1.
Elysium, 2176.
"You fucking lying, cheating sack of shit!"
His fist swung out and she caught him in the face with a right cross. The man crashed into the table behind him and fell to the floor, bringing beer bottles and a bowl of peanuts with him.
"I'd say someone is a very sore loser." She shook her head and grabbed her winnings from the edge of the pool table. He clutched what she hoped was a broken jaw and spat at her feet. "What would your mama think, hearing you talk like that?" she called over her shoulder.
"Who the fuck do you think you are?" he shouted, drawing the attention of whatever bar patrons weren't already looking at them.
She turned, glaring, and clenched her hands into fists at her side. She'd been trying to keep her anger in check lately and, admittedly, hanging out in a bar and taking some asshole's money didn't help. "Look, buddy, you don't really want to do this. I'm gonna finish my drink and leave. You should clean up your mess and do the same."
He started for her and she held up her left hand, ready to defend herself. Her right ached by her side and she wasn't up to breaking it on his head. She could still easily take him out, but then she'd be outing herself as a professional and cause even more trouble.
Before he could swing at her again, a commotion broke out near the bar's entrance and someone screamed. Her hand went straight to the pistol concealed against her inner thigh. This was a bar full of colony workers and tourists on their last credits, so it saw its fair share of fights and robberies. She'd been present for a handful the last few days and now a participant. This, however, felt different and wrong.
The screaming continued and she was moving forward. The main entrance couldn't be seen directly from the billiard room, so she moved towards the half - wall dividing the areas and peered around the corner. There were men, mainly Batarian, filing into the bar with full armor and weapons. Everyone stood stock- still as the men scanned the bar, guns raised. She quickly dropped out of sight.
"Shit," she groaned, flicking her omni-tool on as she walked back into the billiard room and searched for an escape route. "Last day of my goddamn shore leave, of course."
One of the windows at the back of the room had a loose hinge; she popped it open and climbed through with ease. The building was only one story so she landed outside quickly and silently. She stuck her head back in through the window and looked at the people standing around in shock.
"Oh, by the way, I'm Second Lieutenant Jane Shepard of the Alliance. It looks like we're getting raided. You may want to follow me."
Three days later, Jane Shepard found herself holed up in the dining room of a hotel with one hundred and four scared civilians. Few of them had held a gun before, only a handful knew how to use one, and none had combat experience. Jane spent what little time she had aside from patrolling the hotel perimeter to teach each person how to defend themselves.
They were running too low on water and people were getting anxious for any news from outside. Jane grabbed Milo, a colony kid who helped her keep the civilians somewhat sane, and took him aside. She hadn't come across any other Alliance marines, and the communications array was knocked out on day one. The raider forces rounded up civilians left and right to rob, kill, kidnap, and God knows what else. Jane hated being made responsible for other lives, especially ones that couldn't defend themselves. But what other choice did she have?
"I'm going on a supply run and I might be gone awhile. I'll check for comms again and look around for survivors, but I'll be back, okay?" He nodded in understanding and she patted his shoulder. "Keep it quiet and don't let them eat each other." She winked and walked toward the hallway.
Jane had boarded up most of the doors and windows, but not enough to be obvious to anyone outside. It was hard enough trying to conceal this many people - she didn't need to advertise where they were hiding. The door to the hallway wasn't barricaded. If anyone got that close, she figured a dining table against the door wouldn't keep them out much longer anyway.
She took out her pistol and walked quietly down the hallway to the lobby. This was the same hotel she'd checked into only a week ago. It was her first real shore leave after enlisting four years ago. Figures, she thought as she kicked an empty suitcase out of the way, scattering tour brochures and broken glass. Fly halfway across the galaxy and pay thousands of credits so I can do the same ol' shit in paradise.
She scavenged the hotel down to its last cracker on the second day, so she left as soon as she was sure no one new had crept in. The entrance to the hotel looked out onto expansive gardens and one road leading of the property. Jane used the scope on her pistol to check for any movement. Typically, she would have called up a program on omni-tool to scan for life forms, but she wasn't going to risk pinging on someone else's radar right now. With comms down, stealth was the priority.
Jane walked near the road for about a kilometer, keeping inside the tree line so she could hide if necessary. The town was visible at this point and she could make out some movement near the buildings 500 meters ahead of her. Bringing her scope back to her eye, Jane watched figures move in and out of the structures. Her specialty was moving in the shadows so she felt no unease about slipping through unnoticed. But finding what she was looking for? Purification tablets, a filter, or even bottled water... Sneaking in was easy, but the thought of coming back empty-handed had her stomach in knots.
She watched through her scope for a couple of minutes, counting bodies and memorizing positions. Smearing a handful of mud on her face, she swore at the smell and longed for her omni-tool's cloaking mechanism.
"When I said I wanted a spa day," she mumbled as she adjusted the empty pack on her back. "Not quite what I meant."
She moved along the tree line again and reached the first building quickly. There weren't any raiders in the immediate vicinity (Amateurs.), which made her job a lot easier right now. Jane darted around a couple corners slipped past the buildings on the outer edge of town. She'd gone through them previously and the most important supplies wouldn't be kept out here anyway.
The buildings out here were mainly service and transportation related. She needed stores and residential, which were in the center of town. This meant more eyes and guns looking for someone like her, someone getting desperate.
Keeping her gun close, Jane crouched behind two stacked empty crates and listened. She could hear voices in the distance moving closer to her hiding spot.
"- and I don't care what he says," a gruff voice said. "I'm not gonna be here like a sitting du-"
It was cut off with a sharp snap and a thud. Jane held her breath. She heard someone else gasp and it was answered with what was definitely a hard punch.
She exhaled slowly and as quietly as possible. Whoever just took out these two could easily be another raider. Their kind wasn't known for loyalty. Clutching her pistol tight, she waited for footsteps. Nothing. Another slow breath in and out. She only had her pistol and a small knife on her - not nearly enough to take on a gang.
"Come out from behind there," someone said, with more authority than Jane liked. Her cover was blown, so she slipped the knife out from her thigh holster and gripped it in her free hand.
She didn't move. "Not keen on taking orders from a slaver," she replied.
"Well, good. I'm not a slaver anyway. Alliance." He laughed - short and quiet.
Jane rose and aimed the gun directly at his head. He was taller than her and looked a good deal heavier. This fight was going to hurt. "And I'm supposed to believe that because...?" She waved her knife- wielding hand towards him and shook her head. "I'd rather assume the worst than get packed in a crate and shipped off to Kar'shan."
He looked at her steadily and moved to grab something from a pocket on his chest. She stepped towards him and nodded towards her gun.
"One wrong move and I'm taking you down, sucker."
He pulled his hand from the pocket and dangled a chain with two dog tags attached. Jane swallowed down the acid that had been rising in her throat at the thought of fighting this guy.
The man held his hands up. "Captain Steve Rogers, Special Forces." Jane's eyes swept to his right arm where his designation would have been. "I'm was trying to blend in. N7 raiders aren't too common in these parts."
Jane glared at him. The excuse made sense and she was more than a little desperate for some help out of this beautiful hellhole. She let out an exasperated sigh and lowered her gun.
"What the fuck took so long?"