The drizzle had intensified into a steady downpour. As the two teams stepped outside, a harsh wind whipped the water against them, sprinkling and soaking them in moments.
"There's the shuttle!" Kajira announced, pointing upwards. A small craft was approaching the plaza, some sort of drum strapped to its underside. When it reached the square, it wheeled around once more, aligning itself while it descended. It stopped a few meters above the ground, hovering. The operatives hurried to catch up. With a metallic clank, the drum was released, causing it to thump onto the ground.
"That's the emitter!" Peter shouted over the noise of the running engines and the howling storm.
"Freeway, Helfer, set up the device! Gash, hand over Emmerding to the medic on the shuttle! The rest, take up positions. Once we activate the emitter, every husk on the station is going to close in on our position. We stall them here until the Poltergeist can get a lock and fire its artillery barrage."
"… and watch the fireworks!" Paul chuckled, obviously excited.
The shuttle now hovered just above the ground, its hatch open and the medic inside waiting for Gash to reach them with the injured Emmerding.
A sharp hiss whistled over the group, slamming into the side of the vehicle. It staggered, swiveling, trying to regain its balance. The medic was thrown back inside, and Gash had to dodge out of the way to avoid being crushed. Emmerding landed ruggedly on the ground.
"We're hit! I repeat, we're hit! We're taking fi-"
The radio transmission was cut off by another sharp whistle, followed by another loud thunk as a second shot hit. The shuttle staggered again and started to ascend, black, oily smoke rising from the left engine.
Kajira looked up, trying to find the source of the shots. It wasn't hard to find: On the top of one of the buildings stood a four-legged, bloated mass of flesh and machinery, gun barrels poking out of its sides. A single eye probed the two teams.
"Ravager!" Kajira shouted, darting into cover.
A door slammed open, spewing husks and cannibals onto the plaza. Paul started firing, followed by the other operatives.
"The LZ is too hot, I'm ducking out. Sorry, Alpha and Bravo!" The pilot sounded as the shuttle vanished into the storm. His voice was drowned out by the downpour and gunfire.
"What now?" Peter asked her over the fighting. Her mandibles twitched in tension.
"We stick to the plan. Emmerding has to hold out until we can get him to the ship safely."
The rest of the teams had taken cover. Alisa and Kel were entrenched behind some stone benches, while Gash had dragged Emmerding behind some toppled over beam. Peter still fumbled around with the emitter, which was placed – unfortunately – in the middle of the plaza. Dvorak stood in front of him, creating a blue bubble, shielding them from fire.
"Get your ass into cover Pete!" Paul shouted over his shoulder, not stopping to fire.
"Just a second … I need to activate it first!" He reached inside the drum, cursing under his breath. The machine buzzed to life, humming deep.
"There! Now let's –"
Something pieced Dvorak's bubble, knocking him over. Kajira's eyes widened in horror, as Peter stumbled towards the downed biotic.
"I'm okay! I'm okay!" Dvorak coughed, staggering to his feet. Together, they scrambled behind some benches. Kajira exhaled, relieved. She turned towards the reapers once more.
"Everybody, give me a sitrep!" Paul announced over the radio. A coughing Peter answered him first.
"We're behind cover and the emitter is working." He coughed again. "Now we just sit back and relax until the Poltergeist does all the work, right?"
Paul chuckled. Next came the voice of the drell Kel, calm and strong.
"Agent Dagir and I are in cover and returning fire."
Gash sounded disappointed. "Why do I have to look over the wounded? Can't Alisa do it again?"
"Don't make me come over there!" Alisa replied.
Kajira probed the situation. Her people were in cover, and the enemy was already thinning out. Maybe they could pull this off without any more hiccups?
Something burst out of another door, sounding a guttural growl. The brute pounded its chest, while more husks followed him outside.
Kajira cursed. This was going the get ugly.
Sweat ran down Dvorak's neck as he pulverized another husk's head. Beside him, Gash slammed the barrel of his shotgun in the face of a corrupted turian and pulled the trigger, splattering the ground with black sludge.
They were fighting for a while now, and no matter how many they killed, the reapers just kept coming. In a brief pause, Kel had switched places with Gash, allowing the latter to do what he did best while the drell overlooked Emmerding. The rain had grown into a storm, violently slashing them with harsh wind and a torrent of water. Slowly but steadily, they were pushed back, allowing more and more reapers on the square.
"Gash, Helfer, fall back!" Kajira sounded weary. They obliged, jumping from cover to cover, rejoining the rest of the group that was holed up on the very edge of the plaza, behind them a drop of hundreds of meters. It was supposed to provide the workers of the refinery with a scenic view in their breaks, but now it formed the literal wall against which the team stood with their backs.
"They are taking their sweet-ass time up there!" Paul shouted annoyed.
"I think the storm is interfering with the target-lock!" Peter offered. They were almost out of thermal clips.
Something hit him the engineer in the stomach. He dropped his gun, clutching the wound out of which red liquid started to seep. "Motherf…" he cursed, dropping to his knees. Dvorak reached him, grabbing him by the shoulders.
"Pete!" He asked. "You okay?!"
The red-haired man sat down, still clutching his belly. He answered, audibly in pain.
"Yep. I don't think … it's all that bad." He released his hold of the wound. The medi-gel from his armor had already begun to work, clotting the blood and sealing the wound.
"Some artillery support would be nice …" He sounded faint.
Kajira's gun hissed angrily, its counter displaying a red zero. "I'm out!" She shouted.
"Me too!" Paul announced, dropping his gun to the ground.
The reapers pressed on. They had almost reached their position.
A lance of light sliced through the dark clouds. When it impacted on the square, the world seemed to go up in flames.
The first explosion annihilated the fountain and everything in and around it. Rain, blood, stone, flesh and metal vaporized as the heat devoured anything hit in the blast.
A second lance crashed into the ground, tearing apart husks and structure alike.
Another lance hit. Then another. And another.
Dvorak watched in amazement. He could feel the heat of the explosions from here, behind his helmet. He let the waves of shock and heat wash over him, cleanse him. Peter's eyes closed, his head tipped to one side.
Everything seemed like a dream, like in slow motion. The reapers were being torn apart, while Gash and Paul cheered, gesturing obscenities towards them. Alisa held her face in her hands, laughing or crying. Dvorak couldn't tell. Kel knelt on one knee beside her, smiling for the first time since he'd met him. Emmerding seemed like in a peaceful slumber.
And Kajira looked at him. Rain washed against one side of her face, explosions lit up the other one. Her mandibles twitched. She said something, but he couldn't hear her over the crescendo.
When the bombardment stopped, nothing left was standing in the plaza. It looked like an uncaring god had ravaged the earth itself, tearing and splitting anywhere possible. The rain already filled the craters with water.
A shuttle approached them. Dvorak turned around, facing it. He took off his helmet, letting the water wash over his face. He threw his head back, closing his eyes, embracing the cold sting of the rainfall.