Firebase Ghost, Benning

Day 3, 0345

"Push them back!"

As he roared aloud, Hei Yui was charging across the firebase, Claymore in one hand. He rushed up towards one of the pre-fabs in the centre of the base from the landing pad, where the rest of his squad was holding. Two Cerberus troopers were shooting from the doorway – he tore the first apart with a shotgun slug, then crushed the second's head into the wall with his fist.

A quick glance back showed him his squad – the soft humans were holding well, albeit not quite as well as a krogan line. One of them, Mason, was propped up on his side, lying in his own blood but still firing doggedly at any troopers he could see.

Looking forward, through the window, the krogan once again caught sight of the party clambering up on the north side. They were struggling to cut a path – that was the whole reason he was charging across the base to reach them...

He swept into the next chamber – the only occupant was a sniper peering out of the window, who he swiftly grabbed in his free hand, picking her up and snapping her neck before tossing her back through the window.

Another check showed him the approaching team – they were a diverse bunch, led by an asari and a drell, with another asari, two humans, a quarian and a turian following them across the roof. They seemed to be in pretty dire straits – as he watched, the drell cut down two troopers with what the krogan considered to be a tiny sword, and the leading asari was scything through opponents with her biotics, but the rest looked desperate. None of the others were using their biotics, and the two who looked like snipers were nonetheless not sniping, instead resorting to sidearms.

"Friendly, coming out!" he yelled, leaping out of the window and into the open plaza the group was advancing across. The same stunned expression crossed every one of their faces as Yui barrelled towards the troopers' exposed backs, tearing through them in a frenzy of shotgun rounds and brutal beatings.

As the last of the troopers – for now, at least – fell dead, the asari and the drell rushed towards him, with the others swiftly following.

"By the goddess, it's good to see you, krogan," the asari sighed, clapping his shoulder – a bizarre gesture of congratulation which humans and asari seemed to use.

"Shuttle's this way," he grunted, nodding towards the landing site. Sure enough, as he turned around, the blue shuttle was still hovering defiantly over the pad, refusing to be driven away by something as trivial as bullets.

"You heard him!" the drell called. "Push ahead!"

The group, now eight-strong with Yui's addition, did indeed begin to push back towards the landing pad. The main body of the Cerberus force had been killed, but a few stragglers remained – Yui blew one into the yawning chasm at the side of the rooftop, as the drell mowed another two down with a sub-machine gun.

Finally, with his charges exhausted but alive, Yui staggered back onto the landing pad. To his surprise, the biotics and snipers didn't simply drop into cover and rest, but took their places in the firing line, preparing to hold out.

With a low groan, he spotted Forge dragging Mason away from the barricade to make room for the newcomers – the latter was quite dead, still soaking the floor with his blood.

"You realise we came to get you out of here?" he muttered, to the drell.

"We're not the last ones out," the drell replied, propping his SMG on the cargo crate he was crouching behind. "Captain Murphy sent that message, and he's not here, so I'm guessing he's still out there?"

Yui nodded, feeling a wave of respect for the biotics – after three days of being shot at and forced to scurry from hole to hole like pyjaks, they still hadn't had the fight knocked out of them.

As if saying his very name had summoned him, the radio began to crackle, and the captain's voice echoed through it, blissfully free of static.

"Echo, we're coming up the stairs now, emerging on the east side! What's your status up there?"

"Mason's dead," Yui grunted. "But we got a team of biotics and snipers up here, seven of them."

"Patch them in."

Obligingly, he patched the asari and drell into the conversation, and Murphy began to speak again.

"Hello?"

"This is Saffiya," the asari gulped through a dry throat – she looked thirsty, not to mention half-starved.

"Good to hear your voice, justicar. Can you give me a headcount? How many of your team are still kicking?"

"All three," Saffiya replied, sounding rather grateful for that. "Bravo lost one, and we've only got two of Charlie with us..."

"We've got the other two," Murphy coughed, happily. In the background, the krogan heard someone whooping at the news. Then he continued, more sombrely, "but the three marines on my team are all dead. I've got Andersen and the two snipers – one of them can't fight, broken arm. We won't be able to hold out on our own, Yui, not unless we reach your position."

"I'll send backup," the krogan muttered. As he spoke, he gestured wildly to Garrett and Forge, and the two marines sprinted off to the east. Something was nagging at Yui's mind, though... "Captain," he continued, "we've got more survivors than I expected. You do know the shuttle can't carry us all?"

"I... feared as much," the captain replied, hesitantly. "We spotted reinforcements coming from the north, looks like a heavy platoon. Whoever stays behind will have to survive that until the shuttle comes back."

"Most of these guys are exhausted, they can't even use their biotics..." Yui murmured, coming over all decisive for a moment. "We send the biotics and the wounded back on the first shuttle. That just leaves the best warriors behind to hold their ground."

"Right," Murphy agreed – out of the corner of his eye, Yui spotted the captain's team emerging from the apartments on the far side of the base. "We're almost at your position. Hold tight."