Disclaimer: I don't own Mass Effect or Halo Franchise
Author's notes: I hope you all enjoyed the last chapter.
Now to answer the reviews, My intention from the beginning was to give a vague yet a brief intro into the universe. I didn't plan to have everything to be revealed through story. But that being said, what you saw in the prologue is just the tip of the iceberg. There are many many hidden stories that will be revealed as we progress. But I totally understand where you are getting at, that would have been good too, its just was not something I felt to do.
Wish you all a belated Merry Christmas and advanced Happy New Year!
Chapter 6: Feros part II
Shepard, Wrex, Kaiden and Liara obtained information on the Thorian creature and the geth base from the stranded Exogeni employees. The Skyway was crawling with geth forces. Shepard hoped to find Saren here or atleast, stop his diabolical plans in unleashing the Reapers into the galaxy.
"Commander, the geth base is in the next tower. But we need to take this spiral platform to reach the upper skyway" Kaiden said as he browsed through the terminal that was showing up the local map of their zone.
"Let's move then" Shepard said as he drove the Mako towards the spiral platform. There were no resistance. After reaching the next level, the Mako moved towards a door which opened automatically to reveal the next pathway. Also they could see the tower from where they were.
"Shepard, that building is where the geth has setup shop. I will take the main gun" Wrex said as he took control of the cannon.
Shepard drove the Mako as suddenly, the radar beeped loud.
"Damn! Two geth dropships inbound!" Liara exclaimed as she peeked into the scanner. Shepard was determined not to waste time fighting individual geth, but the cut them off at the source.
"Alright people, this time, we don't fight the geth troops, but take out that ship" Shepard said.
"All the birds in one stone? I like that, heh" Kaiden commented with a smile.
"Then let me know when to fire, I'm on standby" Wrex said grinning in excitement at the opportunity to blow things up.
Shepard pressed the accelerator pedal hard to move the vehicle at top speed. They all then watched through the narrow glass openings to watch two geth dropships fly above them at top speed. Shepard made sure he kept the speed with the ship as they cruised in the air with loud scream.
"Wrex, be ready to fire at the bottom thrusters of one geth. Liara, At the same time, I will open the hatch, throw a singularity at the thrusters. That should do the trick" Shepard ordered.
"Fighting with a moving vehicle!? This is exciting and terrifying, like those science fiction vids!" Liara let jest as she charged her biotic to get ready to attack. Shepard watched as the two drop ships stopped mid-air as he made sure they closed enough distance to take the shot. Once he could see the under belly thrusters,
"NOW!" Shepard barked as Kaiden opened the side hatch for Liara as she held on to he seat with her right arm and created a singularity in her left arm.
*KABOOM*
Wrex fired the cannon as it blasted the thrusters, killing the drop ship in a fiery display of fireworks. Liara at the same time, threw the singularity at the other ship's thrusters whose dark energy field overloaded the engines dying the same explosive death. Liara immediately closed the hatch to make sure the fire or any debris hit them inside.
"Shepard, you really pick some amazing fights! Blasting two geth ships at the same time!? This fun beats my time as a merc!" Wrex said as he was feeling joyous.
"I think I should have stayed digging through ground to look for ruins!" Liara said still reeling from the effects of the adrenaline rush.
"Well, get used to the fun, doctor" Kaiden said with a chuckle. Then they reached the end of the skyway that connected the tower where the geth have their base. The four got out of the Mako and took out their rifles. They walked towards the tower entrance only to notice something big on the face of the tower towards their left.
"Wait, is that-...Is that a geth ship?" Kaiden asked wide eyed.
"Its seems so. Its latched on to the wall. No wonder geth have a base here" Shepard said.
"Why don't we just ask the Normandy to get a drop on this?" Wrex asked.
"Too risky. This place is heavily crawling with geth forces. We need to take it out from the inside" Liara replied to which Wrex shrugged his shoulder.
"Let's move. Stay sharp" Shepard said as they walked inside and immediately the geth troops opened fire on them.
"Guess, this place is overflowing with these things!" Kaiden said as they all took a covering position behind broken walls and toppled vehicles.
There were 5 troopers, 2 crawlers and one prime. Shepard and Kaiden fired at the troops while Liara engaged the crawlers that were leaping from the ground to the broken ceiling. Wrex charged at the geth prime that fired explosives his way. But having biotic abilities paid off as he summoned a barrier that took a brunt of the explosion and used his krogan brute strength to bash the prime's body. Since Wrex was shorter than the prime, the collision with its torso toppled the geth down as he fired 3 rounds from his shotgun to finish it of. The crawlers were giving Liara a tough time for her reflexes due to the speed at which they were leaping and firing sniper rounds her way. She then used biotic lift on one crawler that got caught in the mass effect field as it slowly floated in the air with no control over its movements. Liara then used this time to focus fire on the other crawler. She managed to get a shot to its face with biotic infused rounds that killed it instantly. Then she killed the other crawler with ease that just fell to the ground. With Shepard and Kaiden, They used their shotgun and assault rifle to finish off the troops. It didn't take much time since they were weak and fell easily.
"Everyone in one piece?" Shepard asked to which others nodded in acknowledgement. Then the crew walked inside the structure which appeared to be huge beneath the skyway. There were broken walls, fire accidents everywhere. But what caught the attention was a door with a blue energy field. The crew walked towards the door.
"Hmm, this door is open but the entrance is blocked by an energy field. The omni-tool scans shows it belongs to geth" Shepard said as he scanned it with his omni-tool.
"Must be the geth ship. We need to find a way to destroy it. We need to look for another passage" Kaiden said. The crew spread out to look for a way in and in few seconds Liara called out the others.
"Commander? I think I found a passage" Liara said to which others joined her. It was more of a broken ground that led to a tunnel like structure. But its quite far down and makes it a one way trip.
"Lets jump in. This looks like a one way and we can't return until the geth ship is dead" Wrex said to which Shepard nodded in agreement. Then they jumped into the passage way one behind the other. It was 13 feet down. Once down there, it was quite dark and they all activated the omni-tool's flash light.
"Huh, this place stinks like the mouth of thresher maw" Wrex quipped.
"And how would you know that?" Liara asked curiously though immediately regretted the question.
"I come from Tuchanka, spent centuries of my life swimming in their guts" Wrex replied. They walked through the tunnel passage and saw a bright light on the other side. As they proceeded further, they reached a broken stairway which they climbed up to reach a path that had walls in left and right that made them turn in zig zag manner. Once they came out, they saw few geth troops in the lower level working on few consoles.
"Commander, look. There seems to be a geth transmitter at the end of the hall. Taking it out should cut the geth comm channels.
"Get to the firing positions" Shepard whispered as they all silently moved to the respective hiding positions from above behind the blockade. But Kaiden accidentally tapped a small stone that fell from down with a thud that alerted the geth.
*ROBOTIC CHIRPING SOUND*
"Shit! The geth have been alerted open fire!" Shepard barked as they got out of the position and fired their rifles. Shepard sent a biotic shockwave their way which exploded on the ground and sent them flying across the room. Wrex and Liara sent barrage of rounds from their guns that pierced the geth shells as they fell flat.
"That transmitter must be important for this many geth to guard it!" Wrex said as he fired a shotgun round towards a geth unit "Someone take it down while the other keep pressing the geth" Wrex said.
"I will go. Cover me!" Shepard said as he ducked himself and walked fast to the other side where a block of wall was present beneath broken. Shepard jumped upon the block and touched the lower level. The geth didn't notice him as the others kept them busy. Shepard reached out to the geth terminal that had cables connected to the transmitter nearby. Shepard raised the hologram and pressed a few commands which then responded with a layer of holographic window. He heard a low hum as the transmitter was losing power fast and stopped completely. Once the transmitter was down, Shepard took a few steps back and blasted the geth console with his shotgun. Meanwhile the geth troops have been cleared from the room.
"Its done!" Shepard said as he turned around only to find, Liara was holding Kaiden over her arms as he was limping from a wound. Shepard could see the blood dripping.
"Kaiden, you alright?" Shepard rushed to him as he grabbed his arm and set him on the ground.
"Argh! It hurts, but I can manage. Nothing serious" Kaiden said though visibly showing the pain he is feeling.
"Let me apply some medigel. It will cauterize the wound, but you would need medical attention in the ship later" Liara said as she turned on her omni-tool and traced it along the wound on his leg. The plasma burn started to heal slowly, just enough that Kaiden was able to get back on his feet.
"You good lieutenant? You can stay here while we proceed. With the transmitter gone, geth can't send any more reinforcements inside" Shepard said.
"No commander, I can continue. Lets move" Kaiden said to which Shepard nodded, though he didn't like this one bit as he didn't want him to strain even more. But Kaiden was stubborn and they don't have much time for a debate, so he reluctantly agreed.
The four boarded an elevator near the destroyed transmitter. It took them 4 levels above and the door opened. They reached a huge hall. It had a big entrance blocked by the geth force field to their left. To their right side, a few steps away, they saw multiple control systems with a terminal connected to it.
"Hmm, what's this?" Shepard wondered as they walked towards the systems.
"Whoa! Check this out" Kaiden exclaimed as they all turned right again to where Kaiden was looking. There were lot of elongated structures that appeared to be inside by piercing the wall. Those black elongated structures looked familiar and they even instantly recognized it by its design.
"Huh, guess we found the geth ship's limbs after all. Now the question is, how to break this toy?" Wrex asked.
"I think I found something in this datapad that could be useful" Liara said.
"What is it Liara?" Shepard asked as the others gathered around her.
"The Exogeni engineers previously have installed hydraulic systems in this place. It connects to a chamber beneath the floor and lead there, directly under one of the ship's limb. There is an instruction on maintaining the pressure levels-...Got it! If we can use these control systems to create sufficient pressure, it will blow the floor and damage the limbs" Liara finished as she kept the datapad above the control system.
"Good, can't hurt to try" Kaiden said as he turned on the terminal and powered the control systems. Each unit had a indicator that showed green. Kaiden then turned on the switch in each console which started to increase the hydraulic pressure.
"The pressure is increasing, keep it up!" Wrex said. Kaiden then hit the switch of the 5th system which cranked the pressure to critical level and
*BANG*
An explosion was heard that shook the place. They saw one of the floor block threw itself up with sufficient force that broke the ship's limb. With that, the geth ship started to lose its balance slowly as each of the other arms started to crumble under the weight of the ship since its mass effect fields were taken offline. Finally, the geth ship that latched on to the tower wall fell free as red electricity crackled over its hull and blasted itself of pieces.
"Good job Kaiden. With the ship gone, so does their force field. Lets get back to our ride and go to Zhu's hope. Its time, we faced the Thorian creature" Shepard said and thats when their comm system came alive.
"Commander, you need to hurry up!" Joker said in a voice which expressed panic. Shepard and the other gave a confused look at each other.
"What happened Joker?" Shepard asked.
"The colonists of Zhu's hope have lost their minds! They are crawling all over the ship and started beating it with their hands. Something's not right with these people" Joker said which alarmed the others.
"Damn! It must be the Thorian. I think it has taken over their mind!" Kaiden said as eyes got a bit twitchy.
"Joker, stay put! Those colonists can't hurt the ship so no need to worry. But don't hurt them in anyway. We are heading back" Shepard said.
"You've got another problem. After you killed the geth ship, the entire skyway is crawling with all sorts of geth forces. They are headed your way" Joker said.
"Acknowledged Joker, Shepard out" Shepard replied as he closed the channel.
"Commander, this is disturbing. We need to hurry and save those colonists before something happens to them" Liara said with seriousness.
"Agreed, but what if we are forced to defend ourselves from them? You know, started talking with their guns" Wrex asked. It was a logical question on everyone's mind and they have to be careful.
"Commander, I may have an idea. We don't have to kill anyone in the colony. But we can cripple them temporarily till we take care of the Thorian. The colonists have to be paralyzed for some time" Liara said which made Shepard raise his eyebrow in surprise. If there was a way out of unwanted bloodshed, he was ready to take.
"I am all ears" Shepard said eagerly.
"Yes, I can help with that. I can modify the grenades we have to emit a high frequency sonic pulse to cause sensory overload that will cripple them for the time being" Kaiden said enthused to show off his tech skills.
"Go ahead Kaiden-...and thanks Liara" Shepard said to which they both nodded. Kaiden and Liara then worked as they placed the grenades on the ground and started to modify it with their omni-tool. After a while, the modified grenades were ready.
"Its ready. All we have to do is press the top button and throw it and it will get the job in 2 seconds" Kaiden said as he handed over the grenade to Wrex and Shepard.
"Lets move, time is short!" Shepard said as he loaded the grenades and the four walked out of the tower using the pathway that were previously blocked by the geth force field.
On the Installation-04,
Unknown date and time, Unknown system...
Matriarch Benezia walked along the hill side where she could view a waterfall in the distant place to her left. The mist from the splash of the water covering the trees below was a captivating sight. She heard birds chirping in the sky as a flock flew past her up above in the sky. She then could see the cliff edge to her back as she was ascending. Beyond the cliff, she could see what appears to be the sea whose water was reflecting the sunlight. As she looked above she could see the black and bluish void filled with stars and the giant redish pink gas giant illuminated by the sun to its southern left region giving it a unique hue. And finally the ring itself, she could see the ring extend from the horizon, beyond the seas as it curved upward.
With her was 343 Guilty Spark, the one who claimed as the monitor of this installation floating and moving front slowly, matching the asari's pace.
"So where are taking me now?" Benezia asked.
"To a nearest observation facility. It has the archives of the old data that will help me fully understand the current state of the galaxy" 343 spoke in its robotic, yet organic voice.
"Wait, then what have you been doing all this time!? I thought when you attacked my ship, you were already active" Benezia asked surprised that the AI standing before is not aware of the present situations. She was already highly skeptical about talking to an AI in the first place and then a lot of things not making much sense was too much for to take, even for a matriarch who were considered the wisest among Asaris.
"Incorrect, Lady Benezia. I was in hibernation and your ship's presence 12 light years away was what triggered the wake up protocol. I had to ready the sentinels, scan the region and send a warning message to your ship" 343 explained as they both moved at steady pace.
"Yes, but we only received static. We couldn't decrypt it" Benezia said to which Spark turned to look at Benezia for a few seconds.
"Hmm, the message was sent in Jagon, one of the languages of my makers. I didn't know until now that your kind speak the language of humanity" 343 said and that's when Benezia stopped and decided to call the bullshit out.
"Okay, you need to stop right there! You already said that humans are hundreds of millions of years old and call them your allies. But, I know humanity and they have been spacefaring only for a century" Benezia spoke a bit harshly as she thought she was hearing nonsense despite the fact that she is talking to an ancient ancilla.
"How incorrect you are, Asari! Humanity was one of the apex races besides the Forerunners and the Sanshyuum back then. They were also considered violent by my makers, but when the time came to lend a hand, they gave everything to save this galaxy! Although curious, did you say humans are spacefaring, in this current timeline?" Spark asked that had a hint of calmness, of hope. Benezia was stunned to hear the AI's response. Its words were so firm and convincing that made Benezia to start pondering how much the current galactic civilization is still in the dark in terms of history.
"Yes. They are now part of the galactic community" Benezia said answering the last question.
"Its-...good to know that they have once again risen" 343 answered with mild sadness and cheerfulness at the same time. Benezia was quite confused as to why this AI would express emotion in its voice regarding the humans. But what even more concerns her is that the AI implicates that humanity is a much older species and incredibly advanced too.
"But-...how is this even possible!? Do the current humans know about this!? By the goddess, if this turns out to be true, this would upset the entire galactic power structure!" she thought with grimness eating her.
Thats when they reached the top of the meadow that once again led down to a huge facility in the distant. It had lots of criss cross structures with a bi-triangular tower that was sending a blue energy between the triangular structures.
"What is that place? It looks magnificent" Benezia asked wide eyed.
"Its the observatory. Once there, we will head to the medical facility to treat you. My sensors are picking up an unusual neuro-magnetic distortion in your cerebral cortices" 343 said as Benezia understood what it was referring to. During her time with Saren and being inside the sovereign, she slowly succumbed to the indoctrination effects. But now that topic was brought up, Benezia realized, she doesn't feel the indoctrination signal piercing her brain at the moment, to her surprise.
They both made their way to the facility where they stood in front of a door which opened in multiple fragments which made Benezia shake her head in fascination. They entered the facility as the matriarch looked around to see multiple halls with technologies, hardlight structures and holographic constructs beyond her wild imagination.
"This place looks...incredibly advanced!" Benezia commented and immediately followed by the next question.
"Why did the Prothean beacon led us here? What does the Protheans have to do with this place?" Benezia thought feeling irate with no answers in the vicinity.
"Of course, this Halo installation maybe a weapon, but we also have facilities constructed for manufacture and research" 343 said which made Benezia put a sudden halt in her walk. Her face was expressing terror.
"What did you say!? This planet sized ring is a WEAPON!? How did you even build something like this and what use did you even have for this!?" Benezia asked, her voice rocking in terror.
"Lady Benezia, you need to go through millions of years worth of history to even comprehend the scale of things we were capable of. Please follow me" 343 said as he moved forward. Benezia was still in awe and denial. For some reason, she wished this was just a dream. But this felt unreal even in dreams. She was mentally calculating the amount of eezo, a structure like this would even need. According to her, this feat felt like it trumped the Protheans. But little did she know that this one Halo installation is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg she has witnessed so far.
Benezia entered the medical chamber where she saw some small palm sized robots floating in the air with a cyan light lit on them.
"Please lie on the examination table" 343 said as she did the same. Then the table's edge glowed with a streak of blue light as Benezia's hardlight holographic image projected before Spark where he selected the brain region and isolated it. Then he fragmented it to several lobes as several details popped up marking each section.
"Interesting, your brain structure is quite different. The cerebrum is evolved for hypersensitive awareness. The temporal lobe-...hmm...has an additional component that helps with transfer of thoughts. The neurological data says that you can share thoughts with anyone. The genetic make up is interesting The data here suggests your kind must be mono-gendered, but evolved for different reproductive mechanism" 343 said in a intrigued tone.
"Its true. We are a proud race that first set to venture into the stars, find the Citadel and form the first interstellar government" Benezia replied. Guilty Spark was doing further scans as the cerebral cortex glowed in red with a warning indicator.
"Citadel? What is that?" Spark asked which confused Benezia. But she understood, given that the AI has been in hibernation, and probably not aware of the place.
"Its the heart of galactic government. It was built by the Protheans 50,000 years ago. We inherited the station from them and now it serves as a political hub to every species" Benezia explained. But little did she know that the Citadel is not a Prothean construct.
"Hmm, there is a cybernetic implant in the cerebral cortex. It seems to be emitting a signal that is interfering with your thought process-...oh my!" Spark said as he enlarged the hologram of the implant and its voice expressed deep concern. Even Benezia could hear the tremble in its robotic voice which worried her too
"What happened Guilty Spark!?" she asked as she got out of her table and walked near the ancilla gazing at the holographic image of the implant.
"This is-..unsettling! After eons, I was under the impression, they were got ridden from the galaxy" 343 spoke in a grim tone that started to spook Benezia.
"Who got ridden!? Benezia asked feeling tensed.
"The Reapers-...that means, by extension-...the flood has survived too. Then I have been awakened at the right moment" 343 answered in a sullen voice which stupefied the Asari. She was shocked to hear the word Reapers from an extremely old AI.
"You-...know about the Reapers too!?" Benezia asked her eyes still fixed on the spherical ancilla. Her face looked like she was literally possessed by a ghost. The key reason being, while she knows about those sentient machines, Sovereign never revealed all information about them. For instance, while she knew that the Reapers wiped out the Protheans 50,000 years ago, she still assumed those machines were only as old as the Protheans themselves.
"How does a 480 million year old AI could possibly know about the Reapers? Goddesses above! But if they are as old as Spark says, What exactly are they!? What have I done!?" Benezia was sunken into her own thoughts and fear. Its been only a day and she is hearing a lot of new information that is too much for her to process.
"Yes, and you, an organic, having successfully found this place indicates, the Reapers and the flood's cycle of harvest-... is not over" Spark said as it accessed Benezia's reaper implant remotely and played the recorded memory feeds, which then projected in a holographic video between them.
Guilty Spark saw Benezia meeting another alien with similar cybernetic implants with eyes glowing red. Then the video played showing an energy field that is influencing her as she struggled to think properly and then slowly obeying the other alien being's commands.
"Eden prime is a victory and we are one step ahead of finding the conduit"
"-...And one step away from unleashing the Reapers"
Then the footage of a huge black tentacled ship roaring in red as it launched itself into the atmosphere played which confirmed 343's doubts.
"There they are-...But this ship shows no signs of flood infestation. Is this the only vessel you have seen?" Spark asked.
"Yes, the only one right now. But-...are you saying this is a Reaper? I remember feeling swayed by the indoctrination, but I always had doubts about the Saren's ship. I initially thought Saren was the one controlling me, but Saren was only a tool after all. Come to think of it-...He is heavily indoctrinated too. But for some reason, I don't feel that influence now" Benezia said as she realized that she no longer suffers indoctrination effects to her surprise.
"Saren, is that the name of that other alien?" 343 asked.
"Yes, he is a spectre gone rogue and the council has sent another one to apprehend him. But Reapers-...!? Goddesses above! I didn't want to believe them, even after going through that all" Benezia said with regrets.
"The Sanshyuum back in the day, studied one of the dead Reaper ships and identified this indoctrination ability. Sadly, they didn't have enough time as it was the last days of the war. But they found that a Reaper ship exert influence over sentient beings only to a certain radius. You must be beyond that Reaper's reach right now" 343 said which made Benezia anxious and happy at the same time.
This AI was giving too much information about new species, new technologies, things that she had never heard of in her near thousand year lifespan in the galaxy. But she decided to put it all aside and go with the flow since she is now purely in an uncharted domain. One thing was clear, the galaxy is much bigger than she ever understood. Right now, She was deeply worried she might fully lose herself. After all, she wanted to go back to her daughter.
"So, are you saying that I am free from the indoctrination?" Benezia asked with a smile.
"Yes, but danger has not passed yet. I will help you surgically remove the implant. Then we need to hurry to the archives" 343 said in all seriousness.
"To access the galactic records as you mentioned before?" Benezia asked.
"I-...wish I could show you all, but the information that the reapers still survive has put a hold on my plans. I need to re-assess the situation. Right now, your priority task has changed. I will provide you a frigate, coordinates of a world and access codes to a facility. You need to head there soon" 343 replied in a hurry.
"Alone!? Why me!?" Benezia asked, stunned as she didn't feel like marching into the unknown space alone with no knowledge on the dangers lurking.
"The facility will react to a sentient being's presence. Its only logical for you to go there and also the fact that you are the only organic at hand" 343 said calmly.
"And what will I find there exactly?" Benezia asked.
Spark turned around and moved towards a terminal that projected the 3-D holographic image of several alien like pods in the center of the hall. They looked more like chambers or capsules that can hold a person inside.
"Your only hope-...to survive the coming storm. This Reaper ship you have acquainted with, Sovereign-...needs to be destroyed soon. Something tells me they are awaiting their arrival" the ancilla replied as it gazed at the image.
Back at Feros...
Shepard, Liara, Wrex and Kaiden finished the geth base back at the old Exogeni HQ tower. But then Joker warned about the colonists behaving violent and started to attack the ship. Having learned about the enigmatic Thorian, the suspicion of this situation turned towards it.
"Alright guys, Let's head back to Zhu's hope. Hope we can save them before its too late" Shepard said.
"Back to the cannon" Wrex said as he took control of the cannon. Kaiden sat besides Shepard and Liara sat beside Wrex.
Shepard kicked the accelerator as the Mako dashed forward with the engines roaring across the tower chamber. As the main door opened and the Mako was out in the skyway, Everyone saw multiple geth dropships in the air.
"Hmm, looks like a farewell party for the geth. They are pouring in" Kaiden said as he ran his hand through the monitor.
"Wrex, soon as we are in range, open fire when ready" Shepard said.
"With absolute pleasure" Wrex replied with a grin. Mako charged forward as the geth troops and armatures started to open fire. Wrex started to fire the chain gun as the geth troops died with hand sized holes torn through their armor. Then he noticed 2 armatures. Wrex focused fire on one armature to the right and shot the cannon.
*BANG*
Luckily, the armature was weak as it lost shields in one shot, unlike the colossus that can with stand 2 or 3 round. Wrex then unleashed the chain gun upon it as the high impact rounds tore through the armature and it fell dead. Then Wrex took care of the other armature the same way.
Then along the way, they fought multiple geth troops on the ground which the Mako's gun took care of easily. After trailing all the way back to where they started the skyway journey. They stopped before the close door.
"Hmm, the door didn't open. Must be in lockdown" Liara said.
"But the emergency door is open. Need to use that" Wrex said as he spotted a small door that stayed open. Everyone got out of the Mako with the guns in their hands to be ready in case they were attacked. When they walked towards the emergency door,
"Commander, look!" Kaiden called out as the other turned his way. They all noticed unknown humanoid creatures in squatted position. What's even more odd was they were covered in some kind of dark green substance head to heel with mutated arms, legs and head.
"Damn! What are those things!? They kinda look like human though" Wrex commented.
"Hmm, omni-tool scans show that they are infected with some kind of germ" Kaiden as he scanned those humanoids.
Then suddenly multiple of those green creatures started to move.
"By the goddess! Its moving!" Liara yelled in tense as the creatures howled. They then started to run towards them with the deep howl that sent shivers in their spine.
"OPEN FIRE!" Shepard barked as they started shooting at the creatures. All the four spread across to leave some space to kill them.
"Get off me you pyjaks!" Wrex yelled as two creature climbed onto him as the third one grabbed his leg. Wrex shot the one on the ground with his claymore shotgun. Then he charged towards the wall and bashed his side abdomen with it which sent the two creatures fluing away.
Liara used her biotics to shield herself as these things started to spit some green slime like thing that was quite corrosive.
"Be careful! These things are spewing corrosive fluid" Liara said as she blocked an incoming attack and shot right in its face.
Shepard and Kaiden kept firing their shotguns at them as they seemed to hurt them a lot. Shepard used biotic lift on 3 approaching things which floated in the air and killed by Kaiden. Shepard then used warp on another being that howled in pain as he killed a nearby one with a shotgun. The one on warp died in agony.
Then all of a sudden the Zhu's hope colonists appeared behind the creatures and started shooting them.
"Ahh crap! Now those humans are firing at us. Time to test the new grenade" Wrex said as he hid behind a barricade and threw one modified grenade at the humans. It exploded letting out a high pitched sonic boom paralyzing them. The sensory overload made them drop the weapons to the ground and fall down.
"*GUN SHOT*-...looks like it worked, thanks to Liara and Kaiden" Shepard replied as he killed a green creature.
"Still, better to check their vitals" Kaiden said, anxious that nothing wrong should happen to them. After the creatures were killed, the four walked towards the paralyzed colonists. Liara checked their vitals with her omni-tool and it reported green for all the 4 humans.
"Vital signs are good, commander. Lets get back to the colony and find that Thorian" Liara said.
"Right, let move out" Shepard said as they proceeded to the elevator they used to get to the skyway. There were no humanoids along the way. The elevator door opened and they all entered.
"These things, could they be linked to the Thorian? Where did they even pop out from suddenly!?" Kaiden asked worried about the situation as he felt they are now dealing with an unknown entity unlike the geth. The elevator was making its way down meanwhile.
"If we find the Thorian, we will get the answers we seek" Liara replied to which Shepard nodded. The elevator reached the lower level. The four got out of the elevator and immediately came under gun fire and this time, it was only the colonists.
"Its just the colonists now and we each have one grenade. Lets make it count" Shepard said as they all took cover behind the crates and fired their weapon without targeting them, so that they will be scared to come near. Then they all loaded their grenades and saw around 16 humans firing their weapons at them including Greta Reynolds who was their security detail. Then Shepard and the others threw the grenades towards each group in the distance. After 2 seconds, the grenades exploded letting out a powerful sonic pulse, paralyzing them all.
"Phew, that was close!" Kaiden said whistling in relief.
"Now where to go?" Liara asked.
"Remember the scientists mentioned a pathway beneath these pods that led to the Thorian's lair?" Wrex reminded them all what the Exogeni employees Juliana and Lizbeth told them.
"Yes, find a way to move these pods" Shepard said as the three split to look for something that can move the mobile rooms to reveal the pathway.
"COMMANDER!" a voice came out loud suddenly which drew everyone's attention as they turned to look at the source of the voice.
It was none other then Faidan, the leader of Zhu's hope colonists.
"Faidan!?" Shepard called out.
"I-...I'm trying-...to fight-...bu but-...it won't let me-...it hurts-...IT HURTS-...AAHHHHurrghhh-..." Faidan struggled to talk. He clumsily walked as if he was crippled and they all could see the pain in his face.
"Listen, It has to be the Thorian! Once we find it and deal with it, you all should be free!" Shepard said as he saw a pistol in his hand which made him shrink his temples in suspicion.
"Nn-...no! You can't-...*HEAVY BREATHING*-...Walk away Shepard! WALK-...AWAY! I can't fight it anymore!" Faidan cried in agony as he immediately pointed the pistol in his head and,
*BAM*
"NO!" Kaiden yelled as he charged towards him. But there was nothing anyone could do. Faidan laid dead in front of them as the blood oozed from his head. The others stood around him. There were sadness in Shepard, Liara and Kaiden's faces while Wrex was indifferent since he never put much thought on to this as he sees things for what they are. Sometimes, that makes situations easy to comprehend.
"He didn't deserve this" Shepard said as he knelt down and closed Faidan's eyes.
"Lets hope we can stop this before other colonists suffer the same fate" Liara consoled Shepard to which he sighed.
"There is a crane over there. Perhaps we can use it to lift the civilian pods" Kaiden said as they walked towards the crane controls.
Shepard used the holo terminal to turn on the crane as it hummed in power. Then he used the controls to move the crane towards the pod. Then he dropped the hook on one pod and then lifted it. As the crane lifted up, the pod began to pivot revealing the ground. But there was no pathway.
"Nothing here, lets try the next one" Wrex said to which Shepard slowly dropped the pod in place and moved the crane to the next pod. Just as the previous one, he controlled the crane to lift the other pod as it pivoted . This time, the ground revealed a pathway, a staircase that led to a door.
"Commander, I think we found it" Kaiden said as the anxiety among the group began to develop since they got the feeling of reaching the end of the mission on Feros.
"Lets move. Once we get in, there is no return till we confront the Thorian, whatever that is" Shepard said to which the others nodded.
Then they slowly climbed down the stairs and reached the door which automatically opened and led to another pathway in the right. A few steps forward and they turned left. Along the pathway, they saw some green tentacle like things running along the wall.
"What are those things?" Kaiden asked, his eyes gloomy at the sight of the strange tentacles.
"Not sure" Liara replied. They walked straight and climbed the stairs only to reach a circular chamber with columns.
"Damn!" Wrex said. They all saw multiple huge bundles of organic material crawling all over and bulged structures attached to the ceiling that seemed to be glowing in green and appeared to be feeding something out. As the Normandy crew walked slowly forward and turned right to get a clear view of a huge green slimy sapient plant like being hanging from the ceiling and all the tentacles and bundles connected to its body. But this plant looked alive, had tentacled mandibles that moved like as it chewing something.
*LOUD GRUNTING* *RUMBLE NOISES*
"This-... has to be the Thorian. Never seen anything ugly like this!" Shepard said feeling the terror in his voice.
"This makes Rachni looks like bed bugs" Wrex commented as he held his shotgun high.
"This creature is the reason Saren sent geth to Feros. What shall we do now commander?" Liara asked her eyes widened in shock.
"Stay close and eyes around for hostiles" Shepard said as he took a few steps forward. Suddenly, out of its mouth like structure, an asari fell out of it to the ground. Her skin was unusually green instead of normal blue. Others aimed the gun at the asari.
"Thats an odd skin color, Asari never looked like that" Liara said. Then the asari started talking.
"Invaders! Your every step is a transgression! Your kind is either a meat for consumption or good to decompose. I speak to you on behalf of this old growth just as I spoke to Saren!" she spoke, her eyes fixated at the crew. Shepard and the others glanced at each other and lowered their weapons since they believe they have chance to communicate.
"I need the same information you shared with Saren" Shepard said
"Saren sought the knowledge of those who came before and for the first time in its eternity, it listened to flesh. Trades were made. But then the cold machines began killing and causing chaos in this world. It will never listen to flesh again" the asari said.
"But I am not like Saren. I am asking for your help so that he wont be killing anywhere in the galaxy!" Shepard said loud with determination. The asari was silent for a moment and suddenly her eyes rolled upward to reveal only the white cornea.
"HUMANS! I REMEMBER THE LAST TIME YOUR KIND WANDERED THE GALAXY. HOW YOU UNLEASHED THE DEADLIEST PARASITE THAT THREATENED THE VERY FABRIC OF EXISTENCE! THE PAIN, THE AGONY, THE HATRED IT BROUGHT UPON STILL LIVES IN MY MEMORIES SHARED BY THE GROWTH OLDER THAN US" the asari spoke though in a slightly bass tone.
"Commander, what the hell is she talking about?" Kaiden asked confused as to what she said. But for Shepard and Liara, this hit something in their head. They gradually understood that it was talking about humanity that existed hundreds of millions of years ago based on the hologram they saw in the alliance research facility.
"Wait, is it about the humans that may have possibly existed hundreds of millions of years ago!?" Liara jumped in and asked in a hurry.
"What!? How is that even possible!?" Wrex asked now confused about the entire conversation and losing the context.
"Its a long story, I can explain in the Normandy" Shepard answered though he slowly began to realize that what he saw and heard so far might have been true.
"YES. HUMANS AND THEIR ALLIES USED US TO FIND AN IMMUNITY TO THE PARASITE THEY CALLED 'THE FLOOD'. WE NEVER WANTED THAT WAR! WE WERE THRUSTED INTO THE CONFLICT THAT DESTROYED OUR ANCESTORS! BY KILLING YOUR KIND, I WILL AVENGE THEM!" the asari spoke. Then suddenly she glowed in biotic energy and
*ZZZAAAP*
She sent a shockwave that toppled the four. Then suddenly the place shook as the cracks appeared in the walls and ceilings. They also heard the same howls, the thorian controlled creatures.
"Wow! It got pissed off real quick" Wrex sarcastically commented.
"Quick! Take cover and switch to shotguns!" Shepard barked as they hid behind the barricade. The asari picked up a gun and started shooting at them. Wrex sent a biotic wave that sent her flying back and fall into the abyss beneath the Thorian.
"Shit! These things have surrounded us! Guess we have blast through them! Wrex take point, we will move upstairs!" Shepard said. Wrex jogged to his position as he stood front and the rest followed him behind. All the four raised biotic barriers upon themselves to protect from the Thorian creatures.
Wrex kept firing his claymore shotgun that blasted the creatures into a fiery pulp as strange green boiling liquid oozing out of them. Shepard, Kaiden and Liara kept firing at the creatures that were tailing them from behind. As they proceed to move upstairs, dodging the thorian bundles that were slowing them down.
That's when Liara noticed the strange bulged structure that was glowing.
"Commander, a moment!" Liara said as she scanned the bundle with her omni-tool. Meanwhile Wrex, Shepard and Kaiden fired their shotgun towards the creatures that barely kept them at bay.
"Damn! These things keep coming!" Wrex grunted in anger.
"LIARA!?" Shepard called out as she finished the scan.
"GOT IT! Commander, this bundle serves as a nerve processing center for the Thorian. You have to-..." Liara explained as she was cut short.
"You don't have to say anything. I know what you are getting at!" Shepard said with a smile as he shot the bundle with his shotgun that blasted spewing green liquid everywhere.
"RRRRAAAHHHHH-...!" they all heard the roar of the thorian as the place once again shook as if earthquake has struck.
"Looks like it worked! Lets find the other nerve centers!" Kaiden said as he blasted a creature that was going to attack Liara from behind. Liara gave nod of appreciation to him as she loaded her gun.
Then they all reached the next floor and suddenly a green asari levitated above and landed before them.
"C'mon! You are supposed to be dead!" Wrex said he fired his gun which the asari blocked.
"Its futile. I will always keep coming!" the asari said as she threw a biotic bolt that sent Wrex crashing onto Kaiden and both fell down. Shepard dodged to the left and threw a biotic warp that started to slowly drain her. Shepard then fired his shotgun straight to her face that exploded with blood splattering around as her lifeless body fell down.
"Let's find the next node, on the double!" Shepard said as the four started to sprint to the right of the entrance they came from, dodging the bundles. The thorian husks once again started to come from all over, crawling their way around them as they let a high pitched howl.
They started firing at the husks that killed them one by one. These creatures reminded Shepard of the blue husks he saw on Eden Prime wondering if there is any odd connection between them.
"Cover me! Need to change the thermal clip!" Shepard said as Liara sent a singularity that sent many husks spiraling in the air. Shepard changed the clip as it vented the heat letting out a hiss of air. Once the gun was reloaded, he began firing at the husks and they began moving forward.
"Shepard, I see another nerve center, taking a shot!" Wrex said as he used his claymore blast through the organic structure that burned and pulverized.
"RRRRAAAAAHHHHH-..." the Thorian once again roared in pain as the place rumbled.
"Lets move through the stairs!" Shepard yelled as they all followed Wrex behind firing at the husks.
"You will DIE!" an asari came out of nowhere firing weapons at them.
"Ahh man! Looks like we are fighting her clones!" Kaiden said wondering how many more of these asari are here. The fight was getting more and more intense by the minute. Its been an hour since they reached this lair and they have been fighting non-stop.
They all took cover behind the boulders and fired at the asari which she blocked with her biotics. Shepard used biotic lift that suspended her in the air as Kaiden sent a shockwave that sent her flying back into the abyss.
"LOOK! I think that's the last nerve center. That's the reason we have more resistance!" Shepard said as they all sprinted to the right from the entrance killing as many husks as possible along the way.
Finally it was Kaiden who sent an explosive grenade, the only one he had towards the nerve center. The grenade flew its way and stick itself to the surface.
*BANG*
The last nerve center was destroyed.
"RRRRRAAAAHHHH-..." the Thorian growled in pain and anger as the bundles of fibrils attached to ceilings and walls began to snap as the whole place shook. Finally, the Thorian's own weight cut the last bundled from its body that sent it to free fall into the darkness, to its demise. All of sudden, the thorian husks began howling in pain as they all fell to the ground and died away since the Thorian plant is no longer available to coordinate them.
"Phew! Guess its over. Hope that damned thing doesn't come back!" Kaiden commented as he drew a deep breath.
"But we still need to know what Saren learned here. With the Thorian dead, not sure if we still succeeded here" Liara said to which Shepard nodded in agreement.
"True, lets head down and figure the rest" Shepard said as they all slowly walked 3 levels down calmly to the same place where they first saw the Thorian. That's when they heard a sound as they all turned back. They watched a green cocoon like structure started to tear itself slowly and reveal an asari, an actual blue skinned asari stepping out as she fell to her knees. Others were on their guard though didn't make a move to kill her.
The asari slowly brought herself up as she shook head to clear her mind and looked front. Then she looked around. Her breath was rapid as if she was smelling freedom for the first time.
"You saved me, I'm free now! Its over, thanks to you I guess" the asari said with a smile.
"Was the Thorian keeping you under its control?" Shepard asked cautiously not wanting to kill her right away.
"Yes. My name is Shia'la. I am an asari commando working-...or rather worked under Matriarch Benezia when she joined Saren in his crusade" Shia'la said.
"You worked for my mother!? Where is she now?" Liara asked in tense as ever since she learned about her partnership with Saren, she wanted to find her.
"Your moth-...Ahh, you must be Liara T'Soni. Originally Benezia joined Saren so she could guide him away from his destructive path. But she and myself underestimated his mind control abilities. In turn, we both got swayed to join his cause" Shia'la explained which confused the others.
"Wait, are you saying Saren can control minds? Even then how would a Matriarch fall into that trap? They among the most powerful and intelligent" Shepard said shrinking his temples in suspicion. This has started to feel like a new pathway into this mission as they wanted to learn more from this.
"Its the ship that Saren has. He calls it the 'Sovereign' that emits some kind of signal to control and dominate the minds of his followers. They become indoctrinated to his will. Its a subtle process and no one would even know they are being controlled" Shia'la said.
"So that's the ship we saw on Eden Prime. The colonists there too mentioned something about how its noise was affecting their psych" Kaiden replied though curious to know more about this mysterious ship.
"My mother must have been affected the same way!" Liara added. Right now, she gained some positivity in her heart that her mother was not someone who she thought she was.
"So what brought you here?" Wrex asked.
"Saren brought me here as he needed my biotics to communicate with the Thorian to gain access to its secrets. He offered me as a trade in exchange for the cipher. But once he obtained what he wanted, he was quick to betray the Thorian and sent his geth to clean all evidences of its existence. Saren knew you were following his trails" She said with a mild hint of sorrow.
"Huh, not surprised though" Wrex quipped.
"So he has the cipher. What exactly is it and what does it do?" Shepard asked now being a bit impatient since Saren has got what he wanted.
"The beacon on Eden prime gave you the visions, but it wouldn't make much sense to any other species since only a Prothean mind can read it the way it could be. To understand them, you need to think like a Prothean. That's what the cipher does, to help you streamline the message in the visions" Shia'la explained.
"And this Thorian happened to have the cipher? How does this creature come into picture?" Liara asked.
"This Thorian on Feros existed long before the Protheans colonized this world. When they came, It silently watched them build cities above its place, it studied it culture and assimilated some of their memories into itself by consuming them to understand their culture" she said.
"So cipher is a knowledge, not some tool" Kaiden commented.
"Indeed, cipher is a knowledge that span thousands of generations. It can't be shown or explained. It simply exists. When I melded with the creature, our minds, our identities merged and I absorbed its memories. It is now part of me. I shared it with Saren, later" Shia'la said.
"And will you be able to give it to me?" Shepard asked.
"Yes, there is a way. Try to relax and take a deep breath, commander. Let go of the physical shell and reach out to the threads that binds us. Every action sends ripples across the galaxy and for an idea to live on, one mind should touch another" Shia'la spoke as she slowly walked towards Shepard as he drew a deep breath and calmed himself down.
"We are all connected in this glorious existence. Surrender yourself to the universe Shepard" Shia'la said as she held Shepard's forehead.
All of a sudden, flurry of images crashed on to his mind. But this time, he was able to stop them and rearrange it in a sequential order. He saw the Protheans being turned into beings with brown chitinous shell. He watched as their minds being ripped apart by cybernetic implants as the conductors pierced the brain matter. He watched their cities burn. Then suddenly he saw new entities, these beasts have extremely mutated bodies, having bone claws for arms, then huge bulbous creatures that trap protheans as their bodies are pierced by some tendrils. Then the images go back to the stars with the picture of Sovereign and a mysterious planet in the background which then changed to reveal another planet with a strange object around it, like in an orbit.
The flow of images stopped as Shepard opened his eyes to look at Shia'la who slowly looked at Shepard.
"I have given you the cipher, Commander. The ancestral memories and the knowledge of thousands of their generations are part of you now. It must have been a bit painful but there was no other way" Shia'la said.
"What's next commander, now that we have this" Kaiden asked.
"I still have few bits and pieces missing, but now the visions seems clearer. Its incomplete to be precise. We need to know more to fill in the gaps" Shepard explained which brought a frown upon the others. It was a cup half filled, but it was filled with something strong.
"One more thing. The Thorian referred something about humanity unleashing a parasite called the 'flood' and that we were a space faring species millions of years ago. It said it wanted vengeance for getting dragged into a war their kind never wanted. Do you know what it was talking about?" Shepard asked curiously.
"No, I never saw anything like that in its memories. But there are many sealed memories within its mental construct which it didn't open for me. But what you are saying is insane even to its standards" Shia'la replied though confused about what the commander said. She wasn't sure whether to trust him or not since she never had it from the Thorian first hand. Shepard understood that the Thorian only spoke to him about that on top its head so he decided to drop that for now and not wanting to give Shia'la any ideas.
"Fine, what will you do now?" Shepard asked now that there is one loose end.
"Even though I am free, I was indirectly responsible for the suffering of this colony. Allow me to stay back and help them" Shia'la pleaded as she felt guilty for the crimes. Shepard and the others didn't see any harm in that.
"The colonists could use whatever help they can get now. But we will be watching you. Hope you won't waste this opportunity" Shepard warned her.
"I won't commander. You have my word" Shia'la said with a slight bow.
"Then, let's get out of this place. It stinks beyond what I can take" Wrex quipped as others chuckled at his joke. Then they all slowly walked out of the Thorian lair, tracing their way back to the stairs that led to the open space where they met the Zhu's hope colonists before.
Once outside, they saw the colonists were slowly getting on their feet still reeling from the effects of mind control. The people saw the Normandy crew as Greta Reynolds, Juliana and Lizbeth Baynham approach them.
"My god, Shepard! You did it! The people here are free now, meaning you guys dealt with the Thorian!" Lizbeth said cheerfully.
"Yes, though this was one hell of a ride!" Shepard replied, rubbing his neck.
"Agreed. With the Thorian gone, now we will focus on rebuilding this colony" Juliana said letting a breath of relief.
"Yeah, have to thank your crew. They helped us a lot keeping us in confinement to stop us from hurting anyone or ourselves. But sad to see Fai dan is dead" Greta said with despondence. Shepard saw Garrus, Ashley and Tali helping the others in the opposite side.
"I'm sorry Greta, we couldn't stop it. It all happened in a second" Shepard genuinely apologized.
"I am not blaming you, commander. Your are the reason we are still alive. Its-...just that we could live peacefully from now on" she said to which Shepard gave a dry smug as he knew he can't make that promise since he believes there's always conflict and chaos and now with the possible reaper threat, its better they all enjoy what little time they have.
"Guess, we will be on our way. Take care" Shepard said as he nodded his crew to move.
"As I said, I will stay here and help with rebuilding the place. Farewell Shepard" Shia'la said with a warm smile. He nodded with a smile back and they all moved towards the exit. They regrouped with the remaining crew and made their way to the Normandy. Shepard then asked them all to gather in the comm room.
Aboard the Normandy...
an hour later...
"So commander? Guess you all had a nice fight down there" Ashley asked with a smirk on her face.
"Yeah, It was quite intense with the geth and a pissed off mind controlling plant" Shepard said.
"Had to say, the colonists started to act so wierd that we had to knock them out cold using stun guns. So what did we learn this time?" Garrus asked curiously.
"I got the cipher and so did Saren. But now, the vision made more sense. I can see the images more vividly" Shepard said.
"Commander, I may possibly be able to help with that. If you are willing to share the vision once more" Liara hopped in to volunteer.
"The mind meld? Well, won't hurt to try once" Shepard replied. Shepard and Liara then stood facing each other and she melded her mind with the commander. This time, she was able to see the images more clearly and vividly than the last time. Once done, she let go of Shepard and was stunned for a moment.
"I can't believe it! I spent my entire life studying the Protheans and to see these images more clearly, its fascinating. But you were right commander. Its missing 3 pieces. Maybe Saren has found another beacon that has those 3 pieces of information" Liara explained.
"Hmm, then we need to keep following Saren's trail" Tali said.
"Commander, before you came to Feros, yourself and Liara were on another mission to an alliance research facility. What happened to that?" Kaiden asked bringing that up. This made Shepard quite uncomfortable since he didn't know how the crew will react to the information he gathered. But he decided to go with it anyway as he didn't want to keep secrets from them that could possibly become detrimental to the mission's progress.
"The joint human asari research facility was-...run by chief alliance scientist Dr. Davis. A month ago, they uncovered an artifact on Casbin's moon. They studied it and found it to be 480 million years old" Shepard said which made everyone give each other a surprise glance.
"Holy shit! That's very old. Most of us have never heard anything beyond a 100,000 years" Ashley said.
"What exactly is the artifact?" Kaiden asked curiously and it was Liara who answered this time.
"It was a piece of a star ship's hull. But the material is so hard that it needs a particle beam with an energy of a nova to pierce it. It was something that I've never seen or even heard before. But-...sadly before they could uncover more, they all died save for one asari scientist" Liara said.
"Really!? What happened to them?" Garrus asked.
"An armed group of soldiers belonging to a group called Cerberus attacked the facility. They wanted the research data" Shepard explained, still the visions of the dead bodies haunt him.
"Cerberus!? I've heard about them in my travels. They are some kind of pro-human organization and highly xenophobic" Tali explained, recalling the stories she heard during her pilgrimage.
"But what they did there was brutal, I call them as mere terrorists!" Shepard said gritting his teeth in anger.
"I am more curious about the hull they uncovered. What kind of civilizations would have existed that long ago?" Tali asked curiously. Shepard and Liara glanced at each other in doubt which concerned the others.
"Anything wrong commander?" Garrus asked.
"Well-...There was also a holographic emitter that came along with the hull. Even after all that time, it still had power and it displayed a short recording-..."
...
"It belonged to humans" Shepard finished after a brief pause that stunned everyone in the hall.
"That is bullshit, Shepard! You might have got it all wrong" Wrex chided though it didn't surprise Shepard and Liara. Liara immediately pulled out her omni-tool and played the full recording she got it back in the facility.
Everyone saw and heard the recording with their own eyes. Must to their shock and dismay, they agreed it was humans in the holovid and they were talking about forerunners, flood which didn't even make sense. Liara closed the omni-tool and took her seat. Everyone in the comm room were lost for words and that is an understatement.
"That-...can't be. Humanity has been spacefaring only for about a century. Even the extranet records say you kind came into existence like few hundred thousand years ago on Earth, hunting pyjaks" Wrex said unable to comprehend what he just saw and he was in total denial.
"Even we can't believe it Wrex. I think we still don't do" Shepard said mirroring the same feelings as he too was still in denial.
"Does that mean humanity is about half a billion years old? Seriously!? This would f*king change the entire galactic history!" Ashley said as her eyes widened and shook her head in disapproval.
"And they have been space faring to say the least! A space faring human race in the very distant past. How could that even be possible!? Why have we not found traces of them on Earth in the modern days!?" Kaiden asked a flurry of burning questions as he was overwhelmed by the information since this could topple everything they knew.
"Remember, the Thorian on Feros said something similar. About humanity walking the stars eons ago and they knew the Thorians before" Liara added another point which made others feel even more uncomfortable since two different sources light years apart saying the same thing.
"Listen folks, lets not jump into conclusions now. Remember, We now have a mission at hand, stopping Saren, stopping the geth and Reapers. While I knew this could cause some discomfort among you, Its my policy to not keep secrets from my crew. But what we discussed here, should not leave this room, that's an order!" Shepard commanded.
"Understood commander. Even though this is unsettling and the future consequences if the council learned of this, we won't let this slip out" Garrus said with a firm nod.
"But still, this Cerberus group has the research data. What are we going to do about it?" Ashley asked feeling concerned if Cerberus might try something nasty. The crew may have not known cerberus personally, but they have a grim reputation of illegal experimentation and sabotage of peace, known all over the galaxy. They claim to represent the best of humanity but any news about them were anything but good.
"I have informed Hackett on that. He'll take care of that. But if this information is proven to be true someday, it will be a milestone in human history. Right now, lets focus on getting Saren. We are done with Feros. Next stop will be Noveria" Shepard said to which the others nodded.
"Commander, urgent message coming from councilor Valern" Joker said through the comm.
"Patch him through. Rest all are dismissed" Shepard said to which others slowly left the room one by one.
"I hope we will catch Saren in Noveria. Feros may have given us something, but that bosh'tet has been eluding us for a while" Tali said who stopped midway at the entrance.
"We will, Tali" Shepard assured her to which she nodded and left the room. There was only Shepard as of then. From the terminal, Valern's holographic image appeared.
"Councilor, you wanted to talk?" Shepard asked.
"Yes, commander. I have an important information regarding Saren" Valern said as Shepard folded his hands.
On the Installation-04,
Unknown date and time, Unknown system...
Matriach Benezia was standing in the medical facility feeling completely different. 343 Guilty Spark surgically removed the Reaper implants and her psych returned to normal self. After a long time, she truly felt her own being, free of Saren's control.
"I feel different, like I was newly born. Thnak you Spark, for freeing me from the Reaper's indoctrination" Benezia said with a warm smile.
"I was doing my duty. My task is to aid any organic that find this station" 343 said to which she expressed mild confusion.
"I'm sorry, but why would you help a stranger? What if I were a hostile?" Benezia asked out of curiosity.
"Then we wouldn't be having this conversation" Spark answered in a subtle yet cold way which took Benezia back with the AI's response.
"Still, you are the most sophisticated and benevolent AI I've ever seen, unlike the geth" Benezia said.
"Geth? Hmm, guess you and I have a lot of catching up to do. But right now, follow me. Time is of the essence" 343 said as it moved forward through another door. Benezia followed the sphere.
"Where are you taking me?" she asked.
"This ring has a teleportation grid. We are going to the nearest node. From there, we will reach the docking station" the ancilla replied which shook the asari.
"Wait, teleportation!? That's real!? I thought that technology is impossible to achieve!" Benezia said with her eyes widened. She even expressed enthusiasm to learn how to build such technologies.
"Its very common among us. Basically it involves movement through the slipstream space" Spark explained which the asari didn't quite understand.
They finally reached a hall that had two semicircular metal arc facing each other with a platform on the ground. Spark and Benezia stepped onto the platform and suddenly they were covered in bluish white energy field and immediately vanished from the place and reached another platform in a split second.
"Whoa-...That was-...something else! One second, I was there and now here!" Benezia said feeling disoriented by the translocation.
"Its the first time, the disorientation should pass eventually" Spark said as he gave her time to recover.
Thats when they reached a small anti-gravity gondola station. Spark and Benezia entered the gondola and activated the holopanel switch. The gondola started moving through a constrained tunnel though she could see a light at the end.
"That teleportation was impressive Spark, hope you could share the technology with me and my people. You mentioned a lot of things which I am having a hard time to keep up" Benezia said expressing her frustration.
"Apologies, but I cannot risk any technologies falling into hands that are not ready to explore. Although I agree, I wish we had time to talk, but with the reaper threat, we have our priorities. But once we settle down, we may have an opportunity" Spark said. Though Spark's concerns were not for the Reapers, but of the flood that used these sentient machines once. Benezia frowned upon the rejection from Spark about sharing technology.
By then, the gondola exited the tunnel as it came out into the open air several hundred feet high in the air. Benezia got a vantage point from there to view everything and praised the makers of this ring.
"We are nearby the docking station" Spark said as Benezia looked ahead and she caught glimpse of a huge ship that will being held by a gravity anchor. Benezia was stunned at the size of the ship and it was also looking very odd in design, never seen before architecture. It had some dark silvery texture in the hull.
"Wait, is that a dreadnought?" Benezia asked.
"That's ridiculous! Its a small frigate. Our dreadnaughts ranges beyond 10,000 meters" Spark replied which stupefied the asari.
"THAT's IMPOSSIBLE! The amount of element zero to power a drive core of such huge ships will be astronomical. There is no way its capable of space travel!" Benezia yelled in denial assuming the AI was fooling her.
"Our ships don't use this element zero you speak of, Lady Benezia. It uses reaction drives that manipulates the virtual particles in space" Spark explained which confused the Matriarch.
"A ship without Eezo!? How is this even possible!? Every species rely on this material and there is a reason for the Farixen treaty in the first place! But this-...goddesses above!" Benezia thought to herself, feeling incredulous. The gondola reached the docks and both Spark and Benezia stepped out to walk along the platform to reach the ship's entrance.
"I-..don't understand! But like you said, we have a lot of things to catch up. It seems, I have learned only a little about this galaxy in my thousand years of life time. What will happen next?" Benezia asked.
"The ship is fully automated. I have sent the coordinates for the world in its computer. Once you reach the world, use the navigator you will find in the central chamber to get to your destination. Its advanced, yet simple to understand so you don't have to worry about getting lost or feeling incompetent in using it" Spark said. Benezia smirked at the dig it took on her.
"Thank you 343 Guilty Spark. My journey started somewhere. But now it has taken a turn in an unknown direction. Maybe for the best-...or the worst. Either way, I will live long enough to find out which" Benezia said as a bluish field surrounded her.
"Farewell, Lady Benezia. The fate of the galaxy rests on you successfully reaching the world" Spark said as it watched the asari teleported into the ship.
Slowly the gravity anchor was powered off and the ship hummed slowly in power. The reaction drives emitted bluish energy from the exhaust as the ship slowly lifted itself in air and turned 180 degrees. Then it cruised through the air high above into the space beyond the ring's atmosphere and out of it gravity field. Once outside the ring's influence, a bluish white portal appeared in space, surrounded by energy. As the ship fully entered the portal, it closed behind.
Author's notes: I hope you enjoyed the chapter. See you all in the next one. Please leave your reviews.
"HAPPY HOLIDAYS"