AN: Still on Feros, but I do try to mix things up a bit as we go along. Not one of my favortie planet missions, but hey, what can you do?

- Tac

Weed Killer

Her footsteps were silent in the dark hallway, a seemingly endless path of stairs leading farther down into the earth. Just how secure did ExoGeni need to keep this stupid plant?

The air around her felt…old, if that made any sense. It had the feeling of a basement, like the one in the State House in Boston, Massachusetts that she had seen on a class trip years ago. It amazed her that, even now when they had galactic problems to deal with, the government worked hard to keep ancient buildings like that in shape. She'd never forget that earthy scent; a mixture of damp books that you dare not move and the presence of mildew that you dared not to get rid of either. That was what the air smelt like. Just older. A lot older.

Reaching the bottom level, the hallway abruptly turned left, with no other choice or direction as to where to go, not unless she felt like walking into a wall. Shepard shared a look with the Lieutenant, one that said Well, here we go, before leading the way into the large chamber, hesitantly passing what looked like creepers tucked into neat, little balls all around the room, though not a single one morphed out of their shape to swing their limbs at her. Though that was a plus, she kept a wary eye on them.

Kaidan was on his omni-tool again, probably scanning the area for any alien signatures that could be the Thorian. "Okay, by the numbers, we just need to find…to find…"

Shepard saw it too.

"What is that?" She heard a slightly reminiscent tone of his reaction to the gas bags on Eden Prime. Had she not been so dumbfounded herself, she would have made fun of him for it. Probably would have enjoyed flustering him a bit, but not with this monstrous creature staring them in the face. Not when her idea of just stomping over a tiny, hapless plant was being tossed out the nearest airlock at the moment. And most definitely not when she now had no idea where to even start poking at the bulbous, lumpy mass to begin killing it.

"That does not look like any plant I've ever seen." She rubbed the back of her neck, "We're going to need bigger guns."

Wrex scoffed. "We kill it. Makes no difference how big it is." Sure. Wrex was a krogan. The only thing that messed with a krogan—head on, at least—was a rachni, and they were driven to extinction. Killing a giant, mutant, mind control plant monster thing probably seemed like a good day on Turchanka.

…She needed to coin up more technical terms. She doubted giant, mutant, mind control plant monster thing would look as nice on an Alliance report as she thought it would.

Shepard took a hesitant step towards the creature, trying to get a better look at what she thought to be its face. It was ugly, that was certain, but it didn't look hostile. It had tentacles hanging from the front of it, with some sort of liquid dripping from it, but no obvious defense mechanism; no obvious way for it to attack them. Was it really only good for mind control? The idea of riddling it full of bullet holes was sounding more and more promising.

"Commander…" she heard the warning in Kaidan's voice.

The creature made a noise, a groan perhaps, and a shudder passed through its monstrous size. It twitched, quivering with unknown intentions, and from an opening she decided that was obscured by the tentacles, feet appeared, with a lithe body following them soon after.

Shepard felt her maturity plummet to levels that it hadn't been at since junior high.

God, it really had been a long day.

The form that stood from the Thorian was, of all things, a green asari. Green. Shepard didn't even realize that asari came in any other color but blue—different shades, yes—but always blue. Not this one, apparently; she was a vibrant, healthy shade of forest green.

"Invaders! Your every step is a transgression. A thousand feelers appraise you as meat, good only to dig and decompose. I speak for the Old Growth as I did for Saren. You are within and before the Thorian. It commands that you be in awe!"

Sorry, she was still stuck on the fact that the green asari had just called her a piece of meat. That, and she was green. And had just been—was birthed even the right word?—she had come from that creature. Of all the strange things that had ever happened during a mission, this one was about to win the award. And that was beating out the time where she had the leader of a merc group lay down his weapons, turn over his entire gang, and then ask her out on a date as she was dragging him out of his hideout in cuffs.

"It'll have to be after I get out of jail, of course, but I think you and I have a chance. Y'know what I mean, Miss Alliance?"

That had been odd. This was just all sorts of bizarre.

In any case, the asari had announced her association with Saren. It meant she had Shepard's undivided

attention, insulted piece of meat or not.

"You gave something to Saren. Something I need."

The asari stood emotionless. "Saren sought knowledge of those who were gone. The Old Growth listened to flesh for the first time in the Long Cycle. Trades were made. 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 colonists. I need to save the colonists. Deal with the information Saren wanted later. Priorities. "I won't let you keep your tralls. Release them. Now." She was well past the bargaining point.

"No more will the Thorian listen to those that scurry. Your lives are short, but have gone on too long!"

She flared blue, energy shimmering around her form with deadly intentions. With a sigh, Shepard readied her rifle, it propped securely in the hollow of her shoulder, and took aim.

/ - /

The Thorian let out a scream, the dreaded noise crashing over Shepard as the ground shook beneath her boots, the immense creature losing its foothold in the walls. It swung dangerously to one side as its tendons gave way, the creature's size weighing itself down. It screamed again, and then without an attempt to save itself, crashed into the chasm below, leaving nothing but ancient dust flitting through the air in its wake. She brushed sweat-dampened hair out of her face as she peered down after the Thorian.

"I think it's finally dead."

And it was about damn time too. After what seemed like an endless horde of creepers and a never ending supply of crazy green asari commandos, Shepard had begun to doubt that they would even be able to kill the thing.

She glanced over at her squad, quickly scanning them for any visible injuries that would require immediate attention. Kaidan looked stiff and he was favoring his right ankle, but nothing seemed out of place. He was handy to have around on a ground team, his expertise with tech and first aid were irreplaceable, as were his biotics, but the light armor his biotics required him to wear always made her nervous. She found herself paying closer attention to him during a combat situation, despite knowing full well that he could handle himself. She wanted nothing more than to shove him into a hardsuit similar to her own, anything to shut up that nagging voice in the back of her head, but she knew she couldn't. Not without interfering with his biotics.

Wrex, on the other hand, seemed like he had just taken a stroll through the park. He was casually checking his shotgun, unimpressed with the feat they just accomplished and showing no signs of fatigue. Shepard really envied a krogan's redundant nervous system sometimes.

But overall, everything was good. All of them had gotten out of this none the worse for wear.

She lifted a tired hand to her ear about to radio Joker, the simple motion causing her muscles to quietly complain at her. That's when she heard it. A sound. Twitching, tearing. And then the thump of a body hitting the floor. What she found was neither a creeper nor a geth, nor the Thorian dragging itself back up from its dusty grave for Round Two, but the asari commando; her complexion now resembling that of a normal asari.

There was never a dull moment when the universe was calling the shots.

"I'm free…" She looked at her with turquoise eyes that showed nothing but gratitude. Shepard knew that she should at least be cautious with the asari, knowing that only minutes ago she had green counterparts trying to kill her. Something in the back of her mind told her otherwise, though; her Alliance gut feeling saying that this one was good. "I suppose I should thank you for releasing me."

"Is everything alright? Are you hurt?"

"I am fine. Or I will be, in time. My name is Shiala. I serve…" she paused, a look of sadness and loss washing over her beautiful features, "I served Matriarch Benezia. When she allied herself with Saren, so did I. Benezia foresaw the influence Saren would have. She joined him to guide him down a gentler path. But Saren is compelling. Benezia lost her way."

Shepard held up a hand, unable to believe what she was hearing. "Wait. Are you saying that Saren can control minds?"

She shook her head. "Benezia underestimated Saren. As I did. We came to believe in his cause and his goals. The strength of his influence is troubling."

"Typical meddling asari. About time it bit you in the ass." And that was why Wrex wasn't in charge of things. Sure, he'd get faster results, but the body count would probably increase ten-fold, and that was saying something when compared to her own numbers. Explosions had a habit of following her.

"Asari Matriarchs are among the most intelligent and powerful beings in the galaxy. How could one fall under Saren's control?"

Shepard wished she hadn't asked the question, because one thing led to another, and she found herself preparing for another onslaught on her brain. It was apparently the only way to get the Cipher—a compilation of information that explained what made the Protheans, well, Prothean—from Shiala's consciousness to her own. Just how much information that entailed, she didn't know. Shepard just wished it didn't require scrambling her head again. She was still reeling from the last intrusion into her psyche, and wasn't looking forward to this one. But it had to be done. She had to understand the warning from the beacon. She had to stop Saren. And if that meant some asari got to poke around her brain, then so be it.

Shiala was saying something, possibly meaningful words that on any other occasion would have been very poetic and beautiful, but all she heard now was a soft buzz, a ringing in her ears that was steadily growing, a cacophony of sound that drowned out all others.

Shepard shut her eyes, getting the feeling that this mind-meld was an act on the highest of personal levels for the asari. She was suddenly aware of the watchful gaze of her squad prickling against her skin.

"Embrace eternity!"

The words cut through the droning with a shocking force, and Shepard felt her mind and body recoil at once from the invasion. A strong hand braced against her back kept her from falling over, a concerned voice attempting to break through the haze that had clouded her awareness, though sounding like it came from a long and winding tunnel.

Music filled the air, quiet melodies that delicately rose and fell with accents and crescendos. Buildings, enormous edifices, towering into the skies above, as if to touch the heavens themselves. Flashes of people, of places. Of knowledge. A beautiful garden. Flowers and plants spotting the pathways, statues erected in magnificent brilliance. A language that seemed to dance and shimmer as one spoke it. An empire, far larger and more powerful than one could ever conceive, reaching into the night sky, passing the stars and moons, continually growing. Ever evolving.

She gasped as the hold on her mind was released, her eyes snapping open to reveal her own world once more, her breathing far less controlled than she would have liked. Her legs felt wobbly, for the lack of a better term, and every ounce of her begged for a corner to curl up in so that she could sleep. Though, despite it all, she thought that she should count herself lucky. Shiala had left her in far better condition than the Prothean beacon did.

"I have given you the Cipher. The ancestral memories of the Protheans are a part of you now."

Great.

"Are you okay?" Kaidan asked, much closer to her than previously realized. He had to have been the one keeping her on her feet.

"I-I'm fine. I saw…I saw something. It still doesn't make any sense." She made no attempt to hide the frustration in her voice. After the beating she had put her brain through, she had at least hoped that there would be a light-bulb moment—an epiphany of sorts—that something, anything, would make sense. The fact that everything was still a garbled mess wasn't exactly the personal morale booster she was looking for.

"You have been given a great gift: the experience of an entire people. It will take time for your mind to process this information."

Time. A commodity that she didn't have much of.

Kaidan was speaking again. "You look pretty rough. We should get you back to the ship."

For once she almost acknowledged that there was nothing she wanted more than a chance to just sleep, but that would have been an admittance of fatigue, a sign of weakness, neither of which fit with the Commander Shepard aurora.

"I'm going to go check on the colonists first," she said, rolling her shoulders back in an attempt to work out the tension beginning to take root. Sleep could wait for a few more hours. "You two finish up here and then head back to the Normandy to get cleaned up. We'll debrief the rest of the crew later."

It was obvious that Kaidan wanted to disagree, but she knew he knew better, and he gave her a curt "Aye aye, ma'am." Just like she knew he would.

She didn't wait to hear the end of the conversation with Shiala. Her feet swiftly carried her up the first few flights of stairs, putting enough distance between her and her team to allow a moment where she could permit her strength to crack without fear of marring her reputation. She slumped up against the cool wall, knees barely supporting her weight, her breathing nothing more than short, ragged gasps. Her head felt like it was on the verge of imploding in on itself, images of Prothean life fighting for dominance against memories of her own life in a vicious game of tug-of-war. Nothing made sense.

She was beginning to wonder if things ever would.