Part 1, Chapter 13, Soldier:
"New target! Geth Colossus, two o'clock, range 1000!" Shepard shouted.
"On target!" Ash snapped back from the gunner's station as she laid the gun on the Colossus.
"Load sabot!"
Ash flipped a selector switch on the fire-control console. She never took her eyes off of the scope. The crosshairs remained fixed on the heavy Geth, now 900 meters out. "Up!" the fire-control computer reported ready. The anti-armor projectile was chambered and its ballistic properties loaded into the targeting system.
"Fire!"
"On the way!" Ash thumbed the firing studs. The M35 Mako Infantry Fighting Vehicle shuddered as the main gun fired. They drove on at full tilt.
Shepard watched the projectile streak out at well over 2 kilometers per second. Hit! The Colossus' kinetic barriers flashed wildly as the anti-armor round punched through and impacted the Geth. A satisfying secondary explosion ripped the enemy unit in half. "Target!" Shepard shouted. "Switch machine-gun. Geth in the open, one o'clock, fire at will!" The interior of the Mako thrummed in time with the firing machine-gun. Ash laid it on thick. "Driver, come right, bearing one-one-oh!"
"One-one-oh," replied Lieutenant Alenko.
They motored on. In the distance Shepard could make out the Salarian encampment.
"Oh shit! Nine o'clock!" Ash shouted, the turret already traversing left. Shepard pressed her face to the vehicle-commander's scope and drew a sharp breath. A pair of Geth Colossus, impossibly close, opened fire.
This isn't right, "Ash! Fire at will!" It was too late. The first incoming shot splashed across the Mako's kinetic barrier, depleting it. The second slammed into the left rear quarter.
Time seemed to stretch. No! This isn't how it happened! Shepard became a detached observer to her own actions. The interior of the IFV, coated in offal, filled with smoke. "Everyone out!" Shepard shouted, not that it mattered. Shepard watched herself fire the explosive bolts on all the hatches, watched herself bail out of the vehicle-commander's copula, watched Ashley Williams dive out of the gunner's hatch. She watched flames shoot out of the driver's hatch and the crew hatch. No no no! She heard Lieutenant Alenko screaming from the driver's compartment. She looked down at her arm, watched herself flick a large hunk of blue flesh off of her elbow. Liara! No! This isn't how it happened!
"Skipper! We gotta go!" Ash grabbed her arm and tried to pull her away.
"I'm burning!" Alenko screamed from the driver's compartment.
No! No no no! Williams' throat exploded across Shepard's face. She tasted Ash's blood in her mouth. She watched the Gunnery Chief crumple to the ground. Commander Shepard turned and ran. She ran for all she was worth.
Admiral Shepard sprinted. Her arms and legs pumped wildly, her heart raced. Her pace quickened. She blazed past Liara and a human woman at nearly 9 meters per second, neither noticing nor slowing down.
She ran up the stone steps and into the main residence. She ran through the main foyer and up the central staircase. She ran into the master bathroom. She dove into the shower. Finally, Admiral Shepard collapsed onto the shower floor under a torrent of cold water. She shuddered violently. She bawled so loudly she didn't notice anyone enter the room.