Shepard recognized the asari immediately. After all, there was only asari she had ever seen with green skin. "Shiala!" she called out, swinging her crutches ahead. The pain was less than last week, but she still needed the damn crutches to get around. Liara was at her side, ever alert in case Shepard needed assistance or needed to be caught in case of a fall. Shepard was sure she would grow sick of her girlfriend babying her so much soon enough, but right now she was still enjoying it. Though she would never again fake being hurt to mess with her girlfriend. That had not gone well.

Shiala turned around, and her face lit up with a smile. "Commander Shepard!" she shouted, walking over to where Shepard had stopped with Liara. "Dr. T'Soni, I am so glad to see you both. We were all praying for the both of you after we heard what happened at the beam. I heard that you had recovered from your injuries, but its such a relief to see you out and about." Shiala looked at the crutches and bandages still adorning Shepard's body, pursing her lips. "How are you, Commander?"

"About as well as I can be," Shepard said, adjusting her stance.

"Maybe we should find somewhere to sit," Shiala said, noticing the commander's discomfort.

They settled for a nearby bench, where Shepard soon found herself watching the ongoing construction efforts that Shiala had been helping with. Among those still working were other colonists from Feros. Shepard recognized Julianna and Lizbeth Baynham, May O'Connell, and Davin and Greta Reynolds. "How many of you came from Feros?" Shepard asked.

"Everyone who thought they would be even the least bit helpful," Shiala answered. "Every ExoGeni scientist that stayed at the colony came here to help with the Crucible, and a lot of us came at the Alliance's request after we managed to repel a Reaper attack. We've made ourselves useful in every way we could."

"I can see that. Do any of you have any actual experience in construction?" Shepard asked, teasingly.

"Jane!" Liara admonished.

Shiala laughed heartily. "Hey, we just follow the instructions we're given. If the people in charge are under qualified, that's their fault, not ours." The three of them laughed together. Shiala was the first to stop, her expression becoming more somber. "I still feel as if I owe whatever I can give to the galaxy. If not for you, I may have been responsible for the Reaper invasion, at a time when we would have had no chance to win."

Liara placed a hand on Shiala's. "You have done plenty to amend for your mistakes. You do not need to feel such guilt." Shepard did not miss the sideways glance Liara gave her, making it clear Shiala was not the only one that statement was meant for.

"Its not so much guilt as it is a sense of responsibility," Shiala said. "A responsibility to do what I can to make this universe a better place."

"Jane is the last person to argue against that logic," Liara said. "I doubt anyone's ever given more of themselves out of a sense of responsibility to better the universe."

Shiala smiled. "I knew that the moment I talked to the colonists in Feros. To hear the lengths you went through to help them, Commander, that was a large part of why I stayed there all these years. You had no reason to save those colonists, no reason to take all the actions you did to help the colony recover, yet you did, without knowing any of them. How could someone like me that was responsible for attempting to kill them not follow your example?"

Shepard blushed, as she knew she tended to do when others began complimenting her to such a level. "I was a Council Spectre doing what was needed. Nothing else. I was far from the only person to give of themselves when the Geth attacked Feros."

"Come on, hurry it up!" Henry Okpara shouted, fingers constantly flexing and loosening around the grip of his pistol. He could hear the other guards shouting as well, figuring they were waiting every bit as impatiently as he was for the scientists to finish doing whatever it was they were doing. Henry was watching as two scientists worked their fingers furiously over keyboards, lips moving silently. It was a habit he noticed a lot of the staff here had, like they were talking to themselves while they worked. At first he thought it was strange, but after a couple of weeks of working security detail, he grew used to it. One of the scientists finished, and moved on to another console, where he again typed away as fast as he could manage. "Let's go, let's go!" Henry shouted again.

Another five minutes passed before they finished, and the shouts elsewhere in the complex changed, from desperation to fear and pain. Henry grabbed the arms of the scientists and pushed them ahead, telling them to run. He heard the first shots somewhere ahead, and called the scientists to a halt, turning them around. He led the way as they ran the opposite direction, all the way to a staircase. Once there, the three of them hurried down, nearly running into two other security guards and the five scientists they were leading. "Who the fuck is attacking us?" Henry asked.

"I don't know, some kind of robots," the oldest of the other security guards, Raymond, said.

"They're geth!" one of the scientists said, an attractive young woman.

"They are not geth!" Raymond shouted back.

"Yes they are!" the scientist argued. "They attacked Eden Prime, and now they are attacking Feros!"

"Why would they attack Feros? What could possibly here that they want?"

The scientist opened her mouth to speak, but said nothing. Maybe Henry was just paranoid and imagining things, but he thought the scientist looked like she knew why the geth would attack this colony. "It's not our job to know why, we're grunts," he said. "Any ideas where we could set up a defensible position?"

"Not in this building," Raymond said immediately. "Our first priority needs to be getting out of this tower. The robots, geth, whatever, seem to be focusing all their attention here. Let's get to the garage and secure a vehicle."

They came across the first dead bodies on the level below. The geth had been brutally efficient, every victim dead from no more than two or three shots. Offices and labs had been turned upside down, proof that the geth were searching for something. Henry again asked the scientists he and the other guards were escorting what was being kept here that the geth would want, only to again be met with silence. They obviously knew something, especially that young woman. She again appeared as if she wanted to speak, but decided not to. With no time to argue, they continued fleeing, level by level, drawing ever closer to the base of the tower and the garage waiting there. The amount of dead only increased, all killed with the same efficiency as the first ones found. The cries of fear and disgust from the scientists eventually ended, replaced by a numb shock as they mentally removed themselves from the situation, following along without emotion, eyes focusing on nothing.

By the time they reached the third floor of the tower, Henry had begun to let himself hope they would not come across any of the geth. That hope died as they approached a computer lab to their left. So far, upon reaching a new floor, the security would move ahead and check for any hostiles, while the scientists stayed near the stairs they descended to reach the floor. They did the same upon reaching the third floor, and Henry led his two coworkers down the hall slowly, pistols aimed forward. Henry had not seen real action in a decade, since his last tour of duty in the Alliance. He constantly practiced at gun ranges to keep his aim sharp, but there was distinct difference between real life action and anything else, a difference he felt now. His hands shook slightly, his eyes had trouble focusing. He hadn't felt so nervous since his first action, nearly three decades ago.

Henry was the first to hear the mechanical clicks inside the lab, and immediately signaled the other two guards to a halt. Slowly, he crept up to the door, and positioned one hand on the button to open it. Raymond and the other guard, a turian named Hirius, took up position on the other side of the door. Henry breathed in deep, held it, and pushed the button. They were through the door quickly, shooting at everything that moved. When it was over, four geth were deactivated, the room was clear. Henry released the breath he had been holding, and his body trembled. Raymond and Hirius picked up the assault rifles the geth had been armed with, and threw one Henry's way.

Two more labs and an office were cleared the same way, and the group of security guards and scientists made it to the first floor. Henry was beginning to feel relief, thinking the worst was over, when something slammed into the side of the tower, shaking the entire structure and nearly knocking them all off of their feet. When the shaking finally stopped, Henry took a moment to catch his breath, having not even realized until then he had stopped breathing. "What was that?" Hirius asked, whispering.

None of them knew, so no one answered. "We're almost at the garage," Raymond said, also whispering. "Let's just keep moving."

Henry must have been the only person not surprised at the geth presence when they reached the garage. Raymond had cursed at the sight, Hirius went wide-eyed, and all the scientists gasped, the worry plain in their eyes. Henry was the only one who hardly reacted. Of course the geth would take control of the garage, they wouldn't want anyone escaping, and taking a vehicle was basically the only good chance anyone had of doing so. "I can reach one of the two close transport vehicles, but you will all need to run the minute I start the thing up," Hirius said.

"I'll go with you, watch your back," Henry said. The turian patted him on the back, and Raymond nodded his consent. He was explaining the plan to the scientists when Hirius led the way into the garage, crouching as he moved, Henry right behind him.

The closest of the transport vehicles was capable of carrying twenty, plenty of space for all of them. Henry noticed a machine gun turret atop it as well. Hirius moved with an easy, quiet grace, which Henry tried his hardest to duplicate. The geth inside the garage, of which Henry could count sixteen, with one additional massive geth that walked on four legs, focused their attention more on the entrance to the garage, which kept their sight away from the two guards at the rear. Hirius opened the passenger side door and hurried into the vehicle, while Henry nervously watched for anyone that might come across them. He heard the scrape of metal on concrete echo through the garage, coming his way in moderately paced strides, timed one after the other with mechanical perfection. There was nothing to do but wait, and be ready to shoot. Eventually, the footsteps stopped, five long, dread filled seconds passing. When they turned around and began walking away, Henry had to fight the urge to sigh with relief.

Moments later, a three fingered hand set itself on his shoulder, and he jumped at the contact. It was only Hirius, he realized. "I'm ready to start this, I'll give you thirty seconds to get back to Raymond and the scientists before I start it up." Henry nodded and began creeping back, keeping his eye on the geth to make sure he went unseen. He tried his hardest to mimic the skilled movements Hirius had used to sneak from the door to the vehicle, staying low, moving only when he was sure he was unseen. He was halfway there, hope again rising within him, when he heard gunshots. At first he was certain either he or Hirius had been spotted, but then another round of gunshots rang out, and he realized they were coming from the direction of the scientists. With no further care over being spotted, he stood and sprinted.

The door opened as he approached, and one of the scientists bowled into Henry, nearly knocking him over. The security guard didn't bother to ask what was happening. It didn't take a genius to figure it out. Behind him, Henry heard the transport being driven their way and the gunshots being fired at it. The other scientists were hurrying out into the garage, taking the lead of the first in taking cover behind whatever they could. Henry noticed that three of them, including the young woman, were nowhere to be seen. "Take cover until the transport gets here, and when Hirius tells you to get in you get in," Henry said. "Don't hesitate, or you will get left behind. When he says move, you move."

Henry stood and ran, ignoring the warning shouts directed his way. He ran through the door leading back inside the tower, just as two geth walked through another door straight ahead. With no hesitation, he fired his assault rifle and dropped both. The corpse of one of the scientists was on the ground, head leaning against the wall. A pool of blood was spreading underneath him from the various wounds on his chest. A separate blood streak led through a doorway to the right, and Henry followed it, rifle aimed forward and ready to shoot at a moment's notice. The lights flickered on and off, as explosions rocked the tower somewhere above. The blood streak continued in an irregular pattern down the hallway, around a corner, and into an office. Henry kicked the door open, only to find what he hoped he wouldn't. Raymond was fading quickly, bleeding from wounds to his gut, leg, and shoulder. Henry knew right away there was nothing he could do for him. "You need to go back, before you get left behind."

"Where's the young woman? Henry asked. "She's the only one unaccounted for."

Raymond coughed, his spittle thick with blood. "Lizbeth said she was going to stay behind to send off a message to Colonial Affairs, tell them what happened. I covered her while she ran, took a few bullets but managed to draw them away and take them out one by one."

So there was no chance of finding her in time to get her out. "You died a good death, Ray. Rest in peace, friend." Raymond coughed again, and his eyes closed.

Thankfully, Hirius had not driven off without him, though when Henry got back, he saw that the turian had clearly had to fight, with geth bodies everywhere. The large geth unit with the four legs had never activated, it seemed. "I was about to leave your moronic ass behind," Hirius said after jumping down from the turret compartment and getting back to the driver's seat.

"I'm glad you didn't," Henry said, moving to take his place. A hand gripped his arm and pulled him before he could do so. It was an older woman, tears ready to fall from her eyes. "Ma'am, please, I need to get on this turret and shoot at these geth before they take us out," he pleaded. Shots were hitting the shields, and Henry heard the tires squeal as the transport moved forward.

"We can't leave my daughter, she was with us a couple minutes ago, we can't leave her!" the woman cried hysterically.

"We can worry about Lizbeth later, Juliana," one of the other scientists said.

"Fuck you, Ethan, fuck you!"

Somehow, Henry had not noticed the resemblance until that moment. "Ma'am, your daughter stayed behind to send out a message letting everyone know what happened and get the Alliance to come help. I assure you, Raymond stayed behind to keep her safe."

The lie was necessary, but the woman did not want to believe it. She smacked Henry as hard as she could, and tried to leave the transport. Henry was one of three pairs of arms that grabbed her, holding her in place as she screamed and insulted and struggled to escape. Ethan came over to take his place, allowing Henry to take command of the turret. He tried his best to drown out the anguished cries from below and focus on the skyway ahead.

Geth troopers of various makes and sizes lined the skyway, firing assault rifles, rockets, energy pulses, and sniper rifles. Tank-like geth like the four legged one in the garage fired pulse rounds and heavy machine gun rounds, capable of easily ripping through the transport's shields and damaging the hull in seconds. Henry shot at everything, doing all he could to take these geth out and keep them safe. It helped that Hirius was a fantastic driver. The turian swerved the transport this way, that way, stopped and sped up, keeping the worst of the projectiles sent their way from making contact. Henry could hear the scientists below scream at every turn. Juliana had managed to calm down, but was still crying. It was all he could do to keep his mind focused on the task ahead.

The transport was nearing the Skyway Weigh Station when one of the geth tanks scored a direct blow through their weakened shields, and alarms began blaring inside the transport. "Damn it, we have to get out of this thing!" Hirius shouted, having to in order to be heard above the alarms.

"Get to the Weigh station first!" Henry shouted back.

"I'm not sure I can manage that!" Hirius told him.

"All we can do is try!"

Henry fired the machine gun as long as it could, until the alarms warning him it had overheated mingled with the other alarms indicating the transport's various failures. Hirius slammed into two large geth firing rockets, just outside the large door to the weigh station. As the door opened for the approaching transport, a tire blew out and the vehicle began to tip on its side. "Everyone hold on!" Hirius shouted, and Henry jumped down from the turret to brace for impact. The transport tipped, sliding on its side down the decline leading down from the doorway. One of the scientists lost their grip and fell heavily into Henry, but he managed to keep his own grip while holding the scientist. When the vehicle finally stopped, after colliding head on with something, Hirius managed to exit out a hatch at the top and open the back doors for the rest of them.

To their right, and down a ramp, they set up the best defensive perimeter they could manage. Over the course of the next two hours, others came, mainly other security guards. Henry felt nearly incapacitated from exhaustion, his eyes refusing to stay open. He nearly drifted off to sleep when the touch of a hand on his forearm startled him awake. "I'm sorry," Juliana said. "I know you were only doing your job. I should not have lost control the way I did."

Henry smiled sympathetically. "You were concerned for your daughter. I'd have to be stupid to blame you for that."

"You're being kind," Juliana said. "I…I just want her to be safe. She's my daughter." The woman began crying. Henry hugged her, not sure what else to do or say. When she finally pulled away, she immediately wiped the tears away. "Thank you. I should get back to…something."

Juliana walked away, and Henry let himself again surrender to sleep.

"Henry was the guy with the scarred fingers, right?" Shepard asked. She distinctly remembered the authority he seemed to carry when she came upon the group of survivors at the Skyway Weigh Station.

"That's him," Shiala said. "Still kicking, too. He may not be a young guy, but he fights pretty damn well, and with age seems to have come wisdom. Henry knows his limits, and doesn't push beyond them. Thankfully, his limits still make him a hell of a soldier."

"That's good," Liara said. Then she turned a critical stare to Shepard. "I wish she could understand her limits well enough to live to an old age."

Shepard laughed. "You don't have anything to worry about, babe, not in the immediate future. I can't even walk, let alone go out and get shot at."

"You don't need to be walking for someone to find an excuse to try and kill you," Liara said, deadly serious.

Shiala shifted uncomfortably. "Um, it was nice seeing you again, both of you. I should get back to work though, before someone comes looking."

Shepard ignored the look Liara gave her, and smiled at the green asari. "I'll have to make a trip to Feros when I'm feeling better. See how things are going."

Shiala smiled, blushing. "We'd love to show you that your hard work did not go to waste." She again said her goodbyes and walked back to the construction site, looking back one more time.

The intense look Liara had could not go without being teased, not by Shepard. "I do believe she likes me." The scolding stare Liara gave her was worth the joke. "Come on, if I was going to leave you or cheat on you it would never be with another asari. What's the point, I'm already in love with the most attractive asari in the universe."

A smile cracked Liara's stern expression, as much as she tried to avoid it. "Goddess, I hate you sometimes. No matter how angry I should be at you, you say or do something like that to erase it all. You're going to be in trouble the next time we have a serious argument, I have months of built up tension to dispense."

Shepard saw the opening, and scooted closer to Liara, placing a hand on her thigh. "I'm not too injured to help you dispense of that tension." She placed a kiss on Liara's cheek, and another just under her jaw.

"Goddess take you, Jane," Liara said, smiling brightly.