I hope to everything holy and sacred that he does NOT wake up right now, Wash thought as the entire camp began to huddle around the semi-unconscious form of Gary lying on, whose abnormally long arms had been roughly cuffed behind him by Carolina him as a precautionary measure. "That really necessary, boss?" he whispered as the group approached with peaked interest and curious mutterings.
Carolina briefly glanced up at him before she finished securing his arms. "Short answer: yes," she answered before she moved down to his legs and (rather roughly) attached similar shackles without further explanation, which was her way of informing Wash that this topic was no longer up for discussion.
"Seriously, Wash, he takes out Caboose and I, nails you in the hand with this-"" Tucker held out the curved blade that Gary had impaled Wash's hand with, still covered in both red and blue blood, "-and then almost shoots Carolina in the head with the mother of all sniper rifles? Sorry, I'm gonna have to side with her for once."
"Is that we're calling it?" Grif said, his tone envious as he eyed the large black rifle secured to Carolina's back.
It was a misunderstanding, Wash said to himself as he knelt down to check if Gary was still breathing. Although barely visible, Wash could still make out the faint expansion and contraction of Gary's chest. You were only trying to protect yourself-
Simmons spoke first. "Damn, Carolina, what'd you do to him?" he asked as he lowered himself next to Wash to get a better look.
"Stopped him from killing Wash," Epsilon chimed in. "Speaking of which, how's the hand, asshole?"
Everyone's visors turned from Gary to Wash, who found himself the uncomfortable center of attention. He opened and closed his right hand a few times. "I'm fine, Church, " he replied, with extra emphasis on Epsilon's former name, but the continued silence from the rest of the rest of the Reds told him that they were expecting further elaboration. "He didn't realize I was left-handed," he said as he held out his still-blood covered hand for further examination by the Reds.
"Almost feel sorry for the poor bastard," Grif said as he looked from Carolina to Gary.
"My kind of alien," Sarge said warmly. "Simmons, this creature could prove to be a valuable ally in our vendetta against the Blues-"
"That's enough, Sarge," Wash interrupted as he popped back up and directed his attention at Doc, who was standing next to Sarge. "Doc, you have anything? He's thrown up a few times since we woke him up."
Doc looked down at the unknown alien before him. "Sounds like he might have a concussion…I'd recommend letting him sleep it off for now," he offered.
"He can have my spot," Donut offered brightly. "Hope the cot can hold his weight, though…"
"He's manageable with two people," Wash said as he maneuvered himself behind Gary. "Donut, grab his legs, and we'll carry him there."
As Donut bent over to grab Gary's legs, Epsilon cleared his throat loudly, which made both Wash and Donut pause and look back up at his hologram, which was currently suspended between them and looking down at Gary.
"Something to add, Epsilon?" Wash aked coldly, making sure to keep his attention completely focused on the hologram and not on Carolina. As I'm sure you do, because you and Carolina have probably been mulling over this entire situation since I told the both of you that I wasn't leaving him out in the jungle to die-
Epsilon looked back up at Wash. "We-" he began, with the assumption that Carolina was the unspoken half of, "-were thinking to just tie him to that tree over there-" Epsilon answered as he motioned to one of the few trees that hadn't been destroyed in the crash.
Without moving his head Wash briefly glanced at Carolina, who was watching this entire scene with her arms folded across her chst. I'm sure she did, he thought as he faced Epsilon
"The last thing his allies should see is his unconscious body tied up," Wash replied as he turned his attention back to Gary. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to do my best to make him presentable before they show up," he finished as he knelt back down and slid his arms under the bulk of Gary's massive torso.
"Assuming he has any," Carolina said dryly. "The rest of you, set a perimeter and keep an eye out for any movement," she barked.
Oh, I'm sure he does, Wash thought as he and Donut stood up and began the slow trek over to Red base. And it'll be up to me to stop them from killing us all if they see him like this.
####
"In the unlikely event of capture, remember one thing, and one thing only-" the drill instructor barks to his platoon. "Give. Them. NOTHING-"
Aaaand how'd I lose my visor this time, Garrus thought as he came to slowly, his brain in a throbbing fog and a noted absence of his visor on his face as he opened his eyes to a dimly lit room illuminated only by sunlight pouring in through cracks in the walls. A cursory glance of his immediate surroundings revealed what looked like a shelter constructed from scrapped aircraft parts. (At least based on the smell…mass effect fields generally protected craft against the metal against the type of damage his nose detected.) A few cots and makeshift bed rolls were scattered along the wall. But whatever I'm on, it wasn't designed for a turian, he thought as he tried to bring a talon up to massage his aching neck, only to realize that his hands seemed hampered by-
Shackles? Garrus' eyes shot open as he glanced down at his arms and saw his wrists enclosed in some sort of rectangular object. A burst of adrenaline seared through him and he instinctively brought himself up to a sitting position before he realized that his feet were restricted as well. The soldiers in the jungle?! Garrus thought as something light blue entered his field of vision.
A helmet-less male with light blue armor and yellow markings knelt down directly in front of him. "Easy there, big guy," a vaguely familiar voice said gently, his arms grasped Garrus' forearms. Garrus instinctively looked up at him. Blond…human… he thought as he forced himself to remember where he'd seen this person before, and the sight of his pistol on the bed across from him triggered a memory-
-"I can explain all of this if we could all stop trying to kill each other-" the blond begins, his weaponless hands raised-
The solider's eyes glanced down at the shackles and unexpectedly sighed. "Trust me, not my decision either," he offered-
-he reaches for his helmet with both hands and pulls it off. "Agent Washington, Freelancer," he begins-
Garrus' mandibles flicked involuntarily. "Wash," he growled out the first syllable as he tried to lean towards his captor, but in the blink of an eye, someone roughly shoved his body back into the cot while simultaneously bringing something sharp up to his throat.
"Hurt him again and I'll kill you with your own knife," a female voice growled behind him. Garrus inhaled slightly and glanced to his right, and the smell of dried human and turian blood and the hilt of his knife in a sea-green hand confirmed her threat: it was indeed the same knife he'd used to on the man in front of him.
Garrus' mandibles flicked involuntarily again as he locked eyes with Wash. She clearly means business, he thought as he focused his mind on the calming meditations taught to all turians. (The Normandy's human crew frequently commented on how Garrus seemed absolutely serene during combat, when, truth be told, every turian received this instruction during their childhood education.) You are the steel of Palaven: strong, rigid, unmoving-
Wash didn't blink for what felt like an entirety. "Let him go, Carolina," he said finally said, momentarily breaking eye contact with Garrus to look up at one of the few creatures alive who had managed to get close enough to threaten his life.
The woman holding the knife didn't budge; in fact, the edge was now uncomfortably close to breaking skin near a major blood vessel. "I'm not losing another Freelancer," she growled, but her voice seemed uncomfortably close to breaking at the last word.
Wash quietly sighed as he placed his bloodied right hand over the one with the blade to his throat. "You're not going to," he said, and the tension in the knife hand released. "I promise." Wash brought his other hand up and gently worked it out of the woman's hands and seemingly relaxing the rest of her arm muscles in the process.
Garrus blinked and allowed himself to exhale as Wash took possession of the knife and the sea green hand dropped out of his peripheral vision. Definitely some tension between these two, he thought as Carolina brushed him as she stepped aside, then took a few steps towards what Garrus assumed was the doorway.
"You're just gonna leave him-" a nasally voice protested as the sea green female exited without explanation.
"Yes," Carolina answered flatly.
As she exited, Garrus caught sight of the familiar outline of the Black Widow on her back. Well, at least they had decency to recover it, he thought as the curtained flap fluttered shut behind them. With her gone, he turned to study the human across from him. "You and her have a history?" he asked, but Wash only shook his head as someone else entered the makeshift shelter: another sea green solider, but this one carried themselves in far more relaxed manner. (Although Wash seemed slightly worried at this one's appearance.)
"Can't understand ya, big guy," the armored sea-green figure said as it plopped down next to Wash. "All we keep hearing is some weird bird-like squawking."
Garrus looked back at Wash, who nodded, and his mandibles gave another involuntary flick. Translator malfunction? Despite a splitting headache and nausea, Garrus forced himself to remember a few basic Standard English phrases from his boot camp days. Basic introductions first, then. He lifted his shackled arms and extended a talon at the newcomer. "Name?" he inquired.
The sea green head turned his head slightly towards Garrus. "Tucker," he answered. "We already know who you are, you're Gary, the bastard who tried to kill us-"
Another bewildered flick of his mandibles as Garrus brought his talons to the front of his crest and tried to press on the edges in an attempt to remember where he'd heard use Tucker use that word before-
-"You fucking bastard, you shot my friend!" someone screams at him while brandishing a brightly glowing sword-like object-
"Tucker!" Wash said sharply.
"What, he-" Tucker argued, but was promptly cut off by Wash again.
"Either play nice, or I'll give the big mean alien his knife back," Wash threatened as he held the knife within inches of Garrus' hands. Spirits, he's not kidding.
A series of loud clanks told Garrus' hearing that Tucker had quickly stood up. "Seriously, I come in here to back you up, and this is how you thank me?"
Wash gave Tucker a sidelong glance. "Go help Carolina keep an eye on the perimeter, Tucker," Wash instructed with a point of his arm, his gaze still locked directly on Garrus.
"Ha, like she needs it," Tucker spat as he jumped back up. "Also, just so you know, Simmons got the radio working, and says he just heard some random Spanish phrases," he said before he stormed out, the curtain fluttering again.
"Noted," Wash replied, his attention now on Garrus' knife again. He studied it again, tracing the curved blade edges and handle lightly with his left hand, his expression one of what appeared to be genuine curiosity. "Unusual shape," he finally commented. "Standard issue?"
Garrus hesitated a moment, confused. Most human military groups have a basic working knowledge of turian weapons and tactics…but these guys haven't once called me "turian" or any of the the more…hostile…terms created during the first days of 314. His gazed slowly at the knife, then Wash before he answered with a nod.
"I'm assuming the blue stuff is yours," Wash said as pointed to the blue liquid, which, sure enough, smell precisely like turian blood. More specifically, mine. "Had to pull it out of your back after this," he said with a wave of his right hand. "You've been able to move that arm pretty well since then, so we don't think there's any permanent damage?"
Garrus shifted his shoulders around, and sure enough, he could feel a small spot over an unarmored area of his suit had been breached and re-sealed with omni-gel. And Vega thought I was crazy to keep my suit's medi-gel and omni-gel stores fully stocked after the crash…but yes, he's right: my shoulder is fine, my head-
"Any pain?" Wash asked again as he pointed at Garrus' head.
Garrus slowly shook his head before he motioned towards Wash's right hand. "My doing?" he said automatically before he realized Wash wouldn't be able to understand him. For all that time I spent calibrating the Thanix, I should have learned a bit more of my girlfriend's native language-
Wash paused as if was considering what Garrus might have said. "Healing unit took care of the worst of it," he finally answered as he held it out for Garrus to examine more closely, "and it's not my dominant one," he finished while he artfully twirled this knife about in his left.
Noted, Garrus thought as he brought the hand shackles closer to his face. More pressing question: these, and why can't I remember how they got here? Garrus as he briefly glanced down at his arm shackles.
Wash sighed. "Carolina's the only one with the key to unlock them," Wash said. "You attacked one of our men unprovoked-"
I what? Garrus tilted his head to one side in hopes of conveying his confusion.
Wash gave him a puzzled look. "You…don't remember?" Garrus slowly shook his head. Wash sighed heavily, but quickly glanced towards the doorway at the sound of approaching footsteps.
"Probably short-term memory loss related to Carolina punching him in the jaw," a voice that sounded simultaneously perky and professional answered as a purple-armored figured emerged through the doorway, a green and glowing circular object clutched in both hands. "Speaking of which, how's our new alien friend Gare E doing?" he added as he got down at eye level with both him and Wash.
Garrus shot Wash another confused look. Gare E?
"That's Doc…we brought you back here so he could attempt to treat you after you woke up puking," Wash explained.
Puking, throbbing headache, can't remember how I ended up here…crap, another concussion-
"Wash said you introduced yourself as Gare E before Carolina attacked you?" Doc offered.
Garrus switched his confused expression from Wash to Doc.
Wash's face scrunched up as he attempted to decipher the reason for Garrus' confusion. "Don't remember that either?" Wash inquired.
Garrus shook his head, then let out an exaggerated sigh. "Gare. Us." Garrus pointedly enunciated in Standard English. Spirits, the rules of Standard English are more complicated than an asari contract-
"Scare…us?'" Doc repeated back slowly.
How the hell did humans survive before implanted translators? Garrus thought as the tiniest groan slipped out and he shook his head. Also, why don't these guys have said translators?
A look of sudden comprehension appeared on Wash's face. "Garrus?" he guessed, his expression optimistic and confident.
Finally. We're getting somewhere. Garrus nodded enthusiastically.
"Garrus…" Wash said again, as if he was pondering the name. "Well, Garrus, nice to-"
"Well, well, look who's finally awake!" another male voice interrupted enthusiastically as someone clad in bright pink armor entered with a flourish while simultaneously balancing two objects on a scrap piece of metal. "How's our patient, Doc?" the newcomer inquired as he set down the objects, which, upon closer inspection, appeared to be a canteen and a ration bar.
Garrus looked over at Wash, who seemed to be developing an uncanny knack for discerning turian confusion.
"This is…Donut," Wash answered with a pause, and from his tone, Garrus detected that there was great deal more to this newcomer than what could be explained in a few sentences. "Any updates from Carolina?"
"None, really…I just figured I'd see if our new visitor was feeling up to breakfast!" Donut continued. Like his purple compatriot, he had not removed his helmet. "It's not much, but I boiled some water and convinced Sarge to give me one of his ration bars."
Garrus studied the makeshift tray in front of him. Water's probably safe, he reasoned as he brought the canteen up to his nose and cautiously sniffed it. He glanced at the ration bar, which was devoid of any turian or standard Citadel labeling that would have designated it as dextro-safe. This is when it sucks to be a galactic minority, he thought as his stomach grumbled.
"Want me to test it?" Wash offered as he held out his hand.
Garrus looked down at the canteen again briefly before shaking his head no. But I appreciate the offer. He looked directly into Donut's visor, raised the canteen in the pink soldier's direction, and proceeded to down it in one gulp. If it's poisoned, at least it was refreshing, he thought as he set it back down.
"Aww, I think he just tried to make a toast to me," Donut exclaimed in a tone similar to Shepard whenever she was watching Boo. "You know, I think Sarge might be actually be right about him-"
A worried expression instantly crossed Wash's face. "Which was?"
"That anyone who took down four members of Blue team is automatically a friend of the Reds," a deeper voice interjected as a figure "Name's Sarge, friend," the red figure said by way of introduction. "This Blue treatin' you in accordance with the Gin-E-Va conventions."
Gin Eeva conventions? Garrus tilted his head to the side to express his puzzlement, but then he remembered reading about them when researching the history of the Normandy's name: it was a convention held by the humans shortly after Earth's second "World War" back in 1949. Strange he's asking about conventions developed nearly 200 years ago, though. Garrus nodded affirmatively, in hopes that he could somehow capitalize on this human's already warm affections towards him.
"Good to hear," Sarge answered gruffly before he directed his attention at the pink solider. "Donut, did the Blue's prisoner accept our peace offering?"
"He drank some of our water," Donut offered brightly.
The solider called Doc glanced down at the untouched ration bar. "Not hungry?" Doc inquired, concerned.
Garrus looked up and sighed dejectedly as his stomach quietly grumbled again. How do you explain dextro- and levo-safe food to a group that has little to no awareness of you species' name, much less DNA? He leaned over and racked his brain in an attempt to remember how to draw the model for levo- and dextro- molecules in the dirt, but the rustling of someone outside again made him pause.
"Uh, maybe our food might be toxic to his kind?" another voice interjected from just outside the door.
Finally, we're getting somewhere! Garrus looked up brightly and motioned in the direction of the voice, his head nodding animatedly.
"Looks like he agrees with you, Simmons," Wash said out as a figure in maroon armor entered, and who now held the turian's full attention. "Should've thought of that myself," he added quietly to himself.
"Don't beat yourself up too much, Wash," Simmons said. "Tucker and I spent a good bit of time researching Sangheilli diets when we were trying to figure out what sort of foods were safe for Junior." Simmons turned to address Garrus. "However, I'm pretty sure Gary-"
"-Garrus-" Wash offered in what sounded like an attempt to teach the group Garrus' actual name.
"-sorry, Garrus here," Simmons corrected himself mid-sentence, "-isn't a member of any known alien species," he finished.
Garrus froze in momentarily disbelief at what he would have considered a translator malfunction if had occurred at any other time. Not a "known alien species?" Who are these people, and what hole have they been living in since 314?!
####
"Anything?" Carolina asked, her legs dangling down from the tree branch as the pair surveyed the surrounding area from the treetops. (Carolina had used her grappling hook to pull them up to an elevated position while the rest of the simulation troopers kept watch from the center of camp.) Besides giving Carolina a better view of the area, it also provided a much-needed break away from Caboose, who had pestered him nonstop regarding Gary.
"Heard it again," Epsilon answered as he appeared on her HUD. From their current position, they had spotted what looked like the wreckage of a larger spacecraft atop a distant cliff, the white exterior shining brightly in the morning sunlight.
"Same phrase?"
"Yup," Epsilon answered. "And I don't think they're random space transmissions either."
Carolina sighed. "Which means Wash was actually right," she said as she looked in the direction of the cliffs again. And we're probably outnumbered, she thought, afraid to speak the words aloud even in their secluded setting. (Carolina had argued that the ship could have crashed years ago, but smoke from a small bonfire outside of the ship told them otherwise.) "Damn it," she finished quietly.
"Have you actually looked at that sniper rifle?" Epsilon said as he motioned to the black object currently suspended on the back of Carolina's armor. "If his friends have more of these-"
"I KNOW," Carolina cut him off. "Just…"
Epsilon paused. "We need to talk about what happened in there," he began, referring to the event that had just transpired between her, Gary, and Wash: Gary attempting to attack Wash, Carolina pulling the alien's own knife on his throat, Wash laying hands on her, the shock of which prevented her from actually responding in her usual manner-
"No," she answered curtly, as she tried to force herself to think of something other than the fact that a fellow Freelancer had not only physically restrained her, and that the shock of Wash's hands on her arm had rendered her not only speechless, but-
She might actually have feelings for him, Epsilon had reasoned privately to himself. (While it was nearly impossible for Carolina to keep her thoughts private from him, AIs could easily keep theirs from their Freelancers, provided they kept them encrypted and brief.) And since the last person capable of pulling that sort of knife work off died at the hands of South-
"You nearly slit that guy's throat open, C," Epsilon gently reminded her, fully aware that further inquiries into her romantic life were unwise and not their current highest survival priority. "If he's got friends coming, I'm pretty sure you're already on his shit list."
"Well, we already know they're coming because of this," she said as she pulled the object she'd quickly concealed in her chest storage: a silver-and-blue visor that had not only been emitting the occasional radio transmission, but also had a display with continuously scrolling alien characters. "Too bad we can't figure out what these characters mean."
Epsilon groaned. "Hey, I've ran that against every single known Covenant species language database at least twice, and I'm telling you, he's not Covenant, nor is he something we've encountered before."
"Which means-"
"Well, you've violated at least a dozen first contact protocols with your little stunt down there-"
"You think I actually care?"
No, you don't, because you're doing exactly what your father did: you let your emotions get in the way, and confronted with the possibility of losing someone you love, you lost your composure, just like when you tried to run two AI fragments at the same time and the Director blurted out your mother's name. "Okay, you may not remember what happened out the jungle, but you might have failed to notice that he only stunned Tucker and Caboose prior to your attack."
Before Carolina had a chance to reply, the visor's radio system crackled to life again, which instantly perked Carolina's attention.
"¿Tú con muchos?" a male voice inquired.
"Same voice?"
"Yup," Epsilon answered quickly.
A pause. "Sin frenos," the female voice said as a light blue object fluttered briefly above the tree line before quickly dropping below it again, but not before Carolina whipped out her plasma rifle and fired off a few shots.
Aaaaaaand we're being attacked…again, Epsilon said as he dedicated all of his remaining processes to Carolina's HUD, motion detectors, and other various combat functionalities of her suit. Just. Fucking. Fantastic-
"Damn it!" Carolina cursed as her shot failed to connect with the unknown unknown object. "Epsilon, report!" Carolina said as she began to scan the surrounding areas.
Four dots appeared on the heat sensors. "Movement, four o'clock, coming from the direction of that stream-" Epsilon said he turned on Carolina's active camouflage as Carolina aimed her grapping hook at another tree-
####
After an additional two canteens of water, Garrus' feelings towards his captors had warmed considerably, even despite their attempts to extract more sensitive information regarding the Normandy out him via a game the humans called "Twenty Questions." I mean, I'm technically the only one of my kind on this planet, and no, we don't want to go to war with the humans…again, he'd reasoned as he turned his attention back to Simmons, who had, thus far, asked the most intelligent questions of the group. (At least, intelligent for what Garrus had quickly realized what was essentially a first contact situation for this group.)
"Okay, next question," Sarge asked as he shoved Simmons roughly aside. "When assaulting enemy forces: shotgun or assault rifle?"
"That's not a yes or no question, Sarge," Simmons reminded the red solider.
Neither, Garrus thought.
"Sniper rifle," Wash cut in.
Garrus tilted his head to the side and gave Wash a curious look as he flicked his mandibles. How'd he figure that out?
"When you…took aim at Carolina," Wash answered hesitantly. "You looked like you've done it countless times before."
Garrus glanced down at his right shoulder and shrugged it once before looking back at Wash, whose face now bore a curious expression that resembled a mix of guilt and sadness. He regrets what happened out there, Garrus reasoned.
Sarge, oblivious to the rest of the situation, grunted in approval. "Reds could use a good sniper on the team," he muttered quietly. "Simmons, I propose a vote to-"
"We've got company!" Carolina's voice crackled from Wash's helmet.
Wash glanced down at his helmet momentarily before glancing back up Garrus with A knowing look. "Rescue party?" he asked rhetorically.
Garrus nodded as he quickly ran through the possible combinations of rescue parties: A biotic, a tech expert, and a combat specialist…Tali's really the only remaining choice for tech, either Javik or Liara for a biotic, but Javik's an accomplished solider in his own right, so possibly Liara, Vega, and Tal-
On the periphery of Garrus' vision, a pink and purple drone burst through the door and turned it's attention towards the only un-helmeted member: Wash, who seemed momentarily stunned by the floating sphere's presence.
Oh crap, Tali's combat drone, Garrus thought as he leapt in front of Wash's unshielded head and raised his arms up defensively. "Tali, n-AHHHHGGGG!" Garrus cried out in pain as a bolt of electricity burst forthfrom the drone, momentarily paralyzing his entire body as two additional figures burst through the door as the red, maroon, and pink figures crashed on top of him-
####
Well, this isn't good, Wash thought as he quickly took stock of the situation: Donut, Sarge, and Simmons all moaning on the ground (with only him and Doc left upright) with two armored and well-armed humanoid figures with weapons leveled directly at Wash, one of which whose eyes seemed to glow eerily beneath her purple faceplate…and currently, those eyes were fixed directly at his uncovered head, while the moans of the Reds and Garrus rose from the ground in front of him.
"Garrus?" the other solider gasped with a feminine-sound British accent. "You're alive?"
Wash lowered his assault weapon. "Well, he was before that," he said, half-relieved, half-panicked as he glanced down at Garrus, who was (fortunately) still moving and making what sounded like pained vocalizations.
The purple figure moved her finger towards the trigger and said something in yet another unfamiliar language, which was followed by an equally undecipherable response from Garrus something in his own squawking vocals.
The purple figure lowered her shotgun, then quickly shifted it to her left hand before dropping her knees to assist her downed teammate, grasping his arms and almost whispering to him, with Garrus responding in kind. During their exchange, the purple one produced some sort of tool from her pockets and applying it to Garrus' shackles, which released with a loud click and a dull clank as the wrist and ankle ones fell to the ground in short order.
Well, that solves one problem, Wash thought as he quietly allowed himself a sigh of relief. (She'd kept the key to the shackles on her person, and based on their current situation, she did not seem likely to give it up anytime soon.)
"Um…we can't understand either of them…" Doc squeaked from his corner as he pointed to both the purple figure and Garrus, who was now getting to his feet with the help of Purple Helmet.
"Dr. Karin Chakwas, Alliance Navy," the British accent said briskly, her pistol still aimed directly Wash's head. "Lee Aura and Commander Williams, Mr. Vakarian," she said in response to what must have been a question from Garrus.
"Agent Washington, Freelancer," Wash replied in kind. "Listen, hate to be rude, but my partner is not going to take kindly to you-"
"Tali, report!" another female voice cut in.
The purple figure held her hand up to her head and replied incomprehensibly.
"He's alive?" the same voice retorted. "But his emergency transponder and vitals-"
Garrus leaned closer to the presumed alien in purple armor and said something into her radio. How the hell do they understand each other? Wash thought as watched, semi-awed.
Another feminine-sounding voice cut in with a softer tone. "You might want to re-calibrate that particular setting in the future," the voice said advised.
The solider who had introduced herself as "Dr. Chakwas" turned to face Wash. "How many of you, and where's the one carrying his visor?" the British accent inquired briskly.
Wash looked at Garrus, who had now retrieved his knife and was now holding it to his own throat in cold imitation of the scene that had played out only minutes ago-
Carolina-
####
"Son. Of. A. Bitch." Epsilon said as his processors went into overdrive at the chaos around him: Tucker and Grif had concealed themselves behind the non-salvageable parts of their crashed ship, weapons aimed at wherever they believed the shots and flying pieces of debris had come from.
"Where's Wash?" Carolina asked as she jumped down to a larger branch directly below her current position.
Epsilon scanned the Red's shelter for heat signatures. "Still inside Red base with three tangos, one of which being our friend Gary…and, oh, good news, at least the Reds in there are moving again," he added in an attempt to reassure her.
Carolina growled. "Damn it," she cursed quietly.
"He's faced worse odd, C," Epsilon said. Except that time he nuked Alpha in order to save his sorry ass-
"This is Agent Washington calling out to all remaining Reds, Blues, and Freelancers," Wash's steady voice cut in over the group radio channel." Carolina's heart rate dropped perceptibly. "Cease fire and return to the center of camp for further parley," he finished as his radio clicked off.
"Cease fire?" Carolina growled, her plasma rifle still aimed at the entrance to Red base.
"Carolina…wait," Epsilon said as Wash and an unshackled Gary emerged with two armored newcomers (presumably Gary's allies) followed by Simmons, Doc, Sarge, and Donut. In less than a nanosecond, Epsilon quickly assessed each one: the first, who emerged next directly next to Gary, wore primarily white-and-black armor with blue accents, a strange symbol that looked like three different-sized stars under an arch emblazoned on her upper left torso. Doesn't match any logo I've ever seen, he thought as he took notes on weapon, which appeared to be nothing more than a small pistol somewhat similar to what Gary had and was currently concealed on her left hip. Unlike the simulation trooper's armor, this armor had also been designed in such a way to reveal the natural figure of the wearer: in this case, this solider appeared to be female, based on the cut of the chest piece.
Most likely right-dominant, then, he said as he moved on to the second figure, who appeared radically different from the first in multiple ways: this one first clad in some form-fitting, purple and black armor with gold accents that suggested a feminine outline. Her head appeared hooded in the same purple material that was artfully wrapped about her body, and the only distinguishing feature about her face was the fact that it was concealed behind a violet faceplate/respirator combination. Like Gary, she also only had three visible fingers on each hand. Similar species? Epsilon reasoned to himself as he studied her weapons: a pistol-like weapon on her left hip and a larger, more powerful-looking weapon concealed within the small of her back.
Carolina quickly checked the arm compartment on her left arm, where Epsilon knew she had concealed the key to Gary's restraints. "Impossible…" she muttered quietly to herself as she holstered her plasma rifle and went for her grappling hook.
"Who knows what kind of tech they're carrying, C," Epsilon said. "So do me a favor and don't do anything stupid with that," he finished as he motioned towards her right hand, which still clutched at her plasma rifle.
Wash and the figure in blue and black armor leaned towards one another and looked up at the tree where Carolina had currently concealed herself.
Carolina involuntarily crouched down at the sudden focus of attention in her direction. "No…"
"That visor has a built in-tracking beacon set to go off when an ally is in range, boss," Wash's voice cut in over her radio as he continued to look directly up at her (concealed?) position. "They know exactly where you are right now, even with your active camo."
"Epsilon…" Carolina began angrily as Tucker rejoined Wash and the Reds.
"No freaking way, I ran multiple scans on it and it didn't so much as make a ping-"
"That particular tech uses a form of secondary encryption unique to his species," a confident female voice cut in. "Williams on your three, Gare Rus," she said as a violet-armored figure emerged from the jungle on the opposite side of the clearing from Carolina, the cut also suggesting a feminine outline. In her arms, however, she cradled a large weapon similar in build to the recovered one on Carolina's back, except this one was white. Looks powerful to produce the sniper shots we heard, Epsilon thought.
"Where's the third?" Carolina growled as she lowered herself to the ground, deactivated her active camo, and re-holstered her plasma rifle prior to approaching the central bonfire area.
"To your left," another voice cut in as another figure emerged from the left side of Carolina's vision field. While the other three seemed fairly well-armored and packing what appeared to heavy firepower, this one seemed clad in nothing more than white pants and a jacket, a small sidearm on her left hip. In addition to her lack of armor, another puzzling fact: her head was unprotected, which revealed light blue skin and what looked like tentacles plastered against her in place of hair. Oh boy, Tucker is going to lose his-
"Oh hell yeah, we're being invaded by hot alien chicks!" Tucker proclaimed excitedly as he popped out from behind the non-salvaged parts of the lifeboat ship they'd crashed in. "Dibs!"
"Seriously, Tucker?" Wash shouted from the center.
"Sarge already ask you to 'take him to your leader?'" Griff said as the pair approached the rest of the crew.
"You already have him," the light blue figure answered as she approached the group. "How is he, Dr. Chakwas?"
The figure in white and black armor now had their left arm encased in some sort of growing orange apparatus similar to what Gary had used on Wash and moved it up, down, and from side to side, then glanced at what Epsilon assumed was some sort of readout display. "Care to explain me how you sustained additional head trauma?" she said finally as the orange glow faded.
Gary said something briefly to which White & Black armor nodded to a few times before bringing her hand up to head and resting her chin on it. "Your mandibles shows evidence of a direct blow…" she began thoughtfully.
Oh great, he's gonna figure out you socked him- Epsilon said privately.
"We…uh…might have had a small misunderstanding when we first met," Wash began meekly. "You see, we thought he was an invading force-"
The purple figure who had introduced herself as Commander Williams cocked her head to one side in confusion. "Uh, not sure what rock you've been living under, solider," she began dismissively, "-but the First Contact War ended back in 2157-"
"Uh, more like 2525, and it's only getting better because Tucker and his kid turned out to pretty fucking good ambassadors," Epsilon shot back as he projected himself onto everyone's (except for Gary's, Faceplate's, Hot Alien Chic, and Williams') HUDs.
The four newcomers all looked around in confusion at the sound of Epsilon's voice before Garrus pointed directly at Carolina and made a comment.
"Did your voice just change?" Commander Williams asked suspiciously.
I don't think they can see you, Carolina thought privately.
Yeah, well, it's not for lack of trying, Epsilon answered. Whatever tech they have prevents me from attempting any sort of interfacing with the equipment…not to mention they've got some seriously robust firewalls, especially Faceplate-
At this, both the alien in white and Simmons glanced at each other momentarily before Simmons glanced at Carolina. "So…you two didn't happen to find a temporal distortion unit aboard that pirate ship?"
Epsilon looked down at the ground before muttering a barely decipherable curse. "Um…maybe," he mumbled. "At least, Caboose did before I jumped to his AI slot and tried to use-"
Even with their faces concealed, Epsilon knew everyone was shooting fierce glares and disproving looks at him as everyone except the four newcomers and Carolina chimed in with simultaneous "YOU DID WHAT?!" before he could finish his sentence.
"Church, you idiot, haven't we been burned enough by time travel?" Tucker exclaimed.
"You already died one because of it," Donut added.
Carolina crossed her arms and shifted her weight to one leg. "You do realize that Wyoming was advised to never use his during any sort of cosmic disturbance, right?" she said.
Oh, she must be pissed if she's gone straight to goading me in front of the others. "No, because that fact clearly slipped my freaking memory-"
"Pretty shitty memory for a memory to forget," Grif chimed in.
"Oh, burn!" Donut added.
"Fuck you, Reds -" Epsilon shot back.
Sarge stepped forward and brought himself face-to-face with Tucker. "Hey, no one insults Grif except me," Sarge said.
"Thank you, Sarge," Grif said.
"E-NOUGH!" Wash exploded, and everyone fell silent.
####
Is this another hallucination? Garrus thought as the four Normandy crew members regarded the multi-colored crew around them with various confused expressions. Granted, he'd had many a conversation with Joker regarding time travel, but actually encountering it was a bit much for him to process, even if he hadn't recently sustained additional head trauma-
"Wait, how is that even possible?" Commander Williams said as she looked at Liara with what Garrus assumed was a puzzled expression.
Liara looked at the maroon solider who Wash had introduced as Simmons. "I'm sure our new friends have a plausible explanation," she said finally.
"I do, actually," Simmons said confidently.
"Oh great, more nerd stuff," Tucker groaned.
"No one asked you, Bluetard," Sarge shot back. "Simmons, educate us."
"Thank you, Sarge," Simmons said as he turned to face the Normandy crew members, primarily Ash. "Miss-"
"It's 'Commander' Williams, actually," Ash corrected.
"Commander Williams," Simmons corrected himself. "Based on your confusion, is it safe to assume that time travel abilities don't exist in this universe's time line?"
"Our…what?" Ash said, half-confused, half in disbelief.
"Just go with it, Ash," Garrus advised as Dr. Chakwas repositioned directly to his side and continued her examination of his head. "And answer 'no.'" She clearly hasn't been audience to Joker and his science fiction ramblings, he thought to himself. (Joker had developed the habit of going into a long-winded science fiction rant whenever he and Garrus had attempted to verbally exchange information about wooing Shepard aboard the Normandy.)
Ash gave a frustrated groan. "Let's go with 'no,' then," she finally answered as she turned back to Simmons.
"Hmmm," Simmons said thoughtfully "Carolina," he continued as he addressed the sea green solider who was currently in possession of both his visor and rifle, "You said that Agent Wyoming was advised to never use his temporal distortion unit during cosmic activity, correct?"
"Correct," Carolina answered confidently. "The Director told us that our equipment was prone to EMP disturbance and advised us not to use too close to any source of electromagnetic activity-"
"Oh, so that's why everyone avoided fighting next to me," Wash said, his tone a mix of hurt and realization.
"No, you tended to attract cars, Wash," Carolina interjected. "Right before Epsilon jumped out of my AI slot-"
"Wait, she has a functioning AI?" Tali asked, half-panicked, half-confused. "That's impossible, EDI was-"
Garrus held a hand up at Tali. "Let them finish, Tali," he said, and Tali quietly, albeit reluctantly obeyed. Because I'm pretty sure they've only been in our universe as of last night-
"-as I was saying…" Carolina continued with Garrus assumed was a disgruntled look at Tali for her interruption, "Right before Epsilon jumped out of my AI slot, that giant red star we were near had a giant solar flare-"
"Oh boy," Wash said.
Garrus glanced at Liara, who was currently regarding Simmons with an interested expression, her chin resting on the knuckles of her closed fist. "So you're theorizing that this temporal distortion unit malfunctioned when it encountered an electromagnetic pulse from the red giant?" she said.
"Exactly!" Simmons finished excitedly. "And somehow we not only time-traveled, but ended up in a completely universe!"
"Well, we're actually all just from different parts of the Milky Way-" Ash began.
"You know, maybe we should actually go back and start with introductions, then?" Wash offered. "Like for example: "I'm Agent Washington, originally from Project Freelancer-"
"Oooh, ooh, can I go next?" Donut said excitedly, practically bouncing on the balls of his feet.
And so it went. In the next few minutes, Garrus learned not only the names and origin planets of the other multicolored soldiers around him, but was also able to have Ashley teach them Garrus' actual name, as well as his current rank within the Normandy's crew. (Advisor Vakarian, acting commander of the SSV Normandy.) However, she didn't elaborate on what had happened to Shepard. Not a nerve she wants to touch right now, he thought. Interestingly enough, Carolina seemed to regard Garrus a bit more respectfully after Ash began referring to him as the Normandy's commander and touched briefly upon his own military and police background.
"-and yeah, that's basically the entire crew," the voice of Epsilon finished. (Epsilon, it turned out was the AI fragment visible to the simulation troopers via HUD projection, and was primarily headquartered out of Carolina's armor.) "There's more, but it'd probably take me at least eight hours to explain it all-"
Tucker looked around. "Except for one…" he said, his tone slightly worried.
The rainbow-colored assortment of soldiers all looked at each other as an uneasy silence filled the air. "Caboose," Tucker, Wash, and the voice of Epsilon all said in unison.
"Alright, when's the last time anyone remembers seeing him?" Wash asked.
"Well, he was hanging out with me right before the shooting started-" Grif began.
"Think he ran off into the jungle?" Wash suggested as he looked over at where the jungle and clearing met.
"Dude, not this shit again!" Tucker groaned. "CAAAAAAAA-BOOOOOOOOOSE!" he called out in a random direction.
Behind Garrus, the sound of something stampeding through jungle branches caused him to turn around-
####
Where was he during all of this? Carolina asked as Caboose burst back onto the crash site, his armor covered in a mix of mud, branches, and leaves.
Epsilon replayed the Normandy crew's invasion in his head, and realized that Caboose had been completely absent. Don't know, but I think we've got company coming, he answered back.
"Caboose, what the fuck did you piss off out there?" Epsilon shouted as the sound of angry snorting and squealing grew steadily louder behind him.
"Tucker did it," Caboose answered nonchalantly as he came to an abrupt stop in front of everyone.
"Bullshit," Tucker fired back.
The four Normandy crew members reached for their weapons. "Multiple heat signatures approaching," Ashley said as she reached for her sniper rifle again, which was actually one of three weapons she had been carrying on her person.
"Yeah, I noticed," Epsilon said as the red glow around Carolina's HUD grew steadily brighter and denser, signifying approaching unknown tangos.
Garrus said something in his own language again before tapping his left temple twice and holding his hand out towards Carolina and Epsilon.
Oh great, we're about to be invaded by more bullshit and now he's-
Dr. Chakwas obligingly translated for him. "Mr. Vakarian is politely requesting that you return his visor-"
Carolina reached into her chest pocket, which contained the object she'd removed from Garrus' face upon their arrival back at camp: the silver metal-and-glass visor that still maintained continuous lines of foreign alien characters, "-and his sniper rifle?" she finished as she handed him the visor, which he promptly took and resettled on the left side of his head. As he did so, Carolina reached behind her back and brought the sniper rifle.
Not gonna lie, kinda looking forward to seeing this in action, Carolina thought privately as she offered the elegant black weapon over to Garrus, whose one fully visible eye almost lit up at the sight of re-acquiring the heavy weapon.
Garrus' mandibles flicked as he nodded his head and muttered something else as soon as his left eye was behind the visor again, and whatever it was, his left eye tracked multiple lines of scrolling text before he opened his mouth and muttered a few more unintelligible phrases.
"Those wild boars?" Liara asked.
Garrus nodded and pointed in multiple different directions.
"Guessing they aren't friendly? " Wash ventured as he glanced briefly around him as he reached back for own assault rifle.
Another confirmatory nod from Garrus, who turned and addressed his team with a few more words.
The black and white armored British doctor turned to Doc. "He wants us protected in the middle, it seems," she answered. "Very well, Mr. Vakarian, if you insist," she said as she proceeded to the center.
"Oh good, because he's pretty much useless in a fight anyway," Epsilon said as Ashley, Tali, Liara, and Garrus spread out to give the rest of the Reds and Blues space to take up positions between them.
Garrus said something while pointing at Wash and Carolina with both of his talon-like fingers.
"He'll defer to your judgment on the placement of the rest of your crew," Ashley said to Wash and Carolina.
Wash looked over at Carolina and Epsilon. "Well, at least it's not a hundred versions of Tex, right?" he joked.
"Says the asshole who stole my armor and painted racing stripes on it," Epsilon retorted quickly before turning to address the rest of the Reds and Blues. "Alright, Tucker and Grif, get between Ashley and Tali-"
"Really?" Carolina said quietly.
"Oh, I'll do more than just 'get between,'" Tucker said as his sword appeared in a flash while and Grif produced his beloved "Grifshot" from almost nowhere. "Bow chicka wow-wow!"
"Dude, seriously?" Grif groaned as he settled into the wide-legged stance he usually preferred when firing the heavy weapon.
"Tucker-" Wash said warningly.
"-Sarge and Simmons," Epsilon continued, his voice louder now, "Between Tali and Garrus."
"Honor to fight beside you, solider," Sarge said to Garrus as he cocked his shotgun. "Leave some for me, will ya?"
Liara chuckled slightly; a soft, almost musical sound as both Garrus and Tali briefly exchanged words.
"What's so funny?" Simmons asked as he shouldered his rocket launcher.
"They answered, 'You're on,'" Liara answered.
"Alright, that leaves Wash and Carolina between Garrus and Liara-"
Carolina and Wash wordlessly took up their positions between said aliens, with Carolina next to Liara and Wash between her and Garrus.
"Donut, you and Caboose stay between Liara and Ashley,"
"Aye, aye, sir!" Donut said with an animated salute. "Come on, Caboose, you're gonna hang out with me for a bit!" he said cheerily as he snatched a pair grenade off his belt and clutched it between his fingers, his arm raised and ready to throw.
"Okay," Caboose said agreeably.
His weapon's still unloaded, right? Carolina asked.
Far as I know, yes, Epsilon replied as at least fifty boar-pig creatures emerged headfirst from the jungle, their vocalizations somewhere between growls and snorts.
"Well, this looks bad," Wash said.
####
At least we now know they hunt in packs, Garrus thought as he clutched his Widow a bit more tightly as at least thirty of the boars emerged into his direct line of sight. "How many on your side, Ash?"
"At least forty," Ash replied calmly as Garrus heard a series of clicks from her general direction, which signified that she had chosen to collapse her Widow and switch to her assault rifle. Too many to wait to reload, he thought.
"Yeah, 'bout the same over here," Wash added in a tone a few octaves above his usual tone as some of the boars opened up their tight circle to allow for the appearance of a much larger and fiercer-looking boar whose tusks were dripping with a brightly-colored orange liquid.
"I'd be mindful of those tusks," Liara said causally.
And that orange stuff, Garrus thought as met the boar's gaze, and it suddenly occurred to him that he'd vastly underestimated this species' intelligence. I've been killing their scouts, Garrus realized as he quickly reflected on his past kills. And they clearly can't climb rocks, or otherwise they would have come for the Normandy's crew already.
"Why aren't they moving?" Simmons asked as the circle of boars continued to grunt and snort amongst themselves.
"They think they have us surrounded," Garrus answered, which was followed by a quick translation from Liara for the rest of the group.
"Well, they kinda do!" Grif exclaimed nervously.
The presumed orange-tusked alpha board turned to the boars on his left and right and made a few short snorts in rapid succession, which each boar beside it responded to with an affirmative grunt. As it finished speaking, a faintly bitter smell filled the air. Pheromones…they're communicating with pheromones-
He'll be the last to attack, Garrus thought. "They're going to attack in waves," Garrus announced. "Don't attack until a group comes towards you," he added as Ash translated again.
"You sure about that?" Carolina asked.
"Not the first time we've been surrounded by hostile enemies," Ashley answered confidently as her safety clicked off.
And I have a feeling it won't be the last, Garrus said as a trio boars suddenly broke into the circle and towards Carolina-
####
In the time everyone else took to blink, and cock their weapons, Carolina and Garrus had already fired off three rounds between the pair and dropped all three of said boars dead in their tracks.
Carolina and Garrus briefly turned to look at each other before they exchanged wordless nods. Well, looks like you two found a common language, Epsilon thought as they both turned back towards the boar.
"Don't let them break through," Carolina commanded.
Somewhere behind them, Donut called out "Two points, you dirty whooooorres,"
Wash's rapid burst-fire paused for a moment as he looked over his right shoulder, and Epsilon focused his attention on Donut. What both he and Wash suspected had just happened was confirmed: "Donut, did you seriously just use sticky grenades?" Wash exclaimed as the two boars shot puzzled looks at the brightly smoking objects that were now attached to their hides.
Garrus turned to look over in Donut's direction, and quickly growled something.
"On it," Liara responded as she raised her entire body began to glow with felt like bright blue electricity. She made a motion with her arm, and suddenly a dark violet-black ball of energy materialized between the two boards who were still sniffing at each other's newly affixed grenades.
"Oooo…pretty," Caboose said, his attention still focused on Liara.
As the energy ball grew to the size of a human head, it seemed to create it's own gravitational pull as it lifted every boar within a three-meter radius off the ground and sent both grenade-bearing boars and a few of their friends flying helplessly through the air.
"What the hell is that?" Wash asked as he looked to his side and seemed momentarily startled by the unknown power that the light blue alien had seemingly conjured up out of nowhere.
"Singularity!" Liara answered, her attention focused on the grenade-afflicted boars. "Creates an unstable gravitational field that captures anything around it for a few seconds-"
That could be useful, Carolina said between shots.
You're telling me, Epsilon answered as the grenades detonated as Carolina raised her arm up to protect her faceplate from soon-to-be lying chunks of flesh. Surprisingly, the same glowing ball to seemingly detonate as well, sending shock waves and chunks of boar out and away from the epicenter, which had the added benefit of sending any of the other surrounding boars scurrying away in a confused frenzy.
"Whoa, cool!" Tucker shouted from somewhere behind him as the sound of an exploding Grifshot round taking out a few boars, as well as portions of the surrounding trees.
Donut looked over at Liara. "You thinking what I'm thinking?" Donut asked as he produced another two sticky grenades, his finger poised over the arming button.
Liara smiled as she raised her arm again and pointed at another portion of the circle where the boars seemed to be contemplating their next plan. "Ready when you are," she answered, her body aglow with same blue static energy again.
Donut whistled loudly at the ground directly in front of Tucker and Griff. "This little piggy went to market-" Donut said as he depressed the arming button and tossed the grenades up in a perfect parabolic arc, where they landed right on the ends of one boar's nose. As the grenades connected, Liara's ball of energy materialized right above the creature's back and began to create the same unstable gravitational field as the first.
"This little piggy did-not," Simmons added, pausing for a moment as he momentarily absorbed the recoil from his rocket launcher. Seconds later, another explosion rocked the jungle and wiped out another good-sized group of boars.
"This-little-piggy-is-roast-beef-" Sarge said between shotgun blasts as each slug connected with and halted a different animal-
"-and these little piggies-" Ashley broke it pleasantly as a line of boars dropped dead in their tracks-
"Are done!" Liara finished as she made a motion with her arm, which caused the energy ball and grenade to simultaneously detonate as everyone quickly raised one arm to cover their visors.
"Dude, we are kicking ass!" Epsilon exclaimed as the red dots that had once surrounded them dropped off his tracker in droves.
"Hell yeah we are!" Tucker said.
Tali trilled something, and even though no one understood it, Sarge answered with a "No thanks to Team Shotgun here!" In response, Tali let out what sounded like a series of small chuckles.
This force is practically half our size, but they've taken nearly half of these boars out already, Epsilon said privately to Carolina.
Let me guess, Carolina answered back as she picked another two targets. Wash and I have a quarter, followed by the rest of the sim troopers?
Pretty much…and that's with the blue chick's help, Epsilon answered as Donut lobbed an additional grenade, which was followed by a burst of energy that appeared to knock the boar back into the jungle.
That's a new move, Carolina commented as the grenade detonated just out of sight. (The trees reduced much of the splatter from the resultant explosion.)
Epsilon took a moment to review Liara's motions: the motion she'd used to knock the pigs backwards was different than the one that had summoned the energy ball, but her body had maintained the same light glow throughout each one. Some kind of telekinesis? Epsilon offered as the alpha male made a series of short, barking grunts that made the rest of the boars look up and over in the alpha male's direction.
One way to find out, Carolina said as both she and Epsilon focused their attention on the alpha. "Hey T'Soni!" she called out, which had the intended effect of grabbing the pale blue alien's attention. "Any idea what it's trying to do?" she asked as she was joined by Ashley and Tali.
Liara turned and narrowed her eyes at the alpha male. "Looks like they might be trying to regroup," she suggested as her blue glow momentarily subsided and the ten or so remaining boars began to form a protective circle around the alpha.
Garrus said something indecipherable, which caused the entirety of the Normandy crew to stifle chuckles as Garrus grumbled something under his breath.
"Might have phrased that differently there, Mr. Vakarian," Dr. Chakwas said with a laugh.
"What's the plan, Normandy?" Wash asked as he reloaded a fresh clip into his assault rifle, clearly oblivious (or possibly ignoring) the fact that said crew was currently enjoying a good laugh at their leader's expense.
Carolina looked over at Ashley, who was in the middle of switching to her sniper rifle. "Reds and Blues, we need you to focus your fire on the group surrounding the big guy," she instructed. "When Garrus gives the signal, we need you to empty everything you have into them!"
"Tucker, Wash, keep an eye on our six," Epsilon added.
"Can do," Wash replied as he darted over to join Tucker and Caboose, the later of which was currently making "pew pew" noises while aiming his weapon at random trees.
His weapon is still empty, correct? Carolina answered
Yes. Tucker routinely checks it because he doesn't want be the next casualty of Blue team, Epsilon answered.
"Garrus instructions were, and I quote-" -Liara paused as she motioned towards Ashley, Tali, and Carolina- "You ladies can finish off the big one."
A pause from the rest of the group before Tucker broke the silence. "Bow chicka wow wow?" he said, which triggered a series of laughs and groans from the rest of the simulation troopers.
Another unintelligible grumble and comment from Garrus, which only made the Normandy crew laugh harder.
Donut pranced over next to Garrus and clapped his hand around Garrus' rather broad shoulders. "Don't worry, Garrus, the Reds and I are experts at finishing off large groups of-"
"Do not finish that sentence, Donut," Grif interrupted as he switched to an assault rifle and knelt down directly in front of Simmons, who was now standing behind Grif with his rocket launcher.
"On you order, Mr. Carion," Sarge said as he racked his shotgun loudly and knelt down in front of Garrus as the boars began to growl and snort loudly at the multicolored line in front of them.
####
You know, perhaps I was wrong about these guys, Garrus thought as the red, maroon, orange, and pink soldiers formed up around him. Grif and Simmons (who had switched back to assault rifles) had taken up positions on either side of him, while Donut had positioned himself between the Reds and the women, with Sarge, Wash, and Carolina all quickly barking out instructions to their respective groups.
"Are they…talking?" Grif asked, his tone confused as the snorts continued and the
"Probably trying to decide which of us looks easiest to kill first," Sarge answered casually. "Personally, I'd go for Donut!"
Based on his ability to land a grenade, I wouldn't blame them, Garrus thought as he raised his rifle back up and took aim at the boar in the middle of the group.
Donut nervously glanced over at the Reds. "Uh…I think they heard you!" Donut squeaked as he debated taking a step back. Sure enough, the pack appeared to turn the focus toward him, with Garrus' chosen target practically drooling as it took two steps towards Donut, while the other two halves of the group began to eye both Garrus' and Carolina's group with increased interest.
Divide and conquer…damn, these animals were far more intelligent than I gave them credit for. Garrus thought as he silently rehearsed the Standard English phrase he needed before checking his visor for wind correction, then adjusted his Widow accordingly. "Weapons free!" Garrus ordered, and in an instant, gunfire erupted around him as the pack lunged forward-
####
A/N: Writer's block is a bitch, I suck at writing gunfight scenes, and rewrites reveal still use the wordy style I used when completing my BSN, but I was able to carve out a decent amount of writing time between both the nursing and the snowboard instructing jobs. The meeting of the RvB and Mass Effect crews deserved my best creative efforts!