Whole, Part 2 (a Mass Effect fanfiction)

Launch the Fighter

The Cerberus presence in the hangar bay they entered was less than Shepard had expected, an anomaly EDI was able to explain the moment she plugged herself in to one of their computers. "Shepard, Cerberus intends to vent the hangar bay. This terminal will not allow me to counteract that order; we'll need to find another one that will."

"On it." Shepard led the way through the hangar and covered Kaidan and EDI while they climbed the ladder to the second level, hoping they would find more connected terminals up there.

Inside a central chamber, EDI hurried to a console and began tapping rapidly, concentrating on the screen. Shepard waited until the movement of her fingers across the keyboard slowed before asking for a status update.

"Hangar vent procedure ... disabled," EDI confirmed.

"Can you open the hangar, get us a path inside the facility?"

"No. However ..." She tapped a few more keys. "I can access their fighter launch controls."

"What does that get us?" Kaidan asked.

EDI didn't answer him immediately. Instead, she turned to Shepard. "Cerberus is aware that the venting attempt failed. Reinforcements are inbound."

"You have a plan?" Shepard asked her, nodding toward the terminal.

"I do."

"All right. Kaidan, let's take out those reinforcements."

The two of them moved forward in the direction EDI indicated the Cerberus troops would be coming from, weapons at the ready. There was a sharp skirmish, and a few hairy moments, before Shepard was certain all the reinforcements had been taken care of. It always surprised her that the Illusive Man viewed his troops as so much cannon fodder. She would have thought that working with her and tracking the progress of the Normandy would have taught him the importance and relative superiority of a small squad of experienced veterans against a mass of untrained troops, but he appeared never to have learned that lesson. To his detriment and her advantage.

She popped her head back into the room where EDI still worked at the console. "Is the plan ready?"

If the robot could have smiled with pride, Shepard was certain she would have. "I have overriden the safeties and turned the fighter formerly poised to launch out of the hangar bay around. It should now launch toward the hangar door instead."

Shepard viewed the interior of the hangar, understanding what EDI had done. The fighter would blast open a path for them—amid a fair amount of additional destruction. "Impressive, EDI. And creative. What would we have done without you?"

"Cerberus would have vented the hangar bay." It was a statement of fact, leaving up to Shepard's imagination the tragic end of the galaxy's hopes that would have ensued.

But this was no time for imagination. "Do it, EDI. Launch the fighter."

They all crouched down behind the banks of monitors as the fighter tore through the metal doors behind the hangar bay, covering their ears as steel screamed and klaxons sounded alarms over their heads. When things seemed more settled, Shepard cautiously peeked over the equipment, admiring the mess the fighter had made of the formerly smooth wall of doors.

"The central lab was located behind this hangar," EDI observed as she, too, got to her feet. "I suggest we follow the fighter's path."

That sounded like good advice to Shepard. She led the way out of the room and down the ladder and across the floor of the hangar to the gaping hole in the wall. Various fires were burning in the wreckage. Shepard guessed the sprinkler system had been damaged in the crash. As far as she was concerned, Cerberus's entire installation could burn itself out—but not until after she had the information she needed.

"These fires will not compromise the facility unless they increase significantly, Commander," EDI told her. "We may proceed."

"Thanks, EDI."

They fought their way through more troops while navigating amidst the rubble. Once they had entered the undamaged portion of the facility, EDI paused at a locked door, studying it. "One moment. Cerberus has updated their encryption. There may be a slight delay as I bypass security."

"Be careful, EDI." The last thing Shepard wanted was for the robot to be caught in some tricky Cerberus trap, finding herself hacked in turn as she attempted to hack them. EDI had thus far been a match for the Illusive Man, but Shepard didn't intend to be defeated because she had underestimated him.

"I will be cautious," EDI promised. She focused on the lock for a moment. "They are sealing off as much of the base as they can. Most obvious routes to the central lab are blocked. Other areas are being fortified. Heavy troopers will attempt to delay us while engineers set up turrets."

Kaidan popped another heat sink into his gun. "Not surprising. We'll just have to be careful as we approach the lab."

"Any more surprises like venting the hangar?" Shepard asked. She didn't intend to be caught with her pants down. Not today. Not again. "Can you find out where Kai Leng is?"

"He is too intelligent to be tracked in the system. I believe our best approach where he is concerned is to expect him where we least expect him."

It was tricky and human logic, a sign of how much EDI had learned since Joker had unshackled her. But Shepard suspected she knew where Kai Leng would be—as close to the Illusive Man as possible, protecting Cerberus's greatest asset.

She would find them both together, and she would take them both down, once and for all.

"As to your other question," EDI went on, "I am aware of this facility's safeguards and can counteract them. Cerberus can merely slow us down."

That was bad enough—Hackett needed every ship, every fighter, in top condition when they went after the Reapers. They couldn't afford to lose too many going after Cerberus.

"Damn that man, anyway," Kaidan said, echoing Shepard's thoughts, "for wasting our time and our resources. Can you imagine how much more quickly we could have ended this war if Cerberus had only worked with us, instead of against us?"

Shepard bit her lips to keep from smiling. Kaidan Alenko advocating working with Cerberus? Somewhere out there, if there was a hell, it had frozen over.

The doors slid open.

"We must proceed through a sublevel to avoid Cerberus containment measures," EDI said.

Shepard smiled at her. "Thanks for coming, EDI."

"I am pleased to assist." The robot spoke simply. She had earned her place as a Normandy crew member again and again. Shepard was proud to serve with her.