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Chapter 9.2 continuation of Ashley's story.
Ashley stammered, suppressing her old anger. Rasa smiled knowingly, but said nothing, giving the other woman a chance to control herself. We were sent on foot, and the distance to the excavation site was considerable...
"Hey, Sergeant! Why are they forcing us to walk to the point, while other detachments have taken transport?"
"We follow orders." The squad leader replied with displeasure. "Our Dog squad is patrolling the area from the colony to the excavation site."
"It's all nonsense." the fighter grumbled. "It will take us another day to get there."
The sergeant turned abruptly.
"You just earned a walk to the front line yourself, Bates."
That's your advantage for today.
"Damn you." the fighter grumbled, but obediently stomped into the head of the squad.
The soldiers pressed forward, passing by the gloomy commander.
"Williams, slow down."
The woman slowed her pace and looked questioningly at the commander.
"The sergeant... The big guy?"
A passing soldier snidely said:
"She didn't say "yes" then, and she won't say it now."
"Shut your mouth, Mark." the commander muttered without malice.
"What do you want?" Ashley asked gloomily, looking at her former subordinate with displeasure.
"I want you to know that in my opinion, you should have been leading us. And the lieutenant is an ass."
The woman sighed.
"The lieutenant is the same as all other officers. Because my grandfather capitulated to Shangxi, he thinks I can do the same. And he's an ass. "
"You know how the squad feels about all this. You're the coolest one in our whole platoon. And you're guiding us to a clear goal when everything is going to hell. You're not backing down. Eventually, someone should recognize this in you."
Ashley looked at the sergeant skeptically.
"Are you still trying to sleep with me?"
The big man grinned.
"Sure. But I'm not talking about something that doesn't actually exist."
Ashley chuckled and shook her head.
"Who knows, Big Guy. Maybe we'll both get lucky one day."
"Singles need luck, Ash," Penny said. "And we are a team! We support each other."
Ashley smiled warmly.
"And this team has a long way to go."
"Ha! We always get a shoddy job, Sergeant. You know we're a Dog squad."
The fighters supported their comrade with a quiet but expressive *Arruuu!*, which has long been the unspoken cry of the squad.
Rasa folded her hands on the datapad, looking at the woman sitting in front of her with mild interest.
The memories were difficult and painful for Sergeant Williams.
"So, at that moment, there were no signs that something was wrong?"
Ashley nodded in agreement.
"Yes. Eden Prime is an easy assignment. You don't expect any action. Generally."
Rasa frowned.
"You said that three other squads were sent ahead. What was their total number?"
"Forty five."
"I know it's difficult, Sergeant. But we need to keep going. When did the first signs of anxiety appear?"
"They were gone until the second night. We were supposed to cross paths with the Bravo squad. But we couldn't meet them..."
The band of the Milky Way crossed the night sky, incredibly bright and deep, which you will never see over a densely populated area. It seemed like you could reach out and get a star from the sky. But now a few people were looking not at the beautiful starry sky, but into the darkness of a thin forest.
The fighters lay down on a rock, peering into the changeable darkness of the night. Somewhere out there, ahead, there must be a Bravo squad.
"I don't like it. Something's wrong." the fighter growled gloomily, crawling away from the edge.
"There's always something you don't like, Bates."
"They should be here by now. We should at least be able to hear them." The fighter turned back to the binoculars, peering into the green image. "Hey, Sergeant, can you contact them?"
"To no avail. The Big Man answered as he came up. "'Craftsman' and 'Charlie' are at the dig, but they haven't heard from 'Bravo' since 7 p.m."
"That's not what I wanted to hear." the fighter muttered barely audibly.
"Everyone stay in position. Give me a minute to scan." a short pause. "No signs, but..." He stammered, "Wait... I see something."
Glancing through the green flat world, the eye caught on well-recognizable outlines. It took only a moment for his mind to process what he saw: the bodies of people lying limply on the road. Mutilated by gunfire.
"Damn it! This... This is the Bravo team! Or what's left of them."
People stirred, scanning the surroundings through the optics, but...
"Clear. Whatever destroyed them is long gone." The squad leader stared intently into the darkness of the night. "I need a full checkup. We're going two at a time. Penny, you're with me. Ash is with Bates. Turn on the lights, check the targets. Perhaps our comrades are still there."
The fighters quickly descended from a low cliff jutting out over the forest and spread out to the sides.
"It looks like they didn't even have a chance to raise their weapons." Ashley said softly as she examined the bodies.
"I knew her." the sergeant said dully, closing the wide-open eyes of the deceased. "We arrived at Eden Prime with her on the same transport. Oh, my God..."
"Stay closer. I'll cover for you." Ashley put her hand on the fighter's shoulder. "We'll get through this. Okay?"
"Yeah... yeah..."
Ashley covered her eyes with her hand, ran her fingers over her face, looking gloomily at the woman listening attentively to her.
"We examined the territory. And they found it..."
"I counted fourteen. All from the Bravo squad." the fighter reported gloomily.
The connection suddenly came to life: a desperate voice broke through the static:
"... under fire... The enemy is unknown... at the lighthouse..."
There was a scream and the connection was cut.
"Oh, my God..."
"What are we going to do?" Penny voiced the question floating in the air.
"I have no idea." Bigman replied gloomily.
Ashley whirled around.
"You have no idea?"
The sergeant shook his head and said:
"Listen up here. Ash takes command of the squad. The mission has just become real. And we need a real commander."
The fighters accepted this offer with approval. Ashley was the commander of the squad, until the lieutenant, out of sheer fright, appointed a Big Man in her place, not too pleased with this fact.
"We can't do anything for "Bravo"." Ashley straightened up, staring intently at the faces of her fighters. "But we can help others. We need to get to the lighthouse faster... but at the same time, do it smarter. Deliberately and clearly. If we're lucky, we'll catch them off guard."
The fighters perked up.
"One way or another, they will understand why the "Dogs" squad is the coolest and most dangerous squad on this rock!"
"Yes!"
The soldiers raised their hands in salute. The mood lifted, the gloom disappeared, and people were ready to give justice to those who had killed their friends.
"Thank you." Sergeant Donk whispered faintly.
"Don't thank me yet, Big Guy."
Ashley frowned.
"We walked all night and arrived at the excavation site only in the middle of the day. And only then did we see our enemy for the first time..."
"They look like mechanoids." Ashley muttered in surprise, staring intently at the creatures scurrying through the excavation.
"Or like the Geth." Bates corrected the commander.
"The Geth? So far beyond the Veil of Perseus?"
"Their actions are too deliberate for Mechs," he said.
"It should be a full-fledged AI. And they look like Geth." The fighter added doubtfully. "I'm thinking."
In front of people's eyes, a synthetic in light gray armor grabbed the soldier's corpse by the legs, easily dragged it across the dusty ground and threw it onto a strange three-legged device. Almost immediately, a long spike pierced the man's chest, impaling the corpse and lifting it a good three meters above the ground.
Ashley gasped, and the Big Man swore under his breath. A soft squeak sounded quite unexpectedly: a combat drone emerged from behind the edge of the cliff on which the people were lying and instantly opened fire.
"Everybody down!" Ashley shouted, knocking down the drone. "They've discovered us!"
The two sergeants ran down the cliff, slipping on the smooth, sandy stone.
Ashley stammered, interrupting the story.
"Are you sure it was the Geth?"
"Yes, ma'am. They were the Geth." The sergeant said gloomily. "After they found us, they started chasing us."
"Go ahead."
"It was a massacre, Captain. We couldn't do anything with them. They've tracked us down. They sent a large squad. Two dozen Geth, maybe more. And drones." Ashley shook her head. "We were just killed, like other units before that. And then HE appeared."
"Who?"
"The ship. Huge. Almost like a dreadnought." Rasa tensed and leaned forward.
"Are you saying that a ship the size of a dreadnought entered the atmosphere?"
"Fuck yes! That's exactly what I want to say! He landed almost vertically! It's like he doesn't have physical laws written to him!"
"That's how... What did it look like?"
"It's hard to say. I've never seen anything like it. He was surrounded by red lightning, as if he was generating a huge amount of unnecessary energy!"
"And what happened next?"
"Farther..." Ashley smiled darkly, painfully. "I waited. I played cat and mouse with the Geth. But eventually, they found me. I was there alone. My entire squad was destroyed in a matter of minutes! I was sure I was going to die, but..... Sometimes, it happens, you get lucky."
"Did someone interfere?"
"Yes, Commander Shepard and Lieutenant Alenko saved my skin. I'm not sure how I deserved to be saved, but it came to me."
"Don't be so hard on yourself, Sergeant," Rasa said sympathetically. "From what I've heard, you've done everything you can."
"Well, if you say so." Ashley said uncertainly, peering hopefully into the woman's blue eyes.
"I appreciate the time you've given me, Sergeant." Rasa stood up and picked up the datapad. "I don't see anything that would bother me. But if you need anything, there's always someone you can talk to."
Ashley seemed to wake up, looking in surprise at the smiling woman.
"Are we done? This is all?"
"We're done. Unless you want to add something."
"No, it's fine."
"great. Good luck, Sergeant." And Rasa, smiling, left, having managed to hear the muffled words: "You were right, Donk. Loners need luck."
The red-haired woman was smiling contentedly as she walked along the Presidium.
"Hey, Lang. They were the Geth." She informed her partner, who was many light-years away on the surface of the planet Eden Prime.
A surprised voice answered:
"The Geth? Is that for sure?"
"Absolutely sure. Curiously, Captain Anderson's report does not mention this."
"What did Saren and Geth want from the lighthouse?"
"I don't know. Something big is happening here. These guys have no idea what they're getting into."
"I'm going back to the boss. He wants to talk to you."
"I think I'm more useful here. According to the reports, the lighthouse had some effect on the commander."
"Set aside. Come back with the report," Lang ordered harshly. "Urgently."
The connection is gone.
Rasa winced slightly.
"Another time, then, Shepard."
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