Fifteen…

Nekros vaulted over a boulder, landing hard on his right leg. Though it hurt, he thanked his armour for recreating gravity… without it, he would still be floating casually down in the clear view of the enemy. Needless to say, that would be bad.

Thirteen…

He crept even further, bending down low. The boulders would provide him with the necessary cover. Making noise wasn't a worry – there was no sound on Israfil, only radio communications. He checked the firing mode on his gun – Maximum (Illegal).

Ten…

His eyes darted around the various figures on his helmet. Everything was good. He repositioned his gun against his shoulder, connecting the sights with his helmet's visor.

Seven…

All the dots finally turned green. They were in position and ready to engage. He eyed the four nearest Geth.

Four…

Nekros' finger wrapped firmly around the trigger of the Typhoon.

One.

There wasn't a satisfying staccato or a roar of gunfire, just the wild recoil of the powerful gun. But that didn't make his weapon no less lethal. The four Geth troopers stood no chance. Their shields flared, flickered and then died, their bodies disintegrating under the torrent of bullets, their parts falling slow-motion towards the ground.

It felt weird to have a gunfight without sound. He felt deaf, unable to find where the enemy was. But if there was one thing that his training told him was – if he couldn't then neither could they.

The Geth troopers nearby were immediately on alert, their guns pointed in his general direction. But they were clearly confused and unsure of his location.

He squeezed the trigger again, staggering the shots to deal with the recoil. Even with the burst fires, the gun struggled under his grip, as if it was a wild animal trying to jump out of a trap.

No animal escapes the hunter.

A Rocket trooper finally spotted him, and the small fireteam unleashed a salvo at his position. But they couldn't do him much harm, soon falling to his Typhoon.

I am the hunter.

Smiling, Nekros ran forward, jumping into cover once more.

…

Kisa, though technically a "combat personnel", never considered herself as a fighter. Sure she could fire a gun, but even during her time as a Sorceress, she never became an elite soldier (though many of her friends praised her bravery and biotics). Thea handled most of the shooting, with herself mainly providing covering fire. She preferred the more "civilised" combat – information warfare. However, after joining Liam, her lack of military prowess was even more highlighted, especially with the horrendous PT training.

Her role wasn't all that clear in this group of elites… Nekros did the "cover fire" bit, Kem and Shema did the "hacking" bit, and everyone else handled the "killing" bit. What could she do?

Do whatever you can, whenever you can. Her mother used to say.

Right now, that meant doing what everyone else was doing – cover firing, hacking enemy shields and killing anything she could. So that's what she just did, using her SMG to keep the enemies at bay. But she couldn't help but to be distracted by Liam. By now, she got used to his mechanic style on field, and from the safety of her barriers, she could admire his "dance".

Liam was tantalisingly lethal. The small flick he did with his elbow every time he launched a biotic power, the patterned sidestep he took every time he switched his weapons, the way the he tucked his knees below him right after a charge, and the perfect roll he performed to move fluidly into cover… he was the blood dancer of Athame. And she saw his message unfold, piece by piece, bullet by bullet.

Kisa flinched as her barriers flared, and ducked into cover. Losing shields right now meant immediate death – the lack of atmospheric pressure might make her head explode. She regretted having never bought a hard suit, but it was too late now. She looked down at her omni-tool, which had finally loaded the geo-coordinates of the field. Using all the hacking knowledge she had, she teased out the locations of the Geth on field, and plotted them on the map. It wasn't perfect, and was more like a snapshot then a live-tracing, but it could turn the tide of the battle.

Satisfied, she sent the information to everybody, not realising that fifteen Geth troopers had fallen in the past minute by Liam's hands, outdating her map.

…

Shema was distracted. Or else, how could she have so badly misplaced the Singularity vortex? Only a single Geth pyro gut pulled into the field. The rest continued to fire at her. She pulled herself back into cover, charging her omni-tool for another Overload shockwave.

The Geth. How? Why? Do they know where the Fleet is?

If they did, then it was a bad news. Really bad. Who knew? This bunch in front of her might be a scout party.

In which case…

Shema popped out of cover, unleashing a Shockwave as well as a torrent of bullets, taking out four out of a dozen units. She popped back into the cover of the crate.

Really. Why are there here, so far from Geth space?

Suddenly, the mission had changed for her. From a mere "job" with an elite Human group to a matter of great importance to the Migrant Fleet … a matter of survival.

That became more personal when she realised that a Geth Armature had joined the group, and was moving to flank her. She didn't know what the crate (the one she was using a cover) held, but it was certainly dangerous to stay here much longer.

Keelah! How did I miss that!

She scanned the field, searching for some place to sprint to. A blast radiated just in front of her – probably from a rocket. Things were getting intense.

Okay, there! It's risky, but that's all I have. Three… two…

Shema suddenly realised that the gunfire had stopped. Curious, she used the side of her assault rifle as a mirror to look around her cover. There were piles of scrap metal, one which was burning (though dying very quickly due to the lack of oxygen). Geth 'blood' covered the ground, and Captain Jackson was running away from the scene.

She was impressed. More shocked then impressed.

Her helmet beeped – a message from Kisa. Reloading her gun, she opened the message, which detailed all Geth positions in the vicinity.

Great, thanks for the dramatic timing.

…

Rallel circled the site impatiently, almost bored at the lack of activity. She wanted to be firing. She wanted to do something. Something! When she joined that asari, she had expected to rush in and fight the Reapers, not enter some boring Alliance ship.

Then again, she was happy that she didn't have to fight the Reapers. The video was giving her nightmares. Nightmares that weren't all that different from the video itself.

Then again, she was with the Alliance. How could it be? Some weird twist of fate had brought her worst enemy straight up onto her eyes. This was the organisation that killed her brother, years ago in Torfan. It was also the one which killed countless number of her species. And it was proving to be quite the opposite from what she had imagined it to be.

She was furious that the crew of the Horizon were treating her with respect. She didn't know how to react. So she decided to act the same way as they were.

Idling, she listened to the communications of the ground crew. From what she could hear, everyone was going rather well. The lack of external sound plus the sniper's comments were making things sound like a game of Kepesh-Yakshi rather than a battle.

"That one's down. I can't believe you guys are struggling with these." The sniper shouted.

"Alexander, just… shut up!" The Zulu leader replied.

"I can't hear you over your breathing!" The sniper.

"I said, shut up!" Zulu leader.

"I've got a higher rank." The sniper.

"But I'm the Operations Chief. I have priority." Zulu leader.

Out of the corner of her bottom left eye, Rallel spotted something. Alert, she diverted her attention from the radio and looked at the object. A Geth dropship.

Here we go!

Within a blink of an eye (only one, not four), she charged forward on her Kodiak, guns blazing.

…

Gage Hemmingway was feeling sick. Spaghettis never fit his body, especially after a PT couple of hours ago. On top of all that, he was assigned to lead a Mako. It was a horrible combination.

The vehicle shuddered as it took another blast. It made him throw up a little, which he had to swallow back, leaving a burning sensation down his neck.

"Shields are at forty, Op-Chief." Emilia told him from the driver's seat. He loved the way she spoke soothingly when under pressure. Perhaps it was an attempt to calm herself down, but it definitely helped him to stay sane.

"Thanks, Nakamura." Gage replied, blowing apart another target. There were only a few left now, and the Geth resistance had slowed dramatically. The operation had turned to mop-up.

"Come on everyone! You can't get tired! Especially Fireteam Zeal! You're all sitting comfortably in that tank!" Alexander spoke through the coms.

Lieutenant Keniev's comments were getting on his nerves as he tried to keep the gun on target. Oh, how he wished he could order him to shut up! Even though he did have battlefield priority, Lieutenant was still higher than a NCO.

"You aren't even moving." Gage spit back.

"Hey, but sniping makes you dizzy you know?"

"Mako's worse."

Everyone inside the tank agreed. Suddenly, the light inside the Mako turned blue, indicating that the Captain had changed their alert level.

"Operation complete. No more Geth resistance. Horizon, are you engaged?" Jackson spoke through the comms, keeping his steely tone.

"Negative sir. We were, with a small Geth attack ship, but it's down. We'll pick you up in fourteen." Neil's familiar voice, though muddled with static, came through the speakers.

"Good. Gather evidence about Geth here."

"Aye aye, sir" Gage and others replied, relieved that the mission was finally over. The sudden release of tension made his stomach grumble painfully. He took off his helmet and asked for some aspirin. It turns out that he wasn't alone, and Mako had more than enough painkillers on board.