Chapter 9: Escape

Saren slammed his fist against the arm of his chair in frustration. The geth unit standing next to him did not flinch at the outburst.

Saren snarled a question through clenched teeth. "They killed the krogan?"

"Yes," replied the geth. "In addition, nearly all geth platforms were destroyed. Only one survived the assault, which reported to the consensus."

Frowning in frustration, Saren thought over his plans. He could no longer rely on Dr. T'Soni to provide him with the information he needed. Without her knowledge of the Protheans, the hope of accomplishing his goals was diminishing.

"There are still other options," boomed a voice. It seemed to come from within Saren's own skull, drowning out his thoughts and demanding his attention. "Noveria holds the location to the relay."

Saren lowered his head in submission, a slave bending to the will of his master. "I will go."

"No. Send the asari to Noveria. You must retrieve the Cipher."

As the voice faded from Saren's thoughts, he addressed the geth unit still standing in front of him. "Tell Benezia to gear up. She is going on a mission."

The geth turned and walked out of the room, leaving Saren alone in the darkness.

The sound of the Mako's engines could hardly be heard over the howling winds as it approached the Normandy. Glancing at the sensor readings as he drove, Kaiden swore. The storm was approaching faster than he had anticipated, and if he didn't get to the Normandy in time, Joker would have no choice but to leave them. Pushing the Mako to even greater speeds, Kaiden struggled to stay in control as they hurtled towards the Normandy. The ship's cargo bay doors were open, inviting the Mako to safety.

Suddenly, Joker's voice came over the comm-system. "Normandy to Mako. I'm going to have to leave you, Commander, or we'll lose the Normandy. The storm is going to overtake you."

John cursed. "Kaiden, can you go any faster?"

"I'm not going full speed," Kaiden replied. "I can try to max it out, but I might lose control."

"Do it."

As the Mako sped up, it suddenly exited the small canyon it had been driving through. Emerging onto a wide open plain of dusty rock dotted with pools of magma, John could see the Normandy set down on the other side.

"I see you, Normandy," John radioed. "We just exited the canyon. How close is the storm?"

"Right behind you," came Joker's static-filled reply. The sand and dust that was being kicked up by the wind was beginning to interfere with communications. "Looks like you're adding some distance."

"Are we going to make it?"

Joker was silent for a moment. "I have to start moving, Commander. If that wind starts throwing up molten rocks, the Normandy's shields will fail."

Glancing over his shoulder, John said, "Tali, can you make this thing go any faster?"

Tali nodded. "I can bypass the safety restrictions on the engine."

"Okay, do it. Kaiden, just keep her going straight for the Normandy."

"I'll do my best," said Kaiden.

Typing into her omni-tool, Tali accessed the Mako's control systems and hacked her way past the security with ease. As she was about to remove the engine restrictions, a warning dialog appeared asking her to confirm. Removing the safety restrictions could potentially get them all killed, but being abandoned on the planet's surface would surely be a death sentence. Glancing up at John, Tali pressed the confirmation button and the safety systems were deactivated. Instantly Kaiden felt an increase in power, and gritting his teeth, increased the Mako's speed ever more.

Ahead, John saw the Normandy begin to stir. The engines began activating one by one, and the cargo bay door began to close. Quickly activating the radio in his breather helmet, John said, "Joker, we've increased speed! Leave the cargo bay door open."

"Yes sir," Joker replied, and the cargo bay door halted its movement.

As the Mako approached the Normandy, Joker began to give power the ship's engines; he would have hardly any time to take to the air once the Mako was aboard. The ship's VI warned Joker about moving with the cargo door open, but he ignored it.

"Decrease power," John instructed Kaiden as the Mako reached the Normandy.

Kaiden quickly took his foot off the accelerator completely, and allowed the Mako to roll into the Normandy's cargo bay. As it entered, he slammed on the brakes and the Mako skidded to a halt. As John stepped out of the Mako, the cargo bay door was already half shut and the Normandy was off the ground.

In the cockpit, Joker breathed a sigh of relief as the Normandy easily outran the storm and prepared to exit the planet's atmosphere. Activating the intercom, he simply said, "We made it."

John let out the breath that he had been holding. They had made it, but it had been too close. By Alliance regulations, Joker should have left Therum ten minutes before the Mako arrived.

"Too close, Commander," Joker said over the intercom. "Ten more seconds and we'd all be dead. Molten rock tends to melt our hull and fry our sensors. Just for future reference."

"We almost died out there and your pilot is making jokes?" asked Liara. She was sitting in one of the chairs against the wall of the conference room.

"Joker pulled our asses out of there," John replied. "By Alliance regulations, he should have abandoned us. It was my miscalculation that got us into that mess, not Joker's. I think he's earned the right to a few bad jokes."

"Don't be too hard on yourself, Shepard," said Garrus. "If we hadn't gone in when we did, the geth would have gotten to Dr. T'Soni before us."

Garrus had a point. Though John should have recognized that they could not complete the mission before the storm was due, Liara's life had been at risk.

John nodded reluctantly. "If the whole dig site hadn't come crashing down around us, we could have waited out the storm underground."

"Speaking of the dig site," Kaiden interjected, looking at Liara, "What did Saren want with you? Do you know something about the Conduit?"

"Only that it was somehow related to the Prothean extinction," Liara replied. "I've been studying the Protheans for the past fifty years, but I've focused on discovering how they died. What Saren wants with the Conduit, I have no idea, but he must believe that I can tell him where and what it is."

John was not surprised. He knew that asari had much greater lifespans than other races, and although Liara looked like no older than twenty, in reality she was much older.

"Fifty years?" said Ashley. "How old are you, exactly?"

"I hate to admit it, but I'm only a hundred and six. By asari standards, I am considered little more than a child, and that is why my research has not gotten the attention it deserves. Asari scholars tend to dismiss my theories on why the Protheans vanished."

"I have my own theory about what happened to the Protheans," John said quietly.

"With all due respect Commander, I've heard every theory out there. The problem is finding evidence to support them."

"Why is that?"

"The Protheans left remarkably little behind. It's almost if someone doesn't want the mystery to be solved. But here is the incredible part: the Protheans were not the first species to vanish completely. The cycle began long before them."

"How do you know that? I thought the Protheans left no evidence behind."

"I have been working on this for fifty years," Liara explained. "I have tracked down every scrap and shred of evidence. Eventually, I started to notice patterns emerging. Subtle hints to what really happened to the Protheans. I cannot explain it to someone else, because I cannot point to one specific thing to prove my case. It is more of a feeling derived from a half-century of dedicated research."

The room fell silent for a moment, before Tali spoke. "Who came before the Protheans? Everyone thinks they came first… if they didn't, who did?"

"I don't know. There is barely and evidence on the Protheans, and even less on those who came before them."

"How many times has this happened?"

"The galaxy is built on a cycle of extinction. Every time a great civilization builds itself up, it is suddenly and violently cast down. Only ruins survive. The amount of times that the cycle has repeated is impossible to determine."

"If the Conduit was involved in the Protheans' extinction, we have to get to it before Saren does," said John.

Liara nodded. "I don't know exactly what the Conduit is, but it must be some kind of super weapon if it defeated the Protheans. Their empire spanned the galaxy."

"The Protheans were wiped out by the Reapers, a race of sentient machines. My guess is that the Conduit was built by them."

"The- The Reapers? How do you know this? Where is your proof?"

"There was a damaged Prothean beacon on Eden Prime. It burned a vision into my head… I'm still trying to sort out what it all means."

Liara looked up at John. Perhaps there was more to this human than she had first believed. "Visions? Yes, that makes sense. The beacons were designed to transmit information directly into the mind of the user. Finding one that still works is extremely rare."

"The geth under Saren's orders attacked our colony to try to get their hands on it. I think Saren might have damaged the beacon even more after he used it. The image I saw was not clear."

"The beacons were designed to work with Prothean physiology. Any information that you received would have been unclear, and a lesser mind would have been utterly destroyed in the process."

"None of this is helping us find Saren, or the Conduit," said Ashley. "We need to do something to stop him."

"You are right," said Liara. "Unfortunately, I don't have any information about Saren or the Conduit to give you. I am sorry."

"It's okay, Doctor," said John. "If you don't mind, I'd still like to bring you along. Your knowledge could be invaluable."

"Thank you, Commander. Saren might come after me again, and I can't think of anywhere safer than your ship. I will do all I can to aid your mission."

"Then welcome to the team, Liara."

Addressing everyone else, John said, "Everyone get some sleep. We'll be heading to Noveria soon, so you'll need your strength. Dismissed."

Despite his best efforts, John was unable to stay asleep. His head throbbed angrily, demanding rest, but the nightmares continued to wake him. Every time he drifted off to sleep, he could see the faces of the men who had fallen beside him while defending Elysium. He had saved many lives, there was no doubt, but when any soldier died under his command it affected him.

John slid into cover as a batarian squad rounded the corner. Bullets flew overhead, threatening to claim the life of another one of his squadmates. Cursing, John provided covering fire, giving the other soldiers a chance to react and find cover of their own. As he fired, his shields suddenly failed and a bullet tore through the flesh in his arm. Gritting his teeth, John ignored the pain and continued to fire.

Sensing that the enemy's offensive was beginning to falter, John began pushing forward. The remaining batarian soldiers saw him coming and fled, not wanting to face the deadly soldier without more support.

As John moved past an abandoned apartment, something in his peripheral vision caught his attention. In the doorway was the corpse of a child.

John jolted awake once again, sweating heavily. Every time he drifted off to sleep, he awoke to the same image. The child could have been no more than six, killed by the batarians simply to get her out of the way as they attempted to capture the colony. This image was one among many others that continued to haunt him.

Climbing out of bed, John exited his cabin and headed into the mess area. Helping himself to a cup of coffee, he sat at the only table. The coffee tasted like dirt, but at least it was hot.

As he drank, John heard one of the sleeper pods opening behind him. Turning, he saw Adams walking towards him.

"What are you doing up, Adams?" John asked.

"It's Tali's turn to get some sleep," Adams replied. "We're on shifts. Can't leave engineering empty."

"How's she been doing down there?"

"Great. I've never seen someone with her abilities. She's even taught me a thing or two since she got here."

John smiled and said, "Glad to hear it."

Adams saluted and hurried into the elevator. Before long, the elevator opened again, and Tali entered the mess area.

Noticing John, she quickly said, "Oh, hello Commander."

John smiled tiredly in return, motioning for Tali to sit. "Good job on the mission today."

Tali accepted the invitation and sat at the table across from John. "Thank you. I just wish we could have helped those people."

"I know. That's the hardest part about helping people; you can't save everyone."

After a few moments of silence, Tali finally said, "Is something troubling you, Commander?"

John looked up. "Is it that obvious?"

"When you and everyone you know lives inside environmental suits their entire lives, you get good at reading body language."

"It's not something I need to trouble you with."

"If you need someone to talk to, I will listen."

Sighing, John said, "Have you ever heard of the Skyllian Blitz?"

"Sorry, no."

"About seven years ago, batarian slavers and pirates attacked the human colony Elysium. They thought it was fair reprisal for our expansion into the Verge. I was on shore leave at the time, on Elysium. When the attack hit, there was almost no time to react… the colony's defences were wiped out within a few hours. I realized that someone had to step up, and I ended up leading the defence."

"Why you?"

"The highest ranking officers were mostly wiped out in the initial assault. The batarians targeted their ships first. I just kind of reacted, and people followed me."

John shook his head sadly as he spoke. "The things I saw were… horrible. Sure, I saved lives, but I couldn't save everyone. Women and children were shot and left to rot in the streets; the slavers and pirates didn't discriminate between soldier and civilian. Men under my command died around me, enraged by the brutality of the batarians' assault. And then the reinforcements arrived."

"The Alliance?"

"No, the batarian warlords had gathered more troops. They broke through our defences near Illyria's government complex. I managed to hold them off, but every man who stood with me was killed."

"I'm sorry, Shepard. I shouldn't have asked."

John shook his head. "Don't be. Talking about it helps."

Tali was silent for a moment before she spoke. "Is that why you were chosen for the Spectres?"

"One of the reasons."

John's thoughts were interrupted by his omni-tool chiming loudly, indicating an important notification. Anderson had left him a message.

FROM: David Anderson (Verified)

SUBJECT: Watch Out

Shepard,

I got some intel that a woman has been asking questions about you here on the Citadel. Normally I would not think much of it, since you're the newest Spectre, but I had a bad gut feeling about it so I did some digging.

Her ship's logs indicate that she came from Omega. Omega is in the Terminus systems, and I don't need to tell you what that means. If someone on Omega is interested in you, it's probably not a good thing.

This woman seems to be catching onto your trail, too. As I'm typing this, her ship is departing for Therum. Until we discover who this person is, we have to assume that she's extremely dangerous, possibly even working for Saren. Keep your head down, Commander, and I'll try to find out more.

Anderson

John frowned as he checked the message's timestamp. It had been sent just as the Normandy had left Therum, which meant that the woman was catching up to them.

"Is something wrong?" Tali asked, noticing the expression on John's face.

"Maybe. Someone's been asking questions; she might be working for Saren. Anderson said she was onto our trail."

"Unless she's right behind us, the trail should die on Therum. No one at the dig site was left alive, and we didn't have any contact with the colony."

"I hope so… I have a bad feeling about this."

Tali frowned underneath her visor. "I'll get back down to engineering in case there's trouble."

John nodded and hurried towards the cockpit.

Miranda's small ship set down quietly in the heart of the dig site. The storm had since passed, leaving a thick film of dust covering every surface. The planet's sun was setting, and the dig site looked eerily empty in the evening light. Loading her gun, Miranda pulled on a breather helmet and exited the ship.

Trudging through the loose sand that had been scattered by the storm, Miranda approached the entrance to the mineshaft. The door's control panel was badly damaged, most likely by rocks that had been thrown by the strong winds earlier in the day. Despite this, she managed to get the door to slide open using her omni-tool.

As she looked down the now open mineshaft, Miranda swore. The cavern below appeared to have collapsed in on itself. The chances that someone had survived were extremely small, and even if they had, there was no way she could get to them. Unless they could tell her where Shepard had gone, they were useless to her.

Activating her omni-tool, Miranda contacted the Illusive Man.

"Yes?" the Illusive Man answered.

"No survivors at the dig site," Miranda reported. "Saren's geth were very thorough, and the cavern below ground has collapsed in."

"Check Nova Yekaterinburg, the colony's capital. If the Normandy was damaged by the storm, they'll have gone there for repairs."

"Yes sir."

Miranda terminated the connected and walked back to her ship. As she started the engines, Miranda prayed that John had been careless and left some sort of trace at the colony. If she couldn't find him, there would be hell to pay.

Powell's omni-tool chimed loudly, waking him. They had just passed through the mass relay, and were nearing the Citadel. Standing, Powell woke the other men and proceeded to double check the crates.

"Powell, we're being asked for our credentials," the pilot said over the intercom.

Hurrying to the cockpit, Powell sat in the copilot's seat. "Did you give them the credentials for the shipping company?"

"Yes, I just sent them. I'm waiting for a response."

Powell breathed a sigh of relief as they got clearance to continue to the docking area. They had passed the first test.

Citadel Security used large scale scanners to scan entire ships as they entered the docking area, which were programmed to pick up on any illegitimate items or substances. Because of this, Powell had warned Cerberus that he would be unable to smuggle certain weapons parts onto the Citadel, such as the mass accelerators. Even though all parts that would be detected had been removed, Powell was still worried.

As the ship entered the designated docking bay, the Citadel's security systems scanned the ship. Powell crossed his fingers and waited.

"All clear," came the notification over the radio. "You are cleared to land. Welcome to the Citadel."

Both Powell and the pilot breathed a sigh of relief as the ship set down gently on the docking bay's floor. They had done it.

"I'm telling you Commander, no one's following us," Joker said as he typed into the computer. "We're the only ones out here."

"How far away from the relay are we?" John asked.

"We passed through it about twenty minutes ago. If someone had intercepted our transmission and followed us through, we'd see them on the scanners by now."

John breathed a sigh of relief. "We must have lost her at Therum."

Joker nodded. "I'll keep an eye out, but I don't think you have to worry."

"Good. Alert me when we arrive at Noveria."

"Will do Commander."

John exited the cockpit and walked aft. Taking the stairs down, he crossed the mess area and entered his cabin. Activating the computer on his desk, he began typing a message to Anderson.

FROM: John Shepard (Verified)

Subject: Re: Watch Out

Whoever was following us seems to have lost our trail at Therum. Thanks for the heads up.

Shepard

John sent the message off and leaned back into his chair. He had hardly gotten any sleep, but they were approaching Noveria and he needed to make preparations. Ordering his eyes to stay open, John exited his cabin and headed down to the cargo bay.

Garrus was already awake and double checking the Mako when he approached. Noticing John, he slid out from underneath the vehicle and stood.

"Is the Mako ready?" John asked.

Garrus nodded. "Everything seems to be working, though you'll need to get Tali to check the really technical parts."

"Good to hear."

"You don't think we'll be needing it on this mission, do you? I mean, we are visiting an inhabited colony."

"It never hurts to be prepared. Noveria isn't in Citadel space, and there have been reports of geth."

Garrus nodded and climbed into the Mako while John spoke. There was a load roar as he started the engine, and then a deafening boom.

"You'd better send Tali in here right away," Garrus muttered as he cut the engines. "That didn't sound good."

John couldn't help but grin as he asked, "How badly did you break it?"

"I have no idea. I think it's something to do with the removed safety restrictions on the engine."

"I'll go get her."

Tali was glancing curiously at the door leading to the cargo bay when John entered engineering; the loud noise had told her that something was wrong.

"Garrus tried to start the Mako," John explained as he approached.

"Keelah," Tali muttered. "Leave it to Garrus…"

John chuckled. "Think you can take a look at it? I need the Mako operational before we reach Noveria."

Tali glanced down at her console and then nodded. "How badly did he break it?"

"He had no idea, which probably means pretty badly."

Logging out of her console, Tali followed John. As they were reaching the door to the cargo hold, Tali said, "Commander?"

"Yes?" John asked, glancing over his shoulder.

"I'd like to come with you on Noveria… if that's okay."

John stopped walking and turned to face her. "Sure. I wasn't sure you would want to after Therum."

"Thank you, Shepard."

John was slightly surprised by Tali's use of his name, but pushed the thought to the back of his mind. "Make sure you're geared up by the time we reach Noveria, and meet me up in the cockpit."

Tali nodded and followed John out into the cargo hold. Garrus was cursing from inside the Mako, and John swore he saw a spark fly.

"Garrus, what exactly did you do?" Tali asked as she too disappeared inside the Mako.

Leaving them to their work, John headed into the elevator.

Miranda sighed as she climbed back into her shuttle. The search for Shepard at the colony had proved fruitless, and it was getting late. The Illusive Man would not be pleased with the results of her search; John was the key to their plans, and it was vital that she learned what would be the best way to corrupt him. However, they still had some time before they could put their plan into action, and because of this Miranda remained calm.

Checking the time on her omni-tool, Miranda calculated that she had just enough time to get to the Citadel for her meeting. Starting the shuttle's engines, she headed for the system's relay.