CHAPTER 7

A/N Many thanks to Desert Sunrise for letting me borrow the term 'Crash and Blast'. who's Mass effect stories are AWESOME. Check them out :)

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Cora Harper was scanning the perimeter, the pilot Hayes and Dr Harry Carlyle were repairing the shuttle. She had watched in horror as lightning had hit the other shuttle. The pathfinder had immediately ordered Hayes to land, a decision that had saved all their lives. She was concerned about the rest of the team though until Alec had said that the asari, T'Soni would look after everyone.

Just before losing contact Fisher had reported that Liam and Sara had been sucked out and that the crazy asari had followed.

Lightning had struck their shuttle on the way down luckily Hayes had managed to get them down in one piece. SAM was offline though and their comms were on the fritz.

The shuttles electrical systems had shorted out.

The Pathfinder was one of the smartest individuals she had ever met and had gone off to scout out the area leaving her in charge. They'd flown over some sort of tower that he wanted to take a look at. He was also fascinated with the floating rocks that turned into tiny lightning rods.

"Any luck with the comms?"

"Yes but if we activate the systems they might blow again," answered Harry, he was actually a doctor but he had experience as a combat medic and Alec had wanted a medic on hand.

Unfortunately it was the team in the other shuttle that needed him. Most members on the team had some level of first aid training. Hopefully it would be enough.

"The radio might work with a very limited range," said Hayes, "I can pull a power pack so if it blows it won't affect the rest of the shuttle."

"Do it," ordered Cora.

The first hint of trouble was a few small stones sliding down a slope on the other side of the green acid puddle next to the vehicle.

"Guys!" Cora raised her shotgun.

Harry grabbed two Carnifex pistols from the weapon's locker and tossed one to the pilot.

Cora couldn't see anything but she knew something was out there. What if it was one of their teammates? Only one way to find out.

"Who's there?" She waited a few seconds for a response.

Silence.

"HELLO?"

Still nothing that ruled out humans, even Kosta who loved practical jokes wouldn't stay quiet under these circumstances. She didn't have to tell the others to take cover behind some of the larger rocks.

The attack started with no warning.

The aliens didn't get close enough for her to use her shotgun and until she knew more about the enemy she wasn't going to charge into the midst of them. At least they didn't seem to have shields and her pistol took them down quickly.

"Harry send up some flares." She hoped the Pathfinder saw them and came back.

"Good idea," agreed the doctor.

After that first wave Cora expected more, but it was quiet, she was sure they were still out there.

"Think they're sizing us up?" asked Harry.

"It would be the smart thing to do. Knowing your enemy was essential to victory". That sounded like something Sarissa would say.

"Maybe they called for back up," suggested Hayes.

The Vanguard knew that was very probable. "We'll be ready."

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Sara was glad she'd been working on her fitness, Alex had set a fast pace. Though she had a nice view following the asari.

The only time they slowed down was when they'd stumbled across a crashed vessel, they had split up to scan as much as they could as fast as they could. Someone was going to have fun later putting it all together like jigsaw puzzle.

Suddenly Sara's radio crackled. "Can anybody hear this transmission."

"Cora!"

"Sara? We're under attack."

Alex stopped not wanting to go in the wrong direction.

"We have to be close for the comm to work at all," muttered Sara to herself." She tapped her helmet comm, "Send up another flare."

"Roger that."

"OVER THERE!" yelled Liam.

Alex quickly led the way up a slope and jetted over a deep ravine, hearing faint gunfire. She needed to boost up and over another ledge before she saw the shuttle through a large gap in the rock wall ahead of her. She also spotted the aliens advancing on the rest of the Pathfinder team.

The aliens had no experience of biotics because they were clumped together which was too tempting a target for Alex to pass up.

Sara almost froze as the asari charged into the group and slammed her hand down causing a biotic explosion that killed most of them. Then Alex put a bullet in those that were still twitching.

"Remind me not to piss her off," said Liam, seriously.

Sara nodded completely robbed of speech, never had she witnessed anything like that.

Alex headed to where Cora was.

"Where's my dad?" Sara already knew the answer before Cora said he'd gone to scout around.

"N7 remember," whispered Alex giving her friend's shoulder a squeeze.

Liam was telling the others about Fisher, Greer and Kirkland.

Harry was interested in the scans of the alien bodies, "There's no obvious weaknesses."

"You shoot 'em enough they still die," commented Liam, angrily.

"Stock up on ammo," said Cora, "I'm sure they re grouping. So far all the attacks have been from the same direction." She'd seen commandos use the charge and nova combo before, she'd even tried it herself but T'Soni wasn't a huntress. Still she grudgingly admitted she was impressed with the asari's combat skills.

Alex picked up a shotgun to replace the pistol she had left with the marines. She should have insisted on more weapons. "Hayes, can you boost the range on that transmitter?"

"Maybe," replied the pilot.

"We'll cover you."

Cora didn't contradict the order, it was a good idea to try to contact the older Ryder and she should have thought of it. It did make her realize she'd have to have a chat back on the Hyperion, when the Pathfinder wasn't in command she was, not the asari. Unless the squad split up.

Alex could feel Lt Harper watching her, now wasn't the time or place to explain who she was. The secrecy was starting to cause problems, she had more combat experience than most of the rest of the squad put together. She'd even bet she had more than Ryder himself. He'd been riding a desk on the Citadel as the Military Attache for years. It wasn't that she wanted to pull rank, hell Alex T'Soni didn't have any to pull. Stepping on Cora's toes was a great start.

The next wave of enemies made them all focus on staying alive. They even had a drop ship which was hit by a bolt of lightning, it slammed into the rock wall and spun out of control before crashing far enough away that they could only see smoke.

"Pity that didn't happen BEFORE it dropped them off," said Sara glowing blue, her pistol ready in her hand.

"Um there's a really big one," said Liam, "That looks like it's got a minigun."

"It has shields too," added Cora. "We need to take that out first."

"Leave that one to me," said Alex igniting both her omni-blades. While it was still lumbering towards cover she charged, the impact dropped it's shields and a scissor move with her glowing blades took off it's head.

"Sara, who the hell is she?" asked Cora, firing at the alien that young Ryder had just trapped in a singularity.

"You're asking me? I've only known her a few weeks!" She watched the asari warp another enemy then charged it, the biotic explosion took out any others that were near it. Her next target was blasted with her shotgun.

"Is she going to crash and blast all of them?" asked Harry in awe.

Sara almost chuckled, that description suited Alex perfectly. She was more confused than angry now, she couldn't fight the fact that she cared about the asari but she really didn't know anything about her. Alex made her way back to the shuttle as Liam killed the last of them.

"It's done," said Hayes. "If we could get it further from the shuttle and higher it would improve the signal even more."

"How far?" Cora glanced at pilot.

"A ridge near where that drop ship went down."

Lt Harper didn't like that prospect at all, they had no idea how many more aliens were left out there? "T'Soni how fast are you?"

"Fast enough," replied Alex.

"Wait?" exclaimed Sara, "By herself?" She stared at her father's second in disbelief.

"I'll be fine and I won't be gone long." The last thing Alex wanted to do was worry the young woman but she could see the tension in her friend.

"Really and how am I supposed to know that?"

Alex decided she had to be honest, she took a deep breath, "Because I used to be a Spectre."

TBC…

A/N. Thanks for reading. I'm chuffed to bits about all the follows. I appreciate the reviews and I'm glad you are all enjoying my new take on Alex. (Don't worry I'm working on my next Endgame chapter and my next Supergirl one too.) Hope you all have great weeks. Have fun. T-Rex :)