Primed to Defend the Universe

by LawrenceSnake

Shepard is a guardian of life from an alternate stream of history. She's the hero this Galaxy deserves but not the one it needs right now. She'll fight for us all, whether we like it or not! WARNING! Contains pure awesomeness!

21. Evil Waits Below the Surface

A/N: Longest combat chapter yet this time! Saren will make more of his own appearances throughout the story and will be felt as a more threatening and powerful villain than you have ever seen him before! This is the guy who'll be going toe to toe with Samus Aran remember, hover board skiff be dammed! Don't expect that to appear! Did you know Jennifer Hale voiced Samus in the Metroid Prime series?

"Associate yourself with men of good quality if you esteem your own reputation; for 'tis better to be alone than in bad company."

(George Washington)

Evil Waits Below the Surface...

Darkness pervaded the spacious living room a hundred metres off the Citadel's street level. The only lights came from the myriad of cyan-green holo gel images that rose up from the projector table. Samus Aran was manipulating the figures, shapes and statistics faster than even a prodigious mind could follow, finally taking direct charge of Adam's war efforts. He was the strategist of the operation, conducting their people into certain divisions; she was the tactician, the one who would direct them on the hyper-space paths of war.

Out of the 35,000,000 synthetic marine troops of the Trybondian military, just under half of the standard military units were outfitted with Svalinn armour, top-of-the-line powered exoskeletons that had been designed by the huntress herself: they would also be equipped with integrated galvanic assault rifles, energy grenades, photonic accelerator firearms and plasma scythes.

Her planned fleet that was to be 15,000 vessels strong was only 20% towards final completion, this included: Ark vessels for transport and extraction, interceptor fighters, cruisers, battle ships, dreadnoughts and the armada's flag ship; The Moralltach. However this status was increasing by 0.2% daily, now that the workforce of nearly 65,000,000 engineers was finally at full strength, and without the constraints of organic personnel, including sleep, payment or a need for nourishment: their production speed and power was off the charts.

In a little over a year, the task force would be on the verge of completion. Thanks to Aran's connections with the research and development wings of Selkish Arms, a Salarian weapons manufacturer: stockpiles of advanced artillery, eezo and other raw materials had been made available; though her primary supplier, Samus also maintained channels with several other companies, including close ties with Synthetic Insights to avoid inflexible investments.

It had taken its toll on her considerable finances, even with all the patents and bounties she had acquired, and the free labour on top of that. Her forty trillion credit fortune the result of nearly three thousand years of private enterprise had decreased by 2 trillion to maintain her vast web of contacts and the preserved secrecy of the quickly becoming largest force in the Cosmos. It had been nine years since she had arrived in this Galaxy after all.

Speaking of which, she had decided to send word to one of her stealth frigates to make a covert drop on Feros, they could be there and back again within an hour without the Geth aggressors being any the wiser. And they would need the extra firepower if her spies' reports were accurate.

"Commander...?" came the hesitant voice of a certain Asari archaeologist, Samus languidly but deliberately began to file away the holo images, sweeping them into their separate folders and shrinking the images into the golden orb of the Corvette's beacon.

As Liara entered the room, dressed in cords and a white vest, she saw her leader summon the fading complex coded sphere into her left hand and place it in her jean pocket before it merged into her neural pathways and highlighted the cybernetic Chozo tattoo on the back of her palm, which was usually seamlessly invisible.

"Liara, what's keeping you up?" she asked concernedly, meeting her at the centre of the living space and sitting on the armrest of the divan, hands in her lap while Dr. T'Soni hovered next to her nervously.

"I was wondering if you were alright, did the incident with the Mindoirian affect you in any w -"

"Nothing you need concern yourself about," interrupted Samus candidly, signalling that further inquiries into the matter would be met with evasive comments or a blunt refusal to speak. "Everything worked out fine."

"I understand," Liara nodded, wringing her hands in an involuntary manner. She studied Aran's impassive face searchingly, the Chozo warrior gave her an askance look which quickly turned into a wry smile as the Asari diverted her eye contact bashfully.

"You weren't roused from your bed just to ask me about old ghosts were you?"

"I'm afraid not. I - so far I have only been on support in the field and I was wondering when can I, uh..."

"When can you become a more integral part of the team," finished Samus for her, leaning forward while sitting, her elbow resting on her knee introspectively.

"Yes," replied Liara fearfully, worried that the Commander would rebuke her talents in combat in favour of her analytical mind in the lab, she didn't want to sit on the sidelines during such a vital mission.

"Come on," Samus invited her to the training room and dojo she had incorporated into all her lairs, ferrying Liara with an arm around her shoulder, much to the Maiden's embarrassment. "Now you've fought alone for most of your life Liara, that's good, I don't have to teach you the basics, but to combine biotic techniques on the fly with a partner is a high-risk, high-reward strategy that has to be instilled through constant practice. So, I believe it's time to accelerate your tuition."

Aran activated the soundproofing fields and took up her position opposite Liara, taking off her sweatshirt and socks to reveal one of the black sports bra she usually wore, the material was tight around her breasts, and accentuated them, flustering Liara further; Aran's cleavage hadn't diminished in ampleness or elasticity despite her long life-span. This was one of her more obvious physiological differences from normal humans, Chozo muscle fibres propagated and expanded through all the inflexible intercostal tissues, meaning that her Cooper's ligaments were more advantageous for physical feats rather than for some frat boy's viewing pleasure! But this accounted for her whole muscular system, skin, organs in general, which showed no signs of ever deteriorating, Liara was impressed to say the least as she beheld the Commander's corded but smooth arms, neck, wrists, chest and stomach; despite maintaining an unmistakeable air of femininity, she was cut.

"As you know," Aran announced, kneeling in the Seiza position atypical to Eastern martial arts, Liara imitated her, trying not to let her discomfort show from the awkward position. "Biotics take immense focus to channel into a particular point instead of projecting the field straight from the limbs. I've seen you create vortexes, gravity wells, even two-way stasis fields, admirable talents, but you're slow, you take too long to gather your power and you take too long to recharge it."

Liara looked rather wan; she stared down at the matted floor, ashamed that her skills were not up to the Commander's high standards. Samus went on in her drillmaster's tone, which wasn't too different from her usual tone now that Liara thought about it.

"To master the forces around you, you must first master your own; the dark energy that interacts around and within your body." Samus's entire being pulsed with a biotic nimbus, by just directing her eyes, one-way stasis bubbles flared into existence with just over a second's moment of cool down in between. She did so for twenty repetitions without showing any sign of tiring, then gathered them together for a larger coverage, before warping the creation into a whirlpool of dark energy that could have sucked a whole squad into oblivion. Liara's jaw may as well have been hanging down to her lap, as she witnessed the indigo-blue flames trace their way back to her Commander and twirl up her forearms like snakes before fading away; only the most powerful biotics in the Galaxy had visible auras, the most the majority could manage was a slight ripple of the space time continuum.

"That was amazing, Shepard!" applauded the Asari in wonder, eager to be taught the secrets of this incredible discipline, though she didn't think she could ever match Aran's stamina.

"Don't get too excited, we've got a way to go before you're anywhere near that level. First, I want you to maintain a mass increasing field within two inches of your hands and maintain it for as long as possible."

Liara did as she was bidden; trying to keep the field from disapparating was hard work when most trainers had taught her to cast fields out and forget about them. Beads of sweat ran down her scalp as she tried and tried again, observed by the N7 Guardian, who would often make a suggestion on configuring her pneumonics, or inquiring into the mental processes she employed for conjuring the types of mass effect.

After an hour's hard work, which had included shared meditation, numerous arm exercises and minute adjustments to her amp; Liara had succeeded in creating a perpetual, swirling mass of high density biotic energy around her right arm's clenched digits. Ecstatic, she began to stand up, only for the cramp in her calves to tighten after kneeling on both legs for so long. With a hiss of pain, Liara's concentration lapsed and the corona was snuffed out.

"Unacceptable," stated Aran exactingly, using her toes to propel herself back to her feet from the double-kneeling stance with ridiculous ease; striding past the few feet in between the pair until she stood face-to-face. "If that had been during combat your emergency barrier would have failed, or you would have fallen to your death when trying to slow your descent; if a pang like that is allowed to distract you in such a way then you won't last long on the front ranks when being grazed by bullets."

"Forgive me Commander; I'll give it another try," she gasped, rubbing her legs tenderly while Samus loomed over her, austerity incarnate.

"No, it would be better for the both of us that I test you with simulated battlefield events, you can only use biotically augmented melee attacks to defend yourself, but nothing else, okay?"

"Okay..." Another half hour later and Liara was very sore from the medicine balls Samus had chucked at her, (and the significantly pulled and loose wallops.) For all her bruises, she did now have some basic control of motor-function enhancing biotics, able to slip and slide using mass decreasing fields, though she was still finding melee biotics of a mass increasing nature troublesome.

"I think that's enough for tonight," the Commander granted, allowing Liara to slump onto a bench in fatigue, offering her a bottle of chilled water and a towel as she sat down next to her and began her breath control exercises, not in the slightest bit tired from the night's exertions.

"You are an inspirational teacher... Aran," said Liara breathlessly, hoping that they were now on proper first name terms, the huntress opened her left eye beadily, watching the Asari with her piercing blue and green eyes, noticing how vibrant and large the archaeologist's were in return, she had a wide-eyed innocence around her, something she hoped to evolve her out of, if not dispel entirely.

As it was, she was impressed with her commitment to her new military instruction and her quickly growing confidence, evidenced as Liara did not balk this time under the prolonged scrutiny.

"Thank you Liara, but Aran always seems so, formal to me. I'd prefer Shepard, if that's alright with you?"

"Absolutely," she assured, touching Samus on leg softly, "I wouldn't be much of a friend if I didn't respect such an honest wish."

"Ahem, you fought well," Samus changed the topic quickly, standing up just as promptly. "You're certainly not dilatory in your movements or your attitude, I think with a month or two of this regimen we'll have a real fighter on our hands, a base for you to build even higher on."

"Well you never cease to impress, Shepard. For one as young as you, you have an immense but disproportionate amount of wisdom and experience, hah. We Asari must seem lax in comparison during our earlier years."

"Don't mistake my looks for my level of maturation; I just have a certain, outlook, on life that many would kill for."

"Killing, I wondered when I might be able to broach this subject," she wondered as Samus began to work over a 300lb punching back with minorly charged knocks, sending it swinging up to the ceiling at a ninety degree angle, straining on its gravity tethers.

"It bothers you?" asked Aran with some perplexity, surprised since she had seen Liara kill on Sharjila in self-defence when she'd had to.

"It shouldn't be necessary, I was usually able to scare prowlers away from my dig sites with a show of biotics, I never, had to kill."

"If it makes you feel any better, I started out the same. Oh I was proud, merciful, obnoxious in my beliefs of superiority and high-minded righteousness. But that changed..." Samus was laying into the bag now, striking it with over 4000lbs of force per square inch and nearly snapping the tether from its anchorage in the ceiling.

"Yes, I did hear rumours from the crew that you used to be a hired assassin and tracer before joining the Alliance, but I've watched you, you have a strange code of honour. I can't imagine you doing anything morally reprehensible." Liara was convincing herself more than her Commander; Aran's tempo was increasing as her knuckles dented the leather permanently.

"Believe it. In my early days I was an enforcer, assumed I was beneath such things to my vexation, sure enough you have to make an example, and before you know it, I'd lost count of my hundredth soul. I was never cruel when I could avoid it, never murdered with reckless abandon or tormented my victims. But any man or woman who claims that the faces of the dead keep them awake at night are those unfit for making the hard decisions. In truth, there are but a handful of those who I recognise in the recesses of my mind, and then, only when my mind is triggered in such a way, that they... were worth remembering."

"Even so," gulped Liara, persisting uncertainly, "you've saved far more than you've slain. The moons of Theshaca, Elysium, Guantar, Predon and now Eden Prime; so many owe you their lives, you may not accept this as true, but I know you are a woman of honour."

Samus's reverse side-kick tore the punching back from its housing, it sailed across the room to slam into the wall and thump to the floor heavily. "Honour? I've killed the wife and children of a family whose father fell behind on his gambling debts! I've slaughtered entire races, committed genocide against life-forms who threatened corporate interests! And I've sold my not inconsiderable skills to the highest bidder! DON'T - TALK - TO - ME ABOUT HONOUR!" she roared with intense passion, frightening Liara with her outburst.

Aran quickly regained control; looking ashamed.

"Forgive me, I'm so sorry..." she sounded almost inaudible. She walked over to replace the bag, hunched over in the memory of a million different famous conflicts and other, less glorious pursuits as she lifted the equipment up, the days of saving the known Universe from complete destruction had been few and far between.

"No, I am sorry Shepard," replied Liara surely, coming over and touching her reassuringly on the back. "I know the road from poverty to wealth is never a pure one. You've earned your rest and rewards but I know you won't stop, you can't. Not when Saren threatens us all."

"I appreciate your understanding," Samus responded neutrally, allowing the Asari's hand to massage her rounded shoulder tenderly instead of shrugging it off. "But be that as it may, I don't desire anyone to sing my praises or call me a hero of the people, the good deeds I've done for the many have balanced the scales, no more, no less. Leave me... please," she added remorsefully.

"Very well, I won't stay to offend you with my unawareness," Liara began to walk from the room. "One more thing..." Samus called out to her forebodingly, Liara halted and turned back to listen. "Never speak to me about the ethics of killing again, not until you've solved the dilemma for yourself."

Liara was near her room when she was met by Wrex in the corridor, on one of his many nocturnal trips to the deep freeze for a midnight snack.

"Liara, are you alright? Seem troubled," he asked mildly.

"Fine, fine," she smiled; allowing him past, then she tapped him on the hump boldly, catching his attention and causing him to bring his bulk around to face her.

"Aha, knew there was something amiss, what do you want to ask?"

"If you were told to kill a young infant, no more than six or seven years old; would you do it?" Wrex's eyes narrowed, he looked back at the training quarters where he could just hear the Commander going to work on another sand filled punching bag and connected the dots. He turned one of his crimson eyes to bear on Liara, his face a mask of uncertain emotions.

"No... I'd ask how much."

---

The next day passed by with flying colours as the Normandy crew restocked on essentials and new armaments. Samus bought Liara a set of light Ursa armour with a grey and white, snow cameo pattern and matching helmet, plus a set of HK Shadow Works firearms, (a grey and silver Cobra pistol and a matching Diamond Back sub machine gun,) in keeping with the team's high standards of weaponry.

Soon enough it was time to travel to the Attican Beta Cluster and its outlying system, Theseus. Always aware of self-improvement, Samus began to modify melee functions on her twin Savant omni tools. Programming several different silicon carbide edges that could be flash forged by the mini fabricator and suspended in a vorpal mass effect field as long as conscious thought was maintaining it. Hatchet edges, Deer Horn crescent moon blades, Push daggers, Karambit and Khopesh hooks among the few; all could seamlessly materialise from her hands at alternating angles for setting up elaborate feints, or their shapes combined together for a lethal surprise counter attack. Aran could also channel some of her neural energy into the holo ring and vambrace, turning them into diamond-hard Yawara wrist bludgeons in case she was forced to hit something tough enough that even her micro fractured knuckles couldn't withstand, (and if her Denzium dusters were not handy.)

Garrus was practicing his marksmanship on the Normandy's ad lib firing range in the cargo hold, brimming in anticipation for the mission to come. The Commander was taking her full squad of ten onto the surface in preparation for the ground they would have to cover and urban environments were Vakarian's forte for sharp-shooting.

Finally ejecting the spent thermal clip after emptying its ten, one-shot heat sinks, Garrus began to lubricate and clean the already polished weapon. The hoary rifle had been kept in excellent condition by Aran, but Garrus wasn't called the master of calibrating for nothing.

Tali approached him from behind as he finished his maintenance. "What's up?" queried the ex-cop as his mechanic counterpart stood alongside him, hands leaning on the work surface.

"I heard we're heading for a real war zone down on Feros, should I be worried that you'll be looking out for me and not protecting yourself?" she asked coyly.

"Hah! Don't know what you're on about Tali, this soldier is always on top of his game, no matter what distractions are put in his way," boasted Garrus in his cocky, defensive manner; putting his sniper rifle over his right shoulder and standing profile away from the Quarian in an epic pose of Turian machismo.

Tali giggled lightly as she observed her friend's antics, now resting fully against the bench as Garrus placed both arms around the barrel and stock casually, the gun braced against his neck, under the cranial fringe. "But seriously Garrus, I get the feeling that the Commander is rubbing off on you."

"Really?" replied the strutting alien, his mandibles widening toothily, Tali realised her mistake and retorted with an appropriate response.

"Bosh'tet! You know that's not what I meant; I mean 'attitude', that the two of you take too many risks in this line of work."

"Your concern is welcomed Tali but Shepard and Vakarian aren't most soldiers. All together, we're like nothing the Galaxy has ever seen."

"Maybe, but you can't deny it's Shepard's presence which enthuses us all, the woman is insane! On Therum she took down a Geth Colossus and a Krogan Battlemaster single-handed."

"She certainly is an inspirational leader, every time we're in battle I just, know where to fire; it's as if she can direct our minds subtly to where we're most needed! And if you thought Therum was crazy, on Terra Nova she took down two Batarians with a single shot."

"I still think close quarters take downs are more impressive," countered Tali.

"Nah, long-range requires true precision, not inaccurate bludgeoning, though, the Commander can bludgeon pretty hard..."

"Close range is better!" rejoined Tali, miming a shotgun being cocked and fired.

"Long range!" argued Garrus.

"Close range!" Tali shot back.

"Long range!"

"Close range!"

"You're both wrong!" rumbled Wrex as he seemingly appeared behind the pair; causing them both to jump out of their skins. "Point blank is by far the best range to be," he grinned evilly, Tali and Garrus couldn't help but inch their hands towards weapons on the counter, neither would admit it, but the aged Krogan was extremely fear-provoking.

---

Normandy arced through space, nearing the large terrestrial world scattered with long dead Prothean cities, Saren was definitely after more clues that would lead him to the Conduit, once Adam's research on the relay network was complete the answers his pursuers were seeking would become much clearer. So thought Samus as she studied all the Intel her old friend had transmitted, they were still at a hypothetical stage but it was quite apparent that the relays controlled dark energy emissions throughout a very minor part of the Galaxy, less than one percent.

Many scientists still believed in the theories of cosmic acceleration and divergent expansion under the influence of this now proven to exist (thanks to Element Zero), 'phantom energy.'

An apocalyptic cataclysm would eventually occur due to this force, one that would result in the Universe's heat death; thereby laying waste to the entirety of the Virgo Super cluster and eventually; nuclear matter itself.

Being from a far more cultured civilisation than these physicist barbarians, Samus and the denizens of the Universe had relied on complete baryonic-based technology, utilising vast amounts of antimatter in fusion reactors and its solid-state elements like Afloraltite to power cosmic wonders untold.

The Reapers needed something from this system of continuing genocide; it had to have a purpose. Samus agonised over what it could be long into the night, a kind of evolutionary crucible? Perhaps a move towards natural harmony on the plane of physics? She poured over texts, data-tomes and made countless references in her journal: what could it be, what? What? It was only a matter of time before her survey and science teams breached the Quantum-locked constructs and discovered the true extent of the Reaper's age-old plot...

But until then, there were more immediate games to be played: if the Council knew she was breaking over a thousand Citadel Space regulations regarding surveying the relays... that she alone harboured technology that had been nothing but a pipe dream even in the 27th century. To top it off, that she was a walking genetic marvel, an illegal mish-mash of unique deoxyribonucleic acidic quad strands and Nano-Neutralino cyber nerve channels. That all in all was worth more than the accumulated biological and Hadron collider research of all the Council races put together! It was fair to say, that Samus Aran and her network, had become the major player for salvation in the long run and no-one even knew it yet...

She walked into the CIC from the left stairwell; her officer's jacket draped over her right shoulder, leaving both arms unrestricted and made a beeline for Navigator Pressly.

"Charles, is the landing zone clear?" she inquired to her stubble bearded XO, observing the orange holo pads that beamed the numbers on screen for their benefit.

"As far as I can see, Commander. The Alliance left us that drop-off package in the lower tunnels passing through the colony's main settlement. It's been hit hard, but LADAR scans are only picking up one Geth frigate in the atmosphere, the other two reported by our agents have long since left. They're making bombardments from the abandoned Exo-geni headquarters."

"Tell Joker I want an airtight hangar bay, preferably in the girders lacing the lower foundations, reports say those frigates can deploy at least two drop ships; they'll probably be six battalions strong knowing our luck," she advised, scanning the holo schematics for the colony's skyscraper and its adjoining aqueducts with her omni tool.

"The entire team is assembling in the cargo bay, ma'am," he informed her.

"Thank you, Pressly. Keep the brig staff on standby, full armour and armaments are authorised, I have a bad feeling about this one."

"Yes, Commander!"

Samus exited the garage lift in complete Crisis battle-dress, V face plate helmet and Type X weapons bristling from their magnetic stripes. Fredericks, Vakarian, Singh, Wrex, Alenko, T'Soni, Williams, Andrews, Ms. Nar'Rayya and Craig all stood at the ready in a regimented line.

"At ease," she walked among them, checking that everyone had proper sealants active just like a diver's test; she ordered everyone into their two respective teams. She would lead Garrus, Liara, Wahib, Andrews and Josh, while Kaidan would head Tali, Russell, Ashley and the jolly giant from clan Urdnot. Their positions were in a triangle formation with her and Kaidan at the head of each respective band; ready for anything as Normandy came in for a slow and careful landing. "Everyone be ready, we move up together in textbook definition, anyone deviates..." Samus didn't need to finish her unvoiced threat as the teams armed themselves and synched kinetic barriers; Liara flexed her arm, shifting the air slightly around the limb, the N7 Operative nodded to her encouragingly.

Once they had heard the ship touch-down, the bay ramp descended and the two, five soldier squads jogged out into the grey, stony environment in staggered movements, spreading out for cover and making sure to face in every conceivable direction to pin-point any enemy units that were out of radar scope.

Above them, sunlight shafted through the massive permacrete rafters, catching the large dust particles that gathered together, drifting through the air like wispy snowflakes as they worked their way through the now dried up canal.

When the two teams had got about a hundred metres away from the ship, Samus used the remote function on the Mako's VI pathfinder to drive the vehicle after them for precautions sake, everyone concealed themselves behind the tank rover's armoured hull while Aran activated the transponder signal for the other M35 that her Trybondian soldiers had left behind. After a few seconds, a second tank trundled up a side embankment and completed the partially protective ring.

"Alenko, you and your squad will take our rover and scout out the tunnels; I want to know what kind of numbers we're facing. Me and the others will make for the main colony and try to lift the siege."

"Aye aye!" The Lieutenant saluted, carrying out her commands while Garrus peered down the passage, magnifying his vision with his Kuwashi visor.

"There's someone down there Commander!" Samus stood beside him and followed his pointing talon towards the stock-still humanoid at the base of a deteriorating set of stairs around two hundred metres away; he appeared unarmed.

"Probably one of the colonists..." Signalling her team, Wahib and Josh clambered onto the roof of the tank while Liara, Aran and Garrus got inside; once again, the Turian manned the turret. As they reached the civilian, the two Alliance marines bounded off and covered the area, while Samus approached what she realised to be a human male.

"Thank God you've come," he burst out unexpectedly, standing still as a rock; even as an expression of worry crinkled his brow, he was evidently in shock. "The Geth are preparing for another assault, Fai Dan needs to speak to you about getting our defences in order, he -"

"Whoa, slow down there, we're here to -" The poor colonist had been camping in the same position like a duck in a shooting gallery. His expression didn't even change as a Geth Javelin beam blew through his chest in a spray of red mist, the bastards were already here!

But while Therum had been open plains and ridges, full of danger at every turn from a well-established enemy force. Here, the ancient municipal corners and dead-end streets allowed Samus to direct her troops more efficiently. No more did she have to take every risk, instead using each of her soldier's unique skill-sets to out-flank and take apart the Geth foe.

Hoppers made their job a little harder, bouncing off walls and waiting for the opportune moment to strike from the crumbling pillars; which gave them excellent vantage points. Thankfully, Singh, Aran and Vakarian all had long-distance rifles and were able to co-ordinate together through the ruins, the Geth had still not adapted for the fact that their hacking and anti-radar countermeasures were not working and, very quickly, the hunters became the hunted.

Now taking the Mako up to their main destination, the colony, took around ten minutes. The team was shocked to say the least at the vista that greeted them. Several bombing runs had obliterated the upper struts of the tower, wiping out the residents until the lowest level was the only one left. Every remaining homestead was in flames, though most were mass pyres for the dead. A dismantled Kowloon Class modular freighter was the only pre-fabricated building left standing; and there were around ten defenders guarding the make-shift barricades.

The survivors were certainly not overly exuberant at the arrival of a single Infantry Fighting Vehicle, their expressions vacant and depressed at the terrible situation they found themselves in. It looked like over ninety percent of all the colonists had been killed in the span of forty hours since the Comm. Buoys in orbit had been cut.

Bailing out, the team moved among the colonists, shoring up barriers, distributing medi gel canisters, first aid kits and thermal clip bandoleers. Samus heard the voice of the man likely to be their leader hailing her from behind.

"Ah, Commander, I'm glad they sent someone to help us." He was dressed in dusty overalls typical to most pioneers but he had a weathered, honest face, clean shaven, with short hair and creased features, evidently in distress, but hopeful at the same time.

"You're a bit late, aren't you?" snarled a curly haired female rent-a-cop in poor woman's Gladiator armour. Her face was covered in grime and bled from several small lacerations to the cheek, lip and the skin around the eyes, both of which were narrowed in anger and resentment.

"Arcelia!" Fai Dan reprimanded her, evidently affronted at her rudeness, Samus was hardly listening at any rate, utilising a portable scanning suite to detect incoming enemy forces on her omni tool, its effective radius amplified by the Corvette's beacon implant. "I'm sorry Commander; everyone's been on edge since the attack -"

A thunder crack of an explosion tore up the outer cordons in a blast of cyan and white electro-shelled discharge, primitive plasma substitutes atypical to Geth mounted weaponry, in this case, a drop ship mounted siege pulse.

"Scatter!" yelled Samus as the drop ship in question, like a malignant metal hornet made a pass-by, carpet bombing the decimated colony with its super heated payloads.

Garrus and Wahib managed to roll into cover while Josh and Liara dived behind a large automated crane that seemed dysfunctional. Dust was billowed around as the colonists scrambled for cover from the blue fires that raged into existence, throwing up gravel shrapnel.

Samus surged forward, allowing her biotics to act in the same manner as her speed booster, jumping over piled up earth nearly two metres tall as if she were stepping over a pavement crack. She skidded to a halt on the other side, scooping up two colonists and practically hurling them to safety behind some reinforced crates, just as the drop ship came around to complete its circuit. It was with some surprise that Samus found Liara standing by and below her on the rock pedestal she had landed on, casting a barrier curtain even as she did so to protect the colonists from the pulse's energy shock wave with comparatively little effort on both their parts.

"Commander," called Kaidan over her radio, "we've got heavy Geth resistance in the tunnels, Armature class units are slowing us down but we should be there momentarily."

"Belay that Alenko; I don't want it falling on top of you and the guys."

"What's going to fall Commander?"

"You'll see..." The last progeny of the Chozo raced back to the central 'square' of the colony, communicating orders to her marines. She arrived in the open ground just as Singh brought the Mako to a spinning hand-brake stop with its trunk facing her.

The boot was thrown open, Garrus and Josh lugged a huge metal crate from the vehicle and lowered it down as carefully as physically possible. Samus was harmonising her en suite targeting visor, watching with eagle eyes as the Geth ship flew away, and then began to come round...

Working expertly, Garrus and Josh opened the ordnance box and began to assemble the large mass accelerator, two-man cannon with relative ease. Fixing the mechanical parts together, winching and cranking electrical sub-systems before, with a hiss of pneumatic gas, opening the cavernous firing chamber.

Samus picked up the specialised, four fused cylinder 'packet' of High-Explosive sub munitions, contained around a tube lattice of miniature microwave generator loops for a Non-Nuclear EMP pulse delivered by chemical injection. (It and its in-built power cell weighed about a hundred and twenty kilos,) with one hand she fitted it into the huge gun, twisted the release lever to lock it in place and snapped the weapon close.

It required hydraulic-assisted armour to wield an M-859 'Joyeuse' accelerator cannon, as it was, Samus lifted the rear of the weapon with her left arm then hefted it over her shoulder with contemptuous ease, balancing the SAM rocket with her right hand and lining up the holo CCIP, (Constantly Computed Impact Point - Ed), it was time to swat down a bothersome fly.

The Geth never knew what hit them as Samus charged the firing sequence, waited for a lock-on to be confirmed... then pulled the first trigger. The back-blast was enough to dent the metal of the Borealis freighter, a yellow jet of blue and orange-trailing light flashed forth with an enormous rapport. As it neared the underbelly of the drop ship, she squeezed the second trigger. The cluster missile split into five parts, central magazine flashed rapidly, then burst with a wave of highly localised electromagnetic radiation that shorted out the hardened capacitors such was the amplitude's intensity. If that wasn't enough the four-part collection of unstable sugar sprinkles was released, punching through the hull and 'head' in a crackle of many tiny little explosions, at least in proportion to the ship, each one had the power of ten explosive pellets... and there were over four thousand.

With a chittering synthetic cry the Geth neural hub and troop transport was reduced to two pieces of barely holding together, blazing meteorite, that arced over the colony and ploughed through the right half of the defence tower, detonating in a ball of electrical flame.

"HAH! Take that you Geth bastards!" cheered Fredericks as he high-fived Garrus and his Commander in quick succession, the colonists were also roused to celebrate but it wasn't over by a long shot. Another drop ship had arrived from the south and was perched on the edifice, hovering as it dropped off more troops. They began to swarm down from the partially demolished spire and come up from the roads leading to the underground tunnels.

Great, a Geth infantry swarm. Arcelia was losing her head, screaming frantically from behind cover: "Geth in the tower!"

"PROTECT THE HEART OF THE COLONY!" shouted Fai Dan desperately, Samus dumped the portable artillery and unhooked her assault rifle, with her companions at her back; they advanced on the numerically superior force at a mad dash.

Liara's biotics broke the shock troopers first ranks, Josh hurled a tech mine into their midst, scattering metal bodies and releasing white blood everywhere as the electric pulse fried their circuits, Samus and Vakarian modified their rifles on the go with disruptor modules, Garrus fired from the hip, scoring three kills while Aran swept her rifle back and forth while holding it sideways, bandit shooting over six of the synthetic foot soldiers.

Splitting up, the five commandos chose their covered positions, Wahib laying down covering fire with his repeating sniper rifle, the colonists helped but they had few weapons between them and were exhausted from the repeated assaults of yesterday.

"Shield check!" snapped Aran into her intercom while the Geth blitzed away with their proton rifles.

"Eighty percent!" replied Liara.

"Seventy five percent!" Garrus responded.

Sixty percentages came from Wahib and Josh. "Applying Unity pulse during three second alternating fire, continue for another three before disengaging: Gamma, Lambda, Sigma, Iota!" Everyone opened fire according to their appropriate code name after the ordered interval, messing up the Geth's counter attack when they brought rocket troopers to bear. Josh hit a destroyer with an overload bolt and Samus followed it up with an under barrel Carnage shot, using an entire harpoon round magazine melted into a ball of sheer ripping force that knocked down their numbers further as the destroyer went up like Halifax.

Liara suppressed the Geth trying to flank her with a healthy dose of sub machine gun bullets, and then sent them reeling back with a wide singularity; Aran threw an opposing biotic field into the mix, shredding a baker's dozen. Then she lifted six troops at the same time, Liara hit them with a throw field, sending them careening into the base of the tower with mechanical squawks of imminent erasure.

"That's my girl!" rooted Samus for her biotic student; soaking up bullets with her barrier field as she raced across no-man's land and joined her Asari comrade behind a fallen stone pillar.

"Appreciate it Shepard but we can't keep this up much longer!" cried the good doctor as yet more Geth clambered over the body parts of their fallen platforms and joined the fray.

"I disagree," she replied mildly, reloading a harpoon ammunition clip into her battle rifle and replacing the lithium 'drop' thermal clip from her arm pouch in little under two seconds, "I'm just getting warmed up."

"Second that Shepard!" called Garrus, over the moon with the kind of action he was experiencing, he was high as a kite on adrenaline it seemed.

"Don't make me put you in time out Garrus," she hollered back, strafing while in cover to gain a better angle, "your hard suits biometrics put your bpm at 120!" Samus activated a grenade and tossed it over her head as she lay against the pillar, Geth parts came flying over their cover after the explosion.

"Aww, you care about my well-being..." Garrus answered with a note of smarminess, switching back to his Volkov to help break the Geth offensive then and there. He was to be disappointed.

"Heads up! We're pulling you guys out of there Shepard!" guffawed Wrex over the radio just as Beta team drove through the Geth's back ranks in the Mako; crushing a large portion of their enemy under the tanks wheels.

Wrex stood astride the roof of the cabin, both feet apart, Macana machine gun on full auto, cutting down swathes and chewing up scores of Geth as the teams caught them in the perfect definition of an encirclement. Tali and the other marines poured out of the interior and opened up on the divided Geth raiders.

It was a mechanical slaughter, silicon hell would be kept busy for years to come as Samus and her squad mates cut them down to the last, eventually directing both mounted guns on the tower's entrance, clearing the bottle neck in the usual way when tanks were employed to solve problems; then they took the stairs.

A pitched battle in the tower's cramped corridors ensued, Wrex, Ashley and Tali getting their chance to shine as Samus placed them on point: Russell and Jamie carrying the Joyeuse between them, while Josh brought up the rear with a replacement power cell. The team stormed the upper chamber, ejected the troops with extreme prejudice and watched as the last Geth drop ship tried to flee the battleground, Wrex took great delight in firing off the M-859 and watching the ship plummet with the air of a man watching a brilliant artist paint a masterpiece for him, and him alone; he was practically sniffing once the smoke obscured the wreck on the sky-way.

---

"Thank you Commander, without your intervention we could never have secured the tower," sighed Fai Dan in relief as he helped bandage a wounded colonist, they had lost one man during the last assault, leaving twenty four men and women left in the broken dreams of their home.

Samus removed her helmet and tucked it under her arm. "You're all safe for now, can your people ever recover from this?" She indicated around the trashed courtyard and nearby shell-shocked survivors.

"We'll endure Commander; Feros is our home, damned if we're going to let those synthetic bastards drive us away but your concern is appreciated, as of course are your efforts against the invaders."

"They may have been slowed, but they'll be back. They always come back," snarled Arcelia aggressively.

"Not likely," Wrex interrupted, "that was over half their force when you look at their dead; that leaves only the frigate left," he challenged in defence of his leader, Samus nodded in accordance.

"My colleague's right, we've notched their sword now it's time to splinter their shield..."

"What could the Geth want from this colony, why are they here?" questioned Tali to Fai Dan politely, the rest of the team was off around the site helping the wounded.

"Why don't you go ask them yourself!" Arcelia's frayed mind was unplucked again, under intense pressure as it was, Samus was studying her closely, were her eyes murky?

"That's enough Arcelia!" rebuked Fai Dan angrily now, apologising on her behalf again. "We don't know what the Geth are after, they came, they attacked us that's all we know."

"What about Saren Arterius? He helped bankroll the Feros colony with Exo-geni, don't tell me you haven't seen him..." interrogated Samus further, Fai Dan looked uncomfortable.

"The renegade, no, no we haven't seen him," Samus peered at him, the lie was hidden well, but it was always there for her to see.

"If he was helping Exo-geni," continued Fai Dan, "then he evidently turned against them as well, their headquarters were the first to be hit by the Geth it's their main base of operations."

"Along the northern aqueduct and sky-way bridge," Aran mused thoughtfully, pacing now. She turned back to Fai Dan, "do the tunnels intersect with the bridges?"

"Pardon, Commander?"

"You heard me, is Exo-geni connected in any way to Zhu's Hope, apart from the overland roads."

"Well no, not to my -"

"Why are you being so guarded with me, we just saved your lives! Give me a bit of Intel without dragging every sentence!" Samus argued, her sixth sense warning her that something was very wrong with these people...

"Commander, I - these people have lost everything. I've lost nearly everything. You can't expect us to be at a hundred percent regarding mental stability."

"We're civilians! No-one prepared us for the horrors of war!" Arcelia inputted in her usual furious tone, Samus looked from one to another, feeling a deep sense of disquiet.

"You think I can't recognise PTSD Ms. Silva Martinez? I don't know what drugs those pukes who dare call themselves scientists subjected you to; but know this... I will find out what you're hiding, and woe betide anyone who gets in my way."

Samus walked among the colonists for some time, observing her team mates helping the survivors get their affairs in order. Once a headcount was complete, Aran decided to leave her marine squad to hold the fort with all the Human man-power they could spare, it was not likely the Geth had any strength for another push after being so thoroughly trounced. Her alien allies nearly filled up the Mako's six seat compartment and Aran took the wheel, driving them through the shattered towers foundations and back along the lower tunnels.

"The suffering that man's caused..." Liara shook her head in bafflement and the Turian Spectre's actions.

"Let's hope he's waiting for us at Exo-geni," consoled Wrex in his acerbic manner, clipping on his safety harness, "I'll tear the coward's head off and stick it on a pike."

"He seems to be running," agreed Garrus fiercely, "I'm not surprised, he'll try even harder to hide after he finds out what happened to his Geth here."

"The Geth are relentless Garrus, my people know that more than most, we can't afford to get overconfident or people may get hurt," Tali reminded her Dextro friend.

"What is that?" sniffed Wrex uncomfortably, having caught a sharp scent, "I'm sure I smelled it on the way up here..." Samus obviously agreed with Wrex's misgivings as she brought the tank to a halt and hopped out, investigating the edge of the path, where it dropped into blackness over the railing guard, slimy mould clinged to the walls, reaching up for what little sunlight it could absorb from the shadows.

"I sense it too Wrex, there's something moving down there." She and Wrex peered over the side, they both had never encountered this individual kind of life form before, they both hoped that it was dead, the smell bore testament to that hope. Aran broke away, quickly checking in with Alenko, Williams and the others, everything was fine but the huntress warned them to remain on their guards. "The sooner we find the Exo-geni databases, the sooner we can find out what mess they've got these people into."

The advance party exited the lower tunnels, witnessing an awesome landscape, framed as it was by the mile long sky-way and the equally tall tower at the far end. Unfortunately they couldn't take in the view while the large Geth frigate loomed along side them, as it flew off to the north west, it deployed the last drop ship, which harried after the Mako and its occupants.

"Hold on everybody! It's going to be a bumpy ride!"

The new M35 was pushed for all she was worth, swerving in and out of windshield high debris and dodging siege pulses from the drop ship. A large embankment of fallen rubble and the remains of the second drop ship destroyed that day blocked the road, Liara and Tali squealed as Samus pulled the rover to her right, mounting the concave wall such was their speed, nearly traveling upside down. Thankfully, the smoke helped to impede the view of the Geth, covering the team's approach as the vehicle righted itself and raced down the diagonal section of the sky-way, even as the metal wasp above managed to outstrip them.

It swung round ninety degrees and dropped four heavy, anti-tank class units, Juggernaut Primes, all armed with personal rocket launchers before flying off and around the second tower. Samus brought the tank into the lower dried up canal as a salvo of missiles shot by overhead, other Geth units had set up a command post and began to fire, their rounds zipping off the M35's kinetic barriers.

"The boys at R&D gave her a few upgrades!" shouted Aran to Garrus as they reached a hundred and fifty miles an hour, "let her loose Vakarian!" The Turian happily complied, firing the 255mm mass accelerator cannon, the round, clocked at nearly half of light speed, reduced the four red automatons to carbon scorch marks on the ancient stone.

Finally, the team reached the underbelly of the second building and began to pick up scattered radio transmissions. "She's my daughter czzczzzcc I won't give up on her czzz."

"Could that be a surviving science team?" suggested Liara.

"Only one way to find out," replied Wrex, taking out his smaller black shotgun and pumping in a fresh thermal clip!

"We've got movement," continued the female voice, "some kind of vehicle, not one of the Geth."

"Okay everyone, we're reaching the transmission source, let's all be on our best behaviour, we don't want to scare the hypocrites... much," growled Aran, she'd dealt with far too many morons in the 'scientific community' before.

Exo-geni certainly didn't run a monopoly on competent security personnel, Samus and her team bowled them over with biotics and less than lethal air soft clips, driving the scared scientists into a corner, the man in charge, a skin-headed Asian with a bad attitude stepped up to the plate.

"That's close enough!" he cried shrilly, waving what looked like his first hand gun ever held. A look of morbid terror on his face as he was confronted with the tall warrior before him and her motley crew.

"Relax, Jeong," a wrinkled, older woman with brown hair, the one over the radio advised him, "they're obviously not Geth and if they wanted to kill us they could have."

"They're some kind of task force sent by a rival corporation!" he raved in return, beginning to turn red as Samus ignored him, walking over to scan and copy files from some of the scattered terminals.

"Hey! You can't do that!" He raised his pistol but it didn't get half way before Garrus cracked him on the cheekbone with the butt of his rifle, downing the pathetic excuse for a man in one blow. Jeong, to his credit, tried to get up, only to be met with a barrel jab to the diaphragm that sent him wheezing to the floor and clutching his guts; his gun dropping from limp fingers.

"I'd stay still if I were you," snarled Garrus viciously.

"Don't mind him, he only cares about the company," the woman said absentmindedly as Samus finished uploading files from a researcher named Hossle (according to his name tag), despite his whimpered protestations.

Ethan Jeong staggered back to his feet, looking murderous. "And you trust too easily, Juliana."

Wrex and Tali were busy confiscating weapons from the private security goons and melting them down into omni gel but Juliana Baynham was not overly concerned, thankful that those only concerned about the 'company interests' had been quickly neutralised, which she voiced to the squad's imposing leader. "Just glad to see a friendly face," she began as Samus removed her helmet to speak to her, "thought we were the only Humans left on this planet."

"Not quite," the Spectre reassured her, speaking for the first time, she had very little patience for these people. "I have another squad down at the southern pole, they're holding down Zhu's Hope, Fai Dan and some of the colonists are still alive."

"Thank God, but you," she pointed at Jeong accusingly, "you said they were all dead!"

"I said they were probably all dead!" he retorted childishly.

"It's no picnic up there, I can tell you that much," continued Aran, "the Geth have been hammering them hard."

"I know what you mean, those damn synthetics are relentless," said Juliana, unmistakeably of the same opinion.

"We'll be launching an assault on their stronghold soon, I'll find information there which you probably wouldn't want in the wrong hands, if you want to tell me anything now..."

"Hold up! Those headquarters are private property soldier!" disputed Jeong whiningly.

"That's the best kind of property to fight through," smirked Samus, Garrus's eyes lit up at the comment, "besides, what are you going to do about it?"

Jeong made an odd rasping noise in his throat, as if he were on the verge of going on a tourette syndrome, expletive laced verbal rampage. Instead he backed down meekly.

"I thought so," nodded Samus as Jeong slunk away with his tail between his legs.

"Commander, before you go, my daughter, Lizbeth... she's missing at headquarters," begged Juliana tearfully.

"You shouldn't waste time poking around," Jeong yelped petulantly, "we can make a full account of our casualty list, after the Geth are gone." Wrex punched him in the stomach, felling him like a cut pine tree as he collapsed in a heap.

"Thank you Wrex," sighed Samus in relief, "ancestors he was getting on my nerves. We'll find her Juliana, I swear to you." The middle-aged woman thanked her profusely, Samus and her team all turned to head onwards, leaving Jeong and his lackeys disarmed and helpless. "Okay, let's move out!"

---

After destroying a couple of Colossi laying in wait at the last sky-way bridge, shit got real. The last drop ship flew alongside the supported road, blasting pulse after pulse at the Mako, Wrex pulled Garrus down from the gunner's chair and hopped in himself, firing as many shells as was physically possible and cracking the ship's armour. It was then that the Geth changed tack, they began to target the slanted struts underneath the bridge, breaking them away.

"That's not good!" cried Liara as the permacrete buckled beneath them and began to crack apart, huge slabs of stone separating while Wrex pummeled the armoured hull with the finger-long rounds. Samus had to turn the vehicle more rapidly than ever to avoid opening pit falls and deep enough cracks that could jam the tanks wheels, Tali took charge.

"Aim for the neck partition Wrex!" she screamed, "It's a weak point!" The Battlemaster readily complied, sending three cannon shots between the 'head' and the 'abdomen.' The drop ship flickered with purple and blue electrical energy as the metal cracked in a ball of light, flames billowed out of the front, then it helicoptered down and behind the speeding vehicle, smashing straight through the weakened rock and breaking the long bridge in two.

"Okay that's not good!" Liara repeated as the track began to collapse away, rapidly gaining on them and threatening to plunge them to their doom. By the skin of their teeth, the team managed to make it to the headquarters as over three hundred tonnes of stone and steel crashed down on the planet's surface. Sweeping up a dust storm that engulfed the Exo-geni property, Samus was just able to make out the silhouette of the Geth frigate as she and her four friends exited the tank, latched onto the building like some parasitic insect.

"Whew," Garrus exhaled, doubled over and clutching his knees, "guess that was a one way trip."

"Not on my life," Samus slapped him on the back encouragingly, causing him to straighten up in pain. "As soon as that ship is taken care of we'll be able to raise the Normandy, they'll be scrambling communications but if we disrupt their main neural hub. All the synthetics we missed will drop down deactivated. Then we can find out what the hell Saren was doing here."

The blackened stone entrance into the building gave way to more shifting dust, catching the light of the sunbeams as it shone down on the squad, making their way carefully through the rubble. Samus had her breathing under intense control, she could discern Geth troops on the upper storeys, preparing to fall on top of them and there were Hopper and Ghost classes in the iron girders that served as rafters. She had to use codewords so that the Geth couldn't read her hand signals. The vast room echoed with the sound of gunfire, explosions, biotic cracks and fizzling Geth chatter as they were perforated, but with no cover, Wrex, Samus and Liara took several flesh wounds. While the bio plasm medi gel could only cool, suture and sterilise the Asari's injury, the two mightier aliens felt their natural abilities accelerated by the genetic wonder until their deep scrapes sealed up completely.

A cyclonic barrier shield impeded their progress into the set-up offices and labs. Searching around, Tali found a ten foot drop into the lower levels that could be their ticket to gaining access. Slowly, the team descended as stealthily as possible, except for Wrex, who shook the earth upon his landing. The passage was cramped, Aran stalked forward in a crouched stance so that her allies could fire over her if necessary, Garrus did likewise next to her. Cautiously, they rounded the corner, noticing a fallen Geth platform to her right, Samus took two steps, then leaned back casually as she heard feet scuff some gravel the click of a trigger being pulled.

A grain of sand, lethal to all made of flesh and blood, or polymer and conductant, spat past the team, the shot reverberating around the cavern. Aran pulled her own pistol from its strip and fired, the bullet grazing her opponent's weapon, knocking it out of their hands and sending it tumbling down a gravel slope. Her team by that time, were all training their assorted firearms on their Commander's attacker.

"I'm so sorry!" came the squeaky voice of a young woman from the flickering red shadows, there was a large blaze burning away across from the cavern, its light reflected off the shallow waters surface, catching her in an odd light if it hadn't been for the hole in the wall releasing sun rays into the dark. She wore a beige green scientist's smock and had shoulder-length brown hair complete with similar features to another female Exo-geni scientist; minus the aging. "I've been down here for nearly two days, I thought you were one of those Geth."

"Lizbeth, I presume?" replied Samus, holstering her HMW and advancing on her.

"Yeah that's me, how do you...?" she answered nervously, backing away from the Amazon woman in the vibrant armour.

"Your mother's alive and well, me and my people are here to defuse the situation, once we have, my ship will extract us and the other Exo-geni survivors back to Zhu's Hope." A look of relief passed across young Lizbeth's face, it was time to get some answers. "What are you doing here still, why didn't you evacuate with the others?"

"My own damn fault," she grimaced in regret, "everyone was running and I stayed behind to back up data. Next thing I knew, the Geth were landing on the building and had cut the power. I was trapped, I tried to get out but the way was blocked!"

Aran was onto her in a millisecond. "Your story is filled with more holes than Emmentaler cheese. What could possibly be urgent enough for you to take that risk? People were fleeing before the attack came? How would they know in advance, unless... Jeong," she whispered furiously, clenching her right fist. That slimy bastard must have been in Saren's pocket! He'd discovered what the Turian had intended for them when whatever arrangement he was making with the former Spectre had gone south. She had to give Saren props, if his Geth didn't succeed, then Exo-geni would try to contain the catastrophe themselves, or worse, salvage it. Lizbeth looked fairly downcast, she raised her head up and spoke clearly, deciding to come clean.

"Alright, I can't know for certain... but they're probably here for the Thorian. That would make the most sense."

"Thorian?" Liara seemed confused, "I've studied extensively on xenobiology and I have never heard of such a species." A trickle of ice went down Aran's spine, it was falling into place. That stench from the tunnel dead falls...

"What is it? Where is it?" she demanded of Lizbeth, who flinched at the Commander's harsh tone.

"It's an indigenous life-form, Exo-geni was... studying it."

Samus had had just about enough of the walkabout delivery typical to the inhabitants of Feros. "You'll follow us after ten minutes to the upper levels and I'll want some clarification by then, understood?"

With Lizbeth hiding in the basement, Samus and the squad entered a small but high stairwell and began to surmount it cautiously, grains of stone dust falling down from the cases with every step.

"NO, I don't want to review protocol!" rumbled a Krogan voice from above, Wrex swapped out his rifle for the shotgun. "Piece of Pyjack crap! Access encrypted files!" The same voice raged from above, Liara and Garrus SWAT turned around the room's entrance, Tali and Wrex remained on the right hand side and Samus simply stood in the square archway, her handgun held loosely at her side, she took off and tossed her helmet to Garrus, who fumbled it, trying to be as quiet as possible.

Aran could see the impressive bulk of a well fed Krogan from behind, he was angrily pushing buttons on a VI console and in the corner of the room was a table overflowing with empty nutrient bars and water canisters; it seems he'd been at it for the best part of two days trying to log in to the system.

"I am unable to comply," voiced the holo image replica of a human male in a smart business suit courteously. "Please contact your supervisor," Weyrloc Vogurn was not a happy reptile as he ground his teeth furiously, his pride too great to ask one of his Geth underlings to interface with the terminal.

"Dammit!" he snarled, "tell me what I want or I'll blow your virtual ass into actual dust!" The VI was quite immune to such threats however, having never being programmed to recognise the relatively complex idea.

"Please contact your supervisor for privileged access, then apply for a level four security exemption. Or make an appointment with -"

"STUPID MACHINE!" Vogurn bellowed, raising both fists as if to bring them down on the device and crush it into a dustbin.

"If there is nothing else sir, please step aside, there is a queue forming behind you for use of this console." Vogurn did a frenzied one-eighty at the VI's words, his cattle-like eyes falling on the huntress, who gave him a stereoscopic stare with her forward facing predator's eyes, the lenses of a bird of prey.

"Shepard..." he growled low in his throat, "good, I really, really need to kill something, time for you - TO DIE!" And with that low of bestial fury, he seized his Katana shotgun and charged down the corridor at her.

Unfortunately, Vogurn didn't even get his dream of battling to the death with the first Human Spectre. Samus interrupted his moment of triumph by signalling her companions, Garrus jumped out of cover with his U-44 Volkov, Wrex with his modified Savage, Liara with her new Diamondback and Tali with her S-32 Avalanche. A hailstorm of rounds burst his barriers and reduced the ablative plates, flesh and redundant organs of his body to an orange steamy puddle of scattered viscera. Vogurn was only just alive, lying on his back, when he felt two rounds enter his thick skull.

Samus stepped over the dead Battlemaster's body, rubbed her HMW pistol as if it were a lucky charm, and holstered it. Reaching the VI terminal, she switched it back on from a motion sensor switch and accepted her helmet back from Garrus.

"Exo-geni corp reminds all staff that the discharging of weapons while on company property is strictly forbidden." Samus didn't wait for the VI to state its contingency inquiries, she ripped off a lower plate and fiddled with the wiring.

"I hate pop-ups," she informed her companions mildly. But the files Samus recovered after a couple of seconds hacking cracked the conspiracy wide open. The skyscraper which housed Zhu's Hope was also home to a subterranean flora known as Species 37. Residing deep in the foundations, it had infected the colonists through the inhalation of mind-altering spores, making them defend the creature zealously through operant conditioning in the form of nociceptor manipulation, if they refused, agony would be their reward, rendering them slaves to the creature's will. Some thralls were even given up to the creature, horribly mutated into mindless abominations; worse still, numerous samples had been transported off world to an unknown third-party before the Thorian became hostile, and before Saren had led a research party into the colony's depths, barely escaping with his life. The corporation had deliberately exposed over two hundred people to the creature in the name of science... Aran finished the job Vogurn had been about to start by kicking the console out of its screwed base on the floor.

"Let's take it down, the Geth, the Thorian, Exo-geni. This ends now," she vowed to all present. The Geth purge began in the room behind the energy shield, a platoon of shock troopers and Hoppers were obliterated with tech attacks courtesy of Tali and Garrus, unluckily, this attracted the attention of Vogurn's Krantt, six bull Krogan who came running pell-mell down another staircase and into the larger corridor, took one look at the squad and attacked in a serotonin deficiency fueled berserker rage.

Samus dropped her rifle in favour of her twin omni tool implements, from her right a blood orange angular blade blossomed with a wicked end, and from the other, one of her Yawara wrist bludgeons. She ducked under the first alien's shotgun blast and executed a back-spinning hammer fist while sweeping his legs out from underneath him. His plate cracked like a walnut shell just above the temple and one of his eyes suddenly became blood-shot, his limp body crashing into a pillar and sprawling to the floor, leaving an orange smear. The second hesitated for a moment too long as he brought his own weapon up to bash her over the head, Aran used his crest as a vault, twisting round in mid-air to bury her blade in the brown plate, the Krogan jolted and Samus revolved the holo dial, causing the blade to make a complete 360 degree gyration, splitting the blunt face and high crest in half from the inside out.

The other four were more than taken aback by the impromptu slaughter, Samus held on to her kill's hump and rolled backwards over it, kicking two of her prey in their veined, bulging throats as she did so, holding up the carcass as a meat shield to block the blaze of retaliatory gunfire. Wrex got into the thick of things, his shotgun decapitating one of the Krogan spectacularly; then he whipped out his jagged tooth dagger and nutted the one behind that, followed up with a biotically assisted thrust that pierced both hearts and cut open two lungs on the return pull. Hooking his dagger into its cheek, he yanked the bull around to fall at Liara's feet, who employed her first warp fist in the heat of battle to brain him to death.

At the same time, Samus had thrown the corpse she'd been taking cover behind straight into the last two, bowling them over like nine-pins. Garrus sniped the fifth under the jaw from a distance and Tali projected a proximity mine straight down the last one's gullet as he sat up, gulping almost comically as he tried to stuff his hands down his throat, too late. A fountain of blood later and the N7 Guardian's team stood victorious.

"Well done Liara, couldn't have done it better myself," congratulated Samus as she toed the unmoving cadaver that the Asari archaeologist had delivered, Liara smiled.

"I have a good teacher."

At last, the squad managed to reach the floors where the Geth had breached the building, they had set up machinery and strange mechanical 'altars' with stasis locked balls of electro-shelled plasma, floating eerily. Two Geth were bowing prostrate to the clawed hand full of light, almost in prayer, their entreaties to Sovereign were harshly halted by a spray of bullets.

"Evil corporations, now Geth churches?" stated Garrus, shaking his spiny head in bemusement.

"They don't serve any practical purpose..." Samus replied, scanning the construct, Tali joined her.

"Shepard is right, the artifacts seem to only act as ornaments, though I am picking up a range of infra-sound and other wave-lengths like -"

"Get back!" commanded Aran loudly, physically placing herself between Tali and the artifact and shepherding her away.

"What is it?" asked Wrex, worried that there was something his Commander could sense that he couldn't.

"It's the same signal that Saren's ship was emitting, it's dangerous, don't ask me how but it is," she was already boosting her psionic mind fortress to encompass her four friends, though it was much easier than Eden Prime. The artifact couldn't match the dreadnought's power. The team all trusted her for the faith she had vouched in them and left without a worry, except for Liara, who felt a tingle in her mind as if someone was influencing it from a distance, but that wasn't possible, was it?

Once they had all reached the upper level, they took the main control room: the Geth really had used up most of their foot soldiers, Samus was inspired to see her vastly diverse team work off each other. Masters in tech, marksmanship, brutality, ingenuity, biotics and spirit. Ripping the tin soldiers apart until there was nothing left. All save, the frigate, which had pierced the building with two sets of three titanium claws on several levels. Samus jury-rigged the old hangar doors by tuning the pressure gauges into the red zone, then slammed the keystone line with her omni tool's carbide coated forearm. With a tremendous groan of metal bracing against stone, the claw was jarred loose, exposing its synthetic fibrous innards which were then sheared through by the jaws of the hatch closing with over 30,000 Psi.

Rumbling, the side of the building cracked, then was torn away as the weight of the ship became too great to bear. Carrying a good deal of the wall, plus electrical tubing and floors with it, the hundred metre long ship slipped from its other purchases and plummeted off the headquarters with the crew watching its final trip; one earth shattering crash and an immense dust plume later and Feros was rid of the Geth forever.

Garrus pumped the air, "hell yes! That's how we do things!"

"This was my kind of mission," agreed Wrex, punching the Turian on the shoulder to repair his reputation for supporting him even in passing. "Fight some great skirmishes, and round it all off with some beautiful carnage."

"I hope we killed every one of those Geth bastards," seethed Tali with an unusual streak of venom, not entirely unexpected given her people's grudge against the machines.

"The shield and jamming emitters should now be offline," Liara notified, shaking from the after-effects of her combat high.

"Well done everyone, you've made me proud," Samus told them all genially. "Time to hail Joker," before she could do so, Jeff sent them a communique, he must have had something critical to tell if the repeated calls while their radio signals had been blocked were any indication.

"I repeat, Normandy to shore party. Are you reading? Come on Commander talk to me!"

"We're all fine Joker, the Geth were disrupting our communications, were. What's the sit rep over at the colony?"

"The situation? The Normandy's in lock-down here Commander, something's happened to the colonists. Kaiden and Ashley got everyone back on board safely in the Mako, Chase and Barret were injured in the firefight but Karin's got them stabilised. Then these things, these mutant zombies started banging on the hull, trying to claw their way in, they're freaking out, Jamie wanted to break out the Firestorms!"

Like the born leader she was but had refused to be until nine years past, Aran took charge. "The damage is superficial, they can't do us any real hurt while you all stay inside. Now spread your wings and fly, I want full extraction within two minutes." She peered over the edge, noticing how many floors they would have to traverse back down to the bridge. "Make that five minutes Joker."

"We're on our way! Sit tight, Joker out."

The team gathered what sealed files they could lift from the remaining Geth and Exo-geni terminals on their way out, meeting Lizbeth at the now defunct barrier shields. Samus grabbed her by the upper arm and propelled her along at a fast pace, the young woman quickly realised what the soldiers must have discovered.

"Look I was afraid!" Lizbeth implored as she stumbled along, the Commander's strides were too long for her to keep up. "They threatened me when I told them I wanted to stop the tests, told me I'd be next! What was I supposed to do?" Samus didn't answer and yanked her to walk faster. "I stayed behind to send a message to colonial affairs when the Geth attacked, but the power cut before I could tell them where the Thorian is. This… wasn't supposed to happen..." she finished disconsolately, they were nearly at the entrance.

"Colonial affairs," Samus scoffed. "What would they have done? Write a very angry letter to Exo-geni complaining how angry they are? They didn't even fund this expedition you know." Lizbeth paled and put a hand to her mouth in shock. "There's only a few things Jeong and his ilk respect: money, prestige, advancement and force. Which of the four do you think I'm prepared to use on him? What with the director of operations and all his high-ranking scientists being incinerated by the Geth, Jeong's the only representative left and by the resting ghosts I'll get my answers from him!"

She bundled Lizbeth into the Mako, Garrus and Wrex got in after under their own steam, leaving Tali, Liara and the Commander to observe a welcoming sight, the pall of dust was blown aside thanks to immense mass effect fields generated by Normandy, bold black and red of the SR-1's insignia bolstering morale no end. She hovered to the left, then banked to reveal the cargo bay. Samus hopped into the Mako followed by her companions and sped forwards to the edge of the parapet.

"Oh God," sniveled Lizbeth, "you're not going to, agghhhh!" Aran spurred the tank onwards, pressing a red button for a temporary nitro boost. Everyone grabbed ceiling handrails as the M35 rocketed skywards, making the huge leap from the broken bridge and into the Normandy's ten decelerator ME channels, the vehicle was brought level and neatly landed in the bay tracks, slowing to a halt.

The whole marine and security detail were present and they cheered for all they were worth as Samus, the team and Lizbeth clambered out. Alenko, Fredericks and Williams ran forward and embraced her in a group hug just before she put aside her helmet for the rest of the day. Everyone but Wrex and Lizbeth received a similar greeting while the Normandy turned to head back to the southern port.

"That was a close one Commander," Kaidan beamed, a statement reiterated by all gladly.

"We'd thought you guys were dead!" said Ashley with renewed cheer, "when that ship came and attacked you on the second sky way." Samus tipped her hand graciously towards Wrex, to indicate who had been responsible for that save. The crew wrung his hands and slapped him on the hump in admiration, the grizzled Battlemaster even managed to crack a smile at the tribute!

"What now Commander?" asked crewman Felawa, Samus touched her cochlear implant, listened for a few seconds, then looked at him and all assembled.

"Now... we pay Exo-geni a visit, Pressly has just informed me that three FTL-ready shuttles have landed, looks like their people want to eradicate any evidence of their foul up, I say we introduce them TO THE MARINES!" she projected, raising her fist.

"OORAH!" the group bellowed their approval.

"Lowe, Tanaka, Greico, Crosby, all of you," she noticed Chase and Barret coming down from the garage lift, patched up and ready for payback, she nodded at the two of them, "suit up!"

---

"Finally you idiots are here!" griped Jeong as twenty seven mercenaries in Elkoss Combine Assassin-branded armour left their shuttles and began forming a fresh perimeter. "Lieutenant Yanos!" he spat at their leader, "when are you going to make this problem go away!" Yanos did not seem pleased at being spoken to in such a manner but he informed Ethan of the heavy explosives they had brought to deal with Species 37 and several batches of genetically modified nerve gas that when released, would ensure a one hundred percent mortality rate on the Thorian's thralls. A side-note that was not lost on Juliana Baynham.

"Are you mad Jeong? Tell Yanos to dilute the nerve agent for God's sake, you don't have to kill these people!" she pleaded as the men got to work prepping the canisters for an air drop.

"We have an open channel to the stockholders Juliana! I'll do as they tell me, not some middling scientist who only has work because I allowed it!" shrieked Jeong, his eyes popping madly. Juliana backed off but glanced at the now operational radio transceiver. Ethan, Yanos and his men had their backs to her and her colleagues were also taking furtive looks at the device, hoping to call for some real help, Ms. Baynham steeled herself and thought:

"Fuck it," she opened a public broadcast channel and whispered into the mic, "this is Juliana Baynham, anyone who can hear this, they're going to murder the colonists! Please help us!"

"Get her away from there!" screamed Jeong, growing more and more deranged, he retrieved his pistol, yes she definitely knew too much, all of the surviving scientists did... Juliana was restrained by a burly merc.

"You can't do this Jeong!" she shouted.

"Everyone shut up! Let me think!"

"You won't get away with this!"

"GET HER OUT OF HERE!"

'BOOM!' An M35 Mako smashed through and over the low concrete divide, scattering the mercenaries, while down from the sloped entrance, thunder flashes and smoke grenades incapacitated three and allowed Ashley and six other Alliance marines to storm the front. Kaiden led another strike team rappelling down the south wall, immobilising several with biotics and allowing his comrades to restrain them. Samus Aran took down five of the mercs herself from on top of the Mako, once again forcing them into a corner, it seemed like stalemate. Yanos now held several of the scientists as hostages even though fifteen of his boys had been knocked down or out. There were twenty people in the Navy unit all together, including four aliens and their Commander, crouched atop the tank with a knowing smile on her face and a HMW handgun resting on her knee.

The mercenary leader's eyes widened in astonishment. "Commander Shepard?" he breathed in terror, his men flinched as they opposed the marines but Yanos knew they were now outnumbered and outgunned. Their only hope was her mercy.

"Shepard!" spluttered Jeong in disbelief, "shit! I knew it was too much to hope that the Geth would kill you!" Even now, with many blue laser sights alighting on his troops and Ashley's in particular hovering over his heart, Ethan was an obnoxious twat. "I've read some interesting facts about you in the Exo-geni databases, I know what happened during the Skyllian Blitz, but this isn't like that! It doesn't have to end the same way!"

"How this ends depends entirely on you Jeong," leered Aran frighteningly as she stepped down from the roof. Once dismounted, she snapped her fingers. Jamie and Marcus shoved the prisoners forward, making them kneel before the front line. "Surrender now, and you get to walk out of here alive."

"It's never that easy is it Shepard? Communications are back up, and it turns out Exo-geni wants this place purged. Which is what I'm doing!" Jeong screeched hysterically. Samus drew her gun, everyone tensed.

"Lieutenant Yanos was it?" quested Aran neutrally, the mercenary leader swallowed nervously at her addressing him.

"Yes."

"Here are your men back," she nudged them with her boot and after some more encouragement they scampered over to their own group, with their hands still bound. Both men were confused and before they could inquire Samus spoke again. "That man you're defending has worked with an avowed enemy of the Council, Saren Arterius, who I am currently tracking under a mandate from Special Tactics and Recon."

Yanos eyed Jeong suspiciously as the N7 Operative maintained her argument.

"Jeong will be in my custody by the end of today one way or another, I won't let you re-purpose this colony and I won't concede to your damn corporation. Put down your weapons, no-one needs to die."

"There's something here far more valuable than a few colonists!" Jeong worded softly in Yanos's ear. Trying subtly to grease his palms.

"Lieutenant," commanded Samus, her tone making it clear that there was no room for negotiation. "Take Mr. Jeong into custody and I'll see that you get a personal note of commendation from myself. Refuse..."

Yanos sighed in defeat, then laid a hold of Jeong while dropping his rifle, his men followed suit. Doing the smart thing.

"Get your hands off me! Do you know who I am? No-one will miss a few colonists!"

"And no-one will miss you either," said Aran as the mercenaries placed cable ties around his wrists and ankles, frogmarching him to the Mako and placing him under armed guard, everyone began to lower their guns and laugh at the imprisoned instigator, Samus leaned into the cabin as Jeong was tossed unceremoniously onto the mat.

"You don't know who you're messing with Shepard!" he whined and wailed like a big, ugly baby. "Exo-geni will sue your ass! Place your odds on escaping that!"

"You're a bean counter Jeong, I'm a Spectre. It's not my odds I'd be worried about right now." And with that Samus stepped back, Crosby slapped some duct tape over Jeong's mouth and he and Tanaka slammed the door closed in his face to adulation from the science team.

"Mom!" Samus looked about to see Lizbeth reuniting with Juliana. She smiled, at least something was right in the world. After calming the crowd of fifty people down, Aran explained the situation to them all. Charging the scientists with attenuating the chemical for riot-suppression deployment, delivering medicinal shots for vaccinating themselves from the creature's spores, pooling all airfoil canisters and upgradeable disc grenades and sorting the forty seven soldiers into five groups of eight. Leaving five Alliance and two PMC troops behind. It was time to free Zhu's Hope once and for all.

---

The operation lasted most of the afternoon. Yanos and his mercs accompanied the M35's into the tunnel entrance of the port, serving as useful cannon fodder while battling Thorian Creepers in the dark. Though this was more due to their ineptitude and clashing with marine tactics than a cruel trick on Aran's part, however, it did serve a twin purpose by getting rid of those buffoons in a manner which didn't look suspicious, as soon as the scientists had been secured, Samus radioed Russel, Marcus and Wahib, who disposed of the last two cleanly. Mainly in part, because the huntress had cracked one of the major files during the trip back to the port. It had contained mention of dealings with Cerberus, Samus had decided to put them to death then and there and have their shuttles destroyed with some of their own C9 plastique.

Only Garrus and the Commander had ever taken part in non-lethal pacification operations, so they joint-briefed the teams on the appropriate use of force, where to put air soft projectiles to guarantee unconsciousness and how to protect each other against people who wanted to maim and kill in return. The monsters which the Thorian had birthed now ran into the light of day, Vakarian lay at the open cargo bay door as the Normandy circled the inhabited area, sniping any of the long-clawed beasts while on a safety harness. Samus, Tali, Wrex, Josh Liara, Kaidan, Jamie and Ashley let loose with squash rounds or grenade launcher attachments, gassing the rabid colonists into submission.

Aran slotted in another anti-spore gas grenade as she knelt at the edge of the ramp, took aim, and launched it into the centre of a group protecting the crane, watching as they slumped to the floor in shock, the pollen particles scourged from their motoreceptors. Wordlessly, Samus unclipped her larger rifles in favour of her shotgun and pistol and dived into the decelerator channel, landing on the top entrance of the downed freighter and rolling to absorb the impact before alighting off and onto the ground.

Distracting the colonists left standing allowed her team mates to land, then they performed a rush and clear through the freighters compartments, forced to knock the last half dozen of them into next week. Samus sighed in self-satisfaction, a job well done she observed, looking round at the numerous prostrate colonists as they came back outside. Joker would now land back at the proper docking bay while the team from the tunnels regrouped with their Commander, speak of the devil, Yanos had arrived, tailed by the SR-1's security detail, the Exo-geni scientists and the rest of Aran's marines.

"We got em' all Shepard!" cackled Yanos drunkenly, his armour stained with red blood. Samus already knew what he had done by the time Craig informed her.

"Russel tells me you murdered two colonists," she began airily, switching up her air soft clip for a harpoon clip without looking at the ratty bearded dog of war.

Yanos grinned in response, "they were nuts, would have killed me, so I took em' down. Lost all my boys though, oh well, more shares for me from our employer!" He forced some laughter.

Samus smiled along with him, cocking the slide of her polished, gold-striped, jet black handgun. "A man who makes an opportunity out of a catastrophe, a fine quality in any soldier, a reward for this brave man!" she called to her allies as she turned away from Yanos, they began to laugh along with her; including the gormless soldier of fortune in question.

"So, what is it?"

The Chozo / Metroid / Human hybrid didn't even look his way as she aimed behind her and shot him through his paper weak shields and throat, he fell on his back spasmodically, clutching at the geyser that jetted through his fingers, then fell still. But the excitement wasn't over yet, as Fai Dan came limping into view, his face screwed up in agony. Everyone watched cautiously as the infected man approached, Aran considered winging him in the shoulder, then she made a sign gesture to her associates.

"I tried to fight it but it gets in your head you can't even imagine the pain." He staggered to the centre of what could have been a prosperous home and drew a civilian heavy pistol from his belt, his arms shaking and a tic beating in his temple and cheek.

"It wants me to stop you! But I won't! I WON'T -" Fai Dan was jamming the handgun under his chin but before he could pull the trigger, a stun dart caught him between the shoulder blades and laid him out, to reveal Tali standing a few feet behind, Aran bowed her head in respect, for the Pilgrim's sneaking skills were legendary.

---

A foul wind blew up from the dark staircase as Samus stared into the gloom, then nodded to her companions, the team of ten all together for the first time that day in battle. As one they descended into the sinister underground chamber, traveling deep down into the foundations.

"Smells worse than that tannery I used to live next to," grumbled Wrex as they advanced down the central corridor, the lichen and mould on the walls getting thicker and the wheezing of some huge animal louder.

"Well all we have to do is find this Thorian," Garrus reminded him "and..." He stopped dead at the sight before him, highlighted as it was by sun beam diffusion arcing past, revealing the beast in all its hideous glory.

"Keelah," gasped Tali.

"Kruban," Wrex invoked similarly.

"By the Goddess," agreed Liara.

"Fuck fuck fuckity fuck!" whimpered Fredericks in misery.

"Holy crap!" concurred Kaidan, Ashley crossed herself, the marines cursed in chorus, Wahib in Hindi.

"They never covered this in my training manuals," Garrus finished lightly, trying to defuse the tension, he looked to his Commander for her reaction.

Samus balled her right hand into a tense cudgel of bone and muscle. She was unblinking and resolute.

"We are going to need bigger guns."

From out of the dusk shambled a multitude of Thorian creatures which had been replicated or transfigured: Human colonists ranging from skeletal to freakishly muscled, Varren hounds, some with multiple heads, wispy Inusannon and partially formed Asari Creepers. A general mob of disgusting and depraved thralls, all of them surrounding the Commander and her team.

The Thorian's oral cavity contracted, then birthed a dripping, slime-covered, green skinned Asari, she was quite naked. But seemed far more, 'whole' than the lesser minions. With intricate scalp fringes, unique facial markings and olive iris's that had somehow survived the mutation process. With a wide, confident stance, the Asari thrall stepped forward and stared down the squad with a hard gaze, speaking in a resonant, scraping voice as the Thorian's mouth tentacles waved eerily in time to her spoken words.

"Invaders!" she proclaimed, "every step you take is a transgression. A thousand feelers appraise you as meat, only good to dig or 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!" Wrex grunted yearningly as he beheld the full-bodied woman before him, his eyes widening slightly in badly chosen lust. Liara quailed at the mockery of her own kind. And the marines were too busy watching the encroaching hostiles.

"You enslaved the colonists, altered their minds," challenged Aran, drawing her shotgun. "I don't know what Saren wanted with you but I just want you dead!" She raised the modded boom stick.

"The Thorian extends through the earth and back through the ages. It is part of this world," seethed the Asari hatefully. "You can no more kill it, than you can cut the sky." Samus rolled her eyes in response, remembering just how many skies she had wiped from the face of the Universe.

"Permit me to enlighten you then," informed Aran sardonically, the one-handed blast of her HMWS liquidising the plant clone on the spot in a wet explosion of snotty water and shredded fibre. The thralls screeched in anger, swarming the team, hoping to overwhelm them with pure numbers. But working with one of the greatest martial artists of all time tended to place your own hand-to-hand skill above the average par, Garrus lashed out, bashing skulls in and kicking away any dogs that tried to jump for his jugular. Andrews and Singh were an excellent double act, the Indian mincing some of the horde with his machete while the Asian-Briton cleared some room with his Kung Fu. Tali was a monster with her high-frequency poniard and Karpov pistol combination, dancing around her foes and stabbing them in the back, gouging at their eyeless sockets or the place where their ears used to be.

Liara continued to impress the Commander with her grasp of biotic-enhancements, watching as she punched and shoved any zombie that got too close for comfort, sometimes pulping their forms beyond recognition. Her left flank was protected by the veritable killing-machine that was Urdnot Wrex, both his hulking form and twin chainsaw Spectre weapons carving out his niche with muzzle flash and growling teeth. Often bashing or biting them with his mammoth head to mix things up. He even managed to ignore the acid some of them projectile-vomited onto him due to his controlled blood rage regeneration.

Ashley, Russel, Kaidan and Josh kept up a steady stream of ammunition to keep the Creepers at bay but they were ridiculously outnumbered, starting to be pushed back to the bottleneck tunnel where the Creepers would engulf and crush them. They probably already would have if not for the huntress being among their number. Faster than could be believed, she was among the crowd of monsters, at first pulverising them with biotics and rifle butts, then deploying her twin omni blades and beginning to slice and dice her way into the rabble. Garrus was afraid for her life, certain that she would be flanked and torn to shreds or blinded with acid but he couldn't reach her! Not that Aran was having too much trouble, this was merely light exercise to her, the glowing, right-angled, Isosceles shaped, hot knives, cutting through them with hardly any resistance as she piled them waist high, decapitating three or four at a time with each swipe. Any that managed to get around to her sides were thrown or grappled, to be stomped underfoot by her allies, it was time to change the battle plan and go on to phase two.

Revolving on the spot, Samus hewed their legs out from under them as her armour was scratched and scarred, diverting their acidic spit with minor biotic fields, then she back-flipped repeatedly to her allies' ranks while gathering her power. Upon landing, she struck the concrete floor, a nova shock wave of dark energy shot forth, it macerated the twenty closest to her and staggered the throngs furthest away, finally breaking their ranks.

"Tali! Fredericks! To the upper levels! I'll cover you!" she roared, hoping that the first part of her plan would work, Garrus tossed her another heavy weapon retrieved from the Normandy's armoury. An armour piercing Z-17 grenade launcher with an M-451 Firestorm attachment under-slung. The jet of synthetic dentra oil ignited, toasting the Creepers as she swept it back and forth, once her line of sight was clear, she launched four of the miniature rockets into the Thorian's pus-filled eyes and between the thick carapace. It 'screamed' in apparent agony as they detonated, blasting a good chunk of the organism's face away.

But the ancient plant organism was resilient, its layers of chitinous skin had cracked to expose a purple-veined nerve cluster near the top of its fat form.

"Spread out to the upper levels, anything that looks like it's anchoring that thing, plant some C9 gel on it," she told the rest of her squad while handing the weapon back to Garrus, they dispersed. The Thorian was huffing again, ready to birth another Asari clone. Samus modded her pistol with a grapnel attachment and inched out onto a thin ledge, firing the hook and line into the roof. She clipped the HMWP to her belt winch and began to zip upwards, past the Thorian's roots and straight to the fifth floor; where the Thorian's weak point could be exploited. On the way she covered her allies with shotgun fire and biotics before pulling herself up into the top chamber.

The sound of charging biotics caught her attention as another Asari clone floated upwards, ready to stop the huntress from what Saren had done before. From below, Samus could hear her allies deploying the gas, melting the Creepers into ooze faster than the Thorian could replicate them.

"It's over for your master," she updated cheerily, removing her handgun from its climbing mod as the Asari glowed with Indigo fire. "If my squad doesn't sever all the nodes joining the room..." Samus held up her remaining collection of seven disc grenades in their isomorphic protected dispenser, she deployed and armed them all in a little cylinder shape. "I throw these right into its open sore and see what the reaction is." Her left arm glowed with gold and blue-shifting light of her omni tool and biotics respectively, assembling an overload mine that was sealed to the payload, then infused the make-shift gas bomb with a warp field strong enough to tear through the spongy muscle of the wound and embed itself into the Thorian's head.

Twitching, the clone watched Samus carefully as she bounced the device up and down in her palm. The huntress walked to the edge and surveyed the Thorian below, any second now. Aran hurled the bomb downwards, the Asari cried out in horror and was able to knock the bomb away with her biotics onto the third level. This left her wide open for the Spectre's counter attack, her throw field snapping the clone's arm and knocking her flying, the biotic duel commenced.

Recovering, the clone hurled a warp and lift field in quick succession, Samus redirected both of them past her to smash chunks of stone from the wall. Another two clones flew up to do battle from behind, a quick parry of the second's throw field was reformed into a slam, increasing the third one's barrier until her spinal discs slipped from the gravity crushing down on her. The other two's attacks were again blocked until Samus charged the one on the right, splattering her against a pillar, the crippled one summoned the most powerful reave field she could muster and slashed at the huntress. Only for the move to gash the same pillar as Samus axial-torso rolled out of the way and hit her with a siphon reave field in return.

The last clone's face went slack as her body was drained of colour, then the suppleness and motor functions of her muscles, arteries and bones. She fell on her face as her lignified legs gave way and crumbled into grey ash. Aran absorbed the purple corona traveling from the Asari, to her left hand, savouring the energy boost she received. Then she whirled round, Liara had entered the top floor holding the retrieved bomb, she had seen everything.

"How...?" began Liara, staring at the dissolving remains of the clone but she was halted by a wail of rage sounding throughout the cavern, the Thorian knew its thralls had been defeated once more and that the marines were retreating to the stable base of the upper floors.

"Commander," radioed Fredericks, "the charges are set, I'm sure you'd like to do the honours!"

"Gladly."

She opened her omni tool as the team entered the room, waited for a second, then activated the C9.

The seven or so explosions obliterated the Thorian's leverage, making it sag and shriek further as the tendons strained to keep the twenty tonne beast aloft. It was not to be as they all snapped at once, sending it plunging into the depths of the planet. Aran primed the bomb for proximity detection and threw it underarm down after. Twenty seconds later, there was a dull 'thoom' as the creature hit ground-zero, followed by a spray of gas and acid shooting up from the abyss. Ensuring that it could never reproduce and threaten organics again.

Before the team could rejoice in their victory, a unique gestation pod began to pulsate and stretch. In fact, all the minor forms of plant life were withering away. Everyone looked on as the Commander stepped up to investigate the shell coming apart and releasing a green, watery liquid before birthing a slim, blue woman, an Asari. One with root-like nasogastric feeding tubes and catheters pulling away from her nude form as she fell and splashed to the floor; covered in the clear afterbirth. Spiny roots also separated and shriveled from her along the spine and on the back of her skull.

"Jesus Christ," breathed Ash in pity, Samus rushed over to the unmoving alien and performed CPR, realising that the Asari must have been part of Benezia's retinue. Liara and Kaidan were also on hand to bring the Asari around with medication, they restarted her breathing, cleaned her wounds and Tali took off part of her outer veil to keep the woman warm as she had begun to shiver violently in some sort of delirium. Samus noticed that the Asari had the same markings as the green ones she had fought, so they had been clones of this thrall...

Eventually, they were able to revive her, sitting her against the wall with a small camp fire burning nearby, it was way under 10 degrees Celsius down there. "I'm free!" she breathed heavily, sounding feverish, "I suppose I should thank you. For releasing me." Clambering unsteadily to her feet, Liara helped to support her.

"Are you alright?" asked Samus probingly, shooing the others away so that she could start the interrogation.

"I'm fine… or I will be, in time," murmured the commando tiredly.

"Tell me everything, I'll know if you're lying."

"My name is Shiala. I serve, I served Matriarch Benezia. When she allied herself with Saren, so did I. We joined him to try and guide him down a gentler path. But Saren is compelling, she lost her way."

The N7 Defender's penchant for intrigue was not nearly whetted. "He can manipulate the minds of others with those Reaper artifacts he found near the Veil can't he?"

"Yes, Benezia underestimated Saren, just as I did. His vessel... an enormous warship unlike anything I've ever seen. He calls it Sovereign." Samus listened intently, "it can dominate the minds of his followers. They become indoctrinated to Saren's will, the process is subtle, it can take days, weeks but in the end, it is absolute. I was a willing slave when Saren brought me to this world, he needed my biotics to communicate with the Thorian, to learn its secrets. Therefore, I was sacrificed to cement their alliance."

"Well there's a special realm of torment reserved for traitors like him, he's quick to betray everyone he can," growled Aran, remembering Nihlus.

"Indeed he is, the Thorian was no exception. The Geth were ordered to get rid of all the evidence of the Thorian's existence after he had got what he wanted. Saren knows you're searching for the Conduit, that you're following his steps. The Thorian was attacked so you could not gain the ancestral memories of the Prothean race."

"So that's what he's after, he needs to interpret something encoded within the beacon's vision!" she clarified excitedly.

"Yes, they were unclear to him and to you, confusing. The imprints were only -"

"Meant for a Prothean mind," finished Samus for her, she had been correct! Shiala nodded wearily.

"To truly comprehend them, you must think like a Prothean. You must understand their culture, their history, their very existence. For the Thorian was here long before the Protheans built this city. It watched and studied them. When they died, it consumed them. They became a part of it."

"And then the Thorian transmitted that endemic ancestral memory to you... and you to Saren," went on Samus, Garrus was flaming the remains of the pod away with the Firestorm while the rest of the team watched the exchange on tenterhooks. "This knowledge, this... Cipher, only a telepath like the Asari could hope to find it in the first place, but how?" Shiala looked uncomfortable at the request, speaking more evenly and measurably now.

"I simply sensed it, the Cipher when I melded with the Thorian. Our identities merged, our minds intertwined. It always existed, on a deep, innate level of consciousness."

"Shiala, I need that knowledge if I'm going to stop Saren." Samus closed the gap and looked down at her intently, the former commando saw no other option.

"There is a way, have you ever mind melded with another Asari, Commander?"

"In a comportment not suitable for discussion right now," replied Samus slickly, arousing laughs from some of the males on her team. "And any who tried without my express permission never regained their sanity after I was finished with them," she warned.

Shiala was understandably apprehensive. "You do not make threats lightly Commander, from here I can perceive that your mental defences are formidable, more redoubtable than even Benezia's," Wrex whistled his esteem and Liara's suspicions deepened. "But if you wish to acquire the Cipher then you cannot resist the meld; unless you wish to scrub one of our mind's clean or worse, burn the other's memories over our past life so that there is nothing left of our true selves."

Samus paced up and down, ruffling her hair in a moment of crisis, if she allowed such open contact, the kind of intimate contact that she had blocked from even the most psionically-gifted lovers she had experienced throughout her life. Then Shiala would know who she was, but if she didn't Saren would find the Conduit before them and the Reapers would return. There was only one way to finish this, she had fought enough wars across her mindscape to know that any attempts to acquire the Cipher while protecting her past would end in disaster. She had been trained to attack and to defend, never to allow someone in. It was like trying to protect one castle wall while opening the far gate!

"Don't worry Shepard," claimed Garrus with his typical zeal, "she tries anything during the meld and we'll deal with her."

"No, stand back all of you, don't interfere." She looked Shiala in the eye, "let's begin."

"Very well," Shiala replied, pushing back her outer blanket so she could use both arms. "Relax, Commander. Slow, deep breaths. Let go of your physical shell. Reach out to grasp the threads that bind us, one to another." Samus slowed her heartbeat as Grey Voice had taught her, loosening her muscles and letting her mind fortress shields down, trying to ignore how vulnerable she felt for the first time in a long time. "Every action sends ripples across the Galaxy. Every idea must touch another mind to live. Each emotion must mark another's spirit," intoned Shiala mantra-like, Samus recognised it as a passage from the Siari Holy Book. "We are all connected. Every living being united in a single, glorious existence. Open yourself to the Universe, Commander. Embrace eternity!"

Orange-bathed planetoid, blue sentient planet of poison, home destroyed, outcast, outsider, avenger. Reapers, the great dragon under the sun, Zebes falling part, the Alimbics cowering in terror before the ultimate power, the Protheans weeping as mushroom clouds neared. Sovereign shrieking a cry of the damned from within the hollow earth, worlds collapsing, fighting on the front lines, a billion faces flitting past, the armour forged by the gods themselves, the Chozo race, elder and wiser than any other, Old Bird, Grandpa, five-thousand years old before ascending to the beyond. Trillions of races, more than she could ever meet, even with her longevity, multiple whirlpools of stars... yes, for all their might, the Reapers were nothing compared to this clarity of existentialism, they were all dead inside, nothing, nothing, next to life, they were not to be feared by the child at heart, but ignored, ultimately disregarded as illogical travesties, whether born of man or machine they were not transcendent, the Universe itself, was transcendent...

The meld ended, Samus opened her eyes to look at Shiala. The Asari stepped back and glanced at the floor, stunned beyond words at what she had witnessed. Then her eyes narrowed, looking at the stranger before her with a completely new perspective, trying to contain the marvels and horrors she had seen. Samus looked as if she was experiencing a lesser version of her epiphany as she absorbed the Prothean memories, staring over Shiala's shoulder, lost in her thoughts. With slow deliberateness, Aran drew her pistol.

---

A/N: Cliffhanger! I had to end this chapter eventually, so this seemed like a good place to do so! Later!