Ashley stood at the bridge, her eyes staring intently at the Citadel. She knew this when everything crystallized, and The Reapers were finally destroyed. She winced as she moved her arm, which had been injured on Earth. That’s what you get for trying to stay with Shepard. Seriously, Ash, you were being blasted at by Harbinger!
Ashley nearly toppled as Joker pulled some insane maneuvers to dodge Reaper attacks. “Joker, can’t this thing move a bit smoother?” Ashley asked, unintentionally sounding a bit rude.
“I suppose you want to be Reaper chow then, Ash! Suck it up!” Ashley shot him a cold stare, and Joker added, “Suck it up… ma’am.” The Normandy shook as a laser blast hit the portside. Ashley looked outside to see a Reaper charging another blast.
“Jeff, I suggest you evade the Reaper!” EDI called out from the seat next to the flight lieutenant’s.
“Yeah, I see it E-” The ship shook a second time from The Reaper’s mighty laser. James ran up to the bridge, even though he had a cast on his leg.
“Joker, that Reaper tore a hole in the cargo hold! It sent one of its big drone things inside!” Joker sighed as he remembered the Oculus from the suicide mission.
“Somebody’s going to have to take it out. Who’s fit for a fight?”
Ashley and EDI both said, “I am!”
“You can’t do this alone. You’re going to need some extra help. Tali, Liara, how are you holding up?” Joker asked over the intercom.
“I can fight! Why?” Liara responded.
“I can too, Joker.” Tali replied.
“An Oculus boarded in the cargo hold.” Joker flipped the ship around to attack a Reaper.
“Nostalgia!” Tali said with a laugh. “Meet you guys down there.”
Ashley raced to the elevator with EDI. She frantically pressed the button, and it opened. EDI pressed the button for the Cargo Bay, and they waited. “EDI, my equipment is in the Armory down there. What if I got hit, I don’t even have shields!”
“If need be, Ashley, I will provide cover while you recover your equipment.” EDI said in her matter of fact tone.
“Thanks, EDI.” Ashley said as the elevator opened. Liara and Tali were already taking the Oculus on. Tali fired a shotgun blast at it, while Liara held it in place with biotics. The Oculus fired, causing an explosion near Tali.
“Keelah! I think I’ve got a rupture! EDI, cover me while I apply antibiotics and clamp it!” Tali yelled.
“Yes, Tali.” EDI fired her Locust SMG at the Oculus, who’d only lost half of its shields. Ashley made it to the Armory, got her armor on, and grabbed her Revenant Assault rifle and modded it with Disruptor Ammo.
She fired a steady stream of bullets at the machine, but it didn’t stagger. Tali deployed a tech overload on the Oculus, and Ashley’s Omni-tool readings of its shields lowered.
“Deploying Combat Drone!” Tali said as she fired her Eviscerator Shotgun at the Oculus. The drone distracted the Oculus, and it directed it’s fire at it. Everyone fired on it, and it’s shields overloaded.
“Shit, It’s got armor!” Ashley yelled, tossing an incendiary grenade towards it. It’s armor burst into flames, and EDI deployed incineration tech on it. Liara fired at it, then warped it’s armor. One well placed shot by Tali later, and it’s armor fell off.
“Keep it off me! I can probably hack it!” Tali said, pulling out an Omni-tool. Ashley nodded, firing at it a few more times.
“The damn encryption is too strong. EDI, can’t your cyber warfare suites do anything?”
EDI nodded, and said, “Since the Oculus can be considered a vessel, I can override its systems, causing it to explode. Warning: the blast radius is large.” After a few seconds, she added, “I have overridden its systems. Head to cover!”
Ashley, Tali, and EDI took cover behind a crate, and Liara created a biotic force field to cover them. The Oculus exploded with tremendous force, but Liara’s field didn’t stagger.
“I could probably shore up the holes in the hull with some scrap metal,” Liara said as she lifted a piece of debris, and placed it on the hole. She did this until the Normandy was covered. It was shoddy work, but it got the job done.
“Come on, we need to get back up-” Ashley was cut off mid-sentence by Javik running out of the elevator.
“Miss Williams! The Crucible has activated!” Ashley’s eyes widened. “Commander Shepard has made it to the Citadel.” Javik added, mimicking her own thoughts. Ashley ran to the elevator, whishing past Javik. She needed to see this.
