LOCATION: FEROS, ZHU'S HOPE
"Commander. My name is David al Talaqani. We saw your ship. Fai Dan wants to speak with you immediately." Said one of the guards at the docks of Feros.
"Who is Fai Dan?" John asked.
"He's our leader. He needs your help to prepare for the geth. They're making another push. Please. Up the stairs past the freighter." David replied. No sooner than he replied a rocket hit him on his back and he was blown apart. The squad immediately jumped to cover.
"The entire place is crawling with geth." Ashley said.
"Nice and easy people. Don't rush." John said from behind his cover.
The geth were using barriers to protect themselves. Their bullets could not penetrate the barriers at once. The path was narrow which made the fight more difficult since they couldn't flank their enemy.
"Scoped and down." Garrus commented after taking down a geth with his sniper.
"Liara create a singularity." John ordered.
Liara nodded in understanding and her body glowed with dark energy. She created a singularity just behind the geth where they were standing behind their barriers. They started to flow in the air immediately from the force of the singularity which exposed them to John's team. They took the floating geth down immediately by heavy fire. But there were more.
"Nice work, Liara." John said. Liara smiled in return.
Tali sent a combat drone to distract the geth standing far away with a rocket launcher. Using the distraction they pushed forward and Garrus getting the line of shot took it out by a single head-shot. Ashley threw a grenade towards the remaining geth who were hiding behind a cover. The explosion of the grenade killed two of them and the other flew away and smashed against the wall by the force. Kaidan finished it off with several shots from his pistol. The squad pushed forward and found the stairs that David mentioned. On the stairs they were ambushed by the geth stalkers. These particular geth were very fast and could stick to any surface. But the stalkers were no match for the John's team. The stalkers were dead before they could attack. After finishing them off the team reached the area where the colonists took shelter from the geth attack. John saw many injured colonists lying on the ground untreated. He indicated his squad to give them first-aid because he couldn't see them suffering like that. The area showed evidence of utter destruction. He moved forward and found the leader of the colonists – Fai Dan.
"Oh, Commander. I'm glad they finally sent somebody to help us." Fai Dan said in relief.
"You're a bit late, aren't you?" The female colonist standing with Fai Dan spat out angrily looking at John and his team.
"Arcelia!" Fai Dan warned.
"Sorry, Commander." Fai Dan apologized. "Everyone's on edge since….." Fai Dan couldn't finish his sentence as more geth appeared.
"We've got geth in the tower." Arcelia said.
"Leave it to us." John said readying his assault rifle.
John and his team killed all the geth in no time. "Now we can update Fai Dan and get a vehicle safely out of the Normandy. The geth base is our next objective." Liara said.
"Let's inform Fai Dan." John said.
"The tower is secure. Thanks to you, Commander." Fai Dan said with gratefulness in his tone.
"I'm just glad your colony is safe." John said.
"I appreciate your concern…. And your efforts against the geth." Fai Dan said.
"They may have been slowed, but they'll come back. They always come back." Arcelia said.
"Help me find the geth and you'll all get out of here alive." John said.
"What do they want?" Ashley asked.
"If you want answers, go ask them yourselves." Arcelia spat looking at John.
"Why you ungrateful woman….." Ashley began but was stopped by John.
"We don't know what they're after. They came, they attacked us. That's all we know. The main base is at the ExoGeni headquarters. A good place to start looking if you want answers." Fai Dan said.
"What's ExoGeni?" Kaidan asked.
"It's the company most of us worked before the attacks. They fund this colony." Alicia answered.
"The skyway leads directly to ExoGeni headquarters. You can't miss it. Of course, there's an army of geth between here and there." Fai Dan explained.
"Why I am not surprised…." Tali commented.
"We'll get going then." John said and contacted Joker for the vehicle. The team followed him except Ashley who was lingering behind. She was glaring at Arcelia and was ready to punch her in the face. How could that woman be ungrateful and rude to the man who saved not only her ass but the entire colony? She thought. She walked forward towards Arcelia and stood with her nose to nose. "You disrespect the Commander again, I will break your face woman!" Ashley threatened her, turned back and followed the team towards the Normandy. Arcelia just stood there with wide eyes, dumbfounded.
The team took an elevator to the Prothean skyway where they found two colonists fighting against the geth assault drones. Garrus and Kaidan took care of the drones with their sniper before they could do any kind of damage. After taking down the drones they boarded a Mako which was there.
"Shepard, please don't drive this time." Garrus said with fear in his eyes.
"Why shouldn't he drive?" Liara asked confused.
"Well T'Soni you didn't saw his driving, that's why you don't know." Garrus replied.
"Not now Garrus. Let's get going." John said.
"Oh no! Not again!" Tali pleaded. Kaidan sneakered hearing watching their horrified faces… well except Tali and Liara's. Tali's face couldn't be seen because of her mask and Liara just looked confused. Ashley just gulped and Garrus' eyes were wide with fear. Kaidan shook his head and took a seat beside Liara.
"All right, heading for the geth base. Let's take it to them." Ashley said trying to lighten the situation. When the door opened in front of them, John saw a geth drop ship flew above them and drop geth shock troopers and armature in the squad's path. The geth armature started to attack the Mako from distance. John dodged one of their attack narrowly and for avoiding the fire he had to make the Mako jump over an obstacle. As the Mako fell on the ground it gave a violent jerk.
"Ow!" Garrus said as his head collided with the roof of the Mako. Garrus turned left to see that Liara was also rubbing her head. He turned to Kaidan and Tali who were both seated smugly with their helmets on. Ashley was beside John handling the gun. She was also wearing her helmet. Garrus almost face-palmed himself. Almost. He should have learnt from his experience then he wouldn't have felt the pain on his head. He lifted his helmet and placed it securely over his helmet. Garrus could see Kaidan was smirking at him and he could hear Tali's giggles. Next he saw that Liara's eyes also turned wide as the vehicle gave another violent jerk. Now, he smirked under his helmet at the young asari's expression.
"Commander, there is a camp out there. They seemed to be the survivors of the geth attack." Ashley said when they entered another door.
"Let's go and take a look." John said."
When the team approached the camp everyone was on high alert but when they realized they were not the geth, the survivors relaxed.
"Relax, Jeong. They're obviously not geth." An old woman said to an Asian man.
The man named Jeong still didn't relax though. He watched John and his team with suspicion in his eyes. "Get back, Juliana." Jeong said to the woman. He turned towards the team and asked, "Who are you? What do you want?"
"Commander Shepard. We are here to remove your geth problem." John answered.
"You see? You worry too much." Juliana said.
"And you trust too easily, Juliana." Jeong shot back.
"I'm just glad to see a friendly face. I thought we were the only humans left on this planet." Juliana said.
"Fai Dan and some members of Zhu's Hope are still alive." John said to them.
Juliana turned sharply towards Jeong, "I thought you said they were all dead."
"I said they were 'probably' all dead." Jeong defended himself.
"They're surviving but the geth really hit them hard." Garrus said.
"We know what that's like. Those damn synthetics are relentless." Juliana said frustrated.
"Are we getting closer to their base?" Garrus asked.
"You're almost there. They're holed up in the ExoGeni headquarters, just a bit further down the skyway." Juliana explained.
"Those headquarters are private property, soldier. Remove the geth and nothing else." Jeong said sternly.
"I don't like that man." Ashley whispered to Kaidan.
"I don't either. He is damn too irritating." Kaidan whispered back.
"Relax. I'm not interested in your company secrets." John said and turned to leave but Juliana stopped him. "Commander, before you go… My daughter, Lizbeth. She's missing…"
"They shouldn't waste time poking around." Jeong said.
That sentence broke down all of John's patience. He knew the pain of losing a loved one. He grabbed the front of Jeong's shirt and pulled him towards him with one hand. "She's not talking with you or burdening you with anything. Don't tell me what I should do, you understand? And shut your mouth or I will do it for you and I'm sure you won't like it." John threatened. Jeong gulped and nodded his head in understanding. John let go of him and pushed him away.
"Way to go, Commander." Ashley whispered to no one.
"Thank you, Commander for shutting his mouth. He is damn too… Anyways, my daughter is out there and I know that she is still alive." Juliana said.
"Where is your daughter, Juliana?" John asked softly.
"She was working in the ExoGeni building when the attacks came. Please, Commander bring my daughter back. I have no one else except her." Juliana pleaded with tear filled eyes.
John walked forward towards the elderly woman and took her hands in his. "I will do everything in my power to bring her back, if she is still alive." He assured Juliana.
"Thank you, Commander. Thank you." She said with trembled voice.
"Stay bunkered down here until I find out what the geth are after." John said to the survivors after stepping away from Juliana.
"We will, Commander." Juliana said.
After leaving the camp the team took the Mako again and drove towards the ExoGeni building.
"Why the geth are so much interested in that particular research center?" Garrus asked.
"Don't know. Maybe the geth are after what they are researching in there…." Tali said.
"That can be the reason behind the frequent geth attacks." Liara said.
"Whatever may be the reason, we need to take them down." Kaidan said.
"You are right Lieutenant." Tali agreed.
After driving for some time and killing several geth forces in their way, they reached at the end of the road. "Looks like we have arrived." John said.
"It seems so." Liara said.
The team exited the vehicle to see the utter destruction at that place. "The geth really hit them hard." Garrus said.
"Yeah." Kaidan agreed observing his surroundings.
Suddenly a gun shot missed Ashley by inches. Instinctively all of them pointed their gun at the direction from which the shot came. There was a young woman standing with a pistol in her hand. She looked scared and nervous. "I…. I am sorry. I thought you were geth or one of those varren." She said.
"You're safe now. But why were you here in the first place?" John said holstering his weapon.
"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 and I was surrounded by the geth." She explained.
"How did you survive the geth?" John asked curios.
"A woman saved me. She came out of nowhere and took down all the geth by a single EMP blast. She questioned me about our research data and left me there." She explained.
"Where did that woman go?" John asked.
"She went towards that geth ship." She answered.
"Look. I'm here for the geth. It's very important that I find out what they're after." John said.
"I don't know for certain, but I'm guessing they're here for the Thorian." She replied.
"Thorian? I've never heard of such a thing." Liara said.
"It's an indigenous life-form. ExoGeni was studying it." She explained.
"Where is the Thorian?" John asked.
"I cannot help you because of those geth crawling around. Look, we need to get out of here, past that field." She pleaded.
"Do you know how we can shut it down?" Tali 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. But here take this, this will grant you access to any locked doors." She warned them.
"We will get going then." John said.
"Commander… have you seen an elderly woman on your way?" She asked softly with hope.
"Your mother is alive Lizbeth and I promised her that I will take you back to her in one piece." John said.
"She…. she's alive?" Lizbeth wanted to make sure that she heard correct.
"Yeah, she is okay and waiting for your return." John said. Lizbeth smiled in relief. "I will hide in a hole somewhere, until you come back."
"No. Get in the Mako and hide there." John gave her the access to get inside the Mako.
"You don't have to tell me twice. Thank you, Commander." She said and ran towards the Mako.
As soon as she left the entire team was surrounded by varrens. But to them they were no threat at all. Liara took care of few of the varrens with her biotics and the rest were gunned down by the others.
"Where did these varrens came from and here of this place?" Garrus asked.
"It seems a bit strange to find varrens here." Tali said.
"We should keep our eyes open." John said and started moving forward.
They found some steps and while climbing it they heard a krogan cursing someone. When they reached the upper level they saw the krogan was standing in front of a VI which was refusing to give him answers. Sensing their presence the krogan Battlemaster attacked them. This krogan seemed as powerful as the one they encountered during in Therum but this time they were ready. They took down the krogan with perfect tactics and combination of biotic, tech power and bullets.
"What was a krogan doing here?" Kaidan asked.
"This krogan was one of Saren's servants. There can be more." John said as he approached the VI.
"What's going on here?" John asked the VI.
"I am unable to comply. Please contact your supervisor." It responded.
John used Lizbeth's ID but the VI still responded the same way. "Lizbeth's ID should have worked." John said.
"Not if someone hacked it and disabled all the communications." Tali said.
"Can you fix it Tali?" John asked.
"I don't know Shepard. Even if I could, it will take time. Whoever did this, damaged the entire system." Tali answered.
"We don't have much time." Garrus said. John agreed.
"Then we should move forward." John said.
They reached the geth ship at last after taking down few enhanced krogans and many geth in their way. The claws of the geth ship came through the wall and from its claws huge cables came out.
"The geth must have anchored their ship to the side of the building with these claws." Garrus observed.
"Indelicate, perhaps, but very efficient. How do we cut the power if it's coming from the ship?" Liara asked.
"Could the ship be dislodged? Maybe there's a flaw in one of the other claws we could exploit." Garrus offered.
"Let's move forward and find out." John said. They moved forward and found the next claw of the ship and a lot of geth foot soldiers. They were able to take down the geth without any problem.
"I fear we do no not have the needed gear to take down this claw. We will have to keep looking." Tali said.
They moved forward again and heard gun fire.
"Gun fire…" Liara said.
"More survivors?" Ashley asked.
"Let's find out." John said as he rushed forward.
There they found a woman with her back towards them working on a console and several dead bodies of the geth lay at her feet. Hearing footsteps behind her, she whirled around and pointed her SMG at them. When she realized that they are not the geth she holstered her gun and turned back to resume working on the console.
"Who's that?" Ashley said.
"Must be the woman who saved Lizbeth." John said as she walked forward towards the woman. He observed the woman carefully. She had short black hair, dark skin and her height was almost as of himself. She didn't look at him though even after detecting his presence. She continued typing on the console.
"What are you doing?" John asked.
"Trying to cut that claw off." She said.
"Who are….." John's words were cut off as something blasted near him. The force of it threw both of them away from the console.
He looked up from his position on the ground to find that more geth arrived. John's team wasted no time firing on the geth. But they missed one which fired a rocket towards the woman. John saw it and he lunged forward and took the woman down with him on the ground. The rocket missed them by inches and impacted on the wall next to them. Debris flew and fell on them. John protected the woman with his own body. Garrus took the geth rocket trooper with a head-shot from his sniper. John pushed away the debris from over his body and looked towards the woman to ask whether she was hurt.
"Miss, are you….." John words stopped when he saw her eyes. Those blue eyes….. He knew those eyes. They belonged to the girl he loved – Miranda Lawson. The woman was also looking towards his eyes and they were both caught in some kind of trance. Ashley observed that her Commander was lying on top of that unknown woman looking towards her face. Their face was too close to each other for her liking. She saw that even when they approached the two, they didn't even acknowledge their presence. Watching this her blood boiled.
"Shepard…. You okay?" Garrus asked placing his hand on John's back. That got John out of his trance. He looked towards Garrus with an expression as if he has no idea where he is at the moment. "I…. yeah, I am okay." He said and pulled himself off from top of that woman's body. Liara helped the woman to get up on her feet. It seems her leg got injured somehow from the impact. She unsteadily got herself up on her feet and walked towards the console again. With few strokes of her finger a huge blast door came down on top of the geth claw destroying it completely which resulted the geth ship to get detached from the wall. Liara didn't say anything but she observed that strange woman with keen eyes.
"Are you the one who saved Lizbeth down in the lab?" John asked.
"Yeah." She replied.
"And you are….." Ashley asked.
The woman looked towards John and answered, "Alicia Martinez. I was among the top members of the ExoGeni research lab. But they dismissed me a few months ago."
"Why?" John asked.
"I didn't know the reason at that time but now I know." Alicia said and then she played an audio log on her omni tool. The audio log was about the Thorian. It explained that the Thorian can infect and control other organisms including humans and it also revealed that 85% of the test subjects were infected during that time. The ExoGeni researchers knew their people were getting infected but still they carried on.
"This explains their strange behavior." Liara said.
"Well done, Alicia. We appreciate your help. Tell me one thing though. Did you hack that VI down there?" John asked.
"Yes. I saw those krogans, so I took a necessary precaution." Alicia answered.
"Well done! Our way out should be clear now. We can go address this Thorian issue." Liara said.
"Keep your guard up. There still might be a few geth inside the base." John said to his team.
They were about to move when they heard Joker's voice in comm. "I repeat, Normandy to shore party. Are you reading? Anyone there? Normandy to shore party. Come on Commander, talk to me!"
"I hear you Joker. What's going on over there?" John asked.
"We are 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!"
"They can't do any real damage. We're on our way back. Just hold your position." John said.
"Uh… yeah. Okay. Well, we'll just wait right here for you, Commander."
"All right people, you know the drill. Let's move out." John said.
"Wait, Commander." Alicia stopped them. "I want to help."
"Are you sure Alicia?" John asked.
"Positive and I think you know that I am well versed in combat. I won't let you down, Commander." Alicia said.
"Yeah, I saw that. Well fall in line." John replied as they turned back towards the place where they left Lizbeth.
FEW MINUTES LATER
"So what's your story Alicia?" John asked.
"There's nothing much to tell. I worked in the ExoGeni for years. But one day things started getting suspicious. I tried to pry on my superiors but I couldn't find anything at all. After few days I was kicked out from there. I asked them what I had done but they gave me no explanation. They just told me I wasn't needed there anymore." Alicia explained.
"You knew nothing about their experiment on the Thorian?" Garrus asked.
"No. I was kicked out before they started experimenting on it. But I came back one day in the hope to get my job back and saw some unusual behaviour among the workers. Later I learned that the Thorian has the ability to infect and mind control organics. I tried to get some evidence but I was caught. They tried to use me for the experiment but I escaped, somehow." Alicia replied.
"You were just a worker. How did you learn to fight like that?" Ashley asked with suspicious eyes.
"Aside from working here I took some combat training, for safety." Alicia said.
"You did good job out there, Alicia. We couldn't have done it without you." John appreciated her with a smile.
"I…. It was my job, Commander." Alicia stuttered slightly.
"And you do damn good job. Thanks." John said. The rest of the team gave her appreciative smiles except Ashley. They resumed walking forward but no one saw that Alicia's cheeks turned pink when John appreciated her. That's why she stuttered. Under the disguise of Alicia, there was Miranda Lawson who hadn't been appreciated in anything she had done. No one encouraged her except one boy and now this man walking in front of her. His eyes and his smile, they are exactly like John. Could Commander Shepard be her John? She thought. Whether she was appreciated or not because of her work never mattered to her over these years she worked for Cerberus but now…. She stuttered and she could feel the old Miri, which she kept hidden from everybody is starting to surface again and Commander Shepard is responsible for it, solely. She couldn't help but felt that something is special about this man. What is that she didn't know… and that frustrated her to no means.
"There you are!" Lizbeth said when she saw the Commander is back. Then her eyes fell on the dark-skinned woman among the squad. "You!" Lizbeth exclaimed. "I cannot thank you and the Commander enough for saving my life. First you and then the Commander." Lizbeth said holding Alicia's hand in hers. Alicia gave her a small smile and squeezed her hand in return.
"Commander, we should get out from here. I don't think this place is safe." Lizbeth said.
"I need some answers before we leave. You tell me all the details about the Thorian. You knew and you didn't tell me." John said.
"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 call 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 admitted with her head lowered.
"You did what you could. I'll help them if you can tell me where to find the Thorian." John said.
"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?" John asked Lizbeth.
"Well, it does have unique mind-control capabilities. That's what ExoGeni was interested in." Lizbeth said."
At that time John heard joker's voice in comm. "What is it Joker?"
"We're getting a lot of geth comm chatter. Looks like they headed your way." Joker informed.
"Thanks for the heads-up, Joker. You heard the man, let's move out." John said.
AT THE CAMP….
"You can't do this Jeong!" Juliana shouted.
"Everyone shut up! Let me think!" Jeong shouted back.
John and his team along with Lizbeth were watching the whole scene. "What's going on?" Lizbeth whispered.
"You won't get away with this." Juliana reasoned.
"Get her out of here!" Jeong ordered the guards. One of the guards came forward and grabbed Juliana and tried to drag her away from there. Lizbeth saw enough. She left her cover and marched among the chaos. "Get away from her, you son of a bitch!" She shouted attracting everyone's attention.
"Lizbeth!" Juliana shouted in relief. She freed herself from the guard and came rushing towards her daughter engulfing her in a tight hug.
"I am okay, mother." Lizbeth soother her mother.
"Damn it! Come out where I can see you! All of you!" Jeong shouted in frustration.
John realized there was no other way than to show themselves. But from the corner from his eyes, he saw that Alicia already crept inside behind the guards who had their guns trained on their direction. John signalled his team to leave the cover and show themselves. They slowly walked forward and approached Jeong.
"Hah, Shepard. Damn it! I knew it was too much to hope that the geth would kill you. I found some interesting facts about you in the ExoGeni database. I know what you did during the Blitz, but your heroics aren't needed here." Jeong said with sarcasm.
"What do you think you are doing, Jeong?" Shepard asked.
"Communications are back up. ExoGeni wants this place purged." Jeong said.
"This is a human colony, Jeong. You can't just repurpose us." Lizbeth said.
Jeong turned towards Lizbeth, "It's not just you. There's something far more valuable than a few colonists."
"You're after the one unique thing Feros has: The Thorian." John concluded.
"The what?" Juliana asked confused.
"It's a telepathic life-form living under Zhu's Hope." Lizbeth answered her mother.
"You won't get away with this Jeong." Juliana said.
"So, you keep saying. But nobody's going to miss a few colonists. I am not letting this opportunity go." Jeong said. With his signal his guards turned their guns on John and his team. Within blink of an eye John and his team shot at the guard's hands forcing them to drop their weapons. Jeong realized that he was outnumbered. He surprised his opponents by pulling out a pistol and grabbed Juliana, placing the gun at the side of her head.
"Let me go, or she dies." Jeong threatened. "Put your guns down. Now!" He yelled.
John complied and his team followed. But Jeong didn't know someone crept behind him. Alicia delivered a blow to his right hand causing his pistol to drop. But Jeong surprised her by turning quickly and grabbing her throat. She groaned from the pressure on her throat. John started to move forward to help her but she surprised him by quickly turning on her spot and slamming Jeong on her back. Jeong groaned in pain as he saw stars in his eyes.
"You okay Alicia?" John asked.
"I am okay, Commander." She replied evenly.
"Thank you, you just saved my life." Juliana said to Alicia.
"She also saved my life in the lab mother." Lizbeth acknowledged.
Juliana's eyes show the gratitude she was feeling. "I cannot thank you enough. God, bless you." She blessed Alicia.
"Thank you." Alicia said with a small smile. Everything was under the control again as the other survivors sighed in relief. But Alicia didn't notice that during her struggle with Jeong one of her most prized possession dropped on the ground from her pocket.
John turned towards Lizbeth. "How do we save the infected colonists? By killing the Thorian?"
"It's a possibility but I'm not sure." Lizbeth said.
"It's worth a try. But I don't know if I can avoid harming the colonists." John said.
"There has to be another way." Lizbeth said.
"I think there's a way to avoid killing the colonists." Juliana said.
"How do we do that?" Alicia asked.
"I think you could safely use a nerve agent to neutralize the colonists. Like a gas grenade." Juliana said.
"I'll try my best. Thanks for the help Juliana." John said.
"Don't mention it Commander. You saved my daughter. I will never forget it." Juliana paused and came towards John. "You are a good man Commander Shepard. Your mother will be so proud of you. If I was your mother I would've." Juliana smiled.
"Thanks." John said with a smile. I wish another person could was also proud of me. He thought. Then his eyes caught something on the ground. Curiously he went to check it. It was a locket and he knew that locket because he bought it long ago for his Miri. He picked it up and opened it to be sure. His eyes widened in shock. It was indeed the same locket because inside there was a picture of Miri and his own. His eyes misted as the memories came rushing back. But how did it come here of all places? He couldn't figure that out. She couldn't be here? Could she? But last time when he woke up in the med-bay of the Normandy he felt her presence there and he is also feeling it here for quite a while now. What's happening? If she is here, then why couldn't he see her anywhere? John got lost in his own thoughts about his Miri.
The team left the colonists there. They were about to board the Mako when they felt the absence of their Commander.
"Where's Shepard?" Garrus asked.
"I don't see…. There he is….. What is he doing there?" Ashley said.
"Let me." Kaidan said and he walked towards John.
"Commander. It's time to go." Kaidan said to John. Kaidan was surprised when the Commander turned towards him. The Commander's eyes were filled with unshed tears. "Shepard, what happened?" Kaidan asked concerned.
John already composed himself at that time. "Nothing, let's go. Somehow this place reminded me of an old friend I lost long ago." He replied. When they arrived the Mako Garrus said to John, "This time, I am driving. No arguments, Commander." He gave a turian grin. Everyone expected Shepard to argue but he didn't even acknowledge his teasing. He just entered the Mako and slumped into the back seat closing his eyes.
"What happened to him?" Ashley asked Kaidan.
"He said he got reminded of some past memories which weren't happy." Kaidan shrugged.
Liara and Garrus observed John. They both realized there was something more than he let on. Alicia just looked as the others because she had no clue what caused the Commander's mood to change suddenly. They both took their seats and Garrus started driving the Mako back to the colony but none noticed a single tear fell from their Commander's closed eyes.
ZHU'S HOPE
As soon as the team left the Mako the colonists started to fire on them. They took cover but didn't return the fire as the enemy were all civilians and under the control of the Thorian. They subdued the civilians with the gas grenades that Juliana provided. But the entire area was swarmed by Thorian creepers. They looked like the human abominations. The team opened fire on them. Tech and biotics attacks combined with bullets took down the creepers for good.
"Looks like the path is safe for us now." Garrus commented.
"Yeah. I cannot see any civilians out there anymore." Ashley agreed.
"What the hell were those things?" Tali asked.
"They were almost like the creatures we encountered on Eden Prime." Kaidan said.
"Let's find the entrance to the underground." John said.
They easily located the underground entrance and made their way inside.
"Okay we will just have to find this thing and put a couple of rounds…" Ashley stopped as her eyes fell on a huge creature before them.
"We will need bigger guns." Liara said.
"This may be problematic….." John said. He watched that the Thorian had many tendrils which were spread all over the place. Those tendrils kept it from falling down into the abyss. But no sooner than the words left his mouth a green asari emerged from inside the mouth of the Thorian and dropped in front of them.
"Invaders! Your every step is a transgression. A thousand feelers appraise you as meat, good only to dig or decompose. I speak for the old growth, as I did for Saren. You are within and before the Thorian. It commands that you be in awe!" The asari said in a strange voice.
"You gave something to Saren. Something I need." John said.
"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 to the next cycle. Flesh fairly given! The Old Growth sees the air you push as lies! It will listen no more!" The asari replied.
"Give me back what I need and I'll strike back the one who betrayed you." John said.
"No more the Thorian will listen to those that scurry. Your lives are short, but have gone on too long." The asari said and attacked them. She was taken down immediately from the joint gun fire but more creepers appeared out of nowhere.
"Cut those tendrils and it will fall down." John said.
They began to fire on the creepers and kept on pushing forward towards the nodes of the Thorian that were attached to the wall. One by one they started to destroy those nodes. A few more asari clones appeared from inside the Thorian. They were also taken down in similar ways in no time. When the last tendril was destroyed the Thorian fell deep into the abyss. After it fell an asari emerged from inside a spore on the wall. She fell down on her knee on the ground and coughed violently. The team kept their guns pointed towards the asari.
"I'm free. I'm free." The asari exclaimed delightfully. Then she looked towards John and said, "I…. I suppose I should thank you for releasing me."
"How did you end up inside that…. thing?" John asked.
"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.
"Are you saying Saren can control minds?" John enquired.
"Benezia underestimated Saren. As I did. We came to believe in his cause and his goals. The strength of his influence is troubling." Shiala explained.
"Benezia sought to turn the river and was swept away." Liara said.
"Asari Matriarchs are among the most intelligent and powerful beings in the galaxy. How could one fall under Saren's control?" Alicia asked.
"Saren has a vessel. An enormous warship unlike anything I've ever seen. 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." Shiala said.
"Saren's pretty quick to betray his own people." Garrus said.
"He was quick to betray the Thorian too. After he had what he wanted, he ordered the geth to destroy all evidence of its existence. Saren knows you are searching for the Conduit. He knows you are following his steps. He attacked the Thorian so you could not gain the Cipher." Shiala answered.
"What's the Cipher? And why did Saren need it?" John asked.
"The beacon on Eden Prime gave you visions. But they were 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. The Thorian was here long before the Protheans built this city. It watched and studied then. When they died, it consumed them. They became a part of it." Shiala explained.
"So the Thorian taught Saren to think like a Prothean? How?" John 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 endemic memory. A viewpoint spanning thousands of Prothean generations. 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." Shiala said.
"I need that knowledge to stop Saren!" John said urgently.
"There is a way. I can transfer the knowledge from my mind to yours, as I did with Saren. Try to relax, Commander. Slow, deep breaths. Let go of your physical shell. Reach out to grasp the threads that bind us, one to another." She paused and spoke again when her eyes turned black, "Embrace Eternity!"
Shiala began to transfer the knowledge to John's mind. Then she felt something….. Something inside his mind. Her eyes suddenly opened as she was shocked. "It cannot be….." She whispered. "The legend is true indeed." Then she looked towards John with deep respect in her eyes. But her next action shocked everyone. She bent down on one knee and bowed to John. "My life is a success." She again whispered.
"What are you doing?" John asked confused.
"I….. I have given you the Cipher. Now if you let me go, I would like to help the colonists and make amends." Shiala stuttered. Everyone saw that she was crying silently and they were tears of happiness.
"Very well….. You may go. But don't make me regret my decision to let you go." John said.
"You won't regret it Commander. I give you, my word." She gave one last bow and left.
"What was that about?" Ashley asked confused as the others. John just shrugged.
