Action. It's like Shepard's in a long, dark corridor that's collapsing behind her. She can only move forward.

Can't thank those people who have reviewed, pm'd and supported me so far (you know who you are) enough.


"Holy shit!" Cortez shouted at the controls, as he banked the shuttle hard, avoiding the incoming Reaper fire.

"Status?" Shepard braced her weight against the wall behind her, her voice tight.

"That was the squad responsible for taking out that defence turret" Cortez replied, his fingers flying over the flight systems.

"What squads are in the area?"

"None" He cast a backwards glance at her "All of them are either dead, shot down or already engaged"

Shepard chewed her lip and peered out at the destruction. "Drop us off!"

"Ma'am?" Cortez coughed, not really believing what he'd heard "But you-"

"Do it!" Shepard turned around and looked at her small ensemble of crew, "Change of plans, we have to get that turret disabled before Hammer can land"

"How do we do that?" Garrus asked, his mandibles flaring as the shuttle banked again.

"We'll land close to that downed shuttle, they should have the heavy weapons we need" Shepard keyed something into her omni tool. "I've sent you all the coordinates for the Hades turret" She looked up, "If Hammer can't land, we don't have a chance. Everyone has the location of the turrets, we fight until the last man" A grim silence answered her.

"Commander!" Cortez barked, "We got lucky, the shuttle came down closer to the turret than I thought..." he trailed off as he looked back at her.

"But?" Shepard watched, as his brow furrowed and he chewed his lip.

"The crash site is overrun completely, I won't be able to wait for you, I'll have to do a sweeping drop and circle around."

"I understand." Shepard shut her face plate and turned to the shuttle door, wrenching it open with a grunt, as they circled towards the crash site. There was desperate chaos beneath them and she allowed it to wash over her. She considered herself a good soldier, one that knew her place in the grand scheme, but suddenly the reality of her fragile mortality was almost too much to stand. The shadows of the roaring metal beasts of the Reapers flashed across the skyline, snarling at the planet, and she knew, when faced with such impossible odds, there was nothing one lone solider on the ground could do - but die. She took a deep breath and waited for Cortez to land, knowing her time was coming much too soon. She remembered all those years ago when she'd first enlisted, that Anderson had told her being a soldier was a useless, dying trade and there was a limited need for it. That war would become too 'automated', more focused on technology and less on the dirty business of actually having to kill people. Yet now, despite all the machinery and advanced technology, it had come simmering down to the soldier on foot. There was a sudden weight on her shoulder and she turned to see blue eyes and a worried expression as Liara gripped hold of her hard suit.

"Shepard?" the asari had to speak loudly above the din of war "Everything all right?"

Only Liara could ask that at a time like this. She wanted to tell the asari that she wasn't all right, that this was all wrong, but right now, braced in the open door of the shuttle, wind and death buffeting them, all she could do was hope for a bit more life.

"Stay with me!" Shepard shouted, reaching out with her free hand and grasping the asari's hand in her own. "Stay right next to me!" she squeezed Liara's fingers and watched her nod in acknowledgement.

"Always"

"Hold on!" Cortez shouted, as the shuttled bumped aggressively onto the broken concrete.

Shepard jumped out of the shuttle as her squad filtered in behind her. It was raining and the shuttle tore off just as the Hades turret fired in the distance, a blinding flash of its batteries, one burst, two, and three as it roared and subsided. A second later the concussion of the blasts exploding shook the earth, causing debris and loose pavement to jump on the ground. The turret's fire criss-crossed the blackness overhead in an almost delicate pattern.

Shepard realised that even the stars had gone into hiding, and her mind seemed to dwell limply in that state between reflection and complete alertness. A state all soldiers came to know when there was nothing but the thunder of war to be heard in the night.

"Alright" Shepard dropped down on a knee, freed her rifle from her back and wiped the rain from her face plate "Garrus, take Tali and EDI, secure the heavy weapons."

"Commander" Garrus nodded.

"Vega, Liara, we'll secure the route from the shuttle over there to the turret, allowing Garrus and his team a free run to attack."

"Yes ma'am!" Vega shouted as he chambered a round.

"Stay tight people!" she scanned the faces, "In and out, all right?" Each of them nodded as she stood up. Garrus muttered something to EDI and Tali, then turned to Shepard.

"See you in a few" He reached out and shook her hand, his mandibles flaring, as he froze for a second, his dark eyes tracing her face. Finally he let go, and without a backwards glance he jogged off towards the carcass of the wrecked shuttle.

Shepard barely had time to survey the area before a plasma round impacted the ground just in front of her.

"Bastards know we're here" Vega said, sprinting towards an over turned car and crouching behind it. Liara followed him, leaving Shepard standing in the street looking up at the amount of water the black sky had begin to let flow.

"Shepard!" Liara shouted, breaking her reverie.

Shepard flinched as another round ricocheted off the car next to her and she ducked behind a close, partially demolished wall. A crack of thunder split her musing, forcing her into a further awareness of the foul weather.

"It couldn't have been a clear night, could it?" Vega muttered into the comm. as he edged around the car and unleashed his Revenant on the cannibals.

There was a roar and Shepard closed her eyes. Brute. "You two, keep the crowd controlled, I've got the brute" She peeked up from her cover and caught sight of the creature, its twisted flanks quivering in the glare of the orange street lamps. Muscles all over its body rippled, as Shepard stowed her rifle and unfolded her sniper. She looked down the scope as the brute roared, rearing up on its back legs, swiping at the air in front of it with its massive claws. It walked towards her slowly, its head swinging back and forth as its jaw opened and closed.

The brute took the first shot in its throat and a ragged hole blew open just above its chest, strips of grey metal blossoming out like a sick flower. Thick dark liquid spilt from the wound, but even though its head was hanging limp, it was still climbing forward over the corpses of cannibals, single minded in its attack.

"Shit" Shepard reloaded the sniper and aimed again. At such close range the gun did massive damage, the single round punching a hole through its torso and taking out two more cannibals in the process. This time the brute was dead before it hit the floor.

"We have to move forward, clear this area!" Shepard shouted, waving her hand for them to push towards the next car.

Liara took the first sprint, her barriers lighting up to covered Shepard as she fell in next to her. They were crouched down behind another vehicle, about to push forward again, when suddenly all the windows burst at once under a hail of marauder fire, spraying them with glass. The car shook as more shots slammed into it. Liara muttered something; then there was a series of sharp concussions. Shepard looked up to see the asari firing a wave of biotic energy through the shattered window towards the swarm beyond. More shots cracked into the car, blasting splinters of metal into the air and puffing dust and little bits of foam from the seats.

Shepard jumped up, firing back for a moment before diving to the floor and changing the clip in her gun. She swiped at her visor as shots tore into the metal, smacking the frame and making it hum.

"Vega, lay some grenades on that right hand side!" Shepard spoke into the communicator during a brief lull in the firing.

"You got it" His voice was tight.

"Liara, exit round the left there, head up to the wall just beyond, this cover isn't going to last much longer" Shepard said calmly, over the noise of puncturing metal and whining ricochets.

"Alright" The asari nodded as more firing thrummed against the car, juddering it and making her wince as a cloud of metal shards rained down on her.

"Now!" Shepard pushed the asari, shoving her sideways and out into enemy fire. At the same time she freed a grenade from her chest and hurled it into the centre of the crowd, hoping it would catch some of the lingering biotic energy from Liara's attack. She got lucky. There was a dull, percussive thump as the grenade flashed into the ground and exploded. The air was filled with a crackling noise and the ground beneath them seemed to leap and dance with tiny secondary explosions; there was an impression of blurring, buzzing, furious movement in the air as the biotic energy detonated, sending handfuls of charred reaper flesh and tech into the air.

She heard Vega whoop in her ear "Fucking crowd control!"

"All right, let's make some headway while we can" Shepard stood up and surveyed the newly cleared space in front of her "We still have a long way to go people."


"Garrus" Tali said quietly, lowering her rifle as her eyes focused over the turian's shoulder.

"What?" He snapped and she gestured behind him with a nod of her head. "Someone give me a break..." he muttered as he turned to see the remains of a banshee pulling itself across the front of the shuttle using only the stump of its left arm. Its other appendages were in tatters or missing altogether. A thick, viscous black substance flowed from its wounds, complicating its efforts to move forward and leaving a grisly trail on the ground behind it. His face hardened "Light it up"

"With pleasure" Tali said grimly, advancing determinedly towards the creature and taking aim. Black eyes stared up at her as bullets slammed into its face, neck and chest, tearing away grey twisted flesh and splattering the sides of the shuttle with black. Tali fought the urge to retch.

"EDI, the heavy weapons?" Garrus asked, covering the door to the shuttle.

"I have the missile launcher, however," EDI cut off and the sound of pistol fire sounded from within the shuttle.

"EDI?" Garrus shouted, turning and approaching the shuttle. "What's going on, I..." His words died in his throat as the avatar staggered backwards out of the shuttle, the missile launcher clasped in one hand, and the grey, disfigured talons of a banshee wrapped around the other. "Close the door!" He roared, yanking EDI backwards and onto the street. "Tali!" He threw his weight into the door, catching the avatars fingers as it met a fleshy and unyielding resistance.

"Kee'lah!" Tali shouted as she lunged forwards, adding her strength to the effort.

Any momentum EDI had gathered in her retreat was stopped by the power of the Reapers grip and she was ripped forwards, colliding with the half open door.

"Take the heavy weapon" EDI said calmly, "And I will remain here."

"What?" Garrus grunted "Not a chance!" He heaved at the door, shouting as it slammed shut with a sickening crack of bone. The banshee's arm was crushed and almost severed in the shuttles door frame, as black blood oozed through it like glue. The talons twitched madly, as the crushed limb dangled from the thin tissue that was still exerting a hold on the appendage.

EDI toppled backwards with the unexpectedness of her liberty and sat silently on the floor for a moment, looking down at the disfigured mess of her right hand.

"EDI, are you all right?" Tali shouted.

"I am fine, however, I am no longer complete" She held up her hand, minus three fingers.

"That door won't hold!" Garrus yelled, "Back up, make a run for the Commanders group"

The words were no sooner out of his mouth than the door crashed open with stunning force "Go!" He screamed, but the edge of the door caught him on the side of his face and knocked him backwards. Groggily, he rolled over and brought himself to his knees, drawing his pistol. Someone was shouting his name, but the sound barely registered as he was yanked into the air by the front of his hard suit. He looked up and caught sight of an evilly unnatural mouth filled with needle sharp teeth. He swore and desperately thrust the barrel of his pistol into the banshee's eye, firing until the clip was empty. The bullets splattered brain matter as far at the shuttle and the grip holding him was suddenly released. He fell to the floor and collapsed to his knees, dimly aware of Tali running forward to grab him by the shoulders.

"Garrus?" Tali croaked.

"I'm fine," he whispered "I'm ok."

"We have to move" Tali yanked him to his feet "Commander?" she spoke into her comm. But all she heard back was static "Commander?"

"Tali?" Shepard's voice was tight and she could hear shouting in the background "What is it?"

"We have the heavy weapons and are inbound on your position."

"Rodger that" there was a pause on the line "Watch out for brutes on the road in."

"Will do" Tali sighed, as she reloaded her weapon, so far things had been worse than she'd expected.


Vega didn't have a clue who was where or what was going on. All he knew was that something had just smacked him in the face. Blood smashed across his upper lip and he put one hand to his nose, finding his face plate in pieces. He almost screamed. "They have air support, get down!" He hoped he was shouting.

A movement, spotted through his blood filled vision made him spin and he found himself eye to eye with a marauder.

"Son of a bitch" he whipped his rifle up and smashed it butt first into the creatures face. The strike jarred his wrist, but he wasn't deterred. He lifted the rifle again, slamming it down on the reapers upper arm and elbow. This time the force numbed the whole length of his arm and jarred down his spine. "Fuck..." He hit the creature again "You!" And again, and again, grunting uncontrollably, putting it down with a ferocity and hatred he didn't know he possessed. He was just about to unload his weapon into the remains when a voice over the comm. stopped him.

"Heavy weapon fire inbound, take cover!" It was Shepard.

He twisted around and reached for the only person he could. Liara.

"Get down!" He got the asari by the wrist and pulled her down next to him "Where's Shepard?"

"Over by the turret" She looked at him, eyes wide.

"Shit" he glanced up to see Garrus crouched on the road, sighting the missile launcher. There was a bang as the tubes juddered against his shoulder, then a flash and a clap of noise as they ignited and raced away.

They followed the trace of fire as it arched towards the turret and impacted. The flash of light made him look away, when he looked back the turret had been obliterated. Its remains stood precariously, shaking and crackling with secondary explosions.

"Commander?" Vega spoke into his comm. "Commander?" Nothing but static answered him. He turned to Liara, but she was gone, already up and running towards the blast site.


The blow was astonishing, beyond comprehension. It was as though she'd been driven into a wall, or been hit with a hammer, or a meteor. It hit somewhere below her chest, but she had no idea where and for a moment she couldn't move. She was lying on her back, arms splayed, looking at the water trails on her face plate and trying to figure out what the asari stood above her was shouting. Shepard knew she was shouting because of her expression, but she couldn't hear anything.

With a groan of effort she reached up and lifted her face plate. There was a puff of air as the seals released and then the sound of the world came rushing back to her.

"Shepard?" Liara's voice was loud and harsh, her eyes wide and hard.

"My comm. died" was all Shepard could say. "Damn, that explosion was bigger than I thought" She accepted the outstretched hand and allowed Liara to pull her to her feet.

"Really?" Liara narrowed her eyes at Shepard. There was a look on her face that she suspected meant she would be getting a slap if their situation had been different.

"Everyone accounted for?" She glanced around slowly, dusting her hands as she sucked in a deep breath. She felt bruised all over.

"Most of us" EDI commented, holding up her damaged hand.

"What happened?" Shepard glanced across at Vega and winced "Vega, you all right?"

"Yeah," he drawled, snorting back blood and spitting onto the pavement.

"We encountered a few banshees" Garrus added with a shrug "We were..." Suddenly he paused, his head tilting sideways as he pushed his finger into the comm. point in his helmet "Yes, the Commander is fine" Garrus looked up sharply "Understood. Stay safe lieutenant."

"What?" Shepard asked, knowing instinctively by the look on the turians face, that she wasn't going to like what she was about to hear. A blink of pain went through her head.

"The shuttle's been hit, Cortez is going down, and we have no evac."

"Holy shit" Vega swore.

"What's his condition?" Shepard asked.

"He can land the shuttle, he radioed for another evac but got radio silence," Garrus shook his head. "There are massive Reaper ground forces converging on our position."

"Of course," Shepard put her hands on her hips and bit back an automatic cynical mutter "Every damn Reaper on the planet knows where we are now."

"Shepard, Cortez asked me to tell you something" Garrus looked away, unable to meet Shepard's piercing gaze.

"What?"

He sighed, his mandibles flaring "Survive."


"This is unreal!" Liara shouted, as she slammed against the wall next to Shepard.

"Tell me about it" Shepard replied. She squinted as a blast of cold air brought rain into her face; stingingly cold, almost sleet. Tali was crouched next to her, cradling the Commanders helmet in the crook of her arm as she attempted to fix the broken comm.

"Shepard, heads up," Tali said, passing the helmet up "Try that."

Shepard nodded and slid the helmet over her muddy wet hair, instantly grateful to have some barrier from the atrocious weather "Garrus? This is Shepard, do you hear me?"

"Yes Commander," There was a pause before he replied "Nice weather your planet has."

Shepard almost smiled at that "Thanks Tali." Looking down at the quarian, she could just about make out her face, almost hidden now by the dark sweep of clouds across the sky; a sweep of dank shadow that somehow took the brightness out of everything and dulled the surroundings. Wind drove into her back as she peered out across the expanse of enemies "We need to plug that gap" She rounded on Liara, taking the asari by the wrist and pointing out a natural choke point on the edge of the square "Can you do it?" Tired blue eyes looked back at her, tear filled from the stinging wind.

"I can try" Liara nodded, peering further out from cover and examining the angle of fire "I do not know how stable that building is Shepard, I might not be able to control the direction it falls."

Shepard considered her options. They were close to being overrun already and she could hear the muffled voices and cried orders of Garrus and Vega just off to her right. They were running out of time.

She swore and put her finger to her comm. System. "This is Commander Shepard of the Alliance Navy broadcasting on all frequencies, we need an emergency extraction" Nothing but silence greeted her. "I say again, this is Commander Shepard, if there are any Alliance personnel in the vicinity, we need immediate extraction" More silence. With a sigh she looked back at Liara "We are out of time, we have to slow the influx of ground troops, do it."

"Alright" Liara holstered her weapon. She looked down at her hands for a moment and then back up at Shepard. There was an almost inhuman silence as her power built, the air coming to life around her.

Shepard slid out from cover and pushed forwards into the driving rain. She tilted her head, listening for the tell tale crack of biotic energy being released, a terrible sound, nerve-shredding to hear coming: worse when it stops. Shouldering her rifle, she let loose several rounds of rapid fire, enough to cover the asari as she stepped out and released a bright ball of destructive energy. Light flared on the stonework in front of them, as a crackle of noise burst across the street. The wall ahead of them rippled as the energy dispersed. A mighty thump came through the soles of her boots and then a crushing, numbing pulse of sound rolled down, dwarfing the percussive thump of the biotic blast.

Liara half fell, half dropped to the ground, and then rolled sideways. She was about to get up, but Shepard suddenly smothered her, covering her completely and pushing her down into the concrete as the blast echoed and re-echoed off nearby buildings and merged with a terrible, tearing noise. Chunks of masonry and huge shards of glass began to fall and shatter on the street and pavement. She could hear Shepard take a deep breath, feel her grunt as something glanced off her shoulder. For a moment dust choked her nostrils and she couldn't breathe.

"You all right?" Shepard was shouting.

"I think so" Liara twisted around so they were face to face. Over Shepard's shoulder and through a cloud of grey dust, she could see that the top half of the building she'd hit had completely disappeared. Most of it had fallen onto the street, crushing a handful of cannibals and entirely blocking off the Reapers main attack route under a ten meter high pile of dust clouded rubble.

"Good job" Shepard smiled down at her, blood coating her teeth. She was about to say more, when she suddenly stood up, her finger to her comm.

"Commander, this is Major Coats, Alliance Navy, prepare for extraction!"

Shepard blinked, glancing around. Tali was pulling Liara to her feet, shouting something at her. Vega was crouched next to Garrus, both of them covered in dirt and mud. EDI was knelling with her pistol drawn, blinking and looking oddly surprised.

"Major Coats, what's your ETA on that extraction?" Shepard flinched as a round of incoming enemy fire glanced over her head.

"Already here Commander, turn around."

Shepard spun around, wiping the grime from her face plate and stared straight into the face of the shuttle, its lights cutting white cones in the darkness.

"Holy fuck, is that what I think it is?" Vega laughed, pointing at the shuttle.

"Can't say I've ever really been glad to see the Alliance until now!" Garrus chimed in.

"Cut the chatter people!" Shepard dropped to one knee and shouldered her rifle again "Everyone on board now!"

A small team of Alliance marines stood at the open rear ramp, giving covering fire. With a grunt, Shepard dived into the back, threw herself into a seat and held out one hand to Liara.

"Hold on Commander" A rough looking man with an eloquent voice that didn't suit his face slammed the rear door shut as the shuttle soared off.

"Major Coats, I take it?" Shepard asked, unclipping her helmet and stowing it in the rack beneath her seat.

"Yes Ma'am," The major gave her a crooked smile "You all right?"

"I'm alive" Shepard stood up and sighed, raking dirt covered hands through already dirty hair. She glanced sideways and saw Liara's wide eyed look, seconds before she heard a painfully familiar voice.

"That you are, Commander."

Shepard let out a long breath and shut her eyes. "Anderson?" She mumbled the question.

"I knew you'd make it Shepard" He made an odd, sonorous murmur in his chest that Shepard realised was laughter. It had been so long since she'd heard him laugh she almost didn't recognize it.

She looked up at him, and despite the soldier in her telling her it was inappropriate, she moved forwards, grabbed him and hugged her arms around his broad back "Bloody hell Anderson." His forearms closed momentarily across her back. Enfolded, her face buried against his chest, for one long second she was blank to everything but the familiarity of her youth, the sound of his voice and the history that they shared.

He pushed her back from him, but his hands still gripped her shoulders "It's really good to see you Shepard, I knew you wouldn't let me down." His dark gaze examined her face and she struggled to maintain eye contact "You look like hell" His voice was quiet.

"I'm all right" Shepard nodded, unaware that an expression of pain touched her face and that Anderson had registered it and remained thoughtfully silent "How are we looking?" She stepped free of his grasp and turned to look at the major.

"Better now that the air defences are down and Hammer can finally land" Anderson said, removing his hat and scratching his fingers through his short hair.

"About time too" The major chimed in.

"Must have been touch and go down here" Shepard glanced at Liara. The asari had her head back against the shuttle wall, eyes closed.

"Yeah," Anderson sighed "It still is. What's left of the resistance is holding the forward operating base we're on route to, but the Reapers have got wind of it now. It's going to take everyone, if this plan is going to succeed."

"We'll get it done Anderson." Shepard wiped the back of her wrist across her forehead, the interior of the shuttle feeling suddenly close compared to harsh cold of the outside.

"The whole galaxy united," he shook his head slowly, as he pulled his cap back on "I can't believe it, shame it took the damn Reapers to bring us together."

"Actually," Liara's soft tones chimed in, but she didn't open her eyes "I would credit Shepard with that."

"Oh I do, don't worry about that," There was a glint of humour in his eyes as he looked down at the asari, a half smile on his lips "I know how much you didn't want to leave Shepard, but there isn't another person alive who could have accomplished what you have."

Shepard sighed heavily "We still have a long way to go yet."

Anderson opened his mouth to speak but was cut off by Major Coats "Admiral," he indicated the window on the side of the shuttle "We're about to land at the FOB alongside more members of Hammer" He paused "There is heavy contact on site right now" Now he glanced at Shepard "Be ready."

"Major," green eyes narrowed in his direction "You don't have to tell me to be ready."