SALVATION
Copyrights 343 Industries Bioware
Rated A for Adult
1125 hours, June 26th, 2596 (Military Calendar)
Ministry of Defense, Calais, Arcadis
Eidera System, (Sector L-421), Outer Colonies
William leaned forward a little to better grip the carafe and filled it with fresh cold water.
He refilled his glass as well as his neighbor's as quiet as possible to avoid an unnecessary disturbance of Captain Mikel Delany's report, who was sitting across from him.
"The Tucana is expected to join the task force in the next 2 to 3 days. However, the modernization of the Epoch-class carrier will take several weeks longer due to more internal damages being found than expected," Delany concluded his report.
"Unfortunate. When will the task force be 100% operational?" Grand asked.
"The overhaul of the two Marathon-class cruisers Saskia and Louis is almost complete. If everything goes according to plan, we could be done modernizing the rest of the remaining destroyers and frigates by early September."
"Once the last RSO is done the task force has top priority Captain," the admiral reminded him.
"Absolutely sir." The officer paused briefly. "Do you already have someone in mind who will be in charge of the fleet once it is operational?"
William leaned back and studied the glass of water in front of him for a moment.
The future fleet was made of exactly 92 ships. 79 frigates of various classes, 8 destroyers, the two Marathon-class cruisers Saskia and Louis, and three carriers.
The Tucana would serve Grand as the lead and command ship, while the two smaller Orion-class carriers would actively support the rest of the fleet.
Normally a fleet of 92 warships would be commanded by a vice admiral or at worst, by a very experienced rear admiral.
He had none of these options at hand, so he already decided months ago whom he would appoint as commander-in-chief.
"I do Captain."
He picked up the glass and took a sip.
"May I ask who sir?" questioned the shorter man diagonally across from him to Delany's right.
"Someone I have had in mind for a while now Peterson, but I need to clear up a few things first," he replied to Rick Peterson's question.
Everybody could see that the two captains weren't satisfied with his given answer, but they remained from pressing the topic further.
"Let's move on," he took the data pad from Charlotte's left hand. "So, we are left with 145 ships." He typed some commands into the pad and handed it back to Charlotte. "Most of them are frigates and destroyers. How many ships do you need for the border Captain?"
The veteran Navy Captain's forehead wrinkled for a few seconds. "Three frigates per station should be enough. 26 Paris-class and 13 Charon-class frigates should be up to the task."
"That leaves 106 ships," Charlotte informed the officers around the table. "84 frigates, 20 destroyers, and 5 carriers."
"We should also reinforce the defense fleet of Agrion with additional ships to effectively defend the shipyards. It is a strategically important location. Not just military wise but economical as well," Delany intervened.
"And before I forget it. The President asked me for permission and maybe additional funds to expand the orbital elevator."
"Mrs. Hopkins, right?" William could still remember the first meeting of the two.
"Yes sir. The economy of Agrion is booming. With Liang-Dortmund and all the other companies settling down on the surface in recent months, the elevator is already operating at its limits. A second string would reduce shipping costs as well as speed up logistics. On top of that the Army and Navy have started building huge bases and training facilities on the surface."
The brown-eyed captain leaned back in his chair.
"It would be mutually beneficial for both sides as well as for the rest of the sector."
"A second lift would put a real dent into our budget but could be worth the investment in the long run. Maybe we could get a few more private investors on board," Charlotte suggested. Eagerly typing stuff into her pad.
"Are you going to take care of that?" William asked her.
"Hmm? … Oh sure." She was probably already on it.
"I am sending 20 frigates, 5 destroyers an Orion-class carrier for additional support.," Grand said to Delany, hoping that he would be satisfied.
He still needed a few ships to protect the remaining planets in the sector. Calculating out the remaining warships on Arcadis and Halea, he was left with 6 frigates and 3 destroyers for the remaining 18 colonies.
While each of the colonies had a handful of Gladius-class corvettes, which were able to defend the planets against most pirates, they were hopelessly inferior to a real Covenant ship.
At the moment he could only hope that everything would go according to plan and that the modernization of all ships would be finished as soon as possible. The next step would be starting their own ship production.
"If there are no further objections, I would like to close this meeting." Grand stood up after waiting for a second and shook hands with the two captains. "I think we have found an acceptable solution for everyone."
"Yes, I think so too sir. Let me know when you decided on the orbital lift." Delany wished him goodbye, followed closely by Peterson.
"Sir," he said as he was escorted out by Charlotte.
William grabbed his glass, walked around the coffee table, crossed his office, and sat down in his chair by the desk.
"Lieutenant what's your opinion about all this?" he asked the silent observer, still sitting on one of the chairs.
The young gray-eyed officer rose from her seat and sat down in one of the chairs across from him.
"Sometimes I feel my head exploding from all the meetings."
Grand hat to smile, that's exactly what he had thought in the early days of his official career. The paperwork and meetings got more and more the higher you climb the ladder.
"The last three months have been chaotic – especially in the Navy. Colonel Sleet and Major Fredricks had the army under control, but without you…," Enfield shook her head in irritation. "Delany and Peterson pushed their projects forward as well as they could, but they couldn't make any decisions outside of their being.
Charlotte and I had no authority. Sometimes it felt like I was working in a kindergarten. If something like this had happened during a Covenant attack…" The soldier faltered for a moment. "The whole sector would have been glazed before we even put up a shred of resistance."
Internal power struggles were always a fun thing.
"Fortunately, the Covenant doesn't exist anymore." He replied dryly. "But, the lack of a functioning command structure is definitely a point we have to work on. Admittedly it was my fault, not yours or anyone else," he admitted.
Grand opened one of the many drawers of his old wooden desk. There were two small boxes safely stored away in it. Both had the same size and only differed by their color and the material from which they were made of.
He took out the small black one and placed it on the table. "And here you come into play Enfield." The admiral carefully opened the lid and made sure that only he could see its content.
"Sir?" The blond officer stared at the box in confusion.
"It's long overdue and …." The door of his office opened and Charlotte's brunette head hesitantly peek through. She quietly closed the door behind her.
"Sorry for the disturbance William, but Mister Hibbert is here and wants to see you immediately. It's very urgent," she apologized.
"I need a few more minutes." Annoyed he leaned on the table. "What does he want?"
"He didn't want to tell me. He stopped by after Delany and Peterson left and he's been bugging me ever since. He needs your help. That's all he said." She skillfully rolled her eyes.
"Hmph, send him in." Grand closed the lid of the box and pushed it aside. Hopefully, Hibbert had a good reason to bother him unannounced, it wasn't like he had nothing to catch up on after a three-month-long coma.
"Come in sir," Charlotte said politely after opening the door for him.
Grand liked Hibbert, the older gentleman was always friendly and didn't bring like other lobbyists a bunch of boot-liking corporate lawyers with him. He probably had enough experience of what to do and what not.
"Thank you, my dear," Hibbert replied. "Admiral, a pleasure to see you again. You too, of course, Lieutenant Enfield."
"Thank you, sir." Lorena got up and shook hands with the elderly gentleman and turned to leave.
"Sit down Enfield!" Not letting her escape that easily.
"Aye, sir."
"How are you, Admiral? I heard about the accident at Fort Green," the representative from Liang-Dortmund sat down in the vacant chair next to his Lieutenant.
Grand briefly considered what to say. When Liang-Dortmund sent their top lobbyist throughout the Linwood sector, there were only two things he could think of.
First, they needed help with some special projects again, or second, they fucked up. Big time. And the UNSC needed to save their asses.
Since he couldn't find any messages from Governor Brudell or Hibbert when he checked his mail inbox this morning, he heavily suspected the second one.
"Thank you Aldwyn, I am already on the mend. What can I do for you today? Your visit is a little bit … unannounced." He leaned back in his chair.
The man looked uncomfortable. Thinking hard about how to voice his next words. "We might have a little problem," he began after a long pause, his gaze darting from Lorena to Grand to Charlotte, who was standing at the side of the table.
"We got a problem?" he asked in disbelief. If there was any urgent problem Charlotte or Julia would have let him know. William glanced over at Charlotte, but she only shook her head slightly.
"I mean Liang-Dortmund of course."
"Spit it out Hibbert, what did your company do?" He had never seen the man sweat like that.
"Three months ago, we lost contact with one of our rented transport ships. It was supposed to deliver the dark matter to the Inner Colonies."
"Ships are disappearing … did you say dark matter?" The admiral's mouth dropped open.
"Yes."
"You want to tell me that Liang-Dortmund lost a container full of highly explosive dark matter and your company doesn't know if the ship had an accident or was destroyed or hijacked?"
"Basically yes," he admitted. Grand wanted to jump over the table and strangle him. But Hibbert probably was just the messenger.
He needed to find that ship. A few milligrams of dark matter were enough to bomb Calais into the ground. Just the thought of the stuff falling into the hands of violent insurgents or worse, into the hands of fanatical alien splinter groups of the old Covenant made his stomach churn.
"Did you search for it, Hibbert?" Grand needed more information.
"We hired some private investigators looking for the Trump. Unsuccessful. Their last known position was near an asteroid field. They delivered supplies for the Wildcat and its escort ship, but the Trump never reached its destination or any other colony."
His mind was racing. The best solution would be if the ship was destroyed. The worst is if someone forced it out of Slipspace and took the dark matter.
He stood up.
"I am sending you all the documents and information." Hibbert started typing on his pad.
Everything had been going so well until now. Of course, there were a few minor problems after his three-month absence, but nothing that couldn't be sorted out.
Looking out of the window he worked feverishly on a solution. He already lost a lot of time. Finding anything useful after three months was nearly impossible.
Enfield would be a good choice. He could send the young Lieutenant to search for the ship, but he already had plans for her and was not willing to delay them even more.
"Charlotte is Captain Delany still in Arcadis?" he asked without taking his eyes off a couple of birds outside, happily making their nest on one of the trees in the courtyard.
"He is at the hotel packing his things right now," she replied after a few seconds.
"Good. Tell him to wait at the entrance of the orbital elevator. He has to take someone to Agrion for me." William turned to her. "And tell Captain Evans of the Nightfall she and Shepard need to find that damn ship. They should start with the last known position. Send her all information."
"Will do Admiral."
"Charlotte one more thing. Please have a Pelican come."
"Of course." She hurriedly left the room.
"Hibbert, did you send me everything? I mean everything!"
"Yes Admiral," he replied cautiously.
"Good you can go Aldwyn and tell your boss I want to see him personally when this is done."
Some heads would roll, at the latest when the governor found out.
"I will pass it on. Thanks." The elderly men shuffled out of the room, obviously happy to be out of this awkward situation.
When the door was closed, he continued. "Looks like this is your day Lieutenant," he said dryly and yanked open the drawer from his table again.
"Sir?" Her large grey eyes were full of confusion.
"Up Enfield." Grand's words came out a bit more harshly than intended.
"Yes sir." The younger woman practically jumped out of her seat.
"Usually there would be a small ceremony, maybe with some friends, family, or loved ones, but special circumstances call for special measures."
"He could tell from the expression on her face that she didn't understand a word of his rambling. William took out the other remaining box and picked up its contents. The empty box was carelessly tossed aside.
"Turn to me and stand still," he said while walking around the desk.
She turned obediently.
Grand grabbed her chair and pushed it farther away.
Carefully he removed her Lieutenant, Junior Grade insignia from the left and right collars of her white Navy uniform. He placed the two silver bars on the table.
"You know Enfield, I wanted to promote you to the rank of Commander's fist, but after today we better speed up things a little."
He carefully pinned on her new insignia. A silver eagle with spread wings, holding a handful of lightning bolts in his right claw and several stalks of corn in his left.
Admiral Grand took a step back. "My Congratulations, Captain Enfield."
Slightly dazed, she took his outstretched hand. "Thank you, sir."
"You are welcome. As a Captain of course you need a ship and I already got one for you. You will travel to Agrion and take command of the soon-arriving Tucana and the task force stationed there. Make sure that the modernizations are completed as quickly as possible. Understood Lieut… Captain?"
"Uhhh… I… I… yes sir, but…"
"Very well. You have command over the fleet. Not Delany. Not Peterson. You. Don't forget that. If anyone causes trouble, let me know."
Gently he pushed her towards the door. "A Pelican is already waiting outside. I'll have your things delivered later."
A bewildered Charlotte watched the spectacle from her desk.
"Sir, I don't think it is a good idea."
The two had arrived at the front door of the building. A navy pelican was already waiting outside. Engines running.
"I know it is a little bit overwhelming, but you're a smart woman Lorena. It will undoubtedly be a little chaotic at times. But I assure you, you have enough time to get comfortable." He put both hands on her shoulder.
She took a deep breath. "Okay. It is just a little bit much. What about my work here?"
"Don't worry. I will take care of the rest," he promised her. "Good luck."
"Admiral!" She turned away and walked across the plaza towards the waiting Pelican. Grand got one good last look at her before she disappeared from his view through the closing hatch. The engines of the ship roared as it slowly rose.
He walked back to his office.
"Are we going out to dinner tonight Will," Charlotte asked as he walked through the door. "I know a great little Italian restaurant."
Grand checked his watch.
"I have to make another call. In an hour?"
"Splendid. I will make a reservation in the meantime." She turned back to her screen.
William closed the door behind him and sat down at his desk. Now all he had to do for today was make one final phone call. Thanks to Hibbert and his damn company.
If it weren't for the dark matter, he wouldn't care in the slightest.
The phone beeped a few times before someone picked up.
"Brudell," said a deep voice.
"Elvis, there is a problem!"
2221 hours, June 27th, 2596 (Military Calendar)
UNSC Paris-class frigate Nightfall
Unknown Location, Outside UEG Territory
"Reactor temperature is in the green, under light drives are running normally," reported the navigator as Shepard entered the bridge of the Nightfall.
"Energy shields are at 93 percent."
"Weapon systems are green. MAC at 34 percent - increasing 12 percent per minute. Archer missiles armed and ready," the weapons officer's high-pitched voice echoed across the bridge.
The ODST elegantly moved between all the servicemen and women and stopped next to Captain Evans at the holo table.
Evans watched the map of the system skeptically. Her face was wrinkled, making her appear even older than she was. Her blond hair was streaked with gray and cut to standard military length. Her hard brown eyes flickered at him for a second.
She was one of the oldest senior officers in the entire sector. She lived through all of humanity's great crises. From the rebellion to the war against the Covenant to the AI uprising. The woman had seen more than most and still the universe seemed to come up with new shit now and then.
"Are the ODSTs ready Chief?"
"Always ma'am." He looked down at the smaller woman. The Nightfall was in the same spot as the Trump three months earlier. Right next to the asteroid field.
They were scanning the system for hours now but without any notable result. No emergency signals. No debris. Nothing.
"Good, good. Let's find Grands ship." She walked over to the captain's chair and sat down. "At least this time we don't need to babysit his …"
Something was happening a few ten-thousands kilometers ahead of them. A triangular-shaped object flew out of the asteroid field at a right angle. The unknown object drew a bluish trail behind and suddenly it disappeared in a blue-white flash.
For a few seconds, there was an absolute silence on the bridge while all crew members stared out of the windows at the asteroid field in shock.
"Woah, that definitely wasn't an asteroid," commented an amazed bridge member.
"You don't tell Einstein!" Evans snapped at him. "Charlie, where are you when you are needed? I want every available information you were able to collect."
An image of the object appeared on the main screen – only larger. One could see, even in the blurry state, that it was a silver object with orange markings. It didn't look like any known UNSC ship. It had two small down-curved wings on each site.
"Charlie, show me a 3D model," Evans instructed the ship's AI.
The holo table Shepard was leaning against came to life. A holographic model of the alien ship appeared and next to it a small figure in a black suit with a hat on his head.
The AI once told him about his simulated appearance. An actor from the 20th century or so.
"Not one of ours right?" Evans murmured.
"Certainly not captain. The alien ship is approximately 317 meters long, 180 meters wide, and almost 50 meters high. Judging by its gravitational field, it was only about a third of the mass of our ship. That's all I can say."
"What about the blue flash as it disappeared?" Shepard asked, eyeing the ship with interest.
"Certainly not a Slipspace drive, judging by the looks and radiation released."
John liked the AI. Charlie was a good guy. Always helpful. But what he appreciated most is the fact that Charlie didn't overwhelm him with superfluous information. Short, precise, and to the point. That was also one of the reasons why he got along so well with Evans.
"Tell me where that damn thing came from Charlie?"
The AI of the Paris-class frigate replaced the unknown ship with a model of the asteroid field. At the upper outer edge, a small red dot blinked.
"Roughly from there."
The Nightfall's bridge had quieted considerably. Everyone on board knew that a flight into an asteroid field ended fatally – sooner or later. But they also knew that the aliens probably had a very good reason for going into such a death zone. Like a captured human ship and its crew.
"Tell me our chances, Charlie?" Evan's voice was the same as always, calm and unemotional.
"Balanced ma'am. The shields will protect us from the smaller rocks, but anything larger than 20-25 meters in diameter can be dangerous."
Evans was silent for a full minute. Weighting the pros and cons.
"An alien ship in the same area where the Trump vanished. I don't think that's a coincidence." John had to agree with the AI.
"All right, everyone to their positions. Battle stations! Charlie launch a com-buoy. Divert all power from the unneeded system to the shields. You take over the point defense systems." The frigate began to move. "Send a message to one of the RSOs nearby and prepare to initiate the Cole protocol."
Shepard swallowed hard when he heard Evan's words. He had been in the Navy since he was 18 years old, but he never had seen the activation of the Cole Protocol firsthand. You practiced it in basic training sure but using it was another thing. It was a relic of a time when colonies were burned to glass monthly.
Behind him, the blast doors slammed shut.
The lights were dimmed and the small sun's failing light bathed the bridge in an almost eerie glow as the Nightfall pushed further and further into the asteroid field.
The occasional thump of the point defense guns could be heard as they fired at approaching asteroids. The silence on the otherwise busy bridge was oppressive. A few thousand kilometers ahead, two asteroids collided with each other. Thousands of small fragments shot in all directions. Luckily for the crew, another asteroid slipped right in front of them, acting as a natural shield.
John had been through a lot in his career as an ODST, but flying into an asteroid field was definitely in his top three and they were just at the top outer edge.
"Ma'am, I've got contacts," the Lieutenant at the sensor station called nervously after minutes of silence as the frigate drifted around another asteroid. "Signatures match the alien ship from earlier."
"Trigger the alarm. Ready Archer missiles A1 through E1. How far away are they Lieutenant?" Evans asked the officer.
Hundreds of kilometers ahead of the human warship, three silver-coated spaceships drifted over a hole in an asteroid. Their hulls shone and glittered in the sunlight. They didn't seem to have noticed the frigate approaching from above. With all the rocks flying around, it wasn't too surprising. Probably the silver ships also flew on sight.
"600km ma'am."
"Turn off the engines and stop the ship," the captain ordered after a moment's thought. "Charlie, try to get in contact with them."
Nothing happened for several minutes. The aliens didn't seem to respond to either digital or binary signals. In the end, Evans decided to use the front headlights. As with the previous methods, they received no response.
Slightly annoyed, the old Navy officer drummed her fingers on the armrest.
"Maybe we should fire a warning shot Captain," one of the bridge officers suggested.
She threw him a disapproving glance.
"They could see it as an attack on one of their ships. The whole situation could escalate rather quickly and they outnumber us 3:1. Neither do we know what their technology is capable of," the captain scolded the young officer. "I want to avoid a second Great War at all costs."
At that sentence, some of the older UNSC members stiffened noticeably. Even Shepard felt a chill running down his spine.
He knew the war only from vids and stories told by his parents. Humanity wouldn't survive a second war of this scale.
Captain Evans didn't want to get any closer to the unknown ships either. Not knowing their armament nor their motives, she decided to just wait and see.
"Charlie start preparing for an emergency jump out of the system and keep an eye on the asteroids." Should all go south like in 2525 with the Covenant, she wanted to be able to disappear as quickly as possible.
"Ma'am, the ships are turning in our direction," a slightly panicked navigator called out.
"Bloody hell why now? Cancel the Slipspace charge and redirect the power to the shields. What is the status of our MAC," she snapped in the general direction of her bridge crew.
"Full charged and ready to fire." The weapons officer frantically tapped orders into her console.
"I want to know what's going on Charlie!"
"I have no idea, Captain. The aliens are still not responding to my signals, but I am picking up a lot of inter-ship communications now." Charlie's avatar blinked steadily as the AI tried to sort out the data chaos.
The next thing Shepard noticed as he looked through the bridge window in the general direction of the aliens was a bluish flash. A heartbeat later, he sailed past Evan's chair and landed on the floor to her left with a loud groan.
"Shit," Shepard cursed loudly, but his voice was drowned out by the screeching alarm of the sirens. Just as he was about to get up again, two more impacts followed and he was violently thrown to the ground once more.
"Shields at 94%."
"Target the first ship and fire the MAC," the captain instructed the weapons officer. The Nightfall lurched backward as it fired its main gun. The 600-ton, high-density iron-tungsten projectile with a depleted uranium core shot at over 120 kilometers per second toward the enemy ship on the left.
The projectile needed only 5 seconds for the 600 km distance and yet the enemy ships managed to land another volley of hits in this short amount of time. They seemed to be able to fire with incredible speed. Equally incredible was the speed that their rounds needed to cover the 600 kilometers.
Just half a second!
Although the frigate's MAC bullet was much slower, the targeted battleship did not attempt to dodge the oncoming human projectile.
Much to Evan's and everyone's surprise. For a moment one could see a bluish shimmering shield surrounding the ship before it burst like a soap bubble.
The human projectile sliced through the silver turian frigate like a hot knife through butter and a moment later a gigantic fireball engulfed it.
"Target destroyed Captain. Shields at 87%. MAC is recharging and is ready to fire in 6 minutes."
The weapon officer barely finished his statement as two more shots hit the UNSC frigate, shaking the bridge deck. Should the aliens maintain their rate of fire, the shields would collapse in minutes.
Evans chewed her lower lip desperately. Their only chance was to lure the aliens into the asteroid field, separate them and fight them one by one.
"Charlie get us deeper into the field. Away from the ships and out of reach," she ordered him.
"With respect ma'am, I think that's not a good idea."
"Do it!" she snapped at him.
"Aye, Aye Captain." The AI fired some of the rear thrusters and pitched the old ship down 90 degrees before activating the main engines. The old frigates hull groaned under the sudden change of direction.
The Nightfall sprinted through the rocks and disappeared from the sight of her enemies, but not without taking another two hits.
"I want a status report and I want it now! Are you all right Chief?"
Shepard, who had crawled to a seat on his knees struggled to his feet. "Nothing broke it seems." He leaned onto it for support. "That went brilliantly," he remarked sarcastically, earning an annoyed look from Evans.
"We have several slightly injured crew members on Deck A, C, E, F and J. Shields are at 80 percent. MAC at 23%," reported Charlie, saving Shepard from being scolded by his captain.
"Double the crew on the observation decks and try to get us behind the alien's Charlie." Evans played a dangerous game of cat and mouse with the aliens. She probably hoped that the ships would split. John wasn't so sure about that.
A daring plan for a rather conservative-minded captain. Shepard activated his magnetic boots and stumbled over to the captain's chair. Grabbing one of the holders at her chair. He prayed her plan would succeed.
It didn't.
The game of hide-and-seek, which lasted several minutes came to an abrupt end when the first shot hit the Nightfall from above and pushed the warship down.
The second crashed into the port side.
"Turn the ship to the left," the female officer ordered.
"Easier said than done ma'am."
Shepard bit his lower lip; at this rate of fire, they would soon be blown to pieces. A timer was already ticking down in his head.
"Fuck," he hissed as the ship took two more hits.
"Where are the bastards, Charlie?" Evans yelled over the noise.
"Working on it … got one." The golden energy shields flashed again, absorbing the projectiles fired by the turian frigates.
"Fire Lieutenant Sue."
"Captain the MAC is only at 62%," interjected an insecure officer.
"Fire!" Evans yelled over the alarms. Lieutenant Sue slammed her hand on the weapons console.
This time the silver frigate tried to swerve to the right but was too slow. The 600-ton projectile crashed into the ship.
Like with the first one, the shields collapsed in an instant and the frigate was torn apart with brute force. Should some crew members have survived, the vacuum would kill them within factions of a second.
"Where's the other one?"
"Over us. I am already turning. Hold on!" Charlie steered the Nightfall in a sharp 90-degree upward turn. For a moment the artificial gravity failed and Shepard levitated for a few seconds before he activated his magnetic boots.
"More power to the engines, get us as close to them as possible. Abandon the charging process of the MAC."
The last turian warship was hiding in the shadow of a large asteroid and was shelling the Paris-class frigate every 20 seconds.
"Shields are down, Captain," one of the bridge officers yelled.
"Charlie how far?" Evan's voice was hoarse and hot from all the shouting.
"400 meters …" A shoot hit the rear of the UNSC ship and exploded inside. Close to the fusion reactors.
"We have fires near the reactors ma'am and our Slipspace drive has been damaged," Charlie's hologram flashed dangerously red.
"Give the crew 10 seconds to put on their oxygen mask, then pump all the air out of the affected areas."
A rumble went through the ship. After that, it was dead quiet on the bridge.
"Fire extinguished."
"Good job kid. Now send them to hell. Fire Archer missiles A1 through B4 and the M870 Point-defense guns."
Each of the pods on the frigate's port and starboard side contained 30 missiles, which were now racing towards the alien ship 140 meters away.
Some missiles were taken out by blue lasers, but after just a few uses the sheer number of Archer missiles seemed to cause the lasers to overheat and the majority hit their target unhindered.
Dozens of small suns exploded on the silver outer shell, ripping meter-sized holes into the hull. Anything that wasn't fixed was sucked out into the blackness of space. The Nightfall's M870 guns did the rest.
All that was left was a graveyard full of corpses and ship parts riddled with 50mm high-explosive bullets.
'The ship's shields weren't activated – how strange,' Shepard thought as he leaned onto the railing at the front of the bridge staring out of the window.
In the background, John heard an officer giving the captain a detailed status report. The UNSC frigate had taken a handful of hard hits in the battle. The damage caused by one of the alien projectiles was rather small and around 3.22 kilotons of TNT.
For comparison, Nightfall's recently upgraded MAC was dealing damage from over 1000 kilotons of TNT per shot. Even the damage output of the old version of the mass accelerator was twenty times higher.
He ground his jaw. And yet the damn aliens almost managed to shoot their ship into a heap of scrap metal. One of the two shots hit the Slipspace reactor, rendering it beyond repair, the other pierced through a dozen decks and severely damaged the main gun.
The holes weren't very big, but they were deep like a knife rammed into a body. It was painful, but as long as no vital organs were hit it was not life-threatening. Had they hit the bridge or the fusion reactors ….
"Chief a word," Evans said behind him. The old woman looked pretty exhausted.
"Charlie thinks the aliens were looking for something inside the asteroid," the captain said quietly when he reached her.
"Inside the asteroid?" he asked incredulously.
What should you find inside an asteroid?
"Whatever these assholes were up to, they probably didn't just fly into the field for shits and giggles."
Probably. The ODST nodded in agreement.
"Grab three Pelicans Chief and find out what they wanted. I will try to get into touch with the Navy."
"Aye, Aye Ma'am," was the only thing he could say before leaving the bridge towards the hangar.
"Man, the old girl really took a punch," Kaidan said over the squad's private comm channel.
"Hmph," was the only response he got from Shepard as the pelican rolled to the left, avoiding a smaller rock. John stood in the back of the pelican's cargo bay. One hand gripping the closed hatch.
The old D77H-TCI pelican was fully loaded with 10 Marines and 5 ODSTs and their full combat gear. While the Marines settled into their seats and enjoyed the view, he and his team had to stand in the aisle.
Normally he wouldn't care if he hadn't tumbled across the Nightfall's bridge earlier today.
"We are not going anywhere anytime soon without a Slipspace drive," grumbled Williams, standing behind Kaidan and ahead of Coats and Jenkins.
He glanced back over his shoulder at the Marines. Most of the soldiers were dozing in their seats, one was listening to some shitty music, and another was checking his gear.
The three birds carried six fireteams as well as 15 Helljumpers. A full platoon.
Shepard understood why Evans wanted to know what the stupid aliens were looking for, but sending nearly 50 soldiers was a little bit of an overkill in his humble opinion.
"Chief, you should see this," the pilot's voice came over the pelican's intercom. The bird suddenly slowed noticeably.
The ODST sullenly squeezed past his comrades and the marines. Stepping onto one or two feet. Completely without a purpose of course.
"What's up?"
The brunette female co-pilot made a quick gesture and pointed to the cockpit window.
It took Shepard's eyes a second to adjust to the barely illuminated cave before he could make out the outlines in the darkness. A few kilometers ahead lay three hulls, clearly made of gray shimmering titanium. Everyone is over 5000 meters long.
"What the hell … are those UNSC ships?" He leaned over the pilot's control panel.
"Maybe one day. They look as if they were in a very early construction phase, sir." The D77H pelicans flew slowly over the unfinished ships. None of them were remotely in any operational condition. There were huge holes in the hulls everywhere and whole sections were missing. Enormous cranes and platforms hung from the ceiling.
A shipyard. Inside a fucking asteroid.
"Hey what's that at 2 o'clock!" John patted the pilot on the shoulder. A little to their right, a bluish light shimmered in the darkness.
"Looks like an energy shield from one of our hangar doors," remarked the co-pilot behind the two. "And it is closing!"
"Get us in!" already hurrying back into the cargo hold. "Staff Sergeant, prepare for a hard landing with enemy contact."
"Understood Chief," came the husky voice of Sergeant Allen Winkles. "Get tactical lasses it looks like we're about to have some company."
In the back of the pelican, the marines started to prepare for combat. John and all the others pulled out their guns and checked their gear one last time.
The first of the three pelicans broke through the barrier into the hangar with a thunderous roar. It had barely come to a halt one and a half meters over the ground when the first salvos were hitting the olive-green hull.
Luna, the pilot of the pelican didn't hesitate and swiveled the rotating 70mm machine gun to the left and returned the friendly welcome with a sadistic grin on her face.
Some of the black-clad aliens tried to take cover behind a silver-looking alien vehicle, only to be torn apart moments later by its explosion as the shuttle was riddled with 70mm bullets.
Shepard jumped out of the open hatch at the back and rolled smoothly to the side before clutching his battle rifle to his shoulder and sprinting around the pelican's rear end. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw another one of the strange-looking transports exploding in a fireball. Without hesitation, he pulled the trigger on his weapon and sent three volleys at the first alien a few meters in front of him.
He was rewarded with a gurgling sound as the turian stumbled backward, clutching his bloodied claws to his neck.
Meanwhile, the other two UNSC transport ships had also arrived in the hangar and laid waste to everything moving and not remotely looking like a human being. Under their support fire ODSTs and marines were jumping out and taking positions.
A young corporal was hit several times in the chest before he could take cover behind one of the crates and containers. Covered in blood, two of his comrades pulled him behind a small forklift.
Before the pilot of the right pelican could react and avenge his comrade's death, two blue balls flew over John's head.
According to their path, the strange glowing objects shouldn't have hit anyone, but as if guided by magic they suddenly made a sharp, almost unnatural right turn and slammed straight into the pelican's cockpit
The cockpit was torn apart with a blinding flash and the uncontrolled transport ship crashed with its nose first or what was left of it into the metal floor of the hangar.
Heavy black smoke enveloped it.
A few Marines were able to crawl out of the heck at the last second and were trying to rob into cover under the constant alien fire.
Meanwhile, the turian with the rocket launcher disappeared in one of the many maintenance corridors under the landing platforms. Covered by his comrades.
Shepard grunted as the boxes he was hiding behind came under fire. "William target that asshole with the rocket launcher as soon as you see him again. Kaidan, Jenkins, and Coats try to take out the others."
Should the turian manage to shoot down another pelican, their line would most likely collapse. Without their machine guns, they had no chance to push the aliens out of the hangar. John had to get the hangar under control as quickly as possible to bring in more troops from the Nightfall. But first, he had to prevent their right flank from being overrun.
Next to him was a small hole that led into the lower maintenance corridors and as long as Ashley used her SAW to force the aliens to keep their heads down, he would be able to sprint across reasonably safely.
"Ash, Kaidan cover me!"
He took another deep breath. He ran across the deck as fast as he could. Shortly before the hole, he tripped over an object and slid the last few meters across the ground. A few bullets were shot in his direction, but luckily the golden energy shield of its new ODST armor took them all.
Panting, he dropped into the opening. Sweat ran down his cheek and chin and pooled in the lower part of the helmet. He ripped out the almost empty double magazine of his BR and exchanged it for a new one.
John crept cautiously down the aisle. It was dark as the night, but the integrated night vision of his helmet let him see normally.
Just as he was about to turn around the corner someone grabbed his gun and tried to rip it out of his hands.
Without much thought he let it go and punched the beast hard in the jaw. The Helljumper pulled his M6G from its holster on his leg and pressed the gun into the bird's groin.
Dark blue blood splattered across his golden visor as he gave the alien a few additional openings. It screeched in an inhumanly loud voice. Shaking violently in its final moments.
He carelessly pushed the body away, reloaded his pistol quickly, and shot it two more times in the head just to be sure.
Above him, the gunfire started to die down slowly and Shepard could hear dozens of feet retreating hastily.
Without the missile launcher, the remaining pelicans and marines gained the upper hand.
He picked up the green-silver alien weapon. It wasn't nearly as heavy as an SPNKr and looked like everybody could use it comfortably with two hands. There was no need to put the weapon on your shoulder to stabilize it.
The science apartment and ONI would certainly be interesting. Shrugging, he went to search for a ladder and his mates.
The rest of his squad and Staff Sergeant Winkles with a couple of marines were standing in front of the large door that led further into the ONI base.
"Give me a SITREP Sergeant," he requested as he joined the group.
"Most of the aliens are dead or fled deeper into the station. We've secured the other doors on the west and east side." The soldier pointed to the other two gates.
The two remaining pelicans settled down on the free landing pads behind them. The transporter's hulls were covered in smaller dents and larger black spots. They only landed to pick up the wounded and dead and transport them back to the frigate. Hopefully returning with reinforcements before the aliens made a counterattack.
"There's something else you should see Chief," the marine muttered after a short pause, turned around, and stomped over to a collection of boxes.
Shepard followed him wordlessly.
"One of the ODSTs found them while trying to finish off one of the aliens."
John peered over the boxes.
What he saw there left even him speechless. Behind the crates, dozens of blue women's corpses had been thrown on a pile. At least they looked strikingly similar to a human woman, only without hair but with what looked like skin folds or tentacles on their heads.
Not all of them were blue. Some were purple, one or two teal. Many of them had facial markings or tattoos on their face. Some sort of tribal marking maybe.
The majority wore some sort of lab coat, the others silver and blue armor. He carefully slipped his glove off his right hand and gently touched one of the blue ones on the cheek. She was still warm. The skin was still reasonably soft. Her brown eyes were wide open and a big hole gabbed in her abdomen.
She couldn't be dead for more than a few hours.
He closed her eyes.
"Some are soldiers." The sergeant pointed to the blue ones with the armor and weapons. "A few of them look like scientists though."
He nodded in agreement, unable to say anything. What stunned him wasn't the bodies themselves, but the fact that some of them looked like unarmed civilians. Killed in cold blood. Shoot in the back or straight in the head.
Shepard looked around and noticed the purple blood stains on the walls.
John didn't like aliens. Especially anything related to the Covenant. In his opinion, ONI should have nuked the lizards' home world back to the stone age together with the other fuckers. They could burn in hell for all he cared.
Perhaps it was the frightening resemblance to the blue aliens that struck him so deeply. They looked so fucking human it was uncanny.
"Bag everything and load it into the pelicans."
"Everything sir? The bodies as well?" Winkles scratched his head in confusion.
"Everything! Weapons, gear, bodies – anything that looks interesting," Shepard affirmed walking back to his team.
His old captain would get a heart attack.
"They don't seem to like each other much," Coats turned to him when he reached the gate.
"What are we going to do now John?" Ashley asked, turning her SAW in her hands. "We can hardly wait until the aliens have exterminated each other". The brunette pulled a canteen from her backpack and took a sip of water.
"No, I guess we cannot." John looked at the old BR55 in his hand. There must be a control room on this station and he needed to prevent that more UNSC technology fell into alien hands.
"Sgt. Winkles secure the hangar. As soon as the reinforcements arrive, we start retaking the station. The other two ODST teams will try to capture the data center and the reactor room. I and my team are heading to the command center. Once we have the station under control, we can take them out one by one. Take prisoners if possible. And ask Charlie if he can lend a hand."
"You heard the Chief ladies! Let's do it!" shouted the Staff Sergeant.
"OORAH!"
"Oh, for fucks sake tell me something I don't know!" Shepard hissed at Charlie.
"Your blood pressure is unnaturally high. I advise you to take a short break," answered a monotone voice over the speakers in his helm.
The ODST groaned annoyed. Charlie or better the cheap knock-off program that pretended to be him wasn't really helpful. It was kinda dumb to speak the truth. A program hastily put together by the AI to support the Marines and ODST in combat.
Normally a VI like this would be enough, but since they are in a top-secret ONI base and ONI was a bunch of paranoid morons it wasn't. Charlie was not able to connect from the outside and neither could he leave the ship. They were still flying in an asteroid field and Evans refused to take the Nightfall inside in fear the aliens could return with additional reinforcements. Fighting in a cave with an already damaged ship was the last thing his captain wanted.
Charlie-light, on the other hand, couldn't get over ONI's security measures and the best thing it could do was to open and close a few doors.
Shepard hoped the VI would be more of use if they were able to plug him into the control room. Till then he was providing them with tactical information and served as an overpriced navigator.
Exhausted Shepard opened his helmet's visor. For one and a half hours now John and his team have been fighting constantly. Blasting their way through barricades and doors, slowly driving the aliens back meter by meter.
They had to check every room, every corner. Behind any door could lay another booby trap or another ambush. Even with the Marines supporting them, it was a crawl.
Dozens of leathernecks already lost their lives. Without energy shields like the ODSTs, a wrong step could be your last. The alien guns tore through their armor with terrifying simplicity. It was bloody, it was messy but overall, it was a good damn shame. They were good boys and girls.
They had only recently overcome the last barricade and the control room was only a few corridors away. Nearly in reach. But the battle for the station was far from over. He ripped open another energy bar and stuffed it into his mouth.
He had ordered a short break. Some of the lasses were worn down. Many needed a few minutes to check their mags, reload their guns, tend to their wounds, or simply take a piss.
They needed to end this shit asap. No reinforcements were coming anymore. All of the 225 UNSC Marines stationed on the Paris-class heavy frigate were fighting. Heck, Evans even order the Pilots and the not needed ship crew to help.
The Nightfall was as good as dead in the water. MAC gun defect, Slipspace defect, one fusion reactor was badly damaged and the shields won't go over 23 percent anymore. The ship's next stop was the scrap yard. Period.
They couldn't get back. They had to press forward.
"Let's move on," John patted Jenkins on the shoulder as he passed.
Shaking his head, he stepped over one of the dead aliens on the ground. They looked like someone breed a Shangheili with a Kig-yar only uglier if it is even possible. This one though was not his deed. A dead blue Asari was laying on the ground a few feet further down the corridor.
The chest of the bird was ripped wide open. Parts of his armor seemed to be devoured. Some of his buddies around him seemed to have suffered the same fate. One was missing half of his face, the other was thrown against a wall, breaking his back. How she did it was still a mystery to him. She only had a strange-looking gun in her hand and was riddled with bullets. Pretty neat work in his opinion for a chick like her.
"Uhm John, Charlie the blast doors to the control room are closing!" William said suddenly, pointing towards the heavy titanium gate at the other end of the corridor.
"Shit." Shepard carelessly dropped his backpack on the floor and ran towards the bulkhead as fast as he could. Just before it closed, he rolled under it.
"Chief is everything all right?" Michael asked over the intercom.
"I am fine. Find a way around it. I will meet you in the command center," he replied.
With his battle rifle, ready Shepard stalked through the deserted corridors of the former ONI base. Minutes later he finally arrived at the control room.
In addition to the main entrance through which he came, the CC had two additional side entrances. One to his left and another diagonally across from him.
The room itself was packed with equipment, big screens, and hundreds of blinking lights. Some computers were broken open and cables were hanging out, others had weird alien devices connected to them.
Dead blue aliens lay hunched over some consoles.
It looked like a brief but intense firefight had taken place here.
But what captured John's attention was not the technical equipment, but the blue woman leaning exhausted on a console.
She rubbed her neck with her hands, marked by purple prints as if someone had choked her recently. Her blue and silver armor was stained with blue and purple blood.
When she noticed him her enticing sapphire blue eyes widened in shock. For a few seconds, John just stood there staring dumbly at her beautiful face sprinkled with silver markings around her eyes.
Alive, the blue aliens looked even more exotic.
It wasn't until the blue one raised her arm and pointed to something behind him to his left that ripped him out of his trance-like state.
The blow to the back of the head caught him completely unexpectedly and unprepared. Grunting in pain, Shepard staggered forward, nearly losing his balance, and crashed into the nearest computer terminal.
Reflexively he felt the back of the helmet with his right hand to look for possible damage. Luckily, the energy shields of his new armor, combined with the gel layer inside the helmet, absorbed most of the blow.
And still, his head was now pounding louder than the engines of a pelican.
Cursing, he turned around.
He had dropped his BR in shock and it was now two meters away from him, laying on the cold metal floor. To make matters worse, the weapon was pinned firmly to the ground by a turian's claw-like-looking foot.
"God you're ugly," the Helljumper hissed angrily.
No one takes his gun away from him!
The turian eyed the weapon disparagingly before kicking it away across the room. The ice-blue eyes wandered back to Shepard.
For a moment, John could see something akin to displeasure on its face. Displeased to see him still alive.
It let out a shrill sound.
His silver, almost white face twisted into an angry grimace. Unlike the other aliens on the station, it didn't wear a helmet.
'Possibly an officer,' he concluded mentally. 'Definitely someone with a higher rank'. Leaders always distinguished themselves from the common soldiers, whether it was through a different uniform, better weapons, or other less noticeable gestures. Or it was just stupid.
But before he could think about it more the turian attacked him. At the last moment, he took a step back. The beast's three-clawed hand scraped his plate carrier, leaving three deep scratches. The blow drained the last bit of energy from his shields.
Shocked by their natural sharpness John needed a moment to collect himself. The best thing to do would be to keep the alien at a distance, but in da crowded control center that proved to be rather difficult.
Shepard blocked another attack with both hands and slammed his right fist into the turian's exposed face. He staggered briefly and the ODST took advantage of this moment and threw himself against the turian's abdomen with full force.
But to his horror he didn't yank it off his feet, just pushed it back a bit.
The first hit him in the unarmored pit of his stomach. The human soldier road in pain.
Before he could recover from the blow John was grabbed around his neck and violently slammed back into one of the consoles.
Choking him.
Stars were dancing before his eyes. With both hands, he desperately tried to tear the claws from his neck.
Unsuccessfully.
The alien was stronger and easily overpowered him.
The turian's face appeared right in front of his visor and Shepard thought he saw a grin appearing. His field of vision was slowly blurring, if he didn't come up with something quickly it would be the end of him.
His right hand slipped unnoticed from the alien's arm and groped for the combat knife at his hip.
With the last of his strength, he ripped it out of the sheath and rammed it through the turian's jaw right into his skull and brain. Blue blood and brain mass dripped from the hole onto his golden visor. He locked his legs behind the alien and tried to get the knife even deeper inside.
For a few seconds, the turian shrieked loudly – trashing and clawing at his helmet. Then he sagged, burying Shepard under him.
With difficulty, he pushed him away. His muscles are sore. His vision was still blurry.
"That's why you wear a helmet jackass," John gasped exhaustedly and sank to his knees. Thick dark blue blood was still oozing out from the wound.
The ignorant human who had just killed Desolas Arterious, one of the best Admirals the turian hierarchy had to offer, slid his knife back into the sheath.
A loud rumble made him spin around.
Over a console at the far end of the room leaned the blue-skinned asari and put something into her pocket. The object was roughly the size and color of an AI or data chip.
"Be a good lass and stay where you are," he tried to talk to her and made a step forward.
She took a step back, in the general direction of the door. Never leaving him out of her eyes.
"Don't even think about it!" Shepard warned.
But she ignored his warning and rushed through the door.
"Bitch."
Without further hesitation, he dashed after her.
She was fast – damn fast, which shouldn't surprise him given her long legs.
She ran through the corridors of the station like a deer on the run from a wolve. The woman jumped effortlessly over a fallen crate and continued running at full speed without even glancing over her shoulder at her pursuer.
Shepard, still dazed from his earlier hand-to-hand combat, nearly tripped over the thing. Staggering and cursing he tried not to lose her.
Fortunately, after a few more turns she made a mistake.
At a T-junction, she hesitated for a moment, unsure which way to go. This bought him enough time to throw her against the opposite wall with a well-placed push in the back.
"Got you bitch," he grunted wearily.
A panicked scream escaped her full blue lips.
The experienced ODST however gave her no time to recover from the impact. He grabbed her by the right blue shoulder pad and spun her around.
She gasped loudly and fell to her knees as he punched her in the stomach. John wanted her alive, so he took a step back and grabbed the sip ties, that were stashed in one of the many smaller pouches in his plate carrier.
Too late he noticed that her hands were surrounded by a strange blue glow. It looked a little like they were on fire – just blue.
"What the hell is…" John was thrown against the wall by a blue ball. With his already aching back he slammed into the hard metal. The helm barely cushioned the impact.
He spat the blood against the inside of the visor. Charlie's warning voice blared in his ear. Blind and disoriented he fumbled for the helmet's clasp.
Roughly he tore it off his head.
Completely out of breath, he gasped for air.
Blood ran down his forehead and dripped into his eye. John had no idea what just happened, but he certainly knew he wouldn't survive another crash like this.
He staggered to his feet.
From the expression on the asari's face, he could see how shocked and confused she was. Maybe the similarities between them confused her as well. To his disappointment, the condition lasted only briefly.
Shortly thereafter her hands began to glow again. She wanted to bring it to an end.
Alarmed he took a few steps forward and threw himself on the ground.
Just in time.
The squirming orb of the blue something shot just over him.
Growling, he jumped up and threw himself against her with all his weight. The two slammed into the wall behind them. This time he would not make the same mistake again!
Shepard grabbed her small hands with his left hand, pressed them over her head against the grey metal wall, positioned himself with his body between her thighs, and put his till blood-smeared combat knife to the blue's throat.
"Checkmate little one." Up close, she looked even more like a human female than he initially thought.
Her big blue eyes were wide open. A big tear ran down her face. Anxiously she looked at John, knowing her time has come.
The ODST almost felt a little sorry for her, but she was too dangerous. He has learned firsthand how the dead blue alien a few corridors before the CC killed the other beasts. Alone he would hardly manage to bring her back to the ship. Not in his current state. And not as long as the ugly birds were still hanging around.
The risk was simply too great.
Not with the chip in her pocket.
The Cole Protocol still existed and with good reason.
He would make it quick.
A clean cut.
Two maybe three seconds, then it would all be over.
He tore his gaze from her beautiful slender neck and met her eyes.
But the once sapphire blue eyes were gone.
Replaced by two black ones. Pitch black.
The blue whispered something.
Two words he didn't understand. Two words would change his life.
Shepard's head, already throbbing in pain exploded as if a Brute had hammered the skull open and was trying to rip his brain out with its bare hands.
The knife slipped from his feeble hands.
Warm blood ran from his nose and dripped onto his black boots. His heart pounded in his chest. Adrenaline was flooding his bruised body again burning in his veins like fire. His field of vision blurred more and more.
The only thing he could see was the eyes of the blue witch.
Cold and black as the death himself.
With the last of his strength, he threw his head forward and gave the asari a hard headbutt. Her head was violently thrown backward and hit the wall again.
Numbly she reached for support and grabbed the first thing she found – Shepard's dog tags dangling from his neck. Groaning she collapsed, ripping off his tags in the process, sliding down the wall, and sitting unconscious on the floor.
Purple blood spurted from a small wound on her head.
The tall ODST swayed dangerously before he fell to his knees in exhaustion.
John vomited suddenly.
Images, emotions, and unfamiliar smells of an alien world flooded his brain. Strange planets, unknown cities, and bizarre aliens passed his inner eyes. He heard voices talking. A child's laughter.
A blue asari, wearing a yellow dress picked him up.
He screamed.
John crawled on all fours toward his helmet, which was still laying on the ground. He needed to get help.
His gloved fingertips brushed the outside.
Pictures of his mother and sister suddenly appeared. Their matching red hair and green eyes starring into his.
A picture from when he was just a little boy.
A picture from a better time.
A picture of when his dad was still alive.
More and more images flooded into his head and mixed with his memories. He felt something moving inside. Like he was not alone in his head anymore.
His brain could no longer process the massive incoming data stream and pulled the emergency brake.
John collapsed motionless on the ground.
The first thing he heard was a soft groan, followed by a louder gasp and another groan.
The second was a foul smell. A familiar smell that reminded him mainly of his time in basic training and the countless nights of his youth.
It was the smell of vomit.
Shepard opened his eyes and grimaced in disgust when he saw the pool in front of him.
His head hurt like hell.
What in God's holy name happened?
Behind him, he heard heavy footsteps which seemed to be slowly moving away from him. John got on his knees.
A few meters in front of him he saw the asari leaning against the wall, slowly dragging herself forward.
Grunting he got to his feet and braced himself against a pillar. His muscles trembled, and sweat beaded from every pore.
And he was freezing.
The alien gave him a look over her shoulder and quickened her pace.
Too exhausted to pursue it, he holstered his M6G pistol. John tried to get a grip on his shaking hands before pulling the trigger.
He missed the first two shots by a wide margin. The third, however, hit her hip, piercing through the tight-fitting armor and deep into the blue flesh. A tortured cry escaped the wounded woman.
She pressed both hands on the flesh wound.
Panicked she tried to hobble on, stumbled, and fell to the floor.
The drained soldier lumbered towards her, determined not to let the blue witch escape again.
But as so often today luck was not on his side.
When he almost reached her, he heard quick footsteps coming towards him. For a brief moment he thought of allies, but it seemed the Marines hadn't entered that part of the station yet.
If he had his helmet on, he would have known what was coming his way.
Just to be on the safe side he took a few steps backward and positioned himself right next to a gray pillar. The magnum in his hand was still aimed at the woman on the floor.
John's instinct was right, shortly afterward a group of blue aliens armed with assault rifles turned the corner. They were led by a green, fierce-looking asari.
When the green one saw Shepard pointing his gun at her friend her face twisted into an angry grimace.
He just managed to dive behind the pillar when the first bullets flew in his direction.
Two of the blue aliens grabbed their injured colleague's arms and pulled her out of harm's way around the corner and out of Shepard's field of view.
He fired off a couple of shots in the general direction of the attackers, slid the empty magazine out of the pistol, and stuffed in a new one with shaking hands.
He wouldn't be able to stop the aliens from advancing for much longer.
"Down Chief," he heard a familiar voice call out. Without thinking twice, he dropped to the ground. Countless bullets flew overhead and the unmistakable sound of a firing SAW could be heard.
Even if the SAW wasn't that effective in the long corridor, it was still enough to get the blue aliens to retreat.
"God I am too old for this shit," he moaned leaning his back against the pillar.
Bent over him was William with her SAW. The barrel of her weapon glowed reddishly. Shepard was sure she was grinning behind the golden visor.
There was nothing the brunette enjoyed more than men on her knees before her.
Soon after the rest of the team caught up with them. Kaidan was kneeling beside him. "This will hurt," he warned him before he rammed the yellow adrenaline stick into his thigh followed by a red one. John hissed in pain.
Coats finally took pity on him and helped John back to his feet. "Thanks, Ash didn't seem to feel like helping her squad mate."
"You know her Chief." Coats handed him back his BR from the command center.
"What happened boss? Your BioCharts are through the roof!" asked Kaidan, who was also the squad medic, handing him back his cleaned helmet.
"One of the blues knocked me out with some space magic shit," he explained briefly. Alenko wanted to ask something else, but he waved him off. "She stole a data chip from the control room. We need to get it back!"
"Come on then," Ashley ran ahead without hesitation. The ODST squad rushed through the station's winding corridors. "There are more hangars in the back, I bet that's their goal."
The female soldier was right. The blue aliens had retreated to one of the rear hangars and were about to board their ship. The elegant blue ship with the four engines at the stern and the shark-like front had an open ramp at the hull.
Shepard had never seen such a design. It reminded him a little of the sleek, whale-like Covenant ships. But unlike the deadly Covenant ships, this one seemed to be designed more for comfort than warfare.
For a moment, they were distracted by the elegance of the alien ship, but when his eyes fell on the ramp, the remaining blood in his body began to boil.
On the ramp, halfway into the belly of the ship was the blue bitch - dog tags dangling from her right hand.
His dog tags!
The ODST raised the BR and pressed the trigger. With each shot, the tired muscles in his arms trembled. One of the asari collapsed onto the ramp, covered in blood. Some others pulled her inside and returned fire.
John was furious when he realized that none of his shots had hit the blue asari holding his tags. The others were shielding her with their bodies.
Just before he was within rage to throw in a grenade the hatch closed and the ship lifted into the air.
"Fire! Aim at the engines," he yelled over his team's intercom.
Hundreds of shots ricocheted off the strangely functioning blue shields but caused no discernible damage.
The ship rotated 90 degrees and shot out of the hangar, only to disappear through the hole in the asteroid shortly after. For a second, he hoped that the Nightfall would be able to intercept the ship, but given the condition the frigate was in, that was highly unlikely.
Left behind was an exhausted ODST squad from hours of fighting and a soldier who didn't know how to explain to his superiors that an alien with a data chip from a top-secret ONI base had slipped through his fingers.