The Galaxy's Greatest Party

by theseeker64

FINISHED - Commander Shepard, self-proclaimed dirty girl, has a brilliant idea: throw the Galaxy's greatest, sexiest, kinkiest, party of all time. Her guests, though, will not all be willing participants - and that's the fun. Includes Miranda, Jack, Liara, Ashley, Traynor, and more. Rated M for lots of Bondage, plenty of Sexual Content, and pure weirdness. Cover art by 'McBound'

21. Chapter 21

-Shepard-

They dragged her beneath an arched passageway, through a short hall, and into a wide, multiple-tiered, chamber. The ceiling was high and curved, and a long staircase cut a path up to the doors they'd come through. The volus at her sides took hold of her arms just above the elbows and shoved her forward. Shepard stumbled on the third step in and dropped to a knee. A baton whacked her shoulder blade, a volus shouted, and she clambered back to her feet. They'd been hitting her almost constantly since she made her deal; she didn't think they were happy it had cost them a small fortune to secure her. She glared back at the volus and he whacked her again and pointed the way forward. With no other choice, she went.

At the ground level, Shepard was forced to her knees and her cuffs were removed. The volus were quick to lock her wrists into shackles, though, that stretched her arms out wide to her sides, where a chain tethered them to the walls. Another fixed her with a collar. As he worked she glanced over his shoulder and saw that the room resembled a big, deep, bowl, and she was directly in the center of it; the tiered layers and platforms ascending away in every direction. Collared and shackled, the volus sheathed their batons and left her. She watched them go, shifting her weight to alleviate some of the pressure on her knees pressing into the cold, hard, floor.

Once the volus had emptied out of the room, big mechanical arms lifted wide monitors out of the platforms around her. Shepard watched as they swiveled around to loom over her like giant pairs of robotic eyes. The lights dimmed before one, sole, bright one fixed its incandescent beam upon her, and the room stilled. It was quiet enough for her own breath to echo off the high ceiling. She waited, clenching and unclenching her fists to calm her nerves, and kept a wary eye on the room's several entrances.

It wasn't long before the heavy thump-thump-thump of the krogan's footsteps broke the silence. Shepard remained calm, but even she didn't like the sound of the beast's approach. It reminded her of a beating heart that was pumping its last, bitter, blood. He appeared at the top tier of the room; a dark silhouette of flowing robes and a massive skull outlined by the hall's light. He paused, watching her from the shadows, then began the descent towards her.

"Commander Shepard," he growled in his odd tone, "Our time of destiny is almost upon us. Can you feel it? The excitement?" He made it to the ground level, fixed his dark robe around his waist, and stepped before her.

From her place kneeling on the floor, Shepard had to crane her neck back to meet the pale pits of the monster's eyes. They were fixed on her, watching. Shepard sniffed the air and thought the krogan smelled like rotten fish and sweat.

His head cocked to the side. "Human, I asked you a question."

"I don't care," she said, fixing him with a flat look.

The krogan's face scrunched up indignantly. "You-"

"-haven't taken any oaths just yet," Shepard finished for him. "Dont' forget it. I'm not 'yours' until I do. And I won't do that until I know my friends are safe. So you better be treating them real good. For your sake."

The krogan clenched his teeth and hissed. His hand curled into a fist and drove down into her jaw. Shepard's head rocked back, but the cuffs kept her otherwise in place. She shrugged the pain off with a shake of her head and fixed her eyes back on his.

"You'll hold your tongue from now on or I'll cut if off, human," he explained before turning to the back of the room and shouting "Turn them on."

The monitors began coming alive in sequence; first the ones on the lowest tier near them and then cascading back up the higher tiers in a wave of blue light. Each one came alive with a blank screen and blinking white text; the soft, electronic, glow bathing the center of the room in its light. Shepard squinted, watching as they leaned nearer to her.

"My associates, human," the krogan explained upon noticing her confused look. "They want to witness this momentous occasion for our clan. They want to see the mighty human champion as she forfeits her life and freedom to our cause."

The first face appeared on a monitor to Shepard's left and up two levels. She turned to see the slender head of a salarian peering down at her. A scar ran across the skin above and below his left eye and a dark patch was covering the rest. He focused a moment, then smiled. His smile gave way to laughter and he clapped his hands. Another monitor at the front of the room on the ground level blinked off and on, and the ugly face of a batarian popped up. He fixed the four dark pits of his eyes on the center of the screen and licked at his thin lips. Another screen came on to her right at the back and topmost level of the room. The wide outline of another krogan's head filled the monitor. More faces appeared before her; volus and turians, asari and even vorcha. Shepard turned back to look over her shoulder and was greeted with a dozen more heads upon the monitors there. She spotted a quarian near the back, and the massive head of an elcor at ground level. One by one, every last monitor in the room was filled with the eager, excited, eyes of a sea of faces, none of which were human. She didn't expect there to be. This was a movement to enslave humanity, after all.

"Friends!" The krogan greeted, pacing before Shepard with his arms held wide and open. "Welcome to the show! I have a new acquaintance I know you're all dying to meet, so I will not delay any longer. Here she is. Humanity's champion-in-chains herself! Commander Shepard!"

An explosion of chatter and cheers and applause and laughter filled the room as every monitor showed the smiling, pleased, faces of the crowd. The eye-patched salarian clapped his hands in short, excited, strides. An asari to her right went wide-eyed and put a hand to her mouth. A turian with a tuft of yellow feathers tucked into the brim of his shirt cackled dry, delighted, laughter. Shepard kept stone-faced as she looked from screen to screen, meeting each of their eyes in turn.

"Yes! YES!" The krogan roared, beating his chest with a fist. "Here is the human's greatest achievement! Their most celebrated, revered, hero! And where is she? Here: on her knees and in chains before me - a perfect representation of humanity's future!"

The beast's words strummed up another uproar of applause.

He stood for a moment, basking in it, before continuing. "Now to show you all, my dear friends, that I have not simply captured the woman-for to catch a beast is not to tame it-but I have, in fact, broken her, within the hour she will swear herself to me. To us and to our cause. Shepard will abandon her people's narrow, savage, views and undertake the fine and noble words of the volus. She will take their Oath of Servitude and become my property. Then, friends, together we will wield her like the tool that she is and use her to break the will of the rest of her kind. Humanity's reign of greed and brutality in this galaxy nears its finish."

More cheers, more applause, more smiles and laughter.

The krogan moved before her, his dark robe trailing behind him in a pool of black. One, thick, arm came from within the robe holding a portable set of controls. His pale eyes set on hers and the thin lips of his mouth curled into a grin. "Now scream for us, human. Let us bask in your misery."

Shepard glared up at him unwavering. He nodded and pressed a finger to the control panel. The collar around her neck exploded with snapping, biting, electricity. Shepard's back arched, her eyes shut, her teeth clenched. Pain swept through her body in waves of pulsing shock. Her skin felt like it was on fire, her head swam with disorientation and black butterflies, and her breath locked in her chest.

Then it stopped and she crumpled to the floor as much as her chained wrists would allow.

"I told you to scream, human," the krogan repeated. "Don't make my guests wait."

"N..." Shepard groaned. She'd meant to say 'no', but couldn't manage to form the word. Her tongue felt thick and heavy in her mouth and her head was wrought with pain.

"So be it."

The shock came again, the pain flared, her posture stiffened, and her body trembled as the electricity clawed through every inch of it. She could have screamed, hell she wanted to, but she didn't. When it felt like she was, Shepard bit down on her own tongue to stop herself.

The krogan stopped the shock. "You think you're showing strength here, Shepard," he told her. "But you don't realize that you are only displaying humanity's stubborn, obdurate, nature. You are confirming to our many onlookers one of the very reasons why we must put an end to your species. You can hold out another time. Maybe a time after that. But you will scream, Shepard. In time, your entire race will scream."

Shepard was gasping for air to catch her breath, bracing for the next shock. The krogan lifted the controls-

-and the door at the top of the room split open, pouring yellow light within from the hall beyond. Shepard managed to lift her head enough to look up and see Serj waddling quickly down the stairs to the ground floor. The volus hit the floor and broke into a jog. "Master. Master, I'm sorry to interrupt. I need to speak with you."

Shepard knew that tone of voice. The concern in it. The worry. Something had happened. Something, for her, that was good.

"It can wait, Serj," the krogan snapped, and then more quietly, "Don't weaken us before our guests. Whatever it is-"

"Master, it's about the other humans. There's a problem."

The krogan's posture changed instantly. His proud stance drooped forward, his head slumped, and Shepard thought she saw just a bit of his courage waver. "What? I- Come, speak to me over here." He turned in a circle, facing the monitors, and announced in a loud voice, "Friends, I shall return to you in just one moment! Take pleasure in watching humanity's champion on her knees!"

But Shepard was no longer on her knees. She'd fought to her feet, despite her pain and the chains keeping her wrists low and at her sides, and stood before the monitors as Serj led the krogan to the corner of the room, where they spoke in hushed voices. The idea that Miranda or Ashley or someone had done something to put that tone in the volus' voice had filled her with a new fire. They were coming back for her. They were coming to rescue her.

She ignored the pain. She smiled.

"What are you smiling at, human!" The eye-patched face of the salarian to her left scolded. "Wipe that look off your disgusting face!"

"I'm coming for you," she told him with a nod of her head. She turned as much as the chains would allow and took in the sight of all the monitor screened faces watching her. "You hear that!?" She shouted, finding strength in her anger. "I'm coming for all of you."

"Silence!" The krogan growled, but Serj's words were apparently too important for him to ignore. He wrestled his gaze away from her and faced the concerned volus again.

"The reason your 'Master' there is speaking with the volus is because my friends have come for me," Shepard explained. She liked the way those words sounded, regardless if they were true or not - the idea made her smile. "I'm going to be free soon. I just wanted you all to know: I am coming for you all. I'm going to wipe every last member of this disgusting little clan out of existence. Savor your time. You don't have much of it."

She expected them to laugh, or curse her, or berate her, or something. They did not, though. Instead, each of their dozens of faces watched her in silence. She turned her head, meeting their gazes with determination burning in her eyes. She saw fear sweep across them like a cold wind. The batarian at the front of the room shook his head and turned his monitor off. Then the salarian did the same. Then the vorcha. Then the asari. And then every monitor in the room was blinking to a black screen, and Shepard stood alone.

A shrill siren blared into the room.

The krogan growled and drove the heel of his foot into the floor. It left an impact crater bubbled up around his leg. Serj waddled off up the stairs and the krogan stormed over to her. "I'll kill them all for this," he roared in her face, his breath warm and foul. "You hear me, Shepard!? I'll kill every one of your friends for this!"

Shepard shook her head. "No you won't."

He snarled, but when she did not show intimidation, his look softened. "...regardless of what happens, human, you will never go free. I'd die to ensure that."

His fist darted out from within his robe and thundered across her face. Shepard's world went black as she fell forward and into his waiting arms.

-Miranda-

Sparks showered the docking bay floor as Kasumi guided the transport ship through the docking port and brought it to a screeching halt as the metal-on-metal friction grinded away the bottom of the hull, slowing them. The whole transport lurched to its side and pivoted ninety-degrees before coming to a stop with a thud against the docking bay's far wall.

"I thought you said you were a pilot!?" Miranda snapped once her stomach stopped threatening to overturn.

Kasumi climbed out of the pilot's seat and offered a shrug. "I said I could fly, I never said I could fly well," she explained with a grin.

Jack balled her hands into fists and stomped to the rear of the ship. She punched the release controls for the rear hatch and waited impatiently for the ramp to lower, stepping from foot to foot and licking her lips. Miranda moved quickly to her side and took a hold of her elbow. "Just calm down, Jack, alright? Don't go tearing through this place in a rage. We go slow. And we take the krogan together. Even with your biotics, we don't know what kind of a threat he is."

Jack fixed her eyes on her. The Jack she'd known aboard the Normandy S2 would have had something to say, likely something vulgar, or at least some kind of protest, but this new woman who'd taken her place only stared at her for a moment and then nodded her head. "Alright."

Ashley stepped beside them, checking the heat sinks on an M-3 Predator-model pistol. "I'm going after whoever is left in those holding cells we were kept. Those people are... not the most decent beings I've ever encountered, but they have to be saved all the same."

Kasumi sauntered up beside them, adjusting the hood of her stealth suit so it shadowed her face. "And while you're all doing that, I'll be doing what I'm good at."

"Well we know she won't be landing any ships," Jack said dryly.

Kasumi smirked. "No. I'll be stealing." Her cloaking device activated, sheathing her entire body in a bubble of refracted light. "The volus must have records for all the people they've sold. That means if we make it out of this alive, we can trace back the buyers and track down those who've purchased slaves. Then we can hurt them." She laughed.

"And save the the ones already sold," Ashley added.

"I suppose," Kasmui agreed. "If we must."

Miranda nodded. "Alright. Everyone knows what they're doing. We regroup here in twenty minutes, regardless of what's happened, to reassess the situation."

She looked to them each in turn as they nodded. Her eyes fell on Sam, seated near the rear of the transport, her hands folded in her lap as if in prayer. "Sam, you alright?"

Sam looked up, snapping out of her daze, and nodded. "Yes... I... I just don't know what I'm doing during all this."

"You're staying with the ship," Miranda said.

"No," Sam immediately protested. "Don't make me wait, Miranda! Please! Let me help you! I'll do anything I can to save the Commander!"

"Then stay here and watch- guard- the ship," Miranda told her. "Look, you don't have the combat training or experience the rest of us do, Sam. I don't want you to get hurt, and you know Shepard definitely wouldn't want that. Okay?"

Sam's look lingered on her for a moment before she gave a quick nod of her head, though Miranda saw the determined look in her eyes, and knew she was anything but in agreement.

Outside, a siren began blaring into the docking bay.

"We're out of time," Miranda said, stepping to the top of the ramp. "Let's move."

They did. Ashley kept her pistol shouldered as she made her way down the ramp first with Alliance-disciplined steps. The faint outline of Kasumi's cloaked figure followed, tapped her shoulder at the foot of the ramp, and disappeared around a nearby crate. Ashley took one last glance at Miranda, nodded, and moved around the side of the ship and beneath a doorway.

"Twenty minutes!" Miranda shouted; a last reminder before they were both gone. She turned back to Sam. "We'll be back soon, Sam. Just wait here, alright?"

Sam picked at her fingers. She nodded.

"Sam?"

The girl looked up, sighed, and said, "Yes, alright! I'll stay! Just bring her back... the Commander... don't let anything happen to her."

"I won't," Miranda assured her, stepping to the top of the ramp and checking her own pistol's clip.

Jack moved beside her. Miranda looked up and saw she was staring at her. "What is it?"

"Let's... let's all make it out of this okay... alright?" Jack said, her voice quiet. Miranda began to answer, but Jack moved forward, put her arms around her, and squeezed. "I just found you... I'm not ready to lose you."

Miranda smiled; this was certainly a new Jack. "You won't," she said, squeezing back. "Now let's go finish this."

-Liara-

Before the siren had even started blaring, Liara was a nervous wreck. She paced back and forth in Serj's quarters of the ship, her hands tugging and pinching at the fabric of her zip-up, her face scrunched up in trepidation. She would hurry to one end of the room, sit on a stool there, but stand only seconds later and move to the opposite end. Her stomach had settled earlier, but now it was doing loops again, threatening to send her running to the bathroom. She couldn't concentrate. That was the problem. Couldn't concentrate.

Then the sirens started in, and Liara found concentration came easy. She knew what to focus on: her fear. You did this, she thought, pressing her forehead against the wall and closing her eyes. You gave Jack those amps. You unleashed her on this ship. On the volus. On your friends.

"No!" Liara shouted, pounding her fist into the wall. "Not my friends. They drugged me... that's what she said. That's what's true!"

All against you, she realized with sudden, terrified, clarity. All against you. You think Jack isn't going to hurt you for what you did?

"N-No... no, I was... made mistake..." Liara pleaded.

She was in the middle of that heated argument with herself when the doors slid back and Serj stomped into the room. Liara's eye landed on him. She shrieked and collapsed to the floor, her arms flailing up over her head to protect herself.

"What are you doing?" Serj demanded, hovering over her.

He doesn't know, Liara told herself. He doesn't know what you did. She swallowed, lowered her hands, and stared up at him. "S-Siren blaring... got me scared. What's happening?'

"Those disgusting humans overtook the transport. They've breached the ship," Serj explained, the anger and annoyance crackling through his breather.

If you smile, he'll know. If you smile, he'll know. If you smile, he'll know. She didn't smile. "That's terrible! What do we do!? They're going to hurt me, Serj! They hate me!"

The pale, dead, rims of Serj's mask's eyes peered down at her. Liara stared back, feeling her stomach slush about in sickening waves. He wasn't speaking, or moving, or even breathing. He was just looking at her. Testing her. Liara forced a weak smile. "S-Serj? I asked what are we going to-"

"Silence," he commanded and lowered to his knee so they were at eye level with one another. "You're acting very oddly, Liara. You don't have anything to do with this do you?"

"N-No!" Liara pleaded. If you smile, he'll know. "Serj, I've been in here like you told me! I'm being good! I wouldn't-"

He interject by unsheathing a blade at his ankle and thrusting it up at her neck. Liara screamed, and his other hand clamped down over her mouth and nose. "After all I've done for you. You betray me?"

His gloved hand was wide and thick, and it was cutting off her air supply. She weakly moaned into it and shook her head, gasping for air. The sharp edge of the blade pressed against the soft flesh of her throat. She wailed a muffled cry into his hand and closed her eyes. "You disappoint me, Liara." He said and went quiet. For one, terrified, moment, she thought he was going to end her. Then his hand came away and he stood. "We'll discuss this later. After I've dealt with your friends."

Liara sucked in air and rubbed at her throat. "Serj, I swear-"

But by then, he was already walking out the door.

-Jack-

She pressed her back against the wall and watched as Miranda moved, fast and low, to the opposite wall. They exchanged a nod, and Jack poked her head around the edge. Before her was a long, empty, hallway; red light pulsed in lengthy intervals as the siren continued blaring. She looked to Miranda, who was squinting, surveying the hall more closely. Finally, apparently satisfied, she looked to Jack and pointed forward.

Jack ignited her element zero with the aid of the amplification devices in her ears, and her hands came alive with the blue glow of biotic influence. Miranda moved first, her pistol shouldered and ready, around the corner and Jack was quick to follow. They moved in calculated, but hasty, strides. When they reached the end of one hall, they performed the same surveying tactics before moving on.

It was near the end of one of these halls that the first shot was fired.

Jack reached the end and was ready to round the corner. She looked back and saw Miranda a few feet back. And a few feet back from her, the volus. They must have watched them on surveillance and waited in ambush to attack from the rear. There were five or six of them, all funneling out of doorways and archways that had lined the hall. They carried sub-machine guns in their gloved hands, and the one nearest to Miranda shouldered it and took aim.

"Miranda!" Jack shouted.

Miranda hit the floor without bothering to turn back, and the shot the volus had fired burned a searing hole into the wall just above her head.

Jack roared a war-cry, blazed her biotics further, harder, and thrust her joined hands forward. Blue, jagged, lines of cascading biotic waves thundered down the haul in a shockwave. The first volus screamed, but the wave had caught him before he could even turn. It smacked into him, sending him flying up towards the ceiling. His body crashed against it, the gun falling from his hands, and he dropped back to the floor. The two volus directly behind him had a bit more time to react, but not enough. They were turned around when the wave caught them and violently thrust them up and forward; their little legs kicking and twisting as they sailed through the air. One crashed to the floor, the other landed atop the fourth volus. The last little alien at the rear of the squadron had made it back down the hall and beside the long, rectangular, window that peered into the med-bay. The shockwave had lost most of its force by the time it reached him, but there was enough thrust left to clip his heel, sending him into the air. His screams were cut short when his chubby body burst through the med-bay window glass with a shattering crash.

Jack stood before the carnage, watching; the glow of her hands dimming as she settled down.

Miranda was back on her feet, surveying the damage herself. She turned back to Jack with a smile. "That feel good?"

Jack returned the smile. "Fan-fucking-tastic."

-Ashley-

The elevator came to a halt at the bottom level of the volus ship. Ashley stepped outside, keeping her pistol at the ready, and rushed down the adjacent hall, doing her best to remember the path they'd taken when she was led out of the holding cells. The ship's interior was cluttered and winding and confusing, much like the volus themselves, and with every turn, Ashley began to fear it had been a wrong turn.

Voices, distorted through breathing masks, made her freeze in her tracks. They were coming from behind her. She darted to the closest doorway and it slid back, leading her into a bathroom. She pressed into the wall and held her breath, hoping they hadn't seen her. The voices neared, neared, neared, and passed. She let the breath out.

The doors slid away as she cautiously approached them and poked her head out. She saw the short figures of two volus trailing away down the hall, their backs turned to her. Ashley shouldered the pistol and, with no other lead, followed.

The volus made their way through the ship, arguing about something-what exactly, Ashley was too far behind to make out-and finally led her right to the sealed and locked door of the holding cell. Ash dropped to a knee and stayed close to the wall as she watched them take up guard at either end of the door. She muttered a curse, squeezing the pistol tighter in her fist. She could round the corner and open fire on them before they even know what hit them... but she didn't want to. To kill these... these creatures would lower her to their level. And she had the Alliance to think about. This whole thing was messy enough without having to explain why she fired on unarmed volus.

Of course, they didn't know that, and so she took a breath, composed herself, and rounded the corner with the pistol held high.

"Don't move!" She shouted at them halfway down the hall, just as one had turned to see her approach.

The two volus froze, their hands lingering at their hips. Ashley slowly closed the gap and saw that, though they had no guns, they had those electric batons strapped at their hips. "It's the Alliance woman," one of them said.

"Yes," the other agreed.

Ashley saw some of the stiffness, the fear, leave their postures. "Don't you move! I will shoot!"

Yet still, she saw his hand creeping towards the baton. Ashley grit her teeth and closed in on them quicker. "Keep your hands away from-"

A third volus burst through a doorway on her left and drove his shoulder into her side. Ashley yelped and twisted her body to brace for the impact, but was too slow. She was thrust into the far wall, the side of her head whacking against it, and dropped to her knees. She lifted the gun and a baton whacked her hand immediately. She screamed and it dropped to the floor, skidding away. All three of the volus swarmed her, then. They were small yet deceptively strong, and when their hands wrapped around her limbs, she found it near impossibly to pull away.

"What do we do with her?"

"Master has orders to kill them all on sight."

Ashley jerked at her restrained arms and legs. "NO! Get off me!"

"So be it," one said, and Ashley heard the sickening sound of a blade coming unsheathed. Her eyes widened as the volus brought it into view and drove it down at her throat.

Pop - pop - pop.

The sound of gunfire filled the hall, and a moment later, all three volus dropped to the floor.

Ashley turned, wide-eyed and panting, back over her shoulder. Her gun was floating in the air. "What the-"

Then Kasumi killed the cloaking device and the outline of her figure solidified. "You're welcome," the thief said with a smirk and tossed her the pistol.

Ashley fumbled with it before catching it. She clambered to her feet and stared down at the fallen volus. "You shot them."

"I killed them, yes," Kasumi corrected, stepping over the volus. "They're quite twisted little things, no?"

Ashley swallowed. "I guess... I wish there had been another way." She ran a hand through her hair before fixing Kasumi with a puzzled look. "I thought you were going to try and steal the information on those slavers that-"

Kasumi held up a thumb-sized memory drive and her painted lips lifted into a smile. "I told you I was good."

Ashley shook her head. "We've only been here for ten minutes!"

Kasumi shrugged. "I'm really good."

One of the volus had the keys to the holding cell clipped to his waist. Ashley unhooked it, stood, and opened the cell door.

There was less than ten of them left within; a few humans, an asari, and a salarian. When she walked in and stood before them, their wide and panicky eyes landed on her and hope filled their faces.

"Are you here to rescue us?"

"The sirens... why are the sirens on like that?"

"Are we going to die?"

"Help us!"

"I don't want to die!"

Ashley put her hands up. "Everyone calm down. I'm getting you all out of here," she told them, removed the key to their shackles from the volus' ring, and tossed it to Kasumi. Kasumi caught it, nodded, and set about freeing them. "When we leave this room, you're going to do exactly as I say if you want to stay alive. Keep close together. Stay quiet."

"What's happening out there!?" A blonde man pleaded.

"I'm sure you all have questions," Ashley answered. "But please save them until we're all back at the transport and-"

The whole ship trembled, lurched sideways, and grumbled; like the hungry stomach of a massive beast.

The prisoner's screamed. Ashley caught her footing, steadied herself, and met Kasumi's confused, apprehensive, look. She swallowed.

Whatever had just happened, she knew their time to escape had drastically decreased.

-Shepard-

She had regained consciousness just in time to see the floor coming rushing up at her. Shepard braced for impact, but it wasn't quick enough. Her shoulder slammed the ground hard and she felt it twist at an odd angle. Her head threw back and her mouth opened to scream, but then something thundered into her stomach, robbing her of her breath and choking off any sound she'd intended to make. She squinted through the dim vision of her eyes up at the krogan. He'd kicked her in the stomach and was now turning back to a large wall of monitors and controls.

Shepard caught her wind and coughed. Her wrists were cuffed behind her back, her ankles too, and the floor was cold and hard beneath the bare, exposed, skin of her body. "What... what are you doing?"

"Silence, human," the krogan demanded, not turning from his monitors.

Shepard shook her head to try and focus her eyesight. She craned her neck forward and tried making out what he was looking at. It took a moment, but the monitors eventually came into focus. On them, she saw volus, lots of volus, lying about in halls and chambers and rooms. Just lying about... defeated.

Shepard's smile was so wide, it hurt her swollen jaw. "You're losing, krogan. My friends are more capable than you give them credit for."

"Battles are not wars, human," the krogan grumbled in a calm manner. "We have lost today. But we will soldier forward." The white pits of his eyes turned on her. "And I still have you."

She opened her mouth to insult him, but his hand shot down and wrapped her throat. He lifted her with one, mighty, arm, and slung her over his shoulder.

"Destruction protocol activated," the feminine voice of the ship's A.I. spoke from the ceiling's comm system. "Please confirm."

Shepard frowned, trying to twist free of the beast's arm and shoulder. "What are you doing?"

The krogan did not answer. Instead, he leaned forward, and Shepard heard him slide something aside on the control panel and press down on a few buttons.

"Confirmation acquired. Please leave the ship within fifteen minutes to ensure your saftey. Thank you. Goodbye."

The entire ship rumbled then lurched to its side so violently, even the krogan temporarily lost his footing. When he steadied again, he readjusted Shepard's weight on his shoulder and headed for the room's doorway. "Our technology will never fall to the hands of your people. And if the Gods of fortune are smiling upon us today, your 'friends' just might lose their pathetic little lives in this sinking ship."

"You're destroying your own ship!?" Shepard snapped; her mind racing with the danger her friends were in if that was true. "Hey! Answer me!"

The krogan ignored her, punched the release on the room's door, and hauled her off into the hallway beyond; her stomach bouncing off his hard, rugged, shoulder as he broke into a sprint. He carried her down the hall, around a bend, and into an elevator. It moved them a few floor lower before emptying them out into another hall. Halfway through it, Shepard heard the familiar voice of the head volus, Serj, behind her.

"Master! The destruction protocol has been activated!" He wailed. Shepard had never heard much emotion in his voice, but now it was dripping with fear. "One of them must have found out the-"

"It was me, Serj," the krogan interrupted, slowing to a stop. Shepard twisted her head around and saw Serj standing before him, his head cocked to the side. "We've lost, my friend."

"No! I can stop them! Master... what have you done..."

The ship shook again, and the faint sound of an explosion could be heard rumbling from deep within the thing's bowels. A new siren joined the old one, creating an unpleasant, wobbling, pitch that drowned out all other noise.

"They've already disposed of almost every other volus," the krogan explained, raising his voice to compete with the alarms. "This ship was under-manned and unprepared for such an attack. It's lost, Serj. I'd rather see it in the bottom of this planet's ocean than in the hands of our foes. Of the humans."

"What do we do now then, Master!? We don't have much time!"

Another explosion roared from below, as if to emphasize his point.

"I'm taking Shepard to the escape pods. I'll get her to my ship on the planet's surface and bring her safely to our base on Irune. From there... I will find a use for her, yet. We will rise again, friend."

"What of me, Master? What am I to do?"

Shepard's body shifted forward as the krogan leaned down. She turned back to see his hand was on Serj's shoulder. "This is where we part ways, old friend. I leave it to you to stop the rest of them from escaping. They must die."

Serj stared at him only for a moment. Then his posture stiffened, his hand moved to the brow of his helmet, and he nodded. "Yes, Master. They will die. I... I will meet you in the next life. Goodbye... my Master."

The krogan nodded, clapped him on the shoulder, and returned to his feet.

"No!" Shepard screamed at the volus as the krogan rushed past him. "God damn you, Serj! NO!"

But Serj had already went running off himself.

The ship shook again, but this time the tremor did not stop for almost ten full seconds. The lights flickered on and off twice before dying completely. A moment later, the red emergency lights flooded the halls with their soft, eery, glow. Shepard struggled, helplessly in her cuffs, atop the krogan's shoulder, but he simply barreled onwards.

They finally reached a small room at the very end of the longest hall. The krogan dumped her on the floor, her injured shoulder colliding for a second time and screaming at her with burning, intense, pain. She winced, clamping her teeth together and squeezing her eyes shut until it eased. When she opened them again, she saw the krogan quickly scattering an assortment of items out of the interior of a small, bubble-shaped, compartment at the back of the room that must have been the escape pod's entrance. He shifted one, large, crate aside and crawled in; the large, hulking, figure of his robed body disappearing around the edge. She heard the pod power up and a green light appeared over its top. Then-

-a hand clamped down over her mouth.

Shepard turned her head towards the shadows, where a dark figure had reached out to silence her. "Shhh," it hushed and removed its hand. The figure leaned forward, the red light pulsing off her smiling face. "I found you, Commander," Sam whispered, tears swelling in the corners of her eyes. "I knew I'd find you."

"Sam!?" Shepard whispered, incredulous. As incredible as the sight of Sam's face was, she knew she couldn't dwell on her happiness. She had to push past it - for both their sakes. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"We're here to rescue you, Commander!" Sam explained. "They told me to wait in the ship, but... I couldn't do it. I had to come find you. I heard the krogan talking. I followed."

"Sam, listen to me: he's right inside that pod with the light over it. There's no time to save me. The ship is going down. You have to get off of it. Get Miranda and the rest of them and get the hell off of this ship!"

Sam's face scrunched up. "No, Commander! I won't leave you!"

Inside the pod, the krogan grumbled and punched something. The small room within sounded a series of bleeps and then the green light over its door began blinking.

Another explosion rocked the floor beneath them.

"Please, Sam. Please," Shepard begged. "If he sees you, he'll kill you. Run! Run now!"

As if he'd heard her, the sound of the krogan climbing out of the pod filled the room. Sam stared towards the noise in horror, shook her head clear, and shifted around behind Shepard's head. Her hands hooked beneath Shepard's arm and then she was dragging her backwards. Shepard stared at the pod door, her breath caught in her chest, waiting for the krogan to appear, but then the view disappeared behind the large, dark, figure of a crate.

Sam collapsed beside her, took her head in her lap, and began stroking her hair. Shepard could feel the girl trembling; could hear her quietly sobbing.

"Shhhh," Shepard hushed her.

The krogan's heavy footsteps thudded onto the room's floor. "What!?" He growled from behind the box. "Shepard? SHEPARD!?"

There was a dreadful moment of silence, only the alarms outside speaking into it, and Shepard imagined the monster tossing the crate aside, grabbing Sam by the neck, and twisting.

The crate moved, but no monster came for them.

"ARRGH!" The krogan roared and a thud slammed the floor, shaking the entire room almost as much as the explosions had earlier. "SHEPAAARD!" He bellowed, and the sound of his heavy steps thundered right past them and out to the hall beyond.

"He's gone!" Sam whispered into her ear.

Shepard swallowed, cold sweat dripping down her arms. "For now. Sam, you have to be gone by the time he gets back. He's kill you. Do you understand that?"

"Not without you," Sam said stubbornly.

Shepard sighed. "Alright, check the pod for the release for my cuffs. And, Sam, be quick."

Sam nodded, gently removed Shepard's head from her lap, and scurried off around the crate and into the escape pod. Shepard took a breath to steady herself and kept a vigilant eye on the doorway the krogan had rushed out of, praying Sam had enough time to find the key and get out of there before he got back.

Shepard didn't want to think of what he'd do to the girl if he caught her.

-Miranda-

The lights had dyed after a few tremors shook the ship beneath their feet and had been replaced with pulsing, red, cones. Miranda wasn't sure if that was in their favor or against it, but it didn't matter - she knew they no longer had the time to dwell on such things; she believed someone had activated a self-destruct sequence.

Jack moved beside her in the hall, her blue and glowing hands now beacons in the dark, and pressed against the wall. "No one's in the 'throne' room. Now what?"

Miranda put a hand to her head, thinking. None of this was good. They hadn't found a single sign of Shepard, and their time had now been cut in half. "What else is there to do? We just have to keep looking."

"Miranda..." Jack began, lowering her eyes and sighing. "If we don't find Shepard soon and this ship is going down..."

"I know," Miranda told her, not making her say the words. "If it comes down to it... we'll leave. But there's still time. I know there is. We can find her."

Jack lifted her eyes back to Miranda's and held them. After a moment, she nodded. "If you believe, I believe it. Lead on."

Miranda reached out, gave her hand a squeeze in thanks, and turned on her heel to rush back down the hall the way they'd come from, Jack following closely behind. She could hear explosions rumbling through the hull of the ship, each one a reminder that they were on the clock and time was against them. They passed a med-bay, checked in quickly, found nothing, continued on. Further down the hall, a doorway opened into a mess hall. After a glance inside, finding it empty as well, they hurried on once more. Another room around a bend - empty. Another further down - empty.

They came upon a room at the very end of the hall that resembled a giant, jagged, bowl. The door spilled them out onto the top level of it, and looking down the tiered levels, Miranda saw dozens of monitors hovering about, jutting up on steel, flexible, stems. At the ground level, a circular and bare platform was still aglow with, apparently, the last functioning light aboard the ship. Otherwise, it was empty.

Miranda turned, gave Jack a disappointed shake of her head, and began to exit.

"SHEPAAARD!" A deep, furious growl sounded nearby.

Miranda's eyes fell on Jack's and they shared a confused and frightened look.

"SHEPARD!" It came again, closer.

"Get down!" Miranda whispered, realizing it was coming right into the room. She grabbed Jack's shoulder and pulled her down beneath the top tier's barrier.

They both lifted their heads enough to look into the room and saw-

-the krogan kicked the door on the ground level so hard, it folded in half and went skidding across the floor, trailing a line of sparks. His massive, dark, figure passed beneath the red emergency lights and into the spotlight at the room's center. His pale eyes scanned the room, found nothing he was looking for, and his fist drove into the floor as he bellowed a furious scream.

"I'm flanking him," Jack whispered. "We'll get him surrounded. Take him down."

Miranda considered it, nodded, and then Jack was stealthily creeping around the circular barrier to get to the opposite side of the room. Miranda swallowed, licking her lips as she peeked back down into the room. The krogan had pulled his fist out of the indentation he'd left in the floor and was gripping the sides of his head. He stomped his foot again, turned, and headed for the exit.

"Stop," Miranda shouted, standing.

The krogan's head snapped in her direction and he growled a primitive, guttural, roar. "Shepard!?" He called and began rushing towards her.

Miranda lifted the pistol and fired a shot into his shoulder.

The krogan took it, the force of the slug jerking his body back, and stopped. He looked at the wound, snorted, and brought his white eyes back to her. "No... not Shepard."

The gun had barely left a scratch in the beast's armor-like skin. A thin line of blood trickled down his chest, but not much else. Miranda tucked the pistol into her waistband and stepped further into the emergency light so he could get a look at her. "Where is she?"

The krogan snarled, cocked his head, and stared up at her. "You think I'd be calling her name if I knew where the human was!? Fool. I have no time for this." He turned to the exit-

-and Jack's glowing hands and arms lifted over the top tier barrier above it. Miranda could see the angry scowl on her face in the blue light she was casting. Jack slid over the barrier and down to the next tier, keeping a cautious eye on the krogan. Miranda climbed over the barrier and dropped down to the same level, tightening the noose on the krogan's postion.

He snarled again, looked from her, to Jack, and back to her. "Very clever, humans. Yet, you've only delayed my exit. And ended your own lives."

Without another moment's hesitation, his hand darted out, wrapped around the stem of a nearby monitor, and ripped it from its base. He chucked it furiously up at Jack, who rolled aside just as the screen tore into the barrier behind her and exploded in a shower of cables and glass and metal. Miranda looked from Jack back to the ground level and saw the krogan had simply used the screen as a distraction - he was leaping tier after tier up directly at her.

Miranda turned to climb back to the top level, got one leg up, and then felt her ankle wrapped in the krogan's fist. He moved unnaturally fast for someone so large. She turned to kick at him, but he dodged her foot and ripped her leg back down to the lower tier. She crashed to the floor and he swung her like a club into a nearby monitor. She got her hands up just in time to shield her face as her body tore through the screen's base and went tumbling down to the next lower tier, showered in cables and sparks.

He was there, hovering over her, in an instant. She ignored the pain, yanked the pistol from her belt, and unloaded the entire clip into his body; a loud series of pops filling the room. He'd gotten his shoulder up and in the way, absorbing bullet after bullet in the thick, hard, skin there.

The heat sink hissed as she ran out of coolant and Miranda tossed the useless pistol aside. Behind her, she heard Jack scream. A shockwave began barreling across the room, destroying every monitor in its path in a destructive, explosive, display of flying cables and shattering glass. The shockwave barreled directly into the krogan. Miranda watched in horror as the attack that had single-handedly wiped out half-a-dozen volus collided with the beast's body and simply rocked him back two steps. He kept on his feet, shook the blow off, and snarled again.

He charged her.

-Ashley-

By the time they'd reached it, the docking bay was falling apart. The trail of naked prisoners behind her were screaming and crying with every explosion that trembled beneath their feet. The lights had started flickering, and then had simply died out completely. When they'd reached the docking bay, Ashley found the sight of the faint, morning, light outside the ports a welcome sight. When they reached the transport and found the interior empty, her sense of dread returned immediatley.

"Sam's gone," Ashley said, putting a hand to her forehead. "Jesus... Miranda and Jack never came back... Shepard... no one's here, Kasumi!"

The thief stepped up beside her as the prisoners funneled into the ship around them. "It appears not."

"Well what the hell do we do!?" Ashley snapped. This was wrong. Everything about this was wrong. She felt tears coming on, forced them back, looked out to the docking bay, saw nothing.

The ship took a sudden, dipping, shift and the entire transport slid up against the rear wall, the sound of metal screeching against metal below.

"Get us the hell out of here!" A dark-haired woman wailed, clutching desperately to one of the transport's bucket seats.

"What are you waiting for?" The salarian pleaded. "This whole thing's going down!"

"We're not leaving without our friends!" Ashley protested.

"Ashley..." Kasumi said, laying a hand on her arm. "If we wait any longer, we all die."

Ashley's brow lifted incredulously. "What!? We can't leave them behind! They'll be stranded!"

"No, look," Kasumi said, sticking her memory drive into the transports control panel. "I stole a schematic of the ship's layout." A three dimensional hologram projected above a viewport. "See here? These are three escape pods on the lowest level of the ship. Each one can hold three passengers. That means nine people can still get off this ship: more than enough for all of them."

Ashley ran a hand through her hair, studying the schematic. "I don't know, Kasumi... this doesn't feel right."

"Oh, just do it! Go!" A blonde man shouted as another explosion shook the transport.

"Be quiet," Kasumi said, eyeing him with a baleful glance.

"Five more minutes," Ashley pleaded.

"We don't have it."

"Three more!"

Kasumi shook her head.

Ashley sighed, took one last glance outside, saw nothing, and nodded. "Alright... get us out of here then. God, please let them get to those escape pods."

"Please."

-Jack-

The krogan had Miranda by the neck. He'd rushed her, taken hold of her throat, and dangled her out before him, her legs kicking weakly at his abdomen. Jack leapt the barriers of several tiers, descending to the center of the room, hit the ground running, and clambered up the opposite side to reach him.

"Get the fuck off her!" She screamed, focused her energy into her right hand, and threw a biotic pull at the krogan's feet. She felt it leash around his ankle and yanked.

The beast growled and his legs came out from under him, wrapped in her biotic influence. Miranda dropped to the tier below his and crashed into a monitor, gasping for air. Seeing her in pain flared up a warm surge of fury in Jack's chest. She screamed again, pulled her arms behind her, and thrust them forward. Another shockwave tore through the short gap between the krogan and herself, slamming the monster as he was climbing back to his feet. The impact knocked him to a knee, but he remained standing. Jack focused, breathed, and threw another shockwave. Then another. And another.

And another.

They bore down on the krogan in thundering, violent, waves, driving him further and further back into the wall.

The last one to hit him was the one that finally flung him into the air. His monstrous body flew back and crashed into the wall, leaving a deep, rippling, scar of destruction against it as he collapsed to the ground.

Jack was thankful for that; she had collapsed herself. Biotic powers needed a cooldown time, or they zapped the body of too much energy. She could barely lift an arm.

Miranda was beside her immediately. "Jack! Are you okay?"

"Yeah... yeah, I... I just need a second," Jack explained. "I got him. I think I... I got him."

The krogan's roar confirmed that she had, in fact, not gotten him.

"Shit," Jack cursed.

Miranda stood to face the beast, alone.

Jack crawled weakly to her feet and leaned against a fallen monitor stem. "What are you doing?"

"Leading him away from you," Miranda told her, hopping down to a lower tier. "Get your energy back."

Jack watched, helplessly, as Miranda made her way to the ground level, the krogan barreling through barriers and screens in his path as he gave chase. Jack stumbled forward to lean over the barrier and rested her head on her arm, recovering.

Miranda raised her fists as the krogan approached. He hit the ground level and tried spearing her. She side-stepped, but his arm lashed out and ripped at her stomach. A shred of her shirt came away with a trickle of blood, and Miranda stepped back, wincing and holding her wound. The krogan came to a halt, turned, and rushed again. This time, she met his approach by leaning back and driving the heel of her boot up and into his abdomen. The krogan absorbed the blow, seemingly unaffected, and planted his skull into her chest. She tumbled back and collapsed into the ground-level's barrier with a yelp. The krogan stepped in for the kiling blow-

-and Jack had just enough energy to use a biotic pull on his arm. His left side twisted awkwardly, his foot took a step back, and Miranda used the opportunity to get back on her feet and send a flurry of kicks into his chest and stomach. The pull's affect wore off and he moved forward to intercept her attack-

-but Jack had enough strength to use another pull. He roared his agitation as the blue glow of her influence wrapped his shoulder again and caused him to jerk backwards. Miranda sent kicks into his abdomen again, this time adding fists and elbows. She stepped into his body and drove her elbow across his temple. Jack felt enough energy to pull again, and Miranda continued beating on the krogan. Jack pulled again, Miranda continued her assault.

Finally, with a roar of fury, the krogan dropped the the floor, and Miranda mounted him, driving her knees into his forehead in a series of brutal blows.

Jack leaned against the barrier catching her breath and watching as the krogan had been beaten to the point he could no longer defend himself. And just when she was ready to think they'd won, the head volus, Serj, came rushing into the room. Jack frowned when she saw him lifting his hands. Her mouth fell agape: they were glowing blue.

Miranda went flying across the room as a biotic push smashed into her body. She sailed all the way to the opposite wall at the top-tier and dropped to the floor. Jack cursed and kept low as she rushed around in the shadows to meet her.

"Kill them, Serj, my friend. We're out of time. I need to find Shepard," she heard the krogan saying from below.

"Oh, yes, Master. They will die."

Miranda was lying on the floor, her face wrought in pain, her arm hugging her waist. Blood trickled from her nose. Jack dropped to her knees beside her and brushed her hair aside. "Are you okay?"

Miranda winced, but nodded.

"The volus is a biotic. Serj. He's a god-damned biotic," Jack explained. Her eyes scanned Miranda's face in a panic. "And I don't have any energy left to compete with him."

"We... have to... stop him," Miranda croaked, trying to stand.

"Oh, humans," the volus' voice drifted from the bottom of the room. "Come out and play."

A loud and mechanical thunk sounded. The top half of the walls circling the room shifted and began dropping away. Behind them, glass windows poured pale, morning, light into the darkness of the chamber that made Jack's eyes squint in adjustment. The entire room brightened.

"Much better. Now I can find you."

"Jack! Look out!" Miranda wailed.

Jack turned-

-and the tight grip of a biotic pull lassoed her body. She was yanked backwards and off her feet, sailed the length of the room, and collapsed back to the ground level at the volus' feet. Pain gripped every inch of her body as she closed her eyes and clamped her teeth together.

"There you are," Serj said, his blue hands hovering over her body. "All used up, are you? Excuse me, then, while I kill your friend." He turned his attention to Miranda, flared his biotics, and threw a push at her. Jack lifted her head just in time to see her body slam up and into the glass window at the top of the room. Jagged cracks webbed away from the impact, but the glass held together.

"STOP!" Jack screamed, trying to fight to her feet. Her whole body seemed to weigh a thousand pounds.

He pushed again. Miranda cried out in pain as she slammed the window once more. The cracks thickened, but the glass held.

"STOP!" Jack pleaded, reaching a hand for his arm.

Serj tugged it away, unsheathed his baton, and drove it across her temple with a fierce backhand swing.

Blackness took her.

-Shepard-

Sam returned to her, thankfully, before the krogan did.

"I think I found it," Sam whispered when she returned from the escape pod, dropping to her knees beside Shepard and helping her turn to her side so she could get a hold of the cuffs. After a moment, Sam quiet voice came over her shoulder, "Oh no..."

"You can't get them off..." Shepard said, her hope draining.

"It's not for the handcuffs..." Sam said. "It must be for the collar." She held the slim control panel up and slid a finger across it. Shepard instantly felt the tight grip of her collar ease, and then Sam was pulling it from her throat. "The right one for the cuffs has to be in there, Commander! I'll find it! I swear! Just-"

"No, Sam," Shepard interrupted. "Time's up. Leave me. The krogan will be back any moment."

"I won't!"

"You have to!" Shepard shouted at her. Sam flinched. "I'm not asking you, Samantha, I'm telling you. I'm not going to watch that krogan kill you. Not today. Not ever. You have to go and get Miranda and the rest and get them out of here. I can't go with you. I'm... I'm sorry about that, but I can't. Not like this. The krogan is taking me, Sam. Where - I don't know, but you can always find me. But that's if, and only if, you're alive to do it! Do you understand me!?"

"Y-Yes, Comander..." Sam answered, swiping tears from her eyes.

Shepard looked at her with sympathy. "I... I should have treated you better, Sam. Paid you more attention. You were the only person who really ever cared about me. I love you, Sam. I really do. But you have to go now. So get up. And go."

Sam's lip quivered as she stared at Shepard, tears rolling down her cheeks.

"Go!" Shepard shouted, fighting to hold back tears herself.

Sam kissed her forehead, stood, and stepped to the hallway.

Then she shrieked.

"No..." Shepard whispered, shaking her head. "No..."

The krogan's footsteps stormed forward. Sam put her hands up submissively and took a step backwards on trembling legs. The krogan entered the room, look from her down to Shepard, and back. His arm swept out from within his robe, laying a backhand across Sam's cheek so hard that she tumbled into the far wall.

"NO!" Shepard screamed. "She didn't do anything! Leave her alone! It's me you want - and I'm right here! So take me you fucking krogan bastard! Take me and let's go before this whole ship goes down with you in it!"

The krogan regarded her with a flat look, glanced at Sam's fallen figure, and turned back to her. "She'll die with this ship, anyway," he said, reached down, and grabbed Shepard's arm. He yanked her up and over his shoulder once more before carrying her into the escape pod and tossing her to its floor. It was a small, cramped, thing with a single viewport. The krogan climbed in behind her, punched the hatch seal, and the door slammed shut. After a few seconds at the controls, Shepard heard the steady thrummmm of the pod's little engine start up. Some metal lever released and the pod was thrust forward through a thin tube.

Shepard watched out the viewport as morning's first light filled the interior. She saw the massive, hulking, shape of the volus ship floating in the sky. All along its hull, fires burned; flames licking the sides of the ship and spitting black smoke into the morning air. Shepard wondered how much time it had to sustain itself in the sky before it came down.

And hoped there was enough for her friends to get away.

-Liara-

"S-S-Serj?" She called out, stepping into the dark hall outside his quarters. The ship's interior had gone black, only the red and pulsing lights of the emergency cones lit the path. Twin sirens wailed into every inch of the darkness. Liara wrapped her hands around her upper arms and hugged herself tightly. "Serj? A-Anyone? Hello? I'm afraid!" She cried out, taking a wobbly step into the hall. Another one of the explosions she'd been hearing rumbled beneath her feet. When they'd started, she promised herself she wouldn't leave the room: that if she stayed put like a good slave, nothing bad could befall her. Then the lights had died and she realized staying put wasn't an option. She was too scared not to move.

"Please..." she whispered, stepping down the hall. "Please someone help me..." The whole ship tilted sideways, and she stumbled up against the wall. She waited till it passed, running her hands up and down her arms and biting at her lip. Finally, the ship leveled, and she continued on.

They're all dead, she thought as she came upon another dark and deserted hall. They're all dead and you're responsible.

"No!" She pleaded. "I didn't do this!"

Yes you did. You did all of this. You. You had to. They were all against you. All against Liara.

"All against me," she whispered, her eye twitching.

The red emergency light pulsed and a massive dark shadow crept up the wall beside her. Liara screamed, tripped over her own feet trying to run away, and tumbled to the floor. She landed with her hands held high and defensive above her, peeking through the cracks of her fingers at the shadow monster. It was gone, only the blocky shadow of a nearby terminal remained.

"Against me... shadows are... against me too..." Liara whispered, climbing back to her feet.

She eventually came to small, oval-shaped, room at the end of a very long hall. Within were two, emptied, escape pods, and a third that was still docked and ready to go. She considered climbing in, but was too afraid to leave the ship, and turned back to retrace her steps.

She continued on like that, making her way slowly and cautiously though the dark halls as the sirens wailed around her and explosion after explosion trembled underfoot, until finally she heard noise.

Her heart raced. "Not dead," she said. "Alive? Some is alive? Hello? Hello!?" She broke into a jog, though her legs still felt like rubber beneath her and she nearly fell down twice. The sound grew closer, and she followed it down another, shorter, hall. "Serj, is that you? I'm frightened, please come out."

She followed the crashing sound through an arched passageway and saw light at the end of it. "Oh!" She cried out joyously and hurried towards it.

The chamber beyond was filled with glorious, wonderful, daylight! She put her hands to her chest and smiled. "Oh thank goodness." She saw Serj standing a few feet away in the center of the room. The tattooed figure of Jack's body was lying beside him, unconscious.

Liara's smile faded fast. "Serj? What's going on?"

It was then she noticed at the top tier of the circular room, Miranda Lawson's limp body was held in Serj's biotic grip. He was pushing her up against the window. It looked severely damaged, splintered, and ready to shatter at a moment's notice. Serj turned back to her, keeping Miranda pinned, and frowned. "Go back to your room, Liara. It's over."

"What's over, Serj? I don't understand. I'm afraid. The light are-"

"Go, Liara. We're all going to die today."

"What?" Liara snapped, shaking her head. Her eyes fell on Jack again. "What did you do to Jack? And why are you doing that to Miranda? Why do we have to die? What's happened to the ship? Serj! Please! Tell me!"

"It doesn't matter anymore. You played your roll well enough, Thessia-clan. Go spend your final moments thankful that a place in the life beyond awaits you with us."

Above, Miranda screamed as Serj returned his focus to the biotic push.

"B-But... why?" Liara asked. Her knees were trembling again and she felt if she didn't sit soon, she'd collapse. Her head spun with confusion. "Why do-"

"Enough! Do as you're TOLD!"

Do as your told, do as your told, do as your told, smile and he'll know, all against you, do as your told. Liara grabbed the sides of her head and cried out. The voices. The voices belonged to him. Somehow, someway, it wasn't her voice speaking in her head. It was his. It was Serj. "Do as I'm told..." Liara repeated. "You told me that before..." She closed her eyes, focused. "You... you whispered that to me before. Lots of times before. You... you said that... you said that and you said they were all against me. All against Liara. You said it! YOU! YOOOU!"

He ignored her and pushed harder on Miranda. The final cracks were splintering away from her body atop the glass.

Liara looked back down at Jack. At her ears. There, the biotic amps rested. The very ones she'd put there in hopes they'd escape. "All against me..." she whispered, stepping toward Jack's unconscious body. "No. No, only you."

She pulled the amps out of Jack's ears and tucked them in her own.

"Only you, Serj. You were against me. Twisting me. Using me."

Serj finally turned back over his shoulder-

-but by then it was too late.

She focused her biotics and locked him in a stasis grip. Miranda dropped from the glass instantly. "What are you doing!?" He cried out, though his undoubtedly stiff and locked jaw beneath his suit was making it difficult.

She threw a singularity charge above his head and watched his paralyzed body float up towards it.

"NO!" He croaked through his breather. "Liara! NO!"

"Only you, Serj," she said, focused, and used a biotic thow.

It slammed into his suspended body. He went spiraling across the room, over the tiered floor, and directly into the glass spot he'd been trying to shove Miranda through. It shattered upon impact, he was sucked outside with a final scream, and no one ever saw Serj the Volus again.

-Shepard-

The entire escape pod shook with the impact of the ground. Shepard rolled forward, slammed against the leather seating, and came to a halt as the pod settled in with a hissss. The krogan stood, kicked the door straight off its hinged, and fresh, morning, air swept inside. Shepard took a deep breath of it before the krogan grabbed her by the ankles and dragged her outside. She smacked the moist grass below the pod's hatch and felt the warmth of morning's light on her skin. She immediately turned her gaze to the sky and saw that the volus ship was, somehow, still flying; though the flames and black smoke wrapping its lower hull had tripled, and it was certainly on its last legs.

The krogan watched as well for a moment, then grunted and began dragging her across the ground. It was a short trip off the grass and onto the rocky cliffs that overlooked the beach below. Perched there was a small ship that resembled a tall, black teardrop looming over the hillside.

"Your ship..." Shepard muttered as the krogan dropped her ankles and made his way to the front hatch.

"That's right, human. Get used to it. We have a long ride ahead of us," he told her, pressing a code into the front panel and stepping back for the entrance ramp to lower.

The ship opened and ready, the krogan returned to her, scooped her up over his shoulder, and hauled her across the cliff to stuff her inside. Shepard swallowed, taking a last, deep, inhale of the fresh air; she figured it would be a long time before she got a chance again.

They were halfway up the ramp when a loud thump froze the krogan in his tracks.

He turned, and Shepard had to crane her neck around to see what it was.

A second escape pod had smacked into the ground beside theirs.

"Oh no..." Shepard whispered. "No... please, please no..."

The hatch opened and Sam stepped out.

Dread filled Shepard's heart. "No! Sam! I said to get away!"

Sam stepped forward, the morning breeze sweeping her dark hair around her face in a swirl. Her hands were at his sides and clenched into fists. Any tears she may have spilled had been wiped clean; only a look of angry determination remained on her face.

"Let her go," she said.

The krogan snorted laughter. "I don't have time to deal with this."

He tossed Shepard down upon the ship's floor and climbed in.

"You run away from me?" Sam called after him.

"Sam, go!" Shepard pleaded; she was getting the chance to walk away from this foolishness alive. All she had to do was take it.

"Run away from a human..." Sam continued.

The krogan stopped in his tracks. Shepard could hear his breath coming in angry little snorts.

"I'm the weakest one out of all of them," Sam said, stepping closer to the ship. "And you run from me like a coward? How can you hope to ever get rid of humanity if you can't even stand and face me?"

The krogan roared and climbed back outside.

"No!" Shepard pleaded. "SAM, RUN!"

Sam did not. She held her ground, pulled something black and thin from her belt, and wrapped it around her knuckles before lifting her fists and taking up a fighting stance.

She's going to die, Shepard realized with dismay. I'm going to watch Samantha Traynor die. And it's my fault.

The krogan got halfway to her and broke into a sudden sprint. Sam was caught off guard, and barely had the time to roll off to her side. Shepard winced, seeing how close she'd come to rolling herself right off the cliffs and down to the jagged rocks of the beach below. The krogan roared, rounded, and charged her again. Sam feigned a doge left and went right instead. The krogan moved to intercept her fake dodge and came up with nothing. Sam circled around him, stepping away from the cliffs.

She's got no combat training, Shepard thought. She's small, quick, agile, but... what does that matter? It's not like the krogan's just going to go throwing himself off the cliff or something. She can't win. "Sam, please!" She pleaded once more.

Again, the krogan charged after her. Sam tried the same tactic as before, faking one way and dodging the other, but this time the krogan had wizened to her trick, stopped, and drove his head into her chest. Sam cried out as it collided against her and tumbled back to the rocky floor of the cliff. The krogan leapt at her to make the killing blow and-

-Sam rolled out of the way. She scrambled to her feet and broke into a run. The krogan growled and ran after her. He was faster. More hungry. Shepard opened her mouth to call a warning, but it was too late. He pounced on top of her.

Only Sam had gotten herself turned around and grabbed at his arm at the last moment. Shepard saw that whatever black thing she'd wrapped around her fist eariler was now wrapping the krogan's upper arm. The two hit the rocky floor, the krogan's massive body mounted atop Sam's.

"NO!" Shepard pleaded.

The krogan growled, set the white and pale sockets of his eyes upon Sam's small figure beneath him and went to drive his fist into her skull.

Instead, he wailed a pain-filled cry and tumbled off of her.

Sam was quick to scurry backwards on her hands and knees and clamber to her feet.

"Sam?" Shepard called out. She had no idea what had happened. Then she saw the small, rectangular, control panel in Sam's hands. "The collar... you put the collar on his arm!"

The krogan climbed back to his feet, glaring incredulously at the collar wrapped around his arm. "AAAAAARGH!" He roared, trying to pry it loose.

Sam hit the controls and he was zapped with another shock. It was enough to stagger him and make him lose his grip, but not enough to drop him. He tossed his head back and howled into the sky furiously. Sam hit him with another jolt. It choked his howl off, morphing it into a strangled, gurgled, cry of pain. His white eyes fixed upon her. They were filled with fury and confusion and fear.

"STOP!" He wailed. "STOP IT!"

Sam, ever merciful, lowered the control. "Then go! Leave us alone!"

Shepard could only watch, stunned.

The krogan looked back at the collar around his arm. He winced, shook his head, and grabbed for it.

Sam shocked him again. He screamed. "Stop that," she said. "Stop trying to get it off and go!"

"You don't tell me what to do, human!" He roared. "You-"

She shocked him again.

"AAARGH!" He wailed. When the pain subsided, he was left on his knees, staring forward in shock. "You... you human..."

"Go," Sam commanded.

"Defeat by you... pathetic... human beats me..." He muttered, and Shepard could swear she saw the white pits of his eyes moisten. "Disgrace... failure... beaten... human..."

Sam held her ground, the controls to the collar held firmly in her hand as she stared at him. "You can learn from us humans. About empathy, compassion, mercy... things you have none of."

The krogan was trembling; every gust of wind that hit him looked ready to tumble him over. He climbed, slowly, to his feet, his head lowered. "Disgrace," he croaked and lifted his gaze to meet hers. "I am disgrace. My life... pathetic."

"No. You're just confused," Sam said. "Everyone deserves a second chance. You-"

The krogan snorted laughter and stepped to the edge of the rocky cliffside and took in a breath of air.

And in the end, Shepard had been wrong: the krogan did in fact just throw himself off the cliff. He jumped, his body disappeared over its lip, and a few moments later, his existence came to an end with a soft, muted, thud on the rocks below.

Sam stood there a moment watching the space he'd occupied in quiet shock. Then she turned to Shepard.

Shepard smiled. "Sam..."

Sam rushed to her and wrapped her up in her arms, squeezing. "It's over, Commander. It's all over."

Shepard looked up into the sky. Through the tears in her eyes, she saw the volus ship had finally began its fiery descent to the planet below. She had no idea if her friends had made it out. Sam was right, though.

One way or another: it was over.

-Miranda-

The entire ship rocked forward with one, great, rumble, and then everything in the room was sliding her way. Miranda's entire body was wracked in pain from the volus' relentless biotic assault, and when the debris came at her, she was simply too exhausted to move. It slammed into her side, flaring all new pains she hadn't even realize were there. The whole room was lurching and lurching until it was practically tipped on its side. Above her head, the shattered and open window was sucking air out of the ship, and she could feel the pressure on her, trying to pull her away. The wind was screaming in her ear, deafening. The ship tilted further and then she did tumble towards that gaping hole.

She rolled across what had been the wall and was now the floor and felt the pressure double. She tried gripping something, anything, but her grasping hand found nothing and she finally was sucked towards the window.

Miranda screamed as her legs sailed out of the hole, cold air washing over them, and her body was quick to follow.

Then a hand wrapped around her wrist and held her before she could go any further. Miranda's head spun with the loss of gravity as she glanced up. Liara was there, one hand wrapped around her wrist, the other holding desperately to the stem of a nearby monitor.

"Come on! Take my hand with both of yours!" Liara said, practically screaming to be heard over the intense winds.

The ship shook with an explosion and Miranda felt Liara's grip loosen ever-so-slightly around her arm. She swallowed, looking up into the asari's eyes. Her mind raced back to that day on the cliffs when she'd twisted her ankle. The day she thought Liara had tried to kill her. If she gave both of her hands to Liara's, the asari would completely control her fate.

"Come on!" Liara pleaded.

Miranda nodded. "Alright... alright," she said, more to herself than anything, and swung her other hand around Liara's.

The asari planted her feet below the window and her face wrinkled with stress as she pulled and pulled until Miranda was coming back inside. Miranda's foot scrambled for support, found the edge of the window, and dug in. She was able, with Liara's aid, lift her body back inside and tumble down below the window.

The ship tilted further, though, and soon enough they'd both be rolling out of it.

Liara looked wide-eyed around the room, and Miranda joined her, desperate to find a way to re-seal the windows. She spotted Jack's limp and unconscious body instead. It was rolling down the inclined floor - right towards the open window.

"Liara!" Miranda pleaded, pointing.

Liara looked, flared biotics in her right hand, and send out a singularity charge.

Just as Jack's body rolled to the window, the gravitational pull of the singularity grabbed hold of her, suspending her a mere foot away.

Miranda spotted a control panel at the ground level. "Liara!" She shouted. "If I jump, can you give me a biotic push towards that panel over there?"

Liara looked, considered it, and nodded. "I believe so."

The ship lurched further on its side.

Miranda, realizing there was no time for further plans, nodded and leaped into the air. She felt the grip of Liara's biotic influence around her instantly and then she was soaring across the room to the panel. Her stomach whacked into it, knocking the air from her, but she got a grip on its edges. She pulled herself close, looked the panel over, and found the window release. She slammed it shut.

The windows sealed immediately. The room quieted.

Miranda released the panel and slid along the slanted floor back to the far wall. She pressed her feet against the edge and made her way back to Liara and Jack, who Liara had now let drop beside her.

"She's okay," Liara said, her fingers on Jack's neck. "She's just unconscious."

Miranda breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank God for that." She looked around. "But... I'm not sure any of this matters. The ship is done for. We're all..." She nearly choked on the words. "I think we're all going to die, Liara."

"No," Liara said with a confident shake of her head. "I saw a room with an escape pod in it just beyond this hall. We can make it."

Miranada's heart quicked. "Really? Are you positive?"

"Yes," Liara said, smiling. "Absolutely. Help me with Jack."

Miranda nodded, and the two got Jack's arms over their shoulders. The climb out of the room was awkward and arduous. They had to use the tiered barriers and what was left of the monitor stations to hold onto as they passed Jack between them. Eventually, they made it to the doorway. Miranda jumped, grabbed the edge of it, and pulled herself up. She pivoted on her knees and Liara's whole body strained as she lifted Jack as high as she could. Miranda got a hold of her beneath the arms and pulled her out, then returned to help Liara.

In the hall outside, the ship's slanted descent was all the more apparent. A various assortment of junk was piled against the far wall that the ship leaned towards. Liara and herself got Jack's arms under them again and used both the floor and the wall to climb down the long hall. Twice, violent explosion thundered beneath their feet, and both time Miranda had thought that was it: they'd crashed into the ground and it was over.

They didn't, though. Instead they made it to the room Liara said held an escape pod.

She was right. One last pod remained docked in an egg-shaped hatch.

Miranda and Liara worked together to hoist Jack's body inside, then Liara offered her hand as a stepping platform, and Miranda followed. Within, she turned back, reach down, and pulled Liara along with them.

"Get us out of here," Liara said, strapping herself into a bucket-shaped seat. "Quickly, Miranda."

Miranda found the controls, fiddled with them until she figured out how to launch, and buckled Jack in before herself.

"Good luck," Liara said, gripping the belt over her shoulder.

"Yeah..." Miranda agreed, letting a hand fall on Jack's and squeezing.

The engines powered up. The lights dimmed. A latch released. The pod was thrust forward with a jerk. Then-

-the ship, finally, crashed into the ground.

-Shepard-

The rumble from the collision was the loudest, most excruciating sound, Shepard had ever heard. She could hear massive, ancient, trees snapping beneath the impact like twigs. Rock and earth splintering apart, clashing, groaning. Explosion after explosions sounded off after the initial impact, as if a final, destructive, melody to the world's saddest, most violent, song. Fire licked up into the sky from beyond the distant horizon of treetops. Black smoke followed. Then the unsettling, suffocating, sound of complete silence.

"They made it out. I know it," Sam said. She had fished the keys to Shepard's restraints out from the krogan's ship and unlocked her.

Shepard sat beside her in the moist grass, rubbing her ankles with one hand, the other draped around Sam's shoulder and holding tightly - holding dearly. She sighed, laid her head against Sam, and stared into the sky. "I hope so, Sam. I hope so. I guess... we go and find out."

Sam leaned in and kissed her cheek. "Yes, Commander. Let's."

The trek through the woods wasn't particularly long, but the punishment that Shepard's body had endured in the last seventy-two hours or so had been severe, and several times along the way, Sam had to catch her before she collapsed. They found a trail, though, and walking along it instead of cutting their own path through the tangle of woods was easier going. The smell of fire and metal and chaos reached her nose before the sight did.

"You smell that, Sam?"

"It's terrible," Sam answered.

They pressed on, though, and finally, the path spilled them out to a clearing. Not a natural clearing, either. The impact crater of the volus ship was so enormous, so powerful, it had blown back every tree around it in a hundred foot radius. Parked at the edge of the crater, framed by the billowing, black, smoke of the wreckage, was a transport ship.

Ashley Williams, Kasumi, and a smattering of her wealthy friends were standing before it, peering into the hole and speaking to each other. It was Ashley who noticed them first. Her face brightened, tears swelled in her eyes, and she darted forward. "Shepard!"

Every face turned back to her and a wave of gasps followed by happy chatter filled the air. Ashley rushed before her and looked her over with a look of disbelief plastered on her face. "Shepard, I can't... how did... you..."

"Sam saved me," Shepard explained, nodding to Sam and squeezing her a little tighter. "She tracked me down, beat the krogan, and saved me."

Sam blushed and lowered her eyes. "I... well, I wasn't going to let the Commander go without a fight."

Kasumi sauntered over, clapping her hands. "The great and powerful Commander Shepard survives another adventure," she said, laughing. "How fitting. And not the hero for once? How shocking!"

Ashley swiped tears from her eyes, smiled, laughed, and wrapped her arms around Shepard. "Oh, Shepard..."

Shepard allowed herself a smile and hugged Ashley back. Then her focus shifted. "Ash... what about Miranda? Jack? ...Liara?"

She saw Kasumi's face darken over Ashley's shoulder.

"Oh... Shepard, I don't... I'm so sorry. I don't think they made it."

"That can't be..." Sam whispered, bringing her hands to her chest. "It just can't be."

"Why do you say that, Ashley?" Shepard demanded. "You can't possibly know."

"I stole a schematic, Shepard," Kasumi answered. "It lays out a live reproduction of the ship's interior. Now, of course, it could have been damaged during all those explosions, but... if it wasn't..." She trailed off.

"What?" Shepard demanded.

"There was no way off the ship other than the escape pods. Two launched, you and Sam I'm guessing. The third... well, Shepard, the third never did."

Shepard's lip quivered. "But it could be wrong. That's what you said."

Kasumi shrugged. "I mean... it could be, but-"

"Then you don't know do you?" Shepard snapped. "You don't know, Kasumi. Get out of my way." She shouldered past Ashley and Kasumi and walked towards the wreckage.

"Shepard, there's no reason to be angry," Ashley called after her. "We did everything we could."

"But not enough," Shepard whispered upon reaching the crater's edge. The sight of the burning hunks of destroyed metal and shattered windows and blackened debris wrenched at her heart. She dropped to her knees. "Not enough..." she whispered again, her vision blurring with tears. "Not enough."

"They were heroes, Shepard," Ashley said. "Jack, Miranda... even Liara. She helped us escape. All three of them died protecting us. Helping us. Saving us."

"It's my fault," Shepard said. "Ash, it's my fault they were here."

Ash opened her mouth to reply, but apparently found no words. She looked down into the crater and lowered her head.

"Commander," Sam's voice came over shoulder. Then again, more excited, "Commander."

Shepard turned. Sam was staring over at the hillside. Shepard traced her gaze and through blurry, tear-filled, eyes, she made out three figures approaching from beyond. A dark-haired woman, an asari, and a tattooed woman between them. Her heart soared, the tears came, and it all grew to be too much. Shepard smiled, closed her eyes, and let the sleep take her.

It was the end of a very, very, long day.

-Later-

Shepard's eyes opened into the dark, cool, interior of a ship and for one confused, terrified, moment, she thought it had all been a dream; a long, twisted, dream that had, at least, ended happily. Then she sat up and saw Sam, curled into a ball in a chair next to the bed she was lying on, asleep.

"Sam?" She called over.

Sam stirred only a little in her sleep. She settled into the chair and the soft sound of her breathing filled the room.

Shepard swung her legs off the bed and found that someone had clad in her in a white, medical, gown. Her wounds, also, felt cool and soothed beneath it. Someone had applied medi-gel to her. She let her bare feet press against the cold, hard, floor of the room/ship and stood up on wobbly legs. She walked around to Sam, leaned in, and brushed some hair from her face. She was sleeping so peacefully, Shepard didn't have the heart to wake her. Instead, she went to the edge of the dark, square, room and found the doorway.

It opened with a push.

And beyond, the fresh air and sunlight spilled into the room, causing Shepard to shield her unadjusted eyes. The planet, she thought. We're still here.

She waited till she could see again and stepped outside.

The 'room' that she had been in wasn't a room at all: it was a large, Alliance-branded, med-bay station, and there were a dozen more dug into the beach around her. "What the hell..." Shepard muttered. All around her, people were busily going about. Alliance soldiers were talking to her wealthy friends and jotting things down in a datapad. A food table had been set up beneath a tent, and she saw more soldiers and more people there, chatting and eating. A blonde woman in a white, Alliance-branded suit rushed through the crowd and right up to her.

"Oh, Commander Shepard, you're awake! How are you feeling! You know, you shouldn't be out of bed and walking around like this so soon."

"What is this... where are we?"

Another figure stepped from the crowd: Ashley Williams. She marched up to them, smiling. "I'll handle this, Beth," she told the blonde woman, dismissing her with a salute. Her eyes fixed back on Shepard and she shook her head. "Shepard... how didn't I guess that you'd recover twice as quickly as the doctors had guessed."

"Ash, what is all this? I passed out. Are Miranda and Jack and Liara okay?"

"This is an Alliance-grade clean-up operation," Ashley explained, gesturing to the varying personnel scattered about the beach. "And, yes, Shepard. They're fine. A little banged up, but all three of them will walk away from this with relatively low injury."

The news was a burden from her shoulders. Shepard smiled, feeling the tears back in her eyes. "I've never been a crier, Ash. Jesus, look at me now," she said, smiling and swiping at the tears. "Where is everyone? I have to see them. Thank them."

"They're around somewhere," Ashley said, glancing about the beach.

Shepard's eyes landed on a squadron of Alliance higher-ups and a feeling of trepidation washed over her. "Ash... am I in trouble?"

Ashley laughed. "Shepard, you sound like your in school. No, you're not in trouble. They know everything, Shepard. The volus, the krogan... everything."

Shepard nodded. "Everything's okay then? I don't have any surprises awaiting me, right?"

"Shepard, relax, would ya? You're just shaken up, that's all. Everything is fine. The only issue right now is putting together the team."

"Team?"

Ashley nodded. "Kasumi stole every bit of information that ship had stored on its database. We have names, numbers, locations... now all we have to do is track 'em down. I'm putting together a team to do just that." She stared into Shepard's eyes, smiling. "We could use a good leader."

Shepard returned the smile. "Then you've got one." She stuck out here hand to shake, but Ashley swatted it away and hugged her instead.

"I'm so glad you're alright, Shepard."

"Ash... I'm sorry about everything. I was a little... delusional before. I said some things I didn't mean. Did some things I really didn't mean."

"It's okay, Shepard. I know."

"Ash, I was going to ask you to marry me at one point."

Ashley laughed. "I know that too."

Shepard sighed and hugged Ashley back. "I'm sorry."

"Make it up to me. Lead my team and lets hunt down every last member of this disgusting clan of slavers and make them pay."

"Will do, Chief," Shepard told her. "Will do."

Sam appeared in the medbay doorway, stretching her arms and rubbing at her eyes.

Ash gestured her way. "She stayed with you the entire time. Quite the loyal girl, that one."

"How long have I been out?"

"Over a day now."

Shepard's hand went to her forehead. "God..."

"Yeah. Doctor's thought it would be two or three before you were up. You went through a lot, Shepard. But... like always, here you are: still standing."

Shepard nodded. Ashley saluted, laughed, and walked away.

Sam stepped beside her and smiled. "Commander..."

"Come here," Shepard said and wrapped Sam up in her arms. "What would I have done without you, Sam?"

"Oh, Commander," Sam whispered shyly and squeezed Shepard's waist. "If I did anything heroic, it was only because I was trying to be like you."

Shepard kissed her cheek, squeezed again, and then broke apart and took her by the hand. "Come on. Let's go see the rest of them."

They were halfway to the tents when a young man with a buzzcut and an Alliance uniform spotted her and shouted, "Hey! Guys! It's Commander Shepard! She's awake!"

Every eye on the beach turned to her. Someone started to clap, then they were all clapping and cheering for her. Shepard nodded her head and pulled Sam closer to her body. "Here's you're hero this time," she said and lifted Sam's hand into the air. "Samantha Traynor."

The crowd's eyes shifted to Sam and the cheers grew louder. Sam blushed and lowered her eyes, but Shepard saw the proud smile creeping up her face. Over Sam's shoulder, she spotted Kasumi sitting on top of a medbay, clapping harder and louder than any of them. When Shepard's eyes landed on her, Kasumi grinned and gave a dramatic bow of her head. Shepard laughed, returned the nod, and pressed on.

She found Miranda and Jack beneath a tent at the edge of the beach. She saw, with great satisfaction, that their hands were grasped in one another's beneath the table. They were sitting, talking, and there was a strange expression on Jack's face that Shepard had rarely, if ever, seen: happiness. They'd found each other. If this whole, terrible, nightmare had been her fault, at least she was partially responsible for that, then. She smiled and stopped her approach.

"Commander?" Sam questioned.

"Let them have this moment," Shepard said. "I don't want to interrupt it. There will be time later."

She led Sam around the tent, giving it a wide berth. Not wide enough, though. Miranda's eyes landed on her. She opened her mouth to call Shepard over, but Shepard held up a hand, shook her head, and pointed at Jack. Miranda's eyes flicked from her to Jack and back. She smiled, nodded, and gave Shepard a quick salute. Jack began to turn back, but Shepard had already moved back into the crowd.

"They're really okay," Shepard said. "Where's Liara?"

"She's not in great shape, Commander," Sam explained.

"What? What do you mean?"

"Come on."

Sam led her through a crowd of soldiers, around a cluster of tens, and to an Alliance medbay stationed near the woods. Sam pointed and stepped aside. Shepard frowned and ducked her head beneath the overhang, moving inside.

A doctor was sitting within, looking over a datapad. Liara was beside him, lying on a gurney. Her wrists were cuffed to the bed. "Liara," Shepard said, stepping to the foot of it. "What is this?"

Liara's eyes landed on her, and her hands pulled at the cuffs, her face scrunched up, and she tried pushing herself away with her feet. "No! Please, Shepard! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to hurt you! Please!"

"Liara, it's okay!" Shepard said, moved to the side of the bed, and took a seat. She gently reached forward and stroked the asari's arm. "It's alright. I won't hurt you." She turned to the doctor. "Why is she restrained?"

"Doctor T'Soni's mental health has been damaged," the man explained. "We have her restrained for her own good."

"I want them removed," Shepard told him.

"I can't do that."

She turned back to Liara, who flinched. "Liara, listen to me: you've been given a lot of drugs. I know that. Everyone knows that. We don't hold you responsible for what you did."

Liara swallowed, narrowed her eyes onto Shepard's, and gave a cautious nod of her head.

"She's going to need mental rehabilitation before we release her. A good amount of it," the doctor said.

"Then I'll be there for it," Shepard said. "Every session. I want to be by her side."

Liara frowned. Tears swelled in the corners of her eyes. "Shepard?"

"I won't abandon you, Liara," Shepard assured her, squeezing her hand. "We'll fix this. Together."

Liara's trembling lips curled up into a half-smile. "You... you m-mean it?"

"Absolutely."

All at once, the tension seemed to slip from Liara's body. She laid back in the bed, smiling, and stared at Shepard. "Thank you, Shepard... thank you so much."

Shepard patted her hand. "I'll be back later. Alright?"

Liara nodded.

"I haven't seen her this calm since we brought her in," the doctor interjected. "You're presence may speed the recovery period along quite significantly."

"Good," Shepard said. "I look forward to it."

Outside, she found Sam, walked beside her, and took her hand again. "She'll be okay. In time."

They walked up to the edge of the woods and looked over the smoldering pit that was the volus ship's crash point. The crater was massive, and Alliance squads had already began excavating and salvaging what they could. And atop it all, somehow, someway, the mansion was still standing; a hollowed, burning, crumbling, shell of its former self, yet it was mostly together.

"I don't believe it," Shepard said with a shake of her head. "That thing survived somehow. That miserable place."

Sam's brow lifted. "Certainly not all the memories were so terrible, Commander..."

"No, Sam. Not all of them," she admitted, squeezing her hand tighter. "Come on. I can't look at that thing anymore."

At the edge of the Alliance camp, she saw a crowd of young soldiers scanning the area, asking for her, looking for her - waiting for her. They likely wanted autographs and handshakes and a chance to meet the 'famous' Commander Shepard, but Shepard wasn't ready to deal with that. Not yet. She tugged at Sam's hand and gestured towards an empty strip of beach leading away from the camp.

Sam pulled off her boots, left them beside a medbay, and the two walked down the length of the beach, the warm sand seeping between their toes. The peaceful sound of the ebb and flow of the ocean's tide walked beside them. When Shepard felt they were far enough away from the camp to not be bothered, she kicked aside a rock and pulled Sam to a seat on the sand beside her.

She took a deep breath and stared out into the distant horizon, watching the sun creeping up above the ocean floor, shimmering atop the blue, swishing, waves. Shepard let herself fall to her back, and tucked her hands behind her head. Sam smiled and laid beside her.

They stayed like that awhile, listening to the ocean and glad just to be in each other's company. Then Shepard said, "Tell me about yourself, Sam."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know... what's something I don't know about you."

Sam thought about it. "I like chess."

"Chess?"

"Yeah. The game? I used to play it all the time when I was younger."

Shepard grinned. "You any good?"

Sam laughed. "Yeah. I guess."

"Good enough to beat the Commander Shepard?"

"Maybe," Sam said playfully. "We'll have to find out later, Commander."

Shepard shifted in the sand. "I don't think you should call me 'Commander' anymore, Sam."

Sam gave her a concerned look. "Why?"

"It's just... I don't know. It carries negativity for me now after everything that happened."

"Oh," Sam said. "You want me to call you Shepard?"

Shepard thought on it. After a moment's hesitation she said, "Try Olivia."

Sam's mouth fell open and spread into a wide smile simultaneously. "Olivia! That's the 'famous' first name of Commander Shepard?"

"Famous?"

"Well... I was told when I signed up to be your Comm Specialist that you didn't want people knowing it. I asked around, and no one seemed to know either. I guess it was just, kind of, famous to me." She laughed. "Olivia... Livvy."

Shepard fixed her with a flat stare. "See, this is why I don't tell people. I hate Livvy. It sounds like I'm twelve years old."

"Livvy," Sam said, grinning and twirling a lock of her hair. "I like it. Liiiiiivvy. It's pretty."

"Alright, you know what? I lied," Shepard said. "That's not actually my first name."

Sam laughed. "Oh yeah? What is?"

"Shepard."

Sam's laugh grew louder. "Shepard is your first name? And I'm guessing your last name-"

"Yep. Shepard."

"Shepard Shepard?" Sam questioned.

Shepard looked up at her, fighting to keep a straight face. She felt her mouth betraying her, and soon enough she was laughing. Sam laughed with her.

"Just forget the name, alright?" Shepard asked.

"Too late, Livvy," Sam answered with a playful grin.

"Oh, that's it," Shepard said, rolled to her side and climbed on top of Sam, straddling her waist. "Now you've awoken the 'Commander'."

Sam giggled beneath her. "You know, I can't see it anymore. I know and have seen too much. Now you're just little old Livvy to me. I guess I'm just too brave and powerful now."

"Oh yeah?" Shepard said, grinning. "You take down a krogan and save the day and all of a sudden, your 'Commander Traynor'?"

Sam shrugged. "Maybe..."

Shepard laughed, nodded, and licked her lips. "Alright, Commander. What are your orders?"

"You can start by kissing me," Sam said, smiling.

"Yes, ma'am," Shepard said, leaned down, and kissed her. It felt wonderful. She pulled away. "Mmm, Sam."

"Mmm, Livvy."

Shepard frowned.

Sam laughed.

Shepard dug her fingers into Sam's side and tickled, and Sam threw her head back in uncontrollable laughter. She bucked her hips and wrestled her way on top of Shepard shouting 'Livvy! Livvy!'. Shepard wiggled free, pinned her, and stopped her taunt by covering her mouth with her own.

The tide went in and out, and behind them, the last tendrils of smoke from the mansion's fire drifted into the sky, lifting high and swirling in a gust of cool air. The sun broke the horizon; the smoke dissipating in dawn's first light.

-The End-