A/N: To the guest commentator on the last chapter (I don't usually reply to guests, because FF makes it tricky, but I personally consider this one important): That's one of the more difficult aspects of working with other people's characters. You can't really make an editorial decision like that without consulting the person who actually owns the character. There's also the risk of being so overt about it that the character in question gets pigeonholed. Off the top of my head, however, I can think of at least two members of the crew who openly don't fit that mould, and the vast majority never discuss the matter one way or the other. If you happen to have an account, I'll happily discuss this further in PMs - trust me, it's a topic I consider carefully.

Astella Bay Highway, Nevos

Day 1, 1420

"Twenty minutes," Andersen muttered, checking his omni-tool. "Halfway there."

Whoosh! The right side of the bay flashed scarlet, as the Reaper in the water took a shot across the city. The lieutenant's eyes followed it absently, watching as the siari temple descended further into rubble…

"Not many troop drops out here…" Sam observed, from his side.

"No need to drop on the outskirts," Alec shrugged, from the tail. "They're pushing on the centre now."

Thoom, thoom, thoom. A series of dull echoes rattled around the hills from the far side of Astella, breaking the monotonous drone of the Reaper for a moment or two.

"What was that?" Kan frowned.

"Defence cannons," Aeryn answered. "They weren't firing before… Reapers must have landed nearer the battery.

"Artillery won't scratch those things," the quarian scoffed, shaking his head.

"At least they won't go quietly."

The squad fell into silence, heads bowed, the lot of them nursing weapons in their arms or laps. Their truck was still hurtling down the highway at the tail end of the convoy, the cab providing only a little cover from the wind now whipping past them…

"Not sure if this is a good day or a really shitty one," Andersen chuckled. "I mean, some bloody delivery run…"

"Everyone's in one piece, and we killed a lot of goddamn Reapers," Alec muttered simply. "Good day."

"I'll go with that…" Aeryn smirked, laughing quietly. Some flicker of her old humour, long-missing after Terra Nova but recovering now.

"Hear hear…" the lieutenant echoed, cracking the slightest of grins himself.

"Drop coming down, one o'clock," one of the asari drivers reported. Sure enough, a moment later:

Wham. A fireball came skidding down the right side of the highway, and the convoy swung past it, widening a gap even before the Cannibals came stumbling out. A few haphazard rounds shot back up the road, bouncing off their tail, but no-one in the squad seemed too perturbed. Alec just reached to his belt, unclipping a grenade before twisting around on the tail gate and pelting the thing like a baseball. It skidded down, bouncing a couple of times…

Bang. A little explosion, far-off in the distance already by the time it went off.

"Got two… maybe three," Sam muttered, craning his neck to cast his sniper's eyes down the highway.

"Good enough," Carter grunted.

They fell silent once more, and it was a good few minutes before anything else happened - not a troop drop, not an apocalyptic barrage from the Reaper, but a small clunk as Zel pulled open the cab's rear window to talk to them.

"ETA fifteen," the turian muttered, quietly. "Everyone alright back there?"

"Just great," Kan replied, sarcastically.

"Hey, at least it's quiet…" she murmured.

"Oh great. You jinxed it."

The sniper shot a scowl at the quarian, but even as she did so, Ethan was tapping her on the shoulder, at first silently, then frantically:

"Zel!"

"What-?"

Boom. There was a flash of light somewhere up ahead, and a roar of engines as two silver forms buzzed over their heads. Everyone in the truck bed flattened, tensing up and clutching weapons as one of the asari trucks came bouncing down along the convoy's side, cab in tatters, troopers spilling out of the back as it rolled… Ethan slammed on the brakes, rattling everyone, and their truck ground to a halt with the two remaining, circling back around the downed vehicle…

"No, no, we need to move!" Alec barked, standing up from the tailgate as the two Oculi circled somewhere to their six o'clock, and came hurtling back. Andersen couldn't help but imagine they were the same pair that had bombed the garrison, though in truth they probably weren't.

"But-" someone began.

"Move!" Andersen yelled, echoing the marine chief as he practically dragged Sam and Kan to their feet, pulling them towards the edge of the truck bed-

Boom! A beam weapon's strike came down, louder and closer than before. The entire back end of their truck rocked, movement drowning out the boom as the Oculus took a shot at one of the asari's trucks… the lieutenant went tumbling over the side of the bed, still holding on to his two colleagues and pulling them with him. In the peripheries of his vision, he saw the justicar spring away with renewed vigour, saw Alec and Aeryn stumble over to the tailgate…

He thudded to the ground, losing his bearings for a moment as smoke and flame filled the air. A sharp punch to the side from Sam got him moving again, and they stumbled to their feet, the quarian still with them. There was another clunk from their side, and Zel practically dropped out of the cab as the door came open, coughing her lungs up - on closer inspection, the control panel was ablaze, and it took Andersen a few panicked moments to register that Ethan had bailed out too, tumbling down safely on the other side.

A few of the asari were screaming as Tarenna and the remaining NCOs shoved them out of their vehicles, and the drones came back around for a third pass. A few of them were scrambling towards the wounded now crawling out of the first truck's wreck, but most were just trying to process what the fuck was going on - the world, as it often did, was going a little bit mad.

Boom, boom. Another relentless barrage, and Andersen ducked instinctively as the cab of one of the asari trucks disintegrated, showering steel debris into the air.

"Heads up!" someone was yelling, maybe Aeryn. "Troop drops incoming!"

"Behind the trucks!" Alec bellowed, his now-hoarse voice far more recognisable. "Dig in, give the bastards a fight!"

As Andersen dove around the front of the truck with Kan, Sam and Zel, a meteor came skidding down to their left, a group of Cannibals stumbling out. The lieutenant picked off the two frontrunners with a pair of steady, measured shots, conserving his ammo as the group ducked back around the cab for cover.

"Cambrai, this is Alpha!" he barked, into the radio. "Convoy is stalled, repeat, convoy's stalled!"

"Then get it moving, lieutenant!"

"Not sure that's possible, Akito! We've got a truck disabled, maybe three, and the Reapers are targeting are position, this is it!"

"Christ... fight back, Alpha!"

"The fuck d'you think we're doing?!" Alec yelled, from around the corner.

"Well, just… hang in there, okay? We'll sort something out, we'll sort something out…"

"We need evac, Cambrai," the engineer persisted, trying to keep his voice calm even as Akito's filled with rare panic.

"You're sat next to a fucking capital ship, Alpha! We… goddamnit, just sit tight!"

The radio faded to silence, and Andersen let his omni-tool drop, glancing around at his squad. Eventually, he exchanged a nervous glance with Kan'Sura, and the quarian muttered:

"So… that's not good, is it?"