chapter 11

That had been way too close, Jason thought to himself as he secured the power cells from the derelict vehicles while Jane helped Tali recover from nearly getting crushed under a six hundred pound animal, no injuries thank God, but just got the wind knocked out of her.

"Got the cells," Jason said while patting one of the four thirty kilo power cells dangling off his shoulder once he reached where the other two were standing, "no more Varren in the vicinity either."

He was mildly surprised when Tali stepped forward and gave him a hug, failing to notice how Jane nearly burst into a fit of giggles as he reciprocated the hug by patting her gently on the back with his one free hand, feeling his heartstrings twang at the sight of her shoulders shaking, "It's alright Tali, you're okay."

"Not me," Tali sobbed as she tightened her grip around his chest, "you nearly kill yourself saving my life, that's twice now, and I'm a terrible addition to the team if I keep getting in trouble."

"No you are not, I should've looked up before walking right past that thing," a glance over at the steaming pile of organs, bones and rendered flesh brought a strange sense of gratification to his ego now that it was dead, "we still have a job to do okay? Think you can still protect me?"

(Jane Shepard denies even to this day that she didn't swoon and make a high pitched squeal at the cute scene in front of her, claiming to have been busy with perimeter security.)

That got a laugh out of Tali as she shook her head and stepped back, if she could have wiped away her tears, she would have been doing that now, but her suit evaporators were doing that for her no doubt as she took another step back and pounded her fist onto his shoulder, "Bosh'tet."

"There she is," Jason mentally added another point to the scoreboard in his head after he saw how her eyes narrowed through her visor, a smile, before he handed her a vial of medi-gel, "this will have to hold you over until we reach the medical bay."

"Thank you," Tali chirped as she took one of the power cells off his hands, "I needed that."

"Saving the galaxy by killing Varren, handing out free medi-gel and administering hugs," Jason shrugged before he turned towards Jane, "all in a days' work."

"Alright you two," Jane made a shooing motion with her hands, "enough of that, I don't need the two of you getting all hot and heavy in the middle of a mission just yet, save it for the ship."

Tali abruptly did a one-eighty after she realized what appeared to be harmless comforting seemed to be something more in the eyes of her commanding officer, clasping a free hand over her visor with a groan. Jason simply turned to face Jane and arched an eyebrow before he stepped past her and took point after shaking his head at the nerve of that woman.

Though he wouldn't admit the reason he had taken point was to hide the blush on his face after he entertained the idea in his head.

XXX

Jackson abruptly snapped out of his silent vigil and looked around frantically, startling Alenko and Liara who had been sitting nearby after completing a few rounds around the colony.

"What is it?" Alenko asked as he brought up his sidearm and joined the larger man in his frantic search for something while John wandered over to investigate, "Did you hear something?"

Jackson shrugged, "I sensed a disturbance in the force."

Everyone within earshot sweat dropped before he turned around and deadpanned in a serious voice without as so much as a single facial muscle twitching as he gestured out in front of him with a slow sweep of his arm.

"Someone has a boner and I don't know who or where, but I can feel it."

An outrageously loud sneezing could be heard from the direction of Wrex as well as over the com channel from Joker while John tried not to laugh as Liara had a bewildered look on her face.

Alenko simply performed a face palm and shook his head.

XXX

"This is such a nice Mako," Jason paid about half an ear towards his twin's girlish squealing over the civilian edition of the tank, fancy way of saying viewports, weaker shields and a smaller gun, but it came with leather bench seats, "has improved shock absorbers and independent stabilization systems for a better ride without sacrificing speed or mobility."

"Wonderful, I'm driving." The pained whimpers from several faces were ignored as Jane climbed into the driver seat, John getting behind the gun as first Alenko and then Tali climbed onboard, leaving both of the brothers standing just outside the hatch.

Knowing what was about to happen once the Mako cleared the safety of the garage and began driving across the overpasses to the headquarters building past all of the Geth did nothing to sedate their fears about who was driving after having a sample of her driving not too long ago as Jason solemnly clapped his twin on the shoulder and climbed inside to get a decent seat before the driver of said vehicle left without him.

Jackson followed suit shortly thereafter, cursing about the cramped size of the interior after he managed to plop down next to the Alliance adept and they were off.

What followed next was a mere sixteen minutes of Hell, both Tali and Alenko were educated on how skillfully Jane operated the Mako while they were under hostile fire from a dozen armatures and thirty smaller Geth platforms along a very narrow stretch of road that had absolutely no cover or much room to maneuver, so it went something like this.

"Geth dropship inbound."

"Must be a dozen rockets coming our way."

"Igniting the thrusters."

"Holy crap Shepard! We nearly went over the edge!"

"Piece of civilian crap, doesn't do much damage against these things!"

"We can build up enough speed at this distance."

"For what!?"

"Ramming speed!"

"Oh Keelah we're going to die!"

"I am so glad I will not have to fix this thing."

"It's getting closer!"

"I know."

"It's right in front of us!"

"I know."

"We're running out of road!"

"I know that."

"Huh, seems that the gun is destroyed, they're all yours honey."

"With pleasure."

"Tanks are not meant to fly Shepard!"

"Did we just barrel roll!?"

"Yep, twice I believe."

"Siege pulse incoming!"

"Gonna have to ram it off the edge!"

"WHAT!?"

"BBBLLLLLAAARRRRGGGHHHHH!"

"Oh God it's all over the seats."

"What the Hell did you eat before coming on this mission?"

"Ancestors save us!"

"You think the damage will buff out or will I have to fix it?"

"Dunno, at this rate I'm glad we have plenty of omni-gel."

"Touché."

XXX

"Are you alright?" Jason had a right to be worried as he watched Tali stagger over to the wall and slide down it after they had stopped near the encampment of survivors, Jane and John opting to go on ahead while Jackson began patching up what was left of the Mako as Jason provided security.

Alenko was still inside the Mako passed out in a puddle of his own puke, not that anyone had been above taking a few pictures for blackmail purposes later as they exited the vehicle in a hasty manner, though Jason had checked his vitals after rolling him over just to make sure he would be alright.

Tali was still hyperventilating before she could speak, "That...how…isn't…Keelah."

"Deep breaths and you'll be fine Tali," Jason patted her shoulder before walking over to where a pair of legs were sticking out from under the Mako, next to a growing pile of Geth scrap, "how's it look?"

"Like a deranged madwoman took it for a drive through a combat zone, running over every single thing in her path, rolling the vehicle six times and bouncing it off walls at top speed a couple times," Jackson's face appeared as she shoved out a leg segment from an armature and he didn't look amused, "at this rate she'll destroy it long before we make it back."

Tali had recovered enough at this point to grab a fire extinguisher to hose down a burning section of the tank before Jason looked back down at his twin, "Would you like to walk instead?"

"Give me five minutes and she'll be running like a dream." With that Jackson disappeared underneath tank again whistling a jaunty tune as more scrap metal came flying out from under it before Jason provided his knowledge in helping Tali put out the fires and patch up what they could.

Fifteen minutes later the other two reappeared from the direction of the camp, "Can we be ready to move in five?"

Jackson shrugged after he stood up and kicked aside the small mountain of parts he managed to remove from under the vehicle, "It'll have to do as it is Bossman."

Tali looked up from the pile of scrap she had been digging through for Geth parts as Alenko stumbled his way out of the Mako, having finally woken up and become mobile again while Jason stood off to the side silently pleading to whatever deity had sent him to this dimension that Jane wasn't going to be driving again.

"I'll be driving the rest of the way there."

Damn it.

XXX

It had taken some coaxing to get Tali back inside the tank, Alenko passing out after ten seconds of bouncy all over the place, poor bastard must have developed motion sickness on the spot and Jackson was crying over in the corner after the first Geth was sighted on the short jog over to the headquarters building.

"Looks like we'll have to continue on foot," Jane said as she eyed the thick doors open less than two meters wide in front of the Mako, failing to notice how fast everyone had piled out through the hatch behind her while she was too busy unbuckling her safety harness, "hopefully resistance is minimal once we're inside."

"Solid ground," Jackson cried out in joy as he dropped to his knees and bowed down to kiss it a couple times, "how I've missed you."

Alenko was too busy clutching onto a rock not too far away looking none to steady either as Jason helped Tali take a few steps to get her sense of balance back while John rolled out of the Mako and stood up without a word.

"Crap, motion tracker is all fuzzy," Jane said as she checked her omni-tool, "must be some jammers around here somewhere."

With that, everyone snapped out of it and they put their game faces on as Jason took point again through the doors and reached the ramp before the first rocket launcher wielding trooper stepped in plain view, looked over and spotted him.

Jason promptly hit it with a Throw and opened fire while everyone else rushed for cover once the Hoppers crawled out of whatever hole they had been hiding in and starting jumping around at random as the rest of the Geth decided to make an appearance.

Alenko, Jane and Tali focused on the Hoppers while John, Jackson and Jason took on the larger platforms armed with much larger weapons in a coordinated maneuver to bring maximum firepower to bear.

"How do you like me now!?" Or they simply stepped aside and let Jackson loose on them as he sprinted up to the first trooper and literally punted it across the room before he unleashed more firepower than he knew what to do with on their sorry asses.

"Are you gonna help him?" John asked while watching Jackson singlehandedly dismantled another three troopers with his bare hands and pitch a grenade at a fourth, laughing as he did while Jason simply took a breather, all that biotic expenditure had gotten to him finally.

"Naw," Jason waved him off and ducked to avoid a severed Geth arm sailing overhead, "he needs to earn his keep other than fixing that damn tank."

By the time the rest of the gang cleaned up the Hoppers and reached where them, Jackson had already dealt with the remaining troopers in a mixture of close quarters combat mixed with pistol fire, bladed weapons, grenades and hand-to-hand techniques before he turned around to notice everyone watching in awe, Jason was holding his omni-tool up with a large number eight highlighted.

"Oh thanks a bunch," cue the awkward coughing and looking around before Jackson stepped up and punched him on the shoulder, "you could've helped ya know."

"Déjà vu anyone?" Jane giggled as she head towards the only locked door in the entire place with Alenko trailing behind her like a lost puppy.

By the time Jason remembered what was on the other side of the door, he was already halfway across the room following the retreating figure of his brother as Jane Shepard all but skipped out of sight twirling her pistol while whistling a cheery tune.

That changed abruptly.

"HOLY SHIT!" Assorted gunfire, grenade explosions and a solitary biotic attacked followed by a pair of Overloads as Jackson went diving into the room headfirst with everyone else hot on his heels.

A Geth armature was dominating a majority of the room, the large hole in the ceiling telling everyone how it came to be as it was already expanded to its full height and was busy firing downward at the two unfortunate ones that disturbed it. Because the room was too small for any kind of maneuvers to evade the damn thing, it literally took up the entire room, Alenko and Jane performed a hasty withdrawal from the immediate area as fast as they could after realizing that what firepower they had wasn't going to put a dent in this thing while Jackson simply barreled past them at full tilt and tackled it.

Even Jason had to watch dumbfounded as his twin simply knocked it over with his combined weight and momentum before planting his feet on its back, grabbing hold of the protrusion that counted as its head in a mighty bear hug and pulled. Rending metal and failing circuits made a delightful sound as Jackson ripped off the head, taking its only means of seeing or sensing anything for that matter away in a brutal display of strength before he grabbed a leg and did the same thing.

Jason was already at work, slicing into the Geth software through a number of broken ports even while Jackson ripped the other three legs off in the same manner before taking a breather by sitting on top of the main body and laughed.

"Man that felt great," he laughed again before noticing the dumbfounded looks on everyone's face, well except for Jason who was busy hacking the Geth with a spare omni-tool he picked up from somewhere, "what?"

John had to admit the sight of his wife giggling like a maniac at the display of raw strength nearly made him nervous if it wasn't for a sight even more disturbing off to his left before he spoke to the Alliance adept in a deadpanned tone.

"Uh Lt. you should really get that nosebleed checked out…"

XXX

"Did I ever tell you guys how much I hate Varren?" Jackson whined as he kicked another charging Varren in the head while waiting for his rifle to complete the cooldown because he had overheated it while John resorted to using his sidearm at this range.

"Tell me about it," Jason snarled as he watched another three of them explode into a ball of fire, courtesy of a grenade he had just thrown, "I don't see an alpha though."

"Don't remind me," Tali replied as she promptly blasted another one into Swiss cheese, "I'll have to ask Wrex for advice about dealing with these things."

Jane laughed as she nudged the only civilian they've seen since the encampment, Lizbeth or something, back a little farther behind Alenko, "I think if you stick close to Jason you'll be alright."

"Oh?" Jason flinched at the tone Jackson had as he plunged his knife into another one that had gotten way to close, "Why is that?"

"He went toe to toe with one bare handed and won," Jane replied, ignoring the pleading looks from Jason as she turned to look at Tali, "nothing something normal people do for someone else."

Tali was saved from further embarrassment as Jackson simply laughed, punched another Varren in the face (which was a lot harder than it sounded) picked it up over his head and launched it towards several more charging Varren, the snarls and growls turning into yelps and whimpers after the flying Varren took down two of its counterparts, leaving everyone else just as stunned before Jackson pulled out a tomahawk and twirled it.

"Normal is far too overrated," he said before delivering brutal up close and personal skull crushing as well as spine severing blows without as so much as breaking a sweat, "at least he remembered what I taught him."

"Laugh it up," Jason scowled as he stowed his rifle in favor for his pistol and his biggest knife, "that was one of the very things I ever learned from that turned out to be useful."

"Really?" That started the beginning of what appeared to be witty banter between the two as they steadily mowed down the remaining Varren, sometimes working together without breaking stride in their conversation, which sounded a lot like trash talking to anyone listening while Lizbeth poked her head out from behind Alenko and voiced her opinion out loud.

"Are they related?"

Alenko turned back to inform her, "As a matter of fact they are twins believe it or not."

Jane noticed how her eyes practically lit up at that statement, a little warning bell going off in her head as the younger woman all but melted after taking another look at the duo currently demolishing what had to be the Varren population on Feros, "Is that so?"

"Yes," what disturbed Jane even more (and she had seen some pretty disturbing things in her days) was that Alenko joined her in the process of melting, even down to the same melodramatic sigh, "they sure are something aren't they?"

John mimed throwing up as Tali found herself gripping her shotgun a little tighter before she calmed herself down before Jane shook her head.

"Well this makes things interesting…"

"YOU'VE GOT THE SMALLER DICK!"

"JOKE'S ON YOU SHITHEAD!"

Cue the sweat drops forming as the methods of dispatching Varren became far more creative while John simply accessed his omni-tool and began working on something.

"What are you doing sweetie?" Jane asked as she draped an arm around his neck, knowing that the pet name she had for him got his attention.

"Working on my tax returns," that statement through her for a loop, "seems we'll have to wait until those two finish and I figured that I should do something productive in the meantime."

"Taxes, seriously?"

"Of course, I've managed a seventeen percent income return rate this quarter."

Jane simply sighed, "Don't remind me."

BOOM!

"Come out of there you little scale itch infested rat!" Jackson yelled as Jason pitched another grenade down what appeared to be the Varren den tunnel chewed through the side of the tunnel walls, "I am going to win this contest!"

"Up yours with a chainsaw," Jason snapped back as he lobbed another grenade down the hole, "I'll be getting the tie breaker."

Jane sighed heavily as she pinched her brow, "Those two sure are something else."

"Yep."

BOOM!

"Ha! I win!"

"Damn it!"