Firebase Ghost, Benning

Day 1, 1120

"Charlie, we've pushed them back, you might want to set up positions before reinforcements arrive."

"Got it, we're on our way."

Wordlessly, as the shuttle doors opened once more, the four infiltrators shuffled out one by one, leaping down to the landing pad and readying their rifles – the biotics had already signalled the all clear, but it never hurt to check for yourself.

Tyco lingered on the step of the shuttle, surveying the battleground from his elevated position. Lots of colony pre-fabs, some of them alone, some connected into office blocks or apartments, some raised, some lowered... Two open spaces – killing grounds, if they did their job right. Finally, he hopped off the shuttle, and plucked his rifle off his back as he examined his squad.

"Alright," he called, as the shuttle engines blared in their ears, and the lurching craft moved skyward. "Our job is to hold this base until Delta and Echo arrive. As far as I can see we've got confined shooting galleries – three rows of pre-fabs, with two open plazas between them. We dig in in the buildings, and shoot anyone who moves through open ground. Kan'Sura, Vimes, you see that row of pre-fabs to the right?"

He pointed to a row of office buildings that ran perpendicular to the landing pad. They looked out over one of the two plazas, with plenty of doorways and low windows that a sniper could exploit.

"I see 'em," Vimes nodded.

"You two dig in there. See if you can get eyes on our biotics while you're at it – don't let anyone sneak up on them!"

The quarian and the former C-Sec sniper sprinted off to the right, and Tyco turned to his remaining squadmate, a tough-looking girl called Vanyali.

"Do you think you can use those crates for cover?" he asked, nodding to the pile of cargo crates stacked at the top of the stairs to the pad.

"It's as much as I need," she murmured, waving a Black Widow in his face.

"Good. Dig in there and cover the stairs to the plaza. I'll cover the flank from that building."

With a nod to each other, the two of them set off up the stairs – Vanyali knelt behind the crates, propping her rifle on the top of the pile, while Tyco darted off to the left, entering the nearest pre-fab. He was rather surprised to find a couple of corpses lying in wait for him – one had a gunshot wound through his brow, the other had been torn apart with biotics. Saffiya's work, he supposed... He grabbed the two bodies, dragged them to the window, and tipped them over the side. He didn't need the stench of death while he was trying to aim a rifle...

"All teams, come in," crackled the radio, as Tyco crouched at the window. "All teams..."

"This is Charlie," he muttered.

"Alpha and Bravo checking in," murmured Saffiya's familiar, slightly emotionless voice.

"It's Colonel Hunter," explained the voice in the radio. "We've got a problem up here."

"What kind of problem?" Tyco asked, not quite sure he wanted to hear the answer.

"The Cambrai's been discovered."

"What?" snapped an incredulous voice – the drell, Mac'Tir.

"There's a Cerberus cruiser closing on us – we can't hold against that kind of firepower..."

"Wait, rewind, Colonel," Tyco murmured. "You were discovered? How?"

"They tracked your shuttle returning, Charlie. Apparently Chief Palmer didn't think they needed to employ stealth systems – he might think differently now they've shot it down..."

"Shot down?" the mercenary staggered. "Do they need evac?"

"No point," Kan'Sura chipped in, from the other side of the base. "They're probably dead – not worth it anyway, for one pilot."

Tyco wasn't quite sure he liked Kan'Sura.

"I hate to say it, but the quarian's right," Hunter continued. "Ordinarily, I'd at least tell you to try, but the shuttle was blown to pieces in the upper atmosphere. No way the pilot survived."

"So... what are you going to do about the cruiser?"

"We're pulling out – only temporarily. We're going to try and lose the cruiser with an FTL jump, then move back in with stealth systems active."

"You'll have to move in on the other side of the planet," Tyco murmured, shrewdly. "Normandy-class stealth systems only mask emissions. They can still look up and see you."

"Exactly," the colonel muttered. "But as soon as we can get back into position, we'll dispatch the remaining shuttle for reinforcement or evac. Just watch yourselves down there. Enemy infantry already know you're in the area, and we're tracking fighter deployments."

Hunter's warning came about ten minutes too late – even as he spoke, a sweeping rush was filling the air – with a roar, two pale white shapes rocketed over the base, and Tyco's stomach dropped.

"Everyone, get to cover!" he roared, and through the door back to the landing pad, he saw Vanyali sprinting towards his position. Just as she reached the door, the fighters wheeled around, and the din of cannon fire broke over the base like little thunder-claps. Two rounds punctured the top of the pre-fab, narrowly missing Tyco, and he quickly began to realise there was very little actual cover against a bombardment like that.

Even more worrying, however, was the whoosh of a missile being released, and the flood of fire filling his vision. The ground shook, the walls shook – hell, everything shook. With a grinding of metal, though, the floor began to do more than shake... was it shifting?

"Get out!" he roared to Vanyali, as realisation hit him like a hammer. Another loud grind of steel on concrete, and the pre-fab slid several feet to the left. Somewhere in the background, another missile struck, and the patter of debris falling back to the ground filled the air.

Tyco, however, was more concerned with getting out of the bloody building. Vanyali was already through the door and waiting for him – even as he reached the doorway, however, he could feel the floor shifting. He dived through the gap into open air, landing on his belly just as his fellow sniper hurled herself to the ground too – another bout of cannon fire rent the air, and little chips of dust and concrete filled his vision. He tried to clamber to his feet, but the shifting sensation was still there – the pre-fab wasn't the only thing sliding over the edge. The entire corner of the rooftop, gutted by the first missile, was breaking up and shifting sideways in a fluid mass of debris, carrying both snipers with it.

"Hang on tight!" he shouted, and that was the best advice he could give. In the crackle of the radio, he could hear the two biotic squads panicking too.

"Stay close to me!" Saffiya called, to her squad.

"Scatter!" Mac'Tir yelled to his, in something of a contradiction.

Then, every other sense was numbed by the dreadful apprehension of falling – with a great screech, the pre-fab tumbled over the side, and the concrete began to follow, great chunks slipping away into the street below. The drop was only a storey or two, but amidst the great mass of debris, hurtling towards it on his belly, it looked considerably larger to Tyco.

"We're going over!" Vanyali shouted, stating the bloody obvious.

Before he could reply, the rubble finally gave, and in a single, great flood, they were carried over the edge.