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Description
Title:  Ch.1 The Heat of Battle
Universe:  Mass Effect (takes place during ME1)
Author: moreeman06
Characters:  Tiberius Shepard, Liara T'Soni, Tali'zorah vas Neema, Garrus Vakarian, Jeff "Joker" Moreau.

"Look all you have to do is point and shoot," Commander Shepard said looking straight into the eyes of the dazed Asari.  "We don't have any time to practice so if you don't feel up to using it just stay behind cover and…"  a shot pinged into the bulkhead right above Tiberius "…and just keep it ready just in case."  He turned towards the source of the fire,  Garrus and Tali were in cover and had the flanks covered and were starting to use suppressing fire to crowd the Geth troopers back towards the center of the room leaving just him and the Krogan Battlemaster both standing out of cover while their troops traded fire.  Tiberius took a quick look at the gear on the Krogan, Predator Heavy Armor not good, won't be able to take him down from this distance before he closes the gap and shreds me, Tiberius thought letting his eyes trace across the figure taking in the strange markings below the right shoulder pauldron and filing them away for later research before letting his eyes settle on the Krogan's.

Liara hid behind a bank of consoles in the center of the room as far away from the action as she could get, she was dazed the days she had spent trapped in that Prothean trap had taken their toll and the lack of water and food had numbed her mind.  She couldn't help but watch the human, Commander Shepard he had called himself, he was interesting to her.  He had seemed kind enough when he had gotten her out of the trap and into the platform they were currently fighting on, stopping before they began their progress upwards to check on her health and offer her water and a power bar for the dehydration she was suffering from.  All that had changed however when they felt the platform sudden stop, he had ordered the Turian and Quarian to the sides  of the entrance ready to flank any approaching threats while he pushed her to the nearest cover and forced her head down as he turned to the new presence at the fore of the platform.  After a brief exchange of words some of which Liara had gathered were about her he turned back to her and had pressed a pistol back into her hands, all the gentleness was gone from his voice and face as he brusquely reminded her to stay down before stepping back out of cover;  and now, now Liara could have swore she saw a slightly feral almost unhinged glint in his eyes and she forced herself to look away from the Human for the first time since they had freed her as crackles and forks of blue energy began to wrap his body.

Tiberius broke eye contact knowing that the Krogan had heard the unspoken challenge his eyes had given.  He knew that there was no way he could over power the Krogan but hoped that he could stay alive long enough for either Tali or Garrus to handle the rest of the Geth that way they might stand a chance.  He raised his arm and made a beckoning motion towards the Krogan.  The Krogan lowered his crested head and began his charge.  Tiberius kept track of the closing distance between himself and the warrior in the back of his mind as he fired past the Krogan taking out Geth Troops that were bearing down on Tali. 2 seconds he thought before he dropped his rifle and held both hands up to form a barrier.  1 second, he could feel the air being expelled from the grunts of the Krogan as he made contact with the barrier; Tiberius could feel his body being forced back although the Krogan hadn't yet made it through the shield.

Now his brain shouted and he let the barrier drop side stepping at the same time hoping he was fast enough to avoid the Krogan.  Tiberius felt relief flood through him before something in his peripheral caught his eye and he felt a heavy arm clothesline him.  Tiberius dropped to the ground his helmeted head protecting him from the worst of the impact and then he felt the boot of the Krogan make contact with his chest.  The blue energy wracked through his body again and he released it with a sweeping motion of his arm bringing the Krogan down with a heavy thud besides him.  The Krogan recovered quickly though and straddled Tiberius one of its hands wrapped around his throat as the other ripped off his helmet.  Tiberius heard the helmet crash into the bulkhead behind him as he scrambled to pull out the combat knife he had secreted in a sheath on the left side of his chest right below the armpit.  He scrambled with the release.  "I'm going to enjoy this human," the Krogan growled; "I want to look straight into your soft eyes as the life leaves them."  The Krogan lowered its head so that Tiberius could feel the spittle from its mouth flecking his face.  At that moment he felt the knife begin to slip from the sheath and he rushed the blade out and up pushing the tip of the knife into the soft tissue in the join between the Krogan's Jaw and Neck, feeling resistance he pushed harder.  As blackness began to flit around the edges of his vision he felt the blade dig deeper, heard a blast, and then felt a heavy crunch against his armor.

The thud not two feet away broke Liara out of her thoughts about the Commander's strange human behavior.  She watched as the commander struggled against the overbearing weight of the Krogan and as he fumbled for something at his side.  She didn't know if it was a weapon he was reaching for but she knew he wouldn't make it in time.  She saw the Krogan lower its head, she saw a glint of metal between the Commander and the Krogan and let out a yelp more at the bang that leapt out from her hands then from what she saw.  She was startled to find herself firing the pistol, hadn't remembered raising it or consciously aiming at the Krogan.  She kept on pulling the trigger unaware that it was emitting a high pitched beep, or that all the other guns had fallen silent until the Quarian approached her and pulled the gun out of her hands before resetting it and giving it back to her.

Tiberius came to and felt the weight on top of his body shifting and rocking, he heard a ringing in his right ear, protracted grunts, and the occasional "Goddammit Shepard you always had to pick fights with the big ones didn't you."  Tiberius smiled and took a few calming breaths before gathering the blue energy around him again and unleashing an unfocused blast that lifted the Krogan up and off him.  "Garrus you got him?"  Tiberius asked nodding his head towards the dead Krogan.  "As much as I would love to say I did Commander I thought it was best that the Doctor over there get her first kill sooner rather than later."  Garrus pointed towards the bank of consoles where Liara was sitting knees pulled up to her chest with Tali standing beside her looking towards the entrance for more enemies.  Tiberius took Garrus's proffered hand and allowed himself to be pulled up.

Liara hadn't pulled her eyes off of the Commander's inert form as Garrus struggled to push the dead Krogan's body off of him.  He had a deep gash along his forehead from where one of Liara's wild shots had grazed him.  She hadn't meant to hit him but at the short distance they were from each other the pistol's auto aim hadn't kicked in; neither had their kinetic barriers.  The crash of the Krogan's body and the words floating from that general area ran through her mind without registering.  She heard footsteps approaching and saw a blood stained glove proffered in front of her.  "Nice shooting Doctor, and thanks for the backup."  Liara looked up and saw the Commander smiling, the same gentle kindness that had flowed off of him in waves when they had first met.  Liara felt herself blushing and couldn't help but smile a bit as she took the hand and averted her gaze.  She felt herself rising from the floor and as she felt her hand leave the Commander's. She thought this human is interesting I've never heard of anyone willing to take on a Krogan hand to hand let alone provoke one intentionally.  She was almost sure that was the point of his change in expression, of that feral glint she caught in his eyes but still the range of emotions he showed and experienced as well as the speed of which they came were interesting her more than the commander's shows of strength or recklessness.

Tiberius pulled Doctor T'Soni to her feet before turning and stooping to gather his helmet and then the knife that was buried into the Krogan's throat and spine.  As he reached for the knife hoping it was in better condition than his helmet which had a dent the size of a softball in it from where it had impacted a bulkhead.  He pulled the knife out and noticed that it was in fine condition minus the blood covering the hilt and blade as well as break at the tip from where it had met the Krogan's spine and he sheathed it.  He was about to start speaking when he heard a rumble from deep below them and felt the platform shake.   "Tali are we at the top yet?"  The Quarian engineer was at a console looking at the data scrolling down her omnitool "Yeah Shepard we reached the top while you were napping."

Liara heard something crash behind her and saw slabs of marble and steel crashing around her.  Before she knew it the commander was ordering the Quarian, Tali, and the Turian, Garrus, ahead of him and pulling Liara in front of him.  "Go" he yelled the brusqueness that dire situations seemed to draw out of the human back to the fore.  He pushed her to get her going and followed after her, giving her a little push whenever her pace began to slack off.  "Wrex, Joker do either of you read me….  I need the shuttle, the Normandy, anything waiting at the entrance to the top shaft of the mine…  I don't care right now Joker just have the bird ready and waiting in five minutes," Liara heard the commander yelling into one of his battered vambrace's as she felt another push.  They ran for minutes before she heard Garrus yelling "Shepard I see the entrance."

"Good don't stop," Tiberius yelled.  "Just keep going and jump at the end, if Joker doesn't have the Normandy here we're dead anyways."  He gave Liara another push determined not to let the Doctor, no matter how famished or dazed she might be; get lost in the impending volcanic explosion.  She was to important to the mission, there was no other reason Saren would have sent the Geth after her if she wasn't and there was something about those eyes and her face that he couldn't shake.  Tiberius shook his head, he would figure it out later right now they had to survive.  He pushed Liara again they were two meters away from the entrance; he could see Garrus in mid air, Tali about to launch.  As Liara reached that last meter he held his breath as the Asari hesitated.

Liara hesitated for the briefest of seconds, jumping from the top of a volcano seemed absurd to her and the Normandy was at a far enough distance away that she didn't feel comfortable in reaching it.  Her analytical mind overpowered her muscles for one brief second and that was all it took to throw her launch off.  She knew she wasn't going to make it the moment she felt her feet leave the ground and as her mind raced she felt another push from behind; there was nothing gentle about this one however it engulfed her whole body and launched her with enough force into the Normandy's airlock that she bowled over Tali.  She disentangled herself quickly and got up to watch as the Commander floated through mid air, his arms and legs flailing trying to gain extra distance.

Tiberius felt his feet find purchase on the lip of the airlock but he landed off balance and was thrown backwards.  He extended his arms again; too exhausted to let out another biotic blast, he hoped someone would grab him before he fell.  He could feel his body slowly falling one inch than two towards the side of the explosive mountain below and then he felt a strong grip on his forearm and his body being lifted back towards the airlock.  He heard Tali on her comm, "everyone's aboard Joker get us out of here," and looked at the face of his rescuer.  "Thanks Garrus," he wheezed out of breath the action of the day finally starting to show the toll it put on him.

"Don't mention it Shepard, if you died I'd have to crack wise with Joker and nobody without a death wish wants to do that."

Shepard smiled as he heard Joker's reply crackle over the airlock's comm, "Then what are you doing on this ship Vakarian, last I checked Death Wishes were our specialty."
"Get us out of here Joker," Shepard said hitting the release to close the airlock's exterior door as he felt the Normandy's powerful Tantalus drives power the ship up towards orbit.

Description
Title:  Ch.1 The Heat of Battle
Universe:  Mass Effect (takes place during ME1)
Author: moreeman06
Characters:  Tiberius Shepard, Liara T'Soni, Tali'zorah vas Neema, Garrus Vakarian, Jeff "Joker" Moreau.

"Look all you have to do is point and shoot," Commander Shepard said looking straight into the eyes of the dazed Asari.  "We don't have any time to practice so if you don't feel up to using it just stay behind cover and…"  a shot pinged into the bulkhead right above Tiberius "…and just keep it ready just in case."  He turned towards the source of the fire,  Garrus and Tali were in cover and had the flanks covered and were starting to use suppressing fire to crowd the Geth troopers back towards the center of the room leaving just him and the Krogan Battlemaster both standing out of cover while their troops traded fire.  Tiberius took a quick look at the gear on the Krogan, Predator Heavy Armor not good, won't be able to take him down from this distance before he closes the gap and shreds me, Tiberius thought letting his eyes trace across the figure taking in the strange markings below the right shoulder pauldron and filing them away for later research before letting his eyes settle on the Krogan's.

Liara hid behind a bank of consoles in the center of the room as far away from the action as she could get, she was dazed the days she had spent trapped in that Prothean trap had taken their toll and the lack of water and food had numbed her mind.  She couldn't help but watch the human, Commander Shepard he had called himself, he was interesting to her.  He had seemed kind enough when he had gotten her out of the trap and into the platform they were currently fighting on, stopping before they began their progress upwards to check on her health and offer her water and a power bar for the dehydration she was suffering from.  All that had changed however when they felt the platform sudden stop, he had ordered the Turian and Quarian to the sides  of the entrance ready to flank any approaching threats while he pushed her to the nearest cover and forced her head down as he turned to the new presence at the fore of the platform.  After a brief exchange of words some of which Liara had gathered were about her he turned back to her and had pressed a pistol back into her hands, all the gentleness was gone from his voice and face as he brusquely reminded her to stay down before stepping back out of cover;  and now, now Liara could have swore she saw a slightly feral almost unhinged glint in his eyes and she forced herself to look away from the Human for the first time since they had freed her as crackles and forks of blue energy began to wrap his body.

Tiberius broke eye contact knowing that the Krogan had heard the unspoken challenge his eyes had given.  He knew that there was no way he could over power the Krogan but hoped that he could stay alive long enough for either Tali or Garrus to handle the rest of the Geth that way they might stand a chance.  He raised his arm and made a beckoning motion towards the Krogan.  The Krogan lowered his crested head and began his charge.  Tiberius kept track of the closing distance between himself and the warrior in the back of his mind as he fired past the Krogan taking out Geth Troops that were bearing down on Tali. 2 seconds he thought before he dropped his rifle and held both hands up to form a barrier.  1 second, he could feel the air being expelled from the grunts of the Krogan as he made contact with the barrier; Tiberius could feel his body being forced back although the Krogan hadn't yet made it through the shield.

Now his brain shouted and he let the barrier drop side stepping at the same time hoping he was fast enough to avoid the Krogan.  Tiberius felt relief flood through him before something in his peripheral caught his eye and he felt a heavy arm clothesline him.  Tiberius dropped to the ground his helmeted head protecting him from the worst of the impact and then he felt the boot of the Krogan make contact with his chest.  The blue energy wracked through his body again and he released it with a sweeping motion of his arm bringing the Krogan down with a heavy thud besides him.  The Krogan recovered quickly though and straddled Tiberius one of its hands wrapped around his throat as the other ripped off his helmet.  Tiberius heard the helmet crash into the bulkhead behind him as he scrambled to pull out the combat knife he had secreted in a sheath on the left side of his chest right below the armpit.  He scrambled with the release.  "I'm going to enjoy this human," the Krogan growled; "I want to look straight into your soft eyes as the life leaves them."  The Krogan lowered its head so that Tiberius could feel the spittle from its mouth flecking his face.  At that moment he felt the knife begin to slip from the sheath and he rushed the blade out and up pushing the tip of the knife into the soft tissue in the join between the Krogan's Jaw and Neck, feeling resistance he pushed harder.  As blackness began to flit around the edges of his vision he felt the blade dig deeper, heard a blast, and then felt a heavy crunch against his armor.

The thud not two feet away broke Liara out of her thoughts about the Commander's strange human behavior.  She watched as the commander struggled against the overbearing weight of the Krogan and as he fumbled for something at his side.  She didn't know if it was a weapon he was reaching for but she knew he wouldn't make it in time.  She saw the Krogan lower its head, she saw a glint of metal between the Commander and the Krogan and let out a yelp more at the bang that leapt out from her hands then from what she saw.  She was startled to find herself firing the pistol, hadn't remembered raising it or consciously aiming at the Krogan.  She kept on pulling the trigger unaware that it was emitting a high pitched beep, or that all the other guns had fallen silent until the Quarian approached her and pulled the gun out of her hands before resetting it and giving it back to her.

Tiberius came to and felt the weight on top of his body shifting and rocking, he heard a ringing in his right ear, protracted grunts, and the occasional "Goddammit Shepard you always had to pick fights with the big ones didn't you."  Tiberius smiled and took a few calming breaths before gathering the blue energy around him again and unleashing an unfocused blast that lifted the Krogan up and off him.  "Garrus you got him?"  Tiberius asked nodding his head towards the dead Krogan.  "As much as I would love to say I did Commander I thought it was best that the Doctor over there get her first kill sooner rather than later."  Garrus pointed towards the bank of consoles where Liara was sitting knees pulled up to her chest with Tali standing beside her looking towards the entrance for more enemies.  Tiberius took Garrus's proffered hand and allowed himself to be pulled up.

Liara hadn't pulled her eyes off of the Commander's inert form as Garrus struggled to push the dead Krogan's body off of him.  He had a deep gash along his forehead from where one of Liara's wild shots had grazed him.  She hadn't meant to hit him but at the short distance they were from each other the pistol's auto aim hadn't kicked in; neither had their kinetic barriers.  The crash of the Krogan's body and the words floating from that general area ran through her mind without registering.  She heard footsteps approaching and saw a blood stained glove proffered in front of her.  "Nice shooting Doctor, and thanks for the backup."  Liara looked up and saw the Commander smiling, the same gentle kindness that had flowed off of him in waves when they had first met.  Liara felt herself blushing and couldn't help but smile a bit as she took the hand and averted her gaze.  She felt herself rising from the floor and as she felt her hand leave the Commander's. She thought this human is interesting I've never heard of anyone willing to take on a Krogan hand to hand let alone provoke one intentionally.  She was almost sure that was the point of his change in expression, of that feral glint she caught in his eyes but still the range of emotions he showed and experienced as well as the speed of which they came were interesting her more than the commander's shows of strength or recklessness.

Tiberius pulled Doctor T'Soni to her feet before turning and stooping to gather his helmet and then the knife that was buried into the Krogan's throat and spine.  As he reached for the knife hoping it was in better condition than his helmet which had a dent the size of a softball in it from where it had impacted a bulkhead.  He pulled the knife out and noticed that it was in fine condition minus the blood covering the hilt and blade as well as break at the tip from where it had met the Krogan's spine and he sheathed it.  He was about to start speaking when he heard a rumble from deep below them and felt the platform shake.   "Tali are we at the top yet?"  The Quarian engineer was at a console looking at the data scrolling down her omnitool "Yeah Shepard we reached the top while you were napping."

Liara heard something crash behind her and saw slabs of marble and steel crashing around her.  Before she knew it the commander was ordering the Quarian, Tali, and the Turian, Garrus, ahead of him and pulling Liara in front of him.  "Go" he yelled the brusqueness that dire situations seemed to draw out of the human back to the fore.  He pushed her to get her going and followed after her, giving her a little push whenever her pace began to slack off.  "Wrex, Joker do either of you read me….  I need the shuttle, the Normandy, anything waiting at the entrance to the top shaft of the mine…  I don't care right now Joker just have the bird ready and waiting in five minutes," Liara heard the commander yelling into one of his battered vambrace's as she felt another push.  They ran for minutes before she heard Garrus yelling "Shepard I see the entrance."

"Good don't stop," Tiberius yelled.  "Just keep going and jump at the end, if Joker doesn't have the Normandy here we're dead anyways."  He gave Liara another push determined not to let the Doctor, no matter how famished or dazed she might be; get lost in the impending volcanic explosion.  She was to important to the mission, there was no other reason Saren would have sent the Geth after her if she wasn't and there was something about those eyes and her face that he couldn't shake.  Tiberius shook his head, he would figure it out later right now they had to survive.  He pushed Liara again they were two meters away from the entrance; he could see Garrus in mid air, Tali about to launch.  As Liara reached that last meter he held his breath as the Asari hesitated.

Liara hesitated for the briefest of seconds, jumping from the top of a volcano seemed absurd to her and the Normandy was at a far enough distance away that she didn't feel comfortable in reaching it.  Her analytical mind overpowered her muscles for one brief second and that was all it took to throw her launch off.  She knew she wasn't going to make it the moment she felt her feet leave the ground and as her mind raced she felt another push from behind; there was nothing gentle about this one however it engulfed her whole body and launched her with enough force into the Normandy's airlock that she bowled over Tali.  She disentangled herself quickly and got up to watch as the Commander floated through mid air, his arms and legs flailing trying to gain extra distance.

Tiberius felt his feet find purchase on the lip of the airlock but he landed off balance and was thrown backwards.  He extended his arms again; too exhausted to let out another biotic blast, he hoped someone would grab him before he fell.  He could feel his body slowly falling one inch than two towards the side of the explosive mountain below and then he felt a strong grip on his forearm and his body being lifted back towards the airlock.  He heard Tali on her comm, "everyone's aboard Joker get us out of here," and looked at the face of his rescuer.  "Thanks Garrus," he wheezed out of breath the action of the day finally starting to show the toll it put on him.

"Don't mention it Shepard, if you died I'd have to crack wise with Joker and nobody without a death wish wants to do that."

Shepard smiled as he heard Joker's reply crackle over the airlock's comm, "Then what are you doing on this ship Vakarian, last I checked Death Wishes were our specialty."
"Get us out of here Joker," Shepard said hitting the release to close the airlock's exterior door as he felt the Normandy's powerful Tantalus drives power the ship up towards orbit.