Once the Normandy had reached the Arcturus System the frigate navigated through the debris filled system on its way to Euler System. The remains of the First and Fifth fleets, Arcturus Station, the refuel, maintenance and discharge stations, and orbital defense fortresses littered a large swath of space after the ill-fated Battle of Arcturus and presented a deadly problem for the Normandy which had to navigate through it all to exit the system for the journey to Euler System.
Being in Arcturus System, the cold grave for tens of thousands of humans whom had died during the battle, was a somber experience for the sailors and Marines on the Normandy, it reminded them that they had to be vigilante as they were in enemy territory and the Reapers could have left behind Oculi and other automated defenses in the debris field while they focused on Benning.
The Normandy's stealth system was active and it was traveling undetected through the Arcturus System while the Reaper IFF transponder device was broadcasting, and EDI had readied transponder codes so she could seamlessly swap in simulated synthetic intelligence identifiers just in case they encountered any sort of Reaper activity. Thankfully no opposition was met, the Reaper forces were focusing on Benning or if there had been any Oculi hiding in the debris field they did not detect the Normandy.
The flight through the Euler System had been quick, and it was evident that the Battle of Euler System was lost, it was a Reaper victory although the Navy evacuations had been somewhat successful as close to two million inhabitants had been evacuated from Benning on cargo ships and civilian spaceliner ships escorted by Navy warships. Sadly the remaining populace had to be left behind due to the overwhelming number of enemy forces.
A little over 40 minutes after entering Euler System, the Normandy reached a point a few million kilometers away from Benning and dropped out of light speed. Shepard had arrived a couple of minutes earlier in the cockpit and hovered near Joker's seat and was glancing at the scans the Normandy was running. The Reapers assault through the system was evident from the intelligence Hackett had supplied; scientific space stations and colonies had all been destroyed and now the Reaper forces were focusing their attention on Benning. With communication cut from the system, all intelligence was several days old and Shepard didn't know if more Reaper forces had arrived, or even if the N-series Marines had been killed or indoctrinated.
Joker watched his interface and the scans running with an impassive face, but beyond his professional exterior he was worried, and more specifically about Tiptree, and his sister and father. Tiptree, like Benning, was a human colony and there was nothing that stopped the Reapers from heading there. In the back of his mind he knew sooner or later more and more colonies would fall to the Reapers, and the Alliance couldn't protect every planet, and as Benning showed, they were also unable to evacuate colonies. He knew some colonists had fled Tiptree, but his father was stubborn as ever and stayed, plus securing a flight out of Tiptree wasn't easy. Or cheap.
Joker's mind was filled with memories from Tiptree, but also his time on Arcturus. He clung on to his childhood, and happier times. It was easier that way. Somehow suppressing the abhorrent reality of what was going on around the galaxy helped, but he knew it was not only futile, but cowardly to flee and hold on to memories. He had left his sister for the Academy and flight school – what? – 13 years earlier? Yeah, four years in the Arcturus Naval Academy and followed by two years flight training…leaving Hilary on Tiptree. But what could he do now if he had stayed? He was a cripple, he had only completed boot camp with the help of protective suits which strengthened his body due to his condition. He was no soldier like Shepard so he couldn't do much to protect his sister anyway. At least not without flying a spaceship with a giant cannon. There was so much suffering out there, in the grand scheme of things, what did his and his family's trouble matter?
"No Reaper signatures in space?" Shepard asked.
Shepard's voice brought Joker away from his dark thoughts to the mission at hand. The pilot looked over his interface and replied despondent about the slaughter on Benning, "Negative, they're all on Benning's surface. I got a couple of batarian contacts in Benning's orbit, but they don't know we're here."
"Alright, stay away and don't initiate any sort of contact with hostile forces," Shepard instructed.
"You got it, Commander."
"EDI, scan the radio frequencies supplied by Hackett and see if you can find the Marines."
Communicating with the Marines on the planet wasn't fool proof. Anything left static far too long was going to become compromised even with state-of-the-art Alliance encryption, so they had to be quick when talking with the MSOT.
"Yes, Shepard. Standby." EDI sent out requests across the spectrum of frequencies they had. The encrypted radio channels EDI connected to found compatibility and a few moments later she replied, "Shepard, I've a beacon transmitting, the codes seem to be that of the stranded Marines. Patching it to the intercom. Tracing location."
Shepard spoke, "Raider 1-6 Actual, come in. This is Normandy Actual. Over."
A soft woman's voice, English dialect with a tinge of Indian, was heard in the intercom. She was evidently tired and distressed, but relieved at the same time, "Normandy Actual, this is Raider 1-6 Actual. I am glad to hear a friendly voice. Are you our pick up?"
"We are," Shepard reassured calmly. "What's your status? Is your squad intact? Any injuries?"
"All twelve of us are alive and kicking, we've scrapes and burns, but we're fine. We've been running and hiding from batarian SIU hunter teams for days now. We've had minor skirmishes but have managed to stay away from major enemy concentrations."
"Where are you now?"
"In an abandoned apartment complex in a suburb to Joughin," the woman replied.
"What's the situation on the ground?"
"Our AO appears to be empty of indigenous personnel and hostiles for the moment. But we hear fighting in the distance, and have heard and seen Destroyers." She continued appalled, "It's been hell down here, sir. The Reapers and batarians have been rounding up people and are moving them into death camps in the outskirts of the city, the resistance is fighting but I don't know how much good that will do."
Shepard asked gently, "First Lieutenant Malaney, right?" He sensed her uneasiness about the entire situation.
"That's affirmative."
"I know it's difficult with civilians dying, but I need you to focus to keep your squad in one piece," Shepard explained sympathetically. "Your main concern is to get them out of there. As hard as it is, 12 Marines can't save a planet from a Reaper invasion force, let alone a city or a colony."
"I know," Malaney conceded low. She prodded with interest, "There is only one warship in the Navy named the Normandy…?"
"Yes, Lieutenant. It's that Normandy," Shepard explained.
"Wow…" Malaney uttered surprised as it slowly dawned on her who she was talking to. "Sir, the Task Force commanders told us to sit tight for a rescue…but I could never have imagined…"
"Just remain where you are and we'll get you out of there. Standby one moment, Lieutenant." Shepard called out, "EDI, closest landing/extraction zone?"
"There seems to be a soccer field a kilometer south of the Lieutenant's position," EDI explained. "A wide open area, but there is a residential area 60 meters north of the field, but it doesn't encircle the soccer field. My scans show no Reaper encampments nearby."
Malaney interjected, "I know where that is, Commander. I got maps of the city on my omni-tool. Do you want us to rendezvous there?"
Shepard considered the tactical aspects of it. You always wanted to try and avoid landing inside a hostile urban area, there were too tight quarters and high vantage points for the enemy to ambush the rescue force. The shuttle was always the most vulnerable when on the ground – lacking speed and maneuverability – and with incoming gunfire and explosive ordnance the Kodiak and its occupants would be shredded to pieces. And Malaney had to lead her squad to the soccer field slowly and methodically so not to draw the attention of the enemy. Walking a kilometer could take ten minutes or less, but trying to avoid the enemy in a war torn town and that walk would take considerably longer.
Finally Shepard said, "Yeah, get there, Lieutenant. We will pick you up from the soccer field." Shepard instructed the AI, "EDI, send her the necessary squad comm channels so she can talk to me."
"Transmitting data," EDI replied.
"Lieutenant," Shepard continued. "Keep us posted on your progress."
"Copy that, Commander. I'm receiving encrypted information on my end."
"Good. I'll be in touch soon, Lieutenant. Keep safe. Normandy out."
"Raider 1-6 out," Malaney replied and the feed was shut down.
"EDI, send all mapping information to Steve and James so they can plan the flight. Issue orders to the team to suit up and forward the updated maps to everyone's omni-tools."
"At once, Shepard."
Shepard arrived in the Cargo Bay in his combat armor and with his helmet fastened to his harness. He stepped out into the armory which was full of activity as the team had already assembled, pillaging their lockers for weapons and fastening them to their armors. They were grabbing thermal clips, smoke grenades, flashbangs and fragmentation grenades from the separate crates nearby and stuffed their pouches full. Cortez was already doing final checks inside his shuttle near the armory, Vega was upfront readying his shuttle, and engines were idling.
At one of the workstations Shepard saw Grunt hovering in his combat armor.
Shepard approached the tank born krogan. He had been cleared from the infirmary a day earlier, his body was sore after Utukku, but other than that he was healthy thanks to the wonders of modern medicine. Grunt had appeared his usual self around others but whenever Shepard was alone with him, the human noticed the krogan was glum. Shepard knew Grunt never admitted it fully out of pride, but he was seeking advice from his Battlemaster on how to cope with the pressure of leadership. The deaths of his men were still affecting Grunt.
Shepard stopped near Grunt, "Grunt? What are you doing here?"
"I want to come along. You're going out on a mission. Fighting Reapers. Or batarians." He shrugged, "Killing either works for me. I'm fit for duty, Battlemaster."
Shepard leaned in and whispered, "You sure? I can't have an injured team member endangering the lives of others, you know."
Grunt nodded and promised, "I'm fine, Shepard. I won't let you down."
Shepard nodded and pointed at the weapons racks on his right, "Grab a gun and thermal clips. We're leaving within minutes." With Vega flying the second shuttle he could need the extra gun on the ground.
Grunt nodded and strolled over to the row of weapon racks in the far corner of the armory and scrutinized the selection of weapons while Shepard headed over to his locker and grabbed his weapons. The rest of the team were ready to go and waited at the workstations for a final briefing.
It was like Christmas for the krogan, so much to choose from. His eyes stopped at a light machinegun, a M289 Typhoon from Hahne-Kedar. It was widely used by Alliance Armed Forces to provide suppressive fire and hammer the enemy. It had a face shield on both sides of the weapon to protect the user and it had a bipod attached under the barrel so the weapon could rest on the ground, a low wall, or other object, and in turn increasing accuracy. Although for a krogan the recoil was not an issue. Grunt grinned and grabbed it from the rack and felt the weight of it in his hands. A bit heavy for humans, but not so much for krogan. This particular weapon was equipped with a non-magnifying Mark 2 Multi-purpose Aiming Reflex Sight.
Shepard approached Grunt with an amused smile and the krogan peered over his shoulder at his Battlemaster, his grin had widened considerably.
Shepard stopped near Grunt nodded approvingly, "It's definitely you."
Grunt chuckled menacingly and quickly holstered it and also grabbed a M24 Crusader shotgun for good measure. During the Collector mission Shepard had always dictated a minimum of one spare weapon for everyone going out, and Grunt still adhered to that.
Shepard ordered, "Grab ammo and let's go."
"On it, Shepard," Grunt said and turned to the crates with thermal clips and grenades and stuffed his pouches.
Shepard turned to the team waiting, he was taking everyone with him for the mission. He called out, "Steve! James! Get over here! Briefing time!"
The two pilots left their cockpits and rushed over to the workstations and soon Grunt joined at Shepard's side.
"Okay, a few quick things before we leave," Shepard began. "I know this is rather quick and blunt, we have no solid plan and dated intelligence, but we're flexible."
"Semper Gumby, always flexible," Vega joked from the back row. As he wouldn't be groundside he didn't wear his combat armor, only his regular set of BDUs.
"First, we can't be sure if the Marines are indoctrinated or not so keep your head on a swivel when we make contact, there's a risk this is a trap." Shepard continued. "Second, we're in enemy territory and I don't want to stay here longer than necessary so no heroics." Shepard said evenly, "We aren't here to help the civilians, we can't help the civilians; we've only one ship so we can't evacuate." He turned to Cortez in the back row, "You got a flight plan of sorts, Steve?"
Cortez nodded, "Yeah, I looked over the maps from EDI. I can set us down on the soccer field."
Shepard interjected, "The soccer field is the primary LZ, that way we don't land right in the middle of the hornet's nest if the Marines are compromised. I want detailed sensor sweeps of the immediate AO before landing and we only land once we know they're nearby so we don't stay on the ground for too long."
Both Vega and Cortez nodded.
"Good," Shepard said. He faced Vega, "James, I want you in the air as cover. Once we have clearly identified the Marines you can land on my command."
"You got it Commander," the burly Marine replied.
"Okay," Shepard nodded approvingly. He peered over the assembled and informed, "Extraction then. There are 12 Marines down there so we split them up, 6 in each Kodiak. But I also want to split our team in half to keep an eye on them during our egress. If anyone turns out to be indoctrinated and turn on us, weapons free. I'm not risking any of you, the Kodiaks or the Normandy to indoctrinated. So terminate them if they turn hostile."
The others acknowledged Shepard's orders.
"Okay, let's go."
Cortez's Kodiak led the way with Vega flying on the right in a left hand turn low over the woodland terrain of small hills and valleys with rivers and lakes, the water was shimmering in the morning sun. They were in a holding pattern outside the city waiting for the Marines to call in. In the far distance a dozen kilometers away was Joughin, Benning's capital, it was a moderately sized colony city, tall buildings and even a few skyscrapers dotted the sprawling city which before the invasion had a population of a little over half a million.
Shepard's squad was seated in Cortez's Kodiak, facing each other. There was a palpable tension in the passenger compartment considering the proximity of Destroyers and enemy ground units. The key was to get in and out fast. Each and everyone in the team had been studying the maps on their omni-tools and Shepard had finalized the security details of securing the landing zone; everyone knew what to do. Now their eyes were on the wall-consoles where long-range outboard cameras beamed images of the distant city. A dozen Destroyers were interspaced between the tall buildings in the central parts of the city, firing their weapons at buildings which toppled over. Fires raged, black smoke rose to the skies, and there were massive lines of abandoned vehicles on the highways as people had tried to flee but to no avail. Some cars were charred, and on the deserted streets the occasional body splayed on the ground.
"Jesus…" Ashley mumbled appalled. She couldn't get used to the carnage. She turned her eyes to her feet.
Grunt and Zaeed watched the footage with impassive faces, neither of them let anyone know what they thought. Grunt just wanted to kill, avenge the loss of his men, and Zaeed was indifferent, looking out for number one but knew very well what the stakes were. Javik was grim, he had seen similar scenes far too often in his time and was jaded. Liara was sickened, but what was worse was that she had read so many reports about the carnage in the galaxy and had seen so much footage that she knew she was pushing herself to be dulled by it all; just so she could function and work. To Garrus it was a stark reminder what was happening to his own people, and also what still could happen to his father and sister which he hadn't heard from in four days which had him worried. Tali was disgusted and appalled like Ashley, but also felt embarrassment; her homeworld was safely secured while other planets burned.
Miranda tried to push away what she was seeing, she was agog about the magnitude of death and destruction for such a small colony, and she also knew it was far worse on Earth, Palaven and other planets around the galaxy. But it also hit home, because back in her mind she knew the Reapers were itching closer to the Attican Traverse…and Horizon. So far the Reapers were bogged down in a war in the 'southern' quadrants of Systems Alliance Space and the Skyllian Verge, they had yet reached the border to the Traverse. She also knew she could just ask Shepard to fly to Horizon to pick up Oriana, he would do that for her. Just turn the ship around in a moment's notice. But Miranda couldn't ask that…she had to stay professional. What was she going to do? Hide in a cave with her sister? No, she had to fight for her sister's sake and for her own future with Shepard.
And she wasn't sure how wise this mission was, but at least John factored in the risks of indoctrination. That military modus operandi of 'never leaving anyone behind' wasn't entrenched in her mind when she had been a Cerberus operative, it was a different mindset altogether with them. Nonetheless, she respected John's strong belief and devotion to it as it translated to those under his command.
Shepard only gave the wall-consoles a cursory glance. He had to stay focused, he wasn't immune to what the Reapers did, but he couldn't dwell on it either. He had to charge on despite all that was piled onto him. But he confessed, they were months into a war and he wasn't sure they had accomplished much beyond slowing down the Reapers with their joint species alliance. And that thought was sobering. With almost 11 years in the service he felt strained for the first time. He wasn't sure that this ancient prothean device they were building in a dark corner of the galaxy could solve anything. Throwing everything at it seemed…haphazard when he thought about it. He had too much to lose, and one of them sat on the opposite side of the cramped passenger compartment, cradling her black combat helmet in her lap.
Suddenly the intercom came alive with a soft whisper, "Spectre 0-1 Actual, this is Raider 1-6 Actual, come in."
"This is Spectre 0-1 Actual, send traffic, Raider 1-6," Shepard replied.
"Sir, we're moving slowly and should be at the soccer field in eight minutes."
"Hostiles?"
"We've seen batarian vehicles move around in the distance, units raiding houses. But none nearby."
"Copy that, Lieutenant. We will be at the LZ."
"Roger that, Commander. Raider 1-6 out."
The communications feed was cut.
Shepard turned in his seat and glanced over his shoulder to the cockpit and called out in a strong voice, a far cry from his bleak thoughts, "Lieutenant, talk to me."
"I've scanned the AO with my sensors but I can't pick up anything, James reports the same, but there are Destroyers ten-fifteen kilometers away," Cortez replied. He glanced over his shoulder evenly, "You know we can't be 100% sure what's down there, sir. But the soccer field is empty."
Shepard nodded seriously, "Alright, set us down."
"On it, Commander," Cortez said and turned to his interface. He radioed, "Kodiak 2, cover me."
"Copy, Kodiak 1," Vega replied. "I'll be high cover on you."
Shepard turned in his seat and straightened himself and ordered, "Ready up, people." He reached for his helmet and secured it, the others followed suit – sans Grunt who didn't have a helmet.
The two Kodiak's accelerated low over the green rolling hills and came up on the suburb, a picturesque little community with parks, playgrounds, houses and five-story apartment buildings. There were no prefab constructions here. Vega fired his thrusters and hanged back in air a few hundred meters away from the soccer field, about fifty meters above the ground, and scanned the immediate area with sensors. Cortez's Kodiak descended down and turned the nose so the passenger door faced the buildings in the distance.
The soccer field was placed just below a short slope – which wasn't taller than two meters – with the deserted community 60 meters away from the seven meter tall perimeter fence surrounding the soccer field to keep any long shot soccer balls from flying away. On the ridge between the five-story apartment buildings and the soccer field there was a parking lot with a few parked cars.
The Kodiak's thrusters kicked up gravel and dust as it landed in the center of the field. Once it touched down the door opened and the team jumped out with weapons at the ready and quickly rushed in all directions. Garrus and Miranda stayed near the Kodiak, while two groups of two rushed 30 meters to the flanks and covered those sectors to protect the shuttle. Shepard, Liara and Grunt dashed forward the 50 meters to the football goal and the tall fence behind it.
In the distance they heard the occasional gunshot and the harrowing droning sound emanating from the Destroyers. Shepard did not want to stay in the area for long.
The perimeter watch by the three other groups would suffice for the field, but the couple of buildings beyond the parking lot obscured the line of sight, so Shepard's squad had to head into the neighborhood and stand guard, keeping an eye out for hostiles because Shepard didn't want any surprises coming up on them without a heads up. Plus it was the logical way for the stranded Marines to show up somewhere in that vicinity, giving Shepard time to properly identify them before returning to the shuttle. The down side was the distance, it wasn't ideal to run back over 100 meters to the shuttle if they were engaged.
Shepard glanced at Grunt who was running at his side and commanded through his voice module, "Grunt, make a hole in the fence!"
Instead of circling around the fenced field and exit through the gate, a krogan-made hole in the fence was faster, and if they made contact with the enemy they could quickly rush back to the Kodiak through it.
Grunt growled enthusiastic to be able to destroy something and dashed forward and smashed his heavy body without much effort through the string-like pieces of metal mesh stretched across horizontally and vertically. The mesh was contorted around the hole and Grunt turned around and grabbed one side of the mesh with one hand and bended it outwards to create a wider gap so Shepard and Liara could easily get through.
"Good job," Shepard praised as he stepped through.
Grunt grinned back as he followed Shepard up the slope where Shepard stopped and knelt down as did his followers. The squad scanned the parking lot in front of them and the four buildings at the far end which was the start of the deserted residential area.
Liara said, "No contact."
"Yeah, nothing here," Shepard replied. "On me."
They stood up and rushed to the buildings and entered through a narrow alley and emerged in an intersection and stopped in the corner near the two buildings and huddled down behind a concrete fence to a small private garden. They had a grand view of a courtyard in the neighborhood of apartment buildings and houses which was eerie quiet.
Buildings burned, there were rubble and burned out cars on the street, a couple of storefronts were smashed in, there were sandbag fortifications in the intersections, bodies splayed in the streets, some were armed, while others weren't. A fire truck had crashed into a garden, the driver was slumped on the wheel while the four-man crew lied dead nearby. Not far away there was a police car and a black armored SWAT van with dead police officers in tactical gear on the ground.
Shepard punched a button on his omni-tool and radioed the others in the soccer field, "We're in position."
Miranda replied, "Copy that."
Liara murmured despondent by the carnage, "Goddess…"
"Keep your eyes open," Shepard spoke evenly through his voice module.
Grunt frowned, "This place isn't good, Shepard."
"Yeah," Shepard replied glum. He didn't like the exposed position either. With another press on the omni-tool he radioed, "Raider 1-6 Actual, this is Spectre 0-1 Actual, come in."
Malaney replied, "Raider 1-6 hear you loud and clear."
"Lieutenant, where are you?"
"We're coming up slowly through the neighborhood, Commander."
"No hostiles?"
"We haven't noticed anyone following us. Where are you, sir?"
Shepard explained, "On the outskirts of the neighborhood amongst some apartment buildings with the soccer field directly on our six. There's a sports equipment store nearby. " He was wary of transmitting his exact location on omni-tool. Just in case the Reapers or the batarian SIU teams could listen in on transmissions.
"Copy that, we will be there in a few minutes. Raider 1-6 out."
Liara mumbled, "What if this is an intricate trap, and they're the bait? Indoctrinated…?"
"Then we shoot them and high tail it out of here." Shepard radioed, "Kodiak 2, anything on your sensors?"
"No ground vehicles, and getting readings with the buildings obscuring is not easy," Vega replied. "I'm running thermal but all I get is washed out fires. I've found no communications, if the enemy is talking they're likely running Reaper encryption and jamming."
"Copy. Standby."
Shepard's squad remained in quiet cover for several minutes when suddenly a shape moved out from underneath the shadows of the fire truck on the other side of the street. The squad quickly raised their weapons and were about to open fire when they saw the shape emerge. It was a black dog. It stood up and mournfully watched Shepard's squad and whined with its tail between its legs.
Shepard and the others lowered their weapons, the dog was no threat.
Liara whispered heartbroken, "Poor thing…"
Grunt said upbeat, "I'm hungry. Do we eat it?"
Both Liara and Shepard jerked their heads at Grunt and hissed at the same time, "Grunt!"
"What? I'm hungry," the krogan replied dumbfounded.
Shepard said sternly, "We do not eat dogs. And you better not do that either. Understood?"
"Yes, Battlemaster," Grunt mumbled.
The dog snapped its head to the left and heard something, the dog whined and rushed away in the opposite direction further into the neighborhood.
Shepard's squad raised their weapons in the direction the dog had looked and were ready to fire. They heard footsteps coming down a stone stairwell between two apartment buildings 20 meters away, and a moment later 12 armed humans emerged.
Shepard called out, "Halt! Keep your weapons aimed at the deck!"
The humans, evidently the N-series Marines by the look of their combat armor, helmets and weapons, did as they were told and halted in the stairwell. The Marines' radios synched up with the rescuers and all parties could talk over the radio network without speaking in raised voices over the distance.
Positively identifying those to be rescued was never fool proof, but there were several methods such as verbal code challenges, encrypted radio communications, scanning a person's bio- and identitags and DNA to verify, and even something simple as a visual inspection. Verbal challenge and response words were never related, it was meant to be confusing and something people would never guess.
Shepard uttered the verbal challenge, "Raven."
The point man, or point woman to be precise replied, "Prom."
It was First Lieutenant Raveena Malaney leading her 11-man Marine Special Operations Team. She was wearing light armor laden down with a harness of various pouches and wore a light recon helmet. She had a M8 Avenger in her hands and an Eagle-pistol on her hip. Shepard curiously noted the handle of a monomolecular blade sticking up over her shoulder on her back. The N7 patch was stamped on her chestplate.
Shepard instructed, "Standby, Lieutenant. We're gonna run ID-checks." Shepard issued orders, "Grunt, keep an eye on them. Liara, scan them."
Liara silently nodded and tapped her omni-tool and the device scanned the Marines' bio- and identitags while Grunt kept his eyes on the humans. Within a few moments Liara's omni-tool chirped.
"Positive identification on all, Shepard," Liara said.
Shepard lowered his rifle, "Welcome to the party."
Grunt and Liara did the same, but all three kept a vigilante eye on the newcomers.
Malaney nodded grateful and called out, "Thank you, Commander for getting us out of here. I owe you one."
"We're not home yet," Shepard said. "Cover your sectors, LT."
Malaney issued her orders and the team spread out in the intersection, taking cover amongst sandbags and fences, and covered every direction.
Shepard tapped his omni-tool and radioed, "All squads, we've made contact with the Marines. We're coming back shortly."
"Understood," Miranda answered in their earpieces.
Shepard turned to Malaney down in the intersection, "Alright, Lieutenant, let's-"
Suddenly a bullet zipped through the air and struck Shepard on his helmet, but his armor's barrier activated when the sensors detected the incoming projectile and the bullet fragmented when it struck his shields. The kinetic energy knocked Shepard to the ground and his rifle flung out of his hands.
Malaney barked out, "Contact left! Contact left!"
The bullet had been fired from somewhere further into the residential area and there was a flurry of activity as the Marines and Grunt let loose an indiscriminate barrage of fire when another bullet zipped by, narrowly missing one of Malaney's Marines and ripped through a sandbag.
Liara quickly turned to Shepard's body and cried out panicked as she knelt down, "John!"
In their earpieces Miranda shouted confused, "Who's firing? What the hell is going on? Do you have enemy contact?"
Shepard groaned and his eyes shot open and he could see Liara's face clearly through her faceplate and the terror that gripped her face. His head pulsed and ached.
With the air knocked out of his lungs, Shepard exclaimed overwhelmed, "I'm alright! I'm alright." He greedily gulped down air from his armor's oxygen system and gave Liara a pleading look, "Am I alright?"
She nodded rapidly but still looked at Shepard with a mix of horror and relief, "Yes!"
"Then stop looking at me like that!" Shepard proclaimed annoyed and flustered. He pushed himself of the ground and grabbed his M96. Liara turned around with her weapon at the ready and knelt down next to Grunt and opened fire in the same direction everyone else was shooting at.
Miranda shouted on the radio, "What's going on?!"
Shepard rapidly replied, "Enemy contact. Sniper I think."
Vega's voice was heard, "Kodiak 2 inbound."
Bullets snapped around the Marines in the intersection and one of the light machine gunners armed with a Typhoon shouted over the gunfire, "What the fuck are we shooting at?"
Another rifleman shouted back, "I've no idea!"
Shepard settled against the concrete fence near Grunt and Liara and instead of firing wildly he peered through his scope over the buildings in the distance, searching for muzzle flashes or anything indicating the location of the sniper. But Shepard's efforts were for naught when Vega's Kodiak screamed by above the buildings.
Through his thermal sensors Vega had found the offending enemy and opened fire with his mass accelerator autocannons and raked the ground floor of a five-story building at the far end of the courtyard. The high explosive rounds exploded in bright flashes and the front of the building was ripped apart and dust and chunks of concrete rained down on the ground. The Marines in the intersection cheered and everyone, including Shepard's squad, stopped firing and reloaded their weapons.
Vega reported smugly, "Target down-" but suddenly his voice went up an octave, "Fuck! Missile inbound, 3 o' clock!"
Shepard saw the shuttle turn hard and a bundle of counter-measures was released as Vega flew back in the direction of the soccer field. Beyond a cluster of buildings further ahead a surface-to-air-missile streaked by but lost lock with the shuttle and continued harmlessly a couple of hundred meters up the sky and detonated.
It was evident more enemy forces were inbound and Shepard had to make a snap decision; either the Marines were indoctrinated or they had been tracked without knowing it. He gritted his teeth and went with his gut instinct and made a decision.
Suddenly Miranda came back on the radios, "Do you need support?" Her voice sounded steady and focused now which had a calming effect on Shepard.
"Negative, stand your ground, we're returning to the LZ."
"Copy."
Shepard barked out orders, "Lieutenant, we can't stay here! Divide your team in two squads, provide cover fire and leapfrog through the alley and the parking lot behind me to the soccer field, there's a large hole in the perimeter fence so you can enter the field. We'll cover you!"
Malaney had turned to Shepard's corner and acknowledge his orders, "Roger that, sir." She turned to her squad leader, a Staff Sergeant who was also a woman, "Sundberg, take Bravo and go!"
Suddenly two large flatbed light armored trucks roared out from a road down range into the courtyard, kicking up dust. Both flatbeds had a tripod mounted machinegun on a swivel operated by a batarian, on the flatbeds there were eight heavily armed batarians per vehicle.
A Marine shouted, "Technicals, 100 meters!"
The batarian machine gunners opened fire at the intersection and Shepard's corner as the trucks halted to a stop, the gunfire echoed between the buildings. The batarian SIU men poured out and opened fire while the drivers remained inside. The batarians were armed with a wide assortment of weaponry; assault rifles, sniper rifles and shotguns. On their backs some carried fire-and-forget missile launchers and magazine fed grenade launchers.
Shepard's squad and the Marines returned fire as bullets smacked the ground, concrete fences and sandbags all around them. One Marine took a round in the shoulder padding and was knocked down but was soon back up on his feet and returned fire. The batarian attack increased in ferocity as the SIU team fanned out amongst the cover behind cars, trees and fences.
In the bedlam Shepard issued new orders while firing his M96, "Everyone pull back, machine gunners lay down cover! Grunt, keep up the fire!"
Miranda was back on the radios, this time she was a little more concerned hearing the increased crescendo of gunfire, "Shepard, what's happening? Where are you?"
"We've made contact with vehicles and dismounted troops, we're doubling back. Stay with the shuttles!"
Malaney ordered, "Erica, smoke grenade! Marino, Arshad, keep up the pressure!"
Malaney's two light machine gunners continued to lay down a heavy barrage of gunfire from their powerful Typhoon's, the bullets shredded cars, trees and bushes and tore apart concrete fences. The Sergeant reached into a pouch and produced a smoke grenade and tossed it in front of their position, a few moments after it landed a hick grey wall of smoke released from the canister which slowly filled the intersection. Neither the batarians, the Marines or Shepard's squad could see through the smoke cover but both opposing forces continued firing at each other through the thick smoke.
Sundberg shouted commands to several Marines and she brazenly dashed out from cover with five Marines in tow while bullets snapped around them. They rushed past Shepard's position and down the narrow alley.
Shepard bunkered down behind the concrete fence and radioed, "Miranda, six Marines incoming, get them sorted."
"Roger that."
Shepard quickly reloaded and stood up again and fired wildly. He shouted orders, "Lieutenant, you're up! Hurry before the smoke clears!"
The smoke was getting thinner as the wind had spread it out over the intersection. Malaney got the remaining Marines up on their feet and they left the sandbags and fences and rushed to Shepard's corner under indiscriminate fire. The bullets smacked everywhere, and as the smoke slowly cleared the batarians could fire with better accuracy. But so could Shepard's squad.
Through his scope, Shepard could see that one batarian squad had gotten closer, dashing from cover to cover, while the rest had returned to their trucks. Shepard got his crosshairs on a batarian and fired several rounds which overwhelmed the shields and struck the alien in the head. The body slumped down on the ground as the back of his head exploded.
Malaney and her Marines cleared the corner and rushed into the alley.
Liara unleashed a warp which struck a batarian who screamed in pain and fell on all four. He tried to stand up and get to cover but was gunned down by Grunt's machinegun, the bullets pounded the batarian who fell dead to the ground with several gaping holes in his body.
"Second group is coming, Miranda," Shepard informed before he ordered, "Liara, go!"
"Going!" Liara turned away from the cover and ran into the alley.
Shepard's rifle was out of ammunition and vented smoke through the heat sinks. Shepard quickly reloaded and shouted, "On me, Grunt!"
"Coming!"
Grunt turned around under the withering enemy fire being directed at their corner. But suddenly a heavy projectile hit the wall above him and exploded, chunks of concrete erupted. Grunt was knocked to the opposite wall by the shockwave and his torso was showered by molten concrete and some sort of acid liquid. Grunt grimaced and howled in pain, his weapon dropped on the ground.
The explosion, acid and concrete flying in the air missed Shepard by a hair as he instinctively huddled down on the ground.
Grunt was on his back and growled, "It's burning!" His chestplate bubbled and blistered as the plates slowly eroded by the acid eating its way to his skin. Grunt's hands tried to find the straps to remove the chestplate.
Shepard quickly sat up and dropped his rifle and desperately grabbed onto several straps, helping the tank born to get rid of the chestplate. Grunt screamed in agony as the acid finally reached the skin of his chest and right shoulder. Above them the walls were pounded by bullets, dust and small chunks of concrete rained down on them. Out in the intersection deep, deafening explosions was heard as high-explosive and acid filled grenades detonated. Finally the last strap was released and Shepard tossed away the chestplate, Grunt's skin was blistered and oozed from the acid and the krogan grimaced with agony and hate, he wanted to run out and kill everyone in a blood rage, but knew that would only endanger everyone else and he instead calmed down.
Angered batarian voices and footsteps were getting closer from the intersection and Shepard spoke rapidly, "Get up, Grunt! We've to move!" He grabbed his rifle and rose up. He turned and aimed at the intersection to cover Grunt.
Grunt staggered to his feet but he pushed himself, the back portion of his armor fell back on the ground. He grabbed his machinegun and stomped down the alley and Shepard was rushing behind him. Shepard quickly reached into a pouch and grabbed a smoke grenade and dropped it at his feet, thick grey smoke began filling the alley, covering their retreat.
Shepard and Grunt was out in the open and ran as fast as they could across the parking lot, passing the cars. In the soccer field, the first Marines were boarding Cortez's shuttle while the rest of Shepard's team was forming a defensive line nearby. Vega's shuttle was hovering ten meters above the soccer field just of Cortez's right side, ready to unleash hell with his cannons. The second squad of Marines led by Malaney with Liara trailing behind had rushed down the slope and was about to head through the hole in the fence.
Shepard shouted through his voice module, "Lieutenant, I need a defensive line at the ridge of the parking lot!"
"Yes, sir!" Malaney replied without hesitation and she shouted orders to her five Marines and they all turned from the fence and scaled the short slope to the edge, Liara had turned around as well and joined the Marines as they threw themselves on the ground with their weapons ready as a half-naked krogan and Shepard reached the slope and huddled down next to the Marines. Everyone had their weapons aimed down range at the smoke-filled alley, ready to fire at the pursuing batarians.
Malaney quipped at Shepard who lied next to her, "You sure know how to swoon a lady, Commander. Explosions and gunfights are always exhilarating."
"Welcome to the club," Shepard deadpanned.
Suddenly there was movement as dark figures emerged from the alley and shouted orders in some batarian dialect. Eight armed batarians appeared and darted to cover amongst nearby parked cars.
Shepard shouted, "Light 'em up!"
The Marines and Shepard's squad opened fire, it was a brutal counterattack as the massive volley shattered windscreens, raked the cars, the buildings and the alley. Mass accelerated bullets smacked all around the batarians, muzzle flashes flared and tracer fire hammered the batarians, one by one the SIU operators fell dead.
Vega's calm voice was heard over the radio, "Guns, guns, guns."
A thunderous wall of cannon fire erupted from Vega's shuttle, the two cannons spewed out high-explosive rounds at the batarian position. The rounds pounded the parking lot in the distance, cars erupted in explosions, and streamers of fire engulfed some batarians who screamed in torment while other batarians were torn apart by the high-explosive rounds in the violent carnage. Shepard's squad and the Marines stopped firing and within a few moments the area was clear of hostiles, Vega stopped firing as well.
"Targets down," Vega informed coolly.
Suddenly a violent crash was heard less than hundred meters on their left flank, the two armored trucks were back. The batarian vehicles crashed through a wooden fence from a garden with guns blazing; planks of wood splintered and soil and bushes flew through the air.
Rounds smacked into the ground near the mixed squad; asphalt and dirt from the parking lot and the slope was kicked up in the air, the Marines and Shepard's squad instinctively shielded themselves and huddle down below the edge of the ridge.
"Contact, 10 o' clock! Shift fire!" Shepard ordered.
The mixed squad on the slope dared the incoming fire and moved to aim their weapons at the new threat, some lied down while others stood on one knee but no one was able to get off a round as suddenly violent explosions rocked the trucks; Vega had drifted the hovering shuttle to face the incoming vehicles and unleashed another barrage of fire. The rounds exploded around the trucks, the drivers tried to swirl around to dodge the incoming fire and the gunners desperately turned around with the machineguns and tried to return fire at the shuttle but it was all in vain as the trucks were quickly destroyed in spectacular explosions as chunks of bodies and truck parts were thrown into the air and rained down on the ground. Only the charred and burning armored trucks remained, bodies were splayed on the ground or were slumped inside.
"Move it, people. To the shuttles," Shepard ordered and quickly rose up and faced the soccer field.
The first Marine squad and the rest of Shepard's team had boarded Cortez's shuttle. Zaeed and Javik stood in the entrance with their weapons ready, scanning the residential area for targets.
Malaney, her Marines and Shepard's squad rushed down the slope and poured into the soccer field towards the landing zone.
"James, get down here and pick us up," Shepard instructed under his breath as he was panting. "Everyone, we're leaving now!"
"On my way," Vega replied as the Kodiak slowly descended down near the other shuttle, he turned the Kodiak so the door faced the mixed squad rushing the soccer field.
The door to Cortez's shuttle closed and it rose from the ground into a cover pattern above the soccer field. Cortez turned the shuttle to face the buildings, ready to engage any hostiles.
Vega touched down and the door opened as the mixed squad arrived at the shuttle. Shepard stopped near the opening as the Marines, Liara and Grunt quickly entered and occupied seats in the passenger compartment, holstering their weapons. Everyone was sweaty, bleeding and exhausted.
With everyone aboard Shepard radioed, "Miranda, do you have everyone with you, us and the Marines?"
"Standby." There was a moment's silence and Miranda replied, "Everyone accounted for."
"Copy," Shepard said and jumped into the shuttle and addressed Malaney who were seated closest to the door, "Do you have everyone, Lieutenant?"
Malaney turned in her seat and faced everyone in the compartment and did a quick headcount before she turned to Shepard, "Yes, Commander."
"James, let's go. Pickup successful."
"Semper fi," Vega replied and his hands danced over the interface; the door locked behind Shepard and the shuttle ascended. Vega formed up on Cortez and both shuttles were soon hundreds of meters above the ground and were rapidly gaining altitude.
Shepard holstered his rifle and quickly cut the distance to Grunt who was slumped in his seat and had dropped the machinegun on the floor. His face contorted in pain, his right shoulder and chest had several blistering wounds. Shepard reached for a medi-gel injector and smashed it into Grunt's chest, and then another one into his shoulder. Grunt clenched his teeth and growled under his breath.
Shepard reassured his krogan friend, "You're gonna be alright. You did well out there."
"Yeah," Grunt mumbled. He appreciated his Battlemaster's praise but was in too much in pain to acknowledge it.
Shepard turned to his right and faced Liara seated near the inner wall and instructed rapidly, "First aid kit in the cockpit, we need gauze."
Liara was about to stand up when Malaney bolted from her seat, "I got it, Commander."
Shepard turned to the Lieutenant who entered the cockpit, "Good, LT."
Vega called out from the cockpit, "We're approaching the Normandy, Shepard."
"Good, patch me into Joker," Shepard said from his seat.
Vega punched in a few buttons on his interface and said, "You're good to go."
"Joker, this is Shepard, as soon as the cargo door is closed, get the hell out of here."
"You got it, Commander."
"EDI?"
"Yes, Shepard?"
"Tell Chakwas that Grunt was hit by some sort of acid. He's got some nasty burn wounds and shattered bones in his shoulder. I don't know what acid it was, it could be toxic. I used two medi-gel injectors on him. I'm sending up Grunt for a checkup. That is all."
Grunt had gauze around his right shoulder and upper torso. Thanks to the medi-gel Grunt's pain was numbed, but his skin burned and there was a deep sting in his wounds. But what was more disconcerting was that after Shepard had done an omni-tool scan during the flight to the Normandy, he had discovered several shattered bones in Grunt's shoulder. The krogan's shoulder was probably broken due to a combination of the damage the acid had done and the recoil from the Typhoon transferred into his shoulder when he fired during the exfiltration. In all he was in bad shape, but he was strong and his body was already healing slowly, but Chakwas still needed to work her magic.
"Understood. Logging you out."
Malaney sat next to Shepard and asked, "EDI?"
"Our AI. Long story. Probably even classified."
Malaney nodded, "Don't worry, Commander." She understood the need for classified subjects in the military.
The two shuttles flew graciously in a line formation with Vega directly behind Cortez through the barrier curtain into the Normandy. They landed in the middle of the wide open space of the Cargo Bay, Cortez settled down the shuttle a couple of meters away from workstations, leaving more than enough space for Vega to land. The engines powered down and the doors to both shuttles opened and people began pouring out into the Cargo Bay. The cargo door closed and the Normandy was on its way to leave Euler System for the journey to the Arcturus System.
Shepard stepped out and removed his helmet and turned to Malaney, "Welcome to the Normandy, Marines."
Malaney stopped near Shepard and nodded cordial and sincere, "Thank you, Commander." She was happy to be somewhere friendlier than Benning.
The five other Marines followed in their Lieutenant's wake and thanked Shepard as they passed the two officers and joined the other Marines at Cortez's shuttle. All the rescued Marines were just as happy as their Lieutenant, and once they sat foot on the Cargo Bay the tension within them disappeared, they were all safe. They were exhausted after days behind enemy lines, all their MRE's were eaten, and they had pillaged abandonded homes for food. Thankfully they had been able to constantly fill their water bottles with fresh water. Almost all the Marines, everyone enlisted or NCO's, spread out over the Cargo Bay near the Cortez's shuttle and Vega's alcove and sat down on the deck, discarded their helmets, and rested against the shuttle and crates. They greedily drank water from their bottles. Only idle chatter from a few Marines was heard.
A few of Shepard's team members disappeared towards the armory to rid them of their weapons before they headed to the elevator, except of Ashley, Javik, Garrus and Zaeed who lingered in the background, they had received orders from Shepard before the mission to keep an eye on the rescued Marines once they were back on the Normandy, there was the fear of indoctrination in Shepard's mind. Vega and Cortez remained in their Kodiak's and powered down the shuttles.
Shepard side stepped Malaney and approached Grunt. The krogan rested his right arm against his torso.
Shepard said concerned, "Get to Chakwas so she can look at you. We don't know what acid that was, so she has to do a toxicology test."
Grunt nodded, "Don't worry, Battlemaster, I'll go up right away."
Shepard nodded, "Alright, Grunt. I'll swing by later."
Grunt walked away towards the elevator passed everyone else, he had left his weapons inside the shuttle.
Malaney had been glancing at Shepard as he had talked to the krogan. She concluded it was quite the surprise to be rescued by the famous Spectre of all people. She was a little distracted by the man's chiseled jaw and piercing blue eyes. He definitely had an aura of confidence she had never seen any other man display, yet an easy going demeanor. Her mind was already scheming.
Sundberg approached Malaney, "Ma'am, no substantial injuries on my squad. Mburu's got a nasty bruise on his shoulder after that round that struck him. I did a scan, I don't think we will need to worry about that as long as he get some ice on it."
Malaney returned to reality from eying Shepard and turned to her senior NCO and nodded, "Understood."
Sundberg couldn't help but to grin behind the faceplate, she knew exactly what – or rather who – her Lieutenant had been daydreaming about for a few moments. And she didn't blame her. She gave Shepard a salute, "Commander. It's an honor. I'm Staff Sergeant Erica Sundberg."
Shepard faced the two women and saluted the Sergeant.
Malaney took of her helmet with a smile and faced Shepard, "When the Task Force commanders said they were getting us a ride out of Benning they didn't say they were sending THE Commander Shepard." She teased, "I would have showered and put on something cleaner if I knew."
Behind the helmet hid a brunette and light dark skinned beauty in her late twenties. Half Indian, half British. She was secure in her looks and sexuality in a male dominated world.
Erica Sundberg wasn't going to let her Lieutenant get away with such display of unprofessionalism and took of her own helmet and smiled with a nod at Shepard, "It's not every day a lady gets rescued by a knight in N7 armor riding in on a secret stealth ship."
Sundberg on the other hand was a blonde in her mid twenties whom hailed from Sweden, but her generic dialect, thanks to the over-saturation of global media, made it impossible to pinpoint her origins. She was quite an attractive young woman and also very secure in herself.
Shepard quipped, "Well, this knight is happy to have rescued his fellow Marines." Shepard had built up a defense over the years against women's potential advances on him and didn't pay much attention to any attempts and he was merely friendly back.
Malaney smiled back, "So, anyplace we can get those showers? I'd like to introduce myself more formally once I've cleaned up a bit."
"Of course, but there are a few things we need to address first," Shepard informed. "I need you to turn in your weapons, equipment and omni-tools to my armorers, Steve and James, the two who piloted the Kodiak's also run the Cargo Bay. I can't risk the safety of my ship and crew," he smiled disarmingly, "for all I know you all can be indoctrinated."
Malaney raised an eyebrow, "Yet you extracted us?"
"Yes, well I went on my gut instinct. You got four biotics on your squad according to the files I read, and I need them to turn in their bio-amps. Once we land on the Citadel everything will be returned."
"But for all I know, you can be indoctrinated," Malaney pointed out.
Shepard nodded, "True. But it would have been easier to grab you when the batarians showed up, dragged you away to turn you into husk on Benning rather than flying you to the Normandy."
Sundberg mused, "It does seem more intricate taking us here."
Malaney conceded and gave Shepard a friendly nod, "Of course, Commander, it's your ship." She liked a man who stood his ground, and one who definitely wasn't intimidated by an attractive woman. She eyed Shepard's four team members lingering near the armory, their weapons were holstered but they were armed and kept an eye on her Marines. Malaney looked back at Shepard, "Is that why they're watching us?"
Shepard nodded, "Yeah, just a slight precaution for the moment. Once we get you all quartered on the Crew Deck, our friendly AI, EDI, will keep tabs on you." He shrugged, "It's draconian, but I can't be careless with the threat of indoctrination."
"I understand, Commander," Malaney assured Shepard.
"Shepard is fine," he informed cordial.
"Of course." Malaney smiled, "And I insist on you calling me Malaney."
"Alright Malaney," Shepard acquiesced. He continued, "You will also be confined to the Crew Deck, we will arrange for you to have room to sleep there. You won't have access to the CIC Deck, the Cargo Bay or Engineering. There's a mess hall on the Crew Deck so you can eat – I bet you guys are starving. The showers are there as well, separated by sex. The crew has a projector and a projector canvas for movie nights, there's a library and a lounge on Crew Deck as well so I think you'll be alright. If you need to contact your command I'll see to that as well." He gestured for the crates around Vega's alcove, "We got a couple of washing machines back there if you need to wash your clothes, and I'm sure Lieutenants Vega and Cortez can help you with extra clothes, we got spare BDUs in all different sizes somewhere in these crates."
Malaney smiled appreciatively at Shepard with a slight impish tone, "I'm sure we'll find some way to occupy our time. If anything we will have it easy. Just being allowed to sleep and eat for a couple of days will do wonders, Shepard."
"Good," Shepard acknowledged with a nod. "One last thing, I need you all to see Doctor Chakwas – she resides on Crew Deck in the infirmary – for brain wave scans to see if there is unusual activity."
As Reapers and their technology emitted an electromagnetic field which sent out waves of infrasound and ultrasound which in turn stimulated areas of a victim's brain and limbic system, some scientists believed that these alterations could be detected. One option was to use Electroencephalography (EEG) and high resolution MRI and CT scans which medical automatic equipment was able to do. There had been some successes, but also failures, in detecting indoctrination so it was disputed and naysayers insisted that the cases were indoctrinated effects had been found was nothing more than pure luck. But at the moment this was the only solution.
"Consider it done, Shepard."
Sundberg glanced over her shoulder to Shepard's team members and then turned back to Shepard and prodded, "Is that the prothean from the coup?"
Shepard nodded, "It is. Javik is not the friendliest guy, but one hell of a warrior and biotic. He sure is dedicated to fight the Reapers."
Sundberg nodded astonished, "I can imagine."
Malaney glanced at the prothean as well, it was not every day she walked into a historic encounter like this. First Commander Shepard and then a prothean.
From the shuttle behind Shepard, Vega emerged and walked out with a jovial spirit, "Man, that was fucking awesome blowing stuff up." The Kodiak was shut down and all that was needed was to use the ceiling hoist to move it to its usual parking spot.
Shepard glanced at Vega who approached the trio, "Great work providing CAS, James."
"Always," Vega beamed. He stopped at Shepard's side and tried his best to give the two attractive women a neutral look. Holy shit! If all the ladies in MARSOC look like this, I have to file for a transfer!
Shepard introduced, "Lieutenant James Vega."
Sundberg smiled and saluted, "Staff Sergeant Erica Sundberg." She was used to men looking at her and didn't mind Vega eyeing her at all.
Malaney instead shook hands with Vega and smiled appreciatively at Vega's muscular form and almost purred, "Lieutenant Raveena Malaney, James." She had noticed him eyeing her as well. Malaney was definitely intrigued by the men aboard so far.
Vega noticed her very friendly tone. He saw the opportunity of fraternization considering they had the same rank, they were peers, and not in the same unit and would go their separate ways once the Normandy had docked to the Citadel.
Vega glanced curiously at the blade sticking up on her back. He asked curiously, "A sword?"
"Monomolecular blade," Malaney explained. "While shields deflect incoming rounds, they won't stop a blade as it moves far too slow." She grinned deviously, "Cue severed limbs in CQB."
"Damn," Vega said astonished.
"Indeed," Malaney chuckled at his reaction.
"Anything to get an edge on the battlefield," Shepard pointed out. He rolled his eyes uninspired at himself and mumbled, "No pun intended."
The two women chuckled goodheartedly at Shepard.
Shepard continued evenly, "I've things to attend to, my injured krogan friend for instance. I look forward to talking later."
Malaney smiled, "I look forward to that to, Shepard."
Vega joked, "You should have rolled in to battle with a sword, Shepard. That would have fucking rocked."
Malaney and Sundberg chuckled jovial.
Shepard chuckled as well, "I'm sure it would." He turned to Vega professionally, "Steve and you can start collecting the equipment from these guys before they leave for showers and food."
Vega turned to Shepard and nodded, "Got it." Both Cortez and he had already been briefed on that assignment earlier.
Shepard gave Sundberg and Malaney a cordial nod, "I should go. Ladies."
"Sir."
"Shepard."
Vega said his goodbyes as well as he had to setup to store and catalogue the Marines' equipment and trailed Shepard as they walked down the Cargo Bay past the shuttles and the seated N-series Marines. But both Shepard and Vega had to stop as the MARSOC special operators rose up and saluted and wanted to shake hands and give their thanks for being rescued. The Marines were equally thankful to both officers, but Shepard was the most famous Marine Special Operator, and the Marines were all honored to be in his presence. Shepard was courteous and shook hands with the operators and started to exchange some words with them.
Both Malaney and Sundberg watched Shepard, but the Lieutenant leaned closer to her Sergeant and asked in an even whisper, "What do you think you're doing, Staff Sergeant?"
Sundberg flashed a knowing smirk and whispered back, "I'm just being a little friendly to the Commander, ma'am."
"I saw him first," Malaney countered.
Sundberg quipped, "As Commanding Officer your duty should be to look out for the morale and welfare of your troops. I could definitely use a boost in morale and welfare," she smiled slyly, "preferably by injection."
Malaney huffed and explained methodically, "And you're an NCO. Fraternization rules come to mind. You're enlisted, Shepard is an officer. Bad call. I'm an officer, and not part of his team. Legal, but still frowned upon."
Sundberg countered with a smirk, "Pulling rank, Raveena?"
"What? May the best woman win?" Malaney smirked, "You know a man has never been able to resist me."
"Well, there was that guy on Elysium five months ago," Sundberg snickered.
The Lieutenant snorted defensively, "He was bi and not in his woman phase."
Sunberg chuckled mockingly, "Oh, it's that what you're calling it?" She glanced at Malaney who frowned and the Sergeant rolled her eyes and relented, "Fine." She grinned, "But you better tell me all the dirty details after you've fucked him."
Malaney smirked back, "Don't I always?"
Off-duty, the Marine Special Operators from the team were just as close-knit as they were when on duty, Malaney had been in charge of the team for a year and a half and everyone had grown close. She approached leadership by ignoring rank and procedure, as was mostly the norm within fighting units in the special operations community. She was one of the operators. They all were on first-name basis, they joked around, pulled pranks on each other or just socialized as friends. The enlisted knew who was in charge and followed the Lieutenant's orders when given. Hence why she and her Sergeant had such a relaxed relationship.
There was a buzz of conversation from the mess hall as the tables were occupied by the rescued Marines, eating their first proper meal in several days. Shepard strolled through the walkway to the infirmary after leaving the infirmary. He had one hell of a headache after he was hit by that sniper, and had taken several aspirins and waited for them to kick in. Shepard had showered earlier and had changed to his regular BDUs and had just returned from the comm room after reporting into Hackett about the rescue of the Marines, and Hackett had been very pleased with the operation. Shepard now intended to visit Grunt and talk with Chakwas, after that he would return to the Captain's Cabin and rest as he couldn't do much else with his pulsating head. He gave the mess hall a quick glance before he entered the infirmary where he saw Grunt who was back on his bed, looking sour because of his new injury, peering at the closed shutters. Chakwas lingered at the nearby cabinet and returned several medical items from her medical tray table.
Chakwas turned to the door and greeted, "Commander."
"Hey." He approached Grunt and asked Chakwas, "So what's the verdict?"
Chakwas had removed the gauze Shepard had applied earlier and wrapped both the torso and shoulder with new after examination, plus Grunt's shoulder was set and immobilized in a sling to protect the damage to the bone.
Chakwas turned to face Shepard and Grunt, "Well, it was nothing toxic, it was regular acid. It did damage to his skin and hypodermis. His right shoulder blade has been shattered in a few places."
Shepard looked concerned at Grunt, "Are you alright, big guy?"
"Angry. At least we killed the batarians," Grunt bristled.
"We did."
Chakwas interjected, "The wounds are cleaned, I've secured his shoulder as best as I could, he has to take it easy. I recommend a hospital on the Citadel for best care. With his genes, and krogan physiology as a whole, the shoulder will heal rather quickly but I feel much better if we get Grunt to a hospital."
Shepard nodded, "Sure." He called out, "EDI, when we reach the Arcturus System plot a course directly to the Citadel. That will be all."
"Alright, Shepard," EDI replied. "Logging you out."
Grunt glanced at Shepard and huffed, "I don't like hospitals."
"Me neither," Shepard replied. He grinned friendly, "But we need you out there and fight so you better get well."
Grunt nodded with a smirk, "I will, Shepard. Count on it."
Shepard smirked, "And remember, krogan ladies love scars and now you got multiples of them on your body. They will be all over you."
Grunt chuckled mischievously, "Yeah."
Chakwas sighed and ordered sternly, "I would advise against sexual encounters until cleared by a doctor, Grunt, that shoulder is not well."
Grunt mumbled uninspired, "Yeah, yeah…"
Shepard turned to Chakwas, "How about the Marines? Have you looked at them?"
"I have. I scanned their brain waves earlier and found nothing out of the ordinary."
Shepard nodded pleased, "Good. Take a look at them tomorrow as well."
"Alright," Chakwas nodded. She asked, "Is everything alright with you, Shepard?"
"I took a round to my shields which knocked me down. I got a nasty headache but I took some aspirins and will lie down to rest in my quarters soon."
"Hmm. That doesn't sound good, Commander. Stand still for a moment," Chakwas said and produced a penlight and instructed, "Gaze into the distance, Shepard."
Shepard did as instructed while Chakwas aimed the beam back and forth into Shepard's eyes, the pupils reacted correctly, focusing completely on the light and constricted. Chakwas hummed satisfactory and brought up her omni-tool and did a scan of Shepard's head and read the results, "Well, you certainly got some head trauma there but no concussion. You should follow your own medical advice and lie down."
Shepard nodded, "I will, Karin." He turned to Grunt, "Take it easy, Grunt, and I'll see you later."
Grunt nodded, "Yes, Battlemaster."
Shepard gave Chakwas a friendly nod, "I should go then."
"Yes, Commander."
Shepard left the infirmary for the elevator which just arrived and Tali walked out with a sterile field generator in hand and a small bag over her shoulder.
"Hey, Tali," Shepard greeted cordial.
"Hey. What are you doing?"
"Talked with Grunt a bit. You?"
"I'm gonna take a shower, I thought it was best to wait until the Marines were finished. I've to setup this thing," she indicated the generator which she cradled in her arms, "and that takes a while. I also just talked with the flee-" Tali smiled sheepishly, "Sorry, I just talked to Rannoch."
"Yeah? Everything alright, I hope? It's been one week now."
"Yeah, things are progressing slowly. In the old days I sent any technology I could scrounge up back to the fleet," Tali reminisced. She shrugged, "Now I should probably be doing that with agriculture samples." Tali pondered, "What do I know about raising crops?"
Shepard quipped, "Don't look at me, I just blow stuff up."
Tali chuckled.
He asked seriously, "So, what's happening over there."
"We've sent down survey teams to various places which could work as settlements." Tali mused astonished, "Some old cities still stands. Repaired. Like monuments after the war. We've been allowed to re-populate some of the cities of our choice. Power systems will need to be adapted, settlement groups sent down, old space ports has to be refurbished. But what would have taken years will likely only take weeks when we start thanks to the geth." She could scarcely believe what was happening on Rannoch.
"How about the…diplomatic situation?"
"Fragile. This is not something that will take a week for most to adapt to. The military is fluctuating between suspicion and hatred but as they're starting to be rolled into the war they're being kept busy. The civilians are more open to the burgeoning situation, but that's not to say some still harbor animosity. Although some of Koris' people have volunteered for an acclimatizing project."
Shepard asked curiously, "Acclimatizing project?"
"The geth are uploading into the suits of the volunteers," Tali explained amazed. "They're rewriting environmental functions, jump-starting our immune systems. The hope is that these volunteers will adapt quickly to Rannoch so they don't need to use environmental suits within a few years."
"How can they do that?" Shepard asked confounded.
Tali explained, "The geth are software you know, they don't really need their platforms. The Consensus is still populated because they don't have enough mobile platforms. They're building new ones, but it will still take time." She gestured dismissively, she was digressing and she continued, "The geth transfer themselves from their platform – body or whatever it should be called now – into anything with enough processing power. They're mimicking infections, so the host can adapt without getting sick. It's like making a vaccine."
Shepard mused darkly, "Javik told me about this synthetic race in his time, the zha'til. They were created by a race called the zha who implanted themselves with symbiotic AI so they could survive as their homeworld became inhospitable. The Reapers arrived and subjugated the zha'til who took control over their masters bodies and altered their genetic material, transforming them into synthetic monsters." Was history repeating itself once again?
Tali's eyes widened aghast at the similarities, "Keelah!"
Shepard sheepishly chimed in quickly on making those connections, "I'm sure that won't happen again…the zha made modifications to themselves so they could interact with the zha'til. And if the geth are in the suit, well it doesn't seem like they could take control over a quarian that way."
Tali calmed down a bit and nodded, "No, you're right. But still…there are some similarities. But both the geth and we have chosen this. But…what if no geth wants to augment Gerrel or Xen? And who decides on something that affects the suit? But compared to the war we just had, these problems are miniscule."
Shepard pointed out, "Well, it sounds like it'll speed things up at least. Within a few years the suits can be gone."
Tali nodded slowly, "Yes, but we might still wear them. The suits are now part of our society. But a rupture wont' be a death sentence. Today, on Rannoch, there are quarian children who will grow up healthy and strong, thanks to the geth."
"And you had your part in this," Shepard praised.
Tali mumbled darkly, "No. I'd have killed the geth with no regrets." She confessed, "And I'd have been wrong. Thank you."
Shepard shrugged with a cautious grimace, "Well…I pushed both sides to a ceasefire for pragmatic reasons, the Reaper War, not just to stop both sides from doing something stupid. The rest is up to you now."
"I know."
Quotes: Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Band of Brothers, Generation Kill.
For those that might have forgotten, part of my artistic license, the chapter title is the motto for the Alliance's Marine Forces Special Operations Command, MARSOC. The real world USMC MARSOC uses the same motto.
Credit to EbabahCussiEnoImreh for ideas on: Shepard's musings on the dangers of communication during search and rescue, Shepard's tactical considerations for SAR, considerations for perimeter watch, the verbal challenge and how to properly identify those to be rescued, the Lieutenant's and the Sergeant's initial attempts at flirtation, brain wave scans, a few ideas on fraternization, the Sergeant's quip about boosting morale.
