Chapter 37: Prothean Ruins

The Normandy jumped out of FTL a few days later in the Theseus System. Remarkably, the rest trip had been surprisingly uneventful, with everyone getting along. Even Ashley continued to welcome Kal's help and the two were cordial in each others company. During meal times, Jack made sure to keep his distance from Kal even though he wanted to do the opposite. Even though it wasn't his first choice, Jack was going to keep his word and treat Kal like any other member of the support crew, friendly but distant.

Joker had announced they were approaching Feros so, Jack went to the cockpit and Liara was already standing there. He had his new set of armor on that Kal had made for him. She was wearing a thin set of Phoenix armor looking like it was a spare Ashley had given her. He didn't know how he felt about her coming along for this mission, on the one hand, this contact of hers would probably want to see the Asari but, it was dangerous. If Jack's suspicions were correct, this 'protégé' was actually the Geth leader he had encountered on Eden Prime. He wasn't sure how that was possible since he put a hole through the things chest but, referencing the Reapers as 'old ones,' just seemed too much of a coincidence.

In his usual bubbly tone, Joker said, "Oh hey Commander, I'm glad you've picked such a tropical paradise for our next destination, really I'm so excited."

Jack could hear the sarcasm in his tone but didn't really understand it until the ship had entered Feros' atmosphere. Even from here the planet looked very unwelcoming, from the constant rain to the massive metal spires dotting the landscape. Jack recognized the buildings immediately as Prothean because their general shape matched up perfectly with the beacon he had seen on Eden Prime. Tall and thin with flat edges making it look like they were built in a hurry. The structures looked like they could fall down at any time though, with massive vines taking up spaces in the metal. The metal itself was also extremely rusted from fifty thousand years of constant rain fall.

Liara turned to look at Joker having not learned about sarcasm, "I know how you feel Joker, if we had more time I could spend countless hours just exploring these ruins. Imagine what kind of secrets are yet to be uncovered with a focused effort."

Jack was about to start laughing from the look Joker gave her but, to all of their surprise, a Geth dropship flew past them. Then another, and another, Jack's gut tensed seeing the amount of Geth ships going in the same direction they were. He was expecting to see Saren's dreadnought among the crowd but, it was mysteriously absent. That meant Saren thought he had something more important to do and that made Jack worry. What was more important than seeing another beacon?

Joker's fingers tensed over the controls as he looked back at Jack, "At least we know the stealth drive works like a charm. Any new orders Commander? Preferably, yes Joker let's get out of here."

Jack pointed to a series of lights he could see ahead of the Geth, "Get us as close to that as possible ahead of the Geth. Whoever lives out here is about to get a rude awakening. Tell the whole crew to suit up, by the looks of it we're gonna need everyone for this."

While making sure that the Normandy didn't crash into the Geth dropships, Joker flew towards the series of lights looking for a docking area. Even though the front window was being hammered with rain, Jack could start to make out more and more details about the settlement. If his eyes weren't playing tricks on him it looked a lot like Eden Prime in terms of design. This was a dig site of some kind, but unlike the other colony, Jack was here first. He took Liara by the arm heading for the cargo hold.

Once in the elevator, Jack looked at her, "So, Liara, do you have any kind of combat experience? These Geth aren't going to go easy on us."

Liara waited for a moment, obviously trying to come up with a good answer, "It's very easy so I've been told by Wrex, just point and shoot."

Jack coughed not really loving that answer, "But have you ever fired a weapon yourself? It's a lot different from the vids."

The elevator doors opened and Liara quickly started walking forward, "Oh look, here's our stop."

Jack couldn't help but shake his head, her evasivness was his answer. Everyone stood around him with guns at the ready, "Alright people, listen up. We're going to be dropping into a hot zone with Geth everywhere but, we don't know what kind of civilian population is down there so watch your fire. Once we get a break in the fighting, me and Liara will try and find this contact. Understood?"

Ashley tilted her head, "You should have someone else go with you, it could just be a big trap."

Kal stepped forward, "I'll go, we're good at springing traps together, aren't we Commander?"

Jack was tempted to say no since they would most likely be dealing with a Geth but, that would be giving Kal special treatment, "Alright then, when the fighting slows down, the three of us will go find Liara's contact."

When the Normandy set down at the back end of the colony, all hell had broken loose. Geth were already starting to overwhelm the place with their superior firepower, despite the colonists still fighting. He assumed this is what Eden Prime looked like in the first few hours. As he passed over a Human body, Jack realized that this colony was also ExoGeni. What was it with this company and finding Prothean artifacts? At this point, Jack wouldn't be surprised if they said they had a treasure map to find them all. It would be the least ridiculous thing he heard since starting this mission.

They split up into two groups, Jack leading Liara and Kal to the right, while Ashley lead the four others to the left. The fighting was easy going until Jack's team got caught in the middle of an alleyway with Geth coming at them from both sides. Taking cover behind trash bins on either side of the alley, Jack and Kal kept the Geth busy in opposite directions. Despite Liara being unable to even shoot the side of a barn, she was useful with her biotics. One minute she would throw a Geth into the line of fire for a shot, and the next she was casting a shield so they wouldn't take a hit. If he could teach her how to actually shoot, she would be a very dangerous opponent.

As the fighting became more intense with hordes of Geth approaching, a large window opened above Jack's head. A female voice called down to them, "Come on, it's safe up here."

Knowing the sheer number of Geth would overwhelm them in these tight quarters, Jack pointed to Liara and then the window, "We can fight them from up there, let's move!"

Liara started glowing a bright blue, "I'm on it Shepard!" Before he knew what she was doing, the Asari put him and Kal in a biotic bubble and tossed them through the window by force, she came in a few seconds later, "That was too close for my comfort zone."

Since she had been so careless in her toss just wanting to just get them inside, Jack landed on top of Kal in his lap. Jack had to admit it was still a very nice feeling even though the circumstances were very different from the last time they were in this position. They were staring in each others eyes for a long couple of seconds, even though the Quarian visor, both breathing heavily from the adrenaline rush until Geth started shooting into the building. Jack scrambled back to his feet and returned fire through the wall back at the Geth. Kal ultimately finished the immediate fight, using his assault rifle to tear through the wall and the Geth outside.

The Quarian then turned to Liara still panting some, "Never toss me like that again... At least not without my permission." He looked at Jack, "You ok Commander?"

He was about to answer when a young woman sighed looking at the wall with lots of bullet holes through it, "Oh no, mom is gonna kill me for sure."

Jack couldn't stop a laugh from spilling out, "I think she'll be much more concerned with your safety than your wall, miss?"

She was playing with her hands awkwardly, "Lizbeth Baynham, I'm an archaeologist for ExoGeni. We just set up this base a week ago."

Liara sounded eager as she walked up to the Human woman, "I'm in a similar field Lizbeth, can you tell us what you've been able to find? It is very important and could help you as well as us."

When she didn't answer Jack said, "I'm not here for ExoGeni's dirty laundry Lizbeth, I'm just here to stop the Geth. Do you know why the Geth would be here?"

Lizbeth nodded looking guilty and started to pace, "Yes, we... we found something in one of the alien ruins. It's some sort of plant with mind controlling capabilities. Our boss wanted to take it off world for study, the Geth must've picked up the transmission."

Kal cocked his head to the side, "Wait a minute, how do you know this thing can control minds? How does it take people over?"

Lizbeth frowned refusing to look at any of them, "I was just following orders... We gave part of the plant as food to the nonessential staff here. Now they're mindless beings guarding the plant."

Jack put a hand on her shoulder, "It's not your fault Lizbeth, you were just doing your job. Tell us where this plant is and we can make this right."

She looked up at him with a new sense of determination, "Alright, hold on and I'll make you a map."

While she was drawing something out, Adam's voice came through the comm, "Commander, Commander, come in. Do you read me?"

Jack didn't expect to hear from the ships security chief right now but answered, "We read you Adam, what's going on?"

Adam sounded on edge as he replied, "Commander, there a bunch of people banging on the Normandy's hull, they look out of it sir. What do you want me to do about it?"

Jack thought for a moment, "Give me a minute to see how the others are doing.." He commed Ashley, "Williams, what's the situation on your end?"

He could hear gunfire but Ashley responded, "Little crispy sir but everyone is still fine. How about you?"

Jack eyed Lizbeth for a few seconds and answered, "About the same, can you spare anyone though? Apparently, the Normandy is getting hit with some sort of mind controlled zealots."

From her tone he could almost picture her rolling her eyes, "Of course it is, alright I'll send Wrex back, Williams out."

Jack went back to the channel with Adam, "Wrex is on his way back, just hold position until he does."

Adam sounded strained like he was lifting something, "Copy that Commander, good luck out there!"

Lizbeth handed him a datapad when the conversation was over, "There, that should get you into the base. Just please be careful with these people, some of them were my friends."

Rather than tell her the grim truth that these people were probably beyond saving, Jack merely said, "We'll do what we can for them. Now, you should stay in here and hide somewhere, more Geth are out there."

Using her crudely drawn map as a guide, the three of them started making their way through the makeshift colony towards the destination. While the Geth had definitely thinned out in terms of raw numbers, they were still a threat that had to be dealt with. The three of them got into several engagements but, quick headshots to the eye like flashlights made quick work of them before they could call for backup. It also helped that this part of the colony was structured like a maze so Geth couldn't see them coming from a mile away.

Jack didn't have to look at Lizbeth's map to realize they had made it to the place. The Prothean building was massive infront of them with a single large tower in the center as well as two much smaller spires to the left and right. Scientific materials litered the ground leading to a console of some sort in the middle of the three towers. It wasn't like anything Jack had ever seen before with the keys in the shape of hexagons. Each key had a strange symbol on it that Jack assumed was the Prothean's written language. However, he thought it was strange he couldn't read what they said since he could with the console on Therum. Maybe this was a different Prothean dialect?

Liara stared at the console as well, even trying to tap one of the buttons, "I've never seen anything like this in all my years of research. Can you read any of that from your experience with the Eden Prime beacon?"

Jack shook his head with a frown, "No, this is... different."

He didn't have much time to think about the implications because Jack heard a pained moan from up ahead. Looking past the terminal, Jack saw a group of people shambling about the closed, trapezoid shaped door. The three of them took cover around the structure so they wouldn't be seen and could assess what they were dealing with. Jack only counted about five of them but, their appearance caught his eye. While they were definitely still Human, Jack could see boney or rocky growths on their skin that he betted acted as armor.

Kal motioned to get his attention and whispered, "If I throw a flashbang I think it would get their attention. We could get them out of the way of that door without hurting them."

Jack wanted to point out that these people looked pretty far gone but, it was a good idea to save ammo, "Ok, once you distract them we'll all make a run for the door and hope it opens."

Kal waited for a good three seconds before he tossed the grenade down one of the side streets near them. The rocky Human's stumbled towards the light and sound allowing the three of them to get to the door. Unfortunately, it wasn't just opening on command and didn't appear to have any access point on the door. Probably there was an easy way to open this thing fifty thousand years ago but, the rain may have rusted that right off. Jack assumed there must be a way to open this from the console but, they didn't have time to push a bunch of buttons until something worked.

Liara couldn't even lift it with her biotics, "Damn this thing, it won't open. We'll have to look around for another way in."

Kal bent down fishing through his pockets and pulled out several grenades, "It'll be faster if we just blow this up with a grenade. You two cover me and I'll get us in there."

Jack took a defensive position near the door watching the group of rock people, when suddenly he heard the door starting to open. Kal scooted away from the door trying to grab his gun, when they saw something standing in the door. Jack's earlier fears were confirmed when he saw a Geth in the doorway and it had a hole in the center of it's chest. Giving it a closer look, Jack realized with a sense of strange fascination that it was wearing a set of Onyx N7 armor with the central chest area cut out for his own hole. In one hand it was carrying a pistol and in the other it had what appeared to be a Human hand.

He was about to shoot the thing but, it fired a shot past his head and to the right. Looking behind him, Jack realized the Geth had killed one of it's own sneaking up on them. The Geth infront of them had a familiar robotic voice, "Shepard-Commander. Please accompany us for aid in defeating the old ones."