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His eyes flickered back and forth in search of any hint of the Geth invaders. He kept his sidearm, the Kessler, at the ready in case he was in risk of being ambushed by the enemy. It was unlikely. No one had crossed paths with him in the last few minutes since he'd left the dig site. He was in the clear from what he was able to see.

The sniper felt his eyes begin to water, however, as he considered the state of his homeworld. Eden Prime was the planet in which he was born and raised, the home of so many fond memories that he'd lost track. And now, in this solemn hour, the world was being invaded by the Geth. He was distraught by the site that surrounded him. Not even the children were spared the cruelty of the machines.

"Corporal, do you read me? I repeat, do you read me?" the voice of his commanding officer broke him out of his reverie.

"I read you, Lieutenant."

"Any trace of the Geth at the campsite?"

"Negative. You're clear to move. I'll check some of the sheds that they left here, see if we've got survivors in this damned hell hole."

"Roger that, Corporal. Lieutenant out."

Fuuin was left in silence as he continued forward. He paused as he noticed movement toward his left, eyes locking on the source of the disturbance. The man was horrified as he saw the spikes that had... colonists impaled on them! They were changed, though. They were mere Husks of what they once were. Husks.

His grip on the Kessler tightened and he took aim, cracking several rounds on his enemy. All three of them fell in rapid succession. He relaxed at the sight and looked toward the rest of the campsite, taking mental note that one of the sheds that he was planning on looking in was empty. The other, however, was locked.

It was just common sense that someone was hiding in there. "At least someone had the right idea."

He activated his Omni-Tool and input several commands, several correlating lights flashing on the electronical lock. In seconds, he had broken though each of the firewalls and granted permission to access the container. My, was the Corporal glad that they covered hacking in his basic training. He watched in trepidation as the door slid open and revealed... only two colonists. The soldier was quick to conceal his utter disappointment.

"Are you alright in there?"

"Thank the Maker. Yes, we're fine! We were beginning to wonder if nobody else survived." Her companion was mumbling nonsense, no doubt being traumatized by the events that tragically struck the planet.

If the situation was different, he probably would've sympathized with him. But now was not the time for stressing himself over the past. Now was the time for action and taking care of business. His eyes darkened in thought and he stared them down. Trying to comprehend what had happened and why the both of them were the only survivors. "What happened here?"

"The Marines told us to stay in the sheds. They saved us!" Unsurprising. Marines were the first ones in and the last ones out of the battlefield. They were damned heroes in his opinion, every single one of them. He nodded in understanding. "What about the beacon?"

"Yes... the beacon. We moved that to the starport this morning. We were preparing the artifact for pick-up before the invasion happened. The Geth probably have it in their possession now."

Fuuin cursed under his breath. It was bad enough that they had to deal with Geth invading one of their colonies, it was now made worse by the fact that they were in danger of failing the mission. Lizzy would skin him alive if they failed this. And the last thing he wanted on his plate was having his Captain pissed off at him. The brunette looked at the pair of scientists. "Stay here."

With that, he was gone.

His feet fell silently as he moved through the campsite, grabbing stuff out of the abandoned shed. It was mostly spare grenades, of which he was more than surprised to find here, and the occasional thermal clip. Then his eyes closed and he debated his next move. Move on ahead and inform the Lieutenant or stay and wait for the rest of the shore team to reach his position. He picked the one that military protocol demanded of him.

"Lieutenant, I've got a status update." the sniper swept his gaze across the destroyed landscape of his homeworld.

"Yes?"

"The colonists moved the beacon to the starport this morning. The Geth are most likely in possession of it at this point in time. What are your orders, sir?"

Yamashii paused on the other end. Thinking over the situation and what was the best move for them to make at this critical part of the mission. If they didn't move soon then they ran the risk of the Geth moving it off planet, killing any chance of retrieval. On the other hand, that meant sending Fuuin in alone. Green was confident in the Corporal's abilities. He would need to trust his crew on this one.

"I want you to pursue them. The rest of shore party and I will catch up as fast as possible. Try not to get yourself killed. Lieutenant out."

Fuuin was left in silence. His eyes closed partially and he rubbed the bridge of his nose. He was in for some fun if he was the only one going in... at least until reinforcements arrived to assist him. Hopefully he wasn't dead by the time they got there. It was unlikely that he would be, given that he would try and snipe them from a distance. Harder to get injured that way. Sighing, the brunette left the campsite and started heading for the starport.

---

Aura ducked behind some cover. Her assault rifle, the Lancer, was at the ready for the slightest sign of trouble. It was bad enough that the Geth had caught her off guard once or twice on the way here. She wasn't planning on making the same mistake twice. To do so meant that she was slacking off and slacking off meant near certain death in the field. In her mind, at least.

The sound of movement put her on full alert and she picked around her cover. Her eyes widened in disbelief at the person she saw on the other side of the wall... it was Neko! It was hard to mistaken the distinct appearance of her fellow Spectre. She wasn't the tallest person in the galaxy nor the shortest. Neko stood at four foot even with long brunette hair that fell to the small of her back. Her eyes, the darkest shade of mahogany, zoned in on her the moment she revealed herself.

Neko was surprised herself to see the woman there. "Aura..."

"What are you doing here, Neko?"

Her friend smiled innocently and giggled softly. "You know, I was just in the neighborhood. Heard that you were stopping in Eden Prime for something and figured I'd stop and help you out. Surprised to see the Geth here of all places, huh?"

Aura nodded. It was surprising since nobody in the known galaxy, or at least the parts governed by the Council, could gleam the reason why the Geth wanted the artifact for themselves. Had they discovered the secret to unlocking the Prothean beacon? If they did, they needed to capture one of the sentient machines for observation. But if they didn't, they were left in the dark wondering.

Wearily, the older woman looked toward the horizon. "Why aren't the Geth swarming this area like the others? I just don't understand."

The woman didn't feel as the barrel of a shotgun was pressed into her back. All she knew was that she felt a sharp pain and then; darkness.

Neko looked at the downed form of her comrade, the darkest and most sinister of smiles replaced her innocent one. "I've got an idea..."

---

Fuuin ducked low as the sound of gunfire filtered through his ears. It was close. Probably in the same direction as the starport. His eyes widened as he recalled Aura reporting in that she was dropping by that area to play scout. Immediately he was filled with concern. Was she injured or in trouble of being overwhelmed? Was she making her last stand? "No, she's one of the Spectre. Aura can handle herself."

He pushed that worry aside, continuing down the path. The sound of Geth in the same vicinity as him put him on guard and he slammed himself back first against the nearest source of covering. He pulled the Avenger off his back and looked through the sights. Two Geth... three or four Husks. He was at the advantage in this situation. It was the perfect oppurtunity for sniping.

The first Husk was sighted and, with a single squeeze of the trigger, had its entire lower half obliterated. The next was killed with a bullet to the head. The third one followed much the same demise, as well as the fourth. Husks, as he understood, were relatively slow. Not as smart as the people they were created from. Probably the easiest enemy that one could have to deal with.

But they were more than likely cannon fodder. Nothing more than something to keep the enemy busy while the real firepower took them out while they were distracted. He silently complimented the Geth for such logic and hid behind cover as several bullets narrowly missed him. They had found him. He would need to exercise caution or risk losing his head.

His Omni-Tool flashed into existance and he blasted a heated sphere of energy, incinerating the Geth that it came in to contact with. The others learned from the death of their comrade and jumped behind cover. Good, he had them on the defensive. He waited until the second to last one looked out in search of him to squeeze the trigger, decapitating the machine with the large caliber round.

Only one was left.

And it was careful. It would only peak every few seconds and retreat just as quickly. It was cautious and looking for him, meaning that he would need to do one of two things to get his mark. Risk getting shot in the face or sneak around. Under most circumstances, he would've followed his military training and snuck around to catch them by surprise. However... he was pissed off. They were invading his homeworld! Putting innocent people to death because they in the wrong place at the wrong time!

Fuuin walked out from behind his cover and watched as several bullets rippled against his shields. He was saved for the moment. The sniper was at the ready and he aimed down the sights, pulling the Geth into his scope. His shields failed to hold out long and one of the bullets bounced off his armor. He had no time left! His finger squeezed the trigger and watched in satisfaction as the last of the enemies fell.

"Lieutenant... do you read me? I just cleared the starport. Repeat, I just cleared the starport."

A voice behind him caused him to jump. "I read you, Corporal. Good work with the Geth, by the way. I haven't seen someone kill that efficiently in awhile... though, you got sloppy near the end. Got a personal stake in this?"

"Yes, sir!" the sniper confirmed.

Yamashii nodded.

"Alright. Time to retrieve the artifact. Move out, shore team!"