IV: Holocaust

by RedCenturionG

The Reapers are here, and the war has finally begun. All sentient life in the galaxy is depending on Shepard to save them. And he will have to assemble the largest military force in galactic history to save those he loves. He will make alliances with people he hates, but will create new coalitions thought never possible. This is the Holocaust. And how far will he go to stop it?

21. Chapter 19 Songs of Virtue Pt1

HOLOCAUST

CHAPTER NINETEEN:

SONGS OF VIRTUE PART ONE

June 17, 2186

1242 hours.

Shuttle Bay, Normandy-Class Stealth Frigate SSV Normandy SR-2, Docked with the Citadel.

The Reaper War.

Captain Marcus Lee Shepard.

The shuttle bay was quite the bustle of activity at that present moment. They had once again docked with the Citadel for routine resupply, which meant fresh food, bullets, weapons and shells were being shipped in and out of the shuttle bay, Cortez and Gardner, being the ship's provisioner and custodian respectively, ordering it to certain locations and where they wanted them to be. Marcus could barely exit the elevator without being swarmed by workers holding crates of supplies, or moving spare parts. He even watched the shuttle's cannons being reloaded, while the Mako lay untouched; all vehicles had kept to the old heat sink technology over the thermal clip. Got to get around to using that thing. Got a tank and don't even use it.

But that was not his target for discussion.

As he strode into the shuttle bay, he noticed just how different it looked without all the cabling...and how different it looked compared to the Normandy under Cerberus. By comparison, he definitely preferred Cerberus'. Never thought I'd say that, but the Alliance retrofit...made the place look depressing. Its not helping my sour mood.

He hadn't taken much notice of it before, but the new bay was completely cluttered with crates. It wasn't as ridiculous as it had been before the full retrofit on the Citadel, but still pretty damn obsessive. Many of them were open and on the ground, their contents available for the whole world to see; whether they be weapons, food rations or Garrus' personal calibrations cache. It was...necessary, but silly looking, all the same.

One of the frigate's kodiaks obviously had to be replaced thanks to James crashing it on Mars weeks back, and now sat in its cradle behind James' personal weapons bench and workout area. The armoury had been fully stocked, which was where he had chosen a turian phaeston assault rifle to replace his mattock. Suddenly he stopped his scanning, the word 'turian' ringing hollow in his mind. Images of Tarquin's sacrifice filled his mind, and he shook his head, squinting his eyes to will the memories away.

The thoughts left a cold, unwanted feeling in his body, and he felt frozen all of a sudden, shaking himself to get rid of the horrible feeling. Despite not knowing him, the turian's death still haunted him, especially when the father of said soldier was still onboard, likely still grieving. He had returned to the War Room shortly after leaving, but the man's expression and stance was more stoic than usual; more...rigid. He was still grieving, but in his own turian way.

He forced them away, willing them away as he focused on why he was here. He died bravely, and what matters most is that he saved the krogan people from extinction. Wrex won't forget that easily. He sighed, nodding to himself as he heard a feminine grunt, followed by what sounded like a krogan chuckling. Wrex. Despite his thoughts, that brought a smile to Marcus' face as he approached its location; behind one of the support pillars, and inbetween a particular row of crates. Wait, that's not Wrex's area, that's Keeling's.

As he made his way over, he heard a gunshot, and almost flexed up as he felt his hand move down to the Paladin sidearm at his hip. He looked over to Cortez, who simply shook his head at him, reassuring him.

"Its just Keeling and Wrex practicing," the pilot told him, shaking his head with a smile as he continued doing whatever he was doing with one of the starboard shuttle's thrusters, "They've been at it all morning. Haven't stopped. Constantly trying to outdo each other. I heard Keeling call it 'professional weighing of skills.' I call it a pissing contest. But hey, who asks the pilot?" The pilot finished his rant, continuing his work as Marcus' hand relaxed, the spectre smiling as he chuckled.

Another voice rang from the other side of the bay, coming from the elevator as the marine spoke, "That's right Esteban, learning your place. Don't question the 'professional weighing of skills.' Its a marine's way of saying 'these are my skills, everybody see 'em?'"

"Maybe you should take a course in 'professional weighing of skills' in terms of flying," Cortez remarked, "Just try not to kill the driver."

"No pain, no gain," was James' deadpan response, Marcus turning to see that the marine was carrying what looked to be a makeshift banana smoothie, and a plate of sausages and basic potatoes. He moved over to his workout area, placing the plate down on his bench and taking a large sip from his smoothie as he placed it down on the bench.

Cortez only laughed, turning back to Marcus, "Don't worry about him, Shepard. He's all gain, no pain."

"You watch yourself Esteban!" James shouted, "I might crash your shuttle!"

Deciding to evacuate before either side lusted for him to pick a side, he moved under the steel pillar and around one of the crates, turning left to find his targets.

Keeling had obviously been hard at work converting this area into her personal place. Some of the crates had been shifted apart to place a rudimentary bunk, with a thin looking mattress and basic, yellow sheet ontop and fat white pillow lying on the metal floor. Her Valkyrie heavy rifle lay against a wall, a new thermal scope clearly having been added to it to counter Cerberus centurion smoke screens, along with her armor carefully laid out, a paint brush left dripping still wet paint onto the floor from where she repainted her scarred N7 battle armor. On the right and directly ahead was the firing range; four crates lined at the end of the bay and far enough away for Garrus to have a challenge. The crates themselves were riddled with bullet holes...and new ones being fired into them.

One of the crates jerked again as a shot hit it, but this time it was almost completely eviscerated as the impact sent a loud bang throughout the bay as the crate slammed against the wall. The perpertrator was made clear when Wrex chuckled, pumping his claymore once more.

Keeling gave a grunt, lowering her still smoking rifle as she regarded the krogan next to her, "I thought shotguns were widespread, not direct shot. That shot should have spread far out and completely fallen short."

"For a normal shotgun, yeah," Wrex responded, turning towards her as he too lowered his weapon, "The claymore's different. Fires two shells at the exact time, both superheated so that the first shot, the biggest one, continues to shoot forward like the usual bullet, while the second splits up and scatters like a normal shot. You think krogan are stupid? Well the first shot is powerful enough to decimate armor, and the second makes sure that if you do miss, the second shot won't. And the first can go for quite a while before hitting something; like a miniture MAC round."

"Impressive. You krogan knew how to build weapons," Keeling stated, putting down her vindicator and leaning it against the wall next to her. She turned to the krogan, holding out her hand, "I'm still not convinced the rifle is inferior, as the claymore is only one example of a shotgun, but I'm willing to concede your point, as long as I get to exercise in peace."

"You are such a marine stereotype," Marcus quipped, gaining both of their attentions, "Ever thought of being human, Keeling?"

The N7 nodded, hands clasped behind her back, "Sir."

"Shepard," Marcus corrected. God, she's like Kal with Tali. Sir this, sir that, "And you didn't answer my question, Lieutenant."

Keeling gulped, shaking her head, "Its a marine's duty to keep fit, sir. Especially during war time."

"I keep in peak physical condition, but as you can see, I'm socializing," Marcus replied. Am I criticizing her? Is that what I'm doing? Stop that soldier, you have no right to question her schedule. Your ship, her duties.

Keeling nodded, "So you are sir, but our personalities differ. Your cybernetics keep you physically fit almost perputually and you have friends to talk to. I do not have cybernetics sir; I must work to keep up my physicality. That, and I do not have many friends. No time for them."

He sighed, taking a deep breath, "Take a break at some point, and just socialize. That's how you make friends, Keeling. Not by avoiding them all together." Great, now you're lecturing her on how to make friends. You're just an upright asshole, Mark.

The woman seemed to coldly regard him for a moment, before slowly nodding, "I'll take that into account, sir." 'I don't like your attitude sir, but out of respect for authority, I won't say anything insubordinate, sir,' was what her thoughts said, I bet. And how can you blame her? You bludgeoned into her personal lifestyle like an artillery shell into a bunker. Pull yourself together and knock off that bullshit. You're here to command and kill Reapers, and the odd tidbit of diplomacy. Forget making more friends. You've got a wealth of them already.

And a wife off somewhere.

He nodded to her, "Thank you, Keeling." Fuck you too, Mark. He turned to Wrex, trying to turn down his attitude into something more cordial. Maybe its Tarquin's death...its affected me worse than I thought. But that's no excuse to disrespect my fellow officers...not an excuse, not an excuse, not an excuse! He eyed Wrex, meeting his eyes.

"You wanted to see me Wrex?" Marcus asked, remembering what he was here for, "You made it sound like it was important." So important that you actually showed shock in your words. The krogan had let shock and surprise show in his words, and he knew that if it had a krogan like that, it had to be important.

The battlemaster nodded, holstering his claymore as he turned to Keeling, "Another time, Keeling," he said as he turned back to Marcus, waving him out of the area. Marcus shot Keeling one final glance as she saluted him, before turning and dropping to the floor, beginning her pushups. He turned away, hands still clasped behind his back as he followed Wrex to his his little corner at the edge of the bay. She's going to regard me coldly now, and its all because I was a dickhead. I'll have to fix that later.

Remember, no more friends. You have enough. The more friends you have, the quicker you'll feel the pain of death.

And Tarquin wasn't even a friend.

They reached the corner quickly where Wrex had set up shop; a simple mattress all that occupied it. Reaching it, he smiled at the krogan's carelessness for simple housing as the krogan dropped his shotgun ontop of it, the shotgun sinking into the mattress due to its immense mass. As he arrived though, his smile dropped as Wrex turned to him, any of the mirth the krogan was feeling back there now gone.

"This is serious Shepard," Wrex stated, "And I might need your help investigating something. I contacted you because this is something only you, me, Garrus, Kaidan, Liara and Tali would understand, and only you are in command of this ship."

He raised his eyebrows at the krogan, "What is it, Wrex? What needs investigating in the middle of a war?"

"Remember three years ago on Noveria?" the krogan asked, red eyes regarding him casually, "When we freed that rachni queen?"

"I remember it clearly," the spectre asked, not liking where this is going, "What has any of this got to do-"

"I think one of my teams found them Shepard," Wrex interrupted, deciding to get straight to the point, but there was no relief on his face, "A planet called Utukku, in the Ninmah Cluster, Mulla Xul System. Terrible planet; less habitable than Tuchanka, and that's saying alot."

He shrugged, "What's so bad about that? With her found, we can go there and ask her to join the war effort." With the rachni on our side, the Reapers will lose the advantage of numbers on the ground. They may have hordes, but so do the rachni, and they can reproduce and mature a hell of alot faster than the Reapers can make husks.

Wrex sighed, straightening his back as he cracked his neck, "What's bad is that the team I sent in hasn't reported back, and when I sent a scout to find out what happened, they only found one survivor; the leader. Urdnot Dagg, and he wasn't already dying by the time we got there. And you won't like what he said."

"What?" Marcus growled, "What did he say!?"

Wrex was surprised by the man's sudden rage, but replied nontheless, "He said the rachni had returned but...Shepard, I'm sorry, but the Reapers got to them first. When his team got inside, the rachni were twisted and turned into Reaper husks. His team was completely overwhelmed by them."

Marcus gritted his teeth, shaking his head as he hated the unfairty of it. The Reapers must have known of the advantage the rachni had and utilized it. But if the rachni have been huskified, and the Reapers now have them under their control...

"How long ago did this happen," Marcus asked silently after a few moments, turning to Wrex once more. The krogan frowned at him, but answered despite this.

"Six days ago. I've only just now been informed of it," Wrex stated, "Why?"

"We're going to Utukku. Not to investigate," Marcus stated, "No, its too late. No, we're going to Utukku, with the whole squad, and we're going to destroy everything on it. The queen, the rachni, everything. If we can't have the rachni, neither can the Reapers. I won't allow them to utilize the rachni to their advantage. We'll go in there and purge everything. If we fail on foot, the Normandy will bomb it from orbit. I'll requsition Hackett for a HAVOC tactical nuke."

"A nuke? Those are hard to come by," Wrex stated, "Are you sure you just want to destroy the rachni, Shepard?"

"Hackett will give me one when he sees the enormity of what we're looking at it. The rachni are serious collateral damage waiting to happen, especially if we don't keep this contained to Utukku," Marcus declared forlornly, "I'll worry about the nuke, as for the rachni...if the Reapers have gotten to them, then its probably already too late. We have no idea how long the Reapers have had their grip on the queen, and for all we know, she's probably indoctrinated. For all intents and purposes, the rachni are a lost cause." He stated.

"Then why go in on foot?" Wrex asked, "Why not just nuke it from orbit?"

Because I want to believe they can still be saved. "To personal assess the size of the damage. I want to see just what the Reapers did to them so I can confirm to myself that a nuke is the only option. Besides, launching a nuke from orbit would be useless if the rachni have a cave network like Utukku's. I have read up on the planet before. It had been the sight of a batarian outpost," he replied, "No, we'd need to take the nuke inside via shuttle and deploy it inside. We'll clear the way, then Cortez will come in and drop it off."

"Or just have a krogan carry it," Wrex replied, "I'm calling in back up for this. These are rachni, Shepard; we're taking no chances. I'll contact Wreav and have him send in my best commandos; Aralakh Company. Besides, I think you'll like who's in command. Make of that what you will."

Marcus solemnly nodded, turning away as he did to look out across the bay, "I don't want to do this, Wrex. I hope you realize that. We needed the rachni so badly, but if they've been corrupted by the Reapers...its an advantage we can't afford to let them keep."

All he heard was a huff from the krogan as he backed away, "You won't get any arguments from me, Shepard. The rachni were my people's ancient enemy, or at least the one the galaxy gave us, and I'm sure Aralakh will take pleasure in destroying their enemy reborn. The worst we lose is an asset."

"Something which, in this war, is a priceless commodity," Marcus bluntly responded, rubbing his temples as he turned to face Wrex with cold eyes, "I hope you know this Wrex: I don't take pleasure in doing this. I gave the rachni queen a chance to rebuild her species in peace, and she did that. The Reapers shattered that peace, turned her people, and likely herself, into abominations. I will not allow her memory to be tarnished like that. This nuclear weapon is a mercy. An efficient one as well, as killing every single rachni one-by-one is a waste of logistics, and the UGC cannot spare the equipment. And unfortunately Wrex, a single krogan company and us isn't going to cut it; I'm sure your commandos are the best of the best, but so are we, and we're talking about a rachni horde here. There are likely thousands."

"Makes sense," Wrex pondered, turning to him, "Think we could call upon the UGC for some troops? No warships or bombers; just a few soldiers. The elite. We're going to need special forces to tackle this thing, not a bunch of scared pyjaks."

"I know a few spectres I could rein in," Marcus noted, "And I'll get in contact with Balak and the hanar; see what troops they can send. Balak I might need to use a little leverage with, but I think he'll understand what's at stake, even if he's an arrogant piece of shit."

"I hope you know what you're doing Shepard," Wrex growled lightly, eying the man with...worry? Wrex feeling worried for someone? "This is alot of men we're throwing into the meat grinder. Many not make it out. You sure you want to waste the troops?"

"Its less costly than arranging a permanent blockade of the system," Marcus replied a-matter-of-factly, "Not that that would work. If the Reapers really wanted to, they'd only need to send a token battlegroup to smash the blockade and they'd be shipping legions of rachni husks. Damn it, we can't keep calling them rachni husks; any thoughts? What did they look like?"

"Ravagers," Wrex replied lowly, "Dagg apparently called them Ravagers before he...died. Considering what he looked like after what they did to him, its a fitting name. Never seen anything like it."

"Ravager?" Marcus quoted, quirking an eyebrow, "What happened to Dagg?"

"He was totally eviscerated. When my men found him, they had gouged out his eyes, peeled off his crest, totally destroyed his jaw, broken most of his teeth, shot him with a cannon powerful enough to disembowel him, and blown off one of his arms. The amount of injuries totally overloaded his regeneration; couldn't heal in time. Eventually, he bled to death. Probably the first krogan to do so, too."

"Noone from Dagg's team survived? Not a single one? Not even a lone trooper?" Marcus asked.

Wrex shook his head, "None that my men found. Maybe one survived in there, but...its been six days. Ravagers likely found him by now and killed him...or them. No, no survivors. Dagg was the only one, if you can even count him, and he's dead."

"This is some serious shit," Marcus replied, leaning against the steel frame of a support strut. With a heavy sigh, he rubbed his eyes and stood up fully, nodding to the krogan, "Thank you for bringing this to my attention, Wrex. This needs to be dealt with, and you did the right thing bringing this to me."

"I didn't do this out of the goodness of my heart," Wrex chuckled harshly, standing up as he showed just how tall he was; towering over Marcus' powerfully built frame, "Krogan don't have good hearts, remember? No, I did this because 1. This is a mistake we made, and 2. Those are krogan they killed. They destroyed their camp, slaughtered them, and basically left Dagg out there as a warning to any reinforcements. These things need to die, and I want to be there."

Marcus nodded, barely fazed by the krogan's size, "Very well, Wrex. I was going to bring the entire squad anyway." He turned and looked up, "EDI, I know you heard this conversation so there's no point. Just set a course-" he halted himself, shook his head and turned to Cortez, "Actually, belay that order. Cortez," the pilot turned from his work bench, having finished with the shuttle thruster, his plasma torch lying ontop of his console, "I want you to get in contact with SAFAML and procure us a full set of flamethrowers, Firestorm models if possible. And tell them that with them, I want three fuel tanks each. Procure enough for...say, a platoon."

Cortez nodded, turning back to the console as he began to access the Systems Alliance Fleet And Marine Logistics network. He looked up, addressing EDI once more, "Punch the coordinates for Utukku into the galaxy map but do not leave until we get that shipment of flamethrowers. Also, tell Traynor and Chambers that I want a message sent on the QEC to UGC HQ asking for a squad of hanar special forces and to ask Balak for some troops and if both are granted, to be dispatched to Utukku for RV. Tell them this is a priority one operation, and that the Reapers have acquired the rachni. Tell them that we need reinforcements, they should get that clear enough. If I'm needed, I'll be contacting Hackett in my cabin for a HAVOC nuke."

With that, he began to move over to the elevator, posture slackening as he relaxed his shoulders, moving over to the elevator as he called out to James, "Lieutenant! Stock up on all the heavy ammunition! Do we have any Revenants or Typhoons?"

James frowned at him with a mouth full of potato, the marine quickly chewing and swallowing as he called back, "As in plural? Why would we need them?"

Marcus stopped, glaring at the marine, "Do not question it marine, just tell me. Do we have them?"

"Hell yeah," James stated, "This ship's stocked to launch an assault on all the Council homeworlds combined. We've got 15 Revenants in stock, and at least few Typhoons. We've got a prototype M-622 Avalanche, fresh from Armax Arsenal and untested. We've also got an M-920 Cain, although its locked in the main locker. It requires a key from the captain to unlock it."

Not surprised. The Cain's supposed to be a nuclear weapon inside a hand-held launcher. I'm not surprised its locked away where no fucking idiot can pick it up and fire it, accidentally mistaking it for a rocket launcher and then blow a hole in the ship.

"Bring it all out. Stock the ammo for them, and have them loaded onto the shuttle. All of it, including that Avalanche," he ordered, looking up, "EDI, open the locker and have move the Cain to the shuttle as well. I'll be using that weapon personally. And have Javik get down here to move it; I don't trust James not to accidentally fire the fucking thing."

"Hey!"

"Shut it Vega and get to work," Marcus snapped, stepping into the elevator and hitting the button for the top deck. The next few days would be very busy, and he had no doubt it was going to get very messy, too.

Carrying a nuke with him didn't exactly alleviate his concerns.

{Loading...}

June 18, 2186

1337 hours.

Krogan Camp, Unknown Underground Cave Network, Southern Hemisphere, Utukku.

The Reaper War, Operation: Quarantine.

Captain Marcus Lee Shepard, Chieftain Urdnot Wrex, Second Lieutenant James Vega, Second Lieutenant Imogen Keeling, Shadow Broker Liara T'Soni, Military Advisor Garrus Vakarian, Master Thief Kasumi Goto, Soldier Javik, EDI, Platoon Sergeant Opold.

The entire shuttle was full of some of the most heavily armed SOBs in the galaxy at that very moment. And that spoke volumes. They looked like they were about to attack the heart of the Reaper fleet itself, they had such weaponry.

Marcus wore his Terminus Assault Armor, with his kinetic barriers overclocked to the maximum output. He carried only his claymore shotgun on the back of his waist, and a single Paladin sidearm strapped to his hip. In his grip he felt a deactivated and collapsed M-451 Firestorm flamethrower, as did the rest of his squad. He wore a backpack on his back, the old marine attire from back in the days of the United States Marine Corps, and inside was all three of his fuel tanks, along with extra thermal clips, the Cain, and a Typhoon HMG; a weight only he could carry, anyone else, even James, would hurt his back trying to carry it all. He wore two bandoliers of grenades across his chest, and every pocket on his armor was carrying thermal clips. His armor was totally locked down, which meant he couldn't remove his helmet, but it would also make sure that every crevice was totally locked and meant no stray shots would get through. Everybody else in his squad was similiarly equipped; primary weapon being a flamethrower, a backpack with their three fuel tanks, a support weapon, more thermal clips, and at least a single bandolier of grenades. As for Garrus, he still carried his sniper rifle, and Javik his particle rifle, the latter saying 'this flamethrower...it is a primitive weapon. Efficient, but not to my needs.' Marcus couldn't argue with a 50,000 year old warrior on the thoughtlessness of such a decision, but decided to roll with it.

As for Wrex, his flamethrower was on a harness now wrapped around his shoulder as he stood next to the HAVOC nuke; it was small for the payload it carried, but it would not be underestimated and definitely not any mistakes made about it; this nuke would totally destroy Utukku's surface for six kilometers. It was a 2 megaton thermonuclear payload; ten times that of the bomb dropped on Hiroshima, which meant they were not to be fucking around with it.

They weren't the only ones inside; they were now accompanied by a full squad of hanar Marines; their special forces, but not to be confused with the usual Marine Corps. These hanar were, quite comically, dressed in their own battle armor, a bright green in color, and holding twin pistols, rifles or shotguns. Comical, but hanar were quite lethal in combat; especially when they could hold a weapon with each tentacle. As for the batarians, they had sent men, but straight to Utukku, where the Primacy had men on the Citadel and sent them straight to the Normandy.

The shuttle hovered in the air as it began to descend upon the krogan camp, Marcus shifting to the hatch as he rolled his neck, stretching the muscles there as he prepared to deploy. Once he was the ground, it was all business. Don't think about Tali. Don't think about Cerberus. Don't worry about the squad's feelings, or of being an asshole to Keeling. Just worry about the mission; get to the center of the hive, deploy the nuke, extract, and remotely detonate. Should be quick, if the rachni...the ravagers, don't push too hard. But if they do...well, that's what the heavy weaponry is for.

Before he knew it, the hatch shot open, the warm Utukku air filling the cabin, Mulla Xul glaring angrily in the sky. From what he could see, red mountains of jagged rocks and crimson dust littered the landscape, not a single other landmark to be seen; just rocks, as far as the eye could see. A perfectly habitable planet, just lacking...beauty. The planet is ugly, and barren. Even the sky seemed to have turned red from the intensity of the system's sun, and one couldn't even see the stars in space. Utukku was, for all intents and purposes, an ignored planet. Perfect for the rachni to make a new home unnoticed...obviously, the Reapers put an end to that. How did they find them? The Reapers are vast, but I didn't think they'd find the rachni this quickly.

The landscape, thankfully, vanished as they passed a rock cliff and descended into the ground level of the cave network. Quickly coming into view was an abandoned camp, numerous portable bunkers littering the landscape, but obviously scarred. Orange blood was crusted on the walls, and there were two corpses gathered in a corner, hands on their chests, showing that even the krogan respected the dead. One crack in the landscape had a bunker teetering on the edge. Did the rachni...burrow under the camp? Such a thought brought images of the Thresher Maws on Akuze; how they burrowed under the colony, killing everyone in mists of gore...

He remained stoic as the shuttle hit the ground, Marcus immediately stepping out onto the barren, dusty ground as he moved forward, keeping his flamethrower collapsed, his squad wordlessly following behind him. He turned at the last moment to watch Wrex carefully pick up the nuke and lift it over his shoulder with noticable effort on his face, the krogan grimacing from the weight. Marcus would have broken more than just his shoulder trying to lift it himself. Glad we have a krogan, but Wrex is going to be very vulnerable carrying that.

He turned back around, comming Cortez as he did, "I'll contact you when we need extraction. I've got the remote with me, so it won't be a timed detonation. We'll fly to a safe distance, and then safely blow it up."

"Copy that Captain," Cortez replied, "I'll see you topside. Stay safe." And with that, he watched the shuttle hatch shut, and the kodiak lift into the air, disappearing into the hole in the ceiling it used to enter the cave. Turning back around, he turned in time to watch the hanar float past, and what he assumed to be Aralakh Company appear, having already set up their own camp, and talking with what seemed to be the batarian squad. Balak kept his word. Good. He's learning.

"Who's the commander of this company?" Marcus addressed the lead krogan, who turned to address him with a glare, his black eyes baring into his, but Marcus did not back down, even if he was holding a claymore shotgun and wearing considerably heavy, and scarred, battle armor. Best of the best. Wrex wasn't kidding about that. These guys look like they've seen alot of shit. Crazy shit. They're veterans.

"You Captain Shepard?" the krogan asked back.

"I asked first, you answer," Marcus growled back, disliking the krogan's attitude.

"Sounds just like my battlemaster!" boomed a familiar that caused the krogan addressing him to turn towards it. Just as he did, a massive krogan, more bulkier and bigger than any of the krogan in the company, emerged from one of the bunkers, his own claymore strapped to his back and a Graal Spike Thrower in one hand. He had piercing blue eyes, and a massive crest, his crocodillian grin intimidating, but warming to Marcus. With every footfall the ground shook, the krogan picking up speed as he opened his arms, "Shepard!"

Marcus had to widen his eyes at the sight. It was Urdnot Grunt, the only krogan supersoldier in existence, "Grunt! Wrex said I'd like the commander, but I didn't think it'd be you!"

The krogan did not descend to hug him like Marcus feared, instead slapping him on the back as he gave his signature krogan chuckle, "Heh-heh-heh! Hahaha! Shepard! It is good to see you, battlemaster! I hope you have found as many enemies to kill as I have!"

"Grunt..." Marcus began, shaking his head, "Just what in the hell are you doing in command of a krogan company, especially one so accomplished as the Aralakh?"

Grunt nodded, his grin still persistent as he attached his spike thrower to the clamp on his back, "Chieftain Wrex and most of the Urdnot elders were impressed by how I killed that Thresher Maw on my Rite of Passage. They did not agree about having you as my krantt, except Wrex, but they were impressed by my feats. Most merely survived the Thresher Maw, not actually kill it."

"Wrex was the last one to do so. Before you of course," Marcus confirmed, "I do remember."

"Yeah, well when I returned to Tuchanka, Wrex saw that I was a worthy warrior, and asked if I believed in the Reaper threat. I told him I did. He then asked if I was loyal to my battlemaster," he looked over in Wrex's direction, the krogan having laid the nuke down and come to join them. He turned back to Marcus, a fire in his eyes, "I said I'd gladly fight beside my battlemaster and die gloriously defying the Reapers! Apparently that was enough for him to give me Aralakh Company. They didn't respect me at first, but they quickly learnt to shut up and follow my lead. They respect me now."

"We were having a meeting on Tuchanka about the Reapers. Some didn't believe me, and one actually challenged my authority," Wrex explained, laughing, "Grunt came up and tore him apart. The company never questioned him again. Grunt has earned their respect, and he's a capable warrior."

"As for you Shepard, I could ask you the same question," Grunt stated, Marcus turning back to face him, "Didn't those idiots lock you up?"

Marcus sighed, nodding, "They did, and quite a while to. I spent six months couped up in that room. But then the Reapers hit Earth," he almost mumbled, shaking his head, "I escaped on the Normandy. We've been fighting the Reapers ever since...and Cerberus."

Grunt nodded, "Finally get to fighting those pyjaks, did we? Good. I was looking forward to killing some of them. They really irritated me, especially when I found out they had a camera spying on me. Had to rip it out of the wall," he looked around, confused. Eventually, he turned back to Marcus, "Where's your mate? Where's the quarian?"

He sighed once more, finding the sound to be less comforting with every time he made it, "She's not here, Grunt. I don't know where she is," deciding to change the subject, he moved to speak about something else, but Grunt beat him to the punch, looking over Marcus' shoulder, grinning.

"I see you brought the turian with you," Grunt grinned, "And the little thief."

"I'm glad my name was worth remembering," Garrus dryly remarked, waving a hand, "Its good to see you again, Grunt. But we really need to work out these reunions. They always seem to involve combat zones and evacuating people."

"You'll get over it, Garbear," Kasumi replied teasingly, and he could practically feel her smirk, "You're not as important as you like to think."

"For the love of the spirits, just call me-"

The rest of their bickering became noise as Grunt turned to motion to Aralakh, the krogan all waiting for targets to kill, "And this...is my company. They're tough, think they're invincible. Reckless, but effective. Ruthless, but they get the job done," he turned back to Marcus, "I earned many scars making this command, but I made it all the same. These pyjaks know what line not to cross, and stay well behind it, be assured of that, battlemaster."

"You're the one in command, so stop calling me battlemaster," Marcus stated, crossing his arms, "So you're...?"

"Lord Companier," Grunt finished for him, "And you'll always be my battlemaster. Noone is stronger, more worthy, than you."

"How sweet," James remarked.

"Well, you were a pain in the ass Grunt," Marcus cut off, ignoring James' taunt, "But if your krogan are half the soldier you are, I think we won't need the reinforcements."

Grunt grinned, "Heh. Glad you're hear to crack some heads together, Shepard," suddenly his grin disappeared slightly, becoming one of slight anger as he turned away, fists clenching, "Hard to believe this might be rachni. Seems crazy," he stopped at the edge of one of the sinkholes that swallowed up a bunker, looking down into it as he crouched over it, "Rachni," he mumbled the word like it was some curse, "A chance to face the old enemy? Impossible to resist."

"My people once used the rachni as weapons, when we could control them," Javik piped up, gaining everyone's attention, "They were effective when tamed, but that was the problem: taming them was impossible. Eventually, we kept them quarantined to Suen, their homeworld, and purged every other planet into glass to contain them. I'm surprised they did not survive into this cycle. Your people destroyed them, but now they are back."

Grunt looked at the prothean with a disgusted frown, before turning back to Shepard, "What is-?"

"A prothean. The last one," Marcus quickly explained, having rehearsed it through his head. Am I going to need to explain that to everyone? "But moving on," he turned back to Javik, "How did your people few them, Javik?"

The prothean regarded him with the same cold stoicism he regarded everyone else with, "As animals, and cheap cannon fodder, but effective fodder, nonetheless. But they cannot be trusted: they will turn against you at the closest opportunity. Your decision to purge them was wise."

"They turned against your people because you tried to control them. To turn them into your personal pets," Liara added, glaring at the ancient soldier, "But if we had given them a chance, maybe they'd have helped us." Marcus noted that those words were meant for him. She's been sour ever since I told the crew what's happening. She doesn't like genocide, neither do I! But these rachni...the ravagers, have been corrupted already! They're already extinct, we're merely here for a mercy killing!

"I hope you know what we're here for, Shepard," Grunt asked curiously, "Because it isn't to ask the rachni for help. They murdered the survey team we sent here, and the Reapers have corrupted them."

He jabbed a finger at the device at Wrex's feet, "We didn't bring a one megaton thermonuclear device just for fun, Grunt. We're going to head for the center of the hive, place the bomb, extract and reduce these caves to collapsed, radioactive rubble. I wanted the rachni as allies; that can't happen anymore, so we end what's left of them."

"Finally, now we're getting our priorities in order," a familiar croaky voice could be heard that could only be batarian. From behind Grunt the soldier appeared, wearing Batarian Blade Armor, a cigarette in his mouth flashing yellow after being freshly lit. When the batarian reached him, the rest of his squad reached him, and the soldier's four eyes regarded him closely, "You're Captain Shepard. Balak told us about you...and that you're not to be trusted."

"Funny...coming from a batarian," Marcus growled, moving until he was inches from the man's face, "You're here because we need to face a common foe. Anywhere else, anytime else, I'd shoot you on the spot and be no more regretful for it. Grunt would pummel your squad, and mine would finish what's left of you off. Luckily for you, I need the batarians, and you need us to stay alive. So here's the condition; you follow my command, you don't get in my way. You question me, I have you replaced with someone dependable. Do I make myself clear?"

The batarian snorted, nodding, "Don't get all racially pure on me, Shepard. I'm not your typical batarian, but that doesn't mean I trust humans," he moved away, "My people owned the Skyllian Verge. Did I hate your kind for taking it? Yes. Did I wish to enslave them? No. I may serve the Hegemony military, but that doesn't make me a loyalist. I simply do as I'm told. And with no dictatorship left, and Khar'Shan in ruins," he took the cigarette from his mouth, puffing air into the stale one of the cave, "That makes me the only authority I follow, along with anyone else who's worth fighting for. For now, that's you," he turned to Marcus, "I'm Sergeant Kechi Dadmagan, 1st Orbital Infantry, 12th Aratoht Company, 4th Squad."

Marcus' eyes widened at that. 12th Aratoht Company? That has to be a coincidence. Or maybe it isn't...damn you, Balak. You sent them on purpose to taunt me...

"Very well," Grunt spoke, "Now that introductions are done, we should get moving. I'll take you to the edge of the camp, and we'll begin our investigation there. But be careful Shepard. This place smells bad," he sniffed, shaking his head at the likely repulsive smell, "Like a bad wound."

Grunt moved ahead first, leading Aralakh Company down into the caves. Kechi's men followed next, and then Opold's marines. Finally, his squad took up the rear, Wrex hefting the nuke over his shoulders once more while Marcus took the front, keeping his flamethrower collapsed; no need to waste the fuel.

As they moved around the corner, more of the ruined camp appeared. There were more sinkholes as well, with some of the bunkers having snapped in half, whilst others teetered dangerously off the edge, and others sat safely, away from the holes. But one in particular leaned off the hole, one having snapped off and fallen inside, the other balancing like a seesaw on the edge, waiting for the slightest nudge to send it tumbling.

The camp had been occupied too; weapons lay scattered over the sight, and the scorch marks of discharged flamethrowers and detonated explosives lay all over the walls, as well as bullet holes. There was some black blood stains, meaning the krogan team had managed to take out some of the ravagers, but a large majority was orange. The krogan must have been swarmed, considering the state of the camp.

The group came to a stop as Grunt ordered a halt infront of a bunker who's entire left side was leaning off the edge of one huge sinkhole. The krogan called for Marcus, and the spectre quickly pushed through the hanar, batarian and krogan units, coming to stand behind the supersoldier. Grunt looked at him, and pointed down below, "I can see the bottom."

Looking down, he saw the krogan was right. There it was, clear as day; the bottom of the hole was littered with debris, mostly broken rock, and at one end was a tunnel; artificially made, likely having been burrowed. He pointed to it, "You think that's where the rachni made the sinkhole?"

"I'd say its a fact," Grunt replied as he stood, bringing his Graal to bear, "And that smell? Its gotten worse. Come on, the way into the caves is through this bunker," the krogan stated, motioning to the damaged structure.

Kasumi wasn't as assured, "Um...are you sure that's even safe?"

EDI nodded, clearly in agreement, "Considering the angle of which this hangs, it is not considered an intelligent course of action to attempt crossing it."

"It looks pretty dangerous sir," Keeling added, "It'd be best finding another way around. And with all our weight on it and Wrex and the nuke," she jabbed a finger at said krogan, "That thing will fall over."

"I'm with Keeling, but we need to get into those caves," Marcus stated, turning to look at Grunt. He sighed, finally deciding to nod as an idea formed in his head and he turned to Garrus, "Okay, you're with me, and so are you EDI. Sergeant Dadmagan, you and your squad are with me, too. We'll cross, and once on the other side, we'll look for an alternative route for you to cross and radio it to everyone else. The rest of you, just bunker down here," he turned to Opold and Grunt, "Are we in agreement?"

Opold couldn't nod, so he responded, "This one acknowledges."

"Solid plan, battlemaster," Grunt agreed, nodding.

He nodded, turning to Keeling, "You're in command of the squad until we regroup."

The N7 nodded, snapping a salute as he turned around, Garrus joining his side as did the batarians. Dadmagan gave him an unappreciative look, probably coming up with some sorry excuse to abandon him. Never trust a batarian. Racism is wrong, but when it comes to species never to trust, its volus and batarians. One will sell all your armor, the other will stab all your weak points and pay the volus further money for selling you out.

{Loading...}

June 18, 2186

1341 hours.

Krogan Camp, Unknown Underground Cave Network, Southern Hemisphere, Utukku.

The Reaper War, Operation: Quarantine.

Captain Marcus Lee Shepard, Military Advisor Garrus Vakarian, EDI, Sergeant Kechi Dadmagan.

He stepped forward again, just as gently as before, making sure not to apply too much pressure. The structure creaked, a bit of dust whistled through the air into the sinkhole below, but the bunker did not move. Taking a deep breath, he began to increase his pace, his weapon remaining collapsed as he moved forth. Behind and infront of him, his team moved; Garrus was just behind him, along with EDI, while Dadmagan and his squad stayed up ahead, all armed with batarian-made weapons like Raider shotguns and a few non-batarian weapons, like the vindicator battle rifle, or Striker automatic grenade launcher. Good weapons, the latter of which was a krogan weapon.

He continued his march forward as precisely as possible, trying to make sure he didn't apply too much pressure in some areas, alot in others; it just depended where the bunker was tilting, what angle, and where it was favoured in terms of balance. Clearly traversing this was reckless, but it was a necessary recklessness. At least we didn't bring the nuke with us.

"Marcus..." Garrus muttered behind him, entirely focused on watching his step, "I just want you to know...how stupid...this is."

"Already...made...a mental...note...of that..." Marcus chuckled back, not looking back incase he misstepped, "Try to keep...your focus...on the floor..."

"I can multitask multiple things simultaneously, Shepard. You know this," EDI piped up, "Currently, I am tapping into the comm buoys in this cluster and monitoring relay on the Normandy, talking to you here and calculating all the possible missteps in this bunker simultaneously. It is a seamless task."

"Wasn't talking...to you...EDI," Marcus replied with a bit of snarkiness in his tone, "Just...talk to Joker...EDI...try not to talk...we can't...multitask...that efficiently..."

Suddenly, Dadmagan shouted, his tone hurried, shocked and clearly terrified.

"Stop! Stop! Damn it, stop!" Kechi ordered, holding up a closed fist.

Marcus frowned as he looked up, curious as to why they were stopping, when he heard it.

A metallic groan.

The whip-like sounds of support wires snapping.

The sound of rock seperating from the wall as the bunker grinded against it. Marcus felt his heartbeat in his throat as he whorled around, "Fuck! Fall back! Fall b-"

Suddenly, he felt the bunker floor fall out from under him, and his armoured back banged against the back of the bunker's wall. His eyes widened as his hand jerked open and his flamethrower fell through the open doorway, cursing. He watched Garrus end up the same, while EDI immediately engaged the magnetic clamps on her boots, the AI managing to keep hold of her own weapon, as did Garrus. He looked to the turian, groaning from the dull throb in his back.

"Garrus! You...okay?"

"I'm a turian. I'll survive," he sighed, "You?"

"I'm-" he began before being interrupted.

"Shepard!" Grunt called out, "We're going to get you out!"

"No Grunt, stay away! We don't need to disturb the building anymore than we-"

The same sounds again, but much louder.

"Ohhhhhhh shit."

And in the next moment, he was in freefall.

He heard a few of Dadmagan's cry out as the entire building completely came loose from its natural cradle and toppled downwards, taking its occupants with it. For a few seconds, Marcus soared before coming to rest on the sinkhole floor...hard. Pain lanced up his entire frame, his entire body screaming against the punishment it was taking. He could only watch, frozen to the ground and in pain as the bunker hurtled down towards him, wires snapping through the air violently. He began to crawl backwards at that, knowing that if even one of those wires touched him, he'd be cut clean in half from the velocity of the heavy impact.

He watched in almost slow motion as a soldier was hit by one wire and torn in half, armor reduced to meaning nothing in the face of it. Two more were thrown into the side of the hole, one man's head caving in and another ricocheting off it and down to the ground like a stray bullet. All the while the building continued to fall, and he knew it would kill them if he didn't act quickly. Summoning his biotics, he practically picked up Garrus and EDI and threw them clear of the building, followed by a quick biotic shove in the direction of the batarian squad before propelling himself backwards afterwards.

He watched his feet just miss the edge of the falling bunker as it slammed into the ground, kicking up huge swaths of dust and rock particles, throwing them into the air like lethal projectiles. Thankfully, they all missed him and his team, as well as the remainder of the batarian squad, as did most of the wires, if it wasn't for the poor bastard on the ground that had been under the landing zone of one wire; one that promptly cut him clean in half, spreading his gore along the ground, soaking the ground in red.

He groaned as he sat up, blinking as he wiped the dust and blood off his visor to clear up his vision. He saw the bunker laying at the bottom of the sinkhole with them, bits of rocks that were chipped off the wall impacting it as they fell and coming to rest. He looked up to see how far they fell, and saw they were at the very bottom of the sinkhole. Fuck. Had to have been a dozen feet.

He looked around to see Garrus also getting to his feet, the turian signalling he was alright as EDI quickly came to his assistance, a few cuts and scratches and dents all the damage she suffered. He turned to the batarian squad, who were only just recovering from their fall, and they weren't looking all that great.

Already, they'd lost four men to just the fall alone. Dadmagan had survived thankfully, ableit covered in dust and spotted with the blood of his severed comrades. The rest of his squad, eight, got up and managed to retrieve their weapons, and some seemed to be whispering prayers to their dead brothers-in-arms.

Marcus quickly ran over to the bunker, scouring the dirt for his flamethrower, and was thankful that he was able to find it on such short notice. He picked up, the weapon still collapsed, and was happy to notice that its default fuel tank remained undamaged and unbreached. Coming to stand, he was just in time for Grunt's voice to once again echo down the sinkhole towards them.

"SHEPARD!" the krogan's voice forbodingly boomed, "YOU OKAY?"

"We're fine Grunt!" Marcus replied, shouting back up at him, seeing the krogan now peeking over the edge, "How about you!?"

"WE'RE GOING TO TRY AND FIND ANOTHER ROUTE!" Grunt shouted back.

Marcus nodded, noticing Garrus pointing to the tunnel they saw earlier. The rachni burrow. Nodding, he looked back up, "We have the tunnel down here! We're going to go inside, see where it leads! We'll meet you inside!"

"COPY THAT!" Was Grunt's final reply, before the krogan promptly disappeared and began shouting at his men, "Aralakh Company, MOVE OUT!"

"Think he could shout any louder?" Garrus asked dryly, "I'm surprised the rachni haven't come to investigate...sorry, the ravagers."

"For a krogan, nothing's too loud," the spectre replied, grinning meekly as he looked to the tunnel, finally extending his weapon into full and turning off the safety, watching as a little flame sparked at the end of the barrel, "Now, let's go find the heart of this nest. Hopefully we'll find the rachni queen there."

"According to my readings, the heart of the nest would, strategically, be placed 40 feet below us. Deep enough to survive orbital attack," EDI observed.

"Good work EDI. We'll follow this tunnel, and hopefully it'll lead us there. Weapons equipped everyone," he ordered, moving over to the batarian squad, "Into the belly of the beast, we travel."

Dadmagan had just regrouped his troops when Marcus' trio arrived, the batarian turning towards him with an angry expression, "I knew we shouldn't have lead our men in there, it was idiotic! Now I've lost four of my men, and we haven't even engaged the enemy yet! It wasn't even the enemy's doing!"

Technically it was, as if it wasn't for the rachni, that bunker wouldn't be leaning precariously off a sinkhole. "We had to get to the otherside, and you know that. But right now all we can do is continue to keep a cool head, and keep going. The mission doesn't stop because we lost people. This is war, you'll get used to it." It took the deaths of Tarquin and his platoon to remind me of that.

The batarian scoffed, waving him off like an irritating insect, "What would you know of it, human? Your team is fully intact! I just lost four, one of them my engineer!"

"Good," Marcus coldly stated, stepping closer, "Now use their deaths as fuel to your rage and let's go plant a fucking nuke. Or have you lost your appetite for combat, Sergeant?"

Dadmagan growled at him, all four of his eyes glaring, "No, I have not. And I plan on killing lots of rachni, to be sure. But I want the deaths of my four men answered for."

"Excellent, shall we continue?" Garrus asked, pointing to the tunnel. The batarian turned to it and looked back at Marcus, incredulousity in his eyes, "You can't be serious! We're not going in there! That is a rachni burrow! They could be in there, waiting to ambush us!"

"Its either stay here, go through the tunnel or try scaling the wall," Marcus deadpanned, shrugging his shoulders, "The former and latter are not very appealing to me, and I think the tunnel holds more promise for revenge. I'm going for the middle, how about you two?" Garrus nodded, while EDI simply blinked, and responded.

"It is the most viable option," the AI responded.

"Unanimous decision," Marcus replied, pushing past Dadmagan as Garrus and EDI followed him, and moving towards the tunnel, "Follow or stay, Dadmagan. Those are your options." And without even looking back, he activated the flashlight on his helmet, levelled his flamethrower, and moved inside, scanning the inside walls, watching as two more flashlights joined his.

The walls were definitely artificially made, as could be seen by the segregation of the dirt and earth; definite signs of digging. And from the look of the tracks on the ground, a swarm of bug-like creatures had definitely come through here; rachni for sure. The ceiling was at least ten feet above them, and the walls were wet and sticky, not to mention green. The color of rachni acid. We're definitely on the right track. He turned to his squad, right behind him and unflinching, and nodded, moving forward.

They followed the path of the tunnel as it was, to their luck, a singular path. Deeper and deeper they went, and it felt endless, but eventually, the walls began to solidfy and he began to recognize solid rock. We must be entering another cave. Maybe their nest is in a cave? It was then that he noticed the ground had become a bit brighter, and when he looked down and shone his flashlight on it, he swore the ground was coated orange. Krogan blood. The survey team must have come through here. But when he looked around, the owners of the blood were nowhere to be found. No bodies? The rachni don't...eat people, do they? Even on Noveria, the rabid rachni hadn't done that, or at least hadn't shown evidence of it.

Suddenly, he heard footsteps behind them, and he whorled about to face them, finger on the trigger. Garrus and EDI followed suit, only to notice the face of an irritated batarian glaring back at them.

"You mind not blinding me, human!" Dadmagan growled, covering his visor, "It won't help you to have a blind soldier."

"Thought you'd follow," Marcus promptly responded, moving his weapon away and turning back towards the end of the tunnel, "We're almost at the end, let's keep going."

"Yeah, I think I can see light at the end."

Funnily enough, Garrus was right. When they rounded the corner, they saw the light reflecting off the rocks spilling into the open tunnel, and what looked to be a massive cavern inside. He quickly jogged the rest of the way, making a sweep of the walls to make sure no rachni were getting ready to jump them. Satisfied there weren't (a matter of fact, the whole cavern looked devoid of life), he motioned the team inside, and turned off his flashlight, hitting his comm.

"Grunt, status?"

The krogan's voice came through crystal clear, much to his shock. He expected interference from the rocks, but there was none, "Still looking for a way in, Shepard. Should be inside soon. Haven't encountered any hostile activity. How about you?"

"The tunnel has taken us inside a cavern. I think we maybe inside the caves, and we've found evidence that the survey team used the tunnel to escape, or were cornered. Nothing confirmed," Marcus stated, "We're going to continue inside, see what we can find."

"Copy that," Grunt replied, "We'll radio once inside, Grunt out."

"That's odd," Marcus noted, "That transmission was crystal, no inteference. In places like this, my comms should be going to shit. Something isn't right."

"Well, the Reapers have corrupted the rachni," Garrus explained, "Its logical to assume they'd have left their technology behind to keep up the corruption. Maybe there's no interference because their tech is able to penetrate these walls, and we're merely tapping into it?"

"This assumption is correct," EDI piped up, "I am currently picking up 98 different frequencies penetrating this cavern, ninety percent of them of Reaper origin, the other ten percent being ours."

"Nice guess Garrus," Marcus stated, "But if the Reapers left their tech behind, they probably left more than just ravagers too. Keep your guard up."

As they moved inside, they eventually came across their first piece of evidence of Reaper influence; an arm of silver alloy stretching from the ground, lined with wires and pulsing blood red. Coming from it was an unusual smell, one that did not communicate well with his nose and he turned off his olfactory filters. He turned to his squad, taking note of the object.

"Definitely looks Reaper," Dadmagan noted, poking it with his weapon, "I say we destroy it."

"Negative. Conserve your ammo," the spectre ordered, shaking his head as Dadmagan turned to face him, "There's no point on wasting ammo on something that won't break to anything less than a Mach 6 Cruise Missile, and even that may have a hard time doing anything. This is Reaper tech; for all we know, all of it is built to take the punishment of a dreadnought. We'd barely make a dent. Besides, it does not look too dangerous, and we've got more important things to worry about," Marcus stated.

"Wait," EDI asked, and everyone stopped, turning to face the synthetic. After a few seconds, she spoke, "It is not completely useless. It is a map."

"A what?" Dadmagan incredulously asked, "What would the Reapers need of a map?"

"It is not for them," EDI replied, "For their indoctrinated servants. It is easy to get lost in these caves, and while the Reapers do not have this problem, their servants do; they need easy access, and this would help. I believe these are scattered all over the nest; a guide to their indoctrinated visitors. The Reaper tech inside me will allow me to hack it easily, but only because of its low encryption," EDI stated, opening her omni-tool and making a link to the device. Within a second, the arm beeped and flashed bright red before a hatch in it opened, and a holographic projector opened a projection of the cave network, along with all routes.

"Excellent job EDI!" Marcus stated, turning to her, "Can you send this Grunt? They might need it. I see an entrance on their level that isn't far from this...blinking dot," he pointed to the dot in particular, watching it pulse constantly.

"That pulse, according to the inside code, is the queen," EDI declared, "She is within the heart of the nest."

"Then we've found our destination," Marcus declared, turning to his squad, "EDI, send this to Grunt. Everyone, let's move!"

They continued up the path, moving through a narrow entrance way and down another cave. The area was massively different to the tunnel, he noticed. Stalatites hung from the ceiling, bits of rock covering the wall in every direction; ceiling, ground and walls. It was practically everywhere. But it was all empty.

Until they found the exit to the third cave.

As he stepped through it, weapon bared, bringing his foot down, he felt a crunch, followed by the sound of multiple screeches. He looked down and brought his foot away, watching the crushed form of a rachni worker melt into the ground, its acidic blood melting through the ground and hissing at the edge of his boot. He watched a whole swarm rush past, fleeing. Well, they'd found the rachni workers, at least, but they looked different. More synthetic, with a metal main body and mechanical legs. The Reapers even corrupted them.

Then his head snapped back to the dead insect, Dadmagan and his squad firing at the fleeing workers and managing to kill a few before they escaped. Wait, since when is rachni blood acidic? He looked at the black blood, having already melted quite a bit into the ground. The Reapers...they've even weaponized rachni blood by pumping acid into their veins. This is sick. That's fucking sick! He thought he'd seen the worst of Reaper corruption and huskification, but clearly not.

"You thinking the same thing I am?" Garrus asked, Marcus nodding.

"That the Reapers have weaponized rachni blood? Yes," the spectre replied, shaking his head as he made his way inside, "And its sick. The closer we get to ending this, the better I'll feel."

Garrus sighed as they pressed forward, ignoring the scuttling on the walls, as the rachni workers seemed content in not attacking them, "That's not what I meant. What I was going to say, before you got all gloomy, was how funny it would be to see Tali right about now."

Marcus stopped, turning to face the turian with a raised eyebrow, "Why would that be funny?"

"So many spiders," Garrus grinned, mandibles stretched and twitching to hold his mirth, "She'd be going spastic with her shotgun just trying to kill them all, and then she'd use you as a piggyback just to escape them. The more I think about it..." suddenly, the turian broke into a fit of barely contained laughter, trying to hold it back, but unable too. Marcus felt mirth tugging his own lips, just imagining Tali sprinting about like a maniac, screaming at the spiders to die.

Garrus' laughter echoed through the walls.

Through the cave.

And then came the response.

A loud roar, followed by more screeching.

Garrus stopped his laughing in its tracks, gulping, "That didn't sound like workers."

Marcus shook his head, bringing up his flamethrower as he heard more scuttling, "No, that sounded far more mature."

The scuttling got closer and closer and finally, the beast rounded the corner; it almost looked unrecognizable. Six legs like a rachni, but nothing else was rachni about it. It had two heavy cannons rearing from where its head used to be, and looked powerful enough to gut a tank. It had bulbous sacs hanging from its body, ready to be popped and he could see from where he was, inside, was workers scuttling about, waiting for the sacs to be popped and for them to be released. The rachni husk moved forward, lumbering and top heavy, but ultimately deadly.

And behind it were three more, and a swarm of workers.

"Ravagers!" Marcus roared, fingering the trigger, "OPEN FIRE!"

Garrus took aim with his sniper rifle, armed with incendiary rounds and fired. The batarians fired their shotguns and assault rifles almost sporadically in fear, while Dadmagan looked totally unfazed as he tore into the horde. EDI and Marcus' flamethrowers unleashed tongues of flame upon the enemy, licking at the ravager's bodies and reining in the sound of popping sacs and the screeches of burning workers and ravagers alike.

The first ravager was downed before it could fire, body incinerated and popped. The second one however managed to advance sufficiently and aim at its enemy and let off a volley of shots. Four retorts, hyper-velocity shells shooting hot death out from their tips...

...and tearing into three batarians behind them, one's head splitting open like a melon, shields ignored completely, another gutted, followed by another having his leg blown off, and then the fourth shot missing entirely. Blood soaked Dadmagan, leaving him temporarily stunned before he found the one responsible and opened fire, tearing the ravager apart. The other two fell quite prematurely, their flamethrowers working like a charm in dispatching them. In no time, the rachni husks had been pushed back, their workers unable to withstand the heat and spontaneously combusting into flame, their acid hitting their own brethren and melting their skin, causing it to pop.

"Keep pushing!" Marcus barked, letting the gusts of fire erupting from his weapon continue to pour out to keep the enemy back. But they just kept coming, and his fuel tank was going to run out eventually. Pops and sizzles, hisses and screeches were all that could be heard, along with the occassional scream as a ravager got a lucky shot and killed one of the batarian squad. One shot managed to hit Garrus, but his shields took the brunt, and he quickly learnt to snipe from cover, another shot pinging uselessly off EDI's reinforced armor.

After another minute, his weapon clicked empty, and flames stopped dancing from the barrel. His eyes widened as he watched EDI try to compensate for the opening, but now the ravagers were breaking through. One broke through and leapt at him, but he managed to lash a foot out at the last minute, the force enough to puncture one of the husk's sacs. He watched as steam rose as acid burnt into his boot, and workers began rushing towards him. He quickly fell back, disengaging his suit's lockdown so he could yank the boot off. Tearing it off, he wacked one of the workers, crushing it before crushing another, and another, and another. When he was done, all of them were acidic pools melting into the rock, but the ravager was still approaching.

It raised one leg, ready to skewer him, when EDI arrived, gusts of flame sending the ravager into retreat, screaming its fury, or agony. Finally the best toppled backwards onto the ground, melting as its acid blood spilt onto the ground and melted its own body structure into nothing. But the Reaper corrupted horde continued to press forward, relentless, and with an almost endless supply of abominations; they had taken ten ravagers so far, but that barely stemmed the tide. We can't keep this up, but we can't go back. We need to push forward some ho-

Suddenly, they stopped, turned and ran in the direction they had been headed in, moving forward with speed only possible with six legs. Workers and Ravagers rushed along the walls, moving into holes in the walls, tunnels or just continuing along the singular path, or even making new tunnels of their own. Something must have spooked them...or did it?

As he came to stand, discarding his now useless armoured boot, he came to awkwardly stand just as Grunt's voice came into his ear, sounding oddly excited, "Shepard! Where are you!?"

He keyed his comm in response, "Heading for the heart of the nest, but we were slowed down; ran into a horde of ravagers. We were about to be overrun, but all of a sudden, they just retreated. I figure something must have spooked them, or the queen called them back. Did you get the map EDI sent you?"

"We did, and we had almost reached the entrance when we ran into a problem," Grunt replied, the sound of a shotgun discharging being heard, followed by a screech, "Those ravagers running away? Probably headed for us. They must have realized how close we were to the queen and sent everything they had to defend it. They didn't retreat Shepard, they've just reprioritized."

"Fuck!" Marcus exclaimed, "Grunt, hold position, we're coming to you! Shepard out," he whorled to face EDI, his expression hurried as he reached into his backpack and pulled out a second fuel cell, removing the old one and replacing it with a fresh one, "EDI, how close are we to the hive entrance?"

It took a second for the AI to respond, "Five meters."

He frowned, "We can't be that close. We'd have heard-"

"-five meters below us," EDI responded, looking down.

His eyes widened, "That far down? Fuck!" He whorled to the remainder of the batarian squad, which he realized was now down to a quarter strength; only four remained, one of them being Dadmagan, "We need to double time it to the hive entrance!"

"I'm not going one step further," Dadmagan growled, "I've lost too many men on this charade. I will not lose anymore!"

He moved over to Dadmagan, hand gripping the batarian's shoulder, "Just a little further, Dadmagan. We are almost there. For the sake of the galaxy, you must continue," deciding he might need to appeal to the man's beliefs, he continued, "Think of your people, Dadmagan. You lost your homeworld, your fleet, your army. Your people are battered, but do you want to lose everything? Because that's what'll happen if the Reapers are allowed to utilize the rachni. They have a large horde now, but with an army of rachni, they'll be unstoppable. Make your stand here, Dadmagan! You want to save your people? Start now!"

The batarian gulped, looked to the ground and nodded, slotting a fresh thermal clip into his rifle, "Okay, enough with the speeches. Let's make a run."

Marcus gave a grim smile, despite himself and squeezed his shoulder before letting go, turning to head for the entrance, "Then let's go do it."

"Excuse me?" He heard Dadmagan say, his smile dropping, "I didn't mean for the rachni. Screw this, and screw you."

Marcus whorled around in time to see Dadmagan run around a corner, his men following behind him, and he roared, face contorted in anger, "Dadmagan, you fucking coward!" He moved to run after them, but felt a three-fingered hand on his shoulder, and he turned to face his turian brother, the man shaking his head.

"Don't bother. He can't escape this planet anyway," the turian stated with some disgust, "He'll have to wait for us to get back for him to escape, and he won't attack us with our full strength and a krogan company at our back. Leave him be. The coward will get what he deserves; him, and his men."

It him a second to come to terms with the betrayal but yet again, he remembered the man was a batarian, and a soldier of the Hegemony at that. Batarian civilians are a different story...its servants of the Hegemony that I despise and can never be trusted. For all he knew, the batarian probably made the whole story about hating the Hegemony up to make him more trustworthy. Garrus is right. He'll get what he deserves.

Turning around, he began a fresh round, sprinting as hard as he could.

He just hoped they weren't too late.

{Loading...}

June 18, 2186

1401 hours.

Hive Entrance, Unknown Underground Cave Network, Southern Hemisphere, Utukku.

The Reaper War, Operation: Quarantine.

Lord Companier Urdnot Grunt, Platoon Sergeant Opold, Second Lieutenant Imogen Keeling, Second Lieutenant James Vega, Soldier Javik, Master Thief Kasumi Goto, Shadow Broker Liara T'Soni, Chieftain Urdnot Wrex.

"Come on, get in there!" Grunt growled as he reloaded his claymore, tossing three, primed frag grenades as he did into the oncoming swarm, "Keep pushing them back! Reinforcements are coming!" He took aim with his claymore as the grenades detonated, pits of chetin, metal plating and black, acidic ichor tossed up into the air as limbs were dismembered and bodies shredded by the triple blasts as he took aim and fired, his shotgun finishing off a ravager that survived the explosions, sending it flying backwards as it was blown asunder. He reloaded once more, surveying the battlefield.

So far, he'd only lost one man, and that's only because he'd gotten reckless; charged right inside and immediately got torn apart; literally. The ravagers had just swarmed over him and dismembered him, limb by limb, until there was nothing left. As for the rest of them, they were holding firm, but running low on supplies. They needed an exit route, and soon. But the only one was into the heart of the hive, which was blocked by a piece of Reaper tech; which they were now backed up against it.

The cavern was narrow, which made it an excellent chokepoint for them to lure the ravagers inside and cut them down, one by one; but that worked twofold. The ravagers had easy shots, and more than once he had to dodge a shot. One of his men had been hit, but it barely scrapped him, but he knew a direct hit from those cannons was instant death, unless you had shields, and that'd only take one shot. Those cannons the ravagers had...these guys were meant as mobile artillery, equipped with weapons designed to puncture tank armor.

Javik was up front with Keeling, his particle rifle firing hot tongues of energy across the ravager lines, heating up their blood and causing it to explode, dealing heavy death to the swarm, while Keeling picked off any workers with methodical precision. Wrex had placed the bomb at the door and joined the fight, the krogan's claymore echoing through the corridor while being followed up by biotic attacks like shockwaves and warp fields. Liara kept up a constant stream of singularities and other biotic assaults, but she would soon grow tired, and she had hardly any armor. Vega was emptying clip after clip into the enemy with his Revenant, but it wouldn't be long before he had to discard the weapon; and he needed some of those clips for his Typhoon. As for Kasumi, she stayed at the rear, her stealth abilities basically useless in this kind of combat zone, so she resorted to firing from the back with her Locust SMG, taking potshots at best. Around them, Aralakh Company held their positions, all armed with krogan weaponry and tearing their own holes into the enemy lines while the hanar marine platoon supported them. Opold himself was at Grunt's side, and the hanar never let his dual-wielded Tempest SMGs rest.

"This one believes our line will collapse soon," Opold noted, "Continuing to hold it is considered foolish."

"Nowhere else to go, jelly," Grunt grunted, tossing his final grenade into the fray and drawing his grenade launcher, preparing to empty what was left of it into the fray. For each ravager they took down, five more just replaced it, and for every five workers taken out, fifty more replaced it. There must be millions of converted down here...

"This one suggests a final bastion," Opold states, "This one suggests priming the nuke and detonating it here. We are deep enough within the caves for the detonation to do its damage."

Grunt scoffed, turning towards the hanar, "Not until my dying breath will I detonate that nuke. While Shepard's still alive, there's always a chance."

"Shepard is not immortal," Opold pointed out.

"No," Grunt grinned, holding the trigger on his launcher as explosive after explosive thumped out, blowing clear holes into the ravager holes...only for them to be rapidly filled and their dead ignored as he dropped the weapon and drew his claymore once more, dropping back into cover as a worker landed on his shoulder, biting him in the neck. He snarled, grabbing it and slamming it against a rock, crushing as he turned to the hanar, "But my battlemaster comes pretty damn close."

"Argh!" he heard one of his men call out, and he looked up in time to see the krogan commando get tackled by a sprinting ravager, the creature impaling one of its forward legs straight through his eye socket and out of the other side of his head, orange blood squirting from the wound. Growling, the krogan snapped the ravager's leg off and tossed the creature aside, his blood rage in full affect. He ran forward, bashing ravagers aside until he reached one and tackled it off the edge of the cliff side on the right side of the cave, falling into the abyss below.

One of Opold's men tried to plug the gap, but was quickly swarmed by workers who crawled onto him, pulling him down to the ground as hundreds of the damn things crawled over him, the hanar screaming as it was devoured. Keeling and Javik retreated, followed by James and everyone else.

"This is loco!" James exclaimed, "These pendejos aren't letting up! We're going to get overrun!"

"Everyone!" Marcus' voice sounded over the team feed, "Switch to your flamethrowers and let it rip! They're afraid of fire!"

"Its always the fire," Kasumi muttered as she pulled out her flamethrower, followed by everyone else, all of them opening fire just as the horde reached them. Like someone inspecting a smelly dish, the all reeled back simultaneously at once upon seeing the flames, screeching as some caught fire and burst, while others slowly moved back, others trying to swarm forward only to succumb to the flames.

Grunt laughed, keying his comm, "What's your ETA, battlemaster?"

"Pretty much...NOW!"

Out of nowhere Marcus dropped, followed by EDI and Garrus but, surprisingly, none of the batarian squad. Must have been slaughtered on the way here. Immediately upon dropping, Marcus drew his Revenant and opened fire, Garrus following suit with the one he brought, and then EDI with her flamethrower. Together, the company, platoon and Normandy squad fired their flamethrowers in unison, drawing back the enemy. But they were getting brave, and pretty soon, they'd have to reload.

"EDI!" Marcus growled through his teeth at the heat surrounding them, "Status on that door!"

"One more minute is needed," EDI replied calmly, hacking and firing at the same time.

"Too much time! Liara, Wrex!" Marcus barked, "Biotic fields with me...now!" Just as they all needed to reload, the three dropped their flamethrowers and brought their biotics to bear, forming a field around them just as the ravagers surged forward again. They banged against the field uselessly, workers and ravagers alike, but the strain was already becoming too much; the sheer force of the horde and size made holding a field against them an almighty effort.

After a minute, he heard the door open behind them and Grunt turned to it, growling, "Everybody inside!" Grunt moved over and retrieved the nuke, hefting it over his shoulder effortlessly as he turned to the trio, "Battlemaster, come on!"

"I've got your back loco," James declared, a noticable grin in his eyes, "I've got this shit covered."

As Grunt turned, the krogan too grinned as he saw the Typhoon HMG the marine hefted, the marine taking aim at the horde just as Marcus let the field drop and rushed inside with them, Liara and Wrex hot on their heels. Once inside, and the Reaper force pushed forward, James opened fire, Typhoon roaring to life as it fired with the speed and force of a minigun.

As EDI worked to close the Reaper door, ravager upon ravager, worker upon worker was shredded, blown apart or torn asunder by the high-speed rounds of the Typhoon, the sheer force and speed laying devastation upon the enemy ranks. But they just kept coming, and were creeping closer and closer, despite James' formidable stance. Eventually, the Typhoon clicked empty, the rachni surging forward once more...

...only to bang uselessly against the closed Reaper door as it shut on them. James blew a sigh of relief, turning to Grunt as he grinned at the krogan supersoldier, Grunt returning the favour with a grin of his own, "I want that gun." It was a simple statement, one James knew not to argue with. He tossed the gun at Grunt, which he caught flawlessly with one hand, turning to the rest of the grip as he lay the nuke on the ground, everyone catching their breaths and reloading.

The cave they found themselves in wasn't the heart of the hive, but lay just outside it; the Reaper door protecting it was closed, but EDI was already hard at work opening it. The cave they were in was small, had three entrances, all of which were open except the one they came through. But soon enough, the Reapers would override the hack, and the ravagers would pour through; and this time, they had three entrances, not one.

"That...I thought we were as good as dead," Kasumi came out, sitting and leaning against one of the cave walls, "There...there was so many of them. They just kept coming, no matter how many we took out. It was like throwing rocks at a tsunami, hoping to stop it."

"The rachni queen definitely rebuilt her race alright; millions strong," Marcus huffed, taking in deep breaths, "Except now, all of those millions belong to the Reapers, and those probably aren't even the reserves. But that's why we're here, and that's why we're going to stop them. Bullets won't stop 'em, but a one megaton nuke will."

"Where are the batarians?" Javik questioned, "I do not see them among you."

Marcus growled, turning to look at the prothean, "Remember that run in I mentioned? Yeah, well not soon after, the cowards fucking ditched us. Ran right back for the entrance. We didn't give chase; no need to waste the ammo, and he can't get offworld anyway."

"Cowards indeed," Wrex growled, "Maybe Balak ordered it."

Marcus shook his head, "No, its Dadmagan. Balak hates me, I know that, and he hates humans, I know that too. He's untrustworthy, he's a murderer, and he's a no good slaver and a terrorist," he looked back at Wrex, "But when it comes to his people, he's as loyal as any of us are. He would do anything he could to protect his people, and that's the only reason he gave in to my demands for him to join the UGC; he knows we're his last hope for saving the batarian species. And he would know just how dangerous these rachni are. No, Balak didn't order this: Dadmagan's just gone AWOL."

"We also have to consider indoctrination," Liara piped up, "With this war going on, anything is possible."

"What does it matter?" One of the krogan commandos growled, "The coward's either going to be stranded here, caught in the blast, or found and torn apart by those ravagers; there is a whole horde out there. I say we forget the pyjaks and just continue with the mission."

Grunt nodded, placing the nuke on the ground, "Agreed. The hive is just through that door," he nodded to the door EDI was currently hacking, which was taking longer than usual, "You just need to get inside."

"'You?'" Marcus asked, raising an eyebrow behind his helmet, "What part of that don't I like?"

Grunt shrugged, pulling out a thermal clip and slotting it into the Typhoon as he placed it in lower parry, "You need someone to cover the rear and buy you some time to deploy the nuke, I get that. My company gets that. We'll hold here as long as you need, and when the nuke is ready, you call us back, and we'll all extract together."

"This one does not think escape is likely," Opold added, "Our exit route is blocked."

"We'll find one," Grunt smirked, shrugging as he added, "Or make one."

Marcus shook his head, "Too risky. You'll get overrun, Grunt. There's no guarantee you'll be able to hold them." I'm not losing another soldier. Not one more, and certainly not a friend.

A chorus of screeches could be heard and they all turned to look down one of the corridors. The ravagers must have found a way around. Grunt turned back to him, "You don't have a choice. Now go Shepard, and get that nuke deployed! I'll see you on the otherside, battlemaster!"

At that moment, EDI spoke, "The door is open, Shepard. No hostiles detected inside."

Marcus gave Grunt one final look as he motioned his squad inside, the hanar following behind him as he eyed the large company of krogan soldiers. 97 elite krogan commandos, whitled down to 95, and soon they'll lose more. Damn it, I hate this war. But Grunt has a point. Still... With a sigh, he spoke, shaking his head as he said it, but this may be the last time he saw the young krogan. I hate goodbyes, but at least this'll give me some closure. You magnificient bastard. He watched Wrex retrieve the nuke and hurry inside as he spoke, "Good luck." The words felt pathetic and small, but it was the best he could offer.

Grunt merely snorted, grinning as he showed off his new HMG, "I don't need luck," he moved to join his men, smirking all the way, "I have ammo."

Even as Marcus entered the heart of the hive, possibly knowing the fate of the brave, krogan Aralakh Company, he could only smile.

That magnificient bastard, indeed.