As I lay me down to sleep..
By Sue Coldfeather.
She liked this planet, it was sunny and she could hear the breaking surf on the coast just over the ridge. She took off her helmet and tossed it down beside her.
Damn, but it was good to feel the sun on her face.
The salarians all around her were firing their weapons, calling to one another, as bullets and weapons energy blasted all around them, putting on one last show before they too bowed out.
She looked to her right and caught the dead eyes of one of the STG team. She didn't know who he was, this saddened her somewhat.
See ya soon, buddy.
She lay prone against a large boulder, the wind catching tendrils of her sweat soaked hair, tossing them around her face and into her eyes. She had lost her weapon long ago; she didn't think that she had the strength now to hold on to it anyway.
Some marine I turned out to be.
She looked down the length of her body, her kinetic shields had failed for the last time about twenty minutes ago, when a Geth destroyer had gotten in a lucky shot and destroyed her power pack. Now her armour was all but useless, just heavy dead weight, no shields, no communications and no medical assistance.
Unfortunately, when the Geth had destroyed her power pack and rendered her armour useless, she had been leading a charge. Within seconds she had been riddled with bullets, sure her armour had taken the majority of them, but one had found its way in past the many weaves in her Colossus armour and had secured a home someplace in her lower body. Judging by the amount of blood she was seeing, she was pretty sure it was someplace serious. She had managed to drag herself behind this boulder and here she had lain for the past ten minutes, slowly bleeding out.
No back up coming now, she thought, I read as dead to everyone back on the Normandy.
Idly, she wondered if this would balance the karma scales. Her grandfather had surrendered to the turians, way back when, now she was here dying with a group of salarians.
Gotta count for something.
She shifted herself slightly, in an attempt to hide some more behind the boulder. Searing pain tore through her body, causing her vision to blur. She stopped and tried to control her breathing until the pain passed. Slowly the pain subsided into a sharp throb and her vision cleared.
"Okay, no more moving," she said softly, to the dead salarian opposite her.
Ever.
Minutes passed, she felt her breathing grow shallow and her vision began to darken. The sounds of battle faded and all she could hear was the breaking of the surf and the call of the sea birds. The pain began to fade and she savoured the warm sunshine on her face.
Yeah, this was a nice planet.
Hold the boat, Dad, I'm coming.