Infinite Galaxy

Chapter 6

Booker must've been staring at the ceiling for three hours. He was thinking of all the things that have happened since the Lutece twins sent him to this timeline. He's trying to remember the life he had before coming to the 22nd Century and the life before arriving in Columbia; the memories of him living before 1912 and those memories coinciding with the memories of being Booker DeWitt born in 2144.

Then he felt the body next to his shifting underneath the sheets. He glances down to see Ashley resting her head on his chest and feeling her warm breath against his skin. Booker was reeling in what has happened with Ashley since last night; hearing news about finding alien relics, then the conversation turning friendly, then a kiss becoming hot and heavy, and the evening ends by sleeping together.

The only difference was that Ashley was sleeping soundly while Booker hasn't slept since they finished the lovemaking session from last night. Booker didn't care about losing sleep, but all he cared about right now was the woman lying next to him. All he knew is that this changes everything… or does it. He did remember when he saw the Lutece twins back at the trivia contest telling him that 'Williams will be the key to finding Anna.' Booker thought to himself, I don't know if this is what the twins meant by staying with Ash, but it's certainly an interesting way to find out.

Then Ashley's head lifted from his chest and she asked. "Booker? Oh, what time is it?"

He looked at the clock on the nightstand. "It's a quarter till six."

"Oh, that's a relief." Ashley nuzzled Booker's chest and she looked up at him, resting her chin on his pectoral muscle. She smiled and he couldn't help but smile back. "Did you even sleep at all?"

Booker answered honestly. "No. I guess my heart was beating a mile a minute, you know? Coming down from the excitement of it all."

Ashley giggled. "What? You act like you haven't had sex before."

That gave Booker a pause, but in a way she was right. He hasn't been with anyone for a long time. "Well, I have to be honest. It has been… a while." Booker was about to trail off. He looked back into his dual memories, both actual and borrowed. Now he's getting the exact estimate of years since he have been with another woman. "I guess it's been… eleven years."

"What?" Ashley's eyes widened. She couldn't believe what he was saying, but curious enough to push on. "I don't believe that. I mean… damn eleven years?"

"Surprised?" Booker couldn't help but smile himself. "Well, the truth is getting laid wasn't a high priority in my life. That and I couldn't even look at another woman ever since Fiona died." He looked at her as she was looking at him intently. "But that was until I met you. When I saw you at that spaceport, there was something about you. I saw it in your eyes. You had obligation. Then last night when I saw your eyes again, I saw passion. I was seeing the real you."

Ashley continued to look at Booker for a few seconds, and then she laughed. "You sound like a trash romance novel." Booker was taken aback from that comment, but she quickly remedied the situation by moving closer to him and rubbed his shoulders. "But I have a confession to make. Do you remember when I first saw you on the spaceport, I was saluting you."

"I remember." Booker said.

Ashley continued. "I saluted and Nirali made fun of me for that, because it was the only thing keeping me from acting like a complete fangirl." Ashley blushed. "I was saluting you, because what I really wanted to do was jump your bones."

Booker lightly laughed. "You know how to make a man blush."

The two smiled and Booker lightly pulled Ashley up towards him. They sensually kissed for a few minutes, until Ashley's Omni-tool chimed. She looked to see who would be calling her, the identifying caller was Donk.

"Shhh" Ashley placed her index finger over her mouth. Then she answered the comm channel and left it on speaker mode. "Chief Williams, here."

"Chief. I'm calling to find out if you told Chief DeWitt yet." Donk said.

"Oh, yeah." Ashley suddenly remembered the conversation about the Prothean relics. "Yes I told him last night. He knows."

"Well, there's more." Donk said. "LT is going to hold an assembly on this one so all hands on this. That even includes people on leave right now so if you happen to see Booker, would you kindly pass the message to him?"

Ashley looked at Booker lying next to her while she smiled. "I'll be sure to pass it along. See you at work today, Donkey."

"See ya, Chief." Donk disconnected the line.

"I guess vacation is over." Booker said as he looks at Ashley. "We should get ready."

"Booker, I have to ask." Ashley looked at Booker with concerned eyes. "What does this mean, for us?"

Booker gave it some thought. Then he told her. "I like it. I mean, I like what we have and I want to make it work."

Ashley smiled. "I like it too, the problem is that there's a policy against fraternization."

"We won't tell anyone, not until my last day." Booker said. "I can keep a secret. Can you?"

That gave Ashley a warm smile and Booker drew her in for another kiss. Then she looks at Booker. "Come on, Chief. We have to see what the LT wants from us."

"Yes ma'am." Booker makes a suggestive reply.

The day has finally come for Booker. It was April 19th his last day serving the Alliance and celebrating his birthday. The celebration was being held at the Paradise Lost and it seems that everyone in the base was at the bar that evening. The only difference is that everyone in the 212 had to be in full armor even on their off duty time, because of the Prothean relic, security was a high priority.

Booker felt odd having to wear his armor while tossing back a few drinks, but he quickly got past it and continued the celebration with Ashley, Bates, Rasputin, Penny, Donk, and Jenner. The bar was crowded with soldiers wearing their armor and tossing back drinks among the sea of mismatched colored armor consisting of black or pink & white. Booker was wearing the same black armor as the men in the group while Ashley and Penny wore pink and white. Damien behind the bar was working fast as he could to keep the drinks flowing along with two other locals who are assisting him and preparing Booker's celebration. They even made an impromptu sign hanging above the bar which reads happy birthday/retirement Gunnery Chief Booker DeWitt.

Booker was sitting at the table next to the bar with Bates, Rasputin, Penny, and Jenner. Donk and Ashley ordered a bottle of rum. Jenner asked Booker. "So DeWitt? What do you plan to do now that you're going to be officially retired?"

"Well, I'm sticking to the plan of finding my daughter." Booker said. "I was thinking of finding a nice spot here on Eden Prime to open up an office."

Penny was next to ask Booker. "What? You want to stay here? I imagine it will be more lucrative if you moved to someplace like the Citadel."

Rasputin was next. "Or on Omega if you like being on a lawless station and question all the Pirates that might know where your daughter is."

"Well, things have changed and I have a reason to stay here for a while." Booker lifted his glass. "My friends of course."

"Aaawww. That's so sweet." Bates raises his glass and toasts Booker.

Then Booker turns his head and look at Ashley at the bar sitting next to Donk. "And I'm also staying here for something else which I have to announce to you guys in a little bit."

Booker became focused on Ashley, but then he tuned into the conversation she was having with Donk. Now everyone at the table was listening to their conversation. It was a conversation about Donkey having sex with Ashley. Everyone was enjoying the bantering, except Booker. He felt the cringe of jealousy creeping through his veins, but it was the price he and Ashley paid for keeping their relationship a close secret.

"Come on Williams." Donk said. "You know you'd enjoy it."

"Not half as much as you would, Donkey." Ashley Snickered.

"Forget it, Donkey. I already tried." Jenner said with a grin.

"Yeah, Donk." Bates said. "You have a better chance with Penny. Or maybe Penny would have a better chance with Williams."

"I think she'd be all over me, if she rolled that way." Penny said. "But last I checked, she didn't."

Ashley turned her head and gave Penny a wink. "Yeah, but if anybody could change my mind it'd be you, Pennyloafer."

"Oh man… that would be hot." Bates said with a devilish grin.

Rasputin pats Bates on the shoulder. "Hey, Bates. The 21st Century called. They want their infantile machismo back."

Bates turned his head and asked Rasputin. "Infant- what now?"

Booker stayed quiet throughout the whole conversation, nobody noticed except Ashley. She could feel his anger rising, but when her eyes met his she knew it was time to tell everyone about their relationship. She nods and waves Booker over to stand next to her.

Ashley called for the entire squad's attention. "Actually there's something I need to tell you guys. Booker and I…"

Before Ashley could finish the sentence, Donk shouted at the top of his lungs and stood at attention. "Ten-hut!"

At that moment the entire bar went silent. Everyone in the 212 stood at attention when they realized that their commanding officer, Lieutenant Johnson had just entered the bar. He glided through the bar while walking with his hands behind his back.

"Ladies." Johnson said. "I see your living up to the high standards of the 212. Been enjoying yourselves?"

A collective response from everyone answered his question. "Sir. Yes, Sir."

"At ease… I'm not interested in what you do on your time off." Johnson said as he approached the bar and everyone in the room released themselves from their standing formation. "Unfortunately, you're on duty as of now. I got a recon mission for you. The science team dug some beacon thing out and they want it protected." Johnson grabbed the rum and takes a big swig. He places the bottle down and looked at Dog Squad. "Sergeant Donk, you're taking lead on this one"

"Sir, I thought Williams was squad leader?" Donkey quipped.

"Not this time." Johnson said. "Get your gear and you'll be briefed on the details. The same goes for the rest of the 212. Dismissed."

The bar was emptied, but not before Johnson stopped Ashley and Booker. He looked at Ashley and said. "Williams, you know why I don't trust you?"

Ashley was quietly fuming with rage, but her disciplined mind was firmly taking control of the situation. "I can guess, sir."

Then Johnson was inches from her face when he plainly states. "Your friends might not see it, but I do. You can't escape your past, Williams."

"If you say so, sir." Ashley responded.

"I just did." Johnson pulls away from Ashley and moved over to Booker. "And DeWitt, don't think I forgot about you."

"You can't do anything to me." Booker said. "I'm retired."

"Actually, your retirement has been put on hold." Johnson smirked. "You're going with the rest of your squad and Donk is squad leader on this one."

"You can't do that." Booker protested.

"I just did." Johnson smiled. "Besides, this order comes from the top and I'm only relaying the orders."

"From who?" Booker's confusion was mixing in with his frustration.

"From what I can tell you the orders come from a respected Captain, a high ranking Admiral, and even the ambassador on the Citadel sent his own orders. They'd be the ones holding you back for now." Johnson moved closer to Booker. "Other than that, it's strictly a need-to-know basis and that's all you need to know." Now Johnson was only inches away from Booker's face. "And I wanted to see you serve one last mission with Dog Squad. I'd told you I'd keep an eye on you."

Booker was grumbling quietly to himself as he and the rest of Dog Squad were marching towards the Prothean dig site, fully armed with their weapons and gear which includes their helmets. Booker was thinking to himself. "That goldbricking, sonofabitch, hack of an officer. "

Booker was tailing Ashley and Bates while Penny, Jenner, and Rasputin followed. Donk was leading the squad at the front of the patrol formation.

The entire division was briefed about what the Prothean relic was. As it turned out the relic turned out to be a beacon created by the Protheans and all the scientists can estimate was that this beacon was roughly fifty to a hundred thousand years old. The word 'beacon' was now on the minds of the division, but they ask themselves that if it is a beacon, what is the beacon transmitting? What they have learned was that the Citadel wanted to be part of this research and in the spirit of diplomatic relations; the Alliance government was willing to transport this beacon to the Citadel itself. Unfortunately, Dog Squad wasn't given a transport like the other squads; they were given patrol duty which meant they had to report to the dig site on foot, which is a two day trek.

Bates was the first to complain about patrol duty. "Hey, Sarge. Why are they making us walk to the site when the other squads get to take a transport?"

"Orders." Donk simply put it. "Dog squad patrols from the colony to the beacon."

"That's bullshit." Bates groused. "It's going to take us another day to get there on foot."

Donk was suddenly annoyed with Bates complaining. He stopped Bates and told him. "You just earned yourself a trip to the front of the line, Bates. You got point tonight."

Bates only replied. "Goddamn it." Then he shuffled up towards the front of the patrol line.

Donk stopped as he let Ashley pass him by. "Williams, hang back a sec." He walked next to Ashley to her side.

Jenner took notice. "She didn't say yes before. She's not saying yes now, Donkey."

Booker found himself walking a little closer towards Donk and Ashley while he listened in on the conversation.

"Sergeant Donkey." Ashley states. "What do you want?"

"I just wanted you to know." Donk said with sincerity in his voice. "I think you should be leading this mission. The Lieutenant's an ass."

Ashley didn't stop walking. She kept moving forward as her eyes towards the horizon. "The Lieutenant's the same as all the officers. He thinks because of my grandfather surrendered at Shanxi I'm going to do the same thing." Then she looks at Donk with a smile. "And he's an ass."

"You know the squad doesn't think that about you." Donk continued. "You and DeWitt got the biggest balls of anyone in our whole platoon. You keep your head on straight when things go crazy. You stick around, eventually somebody's gonna recognize that."

Ashley moved her head a little closer to Donk and asked jokingly. "You still trying to get me to sleep with you?"

"Sure, but it doesn't mean I don't mean it." Donk said, but he suddenly had to ask her another question as he looks at Booker using his peripheral vision. "But something tells me that you're already spoken for. What was it that you were going to say back at the bar?"

"Let's stop for a moment." Ashley requested.

"Squad, halt!" Donk ordered. "What's up, Williams?"

"I know some of you wanted to know back at the bar and I wanted to tell you something." Ashley said. "Booker and I… are dating."

The squad was quiet, but they didn't make any signs of shock or amazement. Then it was Penny who broke the silence and asked. "Since when?"

Booker answered. "For a few weeks now."

"I think she means what day exactly?" Rasputin followed.

"Right when we found out about the alien relics." Booker asked.

"HA!" Bates yelled from the front. "I won the pool."

"What?" Ashley's eyes narrowed. "What pool?"

Everyone began to look guilty at first, but a big smile crept across Bates mouth and he was happy to explain. "We had a pool going on. The bet was 'when was DeWitt and Williams going to hook-up.' We each picked a day and I came the closest."

Ashley was shocked while Booker was surprisingly quiet. Ashley asked. "What made you think that we were going to hook-up?"

"Oh, please Williams." Donk spoke up. "You always talk about him, even when he's not around."

"Yeah, it was almost idol worship." Penny said. "So we came up with the idea of placing a pool on when you and he will eventually get together."

"Yeah and winning the pool will sure take the edge off taking point tonight." Bates said with a grin.

"Ahhh! Let's press on." Ashley was agitated with what the rest of the squad has confessed.

Donkey ordered the squad to move on while Booker was blushing behind his helmet. He was glad nobody can see it, because Penny and Rasputin strolled up to him.

"Hey DeWitt, you don't seem angry about it. Why?" Penny asked.

"Oh, I'm angry." Booker quietly told her so Ashley wouldn't hear him. "Not the kind of angry you'd think I would be. I'm angry that you didn't let me in on the pool. I always love a game of chance." Booker smiled as he watches the Chief in front of him.

During the second night of Dog Squad's patrol; they crossed by a rocky ledge, trying to find the rest of 212, and see if they have set up camp near the Prothean beacon.

Booker recognized the area and asked Ashley. "Isn't this place close to where I first came to this colony?"

"Yeah, the spaceport is only a few clicks that way." She points in the northeastern direction. Then she turns around and smiles. "Reminiscing when we first met?"

"I was actually thinking about all this time the relic was close to a settlement…" Then Booker smiled back. "But now that I think about it, I do have a bit of a soft spot from that moment in time."

Donk entered the conversation. "If you two want fifteen minutes behind the bushes, it'll have to wait. We're getting closer to the dig site, but we can't get a signal. I've been trying for hours but nobody is responding."

"Is something jamming the signal?" Ashley asked.

"We don't know." Donk said. "I sent Bates up ahead on top of that ridge. Me and Jenner are going up there to see if he saw anything. Stay here, we'll be right back."

"Right sarge." Booker said as Donk began hiking up the rocks as Jenner followed behind.

Booker, Ashley, Penny, and Rasputin waited patiently for roughly ten minutes.

"I have to admit, this doesn't sound right." Penny said.

"I agree. We should have heard anything from Able and Charlie Squads." Rasputin said as he sounds like he is about to panic. "Now we hear nothing from Bravo Squad."

"For all we know, it could just be a communication problem on our end." Booker said trying to calm Rasputin down.

"Yeah or maybe sunspots, this star system has them quite a bit." Ashley added.

Just then they receive a signal. To their disappointment, it wasn't Able, Bravo, or Charlie Squad. It was Donk. "I want a full sweep and in pairs. Penny, you're with me. Booker with Bates. Ash, I want you to stick with Jenner and Rasputin. Flashlights on. Check your targets. We may still have friendlies out there."

"What happened?" Booker asked.

"I think we found Bravo squad." Donk said.

The sense of doom and gloom hovered over Dog Squad when Donk made a positive identification of their brother Squad's whereabouts. After Booker and Bates cleared the rocky ridge, that's when they saw the bodies littering the scene.

Booker was putting his detective skills to use and examined the first body. It was a woman judging by the armor's curvature. He ran the light from his flashlight over her hands and noticed the dead body's details. He noticed whatever shot her, there was an entrance wound through her armor and it was burnt through, there weren't any signs of bleeding.

Booker examined the other bodies lying around and said. "Looks like they didn't even have a chance to draw their weapons."

Bates was still staring at the first body he examined. "I knew her. We came to Eden Prime on the same transport. Oh God."

Booker knew he was about to lose it so he told him. "Bates. Calm down and look at me. Well get through this. I'll cover your back, okay?"

"Yeah. I got it." Bates nervously replied. "But it's easy for you to say, you've seen dead bodies. This is my first. Not to mention that I happen to know some of these people. How did you deal with it? I mean after, Torfan."

Booker thought to himself. With a lot of drinking and gambling. But he didn't want Bates to know this so his verbal response was simple. "You don't. You just have to learn to deal with it on your own." Booker taps Bates on his shoulder. "You'll be alright soldier."

Dog Squad gathered around a nearby swamp and discourses what they have found out on the field. They were gathering numbers of the dead they had encountered and Penny was tallying the numbers.

"I count fourteen. That's all of Bravo." Penny said with a solemn voice.

Just then, the comm channel comes back to life. The signal was broken up, but it was enough to make out what they were saying. "…taking fire… unknown enemy… at the beacon…"

Donk's response was. "Oh God."

"What do we do?" Penny asked.

"I don't know." It's all Donk can say.

"You don't know?" Booker replied, but then he looks at Ashley and it gives him an idea. He strolled up to Donk and whispered something in his ear.

Donk just stopped and takes a deep breath. He nods and his reply is. "Listen up. Ash is taking over the squad. This just became a real mission. We need a real leader."

Ashley looked at Booker and her eyes beamed in determination. She looks at her squad mates and makes her first orders. "We can't do anything for Bravo, but we can help the others. We'll have to double-time it to the beacon, but we need to be smart about this. Deliberate and disciplined. With any luck, we catch them off guard. Either way, they're about to find out why Dog Squad is the baddest, most dangerous squad on this rock!"

As if on cue, everybody raised their fists in the air and shouted "Hooah!"

"Thanks for that." Donk quietly said to Ashley.

"Don't thank me yet, Donkey." Ashley quietly replied to Donk. Then she inches over to Booker. "Actually, if anyone should be thanking anybody…"

"Don't thank me, Ash." Booker quietly said to her. "My time is over, but you have a chance to show the galaxy that you're not cursed. I have faith in you and I know you can lead this squad."

They did what Ashley ordered Dog Squad to do; they double-time their approach to the dig site in hopes of finding survivors. When they came closer to the site, they can see towers in the distance and farming settlements on the horizon. So far nothing out of the ordinary, but that was until they saw smoke coming from a rock formation. It looked more like a rock quarry that suffered a bad explosion.

Booker, Bates, and Ashley pushed on ahead and hid behind a rock for cover, while the rest of Dog Squad held back in their positions. They searched around the area using their binoculars; they found movement and got a closer look at their enemy.

"Those look like mechs." Ashley said.

"Or geth." Bates said.

That caused a bit of an alarm with Booker. He aimed his sights at one of the mechs and got a look at what the Lutece twins told him about less than a year ago. He saw one. It was mechanized; the body was white, it walked fluidly, three fingers, two large toes, wires coming from its back which formed into an elongated head, and a single flash of light coming out where its face should be.

"That's the geth?" Booker asked.

"Geth? This far outside the Perseus Veil?" Ashley asked.

Booker tuned out of the small talk Ashley and Bates were having. He remembered what the Luteces said about this place becoming a battle and mentioning about a mechanical race called the geth. Then he recalled that these creatures being led by a turian.

Now he was focused on the geth and it was pulling a body of what appeared to be a soldier's body. It lifted the body and rested the body backside on the strange tripod. When Booker takes a closer look at the body, he realized the soldier was still moving. Then the mechanical man pressed something on the control panel and a spike shot up from the tripod. The soldier was instantly impaled.

Ashley and Bates gasped when they saw the man in his position, Booker didn't make sound. They didn't have time to react when the three were spotted by a flying disk firing a pulsing blue energy beam.

"Down! They spotted us!" Ashley ordered.

Booker aimed his rifle at the disk and the flying object exploded. Ashley rushed down from the rocky ledge with Bates and Booker following behind her. Ashley got on the comm link and gave out her orders. "In positions people! Like we planned it!"

The three circled around the path towards where Donk, Jenner, Penny, and Rasputin were waiting behind a pile of rocks while Booker, Ashley, and Bates ducked behind some bushes. They knew this will call the attention of the geth and hopefully they will follow them into this trap they made.

Booker takes cover behind a tree. He takes a moment to gather his thoughts and he becomes ready to spring the trap. He quickly takes his glove off and stares at his left hand. He attempts to ready his hand with one of his many powers, because he's going to find out if the vigors will have an effect on the geth. When he tried to get his Possession ready, he realized that it wasn't working. Then Booker realized that his body was low on salts. He cursed himself for forgetting to drink his ration of salts. He pulls out a cylinder tube and he's about to drink, but then the firefight began. He dropped his container.

The strategy was to draw the geth's fire and grab their attention. Donk, Jenner, Penny, and Rasputin fired their rifles at the geth and so far the plan was working. The mechanical creatures attacked the four while Booker, Ashley, and Bates were still hiding in the bushes.

"Hurry it up, Chief!" Rasputin called on the radio. "We're taking a beating down here!"

"Just a few more seconds…" Ashley said while Booker made his rifle ready. "Now!"

With one order, Ashley, Booker, and Bates sprung out of the bushes and shot the geth while their backs were turned. The geth were mowed down and for a moment it seems like the geth was about to be wiped out by Dog Squad. That's what it seems, but that was before geth reinforcements showed up. Penny was the first to get hit by one of the geth rifles.

Ashley ran up to Bates and she yelled "Get down!" Then she fired off a few rounds at an approaching geth. When she got up, Bates was panicking.

Ashley regained her composure and gave another order. "Get on the radio, Jenner! We need to warn somebody! Anybody!"

Jenner grabbed his long-range communicator and screamed. "We are under attack, taking heavy casualties! I repeat, taking heavy casualties! We need…" Just then, Jenner's chest exploded when one of the energy beams tears through his chest.

Booker kept shooting, but then an explosion rocked on his right side and he was thrown back near the bushes where he hid before. He was still conscious and he didn't lose any of his appendages, when he looked around and tried to get back into the fight he saw something that he needed. It was his missing salts canister.

When he reached for the canister, he heard the most unearthly sound he ever heard. The sound reminded him of Songbird back in Columbia, but Songbird's sound was an ear-piercing screeching noise. This sound was deep and booming. It was so loud the very ground shook. He looked up to the sky and saw a massive black object descending from the sky. It reminded Booker of a scorpion and it was emitting red lightning bolts from the crevices of the object.

"What the hell is that?" Rasputin called to Ashley. "Chief! We're getting torn apart! We've gotta move… ugh!" Rasputin was the next one to take a shot in the chest and fell to the ground.

"Get behind those rocks! Retreat!" Ashley gave the order, but there was nobody around to follow. Donk was the latest to have gotten killed. Ashley ducked behind the rocks and she called again. "Bates! I need support! You there! Booker! Anyone? Please!"

She hid behind the rock and she spoke out. "God, throw me a bone here. It can't end like this." Then as she is about to be overrun by the geth, something happened. The geth closest to Ashley was consumed by a green mist and then it turns around and open fire on its allies. "What the?"

"Ash! This way!" Booker came up behind her and she saw Booker holding up his left hand.

She looked back at the geth consumed by green mist and continued to attack the other geth. She pulled back with Booker behind another rock.

"What happened to that geth?" Ashley asked.

"That was the Possession." Booker said as the allied geth was destroyed by the other geth. The remaining geth spot Booker and Ashley, and continued their onslaught. Then he pulls up his left hand again.

Ashley was gasping when his hand was turning black and the skin was peeling off. "What's wrong with your hand?"

"This is called, Return to Sender!" Booker summoned his power while the geth continued firing at their position. To Ashley's amazement, the energy pulses from the geth rifles are only bouncing off an invisible force field. Then a ball of orange energy formed around his hand and the ball of energy shoots from his hand. The energy ball tore through a few geth.

"How the hell are you doing this?" Ashley demanded to know. "Is that an AMP?"

"Just a second!" Booker aims his rifle. "Ash, no matter what you see get ready to shoot these tin men, got it?"

"Got it! What are you going to do?" Ashley asked pointing her rifle.

"Bucking Bronco!" Booker raised his left hand again and unleashed his power.

The remaining geth were lifted from the ground and hovered six feet from the surface. The effects was only going to last a few seconds, but it was more than enough time for both Booker and Ashley to gun down the remaining geth soldiers.

Before Ashley can ask the first question, she is knocked over to the side by a geth soldier. The thing had a firm grip on Booker's rifle as it tried to kill him with its own three fingered hand.

"Omni-hook!" Booker used his voice command and his Omni-tool produced his Omni-hook. Then he takes his hook and uses it as a melee weapon. He slams it in the geth's light fixture. Then Booker rams the hook into the geth's neck area and spins the peg. The geth's neck was snapped and the thing's head lobbed off just like the police, soldiers, and Vox Populi of Columbia. The only difference is, instead of red blood coming out it was a white oily substance that spurted out.

When the battle ended, Booker was breathing heavily. Ashley eyes were wide and her mouth dangling. She couldn't believe what she saw. This was a part of Booker she never saw or anyone for that matter.

"What was all that stuff you were doing?" Ashley asked with a little stress in her voice. "What kind of AMPs are those?"

"They're not AMPs." Booker began to confess. "Remember those concoctions I was making back at my house?"

"Yes?" Ashley said.

"That was my personal project." Booker told. "Those vats were called vigors. When you take a swig, you develop powers."

"Then why didn't you use it before?" Ashley asks angrily.

"I ran out of salts." Booker told her.

"Salts?" Ashley now looked confused.

Booker pulled out a half-empty canister of the blue formula. "Salts are what it's called. It's what fuels my powers. I realized at the last minute that I ran out. I must've sweated it all out when we were forced to come here on foot. I was going to take some, but that's when the attack started. If I wasn't late taking it, we could've save… oh God. Donkey. Jenner." Booker ran to the bodies of their squad mates. Ashley followed behind.

"Rasputin. Penny." Ashley added looking over their bodies.

Booker looked over Jenner's body and said in his Sioux language. "You fought with honor and I will see you in the next world, Akecheta."

Then Ashley came up and looked over Jenner's body. She takes the long range communicator Jenner used to call for help. "It looks like someone got our signal. From the looks of it, it's a ship. Jenner pulled through."

"Wait, where's Bates?" Booker asked.

"I don't know." Ashley looked at the tracker on her rifle. "We don't have time. We got more geth coming this way."

"Let's get out of here." Booker said. "It's cruel to leave our friends behind, but…"

"You don't have to tell me, twice." Ashley said and the two Chiefs took off.

When Booker and Ashley left, a head popped up from a nearby pond. It was Bates. During his panic and consumed by fear, he fled the battle. When he looked around, he can hear the mechanical sound of the geth fast approaching as he went back into hiding.

Booker and Ashley didn't stop moving, they kept going until they found a settlement or a military presence. They were still in denial of what has happened, especially the loss of their entire squad and the whole 212. Ashley was probably more confused at the moment, realizing that her newest boyfriend possessed abilities beyond any logical reason and now they were on the run from what could possibly be the geth.

Ashley urged Booker to stop and when they did, she checked the map on her Omni-tool. "It looks like the dig site is over here." She points on the screen. "The 232 could still be fighting."

Booker and Ashley were about to head over to the site, when they were greeted by more of those flying disk drones. They retreated back and took cover behind a large rock.

"Shit!" Ashley yelled.

"I don't think we're going to be getting help from the 232." Booker said.

Ashley looked at her Omni-tool, because she was getting a signal. A ship had touched down and the ship's signature marks as an Alliance vessel. "Booker. Just over that ridge, a ship just sent reinforcements. They have to know what's happened here and what they're up against."

"What about you?" Booker asked.

"I'll have to hold them back here!" Ashley readied her rifle.

"I can't leave you like this!" Booker protested.

"That's an order, DeWitt!" Ashley snapped back. "I'll take care of myself, just bring back help!"

"Yes, Chief!" Booker replied and moved in closer to her. "Just come back to me."

Ashley made a small smile and said. "Just as long you come back to me."

Booker takes one last look at Ashley and ran to where the reinforcements could be coming from. Booker didn't stop; he brushed aside a few gasbags floating along and keeping an eye open for more of those machines. Then he hears the sound that same pulsating fire from one of those geth rifles. He takes cover and notices four of those disk flying drones shooting at something over an empty meadow. He can see two men wearing dark colored armor taking cover behind some rocks, while one of the men was lying dead on the ground. Booker knew they needed help, so he rests his assault rifle down and pulls out his sniper rifle. He takes steady aim and squeezes the trigger. His target exploded and he followed suite with the other remaining drones.

When he knew it was safe, Booker checked to see if the other two soldiers are still alive. He moved closer towards the men as they show themselves to Booker. One soldier came up to him while the other soldier checked on the dead soldier.

The first soldier to greet him pulled his helmet off. He had solid black hair and tanned skin. "Thanks for the assistance back there. I'm Lieutenant Kaiden Alenko."

Booker took his helmet off and he greeted himself. "I'm Gunnery Chief Booker DeWitt of the 212."

"DeWitt?" Kaiden was taken back with the mention of that name. "I've heard of you."

"I guess a lot of people have." Booker replied and then the other soldier approached Booker as he took notice of the N7 logo on his body armor.

"I've also heard of you." The man said as he pulled his helmet off. He had short hair, a distinguishable scar above his forehead, a broad face, and piercing blue eyes. "Chief DeWitt? I'm Commander Shepard. Can you fill us in what's going on here?"