Event Horizon || Garrus Vakarian x FemShep

Chapter Seven: Stellar Collision

"Keep moving! Miranda, Jacob, don't get caught sitting still. He almost nailed you!"

Shepard kept her eye pinned to the scope of her rifle, shivering as the armored turian on the balcony looked from the mark her shot had made beside him, back to her. She smirked to herself, "He's lucky that I want him for the job..."

Her tech armor hummed as it came to surround her body, casting an orange glow over her shadow as she slid over the hood of the car in front of her to keep pressing forward. A handful of the mercenaries had taken advantage of her momentary distraction and done the same, beginning to reach the entrance to the abandoned apartment complex; she couldn't let them get too far ahead.

"Get ready you two; we can't let them reach Archangel--!"

A flash of light cut her voice short, and she cursed, crouching low again as her holo-armor burned and fizzled out. A small dent was on her shoulder plate right above the N7 logo: That bastard took down my shields!

The commander was forced to wait while her shields recovered, falling further behind the mercs as they shouted in apparent victory. She grimaced, peering around the corner and looking for a way to stop them: A bundle of explosive crates would do.

"The real fight starts now!"

Deftly, Shepard lifted her Widow and fired a shot towards the crates closest to the mercs, who turned in fear at the hissing sound of gas escaping; a second shot, and the product blew up spectacularly, sending the thugs flying into the air with screams of terror. A voice cried out from the end of the bridge behind her squad.

"They're helping Archangel! Stop them!"

What few men remained after the blast turned to return fire towards the trio, and a few more splintered off to rush upstairs. While Miranda and Jacob controlled the larger group with biotics, the headstrong woman charged forward, tucking her rifle away on her back as her hands lit up with blue energy: An Eclipse recruit with a shotgun went flying after a biotic throw, and two more from the Blood Pack were frozen by cryo tech. After shattering the two coated with ice in melee, she closed the distance between herself and the last merc trying to breach the door at the top of the stairwell; he tried to lift his pistol to strike her down, but the shot went wide, and she smacked the gun away before using the butt of her own to strike his temple and render him unconscious. For the moment, things were quiet, and Jacob and Miranda soon came to back her up while she set her omni-tool to work on bypassing the door.

"It looks like there's a break in their assault, Commander. We must have caused some chaos."

Shepard nodded at Jacob's observation, clenching her side-arm tightly as the icon on the door turned green, "Let's not waste any time, then."

The pressurized door hissed open, and the three marched through it, the woman taking point side-stepping and pointing the muzzle of her gun towards the vigilante they had been pursuing since landing on Omega. Shepard lifted an eyebrow as the turian failed to face them.

"Archangel?"

His body was stiff, and he lifted a closed fist without turning around: Hold.

Not more than a breath later, his rifle snapped as it discharged, and a man choked on a bullet unseen below. Miranda hummed to herself.

"Huh. Missed one."

Stragglers finally cleared, Archangel placed the butt of his rifle on the ground and leaned on it like a cane, standing up and beginning to approach with some amount of swagger. Shepard's grip on her pistol tightened, aim adjusting to compensate for the way he tilted his head to remove his helmet. Her grip faltered, however, as a face with familiar markings revealed itself, with tired eyes and slumped shoulders as he sat down on the edge of a sofa. The turian breathed deeply.