Kaidan looked back at Jenkins' body and frowned. He'd been training with the fun-loving marine for nearly a year, putting up with the corporal's pranks for just as long; it didn't feel real that he was dead. Jenkins had been nervous, certainly, but Kaidan could understand. This is his home, and he wanted to defend it. I'm not sure whether the Commander or Nihlus helped any, either, considering his infatuation with Spectres, and his fear of Shepard. He thought, walking after the Commander, who'd slowly, cautiously made her way a little ahead of him.
At least she said he'd get a proper burial when this is over. That was…surprising. We can't just leave him like that…his thoughts were interrupted by Shepard signaling him to move to cover across from her. Her eyes are just…cold? She's been so calm this whole time. I don't know if she even felt anything when Jenkins died. As he rolled to cover, he saw her advance slightly, noticing the same duo of flying drones that he did. She popped her head out of cover for a few seconds, long enough to grab their attention, and ducked back down, signaling to Kaidan to ready his aim. He nodded and took a deep breath before peeking out behind his tree and taking aim at the nearest drone. Shepard fired her shotgun into the air, grazing a drone, before slipping from cover and double-tapping the farther drone, her back completely turned to the closest one, which Kaidan finished off quickly.
She's too reckless! He thought, a small pit of anger growing inside him as he rushed up to her. "Commander, what are you thinking?" he asked as calmly as he could striding beside her. "We just saw Jenkins get downed by some of those things, and you turn your back to them?"
Shepard kept staring straight ahead, moving from cover to cover. "Alenko, are you saying the trust I have in you is misplaced?" she asked flatly, sounding almost bored. "There were only two drones. I grazed one and wrecked the other, trusting that you'd be trained with a pistol or your biotics enough to take out the damaged one. It was a calculated risk, and now I'm sure that you can at least be trusted here."
"I'm just saying, it was a bit crazy, ma'am." He noted, not sure whether her putting trust in him was a compliment or not.
"Missions like this, you need to be efficient. Just follow my lead and you'll be fine, Lieutenant." She stated, holding her hand up to him as she stopped. "I'm sorry I can't give you any time to grieve, but this is bigger than us right now. Let's get this done, alright?"
Kaidan felt himself nod, but he couldn't help but wonder about the Commander's actions. She says she wants to be efficient, but she's not using her biotics at all…what exactly does efficient mean to her?
Far off ahead of them, he heard the familiar sound of an assault rifle echo through the forest they'd been trudging through. By the time he had looked at Shepard, she was racing off ahead of him. "I don't think I'm going to find out anytime soon", he grumbled to himself as he chased off after her. Soon, a marine came into view, dashing toward them and veering off behind a nearby rock for cover, a number of bipedal robots in pursuit.
Shepard darted past the rock and the exhausted looking marine and biotically charged into the pack of robots, sending them flying through the air toward where they'd come from. Well, it looks like she has this covered. He thought, quickly making his way to the marine. Her armor was chipped in spots, covered in blood and mud, and a nauseating pink and white colour pattern. The marine was too busy catching her breath and clutching her rifle to notice Kaidan's arrival. He pulled out a canister of water from his pack and held it in front of her face. It only took a moment for her to realize what it was and grab it from his hands, uncorking the top and downing a few gulps of it before she offered it back.
"You looked like you needed it." He said, noticing the gunfire had stopped.
"Thanks for your help. I didn't think I was gonna make it." She said, breathing heavily still. "Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams of the 212. You the one in charge here, sir?"
As he was about to answer, Shepard strolled around into cover beside them, pulling out an energy bar and taking a bite of it. "Are you wounded, Williams?"
The woman shook her head somberly, her eyes having difficulty moving away from the N7 on the Commander's chestplate. "A few scrapes and burns. Nothing serious. The others weren't so lucky."
"What happened here?" Shepard asked, Williams trailing her gaze to Kaidan and then back to the Commander. Kaidan wanted to tell her to introduce herself to the marine, but he wasn't sure it would win him any favour from the Commander.
"Oh man… we were patrolling the perimeter when the attack hit. We tried to get off a distress call, but they cut our comms down pretty quickly. I've been fighting for my life ever since." Receiving a nod from Shepard, she continued. "We…we tried to double back to the beacon. My Lieutenant, he'd set up some defenses near it and ordered us to fall back but…it was a slaughter. They ambushed us…I don't think any of the others…I think I'm the only one left." She finished dejectedly, head bowed in what Kaidan could only expect was shame.
Shepard took a light hold of William's shoulder and leant in toward her, surprising Kaidan. "Williams, don't blame yourself. This isn't your fault. You're dealing with an unknown enemy and they understandably got the jump on you. You couldn't have saved them."
"I…yes, ma'am. We held our positions until we were overrun, but…I think they were geth, ma'am." Williams said quietly. Kaidan recoiled at the notion. It can't be…that's impossible!
"The geth haven't been seen outside the veil in nearly two hundred years. Why would they be here now? Are you sure this isn't eclipse?" Kaidan asked skeptically. Ashley shrugged.
"I remember seeing diagrams of them when I was on course a while back, learning some inter-species tolerance stuff, history of galactic politics...I'm pretty sure it's them. I think they came here for the beacon. The dig site's close, just over that rise. That's where we set up our defenses, but…" Ash explained, before Shepard gently pushed Williams' rifle into the marine's chest.
"Williams, we could use your help. All I ask of you is that you pull the trigger at any geth you see. Myself and Alenko will take lead, you cover our backs. Sound good?" Shepard asked, glancing back at him. Alenko nodded at the suggestion. Three's better than two, and so long as she isn't pushed too hard, she might be alright, but losing her whole unit…
"Aye aye, ma'am. It's time for some payback." Williams declared, stepping in behind the Commander as she moved out of cover and toward the dig site. Kaidan looked around as the three of them pushed forward, grimacing at the wreckage and slaughter around him. This was a paradise, but…all the burned trees, the destruction and ruins of buildings, the…hell, that arcology building's been sliced in half! Just…where are all the bodies? I see soldiers, but not many civilians…maybe there's some hope…
He noticed the pink and white marine fall back beside him and nudge his side, disrupting his thoughts for a moment.
"So…who's she, exactly?" Williams asked, warily. "Not often I see an N7 walking around. First time, really."
"I'm sorry she forgot to introduce herself. She's Commander…Shepard of the SSV Normandy." Kaidan noted apologetically, Williams' eyes widening at his words. He noticed the Commander had stopped up ahead of them at a large opening. "Let's go see what's up."
As they approached, Shepard turned around; the anger that had erupted across her face left him surprised for what seemed to be too many times in a single day.
"Just got a call from Nihlus, said he's on his way to the spaceport now. The beacon's obviously not here, so it'll probably be there…we should try to catch up to him. But first, Williams, this is where your commanding officer had you fall back to?" Shepard asked, a distinct edge in her voice. Williams nodded slowly.
"Yeah, we came here to defend the beacon." Ash said quietly, Shepard walking right up to her.
"Do you notice anything wrong with this setup? How long did you stay here before leaving?" Shepard asked, though it sounded more like a demand to Kaidan than anything else. Williams took a few seconds to consider her answer.
"It's in a pit, and the path down from the hill to the dig site circles around our defenses. There are support pillars nearby that would be useful cover for any attackers." Ashley answered, sounding annoyed. Shepard nodded vigorously.
"Your commanding officer was absolutely inept and led you to slaughter. Don't blame yourself for this, Williams. A well placed grenade would have you scrambling out of there, and they could fire from any direction and hit exposed marines. This was a deathtrap to defend. That you survived it is credit to your ability. You did all you could." Shepard stated, seeming to calm slightly as she ranted. "Now come on, we've got a beacon to take back and some geth to kill."
He followed Shepard and a somewhat relieved looking Williams up the path onto the hill, overlooking a bloodstained field and a few smoldering buildings, the vague outline of the spaceport visible off in the distance. As the trio approached a less damaged prefab building, he heard Williams call out.
"Oh God, what the hell did they do?!" she exclaimed, drawing his and Shepard's attention to a number of large metal spikes assembled far to their left. Kaidan gasped, spotting limp, discoloured bodies atop them. "Why…why would they…impale them? Oh my God."
Kaidan shook his head as the three stepped cautiously closer. "Classic psychological warfare. They're using terror as a weapon." He noted, taking a better look at one of the bodies, which slowly began to be lowered to the ground, causing them to wriggle and flail their limbs. "Oh God, they're still alive!"
"You two, get behind me, they could be a threat." Shepard warned, readying her shotgun as she moved up close to one of the bodies that was just getting to ground level as the spike retracted fully. She paused for a moment and then pulled the trigger at it, exploding the grayish blue body into goop.
"Kill them!" she ordered, pivoting and unleashing another blast at a second of the blue figures. Kaidan stood back, unable to process what was happening as he witnessed several of the impaled bodies struggle off their platforms and stumble quickly toward the Commander, letting out monstrous guttural howls. He saw Williams open fire at a duo headed toward her, their bodies disintegrating as her bullets impacted their torso. "Alenko!"
His attention flew back to the Commander, engaged in hand to hand against a half dozen of the disfigured bodies, slicing off limbs with her knife as if they were made of butter, the body parts seeming to melt into puddles of goop and wires as they hit the ground. One held her in place, an electrical aura erupting around it as the thing unleashed a loud moan. He readied a stasis and threw it at one of the husks, allowing Shepard to quickly finish off the rest, free from its grapple.
Satisfied that they were all safe, Kaidan relaxed for a moment before realizing Shepard was marching up to him. "Alenko. What part of 'Kill them' did you not understand?" she asked icily, wiping more goop off of herself.
Kaidan shook his head and straightened his posture. No way I'm getting reamed out for this. "Commander, why did you shoot first? These were probably bodies of civilians, they could have been saved!"
Shepard let out laugh in disgust. "They were goop held together by tubes and wires, Alenko. Whatever they were once, they couldn't ever be again. They're zombies, basically. Husks held together by all that shit, grey bodies because their blood was all gone. Not human. Not anymore. Just husks." She took another step toward him and placed both hands on his shoulders. "I'm going to need you on the same page if we're going to get through this. I need to know I can trust you. We work as a team. If you have something to say, say it, because it might be a good idea. If you have concerns, air them, but in the meantime, don't stop watching your team's back. That's how people die, Alenko."
Kaidan nodded, wanting to be right, but he'd seen the evidence. "Well, at least we know what those spikes are for now…turning our dead against us."
Shepard stared straight into his eyes, and for a moment he thought he saw rage swirling through them; one blink and it was gone. "Well, we better make sure we get this done asap so that less people are defiled, Alenko."
Williams walked up to them slowly and gestured off toward the prefab they'd been heading to. "I helped some people in there while my unit fell back. We should check and see if they're alright, ma'am."
"Good call, Williams." She said, turning her gaze back to Alenko. "Let's go."
Kaidan fell in alongside them and wondered whether or not they'd catch up to the beacon, considering the detour. Well, maybe Nihlus is having better luck than we are…
The whole thing's a bloody mess, Shepard thought to herself, moving as quickly as she could toward the spaceport. Even if civilians are alive, most of them are going nuts and have lost their minds. Something's seriously not right about this. I haven't heard from Nihlus in a while either…
It hadn't been a good day for Commander Shepard. She'd lost a member of her crew, witnessed some of the worst defense tactics she'd ever seen, which had gotten nearly an entire unit of good marines killed, and she'd seen firsthand what the civilians had been mutated into by the geth. On top of that, the beacon had been taken; as far as she was concerned, the small covert mission would almost be a waste without it. At least we've got Williams. We just need to get to the spaceport, hopefully Nihlus will have something for us…oh, fuck.
As she approached the lip of the hill, she spotted a horde of geth and husks gathered around the spaceport and the base of the hill, with a good number of the robots piling in toward the spaceport's tram. She scanned her surroundings, looking for cover, when she spotted Nihlus hiding behind a pre-fab beside the port. Let's give you some room, Spectre…
"Alenko, Williams. I'll need you to get behind that wrecked hover pallet for cover. On the count of three, you toss as many grenades as you can afford down into that pack. Once that's done, I'll need you to use some lifts on larger groups as they make it up the hill, Alenko. Maybe a throw here and there. Williams, just shoot like you mean it, and don't stop." Shepard said, tossing their new recruit a mod for her gun. "Helps spread out your heat so you can shoot longer. Now get into positions. I want everyone watching each other's back until the threat's over."
Kaidan looked to the group and then back to her. "Commander, there's too many of them. We need to wait for the geth to pile away."
"Negative" she said, shaking her head. "I know it's a risk, Alenko, but I don't see a beacon down there. That means it's probably on the tram, about to be whisked away. We've got a Spectre down there waiting for a shot, we need to provide a distraction so he can sneak past them. We land a strong initial volley and we'll have them at a disadvantage. We've got high ground and cover, which should swing the odds in our favour."
At that, the lieutenant hesitantly nodded, and she received a confirmation from Williams. Shepard counted down with her fingers and smiled as the three of them launched a number of grenades into the field below, detonating and sending dozens of Geth and Husks spiraling wildly into the air, shrapnel exploding into the pack and reducing many of the husks to goop.
The chaos didn't last long as a dozen geth and at least as many husks rampaged up the hill; the husks as the vanguard, while the geth held back providing cover fire. She could hear Williams yell obscenities at their enemies, cutting the husks down at their knees while Kaidan lifted a small pack of the robots behind them, allowing for Shepard to use her new Stinger heavy pistol to shoot the limp, floating geth down one by one.
"Commander!" Kaidan yelled over Williams' gunfire, grabbing Shepard's attention as she sat behind cover, her pistol cooling. "Nihlus is down there with another Turian!"
"What?!" Shepard yelled out, peeking her head around the corner and firing off another shot at an oncoming husk. Her eyes scanned from where Nihlus was to a small ledge on the spaceport, where two turians were seemingly having a heated discussion. She popped back into cover and switched to her trusty firestorm shotgun. Looks like we might have some company…
"Shepard! Nihlus is down, and that other turian's heading toward the tram!" Kaidan yelled throwing back two husks that had gotten a few feet too close, hurtling them through the air down to the base of the hill. Shepard spun around her cover and raced downhill, charging through four of the remaining seven geth, bursting them into shrapnel as she peppered oncoming husks with shotgun blasts. Peeking over her shoulder as she reached the bottom of the hill, she smiled. Only two geth and a few dazed husks. They'll be fine.
She made her way quickly up the stairs and looked over to where Nihlus's corpse laid, his head having been splattered into bits all across the steel walkway. Well, fuck. Add a dead Spectre to the list and today just keeps getting worse. She thought, racing toward the tram in time to get a glimpse of the other turian. Real strange fringe on that one…he looks kind of cybernetic, too…
Soon after checking Nihlus' body again for any clues or audio recordings on his omni, she heard Alenko and Williams make their way over to her. Shepard stood up and nodded at the duo. "Good work you two, thanks for taking care of the rest when I took off, I had to get a closer look at who killed Nihlus. I've got good news and bad news."
"I'll take the good news first ma'am, if you don't mind." Williams stated tiredly. She's been through a lot today. I hope we can get this over with soon so she can get some rest.
" Good news is I got a good look at that turian, so I might be able to recognize him if someone gives me some holos to look from. He seemed to know Nihlus, because I doubt Nihlus would let himself get shot in the back of the head like he did. Also, we worked like a team, and mopped up. Seriously, be proud of yourselves." Shepard stated, offering a smile to her two companions.
"And the bad news?" Kaidan asked, warily.
"Bad news is that a bunch of geth and that turian left on the tram, probably with the beacon. That means we need to wait for the tram to get back here before we pursue. I sent Anderson a message and he's trying to figure out what's going on while we wait, so…we'll have to wait a few minutes. Not good for them to have such a time advantage on us." Shepard said, dejectedly.
"Who was the turian, anyway?" Williams asked, peeking round Shepard at the body.
"A Spectre accompanying us on this mission." Shepard stated, shrugging. "He was a bit of a jerk, but I don't think he deserved this. He was here to evaluate…" she stated, before her gaze trailed up, and jaw dropped, her companions quickly following suit. What in the Christ! That ship is…enormous!
The ship from the distress signal rose into the sky far off in the distance, looking to be easily a kilometer long, still wreathed in lightning as it flew into the clouds. Shepard opened her comms hastily. "Anderson, you've got a massive ship heading your way, I'd steer clear of it if I were you. Get that stealth on if you're not already hiding!"
"Look at the size of it…God! Who makes ships that big?" Ashley asked, the trio too stunned to really say anything else, only drawing their eyes off the sky as it disappeared into the clouds.
She received static in return, but hoped Anderson had gotten the gist of her message, or had spotted the ship in time to cloak. A few moments later, the clacking of the cargo tram sounded from a level down. Gesturing to head out, the three quickly and cautiously made their way downstairs, Kaidan scouting ahead for geth. The lieutenant slid back into cover quickly.
"Only five geth. Three of them have rockets, but…less resistance than I expected." He stated, pulling out his pistol.
"Then we might have a party waiting for us wherever this thing goes. Just use the separator walls as cover and potshot them to death, alright?" Shepard asked, receiving an odd look from Williams.
"Geth are just robots, can they really 'die', Commander?" she asked, Shepard shrugging in response. Don't really know the answer to that…
"Let's leave the philosophical talk for after the mission, but I'd be happy to look into that, Williams." Shepard said, turning out of cover and crawling over to the tram and behind one of the small walls.
They activated the tram, sending them all rushing quickly down the rail toward the next port, their scattered and well timed gunfire making quick work of the rocket troops. Williams picked up one of the rocket launchers as they waited at the head of the tram, watching Eden prime's farms and pre-fabs fly by.
"I've never seen one of these before, but…I think there's a trigger mechanism here somewhere." Williams stated, her hand feeling around the device for a trigger until she found one at the side. "Ah, there we go! So, Commander, are we crashing the party?"
Shepard laughed and nodded. "Well, with MY luck…" she started before the next port came into view. Her luck held, as a few dozen geth stood by the loading area where the tram would get off. "Get down, ready your weapons!"
As the tram neared, more of the geth's gunfire hailed against the vehicle, shuddering it to a stop a bit short of the end of the rail. The assault was nonstop, the geth alternating their fire in order to maintain a constant stream. Bits of steel blew off the railings, and Shepard grimaced, knowing their cover wouldn't last long. Think think think think think...
"How many grenades do you all have left?" she asked the duo. Kaidan raised one finger, Williams was out. Shepard rolled one over to her and nodded. "On my count, toss your grenades into the middle of the pack! Ready?" she asked, taking a few deep breaths and biting into the remains of her unfinished energy bar from before. The two nodded, so she began the countdown. As her hand made a fist, two grenades lobbed through the air into the crowd, giving Shepard enough of a distraction to swing out of cover. A few geth broke apart by the blasts, the rest taking damage to their shields, but their fire had partially halted.
"Overload whatever you can Alenko!" she shouted, sprinting off the tram and exploding into the pack of geth with a biotic charge, tossing her last two grenades to the side of her as she made impact. White hot pain coursed through her, but she pivoted, spraying her shotgun fire to the left of her as her grenades went off, flinging more geth around the loading area, a leg smacking her on the face as she rolled her body to absorb the impact. She could barely hear it, but was happy she was getting cover fire and some friendly explosions, unloading another shotgun blast into a rocket troop before rolling away from the group. Looking over her shoulder, there were about a dozen geth still standing, including one massive one heading toward her from the back of the pack. Her legs feeling like mush, she struggled to stand and took a moment to brace herself before pushing off at the pack of distracted geth, taking a few hits to her barrier as she charged again.
For a moment, all she felt was pain, and then a feeling of dizziness. Her eyes opened to a sight of strewn geth parts and the world spinning around her as the monstrous geth spun her through the air by her leg. She barely had time to think before she felt a distinct pop in her left leg and a fleeting feeling of flying before she impacted against the wall, evacuating all the air out of her lungs as she felt her armor shatter. Vision blurred, she saw the profile of the beastly geth sauntering toward her before freezing in place and falling over, collapsing to the ground. She absently felt around her waist, fingers searching for her pack before opening it and pulling out a small medical patch. I think I'm going to need you, this time… she lazily mused, peeling the package open.
"Commander!" she heard, the voice muffled as two figures approached quickly. I don't think the doc's gonna like these injuries one bit…Shepard found an open spot near her thigh and applied the small sticky material, feeling relief of the blinding pain within seconds.
"God, I think half a foot's coming out of her shoulder…what should we do?" she heard Williams ask, frantic.
"I'm not sure…I have some medical training, but this…I don't know what I can do." Kaidan responded, kneeling down to get a better look at her. Shepard's vision was clearing and the pain was slowly drifting away, letting her get a better look at herself as she sat slumped against the wall. She reached toward a large metal shard sticking out of her leg when Alenko stopped her, holding her arm gently. "Easy, Commander. You're pretty badly hurt."
"We're wasting time, Alenko. Help me up." She stated calmly, wresting her arm from his grasp and quickly pulling the shard out, forcing the breath from out of her lungs again from the sharp pain. With her other hand, she took a package of medigel and squeezed part of it onto the wounds, packing it flat with the back of her hand. Williams ducked beside her and gingerly pulled the geth foot from her shoulder, surprised that it had mostly been laying on top of it, the wound not being too severe. Shepard offered the rest of the gel to Alenko, who packed the wound while Williams helped her to her feet.
She took a few steadying breaths before gesturing for Alenko to grab her shotgun for her. The lieutenant shook his head, baffled at her, but she hardened her glare at him. Shotgun in hand, she strode toward the stairs, bits of armor hanging off of her and blood streaming down her body from the minor shrapnel wounds. That's what I get for charging into a bunch of robots. They're not fleshy, Shepard. Think twice next time! Between that and all the damage from their weird rifles and my own grenades, I'm going to need a new set of armor…hell, I think the most protected things on my body are my hands, now…
The trio slowly made their way up the steps, accounting for Shepard's slightly sluggish gait, and froze near the top railing, spotting a geth frantically working at a long cylindrical device. Shepard tossed out a minor lift, and Kaidan followed it up with a throw, sending the geth soaring through the air into the lake nearby. She turned and smiled at the Lieutenant, who chuckled to himself before turning serious once he got closer to the device.
"Shepard, it's a bomb." He said, letting out an exasperated sigh. Shepard felt like doing the same thing as she pivoted and checked the surroundings. Can this day get any worse? "Do you know how to disable them?"
Shepard shook her head, disgusted at their poor luck. "Not a chance. It'd take me forever, and my patch will wear off by then if the bomb doesn't." she growled, turning to face Williams. "The two of us will scan the area and see if there's any more bombs. If we're lucky, it's just the one, but we need to make sure."
"Ma'am, I don't think you'll be too safe walking around like that. I mean, your whole stomach's basically exposed, and geth don't really have bad aim…" Williams stammered, looking to Alenko for support.
"Afraid I'm going to have to agree with the Commander. I can defuse these, but you'll need to keep them off my back. Let me know if there are others and…well, stay safe, Commander." He said, as he opened up the device and stuck his hands in.
Williams reluctantly led her up the next set of stairs and began patrolling the walkway. She knew she was on borrowed time until her body would start to shut down, so she tried to make the most of it, helping Williams flank the few geth soldiers still around the area, and flagging bombs quickly for Alenko to deal with. She felt lucky, to a degree, that by the end of the fighting, she'd only earned a scratch across her right forearm for her troubles, but when they all saw the beacon, she felt that maybe the injuries were worth it. It's here, and it's working, and we just might get out of here with it! Finally, a positive break!
Alenko and Williams made their way down the staircases and stopped as they reached the base of it, a collective guttural chorus of moans sounding through the air as the duo took steps back toward Shepard. Husks. Well then… she groaned internally, pulling her shotgun back out.
The trio fired until their heatsinks whined under duress, leaving Alenko to toss biotic throws, sending a few violently back against the railing, their bodies exploding. More filled their space, though, as a few dozen shambled toward the stairs.
"Back up the stairwell! Back to the top… Alenko call Anderson for Evac!" Shepard yelled, firing off a burst of her shotgun, feeling her left knee buckling from the recoil. The trio fought off the horde bit by bit, having bottlenecked them into the long staircase. Shepard swapped her shotgun for her knife and pistol quickly when Williams cleared the front row, giving her a little more flexibility. I'll have to thank her later… she thought, her body quickly tiring.
"I'm gonna charge, buy me some time, you two." She muttered under her breath, stepping back after slicing a Husk's head off. Both filled her void immediately, but beyond her focusing, she could hear their protests. No time. This beacon needs to be rescued, and these two need to get back in one piece. Just might have to spend some quiet time with Chakwas…
Her body wreathed in blue, she let out a yell, Alenko and Williams parting as she exploded into the column of husks, their wiry and ooze-filled bodies erupting at the impact. As her momentum halted, she fought to keep afoot, her hand reaching out for the railing while she sliced at a nearby husk with the other. Williams and Alenko rushed down to her and pushed the final remaining husks back, slaughtering them at the base of the steps.
"Commander, what were you thinking?!" Alenko yelled, drawing a hearty laugh from Shepard.
"I …wanted to secure the…beacon. You two…go check the area… in case there's more. I…need a breather." She coughed out, breathing heavily, her limbs feeling like jelly. She saw him hesitate before nodding, and Williams lingered slightly, but they both followed orders, taking off in opposite directions to cover both ends of the pier.
Well, I think we did it. Cost us Jenkins…Nihlus…and a hell of a lot of civilians died from the bloody geth…Geth! Seriously! What are the odds? And another turian? That's…really strange. She thought, spitting out a wad of blood and saliva onto the floor so she could breathe easier. All for this beacon? Fuck, someone dropped the ball something fierce this time…fucking intel… I… a slight green glow off ahead of her tore her from her thoughts as she witnessed Kaidan slowly getting pulled into the glowing beacon, which seemed to have activated.
Immediately, her legs felt energetic and adrenaline carried her body over to him. She heard Williams shout at him from somewhere off to the side, but it wasn't any use. The marine was too far away. Shepard wasn't, diving and tackling the potential Elvis impersonator from the grip of the beacon, sending him tumbling to the ground. That very instant, she felt her body pulled up unto the air toward it, her limbs fully outstretched from its force.
A single explosion erupted in her mind, her reality shattering into fragments as visions were reflected through them. Unfamiliar memories, bodies and screams echoed through her field of vision, reverberating through her core as the sorrow and terror of the explosion tore through her. She felt her memories pulled to the forefront to block out the madness she was witnessing, but the scourge quickly overwhelmed them; collapsing each comfort into tainted, infested versions of what she held dear. She felt her afternoons in the park awash in flames, ripped from her grasp alongside wailing family and friends; she saw cities in ruins, she saw shorelines of corpses, she felt years of torturous agony in place of the cool morning breeze. No matter what her senses grasped, it was replaced by an indecipherable horror spreading through her consciousness, poisoning her dreams and memories like a cancer; peeling her away layer by layer until it spilled over all she was, or would be.
As her mind began to fail under the enervation of her consciousness, she saw her home ablaze in flames, rotting as large ominous machines fell down from the sky toward it. A voice in the back of her mind grew louder and louder until it shattered everything into darkness.
A/N: Welp, I tried. Hope it wasn't too tedious for you. I tried to make it…remotely interesting. Poor Shepard will have some 'splainin to do when she wakes up! Gonna make some changes to that scene, so at least you'll have some new, potentially interesting/disastrous content there :D
So I released this early...yet another chapter early. Considered holding onto it until Friday night but I couldn't. Don't really know if I'll be home friday night, I might be at school working on assignments. Trying to get some things done early so that October and November don't kick my ass too hard. Here's hoping! So maybe not a chapter this weekend. I'm knee deep into the next one, but I also have to do some readings and finish two assignments by Monday, which will be a bit treacherous on my schedule, and I'm already feeling stress eat away at my sleep.
Anywho, thank you all so much for the tremendous support :) It's been kind of amazing to have such a warm reception. So thank you to all who have read, and to those of you who have alerted/favourited my stories and my profile, it means a lot to know others are enjoying my little fics :D And thank you to all who have reviewed, you are quite awesome, and I wish I could give you all hugs.
Unsure when the next chapter will be up. Busy week ahead. Lots of things due. I'll do my best to update, though!