This is a one-shot story inspired by the Mass Effect spinoff game, "Mass Effect: Infiltrator." This is my headcanon version of the events at the end of the game.
Music that inspired me while writing the action scene: "Eon," by Ninja Tracks
Music that inspired me while writing the end moments: "New Horizon" by Ninja Tracks
The Monster They Sent
Randall Ezno
Desert planet LV426 presented a forbidding sight even from orbit. Randall Ezno didn't expect the view to improve when he landed.
The power cells and fuel indicators on his stolen shuttle flashed warnings. The shuttle had just enough power to reach the automated mining station on LV426, and not a moment too soon. Randall's eyes narrowed as the shuttle crossed the horizon and into daylight, offering a clear view of the desert planet's barren landscape below. The shuttle smoothly transitioned from space into the planet's atmosphere. He flexed his jaw and thought of the last few days.
Inali's dead. Jordan and the rest of my team are probably dead. The sooner the Alliance gets me out of here, the better. I'll make the Director and his Cerberus cronies pay with their hides for what they've done, and that Director will beg me to kill him.
Randall was marooned on LV426 until his rendezvous with the Alliance ship took place, and he didn't intend to become a permanent resident. He flew the shuttle over a mountain range and saw the planet's mining station in the middle of a desert plain. Right there, nice and neat. The shuttle's handling got shaky as it slowed against some wind gusts, then he settled the shuttle on a landing platform. Through the Kodiak's window, he could see the arid desert beyond. He saw a few dust devils appear and then fade away, but not much plant life. Some cactus and scrub brush, and a couple of dry stream beds, but little else. The blowing sand promised to bite into his eyes and exposed skin too. He would definitely keep wearing his tactical gear.
He wanted to know as soon as the Alliance ship arrived, and adjusted the heads-up display inside his helmet to show the shuttle's scanner. He disembarked from the shuttle and steadied himself as a wind gust almost threw him to the ground. The sand and pebbles blew against his body armor and make a hissing sound around him, and his display showed that the outside temperature was over 130 degrees. He jogged off the landing platform and moved out. For the next hour, he inspected the mining facility on foot to make sure he was alone, and scouted the area for cover if he needed it.
I can't freaking believe it. First, Cerberus sends me on a mission to capture a turian on a frozen ice planet. We capture the guy, but part of my team gets killed. Then Inali tells me that it happened because Cerberus tried to control our minds like puppets right in the middle of a firefight. We get back to Ares station, Inali's arrested, and they try to arrest us too. Everybody starts shooting, Ares station turns into a madhouse, Inali's dead, and the rest of my team is probably dead. I end up joining up with that turian and we fight our way off the station. We get separated, and now I'm stuck here on this desert cooker. Unreal.
Metal decks clanged under Randall's feet as massive drills bored their way into the ground around him. They lumbered mightily in the heat, driving into the desert floor to plunder the planet's resources. Power generators up to a hundred feet high emitted an eerie scarlet glow. Metal decks vibrated against the rumble of enormous automated cranes and conveyors as they hauled and sifted tons of rock. Pipes vented superheated steam while fire stacks burned infernos of orange and blue flames high into the sky. He counted maybe twenty control panels scattered at the site, each of them covered an inch of dust and dirt. It looked like no living hands had touched them in a decade or more. "No bad guys," he said to himself. "Just as it should be. Good. Now stay that way."
The earpiece in Randall's helmet began to beep and his eyes darted to the scanner in his display. Come on. Let this be the rendezvous from the Alliance. Let it be the Alliance, and get me the hell off this rock and away from Cerberus. Just let it be. Within seconds, his heart began to sink. The new blip on the shuttle's scanner approached from the wrong direction. From its flight path, it must have come from Ares station. It couldn't have come from anywhere else. Cerberus had found him, and sent troops to kill him.
Randall ran back to the Kodiak and readied his weapons pack. He didn't have much time. As he stepped into its doorway, a thought crossed his mind that made him hesitate. He studied the scanner again.
That ship has to be a small shuttle, because Cerberus didn't have any big troop transports in that hangar on Ares station. But, I'm not seeing any new contacts on the scanner. Why did they send just one?
He had options. He could fly his Kodiak to the nearest mountain range and hide there, but he didn't know the mountain's terrain, and Cerberus could track him until he landed. The desert plain offered little cover, so he ruled that out. But at the mining station, his enemies would need to search for a needle in a haystack. Even if they outnumbered him, he could easily pick them off. He would make his stand there.
From the scanner, Randall saw the ship would soon enter the planet's outer atmosphere. As if on cue, he heard the Director's voice in his headset. "Well, well, if it isn't Randall Ezno. Did you really think you'd get away with all the classified information that you and Inali stole? You should have known I'd find you."
Randall crouched over his gear and checked the power level on his assault rifle. "You and what army, Director? I know you can't send an Ogre Mech out here, and your troops don't impress me. The people you sent are dead meat."
"Oh, really Ezno? I'm so glad to hear that. But I don't need an army to kill you. In fact, I only need one person. She's an old friend of yours. I'm sure Inali will be excited to see you again."
Randall stood up and his blood ran cold. "You're lying. Inali's dead."
The Director laughed heavily. "Oh, Ezno. I wish I could see the look on your face."
"No…you showed me a live feed of Inali on those monitors back on the station. Your goons killed her." Randall paced the inside of the shuttle like a caged animal. "I know what I freaking saw."
The Director spoke with a sickening, almost soothing calm. "I'm sorry, Randall. Your voice sounds shaky. Have I upset you? Are there tears in your eyes? Are you crying?" The bastard laughed again and Randall imagined his face. "You don't know what you saw on the monitors, Randall. It's so easy for us to make illusions, and I'll just leave it at that. I'm so proud of my success with this new experiment. Inali's made great progress. She's perfection in my eyes. She's the 'new flesh.' Killing you will be a great test of her capabilities. I just hope she doesn't kill you too quickly."
Randall heard the sound of the incoming shuttle's engines, grabbed the scope from his sniper rifle and dashed outside. His mind raced as the shuttle cleared the mountain range. What the hell do I do now? I can't kill Inali. I can't! And for sure, the Director counted on it. Cerberus trained their soldiers to focus on the mission, trained them to block out thoughts of loved ones or anything personal. If you lost focus for just a second during combat, it could get you killed. And it didn't get more personal than this. He watched as the shuttle landed, and its hatch opened. Randall saw the monster they sent.
Inali! Oh God, Inali!
Randall's stomach churned. It was true. He recognized Inali - or, what used to be her. Her skin didn't look human anymore. Instead, its bleached pale white color contrasted sharply with the brown sand. Her auburn curls were gone. In its place, her shaven bald scalp revealed thick black wires that ran from the back of her head to her upper back. Randall could see the scarlet glow of biotic implants from inside her eyes and under her skin, brightly glowing even in the sunlight. She wore body armor, carried a weapons pack with a rifle. She walked with a stiff, inhuman gait.
As he looked at her face, he saw…nothing. Nothing at all. Cold, passive and blank, not a sign of humanity. She didn't flinch against the oppressive heat, didn't notice the wind and the sand, and didn't hesitate in her approach. It felt as though he saw a walking statue, with upright posture like a mannequin. Randall's jaw dropped as she floated into the air and moved above some large rocks in a gully.
...
Inali Renata
Inali Renata's mind might as well have watched the scene from a thousand miles away. This time the dream took her to a desert planet. As before, she had some sense of her surroundings, but passively submitted to the AI's commands and felt nothing. Sometimes she weakly tried to resist and retake control of her body. She wanted to turn around, to stop moving, to just blink her eyes when she wanted to. She floated over some rocks, and crested a ridge as she approached some type of industrial area. Far away, a man in body armor stood on a platform where the desert met the edge of the facility. He waved his arms in the air. She accelerated toward him and thought she heard his voice, as he called her name over and over. Then, her distant mind reacted to the sound of that voice.
It's Ran. My God...they sent me here to kill Ran! No! NO! Against Inali's will, the Director made her conjure a biotic attack and throw missiles of energy at Randall. Scintillating red streams of biotic energy leaped from her arms and flew toward him. She saw all of the missiles hit home.
...
Randall Ezno
For the rest of his life, Randall Ezno never shook the memory of Inali's cold, lifeless stare when she attacked him for the first time. The missiles' impact blew him to the ground. He fell backward, spun around to his knees, scrambled to his feet and ran for his life.
"Inali, stop! Listen to me!" He dove behind an old control station and caught his breath. A cloud of dirt scattered off the panel and drifted over him. "Inali, it's me, Randall!" No sooner had he finished speaking than he heard the monster take out its rifle. It opened fire and riddled the panel with high-powered rifle rounds. Sparks, fragments and ricochets filled the air.
Dammit, forget about Inali - she's dead. Worse than dead, and that thing is going to kill me!
Randall flinched and his heart pounded as rifle rounds filled the air and metal fragments impacted his kinetic shield. He struggled to focus. Drawing his assault rifle, he broke cover and sprinted along a conveyor moving tons of rock. That thing isn't Inali. It isn't. It's a monster. You've got to kill it. You've got kill this thing. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw no sign of his enemy until it materialized out of thin air - Cerberus gave it a cloak, that's just great - and it conjured another attack. Run, dammit, run!
Randall heard the telltale hiss of biotic missiles as he sprinted. A stream of red biotic energy struck his upper body and threw him off balance. He made his decision at that instant. Either he would survive, or this monster would kill him. He had no choice, and it didn't matter that he would feel like he was killing Inali. She was already gone. Drowning in shame and regret, he grimaced and opened fire.
Several of his bullets struck the monster's body armor, and it didn't seem to feel them. Randall kept running and launched biotic attacks of his own. First he threw a salvo attack, and then a storm bubble. Blue streams of biotic energy flared through the air and struck. As the biotic storm bubble surrounded her, the monster staggered and cried out.
Christ. Not only am I going to have to kill Inali, but I'm going to hear her cries and screams while I kill her. Disbelief surrounded him. This wasn't happening. This just couldn't be happening. He saw the monster lose its balance for a moment, and then emerged from the storm bubble with exactly the same icy stare as before.
Randall engaged his cloak and ran for cover behind a generator. He had to think. He had to start thinking like a soldier again, and had to stop thinking that this monster would do anything except kill him dead. The creature opened fire with its rifle again, and sprayed an area that was nowhere near him. The creature turned its head in a slow, sweeping arc. Left, and then center, and then right. A red cloud of biotic energy swirled around its forearms, then it unleashed biotic missiles at a fire stack. Randall's brow furrowed as he studied the creature.
It floated into the air, cloaked, and vanished from his sight for a few seconds. It reappeared above a generator, ignoring the superheated steam from a nearby vent. Again, the slow turning of its head to study its surroundings. It drew its assault rifle and riddled a control panel with rounds until it fell apart. Then it disappeared again.
Well all right. It's looking for me, but it can't find me. Okay…okay…. Now think like a soldier, dammit.
Using cover and his cloak, he bought himself enough time to study Inali's movements. For several minutes, he didn't attack. He only watched what Inali did. She would cloak, float a short distance, and then reappear and attack an area with biotics and her rifle. Repeat. Repeat.
Cerberus must be controlling Inali with some type of AI. They aren't even using a good search pattern. She's got a good assault rifle and her biotics pack a hell of a punch, but those are really basic moves. They made this thing to fight and kill, but they didn't think much further ahead than that. All right monster, let's see how well you think on your feet...
Randall aimed his rifle at a conveyor belt near Inali and fired. The all-confident AI that controlled Inali never considered diving for cover like a soldier would have, and instead it turned Inali and sent a biotic attack where Randall no longer stood. He de-cloaked with a clear shot and a moment to aim, setting his rifle on full automatic, blasting the monster's armor for a few seconds and sending another biotic attack. Inali cried out again, and Randall couldn't stand to hear it. He ran for cover, then engaged his cloak as soon as he could.
Minutes went by. Randall made Inali's AI second-guess itself, using cover and cloak to make moves that made sense, or made confusing ones, and then attacked to keep it off balance. He had a few chances to take aimed shots at Inali's head, and each time he couldn't bring himself to do it.
Randall's palms sweat with mounting dread. Inali's movements – no, the monster's movements, it was the monster's movements, he reminded himself – became more erratic. Sometimes, they seemed random and downright confused. Randall stopped using his rifle, just because he couldn't bear to shoot Inali again. But just the same, one thing was clear in his mind: This battle's going to be over soon. I'm about to kill Inali, the woman I love. For God's sake, she's suffered too much already. I need to do the damn job and put her out of her misery.
Randall sprinted and fell to the ground before he could reach cover. His cloak deactivated and he was a sitting duck. Inali charged and struck him with the force of a runaway truck before he could regain his feet. How the hell did she hit me that hard?! Inali drew her assault rifle and riddled Randall's kinetic shield as he scrambled to his feet. More rounds struck him and her gleaming demonic red eyes bore through him as he unleashed a biotic salvo and storm bubble.
Both of them attacked and neither missed. Inali's rifle rounds stunned Randall at the same moment that his attacks staggered her backward. She dropped to one knee, and then wavered on her feet. Her red eyes lost their intense glow and glazed over as most of her biotic implants flickered intermittently. She didn't cloak. She didn't even move. Wind gusts made Inali shift and stumble again.
Randall stood, slack-jawed. Inali seemed to be looking past him, looking for something that might have been a thousand miles away. He even thought he saw Inali's lips move. Years of Randall's combat training and experience screamed at him to fight, to engage his cloak. He could only stand and look at Inali as his gut told him to shoot her, or throw a biotic salvo at her.
His heart broke as he studied her face. Only days before, he and Inali had stolen a moment together. He had held her in his arms and gazed into her eyes. Now her eyes glowed dimly red and stared blankly ahead, and her body had been violated beyond description. Inali still didn't move, and Randall thought a hard breeze might blow her to the ground. Against every instinct, Randall raised both of his hands, opened his mouth, and spoke.
"Inali?"
Inali's lips continued to move, but her voice was mute.
Randall stepped forward and spoke again. "Inali? Can you hear me?" Then his skin flushed hot as he recognized her words.
Help…me…help…me…
The sight galvanized Randall. "Inali! I know what you're saying! If you can hear me - I'll try to help you! I'll try to save you!"
Inali's eyes flashed recognition and Randall heard the Director's furious agitated voice over his headset: "This isn't over, Ezno. I'm taking direct control." Inali's whole body staggered and jerked.
Randall cried, "No! No! Inali!"
Inali breathed hard and began to raise her hands. She stared helplessly at them as a crimson cloud of biotic energy conjured around her palms and forearms. Inali clenched them into fists and grimaced emotionally as she gasped quick breaths, shaking her hands as though she could hold back the biotic assault by sheer will. She screamed as she turned and whipped her arms, unleashing another salvo at Randall. The crimson streams of biotic energy struck him in the gut with the force of a dozen invisible sledgehammers.
Randall struggled to breathe as he scrambled to his feet and ran. His mind raced. She's alive. Inali's alive. I have to save her. How can I save her? Dammit, keep running!
The Director doggedly taunted him again: "No, you can't save her, Randall. And you can't run. I've had enough of her, and enough of you. It's time to end this game." More gunfire filled the air as Randall dashed for cover. Rifle rounds zipped through the air, but Inali's aim was frenzied and random. Some of the rounds sailed over Randall by thirty feet, and others struck fire towers that stood dozens of yards away. Randall dove behind a boulder and looked at his stealth generator. The light turned green, ready to cloak. He paused before cloaking, and glanced back toward Inali.
Inali swung her assault rifle against a metal pipe and broke it in half. Her torso jerked once, then twice as if she wrestled against an invisible attacker. Her voice pierced the air, distorted by awful machinery inside her throat and lungs.
"Ran! Help me!"
Inali's implants flickered intermittently again. Even the hellish red glow from her eyes dimmed again, and a desperate thought crossed Randall's mind. Cerberus didn't start losing control of Inali until my biotic attacks wore her down. Maybe…just maybe those control implants have had all they can take. Randall closed his eyes and whispered a prayer. He engaged his cloak, leaped over the boulder and sprinted directly towards Inali.
This…had…better…work!
...
Cerberus Station Ares
The Director slammed his fist on the instrument panel that controlled Inali. He went downright ballistic when Inali shattered her assault rifle against the metal pipe. He tried to redirect Inali to scan the field and locate Randall, but the screen's image flickered and shook as Inali resisted his control.
"Inali, you damn bitch, do what I tell you!"
The image stabilized just long enough for him to see a blurry distorted form charging right at him. It's Ezno - he's right on top of me!
...
Randall Ezno
Randall saw that Inali's face was awash in despair as the Director wheeled her body to repel his attack. Randall leaped and struck Inali like a charging rhino as he threw his shoulder into her torso. Both combatants went flying and landed in the desert scrub. As fast as Randall could, he jumped onto Inali and began to rain biotic attacks upon her. With each new attack more and more implants flickered and went dark.
...
Cerberus Station Ares
The Director's control screen sounded alarms and flashed warning lights all over it. Inali's visual and audio implants saturated with incoming biotic energy and couldn't process fast enough. Her peripheral and central nervous system implants reacted too. The Director shouted at the screen in rage as one implant status indicator after another turned yellow as it was damaged, and then turned red as it failed. And with that, the Director knew that all of the devastating intelligence that Inali and Randall had stolen from Cerberus would soon fall into the hands of the Alliance. The Director seethed and cursed the day he approved Randall Ezno for advanced infiltrator training, after reading a glowing recommendation from his trusted expert handler, Inali Renata.
...
Randall Ezno
Inali's eyes rolled back and her body fell limp. Randall threw off his helmet and frantically looked for any sign of life. "What have I done - Inali, Inali talk to me…"
She's unresponsive…check her airway, see if her chest rises and falls…YES…hang on, Inali…just hang on, hang on…
Randall deployed his field medical gear and heard the Director's voice through his headset again. This time the Director's voice shook. "Inali deserved it. You have no idea what she's done. What you've both done. She deserves this." The Director sounded spiteful on top of it all.
Concentrate…concentrate…follow battle casualty check list…follow the damn check list…please please don't die …
Randall tried to keep his mind steady through his grief, shock, and now fury. His voice was heavy with menace. "What Inali's done, Director? She's still alive, asshole...and it's nothing compared to what you've done to her."
Her major arteries look ok, her body armor protected her...external bleeding isn't nearly as bad as I thought…her pupils aren't dilating evenly…she's got bad internal bleeding…shit, SHIT…
Randall's focus stayed on Inali as he spoke again. "What Inali's done is nothing compared to what I'll do to Cerberus, and to you, Mr. Director. Pray that your Illusive Man kills you first, because I'm going to make that my lifelong mission!" Randall switched off his com. Only the sounds of the wind, blowing sand, and the rumble of mining factory machinery remained. The fire stacks burned their flames up into the sky as they had for decades.
...
Randall assembled a makeshift shelter around Inali. The desert sun and blowing sand were the least of Inali's problems, but at least it was something he could do to help. Her life hung by a thread. Her best chance, her only chance, would be if the Alliance ship could arrive in time. Not only would their ship's doctor need to pull off a miracle, but they would need to keep her alive long enough to get her to a real hospital. And then…what? Would the Alliance's doctors have even the faintest clue how to help her?
If. If. If. I must be out of my mind. I'm only prolonging her agony.
As he tended to her, Randall thought he heard a low voice. A woman's voice. "Randall…Ran…" The distorted voice sounded like it came from inside a machine. But, undeniably, it was Inali's. Randall blinked tears. He removed a glove, and placed his hand on Inali's face.
"Inali…I love you. Please hang on. None of this would've happened to you if it hadn't been for me…I didn't know what else to do. I had to use my biotics on you, because I just didn't know what else to do…please…"
Inali's gaze faded. She slowly shook her head as she whispered, "I love you too, Ran…please…finish me...finish me, Ran…"
Randall's face fell, and the weary soldier's chin trembled as he struggled to speak. He choked on his next words. "Forgive me, Inali. Please. But I can't."
Inali's eyes faded and closed as sleep overcame her. Randall retrieved his helmet and picked it up. Come on. Let's see an Alliance ship on that scanner. As he looked at his helmet's heads-up display for the shuttle's scanner feed, he saw no sign of an Alliance ship approaching. A minute passed, and still nothing. More time passed, then he removed his helmet and threw it down on the ground.
…
Randall settled down in the shelter alongside Inali, and just sat. He never felt more empty, alone, or lost in his entire life. He didn't know how long he sat there – minutes that seemed like hours, but really he didn't know. Now and then, he donned his helmet again and hoped that he'd see an Alliance ship approaching at high speed. So far, he'd seen nothing. Maybe the Alliance wasn't coming after all. Maybe all of this had been for nothing. He looked at the medical kit's emergency defibrillator, and wondered how long it'd be before he used it on Inali. How long before, he expected, it would fail to save her.
When Inali and I started seeing each other, we knew we were breaking the rules. But we were loyal. We believed in Cerberus. We trusted them, and my team trusted them. How in the hell could all this have happened? Is this really how it's going to end?
His headset began to beep. Randall rushed to grab his helmet and put it on. Please. Please let it be. His breath caught as he saw a blip at the extreme end of the scanner's range, moving on a direct course to LV426. His hands clenched into fists in anticipation as the ship continued to approach. Come on, come on. The flashing words "ALLIANCE SHIP" appeared on the screen.
Yes. All right, now get here already. Talk to me!
In seconds, Randall's headset crackled to life and he heard a voice through static. "Randall Ezno, this is the Alliance ship SSV Normandy, do you copy? Randall Ezno, this is the SSV Normandy, do you copy, over?"
Randall toggled on his com and spoke quickly. "This is Ezno. Hurry the hell up! There's a wounded woman here. She's in really bad shape!"
"Copy that Ezno, we'll get a medical team ready. We're just a few minutes out."
Randall's eyes stayed on his stricken friend. "Normandy, some things you need to know. This woman, we're close, Cerberus did things to her. They put a ton of biotic implants in her. A few minutes ago the damn Director controlled her by remote and made her try to kill me. I shot her. I used biotics on her. The area's secure now but hurry up. She's dying, she'll be dead if you don't hurry."
A moment passed. Randall heard the man from the Normandy speak to someone else, but couldn't hear what he said. Then the man spoke to Randall again, and his tone sounded more urgent this time. "Got it, Ezno. Just hang on. We've got a good lock on your position and we'll do what we can."
"All right. Thanks. Just get here." He stepped out of the shelter, expecting to help the Alliance crew tend to Inali when they landed. Then another thought occurred to him. "Normandy, just so you know, I took off my weapons pack. Do you guys need me to get down on my knees, hands behind the head, the usual prisoner stuff?"
Another pause. "No, Ezno. But play it cool. Some of them will be armed, so don't make any sudden moves."
"Roger that. I won't make any sudden moves." Looking toward the shelter, he added, "Because it sure would suck if I got killed after all this."
Randall removed his helmet and squinted against the sunlight. Sand blew against his face and hair. After what seemed like forever, Randall heard the rumble of a sonic boom, followed by the distant sound of engines. He scanned the horizon for a few seconds until he saw a ship in the air. Deep scout frigate. Probably has a ship's doctor and some crew who double as medics, but nothing more than that. Not much, but at least it's something. He crouched down and spoke to Inali. "Stay alive," he said softly. "Just…stay alive."
Inali's eyes fluttered open, and her gaze turned toward Randall. "Hey Ran..." she whispered, "Do you think...biotics like us have better sex?"
He knelt beside her and gently touched her face again. "Try to rest. The Alliance is here. It won't be long now."
The Normandy settled down and lowered its boarding ramp. The wind kicked up again and Randall tried to cover Inali from the blowing sand. He squinted as he saw a medical team coming down the ramp with a stretcher. Six crewmembers in full tactical gear escorted them, and four of them carried rifles. The other two, both women, sprinted toward him. They definitely weren't medics.
The first runner yelled ahead as she approached. "Where is she? Where's the woman who's hurt?"
Randall gestured toward the shelter. The woman removed her helmet as she arrived, and he saw that her head was shaven except for a dark ponytail. Randall saw a fierceness in the woman's eyes that he'd never seen on anyone before. He prided himself on never being intimidated, but he found himself flinching and stepping backward. He had a feeling that this woman's eyes had seen far more bad things in one lifetime than anyone he'd ever known. "I had no choice, I had to -"
The fierce woman ignored Randall's words as she stepped past him toward the shelter. She leaned inside and hesitated, and her jaw dropped at the sight. She shook her head slowly and her eyes saddened as she saw Inali: Thick wires led from Inali's torso to her pale shaved head, and God only knew what other implants Cerberus put inside. Some of Inali's biotic implants still glowed. Her body armor had burn marks from Randall's gunfire, and Randall's biotic attacks had bruised her body.
The second woman arrived and removed her helmet. This woman had shoulder-length brunette hair. "I'm Lieutenant Commander Ashley Williams. We got here as fast as we could."
"Randall Ezno, and I sure wish we didn't meet like this."
"Likewise, Randall." Her eyes looked him over. "Your combat armor looks beat to hell. I don't know how you're still standing. All right, just so you know, you'll be in a holding cell under guard while you're on the Normandy. We'll take your weapons pack now, and you'll take off your armor once we've got you aboard."
Randall nodded. "No problem. I won't give you any trouble. But please, just help my friend."
"We'll do what we can." Ashley looked over her shoulder as the Normandy's rifle-armed crewmembers set up a perimeter around the landing site. One of them retrieved Randall's weapons pack.
Nearby, the fierce woman spoke quietly toward Inali, just loud enough for Randall and Ashley to hear. "What did those bastards do to you…." The woman glanced back at Randall with narrow eyes, and seemed to aim her glance at the Cerberus markings on his combat armor. "Just stay there, Mr. Cerberus. Give me a minute." She looked at Ashley and said, "Mr. Cerberus here should have cuffs on him."
Ashley frowned. "Shepard doesn't think so, Jack. Neither do I. Just help her, all right?"
Randall saw Inali eyes open, slowly. Inali looked up at Jack and managed a slight smile. "I like...your hairstyle..."
"Shhhh," said Jack. "What's your name?"
"Inali. It's Inali…."
"I'm Jack. We'll be good friends after you live through this."
A bubble of biotic energy formed around Inali. Randall noticed that the bubble didn't have the violent turbulence of the biotic storm that he used as a weapon.
Jack stepped out of the shelter and looked toward Ashley as the medics arrived. "That'll buy her some time."
As the medics examined Inali, shocked expressions crossed all of their faces. "Christ almighty," said one of them. Another gave Randall a look. "What the hell did you do to her?"
"Don't start with me, dipshit!"
Ashley glared at the medic. "Just do your job." She toggled her com. "Skipper, it's Ashley. Tell Joker for God's sake we'll have to haul ass. Ezno's okay but his friend is a mess. And Skipper, you've got to see what they did to her. You won't believe it. Out."
The medics worked quickly. As they lifted Inali's stretcher, Randall noticed that a rifle-armed crewmember walked behind him as they jogged to the Normandy. The wind blew sand into his air and chafed his skin as they went. Even in the desert's sweltering heat, Randall felt like a cold ball of ice had materialized in his stomach every time he looked at Inali. He glanced at the flames from the fire towers one last time, and he couldn't wait to leave.
The woman named Jack looked sharply at Randall as the group climbed up the boarding ramp. "Hey, Cerberus. You're going to kill them, right?"
Randall didn't flinch this time. "Yes. I swear to God, I will kill every last one of them." The woman looked angry, but Randall didn't believe her anger was meant for him.
The blowing wind silenced as the boarding ramp closed. After climbing aboard the Normandy and getting out of the planet's furnace-like heat, Randall felt like he'd walked into a refrigerator. Everyone steadied themselves as the Normandy lifted off, and then accelerated with a jolt. Randall's eyes stayed on Inali's stretcher the entire time. He noticed that Jack's eyes did, too. The medics lifted the stretcher and carried Inali out, as Ashley and a crew member stood up and escorted Randall away. The woman named Jack turned to follow the medics.
Randall spoke after her as she walked out. He asked a question, but it felt more like a statement. "She doesn't have a chance, does she?"
Jack didn't look back. "You never know, Cerberus. I hope she gets lucky."
The crew member tugged Randall forward. Randall stared ahead and thought he might fall apart, but he did his best not to show it.
"Hey. Soldier." It was Ashley, and her calm expression helped steady him. "You got her this far. And the guys on this ship have a way of pulling off miracles."
At that moment, for the first time in a long time, Randall Ezno allowed himself a moment, just a moment, of hope.