Chapter 26 – Hell Hath No Fury… Pt.1
Kaidan watched the woman walk through the shadows. He suspected the low-cut skin-tight black catsuit was meant to distract from the limp caused by the drag of one foot, and the arm that held itself half-crooked. Then she emerged fully into the light and Kaidan couldn't believe his eyes. Beside him, Garrus made an odd strangled growl. They were looking at a woman who should have been dead.
"Surprised?" sneered Miranda, her face showing no sign of the damage Garrus had inflicted.
Garrus felt an old hatred re-surface at the sight of Miranda Lawson, and it deadened him to his initial shock. "Shouldn't be. Scum's notoriously hard to get rid of."
Her nose wrinkling as she gave Garrus a hard stare, Miranda turned to address her sister. "Don't be taken in by their lies, Oriana. They're just trying to save themselves. I told you I would handle things from here on. You should have woken me."
Oriana looked between her sister and Alenko, who gave the slightest shake of his head to convey that he hadn't lied. Swallowing, Oriana blinked back the tears. "I'm sorry."
Though she was looking at her feet, Kaidan was certain her apology was meant for him.
"Just go back to your room," ordered Miranda, in irritation. "This will be over soon."
Hesitating at first, Oriana looked at both Kaidan and Garrus before leaving.
"Not very smart, are you, Garrus?" Miranda glared at Garrus. "Your life is in my hands and you want to piss me off?"
"Hardly going to make much difference is it? You haven't brought me here to reminisce old times." He glanced at Kaidan. "Let him go. This is between you and me."
Miranda smirked. "Come on, Garrus. That was pathetic. Yes, I'm going to enjoy what I have planned for you - but you're not the star of this show. You never have been while you've stood in Shepard's shadow." As far as Miranda was concerned, none of this would have happened without Shepard's existence.
Ignoring the turian, she moved her attention to Alenko, bending to place her lips at Kaidan's ear. "I can rend Shepard apart without even touching her. Make her live in continual heartache. I just have to take away everything she cares about. For now, that's her favourite pet, and her lover."
Kaidan's jaw tightened in response.
For her own amusement, Miranda ran her good hand over his bruised chest in a deliberately intimate way, then pressed on his open-fractured rib to induce a hiss. "Looks painful."
"I take pride in my work," grinned Kryek, running his eyes over Miranda's body, before grinning at Kaidan. "And I'd be more than happy to continue what I started."
Straightening, Miranda assessed Kryek. An asset to rival Kai Leng maybe…. "You're hired." She then looked over at the merc leader – he'd given his name, but she hadn't cared to remember it. "Take them to their new quarters."
"I trust I've fulfilled my end of the deal," Antella prompted, as they followed behind the prisoners.
Miranda sighed at his impatience. "I'll have Oriana transfer the remainder of your fee. In the meantime, I thought maybe you'd like to watch the fruits of your labour. I have a private area you can use, with camera access to their cells." That seemed to please Antella.
"That would be most enjoyable."
"It will," she agreed.
oOo
The war room was filling with those involved with the mission, the holo-image of the facility that Edi had picked up from her scans was hovering in the centre of the console.
"How in the hell could that Cerberus bitch still be alive?" demanded Jack.
"A gunshot to the head isn't necessarily a death sentence," explained Hackett. "It all depends on what areas of the brain it hits on the way."
"Man, I can't believe this," commented James, running his hand over his mohawk.
"No matter how she survived, it's likely she would have suffered some form of brain trauma," continued Hackett. He'd seen several soldiers go through the after-effects of surviving that type of injury to know.
"Chakwas said the same thing," said Shepard. "Though I'm going to confidently say it hasn't impaired her mental abilities if she can plan something like this, but any disability would explain why she needed to use her sister."
"Oriana is also the only one with the inheritance," said Liara. "Nothing went to Miranda, even before she was listed as officially dead."
"No surprises there," muttered James. "If their father could put a gun to his own kid's head, he's hardly gonna be worried about missing her out of his will. That was one cold man."
"Miranda's presence can't distract us. She's just another known player," said Shepard.
"You're really going in alone?" fidgeted Jack, unhappily.
Shepard looked them all over. If Kasumi had stuck around, she'd have gladly taken her, but the thief had disappeared the instant they'd landed back on the Citadel, leaving only a hand-drawn wink and a smile on her desk. Thane would have been there without question… She sighed sadly. "I have to. I can't risk them discovering our arrival before I can find Kaidan and Garrus. Infiltration means I can secure them before giving you all the call to attack."
"There is a problem," notified Edi, her posture matching Shepard's own when she stood at attention. "Scans show the area is surrounded by an atmospheric dome. It is not possible for a shuttle to pass through it without alerting those below of our presence. Even the smallest breach would be detected."
Shepard's heart sunk. That wasn't what she wanted to hear.
"We lose the element of surprise and Lawson could just kill them," Hackett voiced.
She nodded. "But we have no choice."
"There may be a way to fool them, though," Hackett said in thought. "If we can keep the ship far enough away to prevent a visual, we could pretend to be someone else; let them think we're less of a threat. Used it myself, in the past."
"Interesting," said Edi. "It would be a simple task to emit fake transmissions and communications."
"They'll be on alert, but expecting nothing more than opportunistic pirates looking for an easy score," declared Hackett.
Re-thinking, Shepard hesitated before continuing. Her new plan felt too much like the last one that played out here. "We still take the whole team down by shuttle, but instead of holding back for my all-clear, Cortez, you'll be dropping the ground team off first." She indicated on the holo to a stretch of sand not far from where Edi had picked up the small ship she suspected belonged to Antella.
"Aye, aye, Admiral."
"Vega. You're lead. The rest of you are to follow his command."
"I would also like to join them, Shepard," said Samara, moving further into the room from where she'd been observing from the periphery.
"I wasn't sure where you stood on helping with this," said Shepard. She figured 'constant shadow' meant that Samara would follow Liara down there, but beyond that, she assumed nothing. Her feelings towards the Justicar were clouded by the recent events over Liara – Samara's damn 'code' left her as unsettled as it did when they first met. The Justicar's code was too black and white. The universe didn't work that way. People didn't work that way.
"What these people have done is unjust," explained Samara, breaking into Shepard's thoughts. "That is cause enough for my involvement."
No mention of anything else behind this than fulfilling her duty… "Your assistance would be welcome."
With a single, respectful nod, Samara moved to stand with the others, Liara understandably a little discomforted.
"Your aim is to get their attention," continued Shepard. "Make a show of trying to reach the facility without actually pressing too far to make those inside feel immediately threatened."
"Playing with our food, Shepard? I can do that," Jack said menacingly.
"To begin with, you're distractions, and it's important that you try to remain unseen as much as possible. Miranda would recognise most of you, and this only works if they think you're mercs."
"While you head around the back," grinned James approvingly.
"That's the idea, anyway." She touched eyes with each of those standing there. "As soon as I have Kaidan and Garrus, or should I need back-up, I'll be in contact for you to breach the facility. In the meantime, I'll be radio silent, so look after yourselves and each other down there."
"Don't worry about us, Shepard. We won't let you down," assured James. "Go get 'em."
"Joker. Bring us in to position."
"Ready in ten."
As the ground team filed out, Hackett pulled Terra into a hug, her head tucking under his chin as she held tight. "Take care down there. … And be prepared for the worst," he frowned, with an uneasiness he couldn't shake. "I'll be watching over you." He kissed her forehead before letting her go.
"Thanks, dad." Turning to leave, Terra paused. Teryck was stone-still, staring at the projected image of the facility, just as he had throughout the briefing.
"I'll head up to the cockpit," said Hackett, giving them privacy.
Shepard moved beside Garrus' father. "Are you alright, Teryck?" He made a short sound to indicate he was, but she wasn't fooled by it. "Liar."
Tearing his gaze from the holo, he looked at her in surprise. "Hh. I suppose I'm not used to being upfront with my feelings. Or being called-out on my brush-offs."
"Welcome to the Normandy," she smiled. "We're a family here."
"I have to admit I envy the close relationship your father has with you. It's something that's eluded me. Though I'm sure you know all about it from Garrus."
"Dad's always allowed me to go my own way," she explained, gently.
Teryck shook his head a little, displaying a slight frown of concern. "Garrus has a tendency to get caught up in things, at the cost of breaking rules. He left C-Sec without a second thought when he saw you were going after Saren. Then he turned into a vigilante."
"He was doing good out there. It gave him a purpose."
"And it nearly got him killed. He should have stayed in C-Sec."
"Yet look where he is now. He made his own way, against your wishes, and he's reached one of the most prestigious roles in the galaxy – in C-Sec."
"Well…I can't argue that. But he did it the hard way."
"He did it the way that made him happy in the process. Sure he might have ploughed his way up the ranks if he'd stayed in C-Sec instead of joining me, but what sort of man would he be now if he had? Knowing Garrus the way I do, I think he'd be a shadow of who is he. Someone going through the motions, stifled beyond recognition. He's a turian who thinks outside the box, who wants to take the journey to discover the rights and wrongs of it instead of being told that's just the way it has to be. And thank the stars for it, because I wouldn't have been half as successful without him next to me. Your son may not be a very good turian, but he's a fantastic soul, soldier, and friend."
"I can see that. He's lucky to have someone like you looking out for him. ... I've always underestimated him, haven't I?"
"With respect…yes, Sir. Very much so."
Vakarian Sr. just grunted his amusement at her polite honesty, then an intense seriousness fell over him again. "Shepard, years ago, I got a call from Garrus…apologising for not listening to me. I could tell from his tone that he was in deep trouble, the sort he didn't believe he was going to survive. I'll never forget that hopelessness, that sadness, in his voice. I told him not to worry about that, and to just do what he had to do to get back. Then something changed. All of that desolation disappeared, and before he ended the call, he simply said, 'I'll speak to you soon. The odds just got a whole lot better.' I know now that was down to you. You saved my boy back on Omega. Now I need you to do it again."
"I would willingly go to hell and back for Garrus Vakarian, and I will do everything in my power to bring him back."
She then surprised Teryck by closing the distance and embracing him. In the time it took him to battle against his natural instinct to refrain from public shows of affection, she was retreating. All he could do was clear his throat and nod his appreciation. "I know you will."
Terra left the room, bringing up every wall she had. Without knowing what she'd find down there, she had to be Admiral Shepard.
The elevator opened to reveal Massani who deliberately blocked her way, folding his arms to make it clear he wasn't moving.
"I'm not staying behind, Shepard," he declared. "Chimera and that weasel fucked me over, and I have a score to settle."
"Mr Massani, I allowed you free rein on the ship because without you naming Chimera I wouldn't have had the intel that ultimately led to this location. That's as much as I'm prepared to give you. When it comes to this mission, you don't have a choice. I will not have you at the backs of my team, nor am I willing to risk you screwing this mission for your personal vengeance. Now move." She turned to the side to make way for his exit, only for Massani to step directly in front of her.
"You can't keep me on your ship."
"Yes I can. Edi, Massani's not to leave."
"Yes, Shepard."
"Goddamn it!" Zaeed suddenly grabbed her arms and slammed her up against the wall beside the elevator doors, getting right in her face. "I'm going."
Unblinking, Shepard stared right back, her nose nearly touching Massani's. "Or what?" she challenged.
Zaeed grimaced at that. Hackett would never forgive him if he throttled the life out of his daughter. He also had to respect her ability to stand up to him. Few managed to withstand his glare. Like father like daughter.
"Zaeed..."
He looked over his shoulder to see Hackett, ice-blue eyes fixed on him in warning. Beyond, the CIC crew were all focused on him, and even Joker was coming down the aisle with weapon in hand at the sight of him pinning Shepard.
"Okay. You caught me. It's exactly what it looks like," Zaeed teased bitterly at the witnesses. "Shepard and I were just about to get it on, right here. You interrupted a private moment."
"Oh please," said Shepard in distaste, shoving him away and walking into the elevator. When she turned to face the closing doors, she added. "You're staying."
"Fuck!" Zaeed kicked the doors in rage only to be immediately placed in a containment field, in which he swore some more.
While the crew returned to their tasks, content to ignore him, Hackett stood with an unimpressed face and arms folded.
"What?" barked Zaeed, with a shrug. "She's a beautiful woman. If you think she's off my menu because you made her, you're kidding yourself."
"It's like you're begging me to deck you."
Zaeed smacked his fists into the field that bit back at him with its electrical energy, igniting another stream of cursing. "Unfortunately for you, I've been quarantined," he griped.
In response, the field vanished.
"Oh. Funny," Zaeed said up to the ceiling. "Who knew an AI could be so goddamned hilarious?"
Hackett, like Edi, gave him no reaction. "Have you finished being an ass?"
Huffing, Zaeed nodded, though still thoroughly pissed off. "Hey, we're like brothers. How about putting in a good word for me? Get me on the ground. In fact, can't you order her to?"
"Not a chance in hell. So get over it."
Then Hackett walked back off to the cockpit to oversee the drop-offs, leaving Zaeed grumbling about "Goddamned loyalty".
oOo
Shifting in her seat beside Cortez, Shepard stared straight ahead through the shuttle's window, fixed on the shimmering artificial dome that had helped to resurrect this dead zone on Virmire. What lay beneath? She turned her gaze away to see the steeled face of Cortez. "Everything okay, Steve?"
"Nothing to worry about here," assured Cortez. He took a deep breath. "Just promise me you'll drag back every single one of those bastards who are behind this and beat them to a pulp right here."
"Wait until I'm back on the shuttle? Even I don't have that kind of control, Lieutenant."
Steve gave a small laugh. "Sounds like they're in for it, big time."
"Yes they are," she promised.
"We're hitting that atmospheric dome in five, four..."
"Let's do this." Rigid with tension, Shepard was prepared. For the worst, as her father had warned? No. Nothing could ever ready her for that, she now knew. But she was prepared to channel every ounce of fury that burned inside her into whomever tried to stop her getting to those she loved.
oOo
Walking along the corridors to her room, tears falling, Oriana wondered how she'd allowed herself to be this person.
The medics at Miranda's side gasped in shock. "She's alive!" In seconds they had her in a medical stasis field, effectively placing her entire body in a sleeping state. Oriana had watched helplessly and dazed as they rushed about to arrange for a neurosurgeon to meet them at an exclusive medical facility…
The only thing Oriana remembered about the place was the incessant rain trickling down the windows that looked out on nothing but grey as she waited for news. And she remembered the joy and relief when Miranda pulled through.
The following months had been hard on Miranda. She had to re-learn to speak, her ability to connect her thoughts to actual speech was a laborious process. Miri threw things a lot, and screamed at everyone, but Oriana never blamed her for it. She took it all because she tried her best to imagine what it must be like for her intelligent sister to be trapped within her body. Then it was time to walk. Oriana knew her sister hated every single second of it, the indignity of it. The awful thing that had been done to her….
"They have to pay for this Ori. They can't get away with this. You'll help me, won't you?"
"Miri, of course. For father, too."
"Alenko and Vakarian. I need you, Ori. I can't do this without you. Will you stand by me? Whatever it takes?"
"I promise."
That oath had weighed Oriana down soon after, when it became evident that the justice Miri had in mind had nothing to do with courts of law.
Arriving at her haven, Oriana sat at the desk, shaking hands bringing up the surviving footage from Sanctuary. She didn't need to see the whole thing. Once was enough. It was branded into her brain, never to be removed.
The Spectre, Alenko; his biotics battling against Miranda's until he'd forced her down to the floor. The window already broken - father was dead at this point. Alenko talking to Miranda, the turian grabbing her, Alenko turning and walking out of view. Then the turian also briefly moving away before re-appearing, raising his gun, and shooting Miranda.
Desperately, Oriana froze the recording at the very beginning of the corrupted file, searching for anything to prove she was wrong to believe Alenko and not her sister - because Miri had looked her in the eye and confirmed that Alenko had killed their father.
Her horror was absolute as she picked out something that never registered before: Miranda was standing in front of that window, her biotics already swirling, and Alenko's were only just igniting.
She sank her head into her hands. How could Miri have done that? And her father… to ransom his own daughter. To create Sanctuary…. Who were these people she called family?
O
Garrus was strapped firmly into the kind of chair he'd seen in Cerberus labs with walls splattered in blood. These walls were pristine for now, but Miranda was no doubt aiming to redecorate it in turian blue.
It irked him that she'd survived his bullet; that because he'd failed to put her down properly, she'd been given the opportunity to orchestrate all this, putting Rorie in the hands of someone like Kryek.
He watched Miranda moving about the room, taking some comfort from the creased lines of concentration around her eyes that indicated it took effort. "Having trouble with your brain, Lawson?"
Miranda clenched her teeth. The damage to the front and left side of her brain had led to the paralysis down her right side and a speech impediment. All the physio, all the surgeries by expert after expert had only given her this much. It seemed ridiculous to Miranda that she had brought Shepard back from death, but her brain was beyond them. But of course, Shepard's brain had been intact, protected by her helmet, so important because it was the one part that couldn't be replaced or repaired.
Until their experts had a breakthrough, Miranda knew this was as good as it was going to get for her. She had limitations. Her mind and body were flawed. Soon she'd be struggling to stay awake again. That was how hard she had to work in order to get a mere hour of productiveness.
Tirelessly doting on her, Oriana had once said she should be thankful she had the function she had. But Miranda was designed to be perfect; she'd been brought up being told it, knowing it. Then she'd made the mistake of bringing Shepard back to life... Now it was unlikely she'd ever be perfect again. Garrus Vakarian had dealt her a blow worse than death.
"You're going to pay for it, Vakarian."
The anger surging forward, she picked up a scalpel from the side table and plunged it into the turian's thigh, then dragged it down to the sound of his restrained growl, his hands gripping the arm-rests, talons scoring the undersides as she released his precious blue blood. The bindings that crossed his body tightened as he strained against them. When she withdrew the scalpel, he was panting with the pain, but it wasn't enough for her. She wanted him begging her for mercy.
A knock at the door preceded the merc leader's presence, stepping only far enough into the room to deliver the news.
"We've got company at the perimeter. Looks like pirates."
"Then why are you bothering me with it?" snapped Miranda. "Or are a bunch of scavengers more than you and your men can handle?"
The merc leader's eyes narrowed, then he left without response.
"Still winning people over with your charm," muttered Garrus, his voice strained. "Haven't learnt a thing, have you? Including that you can't hide from Shepard. She's going to find you."
"Actually, when I'm ready to let her know where you are, I'll be long gone. I liked the idea of her having to return here to Virmire to collect the body of the man she saved last time. As for me, I'm very good at being untraceable. She'll never find me."
"You really do have brain damage if you think you can outsmart Shepard."
Miranda slammed the scalpel through the back of his hand, enjoying his roar. "I'm going to create some of my own damage. You see, I now have intimate knowledge of the brain, and turian brains are very similar. I can judge just where I need to drill to turn you into a slobbering idiot. Then I'm going to leave you alive, little more than a vegetable. Useless and very aware."
Garrus' heart raced. The thought of what she had in store for him filled him with real fear.
A shiver of anticipation went through Miranda as the drill she picked up whirred with the gentle pressure of her finger on the trigger. She'd have preferred to use her stronger right hand, but she'd learned to make do. She moved up to Garrus. "You look worried, Garrus. You should be."
The door slid open as Oriana walked in, paling at the sight of her sister with drill in hand.
"What is it?" gritted out Miranda. "I told you to stay in your room."
The harsh words snapped Oriana out of her initial shock. "I'm not a child, Miri. I go where I want."
Miranda arched her brow, her finger releasing the drill's trigger as she focused on her sister. "I don't think you have the stomach for this."
"You lied to me. You did kill father."
Miranda shrugged. "He thought he could hand me over to save himself. I had other ideas."
"You let me think Alenko did it! He's an innocent man!"
"He's a means to hurt Shepard even more than losing her pet here. I would have loved Shepard in there instead of Alenko, but as she wasn't there on Sanctuary I couldn't really implicate her to satisfy your moral high ground."
"Morals? Look I've helped you do!" Oriana sank her hands into her hair, gripping it in her despair. "We have to stop this!"
"Stop it? No. Understand one thing, Oriana: I deserve this. Nothing is going to stop me, and certainly not you."
"These mercenaries belong to me," tried Oriana, with as much gravity as she could muster. "It's my credits that pay for their loyalty."
Miranda laughed. "This little act of yours really isn't credible, Oriana. Yes, you have the credits - one last back-stab from father - but we both know you haven't got a chance against me."
"Against you? I'm not... I just want this to end before it goes too far. Miri, I love you, but this is wrong."
"You love me. How sweet," Miranda mocked. "Your very existence has never been anything but an insult to me. You're a replacement, only made because I'm infertile. The man who created me in a lab from his own genes decided I wasn't entirely perfect because of it. What sort of hypocrisy is that?"
Oriana's eyes lowered to the floor, fighting back tears. "I looked after you. Got you the best doctors. I haven't left your side in four years. I did everything you asked. You're my sister."
"You're just a weak clone."
"Oriana. Leave," urged Garrus.
Surprised, Oriana quickly understood. She was expendable in Miranda's eyes, and she slowly backed towards the door.
"Oh no, sister. Stay." Then Miranda's biotics lit, lifting Oriana into the air, then smacking her down into the floor where she stayed, semi-conscious. The display had been far from forceful, but not because she hadn't meant it to be. Like the rest of her, Miranda had no proper control over her biotics anymore. Sometimes she could deliver the full-force of her energy, other times it was weak, just like now. She returned her attention to Garrus. "Now to get rid of one more annoyance."
O
Kryek yanked up Kaidan's sagging head. One eye was completely swollen shut, and blood ran from the Spectre's mouth and broken nose. "When I've finished with you, I'm going to sort out that filthy little biotic you created. Teach her a lesson. Crush that scrawny neck with my bare hands. Then I'm going to use your wife. Over and over, again and again…" Kryek laughed cruelly.
Despite the agony – throughout his chest, his face – Kaidan felt the threats to his family hit him deep, over-riding everything else so the burning inside him was from rage, not pain. He wanted nothing more than to rip Kryek apart with the dark energy the man despised so much.
O
Antella couldn't wait any longer. He lowered the beer to the low table in front of the plush chair he sat in. It all faced a large screen on the wall that gave him a view of both the turian and Spectre.
Reticent to miss any of the entertainment, Antella hurried across the room to the en-suite, in desperate need of a piss. The sounds of the gunfight were still a distance away. Scavengers apparently. He chuckled to himself; they'd bit off more than they could chew against this lot. As the toilet door slid open, Antella switched off the automatic function so that it remained open. Though he couldn't see what was happening, at least he'd be able to hear.
Flushing the toilet, he quickly moved to the basin opposite the door, to wash his hands. Maybe he could watch the reflection from here. Looking up into the mirror, Antella jerked in shock as he saw Shepard standing there. Spinning to face her, he pressed back into the sink.
"Shepard! How the hell...?"
She stared back at him, silent, deadly. Recovering, he straightened, putting on an air of cockiness she saw right through.
"Come to save Alenko? He's not looking so pretty any more. Tell you what, I'll call my guy off if you get on your knees and suck my di-"
Shepard's fist slammed into his cheekbone, causing his head to smash into the mirror behind him which shattered at the impact. With Antella dazed she spun him face-first into the wall, forcing his hands up behind his back, then kicking his legs apart. "Remember this? I've reversed the positions, but I think you get it. Don't get too excited though. The only violation will be by my blade. Really slow." She released her omniblade right in front of his face, then lowered it to his manhood.
She smelled his reaction before she saw it, and looked down to see the stain of his urine spread down his trouser legs.
"Look, I'm sorry, okay?" he whined, pitifully.
"Don't falter now, Antella," Shepard hissed in his ear. "You've had a personal mission with me for years. Now it comes to a culmination. The result of all your hard work to 'bring me to my knees'. I don't think it's worked out how you wanted it, but you picked your target poorly. Now you have a really pissed-off Spectre at your back."
"Please!"
"Begging isn't going to help you. I want to know where Kaidan and Garrus are. And make sure you get it right. Lie to me and I'll be back to work out my anger on you. Are we clear?" She jabbed her blade into his privates.
"Yes! Yes! Alenko's in the right wing! In the holding cells! The turian's in the medical labs in the left wing! It's the truth!"
Spinning him back to face her, Shepard swung a hard punch into his stomach, then connected with his jaw as he doubled over, letting fall unconscious to the ground in his own piss. She closed the door, then jammed the panel so he wouldn't be able to leave.
The room as she turned to it, made her sick to her stomach. The table was laid out with food and drink like he'd been enjoying a damned movie. She went to rush out, but the sound from the screen made her pause.
Kaidan was now wheezing heavily. It sounded like Kryek's last punch had punctured a lung.
"This is it, Spectre. Your life's now ticking down its last minutes. Just a few more hard lessons to teach you before you black-out, and then I'm going to put a bullet through your heart."
On the other side of the screen, Miranda was closing in on Garrus with a drill aimed at his forehead.
Shepard ran, breaking radio silence, because she couldn't do this alone, even as she inwardly acknowledged that her team wouldn't be able to get inside in time.
"James!" Was all she could blurt out, the reality of the situations unfolding creating a panic within her.
"We're on our way, Shepard! Hold on!" Vega replied instantly, surely hearing her desperation, and what it meant.
There was no relief to be found in it for Shepard. She was nearing the end of the corridor where it split into two. She couldn't save them both.
She had to choose...
oOo