The grizzly was rattling along the rocky causeway towards Peak 15, Kaidan was driving and Ashley manned the gun. According to her the Gunnery Chief should get the gun not that Feral really minded, he doubted Shepard had left anything alive for them anyway. He and Tali were in the rear compartment, sitting in the seats closest to the cockpit and the gun. Kaidan had explained what Shepard had relayed to him, the situation with the Geth hadn't surprised them in the slightest but the Rachni had proven…well….no one had expected that.
"Are they sure it's Rachni?" Feral was beyond sceptical, he had heard the stories and when a species gets wiped out by the Krogan you don't really expect them to make a reoccurrence.
"Well first of all Wrex confirmed it, and then scientists in Peak 15 said they found an egg in a derelict ship" Kaidan shouted back over the roaring of the engine. "Apprently they hatched it and it started laying eggs"
"Keelah, who would ever think that was a good idea?" Tali sighed "So what's the commander's plan?"
"No idea, the signal was bad. He just told me what the situation was and that we had to get over there. We should be at Peak 15 in about 15 minutes" Kaidan quickly replied
"Good, wake me when we get there" Feral just sank back in his seat and shut his eyes, pushing his head into the side of his seat.
"Is he seriously going to sleep?" Ashley shouted down at them from her position in the gun.
Tali was going to reply but she was stopped by Feral opening one eye and putting a single finger over his lips. She laughed at that, winking back at him through her visor. The smile on his face as he shut his eye and crossed his arms meant that he had seen it. "You want to try and stop him?" Tali just looked up at Ashley, who shrugged and sat back into her seat.
Tali sat back in her seat, crossing her legs and placing her hands in her lap. She smiled more as she watched Feral sleep, he looked so peaceful. He deserved it after all the things she could imagine he'd gone through…even if it was only for 15 or so minutes.
Feral was enjoying his nap, he hadn't gotten any sleep for about 12 hours and Cerberus hadn't really let him sleep more than 6 hours a night. He may have been a marine but with the experimentation; he never slept fully throughout the night. 15 minutes here or there had been his life saver, plus it never gave enough time for the nightmares to start.
Suddenly Feral was awoken with a jolt, something had slammed into his chest and when he opened his eyes to check what it was, he saw Kaidan pushing a helmet into his chest. "Put it on, you'll need it to get from here to the facility"
"We have to go outside?" Feral just looked up at Kaidan, grabbing the helmet and sliding it over his head and locking it in place.
"Yh but only for a little bit, I just didn't want your face freezing off before we have a chance to throw you at the Rachni" the biotic smirked as he walked over to the hatch, pushing it open and stepping out into the snow storm. Ashley following after she had hopped down from the gunnery nest. Feral was about to stand up from his seat when a small hand came up in front of him, Tali was offering him the same he had given her on several occasions. Smiling behind his helmet, he took her hand and pulled himself up. "Thanks Tali" Feral's voice was coming through the helmets voice piece. "So what do you think?" tapping the side of his helmet "does it bring out the best in my eyes?" he laughed as he started to crawl out of the grizzly, followed by the giggling quarian.
The pair quickly followed Kaidan and Ashley out of the grizzly, walking past the parked Mako and into the complex. The moment they entered the facilities garage Feral reached up and threw his helmet off his head. Sighing happily at the freedom it provided. Noticing the look on Ashley's face "I spent 4 years in a box, I don't like feeling trapped inside something if I don't have to be" he just said as he walked off, taking his rifle off his back as the squad stepped up to the garage's main door.
"Be ready, I doubt Shepard or Wrex left anything alive but we should still be careful" Kaidan said as the door finally moved up in front of them. The garage was a mess, the entire area was littered with the bodies of Geth platforms; their synthetic blood sprayed and smeared all over crates, consoles and the floor.
"Huh….so this is what it must have looked like when you found me in that base" Feral just snorted as he started walking in front, making his way through the garage with the rest of the team following. The trek was pretty uneventful, Kaidan was right; the previous team had destroyed everything. It was easy to follow their path through the wrecked base; the smell of death was more than obvious to Feral as he lead the second squad. The squad only stopped briefly when they found the body of what they assumed had to be a Rachni, they had only ever seen pictures.
"That….is bigger than I expected" Feral just stated, reaching down and rubbing some of the creatures blood onto his fingers, briefly sniffing at them before recoiling and wiping this hand clean in the snow "….well….that will make them easy to smell" Feral slowly stood up, retching slightly as he walked off "Fuck me that stinks" he growled, briefly glaring at Ashley as she bit her lips, desperately trying not to laugh.
They continued deeper into the facility past a VI core and towards the Rift station, noting the burnt panels in a small area. Slightly smouldering pieces of tissue present around the edges of the walkway. The squad quickly jumping onto the tram that would take them to Shepard's position, but before that they had to take another elevator. Much to Feral's dismay, thank god this one was slightly faster, but not even that stopped him being the first out. Something Tali was starting to notice he could manage no matter where he was standing.
The group quickly headed forward, weapons lazily held in their shoulders as they slowly filed down the hall towards the door, Feral went to open the door and was greeted by a room full of guards aiming weapons at him and the rest of the squad. He stared blankly at the group, hoping someone would say something soon; his finger itching at the trigger of his rifle.
"Oh thank god. STAND DOWN! Sorry about that, we can't be too careful. I'm Captain Ventralis, Shepard said you'd be coming" a man stepped forward from the barricade and quickly ushered them past it. His men instantly raising their weapons towards the doors, Feral could smell the stench of Rachni blood all over this room. Clearly they had been holding out against wave after wave of the aliens for quite some time. "The commander is down the hall, you'll find him and his team in there, he should be coming back now from helping the Doctor" Ventralis told them "hopefully with the rest of you here, we can finally put this all to rest" the captain sighed as he stepped back up towards the barricade.
The group moved along the halls until they entered a large room filled with scientists. They weren't sure they were in the right place but the large Krogan suggested otherwise "About time you got here, you must have run into something pretty big" the krogan's voice boomed to the group, before noticing their blank expressions "….guess not, well you're in luck. Should have some more bugs to squish up ahead" the reptile chuckled "I'd hate to have all the fun after all"
A door behind the Krogan opened and the commander, Liara and Garrus stepped out into the hall way. "Good you're here, come on I'll bring you guys up to speed" The entire group converged around the commander who spoke as quietly as he could. Shepard told them what he knew and what he expected. Matriarch Benezia was up ahead and so far only one of her large biotic contingent was dead, so he expected a lot of biotics. Then there was the Rachni, the Queen was with Benezia and he had no idea why. So he was taking the whole squad with him, an entire Asari commando platoon plus whatever Geth Benezia had with her; it was going to be tough but he had faith in his squad as a whole. They would be heading back down towards the maintenance room, apparently there was a back door to the Queen's holding room. Feral, Ashley and Wrex would be at the front, with Liara and Kaidan providing biotic support behind them. Shepard would be in the middle and Garrus and Tali would be bringing up the rear. The two soldiers and the krogan quickly grabbed their gear with Wrex leading the way, Ashley and Feral had no idea where they were going so they let the big reptile take point.
The team was walking through the maintenance hall way before they came out into what looked a cave, Feral and Ashley moved up into line with Wrex; spacing out as they made their way up towards Benezia's position. Feral could hear the footsteps of his squad behind him; it felt good to have a team at his back again. Even if that team wasn't exactly the most orthodox collection of soldiers, mercenaries and 'others' the galaxy had ever seen. He smiled at that, maybe after being strung up and poked with sharp objects for a few years, weird would be good for him.
His train of thought was suddenly interrupted by a familiar smell, Rachni were coming. "Wrex you got that?" he quietly said to the Krogan.
The Krogan looked over at the human, his red eyes glaring into the smaller humans before he laughed "Yh, Rachni are ahead. Good nose" The two raised their weapons, Ashley following their lead as they edged around the krogan. The three suddenly being wrapped in a shimmering blue aura, Feral turning around to see both Kaidan and Liara surrounded in the same aura. 'ooooooo barriers, thank you very much' He smiled, the barrier and his shield meant he could have some fun with this.
As if on cue two large Rachni dropped from the ceiling, putting his rifle onto his back Feral grabbed his pistol and combat knife. One for him and one for everyone else, or so he thought. Wrex had the same idea, grabbing his shotgun. The two charged forward towards the warriors, the unfortunate aliens barely even having time to recover from the fall before Wrex and Feral were on top of them. The few shots they managed to get off mainly missing, the barriers absorbing the rest of the Rachni's panicked attacks.
Wrex's shoulder slamming into one of the creatures and knocking it over onto its side, the Krogans massive foot slamming down on its neck as a large boom turned its head into mush. Wrex lifted his claymore and spun around expecting to have to save his smaller team mates life. Roaring with laughter at what he saw.
Feral was sitting on the dead Rachni, wiping his knife clean on his thigh. His pistol smoking slightly from the few shots he had taken. Feral had taken a slightly different route to Wrex. Instead of knocking it down he had fired on the run, pounding the warrior's front with pistol shots and taking out its front legs. As it collapsed onto the ground he had followed up by damn near slicing the creatures head off, his strength allowing his knife to cleanly cut through the Rachni's spine. Death had been instantaneous.
No one could believe it, Ashley had been itching for a fight and it was over before it even began. The Krogan and super soldier wiping out the warriors as fast as they had arrived. It had only been two of them, but even so….it should not have been that easy.
"You've got a quad human" Wrex just laughed as everyone else walked up to him "Nice to see someone else that might be as tough as me around here, well….almost as tough as me anyway" he growled that last bit, but he was still smiling at the human.
"Err thanks Wrex" Feral said as he sheathed his knife, satisfied the smelly Rachni blood was completely off it. He just watched as Shepard took the lead, patting his shoulder as he went past. Apparently he had impressed more people that just Wrex. He sat on the dead Rachni until Garrus and Tali finally walked up to him.
"What the hell is a quad?" Feral looked at the two, hoping the only aliens he really knew well enough to ask that would have an answer.
Garrus snorted and Tali just looked off to the side "I'll tell you as soon as you tell me if you can take a missile to the head and live Feral, but after that small show. I'm guessing the answer is probably yes"
Scoffing, feral just shook his head before he stood up. Grabbing his rifle again as the trio caught up to the rest of the team. They were getting close.
The doors to the room hissed open; Shepard bursting into the room with Kaidan and Liara immediately behind him, Wrex was staying close behind as they walked in. Feral, Garrus, Tali and Ashley following in and moving to the right, covering the walkway moving around the edge of the big room. They had all been so engrossed in their tactics that it took them a second to notice it. In the middle of the room was a giant box and sitting inside it, the Rachni Queen.
Feral's eyes widened in surprise, she was huge but she wasn't pounding at the glass. For the briefest of moments he felt like he knew what she was feeling. Defeat, she wasn't fighting her captivity…just waiting for it to come to an end. No matter what that end might be. It was the exact same thing he had felt for all those years. His thought train was broken by two things, for a moment he could've sworn the Queen was looking back at him and a voice suddenly rang out.
"MOTHER!" Liara cried at the Matriarch, Feral suddenly noticed the figure from his low position, Garrus and Tali both looked over as well trying to see what was going on.
"Hello Liara, Commander Shepard do you really think that parading my daughter in front of me would change anything?"
The exchange got quieter, Shepard's two squads getting tenser as they wondered how this was going to play out and eventually Feral got his answer when he heard the phrase.
"Have you ever faced an Asari commando unit? Few humans have"
Suddenly a blue aura surrounded Shepard, Liara, Wrex and Kaidan. Freezing them in their spots and the matriarch went to throw another at the second group before Feral shouted "MOVE!" Ashley instantly dived forward and Feral wrapping his arms around Garrus and Tali's waist as he dived forward, taking the two dextro aliens down with him. All three quickly picking themselves up as they dived behind the crates, trying to get a shot off at Benezia until they heard shouting at the other end of the room. "Wanna guess that's the Asari Commando unit?" Feral just sighed as the room exploded with the sound of gun fire and the occasional warping noise of a biotic power being thrown across the room.
Luckily the stasis on Shepard's team had worn off and they were all taking cover behind the crates as well. Both groups were under fire but they knew what had to be done. Feral's squad had to make the move. Benezia was in the way of Shepard's team and her barriers were making it impossible to get a shot in, if Feral's team could get in a forward position the Asari commandos would mean nothing and they could push on the advantage against the Matriarch.
Liara was given an order my Shepard and instantly the young asari and Kaidan, threw up the biggest barrier they could, covering the front of Shepard's squad. Meanwhile a group of Asari were quickly making their way towards Feral's team. Ashley and Garrus were taking pot shots but nothing was really slowing the Asari down, their barriers were too strong and the constant suppressing fire meant they could barely poke their heads out without a round flying past their heads.
That all changed, Shepard and Wrex immediately started to fire across the room straight at the advancing squad. Their assault rifles fire taking the Asari off guard and Wrex's own biotics knocked out the front commando's barriers. Feral took his chance, darting forward with the same speed he had used against the Rachni earlier. Bringing his fist into the surprised commando's cheek as hard as he could, spinning her around and completely disorientating her as she under estimated the strength of the brave human.
Feral wrapped his other arm around her neck and squeezed his arm hard, choking the commando as she struggled against his grip before she went limp in his hold; not dead yet, her life now depended on her team mates. Feral reached down to his thigh and pulled up his pistol, from his new position he had a perfect sight on the commando's and using their team mate as a shield he slowly started to advance. Putting carefully placed rounds into the remaining Asari's barriers, until he saw Ashley and Tali run up behind him. Leaning out from behind the super soldier as he used the Asari as a shield, slowly advancing along the cause way.
Shepard just watched as the three moved up, smiling as he saw Garrus pull out his sniper rifle and started to move slowly behind the main group using his height to his advantage. Sniper round after round was hitting a commando dead on. This coupled with the constant fire of the 'shield' group meant the Asari forces were dropping like flies. Time for his team to make a move, and with a simple nod to Wrex. The Krogan charged through the protective bubble roaring as his face plate collided with an Asari's forehead. The battle was tipping in their favour.
Feral was reaching the end of the walkway and his shields armour was starting to buckle, he could feel bullets entering the unconscious Asari and he finally felt the death twitch as a bullet entered her chest. Realising his shield wouldn't last much longer he replaced he put his pistol back on his thigh and grabbed a grenade, priming it and shoving it down the back of the Asari's collar. Kicking the lifeless commando down the stairs in front of him and into the groove where the remaining squad was taking cover. Diving back, all three of them took cover as an explosion erupted from the bottom of the stairs. Feral was on his front and Ashley and Tali pushed past him, running down the stairs and finishing off the Asari. Tali's shotgun making light work of whatever barrier's they could muster before Ashley's assault rifle peppered them.
Feral started to sit up when a clawed hand was thrust into his face "I have to say, I've never seen an Asari used as a shield before. I'll have to make a recommendation to C-Sec on its effective ness in a fire fight" Garrus just stood there, the turian equivalent of a smile on his face. Feral grabbed his hand and was yanked to his feet "Now come on, I can't wait to see how you'll deal with Benezia" his mandibles clicking with exciting as the pair caught up with Ash and Tali.
The two squads suddenly converged on each other, taking aim at Matriarch Benezia. Feral's unit had successfully fought their way around and Shepard's unit had beaten a hole in the elder Asari's group. Few humans had ever faced an Asari commando unit, but Shepard's squad was not just human and they had made the centuries of training seem worthless. Benezia was now staring down the barrels of the 8 man team. There was only one way this could end.
"Mother…please stop" Liara was begging, her hand shaking as she reluctantly pointed her pistol at her own mother.
"Never!" Benezia raised her arm, her barrier moving up to her fist and surrounding it in a pulsing blue light but she never had the chance to use the attack. The moment she raised her arm, 7 weapons unloaded everything they had straight into the Asari. Her barriers were weakened and several shots got through, wounding the woman as she fell to the ground.
Liara didn't even wait for the weapons of her comrades to point to the ground; she threw her pistol down and ran forward, taking her mother into her arms.
"Mother…." Liara sobbed, Shepard slowly stepping up to the two Asari and placing his hand on Liara's shoulder "Why?...why do any of this?" Liara was pleading for answers.
"It's Saren….his ship, they get into your mind" Benezia was coughing out her words "They….warp and twist your own way of thinking….I thought I was strong enough…I thought I could overcome it but I couldn't. Saren…sent me here to obtain the location of the Mu Relay from the Rachni. You…you h-have to stop him" She looked straight at the commander "Please…..stop Saren"
Benezia's hand came up and cupped her daughter's wet cheek "I've always loved you Liara….always" her hand dropping back down to her side as her body went limp. The room was silent, no one was saying anything. Everyone heard Liara gulp before finally saying "I love you too mother" laying Benezia back down onto the ground before standing up and leaning into Shepard. The commander just held her….nothing could be said. Not now.
"Take 5 everyone, we'll figure out what to do next then" Shepard said solemnly. The squad dispersing and walking off into the sides of the room, Shepard leading Liara away from her mother's body. Tali was about to walk away but she stopped when she saw Feral walking up to the pod that contained the Rachni queen. He was just staring at her, she was going to walk away when she something move.
"FERAL BEHIND YOU!" The mechanic screamed, Feral's head bolting around to see what she meant. A dead commando was getting up off the ground, her movement awkward and stiff. He quickly reached for his pistol and aimed it at her, his mind screaming at him to shoot. He didn't…but Tali did, her shotgun tearing right through the Asari. To both of their amazement, nothing happened. The Asari just slowly stood back up, this time with a gaping hole in her stomach. By this point the entire squad had returned, raising their weapon at the Asari before jumping slightly as the Rachni Queen pounded on the glass directly behind Feral.
Feral jumped off the side, putting distance between him, the queen and the asari as he stood just behind the computer console; his weapon flicking between the two.
"This one…serves..as our voice" The Asari slowly spoke, her words as jerky as her brief movements. "We cannot sing, not in these low spaces. You're music's are….colourless"
Shepard was the first to speak "Music? I don't understand, what are you doing to her?"
The Rachni Queen began to explain everything. How the Rachni communicated through colouring the air, through the touch of thought. How her children had been torn away from her voice and went insane, no one expected her to beg for them to be killed. She told them her children were beyond saving, they could only suffer.
Everyone could tell the queen was distraught by the words she was using, by her pleading. Feral, however, could hear it. Underneath the normal voice was a higher frequency of sound, he could only just pick it up but it sounded like crying. He lowered his weapon and just stared at the giant Rachni, letting the scene play out behind him.
When the queen told Shepard why her children were destroying Peak 15, Feral just inwardly growled. The scientists had taken them, to turn them into weapons. It wasn't until the queen addressed him that he looked up.
"This one" the asari shuffled awkwardly to turn her head towards Feral "he knows our pain more than anyone, we can see it in his eyes" Feral just stared down at the ground.
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Ash shouted from the back of the room, no one but Shepard knew what Feral had gone through.
Feral just shrugged "Maybe I can relate to being kidnapped, experimented on and turned into a living weapon" he briefly looked over at the rest of the group. "Just saying" The room was silent after that until finally the queen spoke again.
"Will you ease their suffering for us? Will you help them?" Feral looked back down at the ground, that constant sound of sobbing was getting louder as he got more and more used to it. Looking back up at the queen he managed to get a few words out "Yh….I'll take care of them" he sighed, he had no love for the Rachni, but being begged by a crying mother to kill her children…it was heart breaking.
Both the queen and her asari voice box turned back towards the commander "Before you deal with my children. What will you sing? Will you free us or will you let us fade away once more?" The fate of the Rachni rested on the commander's choice.
"What would you do…if…I freed you?" Shepard asked, raising his hand to silence the rest of his squad. Garrus and Wrex especially were about to voice loudly what a mistake that was, but Shepard wanted to hear it.
"We would seek a new place…to teach our children harmony….war destroyed us….I will not let my children suffer anymore. If they understand, maybe we will return" the asari voiced for the queen.
"Feral?" the commander called over
The response was another shrug; Feral hadn't taken his eyes off the Rachni queen once. "Sorry commander. The asari is dead…no bodily functions to read and even if this box was thin enough. I'd have no idea what to look for" his voice was quiet and monotone "You'll just have to trust her"
"Trust her and the only thing that will happen is another Rachni war! And this time my people won't be around to save you all!" Wrex boomed, the Krogan couldn't believe releasing the Rachni was even on the cards. His people had died saving the council races from them and their reward had been the genophage. His outburst was the pilot light, the entire squad started arguing. Shepard and Feral just listening to the comments. Genocide was wrong. The Rachni were a menace. The argument was suddenly silenced by the sound of cracking glass.
Feral had punched the queen's containment unit. His fist not penetrating all the way through the box but digging a decent way into it. Quickly pulling his hand out, blood dripping down his fingertips as the glass tore at his skin slightly. His face was pulled into a snarl as he glared at the group.
"GENOCIDE? They WERE a menace?" he was growling at the group before he looked over to Shepard "There is only one thing you need to consider Shepard. One!" he was furious but he took a few deep breaths, calming himself down as best as he could. "When you found me, you had to wade through the people I'd killed. I told you that I had been locked up and experimented on. That you ultimately had the final say on what happened to me. You let me go Shepard." His words became softer as he expression dropped "She's been locked up, had her children taken away from her. They did this Shepard not her. Her only crime is existing."
"So commander…you freed a man who slaughtered an entire science division. Ask yourself this…..what makes me better than her?" his piece was over, he started to walk away "Now If you'll excuse me….I have to go and kill her children" he said quietly as he shoved his way through the rest of the group. Shepard turned to watch him walk off.
"Kaidan, Wrex and Tali. Go with him" he just said, deep in thought. Turning back as the three quickly took off after the angry super soldier. Feral was right though. The queen hadn't done anything but give birth. The scientists had stolen her children and made them go insane. The fault wasn't hers. He had released Feral who had massacred an entire facility filled with people. The Rachni's past was irrelevant. Humans had been guilty of unspeakable acts as well; Feral was just the newest addition in a long history. He sighed loudly as he stepped forward to the console. He really hoped he wasn't going to regret this. He was going to trust her and give the Rachni a second chance.
- In the elevator to the hot labs –
Tali was worried about Feral, she had seen him angry before but this time it was different. After he had defended her in the citadel he was instantly back to his loud, goofy self. This time, he was silent and his face was stiff. He didn't even smile when Kaidan said that he'd never seen anyone shout at the commander like that before. Now he was just standing in the elevator, no sighing, and no complaining. He was just staring at the door as he waited for it to reach their destination. The Hot Labs, apparently there was a way to rid the base of the Rachni permanently from a terminal within.
The moment the elevator stopped, Kaidan stepped out first. Followed by Feral, Tali and Wrex bringing up the rear. Tali sighed to herself; she'd hoped that Feral was going to spring past everyone and make it out first like he always did but again. Nothing, for now Feral was gone. She hoped it wouldn't be forever.
They walked up as the labs started to open up, stopping at the sight of a lone scientist sitting in the middle of the room. Kaidan just looked back at the rest of his squad, who shrugged in response. He clearly wasn't a threat but it was very odd.
"Hello?" Kaidan slowly said, trying to get the man's attention. He was rewarded by the man looking up at him and answering in an eastern European accent.
"Are you here to secure the situation?" he scientist asked, hope in his eyes at the squad.
"If by that you mean kill the Rachni? Yes, we are" Feral replied quickly.
"Good, you will need the neutron purge to wipe them all out. The station is just over there and I can help you do tha-GAH!" the man's chest suddenly exploded, spraying Kaidan in a small shower of blood. His body slowly lifting up into the air and revealing the Rachni warrior behind him. Luckily there was only one of them and Tali and Wrex's shotguns made light work of the lone attacker. The scientist being flung across the room as the warrior fell.
"Keelah….now what do we do?" Tali said, holding her shotgun at her side as she looked towards Kaidan.
"We fire off that purge" Feral said from behind them, he was patting down the dead scientist and reached into a pocket. Pulling out a data pad. "The code for the purge is on this and the terminal is up ahead. Tali and I can figure it out, but if we're lucky it'll have a VI interface. We say the code and…..kaboom" the man stood up and walked off to the back of the room. Closely followed by Wrex, the idea of destroying the Rachni with an explosion excited the Krogan and he wanted to be there when it was activated. Kaidan and Tali just glanced at each other before jogging after the others.
Feral had been right, there was a VI interface and it made their lives a whole lot simpler. All they had to do was input the code and then run. Kaidan sounded happy at that "Easiest thing we've had to do all day" he laughed as Feral stepped up to Mira.
"Activate the neutron purge Mira" Feral stated "Activation code; 875-020-079 code Omega, local execution" he finished his sentence as the team turned around back towards the door.
"Code accepted, local execution in 120 seconds" Mira said before the door outside was filled with the screech of Rachni.
"I had to say something didn't I?" Kaidan mentally kicked himself "Ok, 2 minutes and counting and a room full of Rachni. Ideas?"
Kaidan just looked back at the rest of his team, hoping anyone had a plan because they didn't have time to fight their way out conventionally.
"We charge our way through" Feral finally piped up "We open that door and us three open fire, just general spraying. Then Wrex punches a hole straight down the middle and we follow him through."
Wrex just laughed "Sounds good to me" he walked back, Krogan were fast but they took some distance to get up to full speed so he stepped back and got ready. Shoulder down, face forward. Straight into the Rachni. Kaidan, Feral and Tali quickly pushed themselves up around the door, giving the Krogan room to fly past them as they sprayed lead into the room.
"Ready Wrex?" Kaidan shouted back, his hand hovering at the door panel.
"Born ready" came the response, the biotic slapping the control as all hell broke loose.
The three at the door immediately began spraying rounds into the crowded room, Tali was kneeling in front of Feral. Her shotgun taking out a few of the closest whilst Feral and Kaidan just peppered the rest, knocking them back as Wrex suddenly juggernauted past them. Shunting the Rachni out of his way as he ran into them as fast as he could.
The moment he had passed, Kaidan had followed and sprinted down the hole Wrex had made. Quickly followed by Tali and Feral. All four of them made it to the elevator, panting as they slammed the doors shut behind them and getting the elevator moving. A couple of moments passed before a loud explosion rocked the facility. Kaidan sighed, he couldn't believe that had worked but he was glad it had. Feral's idea had been crazy, but using Wrex as a battering ram had been ingenious.
"So what now?" Tali finally managed to say, she was out breath. Sprinting through a swarm of Rachni was definitely a first and it had taken a lot out of her.
"We find Shepard and head back to the Normandy. We're done here" Kaidan replied.
"And we find out if we just committed genocide" Feral added. If the commander had killed the queen, they had just wiped out the last of the Rachni.
- Back aboard the SSV Normandy, 2 hours later –
Feral was in the shower, he had managed to get in after Kaidan. Shepard was busy uploading the mission reports and after they had been debriefed he had to talk to the council. Feral smiled at that as water rushed down his body, running his fingers through his hair. He had let her live, he laughed at that. He really didn't think Shepard would have done that, but as he was leaving the communications room. Shepard had told Feral that he was right, that if Feral deserved a chance then so did she.
Feral just stood there for a while, letting the hot water flow over his skin. How long had it been since he had simply stood in a shower? Sure Cerberus had cleaned him but it was usually after being thrown into a room and then doused by a pair with a water cannon. This was heaven in comparison, enjoying every minute of his allotted time before stepping out and staring at himself in the mirror. His skin shining slightly as water ran down over his muscles. He was thankful the process hadn't made him grotesquely huge. He was about the same size as Shepard and Kaidan, but his muscles were much denser which gave him his inhuman strength.
Feral quickly dried his body before putting his alliance uniform back on, stepping out of the shower room as another marine made his way in. Stepping into the elevator and riding it down as he dried his hair off, combing it into some sort of shape with his fingers. He entered engineering and stepped up to his terminal, throwing the towel over the twisted guard rail as he started scrubbing the system up again. He hadn't even noticed her until she spoke over to him
"Hey Feral" Tali said over from her own computer "Are you feeling better now?" she slowly walked over and sat down on the guard rail next to the man's towel.
Feral looked at her before smiling and shaking his head, Tali smiled inside her helmet. Feral was back to his old self again. "Were you worried about little ol' me?" he glanced over as he tapped away at the terminal's keypad
"A little, you didn't even complain about the elevator after you're outburst" she giggled, tilting her head slightly at the super human.
Feral stopped briefly at that, reminded about how he shouted at everyone over the Rachni queen. Reminded about why he associated himself with her situation so much. His own imprisonment, his torture and the experiments. All those memories came flooding back until a voice pulled him out of it.
"Feral?...I'm sorry I didn't mean to…I was only joking" Tali said, she was worried that she'd just gone and ruined his good mood again. Feral's eyes eventually looked back up into hers.
He shook his head at that "Sorry Tali I was just….remembering some stuff that's all. You didn't do anything wrong I promise" he smiled up at her. He didn't want her to feel bad over something she had no part in.
"Ok Feral….if you ever want to talk about anything. I'm just over there ok?" she smiled back at him, she was rubbing her hands again.
Feral smiled back at her, genuinely smiled. She wasn't asking because she wanted to know. She was asking because she wanted to help him. Shepard had asked because he needed to know, but Tali, Feral could tell she had no desire to know what Cerberus had done to him but she was still willing to listen. "Thank you Tali, really thank you" he put a hand on her shoulder and just squeezed gently "If I ever need to get something off my chest, you'll be the first person I come to"
Tali's smile only got bigger at this, bouncing slightly as she nodded "No problem Feral, happy to help" she wasn't going to press the issue any further. If Feral needed to talk, he would come to her. She quickly moved back to her terminal, unaware that Feral was just smiling at the small woman for a little while before he turned back to his computer. His smile never really leaving his face this time.