[Two Hours Earlier]
The briefing room was silent but for the gentle hum of the ship's engine and Commander Alexis Shepard's voice as she addressed the three chosen for the mission. "You are going down to this planet in order to chase a dangerous fugitive, an extremely powerful biotic assassin." The planet was on the screen before them, glimmering green and turquoise, an earth like atmosphere having lent itself to a massive jungle that covered 90% of the land. "We don't know much about this planet, we've found the escape pod he crash landed in but we don't know anything about the environment or the dangers you might face, be ready for anything." Her three chosen were before her, Jack, Samara, and Miranda. "As you know, the Normandy will be leaving once we have you dropped off, your extraction will be within a few days, a week at the most." A glare was exchanged between Miranda and Jack, one that did not go unnoticed by their commander. "I would hope you don't kill each other in the mean time." She gave them both a look, then clapped her hands, signalling the end of the briefing. "Get ready and meet at the shuttle in an hour."
[Present Time]
The jungle was thick, the air cool, the wind blowing through the trees with a gentle rustling sound, covering the movements of the three figures wading through the underbrush.
"Any sign yet?" The comms crackled to life with Jack's voice, sounding irritated as it always did.
"Nothing, here." Miranda responded, determined not to rise to Jack's snark as she scanned about. "He could have gone quite a bit farther than this in any case, we should move on, keep following the trail."
"There is a clearing up ahead. Perhaps you should maintain silence in the case of an ambush." Samara's calm voice broke onto the line and the group spread out, Samara advancing into the clearing first as Miranda and Jack took her flanks.
Samara came to a halt three steps in as a patch of crushed brush became visible, raising her pistol. "I've found something, maintain positions." She advanced cautiously, listening as the others confirmed nothing on their motion trackers and knelt before the corpse of the man they'd been sent to kill, a massive hole in his chest giving no doubt as to the cause of his death. "Convene on me... Our target is already deceased."
Jack and Miranda closed quickly on Samara's position. "Hmph, he can't have been as strong as the commander said if he got killed like this..." The small biotic rolled her eyes. "So we've been on a wild goose chase and we still have to wait a few days on this damn planet before we're getting back to the Normandy."
"I would perhaps question as to what killed him." Miranda interjected. "It seems likely he was taken by surprise..."
"Caution!" Samara snapped, cutting Jack short. "Motion trackers... There's something out there." The three were back to back in the centre of the clearing, hands reaching for weapons. "Possibly what killed him..."
The briefing room was silent but for the gentle hum of the ship's engine and Commander Alexis Shepard's voice as she addressed the three chosen for the mission. "You are going down to this planet in order to chase a dangerous fugitive, an extremely powerful biotic assassin." The planet was on the screen before them, glimmering green and turquoise, an earth like atmosphere having lent itself to a massive jungle that covered 90% of the land. "We don't know much about this planet, we've found the escape pod he crash landed in but we don't know anything about the environment or the dangers you might face, be ready for anything." Her three chosen were before her, Jack, Samara, and Miranda. "As you know, the Normandy will be leaving once we have you dropped off, your extraction will be within a few days, a week at the most." A glare was exchanged between Miranda and Jack, one that did not go unnoticed by their commander. "I would hope you don't kill each other in the mean time." She gave them both a look, then clapped her hands, signalling the end of the briefing. "Get ready and meet at the shuttle in an hour."
[Present Time]
The jungle was thick, the air cool, the wind blowing through the trees with a gentle rustling sound, covering the movements of the three figures wading through the underbrush.
"Any sign yet?" The comms crackled to life with Jack's voice, sounding irritated as it always did.
"Nothing, here." Miranda responded, determined not to rise to Jack's snark as she scanned about. "He could have gone quite a bit farther than this in any case, we should move on, keep following the trail."
"There is a clearing up ahead. Perhaps you should maintain silence in the case of an ambush." Samara's calm voice broke onto the line and the group spread out, Samara advancing into the clearing first as Miranda and Jack took her flanks.
Samara came to a halt three steps in as a patch of crushed brush became visible, raising her pistol. "I've found something, maintain positions." She advanced cautiously, listening as the others confirmed nothing on their motion trackers and knelt before the corpse of the man they'd been sent to kill, a massive hole in his chest giving no doubt as to the cause of his death. "Convene on me... Our target is already deceased."
Jack and Miranda closed quickly on Samara's position. "Hmph, he can't have been as strong as the commander said if he got killed like this..." The small biotic rolled her eyes. "So we've been on a wild goose chase and we still have to wait a few days on this damn planet before we're getting back to the Normandy."
"I would perhaps question as to what killed him." Miranda interjected. "It seems likely he was taken by surprise..."
"Caution!" Samara snapped, cutting Jack short. "Motion trackers... There's something out there." The three were back to back in the centre of the clearing, hands reaching for weapons. "Possibly what killed him..."