Sands Like Glass, Blood Like Sapphires
A Mass Effect Fanfic
Gaimus Victridonis sat alongside his fellow turian soldiers in the dropship, waiting for deployment. As the waters below the ship glittered and foamed, he made some final checks on all his equipment. His shotgun was looking like it would hold up, but he intended to add some modifications the next chance he got. If he survived the upcoming battle, of course.
They were coming up on the beach much more quickly now. He heard the distant booming of anti-aircraft guns, and suddenly there was fire in the air. Shells hurled past the dropships, and a few even hit their marks. A few seconds into the barrage, one of the ships flying alongside Gaimus' ship burst into flame, losing control and spiraling down into the waves. The soldier looked away before it hit, but he could still hear the splash above the sound of artillery fire. Trying to calm himself, he put on his helmet and prepared for the ship to land.
It soon did, and thankfully not in the water. Gaimus and the other soldiers rushed out onto the beach. Sounds roared all around him as he ran; the crashing of the waves against the beach, the shouting of comrades and enemies, the ever-present sound of gunfire. Up ahead loomed a relatively small city, smoking from the turian bombing runs. Up above cruisers and destroyers loomed over the city, casting shadows upon it and casting bolts of light at each other. Underfoot the sand was as smooth as glass.
As he ran across the beach, bullets flew through the air around him. A few would have hit their mark, if not for his armor's shields. He was lucky in this respect; even as he made his way towards the city, one of his fellow soldiers was hit straight in the chest with a round from one of the human snipers. The other turian crumpled to the ground, and Gaimus rushed over to help him.
The other soldier's blood spilled out onto the sand, where it was promptly soaked up into the dusty landscape around them. Gaimus knelt down and attempted to administer some medi-gel to his fallen ally. It seemed to be working for the most part; the blood soon flowed a bit more slowly, the droplets like tiny sapphires scattered across the fallen warrior's armor. Eventually a fully-trained medic came along and tended to him, allowing Gaimus to enter the fray once again.
By now they had reached the human front lines, and were chipping away at their defenses. As he joined up with his brothers in arms, one of the humans broke free from the line, running out from cover and cutting his way through the attacking turians. He took one down with a burst from his assault rifle, then a few more off to the left with another spray of bullets. As the human did this, Gaimus charged in, letting off a blast from his shotgun as he went. The shot hit his target right in the back, and the human fell to the ground a few seconds later.
This created an opening in the enemy line. Seeing this, the turians took the opportunity to break through, rushing into the city beyond. Gaimus was one of the first through, blasting away at the humans on either side to widen the gap. He took down several soldiers before pushing the rest of the way through the gap and into the city.
Empty buildings towered around them. The humans had evacuated the city before the bombing runs, and now the streets were filled with rubble instead of civilians. However, while they were abandoned, they were not undefended. Even as Gaimus turned a corner in an attempt to head north so he could hit the humans from the rear flank, an enemy soldier popped up from a store window on one of the upper floors of the buildings and opened fire upon him.
Gaimus took cover behind a nearby dumpster. The human's bullets clanged against it, ricocheting off and landing all over the street. After a few seconds the soldier ceased fire, waiting for the turian to show himself.
The turian soldier analyzed the situation. By his reckoning, his opponent was well out of the range of his shotgun. However, he was also in a position where he would have a clear shot at Gaimus the whole way down the street. There were two options that came into his mind; find another way around, or charge the enemy position.
Fate decided for him. Down the street behind him, a sniper started taking shots at him. The first was enough to drain his shields, and the next one hit him in the arm. Grunting in pain, he charged out from behind the dumpster. The next shot from the sniper missed it's mark, but at the same time the soldier up ahead opened fire again, his bullets hitting the pavement like hail. A few managed to tear into Gaimus' body armor, but thankfully they didn't do too much damage.
He knew he would have to pause to properly take aim at his target. He knew this would give the sniper an opportunity to get a shot in on him, but that was a risk he would have to take. Slowing, he aimed and took the shot at the human with the assault rifle, and was satisfied to see him fall a few seconds later. However, in that same instant there was a blinding pain in his chest as a sniper round pierced his heart. Crying out in pain, he fell to the ground, bleeding sapphires onto the asphalt.