Desmond stroked the stubble around his chin, his eyes peeled on the image in front of him. Through the scope of the Mako's main cannon he had spotted a group of six, maybe seven Cannibals, crouching over a pile of bodies. They were … feeding. He frowned, disgusted, as his driver spoke up.
"What are they doing?" she asked.
When Desmond turned away from the monitor, his eyes and those of the asari met.
"It seems like they're feeding …" He answered reluctantly, not really wanting the image in his head. In response, Nyra twisted her face in a mask of disgust.
"Goddess, I hate those things."
"Tell me about it." Desmond answered with a tortured grin, as he opened a channel to the two other Makos in his convoy.
"Two and three, come in. This is one. We've got a contact on our twelve, 200 meters, at the bridge, around seven hostiles. They haven't spotted us yet."
The radio cracked in response as the two other tanks answered.
"Copy that, one. What's our strategy?"
"Two, to my left, three to my right. We rush them, take them out and quickly cross that bridge. I don't want to be on there when those Harvesters show up again."
The two other tanks rumbled into position beside him, acknowledging his command.
"Alright Nyra. Let's do this."
"Yes, sir!" she grinned as she pinned the throttle to the ground. The wheels of the Mako spun around before getting a grip in the rubble, catapulting them forward. Desmond trained the crosshair on the cannibal furthest away from them, but didn't fire right away. If they fired too soon, the cannibals would be given a chance to retreat, get into cover or call for help. When they crossed half of the distance, the first cannibal stood up and growled at them.
"They spotted us! Light them up!" Desmond shouted into his radio, firing his own cannon.
The first explosion ripped two cannibals apart, startling the rest. Two explosions followed in quick succession, as Two and Three joined Desmond.
When they reached the position where the cannibals had been, not much remained. Three blackened craters marked the impact of the cannon rounds, the area around them peppered with reaper-remains.
"Alright, press on. Let's cross that bridge!" Desmond barked as Nyra directed the tank onto the bridge, crossing rubble and debris as she did.
A strange silence had settled over the scene as they sped over the bridge. Normally, the noise of the cannons would have attracted more reaper forces, but somehow the only sound was the distant echo of explosions and the hum of their motors.
"Sir, we've got a problem!" Nyra announced, pulling Desmond out of his thoughts of where the enemy could be.
In front of them, the burnt out husk of a frigate had crashed onto the bridge, dangling off to one side, blocking their exit. Although they had thrusters to cross some heights, jumping over the ship and right into unknown territory wasn't something Desmond wanted to do lightly. It was the perfect spot for an ambush.
"That Reaper must've shot down that ship." Nyra concluded.
That was probably how it had happened. In the initial Battle of the city, a small Reaper had landed right in the center of it, spewing out infantry and heavy armor like a wound seeping pus. A combination of frigates and cruisers had chased it away, but not before losing many of their own like the ship in front of them. In retrospect, 'chasing away' was probably the wrong phrase, as the Reaper ended up following the retreating ships, effectively chasing them.
"What do we do now?" Mako Three asked, her tank bringing up the rear.
Desmond hesitated. He was unsure what to do – finding a way around the bridge would take substantially longer, but jumping over the wreck of the ship would leave them vulnerable to anything ambush that might be waiting for them.
His thoughts were interrupted by a bone chilling scream, a guttural howl, followed by a second one.
"Harvesters!" Nyra screamed, trying to align the Mako so that their back wouldn't be exposed. From up the river, two pairs of wings took to the sky, carrying coiling bodies that looked like a mix between a dragon and a worm.
"Shoot them!" Desmond shouted, opening fire himself.
Dashing to the side, the two Harvesters evaded their shots while closing the distance between them. The first one whirled around, spewing something from its maw, engulfing Mako Three. The tank ruptured in a deafening blast, shaking the bridge itself.
The second Harvester pounced Mako Two, flipping it over before taking to the sky again. Desmond spun the turret around, sweat running down his neck, and fired. Finally, a shot connected as a cannon round hit the ascending beast. It ripped a hole into the creature, tearing away a wing. It plummeted into the river, screeching while it fell.
The relief was short, as the first Harvester had come around again, firing two shots from its maw. The first one pierced Mako Two's armor, destroying it in a red fireball. The second blast hit Mako One, whirling it towards the edge of the bridge where it slammed against the guard rail.
Desmond's head spun and little white flashes danced through his vision. The blast had cracked a monitor in front of him, and the rest displayed red warning signs.
"Mako two and three are down!" Nyra announced as she tried to pry the tank away from the guard rail. The Harvester screeched again.
Desmond spun the turret around again, targeting the flapping monster. He pulled the trigger, but instead of a satisfying boom, he was rewarded with a spray of sparks and another cracked monitor.
"Shit!" he cursed.
"What just happened?!" Nyra asked with increasing panic in her voice.
"The gun is overheating! That last hit must've hit our cooling system! We're sitting ducks!"
The Harvester had come around again, screeching while it swooped in for a nose dive.
"Shit, shit, shit!" Desmond cursed, trying to fire the coaxial machine gun, only to be greeted by more sparks and shards of broken monitor.
Their escape was blocked. Behind them, the wrecks of Mako two and three formed an obstacle they couldn't cross, and jumping into unknown territory in front of them without working guns was suicide.
The tank wheeled around, finally prying itself away from the guard rail, and sped towards the other side of the bridge.
"I've got an idea!" Nyra exclaimed excited.
"What are you…" Desmond asked, before the realization hit him. The Harvester screeched behind them.
"Oh shit!" The last word extended into a joint scream of the two as the Mako crashed through the guard rail. For a second they were airborne, a strange feeling that twisted Desmond's stomach.
The Harvester screamed again, robbed of its prey as the river swallowed them.