Title: Chapter 1 – Into the Fire
Universe: Mass Effect (ME 1)
Major Characters: Kaelis Terrilian Shepard, Liara T'soni
Other Characters: Garrus Vakarian, Urdnot Wrex, Kaiden Alenko, Ashley Williams, Tali Zorah nar Rayya, Jeff "Joker" Moreau.
Author: Akernis

"ETA: thirty minutes Commander" Joker's idiosyncratically cheerful voice called out across the communications-link in the Comm-room.

"Understood Joker, give me the signal when we are ready to enter orbit" Kaelis responded clearly before turning his attention back to awaiting the last member of his crew.

He had told the ground crew to assemble in the Comm-Room for a quick run-down before the Normandy touched down on Therum. They did not know much about the situation, having been thrust into it with barely any leads, but he felt that what little there was known should be shared with the people that he was going to go into action with.

As the ground crew assembled he felt mixed emotions of anticipation and anxiety. He had never been in real combat alongside aliens before, never mind having them serve under his command. He had fought alongside both Garrus Vakarian and Urdnot Wrex aboard the citadel though that had been only briefly and more along the lines of individuals working towards a mutually beneficial goal than actually functioning together as a squad; however what little he had gleamed from that experience told him that it was going to be far different from working alongside other humans.

He had worked with turians before though rarely in direct combat. Garrus seemed to conform to some of the traits Kaelis connected with those turians who had served in the military – which basically meant all of them – he had been excellently efficient with a strong grasp of tactics and combat precision, however he had been far more hot-headed and independent than Kaelis would have assumed from a member of the most rigidly disciplined race in Council Space. Though in hindsight he supposed he should have known that obviously not all members of any race would conform to generalisations of their species, humans were in no way special in that regard.

While he had fought against them Kaelis had never fought alongside krogan before so beyond second or third-hand accounts of violent brutality and overly aggressive temperament he had had no idea of what to expect, but Wrex did not even adhere to those stereotypical characteristica. The krogan had been methodical and precise; he used his unorthodox if brutally effective combat style of tightly controlled aggression to overwhelm his opponents while his near unnatural krogan resilience and tank-like protection allowed him to shrug off retaliatory fire almost impertinently. In personality he was far from the mindless brute many would paint his race; there was something experienced, practically profound, about the krogan that Kaelis had been pleasantly surprised to discover. So far Wrex seemed unable, or at least unwilling, to work coherently with the rest of the team but his natural abilities and skill, no doubt learned through centuries of experience, made him more than worth the addition to the team.

He had only had limited time to get to know the quarian as well, having only fought with her on a side-trip on the way to Therum where they had answered a distress call from a group of humans attacked by a band of privateers. Tali Zorah had proven to be an extraordinary combat engineer and while her combat abilities were noticeably less developed than those of the battle hardened individuals it was impressive in its own right, especially combined with her ability to wreck haywire with enemy shields, weapons and electronic systems. However the cautious combat style that quarians seemed to favour was more than sufficiently challenging to incorporate into the tactics usually deployed by the alliance marines.

Kaelis was still wondering how he was going to maintain tactical squad cohesion in combat with no less than four independently different sets of combat methods and behaviour; it was going to be taxing for the squad as a whole but as squad leader he in particular would have to adapt to his team's varied combat techniques quickly if he should be able to command the unit effectively.

He had however already begun to take steps to improve in this capacity. He had spend much of the journey researching the combat style, tactics and military dogma from several different species to better understand how and why they fought as they did. Originally focusing only on turians and krogan he had quickly become fascinated and branded out his research to quarian, salarian and asari combat and tactics as well. Even if some of it was unlikely to be needed – like that concerning salarian and asari – he studied it as much for the potential knowledge as any immediate application. Suitably impressed with his findings he was already beginning to incorporate several skill sets and methods into his own training and tactics. Though he had been interested in learning the war methodology of other races as an alliance marine he had never been introduced to that as such. But as a Spectre however his desire to learn was really paying off and from what he had found he was surprised that the Alliance had never before desire to incorporate the combat disciplines of the other races. But then again he supposed that the various races might not be entirely willing to share that kind of combat techniques with each other or abandon their own for that matter and that as a Spectre he was in a near unique situation to take advantage of the various races shared battle expertise.

Of course there was no reason to expect that they would get into combat at all when they arrived at Therum, but after Eden Prime Kaelis had taken Nihlus' sentiment of always expecting trouble to heart.

The Normandy had a complement of six marines total, excluding himself, but only two of them, Ashley Williams and Kaidan Alenko, were assigned to the shore party alongside the three aliens. He trusted both due to his experiences with them at Eden Prime, but he was still unsure about how they would handle working alongside the aliens.

There had been some resistance from the crew to bringing no less than three aliens aboard as crew members. The Gunnery Chief and Navigator in particular had been vocal in their opposition to the idea. Though at least they had both given their assurances that however much they might disapprove of working alongside non-humans it would not impede their duties or be any trouble.

Kaelis was glad that it appeared that Tali at least had been accepted amongst the engineers and had already formed an apparently strong bond of friendship with Chief Engineer Adams.

But Adams was not the only person in the crew to treat the non-human members cordially. Joker even seemed quite cheerful at the thought of having aliens aboard and Doctor Chakwas likewise seemed to have absolutely no reservations about treating aliens as well as her usual patients, going as far as to specifically inform Kaelis that she was well versed in the physiology of turians and krogans and even somewhat knowledgeable with that of quarians so she should be able to deal with most problems that might arise. While not ideal the situation was not as bad as he had feared that it would be and Kaelis hoped that the less than cooperative sentiments from some of the rest of the crew would fade with time but held no illusions that it might happen overnight.

Kaelis was snapped out of his thoughts as the door slid aside to allow Tali to join them, completing the group. The young quarian made a slightly awkward gesture of apology at her tardiness as she took her seat. Despite being from another species Kaelis had found that quarian body language was very expressive and easy to read, probably as a result of them not being able to commune via facial expressions. Kaelis nodded his acceptance of the delay before addressing the assembled team.

"As some of you may be aware" he began "we are heading to a planet by the name of Therum within the Knossos system of the Artemis Tau cluster. Lieutenant, what can you tell us about this world?"

When they knew where they were most likely going Kaelis had appointed Kaidan to research the planet for anything noteworthy.

"Therum" the Lieutenant answered crisply "is a near single-biome planet consisting almost exclusively of barren rock deserts and desolate rocky highlands with long mountain ranges and untold volcanoes. As a relatively young world it has extremely volatile seismic and tectonic activity, which results in an abundance of severe earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

Gravity is a comfortable 1.12 G. The surface temperature is an average of 59 degrees Celsius and even warmer than that in areas of considerable volcanic activity. Strangely for a volcanic world the atmosphere is breathable though still very sulphuric. Prolonged long-term expose, over several years at least, can cause severe damage but short time exposure, while considerably unpleasant to breathe, is no more hazardous than to give mild headaches. Despite technically being able to sustain life nothing natively living have been discovered to have existed on the planet for tens of thousands of years"

He paused for a moment to gather his thoughts before continuing, Kaelis saw the squadmembers nod in understanding, the aliens' translators no doubt converting the human estimates to the measures of their own respective species.

"However Therum does have one noteworthy feature; the planet is home to some of the more intact and very well-preserved Prothean ruins in the galaxy, nearly rivalling those present on the Hanar homeworld of Kahje. The Prothean structures themselves have been declared prohibited under Council degree to anyone except for government-sanctioned archaeological expeditions"

As Kaidan finished Kaelis gave a short nod before he took over.

"Right" he said "we are here to find someone: an asari by the name of Doctor Liara T'soni"

Kaelis had received the information concerning the lead of Dr. T'soni privately by Councillor Tevos, so none of his crew actually knew the specific details of their mission until now.

"Who is she?" Garrus asked, beating his fellow squadmates to the question; even as Garrus asked Kaelis recognised the way the ex-C-Sec officer's eyes stared intently ahead as his detective mind worked hard to divine the specifics of the purpose of their journey to this desolate planet.

"The audio files that proved that Saren is a traitor contained another voice beyond his own" Kaelis said "in all likelihood an ally of his. It belongs to an asari Matriarch named Benezia T'soni. Liara is Benezia's daughter, and beyond that she is an archaeologist specialising in the Protheans from the University of Serrice on Thessia"

Kaelis paused momentarily to let the information sink in. He did not know much about the University of Serrice but Councillor Tevos had told him that it was widely regarded as one of the finest of its kind in Council Space and its students, who were usually chosen due to their brilliance, were usually acknowledged as some of the brightest in their respective fields.

"A Prothean expert and the daughter of our enemy's ally?" Ashley interjected in her Commander's transitory silence "that sounds like an awfully convenient coincidence; we better get her before she can help that Turian bastard finding this Conduit device"

Kaelis cringed slightly at the over-eagerness of his Gunnery Chief but did not rebuke her for the comment, she was technically correct even though he personally preferred going in with a more open mind. Assumptions could easily be wrong and he would rather reserve judgement until he knew more.

"We don't know whether or not she is involved, but nevertheless it would be preferable to find her before Saren gets hold of her, even if she does not know anything about his plans she might know something about the conduit or help with deciphering the visions of the beacon."

Kaelis was forced to pause briefly; a few incoherent images in his mind from the beacon flashed before his eyes now that he thought about it. The vision splinters were fragmentary and disjointed like dream-images but nevertheless as clear and vivid as his own memories. Shaking the experience off him he continued.

"She is studying Prothean ruins in the Artemis Tau Cluster. Though we have no way to know for sure Therum seems her most likely location due to the extensive and well-preserved Prothean structures found there. We deploy as soon as we reach orbit provided we can get a fix on a possibly location. Any questions?"

Kaelis looked at his team, each member in turn, pleased to see that they all appeared attentive and reflecting on the information they had just been given, even Wrex looked alert and ready.

Garrus was the one to speak up.

"Mission parameters? Combat expectations?"

"Search and Secure" Kaelis responded "I am hoping that Dr. T'soni will accompany us willingly, but even if she is reluctant or even hostile lethal force is not authorised unless as an absolutely last resort. We are not expecting opposition but I expect you prepared for trouble regardless"

The crew nodded, he was pleasantly surprised to note that even Wrex seemed willing to follow this command.

"Regardless of who will be deployed I want all of you ready for a potential drop in fifthteen minutes"

He looked around one last time before ending the meeting.

"Dismissed"

Each of the team members left to make final preparations before they touched down on Therum. When they had all gone Kaelis too headed down to equip his own battle gear.

It took a couple of minutes to shift from military fatigues to armoured hardsuit and weapons. As soon as he was outfitted he left for the bridge to get a better idea of the situation.

When he arrived Joker had slowed the ship to its approach speed, he looked up at Kaelis' approach and nodded to the vessel's captain.

"Commander, we are on final approach vector, it shouldn't be long before Therum is visible"

And sure enough shortly thereafter Kaelis could make out a little speck of reflected light against the black and star filled background of space. The little speck quickly grew until it resembled a brown orb crisscrossed by thin lines of blue and glowing red-orange that he assumed to be rivers of water and lava respectively.

As they neared the planet Joker slowed the Normandy down even furtherso as not to overshoot their target.

"Scanning planetary surface Commander" one of the Junior Officers said, it took Kaelis a couple of seconds to recall her name; Caroline Grenado.

"I am detecting two anomalies" she reported "the first is a series of strange energy readings that goes off the charts; it seems to be coming from within a Prothean ruin located just beyond an active volcano on the northern hemisphere. The second is much weaker than the first and located only approximately twenty kilometres away; I cannot readily identify its source either"

"Which one is closer?" he asked.

"The smaller signature, it is nearly directly on route" she answered.

"Thank you Grenado" he said before turning back to Joker.

"I'll split the squad in two, drop the first team in the mako near the first anomaly and then head to the Prothean ruins with my own"

"Aye aye sir" his pilot answered immediately.

Kaelis left the bridge to meet up with the rest of the squad down in the hangar.

When he reached the lower deck his people were assembled and waiting for him, all armed and armoured.

"Alright everyone, two targets has been located and we will deploy a team to each. The first target is an unidentified energy signature on the planet surface; Alenko you will take Tali Zorah and Williams and drop in the mako to investigate that location." He turned to the last two crew members "Vakarian, Wrex, the two of you will join me in searching the Prothean ruins of the second location on foot"

The crew nodded their understanding before heading to their respective positions; Team Alpha, the one including the CO, stood back while Team Beta boarded the combat vehicle and readying for their drop.

It was not long before Joker signalled that the drop was imminent and true enough only half a dozen seconds later the mako was dropped and the ship proceeded to the second target location.

When the Normandy once again decelerated Kaelis led his squad towards the exit ramp and proceed to jump down as soon as the vessel hovered steadily above the ground.

The drop was not far and he landed lightly and unharmed, flexing his legs on impact to absorb the force.

The first thing that struck him as he straightened was the scorching heat, even in thermo-regulated armour it felt like stepping within a handbreadth of an open flame, it did not take long to find the cause. While they were flanked by a shallow rock rise on their right there was a river of lava not far to their left.

The second thing he noticed was how desolate everything appeared; except for the bright lava everything here was a murky bland colour, from the pale blackish basalt rock to the cloudy brown-grey sky. There was not a breeze of wind and no sign of civilisation either. There was not even a hint of life at all, not a blade of grass or insect in the air, and for a moment Kaelis wondered how the Protheans had ever lived here.

Putting that thought behind him he gestured for the two others to move out. According to his helmet display their destination lay about three kilometres in bird's flight somewhat north-east.

The terrain was rocky and uneven but they made steady progress regardless. Despite no sign of hostiles they advanced cautiously as though in enemy terrain; keeping as far away from the lava-rivers as possible they proceeded for some time without complications.

It was not before they rounded the entrance to a pass in the jagged rock formations leading up to the Prothean ruins that they encountered something.

As the three of them entered the maze-like rock arrangements Garrus, who was on point, held up his hand to indicate that the group should halt.

Kaelis moved over to him as stealthily as possible.

"What is it?" he asked quietly.

"I heard something, sounded like footsteps" the turian responded in an equally low voice, nodding his head towards the location.

Moving forward flanked by his two companions Kaelis silently attempted to locate the source of the sound Garrus had heard between the jagged stone walls. Then he too heard something, a couple of footstep followed by an incoherent mechanical stuttering sound.

Geth

"Enemy contact" he announced quietly.

Before he had the time to evaluate whether to engage or if discretion was the better part of valour the decision was taken out of his hands. Garrus had unclipped his sniper rifle and aimed it at a rocky ridge above them, Kaelis turned to see a geth sniper taking position with its own rifle aimed at them before Garrus' disrupter round immediately struck it in the chest, passing through its shields and ending its mechanical life.

"They are aware of us. Take them out!" Kaelis ordered.

Wrex sped past his commander, inferno rounds armed shotgun in hand to charge the mechanical foes beyond the passage they were currently occupying.

Kaelis followed suit, his barrier up and his carnifex in hand. Entering the clearing he saw four geth facing them, three ordinary troopers and a rocket armed one.

Immediately sliding into cover he ordered Garrus to eliminate the missile carrier before focusing on the others. He biotically grabbed hold of the closest and flung it into the nearby wall, crushing it. A few seconds after their turian marksman took care of the ordinance trooper and Wrex killed the last two with a couple of well placed close-range shotgun blasts.

After the three of them had secured the area they gathered at the far side of the clearing. Kaelis looked at his two companions while he called up team Beta, addressing his entire squad at once.

"Alenko, we just encountered geth, mission parameters have changed: it is now a Search & Rescue operation. Whether the geth are here to extract, capture or kill it is imperative that we get to Dr. T'soni a-sap"

"Understood Commander" the Lieutenant's voice answered him; the two aliens accompanying him likewise nodded their assent.

He gestured on through the rocky formations.

"Move out"


The plateau that lay at the entrance to the Prothean ruins were home to a minor building complex at the edge of a lava lake, likely constructed by mining corporations or similar to serves as an operational platform for workers. There was no sign of inhabitants and if the corrosion and neglect were any indication the place had been abandoned long ago.

There was no sign of geth here which came as something of a surprise; they had fought through about a platoon's worth of foes at this point and Beta team had reported that they had located their objective which had turned out to be a small operations outpost for the geth as well; Alenko and the others had destroyed the main force located there in the tank and was even now hunting the stragglers down on foot, they had however warned that a geth drop-ship had taken off as soon as they had arrived and might be heading towards the Prothean ruins at the volcano.

Even though there was no enemies in sight Kaelis and the others were cautious, they all knew it was all too likely a possibility that the geth might have laid an ambush.

"Fan out" he said, indicating for them to sweep the area.

Flanking their commander the two squad members moved slowly and deliberately through towards the ruin entrance.

"Contact!" Garrus abruptly called out, Kaelis turned on the spot to see something vaguely humanoid leaping out of the turian's fire arc with long powerful hind legs like a frog. The thing performed a further three leaps around the building complexes before Kaelis at last got a good look at it.

It was a hopper, a dangerous and particularly advanced kind of geth that the Alliance had only rarely encountered in the recent skirmishes with that mechanical race. The hopper had long flexible legs with near microscopic barbs on hands and feet which allowed it to scale vertical surfaces. Its powerful frog-like limps made it possible for it to manoeuvre about the battlefield in great bounds and leaps, making it a particularly difficult assailant to pin down. Hoppers were very dangerous opponents; capable of using advanced cyber attacks to disable weapons or shields and many carried radiation spectra weapons as deadly as sniper rifles.

Sweeping his trained eyes around Kaelis became aware of the presence of at least two other hoppers beyond the first and dived for cover. Pistol drawn he made ready to take on this new challenge; however a new sound above him then drew his attention. Looking up he saw the geth drop ship that Alenko had warned them about slowly gliding in above them to release its cargo; seven metallic box-like objects dropped from the sky to impact heavily on the ground. One of the objects was well over ten times the mass of the others. The objects transformed themselves from the compact shape they had taken and Kaelis realised that it was actually geth troops dropped directly from the ship, four ordinary soldiers, a shock trooper and a hunter. The last heavy object unfolded itself to take the huge shape of an armature, the tank-sized walkers employed by their foes.

Garrus and Wrex too quickly got into cover knowing that to remain in the open would be suicide.

The walking geth took up a position in the open ground at the middle of the area clear of buildings at the centre of the plateau, the hoppers jumping back and forth on the buildings to pin down their target while their slower allies could finish them off.

His viper sniper rifle practically useless at these ranges Garrus drew his phaeston assault rifle and opened fire. Unfortunately there was enough geth that their individual processors allowed them to use tactics and for the ground troops to take cover against the barrage.

About to move closer to get into short range Wrex retreated back into safety as a blast from the main cannon of the walking tank struck far too close to him for comfort.

We got to take care of those hoppers before they pin us down completely. Kaelis thought.

But as a few well-aimed shots from his pistol still went wide due to the agility of his targets that particular plan was proven to be more difficult than anticipated. With the geth ground troops slowly but surely beginning to outflank them he knew that they had to act quickly.

Raising his barrier as he moved he sprinted from his portion in cover outside the building complexes. A nearby geth trooper opened fire upon him but the few rounds that struck true were deflected by his barrier; he repaid the favour by telekinetically throwing the trooper aside which caused it to end up within Garrus' fire-arc and he quickly tore its shields apart before riddling it with disrupter rounds.

As he reached cover at a large boulder near the most leftwards building Kaelis surveyed the battlefield; his two squadmates had managed to destroy the shock trooper and another of the ordinary geth.

Kaelis caught sight of one of the leaping hoppers and with a quick twist of the hand and wrist managed to trap it mid-air in a lifting field.

"Wrex!"

The large krogan reacted immediately, charging his shotgun and sending an inferno round enhanced carnage blast into the helpless hopper. The force of the blast shredded its shields and blew the mechanical fiend apart in a shower of shrapnel.

The second hopper died shortly after; as Garrus finally managed to lock it on target he overloaded its shields and then immediately felled it with a precise wholly of disrupter rounds.

The geth responded in kind. The armature blasted apart the cover shielding Kaelis and he only just managed to scramble out of their line of sight as a pair of the troopers fired at him.

Taking temporary refuge near one of the lower walls he saw that his companions too were in trouble as the geth hunter materialised behind their cover. Wrex immediately charged the hulking construct and engaged it in a savage battle of blows in close quarter combat before it had a chance to use its pulse shotgun.

Seeing a geth trooper trying to flank his two team members Kaelis drew it towards him with a biotic pull before sending the now weightless and powerless geth hurling out into the lava river with a throw.

As he looked back to his squad he saw that while Garrus covered him Wrex was able to beat the hunter into non-functionality with the aid of the strength-enhancing servos of his hardsuit.

That left only a single trooper and hopper as well as the armature.

Another pulse-canon blast destroyed the two aliens' cover and only their shields saved them from the follow-up fire from the armature's ant-infantry machine gun. Luckily with Wrex shielding Garrus behind himself the two of them was able to find new cover before falling prey to the machines.

Seeing an opportunity to take out the last trooper Kaelis fired his carnifex only for the weapon to overheat.

Damn heat, it plays haywire with the cooling systems.

However the warning runes on his visor display told him that it was not just his pistol; nearly all his electronic systems were scrambled, even his barrier amplifiers were down.

Turning instantaneously he saw the last hopper sitting silently on the wall just behind him, the red targeting beam of its sniper-like weapon dancing over him.

Moving on instinct he threw up his own barrier now that the automated one was disabled; simultaneously he swept his arm around in a curving arc, taking off the hopper's head in a decapitating motion with the cascading warp blade that had materialised from his hand like an omniblade.

The last trooper, now bereft of the enhanced intelligence of its collective brethren was easy prey for the weapons fire of Kaelis' two teammates.

Only one to go.

Taking cover from the machine gun fire from the huge geth construct he awaited the reboot and self-repairs of the electronic systems in his hardsuit and for his weapon to cool down again.

The amber runes of his display changed back to green and he opened fire on the hulking machine alongside Garrus and Wrex; disrupter, inferno and warp rounds riddling its shields in a precisely concentrated barrage.

While not enough to completely destroy them the combined barrage did manage to weaken the shields enough that Garrus could disable them with a precisely applied overload tech-mine.

The trio again let loose with their collective armaments but like most heavy tanks the walker's chassis was proof against most small arms weapons fire and the attack achieved little more than scratching the plating.

With the armature still reeling from the overload Kaelis fired a warp blast into its armoured thorax. Beyond merely damaged the structural integrity the warp field disrupted and weakened the armour there, softening it for the inferno carnage blast that Wrex immediately fired into it.

Wounded but far from destroyed the armature retaliated; powering up its pulse cannon it prepared to fire. This time however Kaelis was ready for it. Subconsciously synchronising the biotic nodules throughout his nervous system he encased the construct in a mass lowing field and levitated it into the air.

Not having control over where it was aiming the hulking walker's blast went hopelessly wild.

Kaelis felt the strain of holding the walker airborne, even as strong a biotic as he was such a feat was taxing. However his two squadmates made good on the time he had bought them, each continuously firing at the target.

He could see that it was not going to be enough.

This is not working.

With a rush of biotic energy Kaelis channelled his power into a blast of kinetic energy, violently throwing the colossal construct away from him and half-a-dozen metres out into the lava river.

The walker was quickly consumed in the molten rock and shortly after there was no sign it had even been there.

Kaelis stood quietly while breathing heavily from the exertion. The next thing he knew was that he was hit in the back by what he due to the force first took to be a charging varren but realised was actually Wrex striking him rather vigorously with an open palm on his back.

"Ha. That was some display Shepard; I might not regret coming along after all"

Kaelis gave a weak smile before straitening again and shaking the effect of the mild burning along his nervous system off him.

Taking his pistol in hand again he gestured up the ramp into the Prothean ruins.

"Well, no time to waste, we better find Dr. T'soni"

The three of them set off towards the entrance and prepared for whatever lurked inside.


Liara looked around; she thought she had heard something.

Turning her head slowly she listened intently but she could not make anything out no matter how much she tried.

She tried one last time to twist her neck as she strained to hear if anything had actually caused the sound or if it had just been her imagination running rampant.

That movement was one of the few still viable to her, while hiding from the Geth that had hunted her she had accidently activated a security field. A sphere of cerulean energy had enveloped her and suspended her in the air with her arms spread out to either side. She was held all but immobile a little less than a metre above the ground. The force bubble somehow allowed her to more or less freely move her head from the neck up but beyond that her movements were restricted to the bare minimum; only just allowing her limbs and fingers to stir slightly and her chest to expand enough for breathing regularly.

Her body was also somewhat numb from the neck down; she suspected that the force shield's energy field served to cause an at least partial paralysis in her nervous system. This coupled with the fact that her limbs were held immobile severely disrupted her ability to focus her biotic powers. Under better circumstances she might still be skilled enough to deactivate the field telekinetically but her fatigue from the hunt had drained what little biotic strength she had left.

She no longer had any idea how long she had been held like this. It must have been a dozen hours easily, perhaps a few days even. It was really beginning to take its toll on her.

She felt weak, her muscles were painful from stiffness of being held in the same position for so long and she was accurately aware that it had been very long since she had last eaten anything.

More worrying was the searing heat. Even under the best circumstances the temperatures here in the ruins would have been unpleasantly warm to the point of being highly uncomfortable but trapped behind an energy barrier that only allowed the heat to be contained and build up rather than disperse for perhaps dozens of hours on end was practically unbearable.

Her thirst was even worse than her hunger and she knew that she was tinkering on the brink of dehydration and hyperthermia. Her lips were raw from the aridity and she assumed that her blood vessels would be near completely dilated as her body in vain attempted to cool itself. She also knew that her clothes were soaking wet from sweat, made even worse by the fact that the ambient force field did not seem to allow the water to evaporate.

An even worse element of her predicament, if that was even possible, was the fear. The geth that were hunting her and their leader were still out there trying to figure out a way to bypass the barrier. She did not know which idea terrified her the most: dying of hyperthermia here alone or be captured by the geth and their krogan leader, something that judging from the battlemaster's snide insinuations was clearly not an enviable fate.

She tried once again to calm herself by performing some mental biotic training; panic would only make things worse. The meditation-like exercises of calming her mind were becoming harder and harder to do though, on top of everything she was beginning to gain a severe headache as a result of the intense heat.

She closed her eyes and tried once more to distract herself, this time with her theories of this place. Then suddenly she snapped her eyes open.

There it was again.

She was definitely sure she had heard something this time and that it was not just her imagination.

Liara tentatively called out.

"Uh, hallo?... Can somebody hear me?"

Then she listened, hoping desperately that someone would hear her.