Liara ran.

The geth were closing in on her and she was out of options.

Around another corner and she skidded to a halt.

Three more geth and a krogan were coming up the walkway toward her.

Turing back she ran the other way. They had blocked off the only exit she could get to.

She ran down another long white hallway, desperately searching for a way out.

Another corner and she stopped, more geth.

She was trapped.

Trapped with nothing but her biotics to help her.

She doubled back and ran down another fork, hoping she could at least find somewhere to hide.

Up a set of stairs and she stopped.

She knew this room. It housed the security controls for the whole complex. If she could start them up maybe she could trap the geth and krogan in a different part of the building. Kneeling down she pulled the panel off and thanked the Goddess she knew enough about the Protheans to get the thing powered up again.

Leaving the panel off, she opened the controls.

Liara started closing down security barriers, one after another after another.

A sound to her right drew her attention away from the controls.

They were on the stairs.

She had to hurry.

Three more barriers until she could close the one in front of her.

They were almost there.

She had to finish.

The top of krogan's hump was visible, she had seconds only.

There!

She was done!

The white energy barrier came up just as they cleared the stairs.

Liara T'Soni, Dr. Liara T'Soni, turned to take her victory in.

Before she could even think about gloating or demanding answers, two pillars rose out of the floor. A second later they fired up and trapped her in a stasis field. She was lifted off the ground and her arms were pulled back.

She was completely immobilized.

With her arms pinned she couldn't even use her biotics.

She was utterly entombed, in an ancient Prothean ruin.

Surrounded by geth.

Now she was stuck wondering what would give first. Her life? Or the stasis field.

Essentially, would she starve to death, or be taken by her enemies.

Shepard drove on. Over a bridge of rock that had magma on either side.

As the Mako crossed over the end the radar pinged again. And again, and again and again . . .

"What the hell?" Garrus asked, shocked.

She brought them around another corner and stopped.

Four huge black turrets rose out of the ground in front of a large metal structure. From this distance it was impossible to know exactly what the structure was. But it almost looked like a garage door.

"Oh shit," she muttered as the radar pinged over a dozen smaller signatures behind the doors.

"Only a fool punches a nathak in the mouth," Wrex informed them, "We should sneak around and pull its tail."

Shepard and Garrus, in perfect unison, turned and stared at the krogan as he continued to look out the window.

"What?" Garrus asked.

"I think he means we should find a way to sneak around," Ash called from the gun dome. "And I agree."

"Right," Shepard sighed. "Hey this model produces its own mass effect field right?"

"Why?" Garrus asked, sounding alarmed.

"Casue we're going up," she announced as she turned the Mako toward the steep rock wall of the cliff. "Hold on!"

The crew had only a second to brace for the sudden shift of gravity. Shepard drove straight at the wall and Mako responded. It started up the rocks like nothing. Up it climbed as the crew dug their fingers into hard plastic seats.

She crested the top of the wall and the Mako started to come down. The radar pinged again. This time there was only one ping aside from the dozen or so smaller ones that were up ahead. She turned sharp to the left to avoid hitting some metal scaffolding and brought the vehicle around.

"Stations!" Shepard called as turret came into view.

Ash trained the gun forward, Garrus readied the thrusters, Kaidan and Wrex got the barrier up and Tali pulled up her omnitool. They were ready.

The sound of the gun going off drew the attention of the geth and they immediately returned fire. The Commander did what she could to keep from getting hit, but the small ravine they'd come down in didn't leave a lot of room for maneuvering.

"Garrus," she called as a rocket came right at them. She was stuck and needed to back the Mako up. The only problem was the damn thing had the turning radius of a dead varen.

He punched the thrusters and they soared up and over the rocket.

Ash launched a rocket of her own and the turret finally exploded.

"Good shot," Tali called up to her.

"Don't relax just yet," she hollered. "We've got a whole platoon of geth incoming!"

A second later they came into view.

Shepard drove on.

"How thick is the plaiting on this?" She called out, hoping someone would answer.

"Why?" Garrus asked, sounding terrified.

She plowed through the geth. Knocking a few over and crushing at least two under the wheels.

"SPIRTS!" Garrus shouted as the head of a geth was thrown up by the wheels and smacked into the windshield.

"Coming back around," she shouted as the geth opened fire on them. "Hold that barrier!"

"Working on it!" Wrex shouted back.

Ash blasted one of the rocket troopers with the cannon and kept the regular gun going. She cleared a few more out as the Mako came around to make another run at them. A few more went down.

A shot ripped through middle of the windshield and straight down the center of the Mako, narrowly avoiding Wrex and Tali.

"Damn it!" Shepard shouted. "Is everyone okay?"

"Fine," Tali responded, getting up off the floor.

"Takes more than a bullet to stop a krogan," Wrex replied.

Shepard pulled the Mako across the open area and stopped it at the sliding doors on the other end. "We're headed out," she said jumping.

"Out?" Tali asked.

"Mako can't take too much more. We'll take the rest out on foot." She kicked the hatch open and jumped out. She pulled her shot gun off her back and opened fire.

She heard the rest of the team climb out as she threw a warp field at the closest geth. It went down and Ash put a bullet in its flashlight face before it could get up again.

Wrex shouted something as he ran straight at a geth with a rocket launcher. He plowed over it and cocked it with the broad side of his shotgun. It fell to the ground and he fired off three shots to make sure it stayed down.

Garrus and Kaidan were on either side of her now, firing off shots and throwing biotic attacks. Tali pulled her omnitool out and managed to takeover a geth nearby. It turned and began to fire on its former allies.

It took down two other geth before Tali lost control and Ash put it down.

"Is that the last one?" Kaidan asked?

"Field's clear," Tali called looking at the radar on her omnitool.

"Good job," Shepard sighed, tucking her shotgun back on her back. There was an odd snapping sound as her hair came down around her.

"Damn."

"That's a lot of hair," Garrus remarked, as her blonde locks cascaded down her back and over her shoulders. It hung down to the top of her thigh until it was picked up by the hot breeze.

"What happened?" Ash asked.

"Hair tie snapped," the Commander grumbled. She flipped her hair forward and twisted it around. Then, looping it over her hand, she tied it in a knot at the top of her head.

Shepard looked up to see everyone staring at her.

"What?" She demanded.

"A lot of hair," Garrus repeated.

"Let's get going," she sighed as she headed back toward the Mako.

Kaidan watched as the Commanders hair came down again.

It was the second time he'd seen it, all of it.

Somehow he still found it hard to believe that she managed to get all that hair into a bun on the top of her head.

He watched her flip her head forward and saw the light from one of this systems suns hit the gold in her hair and make it almost sparkle.

He was staring.

Again.

He knew it wasn't going unnoticed because when he glanced away, Ash was staring at him very knowingly.

He looked down at his pistol and made sure it was still cooling properly before he reattached it to the mags on his hip. Avoiding the Chief's eyes, he turned for the Mako and stopped.

The Commander had flipped her hair forward and was doing something strange with it now. She was twisting it up on her head. It was a simple gesture but there was something almost mesmerizing in the way she did it.

"That's a lot of hair," he heard Garrus say.

Looking away he readjusted his belt and then climbed into the Mako after Shepard, well aware of the fact that Ash was chuckling quietly at them.

After they had opened the other set of doors and loaded everyone back in the vehicle they started moving again. Up past the doors they could see a giant pool of magma spreading out beyond their field of view. More pipes cropped up on the right side of the hill again.

Hopefully that meant they were headed in the right direction.

Radar pinged again as the made the slight right to follow the pipes.

"Damn," Garrus complained. "It looks like we have more armature's dropping in," he announced to the crew.

Without having to be told this time, the crew moved to positions. Ash opened fire and once and Garrus jumped the first plasma bolt that came at them, it skimmed the bottom of the barrier but Wrex and Kaidan held strong.

Shepard moved them around, following the path of what she assumed was a road. It was a roundabout way but the only other choice attempting to fly over the magma. She doubted the thrusters would last that long.

Ash took the first one down.

Up and around the Chief had already sighted the next geth.

Shepard banked hard to the right as another bolt from a geth they couldn't see raced past. Knowing the hull was weaker there, she took drastic measures to keep it together.

The Mako climbed up the side of the embankment.

Garrus slid out of his chair and into Shepard.

"Damn," she chuckled. "What are you turians made of?"

"Scales," he replied with a laugh as he hauled himself back into his seat. He strapped himself in with just enough time to jump them away from another bolt. They hit the ground hard and Ash took down the second geth.

"What is that?" Tali demanded as the rounded the corner. A huge bright light shone down on them for a moment.

A second later it was gone and the radar pinged again.

"More armatures," Ash confirmed from the gun seat.

"How many?" Shepard asked as Garrus bounced them over another bolt.

"At least two."

"Fantastic," she muttered a she took them up and around another hill. The two armatures appeared at the top and with a sharp left, she ran the first of the two over.

The Mako bounced painfully as they kicked the geth under the six tires.

There was an explosion on the left.

"We need to not do that again," Tali called from the back. "Not unless you want a new door where this paneling is supposed to be."

"Sorry," Shepard called back to her as she took another sharp turn to avoid running the other geth over.

A second later its head exploded as Ash put it down.

Shepard kept driving.

"We've got buildings," Garrus announced as they cleared another hill.

"And more geth," Tali added.

"How many?" Shepard asked.

"Wait!" Tali called.

Shepard slammed on the brakes and everyone lurched forward. Kaidan hit the back of her chair and grabbed a hold.

"What's going on?" Shepard demanded.

"This one is different," Tali said, coming up beside them. She had a display pulled up on her omnitool. "Look at this. Whatever kind of geth is over there, it's huge and not like anything we've ever seen before."

"How is that possible?" Wrex asked. "I thought you're people created them."

"They've had almost four hundred years to evolve," Tali replied defensively, "there's a lot we don't know."

"What can you tell me about it?" Shepard asked, not liking the way things were going.

"That it's really big," she replied uncertainly.

"How big, exactly?" Garrus asked.

"Looks bigger than the Mako," Kaidan answered for her looking at her display.

"Fantastic," the Commander muttered. "Options?"

"We can take it," Ash called. "What other choice do we have?"

"She makes a point," Garrus agreed.

Not liking the odds, Shepard nodded. "Positions then, and hold on tight."

Huge was an understatement.

It towered over the Mako.

Ash fired at it before it realized they were there.

Then it looked pissed.

It raised itself up and fired a bolt at them.

It had to be three times the size of the previous bolts.

"HOLD ON!" Shepard yelled. "Garrus!"

"Got it!" He shouted hitting the thrusters.

Shepard jerked the wheel hard to the left, away from more metal piping and the plasma.

The Mako rolled.

Kaidan, Wrex and Tali were tossed around as the mass effect fields kicked in and righted the vehicle. Shepard had no time to make sure they were okay as the geth fired at them again. She brought the Mako around and back into Ash's line of fire.

She ripped into it.

The commander tried to keep them in line to fire on it, but she could sense the barrier around them was weakening.

"Shepard," Kaidan's voice warned.

"I know, just hold on!" She called back to him.

"Not that easy!" Wrex complained.

"We need a better plan," Garrus advised.

"I have a plan," she assured them, pushing the pedal down further. "Focus the barrier on the front of the Mako."

"Why?" Tali asked, sounding alarmed.

"I'm gonna ram it!" She shouted, gunning the engine harder.

Kaidan and Wrex had just enough time to concentrate on the nose of the vehicle before they rammed it.

They hit hard.

The nose of the Mako crumbled in slightly as the barrier pushed back against them. The geth flew backwards into the large metal building behind it. Shepard didn't waste time, she gunned it in revers and put that damn synthetic bastard back in Ash's crosshairs.

She opened fire again and blew the things head off before it ever got the chance to get back up.

Shepard sighed and slumped in her seat, shifted the Mako in to park.

"Everyone okay back there?" She called.

"Good," Kaidan sighed, dropping into a chair nearby.

"I'm fine," Wrex said.

"All good," Tali stated.

"I'm good," Garrus told her, his voice sounding off slightly. "That was . . . bold."

"Yeah, you got a quad on you," Wrex laughed.

"Gross," Tali muttered.

"Okay, if we're good let's keep going. I'm done with this planet," Shepard sighed.

"Agreed," Ash called from the gun.

Shepard started the Mako back up and headed up the bizarre ramp before them.

Fifteen minutes later the Mako came to another stop.

"What's the problem," Wrex demanded, tired of being contained in such a small vehicle.

"The road's blocked," Garrus cursed. "We'll have to keep going on foot."

"Is there another option?" Ash asked, not wanting to step away from the large gun.

"Nope." Shepard sighed. She got to her feet and one by one the crew made their way out. "Double check your guns, make sure your medigel and omnigel packs are full. We move in five."

Shepard moved around the other side of the Mako and surveyed the block in the road. It wasn't natural. Someone or something had purposely piled the rocks at a narrow point in the road.

"What are you thinking ma'am?" Ash asked walking up.

"The rocks," she said simply.

"What about them?"

"They were placed," Garrus answered walking around to stand on Shepard's other side. "The formation isn't natural."

"Exactly," she agreed.

"So, are we thinking ambush?" Ash asked with a hint of rage in her voice.

"That's how I would do it," Wrex informed them as he too came to stare at the rocks. "That opening is just wide enough to pass it on foot, one at a time."

"Wouldn't matter how many men you had," Garrus agreed. "That opening would bottle neck them."

"Right into the line of fire," Ash confirmed.

"Commander?" Tali called coming around the other side with Kaidan on her heels.

"What's wrong?"

"Radar's down," she said, lifting her omnitool display.

The circular display was usually blank with two lines leading off at an angle showing what was in direct line of sight and then a small notch that could be programed to reflect any waypoint the user designated.

Tail's display was all red with random signals drifting in and out of it and the word 'JAMMED' flashing in the center.

Shepard pulled her own radar up to see that it too was jammed.

"So we're flying blind?" Ash asked.

"Looks that way," the Commander agreed.

Wrex laughed, sounding excited. "Can't wait," he said punching his fists together.

"Alright, I'm in first then Kaidan, Tali, Ash and Wrex I need you to bring up the rear. Keep your eyes up and your guns hot. We've got a lot of ground to cover and there's no room for mistakes. Move out."

Shepard pulled her pistol out and brought her barrier up. They fell into line and she stepped thought the small gap in the rocks. Once on the other side the area immediately opened up with only a few sparse rocks here and there. After about fifty feet the path turned up and to the left and she lost her line of sight.

As they moved forward she was surprised to see that there was no ambush.

"I don't know what I find more unsettling," Kaidan whispered behind her. "The fact that we know there's geth out there somewhere, blocking our radar somehow, or the fact that the obvious trap isn't a trap at all."

"The silence is what get me," Shepard replied so quietly that he almost couldn't hear her. "Silence on the battlefield never bodes well." Images and memories from the blitz flashed in mind.

"Like the calm before the storm," he agreed.

"Area's clear," Ash announced as they moved past the only rock large enough to hide behind.

Shepard stopped as she approached the corner. She raised her fist and halted the team. Seeing her use hand signals, the group fell silent.

She turned and signaled for Tali.

Despite her suit, she was incredibly quite when she moved.

The Commander put her hand to her ear and pointed around the corner. Tali nodded and crept forward and pressed herself against the rocks of the wall and listened. After a second she came back and nodded.

She signaled Ash, Garrus, and Wrex across to the other side and the two small teams moved forward. The moved through a small pass way and the area opened up again. The ground began to slop upward at a steep angle.

There was too many rocks and too many placed to hide here.

Shepard didn't like it.

A second later they were set upon.

"Get to cover!" Shepard called as she, Kaidan, and Tali ran forward to the closest rock they could all fit behind.

Together the six took the geth down.

Snipers up on perches at the top of the hill made the battle exceptionally difficult.

Once the ground teams were dispatch, Garrus set his rifle on the rock he was crouched behind. In two precise shots, they were down.

Shepard signaled them to advance.

They cleared the top of the hill. Mining equipment could be seen now and with the snipers down it appeared the radar was working again.

They followed the path forward as it moved left and toward an out building and what looked like the entrance to the mines. They were almost there.

A strange noise echoed from somewhere behind the Commander.

"Shepard," Tail said quietly. "Radar's jammed again."

She nodded and switched back to hand signals. She split the team again. Three and three, this time it was her Tali and Garrus. Wrex, Kaidan, and Ash were a few paces behind on the left. Together they moved forward.

The ground sloped up gently, leading them to several out buildings, a cat walk and a steel ramp that lead up to the mine entrance. They crept forward slowly, sweeping the area as they went.

Just before they approached the cat walk they could hear a soft clicking sound followed by the sound of metal on metal.

A blur of white jumped down to the ground before them.

A geth, unlike any they had seen before raised its head and looked at them. A second later it jumped to the steal wall of one of the out buildings. A wall that was nearly twenty feet away. They raised their guns, ready to dispatch this bizarre geth when another sound stopped them.

A drop ship flew overhead and circled around just on the other side of the mine entrance. It hovered for a moment before it dropped nearly a dozen items and then took back to the sky.

It only took the dropped geth a second to stand and orientate themselves.

"Son of a bitch," Shepard muttered when she saw just how screwed they were.

Four geth with rocket launchers, four of the bizarre jumping geth, and another armature.

They were on foot.

With pistols and shotguns. Maybe an assault rifle or two.

"SCATTER!" She shouted as the armature sighted them.

They two groups ran for cover.

Shepard made a barrier big enough to cover them as they went.

The only real cover they could find was the steel wall of the out buildings.

All six took cover behind the wall and the few shipping containers they had there.

"They can't make it easy, can they?" Kaidan asked with a dry laugh.

"Wouldn't be as much fun!" Wrex shouted, taking one of the rocket troopers down.

"This is what you call fun?" Ash demanded, regarding the krogan like he was suddenly more insane.

"What else would it be?" He laughed again as one of the jumping geth stuck to the celling. He fired off a few shots but it was gone before they could hit. "Damn geth," he muttered. "Sit still so I can shoot you."

Tali managed to get control of one of the rocket troopers and it began to fire on the other geth. It took down another trooper and one of the jumping one before the armature took it out.

Shepard tossed a warp and tagged a rocket geth, not before it could fire a shot off at Garrus, who was looking down his scope in the other direction.

She ran and jumped in front of him, throwing up her barrier as she did.

The rocket hit the biotic wall, and exploded, throwing Garrus and Shepard back so hard they slid across the dirt until they hit the side of the mountain several feet away.

"Shepard!" Kaidan shouted, taking down another one of the jumping geth. He tried to run and check on her but the geth were making another push. He turned and fired again. There was no way for him to break away.

"Shepard?" Garrus asked alarmed. He got onto his knees and scrambled over to where she was laying. "Commander are you okay?"

"I'm alright," she grumbled, sitting up. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," he told her, helping the Commander to her feet. "That rocket would have killed me."

"Maybe." She picked up her gun and started moving forward. They were more than covered where they had fallen, but she needed to get back to her team.

"Shepard," he said putting a hand on her shoulder. "Thank you."

She stopped and looked up at him. His blue eyes were intense and he was clearly very passionate about what he was saying. She remembered then, something about turians and life debts being an immense deal for them. There was something about their code of honor that she couldn't remember.

"You're part of my team," she said, putting her hand on his.

He nodded.

Together they raised their guns and joined the rest of the team. There was one jumping geth let and the armature.

"Are you okay?" Kaidan asked when she jumped back behind cover next to him.

"I'm fine," she shouted as she through a warp field at the armature.

Kaidan reached forward and touched the side of her neck. "You're bleeding," he stated.

"I'm fine," she replied ignoring him.

Ash took a shot and the last jumping geth went down. Together the six focused in on the armature. The gun was so much worse outside the protection of the Mako. After a few direct shots the steel wall was starting to come down. In another minute or two they weren't going to have cover.

"We're not doing enough damage," Ash stated.

"Any other ideas?" Tali asked, peeking out and taking a shot.

"More bullets?" Wrex offered.

"I don't think that's the answer," Garrus said, trying and failing to shoot the geth in the flashlight.

"I'm open to suggestions," Kaidan shouted as the steel around them shook violently again.

"What if we threw a singularity in front of its face?" Shepard asked, thinking out loud.

"Why?" Tali asked?

"It would trap the plasma, at least for a short time. Then we could spread out and take it on from all sides."

"It won't work," Tali said. "The plasma travels to fast to be stopped by the singularity's pull. But if we could get a precise explosion on the light part of its face, that would be enough to bring it down."

"Garrus, Ash," Shepard said as the steel wall went down. "Aim for its face, we'll do the rest. Wrex, Kaidan with me, we need a barrier! Tali, help them with the shot." She, Wrex, and Kaidan spread out making a biotic wall to protect Ash, Garrus and Tali.

"Ok," Tali called as the armature unleased a furry of bullets on them. "Its processor is right behind the left side of the light. Top left side!"

Garrus and Ash sighted the target and in a blinding explosion, it went down.

"Yes!" Tali shouted. There was a general cry of joy as the smoking remnants of the armature sank into the ground.

"I hope this damn asari is worth all this," Wrex grunted as he stuck his shotgun back on his mags.

"Let's all hope that," Shepard sighed. "Is everyone okay? Any injuries?" There was a quick moment where everyone checked themselves over.

"I think you're the only one who got injured, ma'am," Ash said with a nod to the Commander's bleeding neck.

"I'm fine," she replied quickly. "Come on, the radar is working again and the entrance is right over here." She reached up and wiped some sweat from her brow.

"Fifty degrees hotter and I might start to feel uncomfortable," Wrex laughed, watching all the humans sweat. "How are you mammals doing, Shepard?"

She narrowed her eyes at him, "Let's go," she muttered again. She headed up the ramp, hearing the sounds of the others fall in behind her. At the entrance there was small green keypad. Praying there wasn't a code to get it, she pressed the button.

The large metal door hissed open and they descended into the mines.