And here is the chapter that we have all been either dreading or looking forward to. I changed it up a little from cannon so let me know what you think. R&R and enjoy!
"Lt. heads up! Drop ship inbound on your position." Ashley's voice blared over the radio as Luke and the rest of the team looked up seeing the massive ship pass over them.
"It's all ready here. There are geth pouring out all over the bomb site," Mallory responded. Claire had her hand against her ear as Luke turned to look at her. Why were they stopping? Kaidan and Mal could hold long enough for them to get Ashley, right?
"Can you hold?" Claire paced as she waited for the response but Luke could tell she was worried.
"There are too many. I'm activating the bomb," Kaidan informed them. He was obviously scared and thought he was out of options. Anyone could have heard it in his voice, but Luke could not believe what he was hearing. Why would they activate the bomb now of all times. It had a several minute warm up plus a detonation count down.
"What do you think you are doing Alenko?" Claire demanded. Luke wanted to keep moving while she scolded him but Claire kept the team still on the walkways.
"We are making sure this bomb goes off, no matter what." Mallory was scared too. There must have been more geth than Luke had originally thought, but how was activating the bomb now going to help. If they were over run, the geth could still get rid of the nuke.
"I've rigged it so there is no possible way to shut it down," Kaidan informed the team. "It's done commander. Now go get Williams and get out of here. Mallory is on her way too you."
"Like hell, I'm not going anywhere. You can't hold this ground on your own," Mallory snapped back. Luke was fairly certain that she had not meant to say that over the radio.
"Damn it, listen... Go back and get Alenko and Shepard. They can't hold the site and you know it," Ashley snapped back over the radio.
Luke could tell that Claire was conflicted about what to do. What was so difficult? Split into two teams and go get Ashley, rendezvous back at the bomb site in time to hope on the Normandy and vamoose.
"We have to secure the bomb site. Alenko and Mal won't last long against an entire drop ship," Claire said softly. Luke turned to face his sister.
"Okay, then let me take Garrus and Wrex and we'll go get Ash while you, Liara, and Tali secure the site," Luke said starting toward the door leading to the AA tower.
"There is not enough time for you to fight your way through to the tower, get Ash, and make it back to the bombsite before the bomb goes off. You heard Alenko, the clock is already ticking. Maybe once we secure the bombsite, we can do a fast extraction from the AA tower but-" Claire did not have a chance to finish.
"Ash will be completely overrun by then. If you won't go, I will." He turned to sprint at the door but Liara and Wrex stepped in his way.
"Shepard, think about this. If the geth get to that bomb…" Wrex started. Luke could not believe what he was hearing. He could tell that Wrex did not like having to say it but the krogan believed that he was doing the right thing, even if Luke thought it was wrong.
"Luke, Ashley will be fine. She is a fighter." Liara lowered her eyes. Luke scoffed and started pacing in front of them. "We need you too."
"She is right. Without any heavy weapons like the Mako, handling a droip ship is going to be tough…even for me," Garrus said.
Luke looked back at his partner in disbelief. How could that turian have said something like that? His best friend. Luke quickly turned to Tali hoping to find some support from her but the silence rang out like bells in his ears.
"Ash…" Luke said softly into the radio. "I'm coming for you." He immediately pulled his pistol and aimed at Wrex. "Move!" His order echoed off the walls of the facilty as the krogan's eyes narrowed.
"No Luke. Don't." The answer came in like an iceberg through the heart. "The commander made the right call. What matters is destroying this facility and getting Saren."
"Ash, I can't just leave you. I won't lose you," Luke said as his pistol lowered and tears filled his eyes.
"I will always be with you. Just make sure you get that bastard Saren, and um…do me a favor." Something was wrong. Ashley's voice was strained like she could not get a good breath. Luke's face turned pale as he realized what had happened. Ashley was wounded.
"Anything." Luke could barely hold his tears back.
"Come read Charge of the Light Brigade to me once all this is over." Luke could hear Ashley starting to sob as enemy fire roared in the back ground.
"I'm sorry Ash. I had to make a choice," Claire cut in. Her voice was soft and tearful as Luke turned to look at his sister. She was crying, tears blazing trails in the blood and grime that clung to her face.
"I know Skipper. I don't regret a thing, absolutely nothing," Ashley said. There was an explosion in the background and the signal went dead.
"Ash? Ash! ASH!" Luke shouted into the radio trying to run through Wrex to get to the AA tower.
"There's nothing we can do," Garrus said placing a hand on Luke's shoulder. The human immediately pushed it off. How dare he talk to him like that after abandoning Ash like that. Luke took one last look at the door to the tower before sighing and turning to the group. He nodded his acceptance and fell in rank with the rest of the team.
The group headed back the way they came and back into the elevator. Yet as the doors closed, Luke felt his lip start to quiver. He could not allow himself to cry. Not now when they were headed into battle. What does it matter? Ash is gone. Mom and Dad are gone. The universe owed me one. Hell, the universe owed me fifty. This is not fair at all.
Claire tried to place a hand on her brother but he shoved her away too. He did not want to talk. Not in that stupidly slow elevator, not anywhere, not to them. He simply pulled his pistol and charged the firing chamber with ammo-piercing rounds. He turned to face Claire and the rest of the team. His eyes burned with rage as tears swelled in his eyes threatening to overflow. He could not save his parents, he couldn't save the other colonists, and he couldn't save Ashley. He never felt so powerless. He would have to take the power from the bastards that took Ashley from him.
As soon as the door was open enough for Luke to get through, he charged forward. He did not care if the rest of the team was behind him. He wanted these bastard dead.
Geth troopers opened fire on him, but nothing would slow him down. Luke pulled his assault rifle coupling the automatic fire to the powerful blasts from his pistol. He fired wildly at the enemy combatants, he only managed to hit a few of them before a shot from a sniper hit him square in the chest knocking him to the ground and shattering his shields.
"Luke!" Claire shouted. Luke didn't want to hear it. He rolled through the water and took cover to allow his shields to recover. He heard the rest of the team enter the fight as the assorted weapons of the Normandy ground team roared to life.
"Wrex how is he?" Claire shouted as Wrex charged forward and joined Luke in cover.
"I'm fine," Luke roared back jumping to his feet. He put his rifle away and adjusted his grip on his pistol. He needed to be more precise with his shots.
Within a few seconds, all the geth had been killed. Luke was shaking as he recharged his pistol and took cover by the door leading to the bomb site.
"Luke, bring up the rear," Claire ordered. He stopped and looked back at her. How dare she!
"No." He immediately overloaded the lock and sprinted into the battle raging in the bomb site. He would have to answer for that insubordination labor but right then, he did not care.
Luke slid to a stop behind the bomb and slipped into cover. He saw Kaidan unconscious on the ground and Mallory standing over him applying medi-gel to a wound in his side. Mallory was hit as well but she paid no mind to her own health only thinking of Kaidan.
"Luke, help me with Kaidan," Mallory ordered. Luke gnashed his teeth and turned his attention to the incoming troops. "Luke, didn't you hear me?" Mallory shouted trying to grab Luke's arm, but Luke immediately leapt over the crates firing shot after shot from his pistol, ripping through the geth attackers until he reached a support column he could use as cover. As the rest of the Normandy team entered the battle, the geth were quickly pushed back and the drop ship withdrew.
"How much time do we have?" Luke shouted.
Yet before anyone could answer him a massive biotic detonation sent him flying into the wall. His vision blurred as he tried to gather himself and force the ground to stop spinning. He blinked over and over again trying not to move too much. He could hear people screaming at each other but could not quite make out what they were saying. Luke did everything he could to get back on his feet. He had to stay in this fight.
As Luke looked out into the middle of the site, Saren stood talking to Claire while she shouted back from cove. Something about Saren loosing himself to the reapers or something along those lines, but Luke did not care. He did not need to know what was in Saren's head in order to put a bullet through it. Luke's hand gripped the knife that was sheathed on the outside of his left boot. If he could get close enough, he could end the fight.
Activating his omni-tool, Luke set his shields to a back feed that would disrupt shields and biotic barriers enough for anything slower than a projectile to penetrate them. It was probably their only hope of taking Saren down. Luke could tell that the barriers and shields were far too powerful to get through with small arms alone. He reached behind his head and flipped on his amp.
Like the starting gun in a foot race, Luke heard the report of Garrus' sniper rifle and he took off at a dead sprint heading straight for Saren's back. He gathered all the biotic energy he could muster and used what he could to create a barrier in front of him and the rest to hurl himself forward in a biotic charge.
He connected to Saren's back with his shoulder and her heard both shields shatter and the two of them toppled to the ground. Find the generator! Luke roared the order in his head as he rolled blade in hand and smashed the point of the knife into the shield generator on the back of Saren's armor. The module sparked and shorted.
"A clever tactic. Too bad it won't do you any good." Saren's eyes caused a partial shiver to creep up Luke's spine but his rage over took it as Ashley's voice filled his mind begging to get Saren.
"Bring it on ugly." Luke immediately tried to kick the turian in the chest but Saren dodged the attack and threw a punch to counter. Luke ducked under the attack only to be kneed in the side knocking him back.
Luke knew deep down that he was no match for Saren in hand-to-hand combat. Saren was stronger and his skin was tougher. Luke would have to deliver ten times the damage as Saren to win but he did not care. He had his speed and he needed to use it. Too bad his mind was completely focused on Saren and hitting him as hard as he possibly could.
Luke rushed back into the melee launching a biotic punch at Saren but he evaded it and punched Luke square in the jaw. Luke felt the hit all the way down in his toes as he tumbled into the water.
Over him, Luke watched as Claire leapt past her brother like a wild woman kicking and punching at Saren in a frenzy that could only be described as whirlwind. In less than a second, Garrus had jumped in. Luke was trying to get to his feet as he saw Wrex charging, wanting in on the action.
Saren must have seen it too because the moment that Luke was on his feet and getting ready to advance on the fight, Saren unleashed a enormous biotic detonation that hurled the crew back. Luke it the wall again and the world collapsed around him, plunging him into darkness.
000
Saren had his hands around Claire's throat and was holding her up off the ground. Claire struggled for a moment before an alarm started to go off. Saren looked away. No was her chance.
She brought up her fist and jabbed Saren directly in the eye. He stumbled back for only a minute a Claire tried to catch her breath only to be kicked in the face. She fell backward landing in the water and feeling blood careening from her nostrils. Pulling her pistol she tried to take aim but the blur that she assumed was Saren was already back on his hover craft and ascending.
"The slippery son of a bitch got away," Claire scolded herself. How could she let this happen? Ash was gone, who knew how many of the Salarians were still alive, and they had gotten closer than they had the entire mission to taking Saren out. They failed. She failed.
"Commander, are you alright?" Garrus shouted as he rushed to her side.
"Just a nose bleed and a few bruises. Nothing too serious. Gather everyone up," Claire ordered. She immediately put her hand to her ear. "Joker, get down here for extraction and tell Dr. Chawkwas to get a few extra cots in the med bay ready. We're going to need them." She turned back to her battered and bruised team. Tali was helping Mallory walk seeing as how the blood from the wound in her side was still flowing. Liara had one of Kaidan's arms over one shoulder, while Garrus held the other as they carried the unconscious lieutenant toward the extraction point. Wrex was following Luke and lending a hand every time the human wavered in his step.
"Two minutes commander!" Tali shouted. Claire waved everyone forward as the Normandy landed and opened the cargo bay doors.
"Move! Everyone on board now!" Claire shouted. "Joker, we're on! Go!"
As the Normandy climbed out of the atmosphere, the blast rattled the ship's hull and the spirits of the team. Claire and the team had come so close and sacrificed so much for an almost rather than a success. It broke her heart.