Chapter 53

Holt was slowly climbing the wall in a secluded section of the facility. The three salarians, who had named Salarian one, two and three respectively, were waiting down on the ground. They had asked if he was a good climber and he had made the mistake of admitting he was. Damn people always looking for a way of shoving the work over to someone else, every race seemed to be guilty of doing that.

"No geth in the area, over." Salarian number two, if Holt guessed correctly, told him over the comm. Rolling his eyes over how professional they insisted of being, Holt climbed on. He had been giving a rough map of the place from scans made by the salarians and he had to agree that this seemed to be the most efficient one. The planned escape route was also well planned out but that wouldn't matter anyway.

"I've reach the top." Holt whispered as he dragged himself on to the roof. As he was fastening the rope he had brought with him up he sighed as he realized why there was no response. "...Over..." He added.

"Roger that. Are we okay in proceeding with the climbing phase of the plan? Over." Salarian number one asked. After muttering some well chosen insults, Holt answered the comm.

"You're good to go, over." The rope he had tied suddenly stretched out and the salarians were on their way up. They didn't seem like bad guys and Holt was trying to think of some way that their survival could be made possible while still going through with his own plan. He would've felt a lot more calm if he had been allowed to be sent alone on this task. But offering to do that would've been suspicious. An explosion in the distance told him that the assault team had begun their attack on the main gate.

"Seems like the plan is in motion." Salarian number one said as he climbed over the edge. "Let's hope that the anti-air team moves quickly. I would hate having to be shot down as we escape this planet."

"You sound like you're having doubts about our friends." Salarian number two... or was that three? Holt honestly couldn't tell.

"I believe in them but I also believe that Saren has gathered quite the force here. Nothing will be simple for anyone of us." Salarian number one said as he scanned the area around them. Holt just remembered that Salarian number two had been the one that was neither the squad leader nor the bomb carrier. So he had been correct in his first guess. Giving himself a mental high-five for managing to remember who's who in their four person group, Salarian number three climbed over the edge.

"This thing is quite heavy. Climbing with it proved to be quite tiresome." He said between heavy breaths.

"I can carry it if you'd like." Holt offered, seeing an opportunity to make his mission a lot more easy than it has to be.

"No need. I accepted this burden to be put upon me wh-"

"A simple 'no' is enough." Holt interrupted.

"Let's move on. The faster the bomb gets planted the faster we can head back to the others. I'll take point." Salarian number one said before heading towards the presumed entrance to the vent systems were. That was also something Holt was not looking forward to, crawling in some fucking vents. Just as they started moving, several shots passed by them and Holt immediately fell down to a prone position and quickly activated his cloak. Quickly looking back, he saw that Salarian number three was lying face down and a pool of blood was slowly expanding from him.

"They've spotted us already!?" Salarian number two asked in a loud whisper as bullets kept passing above them. Holt quickly crawled over to a part of the roof that would serve as some form of cover as he searched for the geth. Two of them were standing on the other side of the roof they were on. There was no way they should've been able to spot them unless something had given away their position.

"Where's the human?" Salarian number one asked number two as apparently no one had told them about his cloaking abilities. Ignoring their rant about other races being quick to abandon their comrades in the field, Holt brought out his rifle and aimed down at one of the geth. Letting his cloak drop just before shooting, he managed to take down the geth closest to them. The other one caught on quickly and switched target to Holt who quickly dove behind the cover. The salarians simply looked at Holt with surprised expression and Holt nodded suggestively towards the geth still functional. They caught on quickly and brought their own weapons out and made quick work of the last remaining enemy which was still trying to get Holt.

"What a shame." Salarian number one said as they approached number three's motionless body. "He only joined the STF a month ago."

"My offer to carry the thing still stands." Holt said as he motioned towards the bomb strapped to the dead soldier's back.

"With your cloaking ability, I think it's better if one of us carry it so that you can move around quickly and scout ahead of us." Salarian number one said in a commanding voice as number two went to get the bomb. Holt avoided throwing in the argument that he could easily do this alone thanks to said cloaking ability but decided against it. His hand went up to the side of his head as he activated the comm. "Contacting Captain Kirrahe, this is lieutenant Schells. Do you read me? Over." Holt obviously couldn't hear the other end of the conversation so he kept himself occupied with checking the surroundings. He still couldn't figure out how the geth had found them so quickly. "Chorban is KIA, we're proceeding with the original plan. Over."

"Got the bomb strapped on and ready to go." Salarian number two said.

"Okay." Lieutenant... Schnell?... Smell?... Seashell?... Lieutenant salarian number one said as he looked at Holt. "You take point and make the most use of that cloak of yours. I would rather not be gunned down from an ambush again if I can help it." He said in a way that implied that salarian number three's death had been Holt's fault. Readying his weapon, Holt took point while once again mumbling about shoving all the work on to him.