In which there will be some proper action with bullets flying and blood spurting and Joker's fate will finally be revealed.
The sound of voices woke him. Garrus forced his eyes open. It felt like it had been only a couple of seconds since he put his head down.
James who was sitting nearby munching on a protein bar, grinned at him. "Look who's up, our very own sleeping beauty."
"Shove it, Lieutenant", Garrus retorted but without real bite in his voice. His eyes worriedly scanned the area until they settled on Shepard. She was leaning against the large boulder with her arms crossed in front of her chest, glaring at Kaidan.
"I'm more than capable of handling something heavier than a gun", she said. "I feel fine."
"You are not fine", Kaidan replied exasperated. "You almost died, Shepard! Yes, your fever is down but you are still too weak-"
Shepard jutted her chin out defiantly. "I am not weak." She pushed away from the rock, going toe to toe with him. "Give me a rifle. That's an order, Major Alenko!"
"Shepard."
She whirled around and found herself looking directly into Garrus blue gaze. He was holding an M-97 Viper rifle. Her M-97 Viper. Her eyes strayed from the rifle and back to the turian. "I thought you would like to have it", he said handing her the weapon.
Shepard ran her fingers over it, over the familiar scratches and marks in the worn paintwork. She felt tears welling up in her eyes and wiped them away with an angry gesture. "I should have brought it with me", she said. "If I had, I could have fought them off. I could have-"
"What happened wasn't your fault", Garrus said. He longed to take her into his arms and smooth away that defeated frown on her too pale face. Had she been asleep he would have done so, but she was awake and she had enveloped herself in a brittle armour of self-control and stubbornness. If it cracked, so would she. So he let his arms drop and hoped that his voice and eyes would convey his emotions. "You didn't do anything wrong, Shepard."
She looked away, avoiding his gaze, her trembling hands clutching the sniper rifle. No matter what Garrus said she had been careless. That thought made her remember seeing Joker lying lifeless on the ground. One of the mercs had struck the young pilot on the back of his head with the butt of a pistol. "Did Joker make it?" she asked, swallowing down the anguish the memories brought.
"Yeah." Garrus nodded. "He was lucky. The cap must have softened the blow because he got away with a mild concussion, a cracked rib and some bruises."
"He was pissed off though", James added with a little chuckle, crunching up the protein bar's wrapper and stuffing it into one of the pockets of his backpack. "I don't think I've ever seen anyone so angry. I thought he was going to break a bone the way he carried on."
"Joker blames himself", Kaidan said having listened to their conversation. "He feels he should have been able to stop the kidnappers from taking you, despite his illness."
"He shouldn't be so hard on himself", Shepard said.
"Neither should you, Shepard", said Garrus quietly, watching as she focused her attention on her rifle, checking the Viper's scope and adjusted it slightly. "Neither should you."
They quickly assembled the camp, folding up the canvases, carefully removing every trace of their presence.
Despite not having much of an appetite, Shepard forced herself to eat a granola bar if only to stop Kaidan, James and Garrus from giving her worried looks every so often. The familiar taste of chocolate, nuts and raisins was almost surreal after the hell she had been through.
They were walking in a row with James once again in point position. Progress was slow due to the dense vegetation. And, Shepard suspected, because of her. Kaidan was right, she was not well even though she hated to admit it. She had to struggle to keep up even this slow pace but she continued to move doggedly. The weight of the rifle on her back was comforting. She felt better just knowing she would be able to defend herself and her team if something happened. Oh, that's right, she thought, correcting herself. This was Garrus' team. James had told her that the turian was the one who had planed the mission and acted as CO.
Shepard wasn't surprised. Like the Shadow Broker's dossier had said, Garrus possessed exceptional tactical and team-building skills as well as having leadership potential. Though, she recalled, it also said his talents were unlikely to fully develop if he remained under her command. I guess the Shadow Broker was wrong, Shepard mused in a fit of dark humour. All it took was me getting kidnapped to make him use his full potential as a leader. Maybe I should get kidnapped more often.
But the mirth was bitter, acrid. She would rather die then end up in the hands of her tormentors again.
Sunlight filtered down through the canopy turning the shadows into hues of emerald and jade. Pragia was a world of wild growing vines, giant trees, mosses and lichens. It was damp and hot and a test in endurance and patience to move through. But there was beauty here as well.
Shepard stared in amazement as a dragonfly the size of her lower arm passed above her head, its large wings humming. It sparkled like it had been bejewelled by some mischievous spirit.
James pushed aside a curtain of vines and came out into a clearing. The light changed, turning from gold and green to grey. He looked up and frowned. It looked as if someone had draped sheets on the branches of the surrounding trees. More of the greyish cloth expanded across the clearing, shutting out the sunlight. Then he realised what it was. Not sheets but layers upon layers of webbing. "I didn't know there were rachni on Pragia."
"I don't think it's the rachni", Garrus said slowly, examining one of the webs more closely.
"I have a bad feeling about this", Kaidan mumbled as they moved further into the clearing in a close formation.
"I bet the universe is dying to prove just how right you are", Garrus replied dryly.
A high pitched warbling cut through the humid morning.
"Told you so." The former C-Sec officer flashed the turian version of a grin.
Instinctively the men had positioned themselves around Shepard, ready to defend her. She gritted her teeth in annoyance but refrained from saying anything. She knew she was in a bad shape.
Kaidan glanced at his nav and cursed. "We've got multiple enemies closing in on us."
Another warbling came from the treetops and was answered by a veritable chorus. The eerie sound was repeated as more and more of the unseen creatures joined in. There was a horrible hunger and expectation in the sound that send chills down their backs.
Something moved high above them in the branches, something big enough to make the webs sway and cause a rain of dry leaves. Using the Viper's scope, Shepard caught a glimpse of a dark shadow moving too fast for her to focus in on it. "They're coming. Be ready!"
"I'm always ready", James said, cocking his heavy assault rifle.
"Famous last words", Garrus mumbled in teasing dual-tones.
Despite the seriousness of the situation, Shepard couldn't help but to feel comforted listening to the light banter. Like the taste of chocolate and her sniper rifle it reminded her of the time before... before...
Rough hands grabbing her, tearing at her clothes... She tried to fight. She struggled against the clamps holding her pinned to the metal chair. Panic surging through her...
No! No more! Please... I don't want to remember... Shepard closed her eyes tightly, struggling to keep her breathing normal, willing her heart to stop racing. This was not the time to get a panic-attack. Cold sweat beaded on her brow and she blinked trying to clear the darkness that threatened to close in on her.
Garrus, standing directly behind her noticed how she tensed, his visor picking up her increased pulse. "You okay, Shepard?"
"Keep your god damn eyes on the trees!" She gritted out more harshly then she had intended. "Dammit!" She took a deep breath, then another, holding the heavy Viper in a grip so hard her knuckles whitened.
The canopies around the clearing were moving, branches and webs swaying, leaves rustling as the creatures closed in on them. Then all of a sudden the warbling noises stopped. Slowly the branches and webs stopped swinging. The silence was thick with tension.
Shepard stepped on something round and hard. Thinking it was a stone she kicked it aside so not to trip on it if they were attacked. But something, perhaps the sensation of it against her bare foot, or the sound it made as it rolled away and came to a stop a few feet away from her, made her glance at it.
It wasn't a stone.
A human skull glared up at her with empty eye-sockets. "Oh God..." She mumbled, noticing for the first time how uneven the moss covered floor was. She had assumed that the clearing was littered with fallen down branches, moss-clad stones and protruding roots, but now that she knew what she was looking at she could make out more skulls and bones; remains of both humans and animals. "It's a killing ground!"
A rustle of leaves directly overhead made them all look up, weapons at a ready.
The creature sitting poised on the branch looked like a mad mix of a giant spider and a sloth, but in contrast to the slow-moving sloths on Earth, this creature was fast. It was covered in short dark grey fur and it had eight long powerful limbs that ended in hands with two opposing digits sporting curved talons used to hold onto the thick branches. In contrast with the dark body the flat face was white, naked, and eerily enough it had an almost human shape. The eyes too seemed almost human but the pupils were horizontal, slit-shaped and filled with hunger.
"What the hell is that?" Kaidan asked, not taking his eyes off the creature.
"One mean looking son of a bitch", that's for sure", James said quietly. "You've come across anything like this before, Scars?"
"No", Garrus replied, he too keeping his voice down. "But what ever it is, it doesn't look very friendly."
The creature tilted its head at the sound of their voices. It stared at them. The gaze held a calculating, predatory intelligence that was unnerving. Suddenly it hissed, and its mouth opened horizontally as well as diagonally in petal like flaps. A multiple jointed limb with a black fang protruding from its fleshy end shot out from the creature's pharynx towards James who was standing closest.
Instinctively they all pulled their triggers. The noise of the guns was deafening, echoing through the clearing and the beast literally exploded into blood and gore. At that short range their combined fire power was devastating.
"Damn!" someone exclaimed but Shepard's ears were ringing too much for her to make out who it was.
That mad warbling sound started again, high-pitched, eager and feral. It came from all around them, and Shepard realised that the creature she had shot had been a decoy. While it drew their attention, the rest of the pack had moved in. They were completely surrounded.
Damn, I wish I didn't have to end the chapter here! But, alas, I have get ready for work. I'll start working on the next chapter tonight. :) As usual I've written it on the go and I feel it's a bit rushed. But hey, at least it's up.
I couldn't stay away! I had to do a slight re-write as well as ad the part with Shepard struggling not to give into a panic-attack.