Chapter 5: The Old Growth

Attican Beta, Theseus System, Feros.

Shepard

A quick conversation with the ExoGeni VI gave Shepard some good and concerning intel. Species 37 is what they called the Thorian and it was located at Zhu's Hope. How did I miss it? Thinking back to her walk around the colony, she couldn't recall a trap door and pathway down into some other structure. But that was almost irrelevant as the VI told them that the Thorian could disperse spies and control organics, even humans if it was to be believed.

"Human test subjects? That's not good Shepard." Garrus' concern was noted too.

"Immoral, we should collect this data and expose ExoGeni. Fuck what good they've done, testing on unknown people is wrong." Ingersoll was barely holding back an anger at that point.

"You should contact Joker," Garrus suggested, but when Shepard tried there was just static.

"Geth must be blocking our signal. That's why we couldn't hear the other survivors until we got closer." The grip on her pistol tightened. "Fuck! Altered behaviour, that would explain why they always said to speak with Fai Dan."

"It does trigger advanced behaviours in the humans it enslaves, but we have yet to discover whether it recognises, or is capable of recognising, humans as more than mere tools," the VI stated.

"Enslaves? By the goddess." Liara breathed.

"Tools, huh? That's no better than what ExoGeni thought of them, Shepard. You have to bring them down," Ingersoll insisted.

"Yeah. Liara, any information we find, download a backup, we might need it later," Shepard ordered with Liara complying.

As they continued to fight their way through ExoGeni headquarters destroying Geth in almost every room they came across, they finally found themselves one of the Geth ship's claws that was attaching it to the building. Liara pointed out that they didn't have the firepower to dislodge it, but perhaps there was something further in. Shepard didn't think ExoGeni had much of a military presence, though being based on a colony she figured they might have some explosives or heavy weapons stored away.

A second claw and then a third with a lot more protection sparked Shepard's interest though. She ordered her team into position with Ingersoll having the high ground with Liara assisting with her biotics. Shepard and Garrus made for the base of the staircase hoping to remain unnoticed, but the machines were alerted and opened fire early.

Overloads again proved to be extremely effective against the Geth whose entire beings were electronic. Liara's well placed biotics also showed that she had more experience than she let on. Mercenaries and indigenous life-forms, huh? Shepard couldn't be happier with how Liara was working in and out of combat so far.

It wasn't until the Geth Destroyer started firing its heavier weapons that they started to struggle. Garrus and Shepard lost their shields a couple of times before a final headshot to the destroyer sent it crashing to the ground.

"Too easy! Should have been more of them," Ingersoll called out from her much safer vantage point.

"Shut up and get down here, both of you." Shepard shook her head while Garrus grumbled.

"You know Shepard, I'm a good shot. Perhaps Ingersoll could take the front with you next time?"

Shepard smirked at the Turian and shook her head. "Come on now Garrus, you're a bigger target. The Geth like shooting at you, means they shoot less at me."

"Ha! So that's why Lieutenant Maulden dislikes working under you. Alright Shepard, I'll be your decoy. So long as your cousin takes care of those shooting at me first."

"That's something you'd have to talk with her about." They shared a laugh before the team started combing over the data that wasn't destroyed from the gunfight. That Yang was surrounded by Geth remains, even a destroyer. She wondered just how Yang took care of those Geth alone and unarmed.

Finding a potential way to destroy the ship's claw, Shepard set the PSI level to the correct range before activating the console. There was a sudden and loud sound as the shuttle bay door started to close and fight against the obstruction. Luckily for the ground team the door was attempting to close on a joint of the Geth claw and within mere seconds a fiery explosion let them know that something had been substantially damaged.

Smoke and fire lingered inside the building, but Shepard could see that the arm had been severed. A large part remained in the building while on the outside a screeching of struggling metal bending and scraping could be heard. The tower trembled as if something hit the side of it. Then there was a silence as the dust that was kicked up began to settle once more.

"Well done! Our way out should be clear now. With the Geth gone we can go and address this Thorian issue." Liara was sounding nervously excited once more.

"What about what Saren was after?" Ingersoll said while looking over the debris.

"Keep your guard up. There might still be a few Geth inside the base." Warned Garrus.

"I repeat, Normandy to shore party. Are you reading? Anyone there? Normandy to shore party. Come on Commander, talk to me!" The surprise to hear Joker's voice reaching them was quickly pushed aside as Shepard realised that communication had now been restored.

"What's going on over there Joker?" Shepard answered.

"We're in lockdown here, Commander. Something happened to the colonists. They're banging on the hull, trying to claw their way inside the ship. They're freaking out!" Joker's information had Shepard worried, Ingersoll too as she kicked a small concrete slab that shattered across the ground.

"They can't do any real damage. We're on our way back now, just hold your position."

"Uh… yeah. Okay. Well, we'll be here, waiting. Like we could go anywhere, Commander." Shepard set aside her dislike for the tone he took and addressed her team.

They made their way back to the Mako while watching for any remaining Geth but didn't encounter any on their return trip. As they checked on the area where they had left Lizbeth and Yang, they did however find half a dozen Geth alongside the bodies of the varren.

"Wow, probably a good thing we left the girl here. That professor wouldn't have stood a chance." Garrus commented.

"But after saving me…" Liara trailed off as Shepard too recalled it.

"Their bodies aren't here, let's get to the Mako and head back." Shepard urged.

Sure enough they were both at the Mako, Yang standing outside on guard with Lizbeth hiding inside the armoured truck. Stupid girl shouldn't be out in the open like that. Feeling her blood boil a bit, she slowed her own pace to let the others go ahead. The blonde had saved Liara by risking her own life, perhaps she was mentally checked out for the time being.

Ordering everyone to mount up in the Mako and Ingersoll to drive. It wasn't long before they encountered the Geth on the skyway again, so Shepard took this time to have a chat with Lizbeth.

"I need some answers. You knew more about the Thorian that you let on." Shepard wanted answers not excuses, so she put Lizbeth on the spot by holding back what they had learned hoping to see if she could explain or expose anything further.

"I… I was afraid. I wanted to stop the tests, but they threatened me, told me I'd be next." Lizbeth was scared, Shepard could tell that much at least. Though what she said next impressed Shepard, even if it was foolish. "When the Geth attacked, I stayed behind to send a message to colonial affairs. I tried to tell them where to find the Thorian, but the power cut before I could send the message. I… I never meant for this to happen."

"Fucking corporations. Their higher-ups will all burn in hell," Ingersoll swore from the front.

"You did what you could. We'll help them if you can tell me where to find the Thorian," Shepard asked with Lizbeth telling more of what she knew. It was hidden beneath the colony of Zhu's Hope and the colonists covered that entrance with the containment units. Smart, but why? It didn't take long for her to connect the dots. The Geth were after it because Saren was after it, that was what Saren really wanted when he came to Feros.

"Normandy to shore party. Come in." Joker's communication was quickly answered and he then explained that there was a lot of Geth comm chatter.

"Thanks for the warning, Joker," Ingersoll responded as Garrus was already working the main cannon and machine gun as the Geth slowed their progress back across the skyway.

A brief combat later and with some skillful driving with Ingersoll in control, the team of now six made their way back as fast as they could. They stopped in to return Lizbeth to her mother, but a small confrontation with an overly confident Jeong nearly led to Shepard putting him down on the stop. Thankfully they managed to come to an arrangement that Jeong would speak with his superiors in Exo-Geni and get them to remain as the colony's sole and chief backer. And if ExoGeni does try to go back on its word, I'll have to let certain files out into the extranet.

They farewelled the group of survivors and started making their way back towards Zhu's hope. Juliana had given the the idea to retrofit their grenades to release a safe level of nerve agent upon activation, incapacitating the colonists without inflicting long term harm or potential loss of life. The plan was simple, move from cover to cover until they could get into distance to throw one or several of the upgraded grenades into a bunch of the colonists and wait for them to be incapacitated. All of them would go forwards in case they were actually fired upon, though all agreed that if the grenades didn't knock them out fast enough, violence may be necessary. Yang was the only one to disagree with the end agreement, stating that if it failed they should leave it to her to knock them out.

Shepard didn't like it, but it seemed the blonde was set on it, orders or not. Giving Yang a chance to save more lives was a risk, but one that Liara supported quickly since Yang had also saved her. There wasn't much detail put into the plan if it should come to that point as Ingersoll informed them that they arrived.

The squad disembarked the Mako and made to proceed on foot when something started to move by the side of the door. Shepard had a hand on her pistol as she watched wide eyed. It was a humanoid for certain, though changed and discoloured. A grey tone had consumed its skin with spots and patches of black that would usually indicate rot, but it seemed too whole for it to be rot.

It stepped forwards with a long, low drawn out groan that sent chills down Shepard's spin. It's like a husk only… organic. A sickening thought that the Geth could do this to their human prisoners. It began to run at them as Shepard raised her pistol. Its fingers numbered just two as the four had fused to become larger talons with the thumb having grown in size. Its eye sockets empty and dark, lips non-existent as its teeth remained forever on display.

There was no gunshot that slowed or stopped the beast, only a flash of yellow and the hard impacts of flesh on flesh as Yang struck it once, and then with a second she sent it over the side of the skywalk. Her strength was surprising, amazing even to Garrus who was likely the most physically strong on Shepard's current team. Though as Yang turned to look at them her expression was one of disgust.

"No amount of infection could have altered a human to that extent. I wonder what's going on here." Liara's subdued tone said it all.

"Let's move. Kill those things and save the colonists, do not kill the colonists, that's an order." When they did open the door, two dozen or so of these zombie-like creatures awoke and charged at them, all while the colonists above started shooting at them.

Opening fire on the creepers was almost hard to do, but Yang didn't seem to have a problem as she charged back against them. "Covering fire!" Garrus yelled, the group following his suggestion and laying out many that were converging on Yang. The blonde, however, was holding her own and even advancing on others with a speed and power Shepard hadn't seen in a human, at least not one her size or unenhanced.

With the last of the creepers dead and Yang using a couple as cover, their blood spilling from the bullet wounds the colonists were inflicting on the corpses. Shepard and Ingersoll threw the first grenades and waited for the explosions, which turned out to be incredibly effective as the colonists fell to the ground.

"Check their pulses," Shepard ordered. Liara was the one to do so while Yang made her way up to the group. "What the hell was that?!" Shepard aggressively asked Yang.

"Distraction." Yang pointed to herself. "Opportunity and safety." She gestured to the rest of the group while smiling. "I was the strongest on my team so I took the blows and made myself a problem up close. You're welcome."

"I didn't order you to put your life on the line like a buffoon," Shepard growled.

"That's right, your order was to kill them all. Meaning I've still kept my word." She walked past Shepard for the elevator. "You military types are all the same. Order this, order that." Shepard's temple pulsed with frustration and anger.

"They're alive Shepard, let's get going and save the rest," Ingersoll interrupted, getting in her cousin's face before whispering. "Girl has a point, and we don't know her fighting style. Was dumb, but effective. Sort her out later. Her life or the many, your call hero," she taunted, turning and also making her way over to the elevator.

The following several minutes was a mixture of gunfights and avoiding fire from colonists as the creepers advanced. It was tense as the team had to lure the creatures away from the humans before dealing with them, but not a single one of the colonists died from the grenades and only one had been shot and that was in the arm. Shepard made sure to apply medi-gel to help it heal faster.

After clearing out the creepers and subduing the colonists around the crane controls, Shepard finally took a moment to rest as the stairway down to where the Thorian was being kept, was revealed to them. She was just starting to talk when Garrus pointed out movement towards the Normandy. Fai Dan? Recognising the leader of the colonists struggling to walk had her wondering how he was injured.

"I tried to fight it, but it gets in your head. You can't imagine the pain." His face contorted with pain and concentration as his body jolted itself along. "I was supposed to be their leader. These people trusted me." He then drew his weapon and took aim. Shepard lined him up too, ready to blast if he fired first. "It wants me to stop you… but I… I won't." With intense struggle, Fai Dan started to lift his pistol towards his own head. "I won't!" he yelled.

A gunshot sounded and Shepard found she'd already taken a couple of steps forward, but Fai Dan was still standing there, struggling and in pain. Above him the pistol rose into the air for a few meters before dropping far from Fai Dan's grip. Shepard heard a groan and turned as Yang fell to one knee, her body releasing the blue biotic power from around her form.

"Garrus, Ingersoll. Take him down, and bind him." She was now more focused on Yang, the wild and disobedient girl from places unknown. She had the mind of it all to use her biotics… I should have done that, or Liara. Not this, girl. Liara tended to Yang who began to sit and once she brushed her hair out of her face Shepard was astounded to see her smiling from ear to ear.

"Not one lost, right Commander?" Her voice was softer, showing signs of tiredness. Yet she'd still managed to use her biotics to target the gun and nothing else.

Perhaps Liara is right about her. She squatted down and pulled out a protein bar of her own and handed it to Yang. "Good work there. Think you can push through the final leg?"

"No need to beg," was Yang's taunting answer. Helping the blonde up and leaving her to finish the food bar, Shepard started on the way down.

She kept Yang in the rear, hopefully putting her in the least dangerous position. The descent was just a few long flights of stairs before a left turn and even then Shepard could see something large in the distance. As they passed through into a larger area, the crouching creepers didn't seem to respond.

"We just need to find this creature and determine what… what it… That is… disturbing." Liara commented as they all came face to… face with a plant.

"That does not look like any plant I've ever seen. This may be… problematic." Shepard held up a hand as she stepped forwards, letting her squad know to stay back. A deep huffing noise started to come from the plant, and fluids began to ooze and drip from somewhere amongst the tendrils she was approaching.

Its body, or the equivalent of it began to move and the tendrils flared before they seemed to center. It guided something to the ledge in front of Shepard and backed away leaving to everyone's shock, a green Asari that stood and stared at Shepard.

"Invaders! Your every step is a transgression. A thousand feelers appraise you as meat, good only to dig or decompose. I speak for the Old Growth, as I did for Saren. You are within and before the Thorian. It commands that you be in awe!" the Asari spoke.

"You gave something to Saren?" Shepard asked.

"Saren sought knowledge of those who are gone. The Old Growth listened to flesh for the first time in the Long Cycle. Trades were made. Then cold ones began killing the flesh that would tend the next cycle. Flesh fairly given! The Old Growth sees the air you push as lies! It will listen no more!"

Shepard stepped forwards. "I won't let you keep your thralls. Release them. Now!"

The power and defiance of Shepard was heard by this Old Growth. "No more will the Thorian listen to those that scurry. Your lives are short, but have gone on too long." The Asari attacked with a powerful biotic push that made everyone stumble, giving her time to move. The creepers began to react to the conflict too as they began to groan and move towards the party. "Your blood will feed the ground and the new growth!" the Asari yelled from cover.

Nearly a dozen creepers were felled alongside the green Asari, an unnatural colour from Liara's comment. But soon more creepers made their way towards them from a side corridor, it was there that Shepard was alerted to something strange. Shooting their way forwards until the creepers ceased to push against them, Shepard finally took the time to examine what was before her. A growth of some kind, an extension of the Old Growth.

"I think that thing is supporting the Thorian," Liara said.

"And there was a bit of a fall from what I could see over the edge," Shepard told the group.

"You thinking what I'm thinking?" Garrus asked.

"The bigger they are," Yang started.

"The harder they fall," Ingersoll concluded.

Shepard ordered them to open fire and before long it barely looked to be holding onto the concrete as its greenish-black blood dripped from the countless bullet holes. The Thorian groaned in pain, and Shepard pushed them on to find more of its extensions, eager to see it drop and release the colonists.

Up staircases and through rooms filled with creepers, the ground team fought. Up and up leaving humanoid corpses in their wake, they hunted the nodes that supported the Thorian. With each one damaged, the Thorian groaned and the tension on its extremities became more and more visible. Shepard didn't know how many there were, or how they kept coming across that same green Asari several times. It was something she'd try to learn later, for she had a goal to achieve and creepers to keep her mind from wandering.

She and Garrus took the front with Liara close behind, her biotics were a great help for when their foes bunched up. One singularity was able to lift many of them off the ground, giving the team enough time to deal with those that still charged headfirst into their bullets. Ingersoll took her time and targeted those that got a little too close for comfort, while Yang watched the back and occasionally called for support.

They were efficient and ruthless in their assault, leaving none behind and ending those that dared to try and attack their rear. The Thorian's fall came as a surprise as Shepard could still see other nodes on the distant floors, but perhaps they had damaged it enough that the remainder couldn't sustain its massive weight. There was a shriek and flailing, the node before them pulling parts of the concrete wall out with it as it was pulled down the shaft with the main body. There was a few seconds of silence before a distant thud and a slight shake in the structure they were in. If that fucking thing survived.

Garrued was already at the edge and looking down when Shepard and her cousin joined him. "I've got a couple of gifts for it." Ingersoll said as she pulled out a couple of grenades.

"I've got one too." Garrus showed his and Shepard laughed.

"On three then. One, two… three." Shepard dropped her last one along with the others and waited. They didn't hear the grenades make contact with the ground, but the flashes of light showed the Thorian far below. If it was alive it didn't even groan at the added damage, but Shepard felt much more confident in its death after the added boom.

"Shepard!" Liara yelled, making the trio rush to support their ally. Yang was already beside her as another Asari got to her feet before them.

She was in armour identical to the green one and covered in some kind of mucus. "She came out of that thing on the wall," Yang told them, referring to the sack-like organic structure on the wall. The roots and base were a dark red that faded to orange and a pale peach before ending where it had burst open. Tubes of some kind flopped and dripped liquid from them too as the Asari spoke.

"I'm free. I'm free!" Noticing the group of armed and cautious people before her, the woman made no sudden moves. "I… I suppose I should thank you for releasing me."

"Is everything alright? Are you hurt?" Shepard asked, needing to know the state of her ally or foe.

"I am fine. Or I will be, in time," the Asari croaked. "My name is Shiala." They spoke at length about what Saren wanted and did, the trade he made to the Thorian for the information he received. Saren's betrayal of the creature wasn't a surprise, but Shiala's knowledge about the cipher was intriguing. Sharing the cipher with Shepard involved a moment of melding, to which Liara was unsure about.

Shiala's eyes turned black as she told Shepard, "Embrace eternity." Shepard then found herself experiencing that same vision of Eden Prime over again, but this time it was a little clearer, slower, it showed more and she realised she had missed and misunderstood parts or perhaps all of it. Machine and flesh, separate and then mix, a screech of agony or perhaps anger before being pushed away from the sun. Darkness started to surround her as a single planet lay before her, then Saren's ship rushed her, its thick short tendrils wriggling towards her before she was thrown from the vision, the warning once more.

She was slow to open her eyes as she felt the weight of her body return, like stepping out of a pool. Shiala was before her, her expression one of concern or confusion. It… was less than I expected. Shepard realised, she still didn't understand the warning much better than before, nor where Saren would be going next.

"I have given you the Cipher, just as it was given to Saren. The ancestral memories of the Protheans are a part of you now." Shiala informed her, though Shepard didn't feel too different.

"Are you alright Shepard? What just happened?" Garrus asked.

"I saw… something. It still didn't make much sense." Frustration began to grow inside her, days on end she had been pursuing Saren and this mission was supposed to give her something more concrete.

"You have been given a great gift, the experience of an entire people. It will take time for your mind to process this information." Shiala stated.

"We should get you back to the ship where you can be monitored, Shepard," Liara said.

"I am sorry if you have suffered, but there was no other way. You needed the Cipher. In time, it will help you understand the vision from the beacon." Shiala was asked many more questions about Saren mostly, but also what the Conduit was. She couldn't tell them much other than Saren thought it caused the downfall of the Protheans, which meant it was likely dangerous and they needed to find it first. Liara asked a little about her mother too, Benezia.

Shiala spoke about her wish to remain with the colonists, of whom suffered from Saren and the role she played in all of their misfortune as of late. She wanted to help them recover, rebuild, make amends and lessen the guilt she now carried upon her shoulders. Shepard agreed to let Shiala stay, having a former Asari commando helping them would give the colonists a great boost to their safety.

They didn't stay long after that, walking back to the surface with Shiala and briefly talking with Juliana and her daughter, even giving Jeong a talking to and promising to expose things should ExoGeni not continue to aid the colonists. They were nearly back to the Normandy when Yang spoke up.

"Wow! That thing… ship, it's nothing like the ones on Remnant."

"Yang." The blonde turned to Shepard and found herself standing before the ground team. "If you're to join my crew that means following my orders and those of the officers under me. I can't promise that you'll find what you're looking for, but I can promise you that our mission is both dangerous and vital to the galaxy."

The blonde stood there for a few moments, she still didn't seem unconfident or frightened, hell she looked calm, if a little lost. "I can follow orders, so long as they aren't stupid or sacrifice people. My team would be proud of what you did today, saving people's lives. That's what huntresses train to do." She gave them a big smile while Ingersoll groaned and started walking towards the ship.

"I'll let them know we have another being coming aboard. At least Pressly won't be annoyed since she's human," Ingersoll called back.

Shepard extended her hand to shake Yang's. Her handshake was firm, too firm. Shepard felt like Yang could have squeezed even harder though she didn't. "Liara, take her to see Chakwas, she'll need to have a medical done and have her information put into the alliance database. There will be questions, Yang."

"Yeah whatever. Come on, I want to see what this ship looks like on the inside and if there are any other aliens on board… no offense Liara."

"None taken, you are considered an alien to other species yourself."

Shepard followed behind with Garrus and spoke softly about what he thought of their new crewmember and teammate. He didn't take a liking to her, too much like a merc who thought of herself as the boss.

The ground team went through the decontamination process before being cleared to enter the Normandy. Shepard let Garrus lead, Yang and Liara were next and when the buxom blonde passed heads were turned. Those monitoring systems did double takes and whispers reached Shepard's ears. Even Pressly who usually greeted her upon return was silent, his body turning as he followed the new addition to the crew. A head turner, wonderful.