The sound of laughter and farming colored the colony of Mindoir on most days, but today the crackle of uncontrolled fires and collapsing buildings replaced the regular noises. The streets, once filled with farming tractors, now catered to the dead colonists, shot down as they ran for cover and safety. Shepard recognized some of the dead, as she crept past, while others' wounds made them unrecognizable, even after knowing some of them for fifteen years. She kept her focus forward the best she could, knowing there was nothing she could do for her fellow colonists. Staying in the shadows and keeping behind things, kept her hidden from the small bands of Batarians still in the area. Most of them already moved towards the more crowded center of the colony, but a few clean-up groups still canvassed the area. Screams and yells and gunfire in the distance floated on the breeze into Shepard's ear. She forced the noises out and made herself focus on her current goal. She had to make it home and find out the fate of her parents.
When she arrived, Shepard found her parents. Ten yards from the Shepard family front door, a large dark spot covered the ground beneath two familiar bodies. Her dad's limp form half-covered her mom, acting as a shield, his arm slung across her body, and a gun near his motionless hand. No longer concerned about her wellbeing, she ran to their side and collapsed onto the blood-soaked earth. Her knees landed in the tacky mixture next to the still bodies. The hole in her dad's back gave her no hope that he still lived. Her mother's wound wasn't visible, but her deathly pale skin revealed enough. She threw her arms around them and buried her head against her parent's bodies as tears streamed unbidden down her face.
"Cara," a low, strangled voice whispered, followed by a very labored deep breath.
Cara Shepard startled at the noise and pushed herself up to look down at her mother. Tears continued to blur Cara's vision, but she could see that her mother's eyes had opened, and, although the once vibrant blue eyes now glazed over with pain, they tried to focus on her. "Mom," Cara said, wiping at her leaking eyes and reaching for her mother's hand as it struggled to reach for her own.
"My sweet... baby girl," her mother said with a labored breath. "I'm so sorry."
"No, mom," Cara comforted her, "It's not your fault. You're going to be fine." Her voice cracked with emotion and a held back sob. "I'll find help. You're going to be okay."
Her mother's hand trembled as it moved from Cara's hand and upwards to rest on her cheek. A weak but happy smile ghosted across Hannah Shepard's face as her thumb brushed her daughter's cheek with effort. "I know you're going to be an amazing woman," a labored breath, "You're just beginning to discover yourself. I wish I was going to get to see you grow into your own, baby girl." A sudden and violent cough left speckles of red on her too pale lips.
"I'll find help. You're going to be okay." Cara tried to get up to find help but her mother stopped her.
"It's too late. You have to get away, Cara," her mother said in a pleading rasp, grasping her daughter's hand and squeezing with as much strength as she could. Cara Shepard watched in pained horror as each breath her mother took became more and more difficult. More tears continued filling and spilling from her eyes with each of her mother's labored breaths. The occasional violent cough wracking her body, causing more red to speckle her lips, cheeks, and chin.
"No, I can help you. I have to help you," Cara said, pushing up from the ground and looking around for someone to help her. She took a deep breath to call out but felt a hand grasp with desperation around her ankle, and she looked down. Her mother's eyes were clear as they looked at her - compassion and understanding in her eyes.
"No, mom," Cara said, collapsing back to her knees beside her mom, "Please."
"Cara," her mother said, attempting to take another deep, labored breath but was unable as a coughing fit interrupted. Speckles of blood coated Cara's face, but she didn't notice. Using her shirt, she wiped the spots of blood from her mom's lips, cheeks, and chin; Cara's eyes blurry with unstopping tears.
A moment later, her mother stopped coughing and took a much needed, shallow breath, before continuing, "I love you, so much, Cara." Another short breath. "Your dad and I both, but I need you to get safe." A short breath, followed by more coughing. "It's too late for me." The woman looked at her unmoving husband, whose body lay draped over her in a protective embrace. The tears she had been holding back began a trail down the side of her face, removing the red spots as it washed across them. "For us," she said around a choking sob. Another short shallow breath to control her tears, before she continued with urgency, "Go. Get to safety, baby girl. Live for us, Cara."
Shepard bent over wrapping both her parents in one last hug, pouring all her emotions into it. She felt her mother's hand caressing her head until the pressure eased with one last caress. Cara looked up to her mother's face and saw the vacant look that had taken over the warm, loving expression. Cara wiped at the tears she had no control over and began to stand up when she heard a noise behind her.
"Well, look what we have here," a deep, gravelly voice said.
From her squatting position, she looked over her shoulder in the direction of the voice and saw four batarians. They had come around the corner of her neighbors' house, not thirty yards from her.
"Stand up nice and slow, and you won't end up like the other dead chattel," the voice said.
Shepard tensed with alarm and anger but managed to keep her head about her. She did not move. She saw the other three out of the corner of her eye point their weapons at her, as the one who spoke began walking towards her. Their guns trained on her were with casual attention, not believing her any kind of threat.
As the batarian moved closer, a malicious and gleeful grin stretched his face. He taunted her, telling her in detail the horrific jobs required of those in possession of batarian slavers. She clenched her jaw, forcing herself not to respond as he approached. Shepard's father was ex-Alliance, and knowing how dangerous traverse colonies could be, he taught her how to survive. He drilled into her how she needed to stay calm in a situation and look for any opportunity that would allow her an advantage. Shepard angled her body to keep an eye on him. She noted his cavalier attitude - he didn't see her as a threat. He also blocked his companions' shots with his closeness.
"How about I show you the ropes? Put you through your paces, so you'll know what to expect. What do you say pet?" He asked as he took another step, placing himself less than a yard from her.
Her eye twitched in anticipation, The idiot had left himself vulnerable. Shepard grabbed the pistol hidden by her feet, and faster than he could register, she aimed and pulled the trigger. The shot was pinpoint accurate, piercing through one of the batarians four eyes and exiting the back of his skull. She launched from her crouched position, to grab the collapsing body, and use it as a shield. She fired off two more rounds at the remaining batarians, surprising them as they dove for cover. She hit one in the leg as he aimed at her, causing him to stagger as he sprayed a burst from his assault rifle. The shots were wild, and one of the rounds caught a slaver in the head, taking him down. The third slid into cover while she fired at his injured comrade.
The wounded batarian reached cover as she took a couple more shots at him, missing both. The dead batarian shield she held made it difficult to aim and move. Dragging the deadweight, she took small, shuffling steps, moving slowly towards her house for more effective cover. As she did, another group of slavers appeared, alerted by the sound of gunfire. The group, twice as large as the first, arrived weapons-ready. They aimed where she hid behind their dead comrade and spread about the area, intent on surrounding her. Cara could feel her strength waning as her legs shook, the body was getting more difficult to hold. Her options for cover, already limited, and the slavers' arrival, diminished her chances of getting safe to zero. She fired at them, hoping to take as many out as she could before they surrounded her, but to her dismay, the shots bounced off shields.
She'd surprised the first slavers, who were unassuming of a young human girl, but this group wasn't taking chances. Her eyes searched the area, and her mind tried to recall something that could help her in her current situation.
A batarian slaver yelled from behind cover, "Give up, little girl. You human cattle are all the same, trying to delay the inevitable. There's no way out for you. Come with us peacefully, and we'll show you your true purpose."
In response, she fired a few more shots at the slavers she could see.
A burst of weapons fire impacted her flesh-shield, causing her to drop the pistol she was holding to keep the body from toppling her over and crushing her. She heard a few sinister chuckles before another burst of weapons fire hit the body and caused her to stumble backward, barely keeping on her feet and the body in front of her.
A light tickle began at the base of her skull when her thoughts focused on the injustice of her current plight. The colony of Mindoir was a peaceful farming colony. They bothered no one and kept to themselves. Indignation surged within her and the light tickle became stronger. Where were the Alliance, their protectors? Pictures of the bodies passed on her way to find her parents flickered through her mind, each unnecessary death built on the ire coursing through her. The tickle became an itch as a steady buzzing feeling enveloped her body inch by inch, limb by limb.
"Shit!" One of the batarians shouted. Cara heard them as if from underwater as the buzzing in her head and ears amplified with her fury.
"She's a Biotic. Take her down, but don't kill her," the same voice yelled. "She'll make a good return if she's not too damaged."
She took a glance back at her parents, and her world went white. An animalistic, wrath-filled scream tore from her throat as she flung the batarian body she held for cover to the side.
The group of slavers, startled from the scream, hesitated and provided time for her to pick up the dropped pistol and close the distance between them. A yell from their leader made them resume firing. They aimed for her legs so they wouldn't kill her, but she continued to advance. Her body glowed bright white with the barrier her subconscious mind created for protection against the flying projectiles.
Waving her free hand with an animal instinct at the bigger group, she sent a giant biotic wave crashing towards them. Shepard watched emotionless as they were all flung from cover, their shields sputtering out as they crashed to the ground. Two didn't move from where they landed, necks at unnatural angles. She aimed her pistol and fired three rounds - two into the chest of the nearest batarian, and one into the skull of another trying to get back up - each finding their mark.
Another rage-filled scream and handwave produced a wobbling biotic mass that struck the batarian leader. His screams of agony went unheard by Shepard as her warp field ripped him apart, and she focused on her next would-be captor. Two more rounds - one to the chest, one to the head - neutralized another slaver.
The four surviving batarians scrambled for cover. Two found it behind a tractor and one behind a property wall. The last one, the one shot in the leg from the first group, was the recipient of a vicious biotic pull and two bullets to the back of the head.
"Open fire," a slaver yelled. The three rose from cover and fired at the advancing human girl. The one behind the property wall received a bullet to the head for his efforts, while the remaining two accomplished to whittle away her barriers. One of the bullets pierced through her barrier and slammed into her leg, knocking her to the ground. The two remaining slavers held their fire when she fell.
Shepard lay face down, her forehead resting against the forearm of her gunhand. She took heaving breaths trying to control the pain coursing through her body as she clutched her injured leg with her free hand. She could hear the remaining batarians talking but could not make out their words. Looking up from staring at the dirt, she saw them ease around the tractor, weapons at the ready. As they advanced and she did nothing, they relaxed and lowered their weapons, talking between themselves.
Shepard saw her final opportunity. Calling on everything she had left, she pulled her newly acquired biotics forth and reached out for the tractor. She lifted it into the air and moved so that it hovered above the stunned batarians. Before they could react, Cara dropped it on top of them, crushing them under its weight. Assured they weren't going to move again, she succumbed to the darkness encroaching upon her senses.
A grizzled man, in yellow mercenary armor, walked towards the girl. He had heard the gunfire as he approached from the forest and arrived in time to see what she had done with the tractor. He stopped to check out her other handy work. It was impressive. As he got closer, he noticed the pool of blood forming under her leg and rushed to apply medi-gel before scooping her into his arms. "Don't worry, kid. I'll get you somewhere safe," he told her, his voice gruff.
She didn't stir the entire mile-and-a-half back to his ship. Once onboard, he applied more medi-gel and checked her for other external wounds. Not seeing anything obvious, he pulled up a program on his omni-tool and swiped it over her body, checking for any internal injuries. Everything appeared fine - no alarms sounded on his device. She suffered only from exhaustion and blood loss.
He left her resting in the small medical area and went to check his scanners, trying to figure out the situation on the planet. It wasn't pretty. The Alliance was taking its time getting there, but he had tried to warn them. With a heavy sigh, he started up his shuttle unable to help any further, and lifted off, keeping low to avoid batarian ship scans. At least he'd helped this girl. He began to ascend, and he left the burning planet of Mindoir behind.