Chapter 4: Jath'Amon

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It was now night on the planet's surface with dreadful visibility due to torrential rain. Despite this, Cortez had landed the Kodiak quietly in a forest clearing some 5 clicks north of the prison to avoid detection. I had insisted that Miranda and Jacob wear full Cerberus Assault Armour with helmets for this mission which meant that only Kasumi was getting wet this time a fact she was happy to remind me of at every opportunity.

I was the designated sniper for this mission being the thing I had actually trained to be during my time in N7. Finding cover and some respite from the rain I had removed my helmet and was spotting targets through the precise optics of the massive 'Widow' rifle that Garrus and Jacob had put together for me weeks ago.

"Boy I love this rifle" I murmured quietly observing the prison in its sights using the far infrared spectrum. Jath'Amon consisted of a sprawling mass of prefab units on a steep hill but clearly the bulk of the building was built into the hillside, possibly an old mine. Near the base of the hill was a series of ventilation fans and a small door which looked like it was rarely used. That's our way in, I thought.

"I'm so very pleased for you Shep! Perhaps you two could get a room and one for me too while you are at it" the bedraggled ex-thief complained bitterly, making a futile attempt to squeeze water out of her hood despite the restrictions of her rebreather mask.

"What and miss this wonderful warm shower?" I said wittily "It must be 20 Celsius at least. You always complain that I have the only nice shower on the ship so make the most of it"

"What? You want me to strip down naked for you right here Shep? All right but I'm not sure Tali is going to like it but I'm sure you can explain it all to her when we get back home" Kasumi said innocently.

I glared at her silently. Jacob chuckled appearing suddenly from the undergrowth "Never match wits with Kasumi, Commander, she always eats Garrus for breakfast and I doubt you could do any better.. er Sir."

Jacob and Miranda had just returned from a quick reconnoitre of the immediate area. With their combination of combat skills and biotics those two were devastating at close range.

Miranda crossed her arms impatiently "Jacob and I have scouted to within a thousand meters of the target and not hit any patrols or defenses. We've found an ideal spot in cover for you to use that big gun of yours so if you are ready Commander, we should move out" she said with more than her usual tartness.

"So getting soaked again... great just great" Kasumi grumbled

With the guards outside Jath'Amon dealt with by the 'Widow's brutal efficiency, we quickly clambered up to the base of the hill where ventilation system was located and cautiously approached the door. Of course it was locked and clearly way beyond my skill to open.

"OK Kasumi" I said curtly "You're up"

I was answered by a miserable sneeze and a mumbled "Sure, sure, give me a minute".

Kasumi approached the lock and briefly examined it.

"Childs play!" she said a little more cheerfully deactivating the lock "hardly worth getting soaked for".

I smiled at her from behind my darkened visor "I couldn't do this without you Kasumi" I said "I owe you a drink or several".

"Oh Shep, you do say the nicest things, no wonder Tali swoons all over you" she replied with a twinkle behind her rebreather mask.

"Err.. thanks" I said somewhat awkwardly "OK, there's unlikely to be much space were we are going so, that means me and Jason will take point in front with our Eviscerator shotguns and you and Miranda and Kasumi at the rear with your Tempest sub-machine guns, use incendiary ammo but shoot only if you have to, this is an infiltration. I want to just get in, extract Kenyon and get out as neatly as possible. Understood?" To a chorus of "Yes Shepard's" Jason and I entered the lower levels of Jath'Amon.

"Phew who died" said Kasumi as we walked along a rundown corridor "This must be where they send their prisoners to die". Almost immediately we were attacked by a pack of feeding verren. Jacob and I opened up with our Eviscerator's which incinerated two of the savage beasts with Miranda catching a third with her biotics and slamming it into the ground to the sickening sound of bones cracking. Kasumi finished off the last two with a long burst from her Tempest. She stood over the corpse of one of them looking down "Its not so easy to kill these things since we have one as a pet" she said sadly. I patted her shoulder "That's definitely not Urz" I said "Come on, hopefully no one heard us"

We made our way randomly through a long series of ruined and decaying corridors until Miranda spotted a staircase leading to a level in obviously better repair. Unfortunately this level was also full of invisible security barriers which Kasumi luckily easily managed to detect and deactivate before the rest of us set them off. In this corridor was the sound of gruff voices, a lot of them.

"Damn" I whispered "I think we walked straight into a barracks. Kasumi, scout out ahead and don't get caught"

She gave me a peevish expression, activated her tactical cloak and vanished. She reappeared in a matter of minutes. "It's a guard house alright" she whispered grimly "but we should be able to sneak past it without too much trouble. Most of them seem to be busy watching our girls interrogation on a giant video screen and debating about who gets to do her first".

I rubbed the back of my neck "OK Kasumi, lead on, we'll follow you" . Silently she led us carefully skirting around the outside of the crowded barracks and, not for the first time since she joined my ship, marveled at the skill and cunning that lay beneath her witty and causal exterior. She led us down a side passage and up another flight of stairs to a much larger cell block level with the faint but instantly recognisable sounds of a women screaming coming from the far end. "Shep that sounds like our girl!", Kasumi whispered urgently.

I nodded grimly "Her interrogation is being broadcast live so they are going to know as soon as we break her out."

"Maybe not" said Kasumi, I might be able to tap into their systems and get it to broadcast a continuous loop of old footage. It won't fool them for long but it might buy us the time we need to get her out of here.

We walked through the cell block and towards the screaming and found ourselves in an interrogation area. In one of the cells two guards in room full of terminals and monitoring equipment watched through a one way mirror a third guard applying electrical shocks to a woman in her mid-thirties restrained vertically in some kind of interrogation device. I looked at Jacob and drew a finger across my throat while pulling out my combat knife. He understood instantly, nodded pulled out his. Moving silently we were upon them before they could make a sound and they slumped simultaneously in a bloody heap.

Wiping my blade carefully I turned to the horrified ex-thief "Horrible I know" I said quietly "Now I need you to hack their systems and create that video loop if you can, otherwise we are just going to fight our way out. "

"Sure, Shep" she said, regaining her wits. She sat down and quickly accessed the guards terminal with her omnitool. "Ah!" she said smiling "Done, their systems are easier to break into than a kindergartens toy room. It won't last long though, a few minutes at best".

"Better than nothing" I said, "Now let's get Kenson and get the hell out of here"

A/N Thanks for your reviews and comments