Location: Attican Beta, Theseus System, SSV Normandy SR-1

We spent an extra week on the Citadel before Udina ordered us off to the next planet where heavy geth activity was reported. ExoGeni had lost contact with one of their research platforms on Feros and they reported that Geth were attacking. According to Udina this went beyond my mission and it was in the Alliance's best interest if this were a priority. I was initially going to ignore it, but that was before the Council forwarded me the same information as Udina about Feros I realised that this was something worth following.

I left my quarters so I could ready myself for the mission. When I observed the Crew Deck I felt something odd. This atmosphere wasn't the same as it was under the Captain. Something was missing but I couldn't tell what it was. It felt less energetic, less inspiring and just- less.

The mess was almost empty with the exception of Rylee and the Asari. They chatted away animatedly with smiles on their faces. I loved the fact that Rylee had this way of making people happy with her energy and attitude. The crew loved her according to Alenko. They gravitated towards her because she was this bundle of energy.

"—I was hit on my forearm by the barrel of a sniper rifle by a Turian merc. What he didn't count on was me having an omni-blade so I jammed him in his junk" Rylee made the fisting action with a morbid smile, however the Asari appeared confused.

"Does junk mean something different to humans than it does to asari?"

"Oh… on some parts of earth, junk is slang for the male organ" Rylee explained.

"Male organ?" she responded but after seconds of pondering her cheeks turned a darker shade of blue "That must have been very painful"

"Yeah well the bastard shouldn't have been selling kids off as slaves… oh Hello Commander" Rylee sighed upon catching sight of me.

"Doctor, do you mind giving the Lieutenant and I a minute?"

"Not at all Commander. Good-bye Rylee" she waved

"See you later Liara"

Once the Asari was safely in the med-bay I took her seat directly across from Rylee. She looked less angry with me, that was a positive, but now she looked just tired. Like I was the one person in this galaxy she didn't want to be alone with. But at the same time it looked like there was something she wanted to say to me.

"This has got to be the longest you've spent without talking to me. Seven whole days and barely a word."

"You make it pretty easy. You spend all of your time hunting down information on Saren and burning down Turian orphanages."

"Come on Rylee that was uncalled for."

"No it wasn't" she snapped. When the eyes of those entering the mess were fixated on us she took a deep breath to steady herself.

"Let's take this conversation back to my quarters" I offered. She nodded and followed me into Captain Anderson's old quarters.

"I spoke to my mom"

"And?" I stated

"I told her about what you had to say. At first she was disappointed but then she said that coming from you she understood. Now I know my mum isn't a racist, so I was wondering why she'd support one. So I did a little digging and I found out that there are no records of you before you joined the Alliance. All I know about you is your gang ties but that's public knowledge and that your father is David Anderson. Then I got to thinking; I know shockingly little about your past"

"And let's keep it that way. My past is just that, my past! So let's, let sleeping dogs lie"

"Ooh an idiom. When did you learn that one?" she mocked. It was common knowledge to human press and my close friends that I had little to no grasp of human idioms. That was something I wasn't exactly ashamed of, I was more embarrassed about than anything else.

"Shut up Rylee!"

"What, did I push a nerve. Did I do something to upset the legendary Nathan Anderson?"

"I could write you up for insubordination Lieutenant," I threatened. I was desperate for her to end her line of questioning and move on.

"We both know that you won't do that, because you know you're in the wrong. And this isn't a conversation between a Lieutenant and her CO. This is one between two friends. I'm worried about you Nate," She voiced her concern.

"If you know what's best for me then you'll end this now!" I affirmed. Please Rylee don't make me tell you. Because I promise once I tell you, you can never forget, no matter how much you want to.

"No Nate! I need to know what made you this way. You already know everything about me. You know about my mother and my upbringing on spaceships. You know that my father died in 2165 during a slaver raid. You know my friends, my lovers, what schools I went to, my parents. But I barely know any of those same things about you," she pleaded. She wanted something personal about me.

"I am your Commanding Officer Lieutenant. The only thing you need to know about me is that I outrank you. You don't need to know about my past, my parents or my personal business. Is that clear!" I barked

"Crystal" she sneered. She offered me a stiff salute and headed for the door.

Dammit Rylee! I know you're just trying to get to know me but leave me alone. Anyone else would have received a real ass kicking, but it's just because this is you. And because it's you I'm now feeling guilty about doing this… fine, I'll give her one thing.

"Just so you know… I don't remember my parents or any family I may have had," I said in as monotonous a tone as I could manage.

She actually looked back at me with apologetic eyes. Maybe now she'll realise that my history is something I'd rather not discuss with anyone. The only ones who actually know about my past and my circumstances are Anderson, Hackett, Hannah and a few other Alliance officials; and they know damn well never to bring that up around me.

Location: Attican Beta, Theseus System, Feros, Zhu's Hope

Reaching Zhu's Hope made me remember just how much I hated corporations. They're the first to send good people on dangerous ventures and the last to help them out when those people are in need. It was obvious that ExoGeni had abandoned them in an effort to cut their losses. I haven't even reached this Fai Dan person and I can see that for myself. From the moment I landed I've neither seen nor had any contact with security personnel, nor have I seen their corpses either. What I've seen is a make shift militia of office workers being forced to take up arms against an enemy they have no chance in defeating.

I had all hands on deck for this one. I wanted to see what the asari could do in battle, and it was time for Tali to take a break from the drive core. Adams seems to think that she's working herself to death. Luckily for them our first few skirmishes were dealt with quickly by Wrex and Chief Williams.

"Oh God, they're everywhere!" a panicked woman shrieked.

That was my queue to make a break down the stairs. However, in my attempt to reach her I was blocked off by an invisible geth hunter. I instinctively punched the ground on impact and sent it rolling down the stairs.

Rylee had overloaded the stalker above me so I had the easy task of blasting it to bits with my shotgun. "Recon Drones inbound," Williams hollered.

They began circling us like a hunter to its prey. The only difference was that they were hunting a crazy, Krogan battlemaster. Wrex flicked his wrist at one of the drones and threw it at another.

That was when the gun fire started to rain on us. The doctor had protected us all in a bubble but again it was Wrex who was on the offensive. He readied his assault rifle before charging out of the bubble. His years of experience were paying off, since his accuracy was better than anyone I'd seen.

With a grunt, the doctor pushed the bubble out, resulting in a 360 shockwave which destroyed the rest of the drones. I have got to learn how to do that, but I'll be damned if she's the one to teach me.

When we entered the colony I witnessed a makeshift militia in place. Skinny, scrawny men and large alike were toting weapons and aiming them at where we just came from. "Glad to see some soldiers. Our numbers are getting thin," one of the militiamen confessed.

"If we don't die of thirst, the geth will surely kill us all," another woman complained. Everyone was covered in sweat and dust. Some looked like they had barely eaten, many looked like they'd barely slept.

"Protect the heart of the colony!"

"That doesn't sound good," Garrus muttered.

We all ran toward the tower. I could see that guns were being fired from the tower entrance and from what I can tell it's definitely geth. I can't wait for the colonists to draw them out, because by the time that happens they'll all be dead. I guess it's up to me.

"Wrex, follow my lead" I took out a heat-disguising smoke grenade and angled it into the tower. Wrex read what I was trying to do and he threw a lift grenade in the same direction. Hopefully it took out a couple of geth. If not, then at least it should create some confusion.

I ran into the building and the two of us projected some shockwaves through the smoke. Judging from the sound of metal being destroyed and that geth shriek, it was working quite well.

"Before the smoke clears, fall back!" I ordered. I ran towards the crates where an elderly man and young woman were hiding behind.

"Stay here, we've got this," I assured.

As I anticipated there were more geth in the upper levels of the tower. They quickly made their descent into the main colony.

"Shepard, Vakarian, Williams I want support. Snipers ready! Tali, Wrex, we'll create a choke point at the entrance. Doctor, Lieutenant protect the colonists. GO!" I ordered.

With Wrex and Tali I tow I sprinted towards the stairs. Tali sent her attack drone toward the Geth. I doubt it'll do much, none of the Alliance's best could even slow the geth down I don't think that hers can…

I was very quickly proven wrong by our resident Quarian. The geth were malfunctioning and they stopped and staggered which allowed the snipers to do their job.

"Commander, I programmed the drone to seek out any high frequency noises. Including cloaks," she grunted whilst taking her shotgun out and blasting one of their heads off.

"Hmm… maybe you surviving Saren's hit-squad wasn't dumb luck after all," Wrex praised.

Within seconds of her announcement all hunters were exposed and out in the open. I grabbed one of them by the feet with my Lash and whipped it towards another and down the massive staircase that led deep underground.

"Clear!" I yelled.

"All targets neutralised," Rylee reported.

I returned to the Elderly man I encountered earlier to find out just what the fuck is going on.

"Praise God, they've finally sent someone to help us,"

"You're a bit late aren't you?" the woman replied scornfully. I don't entirely blame her. I get what it's like watching so much death surround you, no matter when the backup arrives, it's always too late.

"Arcelia!" the older gentleman growled. "Sorry sir everyone is a little on edge" Something seemed off about these colonists. They were all jittery, especially this one, but that could be blamed on the geth. However, all of them had faint, green veins showing through their skin.

"I'm Commander Nathan Anderson. Special Tactics and Reconnaissance," I introduced.

"Impossible! There aren't any human SPECTRE's." Arcelia snapped.

"Whether you believe us or not we're your best bet out of this alive" Williams stepped in.

"Excuse her, Commander. She's been in charge of security thus far. I'm Fai Dan," he said.

"Arcelia Martinez" she added.

They proceeded to tell us about what we would be expecting on the way. There was a geth dropship on the Skyway along with some armature units as well. That meant that if we wanted a chance to save this colony and find what we're looking for we'd need the Mako. Fai Dan even informed us about the struggles the colonists were experiencing with the geth.

The Mako can only hold about 5-6 people and there are 8 of us. We need people to stay back here to see if there's anything around the colony that could tell us about why Saren is even here.

"Shepard, I want you to lead Williams, Wrex and Garrus towards ExoGeni's main building, see if you can find out why the geth are here. The rest of us will stay and see if there's anything around here that could tell us why the Geth are here."

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o

I knew that this would be the more boring assignment but something told me that I was meant to stay behind. Besides, Rylee can handle herself, she should be able to lead that lot and at least now she can understand just how hard it is to pilot the Mako.

The lack of hope that these people shared had touched me. I had interviewed each of the colonists about the geth and the colony. These people knew shockingly little about the world they were sent to colonise. All they were told was that it was an exciting opportunity and none of them had a clue about why the geth were here. After hearing about the condition of some of these people Dr Chakwas left the ship to come and serve as a temporary medic.

What was weird was that every colonists that Alenko, Tali, the doctor and I to talk to Fai Dan if we pushed too far. It's almost as if it was rehearsed.

I was taken from my thoughts when Tali sat beside me. I couldn't see her face but from her body language she was clearly uncomfortable in her surroundings. "Something wrong, Tali?"

"No, it's nothing I'm not used to"

"What are you talking about?"

"The looks I'm getting from the colonists. They don't like the fact that a Quarian is around. My people did create the geth centuries ago"

"So the colonists are blaming you for their present situation" I deduced. It makes sense, without Quarians then there would be no geth to fight. I guess this is their way of coping, they can't show their anger to geth so they dump their feelings onto Tali.

"Most people tend to treat Quarians as second class citizens and greet them with scorn. That's why I spend most of my time aboard the ship in the Drive core. Adams and the engineering crew treat me like they do everyone else; it's nice… it was hard to break away from that"

I guess the Quarians are galactic pariahs, maybe even more than humans. I guess the aliens even discriminate against their own. "I understand Tali. When you find you're safe zone, you don't want to venture out of it," I sympathised. That's probably why I stayed with the REDS for as long as I did.

"Exactly. Dr Chakwas told me you'd understand but to be honest I didn't believe her," Tali confessed.

"Why's that?"

"I-I don't mean to be rude, Commander. But the rest of the crew seems to see you as a little… strict and unreasonable. They don't all have faith in your chances at stopping Saren."

"Really… what else have they said about me?"

"I don't know Commander… it… I don't think I should have told you that."

"Tali listen to me. If the crew don't have faith then I am failing as a leader. This mission is too important for that to happen. You can help me fix that so out with it. Now!" I ordered

Tali looked at me for what felt like hours before continuing "They know almost nothing about you besides from Elysium, Torfan and Akuze. I don't think they feel a connection to you… it's not common amongst Quarians for this to happen, and the results usually aren't exactly what you'd hope Commander," she continued. I can guess, a crew with no faith in their captain would probably die very quickly.

"But there are people who vouch for you. Rylee, Ashley, Dr Chakwas, Kaidan and Pressley all defend you. They seem to placate the others," Tali attempted to redeem my pride but failed miserably at doing so. Pressley had to support me since he was my XO and the Doctor was probably just trying to maintain status quo.

I'm a failure as a leader. I know that in combat I'm a good leader, I don't give any orders I wouldn't follow myself and my team tends to come out of most battles in one piece. But being in charge of a ship was a whole new ball game. Dealing with all the bureaucratic crap I would normally pass up to Captain Anderson was more of a pain than I thought. Constantly having to deal with Council breathing down my neck and struggling to find Saren meant that I was so absorbed in my own problems I was ignoring the crew.

It's clear that this style of leadership isn't working if the crew doesn't feel confident enough to take on the galaxy. When I went into battle with David for the first time, I felt like I could take on everything the Blue Suns could throw at me and much more. But how do I get that sort of connection with my crew. It's easy to be charismatic on the battlefield, just exert authority when necessary and lead by example.

Now that I think about it the people Tali mentioned with the exception of Pressley and Chakwas were the people I interacted with the most on the Normandy. I guess they're the people who have the best read of my personality and they could relate to me the best. Is that it? Just go around talking to everyone and personally interact with everyone? I guess it couldn't do more damage than what I'm doing now.

"What are Quarian captains like?" I wondered. Maybe something they do could help me out.

"Quarian Captains are normally very charismatic. With our ships being very small it allows them to form personal bonds between captains and his or her crew. The crew learns to trust their captains with their lives and in return they're willing to die for their captains. Captains tend to become extended family and they bring the rest of the crew together."

"Thanks, Tali. I'll see if I can do better," I appreciated

"You're welcome, Anderson," she responded

I stood up and radioed Rylee to see what their present situation was but something was blocking their signal. Maybe the Geth Stalkers were in their vicinity and communication was impossible. I'll radio them again in 15 minutes to see if I could get a sit-rep. I walked around the colony to see if there was anything I could do to help the colonists with their struggle. With ExoGeni abandoning them, they'd need whatever help was available. There was that, and the fact that I was starting to feel a little funny.

The colony needed food, electricity and water immediately. I could help with the food and electricity immediately. I had Alenko and some of the other crew members of the Normandy deliver half of the food rations and 4 portable generators from the ship. However, the water was going to be tricky. Apparently, there was a water pipe underneath Zhu's Hope that was shut, but with Geth lurking around it was too dangerous to access the pipeline.

I gathered the four members of my crew around nearby the Prothean Skyway Rylee and her squad used. "OK, this colony is almost semi-functional thanks to us but the jobs not done yet," I began. "Underneath this colony is a pipeline that's being blocked. Most likely by the geth and we need to unblock it. There is also a Geth transmitter we need to disable" I propositioned.

"I don't think it would be a very good idea to leave these colonists behind. The geth could return at any time" the Dr interjected.

"Yeah, I know; which is why two of us are heading underground. Alenko you'll have to stay behind, I need someone familiar with Alliance protocol around in case things go south," I added.

"I'm afraid I can't go with you, Commander. The colonists need help setting up the generators so I have to stay," Tali explained.

"Looks like it's just me and you Doctor," I turned to the asari.

She looked a little nervous, which was understandable since I think I've made it fairly clear that I don't trust or like her. "Yes, Commander. Should we head out now?" she asked

"Yeah, the sooner these people get their lives back on track the better"

Location: Attican Beta, Theseus System, Feros, Zhu's Hope, Underground

It was a pleasant surprise that we had not run into any geth yet in our crusade for the water pipe. But there was some part of me desperately wishing to encounter the machines so we would not be trapped in this uncomfortable silence. I am not sure if he is uncomfortable but I know that I am.

The Commander had made it abundantly clear that he did not trust me and at first I could not blame him. However despite his lack of trust in me, I still respected his surviving the Prothean beacon. But after what happened on the Citadel when he released that prisoner who murdered an innocent civilian, I could not stand to be on the same ship as him.

The severity of the mission meant that I had to stay aboard but that was worth it if we could stop Saren.

There was also the issue of the ringing in my ear when I was at the colony. I could hear something whispering into my ear. It was constant and soft, almost hypnotic. The more time passed the clearer the words were becoming but they were in a foreign language. It started giving me a headache, so I am glad to get away from the colony for a short time.

I was interrupted from my thoughts when he put a protective hand in front of me.

He pointed in the direction of a Geth Rocket Launcher, standing in the middle of the pathway, surveying the area for any potential threats. Anderson and I immediately returned to cover.

"Commander, what should we do? We have no idea how many geth are in the area," I inquired.

He pondered on what I said for 5 seconds before responding. "How strong a barrier can you throw up?"

"My Barrier? I guess it's fairly strong. I have never pushed it to its limit before."

"Great," he muttered under his breath. "That means you're going to have to stay back here. I'll take out the rocket launcher. If it's alone I'll tell you. If not then I need you to cover me so I can hide. GO!"

He ran out of cover and out of my sight. I heard gunshots coming from the pathway, but I remained in cover. Then I heard the distinct sound of metal on the cold metal grates, indicating that there were more Geth on their way.

"Cover me!" he barked. I stepped out and threw a singularity at the crowd of geth that poured out of whatever door they came from. It left them in suspension high above the ground.

Anderson saw the opportunity and sent a shockwave at the helpless geth. The resulting biotic explosion destroyed the geth. He looked at me approvingly "Good work doctor."

"I have a name, Commander," I said.

"Excuse me."

I gulped before continuing "My name… is Liara T'Soni. I would appreciate it very much if you would address me by my name… Please refrain from addressing me by my title or my species," I somehow found the courage and strength to say that to him. How he addressed me was incredibly degrading, it was as if he had not even bothered to learn my name.

"Alright, Liara. Good work" he praised.

Restoring the water wasn't too difficult once the geth were out of the way. Thankfully for omni-gel decrypting wall safes and overriding systems had become a thing of the past.

Now all that was left for us to do was to destroy the geth transmitter and we could return to the surface. It had been over an hour since Rylee and the others had left for the skyway and we still had not received any messages. It was most likely due to the fact we were so deep underground that no one could reach us.

"According to Tali's scanner, the transmitter is somewhere through that door," he informed.

"I'm right behind you, Commander."

It was almost as if every geth group we encountered had one of those cursed stalkers. It had itself perched on the wall directly above us. I warped its shields with the hope of causing some damage to its electrics.

Anderson used the opportunity to take out his pistol. He aimed it at one of the rocket drones and somehow managed to get a headshot. Impressive.

He used his pistol to advance our position so our backs weren't against the wall. As the geth began their retreat, I threw a singularity just behind them so they could be suspended in the air.

I was surprised to see the Commander look at me and smile before unleashing his biotic whip. The result of our tandem attack caused a familiar, chaotic explosion of unstable dark energy.

Before we left the Normandy, I had Ashley equip my pistol with cryo ammo, hopefully that should freeze them for long enough that I can actually hit them with my biotics. The first few rounds slowed them down, but that was all I could manage before Anderson tackled me to the ground.

I was about to protest before a rocket flew over both our heads. The look of fear in my eyes was clear and I didn't bother trying to hide it.

He managed to take out the rocket trooper whilst I was still in cover. That was before a symphony of shotgun blasts were aimed at him and he had to get into cover.

"Why is it always fucking Krogan!" Anderson shouted

"Because we're the only ones with enough quad for jobs like this" one of the mercenaries guffawed.

"I count 4 hostiles left in the immediate area," Anderson reported.

"Come out and fight like a man, human. Die with some honour!"

We were in a corridor so there was no way of sneaking around the Krogan. Neither of us had cloaks to do so in the first place.

"We need to panic them, that's our only chance and we have to do it before they start advancing on us," he thought out loud.

"Luckily for us these Krogan seem more interested in a good battle than actually staying alive," I mused.

He looked at his armour and smiled. He opened out of the compartments in his armour and pulled out a small but long container. He removed the casing to reveal a green, glowing substance. He emptied half of the contents into his pistol.

"By the way, Doctor. You might want to avoid getting too close to these Krogan after this," he warned. I had to bite my tongue to avoid saying something about his term of address towards me. Not the right time or place.

"Stay behind cover. They haven't seen you yet, we can use that."

I have to pick my moment to get involved, if my timing is off we could both die today. Before the Commander got out of cover I sent out a surveillance drone.

It's a good thing these corridors are so small. It means that there are not many places for cover. They had split themselves two and two.

Commander Anderson chose to make his move. He intensified his barrier before running straight towards the Krogan. This caused all four to come out of cover.

He used that opportunity to shoot them all at least once. When the bullets made contact all of the Krogan started writhing in pain. Some began running around erratically, some fell to the floor. They all had an unsettling, green glow surrounding them.

I saw this as my opportunity to strike. I pumped them full of my cryo rounds to freeze the Krogan. This left Nate with the simple task of shattering each Krogan.

"It amazes me that they all came out of cover."

"Krogan love fights, that's the reason most merc squads only have 1 or 2. At least that's what Wrex told me."

"What was that you did to them?" I wondered

"Radioactive rounds. It was Alenko's idea" he explained before sending attaching two grenades to the transmitter.

"Idiots" he grunted "If even one of them had stayed behind to guard the jammer, then maybe we'd be dead. Shows you just how scratching for a fight can fuck you over." Anderson chuckled

"Itching"

"What?"

"I believe the phrase you are looking for is 'itching for a fight'. Rylee said that about Wrex" I corrected.

His firsts became clenched and he was visibly shaking. "Let's just get back to the colony" he growled.

As we left the room he detonated the grenades and he returned to make sure the transmitter was destroyed.

Location: Attican Beta, Theseus System, Feros, Zhu's Hope

Liara and I returned to the colony in complete silence. I'll admit that the reason for my anger is incredibly childish but come on. It's bad enough that I can't grasp idioms, but an asari somehow seems to know more human culture than I do.

It's been a little over 2 hours since Rylee left for the skyway and I still haven't received word from her squad. There's nothing I can do to help since there's only one Mako aboard the Normandy. I'm going to requisition a second one in order to accommodate for all of us.

When we arrived at the colony I found an empty site. That's impossible, Fai Dan was adamant about refusing to abandon the colony. I radioed Alenko to see what was going on.

"Lieutenant, what the hell is going on here?" I demanded.

"Good to see you're alive, Commander. The colonists went crazy. They started attacking us. Tali, Dr Chakwas and I had to fall back to the Normandy," Alenko explained.

"Why would they attack?"

"I don't know but they were moving like husks. There were even a few that looked like green, husks."

"OK, we'll head to the Normandy."

"You can't Commander, there are a bunch of them outside the Normandy. They're banging at the doors."

"Open fire Lieutenant. If they're armed then we have no choice."

"They aren't armed Commander. They all dropped their weapons and started using their hands."

"Aah shit!" I cursed. What I thought was empty wasn't what it appeared. Colonists started flooding out of the building.

My pistol was ready and I sent some warning shots. I'm not comfortable shooting unarmed people, but I will if I have to. The warning shots did nothing to deter them and they began charging towards us.

I grabbed Liara's hand and used my biotic tether to pull us towards the top of one of the buildings. However, they still had enough brain capacity to know how to climb. They scaled the building with ease and we were surrounded. If this goes on much longer I will have to kill them.

I tethered the two of us over to the other side of Zhu's Hope, and again they charged towards us. "Liara, open fire," I instructed.

"Nate, are you there?" Rylee inquired.

"Not now Shepard we're busy," I dismissed

We both readied ourselves to shoot before I got a transmission. "Commander listen, I know that the colonists are acting hostile but please do not kill them. Wait for us to arrive."

"You'd better have a good ass reason for this, Shepard"

"I'll explain when I get there. I'm on the skyway right now. I'll reach the colony in a few minutes. Just buy time."

"Shit," I cursed. I holstered my pistol and turned to run to the Normandy's direction. "For fucks sake!" there was more of them coming from the Normandy.

"Anderson, barrier the door way and I'll barrier mine," she instructed before shielding us from the colonists. I did the same with my door and on both sides of us were zombie people trying to rip us apart. We were back to back and we both exchanged sheepish smiles.

"How long do you think you can hold out?" I asked.

"I'll give myself 2 minutes. 5 at best but that would leave me too tired to move."

"Hopefully, Lieutenant Shepard will get here soon"

The strain of maintaining this barrier for this long was quickly taking its strain. I find it difficult to hold a barrier around myself for 30 seconds, let alone one of this size. And it's constantly under pressure. Rylee, you'd better hurry up or I might end up shooting my way through these people.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

Thankfully, Rylee's squad arrived as quickly as she promised. Grenades were exploding from Liara's direction and the bodies started falling to the ground.

When the barriers dropped Rylee explained to me just what the hell was going on. The Geth drop ship was scrambling all communications, which would explain why we couldn't reach them. ExoGeni was holding a sentient plant lifeform called the Thorian underneath Zhu's Hope. They were experimenting on the colonists to see what the long term effects of exposure to the Thorian can do. That's why the colonists were attacking us, the Thorian was trying to protect itself.

Fai Dan even showed up with a gun in his hand ready to fight us. But surprisingly he managed to break free of the Thorians hold and he shot himself in the head. Tali and Alenko joined us from the Normandy and we had to search for a way to reach the Thorian underground. ExoGeni has obviously been studying it so they must have a way to get to it.

Eventually, Tali found a security terminal which opened a secret entrance.

On our way down Rylee was explaining what we were going to do when we find the Thorian. "Alright, we just need to find this creature and determine what…. That is… the most disturbing thing I've ever seen."

The Thorian was quite possibly the ugliest thing I have ever seen in my life. It was like one of those giant sea monsters you see in comic books or in your nightmares. It had tentacles seeping from its mouth along with what I assume is its saliva, there were these nasty wrinkles that covered its body and to be honest it reminded me of Cthulu. And don't get me started on the smell. This thing smells like rotting corpses had a baby with decaying compost and that baby had a shit in a dumpster.

"I don't think we have enough firepower…" Garrus said with his mouth open

I stepped closer towards the Thorian, each step was cautious and my hand was hovering over my side arm. To my disgust it was salivating from the mouth. It started gagging and a naked, green asari was spat out.

"Invaders! Your every step is a transgression. A thousand feelers appraise you as meat, good only to dig or decompose. I speak for the Old Growth, as I did for Saren. You are within and before the Thorian. It commands that you be in awe!"

"I hate self-righteous, arrogant beings that expect me to kneel in front of them and kiss their ass. Go fuck yourself. But first, GIVE ME WHAT YOU GAVE SAREN," I demanded

"Shiala?" Liara gasped. Her hand reached for the green asari before being smacked down by Wrex.

"You know her Liara?" Williams asked.

"She's one of my mother's acolytes. I haven't-"

"Spoken to her in years. Yeah you say that a lot," I interrupted.

"Saren sought knowledge of those who are gone. The Old Growth listened to the flesh for the first time in the Long Cycle. Trades were made. Then cold ones began killing the flesh that would tend the next cycle. Flesh fairly given! The Old Growth sees the air you push as lies. It will listen no more!" Shiala complained

"We can't let you keep your thralls. Release them now!" Rylee shouted

"No more will the Thorian listen to those that scurry. Your lives are short, but have gone too long"

"Yeah, yeah," I mocked before shooting her with my HMWSG, her head was blown clean off. "You're gonna die Anderson, time to eliminate Anderson, let's make Anderson disappear. They all start the same way and end up with me shooting them," I groaned. If the bad guys actually attacked me rather than talking then maybe I'd be dead.

I walked over to the edge of the floor to see how deep the chasm was. I whistled and smirked at the Thorian. "Long way down for you mate. Tali, Garrus look for structural weaknesses. We need to break this things hold on the pillars."

I looked to my left and I saw that Shiala was back with her head intact. No, that's impossible I know I killed her. Nothing can survive something like that.

"You are a fool to believe that you can defeat the old growth. I'll make sure your blood will feed the ground for the new growth!" she declared, whilst an assault rifle grew out of her arm.

"No fucking way I'm letting another one of those exist. Everyone move!"

The Thorian had one of its tentacles block the entrance so we had to move closer to the top. On the way we encountered some of its creepers.

"Wrex, Alenko we'll take point. Everyone else find a way to bring that thing down!" I ordered.

Turns out there were these glass containers that were holding the Thorian in place. It took a while but we managed to destroy each of them and send the Thorian to its death. The real problem during the battle however was dealing with Shiala's clones. She was a powerful biotic, and she was hard enough fighting her one on one, but fighting 3 of her at one would have been impossible if I didn't have Alenko and Wrex by my side.

Not to mention I was covered in Creeper matter and Thorian goo because of the damn clones managing to get near me. Decontamination is going to be a bitch.

"Commander, you're going to want to see this," Rylee said through the headpiece. I used my suit to find where she was, only to find one of Shiala's clones still alive. On instinct I pulled out my shotgun; however as soon as I did Rylee blocked my shot.

"Commander, please! This is the real Shiala," Liara pleaded

"I would have thought that she would have died with the Thorian?" Alenko wondered

"She was trapped in one of its pods. It was separate from the Thorian so when it died, she wasn't affected," Rylee extended.

I put my shotgun away and looked her in the eye. This was mainly due to the fact that she was completely naked, and judging from people's body language namely Tali, Alenko, Williams and Garrus weren't comfortable.

"For the love of God, could someone please get her some fucking clothes," I groaned.

"My apologies, the Thorian cares little for anything of excess such as clothes," Shiala smiled sheepishly.

We took her topside. The colonists were still unconscious from whatever Rylee threw at them. Thankfully, when they wake up, this entire ordeal will be over with. One of the buildings was still open and we managed to get Shiala a pair of overalls. I didn't want the colonists seeing Shiala and possibly recognising her since that would probably lead to violence, so we took he into the Prothean tower.

"Talk, now!" I ordered.

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

I scoffed before saying "You don't seriously expect me to believe that Saren has secret mind control powers do you."

"Benezia underestimated Saren, as I did. We came to believe in his cause and his goals. The strength of his influence is troubling."

"No… Benezia…" Liara whispered.

"Sounds like you asari bit off more than you can chew," I interjected.

"Saren has a vessel. An enormous warship unlike anything I've ever seen. He calls it Sovereign. It can dominate the minds of his followers. They become indoctrinated to Saren's will. The process is subtle. It can take days, weeks. But in the end, it is absolute I was a willing slave when Saren brought me to this world. He needed my biotics to communicate with the Thorian, to learn its secrets. Saren offered me in trade. I was sacrificed to secure an Alliance between Saren and the Thorian."

"And once Saren got what he wanted, the Thorian became expendable. He wanted the Geth to destroy it so no one else could get its secrets," I deduced.

"That is correct. He knows you are following his steps. He attacked the Thorian so you could not gain the Cipher."

"What's the Cipher? And why did Saren need it?"

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

"So the Thorian taught Saren to think like a Prothean? How?" Tali asked

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

"You gave it to Saren you can give it to me," I declared.

"There is a way. I can transfer the knowledge from my mind to yours, as I did with Saren."

"Wait a minute… are you talking about… melding?" I gulped.

"Yes," she replied curtly.

"No way, uh-uh. There has to be another way for this… whatever this is to happen," I said vehemently.

"I'm sorry Commander but there's no other way of doing it" she stated.

"Come on Anderson, quit being such a baby and do this," Wrex groaned.

I took a deep breath to try and settle my nerves. Come on Nate, you can do this. I know you can, you've grown up a lot in the past 15-20 years. A lot has changed, you're bigger and you're more mature. Besides, this is for the sake of the damn galaxy. If you don't suck it up, Saren will find the Conduit, bring back the Reapers and bring an end to all life in the galaxy, like what happened to the Protheans. You don't want that guilt so just man up and let's do this.

"Fine, let's just get this over with," I said.

"Try to relax, Commander. Slow, deep breaths. Let go of your physical shell. Reach out to grasp the threads that blind us, one is another. Every action sends ripples across the galaxy. Every idea must touch another mind to live. Each emotion must mark another's spirit" her voice was soft and soothing.

With each step she took, I found myself taking a very small step back. My body was shaking for a second but I regained control quickly so my squad couldn't see.

This is it. No turning back from this point. Come on Nate you can do this.

At this stage we were face to face and I stared into her eyes. She closed them, only to reopen them moments later but this time they were a solid black and our foreheads touched.

"We are all connected. Every living being united in a single, glorious existence. Open yourself to the universe, Commander. Embrace Eternity!"

The Prothean vision flashed before my eyes only this time everything was far more clear. The smells were intensified, the feeling of choking on smoke was more excruciating, the site of the Reapers destroying the Prothean world and leaving only destruction in its wake was in clear detail. But the problem was it still made no sense. Even though it was clearer than on Eden Prime, it was still too rushed for me to actually get anything from it. And that giant, squid ship on Eden Prime was in this vision too.

Instead of passing out, this time I just received a massive headache.

"I have given you the Cipher, just as it was given to Saren. The ancestral memories of the Protheans are a part of you now," she said.

"That still made no sense"

"You have been given a great gift: the experience of an entire people. It will take time for your mind to process this information," Shiala explained.

Just as I was about to speak, I felt my legs fail me. I fell to my knees and a painful shock went through my brain. Rylee and Liara immediately ran to my side.

"Nate, are you alright?" Shepard asked concernedly.

"No," I coughed.

"You look a little—queasy. We should get you back to the ship so Dr Chakwas can get a good look at you," Williams suggested

"I am sorry if you have suffered, but there was no other way. You needed the Cipher. In time, it will help you understand the vision from the beacon," said Shiala.

"Before we leave. Shiala, I wanted to ask about my mother." Liara stated,

"She is not herself Liara. Whatever you may remember of Benezia has been perverted into Saren's thrall. But her motives for communicating with him were pure, however in retrospect they seem naïve. When she revealed her plan to join Saren, she gave her disciples a choice. Only those who were willing had to follow her. Many felt her plan was too dangerous. But I believed in her. I thought she could turn Saren away from his insanity. Instead, we joined him in it."

We proceeded to ask her about everything she knew of the Conduit and Saren's plans. She informed us that his ship, Sovereign was a ship unlike any she'd ever seen. Its weapons and armour were far superior to every ship in the known galaxy and with it, Saren was invincible. She even stated that it was most probably Sovereign which was indoctrinating Saren's followers. This probably means I'm going to have to find a cannon stronger than anything on the Citadel. This is going to be a pain.

I let Shiala live on the condition that she ensures that Zhu's Hope gets back to full strength. At the very least the colonists have an extra hand to help them with reconstruction. They all thanked us profusely, but mainly Liara and I since we helped restore power and water.

A lot of positives came from this mission. We saved a colony from corporate greed and heartlessness.