Location: Elysium
Year: 2176
“Come on, maggots! Move move move!”
Hundreds of Alliance soldiers poured through the door of the SSV Pandora, geared up and ready to fight. Giers’s squadron was divided up into different sectors depending on the class of soldiers. Engineers worked in the back ranks, sending out drones and traps to weaken shields and barriers. Infiltrators were sent to higher ground for better vantage points and the sentinels were spread throughout the battlefield to provide support for the injured or incapacitated and escort civilians to safety. The soldiers and adepts were the main fighting force, but it was the vanguards who led others into battle. It just so happened that Ana herself was a vanguard, taking up the front lines with the others that had already arrived beforehand. She stepped out of the SSV Pandora gingerly, taking in the scene before her. Bullets whizzed through the air causing shields to light up a bright purple when the bullets made contact with them. The Alliance had set up a good defensive perimeter around the colony, but the Batarians were a relentless bunch. Suddenly, Ana found herself being pushed to the ground right behind a small mound of dirt.
“Are you crazy? Don’t just stand there like a deer in the headlights!” she heard someone shout, though everything seemed blurred. Even the soldier screaming at her was just a faded image, noise with no clarity. What was she doing there?
“Do you hear me, soldier?!” the voice interrupted again. She came to, shaking her head to rattle her brain from the temporary immobilization before nodding at the vanguard that had saved her. He frowned at her, bushy eyebrows furrowed with concern and a bit of fury. It looked like he had been pierced quite a bit with bullets, but he was still fighting. “You’re not well,” he concluded, tapping his finger against his ear where a nearly invisible communication link was located. “Sanders—“ he started before Ana interrupted him.
“No! I’m alright, sir!” she protested, reaching behind her to unclip the assault rifle from the mounted multi-gun holster on her back. Before the sentinel he contacted was able to reach her, she had darted onto the battlefield, shields flaring as she activated her barrier defenses. Oh she was afraid, that much was for certain, but if she received a dishonorable discharge because she had stage fright, she would never be able to face Anderson. Being the adopted daughter of one of the most phenomenal soldiers in Alliance Navy history put her under a lot of pressure. She didn’t want him to think she was a failure.
When she caught up to the front lines, they were already advancing on the enemy. The Batarians scattered as the ruthless vanguards pelted them with biotics. Something about the strategic placement of the soldiers on the battlefield didn’t seem right. It was segregated. None of the different classified groups were working together. In fact, the vanguards completely disregarded helping the soldiers who, without any special powers, couldn’t defend themselves properly. They hid behind buildings and crates, but the war beasts the Batarians had brought to battle could sniff them out easily. Scanning the area from behind the smoldering remains of someone’s house, she noticed a group of soldiers pinned down near a Batarian cruiser. One of the enemy biotics had lifted a large pillar and thrown it at them, catching one of the poor soul’s legs under it. He cried out for help but his fellow soldiers couldn’t get close enough to rescue him.
“Chek! Chek!” the Batarians roared, unleashing the war beasts from their cages. With maws of that size, the poor soldiers wouldn’t have a chance.
Not on Ana’s watch.
“Aghhh! Help me!” the soldier cried, trying to grab his pistol that was just out of reach. Just as the war beast leaped into the air for the kill, they were caught in mid-flight by a purple aura. Confused, they began flailing their legs about trying to reach the ground only a few feet below them. One of them whined. Before they knew it, they were sent hurtling through the air back at their masters, slamming into them and causing the Batarians to fly back into their cruisers. The injured soldier looked stunned, wondering if he had some unknown biotic potential. He was distracted by an immense pain originating from his legs when the pillar began to move and levitate into the air. He screamed, writhing in pain but it was clear that he was paralyzed from the waist down. Two of his comrades began dragging him away towards the nearest sentinel.
“D-Did…. Did I do that?” he asked as black spots danced about his vision.
“Naw man, that was a vanguard,” his friend replied, pointing to Ana who had jogged up beside them. He looked up at her gratefully and she smiled at him in return. Soon, they were far enough away to be considered safe. The Batarians were starting to recover and she was ready for them.
“Human scum!” one of them screeched, wiping the blood from his lips.
“You Batarians don’t play fair, do you?” she shot back with a sneer, hurling a ball of energy at them. It caught one of the Batarians and sent him tumbling away. But they were biotics, too; powerful biotics. It would be tough fight.
“Hashka! Vikt!” one of them shouted before that nebulous purple aura ignited around their bodies. They simultaneously thrust warp fields around her, trapping her in their deadly clutches. Warp fields worked similar to black holes but without the same magnitude or intensity. It still packed enough power to nearly shred her armor to pieces. She jerked around, trying to free herself from the suction of the warps, but to no avail. Now they were starting to shoot at her, one of the bullets burying itself into her side. If it weren’t for the soldiers she had saved coming back to help her, she would have been a goner.
Shots rang through the air as two of the soldiers began firing away at the enemy. Distracted by this new show of force, the Batarians’ warp fields slowly vanished, allowing Ana to break free. Pieces of her armor were missing and a web of blood began to expand around her right hip, but she grit her teeth to fight the pain.
“Get back!” she shouted to the soldiers. They complied, especially when her biotic power was starting to warm up. In moments, she let out a wave of intense biotic power that washed over the Batarians, sweeping them away as if they were merely leaves in the wind. Again they collided with their ship, but the force of her power was so strong that they were literally crushed against it… all that remained were splotches of blue over the motto of their hegemony. Ironic, when you thought about.
“Whoa… never seen a biotic do that before. At least a human one,” one of the soldiers commented, wiping the sweat off of his brow.
Ana panted, flashing him a cocky grin. “Who said only the Asari could have all of the fun?” What a rush that was! She felt guilty that she actually wanted to see those bastards die as she usually wasn’t one to be ruthless. But there are always casualties in war, aren’t there? Better them than those soldiers.
During the first few hours of what would be known as the Skyllian Blitz to the rest of the galaxy, Shepard found herself compelled to help her fellow soldiers rather than fighting with the vanguards. Though she was a skilled biotic and chose to be a vanguard when she had the choice, it just didn’t feel right leaving those soldiers to fend for themselves against biotics and tech abilities with mere guns. The least she could do was provide a barrier or two, though most of the time they let her completely wipe out the small bands of enemies that descended on them. It wasn’t until nightfall that the attacks became more vicious. Reinforcements had yet to come and now nearly all of Giers’s platoon and the colonists were fighting for their lives. Many were growing weary, especially the vanguards who rushed into battle without much of a strategy. Much like the Krogan, the Batarians were born warriors and had the stamina to continue fighting without any means of a break. Their numbers were dwindling slowly but still they charged in to attack.
Suddenly the dark landscape was filled with a bright flash of light that obliterated half of the vanguards on the field. New Batarian reinforcements had arrived and they were heavily-armed and packing advanced assault and rocket drones. A line of those drones sent missiles flying into the vanguards who weren’t fast enough to get out of the way or erect barriers. The front line had been breached… the Batarians were now inside the perimeter and that much closer to the colony. And who was leading them but none other than the same Batarian that had attacked Mindoir: Solem. Ana had heard about his escape. One of his cousins happened to work in the prison he was sent to, a smart tactic for mercenary gangs in case they were caught. Instead of fear taking hold of her from that traumatic childhood experience, Ana felt a white hot rage building in her chest which only intensified when one of the Batarians gunned down Rachel who had tried to hold them off with some of the other unfortunate soldiers near where the explosion had occurred.
Hell no. Those damn Batarians already took her family from her. She wasn’t about to lose all of her friends, too. Ana couldn’t bring back the dead, but she was going to save this colony and not one more damn human soul was going to die. The vanguard hit her communications link as she sped across the field towards the Batarians.
“Commander, order a full retreat.”
Giers replied almost immediately. “Are you nuts, Shepard?! We hold this position at all costs! The Alliance will be here soon, I know it!” For once in her career, she heard fear in his voice. He had all but given up hope.
“Do it, NOW!” Ana barked back, sliding right under a drone and throwing up a barrier to protect some of the soldiers too close for comfort to the Batarians. “I promise you that we’ll lose more good people if you don’t pull them to safety! Listen to me, Commander!”
There was silence on the other end for a few moments, giving Ana needed focus to take out some of the drones with a biotic pull which created a collision powerful enough to disable them permanently.
“When we lose this colony, Shepard, it’s on your head,” Giers finally replied before sending out a message to all of the soldiers on the battlefield. “Retreat! Full retreat! Pull back!”
Adepts, sentinels, and the remaining vanguards surrounded the engineers, soldiers, and infiltrators on the field before they began rushing back towards the heart of the colony. Soon they were swallowed up by the darkness, leaving only Ana and what remained of the Batarian platoon and the reinforcements. Some tried to chase after the fleeing humans, but they found themselves forcibly pulled back in front of the only Alliance soldier left to fight. Realizing this, the entire enemy squadron began to laugh.
“What is this foolishness?” Solem remarked from somewhere in the crowd before shoving his way to the front. “One Alliance soldier? Do you really think you stand a chance against the mightiest of all galactic races?” He paced in front of her, both amused and appalled that the Alliance would be so stupid as to put one soldier on the field to fight. Ana followed his movements with her icy blue gaze. He paused, recognition in his beady black eyes. “Don’t I know you from somewhere?”
A fire burned in her eyes and she gave in to the power that coursed through her veins, just waiting to be set free. The biotic aura burst from every pore, nearly knocking Solem onto his back and her eyes turned a blinding white color before she levitated in the air before them. “I am the voice of Mindoir and I seek vengeance for the innocent lives you have taken!”