[i]Ashes to ashes...[/i]

The tunnel blew with deafening force, the shock-force-typhoon throwing Ellis on his back like a beetle. His stiff knee came loose, servos shattering, flinging bits of ceramic like a little hand[i][b]leg[/b][/i] grenade.

	[i]Dust to dust.[/i]

Husk parts, shrapnel, and debris whirled across the blast site like missiles. Clouds of dust, staved off by the still-spewing sprinklers, threatened to retake the battlefield.

"NERO! Status report!"

[i]"Zero casualties, operative. Enemy combatants effectively neutralized. Recommend Standard Sanitation Protocol and Purge."[/i]

Ellis quit struggling, and simply lay there. The ceiling spun before his eyes and his stomach churned. Weakness beset him. He fought, to render the willpower necessary for his biotics. His face sweated profusely, stinging his pseudoskin. He closed his eyes.

He focused first on his body, the brunt of his weight.

He grew lighter, and lighter.

Then on his arms, the counterweight.

He felt himself rising.

Now to stiffen his legs, the fulcrum.

When he reopened his eyes, he was back on his feet, feeling ten pounds heavier and a hundred years older. The Mattock still hung from his good hand. His brain ached, a throbbing tumor in his skull, bursting at the seams like an overfilled balloon. He marched.

His already dented knee [i]thud[/i]ded and [i]crack[/i]led as a mass effect field gripped it tightly, holding it together like a cast. Occasionally, Ellis stumbled, his focus wavering or a particularly painful headthrob distracting him from the task at hand, [i]or at foot[/i]. 

[i]Footsteps! On your left![/i]

Ellis' knee gave out as he broke concentration and dropped his Mattock, arm lashing out at great speed,[color=662d91] Throw[/color]ing a husk far into the dust cloud, to an unknown fate. Ellis toppled to the ground, a veritable mass of metal, and for the first time in his life, called for help.

"Squad... Squad comm: Agent down! Requesting pickup."

[i]That's right. Scream for rescue.[/i]

"I'm crippled. Need... Support..."

[i]Yes... Despair.[/i]

He coughed, specks of blood and black slime coating the inside of his visor, the internal VI making sure to clean it up quickly, medical suite working overtime. Painkillers did their job, and Ellis' vision swam. 

He focused on consciousness, on his breathing. His shallow, ragged breathing.