'I believe in everything until it's disproved. So I believe in fairies, the myths, dragons. It all exists, even if it's in your mind. Who's to say dreams and nightmares aren't as real as the here and now?' -John Lennnon
Nihlus lifted his chin as the breeze whipped around them. He inhaled gently, paused, then started to stride off down the hill. Shepard followed after checking the radio on her omni-tool and syncing up with the other males. She studied her surroundings in a gust of bravado, greeting each plant and rock to her steely gaze. Here, she relaxed despite the smell of death close by. Another fact; her nose could find an enemy before her radar did.
They pushed forward, each soldier minding how the others moved. Eventually they came along a path where corpses burnt to crisps lay.
"Huh. And you'd think you'd finally hear the end of those planetary bon-fires on the extranet." Shepard waggled her eyebrows at her squad-mates. Nihlus huffed, amused, as Kaidan cringed. She brought up her omni-tool to take a scan but the turian interjected.
"Civilians are secondary objective. They're no good dead now, anyway."
The Commander glanced back at Nihlus, nodded. "Right. Let's move."
They descended down a path that wound its way through this minute clearing peppered with rocks. No further bodies made themselves known. Shepard held up a fist, scanned the area, sniffed. Waited. She armed her pistol- a hand cannon she'd been able to buy with her poker winnings- signaled Nihlus to move forward. The air shifted under them then. Nihlus made the smart move, he ducked behind a rock instead of moving into the unguarded path.
Unfamiliar machinery whirred as it spat sizzling bullets at the rock the Spectre currently hid behind. He growled when he realized the damn thing wouldn't stop until the rock swept away and he got caught in the hailstorm.
"Hey Spectre!"
Scorching green irises snapped to daring silver-spur.
He didn't know why at this moment, but he suddenly was reminded of how much he hated the thought of returning to Palaven.
Shepard wiggled her eyebrows that seemed to be smoothly placed upon her brown skin.
"Duck!"
She didn't need to tell him twice. He kept low, catching the movement of her arm whipping around from behind. Suddenly the machine exploded into an endless storm of bits and pieces. Shepard didn't give him the chance to say anything as she skipped on ahead behind another rock some feet from his position. Alenko trekked after, sitting on the opposite side of the path, his assault rifle drawn and ready. Sure enough more of the little bastards made their way about. The turian counted three. He relayed this info back to Shepard then switched out his shotgun for the assault rifle secured on his back.
"On my word, Alenko!"
"Ma'am!"
Shepard peeked out from the rock, giggled, then shouted back at Nihlus, "Give 'em some hell, Spectre!"
He held up a hand in an affirmative, a gesture he'd thought long gone with his military career. Engaging his disruptor ammo, he peppered away at the shields of each bot before switching his focus to the next. Shepard gave the call for Alenko to make his move, which he did in civilized manner. His biotics flared once, twice; the machines were hurtled not away from them, but rather toward Shepard. She raised her gun to squeeze three rounds into some unknown vulnerable spot. Regardless, all three of them exploded upon impact leaving a very pleased Commander.
"Not bad boys. Although you would've had your ass handed to you if you were a second late on those biotics, Alenko." She wiggled her eyebrows again to his embarrassment. Kaidan stood tall, offered his best salute.
"Ma'am, I- I understand. And it won't happen again, Commander."
Shepard, nonchalant as always, waved him off and replied, "I know you're killing yourself over Jenkins, but this isn't the time to do it. I need your 200 percent right now. If you can't give me that, you might as well be on the other end of my shotgun. Understood?"
"Yes ma'am!"
"Good. Oi, Spectre! I hope you're scaly ass- oh. There you are." Nihlus rolled his eyes at her as she turned her head to meet his gaze. "Any idea what these things are? They're not like any security mechs I've ever seen. And even if they were..."
Kyrik shook his head. "They would have recognized you both as human. It is a human colony. I don't like this, and right now, I'm open to any and all theories."
Shepard motioned for them to move along, keeping pace with Nihlus as Kaidan walked drag. "In other words, you have your own ideas."
"Somewhat," he growled, flicking some function on his assault rifle. If it could even be called that with how sleek and toned it appeared to be. "This could all just be an invasion by mercenaries. I'd say by the look of those drones...Eclipse."
"Mm, possible," Shepard answered chewing around a ration she pulled from her pack. Which really happened to be a soda can sized pouch secured on her unoccupied right hip.
Nihlus continued. "Though I don't think I've seen a model like that despite their 'expertise'."
"No, too many holes. A few weeks ago, some Citadel reporter was covering the dismantlement of an Eclipse tech sanction. Said it would definitely set their organized crime back a few years. Although, thay entire report could have been fabricated."
Alenko coughed behind them, "Depends on which reporter sent it out."
"E. Wong, if memory serves me right."
"She's liable," Nihlus and Kaidan said in unison, turning to each other and sparring knowing glances.
"This op is too low key for mercenaries to just start showing up. Even if in a worst case scenario, that one of the colonists, scientists, or soldiers relayed info out onto the market; they couldn't have arrived without at least some minimal detection by our sensors," Shepard grumbled unhappily as she gazed longingly at the empty wrapper in her hand. She didn't use an ounce of biotics yet she already started to get hungry.
'Anxious to start sparking through the field? You could scare off your squadmates, you know,' her conscience teased.
The turian nodded, voicing how he believed her logic to be sound. So they were up against unknowns at the moment, just a lot of speculation to keep them momentarily sated. All it did for Caen is wound her up. The biotic amp on the back of her neck flared taint red mixed in angelic blue as another involuntary pulse ran over her body.
These shivers gave her some sort of grounding as they engaged another group of notorious drones.
. . .
Kaidan eyed the soldier waving at them, his lips pressed into this thin line of wary old man. The leader of the group, however, contrasted in her delightful expression and gleeful greeting.
"I'm Commander Shepard, Alliance Navy! Who are you? Where's the rest of your squad? We're here to extract the Prothean beacon; where is it by the way? Any idea what happened to the tech heads digging it up? Can you give me a run-down of what happened here?"
The soldier squared from head to toe in heavy, coal armor, saluted and immediately began to answer the Commander. "Corpsmen Nirali Bahtia. I was apart of the two-twelve, Commander. We're missing a Gunnery Chief that recently transferred to another colony; other than her, the two-twelve unit... fell to well- what I believe to be- Geth squadrons," Nirali swallowed thickly, nodding at the dark-skinned woman as she set her helmet on the ground.
No one moved, not one yet willing to risk interrupting her. Especially after the word.
'That fucking word,' Shepard thought. Something about its nature made her spine crawl and fingers twitch.
Geth.
Dear God, where were these shivers coming from?
Nirali began again, mapping out the answers to the questions in her head. She arranged what happened so this new squad could make sense of what happened. "The last place I found the Prothean beacon was in the campground far ahead. The scientists... or 'tech heads', I suppose... they moved the beacon just this morning to the docks and were preparing for delivery. Not too long after that, the Geth squadrons tore through everything; the colonists, the platoons, the scientists... It did not matter whether you stood in their way or not. The last platoon had been able to report a heavily armored turian before losing contact."
Bahtia shifted her focus on Nihlus who simply remained in his leisure stance. Shepard shooed her suspicions aside, explaining how he happened to be the "Holy Spectre of Council Uptightness".
This Gunnery Chief caught her interest. "The transfer you mentioned earlier, when did she leave?"
"Nine days ago. You would have to check the records for the transfer destination."
"The Chief didn't say where she was going?"
"Feros, I think. It's a small world with many wonders. Chief Williams could just as well have been detoured and shipped off elsewhere," Nirali murmured, her Indian accent weighing down her words.
"Why's that?" Shepard tilted her head.
Bahtia hesitated for a moment. Her hands flexed on her sniper rifle, "Her name is Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams, ma'am. A name many are not fond of."
"Oh shit," Kaidan muttered, eyes wide. Nihlus flared his mandibles, knowing what she meant as well. How could they not?
"I don't see what a last name has to do with this, but I'll take your word for it. Anyway, we need you to show us the route to the cargo port or at least point us in the right direction," Shepard wrapped up, squaring her feet.
The soldier nodded, sharp and quick, as she took point and lead them up into the camp. On the way, the original dig site of the beacon gleamed hauntingly at them. Nirali filled in the smaller details, trying to bring as much color to the situation as possible. Shepard questioned about what Bahtia's theories may be on what the Geth were doing here. The corpsmen truly felt they were here to snatch the Prothean beacon; why else would they attack this human settlement after 300 years behind the Veil?
Details were missing, clearly. Shepard felt that Nirali presented the truth for her in the barest form. In other words, she had no reason to believe that this woman posed any threat to the colonists. Shepard decided she hadn't been behind the attacks.
Strangely enough, Nihlus kept quiet during these discussions, choosing to process how the Commander went about seeking information. Perhaps a little unorthodox at first in the manner questions zipped out of her mouth faster than insults did. He think he understood why though. Caen dealt in this sort of situation before, on Elysium, except on colonist terms. She appeared to Bahtia as a bit eccentric, though her mannerisms over time evolved into slow motions as the soldier revealed more to her.
He couldn't fathom as to why it worked so well.
And he's the decorated Spectre!
He spoke only once to ask, "Tell me about the turian the last platoon spotted."
Bahtia jumped momentarily (to his rumbling amusement), looking to Shepard for permission. The Commander nodded, flashing a sickening grin that displayed the teeth.
"Heavily armored with silver leather-"
"She means skin," the female biotic clarified.
"They said it looked like the turian had cybernetics," Nihlus bristled, continuing to trudge along with the humans. "Last seen giving orders to Geth units."
"You're sure?" Nihlus pressed in his best nonchalant tone.
A determined nod and a further explanation from the Corpsmen. Apparently someone by the name of Bourbon had the best pair of eyes in the Terminus. He doubted this- naturally. On one hand, he didn't feel surprised that Saren had been mulling about an attacked human colony. Spirits only knew how much he despised the varied aliens. In his other palm lay the fact that Saren might be the one behind these very attacks.
A portion of Nihlus wanted Saren to not have his head so far up his ass that he would actually pull this kind of stunt. Several different pieces agreed that if he indeed was, he couldn't let Saren jeopardize all that he'd done to secure Shepard's future in the Spectres.
Best case scenario?
This 'Bourbon' could be as blind as bat and have mistakened a Geth for Saren Arterius.
Saren Arterius; the baddest motherfucker to have ever inhaled oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide.
Worst case?
He'd have to face his mentor of several years after a bad fall-out as enemies instead of friends.
Oh, and did he mention defend the very human he wanted to mentor in the way of the Spectre? Technically there isn't really a way of the Spectre, just of the Nihlus-
'Will you quit it? You're driving us both up the wall.'
Sighing, Nihlus shifted his rifle, earning a questioning glance from the male human. 'What was his name? Caius? No, that's a name derived from Cipritine Common. Kira? Khan? ...Alenko. Yeah. Let's stick with that.'
"You okay, Nihlus?"
"I am. I'm afraid I can't say the same for the colony."
Shepard perked up. She glanced at the turian over her shoulder, "I know the geth are here, but there's a good chance that a lot of these colonists survived. They didn't hit the whole planet."
"This is regarding the turian Corpsmen Bahtia mentioned," again, he shifted the weapon in his hands. "I can't confirm or deny anything until I get a visual. This turian might be Saren Arterius."
"The Spectre?" Bahtia voiced the disbelief of all of them. "How are you sure?"
Nihlus shook his head, "I'm not. But how many turians with cybernetics do you see on a daily basis?"
"I've never seen a turian with cybernetics," Shepard commented.
"Exactly. If this is Saren's doing, then.. it might be more than just a simple raid and kidnapping of the beacon happening. Knowing him."
The Commander snorted through her nose, an action they all became accustomed to rather quickly. They approached a small camp. Alenko advised caution, as it happened to be a good place to ambush someone. Her nostrils twitched, picking up the smell of flesh. And blood.
And a hint of metallic.
"Someone's still here, all right. If we find Saren, we'll question him. So check your targets. Understood?" Each soldier gave their consent.
"Awesome. Move out."
AN: Don't worry guys, we'll meet up with Ashley soon enough. In the mean time we'll get to know Nirali Bahtia! ;D I promise I didn't leave Ash in the dust guys. As I said, things are mixed up. I wonder what will happen on Feros- winkwinkhinthint. If you have anything to say, don't forget to drop a comment. Thanks for reading!