AN:

If you see something sub-par, if you think I rush etc… don't hesitate to rip me a new asshole. :D

Josh Shepard dove to the ground, frantically attempting to avoid the enemy fire and protect the fusion plant immediately ahead of him. A sudden bout of light-headedness fell upon him; Where the hell was he? He glanced back, only to see dozens of monstrous forms, all brandishing strange weapons, converged on him from every angle with a single macabre goal. Shepard was in tough, with heavy cover and a good angle on his aggressors, but he was outnumbered and outgunned so horribly in every way that it actually elicited a small smile from him; hilariously bad odds. He steeled himself for what he needed to do. He glanced makeshift detonator in his hand, rigged to cause a catastrophic overload in the nuclear reactor, a plan that had become dangerously viable. What was terrible about the situation was not all of that however, but the fact that he had no conscious control of his body; it was if he were observing from afar through false eyes. Even his thoughts wandered without the possibility of control:

I'll never see either of them again…

Shepard sprang back to his feet and pulled out his pistol, acquired one of his ugly four-eyed targets and ended its life with a perfect shot between the two top eyes, splattering his three nearby compatriots with a shower of gray matter. Exploiting the seeming turn of attention away from them, a bird-like alien and a… blue woman stormed forward towards new, vital cover almost within slapping distance of Shepard, only for both to immediately be cut down by a blue-violet biotic detonation from the sole Human in the field. His victory was short lived, as four more of them took their place immediately, with even more on the way.

I'll never hold her in my arms, or take him to fish…

There was nothing left for him to do, there was nowhere left to run nor an objective to advance on. It was just him, against all of them. A sheer terror enveloped him as he headed off his completely unknown attackers, defending a position five minutes prior he had no idea existed. He tried to envision a way this ended well, but there wasn't one in sight. The entire area was in ruins, half the people captured and hauled away, the other half were dead. Only two people had gotten away, those two lives that Shepard's sacrifice today would save. That... those two lives are worth it. Using his pistol and biotics, Shepard cut a swathe through the teeming hordes of terrible monsters, and he felt a certain bemused peace settle in his chest.

Suddenly, a massive and repugnant creature stepped from a shadow, revealing a nearly eight foot stature and an unbelievably ugly saurian face. It had a hump that rose like a mountain on its back, with a face twisted into a scowl that deformed its armour-plated head even more than before. Shepard was mentally stunned for a brief second, not having any idea what he was dealing with. Was he fighting aliens? Where in the hell was he? What planet was this? He unconsciously raised his left hand and formed a biotic corona around his entire body. 'I've never done this before…' He thought as he unleashed the pent up force directly at the new beast and it froze in its tracks, bound with strange curtains of energy. He quickly fired off a few rounds at it, all of which managed to hit and ricochet off, only to hit and kill several others around it right before whatever Shepard did wore off. With its ethereal bindings finally dissipated it let out a roar, a fierce battle cry of anguish and rage. It yelled many words Shepard didn't bother interpreting, rolled his eyes back into his skull and charged with reckless abandon towards his trapped prey.

I'll never see his graduation.

Shepard rolled into the open in a move of desperation so he could use the muscled mountain as cover, fired a few futile shots coupled with biotic bolts and braced himself; a small silent prayer escaped his lips. He didn't see or feel the impact of the alien's forearm, but the shattering sounds of breaking ribs and the terrible squelch of rupturing organs betrayed the obvious. There was no pain, only a sudden rush of rage and remorse accompanied by the silent surge of warmth that accompanied massive internal bleeding.

I'll never hold my grandchildren.

The alien smashed him against a wall, shattering his spine and breaking both his legs. It reached with its clawed, grotesque hand and grabbed his face, only to smash it into wall with unbridled fury. All the while, the other pirates and assorted scum came to surround them and observe the spectacle. Shepard, having managed to hold onto his Carnifex throughout the struggle, brought it to bear, shooting the monster in the face twice and blasting a chunk out of its head plate. It staggered and collapsed backwards, dropping Shepard to writhe in a pile.

The other invaders, completely uninterested in their fallen cannon fodder, gave a few hearty laughs and waved their guns in the air; they had won. A few rounds were fired in the air in celebration as they turned to the crippled man, the last resistance on the planet. The hideous leader of the group came forward from the back ranks and gave him a sacking to the groin, and stomped on his broken limbs.

"Pathetic Humans, groveling in the filth, taking what is ours!"

He produced his rifle, grabbed it by the barrel and savagely brought the butt down on Shepard's back, shattering what remained of his intact ribs. Had he been able to breathe, he would have screamed.

It is time.

Shepard clutched at the small remote concealed by his fist, fumbling unseen for the trigger. He was stopped by the commander, his monstrous face contorted by hate and fervor. Grabbing Shepard by the throat and emitting a guttural sound, he lifted his helpless victim to his level. The imposing stature of the muscled alien dwarfed that of the lightly-built Human. Combined with muffled squeals of pain and desperate clutching at his neck, Shepard was true to the greasy alien's description; pathetic.

"Did you really think you had a chance? Did you think your 'Alliance' would save you?!"

Overcome with disgust, he gave his charge a punch to the stomach. Shepard, contorted in pain, found the remote's switch in his hand and flicked it open.

"Charn Hedat… Mindoir is only the start! Every Human world, every outpost, every single one of your kind is destined to bow before the might of the Hegemony!" Clearly this asshole had some serious unresolved issues at home. "You are just the first of many, the first to feel our might!"

Then something happened which surprised Shepard, which was not something to take lightly, given the situation. His attacker's voice took on an unspeakable, robotic yet ethereal tone, his four eyes boring into his victim with a sudden sinister glow they lacked before; "Now you will die, knowing that you failed to save everything that you fought for, and you will die in vain."

Goodbye son, goodbye Hannah, I love you.

Shepard unfurled his hand, revealing the detonator to his aggressor as he activated it, and he did something he did not expect; he smiled. Through his agony and curdled by blood staining his mouth, he spoke one last time to the last soul he would ever see. And he thought of them, for that last precious second.

"Is that so?"

Chapter Six: That Which Will Come

April 10th, 2154 C.E. 06:43 UT

Earth, United North American States, "Old" Toronto

Shepard woke with a startled gasp, his breathing laboured, his skin doused with sweat, his mind at ill-ease. He instinctively reached for the gun on his holster, only to find he was wearing nothing but underwear and the aforementioned sweat. His eyes darted round the room, from the door to the window, and found not a soul aside from Hannah and their unborn brat. There was no sound, barring the light breeze permeating through the curtains, with a distant chorus of crickets and cicadas.

A shuffle to his left was accompanied by a sigh and a morning groan, and Hannah drew her head up heavily. "Hey, you okay?" she asked, a question more loaded than she realized. "Yeah, just shaking off…" Shepard trailed off, as he didn't actually know the answer. "… Just shaking off some sleep."

She saw right through him; "Bad dream? You know you scream in your sleep, right?" No, he didn't know that. "Don't try and hide it Josh. What was it about?"

"Nothing, just the regular tits and blow, you?"

"You're such a dog! Tell me!"

"I'm fine, really, just anxious about tomorrow… well…" He looked at the clock, which read 6:43 AM. "…today, it's a big day." He sat up fully, burying his face in his hands and massaging the bridge of his nose. "Big day…"

Hannah raised an almost imperceptible incredulous eyebrow, and said the obvious; "Strauss get you to do something stupid?"

"You could say that." Yes, yes you could.

"Jesus Christ, again?! Damn it, can't he just leave us alone for once? He's been riding us for years! Seriously, fuck that guy!"

He turned his head to his partner and gave her a hopeful smile; "Han, don't get PMS on me now, it's fine."

"Don't call me 'Han', hon'."

"Han, Han Solo, Han-nibal Lector, Han-dy, Attila the Han, Han…"

"Shut the hell up and make me some eggs already. Go! Fetch and gather!"

He gave a false smirk and stood up, "Maybe later, gotta' get a head start today." He needed to call Andrew and Ashley, not to mention get the all-set from the Guardians. Then he needed to kill Strauss and dismantle the Reds with one fell swoop, then flee the planet and pray for a miracle, but he would cross those bridges when he came to them.

"What? Already? Damn!" Hannah had never hidden her disdain for Shepard's line of work, nor her loathing of his lifestyle, but she had never been visibly distraught as she was now. She might know what's up, Shepard's mind chimed in, but Shepard dismissed it quickly as irrelevant. He threw on his usual attire and holstered his gun, while Hannah rose and did the same, an angry glare on her face directed at nobody in particular. Shepard grabbed his heavy, armoured boots and strapped them on, which elicited a small sigh of distress from his mate, who was likely mulling over the seriousness of the 'job' her partner was about to embark on. Shepard moved to their closet and sifted through all of his possessions. He grabbed the old Chinese combat exoskeleton that accompanied his boots and laid it out on their bed. Giving one look at Hannah, he began to put it on in total silence, with Hannah just sitting there, watching as he prepared for the worst in the most direct way possible.

Finally pulling on the final greave over his shin, Shepard righted himself and looked straight at the woman he had accepted as his charge. She's worth it. "Han, do me a favour; stay somewhere else for the day, somewhere safer. Anywhere but here, somewhere you've never been before, lots of people, open spaces." Hannah diverted her gaze to the ground; "Josh…" He didn't have time to beat around the bush, so he just went out and said it; "Do it Hannah, or I'll kick your ass!" Her sour face sweetened ever so slightly; "All right! Jeez! I'll take care of a few things here, then get out. I promise." That had to be good enough; he was probably being paranoid, but the thought of something happening to her, them, when he was this close to getting them to safety permanently… They stared in each other's eyes for a long second, with Shepard smiling ever so slightly before he gave the slightest nod; "I should go."

"Never say that again."

Smiling, he turned out of their room, towards the front door. Hannah followed, silently, right on his coattails, as if she could follow him to where he was going. He practically flew down a small flight of stairs to get to the exit, and she did the same, which was quite the accomplishment for a woman so encumbered by child. He opened the door and took his left foot through, and she grabbed him by the arm and turned him around violently. She looked him in the eye once more, and drew her mouth to his, giving him a long, wet kiss. "You'd better not die!" She said as she drew her head away.

"No promises now that I've gotten the taste for it!"

"Come back to me smartass, or else!"

He nodded, and turned to leave through the door. He made it halfway down the walkway when he froze mid-step. He had the sudden urge to turn around, and so he met that urge halfway when he turned his head to look back at her. She just stood there sadly, clutching the door frame with her thin, effeminate fingertips. He let his gaze linger for a moment, then turned, wordlessly and silently, to do what needed to be done.