Chapter 3: Hell Bound

I was shaken awake by a young Turian boy. I'd see him around the ship, following his mother closely as if he was scared of losing her. Which, I reminded myself, was entirely probable. The ship was very overcrowded. While the ship was fairly large, indicating that it was built to transport massive amounts of cargo, it felt physically crowded. I'd guess there to be about 150 on board a ship designed for a crew of maybe 20 plus cargo.

It seemed Gactius had tried to help as many as he could to escape the oncoming slaughter of the Reapers. He allowed me access to his private Terminal.

1739H72917S

xxxxxxxxxx

Flashed across the screen before acknowledging my credentials and password were correct, logging me in to my messages.

I noticed one from John.

Lena,

Earth has been hit. Hard.

I escaped on the Normandy with a skeleton crew. Major Alenko made it, but Anderson insisted on staying behind.

I'm heading to the Citadel after I make a stop at the Mars Archives.

If you get this, just know I love you and I hope your safe.

Please reply if you get this.

Commander John Shepard.

I wanted details on what happened to Earth, and what the hell he was thinking when he left Anderson behind, but I knew I wouldn't get them. Not until I found him on the Citadel.

Alenko. Major Alenko. Last time I saw Kaidan, we were lowly privates fresh out of the academy. Now he was ranked higher than John. I tried to remember Kaidan. Heavy, serious eyebrows. Kind. Deep. Chocolate eyes. Righteous. He was always kind to me. There was a time where I thought I might actually have developed feelings for him, but when I ran from my old identity, I recognised what I originally thought to be feelings of lust or, dare I say it, love, were actually feelings of desperation. I wanted someone, anyone to want me for me. Through it all, I did love Kaidan. But I loved him as I loved John. I loved him, but I wasn't in love with him.

I began typing a response to John.

John,

I'm okay.

Cerberus attacked Omega, they drove us out. They would have killed Aria if I didn't get her out in time.

They damaged all the escape shuttles to the point of being useless, Anto hijacked a Cerberus shuttle before we caught up with him and we managed to flag down a civilian vessel.

We're headed to the Citadel now.

I took a hit from some grenades, nothing serious, I was wearing armour.

Just a small cut and some bruising, the medic took care of it all. I'm 100% now.

I'll meet you of the Citadel. Meet me in Purgatory, the club we used to go to.

I love you too,

Lena.

I began to encrypt the message. No way was I taking any chances with those Cerberus bastards so close.

"Miss Patel?" The unmistakable bi-tonal voice of a Turian, it was Gactius. "We're approaching the Citadel, ETA ten minutes." I nodded and turned back to the screen.

Archived messages

I clicked it and began reading John's warning.

Lena,

I know you have no reason to believe me, but the Reapers are coming.

You need to leave the Terminus Systems and get to the Citadel. It'll be the safest place for you.

I took out the Collector base, blew that mother to Kingdom come, but my time as a vigilante is past over.

I'm handing myself in to the Alliance within the next few days.

You have to believe me.

The Reapers are coming and they will show no mercy, they will slaughter everyone and everything.

You need to get to safety.

Please, Lena. For me.

I'll see you if I can.

Commander John Shepard, your brother.

I didn't listen.

It may not have been the Reapers that caused us to flee Omega, but if I had listened, I could have avoided it. Aria would never have been in danger. While there was enough red tape on the Citadel to sink a cruiser, Aria was important enough for the Asari councillor to give her nearly everything she wanted or needed. We would have ended up on the Citadel either way. And Moklan. Moklan would still be alive. He wouldn't have died to save us from the Cerberus siege.

Heat welled up in my eyes and I realised my eyes were filled with tears of anger. Anger at Cerberus. Anger at myself. I wiped them away furious at myself for allowing that kind of emotional response. I was Lena Patel, a mercenary. I shouldn't be crying. I was supposed to be tough. I took a deep breath and shut my eyes forcefully.

I am Lena Patel. I am a mercenary. I do not cry. I am tough.

I opened my eyes again and my breath was released in a shaky, angry breath. All I could feel now was fury. I felt it like molten lava in my stomach, burning and raging. How dare they attack Omega. How dare they attack Aria. How dare they attack me.

Me. I am Lena fucking Patel. I am a tough as nails mercenary. I kill people for a living.

Those fuckers just fucked with the wrong mercenary.

Game on, Cerberus. Game on.

I made a silent pact with myself, my hands clutching the desk the terminal sat upon. My knuckles were white as I grasped it like it was the throat of The Illusive Man himself.

Any Cerberus operatives, anybody bearing the mark of Cerberus were well and truly fucked once I got a hold of them. Aria would remain on the Citadel, no doubt in Purgatory, but me? I would join anybody who was heading to meet Cerberus in a battle.

I would kill every last one of those fuckers if it killed me. I ignored the thought that was nudging at my attention, the one that was telling me that it might actually kill me. I ignored it, replaced it with a thought that made the corners of my mouth twitch up into what could only be described as a feral snarl.

If it kills me, then so be it. Just as long as I drag as many of those fuckers down with me as I can. Looks like we're all hell bound.

Author's note:

I hate Cerberus. I hate having to work with them in Mass Effect 2.

With the exception of Cerberus defects like Miranda, Jacob and Kelly. They seemed to realise the error of their ways.

In this chapter, I really wanted to capitalize on Lena being human. She has emotions, strong ones evidently, sometimes she doesn't think things through, she makes mistakes and she feels regret. I want her to be relatable, not unobtainable (Mary Sue).

Sure, she's an excellent marksman and a little scary sometimes, but she still makes mistakes, and gets hurt.

Anyway, feel free to leave your thoughts on how I could improve anything or plot ideas or just what you think of it.

Disclaimer: I do not own Mass Effect or it's characters. They are property of Bioware. I own only Lena Patel (Helena Shepard).