Feros:

The Normandy soon returned to Arcturus Station. Shepard prepared to leave the ship and looked at Navigator Pressly "I won't be gone too long." She stated "I just need to get this information from Colonel Yularen and we may have our next location on where we can carry on our hunt for Saren."

"I'll keep the Normandy safe while you're gone." Pressly stated and then Shepard left and headed straight to Colonel Yularen's office.

Shepard soon arrived and when she entered, she found that Colonel Yularen was not alone in his office. Sitting across from him was a male Neimoidian who wore red robes and a red headpiece which showed that he was an important person.

Colonel Yularen saw her enter "Ah, Commander Shepard. You've arrived." He stated "Allow me to introduce you to Viceroy Nute Gunray, Viceroy of the Trade Federation."

The Trade Federation were one of the more powerful factions in the Republic. They built up large trade routes throughout the galaxy and were seen as the ones responsibly for helping build up the Republic's economy. The Neimoidian species were one of the main species in the Trade Federation and had once been a Citadel Species but had left after their refusal to shut down their Battle droids which were often used for protecting trade. They were seen as being too close to AI. The Neimoidians weren't the only species in the Trade Federation but they were the main species. The Trade Federation could also act independently and set up colonies themselves which would one day have seats on the Senate. The trade links allowed these colonies to develop. People often compared the Trade Federation to the Volus of the Citadel and unlike the Volus, the Trade Federation had a say in galactic matters. Many high ranking Trade Members were against the Citadel, they remembered what the Citadel had done to them and they didn't like the idea of the Asari flooding the market which cheaper made goods.

Gunray stood up and shook Shepard's hand "I've heard good things about you Shepard." He replied

"Thank you." Shepard replied to Gunray and then he looked at Yularen "Do you have some information for me?"

"I do." Yularen replied "RSB was finally able to finishing decoding the messages you recovered from the Armstrong Nebula. They show that Saren sent the Geth out to find something. We know from the information that you recovered from Noveria that Saren is searching for this Mu Relay but we have no idea where it is. The information from the Armstrong Nebula says that Saren is searching for something called the Cipher."

"The Cipher?" Shepard questioned "What's that?"

"We don't know." Yularen replied "But Viceroy Gunray believes he knows where the Geth have gone?"

Shepard looked at Gunray who replied "Just before Yularen contacted you, we received a distress call from one of our colonies being set up that they were under attack by the Geth. This can't be a coincidence; whatever the Geth are looking for must be on the Colony that has been attacked."

"And which colony has been attacked?" Shepard asked

"The Colony is called Feros." Gunray replied "Located in the Attican Beta. Following the discovery of the Prothean Beacon and the pod, interest in this planet increased as two thirds of the planet are covered in Prothean city ruins. We hoped to find more of these pods or maybe ways to open it. But the colony reported attacks by Geth and we haven't be able to contact them since. We sent a few ships to investigate but they too have gone silent."

"The Normandy's Stealth systems may allow you to get past the Geth if they are there." Colonel Yularen stated "We need you to go to Feros and scout the area. Send any information you get to me here. Then you'll need to head down to Feros and see what the Geth are after. If Saren wants something from this planet, then we must get to it first."

"I'll head there right away." Shepard replied.

"Good luck Commander." Yularen replied.

Shepard soon returned to the Normandy and then the Normandy made a course for Feros.

...

The Attican Beta was the cluster where Feros was located in the Theseus System. This cluster had been home to a Turian telescope array which had been used to map the Terminus Systems many years ago. That Array had since been destroyed after the Trade Federation took control of the system and the Turians had no further use for it.

The Theseus system was named after the Ancient Greek Hero Theseus who had defeated the Minotaur in the Cretan Labyrinth. This system was home to five planets, Sytau, Feros, Sharring, Quana and Logan. This whole system seemed to have a history with the Protheans.

Sytau was a terrestrial planet with a high pressure atmosphere composed of Carbon dioxide and sulphuric acids. The planet was home to plenty of diamonds but due to the many supervolcanos across the planet, they were too difficult to mine. Sharring was a large hydrogen-helium gas giant with over 60 moons, two of had a diameter of over 3000km and both of which had Prothean ruins on them which suggests that Sharring may have been used by the Protheans to mine for Helium-3. The Normandy also recovered a strange object in orbit which was brought on board and a Prothean data disk was recovered.

Quana was another planet covered in Prothean ruins. This frozen planet was covered in heavy metals and was full of rich minerals. This planet was covered in a rich Prothean mining infrastructure with ruined cities connecting to old mines which had been looted over the years. The planet Logan was another hydrogen-helium gas giant but there was nothing special about this planet.

But the planet was interest was Feros, this planet was home to a Prothean city which covered two thirds of the planet's landmass. The planet was covered in crumbling buildings, many of which were considered dangerous but the Trade Federation had managed to set up a pilot colony in one of the stable skyscrapers and 300 people lived there, most of which were scientists. Above the planet, there were signs that something had happened here as the Normandy came across the remains of two Munificent Class Freighters, a type of ship often used by the Trade Federation fleets. They had been destroyed in a fight with the Geth as there were several Geth Cruisers in orbit. The stealth systems had been engaged so they could pass undected.

"Joker, get us as close as you can and then Luke will take us down in the shuttle." Shepard said to Joker "Then you need to get a message to Arcturus, inform them of the Geth here and tell them to send a fleet. I need to get down and located this Cipher if it's here."

"Aye Commander." Joker stated.

Soon Shepard was in the Shuttle piloted by Luke with the team. For this mission, she was taking everyone. Since there were Geth here, they would need some firepower and so Wrex and Ashley would come. Bau would be needed since he's a Spectre and he'll need to report this to the council. Liara and Kaidan's biotics would come in handy and Tali's technologic knowledge might be needed against the Geth. Garrus was an expert sniper and Bakira's explosives could come in handy at some point.

...

The Normandy approached Feros' atmosphere and then deployed the Shuttle which took them down to the location of the building being used as the colony. The shuttle soon arrived at a landing pad and Shepard and her team left and they were quickly approached by man.

"Hey we saw your shuttle approach." He said "Whorm would like to speak with you immidently."

"Who's Whorm?" Shepard asked

"Whorm is the leader of the Defence forces here on Feros." The man replied "He's the only reason we haven't all been killed yet. But we're beginning to struggle now and he needs help to prepare. The Geth are making another push."

Tali then yelled out "Look out!" she yelled as a Geth Rocket trooper fired a missile which struck near them knocking them back and killing the young man. Wrex quickly returned fire along with Ashley and Bakira threw a grenade which quickly destroyed the Geth.

"What now Commander?" Kaidan asked

"Now we find out what's going on here?" Shepard replied and they soon made their way through the ruined tower to the location of where the main colony was. They soon arrived and even though Feros was a colony, it looked more like an explorer's camp. The people were housed in temporary houses that were used as huts for explorers and were portable. Soon people seemed to be tired and in the distance, they saw a group of soldiers guarding another entrance to the colony. Standing near them and shouting out orders was a male Kerkoidan.

The Kerkoidan were a species from the planet Kerkoidia which was located in Trade Federation controlled territory of the Republic. As a result, the Keroidan were known leaders in the Trade Federation's politics.

"We have to hold the colony at all costs!" he yelled at one of his soldiers.

"But we're running out of supplies." The soldier replied "We're never trained to fight."

"I spent years in my planet's defence force!" the Kerkoidan yelled "I will not give up holding this colony while we still draw breath." He then saw Shepard approaching him "Ah, I see we finally have help."

"I'm Commander Jane Alice Shepard of the Republic Navy." Shepard introduced herself "Viceroy Gunray informed of that this colony had gone silent."

"I'm glad to see that our Viceroy cares about us." The Kerkoidan replied "I'm Whorm Loathsom, Chief of Feros' defences."

"What happened here?" Ashley asked

"The attack came suddenly." Whorm replied "We were not prepared for it. The Geth appeared out of nowhere and a massive ship bigger than anything I've ever seen blasted our ships like paper. That ship quickly left and the Geth started landed. They quickly took out our long range communicator so we've been unable to get a transmission out."

"Doesn't the Trade Federation have their Battledroids to help defend their territory?" Kaidan asked

Whorm sighed "We did." He stated and he pointed to a line of B1 series battledroids, the most commonly used battledroid which were clumsily but cheap and easy to produce. All of these battledroids were also deactivated with their heads down "Unfortunately, the Geth took out the control system for them. They were able to hold off the Geth for a while but recently, the Geth broke into the tower here and they shut down the controls. Not we can't retake the tower, most of the people here are scientists, not soldiers. And we have other major problems."

"Like what?" Shepard asked

"When the Geth took over the tower, they also got access to the lower levels of this building." Whorm replied "We have Geth in the tunnels and what's worse; they cut off our access to the water pumps that give us fresh water. If that isn't fixed soon then we'll die of thirst before the Geth kill us. The fuel cells for our power supply are also running low. Soon we'll run out of power as well. We have some extra fuel cells in storage but the Geth have also taken over that as well."

"What do you know about the Geth attack?" Shepard asked "Why did they attack you?"

"We don't know why they attacked us here." Whorm replied "Although it may be something to do with the Protheans, there's a lot of Prothean history here. After they destroyed our ships in orbit, they dropped several dropships at our headquarters in another skyscraper. Since the attack came suddenly we were caught unaware and were forced to flee to the housing area here at Zhu's Hope. This is where most of us lived. Like I said before, we were able to hold the Geth off on the sky bridges that connect the towers but the Geth soon overpowered our first line of battledroids and before we could send more, they deactivated the controls for them. Now we're trapped here."

"So what can we do to help?" Shepard asked

"If you can get our battledroids back online, it would give us a fighting edge." Whorm replied "The Geth had taken the tower but they've locked the controls to get inside. They've jammed them with a jammer which seems to be in the Lower levels. You'll have to deactivate it to gain access. Also while you're down there, if you can retrieve the spare fuel cells and fix our water pump, it will boost moral here."

"We'll do what we can." Shepard stated and turned to her team "I can only take a few of us down into the Lower levels. Tali, I'll need your Geth expertise and I'll take Ashley and Liara. The rest of you will stay here to defend the colony while we're gone."

"Understood Commander." Garrus replied and then Shepard took her team down to the Lower levels of the skyscraper.

...

Shepard and the team she'd taken soon arrived in the lower levels after taking the stairs and they were immediately attacked by Geth. Shepard's team quickly took them all out and they also activated one of the Water Valves that the Geth had deactivated but there were more. They carried on their way through the ruins hallways until they came to the storage room and as soon as they entered the room, they found that they were not alone. There was a male Twi'lek

"Keep back!" the Twi'lek yelled "I'm warning you."

"Calm down." Shepard called "We're not Geth."

The man quickly calmed down "I knew you weren't Geth." He stated "But at first I thought you were with those mercenaries."

"Mercenaries?" Ashley questioned "Whorm never mentioned mercenaries."

"Whorm didn't hire these people." The man replied "I don't know who they are but they're led by some Krogan Warlord. Says he has to guard the Geth beacon down here. It will prevent access to the tower."

"Who hired these mercenaries?" Liara asked

"I overheard the Krogan talking about his Master Saren." He replied "Says he has to obey his creator."

"Saren?" Shepard gasped "So he is behind this attack."

"I don't know who this Saren is but I guess you're after him."

"We are." Shepard replied "He's after something called the Cipher which may be here on Feros. We don't know what it is but we need to take care of these Geth while we're down here."

"What are you doing down here?" Tali asked

"I work down here. I maintain the valves for the pumps. But the Geth have taken over the area and now I'm trapped here. I was down here when the Geth started attacking."

"We need to get to this beacon and shut it off. If we can do that, we can reactive the elevator and fix the Battledroid controls." Shepard stated

"I'm getting out of here now that you'll cleared the way back." The Twi'lek stated and then he ran off. Shepard then grabbed the spare power cells that were in the storage room. Shepard then made her way down the next corridor with her team and activated another Water Valve. They soon made their way into a large room where the Krogan Battlemaster was waiting for them with a team of Geth and mercenaries which were also Krogan. The Geth and mercenaries were quickly taken out and the Krogan Battlemaster was wounded.

Shepard glared at the Krogan "Why are the Geth here?" she demanded "Why did Saren send you!"

The Krogan laughed "Master Saren is our saviour." He sneered "He's going to revive my people and rebuild the Ancient Empire. He wants something from this planet."

"The Cipher?" Shepard questioned

"Yes." The Krogan sneered "The Cipher is the final piece that master Saren needs to understand the information that he has."

"Well he won't get it!" Shepard yelled "Where is it?"

"Where do you think?" The Krogan mocked "Why do you think the Geth are attacking so much at this area instead of holding the tower which we originally took."

"Zhu's hope?" Tali gasped "It's under Zhu's hope."

"It is." The Krogan laughed "And Master Saren will be getting it once we've taken out the colonists. He would have already had it if your colonists hadn't sealed the tunnel. Many mercenaries would have been furious at being sealed but my Krogan were expendable. They're not even true Krogan."

"And what of Saren?" Shepard hissed "Where is he?"

"Why, he's here on Feros." Laughed the Krogan "I die knowing I did my service to him." Shepard saw him pull and grenade pin on his belt.

"Get down!" she yelled and ran back as the Grenade exploded killing the Krogan.

"Well, we do have some useful information." Liara stated

"We do." Shepard agreed and she reactivated the last of the Water Valves "The water should be running again. Tali, deactivate that Geth control beacon." Tali quickly did that "Now let's get back up to the Tower and reactive the battledroids."

...

With the power restored, Shepard and her team took the elevator up to the tower instead of climbing up the stairs. They were quickly attacked by as swarm of Geth units which included several Geth Destroyers and Geth Rocket Troopers. It was a hard fight but Shepard's team soon took care of them and cleared the tower. Shepard then went over to the controls and reactivated the Battledorids. Now the colony had even more firepower to fight against the Geth.

They soon took the elevator back down to the colony and they found Whorm waiting for them. "You did it." He smiled "The battledroids are back online, now we have a chance of defending this colony. Our water supply is back up and running again as well."

"And I've brought you the spare fuel cells." Shepard added handing the cells over.

Whorm smiled "That's good." He stated but his smile fell "However, we're still trapped here until we can call for help. The Geth have still blockaded this planet."

"How can we sort that out?" Shepard asked

"We need to reactive the Colony's communication's Array but it's surrounded by Geth. The array is located in the Trade Federation's headquarters which is along the old highway. The Geth landed there first and you can see their Dropship." He walked over to a window and in the distance, Shepard could see the Tower and there was a large Geth ship attacked to the side. "The Geth poured out of that tower and soon drove us back here. The array is on the top of that tower."

"So what can we do?" Ashley questioned "The Geth are all over the Highways leading up to that tower. No way we can fight all the way through that."

"Well, now that the battledroids are back online, you could use our Spider Droids. The heavy cannons on them could clear the Highways. But once you're in the tower, you're on your own." Whorm suggested "We also have a few AAT you can use for the assault and a truck to transport your team in."

"I think that may be our only chance." Shepard stated "I'll gather the team and head out."

"Shepard." Whorm called "Good luck and be careful."

"We will." Shepard stated

...

Shepard gathered all of her team in the garage which had been cleared out thanks to the Battledroids. There were a few DSD1 Dwarf Spider droids there were being prepared to attack. These droids were a small four legged robotic creature that had a domed head with a large cannon. They were normally used as short range artillery fire and would be more useful due to the Highways of Feros being unsuitable for the larger Trade Federation droid creations due to both the size and also how fragile Feros was. The AAT stood for Armoured Assault Tank. This was a formidable vehicle that had a shape that could deflect enemy fire. This tank was also showed Republic technology since the tank hovered instead of being on wheels. This made the tank quite fast. It also had a large number of weapons included a rotating heavy laser cannon on the top, two rapid fire blaster cannon on the sides and a missile launcher.

The tanks could fit five people in and so Shepard, Bau, Liara and Tali took one while Garrus, Wrex, Ashley, Kaidan and Bakira took the other. Once the garage doors opened, the Spider Droids opened fire on the Geth. Ashley manned the cannon in her tank while Liara manned the cannon in the other as Shepard needed to inform Bau of something.

"Bau listen, while we were down in the lower levels, we came across a group of Krogan working for Saren." She informed him.

"And is the Cipher here?" Bau questioned

"It is." Shepard nodded "But there's something else, he also said that Saren himself is here."

"Saren's here?" Bau questioned

"Apparently, he wants to get the Cipher himself." Shepard replied

"Then this may be our opportunity to capture him." Bau stated

"I doubt he'll go down without a fight." Shepard stated "And he still has an army of Geth with him. I know that you're a Spectre but I cannot allow this Colony to fall. If we see an opportunity to take Saren out we'll take it but I cannot risk this mission to search for Saren. Besides, if we get the Cipher first, then we'll have something that Saren wants and we can draw him to us."

"Good plan." Bau stated.

The Spider Droids and the ATTs made quick work of the Geth on the first Highway between the colony and the first skyscraper but this one was pretty much destroyed and was not the location of the Trade Federation headquarters. As they moved through the ruined building, the suddenly heard chatter on the radio of the AAT.

"Hey, we've got movement out there." A female voice called "They don't seem to be Geth."

Ashley then called on the radio "I think there's more alive here Shepard." She called

"I heard it too." Shepard replied "Bau and I will go and take a look."

The two of them left their AAT and looked around and they saw a ramp. They quickly went down the ramp and were quickly faced with a group of B2 Super Battle droids as well as several people which included two humans, one male, one female and a Neimoidian male.

"That's close enough." The Neimoidian hissed "Identify yourselves or I'll order my droids to open fire."

"Calm down Lott." The female human stated "They're not Geth. But who are you."

"I'm Commander Jane Alice Shepard of the Republic." Shepard introduced herself "This is Jondum Bau of the Citadel Spectres. We were sent here after Viceroy Gunray said that they'd lost contact with the colony."

"A Rogue Spectre may be hunting for something here." Bau added.

"I have no idea what it is these Geth want here. I'm Lott Dod, official trade Federation appointed governor of the Feros Colony although my title means little now."

"I'm Juliana Baynham." The human woman introduced herself "One of the scientists here."

"How did you come to survive here?" Bau questioned "The Geth surrounds you and the colony at Zhu's Hope was nearly overrun when their Battledroids were shut down."

"The B2 series don't have a central control like the B1s." Lott stated

"I thought you said that they were all dead?" Juliana hissed at Lott

"I said that they were probably all dead." Lott hissed back.

"If we're going to remove the Geth, we'll have to take out that Geth Dropship on the headquarters tower." Shepard stated

"Those headquarters are private property of the Trade Federation so please, just remove the Geth and don't ask questions." Lott added

"Although." The other human spoke up "There is something you could recover for me if you can."

"Hossle!" Lott hissed

"I need that data Lott." The man known as Hossle stated "I'm Gavin Hossle, tech researcher, that data has my life's work on it which involves some Prothean technology. If I lose it, years of research will be gone."

"I'll recover it if I can but I can't make any promises." Shepard replied "Taking out the Geth comes first."

"Also, my daughter was over in the tower, she might still be alive." Juliana added

"She's probably dead Juliana!" Lott yelled

"She can look after herself and she knows where she could hide." Juliana yelled "I'm not giving up hope."

"I'll try and find her." Shepard stated "We better go now, those Geth aren't going to destroy themselves."

...

Shepard and Bau quickly returned to the Tanks and they soon carried on along the second Highway which connected the ruined building with the skyscraper that was being used as the Trade Federation's headquarters. They first had to drive up a steep ramp to get up to the second highway and the Geth were more dug in on this Highway as they were using an old water pipe that went under the highway as a hiding spot and so at one point, Shepard and her team were forced to leave the ATTs in order to take out these Geth to prevent them from attacking her team from behind. They also didn't have the support from the Spider Droids this time so the journey took longer but soon they arrived at the second building.

The quick left their ATTs and began searching the building room by room although the Geth had mostly destroyed the building, the old skyscraper was probably already in ruins. But Shepard's team soon ran into a problem. Some kind of Ray Shield was blocking a doorway that would take them further up the tower.

"We're not going to get through that with what we have." Ashley commented.

"The controls for this Ray Shield are on the other side." Shepard stated "The Geth must have activated this to prevent us from getting through."

"We have to get up the tower to take out that Dropship." Bau stated

"Is there another way up?" Garrus asked

"We can try the tunnel we just past." Kaidan suggested "I'm not seeing another way."

"Alright, but we all stick together. We don't know how dug in the Geth are." Shepard stated and the team nodded. They made it to a tunnel which may have once been an old sewer tunnel. It was quite a drop and once they were in, there was no going back the way they came in and so the only way out would be to carry on until they found another way out.

They soon arrived in what looked like the skyscraper's old sewer connection where a few dead bodies were found but not of people or Geth. They were of some kind of four legged creature.

"Varren" Wrex stated "I've seen these creatures before back home on Tuchanka. Krogan raise them as companions. These ones look feral, probably been inhabiting this planet for years."

"These bodies aren't that old." Liara stated.

"We're not alone in here." Bau added

"Everyone stay alert." Shepard ordered and they carefully walked through the tunnel and they stopped when a gunshot was heard.

"Damn it!" a female voice yelled and Shepard looked to see a young woman dressed in a scientist uniform pointing a pistol which she lowered "I'm so sorry, I thought you were Geth or those Varren."

"We're fine." Shepard stated "You're safe now but why are you here?"

The woman sighed "It's my own fault. Everyone was running so fast but I stayed here to gather the data. I'm Elizabeth Baynham."

"Hey, you're mother asked us to find you if you were alive." Garrus stated

"My mother's alive" Elizabeth gasped "Oh thank god, I feared she was dead after everything that's happened."

"So colonists survived back at the housing area." Tali added

"I'm so glad that I'm not the only survivor." Elizabeth smiled "That would have been hard to explain. No one is suppose to get access to the..." she cut herself off and gasped, she realised she had said something she was not suppose to.

"It's alright?" Shepard stated "I'm here for the Geth, I know they're looking for something called the Cipher that's here on Feros."

"The Cipher?" Elizabeth questioned "I've never heard of that but maybe it's related to the Thorian."

"What's a Thorian?" Wrex questioned

Elizabeth sighed "It's a indigenous life form. We were studying it."

"I thought this colony was set up to study Prothean technology?" Kaidan questioned

"It was." Elizabeth explained "But a few years ago we received special backing from an unknown source. We had discovered what we call the Thorian living underground and someone was very interested in it. So a select few of us were made to study the Thorian in secret."

"Who provided this backing?" Shepard asked

"I don't know." Elizabeth confessed "No one does, not even Lott. But the research we found was fascinating so no one really cared if Gunray found out. He's not even aware of this."

"So was is this Thorian?" Bau asked

"I don't know a huge amount, I'm just a research assistance. My mother would know or you could find files in the database." Elizabeth stated

"First of all, we need to take out that Dropship and take out that ray shield." Shepard stated

"Agreed." Elizabeth stated "There's a staircase at the back of this tunnel but the upper levels are crawling with Geth. That's why I haven't gone up there yet."

"Keep close, we'll clear out the Geth and then we'll take out that Dropship." Shepard stated "After that, we'll go back to your mother and find out more about this Thorian."

"Understood." Elizabeth stated and the team began making their way towards the end of the tunnel and then up the stairs after taking out a few Varren.

...

As they made their way up the stairs, they heard the sound of an angry Krogan. "Stupid Machine! I want to access encrypted files!" there were a few moments of silence and then another angry yell "No I don't want to review protocol!"

They soon arrived in the room and saw the Krogan glaring at a silver Protocol Droid "I am unable to comply." The droid said in a female voice "Please contact your supervisor."

"Damn it!" the Krogan spat "Tell me what I want or I'll blast your metal ass!"

"Please contact your supervisor for a level 4 Security exemption or make an appointment with..." the droid called

"Stupid robot!" the Krogan yelled

"If you have nothing else to say then step aside." The droid added "There is a queue forming behind you for use of this console." That caused the Krogan to turn around and see Shepard.

"Ah good." The Krogan sneered "I really need to kill someone!"

The fight was short as the Krogan was outnumbered and Wrex quickly used his shotgun to take out the Krogan.

"Trade Federation forbids the discharging of weapons in Trade Federation property. I will be informing your superiors." The droid called when the fight was over.

"Never mind that now TC-14." Elizabeth yelled "What was he trying to see."

"That Krogan was trying to access files on Species 37." The droid known as TC-14 replied "Also known as the Thorian."

"What can this Thorian do?" Shepard asked

"Through dispersion and the eventual inhalation of the spores, it can infect and control other organisms including humans." TC-14 replied "There has been no new data received on the study. All of montiers surrounding Zhu's Hope have been deactivated for several cycles."

"Wait, what does Zhu's hope have to do with this Thorian?" Ashley asked

"The Thorian lies in a cave network under Zhu's Hope." TC-14 replied

"So Lott knew that the people of Zhu's Hope were getting infected." Kaidan stated

"That's why he was acting weird." Ashley added

"He doesn't want this information being discovered." Garrus added

"Shepard, if this Thorian can control people, it could put Luke in danger." Liara added

"We should warn him." Bakira added

"Good idea." Shepard replied and activated her Comm "Hey Luke, come in." But all she could hear was static "Damn it, that ray shield and the Geth ship are blocking our signal."

"Then we need to take out that ship and get back to the colony fast." Wrex stated

"Agreed." Shepard stated and looked back at TC-14 "What can you tell us about the Geth ship and the Ray Shield?"

"I have limited data on the Geth." TC-14 replied "They have effectively blocked all sensors within the facility. I have detected unusual power fluctuations, but am unable to determine the source."

"The Geth Dropship may be connected to the power of the facility." Tali stated "We'll have to take it out ourselves by blowing it."

"I could do that with my explosives." Bakira stated

Shepard nodded "Alright them let's go take down a Geth Dropship." She stated and they carried on up a new set of stairs towards the Geth Dropship.

...

They soon arrived at the floor where the Geth Dropship was attracted to the building using some kind of claws like grappling hooks.

"Looks like the Geth use these claws to anchor that ship to building." Garrus stated "They've attached the main power to that ship as well, that's what powering the Ray Shield we saw."

"I can set my explosives to blow up that claw but there may be others." Bakira stated

"And we'll have to take out the Geth first." Liara added as she saw some Geth shock troopers. Shepard's team jumped down from the balcony and quickly took out the Geth at the first claw. Bakira then set some charges on the claw which she could detonate remotely. They moved out of the way and Bakira activated the trigger which blew the claw off the building but the Geth Dropship remained in place.

"There must be other claws we have to take out." Bakira added

"Let's go find them then." Shepard stated

They went further up the building taking out more Geth along the way until they came to what was once a hanger for the building. This hanger would have been used to bring important individuals to Feros' Trade Federation headquarters. The Geth Dropship had a claw here as well but the Hanger Bay doors could be used to destroy the claw.

Shepard soon found the controls for the Hanger Bay doors. "Tali, can you hack these controls to shut the Hanger Bay doors?" she asked "We can remove the claw by closing them."

"I can try." Tali stated and she activated the controls and looked through them using her hacking ability "The Geth claw is blocking the doors from fully closing, we need to increase the pressure in order to get the doors to close. Just hold on, I've think I've got." A few seconds later, a loud crunch was heard and everyone turned to see the Hanger Bay doors closing and the ground shook. The Geth Dropship had lost two of the claws holding it to the tower. The remaining claw couldn't take the full weight of the Dropship and the claw snapped sending the Dropship plummeting to the ground.

"That's the way." Ashley smirked "With the Dropship gone, the shields should be down."

"Now we just have to go back to Zhu's Hope and deal with this Thorian." Wrex added

Just then, Shepard's comm activated "Hey Commander," Luke's voice called "Come in."

"What is it Luke?" Shepard asked

"Something's going on here, the colonists have gone crazy." Luke replied "They're banging on the Hull and I'm getting a lot of Geth Comm chatter. They're heading your way."

"Then let's get out of here now." Shepard stated and the team soon went back to the garage where the ATTs were stored. Along the way, the team went through the Trade Federation offices and Shepard found the data that Gavin Hossle was looking for. They also had to deal with more Geth and a few Krogan along the way.

...

They soon made it back to the ATTs and they all got back into them with Elizabeth join Shepard. As they drove back, Shepard looked at Elizabeth "So tell me about these experiments?" she demanded

Elizabeth sighed "Look, it I didn't want to be involved in this but I could have lost my job if I didn't. The Thorian has some kind of mind control power, how we don't know. That's probably what our secret backer was interested in."

Ashley spoke up "This seems very similar to Cerberus." She stated

"We don't know for certain if Cerberus is behind this." Shepard stated "But we need to get back to Zhu's Hope and hopefully take out this Thorian."

The ATTs soon arrived back at the building where they had met Elizabeth's mother and other survivors. They heard some kind of argument and Elizabeth and Shepard quickly left to check it out followed by Bau and Kaidan. They saw Juliana arguing with Lott.

"You can't do this Lott!" Juliana yelled

Lott was pacing around with a worried look "Everyone just be quite, let me think."

Elizabeth looked at Shepard "What's going on?" she whispered

"You won't get away with this!" Juliana snapped

"Get her out of here!" Lott snapped as one of the Super Battledroids grabbed her.

That made Elizabeth snap "Get away from her you son of a bitch!" she yelled and ran from her hiding place before Shepard could stop her.

"Liz!" Juliana yelled and she broke free of the Super Battledroid's grip and embrace her daughter.

Lott sighed and looked at Shepard "I guess it was too much to wish the Geth have taken care of you!" he stated "This isn't going to be easy. With the Dropship down, communications are back up but I got orders to purge this colony."

"Was it from Viceroy Gurney or your secret backer who sent those orders?" Shepard demanded

"Secret Backer?" Juliana questioned and then glared at Lott "What's going on here Lott?"

"We were just a small colony, we would never be able to survive." Lott defended "I couldn't afford to see this colony fall apart, it would look back. Someone offered me a way to keep this colony afloat. If it wasn't for them, then this colony would have collapsed within the first few years."

"And in exchange for this backing, you gave them information on the Thorian." Shepard replied

"The Thorian?" Juliana questioned "What's that?"

"It's some kind of life form under Zhu's Hope." Elizabeth confessed "A few of us were studying it."

Juliana was not happy "You won't get away with this Lott."

"It's too late now." Lott stated "No one's going to miss a few colonists. The report will say that they were all killed by the Geth."

Shepard tried to think of a way to sort this out and she had an idea, she could show the advantages the media coverage of this attack. "Wait, can't you see the potential in this colony?" she questioned "Think of the promotional opportunities."

"Opportunities?" Lott snarled "What are you talking about?"

"Feros could be a symbol." Shepard stated "Think about it, the colony that survived an alien attack on the frontier. That type of story gets attention in the media. People will remember the name Feros and will remember the colony that managed to fight even when the odds were against them. Elysium managed to do it."

Lott thought about it for a moment and then said "Well, when you say it like that. You've got a point. No one's gone broke by playing the champion of the Republic."

"Sadly you would probably make a killing." Juliana stated "But if it will help get back to our lives, I'm for it."

"It might just work." Lott added "But there is a problem, the infected colonists at Zhu's Hope could result in unneeded questions."

"We can't just kill the colonists." Juliana stated "It's not their fault."

Elizabeth had an idea "But you only killed the Thorian then it might free the colonists."

"It's worth a try but I doubt we'll be able to avoid harming the colonists." Bau stated

"We could set our weapons to stun." Kaidan suggested "That way we don't hurt the colonists."

"One small problem." Shepard stated "We reactivated the Battledroids, if the infected colonists have reset them then they'll attacked us. They may also use the colonists as shields."

"There might be a way to avoid that." Juliana stated and she opened a crate which had what looked like grenades "These are Droid Poppers or rather Electro Magnetic Pulse grenades. You use and it will fry the battle droids circuits."

"That will work." Shepard stated "We'll use these EMPs and set our weapons to stun. Hopefully we can do this without harming the colonists."

"Good luck." Elizabeth stated "Oh and if you want to take out the Thorian, you'll have to activate the crane in front of the main houses. It covers the entrance into the Thorian's Lair.

"Thanks for that information" Shepard replied and she and the team went back to the ATTs but not before Shepard gave Hossle the data they recovered from the Headquarters building.

...

The team soon arrived back at Zhu's Hope in the ATTs and Shepard's fears were confirmed. The B1 Battledroids that Shepard had reactivated had been reprogrammed to attack them. A squad of them attack Shepard's team along with several of Zhu's Hope's colonists. The Droid Poppers quickly took out the battledroids and then Ashley and Kaidan managed to use their weapons which had been set for stun to knock out the colonists.

They went through the colony and they began clearing out the area. In the housing building, Wrex threw a droid popper into the building and then they went in stunning the colonists.

Soon, all of the colonists were stunned and the battledroids were taken out. The only colonist who was missing was Whorm Loathsom but Shepard hoped to find him soon. They went over to the crane and activated the controls and then the crane lifted a hatch. Then they all heard the sound of a gun cocking and they saw Whorm approaching them who looked like he was suffering from a headache.

"I tried to fight it but it gets in your head." He said as he seemed to be fighting the Thorian's mind control "I was supposed to be the leader of these people. These people trusted me. It wants me to stop you but I won't." He lifted his pistol to his head "I won't!" but before he could pull the trigger, Shepard shot him with her gun which had been set to stun. Whorm Loathsom was a good person, the colony needed him.

With Whorm now safe, Shepard and the team went into the tunnel that would take them to the Thorian's lair but no one noticed a shadowy figure following them.

...

The Thorian's Lair seemed to have been made in the old sewer tunnels underneath Zhu's Hope. Shepard's team soon arrived at the cistern. "Okay, so we just need to find this Thorian, and determin what it..." Liara stated but then stopped along with everyone else when they saw what was before them. "Goddess, what is that?"

Before them was a creature unlike anything they had seen before. It was 3 times as big as the Shuttle. It had large tentacles which allowed it to grip the walls and its mouth went into the water like a drinking straw and had liquid pouring from its mouth. It had what looked like two eyes but Shepard couldn't be sure if they really were eyes.

"This must be the Thorian." Shepard stated

"In all my years as a Spectre, I've never seen anything like it." Bau added

"So what do we do?" Ashley asked

"How do we kill it?" Kaidan added

"I guess those guys tried but failed." Garrus stated looking at a pile of dead bodies of Krogan and Turians. They must be the mercenaries that Saren had sent after the Thorian.

Shepard slowly approached the Thorian and saw that it's head was moving like it was giving deep breaths. Then, the most disgusting thing happened, from the mouth of the creature, a blob of blue goo emerged but then an Asari appeared, it was like the Thorian had given birth. But there was something odd, this Asari had green skin, the only Asaris that Shepard had seen had been blue or purple.

"Invaders!" the Asari said in a monotone voice "Your every step is a transgression. A thousand feelers appraise you as meat only good to dig or decompose. I speak for the old growth. You are in the presence of the Thorian, it commands that you be in awe."

"This Thorian has endangered the lives of innocent people!" Shepard hissed "That cannot be allowed and this Thorian may have the Cipher."

The Thorian's head began moving and the Asari spoke again "The Cipher has been part thousands of years. Years of observation allowed me to understand. Those fools thought they could take it but failed. Now you shall join them."

The Asari attacked them but Ashley quickly put them down. But then little spore pods around the Cistern burst and small human like creatures that were similar to the Geth husks screeched and attacked them. They were quickly taken care of.

The team then went up a set of stairs to the next level. The floor was pretty gross due to webbing and burst spore pods which created a gooey floor. But they soon arrived at one of the large tentacles that attacked the Thorian to the wall.

"That must be it's weak spot!" Shepard yelled "Blast it." They blasted the tentacle until it blew up and they saw the Thorian screech and shake around. It was the weak spot.

"Find more of those tentacles." Bau yelled and they made their way up, taking out the Husks as well as more of those green skinned Asari.

Soon once they'd taken out the last if the Thorian's neurons, the Thorian screeched and then collapsed, falling from where it was attached to the walls and crumpling into a heap in the water below. With the Thorian defeated, the remaining husks collapsed into heaps of ashes and the Green Asari also collapsed dead.

There was a loud rumble, Shepard turned to see one of the larger spore pods burst and an Asari fell from the pod, only this one had the usual purple skin like normal Asari. The Asari stood up and looked a little dizzy but she soon managed to regain her balance "I'm free." The Asari replied and then looked at Shepard "I... I suppose I should thank you for setting me free."

"Are you alright?" Shepard asked "Who are you?"

The Asari looked at her "I'm fine." She replied "Or at least I should be. My name is Shiala, I serve Matriarch Benezia."

"You served my mother?" Liara gasped "Did you know what she was doing?"

"Matriarch Benezia hoped she could convince Saren to stop what he was doing." Shiala replied "But Saren's new powers are more dangerous that she anticipated."

"What new powers?" Kaidan questioned

"I have no idea." Shiala replied "Only they're unlike anything I've ever seen before. She influence Benezia's mind and made her obey his commands."

"And you served her?" Ashley stated

"I had to." Shiala stated "I am sworn to her services, I had to serve her commands."

"And why were you here on Feros?" Shepard questioned

"Benezia sent me and a group of Krogan loyal to Saren to recover the Cipher." Shiala responded

"Why would Krogan serve Saren?" Wrex added

"I have no idea." Shiala replied "But I have noticed that these Krogan are very different to most Krogan. They don't seem normal but I never really thought about it. Anyway, when the Geth find the location of the Cipher, Saren had the Geth attack the colony as a distraction while me and the Krogan infiltrated this Cistern. Saren hoped to make some kind of a deal with the Thorian."

"What kind of deal?" Shepard asked

"The Cipher is what Saren is after." Shiala stated "This Cipher is not an object; it is knowledge, knowledge of the Prothean language. The information from the Prothean beacons created a vision but you couldn't really understand it because it was meant for a Prothean. To understand the vision, you have to think like a Prothean."

"And this Thorian has that knowledge I assume." Shepard stated

"Sort of." Shiala replied "The Thorian was here long before the Protheans settled here on Feros. It watched and studied them and when they died, the Thorian consumed them and gained their knowledge."

"How does the Thorian help people think like a Prothean?" Bau asked

"The Cipher is the very essence of being a Prothean." Shiala explained "It cannot be described or explained. It would be like describing colour to a creature without eyes. To understand you would have to have access to endemic memory. A viewpoint spanning thousands of Prothean generations. Saren had the Krogan offer me to the Thorian so I could take that knowledge. Then Saren planned on killing the Thorian and then taking the knowledge for himself. The Thorian saw what they were going to do an had his Creepers here kill them."

"I need that Prothean knowledge to stop Saren." Shepard stated

"There is a way." Shiala stated "As an Asari, I can transfer the knowledge to you by connecting our minds. I won't deny it, it will feel a bit strange but this is the only way."

"Do it then." Shepard stated "We need this."

"Alright then." Shiala stated and walked up close to Shepard "Just try to relax, take slow deep breaths. Let go of your physical shell. Reach out to grasp the threads that bind us one to another. Every action spreads ripples across the galaxy, every idea needs a mind to live. Each emotion must mark another spirit, we are all connected, every living thing united in a single, glorious existence. Open yourself to the Universe Commander. Embrace eternity." Shepard stared into Shiala's eyes which went blank and then Shepard's mind was flooded with images that she had seen from the Prothean beacon but now they were clearer now. When Shepard's sight return, Shiala smiled at her "I have given you the Cipher Commander, the ancestral memories of the Protheans are part of you now."

"Are you alright Commander." Garrus asked

"I'm fine Garrus." Shepard responded "I saw those images from the beacon again, but they still didn't make much sense."

"You do look a little rough." Bau stated "Maybe we should get back to the ship."

"Hopefully Joker has managed to contact the Republic and they've taken care of those Geth ships still in orbit."

Shiala looked at Shepard "I am sorry that this colony has gone through all this trouble."

Ashley narrowed her eyes "So what are you planning on doing now?" she asked

"Well, now that I am free of the Thorian, I want to make things right." Shiala stated "If you would allow it, I will stay here with the colonists. It may take time for them to recover and there may be side effects to the Thorian's mind control. I played a part in their suffering. I want to make things right."

"The colonists here are going to need all the help they can get." Shepard stated "Good luck."

"Thanks Commander." Shiala replied "I will do my best."

Shepard turned around but saw Kaidan was looking back through the tunnel "Kaidan, what's wrong?"

"Something's not right Commander." He responded "For some reason, I have this bad feeling that someone is watching us."

"You're right about that boy!" a voice called.

Bau gasped as he recognised the voice "Saren!" he yelled

The Rogue Spectre slowly walked out of the shadows where he had been hiding with a smirk on his face "Thank you Commander, you've done my work for me."

Everyone pointed their guns at Saren "You're not getting the Cipher Saren!" Shepard yelled "You're too late!"

Saren smirked "I already saw it. Well, I will just have to take it then."

"You're outnumbered Saren!" Bau yelled "Now put your hands where I can see them. You're under arrest by order of the council for allying with a known enemy of the council and for the attack on the Republican colony of Eden Prime, nearly starting a war!"

Saren laughed "They mean nothing to me. And why would I surrender?"

"You're Outnumbered Saren!" Bau hissed "And why did you betray us, your served the council for many years."

Saren smirked "The Council and the Republic mean nothing to me." He stated "There is something else out there. Something more powerful than either of those organisations."

"You mean the Reaper?" Shepard questioned

Saren shook his head "The Reapers are just a tool for me. You see, during my years of service, I came across a group who offered me power. It won't be long until both the Republic and the Council come crumbling down and a new world order will take its place. And I'm going to be part of it."

"Enough!" Bau yelled "Surrender now Saren or we will open fire."

Saren laughed and pulled something from his belt "Go ahead then, I'm prepared for it." He then activated what he pulled off his belt and to everyone's shock, it was a lightsaber just like Kaidan's only this one was red.

"Where did you get that?" Kaidan demanded

"It was given to me by my new friends." Saren smirked "Now, let's see how you do."

Ashley and Wrex quickly opened fire with their assault rifles but a second blade from the lightsaber appeared and the lightsaber spun around blocking the blows. Then Saren thrust his arm forward, forcing Ashley and Wrex back against the wall. Garrus and Bau got their sniper rifles out only for them to be pushed back as well. Bakira threw a grenade only for Saren to hold it in the air and throw it aside where it exploded out of harm's way. Bakira was then thrown back as well.

Liara fired her biotics at Saren but they did nothing to him. Saren held his hand out and Liara started chocking as she was lifted off her feet and suspended in the air "You biotics are pathetic when compared to my power. I told you, my new friends gave me power."

"Let her go!" Tali yelled

"As you wish Suit rat!" Saren smirked "Take her." Saren flung Liara who knocked into Tali and threw the both of them back.

Now only Kaidan and Shepard were left. Shepard fired her assault rifle but just like before, Saren blocked the blasts. Kaidan then pulled out his own lightsaber that Ahsoka had returned to him and ran at Saren and struck his lightsaber with his own.

"You're not the only one who can wield those swords!" Kaidan hissed.

The two of them swung their blades at each other until the locked their blades together "Oh kid" he mocked "Even your pathetic Jedi powers are nothing when compared to mine." He demonstrated by lifted Kaidan up by his throat using his powers just like he had done with Liara and threw him backwards.

Saren then turned his attention to the last person left, Shepard quickly ran to the side trying to confuse Saren and fired her gun. Saren once again blocked the shots and thrust his arm at Shepard but instead of throwing her back, he instead just forced her to stand still. Shepard couldn't move any part of her body no matter how hard she tried.

Saren walked up to her "I told you that I'm more powerful than you lot."

"Well you're too late Saren!" Shepard hissed "You cannot get the Cipher now." Shiala had ran off in the chaos as she had assumed that Saren wanted her to get the Cipher. "You'll never finish your plan to find the Conduit."

Saren chuckled "Oh, you are so wrong Shepard. I know you have the Cipher. You think the Asari are the only ones who can meld their minds. There are other ways of getting what I need. But also, my new allies also have a personal interest in you."

Shepard looked at him confused "What do you mean?" she demanded

Saren smirked "You have quite a history Shepard, saving Elysium from the Pirate attack and your actions during the Verge War. Now your recent achievements in your hunt for me. Find the Conduit is not the only objective I have now. I was also order to retrieve you. You're coming with me."

Shepard glared at the Rogue Spectre "I'll never come with you!" she spat

Saren just sneered "You don't really have much choice. Besides, you can't do anything. You're in no position to resist." Then he waved his hand around Shepard's head and Shepard felt her mind go blank as she fainted. Saren caught her before she fell and then he carried the unconscious Shepard out of the tunnel. He carried her to a special hovering board which carried the two of them to the roof of a building where a shuttle like ship was waiting for them.

This shuttle was larger than the shuttles that brought Shepard and the team down to Feros. This shuttle was white and had a tri Wing design with the Wings folded up when landed. It had a large space for carrying cargo or a small number of high ranking personal but this was not a Republic Shuttle. Saren had been given this shuttle for his missions.

Saren quickly secured Shepard in one of the cargo holds that he used as a makeshift cell then he went to the bridge. He fired up the engines and the shuttle took off and the lower wings folded out. As Saren's shuttle arrived outside Feros' atmosphere, he saw the sight as several Republican ships appeared out of hyperspace.

These new ships belonged to the Trade Federation and included five large Providence class dreadnoughts which would tear apart the remaining Geth ships. Saren didn't care about that now. He had what he needed from Feros. The Geth no longer mattered to him now for Feros. Now he had to return to his base and get the information he needed. He quickly set a course in his shuttle's navicomputer and his ship blasted into hyperspace leaving the Republic to finish cleaning up his mess on Feros.

Chapter End:
Notes:

Well this chapter took a while. It took a while because I've been so busy with my University Coursework and I still have more to do so while I will try to update from time to time, don't expect regular updates. Now there will be changes to Mass Effect Canon now. Shepard being captured by Saren was a more recent idea which is why I had to change the chapter order as the Hades Gamma was meant to be after this. I also replaced Mass Effect characters with Stars wars characters related to the Separatists. Fai Dai was replaced with Whorm Loathsome, the separatist general on Christophsis in the Clone Wars. I also decided not to kill him so I could keep a non-droid separatist general around for future content. And Jhong was replaced with Lott Dod, the Trade Federation representative on the Senate in episode 1. I cannot say when the next update will be as I have a lot of work to do for the next few weeks so I'll have little time to write my Fanfictions.