The Mass Effect Trilogy came out today; as well as Halo 4. While I've never been a big Halo fan, this one seems pretty good. Of course, its Mass Effect all the way. Speaking of which; tomarrow is N7 day (november 7th); and there will be a sale on the BioWare store for those looking for holiday ME gear. Enjoy.
Chapter 14: Promises
"Wraith!" Sara screamed as the man fell to his side, blood coating the ground. She cloaked herself; getting a "what the hell" from Qurt who had taken cover with her. She grabbed Wraith and started dragging him back behind a concrete support beam.
"Damnit; cover her!" said Qurt. The shuttle had long passed, but apparently there had been many more. The whole district was under attack. Sara ignored the trail of blood left in Wraiths wake. Her cloak broke when she was safely behind the beam; immediately she tried to remove the armor he wore but had no idea where the latches were.
"Sara; let me." The quarian looked up to see Ulera lean down. "Give us some covering fire." She looked one more time at Wraiths bloody, motionless body. Without saying anything she grabbed her Viper and began pumping rounds into the soldiers attacking them from the building across. A bullet from a sniper's rifle struck Sara's shields. An instant later, the Nemesis was decapitated. Qurt rolled closure to his allies; putting a good suppressing fire on the enemy.
"What was that Sara? That cloaking thing."
"Personal cloaking field I had custom built. Useful, don't you think?"
"No argument there."
"-uad what's happ-ing down ther-?" Grigg's voice, interrupted by static, came through the radio.
"Cerberus is attacking!" yelled Qurt. "Wraith's hurt bad, we're trying to get him to a medic. We could really use you sir."
"The Norm-ndy's enga…-nemy ships. Will be the… I can! Griggs ou-"
"I got it!" Sara was at Wraith's side. Ulera pulled out her Avenger and assisted the turian. Wraith's armor had been removed from his abdomen, making the wound easier to access. The bullet had hit two inches to the left of his navel and had come out the other side. Blood still freely flowed from the wound. Sara ejected a glob of medi-gel into her hand and smeared it onto both sides of the injury. She was frantic; she knew there was still internal damage but what could she do? Wraith needed a medic.
"Kyle? Kyle answer me damnit!" she yelled into her radio. There was a burst of static. Then, Kyle's voice.
"Sara, this is Kyle. We're under attack; Cerberus is targeting the civilians! We need your help!"
"Wraith is hit! He's unconscious, and losing a lot of blood. I did everything I can but I know he's bleeding inside and we're pinned and we need help-"
"All right, calm down Sara. Osoba; Peterson! Rapture needs fire support; get over there and cover 'em!"
"Thank you Kyle." Sara got back in the fight. A few moments later, Osoba and Peterson arrived. From the building to their left they put down a suppressing fire. Peterson was armed with an M-96 Revenant, so he had little difficulty pinning the troopers.
"All right, move Rapture!" yelled the marine. Grabbed Wraith under his shoulder while Qurt took him by the legs. But the open ground between them and the safety of the next building was too much.
"We'll be slaughtered!" called Qurt to the marines. "You need more fire support!"
"We can't spare anymore; the med bay is under heavy attack and we've got civilians in their!"
"I'll cover you!" Said Ulera. Without waiting for a response, the justicar stepped into the open area. She brought a hand up; creating a biotic field around her that shimmered with bullets. But it held, and she through her head in the direction of cover. "Come on, move! I can't do this forever." Sara and Qurt hurried with their wounded friend Peterson and Osoba nodded to them.
"All right, let's get out of here!" Said Peterson. Still firing the two marines moved with the aid of Ulera, who was back with her friends. Cerberus began moving into the now-abandoned area Rapture had just left. Sara's arms burned; Wraiths armor was weighing him down. But the quarian refused to drop him. There was an open space between them and the med building. Straight down the side street leading to the landing pad showed heavy fighting between the Alliance and Cerberus. Ulera stepped out and deployed her barrier again. Another marine was covering the adjoined section of the two structures. He put his gun down when he saw Wraiths bloody form.
"Kyle's got a station waiting for him back that way." Sara and Qurt hurried back into the med bay. The room was packed with people. The doors had been closed, and when all Alliance forces were inside their entrance was closed too. A single open window was what the marines were using to fight back against the enemy. Kyle had cleared a table, now surrounded by medical tech. Wraith was placed on table; Kyle said nothing as he removed the soldiers helmet. Sara chocked when she saw his bluing face. Kyle placed a figure to Wraiths neck.
"Fuck, he's not breathing. All right, I need you guys to clear out." Sara placed her hand over Wraith's.
"I'm not leaving him." Kyle sighed.
"Listen, I know what I'm doing. Now if you could just-" The quarian placed a hand on her Tempest.
"I'm not leaving him." She repeated. The medic turned his armored head toward Qurt, who shook his head.
"I'll see what I can do against Cerberus." Said the turian, who then dashed off to battle. Kyle shrugged.
"Fine; Sara, grab that ventilator." The quarian snatched the mask, which the medic took. He sealed it over Wraiths face, and then began pumping the man's lower chest. After a moment there was a wheeze as oxygen was pumped into his lungs. He did this several more times, all the while keeping an eye on the machine that monitored the vitals. Sara was deaf to the chaos around her, the only thing that seemed to exist in that room was that flat orange line.
Then it spiked.
Weakly and unsteadily, but it spiked again and again. In a flash, Kyle pulled out a syringe, removed the air, and gingerly stuck the needle into Wraiths neck. He plunged the medication into the wounded man's coronary artery. A moment later, the heartbeat was going more normally. The medic placed the empty needle on a nearby table.
"Good, that'll steady his heart and breathing rate. But he's still in danger." He brought up his omni tool and did a quick scan of Wraith. "Like you said, he's bleeding internally; that bullet sure did a number on him. I'll need that medi-gel removed." Sara looked at the clear substance. It was dark red on the inside; she knew that removing it would cause a burst of fresh blood. She couldn't take that. But Wraith…
"Kyle, will you save him?" she asked without looking at the man. He placed an armored gauntlet on her shoulder.
"Yea Sara. I will." Sara nodded, grabbing Wraith's limp hand.
"I'll be back Wraith. I promise." She turned, rifle unfolding on her back, toward the battle.
Ulera popped in a fresh thermal clip. Outside, the guardians were making a steady push through a smoke screen. The justicar poked her head up to check the enemies' progress, but just as before the cloud prevented anything. She blind fired and was rewarded with a scream. The fighting was still intense, and without Wraith to help with the biotics, Ulera was worried she would tire too fast. She looked back to where Wraith had been taken, a prick of worry eating at her. Despite her reservations about forming friendships, the human had proven himself worthy of life, and the asari would be saddened if he perished.
"Ulera, the smoke's clearing!" Qurt's voice brought Ulera back to the present. She stood up and, seeing the black silhouettes of guardians, pulled the shields from their wielder's grasp. Seconds later, the guardian line was gunned down.
"There's too many of 'em!" yelled a marine. "We need support!"
"What about the Normandy?" said another. "Can she give us reinforcements?" Sara shook her head.
"The Normandy's fighting someone in orbit; the Commander didn't say who. But I think it's Cerebrus."
"He said he'd be here as soon as he can." Reminded Qurt.
"It better be soon!" replied Ulera. "I'll tire out fast if we don't get another biotic down here." Kodiak shuttles were swarming over the city; it was a deadly dogfight between the Alliance and Cerberus through the narrow gaps between buildings. There was a gasp from Sara, who was looking through her scope toward the back alley.
"I see civilians in the back alley! I think they're hiding from something!" Qurt brought up his rifle.
"I see 'em. They need our help! Let's go." Ulera stood up in the hall way, blocking her two friends.
"Wait; we're down a man; we'll need someone to help cover us."
"Right; where's the CO?" asked Qurt. Ulera had been talking with the man earlier; Staff Sergeant Morgan. She crawled under the windows, avoiding the heavy fire. Morgan was modifying his M8 ammo.
"Staff Sergeant Morgan?" asked the justicar. The human looked up from what he was doing.
"Ulera right? What can I do for you." He said nonchalantly; poking up to pour incendiary bullets into a trooper who'd stuck his body out too far.
"There's civilians trapped in the back alley. We in Rapture want to go help them, but we'll need one of your men to help cover us." Morgan ducked down and popped in a new clip.
"All right; Osoba!" The PFC crawled over to his commander. "You're with Rapture; there's civilians trapped in the back alley and they need your help."
"Yes sir!" he said enthusiastically. Ulera crawled back to her friends, who were watching the civilians.
"You're good?" asked Sara to Osoba. He nodded, and they moved back down to where the doors had been locked. One marine was waiting there, watching the door.
"You guys getting back out there?" he asked. Ulera nodded. "Opening the door now; good luck." It slid open, and Rapture ran out into cover. The civilians spotted them, looks of hope overcoming looks of terror. There were five in total; it looked like one of them had a Mattock. Ulera nodded to the, then turned to Sara and Osoba.
"You two should stay back here and cover me and Qurt. We'll move in, hopefully, unnoticed and secure the civilians. We'll move them one at a time, cover to cover, until they're safely inside." They all nodded in assent. Osoba and Sara took up positions on opposite sides of the street, guns ready. To their left, the other marines were suppressing the Cerberus forces. Ulera, after checking the buildings to their left where Cerberus troopers were readying for their attack on the base, jogged in a crouched position to cover. She crouched, checked to see if she'd been spotted, then gestured for Qurt to follow her. He ran in a similar fashion, careful to not catch attention. Finally, they made it to the civilians; Qurt took a watchful position while Ulera crawled over to the civilians.
"Are you all right?" She said to no one in particular, but the man with the Mattock spoke up.
"As all right as we can be with a Cerberus invasion. We came from Gimno District," he gestured over his shoulder, where a barricade had been set up. "Cerberus is really hammering the place."
"Here too." The asari pointed out. The human, who she figured was the leader of the group, nodded.
"Yea, we'd hoped to move ahead of the Cerberus force but it seems we were too slow. Ran into a patrol on the way here. There were twenty of us then." His eyes were full of pain with that last statement; Ulera felt sorry for these scared civilians. She smiled, trying to calm them.
"Well, we're here to get you out. Just stay low, we'll move you up one by one, and get you to the Alliance base. Okay?" The civilians nodded nervously. Ulera wondered if they'd have the courage to move up. The man with the Mattock gently grabbed a young girl by her arm, pulling her toward Ulera.
"Come on Kate; you'll be the first up." Ulera didn't have much experience with humans; she figured this girl was at least fifteen. Kate didn't budge, her eyes wide with terror. Ulera touched her other arm; Kate looked up at her with big, blue eyes. Ulera could feel her heart melting.
"It's okay Kate. We won't let anything happen to you. I promise." Ulera offered her hand, and after a moment Kate took it. Ulera brought the girl under her left arm, right arm occupied with a Disciple. Qurt nodded to them as the creped past his position. It took a while of coaxing, but eventually Ulera got Kate to the base. The marine inside took her to a more secure corner of the room. The young human looked up at Ulera,
"Thank you." She said in a soft, quiet, innocent voice. The asari could feel something welling up inside her that she hadn't felt in a long time.
Happiness.
True happiness in helping this innocent girl, who had the capability to become so much more, live to see another day, another dawn. She smiled and nodded to Kate; then made her way back to the civilians. The man with the Mattock, who'd named himself as Ron Wolkson, this time tasked Ulera with bringing a boy; older than Kate but still at least a teenager. As she dropped off this human she realized Ron was having her escort the youngest first.
Smart man. And then she heard the sound she'd been dreading.
"Alliance forces in the Alley!" There was the chatter of a Phaeston and the scream of a Trooper. Ulera sped back into the alley, making for the civilians. Her barriers took nasty hits as she did so, but she ignored it. She dropped and slid the last few feet to the civilians. Ron poked up and took down a Trooper who'd underestimated him.
"We've got to get you guys out of here, now! Sara, Osoba, get in clearer firing positions.
"Copy that!"
"Combat Engineers!" Yelled Qurt. "Keep them from putting down turrets!" At that moment there was the retort of a Viper. Its lethal fang struck a weakened Engineer, ripped through his chest, came out his back, and blew up the turret that was slung there. The explosion killed the troopers around him.
"Nice shot Sara!" said Qurt.
"Thank you." Ulera looked at Ron. He gestured for another man to go with Ulera.
"Qurt, I'm moving up!"
"Got it!" Ulera waited for a break in the enemy fire, then stepped out and put up a barrier.
"Move it!" she yelled at the man she was escorting. He dashed across her field, and when he was in cover she dropped the defense and moved. They did this once more, until they were in the building Sara and Osoba were in. A short hop to the Alliance base, and Ulera was back with the humans. It was now only Ron and a woman, who apparently was next. Ulera readied herself for another biotic barrier, hoping she'd have the strength to get Ron across as well. She stepped out, soaking in bullets as the woman ran across. The justicar gasped as she lowered her barrier, feeling sluggish as she made it to cover. Again she stepped out, and again she felt her strength diminishing with each round that hit her field. And a lot of rounds hit her field. She collapsed inside the building Osoba and Sara were in. The quarian fired a shot, then ducked down to where Ulera was resting.
"Ulera, are you okay?" The justicar shook her head as if to clear it.
"I'm fine Sara; but I don't know how much longer I can keep doing this. We need the Commander down here." The quarian nodded and activated her comm.
"Commander, this is Sara'Turan, come in… Repeat, Commander this is Sara'Turan, we need immediate assistance!" The quaian shook her head.
"Boshtet! I'm only getting interference; the local signal booster must be down." Qurt called across from where he was covering Ron.
"We'll need to bring the network back online! But first, let's get these civvies out of here." Ulera nodded, hauling herself to her feet. The human woman was huddling near Osoba, hands over her ears. The justicar crawled over to her and tapped her shoulder.
"We're moving again. Come on; I'll protect you." The scared human nodded, waiting for Ulera to protect her. The justicar closed her eyes, remembering to focus on something solid. With a deep breath, she stepped out and opened her barrier. Cerberus immediately ceased attacking Ron and Qurt, turning all their fire power on her. Ulera grunted, waiting for the girl to run. When she was clear, the asari fell back into the building with Sara. She felt sick and dizzy. But there was only one more… determined to get everyone to safety, Ulera pushed through her ailments and ran the short distance to Ron. He'd folded his Mattock; a cluster of steaming thermal clips around him. Ulera unfolded her M8 and held it out to him.
"If it makes you feel better, take this." Ron nodded, taking the assault rifle. "Are you ready to move?"
"As ready as I'll ever be." Ulera nodded and put down her barrier. Luckily, Ron seemed to be braver than the others, and had no hesitation in running across the open. Ulera stepped in with Qurt and Ron; the human looked expectantly at her. She was breathing hard, and a tingling sensation ran down her arms. She felt a heavy hand be placed on her shoulder. Qurt looked down at her, determination glittering in his gaze.
"You can do this Ulera." He said. The justicar looked out at the bullets pouring on their position, thought of blocking them, and felt doubt. Then she looked at Qurt; the indomitable vigilante, and she knew she had found something solid. Without another word, she stepped out and put down a field so strong, the enemy troopers had to duck to avoid being hit by their own projectiles. Some were too slow. There was a cheer from Ulera's allies, but she hardly heard it. She was more focused than she'd ever been in her life; it had been a long time since she'd had someone to count on at her side. People to count on, she thought. She did this once more, and back in the base she was. Ron rejoined his fellow people, and handed the M8 back to Ulera.
"I think you could use this back." he said with a smile. Ulera returned it, relieved to see everyone was safe. She'd fulfilled her promise. Ulera put a hand to her communicator.
"Rapture; we're clear. We should return to base and wait for Griggs to make contact." Sara, Qurt, and Osoba made their way back. The door was sealed behind them by the guard; without a word Sara began pushing her way through the throng of people, heading for the back of the building. With a sinking feeling, Ulera remembered Wraith. Silently she followed the young quarian, knowing Qurt was right behind her. They rounded the corner, finding Sara standing outside a curtain. She was talking to one of the marines; as the justicar approached, Sara turned around.
"Wraith is going to be fine." Ulera smiled, joyed that the human would make it. "He's still unconscious, but Kyle says the surgery was successful." Qurt looked back towards the fighting.
"We need to get Griggs back down here. Without assistance, we'll lose a lot of people."
"We can't wait for him to contact us," continued Sara, unfolding her rifle. "If we get that relay back in operation, we could get all these people out of here." Ulera adjusted the choke on her shotgun.
"So, it's a fight to the relay then."
"It won't be easy." Reminded Qurt.
"It hasn't been up to this point." Responded Ulera, already heading to find Morgan. "There's no reason it should get better now." She didn't have to check to see if her allies, her friends, were behind her. They would always have her back.
Anyone ever heard of Happy Wars? Awesome free Xbox LIVE arcade game if you haven't. I currently have an adiction to it; and it appears there is no cure in sight. Also, I'm trying out a renegade Shepard; currently completing loyalty missions in ME2 with him. As always, until next time, never lose hope, and keelah se'lai