Chapter 12
The Alliance's information on Feros stated that the air was breathable and nontoxic. What the codex didn't say was that the air reeked of decay. Feros used to be a huge Prothean metropolis. It's been fifty thousand years since the Protheans walked the surface of Feros and the smell still hasn't dissipated. Zoe and the ground team kept their helmets on. She decided to bring out the entire team. She would lead Ashley and Tali whereas Alenko would head up team two with Garrus and Wrex. The team was greeted by a colonist from Zhu's Hope until he was ambushed by several geth sappers. The team took defensive positions as the sappers jumped around the ancient staircases. Zoe, Ash, and Garrus sniped the hoppers out of midair.
Once the team dropped the Geth sappers, they headed up the stairs to the landing of Zhu's Hope. A few ramshackle prefab habitats looked through together at the last minute. The colonists of Zhu's Hope were a depressing bunch barely noticing the new arrivals from the docking bay. The one who greeted Zoe & CO told the commander to seek out Fai Dan the leader of Zhu's Hope before the geth ambushed him. Fai Dan was a man of average height and a passive demeanor. The armed woman next to him looked like her trigger finger was very itchy.
"Are you Fai Dan? There are reports of a heavy geth presence. The Council sent my squad to investigate." Zoe said as she holstered her pistol.
"What took you so long? We're swimming in Geth over here. It's about time the Council got off of their pathetic asses." The armed guard with the itchy trigger finger spat out.
"Stow your anger Arcelia. These people are here to help. We cannot turn away anybody willing to help us at this point. The heads of Exo-Geni haven't lifted any fingers to help us out. This colony is on the verge of collapse. We are barely holding on." Fai Dan couldn't keep the look of desperation off of his face. He was one letdown away from a breakdown.
"We are here to help. Geth have been devastating the galaxy. The Council wanted Saren captured and his geth eradicated. We…" Alarms blasted throughout the small colony.
"Ahh Hell here we go again. They are attacking us again from the upper levels." Fai Dan said as he looked at his omni-tool.
"We've got this Fai Dan. You've been through enough already. Tali & Ash are with me. We will take the upper stairs while Kaiden, you Garrus and Wrex head down those stairs. There has to be a reason why the Geth keep targeting this colony. Stay in radio contact as much as possible. The Geth and these thick concrete walls won't make it easy." Zoe said as she pulled out her light assault rifle. "Move out!"
Kaiden, Garrus and Wrex took off down the central staircase. Zoe, Tali and Ash hiked up the stairs. The three warriors fanned out in a triangle formation. Ash was on point with Tali and Zoe as wingers. Tali primed her trusty shotgun as Zoe took the safety off of her assault rifle. Both loaded tungsten rounds into their weapons. Ash on the other hand loaded up inferno rounds into her sniper rifle. She liked that ammo for those geth that were tougher to put down. There was a long hallway just off of the staircase. The unmistakable chatter of the Geth permeated down from a half floor from above. Ash charged up the half flight of stairs with Tali and Zoe in hot pursuit.
Ash took up a overwatch position from behind a fallen stone column. She drilled a Geth destroyer dead center in its light-unit. Zoe and Tali flanked up the right side of the room. Tali blasted two geth troopers across the room with her Spectre shotgun. Zoe dropped one rocket trooper and a shock trooper in four quick bursts. Sticky silver liquid coated the walls. Zoe didn't even bat an eyelid when a Geth Juggernaut walked out from behind a wall cover. The shot from Ash's rifle blasted the Juggernaut's armor away. Zoe and Tali took aim and unloaded round after round until their guns nearly overheated. Tali let out a war cry. She fired off a few victory shots into the sky. Zoe ran over and hugged the shapely Quarian.
"You two should get a room and then invite Liara." Ash yelled out from the other side of the cavernous room. Ash holstered her sniper rifle on to her back. She jogged over to her squad mates and jokingly punched Zoe in the shoulder. Zoe playfully took the punch with a look of mock hurt on her face. Tali joined in on the action and punched Zoe in her other shoulder.
"Don't you pick up any one of Ash's bad habits Tali, it would be such a shame if you did." Zoe sassed her gunnery sergeant.
"I wouldn't dream of it Commander but who will keep your ego in check if is Ash or I didn't do our job." Tali sassed her Commander right back. Zoe was about retort when she heard Alenko's voice between the crackling static that came over her radio.
"…Mander come in… Pinned… Turian wou… need…" There was nothing but silence after that.
"Double time it down the stairs people. Garrus may or may be wounded. They are pinned down." Zoe said as she nearly ripped her assault rifle off of her back. This time Zoe was on point as she charged down the four flights of stairs. Tali and Ash struggled to keep up. They noticed a blue hue surrounding their commander's body. All three checked their ammo levels as they made their way down the stairs. Ashley switched over from her sniper rifle to her assault rifle. It looked like they were heading into a very close quarters battle.
Sounds of gunfire echoed up from the tunnels as the trio tactically made their way out from the stairwell. Zoe crouched down behind a stone wall. She could see Garrus lying out in the open. He was moving slightly which was a good sign. Zoe silently signaled Alenko, Ash and Tali to cover her seconds before she charged out from behind cover. There was no weapon in either hand. The once faint blue hue shone brighter than any neon light on the Citadel's Silversun Strip. Her hands didn't look like hands but bright blue balls of light. She charged forward at incredible speed leapt into the air and when she landed she released that built up biotic energy in awesome explosion of light and outward force. The remaining geth units were thrown in every direction. Sythetic blood and body parts were scattered everywhere.
Zoe's next concern fell to her fallen comrade. She ran over to the downed Turian. She had her onmi-tool scanner on checking his vitals. There were no outward signs or wounds but Garrus's body was still twitching. She was brought out of her investigation when a firm hand pressed upon her shoulder.
"Vakarian was leading while I was covering the rear. He was ambushed by a shock trooper who somehow took down the turian with some sort of electrical blast." Lieutenant Alenko tried to explain.
"His name is Garrus. His name is Garrus Vakarian and for the time being his is a member of my team. I would like you to show him the same respect that he shows you. Don't make me order you. Secondly, you were a three man team. Where is Wrex?"
"He charged off down some other walkway after he claimed he smelled vermin." Alenko once again tried to explain.
"I know he only looks like an eight hundred pound walking talking frog like most of his fellow krogan but Wrex is different if you give him a chance. He is one of the few krogan who actually knows what honor is even better he lives by his own code of honor. You should try to get to know him. He just might save your life." Zoe chastised her acting XO. She was seriously having second thoughts about his impromptu promotion.
"Those were my thoughts exactly." A loud gruff voice came up from behind them. "What you didn't or couldn't detect a krogan ambush on top of the geth. You should thank me for that. Tuesday is coming and I feel like some tacos." Wrex walked up from behind. Wrex's red armor was covered in what looked like krogan blood. "How's the puny turian?"
"I'm fine. You didn't have to ask. That geth bastard just caught me by surprise. That electrical attack stunned me and dropped me to the deck. Those guys have guns and heavy weapons and yet this unit used non-lethal tactics. It's just strange if you ask me." Garrus said after propping himself off of the ground.
"The biggest question that nobody has asked is what or when did you develop that biotic bomb." Ash barked out loud. "You have no known biotic ability. How the hell could you have pulled that off? I'm pretty sure most Asari couldn't have pulled off that move."
"What can I say other than I am quite special. I don't know where these powers came from but why would I want to deny these new powers. I was able to stop those geth from dealing Garrus a death sentence." Zoe was starting to get agitated. Why were they questioning her? She was their commanding officer. Her words should be taken as law. She was the alpha dog.
Love, where are these thoughts coming from? These thoughts are not your own. Do not listen to them. They will only will corrupt your strong morals and will. Your love for me is unconditional and absolute. Use that love to guide through this attempt to control you.
Thank you, Love even when you are millions of light years away and yet you have the ability to save me from making awful decisions.
"I must apologize to you Ash. I don't know where that growing aggression came from. I don't know where my biotic ability came from but my mother was always hanging around shuttle bays of ships. She could have been exposed to Eezo when I was baking away in her oven. What I am pretty sure about is that there is something very wrong here. I think there something in the air that is making in past my suit's air filtration system. Those filters are supposed to stop anything bigger than one micron in diameter. Now either my filters need replacing or whatever we are dealing with is something our suits cannot handle. Did anybody come across the reason why the geth keep attacking Zhu's Hope?" Zoe asked.
"I used a high explosive grenade and took out some high powered transmitter after I took down that squad of Krogan warrior wannabes. I'm pretty sure that was the reason the Geth kept attacking the colony." Wrex grumbled out.
"Thank you for that Wrex. I'm sure that the people of Zhu's Hope deserve a respite from constant attack. I think we should still stay in two separate teams but I want to change up the teams. We will move out once Garrus gets back on his feet. Ash Tali and Garrus, I want you to stay at the colony. There is something strange going on around Zhu's Hope. I just know there is. I will be heading out with Wrex and Kaiden and see if we can get into the the Exo-Geni base just outside of the colony." Zoe saw Garrus slowly standing back up. He took out his assault rifle and took a few steps gingerly towards in the opposite direction from the squad.
"I'll take point on the way back to the colony." Garrus said without looking back. Tali and Ash were caught off guard when the turian said that he'd lead. They felt the seriousness in the turian's voice and quickly fell in behind him.
Zoe stared off as the trio walk off. She picked up her pistol the same one she unknowingly dropped before she charged off after the geth. She took a few moments to process what just happened before she motioned to Wrex and Alenko to follow her lead. The small group made their way back up the three flights and walked over to what looked like a locked elevator door. Zoe brought up her onmi-tool and ran her special not entirely legal unlocking program. The red light turned green in a matter of seconds. The heavy old doors opened slowly. Zoe and Company loaded into the elevator and headed up the elevator shaft. The old clunky doors opened up to what looked like a large garage bay.
Several armed security guards stood behind small metal barricades on the upper level. These guards turned towards the elevator when they heard the sound of the doors opening. The guards then pointed their assault rifles at the three people inside the elevator.
"Hold your fire, we're friendlies. We have been sent by the Council to deal with the Geth." Zoe said as she slowly walked out of the elevator.
"It's about damn time we got some help to deal with those goddamned synthetic assholes." A tall brute of a man spat out. He had what looked like a cheap chewed cigar hanging from his mouth. "We're nearly out of ammo and everything else supplies wise. We barely got the Mako back in one piece off of the skyway. That place is crawling with Geth. The shield generator is shot and the guns overheat quickly."
"We'll take a look at it. I don't have my master technician or my master mechanic but I think we can be able to patch this Mako back together. Wrex and Alenko see what you can do with the guns. Radio Garrus or Tali and see if they can give you a hand. I'll have a look at the shield generator." The three armed amigos walked down to the beat up Mako-35A. It was the smaller brother of the main Mako. It only had room for three people but it was faster and lighter than its bigger brother.
Zoe brought out her diagnostic scanner on her omnitool. Zoe then opened up the rear panels of the Mako where the engine and shield generator were located. She passed her arm over the back end of the Mako. The engine checked out but it could use an overhaul. The shield generator was almost beyond the point of repair. She brought up her radio and contacted Tali.
"Tals, I'm looking at a Nashan Stellar SGM-001. My scanner is telling me that the fluctuation electrical storage system sensor is fried. I'm pretty sure there is no way that I'll be able to find a working replacement anywhere here on Feros. Is there any workaround you can think of that could help me out?" Zoe asked her master technician.
"The NS SGM-001 was the first generation shield generator sold by Nashan-Stellar. That sensor is not essential to the generation of shield. The downside is without that sensor you cannot monitor directly from the cabin. The good news is that Nashan-Stellar is a subsidiary of Skywire Media founder Rufus J Teague. Anything made by Teague has the ability to be monitored remotely. If you can power up the unit, you may be able to forge a connection with the main monitoring system." Tali responded.
"Boy, am I glad I recruited the smartest most beautiful master technician in the entire galaxy. Ok, I'm powering up the unit and opening up my bluewire comm. detector. Tali, I owe you a case of your favorite drink. Your solution worked. The shields are only charging up to seventy five percent. Is there any way to get the shields up to full power?" Zoe asked.
"Other than getting yourself a new generator, I would follow the mantra of the great prophet Mohammad Ali." Tali said and Zoe could see the smile on the Quarian's face. Tali had be reading up on Earth culture and history.
"Float like a butterfly…" She heard Tali said.
"…Sting like a bee." Zoe said back. "Thanks again Tali. See you soon." Zoe closed down the radio channel. Zoe linked omni-tool to the generator and set a monitor alarm so that if the shields dipped below 25 percent, a loud alarm would blare out of her omni-tool. She closed up the back panels to the Mako and walked around front to see how the other two were doing. Wrex and Alenko were just about to draw their weapons on each other.
"Just what the hell is going on here? Why are you two about to kill each other?" Zoe snarled out.
"This fleshy pyjak told me to back off and let him work. He was about to short-circuit the main cannon leaving this tank completely defenseless against the geth. We would be better off walking up to the main facility." Wrex spat out in his angry grumble.
"I was not. I was attempting to boost the cannon's heat sink system so that the cannon could last longer in combat."
"That sounds like a good idea if we had the time and resources to fully rebuild this Mako but we don't have the time. We have to get moving. Get the weapons system operational. It doesn't have to be fancy. It just has to work." Zoe said calmly. Wrex and Alenko put away their guns. Zoe walked over to Alenko and whispered, "You don't have thank Wrex but he was right. That fix you almost attempted would have fried the main cannon."
Zoe then walked away from Kaiden and found the hatch to the Mako on the left side of the tank. She climbed in the tank and climbed into the driver's seat. She powered up the main displays and activated the start up protocol for the Mako. She looked over on to her onmi-tool. The shields were registering at a 75 percent charge. Those shields could hand most small arms fire but those electrical blasts from the armatures and colossi would drain their shields too quickly. Zoe would have to do her best to avoid those rounds at all cost. The downside of this version of the Mako is that it didn't have the same heavy armor plating that the Normandy's Mako had. It sacrificed that plating for speed. Zoe wasn't too thrilled about that.
She heard Wrex clamber into the tank behind her taking his seat at the gunner's controls. Alenko after getting the cannon operational was the last to climb in. He took the only seat remaining. He would monitor every other system. The Mako's computer gave Zoe the all clear just before Zoe floored the accelerator. This Mako was nearly twice as fast as the Mako she was used to and her fishtailing nearly put them into the wall just next to the garage door. Zoe's quick reflexes kicked in and she corrected her course. The Mako was tagged with small arms fire as soon as they left the garage. Wrex fired two heavy rounds from the tank's cannon. The squadron of geth was incinerated when those tank rounds exploded in front of the weak cover the geth tried to hide behind.
Zoe artfully drove forward dodging and swerving around the fire from the Geth juggernauts and armatures while Wrex and his talent for destruction rained down holy fire upon the synthetic warriors. They came upon what looked like a weigh station and bunker. The Mako's radio picked up radio chatter from a woman's voice.
"We've got movement. It's not one of the geth. I hope those poor bastards can survive the geth."
As much as Zoe wanted to investigate that mysterious voice, she had to stick to the mission. She drove on passed a small ramp that descended to probably a rest area. She drove the Mako up and around two ramps to the upper level of the skyway. They were met again by a squadron of geth foot soldiers whom Wrex took out with one cannon round. Two armatures and two juggernauts tried to slow down the Mako but the long range of the cannon kept the Mako safe. The Mako drove up to a garage door on the other end of the skyway. The door opened and Zoe drove the Mako up to an opening not big enough for the Mako. The tank's scanners showed at least a squadron of geth on the other side of the wall.
"It looks like we are going on foot from here. Everybody out of the Mako!" Zoe barked out . She was the first one in but the last one out of the tank. Wrex took point as he charged into the large room firing round after round from his shotgun. He downed all three geth sappers in under ten seconds where Zoe and Alenko dropped the remaining foot soldiers. After eliminating the geth, Zoe took point and led the team up the small ramp where they saw a big blue shield. It was similar to the one they found on Therum. There was no way to get around the barrier. They would have to find the barrier's power supply somewhere else. There was a gap next to the barrier which had what looked like a ten foot drop down into a cavernous room. Zoe holstered her rifle and jumped down into the hole. Wrex and Alenko followed suit once Zoe announced it was all clear. The trio rounded a corner and was met with the sound of a gunshot from a cheap pistol.
Zoe nearly drilled a young woman between the eyes. The woman was yelling her apologies as she made her way towards the group. She introduced herself as Lizbeth Baynham. She was a research associate on a project Exo-Geni labeled Species 37. She explained to Zoe that she was trying to collect as much information on Exo-Geni's questionable experiments when the Geth attacked. She was going to blow the whistle on what Exo-Geni was studying. They had discvored that the Species 37 was capable of enthralling the minds of people who inhaled the spores S37 released. That was what Zoe experienced when they first arrived at Zhu's Hope. Lizbeth gave Zoe her keycard which would unlock any door they might come across.
Zoe told the girl to hide when a pack of ravenous varren charged out from some hidden den. Wrex looked like a kid in a candy store on Christmas morning. He didn't even take out any of his guns. He charged at the leader. He slammed head first into the varren which sent the varren flying. Zoe let out a burst from her assault rifle and her shredder rounds liquefied the varren in midair. Alenko was altering between warps and his pistol as he took down two varren that were charging at him. Varren were easy to defeat if you didn't let them gang up on you.
Zoe swiped the keycard which unlocked the door. The door led to a staircase. A deep grunted yelling came from above. Wrex said he smelled a krogan but he said there was something off about the krogan. The team brought out their guns and slowly crept up the stairs. They could hear the krogan getting angrier as it tried to interface with a VI. The VI blew the trio's cover when it announced there was a line forming behind the krogan. The krogan tried to take out its gun but the team was ready and pumped the krogan with holes.
"Welcome back user Lizbeth Baynham. Security clearance: Level 5. How can this VI assist?" The VI asked.
"What was the previous user trying to access?" Zoe asked. Zoe was surprised the VI didn't recognize that her voice didn't match up with the actual Lizbeth Baynham.
"The previous user was trying to access information on the thorian codename Species 37. He didn't have the security clearance necessary to access such files." The VI informed Zoe.
"I would like to download every file on Species 37 to my omni-tool. Am I able to do that?" Zoe asked.
"Yes user Baynham, you have the necessary clearance needed to download these files. Open up a bluewire connection port to proceed with download." The VI instructed Zoe. Zoe opened up her bluewire connection and the VI started the download. It took a few minutes for the large file to load up. Zoe thanked the VI and asked to be logged off. Zoe loaded up the file and scrolled through the file synopsis. It confirmed her suspicions. This species 37 was located under Zhu's Hope. This explained the actions of the colonists. Zoe wondered if this thorian would attack by using the colonists as cannon fodder. She closed down her omni-tool. She tried to open up a private comm. channel with either Ash or Tali but there was massive interference and she couldn't find a clear signal.
"We continue higher into the structure. That geth ship that's anchored to this building is probably the power source for that blue barrier also the cause of our blocked radio comms. Find a way to remove the ship." Zoe was cut off from finishing the rest of her thought as pulse rifle fire erupted in the next room. She rolled into cover as her squad mates returned fire as they ran into the room. Wrex lobbed a grenade from behind cover that took out every single geth unit in the room.
"BWHAHAHA… I should rename my grenades the Tuesday night specials. Those things pack one hell of a punch. That krogan scientist really knows how to ramp up the power of any explosive he can get his hands on." Wrex said before he crushed the head of a geth unit as he made his way through another ancient room. Wrex sniffed the air a few times before he charged off up a staircase. Zoe tried to yell at the bloodthirsty krogan but it was no use. He probably smelled a few more of those cloned Krogan wannabes the likes of which couldn't handle a true Krogan warrior.
Shepard and Alenko could hear shotgun blast after shotgun blast followed by Wrex's war cry which meant Wrex had his big bad knife out. They then heard three thuds above them. Wrex called them out over the radio. "Shepard, there's an Exo-Geni computer terminal up here that you might want to check out"
"Got it Wrex, I'm on my way. Thanks for not using one of your bunker busters. Those things aren't very kind to electronics." Zoe said as she made her way up the stairs. She quickly made her way over to the terminal. She used her onmi-tool and bypassed the terminal's security system. There wasn't much valuable information on the terminal other than some designs of weapon prototypes and the location of anther Exo-Geni research facility on the planet Nodacrux. Zoe typed a few commands into the terminal's interface. She set the hard drive to securely wipe itself. She could have used one of Wrex's grenades but that would have a waste of a good grenade.
The trio headed back down the stairs and backtracked their way to the first room they encountered. There was a secondary staircase that nobody noticed after Wrex charged off. Zoe warned everybody to stay frosty as they could hear geth chatter echoing from someplace ahead. Zoe motioned with her hand for the group to stop. She then drew out her sniper rifle and activated her cloaking system. A few moments later, Zoe whispered over their suit comm. unit. "I see one juggernaut, two destroyers and four troopers. I've got dibs on the big one. Move on my shot."
Zoe switched over to armor piercing rounds. She charged up her overload shock device she recently added to her onmi-tool. She then locked the shock onto the juggernaut. She primed her rifle. Inhaled slowly, she fired the overload which negated the geth's shields. Upon exhaling slowly, she squeezed the trigger and released a round right to the Juggernaut's head. She quickly reloaded and drilled one of the destroyers in its head as she heard Wrex charging down the staircase towards the Geth. Alenko flung two of the troopers into a wall with such force that they exploded on impact. They took out seven geth in less than thirty seconds. Zoe was pleased.
Above them was the massive geth arm which held the dropship onto the building. Zoe noticed that there were doors on either side of the massive arm. Chances were good that these doors worked on a hydraulic system of some sort. If she could the controls, she could then figure out the correct pressure without overloading the system. She saw a control panel with various numbers. They must correspond to the pressure level. She picked her three favorite numbers: 7, 11 & 13. The green light illuminated and Zoe slammed her fist on to the big start button. The large hydraulic doors slowly cut through the docking arm. The horrific noise caused by the metal on metal action was worse than nails on a chalkboard. After thirty seconds, the hydraulic doors cut through the arm and closed once again. The group's long wave radio and radar systems were back online. The ship was indeed causing the localized jamming issues.
Zoe, Wrex and Alenko made their way back to the first room. The blue shield was down and they saw Lizbeth standing up against the Mako. She looked up at the Commander as Zoe walked down the ramp to the tank of rolling thunder. "I'm glad you three survived. I doubt I could have survived much longer being out here alone." Lizbeth said. She tried to hug Zoe but Zoe stopped the unwanted attention immediately.
"Look, one I'm very much spoken for and two we are in the middle of a firefight with the geth. Get your head on right. Either hope in the small cargo area behind the cockpit or you can walk back to Zhu's Hope. You have the next ten seconds to decide." Zoe was the last one inside the tank and as she was closing the Mako's hatch, Lizbeth pulled back on the outer handle of the hatch. It looked like the little lady needed a ride. Somehow Lizbeth contorted herself into the Mako's small storage area behind the cockpit.
"Commander, we just received a urgent message from the quariain. She reports that the colonists of Zhu's Hope are acting strangely. Alenko reported.
Zoe dialed herself into the radio as she powered up the Mako's drive system. "Shepard to Vakarian, come in?"
A harmonic trill replied back, "Garrus here, what's going up Shepard?"
Zoe laughed at his mix up of human vernacular. "Quickly as you can, report back to the Normandy's armory, I need you to pick up the rest of those tranquilizer rounds that I got on Noveria. Quickly and quietly arm yourself, Ash and Tali with these rounds. Your orders are use these rounds only if the colonists become hostile. Use gentle overload too if you guys run out of tranq darts. Anybody who doesn't follow orders will either be court marshaled or delivered to C-SEC. That clear Garrus?"
"Understood Shepard." Garrus replied back.
"Ohh and Garrus? It's what's up not what's going up. Shepard out." Zoe laughed when she heard him muttering what she assumed were turian curse words. She piloted the Mako back out on to the skyway. The Mako was greeted by a geth welcoming party but Wrex was Shepard's personal greeter. Wrex and Shepard were perfect dance partners both could predict what the other was going to do next. They left nothing but blown apart geth units in their wake.
The area radio scanner picked up that woman's voice again as the Mako approached the halfway point of the skyway. "This is Juliana Baynham of the Exo-Geni Corporation. I am sending out a distress call to anyone who can hear this…"
The sound of a shotgun being primed was the next sound over the radio. "…Step away from the radio Dr. Baynham. You wouldn't want this to end in bloodshed."
Lizbeth went ballistic from the tiny storage area. It was quite the feat given the small confines of the storage area. Wrex pulled out his sidearm and pressed the muzzle into Lizbeth's side. The crazed daughter calmed down in a fraction of a second.
"I'm glad you saw reason. I am willing to let you off but it wouldn't be wise to walk into a firefight empty-handed." Zoe said as she pulled the Mako to a full stop. She tapped on her console and the hatch door unlocked itself. "You are free to go. If I were you, I'd walk in there slowly with your hands clearly visible. Speak slowly and clearly." Zoe reached down and pulled out a small pistol and handed it to Lisbeth. "Use this only as the last resort. It only has six rounds and you have neither armor nor shields. Consider that. Now please vacate the vehicle. My Krogan friend is feeling a tad gassy."
The young woman grabbed the gun and somehow contorted her way out of the tank. Zoe reengaged the lock to the hatch and jammed the Mako into gear. One of those idiots left the radio open.
"Step away from my mother you sonofabitch."
"Lisbeth, you're alive."
"I had hoped one of the Geth would have surely killed you." An unknown male's voice said.
"Drop the shotgun and step away from my mother you asshat! I'm not telling you a third time!" Lizbeth commanded.
"I don't take orders from anybody but my…" A shot rang out and the mic went dead.
"Hmm why do they always have to cut to commercial right at the best part? That broadcast could compete with any Krogan soap opera." Wrex grunted out before a deep laugh erupted from his belly. Zoe was nearly in tears from Wrex's joke. Obstinate Alenko was silent as ever as Zoe drove the Mako back into the garage. The Mako's fuselage was taking pot shots from a few small arms.
"The same orders I gave to Vakarian apply to you both. No live rounds unless absolutely necessary. Wait on my signal." Zoe activated her cloak as she exited the tank. There were green crouched humanoid beings that she had never seen before. She would have run her scanners over them but needed all the remaining power her onmi-tool had left to subdue the attackers. She silently ran up the ramp and primed her omni-tool for an area wide overload. Three…two…one… Zoe fired her overload. Four bodies dropped to the ground each one unconscious. Alenko and Wrex had already climbed out of the tank and made their way back up to the area just outside of the elevator.
"What the hell are those things?" Alenko said as Wrex plunged his knife into one of the crouched creatures.
"I don't know but they remind me of husks only somewhat more organic and less electric based." Zoe said as she saw a few more wake up and rise to their feet. "Take them out. Whatever they are now, they are certainly not human anymore." Zoe pulled out her assault rifle and mowed down the first three that stood up.
The fight between the trio and unknown life forms didn't last long but was equally disgusting each time one of the creatures had its Exorcist moment. Zoe's suit told her that liquid was highly corrosive. It looked like the others knew to avoid the ooze too. When the fighting was over, Zoe carefully obtained a sample of the ooze from one of the many puddles throughout the garage. Zoe looked up when she heard the heavy doors opening and out walked Garrus, Tali and Ash.
"All colonists have been subdued except for somebody named Martinez. She was the first one to fire upon us. We had to use lethal force put her down. She was somehow immune to both the tranquilizers and Tali's overload." Ash reported in.
"What's stranger is that my scanner detecting a huge life form underneath Zhu's Hope. Anything that sized cannot be good." Tali said.
The team loaded up into the elevator. The elevator ride was slow and silent as each team member imagined of what was next to come except for Wrex. All Wrex could think about was that bottle of vintage Ryncol Zoe had gotten when they were on the Citadel last. It was time to crack the seal. What's the point of having a vintage bottle if one never drinks it? People who did things like that pissed Wrex off.
The gang walked through the eerily quiet colony of Zhu's Hope. Tali walked over a console and activated the crane which lifted a giant stone covering a hidden staircase to who knows what. "It looks like it's once more unto the breach dear friends, once more. Zoe said as the gang followed her down the staircase.
Her omni-tool pinged. He wanted to see her. She was his recently promoted second but she really had no power or choice. It was his way or shot between the eyes and tossed out an airlock. She slowly made her way to his office. Maya Brooks wore her anxiety and frustration of her face. The trail on Miranda Lawson went cold. Why finding this Cerberus operative was so important was lost on her. Was it just because she turned her back on him or was there something deeper, Maya wasn't sure. She entered the dark office. She could see him sitting at his chair, always working with the acrid smell of cigarette smoke.
"How come you are not in your uniform?" He asked without turning around. She loathed the treatment she received from him. She was positive that he made it his personal mission to drive her self-worth in to the ground.
"I thought you'd like the honor of undressing me yourself. I've never let anybody do that before." Maya knew her attempt at seduction failed.
"Where are we with tracking down the fugitive Lawson? I can't send in an assassin squad without a location." The Illusive Man already knew where they were. He just wanted to see what she would say.
"The trackers you assigned to find her lost her on the Citadel a few days ago. They knew she hopped aboard a ship but tracking her down by looking through but they are still scanning through hours of closed circuit video feeds." Maya tried to explain as she unzipped her uniform. She pushed the one body suit to the floor. Her nipples stood out in the space station's cold air. She was painfully dry. She saw the giant X cross looming in the corner. She made her way over to the device and assumed the position. The restraints automatically secured her in place. What surprised her was he hadn't gotten up from his chair yet.
"I had the boys down in the research labs rig up a new feature for the cross. You'll either love it or hate it. It's wonderful even got a tiny remote control. I am going to ask you a few questions and I would like the truth. Do you know why our source on the Normandy has stopped sending updates?" TIM asked while he kept his voice smooth and even.
"Honestly, I don't know. I wouldn't put it past our contact for letting something slip. He wasn't terribly reliable in the past. Shepard or that blue bitch of hers probably figured out our mole and got him off the ship." She responded.
"That's correct. One of my personal sources told me he got the promotion he's been pressing for. The only drawback is he's now the captain of an Alliance tug and garbage barge. I think his new placement is quite a fitting tribute to a lackluster soldier." TIM pressed a button on the remote. The captive felt a jolt of electricity pulsing through her body. It didn't last longer than a few second but she writhed against the cross.
"This new device is quite electrifying. That was its lowest setting. I insisted the boys max this thing out to a lethal level. They wanted to limit it." TIM let out a small sadistic laugh. It was in that laugh that she knew she probably wasn't going to be leaving this room alive.
"Now, I will give you this next offer you can search out to find your replacement or you can leave that up to me. I think you can figure out what would happen to you if you didn't choose option one. Know that you are a marked woman. If you choose option one, I wouldn't recommend any deviations from your task."
"Who would you like me to find? I'm not very fond of the second option."
"I have three choices. My first choice would be Shepard's Quarian friend. This would give you immunity for life from me. My second choice would be very powerful Asari Matriarch named Aethyta again the same offer of immunity if you are able to capture her. Aethyta's whereabouts are unknown but I'm sure you are quite resourceful. Lastly if you can't get the first two, a tall chesty blonde will do. This however does not come with immunity. I will determine your fate depending on who you bring home. Otherwise…"
He pressed a button on his remote. She let out a scream that could have shattered a wine glass. Her body flailed against the restraints. Tears were streaming from her eyes as she felt the restraints release. She fell to her knees. She heard the door to his office open and close. She was alone once again. Her body still twitched from the aftershocks. She slowly crawled her way over to her body suit. It took her a few more minutes to pull her suit back on. Getting to her feet was a herculean task. She pulled a hidden digital recorder out from her pocket and hit the stop button. Maybe defection was worth the automatic death sentence. It's worked for Miranda so far. She limped all the way down to the shuttle bay where she took her personal shuttle off of the station. She cleaned up the audio track from the recorder. She then attached the file to an email to Admiral Hackett.
I know you know who this voice belongs to. Please get word somehow to Shepard. She needs to know that IM will have other teams looking for these two women other than just me. Both are probably very important to Shepard. Please pass this message along. Maybe you could return the good will in the future.
MB
The air beneath Zoe's Hope was indescribably stale. The scent of decay also permeated through the team's air filters. Wrex and Garrus took point. Zoe, Ash and Tali worked the midfield and Alenko was stuck playing goalie. All heads were on the swivel and all bodies were frosty. There were more of those unknown creatures in what looked like a hibernating state. The gang walked into a giant multistory underground structure under Zhu's Hope. There was a gargantuan life form suspended from giant green tentacles. Its face appeared to have ten or so eyes. Plant forms that she was familiar with didn't have eyes. Perhaps this thing was an animal-plant hybrid that was thousands of years old. Its mouth had green tentacles which began to wiggle and discharge saliva. The plant spit out a very beautiful yet very naked and very green Asari.
This clone Zoe decided to call it was just like those human things yet not horribly disfigured. "Invaders, each step you take is ever the abomination. I speak for the old growth as I did for Lady Benezia. You shall bow down before in awe of the old growth." The old growth as it claimed to be just confirmed that it was holding Shiala hostage.
"Capturing the minds of others gives you strength? Just how weak are you? You can't move. You can't fight. You pray on the weak minded to do your bidding. You are nothing more than a tyrant or despot." Zoe spat out before the Asari clone launched a strong warp attack at her. Wrex launched a powerful biotic throw that hit the clone dead set in the chest. The force of the throw banished the clone off of the platform. A few seconds later Zoe heard a sickening splat. It was then that the thorian activated the sleeping fighters. Tali dubbed them Creepers. She didn't need to explain anymore. Those things were disgusting.
The creepers were not really a match for the squad of six unless they came out in droves. Room after room, the team cleared out scores of creepers and the occasional clone. What was driving Zoe mad was that she couldn't figure out how to kill this giant asshat. Tali scanned one of the massive tube like supports. "Zoe, this creature is being held up by these organic supports." Tali said over their closed unit comm. system.
"Everybody fan out and find one of these supports I want a precision simultaneous attack. I want to catch this jackass off guard." Zoe backtracked all the way down to where they entered. She then noticed a giant pinkish white bubble attached to the wall festering like a giant pimple. She would pop that zit later. She found the first giant tube support and radioed if the others were ready.
"On my mark give it hell… Three…Two…One…Ahh hell take care of those barfing asshats first." Zoe knew this was the last ditch effort by King Drooling Dickhead. She heard his royal wet ass gearing up to launch another clone. It took longer than usual but this new clone stood in at over eight feet tall. Zoe was momentarily distracted by the massive green tits swaying until the clone sent a warp speeding at Zoe's head. She tucked herself into a roll and popped back up firing her assault rifle. Each one of her shots just ricocheted off of the clone's barrier.
"Just keep that wretched copy right where it, I'm got my sights centered on the back of the clone's neck. I'm priming up one of those special new rounds designed to go right through a biotic barrier. Give me a few more seconds." Ash said as she saw Zoe weaving around the big green giantess. Her rifle chirped that the round was fully charged. She looked down the scope one last time. Took in a breath, steadied herself, as she exhaled she squeezed the trigger. The clone's head was vaporized in nanoseconds leaving a seven and a half foot tall viscous volcano of that green ooze.
Zoe pulled out her combat knife and sprinted over to the giant pimple on the wall. She cut around the giant sac as green ooze leaked out. She was horrified with what she saw. An green asari who had tentacles coming out of every orifice. Zoe brought out her medical scanner on her omni-tool. She waved her hand over the comatose asari. She found a heartbeat. This poor soul was still alive but only just.
She saw Tali running towards her. "Tali, run back up to the surface and radio for Chakwas. It's an emergency." She saw the quarian abruptly turn around and run up the stairs as quick as she could. Zoe opened up a pouch on her leg gauntlet. She pulled out a portable medi-gel dispenser. As gently as she could she pressed the needle into Shiala's skin was about to press the button to inject the gel when she heard Karin's voice in her ear.
"For goodness sake, do not inject her with any medi-gel Commander. You'll cause the asari's condition to worse a thousand fold. I've been examining these samples that just arrived in my lab. This solution is what medi-gel was originally synthesized from in a partnership between Sirta and Exo-Geni. When the team of scientists retested the new compound against the orginial strain, the combined mixture turned into a deadly poison known as Heriotzaren Zirkulu Morea or on the black market HZM. I'm heading down the stairs to you now." Karin said as Zoe heard two sets of footsteps approaching.
Karin took in a deep gasp of air when her eyes first saw Shiala's tormented body. "Oh the poor dear! Even if she is possibly an enemy, nobody deserves to end up like that." Karin opened up the box she was carrying and pulled out her portable body scanner. She Set up the scanner and aimed the scanner at the suspended asari The scanner began humming as it send out waves of energy. An detailed image was appearing on the small screen. Karin gasped again. This was a lot worse than even she had expected. Somehow these tentacles were keeping the asari alive. What was more worrying is that those three main tentacles had growing tendrils. One of the longest was almost up to the asari's brain.
"I'm afraid we may already be too late Zoe. I think whatever the creature you took down was at once a sentient being from an unknown race that came across a mutant strain somehow. This strain is slowly turning the asari into the new creature. There are two surefire options to deal with situation. Killing the host is not a wise one because the strain will seek out the nearest living being. I have an high powered anti-bacterial serum that might by use some time but if it fails incineration is the next step." Karin explained. By now, the rest of the team had joined Karin, Tali, and Zoe.
"Is there any way we could get her back to the ship?" Garrus asked.
"Moving her now is incredibly risky. Those tentacles are keeping her alive as she slowly undergoes the transformation. Cut those tentacles and the strain will perceive it's under attack and then attack the host. If I try anything it would have maybe a one percent chance of survival." Karin explained.
Zoe knew she had to help Shiala. A bold and down right crazy idea popped into her head. "Once those tendrils reach the brain it's game over correct?" Zoe asked the good doctor.
"I don't know for certain but that is my best guess."
"Prepare your scalpel for an emergency tracheotomy. We have an asari to save. Ash, grab that water bottle with the thin straw from the doc's kit and stand by. Wrex, I need you to catch her when I cut her free then gently place her down on the ground. The doc will remove the tentacle from her mouth while Ash irrigates the mouth. Hopefully, the water will allow the tentacle to slide out easier. We have maybe a few moments before the strain figures out what's going on" Zoe began by removing her helmet followed by her shoulder guards, chest plate, leg guards and boots. She then pulled off the remainder of her clothes. Nobody verbally questioned Shepard's actions but they all shared looks of uncertainty.
"Wrex, get ready to catch her" Zoe tightened her grip on her combat blade. Three quick precise cuts later, Shiala fell into Wrex's arms. The krogan gently put the asari on the ground as Karin and Ash rushed to the asari's aid. Zoe got down onto the ground and placed her hand on the asari's head to stabilize it. Zoe channeled all of her inner peace and love as she tapped once again into her pool of biotic energy. She whispered, "Embrace Eternity." As she spoke those two words, her eyes went black. It was one thing when Liara guided her through a bond but trying to do so on her own one her first try to an unwilling participant was proving to be more difficult.
She focused back on breaking through to Shiala. It all of the blackness, she moved closer and closer to a growing blue light. She heard some form of sound but couldn't figure out what it was. It almost sounded like a voice but assumptions got people killed before. As she got closer to the blue light, she could definitely state that she heard a voice. It was very faint but Zoe heard a cry for help. What seemed like an eternity, Zoe finally arrived at the blue light. The voice was very prevalent now and quite clear. She was calling out for help and Zoe could tell Shiala was being tortured. Zoe remembered back to how Liara acted when they first met. In the bond, she was very clear and very direct.
"Shiala, listen to my voice. Focus on it. Let it fill you up. Help is here. Help has arrived. Can you let me in past your defenses? I have come to free you from the claws of that evil creature. It has soundly been defeated. You survived but you aren't out of danger yet." Zoe called out.
She tested the tensile strength of the wall of blue light. Zoe was able to pass her hand through the wall. She wasn't wasting an opportunity like this. She pushed her entire body through the blue wall and was instantly bombarded with grisly images. Some of these images matched the visions of the Prothean beacon. Others looked strange and had somehow felt ancient. Ancient was the best word that felt appropriate. Annihilation was the theme of each one. Zoe had to push every image aside and pushed deeper into what was Shiala's life form and psyche. There were a few people she did recognize. There was Benezia nursing a very young Liara. Liara still had the similar design on her crest today. Another image showed Benezia and anther asari holding hands on a beach somewhere very beautiful.
Zoe then saw Shiala. The asari had collapsed inside of herself. "Shiala!" Zoe cried out as she raced over to the asari.
"Who… who… are…you?" The asari croaked out. Her voice was awfully weak. Her normally vibrant blue skin was almost grey.
"My name is Shepard. I have come to rescue you."
"Shepard, I know of this human. It brings me joy when Saren curses the human's name out loud. But it is an asari with a strange crest stands that before me. I have never seen a crest with any sort of red on it before."
"I look like an asari? Blue skin? Big gravity defying breasts? A red crest? Focus Zoe. Shiala, please save your strength. My team's doctor is working on your body as we speak. Hopefully by now she had removed the tentacle from your mouth and has you aboard my ship. I will stay with you for as long as it takes. Good outcome or not, I am here for you."
Shiala's weak shaky hand took Zoe's within hers. She mouthed thank you to Zoe. She was losing strength fast. Zoe focused on her love and biotics. She embraced the smaller asari. Shiala felt something she hadn't felt since before Saren offered her up as a sacrifice to the Thorian. She felt hope and hope filled her up fueling the fire to survive.
"What is Shepard doing?" Her body is glowing blue and her eyes have turned completely black." Alenko said. There was a tinge of disgust in his voice. He was a card carrying member of the Terra Firma party. It disgusted him to see the poster girl for the Alliance looking like a damned blue bimbo. It was hypocritical to call Shepard on her newly unlocked biotics, but when were hypocrites ever right?
"I don't care if she turns into a krogan with a quad, she is somehow stabilizing the patient. She has upped the survival odds significantly for the asari." Karin said as she began pulling together a portable stretcher from her kit. They just had to wait for Zoe to regain consciousness and then they would whisk both off to the Normandy's medbay. Two women whom she had never seen before came out from the stairwell. Both were brunettes. The older one wore her years on her face.
"Hello, my name is Juliana Baynham. This is my daughter Lizbeth. I want to thank the team who saved my daughter and the colonists of Zhu's Hope but I know that now is the worst time. I think I can help out with your patient over there. I was the second in command for the project here. My daughter and I are here to help and then turn ourselves in to the proper authorities. We were tasked with studying the effects of mind control and remedies to cure the effects of it. We were able to develop a serum that counters the effects the thorian had over the colonists of Zhu's Hope."
There were looks of disbelief from each of the human members of the ground team. Testing nerve agents and countering agents on unwitting civilians was creeping close to being a war crime. "I have one dose left of the counteragent. Every member who you all tranquilized has been treated and will make a full recovery. Please the strongest anti-bacterial available will only do so much. This will counter what that freak of nature did."
Karin was reluctant and quite suspicious of this unknown woman. Zoe's orders were clear. Do everything possible to save this asari. She took the vial of serum from Juliana and prepped a syringe. "As the highest ranking officer here during a medical crisis, Garrus, Wrex please gently detain the two women." She saw Garrus and Wrex take out their pistols and move next to Juliana and Lizbeth. Karin then kneeled down next to the asari, found a promising vein and gently pushed the syringe into the pale blue skin. She pushed the plunger down and hoped this serum would work.
Zoe and Shiala felt an immediate change. Attacks against the blue shield seemed to dissipate moment by moment. Something had changed for the better. Zoe looked into Shiala's eyes and saw life in those once dead yet now strikingly green eyes.
"You have Liara's scent. How is Little Wing? It has been decades since I coached her in many things." Shiala said.
"I think you can probably guess just by sense alone. She and I are bonded. I came across a memory of Benezia nursing Liara." Zoe saw Shiala smile.
"That was a beautiful morning. When I regain my strength I will show you the full memory. It is good that Liara found somebody worthy of her trust and respect. Ninety nine point nine percent of people would have just killed me and wrote me off. Then out of the blue, a human masquerading as an asari shows up and saves my life. This story sounds better suited for a Blasto movie or something from the mind of Francis Kitt." Shiala laughed softly. Shiala's laugh was a harmonious and lifting laugh that only goddesses were allowed to posses. "I can faintly sense her presence too. She has been watching every step of the way through your connection. I bet she even subconsciously guided you through the correct process of mind melding. You can release yourself from the meld at any time. I believe the worst is over. I will never be able to repay you but if you ever need a helping hand know that I owe you big time."
"How do I release you? This is all new to me." Zoe said.
Shiala laughed again. "The best way I can describe is how it was put to me. You just have to let your mind go fuzzy and unfocused. Lose concentration something like that. After all it was your concentration and your iron will that got you to me in the first place. It would make sense that the exact opposite would be true as well." Shiala wisely said.
Zoe let her concentration break. IT was like exhaling after holding one's breath for an abnormally long time. Her green eyes fluttered back open. Her nasal receptors registered the musty air of the massive subterranean bunker. Her head felt like it was on fire from a massive headache. She was naked in this dingy bunker. Her memories flooded back worse than a rogue wave. She wanted to get dressed but a hand held her down.
"Relax Skipper, Chakwas said to take your time. What ever unbelievable feat you just preformed stabilized the asari enough so that we were able to transport her back to the Normandy. Do you remember that young pyjak we picked up at the Exo-Geni HQ?" Zoe nodded. "Well it turns out her mother and their team was responsible for the entire experiment. She gave Karin the counteragent that seemed to really help out the asari. I didn't understand any of the medical lingo the doc was throwing around but she seemed pleased enough that she ordered Alenko and Garrus to carry the stretcher up and out to the ship. Why is it that every corporation in this galaxy is trying to develop the next brutal way to kill somebody? What's wrong with an artery clogging cheeseburger?"
"It takes too long and can be countered to easily." Zoe let out a grim laugh. "If Shiala moved to the Normandy, how come you and I are still here?"
"Doc gave strict orders that you were not to be moved until you regained consciousness. I volunteered to stay behind. To have you all alone, naked and not be able to take advantage of the situation."
"What would the amazing brunette in the incredibly skin tight cat suit say if she heard you say those words." Zoe said as she rolled herself onto her stomach. Her head swirled in fog and felt unsteadiness from the neck down. She heard Ash urge her to take it slowly but the foolhardy headstrong soldier didn't understand the meaning of the words take it slowly. She reached for her shirt. Ash handed it to her. It took a small effort to pull on the shirt. The pants took even longer. She had to have Ash help her put on her armor and escort her out from the bunker.
The walk back to the Normandy was slow and arduous. To Zoe, it felt like she was learning how to walk again. She had to put all of her weight on Ash. The Gunny supported her Commander the whole way to the ship until they were met by a few more marines. The marines helped Zoe down to the Medbay. She saw Shiala hooked up to a few monitoring machines. It looked like she was resting peacefully. The marines gently placed her onto the examination table. Karin was busy finishing up her report on Shiala. One of the marines told Zoe that the two Exo-Geni personnel were being held in the brig. She ordered the marines that no one was to speak to them until she was well enough.
She saw Karin standing in front of her but didn't acknowledge the doctor's presence until Karin placed a hand on Zoe's shoulder. "Zoe, I'm really worried about you. You preformed something incredible to save another life but at what cost. Your vitals are all over the place. Your vitals most closely resemble those of an asari. The transformation is slowly starting to take effect. How will you be reacting to this conversion in the future? Have you set out any plans?" Karin asked.
"No nothing will change about how we do things on board. When it comes to the time where I need to step down due to my new condition I will. I will need your backing of course if I decide to get medically discharged." Zoe said before she hopped up from the exam table. "I would like to be notified as soon as your patient wakes up."
"Of course Commander, I have your number on speed dial." The good doctor laughed jovially. Zoe waved good bye to Karin as she left the medbay and took the elevator down to the cargo bay. She wanted to speak to Team Baynham. She wanted to find out why anyone would want to study the effects of mind control. She waved off the three marines guarding the prisoners. The Normandy being a frigate didn't have the space for an actual brig. Zoe asked one of the marines to fetch a few bottles of water.
"Are you still wanted to cooperate or have you reconsidered your offer. If you have changed your mind, I will then read you your rights. This conversation will end and you will be transferred over to an Alliance dreadnaught or C-SEC for processing." Zoe asked Juiliana and Lizbeth.
"We Baynhams are women of our word. We are willing to submit to whatever punishment deemed appropriate." Juliana saw Shepard walk over to Garrus's work station. She couldn't make out what the Commander say to the turian but the turian gave Shepard a datapad. The comamander punched in something into the datapad as she walked back.
"I am going to need both yours and your daughter's full written statements on this datapad. Be very thorough and detailed. The more information you can provide will probably work in your favor. I am looking for names of associates, project leaders, goals, experiment details, and most importantly why the hell would you want to study indoctrination. When you have both finished writing out your statements, hand that pad to one of the marines. This is one shot to tell your side of the story, I'd use it wisely." Zoe stormed off back to the elevator and her cabin. She didn't notice Wrex finishing his first glass of Ryncol. He kept an eye on the shapely rear of the ship's commander as the doors to the elevator closed. Wrex pushed the glass away and just started drinking straight from the bottle. A crazy plan formed in Wrex's head.
Zoe desperately needed a shower. The stench of the thorian somehow worked its way through her hard suit and onto her skin. It could have been the fact that she stripped naked in the thorian's lair but who's really counting that. It was a life or death situation for Shiala. Zoe could be a tad smelly if she saved a life. She almost started pulling off her clothes before she even made it inside her cabin. She hit the shower auto start button on her omni-tool while she undressed. She saw one of Liara's most delectable thongs sticking out from under a pillow. So that's where it ended up. It was one hell of a night. She tossed the thong and the rest of the clothes she picked up into the small hamper. Her omni-tool beeped stating that her shower was ready. She almost ran through the bathroom door to get under the hot soothing water. The shower however was no fun without her blue beauty washing her back.
Wrex had finished the bottle of vintage ryncol and decided that now was the best time to put his plan into action. He made his way towards the elevator. He loosened all the straps and buckles to his armor but not enough to where the armor would have fallen off in his next few steps. He arrived on the crew deck a few seconds later and walked over to Shepard's cabin. It was unlocked and automatically opened for him when he got within a foot of the door. He had just finished pulling of the rest of his armor when he heard the door to the bathroom whoosh open. There was the delectable commander drying her hair with a towel over her head. Her naked body gave life to his spike thrower.
Zoe closed her eyes as she toweled her hair dry. She still had her eyes closed when she tossed the towel aside. She opened her eyes and nearly fainted. There in front of her stood a very thick, incredibly long rock hard krogan cock attached to an inebriated Wrex who had that unsettling look in his eye. She was trapped and was caught like a deer about to be hit by a speeding tractor trailer. For the first time in a long while, Zoe didn't know what to do.
She had been stationed on Illium for last hundred years. She had requested to the other Matriarchs that she was looking to get off of Thessia. There was nothing left for her. Her lover and child had perfectly vanished into thin air. She had suspicions that the other matriarchs had a hand in her only families disappearance but didn't have any favors owed to find out. She had booked a seat on a very expensive direct flight to Thessia from Illium. She had made Azure one of the top resorts in the galaxy. She had earned a vacation. She had missed the funeral of her lover. She wasn't torn up inside but would still pay her respects. She hoped that the estate's security system and team would allow her on to the property. A few extra credits always made slipping in so much easier. She closed her eyes as the small ship backed away from the terminal. She would be under the warm thessian sun soon enough.
"Wrex what the fuck are you doing in my cabin naked with a giant fucking cannon pointing right at me." Zoe was pissed that she wasn't able to get to any of her hidden weapons without getting caught.
"I…I…figured….yah…you..and mah….mah…me…would…cure…dah…genophage right…here right now." Wrex stuttered off in a drunken rant.
"You know as well as everybody else on this ship that I am spoken for. If you think I'm violent, don't ever piss off my bondmate by trying to come between us. She will flay you alive with only her mind. Besides, drunk sex is pointless when you aren't really going to remember much the next morning and not to mention that massive headache. If you really are looking for a quick fuck then I know a young Indian analyst who has been making eyes at you ever since you stepped abroad. Her name is Aypri Ira. Her shift ends in about fifteen minutes. If you put yourself back together by then I'll put in a good word for you with her." Zoe saw the krogan starting to pull back on his armor as quick as possible.
Zoe threw on her black N7 sweatpants and grey N7 compression shirt. She set her automatically lock after Wrex left. She climbed the stairs up to the main deck. She sought out the young Indian analyst. Aypri was one of the best communication specialists in the Alliance. She was fluent in fifteen languages and proficient in ten more. Somehow it made it through the ship's grapevine that Aypri was attracted to Wrex. Zoe got to play matchmaker and it made her smile.
"How are the waves of communication treating you Specialist Ira." Zoe asked the incredibly busty analyst.
"You have no urgent messages as of yet Commander." Aypri may have had a gift for languages but her English was still heavily accented in a beautiful Bangalore accent.
"Thank you specialist." Zoe stepped within a foot of the specialist. She lowered her voice down to a whisper. "If you want to be split open by a Krogan, he's willing ready and able to do so. Here is the override code to escape six. If you made a mess, clean it up. If you two break it, you owe me a new one." Zoe passed off the bit of paper to the specialist as she turned around and headed back down to her cabin. She saw Wrex standing in the mess hall. She gave him a knowing smile before she entered her cabin and set every lock and security system she had on her door. Zoe then crashed onto her bed and passed out.