Chapter 11

Into the bushes

The vegetation was not unlike Earths rainforests, thick and tangled. Strays stands of light shone down though the gaps in the leaves, causing spots of illumination on the forest floor in an otherwise shaded area. It was humid, the tree canopies trapping the heat. As the two humans hacked their way through they saw many kinds of mammals of which they'd never seen before. Some resembled mammals from Earth, others were entirely different, but none of them looked threatening and they kept their distance, watching the visitors to their home carving their pathways.

The chief's armour made it difficult for her to move, but she consoled herself knowing that the thin branches wouldn't stop bullets. She glanced at Léon, who was having a much easier time in his lighter armour. He was considerably more agile than she was too, moving around almost as if the branches weren't there.

The local wildlife was loud, the birds singing, the mammals chattering away and the rustling of the them scattering everywhere covered the sound of the soldiers advance. The Juego's scans of the area had picked nothing up, the heat signatures of the area provided no information and the trees blocked any hope of visual sight. But the only lead available was these co-ordinates, so they pressed forwards.

Léon's advantages through the forest gave him a small lead in front. Ashley didn't mind, it was easier for her to follow his path. Besides, she could keep an eye on him in front, and he wouldn't be distracted by her behind. Eventually he crouched, held his hand up clenched into a fist and stopped. Ash carefully moved up beside him. They had reached the spot that the co-ordinates designated. There was a small clearing and a small wooden hut.

"I guess it's not a Cerberus base." Ash whispered.

Léon studied the area closely but saw nothing. "Guess not." He moved forward slowly with his gun trained towards the poorly built structure. Ash stayed put, covering his advance and also, as she reasoned, because she didn't trust him. She wanted him where she could see him. She moved up as he got closer and joined him by the door, which was in a sorry state, hanging at an angle from hinges made from thin rotting vines.

They glanced at each other and nodded, Ash pulling the door clean off as she attempted to open it quickly, Léon quickly moved in through the hole and pointed his gun at a surprised looking figure shadowed in the corner looking as he looked around for other targets. None. Ash followed immediately after and also had her gun aimed at the figure. The whole operation had taken less than two seconds to complete and the person in the corner hadn't had time to react, and now knew she there wouldn't be any chance to.

Léon moved closer.

"Is it her?" Ash asked.

The figure in the corner was a frail looking women, not old but worn, as if she'd been through a lot in a short time and had aged because of it. Her face was smeared with dirt which had stained her skin. She was wearing tattered dirty clothes and her blonde hair was long, greasy and tangled.

"Elia?" Léon asked, lowering his weapon.

The woman's mouth was ajar, her eyes wide. "You know… who are you?"

"My name is Léon Keane, this is Ashley Williams. We're here to help. We were led here by James Fale."

"James is… he's alright?"

Léon crouched down next to her. "He's alive, Mrs Fale, but he isn't able to be here right now."

"Why? What's wrong?" Elia looked understandably worried and Léon figured that lying to her wouldn't help their cause.

"He's in hospital." The words caused obvious pain to Elia. It wasn't going to get any better. "Best we can figure, he was on his was to retrieve the emails you sent him, but Batarian drug dealers had locked the place down. He was captured. We recently rescued him, we guess he'd been there the whole year. But he isn't well, Elia. He's was still unconscious yesterday." He saw the panic in her eyes. "He's still stable. We are optimistic he'll wake up soon."

"I want to see him. Bring me to him."

Ash wondered if she'd make the hike back. "You're okay to walk? Our ship is a fair trek back."

"Of course I am!" she snapped, as she tried to stand. She looked unstable and weak.

"You need to eat something." Ash pulled out her rations from her webbing and passed them to her.

"I'm fine!" She exclaimed; she obviously had nothing on her mind except getting to James.

"No, you're not. You need to eat. I'm not taking you anywhere until you do."

"But I…" She began, but gave her objections up. She was starving.

"What have you been eating out here?" Léon asked.

"If I'm lucky, I catch an animal in my traps. They're a bit funny tasting." She said as she slowly tucked into the army rations which were infamous for their poor flavour.

"How long have you been out here?" Ashley enquired.

"About a year, give or take."

Ash kept probing for information, Elia wasn't very talkative. "Why are you here?"

"I had to escape. I had to. It was wrong. I had to stop it. But I couldn't, not alone, I had to hide here, they are after me."

"You mean Cerberus?"

Elia started to become suspicious. Too many questions from people she didn't know.

"It's okay, ma'am. I'm with the Alliance. Operations Chief Ashley Williams. I was with Commander Shepard when we took down Saren."

"Oh!" She exclaimed. "Commander Shepard! I heard about the attack on the Citadel. I am not surprised it was him who saved it." She was smiling as she spoke. "I met him once, you know."

"He really gets around." Léon remarked.

"You met him? Where?" Ashley asked.

"Oh, it was back in '76 on Elysium. I was 17."

Léon quickly worked out that she was now just 26, at least 10 years younger than he would have guessed from the way she looked now.

"You were there during the Blitz?" Ash asked.

"Yes, I grew up on Elysium. I was born on Earth, in Italy but my family and I all moved to Elysium when I was about 7. I was right there in the middle of it all when the Batarians landed. I remember, I was so scared, I just froze. There were bullets flying towards me but I couldn't move. I thought for sure I was going to die. But then I found myself being swept away. The Commander had thrown himself in front of me and whisked me to safety in his arms. He took care of the Batarians around me and told me I should find a safe place to hide and that he had to go help other people. He was so charismatic, so courageous. I tried to say thank you, I was still overwhelmed, I don't think I really managed to get my words out properly, but he smiled at me and said "I should go." That was the last I saw of my hero."

Ash smiled. That sounds like my skipper. "He's one in a million, that's for sure."

They were silent as they allowed Elia to eat. She forest outside was still as noisy as ever.

"Elia," Léon said eventually. "We need information to use against Cerberus. We have your emails that you sent to James. Is there anything else you can tell us that might help?"

Elia paused, wondering if she should trust the two armed people in her hut. "Yes. I know quite a bit. That is why I am hiding here, Cerberus found out I knew too much. But… I need to see James first. Take me to James."

Léon looked at Ash and shrugged. "We should get a doctor to look at her anyway. Two birds with one stone."

Ash nodded. "Are you okay to walk, Elia?"

Elia stood up. She looked a lot steadier now, and wasn't shaking as much. "I think I will be okay."

"We have plenty of time." Léon pointed out. "We still have 21 hours before our ride leaves."

"I think we'll make it." Ash walked over and helped Elia walk. "Léon, we'll follow you. Take it easy."

The three of them walked out of the rickety hut and Léon took the lead. They entered the thick shrub and followed the path that they had cut through on the way there. Elia was struggling, but not as much as Ashley had thought she would. And she had a brave face on. Determined. She must be thinking of James, Ash figured.

Halfway back, they stopped for a rest. Léon kept watch, instinct told him not to let his guard down. Ash sat Elia and gave her some water from her canteen.

"Just five minutes, and I'll be okay." Elia said.

"No rush. When you're ready." Ash looked over at Léon. He looked edgy.

"Léon?" She called.

He put his finger to his lips, warning her to be quiet. Shit. He thought. He moved back over to the women. "We got company."

Ash jumped up. "Who? Cerberus?"

"Looks like it, and they're almost on us. Get Elia to safety, I will hold them here."

"How many?"

"A lot, we don't have time. Get her out of here."

"We should set an ambush or hide…"

"No time Ash!" He interrupted. Get her out of here. Head east and avoid them. I'll lure them this way and meet back with you. I can move faster than you can with Elia, I'll give you time to escape."

Shit. Though Ash. She wanted to stay, to take Cerberus on head to head, but she knew she couldn't, she needed to get Elia to safety.

"Elia, let's go, quickly!" She helped her up and moved as quickly as she could east.

Léon moved west and took up cover behind a large trunk and kept low.

Ash stopped and threw Elia into a ditch as she dived onto the dirt floor behind a fallen tree. Two soldiers open fired. Ash waited for a break in fire and quickly popped up, firing a few round at the enemy and hitting one of them several times, breaking through his shields and ripping through his chest. As the enemy fell, the other moved for cover. Ash took the chance and fired again, hitting her target in the shoulder but her shots were deflected by the kinetic barriers in his armour.

Léon heard the fire. He knew he had to draw them away, even if it was only splitting the force. He grabbed his rifle and fired in the enemy's direction.

Ash rolled to her side and yelled at Elia to keep down. She heard firing from the west and knew that Léon was at least keeping his word. The change of position gave her a new firing angle at her enemy and with a careful aim she shot a burst into the side of his head. His shields were already down and the metal shards tore through his skull. She made a quick check and got up, keeping low moved back to Elia, and the two women moved farther away. Ash kept checking behind as they ran as fast as they could through the thick vegetation.

The gunfire had attracted the enemy in Léon's direction. He waited for the enemy to close in. He had his weapons in front of him; he figured he didn't want to waste time reaching for them later.

The enemy was keeping to cover as much as possible as they advanced. Léon saw they were trying to flank him. He saw a soldier moving to his right and took the shot without hesitating. The Matlock he was using was a powerful single shot rifle. His first shot took town the shields, his second smashed through the man's chest propelling him backwards crashing into the floor. The rest of them scattered for cover. They were in a wide arc from his position and far enough away. He would have to watch them carefully so he didn't get flanked. He quickly crawled into a new position. The enemy were trying to advance again, this time they lay covering fire down, but it was random. They had no idea where he was. The gunfire also served as a mask for the sound of his own shots. He took aim at another foe and quickly dispatched him. The gunfire stopped as they tried to listen for the direction of Léon's fire, and then continued, still scattered.

A bullet flew into Ash's shields, deflecting off. The two women threw themselves onto the floor and Ash fired retaliatory rounds. She missed but she saw several men diving out of the way. She moved behind a tree and gestured Elia to move behind another. She would have to be more careful, the deflected round from her shield could easily deflect into Elia, who had no protection at all. She fired at two hostiles as they appeared. More were coming. She had to get Elia out.

"Léon?" She said over comms. "We're pinned down."

Léon heard her voice. "Hold on." He replied. He knew he had to go on the offensive or they would overwhelm the women. He picked up his shotgun and pistol and holstered them before he fired at an enemy who leaned out of cover scanning the area. As the foe fell down lifeless, Léon made a dash to his left and then moved as quickly as he dared towards the enemy. He saw a large group of them moving forwards through the trees, focused to the south where Léon had moved from. He backed away and headed east, following the women and their pursuers. He was in-between the two groups. They had no idea where he was but he would have a hard time once he opened fire again. He'd be caught between two sides, but there wasn't a lot he could do in the time he had. He had been fortunate so far that the opposition seemed like amateurs.

Ash kept up the pressure. She knew she couldn't escape with Elia with her, the woman simply couldn't move fast enough. She was still too weak. She felled another hostile who clumsily tried to advance. She took another two down as they leant out of cover, but they knew where she was and were moving closer as they pinned her down with fire.

Léon quickly caught up to the soldiers attacking his allies. He got as close as he could. The enemy were in open view from his side. He counted twelve. Here goes, he thought. He made a note of the enemies positions and double tapped his Matlock at the first one, changing to the next target as quickly and smoothly as was able, sending a couple of shots at the new figure in his sights. He moved from target to target, sending two rounds ripping through the foliage at each foe. The enemy was confused and he managed to overheat his weapon before they started to scatter in panic. He counted 5 down out of the 8 he fired at; the other three looked injured but were standing.

Ash heard the distinct fire of Léon's weapon and soon after the enemy broke cover in panic. Ash didn't hesitate, firing a couple bursts from her M-15 towards and foolish enough to stray into her sight, and watching as her bullets overloaded their shields and tore through their armour. The enemies were trapped in the middle of two well-trained soldiers, and were panicking. She saw only one left standing and fired a burst which deflected away from his chest, before his head exploded as a result of a round from the opposite direction.

"Get going!" Léon ordered over comms, and Ash wasn't going to argue. She made sure Elia was unharmed and the two began moving as fast as they could through the thick trees. It was slow going as it had been before, Elia was struggling but she forced herself onwards.

Léon heard the approach of the second group of enemies and moved north to take cover. He fired as soon as he saw them, trying to keep them at bay long enough for the girls to get away.

The force he was facing was largely untrained, which was lucky for him. He doubted he would still be alive if the enemy was more competent. A couple of shots later and another man lay dead in the dirt. The hostile force looked like it had lost the will to fight; half of their unit had already been wiped out. Léon kept up the pressure, moving from cover to cover; hoping to give the illusion there was more than one person fighting them.

Ash and Elia finally made it out of the forest, and into the colony. She could already see the merchant ship Juego was missing. There was a new ship in its place. She cursed under her breath.

"Léon, we're at the colony. You alright?" There was no reply. She didn't hold out much hope, but wasn't about to give up on him just yet.

She escorted Elia through the colony towards the docking area. It was a small colony and it didn't take long to reach the new ship. It was a small frigate. There were no docking facilities, just a large cleared area paved with concrete. Two armed guards stood in the entrance, looking nervous, dressed in the same way the soldier had been. Cerberus. Looks like the merchants sold us out.

They needed a new ship, and this one was as good as any.

She moved Elia into a hidden shady corner. "Wait here. I need to clear the ship."

She circled around the buildings and approached the ship from the blind side. She moved up to the side wall of the entrance of the Cerberus vessel and switched to her rapid fire shotgun. It'd overheat easily, but she didn't plan on having to make many shots.

She swung her aim around the corner keeping her body behind the wall as much as possible. See let of a blast which hammered into her first victim ripping straight through his shields, pulling him off his feet and ploughing into the doors behind. The other guy turned to look at his colleague and was hit by Ash's second blast sending him flying into the corner.

She pressed the button to open the doors and backed away to cover. The next part would be tricky, going through the airlock, but she hoped the resistance inside would be minimal. Frigates are small ships, and she'd already met a large force in the forest.

"Williams!"

Ash span around to find Léon approaching.

"Did you take them all down?" She asked.

"No, most of them fled. They're bound to be making their way back here though, so let's take the ship quickly."

She nodded and they entered into the decontamination area. Léon hacked the control panel and overrode the sequence so the enemy wouldn't be alerted if they didn't know already.

They kept low as Ash pressed the button for the doors, which slid open.

Nobody.

They moved out onto the command deck. Ash saw a couple of crew who reached for their weapons.

"Don't move!" Ash yelled, but they ignored her. Ash planted two bullets into their heads in quick succession.

Léon faced right, there was nobody there. They headed up towards the pilot. He was unarmed and scared.

"Don't shoot!" He cried.

"Don't do anything stupid and maybe you'll live." Ash said aggressively.

"I'll check the rest of the ship." Léon said.

"I need to go get Elia." Ash said, as she moved the pilot away from the controls and tied his hands to a pipe near the exit.

Léon nodded. "Be careful, we don't know if the rest are nearby."

Ash left the ship the same way she came and scanned the area. Nothing yet. She ran back as fast as she could towards the place she left Elia. She was still there, waiting. Ash let out a sigh of relief.

"Come on, let's go. There isn't much time." She helped the girl up and headed back towards the ship. She glanced over her shoulder in time to see the enemy emerging from the tree line.

"We got company! Come on Elia, give it everything you've got!"

Elia pushed herself into a run and the two made for the Cerberus vessel.

"Léon!" She yelled over the comms "Get that pilot back into place and get us the hell out of here! We've got incoming!"

"Alright, I'm on it."

Bullets smashed into the entrance walls as the two women sprinted through. Ash waited for a break and returned fire, slowing their advance. Elia was sat on the corner catching her breath, feeling very dizzy. The world was spinning for her and she collapsed on the floor unconscious.

Shit! Ashley thought as she kept the fire up waiting for Léon.

"Alright, he's in place, hold them off a couple more minutes."

"Hurry up dammit! We might not have a couple minutes." She saw the soldiers spreading out. The cover she had would be lost within a few more seconds. She smashed the button to open the door and dragged Elia through the opening as the door raised. A bullet hit the shields on her leg and ricocheted into the ceiling.

"Get us out of here Léon!" She yelled as she closed the door behind her. She could hear the impact of the bullets hitting the door. She pulled Elia through the inner doors onto the command deck and joined Léon in the cockpit.

"We don't take off before they get here, the first bullet goes through your head." Ash screamed at the pilot who was already panicking and working as fast as he could. The ship lifted off the ground and edged forwards. Ash moved back to the entrance and saw the outer doors opening. She fired through the gap, knocking an enemy down and sending the rest into cover.

"Let's go! Move it!" She felt the ship gain momentum and both sets of doors locked shut. She sighed in relief, the ship shot up through the atmosphere.

She moved back to the command deck and checked on Elia. She was alive, but exhausted. She was awake, if barely. Ashley gave her more water and left her with the canteen.

"Is the ship safe?" She called to Léon.

"Not sure, didn't get a chance to check it all. The pilot assures me it's empty, but I have my doubts."

"Seal this deck and open the airlocks. Just to be safe." Ash pointed her pistol at the pilots head.

"Okay, okay!" He did as he was told. He waited for a minute before sealing them again. "Happy?"

"So, Cerberus?" Léon inquired.

"Look, I don't know anything, I'm just the pilot."

"Let's interrogate him after we get back to the Citadel. Watch him, make sure he doesn't try anything." Ash said as she pulled Elia to her feet and got her seated. "You alright?"

Elia nodded. "That sure was close."

"Oh that was nothing. I've been in worse scrapes!" Ash said reassuringly. "And you're forgetting Elysium"

"Well it looks like I have three heroes now." Elias smiled at Ashley. "Thank you both."

Ash watched her as she laid back and drifted off to sleep and smiled to herself. She saw Léon alert in the cockpit and figured it would be a good time to rest.

"Léon, I'm going to rest up. Wake me up if you need me, otherwise we'll switch in say, four hours?"

"Fine by me."

Ash sat down in the seat next to Elia. It was a nice comfy chair, unlike those in an Alliance vessel. She closed her eyes.