.

Loyalty and Limerence

Part 1

Chapter 11

Feros

Unlike Noveria, Feros didn't hold up any pretensions or airs. It was a heap of flaming rubble and didn't pretend to be anything more. Embers from the burning spires around them rained down on their heads as they made their way into the crumbling tower. Dust hung in the air, giving the colony an eerie, green haze while far off explosions thrummed in their ears. Garrus clutched his assault rifle close as their column slowly snaked its way up the stair ways. He'd hardly put it down since they stepped foot off the Normandy.

"This place feels just like home, heh." Wrex muttered from just behind him, and Garrus turned to look at him with a raised brow plate. "Never said home was fancy."

"I get why you left…" Garrus murmured as he turned back to follow Ashley as they made their way up the stairs. Their scanners weren't picking up any readings, but they were never very trustworthy when it came to the geth. His eyes darted from hiding place to hiding place, trying to detect any sign of movement as he picked his way over the chunks of crumbled stone littering the stairs.

"I don't like this, something feels wrong." He could hear Ashley just ahead of him as she looked out over the edge of the stairwell. "I feel like-!" Suddenly the whole building seemed to rock as an explosion went off somewhere above them. Debris fell from the ceiling and the floor seemed to gain a multitude of new cracks. Ashley flung out an arm to steady herself, the ground beneath her starting to crumble.

"Look out!" Jane yelled from just in front of the struggling woman, leaping toward her. They collided with a thump, Jane's momentum pushing them past the chunk of floor now crumbling to plummet toward the ground meters below. More chunks below them started to detach, and Garrus lurched forward in an attempt to grab the two women before they could fall. With a shove, Jane sent Ashley head first toward him, but Garrus' stomach dropped as he watched her struggle to regain her own footing. Passing Ashley off to Wrex, Garrus leapt forward, his hand gripping Jane's wrist as the ground gave out below her. She landed hard, most of her lower body dangling over the pit below.

"Jane! Hold on!" Shepard yelled as he, Kaidan, Tali, and Liara all hurried toward them, careful to keep a safe distance between themselves and the collapsing stairs. Garrus quickly shifted his grip to grab her under the arms, hauling her up as Ashley and Wrex hurried to give a hand. Their breathing ragged, they finally were able to relax as Jane was hauled back onto solid ground.

"That was… a close one." Jane said between breaths as Shepard came to kneel besides her. He passed a critical eye over her, checking for injuries before patting her back reassuringly with a smile.

"Looks like all your limbs are still attached, ready to keep going?"

"Yeah, but maybe we all stay a little closer to the wall this time?" There was a chorus of agreement as everyone carefully stepped further away from the edge. Garrus offered her a hand, which she took, and he pulled her back up onto her feet.

"Thanks, LT. I owe you one." Ashley said ruefully, and Jane nodded in her direction before turning to follow those already pressing forward.

"I'm sure you will have a chance to pay me back. This place is one big death trap. Why would anyone start a colony somewhere like this?"

They had arrived in the morning, according to the local time, but it was already late afternoon by the time they finished clearing out the geth and assisting the colony settlement of Zhu's Hope. Their next destination, the ExoGeni headquarters, was quite a trip away, which was how Garrus found himself strapped into a Mako, one which he had not been responsible for the maintenance for, being shaken about like a pebble in a storm. The suspension on this one was plain awful, and he wished he could shoot whoever had let it fall into this condition. Who knew the last time it had been properly calibrated?

Shepard was driving, and Garrus wasn't sure if this was a good thing or not. On the bright side, He was a very careful driver, always mindful to find the best route through, not just the fastest. This was directly opposite of how it'd been a few times Jane had gotten to drive, which honestly they had all been lucky to walk away from alive. However, the trip, which they were told should have taken about two hours, was quickly creeping up on three hours long due to all the roadblocks, debris, and geth they encountered. Sure, they were alive, but the sun was quickly setting, and Garrus was starting to get the feeling that fighting their way through the headquarters in the dark wasn't such a great idea. Besides him, Jane seemed to be dozing lightly, the rocking of the Mako putting her to sleep. From past experience, he knew how quickly she could snap awake in typical military fashion, so did his best to help keep her steady so she could get some rest.

They had picked up a weak comm signal a few times during the past hour, but it had always been too faint to track it's origin. It had definitely been getting stronger and clearer, so Garrus had some hope that they would be able to track it soon. As they passed through a roofed section of the walkway, the foreign signal suddenly came through again, this time much clearer.

"We've got movement… some kind of vehicle. Not one of the geth." The atmosphere in the Mako tensed at the words, eyes glancing around at each other. The same thought seemed to be on everyone's mind.

"More chatter incoming, Commander. Still no fix." Kaidan said, looking up from his omni-tool.

"Sounds like they spotted us. They must be close." Ashley added, and Garrus agreed, bracing himself. They didn't know yet if these people were friends or foes. Glancing down at Jane, he noticed she was now wide awake and ready to go.

"Hold up a moment, I think I see something." Shepard murmured as the Mako started to slow down. Just ahead was a tunnel leading down, light emanating from the passage. "As soon as we disembark, I want weapons drawn and ready. We don't know who's down there, so be ready for anything." His words were met with the sounds of seatbelts disengaging and weapons being drawn.

It wasn't long before they discovered the huddled survivors of the ExoGeni headquarters, and it was disheartening to see how few remained. They had been squatting in an out of the way nook hidden along the skyway for quite some time, apparently, completely unaware that any of the colonists had survived. After seeing the sun setting, Shepard checked their location on his omni-tool before turning to their leader, Ethan Jeong.

"We're planning on heading to the headquarters to take care of the geth, but we don't want to set out while it's dark. Do you mind if we camp here for the night and set out once it's light again?" His suggestion, though Garrus had thought it completely reasonable, was met with suspicion and hesitancy on the part of Jeong. His colleague, Juliana Baynham, however, was perfectly happy to set them up with a place to rest for the night in the corner of their camp.

Which was how Garrus found himself leaning up against a railing, looking over a pile of rubble out toward the towering spires beyond. The sun was below the horizon now, and the last vestiges of light lit up the towers, causing them to glow with an almost ethereal luminescence.

"It's pretty amazing, huh?" Garrus turned to see Kaidan come to stand beside him, looking out over the view before them. "Makes you wonder what this place looked like back in its heyday, back when the protheans were still around."

"Yeah, it must have been something." Garrus murmured in reply, returning to gazing out at the towers.

"There's a lot of speculation over what it had been like, but it's hard to say for sure. Over two thirds of the surface of the planet is covered in ruins, so it must have been quite a metropolis back during their time." Liara walked up to them, her voice quiet at first, but gaining in confidence as she continued. "There's reason to believe that the climate was somewhat colder back then, and I believe that much of the remaining land was devoted to farm land, though there were once large hydroponic gardens on the top of each of the buildings. The only water is found at the poles, which must have been the case during the prothean's time because there is an extensive aqueduct system in place to deliver the water across the planet." Garrus's eyes widened as she continued, a wellspring of information gushing forth from the asari.

"Huh. That's… really interesting." Kaidan looked equally as amazed, though he seemed genuine in his interest. Noticing both their expressions, Liara flushed a little, looking down.

"Sorry, that was probably more information than you were looking for."

"No, it's okay. I know you're an expert on the protheans, but I had no idea you knew so much about their old settlements." Garrus turned to face her, gesturing for her to join them. She smiled, coming to join them at the railing.

"I've never been here, personally, as it was well picked over long before I was born. But I've read the reports about it extensively. It is very beautiful, isn't it? And sad. Places like this are all that's left of such an amazing civilization."

"If Shepard is right, we could end up going the same way if we can't stop Saren." Kaidan muttered, turning away from the view of the towers as the light started to fade. Neither Garrus nor Liara responded, but both frowned as they contemplated the ramifications of failure.

As they descended under the colony toward the Thorian's lair, Garrus had to marvel at how they'd come full circle. They'd started out leaving the Normandy only a stone's throw from here the day before. Then they had traveled hours to the ExoGeni headquarters only to learn that their target had been here all along. The creature that Saren had sent his geth to find, something called the Thorian.

They approached the massive thing, and it was hard not to feel a sense of disgust mingled with dread, and perhaps a little awe. This thing had made thralls out of all the colonists along with all the odd, humanoid creepers that had been throwing themselves at Shepard's team since they'd returned from the headquarters.

And of course negotiation got them nowhere.

And so they found themselves fighting through the hallways, destroying the strange appendages holding the thorian in place as they were attacked from all directions by more creepers and odd, green asari clones.

"There's another one up ahead." Tali pointed to the neural node stretched out high up in the crumbled hall ahead of them.

"Okay, brace yourselves." Shepard called back to the team following behind him, and everyone raised their weapons. Shepard pulled out his shotgun and fired round after round into it, finally breaking through the fleshy roots, causing it to gush fluid down onto the floor. Somewhere far away, they heard a shriek as the creature suffered another blow.

Garrus drew his assault rifle up, preparing for the onslaught to come pouring down the stairs ahead of them. Shepard, Wrex, and Kaidan were at the head of their column, Liara, Tali, and Ashley following quickly behind them, leaving him and Jane bringing up the rear. He heard Jane just behind him pause, looking around. But nothing came. Straining his ears, he swore he could hear the far off sounds of shuffling feet coming closer. Just then, he turned to see creepers hurrying toward the doorway to his left. Dozens of the green, groaning abominations were dashing toward them at speeds that should have been impossible for such shambling creatures.

"Incoming!" He yelled, firing into the oncoming pack as he back peddled. As they burst through the doorway, he and Jane dove for cover dodging and avoiding the gnashing teeth and claws of the horrific onslaught. They poured into the corridor, separating them from the others, who fell back into protective positions of their own. Shot after shot, the creepers fell and yet more rose to take their place. Garrus was forced to retreat further back as the attack continued, but as he rolled into a better position, he didn't count on the creeper that leapt over the pile of rubble directly at him.

"Shit!" He exclaimed as its claws reached for him, its teeth bared. It latched onto him as they went down and he struggled for purchase in order to throw the creature off him. He felt the claws cut through the softer materials in the joints of his armor, sinking into his flesh like needles. Hissing in pain, he managed to reach for his pistol, bringing it up to shoot the creeper in the jaw with a series of hurried shots. As it collapsed on top of him, he took a moment of relief to breathe before he realized his mistake. As it sagged to the side, its body seemed to explode with a cloud of spores, causing him to cough as he breathed it in from such a close distance.

"Garrus! Are you okay?" Jane called from the other side of the small room as she ducked out of cover to fire at the oncoming creepers.

"Yeah- *cough* I think so." He managed to wheeze as he shoved the remains of the creeper off himself, but realized the seriousness of the situation as soon as he tried to roll off his back. The world swam as he tried to get up, and it felt like his lungs were on fire. "Or maybe not." He managed to sit up and braced his back against the wall as Jane took out the last creeper running at them.

Looking down, Garrus brought a hand up to inspect the damage to his other arm where the creeper's claws had cut him, but it was like he was seeing everything through a tunnel. He leaned his head back against the wall, his breathing coming raggedly. Jane checked that the coast was clear before dashing over to kneel in front of him, putting her rifle down. She pulled up her omni-tool and ran it across him as it scanned.

"Looks like a poison. Let me get those gashes closed up and we'll see if there's anything I can do about it." Jane muttered as she applied medi-gel, the sounds of battle echoing down the corridor from where the others still fought the creepers. Just then, out of the corner of his eye, Garrus saw movement. Mustering every ounce of strength and coordination he could, he grabbed Jane and pulled both of them down to the floor just in time as the asari clone fired a series of rounds through the space they'd occupied seconds before. "Commander, we're going to need back up." Jane said hurriedly.

Whipping up her pistol, Jane fired a few rounds toward the clone before grabbing Garrus and shoving him behind cover. He watched, pain wracking his body, as Jane stood, her weapon trained on where the asari had ducked into cover a moment earlier. Suddenly, the clone jumped out from cover, her hand glowing with biotic power. With a scream, she fired off a biotic throw, sending Jane flying backwards to land hard on her back, her pistol skittering out of her hands with the force of the impact.

Within a moment, the clone had dashed across the room, throwing herself at Jane with a biotic attack ready. Jane rolled out of the way as the clone's glowing fist crashed down into the floor where her head had been. She struggled to her feet, her hand going to her belt where she unsheathed a standard issue Alliance combat knife, holding it up at the ready to defend herself against the asari biotic. The clone pulled out her rifle again, raising it to fire at Jane, who dashed into cover once more.

Garrus was feeling panic starting to well up as he struggled to clear his head, the toxin in his system making it hard to think clearly. Was he just going to sit here and watch as the clone hunted Jane down before turning on him? His pistol was nearby, if only he could see straight enough to grab it. Would he be able to fire a shot with enough accuracy to hit the enemy and not his teammate?

As the asari stalked closer, all of a sudden Jane leapt out at her, knocking the weapon aside and delivering a forceful kick to her side, causing her to drop her weapon and keel to the side. Jane was on her in a flash, knife flashing as she aimed for the clone's throat. But the asari wasn't done, for with a valiant effort she managed to flip them so that she was on top, her fist coming up to deliver a powerful punch to the side of Jane's head. Even with his affected vision, the sight of the red blood as it dripped down Jane's chin made his chest clench. He tried reaching again for the pistol, this time feeling his fingers brushing against the handle.

The asari lifted her fist again, now glowing with biotic energy. But before she could bring her fist down, Jane let loose an angry cry as she readjusted the grip on her knife and smashed it into the join between the asari's neck and shoulder. With a scream, the clone rolled off of her, bringing a hand up to clutch at the wound.

"Jane! Catch!" Garrus managed to call out as his hand finally closed around the handle of the pistol. He chucked it in her direction, and she jumped up to catch it before turning to put one neatly aimed shot between the asari's eyes. She collapsed in a heap without a word, and Jane took a moment to regain her breath before bending down to retrieve her knife. Wiping it off as best she could, she resheathed it before grabbing her pistol off the ground nearby. She holstered it before hurrying over to Garrus.

"Jane, Garrus, what's your status? I'm sending Tali and Kaidan down to your position. Sorry for the delay, we ran into another one of those clones." Shepard's concerned voice came in over their coms as Jane grabbed and holstered her assault rifle before grabbing Garrus' arm and throwing it over her shoulders with a grunt. He did his best to support his weight as the world spun again.

"We're okay, we fought a clone as well. Garrus was poisoned by one of the creepers, but he seems stable for the time being. We're heading in your direction."

"Ashley and Liara are suffering from the same thing, but it seems to start wearing off after a little. Let's regroup and reevaluate before we continue further."

"Come on, Big Guy. Maybe if we get you moving, we can work it out of your system." Jane said with surprising gentleness as he got his feet under him. Admittedly, he was starting to feel a bit better. He glanced around and his eyes landed on the body of the clone laying broken and bloodied on the floor.

"Glad that you're… on our side." He muttered with a flick of his mandibles, his voice laced with strained subvocals. Jane chuckled in response before leading him onward.