Yet another one that took way longer than it should have. My only excuse is that I was once again in a rut where I couldn't really do anything except eat, sleep, play video games and cry because WHAT IS EVEN MY LIFE.

…..

"We should've never allowed the Normandy to dock!" Prok ranted. "It's a well-known fact that wherever Spectres go, chaos follows! Administrator Chok has been arrested, half the ERCS has been exposed as corrupt, and Binary Helix is outraged that the Spectre is now poking around in their labs!"

"Which sent us a Code Omega days ago." Grik pointed out. "It's pretty obvious what happened. BH laid a bad egg up on Peak 15, the Council found out about it somehow and they sent their newest lapdog in to dispose of it."

"What are you saying?" Prok asked.

"I'm saying that, ultimately, Binary Helix is the reason the Spectre is here. Perhaps we should let BH know that if they're going to attract the Citadel's attention, perhaps they should take their business elsewhere." Grik replied.

"Outrageous!" Trak yelled as he burst up from his seat. "Binary-Helix has been a reliable customer for years! Think of what it would do to our reputation if we suddenly showed them the door!"

"Our reputation? More like your wallet." Wik growled. "Everyone here knows you've been taking kickbacks from BH, Trak. The fact that you would rush to their defense at the expense of the NDC does not surprise me."

"How dare you!" Trak crowed. "My father was on the board before me! My family, my very bloodline has dedicated itself fully to this company! I will not have my integrity question by the son of space born vagabonds!"

"What?!" Wik yelled.

"Yours is the bloodline of tax-dodgers!" Trak roared.

"ENOUGH!"

The entire NDC executive board was silenced by this command. Sitting at the head of the long table was the current CEO of the Noveria Development Corporation, Lia Vex. Like most female Kig-Yar, Vex had no feathers or quills or anything of that sort anywhere on her body. Also like most female Kig-Yar, that lack of supposedly impressive features did nothing to diminish her commanding presence. Normally, overseeing the executive board's squawking contests were par for the course in her job, but with recent events shaking Noveria to its core, she had far less patience for it than usual.

"Your incessant blame-game makes it difficult for me to think." Vex said. "Here's a crazy idea that might not have occurred to any of you idiots; let's find out what's actually happening before we do anything else."

"I think I can help with that, Ms. Vex." a non Kig-Yar voice said as the door to the room opened. Standing in the doorway was Chok's secretary, Parasinni. However, instead of her usual glossy pink dress, she was instead wearing the hard suit of a soldier. Emblazoned on her chest, right above her left breast, was a pyramid with an eye at the top, the symbols 'S-1' right below that. Parasinni casually swaggered into the NDC board room, but she wasn't alone; four other ONI commandos followed her in. Their hard suits were similar to hers, except they all wore helmets with polarized visors, making their faces impossible to see. The other soldiers took positions around the room, surrounding the executive board and generally looking quite scary, as Parasinni walked up to Vex.

"What's the meaning of this…." Vex growled.

"Just thought I'd drop by to let you know what's going on." Parasinni replied. She stopped in front of Vex and tucked her hands behind her lower back and stood up straighter. "First, let me start by stating what Chok's being charged with; in a word, conspiracy."

"She's with ONI?!" Trak demanded. "How did we not catch this when we screened-"

"Shut up!" Vex hissed at Trak. She turned back to Parasinni. "What kind of conspiracy?" she asked.

"The Pheiros Incident?" Parasinni asked. "Yeah. Turns out, that was him." Vex's eyes widened at that, an action that elicited a smirk from Parasinni.

"I assure you, Ms. Parasinni-"

"Lieutenant Parasinni." Parasinni corrected Vex.

"….The NDC Executive Board had no knowledge of this." Vex said.

"Oh, we actually believe you." Parasinni replied. "I went over the evidence that the Master Chief himself secured for me. Turns out, this was strictly between Chok and Ryok Arax. They deliberately kept the Board out of the loop. Way they figured it, the less people knew about this, the better."

She paused, then folded her arms across her chest. "Question is, will the Hierarchy believe you?" she asked. "I mean, that was their ship after all, their crew. If we were to tell them that the conspiracy might not have ended at Chok, why I'd imagine they'd tear this place apart for more answers."

"You're bluffing." Vex accused. "The Turians wouldn't lay a hand on Noveria."

"They would too, and you know it." Parasinni countered. "After all, Noveria is not a Council world. So the Turians wouldn't technically be breaking any treaties if, say, they were to send a military task force here to assume control of the planet just to investigate if Chok had any more accomplices in the NDC. They're big fans of overkill like that."

"…..What do you want." Vex stated more than asked.

Parasinni grinned. "You know, we at ONI could demand a lot from you right now, what with having you by the balls and all. Luckily for you, we're not feeling very greedy today. So, we've only got a couple of simple, reasonable requests to make. First, don't interfere with this. Once more ONI forces arrive, Chok will be taken to the Citadel for questioning, interrogation and so on and so forth."

She turned to the rest of the Board. "Some of you will probably be called to testify as witnesses at his inevitable trial. I recommend cooperating with the summons, if only save face in what will undoubtedly be a public relations nightmare."

"….Alright." Vex relented. "The NDC will cooperate. What is your other 'reasonable request?'"

"You know the Code Omega you received from Peak 15 a few days ago?" Parasinni asked. "Were you, by chance, getting close to a final decision on that?"

"We were about to hold a final vote." Vex replied.

"Yeah, I'm gonna need you guys to hold off on bombing it for a little while." Parasinni replied. "See, the Master Chief is up there, as you may already know, working on a high-priority mission from the Council."

"Something has gone loose inside Peak 15." Vex pointed out. "I can't risk it spreading to the rest of Noveria."

"When news of Chok's crimes break, you'll have enough PR problems. Bombing the Last Spartan won't help." Parasinni countered. "Hell, if the Master Chief is everything they say he is, I'm sure that he's easily capable of cleaning up whatever mess Binary-Helix made up there. The Chok situation is all you should be worrying about right now. So, do we have a deal?"

"A deal is when both parties benefit." Vex said. "This isn't a deal. It's extortion."

"Just be glad I'm not asking for a billion credits." Parasinni replied. "Just agree to our terms, and you'll come out of this just fine."

"….Fine. Agreed." Vex said as she and Parasinni shook hands. On that note, Parasinni headed out of the board room, motioning the four other soldiers to follow her out.

….

2123 Hours, March 21st, 2683

Peak 15 Research Facility, Noveria

Pax System, Horse Head Nebula

….

"Now arriving at Rift Station. Binary-Helix research facility." Mira's voice said as the tram pulled into the tram station.

"Alright everyone. Break's over." Chief said. The squad rose from their seats, each one withdrawing their weapon of choice. In all, the tram ride lasted about ten minutes, giving Blue Team a welcome break from slogging through what has so far been a difficult mission. Chief was hoping that the break had refreshed the team, renewed their morale and nerves.

When the tram doors swooshed open, they cautiously stepped out into a tram plaza, just like the one back at Central Station. Up ahead were two doors, a red neon sign hovering over each one. "Head through the one on the left, Chief." Cortana instructed. "I can already tell that the other one is locked. Probably best to take the path of least resistance for the moment."

The Chief motioned for his team to follow through the left doorway. It led to a smaller room with two elevator doors on the right side. Again, red neon signs hovered above the doors. The sign on the left depicted an open flame, the words 'Hot Labs' emblazoned beneath. Chief made a note to investigate to possibly investigate the hot labs later. Right now, they needed to rendezvous with the survivors of Peak 15.

Blue Team piled into the right elevator, which then ascended. Yet another eerie ride later, the elevator door opened.

To reveal a trio of guards pointing rifles at the elevator entrance. "Stand down." ordered a bald Human as Blue Team approached. "Sorry, we couldn't be sure what was on the tram. Captain Ventrails, head of Rift Station security." he added as he lowered his rifle.

"Those things can run a tram?" Ashley asked.

"Hell if I know." the captain replied. "I'm not assuming any goddamn thing. Look, you're not bugs and that's enough that I won't shoot, but I'd like to know who you are."

"Master Chief Petty Officer Sierra-117. Special Tactics and Reconnaissance." Chief introduced himself.

Ventralis gave the Chief an odd look. "Huh…..well, I won't look a heavily-armed horse in the mouth." he said.

"What happened here?" Chief asked.

Ventralis sighed. "The aliens overran the hot labs last week. Only Han Olar got out, but he ain't all there anymore. The first we knew, the bastards were clawing into my command post." he paused. "We had a lot more staff than."

"You were taken by surprise and had civilians to protect." Chief said. "You did what you could."

"Yeah? Sure as hell doesn't feel like it." he scoffed. "Anyway, the board sent an Asari to clean up the mess. She went into the hot labs yesterday, and we haven't heard from her since."

"Did she give you her name?" Chief asked.

"Yeah. Benezia." Ventralis replied. "You lookin' for her?"

"I am." Chief stated.

"Well, there's an emergency elevator out by the trams." Ventralis said as he fished a key card out of his belt. "This card will let you activate it. It can take you down to the hot labs. If you need any first aid, Dr. Cohen's downstairs in the med bay."

"He any good with Sangheili?" Chief asked. He nodded his head to N'tho. "Bugs injured one of my own pretty bad on our way up here. Our medic was able to stabilize him, but I want to make sure."

"He'll do what he can." Ventralis said.

Chief nodded before motioning N'tho to go on ahead and find Dr. Cohen. The Sangheili sighed and nodded before departing. "Be careful down there, N'tho." Cortana told him discretely over TEAMCOM. "Remember what Mira said about a quarantine. Find out more about that if you can."

"You sure Benezia's still in the hot labs?" Chief asked the guard captain.

Ventralis shrugged. "She hasn't come back here. You passed through Central Station, so she ain't there."

"Do you know what the situation down there is?" Chief asked.

Ventralis shrugged again. "The facility's off the network. The only way to find out would be to send my scouts down the elevator, and I won't send my people to their deaths."

"What's the structure of the facility like?" Chief continued.

"It's built into one of the glaciers further down the mountain." Ventralis explained. "Real old, thick, stable one. Anything goes wrong, they heat it up and sink it into the ice. Normally, the crew gets to the lab using the trams from Central Station. Got an elevator that connects directly, but it's for emergency use only."

The captain paused and looked around, noticing the odd looks his men were giving him. He then walked up closer to the Chief. "Listen. I'm not sending my people down there. It's too dangerous. Understand?" he whispered.

"I'm not asking you to." Chief whispered back. "I plan on heading down there myself." Ventralis nodded as he backed away from the Spartan, satisfied that his message was received loud and clear. "Is there anything else you can tell me about these bugs?"

"Ask Dr. Olar." Ventralis replied. "He's the only one who made it out of the hot labs. He's down in the science team quarters. He's the only Volus left in there, so he won't be too hard to spot."

The Master Chief nodded. "Alright. Looks like I've got work to do."

"Yeah, I hear tha-"

Ventralis's statement was cut off by the sound of rumbling and squealing. "Hell! Man the perimeter!" Ventralis ordered as he and his guards took position behind the piles of crates that was their makeshift barricade.

"Five and six, shotguns ready! Blue-Four, on me! Everyone else cover!" Chief barked. Tali and Wrex both knelt down on one knee as they took out their shotguns, Chief and Garrus whipping out their assault rifles. After a bit of rumbling, a pair of the larger bugs burst fort of the the open vents in front of the elevators. Everyone, both Blue Team and Ventralis's guards, opened fire. With so much firepower being poured into them, the bugs didn't last long.

"Clear." one of the guards said, giving Ventralis his cue to breathe again.

"Thanks for the help." he gratefully said to the SPARTAN-II in between pants. "Every few hours, they come up through the tram tunnel. It's actually better since we locked down the elevator."

"….And they come up through here?" Chief asked. "Every time?"

"Yeah." the captain replied.

The Chief looked over his shoulder where the two bug corpses lay, then back to Ventralis. "This is an obvious kill zone. Even animals should be able to see that."

Ventralis shrugged helplessly. "Yeah, I don't really get it either. So, what are you gonna do exactly?"

"I'm going to question Dr. Olar, and then I'm heading down to the hot labs to find Benezia." Chief told him as he and Blue Team walked away from the perimeter.

"Well, good luck." Ventralis said. "You'll need it."

…..

Though he was initially nervous about heading up to Peak 15, N'tho was still as ready for it as any other battle in his career. He was afraid of what they would discover, he made no secret of that, but he silently vowed to fight regardless. As the ancient Sangheili proverb went, the bravest warrior is not the one who fears no enemy, but the one who charges headlong into the enemy he fears most.

That was, up until the bug monster impaled him on its tentacle-claw-thing. That kinda took the wind out of his sails.

The wound still ached and stung, like a knife stuck in the Sangheili's back. But the thing that stung even more was the sudden feeling of uselessness. After Liara stabilized him, N'tho was relegated to a support fire role. That meant that he would no longer be on the forefront of the action for the rest of the mission. While most of Blue Team was off, fighting bug monsters and Geth to bring the tram back online, N'tho was forced to remain in the server room. Officially, his duty was to stand guard in case more bugs showed up, but the only thing N'tho ever heard was the muffled arguments between Tali and Cortana.

N'tho was a Sangheili. A warrior. If he can't effectively fight, then what good was he?

All the more reason to see Dr. Cohen, I guess. N'tho thought to himself. The sooner the squidhead could get back in fighting shape, the sooner he could feel useful again.

After walking up a series of steps through a single long corridor, N'tho entered a larger room littered with crates. The presence of tables and chairs seemed to indicate that, prior to the bug infestation, this room was a lounge or a cafeteria. There were about a dozen scientists scattered around the room, all sticking to their own little corners. They glanced at N'tho as he passed through, but then went back to their hushed conversations. The Sangheili could tell that the scientists were all scared.

N'tho walked through a door on the left side, which lead to a winding corridor that headed down. He eventually came to a door at the end, which revealed a small room filled with complex-looking machinery and patient beds, all of which were occupied by scientists. "Hang on." a balding Human quietly said to one of the patients as he typed on a control panel keyboard.

"Uh, excuse me." N'tho said as he walked up to the Human. "You Dr. Cohen?"

"What?" Dr. Cohen said as he seemed to jump a bit at the Sangheili's sudden presence. "Wh-what do you want?"

"Sorry." N'tho said as he put up his hands. "Didn't mean to bother you."

The Human sighed. "No…no you did nothing wrong. I was just distracted." Now that he was facing N'tho, the young Sangheili could make out the visible rings around the man's eyes. He was under stress, and clearly had been for a while. Hardly a surprise, given the circumstances. "Anyway, yes. I am Dr. Cohen."

"Okay great, cause I've got a nasty wound on my back from the bugs." N'tho began. "Could you take a look at it?"

"I'm afraid not." Cohen confessed. "You see, I'm a doctor, but not the doctor. My specialty is microbiology, not first aid. We had a medic, Dr. Saller but he's -" Cohen stopped himself. "We lost him." he censored himself.

N'tho bowed his head a little. "I'm sorry." he said.

"Just hop under one of the automatics." Cohen gestured to one of the complex looking machines that was equipped with a bed. "They can handle basic treatment. Mira runs them."

N'tho nodded before walking over to one and climbing onto the operating table under one of the machines. Cohen hit a switch on the machine and then returned to his previous task, trusting the VI to take care of the rest. "How are the scientists holding up?" N'tho asked as the machine began by doing an x-ray scan.

"Better than Ventralis's guards." Cohen answered. "They've been on alert since the first attack. I've been administering stims at their request, but every species needs to sleep sometime. They're getting twitchy, irrational."

N'tho then remembered what Cortana told him, about the quarantine. His eyes darted around, looking at the other patients. "So, what's wrong with the rest of these guys?" he asked.

"They're suffering from a toxin. It was an accident." Cohen said. He paused. "I have a non-disclosure agreement. I shouldn't discuss it with anyone outside of the company."

"Whatever's wrong with these people, maybe there's something I can do to help." N'tho suggested. He winced as he felt a thousand tiny daggers stab his insides for a half-second as the machine replaced the biofoam that was keeping his damaged lung in one piece.

Cohen seemed to pause in thought for a moment. "Hm. Well, I like to think that the company finds our lives more valuable than their secrets." he thought out loud. He walked over to the Sangheili and looked at him right in the eye. "You know Mira, the VI for Peak 15? She handles the protocols for our safety experiments here." he said.

"Yeah." N'tho replied. He winced again as he felt a needle and string pierce the flesh around his wound. Evidently, the automatic believed stitches were the best means of sealing the wound. Primitive, but effective on reptile analogues like him. "Me and my team reactivated her on our way through Central Station." N'tho said.

"That was you?" Cohen asked. "I'm grateful. Until she came online, the automatic equipment wouldn't work. We lost the connection to Mira in the middle of an experiment and the quarantine failed. These three were exposed to a toxin, something we'd been working on."

"…..You were working on a bio-weapon?" N'tho asked.

"That obvious, eh?" Cohen asked in turn. He sighed again. "It was based on an exotic life form found on the frontier. They wanted something that could kill the creature. But there's no profit in something that only kills one species on the frontier. We kept working on it and adapted it to affect more species."

"It's not contagious, is it?" N'tho asked. These people were under quarantine, after all.

"No, I assure you." Cohen said. "Thoros-B is highly infectious, but it can't pass from one person to another. Standard biowar attack, without the risk of a pandemic spread."

"Bioweapons are outlawed by, like, every government in Citadel Space." N'tho pointed out.

Cohen huffed. "Militaries. Governments. They'll get this kind of weapon one way or another, and we're trying to limit the damage. Anyway, our notes and equipment are locked in the quarantine labs. Captain Ventralis doesn't want to risk more contamination."

"Is there a risk?" N'tho asked as the automatic beeped. He glanced at the screen and saw the words 'procedure complete' on it.

"No, the toxin only has a brief period of viability, after that it breaks down into simple protein chains. But Ventralis won't listen to me." Cohen replied.

N'tho sat up. "What would I need to do?" N'tho asked.

"The quarantine labs are near the science team's quarters, one level down." Cohen instructed. "Once you're in there, look for our notes. It should just be a matter of following our processes."

"Got it." N'tho said as stood up.

"One of Ventralis's men is guarding the entrance to the labs." Cohen said as N'tho started walking out.

"Don't worry, Doc." N'tho replied. "I'll think of something."

As he left the med bay, N'tho raised a finger to his ear to try to raise the Master Chief and inform him of the situation.

Well, he was about to. But his finger paused halfway there.

The Master Chief had always been single-minded when it came to mission objectives. Sure, he tried to help people whenever he could, but at the end of the day, the mission always came first. He was never the type to stop and smell the roses. And given that Saren's primary accomplice was this mission's objective, N'tho doubted that the Spartan would be willing to run an errand for a scientist when there was a much bigger fish that urgently needed frying.

He was then reminded of an old Human saying. Better to ask forgiveness than permission.

N'tho activated his active camo before he emerged back into the mess hall. He then crept over to a nearby vent and opened it carefully and quietly. He couldn't take the elevator down. Master Chief would no doubt be taking the elevator to the science quarters himself to talk to Dr. Olar about the bugs. He'd be seen for sure.

Besides, the vents were big enough for the bugs, and they were bigger than a brute who just won a hot dog eating contest. How hard could it be?

…

The elevator door opened and Chief stepped out with Wrex and Ashley beside him. He left the rest of Blue Team back up in the mess hall to talk to the various other scientists in Peak 15; see if any of them would know something important that the Chief hadn't discovered yet.

Just as Ventralis said, Dr. Han Olar wasn't hard to spot, being the only Volus in the room. Oddly, the Chief found him just standing in the middle of the room, seemingly staring off into space. Olar turned towards the Spartan as he approached. He craned his neck up to look at the Spartan in the visor. He had a rotund figure and a standard environment suit, an average example of his species.

"You came to find out about them. Didn't you?" Olar asked. Just like that, any notion that he was just another simple Volus was shattered. Olar had only said two sentences and already the Chief heard something strange in his tone.

"Yes." Chief replied. "Dr. Olar I presume."

"Yes." Olar replied after a breath.

"What are those things?" Chief asked. From what he had gathered so far, it seemed like the whole incident started in the hot labs. Being the only survivor, Olar might be able to provide the answers that Chief was seeking.

"The Rachni." Olar replied.

"Rachni?" Wrex asked as he took a couple of steps towards the Volus. "Is this your idea of a joke?"

Chief held out his arm in front of the Krogan, stopping his advance. The Chief then turned back to Olar. "I thought the Rachni were extinct." he said.

"Not quite. They found it in a derelict ship. An egg. Waiting in cryogenic stasis since the last battles of the Rachni Wars. They brought it here." Olar explained, breathing after each sentence. On most Volus, that feature had always been comical. Not here. Combined with his tone, it created the effect of a tired, haunted old man who struggled to say every word.

"Shut up!" a Human scientist from across the room yelled at Olar. "You wanna get us all killed?"

"I don't have any control over who lives or dies here." Olar responded as he turned towards the scientist. "Do you?"

"If you're gonna be crazy, be the quiet kind." a Turian scientist spat at the Volus.

Olar shook his head as he turned back to the Spartan. "Crazy? I'm sane." He darkly chuckled a little. "God am I sane."

Well, now the Chief knew what he was dealing with at least. Rachni, a formerly extinct species, brought back by scientists who didn't know better, likely on Saren's orders. "How did you make it out of the hot labs?" Chief asked, hoping that the answer would help him when the time came to head down to the labs himself.

"I killed her." Olar said as simply as he would say 'the sky is blue.'

"Killed who?" Ashley asked.

"Dr. Zhonmua." Olar clarified. "We were going to lunch when the alarms went off. I ran into the tram. And I closed the doors. She banged on the window once. Then they sliced her to pieces. Her head came apart like a melon. I closed the door. I killed her."

In short, Dr. Olar only escaped through raw survival instinct and sheer luck. "Tell me everything you know about the Rachni." Chief said. "Don't let her die in vain."

Olar shook his head. "You think I want absolution? There is none." he said. "Besides, I've already told you all I can. We brought the Rachni back from the dead. In retrospect, a bad decision."

"Then what about Matriarch Benezia?" Chief asked. "I know she's still in the hot labs. Could she still be alive?"

"It's…..possible." Olar cautiously said. "The specimens were sensitive to biotics."

Chief nodded his thanks. "That'll be all, Doctor." He gestured Ashley and Wrex to follow the Chief back to the elevator.

"How come you didn't tell us these were Rachni?" Ashley asked Wrex once they were all back in the elevator.

"How was I supposed to know?" Wrex defensively replied.

"Your people fought them in a bigass war." Ashley pointed out.

"A bigass war that was more than two thousand years ago." Wrex pointed out in turn.

"Well obviously you weren't there, but you've must have at least seen a picture of a Rachni in a history book or something." Ashley said.

"Right. Because if there's one thing we Krogan have a lot of on Tuchanka, it's books." Wrex venomously replied.

"Lock it down, both of you." Chief sternly replied. "The objectives here haven't changed. We find Benezia, and then we shut this place down."

….

Finally. N'tho thought as he crouched behind a crate. Thought he'd never leave. Turns out, navigating the vent system of Peak 15 was indeed quite easy. Once he was in the science quarters, it was a simple matter of waiting for the Chief to wrap up his conversation with Dr. Olar. Now that the Master Chief was out of the room, the Sangheili was now free to make his next move.

Once he was fully uncloaked, N'tho emerged from the crate he was hiding behind and walked up to the guard standing outside the quarantine labs casually. "Sup man." N'tho greeted with a raised hand.

"You're not part of the crew." the Turian barked at the Sangheili as he approached.

"No, but WORT WORT WORT A BUG!"

"WHERE?!" the guard yelped as he faced the other direction, rifle raised and ready. N'tho then withdrew his shotgun and struck the back of the guard's head with the butt, knocking him out.

"Can't believe that actually worked." N'tho commented as he put his shotgun back in its slot. He looked to the other side of the room to see a pair of scientists, one a Human and the other a Turian, standing there, shocked at what they just saw.

"….You didn't see anything…" N'tho said as he slowly walked backwards into the quarantine labs, not breaking eye contact with either scientist until the door closed behind him.

Dusting his palms at a job well done, N'tho strolled into the room. It was fairly small, full of crates and computers with a trio of doors on the right wall. N'tho opened all three, only to find that each one only lead to a storage closet. Deciding that there was nothing else of value in the room, he walked over to a table at the far end of the lab. On the table was a chemical mixer next to a PC. N'tho accessed the PC and was able to quickly find the notes.

Making the cure was surprisingly easy. The chemical mixer did most of the work, all N'tho had to do was input the next ingredient at the right moment. It reminded him of omlon, a popular Sangheili puzzle game that tested the player's reflexes and timing. After a minute of basically reliving his glory days in the 'Sraom University Omlon Club, N'tho had a full half-liter canister of anti-toxin. He strapped it to his belt, then turned on his hoof to head out the door.

That's when he saw the trio of Geth standing behind him, aiming their rifles at him.

Before N'tho could comment on this unexpected predicament, the door to the quarantine labs opened. An Asari holding a data pad strolled in, a smirk on her face. "Your mission ends here, Master-" Her sentence came to a screeching halt as she looked up and saw N'tho. "….Who the hell are you?!" she demanded.

"Uh…Nobody." N'tho answered.

The Asari smacked one of the Geth upside the flashlight head with her data pad. "You idiots!" she barked. "I thought I told you to trap the Master Chief! Not some random nobody elite!"

The Geth that was struck stuttered something in its beep-buzz language. "Don't argue semantics with me!" the Asari shouted in reply. "Okay, just keep your guns trained on him." the Asari ordered before going to her ear piece. "Ventralis? You there?…..Is the Master Chief heading down to the Hot Labs yet?…Good. Make sure he heads down there." On that note, she let her arm drop from her hear and turned to the Sangheili. "Now, what to do with you…."

"Uh…..let me go?" N'tho suggested.

The Asari simply stared at him with a raised eyebrow. "Did you really think that would work on me?"

"What? It could have worked." he stated.

"No. No it couldn't. And you know it." the Asari replied. She turned to one of the Geth. "He's not important to us. Just shoot - oh, what is that?"

"What?" N'tho asked as he suddenly stuck his hand behind his back.

"You're holding something behind your back." she said.

"No I'm not." N'tho lied.

"Yes you are, let's see it." she stated.

"Why should I?" N'tho asked.

"Because you're alone in a small room with three Geth and an increasingly exasperated Asari Huntress." she replied. N'tho paused, then sighed in defeat. He held up his hand, which held a plasma grenade. "You were gonna stick me with that in the half-second my eyes weren't on you." she accused.

"Yes." N'tho quietly replied like a child who just got caught stealing cookies from the pantry.

"Roll it over here." the Asari ordered. "Nice and easy." N'tho grumbled something as he did as instructed, rolling the grenade across the floor. The inactive explosive came to a stop as it bumped into the Asari's feet. She knelt down and picked it up. "Don't feel too bad. You wouldn't have been able to stick me anyway. I'm an Asari Commando. I'm one of the mightiest biotic warriors in all the galaxy. No way you could've thrown a grenade at me without me biotically catching it and just throwing it right back at you. And that's assuming my Geth didn't just fill you full of holes first."

"Yeah, I figured that's how it would've went down." N'tho admitted with a shrug. "That's why I went with Plan B."

"Oh?" The Asari sardonically. "And what's Plan B?"

That's when the plasma grenade in her hand suddenly began to hiss and emit plasma.

"Live grenade on a timer." N'tho replied.

Before the Asari could rip the grenade off, it detonated in her hand, vaporizing much of her body, as well as stunning the nearby Geth and taking out their shields. This opened for N'tho the window of opportunity he needed. He quickly whipped out his needler shotgun and fired on the Geth with rapid succession. In about five seconds, he was the only thing in that room still standing.

….

Questioning Han Olar revealed two things. One, a name to attach to this enemy; the Rachni. And two, the fact that Benezia was still possibly alive in the hot labs. His course confirmed, the Chief and Blue Team marched back towards the elevator.

As Blue Team rounded the corner, they saw Ventralis where they left him, standing guard by the elevators. He was on his earpiece, talking to someone. "Affirmative…..affirmative…." he turned towards the Spartan and nodded, acknowledging his arrival. "Understood." he said before disconnecting his com. "Just a report from my rear guard scout. Everything looks clear on his end. You heading down to the hot labs now?"

"Yes." Chief replied.

"What about N'tho?" Liara asked.

"If he's not here, he's probably still in the med bay." Chief replied with a shrug. "Just as well. If the hot labs are as dangerous as we've been told, someone in his condition shouldn't be down there anyway." On that note, the Chief proceeded forward. He was almost at the elevator when his COM crackled to life.

"Chief!" N'tho's voice came crackling over the TEAMCOM. "Chief, you read me?"

Chief sighed. "I read." he replied as he placed his hand on his hips. "What is it, N'tho?"

"You in the hot labs yet?" N'tho asked.

"Not yet." Chief replied. "I know what you're about to ask, but I don't think you should be heading down there in your condition."

"I don't think any of us should be heading down there at all! Ventralis set us up!" N'tho ranted.

"What?" Chief asked.

"Some Asari and a few Geth jumped me in the Quarantine Labs!" N'tho explained.

"What were you doing down there?" Chief asked.

"Er….." N'tho replied. "Look, it doesn't matter! Right before she was gonna try to kill me, the Asari radioed Ventralis and told him to make sure you went into the hot labs! They're about to lull you into a trap!"

"….Where are you now?" Chief asked.

"Science team quarters." N'tho answered.

"Get up here." Chief replied. "Blue-One out."

On that note, the Spartan turned towards Ventralis. "Where's Benezia?" he asked.

"Uh….I told you already." Ventralis. "She's in the hot labs."

A second of silence. Then, the Chief slowly walked over to Ventralis and stopped just a few inches in front of him, subtly reminding him of the fact that he was a seven-foot, armed to the teeth super-soldier with not much patience. "Where's Benezia really?" he asked.

"I…..I….." Ventralis nervously stuttered. "I don't know what - "

"One of my people just got jumped by an Asari Commando and three Geth." Chief bluntly replied. "He was pretty convinced that the former just radioed you to make sure I was going down to the hot labs. Mind explaining that?"

Ventralis's eyes seemed to widen so much, it almost looked as though his eyes were going to pop right out of their sockets. In a panic, his guards withdrew their rifles and pointed them at Chief, but Blue Team was faster. Wrex head butted one to the ground and Kaidan biotically pushed the other into a wall, each one pointing their weapons at the guards once they were down. Before Ventralis could make a move of his own, Chief whipped out his pistol and aimed it right between Ventralis's eyes, making the man freeze in place. The moment seemed frozen in time until Ventralis finally developed the nerve to speak.

"Please…..I…I was just following orders." Ventralis said. "Benezia works - "

"Just tell me where she is." Chief said. Ventralis continued to stare at the gun pointed at his head, clearly frightened, but was otherwise silent. "Alright then. Looks like we're doing this the hard way." Chief then grabbed the captain by his shoulder, forcefully turned him around, and prodded his back, forcing him to march. The rest of Blue Team did the same with Ventralis's two guards.

"Okay, here's what's going to happen." Chief told the guard captain. "You're going to tell your men that the jig is up. You'll order them to surrender peacefully, lay down their weapons and reveal Benezia's location." Ventralis said nothing as the group made their way up the corridor. They eventually reached the door where the mess hall was.

"PLAN B!" Ventralis suddenly shouted. "FOCUS FIRE ON THE CHIEF!" The ERCS guards in the room suddenly held up their rifles and opened fire on Blue Team, Ventralis diving off to the side to avoid the incoming fire, then scrambled over to the positions of his men, his two guards following close behind.

Blue Team dived into cover themselves, diving behind barrels and crates and flipping over tables before returning fire on the guards. The scientists who were still in the mess hall panicked and either tried to find cover for themselves, head into the med bay, or even hug the walls, desperately trying to avoid the firefight any way they could. A few seconds later, more guards emerged from a corridor off to the side to join their fellows in opening fire on Blue Team. Another, even larger squad of guards emerged from a different corridor closer to the back to join the fray. With a numerical advantage of two to one, the guards had Blue Team effectively pinned.

That was until a tiny blue meteor the size of a baseball flew through the air and landed right on a Turian guard's armor. The explosive detonated, the explosions taking out the shields of the surrounding guards, leaving them vulnerable to plasma fire that came from an invisible source. One guard turned his rifle on where he thought the fire was coming from, but the air in that spot moved before the guard could pull the trigger, the bullets hitting nothing but wall. "WHERE IS-"

The guard's question was cut off when he felt hot sharpness pierce his back, not once but twice. Then, he felt that same cutting heat slash across his back, severing his spinal cord and making him crumple to the ground like a puppet whose strings just got cut. The silhouette who was standing behind the guard then spun-kick another guard right in the face before taking off again.

Blue Team was quick to take advantage of the confusion caused by N'tho. They immediately pushed up into the cafeteria's center, finishing off any guards who were distracted by the invisible elite. The few guards still alive threw down their weapons and raised their hands in the air as they went down to their knees. The brief firefight was over.

"Two, three, round up the survivors and detain them. Four, five, watch the doors for more guards. Six, seven, check on the scientists, make sure they're all okay." Chief ordered as he came out of cover and looked around for Ventralis. He eventually found him hiding behind a crate, already on his knees and hands on the back of his head.

"What's going on up here?" a voice with a soft English accent asked. Chief turned and saw a balding scientist emerge from the medical bay. He jumped at the sight of all the corpses in the rooms. "My God! What happened?"

"Failure to cooperate." Garrus quipped as he scanned an adjacent hallway with his omni-tool. "Negative contacts on motion sensors, Chief. I think this is the last of them."

"Long story short, Ventralis is in league with Benezia and just tried to kill me and my team." Chief told Dr. Cohen.

"First the Rachni, then you." Ventralis spat at the Spartan. "Haven't we suffered enough?"

"Considering you just tried to kill me and you're working for a terrorist, I'd say you got off easy." Chief replied. "Now, where's Benezia?"

"Fuck you, that's where she is!" Ventralis shouted.

Chief shook his head. "Look, I don't have time for a proper interrogation, so I may have to do this the ethically ambiguous way." he said as he withdrew his shotgun and aimed it at Ventralis's head. "I must've asked this question at least a dozen times today, and just between you and me, my throat is getting kind of hoarse from it. So I'm going to ask one last time. Where. Is. Benezia."

Ventralis grunted before replying. "She's in the Secure Lab, through there." Ventralis answered, nodding to a door at the far end of the mess hall. "But good luck getting through. The automated defenses in there will tear you apart before you even get to the Matriarch."

"There might be another way." N'tho said as his cloak wore off and he walked up to the Chief. "Before I came up here, Dr. Olar said that the Geth that jumped me came from the maintenance area. If Geth came through it, maybe it leads to Benezia."

"The maintenance area does lead to the Secure Lab." Dr. Cohen said as he walked up to the Chief. "But you'd need a pass."

"Don't even think about it you quack!" Ventralis barked at Cohen. Cohen ignored him however as he handed his pass to the Chief.

Cohen then turned to N'tho. "I hate to pry but…..the cure?"

"Huh. Oh!" N'tho replied as he reached for a vial on his belt. "Almost forgot. Here you go."

Dr. Cohen took the vial from the Sangheili and sighed in relief. "I can't thank you enou-" he paused, then cringed. "Oh, God what a cliché." he noted. "You saved their lives, you know that?"

"Hey, it's what I do." N'tho replied with a shrug.

"I need to go administer this. Thanks again." Cohen said before he briskly walked back to the med bay.

N'tho turned towards the Master Chief, who was staring at him. "What?" he asked.

"What was that about?" Chief asked.

"Oh….uh….." N'tho paused. "Just a…..you know…little errand the doc had me run."

"You were supposed to get treated for your injuries." Chief sternly told him.

"And I did get treated." N'tho defended himself. "See, the errand was my way of saying 'thank you' to the nice doctor."

"And then you got jumped by Geth and almost got your sorry-ass killed." Ashley commented.

"But I didn't, and I was able to warn Chief about Ventralis's trap and learned where Benezia may really be." N'tho countered.

"….He's got us there." Kaidan noted.

"We'll talk about this later." Chief sternly told the Sangheili. He turned his gaze down to the maintenance pass in his hand. After examining it for a minute, he clipped it to his belt.

"Are you certain that we'll find Benezia is in the maintenance area?" Liara asked.

"Only one way to find out." Chief replied.

With the other guards detained, Kaidan walked over to Ventralis to apply omni-cuffs to him as well. As he pushed him over with the others, a Salarian scientist walked up to the Master Chief. "Um, I hate to tell you this, but with all of the guards either dead or locked up, we're kind of defenseless from the bugs now." he told the Spartan. "What are we supposed to do now?"

Chief furrowed his brow. He had forgotten about the scientists in Rift Station. He briefly thought about leaving one or two of his team behind to defend the station from additional Rachni attacks, but he quickly dismissed that idea. If an Asari Matriarch like Benezia was as powerful as he suspected, he'd likely need all the help he could get. "I don't supposed any of you have held a weapon before?" Chief asked.

"What?" the Salarian incredulously asked. "You expect us to defend ourselves? We're scientists, not soldiers!"

"Look, the only way those things can get in is through the vents by the elevators." Chief said. "It's a perfect defensive position. Just grab some assault rifles and stay behind the barricades. You'll be fine."

The Salarian shook his head. "I don't know why you want Benezia so bad, but once you're done with her, you'd better have a plan to get the rest of us out of here." he told the Spartan before walking away.

"I could stay here." N'tho volunteered. "I could easily hold the position - "

"As an Asari Matriarch, Benezia is one of the most powerful biotics in the galaxy." Chief interrupted the Sangheili. "I'm gonna need all hands on deck to deal with her. I'm sorry N'tho, but for the moment, these people are on their own. Understood?"

"…Yes sir." N'tho replied.

"Good." Chief said. "Now which way to the maintenance area?"

"It's back down in the science quarters." N'tho said as he pointed to the corridor that lead to the elevator.

"Alright then." Chief said. "Let's move." On that note, the Chief began marching towards the elevator, his team behind him.

…..

Yeah, writing this chapter felt like pulling teeth near the end. Which especially sucks since this one took way too long for being so short. Definitely not my best work.

But I think I'm finally starting to come out of this funk I've been in for the last few weeks so, hopefully, the next chapter will be better. It oughta be, seeing as it will be about one of the hands-down hardest boss battles in the entire Mass Effect franchise.