Mass Effect: Alliance Boys

Alliance Boys

Finn lay in the rubble. He hurt everywhere. Like everyone on Earth, he'd seen the Reapers fall. Some kind of red energy hit and knocked them out. All the husks, and alien variants, simply disintegrated. No one knew how it had happened but a squad, including the indomitable Commander Shepard, had headed to the beam that was believed would take them to the Citadel, now in Earth orbit. He fought to protect the galaxy, even when he was doubted and vilified, even when he had to go to the enemy to stop this threat. Yet, he was there, the only hope, and it was thought that he had done something on the Citadel. Whatever, or whoever, was responsible had put an end to the Reapers, or at least on Earth.

Once the relief set in, Finn's thoughts drifted elsewhere, to Charlie. He had no idea where he was. Though well-trained with a sniper rifle, Charlie was an Infiltrator and often found himself up close and personal with the enemy. Last he'd heard, Charlie do recon of what were essentially Reaper concentration camps. That scared the shit out of him. If he were there, he could be indoctrinated. If that happened, they could have turned him against his fellows or even made him kill himself. What did it mean if someone was indoctrinated but the Reapers were dead? Would they still try to aid the Reapers, even though they were dead, or would they be free? Finn didn't like to think about it, didn't want to even imagine it. All he wanted right now was to hold Charlie in his arms again and never let go.

There was work to do, no matter how much his body ached. As an Adept, Finn was among those who could help clear rubble with his biotics. He was well-trained at the Ascension Project, originally given an L4 implant, which was more powerful and safer than prior models. Just last year he had upgraded to an L5x, which nearly made him a match for an asari. That meant he could, in context of the current situation, lift heavier objects and not tire as quickly. Unfortunately, he was already dead tired, but he knew he couldn't rest. He was needed.

Finn hauled himself off the ground, getting a hand from one of his squad mates before he tumbled.

"Easy, Walsh," Wilkins said to him. "Have a protein bar. You'll need it."

Finn nodded and accepted the bar, tearing the wrapper off of it. Normally, he'd pocket that wrapper but with all the destruction it wasn't going to make much of a difference.

"Thanks, Wilkins. I'm going to need it." Even in this day and age, the Irish accent was evident. When different regions on Earth had started to assert their nationality, Irish - or Gaelic, as most of the world called it - came back in fashion. Finn was raised on Irish but had also learned English with an accent particular to County Clare in the Province of Munster. Not that it much mattered given his language implant, but the accent still showed through, even in translation.

He and other biotics spent the next several hours moving debris, looking for survivors, and helping however they could. It was easier to biotically lift an injured person off the ground than to physically pick them up. Eventually, though, exhaustion set in. It was too much of a strain to continue and, frankly, they hadn't rested for nearly a day, given the fighting with Reaper forces and then the search and rescue.

Still, Finn couldn't take a rest quite yet. Communication wasn't fully functioning but it wasn't gone. He had to see if there was any news and went to the most senior ranking Alliance officer in the vicinity, Major Thomas Wycombe.

"Sir," Finn said as he approached, offering a salute, which was returned.

"What can I do for you, uh," the Major began, not really knowing who Finn was. Things were a mess and at this point marines fell under the command of whoever happened to have the highest rank.

"Sgt. Walsh, sir."

"What is it you want, Walsh? I have a lot of work to do."

"Yes, sir. I'm about to take some rack time but I, uh, was wondering if you could find out the status of another service member. Sgt. Charlie Renault, Commando Infiltrator. Last known mission was recon of a Reaper concentration camp."