War Pigs - Black Sabbath
"Commander?"
No response.
"Commander Shepard?"
Still no response.
"Commander Zoey Shepard of the Normandy SR-2, killer of Saren Arterius and saviour of the Citadel, war hero-"
"Joker has anyone told you how damn irritating you are?"
"Not today. Just wanted to let you know we're about twenty minutes out from the Omega-4 relay."
"Noted. Thanks Joker."
Zoey rubbed her eyes, and when she opened them she faced a stunning blue pair of Vakarian eyes. "Hey there," he rumbled. "Have a nice nap?"
"I couldn't admit to Joker that I fell asleep right before the suicide mission, but you were just so comfortable. How long was I out for?"
He chuckled. "Only about a half an hour. Don't feel bad, I fell asleep too."
"Aren't we helpful, we're supposed to be saving the galaxy and we're too busy having sex and napping." She stood and began to put on her underarmour.
Garrus followed her in standing and they touched foreheads briefly. "Let's go save the galaxy so that we have all the time we need for sex and napping."
"Deal." She gave him a quick kiss on his mandible before he left to change into his own armour.
As she dressed and reflected on what was to come, her hands began to tremble in fear.
Jack was dead.
She wanted to grab something and throw it into Miranda's perfectly calm face at the thought.
What bothered her the most was knowing that she could never keep her promise to her to take her on the ground team on her next mission, because Jack wouldn't even make it to the ground.
It wasn't the first time she had lost a soldier under her command. Losing a squad mate was one of the first - and most difficult - lessons any soldier destined for a commanding rank must learn. But a good commander knows that you must learn from the life lost, remembering that the soldier died honourably and died defending their people.
But this time, it dug underneath her skin. Perhaps it was because Jack wasn't Alliance, or perhaps it was because this had been her opportunity to start a life anew. The moment when Shepard had run into engineering to ensure the drive core hadn't overheated and she heard Jack's blood curdling scream; the associated feeling that her stomach had suddenly disappeared and left an gaping hole in its wake while she sprinted down the stairs, two at a time; her eyes falling on Jack's limp, motionless form with a still-smoking burn mark across her chest; Shepard's legs pumping as she sprinted towards her body to check for a pulse as she looked up to see the Oculus retreat; regardless of how much she denied it, regardless of how she would put on her Commander Shepard face and tell the crew to fight for Jack, regardless of the memorial that would doubtless be held where Shepard would say that Jack gave her life for humanity's safety, the tattooed biotic's ghost would forever haunt her.
Pull yourself together, solider. Let's focus on making sure the rest of them make it through.
As Miranda went over the schematics of the Collector ship, the only thing Zoey could focus on was how she felt that she could have done more for Jack. But she didn't. Was she was losing her morality, her protective nature?
Pull it together!
"Who do you want in the vents, Commander?"
She shook her head to clear it. "Legion, I want you in those vents."
"Who will lead the second strike team?"
"Miranda, I want you leading that second strike team. Garrus and Mordin will be on the ground team with me. Let's do this, people. For Jack!"
And for the love of God may the rest of you survive.
Legion's voice rang in her ear. "Requesting assistance, Shepard-Commander."
She blasted a biotic warp at the Harbinger-controlled drone. "Mordin! Use incinerate on that Harbinger bastard and take him out with your Tempest. Garrus, focus on the drones at your two o'clock, hit them with overload and take them out with your Mantis. I'll get the group at 10 o'clock and help Legion. Move out!"
Shepard summoned a biotic singularity into a group of guardians, sending them flying haphazardly through the air. Anger and frustration flooded through her veins as she killed each of them with clean headshots before sprinting to open the valve for Legion. She let out a breath of relief to see that the room was free of Collectors for the moment.
"Keep it up boys, we're almost there."
She led Mordin and Garrus into the next large room, and she knew right away it would be a challenge. "I'm getting readings for two venting stations in this room," Garrus said over the comm.
"Take cover, more incoming!" She dove into cover ahead of her and indicated for Garrus and Mordin to watch her flanks. "Garrus, I want you to focus on anything with shields. Take them out with overload and use your sniper rifle for as long as you can. Mordin, you focus on anything with armour, and Harbinger-controlled units when I take down the barrier. Use cryo blast on any drones that get too close. I'm going to focus on any barriers and provide support with my biotics. Let's do this!"
She poked up from cover and immediately took down an unshielded drone with her Carnifex, diving back under cover when she received fire from all sides. Standing back up, she used warp on a Harbinger-controlled unit to her left and swiftly turned right to take out another drone with her pistol. She went back in cover while her powers recharged, after a few moments respite jumping over her cover to send a drone flying with throw and aiding Mordin with the Harbinger unit before crouching under a more foreword cover.
"Requesting assistance, Shepard-Commander."
"On it, Legion."
The valve was to her left, but two assassins and a drone were in front of it and she was short on time. She took a calculated risk and summoned a singularity in the middle of the group before sprinting to open the vent, jumping behind cover to use pull on an incoming drone before shooting down all four Collectors.
"One more vent, Shepard!" Mordin shouted. She looked across the battlefield to see it at her far right, with about seven enemies in her path. She stood, used warp on the Harbinger unit to take down its barriers before Mordin decimated him with incinerate followed by an SMG clip to the head. Shepard jumped over the cover, used throw to send an assassin flying, killed a drone with two clean headshots, and heard Garrus use concussive shot on the drone directly in front of her before she dove back into cover. Her shields had gone down and she had been hit in the chest, so she hid for a moment to catch her breath and allow her wound to heal. When she looked back up from cover, Mordin and Garrus had taken out everything but two assassins behind cover, so she used shockwave and Garrus sniped one and she simultaneously shot down the other while they were in the air. Seeing that her route was clear, Shepard jumped over the cover and sprinted to the valve, letting out a sigh of relief when she made it in time.
"Get to the safe area, go, go, go!"
Garrus, Mordin, and Shepard sprinted to the open door, and when she took a chance to look back she saw that they were being followed by countless Collectors. Shepard dove into the door, another sigh of relief escaping her when she saw Garrus and Mordin make it in safely with the rest of the group.
"Legion, let's move!"
The doors were closing but the geth was still outside. She watched in terror as she saw him run with his back towards the door before being gunned down, his body sickeningly dancing in the air as it was filled with holes before he collapsed.
"LEGION!"
The heavy door slammed shut with a bang that resonated through the room. She sprinted to the closed door, banging her fist against it to no avail. She turned on her comm and cried, "Legion, come in. Legion! Come in, Legion. Come on, buddy, I need you here."
A hand rested on her shoulder, and when she turned it was towards the calm face of Thane. "He is gone, siha."
She swallowed down the emotion welling up inside of her, the grief threatening to overtake her, and pushed it into the deepest corners of her overburdened mind. "Alright people, let's move out." She took a moment to calm herself and analyze her surroundings, disgust rolling through her at the sight of the wide atrium, filled with hundreds of tubes sending who-knows-what to the central chamber.
They jogged briefly before encountering familiar pods to their left. Bile rose in her throat when she wiped the fog off of a pod to find a colonist inside, clawing at the glass and screaming before she was turned to liquid.
"Get these people out, now!" she screamed, using the butt of her SMG against the nearest glass. Panic struck her as she realized it was Kelly Chambers inside, fists pounding at the glass with panic in her eyes. But the glass broke, and Kelly escaped, gasping for air, and the rest of her squad managed to save her Normandy crew.
Anger filled Shepard as she listened to Doctor Chakwas's recollection of their escape and the processing of the humans. Her blood boiled with a need for revenge against the race that tortured and destroyed so many innocents, and that killed her friends.
Reality struck back, and a plan needed to be formed: she needed to send one of her team members to escort her crew, one of her ground team had to lead the second strike team, and someone with strong biotics was needed to create a shield to protect her squad. "Tali, I know you can fight well on your own with Chatika so I need you to make sure these people make it safely back to the ship. Samara, I trust that you'll be able to use a biotic shield strong enough for us to make it to the other end safely. Miranda, you did a great job leading the first fire team, make me proud and do it again."
"Thank you," Miranda whispered, inclining her head gently. Shepard hoped that the display of respect would repair their earlier disagreement.
Pausing to close her eyes and take a deep breath, Shepard followed Samara with Garrus and Mordin taking their respective positions at her flank. As the first wave of enemies attacked, Shepard growled and fought with an intense ferocity as a budding hatred for the Collectors filled her. Here was an enemy who destroyed so many without pause, and she planned to do the same to them.
She dove behind cover and summoned a powerful singularity, pulling together a group of husks before Garrus used concussive shot on one of the husks trapped in the vortex of dark energy, sending its limp form flying. Mordin was dutifully watching her six and used incinerate on a drone that was nearing them, its cries of pain providing fuel for Shepard's anger. She leapt out of cover and charged forward, each of her pistol shots hitting their target: the point right between each of the husks' eyes. As Harbinger took control of a drone before her, she switched to her SMG, commanding Garrus to hit it with concussive shot while she used warp, making quick work of its barrier. Mordin hit its armour with incinerate before Shepard destroyed the creature with an SMG round to the head, finishing off the wave by sending the last drone off an edge with a well-executed throw.
As they pushed on, Garrus felt a growing concern for Zoey. Her face had contorted into something consumed by rage, and each Collector was taken down like she held a personal vendetta. She continued to rush ahead, so he stayed within the protective biotic bubble and watched her six through the scope of his Mantis, taking out any possible threats. When one of the waves was down to one husk, he watched as Shepard slammed into the abomination with the butt of her SMG, sending it to the ground, before she came down hard on its head with her boot, a sickening crunch reverberating through the barrier. But she wasn't finished: she continued to bear down on its head, sending small pieces of flesh onto her armour, soaking her boots with blood.
"Shepard!" Garrus shouted, his stomach rolling with sickness at the sight before him. His voice seemed to bring her out of her trance and she turned to him, her teeth bared and her eyes wild. As soon as their eyes met her gaze softened and she stepped away from the body.
"Excessive violence. Rapid changes in emotion. Subject exhibiting signs of extreme stress, recommend-" Mordin's mutterings were silenced by Garrus's glare.
"Let's move," she muttered, turning to jog towards the door as soon as she realized how weak Samara was growing.
"Go!" Samara demanded as the asari looked behind her to see enemies coming from every direction. She summoned up the brunt of her biotic force and pushed it away from herself, sending the enemies flying as she breathlessly dashed through the door, her duty fulfilled as she saw that her commander was safe.
Garrus gripped his chest as he regained his breath, his eyes only for Shepard. She was pacing with her arms across her chest, a look of disgust on his face. He decided to take the risk and approach her.
"Shepard, do you need to talk?"
She nodded brusquely and turned to announce to the crew, "Take two to catch your breath everyone. Drink your water, reload your weapons, and check your shields." She took a swig of her own water and pulled him into a corner, her lip pulled back into a snarl. "I've lost two good people already. And this isn't over yet. All I want is to blow this place and all of its inhabitants straight to hell."
Garrus nodded firmly in agreement. "Aye aye, Commander."
She reloaded both her pistol and SMG while she analyzed the crew. They all looked exhausted, some injured, but all still at fighting strength. Joker reported back to her that both Tali and the crew had returned safely to the ship, awarding her a modicum of relief.
Shepard swallowed hard and climbed atop a slight platform, her eyes travelling across the small group of misfits that had become her ground crew. As her eyes locked on Garrus, distant words became an inspirational speech, images of Jack and Legion at the forefront of her mind as she encouraged revenge. Although the words came so naturally she would never be able to replicate them, the sound of her team cheering for her gave her the strength to jump down, pull out her pistol, and move forward.
Jacob commenced a round of "hoo-rah", which chorused through the rest of the group.
Impressed by his sudden display of enthusiasm, Shepard asked him and Mordin to join her in the last battle. She pulled Garrus aside before leaving.
"Garrus," she whispered. "I need you to keep an eye on the squad for me. This is going to be the hardest part for everyone and you're going to be the one who makes sure they make it to the other side. I trust you won't let me down."
"I won't, Commander," he said with a salute. "Good luck."
"You too."
More than anything he wanted to pull her close and hold her, but now was not the time. They would have all the time in the world when they were through this. He sent her a nod before pulling out his Mantis and jogging away, her returning smile so beautiful it carried him through the rest of the fight.
A loud sigh of relief escaped her lips. She had told The Illusive Man to stick it where the sun don't shine, and the cursed base was set to blow. The Reaper child was down. The Normandy was on its way to pick them up. They just had to find a way off this sinking ship.
She felt a hard lurch and was thrown off her feet and into the air, her breath sucked out of her chest as she was slammed against the ground, leaving her diaphragm aching. Crashes reverberated around her as multiple pillars fell to the ground.
Her eyes fluttered open, and she saw Jacob pinned underneath a pillar. She jumped up quickly, ignoring the spinning in her head as she sprinted to her fallen comrade.
"Jacob!" She summoned all her biotic strength to lift the pillar off of him, but he was still non-responsive. "Jacob!" She put her fingertips to his neck, but there was no heartbeat. "Jacob!" She placed her palms on his chest and began to push rhythmically, breathing into his mouth sporadically. "Jacob!"
The ground shook so violently it threw her away from his body and onto the ground again. Her heart plunged to the pit of her stomach when she realized that the ground was tilting, fast, threatening to sentence her teammates and herself into the abyss below.
"Jacob! Mordin!" she shouted, refusing to allow herself to be overcome by panic. Her body was slipping down the rapidly increasing slope, and she let out a cry of anguish when she watched Jacob's body slide over the edge.
Her gaze flitted around the platform as she searched for the salarian. She caught movement in the corner of her eye and she jumped up and sprinted towards Mordin, who was quickly sliding down the platform. Panic lit up his eyes as his arms desperately grasped but only found air. Shepard dropped onto her stomach, sliding quickly towards him, but he was nearing the edge. When one glove firmly grasped his hand while the other grasped a sturdy barrier, she let out a loud sigh of relief.
"Where's Jacob?" he shouted over the increasing rumble as Shepard pulled them to safety.
Her mouth was set into a hard line as she replied in a low voice, "We lost him. We need to go."
Shepard paced around the cargo bay, taking inventory of her team on a datapad.
Kasumi: Broken left collarbone and left wrist from crushing damage, otherwise healthy.
Zaeed: Healthy, only minor injuries sustained.
Tali: Sustained contusion to right thigh, being treated for potential infection.
Grunt: Heavy bruising on left side from fall, otherwise healthy.
Mordin: Healthy, only minor injuries sustained.
Miranda: Losing heavy amounts of blood from head wound, receiving transfusions. Broken right ankle.
Samara: Malnourished with minor head trauma, otherwise healthy.
Thane: Sustained gunshot wound to chest, currently receiving treatment but stable.
Garrus: Sustained severe contusion to stomach, currently receiving treatment but stable.
Jacob: Pronounced killed in action.
Jack: Pronounced killed in action.
Legion: Pronounced killed in action.