The Lives and Deaths of Commander Shepard

by MosaicCreme

The essence that is Commander Shepard has fought the battle against the Reapers more times than she can count, only to find herself right back where it all started. Never the exact same body, never the same first name or history. The disembodied voice struggles to break her way through to the consciousness of her current incarnation, trying to find a way to break her own cycle.

15. Chapter 14: Acceptance

Chapter 14: Acceptance

Tali and Wrex were waiting for Shepard when she arrived at the airlock. She had spent an hour watching the stars with Joker before taking a two hour long nap in her cabin. She was still tired but it was day time on Feros even if her body was telling her it was late evening and she should be winding down for the night. She didn't want to wait, she wanted to get down there and figure out what this colony had that Saren wanted so badly.

Shepard double checked her weapons while they waited for the ship to equalize the pressure. She saw Wrex nod at her in approval as he did the same. The door slid open and Shepard walked out onto the concrete dock. This dock was enclosed, not giving her much of a view of the planet. She saw a man waiting for them down by the entrance and she seriously hoped that this wasn't going to be a Noveria style greeting.

An uneasy feeling settled in over Shepard as she watched the man; something about his body language and his halting speech felt wrong. It's the thorian. They all seem like that, though some more than others. The more enthralled they are, the stranger they act. Less human, and more pretend human. Doesn't matter though, not for him anyway. He's about to be blown up by geth. Shepard heard the unmistakable sound of a geth's static chatter and reached for her pistol just as a rocket lifted the man off of his fleet and flung him past her; ripping up chunks of cement to rain down on her and her team.

"Shit!" Shepard yelled pulling her pistol the rest of the way out and pushing her back to the stone slab the man had been standing next to.

Tali and Wrex sought cover across from her. Wrex's shotgun rang out sending a geth trooper flying over the railing. They moved from cover to cover seeking better angles to take out the advancing rocket troopers and shock troopers, flinging them over the railings and filling them full of holes. When the smoke cleared, Shepard moved to check on the man while Tali set about scanning the geth and taking their weapons. He was a mangled mess, past saving and long dead. They started making their way towards the stairs when her scanner jammed.

"Damn it," Shepard mumbled before raising her pistol.

A sapper and a stalker jumped around walls of the staircase. Wrex's biotics and Tali's Hacking dropped them to the ground for Shepard to finish off with her HMWP VII. The stairs were ancient and crumbling, but amazingly still structurally sound. They climbed up two flights before they caught their first glimpse of Zhu's Hope. Colonists had taken up arms and were stationed behind barricades. Shepard was glad to see that they were level-headed enough to not take shots at her squad. She stopped at one of the barricades to talk to a blond haired woman.

"Where's Fai Dan?" Shepard asked.

The woman pointed towards the back wall that enclosed the area, "Just ahead through that building right there and he's out back on the other side."

"Appreciate it," Shepard said as she made her way to the building.

Her eyes scanned the area, taking in the desolation and the defeated look that many of the colonists had. She saw one woman working at a console next to large pipes that ran along a burning pile of rubble. Another woman crouched down in the dirt working on a generator. A man leaned against a pile of rubble, he clutched at a bandaged leg. Shepard spotted a salarian standing next to the door and almost stopped to talk to him; it was odd that he'd be here in the middle of this but she shook her head and entered the prefab. Halfway down the long hall, Shepard heard a woman's voice coming from one of the rooms. The door was wide open so she looked in and saw an older woman lying on a cot with a man sitting in a chair next to her. Shepard knocked on the side of the open door.

"Hello, offworlder. I'm glad that we aren't totally forgotten by the rest of the galaxy," the woman said turning towards the noise

The man at her side said, "Dear, please try to rest. You're – you're not ready to speak."

"But they should know… unh… I mean, they are very important. Yes, that's better," she said.

She's trying to fight it, but she just isn't strong enough.

"Is there anything I can do for you?" Shepard asked the woman after exchanging glances with Tali and Wrex.

"I am… fine. I just need to try to think clearly. It's just a lingering pain from… from the last attack. I'll be fine," the woman managed to say.

"I see no major injury, but something must be causing her pain," Tali said.

"Please, just let her rest. She just needs… rest," the man said.

Shepard had that same sense of wrongness from these two as she had with the man outside on the docks. She eyed them warily before continuing down the hall. A man stood in the middle and Shepard nodded to him. His eyes followed her but he did not speak. Exiting the back door, she stopped to look around. A few stairs led up to a walkway that wrapped around to the left. To her right she saw a man and woman talking.

"This place is fucking creepy. Over there, must be Fai Dan," Shepard said walking over.

"Ah, Commander. I'm glad they finally sent somebody to help us," the man she presumed to be Fai Dan said.

He was an older man, with deep lines around his eyes and mouth. Still, time had not bent his back and had that look of authority about him. The woman standing next to him was younger, with shrewd eyes, a big gun, and a sharp tongue.

"You're a bit late, aren't you?" the woman asked.

"Arcelia! Sorry, Commander. Everyone's on edge since –," he said.

Shepard drew her pistol and began turning towards the sounds of geth.

"Watch out!" Arcelia said waving her rifle. "We've got geth in the tower."

"Protect the heart of the colony!" Fai Dan yelled.

Shepard moved to cover and fired at the geth in the tower entrance. Pressing forward, her team cleared out the geth on that level before fighting their way up a flight of stairs. At the top she saw a colonist hiding behind a fallen pillar, he begged for her to save him but there wasn't time. There never is. He always dies. The man took a bullet to the head and Shepard pushed forward, putting her back to a doorframe before popping out to fire her pistol. Three more geth bodies fell to the floor. She really, really liked the HMWP VII. She was going to have to remember to get Davis something shiny to say thanks for working so hard to liaison with the Spectre requisitions office on her behalf.

A hall with an elevator led off to the right. You could just skip over all of Fai Dan's crap and head down that hall now. Clear out all the geth, kill the varren, grab the power cells and turn on the water valves. Hell you could just get in the elevator and go to ExoGeni. Of course, you don't even really need to do that if you aren't worried about killing a few colonists. Just knock the lady out over by the console and move the freighter to get to the thorian. She moves forward towards the stairs in front of her instead, following them up and taking cover next to the far wall when her scanner picks up more targets. Of course not. Shepard moved from wall to wall until she could shoot the troopers standing at the top of a concrete deck. Her scanners picked up several more targets just out of sight. Rushing up the sloped wall of the deck, she dove behind cover next to one of the fallen geth. Recon drones shot down on them from near the ceiling.

Shepard thought that they had them all down and watched in utter dismay as more geth plummet from the sky. She wasted no time firing at the nearest sniper while Tali and Wrex targeted the troopers. A geth dropship rose from the rooftop and flew away.

"The geth will be back. Update Fai Dan, but don't take long. We should roll out the vehicle and find where the geth are bunkered," Tali said.

Shepard and Wrex both grunted in response as they headed back to Zhu's Hope.

"Tower's clear, Fai Dan," Shepard said before he could speak, "I need to know why the geth are here. What are they after?"

"I… we don't know," the man stammered.

This conversation doesn't usually start this way…

"Have you seen anyone else strange around here, besides the geth? A turian perhaps?" Shepard asked.

"I, no – I don't think so. What is this all about, Commander? I thought you were here to help us fight off the geth?" Fai Dan asked glancing over to Arcelia.

"I am, in part. I'm also here to determine what it is the geth want with Zhu's Hope and to stop them from getting it if at all possible." Shepard shrugged.

Almost completely different. Where is this coming from? How are you even doing this? Time after time and it's always gone pretty much the same way. Two or three different responses from us at the most, and these were never one of them. Every single conversation we've ever had since the day we woke up to go to the Normandy has been the same until you! I'm finally breaking through this time, is that what it is?

"We don't know what they're after. They came, they attacked us. That's all we know," Fai Dan insisted. "Their main base is at the ExoGeni headquarters. A good place to start looking if you want answers."

"ExoGeni? What's ExoGeni doing here?" Shepard asked.

Arcelia was the one to answer, "ExoGeni funded this colony. Without them, we wouldn't be stuck here."

"They specialize in colonization. In return for bankrolling the colony, we work for them. Their main goal is the retrieval of valuable artifacts or resources," said Fai Dan.

"Except there isn't anything here. Or if there is, we didn't find it," Arcelia said.

Shepard nodded thoughtfully, "The elevator in the tower – that leads to the skyway?"

"Yeah, it leads directly to the ExoGeni headquarters. They've got at least one geth dropship over there, though. And I've seen walking tanks on the skyway," Arcelia said.

"But Commander, there are still geth here in the tunnels," Fai Dan said.

"Where?" Shepard asked.

Don't bother. Just go to ExoGeni so you can deal with the thorian. The geth are here to kill the thorian and you'll take care of that for them. Granted you'll get the cipher first, but still. They'll leave once the thorian is dead… probably.

"Back up the way you just were but swing a right and go past the elevator," Arcelia said.

"I'll take care of it. There's been a lot of damage here. What are the most pressing issues?" Shepard asked.

"There's been a food shortage, the water isn't running, and the power is down," Fai Dan said. "You'll have to talk to Davin Reynolds; he's in charge of the food issues. Macha Doyle is in charge of the water, and May O'Connell can fill you in on what she needs to get the generators working again."

Shepard looked over her shoulder and gestured with her head to Tali and Wrex. They broke away from her without question and went to find the three people Fai Dan named. We… we've never sent them off alone. That's… efficient. Shepard turned her attention back to Fai Dan and Arcelia.

"Tell me about your colony," she said.

"Life is hard and often brutal, even without our current problems. Colonial Affairs back on Earth told us we'd be beneath the notice of any raiders. I guess they weren't counting on the geth. But, despite everything, there's something tranquil about this place. Unlike anything I've experienced before," Fai Dan said.

"How big was the original Feros Colony?" Shepard asked.

"We were nearly a thousand at the main site. Two hundred more at my outpost. When the first wave obliterated our defenses, we fell back to Zhu's Hope," Fai Dan said.

"Who's the salarian?" Shepard asked.

"Oh, that's Ledra. He came in with supplies and got caught up in the geth attacks. You should talk to him if you need anything. Although, I'm afraid whatever food and medical equipment he brought with him has already been put to use here," Fai Dan said.

"Alright. I'll see what I can do to help your people before heading up to the skyway," Shepard said before making her way to Ledra.

Fai Dan was right, the only thing Ledra still had for sell was weapons, armor, and upgrades. She traded up a few things and tried to make idle chit chat with the salarian merchant while she waited for Tali and Wrex.

"Ledra, isn't it?" Shepard asked.

"My full name is Gorot II Heranon Mal Dinest Got Inoste Ledra. Humans usually employ surname and given name only: Inoste and Ledra in my case," he said.

Shepard blinked, "Ledra it is."

Ledra grinned, "If you prefer."

"So, Ledra, how'd you end up flying supplies for a human colony?" Shepard asked.

"Ah, there is often profit to be made with young colonies," said Ledra.

Shepard glanced over as Tali finished speaking to the woman next to the generators. Wrex soon exited the prefab and took up his station to her right.

"Well, Ledra, it was nice meeting you but we've got geth to go kill," Shepard said.

"Happy hunting," Ledra nodded.

Shepard led her team back towards the tunnels, "What did you find out?"

"There's a rabid varren alpha that's keeping the cowardly human male from hunting the varren in the tunnels. They should have put someone with a quad in charge of hunting," Wrex said.

"Macha Doyle said that the water valves are located in the tunnels. It seems that the geth shut them off in an attempt to sabotage the colony. May O'Connell said that she needed power cells for the generators. I took a look at the generator and I know exactly what she needs. We should be able to find them in any of the larger vehicles or machinery they have around here, but we should look for something that no longer works so we aren't fixing one problem by causing another," Tali reported.

"Were you able to gather any clues as to what the geth are after?" Shepard asked.

They're here to destroy the thorian so it can't give us the cipher. If you would just listen to me, you'd already know. This would all go so much smoother.

"Unfortunately, no. Every time I tried to change the subject or just make idle conversation both women started acting strangely and told me to speak with Fai Dan," Tali said.

Shepard looked at Wrex and he nodded in agreement with Tali's assessment.

"Something's not right here, with these people. We stick close until we figure out what the fuck is going on here," said Shepard.

"They don't smell right," said Wrex.

"They don't seem hostile, but if that changes don't hesitate to incapacitate. Avoiding killing when possible," she said.

"Yes, Commander," said Tali.

"If you insist," Wrex said.

"I do," Shepard responded throwing Wrex a warning look over her shoulder.

He snorted but didn't argue.

Down the hall, past the elevator, they took the stairs leading down. Two flights in and Shepard heard a woman yell. Geth down below at the bottom of the next flight of stairs. She pressed her back to a pillar and looked down the stairwell past the woman's fresh corpse to where she knew geth would be waiting. Shots rang from her companions' weapons as she used her biotics to knock the stalker off of the wall. It fell down the shaft in between flights of stairs and hit the ground. Shepard leaned over the railing and put two more bullets in it just to be safe before turning her gun to finish off the staggered drone. They went down two more flights of stairs and through a doorway on the left, followed by an immediate right. Shepard stopped in the entryway and took a deep breath. She closed her eyes and tried to open herself up to that otherness, to that newly obtained extra sense and let it guide her. Alright, yeah. I'll show you. This would be so much easier if you could hear my words, but I'll take it. If this is how you can connect, I'll make it work.

They crossed a walkway and Shepard's focus went to the right, so she veered right. She saw nothing at first, just the narrow opening that ran along the floor into a drainage area. It looked like a dead end, just the same as the other side but she kept going. Her eyes low to the ground because that's where they wanted to be. Just before she hit the dead end she saw the light grow brighter. An opening in the wall led down a couple of steps into a tunnel. The scanner was just starting to register enemy locations. She let her hand reach out to the right and hit a control panel for a water valve as she moved by, in the back of her mind she heard it hiss and whir as it activated. She ducked into cover, leading her team against the geth that were occupying the tunnel. The onslaught of tech, biotics, and bullets tore through the geth. The meager barriers the geth threw up did little to protect them, only slowed down the inevitable. And it was, she knew now, inevitable.

At the end of the tunnel she activated a second valve switch before following the stairs up to more walkways. Her feet urged her to a recess to the left and a door slid open before her. Run, get to the middle fast and turn around. Shepard rushed into the before turning back towards the entrance. Her pistol pointed up towards the top of the plateaued wall. Varren charged down the wall, ready to pounce on her team. She knew that if she turned to her left, she would see more coming at her. She shot at the ones on higher ground until Tali and Wrex were inside and had their bearings. Shepard was already charging her biotics when she spun to her left and released a blast of blue energy, using it to throw a charging varren back into the others. She trusted Tali and Wrex to cover the top while she covered the ground floor. She moved on instinct, responding to the urges given to her by the beacon or whatever it was, she still did not know. She tried not to think, but to feel instead. And damn was it working.

The varren were fast and when they died, their momentum kept them moving as their bodies slid across the slick floor to stop at her feet. She took a step back and continued to fire as more appeared out of the dark recesses. When she knew no more were coming, she turned again and leveled her gun towards the top of the rise. One more, the alpha. Where is it, where is it, there, Shepard thought as she saw the much bigger varren emerge from the depths; it's crazed eyes locked on her. Her gun rang out, once, twice, three times before she heard Wrex's assault rifle and Tali's shotgun take up the call. The varren slumped half way down the slope before it half rolled half slid down the rest of the way to land dead at her feet. She could see slugs and festering wounds all over the creature and it made her shudder.

Shepard released a deep breath and pointed towards the burning wreckage at the top of the wall. She glanced over to see Tali and Wrex both staring at her. She couldn't make out the meaning behind the expression on Wrex's face and of course, Tali's face was hidden. She had a fleeting moment of doubt before she shoved it aside and snapped her pointing fingers.

"Tali, the power cells…" Shepard said.

Tali turned to look where Shepard was pointing before holstering her gun and hiking up the ramp. A few moments later Tali came back down securing the power cells to a clip on her belt. Wrex was still standing there staring at Shepard.

"What?" she finally asked, unease creeping into her bones.

"That next beacon is definitely mine," Wrex said.

Shepard scoffed and shook her head.

Shepard was already aiming to fire on a destroyer when she stepped into the next tunnel. The sounds of Tali and Wrex's guns echoed her own. Tali used her Hacking to finish the destroyer before leveling her pistol at a trooper. Wrex used a biotic Lift to pin a trooper up against the ceiling while Shepard fired into its helpless form. Wrex's assault rifle tore through the last geth. Shepard activated the final water valve on her way out of the tunnel.

Shepard spotted a man to her left. He was talking to himself and waving his hands around animatedly. Ian. Bravest motherfucker in this place. She lowered her gun and approached him with caution; Wrex and Tali mimicked her motions.

"You don't want to go down there!" he said when they got close.

"What are you doing down here?" Shepard asked.

"Nothing I should be, and anything I shouldn't," he said. "NOOOOO!" he screamed and dropped to his knees, "That was a good one. Very intense."

Shepard shifted her weight uneasily, sharing a look with her team.

"What's the matter with you?" Shepard asked as the man stood back up.

"Just invoking the master's whip. Helps remind me I'm still alive. You're here for the geth, aren't you? You're not the only one interested in those… things," he said.

"Who else is looking for the geth?" Shepard asked, her eyes automatically scanning her surroundings.

"Not looking for; looking to get rid of. There a thorn in the side of the –," he broke off into strangled screams and grabbed at his face. "Trying to get to the –," his body shook and doubled over as more screams of agony took a hold of him… and then he started laughing.

Shepard adjusted the grip on her HMWP VII. He's harmless.

"This one is no longer fit. We should leave him," Tali said.

"Is there anything I can do to help you? Do you even want help?" Shepard asked.

"Help me? No. No one can help me now," he wiped his hands across his face, "I would rather die fighting."

"Fighting what?" Shepard asked.

"Not that kind of fight. It's like running through a thorn bush. The more you struggle…," he turned to look across the walkway, "Times up. Company's coming. Ask Fai Dan. Ask him about the –," he was lost to the screams once more.

Two geth troopers were creeping up behind them. Shepard and Wrex both lashed out with their biotics, tossing the two geth over the edge of the walkway to fall to the bottom of the tunnel system with a faint thud. Shepard looked back over her shoulder towards the man.

"How has he even stayed alive down here?" she asked of no one in particular.

"Maybe he's too insane for the geth to consider him a threat, or for the varren to consider him food," Wrex offered.

Shepard grunted before stepping down the stairs to backtrack through the tunnel. Across the walkway from where they fought the varren, her scanner jammed as she reached the door. Shepard paused to take a breath and reconnect with that otherness. She pointed her pistol up, because that's where it wanted to be and moved slowly towards the door. Cover, you need cover. Dawn, no, you need cover! The door slid open to reveal two geth snipers perched on a balcony, the slightest movement corrected the angle; the height was already perfect. She fired twice and the first sniper tumbled head first over the balcony. She moved her hand to the right and fired three times more before the second sniper joined the first.

She was getting too cocky. Her shields went down with the first shot she took, and her armor was dented with the second. It felt like a fire burning in her chest. Shepard stepped to the side of the door frame and swore under her breath until the stinging subsided and her shields started to rise again. Wrex and Tali had dispatched of the remaining geth by the time her shields were restored. I told you, you need cover. Damn it.

"Good to know you're still not bulletproof," Wrex said slapping a meaty hand across her back sending her stumbling forward two steps.

Shepard heard Tali giggle in response.

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up. So Wrex, how many of those varren did you take down?" Shepard asked as they moved forward.

Wrex snorted, "I've got centuries on you, Shepard. You'll be long in your grave before you can ever come close to reaching my kill count. Hell, I'm a krogan. We live and breathe to fight and kill. You won't even reach what I had when I was only half your age."

"Yeah, OK. I've got nothing for that," Shepard said.

Another giggle from Tali echoed off the walls of the walkway. Shepard stopped suddenly and slapped a hand out on Wrex's chest to bring him to a halt. She signaled for them to be quiet, her ears strained to pick up a sound she thought she heard in the distance. Wrex cocked his head to the side and Shepard can tell that he is hearing the sounds she was trying to pin down.

A low growl came from Wrex, "Krogan."

Wrex seemed to take it as a very personal affront to find more of his kin working with the geth and thus with Saren. He shoved past Shepard and made his way down the hall, not even trying to be quiet about it. Shepard motioned to Tali and the two women jogged forward to keep up with the pissed off krogan. They rounded the corner to see three krogan, one already charging forward with a shotgun leveled at Wrex. The two clashed and Wrex swung his rifle up to slam into the side of the other krogan's head. Shepard had no choice but to stay back and out of his way, otherwise she risked shooting Wrex. She couldn't even shoot at the two krogan at the back of the room with the pair engaged in melee right in front of her.

"Fall back, Wrex. Fall back," Shepard ordered but the krogan didn't hear her or he just didn't care.

"Gods damn it, Wrex, you're blocking my shot!" Shepard snarled.

Wrex grabbed the krogan in front of him, surrounding him with blue energy and sent him soaring through the air behind Shepard and Tali. He landed with enough force to shake the walkway. Shepard spun and took aim emptying her clip into the krogan before he could pull himself back up to his feet. She turned back around in time to see another krogan charging.

"Fall back, lure him out," she said and this time Wrex listened.

They lured the krogan out onto the walkway, firing shot after shot into him as they moved backwards. When he fell, the third was not far behind running straight for Wrex. Shepard expected Wrex to rush forward but instead he held his ground and followed Shepard's orders. The final krogan crashed to the floor a few feet away from where the first one lay.

Her chest was heaving as she lowered her pistol. Shepard crossed over dead krogans and ground lost in the battle to enter the room. In the far corner, tucked back in a recess was a transmitter tower. Probably something the geth were using to communicate with the others at the ExoGeni headquarters, she thought. Shepard put her pistol away and drew her shotgun, pumping rounds into the transmitter until it was not only inactive but beyond repair.

"Let's get back to the colony," Shepard said.

One of the krogan was starting to twitch; signs of regeneration. Wrex shot the krogan twice in the skull and kept walking. Picking off the occasional straggler, they made their way back to Zhu's Hope. Shepard found Fai Dan right where she left him, standing around talking to Arcelia.

"We've cleared the geth in the tunnels and took out their transmitter. Why is there a man living down there?" Shepard asked without pause, her voice taking on a dangerous edge.

"That would be Ian. He's very sick," Fai Dan said.

"He seems to be more than just sick. Again, I ask, why is there a man living in the tunnels?" Shepard took a step closer to Fai Dan.

Oh. This has really upset you. I… I guess I recall being disturbed by it before. I think we all were, but not like this. You're actually contemplating knocking Fai Dan's teeth down his throat for this. Interesting.

"He hasn't been the same since the attack. We tried to help him, but he wouldn't listen to us. I can't help my people if they won't listen, Commander," Fai Dan said.

Shepard reached out and grabbed Fai Dan's shirt, bunching the material up in her fist to pull him closer to her. Arcelia drew her gun and pointed it at Shepard. Oh how exciting! Tali and Wrex pointed theirs at Arcelia. Fai Dan raised a hand, telling Arcelia to stand down.

"Try. Harder," Shepard snarled in the man's face before pushing him away from her in disgust.

"Yes, of course, Commander. Now that you've cleared the geth, I'll send someone to try to convince Ian to comeback right away," Fai Dan said.

Shepard watched him with cold eyes, "We've taken care of your other problems. You should have power up in no time, the water should already be running again, and your hunter is free to go after the varren."

"That is wonderful news, thank you, Commander," Fai Dan said.

Tali handed the power cells off to May before they checked with Macha to make sure the water was working again. Wrex wanted to personally tell the 'cowardly human' that it was safe enough for him to go hunt varren again, so they did, much to Shepard's restrained amusement. After talking to Davin, Shepard led them back out the far door and back towards the tower. She smirked at the nasty look Arcelia gave her on the way out.

The elevator opened up to a garage where the colonists standing guard were under attack. Shepard had her pistol out and was already aiming before the doors were finished sliding open.

"So fucking tired of geth!" She grumbled as she shot the light out on one's head.

Get over it; you'll be fighting them for a very long time.

"Ha! And you're not even quarian!" Tali laughed as she took out the knee of the next one.

"The geth are boring, they don't even scream when you shoot them," Wrex said as he finished off the last geth.

"Wow, Wrex. Really?" Shepard said as she trotted down the ramp and towards the vehicle she was commandeering.

"What?" Wrex asked.

Shepard just shook her head and opened the door, "Get in."

Arcelia had been telling the truth. A geth dropship flew overhead dropping armatures in their path. The whole skyway was swarming with geth. Armatures and rocket troopers formed blockades all up and down the suspended, crumbling road. Crashed and burning vehicles littered the area. She used them to her advantage, taking cover behind them as she moved back and forth taking shots at the geth with the cannons. Large, sharp caltrop structures designed to slow down if not stop through traffic where spread out, forcing Shepard to drive at an angle along the maintenance shaft's sloped wall at times. They stopped periodically to clear out the maintenance shafts. Frantic comm chatter came through the radio in bursts; a woman was looking for her lost daughter. Tali couldn't pin down the location.

Several armatures and rocket troopers later, they came to an area that was different from the rest of the skyway. Whoever was breaking through the comm system was nearby and had seen their vehicle. The area was covered all around whereas the rest of the skyway was completely open above and to one side, making it dangerously easy to be pushed off the edge of the road and into open air. The path turned up an incline towards the back of the area, but before Shepard could swing a left to follow it up she caught sight of an unimposing foot-ramp that led down into a well-lit area. She could see crates stacked up and people moving arounds so she parked the vehicle.

Shepard opened the door and dropped to the ground, dust puffed up in a cloud around her feet. Resting her hand on her holstered pistol, she slowly made her way towards the opening. She peered over the edge. She saw no sign of an offensive reaction, only a couple of guards with lowered weapons prepared to defend the encampment. Shepard stowed her pistol and walked slowly down the ramp keeping her hands visible. The guards let her pass without question. They were probably only interested in shooting at geth.

Wary eyes followed their movements but no one approached her team. Crates had been stacked up near the entrance and they swept out into the middle of the room. Cots lined the walls. People milled about the area going about their business. The place wasn't very big, but it looked like the people here had managed to grab enough supplies to hold them over. At least for a while. They all seemed to be wearing the same uniform; probably worked for ExoGeni, she thought. A man stood off to the side working at a laptop sitting on a crate. Another man and a woman stood talking in the middle of the room; the others seemed to give them a wide berth so it was directly to them that Shepard went.

"That's close enough," the man said turning to look over his shoulder at Shepard.

Shepard bristled, the hair on the back of her neck rising. The man was holding a pistol in his hand, and even though it hung limply at his side, Shepard knew he would eventually be pointing it at her. Save yourself the trouble, shoot him now. Greedy asshole.

The woman standing next to him said, "Relax, Jeong, They're obviously not geth."

"Get back, Juliana," he said. "Who are you? What do you want?"

"I suggest you put that weapon down unless you're ready to use it," Shepard said.

"Don't worry about him. He only cares about 'the company,'" Juliana said.

"And you trust too easily, Juliana," Jeong said.

"I'm just glad to see a friendly face. I thought we were the only humans left on this planet," said Juliana.

Shepard crossed her arms and gave Jeong a cold stare. I'm telling you, just shoot him. Wait, is he actually listening?

"Fine, fine. Look see, it's gone," he said tucking the pistol into his waist band.

Shepard dropped her arms to her side and turned her attention back to Juliana, "Some of the colonists from Zhu's Hope are still around. The colony is pretty tore up, but we did what we could to help Fai Dan get things operational again before we left. Cleared the area of geth, got the water and power back up and running."

"I thought you said they were all dead," Juliana said to Jeong.

"I said they were 'probably' all dead," Jeong said.

Shepard raised a hand to cut off their bickering, "Listen, I'll do what I can here but I need some information. Do you know why the geth are here; what they're after?"

"I have no idea. We certainly haven't found anything of use. Something ExoGeni is keen to remind us of," Juliana said. "The geth are stationed further up the skyway at the ExoGeni headquarters."

"Those headquarters are private property, soldier. Remove the geth and nothing else," Jeong warned.

Shepard rolled her head back to glance at the ceiling before leveling her stare at Jeong, "Oh, shut up. For fucksake, what is wrong with you? Look around you! This place is under heavy attack by geth forces – geth! – and you're whining about private property and company secrets?! Are you serious?"

Jeong sputtered, "Well, you would hardly be the first opportunist to try and take what isn't theirs in the middle of such chaos!"

Shepard glared at the man, feeling her fists clench at her side.

Juliana held up a hand, "Commander, before you go… My daughter, Lizbeth. She's missing…"

"They shouldn't waste time poking around," Jeong said. "We can do a proper accounting of our casualties after the geth are gone."

"That's my daughter you're talking about! She's still alive! I know it," Juliana said.

"Aaaannnd you have just lost the right to speak. Not another word from you or I swear I'll give you to Wrex to play with. He's bored with the geth, they don't scream when they're shot," Shepard said, her eyes boring into Jeong.

Wrex cracked his knuckles and smiled. Jeong and Juliana both blanched and took a step back from the looming krogan. Ha! I'd pay to see that.

"Where's your daughter, Juliana?" Shepard asked.

"She was – She was at ExoGeni when the geth attacked. I don't know, for certain but I think she may still be in there," Juliana said.

Jeong opened his mouth to say something but snapped it closed again when Wrex leaned forward. Maybe he's not as stupid as he looks.

"I'll do my best to find your daughter and bring her back to you, Juliana," said Shepard.

She reached out to pat the other woman on the shoulder and was about to tell her that she should be prepared for the worst, though. She's still alive, we'll get her. That it wasn't likely with all the geth they've already come across, that her daughter would still be alive. Shepard just knew that it wasn't necessary. They would find her daughter, and she would bring her back here to her mother. So instead she just gave the woman's shoulder a gentle squeeze.

They were about to head back up the ramp when the man working on the computer caught Shepard's attention with a discrete wave. Shepard glanced over her shoulder to see that Jeong was busy arguing with Juliana again. She nodded her head to her team and walked over to man.

"I was hoping you'd have a moment to speak with me. I've got a bit of a problem," the man said.

"What do you need?" Shepard asked.

"I need to retrieve some data. It's not a big job, but it pays well," he said.

"Sounds easy enough. What's the catch?" Shepard asked.

"No catch, really. It's dangerous work, but not for someone like you," the man said.

"What is it about you that makes people assume we enjoy being in harm's way?" Tali asked Shepard.

"It's not that bad, really," the man said. "All you need to do is find my console at ExoGeni headquarters and drop the data onto this OSD. It's that simple."

"I'll look around if I get the chance," Shepard said.

"I appreciate it. That data could be worth a lot of money. Of course, this all depends on us getting out of here alive," he said.

Shepard watched as the man bit his lower lip and glanced around the room.

"Was… there something else you wanted to say to me?" Shepard asked slowly.

The man rubbed at the back of his neck, "I'm just a freelancer. I don't have very high clearance so there isn't anything solid I can offer you. But I've heard whispers…"

"Of?" Shepard encouraged.

"ExoGeni did find something here. I don't know what, or where, but I've heard people calling it 'the find of the century'. So, I mean, it's gotta be big, right? Whatever it is," he said glancing around again.

Wait, what? He's never said this before. Why has he never said this before?

"Do you have any idea, any guesses as to what it is they found?" Tali asked.

He shook his head, "I'm sorry."

"No, it's OK. What's your name?" Shepard asked.

"Gavin. Gavin Hossle," he said.

"Thank you, Gavin, at least we know we're on the right track," Shepard said.

They left the small ExoGeni encampment, zig zagging up the ramp and through a tunnel before exiting to more covered skyway. The right side was caved in and completely impassible. The left side led to another door and more geth. They used the cover of the door to fight through the armatures and rocket troopers before continuing on down the skyway. More caltrops and debris called for creative driving when they heard two men talking about moving a package over the comms. She stopped to clear another maintenance shaft and found to fresh corpses. She suspected that these were the men they heard on the comms, but the only thing of value in the shaft was a sniper rifle and some krogan armor. It wasn't anything worth risking their lives over. Idiots.

Thick clouds of black smoke billowed up from the skyway, obscuring her view of what lay ahead. Shepard advanced with caution. She couldn't see anything and her scanners were clear, but she knew. They cleared the smoke and Shepard had to swerve out of the way of an armature's electrical blast. The nearest cover was a crashed vehicle closer to the geth. It was tilted up on its side and wouldn't provide much aid but it was all they had. The armature was flanked by juggernauts and rocket troopers. She pressed her foot down on the pedal and raced for cover. Tali was already firing the cannons, picking off the smaller troops while Shepard worked on getting them to the wreckage. The cannon blasts and machine gun report was deafening inside the enclosed cab, rattling Shepard's nerves as she struggled to dodge return fire. When the sounds of battle stopped, Tali asked to get out and scan the juggernaut. Shepard watched Tali's six as the woman crouched down over the giant geth.

"We must be getting close, they're beefing up security," Shepard said. "Make it quick, Tali."

"I'm ready, Shepard," Tali stood to rejoin Shepard.

The scanners jammed as another door opened to reveal a small, empty space cut off from the rest of the skyway by a second door just a few yards away. It opened up to a dark, enclosed area with only hints of daylight filtering through the windows near the ceiling. Shepard could make out a wall with a narrow opening straight ahead. The movement of head-height lights told her the area was filled with geth. Shepard drove in as far as she could before jumping out and running for the opening to put her back to the wall.

A stalker jumped around the area and troopers were moving in on her position. She shot the nearest trooper before ducking to avoid the rocket blast headed her direction. She was clear, but Wrex took the hit and was knocked back. He was hurt bad but pulling himself back to his feet when Shepard used her omni-tool to activate his Medi-gel dispenser for him. Tali was pressed against the opposite door frame setting up an AI hack to drop the stalker to the ground. She nodded to Shepard when it fell and Shepard fired two shots into it before it could recover. The troopers had stopped advancing and were instead waiting for Shepard to duck out of over before shooting at her. Tali leveled her shotgun and spun into the room, blasting one of the geth back.

Wrex, now back on his feet and pissed off charged into the room taking out the remaining troopers near the door. Shepard moved in behind him, crouching behind the jagged, broken edges of the deck that stood three feet or so off the ground. She got eyes on the rocket trooper above her. It definitely had a height advantage, but they had biotics. Wrex used a biotic Throw to take the rocket trooper off its feet while Shepard and Tali filled it full of holes. A few seconds later it fell back to the concrete, unmoving.

At the top, Shepard looked over the area taking in the door blocked by a force field to the left, the locked door to the right, and the low, rounded walls in front of her; one of which was broken. She moved to the door on her right and bypassed the lock. Inside, an inactive geth armature lay curled up. Beyond it she could see a storage locker. It's going to rise up as soon as you move past it, it isn't completely inactive. Shepard drew her HMWP VII and moved sideways into the room, not turning her back to the armature. Just as Wrex cleared the door, the armature uncoiled itself rising to its full height and started priming its electric pulse. With three guns at such close range the armature never stood a chance. It crashed back to the floor, sparks flying and electricity arching over its body before it could finish priming its first shot. Tali opened her omni-tool and scanned the armature while Shepard cleared out the storage locker, taking what they could use.

Back out of the room, Shepard made her way directly to the broken low wall because it's where her feet wanted to go. She didn't hesitate when it was pointed out that they wouldn't be able to get back up again. Shepard stepped off the edge and bent her knees to absorb the impact. Rubble slipped under her feet. She moved out of Wrex's way and he landed behind her, shaking loose more rubble that skittered down the mound. Wrex offer a hand up to Tali, she took his hand and used it to help soften the blow when she dropped. Well, I've definitely never seen that before. Shepard saw the quarian check her suits computer read out to make sure nothing was torn.

Shepard followed the short path to a large garage. Light filtered down from a giant hole in the ceiling; not far from it thick wires hung loose in arcs. A fire burned directly across the room from Shepard, and she spotted the green glow of an unlocked door to the far left of the room. Just inside, she spotted a dead varren, fresh blood still spread out from its body.

A shot rang out and Shepard turned in time to miss being hit, though it tagged the edge of Wrex's arm. A woman in an ExoGeni uniform crept forward warily, her eyes squinting to make out Shepard in the dim light.

"Damn it!" The woman said, "I'm so sorry. I thought you were geth, or one of those varren."

Shepard lowered her pistol before moving closer to the woman.

"Are you Lizbeth?" Shepard called out to her.

"Yes… how did you… have we met?" Lizbeth asked.

Countless times, though never quite like this.

"No, your mother asked me to look for you," Shepard said.

"My mother's alive! Oh thank God. Where is she, is she safe?" Lizbeth asked.

"She's safe for now. She's holed up with some of the others from ExoGeni not too far from here. What happened, how did you get separated?" Shepard asked.

"It's my own fault. Everyone else was running and I stayed to back up data. Next thing I knew, the geth ship latched on and the power went out. I was trapped. I tried to get out, but the way was blocked," Lizbeth explained.

"Lizbeth, I'm going to get you out of here and back to your mother but first I need to figure out what it is that the geth are after. Is there anything you can tell me? Anything at all?" Shepard asked.

"I don't know for certain, but I'm guessing they're here for the thorian," she said.

"Thorian? What is that, exactly?" Tali asked.

"It's an indigenous life-form. ExoGeni was studying it," Lizbeth said.

"What else can you tell me? Do you know where I can find this thorian?" Shepard asked.

"I might be able to, but not with those geth crawling around everywhere," she said. "Look, we need to get out of here, past that field."

"You might be able to what – tell me where it is or take me to it? Lizbeth if you know where it is, you need to tell me now. Otherwise, I'm going to have no choice but to take my time digging around ExoGeni HQ until I find what I need. Now, I'd much rather you just tell me what I need to know now so I can focus on getting us all out of here alive," Shepard said.

Lizbeth chewed at her thumbnail for a moment before saying, "I… I, yes, I can tell you exactly where it is. It's right beneath the Zhu's Hope colony."

Really Lizbeth, you couldn't have made this any easier before now? Was this really all it ever took? Asking a few different questions, glaring at a few people? Don't get me wrong, I'm glad to see things are changing, even if they are mostly small changes. But damn if it isn't a little infuriating.

"What else can you tell me about the thorian, Lizbeth? This is very important, a lot of lives could depend on this right now," Shepard pressed.

"It's just a plant. I don't know why the geth would care," she said throwing her hands up in the air. "ExoGeni was studying it, but I don't think they found anything special. I really don't know that much about it. I know it's very old. Thousands of years, even."

That thing is not 'just a plant' and you damn well know it! Glare at her, Dawn, make her tell you everything.

"OK, thank you. Now, do you have any idea on how to shut down that force field? Is there a control panel somewhere maybe?" Shepard asked.

"No, not exactly. But I think the geth ship is powering it. I've noticed the geth laying power cables everywhere. You could follow those cables, but there's geth all over the place," she said.

"Alright. Stay put and try not to shoot anyone else. I'm going to go see if I can figure out how to get that thing down," Shepard said.

"Oh, here, take my ID. This should get you past any locked doors," she said handing Shepard her ID. "Good luck with that field."

Varren are coming.

"We've got incoming," Wrex's deep voice growled.

Shepard turned to see varren rushing at them from all sides. She pulled her pistol up to take aim while using her biotics to throw the nearest one back. Reaching behind her, she shoved Lizbeth back against the wall shielding the other woman with her own body. Don't worry about her, she'll be fine! She saw the blue haze of Wrex's biotics beside her as he flung the four-legged nuisances around. Still, the damn things were fast and they were getting too close for comfort. One lunged at Shepard and she met its charge with a boot to its face, knocking it back before shooting it in the head twice. She used another Throw to knock one away from her on the right before it could slip past her and get at Lizbeth. She saw one grab a hold of Tali's leg and start to shake. Shit! It's ripping her suit to shreds. Kill it! Hurry gods damn it, kill it! Shepard aimed for the body, unwilling to risk missing the head and catching Tali by mistake. She fired three rapid shots into the beast's rib cage.

Tali was hurt, and worse her suit was damaged. Because you were busy worrying about Lizbeth. I guess not every change is worth praising. That meant she was being exposed not only to whatever horrid diseases that varren might have been carrying but to every other possible airborne contagion in the filth hole they were in. Her immune system was not going to take this well at all. She'd probably be out of commission for a couple of weeks if not more. Shepard reminded herself to worry about that later, for now she had two more varren that needed to be dead already. She turned her weapon on the one nearest Tali, giving her the chance to step out of the fray and take whatever emergency procedures she could to lock down her suit. A few tense seconds later and the last varren was being crushed under Wrex's boot.

Shepard moved to Tali, "Is there anything you need me to do?"

"No, Shepard. Really, it's not as bad as it looks. The suit has already sealed off the area and started the antibiotic submersion. The Medi-gel has already closed the wound, preventing blood loss and further contamination. I will be fine. I won't feel very well for a few days, but I will be fine," Tali said standing up straight and testing her injury to be sure she could put her weight down on her leg.

She's putting on a brave face, but this is really bad.

She nodded and Shepard said, "Alright, let's keep moving."

Don't tell me you're buying her act? Not that there really is anything you can do. Just get through this place and get her back to the Normandy, ASAP.

The door in the corner opened up to the backside of a staircase, as Shepard moved to the front of the stairs she heard what sounded an awful lot like a krogan voice. He was cursing at a VI that refused to give him access to encrypted files. They moved silently up two flights of stairs until they spotted the krogan at the end of a hall. He had his back to them as he continued to make idiotic threats to the VI. Doesn't matter, the VI is going to rat you out.

Shepard motioned for Wrex and Tali to spread out but to hold fire for now. The two split a part form her and moved silently into position on either side of the hall entrance.

"Please contact your supervisor for a level four security exemption of make an appointment with-," the VI said.

"Stupid machine!" the krogan bellowed again.

"If there is nothing else, please step aside. There is a queue forming behind you for the use of this console," the VI said.

Shepard dropped her hand, signaling her team to open fire.

"Ahh, c'mon. Stupid machine!" Shepard yelled in between shots.

The krogan was strong, tough as hell, and a biotic. Shepard learned the latter when he hit her with a Warp, making her fall and write on the ground for a few seconds. Still, he was no match for three shooters from three different positions. He crumpled to floor under their fire and Wrex took the liberty of making sure he wasn't getting back up again. Shepard moved to the VI station.

"ExoGeni Corporation reminds all staff that the discharging of weapons while on company property is strictly forbidden," the VI said. "Welcome back, Research Assistant Elizabeth Baynham. What can I do for you?"

"What information was the krogan after?" Shepard asked.

"Fetching data. The previous user was attempting to access details on the study of Subject Species 37, the thorian," the VI said.

"Tell me everything you told him," Shepard said.

"I was unable to provide the previous user with any relevant data," the VI said. "Aside from lacking proper access, there had been no new date available on Species 37. All sensors monitoring the observation post at Zhu's Hope have been inactive for several cycles."

"Where exactly is the thorian located?" Shepard asked.

"Species 37 is located within the substructure of the Zhu's Hope outpost," the VI said.

"Give me everything you have on the thorian," Shepard said.

"The thorian is a simple plant-life form that exhibits a sentient behavior uncommon with other flora. Through dispersion and the eventual inhalation of spores, it can infect and control other organisms, including humans. The Zhu's Hope control group has yielded interesting results. Before sensors went offline, almost 85% of all test subjects were infected," said the VI.

"ExoGeni knew all along what would happen to those people," Shepard said the anger creeping into her voice. "Those sons-of-bitches."

"It was deemed necessary to assess the true potential of Species 37," the VI said.

"That's why they were acting so strange," said Wrex.

"Your pilot should be warned," said Tali.

Shepard activated the mic in her ear, "Joker. Come in, Joker. Damn it. That field's blocking us."

"We've got to drop that shield and get back to the outpost," Wrex said.

"VI, what can you tell me about the geth ship and the field it's generating?" Shepard asked

"I have limited data on the geth. They have effectively blocked all sensors within the facility. I have detected unusual power fluctuations, but am unable to determine the source," the VI said.

Shepard was about to leave when a thought occurred to her. She turned back to the VI.

"What can you tell me about my personal files?" Shepard asked.

"Elizabeth Baynham, Research Assistant, Bio-Medical Division. Security level four exemption. You are currently under probation due to disagreements with management over established company policy. These sanctions may be lifted if your next evaluation is more agreeable," the VI said.

"What triggered the probation?" Shepard asked.

"You were marked as 'combative' about the operations of the Zhu's Hope projects, specifically regarding the handling of the infected colonists. As a result, you were tasked with monitoring the safety of the colonists for the duration of the observation," the VI said.

"That's enough for now," Shepard said.

"Going to standby mode," the VI said.

"I knew she was lying, damn it," Shepard said. "I really hate it when people lie to me."

Shepard led her team down the hall and up a flight of stairs before they came to a room. The outer wall had been torn open by a large, metal, claw-like structure. The claw passed through the room to dig into the inner wall, anchoring itself. She crept forward to look down over the railing of the balcony. Shepard was dumfounded to see two geth on their knees with their hands and arms stretched out before them as if in worship. They were bowing down before a glowing orb that sat in the center of a metallic cage formed by a series of bent spikes, jutting up from the ground. Shepard took advantage of the geth's distraction to take them out before they could get to their feet.

Dropping from the balcony, she hesitantly moved toward the glowing orb. She didn't know what it was or what it did, so she didn't get too close. The light was too intense for her to see what the light was emanating from. Human corpses littered the area. Tali and Wrex moved up to join her.

"What is this place? Almost looks like the geth built themselves some kind of church," Wrex said.

"The geth blur the line between organic and synthetic life. It's natural to assume they seek understanding from a higher power," said Tali.

Shepard grunted, "Stay away from it. I don't like it. There's no telling what it might do."

She stood staring at spikes surrounding the orb, "Wrex, do you remember that thing we found on Trebin? Where the ExoGeni team was all turned to husks? It was like this, wasn't it? But it wasn't glowing…"

"Yeah, I remember. I think you're right, Shepard. Looks the same to me," Wrex said.

Reaper tech. Just like the dragon's teeth on Trebin and Eden Prime. Not really sure what it is but we're pretty sure it can cause indoctrination. Get away from it, Dawn. Shepard put distance between herself and the light, pushing Tali and Wrex to do the same.

"Shepard, I think if we can find a way to detach even just one of the ship's anchor claws, it would cause the ship to fall," Tali said examining the claw. "It will be difficult, the geth are very thorough, but if we can find one of the claws with some sort of weakness…"

"Good idea, Tali. We'll keep looking. Move out," Shepard said anxious to leave the room.

They made their way through geth and krogan as they cleared each room, stopping to gather Gavin's data on the OSD. Wrex was growing increasingly agitated by the presence of his kin with the geth. Tali's stamina was starting to flag as her system fought off the onslaught of microscopic organisms that had invaded her system. She kept her gun up and her eyes open, though. It wasn't like she had much of a choice. No one was going anywhere until they got that force field down. Shepard was relieved when they finally found another room with a geth claw anchored to the building.

A half wall separated the room into two sections, a raised walkway along the back crossed over the wall and led to the other side. Geth terminals were spread throughout. Thick cables hung from the ceiling and across the walls, connecting to the ship. Geth turned away from the terminals and brought their weapons to bear against Shepard and her team. She moved from her place against the wall to crouch down behind another stone slab, giving her team room to vie for a better position. Shepard knocked back the nearest geth using her biotics before firing shots into its helpless form. Tali and Wrex made short work of the other two. Shepard quickly checked the terminals that she could access in the area; there were notes about samples being sold to Cerberus and others being sent to someplace called Nordacrux.

Halfway across the walkway, her scanner was telling her that there would soon be more geth to shoot. She crouched down low, using the metal sheeting of the walkway for what little protection it could offer. A geth ghost spotted her position and instantly all other geth in the area knew she was there, too. Damn, she hated their hive mind. They were already converging on her location.

Shepard had held the ground for as long as she could; firing on the geth from the walkway. She retreated when all that remained was a destroyer and it had reached the stairs. She backed down the far set of stairs, using them as cover when the destroyer reached the walkway. It didn't make it much further before Shepard and Wrex both hit it with a Throw, knocking it backwards off the stairs where it crashed to the ground below. Shepard was on it in seconds, firing off round after round until she was sure it wasn't getting up again.

With the room secure, Shepard made her way down the stairs. The geth claw had entered the building through a shuttle bay door. Shepard and Tali spent a few moments looking over the claw, but found nothing to indicate it would be any easier to dislodge than the last one. Use the shutter controls over there. A terminal at the end of the room drew Shepard's attention so she left Tali to examine the claw on her own. A repair ticket attached to the terminal outlined a malfunction with the shutter. Shepard glanced over the repair ticket and grinned.

"Tali. Wrex. Over here," Shepard yelled.

"Did you find something, Shepard?" Tali asked.

"Indeed I did. Listen to this: The damn door to the shuttle bay is fried again. Works fine if the PSI is thirty or lower, and the safety shut-off kicks in if the PSI gets above thirty-four. But if the PSI is in the thirty-one to thirty-four zone, the door slams down with enough power to shear through a metal I-beam. Somebody fix this before one of my team loses an arm in that thing!"

"That's a lot bigger than an I-beam," Wrex said.

"Yes, but we may not need to cut through it completely to dislodge it. Shepard, this might just work!" Tali said.

Shepard waved her hand at the shutter controls, "Be my guest."

Tali hurried over to the controls and began pushing buttons. Shepard and Wrex turned to watch the shutter door. The shutter shot upwards, catching in a joint on the claw.

"Come on, you bosh'tet," Tali muttered from beside Shepard.

The screech of metal being pushed past its breaking point filled the room. The claw shifted slightly and then suddenly the strength of the shutter broke through the claw and the joint exploded. Shards of metal rained down on them. Shepard threw herself over Tali to shield her, letting her hard armor protect them both. Wrex grunted as a piece nicked his cheek but otherwise seemed completely unfazed by the super-heated shrapnel slamming into him.

"That worked well," he said flicking a piece of metal from his shoulder.

The whole building shook as the geth ship was ripped away from its anchor points. A few seconds later, it could be heard crashing to the ground below. Shepard knocked a few pieces of shrapnel from her armor and made sure that Tali hadn't suffered any further breaches to her suit.

"Very good! The field barring the exit will be down. Now we can go deal with this thorian creature," Tali said.

"This was my kind of mission. Kill a bunch of geth, and end things off with a huge crash!" said Wrex.

"I hope that ship was full of those geth bastards!" Tali said.

"I repeat, Normandy to shore party," Joker's voice came in over the comm, "Are you reading? Is anyone there? Normandy to shore party. Come on, Commander, talk to me!"

"Joker? I'm here, what's up?" Shepard asked activating her ear piece.

"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 said.

"They can't do any real damage. We'll get back to you as soon as we can. Hold your position but prepare to defend the ship if needed," Shepard said.

"Uh… yeah. Okay. Well, we'll just wait right here for you, Commander," Joker said.

"That probably pissed the geth off. They'll be all over this place in a minute, I'm sure," Shepard said to Tali and Wrex.

They made their way back to where the force field was and crossed through the now open area. Lizbeth Baynham was waiting for them on the other side.

"How the fuck did she get through?" Shepard asked when she saw the woman. "You know what, never mind. I have more important things to ask her."

"There you are!" Lizbeth called out. "We should get out of here. I don't think this place is safe."

"You said you didn't know about the thorian. I don't like being lied to," Shepard said crossing her arms over her chest.

"I – I was afraid. I wanted to stop the tests, but they threatened me, told me I'd be next. 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," Lizbeth said.

Shepard stayed quiet with her arms crossed; her eyes as cold as ice.

"The thorian is underneath Zhu's Hope, but the entrance is blocked. The colonists covered it with the freighter just before the geth attacked," Lizbeth said.

"But why are the geth after the thorian? What could Saren want with it?" Shepard asked.

"Well, it does have unique mind-control capabilities. That's what ExoGeni was interested in," Lizbeth said.

"And apparently so does Saren. Maybe this thorian's abilities are a threat to him somehow," Shepard mused.

Before Shepard could contemplate the possibilities further, Joker's voice came in over the comm again.

"Normandy to shore party. Come in," Joker's voice rang through.

"What is it, Joker?" Shepard asked.

"We're getting a lot of geth comm chatter. Looks like they're headed your way," Joker said.

"Thanks for the heads-up, Joker. You heard the man; let's move out," Shepard said.

"I'm coming with you. I might be able to help. Undo the mess I helped create," Lizbeth said.

"I'm taking you back to your mother, Lizbeth. That's as far as you go. My pilot has informed me that the Zhu's Hope colonists are attacking the ship and geth are moving this way. I won't be responsible for a civilian in that mess, no matter how good your intentions are," Shepard said.

Lizbeth opened her mouth to argue but saw the look on Shepard's face and thought better of it. Shepard noticed that Lizbeth clung to her pistol like it was a life raft. She was holding it all wrong though, with that grip, she'd likely break a finger from the recoil if not something worse. Shepard holstered her own gun and waved her hand at Lizbeth's gun. When she held the gun out, Shepard readjusted the woman's hand on the gun.

"Damn armed civilians. More of a danger to yourself than anything you're shooting at," Shepard mumbled under her breath.

Content that the other woman was now holding the pistol right; Shepard made her aim it at a nearby pillar. With a sigh of dismay, she spent a few more moments correcting her stance and aim before grunting.

"Good enough, come on," Shepard said.

The way back to the vehicle was clear. Shepard held the door open while a silent Lizbeth crawled in the back next to Tali. When Wrex was in on the passenger's side, Shepard hoped into the driver's seat and started it up. Back out on the skyway, they were immediately met with armatures and juggernauts. Lizbeth let out a squeal the first time they took a hit. Wrex laughed at her, and to her credit she remained quiet after that. Tali manned the gun as Shepard maneuvered the vehicle in and out of cover.

As they neared the ExoGeni camp, Juliana could be heard talking on the comm.

"… anybody. Is there anyone picking this up?" she said.

Shepard was about to respond when she heard Jeong cut her off.

"Get away from that radio," Jeong's voice said.

The comm was silent for a few seconds. Shepard glanced back at Lizbeth; a frown tightening her face.

"What was that all about?" Lizbeth asked.

"We're almost to her, Lizbeth. Stay calm," Shepard said.

"… this is Juliana Baynham of Feros colony. Please help us…" Juliana's voice spoke again, broken by static.

"That's my mom. Stop. Stop the rover," Lizbeth insisted.

"Gods damn it, Lizbeth, I told you we're almost there now can it," Shepard barked at the woman.

Shepard pulled the vehicle to a stop next to the camp's entrance and Lizbeth bolted out before Shepard could stop her. Lizbeth crouched down behind a crate watching the scene unfold down in the camp. Shepard stuck to the shadows and inched her way down to squat behind a crate as well.

"You can't do this, Jeong!" Juliana yelled.

Jeong paced around the room and grabbed his head, "Everyone shut up! Let me think!"

"What's going on?" Lizbeth whispered across to Shepard.

Shepard could only shrug in response.

"You won't get away with this," Juliana said.

"Get her out of here!" Jeong yelled.

Two of the ExoGeni security guards grabbed Juliana, one at each arm. Juliana began struggling, trying to pull away from them. Shepard was just about to pull her gun and fire a warning shot when Lizbeth stood up.

"Get away from her you son-of-a-bitch!" Lizbeth yelled.

Shepard tried to grab a hold of Lizbeth to pull her back into cover but Lizbeth moved past her and down into the room. The guards let Juliana go when she yelled out her daughter's name.

"Damn it! Come out where I can see you! All of you!" Jeong yelled.

Shepard stood, her head held high and walked into the room. Wrex and Tali moved behind her.

"Hah, Shepard. Damn it! I knew it was too much to hope the geth would kill you. I found some interesting facts about you in the ExoGeni database. I know what happened on Akuze. This doesn't have to end like that," Jeong said.

"We can talk this out. Nobody needs to get hurt," Shepard said.

"You – You don't understand. It's not that easy. Communications are back up. ExoGeni wants this place purged," Jeong said.

"This is a human colony, Jeong. You can't just re-purpose us," Lizbeth said.

"It's not just you. There's something here far more valuable than a few colonists," Jeong said.

"The thorian, I know. You should also know that there's no way I'm letting you take this woman into custody, or do any 'purging' of this colony," Shepard said.

"The what?" Juliana asked.

Lizbeth answered, "It's a telepathic life-form living under Zhu's Hope. It's taking control of the colonists there. ExoGeni knew all along."

"You won't get away with this, Jeong," Juliana said.

"So you keep saying. But nobody's going to miss a few colonists," Jeong said.

"Not happening, Jeong," Shepard said.

"If – if – if that's the way it has to be, then come on!" Jeong gestured with his hand waving her to him.

Jeong stepped towards Shepard and without a second thought she shot him between the eyes. The guards started to step forward but Wrex and Tali aimed their guns right at them. The guards held up their hands and backed away.

"As if we don't have enough problems. Now we're shooting each other in the back," Juliana said.

"Listen, damn it, I'm not one of you and I'm not just a damn grunt solider. I'm a Council Spectre and I've been sent here to figure out what the geth are after not to be drawn into your bullshit corporate drama. Jeong had a gun and he was talking about killing the colonists. How else did you expect that to go?" Shepard scowled before mumbling, "Besides, I shot him in the face. Not the back."

Yes, yes you did. Shepard heard Tali stifle a giggle, but Wrex didn't try to hide his booming laugh before he clapped Shepard on the back. The two women in front of Shepard looked appalled. It was Lizbeth who broke the tense silence.

"It's my fault. I knew what was going on and I didn't do anything," Lizbeth said.

"Don't you start. You do good work and you know it," Juliana said. "So what now, Commander?"

"I need to find out why the geth are after the thorian," Shepard said.

"The colonists won't let you near the thorian. They'd die first. They're under its control," Juliana said.

Shepard frowned, "If you've only just heard about the thorian, what makes you think the colonists would die to protect it?"

Good question.

"I… I don't know. It only makes sense, though. Doesn't it? I mean if they are under the thorian's control, why would the thorian let them allow you to come near it?" Juliana said.

Shepard ran her tongue across her teeth and nodded, "Joker said they were attacking the ship. I'd like to avoid killing anyone else, but I will do what I have to do."

"There's got to be another way," Lizbeth said.

"I think there is," Juliana's face brightened. "You could safely use a nerve agent to neutralize the colonists."

"Like a gas grenade!" Lizbeth said.

"You want me to release nerve gas in an area my team and I are going to have to move through?" Shepard asked.

Juliana shrugged, "It's not like it's weapons-grade. The insecticide we use in the gro-labs contains trace amounts of Tetraclopine, a neuromuscular degenerator. If their nervous systems are already weakened, it may act as a paralyzing agent."

"If we must consider it, drop it in a concussion grenade," said Wrex.

"Alright, we'll try it," Shepard said.

"Excellent. Thank you so much, Commander," Juliana said.

"We will stay out of your way until you clear a path. Good luck," said Lizbeth.

Shepard went to speak with Gavin while the two women worked on the gas grenades. Shepard didn't even want to think about why insecticides were something they thought to grab while fleeing ExoGeni. She didn't have the mental energy left to ask questions that weren't important. Tali took the chance to sit down and make what repairs she could to her suit and administer more antibiotics to herself. Wrex stood stoically by Tali looking intimidatingly at anyone who came near.

When the grenades were ready, they left the ExoGeni camp and took to the skyway where they fought their way through more armatures and rocket troopers. Shepard let the vehicle roll to a stop twenty feet away from the Zhu's Hope garage entrance. There was someone crouched down outside of the entrance, their arms slung over their knees with their head tucked down. Not a human, not anymore. Maybe never was. Thorian creeper. Don't let it get close. Shepard walked slowly towards the crouched figure. Alarm bells were going off inside of her head.

"Hello? Are you alright?" Tali asked moving forward.

Shepard threw out a hand to halt Tali, "Something's not right. Look at them. Why aren't they moving?"

Wrex was sniffing the air, "That's not human."

Tali and Wrex took out their guns and stayed close to Shepard as she slowly approached whatever it was. It waited for them to come within a few feet before unfurling itself, standing up straight. The grey color she had seen was actually its skin and not clothing. The fingers were no longer recognizable as such, in their place long claws protruded from its hands. It was completely void of hair, and though naked it was not identifiable as any particular sex. The head with its sunken skin, empty sockets, stunted nose, and bared teeth looked far more like a skull than a face. It started to move towards them but Shepard didn't hesitate to bring her gun up and fire. Green blood splashed out of the creature as the bullets tore into its frail flesh but it continued to stumble forward until a final bullet caused it to burst into pieces leaving nothing behind but a puddle of green goo and shredded flesh.

"That thing was not one of the colonists. No amount of infections could have done that," Tali said.

"I've seen them before. At one of the Cerberus facilities I hit with Williams and Alenko. These must be the 'samples' that the ExoGeni reports were talking about. Which means there are more of these terrorizing a colony somewhere on Nordacrux," Shepard said. "Keep your heads up; we need to make sure we don't shoot any colonists by mistake. Save the grenades for the colonists. Kill whatever the hell those things are on sight."

"As you would have it, Commander Shepard," Tali said.

Shepard checked her thermal clip before hitting the green button to open the garage door. The room was filled with the monstrosities, all sitting hunched over in neat little rows. Shepard fired at them but it didn't seem to have any affect while they were curled up. Those nearest the door began to rise to their feet and charged at Shepard. Further back in the room, the colonists who were guarding the garage began firing on her team. Shepard pressed her back to the door to avoid the bullets whizzing past her head. Tali and Wrex took a few steps back to put distance between themselves and the thorian creepers as well as make it harder for the colonists to target them.

Shepard ducked in and out of cover shooting at the creepers until too many of them had amassed at the door for her to remain. She pulled back to her team, luring the creepers out of the garage. The creepers who got close enough stopped in front of them; throwing their heads back they opened their mouths to spew torrents of the green, toxic fluid all over her crew.

When the last creeper exploded, Shepard made her way into the garage charging up the ramp and straight for the colonists. She took a couple of hits, dropping her shields but was able to get the gas grenade thrown out before they did any serious damage. The gas seemed to work as the colonists instantly dropped to the ground, unconscious. Shepard breathed a sigh of relief as she headed into the elevator.

They fought their way through the colony, killing creepers and knocking out colonists. Shepard spotted one of the colonists lying dead, but she wasn't sure whose bullet was responsible for the kill. She doubted it was intentional so she gestured to the corpse to remind her team to stay vigilant. When they made it to the freighter lift controls with only one colonist dead, Shepard counted that as a win. She activated the controls and one of the rounded containers raised up into the air revealing a staircase leading into the ground.

Shepard paused to contemplate going back to the Normandy to get Tali to the med bay and make sure the colonists had left the ship, but she didn't know how long the effects would last. She didn't want to have to fight her way back through the colonists to get back to the stairs. Didn't want to risk having to shoot anyone else. Just then, movement off to her right caught her attention. Shepard spun on her heel, her gun rising as she went. Fai Dan staggered slowly towards them.

"I tried to fight it, but it gets in your head. You can't imagine the pain," he said. "I was supposed to be their leader. These people trusted me."

Fai Dan reached for a pistol he had holstered at his waist and Shepard began circling wide, giving her team a clear shot if it was necessary and making herself a harder target to hit.

"It wants me to stop you… but I… won't," he struggled over the words.

Shepard narrowed her eyes in confusion.

He fought against his own arm as his hand brought the gun up to point at his temple, "I won't!"

Shepard's eyebrows rose with understanding and she opened her mouth to yell at him, urge him to stop, but it was too late. Fai Dan pulled the trigger and his body fell limply to the ground.

Shepard lowered her gun, "Damn it!"

"Shepard, there was nothing you could do," Tali said as she tentatively reached a hand out to squeeze Shepard's shoulder.

Shepard pinched the bridge of her nose and nodded before making her way back to the stairs. They were ancient, crumbling in places and the walls that lined them were cracked and discolored with time. Piles of rubble and debris sat in corners where pieces of the wall had given out over the years. Shepard lost track of how many flights of stairs they went down without even the slightest hint of life, synthetic, plant, or otherwise.

She paused when an opening came into view. A thorian creeper sat curled up in the doorway. Behind it, past the balcony, Shepard could see the first signs of what must be the thorian. It was – ironically – the most alien thing she thought she had ever seen, and it certainly didn't resemble any plant she had ever laid eyes on. Leveling her gun at the creeper, she made her way slowly forward. Her eyes flickered between the thorian and the creeper as she went. She was right next to the creeper and it hadn't responded at all. They moved past it and onto the balcony.

"Alright, we just need to find this creature to determine what it… what it…," Tali trailed off as she caught sight of the thorian. "Keelah, what is that?"

"Nothing's ever simple, is it?" Shepard asked eyeing Tali speculatively.

Shepard thought that Tali must be in worse shape than she thought if she was only just now seeing the thorian. It clung to the walls with long, thick appendages. The body of it was tubular, with vertical ridges reminding her vaguely of an earthworm. Thin tentacles hung down from its bulk. It even had what looked almost like a face; complete with thicker tentacles hanging down from what could easily be seen as a mouth. Pink sacs looking like diseased pustules clung to the wall, scattered around the thorian.

Shepard slowly made her way past more inert creepers towards what she assumed to be the front of the plant-being. The thorian began to quiver and slimy tendrils of a clear fluid began to seep out from between the tentacles. It groaned, or perhaps growled as something black began to slide out. It took Shepard a moment to realize that what she was seeing was a pair of booted feet and legs. Like giving breach birth, the thorian let a fully clothed, adult asari slide to the ground from within. The asari landed on the cement in front of Shepard before standing upright. Shepard had never heard of a green asari before, but this asari was indeed very much green.

"Invaders! Your every step 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 said.

Shepard adjusted her grip on her pistol, "What did Saren want with the thorian? Where is he now?"

"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!" the asari said.

"Tell me what you told Saren and release your thralls. Now!" Shepard demanded.

"No more will the thorian listen to those that scurry. Your lives are short, but have gone on too long. Your blood will feed the ground and the new growth!" the asari said before drawing a gun on Shepard.

Shepard lashed out with a biotic Throw as Wrex filled her with blasts from his assault rifle. The asari flew backwards and over the edge of the ledge the thorian dropped her on. The creepers that Shepard passed stood up and started attacking. Shepard advanced back down the balcony towards the hall the creepers were pouring out of. The nodes, you have to shoot the arms where they cling to the walls.

"Over here, Commander! Definitely something different in this area," Tali said.

Shepard saw the thick cordlike appendage of the plant anchored to the wall. She shot at the node while the others took care of the creepers. The node ruptured, green fluid dripping from it. Behind her the thorian growled, whether in rage or agony Shepard did not know; did not care. Quickly she pushed her way into the hall, seeking out more nodes to destroy as countless more creepers threw themselves at her and her team.

The thorian produced more green asari; Shepard began to realize that it was cloning them somehow. How the hell is it cloning them? Better yet, how is cloning them clothed and armed? She pushed the thoughts away, it didn't matter they died just the same. She worked her way up stairs, going from balcony to balcony killing the creepers and asari while shooting the neural bundles. They nearly got overwhelmed on several occasions but Shepard stayed focused and let her body move where it wanted as the thing inside of her guided her to victory.

They took out six nodes before the thorian began to fall. The weight of its massive body was too much for the remaining anchors to hold alone. It dropped down into the expansive pit to join the first asari, presumably crushed by the fall.

"Shit. We needed the information it gave Saren," Shepard said looking over the ledge.

One of the egg sacks on the wall broke open an asari dropped out. Her face was the same as the dozen or so Shepard just killed but she was such a deep blue that she was nearly purple.

"I'm free. I'm free," she said. "I – I suppose I should thank you for releasing me."

"It wasn't my intent. You worked for Saren," Shepard said keeping her gun ready.

"My name is Shiala. I serve – I served Matriarch Benezia. When she allied herself with Saren, so did I. Benezia foresaw the influence Saren would have. She joined him to guide him down a gentler path. But Saren is compelling. Benezia lost her way," Shiala said.

"Benezia is dead. She fought through the control Saren had over her in her last minutes to tell us what she could of the Conduit and Saren's plans. If you were with Saren; if you were in his ship, Sovereign, then you're under Saren's control, too," Shepard said.

Sadness seemed to wash over Shiala as she hung her head and spoke softly, "Sovereign. Yes, he calls it Sovereign. It can dominate the minds of his followers. They become indoctrinated to Saren's will. The process is subtle. It can take days, weeks. But in the end, it is absolute. I was a willing slave when Saren brought me to this world. He needed my biotics to communicate with the Thorian, to learn its secrets. Saren offered me in trade. I was sacrificed to secure an alliance between Saren and the Thorian."

"And now? Are you still under his control now?" Shepard demanded.

"No," Shiala said meeting Shepard's gaze once more. "When I joined with the thorian, Saren's influence was erased. I belonged to the thorian, in body and mind. Now that the thorian is dead, I belong only to myself once more."

"Then will you help me? You know what Saren wants to do. He's going to destroy all life if we don't stop him. Tell me what Saren learned from the thorian," Shepard said.

"Saren was given the cipher," Shiala said.

"Cipher? Cipher for what?" Wrex asked.

"The beacon on Eden Prime gave you visions. But the visions are unclear, confusing. They were meant for a prothean mind. To truly comprehend them, you must think like a prothean. You must understand their culture, their history, their very existence," Shiala said. "The Thorian was here long before the protheans built this city. It watched and studied them. When they died, it consumed them. They are a part of it."

"So the Thorian taught Saren to think like a prothean? How?" Shepard asked.

"The cipher is the very essence of being a prothean. It cannot be described or explained. It would be like describing color to a creature without eyes. To understand, you must have access to the endemic ancestral memory. A viewpoint spanning thousands of prothean generations," said Shiala. "I sensed this ancestral memory – the cipher – when I melded with the Thorian. Our identities merged, our minds intertwined. Such knowledge cannot be taught; it simply exists."

Shepard holstered her pistol, "If you gave it to Saren, you can give it to me."

"Yes, I can transfer the knowledge from my mind to yours, as I did with Saren. Try to relax, Commander," Shiala began closing the distance between herself and Shepard. "Slow, deep breaths. Let go of your physical shell. Reach out to grasp the threads that bind us one to another. Every action sends ripples across the galaxy. Every idea must touch another mind to live. Each emotion must mark another's spirit. We are all connected. Every living being united in a single, glorious existence. Open yourself to the universe, Commander. Embrace eternity!"

Shiala's sea green eyes turned to black orbs as she grabbed a hold of Shepard, flooding Shepard's mind with the images of the beacon once more. Blood red scenes of death and destruction, machines being fused with flesh, and then two bright stars surrounded by planets. The vision focused on one planet in particular, letting it become a black disc as it eclipsed the stars. The image was replaced by Sovereign or another just like it. Shepard opened her eyes and Shiala stepped away from her. They looked at each other in silence for a moment.

"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 said.

"What was that? Commander Shepard, are you all right?" Tali asked.

"I… I don't know, it still doesn't make any damn sense," Shepard said motioning to Tali and Wrex to stand down.

"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 said.

"You look a little unsteady, Commander. Perhaps you should return to the Normandy," Tali 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 said.

"Do you know anything about the Conduit? Where it's at or where Saren is?" Shepard asked.

"No. I'm sorry. All I know is that Saren believes the Conduit was the key to the prothean extinction," Shiala said.

"That can't be good, whatever it is," said Wrex.

Shepard asked Shiala for more information on the thorian and Saren, but she wasn't able to tell her much. Shiala had nothing new to offer Shepard that she hadn't already learned from other sources.

"And now that you're free?" Shepard asked.

"If you allow it, I would like to stay here with the colonists. They have suffered greatly, and I played a role in their suffering. I would like to make amends," said Shiala.

"I'm sure they can use whatever help they can get right now," Shepard said turning away from Shiala to leave.

"Thank you, Commander. May fortune smile upon you," Shiala said.

Juliana Baynham was there to greet Shepard at the top of the stairs to the colony. Lizbeth was with her and so where the others from the ExoGeni encampment. The colonists were recovering from the neurotoxin and appeared to be free of the thorian's effects. Shiala hesitantly moved to stand near Arcelia and the two women began speaking in hushed whispers.

"You did it. With the Thorian gone, we can start rebuilding for ourselves again," Juliana said. "And we're free of ExoGeni's threats. We're back to being just a little nowhere colony. Thank you, Commander."

Shepard offered her a warm smile before making her way back to the Normandy's docks. She wanted off Feros and she wanted her shower. She knew her crew would be getting impatient though, especially after the colonists attacked the ship so she decided to debrief first, shower second.

"Joker, call everyone in for debriefing," Shepard hollered towards the cockpit when she entered the ship.

"Aye, aye, Commander," Joker said before making the announcement over the comm.

"Tali, as soon as we're done in there I want you in the med bay," Shepard said over her shoulder.

"I don't know what Dr. Chakwas can do for me that I haven't already done myself, but if you wish I will go," Tali said.

"I do wish it," Shepard smiled.

Ten minutes later everyone was caught up to speed. There were a few questions about the thorian, and Shepard answered them the best she could. Kaidan seemed especially concerned for the colonists, which didn't surprise Shepard.

"Commander? You look… pale. Are you suffering any ill effects from the cipher?" Liara asked.

"I don't think so. I think I'm just tired. A little shaken up, maybe," Shepard said.

"I might be able to help you. I am an expert on the protheans. If I join my consciousness to yours maybe we can make some sense of it," Liara said.

Shepard quickly pushed away the idle thoughts that were reminding her that this joining of consciousness was the equivalent of having sex to the asari. Still, a blush crept into her cheeks. If it would help though, what choice did she have? She'd already let Shiala inside, she might as well let Liara dance around in there, too.

Shepard cleared her throat, "Alright. Yeah, let's do it the faster we have some answers the sooner we can stop Saren."

The two women stood from their chairs and crossed the floor to meet in the middle. Liara offered Shepard a warm smile before reaching out to her.

"Relax, Commander. Embrace eternity!" Liara said as her blue eyes turned black just as Shiala's had.

Once again Shepard's mind was overrun with the images from the prothean beacon. Liara let go of Shepard, stumbling a bit as she backed away.

"That was incredible! All this time. All my research. Yet I never dreamed… I am sorry. The images were so vivid. I never imagined the experience would be so… intense," Liara said. "You are remarkably strong-willed, Commander. What you have been through, what you have seen, would have destroyed a lesser mind."

"Did you see anything?" Kaidan asked.

"The beacon on Eden Prime must have been badly damaged. Large parts of the vision are missing. The data transferred to the commander's mind is incomplete," Liara said.

"Liara, was there anything? Any clue or hint?" Shepard asked.

"Everything I saw, you already know. You were right about the reapers. The protheans were destroyed by a race of sentient machines. I think it is obvious that there is a connection between the reapers and, the prothean extinction, and the Conduit. But I did not see anything that would help us find it," Liara said.

Shepard ran a hand through her hair and sighed, "What now?"

"I was able to interpret the data relayed through your visions. What was there, at least. But something was missing. Saren must have the missing information. Maybe he found another beacon. If we can find the missing data from your vision I can – whoa!" Liara said as she swayed on her feet; her eyes closing she brought a hand up to her head.

"I am sorry. The joining is… exhausting. I should go to the medical bay and lie down for a moment," she said.

"Dr. Chakwas should take a look at you," Shepard said.

"That will not be necessary. I just need some rest. Somewhere quiet," Liara said.

"We're done here. Dismissed," Shepard said

Joker patched her through to the Council as the room cleared out.

"Commander. ExoGeni should have told us about the Thorian. It would have made your job much easier," Tevos said.

"You might have been able to capture it for study instead of destroying it," Valern said.

"It was turning people into thralls. If we had captured it, it would have turned us and anyone else who came near it into a thrall, too," Shepard said.

"Perhaps it's for the best, then. At least the colony was saved," said Tevos.

"Of course it was saved," Sparatus bit out. "Shepard would go to any lengths to help a human colony."

"Being human has nothing to do with it," Shepard said with forced patience. "They were in trouble and it cost me nothing extra to help them, it didn't jeopardize the mission in any way and the mission came first. If you don't believe me, ask the very dead human that I shot between the eyes when he tried to get in my way."

"Admirable. But sometimes Spectres have to make sacrifices. I hope you're willing to do that when the time comes," said Valern.

"I think you know damn well that I have already made sacrifices in my time with the Alliance and I will undoubtedly do so again," Shepard said crossing her arms.

"Goodbye, Commander. We will be waiting for your next report," said Tevos before disconnecting the call.

Shepard threw her hands up in the air when the holograms disappeared, "What the hell is their problem?"

She left the debriefing room and headed straight for the showers.