Chapter 35
Hangar - Cerberus Facility 3 - Binthu
Everything went on business as usual outside the ship as it slowly pulled into the main docking bay. Cargo was being packed up, logistics were making lists, and the human facility was running as if nothing was wrong. Even so, there was still a security team there to meet the shuttle as it landed. And that perfect china tea set that was the everyday routine of the Cerberus facility was smashed against a wall as the hatch on the vehicle opened and Wrex barreled straight into security before they could even get their weapons loose.
Liara followed next, her biotics lit inside her white armor as she reached over and grabbed the security next to the door and with a flick of her wrist, slammed them directly into the ceiling. Immediately, unarmed scientists and lab assistants scrambled for cover as Shepard and Kaidan moved from the vessel and shouted for them to get on the ground. And despite being a part of an organized military operative group, they did as they were told.
Suddenly, an alarm went off in the base, making Shepard look up at the ceiling as the lights flashed red. "Guess the jig is up," she said with a smirk as Wrex made quick work of the security team. Any who were still conscious were quickly cuffed and left on their faces. Finally, Shepard opened her omni-tool and disabled the alarm. Kaidan went to work cuffing the unarmed people as well as she hijacked their intercom system. "Dear Cerberus agents. This is Jane Shepard with the Council Special Tactics and Reconnaissance. I currently have an Excalibur-class mass accelerator weapon pointed directly at your facilities. If you do not cooperate, your chances of getting out of here alive are slim to none. We have taken the docking port, and there will be no escaping."
Aside from a few groans from the security team as Kaidan cuffed them none-too-gently, there was no sound. Wrex turned to her curiously. "You think they're gonna do it?"
Shepard shook her head. "There's probably a few who would. But I doubt Cerberus would allow them to even if they wanted," she said as she lifted her omni-tool again. "You have one minute to march to the docking bay with your hands raised before I bring this base to its knees," she said, then switched to her comm. "Pressly, leave one of the Fire Team in place and send the rest down with Williams, Vakarian, and Tali'Zorah. We've got a number of prisoners."
"Affirmative Shepard," responded the XO.
As the clock counted down, they all waited silently for something to happen. While the spectre would have been surprised if they had sent a surrender request, she would have happily accepted it. But she was more expecting them to march down the hallway and start firing. Though, given Cerberus' preferred method of staying in the shadows, it was more likely that they were setting up ambushes.
As her timer passed the minute marker, she sighed and nodded to the others. "Once the B Squad arrives, we're going in." Wrex grunted, and Liara and Kaidan both nodded approval. Shortly afterwards, the shuttle flew in from outside, and immediately the fire team moved out of the vehicle and began pulling the prisoners up onto their knees.
"You two, start putting them into the shuttle and towing it back to the Normandy for imprisonment. Williams, Zorah, Vakarian, and the rest of us will stay here to make sure they stay exactly where they are," ordered Zannia she pointed to two of her fire team. Then, she turned to Shepard and gave a turian salute. The spectre returned the salute before nodding to the others.
"Let's move!" she shouted as they all headed for the door in the back of the hangar. They moved as an infiltration team, with Shepard at the front, followed by Liara, then Wrex, with Kaidan at the rear.
"Anyone get the feeling that no matter how hard we try to suppress distress calls; the other facilities are going to be prepared for us regardless?" asked Kaidan as they moved down the lengthy hallway.
"Having their signals jammed will probably get them off their asses regardless," responded Wrex as they all surrounded the first door they came across. Shepard slid the door open, and the krogan immediately charged in headfirst. Shepard and the others stepped away from the door as explosions sounded off. "O-Oww…" groaned Wrex from inside the room.
"One of these days you're going to learn, Wrex," said Shepard as she stepped into the cleared doorway and held her pistol aloft. The room was a small computer lab, but all of the tables had been flipped up for defense. As soon as one of the armored agents popped their head up, Shepard activated her omni-tool and sabotaged his shields, then put a round through their faceplate.
"Spectre, we've got a vehicle moving from one of the other facilities in your direction. It's unclear if they're reinforcements, or just transporting something," came Pressly's voice over the comm.
"Alert Williams and the cleanup crew and let them through. If they can't bring them down and they try to get away, then just blast them out of the air," she ordered as Kaidan stepped into the doorway and used his biotics to lift all the tables from the ground. A few of the hiding soldiers were also ripped from their spots, making them easy targets for a now thoroughly pissed off krogan.
"Acknowledged, Shepard," responded Pressly as Wrex got up and blasted the two agents with his shotgun.
"Sacks of varren shit, that hurt like hell," he grumbled as he reached up and touched the scoring on his helmet from the explosives.
"Perhaps I should check for explosives before you run into the rooms from now on?" stated Liara as Shepard nodded for them to move on.
"Fine. But only because you asked nicely," said the disgruntled mercenary as he followed the commander down the hallway once more. As they continued, they moved into a larger open area which looked to be a cafeteria.
"Looks like we found the mess hall," said Kaidan as he raised his weapon. But Wrex growled and his biotics lit. In seconds, he vanished and appeared behind the serving counter where two more soldiers were hidden. Raising his shotgun, he smashed the helmet of one of them so hard that a sickening crunch sounded, then turned the barrel on the other and blew right through the face shield.
"Lunch is served," he said as he stepped out from behind the counter. "Kitchen next?"
"We clear everything," ordered Shepard as they moved towards the swinging doors in the back.
Hangar - Cerberus Facility 3 - Binthu
"Make sure the hooks are ready!" shouted Zannia as she turned to Tali. "You ready?"
"I've got it," said Tali as she primed her omni-tool. Chatika waited nearby out of sight as all the turians moved to keep from immediately being seen.
As the incoming shuttle flew close to the hangar door, Williams raised her arm up so the Fire Team could see it. When it looked as if the pilot noticed the lack of people in the hangar and began backing out, she swung her arm down. "Fire!" shouted the gunnery chief.
Four grappling hooks were fired, all of which slammed into the side of the vessel and began pulling it inside the facility. The engines were cranked up to maximum thrust, but they died almost immediately as Tali reached out with her omni-tool and froze their systems with a cyber-attack. As the shuttle hit the ground, Williams and Zannia both swarmed out with their teams and ripped the pilot and co-pilot out of their seats before marching them into the hangar and planting them face down again.
"Secure the new ones and prepare them for transport as well!" ordered Ash as she turned away from the others. "Spectre, we got two more in the shuttle, no casualties."
Barracks - Cerberus Facility 3 - Binthu
"Good work, Williams. Keep that area secure, we're almost done here," responded Shepard as she nodded to Liara.
The asari swung her hand gracefully and a biotic shockwave smashed through the electronic door, ripping it from its frame and sending it careening into the room. That would have been bad enough had the shockwave not also set off the charges planted next to the door. The explosion blasted the metal door, sending it slamming edge first into an agent hiding behind one of the racks, slicing through the flimsy bunk and crushing their insides.
As the operative fell over dead, Wrex charged in again, and with a wave of his hand he slammed all of the bunks to one side of the room, smashing anyone in the way and leaving the others exposed. After having their cover torn away, the remaining soldiers were ripped apart by the combined gunfire of the four infiltrators.
"Room clear," said Kaidan before a groan could be heard from beneath the pile of bunks. Shepard stepped over and saw one of the men with their leg bent at an awkward angle, snapped when one of the beds had slammed on top of him.
"Mostly," she said as she aimed her pistol at him in the pile of bent bed frames. "Drop it," she ordered. The man groaned again and tossed his gun away before reaching down and trying to move the twisted metal that was keeping his snapped limb in place. "Williams, we've got a live one in the barracks. Flagging him for retrieval. Check to make sure there aren't any more under this pile that are still breathing."
"Affirmative, Commander," responded the gunnery sergeant over the comm as their team moved down the last hallway. The hangar, computer lab, mess hall, kitchen, bathrooms, and now the barracks were all clear.
"What do we have up here, Liara?" asked Shepard as she kept her movement slow.
Reaching up, the asari tapped her helmet to try and recall. "The... armory I believe. We should be careful. They know we're coming and will prepare accordingly."
"Understood," said the spectre as she took one side of the door. "Liara, you take the other side. Kaidan, Wrex, you're on point. When we open the door, fire at anyone you see and immediately duck out of the way." Getting a nod from them both, they raised their weapons. As the door slid open, two soldiers with automatic weapons fired at them as they fired back. Quickly, Shepard fired a grenade that adhered to the wall behind them. Ducking out of the way again, she activated it and an explosion sent the two firing figures screaming and flying as an explosion tore them apart. "Liara."
On her order, the asari stepped up and used her biotics to warp the metal cage holding the weapons and armor in place. Without needing ordered, Wrex stepped in front of her to shield her as more gunfire erupted from behind the bending bars. And when the wall finally collapsed into a heap, she unleashed a singularity inside the cage itself.
The krogan stepped forward and took his time eliminating the now floating agents from a distance as they tried desperately to aim while they drifted around in the air. Before long, the singularity wore off and three bodies fell from the air with their weapons raining down on them.
Turning away from the armory, Shepard opened her comm again. "Pressly, Facility 3 is down. We're going to regroup, and once the prisoners are all aboard the Normandy, we're hitting Facility 2."
"Understood, Shepard. We still have plenty of room for more," replied the navigator as Shepard turned and ordered them to follow her back.
"You know, headache aside, that was pretty simple," said Wrex as he followed them back down the hallway that led them here.
"That's what happens when you make a plan. You know, as opposed to just hurling yourself face first into everything," said Kaidan, who received growl from the krogan. "Cerberus didn't know we were coming, they didn't know we had inside intel on their facilities, and they still don't have a counter to biotics. The only warning they had was Shepard's announcement over the intercom, meaning they had to scramble for a plan in less than a minute."
"That's why I like intel. I like knowing what I'm getting myself into," said Shepard as she turned to walk through the cafeteria again, side stepping two of her own that were dragging the broken-legged man down the hall. "And nobody is saying that you charging into a mess can't be useful, Wrex. Just make sure to charge where we know it'll be useful. It'll end in fewer concussions and suit repairs."
"Alright alright, I got it," he said before reaching up and touching the burns. "And don't worry about a concussion. Regeneration makes us almost immune to concussions. Eh… most of the time anyway."
"I've been meaning to ask, Wrex, if krogan can regenerate from almost any injury, then how did you obtain your scars?" asked Liara curiously.
"This came from my Rite of Passage. I fought a thresher maw on foot," he said, getting a surprised look from all of them. "That's why I liked Edolus so much. Reminded me of my youth."
"So, what? It scratched you?" asked Kaidan, now curious himself as they entered the hangar again.
"No, pyjack, it didn't scratch me. During the battle, a lot of acid was sloshing around because those damn things just love melting their prey into paste. I happened to get splashed by some for peeking out at the wrong time. I tried tearing my own flesh off to get the pain to stop, but it didn't. And now I have these," he said as he tapped the side of his face.
"So, thresher acid bypasses the regeneration?" asked Liara in surprise.
"That shit can melt through a starship hull in seconds. You're damn right it bypasses the regeneration. It melts faster than we can heal and eats right through our regenerative cells. I'm lucky to still have a face," he snapped as they finally approached the gunnery chief.
"Update, Williams," ordered Shepard.
"We've got a few more to go before they're all secure, Commander," responded Ash as she turned to the spectre.
"Good. Liara, what's Facility 2?" asked Shepard as she turned to the asari.
"Facility 3 was for troops and armory, Facility 2 is vehicles, storage, and maintenance. It's a large warehouse where most of the cargo is stored until it can be distributed to other facilities. The only thing that's moved to other facilities first, besides personnel, are live test subjects. And those go to Facility 1, which is R&D," she said as she finally opened her eyes.
"Heh, bet that's gonna be fun," said Wrex as he rolled his shoulders.
"Let's hope they've hit a dry spell. I don't like the idea of fighting deranged test subjects," said the commander as she eyed the new shuttle that they pulled in. "Williams, Gavos! I've got a plan, come over here!" she shouted as she gathered them all around.
Cerberus Shuttle - Binthu
Shepard watched from her own craft as the two others, the transport from the Normandy and the hijacked Cerberus ship flew from Facility 3 over the green fields of the planet towards the next facility. The facility itself was given the same warning ahead of time; they were coming, and surrender was the only way out in one piece. But Shepard snorted as the Cerberus vessel flew into the open hangar and immediately received a rocket to its side. "Bad choice," she said as the explosion tore open the cabin of the vehicle and triggered the mines that had been stacked inside from the Cerberus armory. The resulting explosion blew the entire face off the building as the transport ship flew in and released a flood of troops, consisting of Ash, Zannia, Tali, and Garrus, as well as the remaining fire team to clean up whatever was left of the attacking crew.
Shaking her head, she patted Kaidan on the shoulder as he aimed their ship towards the final compound and zoomed in. "Any warning on this one, Commander?" he asked as the shuttle streaked across the greens of Binthu.
"That explosion is the only warning they're getting. I'm not giving them the go-ahead so they can release every test subject out to get between us and them," she said as she eyed the facility itself. Unlike the other two, this one appeared to be built directly into a mountainside, likely to make it more difficult to escape.
"We have plenty of hostages, Shepard. Why not bring out the Excalibur for this one and enjoy the fireworks?" asked Wrex as he eyed the commander.
"They're prisoners to be tried in a court of law, not hostages. And secondly, if we want to get any headway on what exactly they were working on out here, then we need the information inside that facility," she said as she eyed it curiously.
The ship swooped down and made for the tunnel-like entrance as Shepard overrode the doors and opened them. "I don't like the look of this," said Kaidan as he directed the shuttle into the hangar, which had no lights on whatsoever.
"Neither do I. Chances are, they already know we're here. So, get your weapons ready. While they probably don't have as much security as the other two facilities, they still had a few guards in here to keep messes from spilling out," she said as she turned on her dark vision. "Also, comms only once we're outside the vehicle. I don't want sound giving us away."
"Understood, Shepard," responded Kaidan as he set the shuttled down in the center of the darkened hangar.
"Oh hell…" suddenly came Wrex's curse, causing Shepard to turn and stare at pairs of glowing orbs leering at them through the blast shield. Turning off her dark vision for a moment, she felt chills go down her spine as they all peered at her in that same, electric blue stare.
"HUSKS! Get the hell out of the shuttle!" she shouted as she kicked the door open and threw herself free from the cabin. Suddenly, the orbs were all paired off with glowing rings that hovered directly below each pair, and their bodies began to light up as electricity flowed through them.
"What kind of horror movie bullshit is this!?" shouted Kaidan as Liara jumped out and thrust her palm forward, smashing a group of the husks that had charged Shepard against a wall with a wave of her biotics.
Lifted the Cerberus shuttle off again, the lieutenant slowly began to spin it. "Alenko, what the hell are you doing!?" asked Shepard as she zeroed in on a pair of the glowing eyes and put a round right between them.
"Getting their attention, sir!" he shouted as he turned the cabin lights on. Sure enough, most of the husks in the area sprinted directly for the ship and began diving onto it. "Wrex, I'm gonna need your big gun out for this one!"
"Heh, you got it," responded the krogan as he backhanded one of the zombie-like monsters and crushed it beneath his heel. Reaching back, he pulled his laser weapon off his back.
"Does one of you two want to explain to me what your half-assed plan is?" shouted Shepard as she blasted through another of the strays before she turned to watch the horrific display. The shuttle was barely hovering off the ground anymore due to the weight of all the husks that had thrown themselves on top of it trying to get to the lieutenant.
"Not really a plan. Just keeping them off your back," said Kaidan as he steered the overloaded ship towards the far edge of the bay. The bodies were now stacked high enough that the corners of the shuttle began scraping the ground. Kaidan donned his barrier just as the first one let off its blast of electricity. "Damn, that's not gonna last!" he shouted as she slammed the vehicle full force into the wall. Many of the husks flew off, but there was still plenty scraping at the surface of the vehicle as another unleashed its hellish aura.
"Alenko! Get out of there!" shouted Shepard as she started to shoot at the creatures.
But Liara held her back. "Wrex! Fire now!" she shouted as she reached out with her biotics just as a group swarmed the door and ripped it off of the vehicle.
Shepard looked at her incredulously and Wrex pulled the trigger on his laser weapon. The large beam charged for a few seconds, then fired directly into the crowd, blasting off limbs and entire bodies of the husks as they hammered away at the shuttle. But its destructive power was meant for carnage, and it burned straight through the husks and hit the vehicle itself, causing an explosion that knocked both Liara and Shepard onto their behinds before raining husk parts down on the room.
"ALENKO!" shouted the commander as she got to her feet and ran for the vehicle, but she stopped in her tracks as a panting Liara got back to her feet and Wrex raised the barrel of the crackling weapon. Shepard's eyes widened as she saw an unharmed Kaidan pulling a fist back, no doubt to use his biotics, before he had been locked into a stasis by the asari.
He sat there, his eyes looking at them none-too-pleased as Shepard sighed and rubbed her helmet, the stress of one of her crew potentially dying giving her a headache. "Alright... I shouldn't complain given that he's alive, but next time could one of you tell me that he was safe?"
"Apologies, Shepard. There wasn't much time. If Wrex didn't shoot when he did, any number of their electrical attacks could have worn me down and dropped the stasis." Shepard nodded at Liara before finally turning to Kaidan. Reaching forward, the asari released him from the hold and his shield immediately covered him from head to toe.
"Thanks, Doc. Wasn't sure if I'd make it out of that one," he said as he flexed his neck gently.
"I'm pleased to see you are well. I knew I could protect you from the laser, but I wasn't expecting the explosion. I wasn't sure until just now that it would hold up against one," she said as she released a heavy breath.
"Alright," said Shepard with a sigh as she scanned the area with her night vision again. "If we've got all our fingers and toes counted, then let's get to clearing the rest of this place." Turning to Wrex, she nodded to him. "Wrex, if you don't mind, I'd like you to take the lead on these three. Them having husks terrifies me, especially if that's the first thing we're running into. I'm going to go dark and see what lies ahead."
"You got it," said the krogan as he donned his own barrier and padded his way towards the door. Vanishing into thin air, the commander was now invisible on every known spectrum as she moved ahead and opened the door.
"So much for the element of surprise," said Kaidan over the comm as she made her way into the next room.
Her footsteps took her down a hallway, her eyes nervously looking around as she saw the turrets on the ceiling aimed at the doors leading further into the base. "They have guns set up to make sure that nothing besides humans escape the lab," she said as she opened her omni-tool and fried the circuits inside each one. "Be careful. I don't know if they have any kind of purge protocols in this place, and I don't want you guys getting locked into a room and atomized."
"Knowing Cerberus's type, I wouldn't put it past them to have a nuke under the floorpanels," responded Kaidan as the three of them slowly moved up through the hallway that the spectre had just cleared.
As Shepard opened the door into the next area, two soldiers behind cover a few meters away fired into the hallway. One of the rounds bounced off her shield before she managed to duck behind cover. "We've got live ones. I'm gonna sneak in and take a look around for anymore. You three wait behind this door."
"Confirmed," responded Liara as Shepard dipped into the room and looked around. There were guards stacked on either side of a large column in the middle, flanking the two she had snuck past while entering. Besides that, there was one in the back taking cover behind a set of flimsy transport crates holding a pistol. She could easily see that they were a simple scientist rather than security. Her eyes were wide to try and read something, anything in the near pitch-black room and her hands were shaking lightly as they clung to the pistol.
"Wrex. I'm going to open the door and I want you to charge headfirst straight in front of you. There's two taking cover behind a small barricade that shouldn't give you too much trouble. Liara, Kaidan, once Wrex takes them out, you two head just to the right of him and take out the unit just to the right of the pillar, and I've got the one on the left. The last one, we won't have much to worry about," she said as she marked them all for their HUDs.
"You mean I get the charge in headfirst and you're not going to yell at me?" he asked playfully but got no response.
Shepard placed her pistol nearly against her own target's throat before firing and immediately taking them down, their blood splattering across the floor. "Now!" she barked as the door slid open. Wrex took the signal and charged forward with his biotic barrier covering his body. With the others distracted by her own gunfire, the two up front barely got a shot off before Wrex's hulking mass snapped the barricade off the ground and slammed into them, crushing them against the pillar.
Liara stepped inside and immediately warped the guard to the right of the pillar, causing him to shout in pain as both armor and flesh were torn in the attack. But his cries of agony didn't last long before the asari kicked him to the ground and silenced him with her own pistol.
Finally, as Wrex enjoyed grinding the sorry security against the large column, Kaidan stepped up and ended their groaning with a round each from his own weapon. "Awww, you're no fun."
"We're not here for fun," said Kaidan dutifully as he lowered his gun. "Besides, what the hell did you tell me about hesitating?"
"Huh, got me there," said the krogan as he dropped the soldiers, leaving the barrier laying on top of them. "Where's Shepard?"
"Over here," came her voice. They all raised their weapons and aimed at the woman now struggling against the spectre's tight grip. "Hold still and you might make it out of this alive!" snapped the spectre as she kicked the scientist in the back of the knee, bringing her down to one knee before wrenching her hands behind her back.
"Alive? Hah... no. He would never let me live…" said the woman as tears began pouring down her face. "Roger Delta 0112, signing out."
Shepard looked down at her sorrow filled face and saw blood dripping from her nose. "Fuck! Don't you fucking dare!" she shouted, but it was too late. The woman's limbs went limp with blood now dribbling from her mouth. Shepard hurled the woman's body aside before turning and kicking the crate next to her, smashing it in anger.
"Shepard, are you alright?" asked the asari as she approached and placed a hand on the woman's shoulder.
Reaching up, the spectre laced her hands behind her helmet and released a tense breath before turning to the rest of them. "Suicide capsules. Many terrorist organizations and religious extremists I've worked against in the past used them in case any of their members were caught. I guess Cerberus isn't beyond that either," she growled as she finally released her hands and placed them on her hips. "Civilians, women, children, all of them so terrified of me thanks to brainwashing that they killed themselves rather than be captured."
"I'm sorry, Commander. I know it couldn't have been easy," said Kaidan worriedly.
"It's fine. I've made my peace, and I made the ones responsible pay. Time to do the same here," she said as she pulled up her pistol again. "It looks like there are several labs here that were working on several different things. We go together this time and put down whatever monsters they've been working on if they're loose and try and take as many people alive as we can. If you see someone in a labcoat, do not let them kill themselves. Their capsules are password activated, likely from their omni-tool. So, knock them out, stun them, do what you need to do to keep them from saying the kill command," she ordered as she headed for the nearby room labeled C-1.
As soon as the door opened, she stopped them all. Liara looked on either side of the small hallway with her night vision active and her eyes widened. "Are those... scorch marks on the wall?"
"The purge corridor I was talking about. In case anything tries to get away from the lab, they seal off the room and torch it." Shepard took a step out of the room and opened her omni-tool. "Looks like the controls aren't electronic. That makes this a bit more difficult."
"But the doors are," said Wrex as he moved forward.
"And?" asked Shepard as she looked up at him.
"I can take the heat. Open the door on the far end and let me charge through. The flames won't stop me, and I'll be able to turn it off from the other side," he said as he rolled his helmeted head on his neck.
"Wrex, there's no telling what's waiting on the other side of that door," she said as she pointed down the hall.
"And we'll never find out unless we do this. So, you can sit here and formulate a plan until the heat-death of the universe, or you can let me go in there and do my thing. I doubt whatever's on the other side of that door can handle me before I get to the purge controls," he said as he smacked his fist against his chest plate.
Sighing to herself, Shepard finally nodded. "Alright Wrex, if that's the way you want to do this."
"You have any funeral plans ready?" asked Kaidan curiously, getting the krogan's attention, and no doubt a glare as well.
"No faith. Is this the crew I'm working with?" he asked before shoving the lieutenant aside and stepping up to the door. "Just sit back and watch from safety, pretty-boy."
Shepard opened her omni-tool and held it up towards the far end of the hall. The door suddenly slid open, and a surprised security unit gasped in horror as Wrex's biotics swirled around him. The flames immediately activated and cranked up as Shepard and the others stepped away. Then Wrex vanished into the fire, followed by the screams of the unlucky soldier on the other side.
It was a few long minutes of gunfire sounds and scorching temperatures heating the door before finally the sounds of the incinerator vanished. Shepard approached and held her omni-tool to the door. "It's slow, but the temperature is dropping," she said as she ordered them to step on either side of the door. Opening it, she saw that the hall was blackened again, but this time there was smoke wafting through the air. She made it to the end of the hall before spotting the body of the door guard laying inside the room. "Looks like Wrex tossed our lucky Cerberus agent into the flames when he made it through."
"Heh, you should see the unlucky ones," came his voice from further in the room as a body landed at her feet. Looking up, she saw him with two more being dragged from his strong hands. "It's always a challenge when you tell a krogan not to kill something," he said before tossing them as well. Using her omni-tool, she read their vitals and found all three unconscious.
"Good work, Wrex," she said as she cuffed them. Reaching down, she used her strength to tear at the fabric that they wore before wrapping it around their heads and gagging them. "Now, let's see what kind of work they were doing," she said as she stood up and headed for the glass case nearby. Raising her omni-tool, she turned the light on inside the cage, then immediately stopped in her tracks. "What the hell is that?"
It was small, barely bigger than an outstretched human hand, and had a hard green shell that sat on top of four sharp legs that tapped against the bottom of the cage with each step. Wrex and the others approached as well, and almost immediately Wrex began to growl. "That's impossible…"
"What is it?" asked Kaidan as he got closer to the cage and examined it further. There were several of them clicking around the cage on their legs, their small mandibles snapping at him.
"I don't believe it," said Liara as she quickly approached the cage and stared inside. "Goddess! Those... those are Rachni workers!" she squeaked, almost fascinated by them.
"Outta the way. I'll take care of them right here," Wrex growled as he prepared his shotgun.
But Shepard stepped into his path. "I don't think so Wrex," she snapped as she held up her hand.
"Move Shepard! You don't know what those things are capable of!" he roared at her.
But she refused to relent her ground, her eyes narrowing as she stared at him. "Stand down, Wrex, that's an order!" she bellowed, still holding her hand out in front of him. "I know the krogan and rachni have a history. But you're not about to destroy evidence over a two-thousand-year-old grudge!"
He stared at her for a long moment before finally turning away and growling. "Fine! Just a bunch of the tiny ones anyway!" he shouted angrily as he returned to the previous room.
Shepard turned back towards the cage, her brows furrowing as she looked at the insectoids in the glass reacting to both Kaidan and Liara with snaps of their mandibles. "I thought they were extinct!" said Liara as she gazed through the glass in awe.
"Guys, let's get a move on. We've got another lab to clean up before we're done here," ordered Shepard as she waved them over.
"Apologies, Shepard. It's not every day you get to look at a living piece of history," said Liara as she and Kaidan followed Shepard back into the main hall.
"We'll figure out where they came from later. For now, let's see what else Cerberus has been tinkering around with," she said as she eyed Wrex.
"Yeah yeah, I'm coming," grumbled the krogan as he stepped towards the next door.
"What's next, a living prothean?" asked Kaidan curiously.
"Do not tease me like that, Lieutenant. My heart would not be able to take it," said Liara as she prepared her biotics.
As Shepard opened the door, she saw that the floor was solid this time. "No incinerator, that means they must have had other methods of dealing with these subjects," she said as she slowly inched into the room and looked around. There was a window on the side that peered into the lab itself, but as with everything else, it was dark. As she approached the door into the lab, she opened it and looked inside. "No signs of anyone. The only thing I can see is what looks like some kind of biotic or electronic barrier on the other side of the room. Stay alert," she ordered as Liara followed her in, then Wrex, then finally Kaidan. But her spine was tingling with every step she took.
"Commander…" started Kaidan, but she cut him off.
"I know. I don't like this either," she said as she looked around frantically. It was odd, even in other obvious ambush zones, she never felt any kind of anxiety like she was feeling now. Her heart was racing, she was sweating, she felt as if she was about to have a panic attack. "What the hell is wrong with me!?"
"Shepard! Something just tried to telepathically link to me!" shouted Liara worriedly.
"Telepathic... what?" she asked as she aimed her pistol into the darkness. "What are you talking about Liara!?"
"Someone was trying to feed me emotions of discord! Instill fear and anxiety!" she reported as her biotics lit defensively.
Shepard looked back at her in surprise as Kaidan spoke up. "So that's what that is? Here I thought I was starting to think I was having a stroke," he said as he breathed heavily.
"Get down!" shouted Wrex as he shoved Shepard to the floor. The others backed off as he threw his hands up and sweltered with biotic energy. "Get out here coward! Enough with your mindgames!" he shouted before finally unleashing a wave of biotic energy that sent Liara and Kaidan flying backwards and caused Shepard to start rolling. She finally rolled to her feet and shook off the blast before hearing a loud screech fill the room.
Suddenly, as if coming from inside her head, she heard someone screaming. "DIIIISCORD! GREY OF ASH AND RED OF ANGER! BLACK OF DEATH!" Shepard cringed at the screech as the sound of a heavy body hitting the floor came from behind her. She spun around and aimed her pistol, but went wide-eyed as she stared at a much, much larger insect.
"Shepard! What the hell is that!?" asked Kaidan as he picked himself up from Wrex's attack and stared at it in surprise.
"It's a queen…" said Liara, almost silently over the comm as her own biotics lit.
CODEX ENTRIES
Rite of Passage | Culture | Krogan
The Right of Passage is a trial of adulthood given to krogan whelps. Once a whelp reaches an age of maturity, they are thrust into a combat arena and forced to fight whatever wildlife haunts the surface of Tuchanka. Rites have been known to contain battles against the native feral varren, the flying harvesters looking to implant their eggs into a new host, and the burrowing klixen who are fiercely territorial. The types of enemies one faces during the Rite of Passage often depends on the region in which the rite takes place. Some unlucky krogan have even had the pleasure of fighting a thresher maw, those of which were usually killed as a result of corrosive spray, being swallowed whole, or blunt force trauma due to the collapse of nearby structures. Once the Right of Passage has been successful, the krogan and their krant often celebrate with vigorous amounts of alcohol and visits to the female clan for reproductive activities.
Suicide Capsule | Technology | Medical
Sometimes simply called the kill pill, technology has improved greatly since the days of cyanide hidden in a false tooth. Used by terrorist organizations, cults, and tyrants as a method of controlling their followers and slaves, it's a small capsule explosive planted either in the brain or in the heart. If activated for whatever reason, it's intent is to kill the host as punishment or to keep information from getting out of captured units.
Rachni Worker | Culture | Rachni
A small insect-based lifeform, usually no larger than a common omni-tool that does all the work of the rachni colony. Despite their small size, they do the majority of the heavy lifting, including tunneling for underground colonies, gathering food, tending to the young, and even fighting when necessary. The unfortunate side-effect of a worker fighting, however, is that its only form of defense is destroying itself and covering its target in small amounts of acid that it contains within its body. While a single worker likely won't kill an attacker, a swarm of the creatures could easily overwhelm and destroy anything in their path.
Rachni Queen | Culture | Rachni
The mother of all rachni, a queen of the rachni is the ruler of all of her children. Unlike the usually democratic structure of most sapient species, the rachni are strictly monarchical, with queens bred from eggs to rule over their young. Even inside the egg, the queens immediately telepathically attach themselves to their mother queen in order to learn and grow until the day that they hatch and begin their own colony, typically through parthenogenesis, or replace their expiring mother. Often seen as the most dangerous of the rachni, the queens have powerful biotics that match even the most powerful of asari and can spit a corrosive acid that can melt through krogan armor in seconds. After the rachni wars, it was believed that all of the rachni eggs remaining in the galaxy had been annihilated by the war-like krogan.