Chapter Text
The turians weren't supposed to be on this planet yet.
Shepard was stationed on this colony world as part of a battalion to reinforce an already established defense against potential attacks, not to counter an invasion already taking place. They shouldn't have met any resistance here. Her platoon was informed there might be little time, but this outcome is nothing short of unexpected! There is no knowing how the turians could have already been here without giving themselves away to the local military forces, granting these alien bastards one more obvious advantage, the element of surprise.
"SCRATCH ONE!" a dual-corded voice yells in the not so far distance and a few steps ahead her team leader Norman lands face first in the mud, a small but noticeable hole in the back of his helmet.
"Don't stop!" Carter hisses breathless from behind, knowing well enough that if they can't keep their tempo up nobody will make it back to their camp and the radio. Their built in suit com-link got jammed by the turians, rendering her squad unable to get the vital information of turian forces already present back to mission command, or to warn the one hundret soldiers stationed back at the nearest base, give them a chance to prepare and call for reinforcement, or at least warn the other two batteries with which they made up former mentioned Batallion. If they couldn't that meant not only certain death for over 300 alliance marines, but also that of countless more civillians that did not sign up of this.
If only their captain would have reported back in between checkpoints her squad would have noticed that they were being jammed a little sooner, she thought. Maybe this could have been avoided! But nobody anticipated this, who would have imagined such strong turian presence in this sector, on such a small colony, they didn't expect any at all, not yet! It should have been impossible! And how could it be that there were no signs before it was too late?
She almost trips when her boot get's stuck in the thick cold muck, too lost in thought to concentrate on her feet, and Carter bumps into her, almost pushing her down in an effort not to fall and to keep a grip on his assault rifle, but hellbent on not letting it slow him down, "Come on Shep-!" a loud bang interrupts him, this time she sees the face when the bullet hits through the visor. Her team member makes contact with the ground, and for a short moment she's paralyzed. That round was meant for her, if she wouldn't have tri-
"SNIPED THAT ONE!" it shouts smugly from behind and makes her stomach churn with crippling fear and hot white hatred. Shaking hands take a firm grip of her own rifle as she hectically pulls her boot free and turns around, mindlessly screaming her wordless anger at the scrubs she blindly fires into. Why?! How could this-?! This wasn't supposed to be-
"What are you doing Shepard?! Fuck, run!" Kumar finally catches up with her, he must have already seen Norman's body and only pays little attention to the lifeless Carter. The adrenaline rushing through his veins forces his body forward fast. "Move!" he grabs his teammates arm, pulls her forward a step while turning around and throwing a warp into the underbrush behind them, before letting go in favor of furthering his own survival as he tries to pick up speed again.
A few quick looks back and forth, if she doesn't keep focused now it's all over. She quickly pulls herself together to keep up with him, lungs aflame, and muscles burning equally brutal, determined to push herself past any limits to make this count, even if it kills her.
It looks like only the two of them are left now, the two youngest members of their squad. Kumar was probably even the youngest in the whole batallion stationed here. Another gunshot hits a tree close to Kumar, and the teenager in front of her reacts with a desperate rage-scream as he throws another wall of evershifting biotic blue behind them. They already slowed down considerably, must have been running for hours now, hiding to initiate little firefigths whenever good cover was available. She feels she can't possibly hold out much longer, and from what it looks like Kumar feels the same. They can only hope that their alien pursuers aren't fairing much better. If there was ever the time to pray, she thought this was it.
Last week they got send out as part of a platoon to scout the area, split into 3 squads they were to report the safety status of several registered villages back to the base. Their only job was to give their tacticans an idea of how and where to build strategically valuable, reinforced outposts in the area and make emergency evacuation plans for the resident colonists. Each squad made up of 12 marines Shepard was part of one that marched up nne (north north-east) through the surreal, swamp-like forest covering big parts if of this planets southern hemisphere.
Half a day ago the squad broke up in 3 teams, after they got spotted by a group of about 20 turians that had build their camp in a marauded village, one from the checklist, and were forced to leave the mako behind.
If they'd have stayed together they would have been one big target, easy to round up and finish off, so the squad leader quickly assigned them into two distraction teams, and one objective team that was to make it out of range of that jammer. Even if they wouldn't be able to return with the information, they were determined to at least deliver it.
Shepard was part of the second distraction team. It took the turians that followed her team about 4 hours to chase them down to the point where their exhaustion outweighed the disadvantage the long-limbed aliens seem to have had in the terrain.
"Shit-!" her shoulder catches on a slim young tree and as she stumbles. She hears more than sees the bullet hit wood close to hear head. Instinctively Shepard falls into a quick sideroll before she risks to check over her shoulder. Despite finding that there is still nothing to see in the dense boscage she continues to just fire into the general direction she suspects the sniper to hide in. Hoping to stall the enemy if nothing else, fire until the weapon overheats, prouring her last power reserves into this last stance. Yet she can't quell the feeling of being played with. Being engaged in a game of cat and mouse, and standing on the short end.
Her weapon overheats far too quickly. A spark flies from it, indicates an outside influence, and sends her cursing while doing her best to roughly make out where it came from. Briefly she begs some higher force that maybe it could let the other two teams fair better as she starts to run again. Shepard knows she won't make it out of this mess, the moment they were spotted their life was basically forfeit. Now the only question left to clear is whether or not her sacrifice will be in vain.
A shocked yell somewhere up front sends a cold shiver down her back. Kumar. Strengthening her resolve to hold out as long as possible she forces her body further past it's limits, clenching her assault rifle harder to her chest, heaving in another labored breath. Just a little further, a little longer! If she just makes it a-
"SHEPARD!" he cries, deadly terror distressfully evident in his voice. It's like the sounds drove a knife between her ribs, but she doesn't stop. If she stops to help the teenager now that alien scum will have them both within one or two minutes tops!
And they are only a distraction as long as they stay alive.
Trying to focus on the needs of the many instead of the betrayal Kumar must feel about now she turns sharp right, continuing straight forward no longer being an option, ignoring her comrades screeching voice that is suddenly interrupted by a gunshot. What follows is horrid silence. All that's left is the noise of wind in the massive leaves of the strange native trees, the squelching of boots in the mud, and Spepard's own heavy breathing.
She desperately tries to swallow the dry lump forming in her throat as she jumps over a massive tree trunk hanging inches over the wet ground, but slips on other side, skids forwards and hits the back of her head against the trunk. She has to purposefully bite her tongue to avoid any of the treacherous noises still trapped behind her teeth from escaping.
It takes her only a few seconds to regain control of her aching limbs, her now best friend a constant rush of adrenaline that keeps fueling her. It gives her the strength she needs to try and push herself back on unsteady feet, when she hears more than just her own boots in the wet dirt, and the second pair quickly draws closer. Closer and closer and...
Without thought her breath stops while she presses herself back down, harder against the rotten wood, keeps her head low. It only takes a few seconds for the lack of panting and fresh air to set her chest aflame and send her head spinning.
If she gets up now, if she draws their attention it's all over. In her mind she can already picture a bullet punching a clean hole into her helmet as it enters, only to messily explode out of it's exit wound. Pictures of Norman going down right in front of her, and Carters face as he calls out to her and a whole is punched though his visor flash trough Shepards mind. Now that she is sitting still it starts to truly sink in. She will die, there is no way around that, all she can do is try to squeeze out one more minute at a time. She will die out here, and she didn't achieve anything yet. This is how it will end, no matter what. There is so much more she wants to see, to do, to experience... It's too soon! This can't be it already! There has to be more! She doesn't want to go like this! Not like this, not here, so far away from everything good and important! She didn't survive so long just to-
The footsteps stop not far from her, the wet noise of boots squelching in deep slush is replaced by the sound of an omni-tool about to light up, followed a high pitched ticking noise.
Kumar, Carter, Norman... They are dead. They will never come home again, and they had so much more to lose than she does. Norman had 5 children to raise by himself, his wife died from cancer 7 years ago, constantly talks about them. And Shepard, together with Carter's other friends, had only just recently celebrated that Carter's longtime girlfriend finally said yes, became his fiance before they shipped out, the guy is crazy about her. And Kumar... Oh god, he just turned 19, his parents wanted him to become a doctor so badly, but he said felt he was meant to be a marine, to fight for what's right side by side with brave comrades- What must have gone through his head when he was screaming her name, before the bullet did.
Without a warning a foot hits the log above her and the humanoid creature leaps over her head with the grace of a big cat. The big, graceful alien cat slips and skids forward like Shepard only a few moments prior, however other than her the bastard is quick to adjust and uses the momentum of his jump to lean forward and run a few more unsteady steps on the slippery ground. The long limbs and bulky, topheavy armor get caught in the underbrush. The twigs easily break with the force applied, yet still seem to be annoying as he starts to swat them away as finally balance is regained and this tall, imposing looking alien comes to a stop. The turian is noticeably having an eye out for her but not seeing the obvious yet, armor covered in mud, more so than Shepard's or that of her comrades.
Stunned into a the intake of a deep breath by the sudden chance offering itself Shepard watches his back and short-circuits before the cold shiver creeping down her back subsides. She lifts her weapon and aims.
The rapid bullet fire hits his kinetic shields hard when she finally allows herself to breathe again and he quickly ducks into cover. Shepard barely sees his omni-tool light up as it is pointed in her direction, and hastily tries to jump back over the tree trunk, attempting to find some cover herself on the other side. Her weapon overheats from the sabotage before she touches ground again, and without delay a few brisk rounds from his pistol are deflected by her own shields before she can finally duck out of harms way.
It's hard to hold back the tears as every loud gasp is like gaseous acid accumulating in her chest, biting through the tissue of her lungs while she's busy blinking away the dangerous haziness. This pistol is not what she fears right now, the tech-attacks are an annoyance that easily limits her movements, but she can deal with that if she can stay sharp and careful. As long as she has enough cover to let her shields regenerate in between runs the turian won't be able to take them down easily. Not with that little thing or his omni-tool, since letter should be too busy keeping her assault rifle overheated. No, what she needs to be most wary of is that sniper ri-
A sharp pain rips through her right shoulder and the force of it hurls Shepard's body against the log, the pain is enough to block out everything else. She didn't even hear the gunshot. A short yell makes it out of her in shock before she falls on her side, clutching at her bleeding shoulder with one shaking hand, the exposed part of her face is pressed into the wet dirt, her mouth and eyes wide open as she tries to overcome the pain and outrage over her own stupid mistake. It takes all her remaining willpower not to scream.
"YES! I love this rifle!" it laughs from behind her and the other one jumps back over the formerly protective cover to her side, quickly kicking Shepard's gun away from her.
"Good one, Vakarian. It's not dead yet though." the one next to her comments while the other quickly jogs towards them. He is just as covered in slick dirt as his team mate, their strange alien faces both hidden behind just as oddly shaped helmets, disabling Shepard from keeping them apart.
"I thought we were supposed to bring one back alive, and there were only four. Wouldn't want you to get into trouble with the Commander." he shrugs and checks his massive rifle.
"How thoughtful of you." the one next to her snorts and sounds almost sarcastic as he looks back down at the panting and twitching human in the mud to his feet, "Seems like you're getting used to it quicker than expected."
"What can I say? I'm gifted." is the rifled turian's smug response. The one next to Shepard chuckles as he picks up her weapon and she chokes in her agony. She lifts her hand from the wound, growing dizzier by the second and tries to reach for the medigel on her belt, but he steps on her wrist with ease, and hard enough to force her to cry out. For a second she thinks she might faint.
"Spitirs, Vakarian, confidence is good but arrogance will trip you up." He looks up from his strange two-clawed foot digging into her wrist, throws Shepard's rifle at the one he called Vakarian, and that's all the opportunity she needs.
Empowered by the adrenaline rushing through her, that almost seems to slow time down temporarily, Shepard kicks against the leg closest to her. And just like she did before the turian loses his footing in the slippery wet dirt a second time. The action staggers both turians for a second, just long enough to make the one she kicked fall almost atop of her while the other focuses on the sudden emergency and is hit in the chest with the weapon he was supposed to catch. He hurriedly fumbles with it in utter bewilderment, rushing to figure out which rifle to use and which to drop now.
The thought of trying to mount and kill the one in the muck with a nearby rock makes a short appearance in her head, but she's already running out of time. She can only use one arm, and the other turian is likely to regain control of whichever weapon and shoot her any moment now. Her shoulder throbs hot and with clenched teeth she pushes herself to her knees, wet heat pulsing harder out of the bullet wound with every big movement.
RUN!
She slips around in the mud yet ends up on her feet faster than expected, only to get knocked down by a big, slim hand powerfully yanking her ankle backwards. She howls like an animal when her damaged shoulder hits the ground with all her falling weight crushing into it. This can't be it! This is not it! Not yet! Attempting to push herself away from the turian that tries to pull her back towards him on one trembling arm Shepard kicks at his creepy weird hand again, teeth clenched and tears in her eyes. She's going to kill them both! Fuck turians! Fuck death! If there is anything she's ever been good at it's refusing to die, today can't be the day- NO!
He climbs over her faster than she can register, her slow motion moment of power runs out of juice as his weight selltes in the small of her back.
A strong fist slams down into her wounded shoulder and this time she outright screams. Screams until she runs out of air, and even then it takes immense effort before she can force more oxygen into her abused lungs only to continue to scream and yowl, repeatedly choking on her own voice and tears while trying to curl in on herself. For a moment Shepard thinks he stabbed her, severed her arm from her shoulder at the joint, and she can't repress the shuddering sobs as the world around her disappears behind a veil of red blinding pain.
"Shit, are you alright? Sorry, I didn't-"
"It's nothing, Vakarian." Shepard barely registers how one helps the other up. "I didn't think it would still have so much... bite. Shows what I know about humans, you should learn from this, never underestimate the ingenuity of humans. If you can kill one do it quick and don't hesitate, don't give them a chance to adapt." the Vakarian one nods slowly and directs the barrel of Shepard's own weapon at her.
The other one sighs as he wipes the slimy brown from the visor of his helmet, "That's just great..." and lifts his arm to use his omni-tool once again, this time to contact his people.
"Kryik here. We're done with our hostiles. Left one human alive in case you were too clumsy to get one yourself. How about the others?" Shepard's translator has trouble to pick up and filter the response, which shifts her distorted attention to the other turian.
"Just tell me whether or not we need it, I will not go through the trouble of bringing it back just for your entertainment." Kryik retorts and seems to get a clear answer this time. "Understood. We'll be back around sundown." the light of his omni-tool flickers and dies. "Let's wrap this up then."
The other turian keeps Shepard's assault rifle pointed at her head. There is a moment of silence as if they are waiting for something. She grinds her teeth hard, fighting for some kind of control over her body. If they think she'll avert her eyes and take it, or plead for mercy they might as well wait for ballet dancing Krogan to break the tension, because that will never happen. And if all hell would break loose, as long as there's still fight in her she'll never-!
"I w-won't beg- fff-for my- my life." she hisses before gasping for air once more, attempting to keep in a pathetic moan as she presses her hand harder on the still bleeding wound, and struggles to keep staring into the dark visors of their helmets, unable to decide which one to concentrate on, and hoping desperately they take notice of her glaring. She won't go down whimpering and-
BANG!
She instinctively but uselessly yelps and tries to curl up in an effort to protect her organs, barely able to control her shaking limbs enough for even that, and waiting for more pain to tear into her that just doesn't come. He didn't even try to shoot her. He just aimed at the ground next to her, but she gave him the desired reaction anyway, displayed the fear she truly feels but seeks to keep hidden with all her might. One of them has the nerve to let out a short taunting laugh at the sight of her reaction.
"You'll p-p-!" she interrupts her self to pant in another quick breath "-Pay for this, tu- turi- -an... s-sscum!" she spits at them and her shouting compels her to cough. At this point she is convinced her arm is really about to fall off, if only she'd pass out from the pain already, then she wouldn't have to fight so hard anymore. Every waking second feels like neverending torture, tearing into her militancy and digging for the pliant parts of her personality that beg her to give up already. But as long as her body can keep her concious there is no other choice but to throw whatever little resistance she can still offer at them.
One of the aliens gives her a kick in the wounded shoulder and she wails through her clenched teeth, the force of it rolls her from her side onto her back. Her body spasms violently as she struggles for breath, becomes lightheaded.
They stare at her for a moment as everything spins and blurs together. One of them replies with a dry, "I highly doubt that." followed by a kick into her side that makes her retch, wish they'd just shoot her already, and then finally everything goes dark.