Disclaimer: See Chapter I – Beginnings

The Rift

Chapter XII

Spectre Extermination Company

"Just take it easy. I'm Commander Shepard. I'm here to take care of your geth problem." The woman in front of them sighed.

"There. You see? You're paranoid, Jeong." The man, Jeong, scowled at the woman.

"And you, Juliana trust too easily." Shepard sighed and took a few steps forward, placing a hand in front of both.

"Okay, time out. Introductions made? Good. Now just tell me where we can find the rest of the geth." Jeong sneered at the team.

"You see? They're not here for us! They just care about the geth! I'm telling you, we should wait for help from ExoGeni to come." Juliana shook her head, turning back to the team.

"Just ignore him. The geth are all holed up at the ExoGeni headquarters. It's just up the skyw-"

"That building is private property, soldier. You remove the geth and nothing else. Understand?" Shepard scowled at the man, Anthony speaking up from the back.

"Commander? Permission to administer...aggressive anesthetic?" Shepard held up his hand.

"Tempting, Snyder...very tempting. But not now. Stand easy."

"Aye, sir. Just my problem with people that put politics before lives acting up." Shepard nodded and turned back to Jeong.

"We'll be back when the building is clear." As they turned to leave, Juliana called out, coming up behind Shepard.

"Commander, wait! At ExoGeni...my daughter, Lizbeth...she wasn't with any of the groups that came this way...and I know she's alive, I can feel it." Jeong looked over to the group again.

"They shouldn't be poking around up there. We can do a proper accounting of the casualties once the geth are gone." Juliana turned on him, a look of pure hate on her face.

"That's my daughter you're talking about, you asshole!" Shepard raised a hand again, moving in between them to stop the argument.

"Juliana, if she's in there, we'll find her. I promise. And you, Jeong, should be grateful I don't ask my krogan friend over here to give you a new hole to eat through." Jeong swallowed hard as he looked over to Wrex. A grinning krogan was never what someone wanted to see, especially when they were what the krogan was grinning at.

Shepard and the team turned and walked back up the ramp from the makeshift shelter, the barricades sliding back into place after they passed. They all looked back as the metal plates met again, a meter high wall stretching across the bottom of the ramp. Climbing up into the Mako, everyone looked at each other. Tali was the first to break the silence.

"John...do you think we'll find her daughter?" Shepard sighed quietly as he thumbed the ignition, the engines roaring to life.

"I don't know, Tali. But if we do or not, these bastards are going to pay." With that, he gunned the throttle, pushing the Mako into the larger ramps toward the rest of the skyway.

As soon as they entered the sunlight again, the shields flared from small-arms fire. The simple troopers Shepard just ran over, metallic bodies crushing under the weight of the APC. Rockets were mostly dodged. Using the thrusters to jump on the exposed skyway was too risky. One strong enough gust of wind while airborne could send them straight over the edge, and it looked a very, very long way down.

When one of the geth walking tanks showed up at the far end, John looked behind him to the turret seat, seeing Tali having taken it this time around. "Tali, we got a big one coming up. Think you can take it out?" Tali nodded, reaching for the turret controls, which sprung to life as her three-fingerd hands took the handgrips. Targeting sensors on the combat display gave her readouts on the mechanical beast in front of them. She reached up and started tapping on her omni-tool.

"Hold on, John...the targeting on this thing is off...I'm re-calibrating. If we don't take that armature out in one go, it'll start firing at us. Dodging that won't be easy on the skyway." Shepard nodded at her words, slowing down a bit to give her time to work. Anthony looked up.

"What did you call it? An 'armature'?" Tali nodded as she re-calibrated the Mako's weaponry.

"Armature-class geth were designed for extreme heavy lifting, building, demolitions, and excavating. They were heavily shielded and armored in case of tunnel collapses while underground. Suppose that wasn't such a good idea, looking back..." Shepard smiled back at Tali.

"Hindsight is 20-20, Tali. I don't know about the rest of the galaxy, but I'm fairly certain humanity doesn't blame your people. And I know I don't." Tali paused for just a moment in her work, and if Anthony didn't know better, he could have sworn the quarian was blushing behind her mask. The fact that her body language almost screamed it, though, was enough. Smiling a bit, he looked back to the forward viewport. 'Note to self: tease the hell out of them later.'

A few moments later, and with no warning, a thunderous, but muffled, boom sounded through the cabin of the Mako. Anthony and Shepard watched through the viewport as the geth armature recoiled from the round. Piercing the shields and hitting in the center, right below the armored neck. The armature practically folded up on itself, the sudden motion slamming the 'face' into the decking beneath it. With the head damaged, and the main circuits inside pulverized, the geth walking tank gave a token effort to stand before collapsing completely. John and Anthony both smiled at the sight, leaning back in their seats as Tali spoke quietly in Khelish, apparently pleased with the result from her tone.

Shepard gunned the throttle again, making the last push to the towering building that was the repurposed headquarters of Exo-Geni. A geth dropship was a little higher up on the side of the building, attached to it as if some sort of parasite. Anthony looked up towards it. "Well, that's different...looks like it's a parasite on the side of the building." Shepard grinned.

"Good thing we know how to kill parasites, then."

The entryway was fairly deserted, only a pair of recon drones hanging around, which were quickly dispatched. The remains of the ruined prothean building were in a stark contrast to the more modern systems installed for the researchers and, more recently, the geth. When the path into the research facility was blocked by a geth barrier, the team had little other choice but to jump down into what appeared to be a storm drain.

Turning the corner into the storm drain, all four swiveled to their right as a shot pinged off of Anthony's shields, weapons coming up, only to level on another human, one who looked to be a researcher, in similar clothing to the ones taking refuge across the skyway. The woman raised her hands, slowly walking out of her hidey-hole and towards the team.

"I'm so sorry...I heard you coming, I thought you were geth...or more varren." Shepard nodded and took his helmet off to try and put the obviously frazzled woman at ease. Anthony followed suit, Wrex and Tali hanging back to secure the rest of the area. "Everyone else started running...I was stupid enough to stay and back up data...next thing I knew, the power went out and there were geth all over the place." Shepard smiled reassuringly to the woman.

"I've taken down more than a few geth in the past few weeks. They haven't stopped me yet." The woman shook her head.

"No, it's not the geth, it's that damned barrier they put up. I guess they don't want anyone else getting to...umm..." Here, she trailed off, looking quite embrassed at herself. Anthony stepped forward a little.

"Miss, what's your name?" She looked up.

"Baynham. Elizabeth Baynham." Anthony smiled warmly.

"Your mom's name Juliana?" At Lizbeth's nod, Anthony stepped a little closer. "She and a few other of the researchers made it out. They're at the halfway building between here and Zhu's Hope. Even they're alive, too. But we're going to need some help. If we knew why the geth were here, maybe we can find out better how to keep them from hurting anyone else." Lizbeth sighed and nodded, looking down a little.

"I don't know for sure, but...I think they're here for the Thorian." Shepard looked confused.

"What's a Thorian?" Lizbeth looked back up.

"It's a life form unique to Feros, as far as we can tell. Exo-Geni was studying it. I don't know all that much...my mom was one of the heading researchers on it, though. She would know more. But that barrier is in the way. Most of the power to the facility is down, so they must be powering it from that geth ship. It would explain why the geth were laying what looked to be power cables all over the place, too." Shepard and Anthony nodded, both pulling their helmets back on. As the woman took a step forward, holding the pistol tightly, Anthony spoke up again.

"Liz, it might be a better idea if you stayed here. No telling what the geth have throughout the building. Once we get the barrier down, we'll call for you from the hole we came through over there. We can help you up and then get you back to your mom. Sound fair?" Liz nodded softly.

"Yeah. Ok. Here...take this, though. It should get you through any security doors around here." She reached up to her shoulder, pulling her ID card off and holding it out to them. Shepard took it and nodded, before turning again, leading the three others away and towards a maintenance hatch. Liz stepped back into her hiding spot, feeling much better now that at least someone was here to help.


After fighting through the geth soldiers throughout the building, the team finally came to one of the loading bays. Three 'legs' of the dropship were anchored into the building, sticking through the opened bay doors. Tali looked up at the exposed 'legs' and the metal beneath the armor on them. "If we're going to do this, It's going to have to be here, somehow. These look to be the main supports for the ship. Take them out and the ship won't be able to stay on. And if all of it's power is coming in through these cables, it shouldn't be able to keep from hitting the surface."

Shepard looked up at the metal jutting into the building, Wrex, Tali, and Anthony starting to search the room. Wrex looked up, following Shepard's gaze. "Shepard, some explosives on the joints should take it out. Make a big boom, in any case." Shepard shook his head.

"No, Wrex, I don't know what this might happen. These buildings are too damn old. Blowing up the ship, good. Blowing up the building, bad." Wrex just grunted and kicked the nearest 'leg', causing Shepard to chuckle a bit as he looked up, tracing some of the cables. A few led behind a piece of fallen scrap from the ceiling. John walked over and pushed the scrap out of the way, revealing a geth terminal, still powered and connected to the ship. Looking over his shoulder, he called out. "Hey, Tali! You might want to see this!"

The young quarian looked over, and once she saw what Shepard was standing in front of, she all but sprinted to the console. "Keelah! This console is still connected to the ship! Even if I can't force it off, I might be able..." She trailed off as she accessed the console. Her six fingers flew over the holographic controls. Apparently, since her people made the geth in their image, the geth also created things that were simple for themselves, and by extention, the quarians, to use. Lifting her omni-tool, she downloaded a set of files to it from the ship. The transfer got just over half before the entire console went dark. "Bosh'tet!" Everyone looked a little taken aback, especially Shepard, at hearing Tali use what sounded like a curse.

"Tali...what did you manage to get?" Tali sighed softly, shutting down her omni-tool after checking how much she got.

"Some navigational data from this dropship, but more importantly, I was able to get some of the geth history, after they drove us from the Veil. Nobody knows what the geth were doing up until now. This would be perfect...oh...for my Pilgrimage...if you'll let me have it, that is..." John smiled and nodded.

"Tali, of course you can take that back to the fleet. Why would I say no? You're the one that got it." Tali once again gave the impression that she was blushing behind her visor.

"Well...this is your mission. Anything that is found belongs to you...it's a quarian tradition." Shepard smiled and shook his head.

"But it's your data. How about this? Throw a copy into the Normandy so I can give it to the Council and the Alliance brass, and we'll call it even? Deal?" Tali nodded enthusiastically, actually hugging Shepard for a moment before pulling away just as quickly. Anthony smiled and called over from the other side of the room, near some machinery.

"Oi! Either get a room, you two, or come over here! I think I found something." Tali, John, and Wrex looked over, spotting Anthony in front of looked to be some large hydraulic controls. The others walked over, Anthony grinning as he held up a small datapad, a piece of tape actually hanging off the top. "The door controls. And wouldn't you know it, the controls are broken. Too little pressure, and it won't move the door. Too much pressure, and the safety kicks in. Hit it just right, and according to this, it'll cut straight through a steel I-beam." Shepard grinned.

"Or a dropship leg. Alright, let's see what we can do." John and Anthony walked over to the controls, checking the repair note as they went. After a few tries, and more than one shutdown, they were finally able to dial in the pressure just right. Shepard turned to the others. "Alright, everyone. Keep sharp. Hopefully this works, but if it doesn't, things can go really bad really fast here. Snyder, you found it, you hit the button." Anthony nodded and moved over to the main door control. Looking over to the doors, he let his hand hover over the button.

"Everyone ready?" Anthony turned to check, only to see Tali and Shepard hiding around a nearby pillar, only Wrex standing beside him. He sighed and shook his head, muttering quietly. "Yeah...thanks, John. Got my back, do you?" This brought a chuckle from Wrex, which was drowned out as Anthony brought his hand down, activating the doors. With the horrible sound of rending metal, the doors shot upwards, pausing for only a moment when they made contact, then slicing clean through the ship 'legs'.

A scraping sound from the outside slowly grew fainter, the power from the ship being cut as it fell away. Shepard and Tali stepped out around the pillar, walking over to the other two. Shepard looked to the severed part of the ship. "Well, that takes care of that. That barrier should have lost power. Anyone care to-" Shepard was interrupted by the radio crackling to life.

*-yone there? Normandy to shore par-come on, Commander, answer me!* Nobody liked the way Joker sounded, Shepard answering immediately. "I'm here, Joker, what's wrong?"

Relief sounded through the pilot's voice for a moment. *Dammit, finally. Commander, something's up with the colonists! We're on lockdown over here. They're clawing and banging on the hull, trying to get in. They're going to scratch the paint! They're completely freaking out!* Shepard sighed and shook his head. "Leave it to him to be worried about the paint. Alright, Joker, just hold tight, we're on our way. Just don't let them in, they can't do any real damage." Cutting Joker off before he could reply, he keyed in the squad frequency. "Alenko, status report!" Kaiden's voice came across, as well as some gunfire in the background.

*Pinned down at the moment, Commander! The colonists started going ape-shit a few minutes ago, and these...hell, all I can call them are zombies, started popping up! Williams and I are taking out the zombies, and Garrus has some kind of concussive rounds he was able to get his rifle to fire.* Garrus' voice cut into the transmission, here. *They're not dead, but they're going to have one hell of a headache when they wake up.* Shepard shook his head. "Alright, we're coming to you. Whatever those things are, take them out. I don't want any of the colonists put down, though. Shepard out."

Turning to the rest of the team, Shepard's face hardened. "Alright, people. Back to the colony, double time!"


Shepard, Wrex, Tali, and Anthony walked into the colony, weapons raised if they needed them, only to find the colonists all on the ground, obviously still breathing, but unconscious. Rounding the corner of the freighter, they saw Garrus, Ash, and Kaiden standing near the crane controls. Shepard spoke up. "Garrus, I have to say, I'm impressed. We found some survivors back there. They gave us a gas that would knock the people out. It's an infection of some kind." Shepard pulled two grenades loaded with the nerve agent and handed them to the turian. "There's a few colonists by the Normandy. These should take them down. We're headed under to take care of the cause. And believe me, it's one hell of a story."

Garrus took the grenades and nodded, walking off to join Ash and Kaiden heading towards the docking bay. Shepard went to the crane controls. The interface came to life as he approached. Keying in the controls, the crane arm swung over, lowering a clamp that latched onto the freighter, lifting a section, allowing access to a stairway beneath.

Down the stairs was a short hallway, leading into a large underground chamber. Wrex growled impatiently. "So where's this Thorian...thing...?" Wrex trailed off as the group came to the edge. Hanging in front of them was an enormous, obviously alive, mass of...something. Shepard peeked over the edge, giving a short whistle at the height. Tali looked up at the creature in wonder.

"That's the Thorian? Keelah..." Anthony nodded softly, looking over at the ancient plant as well.

"Ok...so it's a plant, right? Anyone know if they still make Weed-B-Gone? I think we're going to need a few of their biggest size..." The plant mass moved a little closer to the spot where the team stood, it's movements very jerky and almost sickly. Anthony took a step back. "Okay...if it had a stomach...I would say it looks like it's going to blow chunks..."

Out of a slit in the skin of the Thorian, a form slid out, landing on the ground. Straightening, the form stepped forward, the plant retreating a little, revealing a green-skinned asari. One that was looking at the team like she was seriously pissed off. "Invaders! Your every step a transgression. A thousand feelers appraise you as meat, good only to dig or decompose. I speak for the Old Growth, as I did for Saren." She raised her arms, as if to display the creature behind her. "You are within and before the Thorian! It commands you to be in awe!" Shepard stepped forward.

"Thorian, you gave something to Saren. Something I need to stop him." The asari woman turned a little, walking to the side a few steps.

"Saren sought knowledge of those who are long gone. The Thorian listened to flesh for the first time in the Long Cycle. Trades were made..." She then stopped, facing the group again. Rage filled her eyes. "Then, cold ones began killing the flesh that would tend the next cycle...flesh fairly given! The Old Growth sees the air you push as lies! It will listen no more!" The woman turned again, facing the plant. Anthony stepped forward again, even with John. Looking over, he asked a single word.

"Shotgun?" John thought for a moment, facing the asari before nodding.

"Shotgun." The two reached behind them to the small of the back, pulling their shotguns from the clamps that held them. As the weapons unfolded, the asari continued to speak, still facing the plant.

"No longer will the Thorian listen to those that scurry! Your lives are short, but have-"

*BANG*

The two shotgun blasts sounded as one, tearing into the asari. The body practically disintegrated from the blasts, green sludge spattering out instead of purple blood. The Thorian made a sound that could only be called enraged. Shepard and Anthony both grinned, lowering their weapons. "You know, sir...I'm no plant expert, but I think we just pissed it off." John nodded.

"I think we did. Now the real question is how do we kill it?" The two looked around the chamber a little, looking for a weakness to the plant. Maybe something to do with those tentacl-

"Ummm...boys?"

Both turned to Tali's worried voice to see what Kaiden had described as 'zombies' trudging toward the group from a side hallway. Anthony's eyes widened. "Fuck." One of the zombies opened it's mouth, a screeching sound coming from it, as well as a spray of the same green sludge the fake asari had melted into. Tali and Wrex both dodged the spray, Wrex pulling out his shotgun as he did so, opening fire with abandon at the creatures. Anthony looked over to him. "Wrex, aim for the head and neck!"

His aim switched almost immediately, his next blast severing the zombie's head completely, the body collapsing limply to the ground. The rest of the team raised shotguns as well, due to the close quarters, and everyone took aim. Shots rang out as the creatures fell, piling up slightly. The four started to push into the hallways, a constant hail of ammunition in front of them. When Shepard shot one that was standing in front of some strange mass attached to the wall, another roar emerged from the Thorian.

John looked curious for a moment, before raising his weapon again, firing once more into the pulsing mass in front of him. Again, the Thorian roared, and he smiled. "Concentrate fire on these nodes! They hurt it, and I think they're what's keeping this bastard anchored." All four began firing at the node, until the force of their blasts tore the plant matter apart, half staying attached to the wall, the rest falling out through the hole in the wall from the main chamber. Wrex chuckled.

"Looks like that's how we kill this thing. Good."

Moving through the chambers, they continued to fight off zombies, as well as a few more 'incarnations' of the green-skined asari, taking out nodes as they went. Finally, they hit the tipping point at the fourth. The rest of them were no longer strong enough to support the Thorian. It let out a sound almost like a scream as it realized what was happening. Moving into an area where they all could see it, they watched as it slowly ripped away from the walls from it's own weight. As the last few nodes failed, it screeched as it plumeted through the chamber. With a great thud and a splat, the Thorian was crushed as it hit the bottom of the chamber a few hundred feet below. Shepard looked over the edge and down towards it. When he saw no movement, he nodded and turned.

On the wall,, however, there was movement. A piece of plant matter that looked to be a pod of some kind was slowly dissolving, revealing another asari from, but this one was the normal blue. A small gash on her cheek showed that her blood was indeed purple, making her a little less of a threat so far. The asari looked around, a little dazed, but glad to be set loose from whatever imprisonment she was under.

"I...I'm free!"


Back on the Normandy, the team sat in the briefing room, listening in on the report John was giving to the Council. All seemed to agree that Shepard had done the best he could, aside from possibly saving the Thorian for study. That was put down as not being an option, due to the threat it posed.

"Thank you for your report, Comnnader. We have one more item for you." Shepard looked to the salarian as he spoke, nodding. "We received a message from one of our infiltration units. We currently have several of them scattered throughout the Attican Traverse. This particular one was gathering intel on Saren." Shepard nodded.

"What was the message?" The Councillor shook his head.

"Litle more than static, I'm afraid. The team must be in a situation where they are unable to set up proper interstellar communications. But the message came to us on a frequency reserved for mission-critical information. And these are top STG operatives. So whatever they were sending, it must be important. I'm forwarding their coordinates to you now. Considering your current assignment, we thought you might want to look into it further." Shepard nodded as he raised his omni-tool, looking at the data as it came across.

"Thank you, Councillors. I'll look into this immediately." The Council nodded, almost as one, and their holograms winked out. Turning back to the rest of the team, Shepard leaned back on the railing. "Alright. Anyone have anything to add?" Ash looked over.

"Commander, did that cypher thing the asari on the planet gave your mind...is it working at all?" Shepard sighed and shrugged.

"Aside from a bit of a headache, not really." Liara looked up, a little more optimistic.

"Commander, I think it might be working already, though. The vision you had...you said it was jumbled? Out of order? The Cypher might be putting it into more sense, now. If you'll let, me...I can try something." Shepard thought for a moment, then nodded.

"Do it. Maybe we'll find something useful." Liara nodded and stood, walking over.

"Relax, Shepard. Take slow, deep breaths." She and John faced each other, standing only about a foot apart. Closing her eyes, she continued. "Let go of your physical shell. See the universe around and within." Liara suddenly opened her eyes, which looked slightly disturbing, since they were completely black. "Embrace Eternity!" Shepard's eyes shot open as well, but they were unfocused, his entire body shaking a little as he was plunged into his vision. After a few moments, both stumbled back. Ash was close enough to put a steadying hand on John as he staggered, and Anthony was the nearest one to Liara, moving forward to catch her as she nearly collapsed from the strain.

After a few moments, she started to come around again. "By...by the Goddess..." Anthony helped her up, opening his omni-tool to do a basic scan.

"Hey, you alright?" Liara nodded slowly, as she tried to compose herself.

"Yes...I wasn't expecting the visions to be so...intense. Commander, you are remarkably strong-willed. What happened to you with the beacon would have destroyed a lesser mind. But...the images are still jumbled. Incomplete. Parts of it are missing." Alenko looked over.

"Well, the damn thing exploded while it was doing whatever it did. Must have been more broken than we thought." Liara nodded, still staggering a little as she went to sit. Anthony helped her to her seat. Shepard spoke up again.

"Maybe you should let Snyder take you down to the med-bay. Just in case." Liara sighed and nodded slowly standing again, using Anthony to help steady herself.

"Yeah, that would be best. After joining with the Commander's mind, I'd want some drugs, too." Anthony teased a little, causing most of the crew to at least chuckle a bit. Shepard jut grinned and made a shooing motion with his hands. Ash took the chance to speak up.

"So, where are the Council sending us now?" Shepard looked at his omni-tool for a moment, sending the information to the ship, and then pulling up the display. A lush planet appeared on the screen, filed with waterfalls, rivers, oceans, and forrests.

"Ladies and gentlemen, next stop, Vermire."


A/N: Dun-dun-DUNNNN! And another main mission down, and here comes the big one! Okay, since it's so important to this, here's an update on the poll. As of the posting of this chapter, the top three are 15 votes, 9 votes, and 7 votes. Just to make sure that I have everyone's attention: YOU GET TO CHOOSE! I posted the poll at chapter 7. There have been over 300 visitors to this story since then, and only 20 voters. I just want to make sure everyone knows before I close the poll. So, head to my profile and get your last-minute votes in! Voting will close at 0000 hours Eastern Standard Time, October 1. For those of you that don't get military time or time zones, that means that when I post the next chapter on 9/30, you have until midnight in New York City to vote. Then, I close the voting and write the chapter, killing off the person that wins(looses?).

Anyway, another note. Every so often, I'm going to throw quotes from some of my favorite movies and TV shows in. It'll only be one a chapter, and they are not going to be announced like I did in the last chapter. In lieu of cyber-cookies, the first person to spot the quote and correctly identify the speaker and source in a review will gain the power to ask one question from me about the story, to be turned in at your discretion. No holds barred, I'll answer it. Even if it blatantly gives away something. I only ask that those that win keep the knowledge to themselves. If I find out someone is telling, then the whole contest thing stops. To the last winner, send me a PM when you read this and you can choose: Your username somewhere in the story, or a question. Until then, everyone!