A/N: I am not a fan of traditional rescue scenes. There's something to be said for damsels in distress, I suppose, as tired as that trope is. But I wanted to showcase that Liara was not weak early on.

Updated 9-7-2017.

The entry to the dig site was a cylindrical hole in the side of the mountain, a common enough set-up for miners who dug core shafts to test for mineral densities. The door was a heavy, hydraulic powered slab of metal that opened fitfully when the controls were activated, leading down into a sharply sloped tunnel lined with wires and overhead lights. As a rule, Shepard never liked going into dark holes sealed with heavy doors, as they all reminded her of Torfan, and the final assault.

Then again, nothing else can be that bad. For one, no batarians…

Shepard took point, swapping her LMG for the blunt, vicious ODIN shotgun, its under-barrel light flicking on automatically in the dim interior of the tunnel. The Spectre armor she wore circulated cool, clean air around her, the mirrored faceplate lit up on the inside with video links in the corners of her view and an integrated targeting system tied to sensors in her hand, wrist, and arm. Her steps were quiet; the heavy boots of the armor rubberized and built with tiny mass effect shock absorbers to silence her steps.

Garrus followed, hunched over slightly, eyes tracking every moment as he held his heavy sniper at a ready position. He'd augmented his usual loadout with a bandoleer of heavy splinter shells – individual mini-block munitions that fragmented on impact – for the assault rifle he had checked out of the Normandy's armory, and Forlan's pistol was holstered on his hip. Heat wafted up from the end of the tunnel, washing over his angular features, making him blink a bit. "It's… hot. Why is that?"

Wrex brought up the rear, gigantic shotgun making careful sweeps as he towered over the other two, the door falling shut behind him as they moved along the tunnel. "The air is moving, but it's… dead." The krogan's grip on his own weapon was tight, as he sniffed the air almost suspiciously. "If someone is here, they've been gone at least a day or so."

Shepard triggered the door at the far end of the tunnel and rolled out, shotgun making an arc, covering her back. "Clear."

Garrus stepped through, his legs making a wide spread as he stabilized himself, Wrex squeezing past him to straighten to his full height. The three stood on a narrow, corroded metal platform, high above a pit that must have descended over a hundred meters. The chewed gashes in the walls and heavy iron girders around the edge of the pit spoke of rapid digging, but empty soda cans, bits of food wrappers, and a pile of boxes with salarian markings indicated it had been lived in for some time. Wires trailed down the pit in a messy string sloppily tied together with plastic strips and nailed into the rock with heavy spikes. A single staircase circled the edges of the pit, spiraling down into darkness, the occasional field light clamped to the thin metal railings.

"So, descend the creepy rickety metal staircase into the dark, bottomless pit most likely filled with geth? You bring us to such nice places, Commander." Garrus's voice was wry, as he put away his sniper rifle and pulled out his pistol.

"Let's get moving. We don't have time to waste." Shepard's voice was curt and cool as she moved ahead.

Silently they moved along the stairs, hearing nothing and seeing no movement. Occasionally they passed by openings in the rock – squarish tunnels slashed into the walls, ending about ten meters in. Crates marked 'Univ. Thess' or 'Univ. Althara' filled these, along with chunks of white, glossy material and bits of trash.

After almost five minutes of descent, they reached a broad, open metal platform, crossing the pit and opening into a cave gallery. An elevator was set along the far wall, pulleys and support systems sunk into the rock with heavy beams, a rather worn-out looking generator next to it sputtering along with assorted rattling noises. The rest of the space was given over to an expanse of bone-white wall, covered in thin, almost elegant inscriptions that were in no language Shepard had seen but looked vaguely familiar somehow.

She stepped closer, frowning. "This must be part of the dig site, but where are the researchers? Did the geth kill them?"

Garrus glanced around. "No sign of a firefight. No geth heatsinks, no empty ammo blocks." He pointed to where computers had been neatly stacked, along with crates covered in shipping labels and warning signs. "No blood spatters, and everything is neatly stacked. Looks like whoever was here was pulling out, or about to."

Wrex sniffed the air, warily. "I don't smell any blood. Just dust, and…" He frowned. "Burning rock. Lava. Brimstone. Shepard, that's where the heat is coming from. This isn't a mountain. It's an old inactive volcano."

Garrus nodded thoughtfully. "Never been around lava, I wondered what that was. I thought something below had caught fire."

Shepard shrugged, tearing her gaze from the inscriptions, ignoring the shiver that suddenly shot down her spine. "Let's take the elevator. Maybe there are answers, or this T'Soni person, down below." They entered the elevator carefully, and Wrex threw a lever, sending it slowly into a descent. Shepard's comms system flashed and she tapped her link. "What's the status topside, Joker?"

The Flight Lieutenant's voice was a bit static-blurred, but clear enough to make out. "1st and 2nd Squads report all hostiles terminated. They took a lot of fire. Rodriguez, Smith, and Patterson are down with heavy bleeding, and Jackson took a slug in the knee and can't walk."

Shepard sighed. "Understood. How many effectives left?"

Cole's rough voice cut in. "Four. Williams, myself, Lelong, and Anders. The LT is alright, but he took a shot in the thigh, and he has a bad migraine. Says his biotics are… erratic. We're down by some kind of landing pad up on the ridge, there's some medical supplies here and luggage. Labels say it's T'Soni's. We don't see any bodies… but…"

Shepard grimaced. "Take it with you and fall back to the Normandy. I think we're okay, the geth seem to have focused their efforts topside. As long as no one died, there's no point risking their lives just to cover my six. Joker, notify Chakwas."

"Aye, ma'am. I'll bring her in close after I do one more sweep of the area. I keep getting some kind of light LADAR ping I can't pin down."

Shepard nodded. "Cole, send someone to grab the Mako, you can start first aid on your casualties with the supplies in it, and it's going to be a lot easier to get everyone back on the Normandy that way. When we're done here, you can bring the ship close into the dig site itself, it's secure now."

Shepard cut off the comm, and glanced around. They had descended quite a ways now, and the rock was an endless sheet of hard granite on the left. To the right, the entire pit was now white, glossy, and hard, apparently the surface of the Prothean ruin. Occasionally wide, oval corridors stretched off into the darkness, or ended in flat white walls covered in strange symbols. "Pretty big dig. Must have been some kind of tower, I guess."

Garrus nodded, while Wrex looked bored, flipping his shotgun's safety off and on. With a shriek of metal, the elevator slowed. "Looks like we're coming to a stop."

The cage of the elevator bottomed out with a thud. A second later, there was an electronic chittering noise, and geth plasma darts flooded the cab. Shepard threw herself down, ducking under the fusillade, as did Garrus. Wrex, on the other hand, simply roared as he was hit several times, and put his head down as he charged the elevator gate, which parted like rotten wood before his bulk. Barreling out of the elevator, he skidded on the metal walkway beyond it, lifting his shotgun to fire several blasts. An electronic sound of pain rang out, as something white was flung down, burning from the inferno rounds it had been impaled with.

Shepard cursed, and ran for it, throwing herself into a ball and rolling behind the bulk of the krogan. She came up even as Garrus slammed himself to one side of the elevator, using the edges of the frame as light cover. The cavern beyond was large, probably thirty meters deep and very high. Broad shelves of rock connected to the cavern floor with rough ramps, while standing spot lights and the occasional hung field lamp cast a sterile white illumination over everything, sharp black shadows pooling around the tents, equipment, and crates that bulked along one side of the cavern.

In the middle of the cavern a massive mining laser sat, its red-tinted focusing tip disconnected and set on a table next to it. She didn't see a single geth. She swept her weapon across her field of vision, eying the dark spots between two tents. Nothing met her gaze but all-concealing shadows and blazing bright searchlights, the combination ruining her ability to pick out movement.

There was a scrabble of rock above her, and she rolled onto her back, firing instinctively. Wrex spun on his heel as something white and fast slammed into Shepard, the cheap metal walkway splintering as it crashed into her and both fell four meters to the cavern floor below. She struggled with the thing in the dim light, as it squirmed and bucked in her grasp, greasy white synthetic flesh making bizarre hissing sounds.

With a grunt of effort she threw it off of her, but one of its long feet tangled in the unbroken section of walkway above as it leapt up. With a spin and a flash of red from its single eye, the geth monstrosity launched itself at her again, this time slamming a metal studded knee into her stomach. She felt the armor plating across her torso snap, but she wrenched her arm around the thing's elbow and pulled, arching back to force it to pull away from her.

Wrex was shouting, blasts of shotgun fire peppered with high-pitched digital squealing echoing through the cavern. The disgusting thing on top of her smelled like wet and rotting cheese, mixed with old rust and grease. She kicked it away, rolling out from under the walkway and into the light, and brought up her shotgun, blasting it. It collapsed bonelessly, sprays of white fluid spattering over her armor, and she turned to face the cavern once more. The things were everywhere, leaping like frenzied locusts, spraying plasma darts from slender, ugly curved shapes in misshapen hands.

Garrus loaded a high-explosive override shell into his Model 19 rifle and fired, the round lashing out to lance into one of the geth's sides, detonating a moment later in a flash of blue-white energy and a jumble of smoking, burning geth body parts. But even as he did so, two more ran along the ground, then along the wall, loping like deranged bloodhounds, glowing eye-lights leaving a trail of illumination as they pounced on him.

Shepard grimaced, taking aim with her shotgun and firing. A geth thing folded in half at the waist from the force of the shot, and she fired again, gritting her teeth. The disturbingly fluid motion it made as it slumped to its knees, holding its shattered torso, looked far too much like a living creature for her comfort. Wrex grabbed one that was wrapped around his back with a meaty fist and hurled it with a roar, the thing flying in a tumbling arc to land heavily atop a crate.

A series of snaps and the sound of something sizzling let Shepard know that one was dead, but Wrex was surrounded by three more. Shepard leapt up, calling upon her biotics, and lashed out with a pulse of negative gravity, sending the geth near Wrex sliding from their feet to float helplessly in the air. Rather than fire his gun, Wrex grunted, fist clenching as he pushed out his own biotic power, the two fields overlapping violently and shearing each other apart in a bubble of titanic force.

The three geth were wrenched apart, one stretching to almost double its length for a brief moment before snapping like a worn rubber band, one half slamming into the rock wall and splattering, the other careening off into the darkness at the end of the cavern, landing in a pile of crates that it crushed.

The other two geth, either less sturdy or more lucky, were just torn in half cleanly, bonelessly flopping to the walkway a moment later in a rain of white fluids. Wrex kicked a clammy geth hand off of his foot and crashed his heel into its head, sending the eye-light into darkness. Garrus had dropped his rifle to pull out his pistol, shooting one of the foul, rubbery things at point-blank range as it rounded the corner into the elevator car. It stumbled back, colliding with its partner, and Garrus fired three more times, his hand hammering down on the ammo release to cycle its chamber, the heavy shotgun-like blasts tearing dozens of pale white furrows in the sickly false flesh.

The first one collapsed, the second twitched as it staggered back into Wrex's shotgun barrel. The flash of light a moment later sent the now burning geth flying across the railing to flip over it, and crash down onto the rock floor.

Wrex wiped white fluid off his gun and face with a disgusted look, while Garrus fell back onto his haunches, scuttling away from the twitching, all too lifelike pile of synthetic flesh in front of him.

"What the fuck was THAT?!" Garrus's voice was trembling with multiple tones, his eyes wide.

Shepard crouched down in front of one of the bodies, poking it with her shotgun. The geth was roughly shaped like its more metallic counterparts, but only a few narrow metal rods at its joints and hips, and the plating behind its head and surrounding its eye, betrayed its synthetic origin. The arms, torso, and legs were all built of the same dark white muscle-like material, which, when she touched it, molded sluggishly around her finger with a juicy, sickening squelch before reforming back to its previous shape. "I have no idea, Garrus."

Wrex spat. "Goddamned disgusting is what they are. They smell horrible. Geth were bad enough when they were just machines, this is… vile."

Garrus slowly got to his feet. "Are these living beings they've ruined, or did they grow this stuff onto some kind of framework? What in the spirits is going on here?"

Shepard stood as well, and shook her head. She shut off the flashlight to her shotgun – all it had done in the dim lighting of the cavern was highlight her position. She was about to reply when she heard a faint, almost exhausted voice, barely above a pained whisper.

"Goddess… please… is… anyone there…?"

Shepard caught the edge of the walkway and clambered up. Following the faint sound, she moved around the edge of the elevator to a narrow ramp leading down. She stopped, surprised by the vista in front of her. An asari was suspended and spread-eagled in a rippling field of azure, her once white uniform stuck to her slender form with sweat, long black pants clinging to her legs. A drawn face looked down at the Commander with such broken desperation that even Shepard was taken aback.

Shepard took her helmet off, shaking her hair free, and arched an eyebrow at the sight of her floating in midair. While certainly beautiful to Shepard's eyes – she'd always been partial to asari, ever since her days training with asari commandos – any allure was somewhat dampened by the fact that she was clearly in distress. The woman's lips were parted as she panted, her eyes dull, her skin bright blue and somehow parched looking. Shepard could not help but notice her smell, like old bathwater and whiskey and something less pleasant.

She cleared her wandering thoughts, speaking quietly. "Doctor T'Soni, I presume?"

The asari swallowed painfully, and her eyes met Shepard's.

For a long moment, neither looked away. For a moment, all that existed was two shattered people, unable to fit, never knowing how to react, unable to grasp the pain they kept being put through and into. For a moment Shepard saw something in Liara's eyes she could understand, something broken and raw and vital. For a moment Liara saw something in the human woman's eyes, pain never allowed to heal, wounds infected with agony and loss, a hand reaching out from filth and darkness for a touch of light…

"Uh, Commander?" Garrus's voice was even, but with a slight edge. "You okay?"

Shepard shook herself, frowning. "Yeah. Just… still shaken up by the geth." She cleared her throat. "You are Liara T'Soni, yes? Doctor from the University of Serrice, here on some kind of … archeological dig?"

Liara nodded, her voice thin but somehow… sweet. "Yes… you… are real? You are real, yes? I have… been seeing things, I think. Hearing things. I've lost track of time…"

Shepard nodded. "I… yes, I'm real. My name is Commander Shepard. I'm a Spectre. This is Garrus Vakarian, C-Sec, and Wrex. The Council sent us here. We're here to… get you out, I guess."

Liara closed her eyes, shuddering. "Thank the Goddess… I did not think anyone would ever come looking for me." Her voice sped up, wavering, as she opened her eyes again, a trace of panic coming over her features. "Listen… this… field, I am trapped in, is a Prothean stasis defense field of some kind. I cannot move while within its confines, so I need you to find some way to get me out, alright? Please?"

Shepard nodded, but firmed her jaw. "And how did you end up in there?"

Liara swallowed, wincing, her wide blue eyes guileless and desperate. "I… I was packing my belongings to leave, the University… fired me, and I was told to meet one of my mother's followers to take me back home. I was… lost in thought, examining this ruin one last time when a krogan appeared with a bunch of geth. Geth! I saw the footage of Eden Prime, but…"

She shivered, despite, the heat, and continued, her voice almost cracking. "I… I panicked. I knew this passageway acted as a barrier, and I thought I could protect myself by activating it. But something went… wrong, and it trapped me instead." She bit her lip. "And now I'm trapped in here. You must get me out!"

Garrus flicked a mandible. "Your mother is working with Saren, doctor. She's responsible for the atrocities on Eden Prime. Whose side are you on?" The turian's voice was hard, suspicious.

Liara looked shocked, lips trembling. She stammered. "I-I am not on anyone's side! I may be Benezia's daughter, but I am nothing like her! She hates everything I am. I have not even spoken to her in-person in years! I—"

Shepard held up a hand. "Calm down, doctor. We'll get this all sorted out." She was surprised to hear herself speaking in a soothing voice, and cleared her throat. "We just need to figure out a way past this energy field."

Liara minimally shook her head. "The thug that claimed they worked for my mother was trying to bring it down, but he and the geth had no luck. They planned to use something from what they called a… Colossus? To shatter the field… but I have my doubts. Prothean energy fields tend to implode when collapsed forcefully." She paused, then continued. "The controls are behind me, if you can find a way past the barrier field, you can shut it off safely. Please help me."

Wrex grunted. "Well, we can't use their idea anyway; the stupid geth machine is a pancake now. It's too bad we can't just blast our way through."

Shepard thought for a moment, then smiled. "I may have an idea. Just be calm, doctor. We'll get you out of there before you know it. "

"S-Shepard. Be… careful. That krogan is still here, with the geth. They have been trying to find ways past the barrier, and I think he is a biotic."

Wrex stiffened. "Another krogan with the soulgrip? I'm starting to get tired of krogan stupid enough to work for Saren. For a battlemaster to do so is troubling. And infuriating." The krogan's voice was dark and thick with anger.

Shepard exhaled. "Garrus, cover the elevator. Wrex, come with me."

Shepard walked around the broken walkway to the cavern floor proper, stepping over the shattered bodies of the geth hopping things that still littered the floor. She glanced around the campsite that had been set up beyond it, then turned her attention to the mining laser.

Wrex grunted. "I like how you think, human, but I doubt blasting the field would work. Or the wall."

Shepard grinned. "No doubt. Help me get this focuser back on the breech."

Wrex grunted as he lifted the heavy crystal, the two of them carefully sliding it back onto the business end of the laser.

"I noticed as we came down that there were lots of other oval tunnels like the one Doctor T'Soni is in. None of them have this field. All we have to do is blast through the rock below it. There's some kind of shaft beyond that, I could see it behind her – maybe we can rappel up or it might even be an elevator."

She pulled up the laser's menu, grinning more widely as the system booted up. "Still got power. Now…"

Using the cross-shaped targeting pad, she carefully aligned the laser's grid to the heavy jumble of rocks below, and dialed in the power to cut through three meters of rock. With a touch of the firing stud, the laser sent out a blinding purple-blue beam of energy, melting through the granite stones like butter. A moment later the laser cut out, leaving a wide smoking trench in the ground, leading to an irregularly melted hole in the wall that gave way to smooth, white floor.

"Ta-da. Better living through firepower. Let's move." Shepard and Wrex walked over to the still cooling hole in the floor, and Shepard called up to Garrus. "Down here. We have a way in."

A moment later, Garrus came scrabbling down the rocks, hissing in alarm as he jerked away from the still glowing hot rock near the edge of the hole. "Well, that works, if a bit sloppy."

Shepard manually turned on her shotgun's light again and entered first, ducking her head under the still warm rock, then straightening as she entered the tunnel. This one was coated in dust, a console like the one next to T'Soni above dark and still. The corridor went on for about nine meters, before ending in a circular landing with a hole in the middle. A slender podium was at the edge of the hole, faintly glowing green images above it.

Garrus gave a sort of whistling noise. "Fifty thousand years and the power is still on. Talk about over-engineering."

Shepard walked up to the device, and Wrex frowned. "Buncha squiggling gibberish. How do you plan to work this?"

Shepard frowned at Wrex. "I…" Without knowing why, her fingers tapped two of the holographic buttons, and there was a hard, grinding sound. A moment later, a circular platform descended from above, coming to a smooth stop, even with the floor they were on, and the panel chimed. "How did I know to do that?"

Garrus gave her a worried look as they moved to the elevator. "Maybe the Beacon did more than give you bad dreams, Sheep-master."

Shepard rolled her eyes. "Let's go. If I'm crazy, at least it's useful crazy. I hope."

She touched another control, and the elevator smoothly lifted. It ascended slowly but evenly, a few seconds later stopping on the floor with the asari. Blue radiance filled the corridor ahead, but the control panel was about a meter outside of the effect.

Liara's form was facing away from them, and Shepard shook her head as she caught herself eying the asari's behind. Jesus, I'm as bad as Dunn. What the hell is wrong with me?

Shepard stepped forward, and Liara gave a little movement with her head. "H-Hello?"

Shepard spoke, making sure her voice was calm. "It's just us, doctor. We'll get you down from that… thing." Shepard walked over to the control panel, examining it minutely.

Liara tried to turn her head, but couldn't. "How… did you get past the field?"

Shepard was still absorbed in the green-glowing display in front of her. "Mining laser. Cut a hole in the floor to the next level down where the field wasn't turned on." Shepard bit her lip.

Garrus stepped up. "How do we cut this off, doctor?"

Liara sagged, her voice dropping in defeat. "I… don't know. There must be some way to do so, but the machine was… malfunctioning. After all, I only wanted a protective barrier, instead it became a prison. Any advice I could give you might be wrong."

Shepard hesitantly tapped a control in the right hand corner, and there was a heavy rumble from somewhere below. A moment later, Liara collapsed to the deck, her head hitting her knapsack on the floor. "Oh… you… you did it. How did you know which controls to activate?"

Shepard helped her up, as gentle as possible, pulling her to her feet, leaving them face to face, barely centimeters apart. A long moment paused, and Shepard stepped back, exhaling, and pulled a bottle of water from the emergency supply pack on her thigh. "Long story. Here, doctor. You must be dying of thirst."

Liara's eyes lit up as she took the bottle with trembling hands, shaking like a leaf as she slowly and carefully drained it, tipping her head back. Shepard found herself watching the movement of her slender throat as she swallowed, and turned to Garrus to break the image. "We clear?"

Garrus shrugged. "So far. I can't hear anything. If there's any more of those geth… hoppers… around, they're being sneaky. Gah." The turian gave a twist of his head and rolled his shoulders as if shaking off a bad memory.

Shepard turned back to Liara. "Alright, doctor. You a little better now? Can you walk, at least? How long have you been trapped in that thing, anyway?"

Liara shook her head wearily, eyes focused solely on Shepard. "I… two days? I think? Things began to blur towards the last few hours. I… I think I can make it out of here, the water… helped." She exhaled shakily. "I… I owe you my life, Commander. Whatever I can do to repay you, it is not enough. What would you have me do?"

Shepard looked at her feet, shifting under the intense gaze. "That depends on you, doctor. Your mother is definitely tied up in horrible activities. The Citadel Council has a lot of questions it needs answered, both about what she's up to and the geth, and right now, you are our only lead."

Liara frowned. Shepard noticed she had eyebrow-like markings above each eye, and freckles dusting across her cheeks. Just like a human. Except she's blue. And beautiful. And I am staring again.

A moment later, Liara looked away, her voice tentative. "Lead? I do not know what my mother is planning, or what she would have to do with geth. I am just a researcher of the Prothean extinction; I am not even well-versed in the more technical aspects of their culture!"

Shepard held up a hand, and forced a smile. "Calm down. No one is going to arrest you or anything silly like that. We'll… figure out what's going on later. Frankly, if your mother's idea of a welcome home party is to send geth after you, you're better off with us. Let's get out of here."

Liara pointed to the elevator. "We – that is, the research team that was once here – figured out how to use the Prothean elevator long ago, Commander. It is much faster and safer than the mining elevator, and it leads to the top of the volcano, which is fairly broad and flat. We stopped using the mining elevator months ago; I am astonished it still functions at all."

Wrex shrugged. "The quicker we are out of here, the less likely more geth are to show up. And that damned elevator was on its last legs, anyway."

Shepard nodded, and put her mirror-faced helmet back on. "Get us to the top, then, doctor."

Liara gave a weak smile, and picked up her knapsack, walking toward the controls. "Please, call me Liara, Commander. I… I fear my doctorate is of little use to me except in isolating me in out-of-the-way digs."

Wrex and Garrus stood stock still as Liara worked the controls. With a smooth lurch, the elevator began to rise, at a very rapid clip. More corridors radiated off the central hub in all directions, most blocked by debris, crates, or darkness.

Shepard looked up, as a broad ring of metal scythed open to reveal sunlight and the harsh pale red sky outside. "Yeah, this is a hell of a lot faster than that rickety piece of crap we rode down on."

The elevator came to a halt, the top of the mountain inset with a smooth white square of stone surrounding the opening that allowed the elevator through. The four stepped off of the elevator, which immediately sank back below the hatch cover, sliding out of sight a few seconds later. They were about two hundred and forty meters above the dig site now, the wreckage of the Colossus a tiny asterisk of twisted metal and smoke, the buildings spread out around the distant tunnel mouth.

Shepard was so relieved to be out of the cramped, hot Prothean ruin that the voice from behind her took her completely by surprise. "Ha! Well, geth, you were right, this is an elevator shaft."

Shepard whipped around, shotgun leveled, only to face the blazing blue orb of some kind of huge geth walker-machine, towering just over three and a half meters above them, wide-set legs gripping the rock of the mountain face beneath it securely. Leaned cockily against the foremost leg, one hand gripping a vicious looking shotgun, was a yellow-skinned krogan in bulky black armor. Red glowing tubing trimmed the armor, while his head plate was smooth and unscarred.

The krogan jutted his chin out, displaying his teeth in a challenge. "Some old doddering wreck you dug up and a mincing little turian won't stop a big walking geth cannon, human. Give up the doctor and I'll make this quick and painless."

Shepard snorted. "Fuck. You."

She moved, pushing Liara out of the line of fire and immediately calling upon her biotics. She heard Garrus yell as he rolled backwards, the hiss-clank of his sniper rifle as he unfolded it echoing across the mountain top. With a yell she hurled a shockwave at the krogan thug—

Who, with an almost negligent backhand motion, stopped it cold, biotic forces tearing at each other fruitlessly before wavering away. "Pathetic. I thought you were supposed to be some kinda monkey badass. Geth, kill these pyjaks."

Both Wrex and Garrus fired at the same moment, shotgun and anti-materiel rifle blazing in a unified boom, one punching a wide hole in the geth machine's chest, the other digging a long gouge across the transparent surface of the geth's eye. But the Armature was far too large to be disabled, and the pulse that radiated out lashed across the three of them with a snapping boom. Shepard felt herself land heavily, paint sizzling, shields totally fried. Her armor trilled alarms as she tried to move, feeling something broken shift in the leg she had hurt on Eden Prime. Her eyes took in the sight of Wrex, laying on the cold white stone at the edge of the elevator shaft, unmoving, cold blue plasma fires dotting his armor and smoke rising from his form.

Get… up…

Shepard spat blood inside her helmet and staggered to her feet, calling upon her biotics. A second flare of light slammed into her just as she got a barrier up, snapping it and sending her skidding backwards again, this time landing on her stomach, her shotgun skidding out of her weakened grasp. She felt blood running from a cut on her collarbone, trickling down her neck. The Armature stomped forward, spike-tipped legs digging into the rock as it approached, casting faint shadows even in the noonday sun from the blazing death its eye promised.

"Get away from her, you THING!"

Shepard felt, rather than saw, something like a giant tidal wave wash over her, strong enough to send wind gusting past. A literal biotic meteor slammed into the geth with enough force that three of its legs snapped instantly, shards of metal and armor plating flying off with popping, crumpling noises. The Armature crashed to the ground, its head slamming into the astonished krogan with enough force to pulp his body, reducing it to gory red-orange paste that vented in a cone shape across the mountain top and far out into the air.

As Shepard watched, the geth machine trembled and tried to rise, only for a blue radiance to enfold it. "You will not hurt her, or anything else, ever again!"

The Armature lifted, jerked aloft as if by the hand of an angry god, legs jerking helplessly, then was slammed into the hatch covering the elevator. The head snapped off like a child's toy, skittering across the ground to come to a stop a meter away, the light fading from its orb slowly. A sob, and then blue light exploded outwards again. The machine was hurled down the mountainside, legs and bits of its body being shorn away as it rolled irregularly to crash to a sudden halt against a massive boulder some fifteen meters down.

With a groan, Shepard managed to sit up. Liara T'Soni was on one knee, her lips drawn back in a grimace of hate, blue fires still illuminating her form, heaving with exertion. Her eyes were blazing pools of blue, full of frustration, fear, and savage emotion. Her shoulders moved up and down, her breathing erratic, and she glanced over at Shepard a long moment. "I… am… not… feeling so… good."

With a flutter of eyelids, the obviously exhausted asari collapsed to the ground. Shepard merely watched her, feeling so tired. "J… Joker. Come in… We… could… use a pick-up…"