Chapter 37: Apocalypse

Rah had received word from one of his sources that there was a Cerberus lab only a day away from Elysium. What was going on there, he didn't know, but if his source told him about it, it must have been worth something.

Now, Rah and his Death Angels were only minutes from entering orbit around the planet the lab was on. He looked around the cargo bay of the Forward Unto Dawn, looking over his soldiers while they strapped themselves into their armor.

"So how we gettin' down there sir?" Khaot asked when he finished getting in his own armor.

"Look behind me." Rah smirked.

Over the last month, the Dawn had been retrofitted with thirteen launching tubes. Each tube was big enough for one marine in Terminator armor to fit inside. Once sealed inside the tube, the Dawn would fire the marine out of the bottom of its hull. The marine would be fired at the surface of a given planet or moon like a bullet from a gun.

"The fuck?" Klash asked, looking at the tubes as well. "You seriously gonna have us do this?"

"What? This is part of what our armor was made for." Rah grinned at all of them. Some had looks of horror on their faces, other looked like they couldn't wait to try it out.

"General Carmine." The silky voice of the Dawn's pilot spoke in his ear. "We're five minutes out sir."

"Copy that." Rah replied to the woman before turning to the Death Angels. "Button up people! We drop in five!"

The soldiers around him hustled to get finished dawning the armor. Rah double checked his own seals and readouts before helping the others get buttoned in. When they were all ready, they still had two minutes to spare. Rah walked the soldiers to the tubes and began sealing them into the tubes, showing his squad leader how to do it as well.

When all save him were ready to drop, Rah moved to his own tube. He pulled off of his back a massive biotic hammer, a gift to him from one of the Krogan Warlords that Wrex had sent him. The hammer wouldn't fit into the tube unless it was in his hands and it was awkward sealing himself in, but he made due.

Rah ran his hands over the extended handle of the hammer. The Warlord that had given it to him said that it would mark him as a Warlord to other Krogan when the time came. So long as he had the weapon, he would have the support of any Krogan he fought with. Rah had modified the hammer so that the handle was long enough for him to swing it in his armor, otherwise, it was just the way it was when given to him.

Rah wasn't quite sure how the hammer worked, but the results of hitting something with it couldn't be argued with. The Warlord had only told him that the weapon tapped into his biotic power to amplify the power that he swung with. Other than that, the old Krogan had said nothing else.

"We are over the target." The Dawn's pilot spoke over their comms. "You're good to fire at will. Good luck out there boys and girls."

"You heard the woman!" Rah barked to the soldiers around him. "We are green and very, very mean!"

"HOORAH!" His soldiers replied in unison. Rah grinned just before hitting the release on all tubes.

Starting with him and then going down the line, loud thumping could be heard. Only a second after each thump, a marine was fired out of their tube. Rah felt the pure force of being fired like a gunshot out of the Dawn, the feeling sparked his adrenaline into action.

Rah looked around him and the others were following him, only seconds behind in their falls to the planet. Rah looked down at the approaching planet that was rushing up to met him and grinned. This would either end in all of them being dead, or the first successful usage of orbital drop shock troops.

"Carmine I'm going to kill you!" Maggie yelled out. Rah laughed in response and only seconds later slammed into the ground.

The armor did it's job and absorbed the fall, keeping him from any amount of force of the fall however forced him down into a kneeling stance or else he'd have fallen over. Rah looked up from his kneeling position to find himself in a small crater. He pulled himself out and found every one of his troops doing the same.

"Let's get a move on people! Cerberus ain't just going to wait all day for us to kill 'em!" Rah barked to his troops.

Rah began running towards the Cerberus lab, a small compound that was only two clicks away from their landing zone. He looked at his radar in the corner of his HUD to see that the others were following him in a loose V formation.


"Khaot, take six with you and clear out the rest of the compound." Rah ordered his squad leader.

For the most part he and his squad had cleared out most of the Cerberus facility. Now, they were nearing what was supposed to be the main research lab. He wanted to clear this personally, but he still needed to clear the rest of the base.

"Maggie, Lommy, Klash, Poon, Weasel, Fury, on me." Khaot barked out. He and those he picked rushed off to finish their job.

"Angel, take point." Rah told the marine. The man stepped in front of Rah and lead the way.

After clearing out several side rooms, Rah and the five with him stopped outside the door to the main research lab. The lab was one large room with several entrances to it from a single hallway that circled around the room.

"Day, get the door open." Rah ordered. Day was surprisingly good with computers and had been crucial to their success so far.

The rest of them spread out and covered the other entrances to the room, just in case anyone tried to get out.

"No good sir." Day grunted. "Can't get it open."

"Get back then." Rah replied, pulling his hammer from his back. Without further orders, Day moved well clear of the door.

Rah pulled back his arm and swung the hammer. The head of the weapon collided with the door and shattered it as if it was nothing but glass. A massive boom echoed around them from the force of the collision and the discharging of Rah's boitics.

"They know we're here people!" Rah barked and rushed into the room.

Rah spotted two Cerberus troops and seven scientists. All of the Cerberus agents looked at him in shock and fear. The two troops began to raise their weapons at him, but Rah's machine guns cut the two in half.

"Put 'em up!" Rah barked, using his external speakers.

As one, the scientists threw up their hands, dropping whatever was in them at the time.

"Bruiser, round them up and tag them." Rah ordered.

The large woman along with Pawnee forced the seven scientist into a corner. It was only then, that Rah realized what was in the lab.

All around him, were body parts and all of them were female. Spread out on tables were cybernetic legs, arms, torsos, and even heads. Some of the parts had skin on them, others only muscle, few were only the skeletal cybernetics. Looking at one of the heads, Rah was horrified to see a copy of Shepard's face on it.

Along one wall, were a row of tubes. In all but two tubes, there was nothing but some sort of liquid. In one, there was a floating naked female. Rah walked up to the tube cautiously. When he was only an arms length away, Rah was shocked at what he found. Floating inside the tube, was an exact copy of Shepard.

Almost everything about this copy was the same. It had the same face, the same figure, the same hair, the same everything. What it lacked, were the scars that Rah knew should be there. Where the copy's face was perfect, Shepard's had scars from both a varren attack, and her cybernetics.

In the other tube, there was absolutely nothing. The glass was shattered and still laying on the floor.

"What was in here?" Rah asked calmly.

After nearly a minute, no one responded.

"I said." Rah spoke, his voice a growl. "What. Was. In. Here."

Rah turned to look at the cowering scientists. All of them looked between each other uncertainly. Rah calmly walked towards them. When he was just a meter away, he shot one of the scientists at random. The Cerberus agent fell the the floor with a third eye in his skull.

"Answer me!" Rah barked.

"W-we…. We were ordered to-" One scientist stammered. Rah spun up his machine guns and pointed them at the group of them.

"To make another Shepard!" A second scientist finished.

"WHY?!" Rah barked.

"We don't know!" A third exclaimed. "We're never told anything!"

"Wrong answer." Rah snarled. In just seconds, the crowd of Cerberus researchers were nothing more than a pile of bodies.

"That was harsh." Wolf pointed out.

"They're Cerberus. I have a personal beef with them." Rah growled. "Making another Shepard is pushing what I will let them live for."

Rah looked around and didn't notice any other protests from his half of the squad.

"Let's move out people." Rah barked, but everyone was halted when the voice of the Dawn's pilot came over their comms.

"General Carmine, come in." The pilot spoke, her voice shaky.

"I read you flight lieutenant." Rah replied. "What is it?"

"I've received a message from Alliance HQ." The pilot spoke, her voice shaking even more. "Sir, the Reapers are hitting Earth."

"Fuck!" Rah shouted.

"Carmine to all Death Angles!" Rah barked over the comms, rushing out of the room. "We are leaving marines! Get out and meet up with me for evac!"

"Copy sir!" Khaot replied, the sound of his machine gun firing nearly drowning him out. "Mind if I ask why?"

"The fucking Reapers!" Rah replied.

"You heard the man!" Khaot barked, not bothering to change channels. "Earth needs us! Bug out now!"

"What about this place General?" Pawnee asked, right on his heels.

"Nuke it and leave." Rah grunted, picking up the pace.


"Shepard!" Anderson's voice rang in her ears. The man sounded as if he was at the end of a long tunnel.

"Shepard!" Anderson called again, this time, Shepard was being shaken back into the waking world.

"Come on!" Anderson urged. "We need to get out of here!"

Shepard sat up and looked around the remains of what had been the committee room of Alliance HQ. Now, it was nothing more than burning equipment and bodies. Shepard let Anderson haul her to her feet.

"Come on girl." Anderson spoke softly, seeing the look of grief and horror in her eyes. "We need to link up with the Normandy."

Shepard nodded but didn't say anything. Her throat was clenched tight and her tongue thick. So many killed in a matter of seconds, and more were dying all around her.

"Here." Anderson spoke, handing her a Predator pistol. "You're aim's better than mine."

"Keep it." Shepard told her old CO. "I don't need it, you do."

Anderson looked like he was about to argue, but Shepard stepped past the man. She walked out towards the now shattered window. Below her, only a few feet down, was what looked like a vent system.

"We need to get to somewhere to call the Normandy." Shepard called back to Anderson.

"Let's go then!" Anderson responded and jumped onto the vent system below them.

Shepard followed the man, but she let her biotics carry her down gently so as to not shake Anderson off. Shepard felt a smile tug at her lips when her face tingled slightly while her biotics were active. The feeling had been a pleasant reminder of what she shared with Garrus.

Shepard followed behind the older soldier until they stopped on a lower portion of the HQ roof. Anderson managed to get in touch with Kaidan and Vega, both of which were on their way to the Normandy. They were cut off from the other two men however when something horrid happened.

Above them, Shepard watched a cruiser in the atmosphere of Earth engage in a firefight with a Reaper. The cruiser got a lucky hit and staggered the Reaper, but it was the ship's last act. A deafening noise filled the air around them, causing Shepard to cry out in pain and clutch her head in pain.

"Shepard!" Anderson cried out and began walking towards her. "Are you alright?"

Before she got the chance to respond, a massive beam of red energy shot out of the Reaper. The beam cut the cruiser in half like a hot knife through butter.

The Reaper must have shot the drive core as only seconds later, a massive shockwave erupted from the now dead cruiser. The shockwave was powerful enough to cause the roof they were standing on to collapse. Shepard and Anderson both lost their footing and tumbled to the ground below them.

Shepard stood up first and pulled Anderson to his feet.

"How are we supposed to fight these things?" Anderson growled at the Reaper in the distance.

"You're not." Shepard replied with a shake of her head.

She looked around them and found a crashed gunship only a few dozen meters away. "Come on let's see if there's a radio in that gunship."

Shepard took point, her biotics active and throwing debris out of their way. Shepard paid no attention to the gaze Anderson threw at her every time she turned slightly towards him.

"Get down!" A marine yelled to them when they approached the gunship. "They'll see you!"

Shepard rushed to the gunship and found two marines still alive under the cover of the ship. One of them was pinned under a steel beam, but still alive. All around them were the bodies of the rest of the gunship's crew.

"Where is your radio?" Shepard asked before pulling the beam off of one man's leg.

"On the other side of the gunship." The unharmed marine replied. "But you need to get past those... Things."

Shepard poked her head around the gunship and quickly pulled back. Mulling around the other side of the gunship were five twisted batarians. The batarians were bloated and stuffed full of glowing blue cybernetics. If Shepard had to guess, she would say these were the batarian versions of husks.

"They've got a kid." Shepard growled. In the center of all of the batarian-husks, was a little boy. The kid, no older than ten, was cowering in a fetal position and sobbing his eyes out.

"There's no kid there Shepard." Anderson told her after looking for himself.

Shepard looked again and her eyes widened. Where there had once been a small boy, was nothing but empty air. Shepard cursed and turned to the three men around her.

"Stay here. I'll deal with them." Shepard ordered. All three men nodded.

Shepard flared up her biotics and leaped out into the open. She yelled out, getting the attention of these new husks. When they all turned to her as one, Shepard flung her arms forward and charged into their midst. Shepard's body slammed into two husks at once and sent them flying into the nearby lake. Shepard threw a shockwave at two more, producing the same effect as her charge had, before turning to the last remaining husk.

The thing raised an arm at her, pointing an arm mounted weapon at her. The thing managed to fire, but her barriers held. Shepard ran at the creature, her fist powered up with biotic energy. When she was only an arm length away, she threw her fist into the husk's face. The energy in her fist discharged, turning the husk's face into a gooey pulp.

"Come on!" Shepard called to the three men who were staring at her in awe. "Coast is clear! Move it!"

Anderson and the uninjured marine carried the third between them and followed Shepard.

"Anderson! Get the Normandy here now!" Shepard barked when they found the radio. "And Joker better damn well be in that pilot's chair when it gets here!"

Anderson surprised her by not commenting on her orders, but tried calling the Normandy in for evac.

"You two!" Shepard barked to the other two men, picking up two discarded Avengers. "Protect the Admiral with your lives."

"Yes ma'am." They replied automatically.

Shepard crouched behind a piece of metal from the Alliance HQ building. Only moments later, the ground shook when something, multiple somethings, hit the earth where the four just came from. Anderson managed to get in contact with the Normandy when Shepard looked over her cover to see what had happened.

More of those new husks were running at their position, their arms raised and ready to fire. Shepard yelled out and threw a shockwave at the husks, forcing them to either get hit, or get in cover. Most of them simply took it and were thrown into the water. Those that were not hit, were taken out by quick burst s from the two marines.

When Shepard ducked back into cover, the boy she had seen only moments before was crouching next to her. The boy had a panicked look in his eyes and was visibly shaking. The boy grabbed her by the shoulders and stared into her eyes.

"You can't save us!" The boy practically cried to her.

"The cavalry has arrived boys and girls!" Joker's voice blared from the radio behind her.

Shepard looked up to see the Normandy flying towards them. The ship blasted apart another wave of husks, both human and batarian, before swooping towards Shepard and the three men with her. The cargo bay lowered to show Vega, Kaidan, and a few other marines at the door of the bay. Shepard looked to see that the boy was gone and nowhere to be seen. The marines from the Normandy rushed out to help the injured soldier onto the ship, Shepard and the other marine followed them aboard.

"Shepard!" Anderson called, not having moved an inch.

"Anderson let's go! We can't stay here!" Shepard urged the man that was like a father to her.

"I need to stay! Humanity needs me ground side to mount a resistance! Give you a reason to save us all still." Anderson yelled back. Shepard had never heard such conviction in the man before. She knew that nothing she would say would change his mind.

"I'll come back for you!" Shepard called out, fighting back tears. "I'll bring help! I'll have every race with me, whether they like it or not!"

"That's my girl." Anderson spoke, just loud enough for her to hear. "Consider yourself reinstated! Commander!"

Anderson threw something to her. Without a thought, she snatched it out of the air. A new pair of dog tags landed in her hands. Behind Anderson, shuttles touched down on the ground, off loading troops and taking on civilian survivors. Anderson glanced at the shuttles before yelling to her again.

"Go! Do what you do best!" Anderson yelled.

"Joker, get us out of here." Shepard spoke aloud knowing EDI was listening.

The ship began pulling away from the ground and Anderson. Her last vision of Earth, was a single shuttle. On it, the boy from before climbed onto the shuttle, unnoticed by anyone else. Right before the cargo bay door sealed her from the world, she watched in horror when a Reaper beam incinerated the shuttle.

Shepard forced herself to turn her back on Earth. She swore with every fiber of her being, she would return and kick the Reapers off her planet. Not even death would keep her from saving the galaxy one last time.


A/N: Would have had this out earlier, but I spent the morning making chowder with my fire hall :P.

Very much looking forward to putting in some of the different things that I have planned for in the near future. So I'm very much wondering if anyone is picking up (or already has picked up) where I might end up taking this. Not going to give out details, just curious what you all think.

Anyways, hope you all enjoyed! Please let me know what you thought!

Until next time!

P.S. Ignore any ETAs I give on chapters coming out, they will always be wrong -_-