A/N: Feedback welcome - reviews are a very good motivator to write ;)
Quick answer to The Iron Snake's review: yes. And not the first one ;)
Theseus system, Attican Beta cluster SSV Normandy
Tali'Zorah was worried. The tension on the Normandy was thick, all humans seeming constantly on edge, an undercurrent of tightly-controlled fear present in almost all of them. This, by itself, would not have worried her - no sane person would go into battle without at least some degree of fear. No, her worry was born from how different her crewmates behaved compared to the approach to Therum. Grim determination suppressed the mirth and casualness she came to associate with the crew. Even Adams showed signs of the strain, as he was much more snappish and exacting with his department.
The quarian was also apprehensive about the new bombardment shells the humans rushed on-board, literally minutes before taking off. She of course familiarized herself with the standard and military warning signs humans used, but these shells had unfamiliar markings of them, similar to a flame-centered circle inscribed within a slanted star. For some reason, just looking at the sign and the shells themselves made her skin crawl, and somehow people, colours, everything seemed duller around the things.
Tali also noticed that the only person who showed more than a brief enthusiasm about the shells was Ashley - sure, Wrex and Garrus displayed some professional curiosity and joy at the likely firepower, but only the female Lieutenant seemed happy about the things. Even Shepard was, at best, grimly accepting towards the shells, and that, more than anything, was enough for her to avoid the things as much as possible.
The young engineer frowned as her diagnostics spotted some irregularities in the drive core - granted, they were stealthed before entering the system, but the readings did not fit into any overload or stress profiles they had on the Tantalus core. She debated calling Adams, then decided against it - the Chief Engineer was sleeping, and she'd rather have him rested and ready when they reached Feros orbit, and possible combat. Her omnitool lit, she checked the duty roster, and sent off a quick alert. Charles Pressly arrived a few minutes later.
"Report, Engineer Tali'Zorah."
"The drive core is showing some unusual readings that do not fit in with the current stress levels. Chief Engineer Adams made a standing order that any irregularities have to be reported to him, but seeing as he went off-duty not long ago and the ship would benefit him being rested when in combat I thought that..." Pressly's cold officer mask cracked with his slight grin.
"You did well, Engineer. Adams would not have minded, but you are correct." The XO studied the data, then sent a core pattern to Tali from his omnitool. "Continue monitoring the irregularities, and if you even think that they come close to the pattern I just sent you, immediately alert the ship, and shut down the core."
"But...shutting down the core just like that will leave us...you don't just shut down a core, sir! You just don't!"
"Human emergency protocols likely differ from quarian ones, Engineer. That does not mean we do it without reason. You have your orders." Pressly nodded to her, then marched off.
Tali continued her vigil, attention split between the drive core readings and analyzing the pattern Pressly sent her. She did not understand why, but the more she looked at it, the more she felt it was not a mere core pattern, but more like the heartbeat of a vast, monstrous beast. She shivered and spun as she felt eyes on her - but she was alone, with only the pulsing drive core as company, its cool blue radiance now felt somehow eager, malevolent to her. Tali started humming her favorite song to take her mind off the odd thoughts coursing through her brain, but still she could not fully shake the feeling of something watching her from the Tantalus core.
Ashley Williams was excited. She would likely get another chance to kick some alien ass, and prove that the Williams family was still a force to be reckoned with - and what's even better, she had a real chance to see C-type bombardment in action. Well, hopefully not first-hand, she did not really want to be at ground zero for that - she was not that curious. Still, she was on the ship commanded by the operative who did use C-type shells on aliens without getting crucified by the Alliance leadership.
She was surprised that other marines, other personnel did not find the shells fascinating - then again, she supposed others were not raised by their grandfather's stories about enacting a Fairfield Protocol. Ashley thought that this time, she would finally get to watch an alien burn for daring to attack humanity, for daring to mess with her, her family, and her marines on Eden Prime. Their voices still came back to her sometimes in the night, urging her to take revenge, to shoulder the blame, to shed blood, to find herself a suitable mate…
Ashley shook her head to clear it, as images and thoughts of Shepard came unbidden but not unwelcome. She did pay close attention to Shepard - of course, who wouldn't, especially after seeing him in action? The man was a legend, a dark and brutal one, but she knew that a lot of marines like herself would still follow him, as he never asked anything from his men that he himself would not do … and he always got his task done.
Except perhaps now, she mused. The Shepard of Eden Prime would not have given the time of the day to some alien, nevermind that said alien looked like a woman. She could understand the crew taking the quarian girl under their collective wing - the girl was ridiculously zealous in her work, did not complain, and practically exuded an aura of little sisterness, something she supposed was familiar not just to her. And of course Tali was not related to one of the Eden Prime instigators.
Seriously, what the hell was Shepard really thinking, letting the asari stay on board? Well, ok, maybe she could understand why he let the blue hussy stay on; he did have a point that if that bitch of a Matriarch wanted her daughter, they would have to deny her. Still, to consider the asari as a member of the crew? An untrained, inexperienced geek? Seriously, was Shepard that suicidal? Or was he trying to impress her, wanting to perform some other dashing rescue, and get close to the asari? Why did he spend time with her, visit her, talk with her? What information did she have that Shepard set aside his planning for?
Ashley scowled, the rifle she was assembling creaking with protest as her hands squeezed it. Surely, she was wrong, an N7 could not be influenced by simple looks - and it's not like she herself did lack in that department! Was the man perhaps flattered or oblivious at the crush the asari seemed to feel towards him, judging by how she acted around the operative? Could Shepard still remain objective enough to put a bullet in the asari's head, or her mother's head if it was necessary?
The lieutenant shook her head, trying to dismiss her thoughts as unworthy, especially considering what she knew about N7s in general and Shepard's old team in particular, thanks to her upbringing. She again shook her head, took a few deep breaths to focus herself. As Alenko was still restricted to light duty, she guessed that leading the marines would be her task, and that was something for which she needed her full focus. She would not fail, or let her ghosts down. Perhaps she could check the bombardment shells one last time, just to feel that power, that violence-dripping silence they seemed to exude.
Ashley finished her weapon maintenance, then stood and left for the bomb bay. If others noticed the smile she wore or the skipping in her steps, they did not comment on either.
Kaidan Alenko was not happy. He understood all too well why Chakwas wanted him on light duty. Rationally, he understood why Shepard wanted him to remain on the Normandy. Neither of those things meant he had to like it. His marines would go into battle, and he could, at best, watch. Always a galling thing, especially on an operation such as this promised to be. Still, he would do his duty. He entered Shepard's cabin and nodded to the Spectre and Pressly, and noted how the XO's face was even colder than usual.
"Alenko, sit. I have some light reading for you, Pressly already went through it." Shepard handed him a datapad, and Kaidan began to read it. It was not long, obviously an extract from an encrypted source, but still, it said enough. He only needed a few minutes before his accusing eyes turned towards the operative.
"Sir, that's...insane is a mild word for it."
"ExoGeni got results the Alliance needed. And besides, the personnel were all volunteers, the test subjects criminals. No huge loss."
"Even so, sir - if half the implications are true, then we'd better bombard it from orbit, instead of going down there." Alenko noted Pressly's nod, obviously the XO reached similar conclusions.
"The Thorian has something Saren and Benezia wanted. We need to find out what that was, and that's not something I'd like to try from orbit. Trust me, I don't like the idea of a combat drop either." Shepard's voice was grim. "And there's a chance we still could reestablish the containment field and deal with the side effects on the ground."
"Commander, that's...Shepard, if you are serious about that last part, you might be considered a certified madman. Sir." Alenko's eyes widened as he realized he spoke his thoughts aloud. Pressly barked a short laugh, but nodded.
"Alenko's right, Commander. Then again, N7s are held to a different standard of sanity than us, I think."
Shepard's smile was bitter as he answered.
"Still, that's what we'll do. Alenko, brief the Marines, they'll be dropped at the ExoGeno observation post; their objective is to secure the site, power on the reactor, and get the containment field going. They'll get the Mako, it might be useful for repelling assault, or demolish strongpoints in case the geth dug in."
"In case, sir? Why wouldn't they do that? The geth had more than a day to prepare..."
"Think, Alenko. Would the Thorian have allowed them to do that?" Kaidan shook his head. "Ensure that the marines have fully sealed armors, and have them pack extra medigel and omnigel. I recommend having a flamer for each fireteam, but feel free to come up with a loadout yourself. Here's the relevant data I can give you."
Kaidan saluted, and started studying the datapad the operative handed to him, while part of his mind was still listening on the conversation.
"Sir, that idea sounds insane, even by N7 standards." Pressly's voice was worried.
"I don't see another choice, XO. You said Moreau is a good enough pilot to pull such a maneuver, and Adams said he managed to modify the lifepod."
"Yes sir, but Engineer Tali'Zorah found something in the core." Pressly handed his datapad to Shepard, whose face seemed even bleaker as he read it.
"Does she know what it may signify?" The XO shook his head. "Good, keep it that way."
"Who are you taking on-site, Commander?" Kaidan asked. "Based on this data, it seems you want all marines at the outpost."
"I'll take Wrex and Liara."
Pressly and Kaidan shared a look, neither of them wanting to tell their honest opinion on their commanding officer's sanity.
"I have my reasons, gentlemen - and you have your orders." The two men saluted, turned to leave, before the Spectre stopped them.
"One more thing. VI, record." Shepard waited for the affirmative response before continuing. "In the absence of Commanding Officer Alexander Shepard, the following personnel of the SSV Normandy are authorized for conducting operations up to and including C-type bombardment against Feros: Executive Officer Charles Pressly, and Staff Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko. The authorization is valid for four hours, counting from the Commanding Officer's departure. End recording."
The two officers saluted Shepard, then turned to leave.
"Alenko, a word." Pressly nodded towards Kaidan, then left. The lieutenant turned towards Shepard, who fiddled with his omnitool.
"I'll send you some biometrics to monitor. Arrange for at least two reliable marines to have access to this. If the readings deviate from within the indicated range, they are to terminate Lieutenant Ashley Williams with extreme prejudice."
"Sir...Commander, why, what..." The operative's face turned into a cold, emotionless mask, but Kaidan fancied he saw a glimpse of regret in Shepard's eyes.
"You have your orders, Staff Lieutenant. Carry them out." Kaiden saluted, turned, and left.
Wrex was annoyed. He never liked anyone interrupting his meals, especially not before a promising fight. He stepped into Shepard's cabin, and loomed over the Spectre.
"What do you want, Shepard? I'm hungry, and you don't want to interrupt a krogan meal without good reason."
"Liara."
"What about her? Need tips on courting asari?" The huge krogan smirked, and Shepard barked a short laugh.
"Thanks, I'll manage somehow." The human's face went cold, impassive, as he slid a datapad towards Wrex. "What do you think about her abilities?"
The old warlord spent a minute studying the footage and considering his past experiences.
"She has potential. Given time, she'll be much stronger than your garden variety asari Matriarchs." The krogan squinted at Shepard. "I can take her, if that's what you're asking. So could you, for that matter. What are you after, Butcher?"
"She'll come with us to Feros."
Wrex laughed.
"I knew I liked you for a reason, Shepard - you court your females like a krogan." He enjoyed the poleaxed look on the human's face before continuing. "I do not know much about this Thorian thing, just what I could quickly find on the Network. What I suspect though is that it's a nasty customer. Do you really want to take an untrained asari down there? If you need firepower, why not take your other mate with us, Williams or whatever her name is?"
"Liara knows more about the Precursors than anyone I could get here in time. She has a serious biotic potential. Both will likely be useful down on Feros." Wrex nodded, looking thoughtful.
"You might have a point there, Shepard. Anyway, that's still something that your marines could tell you. Out with it, Butcher."
"How much do you and the Broker know about what us N7s do at times? How much do you know about Opera Night?"
Wrex laughed, the sound low, ominous.
"I'm not sure how much the Broker knows. I have seen reports, I checked about from where your little group descended from. I have seen and killed things that not even you have met - remember, little human, that I already warred among the stars while your kind still fought with sticks and swords. Do not think that you humans are the only ones who know about the darkness beyond the void, and what lairs there. Do not believe that your struggle on that insignificant speck of a planet you call your home is unique or special!" Blue light outlined the fists of the krogan, biotic flames creeping up his arms, his eyes glaring balefully at the Spectre. "I have fought rachni. I fought what you monkeys call the descendants of the many-angled ones. I'm still here. They are not."
Shepard opened his mouth, closed it, and simply nodded, before standing.
"Can I consider you part of my krantt, Warlord Urdnot Wrex? For this battle, if not longer?"
The old krogan's face twisted into a painful grimace, his eyes closing for a second, then he nodded.
"You can, Shepard." The human's posture relaxed, before handing a datapad to the krogan
"Here's what I could piece together about the Thorian, and how I plan to do the insertion. I'll see you at the pod, Wrex."
The krogan skimmed through the datapad as he left, and the mess hall echoed his deep laughter.
Feros
"By the Goddess, Commander...I'm sorry, but are you insane?" Liara's peace of mind was not helped by the krogan's booming laughter, or the annoying raised eyebrow of the human.
"Depends on your definition, Doctor."
"This is not a joking matter, Commander! Your plan is insane, reckless, ill-considered, irresponsible, and...and insane!"
"Which part, Doctor T'Soni?" The human and krogan sharing a grin made Liara growl.
"The whole lunatic idea of shooting a modified lifepod as a makeshift mass accelerator round at a Precursor from orbit! And instead of taking one of your marines, you plan on taking me, an archeologist! Do you plan on me distracting the thing with a lecture on Protheans, Commander?" The asari's voice was rising, and blue motes of biotic energy sparked alongside her arms.
"Don't worry, princess. The human's just courting you, krogan style." A crash signalled Shepard falling down from where he was leaning against the wall. Liara's mouth hung open, her mind trying to decide whether to blush or to splatter the old krogan all over the bulkhead.
"Wrex, I swear to God if you make another remark like that, I'll strangle you with your own tongue." Shepard's warning was somewhat undermined by how he was trying to get up from the floor.
"Eh, she stopped, didn't she?" Just for that smug tone, Liara wanted to hurl a singularity at the krogan to see him flail and float.
"Doctor T'Soni...Liara." She blinked, as Shepard's hand gently closed around her raised, blue-lit wrist, pushing it down. "You are right, the plan is insane, and more than likely, so am I. Still, we need to go down there, and I'm afraid it has to be us three."
Liara shivered a bit at the human's touch, the emotion in his voice. It was not an unpleasant feeling. She focused on Shepard, trying to recall her mother's lessons on gauging the sincerity of another person. Admittedly, she did not have much experience in that area, even less with humans - but the quiet intensity of the operative's voice sounded convincing. The fact that Wrex also seemed serious helped. The human went on speaking.
"Liara, we need your knowledge down there. Wrex and I have both experience with similar situations, and I'm sure you are aware of some of the dangers one in your profession may face. Trust me, I'd like to leave you up here, safely - but chances are you can spot something we are not familiar with. And if you did survive decades while travelling from excavation to excavation, you are not a pushover, believe me." The human grinned. "Hell, after Therum, anyone thinking you cannot take care of yourself is an idiot."
Liara's focus was torn from Shepard as she became aware of Wrex again when the krogan's bloodthirsty chuckle echoed in the briefing room. She could feel herself blushing; fortunately, neither of her companions mentioned it. The asari took a deep breath and nodded at Shepard.
"All right, let's do it, Commander."
"Glad to have you on board for this, Doctor." She guessed she was not supposed to hear the man murmuring something about an elevator to hell, going down.
In other circumstances, Liara would have been ecstatic to set foot on a Prothean world, nevermind a world which was home of an even older creature. Feros and the Thorian however, made her feel only revulsion. Already when climbing in the lifepod, she could feel the wrongness reported by the dispassionate sensors - the unnatural, ever-spreading circle of life seemed to pulse behind her eyes, pressing on her mind, her soul, foreign concepts and ideas flitting on the edge of her consciousness, her body experiencing...urges. She guessed Shepard felt something as well, his eyes closed, lips mouthing some kind of mantra as he meditated … while on the opposite side, the old krogan warlord still snored fiercely, the sound echoing in the tight confines of the lifepod. Liara envied both of them for their apparent calmness. She was not a commando, or a huntress, nevermind an Eclipse sister, to feel calm or joy in battle! Her passion was in unearthing and understanding the past, uncovering the giants on whose shoulders the galactic civilization could stand on…
The lifepod was heating up, as it hurtled towards Zhu's Hope and the Thorian, trailing flames in its wake. Liara's eyes widened, her mind reeling as both Shepard and Wrex sat up straight, the krogan's hand going for his gun, the human grabbing some trinket at his side.
"You...you felt it too, right? The...invitation?" She blushed, unwilling to fully voice the images evoked in her brain by the Thorian's message. Her companions nodded, Shepard smiling at her sadly.
"So, Shepard - are we walking into the trap?" Wrex's grin would have made any apex predator shiver and slink away. The human nodded, and Liara thought his answering grin radiated almost the same bloodlust as the old krogan's. The sight made her shiver.
"So am I the only one who has doubts about walking into a trap like this?"
"Relax, T'Soni. We knew that the Thorian would spot us eventually - this way, it may be curious enough not to attack us immediately. And if it lets us close enough..." The krogan's low, menacing chuckle finished the sentence, as the lifepod's mass effect field kicked in, slowing their descent to a survivable level. A minute later, the lifepod crashed on the surface of Feros.
Wrex stepped out first, followed by Shepard and Liara. The krogan's stance was alert, and Liara could feel the subtle pulsing of his readied biotics - and her respect for the old warlord went up a notch, as even her mother would have had to concentrate hard to ready that much power without her corona betraying her. Shepard was also tense, and seemed to emanate a slight chill, a welcome effect in the oppressive heat of the colony.
Well, she supposed it was not a colony any longer. The buildings were covered in a pinkish-green organic material, the sounds coming from them disturbingly similar to what she heard from sentients digesting food. Vine-like veiny appendages crisscrossed the ground, which itself felt disturbingly soft, fleshy, alive. Her body shuddered, as the same urges she felt during the descent came back, stronger, forcing her to actually concentrate on getting herself back under control. She could see Wrex tensing for a second, a deep growl sounding in her comm as the krogan brought himself back under control. Shepard took a step towards her, hand half-raised, before his eyes narrowed, his head turning towards the gaping maw of a descending tunnel - blood vessel? nerve? digestive tract? - with the slow, menacing precision of a traversing cannon.
He glared at the passage, his mouth moving beneath the helmet, but Liara could hear nothing - then she felt the pressure, the urges receding a bit, becoming nothing more than a background note. The whole colony shuddered slightly, fetid vapors emanating from numerous orifices, and her audio receptors picked up moaning, groaning sounds. The trio descended into the dank, eerily-lit depths of the Thorian.
The walls of the tunnel pulsed with a steady beat, emanating a soft, greenish glow. Indistinct shapes writhed and protruded from the organic morass, reaching for them, pushing out from the flatter surfaces or the tumorlike, bulbous protrusions dotting the surfaces of the tunnel. Liara found herself sidling closer to Wrex and Shepard, her senses and sensors almost overflowing with the abundance of life, a veritable overload of fecundity. In other places, other times, she would certainly examined the walls, the protrusions more closely, if only to be certain what exactly they were made of. She would have pondered on how this organic mass could have consumed a whole colony basically overnight, without any trace of the previous occupants. She would have relished the chance to interact with something even more ancient than the Protheans she considered one of the pinnacles of galactic prehistory. But there and then it was all she could do to keep from vomiting, control her nausea, and avoid indiscriminately lashing out with her biotics.
The deep, rhytmic, huffing sound, the drumlike beat was becoming stronger, along with the fetid, overwhelming stench of the organic mass of the Thorian. The trio reached a ledge overlooking a deep fissure, and the pressure on Liara's mind felt almost crushing, as the overwhelming, alien, old presence of the chamber's inhabitant washed over them. The thing hung slightly higher than them, anchored to the fissure's walls by numerous thick vinelike growths, while another, even bulkier vine reached down to the lightless depths of the fissure, presumably connecting to the main mass of the Thorian. Half-consumed or half-formed shapes moved around the chamber, moaning as they consumed and were consumed by the creature. The main mass - head? brain? - in the chamber was sprouting a beaklike growth towards them, the maw opening, the stench of rotten meat and plant matter wafting from it. A curtain of tentacles spiralled out, mucus pooling beneath them, as the huffing, retching sound intensified.
"We might need a bigger gun, Shepard." Liara stared at Wrex, jaw hanging open at the nonchalance in the krogan's voice.
A lithe form dropped to the ledge from the mass of tentacles, the shape distinctly humanoid, female, asari. Liara's eyes widened as she recognized her, despite the greenish skin.
"Shiala?"
The green asari's eyes opened, and Liara felt revulsion as she saw the luminous green vines writhe behind her childhood mentor's eyes. The thing's voice was resonating strangely, the sounds scratching at their minds and ears alike.
"Shiala no longer. You stand before and within us. You offered bargain to the Old Growth, human." Wrex and Liara glanced at Shepard simultaneously, saw the operative's eyes narrow. "You broke that bargain when you cut us off from ourself. You failed to protect ourself from the machines. We saw no reason not to bargain with them."
"Machines? The geth were here?"
"Machines and pretenders came before us, led by a Mother of her race." The Shiala-thing gestured towards Liara. "She sought information, gave us back to ourself in return. What can you give me to match that, and to convince me not to consume you where you stand?"
The thing's voice was rising, and in response, the chamber's walls pulsed, moved, shapes pushing through the organic mass, creatures emerging, their forms a mockery of humans, green-skinned, grotesque parodies.
"Your continued existence." Shepard's voice was flat, certain, cold, golden sparks danced beneath his visor. Wrex chuckled, the sound low and ominous, as Liara tensed, ready to shield them, to lash out.
Insane giggling from the creepers provided a counterpoint to the Shiala-thing's booming laughter - then all was drowned out in the roar of a shotgun, as Wrex blasted off the Shiala-thing's head and chest. The central mass of the Thorian trembled, a keening moan echoing around the fissure, the creepers staggering for a second. Liara's biotics flared in a blinding blue light, as she dropped to one knee and formed a shield-dome with a gesture, just in time to repel the greenish biotic field slamming into it.
She screamed then, as the Thorian ceased holding back its presence, the mind-ocean of the Precursor flooding her senses, trying to enter her mind, make her its own, and she understood why Benezia came here, what was the likely fate of Shiala, and what the thing wanted with them. Despair, terror, hope warred within her, urging surrender, projecting the glories of being a mother, a progenitor of the new breed, a fountainhead of discoveries. Liara wasn't aware of her eyes swirling with darkness, the blood dripping from her aural cavities and the corners of her eyes. Her barrier wavered, contracted, the creepers edging closer, giggling, reaching for her, she felt as if worms were burrowing beneath her skin, inside her mind. With a shriek of rage and hate, she pulsed her biotics, sweeping the ledge clear, pasting the creepers all over the fleshy walls of the chamber, some falling down to the lightless depth below. She stood, her eyes flashing blue, as she again called on her biotics.
Wrex grunted as the pressure crashed on his mind, trying to drown him in hope, in promises of glory, of the krogan rising again, the genophage no longer threatening their existence. He saw the masses of healthy krogan newborn, the crying females, the ecstatic males. He saw his dreams fulfilled, his kind clawing itself back from the road to extinction. The old warlord roared, the voice shaking the chamber, the naked bloodlust and fury in the sound making even the emerging creepers pause. The vision of the krogan tinted red, as the familiar blood rage surfaced again, and he did not suppress it - instead, he focused his anger, as the world around him snapped into clarity, everything slowing down. Urdnot Wrex, Warlord of his clan, vanished in a boom of displaced air and blue light, as he tore into the main mass of the Thorian.
Shepard grimaced as the Thorian's mind tried to overwhelm them, the tidal waves of alien thoughts and desires seeking purchase on his mind, his soul. He focused inwards, dove within towards the warm golden embers deep within himself. Hoarfrost spread out from him as his eyes sparked gold, his mind racing through the old, embedded rites and protocols, looking for the correct one. He could feel the Thorian's essence reaching into the lightless depths below, beyond the constraints of the normal, sane universe, as the thing prepared to force its own home reality or the attention of its predecessor on them. Shepard fell to one knee, mouthing syllables not meant for human voice boxes, his concentration on disrupting the Thorian's efforts. Dimly, he was aware of the gunfire and maelstrom of biotics around him, as Liara and Wrex fought desperately to keep the creepers at bay
Liara could feel the tremors under their feet intensifying, the organic mass of the Thorian retreating from the cold emanating from Shepard. Her eyes flashed as she hurled singularity after singularity into the incoming creepers, using her SMG to handle the ones that somehow gotten past the barrage, and managed to avoid Wrex. Intellectually, she knew that krogan, especially ones as old as Wrex, could be a match even for a combat-inclined asari Matriarch, but she didn't fully understand it yet. The old warlord was proving it now, fighting in grim silence after that earth-shaking roar, his shotgun turning creepers into chunks of burned masses, his biotics hurling them into the walls or each other, when not detonating her singularities in sprays of Thorian biomass. She gritted her teeth, and focused again, ignoring the pounding ache in her skull, her trickling blood, and the way Shepard's unheard words seemed to twist the chamber, sending ripples like heat haze across her vision.
Wrex saw the Thorian's beak convulsing, flooding mucus pooling beneath it, as another slender asari-thing dropped down in slow motion. He lazily backhanded the creeper trying to vomit its acid over his shoulder, then vanished in a biotic blur. The newborn asari-thing could only started to raise its hand, its body lighting up in greenish-white light as the krogan appeared before her, and a plated, scarred forehead crashed into its face, sending it staggering over the precipice. The warlord's stepped forward, weaving between the grabbing tentacles, and discharged its shotgun directly into its beak. The Precursor roared, its anger and pain shaking the whole colony, almost toppling the asari and the human over into the fissure. Wrex tore out a tentacle reaching for them, before stomping over to kill more of the creepers.
Shepard sensed another presence from within the struggling Thorian, something that tried desperately to claw its way out from the mind of the immense Precursor, fighting towards him through the mental morass flooding around them. He was very much aware of the dangers, but some spark, some familiarity pulled a fraction of his attention toward the presence, and his eyes snapped open in realization.
"Wrex, Liara, we are leaving!"
The operative charged towards a tunnel, making sure to grab Liara's hand when the asari was a second slower to react. Wrex stomped behind, shotgun blasts and biotic fields alternating behind them, as the trio ran. Frost limned the walls, marking their passage, keeping the grabbing shapes away for the few moments required to pass them. Liara lost track of time and space in the blur of veiny, tumorous corridors, green-eyed Shiala-things, giggling, skipping creepers, gunfire, biotic flares, and cold, golden sparks. She felt her blood dripping away, knew not where and how she was wounded, hoped that her suit was still somewhat sealed, saw that Wrex looked half-torn apart, a grinning, bloody warrior-god from primitive mythologies.
Shepard stopped before a large tumorlike pod, and Liara tensed, waiting for the thing to shudder and vomit forth a creeper or a Shiala-thing. Instead, Shepard's omniblade flashed, the organic mass parting, steaming away, and a naked, real asari fell out, coughing, spluttering, her body covered in acid-burns and blood. Liara tried to step closer, to offer aid, but Shepard pushed her back, grabbing the moaning asari, lifting her, lifting Shiala.
"Come on!" And the operative moved, blurring towards another tunnel, hopefully towards the surface. Liara and Wrex followed, panting, desperately weaving through or stomping over the creepers standing in their way.
Their lifepod was still there, and Shepard hurled the mewling, half-conscious Shiala inside, before tossing in Liara, before he and Wrex jumped in. The lifepod's thrusters flared, and the small craft lifted off from the colony, before hurtling away, deeper into the atmosphere of Feros, towards the planet's surface, as the mass of the Thorian tried to engulf them, its mind pressing close on them, promising, cajoling, threatening, battering...
"Normandy, this is Shepard, commence bombardment on Zhu's Hope, C-type shells authorized!"
Four blazing trails arch through the atmosphere, falling towards Zhu's Hope. The impact itself buckles the ground for miles, the shockwave buffeting the lifepod. Magma spews forth from the fissures torn by the bombardment shells, painting the Thorian and the Feros skies a hellish red. The Precursor's bodymass boils away partially, its scream of pain and fury tearing into ears and minds alike as it convulses in torment. In orbit, Garrus Vakarian nods grimly, the effects in line with what he knew of typical bombardment shells. Tali'Zorah is awed and disgusted at the same time, just like Liara in the lifepod. At the ExoGeni observation post, Ashley's heartrate spikes, her pupils dilate, as her whole being tenses in anticipation.
Shepard's voice is full of something complex Liara can't decipher.
"Now, it begins."
Four shrieking, spinning vortices of scintillating, nameless colours emerge from the impact craters around the Thorian, tentacles of the unearthly light whipping around, clutching at Prothean ruins, Feros soil, Thorian creepers and Thorian biomass alike. The Thorian again screams, its voice filled with anguish, torment, pain. The colour-whips burrow into the heaving, convulsing mass of the Thorian, their touch leeching away colour, sustenance, existence from the creature itself, as reality itself starts bleeding, turning into a drab, brittle grey husk, devoid of all colour, all life. The tentacles of light lash the Thorian again and again, the Precursor's screams turning into mindless, weak whimpering, and then Liara hears it - an insane, mocking, foul giggling, the voice of children enjoying tearing living beings apart for the fun of it. The vortices of colours spin faster, collapsing inwards, their whiplike appendages pulling back, leaving a grey, brittle desert behind them, that's quickly inundated with the magma spewing from the tortured crust of Feros.
The mocking, evil laughter presses in on the lifepod, Wrex snarling in defiance, Liara shaking her head, tears in her eyes. Shepard is again chanting voicelessly, something shining with pure golden fire from his closed fist. The colours collapse further inwards, their voices, the flashing, hypnotic patterns of colours becoming furious, the twisting, coiling tentacles of light reaching now for the lifepod, as reality buckles, a tortured moan of stressed existence thundering beneath the lava-lit sky of Feros. The vortices implode with a tremendous concussion, the blastwave flattening the Prothean ruins for miles, swatting the struggling lifepod from the skies.