November 6th, 2172 CE
"Lieutenant, I gotta drop you early, this baby doesn't have enough firepower to stay in the sky otherwise." A bead of sweat drips down Holst's brow as the shuttle nears the mercenary base, their AA guns having already brought its kinetic barriers down by over sixty percent. Jasper nods to her, his expression grim.
"Alright, Leng. You heard the lady." Leng grunts and heads out of the cockpit to warn the platoon. Jasper and he have come to an understanding of sorts, for now. Jasper kept his distance on the ship after their sparring match, and read the files on his people before meeting them in person. The rest of the platoon have seemingly taken to following Leng more than whatever officer they're assigned, and Jasper can respect their reasoning. Leng is one hell of a soldier. Unfortunately for them, Jasper knows what Leng's hotshot behavior leads to firsthand, and he's hell bent on seeing them even out before they give their families back home cause to grieve. After a momentary pause to steel himself, Jasper turns and exits the cockpit, wishing Holst good luck on her exit. His platoon spreads out amongst the three benches in the cargo area, with Leng turning to face him in the center.
"Alright, Shepard. Hino here is leading Flying Tiger Squad." Leng's face is entirely serious, and Jasper fights hard to keep the disbelief from showing on his face. He nods, awaiting further designations. Leng smirks. "God, you're predictable. I'm just fucking with you, Shepard. Lighten up and get to designating, you're the Lieutenant, after all." Leng leans in to say the last part, voice husky and eyes shining with mirth.
Jasper bites back a scoff and turns to an older woman seated to his right. "Alright Hino, we'll keep things simple. You're leading Alpha Squad." Jasper turns around and looks to the right at a person his age. "Fiddler, Beta Squad." Jasper looks to the back to the woman only slightly older than Hino. "And Raanta, Gamma Squad. We'll try to sneak in under their radar as best we can and sap those guns. Leng and I will be Delta Squad, and we'll assist where we're needed most at any given moment. Any questions?"
Leng taps his shoulder, Jasper turns to see him scowling fiercely. "Why exactly am I stuck babysitting your ass, Shepard? I could have those guns down in an hour if you let me cut loose." Jasper raises and eyebrow. Leng is cocky as hell, that's for sure. But from what Jasper's seen, it's well earned. This is a critical moment, however. If he caves to Leng now, he'll be allowing him to undermine his command like he's done all previous platoon leaders.
"I'm not exactly helpless, Leng. And besides, didn't you hear me? We'll be assisting the other squads as needed. It'll be more trouble if I have to split myself in three directions than the two of us doing the same." Leng scowls deeper, and the squads begin to shift warily. Jasper sighs. "But if the opportunity arises for you to sap those guns without us, go for it. The sooner that's done, the sooner we can bring in proper air support. Sound good?"
"Yes, Shepard." Leng scoffs and rolls his eyes, but the squads aren't as on edge, so Jasper marks it as a victory in his books. The shuttle shudders and the doors open.
"Alright, remember to check your frequencies for signs of tampering, let's move out." Jasper leaps down and enters a crouch, Phalanx drawn. Beta stays at his back, while he motions for Alpha and Gamma to move forward around some trees and boulders, to scout out potential hostiles. Leng stays at his side, Katana at the ready and eyes alert for any signs of movement in the surrounding brush. Jasper begins to inch his way forward, leaning left to stay behind the cover of some thorny bushes. He peeks around them and sees nothing. He looks down at his omni tool and activates the combat scanner. Nothing shows up. With a nod to the squads, he leads the way cautiously through the clearing. They make it through the first two miles or so with no incidents aside from disarming a few amateurishly planted mines. Leng grumbles in Mandarin occasionally. Jasper elects to ignore it. Eventually they spot what looks to be a sniper's nest in a small clearing, and Jasper signals the squads to spread out amongst the brush. He scans again. Two hostiles. Leng taps his shoulder.
"Shepard, give me the all clear and they're history." Jasper mulls it over for a moment and nods.
"Alright. I'll create a diversion for you." Leng grunts.
"Don't need one, but you're the boss." Jasper does his best not to let the syrupy sweet tone get under his skin. He mostly succeeds. He watches Leng make his way around the clearing to behind the nest, keeping to the tall shadows the trees cast in the late afternoon sun. The hostiles seem to be conversing amongst themselves. Jasper can't make out the dialect, but he can tell by their vocals that they must be Batarian. He pushes away a dark satisfaction at the thought. Leng is leaning against the side of a pillar, looking his way with impatience. In one practiced motion, Jasper stands into a sprint and sends out a combat drone. The snipers each have a moving target now. Jasper makes it across the opening in the trees and baseball slides into the thorn bushes, evading his target's hasty shots. The other sniper takes out his drone a few moments into its existence. He'll need to work on that. Still, it's enough to get Leng into the nest unmolested. A few seconds after he slides home, he hears a sharp crack and panicked gurgling. He looks out and sees one of the sniper's clutching at their throat, blood oozing between their rapidly moving fingers. Their partner is slumping over the nest's barricade, neck at an awkward angle. Leng cleans and sheathes his knife, shooting Jasper a thumbs up. This time, Jasper does roll his eyes.
An hour passes. Jasper and Leng making quick work of some more nests in similar fashion to the first. The other squads are getting restless. Leng keeps giving Jasper shit for his 'tissue paper basketballs' and he does his best to keep his retorts to himself. Leng's proven to be every bit of good as he claims. Eventually, they spy the base proper, with a proper guard rotation pacing the trees at the forest's edge. Jasper and Leng trade a glance, and nod to one another. Jasper motions for Gamma to follow him along the right flank, then motions Alpha to the center. The enemy is weakest on the left flank, where Leng and Beta are sure to wreak havoc. There's a window just above the doors. Jasper looks to his squads, nods, then shoots it out. All hell breaks loose.
The guards try to wage a proper fire fight, but outnumbered three to one, and with an assault raining down from all sides, they never stood a chance. Jasper pops the spent thermal clip, socketing a new one with practiced efficiency. Six shots. Four headshots, one body shot, and a miss. He'll need more time down at the range. Leng is looking at him strangely from his peripheral. Jasper raises a brow. "Something wrong, Leng?" Leng doesn't jolt, but he comes close. Did he think Jasper wouldn't notice? Leng loosens his posture to a more casual lean.
"Nah. Just didn't expect you to be a decent shot with how shitty your swings were back on the ship." Jasper huffs.
"Meet me down at the range sometime and I'll show you more than decent, Leng." Jasper scans around for more signs of activity in the area. "Nichts?" He murmurs, puzzled. They had put on a hell of a show. The odds of them being undetected are astronomical. This doesn't feel right.
"英语，谢泼德." Leng says in a mocking tone. Jasper hums.
"I'm not picking up anything. Keep your guard up, everyone. Leng, see if you can climb into that window and get a visual. I'll hack the doors." Leng nods and clears the glass of the shattered window with a biotic throw. He then moves back a few meters before running forward using the base of the wall as a base for an impressive flip, fingers grasping firmly onto the windowsill before hauling himself up and in. Jasper can't quite hold back a whistle at the impressive display. He gets to work and has the doors open in less than a minute. Only two pairings? What kind of mercs are they dealing with? The nests and mines set up around the perimeter speak to their supposed experience, yet the forces they've faced so far have proven to be complete amateurs, and this door security is a joke. Just what exactly is going on here?
The doors open to reveal an empty hallway with a low ceiling. Jasper's frown deepens as he sees no signs of any security cameras or scanners. He signals for the squads to converge and follow him along the sides of the hallway. At the end of the hall is an unlocked door. Jasper pauses a foot away from it, dropping into a crouch and comming Leng. "Leng, what do you see?"
"Nothing, Shepard. It's just a damn storage room. I'm trying the door." A pause. "It's open. These chuckle-fucks can't even lock a door right. I don't see any cameras either."
"Careful Leng, something is off here. Keep me updated."
"Yeah, yeah." Leng ends the comm. Jasper hums and motions for Alpha to get into position. He nods, and Hino opens the door. Jasper moves to the doorframe, Phalanx leveled…
…To see nothing but an empty mess hall. There are no signs of activity to the naked eye or his combat scanner. Dread builds in his gut. He tilts his head, and Beta joins Alpha, Hino and Fiddler walking back-to-back at their combined head to search the perimeter. Jasper falls back to the center of Gamma, as protocol dictates. Together, they all make their way over every inch of the mess and adjoined kitchen unit. They find nearly empty food supplies and nothing else. There are still no cameras or additional security. Is it possible that the rest of the mercs have spread out around the base's other directions like the ones along their entrance point? But then why is the inside of the base so unguarded? The AA guns are at the heart of this place, shouldn't they be more concerned about them? Jasper's mind races as he herds the squads towards the next door. This one locked. The security console only has one pairing. A bead of sweat runs down his temple. He ducks behind the doorframe, and motions for the squads to do the same. The door opens, and Jasper peaks around the corner. His shields drop by ninety percent as a glowing projectile slams into the temple of his helmet. He drops hard onto his side and rolls into the wall to get out of the firing line. Snipers, with ammo mods. And a whole goddamn platoon of their own. He does his best to ignore the pounding headache and ringing in his ears to comm Leng and warn him.
"Leng! It was all a set up! The guards outside were just there to buy time so they could prepare an ambush! They've got snipers and a whole—" A gurgling cry interrupts his report. Jasper looks up to see Raanta fall, a gaping hole where her larynx was a moment before. "Scheisse! Leng, watch your ass and try to flank them! The snipers should be—"
"Stop screaming. I got this." Leng ends the comm abruptly, Jasper hisses under his breath and checks his shields. Forty percent. A man named Perkins falls to the ground clutching a bloody stump where his knee should be, screaming profanities. The shields will have to do. He gets up and calls for Fiddler to use their biotics. They pull Perkins to their cover and apply some medi gel. Jasper reaches the doorframe and quickly throws one of his precious few grenades around it. His barriers drop by ten percent. He waits for a moment, then triggers the detonator. Screams of pain fill the air, and he fights back a smile. He arms his armor piercing mods, peaks around the doorframe, and takes aim with the Phalanx. One headshot. Two. Three. He ducks away as a sniper's rifle gleams in the sun streaming in from a glass ceiling. His shields are down to six percent. Jasper takes a chance and throws out a combat drone. The mercs destroy it in seconds, but it gives him just enough time to throw and detonate another grenade, taking out half a dozen hostiles before they return their attention to the doorway. Just twenty-nine more on the ground level. The squads have left the line of fire to replace their thermal clips. Jasper meets the angry eyes of Fiddler and Hino, and feels nothing but shame. He's lost a squad leader on his first mission with this platoon. Unacceptable, he thinks to himself. With grim determination he turns the corner and scores another headshot, just to feel projectiles peppering his barriers. Thirteen percent. He ducks again, and pops the clip prematurely to replace it with a fresh one. He'll need the extra shots. Hino and Fiddler lean out to fire their own bursts, downing three hostiles before they too need to retreat. Gamma is down a corporal and full of anger, they take the next round of fire, downing four. One of them loses their shields and takes a nasty shot in the arm, just above the elbow. They scream in rage and pain, but duck behind cover when Jasper gives the order. They need a plan. Eighteen hostiles firing in staccato bursts. They're not reloading, so they're using Pre-Contact arms. Jasper comms a woman named McCloughan, the only other engineer in the platoon not pinned down by enemy fire at the moment.
"On my mark, I want you to throw out a combat drone. That should distract them long enough for me to sap their guns, understood?" She nods fiercely, and Jasper counts down on his fingers. Three, two, one. She throws the drone out and ducks. Jasper whips around the corner and fires off an overload. Several of the mercs' guns begin to sound their overheat alarms, and Jasper smiles. Then a projectile punches right through his shields and shoulder. Damn snipers. He whirls back around and bites back a howl as the pain flashes down his arm. He feels his back. A clean exit wound, good. He applies a small dose of medi gel and waits for his shields to recharge. They must be using ammo mods now. The squads have begun to return fire, and Jasper watches as Fiddler takes a shot in the foot, falling to the ground before Hino drags them behind cover. He gives the signal, and Hino uses some of her own gel to seal the wound. Fiddler nods gratefully to him. Jasper gives a grim nod in return. His shields have fully recovered. Time for payback. He ducks out and sees only eleven hostiles. He blows off two of their heads before his shields hit seventy, then that damn rifle is back. Where the hell is Leng? Jasper ducks down and sounds for the squads to do the same. One of them takes a shot right in the ass. He winces at the man's shriek. He goes over the numbers in his head. Nine hostiles on the ground and a sniper. He throws his last grenade, and waits two heartbeats, then he successfully detonates it under the balcony's support beams to the right. He hears a sharp curse and a crack. He peeks. The sniper's bone is rutting against their bodysuit as they scream. He pops their head quickly. Then he ducks away from the angry return fire. Down to twenty-seven percent. He nods to the squads, and they unleash hell. It's over in seconds. Then his comm crackles.
"Lieutenant, the AA guns just went down. We're enroute, what's your status?" Jasper sighs. He signals Hino and Fiddler to use their remaining gel on the wounded.
"We lost Raanta, and Perkins needs immediate evac. We'll rendezvous with Leng and meet you at the back entrance, I'm sending the coordinates now." Holst responds in the affirmative and Jasper ducks around the corner, to see a smirking Leng sliding down the remnants of the balcony. "Leng. Could've used you. We lost Raanta, and damn near lost Perkins." Leng stops smirking and scowls darkly at him.
"No, you lost Raanta. I accomplished the objective. Don't go pushing your failures on me." Leng stalks right into Jasper's face. Jasper scowls right back.
"Listen, Leng. I may have given you permission to ditch us, if necessary, but I made it clear what I needed from you. Next time, I—" Leng jabs the hole in his shoulder plate and Jasper hisses at the abuse of the tender new flesh.
"What next time? You lost a squad leader, Shepard. You think the captain will stand for—"
"Lay off him, Leng." Fiddler cuts in. Leng and Jasper turn to them sharply, Leng in anger and Jasper in surprise. "He did his best, and he got most of us out alive. If you'd stuck around and done what he asked, you'd have taken those snipers out no problem. Maybe then Perkins would still have a leg." Leng growls low in his throat and opens his mouth to retort.
"This is going in my report, Leng." Hino beats him to the punch and Leng gapes at her with disbelief. Jasper valiantly fights off a smile. It's easy, looking at the damage. A lot of the platoon took injuries, nonlethal, but they're pretty banged up overall. He'll be far more careful in the future. He'll never forget the desperation in Raanta's eyes as she looked at him. His fist clenches. Leng throws up his hands and muscles past him towards the exit of the base. Jasper hears thrusters, and makes his way over to Perkins. The man lost his leg because of his mistakes, Jasper can at least ease his pain on the way out.
Perkins pats his shoulder. "Not your fault, kiddo. I shoulda just stayed low."
"No, it's my fault, sir. I'm the one who didn't prepare for the worst." Perkins opens his mouth with a frown. "And I won't be hearing otherwise. Let's get you to Doctor Tineke. You can yell at me afterwards." Perkins grumbles in Spanish all the way to the shuttle. Jasper allows himself a small smile at the indulgence from the normally stoic man. As they board, he notices that the cockpit is sealed. Probably on Leng's orders. He'll let it stand for now. They both need time to cool off. Raanta's empty seat is sobering. Fiddler tries to insist he take it to rest, citing his earlier head trauma. Jasper refuses. Then feels the wooziness set in. Fiddler pulls him to the seat. He'll need to talk to them about that later. For now, he just needs to rest his eyes for a moment and catch his breath.
Author's Notes
Apologies for the brevity of this chapter, and the quality of the fighting. Thank you for sticking with me so far. Please leave a review if you have any thoughts or would just like to let me know you're here. 😊
Translations:
Nichts? = Nothing?
英语，谢泼德. = English, Shepard.
Scheisse! = Shit!