Mass Effect : Shepard's Letters
Chapter Eleven– Two Towers and the Mad Knights: The Time and Hour of Pulling Out Some Crazy Shit.
The hideous form of a Harvester had sunk its talons to their escape Tomkah just some feet beneath them, it shrieked as it tried to blast the Vehicle's armor and tried viciously to rip out the hatch to reach its occupants. Other two-winged monsters were trying the same on other tanks. They got just too damn exposed up there. If just..."WHAT THE FUCK?! STOP IT! IT WILL..." Too late to hold a Krogan's trigger finger from his gun. They were too far for a shotgun to do any real harm that not to themselves...as his goddamn pilot had just called the Minion attention...
"Oops!"
"Cover, you Goddamn moron! Not back inside! Move!"
The Monster flapped its great wings and clambered up its former prey trying to reach them. Its twin side-head cannons charges made them rush for cover climbing the Tonkah, putting the heavy armored tank between them and the beast's fire. They heard the most ominous cracking sounds. The other tank was supposed to leave so was less attached to the skyscraper, the heavy beast struggling to reach them had released the Tomkah's grips, the vehicle and its crew falling to their ends hundreds of levels down.
Zaeed needed not to leave cover and look to picture the scene in his mind, their only means of escape meeting violently the streets below; and as the scraping and flapping were getting closer, he did not need to watch either to know the Harvester kept coming and they were next... If they got back inside the tank they would be trapped, his eye searched frantically for a way out...
"Follow me, Soldier! NOW!"
The reinforced window went down under both guns' fire and their boots as they ran into the building. And just in time as the Harvester's ugly head had just risen and lunged behind them firing its alternate cannons. They jumped and dodged using any furnishing as cover until they managed enough distance and walls behind them.
They kept running until finding emergency stairs that went miles down. A big hand went and heavily held back Zaeed's shoulder.
"WHAT NOW?"
"Squad Leader"- The big lizard head nodded downstairs-"The bomb!"
"Damn!"- The pilot was right, the bomb was set up! No way besides falling or flying they would reach the ground before the whole complex was destroyed!
Other problems came at hand soon enough. The sound of crashing windows and moaning from the stores underneath meant they weren't alone in the building...
"Husks!" The pilot leaned over the banister and started pouring shotgun fire to hold back the minions. However Zaeed knew the shattering glass sound meant they were entering through the windows also so they would be surrounded...They had no time for this shit...
The old Merc stared Jessie in his arms and realized for his surprise he was trying to guess what Shepard would do if he was also stuck in this mess. "Always another way...Goddamn crazy son-of-a..." He grips the Avenger once more, feeling not like giving up the fight yet and collapses it to his back
"Human! Some help would be useful right now!"- The Krogan shouted trying to change clips as fast as the minions kept coming.
"Some help? Here you got!" The Krogan had just the time to jump back cursing as frag granades flew over his head and a burst of fire came from down the stairs.
A hand was offered and the Krogan took it to get to his feet. Zaeed gripped his arm and said through his teeth.
"What's your name, kid?"
("Kid?!) "Urdnot Bruktkeahd" He blinked as a M-451 Firestorm appeared in the human's other hand.
"Well...Butthead, wanna know how "Sole Survivor Massani" has kept alive all those goddamn fucking years?!"
"Errr..."
"NOT DYING! COME ON!" And the first wave of Minions to show their heads up the stairs were saluted by incinerating heat.
"We can't go down!"-"Tonto" said, giving shotgun cover at Massani's back.
"So we go up! Run!"
They dashed upstairs as remaking their first course over the floor just above. The Krogan saw they were sprinting with Husks at their heels straight against the shattered windows and the Harvester still struggling against the abandoned Tomkah.
"Hell you damn crazy human! What are you doing?!"
"It's "Goddamn Crazy Human, Sir!" for you, Butthead!" And went through the window and took a grip against the Harvester's neck. "Butthead" was too fast and too astonished to slow down, he fell straight against the beast shoulders, grabbing hold as he could at the base of the wings while the monster jumped in surprise and pain, shooting its cannons at the running Husks that popped from the broken window.
And just soon enough. The deafening sound of explosions and its repercussions over the giant structures of the New Canary Wharf almost knocked them over as the Harvester flapped his wings and made it to open air.
The Beast tried to turn its ugly head to reach those unwanted riders and got a flamethrower blast for its troubles.
"Not kissing on first date, you goddamn flying leach!"
A great cloud of dust was rising fast. The cables started making vibrating cello sounds as they suddenly were tensed by the slowly descending buildings. Other explosions could be seen at the Destroyer's base as the other teams were mining its foothold. The Reaper was got quite by surprise by such pull and started to incline back slowly in fall.
"TIMBER, MOTHERFUCKER!"
"YOU ARE COMPLETELY MAD, HUMAN!" Butthead managed to shout laughing keeping his ungainly hold over the beast's back.
"And you are a Goddamn alive Krogan with a shotgun! Use it on the wings! Make some holes to force it down! I can't keep up with the Firestorm's fire much longer!"
"YES, CRAZY HUMAN, SIR!"
The Harvester was so persuaded under fire and heavy shots down into the thick cloud of dust. Zaeed lost notion of speed and high as he got blind as fuck. He was pulled violently and suddenly lost the air from his lungs with a strong impact. The Merc was completely bewildered and suffocating when the air got clear enough for him to cough as hell and recover his breath. Blinking and tearing he saw his former ride as a crunched muddle of disgusting meat. Well... it was pretty disgusting before anyway.
"You pulled me out, kid?" He glanced at the big alien. He was quite beaten also, maybe broken ribs and shoulder, but nothing big for his species.
"I'm a Krogan, Sir." The Pilot was looking around holding the shotgun with his good hand, and turned to the Human Merc. "Had worse sandstorms crossing my own backyard."
Zaeed managed to laugh under all that dust and offered a hand: "Call me Zaeed, son."
"Butthead" is ok, for you."-and followed the gesture with a strong shake.
Zaeed glanced around and realized where was the place the newly christened Butthead had found to shield them from the dust and have cover.
"Butthead...See if you can reach the squad, if they've made it. Take them out of here. We've beaten them as hard as we've taken. Urdnot will be proud, take them alive for the Clan."
"But, Zaeed, Sir, you not coming?"
"Go ahead, I guess I know this place, I'll follow soon. It's an order, son."
"As you order, Battlemaster."- None of them realized the use of the honorific.
As Butthead disappeared into the fog and dust, Zaeed entered with religious silence through the beaten door beneath the street level.
A goddamn pub.
There should be some generator at that old place. Some emergency lights were still on. He releases Jessie and sets her over one of the stools next to the counter. He went over it and found a fridge. It opens. Guinness.
"I'll be buggered, some goddamn civilization, at last!..." He picked some and went back to the counter. She was waiting for him, as always.
A blue laced sleeve revealed a milky-skin arm. The silver bracelet that had cost half his paycheck. A delicate hand supporting a sweet smiling face. The same jade colored eyes, her tiny, freckle-spotted nose, and the tiny scar at one corner of her mouth...
Jessie stares his completely gray-dust covered figure up and down. She laughs and blows a golden hairlock that had fallen over her eye:
"Honey, you sure looks like crap..." She nods smiling at the bottles on his arms. "But you still know how to treat a girl properly, Hotshot..."
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Timely Annotations:
1-If want to go crazy, go like a boss
2-Again: "Lone Survivor: The History of Zaeed Massani, is a great read. I have a nice idea for a different development here, but it would change the general setting of the history, I'll keep it for later.