To all those that left all those wonderful reviews – thank you! I'm so sorry I left you guys hanging with that cliffhanger for too long. I unexpectedly got a new job and it had taken up most, if not all, of my life this summer. Anyways, here's the next bit. Hope you guys enjoy! I tried hard on this one. (Hope it's not too angsty .)
Shepard didn't think herself as particularly religious.
On the streets, prayers didn't get her anywhere. It's not like she had anything against the thought of organized religion, she just never had a use for it. For her, the closest thing to a heaven was the vast galaxy above her.
But if there was a hell – a miserable, dank pit of treachery and despair – then it was this moment, as she watched half of her team fall, lifeless. Half of the team she had gone through boot camp with on day one dead before their shields could so much as sputter to life.
Yes, Shepard thought as Tango's blood still warmed her face, this was what hell must be.
The enemy was faceless in the thicket of forest growth. They must have been all around them as well, because the onslaught of bullets came from all around. Those who still survived had their guns out and shields up and teeth barred. Her biotics flared to life in her hands with viciousness before she slammed a biotic wave into the growth. She heard grunts and surprised cries as her blind attack hit. Bravo stood beside her, his pistol fired into the forest around them hoping he hit someone.
"Commander, they're flanking us!" someone called to her – Alpha? Charlie? No, Charlie had fallen into a crippled heap on top of Juliet – above the firing bullets. Of course they were flanking. She and her team were sitting ducks as long as they stayed in the clearing.
"Into the forest!" she screamed and motioned over her shoulder. With a battle cry she stormed towards the barrage with Bravo right by her side. Her initial shock had turned into a rage that made her biotics surge. She threw wave after wave of biotics without aim. X-Ray's battle cry died in his throat as a warp round pierced his throat but she still stormed. Foxtrot fell after three rounds to the chest, but not before he sent his own hail of bullets into the unseen enemy. Zulu took a rocket to the chest, his organs splattering against the trunks of the trees around him.
But still, she continued on.
They were dying too quickly, however. She needed to get them out of there. If they could just push through the enemy's line maybe they could make a run for the deeper forests and call for help –
She caught sight of their enemy within the brush. The forest hid them well, but she could discern their shapes.
They were human.
Before she could control the rush of biotics within her she charged. She slammed into the first enemy in her sights. He flew as her head connected with his chest and time seemed to slow as she heard the bones in his chest shatter and crush against her might.
Heaven help the one who thought they could kill her teammates and live.
But they were still falling around her. How many were left? Seven? Ten? Too few. No, this was not supposed to happen. Where was the Alliance? She was supposed to keep them alive. She was supposed to be a Commander, a protector –
She slammed her fist into the ground. Her biotics exploded outwards and flung the enemy soldiers like ragdolls into the trees. She heard their spines and skulls crack against the bark.
Good.
"We gotta get out of here, Bravo! Now!" she screamed. He nodded grimly. His shotgun pumped bullet after bullet into the enemies. Some shields shattered. Others didn't. They had come prepared to fight vanguards, she realized. Their abundant use of warp ammo made it clear.
They had pushed through the line at an agonizingly slow pace. The enemy had begun to dwindle in size, which allowed Shepard and her team to push through. If they could just shake them until the Alliance back up arrived –
Bravo cried out in pain and clutched his stomach. The ammo had pierced through his shields and into the armor. The explosive rounds had torn a gaping hole into his stomach. He fell to his knees, exhausted.
"No you don't, you son of a bitch." She growled. She dropped to her knees beside him and slung him across her shoulders in a fireman's carry like they had learned to do. Now she ran as fast as she could, and ignored the surviving enemy numbers that still fired at them. Those of her team that still survived ran behind her – it had fallen to three still alive – with a maddened frenzy.
They had almost made it, they had almost gotten away, but they heard it before it appeared. 'It' was a tracking rocket, launched from someone's RPG that whistled in the air before it connected into the ground behind them. All five flew from the impact. Shepard slammed into a thorny thicket and rolled a few feet before she came to a stop. Bravo fell with a cry of pain beside her, a skid mark of glistening blood behind him.
Her ears rang; everything was muffled in the distance. She blinked and tried to focus on the figures that walked towards them. Their steps were deliberate, slow. She snarled, weak though it was, from her position on the ground.
"Shepard – " Bravo groaned beside her. His voice was wet and crackled with blood.
No.
He was going to make it.
He had too.
She wasn't going to lose everyone.
One of the insurgents stopped beside Bravo and paused. She heard the sound of an omni-tool opening –
The wet sound of Bravo's flesh would haunt her sleepless nights for years.
No.
She gathered herself and pushed upwards on her uninjured arm.
"Commander Shepard. You and your team weren't supposed to be on this planet." The voice was familiar. Perhaps that was what finally shattered her reasoning.
"Fuck you, Alenko." She spat with a growl that tore at her throat. His few soldiers behind him finished the others with their omni-blades.
And she watched them, helpless.
"Hackett gave the order for your death. For old time's sake, I'll try to make it quick."
Above her a bright flash broke across the sky, brief and silent across the dusk night.
"That should be everyone, Commander." A faceless voice called out.
Kilo.
Something shut off inside of her. She launched herself at the man before he with teeth bared.
xx
Damn, this planet was hot. Condensation had already formed across their visors and it was a pain to keep them wiped and clear.
"You got anything on the radar, Syrius?" Garrus called.
"Not much. Most likely wildlife, sir."
Well this mission was turning out to be a pain in his ass. They had walked for what felt like fifty clicks. Turned out it was only about ten or so, but the humidity made it feel like they were drowning.
"You know, I'm starting to think the Captain was pulling all this out of his ass because – "
Syrius was stopped short by the fist of his Commander that shot up in the air. The team came to a complete stop and waited with baited breath as he stood.
Whatever those people had been, they were nothing more than a group of charred corpses that looked hurriedly tossed in a pile. Some still whisped with smoke.
"Oh." Syrius breathed.
"They're close. Stay together." Garrus motioned the crew forward. His sniper rifle was already engaged with a quiet whir. The group slid through the trees as quietly as they could. The trees grew tighter together until it felt like Garrus couldn't breathe. But as soon as grew tighter, it became a sudden opening –
Filled with the bloodied mess that resembled Alliance soldiers.
Guns whirred to life and readied before Garrus could issue a command.
Gunfire that popped in the distance suddenly came to a halt with a distant explosion. They all held their breaths in baited silence.
"Make sure everyone is tuned in to the secure channel. Spread." Garrus motioned to the side with his fist. His team slipped into formation without a sound and followed him as they maneuvered around the fallen.
"Commander."
"What?"
"You gotta look at this for a minute."
"Syrius, we have a mission to complete."
"Yeah, but look."
So he did, just to shut her up – because if there was one thing Syrius was good at, it was nagging – and it stopped him for a moment. He blinked at the corpse Syrius was pointing at with her assault rifle. The bullet wounds exited out of their chests. They were shot in the back?
"I smell an ambush." Garrus rolled the body over with the heel of his foot. "Be cautious."
So they moved back into the thick forest. It felt to Garrus like they were hunting.
Tracking, watching, waiting.
So be it.
xx
Kaidan wasn't prepared for Shepard to throw herself at him with all her weight. He stumbled back before falling, but she was already at his throat before they touched the ground. With one hand around his throat, she used the other to charge as much biotic power into her fist and slammed it into his gut. His armor cracked like egg shells. She rolled as they hit the dirt. One of his backup soldiers had managed to pull a pistol out and fire at her. Her right shoulder jerked back as a bullet tore clean through her flesh. It didn't faze her much, if at all. She thought of nothing but the next kill.
That soldier was so kind to volunteer.
She charged without warning and sent him flying into the massive tree behind him. His skull flattened across the bark.
The other was next. She had her by the throat and was squeezing before the soldier could even wheeze a cry for help.
Shepard didn't look her in the eye as she blew a round into the soldier's gut. If she did, even for a moment, she knew she would see the fear and desperation in that girl's eyes and she didn't know if she could handle that.
But the thought of the dried blood on her face and armor that belonged to her best friend shut out that thought with ease.
The adrenaline ebbed.
The nameless soldier fell to the ground dead.
Shepard stumbled.
Alenko had already charged towards her. Biotics never stayed down for long. She cried out as she took the brunt of his force. She grabbed his biceps and spun him as they both flew backwards from the momentum of his charge. She managed to slam him into the nearest tree trunk before she fell to the ground. He was upon her with his omni-tool readied and pointed at her throat.
"Shepard – " Whatever he wanted to say, she didn't want to hear it. His blade pierced the superficial part of her skin where blood beaded and swelled. Her mouth twitched upward just as he stiffened for a moment.
The barrel of her sawed-off shotgun pressed into the shattered armor in front of his gut.
"Your move, bastard."
She used his pause to push his blade away and punch him in the jaw with her free hand. He rolled to the side from the force of her punch. She pushed herself up on one leg, kneeling above him with her gun pressed against the sweating skin of his neck.
She was going to do it, too. In hindsight, when she thought about that night, she was ready and willing to squeeze the trigger. It didn't matter that she had known him for years. It didn't matter that he was the first person she had gotten close to. That wasn't the man beneath her, at her mercy. The man beneath her was the person who had lead the ambush against her team – against his own comrades. She didn't know why he did it.
She just knew she was going to kill him.
And she was going to – until the ground began to shake. It was a gentle rumble that grew into a vicious quake. The ground to their left began to push upwards and quake as something pushed its way out of the ground.
The massive creature blocked the light of the moons as it grew to its full height. The worm-like beast opened its massive, four-cornered jaw and let out a roar that echoed throughout the valleys around them.
xx
PLANETARY CODEX [EDITION 124.15.2]
THRESHER MAW
ANIMAL: CARNIVORE : VERTEBRAE
[WARNING! CLASS A PREDATOR – DO NOT ENGAGE]
: A VIOLENT, SUBTERRANEAN CARNIVORE THAT BURSTS FORTH FROM THE GROUND WITHOUT WARNING WHEN DISTURBED.
: CAN SURVIVE IN EXTREME CONDITIONS. SANITIZING OF CREW MEMBERS LEAVING INFESTED WORLD IS REQUIRED PER CITADEL SPACE REGULATIONS. ANY SHIP DISREGARDING REGULATIONS WILL BE HEAVILY PUNISHED.
: ACIDIC DISCHARGE KNOWN TO DISSOLVE MOST ORGANIC MATTER.
AN – Sorry about Alenko. I have nothing against the character, but I needed someone Shepard knew in the past and well…he drew the short straw. Hopefully the next chapter will be up sooner than this one was. Thanks to those that leave reviews! They fuel my bitter, bitter heart.
