Judy finished getting the last of her armor into place, double- and triple-checking the straps to ensure that no plates were out of alignment. Satisfied that she was buttoned up, Judy looked around the Normandy's cargo bay, noting that Clawhauser and Wilde had already begun inspecting their weapons to make sure they were clean and ready for action.
Nick was fiddling with some dials on the side of the scope mounted to the top of his rifle, probably calibrating the zeroing distance or targeting system. Judy recognized the profile of the gun as that of an M-92 Mantis, but it was clear the fox had made some modifications to the rifle to accommodate his smaller stature. The rabbit knew exactly how hard that gun kicked, having been dared by a wolf in her old squad to fire it and subsequently launched a good two feet backwards onto her tail, despite having used her biotics to keep the rifle stable. Granted, Nick was about twice her mass, but Judy couldn't imagine it was much easier for him to control a rifle like that.
Nick was tending to his rifle with a practiced familiarity, whereas Clawhauser's inspection of his assault rifle was clearly that of a novice. Judy knew that the cheetah was proficient with how to use the M-8 Avenger – every marine in the Systems Alliance had to pass rifle quals and was trained in basic fireteam tactics – but it was clear that the lieutenant was equal parts nervous and inexperienced.
Judy was about to begin her own inspection of her loadout, but paused to first walk over to Clawhauser. She'd learned from her old CO that the most important thing to do before a mission wasn't to check your gear: it was to make sure your team was in good condition and focused on the task at hand.
"Everything good there, Clawhauser?" Judy asked as she approached.
The cheetah gave a slight start before turning to face the rabbit.
"Oh, sorry LC," Clawhauser said apologetically. "Just making sure I remember how this thing works – I am trained as a combat engineer, but most of my career has been in the latter, not the former."
"Hey, I get it. Believe me," Judy said warmly, placing a comforting paw on the cheetah's knee. "Before the Blitz, I never would've thought that I'd be anywhere close to ready for a fight that big."
"So, how'd you do it then?" he asked.
"Just remember your training and always stay alert. Keep your head down and don't take risks. I know it seems simple, but if I'm being honest, there wasn't anything I did during the Blitz that you couldn't have done yourself."
"Heroes are just the soldiers dumb enough not to get killed," Nick said wryly from across the bay, cycling the bolt on his rifle without looking up. "Try not to be a hero out there, you won't end up liking it. Besides, we'll be fine Ben – we've got Wonderbunny over here to kick the bad guys' butts single-handedly."
The XO certainly had a cynical outlook on the praise he had received for surviving the unfortunate events at Akuze. Then again, Judy could somewhat understand his point of view. She didn't want to have her entire career in the Alliance be overshadowed by one event she'd played a part in. She'd rather have it simply be one of the many ways she had made the galaxy a better place for mammality.
Judy and Clawhauser shared a brief look. The rabbit gave him a warm smile and a reassuring pat on his leg before moving back to her own station to begin her weapon inspection.
Like the lieutenant, Judy was proficient at using any standard Alliance weaponry. However, the rabbit did have a prefered loadout she usually took with her when expecting ground combat.
Like many biotic vanguards, she used a shotgun to assist in close-quarters combat. When charging headstrong straight into the enemy, it generally helped to have something that could knock them down quickly and easily. The M-23 Katana fit that criteria perfectly; while normally much too powerful to be reliably used by a mammal her size, Judy had trained to use her biotics skillfully in order to help keep the kick under control.
After making sure her weapon was clean and ready for use, Judy readied her Alliance standard M-5 Phalanx pistol. The weapon had superb stopping power for its size, in exchange for a slower rate of fire than most pistols on the market.
Finishing her inspection, she stowed her weapons before reaching out one paw and giving off a small biotic flare. The blue energy expelled from the tips of her fingers, sending a small force of air across the cargo bay. A very small example of what she could do, but again, Judy liked to make sure that everything was functional.
She heard a whistle come from Nick and turned just in time to see him begin a slow clap.
"Well done, Carrots. If I were the bad guys, I'd be running for the hills by now. The thought of that puff of air hitting me?" the fox said, making a mock shudder. "Truly terrifying."
"Attention on deck!" a marine shouted as Captain Anderson walked into the cargo bay, interrupting Judy before she could respond. She sent a brief glare towards the fox before giving the Captain her undivided attention.
Anderson moved through the cargo bay with Nihlus at his side, the turian's eyes scanning over the three mammals who were now lined up and ready for their briefing. He kept his gaze on Nick longer than the others, clearly sizing up the strangely carefree manner in which the fox composed himself.
But Judy saw something in Nick's eyes as he stared at Nihlus – his gaze held a challenge almost, as though the fox were daring the turian to comment on his lack of overt military discipline. And though he seemed outwardly calm, Judy saw how tense the fox was, his tail stock-still, a marked change from its usual lazy wag.
The staring contest was interrupted when Anderson stepped forward and said, "Wilde, Hopps, Clawhauser. Are you ready?"
Nick glanced over at Judy and then back to Anderson. With a shrug he said, "I'd be a lot more ready if we had any intel on what we could expect down there."
"Unfortunately, you know as much as I do, Commander."
" Great. Well, remind me to buy the guys over in intel a bottle of whiskey for the help they've been," Nick said with a roll of his eyes.
"Hopps, Clawhauser?" Anderson asked.
"Locked and loaded, sir. Just point us at 'em," Judy said.
Judy felt a rumbling vibration under her feet as the cargo bay doors began to open. The sudden sound of wind whipping past the Normandy filled the cargo bay.
Anderson turned back to Nick and shouted over the noise, "Your team is the muscle in this operation, Commander. Go in heavy and head straight for the dig site."
"What about survivors, Captain?" Clawhauser asked.
"Helping survivors is a secondary objective, Lieutenant. The beacon is your top priority."
"Approaching Drop Point One," Joker's voice said over the radio.
"So if I'm in charge, is Nihlus coming with us?" Nick asked.
"I move faster on my own," Nihlus said as he quickly readied a shotgun and started running down the open cargo ramp to leap down to the surface below. A moment later, the Normandy lurched and began to circle around for a second drop point.
"So much for 'the first of several missions together' I guess," Judy heard Nick mumble under his breath.
"Nihlus will scout out ahead," Anderson continued. "He'll feed you status reports throughout the mission; otherwise, I want radio silence."
"Aye sir," Judy said reflexively. "Silent running."
"The mission's yours now, Commanders," the captain said as the Normandy slowed to a hover above the second drop point. "Good luck."
Judy gave a crisp salute before quickly donning her helmet and rushing forward down the cargo ramp. The end of the ramp was several feet off the ground, so the rabbit leapt off the edge and used her biotics to control her descent, landing softly onto the ground.
Moments later, she glanced behind to see Nick land and immediately tuck into a practiced roll that got him on his feet in a flash. And a second later, Clawhauser landed heavily and staggered, falling forward for a moment before regaining his footing.
The terrain around Judy was equal parts alien and familiar. The grass and trees around her seemed familiar enough, but the strange rock formations and dark, roiling clouds left her keenly aware that she was a long ways away from New Burrows. She quickly surveyed the perimeter, and a flicker of movement down a small ridge caught her attention. Judy held up a paw to signal 'stop' and said, "Movement ahead, 20 meters."
"Copy LC, moving on your right," Clawhauser said, taking a position behind some rocks on the edge of the ridge. Nick had fanned out to Judy's left, and the rabbit moved into a position in the center. Judy braced herself for impending combat, feeling a rush of adrenaline that sent her heart racing.
"Oh, wait. It's just some gasbags," the cheetah said as he peeked over the edge of the ridge. "They're harmless."
"Gas what?" Judy asked, risking a peek herself.
Hovering over a small pond were a handful of strange, bulbous creatures that reminded Judy of a cross between an octopus and a hot air balloon. Though their five red eyes seemed intimidating, the creatures' slow pace and unusual, inflated sacs gave them a distinctly unthreatening demeanor.
"Some local fauna, real docile," Clawhauser said. "Course, that doesn't stop drunk mammals from setting them off."
Judy cocked her head in confusion. The cheetah made a gesture with his hands to indicate an explosion.
"Animal cruelty, if you ask me," he added.
"How do you know all this?" Judy asked, surprised at the depth of the engineer's knowledge.
"Because he's from here," Nick said. "Are we done playing hide and seek with the local wildlife? Or is it their turn to count?"
Glancing over to the fox, Judy suddenly noticed that Nick wasn't wearing his helmet.
"Commander, you are aware of the protocol for insertion, right?" Judy asked.
"Well, I'm pretty sure I didn't skip that day of basic, so yeah. What's your point?" the fox asked.
"Standard entry procedure mandates that in any insertion, marines are required to wear their helmets until such time as they could determine the environment was safe to take them off!"
"Uh, seems pretty safe to me …" Nick said, glancing around. "If my shields go down, having a helmet on isn't going to do anything to stop my brain from exploding if I take a hit. And besides … those helmets are murder on my ears."
Judy took a breath to protest, but caught the barest hint of amusement tugging at the fox's face and decided it wasn't worth the effort.
"Fine – what now, Wilde?"
"Welp," the fox said, drawing the word out to nearly two syllables. "The dig site is east of here, so I'm thinking I'm going to scout ahead … but with a gun that's actually going to be useful from more than a few meters away."
Nick checked the sight of his sniper rifle and then continued, "You take Spots over there towards the dig site and I'll provide overwatch. Sound good? Okay, good."
Judy glanced over at Clawhauser and signaled the marine to form up. When she glanced back to Nick, she found an empty space where the fox had been.
"What the, where'd he–" Judy muttered as Clawhauser fell in.
"Yeah, he does that …" the cheetah said. "On your six, LC."
The two marines carefully began to pick their way through the rocky terrain towards the dig site. As she glanced around, Judy couldn't help but be unsettled by the crimson tinge to the atmosphere and the strange, bright red arcs of lightning that lanced down from the clouds. Judy had seen pictures of Eden Prime from the extranet, and this hardly seemed to fit the bill.
"You got any family near here, Clawhauser?" Judy asked tentatively.
"No, different continent … thankfully," the cheetah said, unable to keep the worry out of his voice.
"I'm sure they're safe," she said.
"Yeah, sure … nothing to worry about," he replied.
Judy knew better than to push the point. Nothing she said was going to help him worry less or keep his mind on the job.
"Wilde here," Nick's voice sounded from the comms in Judy's helmet. "You're coming up to a ravine. Long sightlines to a ridge ahead, so eyes and ears, Marines."
Crouching low by a boulder, Judy glanced down the ravine. Seeing nothing, Judy signaled Clawhauser to cross to the other side of the ravine and take cover before they continued. The cheetah nodded and dashed out of cover.
Clawhauser had made it halfway across when Judy's keen ears suddenly heard a noise that reminded her of the sound the SSV Deerbrooke's railguns made as they prepared to fire. A low, bass sound filled the air, increasing in volume and crackling with an electric hum.
Judy knew that something was about to fire, and Clawhauser was caught out in the open with no cover. An ambush.
Before the rabbit knew what she was doing, she had already launched herself forward with her biotics, feet first. Connecting with the cheetah's back, she pushed back with all her might, sending Clawhauser flying forwards and herself backwards.
The shot that lanced across the ravine narrowly grazed her barriers, but she felt them shatter under the impact. She was sent sprawling backwards into the open ground of the ravine. Momentarily stunned, Judy looked up to see a dark metallic drone of some sort, its circular body topped with a stunningly bright light. The plasma cannon mounted underneath its hockey-puck-shaped body was already in the process of charging a second shot.
Judy summoned every ounce of strength in the hope that she could throw her barrier back up in time to soak the impact of the second shot, but a part of her knew it was already too late.
The rabbit flinched at the sharp report of a gunshot, but was surprised when she didn't feel a slug pierce through her armor. Instead, she saw the shimmering trail of a shot lance from behind her, making the drone in front of her explode in a brilliant flash of blue and red fire.
Looking quickly behind her to determine where the shot had come from, Judy saw Nick suddenly appear after a reflective, transparent second skin flickered briefly and then vanished, revealing his vulpine form.
"Good form on the kick, Fluff! A solid 7.5 outta ten, plus a few extra points for saving Ben," the fox quipped. "Left yourself a bit exposed though, so next time maybe avoid that. And before you ask, you can pay me back by paying for drinks when this is over."
"You … you've got a tactical cloak?" Judy stammered after pulling herself to her feet.
"Technically it's optical camo , but yeah, pretty much," Nick smirked. "I can't manipulate mass with my mind or send myself flying into battle, so I have to make do."
"Uh, guys?" Clawhauser spoke up, and the fox and rabbit glanced down the ravine to see several more drones appear around a bend in the ravine.
"Never a dull moment," Nick said before cycling the bolt of his rifle.
"My turn," Judy said as her biotics flared in a brilliant display of blue-tinged gravity-warping power.
"Well damn," Nick said as he surveyed the destruction of the half-dozen drones that littered the floor of the ravine. "No wonder the batarians ran off."
Judy had been a blur of action, dashing from drone to drone in a streak of shimmering blue and purple biotic explosions. Four drones had been annihilated by the time Nick was able to line up a shot on a fifth. Not that it mattered, since in one final blast of warp energy Judy had shattered the remaining two in an instant.
Clawhauser was dumbfounded, staring at where the lieutenant commander stood, the rabbit breathing heavily from the exertion. Judy quickly surveyed the immediate vicinity and, finding no more enemies, turned to Nick and said simply, "Looks like we're all clear."
The fox stared at her for a moment with an eyebrow raised before nodding.
"Alright, let's get a move on," he said. "You alright there, Spots?"
The cheetah blinked and shook his head before responding. "Uh y-yeah, N–" he corrected himself, "Er, yes sirs."
"Ok then. Hopps, take point. Let's move out," Nick said, gesturing forward.
Judy nodded and turned around, leading the way out of the ravine. Behind her, Clawhauser caught Nick's gaze and, with a toothy grin, mouthed, "THAT WAS AMAZING."
Despite himself, Nick found a half-smile on his face as he thought to himself, Yes, she sure is.