Mass Effect: Surreptitious
Chapter Two:
With his new destination in mind, Axel punches in his coordinates into his star map and takes off for Therum. His ship approaching a mass relay, Axel braces himself as his ship is thrown into hyperspace. Not knowing what would be waiting for him, he immediately restocks on weapon ammunition and first aid supplies. After finishing, Axel sits down at a small desk in his room and starts thinking about his upcoming task.
"Hmm let's take a look at this information again about Liara Tsoni. Asari, scientist, a biotic, and daughter of Matriarch Benezia. This is a pretty interesting little résumé and hey a fellow biotic this could be interesting if we come to blows! I just hope I get there before Shepherd and Saren."
Approximately fifteen hours pass and Axel finds his ship orbiting the plant Therum. Scanning the planet for a suitable place to land is the tricky part. The planet is desolate and is surrounded abundant in lava. Axel begins to survey the planet looking for any signs of research camps. The ships scanner systems pick up a few signals of organic life on the planet below entering a Prothean dig site. The Prothean's were an organic race that existed 50,000 years ago, and then suddenly vanished. Knowing he wouldn't be alone on the planet Axel ponders the situation.
"This could get ugly; all those dangerous fumes could destroy my ships sensors. From the look of things I will have to set the ship to auto pilot and take the chance of it flying down to pick me up when I am done with this mission. Looks like I am going to have to drop in some of that good ole Alliance military tech I managed to get my hands on."
Axel makes his way down to his ships cargo bay and smiles.
"Looks like me and you are going to get to see some action baby, don't let me down now."
An M35 Mako infantry fighting vehicle sits before him, ready to be deployed. Axel makes his final preparations before making his decent to the planet's surface. Axel's ship enters the planet's atmosphere and dives toward a clear spot. The ship deploys the Mako and then returns to orbit. As the Mako touches down on the ground Axel makes his way to the place his ship picked up the life forms. Stopping approximately one-hundred meters from the position, he puts on his oxygen helmet and exits the Mako.
The surface of the planet is quiet, a very eerie quiet. Axel grabs his pistol and starts moving slowly towards his destination. Hiding behind boulders and making sure he is not exposed to anything that may be out there waiting for him. Then some unexpected tremors happen and the ground begins to shake. Axel takes cover behind a boulder waiting for them to go away. He hears a roaring sound coming from the sky.
"Shit, another ship!"
Axel jumps from behind the boulder and starts rushing towards his destination, hoping to get there before the ship does. Then suddenly he comes to a halt. About thirty five meters from his destination, he notices the pathway he is on is littered with robotic bodies. Geth bodies to be exact, they had all been destroyed recently. Suddenly Axel is knocked to the ground as the ship he heard comes roaring in close to the camp. A few seconds later, an explosion comes from the area Axel is headed to.
A little dazed, Axel manages to get back to his feet as he hears the ship take off back through the atmosphere. Axel continues making his way towards his destination now being more cautious. Not getting to see what kind of ship that was, made him feel a little uneasy. A few moments later he arrives at his destination. The pathway led to an excavation site camp. Like the pathway he followed, the place was littered with Geth bodies. Only one major difference…The body of a Colossus Geth lay in the middle of the camp.
"Whoever took this down must have been packing some serious fire power."
Axel looks around the area to make sure it's clear then notices a ramp leading to a tunnel. He approaches it cautiously and notices the entrance to the tunnel has been caved in.
"Which side got here first, Shepherds or Sarens…"
Axel put his pistol away and made his way back to the ground. Lowering his guard for only a second, a costly second as a load boom sound echoed through the camp. A sniper hit him in his upper chest ripping through his armor and shielding. Axel collapses onto the ground. The bullet contained some form of poison instantly deadening his nerves. Fading in and out of consciousness the last thing he sees is a human girl crouched down next to him.
"Shepherd...?"
Axel then blacked out on the spot.