Chapter 23: The Break Out Part 1

Panic filled the shuttle bay of the Normandy as the hideous monstrosity that used to be Melina clambered it's way up the ramp, wailing like some kind of banshee out of hell. The skin of her beautiful face seemed to be sloughing off, revealing a grotesque parody of it underneath, with pitch black eyes and a gaping maw lined with needle like teeth. Most of the crewmen crowded to get to the elevator, while those who were armed with rifles set up defensive positions and started to open fire to little or no effect. Grunt and Legion slowly backed away as the creature approached, it's talon's easily tearing into the reinforced alloy ramp as if it were butter as it climbed up.

"Cross referencing unknown organism with databanks of every documented species in the galaxy. Results: Match not found. Conclusion: should have brought more guns." Legion said, causing Grunt to look at it funny.

"You think so?" The krogan growled, as the rifle fire from the crew men didn't even seem to hurt the monster, let alone faze it. "And here I thought we were doing just fine."

"We cannot let it further into the ship. Doing so will compromise lives and resources."

"Way ahead of you, Legion." Grunt snarled as he smacked his fists together. "Why don't you go fetch us some heavy weapons while I deal with this?"

Before Legion could ask him to specify what he meant, Grunt roared at the monster and charged it, tackling it head on and sending both of them falling off the ramp and out of the ship. The monster flailed in his grip and screamed at him as they fell, and Grunt head butted it in reply. The pair landed roughly, with Melina taking the worst of it having been beneath him when they fell. He rolled off of Melina as soon as the feeling returned to his legs, creating space between himself and the monster.

Like a puppet being pulled up by the strings, Melina slowly stood up, black ooze dripping from the tears in her skin and dribbling from her mouth like drool. Her eyes focused on Grunt, a steady and low growl forming in its throat, before it wailed it's fury at him. A biotic field erupted around her as she started her way towards Grunt.

"Legion better fragging hurry with those guns." Grunt muttered to himself as Melina approached him, brandishing her impossibly sharp talons threateningly. The field around her flickered, and the monster suddenly dashed towards him with a biotic boost. It could seemingly do so for only short distances at a time, but the suddenness was enough to take Grunt unawares. Before he knew it, it was within striking distance, and he just barely dodged the furious swipes aimed to disembowel him. "Crazy bitch!" He cursed as his eyes darted to and fro looking for something, anything, he can use to fight back.

Just as Melina was about to fall upon him again, the floor started to shake. Grunt fell off balance, the move luckily helping him dodge another swipe that would have shredded his head messily off. Suddenly, the floor started to move, separating at a seam between Grunt and the Monster, parting them as the panels opened up to reveal something below them. "The hell is this?" he asked nobody in particular, more thankful that whatever was going on got him away from that thing. Huge robotic arms rose from the now open pit, bringing up huge slabs of metal alloy that attached to the hull of the ship with a pressurized hiss. "Well I'll be damned. Hah!" Grunt said with a booming laugh as the gaping hole on the bottom of the Normandy was now slowly being covered as more panels were attached to it. A welding laser ran across the seams of the panels, securing them shut air-tight.

The sound of air snapping brought his attention back to his situation, and he noticed the monster was now dashing it's way around the obstacles just to get at him again.

"You want some more!?" Grunt bellowed to her, picking up a large piece of debris from the wreck of an Ymir mech, brandishing the jagged hunk of metal like some kind of club or axe. "Come get some!"

Tali'Zorah had to hold in a squeal of victory after she had finally initiated the program sequence. The sound of heavy machinery in the distance made her pump her fist in the air though. Standing up from the chair, she locked the system with the heaviest encryptions she knew. And just in case those weren't enough, she pulled out her shotgun and blasted the access panels to pieces.

"This is Tali'Zorah to the Normandy," she began, hailing the Normandy on her comm. "Mission accomplished, where's that extraction I was promised?" The comm crackled and EDI replied to her.

"Hull reinstallation underway, thank you Tali." The AI began. "Unfortunately all hands are either preoccupied or incapacitated to facilitate your extraction."

"What happened? Are the Eclipse moving out?"

"No. from what I understand, it is categorically worse." EDI explained. "One of the asari commandos seems to have mutated into some sort of abomination Grunt is dealing with the problem as we speak. I do not know if he can last long enough."

Tali tried to wrap her head around what she just heard, but after everything she's been through these past couple of years, it took a lot for her to be skeptical. "Understood, I'll head back on foot as fast as I can and see if I can provide assistance." She said, walking towards the door. "I'll maintain radio contact for updates, Tali'Zorah out."

The doors slid open, and she was still greeted by the same emptiness she came from. With all the commotion from the ventral hull armor re-installation she wondered how long that would last. With a deep breath, she started making the long run back to the ship, shotgun in hand.

The main office of the Ban'Torvias shipyard was situated inside a fairly large sealed off compound in the far corner of the shipyard. It housed a large courtyard-like area that easily accommodated the Eclipse and another sealed off structure which was the main office proper. It was designed so that the proprietors could withstand pirate raids and the occasional Eezo core fuel leak. Both of which were commonplace in Omega.

What was left of the Omega Eclipse had rallied inside the said courtyard, their number considerably less than what they had started with earlier in the day. To say that everyone was on edge was an understatement. Many friends and comrades were lost that day, and the resentment of the non-asari mercs for their leader seemed to reach a fever pitch. It started slowly at first, but eventually the Eclipse had segregated into two crowds: the asari and everybody else.

Lt. Kerys Mata found it unusual that the lieutenants who were called for the meeting with Tarrana did not include her or any of her remaining sisters. When she tried to make her way into the office, she was stopped by the other non-asari lieutenants who were left outside, seemingly to guard the door. They were led by Delany, a human who she was always at odds with. "Let me pass, Delany." She said impatiently as the human barred her way. "I have business with the Lady."

"I said it before and I'll say it again, Lady Tarrana's orders stated not to let anybody disturb the meeting." Lt. Michael Delany of the Eclipse said as he and several other non-asari lieutenants, with their men in tow, stood guard at the front of the Ban'Torvias shipyard main office. Filon had given him clear instructions; keep the asari in line while he did his business with Tarrana. Truth be told, he'd be happy to just simply do away with these bitches right now. Odds were that they'd all go berserk should they discover their precious lady was killed. It seemed that every non-asari lieutenant was in on the scheme, he thought, noticing several other units casually positioned around the asari to easily outflank them should worst come to worst. He just wished Filon would hurry it up. "Why don't you and your girls get out of my face, Kerys? Standby and await for further orders!" He said gruffly as the asari in front of him regarded him defiantly.

"Maybe you've forgotten, Delany, but I'm a lieutenant too." Kerys replied haughtily, poking a finger into Delany's chest plate. "So don't think you can get off on ordering me, or my girls, around like that ever again." A couple of dozen asari mercs bolstered her position behind her, all on edge as they were easily outnumbered. "What kind of meeting is this that none of the asari lieutenants were called to take part in it? For that matter, why are you so eager to not let anybody past your little barricade, hmm?"

"I told you…" The human lieutenant said as he brushed off her hand on his chest. "Lady Tarrana's orders! I don't question her, I just obey, and you should too." Ever since Tarrana took command, the asari seemed to have adopted a better than you kind of attitude. This bitch in particular always got on his nerves.

Another asari lieutenant and her unit approached the two as they bickered, a sneer on her face. "I don't like this…" She observed, standing next to Kerys and crossing her arms. "This reeks of deception… The only ones to go in there were Filon and his associates."

"Save the conspiracy theories, Vivian." Delany said, playing off the accusations. "It doesn't matter to me whether you like it or not, just so long as you two stay behind this line, then we won't be having any problems."

As he said this, a third asari lieutenant joined the other two, her scarred face impassive but her words were sharp. "And what if I want to give you problems, eh Delany?"

Delany groaned as the 7 other non-asari lieutenants stepped forward beside him, casually brandishing their weapons. "Look, we outnumber you easily, Alina." He began, getting in her face. "Should you decide to give me a problem, it would be a very brief problem, understand? Come on now, I don't know what's gotten you girls so riled up, but the final say is that you can't come in!"

Kerys stepped up to him, not the least bit intimidated by the display. "Really now? Or else what, tough guy?"

"Keep pushing it and you'll find out, princess." Delany said, just short of straight up pointing his gun at her. "So help me, keep pushing it."

A hush fell on the entire Eclipse as an unseen line was drawn between the two groups. The uneasy tension in the air hung thick as both sides stared each other down, with the rest of the remaining asari lieutenants stepping up beside the first three. Hands were slowly going for weapons as neither group intended to budge from their position. Old grudges started to bubble over to the surface, and like a bomb on a short fuse, tension was about to give way to violence.

Just as the fighting was about to flare up, the whirring of mechanical doors opening caused both parties to stop and look. Delany was all but relieved, expecting to see a victorious Filon swagger out of the office, entourage in tow and deliver an ultimatum to the asari. All he saw past the doorway however was utter darkness. The only thing they could hear from the void was the ominous pitter patter of metal heels on floor. And there was only one person in the Omega Eclipse known for her metal heels.

Delany started to back away unconsciously as the steps grew closer to the door. It couldn't be, he thought. It must be a joke meant to raise the asari's hopes! There's no possible way she could still be alive.

Then as if to confirm his darkest fears, Tarrana slowly stepped out into the light, that same look of amused superiority etched onto her face. "Forgive the delay, my darlings." She began, walking up to where the lieutenants were having their standoff, the crowd of soldiers parting to give her way. "I had to change into some new armor. The old one couldn't take the heat…"

Delany couldn't believe his eyes. This was… This was really happening, wasn't it? He heard a series of clicks behind him and turned to see that the asari had all dropped to one knee at Tarranas approach. This was unfair, Filon told them he had it all figured out. He promised them this nightmare was over. But as Tarrana finally stood in front of them however, he knew this nightmare was just beginning.

"What is the matter, dear Michael?" Tarrana spoke, making Delany realize how he had been staring at her this whole time with his jaw hanging open. "It looks like you have seen a ghost…"

"I… Um, forgive me, my lady…" He conceded, averting his eyes from her, only to feel her hand roughly grab his chin and turn his face back towards hers. Her grip was like steel, and it was all he could do to keep himself from grimacing. "My lady?" he asked, scared and confused.

"Why did you look away, dear? If you wanted a closer look, all you needed to do was ask…" She said seductively as she turned her head, giving him a good look at her face from different angles. "Well? Look at me." she said, winking at him. "Do I pass your standards?"

He was close to pissing himself now. His eyes wandered to the sides to see that the lieutenants who had all stood by him before had now seemingly dispersed back into the crowd. Everyone was kneeling now, and only the two of them remained standing. They'd left him to hang dry, he realized. As if to cement this fact, the hand on his chin tightened its grip, grabbing his attention once more.

"Michael…" Tarrana snarled, grabbing the side of his head with her other hand and bringing her face closer to his. "I told you to look at me!"

"My lady… But… I…" he stammered, his mind too flustered to form a coherent sentence. Her dark eyes seemed to shake with barely kept rage, but her face was still that mask of sweetness. "Please…!"

"What's this?" she asked, her warm breath brushing over his lips. "Didn't you just tell everybody here that you didn't question my orders? That you just obeyed?"

"I…" He began to say but couldn't find the words, his heart pounding in his ears. She knew, he realized, feeling a wet trickle go down his leg. He didn't know how she killed all of them inside the office but she did. And she knew. "I… I can explain." He cursed Filon, wondering how the salarian could've screwed up in such an astronomical scale.

"I care not for your explanations." Tarrana dismissed, moving her lips close to Delany's ear, her voice dropping to a whisper. "Do you swear yourself to me, Michael?"

Delany was quick to give his assent. "Yes! Yes my lady! I swear my loyalty unto you! I will do as you command! My life is yours and yours alone!"

"Good. I'll be taking it, then." With a twist of her hands still firmly grabbing Delany's head, Tarrana snapped the man's neck, letting the limp body fall unceremoniously to the ground. A collective gulp from the other non-asari lieutenants could almost be heard from the silence as Tarrana stepped over the corpse, looking around at all present. The lady of the Eclipse smiled mischievously, bringing a hand to her lips as if to say oops. "My, my, all of you look so somber…" She observed with a giggle. "Come now, why the long faces?"

Only the asari did not turn to look at those beside them nervously, whispering urgently under their breaths, wondering who would be next. As if she could read their minds, and as far as they knew she probably could, she laughed, a beautiful and terrifying sound to behold. "I suppose it is technically a funeral so I shall let it slide this time…" Tarrana said with a look of amusement on her face, crossing her arms. "Stand, all of you. There is still much work to be done, yes?"

In unison, the Eclipse got to their feet, all spirit of rebellion and defiance quietly broken in the face of their Lady.

"I said I wanted that ship. A simple request, but let us see what our progress is, hmm?" Tarrana continued, pacing back and forth from where she stood, metal heels stabbing into Delany as she stepped over his corpse. She activated an omnitool and projected data through a huge hologram that appeared above her head. "Now then, can anybody explain to me why the virus upload was halted? Or how someone was able to ransack through our system without anybody so much as catching on?"

A number of techs silently pulled out their omnitools to confirm this, gulping in unison as they realized something so crucial had slipped past underneath their noses. They were prepared for the worst, but Tarrana just continued on.

"Or maybe you can tell me why you've all left your posts, leaving crucial sites like the control panel for the robotic machinery completely unguarded?" She said, switching to a vid feed that showed the Normandy being armored up. The feeling of fear and dread seemed to reach a crescendo as Tarrana's gaze seem to fixate on each and every one of them, piercing through their very soul as if she contemplated on consuming it. "Oh my, look at you all… Like scolded children the. Children who all deserve punishment… Severe. Punishment." She said sinisterly, causing more than one man to entertain the thought of running. "But if I were to be appeased, I can overlook this little… incident. I want that ship, my darlings." The hologram switched off with a loud click that made some of the troopers visibly jump. "I want that ship very, very badly... It's absence from my possession hurts me, my dears; oh how it hurts me so!" she said, bringing the back of her hand to her forehead and looking up to the ceiling with a swirl in an extravagant display of despair. "I suffer without it in my life…" she continued, turning as if to look each and every one of them in the eye. "I beg of you, my children… Do not prolong my suffering more than you already have…" she said, as all cover of motherly affection started to melt away from her expression. "GET ME THAT SHIP!" She yelled, making even the toughest of the mercs present feel goosebumps and instilling terror in their hearts. "Don't just stand there and gawk at me you idiots! Move! Move! So help me, I'll start killing you all!" as if to make good on her promise, flames suddenly covered her hands, the blasts being primed in her omnitools.

Like a raging stampede, the Eclipse made their way towards the exit of the small compound where the main office was situated, just short of clambering over each other to get away from her wrath.

"FASTER!" Tarrana yelled as she hurled the incinerating blasts randomly into the crowd, catching a salarian female and a human male in the impact radius. The pair shrieked and crumbled into smoldering ashes, the horrible sight making the rest push and shove just to get past the gates. Tarrana smiled as the last trooper practically sprinted his way out, diving to a roll just to get past the gates and out of her range. She laughed as the man disappeared from sight. "Funny how eager everybody wants to live once you start killing everything in sight…" she mused.

Then she felt it, like a ripple in her mind. Her smile faded, and a look of disappointment showed on her face. "Oh Melina…" she mused. "It would seem that the Father's cells have rejected you. Oh, and I had such high hopes for you, too." She pouted for a bit, before perking up and following the rest of her men outside. "Still, a mindless beast does have its uses. Make me proud before you die, dear Melina…"

The trio of Garrus, Kasumi and Joker made their way as fast as they could along the shipyard. Cover was sparse but they were almost there. A couple of minutes ago, they saw the beginning of the ongoing reinstallation of the Normandy's hull armor, greatly boosting their morale as they made their way closer and closer to home.

Kasumi was panting now as she had to support Joker on her shoulders. "How.. How much further?" She asked, gasping for breath.

Joker had a mixed look of guilt and concern etched on his face "Not much further Kasumi, are you okay?" he asked her.

"I'm a sprinter… Not, not a Marathon… Runner!" she managed to stammer as she kept going. "But I'll be damned if I let exhaustion get the better of me."

Joker hung his head, "Sorry." That was all he could do, wasn't it? Say he was sorry. Outside of that cockpit up in the Normandy, this was all he was to other people, a burden, a charity case, a joke. Having bones made out of styrofoam usually does that to a person. He couldn't even take care of himself, much less of those around him.

"Quit it." Kasumi said, making Joker turn to her again.

"What?" Joker asked.

"That woe-is-me attitude." She specified. "I'm nipping that in the bud. Quit it."

"I didn't say anything." Joker said defensively.

"You didn't have to, Joker." Kasumi replied calmly.

"What do you want me to do, huh?" He said, "I know I'm just being a damn burden; no sense in denying it."

"You know you've damn well proven you aren't, already." Kasumi retorted.

"Oh yeah?" Joker challenged.

"Oh yeah." She replied. "Ace pilot in the alliance, big damn hero who helped save the galaxy not once but twice. Hell, what does it take? Not even Garrus' ego is that big."

Garrus called back to them. "I can hear you, you know?"

"See? There are tons of people named Garrus and he immediately thinks we're talking about him." Kasumi said, causing the turian to just roll his eyes. "Don't beat yourself up now, your people need you." She grinned.

Joker laughed. "I get it, I'll try not to be a negative nancy." He said, feeling better despite himself. "Thanks, Kasumi."

Garrus cursed under his breath as he saw a wave of yellow armor appear in the distance. "Shit, get down!" He said as he hurried behind cover, with Kasumi helping a limp joker just right behind him. "Damn it, looks like break-time is over for the Eclipse. Shame, we were halfway home, too." He flipped open his comm to hail the Normandy and give them a heads up, but all he got was the blare of static. "Jammed again. Damn it all to hell." This was falling apart pretty quick, he thought.

Kasumi was panting as she steadied to catch her breath, carefully leaning against the crate they hid behind so as not to injure Joker. "Wonderful." She stammered. "Because the peace, quiet and lack of flying bullets was beginning to bore me."

Joker grimaced at the sudden change in position, gingerly adjusting his posture. "Speak for yourself, quiet and boring suits me just fine."

Garrus rolled his eyes and peeked out of cover with the scope of his rifle. "Let me see just how bad it is." Something got the Eclipse riled up alright, as the mercs were practically sprinting all over the place, taking up positions and advancing steadily towards the Normandy in the distance. There was too much open space to navigate the rest of the way stealthily. Kasumi would be able to do so with ease, but not with him and Joker slowing her down. He clicked his tongue as he observed a group of techs open up a huge cargo trailer and unloaded a couple of dozen Lokis to bolster their ranks. As if they didn't have enough trouble already, he thought to himself. "I'm going to be blunt with you two." Garrus said as he sat back down, turning to Joker and Kasumi "There is no way we're getting from here to there without being shot at more than once." Kasumi sighed at his observations while Joker groaned. "Hey, I'm not trying to be a downer here. I'm just telling it like it is."

Kasumi pulled out her SMG and checked its specs. "Could have fooled me." She said, turning the weapon's safety off. "We better hurry then before they discover us; the longer we stay here, the higher the odds they can pin us down."

"Agreed." Garrus said, getting up to a crouch, cradling his gun as he did so. "We need a damn miracle to pulls us through this one."

As if on cue, the gates leading into the shipyard from the inner space station exploded in the distance.

Garrus couldn't believe his eyes as he saw 3 trucks zoom into the shipyard, swooping down on the unsuspecting Eclipse. "Well I'll be damned."

Kasumi knocked him on the shoulder to get his attention. "Well?" she said, getting up with Joker. "There's your damn miracle, now let's go!"

Joker grunted in pain as he struggled to keep up with the suddenly energetic Kasumi. "You heard the lady, move it slowpoke!"

Garrus just shook his head and rushed after them, sniper rifle raised and ready to give covering fire.

If there was ever an award for timely intervention, Shepard would have been in the hall of fame as he made the final adjustments to the black and white light armor he was wearing while the convoy of trucks rushed into the Shipyard, taking the Eclipse by surprise. "Looks like the Eclipse, alright." He mused, watching the feeds from the truck's external vidcam. "The others already tagged a bunch of them though." He added with pride, noticing the strewn about corpses all over the yard. Turning on his comm, he tuned into the Normandy's frequency and hailed it. "This is Commander Shepard; does anybody read me, over?" nothing but static. "I repeat, this is Commander Shepard, does anybody copy? Joker? EDI? Anybody? Over?"

Miranda placed a hand on his shoulder, "It must be jammed, Shepard, save your breath. There seems to be plenty of fighting left up ahead."

"Right, right…" Shepard said, turning off the comm and facing his squad. He needed to keep it together. "Alright guys, we're almost home." He said, looking around at all the faces aboard the truck. "And of course, we offer our guests sanctuary should they choose to accept?" At this Feron bowed his head slightly in appreciation. "Almost, but we're not there yet." Shepard continued, pacing around the back of the truck. "We've gone through one hell of a day. We've literally fought through armies at this point. You've given everything you could just to crawl out of death's grip. But I ask this of you, please, just a little bit more. They think they can just take death to our doorstep and live to tell the tale. They think they can take us when we're at our most vulnerable. I think they don't know the meaning of the word. Vulnerable is what they're going to be after they crash against us with everything they have and find that we're still standing. We're almost home ladies and gentlemen, and I'm not going to let a bunch of rank amateurs, goons in uniforms, think they can take on professionals without dire consequences!"

At some point during the speech, his words were being transmitted to all the trucks in the convoy, and when he finished, even the Shadow Broker operatives' morale were soaring.

Feron, who was standing next to Miranda, leaned close to her and whispered. "Is he always so… Passionate?"

Miranda chuckled. "The man's the best at what he does for a reason."

"I see."

Shepard took a deep breath as he slipped on his helmet. All he saw was black until the HUD activated, synching up with his omnitool and armor CPUs. He looked around to see his squad and the rest of the Shadow Broker operatives were nicely geared up and ready for combat. Zaeed was busy stuffing thermal clips into an ammo pack strapped around his shoulder, whistling a tune to himself as he repeated the same thing to another ammo pack, this time strapped onto his forearm. The dulled out sounds of gun fire from outside seemed distant, but he knew he was about to let death have another go at him. Not that he was going to make it easy for the bastards, however.

Jacob cocked his shotgun, watching the vidscreen mounted in the back of the truck as the Eclipse scattered, the trucks blasting away with their cannons trying to keep the mercs off balance. Beside him, Miranda downed a can of energy drink, shaking off the fatigue of a whole night of fighting and to help her power her biotic abilities. The truck shook now and then, but the fairly plain looking vehicle not only had hidden weaponry but state of the art shielding and armor.

Thane opened his eyes as he finished his prayers, taking a deep breath as he felt the tingling numbness in his finger-tips. It was happening more frequently than he would like now, but he needed to go on just a bit further for tonight.

"Hey, Krios…" a voice said. Thane turned his head to see that it was Aria, propping herself up on her elbow as she held his coat against her bandaged, bare chest. "Here's your coat."

Before she could hand it to him, he shook his head. "Keep it, for now." He said, instead grabbing a pair of pistols and holstering them to his sides. "I wore it more for the style than the utility, anyway."

"Whatever." Aria said, lying back down gingerly. Thane didn't reply as she watched him grab an assault rifle, checking the specs and storing it on his back. "Thanks." She said, before turning to her side with her back to him.

"You're welcome." He replied, not looking at her.

Miranda walked up to Shepard, SMG already in hand. "What's the plan, Shepard?"

"We don't have any info on what's going on yet." He began, pulling the slide of his assault rifle. "First things first is to establish contact with the Normandy to drop of our wounded and get an idea of the situation. We'll take it from there."

"Understood."

The intercom in the back of the truck buzzed. "I have visual on the Shuttle bay of the Normandy." The pilot began. "I can't hail it so we'll have to land next to the ship and hope they get a visual of one of you to open the door, Comman- What the hell is that?!"

"What's wrong?" Feron asked.

"Patching it through the vidfeed. Better see for yourself, sir."

The vidfeed flickered before it depicted some kind of slender monster swiping away at a krogan who was just barely dodging it's talons.

Feron squinted his eyes as he stepped closer. "What in the…"

Shepard however was more concerned about the krogan. "That's Grunt! Get us on the ground, quick! He needs assistance!"

"Understood. Focus on getting everybody else back inside your ship, Shepard." Feron said, slipping a recon hood over his head. "I know what that monstrosity is."

"What is it?"

Feron stepped to the back of the truck where the doors were, reaching into his coat and pulling out a long, sheathed blade. "That monstrosity is mine."

"Don't get in over your head, Feron." Shepard told him as the doors of the truck opened, letting the howl of gunfire fill the back.

"Always." Feron said, before jumping out, coat billowing in the wind.

"Feron!" Shepard called out, then he felt a hand grab his shoulder. Turning around, he saw that it was Thane holding him back.

"Let him be." Thane began, "He is hanar-trained, same as I am. He'll keep that thing preoccupied so we can land unmolested."

"You sound so sure."

"Of course," Thane replied as if he could be anything but. "I have pride in my colleagues."

"If you say so… Pilot! Land this thing!"

Grunt roared in pain as Melina's claws cut a gash through his bicep, blood spurting like a fountain from the wound. It would heal, but he was going to have a lot of very interesting scars come the end of this battle. If he survived, that is. That was when a truck swooped above them, and somebody jumped out, a maroon colored coat flowing in the wind as he fell.

Just as the monster raised a long arm for another swipe, a bone chilling howl escaping its maw, the falling man pulled out a sword and cut the monster from behind as he fell. Melina screamed in pain and stumbled, giving Grunt and opening to slam his make-shift club into her side and sending her falling over to the ground. The new comer glowed with biotics as he flung a throw field towards Melina, sending the monster flying. "Thanks, but that's not going to do her in." Grunt said, grabbing his bicep to quell the bleeding long enough for his regeneration to kick in. The man just looked at him, tilting his head to the side in skepticism. "Trust me."

"Really, now?" Feron replied, looking back towards the monster who was slowly getting back up. "Give me the short version, then."

"Regeneration, biotics, and ugly as hell." Grunt counted off, "Name's Grunt. No offense, but who the frag are you?"

"Feron." Feron replied, pulling out his sword again and started walking towards the now approaching monster, his body covered in a biotic aura. "I came with Shepard. He'll be landing with the trucks."

"Heh, figured as much." Grunt said as he watched Feron dash off before turning towards the now landing convoy of trucks. He didn't need to know what kind of armor Shepard was wearing to figure out which one he was. Shepard was always the one who got off into a hot zone first. "Shepard!" He said, waving his good arm. "Battle master! Over here!"

"Grunt!" Shepard said, practically running up to him after hopping out of the truck. "What happened here? You're injured!"

"Not going to lie, this was a crazy night." Grunt said. "Here's the short version…"