Chapter 23: Feros part 4
A biotic wave hit John and lifted him into the air, while creepers came charging at the rest of the squad. "Shit," John yelled out.
"John," the alarmed Tali looked at her. A vicious battle ensued. Tali would have liked nothing more than to focus on the green Asari, but it was not possible – the squad was busy enough with keeping the creepers at bay. Several times the Quarian had one or two directly in front of her, claws ready to strike. Jane used her rifle to shoot the Asari and the biotic field dissipated and John dropped to the ground, he ten decides to return the favor and blast the green Asari off the ledge. Ragan was killing creepers left and right but was making mistakes as more of them came. He was having a hard time killing them, but John helped him out by using some throw fields at the creepers. Ragan turns on his tactical cloak but that failed when the creepers kept on pursuing him.
"Jane, Tali shotguns, cover me," Ragan said. John created an anti-singularity field and the creepers with the Asari smashed into each other. Tali and Jane pick off the stragglers not picked up by the field and Ragan ran up towards the Asari but get knock back towards the Thorian. One of the tentacles starts wrapping itself around Ragan but stops when a green liquid comes out of the N7 armor. Some kind of poison that deals physical damage.
"Can I say that I love that anti-singularity field," Tali smiled.
John smirked and looked at Ragan, "You can stand to say it more."
"Could you two joke when we're not being attacked by planet zombies," Jane was getting annoyed. Ragan runs up towards the group. Tali and John stood at attention. "How are we getting rid of this thing?"
"Look, maybe we can hit that," Tali pointed to the Thorian's root-tentacles that attached itself to the wall like an infection.
"Sound like an idea," John raised his gun and started firing. The rest of the group did the same. It took some time, but finally it fell under a hail of gunfire, and the root-tentacles dropped. A scream could be hear coming from the Thorian's main body.
"That's got to hurt," Jane was smirking. "Has to be more of those around." The screams of the Thorian alerted more creepers and Asari clones.
"Fuck this," Ragan grabs his M-96 Mattock and starts killing the creepers. "Go, I'll cover you."
John cracked his neck, "I got the Asari; can you handle the creepers?" Ragan nodded and starts killing creepers. "Okay then."
Sure enough the next wave of Creepers came running into the room – accompanied by a green Asari, glowing blue. A biotic wave hit John and lifted him into the air, while Creepers came charging at Ragan. Tali and Jane started shooting them when Ragan had to reload because the more creepers there are, the faster the attacks are for them abominations.
"Not this time, bitch," John nullified the biotic field with his own. "Eat this," he threw a warp field at the clone but she pushed it away like it was nothing. "Crap."
Ragan unleashed his assault rifle on the creepers, they dissolved thanks to the incendiary mod that John placed in it. "Johnathan," he said. The Asari clone had him pinned to the wall with her biotics. Tali rushed to his while Ragan covered her. 'You're not getting him this time,' Tali's thoughts were running in mind like a cheetah does for hunting.
"Tali wait," Jane tried to stop her but Ragan lifted a hand.
Tali rammed the Asari and blasted her with a shotgun shot. "That that, bosh'tet," she was shocked that the Asari didn't do anything. Tali moved to John's side. Ragan quickly turned around and finished the clone by pressing the trigger to make the Mattock seem like a fully automatic.
"Well, that didn't last long," jokingly John said.
Tali shook her head, "Pribadi, don't joke about this, you almost died."
John kissed her cheek, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." Tali hugged him and he did the same. "You okay?" He was chuckling for a little bit until he heard Ragan scream and get swallowed by the Thorian.
"I am now," she said with smile. John looked up and grabbed a grenade to deal with the creepers.
"Tali that was crazy…" Jane started before seeing Tali in John's arms. "What the hell is this?" Jane crossed her arms. 'Oh no,' she thought.
"I… Uh… ohh…" Tali shuddered. John puts his hand on her shoulder."
"We're dating," John simply put it. He then saw a sword blade coming out of the Thorian but then get back in like something was pushing it back.
Jane looked at him speechless. "But…," she couldn't finish that.
John raised his hand, "We'll talk after the mission."
"Fine by me," Jane was happy about this. After all this is her older and second brother.
The team made their way up destroying the tendrils of the Thorian. Despite the tension and Ragan inside of the monster, they worked together well shooting the last tendril. Having lost six tendrils, the weight of the Thorian, suspended in the shaft, became too great for the rest to carry. With the last shriek the Thorian feel down the shaft with Ragan inside. It took a while until the squad heard a thump from the bottom. "He's gone… Ragan is dead," John then got ready to climb down but one of the pods started to move. The team then saw a second pod move, so they readied their weapons. The second pod opened and Ragan came out.
The first pod opened up and an Asari feel to the floor; unlike the clones they were fighting her skin was purple, not green. She also still wore what looked like remnants of Commando armor. It was tattered, full of holes, and some stripes of it came peeling off, the largets such case revealing her right breast. She was down asleep.
John came forwards and picked Ragan while Jane got the Asari. "Tali, help me with her," Tali nodded and they made their way above ground. They crew spent two days helping the now freed colonists get back to their feet. Later the team came to the Asari, who was now awake for questions. Ragan just went to sleep on the rocks.
"Shiala," Liara exclaimed when she looked at the Asari. She hugged her.
"Liara, you know here," The team looked confused.
"This is Shiala T'Soni, my mother's sister, my aunt," The team looked at her and Shiala nodded."Shiala, what happened to you?"
"Thank you for releasing me, little wing. I am finally myself again," John raised an eyebrow in response. "I serve… well I served my sister, Matriarch Benezia, Liara's mother. When she allied herself with Saren, so did I. She wanted to lead him to the path of less bloodshed, but she had lost her way, and so have her followers. So had I."
"How is that possible," Liara was shocked. "Mother is one of the strongest people I know, how could Saren influenced her so much?"
"Indoctrination," Ragan was still asleep but they hear what he said.
"Sare has a warship, Sovereign," John interrupted her.
"You mean the Reaper?"
"Reapers… yes. It is unlike anything I have seen before, it is enormous and incredibly powerful. And it has an insidious ability, the ability to dominate the minds of his followers. It is what that man said, indoctrination. The process is slow at first, but in the end it is there is no hope. Unless you mind-melded someone."
"And… mother fell victim to it," Liara distressed herself.
Shiala just nodded gravely and sadly. "I'm afraid so… she may not be so lucky like I was, she was the closest to Saren…," she gulped before continuing. "I'm sorry little wing…" Liara lowered her head and tears flowed, she walked out of the area.
"Garrus go check on her, she needs a friend now." Garrus nodded and walked after her. Tali did the right thing to send Garrus.
"What did Saren want with the Thorian," John looked back at Ragan and waited for him to speak but it didn't happen. 'I guess he only speaks in his sleep about something that needs to be answered and it has to deal with something important. Unless he doesn't have the facts.'
"Saren wanted its knowledge and with my biotics, I could communicate with it," Shiala looked at them and sighed. "Saren offered a trade, the Thorian knowledge for… for me…"
"Saren sacrificed you," Wrex was disgusted at this. "That sick fucker needs to be put down soon."
Shiala scoffed. "However, in the end he betrayed the Thorian. He had the geth attack the Thorian after he went, so that you could not get the same knowledge as he did," He looked around and saw everyone's expression: Shocked.
"What is this knowledge," Kaiden asked.
"The Cipher," Ragan woke up quickly and fell of the rocks. Shiala looked at him. 'Something I said that woke him up must mean something is wrong,' she thought.
"What's the Cipher," John asked. He wanted to get all the clues before he started working on the hunt.
"A way to understand the visions of Eden Prime's beacon… Well any Prothean beacon," Ragan explained. "They were unclear, confusing because they were meant for the Prothean mind. Saren wanted it for some reason," he looked at Shiala.
"He wanted it so he could think like a Prothean, in order for him to understand those visions. Visions that are dealing with Reapers," Shaila looked at Ragan. She then saw him walk around the area.
"We need that Cipher, give it," John was breathless.
Shiala nodded, "Breathe commander. Embrace eternity." John had the Cipher, but his head was reeling with pain. It was the same sensation he felt at Eden Prime, it was a sensation that could never get used to. John felt weak in the knees and almost collapse until Ragan and Tali held him up.
"Are you okay," Concerned in her voice, Tali quickly tries to hide it.
"Yeah, just need to rest a little while," John looked at her.
Tali glared at Shiala, "If you hurt him, I swear…," she threatened. Ragan puts his hand on Tali to calm her down. Jane and Ash rolled their eyes.
"Is there a way to get it out of his mind," Ragan looked at it.
Shiala looked at him, "Yes but it will be done with some Asari that knows about ancient arts of mind-melding." Ragan then remembed that Liara knows about that and she can do it.
"What will you do," Kaiden looked at Shiala.
"If you let it, I would like to stay with the colonists. They have suffered greatly and I played a role in their suffering. I would like to make amends," John looked at her and nodded his head.
"Done," Ragan said.
"Ragan, she's too dangerous to live. All the crap that happened here was because of her and Saren." John glared at her.
"I don't kill unarmed people, you know that Ash," he looked at her. "Let it go, she wants to make amends, we should let her." Ash sighed and gave up, walking back to the ship. Before turned the corner, she glared at Tali.
They made it back to the Normandy; the tension was thick to say the least. After the meeting with the council, it was time to talk. Tali was not looking forward to it. She heard talking in the comm room.
"So what's this I hear about you and Tali dating," Ash said trying to control her emotions. Ragan shook his head, he knew Ash wasn't going to take this lightly. John didn't care but Ragan was near his breaking point with this xenophobia shit Ash had.
"Just what I said to Jane, we're dating," John shrugged.
"And you know about this," Ash pointed at Ragan, which in return gave her a cold murderous stare that made Ash jump about five inches back. "Since when?"
"Since after the Therum mission. I don't get it; you and Tali are friends, what's the big deal," John looked at Ragan who was about to go crazy on Ash, but John raised on hand up to stop it. Ragan then nodded.
"She's not even remotely human. Liara I can understand, but Tali? Does she have a face under that helmet," John glared at Ash, he lowered his hand and then nodded. Ragan got up and pointed a finger at her.
"Watch it Williams or I will let Ragan give out a piece of his mind," he hissed. She was taken aback at how mad he got at the remark. "Just because you're jealous of her, doesn't give you the right to disrespect her."
"Jealous," Ashley exploded. "Of her?! She's not even out species!"
"And this is exactly why you were the last to know; because of this is how you acted. Ragan, now," John gave Ragan the order.
"E-everyone else knew," she looked at Ragan and he just was thinking to himself. He wanted to wait for the right moment.
John sighed and nodded, "Yeah, they know. The truth was that I wasn't even going to tell you, because of how you felt about aliens. You're a fucking xenophobic."
Ash looked hurt, "So you didn't even trust me, because of you thought I was the racist bitch, huh? Nice to see how you really feel about me."
"Ash…" he said now regretting this talk.
"I have enough reasons to be...," Ragan slammed his fist on the wall. She looked at him and he just gave her a murderous stare that made her feel like she was made out of ice and he was the fire.
"ENOUGH OF YOUR FUCKING XENOPHOBIC VIEWS, GUNNERY CHIEF ASHLEY BRIANA WILLIAMS! I had enough of it. The crew as enough of it. As CXO, I can kick your ass off the ship right now and I won't give a flying fuck about it," Ragan was red as tomato. Ash looks at him and nods her head.
"Sir, yes, sir," Ash said then saluted Ragan. "Do you even lover her," She asked softly.
"Yeah," John said. She didn't say anything and walked out and saw Tali.
"Ash…" Tali started.
"Don't," the Gunnery Chief did her best to sound sincere though she was hurting inside. "I hope you two are happy together. I've got gear to clean." She walked away.
Tali came in and saw John. She knew that he was in pain. "John…"
John didn't say anything; Tali came to him and hugged him tightly. 'Keelah, I didn't want this.' Unfortunately, it was what she got.
