Chapter 1 - Therum, First Impressions
Choices.
Shepard knows that making choices is what being in command is all about. Every day, every hour, she is expected to make hard choices.
The first choice after taking command of the SSV Normandy is to select their destination. There are rumors of geth sightings on the human colonies on Noveria and Feros. There is also a lead on Matriarch Benezia's daughter somewhere in the Artemis Tau cluster. Benezia is the lieutenant of the turian ex-Spectre Saren Arterius, the one that the Council has sent her to bring to justice. Furthermore, Benezia's daughter is a renowned expert on Protheans, and thus could prove an important asset. Provided, this Doctor T'Soni is not already in league with her mother and Saren, of course.
In the end, the course is plotted for Artemis Tau. The sooner they learn whether they can count on the allegiance of Liara T'Soni, the better. And right now, Shepard is acutely aware that they could use all the help they can get. The imprinted images, left in her mind by the Prothean beacon on Eden Prime, still make no sense. They simply fill her with cold, paralyzing dread, and she hopes that perhaps someone who is an expert on Protheans might be able to help her understand their meaning.
They finally track down signs of Doctor T'Soni on a barren rock overflowing with rivers of molten lava, Therum. Unfortunately, Saren's geth are already there and in great numbers. As Normandy approaches the drop zone to release the Mako fighting vehicle, Shepard is deeply worried. According to their intel, Liara T'Soni is a scientist, with no ties to the military. If these geth were to get to her first, it is unlikely she would be able to protect herself. Their only hope is that Saren would want to capture Benezia's daughter alive.
Halfway to where the Normandy's scans have pinpointed the Prothean dig site, they are forced to abandoned the Mako, the rocky terrain ahead of them can only be navigated on foot. She orders Wrex and Tali to remain with the Mako and stay in touch with the Normandy, making sure their escape is secured. She takes the others with her, hoping it would be enough.
Wrex is displeased at her decision, but the massive krogan obeys all the same. For days he has been talking about nothing else but killing geth, and guarding the Mako does not sit well with him. Shepard reassures him that there will be plenty of geth for him to kill later. Wrex just snorts and tells them to get a move on. It would be so easy to assume Wrex for just another crude and brutish krogan mercenary, but somehow Shepard feels there is more to him, a strange sense of keen worldly wisdom in those small green reptilian eyes, something she has never seen in other krogan.
Shepard also feels sorry to leave Tali behind, not because the young quarian has shown overwhelming desire to slaughter geth, but because she now becomes the unwilling audience to Wrex's crude stories of his glorious and bloody mercenary exploits. Shepard can only try to imagine the disgusted expression on Tali's masked face as she leads the others away and towards the digsite.
They carve through the geth ranks swiftly and decisively. At her side at all times is Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams, the sole survivor of the ground forces on Eden Prime, the site of their first encounter with Saren and his geth. The assault rifle in her arms is steady and the shots miss rarely, her lips are tightly knit as she mows down one geth trooper after another. Shepard appreciates her exemplary skill as a soldier and her professionalism, and even if their views don't always coincide, she knows Ashley will always have her back.
Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko, one of the first human biotics, follows them closely behind, his well placed singularity and warp fields tearing the geth to pieces or sending them floating in the air, helpless to the fire of their rifle shots. He is a pleasant young man, and Shepard always enjoys their talks off the record, when the lieutenant is not plagued by horrible migraines induced by his L2 biotic implants. The process of developing biotic potential in humans is like a dark and unpleasant stain on humanity's record and nobody likes to remember or talk about it. Lieutenant Alenko considers himself lucky for only having to deal with migraines. Most of those with the L2 implants have already passed on in ways too gruesome to describe.
Covering their rear is a former C-Sec agent, young and brash turian by the name of Garrus Vakarian. His his skill with the sniper rifle is considerable, and time from time again Shepard sees him lining up a shot at something faraway in the distance and moments later she hears the sound of a disabled synthetic toppling down from a great height. Disgusted by the bureaucracy and corruption hampering him at C-Sec, Garrus hopes that he will see more freedom while working with a Spectre, agent with license to operate outside any laws, with any means allowed to reach their objective.
Shepard worries that Garrus might be disillusioned when he realizes that she does not intend to simply throw the rulebook outside the port window, her military upbringing would never allow her to do so. She will catch Saren and bring him to justice for his crimes against humanity, but she will not become like Saren in order to do so. And she will not allow Garrus to become like Saren, either.
The battles become more hard fought as they approach the digsite, forcing their way towards what appears like an entrance into a mine shaft, crawling with geth. Shepard wonders why they are still here if they have gotten to Doctor T'Soni first, reluctantly allowing for the possibility that they might actually be protecting young Liara, by now a thrall of Saren. But the truth is quickly discovered when they reach the bottom of the mine, after a ride in a rickety elevator.
The first thing they see is the blue shine of a forcefield that is keeping the geth from entering Doctor T'Soni's shelter. However, the young asari is trapped and in trouble, caught helpless in some sort of a stasis bubble. Her eyes widen in shock, then in relief, as she sees them approach, this rescue completely unexpected. They are still able converse through the forcefield, and Liara's admission that she has trapped herself in this predicament by sheer accident, hitting the wrong button on an ancient Prothean console, makes the corners of Shepard's lips tug upwards in a smile.
Someone behind her even chuckles, but Shepard quickly reminds herself of the seriousness of the situation. Doctor T'Soni might have been trapped there for days, starving and helpless, and if Shepard had not decided to seek her out before heading to Noveria and Feros, the asari would have expired in a slow, lingering death.
Shuddering from the thought, Shepard leads her team to fight through the rest of the mine, eventually freeing the young asari from the ancient Prothean trap. Their reckless use of a mining laser, combined with plenty of firefight, makes the mine dangerously unstable and they hurry to escape, but not before barely managing to defeat a geth squad led by a krogan battlemaster. Garrus and Ashley both suffer wounds, but nothing that can't be quickly fixed by Doctor Chakwas in the Normandy's medbay.
Back on SSV Normandy, the mission debrief is filled with some tension, as not everyone is easily convinced of Liara's loyalty to their cause. Morgan Shepard is usually very slow to trust, but somehow, from the very first look that passed between them in the mines of Therum, she is certain that Liara is not in league with Saren and Benezia. This is not a dangerous asari commando, nor a cunning asari spy, posing as a young and innocent scientist, placed amongst them as Saren's mole. "I am not with my mother! I have not seen her in many years!" Liara exclaims, sensing the suspicious stares of the others. "Please, allow me to earn your trust!"
"You will have that opportunity, Liara," Shepard says. She takes Liara's hand and shakes it, finding herself moved by the earnest and true expression of gratitude in the asari's blue eyes. "Welcome on the team, Doctor T'Soni." She will not tolerate any dissent over this. She is sending a clear message to the others under her command. Liara is one of them now, this will not be questioned, not on her watch.
She tries to gauge reaction of the others. Garrus approves, that much is certain. Tali's face, always masked, does not offer any hints, and she has yet to learn reading the quarian's body language well enough, but at least she does not offer any protests. Wrex is indifferent, as expected. Kaidan is his usual suspicious self, but he says nothing. His eyes are often drawn towards Liara, and Shepard wonders if the stereotype of asari as a highly attractive and promiscuous species is an explanation for the lack of protests. Gunnery Chief Williams disagrees, but as always, falls in line when pressed. Shepard wonders about Ashley's dislike for aliens, hoping it will not cause problems in the long run, praying that actually working alongside Garrus, Tali, Wrex and now Liara, will change Ashley's mind.
Later, after the debrief, Ashley pulls her aside in the mess hall. "I apologize for speaking my mind, skipper," she says. "I had time to think about it, and even if I don't place as much trust in Doctor T'Soni as you do, I must say having her with us might be of advantage if we ever run into her mother. It might give Benezia a pause that we can exploit."
Shepard does not like to think this way, it feels too mercenary. "I hear what you are saying Williams, and it makes sense," she tells Ashley. "But she's one of the team now. I don't use my team mates. If Doctor T'Soni ever encounters her mother in such a situation, I encourage you to think how traumatic it would be. Try to put yourself in her place."
Ashley keeps her stare hard for a while, but then flinches and turns away. "No fair, skipper," she says quietly. "I value my family above everything else."
"Then you best of all should understand," Shepard says. "Our mission is too important, we cannot allow personal feelings to interfere."
"It won't be an issue, Commander," Ashley straightens out and snaps off a military salute. "You tell me to kiss a turian, I ask which cheek."
"Now you're just daring me to order you to kiss Garrus," Shepard says. Ashley looks terrified for a moment, then they both smile and laugh. The tension is lifted.
Later on, Morgan stops at the medbay. She has asked Doctor Chakwas to do a check-up on the asari, just to be certain her ordeal in the Therum mines has not had any lasting ill effects. Shepard is surprised to see that Liara has been busy, part of the medbay has already been converted into makeshift quarters and the young asari is hurriedly working on the computer consoles, probably trying to restore her interrupted research from Therum.
Liara rises as soon as she notices Shepard. She smiles. "Are you coming to check up on me, Commander?"
They end up talking at length, their conversation so engrossing that Shepard does not even notice hours passing by. Asari society, culture, religion, she has little knowledge of it all and Liara seems only too happy to accommodate her interest. Shepard mentions the stereotyped perception of the asari that she has heard of, Liara is both saddened and affronted by it, claiming their fabled promiscuity to be far from the truth.
Shepard is not sure whether to believe her, somehow it feels as if Liara is simply an exception to the general rule, she is quite unlike the few asari Shepard has met before. Liara appears very sheltered and lacking in confidence, especially when dealing with others, probably from spending too much time alone in remote digsites. She confesses being intimidated by humans in particular, not knowing what to expect from the new 'galactic bullies'.
Shepard laughs and assures Liara that it is as silly a stereotype as the ones propagated about the asari. Liara's reply surprises Shepard, considering her own earlier musings. "Or perhaps you are just a very atypical human, Commander. An exception to the general rule," the asari says. "That was why you were able to resist the Prothean beacon on Eden Prime. You must be exceptionally strong-willed, Commander."
Later, while talking about the asari culture, somehow their conversation drifts to asari reproduction and mating habits. Liara's explanations about the mind melding process are very thorough, but Shepard also finds them dry and theoretical, as if spoken by someone with no practical, personal experience. She supposes that it is only understandable, Liara by her own admission is in her very early stages of adulthood. "You're only one hundred and six years of age, huh?" she chuckles. "I can only echo what Ashley said. Damn, I wish I'd look as good at that age."
They speak of Liara's parents, Benezia in particular. Liara's words are full of reserved fondness and deep respect. She is in shock and disbelief, and cannot even think of a single reason why her mother would side with someone like Saren. Shepard shows her the evidence that they brought before the Council, salvaged audio-records with voices of Saren and Benezia, heroically recovered by Tali. "Asari matriarchs are amongst the most influential, powerful and wise individuals in the galaxy," Shepard says. "Why would one of them side with someone like Saren?"
Liara is deeply disturbed by the records of her mother's voice. Shepard quickly switches the recording off, the evidence is irrefutable and there is no need to listen to it any further. "It... doesn't make any sense!" Liara exclaims. "That... is no longer my mother, Shepard! I do... and at the same time, I don't recognize her!"
They start to speak about Liara's interest in Protheans, and it seems the asari could go on and on forever explaining her theories. Shepard listens intently, until she remembers that she should not burden Liara with such lengthy discussions, the young asari needs to rest and recover.
When they part, it feels as if they are fast growing to become close friends and something Liara has said during their conversation about the Prothean knowledge imprinted in Shepard's brain stays with her for a long time after they have finished talking. "That is why I find you so fascinating, Commander," Liara says, her eyes full of curiosity and intrigue.
Shepard believes with reasonable certainty that it is merely the imprint of the beacon that fascinates Liara. The rational part of her mind does its best to convince her of that.
Still... deep down in her heart, a part of her hopes that the rational part of her mind is wrong.