Paying the Price

This chapter i kind of feel mixed about, on one hand i restarted it twice cause it wasn't working out, then was hit with a burst of inspiration and did the whole thing in a couple of hours...Weird but i like how it turned out...That's not up to me to decide however. Hope you all like it too.

Paying the Price

Chapter Four
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Shepard couldn't help but cringe as she pulled her helmet back down over her head and secured the clamps, she hated wearing a helmet, it was always uncomfortable and annoying.

Having banished the sorrow at Tali's loss to the back of her mind, she now had a different concern to worry about.

Namely the tunnel full of seeker swarms, and the fact they had to go through it.

Already Samara was preparing herself for the task ahead, the familiar blue glow beginning to envelop her body as she began tapping into her biotics. Despite Melina's confidence in the asari, she knew that this wouldn't be easy, they had little idea as to how long the tunnel was, or even if the barrier Samara planned to make would even work.

If it didn't, they sure as well wouldn't have time to worry. Their had to be millions of seekers between them and the other side. "You sure you want to do this?" She found herself mumbling under her breath, of course she wanted to do it, but after a moment, she spun on her heel and focused on the trio of soldiers behind her. "The distraction would be a lot safer then this…I'm not going to force anyone to come with me."

Samara didn't stop; instead she simply offered a nod. "I doubt you can hold the barrier alone commander." Melina couldn't help but smile beneath her helmet, a gesture she was surprised to see the asari return, even though she couldn't see much of Shepard's face.

"Don't start getting soft on my commander. We've been through worse." Garrus replied, not bothering to look at her as he finished toying with his assault rifle.

Mordin, simply said nothing for the first time since, ever as far as Shepard could recall, though it was clear by the determined expression that he wasn't about to turn back either.

"One wrong move, and were all dead. Just keep that in mind." She offered as a final warning, before shouldering her own rifle and focusing on the tunnel ahead. "When you're ready Samara."

With a deep breath, the justicar stretched her arms out, and without pause a bubble of energy shimmered into life around her. Shepard nodded slightly as she and the others carefully stepped inside. They could see, and she presumed shoot out of it. And by the same token, they likely could be seen, and shot from outside.

Regardless, its task was to stop them being devoured by the seekers. So if it did that, the rest would be a piece of cake.

Melina spared Samara one last glance, before slowing moving forwards, taking care to never reach the edge of the barrier. The only thing she could do now was advance, and pray the asari wouldn't falter, this would likely drain most of her energy before long.

They would need to move fast, but at the same time, going to quickly would likely lead to ambushes, and that would make things so much worse. Gripping her rifle tightly, Shepard lead the squad forwards, pausing at each point of cover to examine the path ahead before stepping past the low wall or support beam. "I don't like this…" She mumbled, her gaze casting about nervously as she noted past the swarms of insect creatures trying to force their way past the barrier, the many different perches and high up vantage points.

All it would take is a sniper in the right place…

Her search was interrupted a second later, as a sudden burst of pain flared up just behind her eyes, and almost forced the commander down on one knee, though she managed to stumble towards a pillar and slam her back into it's rough surface.

"Shepard!" Garrus' voice was suddenly distant, as though he were miles away, though she could tell he was only a few paces at best.

The rest of his words were drowned out as a cold voice made it self heard, no, felt it was speaking directly into her mind, not her ears. The voice made her shiver as though icy claws had been abruptly dragged down her spine. "I know you can feel this." It growled, and Shepard felt the pain worsen for a moment, before suddenly vanishing as quickly as it had come, leaving the former spectre gasping for breath, one hand clutching her helmet.

"What's wrong?" Garrus' voice suddenly assaulted her ears once again, this time coming through loud and clear, painfully so.

"N-Nothing…I don't know what that was." She managed to respond, her voice betraying her confusion. "It's gone now." Shepard doubted that, but still, she couldn't have the squad worrying about her at a time like this.

Shouldering her rifle once again, she pushed away from the pillar and started to creep forwards, her eyes returning to the catwalks and alcoves above them. "Perfect spot for an ambush…Watch yourselves."

Naturally, this led to a sniper round striking a support beam less then a foot away from Shepard's head the second she finished speaking. Cursing, the commander and her team ducked for cover, somehow avoiding the following shots.

Before Melina had time to react, she picked out the distinct crunching of footsteps on the strange surface of the base, and the fluttering of the collector's wings as they descended from their vantage points.

Sparing a quick glance over the low wall she was crouched behind, Shepard noted at least a dozen of them had arrived and were swiftly ducking out of sight as well. They weren't stupid; they'd picked a spot that afforded them a decent amount of cover as well.

"Assuming direct control.' The commander winced as a dull ache suddenly spiked inside her head again. That same voice clawed at her mind once again.

Forcing herself to ignore the pain, she hauled herself up enough to peer over the wall once again, and noted a collector bearing that strange glow. They same one she'd encountered on Horizion, the collector ship, and now here. What the hell did that mean?

Before she could act, the glowing collector fired a strange yellow orb in her direction. Before she could duck it struck her hard in the chest and set her back a few paces. Shepard had little idea as to what the collector used for a weapon, but it packed a very nasty punch.

This was followed by a burst of rifle fire as the others took advantage of the newly exposed commander. Rounds pinged off her shield and knocked her back another step.

A moment later, she winced as a round pinged off her armour, followed a heartbeat later by several more. "No shields!" she cursed, before diving forwards and sliding back behind the wall.

She knew at least one round had gotten through, the dull throbbing in her side proved that, but she ignored it for now, instead, the commander waited until her shields flickered back into life, and took the opportunity to return fire.

Her attempts to fight back were constantly stalled by harbinger however; every time she lingered out of cover for more then a second, another of the strange projectiles was fired her way. Some simply flared her shields, others however sent her stumbling backwards, dizzy and disoriented for a few moments.

"If I must tear you apart Shepard, I will." The voice droned in her head once again, making her wince. Rising to one knee for a moment, she fired another burst towards the glowing collector, and finally saw its barrier flare and die. A second later a loud crack signalled the end of harbinger as a sniper round tore through his skull.

Melina knew that wasn't the end, the throbbing headache hadn't subsided fully, only a little. But even that was better then nothing. And without the heavy weapons of their leader, the others would be much easier to deal with.

The problem still remained however, they were outnumbered, and time wasn't on there side. She had to think of something fast to end the fight.

"Hell. Coving fire!" She shouted after a moment, before leaping over the wall and breaking into a sprint straight towards the remaining collectors.

A round struck her leg, and caused the commander to stumble, though she kept jogging and managed to slide into place behind a pillar closer to the enemy.

Taking a deep breath, her fingers idly tapped in a brief command on the keypad that controlled her rifles systems. A few presses later, and the plates along it's side and the grip slowly gained a crimson glow.

Without pause, she spun around and fired blindly into the aliens, each round bursting into flames on impact.

Despite taking a few hits in response, Shepard managed to kill most in a single volley. Before squeezing the second trigger and firing a grenade that finished off the rest in a blinding flash.

As the rest of the squad moved up, she simply replaced the thermal clip and continued to advance, the ache in her leg and side forgotten for the time being, she'd suffered worse in the past.

"That was stupid. But at least it worked." She commented as she spared a glance over her shoulder to ensure everyone else was still alive. Aside from Garrus appearing to have a slight limp. If it was bothering him though, he kept it well hidden.

They continued forwards, and aside from an occasional report from Jacob to keep them in the loop, and the seeker swarms buzzing around outside the barrier, an eerie silence descended over the advancing team.

The constant throbbing ache was still there, and Shepard couldn't shake the feeling that something was watching her, though everywhere she looked was met with nothing. The silence was almost unnerving.

They didn't have long to wait before the quiet was shattered by a terrifying scream. Melina felt her hands tremble at the inhuman cry; it was a sound that had haunted her dreams for months now.

The sound of a husk. The skeletal creatures that the reapers employed as their shock troopers, swarms of them could be slaughtered and they would just make more. The real problem was being on the receiving end of there attack. Which was exactly where they were now.

With no cover to speak of, the squad simply dug their heels in and prepared for the onslaught.

"Don't let the bastards through the barrier!" Garrus growled as he began firing blindly into the approaching horde, aiming wasn't necessary, there was hundreds of the monsters rushing them. And Shepard had a feeling they weren't alone.

Following her friends advice, she squeezed the trigger of her own rifle and added her support to the battle. No matter where she aimed, she struck synthetic flesh and bone, each round, still aided by the incendiary ammo she'd keyed in earlier, easily ripped through the husks, though for each one that fell, another continued forwards at a frightening pace.

"Damn it! There's to many of them!" Shepard shouted as she ejected a spent clip and resumed firing. "This isn't working!"

"You have a better idea?" Garrus demanded as he fired a grenade into the zombie like creatures ranks and blasted a dozen into tiny pieces, the gap was filled a second later.

"If I did. Would I be standing here whining about it?" Melina countered, neither was angry at the other, though the commander was mad at herself for not having planned for this. Perhaps Samara could use her biotics to drive them back? No that would require dropping the barrier.

"We can't stay here!" The thought of the barrier dragged the situation back into focus. "Samara can't hold out forever like this!" Again she stopped to replace the thermal clip. She only had a few left…

Suddenly the gun was snatched out of her hand and sent clattering away. Looking up from her task, she was horrified to come face to face with a husk, it's teeth bares as it's clawed hands lashed out again and sent her stumbling back a pace.

One arm snapped up to protect herself, while the other made a grab for the pistol clipped to her waist.

This didn't help much, as the husks second swing hit her arm, and a sickening crack followed. Shepard couldn't stifle a yelp of pain as her arm was broken, and again she was forced back a step. She knew without looking she was on the edge of the barrier, one more step back and it would all be over…

Finally, a loud boom that left her ears ringing sounded, and the husk was sent flying backwards and crumpled to the ground a few steps away.

Breathing heavily, the commander brought the still smoking pistol up and resumed firing, each shot striking home and piercing one of the monsters skulls.

Garrus wasn't faring much better then her, his rifle was slung across his shoulders, presumably out of ammo, and he was using his fists to hold the husks at bay, if he could just have enough time to reload.

Mordin still held firm, his own pistol in hand as he easily dispatched the horde one target at a time. How exactly the doctor was doing better then them they couldn't say, after all he was the lightest when it came to firepower and equipment. But neither found any reason to argue.

Samara was the only one that wasn't fighting, and with good reason, if she stopped to fight, they'd be consumed by the seeker swarms in less then a heartbeat.

"Damn it! I'm out!" Shepard cursed as her pistol clicked empty. Returning it to her belt, she ripped her shotgun from it's position on her back and in one fluid motion unpacked it and brought it up into a firing position.

Luckily for her, the weapons were light weight and collapsed into a smaller, lighter package when not in use. Making it possible to haul several guns around at once without slowing the owner down to much.

That said, she really hated using the cumbersome weapon, and only carried a clip at best. It wouldn't last long, but at least she still had a gun for a few more seconds.

Their was still dozens of them though, hundreds probably. And what would follow after that? "This is, hopeless…" Shepard whispered quietly, her hands trembling as she instinctively blasted a husk, the shotgun easily cutting it in half. Chambering another round, she spared another glance across the battle field, Mordin was slowly being driven back, his hands busily fumbling with his gun.

Garrus was down to a pistol as well, though she knew that wouldn't last, her own hadn't. And Samara was powerless to do anything.

"Shepard! Were at the door, but were being overwhelmed! We won't last much longer if you don't get that door open!" Jacob's voice filled her ears once again, and she winced at just how desperate he sounded. "Game over…" She commented bitterly, her weapon and hands falling limply to her sides.

All this way, all that effort, to die like this? Her mind drifted back to Tali, her friend that had risked everything, and lost everything to help. Dead, and for what? So Shepard could lead her squad, no, her friends, family to their deaths like this?

"Hell no!" Melina growled as she tightened her grip on her last weapon and charged forwards, if she was going to die, then let it be fighting, not cowering in fear behind her friends. "Were almost to the door, just hold out a minute longer!" Shepard barked into her comm., before pausing to snatch up her discarded rifle, a second later she was charging once again.

The only sign she had that the rest of her squad was behind her, was the fact that the edge of the bubble grew no closer. Each step she took, the edge was always ten away.

Every time a husk stepped into her path, she fired, skulls were shattered, ribs pulverized, and spines shredded. And once she finally ran out of ammo, she simply started swinging the gun like a club, crushing the husks beneath arm and weapon. Even with one arm broken, she simply forced it into motion, likely damaging it further, but that didn't matter, she wouldn't, couldn't give up now.

Finally, the entrance was in sight, and Shepard paused for a moment to catch her breath. Only then did she realize her left arm was limp and useless, the abuse it had taken by her own actions finally pushing it to the breaking point.

Glancing over her shoulder, she could tell they were running out of time. Samara was beginning to stumble and waver, she couldn't hold out much longer.

"Here." Garrus tossed her a spare clip. And without pause she slung her shotgun and reloaded her pistol. "Make it count Shepard. Only one I can spare."

Nodding slightly, she offered a brief thanks, before turning to the asari. "Hold on, were almost there." She said softly, before making a beeline for the entrance.

Naturally, another wave of husks swarmed into the tunnel and waylaid them. This time though their numbers were fewer. That didn't make them less dangerous however.

"What the…Hell?" Shepard pondered when she spotted several of the husks glowed now. That couldn't be a good sign.

One of them rushed towards Mordin, and the commander easily dispatched it, and found out the hard way why they glowed.

As soon as the first shot struck it, the husk exploded with the force of a grenade. Knocking Shepard onto her back, and sending the salarian tumbling back several feet. The explosion, luckily took most of the husks with it.

"Fucking great, now they explode…" Melina coughed and groaned as she forced herself to stand, this was no time to take a break.

As she oriented herself and spun to continue fighting, her gaze fell upon Mordin, who she only then realized had been knocked backwards, out of the barrier. "No! Mordin!" Before she could even blink, the seeker swarms had desended and enveloped the doctor.

Knowing she couldn't shoot without hitting Mordin, she rushed forwards to help. Only to stop abruptly as Garrus's arms coiled around her waist and dragged her away from the edge. "NO, LET ME GO DAMN IT!" She scramed, her legs kicking wildly as she fought to break free and help.

"You can't help him! You'll die to!" The turian snapped, once or twice Shepard managed to strike him with her boots, but he remained steadfast and held her until the swarms dissipated, nothing remained of salarian.

"No, no no no no!" Melina finally stopped struggling, instead she fell limp in Garrus' arms, again, again someone died, and it was her fault!

Once he was sure she wouldn't rush forwards, the sniper reluctantly relaxed his grip and released the commander, though he swiftly grabbed her again when she started to collapse.

"Come on! We can't stop now!" He gently dragged Shepard back to her feet. After a moment of staring at the spot where Mordin had been, she nodded slightly, and pulled free.

"R-Right…Can't…S-Stop." She said slowly, her voice suddenly emotionless and monotone. Without pause, she spun around and broke into a run towards the door.

Samara and Garrus shared a concerned glance, before moving to catch up with her.

By some cruel twist of fate, nothing else impeded their progress, and the remaining trio reached the door without further incident.

"Were at the door controls. Stand by" Shepard mumbled into her comm. as Samara hacked the door and forced it to open.

As the massive doors slid apart, several stray rounds flashed past and struck the wall behind them, forcing Shepard to duck. Once it was open enough, the remaining members of her squad stumbled through and moved aside to avoid getting shot.

"Seal it! Now!" The commander snapped as she fired her pistol blindly past the squad to give them a chance.

Everyone was through, or it looked like it anyway. Zaeed was the last one through. And a second later the doors slammed shut.

Just afterwards, The mercenary backed into the wall directly opposite, and slid down into a sitting position. Melina was at his side a second later. Through a coughing fit, Zaeed managed to grin. "To damned many of them…Figured it would…End this way…" Another coughing fit wracked the injured mercenary, before he fell limp and still.

'Oh no you don't. You stubborn bastard you're not dying on me!" Shepard growled as she activated her Omni-tool and jolted him with a dose of medi-gel. Unlike Tali however, she saw him stir slightly, he wasn't dead, yet.

Standing up, she waved Miranda over. "Keep and eye on him."

"Shouldn't Mordin be patching him up? He is the do-"

"Mordin's DEAD!" Shepard abruptly yelled, causing the Cerberus agent to leap back a step, and everyone else to snap around to face them. "Seeker swarms overwhelmed him." She finished after a moment, her voice low and weak. "I screwed up and got him killed…"

"It wasn't you're fault commander, you didn't kno-" Garrus tried to defend the commander against herself, but was cut short by her whipping around to face him.

"Didn't know what? The fucking husk would explode? That it would knock him out of the barrier. That I would kill him!" Her voice slowly rose with each question. "No I ddin't, but I shouldn't have fired with it being that close!"

Melina's gaze darted from face to face, gauging their reactions, however she hesitated when she failed to locate one of them. "Where's….Where's Jacob?" She demanded, her eyes scanning more urgently.

Miranda looked away, Kasumi simply angled her head downwards to hide her eyes behind her hood. No one else would meet her gaze either.

A second later, she spun around and slammed her fist into the wall, causing the metal to dent, and another crack as her knuckles broke from the impact, even with the heavy armour protecting her, it still wasn't enough.

"Tali…Jacob…Mordin…" She clicked her comm. on and struggled to get the words out. "Joker…Did you get the, crew?"

"Everyone's here, Kelly, Doctor Chakwas , everyoneexcept…" Joker hesitated, and EDI finished for him.

"Thane hasn't arrived yet. The crew report he stayed behind to defend them from a collector attack."

Everyone was silent, unsure how to respond to the news. "And Thane." Melina said after a few moments, finishing her list of lost comrades. Still no one spoke, no sound at all broke the silence for a minute afterwards.

Finally, a dull pattering was heard as tears began to strike the ground and Shepards boots.