Jima and Dr. Hiprotos found Pelona tossing aside boxes and other containers back in the lab. Behind her, the rats were deteriorating at a rapid pace. Obviously, she was desperately searching for something but the Quarian and human doctor could not readily guess what exactly she was looking for. Whatever it was, it seemed rather important to the Asari at the moment. Her eyes were pleading behind the thin glasses.
"Dr. Sivini, I demand an explanation for this." Hiprotos barked.
"The rats were doing well until today." Pelona simply replied.
"Yes, that's the first real break we've had since we got here. That still doesn't answer my question." Hiprotos retorted.
"But whatever it was that got the rats, it also got the control group which was not exposed to anything the test rats were subjected to." the Asari continued.
"Already established, doctor." Hiprotos grumbled.
"I think I know the only thing that could have caused all of the rats to be contaminated." Pelona finally revealed, finding the box she seemed to be looking for.
"What is it?" Jima inquired. Pelona set the container down before them, a mess of dark green leaves sat placidly inside.
"Yesterday, we ran out of rat food. The team started collecting the local greens to feed the rats." Pelona explained.
"You think the prion originated in these plants?" Hiprotos asked quietly.
"It wouldn't be unprecedented. We've found prions in plants and fungi before. In fact, some have suggested that fungus may in fact benefit from the prions." Jima informed.
"But the proteins in a fungus are different from a mammals, such as rats or people." Hiprotos countered.
"It's a big universe out there. Besides, its our only guess at this point." Pelona shrugged.
"Well, I hope this guess turns out to be wrong..." Hiprotos murmured.
"Why?" Pelona demanded.
"Because a couple days ago our rations started to run out and the doctors ran a search for local edible foods. We've been using the same plants to supplement our rations."
--
Lucas vaguely remembered being quite the explorer as a kid. There were a couple times he went spelunking in his life, the thrill of going someplace dark and foreboding. He could also remember exploring ancient castle remains. He even remembered one trip to the Yucatan where he searched the old Aztec and Mayan ruins. Those had been fun times, searching through places that had the atmosphere of antiquity and so many years of history laden upon them.
This however just scared the crap out of you.
The special forces ranger peered as far as the light would let him. The open hole in the ground a had a sloping bottom so all of them could comfortably step inside. At least the rain wasn't flooding it or interfering with their vision now. Instead, the current darkness would do more damage than the rain ever did.
"I'm going to regret giving you that night vision mod, Lieutenant." Harrvok murmured.
"Your suits still have light ports, don't they?" Lucas asked Chroso and Harrvok.
"Yes, but that just gives away our position." the Turian grumbled.
"So could we just go back and ask for reinforcements?" Chroso asked.
"No. I completely agree with you Harrvok, but I don't think we have too much of a choice. I'll keep my night vision on and look ahead. I'll let you guys know when to turn on your lights so you don't have to stumble all the time." Lucas suggested, returning his rifle on his back to retrieve his pistol.
Harrvok remembered being on only two missions in his career where they were on the dark side of a planet. The Turian military did things the proper way so each soldier was equipped with night vision visors. Still, Turians were not nocturnal creatures, along with most humans and Salarians. A primordial part of their brains told them that night time increased the danger to their well being. Who knew what kind of predators could be lurking in the dark, or at least more specifically, in here?
Chroso felt a chill at the base of his spine and immediately was confused. The Salarian was normally not superstitious save in one area of his life. The archaeologist had learned that for some reason that feeling was a good sign. He got that every time he had begun to step into one of the bigger finds of his life. It all started the first time he stepped into a Prothean ruin and found that tablet that researchers are still hoping will help point to deciphering the Prothean language and learn more of their history. Why would that good feeling go off in a place as foreboding as this?
"Prepare your weapons and let me know when you're done. After that we'll kill the lights and I'll lead the way." Lucas ordered, making sure his inferno rounds were securely loaded into his Razer pistol. Perhaps they were not as devastating as explosive rounds, but painful nonetheless. The infiltrator probably had a touch of pyromania.
"Ready." Harrvok stated, placing a talon on Lucas shoulder so he could be led.
"Um. Yeah. Like I have a choice." Chroso muttered, planting a paw on a notch in the Turian's armor since he could reach to the combatant's shoulder.
"All right, kill the lights. I'll let you know when to turn them on." Lucas stated. With no further ado, the infiltrator led them into the darkness.
--
They were nearly at the compound door. Dalora was leading the way, encased in a biotic barrier. In a way, she was willingly using herself as a human shield. Julland was right behind her while Filara and Shanata brought up the rear. Julland looked behind at the Asari military engineer.
"Filara, throw a grenade at the door and detonate it. We can't run the risk of not being able to hack in. Everyone, prepare for whatever resistance lies behind that door!" Julland ordered.
"Sir, yes sir!" Filara barked and flung a grenade in sync with her stride. The ordnance exploded after momentarily hitting the door, blowing the barrier into fragments. All of the soldiers stared down their sights to find the room empty, another set of doors behind it. Julland made it to the door, stepped to the side and signaled to the others to regroup around him.
"All right, Filara, at my signal you will blow up this set of doors. I'm almost certain the mercenaries will be in there. Since our shields are still not up, we need to play this carefully. I have two canisters of smoke grenades on me so we have some leeway but not a lot." Julland explained.
"Commander, I got a visual on something." Shanata interrupted, her watchful eyes trained behind her gun sights. Julland looked over and strained his strong Turian eyes.
"It looks like a very badly built air drone...there's something written on its side..." he murmured.
"I see it too. I think it starts with an 'S.'" Filara added.
"Shiloh? You think the Shiloh sent us something?" Dalora offered.
"Possibly. I'm sure Dolphos figured something had gone wrong with our electronics and probably told Merjj and his boys to throw something together." Julland shrugged. By now, the drone was hovering ever closer towards their position, just a few feet off the ground and getting nearer to them. Regardless, Julland, Dalora and the Asaris still held their positions at the sides of the door entrance.
"Haha, we got to thank that Hanar and the Salarian when we get back from this!" Filara giggled.
And at that moment, the secondary door slid open and vomited out a swarm of battle drones. The very first thing in the mechanical warriors' sight was the foreign drone right in front of them. Needless to say, their programing told them to destroy it which they promptly did so.
--
Lucas glanced down the hall, peering into the darkness of the tunnel that his night vision pierced. So far so good. That's when the infiltrator noticed the structure of the walls started to change into something different. It seemed that the rough rock and dirt was starting to become more organized. Lucas whispered to the men behind him.
"Guys, turn on your lights. Chroso, I think I got something you'd like to see."
"What's that?" the Salarian asked.
"Look over there." Lucas pointed up and in front of him. The Salarian archaeologist peered from over Lucas' side and squinted at the proper area.
"That looks like a stone wall or something of that nature. There's a stylistic pattern to it too. We may be entering some ruins." Chroso suggested.
"Ruins? Anything you know about?" Harrvok asked. By now Chroso was as close as he could get to it. The dirtied, bluish grayish stone had been weathered throughout the countless years. Dust and mud were thickly adhering to them as well.
"Hmm, nothing I recognize yet. Doesn't look like any civilization I know of." Chroso answered, running a finger through the dust that had built up over time. The stone block still appeared decrepit with age.
"Chroso..." Lucas whispered.
"Yes, Lieutenant?" Chroso asked, still examining the rocks.
"Don't move..." Chroso suddenly stiffened up.
"They're behind me, aren't they?" Chroso whimpered his teeth started to chatter. Of all times the hellhounds decide to show up.
"About five. Yes." Lucas answered, he and Harrvok taking aim at the shadows in the dark.
--
Jima, Pelona and Dr. Hiprotos all anxiously waited for the results printout from the computer. Several samples of the plant were taken ranging from its leaves and stem and were being tested for the presence of the prion. Sitting around and waiting were not high in the mind of any of the doctors. Instead, they were all forced to do exactly what they were doing now, doggedly sitting in front of the printer.
"What happens if these come back positive?" Pelona asked, more out of to relieve stress and worry more than anything else. Dr. Hiprotos groaned.
"Dr. Sivini, I really don't want to start assuming that."
"We'll take this one step at a time." Jima instructed.
"Rrrgh, how long can it take to test for a single misfolded protein?" Pelona growled with impatience, throwing her hands to the air.
"Look, I know the suspense is getting to us, but we have to stay calm." Jima said. The Quarian was worried about her away teams. If anything, she suspected she would lose it first before they did. At least, she thought she had more of a right than them. However, she was the Spectre, she had to lead. Gosh, she hated that title.
"Easy for you to say! You're not the one that ingested any of that stuff!" Dr Hiprotos shouted, obviously suddenly going off the deep end.
"Dr. Hiprotos, Quarian doctors take a different oath than most doctors of other species. I will have no problem sedating you even against your own will. I'm also told that since I'm a Spectre, I can get away with it." Jima warned, though in all reality it was more of a half empty threat. Hiprotos only sneered.
"Fine, fine..."
Pelona was silently relieved but only in a twisted sort of way about that. She and Harrvok were always working long hours and therefore missed when the kitchens were serving the hot food with the local stuff. They always were forced to eat those ready to prepare rations. Apparently, quietly suffering with those artificial nutrient packets suddenly had paid off. However, its not like she felt bad for her co-workers. Of course, they could be completely wrong about the plants. Suddenly, they heard the printer come to life. Jima's numb fingers were already cautiously lifting the sheet to read.
Pelona noticed the reflection of the results shine off of Jima's visor but none of them could read the image from where they were standing. Both Pelona and Dr. Hiprotos felt deathly numb in the pit of their stomach. It was Pelona who spoke first.
"Spectre..."
"Yes?"
"What does it say?" the Asari quietly asked. Jima hesitated.
"The plants are positive for the source of the prion."
--
Crouched down, thinking fast, Julland could only count the loss of the drone as a warning of what they were going up against. Better to lose a machine than lose one of his soldiers. The intrepid Turian reached to his waist and flung a grenade into the room before returning to his original position with his back next to the entranceway. A heavy concussive explosion roared out of the enclosure just a few seconds later. Shanata chanced a look into the room before throwing a grenade herself. Another explosion tore through the room. The sound of drone engines revving fell silent. Dalora made the first move.
The former mercenary rolled into the doorway, shotgun forward while a biotic barrier rippled over her. Julland watched her with bated breath.
"It's clear." Dalora announced, answering his unspoken question.
"The entrance doorway is still open as well." Shanata added, taking her place behind Dalora. Once again, Julland had to make a painful decision. Did they keep waiting out here for the enemy to come to them? That might give time for the mercenaries to call in reinforcements and Julland could not take that risk in their present state of circumstances. He also wasn't keen on waiting for more help from the Shiloh. How then were they going to attack the rest of the compound when he did not know the layout, did not know how many more mercenaries were in there and he and his team did not have any shields or electronic support.
"Follow my lead!" Julland roared and tossed a canister into the open doorway in the back. The Turian Commander led his soldiers into the unknown, the cloud cover from the smoke grenade billowing in front of them. In the chaos of the lost visibility, Julland could only hope that perhaps the chess match was shifting.
--
Harrvok heard the radio go off. The Turian could not believe it. The radio on his back was actually going off. Of all the times for it to receive a message.
"Away team two, this is Spectre Jima, we have some important information for you." Jima's voice came in. Harrvok was almost exasperated at the way this situation was going.
"Uh...Spectre this is a rather bad time..." Harrvok grumbled.
"Wait-Harvok, is that gunfire I hear?" Jima's voice inquired.
Harrvok was very much in fact unleashing a torrent of rounds from his assault rifle. If only the Quarian could see what exactly was going on. From the depth of the cave the hellhounds seem to constantly be flowing at their position. The original five seemed to have multiplied to legion. Chroso was backing away while firing his pistol erratically. Harrvok himself was keeping his assault rifle trained at where the bulk of the demons were coming from, praying that the rifle would not overheat any time soon. The shredder rounds were doing a number on the unarmored foes. Chunks of flesh were spraying everywhere, having been ripped from their original owners. Lucas was taking any that Harrvok missed, the hounds that fell to his pistol falling before erupting in flames from the inferno rounds.
"Yes, lots of gunfire. Can't explain. Bad time. Under attack." Harrvok grunted. Jima was able to hear Lucas yell while driving his deadly survival knife into the face of a hellhound that got too close.
"Look, you're going to want to know this. The local plants at the village carry the prion. We're downloading the specific data to you guys now. Please report back when things calm down." Jima finished.
"Affirmative." Harrvok muttered, hoping they would in fact be able to report back soon. He heard Chroso starting to scream though he was certain that a hellhound had not been able to touch the Salarian. What was the archaeologist screaming about then?
In the madness here under the tunnels, when the dark flickers in the light of gunfire, perhaps it was only proper to start screaming.