"I thought you said the drop point was safe?!" Thrakk yelled over the sound of the explosions that were causing the drop ship to rock.

"I never said that!" Gothis replied, holding onto a rail to keep him on his feet. "I said this spot has the most friendlies!"

"Usually that means the same thing!" Astalia chimed in, her almost dreamy voice nearly drowned out in the noise.

"Usually!" Gothis iterated. Another buck nearly threw Astalia out of her seat.

"Boots on the ground in 1 minute!" The pilot's voice came through the intercom.

"Everyone get ready!" Gothis said. "When the doors open we go out one at a time people, form up and provide cover fire!" Astalia clicked her helmet into place, listening to the hiss as it stabilised her internal oxygen supply. She stepped back in between Thrakk and Chatti, noting that while the Turians had their helmets on, the Krogan did not. After a few seconds with nothing but the heavy shaking of the shuttle and the occasional explosions, the sounds of gunfire and screams permeated the hull. Inertia kicked in as the drop ship slowed down and pulled up slightly. The doors cracked open, allowing the full force of the battle to hit the team. The cross section of street in front of them was wrecked, with various forces fighting in the debris. Some buildings were destroyed, pieces of furniture and personal effects scattered around the battlefield covered in shattered glass and the silver that once gave Palaven it's beauty. Without warning, Gothis dropped from the ship and fell out of Astalias view. A steady rattling shot through the enclosed space as Chatti provided covering fire. After a minute the Turian shouldered his weapon and dropped down onto the ground as it compacted into place on his back. The chattering from the assault rifle was replaced by a stream of steady explosions as Nar raised his shotgun to cover him. Landing with a very audible thud even over the gunfire, the Krogan barrelled through the battlefield towards a little station of cover that housed a small squad of Turian soldiers in which Gothis and Chatti currently resided. Astalia stepped forward, ready to disembark the ship.

"Brute!" Gothis yelled over the radio. The shuttle jolted forwards, smashing Thrakk into Astalia and throwing them both off and into the dirt. Engines screaming, the ship careered after them, spinning around and crashing into the floor. Astalia tucked her head and arms in as the impact shuddered the ground. The ship split into several parts and cratered in an area around her. She looked up, disoriented and deafened, at the wreckage. She realised the fighting hadn't even paused as a shot ricocheted off the ground nearby. As she started to pull herself to cover a loud thud permeated the incessant ringing she could hear. A large chuck of debris several meters to her left was suddenly tossed to one side, and a huge, lumbering figure took shape through the smoke. The Brute waded through the wreckage, dragging it's crab-like claw through the debris. It snarled at Astalia, it's mutilated Turian face full of hatred as it made towards her. She struggled to her unsteady feet, as the Brute neared and raised it's mutated arm in the air. Astalia tried to duck out of the way, she avoided the bulk of the arm narrowly missing the full force of the blow but was caught by the end of the claw. Even though her barriers took most of the impact it was still enough to lift her off her feet and over another piece of wreckage. The winded Asari sucked in air as the Brute climbed over the obstacle between them. She turned around in an attempt to crawl away and came face to face with Thrakks claymore. She reached for it, with the dreadful pounding of the Brutes footsteps getting ever closer. As her hand neared the weapon, a Krogan foot fell on it, pinning the shotgun to the ground.

"I wouldn't use this one if I were you" Thrakk said. Proving his point, he picked up the shotgun, took a step towards the Brute and pulled the trigger. In the space of a half second, the shells were blown out of the shotgun with an even louder boom than had come off the ship, and they travelled the 3 meters between Thrakk and the huge Brute; mashing into and through its heavily armoured head and torso. Astalia felt the air ripple outward from the Claymore, and watched the enormous strength Thrakk exerted to keep his grip. The Brute, or what was left of it, collapsed to the floor. "This thing would've broken both your arms at the least!" He chuckled. Reaching down, he pulled her to her feet. "Come on, Blue. We ain't safe yet!". She nodded and turned around to make her way to Gothis and Chatti. As she reached for her assault rifle, which was already unfolding to meet her grasp, she heard a yell from the wreckage.

"The Pilot!" Astalia exclaimed. "We have to go back." The Krogan rolled his reptilian eyes.

"Right behind you." Thrakk said. Heading towards the sound of the shout, they found what was left of the cockpit. The drop ship had essentially ripped in half in between that and the passenger area where they had been. The front section of the ship, or what was left of it was badly damaged and the Pilot couldn't seem to get the doors open. Astalia could see the Turian struggling in the cockpit through the cracked and smashed windscreen.

"Are you alright in there?" She asked loudly, knocking on the ruined glass-like panel.

"I'm..." She heard him grunt. "I'm stuck!"

"Hang on, let me get this panel out!" Astalia moved away from the front of the wrecked ship and held her right arm outstretched, hand splayed wide open with her palm facing the the windscreen.

"We've got company!" Thrakk yelled, firing his shotgun at a group of husks, turning several of them to pulp. The small horde were clambering over and through any obstacles with unnerving speed, despite Thrakk picking off around four with every shot. Astalia glanced back to see a smaller group approaching her. Looking back at the ship her body started to shimmer as it developed the purple aura that accompanied the use of biotics. She focused on the glass, watching as the aura enveloped it too. She clenched her hand into a fist, and the windscreen shattered. Twisting, she pulled her arm around and launched the glass shards towards the oncoming husks, skewering all of them, and pinning some against the wreckage. Thrakk stomped over to her, glancing to one of the husks pinned off the ground to a piece of wreckage.

"Nice work." He said, chuckling.

"Thank you." She looked back at the struggling pilot. The front of the cockpit had compacted around him, effectively pinning his legs in place. "We need to get him out of there."

"Allow me." Thrakk leaned into the cockpit and began to start prising the pilot out. Astalia stood back as the Krogan threw parts of computer consoles and various bits of the cockpit over his shoulder. She turned around and activated her omni-tool, contacting Gothis as she shouldered her rifle.

"Astalia, glad you're still alive." His voice crackled through.

"As am I. Thrakk is with me, we are getting the pilot out of the wreckage then we will be on our way to your position."

"Right. Hurry up, they're making pushes and our forces have been losing ground all day."

"Got it." She ended the call, and turned around. "Thrakk, how much longer?"

"Not long." the Krogan grunted. "He's half out, just working on his other leg."

"Okay, I just spoke to -" she stopped, as a huge shadow blotted out the sun. The Asari looked up in time to see a pair of huge wings fly past, the gust nearly knocking her off her feet.

"Who did you speak to?" Thrakk asked, not looking up.

"Goddess..." Astalia exclaimed, as the huge winged creature neared them again. It was half organic and cybernetic, with four talon-like legs and a long neck neck with what looked like cannons attached to either side of its head. The face had no discernible features other than a huge blue light that Astalia assumed must've been an eye. It hovered just off the ground for a few seconds before dropping onto the piece of wreckage that was the other half of the ship with a heavy slam. The jolt caused Thrakk to jump up and turn around.

"Aw crap." He said, looking at the menacing abomination was about 10 meters away and looking right at them.

"What is it?" Astalia asked, her eyes fixed on it as it's head bobbed between them, as if it couldn't decide who it wanted to look at.

"It's a Harvester." Thrakk replied, slowly reaching back into the cockpit.

"Please hurry." She said, as the Harvester settled it's gaze on her, its eye lighting up. Time slowed down as it fired a small projectile from one of the cannons on its head. Astalia used her biotics to dash backwards in a flurry of blue energy, avoiding the first strike. She spread her arms and focused the incredible energy into a huge bubble-barrier. The missiles crashed into the barrier one after another, and Astalia felt every explosion with the pressure on her body increasing with each blow. She felt her heart rate speeding up and adrenaline kick in as she fought against the barrage of rockets. Having not been in a combat situation in years, the sudden use of her biotics came as a huge system shock. Turning her head, she saw Thrakk finally pulling the pilot out of the cockpit.

"Okay, let's get out of here!" He yelled over the explosions.

"Right." Astalia said. She waited for a lull in the rockets that were smashing into her shield, and as the Harvester paused she dug in with her heels and pushed, turning the barrier into a wall and forcing it into the monster in front of her. The purple wall smashed into it, knocking it backwards off the makeshift perch and out of view. Astalia was already running after Thrakk and the pilot before the energy dissipated.

"Very nice!" Thrakk laughed as they moved through the rubble.

"Thank you." Astalia said. The ground rumbled under them as a screech signalled the Harvesters return to the air, and a sinister shadow indicated its pursuit. They emerged from an alleyway onto the main road, across the street from the small resistance of Turians they needed to reach. The path ahead of them had little cover, but the overhead screeching left them with little choice. Astalia recoiled as a bullet pinged off the wall next to her and had to duck back into cover behind a nearby collapsed column as a barrage followed. The three backed up as the assault failed to stop, and Thrakk leaned out to fire a few rounds.

"It's like the whole damn place is gunning for us!" He yelled. Astalia leaned out, getting a glimpse of several enemy positions spread about around the well defended Turian outpost just before a shot bounced off her barriers, knocking her back and taking a chunk out of the wall next to her.

"Can you make that shield thing again?!" The Pilot yelled over the noise as Astalia scuffled back behind cover.

"Yes, but probably not across the street with everyone shooting at us!" An orange light flickered on her right wrist as her omni-tool beeped. The display flash-formed as she activated the device to receive the call.

"What's going on over there? What did you do?!" Gothis voice crackled through.

"What? We didn't do anything!" She shouted back over the gunfire.

"You must've done something, every Reaper in sight is going for you!"

"We noticed!"

"Is that Gothis?" Thrakk interjected. "Did you tell him about that Harvester you pissed off?"

"I was getting to that!" She said over her shoulder.

"Did he say Harvester? The one that's been flying above you since you got here?" Gothis asked.

"We had a... Run in with it when we were saving the pilot."

"Run in?"

"It landed on front of us and started firing rockets at me." She said, looking up as its shadow passed over them again.

"Yeah, then she threw it on its ass!" Thrakk laughed. A movement caught Astalias eye above her as a figure dropped from the roof.

"Husks!" The pilot yelled as it jumped on him, both scrambling in the dirt. Astalia drew her pistol as more of them emerged from the wreckage and scaled down the nearby wall.

"We need cover so we can reach you!" She shouted to Gothis as she started firing at the husks descending down to her. Thrakk reached down with one hand and plucked the Husk from the pilot, throwing him down the alley into two other husks. The pilot fell back against the cover and produced his own pistol, firing at anything that came near.

"The squads are moving into position, and we have snipers covering you. If you're coming, now is the time." A new voice came through.

"Chatti's right, you gotta move!" Gothis yelled. The omni-tool faded to free up Astalias hand as she vaulted the collapsed column that they were using as cover. The pilot was right behind her, and Thrakk went around it on her right. They were in the middle of a huge road coming down from her right and going as far left as she could she. The road itself was about 8 metres wide and littered with enemy troops. A ruined park was set on the otherside of the road with huge trees, one or two still standing but the rest had collapsed or been blown down. Further into the park lay the Turian defensive, several encampments of placed cover and soldiers, some of whom were taking advantage of the lack of enemy attention and were pulling back to a huge building complex built into the back of the park. Before Astalias boots hit the ground more shots were ricocheting off the floor around her. She immediately raised her protective bubble around herself, Thrakk and the pilot. As she began to walk across the street she felt every bullet and grenade and rocket that hit her shield. Each time a Husk ran into it, or the Harvester dive bombed them she shuddered as the fatigue started to take its toll. Even with the sniper support that started to pick off enemy soldiers that got too close, and the support that the few Turians in the park were giving Astalia had slowed to a near crawl by the time her feet touched the grass. The pressure built until finally, she couldn't take the strain. The Harvesters shadow gave it away long before it would come back for another run, and it launched another barrage straight at the small group. The bubble barrier shattered with the last hit, knocking Astalia down to one knee. She immediately raised it again as the flying monstrosity screamed past. Thrakk was by her side, his hand on her shoulder.

"C'mon, Blue get up! We have to move!" He yelled.

"I have to drop the barrier!" Astalia panted, her outstretched arms visibly shaking. "I have to drop it or I am going to black out!" Thrakk nodded.

"Do it."

"Get ready to move!" She yelled. As she lowered her arms and the barrier faded back into her, she felt like chaos itself had been thrown at them. All at once bullets whipped past and hammered the ground around them, spraying dust and dirt up in the air. Grenades and rockets laced the foliage lifting leaves and plants into the fray. Astalia lost sight of Thrakk and the pilot as she skidded behind a huge nearby tree. Though her arms were still very weak, she reached for her pistol as the reapers advanced on her. There was no sign of Thrakk anywhere. She fired her weapon, killing a cannibal that tried to flank her. The sun was blotted out as the Harvester made another run at her. The ground around Astalia exploded, throwing up dirt, rock and wood in an angry volcano around her as she scrambled to tuck her arms and legs in. Each shot sprayed past her, cratering holes in the ground nearby. The Asari leaped up before the dust settled, skidding into a dug out trench a bit closer to the building complex. Loose dirt scattered off her shoulders as she leant against the trench wall, bullets crashing in and around the walls near her.

"Hey!" She heard a grizzled voice yell. Looking over to her left, she could see Thrakk and the pilot in a larger trench with some Turian soldiers. He motioned for her to join them. Holstering her pistol and taking a deep breath, she bolted out of the trench towards her team. A shadow fell across the ruined grass as she tried to duck under the bullets that were screaming past her. Above her, The Harvester launched a final salvo of missiles the smashed into the ground behind Astalia, following her in a line. As the first explosion cratered the floor, she twisted, trying to spot the danger and tripped over a rock, hitting the ground hard.

"Blue! Move!" Thrakk yelled over the battle. The Asari struggled to her feet as the projectiles passed over her in a plume of smoke and fire.