What do you see?" Rigby squatted down inside the hatch. Beside him, Talens body was half inside the round cut out in the floor around the ladder.
"Too dark to be sure. But I can tell you this: whatever's down here is at the end of a very long, very coverless hallway." Talens' upper body hung upside down in the darkness as he looked through the scope of his newly acquired Lightning Strike IV sniper rifle. "Help me up, would you?"
"What do you wanna do LT?" Rigby looked back up at Shepard.
"We're not going anywhere until we figure out what's down there." Shepard paused, considering his options.
"I may have an idea sir." Shepard looked over the Engineer. "Back on the Liepzig when we were looking over the layout I noticed that the blueprints belongs to Kobol Designs."
"What's your point Engineer?"
"My point is that Kobol Designs is the same architecture firm the Alliance contracts to work on some of their own compounds – I worked on couple during some of my early assignments." At this point the whole squad was standing at watching her expectedly. "Their power grids are built in such a way that they divide their compounds into separate blocks and each block gets its own power cables. I'm guessing the Batarians cut the cables to the upper floors but left the cables to the lower floors intact."
"What makes you say that?" Rigby asked.
"Because they're still down here and because that overload field is still running." Shepard said.
"If you can get me five minutes a console with access to the power grid I can either turn on power to that hallway or redirect whatever power's feeding into the overload field."
"And how would we find one of those?"
"It's easy: just look for a wall panel with this symbol," the Engineer drew invisible lines in the air, "and it means there's an access point behind it."
"I've seen a couple of those!" Rigby shouted.
"Yes, so did I. But the problem is finding a panel on a floor where the power hasn't already been cut."
"Then I know where you can go." Shepard looked straight at the Engineer. "On the eighteenth floor when I was trapped in the labs…the emergency lights were flashing and some synthetic voice was counting down."
"The Batarians must have turned on the power when they tried to flush you out."
"With luck they left it like that," Talens stated.
"You said re-enabling the power would take you five minutes?" Shepard's eyes never moved from the Engineer's.
"Yes."
"So the lights will go on the instant you're finished at the console?"
"Yes Lieutenant."
"Rigby escort the Engineer to the eighteenth floor, fix the problem, and get back here ASAP."
"You got it LT."
"The rest of us move in the minute those lights go on. I didn't come all the way down here just to let these guys get away."
After the other two had left, Shepard leaned against the wall of the hatch and waited.
"The Major was telling the truth, wasn't he?" Talens looked towards Shepard.
"About what?" Shepard kept his eyes closed as he leaned against the wall.
"That kid."
"Yes."
"If you're willing to tell me the truth now then why didn't you tell the Major?"
"I know you're not stupid, Talens. You know very well why."
Akitsu and Pinnell listened on nervously.
"But you admit you're a murderer." Shepard thought back to the first conversation he had ever had with the old man.
"I killed him because he asked me to."
"What?"
Shepard opened his eyes. "I told the kid what I planned to do. I told him who he could save and who he would kill. He agreed and even asked me to kill him."
"If he asked you then why was it covered up?"
"Using the bodies of nineteen year old boys to plant bombs isn't good for publicity. We told his parents what would've killed I'm if I hadn't cut short the process."
"They deserved the truth!"
"What they deserved to be even more unhappy? They deserved the chance to claim that the Alliance is no better than terrorists? What difference does it make in the end? Either way the kid died."
"You lied to them!"
"Let's be fair: the Alliance lied to her. Besides lying, just by itself, is not innately a terrible thing."
"You could at least give the kid respect in death."
"Is that so? I've always been one to think that death is the time when one should care least about showing respect."
"Wha—"
"Lieutenant. We just located the console. The lights should be up in a few minutes." Shepard heard Rigby's voice come through his headset.
"Copy that." Shepard looked around at the other three members of his squad. "Everyone get ready. I'll take point."
Shepard stepped in front of the ladder and waited. Sure enough the lights below him flickered on within a few minutes. "Rigby, lights are up. I want you and the engineer back down here in five."
"Copy that LT."
Shepard dropped to the ground, lay flat on his stomach, and slid his upper body down the hole in the back of the hatch. Once descended, he pulled out his sniper rifle and looked to the end of corridor. His sights followed the lights that had gone on, dotting both walls along the floor, until he saw, 1200 meters off in the distance, a Batarian climbing into the firing compartment of a large mounted cannon.
He fired off a shot that narrowly missed the Batarian, instead bouncing harmlessly off the cannon's rigid external shell. "Get me up! Now!" Shepard felt himself being pulled roughly back out the hole just as the tip of the cannon glowed azure.
"Everyone get back!" Shepard began counting the seconds in his head.
One, one thousand.
Two, one—
The shot reached to the end of the corridor, melting the ladder on contact, and sending a blue flame up into the hatch. The entire room was rocked and the squad, unprepared for the shot, was sent tumbling to the ground.
"What the fuck was that?" Rigby shouted, looking back at Shepard.
"Mass accelerator cannon." Shepard responded.
"And by the sound of it, one that's a lot bigger than the one on our Grizzly." The Engineer pointed it out.
"This is suicide!" Talens shouted. "There's only six of us and the only weapons we have must be pea shooters compared to that cannon! Not to mention the only way to go is straight down that corridor. It's a killing ground! Lieutenant, I suggest we move back to the surface and radio the Liepzig for reinforcements."
"Negative, Corporal. By the time we radio the Liepzig and the reinforcements get here we'll have wasted at least an hour. That's an hour the enemy could use to escape which we already know they plan to do."
"The compound layout didn't show anywhere they could escape to. And even if we did, there's about a dozen Alliance starships waiting to take them out."
"The layouts didn't show this corridor either Corporal, let alone where it leads to. Our orders remain – we will wipe out every last slaver in this base."
"But Lieutenant –"
"This conversation is over Corporal."
Talens pressed his lips tightly together and locked his jaw shut.
"Now my sights locked on to that cannon at approximately 1200 meters from our current location. We have a just under two second delay between it powering up for its next shot and it reaching our end of the corridor." Shepard switched to his assault rifle as he spoke. "Two seconds is plenty. The shots will come quickly but their trajectory is nothing but a straight line. Keep your eyes open and get down once you see the slug approaching. I want everyone equipped with rapid-fire weapons. Worst comes to worst you shoot straight at the slug; these things are soft – that's it didn't punch a hole through that wall."
Shepard looked around at the squad. Obviously, Talens had stirred up some reticence to go down.
"You hear me soldiers?"
After a brief pause, Rigby stepped forward. "We hear you LT. You lead, and we follow." Akitsu, Pinnell, and the Engineer nodded at the statement.
"Corporal?"
"Yes, Lieutenant."
"Then let's get going." Shepard moved towards the hole and prepared to lower himself down.
"One way drop, huh LT?" Rigby noted.
"Not like we're coming back anyways," Talens muttered under his breath.
As soon as Shepard's feet hit the metal floor he saw a faint blue light start up at the other end of the corridor. "Get back from the hatch! Once the next shot hits I want the next man in here!"
"Copy that LT!" Rigby shouted down into the hole.
Shepard held his rifle against his body and began sprinting forward.
One. Shepard saw the blue orb flying towards him.
Two. Shepard dropped down and let his chest touch the floor only momentarily before springing back up.
Shepard heard the projectile reach the back of the corridor. As Shepard put his hand against the wall to steady himself – the force of the explosion was so great the hallway seemed to jerk uncontrollably around him – he heard Rigby's voice through his headset, "Going in LT."
Shepard continued forward. Within another second he could see the familiar blue wisp growing at the back of the corridor. A second he later he shouted into his mic, "Everyone drop!" Shepard continued the process for what seemed like ages. After Rigby came the Engineer, then Talens, Akitsu and finally Pinnell.
"Lieutenant, I'm stuck!" Shepard wasn't the only one who looked back to see the bottom half of Pinnell's upper body dangling from the ceiling on the far end of the passage. "I think it's something on my armor. Lieutenant!"
"I'll go back for him!" Akitsu screamed into his mic.
"You will not, soldier." Shepard's voice boomed into the squad's radios.
"He'll die!"
"Better the one than both of you! Now keep moving forward!" Akitsu stood frozen in place for a fraction of a second before putting his head down and plunging in after the rest of the squad.
"Everyone down!" Rigby, who had managed to move past Shepard in the antecedent exchange dropped to the ground. The blast moved through the space his upper body had occupied just an instant ago and went straight to the back of the corridor.
The squad heard the blood-curdling scream of Pinnell being torn in half. Akitsu looked back to where the biotic had been and saw a gruesome sight: Pinnell's lower half had been blown from his upper body and it's remains – those that hadn't been vaporized instantly on contact – were spattered against the back wall and puddled on the floor. Akitsu looked up and could see Pinnell's upper body, still lodged in the whole, dangling, the innards hanging down towards the floor.
Akitsu became nauseated and, struggling to keep himself from vomiting, failed to hear Shepard yell for the squad to drop back down. As he looked back towards the rest of the squad, a bright blue blast hit him square in the chest. Had the rest of the squad not been down on the floors covering their heads, they would've seen Akitsu's body explode instantly. Nothing but blood remained.
"Lieutenant this is suicide!" Talens shouted forward.
"Keep pushing! We're over halfway there!" Between constantly dropping down, jumping up, and sprinting forward, and the incredible heat being generated in the thin passage by the multiple blasts, Shepard was sweating profusely. Shepard popped up again after the latest shot and heard something peculiar in the momentary lull. He could hear a soft whirring and a steady, rhythmic clank.
The rest of the squad heard it too. "LT what is that?" Rigby was the one to ask.
"I don't know but it doesn't change the fact that we still need to get to the end of this passage!"
Rigby nodded and continued forwards. When he saw the familiar blue growing ahead of him he readied himself to drop down. He did, but this time noticed something different: the blast had sounded much closer.
Shepard took a brief glance behind him where the shot had fired into the wall behind him and to his left. What he also saw was the young engineer, the left side of her body completely mauled.
"LT, what happened?"
"They shot at the wall knowing the blowback would be enough to kill her." Her, Rigby thought. Damn, and she was pretty cute.
"Keep moving Lance Corporal!"
Rigby did. At this point, the remaining three were only a matter of feet from the barrel of the mounted cannon. The blue of the cannon's tip returned, this time inches from Rigby's face. He quickly moved to the side, right up next to the long barrel, and heard the deafening blast of the slug being released. He groaned out loud, his ears ringing, the world around him shaking. He could faintly hear Shepard screaming for the squad to keep moving. That's right. Just keep moving. The LT's got my back. Rigby moved to the door to the firing compartment and swung it open. Inside were two seats, one behind the other. In the front seat sat a Batarian who began pleading for his life.
Rigby grinned. "Sorry. LT's orders." He let off a burst of shots from his rifle straight into the Batarian's head. Wait, two seats?
Talens watched as Rigby ran around the right side of the cannon, and Shepard left. He also saw the Batarian who moved out of the shadows behind the Lance Corporal.
Shepard looked through the glass window in the door to the firing compartment. Before his hand had reached for the door's handle, Rigby had already dispatched the Batarian sitting inside. But that wasn't why Shepard was reaching for the handle; he, too, could see the Batarian behind him. He watched as Rigby, flashing his victorious smile, was shot point blank in the head.
Less than a second later, Shepard had swung open the door on his side and mercilessly dispatched the Batarian standing on the other side of the cannon.
All the sudden, the room fell into a complete and utter silence.
Shepard looked down at Rigby's body, which had fallen forward into the firing compartment. It's almost a shame.
"Rigby!" Talens rushed forward around the right side of the cannon. All he could see were the Lance Corporal's legs, positioned as if they were still standing, sticking out from underneath the open door. Talens quickly went around and gripped onto the back of Rigby's armor, pulling him backward. Sure enough, the dead man's upper body fell back against Talens' own.
Talens saw Rigby's body without its head. He screamed and let it go, and turned around to vomit into the pool of mixed human and Batarian blood already surrounding the cannon.
"Let's finish this." Shepard walked past the cannon towards the single door standing behind it.
"Finish this? That's all you have to say? Everyone's dead! And all you can say is 'let's finish this'? What kind of sick fuck are you?"
Shepard looked at Talens with a bored look on his face. "Our orders –
"Remain! Yes, I fucking know! What are you a fucking robot?" Talens' throat felt raw from screaming. Tears began to stream down his dirtied face.
Shepard had had enough of the Corporal's insubordination. He walked calmly over to where Talens sat, sobbing, and gripped him by the collar. "Don't forget this is still the Alliance, and I'm you're superior officer. When I tell you to do something, you do it. They're dead, and we're alive. And now we're going to finish this." Shepard's eyes were brutally cold. Talens stared back into them and was overcome by an intense, crippling terror.
Shepard let go of Talens collar and watched him stagger backwards.
"Now again, Corporal. Let's finish this."
"Yes, Lieutenant."
Shepard moved to the door and swiped his omnitool over the console. They hissed open.
The first thing Shepard saw was a single Batarian climbing into a car at the back of the room. The car was situated just inside a horizontal running tunnel that was illuminated with bright blue and white lights.
"Too late, human." Shepard recognized the voice that had come over the loudspeakers earlier speak out just before the car's doors closed.
"I don't think so." Shepard pulled out his assault rifle with his right hand and started firing nonstop towards the car. With his left hand he pulled out two grenades and sent them towards the car. As he did so, he slowly walked forward.
"Get him! Get him now!" Shepard heard the escaping Batarian's voice echo into the room. Yet the Batarians that surrounded him on either side didn't move an inch.
Shepard kept walking forward slowly. Once his assault rifle overheated, he threw it to the ground and pulled the pistol from his hip. With his left hand he continued to throw every remaining grenade he had at the car. The car, which had begun smoking long before Shepard's assault rifle had overheated, was now partially melted and on fire. Before long, the hiss of escaping gas could be heard. Shepard fired one last shot into the car's tank and watched it explode.
Shepard turned to the remaining Batarians. "Drop your weapons, get down on your knees, and put your hands in the air." The slavers did as they were told.
In the far corner, one of them spoke out.
"Please, human. We surrender."
"Lieutenant?"
"What is it Corporal?" Shepard was still watching the car burn, his hands at his sides.
"I'm picking up activity on the short-wave radio."
"What kind of activity?" Shepard turned around just as the single door opened. Instantly, Shepard brought his pistol up in front of him.
"Lieutenant Shepard? We're your reinforcements." Shepard looked at the armor-clad group of soldiers. "Are these the last of them sir?"
"They are."
"We'll radio the Liepzig for extraction, then."
"Negative, soldier."
"Sorry sir?"
"Line up your men." The reinforcement squad leader looked at Shepard curiously before motioning to the rest of his unit. The dozen men lined up along the wall against the door.
"Ready." Shepard stepped back away from the Batarians. They began looking around, wondering what was going on.
"Aim." The soldiers' guns went up. At this point, there was no doubt of Shepard's intentions. The Batarians began screaming – some pleading for mercy, others getting ready to fight to the death.
Shepard looked on the sight with an unreadable face. "Fire."
The room filled with gunfire. Shepard drew his pistol and shot the nearest Batarian point blank between the eyes. Only when the last slaver had been killed could Shepard be heard:
"Cease fire. All units report back to the SSV Liepzig. Mission complete."
A/N: For those of you who enjoyed this please review! If there's enough people who want it, I'd be more than willing to write up possible Akuze or Skyllian Blitz oneshots as well.
