The memorial park in London was awash with noise as the crowd cheered as at last the ceremony was finished. On the stage the companions relaxed although the twelve of them held their distance for a moment from the two newly weds, giving them a moment to complete the final little tradition of their own. The smirk as it nears a minute in time for the kiss between bride and groom.
The applause and cheers to the kiss as the bonding ceremony was still roaring on as Shepard and Liara came up for air. Smiling at her bride Shepard pulls a pair of simple titanium silver alloy rings, made from a part of the first Normandy, and holds them in her hand. She allows Liara to take the one sized for Shepard's own hand. Gently taking Shepard's hand in her own she slowly guides the ring onto Shepard's hand. Shepard, drying her own tears with the back of her hand in turn takes the second ring and taking Liara's hand in her own she is about to guide it onto the Asari's hand but as the ring nears Liara's finger Shepard stiffens and freezes.
Shepard's smile slowly fades as she feels the hairs on the back of her neck begin to rise, a time old signal she knew that danger was near. She spins about her eyes scanning the crowd for the imminent threat. She could tell that the Krogan and Asari guard down below could tell something was amiss, and behind her she could feel the unrest of the others on the platform. Even Liara she could tell knew something was wrong. It was not a sense that was based on concrete evidence. Simply one that had been honed by extensive time on the battlefield. Shepard had learned long ago to trust it. Her eyes finally spot the source of her discomfort but as soon as she saw it she knew it was too late.
Shepard began moving to place her body between Liara's and the newly spotted threat, turning as she did so to face Liara, a reassuring smile on her face as she tried to bring her biotic barriers up in time. The barrel of a M-98 Widow peeking its way out of one of the upper windows. Her hands move to initialize her personal barriers but by that time it was too late. The gun fires barely as she had moved between the shooter and Liara. She couldn't hear the shot over the roar of the crowd, but she did feel it slam into her back. A second explosion of pain and she knew this was worse than she had feared. Whoever was apart of this attack had not come alone. A third impact hits her, this time in the lower back. Shepard's smile fades changing to horror as she watches the third shot emerge from her lower abdomen, and slam into Liara. Two final shots impact harmlessly against Shepard's barriers.
Shepard could feel the blood quickly soaking her uniform as Liara begins to fall. Her arms reach out to catch Liara, in the process the ring in her hand falling out. Shepard ignores it, her whole mind intent on Liara, trying to catch her, trying to save her. As the bloodstains on Shepard's uniform become visible to the crowd and Liara falls pandemonium and panic become unleashed upon the gathering.
Shepard cradling Liara her hand on the wound trying to stop the bloodflow before it became to late, in the process ignoring her own wounds. A noise and flash to the side catches her attention and her fear deepens. From one side she saw guns firing, and old familiar, yellow and white armored soldiers forcing their way through. A sound from the other side of the crowd and she can make out the shapes and armor of Batarians and a few Krogan as well as some Vorcha forcing their way through the crowd towards the platform, their uniforms identifying them easily as the Blood Pack.
Shepard's voice carries over the panic and the roar as the leader within her knows that if they were all to survive they would need to act immediately.
"Barriers now!" She roars out to the biotics on the platform. Jack, Samara, Jacob, Miranda, even Matriarch Aetheta all shield the group with barriers while Shepard watches her Krogan guards along with the Asari commandos attempt to make their way to the attackers. Shepard looks back towards EDI. "EDI you've got the most medical training, stop her bleeding, keep her alive, Grunt get to the girls, protect them, the rest of you with me!"
The snipers unable to penetrate the combined barriers now guarding the platform instead turn to the Krogan and Asari guards, downing many before they can even get close to the attackers on either side. Shepard ignoring her blood soaked uniform, knowing she could survive much worse with her upgrades, leads the charge down from the platform scooping up a M-96 Mattock Raising the rifle up and slapping in a fresh scavenged thermal clip she takes aim with the rifle and starts popping off shots at the snipers in the building. Behind her she can hear the others grabbing weapons from downed soldiers and guards and retaliating against their attackers.
The battle became chaos as both attackers and attacked were able to make little headway through the dense and panicked crowd. Shepard's bleeding had stopped by the time that the rockets from both sides start racing out from both attacking sides, erupting amidst the crowd or heading towards the platform to detonate against the shield. Shepard glances back at one point to see Liara up on her feet turn strips of one of the dresses about her body to form an impromptu bandage, as she lead the charge of the biotic's towards one of the flanks, but her stomach bottoms out as she sees her barriers falter for a moment and a rocket explode just ahead of her location. Shepard looses sight of her in the explosion and unable to tear her eyes from the scene only pulls herself back to focus as a Krogan in armor charges at her. Tears of grief and rage run down her face as around one of her hands biotic energy begins to coalesce. The hand forming to a fist she slams it into her charging enemy's helmet, the force of the blow and biotic power shattering the helmet and the skull of her attacker beneath it.
As she slowly rises to stand once more after her attack from behind her eyes faint silver light begins to dimly shine, light emanating from her reaper implants. The eyes filled with the emotions of grief and anger scan the battlefield, spotting enemy gunships inbound on the horizon. Closing them for a moment her mind reaches out, and in orbit far above a Reaper destroyer begins to descend towards the atmosphere.
Shepard and the others continue to fight, the battle now become a close quarter fight as the attackers and attack finally close with one another en-mass. The Mattock long since run out of clips she uses simply to bash in the skulls of her enemy while around her she can hear her friends and allies doing the same. The enemy gunship arriving on scene is only able to make a single pass across the battlefield firing at enemy and foe alike as it passes. From the sky at last descends the reaper, drawing the eyes of all on the battlefield as it does. The destroyer's eye, the same silver as Shepard's implants, fixates on the gunship. It touches down shaking the ground as it does, Shepard careful that it did not crush any bystanders, in the park and from its main gun the old familiar red beam of energy fires forth ripping apart the gunship. The destroyer makes its way towards the crowd and at last the battle begins to end as it takes up a position ready to fire on any that resist..
The destroyer at their backs, reinforcing them the survivors of the guards and newly arrived security forces begin to capture the few remaining attackers, most of whom surrender quietly without resistance. Shepard meanwhile frantically begins to head towards where she last saw Liara before the explosion.
