Snake in the Mud
Chapter 18
All Tali could hear was a piercing ring that droned in her head. Am I alive? She opened her eyes and saw black. Am I dead? Tali tried to move her muscles and her body responded to that. I am defiantly not dead. Blinking her eyes trying to knock off the blurred vision she noticed another white crack on the mask that shot out like a vein from a leaf's central spine. Oh Keelah, it is getting worse. The ringing went away but was replaced by screams and the snapping of fire. When Tali heard the screams she instantly tried to stand up. Her hooded head peeked out from the crater still being cautious of the enemy. The sickening feeling of dread dropped into her stomach like an anvil when she scanned the horizon. No! The battlefield was littered with parts of the enemy ship. The asteroid was scorched and red flickering flames spiraled into the air along with black pillars of smoke.
"Shepard! Hello, can anyone read me," Tali desperately yelled into the communication channel. No one responded back. "Please anyone. Wrex, Garrus…Shepard, can you hear me?" Looking down at the lip of the crater she noticed the dust was glassed and small beads of molten metal stared up at her like beady red eyes. The screaming off in the distance continued scaring Tali to death. "Liara, where are you?" The last thing she could remember was watching Liara sprint off in the distance searching for cover when an enemy came out of nowhere trying to drop both of them. "Liara," she called out with a lump creeping up in her throat. There was movement under some debris and Tali caught a pale grey armored fist raise in the air. Liara! Cautiously, Tali approached her friend keeping her eyes peeled looking for bad guys.
"Tali, over here!" Liara's voice sounded stressed and worried.
"Liara!" Tali skidded across the ground towards a pile of metal plates.
"Hurry, it is crushing me!" Tali grabbed her friends arm and pulled but she didn't move. A single shot roared off in the distance causing Tali to jump and spin around looking for threats as the screaming subsided to a heart breaking whimper. Another gunshot rung out finally cutting off the pathetic noise Tali had to listen to. "Tali!" Liara's hand pushed against one of the metal plates desperately trying to take the weight off her chest. Tali pulled with all her strength trying to help her friend.
"It…is…too heavy! Damn it," Tali cursed letting go of the plate. Suddenly Tali heard footsteps rush up behind her.
"It's Wrex, don't shoot," he let his quarian friend know as he noticed her tense up reaching for her shotgun.
"Wrex," she started releasing the stress in her voice, "help me, Liara is getting crushed!" Wrex slipped his hand under the heavy metal plate and lifted grunting as he did.
"Tali," he said through his grunts while lifting the plate, "go find Shepard!"
"You mean you haven't…," Tali began but turned around listening to his order. Oh no, I hope that wasn't him I heard. Oh Keelah keep him safe.
"Shepard! Shepard where are you? Can you hear me," she called into the mic for her commander. She found the Mako right where she left it.
"Garrus, Shepard," she called out searching the wreckage of the blasted Mako. Walking up to the edge of the crater, she peered over searching for her friends.
"Garrus!" Her turian squadmate was lying at the bottom of the crater. "Garrus, no!" She slid down the gravel incline. "Garrus," she whispered afraid to touch him. Gingerly, she put her hand on his shoulder and shook him. His head rocked against the fine sand that blanketed the asteroid. There was a red hot crater on the side of his helmet that penetrated deep into his armor. "Garrus, no, no, no!" She leaned her shotgun against the crater wall and got on her knees looking over his form. Her shaky hands hovered over his body wanting to do something but didn't know what.
"Garrus, can you hear me," she excitedly asked noticing his toes curl up. His arm shot up and grabbed Tali by the head completely out of it. She quickly took his powerful hand off her mask not wanting it to crack anymore. His armor head looked around and finally locked onto Tali.
"Tali?" She let loose a smile and laughed through the lump in her throat.
"Yes Garrus, it's Tali."
He looked around searching for his sniper.
"Is everyone okay," he obliviously asked. Tali's smile faded thinking about Shepard.
"I don't know yet, stay here," she said climbing up the side of the crater.
"What," Garrus asked but Tali ran off looking for Shepard. Where is he, where is he? The debris of the ship created walls of towering twisted metal. Flames spat out from in between the open gaps of the wreckage.
"Shepard! Can you heard me," she called out getting worried as her knees became weak and shaky. I saw him run over here. He has to be close. Suddenly, her heart skipped several beats as she caught a glimpse of two human legs peeking out from behind a red hot rock.
"Shepard," Tali screamed running over to her commander. She rounded the rock and saw him leaning against it breathing heavily. A krogan was lying next to him lifeless along with a pulled apart turian who was smeared across the asteroids surface. His head locked onto Tali who was standing over him.
"Tali." His voice was exhausted. Tali went to her knees throwing her shotgun to the ground.
"Shepard, what's wrong," she asked eyeballing his body for wounds. His head rolled over to the right looking at the krogan. No he didn't. "Did you kill him," Tali asked restraining the urge to hug her commander. He discharged a slight chuckle.
"Yeah." He looked into Tali's face with exhausted looking eyes; eyes that should belong to a man who has seen many terrible things and has lived a life time. Anger flared into his piercing gaze noticing the crack getting worse. She noticed him gazing at the rifts on her mask.
"Tali," he started but was cut off by Tali's hand covering the part of his helmet where his mouth would be.
"I'm coming with you and there is nothing that will stop me."
"A breached suit will," he fired back grabbing Tali's hands pushing them away from his face shield.
"Well, I will just hold my breath and close my eyes until we get Ashley back," she shot back with stunning confidence that startled even her along with Shepard. She grabbed his hands and pulled him up.
"Aha!"
"What," Tali asked Shepard concerned.
"Nothing," he waved her off, "think I cracked a rib. That damn krogan was literally right on top of me trying to take my helmet off and stab me," he cut his sentence off trying to catch a breath of air. Tali looked back at where the skirmish took place. She saw where the two fought each other from the disturbance in the fine silt. The krogan had two holes in his chest from where Shepard took him down. A knife was lying on the ground with a crimson streak on its blade which was next to the splattered turian.
"What happened to the turian," Tali asked looking away from the disturbing sight.
"Uh, I don't know. He was probably flung from the crash," he informed her while letting go of her thin shoulder trying to stand on his own. "Is the rest of the crew okay," he questioned looking at the Mako off in the distance.
"Yes, everyone made it out alive. I think the ship that crashed killed the enemy," she said looking at Shepard through her veil, "They were trying to kill us before they went down." Shepard peeked at her through his ballistic glass; his eyes squinted from a smile.
"Desperate, aren't they? We have them by the nape of their necks now," Shepard was cut off by Garrus who came out of nowhere.
"Shepard, you are okay," Garrus came trotting towards the two and grabbed his knees breathing heavily.
"I'm okay, but what about you Garrus," he said looking at the crater on his helmet.
"It is just a scratch," he chuckled standing up straight and looking around the surface of the asteroid. "Hell of a mess they made," he said relieved leaning the sniper on his shoulder.
"Wrex, Liara," Shepard yelled looking over Garrus's shoulder at the two as they appeared from the thick haze kicked up by the crash.
"Shepard," Wrex growled at his leader.
"Are you okay," he wrapped his arm around Liara's shoulder looking at the hand she was cradling.
"Yes Shepard, I am okay," she responded looking into Shepard's caring eyes as he gently took Liara's hand in his looking it over. Tali noticed Shepard's left arm was pressed tightly against the left side of his torso. His rib must be hurting really bad for him to show pain. Shepard's team stood around him waiting for his next order. He spun around to meet the eyes of his team. My friends.
"You don't have to come with me, you know that," he was cut off by Tali who unfolded her shotgun and had it ready to go.
"Shepard, we are your team. We aren't going to leave you. Besides, you need our help," his favorite quarian told him. He could see Tali's white eyes looking into his from behind the mask.
"Shepard, we finish this today," Garrus said walking up behind him and set a bare hand on his shoulder. Liara and Wrex nodded. He is smiling behind there, I know it. Shepard looked at the ground then quickly glanced back up.
"Okay, let's get moving towards the base." The team that trusted his lead with their lives followed him into the field of carnage and death. Tali checked her shotgun looking down at it. Shepard's shotgun. She held it tight in her hand not wanting to lose it this time.
"Wait," Tali called out to her team. "I left my knife in the Mako!"
Shepard turned around and looked back at his quarian teammate and friend.
"Leave it Tali; it almost killed you ten minutes ago."
"But it is…uhm," she stammered. How do I say this? "It's my lucky charm Shepard. It doesn't leave my side or uhm…my leg." Shepard put a fist on his waist slightly amused.
"How is it lucky if it almost killed you?"
"That was your fault for not hooking your helmet up correctly," she teased slowly walking backwards towards the Mako's wreckage. Shepard shook his head and waved a hand.
"Okay, you got me. Hurry up and get it."
Tali spun around and ran towards the Mako which was close to seventy meters away. She dodged metal debris and horrifyingly distorted bodies from the enemy crew on the way to the Mako. Here we go. She slid down the crater and entered the metal hull of the vehicle. It was a mess inside of the cramped quarters; the ceiling was dilapidated and the glass from the windshield was melted from the crash of the enemy ship. Her suit hissed from the heat as she snaked her arm around a chair searching for her lucky knife. I never expected I would actually kill anyone with this on my Pilgrimage. I thought I would be using it more as a tool than anything…oh, there it is. She pulled it out from under the seat and strapped it around her massive calf. Her heart jumped as she heard raspy breathing behind her. She spun around and met a krogan face to face. His head was black burned by the blast, his eyes were nothing but red bloody holes, and the lower part of his mouth was torn off leaving his tongue dangling. Tali knew this was bad… a krogan in blood rage. He pounced at her screaming and thrashing his arms about finally locking onto her body. His massive hands wrapped around her head. They then slid down to her neck pinning her between the two front seats of the Mako locking her arms between the chairs. Tali tried to call for help but nothing came out like in a nightmare. Her vision blurred and black began to consume the orange light. This is it.
I can't wait until Shepard gets here and kicks the hell out of Skave. Ashley's face was pressed against the cold ground of what appeared to be Skave's bedroom of the elaborate base. Her head began to pound and her pulse drummed in her ears. She looked up at Skave who was looking out his window.
"Mobilize everyone. Ferogi, take team one. Tank, take team two. Shepard is going to hit this base hard. Be prepared," Skave said smoothly into his head piece with an eerie tone that scared even Ashley. He turned around and walked over to Ashley who was lying on the ground with a small puddle of blood next to her open mouth. He crouched down next to her and grabbed her neck crushing it. Rage pulsated through her veins as she had to take it helplessly.
"Gep you damnp pands ov oh me," she sputtered. Skave smiled amused by her discomfort.
"Remember how I promise you I was going to kill all of your friends," he asked her with an innocent voice. "Do you remember? Speak when spoken too Ashley Williams," he screamed into her face spraying her with a film of stale saliva. Ashley spit a bloody mist into his face.
"uck you!" Skave smiled wiping the tainted liquid off his face and ran his hands through Ashley's thick dark hair. She closed her eyes as he took a fistful of her hair and inhaled its vapors as he pressed it up to his face. She struggled but Skave pressed his thumb into a pressure point and Ashley stopped thrashing.
"Now Ashley…I am going to ask you a question and I expect you to answer. Do you love him?" Her brown eyes opened and stared deep into his red synthetic one. "I need an answer Ashley Williams." She said nothing. He shook his head and sighed. "Okay, let me try this again, does he love you?" Skave caught a flicker this foreign feeling called "love" in her eyes. He began to laugh and stopped squeezing her throat.
"Go to hell you bastard! I'm gunna kill you and stomp you head into the ground," Ashley screamed at the tall turian. He started to laugh again, his voice filled with an insane tone.
"Do you remember the promise I made to you Ashley Williams? I intend on keeping that promise. I have been tracking you and your crew for some time now," he started with hysteria in his voice. "I saw the way Shepard looked at me on Station 12. I saw the way you looked at me. Do I remind you of someone Ashley Williams," he asked anxious for the answer.
"All you turians look the same to me," she lied.
"Hmmm, how ignorant of you. You met my brother before I believe…his name was Saren. Does the name ring a bell?" He smiled as he saw the shock on her face.
"No it can't be…"
"Yes! It is true," he yelled clapping his hands like a child enjoying a game. "And you killed him!" The innocent tone in his voice instantly disappeared turning hostile. He unclipped his pistol and shoved it in her mouth. He laughed hysterically seeing the fear in her eyes as he pressed his pistol deeper into her throat and she began to gag. "Ashley my beauty," he began stroking her hair and petting her soft cheek with the back of his finger, "I am Skave Arterius. The great turian who killed Commander Shepard," he said his name looking off to the foreground reaching his hand in the air slowly moving it across the room foreseeing his fantasy. His life will be mine. I couldn't have done this without you Saren and all the help you have given me.
