Chapter 3
"Alright guys, this is simple," Shepard informed on the shuttle standing up while Tali and Reegar sat on the seats opposite him, "we get in, get information on Cerberus and get out while hopping we don't run into any pirates. Questions?"
"Any idea what Cerberus is up to?" Reegar asked.
"No idea but I plan to find out. On a side note, it's good working with you again Reegar," Shepard replied optimistically.
"Same here Kal, but are you sure you should be back up fighting so soon?" Tali asked concerned.
"What do you mean by 'so soon' Ma'am, it's been almost a month since I last saw some combat?" Reegar asked confused while checking out his avenger assault rifle.
"We're here, get ready," Shepard ordered as he put on his helmet, completing his blood dragon set of armour. The shuttle landed and the door slid open quickly as usual but did not fully land, rather it hovered mere inches above the ground which made the team hop out rather than walk out. The team all landed on the ground feet first with a small thud each and knelt down on one leg quickly in a triangle formation facing away from each other observing the area around them with their weapons drawn and pointed out in front of them. Tali brought up her omni-tool and opened up a map of the area. The terrain wasn't treacherous but it wasn't forgiving either for it was extremely rocky, with hills and mounds everywhere but no real cover to hide behind should a gun fight with Cerberus patrols break out but there was no time to worry about this. The shuttle could only land the team three kilometers away from the base to avoid detection and if they were to get rid of the local Cerberus forces quickly they had to move fast. After showing Shepard and Reegar the geographical information she turned her omni-tool back off and held her eviscerator shotgun in both her hands once again. The team maneuvered through the terrain quickly and nimbly, walking through where it was flat, climbing over what wasn't and jumping between the gaps of hills and mounds as if religiously keeping to a time limit. Were there any outside observers they would be in awe at the way the danced and glided across the land as if they were deities who created it and modified it at will. After a surprisingly short amount of time the trio had made it up on top of a short mountain, a sniper's perch only 100 meters from the base.
"What are they doing down there?" Tali asked curiously, though considering Cerberus was willing to mutate their own kind into monsters she hoped in her gut that she wouldn't regret asking.
"Let's take a peek," Reegar replied as he took out a pair of binoculars. With both hands he rested the lenses on his eyes, or rather his visor, and gazed through the glass, staring across the distance and catching the sight of the base after much swaying about with them. He adjusted the zoom a little more by tuning it from the outside with his left quarian equivalent of an index finger and saw the enemy's territory more visibly. The base itself was a medium sized flat sphere shaped hideout made of construction steel decorated in a typical Cerberus fashion with security cameras sticking out from the edges, most likely with thermal vision, and a few guards wearing armour similar to Shepard's N7 gear that he was given when he first came back to life albeit flying Cerberus colours. The land that the hideout was built on must've been flattened manually by Cerberus laborers for there were still heaps of giant rocks and mounds only a ten second sprint away.
"What do you see Reegar?" Shepard asked curiously while gazing into the distance towards the enemy hideout.
"A small base of operations, a few guards, I count 10 so far, and dozens of chest high metal walls attached together in a circle formation around the base, probably for some sturdy cover just in case they ever get invaded like what we're about to do, nothing the Conqueror of the Collectors can't handle," Reegar replied confidently.
"Alright, we'll move in closer and all group up at one spot, try to get the enemy to cluster together. If we can do that I have a plan," Shepard declared with no tremble or weakness in his voice.
"Seems like a hell of a risk Commander, you sure," Reegar asked confused.
"Shepard's a biotic Kal, he'll have something up his sleeve," Tali answered optimistically.
"Right, I saw when you took down the Colossus on Haestrom. Alright let's go blow these bastards to hell."
"Oh we will rip them to shreds Reegar don't worry. Move out team," Shepard ordered. The team descended down the mound with an angelic grace and crouch jogged closer and closer towards the east side of the base dancing from cover to cover to not be spotted by the troops and keeping out of the sight of the cameras with ease. In the end they made it to a large rock which Shepard and Reegar accommodated, and a smaller rock next to it which Tali hid behind. Shepard examined the patrols. He noticed that the soldiers regularly went around the base as if in some sort of formation, but this wasn't very useful information minus the fact he did confirm there were in fact 10 foot soldiers to get rid of. He held his Vindicator tightly, steadying his grip with the rifle and took a deep breath glowing slightly. Just another routine mission right?
