Chapter 2

" We're not going to get him."

" Wait, what? Tombs said we'd get him and our mission objective is search and rescue." A petite woman stated shockedly as she watched the man in front of her tug the assault rifle off his back.

" No, our mission is to search and rescue pedestrians not stupid gutless soldiers. Besides this is not Tomb's squad."

The blonde woman shook her head in disbelief, taking a moment to glance back at Tombs – the meat wall of a man behind her who was previously on the radio - before she hurried after her commanding officer." You can't just do that!" She shouted then as she jumped over a fallen lamp post, skipping a few times afterwards so she wouldn't tumble. With a grunt the man looked over his shoulder," And why can't I? I am the highest ranking official in this squad so it's my squad. Besides the kid sounded green- he'd be more of a liability than anything. By the time we get there, he'll probably be dead."

" Probably, not will be. If we don't help him then he will be." The blonde argued once again through clenched teeth.

The man snorted in reply before he rolled his shoulders to brush the woman off. Without a second thought the girl did a cart-wheel, landing right infront of the man to gain his full attention. " Look! We need all the troops we can get right now! We go help him!" She snapped.

The man straightened before he suddenly grabbed the girl by the front of her skin tight suit." You may be in the N7 program, but I'm the one who gives orders here." He growled as he gave her a firm shake." Now rather listen to them or get the fuck out of my way." With that he tossed her to the side and continued walking down the street. Stumbling slightly, the woman caught herself, her hand drifting up to the sword on her back. Before she could do anything though, a hand landed on her shoulder to stop her.

" Come on….There's not much we can do." Tombs muttered down to her as he helped the girl straighten up. He then patted her on the shoulder sympathetically a few times then before he continued on down the street with the rest of the squad.

The Infiltrator took a moment to sigh then, shaking her head as she fell in line and followed orders.

~X~

" F-F-Fifteen minutes my freezing a-a-ass." He stuttered as he tried to blow hot air into his hands in an effort to keep warm. Taking a moment to rub his hands together and bring his legs up into his chest, he noticed the loss of feeling in his feet." That's it I can't stay here anymore. I rather get shot than freeze to death."

With a groan, the male forced himself to his feet, stretching his limbs in order to wake them up. Checking himself over, he made his way over to the snow covered 'perch' to retrieve his scavenged sniper rifle. Clicking his tongue he knelt down to retrieve the Widow only to hesitate when he heard a loud roar off in the distance. Without a second thought he hunkered down onto the concrete slab and started to search for the source of the noise.

Slowly, single wounded Brute trudged its way down the street, it's Turian like head swiveling from left to right as it patrolled. Quickly pulling out an extra thermal clip from his armor, the human placed it next to him. He then breathed a few times, steadying himself before he finally held his breath and took a shot at the monster- right between its beady little eyes. The Brute immediately stumbled back, it's face covered in blood and roaring in pain, giving him enough time to quickly reload and quickly shoot the Brute again in the head.

The beast stumbled forward onto the ground, its attention now drawn to the un-structurally sound apartment building the N7 Recruit was hiding in. It roared in angered pain once again, it's cry echoing through the abandoned city streets, before it slumped down onto the ground with a dying gurgling grunt. A smile of victory spread across the human's face. " Yes."

Lowering his forehead onto the concrete slab, he couldn't help but mentally celebrate. That was until a second roar echoed through the streets. The grin immediately faded when the young man looked up to see two Brutes inspect over their dead comrade. Of course, that single Brute had to be traveling in a pack. They always did, he should have known better. Suddenly, he had two pairs of red eyes on his location, and then two charging Brutes headed for him.

" Shit."

Author's Note: Dramatic change in this story. I have expanded this to include as many of my Multiplayer groups/partners as I want. Some will play major roles, some will make brief appearances.