Chapter 7

FUBAR

Defeated and their numbers reduced to just a mere dozen, the marines of the SSV Salem retreated back to their ship as quickly as possible. It was pitiful, what had needed over fifteen Kodiak drop ships to deploy could be brought back with only one.

Inside of the Kodiak, everyone was dead silent. All were either in shock or still trying to accept what had just happened. It didn't help that the things that had wiped out their platoon had looked like something out of a nightmare.

When the drop ship docked in the Salem's docking bay the ship's medical staff were waiting. Marines piled out, most of them stumbling or limping, some even had to be carried out in stretchers.

Sgt. Drake helped the wounded Pvt. Jenkins out as the last two off the ship. A nurse came over and helped the Sergeant carry the large man out.

"Don't worry Rookie, we're gonna get you help, get your leg patched up, and you'll be good as new" promised Drake,

The Rookie let out a pained groan, "can I get some morphine first?"

"Ah quite whining you big baby," scolded the Sergeant,

In a few minutes the docking bay was empty save for one medic who was about to leave himself. Suddenly a loud shuffling caught the medic's attention, fearing that they might have forgotten someone he moved towards the shuttle.

"Hey, is someone still in there?" he asked,

A few moments later he heard a pained groan. Quickly he moved to push the door open. When it was open just enough for the medic to fit through, a pair of hands shot out and grabbed the medic by the shirt and yanked him inside.

The medic struggled, but a knife slipped into his throat and his struggling ceased.

Captain Vilmos quickly stashed the body in the cockpit, hopefully no one would notice the medic's disappearance until they had finished their mission.

Giving another pat on the container strapped to his back, Vilmos checked with his two remaining men. The three of them had managed to sneak into the star port while the Alliance had been fighting the creatures. When they had got there they killed the pilots and stowed their bodies in a corner.

The Alliance retreat happened just as they were getting comfortable but it had been a minor inconvenience.

Now however, they were stuck on the Alliance frigate with no way to get off. The docking bay doors had sealed behind them so they couldn't just fly the shuttle off. Vilmos took comfort however, in the fact that most of the Alliance marines had been killed off. That meant that only security personal and the remaining few marines would be on board to protect the ship.

"Alright, quick weapons and ammo check," whispered Vilmos. He pulled out his Talon submachine gun and gave it a quick look over. His two companions, Pvt. Jones and Pvt. Tang pulled out their Harriers loaded in fresh thermal clips.

"You're packages still secure?" he asked, both nodded. Since most of their squad had been killed, the two of them had been delegated duty of carrying the other two eggs. Not exactly a very comfortable job considering the mass of the case but it had to be done.

"Alright, we're stuck on this ship but we won't be for long. We're going to make our way to the CIC deck, from there we'll make contact with our frigate and tell them the mission is complete. Then we'll unlock the hanger doors and use one of the shuttles to get out. Ready?"

The two nodded, Vilmos eased the shuttle door open and made a quick sweep of the bay. When he was sure that no one was around, he motioned for the two troopers to follow him.

The quickly exited the hanger and began to make their way through the pristine white halls of the Alliance Frigate.

#

After witnessing their rescue get wiped out, the survivors dispersed through the building to cope with reality in their own different ways.

Ashley opted to sit in the armory with her hands covering her face. She'd been in plenty of FUBAR missions before but this one took the cake. It wasn't just the fact that these aliens were of a new species, and thus were a mystery.

But Ashley should have been able to handle the mission better. She should have asked for reinforcements sooner, she should have realized something was wrong the moment they touched down.

The deaths of all these marines, the men and women who would never get to go back home, were on her head. Some Spectre she turned out to be.

Humanity's second Spectre, a total failure, the second Williams to screw up their military career, proof that the Williams family are losers. That's what she'd be remembered as.

How had she ever believed that she could rise to be anything? She couldn't even guarantee the safety of her own team.

But she had to keep it together, or at least pretend to. Even if she was breaking down inside she had to keep up the appearance that she was still holding it together.

"Ma'am?"

Ashley jumped, she hadn't even heard the door open, "yes Sergeant?"

"I gathered the team together in the security room like you asked," explained Johnson, "their ready whenever you are."

"Right," Ash breathed, "go wait with them Sergeant. I'll be along shortly."

Johnson nodded and closed the door behind him. When he was gone, Ashley took another deep breath and let it out. She composed herself and pushed herself up onto her feet.

Mustering her willpower she exited the armory and walked into the security room. There what was left of the team was gathered around a rectangular table, with the exception of Spark who was still monitoring the cameras.

Most of them looked distressed with the exception of Yahachi, who somehow managed to maintain his never changing expression. The minute she stepped in, all eyes were on her.

Keeping her façade together Ashley walked to the head of the table and put her two hands down on its surface.

"Alright people, I'm not going to lie," she started, "this mission is fucked. Our team is down to half strength, our reinforcements are gone, and we never managed to secure our objective. To make a long story short our options are incredibly limited."

"We went into this mission blind and that problem still hasn't been fixed. That is why I've decided that we're aborting the mission."

Suddenly everyone was very interested in this meeting.

"Aborting?" asked Octavia, "you mean we're leaving?"

"Yes," nodded Ash.

"That's fine with me," chorused King,

"What are you talking about we can't just leave," protested Octavia,

"Sybilla" said King, who knew what was coming, "just-"

"No! I refuse to take this order! Those bastards killed my friends, good marines died today! We can't just run with our tales tucked between our legs!"

"Quiet down Octavia," barked Johnson, "the LC says we're aborting, so we're aborting."

"No, Sarge you can't agree with this! I know for a fact that you don't want to run any more than I do."

"No I do not," admitted Johnson, "but that doesn't mean I disobey orders or do fool hardy things like what I know you're thinking!"

Octavia sneered, "I guess I should have expected this, I knew this would happen with her in charge."

That caught Ashley's attention, "excuse me."

In his seat, Yun's robotic fingers suddenly crushed the lit cigarette he'd been smoking.

"Yeah, that's right. I know all about you Williams," Octavia replied challengingly. "You're grandfather, General Williams, was the only human commander to surrender to an alien force."

Ashley's hands balled into fists and her body tensed up.

"Now here you are, running away like a scared little girl."

She clenched her teeth.

"I guess giving up runs in the family"

Ashley exploded into motion. With her training and experience, Octavia never stood a chance. The Spectre's armored fist caught he woman right in the gut. Ashley had purposefully chosen that spot, knowing that the woman's armor would save her from lasting damage but that the blow would still cause a hell of a lot of pain. And right now that's all that mattered to Ash, making her feel pain.

Octavia doubled over but quickly recovered. When she did, she lunged at Ashley with the skill of a wild animal. Ashley waited for her to get in close, then quickly shifted to the side and stuck out her foot.

Octavia tripped and fell to the floor.

But again the woman quickly pushed herself back up. As she did, she tossed a thermal clip at Ash, causing the Spectre to drop her guard in order to dodge it. Octavia closed the distance between them in that time and swung a right hook at Ashley.

But a blue aura surrounded the Spectre and she was suddenly jerked back into a pair of mechanical arms. Yun then struck out with his right arm and sent a wave of biotic energy, shoving Octavia into a wall. King and Breznev were there immediately, pinning the woman down.

"Let me up! Let me up!" screeched Octavia as she struggled.

"Sybilla girl! Calm down!" begged King as he held her back.

Ashley lunged forward, hoping to continue teaching the bitch a lesson. But Yun's grip kept her in place.

"Take her out of here!" ordered Johnson, the two men then dragged a still struggling Octavia out of the room. When everything was once again quiet, Johnson turned to Ashley, "I'm sorry about that ma'am, I'll have her locked up immediately."

"That…won't be necessary Sergeant," said Ashley, "I'll write it off, we're all a little on edge right now."

"Thank you ma'am," nodded Johnson, he then saluted and left the room.

Ashley sighed, she needed a drink.

"Cigarette?" asked Yun, holding out a pack to her. She shook her head to decline and sat on the table.

"What about you?" asked Ashley, "do you think we should run?"

"Quite frankly, yes," said Yun, "never could understand why some people enjoyed fighting so much. But in this situation especially, I think it's a good idea. Those aliens might fight with claws and teeth but they've kicked our asses in every engagement so far. Obviously we're doing something wrong, retreat will give us some time to figure out what."

Ashley nodded.

"She said your grandfather was General Williams right?" asked Yun, "the General Williams?"

Ashley nodded, "the General Williams."

Yun nodded back, "hmm, well then, I'll leave you alone for now."

"yeah…oh and thanks," said Ashley

Yun paused by the door, "for what?"

"Keeping me back," explained Ash, "if you hadn't I might've seriously hurt Octavia."

Yun smirked, "I believe it. Come on Yahachi, let's leave the LC alone."

With that said the two men left Williams alone with the synthetic manning the security cameras. With a sigh she pinched the bridge of her nose and rubbed her temples. She felt like she needed a drink or maybe a nap, either one sounded nice right about now.

But she didn't have the luxury of taking a break, right now she needed to get what was left of her team off this planet alive.

"Unit cohesion seems to be degrading," commented Spark, not taking its eyes off of the terminal.

Ashley turned to the synthetic, "excuse me?"

"Unit cohesion seems to be degrading," repeated Spark, "this confuses me."

"Why?" Ashley asked incredulously,

"The Geth never fight, we never have a conflict of interests. Throughout our history we have always been cooperative with one another and always had the same interests as one another. We have often observed that organics often have infighting, I wish to know why?"

Ashley let out a breath, "I don't know, it just how we always are."

"Surely there is a reason," Spark almost begged.

"I don't know," Ashley said again, "look, Spark, I'm not in any mood to discuss philosophy at the moment."

"I am causing you severe stress. I apologize, this was not might intention. Please accept my apologies."

"Yeah sure, just patch me through to the Salem so we can get a ride out of here," said Ashley. Spark nodded its head and typed in a series of commands to the terminal. An antenna also grew out of its back and before long it had established a line to the Salem.

"Line established," it announced, "patching you through now."

Ashley put her finger to the COM unit in her ear and spoke, "This is Lieutenant Command Ashley Williams to the SSV Salem. Captain, do you read me?"

"This is Captain Davos of the Salem, I read you," confirmed a voice.

Ashley breathed a sigh of relief, "Captain, I'm requesting an immediate evac for my team. We are aborting mission. I repeat, we are aborting."

"I read you Williams, can't say I blame you, this whole missions gone to shit. I'll send you a shuttle just as soon as I can-," the Captain's voice was suddenly cut off a sudden storm of noise.

"Captain? What's going on?"

#

"Captain? What's going on?"

Davos quickly whipped around, his hand going for the sidearm he kept holstered on his hip. He turned just in time to see the two security officers assigned to the CIC get gunned down by men wearing white and black armor.

Two crew members went for their pistols as well. But they too were killed with deadly precision. Davos unholstered his weapon and fired two quick shots at the Cerberus soldiers.

He missed both shots but they were enough for the hostiles to hesitate coming any closer.

Davos leaped down from the command ramp to try and find better cover but as he did one of the Cerberus operatives popped out and fired a quick burst from his rifle.

The shots struck home in Davos's knee, the Captain let out a cry of pain and crashed into the floor. As he fell, his hand loosened its grip on his pistol and the weapon slid across the deck.

The old Captain attempted to stand himself up and limp over to retrieve his pistol but something hard and heavy landed on his backside and pushed him back down.

Davos felt the barrel of a gun press against his head.

He closed his eyes and waited.

A moment later his brains were splattered all over the deck.

One of the female CIC members screamed.

"Alright nobody move!" ordered Vilmos, "We're reasonable people despite what the Alliance may say. If everyone just cooperates then no one needs to die."

"Captain!" Vilmos heard, turning his attention to the galaxy map in the center of the CIC, "are you there? I repeat, what's going on?"

Vilmos walked up to the map and spoke to it, "apologies Miss, but Captain Davos is currently indisposed at the moment."

"Who is this?"

"The new commanding officer of the SSV Salem," answered Vilmos, "you must be the Alliance team that's been causing us so much trouble planet side. I regret to inform you that no rescue will be possible at this time."

"Cerberus!" the voice on the other side realized,

"But don't worry, we'll take good care of the ship," assured Vilmos, with that said he cut the line. Turning back to the Alliance members on the ship he announced, "alright, as of now you have all been temporarily drafted into Cerberus, congratulations."

Making his way to the cockpit, he found the pilot shaking in his boots. The man look so frightened he'd probably piss his pants the moment Vilmos spoke.

"You gonna give us any trouble flight lieutenant?" asked the Cerberus Captain,

The man shook his head, no.

"Good," said Vilmos, "bring us alongside our frigate and extend an umbilical."

The pilot seemed hesitant at first, but then Vilmos reminded him that he was the one with the gun and the pilot complied.

After a few minutes, the Salem was parallel with the Cerberus ship and an umbilical tube was extended from the Salem's door to their ship's. Because Cerberus frigates were about twice the size of Alliance frigates, the fit was a bit awkward but worked well enough for use.

"You two," commanded Vilmos to his two men, "lock the CIC down and keep the hostages in line. If anyone gives you any trouble, don't be afraid to spill blood. I'll return shortly."

#

"Damn it!" cursed Ashley, slamming her fist onto the table. It seemed fate was against her today, not only had their mission gone to shit but now their only means off this planet had been taken over by Cerberus.

This mission had officially gone FUBAR in every sense of the word.

Ashley slid into a chair and hung her head low. They needed a new plan, find some other way off planet or maybe hold down the fort until rescue arrived.

Either way, she now had to inform her squad of the bad news.

"Spark, call Sgt. Johnson and Cpl. Yun and tell them to come in here," she commanded the synthetic,

"Acknowledged, I will call them now," said the Geth.

Before long both the Sergeant and Yun entered the security room, Johnson looked as solid as ever and Yun was of course smoking.

"Ma'am," greeted Johnson,

"Sergeant,"

"I could've sworn I was just in here, did you get lonely?" asked Yun,

"Shut up and sit down," replied Ashley. Yun quickly obeyed and sat down, then took a drag from his cigarette.

"There was something you needed from us ma'am?" asked Johnson,

"Yes," said Ashley carefully, "I'm afraid I've got some bad news."

"Not surprising," quipped Yun,

Ashley threw him a glare then returned to the task at hand.

"The Salem," she began, "has been boarded by Cerberus, they've take over the bridge and are holding the crew hostage."

"What? How?" asked Johnson,

"I don't know how," admitted Ashley, "but what I do know is that as of now we can't expect any support from the Salem, we're on our own."

"Damn it," cursed Johnson, "terrorist sons of bitches."

Yun quietly sighed and took another puff of smoke, "so what's the plan?"

"I was actually hoping to get input on that from you two," explained Ashley, "the way I see it there's two options we have, either find another way off of this planet or hold this building until the Alliance sends help."

Yun held his cigarette between his lips for a good half a minute before taking it between his fingers and saying, "getting off the planet would be ideal, better chances of survival and we could come back quicker with reinforcements. But…"

"But we don't have a way off the planet," finished Johnson, "at least not one that we know about currently. Last I checked the only ships docked in the space port were only capable of breaking atmosphere but wouldn't survive a trip through a mass relay."

Ashley considered their words carefully than nodded, "agreed, besides even if we were to get off planet we wouldn't have the supplies to survive a trip back to Alliance space."

"So our best bet is to hold down the fort," concluded Yun,

Johnson wearily rubbed his chin, "I've been in plenty of hold outs before ma'am, but nothing quite like what we're up against."

"I understand your concern Sergeant, but at the moment it's all we have," said Ashley, "but if we're going to turn this building into a safe house we're going to need more fire power."

"What did you have in mind ma'am?"

"When our reinforcements retreated they probably left a lot of equipment. The spaceport isn't far from here, probably just a 15 minute jog," said Ashley, "we're going to need a small team to go out and retrieve supplies. Ammo, weapons, whatever we can use to fight."

Johnson nodded, "a good idea, whose on the team?"

"Myself along with Cpl. Yun, PFC. King, and Pvt. Breznev," listed Ashley, "we'll scrounge for supplies and be back hopefully within the hour."

Johnson nodded again, "acknowledged, I'll go tell them the news now."

Ashley dismissed the both of them, Johnson left the room but Yun opted to remain.

"Avoiding Octavia?" he asked,

"Of course I am, it wouldn't be smart to have her guarding my six after what just happened," Ashley pointed out, "how's she doing by the way?"

"Minor bruising, her pride is hurt more than anything," said Yun, "she wouldn't settle down so Breznev gave her a weak sedative, that'll probably keep her calm for a couple hours."

Ashley nodded then asked, "how're you holding up?"

"Me? I'm fine," Yun replied laxly, "I've still got my cigarettes, I've still got blood in my veins, and I've still got my lighter. The only thing I'm missing is a mug of beer in my free hand and a woman of questionable morals in my lap."

"You're an absolute pig," Ash stated bluntly,

"Yeah, I am," said Yun as though it were a matter of fact. He took another drag from his cigarette and noticed that it was at the end of its use. Without hesitation he took it from his mouth and jammed it's still burning end into the palm of his hand.

Ashley noticed his pressed it in with quite a bit of intensity.

When the flame was finally extinguished he tossed the bud carelessly onto the floor and stomped on it. Strangely he let out a sigh that sounded as though its cause was anxiety.

"Why do you do that?" asked Ash, curious.

"Hmm?"

"I saw you do that before, putting out your cigarettes by jamming them into your hand," she explained.'

Yun shrugged, "just a habit I developed."

"I've also seen you hold your palm over your lighter," she countered, "is that a habit too?"

Yun's eyes widened for a fraction of a moment, obviously he had not been aware that she had seen him do that. He then let out a long breath and nervously rubbed the back of his neck.

"Noticed that did you?" he chuckled, "it's…nothing."

"Sure doesn't seem like nothing."

Yun smiled, but he might as well have frowned with the amount of enthusiasm he put into it. He raised his right hand up to his downcast eyes and made a fist.

"I know some marines with prosthetics, a lot of them have phantom pains. Is that what's bugging you?"

This time Yun smiled genuinely and shook his head.

"The body heals, but the mind," he placed a finger on his temple, "is not always as resilient."

Ashley took a seat next to him, "what do you mean?"

"When they gave me these, they had to cut off the old ones. But that wasn't the kicker, no, the real kicker was when they killed the nerves," explained Yun, "prosthetics are connected through muscle and nothing else. I could have a knife through my arm and I wouldn't feel a god damn thing."

"I can see how that could be a bad thing. You wouldn't be able to feel any of the good things in life,"

Yun frowned, "I don't really miss any of those."

Ashley furrowed her eyebrows, "you don't?"

"No?" he confirmed, "I mean I still have nerves on the rest of my body so I can still feel shit. What I miss, is feeling pain."

"Pain?"

"Yeah," said Yun, "I still remember what the last thing I felt with my real arms was: fire, all over my arms and this horrible pain that just wouldn't go away. I don't remember feeling anything else after that. But sometimes when I'm sleeping or even when I'm just sitting in some chair, I'll feel it again."

"But, whenever I do it myself" Yun opened his lighter, lit a flame, and pressed his thumb down onto it, "I can't feel a god damn thing. I don't know why, but for some reason I want to feel that fire again. But I want it to come from something I did, not this stupid mental scar I've got on my brain."

Ashley was struck silent, it seemed that Breznev was right. Yun's less than healthy habits were a means of escape, a defense mechanism. She couldn't imagine what it must be like to not be able to control what happened to your own limbs.

She opened her mouth to speak but was suddenly cut off when the door to the room slid open.

"Ma'am," greeted King as he stepped in, "the Sarge said you wanted to…to...am I interrupting something?"

"Yeah," answered Yun, "you just interrupted the LC's confession of true love for me."

Ashley let out an exasperated sigh and stood up, "come on, we've got work to do."

#

It wasn't long before the team of four was out in the streets of the colony again. Dust buffeted them constantly with sand and dust, it was one of the times that Ashley was glad she was wearing a helmet.

The trip to the battlefield didn't take long and what they found there wasn't pretty.

Blood was everywhere, soaking into the sand and thickening it. Bodies were strewn around the field, most of them missing a sizable chunk of flesh. Ashley also made out what appeared to be long snaking trails on the ground, it took a moment before she realized that it was made from someone being dragged away.

Up ahead were the burning remains of a Mako tank that had been turned onto its back.

"Jesus," muttered King, "poor bastards never had a chance."

Another few minutes of walking and they arrived back at the Space port. There they saw more evidence of battle, bodies were practically everywhere here which meant that the bugs probably hadn't gotten to them yet.

In the back of the port Ashley spotted the wreckage of one of the shuttles that hadn't been able to take off.

"Alright, let's spread out and take a look around. Scavenge anything that might be of use to use," ordered Ashley, "remember to stay within shouting distance of one another, stay frost, keep your guard up, and report and unusual noises. Move out."

The squad did so and went about searching through the supplies that the Alliance had left in its hasty retreat.

Ashley started with some crates that had been shipped down by their reinforcements. She pried them open and found them filled with thermal clips. Nodding approvingly and began filling the bags they had brought with them.

Yun and King were nearby attempting to gain entry to the overturned Kodiak shuttle. King attempted to pry the door open but even with his great strength it refused to yield. Yun promptly motioned for him to step back.

Winding back his mechanical hand he launched a hard punch into the Kodiak's door. The strength of the strike was enough to cave in the door and allow Yun a hand hold which he used to rip the shuttle door right of its hinges.

"Pfft, show off," muttered King as he entered the Kodiak.

Yun just shrugged and flexed his fingers.

"Awww yeah!" cheered King, the man came out and tossed a weapon to Yun.

"Nice," smiled the Corporal,

"Firestorms baby, perfect for clearing out your local bug infestations."

"How many?"

"Just three plus six reloads," replied King, "hey Breznev, find anything?"

"Lots of medi-gel," replied the Russian, "this will help."

"Great, now all we need is to find some booze and-"

Yun's sentence was suddenly cut off when one of the doors nearby buckled. Every human went for their weapon, shouldered it, and sighted down the door.

The holographic handle hadn't been activated which indicated that there was no power. Whoever or whatever was opening that door was doing it manually.

"Squad, take up defensive positions," ordered Ashley with a whisper.

The squad obeyed, arranging themselves so that whatever came out would be caught in a crossfire.

"Don't fire until you have a clear target," commanded Ash.

The door buckled again and this time it seemed whatever was opening it was trying harder. The door began to screech as it was slowly starting to slide open.

The marines tightened their grips on their weapons.

The door screeched open halfway and stopped.

Weapons pointed into the blackness, awaiting whatever nightmares came out of it.

Except no nightmares came out, something else did.

A Turian, a female one to be exact.

At first Ashley didn't believe her eyes, she blinked twice before realizing that her eyes were not deceiving her.

"Everybody hold your fire," she ordered, lowering her Revenant.

"I thought I heard something," said the Turian as she walked out to greet the humans, shotgun lowered, "more survivors from that Alliance attack I assume?"

"More? You mean there are more of us?" asked King,

The Turian nodded, "thank the spirits for that."

"I'll say,"

Ashley had to agree, finding out that there were more survivors was the first piece of good news they'd managed to get all day.

"I'm Lyreel," introduced the Turian, she then gestured to the door behind her, "the Krogan inside is Klonc."

A Krogan with a green crest popped his head and greeted, "sup"

"Are there more of you?" asked Ashley,

"Yeah, about a dozen more colonists plus about six marines we managed to save after the battle," said Lyreel, "come on, I'll show you."

Ashley nodded and motioned for the squad to follow the Turian, before walking through the door Ashley radioed Johnson.

"Home base, we've found survivors, repeat we've found survivors. We're going to gather them up and march them back," she said over the COM, "please acknowledge."

"Acknowledged, that's damn good news to hear ma'am."

"We'll see you soon home base, Williams out."

Ashley followed her squad through the door, the Krogan closing the door after them. The humans and Turian flicked on their flashlights.

"This way," motioned Lyreel, leading them through the dark.

"How have you survived?" asked Ashley as she took point with the Turian.

"By hiding mostly," said Lyreel, "as sad as it is to say, it was easier when the majority of us died. With a smaller group we were able to keep moving so that those things could never find us. When your Alliance moved in, we'd holed up in the space port's employee lounge."

"I'm sorry we can't evac you right away," said Ashley,

"Don't be, I've gotten used to failed escape attempts," assured Lyreel as she continued forward, "are there more of you?"

"Yeah, we've holed up at city hall. We planned on holding it down until the Alliance sent a rescue," explained Ashley, "we came to the Space port in hopes of getting supplies."

"You were foolish to come at night, that's when those things are most active," scolded the Turian.

"The bugs don't like sunshine or something?" asked Yun,

"Darkness is their ally," explained Lyreel, "they can see in it and you're afraid of it."

"Well we weren't going to last long if we didn't have enough ammo," said Breznev,

"I guess that's true enough," conceded Lyreel, "I've been wanting to move my people to City Hall for a while but we don't have the training or numbers to hold it down. You though…"

Eventually Lyreel led them to a door to which the power was still flowing. The holographic lock was red, the Turian knocked twice on the door and the lock changed to a green and opened. Inside two colonists, one a Salarian and the other a female human, were holding weapons.

When they saw that it wasn't the bugs, they lowered their weapons and allowed them inside before relocking the door.

Inside was a mix of other species, ranging from humans and Turians, to Krogan and Asari. Ashley also managed to spot some of the Alliance marines that had survived the attack.

One of them noticed Ashley and jumped to attention, "officer on deck!"

The rest of the marines stood at attention as well.

"At ease men," said Ashley, her HUD indicated that the first marine was Pvt. Yang. "Is this everyone Pvt. Yang?"

"Yes ma'am," said the Private, "and trust me we got lucky. If these survivors hadn't pulled us out of the fire when they did we wouldn't have made it."

Ashley nodded.

"We need to get these people out of here," said Yun,

"Agreed," said Ashley, she turned to the Turian who had been tending to a wounded colonist, "get you're people ready to move. We're going to get you to City Hall."

"Glad to hear it," said Lyreel, "with all of you we might actually be able to hold that place down. Give me ten minutes and I'll have my people ready."

#

True to her word, ten minutes later the group of survivors was on the road again. Between the colonists and the surviving marines, Ashley now had 20 new bodies under her command.

That was why they had to move quickly. Having such a large group compromised any possibility of stealth, getting to their destination quickly was the safest way to go.

Thankfully they'd already managed to get three quarters of the way back to city hall and they still hadn't lost a single soul.

Of course that only put Ashley more on edge.

"Watch those roof tops," she said over the COM, "they could be hiding anywhere."

"Not a comforting prospect," commented Yun.

They continued moving forward but the knot in her gut kept getting tighter as they did. Yun voiced her concerns when he said, "does anyone else feel eyes on the back of their head?"

Her worries got so bad that when she stepped on a manhole for the colony sewage her heart skipped a beat at the noise.

"Hey, you okay?" asked Yun,

"Yeah, I'm fine," she assured as she moved on.

"Don't break down on me LC, cause if you do then so will I," said Yun, almost pleadingly.

"You're afraid?" she asked,

"Terrified," answered the Corporal,

"You don't look like it." Yun smiled and was about to respond when a scream suddenly cut through the sky.

Both humans whipped around to see one of the colonists, the human female, get pulled down the manhole Ashley had just stepped over. It happened so fast that no one reacted until the woman was gone.

"Holy shit!" cursed King,

That's when a roar caught their attention. Ashley turned her eyes up to the roof of a three story building. There her gaze caught sight of the biggest, ugliest bug she'd ever seen.

"Spirits be damned, its Ugly," cursed Lyreel,

"Ugly?" asked Yun,

"Some kind of Alpha," explained the Turian, "whenever he shows up, so do other bugs."

"Well then they'll just have to do without him," said Brezneve, without another word the Russian raised his rifle and fired a quick burst. The shots were perfectly aimed and they struck home, right on the bug's elongated skull.

One problem, the bullets barely left a dent in the thing's exoskeleton. They simply richoted off the bug, leaving it more pissed than it was a few seconds ago.

"What the hell?"

"It's bullet proof!" scolded Lyreel, "we've got to run, I've emptied a whole clip into that thing and it hasn't been any worse off."

Ugly reared its head and roared again, the humans and aliens could feel it echo through their bodies. Not a moment later, black insectoid creatures began jumping out of the shadows to kill.

"Open fire!" Ashley yelled as her Revenant thundered to life.

Her finger jammed down on the trigger, hosing down a trio of bugs running towards them.

"Look out!"

A shimmering barrier suddenly appeared around her just in time to catch a blob of acid aimed at her head. The barrier died and two shots rang out, a second later the acid hacking bug dropped to the ground.

Ashley gave a nod of thanks to Yun before returning to the fight.

Yun smiled to himself before throwing out a biotic shockwave into a line of xenos, knocking them around like bowling pins.

"Keep moving!" she ordered, "we stay here and they'll just keep picking us off."

"You heard her! Move!" shouted Lyreel,

The convoy of survivors began to run double time towards their destination, all the time fighting off their attackers.

But the bugs were relentless, they had no fear of death. They're only thought was to kill for the hive.

King spotted a group of them running parallel to the group like a pack of wolves chasing down their kill. He shouldered his grenade launcher and fired off a single shell, the explosive landed dead center and tore the majority to pieces.

Two got away and leapt towards the survivors.

An Asari colonist summoned her biotics and tossed one of the bugs away. The second lunged at Klonc the Krogan but was promptly bulled out of the way, it's broken body thrown to the red dust of Mars.

"Keep moving!"

An acid spitting alien spat out a glob of acid and managed to catch one of the marines in the face. The man screamed as the substance burned through his helmet and eventually made its way to his flesh.

Those who passed him knew he was already beyond saving and tried to drown out his screams.

Breznev, who was at the back of the line, mercifully shot the man before moving on.

"We're almost there," announced Ashley, "I can see the building!"

That's when a familiar roar broke out, the Spectre spared a glance at the roof of a nearby building to see the bug dubbed Ugly calling to its soldiers.

There was a black blur of movement as two forms, nearly as large as Ugly, leapt from the roof and landed on the ground below with an earth shaking thud.

Lyreel paused in her strides to stare in horror.

"Brutes!"

Ashley stopped in her own tracks to see what had shaken the Turian.

It was a bug, but compared to the other bugs almost skeletal disposition this one was practically bursting with muscle.

Its chest was as wide as two full grown men, its arms had biceps as large as her head and its head was rigged with dark armored plates. It had not tail but made up for it by standing up right and erect like a regular humanoid.

The Spectre realized that she was looking at a Krogan birthed bug. Brute was a fitting nickname to give such a monster.

The two Brutes stared at the scurrying prey, together they let loose ear shattering roars and charged forward. Their muscle bound legs propelled them faster than any human could run, before long they were upon the group.

A Salarian tried to turn and fight, managing to get off a few shots before one Brute backhanded him mid stride and the other stomped his head into the dirt.

"Scatter!" yelled Lyreel

Yun and Ashley did an about face and opened fire on both monsters. But even her Revenant combined with Yun's Piranha didn't even slow their advance. The beasts just took the punishment like a sponge and kept going.

As the Brutes descended upon them Ashley wisely jumped out of the way, Yun however stood his ground and loaded another clip into his shotgun.

He continue firing even as the Brutes got right up in front of him. One of the Brutes lashed out with its large clawed hand. Yun ducked under the blow but was caught by a the second one which rammed its shoulder into him.

The blow sent him tumbling through the dirt a good two meters away and sent chains of pain coursing through his chest.

"Yun!" Ashley cried out,

"I'm fine!" said the Corpoal, as he spat out a glob of blood onto the sand and weakly crawled away, "keep going, I'll catch up soon!"

One of the Brutes, noticing that it had not killed the man, ran towards him to finish the job while the other broke off to deal with the rest of the survivors.

Yun reached for his Piranha only to find that it was out of his reach. Seeing that the Brute was closing in, he unholstered one of his N7 Eagles and pulled the trigger.

But the constant stream of bullets were simply absorbed into the Brute's body, whatever pain it might have felt was ignored as it continued trucking on.

When his weapon clicked empty, Yun summoned his biotics and threw a powerful warp attack at the Brute.

The biotic missile struck the bug dead on, this time a large chunk of flesh came off of the Brute's chest. But it simply ignored the damaged and continued.

Ashley fired on the second Brute as it approached their on foot convoy. She must have gotten its attention because it abandoned pursuit of the colonists in favor of attacking her.

"Oh crap," she cursed as the Brute barreled through her, knocking the Spectre onto the ground.

Noticing that she was no longer in front of it, the Brute turned a full 180 and charged again. Ashley was just barely recovering from being run over when the massive bug grabbed her by the waist in its large hand and smashed her into the ground before lifting her up into the air.

Taking advantage of the lull in motion, Ashley unholstered her pistol and emptied an entire clip right into the bug's eyeless face. She must have scored a lucky shot because it suddenly reeled in pain and let her go.

Yun was having much less success, he tossed another warp at the Brute. This time the biotic power tore off a piece of its ribcage but it still did not stop.

Time for a change in tactics

Summoning his biotic power again, Yun turned his palm up and lifted. The Brute, still charging, was shrouded in a blue aura before being grabbed off its feet and left to flail harmlessly in the air.

Yun suddenly disappeared in a flash of blue as he biotically rammed the still airborne bug, sending it flying into a wall.

But that wasn't the end of it. Yun called upon his power again, grabbed the Brute from the air, and slammed it into the ground.

The Brute greeted the planet's surface with a sickening crack.

Ashley recovered her Revenant, this time she switched her shots to use incendiary ammo and unloaded on the thing. The flaming bullets did the trick and burned through the Brute's tough hide. It buckled under Ashley's assault but when her clip overheated, it was amazingly still alive.

"Heads up!" she heard and turned to see King readying his grenade launcher.

She quickly dove away and King fired a single shell. The Brute exploded into pieces as the grenade tore it apart, leaving nothing but fist sized chunks.

Yun, confident that his Brute had been dealt with, began to walk away. But that only let the big Bug to recover and sucker punch the man.

Dazed and on his back, Yun could do nothing as the Brute lifted its foot to crush his head.

Gabriel closed his eyes acceptingly.

But then came the Russian to the rescue. Breznev had snuck behind the Brute and now was on its back with one of his shivs, viciously stabbing it over and over again.

"умереть кусок дерьма!" yelled Breznev,

When his shiv finally melted, Breznev tossed the useless hunk of metal away and drew another one to resume his stabbing.

The Brute however, managed to grab the Russian marine from off its back and hold him out in front of it. It stared at him menacingly and opened its large jaws, revealing its inner mouth which was slowly coming out.

Breznev just smiled, up came his knife hand. He sunk the blade deep into the roof of the Brute's mouth. The weapon slipped into the alien's brain and caused it to immediately seize up, the next second it dropped to the ground like a tall tree.

Breznev landed cleanly on his feet and dusted himself off before offering a hand to Yun. The Corporal took the hand and allowed the Russian to pull him to his feet.

"How'd you know how to do that?" asked Yun,

"you learn these things as a doctor," explained Breznev with a small smile.

Yun was about to make a smart remark on playing doctor. But that was before a black barbed blade burst through Breznev's chest and lifted him high into the air.

"NO!" yelled Yun,

The Russian marine clung to life and looked down at the instrument of his own demise. Then he was moving, still living he was brought face to face with the ugly bug he'd shot not too long ago.

Its face was the most disgusting thing he'd ever seen.

Breznev smiled as blood trickled down his chin. He gathered a large glob of it in his mouth and spat it out onto Ugly's face.

Ugly's response was to open his mouth and let its inner mouth shoot through the Russian's forehead.

It then tossed the dead man's body away carelessly and turned its attention to the remaining human.

"Son of a bitch!"

Ugly turned its head, only to have its face receive a biotically powered punch. So strong was the strike that it actually stumbled back a few steps.

"Yeah! You feel that you ugly prick?!"

Ugly's response was swing its tail around, striking Yun in the midsection, send him flying through a window and tumbling into someone's table.

"Ow," groaned Yun as he lay on the broken remains of the table.

Unfortunately for him, Ugly burst through the house's door. Yun quickly pushed himself up and launched the strongest biotic push he could muster. The blue aura shoved Ugly right back out, but did little more than to slow him down.

Yun began to look for a means of escape, when he heard a scuffle of movement in the room.

Turning on his feel and whipping out his Eagle, he prepared to face down whatever bug there. But it wasn't a bug, it was his sister.

"Alison?"

The dark haired woman he would recognize anywhere, peeked over the kitchen counter, her eyes full of fear.

"Gabe?"

"Alison!" Gabriel cheered as he jumped over the counter and prepared to envelope her in a big bear hug. But that idea was quickly pulled from his thoughts when his sister's eyes widened and she screamed.

"Gabe look out!"

Yun whipped around to see a trio of bugs had entered the building, two of human make and another from a Turian.

Yun instinctively snapped his pistol up and fired two quick bursts. The first caught a human bug dead center in the dome, the second was a bit off and hit the turian bug in the shoulder.

As the Turian made bug screeched in pain, the third bug pounced over the counter to attack. Yun grabbed it out of the air with his biotics and tossed it against the wall, breaking its bones.

He turned to finish off the Turian bug, when Ugly suddenly came bursting through the door again. The Turian bug was shoved aside as the much larger monster made a beeline for Gabriel and his sister.

"Alison run!" ordered Gabe as he gathered up his biotic power.

"But Gabe-"

"Go!" he yelled and charged at Ugly.

He struck out with a biotic kick which connected to Ugly's midsection. The big bug stumbled back and swiped and Yun with its claws, but the human ducked under and unleashed a combo of biotically infused strikes with his hands.

But it did little more than annoy the alien and smash him against the walls.

Having had enough of the pesky little human, Ugly back handed Yun and sent him sprawling to the ground. Giving no time to recover, the alien then scooped him up in its large boney hands and roared in his face.

Gabriel was in a daze now, this bug was strong, too strong. But he was shaken from his confusion when he heard a recognizable scream. He turned his neck as far as he could and was able to just catch a glimpse of his sister.

Much to his horror she was being dragged away by xeno, screaming and kicking as it held her by the leg and took her away.

"No!" he yelled, knowing what would be done with her. Images of the colonists, cocooned to the wall, with those little facehuggers latched onto their heads filled his mind.

Yun desperately attempted to summon his biotics again though his body screamed for him not to. But Ugly wouldn't have any of it.

The monster slammed him down on to the ground, then violently tossed him against the wall, before wrapping its spine like tail around the human's neck.

Yun clawed at the tail with his hands, his lungs began to beg for air. But Ugly's tail was like a massive snake, just one giant muscle built to squeeze the life out of him.

He tried to yell out for help but when he opened his mouth nothing came out.

Before long his vision began to blur.

His eyelids grew heavy.

And soon all he knew was the dark.