Blood and damage readouts ran down Gold Experience's visor display. The Mask of Winters was relentless in his assault, landing blows that would have toppled mountains and atomized mortal men. Numerous fractures, lacerations, and armor ruptures. His mote reserves had run dry three minutes ago. At this rate, John estimated he could last maybe two more minutes before the Mask did him in. He didn't know how much of those ten minutes had passed. He'd used all of his explosives and heatsinks and was down to fists, his standard-issue vibroblade, harsh language, and nearby pieces of scenery. The Mask of Winters remained unscathed and unlike before, he had wisely spent his motes on cheaper, more cost-efficient combat charms than on flashy sorcery.<br/><br/>Turning aside a punch, the Mask countered with a flurry of jabs, denting John's torso plating and gorget. Blood saved him from the Mask's killing blow. Slipping on a pool of his own blood, John fell moments before the Mask could tear his throat out. He lashed out, sweeping the Cerberus leader's legs from under him. Rising unsteadily to his feet, John ran up a nearby support beam and kicked off, elbow dropping the prone wrestler in the spine as the Mask tried to rise. John rolled, planting a knee on the Mask's back and wrapping a gauntlet around the luchador's throat.<br/><br/>'Pepsi or Choke, Jabroney?' John taunted. 'PEPSI OR CHOKE?'<br/><br/><div style="text-align: center;">___</div><br/><br/>Shepard, meanwhile, had acquitted herself well. Though she lacked the divine firepower of a Celestial, she had compensated by perfecting her charm use, gunnery, and bladework. Furthermore, she had age and experience. Shepard had been Exalted since that fateful visit to Ilos. The Maiden, meanwhile, was a newborn, still inexperienced, still learning how to properly use her charm sets and artifacts. Shepard parried the Maiden's berserk strikes effortlessly. Riposte, counter, dodge, strike. In contrast to John's dirty back-alley brawling, Shepard epitomized the image of the Exalted duelist: swift, classy, switching styles and weapons as necessary to deal with the battle's ebb and flow. Footwork and finesse honed by years of practice and combat made her an unexpectedly lethal surprise for overconfident Celestials.<br/><br/>She'd sent Garrus and Liara to take down Cerberus' mortal reinforcements at the beginning of the duel. The two had encountered little trouble so far, so she pushed them from her mind to concentrate on more pressing matters.<br/><br/>Shepard sheathed her nodachi in Elsewhere and manifested a rapier, parrying away another daiklave strike with a flick of the wrist. With her free hand, Shepard pressed a finger to her comm-bead. 'Wrex, Mordin, how much longer? We can't hold them off forever.'<br/><br/>Mordin's voice, distorted by poor atmospheric conditions, answered. 'Almost finished. Running final checks on power converters aaaaaaand done. Precious cargo at extraction point. Shuttle on-site, waiting for you now. Quickly, please.'<br/><br/>'Noted. Shepard out.'<br/><br/>The Wood Aspect took her hand off her comm-bead and drew a short daiklave, using it in her off-hand as a main gauche. Parrying the Maiden with a backhanded swing, she sidestepped and deftly sliced at the Abyssal's legs and arms, severing the power feeds and muscle fibers on her power armor. She kicked the Maiden in the lower back, sending the younger Exalt stumbling.<br/><br/><div style="text-align: center;">___</div><br/><br/>John felt more bones break as the Mask backed violently into a duracrete wall. His grip slackened slightly, enough for the luchador break free. The Mask rached back, grabbed the undersides of John's pauldrons, and hurled the Solar into Shepard. The Maiden sensed the opportunity and leaped, daiklave raised and ready to skewer the two prone Spectres. Thankfully, she never got the chance. A mass driver blast hurled her back into the facility's inner wall. Further shots collapsed a part of the level above onto the Mask. It would slow them down, at least.<br/><br/>The<span style="font-style: italic">Normandy</span>'s own Kodiak shuttle hovered a meter away from the balcony, its guns smoking. The pilot turned the craft ninety degrees, presenting its open starboard side. On the turret, Wrex raked the rubble with more gunfire.<br/><br/>'Get in, you two,' he roared. 'STG can fend for itself. We need to get the female out of here!'<br/><br/>Shepard dragged the half-dead Solar to his feet and helped him aboard the shuttle. John's right leg servos had been damaged. The armor had gone stiff and unresponsive, preventing him from traveling at anything faster than a swift limp. He grabbed a spare assault rifle from the shuttle's overhead racks and opened fire on the Cerberus forces on the roof as the shuttle rose to meet Esone and the rest of Saber Team. Wait a minute.<br/><br/>'Wrex,' John rasped, 'where the hell is your guy?'<br/><br/>'Hell if I know,' the battlemaster grunted. 'He's probably busy punching mortals. Two, this is One, where are--Oh. Never mind.'<br/><br/>A trail of explosions wracked the north side of the roof. From this height, John could see the krogan's anima banner clearly. He had fought his way up in record time and was currently standing atop a small mountain of dead Cerberus operatives. If nothing else, Wrex had an excellent recruitment policy. On the other side of the roof, John saw his squad's status icons darting to and fro as Saber Team did battle with the Mask's other cronies.<br/><br/>'One to Team, finish up your fights. Primary objective secure, we're touching down to exfiltrate you in five seconds.'