Was not expecting this to be the dark perilous bloodbath it turned out to be. I might just be pushing it, but this could very well be bordering on an M rating, but that's all up to your interpretation.
Not a single soul in the Presidium, be they soldier or civilian could have ever imagined that they would be facing the situation that was facing them now. What light presence C-Sec had maintained proved to be no match for the organised militant force that had taken them completely by surprise. And in no time at all, the efficient squad of Cerberus troopers had all but rounded up the terror stricken populace into a relatively organised group of panicking individuals. Fear was present in all, some of the more reckless had tried standing up to Cerberus, but their protests were answered with bullets and their following silence ensured that no more would consider speaking up to their new overlords.
Well almost no one...
"Listen up people. We do not want to kill you." A trooper addressed the crowd, flanked by two others, each with their rifles trailed on the crowd. "Form a line. You will all stay quiet, and you will not speak up to us again!"
The crowd did as it was instructed, albeit with some difficulty considering that everyone was in a particular agitated mood, afraid of doing something wrong that would spell death for them. The squad of Cerberus troops observed them with emotionless glares beneath their helms, keeping an eye out for any that would disagree with their orders. And sure enough, when the large crowd had contorted itself into a bustling line, one figure stood out, lying on the floor surrounded by a hazy cloud of biotics.
"You got a problem, miss?" The trooper in charge descended upon the woman with bright yellow hair lying in a fetal position on the floor.
"Listen sir." She replied shaking. "I'm not feeling so good here. My biotics don't work well under stress, if I'm not careful, they might start infecting people."
The trooper stepped back slightly from the woman with the biotic field on the floor.
"Just shoot her and let's move on." Another trooper to his right suggested, keeping the grip on his rifle firm.
"Wait no." A different voice behind them spoke up. "Biotics are prime candidates for Phantoms. And I've never seen biotics like that before."
The trooper turned to the woman on the floor again. "Get your biotics under control, woman. Are there any others amongst you with biotic potential?"
The crowd he had turned to was silent, fearful of what special treatment Cerberus had in store for those that were biotically inclined. All except for one man in particular.
"I... I am." He spoke up, trembling slightly, but lighting up his hand in a blue shroud.
Immediately, two troopers pulled him out of the crowd. The trooper in charge turned back to the woman on the floor, who had managed to reel her biotic field in slightly.
"Take them." He ordered. "The rest of you, follow me. And don't anyone think about trying to slip out."
With that said, a larger portion of the Cerberus garrison forced the much larger crowd on, leaving a few but manageable left with the pair of biotics.
"Now move." A trooper barked to them, forcing the defenceless biotics to follow the small company onward in a different direction.
The man may have been inclined to protest slightly, if it was not for the rifle pressed into his back. The woman was in the same kind of position too, though in addition to their rifles, she was struggling to maintain a leash on her biotics that were growing quite wild.
When all of a sudden, one of the Cerberus troopers close to her started coughing, causing him to loosen the grip on his weapon ever so slightly.
"What is it?" One of them inquired.
"Nothing." He quickly responded, despite emitting another wild cough.
"Pull yourself together." The other trooper barked at him, until to his surprise, he too let out a particular nasty expulsion.
"What's going on, damnit?" Another spoke up, before he soon joined them, spluttering in lack of air, forcing the group to stop their march.
"I think it's her." The only other one that was not close to the woman remarked impatiently, descending upon her.
"I'm err, kinda finding it hard to concentrate here." She weakly replied, her voice raspy and flustered.
"Just kill her now, she's too much trouble." The first trooper she had apparently infected let out in between volleys of this sudden influenza.
"No don't do that!" She exclaimed in a panic, overcome with urges to cough herself. "If you do, I won't be able to keep this under control. It might cause an uncontrollable reaction. It would likely explode."
"Well we can't just leave her." Another afflicted spoke up, dropping his weapon and dropping to the floor, spluttering like a wild animal.
This display was soon followed by the rest of the troopers. Their formally coordinated group had now descended into a plague stricken cluster in disarray. The only ones who seemed immune to the woman's biotic pestilence was the trooper who had remained standing, and the biotic man, who they had all but forgotten. The woman was no worse for wear, as her biotic field was starting to ooze from her yet again in a thick and very unhealthy looking cloud.
"Damnit it I will have order here!" The trooper demanded of his company, one of which had fainted from the illness, whilst the rest were slowly coughing up their lungs, bit by bloody bit. "I will have... ha..."
And just then, his immunity soon ran out, and he too let out a tremendous hack that brought him down on all fours. He did his best to fight it, but his vision became cloudy and his body felt numb. And soon enough, the whole ensemble of Cerberus soon completely succumbed to this foreign plague that continued to mercilessly assault their corpses even after they had expired, causing their suits to leak profusely with their red contents that had seeped from their skin.
"Good... god, Fury." The Slayer remarked over the bloody display. "What new tricks did you pick up from that asari?"
The sickly blue cloud of biotics quickly dissipated, revealing the Fury contained within. The Slayer's disgust soon turned to fear however, as he noticed she was standing weakly on the spot, swaying like one swift breeze would knock her down.
"Slayer..." She uttered weakly. "Need... mask..."
The Fury swayed forwards and would have fell flat on her face, had he not responded swiftly and caught her just in time. Easing her gently to the ground, the Slayer found the Fury's eyes to be a dark black, with tinges of her biotic plague still lingering over her shivering body.
"Damnit Fury, not now." He pleaded with her, gently cradling her head.
"Had to... hold it back." She uttered. "To stop from... inflecting you."
"Stay with me, stay with me, Fury." He continued, only to start feeling nauseous himself when blood began to seep from her eyes and mouth down her face.
The Slayer surveyed his surroundings. Far off in the distance he could make out the sounds of conflict, likely between Cerberus and a much more coordinated Citadel defence. He strained his mind to think of where the nearest medical facility would be, even if there was no doctor at hand, it was the only thought of getting his hands on any potential Medi-Gel. Then his gaze drifted off to the nearby Cerberus cadavers, lying thankfully unresponsive in a deep pool of blood. Maybe they would have some medical themes on them that they had forgotten about, but that would require fingering their blood filled suits that would definitely not something he had the intent of doing.
The Fury in his embrace suddenly hacked furiously, her face a bloody mess. Bloody and helpless.
"Don't worry Fury." He said to her affectionately. "You stay here, I won't be a minute. Just hold on. Please."
Easing out of his grasp, he lay the Fury gently down on the floor. Seeing her face like that... was not something he had never seen before. And to think she was this way because of him was, very unnerving.
The Slayer decided to start on the trooper he imagined to be the leading. Managing to stow his urge to throw up, he carefully examined the cadaver, but despite the relatively thorough search, the suit yielded nothing he could attend to the Fury's wounds. Not even an Omni-Tool was present. Abandoning his search of the lead, the Slayer moved onto the rest of the dead assemble, but after encountering the same lack of anything worthwhile.
Behind him, the Fury continued to retch and splutter, shaking her frail form on the floor that did not do wonders to sooth the Slayer's concerns, which were growing ever so dire. Returning to her, he brought his hand round her head yet again, a bloody mess all over her face, but still she clung to life, breathing heavily.
"Fury..." The Slayer began pathetically. "I can't find anything. I... I don't know what to do."
"Slayer." The Fury beneath him croaked painfully. "I'm... scared, Slayer."
He looked down into her eyes, surrounded by torrents of blood. The Slayer did his best to appear assuring, but soon found a single tear relenting from his eye.
"Stay with me Fury." He uttered. "Stay with me please."
Suddenly, his ears picked up a sound of in the distance. A low hum rumbling him that became the longer he listened, and soon, he found a shape to accompany it. Overhead, a single shuttle flew, flying blue Alliance colours, which promptly descended right in front of the Slayer and Fury. This was really something he should have been taking caution over, but with the Fury in the state she was, the Slayer was growing desperate and prayed that Cerberus would not be hopping out its doors. Those doors soon opened, revealing a pair of figures, one of which addressed the Slayer before he could identify them.
"There you are sir!" An oddly familiar female voice went. "I can't believe I found you!"
That suit could have belonged to any Alliance soldier, but the voice he associated with only one."
"Lill... Lillian?" He called out in confusion and despair.
"The one and only, sir!" The soldier called back, jumping off the craft and landing in an elegant bound.
"Lil... Lillian. Help me. Please!" He slowly cried out. "I need Medi-Gel."
Lillian noticed the Fury lying helpless in his arms and understood the gravity of her situation at once. "Roger that, sir!"
She raced down to meet the Fury, lighting up her Omni-Tool and getting to work at once.
"Applying Medi-Gel." She announced. "I'm here, N7."
Below her, the face of the Fury remained a bloody mess. But as soon as the salve touched her infected flesh, its miraculous properties began to show at once. The thick cloud of biotics that was pouring from her subsided, as her flesh began to heal, beneath the stains of blood, her complexion started to blossom again, followed by her breathing returning to normal as life sparkled within her once more. The Slayer observed the Fury open her eyes, a normal blue look up at her saviour, and form a small smile of relief, before she closed them and fell to fatigue, asleep in seconds.
"It's enough for now." Lillian remarked. "But she needs proper medical attention. Help me move her."
New energy sparked within the Slayer after seeing life kindle within the Fury again. He gently took hold of her shoulder, while Lillian took her feet, and soon settled her into the open interior.
"You're not looking so good yourself, sir." Lillian said, noticing the Slayer's face, which looked like it had aged a decade or two. "Why don't you see her back to where it's safe, we'll take over from here."
"Are you forgetting who the N7 here is, Lillian?" He replied formally.
"Ah... yes sir." She stuttered back. "I was simply suggesting, sir."
"N7?" The other Alliance soldier next to the Slayer suddenly said. "N7!"
"Ease off him, Georgina." Lillian affirmed.
Georgina may have had her face covered up by armour, but the Slayer could tell she was struggling to stay professional here.
"You're right, Lillian." The Slayer turned, ignoring Georgina to his left. "I'll... I'll get suited up. You're better off going that way, that's where Cerberus took civilians."
"Roger that, sir." Lillian replied, saluting him. "Georgina, you coming?"
"Damn right I'm coming." The soldier boastfully proclaimed, leaping off the shuttle to join her comrade.
"Then good luck to you both." The Slayer told them, before stepping off the shuttle too. "Oh and one more thing, Lillian."
"Yes si-." She began, only to be struck speechless when the Slayer wrapped both his arms round her in an immense hug.
"Thank you." He muttered. "Thank you so much. I can't tell you how much I owe you."
He let go just as sudden as he had hugged her, imagining that Georgina looking on disapprovingly.
"... Thank you, sir." Lillian weakly replied, quite overwhelmed.
The Slayer got back into the shuttle, bidding them a final wave of farewell before turning to inform the pilot of the recent developments, leaving the two soldiers alone as the shuttle soon closed its doors and flew off to relative safety.
"Well then, pretty Lily." Georgina said of her comrade. "Let's get to it... N5."
"Stop wasting time and move on." Lillian demanded of the N6, prompting the two of them to hurry off in the direction of Cerberus.
Only as few hurried paces forward and the two found evidence of their opponent's presence. One Engineer had already set up a turret whilst a small squad of soldiers were doing their best to press the assault on a pinned group of C-Sec officers.
"Turrets! I hate turrets." Georgina snarled upon the sight of the contraption.
"Not a problem for me." Lillian remarked, taking out a grenade and tossing it with near accuracy at the turret. "Now I- wait, Georgina!"
The frag grenade shattered into a fiery blast upon the turret and it's nearby Engineer. Georgina obviously took it as a sign that it was damaged enough to allow her to charge, leaping into a cloud of blue and smashing into the turret with great satisfaction. The turret survived that, but it did not survive the following shockwave, which promptly shattered it and send the Engineer flying a good few meters. By now, the squad of Cerberus turned to face the biotic foe right behind them, but Lillian soon moved up to offer support to her comrade and they soon fell in due haste.
"Come on, give me a real challenge!" Georgina shouted at nothing in particular.
"You're enjoying this, aren't you?" Lillian asked worryingly.
"Course I am." Her comrade replied swiftly. "Now come on! Times wasting."
And with that, she promptly took off, not even bothering to check up on the group of officers they had recuse. Lillian attended to them, but understanding how likely it was that Georgina would quickly charge into more trouble than she could handle, she made her attendance brief, saying only a few words before she too ran off on her tails. She didn't take long before she rounded a corner and was knocked off her feet by Georgina, who fell to the ground with nothing to support her.
"Damn it, what'd you get into this time?" Lillian irritably asked before her query was answered by the edge of a Phantom's blade cut against her armour, sending her too, to the floor.
The Phantom was quickly upon her with her sword, intending to finish the job. But by that time, Georgina bounded back to her feet and pummelled the Phantom with a biotic fist, not enough to knock her off her feet, but enough to prevent her from descending upon Lillian.
Her fists however, despite packing quite the punch, were hardly a match for the Cerberus fatale's melee blade, which soon retaliated, slicing at her bulky armour that actually managed to make Georgina grunt and stagger, caught quite off guard. The Phantom soon followed up by striking her blade with intense precision, almost stabbing the stunned soldier right through her armour and into her heart. Georgina attempted to back up, finding it easier to deal with at a distance, but she did not possess the Phantom's agility, and soon found herself on the reviewing end of another painful sword swing, toppling to the ground yet again. The Phantom pounced on her, raising her blade to deliver the killing blow, and...
Fell to the ground right alongside Georgina, a bullet right through her helmet from the newly revived Lillian.
"Good job, pretty Lily." She remarked, hopping to her feet in no time.
"If you keep thundering off like that, I'm not going to mange to keep up with you to pull you out like that." Lillian scolded her with immense disapproval, despite saving her life barely seconds ago.
"Yeah yeah, sorry." Georgina replied, quite sarcastically.
"Now we- ah!" Lillian was about to say, before she felt one powerful bullet collide with her armour at dizzying painful speeds, knocking her shields out in an instant.
She fell down, her vision clouded by the pain, while right in front of her, the legs of Georgina suddenly transformed into a cloud of biotics, and she felt the soldier charge right past her. Whatever she had charged at, Lillian did not know, as she struggled to get back to her feet, the pain subsiding as her shields sprang back to maximum. Turning round to discover the source of her assailant, she could make out Georgina in the distance, easily disposing of a Nemesis who proved no match against her in such close quarters.
"Now I know what you said about thundering off." Georgina said to her once she had caught up. "But if you think I was just going to sit here and patiently let myself get sniped, you've got another thing coming."
"Alright, alright." Lillian said, forgiving her disregard for saving her from another painful bullet.
"Where are we anyway?" Georgina asked suddenly, examining their surroundings.
Lillian surveyed too, and found them to quite high up, at least high in the Citadel geometry sense. Just ahead of them stood ledge. Moving closer, they found this ledge to look far and wide unto the Presidium grounds, far down they could see faint flashes of fire as battles raged on. They could have probably descended down to join the fight, but that would have meant jumping off the ledge to a sure death. At least, that's what Lillian thought.
"If we wanna get down there, we better get moving." She said, turning away from the view only to stop when she noticed Georgina still behind her.
"Who says we have to take the long way down." She remarked quite maliciously.
Lillian observed the drop and suddenly felt a sense of dread grow within her.
"What are you thinking?" She asked.
"I'm thinking." Georgina began. "I'm thinking a good biotic barrier might cushion it."
"But I'm not a biotic." Lillian remarked.
"Oh I don't think that should be a problem." Georgina replied, laughing a little and extending her hand, a blue aura covering it.
"Umm..." Lillian stuttered. "Are you sure."
"Come on. Surely you've done it before." Georgina replied, the blue aura around her hand stretching to envelop her whole body.
"Well, once or twice." Her reluctant comrade replied quietly.
"Yeah yeah, just get over here. I promise it'll be painless." Georgina insisted.
Lillian looked at her offering hand, then she looked at the huge drop in front of her. Then back to her hand, then to drop again. "Well... okay then."
With immense hesitation, she took the offering Georgina's hand, before she was thrust right into the biotic barrier that enveloped her comrade. It was a rather comprising position for her to be in, but she suddenly found herself preferring it to the drop ahead.
"You promise?" She asked desperately.
"I promise... just as long as you don't scream." The biotic replied.
"Just as long as I don't..." Lillian began, but at that moment Georgina had leapt off the ledge.
It suddenly dawned on Georgina that she really, really enjoyed this. Feeling the wind fill her bulky armour with chilly currents as she plummeted was a most enjoyable experience. The same could regrettably not be said of Lillian clinging to her for literal dear life, and screaming all the way. As they neared the ground, the figures engaged in the firefights became clearer. Concentrating all her biotic energy, she glided over so they were right over the unsuspecting Cerberus troopers, before she forcefully dived with all her might, dropping right into their midst, slamming into the ground with immense force as her biotic barrier exploded in a pulverising shockwave, sending the unsuspecting troopers flying in all directions.
Not one to waste her surprise orbital bombardment, Georgina leapt after what little remnants of Cerberus that had survived her, striking with fists, charges and shockwaves. In no time at all, she completely decimated those that had remained, and found it immensely satisfying that even the Phantoms had not managed to counter her aerial strike with their acrobatics.
"And that was all without firing a single shot." She boasted, standing triumphantly over her biotic carnage. "You alright, pretty Lily?"
Lillian lay on the ground, right where she had thundered down with her, moving ever so slightly. Slowly she managed to get to her feet, standing for only a few seconds before she fell into Georgina's waiting arms.
"Never... again." She muttered.
"Georgina, that you?" A voice spoke out suddenly.
Georgina turned to face it, and found herself in front of another Cerberus trooper. Except, he was not a Cerberus trooper.
"Ross?" She asked quite dumbfounded. "That you?"
It certainly was, and to his right another figure emerged from cover. This was a tall figure, clad in a very imposing suit of armour, but it was one she happened to know as well.
"So in addition to charging, you can also perform biotic aerial bombardments. And I'm the N7 here?" The Destroyer remarked quite dumbfounded himself.
Round a corner, the Shadow cautiously slid around, keeping her form to the wall as to blend in with the light shadows as best she could. True, she would have much preferred it if she had her trusty tactical cloak with her, but some part of her actually liked the challenge that this different course of action provided her.
Coming up to the end of an alley, the Shadow peeked around another corner, and found a surprising sight. A pair of Cerberus troopers appeared to be interrogating a quarian of all people. What surprised her even more was that she actually knew who this particular quarian was.
"What are you, hmm?" One of the troopers drilled him roughly. "A Citadel stray, or a Fleet deserter?"
"Neither, I'll have you know." Hans responded quite bluntly despite being at the mercy of these two troopers. "All that happened was I settled down for a quick nap before my shuttle arrived, and now I find I've been rudely awakened by the stupidest pair of troopers I've ever had the misfortune to come across."
The trooper was hardly about to take such an insult, and delivered a punch straight to the quarian's gut. Hans doubled over, spluttering through his mask, but still he continued to talk back to them.
"Errgh, ya bosh'tet." He grunted bitterly. "You're an awful brave one when taking advantage of an opponent's weak spot like that."
The trooper simply followed up with another jab, this time aimed at Hans's helmet. The Shadow felt wounded herself to see her teammate in harm, but could not determine how to take out the troopers without them simply finishing the quarian off.
"Why are you here?" The trooper demanded, taking out his gun and pointing it at Hans' head, though that was quite obsolete since his partner had already been doing the same throughout the whole ordeal.
"I can understand that Cerberus might be interested in just what the quarians would be up to." Hans responded quite formally. "But you know, I was just on my way to ask them. Why don't you tag along, you might learn something yourself, eh?"
The trooper gave his reply in the form of another jab with his fist. "Damn this, we're wasting our time here."
"But you know who would be more than willing to indulge you?" Hans spoke up suddenly.
"What?" The trooper replied baffled.
"How about a nice warm member of the Blood Pack." The quarian replied.
The trooper would have likely responded, but at that time, he felt something incredibly sharp and incredibly hot dig into his shoulders, before it retracted and swung inwards, cleaving his head straight from his neck. His companion darted his rifle to his right, but the sharp hot blade immediately sliced into his own suit, cutting through to his vulnerable organs in a matter of milliseconds, and he doomed joined him in death.
"Cupcake, do you have to be so messy?" Hans asked, his suit splashed with several pints of blood from both troopers.
The vorcha stood before him, balancing himself atop the corpses of the two Cerberus troopers, and simply laughed in his manic cackle at the idea that it his execution could have been... executed any less bloody.
"Not that I'm complaining or anything." Hans continued, getting to his feet with some difficulty, considering his former treatment.
At that instant, the Shadow decided to make her presence known.
"Hans! Cupcake." She exclaimed quite recklessly, considering that Cerberus could still be near.
The pair noticed her, as she drew near, but before Hans could make a formal reintroduction, Cupcake let out a bloody snarl and leapt in her direction with malice, raising his Omni-Blades, and had them just inches away from her face before he realised that her face looked quite familiar.
"You... You, err." He growled with vague curiosity holding back his urge for more blood. "You're not Cerberus!"
"That's right... I'm not." She replied, a little breathlessly since his blades were staring her down. "You know me right?"
"Know... know?" The vorcha replied, subtracting his blades with a curious glare. "You are... Schatten."
"Yes I'm... Schatten." The Shadow responded, finding it quite odd to be addressed as such.
"Yes, with the funny helmet." Cupcake replied, cackling away as he remembered.
"Excuse me. Funny helmet?" She replied now irritated by his disregard for her appearance.
"Yeah, it was a pretty funny helmet." Hans joined in by now. "You look better without it, I think."
"Oh do I?" She said mockingly. "Well as it turns out, I was just on my way to go get my funny helmet. But if you would prefer I go without, all defenceless and unable to contribute to the fighting."
"Alright, alright." He said. "You on your own?"
"That's right." She responded. "I was following someone else. But we got separated."
"Uh-huh." Hans remarked. "Alright then, we'll go get your funny helmet, then we'll go find your friend, right."
"What, just like that." She said. "Weren't you in the middle of something back there?"
"No." He said.
"No?" She asked.
"No." Hans repeated himself.
"So how did you end up with those troopers?" She pressed him.
"... I fell asleep." He replied weakly.
"You fell asleep?" She went.
"That's right." He confirmed.
"Did you know Cupcake was going to come along and rescue you?" The Shadow continued.
"Yes." Hans said.
"Yes?" The Shadow went. "How long were you asleep for?"
"A while." He explained.
"And was Cupcake there when you woke up?" She asked.
"Well no." The quarian divulged.
"So how did you know he was going to show up and rescue you, then?" She said.
"Because it was part of the plan." Hans continued.
"You planned to fall asleep and get caught by a pair of troopers only for Cupcake to take them out anyway." She explained.
Hans briefly contemplated his response. "Yes."
"Yes?" The Shadow parroted back in utter confusion. "Why would you even..."
"We are wasting time!" Cupcake suddenly and loudly exclaimed. "Let's go kill some Cerberus now!"
"Quite right you are Cupcake." Hans quickly acknowledged. "This way, is it?"
The two of them quickly raced off in a direction they assumed led them to Cerberus. The Shadow only stood in her own thoughts for a while longer, trying to understand what exactly they were doing here, before she sprinted after them, catching up in no time, thanks to her inherent athletic build.
"Where are you two going?" She asked as they ran along the long corridors of the ward.
"Where you're going." Hans replied, panting heavily. "The N7 Armoury. That's where you'll get your funny helmet."
The Shadow did not have the time to question this spontaneous play of events before they soon arrived on an overlook that... overlooked their destination. The N7 Armoury, or what was left of it, was deeply contested between Cerberus invaders forces and Alliance defenders. The trio had arrived at the rear of the Cerberus horde, and while Hans and the Shadow looked held back, for they were deprived of any weapons or armour, Cupcake, armed with his blades, flamethrower, grenades and bloodlust immediately dived off the ledge and into the fray, wisely striking a Guardian in his unprotected rear, causing his shield to drop and his comrades to turn to acknowledge their invader.
But if there was one thing the Shadow understood about her vorcha comrade by now, it was that she almost felt pity for whomever happened to be on the receiving end of his arsenal. Maybe Cerberus had learned this lesson too, for the invading garrison included amongst simple cannon fodder, an Atlas, several Guardians, and a few Phantoms. Cupcake did his best, he really did, slicing and burning what exposed metal plating he could get at, but the Atlas packed a particularly nasty punch, the Guardians proved most defiant behind their shields, and the Phantoms could just as easily match his agility.
So he found himself retreating, right back to the cover where Hans and the Shadow lay in wait.
"It's. Too. Much!" He exclaimed, his whole body on fire and gushing copious amounts of blood.
They did not have time to respond before a Phantom suddenly hopped over their cover and started engaging the vorcha, intent on finishing the job. But in a one on one fight in relative cover, Cupcake had swiftly regained the urging for blood he had lost, and easily managed to outdo the Phantom's blade with his blades, slicing her to metal ribbons in no time.
"Never mind." He said, before leaping over cover and engaging the horde once more.
"I just don't understand him sometimes." Hans remarked.
The Shadow did not reply. Her gaze had drifted over to the Phantom's blade that lay discarded once she had been bested by Cupcake. Without realising it, she found herself crawling over to the weapon and picking it up, giving a few practice swings. It handled almost like her one true weapon did, in fact they might have even been forged from the same steel, and to her surprise, she found herself standing up, facing the battle beyond the ledge.
"You can't go out there." Hans protested, guessing what she was about to do. "You haven't got any armour nor an intense healing factor. You'll be shredded."
"Hans." She replied simply. "Have a little faith."
And with that, the Shadow gracefully leapt off the ledge, down to join her vorcha in battle.
Like a gazelle, she swept down the battlements to the nearest Guardian, too focused on Cupcake to notice the sword delve right through his exposed neck. The Shadow did not stick around, the moment she felt the imposter's sword go deep enough, she withdrew it in a flash, the Guardian falling down dead while she leapt to the next target, a simple trooper who had been lucky enough to survive Cupcake's initial assault, but not lucky enough to survive the Shadow's contribution. And just as soon as she felled him in one powerful blow, she hopped up onto a ledge and dived right into another.
By that time, she was well within thick of the waning Cerberus invaders. Though the Guardians did their best to counter both Cupcake and the Shadow, they could not meet both with their shields, and often exposed themselves to one or the other. The Shadow was certainly making at least one dizzy, for she simply refused to stay in one place for any longer then a second, the lack of armour or cloak putting her at quite the fragile position indeed. After a little fighting and a lot of dodging, she had managed to provide enough of a distraction that Cupcake and the defenders had managed to whittle the Cerberus forces down to the lone Atlas, which quickly fell too, now that it was no longer flanked by lesser troopers.
The Shadow, seeing that the damage was done, finally allowed herself a break, coming to a halt from all that evading and promptly fell right down on her knees, an incredible exhaustion all about her. As for her vorcha teammate, he was naturally saddened by the fact that there was no more Cerberus to kill, even if it was obvious he was outmatched by that last skirmish. Hans, seeing that it was now safe to proceed, strolled quite amicably down the ruined battlements to the Shadow.
"You alright there?" He queried.
The Shadow struggled to answer him, her entire body covered in sweat with her legs feeling like they were about to fall off.
"I'm just fine." She managed to cry out, using as little breath as possible to formulate a reply.
"Well, as much as I hate to say it, I'm sure Cupcake had it under control." Hans said. "You really just risked your life for your own pride there."
"Is that so?" The Shadow asked, quite clearly. "Why don't we get another opinion on that? Oh Cupcake!"
The vorcha heard her call, and swiftly dashed across the field to answer.
"Did I assist you there?" She asked him. "Did I provide a necessary distraction that allowed you to manoeuvre around those shield bearers and take them out, hmm?"
Cupcake paused deep in thought for a second, before he had an answer for her. "I did not know you were even fighting."
"Excuse me?" She asked quietly.
"You see." Hans picked up. "You really could have just stayed back here with me and not needlessly risk your life just to prove how good you are with a sword."
"You what?" The Shadow barked, growing quite irate.
"Yeah, Schatten!" Cupcake exclaimed. "You stay back and let the expert handle it. I don't need a stupid sword."
The Shadow was finding it hard to formulate a response, through her increasingly rising temper.
"Exactly." Hans continued, obviously enjoying how much he was prodding her. "I mean, no offense towards your capabilities with a blade, you're very good. But the last time quarians relied on melee weapons, we didn't need to wear suits."
"Yeah, silly Shadow Schatten." Cupcake joined in.
"But... what about you with your claws." The Shadow desperately tried to defend her peculiar choice of weapons.
"Sure, but…" Hans replied. "It's not like that's all Cupcake does, he got other capabilities that supplement those Omni-Blades."
"Yeah, burning and bombs." The vorcha remarked with pride. "Not just dumb sharp blade."
"It's monomolecular!" The Shadow expressed insistently.
"Sure, but it also has nonlethal fire." Hans retorted. "I mean really? What kind of genius design is that?"
"Oh… you." She uttered weakly, her voice growing faint. "You… bullies."
And before she knew, the Shadow could not hold it in no longer, and tears began to pour freely down her face as her "teammates" continued to mock her profession.
"Oh… Keelah." Hans said worried.
"Ah, crying! No, no crying." Cupcake snapped, his voice trembling ever so slightly. "Stop Shadow Schatten."
"I can't help it, I'm only human!" The Shadow snapped through the tears, her tone a mix of deep sadness and immense anger.
"Alright, alright!" Hans snapped, gripping the Shadow's shoulders. "Okay, listen to me. I'm sorry."
"Shut up!" The Shadow barked, throwing his arms off her. "You don't mean that, you just you just want me to stop."
"Oh, right." The quarian replied meekly. "I don't know how to handle this."
"Just… give me a moment, alright." The Shadow responded breathlessly through her red face.
"Arrgh! Listen Shadow Schatten!" Cupcake exclaimed suddenly, gripping the Shadow in a similar fashion to Hans. "It's obvious swinging swords is important to you. In that case, sorry we acted mean to you…"
"You mean that?" The Shadow said with a hint of snide doubt beneath her crying.
"Yes, sorry for not realising how serious swords are to Shadows." The vorcha continued. "Now that I know, we won't mock you anymore. Right quarian?"
"Oh err, sure." Hans replied abruptly.
"See, you okay now Shadow Schatten?" Cupcake asked quite sincerely, or as sincerely as a vorcha could ask.
"Well, I guess when you put it that way." The Shadow said, recovering her voice. "Everything's just fine."
"Good, now come on!" Cupcake quickly exclaimed, shaking the Shadow. "Let's go kill more Cerberus."
"Just let us get our equipment first Cupcake." Hans cut in. "Then, we will go and fight with our sniper rifles and flamethrowers and swords!"
"Keelah se'lai!" The Shadow exclaimed in a good attempt at shaking off her prior state of woe.
"…yeah." Hans responded much less enthusiastically.
As for the Paladin, he had been separated from the Shadow, not by choice, but simply because she was much more adapt at slipping away from unwanted attention. That attention manifesting in the form of a large squad of Cerberus troopers, who were prevented from perusing the Shadow by the Paladin, who happened to have far more proficiency than her when it came to bunking down in one solid place and letting his shield do the work. Unfortunately for him, Cerberus had shields too. And unlike his, they were the type that could not be retracted at will, and slowly allowed those without to press up in their assault upon the N7.
But every time his shield succumbed to too much fire, the Paladin simply performed an evasive combat roll and redeployed it again, at full strength. And when any nasty troopers got close, he would strike at them with a nasty uppercut of Omni-Shield goodness, followed by a burst from his display of Omni-Tool powers. This was not how a combat scenario would play out for the Paladin, but he was without his secure armour, and thus was acting incredibly conservative, not giving them a single moment to hit him when his shield was down.
This went on far longer than the Paladin had patience for, having abandoned any hopes that Cerberus would be running out of ammunition. Now his arm was straining immensely from the constant pressure of maintain his Omni-Shield. Eventually, he would not be able to withstand them any longer, in addition to slowly running out of space to retreat back to. The Guardians, with their metal shields, were slowly descending on the Paladin, who was entertaining the idea of retreating altogether, until as luck would have it, reinforcements arrived, in the form of an angry vorcha slamming into the Guardian's exposed rear with a fury that only their dead comrades knew. A few turned to face the intruder, but were cut down faster than they could react to him. When only a few were left standing, did the Paladin finally open his shield, joining the fray but was rendered quite redundant by the vorcha's exceeding display.
"Well would you look at that." He heard the familiar of the Shadow go as she manifested out of thin air right beside him. "I honestly did not expect you to survive for so long."
"Have a little faith." The Paladin reminded her. "I take it this is yours."
"If by "this", you're referring to Cupcake." She said, turning to the vorcha. "Then yes."
"Cupcake?" He questioned.
"I just saved your life." Cupcake announced with pride. "Don't you forget it."
"I'll try not to." The Paladin noted, before turning to the Shadow. "Have you got my armour?"
"Well obviously." She replied. "Hans!"
The Paladin turned to where she was glancing, to see the quarian bringing up the rear, carrying his much needed gear. The trio of Shadow, Cupcake and Hans gave him the privacy he needed to get into the suit he never imagined he would be getting into today. After they were all grouped together in their armour with their weapons, a course of action had to be decided.
"So, what's the plan, N7s?" Hans asked them eagerly.
"Umm... Paladin." The Shadow asked him, quite in lacking of ideas herself.
"I take it none of you have no idea what's going on?" He asked the duo of quarian and vorcha.
"Well... no." Hans admitted quite downtrodden.
"Who cares?!" Cupcake blurted out in impatience. "Just where can we go where there's more Cerberus?"
"Well if that's all you're concerned about." The Paladin remarked. "Then, C-Sec would be the likely place."
"And that's... which way?" Hans asked, lighting up his Omni-Tool.
The rest of them did the same; despite the Paladin and Shadow being more then familiar with the station, the confusion of the battle around them had rendered them somewhat diluted of their surroundings. Eventually they got their bearings, and they were soon off. It was not long before they ran into more Cerberus, marching onwards in the same direction. Despite their previous skirmishes, the Paladin, Hans, and the Shadow were now more than eager to engage in a fight now that they were properly suited up. That is if they could have engaged faster than Cupcake, who seemed to have a constant bloodlust that only waned when he was out of combat.
By now, the Shadow had her fair share of battles alongside the vorcha, so she had by now adjusted to the type of carnage he was capable of when in a frenzied state. The same could not be said of the Paladin, who was a little more than surprised at the sheer levels of endurance he was displaying when engaging Cerberus. The only foes that proved a match for him were the Guardians, but then they proved a match for anyone in front of them. As for the rest, there was no discrimination, for the vorcha would unleash a torrent of pain upon them, sustained by the insane levels as which his body constantly regenerated the lost flesh and blood.
By the time they had dismantled the horde into a red mess, the Paladin felt like making the vorcha an honorary N7, all those hard months training be damned.
"Well, Cupcake." He asked the vorcha. "Is there anything out of your limits?"
Cupcake paused to think for a minute. "Atlases. I hate those Atlases!"
"Atlases, huh." The Paladin responded. "Well, I'll..."
"N7!" Hans shouted suddenly.
The Paladin turned to face him, but at that moment he felt Cupcake dash past him with such force that he send him crashing to the ground. Recovering, he noticed that where he was once standing, Cupcake had flashed his claws, and at their end, he saw the frail figure of a Phantom standing limp, keeping on her feet only by the sharp blades of red that pierced her skull. Cupcake withdrew them, and she fell to the ground in a soft, lifeless heap.
"That's the second time." Cupcake said gleefully.
"Good thing you're not on my team then." The Paladin remarked.
Cupcake simply snarled back.
"Wait a second." Hans said. "Shadow?"
The Paladin and Cupcake looked around, but sure enough, their teammate was nowhere to be found.
"What? She was standing right here." The Paladin noticed. "Where could she have...?"
"Oh no." He heard Hans go.
He rushed over to where the quarian was, standing over a ledge. Looking over, he noticed the figure of the Shadow far below them, pursuing what appeared to be a Phantom.
"Damnit, is she being stupid?" He asked rhetorically.
"She really doesn't like those Phantoms." Hans mused. "I think it's got something to do with the swords."
The Paladin simply cursed further, bewildered and angered by his former teammate's willingness to throw herself off high ledges to pursue those she deemed a competitor in swordplay.
"Atlas!" He heard Cupcake shriek, followed by the hard feel of a rocket explode close by, nearly throwing them off the ledge.
The Paladin recovered quickly, backing away from the exposed height, and turning to face the metal beast, that had somehow sneaked up on them. Activating his shield, he withstood its initial volley of pellets, allowing Cupcake a chance to attack. But the Cerberus mech was hardly one to react to the burning of a flamethrower, and soon turned its attention to the vorcha, delivering a powerful blow that gave his regeneration pause.
"Cupcake!" The Paladin shouted, grabbing the Atlases' attention with his shield. "You go after Shadow! We'll handle this."
Cupcake had quickly recovered, and seeing the Atlas as more than a challenge that would hardly sate his bloodlust, took up on the Paladin's initiative, throwing himself recklessly of the ledge to his teammate now far away...
If it had been an Assault Trooper, she would have certainly not even bothered to register his retreat, the same could be said of Centurions, for she often confused the two. A Guardian, she doubted would even be capable of fleeing the battlefield, what with their shields being the albatrosses around their necks that they were. An Engineer, whenever she disposed of them, she would either do a needless somersault to avoid the non-existent turret, or she would get painfully blasted by its lightning fast volley when she did need to perform one, but chose not to. A Nemesis, she hardly ever registered, for they were often distant from the field, though it did prove quite humorous to watch them scurry around when in close, because they lacked melee capabilities. And she had never seen an Atlas ever try and retreat, so she could not really ponder whether she would pursue one if it did.
But a Phantom?
The Shadow observer the Cerberus trooper with feminine curves try and make her escape, but the N7 was having none of it. Some part of her deep down, beneath the majority of her that wanted to see this... bitch dead, was urging her to break off what seemed like her willing participation into a trap. But then the Shadow laid her eyes upon the Phantom's sword, still swinging freely behind her and that part was thoroughly subdued beneath her rage.
The Phantom vaulted up ledges, and the Shadow followed in hot pursuit. Though she had been through more than enough physical exertion for today, the Shadow was practically flying in the way she so adamantly chased her prey, only growing more determined to catch her the further she eluded her grasp. Until eventually, the Phantom entered out onto what appeared to be a dead end, the walls extending far too high up for her to climb, and before she could ready her blade, she felt the immense weight, behind which wrath and fury resided as the Shadow pounced upon her, forcing her to the ground.
The Phantom's blade went flying out of her hands, and before she could resort to the energy blaster contained within her palm, the Shadow brought her own blade in one fell swing and pierced the Phantom's hand, right through the armour to the skin. Feeling the body violently shake and shriek under her, the Shadow brought her blade out of the Phantom's wounded hand, and carefully held it right across the thin fabric that shielded her throat. The Phantom stopped her mechanical whirl of a shriek, seemingly understanding the situation she found herself, and simply looked up into the dominant N7 above her, who felt a sudden compulsion to utter something.
"I like the way you die, girl." The Shadow whispered down at her prey, before bringing the blade across the skin in one clean swing.
Perhaps she got a little carried away, but somehow, as the blood splashed her helmet, the Shadow felt some sinister pleasure as it felt undeniably right. Even with the Phantom now a lifeless corpse, she was both glad that there was one less Cerberus ninja in the galaxy, as well as the gloom that she had nothing to sink her blade into.
Now that she was no longer in pursuit and her mind was clear, the Shadow observed her surroundings, and found them to be much different than the one she remembered. She breathed in deep, the sharp intake of air inside her helmet gave her the scent of the red innards combined with the cold metal from her kill. And to her dull surprise, it was a good smell, a rewarding smell that made her feel a swell of pride.
Of course, after it had faded away and she realised just where she was exactly, the Shadow soon felt quite stupid for what she had thrown herself into. Before she could open up her Omni-Tool to get her bearings, she heard the sounds of footsteps hustling in her direction. Picking up on the sound quickly, she activated her cloak and shimmered from view, as an assortment of troopers came into view. They passed her, predictably without noticing her, but just as nearly all of them had left the area, one paused. He cast a precarious look about the area, and stayed behind as the rest of his company moved on.
Hard luck for him then, the Shadow thought to herself, as she slowly manoeuvred around him, getting into a comfortable position with her blade. Never before had a single soldier been a problem for her, but as she was within melee range, ready to pounce upon the unsuspecting trooper, he did something that she never, ever suspected a lowly Cerberus trooper was capable of.
Before the blade came out of the air, he raised his gauntlets, and without warning, two huge laces coloured a dizzying gold lashed out, whipping the air and taking the Shadow completely by surprise. She felt them graze into her, a very different kind of pain, as she was flung out of her cloak and crashed to the floor, her blade flying far out of sight. She tried to recover, bit the sheer shock of being struck as the whips still stung immensely. Somewhere above her, she swore she could hear the Cerberus trooper laughing a sinister laugh, followed by the sizzling ignition of his whips. The Shadow raised her legs and managed to backflip her way to her feet, a good distance from this strange new foe.
The trooper however, proved to share her acrobatic finesse, as he raised his arms, golden lashes blazing and leapt a mighty leap in her direction. The Shadow tried to leap out of the way, but the lashes snagged her leg and she promptly crashed to the ground yet again. She hopped back to her feet, a little less neatly, as the one caught by the lash still stung with an uncanny pain. The trooper, not even touched by her yet, and was soon upon her, and before she could properly utilise her acrobatics to escape, he swung the lashes lightning fast, and caught her already wounded leg in one snarl trap.
The Shadow screamed in pain as her leg was enveloped in the golden whip. The more she struggled to break free, the more it stung, reducing her usual athletic figure into a sluggish contortion trying in vain to escape. It was then that she noticed the trooper had not brought his other lash into play; looking from her compromised position, she saw that he had retracted it, staring down at his captive N7. Somehow, she realised what he was about to do before he did it, and cursed herself as the trooper swung round, with all his strength, and sent the Shadow flying. Straight into a wall a good distance away she was thrown, hitting it with such force that she nearly crashed straight through it.
She lingered for moment, he body slowly coming to grips with the sheet levels of pain she felt, before she slid down it. Crumpling into a heap at its base, the last thing the Shadow felt before succumbing to darkness was how her leg felt like it had been almost ripped from her body, attached only by a thread or so, before her vision darkened and she remembered no more.
As for the trooper, he once again ignited his golden lashes, fully intent on finishing the job, just as Cupcake entered the scene. The vorcha first saw the trooper, puzzled as to his unfamiliar appearance, then saw his teammate lying unresponsive on the ground in a pool of growing blood. That particular image triggered a flare within Cupcake's mind, and before the trooper could respond to this intruder, the vorcha pounced on him, slashing and slicing with Omni-Tool a fiery red, cutting straight through the thick armour at the fleshy husk and reducing it to red ribbons in an instant.
It was not until the trooper lay long dead that Cupcake attended to the wounded Shadow. Applying what Medi-Gel he had in no time at all, he realised that lacking the substantial healing factor of a vorcha, she would not survive the events of the day unless they found help fast. But being on an unfamiliar station in the midst of a Cerberus invasion, what options did he have. Cupcake looked down at the unresponsive Shadow, and found himself a vorcha for lack of a better word, lost...
With an echo of horrifying proportions, the N6 Georgina charged into the thicket of the small Cerberus encampment. Those that were not sent flying were soon corrected as she leapt into the air and came crashing down to the ground with a powerful explosion of even more horrifying potential. Now, only a handful of sturdy turrets remained on the field, more than a match for the lone soldier whose biotics were cooling down. Yet Georgina had hardly charged into a thicket without planning with her teammates first. Before the turrets could swiftly fill her with a hail of powerful bullets, the guns of Lillian and the Destroyer were upon them, and Georgina soon stood among a Cerberus-free battlefield.
"There can't be any more, can there?" Lillian asked to nobody in particular, arriving on the scene.
"What, you getting tired, pretty Lilly?" Georgina teased her.
"You aren't?" Lillian retorted, panting quite heavily.
The Destroyer was soon on the scene, followed by Ross, who was quite composed as he had not exerted himself as much as his teammates had.
"Let's just get on with it, ladies." The Destroyer remarked, brushing by the duo, though restricted by his heavy T5-V.
Seeing the wisdom in his words, Lillian and Georgina quickly dropped what brief banter they had, and followed in his wake. The group of four made their way with haste, for as long as Cerberus remained on the Citadel, they could not afford a break. In no time at all, they arrived at a rise that overlooked a wide clearing along the arms of the wards, occupied by a large crowd. Yet, this was no large cluster of Cerberus, but rather an assortment of citizens of various races, being herded along by a much smaller contingent of Cerberus troops. Observing the scene, they analysed the situation.
"This could be difficult." The Destroyer remarked quite obviously.
"You don't say." Georgina scolded him.
The Destroyer dismissed her, turning to the more receptive Lillian and Ross. "Any ideas Ross?"
"Why me?" Ross replied defiantly.
"You used to be one of them, remember." Lillian beat the Destroyer to it.
"I don't remember telling you that." Ross remarked.
"That doesn't matter, do you have any advice?" The Destroyer quickly moved on.
"Well?" Ross struggled to remember. "They wouldn't want to throw away any... potential recruits."
"Screw that, let's just jump them." Georgina butted in.
"And risk civilian casualties." The Destroyed exclaimed, for it was his turn to scold her. "That's not how an N7 does things."
"Whatever we're going to do, let's do it fast." Lillian quickly muttered, for the crowd was slowly moving out of sight.
The Destroyer privately cursed to himself, finding the lack of options frustrating.
"Well I'm not sticking around for you to make up your mind." Georgina said, and before any could stop her, she had dropped down and charged straight into closest trooper.
He was taken out of commission predictably fast, but that reckless action caused quite the commotion to take place. The crowd burst in all directions, some remaining cowering on the ground whilst others fled. The small squad of Cerberus could not contain them, finding the assaulting Alliance trooper a much more pressing threat, as Georgina dashed in to engage them, taking extra care with her lethal biotics, considering the crowd. In no time at all, she had dismantled almost the entire Cerberus squad, and was just about to descend on the last one standing, when he dived for the crowd, fishing out a human woman and keeping her firm under the pressure of a gun clenched in his fist.
"Back off!" He demanded of Georgina.
She had no choice but to oblige, but at that instance, the rest of her team had arrived on the scene. The Destroyer took charge of the negotiation as best he could.
"Where do you think you can run to?" He probed the trooper with equal brutality.
"I said back off!" The trooper continued, digging his gun further into the head of the petrified woman. "Now I'm gonna... well well, if it isn't the defector."
The Destroyer was taken aback by the sudden change in the trooper's tone, but found his comment not directed at him, but at Ross next to him.
"You shut up!" Ross barked back.
"Its shame you left, 8." The trooper continued, his tone quite formal now, almost forgetting the hostage in his grasp. "Your biotics were a little rusty, but had you stayed, you could have considered yourself a real Dragoon."
"I ain't no number, you indoctrinated husk." Ross yelled defiantly, anger boiling within him.
"Admit it, 8. You were scared. Scared of perfection." The trooper mocked him.
"I said shut up!" Ross bellowed, forcing Lillian to grab his torso to prevent him from launching at the... Dragoon.
"Enough." The Destroyer demanded. "You not really expecting a way out of this."
"Aren't I?" The Dragoon turned to him. "How about you, 8. You feel like coming back, your whips could use a little work."
"Stop... calling me that!" Ross barked, Lillian struggling to keep him under control.
"Why not." The Dragoon cried out. "You're not exactly in a position of strength here. You could have been so much more. Instead you defected, to the losing side. I knew you were reckless, but I never would have called you stupid..."
"THAT IS IT!" Ross yelled, throwing Lillian off of him.
He stretched his arms out, and two enormous lashes coloured a bright biotic blue issued forth from his gauntlets, ready to descend upon the Dragoon, who... pulled the trigger.
In an instant, all the blazing fury streaming from Ross turned to stone cold dumbstruck panic as he stood petrified, watching the Dragoon's hostage fall limp to the ground, a gaping hole in her head.
"You son of a bitch!" Georgina burst out, and before the Dragoon could turn his gun on them, or unleash his own golden lashes, she charged into him with such uncontrolled force that his figure shatters into several, squishy, red, metal chunks.
The Destroyer did his best to get the fear struck crowd under control. Lillian did her best to assist him, and Ross stood rooted to the spot, his eyes fixated upon the lifeless corpse that had managed to avoid Georgina's biotic wrath. He could hear the commotion going on around him, but it was all blending together into some incomprehensible mess. That is, until he felt Georgina shaking his shoulders in an attempt to stir him from his self-imposed state of silence.
"Hey, wake up Ross." He heard her shout, her voice sounding a mile away.
The Cerberus defector slowly overcame his paralysis and managed to turn his head to respond to her. But no words could he get out, no matter how hard he tried.
That is until he heard another sound. That of a voice that seemed quite close, by separate from the commotion going on around him.
"N7s! I need help here!"
That voice did not belong to him, nor Georgina, Lillian or the Destroyer, but rather... to a vorcha? Now Ross had to be hearing things.
No he was not, as they all turned to see the very lifelike image of a vorcha stumbling towards them, with something large held over his shoulder.
Lillian and Georgina took defensive postures, finding the sight of a vorcha on the Citadel in the midst of a Cerberus invasion quite alarming. The Destroyer would have to, that is, until he got a closer look at the figure draped unresponsive over the vorcha's shoulder.
"Shadow?" He uttered.
The vorcha got much closer to them before talking again, heedless of what Lillian and Georgina were doing, or of the crowd around them.
"Don't shoot!" It pleaded. "I have a wounded N7 here."
"Is that... the Shadow?" The Destroyer asked, though quite redundantly, as there was no mistaking the armour of his former teammate, despite how it looked like it had being slammed into a wall at high speeds.
The vorcha lay the Shadow on the ground, still oozing a steady trail of blood from the broken fissures within her suit. The Destroyer observed her, and as soon as he saw just how much pain he imagined she was in, immediately descended upon her.
"Shadow... oh god, Shadow. She needs serious help." He cried out.
"I'm on it." Lillian said, getting on her Omni-Tool to call for a backup, dropping whatever pretence of mistrust at the vorcha's presence once she understood just how grave the N7's position was. "Georgina, you sort them out."
She motioned to the crowd, having patiently witnessed the whole ordeal, and while Georgina would have most likely protested, she got right on it once she realised just how serious the situation was.
Georgina did her best to calm and usher the crowd onwards while her teammates remained behind to attend to the Shadow that was just barely clinging to life. The Destroyer and the vorcha did their best to administer what aid they could with their limited supplies, while Lillian conversed over Omni-Tool. With so much to do in such scant time, no one paid any attention to Ross. He sat observing the situation over the Shadow quietly, the events only a few moments still fresh in his mind. Refusing to leave.
Eventually, Lillian caught sight of a shuttle descending above to answer her calls. The little craft descended promptly, and a familiar face was there to greet them.
"Sir!" Lillian uttered suddenly in response to the Slayer's presence.
"Please, Lillian, let's not waste any more time here." He quickly dismissed her, hopping off the shuttle attend to the Shadow.
The Destroyer and the vorcha carefully lifted the broken N7 with haste, shuddering over how long she gone without the proper care.
"Not you too." The Destroyer heard the Slayer mutter to himself.
"She'll make it." He tried to comfort his teammate.
"You haven't seen the Fury." The Slayer replied gravely.
"Excuse me?" He replied, growing concerned.
"She's in a bad way." The Slayer replied, his tone barely without any of its usual upbeat composure.
"What kind of bad way?" The Destroyer further pressed him.
"Why don't you come on and find out." The Slayer responded, and barely after he had said those words, the Destroyer was already aboard. "Oh... I almost forgot. Cerberus has retreated. It's over."
That was enough to raise the spirits of practically every soul that heard it substantially. Even the vorcha, who gave off the impression that he revealed in bloodshed, seemed relieved.
"Just like that?" Lillian asked, slightly disbelievingly
"Just like that." The Slayer clarified. "Still, they left behind a hell of a mess. I think we can all vouch for that."
No one cared to doubt that, and so they all clambered aboard the shuttle, well, all except for Ross.
"If it's okay with you, I'll go ahead and help out Georgina." He politely stated, his voice coming back for what felt like the first time in a while.
The others would have protested, but the Shadow lying still without proper treatment put an end to anymore stalling, and they bid each other farewell, and the shuttle promptly rose into the air, much heavier but still proceeding as fast as it would allow itself.
As for Ross, he did not immediately head on after Georgina to tell her the good news. In fact he was having a hard time coming to understanding it himself, for there were still fresh Cerberus corpses scattered about the area, but now all of a sudden they had allegedly turned and take flight, just like that. That was not the Cerberus he was familiar with.
Everything was going way too fast for him to stop and think for a minute. Ross took off his helmet, so akin to that of those Dragoons that it was more than unsettling. He breathed in deep, trying to collect and arrange the many thoughts rushing through his head a mile a minute, but it was all too much. He breathed one last deep intake of breath that shot straight to his brain, imbuing him with a dizzying feel, before he subsequently fainted on the spot, deciding that after all he had been through today, he was long due for a nap, regardless of wherever it happened to be.
Well, whatever you thought of that, know that the next chapter will have an entirely different tone to it. A dialogue heavy romantic tone, that is. I've actually been waiting a long time to start writing it, so hopefully it should be pretty good. Or not, who knows?