drew her weapon. A Geth Plasma SMG. She loaded the firearm with a thermal clip and equipped it with a high-velocity barrel to enhance its destructive power.
"Even Asari Justicars know when to retreat when they are outmatched. Not that I ever was, of course."
"Oh please. That's a heap of bullshit!" Jack laughed. "You could have taken on the whole Collector base if you wanted to. I mean, I'd probably get it done faster."
Samara looked at Jack questioning. "Are you implying that you're stronger than me, yet again?"
Jack then drew her M-11 Wraith shotgun and pulled back the pump. "No. But the offer to find the answer to that question still stands. Name the time and place, She-Ra."
"Jack. Samara. Focus!" Urged Liara impatiently.
The two female biotics acknowledged their teammate's request and resumed the task at hand. Approaching from behind them was a soldier holding a megaphone. He turned it on and started speaking. The tool amplifying the volume of his voice.
"ATTENTION, FREAKS! THIS IS THE CITADEL DEFENSE FORCE! WE HAVE YOU COMPLETELY SURROUNDED! SURRENDER NOW, OR WE WILL BE FORCED TO ENGAGE!"
"Shit! Crow, what happened to that heads-up?!" Jane shouted into her comms.
"Shepard, this is Garrus. Crow gave me your frequency. It's not his fault. We got ambushed on our end as well." responded in Crow's stead.
"Ain't that terrific…" Said Whiskey sarcastically.
Back on the upper-levels, Liara was focused on her Omni-Tool, attempting to call Zaeed and have him report his status. It went to his voicemail instead. The young asari grumbled in annoyance.
"Zaeed isn't picking up. They must have incapacitated him." She said frustratedly.
"Shit. Times like this I wish Thane were still around. That guy knew how to sneak up on somebody." Stated Jacob.
"Can't argue with that." Kasumi admitted.
"Good thing he didn't go alone." Miranda pointed out.
…
Back with the two snipers, Garrus was crouched down and in the process of binding Zaeed so he couldn't pursue them. The mercenary's hands now handcuffed to a sturdy metal pipe. Garrus was fortunate that his prisoner was still unconscious, otherwise there would be a tremendous amount of both physical resistance, and every single British curse word that Masani could think of off the top of his head.
"Did they assemble the entire military just to deal with four people?!" Crow exclaimed as he looked through his scope at the literal army spread throughout the hanger.
"My team must have pointed out your abilities, so they weren't going to take any chances." Garrus replied. "After something like the Reapers, the CDF made sure they would be ready for threats like this."
"I had no idea you people were so paranoid…"
Standing back up, Garrus felt his mandibles flare and he looked Crow dead in the eyes.
"You didn't watch your home planet burn when the Reapers invaded."
Crow was taken back, immediately overcome with regret over what he just said.
"So when strangers like you call us "paranoid", we're not without reason, Kid."
"I…" The Hunter paused. "I'm sorry."
Garrus turned away. He loaded the Ace of Spades and switched on his visor. "Forget about it. Right now, we need to get down there and help the others."
Upfront nodded in agreement as he switched to his Hawkmoon. The Hunter and the turian headed for the stairs that Jane and her team used to descend earlier. Once they had climbed down, they walked towards a door that led into the interior of the building.
Unfortunately, once they passed through it…
"That's far enough, bosh'tet."
Garrus and Crow took aim at their rights. Garrus in particular went wide eyed with shock.
Standing before them, an alien figure who was completely obscured by some sort of bodysuit accompanied by an O2 mask with a purple visor. The suit was adorned with purple drapings and a hood of the same color. There were also some gold-colored adornments spread across it as well.
This creature seemed to be female from its figure. Her voice carried a prominent Russian accent, and she had three fingers on each hand and digitigrade legs much like that of Garrus himself. In her hands, a Geth Plasma Shotgun.
Though she was locked in a standoff with both of them, her weapon was pointed mainly at Garrus.
"Hello Garrus." She greeted him coldly.
Vakarian sighed. This was the last person he hoped to run into.
"Tali…"
"Another friend of yours?" Assumed Crow.
"It's complicated."
Tali'Zora vas Normandy. Like Garrus, she was one of the original members of the Normandy Crew. This crafty little quarian was the team's best tech specialist, who was a prodigy in hacking, sabotage, and engineering. She had joined up with Shepard during their battle against Saren, as Tali had vital evidence against the Spectre for his geth attack on Edin Prime.
Afterward, she went on to help Shepard in her fights against both the Collectors, and the Reapers. Eventually, even helping Tali reclaim her home world from the quarians' rogue robot servants, the Geth, and making peace between them. When the war ended, Tali returned to her home planet of Rannoch to help her people rebuild their lost lost home after centuries in exile. As she was an Admiral, Tali played a very important role in reestablishing government for her people.
And now, there she stood, pointing a shotgun at her own comrade.
"It's been a while, Tali." Garrus said calmly. "How've you been?"
Tali couldn't resist scoffing. "That's it? That's all you have to say for yourself, Vakarian?!"
"So you've heard?"
The young quarian's hand shook. Not out of fear, but of anger. She was furious, betrayed, left in total disbelief. Loud huffs could. Be heard coming from the breathing filter in her mask.
"I had only just arrived on the Citadel to meet with the Council over trade agreements with Rannoch. That was when I heard about C-Sec. About YOU. And having to hear about it from that arrogant prothean votstain! No offense to Javik!"
Her words carried both sorrow and rage within them. Tali was clearly hurt over Garrus going rogue. He was one of her closest friends, after all. To hear that he was helping terrorists… Tali had not felt pain like this since her father's death.
"Why..? Why do this to your friends..?" She asked desperately.
Garrus thought about the words he would say carefully before he spoke. "Tali, you don't understand. My reasons… It's so complicated, you wouldn't even believe me if I told you. Nobody would."
"That's a load of crap and you know it!" She argued. "We're supposed to be a team, Garrus! A family! We would always believe you! You can tell us anything!"
Diverting his gaze momentarily, Garrus let his expression soften.
"Not this, Tali…"
"BULLSHIT!"
Garrus flinched slightly and took a step back. He knew that Tali wouldn't take his betrayal very well, but this wasn't what he prepared for at all. But in all honesty… he couldn't blame her.
Not after what he did to her… Damnit… Spirits damnit! It was killing him inside, like eezo emulsion being poured down his throat and burning through his organs.
"I can't even imagine what is going through that head of yours! Helping terrorists responsible for destroying the building you were once proud to walk through! For killing your friend not even yesterday! I don't understand you anymore!"
Garrus' mandibles twitched and started to flare. Tali did NOT just bring Reeka into this. That was the last thing he needed right now. Garrus wanted to yell at her, but he fought back the urge to.
Tali huffed angrily. "You know what? I don't even care anymore. You're a traitor now, and if you want to play renegade, then fine. You're coming with me. Drop your weapons." She demanded in a deadpan, yet stern tone.
"How about you drop yours instead?" Responded Crow.
"What are you going to do?" Tali pumped her weapon's slide, loading a shell into the chamber. "In case you haven't noticed, I'm the one with a shotgun."
"Yeah? So am I, Sweetheart."
Something thick pressed up against the back of Tali's helmet. She couldn't even turn around to see who had the drop on her. Crow recognized who it was on the spot however.
A human woman. Young, Caucasian, with short and messy blond hair and grease smudges across her face. A red handkerchief was tied around her neck with a pair of welding goggles resting over it. She was dressed in a brown, sleeveless jumpsuit and wore welding gloves of the same color.
In her hand was a shotgun. This one was short and thick. Sterling silver all across its body, with the same Tex Mechanica insignia as Whiskey's hand cannon. It was western-style from its design as well as the lever by the grip. There was an engraving on the side of the barrel. "The Chaperone".
"Amanda?" Crow said in surprise.
"Saw this one and some old geezer sneekin' around the back of the hanger towards your position. Thought I'd tail 'em." Explained Holiday.
"And you just left the ship unattended?!" Crow questioned critically.
Holiday rolled her eyes. She reached into her pocket, pulling out a set of keys with a tiny stuffed crow ornament dangling off the ring.
"I brought the keys with me."
Garrus and Crow lowered their weapons, as the pilot now had Tali at the barrel of her gun.
"So you're Ms. Holiday?" Said Garrus, in an almost flirtatious fashion.
Holiday returned the favor with a humored smirk. "And YOU must be Mr. Vakarian… You ain't NOTHIN' like how I pictured you."
"Yeah, I've been getting that a lot. It's safe to say that you people have never seen a turian before, for some reason."
It wasn't long before Tali was ordered to drop her weapon and she grudgingly obeyed. After that, Garrus brought the young quarian up to a wall and restrained her to it using a pair of handcuffs. He made sure to keep Tali's hands apart from each other so she could not access her Omni-Tool and use her tech abilities to free herself or attack them. The last thing Garrus needed was that Combat Drone of hers zapping him from behind.
"I'm sorry." Garrus said, guilt weighing down on him.
Tali glared through her visor.
"Shepard would be ashamed of you."
Garrus froze up. His heart skipping a beat and he could feel something red hot bubbling up inside of him. If he did not have self control, it would erupt out of him like a volcano. Garrus couldn't believe what Tali had just said to him. He wanted to strike her. Hell, he was in so much shock today that he would probably have punched a hole in her suit and let infection ravage her frail body.
But Garrus wouldn't do that. She didn't understand what was going on. But she would if he had just…
No! If Garrus tells Tali, and she tells the Alliance, everyone associated with Normandy would be detained for questioning and Shepard will be branded a traitor, yet again! He had to keep this secret. Not just for Shepard, but for Tali, Liara, Kaiden, and everyone else. If they hated him for it, that would be the price he'd pay.
But… This was Tali. They had been friends since the beginning. Surely he could trust her… Right?
"Garrus!"
The sound of Crow's voice snapped Garrus out of his trance. He turned his head to the blue humanoid.
"No time to talk, we need to get moving." He urged.
"I'm coming. Just… I need a minute."
"We ain't got a minute, Blue! Doe and the others are in a serious pickle!" Amanda pointed out to him.
He averted his gaze from her however. A look of guilty conscience.
Amanda had seen that before, on a certain someone… She walked over, patting the turian on his shoulder reassuringly.
"Hey. I get it." Holiday spoke in a softer tone. "You feel guilty. No one likes having to push away the people they care about." She turned her gaze over to Crow. The Hunter stared right back at her with a look of gloom. Amanda turned back to Garrus.
"But now ain't the time to start beatin' yourself up over your choices, because my friends; one of 'em bein' the woman who spent the past five years lookin' for ya, is knee deep in Thrall shit right now. And if what I've heard about you two through your stories is true, then I know I can trust you to help me and Crow rescue those three dingisses. Because any friend of Doe's is a friend of mine."
'Wait. What?' Wondered Tali.
Her words carried weight. They helped lift his spirit back up into the sky. Garrus raised his head back up and took a deep breath.
"You're right… Thank you, Ms. Holiday."
Amanda smiled and patted his shoulder once more.
"Call me Holiday."
"Hey, hold on for a minute!"
Hearing Zora calm out, Garrus and Amanda both tilted their heads in her direction.
"What you just said doesn't make any sense. Why would one of your people be looking for Garrus?" Tali questioned.
"Why so curious all of a sudden?" Amanda asked back. "Jane's reasons for findin' out about her past are her own-"
"Holiday, stop!"
Garrus quickly covered the human's mouth with his hand in a panic, which left both Amanda and Crow as confused as the quarian.
Though Tali was still in the dark about the details, she was smart enough to pick out key parts of the conversation and put those pieces together in her mind. And it was all becoming as clear as day to her with every second.
Garrus going rogue. A woman looking for him. The timeline. And that name. 'Jane'. Tali knew there were many humans who share identical names amongst them, but this one, along with every other detail. But that couldn't be. It shouldn't be possible. But it had happened before, even if it was because of Cerberus. So… Could it be?
"Wait… Garrus..?"
Vakarian finally let go of Amanda before storming off.
"We've wasted enough time. Let's go. Now."
The two humans looked at one another questioning. What was that about? No. Garrus was right. They couldn't afford to keep getting distracted while November was in trouble, so they followed suit after their new alien companion.
"W-wait! Hold on!" Tali cried out anxiously.
She soon began struggling against her bindings, trying desperately to break free and chase after them. Tali pulled on the cuff with all her strength. If she could create enough mention, the chains would snap. But her skinny frame just could not muster the might she needed to break free.
"Garrus! GARRUS!" She screamed after her friend. "What is going on?! It's it about Shepard?! Answer me!"
No matter how loudly she screamed, Garrus did not hear her as he vanished into the shadows. Tali cried out in both rage and sorrow. She thrashed around in her restraints in such a way that a tantrum-probed toddler would be jealous. She couldn't just let Garrus walk away. Not after this. Not until she knew the truth of what was going on.
"Oi! Tali! You 'ere?!"
That voice! Thank Keelah!
"Zaeed! In here!"
Bursting through the door, Zaeed spotted the captive quarian and rushed over to her aid. He pulled out a survival knife from his side pouch and used it to slice through the thin chains of the handcuffs. Tali was finally free.
"What took you so long?!" She berated her savior.
"Well, excuse me for bein' late, but Garrus and Prince Stolas had me chained to a fuckin' pipe! Had to break my wrist to slip outta it. Oh, and by the way. OWW!"
Zaeed screamed in pain and started rubbing his tender wrist to relieve the agony he was in. Tali ignored her companion's pain however. Instead walking over to the corner where Amanda had put her weapons. Her Geth Plasma Shotgun and Quarian Arc Pistol. Zora geared up quickly and summoned a Defense Drone to her side.
"Come on, Zaeed! We need to go after them!" Tali urged impatiently. She quickly dashed off in the direction the trio went in.
"Hey! Wait up, Princess!"
Zaeed drew his Chakram Launcher and followed suit. Tali activated her Omni-Tool while running. She engaged its tracking feature to lock onto Garrus'. This allowed her to follow that blasted turian wherever he went. Tali felt her grip tighten around her pistol. There was no way she would let Garrus escape her. Not now. Not after this.
…
"LAY DOWN YOUR WEAPON NOW, OR WE WILL OPEN FIRE!"
The officer with the megaphone repeated his order to the fireteam on the lower levels. The tree of them However did not lay down their arms. Instead huddling together, with their backs to one another. It seemed that they would not go down quietly.
"DROP YOUR WEAPONS! I WILL NOT ASK AGAIN!"
The Normandy Crew stood behind the shouting officer, patiently awaiting the signal to unleash hell on their adversaries. Javik in particular was looking down at the fireteam. He loathed to admit it, but he was impressed. Even if one of them was a Synthetic. As a former soldier of the Prothean Empire, he found their determination commendable. Though any person would know that there is a fine line between determination and stubbornness.
"These primitives do not seriously think that they can escape this. Do they?" Wondered Javik, crossing his arms over his chest.
"I mean, they did just take on all of C-Sec and win." Wrex pointed out.
"Gotta give points for cojones." Said James.
"Yeah, and the muscle lady has a mean right hook…" Jacob added, rubbing his aching jaw from when Jane Doe punched him through a glass screen. "She punches harder than Wrex or Grunt!"
"Ha! That's up for debate." Laughed Wrex in excitement.
Liara drew her sword and pistol. She wanted to prepare herself for whatever may come.
"Hopefully, it won't come to that. Right now, we can only wait and see if they surrender peacefully. Otherwise-"
"I am the very model of a scientist salarian,
I've studied species turian, asari, and batarian,
I'm quite good at genetics (as a subset of biology),
Because I am an expert (which I know is a tautology),
My xenoscience studies range from urban to agrarian,
I am the very model of a scientist salarian!"
The sound of patter singing filled everyone's ears. It was coming directly from Grunt himself. He was getting a call on his Omni-Tool. Everyone ended up shooting him a judgemental look for not turning off his ringer.
"Sorry." Grunt apologized before answering. "What?"
"Hi, this is Brenda from Citadel Eats. I'm here at C-Sec Headquarters with your Taco Bell order."
The young krogan's eyes widened in horror. His food! Grunt was so focused on, well, not dying, that forgot all about it. Now his stomach started to grumble again.
"Shit… Uh, I had to move on. I'm at the docking bays now."
"Sir, we're not supposed to go to a new address after we've already arrived at the current one."
"Alright, I'll give you a bigger tip!"
*CRUNCH*
The sounds of chewing flooded his ear holes. From the loud crunching noise, it sounded like a chip…
"Wait. What's that noise? ARE YOU EATING MY NACHOS?!"
"…No. *CRUNCH*"
That spiteful little..! Grunt roared ragefully before hanging up.
"Bitch won't relocate and she started eating my order…"
"Serves you right for using my tab." Wrex replied with a scowl.
Moving on to the ground floor, Fireteam November were deep in hushed conversation amongst themselves, trying to figure out an exit strategy and counter offensive against their numerous oppressors. Jane glanced at the radar at the corner of her HUD. It was lit up like a christmas tree. There was no counting how many soldiers there were surrounding them from the ground to the upper floors.
"Doe, any ideas here?" asked Whiskey, unnerved and uneasy.
"Yeah. Don't die." Jane replied plainly.
"That sounds more like a goal than an actual plan!" Shinazu commented.
"If you guys can just give me a minute! I'm not a fucking computer!" Jane snapped.
Whiskey laughed slightly. "If ya were, I'm sure you 'n Clovis would have made a cute couple."
"DO NOT put that thought in my head!"
With the upper levels, Liara approached the officer with the megaphone. She requested him to hand it over to her. The asari then walked over to the railing and began speaking.
"FIRETEAM NOVEMBER! THAT'S YOU CALL YOURSELVES, RIGHT?"
Jane looked upward at Liara.
"MY NAME IS DR. LIARA T'SONI! YOU MUST REALIZE THAT YOU HAVE NO OTHER ALTERNATIVES TO THE SITUATION YOU'RE ALL IN RIGHT NOW! SURRENDER NOW, AND TELL US WHERE WE CAN FIND COMMANDER GARRUS VAKARIAN, OTHERWISE LETHAL FORCE WILL BE AUTHORIZED! I WILL NOT ASK AGAIN!"
Jane thought for a second. She shrugged her shoulders and finally holstered her weapon. Liara felt a small sense of relief. Perhaps they finally had a change of heart? But Jane seemed to be performing some other action. Her right fist was raised up at Liara directly, while her left hand was held up beside it. Slowly, Jane was moving her left hand up and down in a motion as though she were cracking a lever, and her closed fist gradually opened her hand…
Well… More like one finger… and a certain one, at that.
"Oh, I'm sorry, Doc. I had no idea how this contraption worked."
Liara was flabbergasted. Her jaw dropped in shock and she dropped the megaphone. How dare she! Never in her life had T'Soni ever been so insulted. Not even Javik nor Wrex would be THAT rude to her.
"We're Guardians! We don't know the meaning of the word 'surrender'!" Doe shouted at the soldiers all around her. Arms spread out wide. "You Anna tussle with us, then fine! But just know that you guys are reeeeealy gonna regret that decision!"
The officer from before picked up his megaphone off the ground and turned it on. "MA'AM, YOU SEE THE LITERAL ARMY ALL AROUND YOU, CORRECT? THERE'S ONLY ONE WAY OUT OF HERE FOR THE TREE OF YOU!"
"Yeah? Well, where we're from, we've got a saying! One Guardian, a force! Three Guardians…"
A hand reached behind Doe's back and redrew her rifle.
"An army!"
Jane squeezed her gun's trigger. A concussive round was fired and it flew straight towards the officer, nailing him dead in the center of his forehead and knocking him backwards onto the floor. Jane chuckled beneath her helmet.
The officer jolted back up. Anger coursed through his veins as he walked back to his original spot. "THE FIRST SHOT HAS BEEN FIRED! ALL SOLDIERS, LETHAL FORCE IS AUTHORIZED!"
"Wait Officer, we still don't know where the commander is!"
Despite Liara's pleas, the CDF took aim from all their assigned positions. Whiskey pinched his forehead in annoyance.
"Well, that was a helluva plan, Doe."
"MAKE IT RAIN!"
all it took was a single command, and the entire army began unloading their weapons at once. Heat sinks started flying from all angles, directed at a single target. Jane, despite the hail mary being dropped on her and her team, smiled.
"Now it's a party!"
Purple energy suddenly started radiating all around her body. Jane spread and bent her legs slightly. Her muscles tensed across her form, and with a quick outstretched of her arms, the energy coating her expanded into a large puller dome of light.
*WARD OF DAWN*
The dome encased all three Guardians in its luminous embrace. One by one, heat sinks that flew towards them bounced off the dome's surface like flies on the windshield of a car. It didn't matter how many there were. It was like this dome was impenetrable.
"Okay, we're not dead. Now what?" Questioned Whiskey.
Jane shrugged her shoulders. "Don't know. Didn't think that far ahead."
"At least you make good speeches!" Said Shinazu.
"Jane, are you alright? I hear a lot of gunfire!" Crow asked through the comm channels.
"Yeah! Just dandy! Garrus in one piece?"
"Right here, Shepard. Just ran into some more trouble, but we're alright, thanks to your pilot."
"Maybe you boys can repay me by takin' me out for a drink."
Jane's eyes widened. "Holiday? Wait, then who's guarding the ship?!"
…
With a loud hiss, the automated ramp of the jumpship was slowly lowered from its base. Amanda, Garrus, and Crow all climbed up the platform in a hurry and were soon within the small ship's interior. Amanda rushed over to the cockpit and sat down in the pilot's chair where she immediately began to flip switches across the dashboard.
"Relax, everythin's good. Besides, we just got back. I'll have this bird peeled 'n ready by the time y'all arrive."
Back in the cargo space, Crow had taken a seat atop a small metal box. He sighed in exhaustion and pulled back his hood. That was far too many close calls for his liking. Garrus was still standing up. He was looking around the interior of the ship. Seemingly examining it. The turian was very unimpressed by the handiwork of whoever constructed the vessel as there were many parts that were out of place or looked extremely outdated. He wondered if this ship could even fly.
"Welcome aboard the Radiant Accipiter, Garrus." Said Glint as he reappears out of stealth mode.
"What a piece of junk." Garrus said under his breath.
"Hey! This is MY piece of junk!" Crow defended.
And that moment, the sound of electricity crackling from a faulty wire caused the three of them to jump in fright.
"Crow, are we sure this thing is safe for take off, let alone space travel? I think I can see light through the floor."
"It'll fly." Assured the Hunter. "How do you think we got here in the first place?"
"A public transport shuttle. We have those."
The engines of the ship soon hummed to life. The entirety of the ship vibrated as a result, which only added to the turian's already uneasy nerves about this vessel.
"We're in business, boys!" Shouted Amanda from the cockpit. She then switched to her comms. "Doe, the ship's ready to rock."
"Nice work, but we're kinda in a bit of a bind right now."
Holiday looked out the screen of the canopy. The fireteam was pinned down by a rain of bullets with Jane's Ward of Dawn being the only thing keeping them from being eviscerated.
"I can see that." The pilot stated.
…
This was not an ideal situation either side was in as of now. Jane's ward will only last so long. And even if the soldiers run out of ammo, the team won't make it to the ship in time before they reload and start firing again. Not only that, but the kinetic barriers of Crow's jump ship can't handle so much fire at once. Because, as Garrus stated before, it was a piece of junk.
They needed a plan and they needed one right now. Jane looked around. She noticed that the soldiers firing from upper levels were the more prominent danger, as the ship would be an easy target for them, given their positions. If they could come up with a way to incapacitate them first, then Crow's ship could take off.
"Okay, our best chance is to knock out the soldiers on the higher levels. That will give Holiday the window she needs to fly the ship to us. We should be able to fight our way through the ground forces easily." Jane spoke.
"Great plan, Doe. Except for one little thing." Argued Whiskey. "How we gonna do that? We'd need the world's biggest flashbang to knock out all those sons of bitches at once!"
That was true. How would they accomplish such a task? That was when Jane turned her head to Shinazu.
"Who needs flashbang when you have a Warlock?" She smiled beneath her helm. "Shinazu, you remember that Festival of the Lost where you got so drunk that you unleashed a supercharged Stormtrance that knocked out the city's entire power grid?"
"That's hard to forget, considering the lecture I received from Ikora the next day… Oh. Oh!"
Dragonsbane quickly caught on. He gave his leader a nod of confirmation. "I'll need to charge up, but it's going to take time. Can you withstand this barrage a tad longer?"
"I may not be Saint-14, but I can handle it!
Shinazu inhaled deeply before clapping his hands together. Already, electric sparks crackled around him as he gathered strength from all around him. The eezo energy powering the Citadel. The kinetic energy from the heat sinks. This all contributed to his stockpile. The Warlock's hair rose up from the static in the air. It was slow, but his electricity was growing progressively stronger with every passing minute.
They could only hope that Jane wouldn't run out of power until then.
…
The three from within the Radiant Accipiter watched in awe from the reforged glass of the ship's canopy. Shinazu's growing strength was generating a bright blue light from where they stood. And it was only getting brighter. Garrus couldn't even believe what he was watching.
They had overheard Jane's plan through the comms. He knows that Shepard has had some absolutely ludicrous ideas in the past, but whatever this was would probably take the cake.
"Exactly how big is this going to be?" Asked the turian to Amanda.
"Garrus, are you familiar with the Star Wars movies?"
Star Wars? Those old human sci-fi films that Vega wouldn't shut up about which depicted aliens in outrageously offensive mannerisms via puppets and costumes?
"I have a vague memory of them, yeah."
"Picture that scene where the Death Star explodes, but reduce the blast radius by… 'bout ten percent."
Garrus thought momentarily. That was when his face went blue with fear.
"And after that is when we hightail it to the edge of the bay!" Amanda said excitedly.
"H-hold on! If what you're saying is true, then Shinazu could destroy the entire Citadel!" Garrus argued.
"He won't. Warlocks are powerful, but they're not without restraint." Said Glint reassuringly.
Tell that to Wrex and Grunt… Garrus couldn't only have faith that Jane knew what she was doing. He sighed tiredly.
Spirits, he needed to sit down. Garrus turned around to go sit in the cargo hold, but something stopped him. Right in his face was a small, holographic orange sphere. It was making a strange sound that Garrus found familiar.
Wait. Isn't this… Chatika..?
Tali!
"Combat Drone! Get down!"
Crow jolted up from his bent over position. "Amanda!" He quickly threw himself over Amanda's whole form, shielding her with his body. The drone fired off a small, yet powerful zap that struck Crow's back. The Hunter cringed from the pain.
"Crow!" Cried Glint.
"Garrus, my cannon!"
Hearing her shout, Vakarian spotted the shotgun beside him. He quickly picked it up and pointed it straight at the drone before pulling the trigger. The shotgun fired of a single, powerful precision slug that tore through the drone's body. The slug flew straight out through the loading ramp and ripped into the metal floors of the docking bay. It didn't just leave a hole, but a crater. The shot was that powerful.
Garrus stared at the shotgun in his hand in bewilderment. "Where do I get one of these?"
"Easy with that, Blue! That there was my momma's gun, so don't fool around with her!" Holiday sternly urged.
"Your mother must have been quite the badass with this thing." Garrus replied with a small chuckle.
Setting The Chaperone aside, Garrus walked over to the two humans. "That was Tali's Combat Drone, which means she's close."
"Closer than you think, Garrus!"
The sound of a woman's voice could be heard from outside the ship. Tali and Zaeed had caught up to them. Not good. Garrus hoped that they wouldn't find him so quickly. He should have known better than to think that Zaeed Masani can be restrained so easily. That was the man who would saw off his own leg to escape.
"Come out, now! It's over!" Ordered Tali.
A hand was place on Garrus' shoulder. It was Crow's.
"Let me."
Drawing his Hawkmoon, the Hunter marched towards the loading ramp. A look of malice within the blue human's eyes.
"Crow, wait! Don't kill them!" Pleaded Vakarian.
Outside the jump ship, Tali and Zaeed stood side by side with their weapons drawn. Tali was armed with an Arc Pistol, while Zaeed had his Kickshot Harpoon Gun ready to fire. The two of them were not willing to let Garrus go so easily this time. Now, they are working together.
"Last chance, Garrus! Get your plated ass out 'ere!" Zaeed yelled.
That was when they could hear footsteps approaching from the ship's interior. But instead of their turian companion, it was Crow, staring at the two of them coldly.
"Move aside!" Demanded Tali.
"You two don't wanna do this. Trust me." Crow's tone was menacing, but that did not phase the mercenary or the quarian in the slightest.
"Ain't that right?"
Zaeed reached for his hip and took hold of a small red object with the crest of a flame engraved onto it. With a push of a button, the device powered on and started beeping in succession. It was an Incendiary Grenade.
"Burn, you sunnova bitch!"
Zaeed tossed the explosive straight at his opponent. Crow jumped up into the air with a twirl in response. His foot made contact with the grenade and, with just the light amount of force and pinpoint accuracy, Crow kicked the grenade right back at its thrower. The explosive rolled right up to Zaeed and Tali's feet. The two merely stared at the object with blank expressions.
"God damnit…" Muttered Masani.
"Run!"
The duo retreated, ducking behind a pile of metal crates just before the grenade exploded. A large plume of flames was released and scattered across the blast area. Flames spread across the floor, as well as other surfaces such as the walls and the neighboring ships.
"This night just gets better and better, doesn't it?" Said Zaeed in irritation.
"Keelah. I'm starting to see why Kasumi had so much trouble dealing with this one." Tali added.
"And the two of you aren't anywhere near her level of skill."
Crow had suddenly appeared right by the duo. Before they even had a chance to react, Crow brought his knee right into Tal's gut, and ten struck the base of her knock with a fast and precise chop of his hand, rendering her unconscious. The quarian fell the the ground and the Hunter turned his attention to the old man in front of him.
"Oh, not this time, ya little wanker!"
Zaeed tossed his gun aside and pulled out his knife. Crow examined how his opponent was holding the weapon and gave him a critical look.
"Now, you see. There's a right way and a wrong way to hold a knife when you're in combat."
A snort was heard from Masani's nose. With a quick flick of his wrist, Zaeed grabbed hold of his knife in the reverse grip and took a fighting stance.
"Yeah, yeah, I know. I've been in this game since you were still in fuckin' diapers. Now, come on, pretty boy! Let's see what you can do in a straight up- Wait, what you doin'?"
Rolling his eyes in exhaustion, Crow pulled out a single knife from his pocket. He tossed it up into the air, spun backwards the jumped up with a backflip, touching the knife with the tip of his boot before kicking with all his strength and shooting the knife straight into Zaeed's foot. Masani cried out in pain from the blade tearing into the flesh of his foot. Crow then landed, spun back around again and landed a flash kick right in the old mercenary's jaw. The block knocked him backwards right onto the floor.
The Hunter then walked over to Zaeed, crouched down over his face, and whispered into his ear; "That just happened."
"What were ya, raised by ninjas..?"
Those were the last words Zaeed muttered before he fell into blackness. Crow dusted off his shoulder and walked back over to his ship. Garrus and Glint had both witnessed the entire ordeal from the ramp and the turian was left speechless by such a display of ruthlessness.
"Glint, remind me not to get on your partner's bad side."
"Duly noted."
…
As the heat sinks continued to rain down on the dome of light put up by Jane, Shinazu had continuously gathered more and more energy to stockpile within himself. The Warlock's entire body was now glowing a brilliant cyan and electricity was seeping from the corners of his eyes. Yet he was not even close to done yet.
"Shinazu..!" Jane grunted.
"Almost..!" Replied Dragonsbane.
The Titan noticed that the gunfire was becoming less constant than it was before. Fewer and fewer bullets were being fired at her ward. The soldiers were running low on ammunition it would seem. That seemed like a good sign.
"Sir, our weapons just aren't cutting it against that shield." One soldier pointed out.
The officer ground his teeth angrily. Those were Synthdiamond Heat Sinks, capable of tearing through Reaper armor like nothing, and they can't even dent a barrier put up by a single woman? Disgraceful. There seemed to be no other voice.
"ALL TROOPS, PULL BACK AND RELOAD! HEAVY WEAPONS UNIT, MOVE IN!"
Obey their leader's orders, several soldiers retreated to reload their weapons while men from behind them took their places. They seemed to be armed with guns much bigger than the ones the previous companies were using. These guns in particular seemed to have parts that stood out. Purple. Utterly alien looking. Liara could immediately tell what these weapons were and was left absolutely shocked as a result.
They were… M-597 LADONS?! Those aren't just any old middle launchers. They were modified using Reaper technology, allowing them to home in on their targets! To think the Alliance would keep making those monstrosities after the war.
"IN GROUPS OF THREE, FIRE ON MY COMMAND! GROUP NUMBER ONE!"
Three soldiers took aim with their weapons and fired. Swarms of rockets flew downward towards the dome of light and exploded on contact. The power of the launchers was more powerful than anticipated. Jane actually cried out from the shock she felt coursing through her arms as she tried desperately to keep her barrier up.
"SHEPARD."
Jane's eyes widened and she gasped slightly. A voice echoed in her mind just now. It was momentarily, but she definitely heard something.
"GROUP NUMBER TWO!"
Another group readied their Ladons. They all fired simultaneously, hitting the Ward of Dawn directly and exploding. Jane grunted. Their power was starting to become too much.
"I KNOW YOU HEAR ME."
That voice again. What is that? It was deep. Inhuman. And it called her by that name Garrus referred to her as. What was going on?
"NUMBER THREE!"
Another volly incoming. Jane was forced into one knee.
"TRY AS YOU MAY, YOU CANNOT ESCAPE US, SHEPARD. WE WILL REMAIN WITH YOU, EVEN IN DEATH."
"Shut up! Get out of my head!"
"Boss, you good?"
The sound of Whiskey's voice snapped Jane out of her momentary trance. She turned toward the gunslinger to give him a nod. Now wasn't the time to get distracted. Lose focus, and you die.
"ALL GROUPS FIRE ON MY COMMAND!"
"Jane, I'm ready!" Said Shinazu.
About time. This was their moment. "Then when I give the signal, bring the thunder!"
This was no longer a battle of wills, nor endurance. But now, a battle of who was quicker. The deciding factor was if the rockets were fired faster than Shinazu could unleash his Light, or the opposite. It all came down to who was faster than the other.
"READY!"
"Just let me do something real quick…"
Jane loaded up her HUD display and quickly started flicking through windows with her eyes. She was looking for something.
"Nope. No. Nahda. No way." She mumbled softly. Jane must have been looking for something g specific.
"Too hard. Too soft. Too jazzy. Too boogie. Less woogie. Too angry at the world."
…
Back at the jump ship, Garrus could hear Jane muttering through the comms. He was clueless as to what she was looking for. Especially now of all times. That was when he finally turned to Crow.
"Alright, I'll bite. What the hell is she doing?"
Crow let out an annoyed huff before answering.
"She's looking for a perfect song…"
Garrus' face molded into a blank stare as he gazed off into space. Spirits… Tell him this wasn't real…
"Don't make that face, Blue. All Guardians are weirdos. Trust me." Amanda stated.
…
"C'mon… Gotcha!"
Jane finally selected a song she wanted. Kotov Syndrome, by Rise Against. Perfect.
"AIM!"
"Okay Shinazu, get ready…"
It all came down to this.
…
…
…
"FIRE!"
"NOW!"