CHAPTER 10

The Hangar

The hangar deck was an unceasing cacophony of loud and irritating noises. The sound of metal hitting metal and omni-welders buzzing and whirring as they cut and reattached broken pieces of bulkhead echoed throughout the large and open space.

James made the loudest of them all. Hanging from a harness attached to the top of the hangar, he used a noisy power drill to haphazardly reattach a fallen bulkhead. Ashley was helping him, her face contorting and muscles straining as she held the bulkhead in place despite James' sloppy repair.

Below James and Williams, Cortez worked diligently on the Normandy's last remaining shuttle. Unlike James, Cortez worked carefully and precisely. As the ship's shuttle pilot, maintaining the large box-like craft was his responsibility. A responsibility he took very seriously. Like a surgeon, he used his omni-welder to delicately remove twisted or damaged parts that would otherwise compromise the integrity of his shuttles and deftly replace them with better parts or materials. Only stopping to run diagnostics and system checks to make sure his repairs were functional, and despite his exhaustion from the nonstop work, one could see the faint outline of a smile.

Liara would normally be in awe of such dedicated craftsmanship, if only the unending noise didn't give her a pounding headache. Liara, Garrus and Adams stood huddled around a makeshift table in the middle of the room pouring over a list of outstanding repairs on a small datapad. The list seemed so long to Liara. While many of the repairs on the list had been dealt with or deemed not important enough to be a priority, they still had a long way to go before they could leave.

"We've made good progress on the hull and most of the bulkheads," said Adams, elevating his voice so the others could hear him. "Those repairs should be done within the next few hours."

"How long until the shuttle is ready for take off?" asked Garrus, also raising his voice.

Finally, Liara whispered under his breath. That was what she really wanted to know about. Repairing the hull and the various subsystems were important, but being able to scout the system or go find help was, to Liara, a much higher priority. Especially since the Normandy's drive core was still offline. If the ship couldn't be fixed, then that shuttle could end up being their only way to get back to the Alliance.

"I have Cortez working on it. But we've... got a bigger problem before we can get it off the ground."

Liara sighed. What now?

"Even if we get the shuttle fixed, we can't get it out of the hangar. The Normandy landed on her belly, and without the drive core we can't move her. Hangar bay door is completely obstructed from the outside."

"I thought you had Daniels and Wilson working on clearing that?" said Liara, trying to recall one of the many messages and conversations she had with the chief engineer shortly after the crash.

"I said I had them looking at it," corrected Adams. "I pulled them to realign the thrusters. I had hoped that it wouldn't be necessary to try and clear out the obstruction, but with the drive core in the state that it's in… I'm starting to think it may be our only option of getting off world."

"Is there any way to clear the debris?" asked Garrus.

"Well, I have a few ideas that could work. That's why I wanted to talk to you, Garrus."

Garrus couldn't help but be intrigued. It wasn't often he was asked engineering advice.

"I was thinking of dismantling the Normandy's Thanix cannons and using them as a makeshift mining laser. Garrus, You know those guns better than anyone. Do you think that's doable?"

Garrus furrowed his plated turian eyebrows and twitched his mandibles. "Possibly. Those things cut through reapers easily enough so cutting through rock shouldn't be a problem."

"Wait!," spat Liara. "Aren't we worried about damaging the Normandy?" she said with concerned eyes darting back and forth between Garrus and Adams. "How do we know that the cannons won't just blow a hole right through the hangar? Then what?"

Adams brought up a hand stroked his chin. "True. We don't want to risk further damage to the Normandy, but other than digging by hand, I'm not sure we have any other options at this point."

"We'd have to have it at a really low power setting," added Garrus. "That will add time to the excavation though."

"We've got plenty of that, If we were to-"

Liara strained as Adams' voice became harder and harder to hear. The sound of welders and power tools once again assaulted her ears and she sighed bringing her hands up to rub her throbbing temples. Clearly unbothered by the noise, Garrus and Adams continued to theorize without her.

"We've got plenty of that," Adams' voice repeated in her head. How many more days will it take? It feels like we've been stuck here forever.

Her mind was restless. Much to her annoyance, it wandered endlessly around all of the problems in front of them, and all of the problems that had yet to reveal themselves. Despite the war being over, the idea of rest seemed like a dream.

She closed her eyes. Garrus and Adams were no longer in front of her.

To her confusion, all she saw... was the wall. She couldn't understand why, but her mind had brought her back to the memorial wall on the crew deck. She stood alone in front of it. A cold grey bulkhead, festooned with the dozens of names of the fallen stacked on its face.

She looked them over. Some of them were complete strangers that she hadn't had the opportunity to meet. Many were ones she knew. Names of humans she met when she helped hunt Saren, and later when they hunted the Catalyst.

However, there was one she knew far better than others.

Liara looked down to the dark blue plaque clutched in her hands.

Commander Shepard

She stared at it for a time, thinking back to when Tali held it. She held onto it for so long before finally taking a step toward the wall, only to abruptly turn around and give it to Liara instead.

Liara believed she understood why. She felt that way once before. Three years ago when Shepard had been killed by the Collectors. But this time was different. It had to be. Hackett told her as much.

Shepard was gone.

So Liara did what Tali refused. She took the step up to the wall. Despite it being so light, the plaque felt heavier than anything she had ever lifted, but still she held it up. She took another step-

"It will take some time to reconfigure the shuttle's primary reactor."

Liara nearly jumped as alarm bells in her subconscious knocked her out of her accidental trance.

"I-I'm sorry. What did you just say?" she stammered awkwardly as the hangar bay swiftly came back into her view. The wall disappearing, along with the name.

Adams and Garrus gave her a confused look, surprised that the typically focused and professional asari had apparently not been paying attention.

"We were talking about how to power the thanix cannons," said Garrus. "The Normandy doesn't have enough power to run the cannons without knocking out power to other important systems. So, we need to draw power from the shuttle. We'll have to take it apart to do it, but it will get the doors clear at least."

"Does the shuttle's reactor even have enough power to run the laser?" she asked cautiously.

Garrus couldn't stop himself from avoiding eye contact with her. "...Theoretically. It might also… overload it… if we're not careful."

Liara blinked at them. "But… We were just getting the shuttle repaired! How could you even suggest risking it like this!"

Adams let out a frustrated sigh. "Look. I know its not ideal, but our options are limited. The shuttle is our only potential source of external power and may be our only hope of clearing out the hangar."

Liara could hardly believe it. She knew their circumstances were a bit desperate, but this seemed a little too extreme for her comfort. The shuttle may end up being their only way off world, and if it gets destroyed in some crazy experiment, they may be stuck on this world for a very long time.

"What about the Normandy's drive core!" she stammered. "What's the progress on that? Surely the time and resources spent on disassembling the shuttle would be better put to use on the Normandy."

"I've got Kenneth and Gabby working round the clock on the drive core, but they've tried everything they can think of and we've gotten nowhere. Parts and help from the Alliance will get her to fly again, but we need a way off world to do it."

Liara couldn't help but notice Adams neglected to mention one name in particular.

"Where's Tali? She knows these engines better than anyone. Surely she can think of something you haven't tried yet?"

Adams shifted uncomfortably and brought a hand up to rub the back of his neck. "Yeah… right."

"What is it? Where is she?" asked Liara, confusion growing by the second.

"I… uh… sent her away," Adams admitted sheepishly.

"You... what?"

"She hasn't been herself since the… well... you know," he said, pointing a thumb toward the upper decks. "I told her to go rest and take a break. It's been quite a while though. I thought about going to go talk to her but… I figured she needed her space."

No amount of restraint could stop Liara from rolling her eyes. Nobody has truly been themselves since the crash yet they keep on going. Why should Tali be any different? Why does she get to have space?

"I'll go and talk to her," offered Garrus, noticing Liara's growing and visible frustration. "I'm sure she could use a friendly face right about now anyway."

Liara's expression eased somewhat and she gave a curt yet appreciative nod to the turian. "Thank you. I-I know these times are difficult, but we need everyone working if we ever hope to-"

A sharp yell and sudden bang from above caused Liara to jump. "Look out!"

The bulkhead that James had been attempting to reattach had broken loose and plummeted to the floor. Cortez only just managed to jump out of the way with milliseconds to spare as the large piece of metal slammed onto the shuttle below with a loud crunch, leaving a fresh and large dent on the crew compartment. Cortez could only look on in horror as the hours of painstaking and meticulous work had been undone in an instant.

"Dammit, James!" shouted a flustered and an increasingly livid Cortez. "How many times did I tell you you were doing it wrong!"

"Hey! I'm doing what I can up here! I didn't hear you giving me any useful tips!" spat James, who was dangling awkwardly from above by his safety harness after being knocked backward by his shoddy repair.

"I've given you plenty! None of it ever seems to sink into that thick skull of yours!"

Ashley was forced to listen to the two marines angrily bicker while she slowly spun dangling from her harness alongside James. Once her rotation had finally made it so she could see Garrus and Liara she offered the two a bored look that seemed to scream: "help please."

Garrus let out an audible groan and shrugged. "Guess Tali will have to wait," he said, reluctantly making his way over to the chaotic scene.

Adams cursed under his breath and jogged alongside him, leaving Liara alone at the makeshift table with the datapad. She glanced down to the list on the datapad and with a delicate finger, begrudgingly unchecked the box marked: Bulkheads.

She sighed eyeing the long list, scanning it one more time before finally falling upon the item sitting unchecked at the top of the list: Drive Core.

She bristled as her thoughts turned back to the absent quarian crewmate. The one thing on this ship that Tali should be more than capable of repairing and she was nowhere to be found.

Liara looked back over to Garrus, who was struggling with the others to lift the heavy bulkhead off the once pristine shuttle. Figuring it would keep him busy for a long time, she scooped up the datapad in one hand, wheeled around, and marched toward the elevator.

No. She doesn't get to wait. I'll do it myself.