Hello everybody! So here is Chapter 4 and I must say THIS CHAPTER IS AMAZING!
But that's just my not-so-humble opinion. :D
Also this chapter was a BITCH to wright!
Anyway enjoy the newest installment of That Which Defines Her
Shepard stared hopelessly at the screen in front of her. I hate bureaucracy... she though banging her head against her desk. I have to fill out fifty forms detailing where and why I refueled? Are you serious? This is ridiculous. Shepard stood up and saved her work. Heaven forbid I have to start all over... Turning the terminal off, she left her quarters and headed for medical storage. I think it's about time I had a chat with our little Prothean expert. Shepard opened the door to find Liara standing in front of her cot stretching. "Sleep well?"
"Sh-Shepard, do you need something?" Liara stuttered, quickly regaining her posture.
"I just wanted to talk. We haven't really had a chance to chat privately and I wanted to get to know you better." Shepard had plopped herself on one of the many storage crates occupying the area.
"You want to know more about me?" Liara was astounded. "I sincerely hope that you do not have high expectations, otherwise you will be severely disappointed. I am not exactly an interesting person."
"I beg to differ. Come on, spill it." She said with a smile. Liara cocked her head to the side with a confused expression. "Oh, it means start talking." Shepard chuckled.
"Well I was born on Thesia, the asari home world, and spent my childhood at my mother's estate. Sometimes I would sneak off and read in the garden when I was supposed to be studying. I remember one time, I ran off during one of my lessons and Shiala, my tutor, spent the entire day looking for me, but alas she could not find me. Only at the end of the day did mother leave her study and found me pretending to be asleep under a Ryori tree. Picking me up, she brought me back to my room where she place me in bed, stroked my cheek, and wished me pleasant dreams. Shiala lectured me for hours the next day.
"Sounds like your mother was very kind." Sai interjected.
"Indeed, she was gentle and loving and always smiling. She always tried to find a way to resolve conflict peacefully. That is why I find it difficult to believe that she has aligned herself with Saren." Liara sounded distressed. "But that does remind me of something I wanted to ask you. Dr. Chakwas said received a vision from a Prothean beacon on Eden Prime. Is this correct?
"Yeah, that's how I know about the Reapers." Shepard answered.
"Did it give you any information on the Protheans themselves?" Liara's excitement grew.
"I'm sorry to disappoint you but I was lucky enough to survive. The fact that I can recognize the Reapers is a miracle."
"Oh... I'm sorry. Forget I asked. I am just thank-" Liara began.
"Although..." Shepard interrupted. If memory serves, asari can share information through Joining. Maybe she will be able to make better sense of it, after all she knows a lot more about them than I do. "How about Joining?"
Liara's eyes grew as big a saucers and she had a look of utter shock written across her face. "W-W-What did you say?! I must have misheard! There is no way she could have meant she wants to Join with me, after all it has only been a week since we first met and we hardly know each other! That is right, I am simply mistaken... however...
Shepard was confused by Liara's reaction "You can share memories through the Joining right? It would let you see what the beacon implanted and you could probably make more sense of it than I can."
The asari collapsed on her cot. Of course... I was right. I must be an utter fool to actually think...
"Liara are you alright?" Shepard knelt in front of her with a concerned look. After a few seconds her expression changed to embarrassment "Oh my God! I am so sorry! I completely forgot that Joining was..." Shepard mentally slapped herself I can't believe how insensitive I was! I essentially just said 'Hey let's have sex, we might learn something from it'
"No, you are correct and it is a good idea. I might be able to help you sort out the information you received." Liara stood back up.
"Well if you're sure you're comfortable with it..." Wow she's quite a level headed person... I would be furious if someone said that to me.
"Relax Commander, slow your breathing, look into my eyes, and embrace eternity."
As soon as Liara said the final line, Shepard was lost within her own mind, memories flashing before her. At first they were recent like the paper work she had just been working on and what she had for breakfast, but soon images of unrecognizable aliens running in terror, skies filled with strange ships, and cities being destroyed were rapidly popping up. Saiori hadn't seen the images this clearly and she tried to block it. As she did so, more personal memories that had long since been locked away came to light. She saw her mother's head explode as a Batarian slaver peppered the area around her with hammerhead rounds. Her dad rushed towards their assailant but was torn to pieces while Saiori just stood there covered in her mother's blood and brains. The Batarian grabbed her arm and brought her to a large ship. That memory vanished and another took it's place. Shepard was in a warehouse on some uncharted planet. She was around 16 at the time and Nihlus had asked her to infiltrate a terrorist facility and take them down. So far it had been easy pickings as the group wasn't very organized and didn't work well together. Now all that remained was the leader and his personal guards. Saiori sprinted from cover so she could get a clear shot at one in charge and had almost made it but a stray round caught her in the thigh. Her light armor didn't do much to stop it and it tore right through. She stumbled and fell behind a large crate. Auto-injectors filled the wound with medi-gel and the pain ebbed a little. She popped up from her cover and scoped her targets. They were all gathered around large quantities of high explosive. They must plan to blow this place when they leave... not nearly to bring this facility down but more than necessary to make my job easier. She fired once, puncturing one of the canisters near the center. Quickly switching to an incendiary clip, she fired again and the terrorists were no longer a threat.
Finally Liara broke the connection and stumbled backwards "Shepard! You-"
Shepard grabbed the asari's shoulders and gently pressed her against the wall "What did you see?"
"I..." Shepard's face was close to hers "Everything."
"Liara I need you -" At that moment Ashley walked in saying something about target practice.
"Oh shit! I-I'm sorry! I'll come back later." Ashley turned on her heel and left the med bay. Damn Commander, you don't waste any time do you!
"Commander I am so sorry! It was not my intention to-"
Shepard pinched the bridge of her nose and sat down on Liara's cot. "Relax, I don't blame you. It was entirely my fault." she sighed. "I'll explain everything later but for now I need you to keep this to yourself ok?"
"I swear for your sake that I will not speak a word of this to anybody!" Liara assured.
"You're sweet, Liara. You're more concerned with what would happen to me rather than yourself if you told anyone." Shepard leaned over and kissed Liara on the cheek. "Thank you." she whispered.
Liara stood dumbstruck, her lips slightly ajar, and staring blankly at the Commander as she left the room. Did she just... She slowly brought her hand up to her cheek, feeling the moistness of Shepard's lips still lingering.
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I need to clarify with Ash that that wasn't what it looked like... which will be difficult to do. Maybe I should just tell her not to spread it around, but that would insinuate that I have a relationship with Liara which wouldn't be fair to her...
"Attention everyone, this is your pilot speaking. ETA on Feros is ten minutes." Joker announced
Damn it I don't have any time! Giving up, Shepard jogged to her quarters to get ready for their next mission.
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Shepard, Garrus, and Wrex stepped out onto a stone walkway, analyzing their surroundings.
"So why are we here again?" Garrus asked.
"Geth have been attacking the colony. Come on, someone's waiting for us" Shepard indicated the man standing at the end of the walkway.
As they approached, the man called out "Shepard! We're so glad you're here! This way, Fai Dan wants to speak with you."
"Who's Fai Dan?" Garrus inquired.
"He's our... leader. He's helped us stay alive since the Geth attacked. Come on, right this w-" Just then the man's chest exploded as a Geth sniper round shot through him and lodged itself in Shepard's armor.
Garrus quickly drew his sniper rifle and dropped the murderer. "Shepard are you alright? That was too close."
"You're telling me, had he not been standing there, I would've taken a shot to the heart." She said kneeling down. Closing his eyes, she whispered "Thank you". Shepard stood up and wiped most of the gore from her face. "Alright let's find this Fai Dan but advance with caution. Garrus Take point, I'll watch our six."
They warily approached the stair well and made it up one flight of stairs when they were ambushed again. They took them out with ease and finally made it to the colony. The team made their way around the housing units and found a man talking with an armed woman. "Are you Fai Dan?" Shepard asked.
"Yes that's..." He turned to face the Spectre "What happened to you?"
"Geth ambushed us at the dock. The man you sent to retrieve me... He didn't make it. I'm sorry." Shepard informed.
"Cadaway... he... that is unfortunate news." Fai replied.
"Yeah it sucks but the rest of the colony is alive so let's worry about them now and the dead later." the armed woman spoke.
"Laurice has a point. The Geth have been coming at us relentlessly. We've managed to hold off up until now but-" Fai was interrupted by a Geth rocket slamming into a concrete barrier.
Shepard rolled her eyes "Come on let's take the fight to them."
"Now you're talkin!" Wrex charged toward the incoming Geth. He ran up to the nearest one and punched it in the 'face' causing it to stumble back directly into the fire of the other synthetics. The charging Geth tripped over the body and Wrex delivered a couple shotgun blasts to the group at his feet. "Come on what are you guys waiting for?" the Krogan called out as he slammed his shotgun on the side of another Geth's head.
"We were kinda hoping you'd take care of it for us, Wrex." Shepard yelled back as she scoped two rocket troopers coming down the stairs. She fired destroying the rear one's leg causing it to topple forward on top of the other one. "Right Garrus?"
Both synthetics fell in a heap at the base of the stairs and Garrus unloaded some armor piercing rounds into them. "Yeah I just shined my armor so I was hoping I wouldn't have to get it all scuffed up."
"Alright let's got get the rest of them." the Commander ordered as they passed an elevator. They went up a few more steps and entered a large atrium. "Um... is that a Geth drop ship?" As soon as she said it, Geth started poring out of it.
"Damn it! How the hell are we gonna get rid of that thing?" Garrus yelled.
Shepard had another bold idea. "Grarrus, Wrex, cover me! I'm gonna board it!"
"What the hell is wrong with you Shepard?! Wrex, tell her she's crazy!"
"You're crazy Shepard! Don't worry, I got your back!" Wrex laughed as he charged another group of Geth.
Shepard started sprinting from stone block to stone block getting as close to the ship as possible. Good, it seems Wrex and Garrus are distracting them. Putting up her rifle and drawing her dagger, Shepard dashed for the ship at incredible speed. She made it to the ramp in a few seconds and was confronted by two Geth standing guard. The Spectre ran up the ramp and sliced from the head to the neck of the closer Geth. Leaving the dagger in place, Shepard kicked the rifle from the other Geth and punched it in the chest making it stagger backwards. She then drew her pistol and fired a few rounds point blank. Its body slumped to the ground, electricity arching through the newly formed holes. The Commander grabbed her dagger and continued into the ship.
"You see that? I told you she'd make it no problem!" Wrex yelled to Garrus.
"I was never worried about her! We're the ones who have to deal with a platoon of Geth!" Garrus replied after sniping two Geth soldiers. Just then, a huge explosion took care of their Geth problem. "Oh you've got to be kidding me..." Garrus relaxed. "What are you Shepard? Only you could hijack a Geth drop ship." He heard a sniffle coming from Wrex. "Wrex... are you crying?"
"That...was...beautiful!" Wrex mutterd.
"Glad you liked it." Shepard walked over to her team. "Come on, let's notify Fai Dan and then we can have some real fun with this new toy." Saiori led the trio back to the colony.
"Shepard! When we heard the explosion, we feared the worst!" Fai exclaimed.
"Yeah, don't worry about me, I figured I should let you know that it's going to be a while before anymore Geth show up." the Commander replied with a huge smile. "Anyway I'll have some of me team help you out while I'm dealing with the rest of the Geth."
"Oh yes, about that... The Geth have overrun the ExoGeni headquarters across the skyway. Said skyway is heavily fortified and crawling with Geth Armatures and a Colossus or two. We have a MAKO in the garage but it would be suicide to try and cross." the man reported.
"Well I guess we're lucky that we don't need a bridge then. Joker! have Liara, Ashley, Tali, and Kaiden report to Fai Dan and help around." Shepard ordered walking back up the stairs. "So... either of you know how to fly a ship?"
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Liara sat at her desk pondering what had happened a few hours ago. Why would she kiss me? She sighed It was just a kiss on the cheek, I'm thinking too much into it. But what if she...
Liara's musings were brought to a halt when Ashley entered. "Suit up T'soni, we have orders."
"Oh, of course." the asari got up and both women left for the armory.
As they stepped onto the lift, Ashley spoke up "So... you and the Commander eh?"
Liara's face turned dark blue. She had completely forgotten about that indecent "I-I assure you that it was not what it looked like." She fidgeted.
"Oh really? Because seeing her hands on your shoulders, face leaning in, and saying 'Liara I need you" leaves little room for misinterpretation." Ashley enjoyed the reaction she was getting. I bet I can work this to my advantage.
"I... this lift sure is taking a long time isn't it?" The lift doors opened and Liara practically ran into the hold.
"There you two are!" Alenko Called the over. "Tali already left." They put their armor on, gathered their equipment and headed for the air lock.
The trio made it to the colony with no problems and found their way to Fai Dan.
"Ah, you must be the rest of Shepard's team. The Quarian, Tali, has already started helping Rebecca with the power and water problems. John still needs help with a varen problem and we have some wounded that need tending to." A man reported as they walked over.
"I have some knowledge in healing so I'll see to them." Liara spoke up.
"Good idea. Chief, you and me are going to see John about these varen." Kaiden ordered.
Liara detached from the group and headed inside the housing units to treat the wounded.
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"Ok so we start the day off with the Commander nearly getting killed, Then we hijack a Geth dropship, bombard every Geth on the skyway, infiltrate a Geth stronghold, and finally we make a different Geth ship fall roughly 500 stories. Do you ever have a normal day Shepard?" Garrus chucckled.
"I did once. Let's not forget that we have to deal with a mind controlling plant too." Shepard added
"Right but first we should get Lizbeth back to her mother." the turian nodded.
"If you please, I would really like to see my mom." Liz piped up. "And you actually hijacked a Geth drop ship?"
"Of course! How do you think we got here? We certainly didn't walk." Saiori replied matter-of-factly. "Come on, it'll only take us a few seconds to get there. They walked up the ramp into the hold and sat down while Shepard continued deeper into the ship. "Garrus, get some info bout the Thorian before we reach the ExoGeni holdout."
The turian turned to face Liz "So what can you tell us about this thing?"
"Well it uses air born spores to infect its victims. The infection rate is very fast. In only a few weeks, over half the colonists at Zhu's Hope had been infected." the young woman informed.
"You mean the Thorian is somewhere in Zhu's Hope and you just let it infect the colonists?" Garrus growled.
"I didn't have a choice. They threatened to do the same to me if I objected." Liz defended herself.
The ship touched down outside a small alcove in the sky way.
"Alright Lizbeth, they are in there. We would go with you but we really need to get back to Zhu's hope."
"Ah, thank you! I won't forget this!" The human shouted as she jumped out and ran into the alcove.
The ship took off again and headed towards Zhu's Hope.
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Liara had just finished treating the last of the wounded. Fortunately there was nothing serious and she was able to handle everything. She left the housing units and walked towards Fai Dan to report.
"Oh uh... Liara was it? How are umm... the umm... the patients?" Fai Inquired as she approached him.
"They are fine but how are you?"
"Me? Well I uhh... I'm fine. I just have a bad um... headache. It just makes it uhh... hard to think." as soon as he finished a Geth drop ship flew over them and landed in the middle of the colony.
"Oh no!" Liara drew her pistol and ran towards the sip to see Garrus, Wrex, and finally Shepard walk down the ramp of the ship. "Wait... What?"
Shepard noticed her and called her over "Liara! Glad you're here. Tell me, have the colonists been acting strange?"
"Well most of them are complaining of headaches and difficulty thinking." Liara reported.
Shepard ran over to the crane console. "Liara where are Alenko, Williams, and Tali?"
"They returned to the ship to retrieve some extra supplies. What is the matter" The asari reported as one of the housing units lifted up to reveal a walkway leading deeper into Zhu's Hope.
"Ok, Liara as soon as Garrus, Wrex, and I walk down there, I want you to press this button and run to the Normandy." Shepard ordered. "Joker, as soon as Liara is onboard, you are to lock the air lock. Nobody get's in or out until I say otherwise."
"Aye, aye mam" Joker replied.
"Shepard, What is happ-" Liara began.
Shepard grabbed her shoulders "Liara do as I say and I'll give you a reward when I get back." Liara nodded gazing into her eyes. Shepard took her team down the walkway and the housing closed above them.
"I'll give you a reward when I get back?" Garrus mocked the Commander. "I wonder what kind of reward Dr. T'soni expects."
"Shut up Garrus" Shepard said, her cheeks burning.
"Ohh scary" the turian started laughing.
"Will you two cut it out so we can get to the root of the problem?"Wrex yelled. Garrus and Shepard only looked at him with exasperated expressions. "Get it? Root of the problem? You know cause it's a plant..." The Spectre and C-Sec officer merely shook their heads and continued walking. "I'm funny, damn it!" Wrex said running to catch up.
"Ok so we just need to find this shrub and... That is disgusting." Shepard stated looking up into the fleshy monster.
Wrex shrugged "Big shrub."
"That's a plant?" Garrus asked in disbelief. "Plants don't drool...oh something is coming!" a green asari fell from the 'mouth' of the Thorian. "Oh I feel sick..."
"Um... who are you?" Shepard asked with her pistol aimed at the strange asari.
"I was offered in a trade between Saren and the Old Growth for the Cipher." the asari replied.
"What's the Cipher?" Saiori asked infinitely more interested.
"You have visions, flashes of Prothean life, filling your head but they are unclear, indistinguishable. The Cipher is the accumulated knowledge of the Protheans. It will make the visions understandable."
"Uhh... I guess I have three requests then." Shepard rubbed the back of her neck. "Could you give me the Chipher, release this asari and release the colonists as well?"
"You have done the Old Growth a great service by removing the Geth. It is willing to comply with the first two requests however the Old Growth fears if it releases the colonists, they will fear it and attack it."
"I can see that actually happening... Then do you think you can be less invasive or less controlling? It seems the more control you enforce the more they suffer." Shepard bargained.
The asari just stood there for a few moments without doing anything. "The Old Growth agrees." Just then a sac attached the the wall popped open and the exact same asari stood fell out while the green one fell down lifelessly.
Shepard walked over to her and helped the captive stand up. "You ok?"
"Are you Shepard? I am fine, thank you. I assume you want the Cipher?" She got straight to the point
"Yeah but I'd like a name first." Sai tried to stall the inevitable 'embracing of eternity'
"You may call me Shiala." the asari smiled for a moment
"Shiala? You must know Liara T'soni then." Shepard was surprised
"Liara? Yes she was my pupil once. How do you know her?" If she was surprised she hid it well.
"She's a part of my crew at the moment." the Commander replied
"That is odd. I would not expect her to be working with a Spectre." Shiala chuckled.
"No you wouldn't would you? Anyway I guess it's time." Shepard replied.
"Very well. Slow your breathing, calm your mind, look into my eyes, and embrace eternity!"
Shepard could feel large amounts of information being shoved into her brain. I feel like my head is about to explode! A dull throbbing took over her perception of reality for a moment and with that, it was done. "That was intense!" Her companions looked at each other and then back at her, with confused expressions. "What?"
Garrus spoke up first "Shepard, What are you saying?"
"What do you mean what am I saying? Isn't it obvious?" Shepard adopted the same confused expression.
"We can't understand you Shepard! What language are you speaking? Garrus was concerned.
Shiala spoke up. "I can understand bits and pieces of it but not enough to tell what she's saying... I think it's Prothean."
"So you are saying I'm speaking Prothean!? That's not-" She was interrupted by an intense headache that nearly brought her to her knees. She gave the handsigns for 'regroup' and 'landing zone' hoping the group would get it.
Garrus gave the turian equivalent of a smile "Understood Commander, she said we're going topside , let's go."
They looked at Garrus and then the Commander who nodded. Shepard led the group back to Zhu's Hope but was stopped by the housing unit blocking their exit. "Oh that's just great... Joker, if you can understand this and send someone to operate the crane, I will give you anything you want."
"Uhh... Commander?" Joker's voice echoed around them.
"Joker this is Garrus. We need you to send someone to operate the crane."
"Sorry I can't do that. Commander Shepard gave me an order to lock down the Normandy until she said otherwise." Joker heard some angry and indecipherable words come through the radio.
"The Thorian did something to Shepard and now all she can do is babble like an idiot." Wrex finally said something. Shepard looked at him angrily. "It'll work. Trust me."
"Is she okay?" Joker groaned. "Damn it! Dr. Chakwas, report to Commander Shepard's location immediately."
"Told you." Wrex grunted.
Shepard fell to her knees as her headache got worse. What the hell is happening!? It feels like my brain is melting! Her vision grew fuzz. No! I'm not going to pass out from a headache! The housing unit finally lifted and Shepard staggered out into the open.
"Commander! What is the problem?" Dr. Chakwas asked obviously concerned.
Shepard was unaware of her surroundings now. She had no sense of time, no sight, no smell, no hearing, and no touch. All she knew was pain. An infinite pain coursing throughout her entire body. She writhed around tying to escape the intense suffering withing her but to no avail. She had no idea how much time had passed before her senses started returning. First she could hear a low rumbling in the background but as time wore on, the rumbling turned into a voice. What's it saying?
"This morning she finally stopped thrashing about but I don't know if that is a good or bad sign. I finally found a faint heartbeat but not where it should be. This is the first time something like this has ever happened."
She couldn't recognize the voice but it had a familiarity to it. Shepard rolled over and groaned "Oh my head!"
The voice in the background suddenly stopped and footsteps could be heard coming closer. "Commander? Are you awake!?"
Shepard recognized the voice now. "Dr. Chakwas? What happened to me?"
"This is a miracle! I-I can't believe this! Shepard how do you feel? Are you in pain?" She inquired.
"Uhh... yeah... My head, my arms, my legs, my chest... I hurt." her vision had gone from black to blurry.
"I'm sorry to hear that. I would give you something to ebb the pain, but I have no idea what kind of effect it would have on your body." the doctor apologized.
"Why would pain medication have unknown effects on my body?" Shepard now had the fuzzy image of someone in front of her. She heard a door open and someone walking in.
"Dr. Chakwas, I heard you yelling and..." Liara started
"Liara! Is that you? It's good to uh... hear you. I still can't see porperly." Shepard smiled as the pain slowly faded into moderate aches.
"Sh-Shepard... you're awake?"
Saiori could hear the disbelief in her voice "Why are y'all so shocked? How long have I been out? What happened to me?" Memories started coming back to her. "Wait, You can understand me right?"
"Yes we can now, but originally you were screaming something in a different language. Even now you have an accent." Liara's voice was pained.
"What do you mean originally?" Shepard was had a sinking feeling
"Shepard, you've been in a semi-conscious state for the past three weeks. During that time, your body went through... changes."
Shepard's vision finally returned. She stood up and walked over to the mirror, "I still look the same."
"Place you hand over your heart." Dr. Chakwas ordered.
Shepard did as she was asked but even after holding her hand on her chest for a few moments, she didn't feel anything. She furrowed her brow and looked at Dr. Chakwas.
"Now with your right hand, hold you side."
Shepard did so and this time, felt a faint pumping similar to a heartbeat. "That's... But..." She closed her eyes. No. This can't be real. I must be dreaming. Yes that's it. I probably passed out from that headache after all and now I'm just dreaming...
Liara came to stand behind Shepard. Wrapping her arms around the Commander's waist she pressed her face to her back. "I'm sorry, Saiori... You are no longer human."
HOLY CRAP WHAT COULD HAVE HAPPENED!?!?!
yeah it's unrealistic but I don't care. It's MY story not your's. And besides, one could argue that an element that affects the properties of mass when an electric current is sent through it is unrealistic as well. Or that asari reproduce by Joining the minds is unrealistic
I bet at this point in time, your thinking 'Oh wow the title kind of makes sense now!'
Anyway that was a long chapter wasn't it!? I hope y'all enjoyed it! And if you didn't, tell me why with the little green button below!