Saren's head turned, his eyes narrowing
Then his body turned as well, Kaidan dropping like a broken puppet from the Turian's grip as Saren's body begun to glow with dark biotic power...
His voice was but a hiss: "Shepard..."
Tali's gaze moved lazily down the room to the other end, seeing nothing but a sea of flames at first, then a single black shape moving through it...coming closer.
Her breath hitched.
Michael's bandoleer was gone, a wide crater in his armoured abdomen, scratch marks running down his right leg where something had clawed at him. In his right hand he held his shotgun, the barrel sheared off and sparks flying from what remained of it. In his left the broken remains of a Geth's head hung in one of its cables, its eye shattered.
And the flames...they seemed to be parting before him..
Only when he came closer did she see the blue flare of his shields as they deflected the fire, casting a shimmering blue aura around him, the top which glowed a pale white, forming a halo.
His helmet had been ripped off and the shimmering mix of lights around him made his blond hair glow white as it moved with the air currents of the, making it look like white fire... The scar over his right eye too glowed white...but was nothing compared to the icy glow of his blue eyes...
And Tali felt afraid.
Saren's voice was one of scorn however: "I see you've finally deigned to join us." A snort. "Late, always too-"
Michael's shotgun fell to the floor, the Geth head following suit as the man came running out of the fire, the assault rifle suddenly in his hands spitting death as he ran forward and to the right.
Saren's shields flared with the impacts as the Turian stood atop the pedestal, unheeding of the impacts...before with a snarl he reached out with his right hand, omni-tool aglow.
With a hiss Michael's assault rifle failed...only for the man to drop it, roll to the left...and start running that way, pistol firing shot after shot, only for them to hit Saren's shield inches from the Turian's unimpressed face.
This time Saren's right arm glowed with his omni-tool even as his left came aglow with biotic power...
His right hand shot out...and Michael's pistol hissed in failure.
His left hand followed...and a black ball of energy flew forth, smashing into the floor before Michael and making the man stumble back as the impact sent pieces of stone and dust flying up.
Silence.
The dust lazily drifting away...
Michael was in a low crouch, left leg in front of his right, both bent, hands curled into fists as he held them low next to his legs. His hair and scar was no longer glowing, but his eyes were...icy coldness glaring up at Saren even as sizzling smoke rose from his armour...
Saren was still standing calm and tall atop the pedestal, eyes full of dark blue rage as he looked down at Michael, black fire of biotic power rising from his silvery armour and scales...
The distance between them, no more then a dozen feet, seemed immense.
Then Saren bared his fangs in a sneer. "How about a lesson in basic tactics?" He raised his right hand, palm aiming towards Michael as the omni-tool came aglow. "First you-"
A thud...and Saren's words died in a grunt more out of surprise then pain as he looked at the knife suddenly buried in his hand... The black blade was stuck through Saren's hand, yet was barely stained with the Turian's blue blood even as his omni-tool crackled and failed.
Tali's eyes lazily moved over to Michael, watching the man's outstretched right arm move down even as he himself straightened...eyes cold and hard as he watched Saren.
"Impressive." Saren's left hand came up, gripped the knife...and pulled it out without a moment's hesitation, the few drops of blood dropping from the wound going ignored as the Turian gripped the weapon with both hands, eyes narrowed as he looked down at it. "Crude, like your species...but impressive." He tightened his grip, arms flexing...and the blade snapped.
Silence.
Then Saren jumped off the pedestal, landing before the nuke with a deceptive calm as he with a body glowing with black biotic fire came down to Michael's level even as the human's hard gaze flicked to the side for the briefest of moments. Saren's chuckle was low and harsh: "Don't worry Shepard, after I've taken care of you and your bomb I'll finish them off..."
Michael's body tensed, leaning forward, about to leap...only to stop as his fists tightened further, neck cracking with tension.
Saren, who had stood waiting, smirked, then turned, moving to the right...and Michael echoed the movement, the two men circling one another, warily measuring each other up.
Saren was leaner then Michael around the waist yet still broader over the shoulders and an inch taller...his silvery body glowing with black power, his eyes afire with a dark hatred.
Michael's black armour on the other hand was still smoking from the heat of the fire he'd walked through. His face streaked with sweat and soot...and eyes glowing through it...his hatred hardened to a core of ice.
Michael's voice was low, calm: "I've killed your prisoners, your scientist too. You will find no escape from Sovereigns indoctrination..."
He couldn't see it, but Tali could...a hint of hesitation in Saren's movements...but he simply snorted: "They were expendable, I have studied indoctrination, what it does to you. Sovereign needs me and my mind intact...and that will be my salvation."
"Yet you wouldn't study if it you didn't fear it..." Michael retorted.
Saren's mouth moved to answer...only to twist into a snarl as Michael came forth, legs moving faster then Tali had ever seen the man move as he crossed the distance, his right leg delivering a sweeping kick towards Saren's head.
Saren ducked, his right leg sweeping like a scythe...and Michael leapt over the attack, landed on his right foot even as his left came down towards the Turian's face...only to hit two crossed gauntlets.
Saren rose, pushing upwards...and Michael pressed his weight down...only to find Saren still rising...
Michael pushed down with his foot against the gauntlets, using Saren's movement and his own to propel himself upwards and back, flying, flipping...and then landing in a crouch a couple of feet away from the rising Turian.
Michael rose as well...icy blue eyes meeting dark blue...and once more the two moved to circle one another.
And Tali could only stare, her screams trapped in a body unable to move or even speak...
"Your idealism has blinded you Shepard..." Saren growled, the Turian's claws sliding against one another. "...why do you continue to ignore the inevitable? You know that the Reapers will come, you know their power...and that there is no escape."
Michael flinched, body tensing...and Saren leapt forward his right fist being parried upwards by Michael's arms before his left hands claws gouged a silvery tear across Michael's chest, forcing the human backwards.
"You have seen it!" Saren hissed, spinning low as Michael moved forward...only to stumble backwards as Saren's foot caught him in the stomach. "We cannot win! We must ally ourselves with them! Try to save a few lives so that life itself can go on!" Saren leapt up, both hands coming down like sweeping scythes...
Michael gasped, the man driven to his left knee as his right gauntlet rose in time to parry the claws, claws digging in deep...dark blood seeping from the holes.
And Saren towered over him, the Turian leaning forward, pushing his weight down on the human as he hissed: "It's the only way...you know this...they're unstoppable."
A growl...and Michael's left hand gripped his raised gauntlet as he pushed back up, suddenly forcing the Turian backwards as the human forced his way forward. "Unacceptable!"
"It's the truth!" Saren snarled, pushing back, stopping Michael's advance before tearing his claws free, right claw sweeping back and then forward against Michael's head.
Who ducked below it, his own fist thumping into Saren's stomach, followed by a left fist to the chest, forcing the Turian backwards. "Then why you!" Michael rose, chest heaving with his breathing as he looked over at the Turian.
Who with a gasp straightened, hatred glowing back.
Michael's hand gesture backwards towards the dying fire where the remains of the Geth lay in charred pieces: "Why the Geth!" He shook his head, eyes afire. "If the Reapers are so powerful then why do they need allies!"
And Saren hesitated, eyes widening.
A shuddering breath...and some of the ice in Michael's eyes melted as he met the Turian's gaze: "We can still stop this..."
Silence.
Hesitation.
Then Saren's face splitting into a roar, the Turian launching himself forward: "You twist my words!" His slashing claws met gauntlets as like a storm he came at Michael, driving the human back. "In the end Sovereign doesn't need our help! We offered it to survive!" A clawed foot shot up, catching Michael in the chest and sending him onto his back, the human rolled with the impact and flew to his feet in time to parry a second kick, the force of the impact lifting Michael off the ground and sending him a couple of feet backwards.
Saren hissed at the human, his stance feral. "You know nothing of what I've done for the galaxy! You have no right to judge! I know our weakness! I know we cannot survive! I know what we have to do!"
Michael steadied himself, head shaking as he struggled with the force of Saren's assault, but his voice was cold and calm: "Is that you speaking...or Sovereign?"
Another roar...and Saren flew forward, the Turian's claws a mere blur as they tore into Michael, the massive Turian attacking the stumbling man in a frenzy. "You have failed!"
A gasp, Michael's stumbling back, blood flowing from his right shoulder.
"You failed back on Earth!" A spinning kick...and Michael's left arm was suddenly bleeding with a wound running from his shoulder to his wrist.
"You failed on Elysium!" Saren lunged forth...and Michael grunted as claws entered and exited his chest with a crack of breaking armour and the sound of tearing flesh.
"You failed on Eden Prime!"A slashing claw upwards...and Michael's head jumped back as a deep cut appeared on the right side of his jaw.'
"On Feros!" Saren's claws moved from left to right...and Michael cried out as the three claws dug in deep in the crater in his abdomen, blood flowing freely from the wound even as the man gripped at the Turian's wrists...
"You failed here!" Saren spun clockwise, tearing his claws out of the human before coming round with a solid backhand to Michael's face, knocking the man onto his knees.
"You have failed everyone that you've ever met!" Saren's claws shot down, digging in deep into Michael's shoulders as the man moaned, his head rolling back in agony, the fight gone out of him.
Pulling him closer as the Turian leant down, fangs bared in a raging snarl, his voice turning to a hiss: "And for that...they will all...die."
Michael's head shot back, the ice in his eyes replaced by a raging inferno...as his hands shot up and gripped the Turian's wrists.
"Never."
A crunch and Saren's claws were forced out of Michael's body, the human leaping to his feet, hands pushing Saren's out wide...before slamming his head into the Turian's face.
Then he released Saren's right hand, his own right pulling the Turian's left arm past his left, his free hand coming to grip the Turian's shoulder as he drove his knee into Saren's gut.
A gasp...and Saren growled: "You think that will-"
Michael pushed the Turian backwards...only to follow right after, silencing Saren with a straight punch to the jaw. Then another, and another...the man's fists becoming a blur as they shot back and forth, smashing into Saren's face like a jackhammer, the Turian's scoff turning to a coughing as he stumbled backwards, the human following.
A swinging right claw...and Michael ducked under it, his left smashing into Saren's gut, making the Turian double over...only to smash a right hook into the Turian's face. Saren growled, his left claw nearly catching the frenzied Michael in the chest, only to just miss as the man jumped back, chest heaving.
Silence.
Michael with his fists up, a statue in readiness.
Saren gasping, bent over, a snarl of defiance on his face.
And then Michael's voice, cold: "You are the failure."
A hiss, Saren's eyes widening...before he with a growl lunged forth.
Michael moved as if in a dream...
His left leg swept backwards and spun his body counter-clockwise and to the right even as his right hand found Saren's face...and then his right leg kicked out, making the human spin with his own momentum as Saren ran past him...only to howl in anguish.
Both turned to face one another...only for Tali's eyes to widen as she saw what had happened. Saren's left mandible had been torn from his face, blue blood trickling down his neck even as his eyes looked down to Michael's right hand holding it so tightly...
Michael's left moved down, gripping the mandible as well...arms flexing...
A crack...and the mandible was split in two, the smaller piece dropping to the floor as his right held onto the larger. A part now forming a jagged point...
Keelah...
Saren's eyes stared at the new weapon, then moved up to Michael's icy eyes...and narrowed in rage, his claws flicking as he moved back into a combat stance...
Then the bomb beeped.
Both warriors looked over at it, their concentration broken as they stared at the small console attached to the weapon.
Then Saren took a step backwards, right claw pointing at Michael as he hissed: "Next time Shepard, next time..."
Turning the Turian ran right for the ledge of the room...and leapt out of sight.
Michael wasted no time, the human too running for the ledge...only to slide to a stop before the bomb and the ruined Kaidan, hand shooting up to his ear, voice shaking in a panic he hadn't allowed himself until then: "This is Shepard! We require immediate retrieval of wounded! Come down on my position! NOW!"
"Roger that, Commander!" Joker called out, the pilot hearing the need, Tali could almost hear the throttle of the Normandy already...
"Kaidan!" Michael's gaze darted from the console to the lieutenant before he dropped onto his knees next to the man, hands darting to the wound in the man's abdomen even as he stared at his ruined face. "The bomb! There's only three minutes left! Ashley...we have to stop it! How do I stop it!" His hands moved to Kaidan's collar, gripping it tightly as he gave the man a shake: "Tell me!"
A wet gurgle...and the Lieutenant stirred, voice a ruined whisper: "Can't...blocked..." A cough, the man's voice so different...barely understandable. "...fried the controls...couldn't let Saren...God..."
Michael's shoulders shook, his grip on Kaidan tightening even as his eyes widened with the realisation: "What do you mean fried! We have to-!"
Kaidan's right hand shot up, gripping Michael's shoulder, Kaidan's ruined mouth moving, filled with bitterness and anguish: "You were supposed...to get Ashley...why..." Michael paled, the man's lips trembling even as the Normandy appeared with a roar of engines, the ship hovering just past the open wall as its ramp came down onto the pedestal.
Tali however, could only see the two men, watching with horror as Kaidan, ruined face moving as his grip on Michael's shoulder tightened, spoke: "Y-you were supposed to get her...get her...why didn't...you...?"
"I..." Michael's mouth hung half-open, eyes dim and distant as he stared at the ruined face of the Lieutenant, unable to answer as his body shook with horror.
Then crew were running down the ramp, two jumping down next to Michael and with horrified faces gripping Kaidan's shoulders as they, with muttered prayers, hoisted him up onto the ramp to two others with a stretcher. Yet Kaidan's mouth continued to move, an accusatory whisper: "Why didn't...you were supposed to get...her..."
Michael only sat there on his knees, staring at the bloodied spot where Kaidan's head had lain...as his hands begun to shake.
Keelah no...
"I'm fine..." Garrus coughed, the Turian's arms over the shoulders of two men as the pulled the man covered in his own blue blood towards the ramp. The others busy digging up a cursing Wrex out of the wreckage even as a crying Liara limped after them, hands clutching the wound across her abdomen from which purple blood continued to flow like water.
Then he was on his feet, a shoulder plate falling off him even as blood poured from his wounds, turning his broken armour crimson rather then black. His stance stiff and defiant as he leant down and picked up Kaidan's forgotten pistol, hand still on his ear as he changed frequency: "Williams, this is Shadow, we have three minutes, but I'm coming."
A crewman moved towards him, only for Michael to shake the offered hand off as he began to limp and stumble towards the door he'd come from.
Two pairs of hands gripped Tali's arms, helping her up, yet the assuring words of her helpers was nothing but a buzz as she watched Michael come to a stop as Ashley's voice came through a crackle of static: "It would take you ten minutes to even get here, Michael..."
The pistol fell out of Michael's hand, his body going very still.
Tali, dragged backwards towards the Normandy, watched as Michael's shoulders began to shake, his voice no better: "I...t-the No-Normandy could..."
Ashley's voice was but a soft whisper: "No chief...no room here...no time either...we both know that." Hesitation, then a shaky whisper: "Don't...don't blame yourself now...it's okay..."
"NO!" Michael violently shook his head even as a hand moved up to his hair, gripping tightly at it as he swayed: "W-we co-could..."
"No...Michael, please..." Ashley's voice was tiny...but not out of fear or grief, just...sympathy. "...go."
Silence.
Then Michael slid to his knees...shoulders slumping...head dropping...defeated...and anguish gripped Tali's heart.
No...
Ashley's voice was soft, calm: "I'll always..." Silence, then a small smile in her voice: "...goodbye Mike."
"A-Ashley?" Michael whispered, hand in his ear shaking, trying to reopen communications...but the woman had shut them down. "Ashley!"
From the dark of the cargo hold Tali watched, unable to move, unable to help...as two crewmen rushed over to the man and gripped his shoulders, pulling the now limp man back to the ship.
He didn't resist, he couldn't resist, broken. All he could do was scream, a loud, anguished scream.
"ASHLEY!"
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Thanks to Abydos Jackson for bearing through this one.