Punishment.

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Starcraft is the property of Blizzard entertainment.

Mass effect is the property of Bioware.

Any elements used in this story are used only in order to create a story for no monetary gain nor do I claim any ownership over them, beyond the names and characters unique to this story.

SSV Normandy - Orbit over Edolus

Shepard

Words could not begin to describe how mad Shepard was. Not only did his report to the council prove to be a fool's errand, as they somehow ended up berating him for the Geth collapsing the cavern the Prothean ruin laid in. But they had the gall to doubt Benezia's willingness to kill her own daughter. She literally sent an army of Geth to stop them.

On top of that, as he made his way to speak with Joker after agreeing that he had neglected to speak with his pilot since the beginning of the mission his executive officer told him that their resident Quarian engineer, Krogan bounty hunter and Protoss whatever he is had decided to have an old fashioned children squabble.

He was glad that they had decided to stop when they did, but he was still pissed.

"So…" Shepard began as he glared at three people in front of him. They were all seated at the table in the mess hall, Tali sitting between Wrex and Xiltar."Do you have anything to say for yourself?"

Tali shifted in her seat, as she wasn't comfortable with all the attention being drawn her way. Wrex was just checking his claws since he was truly bored by this inconvenience and Xiltar was just rubbing his forehead.

To his surprise it was him who spoke first "This is stupid…" Wrex chuckled at his response. Tali just turned to see him as if he had just defiled the very soil of Rannoch.

"I will deal with you later" Shepard was now absolutely pissed with him. He had already thought of his punishment. "Wrex, Tali. What the hell were you thinking?" Wrex smiled at the challenge. Tali just shrank in her seat, having achieved a new level of shyness that light could not escape from its surface.

"W-We were mad at him" Tali began to explain "We had our personal issues and tried to take our frustration on him" this was not what he expected them to say.

"What issues?" Shepard inquired. Personally invested in what had caused the fight.

"That's personal Shepa…" Wrex began before being interrupted by Shepard

"You forfeited that right the moment you decided to dent my ship. Explain, Now" Shepard looked at Tali.

She squeaked as he looked angry at her "We… We tried to blame him for the state of our kind" Ah. Shepard now felt like an asshole, but he wouldn't admit to it.

"So you decided to assault one of your teammates solely on the state of your people? Why?" Shepard deflected. It wasn't successful.

"You would have done the same if you were in our position" Wrex countered "You don't get to live with your kind walking towards extinction" Tali dropped her head at this.

Shepard sighed. They were right, he had to admit this "It's true. I have not been considering that. I have put you at unnecessary risk without even getting to know your standing in all this" he would try to remedy this, but not now "However, I will be issuing a punishment for all of you" he pointed to Xiltar and Wrex "You will accompany me in our next assignment"

"What about her?" Wrex asked. Tali cursed him.

"You will go down to engineering" He began ominously "They found another spider nest and you are going to clean it" Tali froze, terror had consumed her little soul "I want you kids to meet me in the cargo bay in ten" He then departed to gear up, this day would be long.

Garrus Vakarian

He had been called by the commander beforehand. He would be his copilot and only company for a simple assignment as he thought.

When he saw Tali, Wrex and Xiltar come out of the elevator he knew that this assignment would be anything but simple. Only the Krogan and the Protoss made their way towards the Mako. Where was Tali going?

"Garrus" Shepard called to him "You will be my copilot for this mission" he turned to the others and briefed them of their mission "Thanks to Rear Admiral Kahoku we know that some alliance soldiers have gone missing in this world. Our mission will be to discover what happened to this platoon. Now, everybody in the Mako".

They boarded the Mako and made their drop as they descended to the planet, no cheering was heard this time.

"Commander". We have located the two spots where the alliance lost contact with the platoon" reported Joker through the intercom "One lies dead center of a clearing. The other one rests within an abandoned compound. We have been unable to identify who it belonged to".

"How far is the compound from where we are?" Shepard asked.

"About five kilometers west from where you are. The clearing is seven to the north" Joker responded

"Perfect. Wrex, Xilltar. You will go to the compound" he activated the door to open the back hatch "Better start running".

The Krogan and the Protoss begrudgingly did as they were told "This is stupid" Wrex said it this time, as they made their way out of the tank and began to head west.

"Are you sure that's a good idea, commander? This planet has nothing but a carbon dioxide atmosphere" Garrus said through his speakers as he was ready to leave the Mako at a moment's notice.

"Wrex's kind made their way just fine along the Rachni's homeworld. Xiltar told me that his kind could survive the vacuum of space" Shepard began to explain his reason for having them go out in the hostile environment.

"As you say Shepard" Garrus made his way to the turret as the commander began to drive towards the valley they meant to investigate "So… commander" Garrus began to say "Quite the family you managed to gather" he smiled as the commander just groaned.

"Don't get me started…" Shepard continued to groan "please don't begin to act like children".

"Whatever you say… dad" Garrus made the joke at Shepard's expense "Are we there yet?"

He groaned "Don't you even start, Vakarian…" silence resumed. The trip would be a long one.

Wrex

As their punishment they had been ordered to walk. HA! This proved to him that Shepard could be soft if he was pushed hard enough.

He thanked the Protoss for making the commander angry with him. Their plan had worked perfectly.

Why did he do this? Because Wrex wanted to go for a stroll and he didn't want the commander to think that he could get soft too.

Joking aside, he wished to continue speaking with the Protoss. Something about how he interacted with them in the cargo bay brought him renewed curiosity on his intention.

Wrex was old, he knew that the alien was probably reading his mind. Trying to probe whatever he could on him.

"You sure remain quiet when your elders want to have a word with you" Wrex said through his helmet's intercom.

(Mhm. My mentor said a similar thing once) he responded.

"Comes with the wisdom age, Pyjak" Wrex laughed as they proceeded to walk up a hill as they neared the abandoned complex.

(I don't see how comparing me to an animal of your world is fitting) the young one answered. (How did you know I was young?)

"Pretty easy if you ask me. You talk a big game but have been unable to deliver" he turned to the Protoss, he looked at Wrex with a puzzled expression "You bluff too much and are too trusting" he turned and resumed his trek up the hill.

They continued in silence until they managed to reach the top. There they were surprised to see a well fortified compound… that was completely trashed.

The site was a small complex surrounded by a metallic wall. Several military vehicles were scattered along the site, all of them had corrosion marks and small tears along their chassis.

"What the hell happened here?" Wrex said shortly before they descended towards the main entrance. There they managed to make out a symbol plastered in the now wrecked door.

An orange insignia, Wrex did not recognize it. The Protoss had even less of an idea. Wrex took a picture of it with his omnitool, he would have to ask Shepard.

"Shepard, we found the site you told us to check…" no response "Shepard?" He then tried to contact the Normandy, no response either.

(There might be some sort of jammer in the complex. That would explain why the humans lost contact with this group) Xilltar guessed as his understanding on this realm's technology was still lacking (What I don't understand is why no ships ever reported an engagement in the site).

"This doesn't match any alliance tactics. Wherever they deploy in places like this they usually come escorted by a patrol fleet" Wrex responded, but found himself ever more disturbed "This place doesn't feel right".

(Agreed) the Protoss responded in turn (I cannot fathom what could have destroyed a place like this. Do you?)

Wrex continued to analyze the site as they proceeded to the main structure, a single prefab hub "Something about this feels familiar…" he analyzed a tear pattern in one of the vehicles. He had seen it somewhere before…

(These were made by some kind of animal. The Zerg once used bioforms that used bile as a kind of weapon. This looks similar to it) Xiltar explained.

Realization struck him. He had indeed seen marks like this before, but bigger. "This doesn't make sense. They never venture to the surface when they are this small. Xilltar we have to…" he was interrupted as a small tremor began to shake the ground.

The Protoss had most likely read his mind as he prepared against an onslaught from below.

As the ground burst open they were surrounded by the offspring of one of Tuachanka's most fearsome predators.

Thresher maws.

Afterword.

Gummy worm cometh

Zacker1590 - Zeratul said that the Terrans had been consumed. Since the hybrid were complete I don't see why Amon would allow his enslaved Terran to live.