"Roger that, Evac, Delern out," I said over the radio. My knees strained as they pushed me up. The clips in the rifle and shotgun clicked into place, eyes glancing to Dell. Concern rumbling in the back of my mind. She had lost her colour, dark circles marring the skin around her eyes, her limbs heavy and the lip licking hinted dehydration. Dell had gathered her breath, but she showed every sign of exhaustion. Getting her out in one piece would be difficult without aid.
The crew of 10 arrived on schedule, salarians in a variety of colours; blue, red, even a black and yellow. They flared out the secure the area, a teal skinned salarian approached me. He skimmed Dell as her fallen form entered his peripheral vision, his amber eyes flicking over with brows drawn. The salarian pulled a frown for good measure. He didn't need to ask anything, we knew what we asked. With a shrug, my attention turned to clocking the locations of the other salarians. It was silent, no geth in the area.
"Who's the human, Delern? One of your agents?" the teal salarian asked. A grin lifted my face, masking the snort that wished to reveal my opinions of the man.
"Not at all, Harshee," My gaze shifted to Dell as she groaned, moving her muscles for the first time in several minutes. "She is my new student," Harshee popped his jaw, his expression mouth flicking down.
"Mat'al, she's human," he said.
"I fail to see the issue. She won't join the STG and I will not sharing any salarian secrets," I countered with a smirk. Harshee scowled, trying to kind some kink in my armour.
"Alright commander, let's get you and your... protégé out of here," he answered, sardonic. I nodded, already kneeling before Endellion. With luck, she could still walk. The last batch of medi-gel had stemmed the pain, but her pain tolerance level... well, even today didn't prove where that stood.
"Dell, one last leg. Up you get. Unless I need to bring the guns out again," I threatened. She managed a weak glare. Good, she still had fight left in her. One last push, one last heave to the finish. She could take it – if she had enough spirit.
"I'm up, I'm up," she groaned, swaying her way to her feet. She clutched the wall for a good minute, trying to keep her legs holding her. A frown creased my face. She had to be pushed hard, had to be relentless, but she should have kept moving. A mistake on my part. She breathed through her teeth. No doubt about it now, she had broken something, perhaps while she fought with the geth moments ago. She needed another medi-gel, her frame shuddering as it sank in. The other salarians recollected around us. She looked around, jerking awake as she stared at the unfamiliar faces. Her fear was obvious. She glanced over, her only rock.
"We need to move before any more geth come. ETA?" I asked, turning to a dark blue salarian. He frowned, giving the once over on Dell. Gareath's judgement on such things was second to none, he could read humans easier than I, having worked with them for years. His frown wasn't telling me anything pleasant.
"In her state? 20 minutes, less if she doesn't get shot," he responded. A hmm hummed through my lips. That weakened, huh? How to deal with this now. Press her on or urge her back? I'd have to play by ear for the first few minutes.
"Alright, move out," I commanded. To my pleasant surprise, Dell was the first to move, SMG in hand. She looked ready to drop dead, but she walked. My gut hadn't lied, she did have a fighter's spirit. But these ruins held a greater foe than she had encountered thus far, deep in the depths below. The team surrounded us, the human within my reach at all times. We stalked through the decays of the tower.
A ship waited for us not far from Zhu's Hope to whisk us off this forsaken planet. Wheel weave this planet mercy, for there was none in me. Dell limped, but by the lack of twitches along her face, it was more exhaustion than injury based. But she set her jaw, eyes dead ahead and hand firm around the Locust. With her inexperience with firearms, she was too raw for something such as a Tempest. But from her first few shots of it, it appeared as if she had prepared for kick-up. She had experience with SMGs before? No, no time to think on that, my head shook itself straight. The big guns crawled through these corridors and Dell needed my eyes everywhere if she was to get through intact.
We ascended the tower, the stairs crumbled and creaked and some staircases had vanished. The evac had prepared ropes to wrestle us up above the dust cloud once more. Dell took the rope in hand and forced her way up. Some odd sounds escaping her lips as she tried to keep her mouth together through the pain. All without a harness. Her exhaustion had replaced her caution with boldness. Best keep a close eye on her just in case she does something stupid. My arms pulled me up close behind, right by her side before she had taken 5 steps. Now the team edged through the corridors. Scouts jogged out, peeking around every corner. Nothing so far. The shotgun remained primed, watching Dell wakening up with each step. Good, she was recovering, the medi-gel had kicked i-
"Prime!" A salarian yelled. The shotgun lifted in time to see a rocket blast the poor bastard into a wall. The green stain narrow my eyes as the shudder of potential death trembled the hall. Dell's eyes snapped open, jumped in surprise. My hand grabbed her arm, yanking her down the hallway away from the Prime. We backed up into another hallway.
"D-Do I want to know what a prime is?" She asked, powering her legs herself. My snort sent a tremor down her.
"No... but everything has just gotten more interesting," I said as the shotgun cocked, studying Dell's expression. She looked annoyed as she checked the clip on the Locust. A smile formed. That would change once she saw a Prime... We proceeded with caution. Though, geth are geth and they love to get in your way.
We hugged a wall as a swarm of geth piled into the hall before us. Dell mimicked me, if only because she didn't know what to do. There was no time to her a second glance. Just get her out, the thought snapped at me. A shotgun blast added to my resolve. Dell armed the Locust but my hand pushed her down under the cover, the STG team cut through them easy enough. She frowned with narrowed eyes as she scanned my expression, as if my actions confused the living daylights out of her. She received a cool smile. Now she glared, but her eyes looked puzzled. She tried to understand my logic, but with exhaustion clouding her, she failed.
A grenade ripped a hole in the floor, sounding the end of the battle. The team wasted no time in scouting out the halls, searching for more machines. My eyes watched the six as Dell continued down the hall. The Locust pointed dead ahead, her eyes twitching as she tried to spot any possible threat. With her boldness growing, I had to find a way to deal with this new burst of confidence. The skills taught today gave her several technical and practical skills in weapons and war, but she only followed me because she didn't want to die. There had not yet been a confident gleam in her eye as she walked along hallways, or eyeing a foe down the scope.
A scream followed the sound of exploding concrete.
We could only watch as a large geth, a Prime armed with rockets on its bulging shoulders, collapsed from the floor above. It drove one of the team deeper into the structure. The whole floor shook, the ceiling rocked. Dell clung to some collapsed debris, trying to stay upright. My hand hauled her away from the collapsing hole in the floor, yanking her back to an intersection. My frown grew as a chasm formed before us. Dell panted, staring at the hole and at the evac team on the opposite side of the chasm. My grip remained firm on her arm, giving her a hard stare.
"Well, change of plans, hmm?" I grinned, feigning calm. The aim was to ensure my confidence would ease her panic. She glanced to me, eyes unable to stay steady as she turned to gaze at the back-up that disappeared around another bend, trying to reconnect with us. The concussion sniper popped out, watching Dell's eyes fixate on it as she shifted from fear to caution. A small reminder went a long way. "Shall we continue?" my gaze flew over a map in my omni-tool, my feet already on the march down a hall.
"So that... was a Prime?" she asked, keeping pace with me.
"We can assume that you do not wish to take it on one-on-one... and in your condition. I'm impressed you didn't drop dead just seeing the damn thing," I said. Only half of my attention was on the reply, the other half on everything else.
"That's the sweetest thing you've ever said," Dell responded with such an outrageous volume of sarcasm my feet stumbled on some debris. That came from nowhere. Her laughter was a joyous relief as it rocketed off the ruined walls. My scowl didn't deter her, but this more playful side of her was a stranger. What was she like when she relaxed? Maybe she was so tired she cared no more.
"I'll pay you back for that," I vowed. She laughed at me again, not taking my threat seriously. Now was not the time to worry about whether to carry it out or not.
Alone once more, we trekked throughout the cramped corridors to find a way outside, the sinking sun no doubt staining the shadows purple. Dell, who had been showing signs of gaining strength, once again wilted, slipping under exhaustion's grasp. She only had so much energy left and all this walking around did not improve her condition. My eyes scanned the map, preparing the shortest route that did not require clambering up towers. Limited supplies did not help and Dell would not thank me for some of them. I offered my water, though there was the sneaking suspicion there would not be a drop left when it returned. After rattling the container upon return, my thoughts were verified.
Then geth appeared, few, but enough for me to shove Dell behind some cover. She yelped, glared at me, but she armed the Locust any way, just in case. My frown pinned her down as she tried to poke her head above cover, to see the situation. Her glare was fiery, but it lacked the heat.
"You throw me into the fire and now you're trying to wrap me up in a bubble?" Dell hissed at me. The tone would have offended me, had it been aggressive. It sounded more confused, like she struggled with two conflicting emotions.
"Class is over," I grinned at her after my sniper bullet tore a geth's head off. "You are in no condition to be doing much beyond survival. I wish to get you out in one piece. Let's be honest, you are struggling to walk, what chance do you have of hitting something?" A spark seemed to ignite her face. She hoisted her Locust up, aimed over the wall, despite my attempts so shove her down, and emptied a clip. A geth sounded in complaint at the bullets smashing into its chest. My scowl deepened. "Alright, alright! You've made your point. Now get down," My glare tried to freeze her in her place. She lay still against the cover.
"I don't know if you are coming or going," she mumbled in a disquieted tone. I ignored it for now. One last shotgun burst put an end to the rest of the minor geth in the room. My eyes did a quick once over the area. I nodded.
"Alright, Dell, move," I ordered. She groaned as she hoisted herself to her feet, grumbling. A chuckle rocked my shoulders. She still had that spirit in her, now if she could just keep it together. We turned a corner, my shotgun aimed. My expression stiffened as a saw a gun inches from mine, but a quick glance up showed a salarian face staring back at me. The evac team had found us again. Harshee scoffed.
"There you are," he grumbled as he lowered the assault rifle. "I was getting worried, Delern. Didn't want to hunt for your dead body," He received a chilled smile, to be kind.
"Apologies, it is not every day a prime drops from the sky," I offered. Harshee glared. Gareath moved up beside him.
"There are three primes on this level. We need to move," he informed.
"Hmm, alright," I said, pressing a finger to my ear. "Delern to base, we are surrounded by Primes. Need routes to get outside ASAP,"
"Roger that, Delern, sending alternative routes," the voice in my ear sounded. The team marched in the ten seconds it took for the routes to arrive. Once they came in, our quick minds processed the routes.
"No routes look fantastic, Delern," Gareath turned a calm eye. "Not for your human anyway," Endellion's snort dragged our attention to her.
"After what I've been through?" she shook her head. "Just... just choose one, I'll survive," My gaze shifted to watch as she paced up and down the hall, trying to prevent herself falling asleep again. Not far now...
"We'll take this path, we must walk through the colony but that is safer than Primes," Harshee plugged into his omni-tool. I nodded, pulling a shrug at the same time.
"Whatever you think is best," I responded. The salarian frowned at me. While my eyes wished to roll, my lips pulled a false smile instead. He still had a long way to go...
Dell walked after the team, eager to be off. None could blame her, the dust alone clogged your lungs and with geth did not aid in any sense with this situation. Her pace was easy to keep up with, although I set the pace. She wasn't burning her new-found energy that. She frowned at me, still fighting to puzzle me out. One could only guess what traversed her mind. After throwing her into the heat of battle well before she was ready, I now forced her behind cover, doing everything possible to keep her safe. The switch in personality threw her sideways. She'd learn though.
At last, the dark corridors opened out into low walkways suspended over the ground. The primes wouldn't emerge out here, but there was the danger of Colossus and Wheel knows what. We marched. Dell showed signs of sagging, her body spurting out adrenaline as all other fuel sources were empty. However, my concern shifted from the human fumbling beside to the lack of geth in the area. All that surrounded us lay smoking piles of machinery. Dell didn't seem to have noticed this, the concentration required for keeping her face straight was evident by the sweat dropping from her chin. My concern hid behind the mask of alertness. We frowned between each other as we approached the colony. Shepard must have passed through here, which made my concern grew. My goal was to get Dell back before Shepard had returned. To smuggle her away from the Normandy without the crew noticing would be difficult if Shepard had already returned.
"Where is everyone?" Dell asked. My thoughts stalled, stolen from me as her words turned in my head. What did she mean? My ears perked, listening.
This close to the colony... it was silent. The team shared looks between us, noticing the quiet. Maybe we could sneak Dell aboard... We proceeded with caution. That was when we spotted the colonists, lying still on the ground surrounded by bullet ridden corpses of some warped creature. I knelt down beside one, finger pressed to their neck. All but one was alive, the other had a bullet through the heart. The living ones were unconscious and there was the distinct smell of grenade explosive, however the humans were unharmed. What caused this? No doubt the answer would come from an STG report later on.
Working our way into the colony itself, all was still. A large metal piece of wreckage hovered off the ground, hanging in the air. The colonists lay still on the dusty ground, again most alive aside from one or two who seemed to be accidental hits. Dell frowned, trying to tease everything apart, but in her state, but beyond 'sleep', her mind would struggle with basic thought. We walked along the north of the colony, a hidden staircase under the raised wreckage in the middle of the colony. A frown formed, walking passed it as faint sounds echoed up. Was that gunfire…? No, concentrate on Dell. Focus on Dell.
Speaking of which, she stumbled, colliding with a salarian how glared in response. She knew she was almost finished, she knew the finish line was near. = passed. The Locust was heavy in her hand, her steps weighty as she forced herself upright. She only had another few minutes left in her. We neared the end of the colony, where we would change path away from the Normandy to head to our ship. It was now or never.
"Dell," I said. She glanced over. "A proposition, if you are interested," she groaned.
"If it has anything to do with you launching grenades at me, forget it," she moaned.
"But that was the best bit!" I said. She managed a weakened glare. "No, no. I would... like you to come with us," it took a moment, but Dell's eyes widened, her brain processes not that slow to not realise my words. She halted.
"Y-You want me to... Mat'al, no, I-I can't," she staggered, swaying.
"What's stopping you?" I asked. She waited for me to say something, to push her, but when nothing came she shuffled.
"I-I... w-well... I-I have other commitments. I-I have a contract with the Alliance... Shepard's on an important mission, he might need my expertise. Although he despises me," she tried. My arms folded over my chest, not impressed. Dell faltered.
"Endellion, staying with Shepard is not healthy for your development," I said. She stared, her expression hardening. A sigh slipped free, how to explain it? "I have read on Shepard, both as he became a Spectre and while you were clambering around the ruins. Endellion, the man is a pyromaniac who should have been locked up in an insane asylum. But because his leadership skills and marksmanship are superior to most in the Alliance. The Alliance have glossed over that," Dell collected herself, her gaze flicking to the other salarians as they departed. They would be nearby, just in case.
"He's a war hero-" she tried.
"Dell, you have noticed the changes yourself. He is trying to force you to do something. I'd be lying if I said I knew what. Do you wish to hang around this for it to get worse?" I asked. She winced. "I do not doubt his military bravado and skills, what I doubt his is ability to see your growth. Shepard is... let us say 'paragrade', he can switch on a penny if the situation requires it. He has been tormenting you for weeks now. Pranks, the forced poker games, the general cold shoulder treatment. Dell that is not a healthy environment," She struggled to keep her face straight and the effort required to do it. seemed immense She sighed, running a hand through her flame coloured hair, the bun on the back of her head fell apart.
"I-I don't know," her voice vanished as she disappeared into thoughts.
"Tell you want, have a word with the commander when you get back onboard. Decide after that," I offered.
"I… A-Alright," she sighed, swaying. "I-I'll talk to Shepard and see,"
Good, I'll be in touch. I want you to keep up your training though," I said, tapping on my omni-tool to hack hers and add my details. She didn't respond to the omni-tool lighting up. She managed a small smile.
"No promises," she said.
"Endellion," I cut in with utmost seriousness. The smile slipped. "I am serious. You'll never improve if you don't put the effort in," her expression sagged before she sighed in defeat.
"Alright," she answered. I nodded, noticing the colonists were waking.
"Good, that includes gun training. Work on some gymnastics, it will improve your physical strength and flexibility. Don't forget to harden your nerves. That is the main problem you have to deal with," I instructed.
"I'm trying... but nothing so far is working," she moaned, rolling her shoulders.
"You'll find something, just keep it up," I said, walking after the team, though my feet paused at her side. "Dell, you did well. You have great potential... but Shepard will not help with that. Try not to fight with him too much, but don't let him walk over you either. Any trouble, call me," she studied me for a time, before nodding. A smile stretched over my face, hiking up the stairs and rubble to reach our ship. She didn't escape my sight, however, until she had limped her way onto the Normandy.