Collapse

Shepard threw herself down in front of a terminal as soon as the three of them reached the mainframe. It wasn't so much that she enjoyed techwork, as much as it was that she just wanted to sit down. Part of her felt guilty for not helping Supernova with his interrogation, (she knew the merc was more scared of her), and the other part of her was too damn tired to care.

She copied the files and what credits they had stored in their database to her omnitool. As much as she hated to admit it, she'd eventually have to return her turian's side arm. When that happened, she'd be short one pistol and have to purchase a new one. Unless she wanted to explain to the requisition office how her pistol had jammed with foam from an explosion she'd caused during an unsanctioned raid on an organized mercenary base on one of Earth's most populous stations.

Since that was out of the question, she'd have to find a way to fund said new pistol. And as far as she was concerned, she was performing a public service recycling the mercenaries' ill gotten funds. Ethically at ease, Shepard turned her attention back to the files.

They were encrypted, as was to be expected from any proper mercenary group, but if she set her terminal to it they could be decrypted overnight, so it wasn't necessarily something she had to worry about right now. When the files finished copying, she turned her attention to what remnants she might be able to glean from the older transactions they'd deleted. She started digging through the mainframe and local terminal back-ups when the sound of gunfire from the backroom bolted her from her chair and to the door.

"Supernova?" She hollered, banging on the door with the butt of her borrowed gun.

"Tequila." He yelled back. Just finished off the mercenary then. Shepard dragged herself back to the chair and glanced back at the terminal. The system recovery stared back at her. She rested her arms on the desk with a sigh. With all the advancements humanity had made, they still had to wait on technology.

As she draped her arms across the desk, she blinked in surprise. She was covered in blood, and couldn't help but wonder how much of it was hers. Where there wasn't blood, there was ash. Where there wasn't ash, there was more blood. Shepard wondered, idly, how much blood she'd lost, and found the thought made her lightheaded. She raised her finger tips to her forehead and lightly touched the make-shift bandage that had once been her sleeve.

It was cracked with dried blood, and she made a mental note to use medigel on her injuries when she didn't have to worry about ultrasound emitters. Like now, waiting on the computer, where she didn't have to worry about anything, and she could put her head down for a minute…

She woke to someone shaking her wildly. She responded to the thrashing by thrashing back, and was rewarded with a satisfying thump as her fist connected with Supernova's face. He recoiled with a grunt, rubbing the side of his head and looking at her with indignation. "You'll sleep the day away," He chided jokingly, but Shepard swore she saw concern in his eyes.

"Just skipping to the good part," She returned, rubbing the cramp out of her neck. Did she look bad enough that he'd actually been worried she wouldn't wake up? "Learn anything useful?"

"Nothing I didn't already suspect." He straightened upright. "What did you find?"

Shepard glanced back at the screen, where the system recovery had finished, and was rewarded with a few fragmented files she could go over later. For now, they'd have to worry about the Delta team that was combing the rubble searching for them. "It's all encrypted," She explained, copying the last files to her omnitool.

He nodded, "Later then." He focused on her with more intensity than usual, likely concerned she wouldn't be up to the challenge. Shepard shoved herself out of her seat and crossed her arms across her chest, staring back at him. Fatigue be damned, she always ready for a fight. He seemed to debate calling her out, when he finally thought better of it and tilted his head to the side. Shepard levered her gun and followed him out of the room.

"I have a thought," He filled the silence as they made their way through the base, both on alert for the Delta team and trying to find their way out.

"Just the one?" Shepard threw back.

"I try not to overdo it." His mandibles flickered, which Shepard was starting to realize was a grin. Yesterday she couldn't even tell his smirks from his frowns. "But speaking of overdoing it, if this is a first date, I don't know how I'm going to manage a second."

"You're assuming there'll be a second," Shepard pointed out.

"Won't there be." It didn't sound like a question. Smug bastard. She liked him.

"If I say no, will you leave me here to die?"

He pretended to consider it with a deliberate pause, though he was simply checking around an upcoming corner, before he pointed out "You still have my gun."

"True." Shepard bit her lip. Maybe it was the blood loss, or maybe it was him, but she wanted to laugh, and was afraid if she started she wouldn't stop.

He glanced back at her, "I like my gun."

"I bet you do." She snorted, right when they found the stairs out.

Which were, as the cluster of mercenaries at the top reminded them, also the stairs in.

Both of them dove back the way they'd came right as a hail of gunfire smattered across the space they'd occupied moments previously.

"So," Supernova began conversationally as the barrage didn't let up. "Why did you join the military?"

"Oh you know," Shepard grinned, pleased he was willing to play her game, "See the galaxy. Meet interesting people." Kill them. "… kill them." He leaned out from cover and fired a few warning rounds, only to roll back in a moment later. Their position was hardly optimal. "You?"

"My mother made me," He returned, doing his best to sound childish. Shepard laughed, and as she feared, couldn't stop laughing. Not wanting to sound hysterical, she bit her lip and giggled to herself. A light blue shimmered around her turian, the classic sign of kinetic barriers flaring back to life. He took one more shot from cover before gesturing down the hall.

She nodded. They had to retreat to one of the rooms and take up a more defensive position when the Delta team advanced down the stairs. Shepard started backing up when a flash-grenade hit the floor and went off in her face.

Seeing spots and duplicates, Shepard back-pedaled down the hall and stumbled backwards into the first room she reached. Supernova followed after, or at least she hoped he did, as she leaned her back against the wall and rubbed furiously at her eyes. She felt an ocular migraine coming on to add to her lengthy list of symptoms.

"I estimate around ten," Announced a red blur she was assumed was her turian. "See if you can manage some cover," He ordered, leaning out from the door and opening fire on the first wave of mercs to come down the stairs. "Nine." He corrected himself, or corrected them.

Shepard's vision finally came back to her, and she took stock of the room she'd blundered into. It looked to be sleeping quarters, and she went immediately to one of the weapon's lockers. It was empty, as were the next four down the line, but the fifth had exactly what she was looking for. Grenades.

Shepard was sure her face lit up like a child in a candy store, but she could have cared less. She snatched the bundle up and rushed back to him. He glanced at her in confusion, and she held out a grenade to him. "First time for everything," She offered with regards to his no-frag rule.

He opened his mouth to say something, then quickly changed his mind. He took the grenade and flung it down the hall, where it blew a moment later. "Let's move," He said simply, moving back out into the corridor.

That fragging one's way in to any hold-out was a valid a military tactic had never ceased to please Shepard. With enough ordnance you could make it in and out of anywhere. Her belief held true as they advanced. Her wall of turian took the brunt of what little fire they received, he kept up a nigh-constant stream of fire from his assault rifle, and she added explosives where the mercenaries clustered.

Thankfully, they'd apparently shared Supernova's belief that grenades were unviable amidst the renovation outside, and hadn't brought any with them. Despite their upward climb, the two of them made it out of the base in record time.

"There, you see," Shepard panted, proud of their explosive march, "All your concerns about grenades being tactically unsound and structurally unviable were completely blown out of-"

The balcony above them collapsed.

The two of them dove the moment they heard the awkward creak, leaping forward into a pile of bolts and rubble that was just one of many in the renovated perimeter. The balcony crashed down where they'd been standing, flooring and railing shattering around them, flying over them, and smashing into them. A mushroom cloud of dust burst from the pile of wreckage, settling in the air and making her sneeze.

Groaning, Shepard pushed herself upright. Bits of rubble and strips of metal fell off her prone form as it eased itself to sitting. She threw a board off her legs and sneezed again at the dust it dredged up.

Her turian dug himself out of a pile of rubble next to her, glancing over both of them for any serious injuries. A trickle of blue blood ran from the corner of his mouth and helped with the sarcastic quip that followed. "You were saying?"