Adele would never forget the day. It was forever etched in her brain. She was only 17 and her world was going to hell. Gunshots rang out rapidly all over the colony. Screams pierced her ear drums and the mixed stench of blood and death was toxic in the air. She ran through the woods that surrounded the back of the colony, angry batarians shouting and chasing after her.
She ran as fast as she could. There was nothing else that she could do. There was no weapon that she could wield, nor a way to call for help. She ran with tears stinging her eyes as the picture of her murdered parents was playing over and over again in her mind. She had to survive. It was the only option. A clearing came into view up ahead; she was running out of places to run. She made her way into the clearing when a hand grabbed her by the hair and lifted her into the air.
"Well look what we have here," one of the bartarians snarled. "A little brown haired Barbie." The bartarians mocked with laughter. Adele was sure her head was going to fall off soon.
"We'll take our time with her," the other one said as he fiercely grabbed her face, planting a bruising kiss on her lips as she was still being held in the air. Adele didn't even have time to process the kiss when a nearby shot rang out and blood splattered her face. The bartarians that had just kissed her was now only had a body without a head. The other bartarians raised their weapons too slow, and they were all taken out by three more sniper shots. The last bartarian to fall was the one holding her by her hair. Once she topple to the ground, he hands landed in bartarian blood. Her breath came faster, and she crawled backwards away from the mess. He hit the trunk of a small tree in the clearing and stopped to stare at the bodies on the ground. Her eyes were only torn away when a voice started talking to her.
"Hey. Girl. You alright?" A gruff young man said standing over her said as he secured his sniper to his back. He couldn't have been more than 24 years old. Adele composed herself as she futilely wiped at her face.
"I'm fine," Adele said, her voice raspy and broken from crying.
"Well you sure look like hell. But If it wasn't for you, I would've never caught that bastard." the man said. "Got a name butterfly?" The man said, walking forward, becoming to her to follow.
"The name is Adele, not butterfly." Adele said. Zaeed pulled her behind a tool shed while looking out of cover to scan for bartarians.
"The name is Zaeed, I'm a bounty hunter. How did you run so fast?You ran so fast I could've sworn you were flying sweetheart. And your bright blue eyes remind me of the bright colors on the wings of a butterfly." Zaeed continued. He started to walk past the back of a house and didn't see a bartarian emerging from the back door of the house. Adele stepped forward, ripping Zaeed'd pistol from his side, and shot the bartarian right in the center of his head.
"Nice bloody shot!" Zaeed said. "You'll need to tell me where you learned to shoot like that once we get to the skycar." He finished.
"We need to save these people, we have to get help for the colony!" Adele exclaimed, waving the pistol around. Zaeed stepped forward and placed his hand on hers, lowering both her hand and the barrel of the gun pointing to the ground.
"There's no one left, they've all been taken." Zaeed said roughly.
"But..." Adele started, not believing that her whole colony was either dead or gone.
"It's the bloody truth butterfly, and unless you want to be sold as a slave, I suggest we get our asses to the skycar." Zaeed said, grabbing the gun out of her hand and leading her towards a distant skycar hidden in the shade . Adele sat eerily quiet, not hearing the words that came out of Zaeed's mouth as he talked.
Adele sat at the bar nursing a scotch. Mindoir still haunted her even though it had been years since the bartarian raid. Never could she get the young bounty hunter's face out of her head. Tomorrow her squad and her would be heading out to Akzuze to investigate some suspicious readings. She downed the rest of her drink and headed out of the bar.