Disclaimer: The Mass Effect realm doesn't belong to me. I'd've found myself a nice turian otherwise.
Talk and Dance
Part One: Rhythm
Vega pressed his steps and held a swear back, trying to keep up with the Commander and the turian. Despite his previous lithe answer about the atmosphere being a little thin, making it hard to breath, he couldn't actually point out what was wrong and why it was so hard to stay beside them now. He had no problem of the kind before – not when they hit the ground and were swarmed by husks and not when they were fixing the comm. tower...
"Damn!" he cursed, seeing the fireballs that carried the reaperized ground forces they've been fighting since they stepped on Palaven's moon hit the compound where they hoped to find the Primarch. "That sounds bad!"
"Double time it, people! No Reaper is taking this Primarch from me!" the Commander ordered, increasing her pace and making him swallow yet another swear, but this time it was to save his breath. "James, I want you to take point and deal with CQC, but fall back to mid-range if you see another of those big ones..."
"Aye, aye, Ma'am!" he acknowledged stepping ahead of her and taking cover at the entrance of the compound. He heard the Commander say something to Vakarian, though he couldn't make out the words. He was almost certain he heard the turian chuckle lightly saying 'Just like old times!' just before they entered hell.
It still took him a few more minutes before he could come up with an explanation to the odd feeling, though.
He'd been fighting ahead of them, pressing their way into the camp when he saw the big monstrosity and fell back into cover, changing his shotgun to the assault rifle in a swift movement. It was then that he registered that the Commander had done the exact opposite.
He felt his stomach freeze and watched in awe as she moved from cover to cover, nearer and nearer to that brute of a monster, unloading her shotgun between covers. Around her, the turian things, husks and other smaller reaper-forces fell to the ground in waves as their heads exploded with precise shots. The 'big one' fell shortly before it could reach the Commander.
He blinked over and over again, feeling his heartbeat increase as she danced around the battlefield to a tune he couldn't hear... but Vakarian was clearly able to. He'd seen her fight before, but she never had that fluidity on her movements. He could try and justify it by saying they haven't been fighting together long enough to establish a fighting rhythm, but that wasn't true with the Major and Doc - they had history, too -, but even with them, she hadn't been that... lethal.
He woke up from his gawping onto the Commander's fighting style – and went back to shooting things – when a husk dropped dead near his feet. "You alright there, Lieutenant?" the turian asked, sounding slightly amused, as if he knew exactly what had him distracted.
'I wouldn't be surprised if he actually did...'
James' last thought before focusing back into the fight was about how long it would take for him to learn how to sing in key with Shepard and Vakarian.
A/N: Yeah, so... some of you might've taken notice that I used "Part One" at the title, despite this being the second chapter. Here's the thing: this was the first part of Vega's PoV, and every PoV will have an independent counting. That being said, Joker's chapters are entitled: Watch the Arms, Vega's are called Talk and Dance; and they'll have different subheadings.
So, how am I doing?
Good? Bad? Just give it up, already!
R&R, please!
Yoru.