Mythos Effect

Chapter 21: Searching in the Dark

Adrien prided himself on his ability to keep collected in times of severe stress. It had saved his hide on more than one occasion, and was once more coming to his aid as he walked towards the main entrance of the bunker. At the moment, his sense of self-preservation was busily screaming at him that he was being utterly stupid and that if he had any sense, he would turn around and head back to his room.

He let his primitive side voice its opinion, and then pushed back with the cold and implacable force of logic. This was the only way; if he were to have any hope of getting everyone out of their current predicament, he needed to know just what was arrayed against them, and he couldn't very well do that stuck underground, now could he?

Still, his instincts refused to be silent, and so Adrien forcibly stuffed them into a corner of his mind. He couldn't afford any doubts right now, not with so much at stake.

Adrien rounded a corner and was then facing the immense blast doors that sealed the bunker. He saw that Taeden was already there, along with the rest of the scouting group. The trooper noticed Adrien approaching, and gave him a perfunctory nod.

"Captain Victus, glad you could make it," he said, as if there had actually been any choice in the matter. He looked over the gathered Turians and frowned. "We're missing one. Where's Corporal Attis?"

"I don't think he's gonna show, Taeden," one of them spoke up. He was one of the veterans that Tarkin had selected; another one of Julek's merry band, no less. Trooper Malgus Serrik, if Adrien remembered the name right, was a disheveled and mean-looking Turian, hard-eyed and exuding an air of casual spitefulness about him like a Krogan who was spoiling for a fight. One look at him told Adrien that neither of them would be forming any friendships on this venture.

"Oh really?" Taeden asked, a cold tremor hanging on his voice. "What, does he think he has any choice here?"

"I'd be surprised if he's thinking about anything at all now," said Malgus. "You need a brain for that, and the poor fucker gave himself a high-caliber lobotomy a little while ago." He mimed putting a gun to his head and pulling the trigger. "Pow!" he added, twisting his head away for effect, tongue lolling grotesquely. He then chuckled heartily, as though there was nothing funnier than the idea of someone committing suicide. It seemed that Adrien's first impression of him had been right on the money.

Taeden shook his head—whether in disgust or sympathy, Adrien couldn't tell—and motioned for them to come in closer.

"All right, here's how this is going to go," he began, calling up a map of Carista on his omnitool. "As of our most current data, the enemy line is about a klick out from the city proper." He pointed to the ugly red semicircle that cut off the city from the rest of the world. "From what I can see of Carista's districts, our best bet for a good view would be here." He indicated a rectangular section that highlighted itself upon being touched.

"That's awfully close to the Hueys," remarked Cacia Baros, one of two females in their group. She looked young, barely into her twenties if Adrien had to guess, and was one of his fellow new arrivals. Though she hid it well, there was a clear undercurrent of fear in her voice. Not that Adrien blamed her; he certainly wasn't brimming with courage at the moment.

"It also should give us a good vantage point to survey their formations without giving away our position," said Taeden. "I say 'should,' because considering they've been enthusiastically demolishing everything out there, there's no telling how much of the area is intact. It's very possible that we will have to find some other place." He collapsed the map.

"Now, it goes without saying, but we need to stay in cover as much as possible. If we get caught out in the open, we're dead. So, when we're out there, stick together like welded metal; we have to move fast and it's very easy to get turned around in places like where we're going, especially in the dark. There's also going to be a lot of hazards out there, and not just potential enemy patrols. Craters are a big one; most of the time, they're deeper than they look and collect water like fucking reservoirs. Falling into one is basically a death sentence, so watch your step."