A/N: Mind telling me what you guys think of it so far? Do you feel that I'm missing anything?

-Crash zone-

Ashley

"Come on. He shouldn't be far...". Ashley looked at the holographic map on her Omni-tool. Yeah, definitely. "Cortez? You there?", she shouted.

"I hope he isn't pinned under those rubble...". As if on cue, a groan was heard almost immediately after Liara finished her sentence. "Did you hear that?"

Ashley strained her ears. It was faint, but undoubtedly present. "Move out! I want you guys searching under every slab of concrete!". The group of ten got to work quickly, searching for their fallen flight lieutenant.

"Over here!", one of the marines shouted. Everyone rushed to his location, where a moaning Cortez lay, pinned down under a fortunately not-too-huge piece of debris. A reddish trail of blood was slowly dripping from his scalp. After a few tries, the team managed to lift the concrete of Cortez, and successfully get him out.

Liara quickly came forth, medi-gel at the ready. "There...", she soothed. "Better?"

"Much...", he mumbled in return.

At least he's safe now. "Come on. Let's get him back to base."

MDMDMDMDMDMDMDMDMDMDMD

-Base camp-

Ashley

As soon as the shuttle touched down, Cortez was escorted straight to the base's medical centre. Seeing that there was nothing else to do, Ashley followed suit, while the Asari went to Anderson. Doctor Chloe Michel had let out a gasp as soon as she saw the flight lieutenant. "Quick! Get him over here!"

Oh well. Ashley turned to leave, but her eye was caught by a familiar figure. Colburn? The vanguard sat on a chair, back hunched forward, beside a bed ward. As she approached, the weariness was increasingly obvious in the man's body posture.

He jerked around as soon as she placed a hand on his shoulder. "Hey.", he said, voice emotionless just like before.

On closer inspection, Ashley saw the dark stubble on his usually clean-shaven face. His hair was even more rowdy than before. Ashley thought she saw a few strands of silver among the sea of chocolate-brown. Colburn's eyes lacked the usual energy, instead now looking dull, like the embers of a weak, dying flame, threatening to be extinguished by a sudden blow of the wind.

"God... You look like...". Death.

"Yeah. So I've heard."

She remembered their previous brief conversation, shortly before their mission to rescue Cortez. That was, what? Three hours ago? The last she heard, Colburn had been on the battlefield for the at least ten hours. That's thirteen hours, at least. Her eyes drifted over to the body on the bed. Her eyes widened at the sight of Lea Rodriguez.

"When did she-"

"Fours days.". Four days? Wasn't that before her vid-call to him on Earth?

"And you didn't tell me? Shepard? Anyone? ", she snapped.

"Would it help if I did?". Again, his tone was flat. Colburn turned his attention back to the unconscious brunette.

"Does Samantha-"

"No.". Should've known. Colburn started speaking, though Ashley wasn't sure if it was to himself or her. "I can't lose her. Not again... Can't let history repeat itself..."

Unsure of what was best, she knelt down beside him, and forced him to look at her in the eyes. "Pull yourself together, soldier.". She paused for a bit. "You look like crap. Is that how you go to battle? Those men out there, they deserve better than having a screwed-up head!". Afterwards, Ashley adopted a softer tone, but it was still firm. "Go freshen up, grab some chow, then catch some sleep."

He closed his eyes and let out a deep breath. "Yeah, okay.". He got up, and headed for the door, but stopped short at the entrance. Colburn turned around. "Thanks... I needed the reality check."

"Always.". She shot him a grin. "Sleep tight.". He gave her a smile of his own, though this one was obviously half-hearted.

Guess that's better than nothing.

MDMDMDMDMDMDMDMDMDMDMD

-Aboard the shuttle, en route to base camp-

Vega

"What about lieutenant Steve Cortez?", Shepard queried. "Did he make it?"

"He did. Ashley and Doctor T'Soni got him out of the crash. He's receiving medical treatment as we speak.", Anderson replied.

Thank God Esteban's alright. "Given all the shit he's been through, Loco, Esteban ain't going down from a puny crash by those fuckers."

"Let's hope you're right, LT."

After riding in silence for another ten minutes, the Commander spoke again. "How's the overall situation, Anderson?"

"Bad, but it got better ever since you came, especially after you took out those guns. Colburn's been wiping out the resistance concentrating between us and the beam. Let's just hope his efforts don't go to waste. With luck, we'll be able to cross No Man's Land without much of a fight."

Guess it ain't so pretty after all. "Well, we've done crazier things. Hell, we even destroyed a Rachni nest. No reason why we should stop doing it now."

"I hope so too, James."

"Proceed with caution. It is arrogance and overconfidence that caused the downfall of my race.". Oh great, now the Prothean troll has something to say.

"Sometimes all we need is that little bit of hope, Javik."

"We will see, Commander.". Ass.

"We're reaching in five minutes.", Anderson announced.

Well, let's get cracking.

A/N: Well, time for bed! It's 12.30am when I'm typing this now. Lol.

Ps: You guys downloaded the Rebellion Pack yet? It's awesome!