Now, Shepard knew he wasn't the most cultured of people, what with the traumatic childhood and military grunt training being the cherries on what had been a very fragmented education outside of his medical degree after Elysium, but even he recognised the name that Wrex so eagerly spouted.

"As if Saren bringing the Geth beyond the veil wasn't enough, he's brought back the Rachni now as well? I was a little skeptical about the whole Reaper thing Shepard, but even a Spectre wouldn't have the resources to pull this off..." Garrus was almost sounding awed by this latest revelation of what Saren had successfully hidden, from pretty much everyone in his mad desire to topple the Alliance, or whatever mad plan he had involving the Reapers.

"Not by himself, but we already know he had an Asari matriarch and human crime boss on his payroll, so who knows who else he has under his claw... Gotta say I admire the bastard's balls though, even I wouldn't be stupid enough to bring the Rachni back and think I could control them." Wrex looked like he was more than happy to continue forward into the base, but he looked like he would be the only one eager to do so.

Ashley was maintaining professional composure, but her hands hadn't left her rifle other than to help steady Liara, who had frozen up entirely at the appearance of the Rachni and was still shaking as she brandished her shotgun waveringly towards the nearest Rachni corpse. Garrus was pacing, muttering to himself as he looked around cautiously, as if another attack was to happen at any minute.

"I don't think you could call this type of attack controlling the Rachni Wrex, though this explains what the Geth were doing on glorified guard duty, they were here to stop the Rachni getting out rather than us getting in. I think we can say we are over our heads on this one Normandy, what's procedure on encountering a thought extinct species of genocidal aliens?" There wasn't an answer to his call on the comms either from the Normandy or Linron for several seconds, though if there had been an obvious answer Shepard would probably have drunk some of the ryncol Wrex was always trying to foist on him.

"Notified Captain Anderson directly Commander, I thought it best to get him to relay the threat to Ambassador Udina and the Council in person. I am getting a call from the Second fleet on high priority channels, with various other requests for authentication and confirmation from ships of the Third and Fifth fleet through other channels." Pressley's info dump made John shake his head, he had an idea of what had happened to cause such an influx of communications to the Normandy.

"Linron, when you say you notified the Alliance of the Rachni threat?" To her credit Linron seemed to realise that him asking the question meant that she had probably made a mistake, as her tone was conciliatory as she replied in her usual factual manner.

"Reviewing data from Rachni war lead to self assessment of potential outbreak here as potentially destabilising for entire Terminus, event similar to resurgent slaver fleet activity or Batarian aggressive expansion policy. Threats and response clearly laid out in Alliance threat analysis responses, adapted them to situation and sent a flash warning to all officers with required level of clearance alerting them of a Rachni sighting. Did I do something incorrect in my analysis Commander?"

Shepard resisted the urge to list the things wrong with what Linron had done, that list of officers with sufficient clearance probably included every frigate Captain in the Alliance for starters. It was just another thing he would need to work through with her, after the mission was finished. Instead, he had to deal with the shitstorm the Rachni sighting had inadvertently started into motion.

"Normandy, patch through that call from the Second fleet, then contact the Admirals of the Third and Fifth fleets. Relay what information we have so far on the Rachni and Saren's involvement. No mention is to be made of Matriarch Benezia until I express directly otherwise, understood?" Whilst the cards were all falling towards Benezia being a willing accomplice in all of this, the Alliance were going to be taking enough scalps without needing the additional rocks to look under.

"Understood Commander, patching you through now..." There was a moment's pause, before the now familiar voice of Admiral Hackett thundered into his ear in his usual gravelly tone.

"I'm hoping that there was some sort of typo in the warning you sent out Commander. If this was six months ago, I would be sure that you aren't claiming that Saren has brought back another enemy from the galactic myth book of bogeymen to threaten humanity with..." Despite the situation Shepard couldn't help but laugh at the man's tone and acid like sarcasm.

"Welcome to my life Admiral, where do you want me to start?"

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"I can't believe we are actually doing this..." Kaidan's whispered comment was obviously not meant to be heard, but the corridors they were slowly clearing towards Peak 15's interior were silent other than their own footsteps, so the noise travelled remarkably well.

"Ships from the Third fleet are on their way with support, and I have no doubt Council ships will be close behind them, given the panic Udina said the Council were in when he and Anderson told them. But the longer we leave them, the more likely our only leads on whether this is the only Rachni outbreak are going to either escape or get eaten. As much as they probably deserve it, imagine if the Rachni are released from a Binary Helix facility somewhere more populated, because we didn't rescue and interrogate any survivors?"

The fact that there would probably also be staff members, such as security and maintenance personnel, who would have had no idea what twisted monsters they were harbouring until they came bursting from the walls also helped. So Shepard had made the extremely unpopular decision to continue into the research base, whilst more serious help was on route. What could he say, he was a people person at heart.

"No need to guilt trip us Commander. Just know that if I die here, I will be coming back as one of your ghosts to tell you this was a stupid plan..." Garrus had switched out his Avenger assault rifle for a Matlock, given the armour the Rachni warrior breeds seemed to have, the fast firing standard Alliance weapon was going to do little but irritate them.

"Join the queue, I can barely move in this bosh'tet of a thing..." Given the inherent risk of armour damage leading to infection and death with Quarians, John hadn't been prepared to accept Tali accompanying them, especially after their first encounter with the little green living bombs that Wrex affectionately referred to as 'workers'.

Things had gotten, spirited, between them. Tali had made it clear, there was no way she was going to let him go into danger whilst she was kept back because of 'the risk'. He was saved from having to pull rank by the suggestion from Ashley that they utilise the heavy duty vacuum mining/repair suit that they had obtained from one of the pirate bases. It was eight feet tall and weighed over a tonne, but despite the difficulty Tali had in manoeuvring it through the corridors, the exo-suit easily made her the most durable person there.

"Don't know what you are all complaining about, these Rachni are far more fun to fight than mere pirates or mercenaries, if it wasn't dangerous it would be...ahead." The sudden change in Wrex's tone made everyone stiffen up and ready weapons, the Krogan's ability to smell the Rachni made him far better a scout than anyone else right now.

John wasn't sure whether it was just a lucky trait that Wrex possessed, or whether it was a 'survival of the fittest' carryover from his father and the other survivors of the original Rachni war, but for now he wasn't going to question his luck. Even as everyone raised their weapons defensively, Tali now sporting a Heavy Machine Gun that made his pistol seem pointless in comparison, the Rachni burst forth from the floor ahead of them.

The first two Warriors barely made it out of the new hole in the floor before the team's biotic users had them lifted in the air for the others to mow down, the Rachni's seemingly monstrous constitution not doing them much good when they were hit by over a hundred large bore Mass Effect rounds. In the time it took to finish the first pair though, four more warriors had clawed their way from the walls and floor and were closing rapidly, as well as at least a dozen 'workers' that were the smaller but still significant threat given the tight corridors and their compressed formation.

"Garrus, Kaidan!" Given the new enemies they had come across, and the vastly different way in which they fought compared to the Geth or normal enemies, Shepard had used the time in which Tali and the Quarians were refitting her new Exo-Suit to change the loadout of his assault team.

The two he called out, given their preference for ranged fighting as opposed to close quarters, were armed with several dozen grenades that could be launched from the underside attachments of their assault rifles with great accuracy. Even as Shepard launched a Warp Lance at the nearest warrior two grenades flew forward, one exploding to disperse a fine white powder that spread across the area just in front of the charging Rachni, the other exploding on one of the warriors just as they entered the cloud. The contents of the two grenades mixing lead to a rather impressive explosion, which caused Shepard to cover his eyes, even as the shockwave hit them.

"Nice fireworks Shepard, though we are now going to have to do some repair work if we want to get Tali's walker across that…" Even as the spots in his eyes started to fade, Shepard saw Wrex striding up to the edge of the rapidly disappearing firestorm, unconcerned about the flames that licked at his feet and legs.

The Krogan had a point though, the explosion having left severe damage to the path of the corridor they were using, Shepard was surprised it hadn't ruptured the structure entirely. Activating his Communicator, Shepard contacted the team he had leading the containment activities the Geth had previously been carrying out.

"Captain Seratha, I need a repair team inside with enough tools to repair about 5 metres of corridor so that we can get Tali across safely. Any issues outside?" The Quarian captain had been surprisingly quick and adept in taking control of the situation outside for him, whilst Pressley was dealing with co-ordinating the Alliance response and Ashley headed the Breakout Response team that were manning the COAT and the Mako.

"The Geth had three areas where they deliberately left service tunnels unblocked from Peak 15 as far as we can tell, allowing the Rachni to funnel into these areas where they could then be engaged in the open. I have Salvage team 1 converting the destroyed ERCS vehicles into some defensive structures for your marines, though we've only had the occasional warrior turn up so far. Whether that's because your team is dealing with them before they make it this far, or whether there just aren't that many of them we aren't sure, Ensign Waters is scanning the Peak and it's surroundings now. If you can return to the tram station, I will lead a team to meet you there, and then we can repair the damage."

Long gone were the days where Seratha was a shy and somewhat awkward conversational partner, the respect that came with being the Captain of the Ontario, along with working with him and his team had given her the confidence she had needed. The report was detailed, informative and her request was done in a manner that made him smile at her assertiveness, previously he would have had to ask if she wanted an escort.

"Of course Captain, will see you shortly." She still fancied him, though John knew that more from Tali's grumbles rather than from him picking anything up personally, but he wouldn't have to worry about that affecting her when they were facing a potential Galaxy wide threat.

Speaking of which, the effort of getting Tali to navigate back to the tram station would be excessive, so Shepard decided to do something he had initially been cautious about.

"Tali, Wrex, Garrus. Stay here and make sure the Rachni don't try and re-occupy the area we have just cleared. Kaidan, you coordinate them. Dahlia, Linron and I will head back and meet the repair team. Nobody take any stupid risks, fall back at the first sign of trouble, understood?" Even when they were dealing with the Geth, Shepard hadn't been this cautious.

But, after all the combat they had taken part in since Eden Prime, the Geth were worryingly becoming a 'normal' enemy to face.

But Tali and Wrex were the only ones who could probably take out a Rachni one on one right now with any level of surety, Tali's new armour made her into something of a lumbering close combat giant if she could build up some momentum. Therefore they, with Kaidan and Garrus providing ranged support, should be able to at least withstand another assault long enough for his group to get back to them if needed.

"Understood Commander, see if you can get some extra grenades whilst you are back there? Given we haven't even breached the main body of the lab complex yet, chances are we will be facing a lot more of these things…" Shepard nodded in agreement, last thing they wanted to do was run out of grenades at the wrong moment, but before he could reply Pressley's voice came over the comms.

"Commander, the first ships of the 3rd Fleet have arrived on the edge of the system, Admiral Singh has contacted the Normandy and wishes to speak with you. Shall I patch him through?" Indicating to Dahlia and Linron to follow him, Shepard took off at a slow jog through the corridors, keeping an ear out for any out of place sounds that he encountered on the way.

"Patch him through Joker, the Admiral will understand that I am more than a little distracted." Admiral Singh had been the one 'in charge' or his N7 strike team for most of his deployments, before he had been transferred to the Normandy and his promotion to Spectre status.

Whilst most the other fleets had specific co-ordinator roles for N7 team deployments, Nitesh Singh was a former N5 operative himself, and as such he preferred to manage his strike teams personally whenever possible. There was a click, before a familiar light tone appeared in his ear.

"John, please tell me that this is all an elaborate scheme to get me back for the Ubrecht incident? Admittedly the Arcturus station is quiet at the moment as posts go, but I do not consider long dead alien bugs a suitable way of stopping my men from getting bored." Admiral Singh had never been one for politeness, which was one of the things that made his rise to his current rank all the more impressive, his sarcastic introduction probably causing some of his bridge crew trouble.

"Admiral, I had forgotten about Ubrecht, though now you have brought it up we can talk about it, when I am not surrounded by Rachni. How's Alliance High Command dealing with the news?" Shepard was unsurprised to hear the Admiral cursing rather brazenly a moment later, before replying to his question.

"I shouldn't have mentioned it, and the brass are currently preparing plans to mobilise every ship we have, in between running around bellowing pointless orders to make it seem like they know what they are doing. Whilst they piss around, worrying about the shit flinging that is going to happen after this is resolved, Hackett and I are already dealing with other potential attack points." There was the sound of shuffling on the other end of the line, as John reached the long corridor that would lead them back to the tram station, before Singh's voice came back slightly more distantly.

"We have units moving to storm every Binary Helix office, factory and research facility in Alliance space, and as you can probably imagine that is a lot of potential hot spots to cover. I have brought the SSV Logan as well as the Cruisers SSV Waterloo and SSV Cape Town, whilst the 42nd and 63rd Scout Flotillas are splitting up to support my other ships. If Rachni have been shipped to any of the Alliance's worlds, Naval support will definitely be necessary to contain any outbreaks." The sounds of sporadic gunfire from ahead suddenly had Shepard break into a sprint, though Singh continued speaking a moment later.

"I have my comms officer trying to contact anyone in the Council Fleets that can provide useful information about Rachni tactics or containment measures, but the comms lines are so jammed right now I doubt we will get anything useful for hours. Anything you can forward to us would help save lives Shepard." Shepard held off answering as he reached the end of the corridor, though he breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Seratha berating a Quarian male.

Judging by the Geth corpse nearby, obviously the Quarian had decided to make sure the Geth was dead by shooting at it, and his Captain had obviously not approved.

"Linron, send all combat footage we have against the Rachni so far. Admiral, if there is another threat then there will probably dormant Geth hidden there as well. There were almost 100 of them at Port Hanshan, and that isn't including the ones we destroyed whilst travelling to Peak 15, so have Engineers with the Scouting parties so that they can scan everything as you go. Lastly, all Alliance strike teams are to utilise high calibre weapons in the case of a Rachni outbreak, the Avenger does nothing to these things." It was as much information as John could give without a prolonged analysis of the combat footage, and given the situation on Peak 15 he definitely didn't have time for that.

"Understood Commander, I will get the word sent out to all strike teams now. We are doing our best to keep things under wraps from the general population, but once this all goes down it isn't going to be something we can hide from the press. Best if you can firm up whether there has been anything transported from the station, then we can carry out our investigations a little more subtly. I have just short of 1,000 marines, as well as Grizzly's and other armoured support units, when we get into orbit you can light up a comm buoy and they'll move in. Singh out."

Abrupt, to the point, and entirely at risk of breaching protocol. It was enough to make John smile, which only widened as Seratha noticed his approach and came running over, pulling off a quick salute before pulling him into a quick hug.

"Commander, sorry for the noise, this bosh'tet thought we needed to shoot every Geth corpse we saw, just in case it was 'lying in ambush'. I've brought most of the crew the Ontario can spare, most of the Security team will remain here and secure this entrance until more support arrives, the Elanus Risk Control Services mercenaries are still stuck 'securing Port Hanshan'. Captain Matsuo sends her apologies, but given the issues you've already dealt with, the Board will definitely fire her if she weakens the Port's defences any further." Sounded about right, and at least Matsuo was being honest, given the losses and attempted mutiny she had suffered.

"Alliance ships have just arrived, so Marines will be here soon. Remember what I told you back on the Citadel Seratha, I don't expect you guys to fight. So everyone, if you see a Rachni, radio it in and then fall back. These things were feared throughout the Galaxy for a reason." He didn't know why, but the order to run away if there was trouble, which had so annoyed Tali, seemed to make Seratha really happy instead.

"Of course Commander, you heard him Quarians. Nirjhar, your team will collect all Geth and Rachni corpses in this area, carefully! Security team will stay here and make a perimeter, if anything moves report it in and then withdraw carefully. I want Comms updates every 10 minutes, anyone who doesn't report in regularly will be presumed missing, and will go without their tithe for the next two months." The groan that erupted from the assembled Quarians at the promised punishment surprised Shepard slightly, but the 500 credit monthly allowance was more disposable income than any of these Quarians had ever had, and that was after Tali had talked him down from offering nearly double that.

It was still far cheaper than the rest of his crew, to the point he could easily retain 3 Quarians to every Alliance crewmember, but any extra cash he could save was good in John's book. He took note of the five Quarians that didn't move to immediately follow their Captain's orders, all male and carrying welding gear or other maintenance gear. He was surprised Kiaran wasn't there, but he was probably in charge of the Ontario in Seratha's absence.

"Ready when you are Commander." Watching as Seratha flipped a shotgun, from where it had been on the floor into her hands with one leg, Shepard found himself with a warm feeling in his belly.

"This way then Captain, let's get this show back on the road…" Shepard decided to ignore the feeling, it was probably from his impromptu sprint after all…

[]{}#%^*+=

It took them another hour to make their way through Rift station. Given the 50 or so Rachni his team had killed so far, not to mention the ones that were still sporadically trying to break out of the facility, John felt they hadn't made bad time. They had found several areas of fighting, though judging by the dismembered and partially digested bodies they found scattered around the corridors, it hadn't been much of a fair fight.

Admiral Singh's men had just started setting up in the main facility of Peak 15, and though Shepard hadn't been hailed directly, Pressley reported the arrival of 3 Council Grand Cruisers and at least a dozen frigates. Given how the Council had flatly refused to send ships into the Terminus after Saren, the fact they sent such a force so quickly was a significant reminder of how serious the situation was.

"Signs of fighting up ahead Shepard, smells fresh too. Could be the source of the gunfire we heard earlier." Wrex's comment through had his forward team readying their weapons once more, not that any of them had exactly relaxed since stepping foot on the station.

With Admiral Singh's men in place, John had moved his marine forces to secure the tram station. This allowed his Salvage teams to start taking apart everything there with impunity and setting up signal boosters, to allow him to remain in contact with the Normandy, as well as releasing Ashley to lead the 'rear guard' behind them. Turning to Linron, who was the only 'non-soldier' in the forward group, Shepard gestured forward.

"See if you can get into the local security system Linron, I need to know how many survivors and how heavily armed they are." After all, just because they were fighting the Rachni, didn't mean they weren't working for Benezia.

"I will try Commander, but given the amount of damage seen so far, would not be surprised if the camera systems no longer function." Watching Linron walk over to a wall, look at it for a few moments before slamming her cybernetic arm through it was still quite the spectacle to watch, her body freezing in place as she found the wiring she was looking for.

It was unconventional and wouldn't work when they weren't in a warzone, but it saved her having to find a data outlet that was still working.

"Only two cameras still functioning, showing defenses ahead. Poorly constructed, obviously done in haste, but create good defensive position on our approach. Count 8 Risk Control Security staff, as well as 3 armed civilians manning the defences, could be more out of view… Interesting…" There was a flash from Linron's synthetic eye, which John had quickly learned was when she had encountered a security program and was being forced to 'allow' herself access.

"Security program designed to shut down access to cameras if accessed from any location other than one that is somewhere below us. Dealt with this system, without leaving any sign I have done so, but to follow to the source could activate other systems, cannot deal with them so quietly. Conclusion, cameras have been left active on purpose, system to alert those below of events above. Perhaps to allow assessment of defences and whether labs are being overrun?"

Or, they were there to give Benezia advanced warning of anyone trying to break into the labs, like he and his team were currently doing.

"Can you loop their feeds or something until we pass them? I would prefer not to let Benezia know we are coming if we can avoid it." That was assuming the surviving Risk Control guards weren't on her payroll, though if that was the case there wasn't much John could do other than try and take them out quickly.

"Will start taking previous recorded footage to use, if camera feed is being watched will probably not work, but unlikely given how long since labs went dark. There, footage is looping last hour of footage, including attack by Rachni that ended 21.2 minutes ago." It wasn't a perfect solution, and Linron was right about the potential of someone noticing the hack, but as he motioned for the team to move forward it was better than nothing.

"This is Council Spectre John Shepard, responding to the Geth and Rachni outbreak from this station. Any survivors, lower your weapons and allow us access!" It was the loudest any of his team had been outside of combat since they left Port Hanshan, but as the sound of voices came out of the doorway ahead of them, it would at least stop them being fired on 'accidentally'.

"This is Captain Ventralis of Elanus Risk Control, I don't care if you are Ambassador bloody Udina, there is no way in hell my men are lowering their weapons with all these damn bugs around!" John couldn't exactly fault him for that, but it also meant that they would be walking into a potential kill zone with armed and ready opponents waiting for them.

"Wrex, Ashley, with me. Everyone else stack up, if they turn hostile I want shock and awe." Whilst they would be exposed to some fire, the three of them had the toughest shields and armour out of his strike team, and if need be he and Wrex could barrier up and tank some more hits.

"Right, we are coming in, hold your fire!" The threat of what would happen if they didn't was fairly clear, and as he walked into what seemed to have previously been a canteen of some sort, John was glad that nobody was stupid enough to open fire.

The room had clearly been turned into a makeshift stockade, with furniture and several sections of flooring having been stacked on the far side of the room. One of the men was moving forward from behind the barricade towards them, which was a good sign that they weren't about to be attacked, but as John's comm unit activated once more Wrex stiffened and raised his shotgun.

"More Rachni Shepard" At the same time as everyone in the room readied their weapons, John's eyes were darting between the three torn sections of grating that weren't too far from his current position, trying to come up with a plan.

"Spectre, this is Captain Ailiya of Cybaen, you are advised to…" John cut her off, waving through the rest of his team, several of the defenders eyes widening as Tali stomped through to take up a firing position not far from the door.

"Little busy with the Rachni Captain, one second." Gesturing with one finger at the holes to his right, and then with two fingers to his left, John was pleased to see the strike team split themselves into their allotted teams seamlessly, Garrus and Kaidan readying grenades as the scratching sound got louder.

"Sorry about that Captain, carry on." It was cocky to say the least, and John's free hand didn't stray from his pistol even as he turned back in the direction of the barricade and walked forward towards the Risk Control guards.

But, if the Risk Control Mercs were on Benezia's payroll, then a good show of power might convince them that pissing him off really wasn't a good idea. And the more people he could get out of this alive, the more likely they would be able to get something useful out of them. John was sick enough of Noveria now that, saving these people because he could really didn't compare to his desire to get off this forsaken hell hole as quickly as possible.

"As I was saying Spectre, I have been given an official Council mandate to neutralise the Rachni threat conclusively and as quickly as possible. So you are to withdraw from the outbreak location as soon as is feasible and… By the Goddess…" John had been streaming his helmet feed as part of the conversation, and he managed to time his turn just in time to see the first Rachni tear themselves from the floor.

There weren't more than half a dozen warriors and a few workers, which still seemed to panic a couple of the ERCs guards, but his teams were already slaughtering them by the time the first of the guards managed to aim their weapons.

The two grenades dealt with most of the workers, Liara and Linron breaking off from attacking the warriors to target the remaining three workers almost instantly, whilst a combination of biotics and heavy weapons fire shredded three of the warriors by the time they could begin charging forwards. Wrex slammed into the nearest survivor to him with a happy roar, whilst Tali's HMG split the one that tried to move in her direction in half with remarkable accuracy.

The last Warrior charged in his direction, and John charged up a biotic lance, waiting until the Rachni was less than a dozen yards away before unleashing it with pinpoint accuracy into the thing's maw. It was too close for the Rachni to dodge, and as the Rachni's corpse slid to a stop just past his position, John carried on talking like nothing had happened.

"Captain Ailiya, I am afraid I do not know the capabilities of the Cybaen, but with the SSV Logan and it's support ships on location this outbreak is under control. Given this facility is sponsored by Rogue Spectre Saren, I need it to be something other than a pile of burning rubble if I am to glean any useful information from it about other potential Rachni Outbreak sites. The last thing we want is for Rachni to have been shipped off Noveria and us not knowing about it, correct?" It was probably the politest way John could think of telling the Asari to not try continuing to follow the Council's plan, to cover this mess up as quickly as possible, even if it meant turning Port Hanshan and Peak 15 to rubble.

"But the Council gave me orders…" John sighed and cut the video feed, watching Wrex extract another trophy from the warrior he had just mutilated wouldn't be good for a normal space crew to watch.

"The Council told you to contain the outbreak, the Alliance and I are already doing that. If you want to follow your orders, contact Admiral Singh on the SSV Logan, he is co-ordinating the scans of the rest of Noveria. There is no point bombarding Peak 15, if the Rachni have already escaped and created a colony, it will be somewhere else on godforsaken planet." John doubted they had, the Geth had been blockading the place well enough before his team arrived, but it would keep the Council ships busy whilst he finished here.

"I, understood Spectre, I will order my ships to co-ordinate with Admiral Singh's in completing the scan. I will report the confirmed appearance of the Rachni to the Turian 6th fleet as I was instructed, but I will include the footage you have just shown me, it should be enough to prevent a full Council Fleet entering the Terminus for the first time in decades. Good luck Spectre, Ailiya out." With the threat of planetary bombardment dealt with, at least for the moment, John now just had to deal with the potential threat of the Peak 15 staff.

Turning and striding over to the Rachni warrior he had just felled, John could see several of the guards looked extremely nervous, whilst the three armed civilians looked relieved and grateful. That told Shepard everything he needed to know, so he decided to go with an approach he had started to perfect since becoming a Spectre.

"So I'm Spectre John Shepard, and I'm looking for Matriarch Benezia. I have almost a thousand marines and other military units coming to secure this facility, so we will be able to extract you from here soon." Resting his foot on the Rachni's carapace, careful to avoid any of its corrosive blood, John paused for a moment before giving the coup de grace.

"And, as you probably just heard, the Council want this place burned to the ground as 'outbreak containment'. So at the moment, me finding and capturing Benezia is the only reason they haven't done so. Any questions?"

Judging by the panicked looks more than one guard sent Captain Ventralis, even as Tali added to the tension by activating the auto loader on her HMG in a rather unsubtle manner, if it came to a fight then it wouldn't take them too long to 'pacify' the situation…

A/N: So, we have a Dreadnaught, a 'Dread Cruiser' (look the Cybaen up and try and tell me that 'accident' wasn't on purpose), two normal Cruisers and a dozen Frigates in the Traverse. Given the fears, that such a military 'invasion' could pre-empt a new wave of pirate attacks and slaver activity across the galaxy in response, this is one hell of a way of showing how serious a threat the Rachni are considered by the Higher Powers.

If I really wanted to, I would have had the Council order the Cybaen's Frigate Escort to bombard Port Hanshan and Peak 15 regardless of Shepard's presence. In game terms, this would end up creating a 'timed mission', with different choices affecting the mission rewards and consequences. For example, where Shepard has to neutralise the threats on Peak 15 in less than half an hour, or lose benefits available from Port Hanshan later on as it is wiped out.

But, given I had the Alliance get there first and deploy boots on the ground, that would have lead to the SSV Logan blowing one of them out of the sky in a 'do you really want to do this?' And as fun as an Alliance/Council war would be to write, I have one 'evil Council' story already… XD

Tali's Exo-suit is both a common sense move in my head, given the fragility of Quarians in general, and also the start of my development in ways Shepard can improve his forces (Based on Cerberus Walkers in ME 3, though nowhere near as advanced currently). Exo-suits will have the advantage of heavier weapons and ridiculous close combat strength, but the weaknesses of being a big target that cannot use most cover and prone to limb damage that makes them far less useful.

Not great against the Geth, whose Rocket troopers and other 'big uns' will make mincemeat of them right now, but against common pirates or an enemy focussed on getting in close? Definitely a game changer, and one that Shepard can direct his 'tinkerers' to improving the functionality of as the game progresses.

On a more serious note, I have to offer an apology now. I have recently bought a house, which all of a sudden means I have suddenly got to worry about this whole 'being an adult and managing my budget' thing. I know I don't post regularly, but this is me letting you guys know that that rate is going to drop significantly going forward.

I did set up a .on account, but I don't think what I offer on here is going to be worth people spending money on. Though, if you want to check it out, it is the same username as I use here. Perhaps I am being overly pessimistic.

I have muscled through all of my working stories to provide you with a new chapter for each of them, I hope you all enjoy them, and apologies for the bad news.

Let me know what you think guys!

Defias out