Utukku, Mulla Xul, Ninmah Cluster, Shortly After Last Post
The tunnels were damp and dark-- too dark to see sometimes. Kaidan didn't like it.
"What's that?" Liara called, shining her flashlight ahead.
"I see it," Shepard said, turning that way. He frowned, hitting his comm. "Grunt? Got a body of a scout here. Been dead a few days."
"Yeah?" the krogan grunted in response. "If he has his weapon, grab it. He won't need it anymore."
Yeah, he did have his weapon on him. A flamethrower, big and bulky. Kaidan checked the perimeter real quick-- and spotted dark strands blocking their way. He gestured at it. "Is that... webbing?"
Shepard pulled the flamethrower up out of the muck and turned over, pointing the weapon at the icky goop clinging to the cave walls. One gout of flame, and the whole thing burned up. Just like that. "Looks like it."
Kaidan clicked his own flashlight on. "Check those corners," he hissed.
"Everybody be ready."
Things skittered over the floor. More webbing hung from the ceiling. Yeah. He really didn't like this.
Liked it even less when something exploded by his feet, and he barely managed to leap out of the way. Fuck. Eggs? Were those eggs? "Be careful," he hissed, "Shepard. These things pack a punch."
Another gout of flame. The remaining eggs caught fire, then exploded, too, but this time there was no one nearby to catch the splatter. Kaidan was over there a few seconds later, kicking at the remains, trying to see-- "Wires," he said. "Reaper tech?"
"Maybe," Shepard said grimly.
They pushed on.
The next room was large, cavernous. The ceiling had to be up at least a few hundred feet. Kaidan's attention was drawn briefly to it as they hopped off the ledge-- and then immediately drew back to the present, as something began to scream. He yanked his eyes back to straight-ahead and saw it: large, insectoid, with giant orange sacks hanging off its stomach.
"Grunt," Shepard yelled, "We've got rachni!"
"Light 'em up, Shepard!"
They dove for cover just in time, as the creature above launched rounds of... something... straight at them. "Fuck!"
"Husks!"
"Along the far wall, Shepard! Rachni!"
"You know the drill! Stay behind cover!"
And for a moment, it was chaos.
And then it was not.
"It's the same rachni we saw on Tuchanka, Shepard," Liara said, poking gently at the dead creature with her pistol.
Shepard nodded. "Grunt?" he said. "Rachni presence confirmed. Modified and very dangerous."
Grunt's voice was nearly feral over the comm. "Finally! Something to kill!" A moment's silence. "Nothing here yet. Lost a krogan to a sinkhole. Bad way to go."
Kaidan chewed on his bottom lip. "The nest has to be here somewhere," he said, lifting a flamethrower from another dead krogan trooper's hands. "These Reaper troops are protecting something important."
Together with the others, he lit fire to the remaining eggs-- spore pods-- whatever those things were. It took a while. The cavern was full of 'em. They found a large door resting behind them, tied to a weird lock that looked like Reaper tech. Opened up just fine if you shot it, but... weird. This whole thing... just weird.
The roof began to tremble. And just like that, Kaidan's head was back with the present. "Cave-in!" he yelled, grabbing Liara by the arm and hurtling himself through the newly-opened door. The rocks came down behind them, jamming the passage. They scraped right past Kaidan's back and probably wrecked some of his armor.
"What was that?" Grunt yelled over the comm. "Shepard? Sounded bad!"
"Cave-in. We're all right."
"Good. Didn't want to dig you out."
"That hurts my feelings, Grunt."
"Yeah, yeah."
[[ nfb, nfi, taken from Mass Effect 3, Attican Traverse: The Rachni. To be continued as I saunter through this bit of canon. ]]
"What's that?" Liara called, shining her flashlight ahead.
"I see it," Shepard said, turning that way. He frowned, hitting his comm. "Grunt? Got a body of a scout here. Been dead a few days."
"Yeah?" the krogan grunted in response. "If he has his weapon, grab it. He won't need it anymore."
Yeah, he did have his weapon on him. A flamethrower, big and bulky. Kaidan checked the perimeter real quick-- and spotted dark strands blocking their way. He gestured at it. "Is that... webbing?"
Shepard pulled the flamethrower up out of the muck and turned over, pointing the weapon at the icky goop clinging to the cave walls. One gout of flame, and the whole thing burned up. Just like that. "Looks like it."
Kaidan clicked his own flashlight on. "Check those corners," he hissed.
"Everybody be ready."
Things skittered over the floor. More webbing hung from the ceiling. Yeah. He really didn't like this.
Liked it even less when something exploded by his feet, and he barely managed to leap out of the way. Fuck. Eggs? Were those eggs? "Be careful," he hissed, "Shepard. These things pack a punch."
Another gout of flame. The remaining eggs caught fire, then exploded, too, but this time there was no one nearby to catch the splatter. Kaidan was over there a few seconds later, kicking at the remains, trying to see-- "Wires," he said. "Reaper tech?"
"Maybe," Shepard said grimly.
They pushed on.
The next room was large, cavernous. The ceiling had to be up at least a few hundred feet. Kaidan's attention was drawn briefly to it as they hopped off the ledge-- and then immediately drew back to the present, as something began to scream. He yanked his eyes back to straight-ahead and saw it: large, insectoid, with giant orange sacks hanging off its stomach.
"Grunt," Shepard yelled, "We've got rachni!"
"Light 'em up, Shepard!"
They dove for cover just in time, as the creature above launched rounds of... something... straight at them. "Fuck!"
"Husks!"
"Along the far wall, Shepard! Rachni!"
"You know the drill! Stay behind cover!"
And for a moment, it was chaos.
And then it was not.
"It's the same rachni we saw on Tuchanka, Shepard," Liara said, poking gently at the dead creature with her pistol.
Shepard nodded. "Grunt?" he said. "Rachni presence confirmed. Modified and very dangerous."
Grunt's voice was nearly feral over the comm. "Finally! Something to kill!" A moment's silence. "Nothing here yet. Lost a krogan to a sinkhole. Bad way to go."
Kaidan chewed on his bottom lip. "The nest has to be here somewhere," he said, lifting a flamethrower from another dead krogan trooper's hands. "These Reaper troops are protecting something important."
Together with the others, he lit fire to the remaining eggs-- spore pods-- whatever those things were. It took a while. The cavern was full of 'em. They found a large door resting behind them, tied to a weird lock that looked like Reaper tech. Opened up just fine if you shot it, but... weird. This whole thing... just weird.
The roof began to tremble. And just like that, Kaidan's head was back with the present. "Cave-in!" he yelled, grabbing Liara by the arm and hurtling himself through the newly-opened door. The rocks came down behind them, jamming the passage. They scraped right past Kaidan's back and probably wrecked some of his armor.
"What was that?" Grunt yelled over the comm. "Shepard? Sounded bad!"
"Cave-in. We're all right."
"Good. Didn't want to dig you out."
"That hurts my feelings, Grunt."
"Yeah, yeah."
[[ nfb, nfi, taken from Mass Effect 3, Attican Traverse: The Rachni. To be continued as I saunter through this bit of canon. ]]