Chapter 5
Assault on the unknown
The terrain was familiar to the Chief as she returned to lead her men towards their target. The ground was rocky and green moss covered most of the planet. The marines were forced to use their helmets and oxygen tanks; Binthu didn't provide much for the needs of mammals. Green tinted fog clouds obscured the view, which provided convenient cover for approaching the enemy. There wasn't much time for a lengthy stake out ad they knew it was necessary move pretty quickly.
Ashley was alert, trying to see through the fog and scanning the horizon for any movement or silhouettes that would indicate enemy presence. So far nothing. She had her team in an arrow formation, each scanning their own side of the horizon depending on to which side of the arrow they belonged. Those at the back would regularly check behind. She was confident in her team and continued to focus straight ahead.
They followed the low ground and crevasses, aiming as much as possible to remain in cover. It was slow going over the uneven rocky surface, but they reached the bottom of the steep hills that surrounded the base without incident.
"I don't think anyone's here. I think we got the drop on them." Hart announced.
"Or they are just waiting. Keep focused and don't talk unless you need to. Radio silence." Ash led them into a small crater for cover and pulled up her map.
Hart resumed his silence. He felt a little stupid for speaking up, he knew the others considered him the newbie, and he wanted to prove himself. Stop trying so hard, he told himself.
"The entrance is just over these hills. If they know we are here then I would at the very least expect scouts." Ashley lay down the map in view of her team.
"We can't take the low ground, that's too easy to defend. We need to climb these hills and take up defensive positions. We'll split into 3 teams. Hart, Léon, you're with me. Team A will approach from here. Team B, get to 10 o' clock C, you're taking 3 o' clock. Raul, Payne you're team B. Pete, Grimm, well you can guess. Take it easy, search carefully and thoroughly for lookouts and snipers and take them out quietly. Use concussive rounds. We'll decide how to advance when we are in position." Ash was glad to see Léon still scanning for enemies. "Questions?"
"What if we are fired at?" Hart queried.
"You shoot back. What the hell did they teach you to do?"
Keep quiet! Hart was regretting opening his mouth yet again.
Ash couldn't burden the other teams with this rookie. She put him in her squad so she could keep an eye on him. And Léon she just didn't trust yet.
"Let's move out, people." She ordered.
Teams B and C climbed out of the crater and started circling around at a brisk pace to the positions the Chief had indicated.
The hill looked steep and very bare. It would be hard to fight if they were caught on it.
"Alright, spread out 20 paces and let's get up this mound." Ash moved forward as her squad mates put some distance between each other. The hill was slow going, though Léon seemed to move up it gracefully and twice she had to get him to stop to catch up. As they reached the brow of the hill, the three lay prone and shuffled over the top, keeping their profile to a minimum. A person on a hill can cast a clear silhouette on the sky in the background. Ash scanned the area. The base was visible, but only just, there was heavy fog here too. She remembered the base. The front entrance opened up into a short hallway that joined onto a large reception room. The large doors on the opposite side lead to a hangar designed for small craft. There were a few rooms on the ground layer, mostly showers and lockers for those returning from outside. Stairs in the center led to the underground where Cerberus' experiments to place. She knew there were two other bases like this on Binthu, but smaller. They missed out on the top floor, the main doors led straight down to a stair way. There were no docking facilities at the other two bases. Ash figured the main base would be their best bet.
She checked on her squad. On her left Hart was still, but looked alert, keeping guard whilst waiting for orders.
She was Léon slowly crawling over to an edge and peer down. She was about to speak when she saw Léon raise his weapon and fire a concussive round downwards. Then he quickly disappeared over the edge.
"Léon, report." She waited.
"Got a scout. Clean out. Hang on a second."
She waited. She continued to watch the base and check the surroundings. Just rocks and moss, as far as she could see. The base looked worn. Maybe the result of the fighting Shepard and herself had gotten into here.
A report came in from team B after about 4 minutes; they were in position. A couple of minutes after that team C reported that Pete had knocked another scout.
"They know we are coming." Pete radioed in. "I would have thought there would be more than two lookouts."
"I guess we don't know their numbers. If they only sent two scouts, there may be only a few inside." Payne said. "What species are they?"
Pete removed the helmet of the enemy he had just knocked out. "Batarians." He reported back.
"Ah, shit man. Probably just a drug trafficking operation. Waste of our time." Raul sounded a bit deflated. Drug dealers weren't something he really wanted to have to deal with, but he perked up a bit when Hart mentioned the joys of shooting them.
"If nothing else it keeps us in practice." Ash said. She had really been hoping for a break into her Cerberus investigation, but this just felt like a distraction. I'll kick their asses for wasting my time!
"Léon report." He still hadn't radioed back. "Damn it, what is he doing."
Ash stared to crawl over to Léon's last location.
"Sorry for the delay." Léon was back on comms. "I was…"
"Where the hell have you been?" Ash snapped.
"I'm trying to tell you… Ma'am." Ash didn't like the tone of his voice; it sounded condescending.
"I hooked in to their comms. Sounds like they know that their scouts have stopped reporting. From what I can gather, there is a large concentration of forces to the front of the building, waiting for us to come through those doors. There is another group inside the docking bay, where Team C is facing."
"Well so much for the element of surprise." She missed the Normandy a lot at that moment; its stealth systems were still unique and would have made all the difference here. "Not to worry, if they know we are coming, no point in sneaking around. We'll blast our way in, both sides. Two teams, Pete join with Raul's team. Grimm, with me. We'll move down to the base and find a suitable place to blow our way in. I think the corners of each side of the hangar are storage rooms. Go in there, and let's hope that the guy who set of the distress signal isn't in there. And make sure you don't blast your way into the hangar full of bad guys, O.K.? We'll blow the charges at the same time; they won't know which direction the blasts came from."
"Perhaps, Chief, I could provide distraction by the front doors. Lob a couple of grenades in and then I'll back off and catch up with you. Should keep a fair few of them in place while we flank them."
It sounded like a good idea. She wasn't sure if she could trust him, but gave him a chance.
"Could work, would possibly separate them and thin their numbers. Don't take too long, throw them in as soon as your hear the charges go off and come find us. But be careful, once the charges go we'll have to move quick to take advantage of the surprise. We can't wait for you. Alright guys, ready?"
The marines all confirmed they were good to go. The teams leapfrogged down the mountain, while one team mate moved the other crouched and covering the area with their rifles. They switched roles back and forth. The hill was a steep decline and the marines had a hard time getting down.
Léon stayed in place covered the area with a sniper rifle until all team members were down safe and then followed their paths. He knew there were only two scouts, he had heard on the comms.
But no need for carelessness, He thought. Better safe than sorry.
The teams moved around the building to the sides where the corridors where supposed to be. The charges were designed to breach walls; they shouldn't cause too much unwanted damage. While the charges were being set, Léon was making his way down. He approached the door. It wasn't locked. He hit the button and the doors slid open. He raised his gun and kept low, watching for enemies. Empty. The corridor was safe. He saw a blood trail leading through to the next room, bloody handprints decorated the walls. He moved up and took cover on the right of the door and waited for the signal.
The two teams had set the charges and moved to a safe distance.
"Everyone good to go?" Ash queried. The replies were all positive. "Alright on my mark… Now!"
The charges exploded, blowing through the walls easily, large bits of concrete were smashed inwards leaving a thick white dust lingering in the air; tiny shards of rubble rained down on the marines as they moved quickly inside.
Now! Léon hit the door switch and as it slid open tossed a grenade inside.
There were shouts made and he heard "Get down!" Yelled just before the explosion drowned everything else out. Léon kept in cover and he blindly lobbed another grenade in. As the grenade exploded, Léon started to move backwards to the door, keeping his weapon aimed though the gap while it closed. Once it had fully shut, he hacked the switch and disabled the door, hopefully locking them inside, at least for a short time. He turned and broke into a sprint, heading for the new entrances his team mates had just carved out of the walls.
Ash took point ducking through the hole and into the storeroom. Empty. She trained her sights on the door in front of her. Hart and Grimm followed her in, taking up places either side of the exit. Ash nodded and Grimm hit the switch. The doors opened revealing two Batarians who had no time to react before Ash had scored two clean head shots in quick succession.
Hart and Grimm took aim and fired at two Batarians running in from the next room. Grimm hit his target in the chest, the Batarian managing to send a few rounds to the roof as he collapsed on the floor.
Hart missed, barely, but was granted a second opportunity as the stunned Batarian hesitated and a well-placed shot hit him in the neck and sent him sprawling backwards.
Ash moved up and took the lead through the door. Hart immediately followed, covering the right while she took left. Hart took cover behind a crate and kept his sights trained down the corridor as Grimm moved up round the corner with Ash who was heading for the hangar.
"Approaching west side of hangar. Team B, check in." She said.
"Moving towards hangars East side" Pete replied.
"On my count, both teams go in together. Leave a man to cover the rear."
Hart stayed put as Ash and Grimm took their places by the door.
"Now!"
Ash hit the switch and moved back behind the wall as a stream of bullets whizzed through, Ashley's shields deflected a couple on target. Grimm let lose some suppressing fire, the Batarians diving back into cover. A shot from Ash landed on the shoulder of a slower enemy, who screamed in pain. A quick second shot silenced him, and before he hit the floor the Chief had her sights trained on the head of another Batarian in bad cover. She steadied her aim and squeezed the trigger, an explosion of red mist signified she hit her mark. Grimm eased up on the suppressing fire to draw the enemy out, but the gunfire from the other side of the room had them pinned down and terrified.
Ash took a quick scan of the room, a large area filled with rows of crates in the middle, an old shuttle near the large doors. The outside of the room was a bare walkway.
"Move up!" She shouted, before laying down covering fire for Grimm as he rushed forward into the room taking up cover behind more crates. Three shooters were behind the next set of containers. He kept them down as Ashley moved up to join him. On the other side of the room she saw Pete and Raul making progress.
"Cover me!" Ash vaulted the crates and quickly let off a burst of fire at an enemy breaking cover, ejecting the gun from the attackers hands and sending him back down squealing from the pain of broken fingers. Rushing forward she reached the enemies cover and took two of them out before they had any idea she was upon them, the third had just enough time to try raising his gun before Ashley smashed him in the face with the rifle butt and let off a shot between the eyes at point blank.
"Damn!" Grimm muttered to himself, as he retrained his sights on the remaining enemy near the back of the hanger.
Hart still had no contact from the corridor as the storage room doors reopened. Hart took aim. He was jumpy but kept his cool as Léon joined the fray. Hart swung is rifle back towards the corridor.
"No activity?" Léon asked, noticing the lack of bodies. The battle was still raging on in the next room but he could hear that the sounds of gunfire were thinning out as the enemy fell.
"Not yet, they must be staying put. Probably think they are better off digging in. Guess they'd change their minds if they knew it was just me here!"
"I'm going to scout ahead."
"Huh? Wait!"
Léon moved further into the corridor, a pistol pointed in the same direction. He preferred small arms in close quarters, easier to maneuver. He past several empty rooms. No enemy. Straight on led to the reception area, a staircase on his left cascaded down into the main area of the compound. That's where he needed to be. He descended underground as silently as he could. He figured that most of the defenders would be guarding the entrances, but perhaps there was something down here they would want to protect.
He passed through a door at the bottom of the stairs. Nobody there. He kept moving, keeping a low profile and his weapon raised. He checked each room he passed. This area was being used as living quarters, the same purpose they were probably used for by Cerberus. Dirty mattresses lined the sides of the rooms, clothes and other personal belongings were strewn across the floor. Filthy, he thought as he continued his search. It sounded like the battle upstairs and ceased for the moment, or maybe he was too far down to hear it anymore. He pressed on as quickly as he dared. A sign indicated that the door in front of him led to the science labs. He needed to go through them to the offices at the back.
He took up the usual position as the doors opened.
"You'll go no further!" A voice boomed. "Or this human dies."
Léon carefully took a look through the doorway and saw a Batarian crouched behind a chair, in which a lifeless looking man was slumped, unknowingly providing a human shield.
"He looks pretty dead already." Léon called out.
"He's still alive, but not for much longer unless you give me what I want. I am Telik, and I am to be feared! Don't try anything!"
"Here's the problem, shit for brains," he taunted as he moved out of cover and stepped into the room with his pistol lined perfectly on the Batarians head. "I don't care what happens to this man. He's not what I'm here for."
"What? You're lying. You came because of the distress signal."
"No. The ones shooting all your friends upstairs. They came for your friend here. Me? I'm here for something else."
The Batarian was worried now. He sounds like he's telling the truth, he thought. He began to panic.
Léon knew he needed to get the Batarians gun pointing away from his hostage. He took a chance, and aimed a little right and let a shot off. Telik panicked and turned his whole body trying to avoid the fire, his weapon following his movements and now aimed safely at a wall. Léon took the chance and his follow up shot tore into Teliks skull, liberating the hostage.
A quick check revealed that the man was still alive, but his breathing was shallow and his pulse was weak, but alive nonetheless.
He moved on towards the back of the room and found the doors into the offices. Empty.
Looks like Telik was cowering down here alone. So much for inspirational leaders. He heard the sound of gunfire start up again as the battle above renewed.
"Clear!" Raul announced as he reached the back of the hangar.
"Clear!" Grimm confirmed.
The two joined Pete in taking up defense of the room. Ash took a quick look inside the shuttle. Not nearly big enough to carry the entire Batarian force. Not by a long shot.
Must have had a bigger ship drop them off. Odd that it would leave them here alone. She moved back to her squad mates.
"How is our rear guard?" She asked over the comms.
"Nothing to report, ma'am", Payne replied.
"All quiet Chief, but Léon has gone on ahead to the reception already."
"What the hell? You two, get back to Payne and move up to the reception at the other end. Grimm, let's go." She stood up and forced a brisk pace back towards Hart. She found him waiting patiently in the same place they'd left him.
"What is he doing?" She demanded, as she continued down the corridor without pause.
"He just said he was going to scout ahead, that's it!"
Ash let out an irritated grunt and pressed forwards, past the stairway and up the reception door.
"Grimm! Go make sure nobody comes up those stairs!" She ordered. "Ready, Hart?"
He nodded as they took up their standard places by the doors.
"You guys ready?" she asked over comms.
"Whenever you are Ma'am."
"Then go!"
As the doors opened several Batarians surged through, overwhelming the two marines.
Ashley had reacted swiftly during the initial charge and had stayed on her feet, landing a blow with her rifle into an enemies head, knocking him under the feet of the charging crowd.
She swept her left hand down knocking the pistol out of another attackers hand and smashed her elbow into his ribcage. As he bent over gasping for air she took another swipe with her rifle.
Hart was knocked to the floor, his rifle swept up by the feet of an enemy. The Batarians hadn't refocused from their charge yet and Hart was able to react first. He grabbed his pistol and began firing close range into the crowd.
The initial attempt to overwhelm the marines had failed and the Batarians were trying to focus and get a shot at the humans, but the space was too tight and Ash continued to counter their attempts with vicious blows. She could hear gunfire in the reception behind, but it wasn't aimed their way.
Hart was back on his feet and had gained some space, sending bullets flying through the air and tearing down the crowd. A huge savage Batarian took two bullets in his abdomen before plowing into Hart and knocking him back down. He kicked the gun away from his feet, laughing.
Ash had now freed up some space and let lose a few bullets into the remaining foes, still struggling to gain their bearings. She took aim and fired at Harts assailant, who toke a round in the shoulder as he ducked and swung a roundhouse punch at Ashley. She moved back. Not fast enough, the punch skimmed her jaw sending sharp pains down the side of her face and sending her sprawling into the wall. Another punch came straight at her face and she had just enough time to duck. The barbarian bent over in agony as her boot thumped into the bullet wounds in his stomach, and was knocked back as a second boot found his nose. She was shocked to see him rise again. He lunged forward bringing his fist ready for another swing. A slow effort. Ash had enough time to bring her gun up and as back send a bullet through an eye and he hit the floor with a crash.
"Too close!" she panted as she focused her attention on assaulting the next room. The three members of the other team had broken in without resistance and had the last of the Batarians fighting for their lives.
Hart shook of the daze and limped over to Ashley's position. They entered the flanking the defenders, and a few shots more was all it took to end the battle.
"I think we're good Chief." Pete said as the ringing in his ears died down. "What took you so long?"
"A stampede. Rushed the door as it was opened. Guess they figured they had a better chance in close quarters." Ash rubbed her jaw. It was a bit sore, but she was O.K. "Everyone alright?"
Hart had injured his ankle when he fell, but otherwise everyone was fine, no serious injuries.
She looked around. No sign of Léon. Must have gone downstairs.
It had been hard to find, Léon thought. A panic room hidden in the offices underground. If he hadn't known it was there, he doubted he could have found it.
He was risking breaking his cover for the contents of this room. Whatever it is must be worth it. He had been ordered to destroy the room and all its contents. But he knew better. This place must have information. Evidence.
The room was small, about ten foot squared, it looked like it was designed to house two people. A thick layer of heavy dust covered just about everything. It looked like plaster dust, flaking off from the badly made ceiling. The room must have been built in a rush. It was dimly lit. Two computers lay dormant, back to back on a table pressed up on the far wall.
Two perfectly made beds lay at opposite sides of the room and each wall adorned shelves lined with canned foods, which would stay fresh in case of an extended stay. The room looked almost completely unused, if not for the footprints in the dust and two chairs placed next to each other.
Léon noticed the left hand computers screen had a lot less dust on than the surroundings as if it had been cleaned more recently. He pushed the power button and the screen flickered to life. He had to hurry. He checked for information as quickly as he could, listening to the faint sounds of battle. Documents, emails, anything that he could use. He plugged in a data stick and began to download files onto it, as much as he could. He could sift through his findings later. He found nothing else of use as he waited. He realized the gunfire had stopped.
They'll be here soon.
Ash took point as she followed Léon's path into the underground. This was felt personal, he was reckless and that endangered others' lives, not just his own. He should have followed orders.
I knew I couldn't trust him.
She ordered the squad to check each room as she covered the main hallway. They found nothing of interest. They continued on.
The science labs. This is where they conducted the experiments on the captured Rachni. It brought back bad memories for her. They had found Admiral Kahoku in one of the other bases on this planet last time they visited, it was not a memory she was fond of.
She opened the door and trained her gun on the moving figure inside.
"Stop what you're doing Léon."
The rest of the team followed her in.
"Check the back rooms." Pete looked at her as if to say "Are you sure?"
"Now!" She ordered.
The squad headed back to carry out their orders.
"Relax, Chief" Léon said calmly.
"Don't tell me to relax." She replied firmly. "What the hell do you think you're doing? And who is this?" She gestured to the man in the chair.
"Who this is," he replied, "I have no idea. He's alive, but barely. I'd bet he's the one who activated the distress beacon. As for why I'm here? I scouted ahead a little to see if I could get any more information on our situation. I saw this ugly guy," he gestured towards Teliks body, "taking off down these stairs. He tried to use this guy as leverage for escape, or at least a human shield."
"I gave you orders."
"Yes, Ma'am. I'm sorry."
Ash sighed. "You're out, Léon. You don't follow orders and I can't trust you. I'll be reporting this when I get back."
"Of course, I understand."
He didn't seem to care. Maybe he didn't believe her? If he didn't, he soon would.
"All clear, Chief. Nothin' here. Looks like we got all the ugly bastards." Raul announced.
Ash was frustrated. Nothing she had seen led her to believe this was anything more than a drug operation. The unconscious guy in the chair was probably just a slave.
"Call the Hougoumont. Get Alcock to pick us up. And tell them we have a patient needing urgent care, they'll need to send breathing apparatus down here or he'll choke outside."
What a waste of time, she thought to herself. "Let's do a quick search before we leave."
She headed back upstairs with Hart. Payne searched the bedrooms while Grimm searched the offices again.
They searched the rooms. Mostly empty, except a kitchen, so covered in grime and rotting food that Ash struggled to keep herself from vomiting.
"Oh, god. Would you look at this?" Hart said in a shocked tone. Ash followed him into the room.
A dark room with small cracks in the ceiling, blood stained walls, a pool of blood on the floor and chains hanging from the wall. In the corner was a pile of human faeces.
"A cell. Guess this is where they kept the guy we found downstairs." Ash cringed. "This is sick, even for Batarians."
"Look there." Hart pointed at the tiny cracks. "If he was kept here, he would have been exposed to outside atmosphere leaking in. Could cause all sorts of damage. Not to mention the rain, that stuff can't be good for you. "
The conversation was interrupted as Alcock announced he was landing.
"O.K, guys, let's move out." She said ordered. "I've had enough of this place."