Shepard was playing chicken, and she was playing it with the lives of her fellow Hammer One members. They weren't even halfway to the beam. Anderson had gone down early on. She was only partially aware of where her remaining squad within Hammer One—Alenko, Vega, and EDI—were. She didn't know where Javik was, only that she'd heard him scream when Harbinger's laser passed too close.

She hoped the multiple shield modules she knew he was wearing had taken the edge off the strike, had left him wounded, not dead. Wounded, he could crawl off, find somewhere in the rubble to hide and wait.

Another close call—so close she swore she felt the heat and a scream she recognized as Alenko's—told her enough was enough. "Band saw! It's not gonna work! Band saw!" she shouted into her radio. She dodged nimbly to one side, contriving to look over her shoulder. Vega had Alenko off the ground, but something was wrong with the way he was moving, his hands going ineffectually to his ears.

Shepard threw herself to the side, strafing with her particle beam, knowing that all she and anyone else still on their feet could do was wait and hope for rescue. She succeeded in working her way back to Alenko and Vega, sheltered by an upended piece of rubble.

Vega had Alenko's helmet off. The biotic was bleeding from the nose—sure sign of biotic overdraw—but also from his ears. "Holy shit," she breathed, then reached into her web gear, finding gauze pads to anchor over the apparent damage.

Alenko interfered with the process by trying to take her hand. "I'm fine!" he shouted, more as if he couldn't hear himself than for any other reason—though she didn't doubt he was in some serious pain. Could biotic overdraw blow eardrums? She couldn't understand how that could have happened otherwise.

"It's almost over!" she called back, exaggerating the movements of her mouth so he could read her lips.

Alenko nodded, but didn't let go of her hand.

Vega yelped, grabbing her and pushing her more into the rubble, leaning over her and Alenko as Harbinger's cannon struck the rubble behind which they were hiding. With both men hanging onto her, Shepard couldn't push herself out of cover and try to pull the Reaper laser away from her comrades—

"Shepard." EDI suddenly whispered in her ear.

"Are you okay?!" Shepard demanded. "Get off me, Vega!" She succeeded in elbowing Vega away from her, though Alenko reached out and grabbed Vega's shoulder with his free hand. The biotic field Alenko rose shimmered and danced, patchy, as if he didn't quite have it in hand.

"I am behind cover. Band saw is moving into place. The Crucible is in-system. Remain in position."

Shepard closed her eyes, wondering how many captains of wounded vessels were going to decide they were 'too damaged' to be any further use in the space battle and throw themselves at Harbinger. "What about the others?"

"There is no sign."

There is no sign. EDI knew she'd been asking about the Stiletto teams. No sign. That was…good. Maybe. It could mean they'd simply hit enough resistance to slow them down…but it could also mean they weren't coming. There was no way of knowing.

Suddenly, overhead, was a sound more welcome to her than any other: the sound of the Normandy screaming in.

-J-

Vega hadn't known a biotic could blow his eardrums by overreaching himself. What Shepard hadn't seen—and maybe it was best that she hadn't—was that Alenko had overreached himself by throwing up a barrier and holding off a pass from that ridiculous Reaper's laser. Doubtless if the Reaper had simply hit him square-on, it would have killed Alenko, maybe not instantly, but definitely killed him. However, the fact that the blow passed across him, rather than hitting head-on, was apparently something the L2 could handle.

At the cost, apparently, of a bloody nose and popped eardrums. Vega still didn't understand how that could happen, but Alenko didn't seem surprised or panicky—just understandably in pain.

Vega could see Ghur on the other side of the run-up, crouched behind an upturned vehicle, which looked like a dead cockroach on its back, wheels in the air. "We're gonna be okay!" he hollered to Alenko, who nodded.

Their position was bad, stuck on the run-up, too far to retreat, too far for a reckless dash. It was the worst case scenario, or second worst, right behind getting hit full on by a Reaper laser. He just knew that mechanical monstrosity was enjoying picking off the Hammer team one by one. It was probably saving Shepard for last, just so it knew she'd feel despair before dying.

The thought made him feel positively savage.

The sound of the Normandy cruising in was the most beautiful sound he'd ever heard.

"Go!" Shepard yelled, thumping him on the shoulder. "Help me with him!"

Vega pushed himself to his feet—and screamed as his lower leg exploded in pain, sending him collapsing back to the ground.

"Shit, shit, shit! What happened?!" Shepard demanded.

"That thing has its attention somewhere else," Ghur answered, suddenly present. "But not for long!"

"I think Vega just fractured a leg!"

But how?! Vega wondered.

"He's heavier!" Already, Shepard had cracked Alenko's shell, was tearing away major plates to make him lighter to carry.

"I got this…" Alenko shouted, clearly under the impression he was using an indoor voice. A biotic corona surrounded him. When Shepard moved to wrestle him into a fireman's carry, she was able to do so…although when Alenko's biotic field flickered, she staggered with the sudden uneven distribution of weight.

"Stay with me, Kaidan!" Shepard shouted.

"Come on! You're clear!" Dr. Chakwas shrieked.

Shepard didn't wait to be told twice but hurried off, trusting Ghur to shoulder Vega and follow along.

Vega shifted to look at the Reaper over Ghur's shoulder. Sure enough, it was shooting at something high up.