Eden Prime was a paradise.
A place so beautiful it seemed to hark back to the time earth was untouched by the industry of man.
It was a jewel within the rapidly expanding human territory.
A new garden of Eden.
Now...a hell.
Ashley ran, there was nothing to do but to run...yet the shame stung her as much as the bullets thumping into her armour, reminding her all too clearly that her shields were down.
How...?
Her squad slaughtered, the scientists gone, the entire planet shaking with that massive shadow moving beyond the clouds, dwarfing them.
What...?
Geth, of all things...Geth...Ashley had only recognised them due to having been bored and read the more useless parts of the marine codex a few days ago.
Bored...I want to be bored again...
Her breath came out, short and hard, struggling to keep up with the fast pace her now screaming legs had set. Yet she couldn't slow down...swinging her arms wide she managed to maintain her balance on the muddy slope she had reached and equally ran and slid downwards. Grass-covered muck splashing over her armour as three rushed volleys slammed into the ground around her with a muffled staccato sound.
Then she was at the bottom, running, blind like a terrified animal, fear squeezing a hole in her belly.
Williams' don't feel fear. She growled at the thought, a distant call through the fog clouding her mind.
Yet she did, it was squeezing and pulling, digging into her like an iron spike. Her shoulder jerked forward as a volley struck her shoulder from behind, but she kept herself on her feet and kept the pace up even as her head swam with a pain she didn't really feel.
Williams' don't feel fear! She gasped, vision blurry with exhaustion, yet her legs pumping automatically, moving her forward even as her mind screamed at her to stop, to fight, to do...something!
Then her left knee gave in, pain shooting from her limb and up her spine. Shot? The thought fluttered through her mind even as she fell forward, her right knee failing to parry and giving up the struggle as well. I don't want to...Williams' don't die running!
A growl as much as a groan escaped her as she rolled with her fall, hand moving to her hip, finding her pistol still strapped to her waist, the gun humming as her hands freed it from its holster and swung it about.
A thump and she was on her back, right hand around the pistol, left moving to support instinctively.
Williams'!
A squeeze and the first drone exploded mid-air, its central 'eye' struck.
Don't!
Another squeeze, the next drone turning into a miniature fireball as the shot hit its underside.
Feel!
A third shot, this one striking the top wing of the last drone, setting it into a spin before it crashed into the mud next to her, sending chunks of it splattering over her visor.
Fear!
A gasp, her own she realised, and she lowered the gun. Suddenly limp she felt her head drop back as all strength left her, leaving her struggling for breath like a dying fish as a weak arm moved up to brush the muck away from her helmet.
This isn't happening...the scientists...my...squad...I...no...
A sound of gnarled static...and Ashley felt the blood drain from her face as she looked up the hill from whence she had come.
The Geth were there, six of them, weapons fixed upon her as they smoothly moved down the hill, always with the same sliding movement, as if the incline wasn't even there. They didn't move faster, nor slower, the cold light of their eyes boring into her. There was no hatred there, no anger or even spite. Only cold logic...calm and uncaring.
They're in no hurry, they'll come down, and then...God...not the spikes...
Ashley wanted to scream, but nothing came as she whipped her head left and right, finding the ground on both sides sloping upwards, topped by thick forests. There's nowhere to go.
Not the spikes, God in heaven I...not the spikes...
Looking back she found the ground there too sloping upwards, up towards a formation of rocks that might as well have been miles away. Nowhere to go!
Not the spikes!
She kicked away with her legs, her elbows pulling back, dragging her backwards in a futile attempt to escape even as the Geth closed in on her. Still they did not hurry...they were calm and slow...as if she was nothing but an injured rodent they had all the time in the world to kill.
Please! Not the spikes!
Her upper back struck a boulder, hard and firm against her back, refusing to yield to her desperate pushing...and real.
With a hiss Ashley pushed down the fear, squashed it deep within her gut as she swallowed. I will not die like that! I will not die a coward! I will die proudly!
The hiss turned into a growl and the pistol, nearly forgotten as it was pushed into the mud, suddenly rose, held by a hand Ashley didn't even feel any more. It's all so...surreal...
The Geth stopped, weapons raised against her...stances tensing...
Then the rightmost Geth exploded.
Ashley blinked, with her finger not yet having squeezed the trigger it was...confusing. The other Geth whirled about, even the machines acting confused by the sudden death.
Then a second Geth jerked, milky liquid pouring from its neck as its head snapped around in an explosion of glass and torn pieces of metal.
A moment later the cracking boom of a firing sniper rifle rolled over the valley, making Ashley's dim gaze follow a dark shape moving through the forest to her right, a tree among them exploding as the Geth return-fire struck where the shape had been a second before.
An assault rifle barking...and the shields around the four Geth troopers flared with the impacts, the disciplined volleys tearing through the shields until they exploded in flares of white light.
Volleys...marine volleys...
Ashley flew to her feet, the pistol in her hand jerking...and one of the Geth in the centre dropped onto its left knee, its thigh spilling white liquid all over the limb. Another jerk of her pistol and the thing fell onto its back, the light in its skull shattering with a crack.
Then an orb of dark blue light flew over her head, slamming into the leftmost Geth's chest, smashing it off its feet, one of the feet striking the next one in the ankle and toppling it over as well.
The one standing whirled about to target whatever had fired the odd projectile, only to once more whirl about as the dark shape in the forest broke cover. The pulse rifle in the machine's hands sung an oddly electronic beat as the bolts of white energy struck a raised black gauntlet...then ended abruptly as the hand gripped the weapon, wrenched it sideways...before another hand slammed the owner's own gun into the gut of the machine.
A loud boom...and the Geth's kicking legs and hips fell in one direction as the rest of its body remained hanging by the held gun...before being thrown aside like a broken toy.
Ashley, teeth bared in a snarl, advanced, barely aware of another dark shape close to her left, or the gun raised, a mirror of her own. Her eyes shone with rage as she stared down at the first of the two Geth knocked over, watching the filthy machine mechanical movements struggle as it came to its feet.
One shot.
Two shots.
Three shots.
The gun next to her was an echo of her own, an repeat of the barking shot of her pistol...and the six shots all found their target.
The machine jerked – twisted – the plates covering its chest snapping and breaking. Its right arm turning limp as a stray bullet caught its shoulder, its left coming up to clutch at its chest as the fifth bullet sent shards of metal flying out from its back, the sixth a mere added insult to injury as it tore open one of the metal cables connecting its head to its mangled torso with a gush of milky fluids.
It fell, a leaky pile of scrape metal.
Dead.
No...not dead...destroyed... Ashley felt herself sway where she stood, feeling light headed as the adrenaline seeped away, leaving her drained. It's destroyed... She eyed the leaky pile, its lifeblood pouring into the mud, its mangled body still. I-it won't get up...will it?
The first shape to have appeared to her rescue had his back to her, stepping up to the last moving Geth, foot stomping down on its back, pushing it back into the mud as he levelled the shotgun in his hand...Ashley found herself watching the event like in a dream, as if she didn't care about the outcome, her anger and fear equally gone, leaving her...empty.
"Are you okay?" The concerned question was uttered by a somewhat harsh voice, as if hoarse. It was kind though, gentle even, as was the hand finding her wrist, forcing her still raised weapon down and turning her to face the new arrival.
The man was no more then an inch taller then her and sported a solid set of shoulders most male marines in the Alliance got after boot-camp. There was something softer about him though, his rectangular face and sharp nose fit well with a marine, even the slight stubble spoke of a marine working in a garrison, the thick black eyebrows and black hair cut short at the sides perhaps softening him a little...
It must be the eyes...
There was a calm in the brown orbs meeting her gaze, intelligence...but mostly a calm, reassuring, kind. Ashley met the eyes and felt her shoulders drop, if only a little. "Y-yes...I'm fine." She cleared her throat, jumping straight as she noticed the dark armour of his sported a shoulder pad with the markings on them. "Lieutenant." She moved a hand for a salute...then hesitated, her movements unsteady as she struggled to focus.
The man glanced down, his omni-tool glowing as he raised it, frowning even as the boom of a firing shotgun was followed by a electronic hiss of a dying Geth. "Any injuries?"
Ashley shifted where she stood, taking half a step back as she moved a hand up, brushing some mud off her helmet and feeling the loss of the assault rifle from the usual spot on her back keenly. "Just my pride sir." She grimaced, shaking her head as she forced the grief about to well up back down. "I'm a little pissed too...got a pill for that?" She laughed, a nervous chuckle, nearly a titter.
Dear God...I must be close to hysteria...or does one feel that?
The man shot her a glance, the omni-tools glow fading, his mouth twitching in a worried frown, making Williams straighten even further. Remember who you are, Williams' aren't weak. The man didn't' seem to notice, a hand moving to tap his armoured chest: "I am Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko and this is Commander..." He turned and frowned. "...Commander?"
Following his gaze Ashley found her second rescuer advance upon one of the more whole Geth corpses, smoothly and almost mechanical, as if copying the Geth's movement, shotgun at the ready until he came up to it...and then slamming the heel of his foot into it's 'throat' with a crunch of snapping steel.
Only then did he turn to face them, lowering his weapon.
Ashley swallowed.
He was tall. Ashley wasn't short by any means, yet he was a full head taller, way over six feet in height. Ashley had seen many tall men, but not one so solidly built, sporting almost abnormally wide shoulders the man reminded her of a tank in his black armour, his sheer size making her feel tiny.
His armour was pitch black and scuffed from wear and tear, making Ashley look him from bottom to top. A row of small cylindrical grenades were attached along the length of his right thigh. Fancy... A black knife, large and mostly hidden in its sheath, was strapped to his left boot. Huh? Marines have cutting tool in their armour...why the knife? Across his chest a bandoleer hung, more grenades, larger ones, hanging from it. That's a lot of firepower... Added to that both a sniper rifle and an assault rifle stuck up from his back, not to mention the pistol at his hip and the shotgun in his hands. And I'm considered strange for adding a sniper rifle to the usual complement of rifle and side-arm... And his left breast the white letters 'N7' shone out.
Oh...
Ashley straightened further, realising she stood in front of one of the Alliance's finest...and painfully aware of the mud clinging to her back. God...and my assault rifle...it's still out there. I'm going to be chewed out...
Then she allowed herself to look at the man's face. He sported a small mouth, looking all the more so with the cleanly shaven but heavy set jaw, as if it had been chiselled out of granite. The thin nose of his was crooked ever so slightly to the left from an old break and his blond hair was cut short, not shaved, but close. A jagged and deep-looking scar ran from his large forehead downwards over his somehow unscathed right eye and partly over his cheek. An eye that...
Ashley felt her gut tighten.
The blue eyes looking down at her was glowing, cold and harsh, uncaring, unfeeling, hard...logical...
Geth!
It was a nightmare, even when the man took a step forward, stopping the setting sun from reflecting in his eyes, there was still a glow in the eyes, an inner fire of unfeeling ice.
Her mouth opened, but no words came, no scream...nothing, her feet frozen to the spot. Geth...no...human...safe...not safe...run...stay...Geth! It hurt, the confusing signals of her already confused mind tearing into her, making lights dance before her eyes.
A nightmare...it has to be a nightmare...God...please...
The man stopped.
Blinked.
And the fire was gone, replaced by a look so sympathetic and kind that Ashley found her head swimming with confusion.
It was as if a light-switch had been flipped
"Are you okay?" The man advanced, fast, hand reaching out, catching her forearm in a vice-like grip and holding her upright as she swayed where she stood.
No. Ashley nearly laughed, but held down the hysterics, forcing it down with gritted teeth. "Yes...just...heh...I usually don't have such long workdays..." It has been an eternity... She shook her head, crushing her eyes closed. Get a grip soldier. She planted her feet into the ground as she forced herself back into focus, looking back at the Commander: "Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams sir." She wrenched her hand free from the man's grip and moved it up to offer a sharp salute, taking comfort in the familiar movement.
"At least it's not boring." The man offered, a ghost of a smile on his lips, a hand moving to offer a short pat to her shoulder.
"This is Commander Michael Shepard..." The lieutenant offered, the rest of what he was saying turning into a mutter as Ashley found herself staring.
The angel of death...God's retribution...she found a hand moving to brush her hair back, only to realise she still wore her helmet, instead she simply shifted where she stood, swallowing as she struggled with herself.
She had seen him in the extranet, all the interviews, all the bios made by various programs, the dramatization...but she had never hoped to see the idol and hero of every marine in the Alliance, she in particular given her family history, in the flesh! The criminal made marine, the marine made idol, the hero of the Skyllian blitz...
She couldn't help but stare.
Only too late did she realise that the lieutenant, she'd forgotten his name already, had asked her a question.
The now soft blue eyes twinkled with something, amusement? Sympathy? "Well Chief? What do you know of the scientists?"
"I...think they're dead." Ashley replied, finding herself unable to formulate it any better, feeling oddly disarmed under the sympathetic gaze. "T-the marines too...the Geth pounced us..." She felt the corners of her eyes well up and blinked furiously, keeping the tears at bay even as her throat swelled. "You're here...for the beacon right...you...couldn't have arrived so fast otherwise..."
"Yes, but we're here to help as well." The hero replied, voice calm, reassuring. "Where's the beacon? What do you know of it?"
"Just something the scientists liked..."Ashley swallowed as the admission rolled out of her mouth. "...honestly I didn't pay much attention to it..." There was no accusation in the eyes looking back at her, only a prodding need for her to go on, a need she couldn't deny even if she wanted to. "I...think the Geth took it...south...yes...sir...south." She found herself shuddering as she averted her gaze. "Towards that shadow of a ship..."
"A ship?" Shepard echoed, his tone shifting ever so slightly. "They are planning to remove it." The tone was now almost cold. "Chief, are you fit for duty?" Ice.
Ashley nodded, saluted, meeting the gaze of the Commander, meeting the returned glow within them with nary a shiver. "I insist upon it sir, I want payback."
Instantly a hand was in front of her, index finger raised against her face, the cold eyes looking down at her, brooking no argument. "I am in command, you do as I say, you will not act rashly due to a need for vengeance, is that understood?"
Ashley nodded, raising her chin in defiance even as she saluted. "Crystal sir!"
Then he brushed past her, assault rifle already in hand, voice flat and cold. "Then move out."
And the others followed...
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Thanks goes to Abydos Jackson for her continued help and support.