Mass Effect 30 Day Challenge 5

Prompt 5: Favourite Loyalty Mission

SPOILERS: Mass Effect 2

Simplicity

2185 CE, Tuchanka

The last of the Varren flew across the desolate Tuchankan landscape designated for the Rite, and Grunt hoisted his shotgun in the air and laughed in triumph. "Ha! Right on your ass!"

"Do Varren really have asses?" Garrus asked idly from behind one of the crumbling structures near the keystone. "I mean, they have hindquarters, but I don't know if that really counts."

Shepard checked her submachine gun for clips and spotted a few sitting next to the body of a dead Krogan. "I can't say I particularly care about their anatomy Garrus," she said, reloading as she spoke. "Just that they stay dead when I put 'em down."

"I like it!" Grunt was practically vibrating with energy and bloodlust. "Ready for another round Shepard. Tag the keystone."

Shepard rebooted her tech armor and cracked her neck before slamming her fist against the bright green button. The voice boomed out of a comm. system for a second time, echoing around the makeshift arena.

Then the krogan were lifted to the stars to destroy the fears of a galaxy, an enemy only we could to chase to their lair.

"Educational," Garrus said, his voice dry. "At least we get a history lesson to go with this shooting gallery."

The ground shook briefly as Shepard pointed each of her squadmates to watch for hostiles at the crumbling steps to their right and left. She had no idea what was coming next. Varren wasn't a surprise, not here, but she'd only skimmed the briefing on indigenous life-forms of Tuchanka.

"Harvester!" Garrus yelled at her six, and she swung around, pistol drawn, to see the giant flying reptilian lizard land between two of the old pillars and deposit a small cluster of crablike creatures. Shepard vaguely remembered these from her readings. Klixen.

"Crawlers!" Grunt yelled, charging across the battlefield and firing rounds into the nearest beast. "I am ready!"

Grunt charged ahead and left Garrus and Shepard to cover him. The two of them stood back-to-back to pick off any Klixen that Harvesters dropped out of Grunt's charging range. Between her biotics and his assault rifle, she and Garrus were picking them off with relative ease. Slower compared to the Varren, even if more shots were needed to put them down.

"At least Grunt's having a good time!" Shepard yelled over the hail of gunfire.

"I still would have preferred the dances on Omega," Garrus yelled back. "Less blood and guts, more alcohol."

"Fair enough," Shepard said. Another Klixen fell at her feet, shrieking a hideous death knell. "But at least this shit's cut and dried."

Garrus put away his assault rifle and pulled out his preferred weapon, the sniper rifle, beginning to pick the crablike creatures off from a distance. "What do you mean?" He asked between shots. Klixen dropped around them like flies.

"I mean," Shepard said, shooting the nearest Klixen and then stomping on it to make sure it was well and truly dead. "That we've been across the damn galaxy and back getting everyone's 'unfinished business' squared away. We took care of that mess with Miranda's sister, Jacob's fucked up daddy issues, and worst of all, having to wear that stupid dress and go to some high-fallutin' party to steal a fucking brainbox with Kasumi!" Shepard threw a warp at the last Klixen scuttling towards her and finished it off with a burst of submachine gun fire. "And don't even get me started on talking you down off your 'shoot Sidonis in the head vengeance-fest' ledge. At least helping Grunt out is simple." She swung around and shot two more Klixen heading towards them. "All we have to do is point and shoot."

Garrus grunted in begrudging agreement, picking off the last Klixen as the Harvester flew away. "You did look good in that dress," he said after a moment, giving her his characteristic smirk.

"Not the point," Shepard shook her head at the Turian, who winked and put away his sniper rifle. "Point is, I'd take shooting shit dead over talking my way into a vault or dealing with a big moral crisis any day of the week."

"It's definitely easier," Garrus agreed. "Fewer tears, certainly."

Grunt huffed over, his armor glistening with Klixen blood. "The Keystone," he said, panting slightly. "We must have to trigger it again for the next part of the rite."

"Oh goody," Garrus said, voice dripping sarcasm. "Can't wait to see what we'll be shooting next. Did I mention the part about the dancers? And the liquor?"

"How about we do that after?" Shepard asked, giving him a smile as she punched the bright green button again. Once more the voice boomed around the arena.

Now all krogan bear the genophage, our reward, our curse, it is a fight where the only goal is survival.

"That doesn't sound good," Garrus muttered, reloading his assault rifle.

"Bet you ten credits it's a horde of Pyjaks," Shepard said, ducking down behind a ruined column and spotting a crate not far from her. As she ran over to inspect it, the ground shook as the hammer of the device that symbolized the initiating of the third portion of the rite collided with the earth. She stumbled and continued to run, but noticed that unlike the last two times, the vibrations kept going. "Um…"

"Feel that?" Grunt yelled, hoisting his shotgun into the air. "Everything is… shaking." He stood on top of a pile of bloody Krogan corpses and yelled. "I AM READY!"

"Glad to hear someone is," Garrus muttered, joining Shepard next to the crate. "What'd you find?"

Shepard opened it and inspected the contents. "Sweet," she muttered with a smile, and moved aside to show the Turian. "Heavy weapon ammo."

Something shot out of the ground on the other side of the collapsed column. Garrus and Shepard popped their heads up from their cover to see a long blue tentacle winding its way up into the air, waving in the whipping gusts of wind. Shepard looked around the arena and saw more of the things waving and coiling around in the air. "What the hell?"

Shepard and Garrus gave each other bewildered looks. There hadn't been anything about blue tentacles in the brief. She would have noticed blue tentacles.

The tentacles suddenly slipped back down into the ground, the battlefield suddenly silent and empty of foes. Garrus pointed his rifle at the hole where the nearest tentacle had come out, trying to contain any anxiousness. "I have a bad feeling," he said. "A very bad feeling."

Behind them, to the right of the keystone trigger mechanism, the ground erupted, almost knocking the trio over with its force. Shepard looked to see what had emerged from the ground and felt the bottom drop out of her stomach.

"Oh, you have GOT to be kidding me," Garrus said, his jaw dropping. "We have to kill THAT?"

"I owe you ten credits," Shepard said. "That's definitely not Pyjaks."

"Finally!" Grunt yelled, taking cover behind a pile of bodies and firing shots and the giant thresher maw that screeched at them from across the battlefield. "An enemy worth fighting!"

Shepard reached behind her and grabbed her fully loaded particle beam. She glared at the maw, its gaping jaws preparing to spit venom. "If I get any traumatic Akuze flashbacks today it's your ass, Grunt!" she yelled. "Your goddamned ass!"

She and Garrus ducked down behind the column again to avoid the sticky green ooze the maw spat at them. They heard Grunt roar and begin a charge.

"So much for easy," Garrus grunted, popping up out of cover to take a few shots.

"It's still better than the fucking dress," Shepard replied, and the particle beam shot violent green energy right between the maw's eyes.

Answer: Grunt: Rite of Passage

Thanks for the reviews and thanks for reading everyone. I'm really glad folk are enjoying these stories, and am amused that drunk!femshep has a fanbase. Don't worry, I'm sure she'll be back.