Thirty minutes.
Ashley took a deep breath, feeling as if her chest was about to explode, then exhaled through her nose, steadying herself ever so slightly as she for what had to be the dozenth time that minute checked the time on her omni-tool.
Something must have gone wrong.
The alleyway they stood in was...filthy...as if someone had taken Ashley's baby sister Sarah's room and then covered the few spots without any garbage with spots of oil and grease. Though the walls were still the standard citadel smoothness, showing a grace that even in these depths was present throughout the station...there was still something worn about them...though Ashley couldn't put her finger on why. It's like...the entire place is sinking. She grimaced, shuddering. Despair, it stinks of despair.
Her eyes looked down to her still glowing omni-tool. Still thirty minutes...Oh 'trust me' my ass...couldn't he at least say what it was he was going to do? A timetable perhaps? Fucking backup save a Krogan mercenary he just met! I don't know...something! 'I'll get it open'...idiot...what does that even mean! Will he go all heroic and blast it open from the inside by body-tackling a guard through it! She rolled her eyes even as she tried to imagine it. Dammit, I actually can... Grumbling she suppressed the blush and glared at her feet. Fucking hero-worship...
With her back against the wall where further ahead the fire-exit stood, a near two dozen feet away, she had Kaidan just to her right, the man looking over her shoulder as he too waited foor the distant door to open. He had his drawn pistol lowered and helmet off for added visual scope, something Ashley had picked as well...and his brown eyes were firmly set on the distant door, as patient as a...a...lion? Ashley nearly groaned. Well some sort of predator...
She wished she had the same patience.
A glance down.
Thirty-one minutes...
Are we even by the right door? She shot a suspicious glare Garrus' way, finding the Turian against the other wall, he too with a pistol lowered but ready. And he too like Kaidan had his eyes set on the door, the pair nearly glowing with eagerness. The Turian was on one knee, nearly hidden in the shadows cast by the wall. He doesn't look as if he's betraying us...but who knows? I can't read lizard-faces...
If he is we're already too late, and Shepard might be dead...if that's the case that Turian's leaving in pieces.
Squaring her shoulders she brushed the thought aside, it was no use. Focus soldier. No door, no entrance, no show, no nothing. She checked her assault rifle for the sixth time, once more making sure it was set on single-shot. So prepare for the something... She mentally checked the floor-plan of the club again, trying to picture the movements. I go first, enter, move right towards the office, spotted, enemy fire, return fire, keep it controlled, use cover when necessary, keep moving. And Shepard without armour would probably join them...she found her hand drifting to his side-arm that he'd entrusted to her. That does it, add to plan; keep your armoured hide between him and any baddies, especially the large baddies.
Thirty-two minutes...I'm going to die of old age here...or an ulcer, whichever comes first.
"How can you stay so damn calm?" She hissed the words at Kaidan even as she refused to look at him, eyes focused on the door. Open, open...open you lousy waste of steel! "It's been ages, he could be dead for all we know!"
"More resigned then calm." Kaidan muttered, and Ashley sensed him shrugging. "Either we do this and get killed, or we succeed and might end up in jail...or nothing happens and you and I are put before the admirals to explain why we lost and got our Commanding officer killed..."
"Damn lieutenant, when you put it that way..." Ashley rolled her eyes. "...talk about a pep-talker..."
"Sorry."
She snorted, jumping slightly where she stood as she eyed the decidedly closed and locked door with a grimace. "Don't worry, it's just me being worried... " Can't we get it over with? I want to kill something now... "God...can't we just blow the door open or something?"
"If he's right by the door we'll kill him." Garrus intruded, making Ashley glare at him, not that he noticed, his gaze fixed upon the door. "Not to mention the civilian casualties will be enormous, I believe the idea is to get as few innocent as possible killed..." The alien shrugged, though his eyes remained glowing with that inner determination of his.
"It's the sleaziest part of the wards." Ashley snorted. "And a strip joint doubling as a criminal's hidey-hole." Rolled her eyes. "In the middle of the day." Scoffed. "How many 'innocent' are there really there?"
A small chuckle escaped the Turian. Great, he thinks I'm being friendly...and joking... "Good point, you set the charges and I'll think of an excuse to give Shepard when he's at the hospital."
"Listen, I'm not trying to be your-"
"Chief." Kaidan interrupted Ashley, making her shoot him a glare, then a thankful look as she realised he was saving her from putting her foot in her mouth. No good making an enemy of the guy at your back right before a firefight... "Eyes front." A short nod from him and she whipped her head around to stare at the door as it slid open, the sound of an electronic beat filling the alley all of a sudden.
Yes! Finally!
And a half-naked Asari strutted out.
Eh?
Far too much of the alien's blue skin showed in the tight little leather corset she wore, the flimsy little thing and the tight boots leaving nothing to the imagination...and the wicked glint in her eyes and the slight crook of her lips showed that she was enjoying it. God...kill me now...she's a damn embarrassment to the entire woman-kind. Damn Asari and their...Asari-ways!
Then Michael followed.
Okay...? Ashley arched an eyebrow.
He looked odd without either armour or any sort of uniform on. Instead he was dressed in some sort of worn outfit one would expect of a thug. Dirt brown pants covered in pockets, a tank-top that seemed moulded to his sculpted...Ashley shook her head. Damn, I need a lay... Casually slung over one shoulder an orange jacket hung, held by one hand reaching up next to Michael's shoulder, making his massive biceps...dammit!
The more eye-catching thing – well, sort off – however was his face though, still the same it lacked something of the coldness she'd expected, nor was it that joking and pleasant look she'd bumped into before. It looked...thuggish actually, a smirk on his lips, a swagger to his walk...if she didn't know better she'd thought him drunk and leering...
"Not the nicest place." He said, even his voice was different, casual. He smirked, eyes roving the body of the Asari as she turned to face him. "Not that I'm looking at it."
Oh that's the lamest...
The Asari giggled, the smirk not fading as she, now turned to face him, she leant forward until she was leaning against his chest, a finger coming to land on the tip of his nose, her eyes naughty. "You've already charmed me boy, no need for more sweet-talk."
You...can't be serious. Ashley stared, baffled.
"There's always room for more." The man mumbled with a grin, head bowing to leer down the Asari's cleavage even as his left hand snaked round her waist and down to...Ashley grimaced, unable to look away. "And I've always said, tip well and you get good service..."
This is my hero...?
"Truer words were never spoken..." The Asari replied, voice hushed as she looked past Michael and nodded to someone behind the door, making the thing slide shut with a thump. "Now...service it was..." A coy laugh...and the Asari's hands roved Michael's chest as she begun to crouch...
Wait, she's not actually going to...?
Michael's left hand moved to gently grip the crouching Asari's head-fringe as his other moved to his jacket now pressed between him and the wall as he leant back...head tilting backwards and eyes closing.
Wait, he's actually going to let her...!
Then everything happened at once.
His head snapped back, eyes opening, icy coldness glaring out.
The Asari yelped, the grip on her head-fringe twisting, hard, making her twist her body and head with the wrench in order not to have the fringe ripped off.
The jacket fell to the ground, the hand having held it now holding a jagged knife burnished to a mirror-shine.
And then he was atop the Asari, her right hand stuck under his left knee, her left pinned by his free arm as his right held the knife against her throat, the Asari barely noticing it as she gasped for air due to Michael's right knee resting upon her gut.
"You fucker! You didn't pay for-!"
"Silence." Michael's knife pushed further against the woman's throat...and she froze, eyes widening as she realised what the cold thing against her skin was. "The password to the door."
"Wha-"
"Now." Michael relented with the knife, just enough to hold it in front of the Asari's face, the weapon moving lazily from side to side, her wide eyes following it, the woman otherwise a statue. "Give me the password to the door and you can leave."
"I-I don't-"
"To this door." Michael's voice was a growl, the weapon turning until the tip pointed towards the girl's face, a mere inch away, the woman's eyes straining to see it even as droplets of sweat ran from her forehead. "Last chance."
"Fi-finished..." The Asari stuttered, eyes closing as she trembled in fear. "Pa-password's finished..."
"Thank you." A reverse of the weapon...and the handle came down on the Asari's forehead with a crack of flesh meeting ground.
Rising from the unconscious woman Michael turned, icy eyes moving over the assembled team...and Ashley found herself shiver as it moved over her.
"That was..." Garrus hesitated. Scary? Creepy? Sleazy? "...clever." The Turian cocked his head to the side, his grin making him look like a vicious monster as he stepped up to Michael, looking down at the downed dancer.
Michael didn't respond, his hand reaching out as Ashley hesitantly approached. "Gun."
"Sure..Commander." She handed the weapon over, the thing instantly humming as it powered up when Shepard's gripped it, his left hand moving to snap the activation on. Ashley barely noticed, gaze fixed on the unconscious alien. Well...she probably deserved it...but still...damn. A shrug and she moved towards the door, sliding her back against the wall to the left of the thing with practised efficiency. Got to respect good calls though... She moved to look over at Michael, finding the man with his knife in his left and and gun in right as he simply stepped up to the door to tap the code into the lock centred on the metal sheet.
At the other side of the door Garrus stood, mirroring Ashley's stance with his gun down but ready, back against the wall. A statue for all he moved, eyes burning. Slightly behind him Kaidan stood, he too ready to pounce, a slight purple tinge around him as his biotics flared into readiness. She eyed him carefully, wondering about any lingering hesitation, she found none in those dark pools however. Good.
Something muttered under his breath...and the Commander tapped the code.
It slid open, the electronic beat instantly blaring at them as someone just within the door spoke: "Ha! Already done Leena? Did he-"
Before Ashley could move to attack Shepard lunged, his left arm a blur...then a solid line thrust into the entrance, a barely audible crack greeting his movement.
Ashley couldn't help it, she glanced around the corner.
The man standing there blocked most of her view of the place, still had his pistol holstered, and sported eyes wide in surprise as they stared at the hand who had thrust seven inches of steel just underneath his jaw and up into his skull.
A wrench of Michael's arm and the man was pulled off his feet and forward, the Commander sidestepping as he did so and letting the corpse drop face first onto the floor, a stroke of blood across it joining the body as the knife was pulled out of his head. Damn, that was coo-
"Move."
And Ashley moved, instinct, training, the cold unfeeling order reverberating within her as she jerked into action.
Rifle rising she slipped into the room, eyes darting left and right, trying to take it all in even as she continued to move.
She instantly spotted Wrex, the Krogan just by a table near the opposite end of the room, facing three humans glaring at him, the two on the flanks having their guns drawn as the third was shouting something at the mercenary which was lost in the deafening beat of the music.
The room was large and circular as expected, the centre dominated by a large and round platform upon which half a dozen half-naked Asari danced on, a single male human with a holstered pistol in the middle, more focused on the dancers then the surroundings. Around the central stage a bar tended by more near nude women was amply crowded by men of various species, a motley crew of dirty thugs by the looks of it. Many round tables covered the room, nearly all the chairs around them filled by men as they stared at the women dancing on the tables or into the drinks in their hands.
I should have brought a flamethrower...
A man at a table just to her right looked up, grinning, showing his loss of three teeth: "Hey babe." He grinned at her, or rather, her chest. "What's with the prop? Come sit here and enjoy a-" He reached towards her...
And fell as the butt of Ashley's rifle took him in the face, smashing more of his teeth out and sending him tumbling to the floor.
Behind her she heard Garrus chuckle.
Then someone shouted, an angry bark, a lost order carried in it. Spotted!
The men confronting Wrex begun to turn...only for the two with drawn pistols to jump away screaming as the head of the one between them flew over the room in a crimson arch, the Krogan's bloodied hand already reaching back for his shotgun-
A thump.
Ashley whirled as her shield flared, her sights finding one of Fist's thugs as the man pushed past a rowdy crowd of customers with his pistol levelled at her. Idiot.
She dropped onto one knee and aimed in the same movement, a single squeeze of the trigger...
She had killed Geth, she had fought in simulations, she had even killed a Batarian smuggler once...or rather had been part of a team gunning him down. As such she had killed, as such she knew what it was like.
Or rather, thought she did. All her targets had had shields, and when those failed, armour...this one wore a simple shirt.
The hole in his chest was microscopic, barely visible...as his back exploded. His blood smashed into the rowdy crowd, sending them tumbling away and crying out in confusion, then horror, as the realised what was covering them.
The man fell prone, showing a gaping hole in his back, shredded organs within, torn pieces of bones sticking out like the beams of a sunken ship.
Ouch...Ashley didn't know what else to think. Note to self, get killed while wearing armour...
Then the room erupted into screams, people finally realising something was amiss as Garrus kicked a table over, sending the dancer atop it sprawling over the floor even as he fired over her prone shape. A man rushing towards them jerked as grey matter, blood and pieces of bone exploded from the back of his skull...then fell atop a table, sending drinks and dancer flying.
Ashley blinked, feeling a sudden sting of fear as the room exploded, men and women rushing for the exit, away from the ones with guns, diving for cover, just standing there screaming... We could get rushed! None came at them though, all rushing for the main exit, the single guard standing there crying out, then disappearing behind the crowd, then crying out in pain...before abruptly going silent.
Jumping past her Shepard dived behind a chair, then came up to take aim on a guard standing at the edge of the room...only to hesitate as the man grabbed a hold of a running dancer and held her before him like a shield.
Instead the Commander rolled sideways, under a table as the chair he'd been hiding behind snapped in two under the three shots fired from the hostage taker now taking aim for the soldier, extending himself past the screaming dancer...and then flying back into the wall as Shepard's single retort barked out.
Another thug moved to repeat the cowardly tactic...only for his chosen dancer to whirl about with a growl, a dark hue around the Asari forming...then smashing into the man and sending him flying into a wall, crushing him into pulp. Glad my shields are up...and you go girl! Not looking back the dancer rushed to join the fleeing.
Chaos.
Ashley ducked, jumped over a chair, fired, ending a guard's life, just fighting on instinct as she struggled to even spot her enemies among the people running amok. At least I have armour...
On cue there was a roar, then a boom of a shotgun, making her head snap around in time to see Wrex's shields flare as another Krogan armoured in tan armour rushed at the mercenary, only for it's shields to flare with Wrex's reply, then Wrex's shields died in a flash of light as his opponent's second shot took him in the face. The monster of a bouncer still came charging...and Wrex met it with a charge of his own, the two monsters resembling butting bulls as they pushed and shoved against one another...
Then Wrex's shotgun slammed into the roaring mouth of his opponent.
A boom and the duel was over.
A hissing, coldness at her back making her hairs stand up...and Ashley found an orb of dark blue energy fly past her and slam into the madly shooting thug atop the centre stage, sending him flying into the air with a shriek...a shriek ending abruptly as he smashed into the high ceiling and then mutely fell down onto the main floor. She shot Kaidan a grin. Nice...
Then another boom of a shotgun made her whirl about, her assault rifle clipping a thug in the leg even as she searched for the source of the shot, barely aware of Kaidan finishing the foe off.
She found Shepard, not having been forced to dig in as the others, or rather, ignoring the need, rolling sideways as the ground where he had been was torn asunder. A mere six feet away from him, coming out of the corridor leading to Fist's office, another Krogan came running, the levelled shotgun in its claws spitting death once more, and once more hitting nothing but floor as the Commander rolled to the right, the man barely looking at all bothered as he fired back, his pistol doing nothing but making the shield of the Krogan's flare.
A kick of Shepard's foot and a table was knocked over between him and the monster, only for the top of the rolling table to get torn off by a third shot, sending fragments flying, the Commander rolling away, still firing even as a streak of crimson appeared along his arm still clutching his bloodied knife.
He'll die...Ashley felt her chest tighten at the realisation – for all his skill and manoeuvring not even Shepard could take on Krogan at close range with nothing but a side-arm and a shirt – then felt her body explode into action. Hell no!
She didn't even realise she had switched to full auto as she rushed forth, her assault rifle spitting death at the monster already towering over her, the shots disintegrating against the Krogan's shield in puffs of smoke and flares of blue light. "Ugly! Over here!" A cry and she launched herself over the broken table, the Krogan's shotgun taking her right in the gut in an explosion of failing shields instead of crashing through the table and the Commander ducking behind it.
Stinging son of a...I just healed up! Growling she closed the distance, assault rifle blazing away, then silencing as she swung the weapon with all her might at the Krogan's head.
Grunting Ashley found her swing bouncing off the Krogan, her arms going numb with the impact even as the chuckling monster swung a massive fist at her...
She ducked...willed her arms to move...and slammed the weapon into the Krogan's mid-section.
Nothing but a chuckle, the Krogan's left leg swinging back...
Uh oh...
Pain!
She was flying through the air, her gut feeling like one big bruise, the world spinning and-
Pain!
A crunch and she fell to the floor, back against the wall she had struck. Blinking she found her vision swimming, her arms curled around her assault rifle, holding onto it like a life-raft. That...ouch...fucking tank of a...ouch... Ahead the world was blurry lines and muffled sounds,as if seen through air vibrating with scorching heat.
She shook her head.
And the world slid back into focus.
Wow...thing must have kicked me a good ten feet. Even as she judged the distance she moved to sit up, ignoring the throbbing pain around her waist and back as she brought her rifle to bear, finding the source of her discomfort stagger back towards Fist's office as an advancing Wrex shot it right in the chest.
A roar of the Krogan, of anger and frustration...and twin orbs of dark light shot out at it, striking the monster in each leg and bringing it to its knees. Kaidan, still glowing with the discharge, and Shepard, looking as calm as if on a firing range, stood shoulder to shoulder as they fired round after round at the Krogan now twitching with the impacts. Just behind the Garrus stood, he too firing away, smirking.
Kicking is rude you son of a...Baring her teeth Ashley fired, the burst striking the creature across the crest where her rifle had bounced off before, this time the crest was suddenly covered by orange blood.
A growl and the struggling creature moved to aim his weapon up...then jerked, twisted...and fell face first to the floor.
A small laugh escaped Ashley, making her wince as her bruised body protested. Got you you disgusting big pile of-
"Williams." She looked up, finding Kaidan moving towards her with a concerned look on his face, it had been Shepard talking though, the man already moving towards the office as Garrus was rushing towards it. "Are you injured?"
Bah, sisters have done worse to me... "N-no sir." She winced, clutching her abdomen even as she with some reluctance accepted Kaidan's arm to hoist her to her feet. She glared at the Commander's back even as she angrily wrenched her arm free from Kaidan's grip. "Fit for duty."
"Then get over here."
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Thanks to Abydos Jackson for her inexhaustible helpfulness.