Reflections VI

Shepard pulled her helmet on, activated the pressure seals on her armor, and silently counted from ten. Ten seconds later, she stepped into the airlock, cut off, breathing within her own private atmosphere. Her suit's thermal-regulator kicked on as the outer hatch slid open and Nepheron's heat rushed into the chamber.

Nepheron – A tactical strike against a rogue black ops. nerve center, she mulled over events, Binthu – Rachni, creepers, a dead admiral. Edolus – Marines in a Thresher nest. Toombs. Should've known–

Something moved in her peripheral vision, coinciding with a ping on her scanner. In the same instant, she reached for her weapon; a crack rang through her skull, magnified by an explosion of kinetic shielding, and she was knocked back. Her vision dimmed, obscured by the muted shields down alert and damage report scrolling past her HUD. Through the haze of red and black, an indistinct blue blur flew upward into the sky.

"Negative contacts."

Not good. She'd been so wrapped up in her head, Shepard hadn't realized there'd been one. One that she must have missed, going in. The battle was over before she'd realized it'd started, except now her head was killing her, and the world wouldn't stop spinning as she was hauled off the ground. She tried not to lean on Alenko – he was still fuzzy and biotic – and found herself slumped against Williams.

Suit rupture, Shepard read off her screen, squinting. She must have read it aloud, she realized, because Williams swore.

All the way back to the Mako, she felt as though she were walking on air; half-dragged, half-carried. Within the confines of the vehicle, she sprawled on the cabin floor as her marines scrambled to enable all systems and pressurize the cabin.

Startled as someone undid her seals and gently removed her helmet, Shepard realized she must have dozed off. Alenko pressed a breather over her mouth and nose, which she accepted, silently thankful, and held, breathing deep.

Gripping her chin, he stared at her intently; she glared back, ineffectual at best. Nevertheless, his attention turned, and he trailed his fingers along the side of her head, abruptly triggering a sharp spike of pain where he touched. She hissed, trying to swat him off. He tightened his grip, probing harder, before letting go and picking up her helmet.

"You've got a concussion and a mild plasma burn." He stood up, having to hunch under the bulkhead, and studied her helmet as he talked. "And your shield battery is dead. Good thing you were wearing the helmet for once."

Because of the noxious atmosphere. Shepard cleared her throat, rubbing in vain at the itch in her chest. Quirking an eyebrow at Alenko, she rasped, "I've got a thick skull."

"No kidding," Kaidan scoffed, dropping the helmet in her lap before moving up to the drivers' compartment. Shepard flipped the thing around, examining the ablated indent surrounding a pin hole that wasn't there before. "Too bad, too. All that padding and nothing to protect."

Lesson further learned and reinforced. Dwelling on the past will only get you killed.

Working Title: -

Prompt: One poor unfortunate merc tossed into the atmosphere.

Original Note: In fond memory of the heroic Cerberus Grunt #46, who was brave enough after surviving his first encounter with Shepard to jump her when she emerged from the Cerberus compound on Nepheron, and even managed to get a shot in before Kaidan tossed him into the upper atmosphere and Ashley used him for target practice. Event dramatized.

Disambiguation: ... yes, it really happened like that. XD

Published: On the BSN (July 8th, 2011).

Derivative work of material © BioWare, Electronic Arts.