Chapter 45: Hunted

xxxx

I shoot another Mk.15, the charged rounds from the VR666 stunning it just long enough for me to close in and finish it off with a biotic blade. It releases a god-awful metal scream as it slumps to the ground, calling in three or four more of the machines.

I light into them in a fury, rifle in my right hand and blade on the left. Stun and slash. For all their cybernetic upgrades, they aren't fast enough. They go down in crumpling piles of slashed and scored metal and dead flesh.

After sprinting for a moment I drop to my knees and slide several meters across the scarred metal floor. The carcass of a hanger barely stands around; flames and wrecked fighters all about. Most all the light is from fire or from distant, flickering floodlights.

I slide up to a fallen Asari commando, face down in a pool of blood. I pull her over by the shoulder, greeted only by a face shredded by the swarm of Mk.15s. I can't tell who it is but I know; know by the HK89 sniper laying a meter away and sliced in half.

There's a metal scream behind me, followed by a rapid series of articulations. I spin just in time to see the converted Turian flying at me, four blades extended and ready to deal me a similar fate. I swat it out of the air with my left blade, stomp its head into the floor and finish it with a burst of electrical bolts. I growl, somewhere between panicked and outraged. I don't know if I'm the last one left but I know there's more machines to kill.

A scream.

It's not a Mk.15, so I take off, sprinting towards the source. It's behind a large shipping container, so I go around the corner, sliding a little and grabbing the metal and pulling myself through the turn. I'm faced with a corridor of sorts, containers on three sides and flames all over them. About ten meters away, a single Asari stands, head drooped forward and shoulders heaving slowly. Two or three Mk.15s lay about, dismantled.

"Rana!" I exclaim, taking a step forward quickly. She looks hurt. Bad.

The engineer lifts her head. In the half-light, her eyes glow distinctly red. Cybernetics. Trails of blood run down her cheeks as evidence of the recent augmentation. She's snarling at me, looking at me with those mechanical eyes. There's no life left, but it's still Rana. Still… Her fists clench. An additional set of arms unravel from her shoulder blades and wrap around to prepare for attack. Arms, they're blades, really. Nothing more.

I'm stepping back at this point. I don't know what to do. Or I can't bring myself to accept what I need to do. I can see the cybernetics working their way into her skin as she approaches, faster than I can back up. Before I know it, she's closed the gap, blades drawn back and striking. I can feel the metal drive through my chest and I feel nothing else. I glance up just long enough to make final eye contact. Those blaring red cybernetics. They're blinding, really. Then everything flashes red.

I was awake with a jolt, gasping for a moment as I came to terms with where I was. The Akina subdeck. I wasn't being stabbed. Nothing was on fire. I stared at the wall for several minutes, trying to forget or at least cope with that nightmare. It wasn't seemingly related to the beacon but that didn't make it any better. I was sick to the stomach as I lay there, thinking about how possible that dream could be.

xxxx

There we were, the four of us commandos, stepping onto the gangway of the Tes Astria spaceport. Illium. None of us really fit in there. Granted, we were sort of a rough crew – Rana and I both in hard armor, Delina with her mask on all the time. None of our armors were spotless like they'd been before, and all of us were pretty loaded down with gear. Well, usual weapons. I'd swapped the Geryon for the VR666, but everyone else carried the usual loadouts. Everything was just beat up from Zephine.

We didn't get far before a small group of Crossfire mercs approached from across the yard. They had been on good terms in the past, but I had learned to dislike mercs. I watched them carefully as they approached.

"Commander T'Suni?" Their leader asked, addressing Kaira as if she had been briefed. The Spectre nodded. "Matroclus asked us to meet you here. He said there was a shipment to transfer in bay 22."

We were in bay 21. The same as usual. Kaira just nodded. Judging by how cool she was being, she must have already been in cahoots with Tahre. "Thank you. Did he give you any specifics?"

"No ma'am. He said you'd know. We were just here to keep the hooligans away."

"Understood. Let him know we've secured it."

"Yes ma'am."

And like that, the exchange was over. We veered from our course directly to the elevator, off to the right. Bay 22 was a little ways away and divided by some walling.

"What the hell is going on?" Delina asked irritably. Seemed like she was seldom in a good mood.

"You'll see." Kaira responded simply, not breaking gait. "Although I doubt you'll like it quite as much."

The arms specialist grumbled something intangible as we rounded the corner and looked into the bay. Apparently, it was not where they docked ships, but smaller craft. Shuttles, aircars, hoverbikes. All kinds of crap. I didn't really see why the Crossfire guards had to be there.

The commander stopped in front of one of the bays, one cleaner than the average. We stood there for a moment, not sure what we were supposed to be looking at. Kaira lifted her hand, indicating to the bay, and said. "Well? What do you think?"

It took me a good long while to realize what I was looking at. And when I did, I just stood there real flustered, trying to say something only to have my jaw run silently. A Z-280. A shiny, fiery orange hoverbike with a yellow hood and seat. I finally managed to sputter: "Kaira, how -"

"Ask Tahre. He's the one who pulled this off."

"Well… I'm sure you had a hand in it. Thank you." I responded, nodding as I walked around the beast. Giddy, really. Grinning like I was an complete idiot. "This is… So awesome."

"Yeah yeah." Delina mumbled. "Can we go now?"

xxxx

The elevator always seemed to take longer when Delina was jabbing me in the ribs, trying to make more space where there was none. But thankfully, the ride was soon enough over and we stepped out onto the floor where Tahre's offices were located. We didn't make it two steps before the Turian was there to greet us, having abandoned his desk position…

"Kaira, Crew." He nodded briskly at us, making only brief eye contact with Kaira. "I'm glad to see you all here in one piece."

"Same could be said for you." Kaira joked. And it was true - For once, the offices were not on fire or full of Contractor goons or Elites. And for that I was grateful.

"Yes, yes." He chortled. "I do apologize for being so vague over the commlink. Things here are much less than satisfactory."

"I take it you have some dirt on the Contractor?"

"You might say that." Tahre nodded us towards his main office. "I've done an extensive amount of research on his forces, tracking every lead I could find. I still have no idea who he is, where he is, or how he got there… but I have a slight understanding of his motives." He paused as we entered the large office. "I would offer you refreshments, but I'm afraid I only have them of the Dextro nature."

"We're fine. Although you might want to wait until it's daytime before you start snacking yourself." Kaira teased.

Tahre shook his head. "Well, there's no rest for an info broker."

I unclipped my helmet once we were in the safety of the offices and latched it to where I could have carried a sniper rifle.

The information broker watched me for a moment. "I heard what happened on Zephine. You look well, Jackson. All things considered."

"Well, leaving the Z-280 was about the worst part. Besides the heat." I joked. "But thanks to you, I just have to worry about the climate control in my armor now. That new bike is a beaut."

Tahre clicked his mandibles a couple times, as if to grin. "It was a backup bike for one of the race teams here on Illium. Modified to race and ridden twice perhaps."

"Well, thank you. I won't ask how you got it..."

"Just try not to get caught in any more blasts." The Turian lambasted me. Delina snickered – and redirected Tahre's attention. "Delina, Charming as ever. Things just wouldn't be the same without your scowling face."

The arms specialist growled and started to say something – until Kaira elbowed her. So Delina simply grumbled: "Yeah yeah."

"And Rana… I'm glad to see you survived the Zephine ordeal as well. Even if your armor did not."

"Yes, but this armor-" she lifted her left hand for emphasis "-has omni-tool amplifiers built in."

"There's rumors that the next generation of Ariera tools will have integrated amps." Tahre commented.

"Yes. So I have heard. And I have also heard they have yet to make a version that does not explode under load."

"I did not say they would be released soon." Tahre looked amused. "Ah well, come on. There's a lot we need to cover."

xxxx

After some general intel on galactic security, Tahre and Kaira went off into a side office to discuss a cache he had acquisitioned. I had been temporarily distracted by a local newsfeed and was a bit surprised to find the room empty. Well, empty apart from Rana, who was looking over her omni-tool and sitting in a chair at the main desk. So I went over and sat down in a chair next to her, half looking out over the city. Sun was rising.

"Tahre seemed certain that he may have a lead on the Contractor." Rana commented from behind a holographic panel of textual command.

"Yeah." I replied. "Hopefully. I doubt finding that was as easy as requisitioning a new bike, though."

The engineer chuckled. "I am certain it was not. Although you are probably quite grateful for his clout with the Turian race teams."

I nodded, "Yup." then hesitated. "But you know, I'd be happy if he just had info on the Contractor. Just so we knew what we going up against."

"I am unconvinced that would be a positive bit of information."

"I know, it's gonna be bad. But at least we'd know. At least…"

"We would have a better understanding of what we face and how to best approach it." Rana finished. "I agree. Storming with complete blindness would be foolish." Rana shook her head. "If even you have reservations about wildly marauding into his clutches… well, then it most certainly is an unwise decision."

I chuckled a little bit, leaned forward with my elbows on my knees. "I wouldn't put much weight on my judgment."

"I would not disqualify it, either." Rana countered.

"Yeah…" I replied uncertainly. My mind drifted back to the dream I had earlier that day (it was 0950 ship time).

"You seem unconvinced." Rana noted.

"Yeah. That's an understatement." I shook my head with dry amusement. "I just don't know. And aside from the Contractor… I'm beginning to wonder about that Prothean beacon."

"I thought you had come to some terms with that?" Rana asked, putting away her omni-tool, crossing her armored legs. "And I detected very little disturbance from it when… when we melded."

"Yeah. I know. But I don't know how much is a hallucination, just my own imagination, or real. Half of my dreams are in Prothean dialect. The other half are nightmares." I scowled a little, fidgeting my hands together.

"We were never able to reasonably explain how you were able to conduct additional energy upon occasion…" Rana noted, bringing up a loose end that I didn't want to think about. "Could that be related?"

"It probably is. And about that…" I started. "I don't know how much is real, but that coding and stuff I told you about before? It's getting more frequent. And more involved. Hell, I can understand it now."

Rana was simply watching me as I spoke, pondering, running scenarios through her head. "That is bizarre. If it were an image, I would have noticed it while we were joined. But I did not detect anything."

"Like I said, It's probably just my mind playing tricks on me." I looked down at my right hand, turning it over and studying the armor. "But I can't help but wonder if it's not something else. Like… a virus from that beacon. Or… Hell, I don't know."

"When was the last time you noticed such binary interface?"

"Zephine. When I got hit by a shock baton. It said something about rerouting overload… and seemed to work."

"The redistribution of electrical charge could also be a side effect of your nervous system and element zero strands."

"Yeah. I'm probably making something out of nothing. Sorry."

Rana shook her head quickly and violently. "No! I did not mean to question what you have felt and seen. I was simply trying to reach a logical conclusion." She paused. "Have you witnessed any more of the Prothean soldier's memories? Banthor, was it?"

I nodded and proceeded to tell her every last detail of the last Banthor-related dream I had. I remembered every single detail. Even after days. After several minutes, I concluded. "And I woke up with that coding back. My eyes hurt like hell… and there was something about updating optics or something."

The engineer had listened, patient and puzzled, to the whole thing. "I do not have a reasonable explanation… but I would hypothesize that they are all connected. The beacon, the memories, and the coding which you see. Even onto a physical level."

"That just doesn't make sense, though!" I protested. "Beacons are supposed to go directly to your head, not make your eyes hurt months later."

"I did not say it was reasonable." Rana reminded teasingly. "There are innumerable variables. You as a new species, the beacon, the Zephine facility… I could continue for some time. I believe you understand."

"Yeah. I do." I shook my head. "And then Zephine. That's just another can of worms." I paused, sensing my companion's confusion. "Er, whole batch of trouble."

"Yes. It is certainly bizarre. Judging from what you were able to tell us, and Contractor intel detailed, indoctrination should affect any person of any physiology."

"Uh-huh." I stared out the window for a minute. "I'm sorry to bring all this up here'n'now. I just needed to get it out of my head."

"There is no need to apologize." Rana scoffed a little. "We are only people. We may crack under pressure, but that is why there are four of us – to reinforce the structure and allow time to mend." She slowly stood up, leaning onto the desk with the palms of her hands, cocking one leg and straightening the other as she looked out to the orange sky. "Regardless of what happens now, either with the Contractor or the implications of that beacon onto you… We are in much too far to simply fall apart. Regardless of what happens, I will stand by you without hesitation."

I rose to my feet, pressed my shoulder into hers – ignoring the scraping of metal armor plating –and added: "As a team. Both of us."

xxxx

Delina had wandered off to one of the side offices, and I followed some time after to pester her. Tahre had a lot of space… and quite the view. When I entered, Delina was sitting on the window frame, one leg resting on the ledge while her other leg dangled idly. It looked like her forehead was against the glass.

"Hey." She acknowledged quietly, not turning, not showing much emotion.

"You just watching everything out there?" I asked. Blatant answer. I leaned my shoulder against the frame two meters away from the commando.

"Yeah. I used to run in Nos Astra. It's not far from here. Used to be able to see some of the landmarks, then they kept building up." She explained, sounding quite down. I couldn't quite read her.

"How long ago was that?"

She snorted. "Years – hell, decades ago now. That was before I went big time."

"Big time?" I questioned.

"Yeah. We pulled off our first major heist here. Had to go into the Terminus after that, but it was worth it." The arms specialist reminisced.

"What exactly did you do?"

"I organized the strike force to hijack a freighter with military arms." She shook her head. "I'm surprised I didn't get shot in the back sooner. That was a real scam of a bunch."

"Did they fall through later?"

"Of course. Once we were out of the system, they tried some funny shit. Evia and I put them straight down."

"I see." I nodded.

"Those were the days. I didn't have to worry about saving the galaxy or some psycho with an army hunting me down."

"We'll deal with the latter soon enough." I 'consoled.'

"I hope so. I can't tell you how much I want to rip that bastard apart at the fringe." She growled. "And to think he's just hiding out of reach… It pisses me off."

"Are you alright? I mean, knowing he wants to use you and all that?"

"What do you think?" Delina snapped. "Actually, that doesn't bother me as much as why he wants to incorporate me."

"Because of…" I started only to trail off, unable to find the right word. "Well, what happened to Evia."

The arms specialist was silent for a moment. I couldn't tell if she was festering with anger, or nearing rock bottom. "Yeah. I'd dealt with that best I could and it still haunts me. I've tried to forget it, and that didn't work. I tried to accept it and move on, and there's no way I can justify what happened to her. Then to have the Contractor come in and see it as an opportunity… Goddess, I haven't felt so sick in a long time."

I nodded. Now was definitely no time to start up banter. So I worked it off best I could. "One more reason to stop him."

"Yeah." She scoffed. "Sick bastard." We both stared out at the cityscape in silence. The arms specialist was still quite distant, but less so then when I had first started talking with her. She suddenly started up again. "Evia would fit right into the squad now."

"I'm sure she would. From the stories you told me…" I paused, an indefinable sound catching my attention. "Hear that?" I asked. Judging by the expression on Delina's face, she did.

"Yeah. What the hell is that?"

"Sounds like a party." I commented, looking at the ceiling – where the noise was apparently coming from.

"This early in the morning?" Delina raised her brow, implying how stupid my suggestion was.

"No. You're right. Doesn't seem right. Any ideas?" I asked, listening all the while. Footsteps, music, commotion. It was more than a faint disturbance now.

"I don't know. But I don't like it." The arms specialist hopped down from the windowsill and we both proceeded towards the main office. By the time we went through the one door, everybody else was getting the same idea and beginning to convene.

"Like I said…" Tahre continued on an old conversation. "The last information broker to publicly oppose the Contractor went missing quickly. Their forces are operating unchecked here."

Oh hell no. I thought to myself. Can't we go anywhere without getting hunted down?

Without warning, Delina shoved me down, sending me sprawling behind the desk as she dropped down to the floor. And before I could wonder what the hell she was on about, I heard glass shatter – and a rocket screamed right over our heads, exploding at the back of the office and away from any of us.

My helmet was latched and my rifle was drawn before I was even back on my feet. There was already smoke and fire about, but no additional company just yet.

"Everyone alright?" Kaira yelled over various rumblings and chaos throughout the building. And we were all there, unharmed so far. "We need to fall back to the Akina. Tahre – what's the quickest way?"

"The emergency elevator." The Turian quickly responded, bringing up a panel and running through a series of commands while the four of us commandos clustered about. "There! That should do it!"

And so we proceeded towards the exit. Until, as the door opened, Contractor goons were already waiting. Delina and I opened fire right away, two different assault rifles tearing apart a few troopers. Just as that was cleared, more glass broke. I spun around as several Elites entered from the outside of the office – forcing us in towards the elevators. I laid down covering fire as I backed up, allowing the rest of the squad time to load into the smaller, secondary lift. The more time I could buy…

I didn't judge how far back the elevator was. Not until Kaira called out.

"Jackson! Let's move!"

I spun on my heel and made a run for the elevator. Several meters. I was just about there when a rocket hit the wall next to the lift - tripping the door and sending me flying into the opposite wall. I was right back on my feet, albeit without shields, but the lift was gone; already en route. I glanced back as a whole bloody company of Contractor troops poured into Tahre's office. So I took off the opposite direction, towards an accounting firm.

"Forrest! You still with us?" Kaira yelled over the commlink.

"Yes ma'am." I replied, smashing out a door with a well-formed biotic blast.

"Alright, get out of there and meet back at the Akina."

"Right -" I started, sliding underneath a desk to avoid the hail of shavings coming my way. "And just how am I supposed to do that?"

"Keep going the way you're going. There's a skybridge, and on the other side of that, there's another elevator that leads down to the same transport terminal."

"Got it." I muttered, swinging around a corner – and then quickly ducking back. Contractors coming from that way, too. I didn't care about collateral right then, so I primed a grenade and tossed it around the corner, waited just a second for it to go off, then leapt back out. The explosion had dealt with the squad of troopers, knocked out a few windows and charred the hallway pretty good. On the bright side, I was just at the skybridge. With more Contractors pouring into the office behind me, I made a run for it.

I made it quarter of the way across before a single trooper came rushing from the other side. I had time to raise the VR666 and fire a few shots, enough to knock his shields out, before he reached me. When he did get within arms distance, the Turian was a bit disoriented from the electrical bolts. He swung high for my head and I was able to duck out of the way, then grab him by the throat and heave him towards the glass siding.

His back hit the glass, sending a spiderweb of cracks outward. A threatening boom caught my attention from the right – and I glanced long enough to see a stomper trying to get through the doorway onto the skybridge. Perhaps a few milliseconds had passed before I realized I shouldn't go that way. And so I didn't let go of the merc as he crashed through the glass. I held on for the ride.

The Turian and I tussled as we fell, but I was more aware of what was going on – and in control of the fall. It seemed like several seconds that we were falling, glass all around as the ground approached. It was a ways down to the pavilion.

We hit. The Contractor crashed down back first, absorbing the impact – and then I landed onto him, using him for what little cushion bird and hard armor could provide. I felt the hit – then everything went black for several moments.

I regained my senses, rolling off of my side and onto my feet in the middle of a nice, luxurious pavilion. A few civilians were around, stopped and staring at the spectacle. A few were recording with their omni-tools. I shook my head violently, trying to get rid of the fuzziness. And I was ok. I was ok – I checked, and nothing was broken. I started into a cautious trot, ignoring all the alarmed looks I received.

"Change of plans, commander." I reported. "That other building was crawling with Contractor troops. I'm going to find an outside route to the balcony."

"Understood. We'll get ready to pick you up. Hang in there."

I thought about where I was going as I ran. The edge of the little common area was fast approaching, and as I recalled it was a drop-off. No telling how far down to ground level. But I also remembered some slopes and air conditioning units protruding outward.

"Watch out!" Someone yelled behind me. I turned to see what the commotion was – and it was indeed a commotion. A whole platoon of Contractors were charging across the pavilion, trying to catch up with me. Troopers, juggernauts, assassins running ahead.

It seemed like a good idea to run faster. So I broke into a sprint, twenty meters from the planters that signified the end of the commons. Just about then, a katana came shrieking past my head, apparently thrown – and threateningly accurate. Not a moment later, the thrower let out a scream – modulated and female. I reached the barrier, vaulting over it, crashing through some flowers and quickly catching the opposite ledge – so I was hanging out of sight and above the abyss.

Like I had envisioned, there was an AC unit some five meters down. With the rumble of footsteps fast approaching, I dropped. It was further then it looked, and I hit the protrusion hard – so hard, in fact, that it cracked where it was mounted to the building. I scrambled, leapt onto an angled section of wall, ran across it with my weight above the chasm, and managed to get to the next unit before stopping. And just then, the first AC unit fell from the wall, tumbling away into the two kilometer-long fall. I looked back ahead. I was on a sturdy ledge, maybe a meter wide, with my right shoulder against the metal of the tower. It was about a fifty meter gap between where I stood and the small deck marked the corner of the highrise.

I hesitated for a moment, lining everything up and charging up. Then my biotics flared, launching me into a charge over the void. I came out where I wanted to, as well. Although I did sent a couple chairs and a table flying away. Looking back over my shoulder, I saw several stumped assassins staring over the edge where I had been, trying to figure out how to get from where they were to where I was.

I didn't give them much time to think and took off again. Around the corner, there was a show of architecture design – a spire rising up flush with the wall, sloping gradually until the bottom where it flared out into a nice easy curve out to the ground. And that was another pavilion, maybe 100 meters down. I looked again, to make sure my route would work and then I vaulted over the deck railing, spinning around and hitting the spire with my back and hands as I started to fall. And then gravity kicked in. With practically no resistance against the metal, I was freefalling, sliding along on my back.

I hit the slope. I don't know how many Gs I got, but it flattened me as it shot me out and sent me sliding across the pavilion tile floor. I slid for probably thirty meters before I scrambled up, quickly brushing myself off and looking for a way out.

There was only a way in – back into the tower. And there were no other ways down. I cursed silently, looking around quickly for another way… or any other creative maneuvers I pull off. Still nothing. I started towards the door.

Glass shattered above. There was a metallic screech.

I knew it wasn't an Assassin or Elite. And as I glanced up, my assumptions were confirmed.

A Mk.15.

It did not hesitate to jump out of a window sixty meters up, nor to land directly in front of me. The machine crashed into the deck, legs and four arms articulating to absorb the impact.

It used to be Turian.

I didn't wait for it to recover from the fall before I had biotic blades formed and sliced at its shoulder – removing two arms before it could stand up. Right as it swung at me with its remaining blades, I was able to drive my left blade through its chest – and sent it staggering back. It collapsed, but uttered an awful scream as it 'died'.

And then I heard the reports. More screams, just the same. They came from all directions. I stood ready, blades formed strong as I kept moving around, waiting for the horde to get there.

Oh, and they did. Two Mk.15s climbed up from the side of the tower. I almost attacked them when two more leapt down from the tower above. One more climbed down the spire I had descended, head first as it used its blades to keep from falling.

So there I was, surrounded by five augmented, ex-Reapertech shells. All of them armed with four arms and blades. And judging by how they sort of moved in at the same time, they were connected via neural links. Sure enough, they all sprang at once.

I dove out of the way, avoiding the mess of blades and cybernetics. One turned on me right away, and I lunged in again, swatting at it with my left blade and stabbing it through the chest with my right. It went staggering away with a metal howl, but didn't go down. They were tougher than before. And I found myself deflecting a barrage of attacks. One, two more Mk.15s joined in the attempts to slice me up. And I held them at by, my biotic blades slashing about madly to block twelve different metal blades.

But I wasn't a machine. I couldn't keep going at 110%, nor could I sustain blades for such a long period of abuse. So I let the concentrated biotics detonate, knocking the augmented soldiers back a meter or so. And in the lull I primed a grenade, throwing it at my feet and then leaping backwards over a planter.

As I hoped, there were several metallic screams as the nade went boom. I leapt up from my cover with new biotic blades formed, hoping to see the cybernetic shells laid out. Instead, only one had been disabled – and it crawled across the ground with its one unmangled arm. The other four remained, and they were mad. I had to back up quickly as they began leaping at me, one after another, slashing and providing cover for the next. I had to start strafing around the pavilion in order to keep my distance, and that was only marginally effective. I was millimeters away from being sliced into lunchmeat.

Then one really got in my face. I stopped its tackle with two blades through its chest, hanging it above me, trying to avoid the wild slashing arms. I could feel them contact a few different times, cutting into my armor. Too close. So I detonated my blades again – this time, they were far more effective as they exploded the Mk.15 right in half.

Just as I thought I might have had a break, another one let out a scream and leapt for me, driving all four blades down with incredible force. I raised my right arm to block, new biotic blade forming moments before the impact. They hit hard. Harder than I expected. My vision went blank for a moment as I struggled to keep the biotic edge strong but I was able to deflect the metal blades to the side as I launched a left stab forward. Yet another Mk.15 deflected my attack, rendering it harmless.

I threw my right hand forward, aiming to launch a throw into the whole group. Yet instead of a precisely formed cone, my biotics flared all about, completely amiss and insubstantial. Hell, the attack didn't even bother the Mk.15s. And for a moment, I wondered what was going on – and why that didn't work. Then I saw the blood covering my right arm.

That was the problem. The armor ended at the end of my forearm. The hand was missing. I would have panicked, has I not been fighting with 3 Mk.15s. I couldn't panic any more.

I formed a blade on my left arm and backed up even faster, delaying every attack I could. My defense was nearly useless – the three machines were literally on top of me. With only one blade, I could only deflect so many hits. Then the lead augmented Turian got an arm under my blade and threw it away from me. Before I could respond, his second set of arms struck.

And this time, I was the one lifted off the ground. The Mk.15 just watched with cybernetic eyes as the fight drained out of me. My left blade dissipated. Struggling only made the stabbers cut into me more. The other two machines approached, ready to finish the job. The adrenaline was wearing off and reality was setting in. The two blades piercing through my gut, right below the lowest ribs, had probably hit important stuff. I was bleeding out, but I just choked as I hung there. I couldn't reach my RR12, as it rested on my right hip. Same went for my grenades.

There was an explosion of blue around the three MK.15s, and they went careening away. Without one holding me up, I slammed back onto my feet, staggered back and fell against a planter and slid to the ground so that I faced the Mk.15s and my back was to the abyss. I tried feebly to get my revolver as the three Contractor machines rose, ready to go back at it. I was not. My vision was starting to get quite fuzzy. I wasn't even able to draw the pistol.

Then something leapt over the balcony, landing directly in between the Mk.15s and I. It was brown, presumably a commando. Judging by the sheer aura of dark energy, it was Kaira, and she was mad. The machines were unfazed, seamlessly regrouping and beginning to press another assault. They barely made it two steps before they were greeted with a hellstorm of biotic energy, something of a cross between a warp and a singularity. It was effectively holding them in place and tearing them apart. Then Kaira threw her hands apart and the energy exploded with enough force to peel tiles from the floor – and decimate the cybernetically augmented soldiers.

My head started to nod.

With the threat dealt with, Kaira quickly turned towards me – until glass shattered above us and two more Mk.15s landed behind her. In a flash she spun around, throwing her arm out and sending both adversaries smashing into the building with enough force to rattle everything. They weren't going to be back for more; not after that.

Only then, as she spun back to me once more, did the commander's biotics start to cool down. I could tell she was worried as she ran back and slid up to me. I couldn't hear what she was saying. Things were starting to go tunnel-vision for me. I could tell as she got my arm over her shoulder and lifted me to my feet, starting towards the drop. The shuttle was probably waiting. She was probably dragging me towards it. I was too far gone to tell. I tried to take one last breath before everything faded away.

xxxx