A/N: Inspired by joestej. Also for all those Tali fans out there, do not worry she'll be recruited into the team by around chapter 11 or 12.
3-7-2184 2595 hours (Citadel standard time)
SSV Normandy
Corvette
Command deck
"Captain we are 120 kilometers from the Batarian…hey captain you have to see this!" exclaimed Joker.
Shepard walked over to the cockpit from his nav-map and took a look at what Joker had found so interesting. "What is it Joker?" he asked him.
"The moon…its…I think it's a garden world. Look at all that green, brown, and blue."
"How is that even possible? Wouldn't it make more sense to call it a planet?" Shepard asked, stunned seeing a moon covered in oceans and land.
EDI's avatar appeared next to Joker's leather seat. "The moon, called Har, orbits a gas giant that radiates heat, giving the oxygen and nitrogen rich atmosphere colony life. Like most moons, Fra orbits the gas giant and its only by chance that such a phenomenon occurred."
"And that's the only flaw in the Normandy 2.0." Joker whined. Turning his head towards Shepard, he asked "Do we really need this electrical cancer onboard, in the cockpit? I mean we already have the geth it named." Joker complained, not wanting an AI criticizing his flying skills.
"Mr. Moreau, I assure you I will not interfere with your flight performance. I am only responsible for the Normandy's cyber warfare suites." EDI calmly informed him.
"Joker get us planet side as quickly as you can. EDI set up a connection line to the Cerberus operative responsible for the operation. I'm going to get the team ready." Shepard ordered, leaving the cockpit and heading to the armory.
"Roger captain." Joker said, and EDI's avatar simply disappeared.
Armory
6 minutes later
Seeing the ground team all gathered, Shepard began discussing his plan. "We are going to split into three teams. Grunt, Jacob, and I will be team A. We'll handle the frontlines and be sure that the Cerberus line holds. Ramirez, Kasumi, and Legion will be team B. They're our infiltration team and will capture our objective, a high ranking Batarian military officer believed to be in one of three buildings in the city. Garrus, Jack, and Samara will be team C, and they'll provide covering fire and support. Any questions"
Looking around Shepard saw no one objected to his plan and believed that they were ready. "This is our first official battle in this war, so let's make it count." he said to them.
The assigned teams loaded up on a blue jay carrier and once the Normandy reached the atmosphere it took off, while the Normandy retreated to a safe distance from all the AA cannons hidden in the jungle. In total ten members of Shepard's team were in the shuttle and were flying towards their assigned coordinates.
'Just another mission. Don't screw it up.'
Garrus Vakarian, accomplished soldier and veteran C-Sec officer, ignored the nervous lump in his throat and repeated the mantra over and over again in his head. He knew he had an amazing team, but was nervous about endangering the lives of his teammates. He has never personally lead a fire team before and he wasn't so sure he'd be able to properly lead them, but Shepard was confident that he was able and Garrus was determined not to let his friend down.
"Dammit, look at those trees," Jack mumbled gazing at the ground below.
"Good thing we are landing in the city. That jungle is the perfect location for ambushes, traps, and kill zones." James said.
The ground was entirely green with the occasional blue rivers or ponds; dense forest blanketed the area like a massive blanket. Up ahead Shepard could see the start of the city of Superiority. He saw an orange glow coming from some of the outer edges, topped with a haze of black smoke. There were other fires inside the city, as if the Batarians were sending out a signal to all humans: This is our city. Get out while you can or suffer our wrath.
"Approaching the landing zone." The pilot informed the group. He glanced at the dashboard. "That's not good. You guys may want to put your seatbelts on." He warned them.
"What?" Shepard asked.
"Incoming missile. Damn four eyes, I guess they want us dead. Hold on." The pilot yanked the controls; the Blue jay twisted sharply to the side, and Grunt was knocked over from his seat from what seemed to be a massive explosion.
"Are we hit?!" Shepard yelled over the noise, hands clenched to his armrests. His stomach swooped as the shuttle transport fell sharply. There was a heavy thud behind him and what sounded like a grunt from James.
"No, don't worry Captain. I wasn't assigned to be your transport pilot for nothing. I managed to shoot the rocket down before it could hit us."
Pushing James off of him, Garrus mumbled "Well its nice for the Batarians to send us a welcoming gift."
"Let's just hope it's their last one."Ramirez muttered.
"James, I don't think the Batarians are that greedy. I expect more, especially when the heavy fighting starts." Garrus responded.
"If it hasn't already." He said looking at the burning city.
Har
Cerberus Headquarters
Superiority Suburbs
The Blue jay troop carrier landed on the Cerberus controlled building that was serving as the head quarters. The thud of the shuttle rattled Jacob's brain, it reminded him of his time as an Alliance paratrooper. Shepard's group, which consisted of Jacob and Grunt, were met by the Cerberus officers on the rooftop. One of them, a seasoned soldier male in his late fifties, stepped forward. "Which one of you is charge?" he asked loudly over the shuttle's engine. He was in full-uniform and looked exhausted; there were bags under his eyes, his dark hair was peppered with dirt, and his uniform was stained with ash and debris as if it hadn't been cleaned in several days.
Shepard stepped forward. took his helmet off and stuck out her hand. "I am. Captain Shepard and these is my team. Jacob, Grunt, Legion, Ramirez, Garrus, Kasumi, Jack and Samara."
'Stay calm. Take no bullshit from them.'
The Cerberus officer scanned over them all. Shepard couldn't help, but note his reluctance in meeting them, most noticeable Grunt and Legion. "Very well. Follow me." He led them inside the Cerberus headquarters, where they were met with chaos. There were people running around everywhere, talking into headsets and radios, or looking at maps of the city, or barking orders at other people. Shepard couldn't help but think that is was sharply different from the Alliance military, and felt a small bit of pride. "I apologize for the disorganization. Given the current circumstances, we are somewhat stressed." He stopped outside a room. "This is an officers meeting. We would prefer to have only one of one you in our discussion, rather than a whole group of mercenaries."
Garrus cleared his throat. "More like deniable forces. Totally different." Shepard turned around and gave him look that said Not right now. He averted his eyes to the floor.
"Understood,-" Shepard started, awaiting the Cerberus officer to give him a rank, the officer seemed to notice this.
"Sir, will do just fine." he said with a even voice.
"Understood, sir." Shepard repeated. "My team will wait outside," he agreed, turning to address his fellow teammates. "Try not to break anything," He said staring at Grunt.
"Heh Heh Heh." Grunt laughed while smiling. It made the Cerberus guards a bit uneasy. "No promises, Shepard." he said.
Inside the conference room, was a circular room with an equally round table. Shepard couldn't help, but notice the officer had seated him isolated from the rest of the group.
A scared woman with a hooked nose glared at him. "Who is this?"
The Cerberus officer nodded to Shepard, giving him permission to speak. He took a small breath and began in a clear, even voice. " I am Captain Shepard of the Alliance. I am requesting on behalf of our team and for the good of the city that the Cerberus forces seize all offensive operations in the area and fall back to a solid defensive line 2 kilometers from here."
He bit his tongue as the officers around tittered at his suggestion. 'Calm. In charge. Take no bullshit. Just another mission.'
"What makes you think that you can do a better job than Cerberus?" The woman with a the hooked nose asked.
Before Shepard could give an explanation, the officer beat him to it. "The Illusive man believes that he can do a better job and is here on his personal order."
The woman with the scared face folded her hands together. "Prove it."
The officer tapped commands on his omni-tool that linked directly to the Illusive man's personal line. His voice filled the room. "Yes?"
The officer said "General Abita Kila wants me to confirm Shepard's authority over the operation."
"Shepard has full access to all and any Cerberus resources that he needs to complete his mission." The Illusive man responded.
"What what exactly is his mission?" The scarred woman asked.
"I believe I have just explained that this was his mission." The Illusive man said, stressing the fact that he did not have to answer to any of his subordinates. The table fell silent. "Anton, insure I do not receive any more interruptions before the mission is complete." The Illusive man ordered.
"Of course sir." He cut the connection and turned his attention to the Generals in the room with raised eyebrows. "Any more questions?" he asked them with a smile.
General Kila was not too pleased by the look on her face. "Why wasn't I informed of this Lt. Colonel?" she demanded.
'So Anton is his last name and his rank is Lt. Colonel.' Shepard thought.
With a mischievous grin, he replied "It must've slipped my mine, when you ordered my men to charge into the city with a lack of proper logistical center or rear guard. Now that that's settled," Anton said, shuffling through papers on the table, "does anyone wish to give him the current status of the city?"
"The entire population, military included, is using whatever means necessary to fight us. This has caused severe amounts of casualties in the last 24 hrs. There are also scattered reports that some biped insectoid like creatures fighting alongside the Batarians, however this have not been confirmed." Explained a younger officer, with a round face. "Our troops are spread thin and are mostly being pushed back into the centre of the city, with the exception of two districts, the banking square and the slave pens. Orbital strikes have been proposed to turn the tide, however we have not reached a decision yet."
Shepard thought this information over, along with the design of the city and its suburbs. The banking square was near the border of the Batarian held territory and the slave pens were located further back. "Have your forces in the banking square give up that territory, and have them join the soldiers near the salve pens. Any able bodied slave that is willing to fight the batarians, give them arms."
General Kila narrowed her eyes. "And risk having the Batarians setting forward artillery positions?"
"Yes. We are almost being driven back and as we fight in the frontlines, the Batarians will be fortifying their rear guard in case they lose any territory onward. They'll definitely set up artillery positions to hit this building, but they will do it with haste and won't have time to set up air defenses. Hit them with air strikes, and have a light armor column drive through the middle of the Batarian line straight to their headquarters. They'll be busy with the rest of the Cerberus forces, but they will not have time to reorganize. But we can only do this after the Batarians wear themselves out, not before."
"Still it would give them a massive victory and embolden them further." The woman spat. "I will not give any ground to those four eyes."
"False hope will make them aggressive, more reckless and cocky." Anton defended, seeing the strategic benefits of Shepard's plan.
"I st-" before the General could argue any further, Anton cut her off.
"General Kila, unless you have any other strategies that you will like to share with us, we follow the Illusive man's orders and do as Shepard says. So far we have taken small amounts of ground have almost exhausted our troops, while the Batarians have unknown numbers, possibly the whole city is against us."
He let his words sink into the Generals heads. Seeing no objections, Anton asked Shepard, "So what is next."
Shepard smiled, actually Miranda Lawson can explain. As if on cue, Miranda Lawson strode into the room and everyone's eyes fell one her. It was known that she was Cerberus's greatest asset and part of the Illusive man's inner circle.
Miranda explained the details of the plan further. "We will need extra force on the sides, and build barricades. Anything and everything will be useful from concrete slabs to rocks and sandbags. If possible, we should attempt to get any civilian help to boost our numbers. The barricades will slow the Batarian infantry and prevent any armor they may have form crossing, causing them to drive straight into the middle. Shepard will lead the men defending the middle line. Any mines, explosives, and drones you have assigned them towards Shepard's group. This is where they will send their biggest portion of tanks and soldiers, so make sure artillery batteries and aircraft are ready to bombard this area. When the Batarians are surprised and weaken, I want all available tanks to drive straight through the middle line and head towards the city. The disorganization of the batarian ranks will allow Shepard's light column to head towards the headquarters nearly undetected." She let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding in.
The rest of the entourage were a bit taken aback by Miranda's details on Shepard's plan. Anton coughed to bring back the generals to reality. "I will personally assist Shepard, along with my men if that is all right with you generals." he said, scanning each an everyone of them for any sign of protest.
Colonel Montie said "Of course. Alright people you heard the lady, let's move!" he ordered the other generals. They immediately mobilized to ready their troops and began issuing demands on their omni-tools as they walked out of the room.
"Miranda, stay here and make the generals play nice." Shepard ordered.
"Oh, don't worry Captain they will if they know what's good for them." She said to him with a smile.
Gathering his team, Shepard filled them in and assigned them to locations along the middle line, with the exception of Ramirez's team of course.
"Brave strategy, Shepard. Are you sure it will work?" Anton asked him.
"Yes." Shepard responded.
Anton did not know, what is was about this young man before him, but somehow he managed to inspire confidence in his team and in others.
"Well then, I guess I'll owe you a beer after this." Anton said.
"We get through this I'll buy everyone beers." Shepard replied.
Har
Defensive line Bravo - 2 hours later
Team B
"Shepard !" Garrus screamed into the radio, but he received only static as a response.
Garrus could barely see anyone in the amidst the crowd of Cerberus soldiers that they were currently working with. Gunfire and explosions ran clear in his ears, and he was pretty sure he couldn't hear himself, never mind hoping that Shepard would somehow hear him.
He along with Samara and Jack were providing were providing support and were keeping enemy soldiers at bay at the flanks. Unfortunately for Garrus, he was unable to find a suitable range to use his sniper rifle and instead had to use his assault rifle. Samara was providing biotic fields for Cerberus soldiers to advance while Jack threw wrap and shockwave attacks at the Batarian soldiers.
Despite looking everywhere in the mass of grey, yellow, and black, there was no sign of the familiar solid white armor of titan armor. Most likely he was sent to reinforce 67th Gil street, where the Batarians were throwing heavy amounts of soldiers. This helped team B to do their job much easier of guarding the rear without too much interference, or so it was in theory.
Garrus was caught off guard by a pair of armored Batarians that had flanked the defence and tried to attack from the side. A fist met the side of his head and he stumbled, but was able to recover and saw one soldier was holding two sub machine guns, while the other had a shotgun, things weren't looking good.
That was until the soldier on the left was levitated and was then slammed down hard on the concrete, the other, startled by the death of his companion, made an attempt to retreat only to be met by the barrel of Jack's shotgun, a loud BOOM silenced any plea that the soldier may have made. Garrus breathed out a sigh of relief.
"Are you alright?" Samara questioned him like a clam mother.
"Yeah. That was close." Garrus replied in his usual flanging voice.
"Good thing you're in the rear guard." Jack told him.
"Unfortunately not far enough to use my sniper, but I'll make do. Any of you have heard news on Shepard?"
"I am afraid not. But I believe we will soon be asked to assist." Samara informed them while they moved with the Cerberus 1st rifle company to three blocks to the left.
Garrus passed a line of black body bags and was reinforced in making sure he could this fight quickly. Seeing a brief flicker of white armor 490 meters ahead, and pulled out a sniper rifle and saw it was Shepard wrestling with two batarian soldiers on the ground and trying to pin each other.
Without hesitation he fired two shots at the Batarian soldiers and they went down with a stream of yellow blood spilling from their wounds.
Shepard quickly got back up and was able to fire at a squad of soldiers that was approaching his position.
Garrus, now in range of Shepard's radio, said "You are welcomed for that save."
"I could've taken them if I wanted to." Shepard replied.
"Sure you could." Garrus taunted.
"Don't let it go you're head." Shepard's plan was now coming into place. Right now Team C, would no doubt be near the General's headquarters with the light armor column that left half an hour ago.
"Garrus, once Ramirez gives off a flare, I need you two take my place while I go pick him up. Miranda will assist you in any way she can."
"You got it Shepard." Garrus was busy sniping long range targets and enemy snipers. He quickly dropped down as a bullet ricochet of the floor and it nearly hit him. Suddenly a barrier field enveloped Garrus and he looked up to see Samara generating it.
"Now would be a good time to eliminate the enemy marksmen."
"Ahem. Right." Garrus got up and aimed his sniper. The enemy sniper was naïve enough to believe his sniper rifle could penetrate an Asari's biotic field as claimed by the Batarian military. An instant later his shot bounced off the field and the last thing he saw was a flare from Garrus's sniper rifle.
Har
50 meters from Batarian headquarters
Team C
"Target location within sight, Ramirez- Commander." Legion reported looking through his sniper rifle. Ramirez walked up to the edge of a rooftop in which they stood and looked down over the city of Superiority . Pillars of smoke were rising into a black sky dotted with exploding ships and glimmering shields. The building they stood upon was one of the tallest in the city, and was now filled with wounded and tied or dead Batarian soldiers. The majority of the wounded were unconscious, allowing the team not worry about any alarms. The building was right on the edge of the city and exactly where intel suggested General Baron Ulig was located.
Ramirez put his hands on the edge and peered downwards, seeing a flat plaza in front of the building. In the centre was a mobile defense structure. Which is basically a bunker made of reinforced steel that would require heavy explosions to make a dent.
"I count roughly thirty Batarian soldiers surrounding the bunker," Kasumi chimed in as she viewed the situation through a pair of binoculars. "I would bet that our guy is in there, somewhere."
"If Cerberus's intel is correct, he will be," Ramirez stated, looking down at a pair of Batarians soldiers below.
"I assure you Commander, Cerberus's intel is correct," Miranda snapped through the radio. Probably offended at anyone questioning Cerberus's operational capabilities.
"We'll find out soon enough," Looking at Legion, Ramirez ordered "Legion you're going to stay up here and cover us while we take out the guards below us. Once they're neutralized, we'll take their armor and helmets and sneak right in."
"Understood Ramirez-Commander," Legion replied.
"So you made us fight our way to the top of the building, just to go back down?" Kasumi asked.
"Well we needed an observation point. And this is the only building with a perfect vantage point of the bunker." Ramirez replied.
"I doubt we'll be using the stairs." Kasumi said rather than asked.
If Ramirez wasn't wearing a helmet, she would see a smirk on his face. Ramirez stepped up onto the ledge and looked down at the plaza below. He pulled out a cable and tied one end to his waistline and the other end to the building. He could hear Kasumi gulped behind him as he turned around. "Hope you're not afraid of heights."
Kasumi shook her head and secured another set of cables in similar fashion as Ramirez had done. She stepped up onto the ledge next to him. Ramirez knew she was never going let him outshine her.
"Ramirez-Commander, once you are inside would you like us to neutralized the guards outside the building?" Legion asked.
"Yeah, it'll make it easier to depart." Turning back to Kasumi he said "Let's go!" In unison they both dropped, unfortunately for them a Batarian mantis gunship coming back from patrol spotted them and began shooting them.
"MOVE!" Ramirez yelled as he grabbed Kasumi from the waist and they began moving in perpendicular to the Mantis' fire. A lucky shot from the gunship managed to tear Kasumi'sand Ramirez's cables. They tumbled off the side and began tearing through the air towards the ground while the Mantis dived after them as the gunner began firing wildly. Ramirez and Kasumi were showered in shards of glass that glittered in the air as they fell.
Ramirez pulled out his assault rifle and aimed it towards the mantis, trying to line up a shot, but a stray bullet from the gunner slammed into his rifle, tearing the gun from his hands and it tumbled down to the gun.
"WHAT'S THE PLAN NOW!?" Kasumi screamed through the radio as they both fell.
"Legion can you get a shot on the gunship? WE ARE GETTING SHOT AT!"
"Ramirez-Commander cross your arms in front of your chest." Legion said calmly.
"Why?" Ramirez asked.
Ramirez looked at the gunship's guns and saw it started to turn red from heat. The ground was getting closer, and the bullets were doing the same.
"JUST DO IT!" Kasumi yelled at him.
Ramirez crossed his arms in front of his chest and suddenly heard a massive crack. A round from Legion's sniper rifle slammed into the reinforced armor on Ramirez's gauntlets. He saw as it ricochet perfectly to the side and tore straight through the glass of the cockpit, followed quickly by the pilot's head. The inside of the cockpit was suddenly covered in yellow stains as the pilot's head slammed down onto the controls in front him. The gunship stopped descending and began to spin. It slammed into the building causing it to erupt into a massive fireball, dotted with shards of glass and burned steel.
Ramirez looked towards Kasumi and saw that he was falling faster, most probably due to Legion's sniper rifle that seemed to be firing at a rapid pace. He looked down and saw a cable running from their building to one on the left as part of a communication line in the city. He reached and grabbed it . One end was snapped clean, but the other held firm and Ramirez was flung into the building they had just jumped from and smashed through a window rolling across the floor.
The room he was in was filled with machinery, used to make weapons and other raw materials. He took some deep breaths, before his mind shot back to Kasumi who was falling right behind him.
He immediately jumped back to his feet and charged back towards the broken window. He dropped to the ground and skidded towards the window, grabbing a lever from a piece of machinery that was rooted to the ground as he passed. He stretched his other hand out the window reaching it as far as he could. Time slowed down as Kasumi started to reached his window. He watched as he dropped towards his hands. Even behind their visors, their eyes met, and there was a silent…but definite communication. He didn't even have to say anything, but he knew on the inside that he was screaming "GRAB MY HAND!"
Kasumi reached out her hand and her wrist fell perfectly into Ramirez's grip. He held on as tightly as he could to the machinery as he possibly could as Kasumi's full, terminal velocity weight tried to rip his body in half.
"AHH!" He screamed out in pain as his torso stretched from the catch. His armored chest plate snapped in the center with an explosion of tiny fragments that once made up his armor.
He pulled his arm upwards and pulled Kasumi into the room. Ramirez rolled over on his back and breathed heavily for a moment, just taking a second to rest. He looked to the side and saw his face was inches away from Kasumi's.
They just stared at each other until Legion's voice filled the radio, "Ramirez-Commander this platform requires assistance. The bunker is on full alert."
"You got it Legion. Just hold off for a while, until we get on the ground." Ramirez replied.
"Affirmative."
Kasumi was already pushing herself to her feet and Ramirez naturally did the same. "I think we should take the stairs." He said.
"That would be better." Kasumi responded. Still breathing heavily she said "So much for stealth."
"I guess we are going in loud. C'mon." Ramirez sprinted down the stairs, Kasumi not far behind. On the radio, he said "Legion how many can you take out before we reach ground level."
"Unknown." The sound of Legion's voice was ended by the rapid sounds of his sniper rifle firing.
As Ramirez and Kasumi walked out of the building they saw a round tear through a first soldier's chest, then ricochet countless times off the soldiers and even the bunker before it came to a stop. No one moved as they contemplated what had just happened. Suddenly half of the batarian guards grew blood stains on their chests and slowly fell to the ground.
"MOVE!" Ramirez yelled. He and Kasumi took cover and began firing their weapons. Kasumi fired her locust at a Batarian, the round crushing his ribs on the entry and slicing his spinal cord on its exit. Ramirez threw a grenade and its detonation sent a blast of glass shards, blood, and dislodged limbs everywhere.
Kasumi ran towards a the side of a building and slid across the floor. The rounds of the Batarians missing her by mere centimeters as she fired her own. She fired eight shots and all of them made contact with their targets. Only three were lethal, but Ramirez fired a burst from his assault rifle killing a pair and immediately went back into cover as shots were fired on him. Legion took the last three with his impressive aiming.
The air was filled with silence as Kasumi and Ramirez stood in a sea of bodies.
Suddenly the gates to the bunker were blasted open. Ramirez and Kasumi took cover as the gates were sent flying. Standing in front of the bunker was a large eight foot tall insect-like biped. It had two eyes and two smaller ones to the side similar to that of a prothean. The insect glowed a strange blue through what looked like cracks in the body or armor.
Suddenly it spoke in a deep malevolent voice, "I am Mortem and you will be added to my collection." he said as he threw a devastating incinerate attack.
Kasumi managed to make it into cover, but Ramirez was not. He crossed is arms in front of him and took the brunt of the incinerate attack. It peeled off any armor, Ramirez had on his arms and screamed as his skin was burned. Kasumi ran up behind Ramirez, planting one foot onto his shoulder and spring-boarding off his back. She fired her submachine gun and pistol at the strange creature named Mortem, which wouldn't do too much damage by the looks of his strange armor.
Suddenly sniper rounds impacted the creatures armor as well and Ramirez remembered about Legion. Kasumi managed to make it on her feet and all three continued firing at Mortem.
Unfortunately Mortem was able to trace the sniper round back to Legion's location and fired a strange looking weapon he had gotten from his back. The weapon let loose a high velocity blue orb at Legion's location, who saw it coming and jumped off the building. The orb crashed into the building and completely destroyed it. Legion impacted the ground hard, but sustained very little damage to his platform.
Mortem was preparing to throw a wrap attack at Legion, but Ramirez charged the beast, firing his weapon as he ran. Mortem's attention was then changed to Ramirez, who was only a few feet away from him. Ramirez leaped into the air, however with one arm Mortem batted him out of the air. Ramirez slammed into the concrete hard, splitting it and sending bits of rock in all directions. Mortem charged his weapon and aimed it at Ramirez, who was still on the ground.
Legion fired his sniper rifle at the same time Kasumi threw a flash-bang grenade. They continued firing their weapons until Mortem unleashed a massive shockwave at the group. Kasumi and Legion were leaped out of the way and barely missed the attack.
Mortem suddenly stopped attacking. Across the galaxy the Collector General sent a telepathic command. "Leave. This battle is lost. We have other plans in motion."
"What of the general?" Mortem asked, regarding the Batarian general inside the bunker.
"He is of no use to use."
Using his wings, Mortem flew into the air and stared at Ramirez, who had just gotten up, "Today is not your last human." Mortem then flew away, leaving the remaining Batarians to fend for themselves. Through a telepathic command, Mortem ordered all Collectors to delay any pursuers until he reaches his ship.
"Who and what was that?" Kasumi asked.
"I have the same question. C'mon we still have a mission to complete. We'll review the tapes from our helmets later." Ramirez replied.
The area around the team was once again silent with only the hum of the wind providing any noise. Legion was beginning his call for evac. Kasumi and Ramirez walked towards the bunker's entrance and inside found another set of doors. Ramirez raised his foot and forced his boot through the door. A lone Batarian was standing in the room with a raised pistol aimed towards Ramirez. He wore a black and red military uniform and seemed to stare right into Ramirez's eyes.
"General Baron Ulig, I presume." Ramirez asked quietly
"Who are you? Are you with Cerberus?" he asked jumpy. "You come to our space, to our world, to our city and spill our own blood on our soil! We were a peaceful people before your kind arrive and completely destroyed our way of life!"
"We are working with Cerberus, but that is all that you need to know. Now you can come with us the easy way or the hard way, which do you prefer?" Ramirez asked him.
"I may not be able to save my people life, but I'll be able to take yours." The general made a motion to fire his weapon, but Kasumi quickly fired on him with a sedative round. The general immediately began feeling the effects as everything in his vision became blurry. Within seconds he lost conscious.
Scooping the body of the general on his shoulder, Ramirez walked out of the bunker alongside Kasumi.
They were met by a pair white and yellow colored Blue jay shuttles landing a few meters from their position. Ramirez smiled at the person who stepped out of the shuttle.
"You guys alright?" Shepard asked them.
"Yeah. We had a bit of trouble, but we got our man."
Shepard gave a nod and pointing to the second shuttle said "Alright package him in and we'll head out."
"You got it Shepard." Ramirez complied with his orders and strapped the Batarian general into the shuttle after cuffing his hands and legs to prevent any attempt of escape.
Har
9 meters from Batarian headquarters
Team A
With the prisoner secured both teams stepped inside their own transport shuttles and calmly waited until the shuttle's thrusters were able to gain enough power to lift the shuttles.
Once they were in the air, Shepard once again had a bird's eye view of the city. The southeast corner of the city, the suburbs was even in worse shape than the frontlines of Superiority. It had taken the brunt of the fighting. Dozens of fires burned in the surrounding home's, and the sounds of explosions and gunfire were even more prominent.
"So Shepard are we going to get a feast after this mission?" Ramirez asked through the radio of the other Blue jay that he was flying in.
"You just might Commander." Shepard replied.
Suddenly alarms began ringing inside the shuttles.
"Everyone buckle in!" Senior airmen Kil yelled.
"What's going on?" Jacob asked the nervous pilot.
"We have multiple missiles inbound!" Without warning both shuttles banked hard one towards the left, the other to the right. Both teams inside the shuttles buckled themselves in securely.
Shepard made sure his seat buckles were secured and reloaded all of his weapons. "What the situation?"
The shuttle went hard to the right this time. "Looks like the Batarians have been preparing their anti-air capabilities," Kil said through clenched teeth. "They seem to be shooting everything they've got at us. I guess they don't enjoy you taking their general."
"Will we be alright?" Shepard asked.
"We should. I've deployed flares and shou-," The sound of pilot's voice suddenly became deathly quiet. "Shit…that's a lot of missiles."
There was a bone-splitting crash as one of the missiles must've hit the shuttle. "Shepard are you alright?" Ramirez asked through the radio.
"Pilot turn this shuttle around!" Ramirez screamed at the pilot on the other shuttle, no doubt wanting to rescue Shepard.
"No! Ramirez head back to HQ NOW! You have a HVP and it is vital any information he has to be taken to Cerberus or the Alliance."
"Bu-" Before Ramirez could protest, Shepard cut him off.
"That's an order and I expect you to follow it!"
"Yes sir." Ramirez muttered through clenched teeth.
"Captain I'll be making a landing in an open area in the jungle." The pilot informed them.
"Won't the AA sites there finish us off?" Jacob asked.
"No. They won't waste their time trying to finish off a wounded shuttle they know is going to land for repairs. They'll probably sent a search team to try to salvage any tech or take prisoners."
"Great." Jacob muttered under his breath.
"Ha! This is a perfect chance to put more of them down." Grunt said cheerfully.
Another crash was felt and this time the pilot's voice became urgent. "Right wing hit! I repeat right wing hit!" yelled from the pilot's seat. "This is CS-45 going down! Everyone buckle in and start praying!"
"We're going to make a crash landing aren't we?" Shepard asked, trying to keep his voice and demeanor calm.
Kil took a shuddering breath. "It's either that or be blown to smithereens in the air. People survive plane crashes all the time."
"But this isn't a plane. It's a shuttle." Jacob protested.
"Doesn't matter now. Brace yourselves!" the pilot ordered.
The shuttle crashed cockpit first into the dirt. It's rotors and armor peeling off as it rolled on its sides sending debris, dirt, and tree branches flying everywhere. Shepard thought he saw a blue insect-like being fly by just before he lost conscious and faded into complete blackness.
A/N: And there you have it. Also there will be tension within the team in the next chapter.