I live once more! Oh my goodness I have no idea how I can begin to apologize to you people who have taken the time to read any of my works (which will confuse you if you are just joining us) for the really long absence, and deleting all but one of my stories.

(Begin rant)

So, let me explain as best I can; I basically had any motivation to write completely killed by my first year of college. It wasn't that I didn't have time to write, but that one of my first classes was English. And I had to write essay drafts, and essays. In MLA Format. If you know what that's like, then you know how much of a writing killer it is. Anywho, that being said I am glad to be back, and hopefully I will be here to stay.

As for my taking down all but one fic, that's a little complicated. I was a little intimidated by how much popularity they were gaining. I also felt that they were not my best work. I felt that they did not measure up to my first story, which was actually the shortest of all. So I deleted them while taking time to assess my options.

(End rant)

So, I've come up with a new plan of action; I will only be writing one-shots. I feel like I can put more into a single, one-chapter fanfic than I ever could put into a chapter story. And I decided that I will start off with a crossover. I hope you enjoy, we'll talk again at the end.

Disclaimer: I do not own Mass Effect or Destiny, they are the sole property of EA Bioware and Bungie respectively.

Of all the instincts that every being has, there is one that is both universal and paramount. The instinct to survive. That single instinct, combined with many others, helped many races rise to greatness and achieve higher intelligence. Right now, Spectre Nihlus Kryik was experiencing that very powerful instinct. He crouched behind a large boulder, a M-8 Avenger clutched in his talons, and a sniper rifle folded up on his back. Not for the first time that day, the turian looked to his side, to check on his fellow squadmates. there were three, two of them asari, and one salarian.

One of the asari was a matron, named Treyana D'Vola, who had decided to stay with the asari military after reaching the maiden stage, rather than settle down and have a family. She had a sea blue complexion, which was in stark contrast to the red hue of their surroundings. She also had facial markings, which helped to distinguish one asari from another for the other races of the galaxy.

The second asari was a maiden named Ramina Visar, who was close to reaching the matron stage if he remembered correctly. Ramina's complexion was more of a purple hue than her fellow squadmate, and she lacked facial markings. Of the two, Treyana was unsurprisingly the more experienced biotic. In fact, Treyana was the one who in the case of first contact, was supposed to perform a meld, in order to exchange a rough understanding of language and speech.

The final member of their squad was named Kirrahe, a respected member of the STG which stood for the Special Tasks Group. He was a Captain in the 3rd Infiltration Regiment. His files were restricted, as was typical of an STG agent. Salarians liked to play their cards close to the chest like that, always knowing more than they let on. At least this time, the captain seemed as bewildered as the rest of them.

The team had arrived in the system after opening a new relay that been discovered by the last team to be sent out on this expedition. The Council had decided that the time to start exploring again was at hand. Resources were starting to run low, and space was running out on the Council owned planets. It was agreed that one Spectre would accompany these expeditions as a show of Council authority in the event of first contact, as well as an extra arm in case said first contact went sour. Such as what had happened a few hours before.

It had been routine, they entered the system, scanning for any possibly habitable planets, and searching for radio signals of any kind. At first, there hadn't been much in the way of signals, but that was to be expected, they had come in at the edge of the system right next to a blue gas giant. Initial scans indicated eight orbiting planets. What had caught the attention of the crew was the two planets within the life zone. One appeared to be more desert like, with little actual water and having a red hue. The other was mostly covered in it; roughly seventy percent it was estimated. Initial scans revealed solid land masses, as well as cloud formations. Both planets had a single smaller satellite which orbited around them. The red planet's moon appeared misshapen as though it hadn't been there for a long time. Kirrahe, as the captain had ordered that they get closer to the two planets to see if they were inhabited at all.

They didn't have to wait long for their answer.

They had moved in on the red planet first; and then everything went to hell. Their scans picked up artificial constructs patrolling the outer atmosphere, and initial scans showed that these ships were equipped with armaments. That should have been the first warning in everyone's heads, but the thrill of finally discovering a new sentient race was overwhelming. Kirrahe gave the go-ahead to send the first-contact package across all channels. As soon as that happened, the ships turned to face the comparatively small frigate, and without a single reply, opened fire.

The crew had been completely caught off guard. They'd barely managed to raise the shields to maximum power before the volley had hit. They also learned something. While the munitions the aliens fired were slow compared to their own weapons systems, they were much larger, and made up for the lack of extreme velocity. After the first hit, the shields had been taken down by half, and the eezo core barely survived. Soon after, the second volley hit, and this one nearly depleted the shields. Kirrahe ordered the ship turned around, and a FTL jump ready to get them out of there. Too little too late however, as a late round managed to not only deplete the shields, but also damaged one of the thrusters.

With the ship dead in the water, Nihlus ordered a comm sent to council space, detailing the events. While that happened, Kirrahe ordered everyone else. to get into the escape pods. The pilot refused to leave however, saying that he could buy them time by giving the enemy something to chase, even if only for a short while. Nihlus and Kirrahe reluctantly agreed, and bid the pilot farewell. Jumping into the last escape pod, which had Treyana and Ramina inside as well, they escaped the dying ship. They set a course for the red planet, knowing that an escape pod was not made to sustain its inhabitants for an extended period of time. Kirrahe's men managed to understand that the planet was badly ravaged, and the atmosphere intense.

They barely managed to make it past the blockade of ships that had formed, and they saw that the others weren't so lucky. The landing was rough, jostling everyone. Nihlus was the first to get his bearings, and led the remainder of the crew through the barren wastelands. Kirrahe brought up the rear, his eyes on the look out for followers. The wind was fairly strong, erasing their footsteps almost as soon as their boots left the ground. They soon came upon an encampment. Nihlus had volunteered to take a closer look, leaving Kirrahe and Treyana to look after Ramina, who had been showing signs of an oncoming panic attack. She was still green, only joining the asari military a few years ago, and had never seen action.

Nihlus crawled on top of a rock that gave him a good view of the camp and minimal risk of being seen. He hefted a sniper rifle he'd gotten into the escape pod. Looking through the scope, he surveyed the land before him, and taking note of the current inhabitants. They were big; the majority appeared to be taller than your average krogan. They wore helmets much like he was, and they were opaque, so one couldn't see their faces. Most carried rifles he saw, but further examination also showed that some hefted shields. Nihlus doubted that his rifle would penetrate them on the first shot. He also saw some of the big aliens with odd wing-like structures on their backs, and they seemed to being leading the immediate groups.

'With their big size, I'd swear by the Spirits they were yahg,' Nihlus thought. 'But they aren't even capable of space flight last time anyone knew.'

He surveyed the encampment before making his way back to the others. When he came back, Treyana and Kirrahe had managed to calm Ramina down. Kirrahe stood, hefting his pistol. "Anything?"

Nihlus shook his head. "No, the camps full to the brim with soldiers. Whether they're the ones that shot us down, or if they're an enemy, they are armed to the teeth and ready for war."

"This is worrying," Treyana said. "We appear to be in hostile territory no matter where we are."

Kirrahe nodded. "Right, so the first thing we should do is try to find transport off this planet."

"How are we going to do that?" Ramina asked. She may have been calm, but she was still panicking internally. "It's like Spectre Nihlus said, the closest encampment is armed , and even if we get off the surface, how are we going to get past the blockade that's formed?"

"One thing at a time, Visar," Nihlus replied. "Though she does have a point. It's not going to be easy to get past the fleet. We don't even know if the ship interface is compatible to us. Kirrahe, any ideas?"

The STG agent shrugged. "If we can find some transport and I have enough time, I could make something work. I can't make any guarantees however. We could easily be here for a long time."

"Then the first thing we should be focused on is finding some form of shelter," Treyana said. "We can't very well stay out in the open like this. There has to be some abandoned settlement nearby."

"Treyana's right," Nihlus said. "We need to find somewhere more hidden, and assess our situation more clearly."

"Not to be rude, Spectre," Ramina interjected. "But our situation is already pretty clear. We have no provisions, no way off this rock, the closest settlement looks ready to blow ships out of the sky and we are all alone!"

With each statement, her voice became more shrill as her panic returned. Treyana clapped a hand over the young asari's mouth and commanded. "Keep your voice down, young one! The longer we can keep quiet and move even more quietly, the better chance we have of getting out of here alive."

At the tail-end of her statement, they all suddenly heard a deafening roar that sounded a little too close for comfort. Nihlus looked over and saw a patrol closing in. "Get down!" he ordered.

They all ducked down behind the rock. Nihlus scooted closer around the edge to try and get a better look at their adversaries. It was more of those big aliens, only this time, there were two new aliens among their ranks. One was if possible, even bigger than his compatriots, and hefted a gatling gun in its hands. The other took Nihlus by surprise by its rather demure stature compare to the others. Something in his gut told him that these ones weren't to be underestimated though. Including those two, there were three of the gun wielding aliens, and one that also carried a shield; bringing the total to six.

The Spectre looked back at what remained of his crew, surveying each of them. Treyana and Kirrahe both looked calm and composed, but Ramina looked on the verge of having a mental breakdown. Very carefully he made his way back to their side. "There's six in total, three look like grunts, one is carrying a shield, one's smaller than the rest. The last one is carrying a gatling gun."

Everyone's eyes widened. "Quite a bit of fire-power, thinking they're a search party sent for us?" Kirrahe asked.

"If they are, they might not be looking to take prisoners," Treyana replied. "We shouldn't engage them; try to move around them without getting caught."

"And how do you propose we do that?" Ramina demanded. "We're out numbered, outgunned and outsized. We're done for!"

Nihlus took one more look at the patrol that was slowly making their way towards the rock they were hiding behind. "Not unless one of us provides a distraction." he said. He thought something like this might happen. He looked to Kirrahe. "Do you have a tactical cloak I can borrow?"

"Kirrahe nodded, and extracted the tech from his suit. Offering it to the turian, Nihlus implanted it within his hardsuit. Turning once more to the rest, he spoke. "Once I make my move, all of you need to get away from here while I have their attention," Treyana looked like she wanted to argue, but Nihlus didn't let her get a word in. "This may be your only chance to get away. We can't afford to waste time debating who lives and who dies. Kirrahe, find transport off this rock, and get yourselves out of here."

Kirrahe nodded, seeing this was the best, if not the only course of action. "Treyana, see to it that he gets what he needs. Your survival is paramount. Make sure Vasir gets out of this." the matron was reluctant, but she also nodded in the end. "Finally, Visar,"

Ramina's eyes snapped up to meet the turian's. "What I need you to do is survive, and get off this rock as soon as you can. That's an order, rookie. Your days as a green soldier are over. The real work starts now."

Ramina hesitated, then finally nodded, feeling ashamed of herself at how useless she'd been up to this point. She'd never had to face anything this stressful so suddenly before. The worst thing she'd dealt with was having some close calls with stray asteroids while in a ship. This was something else entirely. She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up again to see the Spectre's eyes meeting hers. "You're going to make it out of here alive Visar, just trust your instincts, and do what's necessary to survive until then."

Once more she nodded, but this time, there was a spark in her eyes, the determination to live, to see herself off this rock and make it back to the Citadel, and from there, home to Thessia to see her sister. 'I'll see her again. I promise.' She thought.

Nihlus noddedin return, satisfied with her response and the spark he saw. He moved away, and began to move around the rock. Just before he stepped into view, he activated the cloak. Once he was hidden from view, he carefully ran to a nearby rock formation, careful to not stir up too much sand. He climbed up the rock, not taking as much care to be silent so as to take attention away from the others' hiding spot. It seemed to work; the small one turned his head around toward the sound of climbing, scanning the area before turning back to his bigger friends. He said something to the biggest, who merely grunted in a dismissive manner. Once the Spectre was in position, he hefted his sniper rifle.

'Okay, who should I aim for first?' Thought the turian. He could go for the shield wielding alien first, but he might miss and hit the shield. Take out the smallest first? It seemed like a move if this were an assassination and he didn't want to get attention. That was not the case this time, he needed to draw attention to himself. Aim for the big one then, he would definitely get noticed that way. He lifted the scope, took aim, and with a small breath, fired.

The effect was instantaneous. The round dented the helmet of the big alien, but it didn't penetrate. It got what he wanted though, and the alien roared in indignation. It turned to face the now de-cloaked spectre and pointed at him roaring his fury. As one the others began to fire upon him. their weapons fired slowly, but the slugs they spat were huge. and they fired a lot of them. Nihlus ducked down,pulling out his Avenger and peeked out again to return fire. The rounds didn't seem to do much to them, and when he took a stab at firing against the one with the shield, it barely even scratched the paint, let alone damage the shield itself.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the others start to make their way out of the field carefully but quickly moving away. They were almost safe, but then Ramina tripped, falling into the sand with a loud huff.

The smallest of the aliens heard it, and immediately roared at them. 'Damn,' Nihlus thought. 'It almost worked.'

Two of the grunts and the small one turned their guns towards his three comrades, and started shooting at them as well. The Leader had yet to step in on either front, seeming content to let his minions do the heavy work for him. For now, that was fine by Nihlus. The Spectre refocused his attention on the two that were currently trying to shoot him down from his perch. The one with the shield had knelt down and hidden behind his shield, firing randomly, while his comrade was just firing. Nihlus turned his Avenger toward the grunt without the shield and began to fire. He tried to focus fire around the head, and it seemed to be working. The aliens head was banged around and eventually the helmet came flying off. Almost immediately, the head exploded, and the alien dropped dead. 'Interesting, they can't take this planet's intensity any better than we can.'

The big alien yelled in shock, and roared at the others. Kirrahe, Treyana, and Ramina saw what had happened, and began to focus fire on one alien at a time. Pretty soon, there was only the small one left, though it wasn't for a lack of trying. The thing was nimble on it's feet, moving just fast enough that they couldn't get a lock on it. What came next was a shock to everyone. The little one started glowing this white-ish blue color, and then a shockwave extended out toward the salarian and two asari. They were knocked over, but they weren't down. They quickly got back up and continued firing, making sure to not let it do whatever it had done just then.

Nihlus, in the meantime was still trying to take down the grunt with the shield; without much success. Its shield was just so big the only things that were exposed were its feet and gun-arm. it had also started moving, giving the turian and even harder time. He took a shot, and thank the Spirits, it it the alien in the foot. The thing groaned, lowering its shield and exposing its face. That was its final mistake. Nihlus immediately pinned the trigger on the alien's head and it too exploded. Looking over, the Spectre saw that the others had also finished up with the small alien. Turning back, he saw that the really big alien had seen the turn in the tide, and roared in anger. Hefting it's gatling gun, it started firing at Nihlus. Unlike the weapons the other aliens wielded, the gatling gun fired fast, and fired a lot of rounds. Nihlus was pinned down. He looked over and saw the others starting to make their way towards the starting point of this whole battle. 'Idiots,' He thought, "Get away!"

The alien stopped when it heard the exclamation and saw the others running towards it. Roaring, it let the rockets on its back fire, letting four lock onto the three aliens. Kirrahe, Treyana and Ramina barely managed to get to cover, and now the alien started firing again at Nihlus.

The next few minutes were a stalemate, the trio would pop out of cover to try and get a few shots off, only to have to duck back down seconds later when rockets were fired at them. Nihlus would try to fire at that point, but the monster would already be firing again. The alien didn't seem to be tiring, nor did he seem to be running low on ammunition. Nihlus and the others did not have that luxury.

Over the gunfire, Nihlus could make out the sound of an engine running in the distance, and it seemed to be getting closer. "Just great, reinforcements." he grumbled.

Sure enough, he saw three vehicles emerge from a dune. The vehicles were small though, surprisingly. They appeared to be hover bikes of some kind. Maybe it was more of the small aliens with pseudo-biotic abilities? They were starting to come up on Kirrahe and the others, and Nihlus tried to get a shot off, but he couldn't with the behemoth still shooting at him. Instead flanking them, like Nihlus thought they would; they instead blew right by them, aiming for the big alien that was still shooting at him. He lost sight of them, but Kirrahe and the others still had a view of the battlefield.

They saw the three beings riding in like bats out of hell. As one, they leaped off their bikes and landed. One of them was dressed from head to toe in strong, sturdy looking armor; with the gauntlets projecting blue-ish purple holograms of armor. This one stood as the tallest of the bunch, and he hefted some kind of rifle in his hands. On his back was a rocket launcher, and on his side was some kind of scarf like material with patterns on it.

The next one was slighter in stature, but posed no less of an imposing figure. Her armor, judging by the accentuated hips and slightly pushed out chest piece, was lighter, more fit for moving about. She hefted what looked like a mere pistol, but the way she carried it told Kirrahe that it was no less deadly than the sniper rifle on her back. She also wore a cape that reached to her lower legs.

The final alien was dressed the most outlandishly. His armor couldn't really be called armor so much as it could be called regal clothing. Such a strange taste in battle dress. Still, Treyana didn't survive as long as she had by writing off people at first sight. This one carried himself like he knew deadly secrets. He carried an arm band on his left arm, and it had an indigo glow around it. He carried a rifle his gloved grasp like the first one, though this one seemed more streamlined. on his back was what looked like a machine gun. He swapped the weapons, hefting the big gun.

The biggest of the three charged up, bearing his rifle down upon the behemoth, letting loose a hail of rounds at it. The big alien turned to look at him, and launched his rockets. the armored warrior moved a hair too quickly, causing the missiles to overshoot and explode behind him. The armored alien got a glow around him, and leaping into the air, kneed the monster in the chest.

The effect was a lot bigger than the four had expected. Nihlus had managed to scramble back to the others, but was too encapsulated to scold his allies for not running when they had the chance. Instead of a dull thunk like they had expected, the behemoth was pushed back and a sound like a thunder shock had gone off. Before the big alien could recover, the robed warrior threw a grenade that split into multiple pieces on impact and then the pieces exploded. The caped individual strafed, firing shot after shot from the pistol like weapon. They worked as a team, firing off their weapons, and keeping the monster off balance. The caped warrior raised her gun in the air, and it gained a orange glow about it. She fired off three rounds in quick succession, each htting their mark. The monster roared in pain and fury, finally finding its balance.

The armored alien went to charge again, but this time the monster was ready, and started firing his gatling gun. With no where to hide, the armored being took the full front of the fire. Holes burst through him, and he went down without a sound. Then seemingly from nowehre, a little device popped out and separated into multiple pieces held together by a sphere blue light.

Immediately, the robed individual started to fire at the monster, trying to keep him off balance. the caped one ran forward and stopped at the little device. Holding her hand out, Nihlus and the others expected her to start praying for her fallen comrade. Instead, a light shot through her arm into the little device which reacted, and to their shock, the body beneath disintegrated, only for a flash of light to appear, then the armored warrior was standing tall and proud, as if he hadn't taken fatal shots.

Not seeing this, the monster fired off more rockets against the robed individual. The others assumed he was done for as well, but then the strangest thing happened. The warrior jumped, and then a purple-ish glow surrounded him, lifting him into the air and away from the danger zone.

The three regrouped, facing the big alien once more. It was mad, and it wanted blood, firing with wild abandon, it hurled rounds and rockets at the trio. The armored warrior stood in front of the two. a purplish light surrounded him, and spreading his arms out, formed a shield. 'A barrier?' Ramina thought. 'These things can use biotics?'

The shield absorbed everything the monster through at it , and it didn't even crack under the pressure. The armored warrior took out the rocket launcher, and when the hellfire had subsided, stepped out of the barrier and fired. The rocket streaked across the battlefield, directly hitting the big alien. It staggered, it fell to one knee, but it didn't go down. Its helmet came off, but unlike the others, this one appeared to be tougher than the rest. It's face was quite ugly, and Nihlus could instantly conclude that this was no yahg, despite the same size, bad attitude and love of violence. The alien got back on its feet, and roared defiantly. There wasn't as much energy though, like it was winded from the battle. It's armor was chinked, and the holes were starting to secrete the same liquid that the others were. The robed individual once more rose gracefully into the sky. He holstered his weapon, and his right arm became coated in a purple light. In his hand, a ball of light was coalescing, and with a thrust of his hand, was launched at the alien.

The explosion was enormous, and impacted the monster directly. It rose into the air and with a final defeated roar, disintegrated into mere particles. Nihlus and the others were rendered speechless. Those three had actually managed to take down that thing. Nihlus noticed something however. "Where's the one with the cape?"

The others looked around as well, and found that the caped warrior was nowhere to be seen. Nihlus then felt something touch the back of his head. he clicked his mandibles. Of course she was right behind him with her gun to his head. The others had noticed as well, and pulled out their weapons to challenge her. Like they had sensed danger, the other two were there in a flash, the armored warrior wielding a shotgun, and the robed one had a grenade in one hand, and a strange rifle with a blue glow forming on the barrel. They were at a standoff. Nihlus weighed his options. They'd barely managed to survive the encounter with the big aliens, and the fact that the female alien hadn't opened up his head told him she wouldn't shoot unless forced to it. 'Maybe we can befriend them? they did just save us after all, though whether or not it's because they're good people I don't know. If anyone makes a wrong move we're all dead.'

With that thought in mind, the Spectre looked at his comrades and told them. "Stand down, they've got us covered, and from what we've seen, our best chance at survival is to cooperate."

Kirrahe and Treyana had assessed the situation as well, and they agreed, they may have the advantage of numbers, but all of them were tired, while these three looked like they could still go a few rounds. they laid their weapons on the ground, and came back up with their hands in the air. Ramina looked around, she hadn't put her rifle down, She looked back at Nihlus, who nodded at her. Swallowing, the young maiden laid down her weapon as well.

The caped one ripped the weapons from Nihlus' back, and looked to the robed individual. He put the grenade away, and held out his hand. a small flash of light appeared, and that same little device emerged once more from seemingly nowhere. It turned its single eye on the four of them, then emitted a cone of light. Passing from Ramina to Treyana. Then Kirrahe and finally to Nihlus. The eye narrowed at him, like it was studying him extra hard. Finally, it went back to the warlock, and disappeared in a flash of light. 'Was it scanning us?' Kirrahe wondered. it seemed to be some sort of personal probe, but it moved without any sort of direction; no visible commands were given.

He wasn't given much more time to consider this, because the armored one with the sash pulled the salarian away from the group. Holstering the shotgun, the being held out his hand and the same device emerged again. After a few seconds, Kirrahe and the armored one disappeared. The robed one grabbed Ramina and Treyana, and disappeared in the same fashion. It was just Nihlus and the caped warrior left.

She holstered her weapon and held out her hand to him. He hesitated, and she grabbed his hand for him. She held out her hand and the same device appeared. After a few seconds, Nihlus felt strange, as though he was being pulled into something. The next thing he knew, he was sitting in what looked like the cockpit of a personal ship. The caped one was there too, and she grabbed the controls. He looked at the screen and saw two blue dots on the radar. 'Those must be her friends.' he thought.

The three ships turned away from the planet, and sped off. a portal opened up in front of them, and they entered it, the destination was known only to the three unknown warriors that had saved Nihlus and his comrades. All Nlihlus knew was that wherever they were going, it was a better place than the one they were leaving behind.

Oh how wrong he was.

Finally, all done! I've been in a Destiny mood. And I thought why not cross it over with another famous sci-fi category?

Let me know what you guys think of this. I'm just getting back into the game and I've admittedly let my skills rust a bit. This will stay a one-shot, as I said in the author's note above. If you want to do something with this, just hit me up with a PM and request permission. Should I give it, make sure to credit me in the summary or the story, whichever you're comfortable with.

Hope you enjoyed people!