A/N: Well, here's another chapter, finally. Again, sorry about the delay. I'm still finding it hard to focus for some reason, but I've also started working full-time, which means I haven't had as many opportunities to write over the last few months as I would have liked. This chapter is longer than average, though, so there's that at least.

Responses to reviews are as follows:

AnarionRising27: You're very welcome, and it's great to have another chapter out!

Guest: Interesting. That makes sense as Jedi are far more likely to make sacrifices than Sith are after all.

seabo76: Who knows the answer to any of those questions? Well, I do, but I'm not saying anything!

6tailedninja: Hey, that's great to hear! I'm glad you've enjoyed it so far, but what have you liked the most, out of interest?

Chapter 31: Chaos

At first she hadn't understood what was happening.

For a few seconds, Shaela had been convinced she was going to die. Mandalore had stood over her, and she had felt what was coming. Not seen, felt. Her eyes had never left Rassen's during that moment, but she had sensed the incoming blow, the Force issuing a futile warning. Even with it on her side, though, she had known she wouldn't be able to act in any meaningful way, not in time.

And then Rassen had stopped looking at her.

For a split-second Shaela had wondered if it was because he couldn't bear to see what was about to happen, but then she had heard it, a faint boom in the distance. A clattering noise of metal against rock had caused her to flinch, her eyes moving away from Rassen before landing on the weapon that had been about to end her life. She had stared at it in disbelief for what had felt like an age, unable to understand why the woman above her had suddenly decided to show mercy.

Mandalore had then said something, but while she had been able to make out the individual words, Shaela had been unable to make sense of them as a whole, her mind seemingly running at half its normal speed as a second, identical booming noise followed the first one. It was only when Mandalore had collapsed before the astonished quarian a second later, allowing her to see past where the armoured woman had been standing, that Shaela had realised what the sound was. The sight of something blue down at the base of the slope that led up to the cave had caused all of the pieces to click. Someone, it had to have been a Systems Alliance soldier, had just saved her life, and Rassen must have seen them just before they had acted.

As Shaela remained kneeling in place, her mind reeling as it sank in that she was somehow still alive, more shots suddenly began to sound from the same direction as the first two, multiple cries of pain causing her to turn around to see a number of batarians and Mandalorians collapse as they were hit. Shouts started to fill the cave as the roar of approaching shuttles suddenly drowned out the distant sniper fire. Dozens of blasters and mass accelerator weapons began to open up on the base of the slope, those within the cave firing wildly at their attackers. With such a deafening cacophony of sound all around her, Shaela couldn't hope to make sense of all of it. Nonetheless, she still managed to make out some of what the people nearest to her were bellowing.

"Unknown number of assailants. Take defensive positions!"

"More of them are deploying from those shuttles!"

"Squad to me! Shoot to kill!"

Some of the Mandalorians and batarians began to surge towards the cave's entrance, determined to take shelter behind the large rocks just before it. Others chose to drop down where they were, minimising the size of the target they represented as they tried to crawl towards the nearest available piece of cover. With so many bodies moving in all directions, more than a few individuals were knocked off their feet, only to be trampled by their comrades. Despite how most chose to at least try and do something to increase their chances of survival, a few simply stood still, trying to process what was happening as utter confusion reigned. The result was total chaos, the threat posed by those outside the cave having taken full priority as far as the hundreds of Mandalorians and batarians were concerned.

Knowing she could be remembered at any moment, Shaela cursed as she suddenly realised that she had been watching her surroundings in awe without moving. The quarian hurriedly pushed herself to her feet as quickly as she could, only to let out a cry of shock as a batarian slammed into her shoulder without warning, the impact knocking her out of his way and causing her to stagger as he barrelled past. The man vanished from sight a second later; it was entirely possible he hadn't even noticed her.

Regaining her balance and side-stepping a Mandalorian before he too could crash into her, Shaela turned towards where she had last seen Rassen, desperately trying to peer through the crowd as she began to run deeper into the cave. Another batarian let out a startled exclamation and tried to stop her, only for Shaela to dodge his attempts to grab onto her arm as she ducked past him.

"Rassen!" she screamed as loudly as she could, nearly falling over as someone else clipped her before she recovered. "Rassen!"

There was a sudden break in the mass of bodies before her. Shaela darted through the gap, only to come to a halt as a hand seized her by the wrist and pulled sharply. Caught off-balance, she wasn't able to stop herself from staggering towards the person responsible and turning to face them.

Raising a hand and allowing the Force to flow through her body, she prepared to send her attacker hurtling backwards, only to freeze as she saw who it was.

His skin was pale, much too pale to be healthy. A slight trickle of blood ran from one side of his mouth. It looked as though merely standing was taking an immense toll on him. Even after Zaressh had almost killed him back on Omega all those years ago, even during the final confrontation with the Sith on Querra, he had looked better than he did now. In short, Rassen looked terrible.

And she had never wanted to kiss him more.

It could only have been a second or so in reality, but what seemed like an eternity passed as they stood opposite one another, the human still holding onto her wrist as dozens of bodies continued to move and collide all around them. Shaela opened her mouth to speak, to ask him how badly he was hurt, but nothing came out as the droning sound of the shuttles cut out abruptly, jarring her out of the moment. For his part, Rassen reacted by releasing her wrist, only to take her hand as he managed a few words despite his condition.

"We… need to find Shepard and Kasumi."

That brought her fully back to reality. Even with the distraction caused by the arrival of what sounded like a small army of Alliance soldiers, it was a miracle the two of them hadn't been shot yet. They had to find the others before it was too late for all four of them.

A familiar electronic crashing noise suddenly came from behind her, causing Shaela to whip round, her eyes widening at the sight of a Mandalorian standing only a few metres away from her, his blaster rifle braced against his shoulder. Before she could so much as blink, the armoured warrior collapsed to the rocky ground, the air next to where he had just been standing flickering as Kasumi uncloaked. The thief was breathing heavily, a gash along her right forearm clearly causing her considerable pain judging from her strained expression as blood dripped from the injured limb.

"Follow me," Kasumi panted, gesturing for them to do so with her good arm as she began to sprint towards a cluster of boulders that stood just before the nearest wall of the cave, perhaps twenty metres away from their current position. Each one of the rocks was at least several feet tall and a few times wider than a person, and they formed a rough semi-circle from the point of view of someone standing where they were.

Knowing their only chance was to get to the formation as quickly as possible, Shaela began to run after Kasumi as fast as she could, Rassen limping alongside her, his face tight with pain as she continued to hold his hand. Glancing over at the Jedi Knight worriedly as he suddenly stumbled in his exhaustion, the quarian's heart then stopped as a nearby batarian turned to face them without warning, levelling a shotgun at Rassen's back and grinning manically as he prepared to open fire.

No, no, no, no…

Reaching out to the Force desperately, Shaela threw an arm in the batarian's direction, sending him sailing backwards through the air like a ragdoll just as he pulled the trigger of his weapon, the shot missing its intended target by inches. Rassen twisted around at the sound, the action consuming the last of his energy as his knees began to sag, the Jedi Knight threatening to collapse right there and then.

"Don't stop!" Shaela screamed, throwing one of the human's arms over her shoulders and wincing at his weight as she began to help him the last few yards to their destination. "Come on, Rassen! We're almost there!"

As they resumed their struggle towards the rock formation, Kasumi suddenly emerged from it and raced over to them, positioning herself on Rassen's other side and grabbing onto his free arm. Shaela felt her shoulders practically sigh with relief as the thief shouldered some of Rassen's weight herself, the two of them practically carrying the man between them the last few metres to the cluster of boulders before lowering him down behind the nearest one once they had reached it. Sweat ran down Shaela's face as she knelt down next to Rassen, her heart stopping again as she saw he had passed out.

"How bad is he?"

The quarian looked over to her left to find Shepard taking cover behind the boulder next to the one she, Kasumi, and Rassen were currently using. The commander was in the process of slotting a heat sink into a batarian assault rifle he had acquired from somewhere, but he stopped to glance at her for an answer, his expression calm despite the gunfire that continued to echo all around them. Activating her omni-tool, its familiar orange light slightly comforting despite the battle occurring nearby, she ran it up and down Rassen's barely moving form for a few seconds. The diagnosis the device gave her caused her to swallow heavily.

"He…" she trailed off, swallowing again before continuing. "He's…"

A gloved hand landed on her shoulder. "He's going to be all right," Kasumi promised, causing Shaela to look over at her to find that the thief must have treated her arm before helping her with Rassen, given that it was no longer bleeding. "I know he looks pretty bad, but he's tough, Shaela. He's going to be fine."

As Kasumi continued to reassure Shaela, Shepard carefully rose to his feet before looking in the direction the two women and Rassen had come from, rifle at the ready as he prepared to cut down the Mandalorians and batatians who had no doubt noticed them during their headlong rush to the cluster of boulders that now concealed them from view. Staring in utter disbelief for a moment as he saw that somehow, impossibly, no one was approaching their current position, understanding then dawned as he noticed several bodies, both batarian and Mandalorian, lying nearby. Judging by how each of them looked to have been killed by a single shot, it was clearly the work of the same Alliance sharpshooters who had saved Shaela earlier, though their distant firing could no longer be heard due to the other noises that were now echoing through the cave.

Placing one hand on the boulder in front of him to steady himself, Shepard turned to look in the direction of the cave's entrance. Although he had to squint to do so, he could just make out that hundreds of specks of blue were descending the sheer walls of the valley, their colour contrasting just enough with the green of the rock to be visible. For a moment he didn't realise what they were, understanding only dawning when he noticed the much larger shapes of the shuttles that had landed above them. Each speck was a marine, and they were abseiling down the valley walls, their numbers noticeably greater than those of the Mandalorians and batarians. Even as he watched, the first few dark blue armoured men and women reached the floor of the valley and began to advance towards the cave, which caused him to frown in confusion.

Wait. If they're only just getting into the fight, then who's been helping us?

Raising the assault rifle he had obtained from a batarian while Kasumi had been retrieving Rassen and Shaela to eye level, Shepard looked down its scope. While far less powerful than the kind found on even the most basic of sniper rifles, it still provided a substantial degree of magnification, meaning that as he manoeuvred it towards where the long-range fire had to be coming from, Shepard could make out the more distinct features of those at the base of the slope, despite the distance that separated him from them when he centred them in his crosshairs.

As his gaze moved over the first few individuals, it became apparent that a small number of marines must have been sent ahead of the main force, likely to do some reconnaissance before the rest of it arrived, although they had obviously intervened when Mandalore had been about to kill Shaela. All of the marines were equipped with sniper rifles, which hardly came as a surprise. Even so, Shepard couldn't help but feel a sense of astonishment at how accurate they had been so far, given that none of the Mandalorians and batarians who had attempted to reach him and the others had succeeded.

As he continued to move the assault rifle along the line of marines, he suddenly froze in surprise, a grin then overtaking his features as it abruptly became clear why so much of the sniper fire had been so precise.

Of course, Shepard thought, unable to keep himself from laughing quietly. Of course.

Directly in the middle of his scope stood an instantly recognisable figure. Considerably taller than any of the humans around them, they wore a heavy suit of armour coloured a mixture of dark blue and grey. A blue facial tattoo, coupled with the ever-present eyepiece they wore and the fact one side of their face was heavily scarred, meant that Shepard would have recognised them anywhere in the galaxy. Anywhere in any galaxy, in fact.

The hairs on the back of his neck suddenly stood up, and Shepard ducked back down behind the boulder, cursing himself for having left himself exposed for so long as a batarian opened fire in his direction, their assault rifle peppering the other side of the rock and blasting fragments of it into the air. That was a basic mistake that got plenty of inexperienced soldiers killed; they let themselves get distracted, didn't keep their head down, and so never saw the enemy combatant who was aiming at them until it was far too late.

"John!"

He turned and waved a hand in Kasumi's direction, causing the thief to remain where she was instead of rushing to his side as she had been about to. "I'm fine!" he shouted above the sounds of battle that continued to rage all around them. "I've got this."

Gesturing again for Kasumi to hold position, he silently counted to three before straightening up out of cover and centring the batarian in his crosshairs. Dropping the four-eyed alien with a single quick burst, Shepard ducked back down before anyone else could see him. After taking a moment to make sure that it was indeed the case that none of the other enemy combatants in the cave had seen him shoot one of their number, their attention still very much focused on the Alliance forces outside, he turned back to Kasumi, allowing himself to release a small sigh of relief.

"Most of the marines are still getting into position, but they'll be here soon. We just need to hold out for a bit longer." He shook his head, unable to hold back a smile. "They've brought our favourite turian with them."

"What?" Kasumi asked incredulously, her amber eyes wide beneath her hood. "Garrus is down there? Are any of the others with him?"

Shepard shook his head again, debating internally for a moment whether or not to take another look before deciding it wasn't worth the risk. "I don't think so," he replied, checking the remaining capacity of his weapon's heat sink as Kasumi nodded slowly in response. It was a rather pointless act, really. He already knew the heat sink was still almost entirely empty, but years of training and frontline combat experience had drilled the need to inspect his weapons every chance he got into him so well that he did it instinctively regardless. It was probably just as well, if he were honest, since that was another basic mistake that got young soldiers killed; they went to pull the trigger of their weapon, only to realise too late that it wouldn't fire for whatever reason. More often than not, it was because their current heat sink was at full capacity and needed replacing.

Looking back at Kasumi once he had finished, Shepard then followed the thief's gaze as she turned to watch Shaela as the quarian began to apply medi-gel to the still unconscious fourth member of their group. With Rassen down, that left just the three of them, and they only had the rifle he himself held, Kasumi's stealth abilities, and Shaela's knowledge of the Force with which to defend themselves. They badly needed their weapons back, which meant one of them would have to leave the relative safety of their current position to go and retrieve their equipment. Shepard would have already tried himself, if not for the fact that he hadn't seen where the Mandalorians and batarians had taken their possessions.

But he knew someone who almost certainly had.

"Kasumi," he began, causing her to look away from Rassen and Shaela and back at him as he tried to make himself heard above the constant sounds of fighting. "We need to get our equipment back before the Mandalorians and batarians organise themselves enough to try and look for us properly. Did you see—"

"Yes."

Shepard nodded, feeling a sense of relief wash over him. "Great… where exactly?"

"They took them…" Kasumi trailed off, causing him to swear internally as her eyes narrowed in understanding. "You can't go out there, Shep," the thief stated firmly. "We barely made it here without getting shot in the process. I'll go."

"No way," he retorted, closing the gap between them and grabbing onto Kasumi's arm as she began to stand, leaving her staring at him in surprise. "I'm the one who's going. Now, where—"

The thief pulled her arm free so she could cross it along with her other one. "I have my cloak," she countered. "The moment you go out there, Shep, you're a target. I can move from cover to cover without being noticed and you can't." Obviously sensing he was going to try again to dissuade her, Kasumi vanished from sight before he could. Shepard swallowed slightly, only to freeze as he felt a pair of lips press against his cheek for the briefest of moments. Reaching out to where Kasumi had to be standing, his hand met only empty air. She had already gone.

Realising after a few seconds that he had begun to stare into space, Shepard shook himself out of his thoughts. Kasumi could look after herself, and she was more than capable of avoiding the attention of everyone else in the cave. In contrast, people tended to see him coming from a great deal further away, which meant going after the thief would only place her in more danger. The best thing he could do right now was make sure he, Rassen, and Shaela survived long enough for Kasumi to return with their weapons.

Straightening up to his full height for the briefest of moments so he could make sure no one was approaching their location, Shepard then ducked back down before moving over to join Shaela, crouching in place as the quarian deactivated her omni-tool and turned to give him a worried look.

"Any improvement?" he asked gently, quickly examining the unconscious Jedi for himself as he waited for a reply. Rassen didn't have any external injuries that looked life-threatening as far as he could tell, but the younger man had been beaten badly enough that he could very easily have major internal damage, which of course couldn't be spotted with the naked eye.

"A little," Shaela murmured, causing him to lean closer so he could hear her clearly over the sounds of battle that continued to rage through the cave. "I still can't do anything about the blood he lost, and that's by far the biggest problem. I told him to stay on the ship, but he just wouldn't listen."

"Even if he had, they still would've captured him."

"I know." Shaela ran a hand down the front of her mask before continuing. "It's just… I've seen him get injured before. Back on Omega, I mean. And it… it hurt to see him like that. Now, though, with Watchman and now this…" She trailed off, looking away before speaking so quietly that Shepard barely heard her.

"It's worse."

"It's never easy when someone you care about suffers," he replied, reaching out to place a hand on the quarian's shoulder and squeezing gently. Shaela nodded slowly, but still didn't look at him as he spoke again. "But that's the price we all pay for having people who are special in our lives. They make life better, more worth living, but they also make it easier for us to hurt, particularly when it comes to those we love. At the end of the day, I don't think any of us would prefer to be alone, though."

Now Shaela did look at him, her silver eyes wide behind her light blue mask. "No," she whispered, her voice thick with emotion. "I don't think we would."

Nodding firmly, Shepard opened his mouth to reassure her, as Kasumi had, that Rassen would be fine, only for the deafening sound of hundreds of different weapons firing all around them to somehow get even louder than it already was, the cacophony now so great that he instinctively placed his hands over his ears to protect them. Wincing as his eardrums felt as though they might burst, Shepard began to stand up, determined to find out what the cause was, only to pause as he glanced above him.

Countless pinpricks of bright blue light were racing through the air above their position, the fact they were only just visible and the intensity of their colour revealing them to be mass accelerator fire. Judging by how frequently the deadly projectiles were soaring past, the marines had seemingly started to assault the cave head on, presumably having tired of trying to pick off their enemies from long range.

Shepard understood the change in approach. A drawn-out battle only favoured the Mandalorians and batarians, who had far more cover available to them than that which was present between the Alliance troops and their objective. Whoever was in command of the marines had made the decision to end the engagement as fast as possible, which meant suppressing the batarians and Mandalorians with as much firepower as they could as the Alliance detachment advanced at speed. If leaving cover had been dangerous before, it was practically suicide now.

A wave of fear washed over him as he realised Kasumi was still retrieving their weapons, before Shepard forced himself to try and think logically. He couldn't do anything to help her right now, and she was just as invisible to the marines as she was to the Mandalorians and batarians, meaning their rescuers wouldn't mistake her for an enemy target. As much as he hated to admit it, the thief would have to fend for herself.

As he squeezed the trigger of his Mantis, the recoil of the shot being absorbed through his shoulder, Garrus allowed himself a wry smile. The heavily armoured man who had been his target had taken cover behind a large rock just inside the cave, but unfortunately for him, the turian's expert positioning had rendered the mass of stone completely redundant. Even so, the shot hadn't been easy; whatever it was that the strange armour the man and his comrades wore was made from, it was astonishingly tough to the point that it had taken two direct hits for Garrus to down the first of them he had aimed at. As a result of him having only a finite supply of heat sinks, he had been given no real option but to aim for where the armour was thinner—in the case of his most recent target he had chosen to go for the neck. At the distance he currently was from the cave, most would have struggled to make such a shot, but then Garrus had always prided himself on his ability with the weapon he held.

Ejecting the now spent heat sink from his rifle, the turian slipped a fresh one into the weapon before looking back down its scope. Most of the marines were currently advancing up the stretch of ground that led to the cave at a decent pace, but they were taking heavy losses doing so. Despite the disorder the batarians and their allies were experiencing, the latter's armour, combined with the bizarre guns they carried which seemed to ignore kinetic barriers completely, meant the firefight was dragging on for longer than had been expected. Add to that the fact there was no real cover to speak of immediately outside the cave and plenty within it and the situation was far from ideal.

Despite the mounting losses the Alliance troops were suffering, though, Garrus knew they had to persist with the frontal assault. Given Hackett had total air superiority, he had briefly considered asking the admiral before they had deployed about whether a bombing run against the cave might be possible. Garrus had barely opened his mouth, though, before realising that such a course of action could very easily harm Shepard and Kasumi, given their exact location within the cave was unknown, which no doubt was why Hackett hadn't ordered one already. No, despite the number of people who were dying, they had no choice but to continue as they were.

Locating a new target after a few moments of scanning the rock formations within the cave, Garrus centred the batarian in his crosshairs and fired, the force of the shot knocking the woman off her feet as it slammed into her stomach, killing her instantly. Despite the number of marines who lay dead between where he was crouched and the objective, the ground around them a murky brown colour on account of the blood that had escaped from their bodies covering the green stone on which they lay, Garrus could tell they were winning. Even though progress was slow, the amount of fire that came from the cave was gradually decreasing. On top of that, the marines who had advanced the furthest were now more than halfway up the slope, covering each other as best they could despite the lack of natural protection as they struggled on.

He hadn't managed to spot either Shepard or Kasumi for a while, but that was hardly surprising. Given they were still surrounded by enemies, the best thing they could do was keep their heads down as much as possible, as abandoning cover would leave them exposed to hostile and even friendly fire. Garrus was still doing his best to neutralise anyone who ventured too close to where he thought they were, but for all he knew they had moved to a different position at some point without him noticing. Not knowing if they were all right was eating away at him, but the way he saw it, the quicker he fired his rifle, the faster the fighting would be over, and the less chance there was either of them would get hurt.

Replacing his heat sink again, Garrus began to look for another target.

"Shaela?"

Shaking herself out of her thoughts as Rassen's voice reached her despite the gunfire that continued to rage nearby, Shaela turned her attention to the man next to her to see he had just come to. Despite his condition, the human's eyes were wide, and both of his hands were pressed firmly over his ears, the sheer volume of the noise within the cave clearly having left him completely disoriented. Reaching out and gently pushing the Jedi Knight back down as he abruptly tried to get up, Shaela then took one of his hands in her own and squeezed it reassuringly, causing him to relax slightly.

"Rassen," she smiled, knowing he could see the expression she wore despite her mask. "We're okay for the moment. Don't try to move."

"What…" Rassen swallowed painfully, the action clearly extremely unpleasant as his eyes began to close despite the battle occurring practically on top of them. Inwardly, Shaela cursed the heat. After everything that had happened since they had been captured, she felt parched, and her enviro-suit protected her at least somewhat from Venture's brutal temperatures. She could only imagine how much worse it was for the human, especially considering the amount of blood he had lost.

"You haven't been out for long," she explained quickly. "We're just staying here for the moment and trying to avoid attracting attention, if we can. Kasumi has gone to find her and Shepard's guns as well as our lightsabers. The Alliance is still attacking, and we just need to hang on for a little bit longer until they reach us."

Rassen nodded slowly to signal his understanding, clearly finding the action easier than speaking. Her smile wavering as it sank in just how weak he currently was, Shaela released his hand before carefully embracing the human, gently pressing her mask into his shoulder as she held him. They were going to make it, she promised herself silently. They were going to make it off Venture, even after everything the planet had thrown at them.

"What? Kasumi, slow down."

Swallowing heavily as a sense of dread washed over her, Shaela lifted her head from Rassen's shoulder and looked over at Shepard to find him speaking into his omni-tool, the commander's voice under control but still possessing an undeniable hint of fear as he addressed the fourth member of their group. She didn't hear what the thief said in response, but the way the colour drained from Shepard's face told her all she needed to know. Something was wrong.

As if sensing that she was staring at him, the commander looked over at her and Rassen for a moment, seemingly debating something internally before he turned his attention back to the device on his wrist.

"Understood, avoid them for as long as you can." Shepard deactivated his omni-tool before looking back over at her. "Kasumi managed to get our equipment, but—"

"She needs help," Shaela finished quickly. "You have to go. We'll be all right."

"You're not even armed. If anyone finds you…"

She nodded once. "I know, but I have the Force and that will have to be enough. Go before it's too late."

Shepard nodded back slowly, his reluctance obvious as he straightened up from where he had been crouching and glanced between her and Rassen. For a moment he looked as though he was about to say something, only to nod to her again before turning away and breaking into a sprint. Almost as soon as he left the safety of the rock formation, Shaela lost sight of him, the chaos that lay beyond swallowing the commander in moments.

Looking back down at Rassen, who was struggling to stay awake despite the deafening barrage of noise they were being subjected to, Shaela was suddenly aware that their situation was truly beyond dangerous now. Even if he managed to stop himself from slipping back into unconsciousness, Rassen still couldn't fight in his current state. She could, but she knew her ability to use the Force was still comparatively limited compared with his. While it was true she could throw objects and people, she couldn't do much more than that aside from heal the slightest of injuries.

Taking a deep breath to calm herself, Shaela closed her eyes as she tried to come up with a plan. As the central part of the semi-circle the boulders formed stuck out towards the middle of the cave, both sides curving backwards away from the centre of the vast natural room, and given how tall the rocks were, anyone who approached would have to go round to either the left or the right before they could see her and Rassen. They would then have to look almost directly down at their own feet before they would spot the two of them. That meant she would have a split-second to act before she and Rassen were seen, and would have to hit whoever found them as hard as she could with the Force. It wasn't much of a plan if Shaela were honest, but it was all she had.

Opening her eyes and glancing over at Rassen, the quarian forced herself to remain calm as she saw he had passed out. That he had even come to in the first place was a minor miracle, so it was no surprise he had lost consciousness again despite the sheer number of weapons firing nearby.

Frowning as she suddenly realised that while the barrage of noise was still hard to bear it was definitely slightly less intense than it had been just a few moments earlier, Shaela crept over to the far left of the rock formation. Leaning around the edge of her cover as much as she dared, the quarian stared in awe at the sheer number of bodies that lay strewn around the cave. The remaining Mandalorians and batarians were still fighting furiously, but their numbers were starting to run out, something that only seemed to be spurring them on as she saw that none of them looked even close to dropping their weapons. Ducking back before anyone saw her, Shaela let out a long exhale.

It's almost over. It's almost over.

The barely audible sound of footsteps approaching from her left caused her blood to run cold. Ignoring her fear as best she could, the quarian reached out to the Force, allowing its warmth to flow through her as she waited, staying completely still as she did so, for whoever it was to get closer. Sweat began to run down her face behind her mask as the footsteps grew louder to the point their owner had to be practically on top of her and Rassen. Taking a deep breath, Shaela whipped round and snapped a hand flat in front of her, preparing to send the newcomer flying, only to stop as she realised that they had to be standing right next to her by now and so she should have been able to see them.

Shaela felt a sense of profound relief wash over her. "Kasumi," she managed breathlessly. "Keelah, you had me worried there for a moment." Laughing shakily to herself, it was only after a few seconds had passed that she realised Shepard was nowhere to be seen. With mounting horror, it then sank in that while Kasumi was always utterly silent when she turned invisible, she had heard whoever this was approach.

Shaela desperately tried to reach out to the Force again, but she was still far too slow as the person next to her shimmered into existence before viciously smashing an armoured fist directly into the centre of her mask. The world tumbled end over end as the sheer power of the blow sent the quarian crashing awkwardly to the ground several feet away from where she had just been crouching, the material of her enviro-suit providing no protection as her back slammed against the floor of the cave, though her helmet did at least prevent her from cracking her skull open on the unyielding rock. Knowing she only had a split-second before her assailant would attack her again, Shaela once more tried to call on the Force, only for her concentration to utterly disintegrate, a sense of terror worse than any she had experienced before leaving her paralysed as she saw the tiny crack that had appeared directly in the middle of her visor.

"I've heard a lot about your people," her attacker taunted, causing Shaela's heart to stop as she recognised their voice. Laughing cruelly, Mandalore began to walk towards her, seemingly uncaring of the fact that half of her formally blue armour was now dyed a dark red with her own blood as she stepped over Rassen's unconscious form without paying the Jedi Knight any attention.

The armoured woman was hunched over slightly as a result of her injuries, but the fact she was somehow, impossibly, on her feet left Shaela staring in disbelief as she reached where the quarian lay on the ground. Realising her mistake too late, Shaela kicked out at Mandalore with everything she had, trying to strike the other woman in the centre of her torso as she loomed above her, only for her attacker to catch her leg easily by the ankle. Gritting her teeth with the effort as she tried to pull her limb free from Mandalore's vice-like grip, Shaela didn't see the boot coming until it crashed against her mask, the armoured woman stamping down onto the quarian's helmet with everything she had.

The tiny crack instantly expanded into a vast spider web pattern, each of the thin white lines visible as they contrasted with the mask's light blue material. Shaela's vision swam as the back of her helmet smashed against the rock beneath her, but she still saw that Mandalore was already beginning to raise her boot into the air again. "As I was saying," the armoured woman continued, "I've heard that if you're exposed to unfiltered air, the results aren't pretty. I hope you don't mind if I indulge my curiosity a little."

Shaela tried to kick out with her free leg, but she couldn't get any strength behind the blow in her current position, meaning the attack simply glanced off Mandalore's breastplate. The quarian tried yet again to call upon the Force, but the use of it was beyond her as her fear obliterated her ability to concentrate once more. Shaela's eyes then fell on the prone figure that lay only a few feet away, a tiny spark of hope igniting in her chest. "Rassen!" she screamed. "Rassen, wake up! Please wake up!"

The human didn't so much as shift, causing Mandalore to laugh as she spared a brief glance in the Jedi Knight's direction. Beginning to hyperventilate, Shaela slowly looked up, her gaze meeting the armoured woman's despite the fact both their faces were concealed from one another. She knew there was no chance of mercy, but instinct drove her to try for it anyway.

"Please," Shaela whispered. "Not this. Anything but this."

The woman above her leaned in slightly, and for a moment it seemed as though she was actually considering the quarian's words. For a few seconds nothing happened, but then Mandalore spoke, her voice filled with savage joy as she stamped down one last time.

"Too bad."

As her mask exploded inwards, Shaela screamed.