Shepard and her crew stepped out of the Normandy's airlock onto a Feros dock. After receiving a report about the geth force that had landed recently she decided it was best to bring along the whole crew. Looking around at the destruction the synthetic army had created, she felt a pang of guilt for ignoring the colony for this long. The squad strode down the walkway, the sounds of battle in the distance showing the colony hadn't been defeated yet.
A colonist met them before they left the dock "We saw your ship," he said, his demeanor indicating he was exhausted "Fai Dan wants to speak with you immediately,"
"Who's Fai Dan?" Shepard asked.
"He's our leader. He needs your help to prepare for the geth. They're making another push," he droned "Please, up the stairs past the freighter,"
Suddenly a geth heavy popped around the corner and fired a rocket that impacted the colonist and sending him flying and landing in a heap of broken bones. Shepard was the quickest to react as she yanked her pistol out and dispatched the geth. Liara stared in shock as Garrus inspected the dead colonist.
"More on the way!" Brady shouted and unloaded with his hurricane, downing the first trooper. Liara dropped into cover, her pistol sliding out her hand and clattering to the floor.
"Liara, are you alright?" Tali shouted to the asari causing her to stare back up at the quarian, her mouth moving trying to answer but not able to speak. Liara flinched when a body dropped next to her, but relaxed, slightly, when she realized it was Garrus.
"You injured, T'Soni?" he asked as he popped a fresh clip into his sniper rifle. Still not begin able to form words, the asari shook her head. The gunfire died down as the geth were easily taken out by the squad.
"This isn't your first battle, asari," Wrex stated in annoyance and Liara looked to the ground "Hmph," was his reaction as he strode away.
"If you can't handle this then maybe you better wait on the ship," Logan suggested tactlessly.
Brady scowled at him before kneeling in front of the asari "I know this isn't easy, but it needs to be done," he said and Liara nodded without breaking eye contact "Just stick with me, I'll help you,"
The human stood and helped the asari to her feet and stepped back while she brushed herself off "I'm so sorry, his death was just so... sudden,"
"That will happen in battle," Shepard spoke up "You have to be ready to face that and react accordingly,"
"Yes, Shepard, again I'm sorry," Liara said and once again dropped her gaze while still feeling the stares of the whole squad.
To save her from further embarrassment Brady started to follow where Wrex had gone "Come on, the colony won't save itself," he declared.
Before Liara could follow a gloved, three-fingered, hand grabbed her arm "Liara, your pistol," Tali said as she handed the asari her firearm back. The rest of the walk to the colony's center was uneventful, even the guards let them by without question. They were obviously happy to see more people come to help take care of the geth.
Logan stopped just past the barricade to take in his surroundings "These people are running on fumes. They're putting up a gallant fight but it won't take much more to break them," he stated and the rest of crew couldn't help but agree. Even the most energetic members, running around and helping anyway they could, had a despaired look about them.
Shepard focused in on different conversations the colonists were having as they passed by and discovered the colony's water supply had been disrupted, the colony was running low on food, and the power had been cut off.
"Daniels, go see what you can do to help. Take Lerman and T'Soni with you," She ordered.
"Ma'am," Brady affirmed and the trio walked off.
"Let's go see what this Fai Dan wants," Shepard said and the crew set off to find the leader.
In the tunnels
Logan peppered a geth trooper with his assault rifle while Brady reloaded his hurricane. Liara dismantled a geth destroyer with her biotics before ducking the return fire from the synthetics.
"That's it!" Brady shouted encouragingly to the asari before stepping out and gunning down a trooper himself.
Logan took down the last one with a well placed burst to the synthetic's head "Last panel," he said as he ran up to a terminal and activated it, turning on the colony's water "Now then, we just need some varren meat and power cells,"
Brady nodded then indicated towards a massive opening "Through here," he said.
As soon as they stepped through they were met with the familiar growls of varren. Four of the animals stalked towards them while one massive beast sat atop a pile of rubble.
Logan traded out his rifle for the shotgun "Disgusting things," he muttered. The four varren suddenly rushed, snarling viciously. Brady put down the first with a small burst from his SMG while Liara tossed two of them back. Logan trained his sights on one as it dashed at him and the beast roared as it leaped into the air, but it was quickly silenced by the shotgun. Liara gunned down a third with her pistol and the fourth took a full hurricane clip before it dropped. The alpha varren growled and charged them with surprising speed for its size. It didn't get within six feet of the squad before combined fire brought it down.
"How are we going to get all of this back to the colony?" Logan asked as he glanced about at the five dead beasts.
"We'll have to get help from the colony," Brady stated, slightly distracted by an abandoned vehicle they all had failed to notice in the fight with the varren "But first, I think we've found our power cells,"
The squad stopped in front of the vehicle and Logan, being the most mechanically minded of the three, got to work removing the power cells. It wasn't long before he had two sizable cylinders on the ground at their feet.
"Now what?" he asked "It would be a waste of time to get colonist help to carry just two of these,"
"I'll carry one and you two carry the other," Brady suggested but before they could act on it the two cells suddenly lifted into the air with a blue aura surrounding them.
Liara was surrounded by the same blue aura "Or I could do this," she offered.
Logan laughed as Brady patted her on the back "Good work, Liara," he said. The trio made their way back to the colony, still on alert even though they had eliminated the resistance. After stepping into the heart of the colony they noticed Garrus milling about alone.
"What are you still doing here Garrus?" Brady asked as they handed the cells off to the woman who requested them.
"Shepard asked that I wait here with you in case they need backup," he said looking relieved as he quickly made his way towards them, then dropped his voice "I also have a feeling they're hiding something,"
"What makes you think that?" Logan asked as he noticed a few colonists staring at the group, their blank faces making him uneasy.
"Earlier they were trying to move a large piece of debris, looked like a part of a ship. They couldn't move it so I told them they should use the crane but they declined," he said, also noting that more of the colonist were taking notice of their conversation "When I tried to use the crane anyway they drew their weapons on me,"
Brady stole a quick glance at the crane "It's attached to the freighter," he stated.
"Exactly. Look," he said and pointed to the ground next to where the frigate sat "Those footprints all indicate they came from the ship but-"
"It's a solid wall," Brady finished, his instincts going berserk as he noted the quantity of the footprints "The door is around the corner. There must be something underneath,"
"My thoughts exactly," Garrus said.
The group took notice of a single colonist walking towards them gripping an assault rifle "Excuse me but could you ple-"
He was stopped by Logan drawing his pistol on the him "Whoa whoa whoa, back the fuck off!" he warned. Silence followed, broken only by the rest of the colonists unfolding their weapons.
"Garrus," Brady muttered out of the corner of his mouth "Activate the crane,"
The turian spun and in one swift movement hit the activation on the crane, causing it to raise a section of the freighter, revealing an entrance to more tunnels. The colonist that had confronted them raised his rifle but Logan beat him to the proverbial punch and shot him down with one pull of the trigger.
"Go! Into the tunnel, now!" Brady shouted as the colonists raised their weapons. Bullets pinged off the walls around them as they sprinted down the steps. Brady pivoted to return fire but suddenly the crane activated again and the freighter section began to lower.
"They're sealing us in!" Liara shouted.
"Shepard! This is Daniels, the colonists fired on us, they're sealing us below the freighter," he said into his radio.
"Daniels," came the reply, nearly muffled by static "Say agai- cut o-,"
"Shepard," Brady continued "Shepard!"
No reply came and Brady switched off his radio "Shit!" he shouted, his voice echoing throughout the tunnels. After the freighter settled into the place the squad was placed into complete darkness, however it was shattered moments later by the whole squad activating their omni-tool flashlights.
"Only one way to go," Garrus said, indicating the stairs that went further down "Come on,"
Time was lost among the squad as they squad made their way through the tunnels, the two humans slightly unnerved by the darkness and a few times they swore they could hear rugged breathing. One of the times Logan thought he heard it again he spun around but lost his footing and fell with a heavy thud. The other three turned quickly and saw him pick himself up into a kneeling position, his hands and part of his back covered in a dark green slime.
"What is this shit?" he asked "Fuck, it stinks," his faced contorted in disgust as he gagged loudly, to the amusement of Brady.
Logan shot Brady a glare as he wiped his hands on the wall "Great fucking idea, Brady. Corner ourselves in a tunnel, how could this go wrong?" he said sarcastically.
"The colonists weren't exactly giving me the luxury of taking my time to decide," Brady retorted.
Logan dropped his accusations for the moment "Yeah, the fuck was up with that? I could see how one person may have overheard us, but it was like the whole colony knew what we were talking about," he said.
"They were like that when I mentioned using the crane to move the rubble," Garrus stated "As soon as I made the suggestion, everyone was staring at me. Even the lookouts,"
"Then they pulled their weapons on us for no reason," Logan continued.
Brady glared at him "Maybe because you put a bullet through one of their friend's head," he pointed out.
"He drew on me and I acted in defense," Logan shot back "How long do I wait to react, oh great master? Three bullets? Four?"
"You wait and let Garrus or I do the talking!" he shouted "He was acting strange bur he was exercising gun safety, his finger wasn't on the trigger,"
"And what about the rest of the colonist," Logan countered "We supposed to wait while they surround us?" suddenly a headache overcame Logan and he brought a hand to his forehead and he gritted his teeth in pain.
Brady didn't seem to notice "You wait for me to tell you what to do, idiot!" he shouted.
"Guys, this isn't helping our situation. Let's press on, see if there's an exit," Garrus cut in, and walked in between the two to continue further into the tunnels.
"Come on, Logan," Brady snarled "And try not to gun down any more colonists,"
The jibe stung more than it should of and before Logan could retort his headache intensified causing him to close his eyes in pain. When he opened them he was stunned to find that he had leveled his pistol to the back of Brady's retreating figure. Despite his disorientation from the pain, his aim was perfect, the sights aligned with the back of Brady's head.
Do it a strange voice suddenly commanded in his head Kill the betrayers. Logan had to fight with every fiber in his body to not pull the trigger and found he couldn't control the rest of his body either. Then suddenly he took a deep breath and he felt himself regain control of his body as his arm fell to his side. The human stared down at his pistol, his breathing frantic. Noticing a figure to his left out of the corner of his eye, he started, but it was just Liara. The asari was staring at him in shock, scared to speak to him after what she just witnessed. Logan just shook his head and took off to follow his friends, not wanting to speak of what just transpired. Logan and Liara caught up wit the other two when they spotted light coming from up ahead that caused them to pick up their pace. They broke out into a massive cavern, the light coming from way above. What caught their attention, however, was the massive being in the center of the cavern. The parasite was suspended over a deep pit, multiple tentacles attached to the walls, holding it up.
Logan's headache suddenly spiked back up, causing him to groan loudly in pain and stumble. The other two were too enthralled by the alien to notice. They also didn't notice footsteps approaching from behind.
"We found you!" a voice shouted, startling the group "When we couldn't find you up there we became worried," it was Shepard and the rest of the team.
"What is that?" Ashley asked in amazement.
"This must be the Thorian," Shepard mused "Bigger than I imagined,"
Kaidan glanced around the cavern "What's wrong with Logan and who's the asari?"
The rest of the team turned to discover Logan doubled over in pain and a green asari dressed in commando leathers standing by his side. The team readied their weapons but refrained from aiming them at the alien.
"Who are you?" Shepard demanded.
Logan stood to his full height, anger etched into his face that matched the asari's "Kill the betrayers!" they both shouted in unison before opening fire on the squad who scrambled for cover. Moans filled the air and a group of humanoid figures lumbered through the door.
"The hell are those things?" Brady shouted.
"Thorian creepers. We ran into some back at Zhu's Hope," Ashley answered as she took one down with her assault rifle "They don't take many bullets to put down but they're dangerous in high volume so don't let them swarm you,"
Garrus took out the asari with a head shot from his sniper rifle "What do we do about Logan?" he asked as the human in question spent a thermal clip on the turian's cover.
Wrex stood and threw the human with his biotics, but Logan shook it off and stood back up to return the attack.
"Do not kill him, he's under the Thorian's control," she ordered.
"What?" Brady shouted "That thing can control us?"
Kaidan threw a couple of creepers off the edge into the pit "Yeah, that's what was wrong with the colonists,"
Shepard pulled out her last grenade that had the nerve toxin upgrade and primed it. She waited until Logan was reloading to launch it at the him. The last thing Logan saw was a disc flying right towards his face, then darkness.
"The fuck did you do to him?" Brady shouted as he dashed to his friends side.
"Nerve toxin," Shepard explained "We had to use it on the colonists as well. It was the only way to stop them without killing them. Liara, stay here with Logan, the rest of you on me,"
"What if he wakes up?" Liara asked, not keen on being alone with the human.
"These gas grenades were meant for multiple targets, he inhaled enough for at least three. He's going to be out for a few hours. On the off chance he does wake up, place him in stasis until I return," Shepard responded "Let's go kill us a Thorian,"
"Oorah!" Brady shouted.
The squad moved to the next room, where they were met by more creepers, guarding one of the tentacles. Brady chanced a grenade which he threw at the appendage, the explosion causing the tentacle to break free of the wall and the Thorian to emit a cry of pain.
"That hurt it, I can tell," Wrex stated "A few more of those and that thing will drop,"
"Alright, Brady ready more grenades. Everyone else, provide covering fire for him," Shepard ordered.
The squad moved on, gunning down creepers and asari clones along the way. Shepard was glad she had brought the whole team along as she felt that a smaller squad would have trouble dealing with the amount of creepers. They came upon another tentacle and they were rushed by more creepers. Wrex used his biotics to keep the mutants off Brady as he stepped forward to throw a grenade that took out another tentacle. Soon they were at the final appendage and were swarmed by creepers. Even more so than the others and ti caused Brady to join the firefight.
"How many of these things are there?" Garrus asked, popping a new clip in his rifle "I'm running low,"
"Kaidan, Wrex, on my signal muster everything you got and throw them bastards back," Shepard ordered "Ready? Now!"
A massive biotic wave flew through the air, killing some and knocking the rest back. Brady threw the grenade but the explosion didn't completely knock the tentacle free. While the creepers were still recovering Tali dashed forward and pulled her knife out of her boot, jumped up onto the tentacle, and began hacking away.
"Covering fire!" Shepard shouted and the halls echoed with the deafening roar of gunfire, protecting the quarian.
Suddenly the tentacle broke free and the Thorian toppled with Tali still atop the appendage. Brady tossed his SMG to the side and made a running slide to the edge of the pit and caught the quarian's hand before she completely disappeared over the edge. Far below the Thorian landed with a crunch that shook the ground and the rest of the creepers dropped where they were. With just one hand, Brady was struggling to pull Tali back up when Wrex leaned over the edged and hauled the quarian up effortlessly. Shepard couldn't help but smile at the display of camaraderie and teamwork. The squad rested for a moment before making their way back to Liara and the still unconscious Logan.
"Commander, look," Ahley said. On the wall a sac popped open and an asari, purple this time, popped out of it. The alien stood and attempted to wipe some of the slime off herself before noticing the squad.
"Brady, Garrus, take Logan back to the Normandy. Liara and Tali go with them," Shepard said without taking her eyes off the asari.
Brady and Garrus slung Logan's arms over their necks and dragged him back towards the stair that ascended to Zhu's hope, with Tali and Liara following.
Normandy med bay, 2 hours later
Logan slowly regained conscious and carefully opened his eyes, the light causing his head to throb. Chakwas was alerted to his waking up by a groan of pain from the man.
"Awake, finally?" she asked sweetly "How are you feeling?"
"Like a fifth of tequila and an ass kicking," Logan responded.
Chakwas smirked "As to be expected. You took in quite a bit of nerve toxin. Enough to down a krogan,"
"Then how am I alive?" Logan asked as he sat up.
"It's non-lethal but I ran tests to make sure there was no damage," she assured him "Should I tell the commander you're awake?"
"Nah, I'll find her," Logan stated as he stood "If I'm clear to leave,"
Chakwas nodded "Go, get something to eat, but no heavy lifting for a few days," she warned.
Logan stepped out into the empty mess hall and immediately dropped into an empty seat. He barely registered footsteps approaching from behind and tried to ignore the figure that stepped around in front of him.
"You look like crap," Ashley declared.
"The only time I feel like this is if I had a good time the night before," Logan said "But I know that's not what happened,"
Ashley smirked "Nope, you pissed off your girlfriend,"
"She's not my girlfr- wait she's mad at me?" Logan asked as he stood.
Ashley nodded and Logan took off to the commander's quarters. He knocked and after a few agonizing moments the door opened to reveal an exhausted looking Shepard.
"Logan," she said, her demeanor immediately perking up "Good to see you up and about," the commander stood to the side to let him in, then let the door shut "How are you feeling?"
"Like a krogan is sitting on my head," he responded to which she chuckled "What happened?"
"The Thorian was able to take over your mind. He used you to try and kill us," she stated "I'll admit you were doing a good job,"
"Did I- you know, hurt anyone?" Logan asked and held his breath.
"No," Shepard responded and Logan let out an explosive sigh "But you managed to take down my shields and out a new ding in my armor,"
Logan gritted his teeth at that "Sorry," he said.
"It's alright," she responded "You weren't yourself,"
"You're not holding it against me?" Logan asked with narrowed eyes.
"How could I?" Shepard chuckled "We killed it though, it won't be taking over anyone else mind again,"
They sat in silence for a minute "Where we headed to now?" Logan asked.
"Since it isn't too far away, I set a course for Noveria," she responded "We'll be there in about a day,"
Logan nodded "I'm gonna go find Brady, we'll talk some more later after you get some sleep," he said
"Look forward to it," she said "To the sleep, I mean" she corrected quickly and her faze became red.
"Of course," Logan agreed, fighting a smile "See ya,"
As soon as he left Shepard's room he made a beeline to Ashley, who was sitting alone eating "Why did you tell me Shepard was angry with me?" he asked angrily.
Ashley looked up at him with a sly smile "To confirm my suspicions," she answered "You have a thing for the commander,"
Logan's face turned began to burn at the accusation "I- she's my- what makes you say that?" he asked.
"The way you ran off to her after I told you she was mad at you, the way you stare at her when she's not looking, and I'm a woman, I can just tell," she answered "I approve,"
Logan started at that "You ap- what?" he asked.
"I approve. Shepard deserves someone she can act like a human being with," Ashley replied "And you make her happy and she obviously makes you happy, so why not?"
Logan narrowed his eyes in suspicion "She's talked about me to you hasn't she?"
"Maybe," she answered coyly "That's not the point, though. Just don't ruin it,"
"I don't plan on it," Logan replied honestly.
"Glad to hear it," Ashley declared "Because you don't want to piss off a woman's best friend,"
Logan shook his head as he stood and made his way to the elevator, intending on finding Brady. He couldn't wipe the smile off his face, however, as what Williams had just told him and the talk he had with Shepard was still fresh.
/
A/N: One of my, who am I kidding, My ONLY New Years Resolution was to update this story more often, so here is another chapter! I realize I've been focusing more on Logan than Brady, so I'll try to balance it in the coming chapters but Logan is the main focus of this story.
