Ashley
Ashley Williams hated few things. Cerberus was near the top of that list, as were mushrooms and light beer. But this fucking turret had jumped straight to the top of that list. Gathering herself together, she leapt out from behind the storage container she'd been using as cover, allowing Shepard to use it next. With a sound that was more than a grunt but less than a yell she rolled forward, finding her feet and taking three running steps until she was behind her next bit of cover. The whole time there were bullets chewing up the floor behind her. If Sam could still hear all this, she was probably wetting her pants.
"I'm sorry, Samantha," she huffed in a whisper, gathering her breath before the final push. "I never wanted you to see what it is we go through on the ground, baby." She'd heard of non-coms losing their minds with worry. And if Sam had been down here in the midst of this? She knew she'd lose her mind.
Launching herself again, Ashley rolled, coming up on her feet and running the rest of the way out of the reach of that fucking turret. A few more seconds and Shepard joined her, and a minute after that Liara did, as well. All three of them were unscathed, though breathing hard. Ash could see Shepard's eyes wide, the pupils dilated – a sure sign she was high on adrenaline. The LC had seen it often enough to recognize it.
"C'mon. I see more fuckers in there," Shepard growled, unclasping both submachine guns she kept at her hip and running for the door. She was ready to lay down some fucking damage.
Ashley just grinned, pulling her assault rifle off her back. "Now that's what I'm talking about!"
They ran in with guns blazing. There were probably seven or eight guys in here, but they all fell rather quickly. Ashley was most amazed at the cold efficiency in Liara, however. They hadn't spoken in quite a while, having fallen out of contact maybe a year after the first Normandy's destruction. She had sensed a change in the asari in that time, but only so much can come out in emails and the occasional voice call. Now that they were here, in person, Ashley was astonished. The once-shy archeologist was killing with abandon, her mind clearly one step ahead of the people she was shooting at.
The asari made this abundantly clear when as she walked past the last dying man, aiming her pistol at him and shooting even as she reached for the console controls, shutting down the auto-turret. Ashley was… shocked. It would be like watching Sam turn into a ruthless, efficient killer. It was a complete mind-fuck, and even in the heat of the fight, Ashley was having a difficult time ridding herself of the cognitive dissonance that was her memory of Liara versus the reality of Liara now.
"They've made it to the Archives," the asari said. Ashley shook herself of her shock, watching as the security footage died.
The lieutenant-commander scowled, memorizing the details of this Eva Coré's face. "And it looks like they won't be sending a tram anytime soon…" she added.
Shepard backed away from the console, shaking her head. "And we can't override it. It's on an entirely separate network. I'm completely locked out. Fuck."
Ashley got an idea. "Not completely," she said, already moving.
Shepard fell in line behind her. "What's up?"
"What if we found a short-range transmitter, helmet-to-helmet? Convince them we're with them, and that we've killed the Alliance forces."
Shepard stopped, nodding. "I like it. See what you can find, I need to check something in here."
Ashley nodded, crossing the rest of the room to the closest dead body. Pulling up her omnitool, she scanned for a radio that was still active.
"Commander! I found something!"
Shepard was with her in just a few seconds. "What've you got?"
She was already leaning, trying to figure out how to unlock the Cerberus soldier's helmet. "He's got a functioning radio in his helmet. If I could just-"
She was cut off by a venting noise, the clear section of the helmet sliding away to reveal-
"Oh God!" Ashley gasped, swallowing to control the urge to vomit. "He… he looks like a husk!"
Shepard just nodded, leaning over to fish out the radio. "Yeah. Not quite, but they've definitely done something to him."
"They claim to stand for humanity, but then they do this to their own people?!" Ashley frowned, watching as Shepard calmly stood back up with the radio in-hand. "Don't you see? That could've been you, Miriam. For all I knew, that's what Cerberus had done to you when they saved you or whatever happened."
Shepard scowled. Ashley couldn't see her whole face, but she could see her eyes, and that was enough. "How can you compare me to that thing?"
Ashley was beyond frustrated, adrenaline still pumping through her veins. She'd been through a lot of shit today. The last twenty-four hours had been a fucking emotional rollercoaster, her engagement the night before followed by the Reapers' invasion of Earth this morning. Hell, it had probably only been about twelve hours. Her mother and sisters had been on Earth, and she had no idea how they fared. There was only so much she could hold back for the sake of "we should talk about this later."
"I don't know what to think, Miriam! Not since they got their hands on you. Is it really you? Would you even know if they were controlling you somehow? Indoctrinated people don't know when they're indoctrinated. What if they did that to you, then let you loose to the Alliance?"
Shepard just sighed, her tone defeated. "That's not fair, Ash. And you know it."
Ashley shook her head, deflating. "I… I'm just talking out loud. This whole shit-show is a lot to take in, especially when last night… Look, I don't need you to answer. I honestly doubt there's anything you could say to convince me right now. I just… need some time, to get to know you again, to see that you're the same Miriam who I lost three years ago."
Shepard marched closer, her hand coming to rest on Ashley's shoulder, her eyes catching Ashley's. "I'm the same person I always was, Ash. Time won't change that. But if that's what you need, then all right. When things slow down a bit, we can try to talk. We can air it all out, and see if we can still work together."
Ashley nodded, seeing her old friend in those sparkling blue eyes staring back at her through the faceplates of their helmets. "Yeah, okay."
Shepard gave a curt nod. "Okay. So. Let's go kick some ass and take some names, yeah?"
Ashley grinned, pulling her sniper from her back. "Let's."
The door opened into a cavernous room. The room itself didn't have much going on, an inner and outer circular walkway dominating. But in the center was familiar-looking technology, obviously Prothean. Ashley was suddenly transported back to the beacon on Eden Prime, watching the excavation team carefully extract the thing from the ground. She'd only been on the planet a couple of days, a glorified guard job that she was way over-qualified for. It was her name, and not her credentials, that put her on that rock, and she had been both resentful and out to prove herself.
I sure did prove myself, she thought darkly, looking down the barrel of her assault rifle toward the right, clearing the room with Shepard. I was the only one to survive. Didn't even have any time to get to know anyone before my credentials were put to the test.
"I can access the data from there," Liara said, pulling Ashley out of her past. Watching the asari walk boldly up to a console in front of the towering, glowing Prothean data trove, she expected to be transported to the past once more, but it didn't happen. Prothean artifacts and Liara together was certainly familiar, but this new Liara was not the same. There was no wonder in her voice, no awe at the Protheans or this artifact. There was only cold, calculating data-retrieval, and Ashley found it disconcerting to no end.
"Ashley, walk a perimeter, make sure we don't have any company," Shepard said.
She nodded. "You got it, Commander."
Starting around the side of the room, she was startled when she heard them both speaking to someone. Turning, she saw Liara with a gun pointed into the face of… a hologram.
{Illusive Man,} the asari almost spat, furthering Ashley's discomfort.
I don't know that woman at all anymore… she thought.
Turning, she continued her perimeter clearing. They hadn't found Eva Coré yet, alive or dead, and Ashley would not be surprised if they found her squirreled away somewhere in this giant room. The hologram was no threat, and besides that, Liara and Shepard had it under control. She'd been given an order, and she would follow it. The rest of this room might seem simple, but she could already see a place where someone might be hiding, and she was determined to find that sleeper agent who had turned this whole place of learning and inquisitive minds into a giant shit-show.
Just as she approached the structure on the opposite side of the room, Liara's voice sounded panicked in her ear. {Miriam, the data is not here! It's a local download and wipe… it is still in this room, more than likely.}
Ashley rounded the corner and found the woman she'd been hoping to find at last. "Hey, back up!" she shouted, but Dr. Coré wouldn't move. "Commander, I've got- ah!"
Coré burst into action, pushing Ashley's rifle aside as her foot came up, catching the LC in the chest. All Ashley could think as she exploded backward, landing on her ass and sliding all the way to the railing, was that the thin woman packed one hell of a punch. Halting, she sprang to her feet as fast as she could, feeling the area directly under her breasts already sore. She would be bruised later. Shit, she got me that good through my armor. My armor, which can slow the movement of a bullet. She's not human.
{Don't lose her!} Shepard yelled into their radios. Snatching up her rifle, Ashley was after the group. Shepard was in the lead, of course, as she'd been right next to the door. But Ashley was fast, and she had a personal little score to settle with that bitch, kicking her right in the chest. She had to return the damn favor.
Ashley didn't dare let off any gunfire as she ran for fear of hitting either Shepard or Liara, who wasn't even armored. Her biotic barrier could protect her in the thin atmosphere for a time, and against bullets, but it required constant energy from the asari, and while she was quite powerful, even her energy reserves were not bottomless, meaning there was the very real risk she could be shot and killed by friendly fire. Instead she merely ran, keeping all three women in front of her in her sights. She was gaining on them, but cursed the need to climb the ladder that was quickly coming up.
Making the split-second decision to stow her assault rifle rather than being slowed by climbing one-handed, she mounted the ladder, climbing as fast as she could. Getting to the top, she saw a Cerberus shuttle lowering, Eva Coré running full-speed for it.
"Normandy! James! Anybody!" Shepard yelled, but it was too late. Ashley watched as the woman they were chasing took a running leap, landing perfectly inside the shuttle, turning as she landed to look back at them. The lieutenant-commander couldn't read her expression, of course, but she could have sworn the woman was gloating as the shuttle door closed and the vessel began to rise.
{I got this one!} Vega's voice suddenly piped up in their radios. We must have comms back. Looking around, Ashley confirmed that the storm had blown itself out. In flew the Normandy's shuttle, and Ashley turned her head, watching as James piloted the shuttle directly for the small Cerberus vessel.
"Holy shit, he's gonna-!" Ashley did not have the chance to finish her exclamation before Vega rammed right into the Cerberus shuttle. Flames spurting, the shuttle came down… headed right for herself, Shepard, and Liara.
"Move!" Ashley shouted, running and tackling Liara, covering her unarmored body with her own.
Fire and smoke passed overhead, but it moved far enough away that they were relatively safe. Pushing herself up, Ashley looked over to see Shepard waving James over. Finding her feet, she helped Liara up, apologizing that she had landed on top of her with so much heavy equipment on. Wrapping her arm around the asari's waist, she helped her to limp toward the downed shuttle.
"We need that data," Liara almost pleaded.
"Gotcha, doc. We'll get you in there and-"
Out of the flames rose Dr. Eva Coré. Her skin seemed to be melting off, revealing a cybernetic body beneath. No wonder she packed such a wallop. She's some kind of mech. Shoving Liara away and pulling her pistol, Ashley was able to fire three shots before the mech was on her.
"Ah!" she yelled, her wrist breaking as the pistol was knocked from her hand. Then her vision was filled by the cybernetic hand, and she felt tremendous pain in her neck as her feet left the ground. She could barely breathe, and kicking with her feet at the mech only worsened the pressure at the back of her skull. Wrapping her uninjured hand around the mechanical wrist, she engaged her muscles, relieving some of the pressure. It would have been painful enough to have all of her weight hanging by her neck, but the added weight of her armor meant her neck could snap at any moment.
"Orders?" she heard the mech say, it's feminine voice hard and completely devoid of emotion.
Ashley still couldn't see. Her HUD was going haywire, Coré's fingers strong enough to crack and bend the casing of her helmet. Her arm was tiring after the strain of the day, of holding her rifle, of taking the recoil on her sniper, of holding up Sam the night before while they made love multiple times. If she didn't do something soon, she wouldn't be able to relieve the pressure anymore and her neck would snap from the weight.
Maybe if she kicked at the joint of the hips just right? Swinging her legs back, Ashley was just about to kick out with both feet when she felt the mech pull her back by the helmet.
Then she was moving backwards, and a great, searing pain exploded at the back of her skull, black rising up and swallowing her down.
The last thing she heard was Sam's voice screaming through her radio.