The Captive

Disclaimer: Bioware owns all.

Chapter 7: Evacuation


Garrus shouted into his radio, "We have more reinforcements coming from your 12 o'clock."

Nihlus swore under his breath. "Where the fuck are they coming from?"

"It was an ambush, clearly." Vitani replied sarcastically.

The darker colored Turian growled. "No kidding."

Garrus fired his rifle several times. "We need a new plan of action. The Batarian's are far more organized than we anticipated. Are comms still down?"

Vitani replied in the affirmative.

"Shit." He paused momentarily as he blasted the head of the shoulders of another incoming target. "Alright, Nihlus, take your squad to the back of the base. Make sure it's discreet. I'll make sure my squad handles the snipers and scouts."

Nihlus grunted, "Understood. We are on the move."

Garrus shouted to Vitani, "Get your squad to replace the front ranks. The movement has to be invisible."

"Nihlus, once you reach the end of the base, you need-"

"-circle around- yeah, I know Garrus. This might as well be our signature move, we've pulled it so many times."

Garrus chuckled, "Just like old times."


Shepard jumped from the railings. Her boots slammed against the walkway. Jantor and Trey followed closely behind her.

"Let's keep this tight and quiet."

Her Mattock swept the area. She began to move forward, her steps nearly silent against the metal grating. The ship was eerily silent. Shepard nearly jumped in shock at the blown apart Turian near the opening to the small mess hall.

Jantor muttered, "Shit. Looks like the recon team had a rough time."

Shepard frowned, "That's not right- Vitani reported little resistance."

Trey hummed. "Then who the hell is that?"

Jantor grunted. "I don't like this one bit. This place makes my skin crawl."

"Agreed. We need to blast this ship out of the sky." Shepard replied as they crept through the hall.

"Trey- see if you can locate any shuttles or escape pods. Jantor, search the bodies, see if you can find anything on their identities."

Shepard rested her rifle against her shoulder as she approached a fogged window. Her hand swept the glass gently. It was some sort of particle dust. She looked up and nearly screamed at the face peering at her.

Shepard stumbled backwards, tripping over the table. He was human. His eyes were wild and bloodshot. His fingers bled as they scratched the window over and over. Trey and Jantor stared in horror, "What the hell is that?"

The man screeched, "GET OUT!"

His fingers clawed his gray, ragged and torn face. He ripped at his hair, pulling chunks of his scalp along with it. He threw it at the window and began to pound angrily and wildly.

"The dust! It's the dust's fault!" He started slapping himself, "LEAVE ME ALONE!"

"The voices! They never leave! Whisper, whisper, whisper! At my ear-" He screamed and flung himself at the window, "GET OUT!"

He reared his head back and began to bash his skull repeatedly. Jantor grabbed Shepard's arm and hauled her to her feet. "Commander, I don't like this place."

Shepard whispered, "He's alliance."

Clear as day, his Navy dog tags thumped against his chest. "I killed them! I killed them all! They wouldn't shut up. The whispers! The voices! The dust! The eyes! THEY WON'T LEAVE ME ALONE!"

They whipped around as the bulkhead gave way. Several people, screaming, moaning, of all species tumbled to the floor. Asari with their fringe ripped apart, their skin stained with the blood of many species. Drell, Humans, Turian's, Salarian's.

They moaned and screamed and screeched. Their voices filled the room. "We need to get the FUCK OUT OF HERE!" Shepard shoved Trey and Jantor through the door way towards the bridge of the ship. The bodies of soulless eyes and limp people chased them. Screaming. Screeching.

Shepard rarely felt fear. This was one of those few occasions where fear was expected. And she felt it full force. Her body was chilled to the bone as the voices hit her hearing, the moaning, mewling, the steady thump of their wild bodies.

As they sprinted down the hallway, a bulkhead next to them gave out and more of the psychotic people poured from it's opening. Trey tripped as they grabbed his legs, Shepard leapt back and grabbed his arm.

He screamed as they tore into his skin. Biting. Eating. Jantor started firing, Shepard pulled and pulled. She whipped her sword out and began to fight the onslaught of bodies being thrown at her. They didn't stop. They screamed. They screeched. They kept coming.

Trey was pulled free by Jantor. A blue trail was left as he limped as fast as he possibly could. Shepard followed them backwards, filling the bastards with as much lead as possible. What was this hell?

"Trey! Take care of the controls, get this ship to a safe distance to blow it."

"On it!" He limped to the console and began working away wildly.

Shepard shouted over the gun fire as they knocked over a few crates for cover. "Jantor- you said you could set the controls to a self destruct sequence?"

"Yes ma'am. Once Trey gets it a proper distance away, I can blow the ship."

"Outstanding. Trey- how long?"

"We need to hold out for about five minutes! The escape pods are down the hall to the left, if we can get to them, I can use my omni-tool and send us to the planet where our strike teams are."

Jantor shouted, "Commander, Notice anything interesting about our targets?"

Shepard searched their bodies as she fired over and over. Their bodies crumpled, but she noticed a striking and terrifying consistency.

"Ligatures on their wrists and feet. They were tortured." Her mind flashed to the Turian she had found on the vegetative planet. Saren's brother, the Spectre.

"Yes, Commander. Someone, somewhere is trying to create a special hell for the Galaxy."

The people were piling in at alarming rates. Shepard stood up, her sword whipped out as they began to close in. Jantor bumped her in the back. They stood solid against each other, fighting against the waves desperately.

"COVER TREY!"

"YES MA'AM!" Came the shouted response from Jantor.

Sweat rolled down her face as she whipped her sword back and forth, delving and slicing, firing her Mattock. They just kept coming. Their eyes were black, soulless, terrifying. It all felt like a horrible nightmare, yet she knew it wasn't.

There was a horrible connection between these people and the Spectre she had found on that planet. God, it seemed so long ago. What if that Spectre was among the first to be tortured into these monsters? What if him being spaced wasn't an accident, but an act of mercy on himself?

Her blood ran cold at the implications. The horrors that were inflicted on these people, of all species. This wasn't just a Turian problem any more. Someone was waging full-scale war on the Galaxy. Everyone was included. If these monsters were released in hordes on civilized planets? They could devour an entire city within days.

They were relentless. Shepard felt fear. Mind numbing, body chilling, fear.

Her boot connected with the chest of another alliance soldier, her gun fired into his chest several times. She whipped her sword around to a charging Asari. It penetrated her thoroughly. She gurgled in response and collapsed to the floor.

Jantor flung the last attacker to the floor and fired several times into it's skull. They faced each other. Chests heaving, bodies shaking. What has happened here, could never be unseen.

"Jantor, work your magic. We're far enough away now." Called Trey,

The Turian wasted no time jumping on the console. His talons working quickly across the screen. Trey leaned against a cargo box. Blood soaked his leg. Shepard knelt down examining it. It was a gory mess. They really ripped into him.

Shepard pulled out the only medigel packet they had come across, she handed it to him. "When we get to that escape pod, take care of yourself."

Trey nodded his head. He sighed with exhaustion. "Thank you, Commander."

Jantor turned, "We have two minutes, more than enough time. Let's get to the-"

There was an awful and terrible roar that ruptured the silence of the ship. Shepard stood slowly as a large creature stomped down the hall they had fought through. She started slowly, "Jantor, get Trey to the shuttle. I'll take care of this monster."

She reloaded her Mattock. Trey spoke urgently, "Commander!"

"Get to the pod now! I'll be right behind you guys."

Jantor threw Trey over his shoulder, "Don't let him get close, Krogan are lethal!"

"Noted." Shepard stood between them and the Krogan. Her breath came steady and calm. It roared again, grabbing it's head and throwing it's body against the wall violently.

"-Voices-whispers..SO MUCH NOISE!" He pounded his chest and screamed, "STOP IT!"

Her blood ran cold as he suddenly was charging her. Never, in all her life had she seen such a force. Shepard jumped to the side as he crashed into the bulkhead tremendously. She fired off a few rounds, it seemed as if they just bounced off his hide.

He screamed again and charged, Shepard ran to the side, narrowly dodging his pathway. She fired from the ground as she scooted back, stumbling to her feet amongst all the bodies. A clear artificial voice echoed across the ship. "sixty seconds until detonation, recommended immediate evacuation."

Shepard started to make her way down the hall. A sinking feeling in her gut as the Krogan charged that direction.

She yelled across her radio, "Jantor, Trey, leave now. I'm not going to be able to shake this guy."

"Commander-" They begun to argue.

"No. Go now. That's an order."

Shepard grunted as she leapt out of the way of the monster's path. She fired a few rounds into it's back before she needed to roll out of the way again.

"I-Commander. It's been an honor."

"Honor's all mine. Now, go!"

"Thirty seconds remaining. Destruction imminent. Recommended immediate evacuation."

Shepard sighed in relief when she felt the ship shudder as the escape pod launched. At least they would make it to safety. She muttered sarcastically to herself, "Just had to be the good guy."

"Ten seconds remaining."

The ship's explosion rocked the escape pod. Trey stared out the window as the blast spread. Pieces of the ship rocketed all around them. Jantor muttered, "I was just starting to like her."

Trey held an agreeing look. He tightened his seatbelt as they entered the planets atmosphere. The escape pod began to rock and jerk as it accelerated. He heard the swoosh of it's parachute and the slight tip of it's descent.


Garrus stared down his scope. "Scratch one!" Suddenly, he spotted something far off in the distance. He brought his scope back up.

"Hey, I've got something way out there. It looks-" His eyes widened. "Vitani, did you rig that ship to explode?"

"Course not, why?"

"Because I see one- No, two escape pods coming down, and that ship is blasted to hell."

"There wasn't anyone on that ship!"

"Well, apparently there were." He paused. "Nihlus! Get on that now. I want to know who the hell those people are."

"Understood. Moving out."


Thank you to everyone for reading and reviewing! All your thoughts and tips are very much appreciated! I hope y'all enjoy! Thanks again!