Thomas Shepard sighed as he watched his daughter sitting a short distance away from the rest of the farm workers during the lunch break. She had been moody and detached ever since the Stewart family had left Mindoir. It was understandable, Trish had been her first love. Thomas wondered if it was his fault, he had pushed her to talk to the other girl, encouraged her to give it a go... No, the time they'd spent together had been the happiest he'd ever seen her, that was NOT something he was going to feel guilty about. First heartbreak was something just about everybody had to go through at some point, it was just unfortunate that they'd been pulled apart before their feelings had a chance to run the course.

His ruminations were broken as people started standing and pointing, a shape growing bigger against the sky. They weren't due a supply drop for another month, the weather forecasts hadn't predicted meteor showers, it was too big to be a shuttle, and Alliance ships always waited in orbit. A separate shape became visible, then another. Some of the men had their omni-tools out now, although he wasn't techie enough to know what they were doing.

"Batarians!" The call sent a chill down his spine.

Despite having lived most his life in a pre-contact galaxy he had done his best to raise his children to be free of prejudice, not to jump straight to stereotypes when dealing with people, but batarians? Multiple batarian ships entering atmosphere could mean only one thing. That wasn't being specieist, it was being a realist.

"Nikki!" In seconds his middle child and sole daughter was in front of him ready and alert. There was a pool of emotion behind her eyes but he didn't have time to analyse it. "Nick, go get your mother. Take her somewhere safe."

"What abo-" She tried to interrupt but Thomas guessed the question before she asked.

"I'll get the boys. We can all meet up later."

"Where?" A pause as he mentally flicked through possibilities. It needed to be defensible but escapable, hidden but where the whole family could find each other, and most of all, somewhere where the rest of the colony wouldn't run and lead the batarians right to them.

"Twelfth Birthday." A nod of understanding and she turned, sprinting away without another word.

...

Smoke clawed at her lungs as she ran through the house. Miss Mills would probably find it symbolic; the childhood home in flames as the last vestige of innocence and childish illusions came crashing down. It would just be a number to Mr Turner, or possibly a venn diagram; 'homes wrecked on a sunday' in one circle, 'buildings destroyed by fire' in the other. Mrs Lewis probably wouldn't even consider it worth mentioning; just one more farm lost to conflict, insignificant in the greater annuals of history, a mere footnote to the raid. A noise caught her attention.

"Mom!"

"Get out of here Nikki!" Fear enabled the older woman to raise her voice louder than usual as she caught sight of her daughter through the smoke, moving closer to both her and the raging inferno behind her.

Nicola ignored her, crouching down and lifting fallen debris off the elder woman. It was a pointless action, on average it usually took Hannah a good five minutes to walk from one side of the house to the other with her sticks and that was when there wasn't any additional hazards present.

"No, I'm not fucking leaving you!"

"Language." Speaking hurt but the admonishment was instinctively on her lips before she could even think.

"I won't swear if you don't die." Nikki attempted to barter and a wheezy chuckle escaped Hannah's lungs. Her daughter had a stubborn streak a mile wide and they didn't have time to argue, it was clear if she wanted her child to reach safety there was only one way it was going to happen. She mentally prepared herself for the agony that would come with moving.

"Deal."

...

"Nikki wait." For a moment Hannah thought the teenager wasn't going to listen as she glanced over and kept moving, one arm wrapped round her mother's waist, the other holding onto the arm responsible for shifting most of her weight onto the youngster's shoulders. Once they reached the shelter of the garden wall she stopped and helped her down into cover.

"We should head to the barn." Hannah pointed towards the relevant building, Nikki's gaze following her arm. "There's weapons there, we might need them."

'Far away', it wasn't a description Nicola had ever associated with the barn before, but she did now. 'Wrong direction' was another one. The pain and fatigue were obvious on her mother's face and they still had a long way to go. There was no point dragging her across there, it was too open, nowhere to take cover, would take longer and leave them further away from their objective than their current location.

However her mom had a point, she might not have any real weapons experience to speak of but today having guns might make the difference between life and death. Actually neither of those options seemed so bad anymore, it might make the difference between liberty and slavery.

"I'll get them, wait here." Hannah opened her mouth to protest but Nikki beat her to it. "Take a moment to catch your breath. Dad said to meet him and the boys near Palmono point and we can't exactly drive up." Even if the cars weren't a blackened heap of burning metal.

"OK, the locker code is 7-23-11-8." Hannah saw her daughter's lips move as she silently recited the numbers in an attempt to memorise them, then abruptly stop mid-cycle as she realised the link that would guarantee easy recollection. A single nod signified receipt of the information before looking analytically back across the empty yard.

"Stay down, I'll be right back." With that she turned, running towards the barn, ears filled with noise from the crackling fire and the distant sound of fighting from the direction of town. Her fellow Mindoirians clearly had no intention of simply surrendering to their fate.

Nikki's nerves strained in anticipation of the shouts of discovery or bark of much closer gunfire she expected to interrupt at any moment, but she made it to the heavy doors in one piece. Despite never being allowed inside the gun cabinet, or perhaps because of that fact, Nikki knew exactly where it was located and headed straight there, inputting the code on the keypad. She was slightly surprised by just how many weapons there were inside, hunting rifles sitting side by side with shotguns for pest control and numerous pistols occasionally carried as personal protection if Thomas had to go into town when he knew a ship of less savory reputation was in port.

Nikki eyed the array before her, searching not for the prettiest or meanest looking weapon, but for any that felt familiar. There was no point taking a gun that looked like it could blow a hole in the wall if the recoil would break her wrist. No doubt if Kevin was here he would be spouting off the relevant stats for each weapon, her younger brother currently going through a gun craze phase, but she had to go off instinct and memory of less than a handful glass bottle shooting, gun 'safety and respect' lessons.

In the end she settled for a couple of pistols and a shotgun having considered taking more but not wanting to weigh herself down too much. It would be a long trek to Palmono point and she would have to carry or at the very least support most of her mother's weight for a lot of it. Leaving her behind wasn't an option she even considered.

The weapons could still be useful to other people if they found them though. She didn't want to leave the chest open incase the batarians were the next ones to show up, but at the same time if they could help the colonists... Her eyes settled on a nearby datapad and decision made she scooped it up, closing the chest before typing out:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

John, Mark, Nikki and Kevin

Anyone who worked on the farm should be able to break the code, same with the neighbours and any friends of the family. It was the best she could do, with luck it would help someone. She paused thoughtfully, she knew why her father had chosen the meeting place he did, he didn't want them in the middle of a group of refugees making a tempting target for the batarians to hunt down but... She added another line to her message:

The Shepard's invite you to celebrate Nikki's 12th birthday

It had been a small family affair, not many people knew the details. She hoped the second clue would be too cryptic for any casual passersby, but if any of her brothers turned up at the house without running into their dad on the way, and if they were sensible enough to check the barn, then they should know where to head next. Satisfied she saved the message, turned the datapad onto power save mode, placed it just above the keypad and left the building.

...

The cave was relatively hard to find if you didn't know where to look for it but remarkably easy to remember once you knew where it was. The giant stone with the lightening bolt shaped crack signified they were getting close and they headed to the left, (or east if giving instructions to people coming from differing directions). Two and a half minutes later Nikki disappeared, scouting the first tunnel before heading back to help her mother inside. Hannah was clearly at the end of her endurance, the day's activities far surpassing the physios recommended limit of three to four hours walking or light exercise per day. It was pure Shepard stubbornness that kept her going now. Not so much her own but her daughter's. It was a parent's duty to protect their children, but with no way to convince Nicola to leave her behind the only way to ensure her daughter's safety was to make it there herself. So she dug deep, each step a minor victory and a challenge to go one further until finally the rock opened up into a large cavern.

Nikki placed her carefully down on the ground, eyes searching for any external injuries before sweeping the cave. Bounding seemed the wrong word, there was no joy in her daughter's step as she moved briskly in an almost bounding like motion to the underground river that dissected their hideout, slowing only to collect a selection of metal cups left behind on a previous visit. Three mugs in each hand, dipping them into the water before hurrying back.

It was a battle of wills, pig headed versus stone headed. In the end Nikki drunk one cup to shut her up while forcing her to drink the other five, before heading back to refill them. In retrospect it was a rather stupid and pointless display, it wasn't as if the water supply was limited, but they had each been caught up in caring, worrying for the other's wellbeing and wanting them to be taken care of first. Hannah watched her daughter with a mixture of pride and concern as she crouched down at the river's edge.

...

Twelfth birthday. Dad said to meet up where we went for my twelfth birthday. Nikki eyed the river speculatively, there was an underwater tunnel that led to an even deeper cavern. THAT had been what was special about her twelfth, being allowed down that passage for the first time, Thomas acknowledging that she was good enough, her lungs big enough, to make it through. It would be even more secure in there, there was always a chance no matter how remote of someone or something stumbling into their current cave but only a handful of local potholers knew about the other.

What if the others are already inside? There was no way her mother would be able to make it, not in her current state. I just need to know if they're in there, then I can come back and help Mom. No. The realisation hit her clearly. Her family were either in there or they weren't, knowing wouldn't change the facts. If they were then they'd be safe, if they weren't then she was just wasting time. She could check later but there were more important things to take care of first. Decision made she downed another cup of water, refilling the whole set before making her way back to her mother.

...

Something had changed by the time her daughter stood back up, it was subtle but as she strode towards her Hannah had a feeling she wasn't going to like what happened next. It started off fine, Nikki making sure she was alright and as comfortable as possible, then she asked if she'd be ok on her own for a bit and Hannah felt her heart sink. After everything she'd gone through to make sure they got to safety, Nikki was going to head back out and she hadn't the strength left to stop her.

She'd protested of course, but her daughter calmly and rationally explained how she had to make sure they hadn't left any tracks for the batarians to follow. How afterwards she was going to head up to the lodge a couple of miles away and see if she could find any supplies. They had escaped the fire with their lives but nothing else and they'd need more than water to survive.

"Nicola..." It made sense but she'd be remiss if she didn't try one last time to keep her daughter safe. Two years ago she would have been able to talk her out of it. Three years ago she still had the physical capabilities to stop her, but now... Nikki looked back at her unflinchingly with steely determination in her eyes and Hannah sighed. "Be careful love ok?"

She nodded and Hannah was left alone with a pistol and six cups of water while her daughter strode out to face the chaos with a pistol, a shotgun and her wits.