Day 1:
I am kind of struggling to find what to write first in here. So I guess I should introduce myself. I am Corporal Damien James Tremayne but the group I am in just calls me by my last name. I am part of the 13th Marine Regiment of what is left of the Alliance Navy. Honestly the 13th regiment is really no longer existent. We were sent back to Earth to help the resistance fight back the Reapers and help prepare for Shepard's return. That seems like an eternity away honestly. Back to my story. When we landed, we were holding the flank for the 17th Regiment when we were ambushed by Reaper forces. They got in between us and the 17th. We tried taking them out but we were stuck in an alley way our commanding officer thought would be a shortcut. They had gotten in the windows and started firing on us from above. Marauders just blasted us back into hell. Men were screaming for what seemed like an eternity until a bullet got lodged in their brain. A young man, named Chris Chambers, got shot right in the head and went straight through his helmet. He couldn't have been any older the 23 years old. Poor guy's brains landed in my eyes. As we left the alley, I could see cannibals eating his corpse. Thankfully I got his dog tags off of him before we left. Only about 30 out of the 80 men survived that. We pushed on with what was left of us until we reached the spot for the forward operations base.
A good question is why I am writing this stuff down? Right now I don't have answer as I sleep on this stiff cot. Our regiment has been rolled in with a few others that survived that hell. The 13th Calvary (my unit), 17th infantry regiment, 8th engineering regiment, 11th heavy support regiment, and the 4th recon squad all got rolled into one big regiment. They named us the 36th brigade which is kind of funny considering we are barely big enough to be called that. I guess tomorrow will tell how this works.
Day 2:
We all got assigned to a squad and an APC. I got assigned into what is basically the bastard child of all the regiments. Our C.O. Captain Blake Johnson took over. This was the asshole who led the 13th down a "shortcut". The guy is about medium height, stalky build. He reminds me of a bad marine stereotype. He barked orders like he was in a bad action holovid. He was the living example of a blow-heart jarhead. The entire time we are waiting for our APC, he is giving us a speech about "honor" and "fight or die". I wonder if the great hero Shepard does this shit. So after Captain blow-heart finished, the APC finally arrived. It was a Mako. The guy behind, I think his name was Collins, said "Great! Nothing like being in a brick on wheels". The captain didn't like his comment and yelled at him. Poor bastard. As we sat down some of the guys started introducing themselves. The guy right next to me was Corporal Reed Mendoza but everyone called him "Speedy" back in his old regiment. He was with the engineering regiment that got destroyed by a horde of banshees. The guy across from me was Private First Class Jack Collins. He came from the 4th recon squad and would be our sniper. He told us all about his fantasy on groping a banshee. The guy a few seats down was Sergeant Marcus Fisher. He had served on Eden Prime before the Reaper attack and was reassigned to the 17th Infantry. He seemed like a nice guy. He was a bit older than the rest of us and I actually think he was older then Captain Johnson. He told us some stories about getting to meet Ashley Williams before the Geth attacked. I wonder what happened to her. The guy on my other side introduced himself as Corporal Daniel Hartford. He was with the 8th heavy regiment. His squad got torn up by group of brutes. He told us that all he had left was a pistol and his omni-blade and he and ten other guys barely managed to get out.
The door behind the driver slid open. Captain Blow-heart stepped out. I swear, he looks like he is out of a bad movie or something. He had perfect posture, with his hands held behind his back. He started with "Men, I won't lie to you." Speedy leaned over and whispered "That normally means we are about to walk into deep shit." I nodded. The captain continued his little rant for about 5 minutes. During this time I could tell everyone in the vehicles was just waiting for a sniper to take him out. Our mission was clear. We were to fortify the surrounding area and help Admiral Anderson's forces get a foothold in time for Shepard to roll back in. Sounded simple but I think that usually ends being anything but.
The truck finally stopped and we marched out to the sound of the captain yelling "GO, GO, GO!" I guess no one told him the Reapers were hardly in a rush to turn us into some kind of cyborg zombie. As we stepped out, we could tell the place was hit hard. Buildings were just hollow carcasses and sometimes just the foundation was left. The stone, glass and other materials was the surface we walked on. I think I never once hit the actual road we were on. We were at what looked like an old shopping plaza. Multiple gutted buildings were side by side but only one got above one story. The whole area felt wrong. It was like walking into a krogan bar as a salarian. Collins walked over to me and whispered "Why does this area feel like it is about to kick our ass?"
Marcus overheard us and walked over, still keeping an eye on his sector. "I don't like this. I think we should move into the buildings to get more cover. The Reapers could be setting us up for a trap."
I was puzzled by this statement. I had always thought the Reaper forces were nothing but shock troops. "We are talking about mindless monsters here." I replied back. Surely they couldn't be that tactical. Well, they can be.
A guy walked by the building. He was poking around with his rifle not really paying attention. A boney pale blue arm reached out from the shadows. I heard Fisher yell "Get out of the way!" but it was too late. The arm struck out and stabbed him right in the gut. It made a sick tearing sound and blood gushed onto the ground. He was still alive. He screamed and kicked. The banshee screamed back at him. His screams became muffled by his blood spewing out of his mouth. The banshee grabbed by his head and tore it clean off and just threw it to side like trash. Captain Blake roared "Open fire damn it." We all started shooting at it but it put its hand up like it was waving hi to us. Then a barrier wrapped around it, deflecting and absorbing our fire. I found what was left of a column and ducked behind it. Mendoza followed behind. Marcus got behind the remains of a car with Collins and Hartford. Captain Johnson bravely ran behind the mako. I swear this man is going to get us killed.
We continued firing at it but all our bullets just bounced off like flies. Speedy and I got back down to reload. Speedy whispered to me "That's a fucking biotic barrier. It will take forever for us to get it down."
"Where is a damn biotic when you need one?" I mumbled. The banshee started moving towards Mendoza and me. It started lobbing giant balls of light at us. Neither I nor Mendoza could get up to fire a shot. Just then the banshee screamed loudly. All fell silent. I signaled to Mendoza I would get up to look up. I sat up slowly, finger on trigger. The Banshee was standing but its arms had gone limp and its head dangled. Behind her was Marcus with his omni-blade in that thing's back. He pulled out the blade and then grabbed the head and twisted it. A loud crack rang out. He was breathing hard.
"Good job Fisher." Captain Johnson walked out behind the mako. I oddly remember him never firing a shot. Captain turned to me. "Tremayne, get on the radio with command. Tell them this area is secure…" just as he said that, a grenade rolled out toward his feet. All of us cleared the area, including Captain Johnson unfortunately. It exploded, flinging dirt and debris. We all got into the center building of the plaza and took up defensive positions.
"Hey Captain, still want to send the all clear to command?" Collins retorted. Captain stormed up and got in his face. Collins was still smiling.
"Shut your trap Collins. This is a serious outfit." He turned back and got into his defensive position. The truck pulled up in front of the door.
It was eerie. Here we were sitting in this abandoned shopping plaza. All the merchandise was gone. Probably salvagers came by and picked it clean. At least the shelves offered extra cover. I looked around the area to see what threw that grenade. The only reapers that were able to do that were marauders and cannibals. I couldn't see anything but rubble. Then we heard another sound. It was a disgusting metallic gargle. Collins nudged me. I jumped. He giggled like a school girl. He then gestured towards a building a block down the road. He whispered "look up at the third story window."
A marauder was just standing there looking directly at us. I looked back at Collins. "Should we fire" I whispered back.
"Nah" he replied back. "Fisher was telling me that if a marauder is just looking at you from an advantage, that means there are more hiding. He threw in for giggles that it is just best to save your bullets and wait for whatever the son of a bitch has in store for ya."
I started to scan the area around the building. I could of sworn I saw a shadow run from one corner to another. I crawled over to Mendoza to see what he had been able to see. He was sitting by the window next to mine.
"Hey Speedy! What do you think is going on?" I whispered. He looked around the corner and looked back at me.
"Honestly, no damn clue. This area still feels like it wants to kick our ass." He retorted.
"I hear ya." I propped myself against the wall. "Collins spotted a marauder up in a window in a building down the block. He thinks it is a scout for an ambush."
"Why have we not shot the bastard?" he looked puzzled.
"He said Fisher told him not to engage a marauder all by his lonesome."
He replied back "Why not? Would it be rude to kill him without his friends?"
"Apparently it is better to save your ammo for the shit storm that follows." I replied back. Mendoza just shook his head. I went back over to Collins. He had his rifle out and pointed down the road. I crept over to him to see what was going on.
"See anything?" I asked in a low voice.
"A fuckton of reaper forces." He said seriously. I think that was the first time I did not hear a joke from him.
"Let me see." I pulled out my rifle. I extended it out and looked through my scope. I saw about eight cannibals and four marauders and an ungodly amount of husks.
Collins turned to the commander. "Hey captain, we got a shit load of bad guys a block down the road. What are your orders?" The captain crept over to Collins. He grabbed his sniper rifle and looked through the scope.
"Boys…" he started "get into your positions and prepare to engage."
"Are you shitting me captain?" Collins retorted.
"We have to secure this area. If we don't, the FOB will have an exposed right flank." He handed Collins his rifle back and pulled out his own. "Don't fear, we can do this." Now imagine that being about five times cheesier then it sounded.
We all got into our positions. Mendoza, Fisher and I took the windows. Hartford grabbed a shelf and put it right behind us. Captain No-Balls hid behind the far shelf. Collins moved up alongside Hartford. Mendoza whispered to me "Let's focus the husks. Those bastards will just force us to move out of cover if we don't."
Marcus nodded in agreement and he had a good point. The husks reminded me of something but I will write that later. Mendoza held up his hand. He dropped a single finger to show when to attack. 4 fingers and the reapers forces could be heard moving now. 3 fingers and we could hear the marauders prepping their guns. 2 fingers we could hear the husks speeding up. 1 finger, we moved up into firing position. Closed fist and we unleashed hell.
Mendoza gave the signal and we all fired. The husks fell down quickly but the marauders and cannibals hid behind cover. The husks just ran at us. Without consideration for their well-being they just charged. They fell but more ran over their corpses and kept charging. Some started climbing over the truck. The driver ran out but a husk jumped right on top of him. It started to claw him away. First, his armor was torn off then with one swipe a gush of blood splashed out. The husk started tearing his arm off. The man was screaming in pain. The husk howled with a sick feral roar. The husk then grabbed the man's arm. He was screaming no loudly. He begged but the husk was just a monster. It tore it off. The sick sound rings in my ear again and again. Each muscle fiber being torn apart and the bone cracking and finally snapping still makes me want to throw-up. Fisher ran over, shot the husk in the face and pulled the guy in. He was bleeding badly. I could see what was left of the bones in his shoulder. Hartford ran over to him and Fisher. Hartford looked at his wound. His face turned to horror. He turned and threw up.
From where I was, I could see he stomach had been torn open. I could see specs of his intestines. Fisher looked up at Hartford and Hartford nodded. Fisher pulled out his pistol.
The man screamed "NO! Please!" Fisher looked sad. His gruff face broke in sorrow. The man started coughing blood. "Please!" he was now crying.
Fisher held his hand. "I am sorry son. Forgive me." Fisher raised his gun to the man's head. I could almost see him give up right there.
"just…just tell my little boy I joined mommy." He was still crying. Fisher lowered his head. I could hear the trigger being squeezed slowly. The man clinched and shut his eyes.
His tears were still flowing but he had given up and accepted the inevitable. Fisher pulled the trigger. The bang silenced the whimpers and blood dripping on the floor. The driver's tears stopped. Stuff like this haunts you forever. I know it will haunt me.
Fisher and Hartford returned to their positions and continued firing. It seemed like hours. The husks had finally stopped coming and now the cannibals and marauders were pinning us down. They were relentless. Mendoza tried to suppress them with a grenade. It fell short. Even so, they didn't duck. They just kept firing. Eventually one of them reloaded. Collins spun out of his cover and fired. The bullet and flew down the block. The inch the marauder exposed was enough of a window for Collins to get the headshot. We continued on until all the enemies were cleared. We killed countless waves of them but we lost two. Even so, this didn't fell like a victory. I walked over to the young boy who died first. I grabbed his dog tags off his body.
They read Alliance Marine Private Thomas Gates. The poor guy was barely old enough to be out of high school. His youth made it more apparent that this war had no prejudices. White, black, Asian, man, woman or child; it didn't matter. If you were in the wrong place, you died. I put his tags in my pack. Fisher and Hartford were over the driver. The rest of the group was going over to him. I followed. As I approached I saw how severe his wounds were. His gut was torn open. The husk had gotten through the skin and muscle and had exposed the internal organs. He wouldn't have survived the hour. I walked over to Fisher.
"You ok buddy?" I said. Fisher still looked so sad. It seemed the fight was sucked out of him. It was as if his will had gone with the poor man.
He let out a deep sigh. "It had to be done but it never gets any easier." He seemed he was about to cry. Mendoza walked over and pat him on the back. He then went into the truck and found body bags. He and Collins put two KIA in them and put them on the truck.
"We lost two good soldiers but we must make sure…" Captain dick-head started. Collins turned around got in his face. The whole squad jumped. He was beyond mad. His face was red, his teeth out and snarling like a rapid dog.
"Don't give us that bullshit." He started. "Because of you, he…" he pointed at the driver's corpse on the truck "Is dead. You…" he jabbed his finger in the captain's chest, "could of covered him as got his ass to safety but you..." he jabbed him in the chest again "hid like a damn coward. Don't give us speeches unless you are ready to die on those words." He walked off. The captain was too shocked and hopefully ashamed to fire back.
"Tremayne…" the captain started but sighed first "call the FOB. Give them the report. Hartford, you drive." The squad walked back to the truck. I activated my omni-tool. I went through my channels till I found the one for FOB command. A gruff wizened voice came over the radio.
"Admiral Anderson here. Report son." I took a deep breath when he finished.
"Area is clear of reaper forces for now. We sustained two casualties both KIA." I said to my omni-tool. There was a pause. A sigh followed.
"You did what you could. Get back to the base. Hackett's fleet will be here in two days." He replied.
We returned to base. Others returned but their numbers had been thinned severely. We were lucky. We only lost two. When we were told that, I wanted to slap the guy.
The FOB seemed hollow and dreary. Here I was in once beautiful London. Now, it was a ruin like the Roman Colosseum or the ruins of Athens. The emptied out building we are using as a morgue was a hospital. Irony is a twisted bitch.
I saw Mendoza sitting on an ammo crate just staring at ground at his feet. I walked over slowly.
"You ok Speedy?" I said. I patted him on the shoulder.
"That driver, every time I close my eyes I see him." He went to holding his head in his hands.
I couldn't figure out what to say to him. I was still trying not to throw up after what I saw. The poor bastard had a kid. Then just like that, he was dead. "It will be ok." He looked up at me. "We'll get them back."
"It just reminds me I have family. If I fuck up here, I lose them." Mendoza replied. I guess Fisher was not the only one to have the fight kicked out of him.
"We won't fail. We're marines." Even with that said he still wasn't buying it. "Hey!" he looked up again. "Tell me about your family?"
He chuckled. "Not a lot to tell. We were just good ol' country people. I have a younger sister. She is thankfully at a refugee camp in the back part of the galaxy."
"Good. I am glad to hear that." I replied. I got him to stand up. "Hey! After this, You and I are going to the Citadel for drinks. My treat." He laughed and agreed.
I finally got back to my sleeping quarters. I just fell down. I barely removed my armor in time. I looked at the helmet. A small chip came off right at the visor. I took my omni-tool and patched it up. As I slept I thought of my family. I thought of a Rosalie. She was my girlfriend. I can still remember her red hair glistening in the moon light as we sat on top of the roof of the apartment building. I would do anything at this point to be there again but we all have our delusions.
Day 3:
After breakfast, I went to the barricades. I couldn't believe it. Tomorrow the legendary Shepard would storm up through here and end this nightmare. I hope. I met up with Mendoza as we was preparing and cleaning his weapons.
"Hey, I never asked about your family." Mendoza said as he polished his assault rifle.
"Not a lot to talk about." I replied.
"Nah dude, go ahead." He said cheerfully.
"My mom died at child birth and my dad well…" I paused. This was hard to say out loud. Even I didn't believe it. "He died in the initial attack. Then there is my girlfriend."
"Nice, where is she?" he said.
"Thankfully not here." I replied.
"I hear that."
We walked out to start our duty on the barricade when a messenger walked up.
"Anderson has summoned your squad. They are waiting for you." The messenger walked us to the command building. As we walked in we saw the ruins of what it used to be an old home. The furniture was destroyed, pictures lied face down on the floor. This war held nothing sacred.
We finally reached our "Command center" which was just one table with GUI interface displaying a map of the area. A dark skinned man stood behind the table flicking through map, talking to the men around him. It was none other then THE legendary Admiral Anderson. I almost pissed myself in excitement. Mendoza nudged me.
"That is THE Anderson." He sounded like a school girl meeting his favorite pre-teen singer.
"I know! This guy is awesome." I wasn't that much better.
The admiral looked up at us. We saluted. He put as back at ease. He stopped messing with the map and walked out from behind the table. He took time to shake all of our hands. His aura was just room filling. Him just being there made me want to run out and wrestle a reaper . Did I mention I maybe a bit of an Anderson fan boy?
When he got done he stood in front of us. "A pleasure to meet all of you." He said in his stoic and generally awesome voice. I promise I will quit being a fan boy now. "You were slated for barricade duty but I have another job for you."
Captain Johnson came to front and said "Anything sir." Of course this moron would offer us up before we even hear what we are going to do.
"Don't get too excited." He replied back. "Shepard is coming back tomorrow. Your squad came back with the least amount casualties."
"Not that we had that much to begin with." Collins retorted. He then glared angrily at the captain. I could tell he was still mad about our captain's lack of back-bone. I couldn't really blame him. We had two dead and the captain barely seemed to care.
"Agreed." Anderson replied. "As you know Commander Shepard is coming tomorrow with the rest of the fleet."
"Sir, may I ask you something." Fisher said.
"Yes, soldier. What is it?"
"Is it smart putting all our cards on Commander Shepard?" Fisher started. "Do we have any contingencies if that plan goes to hell."
"Yes we do." He looked at all of us. "Fight like hell till nothing is left." That answer usually meant "No but we will keep throwing you at it till there is nothing left to throw at them". I hated those plans. "We had some supplies coming but the convoy just stopped reporting in. We are sending you here." He scrolled through the map. All the soldiers started looking around. That was Reaper turf. "Once you locate the supplies radio us and we will send a shuttle out to you."
"So, just it is a simple retrieval job?" Collins asked. I was waiting for a retort.
"A simple retrieval job except it is covered in reaper forces." Hartford spoke up. During this entire time, he only spoke once and we practically forced him to until now. "My regiment was destroyed in that area by brutes. It was a massacre. I only survived because I wasn't at the front when the brutes hit." I looked up at Admiral Anderson. Did he know this already and was sending us anyways?
"I know." He replied solemnly.
"Then why the fuck are we going?" Collins was mad. I am starting to think he has authority issues. The Captain tried to pull him in but Anderson spoke first still with his calm stoic nature.
"You were the only squad to come back with less than 50% casualties and everything else is going into Hammer when Shepard gets here." He said it so matter-of-factly I let my anger slip.
"So we are the only expendable squad you have left?" I tried to contain my tone but I have issues with suicide missions. "Great to know the Alliance thinks of us so highly."
"Hey!" he yelled at us. We all remembered we were soldiers and I almost saluted out of fear. "Everyone in this war is making sacrifices. Go ask Hackett about the second fleet."
"Then be straight with us Admiral." Fisher stepped in but he was still calm and fatherly. "We will do what must be done but don't fluff it up or send us in blind."
"The supplies were crates of medi-gel and medical equipment. The driver took the wrong road out of mistake and got caught deep behind reaper lines." He finally let go with exasperation. "You're squad is the only one we can spare to go out and retrieve those supplies. Your sacrifices will be…" he started but Collins interrupted.
"Don't give me that shit. I will do it but for Christ's sake don't pretty it up." He left the room.
"I will discipline him sir." Captain dick-face interjected.
"No. I understand where he is coming from." The squad started to leave but a hand was placed on my shoulder. I turned around, it was Anderson. "I want to talk to you in private son" He cleared the room and grabbed two chairs. "Seems like forever since I took a seat." He sat down and gestured to the other seat.
"What do you need sir." I said finally calmed down. I sat in the one opposite of him.
"I got a good look at your service record." He continued. I thought the following conversation would be interesting and it was.
"Anything interesting?" I already knew what he saw but I have always been good at acting stupid. Either that or I was.
"In your record you got an N7 commendation. Soon afterwards you got almost discharged for insubordination."
He knew about the incident. It was something I kept hidden and only the top brass knew anything about it.
He continued on "You were a Lieutenant working with SpecOps on the Cerberus front. What happened Lieutenant?" I guess no point hiding it now.
"I killed a high valued target. Not much else to it. Commander got mad and did the right thing and put me down to corporal rank and kicked me off to the reaper front." I knew he was going to ask questions.
"What REALLY happened?" I have to give him credit. He knows when the official story is BS.
"Do you really want to hear it?"
"I have you working under me. I like to know what makes a man tick."
I sighed and told him the whole story.
"We were working under Commander Ralgan who was on orders from Hackett. We were a six man squad. We were sent to find and apprehend a scientist who had worked on Sanctuary and fled to the Terminus systems."
"Shepard sent me the report. Nasty business." He replied. He didn't know the half of it.
"We had located a scientist who worked there and we hoped to get some intel out of him. Things didn't go as planned."
"Did you meet heavy resistance?" he asked.
"No. We had the area completely scouted out before we went for the mission. It was a clean, precise mission. We took out the front guard with silenced weapons and went in and cleared it room by room. No casualties."
"So what went wrong?"
"I was on point. We had reached the safe room where we knew the scientist would be. We breached the door. There sat the scientist in his chair. All calm and smug. It was as if he KNEW we would be there. He greeted us and offered some scotch. He then looked and me and laughed. He said 'Oh the irony! You wouldn't be Damien would you?' The bastard knew my name."
"How did he know who you were?" Anderson asked.
"He pulled out a locket. He then looked back at me. 'Well, are you?' he asked. Commander Ralgan told me not to reply. The man kept laughing that sinister laugh. It pissed me off. It took everything I had not to put a bullet in his face."
"Then what?"
"He then opened locket and held it up for me to see. It belonged to a woman I use to know. I had given it to her as a gift. Somehow that sick disgusting excuse for a human got his hands on it." I couldn't believe I was just telling him this. His fatherly aura made me trust him I guess.
"I think I know where this is going. Keep going."
"He started to taunt me. Telling me all he did and all he heard. It was like he was proud. I heard what they did on Sanctuary but I couldn't comprehend a person doing this to another. I made sick. I made sure every Cerberus bastard got a bullet for those people. The scientist started to laugh even harder and he unlocked the locket showing the picture inside. It was me and my girlfriend. It was last picture we took before the Reapers attacked. It was of us at the docking bay at the Citadel. It was before I left to go join Commander Ralgan on the strike team. The scientist kept laughing. It was if the situation was just a funny bout of irony. He then said 'this locket belonged to a certain woman. A fiery red head who kept hope she would get out of it and see her boyfriend again. Of course after some the soldiers had some…you would call fun with her' I went for his throat. Commander Ralgan and another teammate held me back. I swore at him and spat in his face. I screamed and yelled. I wanted his damn head. I promised him when the Alliance was through that he would be nothing but a blood smear on his jail cell when I got done. He just laughed again. He then told me he got to watch her turn into a husk. He then turned on his omni-tool. He saved an audio recording of her screams." I could feel the tears coming. "He played it for all of us in the room. I could hear her scream as the doctors around her laughed. I heard her begging them to stop. They laughed louder. Then some prick with an Australian accent started to talk about how her sacrifice would help humanity. I could still hear his sick twisted words. After he said his peace, she went back to screaming in pain and then it stopped. The doctor turned off his omni-tool and looked at me and said 'Before she died, her last words were about me. She said 'I'm sorry Damien.' I was doing everything I could to get out of my commander's grip. I was screaming and swearing. A third teammate had to come in and hold me back. Another put the guy in restraints. The commander dragged me to a corner. He gave me some speech about how justice will get him for his crimes."
Anderson replied "You didn't care did you?"
"I wanted his head on a fucking stick" I yelled. I regained my composer. "Sorry. As we walked to the EVAC he somehow knocked out the guy guarding him and took his gun. Shot him right in head. I tackled him and kicked the gun away before he could do anymore damage. Thankfully the other guy's helmet blocked the shot from killing him. The commander ordered me off of him. I acted like I didn't hear it. There he was. He was just smiling at me. He was the living example of arrogant. I pulled my gun out in anger. The scientist looked back up at me. He laughed. As I prepared to kill him, he just snickered. 'You can't do it. You need me.' At that moment I saw the woman in my mind. Her beauty ruined, her life taken and by this sick man. The commander pulled his gun on me and ordered me to stand down. I raised my gun. I could hear everyone draw their guns."
"I don't need to hear the rest." He looked down at the ground and looked back at me. "What was her name?"
"Rosalie" I replied as I dried my eyes.
"What was she like?"
"She was spirited. Wouldn't take crap from anyone and beautiful too. Sometimes I would wake up and wonder what she was doing with me. Now she is dead in some lab."
He sighed again and sat back in his chair and was thinking. "I am not going to lecture you. I am going to say before this, you were on course to be the next Commander Shepard."
"That is what the N7 people said. I had the talent to do what I wanted but I just squandered it."
"Even Hackett and I were getting word of your exploits. You were actually about to be assigned to Commander Shepard on the Normandy before your run in with the Cerberus scientist." Anderson leaned forward. I didn't know if he was lecturing me or complementing me.
"Yeah, I accepted that a long time ago."
"What do you fight for now son?" he asked. I couldn't read anything in his expression.
"That is an interesting question. Everyone has a reason but I am a little different. The one you should ask about me is what do I have to lose." I replied.
"Tremayne, I like you." Anderson said smiling. I took me back a bit. "Your commanders liked you. Even Ralgan said you were a fine soldier and a born leader before that scientist got to you. He still believes you would make a hell of an N7 operative."
"What is your point sir?" I replied. I was a little worried that question would blow up in my face.
"We are going to need soldiers like you when this is over." He walked over to a nearby window and looked out. "If you survive, I will see into getting you back to lieutenant and Hackett will look into getting you that N7 commendation. You're good soldier son. Don't give up yet."
"Thank you sir but…" I couldn't really think how to put it.
"but…" Anderson said trying to get me to continue my statement.
"My father was Alliance. He had a saying. Battle born, battle bred and when there is someone good enough, I'll be battle dead. Thanks for the talk Admiral. I need to head back to my squad."
"Dismissed." Is all he said to me as I got up and left for my barracks.
Tonight is going to be a long night.
Day 4:
There we were, on the truck. We sat side by side quietly. It was never spoken but we all knew what was going to happen. Our deaths were inevitable. We came together not knowing each other but somehow we would die brothers. Our captain finally gave a half decent speech.
"Who hear has heard of the Charge of the Light Brigade?" He began. We all nodded. "I will keep this short. Not tho the soldiers knew." He started.
"Someone had blundered" Collins continued.
"Theirs not to make reply" Hartford interjected.
"Theirs not to reason why" Fisher added on.
"Theirs to do and die." Mendoza kept on.
"Into the valley of death." I finished.
The driver looked back at us. He may have thought we were crazy but at this point, we probably were. As we approached the last known position we could hear what sounded like pebbles hitting the side of the truck. We had entered the valley of death. The shots got louder until we could hear explosions hitting the truck.
After a few more feet a loud roar ripped our eardrums. A bright light flashed, causing us to go blind. I fell out of my seat. I could hear the others scrambling. When I finally got up, I could barely see. The explosion blew off the front part of the truck, the driver was nowhere to be seen. Someone grabbed my shoulder. It was Mendoza. We ran back out of the truck.
We ran as fast as we could, jumping over rubble and dodging incoming fire. Mendoza finally led me to a window. He jumped in and I followed. The others were hunkered down. Fisher and Hartford were guarding a blown out door opposite of me and Mendoza. Collins was crouched by the window to our left. I could hear the bullets hitting the building, taking tiny fragments with it. The captain had his omni-tool out. He was yelling at it.
"We are outnumbered damn it!..."he paused "What do you mean we are too hold?..." another pause, a muffled voice was talking back to him. "Yes sir." He turned off his radio. "Admiral wants us to hold this area."
"What about his supplies?" Mendoza asked as he walked up to the captain.
"Command said with this many Reaper forces they need us to forget about the supplies and hold this flank until Commander Shepard arrives."
"So they just expect us to hold until that overrated asshole arrives?" Collins retorted from his position.
"Unfortunately. We hold, no matter what." He said sternly. "Everyone, open fire and lets show the Reapers what fighting like hell really means!"
We all roared in unison and turned to open fire. It was a nightmare outside. It wasn't a small unit. It was a whole damn horde outside. Marauders, cannibals, banshees, husks and two brutes were both coming right at us.
We all started firing. The first waves of husks charged at us while the rest held back. We kept firing until our ears bleed from the noise. They kept coming at us. They didn't care. They were nothing but rapid dogs on a hunt, as they screamed and splattered to out bullet fire. The husks started to thin but the cannibals joined.
They would get out of cover, eat a fallen husk and get back into cover. One husk broke into our building. Fisher rolled to it and stabbed it in the gut. More husks started to flow through. Captain Johnson ordered him to get back to his position. Johnson started to cover the door. This was the first time I started to see him fire. He unloaded at the husks charging the door, keeping them at bay.
This dragged on for at least ten minutes. We were getting weary but the reapers just kept coming. If two fell, four would replace it. Husks were starting to break through. More than once, we had to activate our omni-blades and engage them hand to hand.
The gun fire grew more intense. The banshees had started moving toward us. Captain Johnson ordered Fisher and Hartford to focus on them. They did but the banshees activated their barriers again. They started throwing biotics at us. I could hear their screams as they drew closer to us. Inch by slow inch, I could feel their cold presence get closer. It was like lady death was coming to take.
Mendoza lobbed a grenade but the banshee he threw it at activated its barrier, flinging it right back at us. It rolled back in with us. It clinked right into the center of the room. We were all with in killing distance. At the last second, I saw Captain Johnson throw himself at it. He plopped on it.
Collins roared "Johnson NO!" but it was too late. I heard the muffled bang. His body rise up and fall back down. A pool of blood followed.
Fisher roared over the ambiance of the firefight "Get command on the line Tremayne. We just lost our captain." I nodded and activated my omni-tool. I tuned into the command frequency.
"This is Corporal Tremayne out of the 36th brigade, 10th squad. We are under heavy fire. Our captain is dead. Please advise." I yelled into my omni-tool.
"This is Major Coats. Hold your position. Commander Shepard is on Earth and heading towards the FOB right now." The man had a gruff British accent.
"Fuck Shepard!" I heard Collins retort.
"Yes sir." I replied and deactivated my omni-tool.
Collins yelled "Before we die here I just want to say I am glad I had the honor to serve with you."
"Same here." Mendoza replied.
Fisher yelled "Hey, we are going to survive. Someone has to tell this story."
I joined in with "Yeah, let's make the Reapers regret ever meeting us!"
Hartord just nodded.
We kept firing and the reapers kept coming. The end was nowhere in sight. The banshees kept coming. Eventually one dropped its barrier and Collins took its head clean off with a well-placed sniper shot. The other was now approaching the door. The biotic explosions made it hard to fire back.
Collins looked over at me and smiled wickedly.
"Whatever you are planning, no!" I yelled. He just laughed and ran out the window. He ran right up to the banshee and punched it in the face. The barrier dropped but as Collins went back for his gun the banshee screamed louder than I ever heard once scream before. It reared back and jabbed its long boney fingers into his abdomen. It raised him up as he rapidly started bleeding out.
"Collins NO!" I started to go after him but Mendoza grabbed me and pulled me back down.
Collins looked over at me. Blood was leaking out of his mouth. He was still smiling. He grabbed his pistol and with his other hand he grabbed the banshee's breast.
"Suck it bitch!" Those were his last words as he pulled the trigger right into the banshee's face. It crumpled to the ground with him. Cannibals swarmed the corpse, slowly devouring both of them. Fisher and Hartford opened fire on them, clearing them off.
We kept fighting. Our wills drained away with each round. The more we killed, the more that came. Our ammo was starting to run low. Every one of us was starting to get weary. Hartford got up to get a thermal clip from and just as he did, his head exploded. Fisher ran over to him and checked his pulse and just shook his head. He grabbed his dog tags and tossed them to me.
The battle drew on and the end was only when we died. The brutes started to charge. Mendoza lobbed another grenade. Thankfully this one, blew up right in the face of one but the other just got angrier. It charged at the building and smacked into the door frame. It moved back and charged again. It was going to ram down what cover we had left.
Fisher walked over to me. He looked at peace. He handed me his tags and smiled.
"Fisher! Don't do it!" I yelled at him. I knew what he was doing but I didn't want him to do it. I was a child yelling at his father trying to keep him to stay. Fisher just turned to me, still smiling.
"It will be ok Tremayne. You will have one hell of a story to tell." He jumped out of the window and started firing at the brute. The brute turned and chased him, clear out of our view. After a few seconds we heard one more roar. Another second passed. An explosion rocked the building next to us.
Mendoza and I were all that was left but our wills had left us. We were fighting out of pure instinct with no way out. We were like to caged animals with our butchers coming for us. We kept firing regardless. My omni-tool beeped.
"Corporal Tremayne. This is Major Coats. An extract shuttle is coming for you hold out." I turned off my omni-tool. I was exhausted. I could start to smell the dead. I forced myself to turn around one more time. I wanted to get at least one more reaper to join me before I let them have me, before I joined you again Rosalie.
As I turned I saw more. No matter how many men died, there was more. Captain Johnson, Collins, Hartford, Fisher and now us would be a blood smear on the ground, forgotten. As I accepted my part in this unsung battle, an explosion rocked the whole block. A blue Alliance shuttle started to lower itself in front of us. The doors opened. A man jumped down and ran over to us.
"Are you two the only ones left?" he asked.
"Unfortunately." Mendoza yelled back.
"Let's get out of here before we are next." The man said. We ran towards the shuttle. The bullets started to whirl. Two more soldiers held out their hands for us. The guy in front us jumped up and took cover. The two soldiers helped my weary body on to the shuttle. I turned to help Mendoza. I wish I hadn't.
As Mendoza ran towards, I saw the relief on his face. He was smiling, ready to get some form of safety. I held my hand out for him. My last brother and I would make sure this tale was told of the 36th brigade. Just as our hands made contact, I heard that one bullet. Mendoza stopped. His face froze in shock. He then just fell, blood gushing out of his head. I ran to get him but the Alliance soldiers stopped me. I can still remember me screaming his name. I did everything I could to reach out for him but the soldiers held me back. We started to pull away. I yelled at them to save him. The doors tried to shut, I ran to it but they closed before I could get out and join my brothers. It slammed right in my face.
All I could do was punch it in frustration. I could feel the hot tears going down my cheeks. We were suppose too die together. We were to go into the mouth of hell to never come back. Yet, fate denied me even this. I just wanted to die.
As I write this I now found my reason. Those men my brothers and my friends; I know their stories will be eclipsed by Commander Shepard as Hammer roles in. This is my reason. I won't their sacrifices to never be forgotten. The faceless grunts that held off endless waves of Reapers just to be a name in a book of KIA deserve better.
They are putting me into Hammer. We are to go with Commander Shepard and end this. If I die I want whoever is reading this to tell the story of 36th brigade. The nobodies who made sure a hero could be a hero. Now if you don't mind, I am off to join them and my girlfriend. I maybe going crazy but I can hear them calling me.