She came to the muffled sounds of gunfire. Her body ached, her head felt as if it had been split open. Shepard groaned as her hand moved to cradle her head. "Shepard!" came a voice in the distance. I'm back on the Cerberus base, she thought numbly. Was this a dream? This time she'd let someone else wake up to fight for Miranda, the Akuze survivor or the Butcher of Torfan would be excellent choices in her opinion. I'm probably called the Butcher of Bahak now. Why? Duty. Her brows knitted together as the answer eluded her, should that mean something to her?
"Shepard!" came the voice again, it sounded masculine, familiar. Not Miranda. Anderson. The fog in her mind began to lift, the gunfire growing louder with it, Earth! She slowly sat up. "Shepard!" Admiral Anderson yelled again, sprinting toward her and grabbing her arm, "Come on, get up," he said as he pulled her to her feet. "Here, take this."
She stared at the pistol in confusion, she didn't remember seeing him armed. She took the gun he had thrust at her, the daze leaving her at last. Focus, look for survivors.
"This is Admiral Anderson, report in anyone. Major Alenko, is that you?" She felt relieved as she turned over another body, this one was breathing but barely, the breaths were shallow and the eyes already had a glassy look to them. They wouldn't live much longer. Kaidan's alive. "What's your status?" She stood behind Anderson, the room laid in ruins; a whole section of wall had been blown away, the bodies that lay haphazardly among the rubble were still. How many people had died already? She lost 2,400 fighting Sovereign in the Citadel, not including civilian casualties - how many more would she lose against the entire Reaper fleet? "I can't reach the Normandy," he continued, "You'll have to contact them. We'll meet you at the landing zone. Anderson out."
The Reaper that had landed was making short work out of a group of skyscrapers, its lasers obliterating anything in its path. She and the Admiral regarded each other quietly, what was there left to say? The wind howled in her ears as they both jumped onto the platform outside the window, guns drawn.
"Come on Shepard, Kaidan's headed to the Normandy. They'll pick us up if we can get to the spaceport, let's move." Her heart beat loudly in her ears, they wouldn't be able to withstand something like this for long. How had the Protheans managed? Would humanity have its own Ilos? She lowered her weapon and ran after Anderson. In the distance she could see three other Reapers had landed. "Look out!" he yelled as a red beam of light cleaved the steel in front of them in two. "How do you stop something so powerful?" Obscene amounts of ammunition, her mind supplied unhelpfully. She wished she knew, Sovereign could have been considered tiny compared to the one off to her right.
The building shook as they jumped over the gap that the machine created. Anderson paused and looked around, "We'll have to go this way," he said as he started toward a ladder going up, the path they had meant to take sheared off, crumbled on the ground. A jet of some sort whizzed by with several drones following close behind, the roar of its engines made her body vibrate. "Major, you read me? I'm patching in Shepard."
Kaidan's voice came in, strained with the sounds of a firefight in the background, "We're almost to the Normandy. I've got Lieutenant Vega with me but we're taking heavy fire." The link dropped, it was better that he concentrate on the fight rather than talk to them over the comm.
"Husks!" Anderson warned.
Shepard quickly adjusted the settings of the pistol, her fingers flying over the interface to enter in a code that would charge the ammunition as incendiary rounds. Her first shot went wide. They should have let me visit the range more than once a month. The next shot connected, the husk screeched as it tried to put out the flames spreading from its back, sending it hurtling down the side of the building.
"I'm out of ammo!" he yelled as she shot the last one climbing up.
Her omni-tool beeped. Shit. "I'm out, too!"
"We'll have to do this the old fashioned way."
I am not touching those things, she thought as she quickly typed a code into the device strapped to her wrist. "Incinerate round deployed!" she shouted as the Admiral ducked down for cover. A small disk flew from it, the husks were ignited by fire and were blown off the balcony. She leaped over the railing onto the platform to make sure the area was clear and heard the tone of a Reaper firing a little too late. Oh shit, her eyes wide as she attempted to slide back under the railing, her arm caught the glass shrapnel where her head had been moments before.
She sprinted inside the building, she hoped she would find a medkit of some sort. Paydirt! Shepard ripped open a tube of medigel she found laying on the ground. It wouldn't take the glass out of her skin but it would numb the area just enough so she could use the arm.
"We've gotta find a way out of here,"Anderson called after her.
A husk tried to pry open the door as she entered the next room, its bony arms swiping at the air to reach her. She jerked her arm down in a motion that brought out her omni-blade. The fork-tipped blade arced ominously as she drove it into the creature's skull. "Through this way," she answered, stepping over the husk's body to push the doors open enough for Anderson to squeeze through. Thump. She looked back into the room. Thump, thump. Whatever it was was inside the ventilation shaft. Shepard let go of the the doors to investigate the noise. A boy peered at her from the whole in the wall, "Hey." she called quietly. The boy backed further into the shaft as she approached, "It's okay," she coaxed.
"Everyone's dying!" he cried, his face caked with dirt aside from the tear tracks that ran down the sides. He gasped as the ground rumbled again, retreating.
"Come here, I need to take you someplace safe." She held out her arm to him, "Take my hand." He'd die if she left him here, but where could she take him? It wasn't safe with her.
The boy shook his head, "You can't help me," he said stubbornly. She debated the merits of pulling the boy out with biotics but she wasn't an easy touch, she might very well kill him if she did.
"Shepard!" Anderson called from the next room, she turned to face the sound. When she looked back into the vent, the boy was gone. Good luck, kid.
She walked in to find the man picking through debris, exposing a catwalk that led out of the building. "This is a goddamned mess," he complained, flinging a short beam over the walkway. "Every minute those machines are here, thousands of innocent people die. I won't be responsible for it."
Will I be? "It's hard enough fighting a war, but it's worse knowing that no matter how hard you try, you can't save them all."
Anderson stepped carefully around some of the larger pieces of debris. "They hit so fast... I thought we had more time."
She followed behind him. He had defended her to the Council, and probably also to the committee. She hadn't been fair. If anyone understood her frustration about warnings going ignored, it was the Admiral. "We knew they were coming," she answered simply.
"And they still just cut through our defenses!" I told them those defenses were only good against a conventional enemy, it never sunk in. "We need to get to the Citadel, talk to the Council."
"The Citadel?" she asked. Speaking to the Council during a time of crisis was always a lesson in futility. The Council would do nothing to help humanity if they could help themselves first. She had saved them and when she asked for help with the Terminus colonies she had been sent away. Her Spectre status had been upheld but in name only, they would not help the colonists at all. She would not go there to kiss pompous alien asses when she should be fighting here. "The fight's here."
"It'll be everywhere soon enough. You said it yourself, the Reapers will destroy everything if we don't stop them. The Council has to help us."
No, they don't. "Are you sure about that?"
"No, but you're a Council Spectre, that has to count for something."
"You're a Counselor, that has to hold more weight than me being a Spectre"
"I'm not a Council member anymore, Shepard."
First Alenko and now this? "Who took your place?" She didn't need to ask but she held hope that he would not name the Ambassador.
"Udina." Fuck.
"Anderson, I know you never wanted to be a politician, that's why I nominated you. With the Reapers coming, we needed someone that they would respect. Udina might be the choice among human politicians but the Asari, Salarian, and Turian Counselors all come from military backgrounds, they might humor him from time to time but they wouldn't respect him. Any sort of military cooperation that he would try to broker would be ignored. I made the right choice in choosing you, Udina won't be able to get anything done."
He studied the woman beside him a moment, "I just couldn't stay there, it didn't feel like I was making a difference. I felt that I could do more good out here, fighting."
She understood, but she knew that his departure was a mistake. She wouldn't say any more on it, Udina wouldn't return the seat even if she explained the situation to him. She stumbled and teetered over the edge, Anderson steadied her. "Thanks, I owe you one."
"More than one," he answered. The walkway ended in a blown out room, someone had been fighting here recently, spent clips littered the ground. "See if you can find some ammo," he urged.
She was already on it, she loaded a partial clip into her pistol and pocketed another. If she had time, she would have gone through and loaded at least one to full capacity. As it was, she felt it was a bit like playing roulette, unsure of how many rounds lie in each one. They charged down the platform leading outside the building, she wondered how close they were now.
"Major Alenko, we're in sight of the spaceport. ETA three minutes."
"We made it to the Normandy. We're taking heavy fire. Oh god." The hair on Shepard's arms rose. "We gotta take down the dreadnaught, evasive maneuvers!" He ordered, the comm line briefly left open before going silent.
"Major? Kaidan! Dammit, they're in trouble."
Shepard could see a ship flying around one of the smaller reapers, but its size still dwarfed what she assumed was the Normandy. An explosion, she shielded her eyes from the bright light, the concussion wave of the attack flinging her back and dropping the floor from under her. She desperately tried to grab anything to slow her fall, one of her fingers latched onto a grate. Pain lanced up her arm, she didn't need to hear it break to know it had broken. She curled into herself a little from the shock of it and her slide turned into a tumble. Everything spun as she hit the ground hard, the older man running past her.
"Normandy we're going to reroute. Do you copy?" The reply was scrambled. "Normandy, come in!" He crouched down and looked over their cover, "Friendlies," he announced.
Shepard jumped down to where the two sat, one man looked to be pinned and the other was scanning him with an omni-tool. "You two alright?" she asked as she walked over.
The man with the omni-tool hissed, "Get down, they'll see you!"
She looked up to see several cannibals standing on a ledge. Charging forward, she drew her pistol and began to fire, catching two of the four in the head. The next took several shots before it went down and the last fell into the water on its own.
"Shepard, over here!" Anderson ordered. "What happened here?"
Omni-tool guy answered again, his buddy appeared to be in shock. "Our gunship got shot down, we barely made it."
"You got a radio? We're trying to contact our ship."
"No," he shook his head, "there's one in the gunship but it's going to be crawling with those things.
"Stay here, son, we'll get you out of this." He and Shepard lifted the scaffolding up enough to free the man. His voice came out in a hoarse shout as he was dragged from underneath the metal bars.
Cannibals swarmed from the gunship, some chewed on the bodies that Shepard had already felled. That can't be good.
"What the hell are those things?" Anderson asked, ducking down beside her. She wasn't sure, they looked a little like the scions she had first seen on Horizon but they didn't have the blue humpbacks. They also didn't throw shockwaves, which was a plus.
"Beats me," she answered before taking out one that had a severed arm hanging out of its mouth. The two of them pushed toward the gunship, slowly finishing off the few that had stayed on board. Shepard bent down to pick up a rifle that had been left behind, tucking the pistol into her waistband, cautiously scanning the area around them while Anderson adjusted the settings on the radio.
"Normandy, this is Anderson, do you read?"
Kaidan's voice came through clearly, "Admiral, what's your location?"
"By a downed gunship in the Harbor. I'm activating it's distress beacon." She drew a bead on a drone that sped past, they had gone unnoticed so far. "Send support, we've got wounded out here." Kaidan's response was scrambled.
I know your tricks, motherfuckers. Where are you? Shepard faced toward where they entered, they were too open here. They were going to have to leave the radio, the reaper forces were drawn to them.
"Major?" The link stuttered. "Dammit! I've lost the signal," Anderson said as he stood.
"Let's hope that beacon does its job," she replied. Because I don't think we'll be able to use our radios after this.
"And fast, we've got company!" A pod sailed over their heads and crashed in front of them. Cannibals spilled out en masse, They've found us, she thought as she brought the butt of the rifle against her shoulder. We're sitting ducks out here! Bullets tore through the first couple of monsters, but didn't set their bodies on fire. Shepard dove back undercover, adjusting the settings on the automatic rifle. Rookie mistake, she berated herself before popping off a few more rounds. "Hope they get here soon," Anderson said between shots.
"You and me both!" she panted before sprinting to another position to get a better shot at the gigantic husks. She took down another two cannibals before her omni-tool beeped. Shepard threw down the rifle and pulled out the pistol, firing maybe seven bullets before its clip was spent, too. "You got any ammo?" she yelled behind her.
"Negative!"
She punched a code into her omni-tool, she couldn't rely on it entirely because it would take too long to recharge. "Incinerate, out!" It took out another three, where are they? Taking a deep breath to calm her nerves, she reasoned with herself. You don't know when they're going to arrive. You either use your biotics and live or potentially get overwhelmed and die because you don't want anyone to know. She stood, took a step forward and flared.
"Shepard?"
She could see the points where each wave would hit, could throw wave after wave while walking forward to knock them off into the Harbor - it would buy them some time. She hoped they couldn't swim. The pressure built within her as she focused where the impact would do the most damage. And, release. Cannibals flew into the air. Forward, release. One bounced off a partition and landed into the water with a satisfying splash. One more ought to do it she figured as she stepped forward again and sent a final shockwave sweeping out.
Shepard felt weak as she fell back to Anderson's position. Did I eat breakfast this morning? She didn't think so.
"Got something you want to tell me?" Anderson's tone was dry.
"No, sir." Her mentor shook his head and laughed.
The Normandy flew into view, "The cavalry has arrived," Joker announced over the comm.
"You're late, Joker." she deadpanned.
"Yeah, well, I'd like to see how fast you could remove a ship-sized boot under fire," he quipped.
"Let's go," she called to the Admiral as she ran toward the ship. The bay door opened as she leapt in.
Kaidan helped her up, "Welcome aboard, Shepard."
"Thanks." she said, smiling, it was good to see him alive.
"Shepard."
We made it, Anderson. "Come on!"
He turned to look at the support shuttle coming in, "I'm not going." She frowned, don't do this. "You saw those men back there, there's a million more like them and they need a leader."
"We're in this together, Anderson. If you're staying, so am I."
"This is a fight we can't win, not without help. We need every species and all their ships to even have a chance of defeating the Reapers. Talk to the Council, convince them to help us."
"What if they don't listen?" the question sounded suspiciously like a whine. I won't leave you here to die.
"Then make them listen! Now go! That's an order."
She narrowed her eyes and looked down her nose at Anderson. This bordered on childish but she was going to pull it nonetheless, "I don't take orders from you, remember?"
The Admiral reached into his pocket and pulled out a set of dog tags and tossed them to her. She caught them easily, her name and information embossed on the steel plates. She watched him sadly, when were you going to give me these? "Consider yourself reinstated, Commander."
"I'll be back for you," she promised, "and I'll bring every fleet I can. Good luck."
Anderson nodded, "You, too, Shepard."
She stood beside Kaidan, quietly watching the evac shuttles loading people on board. She spotted the boy standing amongst them, largely ignored. He covered his ears and cowered as a Reaper screamed nearby. It was too close, they had to get out of there. The boy scrambled toward the shuttle and struggled to pull himself on. Why was no one helping him? Help the boy up! He finally managed to climb on board, his face fearful as he watched the reaper. The door slid shut, hiding him from view. The cars began to rise as the Reaper's eye glowed red. The beam of light hit the first car, ripping it apart. Shepard flinched as it turned upward and destroyed the second car the boy was on.
"You can't help me," his words echoed within her as she turned and closed the bay door.
AN: So it begins! I'm looking forward to writing Mars. Which may or may not happen this week. Finals. D: Also, I need to write a better summary. It's straight and to the point, but boring. Maybe later, maybe never.