Author notes: Accidentally published the wrong chapter the first time. Had to take it down and redo it. Sorry for the double update thing. Enjoy.

Chapter 12: The Heart of Darkness

Most of the team was already in the briefing room when Shepard entered. The only person missing was Liara, and she came in right on his heels.

Shepard started without an overture. "We've got a lead on Saren and the heretic Geth. One of the Geth programs captured after the battle at the heretic station informed us of an attack on a corporate colony named Zhu's Hope. It's in the Attican Beta cluster on the planet of Feros. One of FT's subsidiaries, ExoGeni, started the colony a few months ago, probably because most of the planet is covered in Prothean ruins."

"Why would the Geth attack a small colony like Feros?" asked Ashley. "What's there for them?"

"Best guess, it's Prothean tech, like on Eden Prime." replied Shepard. "Could be another beacon, could be the Conduit, could be something else. No way to know until we get there."

"Commander, I've been thinking about what you said earlier about the beacon." said Liara. "You may not be able to make sense of the vision you received, but…"

"What?"

"But I might." she finished weakly.

Shepard sighed and shook his head. "If the beacon was still intact, that might be possible, but it's not. It was destroyed just after I used it, and even then, using it nearly killed me."

"I realize that, Shepard. There is… another way."

"How? Unless we can find a second beacon, I don't… Wait. You can't mean…"

"I wouldn't suggest this if there was any other way, Shepard." she said defensively. "But I want to do something about Saren… and Benezia. I want to help."

"Care to fill the rest of us in?" asked Kaidan. "What are you two talking about?"

"Mind meld." said Wrex simply. "Let's the Asari share memories."

Liara hesitated a moment before responding. "Yes. It would allow me to see the vision you had, Shepard. I might be able to interpret it."

"Liara, I don't know if I'm not comfortable having you rooting around inside my head just yet." said Shepard, rubbing the back of his neck.

"He prefers to wait until at least the third date." quipped Tali.

Wrex guffawed, and the rest of the team sniggered slightly. Liara's crests flushed a little.

"Skipper, I'll admit, this mind melding thing sounds… freaky. But what if there's something in there that could lead to Saren? It might be weird, but can we afford not to try?"

That made Shepard angry, but he repressed it as he answered. That formal education had to come in handy sometime, and she didn't know. "Ash, it's more than just a sharing of memories. When an Asari melds with someone, their nervous systems link, and they exchange things: thoughts, feelings, emotions, memories, everything. For the Asari… it's like sex; it is sex."

"Oh." she said, covering her mouth with her hand. Her face went pale with anxiety and shock. "I… I didn't realize."

"Commander Shepard… John." said Liara, bringing his attention back to her. "It's not entirely the same. It's difficult to explain, but there's a large gray area between a simple meld and actual sex. It's a matter of degree, so to speak." She hung her head as she spoke, sounding ashamed. "I wouldn't dream of trying to force you into something like this. I just thought I would suggest it. It's only a possibility."

"A matter of degree, huh? So, what… it's like getting to second base?" he asked with a grin. He dodged the kick that Tali sent his way, knowing it was coming.

"I… I don't understand. Is that some sort of Human expression?" she asked confusedly, her embarrassment gone.

"Yes, but never mind." he said, trying to change the subject. "I'll think about it Liara. I'm not comfortable with it, but… I'll think about it." Coming back to the matter at hand, he continued. "As far as Feros is concerned, FleetCom received a distress call from the colony about six hours ago via QEC. We would've gotten it sooner, but ExoGeni decided to try and hide news of the attack for some damn reason." he said angrily. "The Geth are hitting it hard, and we're the closest ship that can respond, considering most of the Alliance fleet is still behind the Perseus Veil, or on guard duty for further heretic attacks on colonies. The only reason the defense force can't make it is that ExoGeni decided to start their new colony halfway across Council space. Damn idiots."

"I assume we're going there for more than just defense purposes." said Nihlus.

Shepard answered the half question. "Defending the colonists takes priority, but we need to keep an eye out for whatever it is the Geth are after. To that end, we'll be dividing into two teams: I, Liara, Tali, and Nihlus will be holding down the fort at the colony. Pluribus, you'll follow after we can tell the colonists not to shoot at you. Garrus, I want you to take Ash, Kaidan, and Wrex and find out what the Geth are doing down there."

"You're putting him in charge, Skipper?" asked Ashley, sounding offended.

"Yes, and that attitude is why." he replied sternly. "I need to know you can follow orders, Ash, no matter who gives them. If you can't, you'll get someone killed, probably yourself."

"Yes, sir." she said, her posture becoming rigid. She'd inherited being a good soldier from her grandfather, but that wasn't all she got from him.

"Good. When we get down there, we'll all make for the colony as a group, secure it, and then split up." He faced his newest team members. "Pluribus, Liara, this is your first time going into combat as part of the team, and I suspect this is your first time period, Liara. It's a baptism by fire, but we don't have time for anything else. Show me you can handle this, and you'll have proven yourselves as far as I'm concerned."

"Shepard Commander, we request new armaments for the mission." said Pluribus. "The weapons which are currently in our possession may not be suitable for the task at hand."

He hesitated a moment. "Pluribus, a small part of the reason I gave everyone else here Alliance weapons is because I knew they couldn't figure them out or analyze them, even if they took them apart piece by piece. The weapons we have are some of Humanity's most closely guarded secrets, and I can only let you use them if you promise me you won't try to steal the technology behind them."

"We… I promise." he responded.

That cheered Shepard up immediately. "Good. Liara, the same goes for you." She nodded. "Let's head down to the cargo hold and get you two some gear. Everyone else, prep your kit and your selves for the mission. We'll arrive on Feros in thirty six hours."

Shepard, Pluribus, and Liara took the elevator down to the Normandy's bottom deck. The weapons delivered for the mission had been unpacked and now lay in racks arrayed down the center of the room.

"Pluribus, I know you can use a sniper rifle with a fair bit of skill, but is there any other type of weapon you feel comfortable with?" asked Shepard.

"Our skills and design are best suited for mid to long range engagements. An assault rifle or similar weapon would be the best fit for our abilities." he replied.

"Hmm. I think I have something for you." said Shepard, walking over to pick up a weapon from the racks. It looked much like a standard assault rifle, but the barrel was encased in a blue glowing energy field. "We usually only give these to spec ops, but they're versatile and powerful. This is a Soviet CryoGenesis Rifle. It fires a concentrated beam of cryonic particles which super cool anything they hit. It works a lot like cryo ammo for normal Mass Effect weapons, but it's much more powerful. Actually, I should say it can be more powerful." He turned the weapon on its' side and showed the synthetic a dial near the trigger. "The CryoGenesis Rifle can be manually adjusted to either snap freeze a target at max power, which will cause it to shatter on impact with just about anything, or to simply frost a mug of beer at a low setting." he finished with a grin.

"Using a piece of military grade weaponry to cool alcoholic beverages would seem to be a misuse of the technology." replied Pluribus, looking almost confused.

"Depends on how quickly you need a cold beer." countered Shepard, smiling. When the Geth didn't respond, his smile faded. "We really need to work on your sense of humor."

"Shepard, I don't know if I can use any of these weapons." said Liara, looking mildly concerned. "I wasn't trained for combat like everyone else."

"Well in that case, maybe you shouldn't use a weapon."

"Not use a weapon? How…?"

"There's one thing they sent us I think you can use. It's still experimental though. Let me see if I can find it."

Shepard rooted around in the racks for a minute before finding something that looked like a standard issue Temporal Dislocator, but it was attached to a small backpack, and it wasn't as large. "Alright. Do you understand the basics of chrono technology, Liara?"

"I think so. It essentially moves objects through space and time, doesn't it?"

"That's about it, yeah. This is what the eggheads call a Chrono Dislocator. It's not a weapon, strictly speaking, but it can be used as one. Have you ever seen anyone use a Temporal Dislocator?" When she shook her head, he explained. "Saren had set charges to destroy the colony on Eden Prime. There wasn't enough time to defuse all of them using conventional methods, so I used the T-Dis to erase the bombs. Basically, it pushes whatever it targets out of our timeline, effectively erasing it as though it never existed. The downside is that it takes a while to do, and that time is proportional to the complexity of the object being targeted. I could erase the entire Normandy, but it would take several minutes of sustained use, during which I couldn't move."

"How can that be possible?" asked Liara, looking terrified. "That would allow for the technology to be unbelievably destructive."

"Honestly, I don't know how it works. Hell, I don't know how any of this stuff works, not completely." he said, waving at the armory behind him. "I just know what it does. The men who originally invented chrono tech died over a century ago, and since Zelinsky and Einstein, no one has ever managed to make significant advances in temporal technology. Honestly, that's probably for the best, considering that using a Time Machine can have disastrous consequences. Regardless, I'm getting off subject: this device doesn't move objects through time, but through space."

"Like a chronosphere?" she asked.

"Yes, only on a much smaller scale. You could probably move the MIAFV over there," he said, gesturing to the vehicle, "but nothing much larger. Even then, you can only transport something about thirty meters, give or take."

"How will this help me in combat?" she asked, looking over the weapon.

"It's versatile: you could pick up an opponent and drop them from a height, even slam them to the ground using your biotics. If they're behind cover, move the cover, maybe even drop the cover on them, or drop them on each other. There are a million possibilities with this thing, and more will present themselves in combat. The best part is that the C-Dis is normally non-lethal; it only becomes lethal when you make it. It took us a while to figure out how to keep it from killing unshielded organics."

"I see. That is… somewhat comforting, actually." she said with a small smile.

"I suggest you two spend some time getting to know these weapons. As soon as we land on Feros, your lives will depend on them."

Liara and Pluribus turned to leave, but Shepard stopped Liara with a hand on her shoulder.

"Liara, a word?"

She turned slowly. "Yes, Shepard?"

"About what you suggested earlier… The meld. I think… I know I can trust you."

"Are you sure, John?" she asked softly. "I don't want to pressure you into something like this."

"I'm sure." he replied, despite being anything but.

"Very well. Hold still, Commander." She placed her hands gently on his head and looked deep into his eyes. She bowed her head and shut her eyes, and as she looked up, they had been replaced with pure black orbs, as dark as night itself.

"Embrace Eternity!" she intoned.

Images flashed through his mind, images and voices and memories, in an ever increasing crescendo. Faster and faster they came, and suddenly he was back on Eden Prime, reliving the beacon. It seemed to last for an eternity and an instant, but as suddenly as it began, it was over.

"Oh my… Goddess, that was intense." she breathed, sounding exhausted.

"Yeah… for a minute, I was back on Eden Prime. Liara, if you can make any sense of the vision, let me know. In the meantime, get some rest. I know you need it, because I certainly do."

"I will. And... thank you, John."

When the group of eight walked onto the surface of Feros, they were alert for the presence of Geth, who surely must have seen the Normandy land.

"Remind me why we landed the ship instead of chronoing down?" asked Garrus.

"Remember the volcano incident?" asked Shepard sarcastically. "We've got no idea what's down here, and I'd rather not risk a repeat of Therum, even a partial one."

"Fair enough." he replied. "The colony shouldn't be too far anyway."

And indeed, the colony was close. Traveling down a ramp towards it, they were greeted by a lone Human male.

"David al Talanquani." he said. "We saw your ship. Fai Dan wants to speak with you. The Geth are preparing another attack."

Out of the corner of his eye, Shepard saw a group of Geth appear from around a corner and fire a rocket at the defenseless civilian. Before he could move to help, David suddenly disappeared in a cloud of blue lighting and smoke, reappearing next to Liara. 'Clever girl.' he thought. After a short but potent barrage of fire from their advanced Alliance weapons, the Geth were nothing but piles of scrap and slag.

"Are you alright?" Liara asked David, sounding concerned.

"Fine, but you need to see Fai Dan." he replied.

"We'll see him, we'll see him, sheesh." huffed Tali.

As they left with the colonist, Shepard turned to Liara and smiled. "That was quick thinking, Liara. I knew giving you the C-Dis was a good idea. You saved his life."

"Th-thank you, Shepard." she stammered.

Advancing further into the ruins, they had just entered a stairwell when a brilliant bolt of red energy shot towards the soldiers, followed quickly by a blur of movement in the distance. As the group scrambled for cover, Garrus dragging the colonist as he went, Shepard cursed as a second shot tore into his shields, knocking them out in a single hit.

"Fuck! It's those bouncy assholes like we saw on Therum! Kaidan, Liara, slow them down!"

The pair of biotics did just that, grabbing them off walls and from midair, holding them in place while the rest of the group blew them to smithereens. After a few more flights of stairs, they finally arrived at the colony, the forward guards tensing when they appeared, and then relaxing when they saw they weren't Geth.

"Thank god, the Alliance. Talk to Fai Dan, he's over that way." said one of the guards, pointing towards the rear of the colony. As they walked in the direction she indicated, Nihlus looked concerned.

"Is it just me, or are these people behaving … off?"

"It's not just you, they are acting strange." answered Shepard. "Then again, they may just be in shock. The Geth have done a number on them."

"Yeah… maybe." he replied, sounding unconvinced.

The group approached a pair of colonists, a male and female Human. The man, clearly Fai Dan, turned to face them.

"Commander, I'm glad to see they finally sent someone." he said.

"A bit late, aren't you." said the woman, her tone hostile.

"Arcelia!" he admonished. "I'm sorry, everyone's on edge since-"

A pair of Geth platforms appeared in the ruins behind him as he spoke, cutting him off.

"Defensive positions!" yelled Shepard. "Protect the civvies!"

His team immediately spread out, the eight of them sprinting to cover the various areas of the colony. The Geth attacked from several directions, but there were only a few platforms in each attack group.

"This was a probing raid." said Garrus when it was over. He'd been closest to Shepard. "They saw us arrive, and they're testing our defenses."

Shepard nodded briefly in agreement, and then approached Fai Dan.

"Look, we need to hit the Geth before they overrun us. Do you know why they attacked the colony?"

"No." he replied. "They just attacked us. If you want to figure out more, their main base is at the ExoGeni headquarters. If you take the skyway, it'll lead you straight there."

"Alright." he turned to Garrus. "Garrus, take your team and head back to the Normandy. Hop in the MIAFV and make for the Geth base. Take out as many as you can, and gather intel. We need to know why they're here."

"Roger that, Shepard." he said, leading the group of four back to the ship.

"In the meantime, we're here to assist, Fai Dan. We'll dig in and help fortify this position. Is there anything we can do to help?"

"Some of the other colonists are trying to focus on getting things running again. You can talk to them."

Shepard nodded, and then turned to his remaining team members. "Nihlus, scout the surrounding area; I don't want to be caught off guard. Tali, Liara, talk to the colonists and see what they need." As they too headed off, he turned back to Fai Dan. "I know this is gonna seem strange, but I have a Geth squad member with me. I can guarantee he's friendly, and he may be able to help."

"Geth?!" shrieked Arcelia. "Are you crazy?!"

"Look, I'll explain later, preferably when all the other Geth are gone. For now, I'm having him chrono in, so don't shoot him. If you do, we're gonna have a problem." he warned. "Pluribus, transport to my position."

Pluribus arrived a few seconds later, just as Tali and Liara returned from speaking to the colonists.

"Commander Shepard, it looks like what these people need most is supplies. We need to reactive the pumping station to get fresh water to the colony, and there's a pack of varren we can hunt for meat." said Liara.

"And according to one of the colonists, they're in desperate need of power." said Tali. "We should be able to find power cells somewhere nearby. There also appears to be a Geth transmitter in the tunnels. If we destroy it, the Geth should ease up."

"Alright. We'll head into the tunnels and eliminate the Geth, make for the transmitter first, then complete the other objectives." Putting his hand to his ear, he contacted Nihlus. "Nihlus, any sign of Geth activity near the colony?"

"Negative, Shepard."

"Ten four; keep your eyes open and radio for backup if you run into any trouble." He turned to the rest of his squad. "Let's move out."

As the quartet moved into the tunnels beneath the settlement, they met several scattered pockets of Geth, interspersed with the occasional Krogan merc, but between Tali's Cannon and Shepard's pistol, they didn't last long. After they took out the transmitter, the first useful thing they found was a water main running to the colony.

"John, I think this is a control valve for the water supply. Give me a second to get it open." said Tali. She finished in a few seconds, and the group moved on. They eliminated several more pockets of Geth and activated two more valves.

"I think that's all of them." said Tali. "I can hear water running through the pipes."

Garrus' voice came in over their com units. "Shepard, come in."

"Shepard here. Find anything Garrus?"

"Not yet, but we made it to the ExoGeni building. There are some survivors nearby, and we're headed inside to find more. We'll let you know if we find something else."

Shepard's squad continued onward, passing through a sliding door that was miraculously still working. As they did, they heard the distinctive growl of a varren pack nearby.

"Pluribus, Liara, kill the varren with biotics and melee only: the colonist's need the meat." said Shepard. Between the Asari biotic and the metal man, the pack was quickly dispatched. Nearby, a burnt out vehicle lay by the side of the path.

"Tali, see if there's anything in the vehicle to salvage. The power cell might be intact, and the colonists could use it."

"Shepard Commander, we are detecting a broadcast from nearby heretic platforms." said Pluribus. "We have triangulated its' approximate position."

"Good, as soon as Tali's done, we can take them out before they reach the colony."

"I'm already done, John. I am Quarian, after all." she said, smiling and holding the power cell.

"That's my girl. Pluribus, you're on point. Move out."

As they moved towards the sliding door, a faint mumbling came from their left. It sounded like…

"Hello?" asked Liara, her voice not quite a yell. "Is someone there?"

A lone Human male stumbled out of the shadows in the distance, and the party instinctively raised their weapons slightly. "You don't… want to go down… there-I could tell… you… everything." He struggled as he said the words, as if they were being ripped from his throat. Or getting caught in it. "HOW WOULD YOU LIKE THAT!?" he yelled at nothing, before collapsing to the ground and groaning in pain. He recovered quickly and stood, panting as if he had just run a marathon. "That was a good one."

"What the hell is wrong with you?" demanded Shepard, now thoroughly confused and more than a little concerned.

"Oh, nothing." he replied nonchalantly. "Just invoking the master's whip. It thinks it can – AAAGGH – control – AAAAGGH – stopitstopitstopitstopit." he babbled, sobbing as he wandering off into the blackness from whence he came.

"Goddess, did the Geth do something to him?" asked Liara, fear dripping from her voice. "He sounds…"

"Mind control…" whispered Shepard, his voice faint. "Tali, in Geist training, they taught you how to recognize and fight MC, right?"

Hearing his proclamation, Tali's face paled. "Oh Keelah… You're right. He has the symptoms." she murmured.

"Garrus, come in." said Shepard, hurriedly activating his com unit. "We have evidence of mind control on the planet. If anyone there's compromised, restrain them and have them chrono to the Normandy. We keep a small amount anti-MC gear on board. Never thought we'd need it, though."

"It's worse than you think, Shepard." replied the Turian sniper. "We just found an ExoGeni data station. There's some sort of plant beneath Zhu's Hope, called the Thorian, which can control minds."

"A plant?" he asked incredulously. "What the fuck? Why is it beneath the fucking colony if it has MC powers?!"

"ExoGeni was using the colonists in Zhu's Hope as a control group to study its' effects. Their… experiment has been going on for months."

"WHAT!?" he roared. "ARE THEY OUT OF THEIR FUCKING MINDS!?" Calming himself slightly, Shepard continued, rage boiling in his voice. "Garrus, find any data you can on the Thorian, evacuate all the civvies to the Normandy using the MIAFV, have Joker get the ship into orbit, then chrono in a tactical nuke and level the fucking building! If anyone at ExoGeni gives you shit, shoot them!" he finished in a yell.

Garrus sputtered for a moment. "You can't be-"

"LEVEL THE FUCKING BUILDING!" bellowed Shepard. "MC is too fucking dangerous to play with! As soon as the Alliance gets their hands on the crazy motherfuckers who orchestrated this shit, they'll be lucky to get life in solitary!"

"R-roger that, Shepard." said Garrus, his voice weak.

"John, what about Nihlus?" asked Tali, her voice filled with dread.

"Oh shit. Nihlus, come in." said Shepard frantically. When he didn't respond, he called again, louder. "Nihlus, come in!"

Nothing.

"FUCK!" He wheeled around to face his squad. "Look, things just got a whole lot more dangerous. Tali and I are trained to resist mind control because we were in the Geists. Pluribus, you're immune because you're synthetic, but Liara…" he trailed off, raising his pistol and pointing it at her head. "I'm sorry, but you're a liability."

Author notes: CLIFFHANGER! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!