Chapter 59: We Lost too Many
Shepard stepped over a turian corpse, blue blood still trickling out of the massive hole in his head. The battle raged around her, but she no longer heard the sharp bark of gunfire or the deep, resonate thrum of biotics; the only sound was the beat of her heart, blood coursing through her veins and pounding in her skull. Hundreds of thousands of resin coffins stood empty, the people inside escorted back to the waiting ships, countless more filled with the soupy remains of humans, melted down to be pumped into the embryonic reaper. Skirting a dead salarian, she locked her sights on the glowing form of a possessed collector and activated her biotic Charge, knocking the collector back before shooting it in the face.
"You cannot stop the Harvest, Shepard." Harbinger's voice echoed through the cavern, somehow able to penetrate the fog surrounding her mind, bringing a rush of noise back in with it. A collector to her right began to glow. "You will regret your resistance."
Grunt slammed into the collector, and Shepard turned to face the next threat. Blood and gore surrounded her, everywhere she looked. People banged on the inside of the pods holding them captive, their screams silenced by the cacophony, faces contorted in agony as the machinery ground them into mush. The conveyor lowered the next batch of pods to the ground, and Shepard kept fighting, trying her hardest not to notice just how many of those pods no longer held living people as the allied forces rushed to open them.
"Commander, we found Admiral Hackett." An unknown man's voice filled her ear, one of the Alliance soldiers, she assumed. "He's alive."
"Thank gods," Jane whispered.
"Good, keep him that way." Shepard hit a Harbinger collector with a Reave, ripping away its barrier.
Her head throbbed, muscles complained with every movement, but still she fought as the hours ticked by. At least it felt like hours. She wasn't exactly sure anymore, and she wasn't going to waste time stopping to check her omni-tool. When she ran out of ammo, she picked up the weapons of the fallen: human, asari, turian, salarian, or collector, it made no difference in the end. She could almost hear the voices of those she absorbed, feel the beats of their hearts, taste their rage and their fear. She commanded biotic powers never known to her before, wielded more dark energy than she'd ever felt, as if she found and tapped into a wellspring, hidden within herself. But still people fell around her.
As the conveyor brought down more and more pods, fewer and fewer contained anything but liquified corpses. Another seeker swarm arrived, but the biotics already learned a Singularity detonated with a Warp did wonders to kill off the insectile creatures. Shepard turned from blowing the head off of a collector to rip a husk off of Jacob's back, throwing it to the ground and stomping on its face.
"Shepard, I detect no more life signatures within the remaining pods." EDI's voice filled her ear, heavy with a sympathy the AI would only deny being able to feel. "I'm sorry, we have saved all we can."
"How—" Shepard's voice cracked when she tried to speak, mouth and throat bone dry. She licked her lips, desperate to work up some saliva, and tried again. "How many did we get, EDI?"
"One million seven hundred and sixty-three thousand four hundred and two," EDI said.
The number echoed around in Shepard's head, ripping open her heart like a strike of lightning rending a tree in two. So few …. Did they even manage to save half once the colonists were factored in? Gritting her teeth, a growl ripped through her throat, and she Charged, slamming into the nearest collector.
"This yield has been lost. Protect the unascended," a Harbinger collector said, and in an instant, all collectors in the area took flight, seeming to retreat into the distance.
Shepard dropped to one knee, exhausted. Thane crouched in front of her, resting a hand on her shoulder. She looked up, meeting his worried gaze and nodded. The rest of her team moved in around her as she pulled herself back to her feet, chest heaving. She looked around at the floor littered with the bodies of allies, men and women who died because of something she changed … collector pods seeping carnage … their lives, all of their lives, were on her head.
She swallowed down the bile rising in her throat and turned her attention to her crew. "We need to keep going. We have to destroy the reaper they're making and blow this place to hell."
"What about them?" James asked, nodding his head in the direction of the allied forces still moving survivors out of the base.
Glancing over her shoulder, she swallowed again. "The collectors pulled back to protect the reaper, they're not going to make it easy for us. They'll have time to finish the evacuation and get their ships clear of the blast. Once I set the charges, we'll have ten minutes to get the hell out of here and back to the Normandy." She started over to the transportation platform. "Let's go."
They piled onto the platform, and it broke away from the dock, moving out over the seemingly bottomless canyon below. The trip to the next dock passed in silence, her team members shifting around on the platform to take in their surroundings and check their clips. Shepard knew in other lives, they'd be forced to fight their way through more collectors on the dock, but the area remained quiet. She lead them across the dock, only to find there wasn't another platform waiting for them. The collectors must've recalled them all to try to slow her progress.
She brought a hand to her ear, activating her comm. "EDI? Can you get a platform sent back to us?"
"Yes. Overriding the platform's console now, it will arrive shortly," said EDI.
"Thanks." She leaned against the low wall, a collector assault rifle resting atop her thighs.
"You're welcome, Shepard."
She pushed away from the wall when she saw the platform arriving and waited near the edge. The platform docked, and Shepard stepped on, moving to the console while the others followed her. "Remember, once we take out the tubes, it'll fall, but it won't stay down. When it comes back up, aim for the eyes, the weapon in its mouth, and the core in its chest."
"Don't worry, Ídolo." James reached over, putting a hand on her shoulder and giving her a little shake. "We've got this."
She tried to smile, but she felt pretty sure it came across flat and forced. "Yeah."
Tali hissed, drawing Shepard's attention to the reaper construct looming in the distance. Her heart stopped for a moment, pain lancing through her chest before it started beating again. It wasn't the same reaper as before. Well, it was, only far more advanced. Metal plating covered the skeletal features, encasing the head and chest as if skin and muscle. Legs dangled down below where once there was nothing, and more tubes held the monstrosity in place, anchored into the chest, hips, knees, and ankles. Its head turned, glowing eyes zeroing in on Shepard as the platform approached. Opening its mouth, a scarlet vortex appeared, charging the cannons.
"Shit. Shit. Shit. Get down! Everybody get down!" She grabbed James, his hand still on her shoulder, and dragged him down with her, pressing her back against the low walls of the platform.
Her heart slammed against her chest, cold, blood-curdling fear ramping up her adrenaline once more. Everyone crouched, getting as low as they could, but it was too crowded, there wasn't enough room for everyone to have adequate cover. The blast hit, washing over the platform and making it rock.
She watched, horror-stricken and helpless from her position, as Zaeed tumbled over the edge, his scream a like a spike rammed through her skull. Grunt threw himself forward, trying to catch the old mercenary, but he only made the platform tilt further, nearly capsizing the entire thing before he caught himself and scuttled back. Miranda and Samara both tried to catch Zaeed using their biotics, but it was far too late. He was gone. Zaeed was gone.
"Oh gods …."
"EDI, can you make this thing go any faster?" Shepard yelled into her comm as she lifted her assault rifle, clenching her jaw down on a bellow of fury, turning to shoot from cover the moment the platform stabilized.
She didn't need to give the order, everyone started firing, focusing their attention on the enormous threat that just claimed one of their own. They'd mourn later. EDI didn't respond, which was just as well since Shepard doubted she'd have heard the AI over the sound of gunfire. Legion moved to the console, though, and within a second the platform picked up speed. The reaper was already charging another blast when they docked; the collectors wasting no time to swarm them.
Ordering her team forward, they claimed two more platforms as their own. She took a moment to activate their Medi-gel, washing herself and everyone else in the cooling relief of the life-saving substance stolen from the corpses of her allies. With the humanoid reaper already … conscious, she didn't waste her time shooting out the feeding tubes, though she knew some of her squad would still target the anchors while others focused on the collectors. It certainly wouldn't hurt to have the reaper drop, but she'd be damned if she wasn't going to hit it where it hurt.
Shepard fired round after round into the core of the reaper, her shots mingling with those from James and Kal. Legion took shots at the tubes holding the reaper in place, and Thane focused on the eyes. Grunt threw himself into the fray, bowling over collectors while everyone else stayed behind cover, using biotics, tech, and weapons to fight the prothean husks.
A tube shattered, and the reaper tore its arm free. Swiping at the interlocked platforms on the other side of the dock, two platforms ripped away, falling into the darkness. Collectors on the platforms took flight, some moving to other platforms, some staying airborn to fire down on Shepard and her team. The reaper's arm swung out again, fingers gaining purchase on one of the low walls of the dock, and it used the leverage to pull its other arm free.
Hunkering down over the dock, the reaper opened its mouth, the vortex already building into another cannon blast, the core in its chest obstructed from Shepard's view. Its gaze locked on her, and she ducked behind the wall, forcing herself as low as she could without lying prone. The blast swept over her platform, heat searing the air around her, eating through her shields and making her feel as if she was being cooked alive for a few seconds before dissipating.
Looking back out of cover, a collector particle beam ripped through her armor, slicing through the meat of her upper arm. She hissed, ducking back behind the wall and grit her teeth. Glancing around the edge once more, she hit the collector responsible with a Reave, using it to boost her shields before returning fire.
"The forces of the universe bend to me," the Harbinger collector said. "We will end you."
Grunt slammed into it, knocking the glowing collector back before ramming the butt of his shotgun in Harbinger's puppet's face. Jack sent out a Shockwave, throwing several collectors back, and two fell over the edge only to reappear a moment later, wings fluttering. Mordin sent an Incinerate at one, burning up its wings and making it drop into the abyss. The reaper began charging its cannon once more, head swiveling towards Grunt.
"Grunt, get down!" Shepard yelled, aiming her assault rifle at the charging weapon in the reaper's mouth. She fired off several shots, drawing the reapers attention back to her, and she kept firing until the last minute, ducking back into cover only once the spinning stopped, ready to fire.
The blast went off, dropping Shepard's shields again, but James was unlucky enough to be caught in the blast. The shot lifted him off his feet, throwing him like a ragdoll. He slammed into a raised platform before dropping back to the floor, landing face first. She rushed to him, grabbing his hand and dragging him back to the safety of cover before activating the Medi-gel release. James coughed and groaned, pulling himself up to sitting, his back pressed against the half-wall. She put a hand on his shoulder, keeping him under cover until his head cleared enough to reorient to the battle. Looking up, he met her gaze and nodded. She slapped his armored shoulder and returned the gesture, turning her attention back to the reaper.
"Assuming control." Harbinger's voice echoed in Shepard's ear, each syllable spoken only adding fuel to her fire. "I am the harbinger of your ascendence."
She fired off a few shots aimed at the reaper's mouth, but it closed its makeshift lips, armoring the cannon. She cursed, the core still hidden from her, too, and aimed for the eye instead. Throwing its head back, the reaper screeched as one of its eyes exploded. The sound reminded her of the anguished screams of the people who died to give the reaper life. Opening its mouth, the vortex began spinning again, pulling together energy for another cannon blast.
"Such beings need never fear pain," the Harbinger collector said. "Kill one and one hundred will replace it. You are arrogant, Shepard, you will learn."
The screech of rending metal and loud pops filled the air seconds before the reaper lifted a knee onto the platform, pushing itself up, hovering over Shepard and half the team.
"Fire on the core," she yelled, rushing for new cover, using her biotic Charge to take down a wounded collector along the way.
The blast hit the pillar she hid behind, chewing through her shields and burning her, but failing to do any real damage. A moment later the core shattered, and as Shepard glanced around the edge, the light faded in the reaper's other two eyes. Its head lolled forward, the joints of its arms letting out a low whine as it began to tilt. Right elbow buckling, the reaper listed to the side and began to fall.
"Shit." Shepard started running in the opposite direction, dodging collectors the best she could. "Get out of the way, go, go!"
Launching herself over one of the half-walls, she raced down the length of the dock, putting as much distance between herself and the falling giant as she could, praying the dock was strong enough to hold out. A Harbinger collector stepped right into her path, lifting a hand as corrupted, dark energy formed around its fist. Shifting her footing to dodge, she didn't quite make it, the attack slamming into her, taking down her shields and knocking her back.
The entire dock shook beneath her feet, the noise of the enormous crash disrupting all other sound. The quaking knocked her flat on her ass, and the Harbinger collector took flight, firing at her while she lay prone. Before its bullets could rip through her armor, the collector burst into flames, dropping back to the dock before exploding into ash. Mordin stood over her, hand outstretched. Slapping her palm into his hand, she let him help her back to her feet.
Lifting her assault rifle, she spun around, scanning the destruction around her. All of the platforms at the far end and even half the dock had been ripped away as the reaper fell into the darkness. Collectors unlucky enough to be in those areas were gone, too. James and Jacob lay on their stomachs, reaching down over the edge. A quick scan of the faces around her told her Grunt must've fallen when the reaper crashed. She rushed back to the edge, firing on collectors trying to swarm James and Jacob.
With the reaper gone—hopefully for good—her team pulled back in around her, covering her six while she covered James and Jacob's. A moment later, James heaved, and Grunt's hand slapped down on the jagged, torn edges of the dock. Shepard let out a relieved bark of laughter.
"Irrelevant. You are short-sighted," Harbinger said through the mouth of another long-dead prothean. "Shepard, you cannot stop us."
Grunt got his elbows wedged on the dock, and James and Jacob shifted out of his way, grabbing on to his armor where they could and helped drag him back over the edge. Seeing the krogan back on his feet, she turned her attention to the remaining collectors. Exhausted and sore, she pressed on, firing her assault rifle until it clicked empty. Ducking behind cover next to a collector's corpse, she threw the assault rifle aside and scavenged a new one from the body.
Within minutes, the sound of gunfire ground to a halt, and Thane called the all clear. Shepard slumped, resting her back against the wall while she caught her breath. He moved to her side, standing over her, his own chest heaving as he offered her his hand.
She shook her head. "Give me a minute."
Dipping his head, he turned and sat on the edge of the wall. Gaze roaming over the rest of the group, notably absent of Zaeed, she swallowed back a wave of grief and activated the group Medi-gel release. She was so sure … so sure she'd make it through the Omega 4 Relay and back without losing any of her crew.
"It's not your fault," Jane said, her first actual words spoken since the Zaeed fell to his death. "The collectors … it was never like this before. They never got so far on the construction of the reaper, there was never so many to fight here …."
Tali sunk to the floor next to Shepard and leaned into her shoulder. "Are you alright, Shepard?"
"No," Shepard said before she even realized the word formed in her mind. Swallowing again, a tear fell down her cheek, and she shook her head. "We lost too many."
Tali leaned in further, putting a little more pressure against Shepard's arm. "You can't blame yourself, you did everything you could to try to save everyone."
"Yeah." Shepard didn't really want to hear it. She'd heard way too many versions of 'you did your best' to last her a million more lifetimes. Pulling herself to her feet, she held her hand out to Tali, helping the quarian up before activating her mic. "EDI, have they gotten all of the survivors out of the base?"
She waited a few seconds, expecting to hear the AI's voice fill her ear, but there was only silence. "EDI?"
Nothing.
Her blood turned to ice, her heart sinking down into the pit of her stomach. She heard the panic creeping into her own voice when she tried again. "EDI? Can you hear me?" She waited another moment, turning to face Thane when he put a hand on her waist. "Joker? Joker are you there?"
"Commander?" James stepped in a little closer to her, voice filled with concern.
"Joker?" When she still didn't get any response, she turned, looking over her shoulder back towards the exit and dropped her hand. "Damn it. I can't get the Normandy on the comm. James, take a team and head back, see what's going on. I need to make sure the survivors and allied forces are clear before I set the charges."
James gave her a sharp nod before turning to the others. "Kal, Tali, Jacob, Legion let's go."
They piled onto a platform, and Legion activated the console. Disengaging from the dock, the platform took off, carying James and his team back towards the exit. Shepard took a deep breath, trying to stave off the sense of impending doom settling back in around her shoulders.
"I'm getting a call from the Illusive Man." Miranda took a couple of steps closer, gaze shifting from her omni-tool to Shepard. "Do you want me to answer it?" She tapped her omni-tool, projecting a holographic image of the Illusive Man when Shepard nodded.
He took a drag from his cigarette. "Shepard, I've lost contact with Kelly Chambers. She was keeping me updated on the mission. If this is your doing—"
"It's not." Shepard sliced her hand through the air, cutting him off. She didn't have the time or the energy for another bullshit power play. "I can't get EDI or Joker on the comm, either. I don't know what's going on. I've sent a team back to the Normandy to check on things. We're waiting here to blow the charges as soon as we get word the other ships have cleared the blast radius."
"I see. I suppose this means the Council has commandeered the Normandy. They probably have the entire crew in handcuffs by now." He let out an exaggerated sigh and took a drag from his cigarette. "I don't suppose there's any point in trying to convince you to use a timed radiation pulse to kill off the remaining collectors instead, so the technology can be salvaged?"
Shepard dropped her weight to one hip and crossed her arms over her chest. Gods, she hoped he wasn't right about the Normandy being taken by the allied forces. She agreed not to fight them if they tried to arrest her after the mission, but no way would she sit on her hands if they went after the people she cared about. "Nope."
"We can use that technology—"
"Nope." She cut him off again, giving him a definitive shake of her head. "It's never worked in favor of the war before, it isn't going to this time, either."
Jane hummed, thoughts bubbling just below the surface of Shepard's consciousness. "But Miranda will be in charge this time."
"Yeah … but we don't know for sure what caused his indoctrination. What if he loses it completely because he gets his hands on a part of this reaper either way?" Shepard thought. "We might just be setting Miranda up to be indoctrinated."
"Fair point," Jane said, sounding mildly disappointed.
"You can't know that, Shepard." The Illusive Man cut through the air with his cigarette. "You've said yourself that you've … changed things. I know you and I don't see eye to eye, but you have to know I only want what's best for humanity, and ending this war as swiftly as possible is in all of our best interests."
She looked down at her feet for a moment and then shook her head. "No. We don't need this to win the war. Nothing good can possibly come from this nightmare or the things you'd do if it fell into your hands." Glancing up at Miranda, she said, "I'm done talking. Cut the call."
"Yes, Commander." Miranda's hand ran over her omni-tool, and a very annoyed looking Illusive Man disappeared.
Jack shifted around, moving a little closer to Shepard. "You think he's right? You think those assholes took the ship?"
"I don't know." Shepard shook her head, sucking in a deep breath knowing Jack was thinking the same thing she was: Garrus was still on the Normandy. "It's a possibility."
Jack swung a fist at the air before grabbing her head with both hands. "Fuck, what else could it be?" She threw her arms out to the side and started pacing.
"We have just infiltrated the collector's base." Miranda cocked a hip and crossed her arms, lifting an eyebrow.
Jack stopped pacing and glared at her. "Shit …. That's not fucking reassuring."
"It wasn't meant to be." Miranda waved a dismissive hand. "It's practical. Either way, we won't know until Lieutenant Vega reports in. There's no point in dwelling on maybes and what ifs until then. Stay focused on why we're here. We'll deal with whatever is going on with the Normandy once we've returned."
Jack snarled, taking a step toward Miranda, but Shepard moved in her way, holding up a hand.
"She's right, Jack." Shepard glanced over her shoulder at Miranda. "She could've found a more considerate way to put it …" She looked back at Jack when Miranda huffed, rolling her eyes. "... but she's right. I don't like it any more than you do, but we need to stay focused. There could still be collectors left alive in this place."
As if summoned by her words, Grunt turned toward the other side of the docks and said, "There's more on the way now."
"Fantastic," Shepard said, lacing the word with every ounce of sarcasm she could muster and turned, readying the collector assault rifle. A few seconds later, she heard the fluttering beat of wings in the distance.
The collectors arrived in droves, Harbinger seeming to throw everything into the fight. So Shepard did, too. She tore through the collectors, tapping back into the hidden wellspring of strength and biotic energy she didn't possess on her own. Her team—her friends, family even—fought with just as much focus and rage.
"Shepard …." James' voice broke through her comms.
Ducking into cover, she tapped her mic, keeping the line open while she fired on the nearest collector. "James? What's the Normandy's status? Are we clear to set the charges?"
"Commander, I …."
"Vega! Spit it out!" She may have snapped a little, but she was under fire and didn't really have time for whatever the lieutenant was stumbling over trying to tell her.
"Shepard …" Garrus' voice replaced James', and she sucked in a relieved breath. "The other ships are gone back through the relay, you're clear to set the charges."
"What's going on?" she asked between shots. "Why couldn't I get EDI or Joker on the comm?"
"I … I've taken care of it for the time being." Something about the tone of his voice sounded off, choked, like he fought to suppress emotions he didn't want her to hear. "Your link to the ship has been reestablished, just set the charges and get back here in one piece."
Pushing her back against the wall, she brought her hand to her helmet, as if she could block out the sounds of battle. "Garrus, what happened?"
He cleared his throat and took a breath deep enough for her to hear, still, there was a slight tremor to his voice when he said, "Dawn, please … just set the charges and get back to the ship."
Something was wrong. Very, very wrong. She didn't have time to fight off the rest of the collectors. They needed to get the hell off the base and back to the Normandy immediately.
She licked her lips, grip tightening on her gun. "Yeah." Her voice croaked, so she tried again. "Yeah, OK. I'll get them set now, and we'll retreat back to the ship."
"Thank you." Relief filled his voice, but it didn't cover the underlying dread and pain in his subvocals.
She didn't answer, instead switching back to the channel her squad used and said, "The ships are clear, cover me while I set the charges. We're getting the hell out of here."
She fell back to the nearest cooling rod, her team moving in around her. Pulling up the rod, she got to work. As soon as those charges were set, and the cooling rod slid back into place, she moved on to the next. Once all three cooling rods still remaining on the mangled dock were armed—she wanted to make damn sure there was nothing left for the Illusive Man or anyone else to retrieve—she pushed herself to her feet and lifted the collector assault rifle, walking drag to cover the others. "Alright, let's go. We've got ten minutes before this place blows."
Bolting to the nearest platform, they piled on, bullets still flying at the collectors chasing after them. Lia activated the console, and it broke away from the docks, automatically making the trip back toward the exit. A seeker swarm filled the air behind them, a dark, buzzing cloud, but the synthetic hybrids ignored Shepard and her squad completely. Still, it didn't stop Shepard from throwing a Singularity into their midst, forcing the small, mechanical bodies into the gravitic pull of the miniature mass effect field, crushing many of them instantly. Thane threw a Warp at the center, detonating the Singularity with a flash, tearing apart the remaining seekers.
The platform docked, and they didn't waste any time rushing to the next. Shepard silently thanked James—or more likely, Legion—who thought to send the platform back once they reached the other side. As the platform disengaged, the collectors caught up with them, settling down onto the dock. She expected them to continue their assault, firing on her and the others, but instead they all stopped, falling perfectly still. Black, lifeless eyes watched her as she moved further and further away. And then, in what she could only describe as a fit of rage, Harbinger took control of every collector standing on the dock, lifting them into the air as they started to glow with the telltale inner magma … and then they all exploded into clouds of ash.
"Goddess," Samara said so softly Shepard barely heard.
A moment later, and almost as quiet, Lia said, "Keelah."
"Well shit, that's a first."
As soon as they docked again, Shepard ran like hell, making her way to the central chamber door. Scions, groaning and lumbering, came into view. A few seconds later, the passage filled with husks and abominations as well. As if that wasn't enough, Shepard saw the shadows of two praetorians looming overhead beyond the door.
"Fuck!" she yelled, her voice echoing off the walls. "Just keep moving, don't let them pin you down." Switching to her grenade launcher, she took point, running into the next room.
She focused on keeping the praetorians distracted, giving the others the chance to get past. Grunt cleared a path through the husks and abominations, throwing himself against them and slamming his shotgun into their skulls as he passed, firing off shots at those that didn't stay down the first time. A praetorian's beam swept towards her, forcing her to dodge, jumping to the side and rolling behind cover, separating her from her team.
Despite having told them to keep moving and not get pinned down, Thane and Grunt returned to her side. Bellowing, Grunt pumped shot after shot into the praetorian, tearing down it's barrier. She popped out of cover, firing off three grenades, breaking through the praetorian's armor. The praetorian started pulling energy in around itself, white-blue flames licking over its carapace.
"Run!" Shepard bolted from cover, Thane hot on her heels, and she slapped Grunt's shoulder as she passed him. "Now! Run, go!"
The praetorian slammed down to the ground, shaking the floor beneath her feet, but they'd made it far enough away to avoid being knocked back. Counting down the seconds in her head until the praetorian's eye-lasers would rip through her back, she lead Thane and Grunt back to cover. When she glanced over the wall, she saw both praetorians moving in on their location.
"Shit," she popped out of cover, taking the opportunity to fire off more grenades before the lasers cut a swath straight for her.
Shots fired from the other side of the room drew Shepard's attention, and she realized the rest of her team moved back into the thick of things, taking up position behind cover and firing on the second praetorian and ground troops. A blast went off, knocking the praetorian back, and Miranda smiled, clapping Lia on the back before using a Slam to throw a collector up into the air.
Grunt switched to his assault rifle, whittling down the closest praetorian's barrier the rest of the way, and Shepard fired the last of her grenades. The praetorian pulled energy in around itself before slamming into the ground, knocking Shepard and Thane back out of cover. She dove back against the wall and switched to the assault rifle. Grunt and Thane were already firing on the flying monstrosity, its collection of husk heads moaning from within its mouth, when Shepard took aim. Barriers down once more, it only took a second to take the praetorian down.
Rushing for cover closer to the second praetorian, Shepard glanced at her omni-tool, counting down the time they had left to get clear of the blast zone, and brought her hand to her mic. "Joker, we're coming in hot, meet us at the rendezvous and get ready to hightail it out of here."
"We are on our way, Shepard," EDI responded. "We will arrive at the pick up location in two minutes."
"Thanks, EDI." Shepard fired on the praetorian, yelling over the sounds of biotics and gunfire to get her crew's attention. "Fallback, keep moving!"
Holding down the trigger, she continued her barrage, drawing the praetorian's attention to her while the others started running. The assault rifle clicked, the clip empty. "Fuck." She threw the gun aside and drew her pistol, checking the Carnifex's clip as she began her retreat.
Grunt stayed at her side, Thane just behind her, as they moved backwards towards the exit. When the praetorian's attacks got too close, they scattered, rolling and dodging out of the way before regrouping. Shepard glanced over her shoulder, finding the rest of her squad waiting in the entryway, firing on collectors, scions, and husks closing in on Shepard's position. Close enough to risk it, she turned and ran, counting on them to keep her safe. As soon as everyone passed through the doors, Jacob got them closed and Mordin scrambled the lock.
She glanced at her omni-tool again, one and a half minutes. Dear Gods. "Come on!" She started running, each slap of her boots against the ground seeming to come hours apart. Her heart thundered against her sternum so hard, she thought it might actually burst free from her chest.
Collectors and husks, though far fewer than before, attacked them, dropping down behind cover or crawling up over the edges to harry their progress. The Normandy rose up in the distance, a beautiful beacon of hope, and the airlock opened. Garrus, clothes stained with crimson blood, mandibles tight against his jaws, lowered his assault rifle and fired on the enemies in pursuit. James stood at the other side, a grim look on his face as he lobbed a frag grenade, shotgun in hand.
Shepard pushed herself, moving to the side as she waved the others on, firing at the collectors behind her squad as they threw themselves into the ship's airlock. As soon as everyone else was clear, she holstered her pistol as she started running. Jumping, she was weightless for a moment as she soared through the air before crashing back down against the edge of the airlock, tumbling into the Normandy.
The airlock closed before she could pull herself back to her feet, and she let out a heavy sigh. "EDI, get us the hell out of here!"
"Right away, Shepard," EDI said, a hint of … was that sadness in her voice?
Shepard pulled herself to her feet and turned, locking in on the blood smearing Garrus' clothes. He reached for her, and her gaze travelled up to his face. His mandibles trembled, and there was something in his eyes ….
"No," she said, ice running through her veins. She shook her head, horror creeping in along the edges of her mind. "No. What happened?"
The confused and frightened murmurs coming from those behind her tugged at her consciousness. She turned away from Garrus and rushed into the area stretching between the cockpit and the CIC. Cerberus crew stood at their stations, frozen in place, the gold and black swirls of seeker venom energy surrounding them. Others, fallen to the ground, lifeless in puddles of their own blood.
She stopped dead in her tracks, as paralyzed as if a seeker had gotten her, too. "How …." Her brain stalled, unable to make the words come out of her mouth, but a moment later she tried again. "How the hell did this happen?"
Some of her crew turned to look at her with wide eyes, others looked on, their gazes locked on the cockpit. She started to turn, searching out Joker even as some distant and utterly absurd part of her mind told her he wouldn't be there. Garrus stepped in front of her, blocking her view.
"No." Shepard shook her head as pieces started to fall together in her mind. "No, no, no!" The last one came out almost a scream as she tried to move past Garrus, only to have Thane's hands wrap around her wrists, trying to tug her back. She wrenched her arms free, slapping away his hands and shoved Garrus aside.
Blood.
So much blood. Splashed over the pilot's chair, splattered over the controls and windows, puddled on the floor. Joker's SR-2 hat lay near the largest puddle, somehow still pristine in the middle of the macabre. A dead collector lay a few feet away, tucked back behind the copilot's chair. Something inside of Shepard cracked, voices of the crazed breaking through, their wails of torment shattering the last of her sanity into a million, tiny pieces. Her knees buckled, a scream ripping its way through her throat. Garrus was there again, strong arms wrapping around her and pulling her into his chest, but even with her face buried against him, she couldn't stop seeing the blood.
A/N: I'm, so, so sorry. Please don't hate me.