Hey Guys. So, I've not written or posted anything new for a while due to life and other complications, and I kinda got out of the habit of writing. Anyway, I've been promising a longer story as opposed to my usual short fics for a while now and as this story has been floating around my head for literally months and has simply been sitting on my computer since I first began to write it, I figured it was high time I posted it and give myself a kickstart back into writing. Its slightly AU as it will follow canon in places and the rating is for smut to come in later chapters ;) and for violence and language.
So...let me know what you think! Reviews and PM's are always welcome and make new chapters come faster... :D
Prologue
Xara Shui Colony: Fringes of the Terminus system. 2:40am local system time.
Screams ripped through the night, fragmenting the peace and stillness of the town. Piercing screeches that would have woken the dead, sending the colonists hurtling from their beds, scrambling for clothes and boots as they rushed to claim their weapons; ready to fend off whatever evil had elected to attack. Each family fearing the worst, Terminus Scavenger Fleets, opportunistic terrorists, Geth or even Batarian slavers. Each able bodied man and woman drenched in an icy sweat as they tore themselves away from defenceless loved ones to go and protect their home, their livelihoods and families. Those who could not fight sobbing as they fled to the supposed safety of the fortified inner defences. Outside, all throughout the small town, fires blazed and the sound of gunfire mingled with the tortured screams of the wounded or dying as the attackers rained down devastation and destruction on the settlement.
Lieutenant Commander Alex Kirshaw ran his hand through his hair in desperation as he tried to marshal the pandemonium reigning outside into some sort of order. With such naked terror they didn't stand a chance; their enemy was clearly well-organised and dangerous and they were ripping straight through their defences. He leapt behind a flaming shuttle as the ground where he was just standing exploded in a shower of grass and dirt. "To the inner defences!" the shout ripped itself from his throat as his feet propelled him forwards to the nearest defence turret as he laid down suppressing fire, allowing those who had risked staying behind to fight a chance to retreat.
I'm gonna die here on this backwater planet. I shouldn't even fucking be here and now I'm gonna die.
The thought tasted bitter in his mouth and he forced back the rising tide of anger. He needed his head clear if he was going to stand a chance of surviving this. The steady trickle of colonists ran out and not a minute too soon, he was already tired and his arm was beginning to burn with the sheer effort required to handle the turret alone. Jumping down he swung his assault rifle around from its place on its back and sprinted through the shower of bullets towards the temporarily secured inner colony.
He flung himself through the outer defensive wall, hissing in pain as one of the bullets whirring past his head embedded itself in his shoulder. Ignoring the exchange of fire behind him he pressed a hand to his shoulder allowing himself a second to get his breath back before he straightened. He had to show the colonists he wasn't scared. Offering a tight smile to the nervous young privates who were guarding the wall he took a deep breath and walked into the inner compound. He stopped just inside feeling the blood beginning to seep through his uniform.
He glanced up, his eyes squinting at the bright light inside. The defensive compound was barely more than a lightly fortified, doubled-walled warehouse that served as the colony's hospital, crop storage facility and armoury. It was stocked with emergency medical supplies, rough Alliance issue blankets, a few semi-automatic assault rifles and an emergency distress beacon. It was only intended to be used in case of a slaver attack allowing them to hole up safe until the Alliance sent a ship to answer the distress call. There was no way they could hold out long enough against an all out attack by an enemy of this strength. He needed a plan but first-he winced as a jolt of pain shot through his shoulder-he needed to get patched up.
"I need medigel." The colonists huddled even closer together in the centre of the room.
"Now!" they jumped at the steel of command in his voice and an elderly woman approached him clutching a tube of the substance. "Thank you." He nodded at the woman as she shuffled back to join her family. He sat on one of the benches lining the wall and peeled his shirt away from his shoulder. Biting back a cry of pain he forced his breathing to remain steady.
He glanced down and lifted his other hand to probe his back. No exit wound. Shit. That meant the bullet was still in his shoulder.
"Okay. I'm gonna need some help here. Can any of you please come pull this goddamn bullet out of my shoulder before it's too late and they force their way in here." The room rocked as he stopped speaking and one of the soldiers outside yelled. That snapped some of them into action. His second in command stepped up, her hands already glowing slightly with biotic wisps as she knelt on the bench beside him to assess the damage.
"This is gonna hurt like a bitch AK. Try not to scream like a girl."
He snorted despite himself, "Whatever Rie. I'm not you. Besides I'm fairly certain it can't hurt worse than it already does." She laughed.
"Amen to that. Now stay still." He did as he was told, watching as she focused on his arm and he fought the urge to pull back as the bullet was pulled back through his shoulder wrapped in a biotic shroud preventing any extra shredding of the muscle. It came away with a sickening squelch.
"Got it Lt. You can cry on my shoulder now if you want?" She smirked at him whilst applying the medigel.
"Screw you Riese. I'd never laugh at you if you got shot." She laughed at that, slapping him on his good shoulder. "Sure you would AK, right before you chewed my ass out for getting shot in the first place."
He grinned up at her, enjoying the banter despite the severity of the situation, Riese was his best friend and the biggest pain in his ass he'd ever met.
"Just stick a bandage on this will you. We've got a colony to defend if you remember."
He stepped up on to the bench shaking his head and schooling his grin into a more serious expression.
"Right people. Here's what we know. Our attackers are an unknown enemy. They are highly organised, highly trained and are carrying military grade weapons. This is no slaver attack and they will force their way in here if we don't do something to fend them off until the Alliance gets here." He paused as the colonists started muttering among themselves. They'd come out here to the edge of the Terminus to get away from the Alliance and the token squad stationed on Xara Shui was small at best. They were only ten in number to begin with and at least half of them had died manning the defence turrets during the initial attack. They didn't see any way they should listen to an Alliance soldier when three quarters of their town had just been massacred.
"OI!" he shouted above the rising din. "I know none of you are particularly in love with the Alliance but at the minute we are the best goddamn hope you have of getting out of this hell hole alive." The colonists fell silent at the finality of his words. "We need to get that beacon activated now. They will be in here at any moment, I want all of you who can fight to arm yourselves and those of you who can't get to the back of the compound."
He turned away from the movement of the colonists to face the remains of his squad who had assembled behind him. "O'Hara."
"Yes sir?" the young private snapped to attention. "Get that distress beacon active. We don't have long." The room shook as he stopped talking emphasising his point.
The soldier gulped and nodded nervously. "Consider it done sir." Alex felt a tug of pride in his chest as he watched the Private step away and jog to the nearby console. His small squad was mostly made up of green boys who had (before today) never seen real combat yet they were holding it together in the face of crippling fear and carrying on with their duties.
"Okay. The rest of you. I want you fully armoured and armed in two minutes. We can't let the bastards get in here. If they do it'll be a fucking bloodbath, which means we have to fight back. Understood?" A resounding chorus of 'Yes sir' reached his ears and he blew out a deep breath as they turned away to prepare themselves. His second lieutenant stepped up next to him already armoured offering him his chest plate. "We'll get through this AK. We always do."
"You think?" he couldn't keep the bitterness out of his voice. "We've been through some shit together, Riese, but nothing this bad. Half of our squad is dead already. There's five of us left against an entire fucking platoon." He tugged the armour over his head. "The colonists will run scared as soon as the bullets start flying again and O'Hara, Winters and Bird have never seen a real gunfight. If they lose it we're all fucked."
"Yep. That's true. But so long as we haul ass and get out of here with all or most of our limbs intact...in all honesty, I couldn't give less of a shit about the colonists." Catching his outraged expression she held her hand up signalling for him to stay quiet.
"Don't get me wrong AK, I'm here till the last and if I have to, I will die on this rock-"
"Rie, We-"
She shushed him again. "I have no immediate plans of going anywhere Alex but you know the odds. We are screwed unless there's a rescue. You know that." She buckled up his chest plate and began helping him on with his greaves and gloves.
"We will be fine Riese." He placed his hands on her shoulders forcing her to face him. "I promise." She looked up, catching his eye and he saw the fear there. Impulsively he pulled her into a tight hug, tugging her close and planting a quick kiss in her hair. "I'll see you on the other side Rie." She nodded, pulling back and locking his shoulder guard in place. "Likewise AK."
"O'Hara. Is that beacon active?"
"Not yet sir, there's an issue with the power grid. I've had to link it to the shield generator to get a steady current. I'll have it online in just a few minutes."
"Good work." He turned to address the room. "Okay! Form up people! Those who are armed I want you front and centre. We will be manning the outer wall and-"
He was cut off as a shout went up from outside, barely seconds later the rear wall exploded; turning the world into chaos, dust and pain.
He dived to the floor pulling Riese down with him and rolling them both away from the smoke threatening to consume the room. "Shit. O'Hara! Tell me that fucking beacon is on?!" He didn't wait for an answer, swinging his assault rifle into his hands and firing back in the direction of the attackers.
"Riese! I need a barrier!" He released another blast of ammunition as a biotic shield shimmered into existence in front of him. They began moving forwards. Firing back at unseen attackers.
The room lit up with glowing blue biotics, tearing up the colonists in their horror. Flinging them against walls and ceilings. Pandemonium. Impossible to know which way was which, who was friend and who was foe. Gunfire ricocheting from all sides. Tearing through the few remaining colonists. Children cried, women sobbed and everyone screamed: terror, anger , desperation and pain mingling in the rising flood of smoke, death and destruction. The walls they had fled behind becoming the final catalyst in the merciless slaughter, penning them in like cattle, stopping them from escaping the relentless onslaught. The lights flickered, fires spewing forth acrid black smoke and the confusion reached tipping point. Friends died. Families wrenched from each other's arms by biotics, grenades and the raging fires. Men and women. Mothers and fathers. Brothers and sisters. Crying infants and terrified soldiers. All adding to the rising tide of blood and pain. Trapped between the relentless onslaught and the walls there was nowhere to hide. Nowhere to escape the slaughter brought by these unseen monsters in the night.
Alex felt useless. He was firing back, trying to save someone, anyone. He had to. It was his job. Their job- to protect those who couldn't defend themselves. Riese hadn't left his side. Supporting the shield; firing back into the fray when she could but he could see she was exhausted-the power drain too much, unused to taking such punishment. Her biotic amp was smoking slightly from overuse and she couldn't carry on much longer without risking serious damage to her implant. Their only chance they had of escaping this nightmare was rescue by the Alliance; but even then that was only if the beacon was active. He turned to face Riese just in time to see the shield shimmer then disappear completely as her legs buckled and she crumbled to the floor. "Shit! Riese!" He ran to her side ducking low to avoid the ricocheting bullets and flying debris. He grabbed her by the arms and pulled her aside, safe from further harm. "Fuck. Riese?! Can you hear me?"
No answer. He pulled up his omnitool, scanning her for a pulse as quickly as he could. It was there but extremely weak. They needed a rescue and they needed it now. He took a second to gather himself before launching himself back into the chaos. Pushing forwards though the bloodbath, stepping over the mutilated bodies of the dead colonists, running to face this horrific enemy, a primal roar ripping itself from his throat.
He launched himself across the room. He had to get to the beacon. Had to get the console activated. He had to get Riese out of here. It was too late for him. Too late to save anyone else. He had to face the guilt, accept responsibility for his failure and save the one person who had been through hell with him. He dived towards the console; O'Hara's body was slumped over the display, blood oozing from the bullet holes that had ended his life. Gulping back the bile beginning to rise in the back of his throat Alex gritted his teeth and whispered a silent apology to the gods as he pushed the body aside to reach the controls. Frantically keying in his authorisation code, he hit the pulse button and felt the momentary flash of relief wash over him. He looked up as yet another blast even stronger than the rest tore down the second wall, scattering the children who had sheltered with the youngest of his small platoon.
For a heart stopping moment Alex watched almost detachedly as the last of his soldiers was shredded apart by glowing blue biotics right before his eyes. The raging battle slowed around him, his breath turning shallow. Private Sean Winters was barely 23. His fiancée was expecting their first baby in less than a month. The gods were evil bastards if they would let someone with so much to live for, die in such a terrible manner. He felt frozen. Transfixed. Held in place by a sudden mind-numbing grief. The last of his team had died trying to save the few defenceless kids and he had been less than useless. He hadn't had the chance to fire back or even defend himself before the explosion had ripped through his shields and the biotics had ripped through him. Alex couldn't move, his grief suddenly too much. He barely even noticed as a small blinking capsule landed and rolled to a rest at his feet.
"Lieutenant Kirshaw!" the cry wrenched him back, forcing him to glance down, focusing on the incendiary grenade. Only one thought bursting forth, 'Oh Shit'. Terror wrapped itself around him, squeezing the last of his breath from his lungs and he scrambled backwards in a tangled mess of limbs, desperation and pain.
'No no no no no! Not now!' If he died there would be no one left to protect the very few that were still alive. No-one to ensure Riese survived. None of this mattered and the grenade exploded in a searing blaze of fire, the blast flinging him backwards like a ragdoll. He hit the ground hard, his head splitting with pain. He felt his body numb. Cold seep into his wounds and then the world faded to black.
Back on earth a console blinked.
What do you think so far? Good? Bad? God awful? :) Let me know!
