Mass Anomalies

by Jamezy

I try to live a normal life. I have simple pleasures, I love playing video games and reading fanfics. So you can imagine my excitement when I am sucked into the Mass Effect universe, but of course it's short lived. Now I am stuck in a bad position with some new "friends" I can't seem to get rid of. Now I have to prepare for the coming war. Rated T for Language and violence.

27. That's Just Super

A/N: Been a while, huh? So if you haven't guessed by now I'm not dead and neither is this story. So for people wanting an explanation as to where I've been I'll give you a short version. Basically everything in my life came tumbling down on top of me, girl left me for the dickhead abusive guy after I got in a somewhat serious car accident so I had a few months of recovery to think of everything. In those few months I had some other shitty things happen, stuff with friends or ex friends now, family members passing away, job prospect lost, basically Murphy's Law. All of this lead to, well depression really. Not a fun topic I know but hey, shit happens. So moving on, I'm starting to make changes and improvements, new job, new car, new everything really and I'm happy to say it's working out. So I'm now busy with a bunch of new things which limits time to write, but I still do thus this update. And that's basically it, I'll try and update when I can and get back to it! Now, take this long chapter that you deserve for being so patient and liberally apply it to your eyes.

Chapter 27
-That's Just Super-

The Grizzly is filled with Misfit squad and a portion of the Normandy crew, Wrex, Kaidan, and Dylan are sent with us due to the Mako's cramped quarters. Eric is standing on a small platform in the middle of the crew space, operating the turret while Graff drives. This leaves the rest of us in an awkward quiet, and somehow poor Enya got stuck between Wrex and Curr.

"Enya, you comfy?" I chuckle at the teal asari, causing her to look at Wrex and Curr who glance down at her. She sheepishly nods yes as a response, too scared to speak up between the two mountains of muscle and armor.

"I don't see too many Krogan leading squads outside of Blood Pack." Dylan says over the roar of the Grizzly's engine, which is still loud even inside the troop compartment.

"No you don't." Curr replies. "Most krogan don't have the common sense to lead outside of brute mercenary work, leading an actual squad requires a brain as well as strength. Something most krogan lack."

I look at Wrex to see if there's a reaction and am not sure if I should be surprised or not that there is no reaction. I notice Curr on his Omni-tool, in a few seconds I get an alert on my HUD letting me know an Icarus private channel has been opened nearby with six active users. With a quick press of a holo-button, there are seven.

"What, don't want to include my friends in our little talk?" I say through the channel.

"-No,-" Eric says bluntly. "-not really. An Alliance fanboy and a twenty year old recruit, yeah let me just tell them all our secrets.-"

"-Unless it gets you laid right?-" Tyckus shakes his head.

"-One time.-" Eric sighs. "-Plus it was worth it, that girl was like some sort of sex goddess.-"

"You trade company secrets for a one night stand?" I ask, a little worried that it's true.

"-Do you not?-" Eric asks in a serious tone.

"Uhm yeah, no I don't." I reply. "Stop doing that, now."

"-You're the boss.-" Eric says, begrudgingly.

"Is there a point to this little pow wow?" I ask, slowly becoming annoyed.

"-Well, Red Cloud,-" Eric says to me, sarcasm just dripping from his tone. "-there is. I want to know what it takes to be a Contractor.-"

"Why?" I ask, slightly taken aback by the question. "You want to be a Contractor?"

"-Sounds more interesting than beating boots on the frontlines, a little variety and danger.-" Eric explains, almost jealously. "-Yeah, it's something I would want to do, and I'm not the only one.-"

"Is that so?" I muse while looking around at Misfit. "How many of you applied?"

"-All of us.-" Curr grumbled. "-But we were put into special operations to test interspecies cohesion, some shit higher-ups wanted to toy with and we drew short straws as Rhoads likes to say.-"

"Enya," I say, not turning my head to avoid suspicion from the Normandy crew that's sitting quietly with us in the Grizzly. "you applied to be a Contractor?" I ask, some doubt lingering in my brain.

"-Well, I uhm, no I didn't.-" she stammers, helmet tilting down ever so slightly. "-I applied to be a field medic because I figured I could help more people than being in a clinic in a district on the Citadel.-"

"How'd you end up on an action oriented squad?" I ask. "You don't seem to be the fighting type."

"-No shit, Sherlock.-" Eric chuckles from the gunners stand, letting off a long burst of machine gun fire at what I assume is geth.

"-No.-" Enya says shyly, put off by Erics remark. "-I'm not, I'm good at healing people and I thought fighting would come to me later but—" Enya starts, getting worked up and flustered as she talks but I cut her off.

"It's alright." I say. "Not everyone picks up fighting as quickly as others."

"-Pussies.-" Eric coughs quietly.

"But," I say louder, quieting the smart ass tech in the turret. "some people make up for it by being better than everyone else at certain things, by the sounds of it yours is patching people up. Am I right?"

Enyas head perks up a bit at this. "-Yes, I scored top of my class. Top three scores in the history of my school.-" She says, the first bit of confidence and pride I've heard from her today.

"There you go, if anything I'm happy you're here." I say to her. "There's not a decent field medic on the Normandy's squad, we need you here."

"-How sweet.-" Eric speaks up again. "-Sounds like a fairytale.-"

"-How does this sound like a fairytail?-" Tyckus says, sounding slightly annoyed.

"-Probably more of his annoying references.-" Curr huffs, agitated already. "-Ignore him, Captain. Tyckus don't encourage him.-"

"What are you on about?" I ask, thoroughly and suddenly confused.

"-Who can say where the road goes?-" Eric asks back, a slight rhythm in his sentence.

"-You shouldn't have encouraged him.-" Graff sighs quietly from the driver's seat.

"What the fuck is going on?" I ask.

"-Every, damn, time.-" Pidion mutters.

"-It's his references to random human culture that nobody understands, because none of us are human.-" Enya sighs.

"Uhm yeah, I'm human and I don't get it." I add.

"-Well, they're not for you.-" Eric informs me as-a-matter-of-factly. "-Dick-" he mutters.

"What did you just say?" I ask, turning my head to him.

"And would you look at that!" Eric exclaims, somehow sounding sarcastic and excited at the same time. "Peak fifteen, everybody out." He says as the hatch to the Grizzly opens, letting in a whirlwind of snow and cold.

Everyone aboard the Grizzly immediately moved to the door, braving the insanely cold gusts of wind of Novaria. More than half the squad wrapped their arms around themselves to keep warm, the rest just eyed the door to Peak Fifteen eagerly.

"Alright people." I say, turning to Misfit. "Stack up on the door, let's get out of the cold."

Misfit immediately moves to the door, Graff positioning himself directly in front of it with his shield prepped and the rest of Misfit lining up to the right of the door. I move behind Graff, readying my new rifle while eyeing the Normandy crew who's stacked up on the left side of the door.

"Shepard." I nod to her, getting her too look at me. "How do you want to play this?"

"Only one way in." she thinks aloud while looking at the door. "Looks like we're going in heavy, expect resistance once we breach."

"There's definitely resistance." Eric speaks up, holding his Omni-tool against the wall as it pulses with little red dots. "There's at least five contacts."

"Twenty three." Tali corrects, holding her own Omni-tool against the wall. "Electro signatures match Geth runtimes." She adds as-a-matter-of-factly.

Eric mutters under his breath in a high voice, mimicking Tali as he corrects his own Omni-tool to read the Geth heartbeats.

"Alright, loud it is!" I exclaim, my heart quickening at the thought of a fight. I walk past Graff and place a breach charge on the door, syncing my Omni-tool to it with a few buttons and a soft beep. "Charge is set, everyone get ready."

A moment of calm spreads over everyone, the snow and wind even seems to let up as everyone steels themselves for a fight. I reach over Graffs shoulder and weigh down his shield to avoid the pull of the charge, resting my rifle on my extended left arm to point to the left of Graffs shield as I ready myself.

"Breaching." I breathe through team comm, activating the charge and flicking the safety off my Argus.

The charge detonates and I feel it tug at Graffs shield but we move with it into the room, Graff sinking a controlled burst from his Tempest into the poor Geth trooper that was standing on the other side of the door. Within seconds the room is flooded with the Normandy crew and Misfit squad, accompanied with hails of bullets, biotics, and tech attacks.

"Moving left!" I shout, eyeing a catwalk hugging the left wall. I break away from Graff and sprint to the stairs holding up the catwalk, stray rounds gently shoving against my barriers.

"-On your six.-" I hear Curr say through my headset, followed by the loud thunder of Currs Revenant which clears a Geth out of our path.

As I run up to the catwalk I notice there are two krogan on it, firing down on the Misfits and there are at least half a dozen Geth underneath firing on the Normandy crew. I make a snap decision and open my comm with Curr and dash up the catwalk stairs.

"Curr, go low!" I order, reaching the top of the stairs and leveling my Argus at the first Krogan. "Take out the Geth, I'll meet you on the other side!"

As I start to fire at the krogan my mind whirls with how I'm supposed to fight two krogan at the same time, but then I thought that maybe I don't have to. The krogan roar towards me, their own guns blazing as I decide I need to keep one at bay and down one ASAP. Simple tactics really, divide and conquer with a dash of hit hard and hit fast.

My Argus hisses at is overheats and I slam it on to my back, a throw building in my left hand. I swing the throw up, sending it to a crate hugging the wall of the catwalk which makes it violently launch across the ground at the krogan on the left. The crate hits its mark with force and I whip my hand back down, this time sending a warp into the other krogans face. The warp cracks the already weakened shield, some of the dark matter sticking to his face causing him to flinch for a split second, but that's all I need. I cock back my biotic right fist and launch it into the krogans face, the resulting explosion sending him twenty feet away on his back, charred and bleeding. Not dead though and that's something that I need to remedy before his friend comes back. I toss a pull into the krogan on the floor and he comes skidding towards me, I raise my mass and build a throw in one hand and a warp in the other. Just as he's about to slide past me I drop my knee on his chest, stopping him cold and cracking the thick plate that was supposed to protect him. Before he can react I punch him as hard as I can, shooting my other fist into him as I pull back the first. The biotic explosion rips at his flesh, the next one bone, and the next grey matter.

I stop and look at the stump of a neck left, the right side of my visor covered with blood but the left side is clear enough to catch the little krogan bits rain back down over me and the headless lizard. I look at my hands, wet with blood and the usual sick feeling doesn't come with them. There's no thoughts of guilt, no remorse or shock, there's only one thought on my mind.

Where's the other krogan?

As if on cue, the other krogan slams into my side and I waste no time pulling my kukri from its sheath, driving it behind the krogans plate as best I can while being driven into the railing myself. The krogan growls and shakes his head giving me enough time to bring my Eviscerator to bear, sending a small packet of buckshot into the krogans shield. The next shot breaks the shield and the third finds its way past the beasts' armor, before he recovers I spin on my heel and bioticly charge into him and send him into the wall. The krogan staggers towards me but I send my last buckshot into his chest before lazily tossing a pull into him and closing the gap with another charge, the krogan smashing against the wall and onto the floor while leaving a bloody stain wherever his body touches. I stand there breathing heavily and look at the two casualties I caused, a little winded from the sudden use of biotics but I'll recover.

I turn to look at the rest of the squad mopping up the last of the geth, the last few being torn apart by gunfire and biotics. One of them is even being beheaded by Graffs shield while it lies on the ground. I hear footsteps to me right and I turn to see Eric, I try not to seem as out of breath as I actually am.

"Remind me not to make you mad." He says dryly, reaching at the krogan with a head and ripping my kukri free, holding it by the blade as he hands it to me. "Ok, Johnny Cage?"

"What?" I say, cocking my head. I don't get an answer though as he just walks away, past Curr who is walking to me.

"Impressive." He nods to the dead krogan. "Not many humans can kill two krogan in the span ten seconds, biotic or not." He mutters, sounding almost skeptical of biotics.

"Thanks." I say unsurely, looking back at the gory catwalk. "Not something impressive really, but thanks."

"What next, Captain?" Curr asks, sounding begrudgingly professional.

"We ask that same question to Shepard."

The rest of misfit fall in behind me as I walk towards the Normandy crew, the feeling of leading them is a bit foreign to me but at the same time comfortable. We stop beside Shepard as she starts to address the small army in the room.

"Alright, now that that's sorted we should look to getting this place back in working order." She states, looking around at the facility and then to her Omni-tool. "Looks like a lot of systems have been wiped out, probably by the storm."

"Any ideas where to start?"

"Administration is this way." Shepard's announces as she marches off, nobody questioning her and just following her like Shepard's little sheep.

We move through a narrow hallway and as I make my way through I notice the rear facing turrets, hearing some muttering up ahead. Probably about the turrets that are facing the wrong way.

"Looks like you were right." Tyckus speaks up as he nods to the turrets.

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"You had mentioned earlier that there were unholy experiments, seems like you were right and they don't want them leaving." Pidion recalls. "Do you know anything about the experiments? What we're up against?"

I mull this over for a moment, I'm not sure it's a good idea to just say hey so there's rachni because that would raise some questions but I also don't want someone to walk in blind and get hurt. I quickly form a lie in my mind and think of multiple explanations to cover my tracks.

"Not much," I shrug. "But I know enough, enough to maybe save somebodies life. Everyone hold up." I speak up, getting everyone to stop and turn around to look at me. "I know why the turrets are faced the other way."

Everyone looks among each other and I feel a cool chill go down my back as I ready my lie. I've always treated lying like game, like acting or even a sport and I pride myself on being good at it. Half the time it doesn't even have to be complicated, just be enough information to satisfy and enough open ends to not box yourself in.

"I've had some people in Icarus dig up some info on Peak Fifteen, not a lot of it was possible to access before getting locked out." I explain. "Probably why it was difficult for us to get a pass to get up here." I mutter to myself, making it loud enough for others to hear. "But what we found was unsettling, projects receiving equipment for large biomass containment, cloning, facility cleansing failsafes."

"Why didn't you tell us this before?" Shepard questions immediately, I can almost make out her eyes through her visor trying to burn through me.

"Didn't see a reason to." I shrugged. "Multiple reports contradicted it, probably to help in hiding what was up here. Wasn't until I saw these that I figured it had to be the one that I wish it wasn't." I motion back to the turrets.

Everyone murmurs to themselves and from what I hear I think I pulled it off, but I notice Shepard still staring at me, sizing me up. Before I can comment she turns back around. "Good to know." She says as she walks. "Everyone be on alert, we still don't know exactly what's out there."

We shuffle to the next area and when the door opens I see a large viewing area with broken windows, snow billowing inside. The next thing I see is a geth hopper cling to wall before being ripped off and torn apart by bullets.

"Contacts!" someone shouts over the gunfire.

I ready my Argus as it's my turn to charge into the fray, the large amount of soldiers lining up to get through the small door taking its sweet ass time. Eventually though, it's my turn to fight as I rush through the door and into the cold open room. I immediately look to my right and see small ledge, I decide to vault over it in search of a target.

And that's just what I find, two geth troopers hiding behind hex shields. The two geth frantically shooting to their right at Kaidan, who's rushing headstrong and wrapped in a two inch thick barrier. I've seen what one biotic can do, let's see what two can do. Before the geth can notice me I run around the shield, noticing the one geth is wrapped in biotics and I lock eyes with Kaidan. He nods at me and thrusts his hand forward, sending the geth hurtling towards me. I force my knee into its back and the geth's shell shatters as it wails, sending pieces of it everywhere and fluid spraying into the air. As it falls the other geth looks to me and I send a warp in its shoulder, turning it back around to have Kaidan smash his fist deep into its chest.

The geth slips off Kaidans arm and he looks at me, I smile under my helmet and nod to him. My smile fades though as I look at the railing above him, a geth prime making its way to leap off the railing onto Kaidan. I make a snap decision and biotically charge at Kaidan, wrapping my arms around him and twisting my body to avoid hurting him. We slam into the wall under the balcony and he looks at me in shock.

"What the hell ar—" he rasps before he's cut of my the twelve foot tall mass of circuitry and polymers slamming into the space he was once in. "Oh…" he mutters as he stares at the prime, it raising to its full height and letting out a wail.

"I'll go low, you hit high." I say as we both stand and the prime turns to face us.

"Got it." He nods, his voice steely and tempered by years of experience.

I flick my Argus into full auto, setting my foot back as my heart races. "Hit him with an overload, let's bring this mother fucker down."

Without hesitating I raise my rifle and squeeze the trigger until it hits the handle of the rifle, the rifle kicking in protest but I keep it in check. The rounds impact the shields but the prime only raises its cannon at me, before it can fire a burst of static cracks the shields and the metal monster turns its attention to Kaidan. I bioticly charge into the beasts knee and it falls to it, but not before wrapping a massive hand around me and flinging me to the side.

My whole world spins before a flurry of snow kicks up and brings me to a stop, and I look up to see Kaidan sending a throw to deflect a punch. I waste no time in sprinting towards the prime, and with a lowered mass I jump onto its back, reaching into my pouch for a grenade before wedging it in the synthetic muscle fibers of its shoulder.

"Oh fuck off!" I curse as the primes arm reaches over its now explosive shoulder and grabs me, this time squeezing tighter and causing me to instinctively raise my mass to avoid being crushed. As the prime begins to toss me away I manage to launch a warp and stick it to the flashlight on its face, then careen back into the snow. As I roll to my knees my Omni-tool springs to life and I hit the detonator. "Kaidan! Hits its face!"

The primes arm explodes and it limply falls into the snow, an electronic wail piercing the air as the geth raises its last arm at me, cannon in hand. Until a biotic orb smashes into its warped face, detonating and causing the entire prime platform to stop. Its flashlight head is gone, sparking and leaking fluids as it wails softly. I expect it to fall over but I swear when lifts back to its full height and lets loose an electronic scream, raising its cannon at Kaidan. Before it can fire a whirlwind of bullets and overloads peck at its armor, deep holes punching through its chest in tandem with the sounds of sniper rifles firing, and after a few seconds the prime falls into the snow.

I get up and look down, a few cracks inching their way to the center of my chest plate in the shape of a geth hand, yet I feel fine for the most part. I'm sure without my biotics this would be a different story, in fact there would be a lot of different stories.

"Well that was…" Kaidan starts, searching for the word. "Interesting." He finishes, checking his rifle and looking around.

I laugh and slap my hand on his back, looking around at the concluding battle. The last defiant geth being cut down by a myriad of attacks. Everyone stops and we can tell that we're proud, this odd after battle ecstasy of accomplishment that drives you through each fight.

Then its cut short.

A horrific screech echoes through the terrace, and everyone looks up to see clawed feelers smack and stick to the glass, an insectoid creature attached to them.

"Well," I say slowly, staring at the chitin shell and grotesque mouth of the rachni soldier. "that is uhh…"

"An, unholy experiment?" Eric speaks up beside me, an air of smugness in his rhetorical question.

"What the fuck is that?" Ashley whispers.

I look and see the fanfic boys all readying their weapons, we all know what it is and I aim my Argus at the rachni. I'm not sure who fired first, but it doesn't take even a second for every single gun to tear the rachni apart. There's a moment of silence before another rachni bursts from a window and before anyone can react it drives a tentacle into Pidions chest, flinging him aside and charging at the rest of the crew.

"Fuck!" I yell as I raise my rifle and open fire on the soldier, hundreds of rounds enter the rachnis body and bring it to a still state. I rush over to Pidion and a guilty panic strikes me. "Enya get over here, now!" I scream as I slide on my knees to Pidion, placing my hands over the wound and applying pressure.

Enya is suddenly by my side, taking of a thin armored backpack off her back and setting it beside her, opening it and lifting up shelves to reveal an array of medical equipment.

"Move your hands." She orders, sounding strict suddenly. I comply and she examines the wound as Pidion gasps and shakes. "Put them back."

"It's ok." I say to Pidion. "You're going to be ok, Enya knows what she's doing, you're going to be ok just keep your eyes open."

Enya suddenly pushes my hands away and stabs a needle into the wound causing Pidion to flinch, before pushing me out of the way entirely. Reaching for a set of tools she begins digging around in the wound, a small metal clamp in her hand. I expect him to start to yell but her just lies there glazed over, Enya must have given him some sort of sedative. I activate my HUD and look for Pidions life signs, finding them steady, but slowly dropping.

"Is he going to be ok?" I ask, trying not to get in the way while Enya switches between tools and wiping away blood.

"I… I don't know." She says quietly, not turning to face me.

I hear gunfire and I look up to see most of the Normandy crew firing at another soldier and workers that pour from the vents, Misfit engaging as well but staying closer to Pidion, Tyckus is just standing over us with his rifle at his side.

Suddenly Pidions vitals drop to zero and flare red, I turn and see Enya knelt over Pidion with his blood covering her hands and tools.

"Enya." I say quietly looking at Pidions body.

She doesn't say anything though, she just wipes her hands clean on the snow and then her tools. She packs them away and seals her medpac, strapping it back on her back and activating her Omni-tool. I look over her shoulder and see her enter in Pidions information, the time, the planet, the cause of death, and then she sets a beacon for a deceased Icarus personnel retrieval.

She stands up and looks at the rest of Misfit who have now gathered around her. "I'm sorry." She says to them, though not sounding overtly guilty. "I did everything I could, but there was just too much damage done to the internal organs." She explains.

"It's ok Missou." Curr says, sounding sympathetic for a krogan. "You did more than anyone else could have, but we should get moving."

Everyone seems to agree silently, making their way from Pidion. I stand there staring at the body in front of me, the one I was in charge of, the one I should have been able to help. I know there was no way I could save him, nothing I could do but really watch as he died but I still feel responsible.

"James." Liara speaks up, suddenly appearing beside me. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah," I force myself to smile even though I wear a helmet. "I'm fine Liara, thank you."

I realize that I didn't look at her when I was speaking so I turn to her, her helmet gone and her eyes trying to look through my visor at mine.

"You should wear your helmet." I motion to the helmet strapped to her side. "Wouldn't want to see a pretty girl like you get hurt."

She looks down and I catch a hint of purple blush on her cheeks, but then her eyes flick up to look at me and the corner of her mouth twists into a smirk. "Don't try and distract me." she says, making me smile on how she caught on to my trick. "Are you sure you're ok?" she asks again.

"I will be." I nod, genuinely smiling this time. "Now we have some business to get to, no?"

Liara smiles at me and nods, making her way back to Shepard, glancing back at me as she does. I walk up to the rest of Misfit and they all turn to me. Despite what happened to Pidion I need to be focused and professional, especially if I'm going to keep the rest of Misfit alive. "Let's go, still some work to do."

I receive a series of nods and Misfit falls in line behind me, I begin to fall in line behind Shepard as she begins to lead the Normandy crew through another door. I seem to keep missing dialogue from the game, but to be honest I don't mind, I've played through the game enough to know what happens and what's said.

Eventually we all make it up the elevator, by the time I do the firefight for the VI is over, dead rachni littering the room.

"What are these things?" Tyckus mutters as he kicks one of the dead soldiers, wearily aiming his rifle at it in case it was still alive.

"Rachni." I answer, looking back at them. "Looks like them anyways."

"That's impossible," Curr mutters. "but it's a good thing I'm here. These are what krogan kill best." He smirks.

"That's what I said!" Wrex cheers, his foot resting on a dead soldier.

"Oh joy." Eric exclaims, a tone dryer then a desert. "Let's just go ahead and get the krogan riled up again, great idea captain."

"How is this my fault?" I say, glaring at Eric.

"I'd say it's a good thing you're here," Eric nods to Tyckus. "but without Pidion you're no help."

"What the fuck did you just say?" Tyckus growls.

"I can see it now!" he says with feign grandeur as he walks away. "Genophage two!"

"Is he normally this," I start, pausing to find the right word. "insensitive?"

"Yeah." He breathes, composing himself and walking away.

I sense this isn't the first time Eric's crossed the line before, I'm always one for a joke but Pidion just died. Not something I'm very fond of.

"Alright, the VI core is down and we can't reboot any of the other systems without it." Shepard speaks up, pushing her way to the center of everyone. "Nothing seems to be working, the VI can probably help us at least enough to make it to Benezia."

"I should be able to get the VI working." Eric speaks up again, now leaning against a wall and glancing over at the giant VI core.

Shepard looks at him for a moment, hesitating before speaking. "Alright, once you're done let me know. I want to talk to this VI."

"Yes ma'am." Eric responds insincerely.

Shepard begins to talk again but something in my mind clicks and I ignore her while opening up the Misfits private channel.

"Eric," I start. "while you're fixing the VI do you think you could rip some sensitive info from the servers?"

"-Uh, yeah.-" Eric says, sounding as if it should be obvious. "-What are you looking for?-" he asks as he descends into the core.

"All of it." I say simply, disconnecting from the private channel.

Anything Eric manages to take from this place is going straight to Saylem, which seems like it's become a pattern of me getting secrets for Saylem. Not that I mind, anything that will help him will help me, or even other members of Icarus, is good enough a reason for me to help. Just noticing trends, that's all.

After a few minutes my Omni-tool lights up, and incoming data pack with the subject line All of It. Cheeky fuck. Another minute passes and the core hums to life and Eric walks out and waves down Shepard. "All yours," he says, pausing to think for a second. "double oh Spectre."

"Boooo." Ian hums, shaking his head at Eric.

Eric glares at him for a moment before walking away. "Eat a bag of dicks." He mutters, taking his place back on the wall.

I hear Shepard talking to the VI as everyone stands around, not really wanting to openly talk around people they don't really know. After a few minutes of quick glances and eyes wandering the floor, Shepard walks out of the VI core.

"We need to restart the reactor and the landlines, it's the only way to get to peak fifteen." She says.

"Is that all the VI said?" Garrus asks. "Anything about Benezia?"

"No." Shepard shakes her head. "I could barely get which systems were needed to be restored from it." She then looks at Eric. "A little odd that the VI of this entire facility has next to nothing on it, isn't it?"

"Yeah," Eric answers, again sounding very dry. "A real brain teaser."

"You didn't notice that when you were down there?"

"Nope."

"Then I guess we should get going." Shepard sighs, still looking at Eric.

Shit, I think she knows he cleaned out the VI.

"Lead the way, Calamity Jane." Eric says, sounding bored if anything.

"Actually we'll be splitting up." Shepard says, now looking at me. "Landlines or reactor?"

"Landlines." I reply, Misfit gathering around me as I make my way to the landlines. "See you in a bit Shepard."

---

"Any guesses on what's going to be up here?" Tyckus wonders as we wait on the elevator.

"Nothing would be nice." Enya says quietly.

"Rachni." I answer, but it comes off as a guess to the Misfits.

"If we're lucky." Curr says fondly, excited at the thought of fighting the giant bugs.

"If we even get there." Eric adds. "This elevators taking forever."

"Yeah most elevators are slo—"

"Forelevator." Eric interrupts, slowly piecing the word together before snickering quietly to his own joke which gets him a chorus of sighs and groans.

"Rhoads," Curr sighs, sounding annoyed and tired. "shut up."

"Curr do you get it?" Eric says, clearly egging on the krogan. "Forever elevator, forelevator." Curr refuses to give Eric the satisfaction of a response but that doesn't stop Eric. "Curr?"

No response.

"Curr."

Nothing.

"Curr!"

Curr closes his eyes, his face tightening in anger.

"Curr!" Eric shouts.

"WHAT?!" Curr roars, causing Enya to jump and Tyckus to shake his head as if this is a daily occurrence.

"I said," Eric starts, his smart ass tone getting him a deadly glare from Curr. "It's a forelevator, like forever and elevator combined."

"I heard you." Curr growls, collecting himself as Eric laughs quietly in victory.

"I know." He snickers, quiet pleased at his annoying, yet mildly amusing joke.

"As fun as this is," I smirk. "we're about to have this door eventually open to some sort of enemy and we should probably prepare."

"For what?" Eric laughs. "For all we know they're waiting right by the door and will just cut us down right when it opens."

"Or there could be nobody there." Enya says quietly, sounding ever hopeful.

"No there will be something there." I warn. "We should probably be at least a little ready for—"

My sentence is cut short by the elevator making a ding as it lurches to a stop, causing everyone to fixate on the door. The door slides open to show the servers for the landlines and hordes of rachni, I do a quick count and give up after twelve, not even bothering to count the workers.

"Well," Eric huffs, sounding very annoyed as every rachni turns to us and start screeching. "that's just super."

The next few seconds are a blur as everyones guns ignite in a chorus of thunder, shedding a few rachni as we barrel out of the elevator. I more right with Enya and Curr behind me, Tyckus, Eric and Graff moving left. Every single rachni I see gets a burst of assault rifle fire, most of them dropping in one burst due to the lack of shields. Any rachni that manage to get close I push back with biotics, if not killing them with a detonation.

"Curr!" I yell over the krogans huge rifle, the thing seemingly firing nonstop. "Push up the center with Enya, I'll try and flank them into a kill zone!"

I see a wink of acknowledgement on my HUD and spin around my cover, jogging up the right side of the server farm while firing my Argus. The next server hub I cross I decide to turn in to the center of the room, figuring that I've gone far enough to set up a cross fire. Unfortunately the next hub also had a rachni soldier waiting for me, its tentacle tearing through the air at my face. I try and pull back but it's too slow and I feel an impact, the sound of hard plastics cracking and glass shattering as my head is ripped to the side as I fall. I hit the ground and the fact that I felt it means I'm still alive, which means I'm still fighting. My leg comes up as the rachni bears down on me, salivating jaw snapping at me as its tentacles rear back to attack again. I frantically build a warp in my right hand, all strategy being replaced with a panicked frenzy. I punch the rachni as hard as I can, flicking a throw with my other hand into the dark matter eating away at its face. The detonation shreds its head apart and I push off with my foot, lowering its mass enough for me to actually push the corpse off me.

I get up and see a small cluster of workers gathered around two soldiers, and despite my heart trying to beat its way out of my ribs and my breathing as irregular as a drum solo I manage to yank a grenade from my pouch and lob it between them. They all look at the grenade momentarily before it engulfs them in fire and shrapnel, sending bits of bug into the air. I look around for my Argus and start scrambling to it before turning it on any rachni I can see, finally setting up my kill zone and mopping up any bugs that are left.

Then just like that, everything is quiet.

We all gather around the center of the server farm, everyone panting and looking around at the carnage. Graffs shield has multiple new dings and acid burns, some of the acid still hissing away as it slides off the shield. I notice that my right eye is seeing things without the tint of my visor and my left eye is absent of a HUD. My hand reaches up and feels around, a massive gash in my helmet leaving my right eye exposed. I don't feel any pain though, so I assume I'm fine but I turn to Enya just in case.

"So my eyes not fucked right?" I ask, pointing at it while I look at her through tinted glass and without it.

"I don't see any damage to the eye itself." She says, examining it closer. "Just some cuts around it and your helmet is destroyed, looks like your antenna is too."

Shit. I try and activate my HUD but my Omni-tool says the connection is lost. Fuck, there goes my helmet. Not to mention looking at things through two different shades is annoying, I should fix that. I reach up and hook my finger under the remaining bit of visor, warping it and shattering it outwards. I consider taking the helmet off completely, but the rest of it still offers protection and I'd rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it.

"Alright." I say, the Misfits looking at me with sidelong glances. "Let's restart the landlines and get the fuck out of here."

"You got it, Patch Adams." Eric chuckles as he kneels next to a server. "Done." He says almost immediately after as every server lights up and begins to hum.

"Good work," I nod genuinely. "smartass." I add, also very genuinely.

---

Everyone gets back to the tram at the same time, also a little worse for wear but still together in one piece. Shepard makes her way over to me and tilts her head at me, looking at my exposed face through my shattered helmet.

"Rachni?" she asks, her voice suggesting that my near death experience is amusing to her.

"Yeah, surprisingly good kissers." I muse.

"Well, good for you for trying something new!" she cheers quietly, then turning to the rest of the squad. "Everyone onto the tram, let's find out what's going on here." She then puts her hand on my chest, stopping me from walking away. "Not you, I need to talk to you." She says, her voice telling me it's serious.

"Ok, what's going on?"

"Your tech, Rhoads." She says quietly. "He's ripped everything out of the VI's hard drive, most of those things are secrets of half the companies that have set up on this planet."

"Okay." I say blankly. "And?"

"Whether I like these people or not, which I don't," she adds. "they're still governed by Council laws and therefore protected by them. What he did is illegal, you need to rein him in or I will."

Goddamn it Shepard, you redheaded paragade. Why now do you decide to find a sense of duty and crack the whip? I've got two choices. I can let Shepard have Rhoads and incarcerate him for illegal data theft, making me someone who doesn't help our own. Or I can tell her the truth and risk her reaming me out, tell her that I asked him to do it and making Garrus' claims of me being a criminal a little truer in her eyes. I suppose I could always lie and say I'll talk to him and not do it, but with my visor gone I doubt I could lie to her without her knowing it.

"I know it's illegal." I nod, taking in a breath while I prep my answer. "And I know that's something you're against, but Eric didn't just do this on his own. He did it under orders, my orders."

Shepard looks at me for a second, making me hold my breath. "Why?"

I'm a little miffed at her question, not really sure how to respond. "Why what?"

"Why'd you give the order?" she asks simply.

"I don't know." I say, stalling why I think about why I actually did it. "I figured anything they'd know could help Icarus in some way, it's just what I do. Hell the whole division I'm in charge of is dedicated to the preservation and advancement of our company and its personnel, everything I do is for the good of Icarus."

"It's illegal." She stresses. "I get that you want to help your people but you can't just break the rules to get results."

Something in my mind clicks, making me fold my arms and take a different tone. "Makes you a little bit of a hypocrite, no?"

"What do you mean?"

"You're a Spectre." I say, as if my line of thought should be obvious. "Your whole job is to break the rules you're preaching right now as long as it protects Council interests, you'd kill one person to save ten. I know it's not something you'd like to do, I know you'd rather save them all but if you had to you'd do it. I'm no different than you, I'm just on a different team."

"Well you're duty is now clashing with my duty, if I reported this to the Council they'd question me on why I didn't bring you in." she says, her voice edging lower. "This is the first time this has happened, so I'll let it slide but I'm telling you Matticks, not warning you, telling you, that if this becomes a regular thing Icarus and the Council will not be on talking terms. They'll bring the hammer down, and god forbid I'm the one swinging their hammer because if I am you will not make it to the end of that week."

With that she walks away, not giving me a chance to respond. I may have just pissed off the most dangerous person in the entire galaxy, basically getting her promise that if Icarus gets in her way she will bowl over us. It makes me feel a lot of things, it makes me nervous because Shepard is the last person I want to make an enemy. It makes me upset to be honest, Shepard is somebody I idolize and now she doesn't approve of my actions. In the end though, after that passes I'm surprised at what's left.

Anger.

She threatened me, and I'm not one to take threats lightly. Even less so if they're also directed at my friends and the thing we've built together, the thing that will save lives. I feel threatened to my very core, everything I have left in this galaxy she has threatened to take away and this anger reminds me of what I felt for Haynes. This isn't what I had in mind while joining the Normandy, not by a longshot, and I don't like that this is how it's going at the moment. So I stow it away, bury it deep inside only to have it come out if it's needed because the last thing I need is to resent her and burn bridges.

---

The tram ride what quiet, awkward even. The Normandy crew and Misfit squad seeming to sense the tension between Shepard and I as we've sat on opposite sides of the tram. Eventually though, Shepard starts to explain her plan, letting us know that the hot labs are shut down and we have to reactivate them somehow. Eric speaks up at this point, letting everyone know that he found a map on the VI and there are multiple ways to get to the hot labs. This of course gets a glare from Shepard, I guess she didn't see the map due to Eric stealing it. By the end of the tram ride we've decided that the Normandy crew will go up through the rift station and myself and the misfits moving through the maintenance tunnels. Something that I didn't even know existed and have zero knowledge of…

Great.

We watch as the Normandy crew stuffs themselves into an elevator and leave Misfit behind, us being led by Eric to another elevator that I don't remember from the game. Fuck me.

"Alright everyone," I say as we pack into the elevator. "let's get cozy."

Once we're in the maintenance elevator, which is much smaller than a regular one, I find myself pressed against Graff. We make brief eye contact before looking away from each other, I hear a comment from Eric that we should kiss but I ignore it as I wait on the forelevator.

The doors ding open and we all rush to get out of each other's personal space, entering the dark hallways of the maintenance tunnels.

"It's dark as fuck in here, anyway you can fix that?" I ask, turning to Eric.

"Who do you think I am?" he asks, sounding annoyed. "Alexander Graham Bell?"

"Spirits," Tyckus huffs. "Nobody gets your stupid fucking references, shut the hell up and just say yes or no."

"I got it!" I speak up, smirking as I look at Eric. "I got that reference."

"Good for you," Eric rolls his eyes. "Steve Rodgers."

"I got that one too!" I smile, not sure why but it makes me happy.

"Looks like there are emergency lights on each corner." Enya points out while looking around the dark nervously. "The middle of the halls aren't though."

I look and see she's right, the three directions each end with a low level light but almost all of the middle of the hallway is black as night. Just as I look at the third hallway a shadow of a rachni scurries by, causing everyone to snap their weapons in that direction.

"Anyone one else see that?" Curr mutters.

"Yeah." I nod, looking to Eric. "Send that map to all of us, find the quickest route out of here and to the hot labs."

Eric complies as he brings up his Omni-tool, sending everyone a map with a route already plotted. "Looks like there's multiple levels, but we need to get here to this security elevator."

"How many types of elevators does this place have?" I mutter quietly.

"Its two levels below us, and lots of vents for these xenomorph wannabes to ambush us throu—"

Eric is cut off by a noise, not a loud one though. A quiet scraping noise on the metal floors, as it gets louder we raise our weapons in every direction. The scratching noise gets louder slowly, the scratching and scraping making me cringe like nails on a chalkboard. We narrow the noise down to one hallway and prepare ourselves, Eric activating his Omni-tools light and shining it down the hallway. The noise is deafening now, claws on metal skittering towards us in a thundering echo that send shivers up my spine. Then it passes over us, we all look up as it travels alone a vent overhead and starts to fade away. We stand there for minutes before its gone completely.

"Well at least we'll hear them coming." Tyckus breathes quietly.

Just as he says this a huge crashing noise explodes in my ears, followed by a scream. I turn and see a tentacle jutting out of a vent, piercing Graffs thigh and dragging him towards it. Before I can even react his shield stops him from entering the vent and his screaming gets louder and frantic, and it's mixed in with a wet ripping noise.

I rush over and grab the shield, lowering his mass as I pull him back out of the vent. I fall back as he slides out of the vent, but not all of him. I look in shock as my eyes trace the trail of intestines and gore leading into the vent, Graffs wailing still ringing in my ears as the ticking claws in the vents retreat with his lower half.

"Goddess." Enya whispers as she just stares at Graff, not sure where to start. Before she can even move though Graff starts to breathe slowly, not waiting ten seconds before his head slouches back and his breathing stops.

I stare at the dead batarian in my arms, slowly lowering him to the ground and taking a moment to let the sudden death sink in. But I don't get it, instead I get chills up my spine as I hear a soft sound get louder.

Tick tick tick tick.

I start to raise my rifle at the bloody vent, the dim lights of the elevator barely illuminating Graffs body. "We need to move." I whisper, not taking my eyes off the vent.

"Agreed." Curr grumbles, a hint of sadness on his face as he glances down at Graff.

The remnants of Misfit gather together tightly, snapping at any skitter or scratch coming from the darkness. Eric motions to a dark hallway, a small light at the end is our goal for now so we move as one. Quickly, and more importantly quietly.

The darkness wasn't really something to be afraid of, dark never hurt anyone. As I kid though, I refused to go outside in the dark by myself. But I wasn't afraid of the dark, like I said before the dark can't hurt you. It's what's in the dark that scares me, the little bump or growl that I can't identify. The thing that gives me no warning or time to prepare, no clues on what it is until it's too late. That's what scares me, not the dark but what's in it. When I glance back down the hall at the pool of blood and gore in the dimly lit hallway that is now absent of Graffs body, it serves as a chilling reminder that I've never been more right.

Tick tick tick tick.

The dark has never killed anybody, it's what's in the dark that kills.

---

We've moved down a floor now, several times rachni trying to kill us. The lights though, the small little emergency lights at each corner have now become our salvation. The rachni are smart though, smarter than I thought. The attacks started randomly, some in the dark and some in the light. But the two engagements are as different as well, day and night. In the dark we're limited to a flashlights field of view, leaving us widely open throughout the majority of our trips through lights. We panic, scared like most things and people would be, barely retaining the professionalism of soldiers.

That all returns though in the light, the little corners of safety. We're on edge from the dark, nerves twitching at any sound, and any rachni that dares step into our haven is cut down before it can fully exit the dark, quickly, mercilessly, and with extreme prejudice.

But like any organic thing that's capable of the simplest thought, they learned. They figured out that we weren't here to turn back, that we are going to push forward and all they would have to do is wait. The only clue they give is to their attacks is the sound of their claws scratching at the metal floor.

Tick tick tick tick.

That ticking noise is not only the source of our relief, a warning sign to sharpen our senses, but also the bringer of dread, the looming horror of hungry creatures attacking from the shadows. The sound makes me want to stop moving and run at the same time, and I never thought something so simple would be scary.

"How much further until the next elevator?" Enya asks, her voice shaking.

"Two more lights." Tyckus answers, his voice is low and monotone giving no hint to how he feels.

"Two too many." Curr mutters, glaring at the shadows.

Eric snickers quietly, causing everyone to stop and look at him, flabbergasted as to how he could possibly be laughing at a time like this.

"He said tutu." He says, chuckling into a sigh of satisfaction.

I can't help but smile as I push Eric forward. "Keep moving, jackass."

The lightheartedness ends quickly though, the moment we can't see anything but the light we're moving towards. Our footsteps syncing up so we call tell the difference between us moving and the rachni, it's slower than just running but safer. Plus it helps with our sanity, nobody jumping just because someone next to them stepped half a second too soon. We're halfway to the next light when the hair on my neck raises, every muscle tenses and my breathing stops entirely.

Tick tick tick tick.

Nobody moves.

Tick tick.

The sound stops, making it quiet enough for me to hear the under armor flex as I scan the darkness pointlessly. I haven't decided if the sound stopping is good or bad, but I don't want to stick around to find out. Before I can even talk I'm cut off, and my heart races and I panic.

Ticktickticktickticktick.

I turn quickly to the sound, frantically guessing at its orientation but my nerves forcing the trigger of my Argus down and the muzzle flash illuminates my next nightmare in a strobing leap. Other muzzles flashing quicken the strobe, but it only helps me watch the rachni crash down on top of me. I don't even try and scream over the bugs screech, if I did it would only get caught in my throat. All I can do it toss a throw into the rachni and frantically try and get away before it recuperates.

I manage to get to my feet and re-center my Argus on the monster and fire again, this time managing to down the beast with a little help from the squad behind me. I turn and start to sprint towards the light at the end of the hallway, yelling at the other to follow me. We all break into a sprint, charging through the dark as screeching and ticking claws follow us. As I get to the light a feeling of safety washes over me and I get down to one knee and turn around, shooting any shadow that has more than two legs until the rest of my squad is safe.

"One more light." Tyckus huffs, out of breath from the mad sprint through the dark. He suddenly jumps back as a rachnis head screams from the shadows, causing everyone to turn their weapons on it. It disappears before we can kill it. "I doubt that one will be coming back." Tyckus says in an even voice, venting his marksman rifles heat vent.

Another rachni rears its head into the light, hissing at us and causing us to turn to the right to face it. But like the other, it disappears before we can open fire. The same thing happens behind us, and then again to our left, eventually getting to a point where there's just hissing and growling from the shadows keeping us turning around.

"They aren't attacking." I mutter, catching on to what's happening as we turn to face another loud clicking noise. "They're distracting us."

"Why?" Enya worries.

"Normally it's to catch one of us off guard." I say, remembering fights I've been in from earth. "Then hitting someone hard who's not paying attention to cause the most damage."

"Smart little shits." Eric chuckles. "Wonder who they're going to get first?"

I'm about to say something when I hear the sound of ceramics splitting, and an ice cold chill spreads through my calf. I glance down and time seems to slow as I comprehend what happened. A clawed tentacle is gripping my calf, one of the claws has sliced through my shin guard and into my leg. Blood begins to spill over the claw as the wound burns and explodes in pain, I look back at Misfit and see they're as shocked as I am. Before anyone can do anything else I'm yanked off my feet and dragged towards an open vent, my rifle slipping from my hands. It clacks to the ground and I grasp at it, but it's too late and I'm pulled into the vent. The only thing I can do is scream, it's the only thing my body will allow while being driven by pain and fear.

I scream louder to no avail, but I manage to piece together a few simple thoughts. They all circle around the topic of survival, each one a different solution but I pick one that seems to be the quickest and most effective. I raise my mass, focusing as much as I can through the pain until the vents creak. Then they give, my new rachni friend being dropped down to the next floor with me. Another thought for survival enters my mind as I hit the ground, I follow through and whip my shotgun from my back and fire until it overheats.

I stare at the dead rachni and thank any god that will even listen to me that I can actually see it, the emergency light above me giving me that ability. I try to stand and am reminded of the gash in my leg, and like always I swear as a fall to the ground.

"You mother fucking…" I growl as I glare at the rachni, flipping on my Omni-tool and searching Medi-gel. I then curse and open up a notepad, talking along with the words I type. "Get more Medi-gel, you stupid asshole."

I close the Omni-tool after the reminder is set and stare around for anything to help me but I find nothing but long shadows in between lights. I need to move, odds are without anything to stop this bleeding I'm going to die but fuck if I'm going to give up because of it.

"Gah… Fuck me." I exhale sharply, forcing myself to my feet. The pain is familiar, and still as unbearable as the last time I got cut open. Still, I'd like to get away from the open vent and the dead rachni that's probably attracting other rachni. I take in a breath and start to hobble into the dark, every part of my brain screaming at me not to but my stubborn pride refuses to die lying down. I'm not sure if that's a gift or a curse, but at least I can say I've never given up.

I glance up as I try and limp quietly towards my goal, shotgun in one hand and the other sliding along the wall. I'm closer than I thought, more than halfway there and I don't hear any bugs. That's always a good sign, and surprisingly it keeps up. I make it to the light, letting out a sigh of relief as I slouch against a wall, sliding down it and pressing my hand against my bleeding leg. The second I make contact I wince, but I keep pressing because it stems the blood flow which eases my mind.

"Well," I huff, glancing around at the other hallways. "I think I'm fucked." I say to nobody, just talking to keep my mind off the pain. My eyes trace the small trail of blood that leads into the black hallway, giving a small chuckle as I realize that I may have lost more blood in this universe than my own. Then my blood runs cold, my breath shortening and I wildly point my shotgun around while listening closely.

Tick tick tick tick.

Tick tick tick tick.

Tick tick.

I panic when the ticking stops, my arm shaking as I try and keep the shotgun level. A noise comes to my left and I swing my shotgun at it, pulling the trigger and sending shells into the dark. I wait and listen, waiting for the drop of a rachni body but it doesn't come.

Tick tick tick tick.

A rachni creeps slowly out of the darkness in the corner of my eye and I whip my Eviscerator barrel at it and pull the trigger. A jet of steam hisses from the side and I tilt my head back, letting the gun drop out of my hands onto the floor. "Clever girl." I laugh at it, reaching into my pouch for a grenade. "But not that clever…" I mutter.

I'm about to raise my arm and let the grenade fly when a hail of bullets crack the rachnis shell, a ball of biotics following it up and forcing it into pieces.

"Filthy creature." A voice spits, and a pair of asari walks into my light. Neither are any asari I know and they are dressed in skin tight black under armor.

They're Benezias commandos.

Fuck me…

"Ma'am." The one asari speaks up, nodding to me. "What do we do with him? Icarus troops shouldn't be here in the facility."

"Nobody should be here in the facility." She stresses, sounding irritated. I'm guessing the other asari is new and she's on babysitting duty, bring me back to my first few days with Art. "He hasn't put Medi-gel on his wound which means he's out of it, he'll likely bleed out in half an hour at most."

"Smart and beautiful?" I raise my eyebrows in shock. "You wouldn't want to patch me up and get coffee would you?"

"Not a chance." She stonewalls.

The other asari gets closer to me, squinting at the gouge in my helmet before smirking slightly. "He does have nice blue eyes ma'am, and you have been a little on edge lately." She jokes.

"Funny." She nods. "Now unless you want to babysit the blue eyed idiot down here alone I suggest we get moving, if you think his eyes or so damn nice you should put him out of his misery."

"No no." I shake my head, not liking where this is going. "I'm fine actually, bleeding out's good with me."

"It's ok." The rookie commando says, kneeling down and raising her hand towards my head.

I reach up and gently push the asari's hand aside, a plan already forming in my mind. "Please." I plead, trying to sound as pitiful as I can as I inch my hand up her arm and onto her shoulder. "Please don't do this."

"I'm sorry," she sighs, her hand moving back to my face and swirling with biotics. "I'll make this quick."

"Ditto." I smirk, my hand reaching the neck of her suit and cramming the grenade I had for the rachni in between the fabric and her skin. Her eyes widen in confusion as I press my hand on her chest and my own biotics flare, with a hard shove and a throw I send her sprawling towards the veteran commando, activating the grenade with my Omni-tool. The veteran commando, to her credit, tries to kick the rookie away while firing her rifle one handed into my barriers but she's a second too slow as the grenade explodes. The rookies upper half completely disintegrates while the veterans leg gets torn from her body which has been pecked at by shrapnel.

My head tilts back until my helmet knocks off the metal wall and I let out a long sigh as I place my hand back onto the gash on my leg. "Say hi to your goddess for me." I mutter through my teeth, the pain now setting into a dull throbbing irritant.

I feel the familiar drowsiness from blood loss, a good pool of my own forming around me. How often does this have to happen before I get through one mission unscathed? The first half of this mission went swimmingly until the rachni showed up, finally got used to geth and krogan and I get a wrench tossed in the mix. Now that I think about it the krogan went better than I thought, as well as killing another living thing can anyways. Seems to me like I do better in a chaotic situation than an actual firefight, fine by me though it's more up my alley.

I'm pulled from my final thoughts when I hear a noise banging around in the vents, muffled and distant but enough to make me grasp desperately at my shotgun, whimpering as my hand shifts over my gash as I move. The noise gets louder as I point my shotgun at the grate covering a section of vent on the ceiling, but my eyes narrow as another sound joins it.

It's screaming.

The screaming and vent rumbling gets louder and I hear it about to pass over me, the screaming could either be a commando or a Misfit but I decide to take my chances. I place my shotgun down on the ground and wrap a section of the vent in biotics, yanking down when the noise passes over me.

A rachni and asari pour out of the vent and smash into the floor as I reach for my shotgun again, quickly placing a few slugs into the bug until it stops moving. I try to get a better view of the still screaming asari who's kicking at the rachni frantically, but I relax when I see who it is.

"Hey Enya," I wave, tilting my head back against the wall again. "how's it going?"

Enya stops screaming when she hears me, I'm not sure if it's out of confusion of comfort in my presence. Probably confusion.

"Captain Matticks?" she asks in disbelief.

"The one and only." I quip quietly.

"Are those…" she says slowly, looking at the other dead asari on the ground.

"Commandos yes."

"You killed them?"

"Well they didn't just fall over and die."

"And the rachni…"

"Just the one that had you, the other the commandos killed but they didn't have to." I say, looking at the dead creatures. "I could've handled it."

"And you're still—"

"Alive, yes." I nod, looking down at my leg before adding grimly. "That might not last too long though."

The next thing I know Enya is basically on top of me, laying her medpac beside her and rotating me to get better light.

"Didn't even have to ask." I chuckle. "You know I could've used you on some of my other missions, would've saved Chakwas some time."

"Well I'm not losing another person today." She says, sounding oddly determined for the awkward asari. "Two is enough."

"Two?"

"Tyckus." She says regretfully. "He got pulled down by a rachni, the Lieutenant got it off him and dragged him the rest of the way but there was too much blood loss…"

"You did what you could, I'm sure of it." I say honestly. "You may not be a good fighter but I can tell you're an amazing medic."

"I'm technically a doctor." She laughs quietly. "I don't actually like being called a medic, it makes my schooling seem less important."

"Well, doctor," I smile. "how bad is the leg?"

"There's good news and bad news." She says, not really saying what I wanted to hear.

"Good news." I nod.

"I can fix you right up."

"Bad news?" I ask hesitantly.

"The anesthetic I have won't wear off for a few hours, and Medi-gel will only stop the bleeding but not actually close the wound. There's a lot of muscle damage that I'd like to fix now before you make it worse by continuing to fight. I don't think I can carry you and fight these things at the same time, I don't even think I could do them separately," she mutters to herself. "so I'm going to have to close the wound, stitch it together and then apply the Medi-gel."

"That sound like it will hurt." I grimace.

"Take off your helmet, I have something that will help." She says as she rifles through her pack.

I comply, resting the broken helmet next to me and turning back to her. "I'll take it, lay it on me."

"Here." She says, jamming a strip of fabric into my mouth without warning me.

"Uhh." I mumble through the fabric, trying not to drool. "How ish thish shuposhed ooh elwp me?"

"It will save you from having me sew your tongue back on if you bite it off." she says simply, lifting a menacing hooked needle up for me to see.

"Wewl thas juss super."

---

"I'm sorry." Enya says quietly as we move through the dark hallway.

"No I'm sorry," I respond. "I knew it would hurt so I shouldn't have called you that."

"I'm not even sure what that means, my translator didn't catch it so please don't worry about it."

"That's probably for the best." I nod thankfully. "It's not the nicest thing to call a woman."

"I'm technically not a woman though."

"Yeah yeah, single sex species yada yada..." I say while rolling my eyes. "To my species you look like a woman and you have, well, woman parts..." I say, motioning my hand towards her hips. "I think, I don't actually know. I'm assuming based on the rest of you, you know you're uhm, more obvious woman features and uhh, you know what I'm just going to stop talking now."

"Yes, I'm not sure now is an appropriate time for an anatomy lesson." Enya whispered. "If we get out of here I'd be happy to teach you, I have lots of notes from my medical schooling if you're interested."

For a split second Liara pops into my mind and I consider accepting the lesson, for someone I'm interested in and no doubt attracted too I sure have a staggering lack of knowledge on what's actually going on in her pants. I mean, I'd assume it's the same as human girls, I'd hope...

"You know what, I think I'll just look it up on my spare time thanks." I say, dismissing the offer.

"Do you want me to send you my notes then?" Enya asks, dragging out a now awkward conversation which is surprising for her.

"I... No I'll just look it up on the extranet." I say, trying to end this conversation.

"You shouldn't use those sites, they aren't educational." She scolds.

"What?" I stutter. "What sites?"

"Pornographic sites."

…

"Are you being serious right now?"

"Yes." she nods. "Unless they are a registered medical site they won't give you any help."

"How did we start talking about me watching porn…" I sigh as I shake my head.

"You started making assumptions on asari anatomy." Enya answers. "Which has led to you learning about it by watching pornographic material."

"We're done talking about this..." I shake my head, checking my Omni-tool for the Misfits rendezvous point. "Ok, they should be meeting us here at this elevator any minute."

A minute goes by and needless to say it goes by quietly, most of it spent pondering how Enya of all people would start a conversation like that. I mean technically I started it but I sure as hell didn't think she would make it worse.

I hear a noise and turn to see the elevator behind us open to reveal Curr and Eric. "Little late to the party, eh?"

"Party doesn't start until I walk in anyways." Eric responds, lifting up my Argus and handing it to me. "Here's your rifle back, butterfingers."

"Thanks, Kesha." I smirk, thankful that I have my new rifle back.

I hear Eric chuckle slightly before pointing down a hallway. "Just at the end of this hallway is a heavy freight elevator that goes up into the secure labs, not sure what they're moving up there but that elevator is serious shit. Whatever it is there's either a lot of it or it's huge."

Well, looks like that heads up to where the rachni queen is. Which also means Benezia is up there with her geth and commandos. When we get up that elevator that's it, the end of the mission. I'd normally be happy but I know it's going to end with Benezias death, Liaras mother. I'm not looking forward to it.

"Let's get on with it then." I say, readying my rifle as I start to walk down the long hallway.

The last of the Misfits fall in behind me, moving as a unit like we did before albeit a much smaller one. We don't get ambushed by rachni along the way, which is becoming a welcome theme on this level of the tunnels. But there's a nagging voice in the back of my head that saying it's just the calm before the storm in a singsong tune, I'm inclined to believe it too based on my track record.

"This is it?" I ask, now looking at a giant elevator door.

"No." Eric says, sounding a little annoyed. "It's a broom closet."

"Jack ass." I mutter as I walk up to the door, activating my Omni-tool and trying to open it.

I sigh when the door icon blinks red, letting me know that I don't possess he right security clearance. "Eric can you open this?" I ask, looking at him.

"Probably, I've never seen a door built like this before." He says, waving his Omni-tool over it. "Hell, I'm not even sure what it's made of."

"Really?" I ask, now eyeing the giant door. Makes sense that they would have something special put in to hold the acid spitting rachni queen but it's making my job more difficult.

"Yeah, it's like some sort of dwarven space mithril." He mutters, moving to the panel on the door.

"Look, I don't care what it's made of or who made it I just-"

"Probably space dwarves." Eric answers, a smart ass tone on his voice and no doubt a shit eating grin on his face.

"Shut. Up." I hiss loudly. "Just hack through the terminal or something."

"I can't, well I could but I'd have to be inside of it." He mumbles, backing away from the console and scanning his Omni-tool over the large locking Pistons. "I guess I'll just try that." He nods at the Pistons, reaching back to fiddle with his backpack.

"We'll get on it, I'm not staying here any longer then I have to." I respond.

"Yeah, sure thing, boss man." Eric sneers back, seeming like he's not a fan of being ordered around.

I'm about to put him in his place when I hear, and feel, a giant explosion. So large that I have to take a step to the side to balance myself, not waiting a second after that I open my Omni-tool and call Shepard.

"Shepard, what the fuck was that?!" I tell over the fading explosion.

"-A neutron purge.-" She says simply. "-It should take care of any rachni left underneath the hot labs, are you and your crew alright?-"

"I lost two more men." I sigh, a pang of guilt running through me. "But we'll be alright."

"-I'm sorry to hear that, they seemed like good soldiers.-" she says sincerely. "-We're moving on Benezia in a few minutes, what's your eta?-"

"We just have to crack the freight elevator and we'll be one room away, coming in on the south side of the room opposite of you." I answer, turning my ear for a moment at a noise from the dark hallway.

Tick tick tick tick.

"I've gotta go," I say into the speaker, goosebumps crawling over my skin at the sound and images of Graff Tyckus and Pidion running through my head. "your pest control wasn't as effective as you thought."

I hang up on Shepard and ready my rifle, joining Curr and Enya who have formed a makeshift firing line in front of the elevator.

"Eric, door, now."

I look back at him and see he has a hose running of his utility backpack that leads to a blow torch in his hand, the metal protective cover for his visor sliding down with a metallic ding.

"Way ahead of you." He nods as a spark ignites the blowtorch with a sharp hiss, a four inch purple jet of plasma erupts from the torch and when it touches the metal a shower of sparks fly in every direction.

The ticking of rachni claws gets louder and louder, and blends colder and closer into one solid sound. There's a lot of them, this isn't going to end well.

The first few rachni come around the corner, I waste no time and take a knee and fire my Argus. Curr and Enya join in, our combined fire bringing the charge to a stop as quickly as it started. The quiet doesn't last though, more rachni pouring around the corner at a steady rate. Workers and soldiers throw themselves at us desperately and get a hail of bullets in return, but I notice something about the dead bugs on the floor. They're getting closer.

"Eric you need to move a little quicker!" I shout over gunfire, setting down my Argus and throwing two balls of biotics down the hallway to detonate of some unsuspecting bug.

"Ok, one, not liking your tone!" Eric says with a rushed attitude. "And two, I didn't invent whatever this door is made of so it's going to take another goddamn minute!"

"Just get it done!" I bark back, sliding a grenade out of my pouch and hurling it down the hallway.

The grenade explodes and I smirk for a brief second, watching the bodies of rachni being tossed around. It fades though as the dead bodies are covered with twice as many live ones, these rachni are getting closer and closer and their numbers are only getting bigger.

"I think that purge just pushed these bugs away from that Spectre and down here to us!" Curr roars over the gunfire, his revenant making up most of the noise.

"Agreed!" I shout back, setting down my Argus to cool by my feet and letting loose with my shotgun. I glance over to see Enya blind firing her smg into the horde of rachni in a panic, luckily for her, or unlucky in a sense, the sheer number of rachni means most of her shots land. I hear another rifle burst to life on my left and I turn to see Eric joining the fray. Baffled, I look back to see the elevator locked tight despite scorch marks.

"Why isn't the elevator open?!" I scream, my limit on frustration and stress reaching its peak.

Eric lets out a short burst from his rifle before lazily tilting his head towards me and speaking. "Dwarven technology." He answers curtly.

I physical annoyed twitch tears across my body, my head craning to glare at Eric. "What did you just say?..." I seethe.

Before Eric can respond a loud hiss and popping noise comes from behind me, followed by a large explosion which when I turn to look at the now cracked open elevator I realize that that's Eric's response.

"Come on." Eric huffs, retreating with the last of Misfit into the giant elevator. The doors begin to grind closed as we turn our weapons out of the door and hold back the tidal wave of rachni, though I swear they keep creeping forward despite the onslaught.

The elevator door is painstakingly slow, no doubt the fact that they were blasted open was the reason. I notice a small group of workers rush the door and I turn my rifle to them and send a burst into the lot of them. One of them though dives through the door and when it does a warning alarm blares and the elevator doors start to open.

"Fuck!" I swear as Curr steps on the worker and smears it across the floor. "We can't let them trip the safety sensors on the door or it will open!"

Misfit renews themselves and takes up positions at the door, firing controlled bursts as they do. And we try again, waiting for the elevator door to close.

As the doors closest gets harder and harder to shoot through them, eventually we can't squeeze together anymore and have to awkwardly squat or lay down in front of the others. When that happens I can't use my bigger biotic attacks, no more huge pushes of energy or I could hurt someone. Eventually the rachni break through, not in numbers it's normally just one or even a claw that gets through but it's enough to stop the elevator.

The next time we try throwing grenades, waiting to detonate them at the last second but on two occasions it sends a rachni limb through the door and the elevator opens again.

We try leaving the grenades closer to try and push them back instead of killing them outright. It doesn't work.

Nothing is working, they just don't stop.

I hear Curr sigh and I look over to him, he seems tired hell we're all tired. All the noise from screaming bugs and gunfire, explosions and biotics is becoming deafening. Add on the moral killing failure after failure and it's become taxing on all us.

"I have an idea." Curr says, his voice sounding grim but steely.

"What is it?" I ask, sending a biotic push while I can.

"You won't like it, but it's not up to you anyways." He chuckles "When you find Benezia, put a bullet in her for me."

I don't even get time to process the words before he steps out of the elevator while pushing the close door button, stepping slowly towards the crowd of rachni defiantly.

"Curr!" I yell, a pang of guilt running through me as I realize what he's doing. "Get back on the fucking elevator now!"

"This won't stop unless they have something else to focus on, besides we're out of grenades and I doubt you want to stay here until your ammo block runs dry." He responds. "This is the last option, something to hold their attention while the door closes and what better than a krogan?" He laughs.

"We can figure out a different way!" I try and reason, the elevator door closing to its halfway point. "I'm not losing another soldier!"

"Like I said," he laughs, a rachni falling at his feet before its head is crushed by his boot. "It's not up to you! This is what krogan do best, killing monsters and I wouldn't want to go out any other way!"

I try and find something to say, something to get him to come back as the doors get closer and closer to closing. I don't find anything.

Then the door closes and I'm greeted with silence. The elevator hums and lurches as it moves and I think about Curr being added to the list of people who died under my command, trying not to focus on the fact that he's dying right now so we could live. Focus on saving who's left or there won't be anyone I think to myself, trying to find a way to push past it. I could sit here and sulk about the people who've died, whether I could save them or not, or I could just keep doing my job. Protect everyone and everything that brandishes the Icarus I, that's what I'm supposed to do and hell it's what I want to do. I look at Eric and Enya, their faces hidden by their visors but I can guess that, at least Enya anyways, is saddened that Misfit squad has been brought down to two people. Despite the remaining geth, commandos, rachni, and matriarch we have to face that number will not drop. I'd rather die than let that happen. I need to stick to my suck it up mentality, applying it to death is new to me but that's what makes me me. No matter what happens, I keep moving forward. Maybe I'll trip now and then and falter, but I will remain a constant forward force.

"Expect geth, commandos and an asari matriarch ahead." I say as I turn to Eric and Enya, both of them looking up at me. "This isn't over just yet, I know you've lost friends but they wouldn't want us to stop now so that's what I'm doing, how about you?"

"Didn't really like them that much anyways, I'm more interested in these little impossible fights you Contractors seem to find yourselves in." Eric says confidently. "I was always a fan of a challenge."

"I'll do my best." Enya says quietly. "For lieutenant Curr." She adds, her voice getting steady and louder as she straightens up.

I can't help but smile as the elevator lurches back to a stop. "Good, let's go kick some ass."

The elevator door slowly opens and I'm surprised to immediately see a few geth troops jogging by, the next soldier is an asari commando and she slows and looks into the newly open elevator with a hint of confusion. I reach my arm out and a pull shoots from my arm and rips her towards me, once she's close enough I lob a warp towards her and bioticly charge towards her. The warp hits just as I do and she's sent clear across the hall, leaving some blood behind.

I look to see one commando left and about five geth, all of them readying their weapons at me. Ok, element of surprise is gone, time to go to work.

"On the geth!" I yell, biotics swirling around me as I trade stares with the commando who's flaring her own biotics. "The commando is mine."

The commando and I charge at each other, before we get ten feet apart I close the gap with a biotic charge and drive my shoulder into the commandos chest. Unlike most people though, her ribcage didn't break and she merely staggered back. She calmly began to jog forward, launching warps, throws and god knows what else at me. Each one that I can't avoid I meet with my own biotics, setting of detonations that echo through the hall. Next thing I know we are a foot from each other and it breaks into a fist fight.

The asari is quick, much quicker than me but not as sturdy. Her jabs to my head and kicks to my midsection are aided with biotics, moving incredibly fast and hitting harder than a bus. Lucky for me, with a raised mass I can take one hell of a beating. Unlucky for me, that's just what this is, a beating. I can't manage to land a decent punch on the commando, but I notice that every time I block her shot before it lands it doesn't have any impact at all. She must be lowering her mass to punch faster and raising it right before it hits so they hit with weight and velocity.

Clever.

Suddenly one of her kicks swings low and hooks behind my knee, forcing me down to the ground. I swear and try to roll away but she's already got me in a full mount. My eyes widen when she decides against raining down punches in favor of drawing a knife, plunging it down towards me. With my left hand I catch her wrist, struggling to keep the pointed metal out of me. As it inches closer she raises her left hand up and it swirls in a whirlwind of biotics before crashing down, colliding with my own biotic infused right hand. The detonation sends off a blast of heat and my hand is left smoking like hers, but I recuperate faster and put every ounce of strength into a punch, which to my satisfaction lands on her jaw.

She recovers fast though, faster than anyone else I've punched in the face and punches me twice, cracking my poor helmet even further. What she does next I didn't expect, she reaches behind my back and rips my Argus off, levelling it with my head as it unfolds.

"Fuck!" I yell as I desperately grab the gun with my free hand, forgetting momentarily about holding off her knife and letting it poke against my under armor before stopping it. Even though I kept the barrel of the gun away from my head, it's still uncomfortably close and it get worse when the commando decides to pull the trigger anyways. Sparks kick up from the metal floor and shower over my head, some landing through the opening in my visor and burning my skin, the thunder of the rifle ringing in my ear making it difficult to keep the knife from plunging into my chest.

The asari quickly stops though as a warp slams into her side, making her hiss in anger with my overheated rifle. She quickly rips the knife up out of my hand, twirls it and throws it in the direction the warp came from. I look and see it smack into Enyas chest with a dull thunk and the teal asari falls to the ground.

I don't even have time to shout her name, the anger barely able to manifest in my body before the empty hand of the asari comes back down to hit me. I lift my hand up to catch it and when I do I let go of the Argus, pulling her hand to my right. I see her smile as she aims the now free rifle at my head but it fades when it hisses back, still overheated. I swap her hand into my right hand and yank it further across her body, twisting sharply as I pull. She seethes and grunts pain, the flinching gives me time to pull my own knife free and I raise its mass as I slash at her stomach. The kukri works through the light armor like it was nothing and send ribbons of blood flying as it cuts deep into the asaris stomach.

She gasps at the wound but doesn't have time to look at it before I stab the knife under her ribcage, letting its natural curve work its way into her vitals. I grip my knife tight with one hand and build a nova in the other before smacking her off me and my knife free. She slides into the wall leaving a feint smear of blood as I get up to my feet, looking at Enya who is now standing and firing at the last geth. I close the distance between the geth and I in the blink of an eye and sink my knife into its chest, my shoulder following it up and pushing the geth across the room with a huge gash in its circuitry. It lets of a soft static wail as its flashlight dims and it lies still.

"Enya!" I shout in a panic as I rush over to her, the knife still wedged in her chest. "Are you ok?!"

"I'm fine." She assures me, though her voice is shaky. "It hit my chest plate, it doesn't feel like it went that far in."

She reaches up and grips the handle of the knife, rocking it back and forth slightly with a whimper before removing it, less than an inch of the blade is coated with blue blood. She drops the knife and applies medigel to the shallow stab wound, not noticing my sigh of relief that she's ok.

She walks over to Eric and to my surprise he seems slightly concerned, as the talk though I look down at the commandos blade. It's elegant and simple at the same time, the one side a smooth razor sharp angle leading to a point, the other serrated with wicked teeth. I reach down and pick it up, making my way over to the commando in search of the sheath.

When I approach the commando I notice she's still breathing, glaring up at me but with an envious look of defeat. I think back to the commandos that found me when I was injured and I remembered that despite being enemies, they attempted to make my death quick and painless, hell the one who was about to do me in was pretty nice about it. I bend down and gently place my hand on the side of her head, she looks up at me and I look back at her to see her stare back.

She wheezes, blood pouring out of her mouth the second it opens but I can't understand what she's trying to say.

Unsure of what to say I sigh as I turn her head. "Good fight." I mutter, lowering her mass as much as I can. I gently tug her head away from the wall but I see her hand flash behind her back like lightning, returning and rushing towards me just as quickly. I try and catch her hand and I succeed, rewarded instantly with a sharp cold pain in the palm of my hand. I look down at the knife poking through the center of my hand and growl, gripping her head tighter and slamming it against the wall with as much force as I can. I hear a wet crack as I stare at the knife, raising to my feet and gripping the handle of the new small blade and yanking it free.

I curse and ball my fist to stem some of the bleeding, taking a second before undoing the sheath from the dead commandos armor and putting the blade back in its home, carrying it all back to the last of Misfit.

"Here." I say, getting Enyas attention by waving the sheathed blade at her. "You don't have a knife and I think you earned this."

She looks at the blade, unsure of what to do. "I didn't earn it, I just distracted her long enough for you to kill her, she did more damage to me than I did to her."

"You have no combat training whatsoever," I counter quickly. "and directly caused the death of one of the greatest breeds of soldiers in the galaxy while simultaneously saving a CEO of an entire Icarus branch." I finish, forcing the knife into her hand. "You earned it."

Enya takes it and tosses the weight of it in her hand. "Thank you." She says proudly before attaching the sheath to the plate that covers her collarbone. I start to walk away when suddenly I feel a hand grip my wrist and pull it back with a surprising amount of force, I turn to see Enya investigating my injured hand and if her helmet was off she'd no doubt have a disapproving look on her face. "Hold still." she orders as she applies some medigel to the wound.

"Thanks Enya." I smirk, turning to the door that leads to Benezia and marching towards it. "Ready up, there's nothing but more geth and commandos behind this door." I stop before the door and turn to Enya and Eric, hoisting my rifle onto my shoulder and smiling confidently behind my helmet. "By the time we're done it'll just be us."

"Yes sir, Captain cliché, sir." Eric lazily salutes.

Enya seems to stiffen up a bit but more out of slight confidence than overt fear.

I walk to the door and it hums briefly before sliding open to reveal the large chamber of catwalks and the huge container with a rachni queen tucked inside, a higher platform holding Benezia. I'll admit, like any in game character she is done no justice. Radiating confidence in her posture she manages to intimidate me from across the room without even looking at me.

"I can't believe you'd kill your own daughter." I hear Shepard practically spit from across the room.

I look around and I see that I'm on the opposite corner of the room from Shepard, looking in front of me I see the platform leading up to the left towards Benezia and the door to the right where the commandos come from.

"I now realize I should've been more strict with her." Benezia says calmly, almost shrugging Shepards words off.

As she moves to freeze Shepard I sprint down the catwalk towards the door. As I reach the door I ready my biotics and charge at it, it opening just as I'm about to crash into it and I let out a mental sigh of relief as my gamble pays off. It pays off further when I catch the asari off guard, hitting her with both hands with a different biotic laced in each. The explosion puts her out of commission, violently like biotics tends to do and I turn to face my new target.

Matriarch Benezia.

She is strong, stronger than me I'd bet without a doubt. I need to move quick, stick to my strengths and hit harder and faster than people can fathom. So I move, no doubt or second thought even attempting to enter my mind as I lower my mass and jump onto the first railing and launch myself to Benezias platform. I land quietly and rear back my right hand, I feel it heavy itself with biotics and I swing it with everything I've got at the back of Benezias head.

Then its stops, a foot away from its mark it just stops like it hit a wall. Everything stopped, I struggle to move but it's no use. A new blue hue surrounds me and it doesn't feel like my own, it's foreign, forcefully invasive, and I can't overpower it. It makes me uncomfortable beyond words.

"More than I expected when you entered the room." Benezia says as she turns around. "But that says so little when the expectation was so low."

She talks to me as if I'm nothing, it infuriates me to be spoken to like some child and somehow I think she can sense that.

"You let your pride and confidence cloud your actions." Benezia says as she looks at me, her head tilting almost in pity. "To most that's a death sentence, but those of worth and experience who will see this as bravado and dispatch you with the rest of the unworthy."

Her eyes stare at me and I notice that they're exactly the same as Liaras, except they seem less hopeful, they don't seem to shine with that little ember of curiosity, they're cold and emotionless but most of all unforgiving.

Her words are worse though, judging and honest I'm a sense. I can't stand them, they make a hate rise from the bottom of my stomach and I use it to press against her stasis. It makes me scream as every muscle I have cries out for physical, violent rebuttal. I feel the stasis loosen and I start to laugh as I scream, it's working, I'm moving closer. I see her eyes rise ever so slightly and it only makes this struggle sweeter, my drive pushing me further as our biotics reverberate louder. I wait for her smugness to disappear and to be replaced with shock or fear, the final sign to let me know that I'm about to win. But it doesn't come. Her lips smirk at me and shape to for the words:

"How amusing."

With that I falter, my body coming to a stop again and my confidence saps from my mind. I can only watch as she places a hand on my stomach and with a biotic detonation I'm sent through the railing and onto the lower catwalk from where I started, pain raping my every nerve.

I don't feel myself stop, I just figure it out when I see the room isn't moving. No there are other things to feel right now other than my chest and stomach, I look down to see my chest plate is scorched and smoking. My stomach is worse, all of the pouches are gone, bits of flesh can be seen like a shiny red beacon through the tears in my under armor. I place my hand on them and despite my better judgement I poke a finger into one of the wounds. After some cursing I take a bit of relief in the fact that the wounds aren't deep, that relief is gone when a boot presses down on them.

"Fuck!" I hiss in agony ask look up at the commando, her rifle leveling off on my head as she bares her teeth.

Her expression changes when a round from Shepards rifle drills through her head and forces her off the catwalk.

I try and force myself to my feet but I'm pressed against the ground by tiny hands.

"Don't move." Enya sighs as she unfolds her backpack and lays it on the ground.

"No." I protest, trying to push her away and get up again. "Medigel and that's it, I need to keep going."

Again, she shoves me back down, this time with her full weight. "Your little poke test doesn't account for internal damages, my medical scanner does." She huffs, clearly she saw me test the wounds depth. "Besides the room is almost clear, Shepards squad can handle it."

"I know but I can still help!" I almost plead as I try for a third time to get up. Quicker than I can catch though Enya plunges an injector into my abdomen and shrugs.

"Now you can't." She says innocently as she continues to work.

"What was that?" I ask suddenly. "What was that, was that drugs, did you just drug me?"

"Yes and in a few seconds you won't be able to ask any more questions so make the next one count."

I feel a calming cool sensation wash over me and the pain melts away faster than I thought possible, my whole body becomes numb and my mouth slurs out words. "Why'd you hav't do that'ou me with the thing you jus'dih?"

I never got an answer before I passed out.

---

When I came to I was already on the Normandy, just getting on the Normandy actually. Apparently my waking up wasn't supposed to happen for a few hours so needless to say I scared the shit out of Dylan and Art when I sprang to life in their arms.

When I went down to Chakwas she barely even looked at me, apparently Enya had done such a good job that I didn't even need to get out of my armor for her to examine me. This might have been because Enya had cut away everything to fix it all while I was out, but hey what was I supposed to do? Chakwas was even more surprised when I corrected her on my treatment, it came as quiet the shock to her that I wasn't treated in a clinic in Port Hanshan and was instead treated in battle by a field medic. I also corrected her on that too, it was a field Doctor not a medic.

After that I skip taking off my armor, instead I head to my cot to send a debrief to Icarus. I pull up my Omni-tool and start to record a video, typing a whole debrief I stop hard with one hand so I've opted for the more vlog approach. I explain everything that happened since I left the Normandy, eventually talking about Graff, Pidion, Tyckus, and Curr. I still can't help but feel guilty because of what happened to them, but I try and move past it. I'm sure I'll find out if I have or not at a later date.

My next stop still isn't the armor lockers, it's something more important than that. I head back down to the medical bay and find Shepard leaving the place I was headed. Liaras room.

"How is she?" I ask, stopping in front of Shepard.

"As well as you'd think, she's not really talking right now." Shepard sighs, I can see that it pains her to see someone on her squad so upset. "Not the only person who's not a fan of talking to me right now.

"What do you mean?"

"Wrex isn't happy I let the queen free." She explains, I sense she's about to spin off in an explanation to justify her actions but I'm the last person she needs to do that too.

"I think it was the right thing to do." I say, cutting her off. "Wrex will get over it, trust me."

"Thanks Mav." Shepard smiles.

I smirk back at her. "Feels weird not being called Captain or sir now."

"Welcome back to the real world." Shepard chuckles.

"Hey don't I outrank you technically?" I ask, my smirk turning into a shit eating grin. "Captain is above Commander isn't it?"

"Not on my ship Matticks." Shepard responds, her hands resting on her hips and her own smile growing. "And sure as shit not with you, consider yourself Petty Officer around me."

"First class?" I ask slowly.

"Third." Shepard deadpans.

"I'm still going by Captain, I don't recognize your military ranking especially from an Alliance cheerleader."

"What's it like knowing a cheerleader can kick your ass?" Shepard ponders out loud, making me roll my eyes.

"Yeah yeah, write about it in your diary or something." I say, waving off the smart ass N7. I stare at Liaras door for a moment and wonder if I should bother her, if she didn't want to talk to anyone maybe I should wait a bit before checking on her. "She's not in a talking mood you said?" I ask, buying a little time to think about it some more.

"Yeah, but I think she'll talk to you."

"Whys that?"

"Woman's intuition." Shepard nods with a smile, then she shrugs in admittance. "And she asked if you were ok while I was in there. Twice."

"Well alright then, I can take a hint." I chuckle. "Thanks Shepard, talk to you later."

"Yeah I've got other crewmates to talk to, can't waste all my time on you."

"Yeah yeah sure, talk to the crew." I roll my eyes. "Except one, you'll just stare at him from across the room." I smirk, Shepard freezing before glaring at me. "Then you'll just think about him alone in your quarters, for most of the night I'm guessing."

"Fuck you Matticks." Shepard growls as she walks to the door.

I laugh as I turn around, calling back to her over my shoulder. "Put plastic on the sheets, he does the laundry and that'd be an awkw—"

I don't get to finish my sentence as a sharp DING fills the air and a slight pain grows on the back of my head. I look down to see a small stainless steel bowl on the ground, then back to Shepard to see her glaring daggers at me, a few bowls hanging on the wall next to her but one hook is empty.

She walks out wordlessly as I chuckle and walk to Liaras door, hesitating for a second before opening it and walking in.

I find Liara sitting at her desk, her head dipped into her crossed arms on the desk.

"I would like to be alone please." She says, her words muffled through her arms.

I exhale through my nose, not sure what to say to make her feel better which makes me feel worse. "I can come back later then." I say quietly, if she does want to be left alone then I should leave her be.

"No." She says suddenly, straightening up and standing to face me. The first thing I notice are her eyes, they're their normal blue, deep and pretty but all around them has gone pinkish red from crying. I think I see some dried tears on her cheek and she's biting her lower lip to keep it still. "Don't go."

"Ok," I reassure her, taking a few steps closer. "I'm not going anywhere."

"I know you're here to talk about my mother," she sighs, her voice catching slightly. "But I'll be fine, she brought it upon herself."

"I know you'll be fine." I nod, remembering Liaras reaction from the games though this seems a lot more real. "But right now you're not, I know that you mother was under Sarens power." I start, trying to tread lightly and choose the right words. "But she was still your mother, she still loved you and I know you loved her. I'm here to make sure that you're ok."

"That's… Kind of you." Liara smiles weakly, but I catch her lip quiver for a split second before she bites it.

"Hey, come here." I smile as I walk over to her. She takes a step towards me and buries her head in my chest as I wrap my arms around her. "It's ok." I say quietly, resting my cheek on the top of her head. "You're gunna be ok."

I hear Liara almost chuckle at my words. "How could you know that?" She asks quietly as she wraps her own arms around me and hugs me back.

"I've been through what you're going through." I answer simply, getting her to look up at me with an expression that tells me she didn't expect an answer.

"You have?"

"Yeah, and if I can make it through it then you can too."

"What happened?"

I suppose I should've expected that question, it's not a topic I'm a fan of discussing to anyone. To be honest I never talked to anyone about it, my friends knew me better then to ask so instead they offered me a drink and a distraction. Do I want to talk about what happened to my dad? No, not really, but it might help Liara so I'll suck it up for her.

"I never knew my mom, she left me and my dad when I was little. I barely remember her face, but that's ok because she wasn't important. My dad was though, raised me all by himself. Then almost two years ago, actually almost exactly two years ago he died in a car crash." I explain, taking in a breath and forcing it out of my nose before I continue. "The other driver was drunk, didn't give my dad a chance he just took him away from me. Wasn't my dads fault, it was the drunks for being selfish, for not thinking before he acted. I never knew one of my parents, and the other was taken from me by someone else."

Liara looks up at me for a moment, but before she can say anything I force a smile. "See? We've got a little something in common, because despite what you say it isn't our age," I start, Liara opening her mouth to interrupt me but I beat her to it. "and it sure as shit isn't our maturity level." I laugh, Liara grinning back at me.

"This is what you want us to have in common?" She asks, smirk still on her lips. "Horrible tragedies?"

I laugh quietly and twist my mouth. "Hmm, no maybe not but I'm sure we'll find something else."

"I hope so." She smiles before pulling me back tighter into our hug. "Thank you."

"For?"

"Telling me that story."

"You don't have to thank me for that, beside I owe you." I say, coming to a realization as I look down at her head pressed against my chest plate.

"For what?"

"I'm still in my armor, you're probably covered in blood right now."

Liara pulls away from the hug to look down at herself, her hands still hanging onto my sides. I was right, her lab coat is spotted with blood from what's left of my armor.

"See, told you."

"Hmm," Liara hums before glancing back up at me. "Fine, but you still owe me one."

"Oh?" I tilt my head, thinking back to what I could possibly owe her. "Why do I owe you?"

Liaras face turns unamused, her brow lifting but I spot a smile starting on the corner of her mouth.

"I looked up Indiana Jones last night before bed." She says with an even tone. I try to stop myself from laughing but I can't hold it when she presses on. "Known for his famous archeological finds were you exact words if I do recall."

I can't help it snicker as Liara smiles back, stopping to feign surprise.

"Imagine my surprise James, when I find these ancient movies instead of research notes and documentaries!"

"Yeah but come on, they're good movies!" I try and reason with her, still laughing at my own stupid joke.

"Not good enough so you don't still owe me." She says, not letting me off the hook so easily.

"So what do you want then, hmm?" I ask, getting a little idea in my head.

"I am not sure." She says wistfully. "I suppose you will have to think of something sooner or later."

I reach my right hand up Liaras back, dragging my fingers along as I do and once they reach her shoulder I pull her closer with my other arm. I can't help but put on a sly smirk as I noticed her shiver softly as my hand traced up her back and her big blue eyes glaze over slightly as I tip her chin up to me and lean in closer.

"I think I thought of something." I whisper before I tilt my head to the side and close the gap between us.

And just like that, we kissed.

---

[I]
Icarus
-Project Harmony-

Project Harmony was spearheaded by A-01-R and A-01-M to test multiple soldiers ability to work together when brought from radically different backgrounds and species with radically different skillsets. This project was designed to test the extremes of this possibility when dealing with multiple races in working and military environments.

There were three control groups for Project Harmony, each testing in different environments. One in Research and Development branch, one in Syndicate branch, and one in Military branch. Their code names are, respectively, Looking Glass, Shark Tank, and Misfit.

Each group has brought moderate success, most notably however is Misfit. Despite multiple attempts for transfers, self-harm to acquire medical leave, and personal sabotage, Misfit preforms well in the field.

Unfortunately on Misfits last mission, several members were declared KIA making the Military branch aspect of Project Harmony a wash. The surviving members of Misfit have been given a shore leave to grieve their losses.

It is to be noted that upon the wash of Misfit that the two survivors applied for Contractor positions, this was noted by A-01-C and they were accepted to his unit despite objections from D-02-C.

---

R/R

Masterdude94: Glad to hear you like Misfit squad, uhm, sorry for killing them all… But hey here's your new update!

OBSERVER01: Well, two of them will be regular characters after the ME1 timeline.

Spiritstrike: *louder screaming in the distance* THANKS LOVE! Your reviews always manage to make me smile, so thanks for that! And like I've said to others, I'm happy you liked Misfit and also sorry that I killed most of them. But glad you like it all, sorry for killing people but shit happens and it won't be the last time… *grins evilly*

Darthjohn: Well, here's some more!

Guest: Yeah, speed typing isn't my thing but I'm working on it.

Blake Tourdner: I'll try to not disappoint!

Jim: Happy you like it, hears some more! And thank you for the kind words man, makes my day, seriously.

Guest: Thanks bro, I'll try and keep it up.

Dickson: Thanks, man.

Narutochi: Yes I am, and now I'm back again. Like slim shady, but less annoying.

SeverlyLate: Take care man, nice having you!

ForgottenPrince: Well look at you you goddamn psychic.

TheFoolishDreamer: Thank you good sir, I hope you like the rest of it.

Blaze1992: I'll take an 8.5 out of 10, solid score. Yeah I've played some of those games, and some others and some movies and I'll be taking inspiration from a lot of them for Icarus' new tech!

Guest: Here's some more!

Someone: Well, thank you for the kind words and that's not the first negative thing I've heard about me adding the other fanfics and I get the complaints. But they all have reasons, all of them on a greater scale then one person's story. So if you stick around, great, if not that's cool too.

TheGrimReaper: Yeah yeah I know it's been a while, my bad man. But here's your wish, another update.

BrotherCaptainSheperd: Thanks man, and yes I am.

OoOXylionOoO: Yeah it's a little interesting and the cancer will come around eventually.

Rangle: Every single story on this website with a character that doesn't die and even ones who DO die all happen because of the direct interference by the writer. That's called writing, to directly interfere with everything in the story, it's not like I made a simulation and am writing it all down and changing bits I don't like. Think before you speak sweetheart, I know it's easy to talk shit over the internet because it's not face to face but you can always sound like an idiot no matter where you are.

Priceless22: No you're kickass, priceless. Stay beautiful.