Mass Effect: Spider and Wolf

Another day, another chapter. I'm enjoying the process of story making. While the first few chapters were fillers and mostly draining, the last chapter and these coming ones are much less so. Also, to help me get used to how having giant spiders for allies would be, I've been playing Ark Survival Ascended. Yes, I know there's people basically tearing into it for one reason or another, but it does allow me to use mods on my console and so I've been getting mileage from using the Jumping Spider and even giant I think it looks cute. But working with the spiders in that game has given me ideas all the same.

Speaking of games, the results are in and the number of people who guessed correctly or were close enough for it to count is one. This reader has been given a chance to either influence the story or be made aware of a future event that will be a major plotpoint. I won't need to mention who the winners are, given the answer will be revealed with the beginning of this chapter.

Now, onto the comments.

dragosdumitru27: Great story man, I hope Marrok will also reinvent the Spider Slayers, because if the turians found the smaller spider drones interesting, then the huge ones will really shock them.

Me: I couldn't figure out the links, this site does not do that any favors. I THINK I might have seen one of what you meant, but really have no clue. Anywho, glad you enjoy my story. As for the spider slayers, the large Spiderbots are basically that, just not as big. I think I might try something with that, I have something in mind that I'm wanting to implement that could use that.

PheronPyscho:

Chapter is great as always, spider bots are a great addition to the roster and will definitely help further down the line, especially on the first citadel attack. Now for the military and nut job side of things which I'm happy to help with. The drones are nigh perfect and as you had marrock say they can be sorted around more and have more bells and whistles attached. On the alliance side of things, yes they'd probably convert one or two carriers per carrier group to do as you said, it's more likely they would build a ship which is a dedicated drone carrier, take a look at current age assault carriers. Smaller cheaper vessels that carry at least 2 dozen aircraft but primarily tend to use VTOL or rotor based aircraft in a shorter range. I can see the alliance building assault carriers where they are about the size in between cruisers and dreadnoughts, hell maybe instead of a spinal mount for dedicated rounds it could be a mount modified specialized boarding rounds filled with spiderbots, god knows the alliance will want to buy those. Next on the list is gene mods, how easy are these to replicate? I ask this cuz the three headed dog will be coming into power in a few months time if I remember my lore correctly and STG will definitely be very interested when they see a krogan that's nearly double or triple in strength, speed and reflexes. Also Eight legged freaks is an awesome movie. Afterthought as I finish this comment, spiderbot that can catch dropships if you make this canon, you have to use the goliath bird eating spider as a base. The human colonists would buy these by the bucket load after the first big raids by our resident slaver empireMe: Glad you enjoyed the chapter and the spiderbots. As for the boarding rounds you mentioned, those are basically the boarding torpedoes from Warhammer and I already have something in mind for that. But I don't intend on having the Spiderbots, the tiny or the giant, being used for that. The tiny ones are not meant for combat and their strength is being unseen and letting their controller have many eyes and ears, perfect for stealth operations, bad for combat. While the large spiderbots have the opposite problem. While having a boarding party of nothing but these spiderbots would be terrifying for any enemy, one thing I didn't mention in the last chapter and something I didn't think I need to clarify given the purpose of the C-SPIs, is that they NEED their partner within range or they will either be sluggish, or will go on the preprogrammed spider behavior. This would more than likely have them attack each other just as they would attack the enemy, given that many species of spider fight one another or even hunt each other. A lot of people also forget just how far ships are away from each other in the void. Ordering a large spiderbot when it's at the top of a very tall building? Easy. Controlling ANYTHING mechanical across several hundred or more kilometers of space? Quite a bit more difficult if not impossible, ESPECIALLY something as complex as the spiderbots. The drones are one thing, they were built with that kind of distance in mind, but the spiderbots are not.

Plus, I'm not trying to completely remove the human element, it's why I didn't just make the drones completely automated even though Marrok could have done that, and much more easily than what he already did with the current drone design. Now, designing a boarding transport that can be fired at an enemy ship while carrying marines? THAT can be done, and even better if it's an N7 squad who each have a spiderbot. I understand that I should have put that in the last chapter, but this is why I love the people who truly enjoy my story and give me their ideas, it helps me see the problems in my own creations and have limits put in.

As for gene mods, they're going to be just about impossible to replicate without Marrok's help. Remember, he's using the knowledge given to him by The Other to make Spider-proxies. It's like how no one could perfectly replicate Captain America's Super Soldier Serum. Even with their allowance of ANY lengths to advance humanity, our human supremacist group won't even be able to come close to replicating it. The closest they can do is getting ONE trait to that level and leaving the others at either base level or only increased by the normal mods. The ONLY way for ANYONE to replicate the Spider-proxy gene mod is to get the information right from Marrok. While receiving the mod can be done by just about anyone with the proper medical know-how, actually MAKING the damn thing is something only Marrok knows. Hell, the ARMOR, the one that's based on the Mjolnir armor from Halo, is more feasible to create than the gene mod and it's still useless without the VERY THING THEY CAN'T REPLICATE. They would be forced to make a much more inferior variant.

And don't worry about the STG, I already have something in place for them.

Grunt: HEH HEH HEH

Colony defense? You just gave me an idea.

Azai Jin: Thanks for the chapter! I wonder how many will have mental breakdowns because of our MC? Drescher will certainly not be the only one! And a nice and simple design for the drone, with it being a MQ-101 from Ace Combat 7. Going to be interesting to see how this development will affect Alliance fleet operations and such. And our MC's company is really taking off now! Going to be intriguing to see how it goes! And what is this special project? From how they talked about it, I would guess that it has to do with the Genophage? But it could also be something else, personally I would like to see some gene therapy aimed at things like increasing the lifespan for Salarians, repairing and strengthening the immune systems of Quarians and making it possible for dextro-protein races to eat and process levo-protein food and also the reverse! Thanks again for the chapter! Looking forward to seeing more of this interesting story of yours!

Me: Oh, you'll see. No one will be safe from Marrok's mindfuckery! Mwahahahaha!

Seriously though, there's going to be a LOT of eggs being broken for the massive omelet Marrok is making.

shypunk: thanks for the chapter and for writing' i am guessing folsa is designing a gene mod to extend salarian lifespan?

Me: As you can guess by this chapter, you did not get it right. You did get close, but you're thinking in the wrong direction. I have something planned for that actually, so you actually did predict something of the story, just not the correct thing.

Well, I feel that wraps it up. Oh, and hope none of you are in Florida or if you are, hope you're locked up safe and sound. I'm in South Carolina and we're catching the edge of that storm as I'm writing this. We already are getting hit with either flooded roads when it does rain, or trees giving way and crushing cars.

Marrok and Folsa stared at one another for a few moments before he repeated himself. "Well, let's hear it. What convinced you to try and make a cure for the Genophage?"

Folsa seemed to slump as if a large weight was just removed now that she didn't have to hide anything. "I…..saw things. Things that made me realize just what kind of monsters my people are."

"And those things were….?" Marrok gestured for her to clarify.

Folsa breathed deeply. "Tell me, sir. Have you ever seen a dead child? One who had their whole life ahead of them and yet their life was snuffed out long before their time?"

Marrok's expression darkened as he remembered his old universe, the number of dead children he couldn't save in time, the amount of times he brought the tiny lifeless bodies to their grieving parents, the sheer amount of times he allowed himself to be beaten senseless by the heartbroken and enraged parents for failing to save their child.

The number of times he let them have the chance to end him to ease their own pain.

Mentally ridding those memories from his mind, he nodded to Folsa. "A large part of why I made this company in the first place."

Folsa nodded. "Well, what about infants?" Marrok was starting to see where this was going. He listened as she began her story.

"I was part of the STG, though you probably already knew that. And just like a majority of the Union, I too believed the Genophage was a needed shackle to keep the Krogan in check from running rampant. But I never knew or even suspected just what kind of suffering the krogan endured while living with that.

That is, until I was sent to Tuchanka with another STG agent. We were informed of the krogan having more viable births than usual and we were sent to ensure the numbers stayed within parameters. We managed to sneak into the clan ground where these increased births were. We evaded detection for the entirety of the way to the nurseries. We waited till the infants were alone and went inside. As my partner was tagging which ones to kill and which ones to allow to live, couldn't make it too obvious we were the culprits after all, I had noticed another room connected to the nursery we were in. I assumed it was another nursery we would have to clear as well, so I went to check it out."

At this, Folsa stopped, her eyes closed tight, her fists clenched just as tight. Soon enough, she opened her eyes and looked back at Marrok again. "It wasn't a nursery. It was a morgue. Not the kind you and I know of, but for every living infant in the nursery, there were nearly a thousand dead for each infant. It was then that I TRULY understood what the Genophage did. 'One in one thousand'. This is told as one viable birth from every clutch. What ISN'T told is the other '999 OUT of one thousand'. 999 dead babies for every clutch. When I saw this, my mind forced me to picture the scene, but with salarian infants. Then turians, asari, drell, just about every race you can think of and then I realized that the krogan weren't the monsters we make them out to be. The REAL monsters were the ones that pushed them to this low."

She took a moment to take a breath before continuing. "As I turned back, I saw my partner about to kill the first infant. I…..I just reacted. I stopped him, by grabbing his arm and pulling it away from the infant krogan before putting my pistol against his head and pulling the trigger. It was silenced, so no excess noise. But I knew the krogan would come to check on the infants. I left the weapon, the body of my partner, and an apology from me, letting them know that I've seen what horror my people had unleashed upon them and that I would make sure that, even if it took beyond my lifespan, I would destroy the nightmare of the Genophage."

Marrok listened to her without interruption. He had a feeling if she was interrupted here, she'd never open up about this again, even with his prodding. Once she was finished, both were silent for a long while before he finally spoke. "You've seen what many have known, but don't truly understand. You have seen something no one should have to see. And you came out better for it. You wish to undo what was done so long ago. However, you might be going about it slightly wrong."

Folsa blinked a bit at this. "In what way?"

"You wish to cure the Genophage, this is good. But do you have an idea of how to ensure that the REASON the Genophage was needed in the first place doesn't happen again?" He asked.

Folsa was silent for a moment before shaking her head. "No. I believed I would just be giving them their ability to hope and thrive again."

"And you would, along with a reason for the more bloodthirsty krogan to take revenge." Folsa lowered her head at this. "However, there is another way." She looked back up at him. "I'll ensure you have the proper lab and staff to help with this, but instead of fully curing it, you could modify the Genophage to allow for more births. Somewhere between three and five per birth with no more dead babies. Meaning they would have only five at most per clutch. This would ensure their numbers rise back up fast, but not at the speed that caused the Genophage in the first place."

She was silent as she took this in and silently went through things in her mind. She looked him in the eyes before nodding. "That I can do. Thank you, sir. For listening and for helping."

Marrok waved it off. "Don't mention it. My company is meant to help people. If that means I need to ignore a few laws to do so, then so be it. Now, you run alone now. I'll let you know when that lab is ready for you." She nodded at this before standing and left the office. Marrok leaned into his chair as he thought about what was discussed. "The Genophage isn't the only thing needed to be dealt with."

"Are you referring to your 'other' projects?" Lucy said, coming from the terminal. Lucy was in the building as well as the tech on his person. Thanks to her being able to make copies of herself and send them to do certain tasks, she could be everywhere at once and still focus on specific events happening around her.

"Indeed. One of them I NEED to find a solution to ASAP."

"Ah, you mean the Spider-sense?"

"Yes. Despite the mod working as intended, NONE of the subjects have experienced any sign of gaining the Spider-sense. We're going to have to mess around with ideas if that issue is to be dealt with. I'm not going to lose people because they can't sense danger. Experience can only go so far." He groaned as he rubbed his face. He then looked at Lucy's avatar on the terminal. "So, how're those copies of yours we sent to infiltrate the Big Three's governments?"

Lucy smirked. "Like clockwork. Already I'm getting some impressive data with a few juicy secrets. For example, the Turians were thinking of experimenting with the idea of making Super Soldiers. Honestly, I'm surprised they didn't have those already given their military background."

Marrok raised a brow. "Really? And how far along are they?"

"Not far at all. With the laws of Genetic Engineering, they've hit a few walls. You know, we CAN help them out a bit. You DID crack that code for Cap's procedure that made him the heroic icon he was."

Marrok crossed his arms. "Yeah, but I never used it because ONE Captain America was enough and I refused to risk anyone getting drunk on that kind of power. But…..with the Reapers coming, we might need every advantage we can get." He rubbed his chin. "I might need to speak with the Primarch and see if he might be willing to accept some assistance." He then shook his head. "Problem for a later date. Any progress on finding that one pest?"

Lucy groaned. "Bastard is even more paranoid than YOU and that's saying something. I lost count how many times my copies got bounced around before finding a final point. But, I did in fact find the prick. Pretty damn clever hiding space too." She then grinned. "So, ready to have your first Spider Squad get their feet wet and stretch your legs?"

Marrok smirked at this before standing. "It has been too long since I got any action. Send a message to Wrage to get his group ready." He said before he was coated in what looked like liquid metal, but in truth was nanites coating his body. His Spider suit had an upgrade in the year he had been in this universe. Such as the integration of the omnitool that he fed to the nanites, so now his entire suit was an omnitool. Another was each nanite creating a shield emitter, so his suit could focus his shields where enemy fire was coming from, hardening the shields there without using more power. It didn't look any different from how it used to be.

"Time to go break this damn shadow."

Marrok was in a small ship along with his team of Spider-proxies. Said ship was taking them to take out a pest that's been trying to infiltrate his company for the past several months now. He was in the cargo hold, which had been converted to a meeting room. He looked at them all before nodding. "Alright. Wrage knows what's going on, but for the rest of you, I'll bring you up to speed." He used his suit to create a holo of a rather old, yet unique looking ship. "Our mission is to get into this ship, kill everyone on board and kill the one in charge. This ship is in perfect orbit in the atmosphere, moving in perfect sync with the rotation as it's the ONLY place that this ship can survive."

One of the proxies, a turian, raised a hand. "Sir, just who is it that requires all of us? From what I understand, we're basically lesser Super Soldiers. I could understand four of us, maybe even six, but you have all fifteen of us, plus you yourself are joining us. Just who pissed you off enough that you feel this much overkill is needed?"

Marrok was waiting for that question and grinned under his helmet. "The Shadow Broker."

Stunned silence rang throughout the room before an asari spoke. "Ok, and can you explain HOW you managed to find the Shadow Broker when no one else in the galaxy could?"

Wrage grinned. "Trust me on this, better you don't know." He said, leaving it at that. Wrage was the first and so far ONLY one that Marrok told of Lucy. He felt that the old krogan was the safest bet that wouldn't go off the rails learning an A.I. was so close to him all this time. And it was. Wrage only complained that he should have figured it out sooner, given how a lot of what Marrok's company had pulled off shouldn't have been possible with just organics.

The other proxies didn't question Wrage as Marrok continued. "Make sure you stay close to your Spiderbots, and watch each other's backs. You'll be spreading out in teams of three to cover more ground. I'll be going alone to face the Broker himself."

A salarian perked up. "Sir, are you sure that's wise? You don't know what defenses the Broker might have."

Marrok chuckled. "Trust me, there is NOTHING the Broker has that can so much as slow me down. Now then, remember your training, trust your spiderbots, stick with your teams. You all are the best, hand picked from our anti-slavery missions. I better not hear so much as a single one of you getting killed. If I do, I'll insult nature and death and bring you back to life just to kill you myself." This got the squad to laugh, having gotten more than used to Marrok's dark humor.

It took a few shuttles, but everyone was dropped onto the ship. Marrok didn't get involved as he let his spiders have their fun getting their feet wet. He could tell they were still amazed how much better they all were now. All this time, they've been facing pirates, mercs, and slavers, each of them getting kills in the triple digits and surviving by a combination of skill, experience, and instinct. Now, they were tearing through the enemy as if they were made of cardboard.

Power like this could get to one's head, which was why he wanted them placed on such an important mission, making sure they understood that what they were now was much different from what they once were. Besides, better to test themselves against the fodder and get used to their new abilities before facing the real monsters. He thought about this team and how from them, many more teams would follow, each member of this team being leaders of their own teams based on their specialties. As it stood, this was and would be the ONLY team that had ALL the specialities together.

Wrage was doing rather well commanding his fellow spiders, taking what he knew of them and using them to the fullest, not a single bad call. Wrage can deny it all he wants, but Marrok knew he had the makings of a great leader.

Marrok was also pleased to see the Power Armor and the weapons were performing well above his predicted estimates. Wrage and those who focused on close combat using their Maulers to violate everything in their path. Those who were long range had a mix of different sniper rifles. And like the Mauler, they too were old human weapons that were converted to today's standards. The Barrett M82, the 950 JDJ A.K.A. Fat Mac, and the McMillan TAC-50, all with the same modifications as the Mauler. Then there was the middle range. Thankfully they were the easiest to arm. A mixture of today's weapons and modified old human weapons, namely the AK 47, Heckler & Koch G36, and the M1 Garand.

Marrok internally groaned as he thought about the M1. Despite all his best efforts, he couldn't replicate the best part of the rifle with today's tech without lowering its effectiveness. That dopamine factory that was the PING after each clip. He honestly considered scrapping the damn project for that reason alone, but Lucy convinced him otherwise. I.E., she yelled at him for such a 'childish' reason.

A shot that hit his shields snapped him back to reality, leading him to watch as the one who shot him exploded into meaty bits. For some reason, he thought about a deer as he saw that. He looked at who killed the guy and saw it was a Krogan who was a sniper using a 950 JDJ. Considering the firepower just one shot had on that thing, he was surprised there wasn't a hole in the hull. "A bit excessive, don't you think Brak?"

The krogan shrugged. "Not my fault he thought he could survive the return fire."

Marrok shook his head with a smile. "Just remember to switch to your assault rifle when we get inside. Last thing we need is you punching a hole the size of my head and destabilizing the whole ship."

Brak nodded before going back to killing. After several minutes of slaughter, they finally came to a door that would get them inside. Marrok looked up as the shuttles came back and this time unloaded the spiderbots. They were all of the smaller variants in order to fit inside and maneuver around without blocking friendly fire. This meant that not everyone had their spiderbots to help them in this, but that was fine.

He looked at his spiders. "Alright, remember the plan, get to the core room, the bridge, navigation, anything and everything that can be used to either control this ship or make it blow up. Those with spiderbots will use them to lock down those areas while the rest will cover more ground."

Everyone nodded. "SIR!" They all sounded off.

"Well then, let's make some noise." Using his suit and Lucy's help, he easily cut through the security of the door and soon had it open. Without any words, everyone split off into their pre-assigned squads and moved on while Marrok popped his neck. "Now, time for me to have MY fun." He said before he ran down his path with the door closing after they were all inside.

"Jameson! I want that turret not pointing at us! Lisana! Cover him!" Wrage barked orders as he took the most fire while firing his Mauler at the entrenched enemy, a turret unleashing a barrage of fire at them. The only reason he was still standing was because of his armor and he knew it. "Really need to thank Marrok for this. This armor, this gun, and this mission. I haven't had this much fun in centuries!" He thought to himself as he grinned widely under his helmet.

The human and asari with him followed his orders without question. They were good at their work and he knew when they led their own squads, they'd be even more deadly for it. Jameson was the sniper of their group as well as the tech expert while Lisana was the all-rounder, making sure to cover where Jameson and himself couldn't. Her biotics were also much better than an asari her age should have, given she was a maiden, a child to other asari. Though that's a given with how Marrok had Jenannia, or Jen as Marrok seemed insistent on calling her, had managed to help improve her biotics through a brand new Biotic Amp, much more powerful and efficient than anything the Asari Republics had at the moment, though Wrage doubted that would last.

Despite being in the middle of a firefight, Wrage thought back on where his life had taken him so far. Leaving his homeworld to be a gun for hire, spending centuries killing for credits, then humanity came upon the scene, along with Marrok making waves. He then made a bet with that batarian asshole, who lost said bet, and tried to run without paying up. How that bar fight ended up with him and Marrok sharing a drink together and then working together, he had no idea. Oh, wait, he did. During the fight, they ran into each other and while dodging a punch from him, Marrok leaned back and headbutted Wrage, nearly sending him onto his ass. The fact that a human did that at all was worthy of respect, but it was the fact that Wrage actually nearly blacked out from that headbutt that solidified that respect.

From there, he worked as security to protect Marrok's company in its fledgling period. He was proud to have helped with that commission that launched Phoenix Inc. to where they are now.

Then he thought about Lucy, the A.I. He won't lie, learning that his boss and close friend had one of those and had it since well before first contact was rather unnerving, but he didn't live as long as he did by rushing without thinking. He figured if Lucy wanted to kill everyone, she would have done it a LONG time ago and so gave her the benefit of the doubt. And he was glad he did.

The projects that Marrok had planned were crazy, if any were to be discovered, Marrok's head would be chopped right off. But Wrage had a feeling that with Marrok, those projects would not only remain hidden, they would bring huge changes.

He did understand that he wasn't being told everything, he knew Marrok and Lucy were holding back on what they were telling him. What that was, he didn't know, but he would respect that until they realized they could in fact trust him and he would have their back.

He came back to the present when he heard the turret finally stop for a moment before it turned on its former allies. Within seconds after that, the enemy were all butchered. Wrage nodded to this before ordering his squad. "Alright, they're dead, let's move. Leave the turret as it is in case any other pyjaks think to come up behind us." They resumed their trek as they made their way to the core room.

"Hope the boss is having as much fun as I am." Wrage thought with a grin as he and his squad moved on.

Marrok was calmly walking through the halls of the ship. While he started with a charge, after not encountering anyone for a while, he decided to save his stamina and just walk. Granted, he could run for miles before even a bead of sweat formed, but the point still stood.

He soon came across a bulkhead and thanks to Lucy, he saw through the cameras that there were around twenty mercs, mostly humans and asari with turians mixed in and even a couple of krogan, with a variety of guns. All of them high end, but NONE of them even close to the toys his spiders were fielding. He grinned cruelly, deciding to have a bit of extra fun. "Lucy, don't open this door. I want to have some fun with these guys."

He heard Lucy sigh. "Really? I swear, you're either a sadist or you just want to see if you can kill someone through fear alone."

"I will not deny nor confirm either of those." He said before popping his neck. Then, with a mental command, his four metallic spider legs emerged from his pack. He then stabbed them all into the bulkhead and began to slowly tear it open. Through the feed, he could see the fear building in the group. Even the Krogan looked nervous, but were trying to keep that fear hidden under anticipation.

Slowly, he tore a hole large enough for him to step through, and as he did so, the spider legs retracting into the pack, he looked at them all. "Hey guys! How's your health plan?" That seemed to set them off as they unleashed a wall of bullets. "APPARENTLY IT'S GREAT!" Marrok charged at the group.

The 'fight' didn't even take a full minute. Each merc lasted a second with the krogan a bit longer, but only a few more seconds. He tore them apart with his bare hands. As he killed them, he noticed a smaller group retreating through a bulkhead. As he killed the last of the group he was fighting, he made his way over, using Lucy to hack the bulkhead, making it close much slower than it normally would. The mercs saw this and began trying to force it closed.

All the while Marrok was just calmly walking. Just before the Bulkhead closed, he grabbed it and opened back up. "Heeeeeeere's SPIDEY!" The spider legs came back out and began killing the mercs, all headshots. He resumed his walk while the legs killed every merc he came across. After half an hour, the legs retracted back to the pack. No more mercs were coming for him. So either this part of the ship was now empty, the mercs were still busy with his spiders, or the mercs were backing off from him.

In the end, it didn't matter, because his target was close now. He soon arrived inside a wide open room and saw a large shadowed figure behind a desk. "So, the infamous Shadow Broker. You have been quite the pest for me lately, haven't you?"

A deep, watery and raspy voice spoke, as if the very abyss had gained a voice. "Marrok Hunt. Owner and founder of Phoenix Incorporated. Inventor of technology never before seen or thought of. Single handedly stopped the Turian invasion of Shanxi."

Marrok rolled his eyes under his helmet. "Yeah yeah, all of that is common knowledge." He then smirked. "Which is what bugs you the most, isn't it?"

"Never before has any one person or organization have been as difficult as you to learn the secrets of. Once I have strapped down for my interrogators, I will learn everything about you."

Marrok laughed. "HAH! Mightier foes than you have tried, smarter foes too. But please, do give it your all. I still haven't had enough fun. It is the least you can do after making me come all this way to deal with you."

The figure stood up and grabbed the desk before chucking it at Marrok, who leapt over it with ease. Stepping into the light, the gruesome visage of the Shadow Broker was revealed. Marrok chuckled. "Well, today must be my birthday. I've never fought a Yahg before. I'm going to enjoy this."

The Broker hefted up a Revenant assault rifle while his other arm had an omnishield form. "Your suit is impressive, but it won't protect you."

Marrok blinked at this for a second before grinning. "Oh, you just gave me an idea." His suit then began morphing off of him, the nanites returning to the belt Marrok had on, leaving him in only his business suit. "Much better. It'd be too easy with the suit. I want to really enjoy this." This seemed to stun the Shadow Broker as Marrok began taking his business suit off, folding it all up before putting it to the side, while having a small swarm of nanites move his clothes away and out of range of the fight to come. Now he was only in a pair of athletic shorts, his body covered in lean yet powerful muscles while scars littered his torso, arms and legs. "Thanks for waiting, didn't want my suit to get ruined in the fight."

The Broke seemed to finally find his voice. "It would seem insanity is a trait you hid well from the galaxy."

Marrok grinned. "Rather be insane than boring. Come Broker, come dance with me." He leapt to the side as the Broker began firing at him, the bullets trailing after Marrok who leapt from place to place. While nowhere near as fast as with his spider suit on, he was still a Spider-Man and he started with only a thread suit before upgrading, so this was just going back to his roots. Marrok got in close as the rifle overheated and before the Broker could block him with his shield, Marrok grabbed the gun and tore it from the yahg's hand before snapping it over his knee. He then backflipped, dodging a massive fist smashing into where he just was. "Come on, quit hiding behind that shield! I want an actual fucking challenge here!"

The Shadow Broker seemed to actually think about this. He then deactivated his shield. "Very well, then you will die by my own hands." He charged Marrok who grinned near manically as he stood his ground. He braced as the yahg collided into him. He stuck himself to the floor, and even still he was pushed back a few feet before he stopped. Marrok and the Broker locked hands as they attempted to overwhelm the other. Marrok still had that grin while the Broker was starting to look pissed.

"I'll admit, I'm impressed. Not often someone can actually move me when I don't want to be moved." He then began pushing the yahg back, shocking the alien as his massive feet slid back on the metal floor. "But I hope that isn't all you have." He then leapt up and smashed his head into the Shadow Broker's face, right between the eyes, then quickly pulled up his legs and crashed his heels into the yahg's chest, making him stumble back while Marrok leapt away.

The Broker stopped next to the thrown desk and grabbed it before throwing it again at Marrok. He jumped over it, but his spider-sense kicked in as he did, where he then saw the yahg right there. A massive arm clotheslined Marrok and slammed him to the floor, knocking the wind out of him. Then came an equally massive foot as it stomped on his chest, once, twice, thrice, several more times after that first stomp. Marrok felt a few of his ribs straining from the abuse.

As the foot came for another stomp, he caught it before pushing it back and getting back to his feet, adrenaline pumping through his brain as he bolted for the yahg again. His spider-sense kicked in again, but like before he was too late to react as that meaty fist came up and uppercutted his jaw. That felt like taking a hit from Rhino, judging from the stars that burst into view. His whole body flipped from the blow before he regained control and landed on his feet, a hand to support his landing.

Marrok moved his jaw a bit, checking if anything was knocked loose, which nothing was, but he did taste his own blood. He spat it out before grinning a bloody grin. "There we go. Now we're talking. And here I thought you wouldn't even draw blood." He stood up and popped his neck. "Come on, let's keep going. I haven't had enough fun yet."

The Broker snarled. "You will soon regret your insanity."

"More like you'll regret making an enemy out of me." Marrok countered before they charged again.

Punches that would kill lesser men smashed into each other, blood flying from each punch, this was no longer an actual fight, but a straight up brawl. Neither were even dodging the punches at this point, devolving into a slugfest. After nearly an hour of this, they finally stopped and parted, ready for more.

The two stood opposite from one another, both covered in blood, both their own and their opponent. Marrok had a few broken ribs while the yahg had a broken left arm and wounded right leg. The Shadow Broker was panting heavily while Marrok barely breathed hard. "Well, as fun as this has been, I think it's time for the fun to come to an end." He rolled his shoulders before clenched his fists.

At this point, the Broker didn't even bother speaking, he just roared and charged at Marrok. The meta-human dodged around the alien before getting behind him and grabbing his back. Then, with a mighty lift, he picked up the yahg and held him over his head like a barbell. With a powerful warcry, he brought the yahg down onto his knee, snapping the spine like a cookie. The Broker screamed in pure agony as Marrok dropped him.

He smirked at the screaming alien. "Well, what do you know, I broke the Broker." He went over to his clothes and grabbed them as his nanites swarmed over him and began removing the blood while also treating his wounds. Once he was good, he put his business suit back on before he was covered in his spider suit once more. "There, much better." He turned and walked back over to the broken Shadow Broker. "Now, before I finish you, any last words? Oh, and don't get cute with any voice activated systems, I've already had that taken care of before I even entered the room."

The Broker growled through the pain of his broken back. "How…..How could you have such power? You're a human….there shouldn't be a gene mod that could do what you can."

Marrok shrugged at this. "Fair enough, and I am feeling generous, so I'll answer. The simple fact is, I'm not the same kind of human. I'm what's called a Meta-human. A human with powers beyond the norm. Where I come from, there's a large number of people called Meta-humans that also have powers. Hell, there's a guy there that could have gone dead even with you without holding back. I should know, I've beat his ass many times. There's even someone who's entire intelligence network could put yours to shame. As for me? I'm a Spider-Man."

The Broker seemed to take this in before laughing, softly though due to the pain. "I…see. So I never had a chance. You really were toying with me, weren't you?"

"Well, I was trying to make it as even as possible. I can only hold back so much without getting myself killed. But yeah. If I wanted to go all out, I would have torn you in half in only a few seconds. Though, I will admit, if I had met you when I was just starting out, when I first became a Meta-human, you would have had a BIG chance to win. So take solace in the fact that you managed to go toe to toe with a Spider and draw blood. Even in my early days, not many could say that."

This seemed to ease the yahg as he laughed again. "Well….at least….it was a….good fight." He closed his many eyes before his breathing stilled.

Using his built in sensors, Marrok detected no lifesigns. He nodded. "Yeah. Good fight." He sighed.

"You okay?" Lucy asked, sounding concerned.

"Yeah, just thought if I had the chance, maybe a yahg would have been a good friend. Sure, gotta get past their aggression, but they can learn to be civil."

Lucy sighed. "Why did I think you would be thinking anything remotely normal?"

Marrok grinned at this before turning and heading to a wall of monitors. In truth, he felt as if he lost a chance to experience something unique. He wasn't joking about having a yahg for a friend. Wrage was a good example, with his normal aggression being tempered and managed so it would only come out when he himself wills it, instead of being controlled by it. A yahg could do the same, Marrok felt. Perhaps he would need to find the yahg homeworld then. Project for another time.

As he reached the monitors, he heard many trying to contact the Broker, asking for orders or if there was some technical issue or some other such. Marrok smirked at this and took the voice modulator and spoke into it. "This is the Shadow Broker. The situation is under control. We experienced a power fluctuation while upgrading hardware. It disrupted communications momentarily. However, we are now back online. Resume standard procedures. I want a status report on all operations within the next solar day. Shadow Broker, out." He cut coms and stepped back.

"Well, what now, Shadow Broker?" Lucy asked with a teasing tint in her voice.

"How's the Spider's doing?" He asked.

"They've kept their targets locked and secure and as a result, no one is left alive in those areas. Anyone left alive in the ship has no idea what happened and are none the wiser."

Marrok nodded. "Good, round the spiders up and have them brought here. And while you're at it, send a message through our ship back to HQ and have the OG group come here. It's time I came clean."

Lucy was silent for a moment. "Are you sure? Wrage is one thing and that's just about me. We don't know how the rest will react."

"They've been with us since the start of the company and none of them ever questioned me, even if they had every right to. Plus, I know you record everything, so proof is easy enough. I just need proof of the Reapers and the Broker's network can give me that, or at worst a lead to proof."

She sighed. "Very well. I hope you know what you're doing."

While she did as asked, Marrok picked up the chair the former Shadow Broker used and sat in it. "Heh, and here I was, wondering where I could have my special projects done." He said with a sly grin forming.

Aaaaand that's a wrap! Phew! That took a good while. The fight with the Shadow Broker took the longest, since I wanted to try and make it enjoyable, without making it completely one sided and even then I don't know if I did a good job. There are times I can make the most epic fight scenes, and then times where I might as well have used a time skip. Cause, let's face it, a yahg fighting a spider-person is basically the Kingpin fighting Spider-Man, and we've seen what happens when Peter stops holding back. It would be the same here, but instead of holding back because of some moral code, Marrok is holding back because he suffers from the same shit Saitama from One Punch Man does. He's not getting much enjoyment out of fights and needs to do what he can to spice things up. Hence, putting himself in as much of a disadvantage. Without the suit, Marrok is no different from any other Spider-Man, able to lift 170 times his own weight, and that's highballing it. Even low balling it, he would still be too strong going all out. WITH the suit on? You might as well get the shovel, cause there's only chunks after a full out punch with that. Now with that done, time for the fun part of this.

I've put a few easter eggs in this chapter, see if you can find them all. Some are rather obvious, some not so much. Keep those peepers open.

Now, for the game from the last chapter. As you can see, Folsa is wanting to cure the Genophage. The reason I decided this was because I've seen stories always go for this route, but only AFTER Virmire or waiting for the events of Mass Effect 2 or 3. But those stories involve the MC having knowledge of the games and how things are supposed to go. Marrok only knows the Reapers are coming and he needs to prepare the galaxy, he doesn't have knowledge of the games or comics or books or any media about Mass Effect. And his decision to not only allow the project but offer his support for it reflects this. While he does work on keeping his new home safe, he's mostly focused on getting the galaxy ready for the Reapers.

One last thing. This isn't going to really affect the story much, since I have paths written for both ways, but I do have a question. Should I bring Castis in on the secret Marrok is about to share and what his mission is, or not? With Castis being a friend to the Primarch, that could speed things along, but at the same time, would that trivialize a few things as well? I'm honestly torn on this, so please let me know what you all think.

Alright, with that, this chapter is done. Hope you enjoyed it and I'll see you in the next one, PEACE! Oh wait, wrong format.

Read, review, no flames, have a pleasant day.