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Mass Effect: The Helldiver Saga, The Last Cycle	By : Veyron722skyhook Category: +M through R > Mass Effect Views: 6104 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Mass Effect or it's characters. They belong to Bioware and EA. No money/profit is made by me from this.

Chapter List
- 24
- 25
- 26
13,000 words!

That's how long this chapter is.

The longest I've ever done. Have fun reading, took a lot of work to do this, but it was worth it.

Chapter 25

Rumble in the Jungle

"Conifer." Said Ventra. "Definitely not a place you would call Paradise."

All of Alpha Squad was sat in the belly of a Helldiver gunship.

Recently the Resistance had come across an oddly anonymous tip that there were some ancient Prothean ruins located somewhere on the planet Conifer in the Element cluster. Since they could not afford to ignore an opportunity that could finally reveal the catalyst to them, Austin had chosen to investigate.

Given that there was the chance of it being a trap, and the fact that all the planets in the Element cluster were hazardous and mostly uncharted, the Arkanes had been unwilling to let the leader of the resistance go without some assistance. So, Alpha had been paired with another Helldiver squad.

That squad was the well known Havok Squad.

For many years, Havok had been known for often taking on some of the more hazardous missions due to their consistent uses of mecha suits which were specially modified to cope with almost any situation.

They consisted of 4 Human members, and a fairly female Drell. Captain Villard Brutus, also known by the nickname Brute, Havok's leader. Construct, the heavy lifter of the team, so named due to his armour's configuration having a looks similar to that of construction equipment. Driller, obviously named due to the large drills on his hands, and his armour. Normica, a rather big and muscular woman, especially for a Drell who served as Havok's engineer. And finally, Inferno, a mute pyro Helldiver with a literally fiery temper.

"Yeah. I hear only 10% of it is charted, the rest... well, you get the idea." Said Dash, relaxing in his seat.

"You gonna bore us all the way with these "land that time forgot" stories? Because I get cranky very easily." Kraan sighed.

Sandra meanwhile couldn't care less if Dash was being annoying. She was focused on making sure she didn't throw up. Despite the many times she'd been flying in a dropship, she still got travelsick.

"Easy, darling. Breath. Breath." Said Alaara supportingly.

"I hate flying. Why can't we ever keep our feet on the ground." The comm expert groaned.

"Come on, guys. What's wrong with having a little fun? We're on an Exhibition to find a long lost ruin in an uncharted jungle planet. It's an adventure!" said Dash, relaxing in his seat.

"I would actually agree. Besides, there's never been any reports of giant killer monsters. What could possibly go wrong?" said Jet rhetorically.

Everyone else meanwhile was gathered in the cargo hold part of the gunship. This was where Havok's mecha suits were kept, and also where Havok themselves were. Normica was currently checking on all of them as Leena gave a few admiring looks at the suits.

"Nice suits. The M Mark KU239, if I'm not mistaken?" she asked.

"Indeed. Best of the medium sized ranges." Normica replied.

"Why not go with the big ones, though?" Liara asked.

"Trust me, these are already big enough. The large ones are as tall as a building. You'd scare the living crap out of people. Besides, those ones are only meant for battles anyway, not exploration." Said Normica.

Austin meanwhile was having a friendly talk with Brute, who was checking his armour.

"So what exactly were you told when you were assigned to this... adventure with us?" Austin asked.

"Security. Our job is to keep you safe. Frankly, I'm not surprised. You're the legendary Alpha Squad and you've got the leader of the resistance with you. That's one Helldiver we definitely can't afford to lose." Said Brute.

Austin simply nodded and decided to leave it at that. He could tell that Brute would rather concentrate on his armour checks. He noticed that Liara was looking out of the window eagerly.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Yes. I guess I'm just a little excited. There's always the small hope we may even find out what the Catalyst is." Liara replied.

"Be nice if we did. We can't last against the Reapers forever." Said Austin.

"This reminds me a bit of that safari we went on once for our Honeymoon, only with more jungle and... less animals." Said Liara, trying to change the subject to something happier.

"And we didn't have giant mecha suits with us." Said Austin.

"Yes. That too." Liara chuckled.

"Captain, we can see what looks like a landing strip. Want us to set her down?" said the gunships pilot.

"Circle around for a bit just to be sure. Wouldn't' want any sudden jumps on us." Brute replied.

"Yes, sir."

The dropship set down and Havok stepped out first to set up a perimeter.

"Alright, Havok. Spread out! Set up a perimeter and check the area." Brute ordered.

Austin adn the others then joined them. Austin looked at the runway curiously.

"This looks very old." he said.

"There did use to be some outpost bases here before they were abandoned." said Hawk.

"Makes me wonder though if anyone else has ever been here for more... different ventures." said Austin.

At that moment, Ventra suddenly started to grab ontot he branch of a nearby tree and swung on it several times.

"Ventra, what are you doing?" Austin asked.

"What does it look like, I'm climbing the tree." Ventra replied as he swung himself up onto another higher branch.

"Why?"

"To get a better view."

"The view from the gunship isn't good enough?"

"Never beats going to see for yourself." said Ventra.

Finally, the Turian reached the top and found himself gazing in woudner at the magnificent vista of the jungle. It looked incredible.

"Well, how's it look?" Austin asked.

"Beautiful. You should see this." Ventra replied.

"Better than those tourist pics?" Hawk asked.

"Oh yeah."

By now, most of Havok and Alpha had headed into the trees just to be sure there weren't any preadtors hiding nearby.

"How's it going out there, Cap?" the pilto suddenly asked through the gunship's loudspeakers.

"Thought I told you to stop using those. That is a very bad idea." said Brute.

"Fail to see how though, Brute. Who's gonna hear?" the pilot asked.

A loud roar suddenly broke the the once peaceful silence of the jungle. Everyone's head whirled round in surprise.

"What was that?" Brute asked feafully.

"Local predator?" said Hawk.

The sound of gunfire then started to emmanate from the trees, and the sound of branches and trees being smashed down joined them as several birds seemed to suddenly fly off. Something was headign their way, and it was engaging both squads.

"I don't think so." said Austin. "It sounds bigger.

Both Havok and Alapha suddenly bolted out of the trees and ran at the gunship.

"We have to leave! We have to leave now!" said Dash quickly.

The fact that this thing, whatever it was, had made a whole team of Helldiver's retreat was definitely not a good sign. Austin definitely agreed it was not a good idea to argue with the others and he quickly hurried into the gunship too.

"Everyone on board, now!" he yelled.

The rest joiend him and Brute sealed the door behind them.

The pilot's quickly actiavted the gunship's thrusters, but it would take to long for them to power up for vertcial take off, especially due to how big and heavy the thign was. So they woudl have to take off the old fanshioend way if they wanted to get out of here quickly.

The gunship lined up witht he runway and started to speed forward.

Just when it looked like it was clear however, an alien cow suddenly wandered onto the runway, compeltely oblivious to the massive ship heading it's way.

"What's that cow doing?!" said co pilot.

Still the cow did not run away. It simply grazed peacfully as though there was no danger at all.

"Out of the way, animal. I'm not stopping this thing for you." said the pilot, in the vague hope the cow would somehow move. He woudl rathe rnto kill an innocent animal, especialyl sicne the cow would make a mess of the cockpit if the gunship hit it.

What happened next however was most unexpected. A huge creature, practically as big as the gunship, suddenly burst out of the trees and lunged at the cow. The poor animal failed to react in time and became caught int he creature's jaws.

"OH MY GOD!"

The pilot depsperately tired to pull up, but it wasn't fast enough. The underside of the gunship smashed into the creature, causing the ship to plummet downwards towards the trees.

"I can't regain control! We're going down!" the pilot yelled, desperately trying to regain control.

"BRACE FOR IMPACT!" the co pilot yelled.

The gunship shook violently and everyone was thrown out of their seats as it crashed into the trees. The various branches and trunks smashed off both wings and the tail. Finally, it seemed to stop as the gunship seemed to settle itiself in one of the trees and became stuck there

Everyone groaned as they picked themselves up. Even for them, the imapct had been very nasty.

"Is everyone okay?" Austin asked.

"I think so." Alaara replied.

The Asari looked at Sandra, fearing that her wife would be droaning in her own sick sloshing around in her helmet. Rather surrpsingly, and fortuantely, though she looked okay.

"I didn't throw up in my helmet. That's definitely a miracle." the Helldiver groaned, still feelign slightly unwell and looking a bit pale.

Dash meanwhile had landed on top of Kraan (again) as a result of his harness not beign secured properlly. As usual, Kraan was not happy with this.

"Why is it I always land on ym head, and then you land on my head too?!" said the Krogan crossly as he pushed Dash off of him.

"Do the words "soft landing" mean anything?" Dash joked.

"Oh shut up!" Kraan groaned.

"We're okay up here." said the pilot. "Everyone just stay put."

The co pilot attempted to use the radio in the hope they coudl inform the Normandy of what had happened.

"...Mayday, mayday, mayday."

"Who has a long range transmitter?" the pilto asked.

"I do." Sandra replied, rumagin aroudn in one of the compartments. "I've got it, right here."

She took the device out and handed it to the pilots.

"I'm not getting anything. The radio's gone." the co pilto sighed.

Ventra meanwhile managed to force the door open, but foudn ti mostly blocked by a thick branch. From what he could see however, they were very high up. If they weren't careful, they'd risk tipping the gunship over, and that would almsot certainly lead to serious inuries.

"We haven't landed yet." he said, quickly closign the door again.

The pilots meanwhile were havignno luck with the logn range trasmitter. The trees were interfering with the signal, and the device wasn't realyl designed to cotnact a ship floating millions of miles above them in space.

"Dammit! Oh man." the pilto groaned, gettign nothing but static.

Something suddenly hit the gunship and it shook violently.

"What was that?" Liara asked.

"I get the feeling this tree is not entirely stable." said Construct.

"Not entirely stable?! I'm glad you're here to tell us these things." said Griffin sarcastically.

The gunship then started to shake even more violently thsi time and even began to tip.

"What the hell's going on?!"

"Hang on everyone!" said the pilot.

Everyone quickly held onto something in an attmept to keep the balance as the gnship tipped even more. The cockpit was then suddenly enveloped in darkness.

Several sharp pointy objects suddenly tore through and the whole thing began to creak and crack as it was being torn off. More and more of the points became visible, only now they didn't jsut look like points. They looked like... teeth!

The whole cockpit was then parctically ripped off, in doing so revealing the gunship's attacker. The massive creture from before that caused the crash had come back for more. As it tore the whole cockpit fromt he gunship, it took the co pilot with it, who was unable to get out of his seat in time. The creature's jaws craushed the cockpit, killign him the process.

The creature then let the now useless part of the gunship drop to the floor and then lunged it's jaws forard into the gunship itself, trying to bit into soemthing, and it did. The pilot had managed to get out of his seat, but the angle of the gunship made it ipossible to run. The creature's snout nudged him the back, causing him to fall and the teeth sank into his leg.

The pilot screamed and desperately tried to grab onto something to prevent the creature from taking him, but it was no use.

The creature pulled him out of the gunship. It shok it's head aroudn for a moment before then lettign the pilto drop form it's mouth. He hit the ground, landing in a puddle. Unable to run due to injury in his leg, hetired to crawl to safety.

The creature's foot suddenly stomped on him, pinning him where he was and the massive jaws once again came down, this time eating their intended meal.

Because of how large it was, it only took the creature seconds to eat the pilot and it once again raised it's head to once again look at the other potential snacks it had come across. It was as it did this that Austin was finalyl able to get a clear look at it. What he saw turned hsi skin white.

This creature looked frighteningly familiar. Two main arms with spieks stickign out fo the wrists, and secondary set of arms used to support the creatures weight, and all too familar crested face with pale pupiles white eyes.

Austin saw it, but he didn't beleive it. It was impossible for it to be here. Not onyl that, but it was huge. Last time he'd seen this thing, it had onyl been the aroudn the same size of a Hellhound dropship, not it was as big as the gunship. He refused to truly beleive this was the creature he thought it was, but then he saw the creature's right side and he saw the two massive burns marks that had now faded to scar tissue, a one and a three. 13!

It was impossible to deny it now. This was none other than Experiment 13, one of Cerberus' most dangerous creations, and the murderer of over a hudnred Cerberus scientists and soldiers.

"Impossible."

Yet here it was, as clear as he saw his friends beside him. 13's white eyes narrowed slgihtly as they focused on the Helldivers. It opened it's mouth and emitted a loud roar, far superior to the painful scream of a tortured victim it had had before. Now it possed the bellowing, loud, terrifying roar of a predator who rueld over all.

Terrifyed and intiamdted by this, everyone fled rig to the back of the gunship. In doing so however, they shifted all the weight to that point and it tipped backwards so much that it fell from the tree.

What was left of the end of the tail became crushed as it hit the ground and the gunships tipped until it hit the ground. 13 then nudged the gunship with it's snout so ahrd that it caused the body to roll several times. Already shaken by hitting the ground, the whole spinnign was disorientign everyone and they couldnt' do anythign to stop it.

Finally, the gunship hit a tree and the spinning finally stopped. Rather surrpsingly, it had rolled onto the right side and so everyone landed in the seats. This was no time to relax yet though. Through the window, Leena coudl see 13 makign it's way over to them.

Panicked and cofnused, the Quarian ran out. Austin quickly hurried outtoo to stop her. She'd be a sitting duck out there on her own.

"Leena, come back!"

He managed to grab onto her jsut Ventra came out too.

"Leena!"

The Turian onyl got a meter outside of the gunship before the sight of 13 and it's roar scared him back inside.

"Oh shit!"

Everyone retreated back inside jsut as 13 grabbed onto the gunship and roleld it again. I then suddenly put it's foot down on it and started to push hard.

The entire body fo the gunship groaned and creaked at 13's shear strength started to crush it, the pressure causing all the reaming widnows to smash. For a moment it looked like everyoe would be trapped, but then it seemed to stop as 13 retracted it's foot.

Just when it flet like it was over, 13's jaws tore right through the body, now giving much easier access to it's prey. Everyoen quickly moved out of the way as best they could to avoid gettign eaten. Inbetween each time 13 stuck it's mouth in to try and bite into something, everyoen clambered over to the other side. It was clear now that they weren't safe in thsi thign anymore and they had to get out.

"Out! Get out!" Brute yelled, narrowly pullign his arma way before it got caught in the jaws.

"This way! Follow me!" said Austin.

Everyone quickly ran as fast as they could. 13 quickly noticed that the gunshipw as now empty and spotted the Helldiver's out of the corner of it's eye. A swing from it's arm narrowly missed the groupa s they ran. 13 roared and gave chase.

A good thign at least was that 13 didn't really run, it just walked faster and increased the speed of it's pace. It's huge amss also allowed it to keep up with the Helldivers as they ran.

Clearing the trees, they were now out in the open. Not ideal. 13 woudl easily pick them off out here. Austinq uicly spotted more trees near them. These ones were much closer together and everythign was very built up. It was enough for them to fit in, but 13 would be too big.

"In here!"

Everyone immediately sprinted towards the trees jsut as 13 smashed it's way out and resuemd the chase. Just when it looked it was about to catch them, they all made it through. The Experiemnt struggled to fit through tight gaps and gave an angry roar as it lsot sight of it's prey.

Still no one stopped and they kept running as much as they coudl until they were sure they were safe. Everyoen slowed to a hlat and took this moment to get their breath back, some still sightly in shock from what had just happened.

"I think we lost him." Austin panted.

"We have to get back to the ship. The long range transmitter's there." said Brute.

"Agreed." said Alaara.

"Think it was this way." said Ventra, pulling some bushes apart. In doing so however, he revealed the body of another large predator. Everyone momentarily backed away thinking it was alive, but they soon saw it wasnt' movign and that it had chunks of flesh missing.

"It's okay, it's dead." said Ventra.

Anoter creature suddenly rose up from the corpse. To everyone's shock however, it wasn't jsut any creature, it was a dinosaur. Impossible as it sounded, there was an actually in front of them.

As it fully revealed itself however, it now becoem clear it wasn't a true dinosaur. It was in fact a dinosaur husk.

It amde sense in a way. The Takaal were said to be more than 65 million years old, and it did always baffle people about what happened to the Dinosaurs. Austin ahd also woudnered why the Reapers didnt' keep husks from previous cycles. Now he knew however that they did.

The husks, which was unmistakably a T-rex looked at

"Nobody move a muscle." said Dash.

Several tentacle arms suddenly rose up too to join the Rex's head. The end of each one opened to reveal a fanged mouth. The Rex then roared at them.

Like 13's roar, this one seemed to scare everyone and they ran.

"Even in real life that doesn't work." Dash sighed to himself.

The Rex husk gave chase, forcing the Helldivers to run back in the direction they came. As they ran, everyone at the frotn suddenly stopped dead int heir tracks. When Austin too slowed down, he saw why.

It was 13! Somehow it had found a way through and was now stood in front of them. Before the experiment coudl do anything however, the Husk Rex suddenly came into view.

The two giants roared and lunged at each other. Nowhere else to run, everyone quickly scattered to get out fo the way as 13 and the Husk came together and began to fight, their roars and snarls thunderous. A literal clash of nature occured as 13 and the Rex fought. They snarled, they roared, they ripped each other with the claws, they bit one another, it was the sort of fight you woudl expect from two massive carnivours.

Havok managed to stay together, but Alpha became very seprated, Ventra and Leena scrmbled in one direction, Alaara and Sandra in the other. Austin however was uanble go anywhere - his foot had got stuck between two branches. When he did manage to free himself, he ended up falling between two large logs.

The Rex used it's tentacles to scar a wound on 13's side and then latched onto the Experiment's neck using it's jaws, bitign into the flesh

13 did not seem seriosuly affected by this. Hardly surrpsiing considering how many times it had been shot and tortured by Cerberus, even if those scars and wounds had healed by now. Instead the Experiment attamtped to shake the Rex off. Even as a husk, the Tyranosaur had bone crushing jaw strength. It was only thanks to 13's tough hide and strong bones that it was immune to this.

In it's effort to shake the Rex loose, 13 swung it's neck to the side hard, pulling the Rex over and smashing it into a large tree so hard that the tree fell right over. In the process, the Rex's foor stepped on the two logs Austin was pinned between. He was msot lucky that they held and didn't get him crushed.

13 finally managed to shake the Rex off. As the husk backed away, the Experiemnt attmepted to swipe at it with it's claws. They only just missed.

The two opponents once again roared and snarled at each other. 13 used it's secondary arms to draw itself up to it's full height as it roared so as to be intimidatign as possible. It reared itself up and headbutted the Rex, causign the dinosaur to stumble back for a moment. 13 attempted to bite at the Husk with it's own jaws, but the Rex sidesteped the assault, it's mass crushing several small trees as it spun out of the way.

Between the fallen trunks, Austin tried to get away on his hands and knees making sure to avoid those big feet.

The Rex pressed the attack, slamming it's tail into the flank of it's adversary. 13 was knocked back by this and Austin was once again force to duck for cover. As 13 struggled to regain it's balance, the Rex dived forward. 13 was drive backwards as the Husk tried to once again grip it's throat.

Leena managed to yank Ventra out of the of their path and they scrambled over to Brute.

Now on it's side, 13 fought back ferociously. It slashed at the Rex with it's spiked arms and razor sharp claws, then finally kicked the husk with one mammoth foot. The Husk staggered back, clearly injured and with some cracked bones.

Down below, Austin was splashed by the blood pouring from 13's small neck wounds as he slowly made his way towards the others.

13 lunged for the Rex with gaping jaws and managed to topple the husk off it's feet and sent the falling dinosaur to the ground.

Taking advantage of this, 13 plunged both of it's wrist spikes into the Husk's body, pinning it to the ground. The Rex roared and struggled violently to free itself, but was unable to overcome the Experiemnt's immense strength. 13 then mirrored the Rex's earlier attack and bit into the husk's neck.

Like the Rex, it too had bone crushing jaw power, the difference being 13 was far stronger, had two extra rows of teeth, and also the Rex didn't really have any muscles to take soem of the damage. Being so old and essentially a zombie, the msucles had rotted away by now. It was only skin and bones and Reaper tech now.

There was the loud sound of bones cracking and technology beign torn apart as 13 bit as hard as it could into Rex. The Husk raored in desperation before 13 then pulled so hard that it ripped the Rex's head off completely.

The Experiment let the head fall to the floor as Austin fianlyl managed to get to the others and they fled the scene. 13 looked over it's kill, it snarled for a moemnt bfore lettign out a loud and triumphent roar.

"Everyone alright?" Brute asked, now that theyw ere finally in the clear and were able to catch a break.

"Peachy." Griffin panted.

"You owe us an explanation... sir." said Brute as Austin. "I saw the way you reacted when you saw that creature. You know what it is."

"It's called Experiment 13. It was created by Cerberus many years ago using DNA from a Dinosaur using husk technology and many genetic modifications. We encountered it on Krelldoor when it broke free of containment, and we thought it was still there." Austin explained. "I'm just as surprised about this as you."

"How can that possibly be Experiment 13 though? That thing was the only about the size of a Harvester last time we saw it. Now it's practically as big as bloody Thresher Maw. How's that possible?!" said Sandra.

"Remember the reports said Cerberus created that thing rather recently? Best logical conclusion is that it was still only a juvenile when we saw it. Two years from then, it's had a chance to properly... grow up, so to speak." said Ventra.

"That still doesn't explain what it's doing here though." said Leena.

"The reports said 13 was very intelligent also. It must've found a way to sneak away on a Cerberus shuttle without being detected. Now that it's here, it can live free of Cerberus as it pleases. Here it can hunt and eat as much as it wants. No surprise that it's gotten bigger and recovered from almost all the wounds Cerberus inflicted on it." said Austin.

"Great. First a dinosaur husk, now a mutated dinosaur clone experiment. This war isn't getting any easier, is it?" said Construct rhetorically.

"We're alive, aren't we? Not many could say the same in our situation." said Dash.

"Alright. First thing we need to do is determine what odds we're at. We go back to the gunship and salvage what we can. If we're lucky, we can contact the Normandy." said Austin.

"And if not?" Normica asked.

"We'll worry about that if it happens."

13 had defintiely made a mess. Things were all over the place. Right now, Havokw as makign sure their mecha suits were still useable.

"How's it looking?" Austin asked.

"Not as bad as it could've been actually. All the mechas are intact and fully functional. One of them suffered some small damage, but our engineer's fixing it. Your one's even helping her." said Brute, indicatign to where Normica and Leena were working on repairing the mecha.

"And the bad news?" Austin asked.

"Unfortunately, any long range transmitting equipment is scrap." said Brute, showing what was left of the transmitter. It didn't look good.

"Can it be repaired?"

"I already tried. Many of the irreplaceable bits are damaged beyond repair. Sorry, Shepard." said Sandra.

"Well that's terrific! We're now stuck here!" Driller cursed.

"Calm down! We're not out of options yet." said Austin. "Pass me those maps."

Alaara handed Austin the maps he'd indicated and he folded it out on on the crates.

"Alright. Assuming these are up to date, there's an old communications centre just here, not too far off from where we are. It ran everything on geo thermal power. Never need replenishing. If we can get here, we can contact the our ship." he said.

"Got the frequency written down somewhere?" Brute asked.

"Right here." said Dash, indicatign to small data chip.

"I'll hold onto that then. Safest with me." said Sandra, taking the chip and pocketing it.

"Alright, how far is it?" Brute asked.

"Two days walk, roughly." Austin replied.

"Well, good thing these survived then." said Construct, gently pattign what looked like food and drink crates. "There's enough resources in here to last all of us for about 4 days. Hopefully, we won't need all of it."

"Sounds like a solid plan then." said Alaara.

"Captain?" Austin asked.

"We were assigned to keep you all safe. Guess this was the sort of thing they had in mind." Brute shrugged.

"Austin, what about the Prothean ruins?" asked Liara.

"If we happen to stumble upon them, we'll check 'em out. But right now, contacting the Normandy is our top priority. It'll mean nothing if we can't get off this planet."

"I understand." Liara nodded.

"Saddle up, Havok. You've got 30 minutes." said Brute.

Half an hour later, everythign that was salvageable had been salvaged and was packed up. Havok had settled into their suits and everyoe was pretty much ready for the long journey ahead.

"We're all packed up, Shepard. Just give the word." said Brute.

"Move out." said Austin.

"Alright, let's get underway. And now falling behind. We've got a lot of ground to cover." said Constrcut.

Havok maintained a steady pace so that Alpha could keep up. Both Austin and Brute took the lead while the heavy's stayed in the middle.

Within several hours, the convoy had made good progress. By now, they were nearing the halfway point of their trip, and there were still quite a few hours daylight left.

The plan was to go as much distance as they coudl during the day before finally camping at night. True they could continue during the night, but anyone who was familiar with jungles knew that it was a bad idea to travel after dark. Most predators hunted primarily during the night, plus there wer eany other dangers besides. Lack of light coudl lead them into a bog or a swamp if there weren't careful. Besides, they would need to rest for the remainder fo the journy tomorrow.

As they continued throught he dense jungle, they began to pass through an area with very tall and veiny trees. Ventra couldn't resist the oppurtunity and had climbed up one of them. Now he was swingign ahead of the group on the vines and occsionly stopping on a branch to either let them catch upor check the cost was clear with his bow.

"Show off." Brute smiled.

"He's a Turian with a bow and arrow. He's in very natural territory." said Austin.

Things started to turn a bit more diffult after the next half an hour or so. The terrain got a lot rougher which slowed them down and worst of all there wer swarms of bugs. Even though the suits protected the Helldivers from them and prevented skin contact, it was very annoying to have swarming ont he visor, as that impared their vision.

"Even with these suits, bugs are still annoying."Dash complained, trying to swat a few with his hand.

Hawk was even gettting so annoyed by the bugs he was using a frying pan to try and hit them. When that didn't work, he fired some shots at them.

"Conserve your ammunition!" Austin ordered.

Hawk simply groaned before managin to kill one insect with a perfect shot.

The terrain soon got even more difficult as they entered a canyon area. Not good since this was a god palce for ambush if any predators had been stalking them.

Havok was coping, but by now Alpha were almost exhausted.

"I'm knackered. We've got to have a breather." Ventra panted.

The rest of Alpha soon agreed and sat down with him to either get a drink or get their breath back.

"Come on, Alpha. We don't' have time for this. We've lost too much ground already. Come on, get up!" said Brute.

"We're not about to quit on you. Cut us some slack. Unlike you, we have to actually walk." said Austin.

Brute simply nodded. The Major did have a fair point.

"Alright, you got five minutes. Everyone stay in sight." said Austin.

Havok stepped out of their mechas to streatch their legs a bit and also have a drink if they needed it.

Austin noticed that Jet seemed to be wandering a bit.

"Jet, don't stray to far." he said.

"I just wanna check the canyon out. I'll be right back I promise." said Jet.

"You better be."

Jet nodded and sped up into the sky.

Jet always did only truly comfortable in the air. It was no secret. Ever since she was little girl growing up on Arkadia, she'd seen Helldiver fighting's flying by and had always wanted to be one. She was one of those few wo ahd trully follwoed their dream rather than realising they won't happen easily.

As she surveyed the canyon, she then spotted what looked like a valley. As she flew in closer, so saw what could be described as amazing.

"Wow!"

The pilot quickly headed abck to the group and landed right next to Dash.

"Dash, you're gonna wanna see this!" she said eagerly.

"What are you..."

But before Dash could continue

Jet grabbed his arm and they sped off through the canyon. No one even noticed the scout suddenly vanish.

Jet finally set down and let Dash go. Now the Scout understood.

There in front of them was a grazing heard of absolutely massive giant animals. They almost looked a bit like giant alien rhinos, expect much bigger. In fact, they were probably bigger even than Experiment 13.

Fortuantely they were indded herbivoures, so Dash and Jet had nothing to fear.

"Woah!" said Dash in amazment. "I've heard of the phrase land that time forgot, but this..."

He then turned to Jet with a curious look.

"What made you think though that I'd like it?" he asked.

"You struck me as the kind of guy who'd like a setting like this." Jet simply replied.

"Sure you didn't jet want me alone?" Dash joked.

"Hmm, maybe I did." Jet replied, soudnign serious.

For a moment, Dash looked at her with surprise. He'd always got the feeling that Jet had been interested in someone, and had reason to beleive it was him. But he'd never truly beleived it until now. Secretly he had a thing for her too. She was smart, funny, loved speed as he did, and was a very feirce fighter. How coudl he not have an eye for her?

"Well, mis Soarin." he said casually. "You're certainly full of surprises."

"What can I say? I like dangerous boys." Jet smiled unde rher helmet.

All this time, both their hands had been slowly moving towards each other. Just as the were about to touch each other though, the large herbivours suddenly stopped eating and raised their heads in alert.

"What's going on?" Dash asked nervously.

"You're making them nervous. No sudden movements." said Jet.

"I'm not moving!" said Dash through gritted teeth.

Then some of the bushes started russtle and the Herd became even more nervous. It was when they started to turn in their direction however that Dash and Jet started worrying.

"Not good." they both said.

The whole canyone started shake and rumble. Small rocks even fell of the cliff faces.

"What the hell..." said Brute. "Earthquake?"

"Can't be. Earthquakes don't have tremerous like this." said Liara.

The rumbling started to intensify even more and they felt the ground shake beneath them. Then the sounds of heavy footsteps could be heard.

"Something's coming." said Austin cautiously as everyone readied their weapons. "Almost like it's a..."

Both Dash and Jet then suddenly appeared, practically running for their lives.

"RUN, GUYS!" Dash yelled.

Then the herd followed.

"Holy Christ!" said Construct.

"...Stampede!" Austin finished.

"Go! Run!" Brute yelled.

Everyone immediately broke sprinted in an effort to outrun the herd. Despite their best efforts though, the herd was much faster and they were soon struggling not to be crushed as they weaved in and out of the massive legs. The herd was all around them, the sound of the stampede drowning out everything else. Massive feet slammed into the ground on all sides, each one at least a couple of yards wide. The huge herbivores were terrified, racing for their lives from whatever had spooked them earlier. They ran erratically, veering from side to side, so that it was impossible to tell where the feet would land next.

The Herbivores bashed into each other, they hit the edges of the canyon, this was definitely one of the most dangerous stampedes ever seen.

And then it got worse when the source of the stampede revealed itself. A pack of Spitters soon caught up from behind and began to try and pick the Helldivers off. They'd obviously been following them for a while and had unintentionally scared the herd while hiding.

The spitters ran all fours and weaved in and out of the herds feet as they stalked their prey.

"If we stay inside the herd, we're safer!" Austin shouted to the others.

Dash, in an effort to get out of the way of the heard, having not heard Austin's advice, took cover behind a large rock that stood out from the rest of the canyon.

As he took cover however, he suddenly noticed a thin line of saliva dripping in front of him. He slowly looked up to find himself looking straight into the pale eyes of Experiment 13. Somehow it must've been stalking the herd as well. Perhaps it had caused the stampede too. What mattered right now to Dash however was getting as far away as he could from the predator.

He immediately broke into a sprint and ran as fast as he possibly could just as 13 snapped at him. The Experiment roared and gave chase, joining the stampede.

"Coming through!" Dash yelled as he ran past everyone at top speed.

At first Austin was rather puzzled a Dash running that fast in panic, but when he saw the massive form of 13 keeping pace with them and the herd, he understood.

13 soon spotted him moving in the herd and pushed in front of one of herbivores and tired to snap at him.

Austin quickly ran underneath one of them, making it harder for 13 to get at him with the legs constantly moving.

After several failed attempts, 13 then spotted Liara who was currently running in-between two herbivores, and easy target.

"Oh no you don't!" Austin thought.

He managed to draw his sword out and made a tiny slice in the side of one of the herbivores. Reacting to this, the herbivore went the opposite way to the injury, nudging right into 13 before it could get a chance to attack Liara.

"As if this couldn't get any worse." Austin groaned to himself.

The herd then seemed to exit the canyon. This was not good news though as the had exited right onto a very thin, very steep, and very unstable cliff face.

"It just did." Austin sighed.

The steepness and very thin width of the cliff caused a few of the herbivores to skid and unfortunately plummet over the edge.

13 meanwhile wasn't far behind. It's extra weight only added to the cliff's unstableness, and the edges began to crumble and give way.

"Talk about living on the edge." Dash jokingly panted as he managed to run fast enough to keep up with the cliff as it gave way behind him.

"Shut up, Dash!" Kraan shouted.

The herd rounded the corner into another canyon.

Dash had managed to get right at the front, but he had a spitter on his tail. He spun to face the husk and aimed at with his gun. Bad idea.

"No! Don't shoot! You'll..." Austin shouted. But it was too late.

Dash fired. A herbivore to Austin's right staggered, bit by Dash's blind shots. Then, with a bellow, the animal collapsed—cart wheeling into the rest of the herd. Another herbivore crashed into the one who had fallen. Then another. They were like dominoes made of flesh.

13 thundered over to one of the herbivores that lay helpless on the ground and began to feast.

Out of the corner of his eye, Austin saw the spitters ignoring the herd completely and heading towards them.

"Come on. This way."

The Helldivers sped away as fast as we could. Austin felt as though his heart was about to burst with the exertion. But the spitter came after them, every stride they took matching two of theirs. They would catch them in a matter of seconds.

Some of Havok managed to return fire, gunning down many of the husks with their guns. But more kept coming. They had to get away.

The only way out of the steep valley was to run straight to the end—but the spitters would definitely catch them before then. Their only chance was to climb straight up the sheer cliff on the side of the valley.

Austin veered over to the wall and started up. The others followed. His feet slipped on the slimy moss, and he slid back down a few feet. He continued up in crouch, using rock sand weeds and vines as handholds. The other Helldivers climbed with him, all of them panting with the effort, even Havok.

Even with their ability to cling to wall, the spitters were struggling to scale the cliff. That did at least work to the Helldiver's advantage.

"Even as husks, they're annoying." Said Kraan, managing to kick a spitter away as it tried to latch onto his leg with it's tongue.

Soon, they got far ahead that the husks seemed to give up. They dared not stop yet though. Once they reached the top, then they were able to relax.

They quickly left he canyon and kept moving. Finally it started to get dark. They stopped by a nearby shallow river.

"Way too close. That's the most dangerous stampede I've ever seen." Driller panted.

"Any injuries?" Austin asked.

"None that we notice. We got lucky." Alaara replied.

"Only just. If there are husks here, that can only be bad." Said Austin.

"I don't know about you guys, but I am dying for bath. That water looks very hard to ignore." Said Alaara, her body language giving the indication she was just about ready to go completely naked.

"Alaara this isn't really the time." Austin sighed.

"With all due respect, Major. It'll be dark soon. We won't be able to carry on for long." Said Brute.

"Good point." Said Austin. "Alright. We'll set up camp here. Those who wish to join Alaara if they want can go ahead. Just be sensible about it."

Surprisingly, some of the others had rather fancied a little swim in the water themselves. The aliens had preferred not to join in and it was mostly the humans. Alaara and Liara however were an exception. Unlike Alaara however who had taken everything off since she was not afraid of being naked in front of anyone, Liar had kept her underwear on. Admittedly, Austin was finding it hard to keep his eyes off her.

"Shepard, a word if I may?" Brute asked.

"Sure." Said Austin, the talk finally forcing him to take his eyes of his wife.

"I'd love to know where we are." Said Brute.

Austin spread the old map out on one of the crates the mechas had been carrying.

"Well, we came out of that canyon, so I'd imagine we're about here. Roughly half way there." Said Austin, indicating to the point on the map. "Not bad progress overall."

A sudden splash was heard and a bit of water sprayed Austin.

"Guys, behave!" said Austin, making sure the map hadn't got wet.

"Oh Austin..." said Liara seductively.

The Asari's message was quite clear from her body language.

"Alright. I'll join you." Austin sighed.

The Helldiver retracted his armour and unzipped his suit mesh. He then joined Liara in the water. He had to admit, it was quite nice to be intimate with her like this. He even heard a few "Aaawwwws" from everyone as they kissed.

Hawk meanwhile was at the campfire and appeared to be doing what looked like cooking.

"You're not joining them?" Brute asked.

"Who's gonna cook if I don't?" Hawk replied rhetorically.

"Hmm, where'd you get the meat from?" Brute asked, noticing how much meant Hawk was cooking.

"Ventra went out to do some hunting. He brought back a few good kills. More than enough for me to make a good meal for everyone." Hawk explained.

"Since when do you cook, Hawk?" Sandra asked, temporarily halting fingering Alaara under the water.

"When you spend many years in retirement on Horizon, you kind of need to learn these things." Hawk replied. He noticed Leena however giving him a look from one of the seats around the fire. "Don't give me that look. I'm not gonna food poison anyone. Certainly not you because you won't eat this. You still have to stick to your Quarian foods, right?"

"Not as much, but we still have to eat dextro food, otherwise we will die." Said Leena.

"Well, plenty of that in the supply crates." Said Brute, gently patting one of the crates he was sat on.

By now, everyone was back in their armour without their helmet and eating Hawk's meals. They had to admit, he was indeed a brilliant cook. Quite convenient since they had been in need of a new cook.

"Been so long since we all sat around campfire." Said Austin.

"You remember when we did this back in the old days? First time we truly shared stories with each other." Said Sandra, smiling as she remembered the good old days.

"Hard to forget. Especially listening to Dash's jokes." Said Kraan, greedily gobbling in as much of his meal as he could. The Krogan always did have a big appetite. Literally.

"You loved my jokes." Dash laughed.

Kraan finally finished all his food, just managing to hold back a belch. Even he knew that was completely inappropriate.

"Done already?" Hawk asked.

"Yeah. And I'm still hungry." Kraan replied.

"Try this." Said Hawk, handing the Krogan a bowl of soup.

Kraan took a spoonful and gave it a try.

"Mmmmm. Not bad." He said.

"Old family recipe." Hawk smiled.

Right before Kraan could take another spoonful however, a most unpleasant sight greeted him. A human eye had suddenly appeared in his soup.

"WHAT THE HELL?!" he said, nearly chucking the bowl out of his hands.

"In fact, that was part of the old family." Hawk joked.

At this, everyone burst into laughter. Even inferno found this funny, even though he couldn't' laugh.

"Oh my god, that's hilarious!" Jet laughed clutching her sides as they hurt from so much laughter.

"Think I just lost my appetite." Said Kraan.

"Can't see why you would, Kraan. It's not a real eye." Said Hawk. To prove it, he took the ye out and gave it a little squeeze. It didn't squish. "See? Glass."

"But where did you…" Kraan was about to ask. But then it hit him. "Torres! "

"I couldn't help it. The mood needed lightening anyway." Dash shrugged innocently, still laughing a bit.

"You've got a wild sense of humour, boy. If you're not careful, it's gonna get you killed." Said Brute as Kraan growled angrily at Dash.

"After 15 years, I doubt it." Said the Scout confidently.

"Despite the circumstances, this isn't actually a bad place." Said Austin, changing the subject to one everyone could agree on.

"Easy to forget there's a war going on." Said Liara.

"Never hurts to be optimistic about life. Take it from the voice of experience." Said Austin.

"Here here." Brute agreed.

Several Takaal soldier gather before the two tall figures of the leaders. The atmosphere was not pleasant. They had failed in their mission to capture and kill the Helldivers. They were secretly pleading in their heads that Skarlack didn't let his wife feast on them. They didn't' know that it was only a rumour that Mirage was cannibalistic. This was what made them fear her so much.

"The Helldivers, General..." the soldier said nervously. "...we lost them."

The various large husks resembling large wolves surround the area growled at them.

"The husks started a stampede. We were-"

"I do not want excuses!" Skarlack interrupted, his deep menacing voice making the soldiers shudder.

"I wanted Shepard and the Asari's heads. Is that too much to ask?!" Mirage snarled.

"The creatures were massive... There was nothing we could do. I barely escaped with my life." Said the soldier as Skarlack stepped up to him, the General towering over him.

"Far better you had... paid with it." Said Skarlack.

Mirage then suddenly grabbed the soldier by the throat.

"Kill him!" she yelled.

She then threw him within range of the wolf like husks and they eat him alive. The other soldier gazed at this in fight.

"The only husks we will rely on now are our mounts. No more shall the others participate in our... little hunt." Said Skarlack. "The Helldivers will once again show themselves soon enough."

"If we cannot hunt them, then perhaps instead... we should trap them!" said Mirage.

The next morning, the Helldivers resumed their journey. By the time it was noon, they were about ¾ of the way there and would likely reach the complex by sundown.

As they continued wandering through the dense parts of the jungle, Liara soon spotted something.

"What's that?"

"What's what?"

"There. That there in the distance." said Liara, pointing to what looked like a small structure of some kind. The others aw it too.

"The Comm center?" Brute asked.

"Can't be. We're still only 3/4 of the way there." said Austin.

"Goddess. They're the ruins." said Liar as she used her visor's zoom function.

"Well since we have found them, let's check them out." said Austin.

The Ruins looked in good shape, but the entrance was blocked by a large rock.

"Blocked." said Brute. He walked up to it and tried to move it, but found it to be too heavy even for him. "Damn. Too heavy even for me."

He turned to his squad.

"Construct? Normica?"

"Way ahead of you, Cap." said Construct.

The two Helldiver's walked up to the boulder and using all their strength, they just managed to lift the boulder. It was a struggle though. Construct had to use his suit's hydraulic lifts to assist.

"Now that is definitely showing off." said Griffin.

The Helldivers went further in to the ruins. Liar began examine as much as she could.

"Strange. These don't look as... old as I thought." she said, almost sounding a bit disappointed.

"I don't like this. Something doesn't feel right." said Alaara cautiously.

Liara then touched the surface of one of the ruins. It didn't' feel like rock and she tapped it with her hand. A clang echoed through the ruins with each knock.

"Metal. It's made of metal." she said. "It's fake."

"What?"

"Prothean ruin like these are not made of metal. It's all fake." Liara explained.

"But how could anyone build fake Prothean ruin out here, and why?" Austin asked.

Before anyone could answer though a sudden howl reached their ears. They all whirled round.

"Was that a wolf? Are there wolves on this planet?" Hawk asked.

"Wolves? No, that is not a wolf." said Brute.

Then a snarling sound was heard.

Everyone looked to the source of the noise to see a giant husk creature growling at them from higher ground. A Varren Husk.

Austin had heard about these. He had to say, the descriptions had been very accurate as well as descriptive. They were twice the size of normal Varren and had all sorts of armour tech on their backs. Their faces and upper jaw were replaced by an eyeless metal mask with only a blue optic and a long horn sticking out.

The husk ran at them and punched on Jet. Austin however quickly drew his sword and sliced into it.

Another suddenly appeared, but Ventra quickly pulled out his bow and shot it with an arrow.

With the Varren on top of Jet wounded by Excalibur, the pilot was able to crawl out from under the husk and finished it off with a smash from her war hammer.

"Dread wolves! And they're scouts." said Ventra, pulling his arrow out of the one he shot.

"Then there's no doubt. The Takaal are here too, and they've been hunting us." said Austin. "The ruins, the tip about them, it was them along. This whole thing was a trap, and we walked right into it."

More howlign could be heard, and more Dread Wolves arrived. This time though, some of them were being ridden, but Takaal.

"Oh great. And here's the welcome party." Normica sighed.

"They've got the advantage here. We need to draw them out into the open. Run!" said Austin.

"Hunt them down!" Skarlack yelled.

The Dread Wolves howled and gave chase.

At first the chase didn't last very long when they entered the open. Soon however it turned tot he worst when he Helldivers realised they ran out onto a cliff, and the only way off was now blocked by the Dread Wolves.

"Draw them out into the open. What a great plan." said Brute sarcastically.

"Stand your ground." said Austin.

The Dread wolves did not attack immediately. They simply waited. Then the others came into view. Skarlack was sat aloft on the biggest of the pack, the alpha male.

"Skarlack."

"I must applaud you, Shepard. Your recent victories on Rannoch and Omega are worthy of praise." said the Takaal. "Such a shame though that it must end here."

"Indeed. It was a good hunt. Still, I'm sure the prize will be very rewarding." said Mirage, licking her lips as she looked right at Liara.

"Shepard and the Asari are ours. Kill the rest!" Skarlack yelled.

The Dread Wolves attacked.

Ventra managed two shots while they were still a fair distance away, but soon hey got in close.

Austin had to admit, he was glad Urz wasn't here. He would almost surely have mistaken his own Varren for one of them. He would never be able to live with himself if he killed his pet.

On the plus side though, the Dread Wolves certainly weren't' anything like Varren. They were savage, violent, brutal, everything that no liked to have in a dog.

Kraan meanwhile waited until they got close so he could use his axe on them. On particular Dread Wolf started and growled at him, ready to charge.

"Bring your pretty face to my axe!" he said, bracing for the kill.

Just before the Husk could attack however, Ventra shot it with an arrow.

"That one counts as mine!" said Kraan angrily.

Another Dread Wolf snapped at the Krogan front he side by he avoided it and snuck his axe in.

Doing so however caused the massive husk to tumble on fall on him.

Some of the Takaal riders join the battle, but it didn't even the odds for them at all. All of the Helldivers still held fast.

"Stinking creature." Kraan groaned as he began to push the Dread Wolf off him. As he did however, a Takaal soldier suddenly appeared and drew it's weapon.

At the last minute though, Kraan grabbed it's head and twisted the neck. It snapped completely.

He then resumed trying to push the husk off. But then another Dread Wolf appeared, this one alive.

Fortunately for Kraan however, Austin noticed. He took up the spear from a dead Takaal and threw it at the Dread Wolf. It went straight through the Husk's eye, killing it instantly. Unluckily however, it fell on top of the first dead Dread Wolf. Now Kraan had even more weight trapping him.

Skarlack growled angrily at this. Although the Dread Wolves were pushing the Helldivers back, he still wasn't' seeing the results he wanted. The however, as the Helldivers drew close to the cliff's edge, he saw an opportunity.

One of the long trees on the cliff face was ideal for collapsing on top of them. It wouldn't kill them obviously, but it would make things very difficult. Might even send them over the edge.

The General charged up his energy and threw a blot of green lightning at the tree roots. The whole broke apart and started to collapse.

"Watch out!"

The tree collapsed, causing a large amount of the cliff to give way and everyone was forced to hold onto the trunk and branches for dear life. Brute had only just managed to grab onto Brute, and he in turn was struggling to keep a grip on the cliff face.

"I can't hold on. I'm gonna fall." He groaned.

"Jet, help him!" said Austin.

"I can't! My wing's trapped!" said Jet, trying to free the wing that was trapped under the tree.

Austin looked at Skarlack who simply observed this with amusement. Letting his anger take over, he slowly stood up, drawing his sword.

Everyone else quickly saw what he was doing, but they were in no position to help him. Austin then slowly broke into a run as he headed straight for Skarlack, who gave an evil grin at this.

"Yes! That's it. Come to your death!" the Takaal thought.

Just as Austin got close enough, his Varren charged and pounced. The Alpha Dread Wolf's underside knocked Austin to the ground. Skarlack then reared around for another attack just as the Helldiver was getting up.

Skarlack then hit the Helldiver right in the helmet with his sword. Then his Dread Wolf bit down on Austin's left arm. The teeth didn't peirce of course. It would take ea lot more to break through the armour of a Helldiver. But it still left Austin powerless to fight, and he was already dazed and weak from the blows.

"Austin!" Liara yelled.

Skarlack reared up the Dread Wolf and it threw Austin to the ground a few metres away.

"The honour is all yours, love." said Skarlack.

Mirage smiled and dismounted her Dread Wolf. She then drew one of her tonfas and slowly walked up to Austin.

"When I take your head, your little Asari whore is next." she hissed.

Just before she could thrust however, Liara suddenly charged her. Caught of guard by this, Mirage attempted to swing at Liara, but the Asari smashed it aside with her blade and then stabbed Mirage right in the shoulder.

In pain from this, Mirage kicked Liara off. The two enemies glared at one another.

"Get away from him, you bitch!" she yelled.

Mirage snarled at Liara, clutching the wound in her shoulder.

Knowing that he was now safe enough to get back ups gain, Austin rolled onto his front and grabbed his sword. Liara helped him.

"Thanks, Liara. I owe you." he said in his head as he picked Excalibur back up.

"Guess we're even now." Liara replied.

Despite this though, they knew the odds weren't their favour. The rest of the pack had them surrounded. Skaralck also looked furious that Liara had wounded his wife, again.

"Kill them both!" he ordered.

The pack snarled and slowly started to close in. Before they could attack however, the tables were suddenly turned. The Helldivers that had been able had managed to get abck ontot eh cliff and were now attacking the Dread Wolves. Austin and Liara quickly joined. While Liara fought Mirage, whow as now struggling with only one useable arm, Austin went for Skarlack, this time prepared.

Back at the edge of the cliff however, the others were not doing so well. Brute had almost lost his grip now and with Dash hanging onto his leg, that would mean the end for both of them. And then it happened.

Brute felt his hand slip and both he and Dash fell.

It wasn't the end for them yet though. They suddenly felt themselves land on top of something and roll off it. Without hesitation, they grabbed onto whatever they could. Only when they finally came down front he shock of the fall, they realised they'd grabbed onto what looked like the back of a creature.

And not just any creature. 13 was back again.

The Experiment was slowly climbing up the cliff face until it finally reached the top. As it did, one of it's hands ended up grabbing onto he tree and pushing it out of the way, causing it land back on a stable part of the cliff. Everyone was safe. Though considering they now had both 13 and the Takaal to deal with, it was hardly a time to rejoice just yet.

13 roared as it finished's climb onto the cliff. This instantly attracted the attention of the Takaal. Many of both the Dread Wolves and Takaal soldiers were somewhat unnerved by the Experiemnt's appearance. Only Mirage's reaction was different.

"Fascinating!" she said. She then noticed the others backing away slightly. "Don't just stand there, you cowards. Attack!"

Forced to obey Mirage's will as well, the Takaal fired. Unlike last time when gunfire from Cerberus hadn't hurt 13 at all, this time it did.

13 raored in anger at the stings it was receiving from the Takaal. This temporarily it.

"Hold it down! I want this thing captured." Mirage ordered.

The Takaal hesitantly obeyed and began firing grappling lines at 13. The Experiment roared in pain as the lines attached painfully onto it's body. It struggled all it could, but soon found the Takaal had it pinned.

Confident of victory, Mirage walked up to 13's head and looked into it's white eye.

"My lucky day. You'll have me eating for a month." she smiled evilly.

She touched 13's skin. However, only a few seconds after she had, she suddenly recoiled, almost in fright.

13's white eyes suddenly turned to anger. It roared and suddenly reared up with such strength that the Takaal soldier were pulled off their feet and into the Experiment's mouth. It bit into each one, killing them instantly.

Mirage snarled and suddenly teleported onto 13's back and sank both her blades in. 13 once again roared in pain before it grabbed Mirage and smashed her to the ground. With the female Takaal temporarily wounded and knocked out by this, it prepared toe tab her with it's wrist spike.

Skarlack though quickly noticed this and threw a concentrated amount of lightning at 13. The Experiment almost screamed in pain as the lightning hit it in the chest.

Skarlack quickly brought Mirage too him using his telekinesis. She alined in his arms and Skarlack simply looked at both Austin and Liara. Both were ready for another fight, but he would not give it to them. He was outnumbered.

"The time will eventually come, for both of you. And when it does, you will suffer more than anyone." he growled.

Both he and Mirage vanished. With the rest of the Takaal dead, the last few Dread Wolves retreated.

For a moment, everyone feared 13 would attack them too. But it didn't.

Instead, it gave a rather pained noise and limped about a metre before collapsing. The wounds had obviously been a bit bad. 13 wasn't dead yet, but it sure did look like it would succumb to it's injuries.

"It's hurt, rather badly." Said Liara, actually feeling a bit sorry for 13.

"Good. The we can get out of here." Said Brute

"No." said Austin.

"What?"

"We can't just leave it to die like this. It may be hostile, but it's just an animal. Even such a violent creature doesn't deserve to die like this." Said Austin.

"If we help it, it will kill us." Normica argued.

"We just need to help it enough that it can recover." Said Austin.

Brute could tell there was no arguing with Austin. The Major had clearly made up his mind and wasn't going to let anyone change it.

"Fine. But if that thing eats one of us, don't say I didn't warn you." The Captain sighed.

"We're gonna need a lot of medi gel." said Sandra.

The team worked on applying what they could to 13's wounds, most especially the one from Skarlack's lightning. The deep cuts from the liens could be more easily treated.

"Do we have bandages?" Austin asked.

Normica checked in the supplies they had left. They had just about enough left and she nodded.

"Good. Then get those too." said Austin.

Alaara walked up to 13 and looked at it's face. It's white eye covers had retracted, revealing it's real eyes. It almost made Alaara want to cry as she saw the pain in it's eyes. It looked right at her with a hint of confusion. It probably wsn't used to being shown compassion like this.

"It's okay. You'll be alright." said Alaara as she touched 13 gently.

The Experiment gave a slight groan as the media gel started working at it's wounds and the movement of it's arm caused Alaara to stumble. With her helmet off, her head accidentally fell on 13's and her eyes went black.

Quite by accident, she ended up connecting with 13's mind. What she saw was not necessarily shocking, but it did come as a huge surprise to her.

The link ended. Alaara looked at 13 in shock. It also looked back at her, now with a look of curiosity.

"By the goddess!" said Alaara.

"Are you alright?" Austin asked as he helped her up.

"It's sentient!" Alaara replied.

"What?"

"13 is sentient. It can think. It's far more intelligent than even Cerberus thought." said Alaara.

"How do you know?" Austin asked.

"I accidentally linked minds with it."

"Wait, does that mean your bonded to it now?"

"No. Not like that. It was like when Liara used her abilities to help you with the visions. A mind connection without the Union. It was just enough for me to learn about it." Alaara explained. "And I think it... he learned a bit about me too."

"Are you saying what I think you are?" Austin asked, almost in surprise.

"I think it may very well recognise us as friends. It's already intelligent enough to understand kindness and compassion, and now it knows why. All it wants is a life of peace, like it has here where it can be happy and free. It knows that the Reapers are a threat and it knows know we're fighting them. It sees us as allies." said Alaara.

"Are you sure, Alaara? It's not that I doubt you, but that is a big risk." said Austin.

"I'm certain." said Alaara. "13 won't attack us."

13 gave a small groan and managed enough strength to bring it's head up and looked directly at them. To everyone's surprise, it then bowed it's head.

After seeing that, Austin didn't need anymore convincing.

"Alright. Let's get him patched up."

After some time, most of the more critical injuries had healed. 13 seemed to have a pretty fast healing ability, so it made the job slightly easier for them.

Everyone stood back tog I've 13 some room. The Experiment groaned a fit and slowly began to get up. It struggled at first and it's secondary set of arms buckled for a moment, but it eventually managed to find it's strength again and stood up. It then looked directly at the Helldivers.

To prove her point, Alaara walked up to it. 13 gently lowered it's head and allowed her to touch it. It even emitted a sound very close to a gentle purring.

"See. When have I ever given you reason not to trust me?" Alaara smiled.

"So... we got this thing on our side now? The Resistance is gonna freak out a lot." said Brute.

From what Alaara had seen, 13 wished to come with them as they left this planet. That way it could help them. Despite it's injuries, 13 was more than capable of keeping up. It even allowed some of Alpha to ride on it's back.

Finally, they reached the complex just as it was starting to get dark. With any luck, they'd be out of here just before all the predators started hunting.

"Stay here and guard the entrance. Sandra, Alaara, Leena and I will head inside and radio the Normandy." said Austin.

"Got it." said Brute.

13 seemed to understand and simply remained with everyone else while the others went inside.

True enough, the radio was just about working. With her finger crossed, Sandra set the right frequency and began speaking, hoping and praying the Normandy could get hear them.

"Mayday! Mayday! This is Sandra calling Normandy SR3. Repeat, this is Sandra to Normandy SR3, do you read?" she said.

There was a small bit of static for a moment, then a familiar voice came through.

"Signal's weak, but we're getting you. Where've you guys been? You've been missing for two days." said Joker.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Alaara and Sandra even hugged each other.

"It was all trap by the Takaal. Our operation has suffered casualties and we're now in mortal danger. We need immediate evac." said Austin.

"Copy that, Major. We've got a fix on the complex. We'll land on the loading platform and pick you up. Make sure you're all there for us." said Joker.

"Copy that, Joker. See you there." said Austin. He then captivated his commlink. "Guys, this is Shepard. The Normandy's en route to pick us up. Rendezvous on the landing platform."

"Copy that, Major. We'll see you there." said Brute.

Very soon, they were all greeted by the familiar and welcome sight of the Normandy.

"Major, are you aware there's a giant creature on the platform with you?" said Joker.

"It's on our side. Don't worry. We'll explain later." said Austin.

"You think the cargo bay's big enough to hold him? It can only just hold a gunship." Brute asked.

"He'll be alright in there." said Alaara, giving 13 a gentle pat.

The Noramandy touched down and everyone began o make their way up the ramp.

"Major, we've got incoming!" said Brute.

Everyone whirled around just as Skarlack and Mirage finished teleporting.

"Leaving so soon?" said Skarlack rhetorically.

"Liara?" said Austin.

"Way ahead of you, Austin." said Liara, drawing her sword.

Austin turned to Brute.

"Captain, get everyone onto the ship. This is our fight." he said.

Both Skarlack and Mirage drew their weapons and charged. Both sides came together in an epic clash. Austin took to fighting Skarlack while Liara once again fought Mirage.

It temporarily switched as Austin clashed with Mirage and Liara clashed with Skarlack, but it soon switched back to normal.

Despite that he still wasn't' using his second set of arms, Skarlack still spun his staff witch such ferocity and speed that Austin could only just keep up. Liara was too busy with Mirage at the moment so they couldn't use their bond effectively.

He spun and attempted a slash from the side, but Skarlack blocked it. The Takaal spun and sliced, only for Austin to slide under his attack. He thrust, but Austin sidestepped it.

Mirage managed to move her head to the side as Liara thrust upwards. She then quickly seized the Asari's arm, pinning it up and leaving her vulnerable. She then brought her front right knee right into Liara's stomach. The blow knocked the air right out of Liar and she fell to the floor, dropping her sword in the process.

Just as Mirage was about to finish her though, she managed to send a mental message to Austin just in time.

The Helldiver activated his plasma cannon and fired just as Mirage's blade was coming down. Thinking that it had been intended for him, Skarlack ducked to avoid the plasma as it flew over him. Fortunately of course, Austin had intended that to happen. The plasma knocked Mirage's blade to the side and it missed it's intended target. Seizing the chance, Liara quickly kicked Mirage away.

Skarlack made several spins that Austin avoided. These however had been a simple distraction. On the last one, Skarlack suddenly used one of his legs to trip Austin up.

Liara quickly snatched her blade up and ran at Skarlack, using her biotics for a jump attack. Skarlack though sensed this and hit Liara with some of his lighting, sending the Asari plummeting to the floor.

The Takaal turned back to Austin right as the Heldliver fired his cannon again. The shot hit Skarlack right in the chest and he was knocked back to join his wife. The two Takaal snarled at their enemies as they got back up.

This time Austin and Liara ran. Liara even threw her sword as she ran. Skarlack spun, blocking the blade which came back to Liara's hand.

This time it was even more intensified. Both Austin and Liara pushed hard to stay together so they could use their bond efficiently. Both Skarlack and Mirage could already tell what they were doing, so instead of fighting from both sides, they themselves attempted to stick together. Skaralck did most of the work while Mirage flanked.

Both Takaal attacked at the same time, forcing both Helldivers into blade locks. Liara managed to push Mirage away and threw up a biotic shield for both herself and her husband just as Skarlack cast more lighting from his hands at them.

Mirage, rejoined and attacked from the side. Austin allowed the lighting to absorb into Excalibur and as it hit Mirage's blade it conducted into her, pushing her back again. Liara then leapt over Austin, using his arm as a boost and activated her omni blade just as she came down on Skarlack.

Unable to block both blades in time, Skarlack only countered Liara's sword while the omni blade knocked his helmet off and scarred him across the right eye.

It was onyl clear which scar was the one Liara had dealt because it glowing hot. Skarlack had many other scars on hsi face. He was even missing a bit of his left crest, and some severe burn injury. His face seemed to glow with the wire liek synthesis blood running through him.

The Takaal gave a slight groan of pain as Liara's omni blade scarred him, but he quickly resumed his attack, now angered by this.

Liara and Austin quickly switched places and Austin blocked Skarlack's attack. Parrying the staff, he then made a crouched thrust at Mirage. Sensing this move from her bond mate, Liara flipped over it. As she landed, she slammed her biotics into the ground, creating a shockwave that pushed both Skarlack and Mirage back, their clawed feet scratching the floor.

Mirage recovered quicker and charged. As Liara parried, she dodged tot he side as Mirage still ran. She then hit the Takaal with a strong biotic push which caused her to collide with Skarlack and they both fell to the floor.

"Good trick." said Austin.

"I learned from the best." said Liara.

The Normandy's engines then started to hum. That was probably Joker's way of warning them to hurry the hell up. The ship slowly began to lift off the ground, hovering about a meter in the air.

Skarlack saw this and cast more lighting at the ship which sparked as it hit the hull. Brute, who was still on the ramp fired a rocket at them. Mirage threw up her own biotic shield which blocked it.

"Come on!" Brute yelled.

"Fight or run?" Liara asked telepathically.

"Run. We only needed to give the others enough time." Austin replied.

Both Skarlack and Mirage readied for a fight. They were most surprised when their opponents retreated.

Both Austin and Liara jumped and landed on the ramp just as it started closing and the Normandy sped off in to the sky.

"Raaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh! How many more times much that Asari slip through my fingers?!" Mirage roared.

"Have patience, wife. The end will eventually come for both of them." said Skarlack

"Sooner than they think." said Mirage bitterly. She would only be denied her meal for so long.

Thessia's next (with a much better outcome) Then we'll finally have Citadel after that.

I think Citadel may be my last chapter before Christmas since I'll be going away. I'll still be able to write while I'm away of course. Just so you know.

Keep up reviews. They seem to be in the minority lately.
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Mass Effect: The Helldiver Saga, The Last Cycle