The round whizzed past his head, barely missing the edge of his barrier, and expelled its force against the thick, solid metal that he had braced against during the start of the fight. Kaidan cursed as another, similar round hit slightly closer, brushing past the blue envelope and causing the energy to flare as it absorbed the impact.
This wasn't going as well as they'd planned.
"Aria!" Kaidan yelled hoarsely, feeling drained by the constant pull of his amp, "To your left, two marauders!"
The notorious asari didn't even deign to register his words, merely whipped her pistol out as she turned in the direction and used the sidearm to whittle down the meagre shields of the two creatures and taking one out with a spray of bullets, tossing the other away with a biotic Lash, hurling it against the side of the warehouse and dashing desiccated brains and body parts into pieces. Not even a nod of thanks.
"James," Kaidan brought up as he turned back to the fighting, "Another Carnage round would be useful right about now."
"Yeah, sure, I wish," the bulky marine shot back, assault rifle blaring over the crate that he was hunkered down behind, "Shotguns man, they have a cool down too. Maldito estupido tech."
Kaidan flung out a Reave, incapacitating a horde of Husks that had grouped too close together, noting how the ones in Cerberus armour were recovering quicker as the metal absorbed more of the energy. Thankfully, James had been paying attention as well, gunning down the ones who were trying to pick themselves up over the bare Husks that were even now, hunched over and twitching as the dark energy coursed through their systems and surged into Kaidan.
"EDI, how much longer?" Kaidan almost yelled into his comm device as he hunched over, letting his amp cool down after the expenditure of energy.
"The bypass has been completed, Major Alenko," EDI replied passively, "All that remains are for my systems to initiate the override the emergency response protocols and complete the circuit so that the station's orbital defence systems will-"
"Yeah, okay, um, okay..." Kaidan interrupted, not needing another rundown of their full plan, "Just, uh, just let me know when you've completed the override."
"Of course, Major Alenko," came the AI's reply.
Shepard flowed into the empty space behind Kaidan, taking the barest moment to lurch out over the cover and sight a target through his Black Widow's scope, almost absently squeezing the trigger as a red-coloured round burst through the barrel and shattered the faceplate of a Marauder as it engulfed the rest of the body in incendiary flames. The grenade that the monster had been primed to throw fell off its lifeless fingers and clattered silently against the feet of several Cannibals. Kaidan didn't watch as it went off, sending bodies hurtling through the air. Garrus crowed as he picked off the struggling survivors.
"How's it coming along Kaidan?" Shepard asked him grimly. Kaidan wordlessly nodded at the question.
"Almost there, John," Kaidan replied just as mutedly and received a mirrored nod in confirmation.
They had spent the better part of the last hour under the warehouses, formulating and refining the desperate plan that Shepard had come up with. Try as they might, despite almost everyone chipping in ideas and thoughts about alternative considerations, they still hadn't managed to come up with any way to neutralize the threat on Omega with enough speed to suit their mission. Kaidan had had a choice, either get Shepard cured as quickly as possible or waste precious days, weeks even, clearing out the infestation that swarmed all over the space station. He made the choice without a second thought, even as his conscience screamed at him to stop and pause.
The only problem after that though, was how to go over Aria's own plans and replace it with their own.
Apparently, it had been easy enough. Shepard had opened up his comm-channel so that whatever was being discussed would project itself into Kaidan's earpiece, and Kaidan listened intently, transmitting the data he gathered back to EDI on the Normandy. Aria, it seemed, had installed station-wide control directly into her omni-tool and had established it so that the system would only recognize her DNA, her unique, individual print. This had been turned on its head when the invading Reaper troops had used brute force to take over the entire station and methodically overridden and replaced all the system protections with ones of their own designs. Aria hadn't counted on the superior alien tech supplanting her own black market, experimental systems and had used Kasumi's notorious evanescence as way to seek out the more highly prioritized tech nodes, removing as much of the Reaper protocols as possible and replacing it back with her original schematics.
What resulted was a haphazard design that would perhaps, perhaps not, carry out Aria's intentions, maybe even a limited number of times, before the makeshift overrides overloaded and melted down. That's where EDI came in. Using Omega's primary root access codes, the AI had managed to infiltrate into the cyber-frame of the station and had discovered a... fail-safe of sorts. It seemed that if Aria couldn't have Omega, then nobody else would ever be allowed to keep it, and EDI had discovered a dormant self-destruct sequence laced through a majority of Omega's power grid. One that would overload the structure with energy as it built up in all major access points, ultimately resulting in a meltdown that would devastate the entire construct. From what he had gathered about the asari, she was still aware of the dormant system but had not offered the information, and option, to them just in case they decided on gutting Aria's floating palace.
So while EDI was working on shifting the control protocols over so that Aria's trigger sequence would initiate an EMP blackout and the station-wide self-destruct, they were making their way over to the open port area in preparation for the Normandy's arrival. Unfortunately, as Kaidan was already well aware of by now, plans always seemed to enjoy slipping out and away from the well-designed fittings that they had placed them in. Perhaps it would have been a better idea, in hindsight, if they had moved the corpses that they first left strewn around the area during their initial push into the warehouses. Who would have thought a patrol would have discovered the bodies, called up for reinforcements, and turned the cargo docks into a veritable sea of shifting bodies all anticipating their arrival. Who would have thought, indeed.
"Ah, shit! Adjutants!" Shepard snapped out, dragging Kaidan way from his thoughts. He turned over the crate, risking a peek as he watched several of the lumbering monstrosities pick their way through the piles of bodies.
The only thing he'd known about it was from Shepard's brief descriptions, and the information that had been compiled in the Codex, barely enough to understand how it functioned and what was the most effective way of taking it down. Kaidan primed his own warp-ammo as he shifted over the rapid-fire of his assault rifle.
Kaidan watched as Warps, Overloads and ammo-rounds bloomed around him like streaks of light, shooting stars that soared through the empty air and smashed into the pack of Adjutants and withered down the creatures' barriers. Some had moved with surprising speed, nimbly moving away from the projectiles as they skittered away on their limbs from some, but not all, of the energy that was being directed at them. Once he heard the distinct whine of the barriers breaking down, he watched as a Carnage round laced through an Adjutant as another Warp from him twisted the reinforced skin and metal of another.
"I will destroy you fuckers!" came a slightly out of breath Jack from the other side of the warehouse, a Shockwave blasting forward as the energy built up and cascaded forward, disrupting the movements of the remaining Adjutants just long enough for Garrus and Shepard to pick off any remaining ones.
"EDI, any time now would be great," Kaidan spoke into his comm, as his amp fizzled around at the back of his head, struggling to cool down as it forcefully expended energy. He broke cover and sent his Warp-infused ammo into the head and torso of a Banshee, the creature casually making small, biotic hops as it tried to flank them. Unfortunately, he hadn't had much time to practice his new skill, so the impact on the Banshee's barrier did little more than draw its attention toward him as it focused dead, black eyes in his direction.
"Just a moment more, Major," EDI said coolly as the Banshee keened, a shattering sound that swirled around it. Kaidan cursed as he ducked back around the crate, a combined Overload from Garrus and a Warp from Jack causing the creature to stumble as the disparate energies splayed across rotten flesh, pulling apart meat and metal, energy flickering through its nearly redundant nervous system. Kaidan fired another salvo of rounds, peppering that almost impenetrable barrier as Kasumi blinked behind the creature, launching a devastating attack of her own against the Banshee's back, before cloaking away and reappearing on another part of the battle field.
Still, the monstrosity remained unfazed as it screamed pure hatred at him and with a flick of its spindly claws, threw a glittering purple-blue ball of energy at him. Fear knotted around his chest as he turned and cast a Reave at a group of Cannibals, draining their energy to strengthen his shields and barrier as the projectile finally struck. Despite the increased draw of energy, Kaidan felt the foreign Warp shriek through his protections, twisting the energy around him as his barrier strained to hold its form together. Scintillating blue continued to dance across his shrinking barrier and with a final groan, his barrier came crashing down, snapping away like a too tight string. The feedback shot through his amp and sent him stumbling as he gritted his teeth. The last of the energy died with its caster, the Banshee finally succumbing to the barrage of fire being rained down on it. Thankfully he'd had just enough time to use his Reave to steal additional strength to reinforce his barrier before that Warp had hit him. Otherwise, he'd have been in agony as the particles chewed through his armour.
"Major Alenko," EDI's blessed voice came through his earpiece, "I have succeeded in completing the desired task. Should Aria trigger the command, a secondary loop will form that should essentially sub-route along towards the self-destruct protocols of Omega."
"Thanks EDI," Kaidan breathed heavily, as the energy from the previous attack still tingled against him, "Prep the Normandy for emergency evac, this place is crawling and the sooner we leave, the better."
"Of course, Major Alenko," came EDI's pleased voice, "However, there is a... problem that I should probably notify you of."
"A... Wait, a problem that you should probably-" Kaidan started to sputter.
"Yes. It appears that Aria's link to Omega's systems are more... complete than we initially predicted."
"EDI, what the hell does that even mean-"
"Aria's omni-tool. She can use it to trigger the EMP kill-switch," EDI reiterated, "However, that is not all that it can be used for. Should the system's self-destruct trigger, Major Alenko, it will send her the countdown for its activation. This is unavoidable and cannot be overwritten I am afraid. I have managed to bypass the confirmation, but once it triggers, Aria will surely become aware of our plan."
"Great, EDI," Kaidan muttered at the revelation, "Just... just great."
"I'm glad you thought so too, Major Alenko," EDI replied, once more pleased.
Kaidan wondered at the gynoid's growing sense of perverse humour as he shut down the link, turning to speak to Shepard about the new development when a strained shout came from the other end of the warehouses where Jack was holding up.
"Prangley, you piece of shit! Get your fucking ass back under cover!"
"With all due respect, ma'am, screw that!"
Kaidan watched as the injured, young, ex-Alliance biotic broke cover and rushed as best he could to cover Jack's flank, as the monstrous Brute surged out of nowhere, charging through the heavy crates and tossing them aside like broken toys. Prangley charged up his biotics in his fists, diverting power away from his barriers as he coupled a Shockwave and thrust it at the heavily armoured opponent, staggering it before it could breach Jack's wall of safety.
"This is for Rodriguez, you fucker!" the young man yelled in defiance.
Unfortunately, it was too heavy to be shifted very much and the reckless move only served to draw its attention away from Jack, who was beating down a squad of Marauders, and the Brute cast its malevolent gaze upon the staggering youth.
Kaidan yelled hoarsely for covering fire as he dove past Aria and toward the desperate fight, Prangley barely managing to dodge away from the creature's powerful grab. Without much thought, he willed his energy away from the substantial barrier around himself and Kaidan threw the energy into a small protective bubble just as the Brute lashed out, splayed claws bouncing off the wall of energy and sending feedback shocks through Kaidan's nervous system. He gritted his teeth as he poured more energy into the barrier, watching as Warps and Armour-Piercing rounds impacted the hard shell, twisting and grinding metal into scrap. Unfortunately, the Brute's final blow resulted as its corpse collapsed against the already fragile barrier that he'd set up and Kaidan groaned as the bubble collapsed, the huge amount of dead weight crashing atop the biotic he had been trying so desperately to save.
"Fuck!" Jack screamed, "Dammit, Prangley! Get the fuck back up!"
Without thinking, Kaidan manoeuvred quickly over to the fallen young man, breathing a quick and heavy sigh of relief as he saw that the young biotic had managed to twist out of the way at the last minute, only just managing to get one of his legs caught under the dead Brute, though the awkward angle suggested that the leg had snapped under the pressure.
"You alright, Prangley?" Kaidan huffed as he knelt down besides the pale, sweating young man.
"I... I'm fuh- fine sir," Prangley mumbled as Kaidan used the enhanced strength granted to him by the motor servos in his armour, allowing him to shift the Brute slightly as Prangley pulled out his mangled leg with a dull shout. Kaidan dropped the creature, turning to assess the injury as his medical training rose to the fore. Not good, he thought, especially on top of the prior injuries and the amount of energy the young man had loosed during the reckless attack.
Kaidan triggered the medi-gel dispenser on his suit's arm, thrusting the injection module into the swollen, bruised leg and Prangley stifled a scream at the initial burn. Kaidan watched intently as the healing effects triggered almost immediately, washing away pain and mending broken bone and tissue at break-neck speed.
"Kaidan!" Shepard yelled from behind his position, "Behind you!"
He whirled as a glittering blue ball impacted the thin sheet of his barrier, barely recovered from the Brute's previous onslaught and he yelled as it crashed through, breaking through the barely-there resistance and smashing into his armour. His yelled turned harsher as the energies twisted and Warped his armour, metal shrieking and flailing against one another as the energy sought to reach deep into his flesh, felt the radiating spikes of pain stab through his skin as his armour continued to twist and grate.
"Aria! Take down that damned brute!" Shepard was shouting as Kaidan blocked out the world around him, struggling to dissipate the Warp that surged around him and bring up his barrier. His amp was beginning to heat up from the constant use, and it was another few seconds before he could start up another surge of biotic power.
"Dammit, Aria! I said take it down! Kasumi, Garrus. The banshee over there! Hurry!" Shepard snapped out, efficient military commands flying from the man as Kaidan slowly recovered from the assault, trying to bring up his barrier and drag the young man crouched beneath him to safety.
"Now, Aria, now!" was the last thing Kaidan heard as he watched a shadow loom up across the ground he was staring at, barely having enough time to stand and turn when another Brute sent its thick claws slamming into his shoulder, sharp points breaking through the Warp-weakened armour and piercing his shoulder, the tips emerging from the other side of his body. With a weakened shout, he tried to shove Prangley back toward the makeshift barricade as dark specks whirled around his vision and he blacked out.
Shepard yelled Kaidan's name as the Brute smashed into the man, the fear in his chest mixing with the seething hatred he'd felt toward Aria. That damn bitch, she'd just stood there, calm as you please, and had totally ignored his command.
Shepard hooked his Black Widow over his shoulder in a single, smooth motion, triggering his amp and letting a halo of biotic energy swarm over him. Kaidan fell against the beast's initial attack, almost toppling over the barely recovered Prangley and the Brute roared a challenging sound, triumphant in its victory. Shepard would change that.
The Brute raised it's other arm, crab-like pincers angling down to remove Kaidan's head from his body and Shepard pulled the energy into his body, letting it fly as the nodes of collected power burst, sending him forward faster-than-sound, a Biotic Charge pushing him toward the Brute in the blink of an eye. Shepard appeared in front of the Brute, the extra force from the charge being directed away from its user as the built up momentum and dark energy splayed from him in a corona of force. Shepard directed the energy, calmly sending all his power into pushing the Brute as far away from Kaidan as he could and he was rewarded as the force of his jump exploded from him, lashing out against the Brute and despite the massive weight and size of the monster, it flew back to crash into the metal floor, head dashed and scraped away as it slid to a stop bonelessly against a pile of dead Husks.
"Kaidan, Kaidan sweetheart, get up," Shepard murmured, trusting Garrus and Kasumi enough to take care of any large immediate threats. He felt his gorge rise as he took in the bleeding puncture wounds against the man's arm, the paler-than-usual face with its eyes closed and Shepard stomped down on the urge to pick up his lover and carry him back.
His hands flew across his omni-tool bringing up the resuscitation protocol that linked every team member's suits together and triggered the routine medi-gel application procedure, watched as the nano-machines in the suit expertly and meticulous applied the substance over the worst of Kaidan's injuries. The gel also contained trace amounts of stimulants, especially useful for helping people come quickly around after taking a hard fall, and almost immediately after the application, Shepard watched as Kaidan's eyes fluttered open and the man stared up at him.
"Am..., uh, is this heaven?" Kaidan muttered deliriously as the medication continued to work through him and Shepard let loose a tired chuckle at his lover's expense, both for the melodramatic question and for the knot in his chest that evaporated on seeing Kaidan alive and unharmed for the most part.
"No, Kaidan," Shepard said as he ran a gauntleted hand against the man's brightening cheek, "Not heaven. But close enough, I suppose."
"What," Kaidan coughed, working more air into his lungs, "What the hell was that, John? What happened?"
Shepard's face darkened as he remembered the Brute, now nothing but a pile of shredded meat and metal against he far side of the docks. And how none of this would have happened if Aria had just listened and helped him taken out the Brute. Kaidan wouldn't have had to go through what he did if Aria had just damn well listened. Well, it didn't matter now. Not for long at least.
"It... It was nothing, just a Brute, managed to catch you off guard," Shepard said lightly, "Probably couldn't resist that ass of yours."
"I, uh, really, John?" Kaidan sputtered as he stood, wincing slightly as he pressed a hand against his healing shoulder, "I mean, do you really think this is the best time for this?"
Shepard shrugged casually, "Can't think of a better time, actually."
Kaidan muttered something Shepard couldn't pick up, but he wasn't really paying attention. While Kaidan poked over the tears in his armour, Shepard cast a gaze over the smoking, battlefield, his meticulous gaze analysing and cataloguing the injuries, number of fallen and the time in between when the next wave would probably arrive. He nodded as the figures tumbled through his mind.
"EDI," Shepard spoke up at last, finger placed to activate his comm-system to the Normandy, "Get ready for extraction. We're firing the EMP."
"Yes, Shepard. However, I would be remiss in my duty if I did not seek the approval of Major Alenko. Is he otherwise incapacitated or unable to-"
"Relax, EDI. I- I'm here. It's alright, I'm just a little... well, a little woozy," Kaidan cast a quick glance around the torn docks as well and nodded at the initial command, "Seems like now's a good time as any. Once Omega's power is shut down, bring in the Normandy on this location. We won't have much time."
"Yeah, well," came Joker's sudden sarcastic reply, "It's a pretty good thing you have the system's best pilot all primed and ready. I mean, you know, nothing to do here, 'cept maybe stare at the empty, glass walls. Oh no, the Reapers are here, what are we going to do? Yeah, right. And you know, I'd have liked a thank-"
"Joker. Later," Kaidan warned as he shut down the connection.
Shepard was already moving forward, not wanting to waste the precious seconds before the next wave of monsters crested out into the open before the Normandy arrived. He approached Aria warily, watching as the asari casually leaned against the crate she'd been using for cover and brushed off imaginary specks of dirt from her white, half-jacket.
"Aria, the Normandy's ready for pick-up," Shepard said blandly, "We're just waiting on you now."
"Well, it's about damn time," Aria said, grinning ruthlessly as she keyed the EMP countdown.
"Care to explain what that was all about just now?" Shepard asked conversationally.
"You know Shepard," Aria said, not deigning to look up, "If I didn't know you any better, I'd say you were making a wildly inaccurate accusation. But I do know you."
"Oh really?" Shepard shot back, stepping forward and crossing his arms across his chest, eyebrows raised in a questioning manner.
"Of course. Our time taking back Omega during the war, proved to me, we're not that much different, you and I," Aria said as she keyed in the failsafe override, "It would have been a shame to see you turn the other way, but I can tell, you're not too easily influenced, are you?"
"No, you're probably right," Shepard admitted, moving away from Aria and pacing slightly as he waited for the system to initiate the EMP, "But that doesn't really answer my question, does it? What happened just now, Aria," Shepard barked, injecting some of his old commander's voice into the tone.
Aria's eyes flicked up from her omni-tool, gaze narrowed, but her mask shifted back into place as she turned to watch the code upload.
"What does it matter now, Shepard? You've saved your little toy soldier and everything worked out-"
"No thanks to you, I might add."
"Not like you needed my help. Besides, your... friend Jack, needed some help with those Marauders she'd gotten attached to. Funny, maybe they go after the ones with less clothes on."
"And if you'd jeopardize the entire mission because of one deaf ear?"
"Grow the fuck up, Shepard. One little soldier falling down, won't topple an empire. Besides, I'd hardly think you'd miss him. There are plenty more where he came from surely. Don't they cast them out of the same mold in the Alliance?"
"That's not what I meant and you-"
"Warning, emergency override detected. Warning, Omega Self-destruct protocols initiated."
Aria's hands froze over her omni-tool, staring at the blaring warning that blinked repeatedly on the interface.
"Shepard, what the fu-"
She didn't get much further than that. As he paced, seemingly restlessly, Shepard manoeuvred himself behind the notorious crime lord while she was watching the initiation, and slipped a hand past her barrier, placing it just at the base of the head tendrils that swept up behind her head. With a barely perceptible flick of his hand, Shepard initiated a small-scale Shockwave, controlling the detonation so that it imploded just above Aria's neckline. The force of the blast was concentrated and close enough that it snapped Aria's head forward, slamming her right into the crate she was facing. The impact wasn't enough to seriously harm the woman, especially considering the barrier that was still up around her, but the closeness of the blast had knocked her out cold.
"No, Aria," Shepard chided to the still, unconscious form, "Not quite all from the same mold."
"John, what-" came Kaidan's voice.
"Don't worry about it," Shepard said, still looking at Aria's crumpled posture, "She'll be fine. I think. Anyway, the self-destruct warning came up. This just saved us a whole lot of trouble."
Kaidan ran a worrying hand over the back of his head as his gaze shifted between the still asari and Shepard who was standing so casually, arms crossed and looking at Aria on the ground.
"Um, John, I mean, was that really necessary? You could've, you know, maybe talked her down or..."
"Or what Kaidan? And if she didn't see things our way? If she recklessly considered herself before everything else? What then?" Shepard flared, finally looking up to meet Kaidan's gaze as the old anger and frustration welled inside him.
"That's not what I meant and you know it John, I-"
"It doesn't matter now," Shepard said, looking away as the distinct and tell-tale shape of the Normandy grew larger as it approached the docks. Watching the approaching ship as he did, he hadn't been prepared when Kaidan stepped forward and grabbed his shoulders, almost shaking him as he spoke.
"Dammit, John!" Kaidan said firmly, voice even more gruff than usual, "It does matter. All this, everything, it... it isn't the way it's supposed to be. You've always been good at what you did, the best, but now? There's a ruthless side to you John, one that I haven't seen even during the worst times of the war."
Shepard half-heartedly tried to shrug away from the man, knowing full well that his physical enhancements would allow him to break Kaidan's hold easily, but deep down, despite everything, he knew he couldn't do that to Kaidan. Couldn't hurt him again.
Yes... Hurt him... This hurts you, Shepard. Hurt him. Hurt you.
Shepard shook his head violently, trying to chase out the different voices rising as he tried to focus his thoughts, his mind.
"Let's go, Kaidan," Shepard said, still keeping his eyes on the Normandy as it slowed and began it's descent.
Kaidan lightly shoved off, pushing against Shepard in frustration as he refused to acknowledge the man's statement. Shepard turned and brushed an armoured toe against Aria's still form.
"Should probably bring her along," Shepard muttered to no one in particular, "Just to be sure," though he couldn't have said exactly what it was he wanted to be so sure of.
Kaidan watched as Shepard lifted the still unconscious Aria into the Normandy's cargo bay, a riot of emotions and thoughts shooting through him and leaving him bone weary and exhausted. His shoulder twitched in response, almost if to remind him that he'd been injured during the fight, and he mentally reminded himself to visit the med-bay when he found the time. James was carrying Prangley on board and Jack was fussing over the young biotic while Garrus was bringing in the pallet with the Prothean beacon, with the help of Cortez. Since everyone was busy, none had the view that he had as the warehouse offices exploded, taking out most of the remaining buildings there. The sound stilled everyone for a moment, some turning back to look at the cause of the sound.
"EDI," Kaidan spoke into his comm-piece, "What the hell is-"
"It appears that we've made a miscalculation, Major Alenko," came EDI's reply, freezing the rest of his words.
"A miscalculation? What kind of miscalculation?"
"The technical nodes which were responsible for shunting and redirecting much of the energy build-up seems to be either malfunctioning, or are functioning at less than optimum levels. I would suggest haste. It seems that Omega won't be able to withstand the energy surge for as long as we thought."
With a yelled curse, Kaidan ran over to Garrus, ignoring the screaming pain in his shoulder as the barely healed scar tore again as he bunched his muscles up, trying to shove the pallet into the safety of the cargo bay.
"Joker!" Kaidan said into the empty air of the Normandy, knowing full well EDI was listening, "Get us the hell out of here!"
"Yeah, that's a good idea," came the pilot's sarcastic reply, "Oh wait! That's right, the cargo bay doors are freakin' wide open! I'm sure getting burned to death is a much better option than feeling your head explode out in space."
"Kinetic barriers!" Kaidan gasped as he felt fresh blood pour down from his re-opened wounds, "Just do it! EDI can close the doors once we've cleared the landing area."
"Aww, shit," Joker replied distractedly as Kaidan felt the Normandy lurch and shift, a thin, transparent shield popping up around the entrance as the last of them crawled through the opening, "This just takes the cake. Not gonna have you falling out into deep space, had enough commanding officers falling out of airlocks for one lifetime-"
Anything else he said was drowned out as the rest of the warehouses exploded, raining yellow-red flames and debris out across the air, several pieces actually managing to reach the cargo bay doors and ricocheting inside before clattering to stillness onto the floor. Horrible screams tore through the air and the thud of bodies sailing through the holocaust made his gorge rise. Risking a peek over his shoulder, vision already blurring, Kaidan watched as hundreds of Reaper minions poured out, unheeding of the fire and destruction around them as they surged toward the retreating Normandy.
"Now, Joker, now!" Kaidan yelled.
With an envious grace, the ship rose up off the dock moorings, practically turning a one-eighty on the spot as it nosed its way out of the cramped confines of the exploding docks and accelerated out toward the empty freedom of space. The kinetic barriers held, though the ships momentum had them stumbling back toward the lift doors. Despite the veritable vacuum of space, Kaidan felt the tremor as the station behind them collapsed and sent out a wave of silent force, jostling the protective barriers and shields that cloaked the Normandy sending several of them stumbling again. The doors were already halfway shut, everyone cleared away when the Normandy had accelerated away.
Kaidan felt the red heat dribbling down his arm as he leaned against the cool, metal floor of the ship. It really was a beautiful sight, he thought oddly, the sudden white ring of energy pushing them even faster out of the blast radius as the particles and streams of light dissipated quickly in the darkness. As Omega quietly and spectacularly broke into exploding pieces behind them, Kaidan's last thought before blood loss and exhaustion pulled a pale veil over his vision, was how on Earth he'd explain this to Aria and how pissed off she'd be at what they'd just wrought on her precious, broken kingdom.