"Commander!"
Alenko's voice was laced with shock. Shepard's hand closed around Ethan Jeong's throat, squeezing none-to-gently at the ExoGeni representative's life. The Spectre ignored the biotic.
"You fucking scum." He spat. "You experiment on a colony of innocent people, let the Thorian control their minds, and now you just want to dispose of them because their exposure might cost you a few credits?" His fist slammed into the small man's face. He let him fall to the floor. "Because their lives might cost you the life of some brainwashing monster?" He snarled as his boot came in contact with the man's ribs.
Jeong choked and spluttered, grabbing at his bruised throat while he tried to crawl away. "You can't kill me. The Alliance doesn't kill people without a trial." Shepard bent down, grabbing the man by his shirt.
"You think I fucking care? I'm a Spectre, I'll do what I damn well need to." Another swing, and his fist crunched into Jeong's nose.
"Commander!" It was Ashley's voice, firm and with none of the panic Alenko's had. "His men have stood down. He's not a threat."
Shepard dropped him again. He was on fire, his vision tunneled on the beaten man at his feet. "Men like him don't deserve life." He growled lowly. "You're going to tell ExoGeni the geth killed the Thorian. The colonists will not be touched, and ExoGeni will continue funding them. Think of it as a promotional opportunity." His voice was low and menacing, the command in it leaving no room for debate. "Do you understand?"
Jeong looked up at him, bleeding and shivering. He nodded.
Shepard stared down at him a few moments longer. Hate pulsed through him. The coward at his feet was exactly why it wasn't safe for people in space. Why innocents were killed or taken from their homes. His fists clenched as he drew in a breath, then turned away.
His companions eyed him with mixed emotions as he silently strode over to Lizbeth and Juliana Baynham. He accepted the Anti-Thorian gas grenades with a nod from the wide-eyed women, and went straight for the Mako. He climbed in the car quickly, the others following suit, still watching him as if he were going to explode. Wrex clambered into the passenger's seat next to him, the only one out of his squad who seemed completely unaffected by the events.
"Shepard."
"Wrex."
"Probably would've been easier to kill him."
Shepard sighed, starting the engine and throwing the vehicle through the facility. Not for the first time, he found himself agreeing with the krogan. He offered the krogan a grunt and a nod. Wrex seemed to understand. Shepard gunned his way down the damaged bridge connecting Zhu's Hope to the ExoGeni facility, rolling over the occasional geth. Those colonists better be alive, or I'm going back to give that asshole something to think about.
Garrus fired a cannon shot at a Colossus standing in their way, seemingly reading Shepard's intentions as he gunned it for the machine. "Can't run that thing over, boss." The turian drawled. At least he doesn't seem upset. "We tried it, remember?"
"It worked." Shepard retorted grumpily, skirting around the remains. "I just had to back over it a few times." He heard Garrus let out a heavy sigh, no doubt murmuring something about the state of the Mako's undercarriage. Shepard pulled a sharp stop as they approached the entrance to the Zhu's Hope garage. "Alright, pile out."
The squad did as they were told. Shepard eyed a few odd-looking corpses outside the garage door, before moving to the controls to open it. "The safety of the colonists takes priority." He glanced back at his crew. "We'll use Baynham's countermeasure to knock out as many as we can. Watch your scope. I don't want any of them dead unless they leave you absolutely no other choice."
They nodded back at him, seeming still a little weary but happy with his directions. These damn grenades better work. His eyes were pulled to movement from one of the corpses nearby. He pulled his pistol quickly as the thing stood, green slime dripping from it. Its twisted features may have once been human, but that hadn't been for a long time. The mutant let out an eerie groan and stumbled towards him. It smelled toxic. A single shot to the head, and it fell. He saw his squad following suit with other corpses that had apparently decided to wake up as well.
"Those things are fair game." Shepard concluded, eyes filled with disgust.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Colonists littered the ground, unconscious but thankfully alive. The only casuality had been Fai Dan, the leader shooting himself rather than allowing the Thorian further control over him. Shepard sighed as he looked down at the man, then gestured for the team to move out. He led them through the newly opened tunnel to the complex under the colony. The putrid stench of decay hit them as the descended further, passing fleshy pustules growing from the wall. The commander watched as Ashley took an inquisitive step towards one, prodding it with the butt of her shotgun.
Something inside it prodded back. The soldier swore, jumping back. Wrex gave a throaty chuckle.
What the fuck kind of plant is this? The creepers were bad enough, with their moaning and dripping and generally disgusting being, but this… The Spectre's brow furrowed as he tried to contemplate exactly what this thing could be. The group continued on, their caution increased as they passed by the pustules and tendrils, until finally reaching the main chamber.
"It will be interesting to discover what this Thorian is. It sounds truly fascinating." Liara murmured beside Shepard. He glanced at her darkly, not sure when she had come up beside him. Fascinating is not the word I would use.
Stepping through the archway, Shepard stopped short.
"Holy fucking shit." Shepard muttered quietly, staring at the thing before him. "Who the hell decided that that thing was a plant?"
"That…" Liara came up beside him again. "That is… disturbing." A visible shudder ran over the asari.
"I don't suppose we could simply ask it to stop?" Garrus murmured from behind him.
Shepard looked back at the turian, raising a brow before glancing towards Ashley and Alenko. The biotic was gaping up at the creature, clearly thinking that the situation was going to be a bit problematic. Ashley looked back at him, waiting, ready for a plan. An odd squelching noise brought his attention away from Ashely and back to the Thorian and his eyes narrowed. Of course it pukes out green asari. Nothing else would make sense.
The slime covered woman stepped forward, her eyes eerily empty as she spoke. "Invaders! Your every step is a transgression. A thousand feelers appraise you as meant, good only to dig or decompose." Shepard clenched his fists, suddenly sure it wasn't the asari he was speaking to. "I speak for the Old Growth, as I did for Saren. You are within and before the Thorian." Saren? He was here! "It commands you be in awe!"
Shepard glared back at the green woman. The stench coming off of her and the Thorian hit the pit of his stomach. "Tell me what you told Saren." He ordered simply, not seeking a discussion.
"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." Her voice droned, lifeless. "Then cold ones began killing the flesh that would tend the next cycle. Flesh fairly given!"
"It wasn't your flesh to give!" Shepard spat, his eyes moving to focus his gaze on the Thorian. "The colonists are not your slaves. Release them, now."
"The Old Growth sees the air you push as lies!" The asari continued. "No more will the Thorian listen to those that scurry. Your lives are short, but have gone on too long." Biotic light danced across her skin and the moan of dozens of creepers filled the hall around them. Shepard wasted no time in pulling out his rifle. Ashley mimicked him, hoisting her shotgun and blasting the asari quickly.
"That's a pretty far drop." The commander observed, scoping a creeper and taking it out with a shot. "We need to take out those tendrils holding it up. Hopefully, that will be enough to crush the thing."
"Hopefully, Shepard?" Garrus drawled, pulling a similar shot with his rifle before casting the Spectre a glance.
"Forgive me if I'm not up to date on the intricacies of Thorian killing, asshole." Shepard grumbled. He was rewarded with a chuckle. "Alright, let's move. Wrex, Williams, take point. We come across a tendril, blow it to shit." The simple command seemed to take as the group moved up the spiraling hall, creepers funneling down the walkways towards them. The squad took out the simple creatures with precision – dual blasts of Wrex and Ashley's shotguns taking out those who got past the line him and Garrus were forming farther out. Kaiden and Liara sent the occasional biotic blast, creating bursts of singularities and warps that tore the creepers apart.
Only when they came upon the pustules did they start to slow. Clones of the green asari were birthed from them, tearing at the group with biotics. As soon as they took one down, another would burst from its sack. The moan of the creepers began to sound from all sides. "Garrus, Wrex, watch our rear!" Shepard ordered quickly, before firing at a tendril on the wall nearby. Thin ropes of it snapped off, but most still remained embedded in the wall. "Ashley! A little help, here." He turned his rifle to the encroaching enemies. The soldier tore the tendril off with a few shots of her shotgun.
The clones and creepers continued to push them. Shepard noticed Garrus stagger as he was hit by one of the clone's warp. Wrex quickly dispatched the asari and pull the turian up roughly to drag him back to the group. "Liara, lay out a singularity, cover them!" He approached another tendril with Ashley, his back to hers as she unloaded on it. It snapped. The crew carried on up the ramp, running and gunning their way through, taking down another tendril, then another. The Thorian was letting out sickening cries, squealing with each shot they dealt its roots.
Finally they neared one of its final grasps, the tired squad guarding all sides as more and more creepers surrounded them. Shepard quickly shot the skull of a creeper that had climbed up onto Alenko's back. The biotic nodded at him before lifting a few more into his scope. Ashley was firing her shotgun again, and suddenly the Thorian was screaming. One tendril snapped, and the other tore from the wall, unable to support the weight of the massive plant alone. Then it was falling.
In a moment of inspiration, Shepard ran to the ledge and tossed a few grenades down after it. The monstrous bulb was hit with explosions before fell to the bottom with an echoing splatter. The creepers around them fell in heaps, the mindless masses now without control. Shepard reached up to his face, wiping away some green, chunky goo that had splattered from the Thorian explosion. Fucking nasty.
"I think you killed it." Garrus came up to look down the shaft beside him, mandibles flickering in amusement.
"Great use of those observation skills there, buddy." Shepard rolled his eyes, then turned around as there was a splatter of liquid hitting the floor. His pistol came up quickly as another clone slid out. He moved to pull the trigger, but the woman's eyes stopped him. There was life in them. She wasn't being controlled.
"I'm free…" The asari murmured, meeting his gaze. "I'm free." Her words disarmed him. Shepard began to lower his weapon. "Thank you. Thank you for releasing me."
"Who are you?" Shepard questioned cautiously, watching the woman. "Can you tell if you're under the Thorian's control?"
"I am fine. Or I will be, in time. The Thorian no longer has control over me." She said quietly. "My name is Shiala. I serve- served Matriarch Benezia. When she allied herself with Saren, so did I."
Shepard's eyes narrowed. "You're Saren's ally?"
The woman shook her head. "Benezia foresaw the influence Saren would have. She joined him with the hope of guiding him down a gentler path. But Saren… he's compelling. Benezia lost herself, lost her way."
Beside him, Liara's breath hitched. He shot her a worried look. Shit, she doesn't need this now. His eyes went back to Shiala. "We found Benezia. We know he's able to…indoctrinate his followers." Shepard confirmed.
"The strength of his influence is troubling." Shiala said, nodding with a frown.
"Do you have any idea how he does it?" His voice was low and serious, studying the asari before him. Her eyes were regretful. "Asari matriarchs are powerful, as I understand it. I can't believe it would have been easy to control her."
Shiala shook her head. "Saren has a vessel." We saw it on Eden Prime. I thought my head was going to split open with the sound. "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 it always works. It is absolute." Just what we need, another mind control method. Shiala continued, "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." She frowned, glancing to the floor. "He traded me. I was sacrificed to secure an alliance between him and the Thorian."
Shepard simply nodded. The woman knew her mistake in allying herself with the rogue Spectre, and being bound inside a slimy tumor had to serve as some punishment.
"He was quick not only to betray me, but the Thorian as well." Shiala said finally, meeting Shepard's gaze. "Once he left, he ordered the geth to destroy all evidence of its existence. Saren knows of you. He knows you're searching for the Conduit." Of course he does. "He knows you are following him. He attempted to attack the Thorian so you would not gain the Cipher."
"The Cipher? What is that?" The commander asked quickly, brow furrowing.
"Eden Prime's beacon gave you visions. But they are unclear, confusing, yes? They were meant for a Prothean mind." Shepard nodded, following her words. "You must think like a Prothean to be able to comprehend them. Their culture, history, their very existence – you must understand it all."
"And this Cipher will allow me to do that?" The visions from the beacon still haunted him. The screeching cry and glimpses of death. Any more understanding would help enormously in their mission.
"Yes. The Thorian has been here for a long time, long before the Protheans built this city. It watched and studied them. When they died, it consumed them. They became a part of it. The Cipher is their very essence." Shiala explained.
"Saren has this Cipher?"
Shiala nodded. "When I melded with the Thorian, I gained the Prothean's ancestral memory. I transferred this knowledge from my mind to Saren's."
"Then I need you to give it to me too." Shepard said simply. Liara gazed at him, eyes wide.
Shiala nodded, not debating. "Calm your thoughts. Slow, deep breaths. Let go of your physical shell. Reach out to grasp the threads that bind us, one to another." She stepped towards the commander slowly. "Every action sends ripples across the galaxy. Every idea must touch another mind to live. Each emotion must mark another's spirit." Shepard's eyes were locked with the asari. He felt something pulling at his consciousness, tugging at his mind to be allowed entrance. He felt himself tense. "We are all connected. Every living being united in a single, glorious existence. Open yourself to the universe. Embrace eternity!" The eyes staring at him were black, and then there was fire.
Screaming. People fleeing burning cities. Works of machine and flesh. Wires laced through tissue. Screaming and screeching and then a deafening roar as it went farther, but closer. Over the fires of many suns and closer to it. A planet.
And Sovereign.
Shepard jolted back to his senses, his mind splitting as he pushed against his connection with the asari. His breathing was ragged, eyes wide and searching as Shiala stared back at him fearfully.
"Shepard…" Ashley spoke up, taking a step towards him. "Commander, are you okay?" She cast a threatening glance at Shiala. Shepard nodded.
"I have given you the Cipher, just as it was given to Saren. It is a part of you now." Shiala murmured, watching him.
"A knowledge bond can be traumatic. Are you alright, Shepard?" Liara asked, obviously not wishing to take his initial word for it. "We should get you back to the ship so Dr. Chakwas can monitor you."
"I'm fine." He muttered simply to his companion, the asari frowning. He turned back to Shiala. "I saw…the vision wasn't as scattered, but I still can't make complete sense of it."
"You have been given the experience of an entire people. It will take time for your mind to process it." Great. Time is just what I have plentiful amounts of. "I'm sorry I can't do more. But the Cipher will help you understand, and help you find Saren."
"And what about you?" Shepard asked wearily, watching her. She seemed remorseful, but he didn't know if he could overlook her working with a man who so blatantly disregarded the effects of his actions, and whose goal at the moment seemed to be the outright destruction of humanity.
"If you allow it, I would like to stay here. The colonists have suffered greatly, and I would like to offer my assistance. I would like to make amends for my actions here."
Shepard watched her for a moment. For once, there was little input from his squad. The asari seemed genuine in her wish, and she was right to believe the colonists would need help getting back on their feet. "Fine." The Spectre said with a nod. "They need your help. But these people are under my protection. If I hear they've been hurt, I'm coming for you."
"Thank you." Shiala said with a smile. "May fortune smile upon you."
Shepard nodded, and turned to his crew. "Come on, let's get out of here." I need a goddamn shower.