Mass Effect: Reaper Dreams

Alpha Four

"Let us keep the dance of rain our fathers kept and tread our dreams beneath the jungle sky."

Arna Bontemps

May 12th, 2187

Adrien Victus

Adrien questioned his own sanity. The dense jungle was a Turian's worst nightmare. Every leaf or frond in this infernal place was dripping with toxins. Insects that carried a variety of dangerous diseases churned through the air, thick and menacing, and the snakes, which were poisonous to Humans and Krogan, could be lethal to one of his kind. Levo-amino-acid venom, one could never predict the effect on a Turian or Quarian.

"Remember to watch for the banded kraits," warned Hackett. "They're the worst. Usually they're only out at night, but with all the particles in the atmosphere..."

Urdnot Wrex chuckled in baritone. "It's night all the time. Haha! I like this place human—feels homey."

"Wrex," said Adrien. "What is the purpose of this... expedition?"

"I'm showing old Steven here how to track down an alpha to make it easier to cull the rest of the pack. You don't want a bunch of padfeet out here alone thinking they're gonna bag themselves dinner only to find that they are the dinner. Alpha's are cagey, they can rally a pack, turn them on the hunter, and ruin your day."

"Couldn't you just write it down?" suggested Adrien.

Wrex snorted. "We don't write things down. Krogan teach by example. You learn it as it happens, or you die."

"I see," said Adrien. "Wouldn't it be more practical to use a gunship with infrared tracking cameras?"

Wrex curled the tip of his snout in disdain and sniffed the air. "If there are any gunships left on earth that the Reapers didn't knock out, you would do well to find a better use for them than hunting varren. In any case, it is hungry civilians and foot soldiers who will need to do the work, and they won't have gunships. Besides, Primarch Victus, I want to see if you have a quad."

'And now the truth; he's testing us,' thought Adrien. 'Either that or he's brought us out here to kill us.'

"Don't worry," said Wrex, as if he'd heard Adrien's fears out loud. "I'll keep your boney ass safe. Just follow my lead."

Hackett, who stood to Adrien's left, was peeking through the scope of his old fashioned rifle, apparently fascinated by something on the other side of the jungle ravine.

"See anything?" asked Wrex.

"Just a loris," said Hackett. "Tiny little thing, not many of those left alive. It's a damn shame, what the Reapers did to our world."

Wrex grunted. "You'll get used to it, eventually. Now, we'll travel the ridge of this ravine for a while, stay downwind. Then we'll cut across and double back. There's tracks all over so it won't be too hard, especially if you know what you're looking for."

"What are we looking for, specifically?" asked Adrien.

"Alpha's like to gather their packs around a clearing in a dense jungle," said Wrex. "They'll use the clearing for mating and such, and they'll also hide in the forest eaves and use it as a trap; wait for prey to stumble in, let its guard down as any creature is likely to do once it crawls out into the sunlight, then they spring on it. They'll come in waves."

Hackett nodded. "Clever bastards," he said.

"This jungle could have any number of such clearings," said Adrien.