Little could anyone guess the significance of the tiny blue marble dispersed randomly throughout the universe and what meaning it would hold for the trillions of souls who inhabited that small corner of the galaxy. The planet Earth, the pale blue dot, was the only haven in the entire Local Cluster that supported a wide range of active life for millions of lightyears. Only one intelligent species had left its confines thus far, but it now played host to dozens of different origins as now all species fought around this perfect little sphere, ensnared by the conflict that had spread like a cancer, moving throughout the stars.
Tiny pinpricks of heat and flame flowered miles above its surface, gas igniting from force and pressure. It created a warm outer layer that even the planet's inhabitants could see past the smoke and light pollution on the ground. Pieces of glowing metal floated aimlessly, mixed with frozen liquid as the vacuum cooled it, the dying light vanishing.
Molten metal hung loosely, silvery blobs among a sea of rust and death. The vibrations and shockwaves from the nearby explosions caused them to ripple in all three dimensions, hurtling over their forms as a traveling ship plowed through them, plastering the hot liquid to the hull.
Blue shafts of light, mixed with red beams, criss-crossed the open space as blows were exchanged. The glowing discharges touched the opposite lines, bursting apart in a brilliant show of pyrotechnics. Combatants were blown apart, some bisected, as the wall of sound and fire went on, unceasing.
Ships of all shapes and sizes closed in on the planet, forming a front hundreds of thousands of miles wide with hundreds of thousands of participants. Everything from simple Alliance cruisers, to large, lumbering quarian liveships, to sleek, prowling geth dreadnoughts made up some part of the attacking force, united as one mass, one fleet.
Leading the charge was a lone ship, relatively small compared to the heavy destroyers situated behind it, but by far the most iconic looking of the bunch. Spewing blue death from its Thanix cannons, the Normandy shot forward as it weathered the storm, braving the worst its opponents could offer.
Reapers, hundreds of them, also formed a wide front, blocking access to the planet and the locked down Citadel situated in the background, standing tall amidst the oncoming struggle. The squid-like forms rushed ahead and charged their weapons, silent in the coldness of space. Reaching full power, they released their own barrage, only needing to touch a ship to doom everyone on board, cocky of victory.
For every ship that was felled, two more came to replace it as they repaid its sacrifice with a fury that the Reapers had never known before. Torpedoes and missiles impacted on the hull of one such hapless machine as seven turian cruisers moved to surround it. Confused on whom to attack first, the Reaper raised its arms in frustration until red lightning stormed from within, erupting outward as its orange innards spilled forth and started to freeze.
The first victory and hopefully not the last.
A Reaper rushed to the aid of its comrade too late and it embraced the same fate as geth fighters swarmed its defenses, the mobile platforms eating away at the beast's shields with their particle beams. Dropping with a red snap, several quarian frigates pounced forward and filled the Reaper with holes from their Thanix cannons, puncturing the core. Detonating with a muted roar, shrapnel and debris dispersed from the blooming force as shards flew everywhere, amongst the rapidly growing pile.
SX3 fighters and Reaper oculi engaged in a deadly dance, trading bright, beautiful beams as they cut through the battlefield. Whirling around while dodging ship after ship, the setting became host to a swarm as the tiny, one-man fighters streaked through. The remains of the fighters piled up as shards of glass and fragments of wings flitted through, joining the main host as they floated amidst the glow from Earth.
Small explosions from the fighters were ignored by the larger ships, devoting all of their efforts to downing the towering machines in front of them. No one could afford to be distracted for a moment when such a mistake could cost any crew their lives. The Reapers were the objective, the main goal. A war cry was made in unison and the legions of all the galaxy's creatures surged forward as one, meeting their tormentors face to face.
If anything, the Reapers were surprised by this development. Thousands of cycles of inhabitants being in disarray, it had been so long since they had met a united force on the scale such as this. Multiple civilizations, one banner, everything to lose. Even though hundreds of ships had already been lost on the galaxy's end, they had still managed to scratch the Reapers' defenses, causing them to lose combatants in the process.
The Reapers were not invincible. They could be broken.
Dodging the flailing tentacles from the Reapers, the Normandy blasted through their front lines as red beams desperately tore after them. It was no use, the ship was too quick, all thanks to its expert pilot at the helm. Multiple oculi attempted to give chase but were quickly left behind once the ship had made it through relatively intact. Engaging the sublight drive, the Normandy quickly scurried down to the planet's surface, moving out of the way from the collected debris that had accumulated during the Reapers' initial invasion.
The sleek ship started to heat up as it began to penetrate the atmosphere, the bullet shape of the Citadel gleaming in front of it. Barely noticing the thread of blue light that connected its base to the ground, it shot towards the origin, its inhabitants preparing for the final push.
Planetfall in five minutes. Enemy presence substantial.
The dry air was the first thing Shepard felt as the ramp of the Normandy lowered. Unblinking from the flashing lights and the shouts surrounding him, he instead craned his neck upward at the foreboding skyline as his jaw clenched involuntarily.
The night sky was completely covered with clouds, muting the normally colorful palate that London had to offer. The occasional streak of lightning from overhead threw everything off so that the shadows danced all over the walls. The wind whistled from between the buildings, sending an eerie howl throughout the forward operations base, making all of the soldiers in the vicinity bristle.
Troops clomped through the streets in groups as sergeants were struggling to be heard over the growl of nearby engines. Mantis and Kodiak transports sat idling as soldiers were being shoveled into them, distributing them for their next battle. The loud noises from the passing of fighters overhead were quickly followed by distant explosions as nearby targets were being bombed. All the while, the soft glow from the beam encompassed all, just a shade over five miles away.
Feeling relatively secure in his armor, shields up to full, Shepard's boot met the cracked concrete with a grating sound as he strode towards the command center, Tali by his side. Garrus, James, and EDI also followed, faces grim and determined as they appraised the damage left in the Reapers' wake.
Walking through the square, Shepard was surprised at how many familiar faces there were in the vicinity. Primarch Victus was busy talking to a few generals but he took the time to give the commander a friendly nod as they passed. Next to the turian encampments, Wrex was busy giving a speech to dozens of his troops, shouting something along the lines of "drowning their enemies in their own blood" or "feasting on their despair." It was an over-the-top showing anyway, but the krogan troops ate it up like it came from a great wordsmith.
To Tali's surprise, several of her people were here as well, and they had brought friends. Even though there were two distinct groups in the building that had been occupied, she could see her fellow marines converse with several geth platforms in a surprisingly casual manner, as though three hundred years of conflict had been simply forgotten. The sight of a quarian and a geth trading and admiring weapons put a large smile on her face as the whole blasted situation came smashing her in the face. Perhaps everyone could learn to get along in this galaxy.
Peering upward, several of the high rises were left without roofs, the stone masonry crumbling in the streets. Windows lay shattered across the ground, several of the buildings ransacked. In several cases, just the bare structure of the construction was exposed, arches, rivets, and beams. The skeleton of the neighborhoods as the city lay gutted, small fires burning in the corners.
Abandoned skycars lay parked in the middle of pockmarked intersections, holes filled with dirt from distant bombardments. Machine guns chattered from the battlements as stray Reaper thralls wandered into the line of fire. In response, James swore quietly from behind Shepard as Garrus threw up a hand to protect his face from all the dust that was blowing around.
A corpsman directed them to the area they were looking for, walking past a squad of troopers who turned at the sight of Shepard. He returned their gaze, giving a solemn nod and hiding his grin as they recognized him immediately. It probably was not him that was responsible for turning all those heads, he was with a very diverse crew, after all. Two humans, a synthetic, a turian, and a quarian. A mob of all things unexpected, underdogs least of all.
Before they could enter, a man strode out of the nearby doors and turned in their direction. Giving a wide, warm smile, he strode over to the group and held out his hand as Shepard now grinned.
"Anderson," Shepard laughed, relieved, "Damned if you aren't a sight for sore eyes."
The admiral pumped his hand in a firm shake, "I hear that. You're looking good, son. How are you holding up?"
Shepard glanced upward as the roar of a Reaper echoed through, "It's a little surreal, to be honest. I never thought it would look this bad."
Anderson gave a shrug, "Actually, this is probably the worst you're going to see. Sure, all the large cities were devastated but London is the one place where the most resistance is occurring."
"Has anyone tried to make it to the beam yet?"
"Not that we know of. You're just in time, believe it or not. We've put together a full scale assault before you arrived, infantry, armor, and air, the works. And now that you're here, we can begin immediately."
"Not leaving anything to chance?"
"Not at all," Anderson gave a grim face. "Although there is a bit of a snag in the plan. A destroyer has been guarding the beam all this time, preventing any of our troops from making it down there."
"A destroyer? Do we have any weapons capable of taking it down?" Shepard did not exactly feel like going toe to toe with one, even if he had every single gun in the fleet hooked up to a targeting laser, a fact that Tali shared as she nervously gripped his arm.
"We have a few portable Thanix missile launchers," Anderson confirmed, Tali's gesture going by unnoticed. "They will comprise one unit while the other unit waits for the destroyer to be...well, destroyed."
"I'm guessing that even if the missiles don't work, you're counting on the Reaper being distracted enough for the second unit to make a push, right?"
"That's the idea. The beam is situated at the bottom of a gradual incline, no cover, so we will have to go fast if we are unable to down the thing immediately."
"And once we're inside, we just find the console to open the arms?"
"Precisely. It isn't the most perfect of plans, but it's a plan nonetheless." Anderson gave each one of Shepard's crewmates a smile before looking to the horizon, seeing the faint glow emanate from the beyond. Glancing back, he said determinedly, "Not much point in waiting around any longer. You ready to get the hell onto that station, commander?"
Shepard smiled broadly, snapping into a full and respectful salute, "Yes sir."
Anderson returned the salute and held his hand out for another shake, to which Shepard accepted as he bid farewell to his friend and mentor. The admiral's eyes were lidded with a knowing secret as he leaned in for a private word, "Good luck, son. Keep her safe."
He didn't flinch but felt something clench from within and it was not anything to do with his synthsac. "I will, sir," he replied. "I look forward to telling you all about it."
"Likewise, Shepard," came the soft voice before Anderson glanced over at a line of trucks exiting the side. "First unit's on the way. Did you want to send anyone with them?"
Shepard turned back to the anxious faces behind him. The trucks were continuing to roll out but he still felt a clamp had been exerted on him. Tali teetered nervously under his gaze, Garrus bristled with anger towards the enemy, EDI stood complacent, and James shook his arms, feeling the surge of adrenaline.
Was there an overall point for him making his people go with the first unit? It was not going to be the decisive unit in this battle but they needed those tanks. They were a crucial aspect for this whole operation. Lose them all and the gig was up. But the fighting would be intense, he realized. Those tanks were headed directly into the path of a Reaper. He would just be sending someone to their deaths.
How he had wanted never to be put in this position again…
"Commander," James said as he stepped forward, saving Shepard from having to make the decision himself. "Request permission to rally with unit one."
Shepard's chest loosened as he simultaneously felt like a bottomless pit was being opened up inside him. There was nary a trace of hesitation upon the young lieutenant's face. It was not a decision made rashly, it was a choice made for the well being of the mission. Such as it was for the life a grunt: mission first, live later.
"James?" Shepard cautiously probed anyway. "You don't have to go if you don't want to."
Vega smiled, "With all due respect, fuck that, sir. I know where I'm needed."
He sighed, "That's very...noble of you, James, but I don't like the idea of you going off by yourself-"
"He won't be by himself," came a metallic voice as EDI strode into view. "Request permission to accompany Lieutenant Vega, commander."
Shepard blinked, "EDI, you too?"
The synthetic body of Dr. Core stood tall, her face locked in determination. "Lieutenant Vega will need sufficient backup on his mission, which I am capable of providing. I cannot be harmed directly by small arms fire as my presence is linked on board the Normandy. For the purpose of this task, my situation is advantageous."
James shrugged, "Hey, if the AI wants to tag along, that's fine by me."
Shepard shot him a contrary glance but he nodded all the same. "Then you better get going, you two. Convoy's almost left."
"Roger that, sir," James smiled as he saluted Shepard. "It was an honor serving under you."
Shepard now returned the salute, "And it was an honor having you fight beside me, Lieutenant. I couldn't have asked for a better soldier."
James laughed as he started to jog, face brightening, "Thank you, sir." As he left, EDI paused for a bit before giving a brief nod in his direction.
"We'll be in touch over the comm," she said. "I'll do my best to protect him."
"You've done your best at protecting us all," he clarified to the AI. "I have faith that you'll do a great job."
"Thank you, Shepard," EDI called as she joined James on top of a rolling Grizzly. The commander gave a final wave as the vehicle turned around the corner and out of sight. He sighed as the square seemed much more emptier now, turning to the final two people in his midst, not wanting to let them out of his sight for as long as he could manage.
A rumbling engine started and Shepard gestured to Tali and Garrus for them to follow. They headed over to the motor pool as the roar of squealing tires started up as unit two started the process of moving out.
"So, Shepard?" Garrus asked as they jogged down the rows of tanks. "What exactly is the plan that you have in mind?"
Shepard turned his head in all directions, looking for the one particular item of interest. "If we go on foot we'll be torn apart," he mused back. "We're going to need some extra armor if we want to make it to the beam in one piece."
Garrus did a double take before his foot caught on a brick, causing him to stumble in pain. "Oh no…" he breathed, "You're not seriously thinking-"
"Ah," Shepard clapped his hands as he walked around a mobile launcher, "Here it is."
As Tali and Garrus rounded the same vehicle, they both stopped in their tracks while Shepard continued forth. Bad memories began bubbling up and Garrus held his head in his hands as he audibly groaned.
"There is no way that I'm going with you in that," the turian shook his head. "I'm sorry, Shepard, but there is no way in hell that you can convince me."
"Why not?" Shepard replied as he took his foot off the Mako's ladder, "I wasn't that bad a driver, was I?" He turned to Tali for support, "Come on, we all got through all of those adventures in one piece, right? Besides, Ilos was all Joker's fault in the first place…"
"Err…" she could only mutter, "Couldn't we at least consider the going on foot option?"
Shepard's mouth dropped in incredulosity. "This isn't a damn joke," he pointed out. "Get in the Mako, right now, both of you."
Garrus raised his hands, "Shepard, I understand your point of view, but I'm still really skeptical about getting into a moving vehicle after all those mishaps-"
"I'll let you take control of the gun."
"Say no more," the turian rapidly switched gears, practically running for the vehicle at this point, clambering up the ladder so fast that he had seemed to be a literal blur. Tali stared, dumbfounded, at the place the turian had previously occupied before his impromptu departure.
"Well, what are you waiting for?" Garrus voice echoed from the hatch, "Are we going or what?"
"Damn turian," Shepard shook his head, watching Tali now head over to him as he leaned on one of the Mako's six large wheels. Before she headed up the ladder, she gave Shepard a quick hug. Just one more tender connection before they headed out. They all counted for something at this point, each one just a little more special.
Tali gave a small laugh as she recalled something, "Do you want me running tech interference again?"
He put a hand on her shoulder, "Why change what you do best, after all?"
"Just try not to kill us with your driving, okay? That would be quite ironic, considering all we've been through."
"Honestly," he shook his head, "It's like I'm sixteen again getting badgered for getting my driver's license."
"What's that?"
He stopped, forgetting that quarians did not use transportation the way humans did. "I'll tell you later," he said, hoping that he would get that chance at least. "Not important at the moment."
"In any case, we should probably get going," she said as she smoothed a hand over his cheek, the most intimate action she could accomplish with a helmet on in place of a kiss. Shepard held her hand in place as they lingered a moment more.
"Are you afraid, Tali?" he asked quietly.
She said nothing at first, beginning to climb up the ladder, leaving him behind. He stared at her sadly before she turned around, about to enter the Mako's hatch. "Yes," she said matter-of-factly. "But I've never let that stop me before."
Then you're stronger than I ever could be, he thought sourly as he followed her up.
It seemed that from the first moment the convoy set out from the FOB, everything went to hell at once.
The lead car had tracked movement from above but failed to properly react in time, rendering everyone else oblivious to the looming threat. With a victorious cry, the harvester swooped down and unleashed a glowing ball of plasma, melting through the first vehicle's fuel cell, igniting it and sending a blue fireball up into the sky.
"Contact two! Repeat, contact two! Engaging at St. Johns!"
All at once, Reaper troops began pouring out from the buildings on all sides of the road, overwhelming the soldiers on the ground. Cries of pain went up as the Alliance forces were mobbed, staggering from the surprise attack. Cauterized limbs fell to the ground as the horde pressed forward, unleashing their full fury.
Seated in the turret position, Garrus was picking the troops off one by one as he held the trigger down on auto. The Mako's machine gun released a raking force that cut several cannibals in half as he moved the muzzle across the street. Shepard threw the Mako in reverse to avoid the charge of a brute, its body just missing them as it barrelled into the side of an abode.
That was just the opportunity that Garrus seized. Whirling to face the huge lummox, Garrus hit the secondary fire and the mass accelerator cannon boomed, displacing the brute's torso all over the adorning shrubbery.
"This is unit one, we are in position. Transferring main protocol to Thanix tanks."
A flare of light made Shepard's head turn sharply. A ball of bright white energy was hurtling towards the Mako, projected from a banshee on the other side of the boulevard. There was no time to move out of the way, so Shepard's hand shot to the micro-thruster controls, sending the Mako levitating for a few seconds as the intruding projectile passed harmlessly underneath.
The thrusters had been spent for the time being and the vehicle crashed to the ground, straining one of the shock absorbers. Shepard's shock nullified body was unharmed but Tali was a little shaken, and Garrus was bleeding from the mouth where he had bit his tongue as the car hit the ground. Ignoring her slight injury, Tali immediately went to work on the repair diagnostics to see if she could get the Mako fully operational while Garrus grumbled before turning back to the turret.
If the turian wanted to take out his anger on the banshee, then he was out of luck for Shepard floored the gas and the Mako shot forward. Tali gripped the console with fear as the human drove like a madman, aiming for the modified asari in his sights. The banshee either had no barriers left to draw a biotic charge from or it was simply confused by what was happening. In the end, it made no difference because with a crunch of bone, it was pulled underneath the enormous tires, ground to a pulp between the concrete and the vehicle's high mass, and spat out in a bloody mess after it had finished rolling over it.
Shepard allowed a small smile, "I forgot how gratifying it was to do that."
"I'm glad one of us is having fun," Garrus sighed as he continued to look down the sights of the gun, an arm thrust out to steady him from banging his head on the ceiling.
Wrenching the wheel to the side, the Mako turned abruptly to the right as it left the battle, bowling over a few husks along the way, their fragile bodies liquefying underneath the tires. Tali was clinging to her armrests as the machine smashed through a nearby brick wall, mass accelerators softening the blow somewhat as the tank lumbered onto the empty street, the ambush behind them.
"First volley ineffective. Beam's causing targeting interference. Reaper approaching our position. Readying next volley."
Based on the radio reports, it looked like the first unit had felt like they were pressed for time. Perhaps they were being pressured by the waves of enemies surrounding them or they had thought that their first shot was relatively clean. In either case, it would be a good idea to pick up the pace.
There was still fighting going on ahead but there was more space to maneuver and this group here appeared to have the upper hand. Krogan rushed the enemy, shouting their battle challenges before they engaged in deadly tackles. Shotgun blasts opened up holes in marauders and they fell into the street to be stepped over as the line advanced.
Fellow soldiers and troops parted to let Shepard's Mako through without incident. Garrus resumed his duties at the turret, firing at will at a ravager that had scurried out of an apartment building, the venom from its burst sacs causing the ground to smoke. Now that the way was clear of friendlies, Shepard shot the tank forward once more, hearing the satisfying thumps as body after body impacted with the hood.
Tali glanced over at Shepard in amusement, "I can safely say that you're not going to be doing any driving when we finally get our home."
He laughed. That was good, he could go for a bit of levity right about now. "Keep dreaming, Tali," he grinned as he knocked over a lightpost in the process. "I'm going to be doing all the driving because I am a very good driver, believe it or not."
"Why do I doubt that very much?" Garrus muttered as the suddenly tilted Mako rolled over a parked car in the street, crumpling the windshield and setting off its alarm, wailing into the night. "Are you aiming for every single obstacle in the road?"
"Oh, shut up, Garrus!" Shepard shouted as he veered to avoid a large sinkhole, the momentum sending the turian bouncing along. This next turn led them into a public park, Regent's Park, according to the sign. Here, they could see the tall red forms of geth primes level their Spitfires at a horde of ravagers and husks, their long range keeping the Reaper forces at bay. The rapid fire plasma melted flesh and rotted sinew, the ex-humans practically dissolving into the grass as everything flared blue-hot for a brief second before their miserable existence was blotted out.
The Mako skirted around the geth lines, Shepard not even bothering to turn the wheel as bushes and small trees met the unfortunate fate of being unceremoniously run over with a tank. Either Shepard did not have a particular love for gardening or his anxiety was nearing its peak.
The radio blinked red as someone was speaking towards him directly. "Com-Commander," the man coughed. "It's Vega. We're on-site, last round of Thanix missiles are almost ready to deploy against the destroyer."
He held the receiver to his mouth, "Can you hold a bit longer? We've been delayed and had to reroute, ETA to our position in roughly five minutes."
"That's...that's too long, Shepard. We're getting overwhelmed at our rally point right now- watch out!" Gunfire overtook the man on the comm as Shepard restlessly waited for the man to resume. "Half our forces are already gone, we can't stay here!"
Shepard gripped the wheel furiously, his brain telling him to do one thing while his heart said to do another. He closed his eyes and swore quietly before picking up the receiver, "Do...do you require backup?"
"Negative. You head to your rally point, we'll handle this hijo de puta for you!"
"Dammit, James, don't be a hero on me, if you need backup just say the word-"
"Nope," Vega responded as assault rifle bursts interrupted the exchange, "We've...agh...we've got it covered. EDI's...fuck me….EDI's working on the missiles right now, she...oh crap."
A crunching of feet now joined the din as Tali watched with wide eyes. Shepard, concerned, keyed the talk, "Lieutenant, what's going on? James, report!"
"It's...it's EDI. She got hit by one of those...you motherfuckers!" James' roar filled the cabin as the marine was most certainly firing his rifle in retaliation.
Shepard flipped up his omni-tool simultaneously, "EDI, what's going on?"
"A stray beam hit the unit's central processing unit after it penetrated the shields," the AI reported smoothly. "I am unable to retain control of it but I still have the Thanix missiles prepped. I'm sorry I couldn't do more, Shepard."
"Garrus, take the wheel!" Shepard barked as his concentration stretched between two things at once. The turian clambered over as Shepard awkwardly shuffled out into one of the extra seats behind Tali. To EDI he now spoke, "Can you fire the missiles from where you are?"
"Negative, the ignition requires manual input."
"James!" Shepard practically hollered, "Get to the control panel and hit the switch now!"
"Roger that!" the marine roared, staccato bursts flitting in and out. "Missiles away!"
The mic was quiet for half a minute until the boom seemed to rattle the Mako from within, loose parts shaking around horribly as the ground trembled beneath them.
Thanix volleys in atmosphere tended to have devastating effects as the liquid alloy reacted violently to any solid at high speeds. The pulse from the shockwave leveled trees, splintering the trunks down to the shaft. The wind rushed horribly, taking husks off their feet and sending them through the air. Any window that had not been shattered already did so, the tinkling of glass coating the sidewalks with tiny jagged edges.
Garrus started determinedly ahead, fighting for control of the vehicle and winning as Shepard took a deep breath. "James," he spoke slowly, "What is the status of the target?"
"Missile..." came the ragged reply, "Missile hit confirmed!" There was a whoop on the other end, "Ha ha! We fucking did it! The destroyer is down, the bitch is dead!"
Thank god.
"Okay, Lieutenant," he breathed a little easier now, "Regroup and fall back to the FOB now. We'll make sure to-"
"Ah, sorry to disappoint you there, Shepard, but I don't think that's going to work."
"What? Why?"
A harsh laugh was emitted, "Shepard, I'm all that's left. I can see hundreds of the bastards climbing over the blockades. They'll be on me in seconds."
"Goddamn it, no!" Shepard shouted. "James, you pull out of there right now! Do you hear me? Pull out immediately!"
"You're breaking up bit, Shepard," Vega sighed. "There's nothing you can do for me at this point."
"James, if I have to drag your sorry ass out of there, so be it I'll-"
"Thanks for the ride, commander," came the droll reply and a howl soon pierced the air as firearms discharged, the roar of cannibals sounding audibly over the radio. Shepard clutched the transmitter in horror as the terrible noises continued to broadcast. Even Garrus had leaned over, a shocked expression on his face as Tali trembled.
"Come on you fucks! Is that the best you got? Ha ha haaaaaa! You can't beat me! You've lost, you motherfuckers! Do you hear me? You've-"
With brief instant of a yell, the transmission cut off, only static coming through. Garrus let out a tempered breath as Tali hung her head. Shepard's arm dropped down in disbelief as the heavy realization sank in.
Will it be enough? Will it stop right here?
It was probably the best death a marine could hope for, to die gloriously on the field of battle, surrounded by one's enemies as they laughed in their faces. It had a rather poetic ring to it, something that Vega would never stand for but it suited his actions nonetheless.
The time for mourning was not upon them yet, but for their respect. Giving a life for the cause, that was James' duty to the letter and he followed it exceptionally. That was the kind of stuff soldiers won medals for. He made a note to put in a good word for the young marine for it would be the least he deserved if they saw victory this day.
"Fuck," he said quietly, hanging his head, Tali putting an arm on his back, the soft touch doing wonders and keeping him from falling further into despair. His fists clenched so tightly he thought that his skin would burst.
"Shepard?" Garrus called from the driver's seat, "We're in sight of the target. What do you want to do?"
He sighed as he lifted his head back up, anger overriding any other instinct. Situating himself in between the front seats, he gazed out at the luminous beam before breathing his final command.
"Drive."
With a lurch, the Mako slid down a small cliff and as its shock absorbers aligned it with the incline, Garrus put his foot down to the floor and the tank took off. It was completely clear, a straight shot to the beam. There was a little less than a mile to cover, at their current speed they would be there in under sixty seconds. The tires, rotating as fast as they could, spun over the dusty concrete as it approached the bright terminus.
Shepard could feel himself on the edge with anticipation, barely able to hold still. Tali's hands were twisting in a knot as Garrus alternated between softly cursing and disbelieving exclamations. Nothing was going to stop them now.
Half a mile to go, thirty seconds and counting.
He allowed a tiny smile in exuberance before a pit in his stomach opened up and he felt his entire skin prickle as if he had been dipped in ice water. Shepard's eyes widened, he had felt this sensation many times before.
Oh no...please not now…
SHEPARD!
He groaned out loud as he hunched over, his head feeling like it was about to split. He clutched at it, hoping to drive the pain away as the grating voice continued.
You have become more than an annoyance. You push against forces you cannot possibly hope to shift. The cycle will continue!
"Garrus," Shepard gritted, "Keep driving. Just drive!"
With a huge quake, the Mako flew a few feet in the air as something impacted with the ground close by, causing Tali to gasp in alarm. Adjusting the vehicle's course, Garrus grimaced as a towering form was now situated behind the beam itself, rising a good kilometer over them as its ugly yellow eyes glowered at them.
Harbinger.
The turian yanked the wheel to the left, just as the Reaper loosed a beam at the vehicle, barely missing the rear end. Without warning, a second beam appeared from underneath Harbinger's chassis and it too pursued the determined Mako as it raced ahead towards the bright glowing center.
Wherever Harbinger's attacks touched, they gouged a line in the dirt, creating black glass as all the particulates were fused together. Small fires and blasts of heat trailed in its wake, Garrus swerving left and right as he desperately tried to avoid the barrage.
Tali was saying something quietly to herself but cut off as she whirled in her seat, wanting one last look back at Shepard. He could not find anything to say to her as he realized the hopelessness of the situation. Somehow, he found the will to make his face calm and allay her fears with his serene expression. He could see her shoulders visibly relax as her terror drained out of her, peace falling upon her frame.
You cannot hope to destroy what you fail to understand. Know this, Shepard.
Blood-red light filtered on the right side of the Mako and suddenly the entire vehicle tilted on its side, sliding forward helplessly. A beam had sliced the right three wheels off. Shepard could see Garrus struggling to maintain control as they continued to slide, Tali reaching for him desperately as the white from the beam started to blind them. They were close...so close.
Squealing emitting from the raw axle, sparks flying, Garrus roared as the Mako lurched, its momentum carrying it up and over. Disoriented, Shepard saw every loose thing start to fly as the vehicle flipped, the ground rushing underneath them. With a jolt capable of shattering spines, he felt the earth rush over him once, twice, three times before everything momentarily went black.
The first thing he felt was pain. Blinking blood out of his eyes, he groaned as he sat up, still full of energy thanks to the amount of punishment his endoskeleton could take. A normal body would have been broken in pieces after a wreck like that.
Shepard was surprised to see that he had been flung outside during the crash, landing just meters away from the stricken Mako, now wrecked on its side. Peering closely, he could see a jagged hole on the right side of the craft, most likely torn away during the vehicle's acrobatics.
Blood was still beading into his eyes so he took a hand and held it up to his forehead, where the bleeding was coming from. Something seemed to be loose there and he tore away, holding a folded flap of skin in his hand. It must have been shredded away when he had landed, he determined, rather miffed at the fact that his elaborate epidermis was now ruined.
His armor itself was not faring well either. Cracked after landing hard on the ground and skidding back several feet, several plates had been torn away, leaving his body exposed to the elements. He huffed as he rose to his feet, removing his destroyed greaves in a daze. Coherent thinking was slowly seeping back to him as the roar of the wind brought him back to his senses. In alarm, he gazed upward, searching for his foe. Harbinger was still there but did not have him in a direct line of fire. He didn't have much time before the Reaper noticed him.
Something clamped down hard on his shoulder and he abruptly turned, hand reaching for a pistol that was not there before stopping in panic. Tali, unharmed and completely lucid, lowered her head to shout above the din as he felt relief surge within him.
"John! Are you okay?" She ignored the metal that had been exposed from his head, which was a relief to him. The last thing he wanted at this point was to alienate his own friends, least of all the woman he loved, with his appearance.
He nodded dumbly, "Apart from being battered a bit, I'm fine."
The quarian pointed towards the beam, just a light jog away. "We need to go now! This might be our only chance!"
"Wait!" he shouted as he clamped down on her wrist, now noticing that the back of his glove had been scraped off, revealing the intricate metal components of his apparatus moving back and forth. "Where's Garrus?"
Answering his question, there was a rattle as the hatch to the Mako opened before falling off. A blue armored form dropped out, following it as he hit the ground hard. The left side of the turian's face was completely coated in blue blood, dripping as his left mandible was hanging by a few strands of sinew. Garrus used the Mako to try to stand as he hobbled in place. From here, Shepard could see a shock of white bone stick out from the turian's shin as he wavered. A compound fracture, a crippling blow.
He took two steps forward to rush to the turian's aid until the air seemed to turn still. A vibration beat in his chest, pulverizing his heart. The setting seemed to take on an unnatural echo, reverberations bouncing around in his ears. His mouth was dry, pulse racing, as he finally understood.
Harbinger loomed over the Mako as it appraised the three of them. The drumming roar shot through their very bones as the tentacle-like legs bent slightly. Shepard found his feet rooted to the spot, unable to move as he witnessed the telltale glow of red appear from within the Reaper. Point-blank range. No escape in sight.
Garrus sighed as he leaned against the vehicle, gasping in pain and tearing off his eyepiece so he could look at Shepard for one last time.
Even with the grinding and gnashing sounds from the Reaper, he could still hear the turian clearly over the cacophony.
"Shepard, meet me at the b-"
A series of missiles overhead suddenly thundered against Harbinger, raining down bits of metal as a squadron of Tridents zoomed by, leaving contrails in the thick smoke. The volley was enough to throw off the Reaper's aim slightly, but only just.
As Harbinger twitched down and to the left, it expelled the beam it had been charging in a rush. It streaked out and brushed against the Mako, causing it to expand in a glowing ball of flame. The last Shepard saw of Garrus was his complacent form suddenly engulfed by fire. He could not hear himself screaming over Tali's sobs as he sprinted towards the burning machine, reaching out to pry his friend from the inferno. The flames licked at him, scorching his skin as his flesh burned, making him wince in pain.
There was a whump and Shepard found himself flying backward as the fuel cell of the Mako detonated. Everything flared red as the most unbelievable pain he had ever experienced surrounded him, locked in the fire's tender embrace. He saw everything spinning as he felt the burn abruptly fade. His lungs rattled uncomfortably as he landed on his back, sending up small clouds of dust. He heard a small snap and blue electricity surrounded him, crackling as the smell of ozone came to him. His shield generator had just been smashed to bits against the hard surface. Grasping at the ground, he hauled himself up as he saw the smoke plume upward, the vehicle beginning to smoulder.
The pulsing from the beam was getting stronger but it went unnoticed as Shepard could only stare out into space, at the very spot he had seen Garrus last standing. For some reason, he could not feel any more pain from the fire at all, and he had been in there for a few long moments. He brought a hand to his head in disbelief and was met with a sharp ting of metal against metal. Confused, he looked down at himself and regarded himself in silence.
His entire armor had been completely destroyed from the fire and explosion, blowing it off his body entirely. With his skin exposed, the heat had charred and melted it away, leaving his gleaming body free once more. The interlocked segments in his arms were able to click and whir as they pleased, his skeletal fingers reaching toward the sky as he regarded himself in silence.
Shepard reached towards the back of his neck, wanting his own confirmation and felt his fingers hit metal at the base. So, the nerve endings had been completely fried which was why he felt no pain anymore. It was why he did not feel anything right now. Was his humanity the final sacrifice to make? Was this some sort of cruel test to prove how strong his drive was? A nightmare brought upon him until he could actually wake up?
He stopped screaming for his friend once Tali had reached him, her warm fingers guiding his cold ones. Shepard knew how hideous he must look in Tali's eyes, despite the fact that he could not see her expression, as the mechanical demon that only looked fit for a terrifying hallucination pitifully gazed at her. The quarian's body language, though, told him it did not matter and she held him determinedly, skin or no skin. She had passed the point of judgment, it was only them now.
"Come on!" she screamed. "Come on!"
Obeying, body numb, he followed in the wake of her grasp, running with her as they approached the beam. Shepard felt light on his feet, his body unrestricted and disengaged from reality. Together they dashed, past the faint wisps of light coming from the beam, past the lumbering Reaper swinging around for another shot, past the pools of liquid that accumulated near the entrance.
He hustled through the cold until it seemed like the light was pulling on his frame, beckoning to him. Tali continued on, holding his hand, until they met the brightness as one. Without hesitation, they took that fateful step and screamed in unison as their molecules were torn apart, displaced by the brightness as they physically left Earth. Streaking upwards, they became pure energy as they ceased to exist for a single moment, like the movement of electrons along a wire.
The unknown willingly met, they faced their fate as they shot towards the enormous station.