My Girl Lola part 14

    I knew I hated that bitch, I snarl silently to myself, glaring as Brooks drapes an arm over the clone's shoulders. I'd like nothing more than to reach out and wipe that smug look off her face, but, unfortunately, I can't. I'm trapped by a force field. In a storage pod. About to be sealed away forever. I'd probably feel a whole lot stupider if Wrex and Shepard weren't trapped beside me. 

    As it is, Lola is seething, her eyes promising murder. The clone either doesn't notice or doesn't care; both stupid moves on her part. She's too busy bragging about her perfect plan to notice Lola is pissed but not worried. I have no idea why. I guess I'm worried enough for the both of us. 

    "The minute- the second I get out of here," interrupts Lola, "I'm going to take your head and mount it in the Normandy CIC." Brooks smug look falters for a second and I smirk.

    Lola folds her arms and turns her glare on the clone. "Then I'm going to mount her head next to yours." She says it in such a matter of fact way that the two women in front of us are starting to get nervous. But she's not done yet. "Then I'm going to take both your heads and space them out the airlock!"

    Wrex whistles under his breath and I grin.

    "I'll lend a hand," I promise, my eyes locked on Brooks.

    She clears her throat, trying to take back control of the situation. "That sounds very dramatic. And if someone like, say, Commander Shepard made the threat, I'd be worried." She smirks, obviously feeling too secure in her plan. "But you're not Shepard. Not anymore."

    The clone speaks, trying to imitate Lola's unworried tone. "Now that I have what I came for," she says, glancing at the biometric pad where she replace Shepard's info, "I should go." With one last look at the legend she's trying to replace, the impostor walks out. Brooks hits the button that will seal us away forever. She sends one last smirk over her shoulder as she follows after the clone. 

    As our compartment starts to move, I turn to Shepard, certain she has a plan waiting to spring into action. What I find, however, is her visibly irritated, her brow furrowed in thought. What the hell? I switch my gaze to Wrex to find him calmly surveying our cage.

    "Refresh my memory," he says. "Didn't we used to win these things back in the old days?"

    "She said, 'I should go,'" says Shepard, trapped in her own thoughts. "Do I sound like that?"

    I stare at her, wondering what freaky twilight zone I've fallen into. Shouldn't we have escaped by now?

    I see Wrex nod his head in the dim light as our compartment clicks into place. "As long as I've known you, yeah."

    My eyes lock on him, wondering if the two of them are already running low on air.

    "Just a thought," I say, "maybe we should be worrying about the vault we've been sealed inside forever." If either one hears me they don't show it.

    Lola shakes her head. "I'm more confident than she is," she declares. "'More in control. With me it's more like: 'That's all for now.'"

    "Spoken like a true Krogan," Wrex approves. "Show 'em who's boss."

    My unshakable faith that Shepard will get us out of this is beginning to waver. "Not a lot of air in here either," I point out. "An hour, tops."

    "Or sometimes, 'I'll talk to you later,'" continues Lola. "Because you know what? I never do. Leave them wanting more."

    "Come on, Lola!" I explode. "Why aren't you more worried about this?"

    "Hmm?" she says, turning her head to me, as if noting my panic for the first time. "Oh, right. Glyph! You still out there?" she calls.

    The familiar mechanical hum of Liara's drone pauses outside our compartment. "Yes, Commander."

    "Unlock this damn thing and go find the others. No one steals my ship. Not even me."

    I hear a faint click and our pod starts to move. Lola smirks at me.

    "You didn't really think we were stuck, did you James?"

    I shake my head, my expression the picture of innocence. "Not even a little," I proclaim. Wrex just chuckles.

    It doesn't take long to get the rest of the crew released. They're all ready to go, figuring it was only a matter of time before Shepard got them out. Apparently they used their imprisonment to think up new and creative ways to kill Brooks and the clone. I've got a few in mind myself.

    We're topside again less than ten minutes later. Either the clone was absolutely convinced we wouldn't escape, or she wanted to haul ass before we did. One way or another, she didn't bother locking the many door between us and the exit on her way out. 

    Lola takes a quick survey of our surroundings before nodding towards the southeast. "The Normandy is that direction. Double time it people! That bitch is not getting my ship."

    Before we can take a step Joker makes a hasty landing in a skycar- saving me the unpleasant task of reminding Shepard we'd never beat her clone there on foot. Thank God.

    "I've got room for you and two others," Joker tells her frantically. "Figure out whoever you're bringing fast. The other you is stealing my ship!"

    Lola nods Wrex and I towards the car. She climbs in herself and turns back to the rest of the team only to find Garrus pouting. At least, I think that's what he's doing. Hard to tell on a Turian.

    Shepard sighs. "What?"

    "Aw, I was hoping to go," he says.

    "I know what you mean," echoes Ashley, "I never seem to get picked."

    Lola rolls her eyes. "Joker will come back for you, I promise." She's spared the need to say anything else by Joker launching the skycar into the air at full speed.  

    "This is why I hate shore leave," Joker mutters angrily while weaving dangerously through traffic. "I swear, you park the ship for five minutes." I'm not sure who's more pissed about the Normandy being stolen, her Commander or her pilot.

    Though I'm tempted to cling to the skycar for dear life Lola doesn't even bat an eye. "Contact Citadel control and have them deny the departure request," she orders, looking as pissed off as I've ever seen her.

    "I tried that, but the comm channels are down," says Joker, looking like he's about to blow a gasket. "Probably to make it easier to steal my ship!"

    I briefly wonder if Joker's increased panic might have something to do with EDI or if it's all for the Normandy. Wait, are they the same thing at this point? I don't know, that shit's beyond me. I focus my attention back on the here and now.

    "We can still go to the alliance even if we lose the Normandy," I say, trying to cool their tempers just a bit. "You can prove you're you, right?"

    Before I even finish my sentence Wrex is shaking his head. "No, she changed the logs to make her biometrics the official ones. We can't prove anything."

    I don't have a chance to point out no one could possibly believe that thing could be my Lola before Joker jumps in again. "Yes, that! Can we all just agree it would be easier to not let Shepard's evil clone steal the Normandy?"

    Lola's face is set in killing mode, her eyes hard. "One way or another we are taking this bitch down."

    "Damn right!" Joker agrees. "You go kill the crap out of, uh, you."

    He starts to set us down out of the danger zone from Citadel weapons, but doesn't get the chance to actually land. Shepard's already got the door open and is leaping to the ground, rifle in hand. 

    "Go back and get the others," she throws over her shoulder to Joker, though I know she doesn't plan on waiting for them. 

    "Right, they can't have gotten far. Unless they... called a cab or something," he responds, but Lola's focus has shifted to the battle in front of us, to the mercs standing between us and her ship.

     I move into position on her six with a grin. Time to burn shit down.