That did not just happen.
Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams stared, dumbstruck. She didn't dare move a muscle, she didn't dare to even breath. Buried under a small mountain of fallen MREs she lay motionless, trying to blend in with the brown packages.
Everything had gone to hell faster than a starship at FTL. One minute her squad was out on patrol, the next they were rushing back to secure the Beacon from the attacking Geth. It was blind luck she was still alive. A grenade had blown her back into a pile of crates. That wasn't so bad, she would've walked away with few bruises for sure, but it was the crate to the back of her head that knocked her out cold. When she came to, her squad was gone and she was buried beneath a mountain of food. But she woke up just in time to witness Saren execute his fellow Turian and the Commander. A clean shot to the back of the his head, going through his skull and into the Commander's helmet, dropping them both like flies.
She should have done something, but without a weapon she could only watch in horror. She didn't dare reveal herself. She had her sidearm, but grabbing it would require movement. If Saren was willing to kill a Spectre and Alliance marine then what would he do to her?
Saren crouched, examined the bodies for a moment before turning and heading off the cargo tram. Ashley heard it power up before pulling out of the station. Only then did she dare move her head to make sure he was truly gone. She was sore and her head hurt something awful. But she was alive, and that was more than she could say for her team. Reluctantly, she pushed away the thoughts of her dead friends. It would only serve to distract her now.
Ashley picked her way out of the mountain of food packs, keeping an eye out for approaching Geth. She picked up her fallen rifle, its comforting weight settling in her hands as she scanned the area with renewed confidence. After making sure nothing was sneaking up on her, Ashley crept over and pushed aside the dead Turian.
-ooo000ooo-
Awareness returned with a vengeance. Ruby groaned meekly, wincing as her head pounded away inside her helmet. Then she froze at the dead face of Nihlus above her and the blood splatered across her visior.
Nihlus... dead?
A noise nearby startled her before she could fall into her grief. A small rustling sound followed by footsteps. Saren. Ruby's jaw clenched in anger, though she forced her body to stay slack. He probably thought she was dead. Better to keep it that way, then plug him with a hole in between his...
She forced herself to take a deep breath. Getting angry wouldn't help at all. She had to stay focused. No easy feat, considering her head was pounding like a drum at a Krogan funeral. She thanked whatever gods there where that her helmet had held. Alliance Intelligence sure knew what they were doing while making her gear.
And Nihlus... even in death he'd saved her life yet again. A tear threatened to leak out as she stared up into his glazed eyes The footsteps drawing near pulled her back to the present. There would be time for mourning later, right now she needed to deal with that backstabbing son of a bitch.
The footsteps stopped right beside her. Ruby could picture the look on his face, gloating down at the corpses. She forced her body limp, keeping her breathing as slow as possible. She would only have one chance at this.
There was silence for a full minute, then a light rustle as someone knelt beside her and pushed Nihlus away.
Now.
Ruby lashed out, delivering a solid hay-maker to the head that appeared above her. The figure reeled back, stunned. Taking advantage, Ruby twisted, kicking its legs out from under it. The figure fell and she was on it in an instant, drawing and shoving her pistol in the bastard's smug little face.
Then reality caught up with her and Ruby found herself staring into the stunned face of an Alliance Marine. Ruby didn't pull away. Years of ingrained training screamed at her that it could be a trap.
"Name and rank?" she demanded through clenched teeth.
The marine swallowed, but kept her voice calm. Not an easy thing, considering she was staring down the gun barrel of a superior officer. "Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams of the 212th, stationed on Eden Prime, ma'am."
Ruby held her gaze for moment, weighing her words. Then she sighed tiredly, rolling off Willams and dropping her pistol. Her head pounded away with renewed fury.
They lay there, panting.
"Are you alright, ma'am?" Ashley asked at last, breaking the silence that stretched between them.
Despite everything that had just happened, Ruby chuckled, then winced and clutched at her head. "I think I should be asking you that, Williams."
Ashley looked at her, incredulously. "You just got shot, ma'am."
"And I just kicked your ass."
The marine scowled, but nodded reluctantly. "I'm alright, ma'am. You?"
"Just peachy," Ruby moaned. "My head is trying to kill me, the Geth really are trying to kill me... and Saren just shot one of my best friends," she finished with a snarl. "So yeah. Just peachy."
"I could say the same, ma'am."
They stared up the sky, content to let the rush of adrenaline fade. Finally, Ashley stood, picking up her rifle. She offered Ruby a hand, then paused, her eyes widening as she realized just who she was helping up.
"You-You're..."
"A pleasure to meet you too, chief." Ruby grinned, taking her hand and letting herself get hauled to her feet. She reached up, feeling the large dent in her helmet. "Yikes. Talk about good workmanship."
Ashley nodded dumbly, still staring, unable to believe that an Alliance Legend was standing before her. Then she steadied herself, burying her awe beneath solid professionalism. "You're here for the Beacon, ma'am?"
"Yeah," said Ruby, wincing as she tried to massage her temples through her helmet.
A mission left incomplete.
Not now.
"Saren said it was secured at the spaceport," Ruby continued, "which is most likely crawling with Geth at this point. We need to get it back. You know a way to get there, Ash?" Ruby tilted her head. "Can I call you Ash?"
A low rumbling sound presided the Normandy flying overhead, circling the platform. It took Ruby a moment to remember Nihlus's last dying transmission. Oh, she was going to make Saren pay for this.
The Normandy dropped down, the cargo bay door opening as the ramp lowered. Kaidan ran down, rifle in hand.
"About time, Lieutenant," Ruby called, picking up her pistol.
"We got Nihlus's distress call," said Kaidan jumping down beside them. "What happened?"
"Nihlus is dead," Ruby stated, checking the weapon over. It was hard to keep her emotions in check as she thought of him, but she managed to keep her voice steady. "We have the location of the Beacon. I need you t-"
She stopped, the words dying on her tongue as logic asserted itself into the situation.
Ruby needed him. She need them both. She couldn't just order them back to the Normandy. Under normal circumstances she would have happily sent them away. With her power and skill, she could handle a few hundred Geth just fine. But not in the state she was in. It was hard enough to focus let alone fight.
But she had too. She couldn't let the Beacon fall into Geth hands. And though she hated putting them danger, she needed the two marines.
Ruby silently cursed. She'd lost one friend already, she didn't want to lose another.
"Form up," she said grimly, "lets get this done."
"But what about you?"
"I'm fine." She lied, waving at the cockpit window. The ship hesitated for a moment, then blasted off into the sky.
They were on their own. Her and two marines. What chance did the Geth stand?
"Doctor Chakwas is going to kill me," Kaidan sighed, watching the ship leave.
"Let me guess, she commissioned you to drag me aboard?"
"Ordered, more like it."
Ruby grimaced, knowing what the Doctor's reaction would be. No one disregarded her medical orders and got away with it, especially her. Sometimes having a doctor as an adoptive parent sucked. Though she could go for some pain killers right about now.
But the mission came first. And Saren.
"We'll deal with that later. Williams, you know how to get to the space port?"
-ooo000ooo-
"I thought she was dead."
Saren's face twisted in contempt as he watched the cargo tram approach, carrying the Commander and two others.
"You obviously missed."
"I did not miss," he growled, glaring at the woman beside him. The tram was getting closer, but the bombs were almost set. Soon this place would be nothing more than ash. "You should return to the ship."
"As should you," she replied.
"I'm finishing what I started. Return to the ship, now."
"No." The hood turned to face him. "But smart, Saren. Remember what you said? The mission is too important to let your hubris get in the way. She will die here, you can be sure of that."
His mouth twisted in a snarl, words forming on his lips, only to realize that she was absolutely right. Bombs really were the answer to all of life's questions.
"Fine," he growled, stomping off. "Come. We're leaving."
Ignoring him, the woman watched as the tram grew closer, focused fully on the Commander.
The face was... familiar. Uncomfortably familiar.
Ruby Rose.
Yes... that name had been dead for a long time. But here she was, a living Rose.
That was impossible.
"Finish them," she said to the Geth standing nearby before turning and heading back to the Reaper just outside the space port.
What a fool Saren was, thinking he could control the ancient shell. It didn't just take strength to resist the pull of Reaper indoctrination. You just had to know the secret. A secret she hadn't bothered to tell him.
The poor soul was already in her grasp, both metaphorically and literally.
Aura was tricky like that.
-ooo000ooo-
"Look at the size of that thing!"
Ruby winced at Kaidan's words, eyes clenched shut as another jolt of pain shot through her skull. It was getting worse the closer they got to the damned thing. But she gritted her teeth and forced the pain off her face. She just had to stay focused.
A mission left incomplete.
"How the hell is it on the ground," Ashley wondered aloud, crouched behind the train's railing. Beside her, Kaidan shrugged.
"Thing's got to have one hell of a power source that's for sure," Ruby replied, bracing herself against another wave of agony.
That damned dreadnought hadn't left, sitting behind the space port and looking down on them like an ancient monolith of destruction. And they were heading straight towards it.
Ruby peeked over the railing. A number of Geth swarmed the platform, but the rest appeared to be pulling out, running back to a number of drop ships parked on the landing pads. But then her eye caught a lone figure standing on a catwalk, watching them from above. A long black cloak obscured her figure and a hood covered her head. But even at this distance Ruby felt their eyes lock. A shiver went down her spine. There was something very, very wrong about her.
Then the woman turned away and vanished, letting Geth snipers take her place.
Ruby ducked down, turning to Ashley and Kaidan. "Okay, this is gonna be tough. Snipers on the catwalks and an unknown number of hostiles." She risked another peek. "At the rate they're pulling out, I'd say they left a little present for us. Kaidan, keep an eye for explosives. If you see any shut them down."
He nodded. "Got it, Commander."
"Ashley, do you know where exactly the Beacon is?"
"No. Sorry, ma'am."
"Then move quick and stay mobile. I'll cover you both from the top and draw their fire. Get to cover as soon as we stop."
"Are you sure, Commander?" Kaidan asked as he peeked over the railing. "There's a lot of them out there."
What were numbers when she could run at the speed of sound? They wouldn't be able to hit her even if they tried.
"I'll be fine, trust me," Ruby smiled reassuringly at them as another flash of pain hit her. "Just stay in cover, call your targets and I'll-"
The dreadnought hanging above them unleashed an ungodly shriek. Ruby couldn't hold back her scream as the sound tore through her mind. She fell, clutching her head as she rolled on the ground. She was dimly aware of Ashley and Kaidan hovering over her, their mouths moving in soundless words.
The dreadnought loomed behind them, crystal clear in her swimming vision.
A mission left incomplete.
Ruby stared at it, its black shape burned into her memory. Then anger slowly bubbled up inside her, growing with each pulse of pain that shot through her skull.
A mission left incomplete.
Ruby's eyes burned in their sockets as the fury mounted. She shoved the two marines away, pushing herself to her feet and snarling at the dark behemoth. The pulses of pain melding with her rising fury, all directed at the ship before her.
A mission left incomplete.
Kaidan was shouting something, trying to pull her back behind the railing as the Geth on the platform raised their weapons. Without thinking, Ruby picked up Crescent Rose, the blade unfolding with a rasp of steel that echoed in her ears.
A mission left incomplete.
It was hard to think as rage consumed her entire being, the pounding in her head reaching a peak. Suddenly she wasn't there anymore. The force from Agaus returned, overriding her thoughts, fusing with them into a voice that wasn't her own.
KILL THEM!
The train stopped.
The Geth on the platform stood no chance as Ruby darted out, cleaved them in two in a whirlwind of flashing steel, rose petals drifting away in her path.
She ducked, sliding along the ground as a hail of bullets rushed over head. Crescent Rose spun in a whirlwind of steel, slicing through the legs of the offending Geth before cleaving its body in two with the same blow
The remaining synthetics turned to face her, their networked intelligence racing to come up with a strategy. As they closed in, Ruby channeled her speed into her legs and jumped, firing Crescent Rose. The resulting recoil propelled her high into the air. She hung there for a moment, relishing a cold breeze before she fell from on high like an angel of death. Crescent Rose flashed in the bloody light, gleaming with murderous intent.
A Geth trooper was crushed beneath her as she landed, its head smashed in by an armored boot as Crescent Rose cleaved another in two.
Then she lost herself in the flow. There was no conscious thought, only the rage that dictated her every action, an unwilling passenger in her own body. If she saw a Geth, it died, no mercy, no remorse. There was only action and reaction, guided by countless hours of training and the presence behind her eyes as she cut down the Geth one by one.
A mission left incomplete.
The pounding in her skull grew worse as she rushed forward, tearing into a group of reinforcements that appeared from the side. Though the rage continued to burn strong, her own pain soon became too great to ignore. Suddenly she couldn't breath. Her own thoughts emerged through the chaos and she was...
...back against the wall, tears pouring down her face as a blade flashed in the darkness...
A mission left incomplete.
Ruby stumbled, gasping as the vision flashed across her eyes. She recovered a modicum of control, but she couldn't stop. Recovering, she jumped, slashing down at...
...a pale face. A young boy, barely five years old fell in a pool of his own blood...
A mission left incomplete.
Ruby screamed, kicking away the lifeless body of the Geth. Everything was rushing back. Her vision blurred, tears pouring down her cheeks as her breath came in short, painful gasps.
"...Are you afraid?..."
A pair of glowing eyes hung in the dark, laughing as she cut them down one by one.
"Don't cry... this is your duty, after all."
A bullet bullet caught her in the shoulder. A red spark jumped as the bullet bounced off her armor, deflected by...something. She didn't know what. She couldn't think clearly. Her body felt numb, like she was slowly drifting away.
Fighting to stay standing, Ruby turned and saw the last group of Geth holding their ground on the far side of the port. Behind them loomed the Beacon, glowing with a soft green energy.
Ruby snarled, the rage taking hold once again as she charged.
The Geth fired and she dodged, launching herself high into the air with another shot from Crescent Rose. She descended on the Geth like a meteor, screaming bloody murder.
But it seemed like that was the plan all along.
As she fell, the Geth dropped their rifles, priming the grenades strapped to their chests. Even through her anger, Ruby saw it coming. She twisted in the air, getting Crescent Rose pointed down before taking aim and firing.
Her aim was true.
The Geth exploded in a burst of fire, the shock wave throwing Ruby off course. She hit the ground hard, the impact tearing Crescent Rose from her grip as she rolled. Her back struck the Beacon... then everything went white.
-ooo000ooo-
...Death...
...Destruction...
...A sky so black that even the stars ceased to exist. Fire rained...
...a force below. They never faltered, not even when the sky itself fell around them. Black twisted...
Reapers descended from the sky, racking the ground with fiery beams of pure energy. Hundreds fell, but more rallied under their last...
...held for three hours, fighting to the last man.
...husks swarming the trenches. At the top of a lone hill, the last survivor stood, watching the destruction of his...
...no remorse. They had died for a purpose and their sacrifice would not...
...finality, he pushed the Beacon into the pit, burying it for the next...
...was secured. Now he could die in peace.
"And so our history comes to a close." The voice was deep and calm, despite the chaos around it.
Ruby wanted to scream as the images washed over her. So much death... a sky so black... an endless nightmare. Her body was going cold, her fingers going numb as flashes of comprehension assaulted her mind amidst the chaos of the vision. Her brain felt like it was about to explode.
"This is how it ends... I couldn't ask for a greater purpose."
"...my men still have hope... of the vengeance that will come upon our enemy."
She couldn't feel her arms. They weren't numb, they just... weren't there. Something was wrong.
"...They will die here in the name of the Prothean Empire. But I will die with my..."
Her heart was slowing down. Each beat was long and laborious... trailing off into nothing. Everything was going cold as her mind faded away.
...hand clenched around his sword as he stared out into the distance, meeting a pair of silver eyes in the far future. A single thought flowed between the two persons, a message passed down after thousands of years. A single string of... that bore the weight the entire galaxy.
"...granted me the name our last hope. Now go, Ruby Rose. Free the galaxy of this curse once and for all."
Then everything faded away as her mind went blank and darkness seeped in, filled with a high, unending tone.
Frantic noises...
Shouts for a doctor... a pressure on her chest...
But nothing seemed to matter... her mind drifting away into oblivion where pain was nothing but a distant memory.
Then a voice, rich and feminine.
"Brother... what have you done?"
Then... nothing.