This is one of those chapters where I found myself staring at a page for hours on end, and then realize I haven't actually committed anything to paper. There are times when I wish I were a faster writer... but so long as I get it done reasonably well, I can't complain.

Anyway, more departure from canon. Anyone surprised at this point hasn't been paying attention. I decided that I needed to figure out what the group hierarchy of the upcoming enemy looked like, and I at least have a basic idea. Giant bugs are a fairly common Sci-Fi foe, but realistically; a horde of mindless insects, the equivalent to an industrial civilization, all controlled by single organic mind?

Part of that is, in the end, a result of my regarding 'organic QECs' as a silly concept for an evolved life form. Yes, I know... my not liking something about ME3 isn't a revelation.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
Regrets

Kara secured her breath mask, checking that Liara had done the same, before opening the hatch. A harsh wind howled through the Peak Fifteen garage, carrying with it a blinding mix of snow and ice that had reduced outside visibility to less than twenty meters, and promised to get worse as the storm continued moving in. She would not have risked getting caught outside in such weather, but Port Hanshan's meteorology VI had predicted another thirty minutes of clear skies, which should have been enough to land and offload the Sorran.

"Shepard to Normandy," Kara said, checking her headset as she climbed out of the cabin. The transmitter in her suit was designed with orbital range, but at that distance struggled to break through any interference. A good storm was enough to cut them off, and she feared that it had. "Sorran, respond."

"What do we do now?" Liara asked, her voice distant. At this point, there seemed little chance of the mission ending well for her, and she seemed to realize it. "Wait the storm out?"

Kara shook her head. She'd considered the idea when the Turian personnel truck had begun losing contact with the Navsat. Benezia might have anticipated her arrival, but had no actual warning.

That had changed, however, the moment they entered the garage. The security station in the labs below would have registered an intrusion. She couldn't risk a delay. "We go in alone. I'm sorry."

Liara nodded, walking towards the far end of the garage. Kara couldn't imagine how she felt, and wished again that she'd not insisted on coming with. Whether or not it would have changed the outcome, at least she wouldn't have been part of it.

"Is she going to be okay?"

"I hope so, Tali," Kara sighed. She doubted that she would, under similar circumstances, but she was not an Asari, for all the difference that made.

"The comm array will have enough power to cut through the storm," Tali said. "I should be able to access it from up here. Should I go find a console?"

The garage, and the few other facilities that needed access to the surface, were isolated from the main facility, some two hundred meters below, surrounded by dense glacial ice. It was also the only route in or out of the labs, equipped with an independent generator, a direct link with the communications satellite, and the anti-air turret. Everything else was below—quarters for the staff, labs, and living space.

"Yes," Kara said, gesturing for the Quarian to lead the way. "Let's give her some time alone."

Tali opened the door to the rest of the facility, releasing a burst of warm air. The corridor beyond lit up as they passed through. "I don't really understand why she's here," the Quarian said, checking the first door they came to, and revealing a large storage room, empty but for a few rows of stacked crates. "I guess she wants to protect you, and I really do understand that. You're, um… I mean, I'm wondering why you let her come along."

Pulling off her mask, Kara frowned to herself, as Tali turned to check the first of several doors on the opposite side of the corridor. "Maybe I let my feelings for her compromise my judgement," she admitted softly. "I knew it was a risk."

"Is that all?" the Quarian asked, moving on to the next room.

It appeared to be a control room. Kara locked the door open, leaning on the frame, where she could keep an eye on the corridor, as Tali sat in front of the main panel. "She wouldn't be here if she hadn't insisted."

"I'd feel much better if we had backup," Tali said. "There… I've patched our comm frequency into the system. You should be able to contact the ship through your headset now."

"Thanks, Tali," Kara said, smiling softly. "Shepard to Normandy."

"Captain, at last. What's your status?"

Kara frowned in confusion—Garrus should have been on duty, but it was Kirrahe who replied. "We're inside Peak Fifteen, preparing to enter the labs. Where's Garrus?"

"He left in the ke'val, with Aoki and Wrex, when we lost contact with you."

And disobeyed direct orders to wait for her signal. "Tali, get that turret offline," she ordered sharply. She didn't know if Sayuri could successfully pilot the Salarian light vehicle through the storm, but there was no reason to let them get shot down instead. "Patch me through to them, Sevis."

"They're not responding," Kirrahe replied. "They pretended it was the weather. Sorry."

Kara smiled to herself; that sounded like an excuse Sayuri might attempt, though it didn't hold up to scrutiny. The ke'val's transmitters had more than enough power to break through a snowstorm, a sign that the marine knew she would object. It wasn't that she didn't believe in soldiers using their own initiative. She had made a career out of it, much to the annoyance of her superiors, and she understood how they felt; from her perspective, it looked like a foolish risk, much as her own actions may have appeared, when they weren't simply inconvenient.

Garrus had probably encouraged Sayuri, if he hadn't suggested it himself—they were both supposed to be on the Normandy's bridge—while Kara had expected Wrex to show better instincts. Perhaps leaving him in orbit hadn't been the best idea, but the alternative was to leave him on a ship full of Salarians, or to take him along, and she didn't care for either. "Anything else I should know about?"

"Repairs are proceeding according to plan. Nothing else of note."

That was something, at least. Kara sighed, and walked back to the garage. "Carry on, then."

Liara turned, as the door opened. "I'm ready," she said firmly. She walked quickly into the corridor. "Stop looking at me like that. I'm fine."

Kara frowned, but there wasn't much left for her to say. Repeat vague platitudes, until they were both sick of hearing her speak? That wasn't her style, no matter how desperate she felt. Instead, she let the Asari pass in silence, forcing herself to look away. Time to move on, before either of them had time for more thinking, and more worrying. "Tali?"

"I managed to route the turret control signal through a scrambler. It should take thirty minutes or so to get it back online," the Quarian said, her voice sounding of self-satisfaction. "I also found a map of the complex."

"Good work, Tali," Kara said, smiling softly. That was a clever way around the much more daunting task of breaking through the military-grade encryption which Noveria used on its defense systems, and less likely to get them in trouble.

"Thanks, Kara," the Qurian replied, sounding pleased, now. "If there's nothing else for me to do here, I'm ready to go."

Kara shook her head, and turned away from the eviscerated Krogan, grateful for her mask. Even breathing filtered air, she could still taste the stink of his blood and organs, mingled with the shredded corpse of a female Turian. She couldn't tell which wounds had killed them, but the damage she saw hadn't been done by bullets. Someone had torn them apart, using a blade or other sharp object. Their weapons were missing, taken either by the mysterious attacker, or by their retreating comrades.

"Is that… your ambush?" Tali asked, her voice sounding rather faint. "That's… ugh."

"Yes," Kara nodded. "They died just a few minutes ago, I'd guess."

They must have rushed into position after getting security alerts from the garage, though the barricades they'd died behind told of plans laid much earlier than that. The lift was a natural ambush point, offering little cover or mobility to those trapped inside.

"Whatever attacked them saved us from a difficult position," Liara noted, walking past the failed ambush. They were in a common room and dining area, according to Tali's map, half the tables overturned, the floor strewn with additional bodies.

"These are older, see?" the Asari continued, dragging her gloved hand across a blue-black bloodstain beneath a Turian corpse. It had dried completely. "And look, whatever attacked them came from the hot labs."

The placement of the bodies did suggested that most of them had died fleeing the security checkpoint at the far end of the room. The hot labs were half a kilometer away, reached by tram. The extra isolation was intended to contain dangerous research, rather than prevent access by unauthorized personnel, so that much made sense. Whatever project Binary Helix had going on, it had clearly escaped, overrunning the security station with no warning, and indiscriminately killing the scientists and technicians relaxing in the common room.

Readying her pistol, Kara approached the security station, checking bodies as she went. At first glance, the injuries were consistent with close-quarters fighting, mostly lacerations and blunt-force trauma. There were no signs of bullet wounds. She saw no enemy dead, so the enemy was either intelligent enough to clean up after itself, or strong enough to survive their wounds. That was if they were even the source of several unidentified orangish stains. She imagined that a proper investigation might reveal more, but, for the present at least, she saw nothing else to discover.

In practical terms, what she saw was another problem, waiting for someone to solve it. Because there was no one else, that someone became her, regardless of whether or not it was connected to her overall mission. She needed to find out what they were up against, and to locate Benezia, after which she could decide on an approach. The security station would have footage from cameras throughout the facility, including the tunnel to the hot labs, offering a glimpse of their mysterious foe, but it had already been overrun once. They were clearly employing hit-and-run tactics, and could return at any time.

Still, she believed it to be worth the risk, and continued her approach. A heavy impact had bent the door in its frame, until the left-side panel had been torn from its tracks, while the right side remained, battered but in place. Since the door was meant for cargo, as well as people, the opening was more than wide enough to pass through. She did so cautiously, checking for movement before gesturing for her squad to follow. A half-wall sheltered the far side of the room from the dark tram tunnel, where the car itself sat on a single rail, surrounded by a well-lit platform. "Tali, check the computer for Benezia's location, survivors, and some evidence as to what did this," she said, gesturing at an armored human corpse. There were five others, all mutilated, a Krogan and four Turians. They had set up a heavy machine gun, and evidently used it; there were definite spatters of orangish blood on the tunnel walls, but again, no other corpses. She wished she had though to bring an assault rifle along, and wondered if she couldn't find one nearby. "Liara, you'll keep watch."

Kara paused to examine the corpses more closely, but they revealed nothing new. They had died fighting the same foe as the others. According to Calis' assessment, that left twelve marines at most, probably holed up somewhere in the residential section with the surviving staff. If they were desperate and afraid enough, and Benezia was not at their back, they might just listen to reason, and accept her authority.

"Kara, look at this," Tali said. Her voice had taken on a distinctly disturbed tone.

Placing a reassuring hand on Tali's shoulder, Kara studied the image frozen on the display. There were several of the creatures, quadrupedal, with semi-upright bodies, and long arms that ended in a set of four opposable claws. The ability to manipulate the environment was a necessary precursor to the evolution of intelligence. She knew of only one sentient insectoid species, the long-extinct Rachni; Binary Helix must have discovered another. "So they were breeding an army down here."

"I can't believe they'd be so stupid," Tali muttered darkly. "Reviving the Rachni is like us recreating the Geth. Bosh'tets."

"Rachni?" Liara demanded sharply, casting a worried glance at the Quarian. "Are you sure?"

"That's what the guards said," Tali replied, backing the video up by about fifteen minutes. Two Turians appeared where the creature had been, watching the tunnel.

"—supposed to hold here. Spirits, if I'd know there were Rachni here, I'd never had signed up—"

Tali paused the vid. "I hate bugs," she declared dramatically.

"They used to make me nervous," Kara admitted, smiling softly. Her fear of insects—and it had started out as such—had come from growing up in a relatively sterile environment, and went away with exposure, but while Tali could say the same, the Quarians as a species had grown up on a world without them entirely; Rannoch's early insectoid life had died off in a natural disaster.

The Rachni, however, were something else entirely, a hive-based species with the intelligence and adaptability necessary to become a spacefaring civilization. Unfortunately, she had assumed that, like the Protheans, they were ancient history, and spent little time learning what few cultural details were known. More importantly, at present, she knew nothing about their tactics or capabilities. The STG would have access to that sort of information. "Shepard to Normandy."

"Go ahead, Captain," Kirrahe replied, through her headset.

"Tali's sending you some images," Kara told him, waiting for the Quarian's acknowledging nod before she continued. "Confirm that what they show are Rachni, then get me a tactical assessment."

"Did I hear that right, Captain?" the Salarian inquired hastily.

"I'm having a hard time believing it myself," Kara said. It was the coincidences that bothered her, and not the Rachni themselves. Had Benezia deliberately released them, to bolster her limited forces; had she some means of controlling them? What if they were the reason why she had come—solely to set a trap for Saren's most threatening enemy?

Kirrahe muttered several Salarian profanities, emphasized with the solid thump of his fist against the Normandy command console. "The images are coming through now."

While she waited, Kara walked to the security chief's office, on the far side of the room. The door was locked, and she brought up the proper software on her omnitool.

"Confirmed, Captain," Kirrahe sighed. "They're Rachni soldiers. They use pheromonal and radio signals to coordinate in combat, but have only moderate intelligence. Unless a commander is present, don't expect sophisticated tactics."

Kara smiled, as the locking mechanism disengaged, and the door slid open. "Commander?"

"A more intelligent variation on the soldier; they were referred to as brood warriors. Provides tactical leadership to groups of soldiers, enabling Queens to focus on strategy."

As she had hoped, the office contained a weapons locker. She pulled the latch, revealing an array of assault rifles, with only a few empty slots inside. "Any advice on how to kill them?" Kara asked, inspecting one of the weapons. The straight, functional lines suggested Salarian manufacture, confirmed by a string of blocky letters on the stock. In general, that meant higher accuracy at the cost of a low rate of fire, which fit her preferences nicely, but she wondered if a broader firing pattern wouldn't be more effective.

"Have overwhelming numbers."

"That's useful," Kara laughed. Two thousand years had passed since the War, during which the Council races had improved their technology considerably. The Rachni had not, and there was no evidence of them having access to technology at all.

"Records on the Rachni war are extensive, not easily summarized," Kirrahe snorted.

Probably true. The Salarians were diligent about keeping records, and the war had gone on for a hundred and sixty years—sixteen generations of dead. Kara frowned, as she checked over two more identical rifles. "Try."

Kirrahe sighed. "Guerrilla-style attacks and ambushes were most effective, as the Salarian Army could not hold against their full strength. Asari troops were more successful, but never committed to the war in large numbers; biotics are a major advantage, as few Rachni are biotics capable. Strength and resilience of Krogan warriors is also effective."

Kara didn't have an army of Krogan; she had only a single battlemaster, and that was only if he survived the storm. "What about anatomy," she asked, moving back out into the security checkpoint. "Any vulnerabilities?"

"The Rachni have a rudimentary internal skeleton, and an exoskeleton adapted to protect vital areas. They were capable of resisting gunfire—"

"Kara!" Liara's sharp cry interrupted Kirrahe's speech, and he stopped talking. "They're coming!"

Joining the Asari at the half-wall, Kara handed over one of her rifles as she studied the darkness; but she could see nothing. The Rachni must have been warm-blooded, visible to Liara's infrared sight. "We're falling back. Tali?"

"I'm ready," the Quarian replied, picking up her shotgun as she stood. She holstered the weapon, and caught the rifle Kara tossed to her.

"You first," Kara told her, turning to see Liara fire at something in the shadows; the creature let out a chittering cry of pain, but it didn't stop, and it wasn't alone. More Rachni appeared from the darkness. She drew her pistol, she focused on wrapping it in a warp field—an advanced technique which Kaliran had taught her. If done properly, it would interact with the mass effect fields inside the weapon, further decreasing the ammo shard's mass inside the barrel, and then inverting, resulting in a shard with greater effective mass, moving at a higher velocity. "You're next, Liara."

The Asari nodded, firing one last burst before she began to retreat. The lead Rachni collapsed, and didn't move again.

Kara lingered only a few moments, firing on the Rachni as they approached, before following her squad. The technique had worked, and seemed slightly more effective than Liara's assault rifle, but she didn't think it would be enough to hold them off.

She backed through the door just as the first Rachni entered the checkpoint. "Liara," she said sharply, generating a biotic singularity on the edge of the platform, dragging the hostile creature backwards.

The Asari nodded, watching as several more Rachni were dragged towards the center of the field; then she disrupted it, sending a shockwave of chaotic mass-shifts radiating outward. So-called biotic detonations didn't do much overt damage, unlike a chemical explosion, and they were more variable. They could shear open blood vessels, or sever nerves, like might have happened to one Rachni that had fallen over, twitching uncontrollably, or just toss them about, but the effective range was a meter or less, depending on the amount of energy put into it.

"Looks like we've slowed them down," Kara said, watching the Rachni with some interest. Two of them were standing over the still-twitching body of the other, as though wondering what to do about it. Did they know what biotics were? Or did they not understand what had just happened to them? "We can't stay here. Tali, did you find any survivors?"

"Through there," Tali replied quickly, pointing at a nearby door, on the west side of the hall. "They're defending a position just outside the quarters."

"We can't stay here," Kara said. The Rachni were getting agitated again, and might resume the attack at any moment. Now that she'd fought the creatures for herself, she believed strongly that recruiting the mercenaries was her best course of action. "We'll join—"

"Shepard, are you there?"

Kara sighed, and activated her comm; Garrus had chosen the worst possible moment to make contact. "I'm here. Are you in the garage?"

"Yeah. Aoki and Wrex are here with me. We're just got in, and just that was a—"

Tali had started firing, as the Rachni began to advance, while Liara attempted to slow them with more biotics. Six mercenaries with a heavy machine gun had failed to hold them back; how could the three of them be expected to do better? "We're under attack by Rachni," Kara snapped, cutting him off, "and we can't hold them for long. If you're coming, hurry."

"Spirits, Rachni?" the Turian replied incredulously. "You sure?"

Kara hissed, but said nothing. The insectoids were pressing them hard, and couldn't waste time answering his irritating doubts.

"Sayuri, let's go. Now!" Garrus shouted. "We're on our way, Shepard."

One of the Rachni charged the door, knocking Tali to the ground as it came through. The Quarian dropped her rifle, which slid out of reach. Kara rushed it, hitting it with biotically enhanced mass as it loomed over her, and fired several shots into its head as it tried to regain its balance.

Kara turned to see Tali blast yet another insectoid soldier with her shotgun, tearing through its armored exoskeleton. They had lost the door, though. Liara tossed an approaching Rachni at the opening, holding off reinforcements for long enough for the Quarian to regain her feet, while Kara picked off one of the creatures that had already come through.

"Fall back," Kara ordered. They were all firing everything they had, weapons and biotics both, and doing significant damage, but the enemy kept coming. Binary Helix wasn't breeding an army; they were already done. And it had escaped. She ejected the thermal clip from her pistol, and loaded another; Liara had already done the same.

"There's too many of them," Liara gasped, flinging the nearest Rachni at one of its comrades. "We have to go!"

She was right. They were falling back quickly, while fresh Rachni continued to appear and advance, stepping over their dead without apparent concern. This wasn't a battle they could win, but retreating into the living quarters would leave Garrus and the others to face it alone.

Only, she wasn't sure they could keep fighting long enough, as their weapons continued to overheat, and she ran out of energy for more biotics. "Alright," she sighed. "Get the door, Liara."

The Asari nodded, generating a singularity to help hold her side of the room, before she backed off. Kara followed slowly, gesturing that Tali should go next.

"Hold the lift, Garrus," she ordered, as she ducked through the door. Tali sealed and locked it behind them, but they all knew that it wouldn't hold the Rachni for long. Kara gestured that the Quarian should lead them onward.

"Why? What's wrong?"

"You'll be walking straight into an ambush," Kara told him flatly. "We're going to try and recruit some local help."

"Come on, Shepard, if we both hit them at once—"

"Garrus," Kara snapped, "I've made my decision." She felt lightheaded, herself, a sign that she needed an energy boost. Liara had already begun chewing on an energy bar. Behind them, they could hear the Rachni hammering on the door.

"Yes, ma'am," the Turian said sharply.

Kara sighed, turning to check on the door. It was badly bent, but still hung in its frame, with enough of a gap that she could see light and movement beyond it. On planets with a hostile environment, it was policy to make all main doors pressure sealed, so that a breach could be easily isolated. That made them slightly more resistant to physical attack. They had seconds, only, corridor was twenty meters long at most, and they were already nearing the end.

"Tali!"

"I'm fine," the Quarian replied, as Kara turned to see Liara helping her to her feet. "We need to keep moving."

Now that she had a chance to look, Kara noticed that Tali was favoring her right leg as she walked, but any speculation as to what injury she had suffered ended with a crash, as the door buckled and fell, and the Rachni swarmed through.

Liara pulled Tali's arm over her shoulder, supporting the Quarian as they continued to retreat. The door opened without resistance.

Kara frowned as half a dozen armored mercenaries, and at least as many armed civilians, all pointed their weapons at her.

"Hold your fire," someone shouted; a moment later, a male human rushed into the room through another door, a full helmet concealing all but a patch of dark skin around his eyes. "I dunno why you're here, Captain, and I don' fuckin' care. The bugs are my priority, so either lend a hand, or get outta the way.

That made for a refreshing surprise, Kara thought, even if he changed his mind and tried to kill her later on. She nodded at him. "Liara, Tali, get under cover. They're right behind us."

The Rachni disappeared back down the corridor almost as quickly as they'd come, leaving Kara standing in the midst of dozen armed persons of dubious intent. She did precisely what any sensible person would do in her position, and ignored them, going instead to check on Tali; the young Quairan had collapsed in the middle of the fight, certainly due to some prior injury.

"Kara? Did we win?" Tali asked, attempting to rise from where she sat against the wall, but she seemed not to be able to work her legs properly, and sank back with a muttered curse. "Sorry."

A cursory examination was enough to discover what had happened to her. A Rachni, probably the same one that had knocked her down outside the security post, had caught her leg with one of its claws, tearing open her suit, and leaving a deep gash in the dark skin of her thigh. It had missed her major artery, and was a moderate wound at worst, and easily treatable with a dash of medigel. The delay had given infection time to set in; its effects, and those of the antibiotic pumped into her body by her suit's medical systems, explained her condition.

"You should have told me, Tali," Kara sighed. "You put us all in danger."

"I didn't want to let you down," the Quarian muttered, her glowing eyes avoiding Kara's.

"You won't, so long as you act smart," Kara told Tali. She shook her head. If she had known what they'd be facing, she would never have brought a Quarian. Their immune systems made them then too vulnerable in close combat. "Let's get you taken care of."

"Yeah," Tali said, letting Kara help her to her feet.

Supporting Tali with the Quarian's arm over her shoulder, Kara turned to the man who had taken command of the mercenaries. He had removed his helmet, revealing a middle-aged face wearing a conflicted expression. "You've got a doctor?"

"Wha? Oh, yeah," he said, nodding faintly. She wondered what he was thinking. "This way, Captain."

He led her through one of the doors that led deeper into the living section, the same one he'd come out of before the battle. After a right turn the corridor continued onward, but the door straight ahead was labeled as leading to a clinic. Inside, they found a Turian female doctor, who quickly had Tali lie down on the examination table, and began examining her wound.

Kara turned to Liara, who had followed them without prompting. "Stay with Tali," she said quietly, gesturing at the mercenary leader. "I need to talk with our friend, here."

"Stay close," Liara said, touching her cheek softly, "and don't lose your temper."

"Hey," Kara smiled, clasping the Asari's hand briefly, "I never get angry."

Liara returned her smile, and stepped away, moving to Tali's side.

Kara started towards the other end of the room, gesturing that the mercenary should follow her. "Under the authority of the Council, I'm taking command," she said flatly, turning to face him. "You will place yourself and your squad at my disposal. Is this going to be a problem?"

"'ey, I was 'ired to protect the Company and its personnel," he said, shaking his head at her, "no' to play at politics. Best I can do is not interfere."

"Your chief is dead, right?" Kara asked.

The man nodded. "Died trying to hold off the first wave. A good man, for a Turian, but 'ee thought we could 'old off the bugs. I guess tha' Asari matriarch found a way, though—she 'asn't left the hot labs since she arrived. She sent orders to ambush you not an hour ago, and I guess you saw how that turned out. Lost 'is lieutenant, there. She fought like 'ell. Saved my life."

"You may not be aware, then, that as an agent of the Council, conducting an official investigation, clients of the NDC are obligated to cooperate with me. I can't do this without your help, and if they aren't stopped, the Rachni will eventually overrun your position."

"If I could just check in with HQ…" he frowned.

"They'd tell you to obey Benezia's orders. If you're worried about your job, you're better off making your choice without them."

"Easier to ask forgiveness than permission, eh? From what I've heard about Spectres, that sounds like their kind of logic, but I guess it works. Better than dying here. What is it you need us to do?"

There you have it; another chapter. We hope you enjoyed it, and please feel oblig... free to leave a review.