Chief Jason Stratton paced the cargo bay impatiently, stopping periodically to check and then re-check each of his weapons. The ship that he was assigned to and XO of, the SSV Carinthia, had just finished a successful mission in the far reaches of the Attican Traverse and was heading for the Tarin Relay when it received a distress message from Mindoir, one of humanity's most promising new colonies. The message had been sent by a young girl whose face Jason couldn't get out of his mind. She couldn't have been a day older than sixteen and there had been tears streaming down her face. Her message had consisted of only eight words, but they'd been enough for Captain Sorensen to issue the order to turn around and head to Mindoir.
Please help me. The Batarians are killing everyone.
"Stop pacing," Kara scolded as he passed by her yet again, the young corporal crossing her arms across her chest and giving him a stern look. "You're making me anxious."
"I just want to get down there," Jason said with a frustrated sigh as he slumped against the side of a rover. "The longer that girl is down there alone . . ."
"I'm sure she'll be fine," Miles said as he too leaned against the rover, the young Adept chewing on a special energy bar. "She was smart enough to get a distress call out, so I'm sure she's found a good place to hide."
"Are you expecting trouble Corporal?" Jason asked, turning to look at the boy beside him. "That's the second one of those I've seen you eat in the last ten minutes."
"I just want to be prepared," Miles said as he placed the last chunk of energy bar in his mouth. "We have no idea how many hostiles were going up against. If there are a lot of them and their well armed, this is going to be a long fight."
"I don't care how well armed they are," Kara replied as she loaded some shredder ammo into both her assault rifle and her shotgun. "They don't stand a chance against eleven Alliance marines."
Jason ran a hand back through his jet black hair as he assessed the other two squads that would be going ground side with his. Gunnery Chief Andrews and his squad of two Infiltrators and one Engineer would be dropped first and then Gunnery Chief Heyman and her squad of two Vanguards and one Sentinal would be dropped second. Jason and his squad would be dropped last. Two things occurred to him as he looked around the cargo hold. Firstly, all the soldiers taking part in this mission were quite young. Jason himself was only 21 years old and secondly, he realised that once they were on the ground, he would be the ranking officer.
"Ninety seconds until first drop marines" Captain Sorensen's voice announced over the ship's comm. "Let's get down there and show those Batarian bastards what happens to people who mess with an Alliance colony."
"OK marines listen up," Jason said as the comm. went offline. "For the vast majority of us, this won't be the first time we've fought Batarians. We know they're dangerous opponents, so let's go over our plan of attack one more time. Andrews?"
"Sir," the older man said, a serious look on his face. "My squad and I will find elevated vantage points around the colony where we can pick off enemy combatants. While three of us are engaging the enemy, our engineer will attempt to disrupt any means of communication the Batarians are using."
"Good," Jason said with a nod. "Heyman?"
"Sir," the short woman said, snapping to attention. "My squad and I will attack any hostiles in the north and east sectors of the colony. We will also attempt to rescue any survivors."
"Perfect," Jason said, nodding once more. "That just leaves my squad. We'll be clearing the south and west sectors of the colony and we too will be attempting to rescue any survivors. As long as we stick to the plan, we should have the Batarians finished off in no time."
oOo
Jason was watching Heyman's squad being deployed when his suit radio crackled to life and he heard Andrews' voice.
"Sir . . ." the gunnery chief said quietly, his voice sounding almost defeated. "We were too late. This place . . ."
"Give me a preliminary report marine," Jason said a little forcefully.
"There are bodies everywhere," Andrews said, trying to steady his voice. "The vast majority are human, but we've counted three or four Batarians as well. It looks like the colonists put up a fight."
"Can you see anything else?" Jason asked as the ships hydraulics started hissing and the door in the cargo bay slowly started to open in preparation for his teams drop.
"Private Wells reported seeing cages of humans near the small spaceport," Andrews replied. "That leads me to believe these Batarians aren't raiders. They're slavers."
"Damn it. Have you seen any Batarian ships take off?" Jason asked as Kara and Miles appeared at his side.
"No sir," said Andrews. "What are your orders?"
"Report this information to Captain Sorensen," Jason said as the drop ramp started to extend. "Then you and your team should focus your attack on the space port. Try and prevent any of those animals from taking off."
"Will do sir," the Gunnery Chief said seriously. "Andrews out."
"You two ready?" Jason asked as he turned to his squad.
"Of course," Miles said as he flexed his fingers. "Ready to kick some Batarian arse Chief."
"I'm always ready," Kara said with a smirk. "Someone has to keep you two out of trouble."
"Good," Jason nodded. "Let's go."
oOo
"Oh my god," Kara muttered under her breath.
Mindoir was basically in ruins. Houses were on fire, bodies were lying in the streets and there was blood everywhere. Jason could tell from a quick visual scan of the area that the colonists had put up a valiant fight, but they'd been overpowered and outnumbered by their enemy.
"Batarians!" Miles called suddenly, the young biotic firing his pistol at something behind Jason and Kara, causing them to swing around quickly.
Jason caught a brief glance of three Batarians scrambling for cover before he and his squad dove behind a pile of crates.
"Nice save short stack," Kara grinned as she equipped her assault rifle and then popped her head out of cover, waiting for a second before firing a volley of bullets and then ducking back. "Got one."
"You two cover me," Jason said as he equipped his shotgun. "Move up only when I give you the all clear."
The two corporals nodded and a few seconds later, Jason shot out of cover and ran to a near-by burnt out house, pressing his back against the wall. The other two Batarians had taken cover just around the corner. Taking a deep breath, Jason pushed off from the wall and ducked around the corner, the sounds of two shots echoing through the air.
"Did he get them?" Miles asked anxiously after a few seconds of silence.
"Of course he did," Kara grinned as she stood up. "He's the best."
No sooner had she said that than Jason appeared and motioned them forward. The three of them continued like that for nearly twenty minutes, making sure to do a quick sweep of each building they came across for any survivors. They didn't find any. They soon met up with Heyman's squad at what looked to be the centre of the colony.
"When Andrews radioed me, he reported that a member of his squad had seen people in cages," Jason said softly to the shorter woman. "Did you come across anything like that?"
"We did," Heyman said, the expression on her face telling the young Chief what she'd seen had distressed her. "There were four cages and they were being heavily guarded. When we attacked the guards . . . they opened fire on the cages."
"Animals," Jason said angrily. "Alright. We need to get to the spaceport as soon as possible. If some cages have already been loaded, we might still have a chance of rescuing the people in them."
After everyone did a quick check of their weapons, they set off as one squad instead of two towards the space port. Jason and Kara were bringing up the rear, keeping their eyes peeled for any Batarian stragglers when there was a massive explosion, the ground shaking in its wake.
"What the hell was that?" Heyman yelled back at them as the group came to a halt, looking around wildly.
"Andrews," Jason yelled into his comm. "What the hell was that?"
"Those crazy sons-a-bitches," Andrews swore, and Jason could tell that he was running. "They blew up the transport ship and now they're piling in to the remaining one. They're going to try and run!"
"Do whatever you can to stop them," Jason ordered. "Stratton out. Ok everyone, we need to get to the spaceport now. Double time marines."
The seven marines made it across the colony to the spaceport in record time, all thoroughly out of breath but ready for a fight. Pieces of and bodies from the destroyed ship were scattered everywhere.
"Wipe them out," Jason ordered the others before they split into their original squads and set about the systematic annihilation of the remaining Batarians who were waiting to board the ship.
They'd killed around twenty or twenty five before the Batarian ship took off. Since they hadn't been equipped with heavy weapons, there hadn't been any way to prevent this, but that didn't really matter. The Carinthia was still in orbit and Jason had no doubt that Captain Sorensen would be waiting for the slavers. They were as good as dead.
"Andrews, Heyman on me," Jason called as he holstered his assault rifle. "The rest of you spread out and secure the area."
The three squad leaders were standing in a group discussing the best way to thoroughly check the colony when a massive explosion echoed somewhere high above them and they looked up as a bright flash lit up the sky.
"Nice work Captain," Jason said into his suit radio. "Orders?"
"Thankyou Chief," Sorensen replied a moment later. "Reinforcements are on the way, but it's going to be a while until they arrive, so until then just search for survivors as best you can."
"Aye aye sir," he replied. "Ok everyone. Get into groups of two and fan out. Check each house for any survivors and give them whatever assistance you can."
"What about you?" Heyman asked as Jason readied his assault rifle and cracked his neck. "You're the odd one out."
"Don't worry about me Gunnery Chief," he said with a confident smile. "I have a mission of my own. There's someone I need to find."
oOo
"Are you sure this is where the signal originated from?" Jason asked as he ducked under a low branch and moved further into the forest.
"Positive," came the reply through his suit radio. "Keep your eyes peeled. That place would make a perfect ambush point for any stragglers."
"You're not kidding," Jason replied. "Stratton out."
The chief moved through the trees and thick underbrush as quietly as he could for several minutes, his eyes trained on the area ahead of him, before he came across the corpse of a Batarian slaver. As he bent down to examine the body, Jason saw there were four bullet holes, most likely from a pistol, in the alien's chest. He was getting closer. Jason straightened up and was considering which direction to go in next when he heard a crunching sound close behind him and froze.
"Drop that gun and put your hands on your head."
That voice. It was her.
"My name is Chief Jason Stratton," he said as he laid his assault rifle on the ground. "I'm with the Alliance. You're the girl who sent the distress message am I right?"
" . . . Turn around."
Jason did as he was told, his hands still on his head and wasn't at all surprised when he came face to face with the girl from the message. Her crop of short, dark brown hair was caked with mud and her face was covered in dirt and scratches, but her brown eyes though bloodshot from crying, were burning with fury as she aimed the pistol at his face.
"I'm the executive officer of the SSV Carinthia," Jason said calmly. "My men and I were dropped to deal with the Batarians after we received your message."
"Did you kill them?" the young colonist asked as tears began to trickle down her cheeks and she swallowed hard. "Did you kill the monsters that murdered my family?"
"We're doing another sweep of the colony to deal with any stragglers and to aid any surviving colonists, but I'm pretty sure they're all dead," the chief said as he lowered his hands and took a step forward. "I'm sorry for your loss."
The girl clenched her jaw in an effort to fight back anymore tears, her hands shaking as Jason took another tentative step towards her before she dropped the gun and started sobbing uncontrollably as he took her into his arms and held her tightly. She was shivering like crazy; not surprising considering that she was wearing a thin pair of brown shorts with black suspenders and a white tank top.
"My dad he, he told me to run," the girl cried into his chest. "But I, I should've stayed and helped him defend the farm."
"You did the right thing," Jason said quietly. "Your father wanted you to survive and if he could see you now I'm sure he would be very proud."
"Chief Stratton?"
"What is it Andrews?" Jason asked after releasing the girl and sitting her carefully down on a near-by log.
"All squads have completed their sweeps of the colony," the disheartened gunnery chief replied. "There are no survivors, human or Batarian."
"Actually," the chief said as he watched his companion pull her knees up to her chest and wrap her arms around them. "There is one survivor. I'm about to bring her in."
"Thank god. Is it the girl who sent us the message? Is she alright?" Andrews asked, an edge of both relief and concern present in his voice.
"She's scared and she has a few cuts and bruises," Jason began. "But apart from that all she needs is a shower and a hot meal."
"OK. I'll alert the captain and the others," the gunnery chief replied. "Andrews out."
"So I'm the only one left," the girl said softly as Jason sat down beside her and started applying what medi-gel he had left to worst of her cuts. "My mother was right. I really am like a cat with nine lives."
"Then, do you think I could borrow a couple of them?" Jason asked as he sat back and cast his eye over his handy work. "Trouble has a way of finding me and some extra lives could come in handy."
"Ok," the girl said with a weak but genuine laugh. "On one condition."
"Which is?" he asked with a grin.
"You'll have to carry me out of here," the young colonist said sheepishly. "My feet are in pretty bad condition. I don't think I can walk on them anymore."
"Deal," Jason said as he scooped her up. "Why don't you try and get some sleep? You must be exhausted."
"I'll try," the girl said as she wrapped her arms around his neck and rested her head on his shoulder. "Just promise me you'll be there when I wake up."
oOo
15 years later
oOo
Commander Jason Stratton walked into the Dark Star Lounge late in the afternoon and a smile graced his lips as his eyes found her sitting at the bar staring wearing her black N7 armour and staring into the glass in front of her. A long time had passed since he'd last seen her in person, but she still looked like the frightened girl he'd met on Mindoir. He'd followed her career from basic training right through to when she saved the Citadel.
"You know, you really shouldn't be drinking at this time of the day," Jason teased as he sat down on the stool beside her. "It'll set a bad example for your crew."
"It's good to see you too Jason," she said with a smile as she turned to face him. "I'm glad you could make it."
"You're a hard woman to refuse," he replied. "Also, I figured that you wanted to talk to me about something important . . . like the Reapers."
"So you believe me about them?" the woman asked, relief clearly present in her voice and on her face.
"I always have," Jason replied. "The council can cover everything up with lies and bury their heads in the sand if they want, but sooner or later the Reaper fleet be here and by then it'll be too late to stop them."
"Then, I guess the only thing left to do is ask you to join my crew," the woman said with a grin. "We're not going to sit around and wait. We're taking the fight to them."
"I'd love too. It'll mean incurring the wrath of the Alliance, but who gives a shit," Jason smirked. "It'll be an honour to serve alongside you . . . Commander Shepard."