Dusk came fast in the jungle. Grey clouds gathered above; heavy looking and stacked up like dirty cotton candy they promised rain and thunder.
Kaidan and James eased their way down the muddy slope, moving inch-by-inch, careful not to rustle any of the foliage or crack a twig.
They had decided to get into position, wait out the night and then attack at first light following standard operation procedure.
A bug started chewing in his back but Kaidan forced himself to ignore the itching pain. He wished he had a bottle of Deet*, but alas, it was left back with his kit at their little lay up point and so he was like an open fast-food restaurant to every hungry bug that flew or crawled.
Slowly lifting his head he peered through the leafs of a bush. He was in position. And a soft rustle to his right told him that so was James. Now all they had to do was to wait.
As midnight came and went, the small team watched the camp. As usual fires were being lit in old oil-drums and barrels, bottles of alcohol being shared. And it didn't take long for the red sand to appear.
These mercs are completely loco, James Vega thought to himself, watching the scene below him. Come morning they wouldn't know what hit them.
Garrus moved back into the thick foliage after having set up a couple of his deadly proximity mines. He would stay put, using his own presence to scare off any animals that might wander into his little minefield. As soon as he got the get go he would use his sniper rifle to take out the few guards that was sloppily patrolling the perimeter of the camp.
Leaning against the huge tree, Garrus looked out into the dense darkness, easily penetrating it with his visor setting on night vision. He'd always loved the jungle. You had everything; protection, food and water. If you knew what you were doing it was a great environment to be in, bursting with life.
When the rain started it was like sitting in a very leaky tent; the sound of the raindrops hitting the foliage was almost deafening. Garrus wrapped himself in the waterproofed lightweight tent canvas, his mandibles twitching in a grin, as he thought of his human team mates getting wet and miserable down in the mud.
It rained all through the night. Kaidan had to keep wiping water away from his face. At least it wasn't cold, he thought trying to cheer himself up. He watched as the mercs in the camp partied. The music coming from speakers mounted on poles blocked out the sound of crickets and night birds.
Kaidan moved slightly to ease a cramp that had started to build up in his right leg.
The mercs moved from house to house. Kaidan thought he heard a woman's voice, high and shrill, but he couldn't be sure. The camp was populated by both men and women, and when a man re-emerged from the house a few moments later, tucking his shirt back into his pants, Kaidan could only hope he had visited the local whore and not one of the poor bastards held hostage.
Kaidan squinted against the sudden light when an over-happy merc tossed a bottle into one of the fires, causing it to explode.
The sound of the bottle exploding woke Shepard from her fitful, drug-induced sleep. Her heart pounded, her mouth was dry and despite the heat she was shivering. Strands of dirty dark hair clung to her forehead and cheeks. She pushed herself up on her arms so she could press her face to the boarded up window and peer out through a crack between the closed shutters. She saw the mercs moving in the flickering light coming from the fires. The heavy rain drowned out all other sounds.
The words of the merc earlier came back to haunt her and she curled up, wrapping her arms around herself.
She spent the rest of the night in this position, eyes on the door. Flinching every time someone passed the door to the cot where she was imprisoned.
When night gave way to a grey dawn she had fallen into a light sleep.
"Attack, attack!"
The order jolted them into action. They would hit hard, fast and quiet, clearing one house at the time with Garrus thinning out the mercs that no doubt would be milling about as soon as they realised they were being attacked.
Following a step behind Kaidan, James ran down the slippery slope and into the still sleeping camp. They used the shelter of the forest, then ducked behind a fence before bolting across the wide open area to press themselves up against the wall of the first house.
It was at this point things usually got loud. They lined up by the door. The lock blared red but Kaidan had no problem bypassing it and it soon shone a more inviting green. James hit the now open lock the rusty door slid open and they burst inside.
The narrow corridor was lit with a single flickering light armature. It was lined with doors, two on each side. The doors were locked. James moved up to the closest one and looked through the observation window. In the dark little cell he could make out the shape of a salarian laying on the narrow bed, unconscious, or dead. A plastic bowl stood untouched on the floor beside it.
He moved on the next door to find it occupied by a dead asari. She lay on the floor, one arm extended towards the door as if she had died begging for help. "Madre de Dios..." James crossed himself without being aware of it. "What the hell is going on here?"
Kaidan had checked the other cells and reported back to Garrus. He was pale when he turned to James. "She's not here. There is nothing we can do for these people, we have to continue."
James nodded.
"You have company", came Garrus' flanging voice over their comm-implants. "Three mercs carrying weapons."
"Copy that." Kaidan and James positioned themselves by to the door.
"They don't seem to suspect anything", Garrus continued to report. "I don't think they know we're here. One of them is approaching your building."
James drew his knife while Kaidan's biotics crackled to life.
James tensed, preparing to thrust his knife into the unknown man. They could hear him now; heavy boots against the ground. They heard the him clear his throat and spit. He muttered a few words and James realised that the man had discovered the door had been unlocked.
He shouted something to his friends, then activated the omni-lock to open the door. James and Kaidan pressed themselves deeper into the shadows.
The man blinked, temporarily blinded by the change of the early morning light to the darkness inside. This was it. With the speed of striking snakes both James and Kaidan moved, pulling the man inside. James closed the door while Kaidan did the dirty deed; he sent a bolt of biotic energy into the man's chest. The merc convulsed and fell into a heap on the floor, his feet drumming out a staccato rhythm.
Kaidan checked the merc's vital signs to make sure that he was dead. There was nothing they could do for the dead and the dying prisoners. They moved out, the door sliding close behind them. There was no way they could stay unseen now. They left the flimsy security of the cot, ran the short distance to the next and bypassed the lock.
Behind them one of the merc's weapon sounded off, a static tatatata that broke the early morning calm once and for all.
James and Kaidan returned the fire, dropping the man instantly. The door slid open and they dove inside, closing the door behind them.
A new corridor, as dark and dank as the first. They quickly moved from cell to cell. Another asari, who looked up at them with too glossy eyes. The next cell was empty.
"Dammit!" Kaidan cursed, slamming his fist against the wall in a rare show of emotions. "She's not here!"
"Shit..." James growled as frustrated as the Major. "She's in the main building."
From outside they could hear the echoing boom of Garrus sniper rifle and the high pitched staccato of the merc's SMG's and shotguns.
Kaidan lifted his hand to his ear, activating the comm-implant. "She is not here, Garrus. We need to get into the main facility."
"Go", the former C-Sec Officer replied. "I'll keep them busy."
*Deet is a very strong bug-repellent used by the British SAS when operating in the jungle. It melts plastic, stinks and is said to cause cancer. I'm not sure if it's still in use and I'm pretty sure they would have something fancier in the Mass Effect universe, but I couldn't come up with anything in the moment of writing.
I'm aiming for realism when it comes to the action and is drawing my inspiration from Andy McNab's books and a book by John Connor called "From Desert Warriors to Ghost Force."
Okay, so I have to admitt that this chapter is all over the place. I promise that I'll do my best to make the next chapter better.