They Who Fight Monsters

by Herr Wozzeck

Jodie's life takes a turn for the surreal when she finds herself warped a couple of centuries into the future. As she uncovers a galaxy-wide conspiracy, she finds that she has to stare into the abyss, and to do what she can to stop it. Various pairings, deconstruction of "Parallel Realities".

10. Chapter 9

A/N: Fuck you Noveria! Aaaaaaagh!

Hey guys, it's me again. I apologize for the really long upload wait. Really, this chapter was giving me all sorts of problems. Seriously, this is like the genophage arc in Mass Vexations 3 all over again: it was all "hey, I've got interesting stuff I wanna write down, but it's just not in this chapter, it's in everything after this chapter". So that didn't help the already exorbitant wait time. Also, it doesn't help that there was just too much action in this chapter in proportion to what I wanted to develop. 'Cause trust me, I did find stuff to develop in this chapter, it's just that it didn't do any wonders for anything.

But nevertheless, here it is for your reading pleasure. Hope you guys enjoy!

---

Chapter Nine

The garage itself was rather unassuming. There were several very large crates scattered around the garage, and in the distance Jodie could see a large metal door. Through the windows, she could just make out the individual snowflakes closest to the window that gave way to a mass of grey beyond. Jodie shivered just seeing the cold from there, but her attention was immediately grabbed by the tank a ways in front of her. She tilted her head to the side, noting how odd it was that the same tank that was on the Normandy happened to be contained on Noveria.

Shepard took a few steps forward, crossing his arms upon looking at the tank. "This is convenient," he observed. "I'm surprised it's not covered in wrapping paper."

Jodie chuckled softly, trading an amused glance with Liara.

Wrex looked at the tank, his arms crossed in front of him. "I've been in one of these things a couple times," said the krogan. "It's warm, it doesn't slide off the mountain... It's actually ideal for this dump." The krogan snorted in derision. "And that pyjack told us it was unpassable."

"Well, he was paying security forces to tamper with evidence," said Liara. "I suppose we shouldn't have expected any less."

"At any rate, here we are," said Shepard. "I think we should-"

Aiden released an alarmed trill. Shepard kept talking, but Jodie's attention was drawn to one of the crates in the distance. After a few seconds, she saw the crate open, and out marched a few synthetic-looking forms. Jodie looked at them for all of one second, noticing they looked familiar.

And that was when the images of the broadcasts that came out of Eden Prime came to her mind.

"Geth!"

Jodie immediately pulled her pistol out, flattening herself against cover. As she did, several loud bangs sounded out in the area. When Jodie peered out of cover, she saw small groups geth come out of crates positioned all around the garage.

She raised her pistol immediately, firing at the closest geth. She fired blindly, taking down its shields before a well-placed shot to its chest put it down. She blinked, surprised at how easily it went down before she then turned her attention to the next one. She was only able to get another shot in before she was forced back behind cover. She glanced back to the tank, noticing the geth that advanced towards Shepard's position from where he had flattened himself against the wheels of the tank.

It was then that she aimed back at the geth she had shot at. She had barely aimed her gun at another geth before Urdnot Wrex rushed right into view, shotgun in hand as he fired it point-blank at the geth Jodie had aimed at. He let out a loud bark of amusement, pumping his shotgun with one arm as he jumped up. He flared blue for a moment, and then Jodie watched as another geth unit some distance away was sent crashing into a wall on the far end of the garage. She blinked in shock, holding her pistol still for a second or two.

And then, some rounds impacted against her crate. Jodie ducked behind the crate in question. She paused for a few seconds, and then shook her head.

Dammit, Jodie, focus, she thought.

She then came out of cover and shot at a geth very close to the tank. Her shots hit true, the geth falling after a few shots. Off to the side, she saw a geth get lifted off the ground, and thinking quickly she turned to shoot at it. The rounds impacted with the geth, and Jodie watched as it did a flip in the air before crashing against the wall.

Jodie then heard a loud series of clicks from behind her. She turned to the source of the sound, and then saw something appear from thin air. It was mechanical in nature, and there was no mistaking the flashlight head that it looked at Jodie with. Jodie took in a sharp breath.

She had no time to react before the monster tackled her. Jodie let out a yell as she was sent falling on her back a foot or so away. The machine landed on top of her, pinning both of her arms above her head as it elicited some strange electronic scream. Jodie let out a startled gasp as she saw this.

However, not one to be taken out easily, Jodie immediately fought back. Miraculously, her gun was still in her hand, so she quickly shook that arm to try to break it free. At the same time, she gave the machine a rough kick to its knee, though this seemed to be ineffective.

"Dammit," she growled under her breath.

It was then that the machine glowed blue. Jodie had no time to react before the geth rose from the ground above her, though she also felt the pull effect her somewhat. She blinked in surprise, before she then noticed that the geth's grip on her arm had loosened.

Wasting no time, Jodie yanked especially hard, and was greeted with her arm breaking free. She then pointed the barrel of her pistol directly at the geth's body. She squeezed the trigger, and saw white fluid fly out of the back of the machine.

It was after she shot the machine two or three more times that she felt gravity take its effect on her, and then both her and the machine fell to the ground. Jodie whipped her free hand out, and this kept the machine from falling on her. She quickly rolled away, yanking the hand free from the now-defunct machine's grip and getting to her feet quickly. As she did, she opened fire on another geth that was rushing over to her.

It was then that Jodie heard the sounds of gunfire come from behind her. She turned to see the Japanese lady from the port run in with a few other ERCS guards. She barked out a few orders, and then the sounds of several assault rifles firing at once filled the air.

In a matter of seconds, the fight had finished. Jodie blinked, looking around them. She saw the Japanese lady rush over to Shepard, who had been hiding behind a nearby crate. Liara was there as well, looking no worse for wear as she stowed her pistol away. As Liara ran over to Jodie, Jodie saw Wrex come to stand behind Shepard.

"What are those things?" she asked. "What did you do here, Commander?"

"Me?" Shepard shouted. "I'm the victim here! The geth attacked us!"

"Geth?" she replied. "You expect me to... Where did they come from?"

"Probably that matriarch you let go to Peak 15," Wrex commented dryly.

"I don't believe that," said the head ERCS unit.

Jodie tuned out of their conversation rather quickly as she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up to Liara, and it was only then that she realized that she had been crouching. Jodie breathed out, and then stood upright.

"Are you all right?" Liara asked.

Jodie nodded. "I'm fine, thanks," she said. She then pointed at the geth that had tackled her. "Were those biotics...?"

"Mine? Yes," said Liara. "Wrex was a little busy taking down a larger geth."

Jodie nodded. "It's fine," she said. "Thanks for that." She looked at the geth. "I didn't think those things could exist..."

"Well, there they are if you need any additional proof," Liara said with a shrug. She then gave Jodie a smile. "And you're welcome. That's... that's a thing humans say, right?"

Jodie chuckled. "It is," she replied. She then turned back to look at Shepard. "Come on. I'm sure he wants to get to Peak 15 just as much as we do."

---

The ride to Peak 15 could best be summed up as rather bumpy. There were of course several geth that got in the way, but the time still passed for Jodie. After all, it was Wrex manning the guns and not her, and with Shepard driving she was sure they were on the right track. She did get a few unexpected surprises in bumps, but she assumed they were either geth units or abnormally large rocks. Either way, she had nothing much to say about the somewhat cramped space she and Liara occupied, except that there were no windows and a couple of empty seats.

Occasionally, she would glance at Liara, seeing that the asari was pretty tense. Her eyes seemed optimistic as ever, but Jodie sensed in the way her fists were balled up that Liara was worried. Her gaze was directed at the ground as well, which left very little room for imagination on Jodie's end. Liara's nervous fidgeting only seemed to increase as they got closer to their target destination.

Jodie wanted to say something, maybe allay some of Liara's fears about her mother. But every time she opened her mouth, her mind drew a blank. She could not find the right words to at least comfort her.

And you'd think from having dealt with Nathan that I would know, Jodie thought bitterly. But this isn't the same, I guess...

Aiden released a hollow chirp, and Jodie sighed. Liara must have heard it, because she then pulled her head up. All traces of weakness immediately fled Liara's features, though, and she straightened up and looked away from Jodie.

Before Jodie could react, the tank came to a stop. Jodie looked up as the driver's part of the tank opened. A second later, Wrex clambered out of there, Shepard following in his footsteps.

"We're here," said Shepard. "We expect hostiles to ambush us in the garage, so make sure you're armed and ready."

Jodie and Liara nodded. "Yes, sir," said Jodie as she rose, pulling out her pistol.

The group quickly filed out of the tank, Jodie and Liara jumping out after Wrex and Shepard. The krogan looked around, and then sniffed the air once. Jodie looked right at him as he raised his shotgun.

"We've got krogan here," Wrex said.

Shepard nodded. "Stay close together, then," he said.

And with this, the group rounded around the tank.

They had barely gotten to the nearest crate when Jodie thought she saw a red laser appear out of nowhere. Immediately, her senses heightened, and she ducked into cover. The others got the same idea, even Wrex. However, as they moved into cover, Jodie saw another two lasers appear, the lasers tracking the area for Shepard and the others as they hid behind cover.

"Shit!" Jodie said.

Shepard looked up. "Wrex, how many krogan do you think there are?" he asked.

"Don't know, won't know until they come rushing at us," said Wrex.

Shepard nodded. "Jodie, get up there and take out those snipers! We'll hold the fort down here!"

Jodie glanced up at where the lasers came from, noticing that they were up on a metal walkway. She then glanced to the side, her mind plotting out a path amidst all the crates and stairwells she could see. She nodded as her plan came together.

Let's just hope there are no krogan in the way... she thought.

She then looked at her pistol, shaking her head and stowing it. She then pulled the assault rifle off of her back, nodding at Shepard.

"On it, sir!" she shouted.

She then looked immediately to her left, seeing a group of crates that zigzagged straight to a set of stairs. Taking a deep breath, she rushed to the nearest crate, diving behind cover just as the loud crack of a sniper rifle went off. Jodie saw her shields fizzle out, so she planted her back against the crate she hid behind.

That was when she caught sight of the first krogan running towards the group. Out of her peripheral vision, she saw another one. She paused for a second, seeing the krogan rush towards them. She took a deep breath in, deciding it was best to let Shepard and the others deal with the krogan. After all, she would probably only succeed at drawing attention to herself.

She then heard a soft beep emanate from her armor, and watched as her vision turned an industrial blue for the shortest of split-seconds.

Jodie then ran towards the next crate, and then pushed off of it to run over to a crate very close to some stairs. As she slid into cover again, she saw as her shields failed again.

Her back slammed against the piece of cover, and that was when she saw a few geth grunts rushing forward. They did not cling to the walls like the others, but they were headed towards the commander.

Jodie frowned, bringing her assault rifle to bear. She thought of Ashley's training, and quickly aimed and fired at one of the geth units. She managed to take down the geth's shields with a short burst of fire, but before she could take it down the geth had turned and started firing at her. Jodie pushed herself back behind cover with a grunt, several bursts of fire striking the cover she was close to. She squeezed her eyes shut, hearing the strange geth-like rounds impact against her cover. When the sound subsided barely a second later, she swung right around, trading fire with the geth. Her first few rounds missed due to the motion of the geth, causing Jodie to swear loudly. A second later, though, one of her rounds hit the geth right in the side of its head, taking it down.

Jodie nodded. I better get up there before more attention is drawn to me, she thought.

With this, she rounded the cover she had hidden behind, making a mad dash up the stairs. Sure enough, she heard quite a bit of gunfire directed at her, and her shields gave way just as she had rushed up to the top of the stairs. She quickly dived into cover, and briefly she felt Aiden cover her as her side crashed into cover.

She breathed in and out, catching her breath briefly as she pulled herself up to her feet. "Thanks, Aiden," she whispered.

She then looked over to where the snipers were. Jodie counted three of them in all, their flashlight-like "eyes" more pronounced up close. They were still concentrated on the main group dealing with another incoming krogan. Jodie pushed herself against cover, looking at the snipers. She then checked her assault rifle's heat, satisfied that it was at its lowest level.

"Okay," she said to herself, eyeing the three snipers. "Let's do this."

She then vaulted over her cover, keeping her head low in case the geth snipers turned towards her. She quickly slinked towards the nearest one, quickly moving up the walkway. She approached pretty quickly, and then flattened herself behind cover. She glanced up at Aiden for a second, and then nodded, ensuring that her grip on her assault rifle was firm.

She then rose out of cover and fired a burst at the closest of the three snipers. With one short burst of fire, Jodie took out the geth's shields, which was enough to distract the sniper from aiming at Shepard and the others. She then fired another short burst, the robot going down with three bullet holes in the chest and one on its neck.

Jodie turned to aim at the next closest sniper when she saw that it had turned towards her, quickly taking aim. She let out a loud squeak, ducking back behind cover. She managed to duck behind cover quickly enough for a sniper rifle round to fly over her head, leaving the round to impact against the wall. The impact caused a deafening sound, however, causing Jodie to cover her ears quickly.

"Fuck!" Jodie shouted, her ears ringing from the sound. She squeezed her eyes shut, though thankfully she did not feel any kind of dizziness set in. This was a relief to her as she grabbed the assault rifle that she only then realized she had unintentionally dropped. She checked its heat capacity again, and as the ringing in her ears subsided she looked over her cover just in time to see that the sniper that had shot at her was running.

"Oh no you don't!" Jodie came out of cover, firing her assault rifle at the retreating sniper. She managed to take its shields down, but when the shields went down, most of her shots missed. Glancing briefly at the third sniper to ensure its concentration was still away from her, she vaulted out of cover, sprinting after the geth sniper. She stopped firing to gain some ground on it, and as she did, she saw the third sniper come out of cover, aiming the rifle directly at her.

Seeing this, Jodie slid into cover. She barely registered the crack of the third sniper's rifle as she checked the heat quickly. As soon as she heard the crack, she came out of cover, and fired at the fleeing sniper. The geth went down very quickly, but Jodie wasted no time before she turned her assault rifle towards the last remaining geth sniper. Its shields were whittled down quickly, and before she knew it it fell to a mass accelerator round to the head.

As soon as this sniper went down, Jodie looked around, only then taking stock of the calm silence that had overtaken the garage. Jodie nodded, walking over to the nearest guardrail and looking down to see Shepard and the others stowing their weapons.

Jodie looked down at Shepard as he turned his attention to her. "I think that's all of them, Commander," Jodie said.

Shepard nodded. "Good work," he said. "We should keep going."

Jodie nodded. "Yeah. I'll meet you at the top of the stairs." With this she began walking over to Shepard.

They met at the top of the stairs, to be greeted by everyone's stares. Jodie wasted no time, falling in line with them. She noticed that Wrex was not glaring at her, but she made no attempt to draw attention to it as Shepard walked over to a doorway.

"I believe this is the way in," said Shepard as he walked towards a nearby door.

Liara stepped forward. "Wouldn't there be automated defenses?" she asked.

"There would be," said Shepard. He then opened the door to the next chamber rather quickly. "I guess that means we-"

And then, all four of them looked up to where a turret would be. It was there, but rather than turned towards them it was turned towards the door. Jodie stepped forward, looking up at the turret in confusion.

"That's odd," said Jodie. "Why's the turret turned in?"

"Maybe it's keeping something from getting out?" Liara suggested. "But what could it be keeping in?"

Jodie frowned, looking up at the turret. Great, another experiment gone wrong, she thought. Aiden, will people like this ever learn?

Aiden gurgled with a flat tone as Shepard looked up. "Well, whatever it's keeping in must be pretty bad," Shepard said. "And I doubt they're keeping the geth in there." He then raised his gun. "Keep your guard up."

Jodie, Wrex, and Liara all nodded, Wrex taking out his shotgun. Jodie pulled out her pistol, and then glanced up at Aiden as she followed Shepard deeper into Peak 15.

---

The group advanced past a few more pockets of geth, taking them down without too many problems. The slightly more confined spaces meant there was less cover to go around, but that applied for both sides as opposed to just one, so the group was able to take them out. Jodie was relieved that there were no snipers around: it was less sneaking she had to do. The hallways were a little chillier than she was used to, but it was a small detail she got over rather quickly.

As she followed Shepard around the corridors, her mind wondered. She looked at the sterile environment around her, wondering how much of it would have been used for scientific purposes. She had seen labs similar to this before, but none of them had the technological wizardry at their disposal that she saw here. Of course, much of it was ruined technological wizardry from what she could see.

Would they have used this to see what you are, Aiden? Jodie thought as she trudged along.

Aiden let out a series of clicks, the sound reminding Jodie of clattering teeth. Yeah, it is a little worrying, isn't it? she asked. Either way, this doesn't look like a problem caused by entities. If they turned the turrets in, that means it was physical.

Aiden gurgled in reply. Jodie nodded, following Shepard with renewed focus as she walked forward. She looked around. What were they experimenting on? she thought. And why would-?

And then, Jodie heard a sharp clap of metal. She tensed up instantly, her gaze turning all around her. Liara did much the same thing, with Shepard and Wrex simply stopping. The group remained silent for a few seconds, looking around them vigilantly.

"Was that...?" Liara asked.

"From the ducts?" Wrex finished. "Now I'd like to know how the geth fit in there..."

"I think we all-"

The loud sound of metal crashing interrupted Shepard. This one definitely sounded a little closer to them though it was beyond the door they were situated in front of.

"It came from over there," said Jodie, pointing her gun. "We should be careful..."

"That we should," said Shepard as he inched forward. His hand darted towards the control panel that was meant to open the door, and then the group quickly filed into the next room.

Said next room was a somewhat large chamber, with a ramp going up to a short upper story and a row of computer-looking things that seemed to form a wall with how tall they were. The upper story had many windows, looking into testing rooms that Jodie assumed was left for whatever the people on Peak 15 had experimented on.

Jodie stepped forward, looking ahead. She quietly switched to her assault rifle, subtly positioning herself so that Wrex was always just slightly ahead of her. She glanced up at Aiden briefly, and then she turned her attention back to their surroundings.

It was then that a third crash of metal was heard, followed by the sound of shattering glass. Jodie turned right towards the source of the sound, trusting Aiden to watch her back. She saw some glass shards fall towards their level, but the cause of it was something she could not quite see. She looked over to Wrex, but the krogan simply squinted, looking around for the predator.

And then, Aiden let out a shrill trill from behind her. Jodie turned around quickly, her assault rifle ready to fire.

The assault rifle was promptly knocked away from what she was aiming at, however. And as she looked more intently at the target, Jodie gasped at what she saw.

It was a large spider-like creature, though Jodie could have sworn that most spiders were less shrimp-like than what was in front of her. She glanced at the two tentacles that sprung out of it, watching as they flailed about. Jodie saw a couple of bud-like appendages at the end open and close, and when Jodie tried to look for eyes...

Jodie let out a loud cry and ran back. The spider lashed out, one of its tentacles whipping out at her. The bud at the end barely missed Jodie's face, with Jodie letting out a loud scream as she fell to the ground. Without hesitating, Jodie's fingers squeezed the trigger, firing a stream of rounds directly into the spider-like creature. The creature let out a pained cry, something ethereal and unearthly to hear from such a thing. She quickly pushed herself to her feet, though before she could fire anything more, she heard the blast of someone's shotgun.

It was then that she heard a skittering sound from off to the side. When Jodie turned, she immediately brought her assault rifle up, shooting at a bunch of small green spiders that rushed towards the group. The others joined in on firing at them, the little spiders bursting open and splattering green fluid everywhere. Jodie noticed that the fluid seemed to eat away at the walls, but she did not concentrate on that as one of the green spiders came up right to her and exploded, the green fluid splattering onto her armor.

Within seconds, it began to eat at her armor, and Jodie let out a shocked cry. She shot at some of the spiders, backing away against the opposite wall as she did. She frantically looked down at herself, noticing the green fluid begin to eat through her armor. It was then that she started feeling a slight burn at her shins, a burn that slowly expanded.

Jodie let out a loud cry, looking at the armor in shock.

However, just before she could feel the full burn, something soothing washed over her. When she turned, she saw Liara standing close by, her omni-tool held close to Jodie's body. Jodie blinked in surprise, noticing that the asari's eyes were rather wide. It was then that she became aware of the silence surrounding them, and then she looked at Shepard as he turned to her. She caught a very brief glimpse of annoyance before he approached, concern taking forefront on his features.

"Jodie, are you all right?" asked Liara.

"I... I'm sorry, I just... those things exploded, and-"

"It's all right, Holmes," Shepard replied, holding his hand up to stop her. "Next time, remember that medigel can handle acid burns as well."

Jodie nodded nervously. "Right," she said. "Okay. Medigel deals with acid burns." She then looked at the carnage around them, seeing the area littered with the corpses of those little spiders. "What the fuck were those things?"

"Who knows?" Jodie turned to Wrex from where he was kneeling by the corpse of the large spider creature. "I guess we found what they were trying to keep in."

"Those monsters?" Liara asked. "Do you know what they are?"

"Well, I can guess what they are," said Wrex. "Can't tell you for sure, but I've got some idea." He then grimaced, looking at the upper level. "They better not be what I think they are, though. If they are, I can guarantee someone's going to be shot by the end of the day."

Jodie looked at Wrex. "So they're messing with something they shouldn't mess with?" she asked.

"Well, we had to kill their asses to keep them from overrunning the galaxy when my people dealt with them," said Wrex. "So yes."

Jodie sighed in annoyance. "Great, more of this kind of thing," she muttered. She then looked to Wrex. "Some people just don't know when to stop, huh?"

Wrex chuckled wryly, a chuckle that was synched quite well with Aiden's unamused chirp. "Really," he said.

Shepard nodded, and then walked away from Jodie. "We'll have to get those wounds treated on the Normandy," he said. "For now, we've gone too far to stop. We need to get deeper. If the rachni are here, I have the feeling Benezia is at the heart of it."

Jodie nodded, pushing off the wall. "Yes, sir," she said, her voice firming back up.

Gingerly, Jodie checked her assault rifle, and it was only then that she realized her grip on her assault rifle had tightened considerably. Her grip loosened, and then she took a deep breath. AS soon as she did this, she felt her heart beat a little slower.

Jodie then looked at Liara. "Thanks," she said.

The asari nodded. "You're welcome," she said. "Come on. We should follow Shepard."

Jodie nodded, and then looked to Shepard and Wrex as they began ascending to the next level. She and Liara both followed, Jodie tapping the assault rifle nervously as she looked to the air vents for the next attack of the spider-things. As they did this, Aiden gurgled very quietly, Jodie catching his odd form of speech as her feet moved up to the nearby ramp.

---

As it turned out, looking for the spider creatures became the less annoying part of journeying through Peak 15. What became annoying was getting to there.

Benezia was not close to where Shepard had pulled the tank into, as it turned out. The area that Benezia was located was also only accessible via tram. A tram that was down because of shutting off critical systems. And so, the group had to quickly move around Peak 15, turning on power systems and turning off security protocols.

All that was bad enough on its own merits, but they were constantly hounded by both the spider-like things and various geth units. Thankfully, the group had been on their toes so they were never truly caught off guard whenever the spider-like things attacked, and the spaces were claustrophobic enough that they rarely had to worry about being flanked. Thus, they powered through much of the start-up sequences.

It was such that when the group finally boarded that tram towards Benezia's actual location, the group breathed a collective sigh of relief. Even Aiden joined in on the sighing, a sound Jodie rarely heard from him. Shepard put his gun away as the tram sped towards Benezia's location, and he looked at all of them.

"Well, we made it this far," said Shepard. "But I get the feeling the worst things are coming up."

Jodie shook her head, sighing in frustration. "That's always how it turns out, isn't it?" she asked.

"Well, can't say I expected anything else from these idiots," Wrex said, looking out the window.

"Well, mother is in the peak itself," said Liara, taking in a deep breath. "She must have been behind this." She then looked down at the ground. "To think that she has fallen so far... What could have caused this?"

"We don't know, but we're going to find out soon," said Shepard. He then looked over at her. "Are you sure you're all right doing this?"

"Well, I've come too far to back out now, so I'm in it to the end," Liara replied. "Besides, if she allowed those... things to run around the lab, we have to stop her." She said this, balling her hand into a fist. "I'm with you to the end, Commander."

Shepard nodded. "Good," he said. He then looked ahead, as did Jodie. The tram continued to move. "And as for what we find... I don't expect we'll find Benezia right away. If she did what Wrex thinks she did, she was not acting alone. There have to be other personnel there as well."

"We're going to prioritize keeping them alive, right?" Jodie asked.

Shepard glanced at her for a few seconds, Jodie finding his expression difficult to read. After a second, he nodded, looking forward. "Yes... Of course..." he said. Jodie thought she detected a hint of slight hesitation in there, but she brushed it off as he stepped forward in the tram. "But I wouldn't trust most of them. For all we know, they're allied with Benezia."

"So?" asked Jodie. "I'm sure most of them want out, or are at least scared." She then turned to Shepard. "I know I would be in that situation."

Aiden chirped his agreement, and though Jodie knew Shepard could not hear him she felt comforted knowing someone agreed with her.

Shepard simply shrugged. "Maybe," he said. "We can help, but we put them at arm's length until they've proven their trust."

Jodie frowned, but nodded. "Okay," she said. "Okay, I can do that." I've been doing it the whole time I've been here, after all, she thought wryly.

Shepard nodded. He then looked to Wrex and Liara. "We'll investigate the situation and act from there," he said. "Above all, we put our priority on Benezia."

"Of course, Commander," Liara said with a respectful bow of her head.

The three of them spent the rest of the tram ride looking at each other in silence. Jodie glanced at Shepard, and then looked outside to the tunnel containing the tram. The walls seemed foreboding, almost as if they were a warning. Jodie expected the spider-like creatures to pop out of the panels and jump out at the tram.

But as she looked on, she saw nothing of the sort. She continued to watch the walls nevertheless, waiting for Aiden to give some indication that these spiders were anywhere nearby.

And so, the tram sped off to its destination.

---

"Now arriving at Rift Station. Binary Helix research facility."

The tram slowed to a stop at a station soon afterwards, with Shepard picking up his rifle. "Well, here we are," he said. "Let's go see what happened."

The group exited the tram, Jodie following along as they traveled through a couple of empty rooms. The rooms were a little darker than before, and Jodie could see the rock formations just above the windows that the tram station contained on the ceiling. She crossed her arms as she looked at the ceiling, before the group walked to an elevator. The elevator ride was taken in silence, with Aiden remaining somewhat quiet. Overall, it was pretty quiet, even going up the lift.

And then the door opened to the lift-and there, they saw the first human face they had seen since they left Port Hanshan. He was an older-looking mercenary-type with a bald head and somewhat darker skin, all of which became very apparent given how he was standing between two crates obviously meant to act as makeshift cover. The older man in armor had his weapon extended out, but his finger was off the trigger. Taking another look, she saw two other assault rifles peeking out from behind the cover.

As soon as the man saw the lift open, he breathed a sigh of relief, lowering his weapon. "Stand down," he said. "They're friendlies."

Jodie looked over at Shepard. He simply shook his head, walking out of the lift with everyone else following close behind. Shepard approached, looking at the older man.

"Sorry," the older man said, bowing his head. "We couldn't be sure what was on that tram."

"Because those stupid bugs have brilliantly demonstrated their ability to pilot technically complicated machinery," Shepard replied sarcastically.

The captain's eyes narrowed at Shepard's comment. "I'm not making any goddamn assumptions," he replied, his voice dropping in such a way that it sent chills down Jodie's spine. "Not after all the shit that happened here." He then crossed his arms. "Look, you're human, and that's enough for me. Now who are you, and what were you sent here for?"

Shepard nodded curtly. "My name is Shepard," he said. "I'm a Spectre."

The captain's eyes widened in surprise, and then he tilted his head to the side. "Huh," he said. "Interesting." He shrugged. "Well, I'm not about to look a heavily-armored gift horse in the mouth." He then shifted his posture on his feet, looking directly at Shepard. "The aliens overran the hot labs last week. Only Han Olar got out, and he ain't all there anymore. The first we knew, the bastards were clawing into my command post. We had a lot more staff then."

"They surprised you," said Shepard, looking around. "Considering the enemy, you did what you could."

"Doesn't feel like a good job at all, does it?" the captain asked.

"No," said Shepard. "But again, it was all you could do."

"Yes," said the captain. "The board sent an asari to clean up the mess. She went into the hot labs and we haven't heard from her since."

"An asari..." Liara turned to Shepard. "You don't think it's...?"

"Maybe," Shepard said, turning his attention to Liara. "We need to find her, but if I can help it I won't let any of your people die."

"If you want to find her, there is an emergency elevator that goes to the hot labs," the captain said. He then pulled out a key-card contraption, holding it out to Shepard. "This will let you access it."

"Thank you," said Shepard, taking the keycard from the captain delicately.

The captain nodded. "If you need any first aid, you can check with Doctor Cohen downstairs in the med bay," he said.

Shepard nodded. "Can you tell me anything about these aliens?"

"Ask Doctor Olar," the captain replied. "He's the only one who made it out of the hot labs. If anyone would know what these things are, it would be him."

Wrex grunted at this, but Shepard remained undeterred. "Thank you," he said. "I think I'll run over there and ask. My krogan friend here has been wanting to know what they are."

"As are we, I'm afraid," said the captain. "I think that-"

And then, they heard a loud wheeze from behind them. Jodie immediately turned around, and as soon as she did a loud impact of something fleshy against metal was heard. Jodie immediately grabbed her assault rifle.

"Shit!" shouted the captain. "Man the-"

But before he could finish, a ventilation cover on the ground was violently thrown into the air, and one of the spider-things crawled right out of the duct. As the cover violently clattered behind the spider-like thing, it advanced towards the group. Of course, against quite a large number of people with guns, the one large spider was not much of a match. Liara was quick to throw a biotic attack at it, and this lifted the spider and allowed everyone else to fire at it without fear of retaliation. Everyone pumped it full of holes, and when Jodie looked over to the vent it had broken out of she did not see any more spiders that would come out of it. She sighed, though her heart rate was still pretty high considering how suddenly the attack came.

"Thanks for the help." The team turned to the captain, who had just put down his rifle. "Every few hours, one of those things tries the tram tunnel. It's been better since we locked down the elevator."

Shepard nodded. "I'll do whatever I can," he said.

"I don't know why they keep throwing themselves at us," said the captain. "Even animals have to learn not to do that some time." He then leaned forward. "I would be careful, commander. Something is strange about them."

Shepard nodded. "I'll keep that in mind," he said.

And with this, Shepard walked past the captain. Jodie and the others followed him into the heart of the research labs.

---

It took a bit more walking to get to the main hub of where the survivors were, but when they did, they found that there were people still alive. A few security guards were posted at the entrances into the space, but otherwise the space was occupied with survivors. Some, like the salarian in the corner, seemed almost hopeful, but Jodie could still feel the grim atmosphere that hung over. These were survivors of an attack, and the state of most everyone there did not allow anyone in the group to forget that.

But their target of conversation was not there, and so the group decided to look around to see if they could find him. After all, they needed more information on their enemy before they could act.

Eventually, they came to a smaller chamber, and there they saw a volus that was standing stock-still. Jodie still found herself bewildered at the fact that such a species existed, with a pressurized suit The volus' suit hid any form of expression, but Jodie could tell from the way he stood almost stock-still like a statue that he was thinking. Shepard approached slowly, with Jodie and the others following him.

"Han Olar?" Shepard asked.

The volus remained quiet. However, he turned his head to Shepard, and Jodie thought she saw one of those strange fingers twitch quickly.

"You came to find out about-" he gasped loudly, the suit's breathing apparatus audible in his breath "-them, didn't you?" the volus said quietly.

"You mean those things out there?" Shepard asked.

"Yes," said the volus. "I'm the only survivor of the hot labs, you know."

"We do," Shepard said. He then indicated Wrex. "My krogan friend has some idea what they are, but he needed confirmation first."

"How did you make it out, anyway?" asked Jodie.

The volus paused for a few seconds, looking directly ahead of him. There was something in the way the volus' arms drooped a half-second later that told Jodie that something was wrong.

"I killed her," the volus said, his voice a little hollow.

Liara tilted her head to the side. "Who?" she asked.

"Dr. Zhonmua," said the volus. "We... we were going to lunch when the alarms went off. I ran into the tram, and I closed the doors. She..." The volus paused, the eye-slits closing for a few seconds. "She banged on the windows once. Then they sliced her to pieces." He took a long breath, the breathing apparatus on the volus' hardsuit amplifying the sound. "Her head came apart like a melon."

Jodie glanced at Liara in time to see Liara's mouth hang open. Jodie herself swallowed a lump in her throat as she turned back to the volus. My God, she thought. That's...

"I closed the door," the volus continued. "I... I killed her."

Shepard nodded understandingly, before kneeling to the volus' level. "I see," he said. "I'm sorry." He paused, placing a hand on the volus' shoulder. The volus looked at Shepard in bewilderment, and then his head hung as far as it could in that suit. "Tell me what you know," Shepard said softly, much more tenderly than Jodie expected. "I... I can't make it better, but I can make your survival mean something. What do you know about those things?"

The volus then slapped Shepard's hand away. "You think I want absolution?" he asked, almost offended. "There is none!"

"Maybe not, but what you know can help save others," Shepard continued. "And if that's how it works, then I think it's worth it, no?" He then nodded, standing up and looking at the volus. "What do you know about them?"

The volus breathed in once. "About the rachni?"

"Rachni?" asked Liara. "That's pre-"

"I knew it!"

Jodie jumped as soon as Wrex stamped on the ground. The krogan looked quite angry, his eye ridges bent in fury. He huffed and puffed a little bit, Jodie's hair standing on end as she looked at him. The krogan stood hunched over for a few seconds, looking about ready to pounce on the volus.

But after a few seconds, Wrex stood upright. "It's not possible," he said. "How the hell did they bring them back?"

"The rachni?" asked Jodie, confused. "What are they?"

Liara looked at Jodie. "They were a species that existed a long time ago," she said. "When they were first discovered, the Council got embroiled in a war with them. It was devastating."

"And that's why we're here now," said Wrex, his voice strained in anger. "The salarians found out we existed, then sicced us all on the rachni." He paused, his expression lightening up. "I hear it was a great fight. I'm almost sad I missed it." His original angry expression then returned. "We killed all their asses, and then the Council thanked us by neutering us. And now this matriarch is bringing them back?" He growled. "Whatever happens in here, I get to kill that damn matriarch."

Jodie nodded, and then looked to Wrex. "We'll deal with this, don't worry," she said. "Right Shepard?"

She turned to Shepard, seeing him rubbing his chin. His brows were furrowed, but his mouth remained in a neutral position. As soon as eyes were on him, he nodded, dropping his hand and turning back to the volus.

"We will," said Shepard rather slowly. He then looked over to the volus. "Though how did they get an extinct species?"

"They found it in a derelict ship," Olar replied. "An egg. Waiting since the last battles."

"I see..." said Shepard, putting his hands on his hips and giving a very slight nod. "That would be useful for Saren's army, wouldn't it?"

"It certainly sounds like it," said Liara. She then looked around her, frowning. "This must be stopped."

"Exactly what I was thinking," said Shepard, turning around to look at them. "We should go to the hot labs, then. See what we can do there."

"Sure thing," said Wrex.

And with this, the group left in the direction of the hot labs.

---

The ride down to the hot labs was a little tense. Shepard and Wrex stood at the front of the elevator, both with guns at the ready. Wrex glared ahead of him, with Shepard mirroring his glance.

Neither of them paid attention to Liara behind them. In fact, the only one who took notice of Liara was Jodie. Liara looked up rather nervously, taking a deep breath in every so often. Jodie could see that Liara's grip on her assault rifle probably could have crushed fingers under the right circumstances. Jodie also saw the way the asari's eyes darted about nervously, never settling on any part of the elevator for more than a second before she turned her gaze to something else. Every few seconds, she would even close her eyes and take a deep breath. None of it was calming her down.

Jodie looked over and nodded, placing a comforting hand on the asari's arm. Liara looked at Jodie. "It'll be all right, Liara," Jodie replied. "Trust me, we'll be right here."

Liara nodded, swallowing a lump in her throat as her expression became neutral again. "You're right," she said. "Sorry."

Jodie gave her a comforting smile. "Don't be," said Jodie. She then patted Liara on the shoulder, looking to the elevator door and taking a deep breath.

After a short while, the elevator stopped. "Here goes nothing," said Jodie.

It was then that Aiden gave a rather angry click. Jodie looked up suddenly, frowning at Aiden's intrusion.

What do you mean, she's not-?

Before Jodie could finish her thought, the elevator doors opened to a large room. The group of them filed out, their weapons raised.

But as they filed out of the room, they slowed down, Jodie eventually coming to a stop as she lowered her assault rifle. The large room was rather empty, the only objects within being scattered furniture. Sitting on one of the only pieces of furniture that did not get knocked over was a human man, who looked up in surprise at the group that burst in. He slowly stood up, his arm shaking somewhat.

"Are... Are you here to secure the situation?" the man asked, a slight Russian accent coloring his words.

Shepard frowned, and then looked over at the man. "Secure the situation?" he asked. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"The rachni," the scientist said. "They took over this lab a few days ago."

Wrex frowned, lowering his weapon. "Huh, that's funny," he said. "I thought there was an asari matriarch in here."

The scientist tilted his head. "Matriarch Benezia?" he asked. "No no, she only stepped into the hot labs once. The rest of the time, she was supervising something else..."

The group then looked at each other, frowning. Jodie looked over to a door at the end of the room. "And she's not in there?" Jodie asked, pointing at the door in question.

"No," said the scientist. "I am the only person left in the hot labs. The labs were locked down due to the rachni."

Shepard then looked back at the elevator, his frown intensifying. His teeth ground together, and the only expression he could muster was a rather angry glare at Jodie.

"I knew it," he said darkly as he turned his gaze from Jodie. "I knew I couldn't trust that security person. He's probably deep in Benezia's pocket."

Liara closed her eyes, shaking her head as Wrex stamped his foot. "Well, I guess we know who's going to get killed tonight," he commented dryly. "I still get the killing blow, though."

"Maybe," said Shepard. He then looked around. "I guess it's too late to back out?"

"No, but there is something you can do," said the doctor as he stood up. "There is a neutron purge that can be set off within the hot labs. It will create bursts of neutron radiation that will kill everything in the lab. Everything. Beyond that, there may be some genetic damage."

Jodie frowned, glancing over at Aiden. "I don't like the sound of that," she said. She ignored Aiden's rush of clicks that followed, looking over at the scientist. "I mean, we'd be stuck here, right?"

"Not necessarily," the doctor replied. "There is a countdown before the purge starts. With luck, it should give you time to run to the elevator." He then looked around. "The rachni here are especially vicious. This is the only thing we can do to keep them from dropping bombs on this place."

Shepard nodded. "I guess that's a good point," he said. He then looked back at the elevator. "I imagine that something that dangerous has a code locking its function?"

The scientist nodded, pulling out an OSD. "I have the codes here," he said. He pointed to the door Jodie had indicated earlier. "There is a Mirra terminal in there from which I can activate the purge.

Shepard nodded. "Good," he said. "Give them to me. I can activate the purge in there." He then indicated the elevator. "You should stay by the elevator. I don't think the rachni will think to check in there, and you're unarmed as well." He then looked around. "The rest of you, stay with him."

Jodie frowned. "Sir?" she asked, lowering her weapon slightly.

"The rachni can attack at any moment," Shepard said. "I can activate the purge myself, and I can get out of there myself."

"Hmph, I think you're walking into something suicidal," said Wrex, cocking his shotgun. "I'm going with you."

Shepard frowned at Wrex's general direction, before sighing. "Very well," he said. He then looked to Jodie. "Holmes, Liara, take the doctor back to the elevator. Make sure he stays safe."

Jodie nodded. "Yes, sir!" she said. She then looked to the doctor. "Are you hurt?"

"I am fine, yes," he said. "I... It is a miracle I survived."

Liara looked at all the vent covers on the floor, bringing her arm behind the doctor as she gently began leading him to the elevator. "Well, we just have to make sure you keep surviving, Mister...?"

"Yaroslev," he replied. "Yaroslev Tartakovsky."

Jodie nodded as she pressed the call button on the elevator. "They've been quiet," she said, looking back at Shepard and Wrex as they passed through the door to the Mirra terminal.

"Their attacks are unpredictable," Yaroslev replied. The elevator doors opened, and then Yaroslev looked behind him. "Perhaps I can tell you more about the rachni when the purge has been activated."

"Maybe," said Jodie. She then nudged Yaroslev into the elevator. "Come on, we'll wait for Shepard in here."

Yaroslev entered the elevator, with Jodie and Liara both turning around. They slowly raised their weapons, standing in the elevator doorway. They mainly kept their eyes on the vents, looking around for some sign, either that Shepard had started the purge or that the rachni were incoming.

Aiden, Jodie thought. If you see anything in the vents, make sure you stop it, okay?

Aiden clicked his agreement.

In the very next second, one of the vent covers was uprooted and flew right into a window behind it. The loud crash caused Jodie to flinch, but by the time the large spider crawled out of the vent, she was ready to fire volleys at it.

Of course, she was caught off guard by the sounds of the other vents rising from where they were bolted down. She ducked, her initial assault rifle sprays getting one or two of the green rachni on the ground. She let out a loud shout upon doing so, taking a second to reorient herself.

When she did, she saw the area was absolutely swarming with rachni. She took a deep breath, shooting in the first direction she could think of. This caused a few of the small green spiders to explode on the ground, the acid eating away at the metal immediately. Jodie turned her attention right to one of the large rachni after this, shocked at how close it was.

Before she could react any more, though, she watched as that rachni and a couple of the green ones were lifted into the air, their bodies surrounded in blue aura. She looked to Liara briefly before shooting at the large rachni that was suspended in the air. She squinted, immediately turning her attention to another large rachni that was in the room closer to Liara, firing off a few assault rifles.

She was caught off-guard when that rachni was promptly thrown away from the center of the room, crashing against the window behind it. Jodie turned to see Shepard and Wrex fighting their way through, Wrex glowing blue as he turned and shot at one of the large rachni with his shotgun. Shepard followed behind quickly, leaping over one of the large spiders and shooting it in its large head as he went. He twirled around Wrex, shooting at another of the miniature green rachni.

Jodie was brought back to reality by the slam of a tentacle against the elevator doors. She let out a loud scream, looking over to her right to see one of the large rachni close by. Yaroslev let out a cry of shock, but before anyone could act Liara had already acted, the spider glowing blue as it floated away. Jodie blindly fired at it, causing the rachni to fly back into the room, the tentacles harmless.

It was then that Wrex barrelled into the elevator. He fired his shotgun a final time at an approaching rachni, causing the insectoid being to reel back. Shepard jumped into the elevator shortly thereafter, turning right to the holographic call button and closing the door behind him as soon as he had entered.

The doors closed quickly, Liara throwing a last biotic attack to ensure the rachni did not enter the elevator while it was still in operation.

And then, everyone got to breathe out a sigh of relief.

"Good, it is taken care of," said Yaroslev. He then looked to Shepard. "I did not think I would leave that place alive. Thank you, Commander."

Shepard nodded. "We're not out of the woods yet," he said. "Do you know where the matriarch is?"

"Not precisely," Yaroslev replied. "But I can tell you where I think she might be, if not the hot labs."

"Any help would be appreciated," said Shepard. He then glared at the elevator door. "Especially after the other one lied to us."

And with this, the rest of the elevator ride proceeded in silence. Jodie checked her firearm again, and then looked back at the elevator doors.

After a few seconds, the elevator arrived at the top of its circuit, and then the doors opened.

Jodie saw the captain from earlier standing in front of her. He had his two security personnel behind him, but further than that she saw a line of three asari in armor. Liara gasped upon seeing them, an action Jodie barely registered as she positioned herself in front of Yaroslev. Shepard simply stepped forward, Wrex standing immediately behind him.

"She wasn't in there," Shepard said plainly to the captain. "But then again, I never had to tell you that, did I?"

"I'm under orders from Matriarch Benezia," the captain replied. "I was to get rid of any nuisances." He shook his head. "I had no choice, Commander." He then tilted his head to the side. "How are you still alive, anyway?"

"Lots and lots of pesticide," Shepard replied. He then raised his assault rifle at the captain. "Unfortunately, I'm all out of pesticide, so I'll have to deal with the next best thing to get to the matriarch."

With this, Shepard fired his assault rifle without warning. The mass accelerator rounds tore right through the captain of the guard, his body falling to the ground with at least six holes in it.

That was when the others opened fire. Jodie quickly shoved Yaroslev into the corner of the elevator, pushing him until he hit the wall. She drew her pistol quickly, firing rapidly at both of the two security guys behind the captain. One of them went down quickly due to someone else's fire, but before Jodie could finish off the other one her gun beeped loudly, and she found herself forced to draw back into cover.

As she did this, she saw Wrex laughing loudly, blasting his shotgun at one of the armored asari in front of him. However, before Wrex could do much more, Jodie watched as he was then launched back a few feet by a biotic attack, the large krogan hitting the wall just above the elevator. Wrex dropped back to his feet, his barriers taking a few hits from the gunfire as Shepard rushed in to fill in the void left by the krogan. Liara fired at the three armored asari as well, coming out of the elevator quickly.

Jodie nodded, grabbing Yaroslev as her pistol signaled that it had cooled down enough to use again. "Keep your head down," she said.

Jodie then rushed out of the elevator, pulling Yaroslev with her. She then pushed him in front of her, ushering him to a nearby crate. She fired a few rounds at the asari as they rushed in.

It was then that she saw the first geth trooper rush into the room.

Jodie slid into cover behind Yaroslev, a round barely impacting against cover just above his head. Jodie popped her head out, and then breathed in nervously.

"Okay," she said. "Where to from here?"

"To the right," Yaroslev shouted, pointing ahead of him. "Where you see those geth coming out!"

Jodie nodded, noting that there were several more geth troopers coming out of there. She then looked to Shepard, who was towards the front of the room. "Shepard, we have to push through them!" Jodie shouted.

"Got it!" Shepard shouted. "Liara!"

Liara then unleashed a biotic attack that sent all the geth flying up instantaneously. Jodie grabbed her pistol, shooting one of the geth until it flipped in mid-air after a shot to its synthetic head. Jodie nodded, looking around the room and shooting at one armored asari. The asari retaliated by glowing blue, but Jodie ducked behind cover before the asari could unleash it. She heard reality warp around the front of her cover for a second, and then Jodie popped back out of cover and fired a few more shots at the asari.

The asari was too distracted by Jodie to notice Wrex running up to her. By the time she did, however, Wrex had fired his shotgun, the asari flying back against the wall.

Jodie then turned to the geth, noticing as the last of them was gunned down by Shepard. She then nodded, grabbing Yaroslev by the arm. "Come on!" she said.

Jodie and Yaroslev then advanced forward, Shepard and Liara following very quickly. Wrex caught up to Jodie as they passed through the corridor, and then they were back at the tram station.

"Wait, I thought we were going to find Benezia, not go back home," Wrex commented.

"Yes," said Yaroslev. He then ran over to a door that Jodie had seen earlier, but had noticed was red. Yaroslev then pointed at the door. "This door is the one we need."

"Well, it's locked," said Shepard.

Yaroslev nodded. "There should be an access code," he said. "Let me enter it, and-"

The sound of mass accelerator fire immediately interrupted the mood. Yaroslev immediately ducked, and Jodie thought she could see Aiden's protective shimmer over him.

"Fuck!" Jodie immediately grabbed Yaroslev and pushed him in front of her, until they had gotten to the other side of a row of seats nearby. Jodie deposited Yaroslev, and then moved to a different cover herself. She fired off a few shots from her pistol at the geth troopers that were storming in through the place they had exited from, and Jodie recognized one of the captain's other officers.

She quickly switched to her assault rifle, firing at the geth troopers as they advanced into the room. As soon as she did this, she popped out of cover, firing at the incoming geth. She had managed to take one out with the help of pistol fire from Liara before her barriers immediately died. She ducked back behind cover, looking over at Yaroslev as he kept his head in his hands. She faintly noticed that Aiden's protective aura was still around him, though she doubted Yaroslev or anybody else was taking any notes.

Okay, said Jodie. You can keep him protected.

Jodie popped out of cover as soon as her armor beeped again. She took aim at another of these asari, firing a few rounds. Jodie watched the asari turn towards her, a sneer forming on her face.

Before Jodie had any time to react, she found herself flung out of cover. She let out a loud cry of pain, her back hitting a railway directly behind her. Jodie was left dazed, but the adrenalin took over and she immediately stood as quickly as she could. As the asari advanced toward her, she raised her assault weapon, unleashing a torrent of rifle fire against the asari.

This took the asari's barrier's out, but before she could deliver any kind of a final blow, the asari brought her arm forward again. This time, she was pushed onto the wall behind the railing, and Jodie let out a loud gasp as she tumbled down the wall. The asari got a few shots in to take out Jodie's barriers, and as Jodie fell to the floor she felt a sharp pain in her lower left leg.

Jodie let out a loud hiss of pain as she hit the ground. Nevertheless, the adrenalin had kicked in by then: she would get the medigel on later. For right then, there was Yaroslev to worry about.

Gritting her teeth, Jodie pushed out from underneath the walkway, her assault rifle aiming straight at the asari commando. She then unleashed a hail of bullet fire, getting the asari's attention. One or two rounds bounced off of her kinetic barriers, and then Jodie saw a few holes form a line up the asari's torso. The black blood flowed freely as the asari fell back, a shocked expression on her face as she dropped her weapon.

Jodie grunted, pulling herself back onto the main level. She noticed that the fight was dying down as she did, and then she let a hiss as her leg cried out in protest. Yaroslev was immediately next to her, his omni-tool open as he administered a dose of medigel to her leg.

The effect soothed the pain in her leg to a dull ache, and Jodie let out a sigh of relief. "Thanks," she said.

Yaroslev nodded. "It was the least I could do for saving my life," he said. He then looked back, watching as the last of the geth troopers was taken out by gunfire from Shepard. "Come on. I have a code to enter."

Jodie nodded, and then stood up. She winced at the increased pain she felt walking upon the injured leg. Aiden, remind me to go to Dr. Chakwas later, she thought as she walked over to Shepard, Liara, and Wrex.

Liara was instantly over to Jodie. "Are you all right?" she asked.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," Jodie replied. "Just got a little banged up, and a shot to the leg." She indicated Yaroslev. "He had medigel on standby."

"Good," said Shepard. He then followed Yaroslev to the door. As Yaroslev began inputting the code, Shepard looked at the door. "I'm going to assume Benezia is this way?"

"There is a straight corridor that will lead to a large containment facility," he said. "The original rachni queen we found should be there. If Benezia were anywhere, she would be there."

Shepard nodded. "Can we expect any more rachni?" he asked.

"We always took her eggs away from her when they hatched," said Yaroslev, tapping away at a holographic keypad next to the door. "All the eggs were taken to the hot labs. So there should be no problem there."

"And it would be dangerous for a civilian to be in the line of fire if Benezia fights back," said Shepard. He then indicated the tram. "We've cleared out the rachni in the main garage of Peak 15. Take the tram, and stay put."

Yaroslev nodded. "Of course," he said. He then tapped the keypad, and the hologram over the door turned green. "Be careful. I expect Benezia will not like it when you go to her."

And with this, the doctor turned to the tram, quickly getting over there. Shepard and the others watched him, watching as he entered the vehicle. As the vehicle pulled out of the station, the remaining members of the group turned to each other.

"Well, we're here," said Wrex. "So are we going to just stand here?"

"No," said Shepard. His hand then balled into a fist, his hand going through the green hologram. "Keep alert, we may run into additional resistance on our way."

The door opened, with Jodie and Wrex taking point. As they raised their weapons, though, they saw no resistance through the completely straight corridor.

"Come on," said Shepard as he walked past Jodie and Wrex. "Benezia is probably waiting for us by now."

---

The group proceeded without any further incident. The corridor was indeed rather empty, and Jodie swore that the walk to the other end was longer than it actually was. Whatever the case, this time she was sure they were headed in the right direction.

It was such that they came to the door at the end of the corridor. Aiden chirped once, the chirp short but quite resonant. She nodded, and then looked to Shepard as h drew his firearm. He stood by the door, gesturing to Liara. Liara nodded, approaching the door. Jodie saw Liara's nervousness settle in, though this time Jodie could see the beads of sweat on the asari's forehead. Jodie glanced at Wrex as she took a place beside Shepard, with Jodie looking at the door. She felt her heart beat a little faster, the anticipation made worse this time by the fact that this actually was the room.

But nevertheless, she nodded to Shepard, as did everyone else. And with this, Shepard opened the door, the four of them entering the room immediately.

They found themselves in a large chamber with a walkway all around the perimeter. In the center of the room was a giant container holding what Jodie realized was the largest of these large spiders they had yet discovered. She looked at it in awe, watching as it seemed to struggle within its glass container.

And then, a figure up a flight of stairs immediately in front of her caught her attention. Jodie looked up, seeing an old asari standing there. She was clad in lengthy black robes and a black headdress, which gave her an air of seriousness. Her gaze was trained on the large contained rachni, and from what Jodie could see of her expression it remained neutral and emotionless.

"You do not know the privilege of being a mother," the asari began, her voice low and reverent. "There is power in creation. To shape a life. Turn it toward happiness and despair."

The old asari paused, looking back at the contained rachni. "Her children were to be ours," she continued. "Raised to hunt and slay Saren's enemies."

Shepard looked over at the rachni queen, but before he could say anything else, the old asari turned towards him, taking a few steps towards the top of the stairwell. Jodie looked as the old asari's gaze turned towards Liara, her features forming into a scowl. "I won't be moved by sympathy," said the matriarch. "No matter who you bring to this confrontation."

Jodie frowned, and then looked to Liara. The earlier nervousness was gone from the younger asari, replaced by something Jodie could not pin. "He didn't force me to come here, mother," said Liara, her voice a little shaky but firm enough to get her point across. "I came here of my own will."

"I actually almost told her not to come," said Shepard. "Turns out I was right to let her come with."

"Oh?" The matriarch looked at Liara. "What have you told him about me, Liara?"

And then, Liara took a step forward. "What could I say, mother?" she asked, her voice raised slightly. Jodie could see the beginnings of tears in the asari's eyes, her arms coming up in anguish. "That you're insane? Evil? Should I tell him how to kill you?" Liara took a few breaths, closing her eyes and taking a very shaky breath. "What could I say?"

Benezia scowled at her daughter, and then turned to Shepard. "So nothing, then," she stated. "I expected as much." She scowled, looking at Shepard. "You do not think I came alone, do you?"

"Well, unless my eye prescription changed within the past hour, I would say I've noticed by now," Shepard replied. Jodie had to fight the urge to crack a smile as he said this, but one look at Liara caused Jodie to lose all will to smirk at the quip. "How many more geth have you got?"

"Not geth. There are others as well," Benezia replied, looking down at Shepard. "Tell me, Commander; have you faced an asari commando unit before?"

Shepard frowned. "Can't say I have," he said. "And knowing what I know about them, I can't say I want to."

"A sentiment shared by many humans," Benezia replied. "In your case, I believe you will discover why those that do tend not to live to tell the tale."

Jodie glanced at Liara in shock, before looking at the matriarch. "You'd kill your own daughter?" Jodie asked in shock.

But Benezia simply looked at Liara with a look of sick glee. "I now realize I should have been stricter with her..." the matriarch replied.

And then, without warning, the matriarch brought her arm back, glowing a deep purple as she then extended her hand. Shepard had already moved, but before he could raise his weapon to shoot Benezia he was surrounded in a blue aura that froze him in place. Jodie knew almost immediately from Aiden's distressed trill that he was not responsible, and as she realized this she looked up at Benezia in shock.

Before she could do anything else, however, she then heard doors open all around. When she turned to look at them, she saw teams of asari commandos come running out, guns at the ready. They wore armor much like the asari the group had fought in the tram station, and their weapons were much the same. Jodie looked around in time to see that they were coming from three other entrances all around the perimeter, and they looked ready for action.

Jodie immediately ran for cover, pushing herself against a crate. She watched as Liara and even Wrex did the same, the three of them eyeing their opposition.

Wrex simply chuckled, turning to Liara. "Bringing the fight here?" he asked. "I like your mother already!"

Jodie's eye twitched as Wrex said this, but before she could say much else she heard reality warp just past her cover. "Less quipping, more fighting!" Jodie shouted. She then popped out of cover, raising her assault rifle as one of the asari commandos came out of cover.

She fired a few rounds at the commando, her aim steady and sure. However, before she could take down the asari's barriers, the commando in question glowed blue. Jodie immediately ducked, a warp flying right over her head. Jodie then looked right at the commando as she advanced, turning to look at a second commando behind the first. Jodie turned her attention, hearing Wrex come out of cover while cocking his shotgun. As she heard the shotgun's sharp report go off, Jodie fired a stream of fire at the second commando.

She was then violently thrown to the side, crashing into Liara from the sudden force. Jodie took a few seconds to gain her bearings, and then found herself scrambling to her feet as a pair of asari commandos came rushing in from the staircase where the exchange with Benezia had occurred. Jodie ended up leaving her assault rifle behind, immediately seeing she was close enough. As her shields failed on her, Jodie drew her combat knife, holding it in a reverse grip with the edge out. Summoning all her strength, she lept forward, slashing at the asari commando. When she heard a faint gurgle from the first commando, she knew she had successfully taken out one of them.

The second one of that group of commandos was not taking any chances. Before Jodie could get close, she found herself pushed back. Jodie let out a grunt as her back hit the rail, her grip on her combat knife unrelenting. Jodie watched as the asari brought her hand back again, but was only able to roll out of the way with some labor before a warp dented the top of the railing behind her. Jodie grunted, pushing herself to her feet as quickly as she could, leaning forward slightly and ignoring the pain in her shoulders. She stumbled forward, swinging her knife out.

The knife motion missed, but before the asari could retaliate a shotgun burst sounded from behind her. Jodie looked at Wrex, whose expression seemed rather neutral.

Jodie paid it no attention, though. She ran over to where she and Liara had been, and it was then that she noticed that Shepard was finally free of the biotic stranglehold Benezia had him in. As Jodie watched him advance towards another group of two asari commandos, she lept back into cover, recovering her assault rifle quickly and sheathing her combat knife. Jodie flattened her back, and then looked back at the staircase just in time to see an asari commando rush towards them.

Jodie unleashed a hail of assault rifle rounds at the asari, the shields breaking immediately and a few rounds striking true. Jodie immediately turned around just in time to see Shepard shooting his assault rifle at a geth that had just appeared.

"Shit, we've got geth too?" Jodie muttered under her breath.

She glanced at Liara from where she and Wrex were handling the flank from the staircase where their conversation with Benezia took place. She then glanced at Shepard, before turning her attention back to the geth down the walkway on the perimeter. She primed her assault rifle, firing a blast right of fire at a geth. Her weapon beeped almost immediately, but Jodie remained calm as she ducked back behind cover and waited for her gun to cool down.

While she did, she heard something explode from behind her. Looking over, she immediately frowned as she saw the last of the sparks rain down from one of the geth's weapons. She glanced up at Aiden, who chirped a few times in glee.

Aiden, quit monkeying around, she thought. They're going to catch on!

Before she could properly chew him out for it more, though, Jodie saw that geth unit get taken down by Shepard. As the Commander fell behind cover, Jodie's weapon beeped, and then she found herself to face another group of geth as they rained out on her.

"You have any idea what that was?" Shepard asked.

Jodie shrugged, shooting at the geth on the other end of the walkway. "Hell if I know," said Jodie. "Probably a lucky break."

"Probably," said Shepard. He then turned, not saying anything more as he fired his weapon at the incoming geth.

Aiden chirped guiltily, but Jodie paid it no mind, her concentration focused entirely on the battle around her. Geth and asari commandos alike swarmed their position, but for the most part the group was able to fend them off reasonably well. The stream of geth and asari commandos seemed endless, though they were thankful that Benezia herself had almost no part in the conflict. Thankfully, Aiden had backed off after Jodie's initial protest, but even so Shepard and Jodie were able to fend off their wing of the offensive reasonably well.

Eventually, Jodie began to notice a slow-down in the arrival of units. Single geth or single asari commandos would come around, or there would be lengthier intervals between the appearance of the next enemy. She found herself able to dodge fewer biotic attacks, which came as a blessing for her. Jodie was not sure how much more she could stand being thrown about like a rag doll.

Well, I guess I know how some of the things you've dealt with feel about that now, Jodie thought at one point. Aiden replied with an amused click, but they both turned their attention back to the battle pretty quickly.

Eventually, though, the influx of commandos and geth into the room slowed to a stop. As soon as this occurred, Jodie, Shepard, and the others all looked straight for Benezia, who had not moved an inch since the battle began. Jodie and the others immediately ran up the steps, raising their weapons at the matriarch.

Benezia simply looked at them, but there was something different in her gaze. It was certainly still soulless, but as Jodie looked more intently, she thought she could make out something trying to bubble up from underneath that surface. This made Jodie pause, though her weapon was still raised at the matriarch. Benezia regarded the group, taking a step towards the tank rather calmly.

"This is not over," she said. "Saren is unstoppable. My mind is filled with his light. Everything is clear."

Shepard snorted. "Ma'am, my bathroom mirror is clearer than your mind right now," he said. "And last I checked, he was not exactly Jesus the Savior either."

Benezia turned to Shepard. "Your crass attempts at humor will not sway me," she said. "I will not..." And then, Jodie watched as Benezia's facade was slowly broken through. "You will..."

And then, Benezia let out a gasp of breath, and her eyes widened. She took a few short breaths, uncharacteristic for someone such as her. Her eyes scanned the area quickly, looking all around her at the bodies of the commandos and the geth that were strewn about the perimeter. She then turned back to Shepard, her eyes wide in fear.

"You must listen," she said, her voice sounding much more fearful than before. "Saren still whispers in my mind. I can fight his compulsions. Briefly. The indoctrination is strong."

"Indoctrination?" Shepard asked, looking confused.

"Yes," said Benezia. "You must understand, Commander, people are not themselves around Saren. You come to idolize him. Worship him. You would do anything for him..." She took a sharp breath in, stumbling forward slightly. "And it occurs regardless of what you truly think of him."

Jodie frowned, looking over at Shepard before turning her attention back to the Matriarch. "And why should we trust you?" asked Jodie. "You tried to kill us just a few seconds ago!"

"You do not understand," the Matriarch said. "Saren... I joined him to attempt to sway him away from his path. But his influence is strong." She looked down.

"So you're lucid right now," said Shepard. "But you could turn on me."

"Yes," said Benezia. "But it would not be my own will." She then glanced at Liara. "Much as attacking my own daughter would not be my own will."

"Mother!" Liara gasped out. As Jodie turned to look at Liara, she saw Liara fighting to hold back tears as she looked at the Matriarch.

Benezia shook her head. "I do not have much time," she finished. "I sealed a part of my mind away from the indoctrination. I saved it for a moment such as this, but it will not last long. I have information that can help you."

Shepard looked at Benezia, and then lowered his weapon. "So first questions first: what do you think is causing this indoctrination?" he asked.

"I believe the key is is flagship, Sovereign," she said. "It is a massive dreadnought of extraordinary power."

"I've seen that flagship on Eden Prime," said Shepard. "It didn't look like anything I'd ever seen. You know where it came from?"

"No," said Benezia. "The geth did not build it, and its technology is so far beyond what any race in this galaxy is capable of." She shook her head. "The longer you stay aboard, the more you come to agree with Saren. It is subtle at first. I thought I could resist." She shook her head. "You have seen the results of my folly."

"Indeed," said Shepard. "What were you sent here for?"

"I was sent to find the location of the Mu Relay," Benezia said. "Its position was lost thousands of years ago."

"The Mu Relay?" asked Shepard.

"I've heard of it," said Liara, walking forward. "A nearby star went supernova, and the shockwave pushed the relay out of position. The nova eventually enveloped the relay, so it's impossible to determine the vector and the speed."

Benezia looked at Liara in surprise. "Indeed you have, Little Wing," she said, a light smile coming to her lips. She then looked at Shepard. "Two thousand years ago, the rachni inhabited that region of the galaxy. They discovered the relay. The rachni can share memories across generations. Queens inherit the knowledge of their mothers."

"So this rachni queen had what you needed," said Shepard. "I'm guessing you melded with the rachni for the location of the relay."

"I did," said Benezia. She then rushed over to a control panel behind her, grabbing something from it and running back to Shepard. "Here." She quickly grabbed Shepard's free hand. "I transcribed the data onto this OSD, take it!" She shook her head. "You must hurry. I already sent the coordinates to Saren before you arrived. But now that you have the coordinates of the Mu Relay, perhaps you can stop him."

"Knowing the relay's coordinates won't be enough," said Wrex. "Where was he going?"

"I do not know," said Benezia. "Saren did not share that counsel with me. You must find out quickly."

Benezia then lurched forward, letting out a strangled cry. Liara immediately bounded forward, catching her mother in her arms. Benezia could only look up at Liara, and then she turned to Shepard.

"There is one other thing," she said. "Once Saren takes hold, I may never come back again. The indoctrination is irreversible."

Liara's eyes widened, and then she looked at her mother. "Mother, no!" she said, the first of her tears spilling down her cheeks. "You can't... Maybe there's some way we can stop Saren from doing whatever it is he's doing. Maybe there's-"

"No." Benezia looked at Liara, her own eyes welling with tears. "There is no way. I will never entirely be myself again..." She looked to Shepard. "You must end it for me. Saren will inhabit my mind forever. Better to end it now before I can serve him further."

"Mother, no!" said Liara loudly.

But Benezia turned to Liara, her expression almost serene. She brought out one of her hands, gracing it over Liara's cheeks. "Little Wing..." she said tenderly. "I know I have not been the best mother lately. I apologize for that. But know that I am proud of everything you have accomplished." She then glanced down, before looking at Liara. "But I cannot return to how I was before. You must realize this, correct?"

Benezia cringed, her neck tensing and her hand putting a little pressure on Liara's neck. Liara tensed, looking at her mother unsure of how to react. Jodie, who had stowed her assault rifle by then, pulled her pistol out, aiming it right at Benezia.

But after a few seconds, the pressure on Liara's neck subsided, and then Benezia sank to her knees. Liara could only stand there, looking down at her mother as her mother looked at her with exhaustion.

"I cannot fend him off for much longer," she said. "You must end it. Now. You have seen what I can do under Saren, Little Wing. You cannot let it continue. I will never be myself again. This is something which must be done."

Liara paused, looking at Shepard and the others for a few seconds. The asari's cheeks were wet with tears, and Liara could only sniffle as she turned her attention back to Benezia's forlorn expression. Liara hesitated for a few seconds as Benezia tensed again, squeezing her eyes shut as if trying to fight with the last vestiges of her will.

Finally, Liara nodded, looking at Shepard. "Make... Make it painless," she said. "Please."

Shepard nodded, grabbing his own pistol from his hip. The Commander nodded to Wrex, who stepped towards Liara. Liara simply knelt at Benezia's level, offering a final hug to her mother.

"Good night, Little Wing," Benezia whispered comfortingly. "I shall see you in the dawn."

That was when Wrex grabbed Benezia by the shoulder. Benezia peeled away from Liara, the younger asari offering no resistance. Benezia simply looked on, before cringing again. Wrex was too strong to be stopped by Benezia, but Liara sniffled again upon seeing this from her mother.

Jodie bit her lower lip, looking up at where she assumed Aiden would be. Is there... is there something you can do? she thought. Anything at all...?

But Aiden clicked morosely, followed by a long whoosh. Jodie nodded, looking down at the ground as her fists clenched.

Yeah, I know, she thought bitterly. I know, Aiden...

Jodie shook her head as Shepard brought her pistol directly to Benezia's head. As the seconds ticked by, Jodie thought she could see Benezia return to the cold, blank facial expression she greeted them with upon returning. Her eyes had gone hard, though Jodie thought she could make out a very slight glaze in them.

Right as Benezia began to raise her hand, Shepard pulled the trigger. Benezia's body fell to the side, her hand dropping in front of her. After this, Benezia remained silent, though Jodie swore that she saw Benezia's expression go serene as her black blood began to flow out of her body.

Jodie looked over at Liara almost immediately, seeing the asari kneeling by with her eyes closed. Slowly, Jodie walked over to Liara, kneeling down to her level. Jodie gently placed her hand on Liara's shoulder, and when Liara did not flinch from the touch, Jodie settled it there.

Liara turned to look at Jodie, her eyes filled with sadness. Jodie nodded, coming around and pulling Liara into a hug. Liara could only react by leaning her head against Jodie's shoulder, with Jodie adjusting to allow Liara a more comfortable position. The asari sobbed quietly, sniffling every so often.

Jodie patted Liara's back a couple of times. "There, there..." she whispered quietly.

Jodie spent a few seconds comforting Liara, and then she looked past Liara's shoulder. Wrex watched the two of them with an indifferent expression. Shepard, meanwhile, walked closer to the container holding the rachni queen, though Jodie could not see his expression.

After a few seconds, they all heard a loud clatter. Jodie twitched, her head immediately turning to the source of the sound. As she heard Wrex draw his shotgun, Jodie turned to look at the asari commando that was limping towards them. Liara turned to look as well, her cheeks stained with the tears she had shed.

However, the asari commando simply lurched forward, stumbling past Wrex, Jodie, and Liara and walking straight towards Shepard. Shepard stepped back, looking at the asari. Jodie felt a shiver run down her spine as she looked at the state of the asari. By all rights, she should have been dead: her body was riddled with bullet holes, her gait was uneven...

The commando turned around then, opening her eyes. It was then that the rachni queen let out a loud cry, the call causing Aiden to release a rapid series of clicks. Jodie looked up, a frown settling on her features as she glanced at where she assumed Aiden was.

And then, her attention turned back to the commando, and it was only then that she noticed the commando's eyes were concentrated on a point beyond them. The commando's eyes were of course trying to face the Commander, but it was a difficult effort. Shepard stepped back towards the rest of the group, frowning at the commando.

Finally, she corrected herself, and began to speak. When she did, though, it was as though a thousand voices were speaking out of the same body:

"This one serves as our voice. We cannot sing. Not in these low spaces. Your musics are colorless."

Jodie felt a thousand needles prick her skin all at once. She found herself having to bunch her toes up immediately to keep from showing any sign of alarm to anyone, and even then she found her eyes widening involuntarily.

What the- Aiden! she thought. Can that thing...? Is that the rachni queen speaking through...?

Aiden unleashed another rapid series of clicks. Jodie found herself looking back at Shepard. He said something and the asari commando replied, but by then she had tuned out of the conversation somewhat. Her mind was racing with possibilities, her gaze turning to the rachni queen. The queen maintained its concentration on Shepard, but this did not quell Jodie's anxiety in any way.

She found herself fighting the urge to look at where she assumed Aiden would be. She knew that Aiden could not possess the dead, nor could he make them speak. Does that mean the rachni queen can see Aiden? she thought. I don't... Shit, what if she can...?

Jodie then breathed in. There there, Jodie, it's all right, she thought. Maybe she can't see Aiden, or if she can she won't tell Shepard about it. Maybe she'll assume he knows or something. It can't be all that-

"Jodie? Are you all right?"

Jodie jolted where she knelt, looking right at Liara in surprise. The asari was still very close to Jodie, and then she found herself looking to the side.

"Oh... oh, it's nothing," she whispered. "Sorry, I just got a little, um, surprised by that asari talking."

Liara nodded, looking back at the asari. "I was too," she said. "It's..."

"Yeah," said Jodie. "It is..."

Jodie then glanced to the side, before taking a breath to calm yourself.

Okay, Jodie, just calm down, she thought. Don't let them catch on. Not yet, anyway...

And then she looked back to the asari, slowly getting to her feet as the conversation moved on.

"You have dealt with our children," said the asari. "But before you leave, we stand before you. What will you sing? Will you release us? Are we to fade away once more?"

Jodie frowned, looking at the rachni immediately. Liara got to her feet as well.

"Wait, is she the last of her kind?" Jodie asked. "Right now?"

"Yes," said Shepard. "Well, unless you can somehow tell me that there are other labs in the galaxy with rachni, anyway."

Jodie frowned, but before she could say anything Wrex pointed above the tank. "You see those, Shepard?" he asked. "There are acid tanks above this queen."

Liara turned, looking at Wrex. "Acid tanks?" she asked. "You don't mean...?"

"Millions of my ancestors died to put these things down," said Wrex. "Don't let them come back."

Jodie turned to the krogan. "What?" she asked. "You want him to commit genocide?"

"The rachni nearly wiped out the whole galaxy," said Wrex. "If we hadn't stepped in, you wouldn't be standing here right now."

"But that is no excuse for genocide!" Liara immediately replied. She then indicated the rachni queen. "This rachni queen has done nothing to us."

"And besides, it can be reasoned with, right?" asked Jodie, indicating the asari. "I mean, here we are, it's not trying to attack us, it's trying to talk to us, and I just don't see how-"

"Enough, all of you!" Shepard stated as he turned around. The three squadmates looked at Shepard in surprise. Shepard looked quite determined, though Jodie thought she saw something in Shepard's eye. "I've made my decision."

Jodie frowned. "Already?" she asked. "Isn't that a fast decision?"

"It is, but I can think on my feet," he said. He then turned to the queen. "I can't commit genocide. I'll let you go free."

Wrex stepped forward, his foot coming down with such force that the floor panel he stepped on shook a little. "You'd let them go free?" asked Wrex. "Are you insane?"

"Am I in a straightjacket?" Shepard asked.

"Um... no?" Jodie asked.

"Is the answer to your question," Shepard replied, looking at the rachni queen.

"You will give us the chance to compose anew?" the rachni queen asked. The asari that channeled the queen's voice stepped forward, the insectoid behind it crying out in pleasure. "We will remember. We will sing of your forgiveness to our children."

"Great," said Wrex, sounding very annoyed. "Bugs are writing songs about you." He then shook his head. "Mark my words, Shepard. You'll regret this."

"I don't think we will," said Shepard as he walked over to the nearby control panel.

Shepard then fiddled with the control panel a little, looking at the various holographic icons as his fingers danced across them. After a few seconds, the group heard a loud mechanical sound. Before long, the group watched as the rachni queen's containment was lifted up to a higher platform above them. The commando's body slumped to the side, and then the rachni queen approached the end of its container. It spared a last glance at the group, and then a loud crash of glass was heard from the opposite side.

And then, the rachni queen scurried away quickly.

Jodie looked up, hearing Aiden gurgle somewhat. As Aiden did this, Jodie found herself looking at the spot that the rachni queen formerly inhabited.

Please tell me it couldn't tell you were there... she thought.

Aiden clicked once, the click sounding rather low. This was then followed by a gurgle, and Jodie sighed in relief.

Good, she said. Though, even if she did know, I guess she wouldn't have anyone to tell. Maybe.

And with this, Jodie nodded to Liara. The group stood there for a few seconds. "Well, let's get back to the ship," said Shepard. "We've got a long debrief ahead of us."

"That we do," said Wrex. "The Council's going to kick your ass over this. And for once, I won't blame them."

Shepard nodded, and then moved to exit the room they were in. Wrex followed, a certain quickness in his gait showing itself which was not there before. Jodie nodded, but before she took a step forward, she looked back to Liara. Liara took one final look at her mother, before closing her eyes and walking slowly towards the exit of the room.

Jodie fell into step next to Liara, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, if you need anything, let me know," she said.

Liara nodded. "Thank you, Jodie," she said.

And the two walked out of the room in silence.