It's been a while since my last update, I had a horrendous start to the year on the road and I can't write while I'm travelling so I can only apologise for that. For those still with me, thanks, you're all awesome and thank you for reading. To Planetar – Thanks, pretty sure I wouldn't have a fic without you ;)

Well this has been a journey. The story is all but complete now. I've written it, deleted it, written it again, edited it, deleted it and finally written it once more. It seemed no matter what I did, I wasn't happy with it, but now I am. I need to do some more editing of the final few chapters but it's all there.

Be warned, the new few chapters are pretty dark and a little vicious.


Tali looked down at the console and marvelled at the speed her hands were moving. There was nothing voluntary about it, smooth fingers flying over controls and punching keys as she desperately tried to assist EDI to get the missiles online. A sharp concussion made her duck momentarily and a splash of blue tinged black blood covered half her visor. She opened her mouth to speak, but was silent. Nothing moved, her mouth, her throat; her voice was silenced within her.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"Tali?" A voice she recognized, smooth and calm, almost conversational, "You all right?" She opened her eyes and glanced sideways. Shepard was kneeling all her weight down on the mangled remains of the cannibal that had come terrifyingly close to grabbing her. "Keep going." She added, brilliant green eyes staring through her.

"Yes Shepard." Tali nodded and turned her attention back to the console. The stress of the concentration made the pit of her stomach hurt, but it did nothing to distract her from the lumbering form of the Reaper destroyer bearing down on them. It was so close that Tali was sure she could count the individual rivets on its leg. She paused and glanced backwards to where EDI was crouched behind her, pistol drawn, gaze unfocussed, "I've done what I can EDI."

"Thank you Tali. Commander." EDI shouted, "The destroyer is now in range, missiles are ready for launch."

"Roger that EDI." Shepard pointed her rifle skywards and turned to Tali, "Launch 'em!"

Tali nodded and hit the command. There was a terrifying moment of silence... and then nothing happened. Fear flooded the quarian's body. She took two steps back from the console, skidded on the wet ground, and stumbled backwards, caught at the last moment by EDI as the avatar rose and pointed up at the Reaper.

"Watch." She said.

Tali sucked in dry hot air, one half of her visor was still dark with blood and she felt incredibly vulnerable on the exposed road. The missiles released suddenly and she ducked into a crouch, her back pressed against the vehicle next to them. The missiles cleared the edge of the nearby building in a glittering arc. At one point she thought they'd started to detonate prematurely and her stomach dropped, but it was only the red light from the reapers firing chamber reflecting off their sleek bodies as they dipped and swung together.

She held her breath as the missiles swerved, turning once and then slipping between the rapidly closing doors of the firing chamber. There was a series of throbbing red pulses and then a dull thud as they detonated.

"It's going down!" Garrus shouted, his eyes wide with surprise.

Tali wrapped her hands around the back of her head and looked down at the floor, content to watch the patterns from the explosions play out across the mud. Her suit chimed over the noise and the shouts; lights winked inside her helmet, detailing minor damage. She peeked up at the Reaper.

"Kee'lah!" She whispered as she watched it crumple, suddenly defenceless, trailing smoke as it skidded and rumbled, shaking the ground as it exploded from within. The sky was full of flashes and her ears were pounded by the concussions, each pulse making her want to cry out. Then suddenly, with a final bellow, it was over and the Reaper lay silent and burning.

"Fucking yes!" Vega roared, lifting his rifle and shouting into the sky, "Ooh rah!"

"Good job." Shepard looked down at her and EDI, "Both of you." She stretched her hand out to Tali and pulled the young quarian to her feet. "You all right?" She pushed her face plate up and gave Tali the once over.

"I'm fine Shepard." Tali nodded, glancing around at the Reaper corpses scattered on the ground.

"You're sure?"

"I'm sure."

Shepard stared at her for a few more seconds and then nodded and made her way to where Liara was standing, bent over at the waist, hands braced on her knees.

"I feel sick." The asari mumbled, focussing on the floor, "I think I released too much energy." She blinked as a flask of water appeared in front of her vision.

"Drink." Shepard prompted.

"Do I have to?"

Shepard laughed gently, "I can order you to, if you'd rather?"

"No." Liara took the flask and sipped slowly as she straightened up. When she felt Shepard's hand move to the base of her neck she stopped and looked at the woman. Shepard seemed oblivious to the contact, her gaze focused off in the distance as she scanned the horizon "Shepard?"

"Hmm?" Green eyes pinned her as strong fingers continued to brush the sensitive skin, her thumb moving over the spot behind her ear. Given the situation, it was a rare and intimate gesture of comfort from Shepard, at once both tender and almost possessive.

"Thank you." Liara leant her head back and relaxed into the touch. The sky looked black and scorched, with smudges of smoke adorning the horizon for as far as the eye could see. The clouds were grey and angry, and patches of ash fell like soft rain. "One down." She sighed and closed her eyes.


The car hissed and leaked steam. Behind them, beyond the shells of the ruined houses and offices, mists rose perpetually from the warm waters of a broken water supply line, climbing and re-climbing the frost-grey planes of a lifeless sky. Buildings behind them wavered on the boundary of visibility and the sound of heavy weapon fire rattled like drumfire around them.

Shepard rocked on her feet and glanced down at the quietly hissing APC. Strands of steam leaked from beneath it and were torn away on the curling wind. A light was on in the rear compartment, and through the open door she could see Tali and EDI peering at a display screen. Liara and Vega were sat on a couple of boulders at the side of the road about fifty meters away. The asari was talking in hushed tones and carefully bandaging the human's hand.

Garrus was walking towards her, his rifle slung on his back. When he pulled level, his breathing was laboured and Shepard could see that blood had begun to seep over the top of his boot.

"Anderson is on his way," Garrus nodded and leant against the car next to Shepard, his mandibles flaring as he shifted. "That's an impressive sight," he jerked his head in the direction of the smouldering ruin of the destroyed Reaper.

Shepard nodded slowly and looked up into the dark, deep-set eyes of the turian. "It is," She sighed. "You need to get that leg treated."

"It's not that bad." He shrugged, but the blood loss was making him dizzy.

"Liar." Shepard muttered, running her hand over the panelled side of the car. The wind blew into her face, strong and cool and damp. "You'll be in the second squad with Tali and EDI, the reserve behind Anderson's squad and mine. Liara and Vega will be with me." She heard the turian sigh as he looked down at his leg. A second later she heard the bang as his fist impacted the car.

"I should be with you Shepard!" He looked at her.

"I'm not debating that Garrus." Shepard shrugged, "But you're not effective with an injury on that scale," she held his gaze for a moment and then pinched the bridge of her nose, "Shit big guy, I'm sorry."

"No Shepard, I understand, I'd do the same."

"Would you?"

"Yes." He looked disappointed, "You need the people with the best chance of making the beam, and right now," he closed his eyes momentarily, "That's not me. It feels wrong though." He shrugged. "It's always felt like this has been our fight, together."

"It is." Shepard glanced up at the rising sun, a wide stain of red barely at the horizons edge. "Just be careful, all right, no being a hero out there."

"Me?" He snorted. "Not a chance."

Shepard was about to say more when the rumbling of Anderson's APC drew her attention. A small squad of marines piled out and approached her; all with questions, needing updates and direction, and the time was ticking away to nothing.

"Good to see you again Shepard." Anderson murmured as he pulled alongside her, "How's the team?"

"Tired." Shepard replied. "Hurting."

"Yeah." Anderson grunted, "Can't believe you brought that thing down." He jerked his head towards the smouldering ruin of the Reaper.

"Small fry."

"Ha!" Anderson shook his head. "You've been at this far too long Shepard." For a moment both of them stood there, gazing at the long, ruined road ahead of them as the marines reordered their kit and got ready for the final assault. A bolt of blue light shot across the skyline in front of them.

"Even the weather's against us." Shepard reached up and pulled her face plate down as the first flakes of white dusted across her vision and she raised her head to look up. Above, in a dark sky, white floated down.

"We knew it was never going to be easy." Anderson replied.

"True enough." She looked at him. "I'm not dragging this out Anderson, we go now, meet up with the rest of Hammer and charge to the beam. No speeches, no more time to prepare. We go now."

He nodded slowly, his expression severe, "They're all yours, Commander."

"You ready old man?"

"I think so, you?"

"As I can be." Shepard checked her weapons and turned around. The crowd of marines were gathered, the familiar faces of her crew mixed amongst them. "This is it now." she raised her voice as she looked at them. "This is what we do, this is what we're here for." she paused, "Let them throw themselves at us, in a few minutes we'll be barrelling down on that beam and we'll give them the biggest shock of their existence. The last shock." She nodded slowly. "Gear up. Liara, Vega, on me."


The sound of gunfire was all they could hear. An explosion shook the APC as it crawled forward, jarring her teeth. It rattled and bounced along an incline, shaking her and everyone in it.

"Steady, boss!" Vega shouted from the open side door. He was angled out, looking over the chaos, picking off husks and cannibals before they could reach the ground troops just behind them.

"Yeah, yeah." Shepard muttered, as she jerked the steering left, cursing as a smoky trail drifted up from the front. They appeared to be crawling over what looked like the remains of some kind of metal reinforced wall and it was punishing the already battered APC. "Fuck!" She hit the steering wheel. "We aren't moving fast enough."

"We wouldn't be any faster on foot Shepard." Liara added from the seat next to her.

Shepard just grunted as a ripple shook the vehicle and vibrated through the metal. There was a dull thump and suddenly the APC in front of them was obscured in a dark blossoming cloud. There was a flash of light off to the left and then shrapnel and spraying wreckage hailed down on them. She caught a brief glimpse of the front APC's shadow twisting in the air and the fleeting silhouette of a Reaper in the distance as it fired again. The vehicle whipped and heaved around her, shaking her like a dice in a cup.

"Shepard!" Liara's warning came too late.

Shepard gripped the wheel hard as the ground next to them exploded and they were hurled up by an invisible wave, rolling and spinning. She counted they'd rolled at least six times and had to fight the urge to tense up, allowing herself to go limp. She felt weightless for a moment, then slammed forward, taking the impact on her chest. There was a screech of buckling, shearing metal and then nothing.

"Kee'lah!" Tali put both hands to her face as she watched the APC spin and jerk before impacting the ground and coming to a stop. The massive vehicle hung awkwardly upside down, its front caught on a lump of rock, engine roaring distantly, wheels still turning.

"Shepard!" Garrus jerked the wheel, pulling towards the crash site.

"No, no, no." Tali muttered as they approached.

She watched in muted horror as the driver's side door opened part way, then shut as gravity took over. Again the door was thrown open, then a black suited figure squeezed and wriggled free, half jumping, half falling to the ground.

"Shepard." Tali shouted as their vehicle pulled to a stop and Shepard staggered towards them.

"Liara?" The Commander swayed, as she pulled her helmet free, tossing it onto the ground, unmindful of the enemy fire that ricocheted around them. She coughed blood, pushed her hand to her chest and stumbled around the other side of the APC. "Shit."

"What is it?" Garrus jogged to her side, sliding in the mud and uneven ground. He froze when he saw the asari and closed his eyes. The passenger side door panel had been ripped off in the blast and she'd been thrown from the APC, ending up lay on her back, one leg trapped from the knee down by the full weight of the upturned truck.

"Liara?" Shepard skidded to her knees next to her, taking her hand and leaning over her, "Can you hear me?" The asari's breathing was laboured and there was blood on her lips.

Liara nodded slowly, tried to speak but could only manage a blood filled cough.

"Don't talk." Shepard looked at Garrus and the turian looked away.

A vast burst of blue-white light leapt across the sky, making an inverted landscape of the ragged clouds under surface and revealing through the sleet, the extent of the destruction around them. Shepard looked at her omni tool. There would be no heavy lift, no rescue, they were a kilometre from the beam and right in the line of the advancing Reaper ground troops.

A series of explosions shook the ground and Shepard shifted, crouching over the asari to protect her from the falling debris.

"Look at me." Shepard said, her voice sharp. "Look!" This time she took the asari by the chin and forced her to look directly up at her, "Stay calm, I'll get you out of here." Blue fingers wrapped around hers and she squeezed them tight.

"Shepard!" Vega's voice cut through the sound of enemy fire as he came stumbling toward them. There was blood on the front of his hard suit, a portion of it had been torn away to reveal a terrible open wound on his side that was steadily leaking blood. EDI jogged over to him and wrenched his arm across her shoulder, supporting most of his weight. "What the fuck happened, I got thrown I didn't…" His voice trailed off as he took in the scene, his body seeming to sag in a defeated motion.

Shepard ignored him and put her finger to her comm. "Joker, I need an emergency evac now!"

"What?" His voice was terse "Commander, I'm reading massive ground and air borne troops in your location, I couldn't get a shuttle down there, let alone the Normandy."

Shepard closed her eyes for a minute. "Joker, Garrus and Vega are wounded," she paused, "and Liara is down." She let her words sink in. "I need an evac!"

"Commander.."

"That's a fucking order Lieutenant!" She snapped, paralysed for the first time in her life by the cold realisation of her own, wretched helplessness.

"Yes ma'am." Silence. "Be ready"

Liara dragged the back of her hand across her face and pulled Shepard close. She tried to wriggle free but she was held tight by the mud and the motion only made her leg hurt more. There was a terrible pain in her face and neck and she lay back, floppy as a rag.

"Go Shepard," she muttered, her voice barely a whisper. Light pulsed above her as she lay there picking out each lancing drop of rain in the darkness.

Shepard let go of her hand and stood up, Garrus shouted something at her but it was drowned out by a fusillade of sharp concussions, the noise rolling over them as though the very air was being torn apart.

"Shepard, you need to go." Garrus repeated. "Make the run to the beam, we can deal with this."

"No." Shepard shook her head, her ears were ringing. She couldn't bring herself to look down at Liara. Glancing at the ruptured carcass of the APC she could make out the fire inside it was spreading; thin blue and yellow flames were starting to show in the hole where the main side door had been. Noise crackled nearby; sparks flicked out of the fire inside, rising and fading in the damp air. She could feel the detonations of enemy fire through the ground, transmitted and amplified by the body of the wrecked vehicle.

"Shepard." Vega spoke, his voice rough. "Come on, we need to go."

"Fuck you." Shepard jabbed her finger at him. "Fuck all of you." She swore and took an angry step towards the big marine but then caught herself, instead focusing her attention on the source of her rage. Taking a massive breath she lunged forward, driving her weight and strength into the side of the APC. It didn't move. Solid. Futile. Unforgiving.

"Shepard!" Liara managed a shout, her pain and frustration bleeding through as she tried to pull herself free. "You can't move that, we'll have to wait for the Normandy."

Tali tried to calm her, tried to stop her moving, but the asari refused to lay still.

"Don't," Shepard growled, peering at her over her shoulder, rain slicking her hair to her face, "Tell me what I can't do, not now!"

She gripped the twisted metal of the APC with her fingers and shoved. Moments later she felt the impact as the rest of her squad joined her, throwing their weight together with hers. It creaked, shifted a little, but it wasn't enough. Shepard felt the strain start to weaken her and she closed her eyes, pushing forwards with muscles that cramped and shook even as she swore at them. "Move," she growled. It was too heavy. She could hear Vega grunting with pain and effort, Tali breathing heavily, and the sound of her own boots slipping in the mud. "Move!" Her voice cracked on the edge of desperation. Pointless.

Shepard barely heard the sound of someone shouting her name and the rapid thump of heavy boots behind her, until the weight of the APC was suddenly lifted off her and she stumbled forwards, falling to her hands and knees in the cold mud. She half turned and looked up to see the rain blocked by a dark, towering figure standing over her, shoulder braced on the side of the vehicle, legs taking the weight of it.

"Wrex?" She mumbled the words as a glint of hope ignited.

"Come on Shepard, put your back into it." He grinned as another krogan powered in next to them, lending his considerable strength and bulk to the effort. "Thought you'd have had this moved by now." He was smiling, but the effort was obvious.

Shepard normally would have grinned back, but she couldn't. She felt hollow and empty. Even as she regained her footing and shoved against the truck, she was shunting her fear into the far corners of her mind. Methodically sealing her emotions away and disconnecting herself from everything but the task at hand. The only thing she allowed to surface was her rage.

With a tremendous grunt of effort she released all her limited biotic energy, knowing she wouldn't have anything left for the fight ahead but not caring. There was a sucking sound, then a thud and finally the APC rocked forwards, tilting off its axis and rolling away.

Shepard all but crawled backwards towards Liara. She had to concentrate on forcing the air in and out of her chest, on keeping her focus. It was all coming apart.

"Shepard…" Liara mumbled, looking down at her crushed leg, her face falling in shock.

"Don't look," Shepard said, crouching down next to her. "You'll be all right, do you hear me? The Normandy will be here in minutes."

Shepard tried hard not to look at the crushed plates of armour that covered the asari's leg, tried to ignore the fact that there was so much blood that the mud had turned blue. She simply coughed and tried to catch her breath, couldn't think, couldn't feel. She would have to leave Liara behind, the one thing she promised she wouldn't do. She shifted and hooked one arm around the asari's back, hoisting her cautiously free from the sucking mud and supporting her weight.

"Urgh." Liara bit her lip hard enough to draw blood as she staggered upright, her leg hanging all but useless. "Shepard, I'm sorry."

"Don't." Shepard shook her head. "You've got nothing to be sorry for. Garrus," Shepard looked at him "Take her." Now she looked at Vega. "And you, look after her."

"Fuck you." Vega replied sternly. "I'm making the run to the beam."

"What, with your insides hanging out?" She held his gaze until he looked away, his face was deathly pale, forehead beaded with sweat.

"EDI, make sure he gets on the Normandy." Shepard pointed at her.

"But Commander…" She protested, but Vega was clinging on to consciousness, his free arm wrapped around his middle.

"I've got her." Garrus said, easing the asari's arm over his own shoulder and nodding his thanks at Tali, as she supported her on the other side.

"Normandy inbound." Tali pointed up at the sky, as the outline of the ship appeared.

The sound of Wrex opening fire drew Shepard's attention and she gazed up through the rain. There was a line of cannibals cresting the ridge just ahead of them. Lit by firelight from the burning APC, it made for an ominous visage. Shotgun fire cracked in the night as the krogans pushed forwards. It was time for her to go.

"Now go." Garrus shouted. "Or I'll shoot you myself." He had to raise his voice over the sound of more gunfire.

"You won't forgive me, will you?" Shepard said as she looked at Liara, "For leaving."

"That's not true." Liara shook her head, blue eyes tormented, "I will, but I won't forgive you for dying."

"Shepard," Tali interrupted "I can still make the beam…"

"No." Shepard cut her off, her eyes drifting back to the asari, "I can make this now, with Wrex, there's no point in all of us…." Dying was the word she wanted to say, but she stopped herself.

"Give 'em hell, Commander." Garrus said quietly.

Shepard wanted to say good bye, or good luck, or anything, but instead she just leant forward and kissed Liara gently on the lips, and then turned around, running from the wash of the approaching ship and jogging past the burning hull of the wrecked APC. Small arms fire distracted her, sending flaming wreckage soaring into the rain filled sky.

At the top of the ridge, in the flame-lit distance between the ruined buildings and squalls of rain, she could see the lumbering shapes of the Reaper destroyers, and the tiny scurrying figures beneath them. She glanced back as the Normandy swooped upwards towards the clouds, the back ramp slamming closed as it dodged missiles and deadly Reaper fire.

"Who'd thought it would come down to us, eh Shepard?" Wrex rumbled next to her, handing her a shotgun. "Might need this, looks like it's gonna get close."

Shepard took the shotgun and reloaded it. She felt strange now, without her squad behind her, without Liara next to her. It was as if she couldn't be who or what she had been. The person stood here wasn't the same person who'd landed on Earth just hours ago, and something that was her, lay bleeding on the Normandy. She stepped forward, skidding on the loose ground and was about to say something to Wrex when her comm. cut in, fragmented and jumbled.

"Shepard?" Anderson sounded in her ear. "Shepard I'm at the beam, where are you?"

"Less than one click away and inbound." She flinched as a plasma round shot past her.

"Roger that." He paused. "We have a sovereign class incoming."

"Take the beam." She replied. "I'll be there."

"You better."


So this is real pain. Liara groaned and tried to speak, but her mouth wouldn't open. Everything was bright and blinding, blurry, sound and light digging into her skull. She tried to raise her head, but pain stabbed through her neck and her stomach heaved.

"Liara, stay down." A soft voice and a reassuring hand on her chest.

"Doctor?" she mumbled, her voice thick and foreign.

"That's right, do you know where you are?"

She was on the Normandy, what had happened? Painful lights above and a painful bed below. She turned her head and saw Vega on the bed next to her. His eyes were closed, an oxygen mask on his face and his torso obscured by blood soaked bandages.

"Normandy." She croaked feebly. There had been explosions, she remembered that, explosions and an accident, a blinding light and then a crunch followed by nothing but pain. A face swam into view above. Tali. Liara grabbed at her wildly and the quarian caught her hand in hers, squeezing tight.

"Calm down." Tali cooed. "Stay still."

"Hurts." Liara clutched the side of the bed with her free hand, trying to do something, anything to alleviate the incredible pain in her leg.

"I'm sorry." Doctor Chakwas said absently, "I have to remove this armour plating from your leg, I can't give you any more pain relief." She paused, her face appearing above her for a moment. There was a smear of blue blood on her chin. "I should sedate you…."

"No!" Liara shouted, her heart hammering, "I want to be awake." She took a big, gasping breath. "Shepard?" She directed the question at Tali.

"No news yet." She shook her head, hands still fisted around Liara's. "Liara, please, let doctor Chakwas sedate you."

"No." She tried to shake her head but the pain almost made her pass out. "Not yet, not until..." She paused, unable to voice what she was thinking. Until I know if Shepard is dead or alive.

"It's ok." Tali replied, glancing down at where the doctor worked alongside an assistant. She'd never handled the sight of blood well and she swallowed, turning away. "Just try and stay still."

Liara lay back. Her fingers were numb, freezing and trembling, but her leg was a never-ending source of burning fire. The pain was bad enough, but worse was the over whelming sense of shame, guilt and failure that crushed down on her. She should have been with Shepard until the end. She bunched her free hand into a fist and closed her eyes. So this is real failure.


"Up!" Wrex grabbed her by the shoulder of her hard suit and bodily lifted her back onto her feet.

The wind blew cold. "Damn." She winced and picked open the clasp of her left glove, taking the end of it and tearing it off before dragging her broken ring finger back into place.

"Clear out those ground troops!" Wrex shouted next to her, pointing his stubby finger in the direction of a merging group of husks massing onto their position.

"Pleasure." The other krogan rumbled, his lips pulling back in a snarl, as he shoulder charged into the crowd.

The sound of weapons fire cut the air as the remains of the Hammer ground forces amassed around them. She heard orders roared and voices raised as mixed troops scrambled forwards.

"Fucking hell." Shepard said as she stood still, her rifle slack in her hands. "It's the end of the world and this is all we have." She shook her head and looked around. "Ground soldiers against destroyers."

Wrex laughed and hit her on the shoulder hard. "Not just any ground soldiers though." He shoved her forwards and she jogged ahead, vaulting over the remains of a shuttle and landing with a thud amongst a squadron of troops.

A bone-shaking explosion behind her rocked her forwards and she splayed out into the mud. A massive fragment of shrapnel impacted the ground leaving a giant furrow and a spray of soil in its wake. There was a hand on her chest, pushing her back up.

"Commander Shepard?" A young looking marine squinted up at her, his face plate misted and cracked in the corner. "Holy shit!" He shouted to the rest of the squad. "Commander Shepard!" voices raised, a crowd gathered.

"We're it." She yelled, prising mud out of her mouth with her fingers "You-" She grabbed the young marine by the shoulder. "Get your squad formed, we're the final assault!"

"Yes Ma'am!" he stuttered, turning back to his fellow soldiers who were sheltered in the shadow of the wrecked shuttle.

Shepard ducked her head out from cover and sighted the beam. Less than five hundred meters away. She pulled up her omni tool, studying it for a moment. "All units," she put her finger to her ear piece as she spoke, "Orders: Hammer zero, extract, Hammer three and five move to grid 013451 to give covering fire. Hammer two provide rear security and secure the LZ for extraction. Hammer four is on me and primed for the beam." A squelch of static and a round of acknowledgement from the squadron commanders rang back to her. She looked at the young marine again. "You heard me!"

"Yes Ma'am!" He nodded and gave the order to his squad to prepare.

"What's the plan then?" Wrex growled, as he crouched next to her.

Shepard could hear voices raised among the gunfire, orders being shouted, and the bark of commanders as they hauled their men back up the mud-slippery bank towards the LZ. Down at the foot of slope in front of them, lit by the first hints of a rain pale sunrise, the beam was exposed.

"We run." She didn't look at him, she was too busy picking off approaching cannibals with swift, perfectly aimed shots.

"Better run quickly then." He jerked his head towards the skyline as the enormous outline of a Reaper destroyer cast them in shadow.

"Shit." Shepard cursed, they'd been too late and they were going to end this charging head first into a Reapers firing line. She shifted her weight sideways and leaned forwards, watching the great machine land. There was a huge roaring bellow, a screaming noise and then the sky lit up as a beam of red exploded through the air, ploughing into the nearby retreating soldier's bodies. She lifted her head and looked at the great swathe that had been cut into the battle line, earth scorched, bodies destroyed; a ploughed mass of dark red blood stained the ground.

500 meters.

"Now!" Shepard was on her feet with the rest of them, piling out of the destroyed shuttle shell and shielding her face as the beam fired again. A great curving streak of fire blasted up the slope past her left hand side and she wasn't sure if the scream was her or someone else. The mud around her steamed and hissed under the jet of bright red light. When it cut off suddenly she staggered forwards, black streaks blotched her vision: retinal after images. Through them, Shepard glimpsed the last few remaining troops sprinting towards the beam around her.

"Keep going!" Wrex yelled, as he struggled to keep up with her. He'd been closer to the Reaper fire than she had and his face was badly burnt, his hard suit melted onto one side of his body.

Shepard jogged on. The area was oddly desolate, the Reaper beam having destroyed a fair portion of its own ground troops alongside theirs.

She registered the vast amount of dead on the floor, and some who weren't quite there. A man lay screaming with his leg bloody, the bone of his thigh sticking up white through a crack in his hard suit. Just past him there was a turian crawling along the ground, the back of his suit bloodied from neck to waist. They were troops she might have known, in uniforms she recognized but she felt nothing, not even numb. She felt only the intensity, the necessity, of getting everyone else through this as whole as she could.

400 meters.

They seemed to be in a sort of clearing and judging by the burnt remains of heavy-looking trees around them, it had previously been some sort of park or reserve. A few of the remaining Hammer troops were using their rifles to cut through the fallen moss covered tree trunks that were hampering their advance.

"Damn, this is hard going!" One of the marines shouted into the comm.

"Wrex!" She shouted, waiting for the big krogan to pull level with her. "You're in command now!"

He thumbed his visor up, giving her a sight of red rimmed reptilian eyes that were fiercely keen.

"What?" he growled.

"Get me to the beam. If we fail to launch the Crucible." She ducked as a plasma round ricocheted off her shield. "You need to wipe as many of these bastards out as you can."

"All right." He nodded in the direction of the beam.

"Now let's get down there and off this fucking slope!" She shouted.

Before she'd even started moving, Wrex was shouting orders and directing the alliance. Squinting into the wind she shouldered her rifle, removed her pistol and jogged forwards, cautiously covering the last expanse of land between her and the beam.

Something slammed into her left foot, on the base of her boot and her right leg was kicked out as it burned with pain. She felt hot and heavy in her suit, the heat from the Reaper's fire having seeped through. She got up and limped forwards, picking off husks as they staggered towards her. Luckily the remains of the Hammer squad behind her were putting down enough covering fire that she hardly had to release any rounds.

300 meters.

Her breath drifted white from her mouth. She checked positions; Wrex on her left now at the head of squad; a small handful of troops to her right. She narrowed her eyes, staring straight ahead.

"Nearly there!" She shouted as they pushed forward.

"Incoming!" Wrex shouted.

And suddenly they were overran. A massive influx of husks and cannibals surrounded them almost too close for weapon fire.

We've lost it, we're too bogged down and it's over.

She growled, drawing her omni blade and punching forward, ramming the savage edge up into the face of the nearest cannibal. The hard impact jolted back through her shoulder muscles as a gout of thick black liquid poured over her forearm.

"Press on!" She shouted. "Keep moving!"

200 meters.

Someone behind slammed into her, she pushed back for a second but the weight of them pushed her forwards. She staggered upright and on, realising she was stepping on bodies, treading on shattered armour; her ankle twisting as her foot skidded between human and Reaper corpses, in blood and fluid. She elbowed for space and ploughed forward, jamming her pistol into the chest of a husk and firing through into the face of cannibal.

Sweat chilled her exposed face as two men slammed in beside her. "Keep going!" someone shouted. "Don't lose momentum!"

A marine fell against her with her helmet ripped off and a husk gripping her brown hair, face streaming blood. Shepard punched her left hand into the husk's face, felt the bone of its eye socket give way as it released the marine and fell beneath them, trampled into the dirt and mud.

For a second every muscle in her body knotted and she stopped dead in the din of the fighting, bent half double. Her thigh muscles ached, her shoulders jabbed with pain. Blood ran down into one eye and from a gouge on the inside of her elbow. The thick armour plating on her left arm had been torn away.

"Move!" Wrex shoved her hard.

100 meters.

The momentum flung her forward and she sprinted well ahead of the squad, but then stopped. The marines behind her weren't fighting, they were too awed or too terrified. The Reapers' beam was priming again, and it would impact them directly. She opened her mouth to shout, to tell them to retreat, but the glare of the Reapers' beam cut her off as it fired. So close. There was a split second of dazzling light and a terrifying heat. Bodies fell down; heat scorched her face and she threw her arms up. Her skin stung; her eyes ran. Staggering, she blinked her vision clear. The Reapers' firing chamber was swinging inexorably around.

50 meters.

On the earth behind her, a swathe of soldiers lay prone or supine, arms flung up over their faces, hard suits charred black and melted.

10 meters.

Her arms were too heavy to lift, her legs too heavy to move, mouth full of blood. The Reaper had missed her. She edged towards the beam.

2 meters.

The great machine was directly above her now and seemingly looking straight towards her. Shepard wondered if machinery could understand failure. She took one long look back across the slope behind her, one last glance at the dead and dying and realised she couldn't see Wrex. They'd gotten her to the beam at the cost of their lives and now it all fell to her.

She was about to dip her fingertips into the light when a motion caught her eye. Marauder. She twisted to raise her pistol and swore, but her voice came out on a gurgling whisper of red mist. Shepard thought she must have tripped on something because suddenly she was jerking backwards and toppling ungracefully into the centre of the beam.