They ran across rooftops, avoiding fire and taking out Reaper troops that had started to crawl about the city before forcing their way into a small building. The doors were jammed, the electrics busted as Annie used her back and arms to push it open so Anderson could squeeze through. But then a noise caught her attention. She glanced towards Anderson and then returned to the empty room they'd come from, tracking the noise to an air vent in the corner. Quietly she knelt down, coming face to face with the young boy she'd seen outside earlier.
"Hey," she smiled, "it's going to be okay." But the boy just crawled backwards, shaking his head.
"Everyone's dying." A pang of sadness hit her stomach but it did not show in her face.
"Come here, I can take you some place safe," she held out her hand, the building trembling from another attack. But the boy was scared as he shook his head, taking another few shifts backwards.
"You can't help me," Annie felt her stomach flip, glancing over as Anderson called to her. But when she turned back…the boy was gone.
"Annie, come on!" He shouted again as Annie gave a silent prayer that he would be okay. Certainly she wasn't religious, but at this point it couldn't hurt.
They got back into the other room, starting to shuffle across a thin ledge as Anderson started grumbling about what was happening. "This is a damned mess. Every second we're here crawling around in this, thousands die." The reminder didn't help Annie any as she nodded.
"That's worst part of it all, isn't it? No matter how hard you try…you can't save them all." Anderson gave a solemn nod only for another zap to shake the building. Annie lost her balance, beginning to fall forward as Anderson reached over and tugged her back against the wall. "Thanks," she breathed, hoping from the ledge onto more solid ground, "I owe you one."
"More than one," he responded and Annie knew he was right. That man risked everything for her ever since they met all those years ago. She would never forget that.
The two continued running, watching as buildings disintegrated under the Reapers energy beams. One smacked down only a few hundred meters from them, the sonic wave slamming them into some knocked over debris and breaking whatever it was that was holding the platform up. Annie tumbled down the metal roof, skidding along it till she rolled to a painful stop. Her elbows were cut, stinging from the dirt that had gotten into them, but otherwise she was good as they continued onwards to the landing site. Though as they proceeded Annie started to worry that were would be less and less chance for a landing pad to even be waiting for them.
It was a fight to the finish as the Normandy came swooping in, her crew shooting at the Cannibals that had started to swarm the pair. Quickly Annie and Anderson ran up a nearby ramp, the commander leaping onto the opened cargo door only to turn back. Anderson stopped at the edge of the ramp and Annie felt her heart fall. "Come on…David, please." She felt like a child all over again, watching her mother just before she died. But the man shook his head.
"I'm sorry, Annie, I'm not going. You saw those men back there. There's a million more like them, and they need a leader." He could see she wanted to go back, that she was ready to abandon her crew to stay with him. "This is a fight we can't win without your help, Annie. We need every species and all their ships to even have a chance at winning this war. You're the only woman I know of that can do that. Go to Citadel, talk to the Council and convince them to help us."
"What if they don't listen?" Annie's voice sounded sharp and panicked. Unnatural to the rest of the world.
"Make them listen. Now go! That's an order!"
"I don't take orders from you anymore, remember?" Annie smirked as the man plucked a set of dog tags from his pocket, as if knowing all along he'd be handing them off to her.
"Consider yourself reinstated then, Commander. You know what you have to do. Make me proud, Annie." Annie nodded, the ship taking off as Anderson stepped back
"Will do, sir," she whispered to herself watching as Alliance shuttles touched down from all around, collecting as many survivors as they could. But her eyes keyed in on a familiar sight, the young boy in his bright white hoodie looked up at her ship before running into one of the shuttles. Annie smiled, watching the door close and the shuttle take off to safety. But suddenly there came the terrifying bang and Annie watched as the shuttles were shot out of the sky. She gripped the amulet around her neck tightly, closing her eyes as she took in a deep breath. It was time to be strong.
Annie received a message from Admiral Hackett, directing them to Mars. Apparently there was something important in the archives there but all Annie heard was that Liara had been researching there. "What the hell is going on? Where's Anderson? Where are we going?" James snapped as Annie ignored him, continuing over to her armor to check it over before beginning to strap it on. "Hey! Where are we going?"
"We're leaving," Annie muttered, finishing the buckles on her breastplate.
"What? Leaving?" James's scoff was heavy, head shaking in disagreement.
"Anderson wants us to go get help from the Council."
"Bullshit, he wouldn't tell us to just leave." Annie clenched her fists, turning and leaning up close to James' face.
"We don't have a choice. Earth needs the support or this war is as good as over. I don't want to leave as much as you do, but Anderson is right, we have to get help." There was a pause as Annie gave a small sigh, checking to make sure her pistol was fully loaded. "We're going to Mars. There's apparently something important in the archives that could help us. We need to make sure we get there before the Reapers do."