Sorry this took a while, but as you can see by the size of it, you can probably understand why. Or don't, and be angry.
First I'll answer some of my lovely, anonymous readers, then onto the spell-check...
Animus:
The Tali -thing is a very cool idea. Don't know what I'm gonna do with Zaeed yet.
And the other anonymous guy/gal:
Probably not, but thanks anyway.
About the fic's direction: Tell me if I'm getting side-tracked, but also tell me if I am not. I'm writing this stuff for your enjoyment, so I'd like to know if you wanna see more Tali/Shep, or more supporting chars. I like being told what to do...
Again inside a krogan truck. This time they were traveling towards some rite of passage -place of the krogan.
It was pretty crowded inside, since in addition to Shepard team of ten, there was the Shaman, a very large krogan.
"Can you tell us now what we are about to face in there?" Shepard asked him.
"You'll see." the Shaman growled.
Running blind into a fight. It made Shepard nervous. His team seemed to agree. Everyone, except Grunt and Thane, looked very nervous. Grunt actually seemed to be very excited over the upcoming fight and Thane was pretty calm, as usual.
"This is not good, Shepard," Garrus muttered to Shepard.
"Yep," Shepard answered quietly.
Shepard's answer didn't exactly calm Garrus down, and his mandibles began to fidget.
Tali was sitting on the other side of Shepard, swaying slightly.
"You okay?" Shepard asked her.
"Nervous," she said.
"We've been through worse," Shepard said, putting his hand on her knee.
"You can't know that, since we don't know what we are going to be facing there."
Shepard sighed. She was right. He couldn't figure out what to say, so he patted her on her knee.
"It'll be fine," he said quietly.
The truck stopped.
"This is it. The place of the Rite," Shaman said, and the door of the truck opened.
To Shepard, the place looked like everything else on Tuchanka; another ruin. But it apparently held a great value to the krogan.
"This was the last surface city to fall in the rebellions. It is Tuchanka's most recent scar," the Shaman continued, as they walked towards the place.
"It is ancient. Surviving the tests of time and war. It endures, like the krogan."
They went through a short tunnel, and arrived at a large opening. Shepard could even barely see the sun of the system through the shroud, Aralakh. Immediately the temperature rose dramatically. Shepard felt like a bun in the oven and started to sweat under the armor.
"How goddamn hot is this place?" he heard Zaeed both cursing and asking at the same time.
Tali summoned her omni-tool.
"Fifty Celsius," she answered. "The shroud must be isolating some of the heat."
"Lucky for the krogan," Zaeed muttered in response.
"No. Not lucky," Mordin chimed in "The Council Demilitarization Enforcement Mission created the shroud. Nuclear war. No plant life. Reduced albedo caused temperatures to rise. CDEM created the shroud to keep livable temperatures."
"Whatta hell's albedo?" Jack asked.
"The ability to reflect light. Tuchanka in ruins. No reflection. More light absorbed. Temperatures rise."
"Fuckin' paradise," Jack muttered.
They had now reached a some kind of podium, which had a parapet surrounding it. There were three stairs to enter the podium, making it a natural bottleneck. The team could successfully defend against a greatly superior force. Shepard didn't know how much superior, but he hoped that their enemy would not be more than what they could handle.
"Contemplate the keystone," the Shaman pointed towards a panel on the wall "And complete it's trials."
"What will happen?" Grunt asked.
"It doesn't matter."
"So this is about adaptation?" Shepard asked "The ability to react quickly?"
The Shaman turned towards Shepard
"No," he answered, shaking his head. "Do not try to adapt, but to thrive. Every true krogan does."
The Shaman had left the team to 'prepare the Rite', whatever that meant. Shepard guessed that they should get started.
"All right. Three ways to get up here. Important, regardless of the enemy's direction," he pointed towards the gate next to the 'keystone', and then around the podium.
"Three teams. Three stairs. Guess everyone knows what that means."
"Garrus", he called, and Garrus nodded "You take the front. You have the strongest team."
Garrus' team consisted of Grunt, Jack and Zaeed.
"Grunt will be the mobile reserve. Both Miranda's team and mine may need him at some point."
"Gotcha, Shepard," Garrus said, and his team of four moved to the front.
"Miranda, take the left side. You'll operate the keystone on my command."
"Understood, Commander," she ordered, and Mordin and Jacob followed her.
"Tali, Thane, if you please," Shepard said, and gestured towards the stairs on the right.
"Scout around the stairs a bit. Just glance around, don't go anywhere," he ordered, when they reached the stairs. They both nodded, and Shepard walked to Garrus. He was watching his team preparing themselves, arms crossed.
"What do you think about the enemy?"
Garrus' eyes narrowed, still watching his team.
"Probably Tuchanka's fauna," he muttered, and now turned towards Shepard.
"Don't think it's other krogan. At least, I hope so."
Shepard sighed.
"Those klixen and varren are already a pain in the ass. Wonder what else they'll throw at us," he muttered back.
"Activate the keystone, Miranda," Shepard ordered over the radio.
"Understood."
Thane was behind the podium's parapet, while Tali and Shepard had taken cover behind the parapet of the stairs.
"Still nervous?" Shepard asked, looking through his sights.
"Not really, this is a good position," she answered.
She was actually still nervous, but didn't want to worry him.
Her voice was trembling slightly.
"You're lying."
She lowered her head.
"Sorry," she admitted sheepishly.
Not a very good job.
"I didn't want you to worry."
Shepard turned to her, and lifted her head gently by her chin. The same way she had done to him before.
He smiled slightly, but didn't speak.
She could feel herself smiling. He always made her feel this way.
Well, that or embarrassed...his teasing...his flirtation...
Embarrassed. She did wonder though, that why did she always smile at his flirtations if they were so embarrassing...
She chuckled at her thoughts.
Shepard frowned "What are you laughing?"
"To you," she answered teasingly.
He let go of her chin "What's so funny about me?"
"Your teasing..."
"Didn't tease you now."
"You often do."
Shepard's eyes narrowed, but then moved closer.
"Is it..." he moved his hand to her arm, then slowly began sliding it down "...unpleasant?"
Her eyes went shut. Like before, his touch felt very good. She slowly began to pull her head back.
"No..." she whispered.
She took his hand on her arm, and squeezed it. Then she moved her other hand to his cheek, stroking it.
Shepard smiled, and their foreheads touched.
She cursed at the glass separating their faces. She desperately wished for her lips to touch his.
She would need to get those antibiotics fast...
"First the krogan conquered Tuchanka, and mastered a natural world only we are fit to rule!" loudspeaker bellowed.
"Melodrama much?" Shepard remarked to Tali, who chuckled.
"I hope there ain't gonna be a play-by-play..." Shepard continued joking, and now Tali chuckled louder.
Suddenly, they began to hear loud racket coming from the estimated direction of attack.
"I see gates opening," Thane reported over the radio.
"Report if you see anything else."
"Understood."
The racket stopped, and it was replaced by quiet roaring and snarling.
"Varren spotted," Thane reported again.
"Varren?" Tali asked, her voice trembling with nervousness.
Shepard felt his jaw clenching.
"How many?" he asked.
"Tens," Thane answered, his voice as calm as usual.
This was not good. The varren could get close, and tear through them.
"Garrus, Miranda, you see them?" Shepard asked, and both confirmed.
"Just one order: Hold your ground. If you don't, they'll overwhelm us," Shepard ordered grimly.
He had issued a no retreat order once before, and it had not turned out so good.
On Torfan, their only advantage had been superior discipline and training. Now they also had far superior firepower. Hopefully that was enough.
"Yes, Commander," Miranda obeyed.
"Got it Shepard. We've got your,uh, front," Garrus said a moment later as well.
The varren began approaching.
First they walked, then jogged, and now they were running at full speed towards them. Rows of them, coming at the team like a wave. It was a very frightening sight.
"Fire on my command," Shepard ordered his own squad, and Tali supported her shotgun on to the parapet.
The varren were now very near.
"Fire!"
Tali, Thane and Shepard started firing at the wave, and a moment later, Garrus' and Miranda's team joined them. Tens of varren fell, but they still ran forward. Shepard didn't even bother firing bursts, but merely kept the trigger down. The thermal clip overheated, and ejected itself. Shepard quickly reloaded a new one, and continued firing. Thane's deadly accurate sniper fire also eliminated countless varren. Tali kept firing at the horde, but didn't see one flanking her. It leaped.
"Look out!" Shepard yelled, and tackled her out of the way.
The varren landed on Shepard, and was now on top of him. It managed to get it's jaws around Shepard's helmet, and tried to clench it's jaws together. The helmet began to bent from the force, and Shepard knew that it would crack on any second. He managed to kick the varren over him, and Tali immediately shot it with her shotgun. Shepard quickly rose up, and could see her killing the last of the varren.
She turned her head to him, but didn't lower her shotgun.
"Thanks" she said.
"Any time," he answered, glancing around.
Tali turned to him, eyes narrowed.
"Your helmet took a beating," she said, pointing towards his head.
Shepard growled lowly, and took the helmet off. It was horribly dented, and the visor was cracked, making it useless. He would have to fight without. Shepard dropped it to the ground.
He hoped that the varren were dead already. He didn't like the idea of fighting without a helmet.
"Shepard!" Garrus yelled over the radio.
Of course not...
"Yeah?" Shepard answered.
"They're concentrating on our position. We need help!" Garrus sounded very distressed.
"We're coming! Hold on!"
"Thane, get over here, we have to reinforce the center," Shepard ordered to his squad "Tali, let's go help Garrus."
She nodded, and Thane confirmed.
Shepard and Tali began to run towards Garrus' position, and when Thane ran past them, he and Shepard slapped hands.
They arrived at the Garrus' position, and were extremely surprised, when nobody was firing. Grunt and Zaeed were leaning on one of the pillars, Jack was standing in the middle with her hands held high, and Garrus was sitting against the parapet.
"What the hell's going on Garrus?!" Shepard yelled to Garrus.
"You said you ne--," his sentence was cut short, when he noticed that Garrus' his right arm was covered in blue blood, and his left hand was holding the arm's shoulder.
"Holy shit," Shepard cursed, and knelt down beside him "You okay?"
"Yeah, managed to stop the bleeding," he muttered quietly, and poked twice at the medigel on his wound.
Then Garrus slowly pointed towards Jack.
Shepard turned his gaze at her, who was still holding her hands above her head, flickering with biotic energy.
"Had her create a barrier around the podium. Give us a little time to recover," Garrus said weakly.
"Good thinking Garrus, but you've lost a lot of blood. Stay down."
Garrus leaned his head on the parapet. He looked like that he was barely conscious.
"Don't need to tell me twice..." he said quietly.
Shepard's radio came alive, and he stood up.
"Shepard, we don't have any varren here. Are they gone?" Miranda asked.
"No, and we need Mordin at Garrus' position, he's injured. You should come too, they're trying to break through from here."
"Understood, Commander," she replied.
"Where's your helmet Shepard?" Garrus asked quietly, his speech stammering. He started to get delirious.
"Varren broke it."
Shepard saw Miranda and Mordin running towards them. Mordin immediately ran to Garrus, and opened his omni-tool.
"Try not to move," he said, summoning a holographic image of a turian body from his tool.
"What is the situation, Commander?" Miranda asked, and Shepard gestured her to follow him.
They walked to the stairs, and Shepard pointed at the varren behind the barrier.
"Did Jack create the barrier?" Miranda asked, frowning.
Shepard nodded, and pointed towards Jack.
Miranda glanced at her, and snorted "Good thing she's finally useful."
Shepard felt his jaw clench again. Their pitiful rivalry was starting to get annoying.
"What are we going to do?" Miranda asked again.
"Fight them..." Shepard answered, then walked towards Grunt and Zaeed, leaving her still glaring at Jack angrily.
"Shepard," Grunt greeted, nodding. Zaeed also nodded.
"How are you gentlemen doing here?"
"Didn't took any damage, like your turian pal there," Zaeed said, tilting his head towards Garrus "Obviously took some yourself. Missing your helmet."
"Yeah, varren bit it. Did you see what happened with Garrus?" Shepard asked.
"Yeah. One varren tried to leap on me, but the turian shot it on the leg, so it attacked him. Bit him right on the arm. I managed to kick it off him, and shot it. Me and the krogan here..." Zaeed tilted his head now towards Grunt "...dragged the Angel there," now he pointed towards Garrus.
"Didn't recognize him at first, but then saw the angel on his shoulder," he paused shrugging "Good man your turian. I always wanted the same thing as the Archangel. A lot of mercs dead, "
"Good job Zaeed," Shepard said, and offered his hand to the merc "And thanks for Garrus."
Zaeed shook Shepard's hand, and nodded.
"How's the Revenant, Grunt?" Shepard now asked the krogan, holding a light machine gun in his hands. They had found it when rescuing Maelon, and since it's former owner was dead, Shepard had decided that Grunt should have it.
"Ha!" the krogan bellowed "It destroys the varren, rips them to pieces! You should have seen!"
Shepard grinned at the krogan's enthusiasm.
Grunt lifted the gun to his eye level with one hand, then tilted it back and forth, inspecting it "It's small, though."
He lowered the gun and shrugged "Could be bigger."
The Revenant was one of the largest small arms in the galaxy. Something bigger?
"What? You want a rapid fire rocket launcher or something?", Shepard asked, grinning.
Grunt narrowed his eyes, as if pondering if such a thing was even possible. A wide grin spread over his face.
"Yes. That I must have."
"I'll see what I can do," Shepard chuckled.
The team had formed a half-circle around the stairs, everyone pointing their gun at the varren, except Jack, who still held the barrier. Garrus and Mordin were a small distance away, Mordin still trying to do the best he could to help Garrus.
"It's getting heavy, Shepard" Jack moaned.
"Shut it down, then take cover."
She lowered her hands, and began slowly to walk towards Mordin and Garrus.
After the barrier shut down, the varren surged through.
"Fire at will!" Shepard yelled, and the team of five unleashed a firestorm upon the varren. One of them still got through, and jumped towards Grunt. Grunt lifted his arm up to protect himself, and the varren sunk it's teeth to the arm. Grunt roared, then swung his arm against a nearby pillar, crushing the varren.
The krogan's machine gun was particularly effective against the varren, since it had a large clip.
After a few seconds, most of the varren lay dead, and the rest ran away in horror.
"Rah! Come back!" Grunt roared, gunning after them.
Shepard lowered his gun, then looked towards the place Garrus was resting at.
"Mordin, how's Garrus?"
"Not in any danger. Cannot function, though. Extensive hemorrhaging."
"Got it, " Shepard answered, then turned towards Miranda. He gestured for her to come closer.
She ran to him, and he spoke.
"We need a new squad leader. Guess Jacob is pretty capable?"
"He has years of commanding experience," she answered.
"Get it done then. He'll take over my former position. You can hold the flank with Mordin."
"Yes, sir." she nodded, and ran towards her position. Shepard could see Jacob running past her, nearing the place Shepard was standing. Shepard lifted his hand, and Jacob slapped it.
"Then the krogan were lifted to the stars! To battle an enemy only we could follow into their lairs!" the loudspeaker bellowed again.
Grunt seemed to be very hyped-up. Shepard couldn't blame him. His people's history was very glorious. Violent, but glorious. The krogan may have destroyed their home planet, and even tried to enslave the galaxy, but they had also saved it. That was something they should be proud of.
The adrenaline, combined with the loudspeaker's messages of krogan pride, would greatly increase the battling krogan's morale. It was pretty ingenious.
The gates opened again, and several insect-like creatures came through.
"Zaeed, you see them?" Shepard asked the sniper-holding merc.
Zaeed fired a shot, and one of the creatures fell down.
"Yeah, klixen. Nasty bastards," he answered.
Again the klixen. And this time there were a lot more than the last time.
"Fire at will, but don't waste your shots," Shepard ordered and only Zaeed kept firing. Most of the klixen still approached them, but now some were walking towards their flanks. Shepard hoped that Jacob and Miranda could hold them.
Shepard could heard two sniper shots, Zaeed's and probably Thane's, but now, in addition to those, heard two SMGs firing as well. Probably Miranda and Mordin.
Without his helmet to block off the most of the noise, his ears were ringing. He worried if it would affect his hearing.
The klixen were now close enough for his assault rifle, so Shepard began firing towards one klixen. The burst cut off one of it's legs, and the second burst went right through it's midsection. The klixen fell down, and exploded. Two klixen near it screeched in pain.
Now Grunt began to fire, and it was devastating. The bullets cut through the klixen like a knife through butter. Two more of the klixen fell. They were now very close, and began to sprint. One of them ran towards Tali, who fired her shotgun. The klixen still staggered towards her, but fell down right before it could strike. She didn't move. Didn't she remember the explosion?
"Tali, the expl--" Shepard's warning was cut short, when the klixen exploded.
Tali flew backwards from the impact, and crashed to the ground. Shepard immediately ran towards her. He dove down next to her, shaking her from the shoulders. Her eyes opened.
"S-Shepard?" she muttered "W-what happened?"
"Klixen explosion happened, stupid girl. You okay? Any suit ruptures?" Shepard snapped, slightly angered at her carelessness.
It took her a second to answer. She was probably still a little out of it.
"N-no. Shields down though.." she muttered quietly.
She had probably a concussion or something. Shepard grabbed her arm, and pulled her into a fireman's carry. He began to run towards the place Garrus was laying on.
"Hold the line for a second! I'll be right back!" Shepard yelled over the radio.
"Roger that," Zaeed answered.
Shepard dumped Tali next to Garrus, then ran back to their position. One of the klixen tried to hit Zaeed, who ducked under the blow. Grunt fired the klixen to the back, and it fell. Zaeed dove down, and the klixen exploded. Shepard also started firing at one of the klixen, when his radio came alive.
"We need help Shepard! They're pushing us back!" This time it was Jacob, and Shepard glanced towards their position. There were three klixen against the two of them.
"Grunt's coming!" Shepard yelled, then signaled for Grunt to go to them.
Grunt hesitated, but nodded, and ran towards Jacob's position.
Grunt would have preferred not to leave so many enemies for Shepard and the merc to kill. Only three at the new position. They better be worthy.
He saw the dark human and the assassin fighting against two of the klixen. The remaining one tried to circle around Jacob.
Grunt chuckled. The bug was living it's last few seconds, it better enjoy them.
He began to sprint towards the klixen, then opened fire. The noise, violence and the killing heated his blood, so he roared. The bullets ripped through the bug's natural armor, and blood splashed around. Grunt tackled the wounded bug, and it fell down. He raised his arm to shield himself from the explosion, but still felt pain. He grunted and staggered, but remained on his feet. The quarian may have flown away, but not he.
"Ha!" he bellowed triumphantly.
But now he noticed, that he was now covered in bug-blood. It soured his mood.
One down, two more to go. The thought soured it even more.
He heard the black human roaring in pain. Grunt turned, and saw that the klixen had spat acid on the human's arm. Grunt grabbed the bug's hind leg, and pulled. The bug fell down, and Grunt's gun made quick work of it. Another explosion. Grunt staggered again, and grunted in pain as the shockwave passed through him. More bug-blood. He turned towards the human, and was surprised to see that the soft thing was still on it's feet. The human glowed blue. Grunt remembered him being a biotic.
"Thanks Grunt," the human said.
Grunt would have preferred to let them die, so he could have killed the klixen himself, but Shepard might kick him out of the team if he didn't follow his orders. It was a terrifying thought. Shepard had strong enemies, and Grunt wanted to fight them more than anything.
So Grunt merely nodded in response.
Only one left. The thought made Grunt sad and angry.
The last klixen was trying to hit the assassin, who kept bouncing around. The drell had a small gun in both of his hands, and kept firing bursts at the klixen between his bouncing. It looked silly to Grunt, but then again, the assassin wasn't krogan. Grunt aimed at the klixen, but then it suddenly fell. Apparently the green one had killed it. The drell jumped over the parapet to safety, and the bug exploded. This time, Grunt didn't get hit by the shockwave, but wasn't so lucky with the blood.
Grunt growled in anger, and poked his shoulder-plate. His whole armor was covered with the sticky and green stuff. It would take a long time for him to clean his armor. If he wanted to clean it, that is. He didn't actually care if it was shiny. Still, the blood smelled like varren crap. He probably had to clean it. Grunt became even more angry.
The dark human was holding his ear, probably the radio.
"Yeah, I'll send him back," Jacob said.
Grunt figured it meant him, so he turned towards Shepard's position and saw five klixen battling Shepard, the quarian and the merc. He chuckled. The quarian was tough for a little girl.
But the amount of the enemies again soured his mood. Grunt snorted. Well, at least that's more than three.
Was this the big Rite? Kill some varren and a few bugs? This was probably a challenge for average krogan, but average krogan were weak. He felt disappointed at the krogan homeworld again.
"Grunt, you shou--" the human started, turning towards Grunt, but since he was already on his way to Shepard, Jacob didn't bother with finishing the sentence.
Back and forth. Like he was a varren doing tricks.
He opened fire at the nearest klixen, and it fell down. The klixen tried to get up, and Grunt let it. Maybe this one would put up a bigger fight. The bug spat acid on him, and Grunt raised his arm to protect his eyes. The acid burned his flesh, and the pain was excruciating. Grunt felt something rising inside him.
The blood rage. Something still held it back, so Grunt didn't even try to stop the bug from attacking him again, and the bug's claw slashed him.
Now the rage surged, and Grunt let it.
He immediately dropped his gun, and grabbed the bug from it's jaw. Grunt began bashing his head against the head of the bug, roaring. The bug screeched in pain, and sunk both of it's front claws into the arms of Grunt. That merely enraged him more. He roared louder, and began bashing his head against the bug's even faster and harder. The bug's face bled, and it began to go limp. Grunt grabbed now both of it's front claws, and pulled them out of his arms. He kept pulling, and tore them off the bug. The bug screeched in pain, and Grunt lifted the claws over his head. He sunk them into the bug's face, and now it fell down, this time permanently. The explosion. Grunt didn't bother to turn away, but merely roared at it. He didn't even feel any pain, and staggered only slightly. He could taste his own blood in his mouth, which gave him even more strength.
Shepard was fighting two of the klixen, jogging backwards at the same time as he fired. Grunt grabbed the klixen nearest to him, and began to spin. The klixen rose up to the air as Grunt spun. He smashed the klixen to a pillar near him. Another explosion. This time it toppled Grunt over. As he laid on the ground, he heard gunfire continuing for a few seconds, then stopping. The rage began to fade away, and Grunt got up.
Shepard was leaning on his knees, panting.
"Now all krogan bear the genophage! Every day is a battle and the only goal is survival!" the loudspeaker bellowed again.
Shepard looked towards the voice.
"Did someone press the damn keystone?" he asked, clearly angry.
He had his hand on his ear, probably the radio again.
"Damn it!" he cursed.
The ground began to shake. Grunt collected his gun from the ground again.
The shaking intensified, and a large worm sprang up from the ground, just outside the podium. A thresher maw.
"Now that is a worthy foe!" he bellowed as loud as he could.
A thresher maw. Great.
Apparently the third part of the Rite activated by itself. Survival, as it said.
He heard Grunt yelling something about a foe. Probably something nonsense again.
"Take cover!" Shepard roared, and ducked behind a pillar.
Tali ducked down next to him.
"Oh no..." she muttered.
They felt the pillar shaking, as the maw's acid attack hit it. Always acid...
"Look at Grunt!" she yelled, pointing at the krogan.
Grunt was firing at the maw without aiming, roaring as he did. He was standing in the middle of the podium, without any cover.
"Idiot," Shepard snapped, and surged from the cover. He ran to Grunt, and grabbed him from his arm.
"Let's go!" he yelled, and tried to pull the krogan with him. Grunt didn't budge, but just kept firing.
Shepard pulled his fist back, and hit the krogan to the jaw as hard as he could. Now the krogan stopped firing, and turned towards Shepard.
"Shepard?" he asked, unbelieving.
"Get to the cover you moron! The spit attack's gonna obliterate you!"
Grunt pondered his words for a second, and glanced at the maw. He nodded, and they began to run towards the pillar. Shepard heard the spit attack coming again, and it landed right behind them. They both dove into the cover.
Shepard got up to his knees, and turned to Tali
"Where's Garrus?!" he asked, glancing around, trying to find him. He wasn't there were he was laying, so someone must have took him.
"There!" Tali yelled, pointing at somewhere behind Shepard.
Now he could see Miranda and Mordin dragging Garrus towards one pillar.
He was barely conscious.
"Is he all right?" Shepard asked Tali, who had been laying next to Garrus only a moment ago.
"He's okay, but has lost a lot of blood. He needs to get to the med-bay," she answered, staring at Miranda and Mordin dragging him.
"What about you?"
"I'm feeling dizzy."
"Then go lay the hell down! What the hell is wrong with you people?!" Shepard yelled, he didn't understand why everyone kept playing with their lives. He hoped it wasn't to impress him.
"I can fight, Shepard!"
"Then fight, and don't blow yourself up again!" he yelled.
Tali muttered something about a bosh'tet again.
Shepard activated his radio again "Everyone report!"
Thankfully, everyone except Garrus reported.
"Zaeed, Thane! Fire at the maw's mouth when it opens!"
"Everyone else, just..."
Damn the next command sounded stupid.
"...try to get the maw to spit at you!"
It was like ordering everyone to kill themselves.
"Shit," he muttered, and tried to reach for the M-77 missile launcher. It had worked well against the krogan warlord, better work now too.
"Fuck you Shepard! I'm not gonna get spit upon!" Jack yelled back to him over the radio.
"Draw the damn fire! Don't make me come there and kick your ass out of that cover!" he yelled at her, starting to get angry at her insubordination. Just do something once without talking back...
"You can try, asshole!" she yelled, but Shepard could see her surging from the cover, firing at the maw.
Shepard now had the M-77 in his hands.
"Grunt!" he shouted, and the krogan turned to him. Shepard tossed the launcher to him.
"Here's your rapid fire missile launcher again! Fire on my command!"
Grunt nodded, grinning.
Shepard and Tali fired at the maw, and it spit against the pillar again. He could hear two sniper shots going off.
"I see blood, Shepard," Zaeed reported.
"Good, keep going!"
Several more spit attacks, and several more sniper shots. The maw roared, and sunk into the earth.
"It is changing position," Thane informed.
The maw surged from the other side.
"Watch out! It's changed it's place!" Shepard yelled on the radio.
Shepard, Tali and Grunt took cover on the other side of the pillar, and the rest of the team also switched covers.
Again, spit attacks, and again, sniper shots. The maw roared again, it was now seriously hurt.
"Now, Grunt!"