Chapter 14:
Kennedy's Stand
As the MSV Kennedy limped through space, the enemy ship closed in, coming alongside the battered ship and extending docking clamps. As they grabbed onto the Kennedy, the ship's momentum halted with a lurch. Several drills designed to breach hulls erected into position and began chipping away at the already weakened armor of the once-proud ship. Hollister watched over the situation from his CIC, a small smile on his face.

Inside the Kennedy, chaos erupted. People hurried to any locker with a weapon in it and passed out as many as were available. A few crewmen were left without, and were immediately ordered to the escape pods. Shepard got his hands on a shotgun. It would only work well at close range, which would be fine considering the location of the battle. Callus had his sniper rifle, though the scope was still collapsed.

Tense moments passed, every soldier (and some who weren't) daring to only breathe. They kept their eyes on the inner hull, waiting for the inevitable breach. The drills outside did their work, noisily grinding into the Kennedy's hull. Behind them, Cerberus troops floated toward the breach points, grabbing onto the drills to steady themselves.

As the breach completed, kinetic barriers activated over the holes to protect the crew inside from the vacuum of space. A drawback to this was that they would also prevent anything on the outside from getting inside. Luckily for the boarding team, there were a dozen biotics able to hold the barriers open long enough to let the troops inside. As soon as the barrier was ripped, air from the ship's life support began to be violently sucked out into oblivion. The troops moved quickly into each of the holes, trying to get into the ship before any of the biotics lost their grip. One trooper, the last for his breach, was unlucky enough to only get his head and torso into the ship before the barrier was replaced, separating his top and bottom halves and killing him nearly instantly.

Time slowed as the crew of the Kennedy raised their weapons to fire on the intruders. Every person on the ship had a single thought on their mind: survive. A panicked Alliance operator fired the first shot, and battle really began. Bullets flew all over the ship, the majority of it concentrated in the CIC. Casualties began to quickly mount for both sides, with the distinct difference that the Cerberus troops could call in reinforcements. Every so often, the kinetic barriers would be ripped open again, and more soldiers would flood into the Kennedy's corridors.

Shepard was grappling with a Cerberus grunt that got too close when Foster yelled over the noise, "Shepard! Orion! Get down to the lower decks! Keep them away from the engine room!"

Shepard and Callus immediately moved toward the mess hall in the lower deck, assisting Alliance troops against the still-advancing Cerberus soldiers at every opportunity. As they reached the mess hall, they noticed a particularly heavy firefight in the mess hall, with Alenko trying his best to keep the Alliance soldiers safe. However, they were getting overwhelmed. Silently, Shepard and Callus agreed to help them out.

The two moved in quickly and caught the troops off guard, easily dispatching of a quarter of them before the others took notice. The sight of them boosted the morale of the Alliance squad and the group dispatched the rest of the troops on the crew deck.

After the skirmish was over, Shepard went to Kaiden and nodded. "You got this?" he asked.

Alenko glared at him, still remembering his stunt on Earth. "We didn't need your help," he muttered.

Shepard shook his head. "You're welcome," he replied bitterly.

"Shepard," Callus interrupted. "Engine deck."

Shepard nodded, and the two made their way to the engine room. Inside, the assassin had just finished killing the last guard in the area. "You," Callus muttered, his eyes darkening with a murderous intent

The assassin wasn't happy to see them either. "You two just wot die, will you?" he snarled.

Callus ran forward, firing his sniper rifle at the assassin before turning it around and swinging the butt at his face. The assassin ducked and threw a punch to Callus' gut, but before it connected, Shepard caught it with his arm and hooked him in the face.

Instead of fear, the assassin showed amusement. "Two-on-one?" he smirked. "You should have brought more."

"Let's see you fight me with my hands untied, you son of a bitch," Callus threw back before lunging again. Shepard followed suit, though he tried to be a bit more methodical about his attack approach. As the assassin blocked a heavy blow by Callus, Shepard threw a kick to the back of his knee, which he easily avoided. Callus regained his footing and attacked the killer again, going for his throat. As he did this, Shepard punched at his gut. Both shots were blocked relatively easily, and he shoved them away with a surprising amount of strength. Shepard was sent careening into the guard rail by the core, knocking the wind out of him.

The assassin then jumped in the air and spin, lashing out with his right foot as he did so. The roundhouse kick connected with his only remaining opponent, and Callus was sent crashing to the floor. The assassin smiled, victory clearly his. He looked down and saw Callus' sniper on the ground. "Nice gun," he said, bending over to pick it up.
Seeing the smug bastard with his father's rifle stirred something primal in Callus. He leapt to his feet and crashed into the human, sending them both into the guard rail, breaking it and making them both fall over the edge. Callus managed to grab a pipe in the floor, and the assassin was able to grab Callus' ankles. A fall this close to the core would kill them both; they both knew it. But Callus wasn't planning on dying today.

Seeing his father's rifle close to his hand, he reached out and grabbed the collapsed weapon, activating it and pointing it at the assassin's face. "This is mine, asshole," he said through gritted teeth before pulling the trigger.

The shot killed the assassin instantly. He fell into the core, which shredded him into a thousand pieces. It also took a bit of Callus' foot. The pain was so intense, Callus lost his grip on the platform. Before he could really fall, though, Shepard grabbed his wrist. "Give me your other hand!" he shouted. Callus tried to collapse the rifle, but it wouldn't respond. "Callus! You've got to let it go! I can't pull you up like this!"

Callus thought for a moment, trying to numb the pain while weighing his options. Keep the family heirloom, or live? He couldn't do both. Finally he closed his eyes. Forgive me, Father, he thought before dropping the rifle and grabbing Shepard's other hand.

Using all his strength, Shepard pulled Callus onto the platform. They both sat there for a moment, reveling in their victory, and trying to catch their breath. Callus applied a dose of medi-gel to his wound, stopping the bleeding and revealing a gaping hole in the side of his foot. Shepard noticed this and said with concern, "Are you going to be okay?"

Callus chuckled slightly. "I'll live. Stings like a bitch, though."

Shepard echoed his chuckle. "I'll bet. Getting shot tends to hurt."

Over the PA, an all-too-familiar voice interrupted them. "Shepard." The hair on Shepard's neck rose immediately. It was him. "Staff Lieutenant John Shepard. You've done quite well for yourself, haven't you? Seems like so long ago I killed the woman you loved. And now, in about to do the same to your captain."

"Go fuck yourself, Cerberus prick- AAGH!" Foster yelled as a gunshot was heard.

"Captain Foster, please refrain from speaking out of turn. Or else I'll have to shoot your other knee." His focus then returned to Shepard. "Meet me in the CIC, or he dies now."

Shepard immediately began running to the stairs, Callus in tow. Shepard noticed the turian and spun around. "What are you doing?" he demanded.

"I'm going with you."

"Not with your injury," Shepard replied. Before Callus could argue, he continued, "Get to the escape pods and meet up with the rest of the crew. I'll get the captain and we'll follow."

Callus looks like he want to argue he point further, but he simply lowered his eyes and nodded before moving to the escape pods. Shepard ran up the stairs toward the CIC. As he ran, his mind raced. Hollister was alive. He was here. He was... different. The cocky young bastard was replaced with an older, more serious man. And now he was here, ready to fuck with him some more.

At the CIC, Shepard stopped cold. A kinetic barrier had erected between him and his goal, but he saw him. For the first time in eleven years, Shepard was face-to-face with Michael Hollister.