The sound I heard instead was an agonized howl from the inside of the booth. I opened my eyes blinking away the dizziness only to see the Krogan to be lifted by invisible hands and smashed to the floor. Inside the booth Aria stood trembling, her dress soaked up in her own blood pouring out of severe wounds. "Swallow that you fucking son of a Varren". With that she collapsed to the floor, her last reserves consumed by the powerful biotic attack. The Krogan was not finished yet, his unchecked motions were proof enough of this. I picked up my Phalanx which was lost due to the shotgun hit and placed the muzzle in front of his forehead. He was seemingly aware of my presence as he grabbed for my legs in a last attempt to survive. The simple fact that he still lived after such an attack was just another proof of the infamous Krogan' survivability. In the moment he got hold of my left leg I pulled the trigger and didn't stop before the heat magazine was exhausted – or rather full.
Heading over to Aria I found her still breathing, but the heartbeat seemed faint and dim, although I was far from an expert of Asari physiognomy I could tell that here wounds would kill her soon enough because of the blood loss.. A few seconds later more guards arrived, gazing at the slaughterhouse the residence of their boss had become.
"Get a medic immediately, she will die very soon if no help arrives." I almost yelled at them.
One of the guards approached me. "First some Medigel, she's far beyond that if no other help arrives but it will buy us some additional time."
I nodded my approval, trying to suppress the most severe of the wounds in her gut with my bare hands. "If she dies my contract is over and I – we – can leave the station unharmed, so why am I doing this? The thought echoed in my mind several times before I made a decision. "No, I won't do this for the very same reason I didn't walk by when Serena was in danger. If I let loose the last ties to the human I used to be and it would have been better the Krogan would have had enough time to pull the trigger."
A few minutes later two salarian medics arrived, carrying a lot of medical equipment with them. "Looks grave. Have to act quickly. Need medical transport. Can you arrange the security?" One of them looked at me raising his left eyebrow.
Looking around at the guards I realized that none of her officers had survived the onslaught, so I nodded at his request.
"Release hands now please. Step back. Medical transport arrives in 6 minutes. Please arrange security."
I stepped back as the salarians took over.
"How many guards are left?" I addressed a turian guard.
"With the four at the front door 8 are still alive." He replied.
"Ok then, open the front doors and get the others in here immediately, we have to escort Aria and four are simply not enough."
"You have no authority here, you are not even part of our organization. Aria's orders were to keep the doors closed in order to find the assassin."
I crossed the distance between us in an instant, pulling him close while holding my Phalanx to the side of his head. "That was before she was shot to pieces you brainless son of a Varren. Now get those guards over here or I will see to find someone who is obeying my orders. Am I clear?"
He gulped and nodded then spoke onto his intercom. "Open the doors and get over here quickly, Aria is wounded and needs an escort."
Releasing my grip I lowered the pistol. "Good guy, found your brain just in time". Did someone alarm the base? Or are they still thinking we're watching Asari dancers?"
"I alarmed them immediately as we arrived here, they should be here in about 5 minutes with all available shuttles." Another guard chipped in.
"Finally someone who makes use of his brain, I almost gave up on that, thank you for reviving my confidence in intelligent life." I scoffed in direction to the turian guard.
My attention was drawn away by a loud moan a few meters to the right. In the dim light I could see a shape moving, issuing more sounds of pain in the process. I headed over to the form recognizing Grizz. "I'm glad to see that old corpse of yours is still able to take a hit or two. You're ok?"
Grizz turned his gaze to me, mandibles flaring. "Don't make me laugh, guess all my ribs are broken, my head feels like being hit by a dreadnought." His eyes flared open suddenly, fear in his voice "Is she alive?"
Showing my bloodied hands to him I explained the situation "She lives, barely, two medics are currently taking care of her, transports arrive in a few minutes. I had to force your men to obey me to gather together an escort, we're only 10, if you count yourself in that is."
"You can tell me the details later, especially the part where you had to force my men to escort her. For now count me in, even if I won't be a great help in a firefight." With that he tried to stand up, accepting my hand for help.
Picking up his shotgun on the way we went over to the other guards, impatiently waiting for the medical transport as long as reinforcements.
The four guards from the front door arrived, soon to be followed by the medical transport. Grizz had redirected it from the main entrance to the one we had used earlier this day to enter the Afterlife without being seen. In the meantime the two salarians had managed to place Aria on a barrow. Grizz ordered two of his men to carry it and we went off for the backdoor in a quick pace.
"The reinforcements should be here by now, can you confirm?" I asked the guard who had called them.
"Please wait a sec, I try to reach them." He nodded, activating his intercom "Medical transport has arrived, we need assistance immediately, 6 minutes were over 2 minutes ago."
I looked at him as he listened to the answer, reading enough from his expression that we just encountered another problem.
"Six of our shuttles are currently involved in a firefight with two Gunships and a couple of speeders. They are currently holding them at bay, but the arrival here is unsure." He stated.
Grizz interjected "Bullshit, what now? We cannot take off with just an unarmored med shuttle, they will blow it to pieces once we are in the air."
"Don't forget about the shuttle we used to get here and the second one which escorted us. Two is better than nothing and if the others can keep the Gunships at bay we should be able to get away."
"Better than nothing, but this time I won't be able to fly, my ribs will kill me if I try."
"Ok then, you take the gun this time, I'm flying. Any other good pilot in here? And with good I don't talk about a galaxy of fantasy playthrough on insane"
One of the humans walking in front of the barrow turned his head around, his face wearing a grin. "Does it count if I name myself a good pilot and played through galaxy of fantasy on insane uncountable times?"
Grizz answered this time. "I know you are quite able to fly one of those shuttles, Jason, so count yourself in, take your companion with you as gunner."
"Sorry to interrupt. Med transport not made for firefight. Patient not stable. Should prevent acute bends." One of the salarian medics interjected with a stern expression on his face.
"I hope we can prevent that, but we have to take the risk, or is she stable enough to wait for more reinforcements?"
"No, not stable at all. Need immediate medical treatment. Time is running out." The medic answered.
We arrived at the back door, securing the area before entering our shuttles as the medics prepared Aria for the transport. "How far is it to our destination, I guess it won't be a normal hospital." I queried Grizz as he entered the shuttle issuing curses and moans all the time as his broken ribs painfully reminded him of their presence.
"It is a VIP hospital roughly ten minutes to fly from here, she has taken precautions for such a case, the staff is alarmed already and has received her medical recordings for preparation." Grizz responded through clenched teeth.
"Ten minutes? Doesn't sound too much, but considering her current status and unknown obstacles on the way this' gonna be a hell of a ride."
"Quite so, and as I said earlier this day I'm way too old for this twice a day." He said with a wry smile.
"I'm glad you didn't loose your humor though. If we live to see the next day we should get a big barrel of ale for the two of us and talk it over"
"Sounds good to me, I'm definitively in for shooting the lights out after this." He grinned back.
As I gently lifted the shuttle into the air to hover beside the med transport Grizz contacted the other pilot to setup the escort and finally tried get a status update of our reinforcements. He grunted then turned to face me "Two of our shuttles are already out of the game, but they managed to scrap one of the Gunships and several speeders. This day gets worse by the minute. We should expect some company as they are pretty occupied with the second Gunship."
"Sounds familiar to me, I just can't remember the occasion…"
We took off and followed the other armored shuttle and the med transport as rear guards. I made a few maneuvers to get a feeling for our vehicles behavior in case we would need it. "You're not going to do this till we arrive, are you? I'll show you today's lunch again if you please" Grizz quipped.
"Sorry, just try to figure out how this craft reacts in case we need it, somewhat sluggish in reaction but nothing special besides."
Grizz got an incoming message on the intercom and listened to it attentively. "Now you're going to need it, I was just informed that some speeders have detached from the engagement and heading in our direction, they'll be here soon. Luckily the Gunship is too slow to catch us on a short run." He gave me a curt nod. "Let's see if you're the same badass in the air you're groundside, actually I hope you are." He added with a grin in my direction.
"Then we are two already, hope falls last and the devil is a squirrel, ya'know."
"Devil? Squirrel? Sorry, got me there."
"I'll have to postpone the lecture in human idioms." Activating the intercom to address the other pilot "Incoming, 3 o'clock, four targets."
"Affirmative, any special tactic, will you stay with the med and I am the diversion?" Jason answered immediately.
"Being the diversion is almost a death sentence, her people are loyal to the end, impressive, especially for Omega."
Grizz answered the question. "Negative, we will engage them both, the speeders are faster than the med shuttle, we have to keep them busy. We engage first, everything that gets past us heading for the med is your duty. You copy?"
"Got it, this time we have to be the cavalry."
"Exactly, try to keep your heads on, Grizz out." He turned to face me. "Turn around and engage them, they are fast and well armed, but fragile, the only chance I see is to turn the tide quickly, otherwise they'll just outmaneuvering us."
With a nod I turned the shuttle, readying the frontal weapons, the rear and side weapons were Grizz' duty. The first two speeders came in view, quickly closing in. Both fired a pair of missiles and darted away in opposite directions. Steering the shuttle into a double bent I evaded the incoming missiles. The missiles turned in curves following their target but quickly ran out of fuel. Closing in on one of the speeders I fired the frontal heavy cannons but missed the first rounds. The enemy vehicle flew a zig-zag-pattern and fired its thrusters to expand the distance between us. Following the pattern the pilot seemed to use I tried to calculate the next turning point of the speeder and fired the cannons on full auto. "Shooting holes in the air won't…" Grizz voice trailed of as the speeder pilot followed his pattern and directed his craft directly into the gunfire. As Grizz had stated the speeders were fragile, a few hits were enough to cause its frame to fall apart.
"Forget it" was his only comment. "Where are the other ones?"
Two missiles hitting our rear armor where answer enough, several red lights sent their greetings from the console before me. The enemy speeder was close behind us, another direct hit would pierce through the armor so I slammed on the brakes. My maneuver caused Grizz to yawn in pain as his ribs were squeezed once more, but I was rewarded as the enemy vehicle overhauled our shuttle barely able to avoid crashing into it. Suddenly the roles of hunter and prey were reversed and I loosened a storm of bullets. In the middle of this storm the enemy was torn to pieces, its components spraying in all directions.
"Two gone, two left, you're ok?" I asked Grizz while turning around in direction to the med transport firing the thrusters to catch up.
My query was answered by a series of coughs. "Well, have seen better days, but saved our asses, so don't mind me. I'm not a big help, sorry."
"Don't mind, any idea where the others are?"
"Shit no, can't see them." Activating the com unit he asked "Jason, you've got company?"
"Quite so, they gave me something to think about, nearly shitting my pants over here."
"So you have two speeders at your heels?"
"Up to now I can only see one, and this one's keeping me busy, be sure of that. Not a minute ago I could see them both."
"Fuck, the other is hunting the med, you've got to get along alone, we're heading after the other, hope we're not to late."
"Copy, good lu…" His voice was cut off and replaced by random noise.
Grizz glanced at me with a stern and exhausted expression. "Push it to the limits, I fear we will be to late, you know how fast these speeders are. I try to warn the med shuttle."
I nodded, noticing how pale his face looked compared to his usual color. "If I get you to this hospital be sure I admit you too, even if that means knocking you unconscious."
He chuckled, followed by a moan. "Leave that, laughing is not a good idea in the moment, not that we have lots to muse about."
He made contact to the med transport while I forced our shuttle to the very limits, but since the direct hit to the rear the control panel was flashing like a Christmas tree, so the overheat warnings simply added some fancy new colors. "Anything from the med?"
Grizz held up a hand, still listening to his com. "Alright, we're closing in, try to evade them a little bit longer." He faced me with a stern expression. "The speeder just reached them, they are trying to evade it, but since the med is not made for that, we're running out of time. They should be visible soon enough."
"Got it, you're ready for another twist and turn?"
"I'm pretty much fucked up, but don't mind me, get that speeder down at all costs." His pale face expressed grim determination which was only emphasized by the subtle quivering of his body caused by the effort to subdue the pain inside him. "His broken ribs must have pierced his lungs or other vital organs during the dogfight with the two other speeders, he is going to die soon without medical assistance."
"Got it again, but I don't wanna miss that particular barrel of ale, drinking alone is half the fun."
The IFF warning beeped as the enemy speeder got into range of the instruments and I returned my attention to the instruments.
"Over there!" Grizz exclaimed pointing at two vehicles about 400 meters to the right and 50 below us. I turned our shuttle in the appointed direction as the smaller one closed in on the other while issuing bullets from its auto cannon. The med transport tried to dodge the attack but it was too dull and easily outclassed by the speeders swiftness. Big chunks of armor and scraps of vital components were ripped off the med, fumes indicated severe damage to the engine as the vehicle slowed down. I was still to far away for a precise shot, but released a couple of bursts hoping to catch a lucky round or break the grip of the speeder on his prey, giving away the element of surprise in the attempt. The med pilot decided that his vehicle had taken enough damage and steered the vehicle rapidly down, hoping to surprise his pursuer. The speeder easily followed the movement but a couple of rounds just hit the air before the pilot was able to lock on his target again. These few seconds were enough for me to close in and bring my weapons to bear on a more comfortable range. As the first rounds struck the speeders upper aft section it finally broke his pursuit, thrusters blazing to evade more hits to its fragile structure.
Grizz released a sigh of relief as my assault rescued the med transport for the moment. It issued a trail of thick smoke and its speed had gradually dropped but it still moved on. Following the faster speeder not too close behind I tried to place our vehicle as obstacle on the way to his prey. In an airborne fight this may seem futile but at least it gave me a short time to react.
"Got you!" I exclaimed as the enemy pilot did exactly what I expected and turned in a sharp bend trying to circumvent us. I closed in on a interception course, eager to teach this one a lesson or two. As I released the trigger to fire my weapons the speeder dived down as if he'd expected this move. Steering the vehicle into another sharp bend which was impossible to follow for our slower shuttle he placed himself behind our craft, weapons blazing.
"Fuck, that one's good!" I yelled as the first rounds struck our already severely damaged rear armor, peeling off the last remains. I tried to dodge and evade the onslaught, but the enemy pilot seemed to anticipate each of my movements. The bullets now hit vital components and when our vehicle lost speed I knew it was over.
Grizz faced me with a calm expression. "It was a pleasure to meet you, don't blame yourself, you did everything you could."
"I won't give up, there must be…" I was interrupted by a bone-shaking impact and the sound of screeching metal. The shuttle spun around and I lost control momentarily as I dashed into the drivers door.
"Fuck that goddam…" I yelled at the consoles, as Grizz moaned and swayed aside, loosing consciousness. I grabbed the steering panels and tried to regain control as we circled down to the nearby buildings. Eventually bringing the shuttle back to an even course I tried to make out our pursuer but was astonished to see another armored shuttle close by, at least the remains of it. By the looks this one would need maintenance for the next couple of weeks. "Well, I'm sure we pretty much look the same, but no time to waste now, Grizz' time's running out."
I steered the vehicle in the direction the med transport had taken, the other shuttle placing itself beside me. The pilot greeted me with a grin and I recognized the young human named Jason, somehow he had accomplished to ground the first speeder to be there just in time to rescue us from the second one. "Have to buy that one a drink, saved our asses today, that's for sure."
I glanced at Grizz as the Turian moaned and shifted, eyes still shut. "Hold on another few minutes, my friend, help's close by."