I'm Nobody

by free man writer

He didn't have anything when he was born. Just a name and number. But over time, what he had grew. He, with his friends began to understand that there was more to their existence then just their name and number. They will prove that they were meant to be real. To exist. To become something more than just a Nobody. Co-written and created with Jebest4781. Fem Shepard. Now on Ao3.

7. Freaky Times on Feros

Well, so, SO glad to see the love that we got from the last chapter.

Yeah, that's right, Stitch is in the story which means mayhem and madness to come on top of what the Normandy had been experiencing already.

Axels polls are interesting as all hell with Female Shepard leading the charge with Miranda far back though still holding strong at second with Aqua barely at third and Jack in fourth. Poor Kasumi and Aria. May as well remove them if no one votes for them after this chapter.

Keep them coming mind you, the poll will be up for some time until the time comes.

Other than that, thanks again for the votes, the excitement for our favorite experiment being a part of the story and all the crazy shit on the horizon.

Rate Read and Review and As Always Have Nice Day.

I'm Nobody Chapter 7: Freaky Times on Feros

Liara T'Soni was waiting in anticipation for the return of her fellow companions. Probably the same amount as Kaidan's given utter focus he had towards the tower's entrance.

Wrex, however, was merely walking back and forth, occasionally muttering of him wanting to get to fighting already.

Liara didn't want to be biased, but she could understand how her Krogan teammate was feeling. Ordered to be left behind while the others went on ahead to fight, something one truly enjoyed nearly above all else.

It can be a similar trait many species share, albeit one factor interchanged over the other.

As she waited, Liara pulled up her Omni-tool and went back into her Prothean logs. Reading up her written information for the umpteenth time, the Asari wanted to at least be prepared for what might be stumbled upon on this planet.

Of course her thoughts soon drifted onto the latest piece of Prothean artifacts that came into her possession.

On Shepard's previous assignment to retrieve the data module, her squad came across a Prothean shrine!

The N7 marine told her of the details as the Normandy was heading here to Feros. Where Roxas apparently set off the artifact, causing a massive flash to occur. And where everyone else was fine, Shepard wasn't… sort of.

Jane spoke that the metallic Prothean sphere seemed to have acted like a Beacon, sending a vision directly into the Spectre's head. Instead of fragmented flashes and images, the vision was whole; detailing of primitive humans being monitored by the Protheans themselves.

This was a great discovery for Liara, only for her wishing to witness the event occur firsthand. And what was even better, they brought back the sphere with them aboard for her to study.

She can already wonder what secrets the artifact held. If it were the experiences of a primitive-state species being recorded, then how much was stored in it? Was there more than just the one or was that it?

The asari had thanked Roxas for making this happen, not knowing what could've occurred without his part in all of this.

Her musing came to an end when she heard something coming from the tower. Quickly getting ready, she, Wrex and Kaidan were about to fire when they saw the rest of their team return.

The Spectre was the first to exit, who was soon questioned by Wrex. "Shepard, how'd it go?"

"Tower is secure and the colony is safe, for now."

When the others filed out, they were about to see what needed to be done when something… odd… was seen.

"Uh Shepard." Kaidan was staring at Roxas.

More specifically, the blue fluffy ball that sat atop the teen's head with a pair of large black eyes darting in between him, Liara and Wrex.

It looked upon them with open curiosity before abruptly crawling down from Roxas's head and going right up to Liara.

"Oh." Liara shifted her leg back in surprise and trepidation.

The Asari's eyes then registered just what it was she was looking at.

"Shepard wha-" Liara began in astonishment when the small fur ball climbed up on the Asari, making her jolt at the contact before releasing a small laugh as the little critters movements inadvertently tickled her.

Once hearing herself, Liara blushed in slight embarrassment though it faded when the small creature was using her shoulders to keep itself propped up on her eye level. She inclined her head back slightly when it began sniffing her suspiciously until it made what appeared to be a happy sound…

Only for her face then to get promptly slobbered by several large licks from the creatures tongue.

Liara cried out in surprise, now trying to get the thing to stop with it pulling back and laughing. A moment later it jumped back, landing on Roxas's shoulder.

"Urgh." Liara whined, whipping some of the green spit off her face. "Shepard? What in the Goddess's name-?"

"Yeah, he likes you too it seems." Jane said in the driest voice Liara had ever heard.

The Asari took a moment to finally get a look at the group that had returned.

Shepard's hair was slightly matted with Ashley being completely ruffled.

Garrus had a slight sheen to him and Tali's clothing looked a bit moist.

And then there was Roxas.

"It didn't-"

"Yeup~ slobbered each of us good." Garrus muttered out. He then jabbed his thumb to the resident Quarian. "Asides from Roxas, she got it the worst."

"It's… going… to take hours… to rinse it out." Tali said while glaring daggers at the blue creature.

"What is it?" Wrex asked, gazing at the little guy who seemed completely content to rest upon the youngest of their groups shoulders.

"No idea." Shepard deadpanned. "It seems to know Roxas and its name… or number really, is 626."

"Number?" Kaidan repeated in a wary manner, keeping an eye on the blue creature.

It was now sniffing the air, looking about in all directions with it becoming a bit of an oddity to look at.

Scratch that, several nearby colonists of Feros were openly staring at 626, completely unsure as to what exactly it was that they were looking at.

"What exactly is it?" Liara asked in trepidation.

"Boy." 626 barked out, causing the three members of the Normandy who had just met him to have their eyes bulged out. "Messa boy."

"..."

"..."

"Did that thing just-"

"Speak, yes it can." Shepard quickly responded. "Broken speech pattern and rough around the edges, but the little guy can talk. Though in some moments he reverts to whatever native tongue he's got."

626 began to babble in an incoherent manner with multiple gibberish sounding words and sounds. Well… if the gibberish could be counted as words.

"We're adopting now, apparently." Ash deadpanned, 626 rounding on her and letting out comical growls with him shaking his fist at her. "Oh shut up."

"First the Moogle and now this." Kaidan chuckled out. "Man Joker is gonna love this."

"Do we even know what this thing could do?" Wrex asked in a skeptic manner, eyeballing the creature who soon noticed.

It bared its considerably large fangs at the Krogan with Wrex growling back.

626 proceeded to drop to the ground, standing upright with him and practically roaring.

The rest of the group was rather surprised by the little guy's bravery, not backing down from the Krogan whatsoever.

After a few moments, Wrex found himself grinning.

"Heh, looks like you can talk the talk." Wrex remarked. "Maybe you're not just a fluff piece."

626 only had its eyes narrowed at the larger foe, backing away with his back bumping against Roxas's leg.

Jane let out a sigh, looking around the area. "Just asking this, but where's Fai Dan?"

"Went back to the rest of the colonists. He's their leader, after all." Kaidan pointed out.

"Right, got a few questions I need answers for."

"What should we do?" Ashley asked.

"Asides from taking care of the Geth, we're here to help the colonists. See what can be done to lighten their spirits." Jane ordered.

"You got it."

When Shepard went off to find and question Fai Dan, Roxas and the others did what they could to help out the locals.

When questioning a number of people, the squad overall learned the general problems plaguing this colony. Asides from the Geth attacks, there was a food shortage due to an alpha Varren, fresh filtered water was being shut off by the Geth and the power grid was on the fritz.

Needless to say, the colony was in a bad state, even worse than on first impressions.

On first glance, the food and water problems could be solved with the Normandy providing the solution. Yet that was shot down as they would have to make return trips periodically. As for the power grid, the present power cells were beyond repair and needed replacements. Once again, the Normandy can spare a few if it meant helping this colony, but the newer models the ship has doesn't match what essential parts are needed with their one generator.

Seeing as these are practically the top priority to ensure the colony's survival, the team had to solve these problems asap. Luckily for them, their new assignments are all located around the tunnels. At least they were all located within a compacted area instead of spread out all over the place.

The ground team reentered the tower in order to take the flights of stairs down to the tunnels below. Upon traversing through the corridors, they were met with the occasional Geth here and there with some Heartless now beginning to pop up into the mix.

When entering one area and investigating the water valves, they learned the one colonist was right as the synthetic beings were intentionally shutting them off. Reason being they were digging towards… something for whatever reason and didn't want the water to hamper their progress. Once taking care of the present Geth patrolling the one underground area, the valves were turned back on for Zhu's Hope to have fresh water again.

With that taken care of, the squad encountered a man lurking around in the shadows of this underground area. The man wasn't in the best of mental health, because he kept mentioning about "invoking the master's whip" or "trying to fight was like moving through a thorny bush". How the man avoided the Geth was beyond them, but it was clear the man was delusional and needed professional help.

It was clear Shepard would need to tell Fai Dan about this once this mess was done.

After speaking with the "loon", they were quickly confronted by a number of Geth trying to perform a sneak attack. Wanting to take care of them from the source, one half of the team entered another area and dealt with a small skirmish of Geth and Heartless. The others went off in another direction to take care of the Varren.

The confrontation was hectic and out of control, the pandemonium of Geth and Heartless fighting them and each other. Shots were being fired all over the place with the Heartless moving about at an equally rapid pace.

Currently, dealing with these annoying foes was the team of Roxas, Ashley, Garrus and Wrex.

Joining them was one 626 who was skittering around the place, causing momentary distractions for the enemy forces.

Though the Normandy team was effectively winning for the most part, the additions of Krogan under Saren's pay made the battle all the more chaotic.

With the advent of the Krogan who opted for the running headfirst and gunning while doing it strategy, the Heartless and The Geth scattered about with Ash, Roxas, Garrus and Wrex having to retreat to more secure locations.

Knowing that his friends may get flanked or overwhelmed, Roxas opted to stay close by them as he struck any Heartless or Geth that drew near to their position.

The Krogan all the while allowed their bloodlust and rage to consume them, going berserker as they ran about, fighting anything that they considered a challenge.

Some destroyed the Geth, some ran at them having been stopped by Wrex's Biotics or Roxas own power.

Those that tried their hand against the Heartless however found a more difficult opponent that needed a certain kind of brute force if you were to defeat them.

One Krogan who hadn't gone into his blood rage spotted the small critter that had been all over the battlefield.

"Ah, a snack." The Krogan remarked with a wide grin as he began to approach the unusual alien.

Hearing this, the blue alien slowly turned its head towards the larger bipedal individual and growled aloud

Without warning, 626 began to jump about and towards the Krogan that made the snack comment..

"What is he doing?!" Garrus yelled aloud, ducking behind cover for a moment before popping out to take out a Surveillance Robot.

They watched as 626 literally tackled the large Krogan down to the ground. He began bashing his hands against the Krogan's armor, with the reptilian alien actually crying out in pain and shock.

A moment later, 626 hopped down next to the head of the Krogan and grabbed the armor overhead piece of his enemy. He began tightening his hold on the armor and his claws dug in.

"The hell are you-WAAAARGH"

There are certain times and moments in life that one would always distinctly remember at any point in their future due to just how vivid the memory would become.

See, to go along with this statement, after humanity got introduced into the galactic community all their unusual slang terms and quotes began to rapidly gain popularity among the populace.

And since that time, many of these various quotes and sayings had been adopted and restructured by many species across the stars.

An elephant never forgets became a Drell never forgets.

A snail's pace turned into an Elcors pace.

And there was one that always spoke of the incredulous and the impossible.

When pigs fly.

In this instance...

"Did… did he just-?"

"Yeah… yeah… I… don't…"

"I think we shouldn't dwell on it." Wrex said plainly. "Our heads will hurt until tomorrow."

"Agreed." Ash and Garrus said, the former looking to the completely nonplussed Keybearer.

Of course he would be the one to be completely unphased by what they just saw.

An alien life form no bigger than a dog easily tossing around a fully grown Krogan like a ragdoll must be a common thing to see for Roxas. After all, he could run up walls, summon a weapon to his hand instantly and can perform magic.

Nothing new for this guy.

They didn't have much time to dwell on it further, the remaining Krogan who saw this began to growl savagely at them before going in for the kill.

Of course said Krogan were no match for Ashley's team, especially with their new little companion on their side.

626 even hurled a piece of debris at one of the Krogan, his form flailing about with multiple broken limbs.

The others broke out of their earlier daze and went back to taking out the rest of the Krogan around them that didn't take much long in defeating.

Once the battle was over, the ground team entered another room where they found a Geth transmitter. No longer wanting any more Geth to appear here, they were quick in destroying it and heading back to rejoin the others.

As this was going on, Shepard's team consisting of Liara, Kaidan and Tali came across a wrecked up garage. Upon entering it, they were assaulted and confronted with a very hungry and angry (hangry) pack of Varren; a reptilian-canine species.

The warren attacked, but they were no match for the squad.

As Shepard and Liara gathered up the warren corpses, Kaidan went around to inspect the garage in case any more warren were hiding for a surprise attack; only to find none. Tali, meanwhile, came across a damaged Mako situated above an inclined rising of stairs. The Quarian decided to take a ganger and properly retrieve the vehicle's power cells, hoping they could work with the colony's generator.

With their little assignments done, the entire ground team made the trek back to the main colony and the mood of its residents was getting better. With the water valves back on, the warren were killed with their meat added to the food rations and the mako power cell was successful in powering the generator; it's no wonder the colonists were all the more happier.

When reporting to Fai Dan on what occurred in the tunnels, the leader of Zhu's Hope was really relieved; especially when hearing the Geth in the tunnels were taken care of.

Yet when Shepard mentioned the one man in the tunnels, Fai Dan just mentioned he was very troubled. Some of the ground team was able to pick up the subtle eye and facial movements, making them wonder what Fai Dan was actually talking about.

"How much do you wanna bet he's hiding something?" Wrex murmured.

Ashley snorted. "That's a sucker's bet."

Roxas frowned. "What would he be hiding?"

"Something that he doesn't want us to know." Shepard said, side eyeing Fai Dan.

"At least we know where the rest of the Geth are holed up."

"Just need to get across the Sky Highway leading up to the abandoned ExoGeni corporate building."

"Yeup!"

When entering the elevator, the entire team could only wait for anticipation to get out once the doors closed.

"Seriously, this must be with all elevators in this galaxy. Can't they just make them all a little faster?" Ashley groaned aloud.

626 growled before going off in his gibbering mess of a language.

The Gunnery Chief gazed intently at the little guy with 626 looking right back up at her expectantly. "Okay, are you agreeing with me or not? Just asking."

The little blue furred creature merely nodded.

"Huh, would've thought something else."

"Why's that?" Tali asked.

"Cause I momentarily forgot this guy is sentient. Though I don't know if he's smart."

This earned a bland look from 626.

"What?"

Before 626 could give a coherent answer, the elevator doors parted ways with 626 letting out a 'humph' with his head turned away and walking out of the elevator, nose raised.

It was a rather comical display.

The moment was interrupted when the sound of a firefight took place.

The team rushed in, soon assisting the colonist scouts in taking down the dozen Geth drones and soldiers all around the garage.

As this occurred, 626 was ready for action.

Once leaping into the air, he dive bombed into a Geth drone and was quick to rip it apart. Landing on the ground, he performed a recovery roll before spotting a few guns lying around. Rushing towards them, each of his four hands snagged them before pulling the triggers.

Off to the side, Roxas cleaved through a Geth Destroyer when he saw something interesting with 626.

"Well would you look at that."

Curious, some of the Normandy team looked over and was astonished seeing the little blue alien wielding the guns and actually using them properly. Some shots didn't reach their mark, given the varied sizes of the weapons, but the rest were made up for with the little creature's assault.

Shepard huffed in amused astonishment. "I'll be damned."

"What else does that little thing have up its sleeve?"

"We can ask it to show and tell later." Shepard said, tossing out a Biotic pull which dragged a Geth drone in with Roxas following up the move by cleaving through the flying bot.

Once the assault was over, the ground team was able to properly take a look of their surroundings.

"Oh crap." Garrus muttered.

"What?" Asked Kaidan.

The Turian merely pointed, making the marine and the others look. Their relative calm expressions soon turned into one of dread.

"Hell no." Quickly said the marine lieutenant.

"What's up with you people?" Shepard said annoyingly. "It's just a Mako."

"That's the point, Skipper." Ashley began. "It's a Mako."

"And?"

"You always call dibs on driving the Mako."

"So?"

"Do you want the blunt response?"

"I think it's better to just go ahead and rip the bandage off." Garrus suggested.

"What do you mean?"

"Your driving is horrendous!"

"It's not!"

"Yes it is!"

"Wha- Garrus I-"

"You drove the Mako off a cliff. To spite me. Yeah, and while I'm at it, you're driving sucks Ash."

"Well excuse me for having little to no experience driving one." Ashley said, soon glaring at the N7 marine. "The only ones who seem fine with your driving, Shepard, are Roxas and Wrex."

"Don't their opinions count then?"

"No, Wrex is 700 years old and has seen some shit. Roxas is just… well it sounds rude to call him weird but we all know that's the case."

Roxas didn't really take any offense to it, merely shrugging at the end of it. Wrex merely snorted.

"I doubt all of us can fit in that Mako. Model seems a bit smaller than the one we use." Garrus pointed out.

Shepard hummed when taking that bit of info to consideration. It wasn't long before speaking up.

"Wrex."

"Hmmm?"

"You're in charge." Jane declared making everyone blink.

"What now?" the aged Krogan asked.

"You stay behind here and watch over the colony." Shepard stated. "Liara, Tali and Roxas are gonna stay here to back you up."

Wrex glanced over to them and then back at Shepard.

"What about all the action I'm gonna miss." Wrex said with an annoyed tone.

Jane rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "The action is gonna come straight at you whether you like it or not. That's how everyone is on the team now."

"And what about 626?"

At the mention of the little alien, he perked his head up towards the N7 commander. His ears were raised and there was a slightly hopeful look in his eyes.

"Haven't really considered…" Jane looked at the little critter, remembering the assault earlier. "It's your choice if you want to join me or stay behind."

"Little guy can surprisingly hold up on his own."

626 found himself staring back and forth between the commander and Roxas, a look of reluctance appearing on his expression.

Without even thinking about it…

"I'll be here." Roxas assured the little koala-like alien.

Wordlessly, the blue furred alien nodded and walked over to the Mako, clearly giving his message.

"Alright, people, we have our assignments."

When the teams separated, the colonist guards had the garage door open for the Mako to proceed onto the Sky Highway.

Once given the "okay", Shepard gunned it.

"You seriously need to be cautious this time, Skipper!" Ashley warned as the commander haphazardly drove through the open road. "One false turn could result in us dropping ten thousand stories!"

"Oh we'll be fine-"

"Geth dropship!" Garrus called out, spotting the purple plaited ship hovering some distance away. It soon deposited a couple of Geth Armatures before leaving the area.

"You were saying?"

"Ash, shut up. And Garrus-"

"I know."

Getting onto the guns, Garrus began his work. Firing away at the Geth forces, the one Armature was slowly being shredded apart. It would've been done faster if the shields were down.

Scrambling to the front of the Mako, 626 saw the slow process it was taking for Garrus to take the Armature down. When it began firing back with its cannons, Shepard quickly swerved out of the way to avoid getting hit.

The mind of the koala-like alien began to work upon seeing this happen before him.

When Shepard moved the Mako ever closer, once the previous Armature fell to the ground in a massive heap, 626 went into action.

"Hey, what are you doing?!" Kaidan yelled out, seeing 626 getting out of the Mako.

It was too late for Shepard to stop moving as she ended up swerving. This caused 626 to be flung towards one of the standing Geth Armatures. With his claws out, he quickly scraped through the synthetic before digging into it. It spasmed around as a result of the invader penetrating it's frame.

"What the hell is he doing?" Ashley inquired.

When driving in as close as she can get, Shepard saw 626 breaking through several wire cords and started reworking them. It wasn't long before the little alien directed the Geth Armature to face the other one present and commanded the Geth to fire onto its ally.

"I… I think he just hijacked it."

Both Kaidan and Ashely bore bewildered looks. "You sure?" Asked the lieutenant marine.

"She's not kidding, Alenko." Said Garrus from the Mako's gun. "It sure looks like it."

When the opposing Geth Armature collapsed onto the Sky Highway, 626 saw the Geth Dropship coming back towards them, ready to deposit more opponents.

Not wanting that to happen, 626 jumped off his hijacked Armature, dug his claws into one of its legs and lifted it up with utmost ease. Soon after, he spun in place before throwing the large Geth directly into the Dropship's path. Both pieces of machinery met midair and broke apart from the speed and strength 626 used in the recent throw before they plummeted to the ground… thousands of stories high.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"WHAT THE FUCK!?"

-Meanwhile, back at Zhu's Hope-

"FIRA!"

A large fireball shot out from the edge of Roxas's weapon, the flaming sphere striking a cluster of Neoshadows and incinerating them.

He was currently leading the defenses of Zhu's Hope for the mast part having Tali and Liara back him up primarily.

Wrex was assisting in his own manner, having picked up on a few new tricks when dealing with the Heartless.

He may have his strength, but the Heartless were unnatural in how they can take the damage. The Shadows appeared to be the easiest to take out with his bare hands though it took some practice. The emblem Heartless on the other hand provided the greatest challenge.

The use of Biotics were essential in providing enough of an equalizer and even then the Battlemaster found taking down the Heartless difficult.

Case in point, the newest Heartless that they currently fought against was with Wyverns and Surveillance Robots in the sky.

They were large, broad, humanoid and extremely muscular in their mechanical frames. The collective of these newcomers sported grey skin, yellow eyes, and engine-shaped pauldrons on their shoulders with green highlights, and its feet are shaped like goat hooves. The helms have twin horns jutting out of it, resembling engines as well. The Heartless emblem was displayed upon their chest plates.

They were quickly dubbed Mechanitaurs.

"What was it you said earlier about 'the action you're about to miss'?" Roxas said towards the Krogan.

"I know what I said and I take it back."

After firing off several rounds from her Geth Pulse Rifle, Tali aimed her Omni-tool and fired off several lightning bolts, scorching the dive bombing Wyvern soon after. As her device went into its cooldown period, the Quarian tossed a grenade as it soon detonated and sent several Neoshadows flying away.

Liara, meanwhile, had to quickly pull up a biotic barrier to protect herself from the assault from a Geth Surveillance Drone, different from a Heartless Surveillance Robot.

This one had only one 'eye'.

And it didn't have beams of energy appear around it in a circle before firing them at their targets.

Also, the Heartless emblem was lacking from this drone.

With her Barrier up, Tali was quick to rush to her aid, bringing out her Omni-tool for an overload upon the Geth Drone.

The drone spasmed in the air, Liara bringing down her barrier to shoot down the Geth a moment later.

Over with Roxas, he was having a slight difficulty in combating these new heavily armored Heartless. They fought more organized than other Heartless, constantly ramming him together.

It was getting a bit frustrating now.

When he fought the Heartless, for the most part, many of them felt familiar with every "new" Heartless he encountered giving him a sense of knowledge that allowed him to beat them quite soundly.

These Heartless, however, were very different from what he was used to.

But Roxas wasn't to just back down so easily.

Gritting his teeth, Roxas grasped his Keyblade tightly in front of him as the Mechanitaurs readied themselves for another unified charge.

Rather than having his Keyblade rest upon his shoulder like he usually would do so, Roxas instead grasped it in a slightly elevated diagonal manner holding the Keyblade with both hands and ran forward.

The assembled rows of Mechanitaur all lowered their heads and charged at the lone Keyblade wielder.

Undeterred by the oncoming charge, Roxas called upon the latent power he held within him.

His affinity.

Light.

Feeling the power begin to course through his body, Roxas blurred out of sight, leaving only wisps of light in his wake.

The Mechanitaur charge was halted right in its tracks.

Well… halted would be a kind word.

Instead, the seemingly impenetrable wall of the Heartless was shattered by the glowing form of the Keyblade's chosen.

Several of them were destroyed instantly, while the rest were all stumbling back.

Power surging through him, Roxas unleashed one powerful blow after another with pillars of lights exploding around him with every swing.

The Mechanitaur "battalion" scrambled in an attempt to bring the Keybearer down but his attacks were relentless. All around him, the pillars of light only increased in numbers and size until he finished the attack with one final horizontal swing that led him to his arm up and around his head to embed the Keyblade into the ground.

Upon impact, light burst from and around him with towers of additional light completely eradicating the Heartless around him.

Roxas panted, the light around him slowly subsiding until it vanished entirely.

A moment later, his Keyblade disappeared with him falling on all fours as he tried to steady his breathing.

"Roxas!" Tali was immediately by his side, assisting him to stand back up.

He shakily rose to his feet though he wobbled, Tali keeping her hands upon his shoulders to keep him steady.

"You alright there kid?" Wrex asked, walking over to the daze Keybearer.

"F-Fine." Roxas stammered, slowly regaining his balance and senses.

"Goddess, what was that just now?" Liara asked in utter astonishment.

"It looked like that thing he pulled back on Therum." Noted the Krogan.

"That thing is called a Limit Break." Roxas rasped out.

"...It has a name?"

Ignoring the confused tone coming from Wrex, Roxas looked around and saw the state of the area.

"That takes care of them, I suppose." Roxas said.

Wrex only snorted, taking a moment to make sure Roxas' words to be true. "I suppose you're right."

"Hopefully for a long while." Tali said.

"We should probably radio this into Shepard." Liara suggested.

"Good idea."

Flaring the Omni-tool to life, Roxas attempted to call Shepard, yet there seemed to be no answer.

"Huh, weird."

"What's weird?"

"She's not picking up."

Worry flashed momentarily across Liara's face "Do you think she and the others are in trouble?"

Wrex gave his opinion on the matter. "If I know Shepard, she's alright. Alenko, Williams and Garrus can definitely hold their own."

Roxas nodded as he pulled out some Ethers and consumed them. Having his magical reserves filled back up, he thought he was in the clear to move a bit more. Yet his stumble was a clear give away that he needed help.

Luckily for him, it came in the form of Tali.

"I got you."

Roxas gave her a kind smile. "Thanks, Tali."

"Go take a breather, you two." Wrex gestured off, back towards the colony. "Liara and I can handle things out here."

"Are you sure about that?" Tali asked in concern.

"We will be fine, Tali." Liara assured. "These weapons and our Biotics will hold the defenses."

Roxas grunted a bit, reaching into his pocket to pull out a few jars and blocks with stars on them. "Take these. They'll help you out with your health and biotics."

"Thank you, Roxas." Liara graciously accepted with Wrex taking only one of each.

"Thanks, runt."

When Tali and Roxas walked off to find somewhere to rest, they saw Fai Dan. He gave them his thanks once more with their present actions before heading off somewhere.

Seeing his retreating form, Roxas frowned a little. "Tali."

"Yes, Roxas?"

"Do you remember the man in the tunnel?"

"I do, why?"

"I remember him telling us to ask Fai Dan about something."

"I do, but his weird headache kept cutting himself off from telling what was on his mind."

"Yeah, it is strange."

As the two kept moving onwards, the Nobody started to notice several things going on.

For one, the colonists acted strange half the time. Some were properly scared and terrified while others were… unusually docile.

"Speaking of, don't you get the feeling that something's… just not right here."

Tali paused for a moment, thinking and gave her thoughts.

"I do." Tali admitted nervously. "I didn't wanna say it but everything about this just feels off the more I think about it."

Looking around to make sure there was no one nearby, she leaned over to whisper into Roxas's ear.

"It's as if something's watching me, and it's not the colonists, if you know what I mean."

Roxas nodded. "I tried asking them a few questions earlier and they all seem to be nervous about something. Something other than the Geth. They kept dodging everything I asked. "

"But what are we supposed to do about it?" Tali said with an anxious tone. "It's not like we can just interrogate these people. We're supposed to be protecting them."

"Can't they answer something? Anything?"

Tali hummed once more. "Maybe we can sick Wrex on them and see what happens."

Roxas laughed a little, making the Quarian laugh in return.

-Back with Shepard and Co-

After witnessing the event on the Sky Highway, Shepard had to be a bit more careful on the Skyway. Reason being their path to the ExoGeni building was truly becoming extra rough. Potholes and debris littered the area, making their ride extra bumpy.

More so with the fact they learned the Mako's wheels had a bit more spring to its rolls.

And boy there were some moments the Mako almost flew off the Skyway due to the unintentional high jumps when they were driving at its edge.

Whereas everyone didn't enjoy the ride, 626 was laughing through most of it.

"I'm fearing for my sanity of the growing list of people who aren't affected badly by your driving."

Shepard sniffled a little in a mock hurtful manner. "Hurtful, Garrus. Hurtful."

Drawing closer to the corporate building, they were picking up radio chatter. They didn't know if it was coming from other colonists that Fai Dan forgot to mention, but they decided to investigate.

It just so happened they came across a small barricaded camp consisting of ExoGeni scientists and security guards who made it out alive when the Geth attacked.

Soon introducing themselves, Shepard's team got introduced to Juliana and Jeong, a scientist and corporate representative, respectively. They talked to the N7 commander, explaining to her about the Geth situation, the people at Zhu's Hope and soon enough Jeong ranting on and on about the ExoGeni property being wrecked by the Geth.

Before moving on, Juliana approached Shepard and pleaded for her help.

"Commander, before you go… my daughter, Lizbeth. She's missing and-"

"They shouldn't waste time poking around." Jeong interrupted the scientist. "We can do a proper accounting of our casualties after the Geth are gone."

Both Shepard, her team and Juliana were no doubt pissed on how insecure the corporate man was acting. Some of the Normandy crew members were quick to realize the man is the type of person who would embrace the ideology of free enterprise: profiting at any cost.

Jeong was the type of man who would pitch the idea of creating a colony on top of the ruins of the extinct Prothean race with no regards in risking lives and treating others like obstacles to the path of personal greatness.

Hopefully once leaving Feros, they wouldn't have to deal with this type of person for a long time.

Getting back on track, Shepard promised Juliana that she'll find her and bring her back as safe as she can manage.

Upon reaching the building and exiting out of the Mako, the team of four -plus 626- started scavenging for clues and any Geth activity inside of the abandoned corporate building.

They knew there should at least be some Geth, given the large Geth Dropship attached to the side of the Prothean structure, which was converted into the ExoGeni office building. Knowing that if they want to halt the Geth attacks a whole lot longer, that craft needs to go.

"This place is a wreck."

"Was this because of the poor conditions of the building's age or the firefight?"

"Might be both."

It wasn't long before they were quickly greeted with a small contingent of Geth consisting of a few snipers, a rocket trooper and several shock troopers.

"Geth… settle nicely… huh?" 626 said rhetorically as he grabbed a large piece of debris and chucked it to the higher level where the snipers were located and were assumed to be destroyed.

"Took the words right out of my mouth, little guy." Said Kaidan, firing off his biotic-infused rounds at the shock troopers.

"What I don't get is what they are up to?" Spoke Garrus, firing his assault rifle at the rest of the Geth. "There's no point in this unless they are looking for something."

"Could be related with whatever ExoGeni has." Ashley offered as she fired more of her special incendiary rounds.

When the area was clear, the group traversed a little further in and came across a locked door. Before any of the ground team made the attempt to hack it for investigational purposes, 626 dug his claws into the door and ripped it out of the wall.

"Thanks little guy." Shepard said, ruffling his head a little.

626 chuckled a little as he walked on ahead.

When Shepard was about to enter the space, loud sounds of metal being torn apart with metallic wheezing could be heard. The team quickly ran in and saw the little blue alien was tearing apart a Geth Armature.

"Damn, now he's holding up the spot of most impressive Geth kills." Garrus commented.

"First the hijacking and throw and now this." Shepard added in.

"No doubt Wrex would've wanted to witness this." Said the Gunnery Chief.

Once the Armature is down, the group exits the one room. As they did, Kaidan quickly spotted a Geth Hopper crawling up the walls. Throwing a Statis field around it, the Geth platform was frozen solid before it's head was assaulted and destroyed with Biotic rounds.

"Alright, we're clear now."

"Good eye, Kaidan."

"Thanks, commander."

Walking down a slope of rubble, the group came across a large cavern with several fires still going on. Rounding a corner, they were greeted with gunfire as some bullets grazed their kinetic shields.

In an instant, everyone had their guns trained on the assailant. They momentarily thought it was a Geth, but it wasn't one at all; rather it was a human woman.

"Oh my god!" Said the woman, placing her hand over her mouth. "I'm so sorry. I thought you were the Geth or the warren!"

"It's alright, you're safe now." Shepard relieved the woman before ushering her team to lower their weapons. "I'm Commander Shepard of the Normandy. This here is my team."

"Are you perhaps Lizbeth?" Garrus asked.

The woman widened her eyes. "H-How did-"

"We ran into your mother on the way over here. She is with the other ExoGeni employees." Spoke the commander. "She asked us to find you and bring you back while we're here."

The now identified Lizbeth smiles upon hearing this. She thought she was the only one alive.

"Don't mind me asking this but why are you here in the first place and not with the others?" Asked the lieutenant marine. "Let alone survived for so long on your own."

Lizbeth complied and answered Kaidan's question, explaining that it was her fault of being left behind. She wanted to back up and save the company's data when the Geth showed up and attacked. Yet it was a wasted endeavor when the power went out. She tried to get out, but the Geth were blocking her only ways of escaping via energy field and patrols.

Ever since the Geth took root here, Lizbeth had been hunting the passing warren and hiding from the invading synthetics.

"Do you perhaps know why the Geth are here in the first place?" Shepard asked the ExoGeni employee.

"I don't know for certain, but I think they're here for the Thorian." Lizbeth's answer merely confused the bunch, causing her to explain. "It's an indigenous plant based life-form. ExoGeni was studying it after we found it. Aside from that, have no clue what else the Geth are looking for."

The human members of the Normandy exhaled a tired, frustrated sigh.

Why is it that everyone trusts corporations or governments that study biological life forms the first chance they get? There were scores of movies and novels each of them read in the past which explored this concept. Didn't anyone ever bother learning about the idea? It never ends well for anyone involved.

"And where can we find this Thorian?"

"I'm not certain on its whereabouts, the higher ups never told me. I'm just a research assistant." Said Lizbeth. "But if you can get me back to my mother, she could maybe tell you."

"We won't be able to leave this place until the barriers are down." Kaidan plainly stated.

"Any suggestions are helpful right about now." Shepard stressed out.

"Taking out the ship powering them is the most likely option." Garrus pointed out.

"Then we should get going."

Before the group could leave, the research assistant spoke up.

"Wait, you should take this." Lizbeth then handed them her employee ID card. "This could help you get through any locked doors still operating."

Shepard nodded, pocketing the ID card before stating the obvious question wafting around them. "You got a place you can hide?"

"Somewhat with those Geth and warren running around."

Kaidan then decided to bring up a bit of info. "We have already cleared out some pockets of Geth on our way here."

"He's right." Jane stated. "Why don't you wait by the Mako by the one entrance and we'll take you back to your mother once we take care of the Geth and find what we're looking for."

"I'll do that." Lizbeth said as she went to her new destination.

When she exited the chamber, the group was ready to depart when they noticed something off.

"Where's 626?" The Spectre asked, her squad realizing he was missing.

"Now that you mention him, I was wondering why that woman wasn't freaking out." Ashley pointed out, looking around to see if she could spot the little guy.

"Given that he wasn't here with us."

"Once again, where is he?"

Soon enough, they saw the little blue furred alien scampering towards them.

"And where did you run off to?"

626 didn't say anything, merely chuckling a little as they walked towards the nearest door.

"That doesn't sound reassuring."

Unbeknownst to the Normandy members, their recent companion went off hiding when the others encountered Lizbeth. As he did, he came across half a dozen warren.

...Suffice to say, said pack wouldn't be leaving anytime soon, due to them becoming outright afraid of the koala-like alien.

Passing through a locked door, which opened up due to Lizbeth's ID card, they rounded a corner and found a flight of stairs. Climbing to the top, the group soon heard the grumblings of a Krogan.

"Stupid machine! Access encrypted files!"

When they moved closer, they heard another voice speak back to the Krogan, which was apparently a VI program. "I am unable to respond. Please contact your supervisor."

Coming to the top of the stairs, they found themselves standing behind a large Krogan standing in front of a human looking VI. Said Krogan seemed to try accessing information from the VI console with no luck at all.

Upon seeing this, Ashley had some remark in mind about Krogan and technology, but she couldn't think of the joke being good or not.

The Krogan was no doubt exasperated and continued to threaten the VI. "Damn it! Tell me what I want or I'll blast your virtual ass into actual dust!"

The VI program was not compliant enough to the Krogan's liking when it responded back. "Please contact your supervisor for a Level 4 security exemption or make an appointment-"

"Stupid machine!"

Then the VI program said something that made the Normandy team want to act up on the Krogan's threat. "If there's nothing else, please step aside. There is a queue forming behind you for the use of this console."

The Krogan turned around to see Shepard and her team standing right behind him. The Krogan drew out his shotgun and charged right at them.

Kaidan was quick on the draw and threw out a Stasis field around the charging Krogan. Soon after, the rest of the group opened fire, having their bullets tear through the Krogan's armor and body. As the Statis field wore off, the Krogan's body dropped to the ground, which shook slightly as a result.

Once thanking Kaidan, Shepard approached the VI console.

"Welcome back, Research Assistant Elizabeth Baynham. What can I do for you?"

Hearing this from the VI, the team gave each other looks.

"Must be reading Lizbeth's ID card."

Nodding, Shepard requested her information from the VI console. "What information was the last user attempting to access?"

The VI hesitates for a moment, looking at us coldly. It was oddly creepy when really thinking about it with the eyes and all that.

"Fetching data," said the VI. "Previous user was attempting to access details on the study of Subject Species 37, the Thorian."

"What did you tell him?"

"I was unable to provide relevant data," the VI nonchalantly continued. "Asides from lacking proper access, there has been no new available data on Species 37. All sensors monitoring the observation posts at Zhu's Hope have been inactive for several cycles."

At the mention of Zhu's Hope, everyone visibly flinched.

"Zhu's Hope?" Kaidan asked. "What does the Thorian and ExoGeni have to do with the colonists?"

Shepard shook her head. "Only one way to find out." She turned back to the VI and repeated Kaidan's inquiry.

The VI then gave the answer. "Species 37 is located within the substructure of Zhu's Hope outpost."

...Well… shit…

"Tell me everything you know about the Thorian." Shepard firmly demanded, finally realizing there to be a connection with the Geth and possibly Saren's interest with the place.

"The Thorian is a simple plant life form that exhibits a sentient behavior uncommon with other flora," said the VI. "Through dispersion and eventual inhalation of spores, it can affect and control other organisms, including humans."

As the VI continued to answer Shepard's questions, Kaidan, Ashley, Garrus and 626 gave each other knowing looks as they basically overheard the gist of what came next.

ExoGeni was practically using Zhu's Hope as one huge control experiment with nearly everyone already infected.

Kaidan piped up. "That would explain the strange behavior."

"We need to contact Joker, now." Garrus said firmly.

Shepard nodded and opened a comm link. "Joker. Come in, Joker. Do you read?"

There was no response.

"Dammit!"

"The Geth barrier must be jamming the signal." Stated the Gunnery Chief.

"All the more reason to take down the Geth ship and hightail it back to Zhu's Hope as fast as possible."

With their new task being set, the group climbed up the nearby flight of stairs, hoping to find the Geth ship as soon as possible.

Apparently it didn't take long to find.

Asides from several claws lodged through, tubes from the ship were pulled in through the wall openings to produce what appeared to be some type of feeding tube from the Geth ship's power generator. And some of them were connected to the ExoGeni computers, no doubt downloading whatever information needed from their files and whatever else from the Prothean ruins.

What really drew their attention was the Geth's present action.

"Are they praying?" Kaidan asked.

"It looks like it." Ashley replied with a grim tone as they saw the Geth kneeling before an orb of light.

"Remember, the Geth think the Reapers are their gods and Saren is their prophet." Garrus stated. "They'll be willing to fight and do anything to make Saren's 'goals' a reality."

"Alright. So how should we approach-"

"ALOHA!"

Shepard's squad quickly saw 626 was before the Geth as he quickly jumped on top of each of them and ripped to shreds. Whatever else remained standing were shot down by the little creature's armaments.

"...That was quick."

Ashley turned to the small blue alien.

"Was that Hawaiian just now?"

626 just made a sound of sorts that sort of sounded like his version of yes.

Stranger and stranger this day went on.

Getting closer to the machinery around them, the group started to analyze it.

"Looks like the Geth are using these claws to anchor their ship to the building's side." Said Kaidan.

"Rather subtle there." Garrus quipped. "Now then, gonna need to find a way to cut off the ship's power from here."

"Easier said than done." Ashley said, walking around one of the claws.

"We... try to release… ship." 626 suggested.

Garrus nodded as he started looking at the claws a little more. "Yeah, perhaps these claws have an exploitable weakness of some kind."

"We should keep moving and find the other claws." Shepard ordered the group.

Traversing through the corridors, the team kept running into several Geth nests here and there which proved to be of minimal challenge. Even coming across a few rooms being blocked off by a glowing blue force field.

Eventually coming onto the next floor up, they found another claw brought through a shutter bay door into what appeared to be a containment lab.

Yet the matter of removing the remaining Geth in the room that needed to be taken care of first.

Resolving the Geth issue on the upper area was a bit easy to deal with, given Garrus' special sniper rifle was able to fire a splitting beam, hitting each of them all at once. As for the rest, they were taken care of with the rest of the squad in their own respective manners.

Once the Geth were cleared out, the group inspected the various computers in order to see what could possibly be done in the room. Aside from reading a report on an offsite ExoGeni facility, something pertaining to a group called Cerberus and a Geth Incursion in the Armstrong Nebula, there was nothing to be said with their current situation. But they did copy the information onto their Omni-tools for later use.

In the far off area of the containment lab, 626 came across a repair ticket attached to a console. It explained that the shuttle bay doors were fried yet again, saying that the doors would slam shut if the PSI was in between the 31 and 34 zone with enough pressure to cut through metal.

Humming to himself, 626 quickly got onto the controls and began his work.

In no time, the little blue furred alien found the right sequence and activated the broken bay door.

In an instant, the doors quickly clamped onto the claws and cut right through them. Without the claws, there was no proper grip and without said grip, the Geth ship started tumbling off the building and fell thousands of stories to the solid earth below. This resulted in an emphatic crash and boom that rattled the entire tower.

The three humans and Turian all gaped in utter astonishment as to what the little guy had just accomplished.

"Holy crap! You did it!"

626 merely laughed in glee.

The team's celebration was cut short by the Normandy's pilot blurting through Shepard's comm link.

"-I repeat, Normandy to shore party. Are you reading? Anyone there? Normandy to shore party. Shepard, Kaidan, Ashley, Garrus, anyone! Talk to me!"

The N7 marine quickly responded. "We're here Joker. What's going on over there?"

"Finally you answer!" Joker yelled out. "Look, we're currently on lockdown. Something happened to the colonists. They're banging the hull and trying to claw their way into the ship. They're freaking out. It's like the Resident Evil here, commander!"

"Hold your position and keep those people out, Joker." Shepard instructed. "You have to defend the Normandy at all costs."

"Why?"

"Because we just found out the colonists are infected by a creature ExoGeni has been hiding and they aren't acting and thinking clearly."

Shepard knew this was a selfish demand towards her disabled pilot, but she wanted to be sure her ship and crew were safe. Despite knowing the Normandy's occupants are trained to handle themselves in the worst case scenario, she was being a responsible, concerned commander on this debacle.

"Um… Okay." Joker said, clearly showing he wasn't too thrilled. "Maybe I'll fire a few warning shots if that'll work."

"Do what you can. We're on our way back."

"Then you better hurry cause the others are having an utter blast." Was Joker's sarcastic remark before cutting off.

-Scene Cut-

Some time had passed with no updates from Shepard and the others. This left Roxas, Wrex, Tali and Liara to hang around, patrolling the colony for another Geth or Heartless attack that they were convinced would not happen as time went on. More so on the former than the latter.

As they waited to hear back from the rest of the ground team, the present group tried to do whatever they could to relieve themselves of boredom.

Wrex was occasionally checking his gear for any other surprise attacks and Liara was typing information down onto her Omni-tool. As for Roxas and Tali, they were just having some mild conversation.

"I hope they make it back soon." Said Tali. "Sooner they come back, the sooner we leave this place."

Roxas nodded, knowing how uncomfortable the Quarian is starting to become recently. The atmosphere in Zhu's Hope was starting to become unbearable. What was once a semi-cheerful area started to shift into something else.

As Roxas was about to speak, he felt a sharp sting on the back of his arm.

He clutched his arm, glancing back to his attacker and…

"What?"

Hearing the mild grunt, Tali looked over and saw Roxas was hurt!

"Roxas?!"

Suddenly, she felt a sharp ping against her helmet and her Kinetic barrier flared dangerously. The Quarian whipped around and saw the colonists were suddenly lining up to shoot at them.

Eyes widening in disbelief and fear, Tali ducked down to avoid the oncoming fire, moving quickly to escape the line of fire. Getting behind a few crates, Tali was at a momentary loss on what to do with the colonists abruptly attacking her.

Seeing this happen, Roxas was quick to summon his Keyblade just in time to deflect the incoming fire. The shots sailed in different directions as he rolled over to Tali's position.

Tali soon got on the Normandy channel and yelled urgently. "Wrex, Liara, colonists just opened fire on Roxas and I! I repeat, colonists just opened fire on us!"

From where they were at, both Wrex and Liara immediately scrambled into action with their weapons at the ready.

They ran towards Roxas and Talis position, the sound of gunfire ahead.

They reached the two, though took cover behind a broken down pillar as the colonists saw the two and a few began firing at them.

"Are you two alright?!" Liara asked.

"Yeah, I'm good. So is Tali." Roxas responded. "But you guys should be careful."

Wrex, who could sense a change in the atmosphere, began to grin sadistically. "Well now, this is gonna get interesting."

Quickly realizing what Wrex was implying, Liara spoke up. "Wrex, we can't kill the colonists!"

"You forget I'm in charge here."

"But-"

Wrex interrupted the asari doctor, raising a biotic barrier just in time to block the barrage of bullets fired their way by the colonists.

"Is that the best you Pyjaks got?!" The Krogan Battlemaster challenged defiantly.

"Wrex, we can't kill them!" Liara said. "What would Shepard think of this?!"

Hearing this, Wrex hesitated now, knowing the Commander would more than likely chew his eat out. And possibly shoot him.

"Ugh! Fine! Tali, Roxas retreat to the Normandy if you can." Wrex ordered over the comms. "These worthless colonists get to live another day."

As he and Liara made their retreat to the Normandy, the two biotics threw several throw fields, knocking a number of colonists back and tumbling all over.

When nearing the barricade nearing the docking bay, the pair were blocked off by a number of colonists as a large number was rushing towards the Normandy. Before either Wrex and Liara could go forward to possibly disable the attacking colonists, a large ball of blue light crashed near the docking bay entrance. As it died down, a large block of ice was formed and blocked the colonists from entering.

Whirling around, the two biotics saw Roxas arriving with Tali.

"Come on, this way!"

Seeing as the Nobody essentially blocked their only exit at the time, the two biotics were forced to comply and follow him and the Quarian.

Running through the colony, they eventually reached the tower, which was the entrance to the tunnels below and the elevator to the Sky Highway up above. Once making past it, Roxas whirled around and casted Blizarra, forming a large ice wall and blocking the colonists from entering the tower.

"Well, great. Now you trapped us, runt."

"You forget I can break through this easily." Said the Nobody, dismissing his Keyblade soon after.

"...Whatever."

"So what now?" Tali asked.

"Just hunker down before Shepard and the rest come back, I suppose-"

Suddenly, they heard something… strange.

There were bizarre squelching and moaning sounds coming from nearby.

Whirling around, the group saw something walking up the stairs.

Roxas gazed upon the strange creatures that were coming for them.

They certainly were not Heartless. Nor were they anything like the usual types of aliens that they had faced before.

They looked human… decomposing humans.

Walking, rotting corpses.

They were ghastly looking creatures with black and grey skin with no eyeballs where the eye sockets should be. There was a permanent grin as if it was meant to smile with elongated fingers that seemed to turn out to be claws.

"What are those things?" Tali asked, clearly nervous at what she was looking at.

"They don't look friendly." Wrex growled, priming his gun. "Not human either."

"Goddess." Liara muttered, her Biotics appearing around her. "Are they… are those the colonists?"

"Think Shepard would be upset if we kill these bastards?" Wrex asked rhetorically.

"Pretty sure she'd make an exception for this case." Tali stated, now brandishing her shotgun.

Roxas only threw his hand out to re-summon his Keyblade as they faced the group of sickly and dead looking enemies that were now coming straight towards them.

Without another word being spoken, Roxas charged forward with the others beginning to fire upon these unusual and creepy enemies.

Getting close to one, Roxas reared back and smashed his Keyblade against the midsection of this creepy individual. The force in which it was hit caused it to fly several feet in the air before crashing down a moment later.

The rest began firing at the shambling bodies, biotics, bullets and enhanced weapons making quick work of these… Creepers.

Tali quickly activated her Omni-Tool and sent out a bolt of energy that shot through several of the new foes, the wrist device turning off to recharge.

Liara sent out a Biotic throw, making several of them fall over.

Wrex shot at the enemies left and right, his explosive ammunition tearing them apart.

Yet… more just kept on coming.

They were even coming from a separate hallway now with greater numbers as well as the ones they were fighting near the stares getting reinforcements of their own.

"We can't stay here." Liara said frantically.

"Run for the elevator." Roxas shouted, taking out another one of these strange creatures before he began running.

Upon scrambling inside, the doors finally closed just when one of the creepers was about to reach them. It's limb was quickly severed by the clenching doors before it simply dropped onto the elevator floor. It moved for a quick moment until it ceased to function.

"Ew." Tali said plainly, shivering at what they were looking at.

"What in Goddess's name is happening?" Liara asked.

Before anyone could answer, the arm suddenly twitched about for a moment until it stopped again.

Without needing any incentive, Wrex held up his shotgun and shot it to smithereens with chunks all over and a prominent viscous stain where the arm once was.

"...Do you think it was a bad idea to get in here?"

"Yeup."

"Most definitely."

Wrex, Liara and Tali then looked at the sheepish looking Nobody.

"Sorry, it was the first thing that came to mind."

Suddenly their comms buzzed to life. "Shepard to ground team. Ground team come in, over."

"Shepard, thank the goddess you and the others are alright!" Said Liara. "We're in a tight situation right now. The colonists have turned on us!"

"Yeah, Joker filled us in on the details." Said the commander. "Look, we're inbound from the Sky Highway to the garage as we speak."

"Understood. We're already on our way there. We'll wait for your arrival." Said the Krogan.

Making it to the garage leading to the Sky Highway, the group stepped out and soon saw a large cluster of Creepers walking about the space.

"...Well… damn."

The Creepers soon noticed their arrival as nearly all of them screeched loudly. Rushing forward, the zombie-like creatures were coming closer to their position.

In an instant, the four person team went to work.

Roxas casted Fira on a number of them while Liara used a biotic throw to keep them away. Whatever else came remotely close was soon met with the shotgun blasts courtesy of Wrex and Tali.

Before long, the garage door started to open as the Mako rushed into the area. In an instant, the rest of the ground team exited out of the land vehicle and came in to assist their allies.

Shepard fired rapidly with a surprising ally riding upon her shoulders.

626 laughed wickedly, firing at every Creeper that he could get his sights on.

Garrus and Kaidan fought together with Ashely rushing over to help the others.

With all eight squad members plus the add on of 626, they made quick work of these bizarre Creepers.

"What were those things?" Kaidan asked aloud.

"They looked like something from a zombie flick." Shepard remarked, crouching down to examine one of the bodies.. "Must be this Thorian's doing."

"Thorian? What's a Thorian?" Wrex asked.

From here, Shepard and her squad told the others of what they had learned since they saw them last. From meeting the ExoGeni scientists to learning the truth of what's really going on at Zhu's Hope.

By the end of it, Wrex's squad was utterly disgusted.

"They basically allowed this to happen." Liara said in a revolted manner.

"Why would they do this?" Roxas asked, completely off put by what he had heard.

"Stupid reasons." Shepard huffed. "Right now, we have more pressing matters."

The team gathered around the Commander as she began to explain the game plan in taking out the Thorian.

"We need to use these." Shepard and the rest of her one team held up grenades. "These are modified gas grenades that will take down the colonists non-lethally. No lethal force is to be used, is that understood?"

"You got it."

"We'll have to use some biotics, just in case." Kaidan said, earning nods from his fellow biotic users.

"And where's this Thorian?" Tali inquired.

"We were told the entrance to the Thorian's whereabouts is underneath the pre-fab units." Informed their Turian sniper.

"At least we now know where to head off to." Liara stated. "I remember seeing where those are at."

"Good. Anything else we should bring up before we move out?" Shepard asked.

Roxas thought for a moment before speaking his thoughts. "I remember after I set some of the creepers ablaze, a small number of them were running around in confusion."

"Hmm… then it seems they're susceptible to fire." Shepard mused aloud. "Alright. Ash, you use your incendiary rounds and Roxas your fire spells."

With this said, the group made it to the elevator and took the ride down. The wait was partially agonizing, but the team was laser focused on what is about to occur.

The moment the doors parted ways, Roxas quickly casted Fira onto the coming Creepers. Once blasted back, Ashley started firing upon them as the effects of their two burning attacks were giving them a chance. And just when the group were parting from the enclosed space, Liara threw a biotic throw, sending the remainder creepers away.

Kaidan was quick to do the same and a moment later, Jane helped as well.

Garrus kept moving about, shooting the Creepers to immobilize them rather than just kill.

Tali was fighting closely with Wrex and Liara, the trio managing to take down a large swatch of the Creepers.

Once the tower was cleared, the group came across Roxas' ice wall. Smashing through it with his Keyblade, Roxas walked on out and saw the various colonists soon looking at them.

"Grenades!"

Upon Shepard's command, several team members tossed out the modified gas grenades. In mere seconds, the infected colonists started dropping one by one as they entered a state of unconsciousness.

"Great to see they're working." Garrus plainly stated.

"Now let's take care of the rest." Said Kaidan.

When occasionally coming across some stray colonists, they quickly discovered that using melee attacks to knock out the colonists worked just as well as using the gas grenades. The creepers had come out in numbers, causing some problems here and there, but it wasn't too difficult for the ground team to handle.

Soon enough, the rescue of the colony was successful and they eventually came across the pre-fab labs.

"Alright, let's see how we can reach the entrance."

They saw a crane nearby, quickly giving Shepard an idea. But when they were about to reach it, a shot rang out and the control box to the crane system sparked up.

Whirling around, they saw Fai Dan holding up a gun with a pained expression on his features. Clearly showing he was not doing so well.

"Fai Dan? What the hell?!" Shepard exclaimed.

"I… I tried to fight it, but it's in my head!" Fai Dan cried out. "You can't imagine the pain! I… I was supposed to protect these people. They trusted me!"

Next thing he did was bring up his gun towards them, quickly having the team aim their weapons in return.

"It… It wants me to stop you all. Hampering you from reaching it." Fai Dan then placed his sidearm to his temple. "But I… won't. I won't!"

*BANG*

The bullet went through the man's skull, having grey matter splatter out from the exit wound. After that, he collapsed onto the ground dead.

The team had their own responses to what they just witnessed. Some merely grimaced while the rest hanged their heads in respect for the man resisting against the Thorian in his last few moments.

Roxas, however, only bore a blank stare, something which Tali and Jane took notice of.

Neither didn't know what to really make of it as Roxas should at least have something responsive upon witnessing this.

"Roxas…"

Roxas turned and saw Tali's concerned look upon hearing her muttering his name.

At this point, Garrus turned as well and saw the oddly blank stare the kid bore right before it shifted onto something else.

"So what now?" Roxas asked plainly.

Garrus soon snapped out of his mild state of thinking before speaking the obvious question. "Without the controls, how are we gonna enter?"

The others contemplated, wondering how they can work around this issue.

Roxas, all the while, watched silently as 626 approached the pre-fabs with him rolling his shoulders. He then spat into his palms, rubbed them together and shoved them down underneath their obstacle.

"Eh… What's the little runt doing?" Wrex inquired.

His answer was soon received when 626 lifted the entire pre-fab off of the ground and walked over to the large opened area nearby before dropping it.

"Oh… yeah… that works… I guess." Tali said blandly, in complete disbelief.

"That was nothing compared to what he did to that Geth Armature." Ashley muttered out, still wide eyed on what she just saw.

"I'm sorry, what happened?"

"We'll tell you later."

Shaking herself out of her small state of shock, Shepard ushered her team to enter the newly revealed entrance.

Reaching down the stairs, the ground team soon traversed through a maze-like corridor with the winding pathways here and there. Eventually they reached a large area with an odd looking object at its center.

Kaidan just kept talking about what to expect. "Okay, by the numbers, we need to find… to find…"

The lieutenant marine trailed off as he and the others were open mouthed upon seeing the odd thing before them.

"Keelah… What is… that?"

"Ok… first off, disgusting." Shepard said blankly. "Second… I think that's the Thorian."

The Thorian was large, resembling like a bulb of a plant and it was suspending itself using roots attaching itself to the many levels of corridors. It was the color of tanned brown and slightly off with a green tint. It had a triangular face and tentacles coming out where its mouth would be.

Ashley felt a migraine coming on, rubbing the side of her head.

"Can we go just one mission without running into something freaky." Ash groaned. "First the Geth, then these Heartless, then those creepy zombies and now this thing."

They walked forward a little bit towards the Thorian and… it started to breathe? It was infinitely unsettling as plants should not breathe for crying out loud! With it brown and all, it should be associated that it was dying, not like this!

Soon enough, it started to… cough?

"Oh it's alive." Garrus dryly said. "Why wouldn't it be?"

"I think this is just going to add more fuel to my nightmares tonight." Ashley muttered out.

"It is… disturbing." Liara said slowly.

Soon enough the coughing increased before it apparently moved its head forward and spat something out.

"...Eeeeeeeeewwwww." The ladies let out, shivering at the rather disgusting display before them.

"No amount of therapy will ever make this ok." Kaidan said in a dead voice.

"Oh please, you lot are just queasy just seeing that?" Wrex asked aloud.

"What did it just barf?" Shepard inquired.

The "barf" was in fact a person, a regurgitated asari apparently. Yet there was something clearly different with this asari. Asari ranged from all sorts of blue and purple… this one was green. And she wasn't naked either, given the full body suit that looked like armor of some kind.

"So… that just happened." Kaidan said.

"Should we kill it?" Wrex asked. "I feel the sudden urge to do so."

"I'm right with you." Garrus said as 626 nodded in agreement.

The green skinned asari stood before the ground team and scowled at them. "Invaders. Your every step is a transgression. A thousand feelers appraise you as meat, good only to dig or decompose."

"Okay… aside from that insult, who are you?"

"I speak for the Old Growth, as I did for Saren." Revealed the green asari. "You are within and before the Thorian. It commands that you be in awe."

"I'm in awe, alright. Awe-ly disgusted." Ash said, face slightly pale as she observed the green skinned Asari.

Shepard soon responded. "You gave something to Saren. Something I need."

"Saren sought knowledge of those who are gone. "Said the green asari. "The Old Growth listened to flesh for the first time in the long cycle. Trades were made. Then the cold ones began killing the flesh that would tend to the next cycle. Flesh daily given! The Old Growth sees the air you push as lies. It will listen no more!"

"You're controlling these people and it's gone far enough. Let them go now!"

"No more will the Thorian listen to those that scurry." Said the green asari. "Your lives are short but gone on too long. Your blood will feed the ground with a new growth."

"Then you know how it's going to be." Shepard said, her rifle expanding with the others grabbing their own a moment later.

The Asari simply ran forward only for 626 to literally jump and punch her away.

The Thorian roared about and they heard movement from all around them.

"Oh boy." Garrus remarked, the team now pulling out their weapons once more as the green Asari attacked with multiple Creepers coming in from all sides.

626 growled, pouncing on one of the Creepers and throwing it into two others that were running at them.

Jane fired as the Asari only for her, Liara, and Kaidan to be ensnared in a Biotic field and thrown back.

Wrex however was quick to avenge his teammates, running forward and bashing his head against the Asari's. A moment later, her head was gone courtesy of an explosive shot.

The Creepers around them were taken care of soon after, ignoring the throbbing Thorian.

"After hearing all that, I do not want any more Audrey 2's running around." Ashley called out, firing upon the Creepers left and right.

When the group went up the next level, Kaidan saw something interesting.

"Here, Commander! There's a… node… or something… worth looking at."

Shepard looked over and saw what looked like the plant's root and it was firmly attached on the side of the ancient wall. It had a yellow and slight reddish color with it pulsing at every other moment.

"What's this supposed to be?" Liara asked.

"It's connected to the Thorian." Garrus pointed out.

The others surrounded it for a moment, prodding it with their weapons.

"So… what do we do?" Wrex asked.

"If it's connected to the Thorian, maybe we take it out." Kaidan suggested.

"How do we do that then?" Tali asked, looking at the node.

"We could burn them or have Roxas and you use your electric attacks to take care of the job." Alenko said.

Shepard took a closer look at the node. "There's one problem with that. Sure the skin can burn, but electric attacks will only slither off its surface. So unless we got a lightning rod shoved up in there."

Soon enough Kaidan found a pile of pipes, which thankfully was all made of metal, even if some were rusted. Without a word, he grabbed one, coated himself with a biotic field and shoved the pipe right into the node.

"Here's your lightning rod." Said the lieutenant before using his biotic abilities to throw another pipe into another node some distance away. "If it's thick on the outside, then it must be soft on the inside."

As a result of the nodes being penetrated, they heard the painful shriek of the Thorian.

"Good to know." Shepard then gave out an order. "Roxas, you're in one group. Ash and Tali, you're in another."

The three quickly understood as they went to their separate directions with the other squad mates filling in the gaps.

Heading towards the first node that was skewered, Ashley and Tali began their work. The Gunnery Chief unloaded her special incendiary rounds upon the node as Tali fired off a stream of lightning from her Omni-tool. In mere moments, the one node exploded before they moved onto the next one with Kaidan, Garrus and 626 not far behind.

Reaching his one node, Roxas quickly fired off several Fira spells to tenderize the skin. Wrex came charging in and thrusted a metal pipe in and jumped back to avoid being hit by the Nobody's Thundara attack. The attack was excruciating for the node to handle before it burst into a liquidy, fleshy mess. Running on ahead, he was joined with Wrex, Liara and Shepard.

Soon enough, they were met with a number of Creepers charging their way.

Roxas knew that simply using fire spells wasn't always enough, so he improvised. Channeling magic into his Keyblade, several parts of it had small flames appear around it before rearing it back in a now familiar pose.

A moment later, Roxas threw the fiery Keyblade forward, a trail of flames in its wake.

"FIRE RAID!"

The Keyblade plowed through the various Creepers, little flames appearing around every spot that it had struck.

"Good job, Roxas."

Coming across another node, Wrex was about to charge in with another pipe when he was suddenly thrown to the side by a biotic warp.

"What the hell!"

"Intruders!" The rest of Roxas' squad looked over and saw the green asari… again? "You will die for your transgressions!"

"Seriously?! I thought Wrex killed her!"

"I think there were more asari in that Thorian than we would've thought." Kaidan said in a grim tone over the comms as his group soon faced their own green asari.

"We'll take care of them." Jane said. "Roxas, Tali, Ash, focus on taking out those nodes."

Before Liara could assist in the fight against the green asari, she used a biotic warp to send a metal pipe into the node. As Roxas went to do his magic, his asari teammate quickly went into action to face off against the enemy one.

Getting up from the ground, Wrex charged in with his shotgun firing off its explosive rounds once he got close enough. Said rounds were able to quickly break through their enemies shielding as Shepard came in and fired upon the green asari.

Over with Ashley and Tali, things weren't fairing all that better. The green asari they were facing had Creeper backup. Garrus was doing his best to fend them off, hoping to buy Kaidan enough time to properly skewer the fleshy node. Luckily for the Turian, 626 was laying on some heavy fire on the zombie-like creatures.

Occasionally, Ashley had to fire her special rounds into the node before switching out to attack the asari. She was thrown back a bit, due to the Thorian acolyte's recent biotic throw, but throwing one of the modified gas grenades was able to help take care of some of their problems.

With the coast clear, Ashley and Tali went to work on the node once the rod was inserted.

Before long, the Thorian was beginning to thrash about in agony, trying to think of a way to stop them.

"It's hurting." Wrex said with a large grin.

"Good, maybe it can hurry up and die then." Ash said in a dark tone as she unloaded more incendiary rounds into another node.

Over with Tali, she was being assisted by 626 who had acquired several metallic poles, one in each of his four hands.

He jumped about, shoving the metal into the limb connected to the wall and jumped away as Tali fired her electric overcharge from her Omni-Tool. The small bolt connected with the four poles, the electric current flowing into the inside of the node and caused it to burst.

Tali pumped her fist in victory which was short lived due to the growls and sickly moans of more Creepers coming her way. Far more than she was capable of handling.

Something 626 realized as he jumped next to Tali and quite literally swept her off her feet.

She yelped in complete and utter surprise, bracing herself to fall only to realize she wasn't falling, she was kind of… bouncing?

The Quarian looked down to see 626 holding her up with his two arms and was running away from the oncoming creepers.

Running into a narrow corridor, 626 set Tali down and turned to face the creepers.

They came into the hallway in a somewhat straight line with the blue fuzzball growling before quite literally, folding himself into a tiny ball that propelled him forward. The small ball smashed into the creepers, taking them out in a matter of seconds.

Once he landed, 626 rolled back towards Tali who was staring at this in a complete daze.

Uncurling himself before her Tali, the little alien puffed his chest out with pride and his hands on his hips as if to congratulate himself for a job well done.

"Keelah." Tali remarked. "I didn't know you could do that."

From another area within the structure, Ash, Roxas, Shepard and Garrus were all fighting around another node with this one being heavily protected.

As the foot soldiers of the Thorian were fought off, Ashley unloaded another few incendiary rounds with Roxas finishing it off with a Fira spell.

The node soon snapped off.

*BRRRMMMM*

*GRAAAA*

The Normandy squad halted in their tracks, the sound of the Thorian roaring aloud causing them to cringe at the sound as the walls and ceilings around them shook.

The Thorian was shaking violently. So violently, in fact, that the entire building's foundations were shaking terribly. The ancient being was pulsing an unpredictable manner as its body was starting to burst bit by bit. The other tentacles trying to hold itself up started to break away from the rocky walls, resulting in the plant creature soon falling to the empty void below.

The group reconvened at the entrance to the Thorians lair, a sense of relief washing over them.

"Finally, it's over."

"Hopefully, it's dead." Tali stated.

"Must be," Garrus responded. "I don't think the Thorian would survive a fall like that of several hundred meters."

"Or more." Liara pointed out. "Don't forget how high we are from the planet's surface."

Before they could make their way out of this place, they heard something squelching from nearby. Looking over, they saw another asari coming out of some plant-like sealant that was placed on a far off wall. They shuddered when she showed herself, especially when she looked exactly like the other asari that they had killed earlier.

Only difference was that instead of green, her skin-tone was violet-blue and she had a whole pleasant appearance instead of the angry one they saw previously.

"I-I'm free." Said the Asari, hesitant at first before speaking in utter joy. "I'm free!" She then turned to the Normandy team and quickly put too and too together. "I… I suppose I should thank you for releasing me."

Shepard was now suddenly concerned for the woman. "I'm Commander Shepard and this here is my team. Is everything alright? Are you hurt?"

The asari gave her reply. "I am fine. Or… I will be, in time." She coughed a little before introducing herself. "My name is Shiala. I serve- sorry, served Matriarch Benezia."

"Mother…" Liara muttered out, earning some sympathized looks from the others.

"You're Liara." Shiala whispered in surprise. "Wha-what are you doing here?"

"I think that's a question we should be asking you." Kaidan stated.

"Yeah, if you served Benezia, you serve under Saren." Ashley added with an accusatory gaze now.

"Why?" Liara asked suddenly, making all turn to her. "Why would my mother side with a man like Saren."

Shiala gave her fellow Asari a sympathetic look before looking away, as if she were ashamed of her actions.

Even if some were convinced, the others weren't ready to trust her quite yet. For all they know, he could be trying to deceive them and lower their guard.

"Benezia allied with Saren because she saw the power he held and hoped to guide him down a better path." Shiala then hung her head. "But Saren… his charisma and overwhelming personality was too much. Benezia fell to him and lost her way."

"Matriarchs are supposed to be some of the influential beings in the galaxy." Garrus said. "How did one like Benezia fall sway to Saren?"

"It's startling when one thinks about it." Shiala said with a nervous tone. "It happened so fast and so sudden, before we knew it, we were serving Saren."

"And the Thorian." Jane said, thumbing back to where it once "stood". "What role did it have to play?"

"I came here in search of it." Shiala said. "The Thorian possessed knowledge that Saren was looking for and with my Biotic abilities, there was a means of gaining that knowledge with communicating."

"Then how'd you end up in a pimple on the wall?" Ash felt gross just by asking that question.

"I was traded as a means of establishing an alliance between Saren and the Thorian." Shiala answered.

"So you're just expendable to Saren then?" Tali muttered softly in sympathy.

"Looks like he's quick to betray his own allies." Shepard said sourly.

"He betrayed the Thorian soon after." Shiala stated, only adding to Jane's statement. "After getting what he needed, he ordered the Geth to eradicate all the evidence of its existence. Saren is aware of your goal in seeking the conduit. He knows you are on his trail so he attacked the Thorian to keep the Cipher out of your hands."

"Cipher? What is this Cipher?" Shepard asked. "And why did Saren need it?"

Shiala explained. "The beacon on Eden Prime gave you visions. But the visions are unclear, confusing. They were meant for a Prothean mind. 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."

"Well that's morbidly creepy."

"So the Thorian taught Saren to think like a Prothean? How?" Questioned the commander.

"The Cipher is the very essence of being a Prothean." Said Shiala. "It cannot be described or explained. It would be like describing color to a creature without eyes. To understand, 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."

'Simply Exists.' Roxas internally repeated to himself.

Isn't that what he was? An existence.

One that should not be?

He didn't really have time to dwell on this as the more currently pressing matters on hand made him refocus on what was going on.

"We need that knowledge to stop Saren!" Shepard stated.

"There is a way." The violet-blue asari offered tentatively. "I can transfer the knowledge from my mind to yours, as I did with Saren."

Both Shepard and Shiala engaged in a unique staring contest as the N7 marine was trying to determined Shiala's motives and if she could trust her.

This made the rest of her team look at the commander in various worried states.

"Shepard…"

"It's alright, Roxas." Jane turned back to Benezia's former acolyte. "Do it."

Shiala nodded as she placed her hands on each side of Shepard's head. "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."

The Spectre could almost imagine a slight tugging at her mind as Shiala was performing a mind meld with her.

"Every action ripples across the galaxy. Every idea must touch another mind to live. Each emotion must mark another's spirit. We are all connected. Every living being united in a single, glorious existence. Open yourself to the universe, commander."

Suddenly, Jane could feel the tug. It was insistent and it was certainly present. She wondered if she was making a mistake.

It was at this moment did the words her mother once spoke to her when she was just a child.

"Nothing ventured, nothing gained."

"Embrace eternity!"

With Shiala's call, Shepard let herself go.

Suddenly her mind was open and she could feel Shiala's mind with her presence right next to hers. She could sense that she was giving her something, and suddenly, the human Spectre's mind replayed the vision she received from the Beacon. What was once blurred images, and vague impressions, suddenly gained clarity.

She clearly saw the death before. She clearly saw the destruction. And she clearly saw the darkness as well.

But then she saw it emerging from the blackened planet. The same ship she saw back on Eden Prime!

As the connection broke, Shepard was slowly drawn back into the real world. She looked around, unsure if what she was seeing was real for the vision had been so vivid.

"I have given you the Cipher," Shiala told Shepard. "The ancestral memories of the Protheans are a part of you now."

In a moment, Shepard started to stumble in her step. Kaidan and Liara came forward and quickly held the commander up for support.

"Are you alright, Shepard?" Liara asked worriedly. "A knowledge bond can be very traumatic."

Jane waved her hand. "I'm alright, Liara, but I saw my vision again." She stood up a bit more and silently asked her two squadmates to back off a little. "I did see my vision again. It was much clearer and stronger than before, but it was still confusing and jumbled. Like… Like it was skipping or something. Other than that, I'm not sure what I saw."

"You have been given a great gift: the experience of an entire people. It will take time for your mind to process the information."

"Feels more like a headache." Shepard remarked good naturedly with Shiala smiling in understanding.

"That can happen."

After all that was said and done, Shepard had asked what Shiala's intentions were now that she was free of both Saren and Benezia.

In a surprising showing of humility, Shiala offered to remain here on Feros and assist the colonists that had survived this ordeal. She felt a personal level of guilt and remorse for the suffering she had caused for the people of this planet.

She believed she would do the most good here than anywhere else right now.

Jane simply accepted her request, knowing that to truly pay for one's sins, death is the easier way out. Those who willingly choose to struggle for the sake of others and one's self showed a level of character that Shiala apparently possessed.

Before parting ways, Shepard asked Shiala what the Conduit was. Unfortunately, no clear answer was given, only that Saren is desperately trying to locate it's whereabouts.

Seeing as that was a loss, Shepard had let it go for the time being.

But overall, at last, after a long and grueling mission, Feros was liberated.

For the most part. There's always stragglers.

As the others turned to leave, No. XIII momentarily lingered inside the chamber of the Thorian.

He stood at the entrance, unmoving from his spot with his eyes set upon the place where the Thorian "hovered" thanks to its attached nodes.

'It simply exists.' Roxas mused within his mind.

Does he not exist? How can he be a Nobody if he is standing, right here right now.

What did it even mean to just "Simply exist"? Was there more to it than that?

After standing there in deep thought for a few moments, Roxas was about to leave when he saw something quite interesting on the ground.

It completely stood out from practically everything they had encountered on this planet.

Save for 626 of course.

Crouching down, Roxas picked up a large black feather and held it up to examine it.

'Weird,' he mused. 'I don't remember seeing any birds on this planet.'

"Roxas?"

The blond turned to see Jane having returned.

"You alright?" The Spectre asked in concern. "You weren't following us back. What kept you?"

He wordlessly held up the feather with Jane blinking at it.

"What's with the feather?"

"I dunno." Roxas said, looking back to it. "I found it here."

"You found it here?" Jane asked, taking a moment to glance around the area. "Was there a bird here we missed?"

She had seen birds fly into the most random of places before. From warehouses, abandoned buildings and in some cases underground caves. Perhaps this was the latter case, but it had to have been done recently. If not, then it must've come through the hole in the ceiling and barely landed here quite recently.

Before Roxas was able to provide an answer, the complexion of the long avian feather started to crumble into ash with a small gust of wind dusting it away.

"...Nevermind then." Shepard asked, really trying hard not to mentally break.

This was above her paygrade.

What kind of poetic shit was that supposed to be?

"Come on Roxas."

Placing a hand on the boy's shoulder, she guided him out of the chamber to rejoin the others and left this place with a silent hope to never come back here again.

Once the two were out earshot and eyeshot, the chamber became quiet.

Almost deathly so.

The light of the planet's nearby star shines down upon the large hold the Thorian had fallen through.

Down in the chasm below, where the Thorian crash landed, the ancient being was rasping out its final breaths.

Its "vision" was fading, slowly turning black.

It was ready to enter what was on the other side.

*Tip*

What was that?

With the strength that it had remaining, the large creature focused its attention on the lone finger that appeared before it from out of nowhere.

The being had measured steps, each one barely being above a whisper that the Thorian was having trouble in picking up.

"Hello there…"

The voice was male and extremely smooth.

With its remaining eyes, the Old Growth looked towards the person before it. With the little amount of light present, there can only be so much given on the person's structure.

All the Thorian could see is the person's shape… and oddly enough their eyes.

"You were not what I was expecting when I came here." Said the arrival. "She put on such a good word when talking about you… Describing how magnificent you were. How strong you were." The person then clicked his tongue in disappointment. "But now…"

The Thorian could soon hear metal being drawn from something.

"You're just pitiful."

It was at this moment that the Old Growth feel something terrifying from this person.

"Your mind may serve no purpose." The being held an extremely, extremely long sword with both hands. "But what you possess inside of you is of a greater value."

Positioning himself with proper footing and sword grasped by both hands, the man exhaled calmly with the air around them going deathly silent.

In mere moments after the Old Growth was pierced, a green-blue light started to shine from the sword. It traveled down its length and met with the planty-flesh of the newly deceased creature. The light, soon enough, encompassed it's form as it dissolved into smaller whips.

After that, the light swirled around the sword wielder's form and was absorbed into their body.

When the last whips were swallowed up, the man looked up towards the hole with a hidden smile growing on his face.

"Mother will have great use of you."

The being proceeded to unfurl a singular black wing, levitating up into the air before being enshrouded by his singular wing.

Moments later, the man was gone with a mixture of a flurry of black feathers and wispy arcs of darkness in his wake. All that remained, all that showed of his presence there were the feathers that all fluttered to the final resting place of the Thorian.

Jesus, I am so glad I got this out with J so quickly but man, work is a bitch.

I wasn't at a hundred percent for this one but by god, I was gonna get this out there if it was the last thing I do.

Jebest4781: Same here, my friend, as the two of us really want to get things underway with what other details we have planned for you all.

FMW: Yeah. While the ME story is always fun, we wanna get to the canon altering parts of the story where we can have the most fun. Introducing Stitch is just the starting point. We're dealing with an ME and KH crossover. So that means, we'll be doing Disney and Final Fantasy elements cause what KH story would that be without them? Like seriously, I've seen people complain about characters in a KH story going to other worlds… I'm like… really? Dude, that's the point. Never made sense to me with that criticism, but that's just me rambling.

Jeb: Agreed, had that happen in ASoFIaH where a number of people making the same criticism. But that's the thing on most KH stories, other worlds need to be explored than what is primarily focused on.

FMW: Anyway, there's also the polls and things are heating up between Lawson and Shepard as the main front runners for our boy Axel. Seems like all the other girls are left with cold turkey. Currently, as of this moment after me writing this note, our girl Shepard leads with 19 and Lawson is close behind with 16. Still time to vote so to all the newcomers, get on it cause you're literally gonna be influencing the story.

Other than that, thanks again for those supportive reviews.

Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day.