Lieutenant Victus and his remaining platoon were holding valiantly against the Reaper forces even as their rescue was pinned down by enemy fire. There was a sickening crunch as Persephone Pulled and Threw at the same time, two Ravagers colliding into a pulpy mass. A Harvester circled overhead and they ducked down out of sight, the Turians across the way doing the same.
"Shepard." Persephone said and she looked at her, "I have an idea."
"Am I going to like this idea?" She asked.
"Probably not." She admitted and dove out of cover, pulling her boot knife. "Cover me!"
"Persephone!" Both Shepard and James called after her, but she paid them no mind, running across the ruins, dodging enemy fire and slashing any that got in her way. She threw the blade, imbedding it in the chest of a Cannibal that moved to intercept her, pulling a jagged piece of piping from a pile of rubble.
Running up a toppled column, she leapt as the Harvester flew past, landing on it's back. It was everything they could do to keep watch on her while also the Reaper forces. Grabbing a piece of tech protruding from its back, she held on as it bucked and swerved, trying to unseat her. It gave a mechanical screech as she jammed the pipe into the top of its head and there was a shimmer of biotics. Persephone jumped from the Harvester as it's head exploded in a spray of tech and gore, blown apart from the inside from a biotic pulse, the pipe used as a conduit. However, she wasn't able to get far enough away as the body detonated and she got caught in the blast, the shockwave flinging her across the ruins. She hit hard against the side of the crashed ship and fell to the ground at the feet of the Turian soldiers, not moving.
"Persephone!" Nightmares ran through Shepard's head as she leapt over stone and barriers in her way to the soldiers. Broken spine, crushed skull, massive internal injuries, anything that could cost Persephone her life. She wanted to be angry at her, wanted to curse and rage, but she was too worried, and she had to admit, a little impressed.
A Turian was helping her to her feet when she got to her and she breathed a sigh of relief. Her armor was a little banged up and tendrils of dark hair had escaped the twist, but she seemed relatively unharmed.
"Ow." She said when she got to her, leaning heavily against the Turian that had helped her up, hand gripping his forearm.
"Commander Shepard, I'm Lieutenant Tarquin Victus." The Turian said and Shepard looked him over. She didn't see a family resemblance to the Primarch, but that didn't mean much. "I want to thank you for coming to our aid."
"What happened, Lieutenant?" Shepard asked and he sighed.
"I made a bad call." He said, "There was a confirmed Reaper patrol in the area, so instead of taking the direct route, I aired on the side of caution and entered the ruins. We encountered resistance and with limited room to maneuver…" He let it trail off.
"How is that your fault?" Persephone asked, her voice tight. "We ran into three Harvesters on the way to you, any one of those could have taken out your ship and killed you and everyone aboard. Yeah, it went to shit, but your men are alive."
"I didn't...think of it like that." Tarquin said, looking down at her. "What you did was incredible, by the way, are you okay?"
"I'll be fine," Persephone said with a small, reassuring smile. "I'll be covered in bruises tomorrow, but I'll be fine."
"Tell me about your mission, Lieutenant." Shepard said and he turned his attention back to her.
"There's a bomb, a big one, strapped to the planet and Cerberus is planning on detonating it." Tarquin said, "The devastation would be astronomical, Commander."
"We need to stop Cerberus from detonating that bomb." Shepard said.
"Agreed." Tarquin said, "But I can not ask my men to complete this mission, we're a third of what we were, it'd be suicide."
"You're abandoning your mission?" Shepard asked, "Do I need to remind you, Lieutenant, that we need Krogan support to fight this war? If this bomb detonates, the Krogan will have to retreat and we lose that support."
"But my men-"
"Your men need to realize that this is bigger than themselves, that yes, the odds are not in their favor, but their sacrifice ensures that no one else will have go through this." Shepard said and he sighed. "This is all still fresh, so it won't be easy, but you have to rally what's left of your platoon and complete this mission."
"After you get medical attention." Persephone said and they looked at her. "Come on, Shepard, half his men can't even stand and I see-" She looked him over quickly, "Three places where his armor is cracked. We need to get them back to the Normandy so Dr. Chakwas can look them over. The odds will be more in their favor if they don't go into it injured."
"She has a point, Lola." James cut in, "They need to be one hundred percent if they want to pull this off."
"After you get medical attention." Shepard conceded, "I'll call the shuttle, you get your men together. James, please take the Dragonslayer." He gave a snort and moved to take Persephone from the Lieutenant.
"Come here, Dragonslayer." He said and Tarquin seemed to hesitate for a moment, but he passed her off to him as Shepard called Cortez for a pick-up.