…
"There are too many factors you have to take into account that you have no control over...The most important factor you can keep in your own hands is yourself. I always placed the greatest emphasis on that."
(Eddy Merckx)
…
Unidentified shuttle, January 30th, 1:12 PM, 2135
…
Watching the glow of the atmosphere as the remains of the station crashed into the planet, I was still in minor shock over how quickly things had gone to hell aboard that station. I wasn't expecting anything we saw inside, and to nearly go down in a flaming ball of metal… it was mentally taxing. While we had made it out with no harm to ourselves, we now found ourselves seemingly at an incredible loss. We failed to complete our primary objective, and we were effectively blind on the location of that facility if the Normandy's scans didn't bring anything back.
I looked at Miranda and Tali, hearing both of them panting heavily as we all fought to control our breathing. I was in much the same condition, feeling my chest tighten as it pressed against my hardened titanium breastplate. Only now did I notice the droplets of sweat rolling down my face and the radio static in my earpiece.
"Lydia, you still there? Lydia?" I called out inside of my mask, getting no response. That alone was concerning. If she wasn't connected, then the Normandy sure wasn't. Looking over at Miranda in the pilot seat, I tapped the side of my mask and asked "Is the cabin pressurized?"
"Yes." She answered with a nod, taking off her helmet and breathing deeply as I did the same. "That was… unpleasant."
"That's putting it lightly." Tali shook her head, leaned over as she sat in one of the shuttle's seats. "What happened? Was that some kind of feedback we heard in there?"
"Didn't sound like any kind of feedback I've heard before." I shook my head, wiping off my face with a clean rag. "Sounded disturbingly similar to someone… screaming."
"I didn't hear screaming, but whatever it was, it immediately peaked my audio settings." Tali said, sounding more annoyed than anything else as she leaned back up and opened her omni-tool.
"Doctor-Michaels, we believe we've found the location of Cerberus facility." Pistis suddenly announced, getting me to turn my head fast enough to feel light-headed afterwards.
"What? How?" I questioned, unsure as to how that was possible.
"We traced the transmission back to a transmitter array on the planet's surface. It appears to be located in a mountainous region in planet's midwestern hemisphere." He explained, narrowing his aperture on me as he spoke.
"That's fantastic!" I exclaimed, ecstatic that we had managed to find the facility after all. "Miranda, get on the horn, tell Shepard we-"
"We would not recommend attempting further radio communication." Pistis immediately interjected, stepping towards us.
"Why?" Tali asked with obvious suspicion in her voice. "We were able to transmit before."
"Prior to activating the station's reactor, all communication arrays aboard the station were disabled. When arrays became active, an unknown hostile entity accessed the station's systems, overriding Cerberus safety protocols and de-orbiting the platform." He explained in exact detail, looking between the three of us. "We believe any outside communications links are susceptible to this form of attack. Only reason personal systems we not accessed sooner was due to Migrant Fleet encryption."
I rubbed my chin hearing this information, both surprised and disturbed. I was surprised he had managed to gleam all of this information in such a short timespan, but i was also disturbed at how quickly this "hostile entity" had accessed and bypassed the station's systems. Then again, if the signal was coming from a Cerberus facility, the attacker may have already been familiar with Cerberus protocols.
"Great, that explains the static I heard in my channel." I groaned, pinching the bridge of my nose as I finally began understanding what we were dealing with here. "So, what you're saying is that we're effectively cut off from the Normandy until we can disable whatever's sending out this signal?"
"Affirmative." He nodded, narrowing and widening his aperture very in rapid succession. "This UT-47 Kodiak shuttle is equipped with a rudimentary stealth system. Sensor suite masks us from basic detection."
"Isn't it possible that the Normandy could have also traced the signal?" Miranda asked, looking back at us as the planet's clouds churned through the cockpit window.
"No. Cerberus are utilizing a tight-beam transmitter array. Only the station could have received the transmission from surface." Pistis shot down, shaking his head in an exaggerated manner.
"Well, I guess that means we're in deep." I sighed, taking a moment to properly compose myself. "We can't call for reinforcements… I guess we'll have to do this ourselves."
"You're suggesting we attack the facility without support?" Miranda remarked, sounding unsure about my idea.
"I don't see any other options. Whatever's down there needs to be destroyed before it can be used to harm anyone else." I stated, unhooking the MMU from my armor and letting it fall to the deck. "We still have all our ammo and supplies, minus a few explosives. If we play our cards right, we should be fine."
"I don't like it. There's no way of knowing what's down there waiting for us." Tali shook her head, unconvinced. "But like you said, we don't have any other options."
"Alright then." I nodded to everyone, throwing my mask back on and ready to get working. "Tali, you and I will check these compartments for extra supplies. Pistis, give Miranda the coordinates. We'll land half a click away from the facility and hike the rest of the way there. Once we've run some basic recon, we'll make our move on the facility itself."
They all nodded and we got to work. The shuttle shuddered as we entered the atmosphere, Tali and I tearing through the storage compartments for extra gear. We were lucky, we found three extra cases of thermal clips, some MREs, and a standard SOS beacon that came with any well-stocked shuttle. We'd be in good shape for a while, had extra ammo, and we'd be able to signal our location if need be.
"Doctor-Michaels, planet gravity is 1.3 g. Atmosphere consists mainly of oxygen and nitrogen, with trace amounts of carbon dioxide and methane at 1.3 atmospheres." Pistis announced, ducking his head as he left the cockpit. "We have determined a suitable landing site."
"Sounds like home." I nodded with a smile, thankful that I wouldn't have to wear my mask the entire time. I checked my Mattock a third time, making sure it was in the best possible condition to face whatever was down here.
Admittedly, I was a little bit worried. I didn't have my exo or my plasma gun, so I'd have to be a lot more cautious if we came under fire. While I had full confidence in my ability to fight without either of them, I had gotten used to the devastating firepower of the plasma gun and the enhanced reflexes and kinetic barriers the exo offered. In a sense, I had gotten complacent.
On the screen in the cabin, I got a first hand look at the terrain ahead of us. The area we'd be landing in consisted of dozens of these massive, weathered stone "spires" that had to be at least a thousand meters high and a few hundred meters in width. Thin, vibrant green vegetation grew on top and around the base of these spires, giving the area a truly alien look. Strangely, pitch-black clouds appeared to be rolling in.
"So what exactly are you planning to do once we've reached this facility?" Tali asked in a curious tone, leaning against her shotgun with her elbow.
"Well, our first goal should be to disable their communication facilities." I began, putting my hands together as I sat across from her. "If we do that, we can at least mitigate the risk of systems damage or takeover of the Normandy's systems. Then… I don't know. We'll play it by ear."
As we entered the cloud layer between the spires, I noticed something odd outside. Pitch black rain.
"What is that?" Tali questioned, likely looking just as confused as me behind that mask.
"We detect high levels of vaporized hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide in the atmosphere." Pistis answered, walking up and standing next to us as we watched the clouds roll over us.
"Oil! It's raining oil!" I said with a big smile, unable to believe I actually got to see something like this in person. "Wow, this is what the boys in Kuwait must have seen back in 1991!"
"We assume you refer to the human Gulf War waged in 1991 in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait." Pistis said, sounding as if he was quoting off of the pages of a book. "We fail to see the similarities."
"I'm referring to when the retreating Iraqis lit up Kuwait's oil fields as part of their scorched earth policy, and as an attempt to hinder the attacking forces." I explained in detail, only now realizing none of them likely knew what I was talking about. "That was back when we still used petroleum-derived fuel as one of our primary energy sources, mostly for cars and other motor vehicles."
"The use of hydrocarbons as a fuel source is wasteful." Pistis immediately stated, succeeding in getting me to exhale out of mild frustration. "Such fuel damages the atmosphere if released carbon is not properly stored afterwards."
"You're missing my point." I redirected, pointing out the window of the shuttle. "What I'm saying is that either this is some kind of natural phenomena, or Cerberus is using it for something."
"They might be using it as some kind of smokescreen. Maybe to block scans from space." Miranda suggested, looking back at us. "Then again, sensors are detecting a lot of negatively-charged particles in the clouds. It could be lighting striking natural oil wells."
"Hmph… maybe the Iraqis were on to something." I mumbled, rubbing the underside of my chin. "It doesn't matter. Rain or shine, day or night, we got a job to do. We'll deal with the specifics later."
Miranda and Tali nodded as I checked my Carnifex, holding up my mask and looking through it to make sure the tracking system was still working. This new development had dashed my hopes of running without a mask. If oil got into my eyes or lungs, Lydia and Richard would never let me live it down.
We landed with a gentle thump, the pitter-patter of oil rain outside clearly heard on the roof of the shuttle.
We weren't getting through this without becoming walking oil spills.
"Alright, let's go!" I said out loud, popping the hatch to the sound of fat droplets of oil pelting the slick landscape around us. It was one of the most oppressive atmospheres I had ever witnessed, sky blacker than soot and the ungodly stench of rotten eggs emitted by the crude oil around us. I switched my olfactory filters on quicker than I ever have before.
We began our slog through the terrain, mostly bare rock or loose gravel covered in some kind of green algae. Strangely enough, the algae appeared to be bioluminescent, glowing a greenish hue and flaring slightly every time a droplet of oil hit it. Unfortunately, there was no time to examine it. We had no idea where these clouds were being produced yet, and hadn't spotted any burning oil wells or lakes.
After twenty minutes of walking through the oil rain, we finally spotted the facility Pistis had traced the communications back to. It was nestled between two of the spires, with what looked like long lines going up one of them past the cloud layer. It appeared there was power in the facility based on the exterior lights, but no foot traffic on the outside.
"Doctor-Michaels, we detect no organic movement." Pistis announced as I looked back at him, seeing oil roll down him like black blood. "No communication activity detected."
"Yeah, I don't see anything either." Miranda nodded with her depolarized helmet visor, peering through a monocle. "It looks like there's a personnel entrance on the left side of that building."
"Right, let's get out of this soup." I nodded, leading the way down the hill towards the facility.
Looking at the building as we got closer, I began to realize how large it was. It appeared to be at least five stories tall, with a "bunker-style" design that utilized the terrain around it to better protect itself. As far as I could tell, it appeared this oil rain was normal based on the various wipers I spotted on the outside windows, none of which were active. It looked like there were even special gutters near the ends of the roof just for collecting the oil.
We reached the entrance without incident, stacking up under the doorway which was covered by a small roof. Thankful to be out of the oil, I wiped a layer of the stuff off my visor as Miranda began working on the door. Once open, we all aimed our guns inside to see an empty locker room lined with showers and other amenities. It was incredibly dirty, grime covering nearly every surface. It supported my original idea that this "weather" was indeed considered normal here.
Upon further inspection, I noticed one of the showers was still running, and next to it was an oil-drenched environmental suit still dripping with black gold.
"Looks like someone left in a hurry." I commented, thankful I didn't have to poke around in the dark as I grabbed a folded tank top and began dabbing off some of the oil on my gun and armor. "I'm surprised there's no welcoming committee."
"Yes, we anticipated possible resistance." Pistis said with one of his exaggerated nods, looking back at me. "This is… unexpected. We recommend caution."
I returned his nod, dropping the ruined item of clothing and moving up to the only other door that led further inside. It was a large, manual-style door much to my surprise, with no lock or mechanisms that would keep it from being opened. Its style reminded me of the kinds of doors that we used to have in old bunkers and aircraft carriers.
Pulling it open and carefully peeking my head around the corner, I immediately spotted bodies on the floor. The walls were riddled with holes from mass accelerator rounds, and the scorch mark from an explosion accompanied a dismembered, blackened corpse next to it.I immediately ducked my head back in, depolarizing my visor and looking at Pistis, Tali, and Miranda.
"Damn it… this just keeps getting better and better." I exclaimed, shaking my head. "We've got more bodies. Form up, check your corners, and keep your eyes open for any movement. We need to find out just what the hell is going on here."
Tali nodded, taking the lead with her shotgun as we stepped out of the locker room in single file.
This appeared to be some kind of on-site living quarters from the look of it, with rows and rows of personal bunks on the left and right of the room. If it weren't for the dead bodies and property damage everywhere, it looked like it would have been a nice place to relax.
None of the people here were wearing armor or equipped with anything other than the occasional handgun. Most had expressions of terror clearly frozen on their pale faces, and one appeared to have been shot attempting to hide in a bunk. None of them had been prepared for whatever had happened here.
"This was a massacre." Tali remarked, sounding shocked. "Did Cerberus do this?"
"No, there's both high-level and low-level personnel here according to the uniforms." Miranda answered, kneeling down next to one of the bodies. "This doesn't look like normal mass accelerator damage, lots of scorching around the entry and exit wounds."
"Ballistics are identical to phasic slugs used in Mark IX Geth Pulse Rifles." Pistis clarified, setting off a number of my internal alarm bells. "We believe Geth platforms and weaponry were utilized in this attack."
"You're saying the Geth are now involved?" I questioned, looking back at him.
"Dried blood footprints on floor suggest Geth activity, though we do not detect any latent Geth signals in the immediate area." He nodded, narrowing his aperture on the doorway. "We find this… unusual."
Before we could move any further, the door on the other side of the room could be heard opening, prompting all of us to seek cover as quickly as possible. Using the reflection of a nearby broken mirror, I spotted three Geth platforms quickly moving into the room with their weapons at the ready. Their photoreceptors had a strange green glow to them as opposed to the normal pale white, and appeared to be painted in white and grey accents.
One of them approached my cover, looking very quickly and with a noticeable twitch. Before it could move in any closer, Pistis hopped out of cover behind one of the bunks, grabbing the platform by the head and yanking it hard to the right, sending out a loud snap, followed by the sound of pressure being released from tubes in the neck.
"Pistis, what are you-" I began to say before one of them turned the corner, leveling it's rifle at us. I fired without hesitation, knocking straight through its barriers and blowing its neck apart. I could hear Tali and Miranda firing at the last one, clearing the room.
We all walked back into the open, looking at the platforms as they lay on the ground in heaps. Realizing that they must have known we were here, I looked up at the corner, and sure enough, there was a camera looking right back at me.
"I think we're being watched." I sneered, pointing up at the camera as Miranda fired a single shot at it, wrecking it.
"We detect over a dozen hostile Geth platforms in the immediate area." Pistis announced, looking off into the distance as if peering through the walls themselves. "We recommend proceeding to the communications facility. Cutting off transmission arrays may allow for outside communications."
"Are you sure that's worth it? If these Geth are defending it, we might run into heavy resistance." Tali argued, not sounding at all convinced.
"If we don't take down those transmitters, we're not going to get help anytime soon." Miranda disagreed, focusing on her before turning to me. "Without support and communications with the Normandy, we're all running blind."
"But what if we found the source of these attacks, and disabled it instead of risking ourselves? We're already here in the facility, if we go back outside they might try to cut us off." Tali shook her head, hands on her hips.
"Attacking transmitter offers highest probability of success." Pistis chimed in, looking directly at Tali as he spoke. "If hostile entity believes transmitter to be of high importance, there exist a chance to draw platforms away from source."
"Are you serious? There's no guarantee that it'll cut off the signal!" Tali remarked in a disbelieving tone, now sounding more angry than anything else. "You're willing to risk our lives on a probability?"
"We have analyzed the situation twenty-seven additional times since the beginning of this discussion. We see no alt-" He began before Tali cut him off.
"Stop saying "we"! There's no "we" here!" Tali vented, clearly frustrated.
"Stop!" I demanded, holding out my hands. "This gets us nowhere!"
I breathed in deeply, letting my heart rate go down for a moment. This situation was getting worse by the minute, and I had to make a decision.
"Fighting isn't going to make our situation any better. We need to look at this three-dimensionally." I started, putting my arms down and making eye contact with everyone. "I suggest an alternative… we do both. Attack both problems at the same time."
"No, what you're suggesting is that we break into two different teams while comms are unavailable." Miranda replied, crossing her arms over her chest. "I don't think separating without a means of communication is the wisest idea."
"Look, we either commit to a single objective or we split up to take on both. Either way, we're taking a big risk." I argued, raising my voice just enough to be forceful. "We can't stay here, and we can't call for reinforcements. We need to act before this… entity has time to mobilize more Geth platforms."
"We agree with this plan. Splitting up presents possibility of diverting attention to two fronts." Pistis said with another exaggerated nod, focusing on me.
I paused, looking at everyone individually one more time as I let out a breath that I had been holding in.
"Alright then, let's do it." I nodded, hefting my Mattock once more. "Miranda, Pistis, you two will tackle the communications array. If and when you find a way to shut down or destroy it, contact us through channel 156.2 on broadband frequency. It has some basic encryption. It'll at least let you get a single message out."
"Understood." Miranda agreed, quickly punching the frequency into her omni-tool.
"Tali, you and I will go looking for the source of that signal." I smiled, giving her a quick nod.
Tali gave me an small nod as we hefted our respective weapons, and split up into our two little teams. The hallway outside of the living quarters led in two different directions, and luckily for us, no more Geth had shown up to investigate the three that were now missing. Whether that was a blessing or a warning sign, I had no clue.
We made our way deeper into the facility, careful to check the corners of the hallways before moving on. We were lucky enough to find a large facility map at what appeared to be the beginning of another section, finally giving us an idea of where we were in relation to everything else.
We were in Section C, bordering on D and F. C was the living quarters of the facility, with D being Leisure and F being R&D. According to the lights on the map, however, it was apparent F was locked down in some way. Giving the door a cursory glance, it was sealed with a magnetic piston locking system.
"Well, if the source of this signal is coming from Research and Development, we're not getting in from here." Tali observed, running her finger along the map.
"No, but this looks more promising." I countered, pointing out the route that stretched through two other sections. "If we cross through Sections D and E, it loops back around to the larger F. It appears that end isn't locked down."
"It's also where the Geth platforms are more likely to be." She argued, looking back at me with a barely visible cocked eyebrow.
"Well, we knew this wasn't going to be easy." I brushed off, walking over to the door and pulling the lever, disengaging the locks.
As the door swung open, it revealed a larger area. The room appeared to be a sizable leisure area, including a bar, poker table, and what appeared to be an automated concession area. The middle was lined with cafeteria tables. In the wall above us directly across the room, angled windows were covered in armored shutters, blocking out the view of the "storm" outside.
It was clear as we moved to the edge of the balcony we were not alone here. I counted at least six platforms, three standard, two with rocket launchers, and a larger Prime. The Prime stood in the center of the room, watching the corners of the room as the rest held a normal patrol route around the area.
"Well, what's your plan?" Tali questioned in a hushed tone, both of us hidden behind cover.
I pulled out two of the grenades I had recovered from the shuttle, rolling them around in my palm as I looked back to her.
"We knock out the Prime with a coordinated blast, then break to the left and right flanks to draw their fire." I put together in my head, trying to make sure I took everything into account. "Focus on the ones with launchers first, then mop up the rest."
She nodded, taking one of the grenades out of my hand.
"Alright, on my mark…" I began, pulling my arm back as I armed the grenade. "Three...two...one…MARK!"
We both threw our grenades over the balcony, nailing the Prime with both right at the end of their fuses. The two explosions rocked the platform, blowing half of its left torso off and sending it flying back in a smoldering heap. The remaining Geth whipped around to face the source of the explosion, just as we broke off of one another and moved down the stairs.
We were incredibly lucky. The Geth had no idea where the grenades had come from, and were now investigating the back of the holovid room instead of the cafeteria. Once I had reached the bottom of the stairs, I motioned to Tali and we fired on the Geth while their backs were turned. One of the platforms wielding a launcher went down like a rock, while the other managed to get to cover before I could down his barriers.
I moved to the center of the room, overturning one of the cafeteria tables to use as cover. The rocket -trooper fired at me, barely missing and blowing apart several of the tables behind me as Tali fired an overcharged shotgun blast at it, blowing away his cover and him in the process. She then ran out into the open, firing as she ran towards the bar on the far end of the room.
I provided covering fire as another platform was caught out in the open, attempting to maneuver on us. I blew a hole directly through his photoreceptor, sending him to the ground with a loud clunk.
"To the left!" Tali shouted over the gunfire, as I turned to see a Geth Juggernaut barreling into the room with what appeared to be some kind of rotary weapon. I immediately scrambled to get out of the open and close my left flank as it began shredding my cover. I ran as hard and fast as I could, hearing the rounds ripping into the automated drink dispensers behind me.
I dove behind the kitchen counter, barely missing a burning stove as I finally found myself behind hard cover. I could hear rounds ricocheting off of the metal as the loud weapon annihilated the nearby food counters. Tali ran into the kitchen too as the Juggernaut directed its attention to her, leaving us with only two avenues left. Retreating or finding a way to fight back.
"We're at a disadvantage here." Tali remarked through a pause in the gunfire, hefting her shotgun. "Any ideas?"
"Only one." I said, pulling open the compartment below the stove and yanking out a spare fuel canister, about the size of a propane tank. "Get another one of those overcharged shots ready. Once this thing goes off, we're going to break towards that seating area."
She nodded as I tested the tank, preparing to compensate for its weight. I threw it over the cover before the Juggernaut could begin firing again, landing the canister directly at its feet as Tali shot it, blowing it and the Juggernaut to pieces. The force of the blast was enough to blow out the panes of glass above, showering the area in large chunks of glass.
We moved back out into the open, now filled with thick smoke as the remaining Geth platforms did the same. With their glowing photoreceptors, it wasn't hard to see them through the haze, gunning down two of them before things went quiet. There was at least one more left, there had been three of them at least.
"Take the left, I'll take right." I ordered, getting a nod of acknowledgement from her as we split up.
As I stepped through the smoke with my Mattock held against my shoulder, I engaged the thermals on my mask to get a better look through the smoke. It was completely clear, I didn't understand where the last platform had gone. Did it retreat?
Before I could move any further, I heard a loud bang up above me, followed by another loud clunk as the last platform fell behind me, a smoking home through its chest. It was right behind me.
I switched off my thermals, looking up to see a man standing above us at the balcony where we had originally come in before. He wore heavy armor with a grey, black, and yellow color scheme, along with a similarly styled helmet. He wielded what appeared to be some kind of custom heavy rifle.
I recognized him. He was one of the Cerberus agents from Ferris Fields. Before I could raise my weapon, he held me at gunpoint, walking towards the stairs as he did so.
"Well, I didn't expect to see you here." He remarked in a guttural tone, obviously an older man like I had predicted weeks ago. "Seems you've done a lot of my work for me."
"Randall, right?" I said, rifle still held tightly in my hands as he began walking down the steps. "What are you doing here?"
"I should be asking you the same question." He deflected, not sounding at all amused. "Then again, this mission has already gone FUBAR, so I'm willing to offer you a deal. You help me get to my objective in the R&D labs, and maybe I'll let you go."
"And what makes you think I'd ever trust you?" I growled as he made it to the bottom of the stairs, walking towards me slowly. "Besides, I'm sure a big, tough guy like yourself can make it through all these Geth."
"Cut the bullshit." He stated with what I could only imagine was teeth clenched together. "Right now, I don't think you have any other choice."
"On the contrary." I smiled as Tali stuck the barrel of her shotgun up against the back of his head, pushing it forward as I raised my rifle again. "Drop your weapon, and no funny business with those fancy biotics of yours."
He let out a deep sigh, letting go of his weapon and raising his hands into the air.
"So… tell me just what the hell is going on here." I ordered, rifle still pointed squarely at his head. "What's your mission, soldier?"
"I was sent here to retrieve any and all data on Project Overlord, eliminate any survivors, and arm and detonate the facility's emergency nuclear device, a fifteen-megaton warhead." He explained, voice perfectly normal despite having a gun pointed at the back of his head.
"So… what changed then?" I prodded, wanting more information.
"Cerberus received the emergency signal from Dr. Archer, but I didn't realize the breakdown here was this bad." He went on, still maintaining his posture. "I was shot down by the GARDAN arrays above the mountain, now I'm grounded and stuck here."
"That's a shame. Give me one good reason why I should let you live." I threatened, not wanting this conversation to go on any longer than needed.
"Without me, there's no way you're getting into R&D." I stated calmly, still not threatened in the slightest. "The rear entrance to the labs requires a twenty-digit code only I know."
I was beginning to get angry now. We were in a bit of a deadlock now if he was telling the truth. Without him, there was no way to get to the source of this signal.
"Fine." I grumbled, kicking his rifle back to him. "We'll work together for now. You get us into those labs, and maybe then we'll go our separate ways afterwards."
He stared at me wordlessly for a few seconds, not moving at all before crouching and picking up his heavy rifle.
"You can take point, we'll be right behind you." I ordered, watching him begin walking as we followed him closely.
"You're not actually going to let him go, are you?" Tali whispered to me, sounding unsure with my decision.
"Of course not. He's from the cell that's investigating the Collectors." I reassured, masking my voice as best I could. "Keep your sights trained on him at all times, there's no knowing what he could do."
She nodded as we left the wrecked recreational area, both of us fully aware of how much more dangerous our situation had just become.
Hopefully there weren't any surprises waiting for us.
…
A/N: Well, here we are again, another chapter, another deadly situation for Sean and his compadres to contend with. They're cut off from the outside world, separated from one another, and are now being led by a dangerous man that had tried to kill them before. One can only imagine where this'll lead next time.
Anyways, Happy Halloween! I finished this chapter right before the end of the month, and I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. I referred to a lot of different sources for this one, wanting to make it as interesting as possible. Once again, combat isn't my forte, but I am getting better. Thanks for reading!
As always, I'd love to read any reviews, I'm always up for suggestions or constructive criticism. Stay tuned!