"Why do you have to drive, Shepard?" Ashley glared at the man. He was impossible. "We had a vote. No one thinks you should be allowed to."
Her commander grinned brightly, hoisting himself up into the driver's seat. "Too bad this isn't a democracy, then." She rolled her eyes at him and he chuckled. He seemed… lighter. Ashley couldn't help herself. She smiled back. "Besides, we've never really crashed. You always return in one piece."
"The same cannot be said for the Mako, Shepard." Garrus grumbled beside her. She glanced at him. Her distrust of the turian was waning, but she still couldn't quite get to the point of liking him. She didn't understand him. He didn't seem like the other birds, but that could easily be an act to get Shepard to trust him. By the way the Spectre grinned at his comment, obviously he already did.
"What else would you have to do if you didn't get to work on our baby?" He patted the steering wheel affectionately. "You all just need to enjoy the thrill. Now come on, it's time to launch." Groans from her and Garrus responded to his command, but they piled into the Mako. Ashley took the passenger seat next to Shepard, Garrus the gun. She glanced at the commander, grinning like a kid with his toy, and latched her hand onto the armrests. He really was impossible. But this was a side of him he usually didn't show, and she was enjoying it too much to complain anymore. She gasped a little, quietly she hoped, as she felt Shepard briefly squeeze her hand. "Relax, Ash. Really, you act like I've asked you to walk in front of a firing line." He chuckled, shaking his head.
"At least then I'd know how I was going to die." She muttered grumpily, but her eyes laughed. "I thought being shot at would be our biggest concern, but with the way you drive, we could roll over, fall into lava, drop off the side of a cliff, blow up." The soldier laughed. "I have to give you points for creativity. I mean, who knew those thrusters were meant for mountain climbing?"
"They aren't!" Garrus shouted from above them. Shepard laughed, then gave them no warning as they lurched forward towards the opening hangar door. Her hands grasped the armrests again. He looked over to her, grinning.
"Come on, Chief. You can't tell me you've never had a rough ride. Enjoy it." She quirked a brow at his choice of words, and he seemed to catch on. The man flushed and quickly looked back out the front window, his expression horrified. Ashley couldn't help but laugh. She was definitely more at ease as they plunged out of the Normandy into the skies of Edolus. "Helmets on." He muttered, still not looking her way
Shepard whooped as they landed, obviously forgetting his embarrassment as he delighted in the fact they had managed to hit narrowly between two walls of a canyon. Joker really did need to work on safer drop points. She glanced out the window to the desert world, sand whipping across its surface as gusts of wind blew around the vehicle. Ashley frowned. It was low visibility, and she couldn't help but think Shepard needed all the visibility he could have for the kinds of maneuvers he pulled. The commander simply glanced down at their radar and throttled forward, however, not slowed in the slightest by the sandstorm outside.
The team roved the surface of the planet, climbing over dunes towards the signal of the distress beacon. From what Shepard had told her at breakfast, Rear Admiral Kahoku had informed him of the missing marines after they left the Citadel. She was glad they were taking the time to do this, despite their main mission. And seeing as they still had no leads on Saren, they might as well be doing something productive rather than butting heads trying to figure out where that damn traitor ran off to. She glanced back into the Mako, the seats usually carrying the rest of the squad empty. The commander had said initial scans hadn't picked up anything hostile, and they'd need the room if they found the missing team.
Ashley glanced at the man, unable to read his expression through his helmet. She was glad it was a small squad today, he seemed more at ease in smaller groups, and it meant that T'Soni wouldn't be coming with. The soldier grimaced at the thought of the blue woman. Liara knew what she was doing, flirting with Shepard and hanging all over him. But she couldn't help but believe the Spectre's insistence that he hadn't known, and that he wasn't interested in her. The man could really be clueless about those things, it seemed. But he had said he was interested in someone.
Jesus, Williams. You're acting like you're in high school. Get your head in the game.
A beep from the Mako's navigation system thankfully helped her in that goal, and soon they rolled up near a spinning, chirping distress beacon. There was an M29 Grizzly nearby – damaged, from what she could see, the hull pretty severely… melted? What in God's name could melt the hull of a Grizzly?
Shepard was staring in the direction of the damaged Grizzly as well. He murmured something she couldn't catch. "Come on, let's investigate. Look for any signs of the marines." He commanded, adding quickly, "Weapons out. We don't know what we have here."
They climbed down from the vehicle, the sand whipping against her helmet as soon as she was outside. Shepard was walking towards the Grizzly, Garrus following while surveying the surroundings through the scope of his rifle. The soldier stepped after them slowly, looking towards the beacon. It didn't look familiar. Alliance beacons generally all looked the same, generic and with the Alliance symbol plastered on their hulls. This was different. "Commander? I don't think this is their beacon. Maybe someone else tried to get to them?"
The Spectre glanced back at her. "Maybe. Something doesn't feel right, be on your guard." He approached the Grizzly, his hand coming up to survey the damaged hull. "Oh shit…" He opened the door to the vehicle quickly. "Fuck."
"Shepard? What is it?" She felt herself tense at his tone. What happened to those marines? She was answered as she made to walk towards Shepard and Garrus, but caught her foot on something buried in the sand. "Oh God. Shepard, I found the marines." Two bodies lay buried at her feet, the wind buffeting a little of the sand off of them to further reveal the marines. They weren't whole. Their armor had large holes melted into it and through their flesh. "Damn, that's not a good way to go… What happened to them, do you think?"
She looked up in surprise as Shepard was running towards her, Garrus on his heel. "Back in the Mako, now. We need to get out of here."
His tone was low and serious. She started to move towards the vehicle. "Shepard, what's wrong? What happened to them?"
She was distracted from further questioning as she noticed a quake in the sand a little ways off. It rippled and moved, coming closer to the squad. Shepard followed her gaze. "Fuck. Ashley, run! Get in the Mako!" Ashley did as she was told, not daring to question him when his voice was like that. She clambered into the passenger seat in time to see something huge erupt from the ground. A huge worm screamed at them, all claws and gaping maw. A thresher maw. A damn thresher maw. She looked wildly over to Garrus as he climbed into the driver's seat, revving the engine. There were a few gunshots outside before Shepard followed.
"Drive! Keep it moving, do not stop. They're fast. Really fucking fast." Garrus nodded and accelerated forward. Shepard climbed up into the gun and began firing immediately. Ashley couldn't see the maw with Garrus trying hard to leave it behind them, but she felt the ground vibrate beneath them. "Come on, you son of a bitch." Shepard growled above her. There was a loud bang as the cannon fired, and an answering roar from the maw. "That's right, asshole. I've got a little more firepower this time!"
The ground shook again. She assumed the thresher maw had burrowed underground once more, and the feeling was moving forward, in front of them. It reemerged at their head and spit an angry glob of acid at them.
"Shepard, it got our front two tires. We're dragging." Garrus grunted, spinning the wheel to move away from another attack. The thing lunged forward towards them with its gigantic claws. Shepard rewarded it with another cannon shot, and it retreated underground.
"Just keep it moving." Shepard growled back, buffeting the ground with machine gun fire. The maw struck out from the sand again, acid shooting from its mouth and hitting the Mako. "We're doing fine." Ashley could smell it melting through the hull. "Normandy can't extract us with this thing on the surface, it's too dangerous." Another cannon shot. "Fuck you!" Shepard roared.
The thresher screamed back, but she saw as they rounded it again that its hide was now buffeted by the bullets and cannon shots Shepard had inflicted on it. It didn't stop. The commander fired, again and again. It retreated, then reemerged in a different position. Garrus kept driving. The Mako was slowing, alarms going off to notify them of hazardous damage. Smoke was beginning to fill the vehicle.
"Shepard!" She shouted up to him. He fired again. "Shepard, we aren't going to last out here. We need to find somewhere to hide."
"We've almost got it!" He growled back, firing. The maw's scream was weaker. "The minute we get out of here, it'll hit us with that acid. Or drag us under. Or just split us with one of those goddamn claws." Another shot. "I'm not letting you get taken too, Jamie."
"Shepard…?" Ashley stopped her inquiry as the thresher maw let out a final echoing scream. It fell limp into the sand. She forgot his odd comment, choosing instead to look in wonder at the dead maw. Acidic blood leaked from it. "You did it!" She exclaimed happily. Garrus collapsed on the steering wheel.
"Spirits, Shepard. Let's not do that again." The turian panted. She couldn't help but agree. She continued to stare at the dead maw, her heart racing in her chest.
"Holy crap!" She laughed in relief. "That was terrifying. Those things are huge! God, I hope I never have to see one of them again." She exhaled heavily, adrenaline still pulsing through her. "The others aren't going to believe us. I mean, a thresher maw? The things are legendary. Scuttlebutt is going to be so jealous. We killed it!"
"It almost killed us." Garrus did not share her enthusiasm for the impressive. "And it's going to take some serious work to salvage the Mako. We need to get back." There's the stick Joker's always talking about.
Shepard didn't respond. She heard the gun still swiveling above, searching left and right. "Commander, we good to go?" She listened, hearing only his ragged, uneven breathing. "Shepard? You okay?" The man climbed down, and sat on one of the seats in back. His head drooped, hands grasping onto the seat. He held there a minute, deep breaths filling a heaving chest.
"Joker. Get us out of here."
Ashley watched him. He looked… lost. He was whispering something, but he was too quiet to hear. Something was wrong. She got up from the passenger seat to seat herself across from him in the rear of the Mako. Garrus was flooding the vehicle with omnigel, some of the worst damage repairing itself. The alerts started sounding down. The turian sent a tentative glance back towards them, but it was impossible to tell if he knew more than her. The commander's grasp on the seat tightened.
"Shepard?" She tried to make her voice soft. "Are you okay?" She'd never seen the man react this way to danger. Anger, sometimes. But usually he kept his cool, remained quiet except for the occasional curse at whatever was shooting. This though… This quiet unnerved her. She heard the metal in his armor screech against the seat.
"I'm fine. I just need – " His voice was ragged behind his helmet, his words stopping as the Mako shook. Normandy must be here. She looked out the window in front, confirming her suspicions as she saw the ship touch down.
Before she could respond, she felt arms wrap around her and drag her down. Shepard had pulled out his rifle, and was using the back of the driver's seat as make shift cover. "Shit. They're coming back." He growled. Garrus was muttering something over his comm in front, and began to drive forward into the hangar. Ashley moved to get up. Shepard pushed her back behind the passenger's seat. "Damn it, Jamie. Stay down."