Mass Effect property of Bioware. If you haven't played the games, you should.

Long time reader, first time writer. Please have pity on me, I'm still figuring out the document manager.

Here goes...

Service Chief Nathan Powers was certain he was going to die. It was really irritating, because he was up for N5 review next week and he was sure death would reflect poorly on his evaluation.

The Alliance had thought the raid on Torfan would be easily won. Once they arrived in the underground complex, however, everything had quickly gone to hell. Many soldiers were lost due to booby traps. The cavernous layout was like a maze, and as many died from the traps as did from a fighting force that was much larger and more capable than the Alliance had estimated.

Major Kyle, the Officer in Charge for the Torfan ground forces, was not adapting well. Previously an exemplary soldier, Powers was pretty sure the Major was shaken badly by the losses they'd taken, especially since some of the squads that had dropped off the network included close friends. His orders were becoming more erratic, and his strategies less effective.

The breakdown in leadership had led to even more fatalities. Most of the lieutenants were dead, communications were spotty, and at this point even retreat was problematic, because the Alliance soldiers had been divided. Service Chief Powers looked over at his few remaining squad members. The five of them were pinned down, taking cover behind some metal storage crates. There had been ten with him when they walked in. Blundered in, really. Lieutenant Michaels had paid for the mistake with his life. There were a lot of bad guys in the room, and they had been ready for the lost Alliance squad.

The five of them were desperately trying to survive, but they were having trouble keeping the flanks clear, much less getting at the guys under cover in front of them.

At this point, Powers was considering a suicide charge up the middle to give his remaining squad a slim chance to retreat. He wasn't normally a suicidal man, but he was certain he was dead anyway. He had just drawn breath to give the order when he heard the distinctive sound of a biotic warp forming, covering the pirate who had been sneaking up on their flank in a crippling blue light. That was followed by the sounds of several weapons being discharged and a lot of people dying.

Powers quickly peeked out of cover. A brief glance revealed a woman in the distinctive Alliance N7 armor, glowing blue with biotic energy and directing other Alliance Marines.

"What's going on, Chief?"

"An N7 biotic just snuck up behind them with five of our own guys," Powers said. The N7 marines were intensely trained special forces agents. One could go as high on the special forces career track as N6 with on-the-job training and review, but only through the special training program could one become an N7. They were the best, and Powers was very relieved to see one, especially glowing blue with telekinetic power.

"Why didn't they show up on our hardsuits?"

"Don't know, but now is not the time to worry about it. Just kill some people, would you?"

Between the surprise attack from behind and the powerful biotic who kept lifting up their cover and smashing it down on their heads, the pirates didn't last long. Shortly after the last one fell, the N7 sounded the all-clear. Powers went up to her.

"Service Chief Nathan Powers. You the one in charge here, ma'am?" Now that he was closer, Powers was surprised at how small the biotic really was. She was probably only a meter and a half tall, give or take. She had seemed more imposing when she was twisting bad guys with her mind.

"Of this group, yes," she replied. "Chief, I urge you and yours to turn off your hardsuit locators. The enemy has cracked our transmissions, including those."

"Motherfuck," one of the men said.

"Private, put a lid on it," Powers warned, "and do as she says." While the men followed Powers' order, the N7 continued.

"Second Lieutenant Sam Keller," she introduced herself. "Communications have been switched to contingency frequency eight, and we are to assume encryption is compromised."

"If they're all compromised, why change it, ma'am?" Powers asked. It would cause a needless breakdown in communications for squads like his that hadn't heard the switch announced over the sound of the firefight.

"Command says it makes it more work for the enemy to track our communications," Keller replied. "Major Kyle has not been heard on frequency eight. Currently the ranking officer in charge is Staff Lieutenant Ellery, until we hear Major Kyle back online."

"Ah… yes, ma'am." Behind his rebreather helmet, Powers grimaced. Keller was a professional, but she had given him enough to read between the lines. Ellery had decided that Major Kyle needed to be cut out of the loop. The change in frequency was meant to muddy the waters. As if things weren't messy enough. "So, orders?"

"Ellery directed me to take these men and clear the southern point of regress. Your men are welcome to join us," Keller replied. "We won't radio that in. I believe that option is more secure than allowing the enemy to know our squad has increased in number."

"Yes, ma'am," Powers said. And Ellery gave you too few men for the job anyway. "With respect, do you know where you're going? We got a bit turned around."

"We hacked one of their terminals and got an updated map," she said, "complete with trap locations, for all the good it does us now. I'll transmit to your hardsuits. Now, I don't know what Ellery is doing, but whatever it is I'm certain we are going to need that point cleared as quickly as possible."

Keller quickly gave orders to include Powers' people in her tactical formation, paying attention to details and easily making adjustments for the fact that she was leading mostly regular Marines. Powers was the only other special forces soldier. She quickly filled him in on her orders, suggesting that it was urgent they move quickly and efficiently. He suspected she was worried about Ellery's plans; the man had a reputation for ruthlessness.

The point of regress was more or less back the way Powers' team had come, so they had little trouble until they actually got to the exit.

The exit was at the end of one very wide hallway, and there was a narrow, curved hallway that ran in front of it, leaving openings on either side between the wide corridor and the doors. A team of about twenty batarians was guarding it, which would have been manageable if not for the turrets. There were three of those, rocket launchers that could swivel to face any hallway.

Powers had no idea what they were going to do about the situation, but Keller seemed to expect it. She designated three people with technical skill to focus on shutting down the turrets. She posted snipers around the corners to shoot anyone coming up out of makeshift cover, and ordered everyone to press forward up the middle, stealing cover from dead enemies, until they had gotten everyone. For her part, she told Powers quietly that she was going to make a scene to keep the fire focused more on her and less on the men she was responsible for, so if it got her killed he needed to secure the exit.

"Ma'am, you are our only officer," Powers argued. "I should be the one to provide the distraction."

"Kind of you to offer, Chief, but I bet I can be more distracting than you," she said. He couldn't see her face through the rebreather helmet, but the reckless grin in her voice reached her dark eyes. "You just be ready."

"Aye, aye," Powers replied, but inwardly he groaned. In his experience, N7 soldiers only smiled when they were about to do something stupid. Whatever Keller was planning, he was sure it was going to be completely reckless, and since she seemed competent it would probably only have an 80% chance of getting her killed.

She didn't disappoint. As soon as she gave the go, she dropped a warp down right in the middle of the pirates' formation. Then she threw up her barrier, which made her a gleaming Blue Beacon of Biotic Badass. Understandably, the enemy started to focus on her at that point. She darted from cover to cover, counting on her small frame and speed to make her hard to hit and get her there before her shields gave out. When she took new cover, she would point her shotgun downward over the movable barriers, to take care of any enemies on the other side without exposing more than her hands.

Once they had most of the cover locked down, she traded shotgun for assault rifle while the technicians worked on overloading the turrets. As often as she could, Keller would pop off with some biotic attack, making them very visible and targeting any of the enemy that seemed to be getting his head back on straight. She was the most powerful biotic he'd ever actually seen in action.

As soon as the last enemy was down, Keller demanded a headcount. To Powers' relief and surprise, they hadn't lost any soldiers.

"Holy fucking shit, ma'am," one of the soldiers said, "you're like a one-woman fucking blitz."

"Thank you, Private. I think. Now, we're not done yet," Keller said, getting back to business. Despite the adrenaline that must be charging through her after that, her voice was back to cool and professional, a steadying presence for the younger soldiers. "Taking this point was hard, but keeping it might be harder, especially since we won't have turrets. We can't lose it, because if we do our fellow marines will be trapped inside when the shit-storm hits. So, this is how we're going to make sure we keep the door open."

She went on to move the barricades around, posting the soldiers in a formation that would watch the flanks better. Instead of having cover halfway down the hallway as the pirates had, she pulled it back so that when it was time to go the barricades could be shoved aside, something which they discussed precisely how to do when the time came to retreat. Hopefully it would all happen in one fluid motion. Before she sounded retreat, they were to help Alliance soldiers get around the barricades and kill any enemies trying to follow. When it was time to go, Powers was to guard the doorway while Keller tapped soldiers on the shoulder, giving them their signal to leave. What they would be running from was not yet certain.

Only a couple of patrols came to them, and they were small and easily mowed down. Whatever Ellery was doing, it seemed to be attracting a lot of the enemy's attention. Suddenly, she heard Ellery's voice over the comm.

"Black 21, Black 21, Black 21," he said. That was the operation's urgent retreat code.

"Stay focused, marines," Keller said. Then the klaxons started sounding.

"Emergency Alert," an automated voice stated over the loudspeakers. "Energy core meltdown in progress. Ten minutes remaining. Please evacuate the premises immediately." The klaxon and message then began to repeat. Powers was standing next to Keller when it happened, and he heard her mutter "goddamn you, Ellery!" before readying her rifle. He agreed. A lot of their marines were not going to make it out of this.

People started streaming their way immediately. Most of them were the enemy, and most of them had lowered their weapons, hoping the marines wouldn't fire on them. Powers remembered the rules of engagement that came down from high command on this one. The essence of them was Make Them Pay. He wasn't surprised to hear Keller issue the order to shoot every enemy on sight. No surrenders, no prisoners. When Alliance soldiers did start showing up, they frequently tripped over bodies on their way to the door. Unfortunately, there weren't that many Alliance soldiers coming out. There was another exit, which was the one Ellery intended to aim for, but there were still far too few. At five minutes, she stood next to Powers.

"Once all ten of our guys are through that door, you get to cover behind the hills," she said. "The enemy isn't going to let this go, they'll try to take us with them. I'll cover your back as long as I can."

"Ma'am, you shouldn't—"

"Just do it, Powers. Go."

"Aye, aye," he said, and Sam started sending the squad his way. Once the last one came out and was sent running he hesitated. There were now two minutes left, and Alliance soldiers were still making their way to the exit. Keller looked back at him, and he could see determination and acceptance in her eyes. He had seen that look on other soldiers before. She didn't expect to live through this.

"Get a move on, Chief," she ordered. The authority in her voice was so complete that he was moving before he made a conscious decision to do so. He got to the ragged hills they were using for cover and pulled out his sniper rifle. He intended to give Keller as much help as he could. She had been moving back the entire time, Alliance soldiers still running by her and still firing at enemies. When the countdown got to ten, she dropped her rifle, threw up a bright biotic barrier, and ran like hell. He knew she wouldn't make it in time. He watched her through his scope from the sniper position, hoping he had enough cover from the blast but unable to look away. He expected her to throw herself to the ground, where the shockwave from the energy core would most likely crush her against the ground, and the rain of debris that followed would finish her. Instead, at the last moment, she jumped. She must have put some biotic power into the jump, because she got high enough to be just barely higher than the cover of the hills. Instead of crushing her, the shockwave hit her so fast that her shields activated, pushing her in front of the wave, over Powers' head, until they overloaded. Her barrier blazing and her body limp, gravity pulled her below the point that the hills had blocked the shockwave, and she came crashing to the ground.

Her barrier flickered out immediately on her first impact, as she crashed and rolled over the rough terrain. She came to a stop several meters away, limp and still.

Powers didn't think, he just ran to her. As he got closer he could see that there was a crack in her visor, exposing her to the thin and poisonous natural atmosphere of Torfan. He pulled emergency sealant out of the special compartment on his armor and slathered it over the crack, hoping she was still breathing enough for it to matter. Activating his omni-tool, he interfaced with hers to get the medical readouts from her suit.

Her heart was still beating, and she was still breathing. Still interfaced, he sent an application of medi-gel through her armor. It wouldn't heal her, but it might keep her alive long enough for treatment. He looked at the more detailed medical information next. A corporal from Keller's original squad came running up next.

"How is she, Chief?" the corporal asked.

"It's not good," Powers replied. "She has a concussion, her back is broken, so are some of her ribs, and I think there's internal bleeding. The medi-gel will slow it down, but she needs help soon. We'll have to risk moving her despite the injuries, because she can't wait to be retrieved."

Keller groaned.

"Keller, can you hear me?" the medic asked.

"Yes," she said, though it was clear she was having trouble breathing.

"She's alive?" a soldier asked as he ran up.

"For now," Keller gasped, a bit of laughter underneath it. "Didn't expect it… to work at all."

"Attention Alliance Personnel, this is Lieutenant Ellery." Some of the marines turned to the side as their sub-dermal receivers got his message. "You are instructed to proceed to extraction point with all due haste. Southern exit: proceed to coordinates A. Northern exit: to coordinates B, which you are now receiving. Also, those of you who turned off your hardsuit locators for security reasons will want to turn them back on now." The soldiers had arrived in three frigates, so at least two of them could land. That would make things faster.

Of course, there were many fewer marines to pick up. Most of them were dead.

Keller's arm moved toward her omni-tool.

"Don't move, ma'am, I've got it," Powers said. He reset their locators.

"Coordinates…four kilometers from here," Keller said. "Long way… to carry." Four kilometers was actually really close to the hills for a frigate, and it was going to be something to see for the pilot to pull that one off.

"I'm fine, and if you think we're leaving you here after that, your head was hurt more than we thought, ma'am." Powers replied. "I can carry you, but it's going to hurt like hell when I pick you up, and we have to lock your suit so you don't jostle around. Okay?"

"Yeah."

Powers coordinated with a couple of the men on the squad to help him pick her up, but he was determined to be the one to carry Lieutenant Keller. She'd saved his life, and put on one hell of a display, and by God she was going to make it if he had anything to say about it.
They locked the body of her suit before picking her up. Alliance combat armor could be hardened. It made the suit less maneuverable, so few could use the technology in combat, but it was useful when backboards and splints were not available. She was moved onto his shoulders. He heard her make a few small noises of pain as they moved her, but that was all.

"You settled up there, ma'am?"

"Yeah," she said through gritted teeth. "Let's move."

As they started making their way to the extraction point, she tried to stay silent, though she still grunted in pain now and again in the rough terrain. Powers tried to keep a steady, even pace while the corporal watched her vitals. Even then, the terrain was rough, and he couldn't keep her perfectly still.

"You okay up there, ma'am?" the corporal asked at one point, holding the readout in front of Powers before the chief had to ask. Her vitals had spiked.

"Can't… feel legs now…" she said.

Powers sternly reminded himself that was not unexpected, and that with modern medicine spinal injuries could be fixed over time. She'd be out of commission for a while, but she was not dead yet.

"Two less things to hurt." Powers tried not to sound worried and picked up his pace.

"Screw you, Chief" she laughed. Her laugh died in an obviously labored breath.

"Against regulations, ma'am," Powers said. "Why don't you try not to talk?"

"Okay."

Fortunately Torfan's gravity was slightly lower than Earth standard, and Powers was up to the task of getting her to the extraction point. It took forty minutes and two more applications of medi-gel, but she was alive and conscious when they arrived. They had watched the frigate land as close to the hills as possible. The pilot did an amazing job, landing it gently and dropping the cargo ramp for people to load in.

Alliance hardsuits sent medical data short distances for triage, and as soon as they were past the atmosphere barrier doctors started heading for Powers.

"Fast service," Keller gasped. "Not good."

"Correction, ma'am," Powers said. "Very good. Means they think they've got a chance to fix you."

"Powers?"

"Yes, ma'am?"

"Thanks."

The medical staff carefully removed Keller from Powers' shoulders. He hovered as inconspicuously as possible, needing to know if they could help her. They pulled off her helmet, and Powers saw her face for the first time.

Her complexion was a little gray, but Powers had expected that. Even with her brows knit together in pain and in the beginning stages of shock, he could see that she was pretty, and probably younger than he had assumed. With her ferocity on the battlefield, he had expected her to look harder, meaner than this. He watched as they went through the neurological questions, comparing it with data from her suit. They gave her another dose of medi-gel and put her on a gurney.

"We have to send her upstairs for surgery," the doctor said. "We can't fix her spine here, but we have to stop the internal bleeding and start her on neurologic protectants. You'll have to stay here."

Powers nodded, and watched as they took her to the elevator. Even in her state, Lieutenant Keller was still able to raise a hand to him as they wheeled her off.

They had lost a lot of marines. The death count was high enough that there were relatively few serious casualties. Most people died or got off light. The injured couldn't run fast enough to escape the blast. That meant the med-bay wasn't all that crowded. With a lot of persuasion, Powers was allowed in to see Keller.

Her back had been immobilized, and they had run an oxygen tube into her nostrils. They had stopped the internal bleeding, though, and she was awake. The glassy look in her eyes said she was heavily medicated.

"Hi," she said dreamily. "Who are you? Oh," she said, looking into his eyes. She studied his face for a moment, a small smile on her face. "Always nice to know what your co-workers look like. How are your shoulders, Powers? Didn't break them, did I?"

"No, ma'am."

"You came to see that I wasn't dead?" she asked.

"Yes ma'am."

"Don't know why I'm not," she mused. "I expected to be."

"I know, ma'am. I saw it in your eyes," Powers said. "And when I wrote up my report on how you didn't die, I was pretty sure it wouldn't be believed. That was amazing."

"Did not, does not, feel amazing," she said. "Felt like I got mistaken for a Mako and dropped from the ramp. Still, I'm not dead, and that's something." She looked at Powers. "I'm going to be out of commission for a while, I think," she said. "The spinal thing is bad, and they're going to have to re-set the biotic implants when they fix it. That is going to suck. How are the kids?"

"The kids, ma'am?" Powers was confused by the rapid change in subject.

"The soldiers we held that door with," she clarified.

"None were seriously hurt," he said. "Nothing medi-gel didn't fix."

"Good," she sighed. "I don't remember the trip back that well, and I was worried that somebody got hurt that I didn't know about. I lost enough men from my original squad. Media find out yet?"

"About the raid? Yes, ma'am," he said. "Ellery's taking a beating for blowing that core with all those soldiers in there still."

"Good. I mean…" she stopped. "Dammit. I wasn't supposed to say that. Must be loopier than I thought. Good painkillers, though."

"It'll be our secret, ma'am," Powers said. "But I better let you rest before the doctor kicks me out."

Powers respected Lieutenant Keller from the moment she charged in to save his life, but as he walked away, he realized that he liked her as well. The two didn't always go together.

He found himself hoping he would run into her again.