Chapter 52: Into the Jaws of Death

Author's Note: We'll leave Admiral Hackett now and go back to Shepard to see how he is doing. Some readers may recognize a few more homages to Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and other works.


The Normandy abruptly banked to starboard as the emergency thrusters fired. I quickly reached out and grabbed the back of Joker's seat before I went flying into the side of the cockpit. Thanks to Joker's piloting—and more than a little luck—we managed to narrowly avoid the Reaper's fire. Sadly, the same couldn't be said for the SSV Fort Albany, who ran right into the deadly beam and detonated.

"We're on our own, Commander," Joker reported tightly.

"Any way to get through to Earth?" I asked.

"Not in one piece."

I figured as much, but I had hoped that Joker might've seen something I missed. "All right," I said through gritted teeth. "Target the Reaper that just fired on us. Attack pattern omega!"

We flew towards the Reaper, breaking hard to port when the Reaper opened fire. This time, unfortunately, the Reaper managed to score a lucky hit. It was only a grazing shot, but it was enough to bring our shields down to fifty-one percent.

Then it was our turn. The Thanix cannon fired once, twice—both of which were blocked by the Reaper's seemingly impenetrable shields. Seeing that a straight attack run wouldn't cut it, Joker changed tactics. Even though the Normandy was oversized for a frigate, she could still fly circles around the Reaper. So that's exactly what we did. While Joker took the Normandy into a spiralling course up the main body of the Reaper, weaving around any weapon ports along the way, EDI opened up with the GARDIAN lasers. (1) At this close a range, the energy beams wouldn't be significantly affected by diffraction, and the rapid rate of fire would do more overall damage to the Reaper's shields. Plus, the recent upgrade to UV frequencies would give them an added punch.

Of course, all that constant usage would burn out the emitters. But that was the least of my concerns at the moment.

Things had started off so well. We crossed through the mass relay network into the Sol system, buoyed by the stirring speech Admiral Hackett had given. My heart soared at the sight of all those ships emerging—each and every one united by a common cause. Right off the bat, we destroyed no less than a dozen Reapers without suffering a single casualty. For a moment, it seemed like we could prevail.

Then things began to turn around. Our progress slowed down. Our casualties mounted. Worse, the Reapers began jamming our communications, so we couldn't talk to each other or coordinate any kind of plan. It was every ship for herself. The chances of making it to Earth orbit, deploying our Hammer ground forces and linking up with Anderson's resistance movement were growing increasingly dim.

But I couldn't think about that right now. All I could do was keep a lid on my growing despair and focus on surviving the next couple minutes.

The Reaper began to turn, trying to bring its weapons to bear. But the Normandy was still too fast for it. Banking into a sharp loop, she turned around and flew back in a reverse course, hammering the Reaper's shields with a relentless attack. Now and then, Garrus would supplement the GARDIAN fire with a shot or two from the Thanix cannon.

"We've punched a hole in the Reaper's shields," EDI announced.

"Nice shooting," I complemented her. "Target all weapons on—"

"Alert!" EDI cried out. "Six Oculus drones have locked on to us."

Great. This was just great. If we continued to press the attack against the Reaper and its weakened shields, the Oculi would be able to take us apart with impunity. If we tried to fly away and engage the drones, we'd give the Reaper a clear shot. I wracked my brain, trying to come up with a brilliant plan.

What I came up was... probably suicidal. "Head for its main cannon," I said, opening a comm channel to Garrus so he could listen in. "Line us up so we're directly in its path of fire."

Joker hesitated for a split second before carrying out my order. "Pattern suicide," he nodded. "Got it."

"EDI, monitor the Reaper as it charges up the cannon, extrapolate when it will fire and calculate the inbound velocity of the fired projectile. Factor our vector and Joker's reaction time. Tell him the instant he needs to move to dodge the Reaper's attack.

There was a pause. "Calculation complete."

"Calculate how far we need to fly to reach minimum safe distance from the beam," I added.

"Done."

"Joker, once EDI tells you we're clear, come to an emergency stop. Garrus, that'll be your cue to fire."

"Understood," Garrus confirmed.

Joker bit his lip. "Hope this works," he muttered.

Me too, I thought. Me too.

The Reaper opened its 'legs.' We saw it charge up its cannon, the light growing in intensity from a dim glow to a fierce blaze.

"Now, Jeff!" EDI shouted.

Joker promptly banked hard to port.

"Stop, Jeff!"

Joker's fingers flew over the controls. I lurched forward as the Normandy suddenly decelerated.

EDI's timing was perfect. The Reaper was unable to stop itself from firing another slug of liquefied molten metal, which sizzled through space at near-relativistic speed… to vaporize two of the Oculi. One of the remaining drones followed our flight path, but was unable to compensate in time and flew right into our rear shields, where it exploded. Another managed to dodge both the Reaper and the Normandy, only to fly right into the Thanix cannon's sights. I could hear Garrus's triumphant cry over the comm as he blew it to smithereens.

"That's four down!" Joker shouted, powering up the engines without waiting for my order. "The other two are coming around for another pass."

"Can you shake them?" I asked.

"I'm trying."

The Normandy shook again as one of the Oculi managed to land a direct hit. "We've lost aft shields," EDI reported. "Forward shields are down to thirty percent."

"Auxiliary power to weapons," I ordered. "We're going to fight our way out of this."

We flew around the Reaper again, firing at its main body as well as the pair of pursuing drones—all to no avail. I desperately tried to devise another crazy idea, but nothing came to mind. All I could do was stand there helplessly and watch as Joker used every trick he knew to keep the Normandy in one piece.

And then a volley of shots rained down from above, hitting the weak point in the Reaper's shields which flickered for five, seven, ten seconds… then collapsed. More shots bombarded the Reaper mercilessly, setting off a chain reaction along its hull before the entire thing exploded. The Oculi couldn't get clear in time and were caught up in the Reaper's death throes.

Looking at the tactical display, I realized we weren't the only ones. At least two other Reapers had been destroyed, while an additional eighteen were sporting serious damage to their shields. I found the ships that had struck at such a pivotal moment and pulled up their IFF feeds. "They're salarian," I said aloud.

"Better late than never," Joker snorted.

"Incoming message from Admiral Hackett," Traynor informed us over the comm.

That meant the communications jamming had been neutralized. The timing couldn't be better! "Patch him through," I ordered.

Hackett's face appeared on the screen. "Admiral," I said, managing to snap off a shaky salute without falling over. "Looks like we got a few more reinforcements."

"You can thank Director David for that. He didn't go into detail, but apparently it was not easy to persuade Dalatrass Linron to spare us any more ships, much less the First Fleet."

My eyes widened. I never thought the day would come when I'd be grateful to Eli David of Alliance Intelligence. "I'm just glad they could join us," I finally said.

Luckily, I didn't have to ponder that miracle for long. "Shepard," EDI called out, "the salarians have broken a hole in the Reaper lines!" (2)

As Hackett began issuing orders, I turned to Joker and smiled for the first time that day. "Think you can get us through?"

"You bet I can!" he crowed, fingers flying over his console. "Hang on!"

We drifted to port before suddenly diving to starboard, flying just below to the belly of a Reaper. Another half-dozen Oculi tried to intercept, only to be taken out by a squadron of fighters. I stared at the viewscreen as we frantically zigzagged back and forth.

"I'm a leaf on the wind," Joker whispered. "Watch how I soar."

We 'soared' through a mad frenzy of gunfire as eight or ten cruisers exchanged broadsides with a pair of Reapers. Another Reaper loomed in our way, forcing Joker into a desperate dive out of the way.

Almost out of the way. The Normandy shook again. "Forward shields down to fifteen percent!" EDI warned.

"It's okay," Joker reassured her. "I'm a leaf on the wind."

"I don't know what that means, but get this 'leaf' through in one piece!" I shouted.

Another Reaper got in the way. Joker pulled the Normandy up before we became a smear on its hull. Someone, I don't know who, began firing at the Reaper—and wasn't too picky about who was in the way. Only Joker's skill kept us from being hit by all the rounds flying around. Explosion after explosion burst out, seemingly following us as we soared along the hull. The Reaper crumpled under the barrage before a final, fiery explosion tore it in two. My eyes darted around wildly, looking for the next Reaper.

It took a while before I realized… there were none.

"We made it," Joker breathed. "We got through."

I don't know how long we stared at the empty battlefield before us, soaking in the peace and quiet, before I came to my senses. "Anderson's waiting for us," I finally said. "Set a course for Earth. EDI: have the squad assemble in the shuttle bay."

EDI nodded and got up from her seat. The two of us began to leave the cockpit.

"Commander."

Turning back, I saw Joker struggle to his feet. He bobbled for a moment before steadying himself against the headrest of his seat. Then he slowly raised his hand in a salute. "Be careful down there," he said quietly.

I returned the salute. "We'll be fine. Stay focused."

"Aye, aye."


The squad wordlessly geared up before boarding the shuttle, where Cortez was finishing his pre-flight checks. As soon as we were close enough, the bay doors opened and we took off. Another shuttle joined us as we flew into Earth's atmosphere.

We all sat there in silence, bobbing in our seats as we hit the occasional bout of turbulence. Some of us spent the time double-checking our weapons. One or two were deep in prayer. The rest just… sat there. Contemplating what lay in store for us. We all knew the stakes.

Under the circumstances, it seemed appropriate to play some music. Something solemn. Or dignified. Or something defiant, as a symbolic finger to the Reapers and all the suffering they'd caused.

"Buddy you're a boy make a big noise,
Playin' in the street gonna be a big man some day.
You got mud on yo' face.
You big disgrace.
Kickin' your can all over the place.
Singin'

"We will, we will, rock you.
We will, we will, rock you."
(3)

Well, one out of three ain't bad.

"Advance teams are away," Joker reported from the Normandy, interrupting my train of thought. "Hammer's in position and waiting for you guys to clear a path. Normandy's rejoining Sword."

"Stay safe," I said. "We'll be back before you know it."

"I'll hold you to that. Normandy out."

"We're closing in on the LZ, Commander," Cortez told me. (4)

"How's it look?" I said, standing up and stepping into the cockpit.

"Like hell… take a look for yourself."

I pulled up the shuttle's vid-cam footage, put it on a nearby display… and froze. Any thoughts of music were immediately and permanently dashed.

We were supposed to be flying over London. Even at this distance, we should have seen a gleaming metropolis standing tall, proudly greeting us as we approached. We should have seen lights glowing from the buildings, streets and skycars. We should have seen an earnest bustle of activity as the aforementioned skycars flew around. We should have seen people of all ages and species milling about as they went to work, ran errands or simply enjoyed themselves.

But all I saw was a ruined cityscape, stretching out as far as the eye could see. Derelict buildings stood amidst the rubble like enormous, blackened stumps. Broken wreckage of skycars and other vehicles lay strewn along the empty roads. Here and there, I could see a few streetlights casting a wan light… and a couple vehicles on fire, burning without end. Everything else was dark.

"God," James breathed, "it doesn't look like home anymore."

"I barely even recognize it," I managed.

Alarms began blaring through the shuttle. "Shit!" Cortez cursed. "Reapers got a lock on us. Hold on."

Energy beams began criss-crossing through the air, lighting up the sky with their brilliant intensity. Cortez kept us from being blown out of the sky.

Unfortunately, the other shuttle wasn't as lucky. "Damn it!" Cortez spat as a shuttle plummeted towards the ground, flames streaming from its starboard engine.

"Status," I said.

"We're fine," Cortez replied. "But I can't say the same for that other shuttle. They're going down. And we might be next. There's a lot of anti-air fire around here."

"Drop us off," I decided.

"Sir?"

"We can't complete the mission if we get shot out of the sky."

"Understood."

I returned to the cargo bay. "Change of plans, people. Seems the approach to the Hades Cannon is a little too hot, so Cortez is going to drop us off here. We'll make our way to the objective on foot and take the damn thing out—along with anything else that gets in our way."

"We're with you, Shepard," Liara nodded.

"Found a new LZ for you, but I'm picking up hostiles!" Cortez warned. "Be ready."

"You heard the man," I said. "Be ready to fire at will."

Cortez wasn't kidding. As soon as I opened the shuttle hatch, we spotted a trio of Cannibals, with another two fast approaching. "Team Two lay down cover fire!" I shouted. "All other teams: go, go, go!"

Activating my cloak, I sprinted to a nearby pile of debris, pulled out my sniper rifle… and paused as the entire ground shook. With such an unsteady surface, it was impossible to line up any kind of shot. By the time the shaking stopped and I was able to steady my aim, Team Two had joined us on the ground.

While I took out the Cannibal with a headshot, Liara deployed a singularity. Unfortunately, the ground shook again and threw her aim off. The biotic vortex materialized somewhere off to the left, where it grabbed nothing more than a garbage can. Teams Two and Three had a little more luck pummelling the other Cannibals with biotics and fireballs. EDI was the only one who managed to compensate enough to hit them with actual bullets. At least, until I turned around and started firing as fast as I could. Somehow, all of my shots landed.

No sooner did the last Cannibal drop than my sensors picked up a Marauder, coming over the top of a hill. Miranda immediately launched an EMP. James tried to follow up with a concussive round, but missed thanks to another tremor. Kaidan pitched in with a biotic blast while I reloaded my sniper rifle. I lifted it up, peered through the scope… and frowned as I spotted a fully intact set of shields. Did the Marauder recharge its shields? Already? How was that even possible?

Another tremor sent my field of view into a bouncing jitter. I watched for several seconds, as the Marauder's shield status began flickering between full strength and virtually nil, before realizing that there were two Marauders out there. Once the ground steadied, I spotted the Marauder with full shields and crippled them with a sniper round, then ordered Teams Two and Three to finish them off.

And what would Team One do, you ask? Why, deal with the Cannibal who showed up late to the party. I waited for the hostile to come into my sights, belatedly realizing that I could see Big Ben in the distance, and took the sucker out. (5) Then we dealt with the Marauder. And the second Cannibal that came hot on its heels. And another Marauder who came a few seconds later.

"Those hostiles are gonna keep coming over that hill," I finally said. "Team One will stay here and take them down. Everyone else: move up to the top of the hill. Once we've secured the high ground, we can start pushing towards the shuttle."

While Miranda and Garrus headed off with their teams, EDI launched an EMP towards the latest Marauder who'd come to greet us. I fired off a stream of plasma, squinting as a blinding beam of light shot into the sky. The ground shook again, and I realized that it was the Hades Cannon we'd come to destroy. All the tremors we'd been experiencing were the result of the recoil. By the time I'd blinked the floating spots from my eyes, EDI had finished the Marauder off.

"Damn," Cortez said over the comm. "I can't stay here, sir."

Right. With the Normandy rejoining the Sword fleets, it would be suicide for Cortez to return to the shuttle bay. The best thing he could do was provide air support, something that I should have thought of earlier.

"You got some company, Cortez?"

"Couple Harvesters on my six."

"Get clear and shake those bogeys," I replied. "You can come get us once we've taken that cannon out."

"Roger that. Cortez out."

Miranda opened a comm channel as soon as Cortez was finished. "Shepard, we've reached the top of the hill. Unfortunately, we're pinned down. We could use some assistance."

"Got it." I glanced at EDI and Liara. "You heard her. Let's move!"

We double-timed it up the hill, moving from cover to cover. My HUD picked up the positions of Teams Two and Three before I spotted the tracer rounds firing. It looked like they had found shelter in the ruins of some building. They had racked up quite a lot of kills, mainly because the Marauders and Cannibals had abandoned any semblance of tactics. Instead, the Reaperfied troops were charging en masse, using their sheer weight to soak up my squadmates' fire. If something wasn't done, my squad would be overrun. "EDI, EMP on that Marauder," I said. "Liara, stand by with a singularity."

EDI drained most of the Marauder's shields with her attack. My fireball took care of the rest. The resulting explosion also knocked over several hostiles. "Liara?" I prompted.

Liara picked her choice of location well: her singularity landed in the middle of the hostiles, effectively cutting the hostile forces in two. I decided to concentrate on the Reaperfied goons closest to us, starting by blowing a Cannibal's head off with a pair of shots. My last shot clipped another Cannibal, who promptly took a biotic blast and concussive round to the chest. Reloading, I fried another Marauder's shields, lined up another headshot and pulled the trigger.

Meanwhile, Tali's combat drone was harassing a pair of Cannibals. Javik was laying down cover fire while Garrus frantically climbed up a drainpipe to the roof, presumably to gain a better vantage point to deploy his sniper rifle. As for Team Two, they were firing a steady stream of biotics, plasma and concussive rounds to whittle down the closest Cannibals. I considered helping them out, then decided a nearby Marauder was the greater threat.

I fired a shot, knocking out its shields, before realizing that the Cannibal trying to flank us was actually the greater threat. By the time I took it out and turned back to the Marauder, the ground was shaking again and I couldn't line up a clear shot. After a few seconds, I gave up and let EDI and Liara finish it off while I set another Cannibal on fire.

As I finished it off, my comm lit up. Someone was transmitting on a standard Alliance frequency. I crouched down and patched the call through. "This is Captain Johnson," a female voice said. "Hammer's getting torn apart. We need those guns offline, now!"

Hammer? I thought the plan was for our Hammer infantry forces to wait until the Hades Cannons were taken out. But now this woman was saying that they were being 'torn apart.' Either the troop transports carrying them were being destroyed in orbit, or the ongoing space battle was forcing them to start their descent early. Whatever the reason, things were apparently going from bad to worse. We needed to finish this battle—fast.

Teams Two and Three were starting to make some headway, so it was up to Team One to deal with any reinforcements. I started by taking out a Cannibal with my sniper rifle. Liara snatched up another three Cannibals with her singularity, which EDI detonated with some plasma. Then we began putting them out of their misery, one bullet at a time. Looked like the end of this particular battle might be—

My thoughts were abruptly interrupted by an incoming message over the comm. "Cortez to Shepard."

"Shepard here," I replied. "I take it you managed to shake those Harvesters."

"Yes, sir. Did some recon on the way back. Thought you'd like to know I found that downed shuttle. It crashed about a klick from the Hades Cannon."

Hallelujah. Maybe there were some survivors who could join the fight. Even if there weren't, we might be able to salvage some additional weapons.

"You also have a couple Brutes on the way. ETA: thirty seconds."

Figures. "Thanks for the heads-up. Shepard out."

While we were waiting for the Brutes to show up, we might as well concentrate on the other hostiles. Maybe we could take them out now, before the Brutes arrived and forced us to split our firepower. It was with that in mind that Team One attacked the remaining Cannibals in earnest. We managed to make enough headway that the rest of the squad could finally leave their shelter. Spotting a pair of Marauders in the distance, Miranda and Garrus promptly fired off a pair of EMPs. James and Javik followed up with a concussive round and a biotic blast, respectively. Then Tali deployed her combat drone.

By this point, we still had several more Marauders and Cannibals running around. I scanned the battlefield, trying to figure out whom to focus on next… and nearly had a heart attack when I saw the Brute burst onto the scene. My earlier plan of mopping up the hostiles so we could deal with the Brutes on their own had just been dashed. Story of my life. Raising my sniper rifle, I barely kept myself from flinching at the range finder—which told me the monster was a mere twenty-nine metres away—and fired. I launched a fireball, which EDI ignited with her EMP. Then Liara hammered it with her biotics before I lifted my sniper rifle and squeezed the trigger. The Brute took a step forward… swayed from side to side… then collapsed with a thunderous crash.

Sadly, I couldn't afford to relax just yet. Cortez said 'Brutes,' as in plural. Which meant there was at least one more out there. Since I couldn't see it, I decided to take out a few more hostiles. Team One fired an EMP, a fireball and a biotic blast at a Marauder. That fierce barrage quickly ripped apart its shields, making it very vulnerable to a sniper round to the noggin. Team Two took out another Marauder in similar fashion. Team Three finished off a couple injured Cannibals before using the same tactic on a third Marauder. I landed a headshot on another Cannibal, pivoted, and fired another headshot at yet another Marauder. Seeing it was still standing, I set it on fire.

While this fight was going on, the Hades Cannons were still firing; each shot continuing to shake the ground. So I needed a couple seconds to confirm what my sensors were telling me: the second Brute had arrived. Motioning to Team One, I had Liara and EDI launch a one-two punch of biotics and plasma. Then I followed up with a pair of shots from my sniper rifle. And just like that, the Brute went down. That just left a Marauder and a pair of Cannibals, who were being taken apart by Teams Two and Three. Before I knew it, the battlefield was clear.

Huh. Maybe we could afford to split the squad after all.

"Two guns down," Johnson said over the comm, "but we still can't land."

Right. Back to work. I pulled up my tactical map to get my bearings, then highlighted the road we should take with a NavPoint marker. "Everyone reload and catch your breath," I said. "We head out in one minute."


Forty-five seconds later, we were back on the move, dropping the occasional Cannibal here and there. There wasn't much loot to be had, but I was able to scrounge up a half dozen thermal clips, which I distributed amongst the squad.

Then Cortez got back on the comm. "Damn it, you've got airborne hostiles inbound. Gonna try to keep 'em off you!"

"Careful, Cortez!" I warned, as the Hades Cannon fired again. I glanced at James. A slight flare of his nostrils was the only sign of concern he showed. Satisfied that James wouldn't be too distracted by the plight of his friend, I led the squad up a slope of debris.

We were about halfway up when we heard an explosion. Looking up, we saw a Harvester score a direct hit on a shuttle. Any hopes that it was someone else's shuttle were dashed when we heard Cortez: "Damn it, I'm hit."

We all froze.

"Steve!" James screamed, giving voice to what we all feared.

"I'm all right."

Oh thank God.

"You sure?" I asked a little too loudly as James visibly sagged in relief.

"Yeah. But I won't be picking you up. I gotta land this bird quick."

"Be safe. Send us your NavPoint when you've touched down. We'll try and send you backup as soon as we can."

"Haven't bagged enough hostiles and wanna take some of mine. Gotcha."

Well, if Cortez could crack jokes, he must have the situation under control. Satisfied, I led the squad up to the top of the debris pile, then motioned for them to stay put. After a quick recon under cloak, I rejoined them.

"Found the Hades Cannon," I reported. "Damn thing's as tall as a building, so it'll be easy to lock on. And Cortez was right about that downed shuttle: transponder signal puts it a hundred metres or so from here."

"What about the enemy?" Javik wanted to know.

"Three Cannibals. I'll assign targets for each team. Take them out fast and hard."

That was exactly what the squad did. Once the last hostile was eliminated, we began to sweep the area. Liara was the first to spot our objective. "There's the shuttle," she said. "Looks like its shields are still active."

"Unless we intervene, they won't last for long," Miranda said.

She was referring to the enemy gunfire bombarding the shuttle. We could hear the thunderous discharge from a Ravager, accompanied by the high-pitched chatter of the Marauders' weapons. We could see the shields flicker under the assault. There were definitely survivors from the crash but, as Miranda had said, they clearly needed some help. "Teams One and Two: focus fire on the Ravager. Team Three: target the Marauders. Weapons free."

I started things off with a fireball. EDI followed up with an EMP. Liara spent her turn with a biotic blast. Miranda, Kaidan and James pitched in with more fireballs, more biotics and a concussive round. While we were dismantling the Reaperfied artillery piece, Garrus and Javik were shredding a Marauder's shields and Tali—or, to be more precise, her combat drone—was harassing another.

Once the Ravager had been taken out, I began using Marauders as target practice. After their shields had been whittled away by EMPs, biotics, plasma and bullets, of course. While we were taking out hostiles, I was keeping an eye on the battlefield. As soon as I saw an opening… "Team One, we're heading to the shuttle. Teams Two and Three: cover our six and keep engaging the enemy. Let's go, go, go!"

EDI, Liara and I dashed forward, moving from cover to cover. Spotting another Marauder, I emptied a clip taking it out. EDI and Liara targeted another, draining its shields before I reloaded my sniper rifle and took its head off. Seeing the coast was clear, the team broke into a sprint.

A small hole opened up in the shields—just before we would have run into them—one large to accommodate the three of us. We dove through the hole and found cover behind a fallen pillar. An Alliance soldier gave me a nod before raising her arms. As I watched, the hole closed itself up. With some surprise, I realized that the 'shields' were actually biotic barriers that she was generating herself.

Once the barrier reformed, two more soldiers stood up and began firing at the closest Marauders. The woman soldier spared me a quick nod. "Lieutenant Harper," she introduced herself. (6) "You'll forgive me if I don't salute."

"Commander Shepard," I replied. "Under the circumstances, I think you can be excused. We saw your shuttle go down earlier and came as soon as we could."

"Welcome to the party, sir."

"Who's in charge here?" I asked.

Harper looked around helplessly. "Guess that's me. CO died in the crash."

"Gotcha. What's your sitrep?"

"We were sent to take out the Hades Cannon when our shuttle was shot down. CO died on impact, like I said, along with half our squad. We came under fire almost immediately. Lost two more men before I could summon a barrier. And we've been pinned down ever since."

"Well, you've done a good job so far," I said before registering what she said. "Wait—your barriers really blocked all that fire?"

She shrugged. "Practice makes perfect."

Damn.

Not that it helped us complete our mission. Do you have any idea how frustrating it was to be this close to our objective and not be able to do anything about it? To be honest, until you and your squad arrived, we thought we were goners."

It took a moment before I realized the gunfire had died down. In fact, I couldn't hear anything at all. Looking around, I realized that all the hostiles were down for the count. "Well, Harper, the coast is clear. Maybe you can complete the mission after all." I gestured at the Cain lying next to the shuttle. "Care to do the honours?" (7)

Her face lit up with a vicious grin. "Hell, yes!"

Harper dropped her arms—and the biotic barrier she'd been generating all this time—picked up the Cain and ran up into the open. Now that there weren't any hostiles running around, she was able to find a clear line of sight and charge it up. I couldn't tell if the glare came from the heavy weapon or the cannon it was aiming at. I couldn't even see when Harper pulled the trigger.

I did see the top half of the Hades Cannon obliterated in a fiery explosion. Just about everyone broke into cheers as the behemoth weapon toppled over and fell to the floor. "This is Commander Shepard," I said over the comm. "We've just taken out another Hades Cannon."

"Copy that," Johnson. "Last gun down. All Hammer teams, prepare for landing."

"Shepard," EDI suddenly said. "My sensors are picking up multiple contacts closing in on our position."

"Anybody, come in!" I said immediately. "We need extraction!"

"Good to hear your voice, Commander," a more familiar voice broke in.

"Cortez!" I said with relief. "The feeling's mutual. Any chance you could help us out?"

"Not for a while. Shuttle got banged up pretty good. Might be able to get her flying again, but not while I have to keep one eye out for hostiles. Already tangled with a couple Cannibals, and I doubt they were the last."

"Send me your NavPoint," I ordered.

It took a few seconds for the coordinates to come across. While I was waiting, I thought things over. A small group had a better chance at making it to Cortez, while a larger group had a better chance at holding down the fort and waiting for pickup. I could send one of my teams and integrate the rest of the squad with Harper's people, but that could lead to mix-ups and misunderstandings. Simply put, while Harper's people were undoubtedly skilled and competent, the fact of the matter was that I knew my people better than hers. And vice versa, come to think of it.

Which was why I came to a decision. "My shuttle got shot down too," I told Harper. "Sounds like it's in better shape, though. I need the three of you to rendezvous with my pilot and cover him while he makes repairs."

She glanced off into the distance. "Think you can hold out until we get back?"

"We'll do our best," I said, transmitting Cortez's NavPoint data. "You have your orders."

Harper snapped off a salute. "Copy that, sir." Standing up, she motioned to her companions. "You heard the commander, people. Let's double-time it."

As soon as they left, I got on the comm. "Cortez, we linked up with the survivors of that shuttle we saw go down. I'm sending them your way."

"I'll look out for them. Thanks, Commander. Be safe."

"You too." With that out of the way, I turned to the squad. "All right, listen up. I want Team One stationed here. Team Two, cover our left; Team Three go to our right. Be ready, people."


"Heads up," Garrus hissed. "We've got company."

He wasn't talking about the Cannibals coming towards us in twos and threes. Or the Marauders leading them. No, he was talking about the unholy shriek that set our teeth on edge and sent shivers down our spines. There was a Banshee heading our way.

My hand was already pulling out the Cain before the Banshee appeared. We might be able to hold out against incoming waves of Marauders and Cannibals with our usual bag of tricks, but we'd be hard-pressed to keep a Banshee from warping into our midst and ripping us apart. So I fired the Cain and vapourized the Banshee. I know, I know: sounds so casual when you put it that way. Like seeing a bunch of naked, grotesquely pregnant and Reaperfied asari and blowing them to smithereens with a hand-held nuke is just another Monday.

Welcome to my life.

As soon as the din from the nuclear explosion subsided and I could hear myself think, I opened a comm channel. "This is Commander Shepard. Any Alliance personnel in the vicinity?"

Nothing but static. And the growls of hostiles. Cortez didn't respond, hopefully because he didn't want to clog the airways—and draw attention to his position—just to repeat what I already knew. For now, we were on our own.

By this point, the first wave of hostiles were within range. "All teams: pick your targets." I glanced at my ammo counter, suppressing a wince at the realization that I only had thirty-nine shots left for my sniper rifle. "Fire at will."

I started things off by sniping two Cannibals while EDI and Liara set a third on fire—before blowing it up. To my left, Miranda and Kaidan had targeted two Cannibals with their biotics. James took care of one with a concussive round, then fired a quick burst of gunfire into the other. Over on my right, Javik had knocked a Cannibal over with his biotics. Seeing that the hostile was still moving, Garrus finished it off with a concussive round of his own.

Reloading, I saw three groups of Cannibals converging on our position. Tali kept one occupied with her combat drone. "Liara, drop a singularity on the left group!" I shouted. "All teams, concentrate fire on the centre group!"

Sure enough, Tali's drone and Liara's singularity took several hostiles off the board. It was only temporary, mind you, but it was enough to funnel the remaining horrors into a kill zone. Each of us racked up at least two kills, and we weren't done yet.

Reloading, I noted that I was down to thirty-three shots. Crap.

"Shepard!" Garrus cried out urgently.

Looking over to the right, my eyes widened: the Cannibals had destroyed Tali's drone and broken through. Nearly a dozen of them were now barrelling down on our position. "Team Two: detonate the singularity and hold the left," I ordered. Everyone else focus fire on the right!"

Hoping that Miranda and her team could handle things on their own, I concentrated on the more immediate problem. EDI and I started things off with twin streams of plasma, while Liara deployed a singularity. Team Three followed up with EMPs and biotics, carefully planted to cause a series of detonations. That managed to wipe out six or seven Cannibals right off the bat. I quickly fired three shots, ejected the thermal clip and reloaded, not even caring that I only killed two hostiles. The others could deal with the remaining three.

It was the Marauder and its band of growling Cannibals I was more worried about.

I quickly fell into a steady rhythm. Cloak. Shoot, shoot, shoot. Eject. Reload. Plasma. Cloak. Shoot, shoot, shoot. Eject. Reload. Plasma. Turn to the other side of the field. Cloak. Shoot, shoot, shoot. Eject. Reload. Plasma. Cloak. Shoot, shoot, shoot. Eject. Reload. Plasma. Turn to the other side of the field.

On and on it went. In some dim corner of my mind, I knew the rest of the squad was barely holding on. We were raining biotics, plasma, bullets… everything but the kitchen sink. (8) Scores of hostiles lay dead or dying around us, a grim testament to the murderous toll we were wreaking on the enemy. But for every Cannibal or Marauder we killed, two more seemed to take its place. Even for a squad used to plunging headlong into deadly situations and overwhelming odds, this was bad.

And then the worst thing imaginable happened: I ejected my thermal clip, reached down to my belt… and came up empty. I slapped my palm around the belt, looked down and realized that I was empty. "Shit!" I spat.

I only had time to holster my sniper rifle before the next wave of Cannibals came barrelling in. Most of them came up short, overwhelmed by the onslaught pouring out from the weapons of my squadmates. But a few kept on coming. Igniting my omni-blade, I thrust forward and stabbed one right through the heart. Pulling the blade out, I swung it upwards and decapitated the other threat.

"Shepard!" Miranda shouted. "We need to fall back!"

A quick glance was enough for me to agree with her assessment of the situation. "Team Three, fall back to the shuttle and—"

I never got to finish issuing my orders. A Harvester flew overhead and sprayed the battlefield with its cannons. We all instinctively ducked, launching a couple plasma bursts or biotic blasts. The flying monstrosity flew away, but the damage was done: the brief reprieve caused by its presence allowed the Marauders and Cannibals to overrun our position. Those of us who still had room switched to heavy pistols and shotguns. Everyone else began wailing away on the closest hostile with omni-blades, frantically hacking and slashing as if our lives depended on it—because they did.

I cut the legs out from under one Cannibal, sliced it open… and slipped on its intestines. Another Cannibal promptly pounced on top of me. Instinctively, I gave it a good headbut, then landed a savage punch as it reeled back. The crack made as its neck broke was drowned out by the discharge of James's shotgun. Shoving the Cannibal aside, I tried to get up, only to be knocked back down by yet another Cannibal. As I struggled, I saw a Marauder stare at me with glowing, unblinking eyes. It raised its assault rifle… aimed…

…and staggered as a hail of gunfire bombarded its shields, draining them to nothing in the blink of an eye. It turned around to face the new threat. Then its head exploded. The Cannibal was taken out a moment later. I looked up… and saw a very familiar face. One I'd been thinking of and worried about since this damn war began.

"Shepard," Anderson greeted me. "Heard you needed an evac." He motioned to a half-dozen troops, who were attacking the myriad hostiles with a vengeance. "We came as fast as we could."

"Anderson!" I grinned. "You magnificent son of a bitch!"

"That's son of a bitch, sir," he joked, bending down to push the dead Cannibal off me. "Now I know you helped take out that Hades Cannon, but that doesn't mean you can lie down on the job."

"Funny," I deadpanned, accepting his outstretched hand and letting him pull me up. Reaching down, I pulled out my submachine gun. At least that weapon still had ammo.

While Anderson was busy saving my butt, his soldiers had taken the pressure off my squad, enough for them to reload and rejoin the fight. We had just about finished off the last of the hostiles in the immediate vicinity.

Which was good, because my HUD was starting to light up with contacts. "Now then, Anderson, you mentioned something about an evac? 'Cuz I think it's time to fight another day."

"Agreed," Anderson nodded, activating his comm. "Major Coats, LZ is clear but hostiles are inbound."

"We see them. Touchdown in ten seconds. Prepare for extraction."

Within seconds, we could see the hostiles that our sensors picked up. Cannibals, dozens of them. They scrambled over every available surface like a ravenous swarm, eager to riddle us with bullets or tear us apart limb from limb. Thankfully, we could also hear the howl of engines. Five seconds later, a pair of Kodiak shuttles dropped out of the sky. They quickly decelerated, swinging around and opening their hatches to reveal a soldier armed with a Hydra missile launcher. Several husks were wiped out in the barrage of missiles, vanishing in a flash of fire and smoke.

Unfortunately, there were still more hostiles. They emerged from the smoke one by one and began shooting back. "Come on!" Coats yelled from one of the shuttles. "We'll cover you!"

"You heard the man," Anderson urged. "Let's move!"

We all broke cover and sprinted for the shuttles; Team Three and most of Anderson's group ran to one while the rest bee-lined for the other. Coats felt the need to tell us to hurry as a couple shots ricocheted off the shuttle's armour. Before long, we were all safely aboard.

Coats fired off a few more shots before closing the hatch. "Get us out of here, Corporal," he told the pilot.

"Yes, sir."

"You okay?" Coats asked me.

"We're alive," I replied.

"That you are, Commander," Anderson said.

"It's good to see you face to face, Anderson," I said.

"Likewise, Shepard. You're a sight for sore eyes."

We exchanged salutes. Then, formalities observed, I gave the man a heartfelt bear hug. "How're we looking?"

"Now that the heavy air defences are dealt with, Hammer can land," Anderson said.

"And not a moment too soon," Coats added.

"As we discussed, what's left of the resistance is holding a Forward Operating Base," Anderson continued. "But the Reapers are countering already. Once we regroup, it's gonna be up to Hammer to take up the fight."

"It must've been brutal here," I shook my head. "Cut off from the rest of the Alliance."

Anderson shrugged. "It's been touch and go from day one. But once we figured out the Reapers were focusing on the major centres, it became easier to avoid direct contact."

"Until London," Coats said darkly.

"Yeah," Anderson nodded. "We held back as long as we could, but we had to start sending in recon teams eventually. Lost a lot of good men and women planning this attack. But with soldiers like Major Coats here, and knowing you'd bring us help… we held on."

"Without you and your resistance, we'd be dead in the water," I said.

"Here, here," Coats chimed in. "The admiral's being modest. He's the reason any of us are still alive."

"Let's not start handing out medals just yet," Anderson cautioned. "This fight's just getting started. And Hammer better be ready for it."

"They didn't start out together, but they're ready to stand side by side and win this war," I promised.

"Good," Anderson said. "That's what it's gonna take." He looked out the window. Anything else he was going to say died in as his eye caught one of the viewscreens… and the devastation below. A look of dull horror and despair crept over his face.

"We'll get it done, Anderson," I told him.

He nodded absently, his attention still focused on the viewscreen. "I was born in London," he said quietly.

"Really? I didn't know."

Anderson nodded again. I had the sense that he had let his defences down, just for a second, to let all his private worries, doubts and anguish come through to the surface. As painful as it was to see, I felt privileged that he was willing to show this side of himself. (9)

He took a second to pull himself together. When he spoke again, it was with his usual booming voice. "The entire galaxy united at last… too bad it took the Reapers to show us what we had in common."

"The Reapers may have given us a common enemy," Miranda said, "but Shepard's the one who brought us all together."

"That's exactly what I meant." Anderson stepped forward and clapped me on the shoulder. "I know you didn't like leaving, Shepard, but nobody else could've accomplished what you've done. I knew you wouldn't let me down."

Hearing those words… I'd been plagued with doubts and self-recrimination ever since I left Anderson behind on Earth. No matter the reasons, no matter how I rationalized my actions, it had always felt like I'd abandoned him. But now, with a few simple words, it felt like a giant weight had been lifted off my shoulders.

"It's good to be back home," I said simply.

"Coming up on the FOB," the pilot called out.

"FOB looks good," Anderson said, pulling up a report on his omni-tool. "Wish I could say the same for the landing zones."

Craning my neck, I read the details over his shoulder. "Lot of resistance at some of those sites."

"That resistance won't go away any time soon," Anderson sighed. "The longer we wait, the greater the likelihood that our reinforcements will be shot out of the sky.

"Give Hammer the all-clear," he told Coats. "Tell them the FOB is secure, but they'll be coming in hot. Once they have boots on the ground, they'll have to fight their way through to link up with the rest of us."

"Copy that."


(1): Unlike the Thanix cannon, a starship's GARDIAN (General ARea Defence Integration Anti-spacecraft Network) is under computer control. Unless the targeting sensors are offline, the only role of the gunnery control officer—Garrus, in this case—would be to turn the system on and designate hostile targets.

(2):
Hackett had ordered the First Fleet to strike the Reapers from behind in a single pass before proceeding to reinforce the Alliance Seventh Fleet, Salarian Third Fleet and Turian Sixth Fleet, who were regrouping near Europa to counter another Reaper armada.

(3):'We Will Rock You,' written by Brian May and recorded by the human rock band Queen for their 1977 album 'News of the World.'

Shepard had, in fact, planned to broadcast this music to the fleets after Hackett gave his speech. However, he changed his mind at the last minute, feeling it would be confusing at best and disrespectful at worst.

(4): Landing Zone.

(5): A human nickname that was initially applied to the Great Bell of the clock at the north end of the Palace of Westminster. It is unclear whether the nickname was in reference to Sir Benjamin Hall, who oversaw the Great Bell's installation, or the heavyweight boxing champion Benjamin Caunt. Over time, the nickname was expanded to include the clock, the tower and the bell collectively, though this convention was not universally adopted, and became a cultural symbol of the United Kingdom.

(6): Some readers may recognize Cora Harper, who would eventually retire with the rank of major. Early in her career, she had been transferred from the Systems Alliance military and the Citadel Council's Valkyrie Program—a subset of their interspecies military integration program—to the Asari Republics and the commando unit known as Talein's Daughters. When the Reaper War began, she returned to the Alliance, where she resumed her rank of lieutenant. The barrier she generated to protect the shuttle and her surviving squadmates was a direct result of her high biotic potential and huntress training.

(7): Shepard clearly realized that Lieutenant Harper and her squad needed the satisfaction of taking out the Hades Cannon that killed so many of their comrades.

(8): A human idiom meaning almost everything one can reasonably think of, often to the point of excess. Given the dire circumstances we faced, I believe we can be forgiven for a little excess.

(9): I believe we all were.