As soon as the ground team was back on board, Joker pointed the nose at Artemis Tau cluster, Knossos system. Destination Therum. Shepard returned to her cabin and started reading through all the information she had on the next mission. Ok, Therum, what do we know... Mining colony, heavy metals, a Prothean ruin...which must have significant data to attract the daughter of a Matriarch. Ah well. Not much really there about it. So how about our mystery archaeologist? Daughter of a Matriarch, born 2077... hmm, 106...young by Asari standards... and raised on Thessia, graduate of University of Serrice, dual Doctorate in History and Archaeology. Wow, real academic...dived right into archaeological digs, no university playtime for her...Written a dozen papers on various Prothean topics... nothing on the Conduit, but a couple on the Prothean extinction? Those might be worth a read... or at least a skim... The two papers that caught Sam's eye were 'Vanishing Protheans: A Single Event Within the Galactic Archaeological Cycles of Extinction' and 'Theorem on Prothean Extinction Through Resolution of the Fermi Paradox via Exclusionary Evidence.' The executive summary of the second paper really caught Sam's attention... it basically stated that by ruling out all the routinely proposed causes of the Prothean extinction through logic reasoning, only one solution remained... that the Protheans were driven to extinction and had all traces of them systematically erased by a race of sentient machines. Sentient machines? Is there a connection between the Geth and the Reapers that Saren is exploiting? Are the Reapers a 'who' or a 'what'? Ugh. Shepard realized she still had a pretty good headache, unsure if it was still lingering from her supposed minor concussion, or if it was because she was crazy enough to actually read those Prothean treatises...either way, she was done for the night. As she drifted off to sleep, she was thinking it was time to find this Dr T'Soni.
The commander watched a battle, the immensity of the enemy made her totally impotent to influence its outcome. Huge ships that looked like giant black squids filled the air and created havoc and mass destruction, fire, and pain. A huge red eye turned hungrily toward her, and something that resembled a plasma blast worked its way toward her, annihilating everything in its path. Shepard seemed unable to move, and with a final swing the beam was upon her, searing the flesh from her body. Screaming in agony, Samantha threw herself to the side in an attempt to escape, and found herself on the floor of her room next to her bed. Freaking nightmare! Ever since that damnable Prothean beacon I can't close my eyes for two seconds without seeing that shit! With pain pinching her eyes, Shepard rubbed her temples, knowing full well there would be no more sleep that night. With a sigh of resignation, she got up and took a shower, eventually turning to the mountain of paperwork sitting on her desk; she stayed there, working, until dawn.
Geth outside the Veil! By the Goddess! Focus, Liara, focus! She leapt over one last barrier and ducked around a corner, kneeling down trying to catch her breath. Liara was used to fending off the occasional mercenary or pirate group, but never in her 50 years of research had she ever come across Geth! Worse part of the whole deal was this dig site had only one entry that she knew of, so there was no getting around them; that didn't leave her many options. She felt her best chance was to hide, and hope they got tired of the chase and left. It would have to be soon... she left her pack and her pistol back at the main chamber, which left her with no supplies...no water, no energy bars, no weapon. stupid stupid stupid! And now, she was starting to get tired...no way to replenish the energy she had used up with her biotics and she couldn't hide long down here in this heat with no water. Dehydration would be a big problem fast. A sudden thought gave her hope. Maybe if I can reach the Prothean barrier curtain? No way they'd get past that, and maybe they'll give up and leave? The chase had caused her to lose track of exactly where she was, and she couldn't take time to figure it out... she could hear her pursuers closing what little bit of buffer distance she had. Using what seemed to be close to the last of her reserves, she bolted out of her cover and dashed up the tunnel in what she hoped was the right direction...
An unknown voice roared, "Getting tired of chasing you, Doctor! I'm not known for patience!"
That is NOT a Geth! Liara chanced a glance back over her shoulder as she rounded a corner. Goddess! A Battlemaster? Can this day get any worse? She involuntarily ducked as a shotgun blast chipped off the rocks right above her head, urging her to put on a little bit more speed. Her target came into view and she skidded into a cell, not even slowing down until she grabbed a control panel to stop herself. Goddess! I forgot about the central elevator... if I can get the barrier up, I can use the elevator to get to the surface! Assuming of course I live that long and can figure out the controls! Pulling up the holographic interface, she started keying in the sequence to initiate the barrier. Just then, the Krogan Battlemaster rounded the corner and bellowed, releasing another shot from his shotgun. Again, Liara ducked, inadvertently dragging her hand through the panel's holographic control interface as she did so, making the panel flash red... Oh, Goddess, what did I just do? At first, she was relieved as the wonderful barrier shimmered into position, effectively blocking out the Krogan and his Geth followers...but her temporary relief vanished in the next instant, as she felt herself abruptly lifted from the floor and suspended mid air, fixed in position with all her limbs outstretched. The Krogan lifted his shotgun, pointed it at her head, and fired. Liara winced, and then relaxed as the barrier absorbed the blow without even a flicker.
The Battlemaster roared in frustration. "You worthless pyjak! I will find a way in there, and when I do, you will regret the day you were born!"
Liara had great faith in the Prothean barrier, but now had to face the reality of being trapped in some form of Prothean security device, with no food, no water, and in a ruin that was located next to a mostly dormant volcano. She was very concerned, not about a potential eruption, but because of the elevated temperatures from the nearby lava flows...she knew she would die from dehydration and the heat stress long before the volcano was due to erupt again. My mother always did say my curiosity would be the death of me... Liara was suddenly very much aware she would probably die here, without ever leaving this cell... Fatigue and thirst finally got the best of her, and Liara floated in and out of consciousness. Every time she woke, she was aware of the Geth banging, shooting, digging...they were being very persistent. Maybe she needed to worry about them finding a way in after all...she lost all track of time and the day days? stretched seemingly into eternity.
Shepard hated dark tunnels. Poorly lit mines were no exception. Coming in from the daylight, highlighted with the light at your back made you a perfect target, and your eyes couldn't adjust fast enough to the darkness to see crap down the tunnel. They can see me, but I can't see them. Sucks! This one was particularly bad. It was a dig site entrance, not even a working entrance, so the lighting was extra poor...lovely. Plus it was just for people, not heavy equipment, so it was narrow, not a lot of room to maneuver. Wrex had to be feeling positively claustrophobic! They continued to work their way down the ramp, when Shepard saw flashes from below.
"Incoming!" Shepard and Wrex both threw up their barriers simultaneously, and even with the double barrier, she was tossed backward when multiple rockets struck the barrier all at the same time. She grunted in pain when she landed on her previously dislocated shoulder, and it was none too happy to be receiving new abuse. Not hesitating, she sprang back to her feet while Wrex charged off down the ramp, leaving Garrus and her trailing behind. Wrex's shotgun blast lit up the tunnel and Shepard immediately launched a singularity at the rocket launchers lit up by the blast. The Geth fired off one more round before the singularity reached them, and Shepard leaned hard into her barrier...this time she was ready, so was not thrown back with the impact. As soon as the rockets detonated against the barrier, she threw a warp field up and the singularity exploded, tossing the Geth rocket troops aside and clearing the path forward. They were far enough into the tunnel now that the backlighting was no longer an issue, and they worked their way methodically down into the dig site. Garrus' sniper rifle easily took down standard troopers, and Wrex and Shepard took turns on singularities and warps, accompanied by the occasional charge and shotgun blast, to eliminate the slightly larger threats.
They finally emerged into a small chamber, and it seemed like the end of the line until Garrus pointed out an elevator back in a dark corner. It seemed to be the only viable option, so they hesitantly climbed in and hit the button... the elevator groaned and started downward, sounding like it had definitely seen better days. It was still a couple meters off the deck when it ground to a stop. So much for that, guess we have to find another way back to the surface! Wrex booted the gate open and they jumped down the last bit, onto the floor of a relatively large cavern. They worked their way around the corner on the ramp, and encountered a few more Geth, which they quickly dispatched.
Liara heard the elevator and instantly feared the Battlemaster was returning, though she hadn't seen him in she didn't know how long; she had assumed they had given up and left. Then she heard gunfire and shouting...definitely not Geth, and definitely not the Krogan. When it got quiet again, realizing she had nothing to lose at this point, she took a chance at trying to contact them. "H-hello? Can you hear me out there? I... I'm trapped... please... I need help!"
Three figures walked around the corner to where she could just barely see them through the barrier. Goddess, it is the Krogan! No, a Krogan, but different. With... a human? Liara had little experience with humans, so tried to get a look at the one approaching. Based on the armor, it was a female, but Liara had no frame of reference for size; she couldn't exactly compare her to the Krogan standing next to her...he would make anyone look small. The armor was a mix of gloss black and a flat charcoal gray, with a red stripe that ran down the right sleeve and hip. The weapons array looked rather impressive, giving the woman an overall quite formidable appearance. She had on a full helmet, and the lighting in the room was such that Liara could not see her face through the faceplate.
"Well...howdy... you seem to have yourself in quite the predicament there. Dr T'Soni, I presume?" The woman spoke with authority and her voice had a deep resonance to it that somehow instilled confidence, merely by its tone.
"Um. Well...Yes. I am Liara T'Soni... How do you...uh...know...?" Liara stammered and fell silent, curious but not wanting to challenge or offend the speaker.
The Commander cocked her head, contemplating, then decided to try something and continued, rather bluntly. "I'm Commander Shepard, Alliance Navy, and Council Spectre. Your mother is wanted by the Council for treason, for working with rogue Spectre Saren Arterius and a Geth army, to attack the human colony of Eden Prime. Are you working with them?"
Liara was obviously startled. Surprised we know, or just surprised? "I am NOT my mother, and I have no idea what you are talking about. My mother... she never truly approved of my chosen profession, and we haven't seen one another in decades. We are somewhat estranged." From her forlorn tone, it was apparent to Sam that the Doctor was distressed... it hurt her to talk about this, and while remorseful for having been so direct with her questioning, it told Samantha what she needed to know. OK, so Dr T'Soni is unaware of her mother's business dealings with Saren. Don't know if that's good or bad, could have used some intel...
"Hey, OK, I'm sorry for treading on what must be a sensitive subject... how'd you get yourself into your current predicament, anyway."
The commander's voice sounded truly remorseful, and it encouraged the Asari to answer truthfully, hoping for assistance. "Oh Goddess, I was attacked by Geth... they have a Krogan Battlemaster with them! I ran in here to activate the barrier and the Krogan shot at me... I hit something wrong on the panel when I ducked... and well, you see the result. I cannot move...please, you must help me get out of here!"
The commander crossed her arms across her chest as she spoke, "You're pretty trusting, Doc. I'm a Spectre who basically just accused you of treason by working for or with your mother and Saren. How do you know I'm not here to execute you?"
Liara blinked. Would she... no, if she was here to kill me she wouldn't be wasting all this time talking... "I am trapped, but I am not an idiot, Commander. You are Alliance. You killed those synthetics, but have yet to try to kill me. That means you are either here to rescue me or arrest me... either is preferable to this."
Samantha chuckled. "Good call, Dr T'Soni. At least you're keeping your wits about you. So any suggestions on how to get you out of there?" She dropped her arms to her sides and looked around, trying to get a full grasp on the situation.
She's laughing? I fail to see the humor in this situation! "The control panel is on the stand behind me. I'm just not sure how you are going to get to it. You have to find some way around this barrier. The Geth have made multiple attempts and have not succeeded yet. The barrier is resistant to weapons and biotics. I don't know what to tell you." The Asari sounded very sad and very tired, her voice cracking, and Shepard was starting to feel a little bit of urgency in the situation.
"OK. Piece of cake. Get around the barrier, play with the control panel, turn everything off, we all go home. No sweat. Oh, and maybe dodge a few Geth on the way out. And we have our own Krogan Battlemaster here, so that's no skin off my nose. Hang tight, Liara, we'll be back soon"
Hang tight? Was this human humor? Making jokes at her inability move? Goddess, I know nothing of humans!
Before Liara could respond, Commander Shepard and her crew dropped out of sight, and Liara suddenly felt inexplicably lonely. Shepard, Wrex and Garrus took a look around the cavern they were in. It was multi-level, and there seemed to be a large open central column behind the Doc. They just needed to figure out how to get to the other side, other than through the barrier. That's when Wrex saw the really big mining laser. "Hey, Shepard! Look at what we have here! Why don't I just blast a hole through the wall? We don't need to go through the barrier... we'll just tunnel straight through the rock!"
Shepard laughed gleefully. "Oh, Wrex, I knew I liked you for some reason! A fellow warrior who likes really big guns! Go for it, my man!" A brief rumble later, and Shepard was standing behind Liara at the barrier control panel, punched a couple of buttons and the barrier and biotic field both collapsed, dropping Dr Liara T'Soni unceremoniously to the ground with a yelp of surprise and pain. For the love of God, Shepard, a little warning next time maybe? Shepard ran over to her, apologetic. "Shit! I'm sorry about that, Doc. Should've warned you." Samantha put a hand on her shoulder to help her sit up. "Wow, you're hot... you feel OK? How long have you been in there? Never mind... it's not important. Have some water." Shepard handed her a canteen and Liara started chugging. "Whoa, slow down there... you'll send your system into shock! Slow and easy, Doc, let your system adjust...you'll be alright now, we got ya covered..."
Liara took time out to breath and threw a question out before she resumed drinking. "Commander, how did you get back here, and how did you turn off the barrier so quickly?"
"Well, Wrex here just used the mining laser to tunnel through, and then we climbed up the back side to access this level. As for turning the barrier off, well, the buttons are pretty obvious, don't you think?" Liara looked very confused, but there was no time for questions, as the ground suddenly rumbled and rocks started pelting down from the ceiling.
Liara looked panicked and she blurted out, "The mining laser must have triggered seismic activity, these tunnels are very unstable! We have to get out of here! Now! The elevator behind us links up to the walkway leading outdoors!"
"Alright people, you heard the lady, time to move out!" They ran to the elevator and Liara started its motion upward. Samantha removed her helmet and handed it to Liara, telling her to put it on.
"But Commander, I don't have a hard suit... no seals, no point..." Her voice trailed off as she looked at the commander and noticed her shoulder length auburn hair, now flowing freely without the helmet covering it. Liara blushed and looked at the floor, realizing she had an almost overwhelming desire to reach out and run her fingers through it, for no other reason than to see what it felt like against her fingers.
"Just do it T'Soni! You're too drained to generate a decent biotic barrier, and I don't want to have to carry you out of here when you get whacked on the head with a rock. Besides, the filtration system will help you breathe a little easier. You're still panting from the heat. Need I say more?" Liara just shook her head and put the helmet on, silenced more by her own shame than the commander's logic. By the time the elevator reached the top, the ground was seriously shaking and the metal walkways were bucking, making running difficult. "Run!" Shepard yelled, shoving Liara in front of her after Wrex and Garrus. "Joker, lock on my signal and get here ASAP! We've got a fucking volcano chasing us!" Shepard did not wait for a reply, and starting running for her life. She caught up very quickly to Liara, who stumbled along, her exhaustion and dehydration obvious. Once Shepard saw daylight, she called up her biotics, scooped up Liara, and charged up the ramp in a flash of blue power... right into a Krogan Battlemaster who was NOT Wrex.
"Thanks for delivering my worthless pyjak bounty, human. Saves me a bunch of trouble."
"Oh hell, no. I'm not outrunning a volcano just to hand over my prize, Mr Ugly. She's mine and I plan on keeping her." Shepard shoved Liara down behind a rock shelf for cover and pulled her shotgun. Wrex came rocketing out of the tunnel, throwing a warp as he came. The 'other' Krogan deflected the warp, but it took his focus off of Shepard long enough for her to regenerate her barrier and get off the first shot. It weakened the Krogan's barrier, but did not drop it, and he retaliated with a warp thrown at Shepard. The Krogan was way too close, and the warp hit her like a steam train. She felt her barrier drop and she flew backward into the cliff face. Her already strained shoulder couldn't take anymore and she felt it pop as she hit the ground. She screamed in pain and rage, and rolled back to her feet as Wrex dropped the Krogan's barrier with a shotgun blast, then Garrus put a sniper shot into the center of his chest, but the big Krogan still didn't go down. Shepard grimaced, lowered her dislocated shoulder and biotically charged the Krogan, smashing into him and knocking him over the edge into the abyss.
Tears of pain streaming down her face, Shepard stood up as the Normandy hovered off the edge of the cliff. Garrus jumped on board and Wrex had just half-tossed T'Soni up onto the loading ramp when an explosion rocked the hillside and part of the cliff gave way. Wrex jumped to the Normandy and Shepard took a running leap... and fell short. Time slowed down. Shepard looked down and saw molten lava streaming from the hillside... Guess I didn't outrun that volcano after all. Suddenly, she was surrounded by blue biotics and she felt a tremendous pull that yanked her into the back of the Normandy docking bay, smashing painfully into Dr T'Soni. Shepard saw tendrils of blue power fading from Liara's hand as they crashed to the deck. Their eyes met briefly, and Samantha would have sworn she saw the start of a smile on Liara's face before the good doctor passed out and her eyes closed. Shepard rolled over, and sat up, yelling at Joker to get them into orbit, away from this damnable volcano.
She managed to get to her feet in time to see Dr Chakwas give her the old standby British glare before Karin knelt down to look at Dr T'Soni. "Wrex, can you please carry Dr T'Soni to the clinic." She then stood and turned a withering glance on Samantha. "And you, Commander Shepard, will follow me directly to sick bay, or you won't see duty for a week... if you're lucky." Sam started to smile and make some witty comeback, but her smile died on her lips when she saw Dr Chakwas' expression. "And for every bit of lip I get from you, I will add an extra day to that bed rest order. I don't care if you sit for a month, Commander. I will not repair that shoulder for a third time. My office. Now." Karin turned sharply and stalked to the elevator without a backward glance. Of course, Samantha Shepard stepped smartly behind, knowing full well she had used up this month's full ration of the Doctor's good will.
Shepard grunted in pain as she popped up onto her least favorite spot in the med bay...an exam table. She watched keenly, noting the seemingly pale face of the Asari under Karin's tender care, as the doctor gently removed her helmet from Dr T'Soni and set it to the side. Dr Chakwas administered a general anesthetic, and after a cursory scan and gentle undressing, she started an IV drip and then tended to the multiple cuts and contusions that littered the battered looking Asari. When she finished everything she could do at this moment to help Liara, she laid a light sheet over the Asari and turned with a glare for the commander. She suddenly realized the commander was being unusually contrite and quiet, the fatigue and pain showing clearly on her face. Interestingly enough, the Commander wasn't focused on her at all; Shepard's face was pinched with concern for the Asari now sleeping somewhat restfully on the exam table next to her. Karin's gaze softened a bit, understanding her unique relationship with the commander allowed her to see a side of Shepard those under her command would never be privy too. She sighed in sympathy and drew the Commander's attention with "Now, Commander, let's see to that shoulder, shall we?"
"Yeah...uh...sorry, Doc. I know you're pissed, but there was this big Krogan...oh, never mind. Just give me my 40 lashes and be done with it... and tell me Dr T'Soni's going to be all right?"
"She'll be fine, Commander. No major injuries, just extreme dehydration and heat exhaustion. I administered a general so she'll rest easy while I get some fluids back into her. She should wake up hungry in a few hours, but that's about it. Your level of concern for others is quite admirable, Commander, but it does drive you to extremes sometimes..." Karin was actually a very efficient trauma doctor, and had Shepard's shoulder back together in no time, gently shooing her out of the med bay so Liara could have some quiet. "Three days light duty, Commander. No argument. We need that shoulder healed before you go out again." And maybe I'll actually get these medical records caught up without the commander adding anything else to her file!
"Thanks, Karin. I'll be back in a bit to check up on T'Soni... couple hours. See ya then!" Shepard flashed her tell tale charming grin, grabbed her helmet, and ducked out of the med bay before Chakwas could issue any type of retort.