Comms officer of SSV Manila reported Cherenkov radiation to their Commander, who had put the whole ship on yellow alert. Everyone was already quite tense due to their situation (though some were arguably more excited than tense)… Soon, a voice communication hail was sent from the radiation source:
"This is SSV Horizon to SSV Manila reporting friendly presence from your vector seven dash eight-one dash three-five-four approaching at zero-point five one c with vector zero dash one zero dash one zero. Captain Jackson requests a QEC link with you."
Hearing this, Comms Officer relaxed, and so did his Commander.
"Put me through"
A young man (for Captain, that is) appeared on their galactic map. The Commander was somewhat surprised at the man's youthful complexion, but he quickly gave a salute. The man returned it.
"Hello Commander Hong. How's the Threshold?"
"Rather quiet sir, except for the single anomaly we've detected for quite some time now."
"Yes, you've requested a battle-ready ship to assist. Please elaborate."
"Of course, sir. As part of our mission, we are required to scan and monitor the Eezo Trio's surfaces at regular intervals. Recently, we've found a significant increase in the surface temperature of Israfil in specific points, from the average one hundred and four five kelvin to two hundred kelvin. We suspect flash mining, since there were similar behaviours before by pirates. However, the scale is much larger this time. We have contacted the Quarians near Farlas, who has put their ships on alert."
"I see. And the reason you required a ground team is?"
"Currently all the probes we have sent to the actual hot zones died before getting there, so we suspect at least some kind of ground resistance. Unfortunately, we are not equipped for planetary combat, and orbital strikes are not possible due to regulations."
Hong noticed a small smirk on the Captain's face regarding the last comment.
"Acknowledged. We'll go in and have a look. Remain in radio contact with us."
Jackson cut the connection made his way down a flight of stairs to the hanger, where he had told the combat crew to assemble. They stood in line, patiently waiting for orders.
"You're all here, good. As you have guessed, this is a ground operation, seeking a cause for a disruption in temperatures. It's a search mission, so all hands on deck. Our job is to report anything unusual on the surface of that planet. Ghanovan, Davies, you're on the pilot's seat of the Kodiaks. I want you both to scan the surface once you drop us off. Fireteam Zeal will take the Mako and patrol the area. Hemingway! You're Zulu One. Expect hostiles. Use of lethal rounds is permitted. If you go black due to unforeseen circumstances, someone's going to get to you, so stay put. Consider this as EVA. Alli, you'll be leading Fireteam Fervour and investigate Alpha site. You are Foxtrot One. Kisa, Kem and Nekros, you're with me. I want to see how you perform. We, Fireteam Ardour will investigate Beta site. I'll be Alfa-One. Operation starts in fifteen. I've sent you everything else omni-tools. Any burning questions?"
"No, sir!"
"Then move!"
All of the sixteen combat crew scattered, gathering their weapons, armour and whatever else they took to battle.
...
Captain Jackson had haunted Kem from the day since his arrival. Every time he saw the man, he felt some weird sense of déjà vu, as if he had seen him before. Perhaps they met on the street?
On the field however, Kem didn't feel that way. Instead of a nagging sixth sense, he felt fear.
I know why.
Everyone had a special way of walking. As a Quarian, he learnt how to read someone's body language and analyse a person just by looking at their gait. It was a part of his species' lives, but it came quite handy when working with the aliens. For example, Captain Liam Jackson's body expressed confidence, power and passion with traces of sadness, tragedy and secrecy. He was a man who struggled with his past, had hopes for the future, and felt responsible for something larger than himself. That was who that man was… until he put the helmet on. After that, there was nothing.
Every step was calculated. Every word was minimised. Every action was done with brutal efficiency.
He is not alive under that visor.
The machine, clad in black, stood motionless behind him. Kem couldn't tell if it was looking at him work or scanning the field in front of him. In fact, he wasn't sure if it had eyes other than the glowing red piece of crystal that covered the front of the helmet.
I shouldn't think like this to a Captain but… what is he?
He had heard of a human mythology creature called the Grim Reaper, which many described as a hooded, skeletal figure with a large blade. He wondered if the being behind him was the true form of the Grim Reaper.
His mask beeped, signalling that the dirt analyser had found nothing.
They had arrived at their designated place ten minutes earlier, which indeed showed signs of flash mining. Large, square blocks of eezo-rich soil had been hacked out of the rock, creating an unnatural crater at various places. Kem had setup a scanning drone and attempted to find clues for the culprit, but it returned empty-handed. Now, even the dirt analyser failed. He sighed.
"Nothing?" Nekros called out from the top left side of the crater.
"No."
Kisa (who had been guarding their back) came over towards him and helped him to pack the equipment. He like the Asaris, mainly because they usually treated Quarians with respect. The Soracs were no exception. They, using biotics to move most of the tools, quickly stuffed everything into the large buggy that served as their weight carrier.
The black machine walked towards the edge of the crater, opening its omni-tool. Its red visor flashed in the orange light. After a few mechanic swipes, the machine turned off its omni-tool again.
Jackson spoke through the comms "Alpha negative. Beta negative. Foxtrot-"
"Alfa-One, this is Kodiak Two. I think I saw something near Delta site. I can't be too sure, but it looks like some kind of mobile outpost. I'm at the geo-coordinates 89.72 East 1.23.3 North." Ghanovan's static-filled voice interrupted. That Batarian was weird, absolutely destroying her species' stereotype. The very fact that she came out of the Batarian systems was surprising from the start. Although she remained quite suspicious and weary of everyone, Ghanovan turned out to be quite cooperative at most jobs, especially when it came down to managing her new Kodiak.
"Acknowledged. All squads, converge on given Geo-coordinates. Zulu One, pick up Foxtrot."
"Aye, aye sir. We'll be arriving shortly." Operations Chief Gage Hemmingway answered. His deep voice were a little difficult to hear over the comms.
"Kodiak One, pick us up. Arrive in ten."
"Aye, aye." Davies's voice replied. The Horizon's co-pilot actually turned out to be a fighter pilot too, volunteering to take helm of the Kodiaks that arrived from Omega. There were few problems with the Kodiak, especially with the modifications, but he and his sister managed to fix it up in no time.
Kem paced the site, trying to find any clues himself. It was rare that anybody got away so clean, yet here it was, one of the most mysterious flash-mining he had ever seen. Even when the Kodiak arrived, he found nothing. Disappointed, he entered the drop ship.
Inside, the baggage-buggy was neatly folded at the side, with Nekros sitting next to it. Kisa sat on the empty chair in the middle of the ship. The man in black armour stood, arms straight down his sides, near the door. Kem took the seat next to Nekros, who nodded somewhat nervously; he too was disturbed by the Captain.
The door hissed to a close and the room quickly filled up with air. All metallic surfaces formed little ice crystals by coming into contact with breathable air, but the outside conditions weren't cold enough form lethal frosts. Kem felt a slight jerk as the Kodiak took off.
"Found nothin'?" Davies asked through the closed cockpit door.
"Except for a quarry, no." Captain Jackson said as he took off his helmet. Kem was surprised at the sudden change… within less than a second, the man had returned to his former self. Captain Jackson sat down nearest to the door, watching the surface through the window. "That was a helluva clean job, whoever did that."
Nekros took his helmet off and looked wide-eyed at Captain Jackson, reflecting Kem's feelings through his expression. They both looked at Sorac for some sort of explanation, but she just gave a knowing shrug. Her body language was clear – "that just him."
"When are we arriving at the RZ?"
What's RZ? His helmet tried to find a translation, but failed. Probably some human military term… He should really download the Human Military Language Pack once he got back to the ship.
"Um… what's RZ?" He asked.
"RZ's a short term for rendezvous. It's out of use now, but I like old words." Captain Jackson replied.
"We'll be arriving in seven sir, unless if you want to cruise."
"Cruising? I should teach you a thing or two about learning to manage your time."
"No need sir! Just checking to make sure you we're feeling drowsy. You didn't sleep last night."
Kem remembered that too – the Captain hadn't slept for the past sixteen hours. Normally, crewmen on a ship of this size slept four hours per half-a-day, evenly spreading their sleeping time. That meant that Captain Jackson hadn't slept for at a day… and perhaps more. Kisa seemed a little worried at the comment, while Nekros seemed impressed.
"How do you know that?" Captain Jackson asked though he seem to know the answer before it came.
"Sir, it's pretty obvious when you come out every damn hour to check the Galaxy Map."
"Well Davies, your driving was horrifying. Of course I had to check you were going the right way… Perhaps you should learn to cruise after all."
Davies laughed, his merriness ringing through the door. "Will improve, sir."
…
Thea watched the second Kodiak arrive, almost eager to see Jackson. She wondered what Kisa had meant by "he is a demon in combat".
As soon as the door opened, she saw why – there stood the machine of war, tuned only to kill. He walked mechanically out, his visor glowing in red. Kisa, Kem and Nekros walked out uneasily behind him.
"Aerial map?" Jackson asked, his voice cold and emotionless.
"Can't get it. Too much static and it's too dangerous to fly close to the enemy. We've got some visual though." Alexander replied. The decade-long sniper didn't talk much on field, and any comments he made were quite pointed. However, he was a trustworthy soldier, and his mere presence meant safety. "The Quarians might recognise these."
He brought up a number of images taken with his sniper's scope. They depicted small, disk-like bunkers at various locations around the dig site. Some showed a triangular turret. One showed a humanoid figure, carrying weapons and having a distinct flashlight head.
"Geth." Shema whispered.
Gage nodded. "The robots are here. They move far."
"But how…? Why?" Kem asked.
"Same question that everybody's asking." Alexander replied, shutting down the omni-tool. "We've got three bunkers that are heavily fortified. One on top of each hill, and another at the entrance to the dig site. There are couple of turrets and two AA batteries. On top of that, there are couple of Geth troopers patrolling in and out of the whole complex. There are three ways – the front, where the Fervour team should strike, the right ridge, where Zeal should take out a bunker, and the back path where Ardour should infiltrate into."
Nekros joined in "Once the AA guns are down – we'll handle that – the Kodiaks can take out the last bunker."
Others murmured in agreement. Thea was impressed – everyone was capable and quick, noting all the subtleties on the field and formulating a smooth plan. This was the first time in her long life where she was satisfied with a combat plan that she didn't make.
Jackson… or at least his armour, gave a cut nod.
"Execute in three. End in fifteen. Move."