A/N: Two chapters within 24 hours. That's what you call commitment to your art. The fight with the Thorian is now, and so is the end of the Feros mission. And soon the rest of the mission against Saren. So let's start this shit!
I own nothing
Alexander 'Maverick' Drake
Feros - Tunnels Underneath Colony
August 4, 2183 - 16:40 hours
Everything was silent, save for the sounds of their footsteps as they entered the tunnel system under the colony.
Alex's HUD kept scanning the long corridors for any hostiles that may jump out at them. Wrex and Tali on his six with their shotguns ready for anything that might come their way. After what happened on the surface with the Creepers and the brainwashed colonists they weren't taking any chances.
The team entered through an archway that lead into a large atrium, "Alright," said Tali, "We just have to find what is controlling the colonists and make sure it...it..." the team looked up at the center of the large room where the bulbous form of the Thorian hung over a pit by large roots that connected to the walls. "...Keelah..." said the Quarian in shock.
"That...is the ugliest fucking weed I've ever seen." said Alex as they drew closer.
As if triggered by their approach, the Thorian began to convulse. It's 'mouth' making loud gurgling noises before it opened wide. Spewing out a naked, green skinned Asari on to the ground before it.
The Asari stood and glared at them, "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!" the clone commanded.
"What did you give to Saren? What was he after?" asked Alex gripping his Jackel a little tighter.
"Saren sought knowledge of those who are gone. The Old Growth listened to flesh for the first time in the Long Cycle. Trades were made." said the clone. "The 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!"
"Release your control on the colonists while you can. Or I'll make sure you won't see the next 'cycle'." the nano soldier threatened as the three of them readied weapons.
"No more will the Thorian listen to those that scurry. Your lives are short, but have gone on too long." said the clone.
"So has yours." the shotgun registered and the green Asari flew back off the edge of the pit with a gaping hole in her chest. The Thorian gave a shreeking roar as several Creepers began coming out of holes in the walls.
Alex looked around the atrium and saw the five large roots that were holding the sentient plant in place. "Structural Weakness Detected." said Prophet marking the four roots on his HUD. "The roots are a weakness! Cutting them should kill this thing!" he shouted after blowing three Creepers away with his shotgun.
"Then we better get to it then!" Wrex roared before charging into the oncoming crowd, bowling over the creatures and making a path that Alex and Tali could follow through.
They entered the next room and saw the first root right in front of them. "Cover me!" Alex shouted taking out his bow and drawing an explosive arrow. Tali and Wrex blasted the Creepers that tried to follow them with their shotguns while the Post-Human launched the arrow into the base of the large root.
The explosive went off blowing the root to shreds and setting fire to the remains. The Thorian roared in agony as it lost one of its main supports.
At the entrance to the room, Wrex and Tali were being pushed back as the number of Creepers kept climbing. Alex spun around, drawing an eezo arrow and firing it at the oncoming creatures. The arrow detonated and snagged several Creepers in the gravity well it created while giving the Quarian and Krogan time to fall back and let their weapons vent.
"We can't hold out forever. There's too many of them." said Tali as her shotgun finished venting.
A biotic shockwave was launched into the room forcing the squad to leap into cover. Another Asari clone walked into the room covered in mass energy with another wave of Creepers gathering behind her.
"Didn't I kill you." said Alex drawing a regular arrow and letting it fly.
The bolt shot through the barrier around the clone and pierced her skull, bursting out the back of her skull and dropping her to the floor dead. The Creepers shuffled over her corpse and began to close in on them. "You got a plan?" asked Wrex blowing a Creeper apart with his Claymore.
"Fall back to the next root! It's on the floor above us!" ordered Alex swapping his bow for the Jackel and emptying the clip into the crowd shuffling toward them. The squad fell back to the stairs and began to make their way up to the next level where a group of Creepers had been waiting for them.
Tali threw a tech mine and blew the creatures in several directions giving them an opening to move forward. They barely made it through the next doorway when a throw attack slammed into Alex sending him crashing into the wall.
Another Asari clone stepped out covered in energy, her barrier absorbing the blasts from Wrex and Tali's weapons as the nano soldier got back to his feet. "Maximum Armor." he drew his knife and charged forward.
The clone launched a warp attack at him that was absorbed by the suit as he got close and drove the blade up through her jaw and into her head. "Getting real tired of killing this bitch over and over." he muttered scooping his Jackel back up and reloading it.
Carving a path through a small crowd of Creepers, the squad located the second root and began shooting at it. Each blast blowing chunks of flesh off of it while the Thorian screamed in pain. One final blast from Wrex's Claymore severed the route completely causing the sentient plant to dip farther into the pit it hung over.
"Just two more, keep it up!" Alex called out kicking a Creeper in the chest sending it into a nearby wall.
"Maverick? It's Shepard, where the hell are you guys?" exclaimed Jane over the comm.
"Fighting a big ass plant underneath the colony. Something called the Thorian, it took control of the colonists and had them attack us with these zombie-like creatures." said Alex as they kept pushing through the resistance around them.
"We know, Exogeni was experimenting with the Thorian on the colonists. We just got back to the colony, we're heading your way hold on." said the Commander cutting the link.
Tali killed another Creeper before everything fell silent. "They stopped..." she said looking around.
Alex scanned the place with his visor and couldn't find any more hostiles. "Something's not right. Keep your guard up." he said as they moved on to the next room. The third root was there unprotected as they walked in. "This is too easy..." said the Post-Human searching high and low.
"Maybe the weed decided to give up." commented Wrex.
"Element Zero Discharge Detected." Alex looked toward the other side of the room and saw mass energy gathering quickly. "GET DOWN!" he shouted as they leaped into cover, barely missing the large shockwave that had been fired at them.
Getting to his feet, Alex raised his weapon as an Asari clone came out of the next door way. Then another. And another.
The three green Asari stood leering at them from across the room with energy dancing across their nude forms. "You will not kill the Old Growth." they spoke at the same time. "It would be easier cutting a piece of the sky. You will fail! And this is where you will die!" All three clones fired warps making the team get back into cover.
"Ideas?" asked Tali blind firing her shotgun over her cover.
Alex peered over and tagged the three clones and the root as he thought of something. "Tacticle Options Available." He took out three disc grenades and threw them across the room so that they attached to the root where they sank into the soft flesh.
He then redrew his bow and knocked an explosive arrow. "Get their attention and draw them in closer." he said to the others who nodded. Wrex got up and fired a carnage shot that deflected off one of the clones' barriers. All three of them kept throwing various biotic attacks as they moved forward.
Waiting until the right moment, Alex stood up and shot the arrow right into the same spot where the grenades had attached to the root. "HEADS DOWN!" he shouted hitting the detonator.
The explosion rocked the room. Completely obliterating the root at the source and catching the clones as well. Alex activated his armor mode and covered Tali as the room shook from the blast.
When the dust settled almost nothing remained of the root, and only one of the clones was in one piece and was twitching on the ground with severe burns covering most over her body. Wrex stomped up to the green Asari and slammed his large foot down on her head, popping it like a zit and splattering dark green blood across the floor. "Three down, one to go." he said racking his shotgun.
The team moved through the rest of the corridor and found the last root in a room behind a crumbling wall. Roughly 20 Creepers stood around it and surged at them like a tidal wave of death.
Wrex launched a throw attack that sent the first half of the creatures crashing back into the rest, knocking them all to the ground giving them the time to shoot them as they tried to get back up. Alex's Jackel ran empty, and Tali and Wrex's guns overheated forcing them to swap weapons. The joint fire of two Hammers and two Predator pistols quickly put down the remaining Creepers giving them a straight shot at the root.
All three of them primed grenades and threw them at the base of the root. The three explosions ripped into it, weakening the support as it began to stretch too far. The remaining pieces of flesh snapped like overexerted cables before coming undone completely.
X
In the center of the room, the Thoran roared in both pain and fear as it lost another support. The final root held firm in keeping the plant's bulk suspended, but the weight proved too much for the for the old Prothean structure the root had been attached to as it started to crack and splinter.
With one last crunch, the root burst from the wall. The ancient creature could only shreek as its smaller roots also snapped and it fell into the pit below.
X
Alex peered over the edge watching the Thorian fall to its doom. "Good riddance." he said before joining the others as they began making their way back to the bottom level.
When they reached the bottom, they saw a red pod on the far wall begin to shake before splitting open. A purple skinned Asari wearing a commando uniform with the same facial markings as the clones fell to the floor on her hands and knees groaning.
She looked around and realization came to her eyes. "I...I'm free? I'M FREE!" she shouted in elation. She looked at the squad as they approached her, "I...thank you for saving me. I've been trapped here for Goddess knows how long."
Before Alex could speak, Jane, Liara and Garrus stormed the room weapons ready. Their armor stained white and green from the fighting they had done before. After looking around a moment, they lowered their weapons and approached the other team.
"The Thorian?" asked Jane.
Alex motioned toward the pit with his head, "Dead." he motioned to the Asari next, "She was being held captive by it. Saren managed to get something from it while he was here. Something involving 'those who are gone'. My best guess is he was here looking for information on the Protheans."
"My name is Shiala." said the Asari. "I serve...served Matriarch Benezia. When she allied herself with Saren, so did I. I came to this world in search of the Thorian. Saren needed its knowledge. And he needed my biotic abilities to communicate with it." she explained.
"He offered me in trade. I was sacrificed to secure an alliance between Saren and the Thorian." said Shiala looking to the ground.
"Saren's pretty quick to betray his own people." said Shepard crossing her arms.
"He was quick to betray the Thorian, too. After he had what he wanted, he ordered the Geth to destroy all evidence of its existance." said Shiala.
"Covering his tracks so we can't follow." said Alex.
Shiala nodded, "Saren knows you are looking for the Conduit. He knows you are following his steps. He attacked the Thorian so you could not gain the Cipher."
"What is this 'Cipher'? Why would Saren need it?" asked Liara with her curiosity peaked.
"The Prothean beacon on Eden Prime gave you visions, Commander Shepard. But they are unclear, confusing. This is because they were meant for a Prothean mind." explained the Asari. "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 part of it." she continued.
"That's what that clone of you meant." said Alex. "The Thorian gave Saren the ability to think like a Prothean, to understand the beacon better to help find the Conduit."
"The Cipher is the very essance of being a Prothean. It cannot be described or explained. It would be like trying to describe color to a creature without eyes." explained Shiala. "To understand it, 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."
"I need that knowledge so we can stop Saren." said Jane.
"There is a way. I can transfer the knowledge from my mind to yours, as I did with Saren." said Shiala.
The Commander looked at her team, each of them giving her a look of unease. Wondering what such a thing could do to her. She settled on Alex who looked back through his visor. "You and I are partners in this. Any thoughts?"
Alex rolled his shoulders, "It's your mind Shepard, It's your choice. If you think it can help us stop Saren, then I'm all for it. Just be careful." he said honestly.
Jane looked back at Shiala and nodded. "Try to relax, Commander. Slow, deep breaths. Let go of your physical shell. Reach out to grasp the threads that bind us, one to another." said the Asari approaching her. "Every action sends ripples across the galaxy. Every idea must touch another mind to live. Each emotion must mark another's spirit."
Shiala now stood in front of the Commander, "We are all connected. Every living being united in a single, glorious existence. Open yourself to the universe, Commander." her eyes turned pitch black. "Embrace Eternity!"
The two stood completely still, Shepard's face twitched every now and again. Sweat breaking out along her brow as whatever she was seeing came through the link. The team watched with bated breath for something to happen.
Alex looked on as Jane lived through her vision with a bit more clarity thanks to the Cipher being transferred to her. Wondering if her mind could truly take what she was seeing.
After another minute they broke apart with a gasp. Jane stumbled back forcing Alex to catch her before she fell over. "Shepard! You alright?" he asked supporting her.
"Y-Yeah...just a really bad headache." she groaned holding her head.
"I have given you the Cipher, just as it was given to Saren." said Shiala. "The ancestral memories of the Protheans are a part of you now.
"A knowledge bond can be very traumatic. Are you all right, Commander?" asked Liara.
Jane got back to her feet shaking a little, "I saw...something. It still didn't make much sense." she said rubbing her temples again.
"You have been given a great gift; the experience of an entire people. It will take time for your mind to process and adjust to this information." explained Shiala. "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."
Shepard when to say something, but her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she collapsed into Alex's arms. "Commander!" Garrus shouted as they all moved in.
Scooping her up, Alex placed Jane in his friend's arms. "Take her back to the Normandy and have Chakwas look her over. Just to be safe." Garrus nodded as he and Liara left with the unconscious Commander.
He turned to Shiala, "Now that you're free. You could do good by this colony after everything that has happened." he said seriously.
Shiala nodded, "I was about to ask you about that. I will stay with the colonists and help them wherever I can. I played a big roll in their suffering, and I would like to make amends." she said with honestly in her voice.
Alex turned and headed for the exit with Wrex and Tali behind him, "Don't waste this chance Shiala." he said as they headed back to the colony.
X
Alexander 'Maverick' Drake
SSV Normandy - Briefing/Comm Room
August 6, 2183 - 13:10 hours
The crew had spent two days on Feros helping the colonists get back on their feet after everything that had happened. Exogeni admitted to what they had done and was doing everything in their power to fix the mistakes they had made. With Shiala assisting in every capacity possible.
At the moment the ship was in the process of leaving the Feros docking bay while the team had gathered in the briefing room.
Jane stood at the front with Alex next to her. She stayed in the medbay for a whole day so that Chakwas could make sure that she had a clean bill of health before allowing her to leave. Receiving the Cipher hit her almost as hard as the beacon had, and everyone wanted to take precautions so that nothing happened to the Commander.
"You doing alright Shepard?" asked Alex setting his helmet on a nearby terminal after locking the door to the room.
Jane looked a little paler than normal, dark circles under her eyes as she leaned against the terminal next to him. "Just a rough night sleep last night. I'm okay." she said not convincing anyone in the room.
"If I may Commander." said Liara. "With the Cipher combined with the fragments from the Prothean beacon, I might be able to make better sense of what you are seeing."
"You want to meld with me again." said Jane receiving a nod. "Alright. Let's do it." she said stepping into the center of the room, being joined quickly by Liara.
"Relax, Commander. Embrace Eternity!" said Liara as her eyes went black pulling them both in.
The meld went by a lot quicker than it had the first time as both women came back to the conscious world. "The...images are much clearer than before. The Cipher's doing most likely. But the vision is still incomplete. To make any real sense of it we must find the other half." said Liara.
Shepard wiped the sweat from her forehead and sat down in an empty seat. "Then we'll keep searching. And hopefully we'll find the rest of the beacon before Saren does." she looked at the team, "We're all done here everyone, good work on Feros. Dismissed."
The team began to file out of the room when Joker came on the intercom, "I have the council on vid call you two. Want me to patch them through?"
Alex looked at Jane and saw her slumped in her seat trying to stay awake. "Tell them we'll call them back Joker. The Commander's not feeling well." he said walking over to her.
"Gotcha, sending it to voicemail." replied the helmsmen.
The nano soldier kneeled down next to the Commander, "Jane? Are you okay? And don't bullshit me either."
Jane smiled weakly, "When I said I got a rough nights sleep...I meant I didn't get any at all. This damn vision makes it hard to even get a few minutes."
"Have you talked to Chakwas? Sleep aids could help you." said Alex a little concerned for her well being.
"Tried. Guess the Protheans built their beacons to overcome medication as well when they designed them." said Jane leaning back in the chair she was in. "Not like I can sleep anyway. I've got rounds for the next few hours."
She gave a slight 'eep' as she was scooped up in a pair of large arms. Alex slipped his helmet back on before holding her bridal style and heading for the door. "I got your shift. You need sleep before you pass out on the galaxy map." he said leaving the briefing room and heading toward the crew deck. Ignoring the odd stares that the two were receiving.
"You don't have to do that." she said, feeling warm and comfortable in the Post-Human's arms.
"We're partners Jane. We look out for each other. And I intend to make sure you're ready for when we start kicking ass again." Alex replied.
"What about the crew and keeping a low profile?" asked Shepard as her eyes started to grow heavy.
"I'll let you know when I give a shit what they think. And besides, they still haven't figured out who I really am." he whispered to her as they approached her quarters. Opening the door he noticed that she had fallen asleep in his arms.
He chuckled as he walked inside and gently laid her down on the bed. Pulling the covers over her before heading back to the door. Pausing at the door, he looked over his shoulder at the red head sleeping peacefully behind him. "Goodnight Jane." he whispered into the room before leaving the room.
Missing the small smile that appeared on the woman's lips.
A/N: Feros is finally put to bed. Noveria won't be for another chapter or two, I think I'm going to focus on the blooming relationship between Alex and Shepard in the next chapter before the next mission.
I may start slowing down guys, but my updates will still keep coming!