Mass Effect: United Species Aliance

by Delfim the Black kitsune

So... blew up the reapers, and the galaxy is at peace... nah, not really. The council withdrew their support to take care of their own, Earth was in shambles there seemed to be no hope. Until another species made contact. Today, The United Species Alliance stands strong against the cold Galaxy. Self-insert/HAREM. Based on events from the main Mass effect games.

4. Chapter 4

Delfim: Hey everyone my name is Delfim the Black Kitsune and welcome to another chapter of this story.

Before we go into this chapter, I would like to address a few things.

The same person that suggested me those characters suggested me a Female Krogan for the pairing, which sounds awesome I'm not gona lie, but I don't know if I should or not. Leave your comments on the reviews.

Also No one has yet to give any ideas for any extra aliens so for now, the raloi seem like they are here to stay.

Furthermore, someone complained that in the battlefield I shouldn't have made so much dialogue between the captain and the people of the ship, especially if it is just to question him. I agree with you, but I wanted to make the dialogue more expanded both for the readers and to give transition to this chapter, as you will see right in the beginning.

Finally, about the Hyper Jump… Someone asked if there were two times: one in the space ship and one outside the spaceship. Close but not quite. The time spend is roughly the same, 20 minutes, the location is the one that changes. Now you may say "But how does that work?" Well… it is true that Hyper Jump allows one object to be transported from one place of the Universe to another, but the transition is not completely stable, does creating the drift: the amount of time that passes between the moment they first entered Hyper Jump and the moment they leave the Hyper Jump.

This is the best way I can explain to you hope that you are no longer confused.

Anyway onto the chapter

"Hello"- most people talking.

"Greetings." – Geth talking.

"Greetings!" – rachni speaking.

"Do you copy?" – comn speaking.

Chapter 4 Ground Test

As the ship made it's way towards the nearby colony, there was a change in the crew: gone were any doubts concerning their captain, with a new found respect for the strange yet effective man that was leading them.

As Delfim walked around the ship, making sure that everything checks before he presents his report, both Rhokai and Bora congratulated him for the battle tactics. Thorin had complained about not being able to pilot the fighters into combat but congratulated the captain nonetheless. Even the two geths seemed to praise the captain's logic while going over the battle in lengthy detail.

To all this, Delfim remained impassive, not responding to the praise at all. He asked for a vid of the battle to Machina, so he could send it with the report, asked Isaac to standby and be ready to send same report, gave a curt nod to both Bora and Rhokai… and went into great lengh with Thorin on how the fighter would have been ineffective on the combat scenario they had faced.

As he was making his way to Engineering, he kept humming a funerary march, unnerving the people that heard him. At his side, Sekito barked as if singing along.

"… you are out of tune…" Sekito growled, as if offended. "… you are still out of tune, regardless of whether you growl or not."

Sekito barked madly, apparently he didn't like the critic. Delfim seemed to listen to it all in silence, observing the animal even as he pushed the button of the elevator.

"I did not comment on whether it was difficult or not to reach the note, I only stated that you were out of tone. You do not need to feel insulted." Sekito kept growling. Delfim turned away from it and started to whistle again, this time slower and louder. After a few notes, he turned to the varren and said "This is the proper tune of the music."

They soon reached Engineering, where they saw Rhea looking over the monitors while talking with the crew. "I just checked the modules, no damage. Continue with shield regeneration protocols."

"Yes mam!"

She then noticed the presence of Delfim, standing there with Sekito. "Ah, Captain. I just finished with the ship's scans. No damage, the shields are already regenerating and should be at full power in a 12 minutes."

"… good, that means we were successful."

"Yes, your plan was risky, but worked." Said Rhea, showing him a datapad. "Any more damage and the shields might have dropped."

"That wouldn't do, it would put the crew at risk. That wasn't the objective." He then analised the datapad and nodded. "Send all this date to my terminal so I can add it to my report."

"Got it sir, and might I say congratulations, that was very impressive."

At this she got a surprising reaction: Delfim frowned, almost tired, only to shake his head and return to his normal blank stare. "Why does everybody congratulate me? I only did my job."

Rhea looked at him, confused. "Well, yeah but you were able to beat the odds! 4 frigates and one cruiser with only a frigate and a skeletal crew!"

"I was just doing my job, and me alone couldn't do it. It was because everyone was doing their jobs that we were able to pull it off. So why do people keep congratulating me? If anything this reflects on our crew, which while small was able to achieve victory."

"Yeah, but you gave the orders. You were the one responsible for our actions here. So just like you would be the one to blame had we failed, you also receive praise when we succeed."

"That is not true. I may be the highest ranking officer in the ship, but all I did was coordinate the efforts…"

"Which means you had to look after everything. Each of us were focused on our own tasks while you were focusing on everything. That makes your part even more important."

Delfim stared at her in silence, turni8ng his head to the side as if studying her. Sekito seemed to look from between Delfim and Rhea before barking loudly, which snapped Delfim out of his stare and turned to the varren.

"… I do recognize her point, I am not that shallow." At Sekito's barks, Delfim frowned. "… fine…" He then turned back to Rhea. "I admit you have a valid point, however I stand by the fact that our victory was only possible due to the cooperation of everyone on this ship."

Rhea giggled. "Well okay then, I guess you are right. Just don't underestimate your own importance, sir."

"I never did that." Said Delfim. "I recognize my importance and I will perform accordingly. I know my duties."

Rhea couldn't help but smile at that. "So tell me, how do you understand Sekito?"

Sekito barked at being addressed. Delfim looked at him momentarly before replying. "… Varrens are fairly expressive and intelligent. Despite their lack of capacity to speak any form of translatable vocal language, they can convey their thoughts through a system of barks and body language which is fairly simple to decode."

Rhea looked at Sekito, who seemed lost as he looked at Delfim, tilting his head and looking dumb. She found Varrens to be quite ugly, but very useful in battle, specially with the right equipment…

"I see…" Rhea said. "He seems… well trained at least. How expensive is it to train a varren?"

"… I trained Sekito myself."

Rhea looked shocked. "You… you did?"

Delfim nodded. "I studied Varren's training methods, special diets depending on what tasks they are meant to perform, equipment that would make training easier and armor for combat." Delfim then turned to look at Sekito, who barked at him. "… he was my responsibility, so I did my best to adapt to him in my life."

"Ah… but wouldn't it be easier to trust professionals to train him?"

Delfim stayed silent for a while, his head bowed forward as he seemed to ponder his answer. Then he looked at her again and said "It might seem easier, but if there was some form of regression in his behavior to a more violent state, I would be dependent of the trainer to bring him back. Furthermore, while studying the varrens, I learned far more about them then I would if I had trusted the trainer. I still depend on veterinarians as medical issues are far more sensitive, but overall I tried to make us both more independent."

Rhea nodded. "I see. I suppose that makes sense. But I bet it wasn't easy."

Delfim tilted his head, confused. "Sekito is well behaved, thus proves that I was successful. The difficulty has no point in this matter anymore. Besides, the pros of training a varren for was outweigh the cons of having him aboard."

At this, Sekito barked loud and angrily. Delfim turned to him, listening to his barks quietly before speacking: "… you try to mark your territory everywhere despite previous warnings, you hate the hyper Jump and you bother other crew members for food despite the 32 times that I have already explained to you that you must follow the diet set in place. Do I need to continue?"

Sekito whined embarrassed at all the points that Delfim made. Rhea however couldn't help herself but chuckle at the scene, something that drew Delfim's attention. "There."

"Huh? What?"

"That sound you just made." While maintaining tone and expression, he walked so that he was standing right in front of her, face very close to her mask. "That sound that everyone makes. The chuckling, the laughing, the giggling… why do you do that? What is the point of that?"

Rhea choke on her answer. The question was weird on itself, but the proximity of her captain was a bit staggering. Even more when she noticed that his eyes seemed focused on where her voice came through the mask, as if looking at her lips…

"Hum… Why do I laugh?" she asked to be sure. At his nod, she replied "Well, why not? It was funny!"

"What was?" He asked, this time you could hear curiosity in his tone. "Everyone keeps telling me that they find my comments funny, but I never felt the need to giggle or laugh like they do."

"Well, I found it funny. The idea of someone scolding a varren like they would a person seemed funny."

"Why? Varren are fairly intelligent and can understand us when we speak. It would be logical to talk to him as he is: a sentient and sapient creature."

"But I found it funny. Different people find different things funny, so they laugh at different things."

Delfim stood silent for a few seconds before stepping back, allowing Rhea to breath in relief. "…I never laughed." She turned back to him as he looked away. "I recognize the health benefits that come from laughing: it works muscles in the abdominal area, it increases the effectiveness of the immune system and allows for a positive and cheap outlet for stress. However, I never felt the need to laugh in my life, nor do I understand when others find it so easily."

Rhea down, unsure of what to say. "Hum… maybe you just haven't found anything that you would find funny yet."

"… I doubt it…" Delfim turned to her again. "I have attended Laugh Therapy, watched humoristic videos and comedy shows with different types of humor and heard several jokes… all were ineffective." Delfim then looked down. "I believe that I am just… humorless."

That made the cogs in Rhea's mind start to work. He didn't feel amusement? At all? Why and How? Was this part of him being authist, or something more? And was that the only emotion that he didn't feel… or was completely emotionless.

Before she could ponder anymore, Richard's voice reached them through the comns. "Captain, we have landed. A representative of Horizon wants to see you."

"… Thank you, Richard." Delfim then turned away and said "I need to go."

"Right, well, I'll send that report once I am done here."

Delfim nodded and left with Sekito behind him. Once he reached CIC, he turned to Isaac and spoke "Follow me."

"Acknowledged."

Outside, in the hangar, a short man awaited them. Not small, just shorter than average man, with black combed hair, a cream sleeveless jacket and black cargo pants. He was staring at the ship ion awe, until he noticed the two new arrivals.

His reaction to Isaac was to be expected. Horizon people were very paranoid, and they didn't trust the geth all that much, so him looking from the corner of the eye was still better than some would have reacted. Plus Horizon isolated itself from everyone after the Reaper Wars and only now where they coming out of it, so seeing geths and Rachnis working with humans was a big shock. But he seemed to ignore the A.I. once he turned his attention to Delfim.

"You must be the captain. I am Chief Patrick, head of this colony." Patrick extended his hand for a shake. Delfim stared at his hand for a second before grasping it with his own for a shake, bringing a smile to Patrick's face. "On behalf of everyone I would like to thank you for your quick intervention."

"… we came as soon as we were debriefed about your situation…" explained Delfim as he pulled his hand back from the shake. "I would like to ask some questions."

"Well sure, but I don't know how much I can help."

Delfim nodded then turned to Isaac. "Please record the following conversation."

"As you command captain."

"Wait, you want to record the conversation?" asked Patrick, not liking where this was going. "Are you interrogating me?"

"… no, but in case your information allows to draw some conclusion out of this situation, I would prefer to have it recorded to then send to the Admiralty Board. Rest assured, you are not being charged of anything."

"Ah, well like I said, I won't know how much I can answer. We know little. Still, after taking 4 frigates and a cruiser, I suppose I can try to help."

Delfim looked confused. "How did you know what happened?"

"The same way we first noticed the cruiser. We have people watching the skies with telescopes and probes around the system." Explained Patrick. "Let's just say that some people here were a bit… afraid? No no, maybe precautious. Yes that fits."

Delfim nodded. "How long have this ships been sighed?"

"Well the cruiser appears from time to time, and we first spotted it… roughly 3 months ago. But he never stayed long. The frigates however… we have never seen them before."

"… you admit you have never saw those frigates before?"

"Yes, it was always that cruiser. Actually we only saw the frigates after you had arrived." Said Patrick with a frown.

Delfim frowned as well, thinking about the new information. Then he spoke. "Do you know where the cruiser came from?"

"Hum… no not really." Confessed Patrick. "He appears around the system from time to time and never stays for more than a few minutes before leaving. That is really all I can tell you about it."

"…" Delfim stared at him for a few seconds before nodding. "I noticed that the five vessels had the same symbol in the hull. Isaac, show the images I asked for."

"Yes captain." From the optic an image appeared. It was taken from the video of the battle, during the barrel roll moment. There, on the right side of the hull, was a large circle with three comas. Another image flashed of the different frigates, each sporting the same circle.

"… Have you ever seen this symbol?"

"Hum… no I don't think so." Said Patrick, looking at the symbol intently. "I could ask some people in the colony, but I don't think they will know more about this than we both do, captain."

"… Very well. Thank you for your cooperation. That will be all."

"Of course. Do you need anything? Supplies perhaps? We can restock the ship if you want."

"… The ship was restocked before we came to this system. There will be no need for that. I thank you for your offer though."

"Well then, I won't hold you anymore… Take care, Captain."

As Patrick left, Delfim stared at him going. Then he turned to Isaac and asked "Was he holding me? I did not feel it."

"Negative captain. His hands were nowhere near you. I believe he was using an expression similar to the one that states I won't spend any more of your time."

"…" Delfim frowned for a moment, then shook his head. "I shall ask Rhea later. I will compile all the data. Prepare to send the report to the admiralty board."

"Acknowledged."

…

Rhea was sitting down for a bit, letting the other engineers work. She had just finished her report and send it to Delfim, and was relaxing a bit.

Delfim… her new captain was… intriguing. She was worried when her first interaction went… well, it was bad by any definition. She came out cocky and to assured of herself and ended up burned halfway.

But he seemed to take things in a different way. For one, he didn't see the situation for what it was: a failure on her part. Second, he seemed content with the fact that the error was corrected and that she felt bad about it. Not sure if he was just naïve or philosophical.

Then his seemed very open about things and she found herself listening to him with rapt attention. The tone and expression rarely changed, never betraying anything but a pure analyses.

Yet there were a few hints here and there… for example he didn't memorized "Soldier's" name, which showed that he didn't think much of the guy considering that he knew Richard's name. Another thing was his dedication to the Varren and his sense of responsibility. He took the Varren in and instead of just assuming he would adapt to his new life, he adapted his life to having Sekito in it.

She sighed. Truthfully she didn't know why she was thinking of her captain so much. Maybe because he was different? She has met a lot of different people during her pilgrimage, yet none like him. Maybe it was because of her own preferences…

Rhea has always been a huge androphiliac. She loved humans! The weird way their legs bended, the broader and stronger frame that most carried, how much they could convey through expressions… even the fact they grew hair on their faces was both weird and funny to Rhea.

But he was so different. She felt intrigued, he acted like no one she had ever met, safe for the geths, and even then there was something different about him…

"Rhea, the captain wants to see you in the comn room. Isaac is making the connection with the Admiralty Board."

Well that sounded serious. She wasted no time getting to the elevator and pressing up. When she reached the first floor, she saw Sekito gnawing at what seemed to be a chewing toy.

Ignoring him for now, knowing that she had to reach the comn room, so passing by the distracted Varren, she saw Isaac outside of the room connected to a panel. "The captain is inside. He was waiting for you before starting the meeting."

This caught Rhea by surprise. "He was?"

"Yes, he said that it would be better for the XO to be present."

Ah, that made more sense. "… okay. I think I will… go in then."

She entered the room where Delfim was playing with a datapad. He didn't take his eyes of it as he said "I wanted to go over a few things before the meeting with you."

"Yes sir."

Delfim then turned to her. "After extensive analyses, I came to the conclusion that Horizon might be in danger and sent my suspicions with the report."

Rhea stomach ran cold as he said that. "What?"

"… the reports state that a cruiser was saw for months before today, but only in the recent battle where the frigates seen. This suggests that they might have a base for quick deployment nearby."

"But… are you sure? It could be that they were always there but never seen."

"Unlikely, the system is filled with all types of probes and telescopes to watch over everything. One frigate might escape notice if he flew in a careful pattern, but not four frigates, much less in close proximity to a carefully monitored cruiser. I have hacked into their video feeds for a month and analyzed them with the help of Machina, the four frigates where not there before we arrived."

Rhea then frowned. "A base? Are you saying this is a mercenary gang? A Terrorist cell?"

"At the bare minimum, but it might be a paramilitary group. The weaponry on the cruiser seems to indicate they are well armed despite the state of their ships. Furthermore, they employed military tactics that require quite the knowledge and experience to pull off, as they are particular to certain militaries, namely council species tactics."

"Keelah, and they have a base nearby?"

"Judging by the speed of the frigates, they must have some form of space station near the system, but far enough not to be detected, a margin of 50 to 72 light-years from the system."

"That is way to close!"

"Indeed, considering the hostile actions they took." Said Delfim. He then pressed a few buttons on the datapad and said "That was all I needed to highlight. The test revealed that somehow they were able to detect us even with the stealth system. Which means that either something is wrong with it, or the enemy as developed a way to still find us."

"Neither of which are good." Said Rhea. "But the stealth system was far… at least, as far as I could tell."

"Yes, I read your report. Which means that they must have access to technology we don't." Delfim then nodded. "That was all I needed to speak with you, any questions?"

"Hum… why is Sekito outside?"

"He get's bored during long conversations. It's best for him to stay out there playing with his toy."

"He won't… break anything, will he?"

"No, he is only training his jaw muscles right now, I am sure he will behave. Anything else?"

"Hum… well, hum I guess that is it, sir."

Delfim nodded, turning to the monitors. He then pressed a few buttons and the holograms of the Admiralty Board appeared.

Besides Shepard and Tali, now stood holograms of a tall battle scared red plated krogan. Another war hero named Urdnot Wrex, who is the most revered Krogan of all times due to his actions while curing the genophage. He stood with a grin while cracking his neck.

Beside him was a strange geth. Instead of standing on two legs, this one had wheels and a bulkier appearance, with three different antennas sticking out of his back and capable of carrying the most amount of programs yet: a whopping 8075 different programs and all answered to the name Babbage. The optic swirled as he looked towards the captain, awaiting the beginning of the meeting.

Last was the rachni's representative, larger than a normal rachni, with blue stripes running all over his body from the top of the head to the back and wings sprouting off his back, this rachni was supposedly a "prince", though instead of being programmed for reproduction, it was trained to serve as the queen's voice, as such, it used the name Sercis. It seemed to look at others often as he appeared.

Tali still dressed her purple enviro-suit as she stood, however there where signs that she was nervous as her hands were clasped together tightly.

Lastly Shepard looked grave and serious.

"Captain, we read your report, is it accurate?" asked Shepard.

"… yes."

"And your theories?"

"They are just that, though the threat seems to suggest they might be more than theories."

"He is right, Shepard." Spoke Tali. "The threat is there."

"I know that, and I am not going to be blind enough to allow this to continue until it blows in our faces. I just need to know the captain's opinion first."

"… they had impressive tactics and weaponry, but the ships themselves weren't really consistent and were based on older models. With the help of the video feed from Machina, I was able to identify parts of TSSV Tarakus."

"That is a Turian cruiser." Said Wrex. "Not too shabby until it was taken by pirates. By the time they found the ship, it was a pile of useless junk and lots of cleanup to do."

"When did this happen, Wrex?" asked Shepard, interested.

"Hard to say, I know I was involved, one of the first jobs I did when I became a mercenary so…" The krogan seemed to do some calculation but ended giving up by saying "Yeah many years."

"The use of parts of such an old ship is a risk. The integrity of the metal plus the fact that it must be outdated suggest that it's uses are limited." Spoke Babbage.

"But cheaper then building ship from scrap yes?" Asked Serci. "Easy to find parts: shipyards!"

"Now that you mention it, I think there was a shipyard near Iea system." Said Shepard, now considering things. "This gives us a starting point. And with the battle the systems of the Nautilus were pretty much tested in the most practical sense of the word, all that remains is testing the Mako."

"I got an idea for that." Wrex said with a grin. "There is a klixen nest I would like to get rid off. Send them here and let them take care of it."

"What do you think, captain, can your team handle a Kilxen nest?"

"… Rhokai's file indicates that this wouldn't be the first time dealing with such a situation and in theory the Mako should be armed and armored enough for the task."

"Are you sure captain?" asked Rhea, uncertain. "We are talking about fire breathing insects!"

"What's got your panties in a twist, quarian?" Asked Wrex mockingly.

Both Rhea and Tali glared at Wrex but it was Delfim who responded: "Quarians do not wear panties. Panties are a human undergarment. Quarians, both male and female use the enviro-suits only and normally don't wear any other form of clothing underneath."

While Wrex laughed at the now embarrassed quarians, Shepard sighed. "Riiiiight, well, the test is a good idea, especially if they get another detailed report like your last one captain. They seemed impressed with the level of detail you put into it."

"… I understand the significance of these tests and made sure to give any information that I found pertinent."

"Then we expect the same for the Mako." Shepard then turned to the others and since none spoke, he said "Admiralty Board out."

The holograms disappeared and as soon as they did, Rhea exploded. "Captain! What was that all about?"

Delfim turned to her, confused. "We just had a meeting with the Admiralty Board."

"I know that! But why did you have to say that we wear nothing underneath our suits? That is personal!"

"… he asked what got your panties in a twist. I merely pointed out that quarians don't use such garments."

"But you did not have to reveal that we don't use nothing under the suit?" yelled Rhea.

"… why does that make you angry?"

Rhea was about to explode when she noticed something: there was no hint of malice in his tone. Genuine curiosity was present, nothing more. She then remembered that he saw things in a different way, so perhaps he did not understood why that was embarrassing.

"Because… because you basically exposed us. I mean it feels like that, it feels like we were exposed."

"You still have the enviro-suit on, and anyone can search for a quarian's anatomy in the designated books and files referring to them."

"But you can't reduce it to just that! How would you feel if I said that you brought pink underwear today?" she asked, annoyed.

"… I would tell you you are wrong, my underwear is bright blue. Also I would inform you that I do not have any form of underwear in the color pink."

Rhea sighed. "Well… it's just… it is a bit of a… secret that we don't wear anything under the suit, and you just went and said it like it's normal… it is not, it is personal!"

"I see. I understand now… it is one of those things that causes embarrassment when spoken in public."

"Yes, that is it."

"Then I would like to apologize for embarrassing you." Said Delfim with a bow, which actually startled Rhea. "I did not wish to embarrass you and I will try to avoid speaking of quarian's lack of clothes under the enviro-suit."

"Well I… I suppose I did overreact."

"No, in an embarrassing situation, people tend to behave in strange and sometimes extreme manners. Yours wasn't out of such spectrum."

Rhea giggled. "Nothing bothers you, does it?"

"No, I am easily bothered." This caught her by surprise as she looked at him, who now seem to lean forward, looking at the ground. "Lacking understanding on something bothers me, makes me feel inadequate. I also hate when I misunderstand an expression or words, as it is quite a current shortcoming of mine. In fact a lot of things do bother me…"

She stared at her captain, who at this moment looked more human than ever. After his latest success and the way he handled things, he looked so… invincible, unshakeable, something… and now he looked so… vulnerable.

Then he straightened up and turn to her again, his eyes back to the dull look as he spoke "But I have a mission, a task in which I must focus on and as long as I have that, I can ignore all that bothers me."

"Just like that?" asked Rhea.

Delfim nodded. Then he frowned and said "You seemed to have some reluctance about the klixen nest, is there something bothering you?"

"Well… we are going to use on Mako… to hit a nest filled with fire breathing insects!"

"We will do more than hit! We will use heavy artillery to make our way through and reach the queen, which is our primary objective."

That stopped her still. "Wait what?"

"To destroy a nest, we must destroy the queen, for as long as the queen is alive the nest can be rebuilt. But if she dies, it does not mater how many klixen survive as they will be lost without guidance and without the ability to reproduce."

"Well… that means we have to… go inside of the nest?"

"Yes."

"But that… is the Mako even ready for that?"

"… the Mako was made for ground and subterraneous movement. The drill will open path and the canon will serve as the main weapon. With it's plating, we should be able to whithstand the heat of the Klixen attacks. Furthermore, it is capable of carrying two secondary weapons: two smaller turrets for close range firing which are retracted into the vehicle."

"That…" She was actually surprised since she didn't really pay much attention to the Mako. "Well I suppose that maybe I am just overreacting."

"… You are still bothered."

"Yeah, but like you said, we have a mission, I can ignore what bothers me right?"

Delfim looked surprised at her, then a small smile formed in his face before it vanished back to his usual expression. "Machina, tell Richard to prepare Hyper Jump into Krogan DMZ, destination Tuchanka."

"Yes captain."

"Yes well… I need to go back to engineering." Said Rhea as she turned away.

Delfim nodded but did not follow her. Once she was out he turned away, smiling. "She is not so bad… I guess I… can work with her…" He then frowned and said "Talking about the lack of undergarments is a embarrassing subject, I should write it down so I don't forget…"

…

The ride to Tuchanka was quick since they were already in space when they got the news and soon they had reached the Krogan homeworld.

"Tuchanka ground control this is USS Nautilus are we clear to descend?" asked Richard.

"This is Tuchanka ground control, you have permission to land on the airport of Kalos, dock 12. You will have someone there to take you to the Warmaster."

"Copy that ground control, we are descending now." He then whistled. "Kalos huh? We get to visit their capital? Damn!"

"We are not visiting, we are here to kill klixen and test the Mako."

"Indeed. Why are we testing the Mako, captain?" Asked Machina.

"The USA wants to make the M-72 Prowers the new standard military Mako, but for that to happen it has to be tested. Despite how heavily armed and armored it is, if there are mistakes in it's design that could reveal fatal than it would be fatal for USA to rely on them."

"That's a bit risky, if there IS a mistake, you guys are pretty much screwed." Said Richard.

"… I checked the Mako, it should perform as expected. However you are right in the manner that there are risks, yet we must still test it as we are currently the more qualified to do it."

"Alright, you know what you are doing." Said Richard with a smile. "Still, meeting with the Warmaster, huh?"

Wrex had become famous among the krogan, first for curing the genophage, second for surviving the Reaper War and third for leading them afterwards. He was now the living legend, with Krogan everywhere looking up to him. Thus he received the title Warmaster, which meant he was in a level all of his own.

"Yes, it will be interesting to meet Urdnot Wrex in person." Said Delfim.

"I don't know. I would be freaked out: this guy was around when my great grandpa was in diapers! It's kind of intimidating to be around someone like that."

"… the difference in age can be daunting, but his dedication to his people and his friendship with Admiral Shepard would suggest that he wouldn't be overly hostile towards us."

"Overly hostile?" Richard turned to Delfim, eyebrow raised. "OVERLY hostile?"

"Some hostility may be warranted due to Krogan society, in which there are demonstrations of strength in the form of head-butts and other violent gestures. While he has experience dealing with other species, he may still decide to follow tradition."

"And what will you do if he does?" asked Richard. "I mean, if he tries to head-butt you, it might crack your head open."

"… as dictated by krogan society, if I do not respond with a head-butt of my own, I will come out as weak and thus less respected, so I would respond in the same manner: by head-butting him."

"That could lead to potential injuries, are there no other responses adequate?" Asked Machina.

"… none that would be effective. Please call Rhokai and Rhea so that we may proceed to the meeting."

Richard nodded. "Got it captain."

Delfim then left the bridge and went to get his armor. As he did, Sekito whined near him. "… no, I will not get your armor, you are not coming on this mission." Sekito barked angrily. "I know you are a war varren, but this is a Mako mission and we are not planning on leaving the Mako…" Sekito whined. "… no, I can not let you accompany us outside of the tank. But you can come with us to meet Wrex."

Sekito barked happily as the door of the elevator closed.

…

Rhea was putting on her armored enviro-suit inside of the sterilized room. Despite their increased immune system and continuous work on improving it further, some caution was still necessary.

Her armored suit was different from her work clothes. Black Light metal plating covered her chest, legs, feet and arms, leaving small patches across it without that plating where a layer of the suit protected the necessary wires which connected her suits hardware, over another layer of the suit to protect her skin. Her visor was plated as well with only a small T like part without any plating revealing the red visor beneath. The lights off the suit were also red, accentuated by the red lines on the limits of her head piece. On the right side of her chest, the symbol of N7 stood proudly.

It was the standard N7 colors on an armor that was nothing like the standard. She had modified this armor since the first time she got it and she was quite proud of herself. The shileds were powered up by a stronger generator, which meant more shields, and the substitution of the suit's software made her tech skills quite more useful.

She took her small firearm, a Thoran, which was a new version of the Arc Pistol. This one was equipped for more shots and more power with the drawback of being more difficult to use on long range. But for those, she had her beauty.

She took her prized weapon with something akin to affection. Her very own N7 Deadshot which, to her, was the most beautiful Sniper Riffle that ever existed. Based on the designs of the Widow that the geth had, but redesign for synthetics like the M-98 was, plus better accuracy with the extra of firing up to 5 shots in a row! The wet dream of snipers.

She stroke the sniper fondly. It took a lot of time, a lot of saving money that she made form hard work, blood and tears. But she finally bought it and boy was she excited about it.

She also took one last precaution: a combat knife. Tali herself admitted that she always carried one in her suit, even though she always had her shotgun loaded. That and the knife was often times useful for other things, forgot a tool, needed to open a tool box, knife coming up.

She then breathed in and out, something she did before all missions: getting herself calm and ready. She trusted the captain's judgement of the Mako, and if he was as smart as she thought he was, he was going to put Rhokai in the big gun, her on the shields, and possibly Isaac integrated with the systems to prevent hacking and monitoring the radar.

She swiftly left the room, which began decontaminating itself as she left. She soon clicked for the elevator, only for it to open and reveal Rhokai. Just like her, he was wearing a black armor with red lights, only his was heavy armored, with a capital H. It looked way to heavy for anyone to carry but a krogan, but he didn't seem to have any problems with it. She entered the elevator with a nod to him, which was returned with a grin.

As they rode the elevator up, she turned to look at his back, where he had two weapons. Fiurst was, of course, his shotgun: an M-450 Claymore, which was the returning of the great Claymore with a boost. It made for easier handling and quicker shoots, while preserving it's legendary power. Next to it was an M-20 Piercer Assault Riffle. A weapon whose rate of shooting would increase the longer you hold the trigger, and shooting shots that pierce armor and cause some serious damage.

"That is one awesome sniper, good taste." Complimented Rhokai with a grin. "Must have cost a fortune."

"It did. But totally worthy." Answered Rhea enthusiastically. "This is the best weapon I have ever laid my hands on."

"Alrigh, I get it kid, you like your toy." Said Rhokai, though you could see that he was not really bothered. "I am trying to get my hands on the new TK-Traitor! Now that is a shotgun."

"I heard about it, more rate of fire, double barrel and blades for close range."

"More shots per charge than the regular Claymore." Stated Rhokai with a dreamy look. "Ah, what I would do with that beauty."

Rhea giggled at his expression. They reached the deck to meet their commander. Just like them, he was wearing the N7 colors on his armor, which was medium weight armor plating with several nodes: one on each soldier, one in the middle of the chest and one in each knee. He also carried a lot of weapons, at least one of each type and Rhea did not have the time to guess them all.

"We must go, they are awaiting for us." He then turned to Rhea and seemed to stare. "… an excellent choice for a sniper, though you should keep on the lookout for the new mods: It allows for more power without destabilizing the weapon."

"Ah, thank you sir, and yes, I do have my eyes on those." Answered Rhea.

"… no, your eyes are on your face. I am not even sure that they sell these mods here on Tuchanka, considering most Krogans don't use snipers. Even then, having your eyes on one could be very bad for lack of vision and…"

Both Rhea and Rhokai burst out laughing. "Captain that is an expression. It means that I know of the mods and am waiting for one that suits the Deadlock."

"… oh, I see…" He then turned away, blushing. "Regardless, we should go, we have a meeting to attend."

"We are following you, captain." Said Rhea, taking position to the right behind him while Rhokai went to the left.

Delfim shook his head and walked ahead, drawing a few more chuckles from Rhea. Once they left the ship, they found three krogans waiting for them. The three were armored with two having their guns out, the middle one not holding a gun.

"Are you captain Delfim Traynor?" asked the middle Krogan. Delfim nodded in answer. "Then follow us, we have a shuttle nearby."

The krogan walked away with Delfim and his group behind, the two new krogans taking the rear. They soon reached a brown shuttle waiting for them.

"Wrex wants to do a debriefing with you, something about the exact location and see if you are worth it and what not." Explained the chaperone.

"… Is the nest near the new city you are building to the south?" asked Delfim, not even turning to the krogan.

"Yeah it is. It's still small and lot's of building is still being made, leaving the place rather vulnerable. The nest is also new, but we don't want to take any chances." The chaperone then frowned and turned to Delfim. "How did you know?"

"… if it was near any of the other three cities, You would have exterminated the klixens fairly quickly. The only reason not to do it is if going after them would leave you vulnerable, hence the idea that the nest would be near a new city, still being built."

"That's about right. Damn critters picked the worst spot to make a nest in."

"… yes, making a nest near a krogan city is a bad idea, however they might have looked into other factors before building the nest. They might not have realized there was a city nearby."

The krogan looked at him oddly while Rhokai and Rhea chuckled behind them. Eventually, the chaperone shrugged and made signal for them to enter.

Once inside, the shuttle took off, revealing the city. A krogan city was… strange. With tall pyramid like buildings contrasting with an underground tunnel network extending way beneath the city. Krogans made this tunnels as an extra tactical advantage: any attack on any side of the city, and krogans could just go through the tunnels to get there quicker and catch them by surprise.

But the best was the vegetation growing around. In any other place, vegetation growing on walls and streets would have looked bad, like the place was abandoned. Here, the lush green look of these plants and how they would entwine with the structures gave it a feeling as if the place was alive.

"Wow, I have never actually been in Tuchanka. This is… beautiful!" said Rhea looking out of the window.

Rhokai smiled. "Yeah… yeah it is…" He then laughed. "This is a good world. It will try to eat you alive, sure, but it's a good world."

"… the planet won't eat you alive as it lacks a digestive system."

"Oh but this planet has it, sir." Said Rhokai, turning to Delfim, who was looking out of the other window. "It's called Tresher Maw!"

Delfim frowned, looked back at Rhokai, confused, and said "The Tresher Maw's are not connected to this planet itself, despite being indigenous to it. Also any nourishment they get from digestion does not directly benefits this planet. Furthermore…"

"Captain, it's an expression!" said Rhea filled with mirth.

Delfim looked away, embarrassed. Even as his crew laughed, to the surprise of the onlookers, Delfim asked "What is that new building?"

"Ha, that is some new weapon developer, got big enough that it's open a third base here." Answered the chaperone. "TK industries if you are wondering."

That shut down Rhokai as he looked at the building in question. Just like many of the others, it seemed to be going for the pyramid design, except that it was only half done and many different people, mainly krogan, were working hard on building it.

Delfim stared at the building before nodding. "So… Tarkal as expanded again…"

Rhokai frowned. "Who is Tarkal captain?"

"Tarkal Karabath. I meet her when she was looking for investors to create a corporation to build more weapons. I found it would be beneficial to invest in her, and did with a considerable amount of credits. In return I got a discount in weapon deals with TK industries which allowed me to afford my weapons. Even got the TK-Traitor for half of it's original price."

Both Rhokai and Rhea froze and then turned to look at his back. Sure enough, collapsed and stuck to his back, with brown plating was a TK-Traitor, gleaning with the stray light that hit it.

"I… I I I!" Rhokai didn't know what to say for a moment then blurted "How did you get that? It only came out two weeks ago?"

"… yes it did, and as a silent partner I got news of it's development before it was open to the market. I was saving for it before it came out." Turning to the speechless krogan, he added. "Would you like me to procure a TK-Traitor for you?"

"Damn right I do!" said Rhokai with a big grin. "How much would that cost?"

"… the 50% deal was a one time thing, but I still have my normal discount of 25%, which would round the price to 6400 credits."

"Great! As soon as you get the weapon, I will pay you the creds. Thank you captain."

"… the quality of my team's equipment is also a priority." Said Delfim before turning to Rhea. "Do you want any weapons?"

"Oh no, my pistol suits me and I don't think TK has a better sniper than this." She said proudly patting her sniper.

Delfim nodded. "Indeed. Snipers are not TK's specialty, but yours is considerably one of the best models in the current market. The accurate scope with thermal option, 5 shots in a row and power behind it are impeccable."

Rhea beamed beneath her armor. Another reason to love the sniper: the awe that it inspired. While many would call it a great sniper or a good one, specialists would droll over it and her captain's reaction, while less enthusiastic, showed that he did appreciate the weapon.

"Which one do you have, sir?" asked Rhea, curious.

"… a Phaser Mk III, it has a good scope and shoots up to 12 shots without reload. However it does not have the power that yours have and it takes more time to reload, so yours is considerably better. However I haven't been able to afford one yet."

"Ah, I see." Said Rhea with a nod. "Well, The Phaser is not bad, but I really don't like the grip on it."

"… yes it is very limiting."

"Let's stop talking about snipers!" said Rhokai. "I'm more interested in your investment on Tarkal!"

"… what about it?"

"Nothing, it's just you helped unleash a monster!" said Rhokai with a grin. "TK is competing with big names now, she might start supplying the army at this rate!"

"… I do not see how that equates to unleashing a monster." Said Delfim. "Unleashing a monster sounds disastrous, but Tarkal's development has allowed for better weapons and more choice to a up until then very particular market."

"Yeah, and that is what I meant! Up until then only a few companies created guns, none krogan or in Tuchanka. Thanks to the new company, things are looking up. Besides it does help that not only TK is a Krogan company, but produces quality weapons."

"I know that, 70% of my armament comes from Tarkal."

"A profitable investment then, huh?"

Delfim nodded with a small smile.

Soon the shuttle settled in front of a big building. The chaperone decided to take control of the visit again. "Alright, follow me. Wrex is right this way."

The building looked far too administrative for a krogan: there were a few desks, 2 rows of krogans waiting to be attended and a few securities here and there. However the group ignored this and followed their guide through a door in the back of the building that led to the elevator.

"Now listen here." Said the krogan as he punched the right key. "Wrex wants to meet with you guys alone, but we will be nearby, don't try anything funny."

"… I do not thing the situation would call for humor, but we will respect your warning nonetheless."

Once again the krogan was left in doubt while Rhokai and Rhea laughed. Once the elevator stopped they were met with another desk where a Krogan was going through some papers and a large red door. At seeing them, he pressed a button and yelled "They are here, Warmaster..." someone yelled over the comn and the krogan nodded at the group. Delfim took the lead and entered the room behind the red door.

The room was quite Spartan, with what amounted to a throne carved out of a rock, a large secretary, and an holographic displayer. Wrex was sitting in the throne and grunted at their arrival.

"So you are the captain huh?" asked Wrex looking him up and down. "You looked bigger in the holo."

"… the hologram tends to change sizes of the person in it, in my hologram, you looked larger."

The krogan snorted. "Well here is what I want you to do." He then snapped his fingers and an interface appeared on his computer, over by the desk. He typed a few keys and a map appeared showing a small city.

"This is Uratha, our new city. However we recently found a nest of klixens beginning to form southwest from it. The problem is if there are klixen, than their predators might be near too…"

"You mean Thresher Maws."

"Yup, the city is too vulnerable, and so far they have kept their distance, but not if the Klixens start making their home there, they are practically delicacies for the Thresher maws. Anywhere where a big nest of them lives is where you will find more Maws."

"I understand the importance of this mission. We will ride there."

"Nah, it's too far away. I have three shuttles ready to take your mako with wire to the place. Once deployed it's your job to enter the nest and kill the queen."

"Understood." Said Delfim. "Is there anything else I should be aware off?"

"The nest is new, just a couple dozen Klixens and a few harvesters at best. You shouldn't have much trouble at all."

Delfim nodded. "We will be moving out then. Thank you for the honor of meeting you."

Wrex laughed. "Repay that honor by killing the klixen then!"

"Understood."

"Dad, you really need to pay more attention to this!" yelled a voice behind the group.

All of them turned to find a young female krogan. She wore the normal female vest, dark green, and she was just a tad shorter than Wrex. At seeing people there she stopped.

"Oh, I thought you were alone."

"Well you thought wrong." Said Wrex before sighing. "Captain, this is my daughter, Urdnot Srekora. Part-time science, full-time annoyance."

"At least I keep you updated on your job." Threw back Srekora. "Are they the ones that are going to take care of the Klixen?"

"Yeah they are. And they should be going already!" As Wrex said that, he turned to them, making both Rhokai and Rhea nervous as he seemed to have grown taller, even if ii was just in their heads.

Delfim and the group left afterwards, meeting the same krogan who said "The shuttle is still waiting for you outside. You can make it back with that."

Delfim nodded at him and left. He looked at Rhea, who still seemed a bit nervous. Delfim pondered what to say. "… In light of the possibility of a Maw attack, I will request Thorin to prepare one of the fighters to give us aerial support if necessary."

Rhea looked startled, specially because he was specifically looking at her when he said it. She nodded. "Thank you, Captain."

"Don't get why, it's just a nest of Klixens." Said Rhokai with a crack of his neck. "And we were just in the presence of Urdnot Wrex. I think that is a far more frightening thing!"

"Why, he is on our side."

"Yeah, but with what he has been through and all… and there is something about his very presence, it's like we are next to a war god who could at any point crush us all."

"Ah, I see." Said Delfim. "You are intimidated by his power."

"You aren't?" asked Rhokai.

"… if I showed any form of weakness, by Krogan law I would be considered inferior. I did not want to give a bad impression in the first meeting."

"Well you succeeded Captain, you have my respect."

…

Thorin was preparing the Mako as three Krogans entered the hangar. "We are here to transport the Mako." Said the first one. "Is this it?"

Thorin looked at the mako. It was larger than the models before, with the main gun above, which was a large canon, a large drill that reached farther than the canon, two turrets, one in each side, two front wheels and four back wheels. "Oh no, I was just bringing this heavily armed vehicle for a ride! Yours is in the box back there what do you think?"

The krogan narrowed his eyes making Thorin nervous. "It was just a joke man! Yes this is it."

"Good, we will prepare to take it. And next time, no funny jokes quarian." Said the Krogan as he called for the three shuttles who came closer.

Thorin sighed in relief. Picking a fight with a krogan in their own planet was not good at all. He watched as they attached cables from the shuttles to the mako. As they did, Delfim and the others came back.

"Oh, captain. The Mako is ready to go and the krogans have just finished hooking him up. Isaac is already integrated into the systems and is ready for the mission."

Delfim nodded then said "I want you to prepare one of the fighters for any eventuality. While the fight will be mostly underground, we might need to take it to the surface. Be in radio contact at all times."

"Yes sir. I will go prepare one immediately." With that Thorin left the group.

"… Rhokai, you take control of the primary gun and weapon systems. Rhea, you take over shields and maintenance. I will drive."

"Copy that." "Yes captain."

They entered the Mako in their respective seats: Delfim in the wheel with Rhea on his side, looking at monitors, Rhokai on the back on a chair connected with wires to the gun above them and a screen which gave him three visuals: one for each weapon.

"Hello Captain. Do we have coordinates?"

"Yes, we will be dropped a safe distance away from the place." Delfim then opened his omni-tool. "This is Captain Delfim, we are ready for takeoff, I repeat we are ready for takeoff."

"Yeah we heard you the first time!" yelled a krogan.

The three shuttles then proceeded to lift the Mako slowly, the cables tensing with the weight, before they flew out of the hangar.

"I hope we rest after this, what a day." said Rhea.

"It wasn't that bad." Answered Rhokai.

"You practically did nothing the entire mission! I have been working nonstop since we got in the ship. Running on a skeletal crew is not easy!" yelled Rhea.

"Bah, back in my days, we used to work just as much." Said Rhokai with a smirk.

Delfim heard them silently, looking at his screen in silence. Suddenly, a voice was heard through the comn. "Captain? Can you hear me?"

This made the arguing pair turn in shock. Delfim decided to answer. "… this is captain Delfim, how did you get this frequency?"

"Dad gave it to me, I needed to give you some more info." Srekora said. "I don't know if you are aware, but Klixens build their nest with a combination of sand, their own saliva and a chemical they produce in their mouth."

"How is that going to help us?" asked Rhokai impatient.

"… because the result compound is a strong titanium like structure."

"Right! However your drill should be able to break it. In addition, Klixens will have more of their numbers the closer you are to the queen. And finally, the queen is not immobile while you kill her, she is the meanest of them all!"

"Keelah, how bad is it?" asked Rhea, unsure again.

"Think 60 meters tall and ugly, that is a Klixen Queen."

Delfim frowned. "With that size her movement will be restricted to her chambers. We can corner her there."

"Or be cornered there, that would be fun too." Said Rhokai.

"The queen can also breathe fire and while slow can take one hell of a hit. Are you sure you and your team can handle this captain?"

"… I thank you for this information, I believe that yes my team can handle this. However we will contact in case we require backup."

"Got it. Good luck out there, you will need it." And with that the comn turned off.

"Keelah, 60 meters tall?" Rhea rubbed her head, turning back to Rhokai. "Does your world have any animal that is not big and man-eating?"

"Yeah, pyjacks!"

"Indeed, pyjacks are small harmless omnivorous creatures. They would fit the bill of not big and man-eating."

Rhokai laughed while Rhea glared at both. "What's got you so nervous anyway? You are N7!"

"Yeah, but quarian's N7s don't go through the same training as Krogan or Human's N7s do! We focus more on overall skills and less on survival tactics. The biggest thing I ever shot at before I finished training was a dummy in the shape of a yahg."

"Yeah, well prepare to add Klixen queen to that list." Said Rhokai.

Delfim was deep in thought. "We need to get a visual of the place before we decide on where to enter. Also we will have to be careful not to trigger any alarms before we enter the nest."

"That will be tough, they settle a perimeter around their nest and check it regularly. Won't be easy to pas without killing one or two." Said Rhokai.

"Killing will be necessary then. It isn't a concern, just as long as they don't raise an alarm and focus their forces on us before we are inside the nest." Said Delfim.

"Why? It won't make a difference will it?" asked Rhea. "I mean, we will be attacked anyway, and in the nest they will have the advantage of knowing the place and us not?"

"Yeah, but if we are detected outside they can spread around us and attack from everywhere. In their tunnels we will make the line of fire more linear." Said Rhokai.

"… also Harvesters don't go inside of the nest, which narrows our enemies numbers quite a bit." Said Delfim. "Outside they could get help from Harvesters and that would complicate things."

"But we will still face them when we leave the nest." Said Rhea.

"Probably, but most Klixen will be dead by then." Answered Rhokai.

"Captain, we are near the place, we are going to drop you!" One of the shuttle krogans warned through the comn.

"Thank you. We are close enough to it by now."

When Rhea heard drop, she though they would land them and then fly away. No the ropes just detached, sending them hurling towards the ground and her screaming.

Delfim activated the thrusters and landed it on the ground without a problem. "We are 5 km away from the nest, systems online and we are moving forward." He then turned to Rhea. "You okay?"

Rhea was breathing hard, grabbing her seat with all her strength. "Yeah…" she answered, easing back into the seat. "Just… too sudden."

Delfim nodded. "Rhokai?"

"Nah I'm good." Said Rhokai.

The mako road through the sand, easily adapting to the terrain. "Huh, an anti-sick Mako or what?"

"They increased the stability of the vehicle in this new model as the previous ones had this problem recurrently." Explained Delfim.

"Captain, we detect something ahead of our position. Medium size."

"Can you see it, Rhokai?" asked Delfim, his tone changing.

"Yeah, I see it!" yelled Rhokai. "Scout! Over the dune, hasn't spotted us yet. I can get him!"

"Do it."

The canon moved slowly into position and shot. As the mako came over the dune, the result was obvious: a disfigured corpse of a Klixen laid on the ground.

"So how big is this perimeter you were talking about?" asked Rhea.

"About 3km from any direction of the nest. We are close." Said Rhokai.

The mako moved around the carcass, avoiding it as it proceeded. Everyone in the mako was quiet for a while, all on edge to see if they would be spotted by any other scout or even someone from above.

Inevitably, Rhea broke the ice. "So… what does a Klixen nest looks like?"

"Well… it has this… towers of sand I think?" asked Rhokai. "With holes all over it and stuff. I don't know."

"It is build upwards and may assume the form of a large tower of sand or several sticking out of a structure. It is very similar to a termite's nest." Said Delfim. "It possesses a complex network of tunnels with various exits to the exterior which should be guarded.

"So… where is the queen located?" asked Rhea.

"Considering it is a recent colony, the queen must be situated at ground level at this point." Said Delfim. "If they are more advanced, we will have to dig up through the nest, as they tend to move the queen to the center of the nest."

"Yeah, which means that now is the best time to get it with a Mako." Said Rhokai. "Less Klixen, less nest, and direct route."

"And less harvesters, as many don't bother connecting with a new nest until it has gained numbers." Supplemented Delfim.

"Huh… connect sir?" asked Rhea.

"Yes, Harvesters have a partnership with the klixens: they pick klixens and drop them in specific locations so that they can then attack the enemy in close range, which is the klixen's specialty. The harvester gets a part of every hunt it participates in and in larger nest they even have shelter from predators like the Thresher Maws."

At this, the nest became visible in the distance. It was huge, over 300 meters of what looked like mud piling like a very thick and irregular tower with holes all over it, none at ground surface.

"Keelah that is huge!" said Rhea, shocked.

"That is nothing, wait until they grown in numbers, then the nest can grow up to the double of what it is now." Said Rhokai with a smirk.

"… I saw one with the triple of this size in my survival training." Said Delfim. "I don't see any Klixen outside of the nest."

"The scans indicate that most are on the inside building tunnels at this point." said Isaac.

"Ah, cannibal phase." Said Delfim.

Everyone turned to Delfim, even Isaac seemed to pop an optic in the screens. "Huh, cannibal sir?"

"Yes, the Klixens have an initial state where they will focus on building the nest. To compensate for the lack of food search, the queen produces an extra amount of eggs, which are then eaten by the colony to sustain them while a small scout unit keeps the queen fed. This period lasts until they have a stable structure."

"You know a lot about them critters." Said Rhokai.

"… Yes, I acquired info about them before my survival training, so I could better understand them." Delfim then frowned. "We will need to open a path through the walls of the nest, I can't seem to find another entrance." He then pulled a lever next to him.

The drill in the front started spinning until it was spinning full power. As it did, Delfim picked up speed and drove directly at the nest. Everybody braced themselves as the drill hit the wall, an excruciating sound coming from it.

As the drill progressed, from the holes above them, Klixens started to pour out. "Rhokai, above us."

"Got it!" yelled Rhokai typing on the consoles at his side.

The two turrets turned up and started firing, nailing Klixen after Klixen off the wall just to fall dead near them. Rhokai roared as he continued to shoot the offenders down.

Suddenly, a loud shrill noise was heard, following by other two similar noises. Isaac was the first to identify the source: "Captain, three harvesters are flying towards us."

"Rhokai, can you use the main canon?"

"If the geth can man up the turrests!" yelled Rhokai as he turned to the center console and started to type in command codes.

The canon turned quickly behind and pointed up, the silhouette of the Harvesters was visible, coming closer and carrying a few Klixens on them. "That is it, stay right there where I want you." Whispered Rhokai as he pressed a key.

Suddenly the canon fired, the shot hitting one of the harvesters which screamed even louder before exploding in gore, dropping the klixens it was carrying. The other two flew away from that path, each to it's own side making Rhokai snarl in anger. "Dammit, why did they have to split?"

"It is a sound strategy, maintaining on the same place would ensure their demise." Argued Delfim.

"But makes my life tougher!" yelled Rhokai as he tried to get a lock on another harvester. "Damn, too fast for the canon sir! I can't get a lock on them!"

"Captain, the drill is almost done. If we can open a path we could escape inside the nest and not have to deal with the harvesters for now." Said Rhea.

Delfim nodded. "Reroute energy from non-critical engines to the drill, we need to enter this nest now."

"Yes captain." Said Rhea as she typed on her console.

The drill went even faster while both the turrets and canon kept firing at the enemies. One Klixen fell on top of the Mako, making it tremble with the surprise weight, and Rhokai curse as it made it the weapon turn slower than before.

"Come on, get off you damn bug!" yelled Rhokai as he typed on the console. The Mako shook as something hit from behind. "I think one of the harvesters just dropped a Klixen on our back!"

"No, it dropped a klixen on the back of the Mako." Said Delfim. "Applying alternative methods of defense."

The Klixen was about to blast the back of the Mako when the door fell on it, crushing the bug beneath it before it went back to its original position.

"HA, crushing a bug with the back door, nice!" yelled Rhokai.

The canon turned enough so the corpse fell to the side, to Rhokai's joy. He then started to aim again and nailed another Harvester who was about to drop another Klixen, making it twirl it's way against the nest and fall dead.

Meanwhile, the wall finally gave away allowing for the Mako to drive through. Once incide the mako didn't stop, turning to the right and following the tunnel even as they were chasen by more Klixen.

However the bugs soon found themselves at a serious disadvantage: all guns of the mako had turned back, and where firing at them like there was no tomorrow. One after another they fell to the ground, forcing those following to climb on top of it's brethren's corpses.

"Where to?" asked Rhea.

"The queen should be equally distant from the outer walls of the nest." Said Delfim. "Isaac, calculate possible position."

"Calculating… calculated, turn left and keep going forward."

"Keep using the radar and calculate fastest route to the queen." Said Delfim.

"Acknowledged. Warning, Klixens ahead."

A group of klixens was awaiting them, forming a makeshift barricade by themselves, ready to fire at them.

"Rhea, direct more energy to our thrusters, we are going to break through them." Said Delfim.

"Yes sir!" yelled Rhea.

The mako picked up speed until it was going fast enough to blast it's way through the barricade, even as they fired. The armor of the mako held under fire and even under gore as they were torn apart by the hit.

"That's how you kill Klixen, run them over!" yelled Rhokai, amused to no end.

"Are they still following us?" asked Delfim.

Rhokai fired a few more shots and then answered. "Not anymore. And we should be getting closer now, so there should only be the queen now."

"This mission has been going pretty well actually." Said Rhea, now more enthusiastic. "This isn't so bad."

"Ha, wait until we meet the queen. Then you will change your tune." Said Rhokai with a smirk.

This of course cause Rhea to become worried again.

"We are reaching the queen. The thermal readings indicate a large figure ahead, roughly 60 meters, matches the queen's description."

"Thank you Isaac." Said Delfim. "Rhea, how are our systems?"

"Systems green and as ready as they can be." Said Rhea.

"Rhokai?"

"Weapons clear!"

"Good. I see the entrance."

Ahead of them, the tunnel opened outward, leading to a very large chamber, filled with holes along the walls just like the one they were coming out off. Of course, most of the chamber was occupied by the queen. Tall, very tall with red endoskeleton, she walked on 6 legs, with two extra acting as scythes. Her body was weird: the abdomen was almost 2/3rds of her body, with the rest being slender and arced, contrary to normal klixens. Her head however showed she was Klixen as she screeched at them.

"Fire at the legs, destabilize her." Said Delfim.

"Got it!" yelled Rhokai as he aimed and fired the main canon.

He hit the leg, which made the queen mad and breathe fire towards them. The mako moved forward, avoiding the fire by a very small margin.

The queen, seeing that her fire missed, tried to hit them with her scythe-like hands. The mako maneuvered with quick turns and quick bursts of speed to avoid the attacks while Rhokai aimed again.

Another shot hit a leg on the left this time, the middle one, which made the queen step back unsure as she started to take damage. She then screeched loudly and klixens started to pour around them.

"More of them! They are coming from every hole!" yelled Rhea.

"No, only from around 80% of them, they have yet to use…" said Delfim before he stopped and shook his head. "Never mind, 81%."

"I don't think that really matters right now, captain!" yelled Rhea.

Rhokai nailed another leg, sending the queen falling to the ground, hard. As he did, the mako's guns cleared a group of klixens attacking from the sides while Delfim ran over those that tried to stand in the way.

"Rhokai, target the head now."

"Yes captain."

Rhokai aimed the shot and charged the canon. He wanted to be done with this one in one go, before the creature could try poking holes in the Mako again. The shot rang louder than any before, and exploded in her face with a force enough to tear part of her face of, eliciting a scream of pain from the queen.

"YEAH eat that bitch!" roared Rhokai

"The Klixen queen is not a female dog nor bound to promiscuous behavior, in fact she has one partner with whom she procreates once…"

"Captain, focus on driving the freaking MAKO!"

The queen got up before Rhokai could fire another shot, blood dripping from her face and fiercely pissed off. She screeched and prepare to attack when a deep rumbling was heard, making her look around in fear.

"Captain, we are detecting some sort of seismic activity."

"And earthquake?" asked Rhea.

"Hope that it is." Said Rhokai, looking just as nervous. "Or we are in trouble."

Just as he finished saying this, the wall to the right of the queen erupted and the mouth of a Thresher Maw latched onto her abdomen. Just then the wall to her right erupted on a similar fashion, a second mouth latching onto her head.

"THRESHER MAW!" yelled Rhea.

"And it brought a date to!" yelled Rhokai.

"… interesting, they are normally solitary and rarely hunt in groups." Said Delfim, looking in awe even as they attacked the now dead queen with abandon. "Maybe they are still young and decided to work together in order to survive…"

"Captain, get us out of here!" yelled Rhokai. "Before we become part of the menu!"

As he said that, both Maws turned towards the noise, seeing a new prey.

"I believe that we already are an option." Said Delfim, still calm as ever. "Isaac, contact Thorin and put him on the line."

"Acknowledged."

The Maws roared which was all the signal needed for Delfim to pull the mako back and drive through the same tunnel they had come from, this time at a much faster pace than before.

"Rhokai, shoot behind and try to at least confuse them."

"Won't make any promises!" yelled Rhokai as he fired away.

"Rhea, keep shields running at all times, we cannot afford to let them get us in here."

"YES SIR!" yelled Rhea.

"Captain, do you copy?" Thorin's voice echoed through the comn.

"Thorin, we are being pursued by two Thresher Maws and we are bringing them to the surface. We will need aerial support."

"TWO TRESHER MAWS?" His scream fizzled through the comn. "Don't worry captain, Isaac just sent me your location. I'll be there as fast as I can!"

Rhokai fired a few shots which were ineffective as it only hit their thick skull. "Dammit we are where they want us! Underground they are one of the fastest creatures of Tuchanka!"

"Yes, but the material from which the nest is made will slow them down until we can get to the surface." Said Delfim.

"And then what?" asked Rhokai.

"And then we kill them." Said Delfim.

The entire nest trembled around them as the Maws burrowed their way after the mako. One of the spitted an acid which hit the back of the Mako.

"Sir, we were hit!" yelled Rhea.

"Hold the report until we are out of the nest!"

The light shining from the broken wall almost looked angelic, an heavenly escape from a nightmarish hell. And as the Mako rode out of the hall, it broke apart as the two Thresher Maws burst from it only to burry in the ground beneath.

"Report! How are our systems?" asked Delfim as he kept driving away, not stopping as the spines of both the maws poke out of the sand in their pursuit.

"Our shields took quite a hit, Lost 20% of their power. I am repairing it the best I can." Said Rhea.

"Rhokai, can you get a shot?"

"Not like this! They are stuck underground there is nothing to shoot at!"

"Need to think… priority, we need to guide them away from the city." Said Delfim.

"Except now they are back in sand, so they will be much faster." Reminded Rhokai.

And indeed they were. They seemed to slither in the sand as if sharks on water, following a trail of blood. Delfim drove away from the city, trying to buy time for a new tactic.

One of them dove underground while the other remained in pursuit, following the mako closely. Just as they were about to turn, the other Thresher Maw burst out of the ground before them.

"TAKE THAT!" yelled Rhokai as he fire with both the turrets.

The creature hissed as the other burst out of the ground. Now both were standing up, with the Mako in between. Delfim turned to the right and avoided an acid shot at the last minute.

"Rhokai, take your chance and aim for the body, they use their heads to dig through, so it is naturally their hardest part." Said Delfim as he turned to drive zs around the various shots by the two monsters.

"I kind of figured that one out." Said Rhokai as he pointed the canon. "Taste that!"

The shot hit one of the Thresher Maws, who buried himself back. The other kept shooting acid as if nothing happened, and managed to hit the Mako on the side.

"Sir, shields dropped, we are at 67%" yelled Rhea.

Delfim frowned. "This is not what I planned for, I planned for one Thresher Maw, not two, and this is not going well. Rhokai, keep firing at the one that is…"

As Delfim was about to finish his order, the second one burst right behind them, his maw coming dangerously fast towards the mako.

Only for it to be shot from above, making the beast turn to recive more fire.

"Captain, this is Thorin!" The fighter flew above them. It was small, Alliance blue in color, with white wings that pointed behind. He fired at the Maw again, which made it focus completely on him. "I will try to get it's attention."

"Thorin, aim for the body, not the head." Said Delfim. "Maintain evasive maneuvers but keep close enough to keep him interested."

"Roger that sir."

"This gives us a chance. Rhokai where is the other?" asked Delfim.

"Lost it, must have burrowed down."

"Then we can't stay still!" yelled Delfim as he once again made the Mako go full throttle.

Just as he predicted, the other maw's spine poked out of the sand, coming after them.

Meanwhile, Thorin flew circles around the maw, often time breaking the circle to deliver a round of shots at it. The various hits were starting to show as blood poured out of them.

"Take that you Bosh'tet!" yelled Thorin as he delivered yet another round.

Rhokai took notice and yelled "Captain, if I can time a charged shot, I can kill one of them."

"Do it!"

The Maw screeched as it tried to get the annoying bug above it only to be filled with pain as his side burned with the attack. It fell down, limp and lifeless.

"Captain, one is down, the other is in your pursuit!"

"I know that. Rhokai prepare another charge."

"Got it, but the beast is not poking out!" said Rhokai.

"I know. Now that there is only one, it's time to start delta tactic vs Maw."

Rhea was confused. "What is delta tactic? I never heard of it!"

"It´s a personal tactic." He then pulled the lever on the drill, which made it start spinning.

Rhea connected the dots, horrified. "Oh no…"

Delfim ignored her as he turned the Mako around, this time driving towards the Thresher Maw. The beast, sensing it's prey coming near, burst out towards it, trying to swallow it whole.

Only to get a nasty surprise as it tried to bite the drill. The rotating menace shredding through the soft tissue of the mouth and making it bleed profoundly as it roared in pain, letting go of the mako and roaring in pain.

But Delfim did not stop his advance, burrowing the drill in the body of the maw who twisted in pain. "Fire now!"

Rhokai did, and the blast at close range filled the window with blood and gore. The sound of the carcass falling was the only indication that the thing was dead, as they could see nothing through the glass.

There was a pregnant silence in the Mako. Then, Delfim nodded. "The shields and armor of the mako are acceptable, the weapon systems seem operational. Despite it all, I believe that the mission was successful."

Rhokai laughed his ass off while Rhea mask-palmed. "Captian, you bosh'tet."

Author Notes:

Delfim: So this was a big one. Hope you liked it cause I don't know when I will upload it again. If I can upload, next chapter will be a ground mission, with the ground team, no Mako.

Codex:

Tuchanka: Homeworld of the Krogans, now thriving with new life and prosperity. Apparently the cure of the genophage affected more than the krogan, as the plants began to grow around the planet, turning previously arid places into fertile ground. The krogans made good use of their new found resource and this allowed them to expand. Now, Tuchanka has 3 cities, a fourth is being built.

TK Industries: Tech-krogan, an independent weapon builder company started by Tarkal Karabath. Currently famous by their TK-Traitor in both Krogan and non-krogan version, this company is a rising star in Tuchanka, allowing for krogans to dedicate to what they know best: wage war, the best way possible. It is also behind up to 15 new weapons in the market.

Klixen's codex would just be a copy past from ME 2, so…

Klixen Queen: Beware he who enters the queen's lair, for he won't leave there. Old translated Krogan proverb, speaking of the dangers of facing the queen of Klixens. She is the biggest and strongest of her kind, able to lay up to 300000 eggs per year. However she won't stay idle, as she can and will defend herself against any intruder. Only known predator is a Thresher Maw, which they fear with a passion, to the point of paralyzing them in fear.

I am sorry I didn't develop more here, but it's 4 in the morning and I need to hit the sack. Peace Out.