The Matriarchs Daughter

Allers: In that short time you had become close with Tali.

Ashley: She was a much needed friend in a time of need. All be it we'd known each other for three days.

Allers: Was it wise to bring her to Private Crossly's funeral?

Ashley: I couldn't face it alone and I needed a friend. She was the only person I wanted to have with me. Wise maybe not, but it was necessary. As we travelled to Therum she was always there when I needed someone to talk to.

Allers: So the Commander took your advice?

Ashley: Maybe, she might have already decided to go before she asked everyone. But in my opinion it was the right call.

Allers: But it didn't go the way you planned at all.

Ashley: No, not really. The mission was an overall success. The objective was completed, but we kind of destroyed a Protheon ruin in the process.

Allers: How did you manage that?

Ashley: Well...

After a quick briefing from the Commander the Normandy left the Citadel and headed towards the relay and set a course for Therum. It would take us five days of travel in order to get there. Which gave us time to go over the mission briefs and any intel on the planet. The mission brief was simple. Find the Matriarchs daughter. We had been given the coordinates to a dig site that she was supposed to be working on, the only problem was there wasn't enough room to land anywhere near the dig site. The only viable way was to go in the Mako and then walk the rest of it. First we needed permission from the colony in order to land. Being a colony they weren't that fond of the Alliance, when told that we had council Spectre onboard they didn't believe us. After a while they permitted us to land near the city. They didn't however allow us in to the city of Nova Yekaterinburg, not until they saw the Spectre for themselves. This wasn't a problem for us since we had no intention of visiting the city itself, the dig site was in the opposite direction. But the Commander did it anyway, wanting to see if she could get any more information. For this she took Wrex and Garrus with her just to show that they weren't all Alliance.

Whilst they were out having a talk with the city, we were making sure that the Mako was ready for its first deployment. Tali checked the engine and the mechanics whilst Kaiden and I checked the inside. It was rather cramped to say the least, room enough for three people. One to drive, one to operate the weapons platform and another to manage the engineering platform. It looked big on the outside but on the inside it really wasn't. This would mean that every away mission only two people could go with the Commander. It wasn't going to be fun being told to stay on the ship. But at least the Mako was ready for deployment.

"You done Tali?"

"The Mako is ready, nothing else to be done."

"Good, let's get something to eat before the Commander returns. There's some dextro paste with your name on it."

"Hmm, I can taste it from here. Let's go."

We actually managed to get all the way to the mess before the Commanders voice came over the comm system ordering us back to the cargo hold. So close.

"Looks like we'll have to try again later."

"Bosh'tet!"

"You're going to have to tell me what that means someday."

"Not any time soon."

Back in the cargo hold the Commander was waiting for us so she could start the briefing.

"Took your time Williams."

"Sorry, seriously though you need a new lift."

"I'll keep that in mind. Now the leaders of Nova Yekaterinburg have given us some intel on the road ahead of us. It's going to get hot, the road passes through magma fields. The route there isn't easy, the terrain is terrible. The dig site that we're going to is situated in the middle of the biggest magma field on the planet, we can only take the Mako so far. The road narrows so much that you can only walk through one by one in certain places. Once we reach the dig site we're on our own, there's no intel on that area and the only person who knows the area is our quarry. What you may also be aware of is that I can only take two of you with me due to the size of the Mako. I'm going to be taking Williams and Tali on this mission. The rest of you will stay onboard the Normandy. Dismissed."

We headed towards the Commander and the Mako with everyone wishing us luck. I could see that they wanted to go on the mission, but they also cared enough to want to see us back. As we climbed into the Mako the Commander took to the driver's seat and Tali took straight to the maintenance platform, leaving me to the weapons platform. When we set of I could immediately see and feel what the Commander said earlier about the terrain. It was terrible, although the Commanders driving wasn't the best either but then again I've never been in a Mako with anyone who could actually drive it. As we went down the trail towards the dig site a ship came over us and stopped in front. A big purple ship that looked like a big bug was hanging in the sky. Two drop pods hit the ground in front of us and two Geth Armatures appeared from the craters.

"Ash take those things out, I'll keep us moving. Tali keep an eye on our shields."

I fired up the main gun and pelted the first armature with continuous fire. The ones that hit didn't do much, the others just missed due to the Commanders drastic driving. I decided to fire the second gun and hit it with a high impact shot. The first hit the Armature and depleted its shields in one go, whilst that recharged I fired the main gun at it and watched as it fell apart. With the first one down the Commanders driving improved as there wasn't as much to dodge. Aiming towards the second Armature I fired the high impact shot and managed a direct hit and depleted its shields. As I waited for it to recharge again the Armature had managed to get two direct hits.

"Commander, shields are down. It's going to take a couple of minutes for them to recharge."

"Okay no more direct hits. Ash one more hit should take care of it."

And it did. The commotion had given the gun a chance to recharge, one more direct hit later and the Armature joined its companion. We didn't wait for anything else to appear, the Commander carried on driving towards the dig site. Unfortunately there were more Geth Armatures waiting for us as we carried on, it seemed that for every corner we turned there were two Armatures waiting for us by the time we'd got through them all we'd hit a dead end, way before we were supposed to. A man made barricade was stopping us from carrying on. On top of the barricade were two rocket troopers who had been waiting for us. As soon as we rounded the corner they fired. We couldn't advance.

"Commander, there's a gap big enough for the Mako over there; from the map it looks like it should come out behind that wall."

"Alright Tali, we can only try it."

The gap was just big enough, we may have scratched the paint work and on the opposite side there was a turret waiting for us. Two quick shots from the main gun and it was taken care of. We emerged in the middle of Geth city, Geth troopers, Geth shock troopers and a Geth juggernaut were waiting for us. It was only due to the Commanders ridiculous driving that we managed to miss the bulk of the attack, and also how we managed to run half of them over. It fell down to me to remove the juggernaut from our path, with one shot of the second gun he was history. With just us left we headed towards the second gate which was locked.

"Ash see what you can do."

The Commander reversed back so we were out of the blast radius. I fired the main gun and just let the bullets weaken the metal gate, when I felt it was ready for more force I fired a high impact shot. Followed by another continuous stream of bullets then accompanied by one more final high impact shot. This last shot did the trick the gate fell apart and we were able to carry on. But we didn't get fair as the natural end came in to sight. The road stopped but a path carried on in between two pieces of solid magma. The Commander stopped the Mako in front of the gap and we clambered out. Leaving the Mako behind the Commander led the way forward. Moving on we ended up in a small clearing with only one way to go. Before we could move any further, we took cover as a small Geth patrol had emerged from the opposite side.

"Tali can you overload their shields?"

"Better than that Commander, I can change their friend or foe program."

"Do it."

We spent the next few minutes waiting in the cover provided whilst Tali hacked her way into the Geth. It didn't take long for the sounds of gun fire to be heard. It seemed that Tali was successful with her hack, one of the Geth had turned on its two companions. In the short skirmish that followed our Geth was destroyed leaving just one left. Before it could turn its sight on us we quickly defeated it. Not knowing what was round the corner waiting and now alerted to our position. Never the less we charged ahead taking whatever cover we could. What finally halted our progression was a sniper round being lodged into the boulder next to me.

"Tali can you hack that sniper?"

"It's too far Ash, however that shock trooper. Give me a minute."

A minute under gun fire was a long time. As we returned fire Tali worked on her hack. From our position weren't able to kill any of the Geth units before us. But because of the slight incline we were able to keep them from advancing.

"I've got it take that you bosh'tet."

Tali had managed to overload not just the shields but the actual Geth unit itself and in doing so not only was the shock trooper destroyed but several of its comrades as well, including that pesky sniper. We were now able to move forward and take the fight to the Geth. It didn't take long for the remaining Geth to be neutralised and we were glad of the moment's respite. But that moment didn't last long. As we advanced towards the opening of the dig site more Geth dropped from orbit. But not any ordinary Geth, two Geth Stalkers and another Armature. We didn't even have the Mako for firepower. We didn't need orders to tell us to take cover or who to shoot for first. This had been the first time I'd ever come across Geth Stalkers, they were quick. Jumping from beam to beam and able to stick to any surface. Their attack was powerful as well; just one successful hit would decimate your shields and overheat your weapon. Add an Armature to your problems and that's one hell of a bad day. It took the combined might of all three of us to dispatch the two Stalkers finally getting them caught hanging from an over head walk way. That just left us with the Armature.

"Tali can you overload its shield."

"I can, it'll take a minute or two."

"Get to it. Ash once Tali's overloaded its shield throw two grenades at it. I'll cover you."

"Got it."

It took Tali longer than she expected in order to overload its shield, by the time she was ready most of the cover we had started with had been destroyed by the Armature's high impact shot. When Tali was ready she went straight for it, coming out of cover so she could see the target she sent the overload program to the Armature. The moment its shields dropped I launched the grenades at it. When they reached the base of the Geth I used the remote detonator. The grenades hadn't done enough damage it was still going strong.

"Chief give it two more."

I primed two more grenades and waited for the opportune moment to throw them. I waited until the Commander and Tali were both firing at the Armature. As soon as I threw them I armed the grenades, with the metallic thud of grenades hitting the Armature I set them off. This time they had done their work. The Armature folded in on itself as it died, we waited several minutes to make sure it was the real deal. After several minutes the Commander decided it was safe for us to carry on. The entrance to the dig site was just behind the Armature up a ramp that led to the entrance.

It took several minutes for the door to open to the dig site, but once we were in it was like nothing we'd seen. The door was just the beginning to a long tube that angled down towards a metal walkway, before we could even get on to the walkway a Geth shock trooper came round the corner and opened fire. We didn't have any cover to get behind we could only press on, we returned fire on the Geth. The combined fire between us took the Geth down before we reached the bottom of the tunnel. As we moved further into the dig site we were accosted by more Geth including some drones. Thankfully we reached the elevator without any major problems, piling in we moved down into the lower reaches of the dig site.

"This things quicker than the one on the Normandy."

"Are we really going to compare every elevator to the one on the Normandy?"

"Yes, yes we are. That is until that elevator gets upgraded, it's goes between two floors Commander. There is no reason why it should be so slow. Do you agree Tali?"

"It is rather slow Commander. If you're in desperate need of some delicious Turian dextro paste you could pass out before you get to the mess."

"Okay okay, I get your point. Next chance we get we'll upgrade."

The banter stopped just as the lift did. Stuck between two floors, debris had fallen underneath the elevator and stopped it in its tracks. The door opened and the Commander climbed down the debris to the next floor. Following suit we were quickly out of the elevator. To our right was a vast cavern and to our left was a force field. In the middle of the force field was an Asari that appeared to be trapped within a bubble made from the force field.

"Please help."

"Dr T'Soni?"

"Yes. I was trying to figure out what this control panel controlled and I accidently placed this force field. The only way to deactivate it is on this side."

"We'll see what we can do."

We left the doctor on her own. As stupid as it was to get herself stuck in a force field like that, it was currently the safest place at the moment. Moving off the platforms down towards what looked like a mining laser we were ambushed by more geth. Four all in total, two troopers, one shock trooper and a sniper. The troopers were easy to spot as they were up close and personal and it didn't take us long to dispatch them. The sniper was a bigger problem; it was constantly on the move. Never firing from the same spot more than once, making it harder for us to find it.

"Commander I have an idea. I'll need to borrow your sniper."

"Go for it Williams."

All I needed was quick reflexes and a diversion.

"Commander would you mind going for a walk?"

"Sure, there's a nice piece of cover over there."

As requested the Commander moved out of cover and headed across the room. And as predicted the Geth sniper took the bait. It took a shot at the Commander and I managed to find where it had been hiding, with a quick look through the scope I followed the route it had taken. As the scope caught up with it, it was already hiding again. But I would be ready this time. As the Commander made her way back, the Geth poked its head up and aimed her way. As I inhaled I brought the scope to rest on its head and fired neutralising the target.

"Good shot Williams, now let's find away to the Doctor."

We searched the rest of the compound finding nothing but more Geth, heading back towards the Doctor the Commander stopped at the mining laser. Following her gaze I realised what she was thinking. The mining laser was pointed towards the lower parts of the chamber that the Doctor was stuck in. We couldn't risk activating it; it could bring the entire cavern down on us.

"Commander we can't do that. It would cause a seismic event and collapse the cavern."

"We're going to have to risk it. It's the only way through and I'm not wasting any more time. Tali override the control panel and get it working. Williams keep an eye out for more Geth."

As I kept an eye out Tali got to work on the laser. With her tech skills it didn't take her long to activate it. A quick burst was all that was needed to break through the supporting wall of the structure. As it held firm the Commander gave the order to run, we all made it through to the opposite side before it gave in and filled the gap. Inside the chamber was a lift that would take us up to the Doctor. As the Commander activated it we could hear the cavern that we were just in start to collapse. We had to be quick. As the elevator stopped the Commander dashed over to the console which was holding the Doctor and deactivated the force field.

"How did you do that? That console was written in Protheon, no one knows their language."

"No time, we need to get out of here."

They ran back towards the lift, once they were safely onboard I started the lift on its ascent. As we rose the sounds of the cavern collapsing started to get louder, it had finally caught up with us. When the lift reached its limit we were greeted by a Krogan in full battle armour and several Geth. As the Commander traded words with the Krogan, Tali and I took to the sides of the lift with the Doctor. It was clear from the Krogan's stance that he wasn't going to just let us leave. As he carried on talking the Commander switched to a private channel.

"Ash we are going to take out the Krogan. Tali see what you can do about the Geth. When the Krogan stops talking we move."

All we had to do was wait for the Krogan to shut up. He was full of himself telling us what he was going to do to us. When he finally stopped the Commander stepped in.

"This is pointless."

With a speed unknown to most the Commander managed to pull her pistol out and fired point blank at the Krogan. The bullets were deflected by his kinetic shields and he charged. As soon as the first bullet was fired, I quickly opened fire on the Krogan as well. With bullets racing across looking for their target Tali was bringing down the Geth on her own. A quick friend versus foe hack and one of the Geth started firing on the others. A couple of overloads and the Geth were defeated, just leaving the Krogan. As the Commander dived out of the way of the charging Krogan I sent out another barrage of bullets, draining his shields. With his shields gone he went berserk, bringing out his shotgun he started opening fire on the first thing he could see, which was me. As I was kept under constant fire it was Tali that acted. Quietly coming up behind the Krogan with her shotgun. She brought it point blank to his head and fired. Even with Krogan's natural plate armour he didn't stand a chance against it. He fell down dead. With the now silent chamber we all came out of cover. The Doctor had stayed by my side during the fight, keeping herself out of trouble. The Commander was still lying on the floor after being charged by the Krogan, as she got up she spoke what was on everyone's mind.

"How about we don't go after a Krogan again?"

"That was just one; imagine having to fight an army of them."

"I'd rather not. For the moment I'll stick to the Geth."

With a loud crack the ceiling above us started to fall. The adrenaline of the fight had caused us to momentarily forget about the collapsing cavern. All that was left was for us to get out so we ran. As we ran the ceiling was falling around us, knocking down sections of the walkways we were traversing. It was terrifying, knowing that any second a piece of debris could fall down and strike you dead or even worse knock the walkway from underneath you. Ending with you falling to your death, not a good way to go. We managed to get to the entrance with only a few scratches, as we exited the dig site the whole thing collapsed in on itself. We'd only just made it.

"Commander can you hear me, Commander."

"Joker."

"It's good to hear your voice Commander. We lost radio contact, the Lieutenant was about to send a rescue party."

"No need for that Joker, we need picking up ASAP. The dig site has just collapsed."

"Roger that ETA five minutes."

It didn't take five minutes for the Normandy to arrive, no doubt Joker showing of his flying skills again. As it touched down the cargo ramp was brought down, showing the rest of the team stood there waiting for us. Garrus and Wrex no doubt in a conversation about the possibilities of what happened to the dig site.

"I want everyone in the comm room for a debrief in thirty. Alenko tell Joker to set a course for Alliance space."

With that we were dismissed. Tali and I headed towards the armoury in order to store our gear. As we moved away from the main group the Doctor followed us. As I shed my armour she just stood there and stared.

"What's up Doc?"

"Was that supposed to be humorous?"

"The classics never die Doc."

"Please it's Liara. And I was just watching, I've never seen a human up close before."

"You mustn't get out much."

"No not really. I am surprised to see humans working with other species. Quarians, Krogan and even a Turian."

"So was I at first but I don't think of it like that, well apart from the Krogan and the Turian."

"But not the Quarian."

"Hey, I have a name. It's Tali, so stop calling me the Quarian."

"Sorry Tali. What do you mean apart from the Krogan and the Turian?"

"Tali and I are friends, we've only known each other about a week, but it feels like we've known each other for years. Whereas Wrex and Garrus, well Wrex is a Krogan so how else are you supposed to feel around him apart from weary. And Garrus well he's a Turian, he's a good shot but at the end of it he's still a Turian. So call that one bad blood between the species. It's hard to give up."

"Yes, I can imagine it is. What about the Asari?"

"The Asari as a race always seem to be high and mighty, thinking they are better than everyone else."

"You think that of me?"

"No, I think that of your race. I have no idea about you, we've only just met. We've gotta go. It's coming up on thirty."

We made our way to the comm room in silence. We were the last ones to arrive. Everyone else had clearly just gone straight there from the cargo bay. We took the three remaining seats and waited for the Commander to start of the debrief. She walked through the mission with occasional input from me and Tali. When it came to the Krogan we had met and fought I was surprised Wrex didn't jump from his seat in excitement. You could tell that he loved every detail of it.

"From the sounds of it, that was a Krogan battle master. Few people have survived when facing such an opponent. I'm surprised you managed it especially you little Tali."

"She's tougher than you give her credit Wrex."

"Heh heh, I'm sure she is Ash."

Definitely a Krogan through and through, couldn't see the strength in others unless it was physically shown. As I was fuming with Wrex the Commander had carried on with the debrief, finally bringing up the Doctor. Doctor Liara T'Soni, the daughter of Matriarch Benezia and a so called Protheon expert. As she talked about herself she brought her own theories on the Protheon's to the front. It didn't take long for the Commander to interject and tell her about her ideas on the Protheon's that she had gathered from the beacon.

"You have touched a beacon and seen a glimpse of the past."

"That beacon almost killed me, if it wasn't for the Lieutenant and the Chief I wouldn't have made it."

"I'm sorry Commander but this is very interesting. Will you tell me exactly what happened?"

"Later, I will. First we need information from you. Tali play the recording."

Once again we heard the voice of Saren and Matriarch Benezia. Even though I'd heard the recording twice already, I didn't like hearing it for a third time. But for Liara, you could see how much she hated hearing her mother talk about it. Her mother was a powerful woman, she didn't see this coming.

"Where did you get this recording?"

"I managed to recover it from a Geths memory bank before it exploded."

"So it's real then, my mother is a traitor."

"I'm sorry Liara."

"Thanks Tali. What do you intend to do with me Commander?"

"You're free to do what you wish Liara."

"I'd like to stay and help if that's okay."

"Of course, welcome aboard Liara. Have the Doc give you the once over. Crew dismissed."

My longest chapter yet but then again so much happens on Therum it wasn't going to be a short chapter. I've definitely got a running theme with elevators going on so far. I mean come on why was that one on the SR1 so damn slow. It only traversed two floors. A bit humorous this chapter as well. I think it works.

As usual any comments or views please let me know and any suggestions feel free.