Cass leaned against the closed shuttle door, shifting foot to foot and wringing her hands. Garrus and Laira were both talking quietly, seated at the back wall; Shepard appeared from the half wall where Cortez was flying the shuttle.
"Are you okay?" Shepard asked, settling against the wall next to her child.
"Do you really think there's Rachni here?" Cass asked, worry apparent on her face.
"I don't know; Are you okay?" The mother repeated more forcefully.
"Yeah, I just, well, I've never dealt with Rachni before and all the stories you here about the Rachni wars…" The teen trailed off.
"It's okay to be a little scared."
"I'm not scared!" Cass whined childishly.
Shepard gave her daughter a mothering look; which the girl withered at.
"Fine." The girl relented, leaning into her mother. "I'm a little scared."
"And that is perfectly okay." Shepard replied, draping an arm around the girl's shoulders. "And I've dealt with the Rachni before, the queen actually."
"You're kidding?" Cass frowned, shaking off her mother's arm and looking at her skeptically. "Why don't I know about this?"
"It was before when we were dealing with Saren, you were only around 14 at the time, I didn't want to scare you."
"What happened?"
"There was a Queen who was captured by Saren, they were planning to use her children to help them; I released the Queen and she promised to go somewhere where she wouldn't be found."
"You could've told me. " Cass rolled her eyes.
"I'm sure I could've, but I didn't." Shepard responded.
Cass rolled her eyes behind closed lids before continuing. "Do you think this could be the same queen?"
"I wouldn't be surprised, The Rachni are a dying breed, and I believe she was the last Queen in existence."
"This is pretty crazy." Cass sighed. "If she agreed to go away, why is this happening?"
"We don't have all the information, so we'll have to see." The mother frowned.
"Shepard! Getting ready to land! You ready?" Cortez yelled back from the front of the shuttle.
"Yeah, we're ready." Shepard called back, nodding to Garrus and Liara as well.
"The shuttle just arrived, you better get moving Team 2." The Krogan leader spoke gruffly.
"Grunt!" Cass exclaimed excitedly, watching the Krogan shove through his team and rush over to her.
"CASS! SHEPARD!" Grunt boomed, shoving the girl playfully, or perhaps as playfully as a Krogan could, "HA! Shepard!"
"What are you doing here?" Cass asked excitedly.
"I could ask you two the same question." Turning to the commander, the Krogan laughed. "Didn't those idiots lock you up?"
"They did, put me in lockdown after the Batarian incident, but the situation has changed." Shepard answered.
"Heh, yeah, they've got bigger problems now, which is why I'm out here running Aralakh company. They're tough, think their invincible, reckless, but effective."
"Damn," Cass laughed. "You just completed your right of passage, how'd you jump to the top so fast?" Cass interrupted.
"Wasn't easy, when Wrex put Aralakh company together, we needed a leader that represented the future of our species. Thanks to you, Shepard, I completed my right on Tuchanka, I became part of clan Urdnot and being the strongest, I was chosen to lead this company." Grunt explained.
"That's so sick." Cass grinned; punching the Krogan's shoulder; Grunt laughing gruffly in response.
"So, Grunt." Shepard began "what's the plan here?"
"Well, our scans show tunnels leading to a large central cavern; hard to believe this is Rachni, but it could be a nest."
"A nest might be a good thing." Garrus added.
"Right." Liara frowned. "Meaning we could take care of all of them at once."
"Ha! Right! A chance to face the old enemy, impossible to resist." Grunt growled.
"We don't actual know if the Rachni have anything to do with this." Shepard stated, sharing a knowing look with Cass. "We're here to find the scouts. We didn't find any scans of activity on our approach."
"We'll see." Grunt laughed darkly. "Grab what you need Shepard. ARALAKH COMPANY! MOVE OUT!"
Cass wandered into the building after her mother, "Anyone else think this might be a little unstable-" The girl started as Garrus and Liara stepped in after them, wincing as the floor beneath them shook, creaking and collapsing under their weight.
"Oh shit." Cass groaned, as she fell into the wall and out one of the open windows, the previously perched building now sliding down the cliff, and hitting the rocks below with a solid boom. Tumbling down the rocky hill, the girl rolled straight into her mother.
"You okay?" Shepard coughed.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Anyone else think that was a little unstable, just me? Okay then." The girl joked halfheartedly as her mother pulled her to her feet and brushed her off.
"Everyone okay?" Shepard called.
"Yeah, all good here, Shepard." Garrus replied; Liara nodding in agreement.
"SHEPARD!" Grunt roared down into the rift. "You in one piece!?"
"Yeah, looks like we're all okay!" Shepard yelled upwards. "Keep in radio contact!"
"On our way!"
"Stay close." Shepard instructed, only to have Cass press into her; suppressing a light laugh, the mother stepped forward. "Maybe not that close."
"It's dark and there are creepy bug monsters everywhere and giant webs and eggs!" Cass whispered; waving around her flashlight wildly. "And we're almost out of flame thrower!"
"I believe the correct term is Rachni." Liara added. "But something is definitely wrong here."
"It's like what they've done to the Turians and humans." Garrus nodded, "Turned them into something else-"
"And with all of these barriers that keep popping up." Cass whined. "This is creepy, and there's more and more of them."
"It means we're getting close to the center." The commander stated. "We need to keep moving."
"Grunt, we've found the central chamber." Shepard radioed.
"Good. We've got your back, Shepard."
"Yeah, and we only had to crawl through a tiny bug infested hole to get here." Cass grumbled; following closely after her mother.
"Move it!" Shepard commanded, as reaper tech barriers began to rise from the ground on each side, slowly steering them further into the cavern. "Damn it!" The woman growled, nearly grinding her heels into the dirt as a final wall shot up only a few feet in front of her.
"We need to find the power node." Liara instructed.
Shepard nodded,
"Incoming resistance, Shepard." Garrus growled; raising his weapon and firing in defense at an incoming cannibals and ravagers.
"Take cover." The commander instructed.
"Shepard, the Rachni are backing off. Whatever spooked them won't last." Grunt snarled. "Finish the job!"
"Got it." Shepard responded, shooting the power node with her pistol and signaling her team forward.
"Oh my god." Cass whispered slowly, nearly hiding behind her mother as they came face to face with the Rachni Queen.
"Silence." A chorus of deep voices recited.
Cass squealed and nearly jumped into Liara's arms, holding onto the Asari's bicep with an unrelenting grip as the dead Krogans continued to speak.
"A sour note; the children are silent. Hollow. The machines take them. War. They die alone. Silent."
"The reaper's have down this to you?" Shepard stepped forward.
"Yes. The sour note of the machines is everywhere."
"I let you go after Noveria, you promised not to interfere anymore, the Rachni promised to disappear."
"We kept promise. Retreated back to relay. We started a new home. Beautiful children. But the machines came. They heard our song, they sang their sour notes. Drowned us out. Take the children and hurt us."
"They can't hurt you anymore." Shepard replied. "Can you still feel the reapers? Can they influence you?"
"We hear the machines, but they cannot control us. Remove this last shackle and we are free. The children have returned, they will destroy us all." The Rachni screeched in accordance with the Krogan voices, Cass wincing as the cries grew loud. "RELEASE US!"
"Can you help fight against the Reapers?"
"WE hate the machines. WE will fight for out unborn children. RELEASE US!"
"She's badly wounded." Liara indicated. "She needs time to escape."
"Shepard. We're out of time; If we stay, Aralakh Company dies, is that clear?" Grunt barked.
"Alright." Shepard responded. "Listen up, Aralakh company will hold the Rachni off until the queen escapes, we'll buy you some time. Grunt, you come back and lead us out."
"Commander?" Garrus questioned.
"It's an order; she's to valuable an asset to lose." Shepard ordered harshly, shooting the remaining power node, releasing the alien. The team watched as the Queen began to climb toward the cavern ceilings, her limbs twisting their way through the opening and raining rubble down upon them as she broke her way out.
Cass' eyes widened as the queen disappeared; had her mother nearly condemned the entire Krogan company in order to save the queen? Would the Queen even keep her promise? This was all so insane.
"Get us out of here!" Shepard boomed into her microphone.
Cass brought an arm up to shield her face as the cave exploded to the side, Grunt appearing in the dust cloud. The team began to run, firing their weapons and trying to break through the incoming swarm, as they continued upward, away from the central cavern, the reaper creatures continued to appear.
Rounding the corner, Cass was jerked back by her mother, a group of Ravagers ahead.
"Shuttles down that path, I'll hold them off." Grunt growled. "Damn it, Shepard, get out of here!"
Shepard frowned, staring down her Krogan companion; the commander nodded slowly and signaled her team in the ship's direction; placing a hand on the Krogan's shoulder as he stepped forward, facing the reaper Rachni. The woman began to move after her team, stopping as her daughter didn't.
"Cass, let's go!" Shepard commanded.
"No! We can't- there's way to many- We can't leave-" Cass breathed.
"We need to move, now!" Shepard shook her head sadly.
"No!" Cass growled. "We can't leave someone behind-" The girl was cut off as her mother shot an arm out, and wrapped it around her waist, pulling them forward with relative ease, even as the teen resisted.
As the mother and daughter stepped out into the light, the girl threw her mother's arm away from her.
"How could you do that!?" Cass cried. "He was a part of our team and you left him behind!"
"Cass." Shepard sighed. "Grunt did what he had to do, he saved our lives-"
"We could have stayed and fought! Then maybe we'd all be- all be- " Cass looked pass her mother, a shape making its way out of the tunnels. "GRUNT!"
The girl ran over to the stumbling, blood covered Krogan.
"Anyone got something to eat?" Grunt coughed, falling against the teen, the girl nearly collapsing under the weight, but her mother appeared at the other side, supporting most of the injured alien's weight; As Garrus ran over, he took the rest of thr weight from the teen, the commander and Turian supporting the Krogan back to the shuttle.
"Are you okay?" Shepard asked her daughter, the girl staring into the fish tank, her eyes wandering.
"I'm fine." Cass sighed.
"I know it was a lot to handle today, you did very well."
"I- thanks." Cass frowned.
"What?" Shepard's brow furrowed; standing from her desk and walking over to her child.
"It's just, I thought you might be angry with me."
"Why would you think that?"
"I didn't listen to you, when we were escaping the caverns, I- I said no, I was insubordinate."
"Cass." Shepard sighed. "I understood what you were trying to do today and it was very noble of you, I'm not angry. You were doing what you believed was right and understand that was not a call I was making lightly, it was Grunt's decision, and, well, everything worked out, so it's okay."
Cass nodded solemnly and leaned into her mother's side. "It's only going to get worse, isn't it?"
"Things always get worse before they get better." Shepard replied, hugging the girl tightly.
AN: Okay, so next chapter is definitely going to be the Genophage cure. Please Review!