Disclaimer: Clearly Bioware owns all. I just like to play with their toys.
The coppery sweet smell of blood filled the air, causing Commander Shepard to stifle a small gag as she leaned against one of the crates she was using for cover. It wasn't so much the blood itself that was getting to her as it was who the blood was from. Captain Anderson lay at her feet, his one remaining eye staring glassily back at her, the other eye and half his head splattered against the back wall. She wanted to vomit.
Beside her she heard the Asari's empty pistol round fall to the floor as she struggled to load in a new clip. More used to biotics than weaponry she was having a difficult time but she had proved herself in the last few hours and Shepard had to admit a begrudging respect for the quiet woman.
A burst of gunfire sounded from her left and she forced her gaze from Anderson's empty one to meet the eyes of her newfound Turian ally. His gaze, when he met hers, was grim as well. For a brief moment they acknowledged the same unspoken communication before he lifted the Assault rifle and fired once more into the warehouse.
The situation was grim; they weren't going to be able to hold back their attackers much longer. The blue light of her biotics surrounded Shepard, focusing her mind as she let flow a stream of energy that had the merc falling to the floor, hands grasping uselessly at his throat as he desperately tried to breathe in the air that was simply no longer there. If she got out of here alive, Shepard vowed that she was going to send Samara a gigantic gift basket in exchange for teaching her that skill.
Well that's one down and only about a hundred more to go. A concussive round hit her in the stomach, sending her stumbling back to the floor as her gun went flying to the floor at her side. All around her the sounds of battle raged, another shot exploded near her head and the world went awash in white noise.
Sound and awareness returned to her in a disorienting flash as a familiar laugh rose above the noise of the battle. Quickly she reached for her gun, turning just in time to watch her nemesis deposit a bullet into the Asari's shoulder, dropping her as she screamed in pain. The wound glowed bright red.
Shepard opened fire but her bullets bounced off the shield as if they were little more than gnats. Another shot and the Turian fell as well, the shot lodging in the side of his body. Unlike the Asari he lay still and quite, blue blood seeping slowly into the cold ground.
Shepard stood, biotics flaring as she scrambled backwards for cover, desperately trying to slow down the approaching mercs. Her back hit the wall with an ominous slam and she watched a cruel smile twist the other woman's features, "Shepard, alone at last."
A shot rang out, piercing her shields and armor to lodge in her thigh. She refused to scream even as the pain forced her to crouch, her eyes steady as she faced the other woman down.
"I am going to enjoy killing you, human."
A well aimed hit with a rifle butt sent her head snapping back as two mercs grabbed her, hauling her up for the other woman's examination. With the last of her strength, she used her biotics to push the two mercs across the warehouse, "Fuck you."
"So good of you to try and keep things interesting, Shepard." The assault rifle clicked once as a new cartridge loaded. For a second Shepard allowed herself to feel a pang of regret, her mind settling on the image of Garrus as she had last seen him on the Normandy. It was the second time she would be leaving him without saying goodbye.
She had never told him she loved him.
Tears burned at the back of her throat but she pushed them back, refusing to grant the bitch before her the satisfaction of seeing her break before she died. In her heart, she began to let go of everything she was leaving behind. She felt her features settle into a peaceful, impassive mask as the sound of a gunshot reverberated through the building.