"Shepard!" Tali ran to Shepard's side. His broken body lay against a stone pillar. "Shepard..." Tears began to stream down her face. Shepard was clinging to life, blood was pouring out of his mouth. He lifted his arm to touch the side of her helmet but his arm fell back down limp as he continued to slip in and out of consciousness.
The loud humming of engines filled the sky. Tali and Wrex looked to the sky to see drop ships sporting Blur Suns and Blood Pack insignias descending from the clouds. Garrus who still stood at the tip top of the coliseum, was stunned when he noticed the ships. Circular hatches opened under the drop ships and tube-like pods began to fall from the sky and land all around the field. Blood pack Krogan and Vorcha as well as Blue Suns humans, Turians, and Batarians broke out of the pods and began to unleash a hail of bullets. Wrex pulled his assault rifle from his back and fired into the large groups of enemy troops as he stepped back to meet Tali over by Shepard. Tali quickly dragged Shepard's body behind a collapsed pillar for cover. Wrex lifted Grunt over his shoulder and ran to meet them behind it.
...
Vido observed the firefight through his monitor. "Kill Shepard! Annihilate anything that gets in your way!"
...
Wreav watched the scene from the balcony and yelled out to the crowds. "Rise up, brothers! Destroy our enemies!" With that more half of the spectating Krogan were revealed to be carrying concealed weapons of all sorts. The ones on the lower section of the coliseum jumped from their seats to the field below to fire upon the charging mercs. Those without concealed weapons either abandoned the coliseum or made their way down to charge ferociously at the mercs.
Garrus pulled a steel arrow from his pack, connected it to a long cable, and loaded it into his rifle. He sighted down his weapon's scope and took careful aim at the stone pillar in the center of the field where Tali and Wrex were firing blind shots at the mercs. He fired; direct hit! Garrus then took another steel pike and stabbed into the stone which he tied the other end of the cable to. Using a handlebar like object he began to slide down the zip line at an alarming speed. When he was more than halfway down, a Blue Suns sniper caught sight of him and fired a shot directly at the cable causing it to snap. Garrus' mandibles flared as he began to fall from 30 feet in the air. He managed to break his fall with a roll and then dove over a rubble pile into cover with Wrex and Tali.
"You sure took your sweet time, Turian." Wrex said turning at Garrus.
"Sorry, had to take out the trash first." Garrus replied. Wrex turned his attention back to the fight and leaned out of cover to fire off a few bursts which managed to hit a couple of Blue Suns mercenaries in the head.
"Well there's a lot more where that came from!" Wrex said with chuckle. Tali leaned out of cover occasionally to fire pot shots into the squads of mercs that began to turn their attention to two fronts as the many clans of Krogan demolished their forces from behind. However they were quickly replaced by more and more drop ships that flew overhead and dropped in reinforcements. Tali activated a grenade and threw it at a pack of Vorcha on the front line. They screeched in anger just when the grenade exploded sending their bloody giblets flying everywhere. She then knelt down to tend to Shepard.
"Shepard, you have to stay awake!" she exclaimed. Shepard's head moved about trying to respond and stay conscious but his life was fading quickly.
Garrus activated his comm. "Legion we need evac now!" He waited a moment for a response but none was heard. "Legion where the hell are you! It's raining mercs over here!" No response. "Dammit!" Tali turned to Garrus.
"He's not going to make it if we don't get him medical attention right away!" Tali then reached into her pack to pull out a packet of medi-gel. She glazed every wound she could see on Shepard's body but it did little to help the internet injuries. "Hold on Shepard! please hold on!" She cried grabbing his hand and squeezing it hard.
"We can't hold here forever! Those drop ships just keep coming!" Garrus leaned out and sighted down his rifle. He aimed at a Blood pack Krogan who prepared a rocket launcher. Garrus fired one shot at the weapon destroying it. The Krogan roared in anger and then Garrus fired several more shots into the Krogan's head, depleting his shields and piercing his brain. The Krogan fell the ground with blood oozing from the holes in his head and mouth. Suddenly Garrus noticed a figure standing next to him. It was Grunt. The Krogan grabbed Garrus' pistol from his holster with his uninjured hand and began to fire at the advancing mercs. Garrus stared wide eyed in shock at the tank-bred. Grunt then yelled in his face.
"Are you just gonna sit there? Get the Normandy to do something about those drop ships!"
Garrus broke from his trance to contact the Normandy.
"Joker, we're under heavy fire from Blue Suns and Blood Pack mercenaries! Shepard's been hit and we can't evac! These drop ships just keep coming! They're probably being deployed from orbit, can you help us out?"
...
"You copy that, EDI?" Joker said turning to the AI's holo-display.
"I've detected two light cruisers in low orbit over their position. They are deploying more landing craft."
"That must be it! Get us over there and be ready to crack some hull!" The Normandy soared through space to the coordinates. Through the helm windows Joker could make out the shapes of the two cruisers. One sported a Blue Suns insignia while the other was clearly Blood Pack.
"EDI, fire up the Thanix!" Immediately the Blood Pack cruiser, the closer of the two, detected the small frigate began to fire it's side cannons at the Normandy.
"Brace for evasive maneuvers!" Joker yelled. The Normandy performed a series of turns and spins to avoid the large slugs and then changed direction towards the Blood Pack cruiser's bridge.
Joker pounded on the controls. "Take this!" The twin cannons descended from the nose of the Normandy and fired a bright blue beam directly into the ship's bridge. The beam managed to pierce all the way through and out the other end of the ship and then it began an orbital decay as a series of smaller explosions rocked the outside of the hull. Vido, watching from the Blue Suns cruiser, gasped at the sight. "Shit! Break off! Get us into FTL now!" The Blue Suns cruiser began to change direction.
"The other cruiser is retreating Jeff." said EDI.
"Not if I can help it!" Joker quickly turned the Normandy to pursue the vessel but it was too late. They quickly jumped into FTL and vanished from sight.
"Normandy to ground team, problem solved." Joker said over the comm.
"Good work" replied Garrus over the comm.
...
Garrus and Wrex as well as the many clans of Krogan began to mop up the rest of the mercs while Tali struggled to keep Shepard alive. The merc's numbers were being thinned out quickly. The Kodiak shuttle suddenly zoomed over the wall of the coliseum and began a slow descent toward their position. Small arms fire did nothing but dent the hull of the shuttle. When it landed near them the hatch opened and Legion stepped out, firing its rifle at the mercs. It managed to hit a Batarian soldier in the chest and shoulder, dropping him dead.
"Initiating cover fire! Recommend retreat!" Legion stated. Wrex ran over to Tali and shoved her aside. He lifted Shepard onto his shoulder and walked over to the shuttle as Garrus, Tali, and Grunt provided cover fire. When he made it to the shuttle door he handed Shepard over to Legion who layed him on the floor inside the shuttle. Garrus, Tali and Grunt all jumped in but Wrex backed away and continued to fire.
"Get him out of here!" Wrex yelled. Tali leaned out of the hatch.
"We're not leaving you!"
"My place is here! I'm not running from a battle! NOW GO!" Wrex then shoved her back in the shuttle and hit the hatch controls, closing the shuttles hatch. He ran back to cover as he watched to Kodiak disappear into the clouds.
...
Legion piloted the shuttle back to the Normandy while Tali sat in the back knelt down on the floor beside Shepard. Garrus looked in the back compartment of the shuttle and noticed two Blood Pack Krogan tied up and unconscious. He then walked up the cockpit and sat down in the co-pilots chair next to Legion.
"Who are they?" He said pointing to the back of the shuttle.
"Krogan-Blood Pack. They attempted to commandeer the shuttle. We subdued them. We apologize for delay of extraction." Garrus peered into the back to see Tali tending to Shepard. He then turned to the synthetic again.
"If Shepard makes it you won't need to be sorry..."
...
The shuttle flew into the open cargo bay of the Normandy and docked inside. Garrus and Tali held Shepard over their shoulders as they stepped out. Chakwas and Mordin were already waiting with a stretcher. The Doctor scanned him with her omni-tool.
"Several broken ribs. One is protruding into his lung, we need to get him to med bay now!" They rushed Shepard to the crew deck into med bay and layed him across a medical bed. Chakwas immediately went to work.
"Professor! I need your expertise!" She yelled to Mordin who stood at the door of the med bay. He rushed to one side of the bed and Chakwas stood opposite. Shepard began to convulse, the pain was immense. Chakwas grabbed an oxygen mask and placed it over his mouth while Mordin used the surgical laser to cut his chest armor off. When they opened his shirt they were met with the sight of dozens of purple and red bruises. The tip of one rib was also protruding from his chest.
"His lung is collapsing! The air is escaping into his chest!" exclaimed Chakwas. Tali watched from the sideline in horror. She was in complete shock, trembling where she stood as tears blurred her vision.
"We need to patch his lung before..." Chawkwas was interrupted by the rapid beeping of the vitals monitor. Shepard began to convulse harder, struggling to breathe.
"Pulmonary Arrest! He's going into shock!" yelled Chakwas Tali ran over to the bed.
"Shepard!" Mordin shoved her back and Garrus grabbed her by the arms to pull her away. Shepard gave one last jerk and then stopped altogether. The pulse monitor flat lined.
"Defibrillators!" Chakwas yelled. Mordin grabbed a pair from the table and handed them to Chakwas.
"Clear!" She shocked him causing his back to arch as his body jolted. The pulse monitor was quiet for less then a second then again flat lined. Tali fell to her knees and sobbed hard.
"Shepard! Shepard!" She cried.
"Adrenaline!" Mordin handed Doctor Chakwas a syringe. She stabbed it directly into his heart but nothing happened. She lifted the defibrillators again.
"No change. Clear!" She shouted once again. Suddenly the flat line changed to show a pulse but it was rapid. They had to work fast while he remained alive unconscious. Tali looked up at the table and felt slight relief. Garrus lifted her up and walked her out of the med bay while Chakwas and Mordin performed emergency surgery. When they were outside the med bay Tali fell into Garrus' arms and weaped heavily. Garrus held her but didn't say a word. He knew nothing would comfort her. He could only feel useless as she continued to sob uncontrollably.
"He...he promised...he c-can't break his promise..." She whispered into his chest. Garrus began to feel her emotions transferring onto him. It was like they were reliving the day Shepard died two years ago. Garrus was a tough individual. He was able to move past that day easily and get on with his life, but the emotional scaring that affected Tali had not yet fully healed. And now here they were. He was dying all over again...
Garrus lifted his head to see Grunt round the corner holding his broken hand. He had a look on his face he had never seen before, almost as if he wanted to express his regret but wasn't soft enough to let the words slip. Garrus let go of Tali and she turned to see what Garrus was looking at. The sorrow was instantly replaced by rage when she gazed upon the one who had possibly killed her love. She clenched her fist and quickly drew her shotgun; taking aim at his head and walking slowly over to him. After glaring into his eyes for a moment she hit him as hard as she could with the butt of her weapon. Grunt fell on his back and tried to lift himself back up but stopped when he saw her Eviscerator shotgun inches from his face.
"You...you killed him! You!" Tali stood over him, finger on the trigger. She wanted to do it, she wanted to kill him so badly. To watch the orange blood gush from his head as the metal pellets shredded his cranium. It would be so easy, and then she would have avenged Shepard. But no. What would Shepard think? He fell in love with the timid, kind individual she was. She heard Shepard's words in her head. The words he had spoken the night before they infiltrated the Bermuda.
"I haven't given up on him." The words were so vivid. Her arm began to tremble as she slowly started to squeeze the trigger. Grunt looked into the barrel of her shotgun with no emotion, he was ready to die. But then Tali slowly let her finger off of the trigger. She moved the shotgun closer to his face. So close that the barrel was touching his nose.
She looked into his eyes. "The only reason you're still alive is because of Shepard! Because of the man in that room that is fighting for his life because of what you did to him!" Her voice was full of distress. Tears came back to her eyes. In her emotional breakdown she dropped her shotgun and backed away falling back on he knees. Garrus knelt down and placed his hands on her shoulders to try and comfort her. Grunt rose to his feet and walked away. There was nothing he could say that would redeem him from this. He may have killed the only being in the galaxy who would ever care what happens to a savage like him.