Hello ladies and germs! Welcome to the next chapter of Mass Effect: Spade. Before you go on reading, I have a special announcement. On March 15th, Spade hit 100 reviews! Woohoo! This is a major milestone for me. Why? Well Spade is my first fanfic that I really put effort into. And seeing how so many people have been following and favoring is huge for me. So, thank you, for reading my stories and being patient with me when it comes to updates.

Now, before I get all teary eye, I would like to say these words:

With out further delay, I give you the next chapter of Mass Effect: Spade. Enjoy :)

Chapter 15: I hate Bugs

Adrian POV

"Wrex! Take down that Krogan!" Eden ordered. We just entered the Peak 15 complex. And of course, as soon as we entered, we were attacked by a pair of Krogan mercenaries and Geth troopers. It has been hell. Shit, as soon as we entered the damned garage we have been on edge. In a way it was good. Well, for those who have actually seen combat. We were on edge, on alert from the start. It was keeping us alive.

As for Liara. It will take time, but she will get use to it. She has to if she is going to be the next Shadow Broker. So far, she was more terrified than alert. Caught her froze up from time to time. Eden and I actually had to slap her to get her back to attention. She has been sticking with Eden for protection, only offering Biotic support with Eden. And it was my idea too. Yeah, one would be worried about partnering you girlfriend with another romance option, but I trust Eden. Besides, Wrex and I are tarrying it up.

He would do a good old fashioned Krogan charge and slam a Geth down, and I would be his Tech support. Overload a few Geth, take some down with my bow and pistol. I even lit a Krogan on fire. Yep, I lit a Krogan, on fire. The Eden hit that same Krogan with a Throw field. Made a nice Fire explosion.

So far, we managed to take down a few more down. All that was left was a group of five troops and a Krogan. Easy. Wrex and I already knew what to do. A good Overload will force the Geth out of cover. Being deactivated is always an A.I's worst fear. The Geth would move out of cover, and Wrex and I would take them down. Two on my side, easily taken down by my revolver's. Troopers are extremely easy to take down. Multiplayer on ME 3 proved that. And the three on Wrex side suffered a mixture of Warp, Carnage, and Krogan rage. Wrex is having a field day.

Now for the Krogan-

"Dawn! Move!" What? I turned only to see a Krogan clad in white armor charge at me. Oh this is gonna-

"Hurt!" The Krogan slammed its body on me, throwing me about a good ten feet. The slam knocked the breath out of me, and I was struggling trying to get some air. This is the one time I will ever hate my helmet. It was difficult to breath. I was forced on my back, and when my vision was clear I wasn't really surprised. The barrel of a shotgun. Well it was an upgrade from a pistol.

I could hear the Krogan's fingers pop when he was pulling the trigger. Oh, for the love of-

"Adrian!" God Damnit, how many times are people going to scream my name! The Krogan and I looked to see both Liara and Eden enveloped in Biotic energy. I'm not going to lie, but seeing Eden like that, was pretty damn sexy. I'm such a lucky guy

Liara threw out her hand, sending a Warp field at the Krogan. Eden then followed up with a Throw. I saw it as my queue to roll the fuck away. Right on time too, cause the explosion was pretty damn fierce. They continued the same combination until the Krogan was no more than dust. Yep. Still sexy.

Eden ran up to me as I was getting up. "You okay?" she asked, a hint of concern in her voice. I looked at her. She had her helmet on, trying to keep her head warm from the cold. And yet, I could still see her green eyes.

I placed my hand on her shoulder, and brought my helmet to hers. Our helmets made my contact, as if they were kissing. It was a, Mandalorian way to show some affection on the battlefield. Like I told Wrex. War and battle is a Mandalorian's office. Love was something many Mandalorian's will probably never experience, so the little things like this. Always keep it close.

Eden seemed to like it, a lot. A bright smile on her lips. She closed her eyes for a few moments, then opened them and stepped back, breaking our helmets contact.

"Even on the battlefield, you can be romantic," she said. I chuckled.

"Well you know me. I try very hard." She rolled her eyes and looked at our little mess. Geth and Krogan troops were sprawled all over the place. Liara looked like she was about to puke. Poor girl. I can't do anything but help her through this. I can be caring, but only to some degree. She is going to have to learn the darkness within war if she is going to survive the next few years. IF we win this.

"Come on. The sooner we find the Matriarch, the sooner we can leave this damn planet," Eden said. Wrex huffed.

"Sounds good to me. And hopefully we can find some better challenges. I don't want to freeze down here." Oh Wrex my friend, you are going to find out just what kind of challenges we are about to face.

Eden motioned us to follow her. She and I were in the front, her N7 Crusader shotgun out and ready, and my Hawkeye Revolvers out. My adrenaline was still pumping, and the fact that we were about to fight giant bugs didn't help any. When we entered the room where we meet the Rachni, we were greeted by a barrage of plasma shots. Geth. Now I'm starting realize how much I hated fighting these guys during the Multiplayer. This time Wrex was watching Liara, under orders from Eden. Looks like the couple from hell is taking over this one.

Wrex and surprisingly Liara, gave us cover with two Warp fields. Eden and I were in cover when two hunters started sending charged shotgun bolts at us. Man I hated these guys, with their damned cloaks. I quickly sent off an Overload to take down their shields. No shields, no cloak. Rule number one when fighting hunters. Rule number two, back the fuck away! Their shotguns can tear through shields, barriers, and armor with a well placed charged shot. And if the shot is very well placed, it could kill in one hit all together.

With a well placed Overload and a special EMP arrow from my omnibow, I took down one of the Hunters. Its flashlight head fading. I'm not going to lie, but I always found the Geth interesting. Plus Legion is a bamf with his Widow sniper rifle. I heard the clicks of the other one closing in on me, and I could barely make out the silhouette. It was close enough to where a Snap Freeze may slow it down, plus the cryo frost on it will reveal its location for me, cloaked or not.

I fired the Snap Freeze in the general direction of the Hunter. When the frost dissipated I could see the outline of the Hunter. Found you. With a quick motion, I activated my Ballistic Blades gauntlet, and fired. I added an Explosive Tech to the blades, and with the mixture of the cryo freeze, the explosion was very nice. Never thought I would be so happy to see a Geth explode.

During my little duel with the Hunters, Eden was using some fancy Biotic's to take out some troopers. However, it wasn't until a Pyro got a little too close. She launch a fierce Warp field to make it stagger. Even though the shields managed to take majority of the damage, the burning affect was still there. She then launched a Shockwave, mainly because there were two troopers behind the Pyro. The troopers were launched, and the Pyro was caught in a Biotic explosion, taking down the shields and half the armor. She finished the job with a shot from her Crusader.

When she took out the Pyro, I made a quick scan for anymore troops. That should be… Oh shit!

"Eden!" I yelled. I quickly grabbed her and pulled her close. At the same time, I activated my Omni-Shield to give us added protection. Two rockets slammed into the shield, but thankfully with the added Cryo addition I installed it held fast. Two rocket troops were on the top of the ramp. If I hadn't notice them, we would have been taking out by the two rockets. Annoying pieces of shit!

Eden was just as surprised. Probably didn't expect me to hold her this close during a fight. It would look romantic. The hero holding the damsel close to him, shield protecting them from danger. Yeah, totally romantic, if you took away the fact that I was cursing at the damned Geth. That, and add the fact that my shield is losing power after every hit. Tech only lasts so long until it needs to go off to recharge. Thankfully, my favorite Krogan and not so favorite Asari were there to help.

They took off from cover and fired a barrage of shotgun shells, Warps fields, and Carnage shots at the two Geth. Eden and I saw our opportunity to move. I retracted my shield and took out my revolvers. She left my grasp and switched to her N7 Hurricane's. I gave her mine. And all four of us unleashed hell on the two Geth. Overkill? Nah. Just work.

When the smoke cleared, we all recharged and reloaded our clips. I hit the scan on my omnitool. Can't be too careful with Hunters. Thankfully, nothing that matched Geth signatures. But what really worried me was a whole other problem.

Clank. Bang.

"What was that?" Liara said.

"Don't worry I'll protect you," Wrex said, with that famous chuckle of his. Man I love that line.

We heard the banging and thumping moving around the room. I shivered. Ever got that feeling bugs were crawling on your back? Yeah, happening to me. I took out my revolvers, and Eden readied her Crusader. This was getting creepy. A little to creepy for me.

Bang!

"Watch out!" I couldn't tell whether that was Liara or Eden or both of them yelling. What I could tell was that a giant bug came out of nowhere. And about three meters away from me! I might of jumped about ten feet in the air. And I panicked. I started unloading both my revolvers into the bug. And it only made it worse. It started charging at me, which only caused Liara and Eden unload everything they had into it. Eventually, Wrex Warped it to kingdom come.

And of course, as soon as one goes, two more come out. Rachni and Swarmers came out of the pipes and walls. Charging at us. We quickly hunkered down and started shooting. Now I know how the troopers in StarShip Troopers felt. Scared shitless and shooting at giant bugs. And what made matters worse? Those damned warrior bugs from StarShip Troopers blasted out of a whole in the floor! Goddamnit! This is not what I expected at all!

One Warrior started charging at us. I fired off an explosive barrage of Ballistic Blades, causing the Warrior to stagger. With a scan on my helmet, I was able to tell that they have a huge case of armor, but without, they are as good as dead. The only down side was that my Tech wouldn't be enough. Only long range I have is my revolvers and Omni-Bow. Yeah, not going to work out.

I looked around for something that I could use. I noticed Wrex was fighting against the normal Rachni. Workers is what I'll call them. Eden and Liara were tag teaming against a few Workers and Swarmers that were heading towards them. I heard a screech and saw the same Warrior I tagged with my Ballistic Blades heading towards. Shit shit shit. I need something, anything.

Then I caught a glare. I looked and saw a Geth Plasma Rifle. I did a double take. Oh fuck it! Better than nothing!

I quickly rolled and grabbed. Loaded a clip, and sent a barrage of plasma bullets into the Warrior. I fired a few assault rifles before, so this was nothing. The plasma was melting away the armor, and the Warrior was trying to move away. I must of unloaded and entire clip until the Warrior dropped dead. Damn. Eighty shot clip. Almost weightless. Hell, probably lightest gun I ever held, aside from my old sniper rifle.

"Adrian! A little help here!" I heard Eden yell. I turned and saw a massive swarm of, well, Swarmers. I reacted with a nice stream of Flamer Tech. Burned the little bastards to a crisp. All in the while, the other three were fighting Workers and Warriors on my left. Wrex even charged at a Worker. I even think he blasted its head off.

After my Flamer tech was out and recharging, I blasted any remaining Swarmers that managed to survive the flames. Unloaded a clip into a Worker as well. Did I mention how much I hate bugs? Like, I fucking at bugs. Especially spiders. Goddamn freaks of nature, they are.

I turned when I heard what sounds like Eden's Hurricanes going off, only to be greeted by the other Warrior. It was too close for me to do anything, but activate my Omni-Shield. I rammed into my shield knocking my to the floor. It then tried to bite through it with its pincer like mouth. And, the damned Warrior even had those claws on its head and tried to stabs its way through my shield. Fuck. I was pinned to the floor, by a damned bug. The only good thing was that my Cryo shield was freezing its armor, making it weak for someone to blast it.

"GRAAAAAAAAAAHHH!" I heard an all too familiar battle cry from my side. I looked over and saw Wrex charging at the Warrior. Luckily, the Warrior wasn't too smart to notice the Krogan slamming into it. Wrex slammed the Warrior into the wall, frozen pieces of armor flying off. Wrex tore it up, literaly. He ripped off the two claw antennas, and blasted the two mouth pincers off with his Shotgun. I don't think I've ever seen Wrex this mad and this fierce to kill something. Hell, he even showed restraint when killing Turians and Salarians. But the Warrior? No mercy what so ever.

After about a minute, Wrex finally stepped away from the mutilated form of what use to be a bug. Liara and Eden walked up and stood beside me. The room was cleared of any live Rachni. Even the Swarmers were dead.

"What was that?" asked Liara.

"Rachni…" growled Wrex. Yeah, he's pissed. "The ancient enemy of my people." Eden looked down. She hated it when Wrex was angry. In a way, he scarred her. She told me during RnR that she managed to piss off a Krogan, and that it went into a bloodrage. Almost killed her too. And what made it worse? The Krogan use to be a friend of hers.

"Hold on, I thought the Krogan whipped out the Rachni to extinction. How can there be more?" Liara asked. Wrex turned and shot us a look. We all flinched, even I.

"How should I know? All I know is that Rachni are here, and they need to be terminated." Wrex started to make for a door. I was the only one brain enough to stop him. He sent me a glare, and I mustered all my courage to stand firm. If I'm going to lead the next most fearsome culture this galaxy is going to see, then I must not show fear. And what better way to practice than with Wrex.

"Wrex, Udesii. You can't charge in there blind, you'll get yourself killed." He just looked at me, his red eyes piercing through me. I could see the rage building within him.

"I have to do this Dawn. The Rachni must be destroyed."

"And I agree with you. They mustn't be allowed to live. But you can't do this on your own. Tion'ad hukaat'kama? Who has your back?" I asked him. I'm getting pretty good with the Mando'a. He just looked at me for a moment, then away. "Wrex. You are my Ner vod, my brother. And being so, I cannot let you go alone. I have your back, but only if you let me. Besides. I can't let you have all the fun."

I had a slight smirk on my face. It was true. I wanted to kill some bugs. And I didn't want Wrex to hog all the fun. He just looked at me for a few moments, then at Eden and Liara, until finally he looked at me and gave me that Krogan grin.

"Very well. I guess I could spare some for you." He extended his hand, and I took it in the old Roman fashion. Clasp the middle of the forearm and with the other hand, the shoulder.

"Haat, Ijaa, Haa'it. Truth, Honor, Vision. Consider it a pact that we will always have each other's back." Wrex nodded and huffed at that. We let go, and Wrex went for the door, only more calmer. Liara went up to him. Probably felt safer standing next to the old battlemaster. Eden clasped my shoulder, and I looked at her.

"Good work. I hate to see Wrex go because of his rage…" she said, the concern still in her voice. I took her hand and gave it a squeeze.

"Don't worry Eden. I'll make sure our old friend will be okay. I promise." She looked at me then smiled. She let go of my hand and started heading towards our other two squad mates. She then stopped and looked at me.

"So what was that language you were using? Translator didn't pick it up," she asked. Figured. She would ask eventually. I just shrugged.

"I'll explain when we finish everything up here." She gave me a look, and eventually nodded and took off. I followed, knowing in the back of my mind that I will have to explain everything to her. But first. I have to deal with the damn bugs. I hate bugs…

Okay. So yeah, shorter than most chapters, but within reason. Noveria took me FOREVER to finish up, if memory serves well. And the constant going back and forth was no fun at all. Plus, Noveria and Virmire are pretty big missions, with a lot going on. So, I'm going to split those missions up. Starting with Noveria. Noveria if any will be maybe three chapters. This one, next being side missions, and last one being the battle with Benezia. Virmire will probably be the same, but we will see when time comes along.

Now, for some Authors notes. The big one I can say is the Starship Troopers. One, I really do hate bugs. And yes, I'm scarred of spiders. They are freaks I tell you, FREAKS! Anyway *ahem* I decided to give the Rachni's some more bite for their bark. And what better way than to add the bugs from Starship Troopers. Mainly the Warriors will be in, since you are inside the majority of the time. So, yeah, Starship Trooper bugs it is.

Mando'a translations:

Udesii: calm, or calm down.

Tion'ad hukaat'kama: Who has your back?

Ner vod: brother, sibling, friend.

Haat, Ijaa, Haa'it: Truth. Honor. Vision. Basically what to say when forming a pact.

So, there you have it my friends. Hope ya'll enjoyed.

Keep reading, and stay sexy my friends.

KD