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[LoonySpectre]

This is only a part of a larger story. Originally inspired by addition of volus characters in multiplayer. Has no name as yet.

"Volus at the front line? Things must have gone really desperate", Zaeed Massani, the commander of a small mercenary group, said with a twisted smile when Loyno Sep arrived to his ship. "Din Korlack did promise me resources and people after I saved his ass, but to be honest, I was expecting some goddamn accountant or clerk, not a fighter."

But after their fist mission, Zaeed came to respect the volus. When a small squad was ambushed by cannibals and marauders, Loyno Sep's presence was one of the biggest reasons of everyone surviving. The small armoured roly-poly ran around the battlefield at surprising speed, restoring the shields and throwing mines right and left.

"If you're so good at combat, why have you become our client race in the first place?" a veteran turian named Pontus asked him when the squad returned to the ship.

"The answer is... shhh... simple", Loyno Sep said, pointing at his combat suit. "This thing costs... shhh... so much that the same amount of credits is... shhh... enough to pay the wages of a whole turian platoon... shhh... for a month. Do you agree that... shhh... a turian platoon is more effective in a fight... shhh... than one volus?"

"We wouldn't mind to get similar toys for the Blue Suns", said Pontus enviously.

"And now there are... shhh... no turian platoons to pay to... shhh... so we had to join the fight... shhh... ourselves. Not everyone, of course", the volus added, pretending not to hear the old mercenary.

***

"A volus, a drell and a batarian walk into a bar... Sorry, couldn't resist", laughed Paula Connors. She was an engineer, one of the last graduates of the N7 Academy in Rio before the Reapers' attack.

"Never understood your human jokes", the batarian mercenary Osto said gloomily. "And now, they seem especially out of place."

"It's an integral part of being human, Osto", Zaeed Massani told him. "Like having four eyes is for the batarians."

"Never mind, Zaeed. Why have you assembled such a strange team?", the batarian asked.

"We need to destroy a Blood Pack outpost". Zaeed projected a small holographic image over the table. "The last thing we know, the Reapers found that base. Very few managed to evacuate. The others are either dead or..."

"Indoctrinated", Paula finished for him. Zaeed nodded.

"You'll deploy here", he showed the location on the map, "and then proceed to this room. It's easy to defend, so you three will be doing that. And the most interesting part is up to Mr. Krios."

Everyone looked at Kolyat Krios, who, like Loyno Sep, kept silence.

"Yes, he's Thane Krios's son", Zaeed answered the batarian's unasked question. "The only infiltration specialist on our ship."

"You're exhaggerating, Mr. Massani", said Kolyat quietly.

"OK, if you like it more that way - you're the only one who knows anything about the goddamn cloaking field. Get to the main reactor and plant explosives there. Loyno and Paula will supply you with all necessary equipment."

Paula Connors pointed to a bunch of grenades lying at her feet.

"These things are locking onto the target themselves. But use them sparingly - I'm the only one who can replenish your stock."

Kolyat nodded and came to Loyno Sep. The volus, who barely reached Kolyat's waist, powered up his omni-tool.

"I give you these unique blueprints... shhh... for free. It's a reconaissance mine, which... shhh... scans the enemy's movement... shhh... and explodes on your command. The mines, unlike... shhh... grenades, don't run out, but, as you understand... shhh... they attract a lot of attention. Use them... shhh... wisely."

"Thank you", Kolyat said. He understood perfectly what's it like for a volus to give anything away for free. But in those desperate times even stranger things happened.

"And now, everyone go to the shuttle", Zaeed announced. "Osto, maintain communication with me at all times."

***

The landing went well. Perhaps even too well. The mercenaries didn't meet any ground resistance and got into the room pointed by Zaeed without problem. Paula Connors immediately erected a supply pylon in the corner, and Loyno Sep placed a recon mine at the entrance.

"Look, Kolyat", he said. "This mine... shhh... has several possible modifications. You can... shhh... choose them in the omni-tool menu. For sabotage... shhh... you'll need maximum explosive force. And I... shhh... installed invasive scan modules... shhh... that interfere with electronic circuits... shhh... on my mines.

"Got it", said Kolyat, entering commands on his omni-tool.

"Good luck, Krios", Osto grumbled and smacked him on the shoulder so hard that he staggered.

They heard a muffled howl ahead.

"Husks", Paula said. "But... some other kind. Their voice sounds different."

"They're probably made out of vorcha", Osto grimaced. "Perhaps they have even become a bit smarter after that."

"I should go", said Krios and disappeared. "I'll chime in periodically", his blurred, almost transparent silhoetto added, and then there were just three of them in the room.

"Krios is heading towards the objective", the batarian reported to Zaeed. "The coast is clear so far."

Everything was going just too well, except for the annoying howl that became louder and louder. Kolyat was telling Osto that he moved ahead, avoiding the main corridors. Loyno Sep and Paula chatted nonchalantly, discussing mines, grenades and battle armour, clearly getting on the batarian's nerves.

"I've got some grenades too, and I swear with all your deities that I'll throw one at you if you don't shut up right now!", he finally growled. "This is a combat operation! You have to be ready to fight at any moment!"

"I'm attacked by two husks", said Kolyat over the radio with somewhat shaky, but calm voice. "Those are indoctrinated vorcha indeed. Killed both, moving forward."

The howl sounded again, now very close. All three mercenaries readied their weapons.

"Enemies!" said Loyno Sep. The recon mine came to life, transmitting images to everyone's HUDs.

Osto turned deliberately slowly and blew the first ugly creature's head off with his shotgun, then swung his arm and struck the second one with his mighty holographic fist, breaking its ribs and sending it flying towards the far wall.

The volus and Terran woman opened fire at the same time, felling two more husks with a Phaeston burst and a bullet from Black Widow.

"Zaeed, it's becoming hotter in here", said Osto loudly. "How much time Krios has to return?"

"Fall back only if threatened with sertain death", Zaeed answered through the static. "If you just run and leave anyone behind, I'll take your goddamned four-eyed head off."

"Understood", the batarian replied in a flat voice and shot a fan of blades, as sharp as the vorcha's fangs and claws, from a launcher on his right wrist. They hit three husks at once; the husks stopped for a moment, as though stumbling, and then small explosions tore them apart.

"Krios!" Osto shouted. "What's your status?"

"Going through a large hall. There are many, very many brutes and husks. Some are heading your way."

"Kill them all with a rocket!" Paula exclaimed.

"Disregard that!" Osto interrupted. "You have to reach the reactor as quickly and secretly as you can. On your way back, on the other hand, you're free to kill anyone with anything. Even us, if we behave strangely and shoot at you."

"Roger", said Kolyat. "The map shows that the target is near."

"There's a brute... shhh... nearby", Loyno Sep stated.

"Let it get close", Osto smirked, reloading his shotgun. "It'll get a warm reception."

The reception was literally hot: the monstrous krogan/turian hybrid was "greeted" by Osto's Inferno grenade, Paula's homing grenade and Loyno Sep's proximity mine. The brute roared from the pain and swung its massive paw, almost hitting the batarian. Osto, swearing in some ancient dialect of Khar'Shan, shot it two times with his shotgun and added some more ballistic blades. The monster fell on the floor heavily.

"The scanner shows some life signs. Krogan and two vorcha", Kolyat chimed in again. "They have barricaded in a small corridor."

"Don't let them distract you, Krios", said Osto, kicking the last husk with his spiky boot. "Tell them that everything's gonna blow up soon and they should run like hell. If they still have legs to run."

***

Kolyat turned on his cloaking device and started a frequency scan. When he recognized the vorcha's raspy voice in the static, he said quietly:

"Listen closely, there's very little time. This base is going to be destroyed soon. If you want to live, fight your way to our group. Transmitting coordinates and a safe route to your omni-tools."

"How we know you not indoctrinated and not want us just leave our safe place?" the vorcha hissed back.

"Well, I'm a drell", said Kolyat calmly. "If the Reapers really wanted to draw you away, they could have sent, say, a krogan. Who actually knew your names."

"We already send our engineer to reactor", the vorcha continued. "So, drell, get the hell out here if you want live. We won't escape alive anyway..."

"Stop the idle chatter, Krios!" Osto interrupted. "If they don't want to live, let them die here."

"Krios?" a krogan's voice said, softly but commandingly. "A glorious name. Very glorious. Ansh, call off Surt."

"But..." the vorcha tried to protest.

"Call him off and send him Krios's route. He'll easily make it on his own. If there is a way to survive, it would be stupid not to follow it."

"Surt! Surt, come on! Surt! Where the hell are you?!" Ansh's voice became more anxious with every phrase.

"Great. Wonderful", Osto said. "The mission had just become much more interesting. Krios, you should get to the reactor before that engineer gets to it! Throw all caution to the varrens and take the shortest route!"

"We will try to get to your position", the krogan said before Kolyat could answer. "If we manage to get our communication working, we'll call our engineer off. If we don't... you're authorized to use force upon encounter with him."

"Roger", said Kolyat, then added, "Be careful. There are many husks and brutes around. Krios out"

***

More and more husks arrived. Osto had made a couple of quick beelines to Paula's pylon to replenish his grenades, and Loyno Sep even had to explode his recon mine to kill two enraged wounded brutes at once.

"Careful with those mines, Loyno", Osto shouted while reloading his gun. "There's a huge crack in the wall, and everything might crush on us after one more explosion. And I surely don't wanna die in this hell-hole."

"The explosion may be... shhh... necessary", the volus answered as he ran into the corridor and planted a new mine further away. The mine immediately showed five brutes incoming at once.

"Oh damn", Paula mumbled and nervously readjusted the grenades on her belt.

"Krios, status report!" the batarian radioed Kolyat.

"Almost there. Met a brute on the way, but managed to distract it and run away..."

Kolyat's voice was drowned in a loud roar, then the radio went silent. Swearing sulfurously, Osto threw a grenade into the corridor, under the feet of incoming enemies.

***

The brute charged and hit Kolyat with its enormous paw. The drell was thrown to the wall, but his shields thankfully held. Staggered, Kolyat blindly jumped sideways, avoiding the second punch, and cloaked.

The brute growled and looked around, clearly not understanding where had its victim gone. Kolyat launched a homing grenade, then took out his SMG - his father's final gift - and shot a whole burst into the mutilated turian head. The brute screamed and jumped at the decloaked Kolyat, but it was all he needed - nimbly dodging the blow again, the drell ran into a narrow corridor that was blocked by the brute's body. If the map was right (Kolyat memorized it perfectly from the first glance), this tunnel led straight to his objective.

***

"Osto, do you read? I'm at the reactor". Kolyat's calm voice sounded very discordantly in the cacophony of screams and shots. "Planting the mine."

"Determine the most vulnerable... shhh... place", Loyno Sep answered instead of the batarian. Osto was busy fighting off two brutes at once and couldn't afford any distractions. "Or else you might... shhh... have not enough power. And... shhh... don't forget to retreat to a safe distance."

"Of course", Kolyat said. "The mine is planted", he said a bit later.

"Retreat", Osto said hoarsely as he wiped the scraps of dead flesh off his face. The brute he just shot threw its enormous paw forward with the last effort of its dying muscles, pushing him back slightly. The furious Osto shot its head to pieces with his Raider.

"We wait for Krios, then we're out of here", the batarian shouted.

"And what about those vorcha he sent our way?" Paula asked as she threw a grenade into a small group of husks.

"They will either make it here before him... or won't make it at all", Osto said.

A long burst from Loyno Sep's Phaeston distracted another brute and gave Osto a few moments to get his bearings. Paula tried to kill the big ugly creature with her Black Widow, but the bullet only grazed the ridge of the turian head. The brute roared, turned and with one sudden leap came near her.

Paula jumped to the side and threw all her remaining grenades at the brute, then took out her pistol. It probably wouldn't help much, but in close quarters, it's better than a sniper rifle anyway. The brute, staggering from multiple wounds, made a few steps forward and smashed Paula with its paw, throwing her off her feet.

The engineer woman shot a few times with her Carnifex, managing to hit the monster's cybernetic eye. The enraged brute swung its paw and hit the floor.

There was a loud crunch, followed by a scream of pain so loud that it even muffled the shots for a second.

The brute struck again. Paula's lower left leg turned into a mash of flesh, blood and metal.

The brute swung the third time, but couldn't land the hit. A proximity mine and another burst from Loyno Sep's Phaeston killed it for good.

"Soon!" The volus ran up to Paula and pointed his omni-tool at the remains of her leg. Paula groaned.

"The pain will soon go away... shhh... but medi-gel alone is not enough... shhh... to treat such trauma", he said.

"Zaeed, we've got casualties!" Osto shouted, and then crushed the head of the last brute with the butt of his shotgun.

"Who died?" Zaeed quickly asked.

"Nobody yet. But Connors had her leg torn off, so she can't fight anymore."

"Losing a leg doesn't mean I can't throw grenades", Paula said in a strange voice. "And if you help me sit up, I can shoot as well. The volus patched me up greatly."

Osto turned to her and was momentarily stunned. Paula removed her helmet; her face was completely white, even paler than her blonde hair.

"I'll... shhh... cover the entrance", said Loyno Sep as he sat down in the doorway and activated his force field. Husks and brutes couldn't shoot, and anyone who dared to approach would be hit with nasty electric shock.

Osto, as accurately as he could, dragged Paula to her pylon and helped her to sit with her back to the wall, trying hard not to look in her face.

***

"Krios, we don't have much time here! Hurry up!" the batarian loudly said over Kolyat's radio.

"Understood", the drell answered and took out his SMG.

He decided to take a different route back from the reactor room - Kolyat had no intentions to meet the wounded brute again. He climbed the ladder, ran across a narrow bridge and entered a small corridor. The map showed that the long, meandering corridor led to the room with a lot of brutes which Kolyat passed earlier.

The corridor was dark and cramped, and so when someone suddenly jumped on Kolyat from behind the corner, the drell couldn't avoid that. He kicked blindly, struck something soft and heard a yell. The next moment, Kolyat was covered by a strong metallic net.

"Hey, easier there!" Kolyat said instinctively as he felt the unpleasant tickle of electric discharges. The shields were holding, but as soon as they ran out, the tickle would be replaced by unbearable pain.

"You alive!" hissed the vorcha attacker.

"Alive", the drell confirmed.

"How you get here?" The vorcha activated the flashlight on his omni-tool. "Hey, you drell! Where you from?"

"Could you let me go first?" asked Kolyat, clenching his teeth to endure the growing pain.

"No, you answer first", the vorcha grinned.

"I have planted a bomb in your reactor. It's directly linked with my vital signs", Kolyat bluffed desperately. "If I die, it... blows up immediately."

"You surpass me!" the vorcha exclaimed. "They send me blow reactor, I stuck in this corridor."

"You're Surt?" Kolyat surmised. "I had radio contact with your squad, they are currently trying to reach our position", he added quickly, seeing the vorcha's suspicion.

"Your position? Who you?"

"Zaeed Massani's mercenaries. We're here to destroy this base and all of its indoctrinated inhabitants."

"For now I believe you, drell", said Surt, deactivating his submission net mere seconds before the failure of Kolyat's shields. "But if you deceive me - I kill you. No matter base blow up. I not care, I came here die."

Kolyat got up slowly and shrugged.

***

Loyno Sep lowered his head and closed his eyes. The force field held a throng of vorcha husks in the narrow doorway, and he didn't want to see the mutilated faces of those creatures. Osto and Paula were shooting them down like targets in a simulator: one shot - one kill, one more shot - one more kill, another shot - a head flies off...

One husk suddenly lunged at the volus, managing to get between two electric pulses, and punched him. Loyno Sep staggered, the combat suit's computer registered movement and turned the force field off. The husk immediately clawed at the volus, its two fellows immediately joined in. One got shot down by Paula, but yet another appeared in its place. Loyno Sep lost his balance and fell on the floor.

Osto ran to help. Grabbing the nearest husk by the throat, he threw it down on the floor and stomped on its head. With this, the batarian managed to distract several other ugly beings, and when they turned to him, he immediately launched a fan of ballistic blades.

"Suit damaged!" the volus exclaimed, trying in vain to reactivate the force field.

"One moment", Paula said softly as she pushed the holographic keys on the omni-tool. Taking a grenade from her belt, she placed it into a miniature launcher on her left forearm and entered the launch command.

The homing grenade reached the necessary velocity and then split in two smaller ones, hitting several husks at once. It seemed that there was still a lot from the organic vorcha in those husks, because together with the smell of burning flesh, the room filled with the screams of pain.

"Shut up!" Osto roared as he threw his incendiary grenade into the doorway. Loyno Sep, who barely managed to stand up, jumped away with unexpected nimbleness and pushed the shield boost button almost simultaneously with the grenade's hit. The explosion that left only chunks of charred flesh and pieces of some wire in the room only slightly shook the volus.

"Hey, you're cold-blooded", Osto said respectfully.

The shield restoration technology appeared almost as soon as the shields themselves were invented. The mass effect field during the boosting process was so intensive that, in theory, with a very precisely calculated activation time, could even save the shield's owner from a nuclear explosion. Though nobody dared to verify that theory - even the batarians, who had no regard for casualties, decided that it's not worth it to waste a nuclear bomb and a squad of soldiers in expensive battle suits to model a situation that's almost impossible in real life.

Nevertheless, had Loyno Sep activated the booster a split-second later, Osto would have had to revive him with medi-gel - that is, if he managed to find his remains among those of the husks.

"Krios, do you read me? Krios!" Osto turned on his radio. "Answer me, Krios!"

He heard only static.

***

"Osto! Osto, do you read?"

Kolyat was trying to contact Osto in the dark, meandering corridor, but all frequencies were dead.

"Your radio not work too?" Surt hissingly chuckled.

"Either it doesn't work... or there's nobody to answer it", said Kolyat slowly, almost afraid of his own thoughts.

"Let's get out corridor, try again", Surt offered. "If again not work, I kill you and die myself."

Kolyat, puzzled, turned around and looked at the vorcha. His sharp-toothed grin made it impossible to understand whether he was serious.

"I do you favour", the vorcha added. "Better I gut you than Reapers make you monster."

Kolyat suddenly remembered his father. Thane would have surely said something like, "Are you crazy - turning your back to someone who'd already tried to kill you?"

"How much is there to go?" the drell asked, driving the unwelcome thoughts away.

"Couple minutes to exit. Though big mob of big monsters made me run to corridor... I not sure they gone."

Kolyat touched the silvery barrel of his rocket launcher.

***

"Zaeed! I can't raise Krios!" Osto said.

"You've got five minutes. If he still doesn't respond in that time - leave. Can you detonate the bomb without him?" Something in Zaeed's voice confused Osto. He gave that order almost unwillingly, as though he hoped they could avoid leaving Krios behind.

"I can... shhh... tune my omni-tool to the frequency of his mine... shhh... but this requires some time", Loyno Sep answered.

"Then get to it immediately. Zaeed out."

"Do you think Kolyat is dead?" Paula's quiet, raspy voice broke the silence.

"This is war. People die", Osto said harshly. "Krios has five minutes to prove us otherwise. If we don't die by then." The batarian waved his hand towards the corridor, where the volus' recon mine showed new enemies approaching.

***

Kolyat and Surt stopped at the edge of the great hall.

"Osto?" Kolyat said hopefully. The omni-tool still answered with static.

"We have to go in", the vorcha snorted.

"I'll be back very soon", said Kolyat as he disappeared in thin air. Surt screamed in rage and threw his net at the place where the drell just stood, but missed.

Kolyat made several steps into the great hall and readied the Cobra missile launcher. He shot his only missile, targeting the largest cluster of brutes.

The explosion killed at least a dozen of monstrous beasts. Placing the launcher behind his back again, Kolyat ran back into the corridor and put his SMG to the perplexed Surt's head.

"Listen to me! This is our only chance! Follow me and don't stop! I'm authorized by your commander to use force if you don't cooperate!"

The vorcha nodded vigorously. Kolyat turned away from him and ran.

They managed to get across the hall without much resistance besides a couple of husks. Kolyat downed one with a well-targeted kick, and Surt sank the claws of his omni-tool right into the heart region of the other.

"Osto! Do you copy?" Kolyat yelled, trying to regain his breath. The brutes at the other end of the hall that weren't killed by the missile noticed the two runaways and gave chase with a loud roar.

***

"Damn, Krios!" the batarian exclaimed, throwing a grenade at the brute. "Where the hell were you?"

"Searched for Surt", Kolyat replied, breathing heavily. "There was no radio in the corridors."

"Bring your sorry asses here, and quickly! Osto out."

Osto, Loyno Sep and Paula didn't exactly have time to talk. Brutes and husks came in unending waves; if not for the shield booster that the volus used each couple of seconds, they'd have fallen under the onslaught long ago.

"What the hell?" the batarian screamed suddenly. After another shield boost, his shotgun refused to fire. Osto took a grenade from his belt, and his subsequent tirade would have made the ancient batarian god of profanity's ears curl up: the omni-tool didn't charge the grenade with incendiary mixture. Loyno Sep almost pushed the button to detonate his recon mine, but remembered that he'd detonate Kolyat's mine instead, and quickly withdrew his hand.

Two grenades exploded in the midst of incoming husks: the electric one was hurled by Paula, while the other one came...

From the corridor.

The grenade was followed by the howl of two vorcha - real vorcha - and the unmistakable laughter of a krogan who throws his victims around.

"Cavalry", Paula whispered.

The Reaper-made creatures were distracted by the sudden arrival of new enemies, and this gave Loyno Sep time to change the frequencies back to his own recon mine. He was ready to detonate it at any moment.

"What have you done with my weapon, volus?" Osto roughly shoved him, almost toppling him.

"The technology... shhh... was approved for serial production too soon, without all necessary tests", Loyno Sep answered as calmly as he could. "Sometimes, the generators launch... shhh... some harmful pulses that freeze the technology around them." The volus turned away and threw a proximity mine at a brute. "You have to... shhh... restart your omni-tool."

"And did many of your troops die because of... not enough tests?" Osto couldn't help but chuckle, sensing the absurdity of the whole situation.

"It's... shhh... classified", Loyno Sep said.

Heavy krogan hammer pounded the ground; then a punch sounded, and one husks flew straight into the room. Osto instinctively swung his arm... and the omni-tool suddenly returned to life, turning into the holographic glove. The mass effects fields threw the batarian's mighty body after the husk, and his punch smeared the husk over the wall.

"Ha!" Osto exclaimed. "Everything works again!"

There was a big explosion in the corridor, and smoke covered everything. Paula zoomed in with her Black Widow and saw a heap of charred bodies, two vorcha waving their paws (Paula couldn't bring herself to call them "arms") triumphantly and a heavy armoured krogan slumping to the wall.

"Loyno, they need help there", she rasped. The volus ran out, followed by the batarian.

"You came just in time", he said calmly. "A minute later, and you'd have to get out on your own."

"What... shhh... happened?" Loyno Sep asked the krogan who removed his helmet and was trying to stop the bleeding on his head.

"Something exploded... and then a big stone fell from the ceiling", the krogan said softly, pointing on the large dent in his helmet.

"Here's medi-gel." The volus brought his omni-tool closer to the wound, and it closed immediately. Then a strange crack sounded.

"Ceiling falling!" one of the vorcha yelled as he looked up.

"Let's get out! If anyone needs grenades, you can pick up some there", Osto waved his hand towards Paula.

"And who's gonna pick me up?" Paula tried to chuckle. "Will vorcha regenerate my leg back for the grenades, or something?"

The batarian quickly walked up to Paula, grabbed her easily and put her over his large shoulder.

"Sorry, can't do any better. I need at least one free arm."

***

Kolyat and Surt turned a corner... and immediately got shot in the faces.

"Hey! You mad?" the vorcha screamed when he saw who shot him.

"You said I can shot you back if you behaved strangely and shot at me. Can I?" Kolyat half-joked, readying his SMG.

"Krios, curse you!" Osto exclaimed, stopping in mid-swing and placing the grenade back onto his belt. The batarian fell behind the others - carrying Paula wasn't an easy task.

"There's a lot of brutes in that corridor", said Kolyat, breathing heavily. "We have some lead over them, but we shouldn't stand for too long."

"You won't go too far", said the krogan, pointing at Osto. "I'll remain here and cover your retreat."

"Alone?!" Osto asked, astonished. "Yes, I did hear that you can kill a brute with just one hit of that hammer, but..."

"No, not alone", suddenly even for himself said Loyno Sep. "I'll... shhh... help you."

The vorcha started to laugh, but immediately fell silent when their krogan chief turned his head slightly.

"You've got a quad, you little thing", said the krogan respectfully.

Paula entered a few commands into her omni-tool, and a new supply pylon grew on the floor beside Osto.

"I hope this helps a little as well", she said.

A roar sounded from the corridor Kolyat and Surt came from.

"Go", the krogan said. "If I don't return, send a message to Tuchanka that Gatatog Udor died with honour."

Osto started to walk slowly towards the exit. Kolyat picked up a grenade at the pylon - just in case.

The first brutes showed. Ansh and the second vorcha who came with Udor suddenly jumped forward and turned on their flamethrowers, howling loudly.

"What are... shhh... they doing?" Loyno Sep blurted out.

The vorcha waved their hands furiously, filling the entire corridor with flames. The brutes, caught by surprise, even slowed down a little.

Loyno Sep quickly got his bearings and threw a proximity mine towards the brutes. Surt waited until his fellows deplete their flamers' fuel and then hurled an incinerating ball in the same direction, and Kolyat launched a homing grenade. The explosion was so powerful that it shook even Udor, and threw the vorcha into the wall.

"Now go", the krogan said. "It's our turn."

The three vorcha and Kolyat chased after Osto. One of the wounded, burning brutes managed to crawl up to Udor and even swing its paw with melted armour plates. The krogan swung powerfully and struck the brute's spine with his battle hammer, breaking it in half.

"Ready?" Udor asked Loyno Sep.

"Ready", he answered, setting a recon mine.

The krogan and the volus worked like a well-oiled machine. A proximity mine under the brute's feet, a Claymore shot, a short Phaeston burst, a booming hammer strike, bones crunching, the krogan's predatory laughter, the sound of shield booster. The Reaper creatures did manage to land some hits, but very rarely; one of the brutes even managed to surmise that the volus was as dangerous as the krogan, and almost toppled him when it struck running at full speed. The pylon saved Loyno Sep, restoring his shields mere moments before the second strike.

"Loyno, do you copy?" Osto chimed in on the radio. "We've almost made it to the exit, you can retreat."

"Understood. Udor... shhh... let's go", the volus said.

"Wait a moment." The krogan leaned down and tore away the dead brute's head together with the metallic vertebrae. "I can carry this turian head as a trophy everywhere, and nobody will even say anything", he laughed quietly.

When Loyno Sep and Udor came to the landing zone, only Kolyat and Surt were waiting for them. The small shuttle couldn't accommodate everyone, so two other vorcha and Osto with Paula were sent away first.

"The shuttle will be back for you in two minutes", Zaeed said over the radio. "Detonate the goddamn bomb as soon as you board the shuttle."

"The battle isn't over yet? Wonderful", Udor growled. Though the battle turned out very easy. The squad easily despatched the few brutes that made it to the surface; the last one was crushed under the weight of the landing shuttle.

Kolyat strapped to his seat and detonated the mine from his omni-tool.

"Taking off!" said Pontus, who was piloting the shuttle. They didn't hear the powerful underground explosion that destroyed the former Blood Pack base together with its indoctrinated inhabitants.