Book I - Chapter 2: Feros

Ashley climbed out of the Mako, ripped off her helmet and tossed it on the cargo bay floor, furious. "When I get my hands on the bastard who did this… What kind of coward sticks a Alliance distress signal in a middle of fucking thresher maw nest to kill marines?"

Kaidan picked up Ashley's helmet from the floor and set it aside on a workstation. "You've said it yourself. They are cowards." He looked at the shore party with sympathy. "Yikes. Thresher maw acid eats through shield like nothing else."

Garrus exited the still smoking Mako with unsteady feet, all the while muttering to himself. "If thresher maws didn't get us, then someday Shepard's driving will." His mandibles fell open when he saw the state the Mako was in. "Look at what the bad worm did to you!"

Shepard jumped out of the vehicle with several charred dog tags in her hand. "Lieutenant Alenko, start the repair. Garrus will assist you. I need the Mako for another drop soon."

"Right away, ma'am." Kaidan saluted and got to work.

Shepard made her way up to the conference room and turned on the FTL comm consol. "Joker, take the Normandy to Hades Gamma. And patch me through Alliance channel. Contact Admiral Kahoku."

"Aye, aye, Commander. ETA to Hades Gamma in 28 hours. Patching you through. Admiral Kahoku is online. Joker out."

Kahoku's voice came through the speaker. The poor man sounded hopeful. "Commander Shepard! It's good to hear from you so soon. Have you found my men yet?"

"I'm sorry, Admiral. They are killed in action."

"How?" Kahoku asked. Shock was plain in his voice.

"Thresher maws. Your men didn't have a chance."

"... I see. I will need to tell their families."

"Admiral, will you be on the Citadel for the next month? I have your men's dog tags. I would like to give them to you personally." Shepard asked.

"... Yes, I am stationed on the Citadel for the next three months. Thank you, Commander. Kahoku out."

Shepard turned off the comm, looked at the dog tags in her hand, and sighed. She sincerely hoped she had done the right thing.

x-x-x

Three weeks went by, they had managed to clear out a few merc camps, boarded a couple derelict freighters, and dealt with a terrorist group, but still found no sign of Saren or his geth army. When Garrus started grumbling, Shepard decided to give him what he wanted and ordered Joker to plot a course to the Armstrong nebula.

"Commander, remind me next time when I complain about mercs. Geth is much more annoying." Garrus' voice came through the helmet comm amidst the sharp cracks of sniper rifle going off.

Shepard peaked out from a corner and biotic lifted a geth hopper off the ground, making it flail uselessly in the air. Two shotgun blasts later, the thing was slag. "Garrus, balcony. Tali, cover fire. Juggernaut!"

While her squad focused on the geth raining down fire from above, Shepard spotted a couple Destroyers sneaking up on them from their flank. With a twist of her wrist, she formed a singularity between the two, pulled them out from their hiding place, and threw them back with enough force that they died instantly upon impact.

"That's the last of it." Garrus reported after the Juggernaut went down. "I hope. This is the fifth geth outpost we've seen in this nebula.

"The Alliance will increase patrol in this region, I don't think the geth will be a problem again, unless they are the vanguard of an organized invasion force." Shepard said. "Search the area. We might be able to find out why they came here."

The screen from one of the terminal flickered on. A melancholic singing voice floated out of the terminal like a disembodied ghost. Tali whipped her head around toward the screen as if slapped. "Quarian?!" She rushed toward the terminal and began downloading data to her Omni-tool as fast as she could.

"Wow. Is that what a quarian looks like without the suit? I didn't know you have head fur like humans do." Garrus studied the screen with interest.

"She is singing a lament. She mourns her lover. Without him, her heart is cold and her soul is empty." Tali explained, perplexed at what she was seeing. "This vid is at least three hundred years old. According to the signal, this is being transmitted behind the Perseus Veil. I don't understand. Why would the geth bother to set up five outposts just to play this vid on loop? What's the point?"

Shepard clenched her jaw as she endured a wave of sadness at the memory of Legion and his ridiculous N7 armor piece. "Does it have to have a point? Sometimes people do irrational things just because they feel like it."

Tali stared at the Commander like she was completely insane. "Geth are not people. They are machines. They don't feel. They can't like anything."

"Then how do you explain this?" Shepard pointed at the quarian singer on the screen. "You told me that the geth can evolve on their own. Can they not evolve to feel? I didn't know they have the concept of religion until I found out they worship the Reapers as their gods. I would say that's pretty irrational."

Tali looked completely stunned. "No, Shepard. Geth are evil. They slaughtered billions of my people and drove us from our home. You can't ask me to sympathize with our enemies!"

"Whoa, Tali. I'm not picking a fight. I'm just pointing out they are behaving rather strangely. Calm down."

Tali looked down in shame. "Sorry, Shepard. I didn't mean to blow up like that. It's just… This is a sensitive subject for me."

"That's alright. I understand. Here, maybe this will cheer you up." Shepard handed Tali an OSD. "I found a cache of data files in another terminal. It contained a lot of information regarding geth evolutionary history since they went into hiding. I made this copy for you so you can bring it back to the Flotilla."

With a shriek of delight, Tali tackled the Commander in a bear hug. "Thank you! Thank you, Shepard!"

"You're welcome, kid. Now let's get out of here. Our next stop is the Citadel. If you want to thank me, you can buy me a drink."

x-x-x

Shepard lounged bonelessly in one of the chair in the med bay office, and wondered out loud, "It got me thinking. What is a soul?" She pulled up her right hand and examined it critically. "I mean, look at this hand. With all the crazy stunts I've pulled over the years, it's got to be at least half cybernetic by now. What if one day I do something really stupid and ended up losing the whole hand, and the surgeon decides to attach a completely synthetic hand on my wrist? Is this still my hand?"

"Yes." Liara answered without a moment of delay. She took the said hand into her own and lightly traced the rough knuckles with the tip of her fingers.

Shepard stopped breathing.

"Fascinating. I would never know your hand is part cybernetic if you have not told me." Liara's scholarly side surfaced. She examined each fingers, caressing each digit lovingly.

It was very difficult for Shepard to stay still and not make a sound.

"This is the most advanced cybernetic enhancement I've seen." Liara marveled, tilting her head with a curious glint in her eyes. She leaned forward and pressed her cheek against Shepard's hand like a cat asking to be petted. "It's soft, it's warm, it feels completely natural to me. Enhanced neurofeedback for precision and speed with standard accelerometers implant for the haptic interface?" She guessed.

Shepard swallowed. "Amongst other things."

Liara gave her a questioning look.

Shepard let out a lazy grin, pull her hand back, and slowly stood up from her seat.

Liara looked up from where she was sitting, her gaze following Shepard's face. Her eyes went round in surprise when Shepard put her hands on the armrests, and leaned in. Liara felt a dangerous aura suddenly cloaked the Commander, and she couldn't help but sit back into her chair with a sharp inhale.

"Liara." Shepard purred against the side of the maiden's neck, lips not quite touching, but her breaths tickled Liara's sensitive neck fold like a feather.

Liara let out an involuntary shudder. The air around her sudden felt heavy and charged. "Y-yes?" Her voice came out an octave higher than usual.

Shepard grinned triumphantly at the sound. "Behave." She commanded with a drawl.

Liara whimpered.

Shepard briefly brushed Liara's chin with the pad of her thumb before straightening up. "I should go." She said, and left while she still could.

x-x-x

"You look happy." Ashley said carefully, as if she half expected the Commander to be offended by the offhanded comment.

Shepard noticed the caution in Ashley's voice and looked up from her Omni-tool. The Gunnery Chief had paused her task of maintaining rifles at the armory workstation and was now regarding her with concern.

"Should I not be happy?" Shepard asked with puzzlement plain on her face.

Ashley looked like she had tasted her boot in her mouth. "Sorry, ma'am. Forget what I said."

Shepard sighed. "Williams, I'm not gonna bite your head off. What is it?"

Ashley grimaced. "It's… not my place. I shouldn't have said anything. Me and my big mouth."

"Just spit it out." Shepard crossed her arms impatiently.

"Ok, ok. This is awkward." Ashley scratched the back of her neck, looking very uncomfortable. "So, um, I'm just, well… concerned, I guess. Is everything alright with you and Lieutenant Alenko? Not that it's any of my business, but scuttlebutt has it that there is trouble in paradise, if you get what I'm saying."

Shepard's jaw dropped open. It took her a moment to close her mouth. "What?"

Ashley made a vague gesture with her hands. "You know, couples fighting. Again, not my business. I just notice that you've been avoiding him, and he seems depressed about it."

Shepard closed her eyes and prayed for patience. "Williams, for the record, we are not dating! For goodness sake, I am not sexually attracted to men!"

Now it was Ashley's turn to looked gobsmacked. "What? But everyone thinks you are. You are so nice to him."

Shepard threw up her hands in frustration. "I try to be nice to everyone. I'm not a jerk."

"You talk to him all the time."

"Because he is the Staff Lieutenant of this ship! It's my job."

"But he really likes you."

"Doesn't mean I have to like him back." Shepard rolled her eyes before shooting Ashley a flat stare. "Look, I'm not avoiding Alenko, I'm just spending more time with Liara. If you must know, we are dating."

"Her?" Ashley actually looked scandalized. "You are dating an asari?'

"Problem?" Shepard asked with a clear edge of warning in her voice.

"Not at all." Ashley answered quickly. A smirk crossed her face. "I see. No wonder you look so happy lately. It's always the quiet ones, eh? Should I ask her about her sex life? It could be illuminating."

Shepard groaned. "Don't push it, Williams. Liara is not used to teasing. Good natured or otherwise."

"Come on, at least tell me how she is in bed comparing to the Consort. Throw a girl a bone. You've said so yourself, that the day marines stop talking about sex is the day the sun implodes." Ashley nudged.

Shepard gave her a dirty look. "I mean it, you can't tease her. That innocent and socially awkward thing with her? That's not an act. She has never dated anyone before. She's lived a very sheltered life. I am doing my damnest not to push her. We are taking it slow."

Ashley's jaw dropped. "You mean, she's never…"

"Yes."

"Wow. And she is one hundred and six."

"Yeah, I know."

"So this is serious."

"Yes."

Ashley considered her options. "… That means Alenko is available."

Shepard's eyebrows raised in surprise. "Yeah, I guess so."

"Huh."

Shepard resisted the urge to roll her eyes again. "Dismissed, Chief."

"Ma'am."

x-x-x

Shepard's plan to bring the Normandy back to the Citadel for much needed restocking was waylaid by an urgent call from Admiral Hackett. The VI installed an Alliance training ground located on Earth's moon had gone rogue. Shepard knew the truth. In the future, Miranda admitted that Cerberus had hijacked the VI to conduct illegal AI research with Alliance resources. The rogue VI Hannibal was the predecessor for EDI.

Shepard did not want to kill the VI.

"Tali, is it possible to extract the VI from the terminal without damaging the thing?" Shepard ask when she was one power junction away from permanently destroying it.

The quarian approached the terminal and examinated the hardware carefully. "It is. But why? It's safer to just blow it up."

"A VI doesn't spontaneously go berserk, Tali. Something triggered it. Either that, or it's been sabotaged. If that's the case, I want evidence."

"That makes sense. I'll need time. This could be tricky."

"Carry on then. Wrex and I will watch for more drones." Shepard said, and turned her attention toward the door.

Wrex went up next to the Spectre and stood by her side with a shotgun fixed at the door. "You are one strange human, Shepard."

"How so?" Shepard regarded the krogan with a questioning look. It was unusual for Wrex to initiate a conversation with anyone. The old warlord had always been aloof on board the Normandy. She had to shoot him herself last time because she failed to talk him down. Maybe this time she would not have to if she could make him trust her more.

Wrex cracked open a smug toothy grin. "This, precisely. You know things, Shepard, and you have plans for us all, but you play dumb. You scheme like an asari Matriarch, and you have the quad of a krogan battlemaster. I know what you're doing."

"What exactly do you think I'm doing then?" Shepard was intrigued.

"You are building a team, gathering resources, bunkering down for the storm. Something's coming, something big. I can feel it in my guts. This is more than just Saren and his geth. You want us to gird our loins when the storm hits."

Shepard stared at the krogan, speechless at his insight.

Wrex snorted. "People assume krogans are dumb beasts. Most of the time they would be right. I am not most krogans."

"Obviously." Shepard said with a knowing smirk. "So what tipped you off?"

Wrex thought about it for a moment, and shrugged. "Nothing, really. It's just my gut feeling. I don't ignore it. That's how I survived for so long."

"Good strategy." Shepard agreed.

"Hasn't steered me wrong before. It's telling me that I should really pay attention to you, Shepard. I wonder why."

Shepard was quiet for a moment. "Do you trust me?" She asked

The warlord grinned widely, and then his grin turned into a full belly gaffle.

Shepard stared at him.

It took him a minute to stop laughing. "You helped me get my piece of crap family armor back, Shepard. You've earnt it. Just don't wave it around."

"I got it, Commander! You need to look at this!" Tali's excited voice came through the helmet comm.

"Nice work, Tali. I wasn't sure it could be done." Shepard studied the extracted harddrive with admiration. Even though she was quite proficient in electronics herself, Tali's technical skill was on a whole 'nother level.

"That's not what I want you to look at. This is what I'm talking about!" Tali pointed at a rectangular box the size of her head. "This is a blue box, a highly specialized quantum computer. I could tell from the way it's wired into the terminal that it's not part of the original design. You don't need a blue box for VI. Someone tampered with the console and installed an AI into the system!"

"We are taking them both. Make sure they are inert before we bring it onboard. The Alliance either intentionally broke the law, or it's been sabotaged at a high level. Better keep this under wrap. That's an order." Shepard commanded.

Tali nodded solemnly. "Aye, aye, Commander."

Wrex acknowledged her order with a grunt. "Got it."

"We'll keep them in the med bay office. I don't want them anywhere near our critical systems. I want you to scrub the VI and see if you can find anything useful. Liara can give you a hand. We'll leave the blue box alone for now. It's too dangerous."

Tali completely agreed.

"Start prepping. Wrex, set the charges to blow the terminal. Let them think we've blasted everything to shreds. I'll bring the Mako around."

x-x-x

Normandy was due for a slew of maintenance after over a month of serving in combat situations. For one thing, their stock on Mako parts was running dangerously low, no thanks to those thresher maws. Their stay in the Citadel was going to be a very busy three days. XO Pressly was an old hand at the logistic side of running a ship, so Shepard left it to him to oversee the operation. As for the Commander herself, she was required to attend to a few tasks on the Citadel personally.

"Alenko, Williams, suit up and see me in conference." Shepard ordered through CIC's comm system.

When the two showed up in the conference room, the Commander was already sitting in one of the chairs, waiting silently in her N7 Onyx light armor. Shepard gave the two subordinates an evaluating look, before she signaled them to take a seat. Even after they sat down, Shepard kept scrutinizing them without uttering a word for a very long time.

"I am debating how much I should trust you two." Shepard finally spoke. It was not an order, or a question, so the two Alliance trained marines knew not to interrupt when their superior was talking.

"Lieutenant Alenko. Tell me why I should trust you." Shepard ordered.

Kaidan snapped to attention. "I am an Alliance marine. You are my superior officer. It is my job to watch your back, ma'am. I am loyal."

Shepard tilted her head. "Perhaps." She commented, and turned her attention to Ashley. "Gunnery Chief Williams, Tell me why I should trust you."

Ashley replied with complete conviction, "It's in my blood, ma'am. We Williams have served in the Alliance for generations. We are known to be stubborn and loyal to a fault, ma'am."

"I know you two are honorable, loyal, and capable. Your integrity were never in doubt. The problem is, I am not sure I can trust you to do the right thing." Shepard studied the slightly offended look on their faces, and decided to elaborate. "Let's say you've uncovered a piece of sensitive information. It's a laundry list of atrocities committed by the Alliance at the highest level. This information is irrefutable, accurate, detailed, and gruesome. If this information ever becomes public, humanity will be reviled as monsters by the entire galactic community. What are you going to do with this information? You are an honorable man, Lieutenant. What would you do?"

Kaidan opened his mouth for a moment, and snapped it close.

"What about you, Chief? You are a woman of God. What is the morally right thing to do?"

Ashley looked pained, and shook her head.

Shepard pushed again. "Will you kill one innocent to save a thousand more? What about killing a million to save a trillion?"

"That's not fair." Ashley protested.

"I'm not trying to be fair." Shepard said quietly.

Kaidan was a bit sharper than Ashley. "Commander, this is not just a mental exercise on morality, isn't it?"

Shepard shook her head slowly.

All the blood drained from Ashley's face. "Oh God. The thresher maws."

Shepard nodded.

Ashley was suddenly furious. "The Alliance would never kill their own soldiers!"

Shepard looked at the woman's red face with sympathy. "Williams… Ashley. Listen. This is not an order, this is a personal request. Don't do anything rash. Sit on this information. There are traitors infiltrating the Alliance at every level. They are monitoring all Alliance communications as we speak, and they have access to everything. Troop movement, ship schematic, personal background, medical history, psych eval, you name it, they have access to it. One wrong step, one wrong word to the wrong person at the wrong time, and you will bust our counter-espionage effort wide open. People are going to die."

The Commander warned them with a hushed tone. "This is bigger than you can imagine. I'm not talking about a few operations gone wrong. Hell, I'm talking about atrocity after atrocity being committed systematically, and methodically. I could list a few. They set thresher maws on human colonists and marines alike to study their toxin. They poisoned pregnant women with eezo to create biotic babies and then they stole them from their mothers to run experiments on them. They tortured and drugged innocents to create brainwashed shocktroopers. The list goes on. They did all this in the name of advancing humanity."

Ashley look like she was about to cry, and Kaidan looked like he was about to be sick.

"I do want to trust you two, otherwise I wouldn't be telling you any of this. I didn't have to. I chose to." Shepard took a deep breath and stood up. "Now, I am going to see Admiral Kahoku and give him his men's dog tags. I am going to tell him how sorry I am about this unfortunate accident. I am doing this to save his life. Admiral Kahoku is a man of integrity, a hero to many. If he ever suspect that his men were set up to die by Alliance black op, then he will charge in like a krogan in a bloodrage and get himself killed. I absolutely will not allow this to happen. Am I clear?"

Both Kaidan and Ashley jumped up and gave her a crisp salute. "Crystal, ma'am."

x-x-x

Commander Shepard stared at the bartender at the embassy lounge, not quite believing her ears. "Can you repeat that again?"

"Quite the unexpected news, I understand. I was shocked when I heard it too." The turian bartender said with a chuckle. "The Consort had decided to push all her schedules back one month, including her VIPs, to take a vacation in Illium. She is not due back for another week. Rumor has it that the Consort has finally found the one to bond wrist with. Can you believe that?"

"That's… unbelievable." Shepard agreed, and absentmindedly chugged down the bottle of Canadian Lager in her hand. She felt an overwhelming sense of gratitude towards the Consort, and she wasn't sure what to do with herself. When she asked Sha'ira to deliver a letter to Aethyta, she had never thought the Consort would take it upon herself to deliver it personally, and then spend the whole month overseeing the preparation without being asked to.

"You are… not disappointed by the news?" Kaidan asked, sounding very hopeful. His head whipped around in surprise when he felt a sharp kick from Ashley's direction.

The Gunnery Chief gave him a meaningful look. Kaidan was thoroughly perplexed. He didn't speak female.

Shepard was too distracted with her own thoughts to notice the by-play. "Nah. Why would I? Just surprised. This is good news."

Ashley palmed her forehead at the blissful expression on Kaidan's face.

Shepard's Omni-tool pinged. She checked the alert before finishing her drink. "It looks like we have one more stop to make. Sha'ira left me something to pick up at her place. Let's go."

On the way to the Consort's chamber, Kaidan kept giving the Commander apprehensive looks from behind. It was starting to exasperate Ashley.

"It sounds like you two are close." Kaidan finally commented.

Shepard shrugged and gave a vague answer. "I've only met her once. Sha'ira is a good person and an excellent listener. I consider her a friend."

Ashley decided enough was enough, so she went and ripped the bandage off, so to speak. "Liara would be happy to know the Consort is not on the Citadel during our shore leave. She did get jealous last time."

"Liara knows we are just friends. I would never cheat on her." Shepard explained, a bit put off by the insinuation.

Kaidan flinched as if someone just kicked his puppy.

Shepard finally noticed. "Problem, Lieutenant?"

"No, ma'am. Just surprised." Kaidan managed to say that with a straight face.

"Why? Do I sense intentions toward Liara there? Should I remind you she is taken?" Shepard narrowed her eyes at the guy with a huge crush on her and proverbially twisted the knife.

"Not at all, ma'am. I'll keep in mind you saw her first."

"Then we won't have a problem." Shepard smirked.

Ashley pinched the bridge of her nose.

At the lobby of the chamber, acolyte Nelyna's eyes lit up in excitement when she spotted Shepard. "Spectre! It is good to see you again. Sha'ira insisted to have me deliver this small token to you as an apology for not being here to give you her personal attention." Nelyna took out a long wooden box with blue ribbons tied around it. "It's a bottle of Serrice Ice Brandy. Sha'ira's favourite. 'For the memories we shared', she said."

The Commander grinned. She recognized a coded message when she heard it. "Please pass on my thanks to the Consort. It will be my term to bring her a bottle to share next time I see her."

"I'm sure she will be delighted to hear that, Spectre." Nelyna gave her a sultry look. "I am sure you must be disappointed that Sha'ira is away. All of her acolytes would love to keep you entertained in her stead. No appointment required." She purred while her eyes raked over Shepard's physique with clear intention.

"That wouldn't be necessary. I'm on a very tight schedule." Shepard said quickly. She had a pretty good guess just what kind of scenarios the acolytes had made up in their heads regarding her last encounter with Sha'ira. The last thing she needed was a hoard of hungry asari acolytes putting her on a pedestal to be worshipped as a sex goddess…

Shepard zoned out for a moment.

"I should go. Goodbye." The Commander said hurriedly, and fled.

x-x-x

They plotted a course to the Theseus system as soon as the ship was ready.

Shepard had had a very long internal debate with herself regarding Saren. With her foreknowledge, chasing the rogue Spectre all over the galaxy was a completely pointless exercise if all she wanted was to stop Saren and defeat Sovereign. She just needed to sit tight in the Council tower and wait for them to show up. She already knew they had enough firepower to shoot down one Reaper.

She could speak from experience that short of a full on Reaper invasion, it was simply impossible to get access to Vendetta, the Prothean VI housed in the Temple of Athame in Thessia. That route was closed to her.

For now.

No, she needed to let Saren lead them to Ilos, even if it meant allowing the attack to happen, and intentionally putting millions of lives in danger. She needed the exact coordinates of the Mu relay to go to Ilos, to keep Vigil alive so the Council might be convinced of the Reapers and the Collectors before they came in force.

She was going to sacrifice millions to save trillions.

Timing was key to the success of her mad schemes. That was why the Commander had been analysing a stupendous amount of data on her own to determine the best possible timing to execute all her plans. This task was made ten times more difficult when she knew she was under surveillance.

But she managed, just in the nick of time. Communication around Feros had completely shut down since yesterday, which meant Saren had acquired the Cipher and ordered the geth to clean up after him.

If she hurried, she would be able to save more colonists than last time.

Shepard rubbed her eyes tiredly. She had been staring at the monitor screen for hours. This was hard for her. She could stay on her feet and fight for fifty hours without sleep or stims, but reading shipping manifests and docking logs for five hours completely drained her. It took her that long to confirm that Saren had left the system. She dreaded to think how much more time it would take for her to pinpoint Cerberus' labs in the Voyager cluster.

The door to her cabin hissed open. "Shepard?" Liara was waiting outside the room, holding a tray of food while looking at her with concern.

Shepard looked up from where she was slouching, momentarily disoriented. "Ah, sorry. I completely forgot the time. Come on in. Hey, you brought food. Bacons and eggs! You're the best." She absentmindedly pecked Liara on the lips before taking the tray from her hands and setting it down on a table.

It was not until she sat down and had a sip of coffee did she realize what she had done.

Liara stood frozen at the door with a hand over her mouth.

Shepard put her coffee mug down. "That's not how I planned our first kiss to be like. I swear."

Liara just stared at her.

Shepard let out a chuckle. She came over to Liara and tugged her lightly on her elbow. Liara stepped in, and the door closed behind them.

"That was not how I imagined our first kiss to be either." Liara said softly, leaning into Shepard's arms in an intimate hug. "I assumed there would be flowers and candle lights, maybe even a song. I imagined it to be quite romantic."

"Well, I have a plate of scrambled egg simulant, lab-grown bacon, and half a cup of black coffee. I could sing, but you wouldn't like it. Would that do?"

"Hmm…" Liara tilted her head, and pretended to think about it. "I am not sure, Commander. Maybe we should conduct a field study. You should kiss me, and I will let you know if it's any good. If it is, then that means it's romantic enough."

"I like your idea, Dr. T'Soni. Very scientific." Shepard agreed with a smirk, and proceeded to test it out.

The kiss started out soft and slow. It was meant to entice. However Liara was less reserved than Shepard anticipated. Impatient with how Shepard's tongue always seemed to dart away before she could catch it between her lips, Liara pushed forward, chasing after her prize.

Shepard let out a deep chuckle and took a small step back. Liara followed. The way the sound vibrated against her lips set a tremor down her spine. "Quit teasing." Liara protested, before she tried to deepen the kiss again. This time, she made sure to move her hands up from Shepard's shoulders to the back of her head, tangling her fingers into the woman's short red hair for better grip.

What she didn't expect was to be suddenly lifted up and spun around. A giggle of pure delight spilled out of her lips before she could stop herself. "Shepard!" Liara squealed in a very undignified manner. "Put me down." She pouted.

"As you wish." The Commander replied with a cocky grin before she fell backward into her bed, taking Liara with her. "Hey, look, you're down. And I'm trapped. You win." Shepard teased lightly, but her eyes were dark and smoldering.

Liara's tongue peaked out briefly to lick her suddenly dry lips. "I've caught you. I win." She repeated, mesmerized by the way Shepard's green eyes glowed in the dark. "No more teasing." Liara warned.

Shepard's answering grin could only be described as impetuous. "We'll see."

Liara decided to take that as a challenge. Her strategy was to kiss Shepard silly to show her up. Her plan backfired spectacularly. Even though she was physically on top of the human, Shepard was able to take control of the kiss. Very soon, Liara found herself at the mercy of the Commander. Shepard never stopped teasing, always leaving Liara wanting a little more but never quite getting it. It was the most frustrating, most pleasant, and most gratifying experience Liara had ever had.

For some reason experiencing this perfect moment of happiness made Liara want to cry.

"There is something compelling about you, Shepard." Liara curled up against Shepard, her head resting on her chest. In this position, she could feel the steady thumps of Shepard's heartbeats against her cheek.

The Commander gave the asari maiden a little squeeze and pressed a kiss on top of her head. "I feel drawn to you as well."

Liara raised her head up to look into Shepard's green eyes. "With everything that is happening right now, I cannot help but think I am being selfish. It is all happening so fast. Should we even be doing this? It feels wrong to be happy when the galaxy is going up in flame."

"If anyone's being selfish, that person would be me, Liara." Shepard admitted with a hint of sadness in her voice. "Sometimes it feels like I'm drowning in all the crazies. You are the one good thing in my life, and I am too afraid to let you go." She held Liara tight and rolled her over, their positions now reversed. Letting her control slip for a brief moment, Shepard kissed the woman she loved a little rougher than she previously allowed herself to. She didn't pull back until she felt Liara arching her back, rolling her hips helplessly underneath her.

"You have no idea how much you mean to me." Shepard rested her forehead against Liara's, guiltily enjoying the sensation of her lover's soft feminine body squirming under her own with some apprehension. "And right now, you are making me feel like a cradle robber."

"I am more than three times your age, Shepard." Liara refuted breathlessly. "Humans have such a strange fixation on age. I could have very literally snatched you from your cradle if I had met you a few decades earlier."

"It's a figure of speech. What I meant was that I'm more experienced. It feels like I'm corrupting you."

Liara smiled sweetly at Shepard, her blue eyes filled with trust. "We asaris have a very different view on sex than humans do. It is regarded as pure and transcendental, not shameful. A perfect union of bodies and spirits is to be celebrated as divine. As for your worry about 'corrupting' me? I am just glad at least one of us knows what we are doing. It is better than having two clueless idiots bumble around in the dark, no?"

Shepard laughed. "I suppose." She gave the maiden's slightly swollen lips one last kiss before she sat up. "Feel free to stay here a bit longer if you wish. I know you don't like sleeping in the pod. There is work to be done. I should go."

x-x-x

Ashley found the Commander doing pull ups in the cargo bay. The woman had rigged a simple setup with crates and an I beam. Judging from the amount of sweat soaking through her clothes, she had been at it for a while.

"Stir crazy?" Ashley asked.

"A bit." Was the reply.

Ashley leaned against the hull as she studied the look of intense concentration on Shepard's face. A moment later, she chuckled and shook her head. "Ah, I see."

"Yeah, what?" Shepard asked without stopping her workout routine.

"Remember the story I told you about Sarah and her boyfriend Mike? You are a good woman, Commander. Liara is lucky to have you."

Shepard paused and gave her a puzzled look. "Williams, I have no idea what you are talking about. You are talking nonsense again. Speak plain."

Ashley grinned wickedly at the Commander. "Someone saw you lock lips with Liara before dragging her into your room for an hour long private meeting. Now everyone knows not to let their eyes wander when it comes to our resident Prothean expert. You, Commander, are now officially a legend. From blushing maidens to experienced matriarchs, no asari can walk past you without feeling tingles in their crests."

Shepard let go of the I beam and landed on the floor soundlessly. With a subtle wave, she biotic lifted the equipments and placed them back to their storage area. She then turned to give Ashley an even stare. "I don't even know where to begin. Seriously, what the hell?"

"Just repeating what I've heard through the grapevine, ma'am. Don't worry, you have been elevated to godhood. Not disrespectful at all."

Shepard palmed her face.

"It's a good thing, skipper. Think of it this way, no one would dare to hit on Liara again."

Shepard straighten up. "People were hitting on her?"

Ashley put her hands up placatingly. "Not anymore."

"Good." Shepard said, still looking quite peeved. "So, are you here just to update me on scuttlebutt, or are you here for something else?"

"Something else." Ashley said, her expression turned solemn. "I've been thinking about what you said the other day. I'm here to answer your question."

Shepard crossed her arms. "Go on."

"I would do it, but only if it's the last resort. May God grant me strength, I would do it if it must be done."

A slow grin stretched across Shepard's face. She stuck out her hand for Ashley to shake. When the Chief took her hand, she pulled the woman in closer and whispered in her ear, "Welcome to Operation Heracles, Ashley. You are going to help me catch a hellhound. We are Ragnarok."

x-x-x

The crumbling Prothean skyscrapers on Feros was as depressing as Shepard remembered. However, the colony of Zhu's Hope seemed a lot livelier than the last time she visited the place. According to Fai Dan, there were currently sixty-two colonist bunkered down in the small settlement.

That would be sixty-two people she needed to knock out. There was no way she could carry enough anti-Thorian nerve grenades to do that.

Shepard called in through her helmet comm. "Shore party to Normandy. Something fishy is going on in this colony, and I don't like it. The colonists are behaving really strangely. Alenko, William, Garrus, suit up and be on standby. In case of riot, disable the civilians. Do not kill anyone unless you have to. Garrus, you're familiar with crowd control. I want you to lead the Beta squad."

"Aye aye, Commander. Copy that. Non-lethal force only. Garrus out." The former C-Sec replied through the comm.

The Commander turned to Wrex and Liara, her squadmates for this mission. "Keep your eyes peeled. There is something… unsettling about this place."

Wrex growled softly. "Agreed."

"There must be a reason why the geth are attacking this place. I think the colonists are hiding something. It could even be another beacon." Liara speculated.

"We'll find out soon enough." Shepard said as she readied her pistol. "But first, let's take out the transmitter in the tunnel. Wrex, take point."

"With pleasure." The warlord grinned toothily.

With two powerful biotics providing support, Wrex plowed through the narrow tunnel like a demented bowling ball. The only minor snag they ran into was the three krogan warriors guarding the transmitter.

Shepard sent them flying with a well placed singularity, and then she warped them so hard she could hear their head plates crack. Before she could put them out of their misery, Liara had finished them off with a pistol.

"I wonder why these krogans have allied with Saren. There was that one in Therum, but apparently there are more." Liara said thoughtfully.

Wrex disagreed. "Saren has no allies. He has tools. No offense."

Liara looked down.

"Let's finish up and get back. I want answers, and I think the best place to get them is at the ExoGeni headquarter. There might even be survivors." Shepard said, and gave Liara's shoulder a quick squeeze. "We will worry about one thing at a time."

"You are right, Shepard. One thing at a time." Liara straightened up and cocked her pistol.

They quickly made their way back to the settlement and braved the skyway in the Mako to get to ExoGeni headquarter with geth raining down from the sky.

Their battle against the geth hoard would have been easier if Tali were on the squad to provide tech support, but Shepard felt it was more important to bring Liara and Wrex along. She wanted Liara to see Shiala and hear from her first hand what indoctrination was like, and she needed to get Wrex suspicious about those krogans clones. Shepard believed the old warlord to be observant enough to realize the depth of Saren's betrayal. She failed Wrex last time because she could not make him see reason. She would not repeat the same mistake again.

Shepard found the small group of ExoGeni staff barricaded in the weight station through radio chatters. Ethan Jeong was as much of an ass as she remembered, so after listening to him spewing garbage about corporate profit one too many times, the the good Commander resorted to the same strategy she had employed on Eden Prime - physical violence. One vicious headbutt later, the corporate lackey was reduced to a boneless heap on the ground.

"What are you doing?!" Juliana Baynham shouted at the Spectre. "You can't just go around whacking people in the head!"

Shepard regarded the older woman coolly. "He is under arrest for obstructing justice. Be glad I didn't shoot him in the kneecap first for pissing me off. In case you didn't pay attention when I introduced myself the first time, I'm Commander Shepard, Council Spectre." She narrowed her eyes at all the weapons trained at her with contempt. "Try me."

No one dared.

"Good choice." Shepard snorted. "I need to go now. This asshole better be tied up when I come back with your missing daughter. If she is still alive, I'll find her."

On their way back to the Mako, Shepard noticed Wrex was grinning ear to ear at her. "Yes?" She asked the warlord.

"You would make a good krogan." Wrex said with approval.

Shepard gave him a smirk. "High praise coming from a battlemaster. I'm flattered."

"I can't believe you did that." Liara scrunched up her nose. "It looked painful."

"That was the idea. People like him make me sick." Shepard explained, feeling a bit self-conscious for letting Liara see the ugly side of her so early in their relationship. "Liara, I try, but I can't be nice all the time. It's just not me. I hope you understand."

"Of course I do. I never expect you to be this perfect paragon of virtue. Nor do I wish you to be one." Liara said with a hint of indignation in her smooth voice.

Wrex interrupted the couple. "All this flirting is making my shell itch. Let's kill some geth before I die of old age."

Shepard coughed, but didn't say anything. The team climbed into the Mako and pressed further into the geth infested ruin. They found Juliana's daughter Lizbeth defending herself against a pack of varrens.

Shepard lifted the varrens and threw them against a wall with a wave of her hand. "Lizbeth Baynham?" She asked.

"Y-yes? Who's asking? You're not geth." The nervous woman lowered her pistol.

"Obviously." Wrex grumbled.

"I'm Commander Shepard, Council Spectre. Your mother is looking for you. She is hiding with a group of ExoGeni employees. Now tell me about the geth and why they are here."

Lizbeth looked startled. "Why would I know… Oh. They are probably here for the Thorian."

"Explain." Shepard asked, even though she already knew.

Lizbeth hesitated. "ExoGeni found a sentient alien plant here on Feros. We have been studying it. I don't know why the geth would want it."

Shepard knew she was lying. "Is that it?" She pressed, and the woman flinched.

"The Thorian… is giving the colonists some health issues. I can't... Look, I knew what we did was wrong, but I'm afraid what they would do to me and my mother if I don't cooperate. I've been trying to make up for my mistake. I stayed behind to contact Colonial Affairs, but the geth cut the power and put up this jamming signal to block all communications. Here, take my ID badge. It should get you through restricted areas and access the ExoGeni VI to get the information you need. Please, don't let them get away with this."

Shepard took the ID badge. "Stay out of sight. We'll come back to get you."

They snuck into ExoGeni headquarter through crumbling walls. Originally a derelict Prothean skyscraper, the building sustained heavy damage when the geth latched a dropship on the side of it. Giant claws ripped through the exterior walls as crude anchorage, even as thick power cables came crawling out of the claws like grotesque tentacles. The ground was littered with debris, the walls were falling down, and of course, there were geth everywhere.

They found more krogans, and they were not the smart kind. One was having an argument with the ExoGeni VI and was threatening to turn its virtual ass into actual dust. It was quite entertaining, really. Shepard didn't wait for the dumb clone to finish the conversation and lifted him up from behind. Wrex finished him off in no time.

With Lizbeth's ID badge in hand, the VI was very cooperative to the Commander. The team listened to the VI describing what ExoGeni had done to the colonists with revulsion.

"How could they intentionally let this Thorian enthrall the colonists?" Liara exclaimed.

"Can't say I'm surprised. Worse things have been done in the name of profit." Wrex said.

Shepard took out an OSD and inserted into the VI console. "Copy all available information regarding the Thorian to this disc." She turned to her squadmates. "That's one thing out of the way. We still need to get rid of the jamming signal, and find the Thorian before the geth do."

"There has to be a power source sustaining the force field. It should be coming from the dropship." Liara speculated.

"No power supply, no force field. We better hurry."

They continued through the building, checking each claw of the geth dropship for weakness. Eventually they were able to use the shuttle bay door like a guillotine and cut off one of the claws clamping onto the side of the skyscraper. Unable to support its own weight with one missing claw, the geth frigate slipped down the side of the building and fell to its doom.

"... to shore party. Do you read me? Normandy to Commander Shepard." Joker's frantic voice came through the helmet comm.

"This is Commander Shepard. I need a sitrep."

"The colonists all went crazy all of a sudden. Beta squad is currently engaging civies in the field. They are outnumbered, Commander."

A soft growl escaped through her clenched teeth. "On my way."

No more words needed to be said. Shepard led her team down the building, grabbed Lizbeth, and made a mad dash for the Mako. They briefly stopped by the weight station to drop off Lizbeth and pick up the anti-Thorian gas from Juliana, but they did not waste time. Shepard stepped hard on the gas pedal and blazed down the skyway in the Mako, blasting geth apart with cannon fire while jumping over debris until they reached the garage.

As they approached the settlement on foot, they were intercepted by a hoard of husk-like Thorian creepers. Worse yet, the colonists had turned on them.

"Keep your barrier up! Wrex, move up! Liara, stay back!" Shepard barked.

The creepers were fast. Fortunately, they were also very vulnerable to biotics. As long as they were kept out of arm's reach, they were easy to pick off. The problem was keeping the shield up while being pelted with shots from the colonists. Shepard had to strategically group them together before tossing a gas grenade to knock as many out as she could before they whittled down her shield to nothing.

Shepard ran out of grenades after knocking out about thirty of them, but the colony seemed oddly quiet. She dreaded to find out where the other half of the town went.

"Commander!" Garrus called out, waving his hand at the Alpha squad from behind a barricade. "Perfect timing. We were about to be overrun."

Ashley and Kaidan poke their heads out from behind a barricade, both looking a bit worse for wear.

"Casualty? And give me an update. Start from the beginning." Shepard asked.

"None so far. We set up a strong barricade and kept them out of the docking bay as a precaution. And then they became violent for no reason and tried to rush us, so I had Lieutenant Alenko lift them over the barricade one at a time while Chief Williams and I subdued them." Garrus said.

"By subdued, you mean…"

"Hit them over the head with the butt of a rifle and tied them down with cables. They are being held in the cargo bay and guarded by six armed marines. The brig is too small."

Shepard smiled. "That doesn't sound like standard C-Sec procedure, Garrus."

The former C-Sec twitched his mandibles in good humour. "It isn't. We don't have stun guns onboard, I had to improvise."

Shepard pointed behind her with a thumb. "We knocked out about thirty more of them that way. Get some men to round them up. Same treatment. Have Dr. Chakwas take a look at them. I don't want them harmed, but I want them unconscious."

"Aye, aye, Commander." Garrus replied.

"Garrus, Lieutenant, Chief." Shepard looked at them each in the eyes, and said, "Good work. You've saved a lot of lives today."

The three glowed at her praise.

"Continue with the clean up. We have unfinished business with an ancient alien vegetable." Shepard said, and chuckled at the perplexed look on Garrus' face.

x-x-x

A/N: The Feros scene got a tad longer than I anticipated. But oh well.