Shepard woke with a start. For a horrible moment she thought she was back in the dirty little cell. Then her searching eyes settled on Garrus, standing at the entrance, and she breathed a sigh of relief.

She could remember waking James up at the end of her watch, giving him a moment to yawn and stretch before she took his place between Garrus and Kaidan. She had fallen asleep quickly and slept a deep dreamless sleep. Now she blinked and looked around. The camp site was bathed in the grey light of dawn. The fire had died down and there was a chill in the air that made her give a small shudder.

Hearing her stir, Garrus turned. He cocked his head, making the quirk of his mandibles seem soft and gentle. "Ready?"

Shepard nodded.

"With a little luck we'll reach the ERV at noon."

"Good", she said, pulling on the sweatpants Kaidan had loaned her. "I've had enough of Pragia to last me a life time."

After having woken James and Kaidan and eaten a quick breakfast, washed down with water, they set out, leaving the entrance to the underground ruins behind to disappear into the vivid green hues of the jungle. The fire had dried out their wet clothes, but above the canopies clouds were already gathering. The chill of the pre-dawn was all too soon replaced by a stifling heat and humidity. Kaidan was scanning the comm-frequencies but it was useless. The IFF-system kept changing active codes, adjusting instantly to his attempts to breach it, making it impossible to hack.

They had walked for nearly an hour, following an ancient path that took them past the pyramid and its surrounding ruins and into the forest on the other side when the heavens opened themselves and drenched them within minutes.

Shepard turned her face upwards, glad for the relief from the heat. Behind her the three male soldiers swallowed, watching her with the wet t-shirt clinging to her body like a second skin.

James forced his eyes off her, concentrating on their surroundings, knowing Garrus and Kaidan did the same. They kept up the pace, wanting to put as much distance between themselves and the camp. As long as they could follow animal trails and the under-brush didn't become too thick they would reach the ERV by midday.

They were so close now! Shepard could feel her heart elevating at the thought of being back on the Normandy again. The only true home she had known since her family's death on Mindoir. She could vividly imagine Steven's wide smile, his teeth white against his tanned skin as he extended his hand to her and pulled her into the shuttle, into safety.

The thought gave her strength, made her push herself to continue when fatigue started to slow her down.

Garrus was covering their arches as they traversed yet another stony stream cutting through their path when he caught a movement on the radar. He grabbed James who was walking a head of him, pressing a gloved talon to his mouth in the human sign for being quiet.

James nodded. He tapped Shepard on the shoulder, signing for her to get Kaidan's attention. The three of them huddled close to Garrus, quietly watching as he brought up the radar on his omi-tool. Red dots flickered briefly only to disappear when the IFF jammed their system.

"Dammit!" Kaidan cursed under his breath. "They must have picked up our trail as soon as we left the ruins."

"We need to keep up the pace. Our only chance is to stay ahead of them", Garrus said, keeping his voice low. His eyes searched Shepard's. Despite the fever and the infection having cleared up she was still in a sad state. The fierce tab was going to take its toll on her.

James checked his thermal clips as if hoping the ammo would have replenished itself. It hadn't. "I only have half a load", he said quietly. "We're in deep shit here."

Garrus nodded. He couldn't add much to their arsenal himself. They had used up most of their fire power during the incident with the gunship, and the few thermal clips they had found on the killed mercs couldn't even begin to make up for the ones they had lost.

Without knowing how many units of Blue Suns that was tracking them they didn't dare to set up an ambush. All they could do was to make a run for it and hope for the best.

"We'll leave the trail and try to shake them off", Garrus whispered. "With a little luck the plant life will slow them down a little, giving us a chance to slip away. "It probably wouldn't work but there wasn't much of an option.

The knowledge that they were being hunted drove them to race through the dense growth. They kept in a close formation so not to lose each other in the dizzying world of green.

The mercenaries hunting them wouldn't be easy to get rid of, something they all knew. They had the technological advantage, not to mention an almost endless supply of ammo, and they would be well-rested and in good shape.

The jungle became less dense as they closed in on the ERV. But the lack of undergrowth was made up by the many fallen trees overgrown by vines and ferns. Shepard noticed that all trees had fallen in the same direction but she still didn't know where they were until she noticed that the black soil wasn't soil at all but ashes. She could see scorch-marks on the tree trunks as well. Her bare arms and feet were soon stained black as they continued moving through the burned out area.

It wasn't until she saw the blackened, twisted ruin she realised that she knew where they were. "It's the Teltin facility", she mumbled, wiping rainwater off her brow and leaving a black streak. "Or what's left of it."

"Yeah", Garrus said, holding out his hand to help her over one of the large tree trunks. "Jack really nuked the hell out of this place."

"This is the ERV?"

He nodded. "It was the only other place where the shuttle could land without getting stuck in the damned trees." They were crouching behind a large piece of debris, acutely aware of how exposed they were without the jungle's protective canopies. Nothing moved.

Shepard glanced at her omni-tool. The radar was still jammed and they couldn't get the comms to work. All they could do was to wait and hope that Cortez had gotten their broken up message and was on his way to pick them up.

A static screech jolted them, telling them that someone was trying to contact them. Kaidan lifted his hand to his ear. "Cortez? Cortez, can you hear me? We're at the ERV. We've got mercs hot on out trail. We need to be evacuated ASAP."

The screech turned into a hiss and beyond that, faintly, as if coming from another world, Steve's familiar voice came through. "... hear you... I... hang on. ETA five minutes..."

"Thank God!" James exclaimed with something akin to true reverence in his voice. "We're getting out of here! First round's on me!" Shepard gave him a smile. She was leaning against the large chunk of concrete, completely spent.

The sound of the approaching shuttle made them rise. James were jumping up and down, hooting with excitement as the blue shuttle with its white Alliance logo descended towards them.

Shepard too was looking up, one hand raised to shield her eyes from the sunlight. This was it. She was going home!

Garrus sensed the attack just before it came. He put an arm around Shepard, pulling her down and against him.

Like a black wrath a sleek gunship rose above the pile of debris that had been the Teltin facility. Is surged towards the clumsy, much slower shuttle like a shark closing in on its prey.

James and Kaidan moved up to cover Shepard from the from the sides.

Garrus had time to curse himself for having lead them into a trap just before mercs sporting the blue and white armour of the Blue Suns milled out of the jungle and surrounded them.

"Drop your weapons!" One of the men shouted and fired his own rifle above their heads, making sure his message got through. "Get down! Hands where we can see them!"

Garrus could feel Shepard's legs simply giving up under her as the men surrounded them. "Keep calm", he whispered hoping his words would reach her through the panic. "Everything will be all right."

James dropped his weapon when one of the mercs shoved the butt of his scratched assault rifle in his kidneys. Another man kicked their legs away under them, sending them sprawling on the ground. He heard a muffled cry of pain from Kaidan as one of the mercs gave him a vicious kick to the back of the head, knocking him out before he could activate his biotic powers.

Terror, pure and simple made Shepard cling to Garrus as if she was drowning. He shielded her from the kicks and punches the mercs threw at them as the shouted at them to stay down.

Then rough hands lifted them to their feet and their arms were shackled behind their backs.

"You thought you could get away from us, eh?" The man that seemed to be in charge said, his voice coloured by an Afrikaans accent. "Don't you know we always get our merchandise back, and with interest this time I think." He grinned at Shepard, showing off large, square yellow teeth before turning to his men. "Take them to the Astred facility. And shoot down that god damned shuttle!"

Did you really think I would let them escape that easily? Muahahahah!