Miranda pressed the multi-injector against her neck and pulled the trigger. She winced at the pinprick as the tiny needle pierced her skin and delivered the serum into her bloodstream. It was a hastily engineered compound that Mordin had formulated for her, but it would aid in combating the residual side effects of the biotic suppressant drug she'd been exposed to. It would not, however, restore her ability to safely use her biotic powers without the risk of permanently damaging herself. The salarian doctor would need more time and resources to discover a viable solution for that. But at the very least, she was no longer experiencing the intermittent bouts of extreme fatigue or felt like she was on the brink of emotional collapse every other hour.
Sitting in the spacious common area of the Cassandra, she glanced up through the large panoramic displays above her head that offered a brilliant view of the vastness of space. They weren't real windows, but rather an array of ultra-high definition displays linked to cameras on the exterior of the ship's hull, simulating an enormous open roof to the stars. She found the view beautiful, but also a bit unnerving.
They were traveling at FTL speed now, moving ever closer to Noveria after transitioning from the Pax relay twenty minutes earlier. Liara and Feron were up front in the cockpit, piloting the Cassandra. Mordin was busy in the ship's small medical bay modifying the team's Medi-Gel trauma packs and preparing other materials for their mission. To her left, Kolyat Krios was sitting close to Garrus and Kasumi, looking intently at them as the two drilled the young, inexperienced drell man in a myriad of combat techniques and helped to get his gear squared away.
She sighed heavily, leaned back in her seat, and closed her eyes. What I would give to have Grunt, Samara, and Jacob here, she thought. Hell, I'd even welcome Jack at this point. She grunted at that last thought. Well, maybe not Jack.
Still, she was grateful for the people she had with her. And Liara was right; Having Garrus back was huge. That turian would stop at nothing to ensure his friend was recovered. And Shepard will be happy to see him. She imagined the sarcastic greetings the two would surely exchange. I wonder how he'll feel about seeing me?
Opening her eyes again, she was startled to see Thane Krios standing directly in front of her. Clearly his ability to move with speed and stealth had not yet been significantly degraded by the Kepral's Syndrome he suffered from. Drell expressions were always difficult for Miranda to read, but if she had to guess, he appeared to be eyeing her with a look of curiosity and concern.
"Miss Lawson, may I sit with you for a moment?" he asked.
"Of course," Miranda said and smiled.
She had been greatly relieved to see the assassin standing outside the Cassandra's docking berth on the Citadel earlier that day. Aside from Garrus, he was the most accomplished fighter they had at their disposal. In fact, arguably, if he was free of the disease that was gradually sapping his life away, he was very likely capable of killing every last one of them onboard. Furthermore, she was well aware of how fond he'd become of Shepard. Miranda was certain that he would do whatever was necessary to ensure John's safety.
Thane nodded respectfully and took a seat directly across from Miranda. "Thank you," he said. "It appears you're well prepared for whatever we might encounter on the surface. " Thane gestured to the battle armor she was wearing and the assortment of weapons and other ordnance she had gathered in the seat next to her.
She glanced down at herself and smiled.
Custom designed and fitted to Miranda's exacting standards, the armor had been manufactured for her over two years ago by the Shadow Works division of Hahne-Kedar. It was a sleek, form fitting, almost elegant suit that featured highly advanced regenerative ablative plating and heavy synthetic weave, allowing her to move with agility and speed.
At the time she had arranged for the order through several layers of aliases and Systems Alliance contractors, she had thought she would one day utilize the armor to combat geth or batarian incursions into human space, under the Cerberus banner. Just before getting underway from the Citadel, she had been relieved to find it and the rest of her stash still secure within the drop box she maintained in the Wards.
She shrugged. "My previous experiences with these people have reminded me to be well prepared at all times."
The drell gave her a grave look and nodded slowly. "Most understandable," he said and then shifted uncomfortably. "I was relieved when I heard you had been recovered safely from custody. I apologize I was not there to assist or onboard the Normandy when you and Shepard were taken."
Miranda waved him off. "Thank you, Thane, but it's best you weren't there when we were intercepted. As it was, Kasumi was extremely fortunate to avoid capture. Anyway, you're here now—with your son, no less—and I'm thankful for that."
Thane glanced over to where Kolyat was sitting near Garrus and Kasumi. "My son. He has grown to be a capable man. He feels a debt to the Commander and insisted he accompany us on this errand."
"He's young. Don't you fear for his safety?"
"Indeed. Every day, in fact. But it is not for me to hold him back from a venture such as this. He has a path to follow, just as I did. This galaxy is as much his responsibility as it has been mine. And he will be here long after I have passed to the next world." He glanced back over to where Kolyat sat. "He is my son and he will not sit idle as our world burns."
"I see," Miranda said and sighed as she glanced up into the stars and blue-shifted light above.
"You're troubled by something," Thane said.
Miranda paused before she met the drell's eyes again. "I obviously don't have any children," she said and cringed involuntarily. "But I do have someone that I feel responsible for. Someone that I've worked nearly all my adult life to protect from those that would seek to harm her. I wonder if I've been selfish or careless in doing so." She brushed a few strands of hair from her face. "When I was imprisoned, I came to understand that it was very likely I would never leave that place alive. Oriana would have been left to wonder what had happened to me and why I'd abandoned her. Worse, she'd face the horrors that are out there alone and without any idea of what to do…"
Thane studied her for a long moment before speaking again. "It is a difficult thing for people like us to surrender ourselves to such feelings," he finally said. "Like you, I have lived most of my life depending on no one other than myself. Exposing my son to the life I led felt wrong and… dangerous. But now, I know I do Kolyat no favors by attempting to shield him from the inevitable."
"So you've told him everything? About what we've seen and what's coming for us?"
"I have," Thane said and then drew in a long, deliberate breath. "I have killed a great many people in my life, Miss Lawson. Many I have killed for money. Some for idealism. A few for revenge. My skills in the art of dealing death to those who have deserved it and those who have not, have led me here. I do not feel regret for these things as a human might, but I do understand the toll it has taken on my life—on my soul. My time left here is short, but I can at least do something to prepare my son for the challenges he will face."
Miranda gazed back at him for a long moment, allowing his words to wash over her until a new understanding registered in her eyes. "Thank you, Thane," she said and smiled.
Then the gentle hum and vibration of the ship shifted almost imperceptivity, alerting Miranda to the change in their velocity. Glancing up through the viewing monitors above her head, she confirmed the telltale blue-shifted light of FTL travel had vanished. A few moments later, Liara's voice came over the ship's intercom. "We're approaching Noveria. Miranda, Garrus, you better come up here. We have a problem."
The Cassandra's cockpit was not nearly as spacious as the Normandy's bridge and there was just enough room for Miranda and Garrus to squeeze in behind the two pilot seats that Liara and Feron occupied. Liara was rapidly tapping in commands into a console interface and bringing online several displays that lined the bridge above the forward facing windows.
"We've beaten the Persephone here, but only just," she said. "I have them on long range sensors now. At their present speed, they'll hit Noveria's atmosphere sixteen minutes behind us."
Garrus grunted at the news. "At least we're not chasing them any longer."
"Agreed," Liara said. "But I'm afraid there's bad news. Once we dropped out of FTL, we established real-time data uplinks with Port Hanshan Spaceport Operations." She tapped a few more commands and brought up a new image on one of the displays. It showed an Alliance vessel that looked very much like the Normandy SR-1, parked at one of the port's primary docks. "It's the SSV Leyte Gulf. She was one of the other frigates that intercepted and boarded the Normandy SR-2. It's loyal to the Alliance Intelligence Service" Liara sighed dejectedly. "From what I can tell from the recorded feeds, they've unloaded more than two dozen heavily armed troops." She cycled through a few more vid feeds. "The soldiers have taken up station at the docks and the subterranean garage level."
"Damn," Miranda said under her breath as she shook her head. "Wait. If they're securing the garage level, they must intend on moving Shepard on the ground."
Liara nodded. "Yes, that's it precisely. Qui'in just forwarded a data packet explaining that they mean to use rovers to move Shepard to Synthetic Insights' Concordia Station, located approximately thirty kilometers outside of Port Hanshan. Its blizzard conditions down there with visibility less than twenty meters and temperatures dropping below negative 50 degrees Celsius. All atmospheric shuttles are grounded."
"I think I'm having déjà vu," Garrus said in a grim tone. "Will our cover hold?"
The asari cracked a slight smile and nodded. "I believe so, yes," she said. "Our prearranged arrival and clearance to offload equipment to the AlteraInnovations officesis still intact. However, both of you, Thane, Mordin, Kasumi and me are all on a watch list of threats."
Miranda studied a nearby terminal's readout as more data on the port's weather and information on the Alliance troop movements began to filter in. She took a deep breath as her highly trained mind ran through their options. "We can use the storm to our advantage," she finally announced and then turned to Garrus. "Feron and Kolyat are the only ones that can manage to get through port security without arousing suspicion. They'll have to take the port's flight operations center. Kasumi can support them under cloak."
Liara craned her neck around to look at Miranda with a wary expression. "Kolyat has no experience with this type of thing. I-"
"The kid and I can handle it," Feron interrupted and then looked over to Miranda and nodded. "Once we have control of Ops, we can hold it, release Goto, and feed you intel from there."
"Perfect," Miranda said. "Garrus, Thane, and I will approach on foot, using the storm as cover. Can you put us down half a klick south of the port?"
Feron nodded again. "I wouldn't be much of a pilot if I couldn't."
Garrus was looking at Miranda thoughtfully. "We can gain access to the garage level from the exterior once Feron and Kolyat have secured port Ops—use the confined space to get the jump on Shepard's escort."
"Precisely," Miranda nodded. "Once we have Shepard, we'll take a rover and meet the Cassandra outside the city." She reached a long arm between Feron and Liara and tapped several quick commands into a terminal screen, bringing up a map of Port Hanshan's surrounding area. "There," she said and pointed to a spot northeast of the city. "That should do."
Garrus nodded. "We'll have to be quick about it or that frigate will be on our asses."
"We should be able to delay them from Port Ops," Feron said. "Locking down their docking collar should buy you some time."
"Good," Miranda. "Once that's done, you and Kolyat will slip back to the Cassandra and take off for the rendezvous point."
Liara raised an eyebrow and shot Miranda a slightly impatient look. "And where will Mordin and I be during all this, Miranda?"
"Here on the ship, keeping the engine running," Miranda said, not bothering to take her eyes off the display she was studying.
Liara opened her mouth to object, but Garrus spoke up and cut her off. "She's right, Liara," he said. "We're outnumbered and there's a hundred ways this thing can go sideways. We'll need you two hanging back to offer support or, worst case, take another crack at grabbing Shepard en route to the lab if we fail in the garages."
Liara sighed but grudgingly accepted the turian's logic. "Alright. But you're not going to lose him in the garage," she said in a stern voice.
"Alright, we know our roles," Garrus announced authoritatively. "Miranda and I will gather the rest of the team and brief them on the plan." He then paused and looked at the real-time vid feed of the conditions around Port Hanshan and shivered dramatically. "I think I'll pack an extra heating unit for my armor while I'm at it…."
Ashley was crammed inside a maintenance crawlspace on the Engineering sub deck, her knees tucked in close to her chest and her back pressed against the wall as she monitored the data her trackers spread throughout the ship were feeding her Omni-tool.
She'd left Landry's dead body in a pool of blood in the Comm Room shortly after the Persephone had transitioned from the Pax System's relay. The ship was now hurtling toward Noveria at best possible speed as she tried to stay one step ahead of the men searching for her.
Once they'd discovered the fallen man, the bulk of the Marines onboard had immediately been sent down to secure Shepard and stand by to transport him off ship as soon as they docked in Port Hanshan. But two pairs of soldiers were tasked with tracking her down. She watched the little red icons that represented them pass through the ship, moving from compartment to compartment, methodically searching for her.
After she'd fled the Comm Room, returning back to the ready-room to collect the rest of her gear hadn't been a viable option. Too many of her fellow Marines had returned there and she couldn't risk being cornered in the compartment once the alert went out that one of their own had been murdered. After putting her knife to Stivers' neck earlier, she knew she'd be a prime suspect when they found Landry with his throat slashed to shreds.
Murder. It was true that she probably could have avoided killing Landry if she'd chosen to be more patient and wait for a better opportunity to contact the task force trailing the Persephone. But the clock was ticking for the skipper and she didn't feel there was time for a more methodical approach. So she'd acted on instinct, feeling in her gut that she couldn't hesitate another minute before getting the call for help out.
And now Tech Sergeant Landry was missing his windpipe.
She pushed the thought out of her head, knowing that particularly ugly action needed to be compartmentalized while she focused on the mission at hand. But there would come a time of reckoning with her God—about Landry and many other things she'd done. This much she was certain of.
A pulsing low-pitched beep sounded on her Omni-tool, alerting her to a shift in the ship's acceleration and heading. They'd just hit Noveria's atmosphere and were descending fast.
Good. She was sick of this cat and mouse shit and felt an overwhelming urge to get off the rusty tub and breath some fresh, non-recycled air—no matter how fucking cold it was down there.
Another tone beeped in the ear bud linked to her Omni-tool as the tracker two compartments over detected one of the search parties approaching. She rapidly tapped a few commands and brought up the vid feed from the device.
It was Stivers and Corporal Foucault, slowly sweeping the area with their assault rifles, moving carefully as they crept closer to her hiding place. She noted that the men were wearing Kuwashii tactical visors instead of full battle helmets, probably to better preserve their peripheral vision in the tight confines of the ship.
Skimming through her options, Ashley saw that she could bolt from the crawlspace and sprint several meters across the compartment to another maintenance hatch that led down into the reactor room. But there was only one way in or out of that compartment and she didn't much care to risk being cornered next to the eezo reactor with only her Predator and combat knife. Plus, Dah's task force was still at least fifteen minutes behind them and she needed to get herself into position to jump ship as soon as they touched down in Port Hanshan. She had to stick with Shepard and prevent Richter from getting the Commander to that lab facility.
With a hardening resolve, Ashley watched the two men approach for another several seconds before deciding on her next move. She then squeezed out of the crawlspace and sprinted down toward the end of the corridor that the Marines were approaching through. Coming to a halt at a hatchway that led deeper into the ship's sub engineering decks, she looked up and saw what she was looking for. There was a high space above her head, crisscrossed with a series of pipes and conduits just out of arms reach. It was a dark corridor, dimly lit by a series of red auxiliary lights.
Whipping her head around to peer through the gloom of the corridor behind her, Ashley heard a hatchway slide open and the heavy footfalls of combat boots on metal deck plates. Knowing she had only a few seconds before they turned the corner and spotted her with their visors' low light optics, she bent her knees and leapt straight up to grab the lowest pipe high above her head.
As soon as she grasped the pipe she fought the reflex to release it and drop back down to the floor. Her hands were on fire as white-hot pain shot up her arms from the pipe's boiling surface. She bit down on her tongue until she tasted blood to prevent a shout of pain as her bare hands were instantly singed and then lifted herself up to the next rung of pipes. Bracing her body with one foot outstretched and pressed against the wall, she looked over her burned hands. She'd left several layers of skin on the pipe below and could already feel the blisters forming.
Suppressing the pain, Ashley reached down to her ankle and once again pulled the combat knife from its sheath. She griped it tightly, with her two scorched hands, keeping it pointed down toward the deck.
A few seconds later, her prey arrived in the corridor below her perch. Foucault was leading the way through the narrow passage way, the muzzle of his Avenger assault rifle pointed in front of him, as he methodically swept the area and slowly moved forward. Stivers was right on his hip, moving backward as he covered their rear quadrant.
Ashley waited for the exact moment Foucault was directly beneath her and then dropped straight down. She sunk the full seven inches of her dagger-like blade through the top of the man's skull, driving it home with her body's weight until it stopped at the hilt. The Marine immediately crumpled and went limp as Ashley' knife obliterated his brain, dropping him in a heap on the floor.
Stivers swung around to meet the sudden threat but Ashley was too quick. She abandoned the knife imbedded in Foucault's head and lunged forward, barreling into the other Marine with all the force she could muster.
He was stunned as she drove her weight into him and grabbed the muzzle of his rifle with one hand. But Stivers held the weapon with a death grip and refused to let go. He was trying to yank the Avenger free when Ashley drove an elbow into his face and then his throat. A burst of fire barked out from the rifle as the man gurgled and then released the weapon as he instinctively clutched at his throat.
Ashley wrenched the rifle from his hands and in a blinding movement swung it back around to point toward Stivers as he backpedaled away from her and fell flat on his ass. She then stood over the prone man, one foot on either side of him, and jabbed the muzzled of the Avenger against his forehead, singeing his skin with the end of the barrel.
Coughing and gasping for air, Stivers tried to recoil and stared up at Ashley.
"We've really gotta stop meeting like this, Stivers," Ashley said as she pulled back on the action of the Avenger. "Now, get undressed."
Miranda, Garrus, and Thane stood in the ship's sub deck, making their final preparations and gathering ordnance as the ship descended rapidly through Noveria's frigid atmosphere.
"Remember, keep yourself low and let your suit's kinetic barriers and armor absorb any stray rounds," Garrus instructed Miranda as he helped her check her suit's latches and seals. "You've got good, solid battle armor here so there's no need to risk a biotic barrier if you're caught in the open. Understood?"
Miranda nodded brusquely, knowing the turian was worried about the unpredictable nature of her biotic powers. "I'll be fine, Garrus," she said impatiently. He's right to be concerned, though, she thought to herself. She'd never before gone into combat without the use of her biotics and she was finding the sensation… disconcerting.
She looked over to Thane, who was calmly adjusting his armor components and checking over his weapons. All three of the infiltrators were carrying a variety of weapons and ordnance on their armor and harnesses, but Krios looked particularly deadly with the dual short swords sheathed crisscrossed on his back. Garrus Vakarian was an exceptional soldier and a fine tactician, but Thane was undoubtedly the most proficient killer amongst them. Even in his deteriorating state, the drell possessed a grace and fluidity of movement that was both powerful and strangely beautiful. Miranda was grateful beyond measure that he was on their side.
Then the overhead lighting in the compartment dimmed and the auxiliary orange-tinted illumination kicked in. Liara's voice came in over the squad channel a moment later. "Fifteen seconds to insertion point. Prep for drop."
The trio exchanged final looks of assurance and secured their combat helmets. The small cargo doors then swept open, revealing a blur of white below as the ship screamed low over the frozen surface of Noveria, pushing hard toward Port Hanshan. Then the Cassandra came to an abrupt halt and plunged even closer to the surface.
Garrus was the first one out of the hatch, dropping the few meters from the ship's belly onto the icy surface below where he immediately took a knee and brought his rifle to bear. Miranda and Thane followed a moment later, joining the turian at either side.
Miranda looked back over her shoulder and saw the Cassandra's undercarriage access door slide shut as the starship accelerated forward again, banked right, and rocketed away toward Noveria's capital. A moment later, the thundering sound of the ship's powerful thrusters was lost as the biting winds of the frozen world buffeted the small team. As planned, the group had been deposited a half kilometer south of the port facility.
The squad remained still and silent for a few moments, scanning the area before them with their helmets' advanced optical arrays. Their tactical displays adjusted to the hostile environment and rapidly painted the landscape with a clear and detailed image.
"Comm check," Miranda said into her helmet's mic. "Cassandra, ground team. How do you read us?"
"We have you loud and clear, Miranda," Kasumi's voice replied in the teams' helmet speakers. "We're twenty seconds out from Port Hanshan and have authorization to dock. Get those legs pumping and we'll see you soon."
"Copy that. Ground team out"
"Alright, you heard the lady. Let's hustle," Garrus said and then dashed ahead. Miranda and Thane followed closely behind as the group set a brisk pace toward the port.
The conditions were horrendous, but the advanced battle armor each wore thoroughly insulated them from the severe conditions, keeping them warm and relatively comfortable. And without the aid of their helmets' advanced sensors and optics, the team's visibility in the swirling wind and snow flurries would be nearly zero.
Arriving at the outskirts of the starport, the group hunkered down behind a large boulder, just beyond the stout metal fence that ringed the outer perimeter, and began assessing the large buildings in the distance.
The primary structure of the compound was completely enclosed from the elements, but the plaza and mezzanine levels were lined with huge, ten meter high windows that allowed Miranda's team to get good readings through both their optical and thermal scanners. The VI-driven sensors in their helmets tagged all potential hostiles and marked them appropriately on the shared tactical network displayed in their HUDs.
"We've received clearance to disembark," Liara announced over the squad channel. "Feron's team is away and en route to Port Operations."
A minute later, Kasumi's slightly hushed voice sounded in their helmet speakers. "Ground team; be advised there's a heavy Alliance presence in the docks. I'm forwarding data now."
A dozen additional red icons instantly appeared on the teams' tactical displays as Kasumi's sensors tagged the Alliance soldiers in the spaceport. "Copy that," Garrus said. "We see them. We're proceeding to the garages." The turian held out one hand and motioned off to his left with a couple quick flicks of his wrist.
They skirted around the outer perimeter of the spaceport just beyond the fenced ring that separated the compound from the wilderness beyond. The storm seemed to be picking up in intensity with near horizontal sheets of snow pelting them as they moved, providing effective concealment for the team as they made their way closer to their objective at the far end of the garage complex. They halted at a gate approximately twenty-five meters from the point where they planned to enter the garage complex. As she eyed the keypad terminal next to the gate latch, glowing brightly in the gloom of the day's failing light, Miranda tried to suppress her anxiety and impatience as they waited for Feron's team to secure their objective.
In addition to the advanced sensor capabilities of their suits, the Cassandra was feeding the team a steady stream of real-time telemetry, providing them with a more comprehensive view of the environment. A prominent blue, diamond-shaped icon popped up in Miranda's HUD announcing the descent of the Persephone through Noveria's atmosphere. She looked up into the tumultuous sky above, and caught sight of the ship's boxy silhouette as it penetrated the cloudbanks and made its way down into the starport.
After what felt like an eternity, Feron's breathless voice finally sounded over the squad channel. "Port Operations secure," he said in a ragged voice. "Stand by while we access the perimeter security systems."
"Feron, is everyone alright?" Miranda asked as she and her team exchanged quick looks of concern.
"Affirmative," Feron said. "Two Alliance soldiers were posted in Ops, supplementing the ERCS guards. We handled it. We're all fine."
Miranda glanced over at Thane again. The drell's concealed features and stoic demeanor revealed nothing of the anxiety he might be feeling over Kolyat's safety. She wished she felt as calm as he appeared.
A sharp click announced the heavy bolts securing the gate door had been retracted as the terminal keypad indicator turned from red to green. "Perimeter gate's open," Feron confirmed what Miranda had just observed. "Routing security data to you now and preparing to access the garage bay east-side auxiliary hatchway. Be advised you have eight Alliance soldiers present at your objective. We're releasing Kasumi now."
"Status on the Persephone?" Garrus asked.
"She's touched down in a docking bay adjacent from the Alliance frigate," Feron said. "It looks like they're preparing to offload Shepard now. The cargo ramp's been lowered and several Alliance soldiers from the frigate are converging."
"Copy that. Keep an eye on them. We're moving out."
Miranda and the others pushed through the unlocked perimeter gate and took off at a fast trot toward the garage facility and their prearranged access point.
Coming to a halt against the thick concrete walls that bordered the heavy metal doorway, Garrus called out the next command. "We're in position. Pop the lock, Feron."
The door's heavy locks then released and the three infiltrators pushed through into the garage. By design, they found themselves in the cavernous expanse of the port's heavy equipment maintenance bay. Half a dozen land rovers and several small shuttle craft in various states of repair and disassembly were spread out around them. The team crouched down behind a set of massive all terrain tires and scanned the area for threats. But other than a few turian maintenance workers busy at the far end of the garage bay, the area was vacant.
Miranda keyed her helmet's mic. "We're inside," she said. "Liara, Mordin, what's your status?"
"We're secure and collating data from your team, Kasumi and Port Operations," Liara said and then took a sharp breath. "I have a visual on the cryo-pod. They're offloading it from the ship's hold now… Stand by, accessing port bio scanners… Confirmed—it's Shepard." The asari's tone was a mixture of relief and trepidation. "I count nine—no—eleven soldiers from the Persephone escorting the pod. With the troops from the frigate, there are a total seventeen hostiles with Shepard. That's in addition to the troops already present at the garage facility." Liara drew in a sharp breath with the comm open. "Miranda, there are too many of them. You're going to need more help. I'm going to link up with Kasumi and meet you at the garage," she said resolutely.
Miranda and Garrus exchanged a quick look before the turian nodded curtly.
Miranda felt her muscles tense and her heart begin to thump in her chest. "Copy that," Miranda said. "Wait until the escort has cleared the docks and then follow. Kasumi, status?"
"I'm in position outside the primary garage bay. I'll wait for Liara here."
"Copy," Miranda said. "We're moving to position now."
Garrus, Thane, and Miranda then set off again toward the next section of the garage complex, careful to remain hidden from the civilian workers. They still had to pass through two more large compartments before they arrived where the ground transports were warming up and preparing to take Shepard to the remote lab.
Even with the increased Alliance presence in Port Hanshan, the operation had gone reasonably well for their rag-tag group. Still, Miranda felt a tickle of unease in the back of her mind, as if her intuition was trying to alert her to some unforeseen threat. She pushed the feeling aside.
Shepard was close. She refused to allow any doubts to prevent her from getting him back.
After seizing Stivers' armor and weapons, Ashley left the man bound and unconscious in a dark corner of the Persephone's Engineering Deck next to Foucault's corpse. She then methodically tracked her way back toward the ship's cargo bay and where Shepard was being prepped for transition off-ship.
The reverberation of the ship's hull told Ashley that they were descending rapidly through Noveria's atmosphere. She paused and tapped out a few quick commands on her Omni-tool, linking data from her monitoring devices to the Kuwashii visor she was now wearing. Pulling in telemetry from the ship's guidance computers she saw that they were just minutes away from touching down in Port Hanshan.
Shit. Dah's taskforce won't get here fast enough. I'll need to delay them.
But she had to wait until after the ship had docked on Noveria before engaging the Marines tasked with transporting Shepard to the lab. She could be boxed in far too easily within the tight confines of the freighter once she revealed her location. Plus, there was the risk of inadvertently bringing the vessel down if a heavy firefight erupted close to vital systems. Deciding she didn't much care to end her life with a spectacular fireball along with her unconscious one-time Commander, she chose the more prudent route of patience and resumed her careful march toward the forward sections of the ship.
A minute later, Williams felt the vessel shudder as it touched down and docking collars were secured to the hull. She then emerged through a tight fitting maintenance shaft and carefully dropped down to the second level walkway that bordered the large, open space of the cargo bay. Crouching down and retreating into the shadows, she observed the activity below her.
Several Marines were busy securing Shepard's cryo-pod onto a small loader while the others stood nearby, weapons at the ready, as the ship's heavy cargo ramp was lowered. She could see Richter standing nearby Shepard's pod, anxiously observing the preparations. Unlike the rest of the detail, the Major was not wearing full battle armor. He'd opted for a simple chest plate over his BDUs and a Sentry-style visor instead of a full combat helmet. Part of Ashley hoped she had the chance to make the vile man regret that decision.
The loud, booming clang of the forward cargo ramp striking the deck outside the ship brought Ashley's attention back toward the front of the compartment. Six heavily armed troopers then strode up the ramp and linked up with the Marines within the Persephone's hold.
Crap. There's already more Alliance Intel troops planet-side.
Keeping to the shadows, Ashley carefully crept along the perimeter of the elevated walkway toward the back of the compartment. From there, she checked the readout on her Omni-tool one last time to confirm the area was clear and then dropped down a narrow auxiliary ladder onto the level below and dashed behind a large crate.
Shepard's pod was being carted off-ship as he was surrounded by no less than a dozen heavily armed Marines loyal to the rogue Alliance Intelligence faction. She couldn't hope to follow undetected through the primary cargo ramp, so Ashley quickly backpedaled to the opposite end of the compartment until she came to a maintenance hatchway designed for crews to access the deck from the ship's undercarriage.
Popping the hatch with her Omni-tool, Ashely grasped the edges of the deck and dropped her head through the opening to scan the area directly below the freighter. Satisfied the Marines were all preoccupied with Shepard's transport toward the bow, she dropped to the ground, dashed a few meters beyond the port side of the ship and took cover behind several large shipping containers.
Looking around, she noted the Persephone had docked within one of Port Hanshan's enormous, partially enclosed hangers. Back over her shoulder, she could see the planet's harsh weather churning in a blur of white just outside the far, open end of the structure, keeping a degree of Noveria's harsh environment at bay. Still, Ashley felt the biting cold of the wind on her exposed head and neck. A quick glance at the environmental readout on her visor told her that even within the hanger the temperature was well below zero.
Returning her attention forward, Ashley noted that the Marines were maneuvering Shepard's pod toward a secondary cargo offloading area. A quick glance at the clock readout displayed in her visor's HUD told her she still had at least nine minutes before Dah's ships hit the planet's atmosphere.
The area around the docks was too exposed and there were far too many Marines mulling about for Ashley to have any hope of surviving long if she attempted to delay them there. Instead, tapping the side of her visor, she accessed the Alliance Intel Marines' squad channel and listened patiently to the radio chatter. After a few seconds she had learned what she was after: They were moving Shepard to the garages where ground transport was waiting.
Ashley sat with her back against the heavy crates as she thought over her next move. Almost absentmindedly, she placed a gloved hand over the high explosive grenade attached to the harness on the front of Stivers' armor. Looking down at the explosive, she inhaled sharply and then carefully rose to her feet.
Her mind made up, Ashley sidestepped along the dock, keeping low behind the crates, and made her way to the hanger perimeter. Just as she emerged from behind some heavy machinery, a male human dock worker caught a glimpse of her and stared at her curiously.
Realizing that to the man she was just another Alliance Marine patrolling the hanger, Ashley stood upright and approached him with a casual gait.
Spotting the array of access keycards hanging from his belt clip, she reached out an arm and placed it over the man's shoulders. "Hey there," she said and smiled cordially. "Would you mind coming over here and helping me with something?" Ashley then guided the unsuspecting man around a corner and into the shadows.
Thane took point as the infiltration team entered the third and final cavernous garage building. The drell assassin paused in the opened doorway for a moment before signaling the all-clear and then deftly moved through the shadows and took up position behind a cluster of maintenance vehicles and equipment containers. Garrus and Miranda followed close behind, keeping low as they hustled over to take cover near Krios.
Raising their heads in unison, the small infiltration team took stock of their environment. They had entered at the far end of the long, rectangular garage building, at the opposite end from the huge reinforced steel and concrete blast doors that opened out to Noveria's surface. Near the doors, more than a hundred meters in the distance, they spied a cluster of Alliance Intel troopers standing close by three heavy land rovers. The vehicles' personnel ramps were already lowered, ready to take on passengers and cargo, and the engines were running.
"Miranda, Garrus," Liara's voice again came over their squad channel. "They're going to bring Shepard down through the freight elevator. Kasumi and I are going to follow them down through and adjacent stairwell. ETA, ninety seconds."
"Copy that," Miranda acknowledged the asari's report and glanced over to Garrus. The team immediately cast their eyes along the long wall of the garage, finding the bank of elevators toward the front of the building. The stairwell exit was a little farther away along the same wall, closer to the squad's position.
"All teams, we're engaging as soon as Shepard's pod is clear of the elevator," Garrus commanded. "We can't let them get him onto a rover."
"Understood, Garrus," Liara acknowledged.
"We copy," Feron echoed over the teams' radios.
The turian veteran turned toward Miranda and Thane. "Alright, let's get into position," he said. "Obviously, I don't need to remind anyone to check your fire once that cryo-pod is on deck." The turian lifted his head back over the crates and took another quick look around. A collection of massive storage containers reaching nearly two stories high were stacked a few dozen meters away, about halfway between their position and the rovers at the opposite end of the enormous garage. "Think you can get setup there, Thane?" he asked and motioned toward the top of the containers.
Thane glanced over to where Garrus had indicated and nodded. "Not a problem."
"Good," Garrus said. "Lawson, let's move up and get closer to those rovers."
Miranda nodded and then briefly watched as Thane dashed away, moving with the agility of some kind of predatory cat as he effortlessly scaled the storage containers and readied the high powered sniper rifle he carried. She then followed Garrus as they skirted along the far wall, keeping low and using the intermittent clusters of boxes and equipment as cover. They halted at the midway point of the long garage facility and took cover behind a civilian variant of the Mako assault troop carrier. The vehicle was on blocks, its heavy, puncture resistant tires piled up in three stacks a short distance away.
From their position, Miranda and Garrus had a clear line of sight to the bank of elevators at the other side of garage, as well as the stairwell access door Liara and Kasumi were descending. To their left, less than twenty meters away, were the Alliance troops at the far end of the garage, standing near the waiting rovers and the enormous garage doors.
"Liara, Kasumi, be advised that when you exit the stairwell Miranda and I will be at your two o'clock," Garrus advised over the squad channel. "There's cover for you directly ahead of the stairwell doors, approximately six meters forward. Wait until we engage before you come out."
"Understood, Garrus," Liara said. "We're ready."
Ashley thundered down the narrow maintenance stairwell leading to the garage level, keeping her Avenger assault rifle trained forward as she continued to monitor the Alliance Intel comm traffic. They had just transferred Shepard into the elevator and were descending to the garage level. She knew she was running out of time to intercept them before they set out for the surface.
Reaching the bottom of the stairs, she paused in front of the heavy metal door and grabbed the access keycards she'd taken from the dock worker. He'd wake up with a headache in an hour or so, but she hadn't had time to explain the situation properly. Sliding the card through the terminal reader, the door's locking bolt released and slid open with a low whoosh. Ashley brought her rifle back up to the ready position and entered the cavernous garage space.
She found herself at the front of the gigantic vehicle bay, the enormous facility doors on her immediate right. Several large crates and mobile terminal carts were directly ahead of her. She could hear the low rumble of running engines nearby.
Sweeping her corners as she left the safety of the doorway, Ashley sprinted ahead and took cover behind the boxes, near the edge of the massive garage doors. Craning her head around the polycarbonate crate, she caught sight of three all-terrain land rovers, parked facing the doors with engines idling, seemingly eager to be released to Noveria's frozen surface outside.
To the rear of the rovers, Ashley spotted the helmeted heads of three Alliance Intel troopers. Dropping to her belly, she looked underneath the vehicles and her tactical display registered another five sets of feet. But there was likely even more lurking beyond her obstructed view.
Pushing herself back up to her feet but remaining in a low crouch, Ashley placed the assault rifle down gently upon the floor and pulled one of the high explosive grenades from the harness at the front of her armor.
Off to her left she heard the ding of the elevator as it arrived on the garage level. Then the soft sweeping sound of the doors opening was followed by the rapid, heavy footfalls of combat boots striking the deck as the Marines escorting Shepard filed out into the garage.
Closing her eyes for a moment and drawing in a long, steeling breath, Ashley thumbed off the grenade's pin, waited three seconds, and then rolled the explosive along the deck and under the middle rover.
Miranda was sweating under her armor as adrenaline coursed through her veins. Her pulse quickened even further as the high-pitched chime of the elevator echoed through the huge open space.
Popping her head above the edge of the partially disassembled Mako, she had a clear line of sight to the Alliance Marines, bristling with weapons and ordnance, as they exited the oversized elevator car. Her heart caught in her throat when she saw the cryo-pod being wheeled out behind the troops on top of a small equipment trolley.
"Flashbangs ready," Garrus whispered into his helmet mic. The turian was setup just off to her left, taking a knee behind a heavy mobile cargo loader. He let his Phaeston assault rifle hang down in front of his armor from its combat sling as he pulled a stun grenade from his harness. "The group at the elevator is yours, Miranda. I'll take the crowd near the rovers. Thane, targets of opportunity if you will. Kasumi, Liara, stand by to engage."
Miranda mimicked the turian's action as she gently released her Mattock assault rifle, allowing it to dangle in front of her from its combat sling, and pulled a flashbang from her harness. She watched intently as the troops filed out of the elevator car until the doors slid shut behind the group. She quickly confirmed the count of seventeen Alliance soldiers that Liara had relayed to the team. To her left, Garrus was preparing to lob his grenade toward the grouping of soldiers already waiting near the land rovers. Her tactical HUD was lousy with red, hostile icons.
Swallowing hard, she cocked her arm back, aimed the flashbang grenade at the center of the group surrounding Shepard, and silently reminded herself he would be unaffected by the explosive designed to stun, blind, and disorient its target.
But then, just as she was about to release the grenade, a powerful explosion rattled the ground beneath her feet.
Miranda gasped, stunned by the detonation, as the shockwave radiated through her. She braced herself with her free hand as she stumbled to the side. Snapping her head toward the source of the blast, she saw the middle rover engulfed in a fireball. Then a rapid staccato of automatic fire rang out from the corner of the garage.
Shaking off the confusion, she gathered herself and reacquired her targets. The Alliance soldiers in front of her were beginning to scatter, frantically scanning the area for the source of the attack. To her left, she saw Garrus lob his grenade into what was left of the grouping of soldiers near the burning rover and immediately bring his rifle back up to bear. She followed suit, hurling the flashbang toward the elevator but barely aiming her throw as she seized her rifle and took aim at a soldier that had dropped to one knee in front of Shepard's cryo-pod.
"Light 'em up!" Garrus shouted over the comm after their stun grenades detonated. He leveled his Phaeston and sprayed the troops near the rover with full automatic fire, toppling one soldier as a dozen rounds took out his knees.
Miranda followed suit, leveling her Mattock at the nearest trooper kneeling down in front of Shepard's pod. She squeezed off a quick series of bursts, catching the man square in the chest and tracking the fire up to his head, disintegrating the faceplate of his helmet and peppering the men behind him with blood and chunks of brain matter.
Miranda had no idea who had detonated that rover or who was now firing from the far corner of the garage, but it didn't much matter at that point. Shepard was still right in front of them, surrounded by hostile soldiers, and they needed to free him.
The scene rapidly descended into total chaos.
The troops nearest the rovers scattered as they returned fire toward where Garrus and Miranda were entrenched as another several Marines turned back to engage whoever was firing on them from the corner.
A group of soldiers in Shepard's entourage scattered in multiple directions while six others huddled together in front of the cryo-pod, forming a wall of heavy ablative armor between the attackers and the prisoner they were charged with.
A little off to her right, Miranda caught site of a flash of blue as Liara exploded out from the stairwell, followed closely by Kasumi. A startled Alliance trooper turned toward the sudden movement just in time to receive the full brunt of a biotic singularity square in the chest. He was lifted off the deck, toppling feet over head, as mass effect fields began to bite into his battle armor. Kasumi seized the opportunity and poured thirty rounds from her SMG into the helpless trooper, stripping away the armor from his shoulder, chest, and head and sending a limb hurtling across the garage.
But then the two females were sent diving for cover as another three Alliance soldiers turned toward the threat and opened up with precise, methodical fire from their Avenger assault rifles.
The sharp report of a high caliber rifle announced that Thane had engaged and was beginning to pick off targets that strayed into his kill zone. A round exploded the head of one of the soldiers firing on Liara and Kasumi, passing clean through his helmet and striking another Marine standing directly behind the first, causing him to stumble and drop to a knee.
"They're trying to flank us!" Garrus called out. "On our left, I've got-"
Her eyes flicked up to her helmet's tactical HUD as a half dozen bright red icons were being tracked circling behind her and the turian's location. She fired another careful burst into the grouping of soldiers huddled in front of the cryo-pod and then began to turn toward the new threat to their left.
Miranda felt a series of hard slaps against the left side of her helmet and her head jerked to the side as a hail of high velocity rounds peppered her and the Mako she was kneeling behind. She dropped to her stomach and rolled away from the impacts as the tactical feed in her helmet flickered for a moment and then died all together. She smelled burning electronics as she reached up, tore the helmet off and tossed it aside.
Shaking the cobwebs free, she quickly tapped the small module fastened to her temple and activated the suit's auxiliary visor interface. Her tactical display restored, Miranda whirled back around and trained her rifle on the attackers that had caught her from the flank.
Garrus was being mobbed by three Alliance soldiers. He was shoved hard against a heavy storage container and his Phaeston was launched from his grip, hitting the deck with a hollow clatter. Miranda brought herself up to one knee, drew a bead on the nearest of the three soldiers attempting to overpower her squadmate, and squeezed off a quick burst. She caught the man in the upper shoulder and neck, spinning him around to face her, and then finished him with another quick burst to center mass.
Then the report of Thane's sniper rifle cracked again as the head of the man who had slammed into Garrus disintegrated into a mushy pulp against the container. Garrus broke free of the last of his assailants, produced a fiery orange sixteen inch Omni-blade from his arm, and stabbed the soldier clean through the chest.
Miranda then whipped her head back around toward the soldiers near the cryo-pod, her raven-black hair flying free in the air, as she ejected a depleted clip, seized a spare from her harness, slapped the new cartridge home, and resumed firing.
There was smoke, blood, and the hoarse cry of small arms fire all around her.
Then Feron's frantic voice sounded over the squad channel. "Three Alliance ships just dropped out of FTL and are entering orbit!... They're launching Kodiak shuttles. It looks like a full combat drop. Flight of five—no, check that—six shuttles coming in fast!" He paused with the comm open another few seconds. "The frigate in the docks just fired up its engines and is lifting off… Didn't even wait for the docking collar—just broke loose and is heading toward upper atmo… I'm not sure what's going on."
Miranda fought back a surge of panic as she visualized fully loaded Kodiak combat shuttles dropping straight down on their heads. They were already hard-pressed to deal with the troops in the garage. They wouldn't last much longer if these soldiers were reinforced.
"Lawson!" Garrus called out. "I'm going to circle around to the left and try to get behind them. Hold your position there."
She nodded in the turian's direction and then willed her focus back to where Shepard was trapped in the cryo-pod ahead of her. There were still half a dozen troops clustered immediately around the pod, stubbornly refusing to yield their position while they bought time for more troops to arrive. Two of the soldiers were sending a steady stream of suppressing fire toward where Thane was emplaced while the others were shooting back toward the front of the garage, targeting someone else near the burning rover. Her tactical display noted a dozen other hostile red icons, mostly moving in pairs, scattering throughout the garage and engaging Miranda's team from multiple angles.
Adding to the maelstrom, thick, noxious black smoke was beginning to fill the area as the rover continued to burn out of control.
She could see that Shepard's pod was still miraculously undamaged, but it was sitting in a precariously exposed position. Miranda cursed herself—and her Alliance Intelligence torturers—for her inability to leverage her biotics and protect John better.
Then, as if they'd read her mind, Liara and Kasumi popped out of their cover, off to the right of Miranda's location, and engaged the soldiers again. The asari shot out a hand and produced a bright, translucent blue bubble of dark energy around Shepard's pod as Kasumi emptied a full clip from her modified Locust SMG, peppering the soldiers clustered around the pod while stray rounds bounced harmlessly off Liara's barrier.
But the Marines' armor and shields was exceedingly tough and they immediately sent back a volley toward the women.
Miranda watched in horror as several rounds clipped Kasumi in the gun arm, causing her to cry out in pain as she was spun around from the impact and crumpled to the deck, disappearing behind some crates.
Liara was forced to drop her barrier protecting Shepard's pod and dove back behind cover to avoid the hail of gunfire. She dropped to her hands and knees and then disappeared behind some storage containers as she scooted over to where Kasumi had fallen.
Miranda gritted her teeth as she pumped out another stream of fire toward the soldiers. Goddamnit. We're running out of time!
Ashley dove to her right as one of the Alliance Intel troopers lobbed a fragmentation grenade at the position she'd been occupying a moment before. Automatic fire was echoing all around her as she scampered away from the explosive, barely reaching the back wheel of the nearest rover before it detonated and obliterated the crates she'd been crouched behind, sending a shower of polycarbonate splinters through the air.
Blowing up the rover had accomplished the delaying action she had been after—and then some. As soon as she blew the vehicle, she emptied almost the entire magazine of her Avenger into the soldiers that ran from the burning mess.
Several Alliance Intel troops had recovered quickly and tracked the origin of her attack, sending return fire in her direction. But then she registered something unexpected. Someone else had begun to engage the soldiers escorting Shepard from the other side of the garage.
Who the hell were these guys?
She couldn't get a clear line of sight to identify how many others were engaging the Alliance Intel troops, but she had been able to detect their general location. At least two guns were setup diagonally from her position, likely holed up behind the Mako missing its wheels. There also seemed to be a sniper perched somewhere further down the garage, but she couldn't get a good bead on where the shooter was exactly.
Another burst of fire from her rear sent her dropping to her stomach as several rounds glanced off her suit's kinetic barriers. Splayed out prone on the deck for a moment, she caught the movement of three troopers dashing by, apparently circling around to flank the unknown party near the Mako. She had a flash of motivation to send a burst their way and delay them, but then shards of concrete exploded from the ground around her. Another pair of soldiers had swung around some crates behind her, close to where she had originally entered the garage, and had begun firing upon her.
She grunted as her armored right leg absorbed another few rounds and then rolled over onto her back, leveling her Avenger toward the attack. She emptied another magazine into the soldiers, shooting directly between her bent legs as she laid on the deck, killing one of the men and sending the other diving back for cover.
Then her comm crackled to life and she heard a familiar voice come over her encrypted personal channel. "Firefly One, Dunkirk Actual," Captain Dah announced in her ear. "We're inbound to your location. ETA three minutes. What's your status?"
Ashley breathed a tremendous sigh of relief even as her muscles continued to tense under the extreme stress of the chaotic firefight. "Dunkirk Actual, Firefly One," she called out in a hoarse voice. "I'm fully engaged with numerous hostiles. I do not have the asset secured—say again, I do not have the asset secured!"
"Understood, Firefly One," Dah replied. "Hang in there, Williams. We're coming in hot. Dunkirk Actual out."
Rolling back over and pulling herself upright to take a knee, Ashley peered around the corner of the rover she was huddled behind and surveyed the scene in front of her.
The troops she'd seen dash by a moment earlier had disappeared behind another grouping of storage containers and she heard several more shots originate from that direction. Another loud report of the sniper's rifle boomed through the garage a few seconds later.
Then a flash of long black hair in the distance caught her eye. She peered over at the source of the movement, quickly tapped the magnification optic of her visor, and almost had a heart attack.
It was the Cerberus woman from the vid—the one they'd executed. What the fuck.
Ashley gaped transfixed at the dead woman as she brought her assault rifle around—it looked like a Cerberus variant of the Mattock—and fired short, controlled bursts into the soldiers that were lined up around the skipper's cryo-pod.
Another sudden movement off toward her right pulled Williams attention away from the black-haired, un-dead woman.
She turned to the new threat and saw a heavily armored turian loping around the corner of some equipment crates, making his way toward the rear of the rovers, apparently attempting to flank the Marines that were still clustered around the burning hulk. There was something familiar about how the alien moved—how he shot from the hip with that rifle…
Then realization washed over her. "Garrus!" she called out.
The turian came to a halt, raised his assault rifle toward Ashley as she briefly popped her head from behind cover, and then froze. A moment later he lowered his rifle a fraction and then sprinted over to her position.
"Spirits, Williams!" the turian's familiar voiced projected from his combat helmet. "What the hell are you doing here?!"
Ashley shook her head, still wrapping her mind around encountering a dead Cerberus operative and now Garrus Vakarian in the midst of this unholy cluster fuck. "Long story," she snapped before quickly popping off another few rounds to keep several Alliance Marines at bay. She then turned her head back toward the turian. "What the hell are you doing here?"
"Long story!" he shouted over the din of gunfire. "But we're here for Shepard."
"Are you with that Cerberus woman?" she asked almost unnecessarily, figuring she already knew the answer. They had both been with Shepard on Horizon, after all.
He nodded as he sighted another Alliance trooper and tore into the man's armor with a series of short, controlled bursts from his Phaeston. "Miranda Lawson," he said. "Liara and several others are also with us."
"Liara?" she said incredulously. "Jesus… What were you—?"
Garrus held up a hand to cut her off. "We've got more troops incoming—flight of six Kodiaks dropping on our heads. We've got to get to Shepard and get the hell out of here—fast!"
Ashley shook her head as she flinched from another close impact to her left. "They're friendly!" she shouted over the cacophony of gunfire and explosions. "They're with me."
The turian stared back at Williams for a long moment and then keyed his mic to the team's squad channel. "Garrus here. I've linked up with the mystery shooter. She's a friend. The drop ships inbound are friendlies. Say again, the Kodiak's are friendlies. We're holding this position. Feron, can you get these garage doors open?"
"I believe so… Stand by," Feron said.
Miranda could barely believe what she was hearing over the squad channel. But there was no time to question Vakarian's explanation. They were in the fight of their lives and still hadn't managed to secure Shepard.
She ducked down again behind the Mako as another flurry of red-hot tracers sprayed the side of the vehicle. "Liara, Kasumi! What's your status?" she called out.
"We're completely pinned down!" Liara responded with a severely stressed tone. "Kasumi's wounded and needs help… I've got three coming around at us now!"
Miranda's eyes shot to her tactical squad link and identified the three red icons skirting along the wall, coming around toward where Liara and Kasumi were trapped behind a cluster of crates and machinery.
"Hold on!" she shouted and then dropped to her belly and rolled several times to her right, desperately trying to line up a clean shot. She came to a stop at the opposite end of the Mako and sighted her rifle as she remained splayed out prone on the deck. She squeezed off three more bursts in rapid cadence as the boots of the soldiers bearing down on her squadmates crossed a break between cover. She caught one of the troopers clean in the ankles, sending him flying forward as the armor around his lower leg disintegrated, but the other two made the gap.
She cursed herself and then sprang back to her feet to bring her rifle around the edge of the Mako, searching for another shot. The dozen meters between her cover and the crates Liara and Kasumi were hunkered down behind was a no man's land, completely open to a raking of fire from the cluster of soldiers defending Shepard's pod. Still, the asari and her friend were in a bad way and she needed to make the attempt.
Miranda took a deep breath as she struggled to summon enough dark energy to fire a biotic warp field at the Alliance soldiers. A shooting pain instantly radiated down her spine, doubling her over and nearly making her retch onto the deck.
But then one of the troopers that had been closing in on Liara and Kasumi flew back in the direction he'd come from as if he'd been shot from a cannon. The flash of green and black movement she caught to her right told her that Thane had just struck the attacker with a powerful biotic throw as the drell sprinted to help the others.
She abandoned her effort to produce her own biotic attack, feeling a painful sting in her right eye, as she saw Thane pull the two short swords from his back as he dashed forward like some kind of ancient Samurai warrior.
The third Marine attempted to engage the drell assassin that sped toward him, desperately trying to raise the muzzle of his Avenger to the threat. But Thane was far too fast and sliced down with both swords, cutting the man's rifle clean in half.
Stunned by the unorthodox attack, the soldier had no time to gather his senses before Thane followed up with a blindingly fast series of slices and stabs, leaving the man crumpled in a tattered, bloody heap on the ground.
Miranda let out another sigh of relief as the stinging pain in her head began to fade but then felt another surge of exasperation.
This was it, she thought. They needed to go now. "Mordin, you're clear to abandon the Cassandra and come to us!" she called out over the radio. "We need support."
"Understood," The salarian instantly responded. "Already on my way."
Miranda nodded to herself, dropped to one knee, and leaned around the corner of the Mako to resume firing on the soldiers huddled around the pod. She was met with another barrage of gunfire but this time refused to fall back behind her cover, as multiple hits plinked off her kinetic barriers and armor. She grunted at the impacts and squeezed the trigger of her rifle.
She felt a sharp jab of pain below her right eye as her suit's barrier failed to deflect a round and she took a glancing blow. It felt as if someone had sliced her face with a red-hot knife. Miranda shouted in fury as she returned fire and struck one of the Marines square in the head, blasting his helmet's face shield into a hundred shards and sending him falling backward in an awkward motion.
Then the ground beneath her began to rumble.
Off to her left, the massive garage doors were starting to slide open, allowing an arctic blast of wind to blow through the length of the huge enclosure. A second later, as soon as the gap in the doorway had parted far enough, two Kodiak shuttles rocketed into the garage. The pilots deftly maneuvered the unwieldy crafts within the tight confines of the hanger-like building, banking sharply to port and starboard respectively, as the squad doors of both ships burst open.
Several of the remaining Alliance Intel troops on the ground trained their weapons up toward the new threats and opened fire on the shuttles.
Miranda didn't waste the opportunity as she stepped out from behind the Mako and leveled her weapon on the distracted foes, firing short, controlled bursts as she calmly marched toward them. A second later, seemingly materializing out of thin air, Thane joined her on her hip and began to pick off the soldiers one by one with his own assault rifle.
Two more Kodiaks pushed through the now wide-open garage doors, crowding into the space, as rappelling lines dropped from the first two shuttles and two full squads of Alliance Marines descended rapidly to the deck below, their combat boots striking the ground with resounding thuds.
The next ten seconds were filled with a flurry of automatic gunfire only partially drowned out by the roar of the Kodiaks' engines.
Between Miranda, Thane and the newly arrived Marines, the last of the Alliance Intelligence troops were quickly subdued. Most lay dead on the hard deck of the garage while a few others tossed their weapons aside and surrendered.
Then, after the last of the hostiles had either been killed or given up, several of the Marines from the Kodiaks whirled around and trained their weapons on Miranda and Thane as the pair stood exposed only a few meters from Shepard's cryo-pod. The operative and assassin froze, but stubbornly refused to lower their weapons.
The urgent shouting of a female Marine broke the tense stand-off.
Behind the Alliance troops, Miranda watched as a familiar looking woman with long brown hair dashed out from behind the rovers, her arms waving in the air and an Avenger assault rifle clutched in one hand. "Friendlies! Friendlies! Hold your fire!" she called out.
As the woman approached, Miranda was slightly dumbfounded when she recognized her as Shepard's former squadmate, Ashley Williams.
The Alliance troops relaxed their aggressive stance and lowered the muzzles of their weapons a fraction. Miranda and Thane followed suit, but eyed the troops warily.
Garrus, who had been bounding up along Williams' side rushed over to Miranda, tore off his helmet, and gave a critical look at the wound she'd sustained to the side of her face. "Looks like that stings."
Miranda scowled. "I'm fine," she said curtly. "What the bloody hell is she doing here?"
Ashley walked a little closer to Miranda and the others and shot her a disdainful look. "I was just asking the same thing about you," she said in an accusatory tone.
Lawson opened her mouth to fire back a reply, but then stopped and turned as Liara joined the group. The asari looked a little disheveled but otherwise unscathed. "Kasumi?" Miranda asked gravely.
Liara was staring at Ashley, looking utterly flabbergasted, and then turned to Miranda. "She took several rounds in the shoulder, but she's stabilized," she said and motioned back behind her. "Mordin's tending to her now."
Miranda swallowed, hoping her friend really was fine, and then turned back to question Williams further. But then the soldiers behind Ashley parted and another woman approached through the gap they'd created.
Clad in full battle armor and cradling her helmet under one arm as she strode forward, Miranda instantly judged this was the commanding officer of the new arrivals. An impressive figure standing well over six feet tall, the woman's blonde hair was cropped in a tight military cut. Miranda noted she was an older woman, likely over fifty, but carried herself with the strength and purpose of a hardened veteran. Her lean, weathered face suggested she was no one to be trifled with.
The officer addressed Ashley first. "Interesting collection of individuals we have here, Williams," she said matter-of-factly.
"Yes ma'am," Ashley nodded. "Some old friends, Captain. And… others," she frowned at Miranda and Thane.
The Alliance Captain scrutinized the group of aliens before her until her eyes settled on the black-haired human woman. "I take it you're the Miranda Lawson that Admiral Anderson told me about."
Miranda returned the Captain's intense gaze. "That's right," she said. "I don't believe we've had the pleasure."
"Captain Jill Dah, SSV Dunkirk," Dah said and then swept her eyes around the area. Behind the Captain, a detail of Marines were busy securing the Alliance Intel prisoners and corralling them near the Kodiak shuttles that had touched down at the front of the garage. "One hell of a cluster fuck we have here."
"Indeed," Miranda nodded slightly, still locking eyes with Dah.
Two other Alliance Marines then appeared, dragging up a prisoner between them. Miranda broke her stare down with the Captain and glared at the man she recognized as the Intelligence officer who had boarded and seized the Normandy weeks ago. His name was Richter, she remembered.
"Major Richter," Dah said in a frosty tone. "I can't say I'm relieved to see you didn't catch a round to the face. You're under arrest you traitorous piece of shit."
Richter's expression was defiant, but he looked like a man just barely hanging onto his nerves. Being caught in the violent and chaotic firefight he'd just survived didn't appear to be something he was accustomed to. "I'm the only true patriot standing amongst this filth, Captain," he said in a wavering voice as he eyed Garrus, Liara and Thane.
Dah shook her head and grunted. "Secure him for transport," she said to the Marines gripping the Major. "And gag him, if you will, Sergeant."
The soldiers then dragged Richter away, handling the man roughly as they pushed him back toward the Kodiaks.
Miranda returned her gaze to Captain Dah. "You have your man, Captain," she said evenly. "We're here for John Shepard. Just let us take him and we'll be on our way."
"I'm afraid that's not going to happen, Miss Lawson," Dah said. "I'm under orders to retrieve Commander Shepard and return him to Systems Alliance HQ for debriefing. He'll be coming with me."
"That's unacceptable," Miranda said firmly.
"I could care less what your little band of mercenaries finds acceptable. Shepard's coming with us. End of story."
Miranda stamped a foot down and glared back at the towering woman. "We did not chase these bastards across half the galaxy and get shot to hell in this bloody garage only to have you take him from me now!"
Dah fixed Miranda with a cold stare. "Tough shit," she said. "I just had to have an Alliance frigate blasted out of this shitty world's orbit on account of this Op. He's coming with us. Period."
Miranda was incensed as her muscles went rigid and an aura of blue energy crackled to life around her.
The soldiers behind the Captain tensed and raised their weapons again, but Dah stood firm and unwavering.
Then Liara was at Miranda's side, grasping her arm, and using her own biotics to reign in the volatile powers of the human woman. "Miranda, no," she said firmly. "We can't win this. You have to let him go. For now."
Miranda chewed her lip for a long moment, enduring the stabbing pain in her head the gathering of her biotic energy was causing, and then finally gave up the effort. She turned to face Liara with a look of desperation and then cast her eyes to the ground, dejected. We've come so far—gone through so much—this wasn't fair.
Liara smiled sympathetically and nodded slightly. "It's alright," she said and gestured toward Dah. "This woman can be trusted. And so can Ashley."
Miranda looked back up to meet Liara's eyes and felt a growing knot form in the pit of her stomach. She swallowed and then turned and walked toward the cryo-pod Shepard was still secured within.
Several Marines tracked Miranda with their rifles, but Garrus, Liara, and Thane quickly closed ranks and stepped between their friend and the Alliance troops as Ashley looked on with a slightly puzzled expression.
"Stand down, men," Dah said calmly. "Give her a moment."
Miraculously, the pod appeared to have sustained little damage during the dramatic firefight.
Gazing through the reinforced glass canopy of the stasis pod, Miranda stared down at Shepard's face. He looked a little gaunt with more than a week's worth of stubble shrouding his jaw, but otherwise appeared unharmed. She glanced down at the bio readout of the pod and confirmed his condition was sound and healthy.
Miranda placed a gloved hand on the canopy and stood looking down at the man's peaceful face for a long moment. Finally, she smiled weakly as she stifled a tear. "Dream of me," she whispered.
Then four of the Alliance Marines, followed hesitantly by Ashley, came over and took hold of the cryo-pod. Miranda reluctantly took a few steps back and allowed them to begin moving Shepard to the end of the garage and toward the Kodiaks parked near the open doors.
Liara and Garrus were then suddenly at Miranda's side, the turian wrapping a powerful arm around her shoulders. She wondered vaguely if he was attempting to comfort her or restrain her. Probably both, she concluded.
Several minutes later, Miranda stood alone near the doors of the half-destroyed garage, feeling the cold Noveria winds against her face, and watched as the Alliance Marines loaded Shepard's pod into the squad compartment of one of the Kodiaks. Garrus and Liara were speaking intently with Ashley Williams a little off to the side and out of earshot. At the moment though, Miranda didn't much care about whatever they were discussing. Mordin and Thane had left to take Kasumi back to the Cassandra where Feron and Kolyat were already waiting.
She had refused to be tended to and blood continued to trickle down her cheek from the glancing blow she'd taken earlier.
Captain Dah walked up to Miranda as the last of her people finished loading body bags onto one of the shuttles behind her.
"You should have that looked at," she said, indicating the wound Miranda had sustained to her face.
"It's just a scratch," she said absentmindedly as she stood with her arms crossed, not taking her eyes off of Shepard's pod.
Dah nodded slowly. There was something close to respect in the older woman's eyes as she studied Miranda. "We've cleared this little fiasco with the NDC authorities. You and your people won't be bothered and are free to leave.
Miranda then turned to look at Dah. "And when exactly will John Shepard be free?" she asked.
Dah shrugged. "Not for me to decide, Miss Lawson." She then paused as if considering what else to tell this severe, but rather strikingly beautiful woman. "But I can tell you that he's very important to Admirals Anderson and Hackett. Richter's not the only bad apple in our midst. The brass feels that Shepard's needed at home." She sighed and looked at Miranda more gravely. "And we're well aware of what's coming for us, Lawson."
Miranda slowly turned to face the Alliance officer and fixed the woman with a penetrating stare. "They're coming for everyone, Captain," she said. "And John Shepard is going to stop them, if you let him."
Dah gave Miranda a half smile and nodded. "Good luck, Miss Lawson." She then turned on her heel and strode off toward the shuttle they'd just loaded Shepard onto. The tall woman stepped into the Kodiak as the doors quickly swung shut behind her. The craft fired its maneuvering thrusters, angled up toward the sky, and rocketed away.
Miranda remained there alone, staring up into the tumultuous, darkening skies and watched the craft disappear into the heavens.
Author's note:
Really, really sorry for the long delay between chapters here, folks. It's been some crazy last couple of weeks at work and been biting into my writing time.
On top of that, this chapter ended up being way longer than I envisioned. But I couldn't figure out a good point to break it and decided to just put the whole Noveria raid sequence in one chapter rather than split it up.
I should be quicker about getting the next chapter out.