With the realization that he was trailing along after some kid like a lost puppy came a smile from Officer Gascon. It was only momentary, slightly sheepish, and completely hidden from view. Sydel was how old anyway - sixteen? - and had half of the local guards following her (even if that was only two), along with a handful of colonists. Why the hell didn't someone put her in charge a long time ago?
Just the look in her eyes gave Gascon the strong hope that they'd be getting out of this. Not the slightest glint of doubt or fear; just unbridled determination, with the distant flicker of hate. Honestly, Gascon wouldn't want to be the batarians right now. Sydel looked at 'em like she was getting ready to rip out their intestines - or whatever those damn aliens had - and strangle them with it. With her teeth.
But he wasn't naive. He could look at the batarians, see the blue shimmer of their shields, and know that the weapons they had weren't cut out for it. Hell, last week, he struggled to kill a damned varren with his shitty little military-issued pistol that wasn't even supposed to see any action. They were just some little farming colony, after all. Who the fuck planned for slavers? Gascon just hoped that Sydel wasn't as naive as she looked. As strongly as she held on to that pistol from her dad, he silently prayed that she didn't think it made her indestructible. With every glance over her shoulder, she was looking more and more suspicious of every wind that whistled through the trees, of every shadow that shifted out of the corner of her eye.
So maybe she wasn't all that naive. Maybe they did have a chance. Gascon had wondered exactly how that pistol fell into her hands if her parents were still around, and maybe that gave him his answer. Maybe they were gone, and maybe at that moment, any modicum of naivete she had was washed away.
In which case, he just wanted those damned batarians even more.
"Sydel," Gascon's patrol partner, Hendricks, called out, looking just as suspicious as Shepard but much more frazzled about it. "Should we hold out for the Alliance? Maybe we can-"
"Alliance can't get through," she answered, and despite her cutting him off, the words were gentle enough that Hendricks wasn't offended. "We can't hang around while they're trying to get around the batarian defenses. We need to go to them." Her fingers tightened around her pistol momentarily, Gascon noted, as she looked back towards the settlement. "We were lucky to slip out the way we did... and we can't go back." The last note was with both resolution and regret, and Hendricks didn't question her.
Looking to his immediate right, Gascon checked on Stan, their little insurrectionist. That asshole had insisted on questioning everything the kid did. That is, until Sydel had the shields of one of the batarians down in a heartbeat and was pumping rounds into it before anyone could even get their weapon out. Then, every time he opened his mouth and she gave him that look that was 1/4 expectance, 1/4 acceptance, and 1/2 intimidation, his words were much more respectful than Gascon had ever heard.
That batarian hadn't even stood a chance, though. Her omni-tool had fried those shields, somehow, probably something her father had taught her. Gascon didn't doubt that that man had the ability to make the damn 'tool for her. Not many colonists got them, but if anyone knew how to use it, it'd be the Shepards.
Stan had stared straight ahead, though Gascon felt that he knew he was being watched. His jaw set in a defiant angle, he walked forward. "The batarians'll probably make another sweep," Stan said, the clenching of his jaw clear in his words. "I don't think they have the luxury," Shepard said over her shoulder. "The Alliance is drawing a lot of their attention and resources. If we can just get far enough passed the colony borders, we might be able to bunker down and wait for them to leave. They have their colonists."
Suddenly, one of the women Hendricks found spoke up, "W-we're just gonna let them leave with our neighbors? Or friends? Or family? Sydel, you know better!" The other woman wrapped an arm around her shoulder, squeezing. "Please, Alice, she's-"
"My baby's on that ship! And my husband... and you want us to just leave?"
"Mrs. Bates, I understand. We've all lost a lot this day. Some of us have lost everything. But we haven't lost our lives. If we go back there, though, we will." Shepard's tone was even and gentle, and the woman's crazed eyes seemed to relax. "I- okay. That doesn't make it any easier, but... okay." Her shoulder's hunched under her sister's arm and she let out hushed sobs. "Talitha will be okay, alice... we'll find her."
She didn't seem to believe the words. Neither did her sister.