Shepard slipped the fresh heat clip into the gun, and chambered the next round. He peered down the scope.
"Seven hostiles – three mechs, four mercs," he spoke in hushed tones to Thane, who was perched beside him. "Do your stuff, Thane. No mercy."
The Drell slipped down over the ledge, and landed silently. He withdrew his sidearm, and charged up a biotic with his free hand. The mercs – Blue Suns, Shepard observed – were facing the other way, but Thane soon triggered the mech's sensors.
Not that it mattered.
Three rounds, fired in quick succession, were unloaded from Shepard's rifle. Each one found its target easily enough. One, two, three mech viewscreens exploded, scattering shards of weak alloy about the ground. The combat droids collapsed as the four mercs began to turn. Two were lifted into the air by Thane, who then clenched a fist and set them soaring off the bridge. The other two scrambled for their assault, rifles, but never found them. A Krogan battlecry was the last thing they heard as Grunt pounced from behind, and rammed their faces into the steel floor. Thane finished the job with a round to each, and with a flourish, pocketed his weapon.
"Nice work," spoke Shepard over the comm network, "meet you down there in two."
The Commander hooked a strong metal cable to a peg he had embedded in the lip of the cliff, and the two metals instantly welded themselves together. He fastened the cable to his belt, and began to rapel down the face of the rock.
"Shepard, something troubles me," said the Drell, mandibles clicking with suspicion.
"What's the problem?"
"These mercs," he said, lifting one of them from the ground. Thane rolled the corpse over, and indicated his face. It was Batarian, but only just. "They're wrong."
"What the fuck..." Shepard began, inspecting the warped features of the mutated Batarian. The humanoid's eyes were scattered about its face, and it seemed to have one too many. Its mouth was filled with teeth, all jutting out of gums at every angle but the right one.
"What's your diagnosis?" Shepard asked, replacing the corpse beside his partner. Grunt suddenly chipped in.
"I remember this. The early Krogan clones got this sometimes. A little outside contamination in the gene replication could scramble things up... like this."
"You thinking sabotage?" Shepard asked.
"I'm thinking so." Came the gruff reply from his Krogan companion.
"Then it looks like we've got more than one operation to shut down at this base." Shepard rose. "Keep moving, and stay quiet. I'd like to avoid an alarm for as long as we can."
The squad moved through the base silently, assassinating guards and patrols where necessary. Soon, cloning pods came into view: man-sized test tubes for fast-grown soldiers. Each pod had a small screen, and every one was flashing red. Scarlet letters brightened and dimmed on each screen, all reading the same thing.
"CONTAMINATED"
"They're all warped, Shepard," spoke Thane from behind the Commander. "Every one. I don't think we're looking for a single saboteur." Shepard nodded.
"Let's keep going. We'll find out as much as we can, then we'll shut this place down." He looked at the rows of cloning pods. "Explosively, if necessary." Grunt smirked.
The deeper they penetrated the base, the more pods began to show themselves. With a dawning horror, Shepard realised they could open at any second.
"Shepard, over here!" Barked Grunt, pointing at a door set into the rock. The sign above it read "HIVE." They moved to the door.
"If my guess is right, this will be where the majority are stocked. That means guards, and that means trouble. Grunt, set to explosive rounds. Thane, cover us." Shepard drew his Eviscerator shotgun from the back of his waist. "Let's finish these bastards off."
Shepard tapped a button on the doorframe, and the heavy slab of metal began to rise slowly. Suddenly, sirens rang, and a monotonous, automated voice filled the complex.
"WARNING! Intruders at the Hive. Security dispatched."
"Company, Shepard," said the Drell to his left as a concussive shot hit a dent in the slowly ascending door right next to his head. Shepard turned quickly, shotgun raised, and scanned for cover.
"Grunt, behind that crate! Thane, get behind that clone pod!" He barked, sliding along the metal floor to a column stretching from roof to rock. He peered from cover, and in two blasts from the barrel of the Eviscerator managed to shut down two mechs. Four more remained, and these were soon destroyed by Thane's biotics and Grunt's own powerful shotgun. Sweat trickled down Shepard's forehead as he realised the door still wasn't high enough to even roll under, and reinforcements were being sent in the dozens. For every mech that blew apart, two clones stepped into the pile of components, firing madly at the squad.
"Thane, watch that pod!" Cried Shepard, but the noise was too much; Thane was taken completely by surprise as the pod slid open, and deployed a clone, fully dressed in battle armour. The clone yanked the gun from Thane's startled hands, and swung it at the Drell's head. Thane collapsed instantly, groaning once. Shepard checked the door again.
"Grunt, get through that door now, and give me covering fire!" The Commander charged at the clone, and seized Thane's rifle from its own hands, which were still dripping with nutrient goo from the pod. Imbuing his free hand with a hefty charge of biotic power, he punched the clone squarely in the chest, and sent him flying back into the ranks of his disfigured brethren.
Bullets whizzed overhead, whistling in his ear as each poorly aimed shard flew past. Shepard grabbed the incapacitated Drell beneath his arms, and dragged him quickly over to the door. Kicking the unconcsious Thane through the yawning mouth of the Hive, Shepard quickly rolled under himself, and shot the control panel on the other side. The door suddenly stopped rising, and – free of its suspension – fell, with a deafening crash, to the ground.
"Now," Shepard said as he stood, wiping away blood and sweat from his visage, "what do we have here?"