Desperate Times
They were hopelessly outnumbered. In a second, the balcony would be swarming with agents of the Shadow Broker, all with orders to shoot on sight. The hum of a gunship drew nearer, threatening to pop up at the side of the building without warning and cut them down with its unforgiving automatic machine gun. It would only be a matter of time before they were overwhelmed by the amassing hostiles.
No. Not today.
All Garrus and Kaidan knew was that they would not give up until they were inside that penthouse; they hadn't really worked out a plan on how to accomplish that. But they didn't exactly have time to figure things out. Dual-wielding Kaidan's pistol as well as his own, Garrus slid the grenade launcher onto his back, then nodded. That was all the preparation they needed before they left the safety of their cover.
"Targets approaching, twelve o'clock!"
That's just perfect. Garrus knew that there had been far too many troops in the penthouse lounge area to sneak around them, but he had been hoping that they would remain undetected for at least a little longer. But he couldn't change his plan. There was one way to get into the penthouse, and Garrus wasn't going to let that chance slip away.
Before them lay a vast, decadently furnished mezzanine; more pools, jacuzzis, massage tables, bars, colorful umbrellas, and assorted flora. All seemed unnecessarily posh. Shame that it's all about to be blown to bits. Actually, scratch that. So Garrus had a chip on his shoulder because he'd lived on a vigilante's pay for the last two years. Big deal. He wasn't going to lose asleep over destroying some glorified lawn furniture.
What he was in danger of losing, however, was his life. Three agents had seemingly sprung up from the ground; they were using a couple of overturned lounge chairs as cover. Big mistake. They opened fire just as Garrus slide-tackled their feeble cover, causing the chairs to knock the agents flat on their backs. He'd given Kaidan the perfect opportunity to hose them down with his assault rifle. Kaidan yanked the turian back to his feet. They kept running.
Garrus could hear the Shadow Broker's commandos giving the order to flank him and Kaidan. Our shields won't last long if we're taking damage from every side. Almost instantly, he located a suitable place where they could give their shields a second to recharge. Several meters away, there was a sturdy-looking bar with metal paneling that would serve the purpose. However, it was in danger of being occupied: four black-clad agents were rapidly approaching, drawing their weapons and getting ready to fire.
Garrus whipped his pistols from their thigh holsters, one in each hand. He took a running leap onto the bar counter, and, sliding across its high-polish surface on his side, he faced the agents and fired. They fell in rapid succession, trying to fend off Kaidan's assault simultaneously with no success. Garrus centered the laser sight on the Phalanx pistol on the last agent's helmet and squeezed the trigger. He fell down dead next to his comrades.
Garrus rolled off the bar counter and was quickly joined by Kaidan. Panting, the human loaded a fresh thermal clip into his rifle. It hissed with steam created by the heat of his gun and his still dripping wet glove. "How many between here and the door?" he asked, squeezing his words around his breathing.
Popping new clips into his pistols, Garrus said, "Maybe a dozen. Maybe a hundred. You hear a gunship, or was that just me?"
Kaidan swore through his teeth. He and Garrus had about as much of a chance as a snowball in hell. But that was a chance they'd have to take. To get a better idea of the layout of the mezzanine, Kaidan poked his head over the edge of the bar. The entrance to the penthouse was about a hundred meters from their current position. There was a veritable minefield of Shadow Broker agents and assorted luxury items between them and their goal.
Kaidan sank back down, leaning against the bar counter. There was no way their shields were going to hold up against all that. They'd need a tank to get through. Or at the very least, the Mako. Or maybe...
Garrus suddenly heard bottles smashing against marble accompanied by the grating shriek of metal being twisted. He jumped up, readying his pistols, before realizing that it was Kaidan making all the ruckus. "The fuck, Alenko?" He's not looking for a drink, is he? Spirits help me.
But Kaidan had no time to pause and explain. Already he could hear more agents closing in on their positions. Biotically, he tore the metal door of one of the mini-fridges and held it up for Garrus to see. "Shields!"
He's a raving lunatic. This idea is going to get us both killed. Garrus almost laughed. He was surprised he hadn't thought of it himself. Kaidan passed the refrigerator door to Garrus, then got to work removing another one for himself. At best, the makeshift shields would protect them from the initial barrage of bullets that was undoubtedly waiting for them outside their cover. Once they outlived their usefulness in that capacity, they could serve as projectiles that would at the very least distract a couple of agents for a few precious moments.
Garrus hefted the weight of the refrigerator door on his arm, sliding the Phalanx into his thigh holster. The metal shield seemed a weapon more befitting of a krogan. Still, it was all he had. All either of them had. It would have to be enough.
Shifting his assault rifle into one hand and clenching the stock between his ribs and elbow, Kaidan realized that he and Garrus could be dead in a matter of moments. Shepard would follow soon after, or, even worse, be lost to the Shadow Broker. And although there was so much at stake, Kaidan felt reckless determination wash over him. Some of Shepard's last words to Ashley flashed through his mind.
"Go in hard, hit harder, and we'll be the only damn thing that comes out the other side."
Kaidan's words took Garrus back two years and several mass relay jumps away, to the planet Virmire. They were up against impossible odds: an army of geth and bloodthirsty krogan versus a handful of salarian soldiers plus Shepard's own crew. They didn't even have superior firepower on their side. But they did have things that Saren's puppet army didn't: courage. Honorable duty. A cause to fight for.
The two of them could have shared Ashley's fate. In fact, that was the most likely outcome. But Williams had seen the mission through to the end, fighting until she knew that their insurmountable task had been accomplished, until the very moment that nuke went off. It was those things worth fighting for that kept her going until the end.
Semi-automatic gun fire riddled the metal paneling on the front of the bar. Garrus and Kaidan were ready to prove to the Shadow Broker exactly what they were made of.
"Time show these bastards what happens when you mess with Commander Shepard."
Garrus charged out first, giving the agents something to focus on. Kaidan followed a split second later and smacked a wide, short range pull field into them. They floated into the air harmlessly, but the gunfire didn't stop: they were being hammered full force from the left. Garrus switched his door-shield to that side. Kaidan gave a half-hearted spray from his rifle before doing the same.
Just what we need. Directly in their path was a towel rack, flanked on either side by Shadow Broker agents. Kaidan was tempted to divert, but Garrus knew that they had no time to find an alternate route. Garrus slammed his shield into the towel rack, sending it toppling into one of the agents, then put a round into the head of the other. Just as he was about to turn and continue sprinting, he heard a burst of gunfire very close, the distinct pop-pop of a Mattock. It hit him that Kaidan was using a Vindicator.
Garrus felt as if something like liquid nitrogen had been poured into a small opening in his skin. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Kaidan leap over the downed towel rack and uppercut the Mattock-wielding agent with his refrigerator door. It stuck in the weak spot between the helmet and the chest plate. When Kaidan yanked it back out, the metal was splattered red. For a second, Garrus thought he was going to ask something stupid like if he'd been shot or if he needed medigel. But all they did was briefly make eye contact before continuing on.
Kaidan was now leading, getting the agents' initial attention with snarling bursts of gunfire or a biotic attack, with Garrus picking off the flankers with the machine pistol. The two of them vaulted over a couple of lounge chairs and Garrus could almost feel the bullets dig deeper into his side, soaking his under weave dark blue where it wasn't protected by thick armored plating. But they couldn't stop. Not when they were so close.
Garrus stumbled up a set of marble stairs, lagging behind Kaidan. Every movement was turning into heavy labor, and he wasn't sure how much more he could take. Almost there. We can do this.
Suddenly, the path before them was cleared of agents. Garrus could see the door the penthouse. We're going to make it. We're really going to -
"Garrus! Hit the deck!" Kaidan was shouting at him. Garrus was about to ask what the hell was wrong with him when he heard the drone of a gunship overhead. When he looked up, he saw a missile drop from the ship's ammo pod, then streak straight towards him.
In sort of a knee-jerk reaction, Garrus threw his arm up in front of him, as if that would somehow protect his body from the rapidly approaching explosive projectile. His mind barely had the time to register the panicked thought that he was about to die before the missile struck and exploded.
The missile, by some divine interference, struck the shield Garrus had been clinging to, instead of the rest of his vulnerable body. He was protected from the *brunt of the explosion, but the force of the impact shot straight through his arm almost the way electricity would travel. The shock caused Garrus to drop his shield, his life raft in the screaming, turbulent storm of bullets.
Kaidan was scrambling to his feet, no doubt surprised that Garrus was still standing. "Get over here!" he yelled to Garrus, who was staggering forward in an attempt to regain his balance. It didn't appear as if he'd heard. The gunship was swooping in on the turian's position, targeting systems no doubt honing their crosshairs on his exposed form. Kaidan knew that there was no way he'd be able to get to safety in time. So he took the only option left to him.
Garrus yelped in surprise when he felt himself being pulled biotically, half dragging along the ground and half tumbling through the air. Behind him, he saw a missile strike the ground where he'd previously been standing. The refrigerator door was blown to smithereens. He would've been too, if Kaidan hadn't pulled him to safety. Garrus came to rest next to Kaidan. Crouched behind an upright jacuzzi beneath an billowing white canvas tent, the gunship had lost track of their positions. For the moment.
Gingerly, Garrus tucked his arm into his side. His nerves felt like they were on fire and he couldn't tell if his bones were in the right places. On top of that, he'd lost his shield. Although he wasn't sure if he'd even be able to hold it with his arm in the condition that it was.
Kaidan realized that there was no way either of them were making it into the penthouse with that gunship overhead. He glanced at the grenade launcher that Garrus was still carrying around. It only had a few shots left in it – definitely not enough to take down the gunship. Kaidan swore under his breath. They'd come this far. There was no way they could give up when they were so close. He glanced down at his omni-tool timer. Less than a minute and a half left. The seconds were ticking down. He leaned back against the jacuzzi, tilted his head to gaze skyward. The gunship was buzzing overhead. Sooner or later, they'd rev up the machine guns and tear right through the canvas that was currently the only thing between them and certain death.
Kaidan jerked forward. The only thing between them and certain death. Just like the refrigerator doors. And just like the doors, he could turn that stupid over sized square of fabric into a deadly weapon.
"Garrus, do you trust me?"
He looked over at the human. He could tell just by the look in his eyes that there was another crazy plan brewing there. "Do I have a choice?"
"No."
Garrus drew the Phalanx and held it with his injured arm. The laser sight would compensate for his inaccuracy and besides, it was much lighter than the machine pistol. Moving as quickly and soundlessly as he could, Garrus made his way towards the other end of the tent, the one closest to the entrance of the penthouse. He could make out a handful of Shadow Broker agents guarding the door. The rest of the mezzanine, however, seemed to be mostly clear. Probably trying to avoid friendly fire. I guess that means they're getting ready to blow the deck to all hell.
Still, that was going to work in their favor. That meant that all Garrus had to worry about was a few agents with superior firepower who outnumbered him roughly seven to one, plus a gunship that wasn't really discriminatory with its missiles. Yeah. I'll be fine. This is going to go great.
Without giving himself time to chicken out, Garrus plunged out of the relative safety of the tent and toward the penthouse, guns blazing. He'd already killed one by the time they realized who was shooting at them. They opened fire, and Garrus picked up the pace. He vaulted over a pair of massage tables, then tucked into a barrel roll. A barrage of bullets chipped into the stone veranda. As he rose to his feet, Garrus managed to pull off a speedy one-handed reload technique for pistols that he never thought would come in handy.
Another agent fell, and suddenly, without the telltale drone of its engines, the gunship popped up from behind the penthouse. It was bearing straight down on Garrus's position. In a second, it would be right on top of him.
But Kaidan wasn't about to let that happen. Using the biotic energy he'd been amassing for the past fifteen seconds, he tore the tent from its stakes and, judging its position by sound only, wrapped the entirety of the canvas around the gunship.
It felt like the blades of the rotors were tearing against the very fabric of Kaidan's own consciousness. His knees started to buckle, but he remained upright. Arms raised and teeth clenched, Kaidan drew the canvas tighter around the ship. The blades sliced at the fabric, only seeming to entangle the vehicle further within the thick folds. If he hadn't been hanging on for dear life, Kaidan would have paused to watch the strange, if somewhat amusing, spectacle. It sort of looked like someone was trapped inside a hot air balloon and was punching the insides to escape.
Kaidan gave the canvas a yank. He was only using his biotics on the tent, so he wasn't controlling the gunship, not really. Still, he bet he was the only biotic to try something that insane.
Garrus could hear the engines whine, like they were overheating, above him, their pitch being driven higher and higher as Kaidan manipulated the canvas. The agents of the Shadow Broker were distracted for a precious moment by the sight of one of their gunships wrestling with a biotic tent. Garrus would have liked to gawk as well, but he had more important things to attend to. He emptied the last clip of the machine pistol into the throat of the nearest agent and, to finish him off, threw the weapon at his head. His strangled cry brought the others back to attention, but Garrus was already too close for their rifles to be effective.
He slipped in between their ranks, disorienting them. Garrus turned to the nearest agent and thrust his knee right into the agent's tragically under-armored groin area. Sorry about that, but you do have me outnumbered. Just trying to level the field. When the agent doubled over in pain, Garrus leap-frogged over him to get at the next soldier. He pistol whipped the soldier's helmet, which toppled to the ground and revealed a very angry looking batarian. Garrus received a rifle butt to the face as a reward, sending him stumbling back.
Cockily, the batarian seized Garrus by the cowl of his chest plate and yanked him so that Garrus was staring right into four unblinking eyes.
"You piece of shit," the batarian spat. "You'll die on your knees, begging for your life, just like your whore commander."
Go ahead and insult me, but do you really have to call my commander a whore? Come on. She doesn't even sleep around that much. Garrus was about to compare his enemy's mother to a paraplegic rachni worker when he realized that a headbutt would be quicker and more effective. He surged forward, slamming the crest of his forehead into the batarian's four eyes. The batarian howled in pain and released Garrus, who delivered a powerful kick right into his unsuspecting knees. He collapsed onto all fours, staring at Garrus's boots.
"Who's dying on their knees now?" Garrus whispered before bringing his foot down on top of the batarian's head, curb-stomping him straight into the afterlife.
From around the corner came two more agents of the Shadow Broker. Garrus dodged the initial burst of fire, then kicked the rifle out of the hands of the nearest agent, who apparently had zero hand-to-hand combat training because he turned and tried to run away. But before he could escape, Garrus grabbed him from behind and attempted that neck twist-snap move that Thane had showed him a couple of times. It didn't really work, so Garrus just put him in a chokehold with his good arm, using the agent as a living meat shield, and wielded the Phalanx with the not so good one. The other agent unflinchingly opened fire on his comrade and Garrus. The meat shield suddenly stopped struggling, and Garrus realized he was dead. He thrust the lifeless body at the other agent, who tried to dodge it, but was met with half a dozen heat sinks in the chest and head.
Garrus was on the verge of turning to shout for Kaidan when assault rifle fire hammered against his armor. He could feel a few rounds submerge themselves in his under weave, a few more into his skin. Then, suddenly, the fire cut out, replaced by the sound of cracking glass. Kaidan had thrown the assailant into a nearby window.
"Let's go!" Kaidan said, his biotics fading out. The man looked exhausted, as if he'd just run a marathon on two hours of sleep. Which, as far as Garrus was concerned, he had. Garrus scooped up the assault rifle that, only seconds ago, had been riddling his armor full of lead.
"The gunship?"
Kaidan pointed to Gemini Alpha. Garrus followed his gaze. The gunship was spiraling out of control, the canvas tent still preventing it from gathering its bearings. A second later, the gunship crashed down onto the flaming balcony of Gemini Alpha. Even as far away as they were, the explosion rattled their teeth.
Garrus looked back at Kaidan. He had just taken on a gunship with his bare hands. And won.
He glanced down at his omni-tool.
"Ten seconds!" he shouted. "Go, go, go!" At long last, they sprinted through the penthouse doors.