Into the Howling Dark

by long night of solace

Hundreds of millions of years ago, Humanity, Forerunners and the SanShyuum, the tier-1 species protected the galaxy. But the peace never lasted as the threat of flood and the reapers brought the Milkyway to the edge of extinction. Now the warriors of the past needs to guide the future galaxy and stop history from repeating itself.

5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't own Mass Effect or Halo Franchise

Author's notes: Once the old races are revealed, the stories will also carry codex and conversations that briefs a lot on what happened during their reign. Meanwhile, enjoy the reading.

Chapter 5: Feros - Part I

Shepard, Garrus, Ashley, Wrex, Tali, Kaiden and Liara wearing their respective hardsuits and weapons of their choice held on the suit's magnetic strips were waiting eagerly on their next mission to Feros. Back at the citadel, Alliance intel already reported geth attacks on the colony. But there was also strong motive to that since its a Prothean colony and the city structures stand tall, even to this day, though in the jagged condition with 50,000 years of planetary wear and tear.

"I wish I get to go with you all to Feros. In all my travel for research, I have only studied about the world. Witnessing a Prothean city is a rare opportunity" Liara said with mild despondence.

"Easy lady, We are only an advance team to take care of the geth activity. Any further progress will only happen once the commander gets back with you" Ashley said as she loaded the heat sink in her rifle.

"Yeah, then you will get to run your hands or claws or whatever you want on the world" Garrus said with a smirk.

"Too bad the colonization efforts are still in progress. We only managed to get like 1,000 something transported. Else it will be a huge place for the next holiday staycation" Kaiden commented.

"My people would really love spending time in a place like that. That is-...if we dont catch cold trying to smell the freedom in the air" Tali said. She never gave much thought about landing on a world for good since the Quarians spent centuries wandering the space after they lost Rannoch to Geth in the war. But she did shared a similar sentiment with some others in the flotilla, about finding new home for terraforming or even grow bold to take the fight to geth and retake Rannoch. But, both presented problems, big enough to be avoided. One, they don't have the workforce or resources to terraform a world. Next is the geth are too much in numbers and raw power to pick a fight and win. Their population is barely holding up with 17 million people.

"Yeah imagine living in houses where the owners died 50,000 years ago and their ghosts starts to haunt you" Wrex said with a grin.

"Ghosts are not real! They are basically illusions that-...ohh-...was that a sarcastic comment?" Liara asked, her blue cheeks turning red as she was being too literal with the conversation.

"Heh he he-...Seems you are getting to know us better" Wrex said.

"Commander, as much as I think it will be hilarious to see Wrex chasing ghosts, FYI, we will be exiting the relay in a minute and from there, we will reach Casbin in an hour" Joker said over the comm speakers.

"One day, I will run some field tests on your bones, flight lieutenant Pyjack!" Wrex said which earned some laugh among the crew in the shuttle bay.

"Acknowledged Joker" Shepard replied smiling at the banter. Its been a while for the others except Liara spending time together and getting to know each other better. For Ashley who was a bit xenophobic due to her career spending time only on groundside and have never worked with aliens before. Her grandfather fought the Turians on Shanxi, so she was always cynical about non-human races even if the terms between them were friendly. But now, she grew quite comfortable among the Normandy's alien allies. After all, she understood, Saren is the real threat out there and having unnecessary hostilities will only be detrimental to the mission progress.

With the available time, the crew were having a chit chat and meanwhile the Normandy was in FTL to the Hong system in the armstrong cluster. The ships dropped out as the drive core vented the energy into the heat sink. SSV Normandy-SR1 is a prototype frigate of human-turian joint ingenuity. The tantalus drive core is is bigger and can stay in FTL for longer time, with advances IES stealth systems, Normandy is a power pack.

"Commander, we have reached the Hong system, approaching Casbin, IES system active. Scanning the space for possible hostiles-...No hostiles detected. We are good to land on the moon, commander" Joker said over the comm.

"Good, take us in Joker" said Shepard as Joker acknowledged. The Normandy cruised through the space, passing by a gas giant and an icy planet finally arriving at the terrestrial world Casbin. At the distance the ship is in, Joker could view the moon to its left on the planet's bright side. Joker piloted the ship towards the moon. As they got near, initial sensor scans revealed that the moon was similar to Luna, with thin atmosphere that no one can survive without a breather. But oddly, the planet's gravity was quite high to its size. The geological scans showed the moon is quite denser and has a gravity of 1.5G.

"We have reached the moon. Dropping you off one click away from the base's location. You are good to go commander and don't forget the breathers" Joker said over the comm.

"Thanks Joker. Liara, you ready?" Shepard asked.

"I'm ready commander" Liara nodded as she wore the breather mask. Shepard then opened the shuttle bay door. The pressure was equalized with the outside thin atmosphere so everyone wore the breather mask till the door was closed.

"Good luck commander" Garrus said.

"Same to you. Keep us posted on the situation in Feros" Shepard said to which the others nodded. Shepard and Liara stepped outside upon the moon's ground. It was a bit rough and dusty. The Normandy bay door closed and the vessel took slowly to the space. Once beyond the gravity field, the ship moved into FTL to get to the nearest relay system.

Shepard and Liara looked around to get a feel for the environment. They could see the star's light illuminating on their side and there were nothing but void with tiny dots of stars in the sky.

"Hmm, the moon's gravity is quite high, for its size. Must be denser than we assumed it to be" Liara commented as they both felt the heavier pull of the moon's G force.

"Maybe, that building over there in the front is the base Hackett mentioned. Let move" Shepard said as they proceeded to walk. Their hardsuits facilitated easier mobility.

"Hmm, the suit's scanner shows only one life sign within the structure" Liara said as her omni-tool glowed.

"Only one? I assume its one of the scientists" Shepard said as they both walked the straight path. He was confused why would there be only one person in a facility as big as this. He didn't wanna think of the possibility that something bad might have happened to them. It was silent outside as the atmosphere was too thin to create any loud noise.

A few minutes later, they stood in front of the door that had red hologram in the center. The research facility was quite big. They saw lot of supply crates and equipment. To the building's left side was a huge excavator. Shepard and Liara assumed, whatever the team found must have been dug from that spot.

Shepard used his omni-tool to try and hack the door, but couldn't bypass its wireframe. He then looked around to and identified a security camera to his top left corner.

"Hey! Does anyone see us? We are from the alliance, sent by Admiral Hackett to assess the situation here!" Shepard looked at the camera as he took a crate to climb above and yell close to it enough for someone to hear on the other side.

That's when the door hissed as the red hologram turned green.

"Commander, I think they heard you" Liara said they both stepped back as the airlock door opened. Shepard and Liara glanced at each other and stepped inside. The door closed behind and locked.

"Equalizing interior pressure in the airlock *HISSING SOUND*"

It was the voice of the facility's VI. Once the air was filled, the front door opened as they started walking through the corridor. But what they saw next was something they didn't expect.

"Jesus Christ! Who the hell these bodies belong to?" Shepard asked as he knelt down and flipped a dead soldier in white combat suit. He wore a helmet with black visor and strange yellow insignia on the chest plate. He was covered in red blood. Shepard safely opened the helmet to find a human face.

"Its a human, who are these people? I see a lot of similar dead bodies within these cubicles" Liara said looking around. The cabins were shabby with everything broken and some systems were smoking. It looked like someone crashed a party.

"Atleast now we know why this facility went dark. This place was under attack" Shepard said as they both heard a loud thud as if someone hit their foot on a supply crate.

Shepard and Liara both took their guns and aimed at the source.

"Who is there? Show yourself!" Shepard yelled.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! My bad" a female voice came from behind a crate and slowly revealed itself.

"So the alliance sends help after getting everyone killed, huh!?" the woman, precisely an Asari in a scientist robe spoke in condescending tone.

"Sorry, we were only told this facility went dark, not exactly how" Shepard said as he holstered his gun on the thigh. Liara immediately identified the asari scientist and was a bit stunned.

"Wait! Doctor Priosla? What are you doing here?" Liara asked wide eyed. Shepard was a bit confused about the prior acquaintance but he felt he did the right thing by bringing her too.

"I take it you know her very well?" Shepard asked.

"Pardon, Shepard, this is Doctor Priosla M' Loor, senior scientist in Thessia's xenoarcheological department. She is quite famous in our home world" Liara said as if fangirling to see a senior scientist, though it may be because of her young age.

"I'm sorry, who are you again?" Priosla asked curiously.

"Its Doctor Liara T' Soni" Liara answered to which Priosla chuckled.

"Ahh right! I remember you. Benezia's kid. Still hunting Protheans?" She asked indifferently.

"Yes, but now I have joined Commander Shepard in a mission to stop a rogue turian spectre and the geth" Liara answered.

"Hmm, we've been hearing rumors of geth activity for a month. May be its true after all" Priosla said as he face turned sour.

"What happened here? Who are these people?" Shepard asked pointed at the dead soldier. Priosla looked at the dead soldier as memories of the recent events flashed before her eyes as she closed them tight to shake off the feeling. She then slowly turned to look at Shepard and Liara and began narrating the events.

"*SIGH* We were 10 scientists, 6 human, 4 asari. We had a good security detail. We came here on a joint research mission funded by the alliance after the human scientists here unearthed a debris field. They didn't know what they uncovered, so they requested the Asari republic to lend a hand in studying the object" Priosla said.

"And these dead soldiers?" Liara asked.

"They called themselves Cerberus, but I never heard of them" she answered.

"I think I've heard that name before. They are some kind of human centric organization, but so they are no saints. Anderson once referred Cerberus to me though their records are pretty shady. What were they here for?" Shepard asked. He didn't feel right about this and made a note to himself to inform Hackett and Anderson about Cerberus's involvement.

"The research data. They took it all. Our guards tried to stop them, but before anyone can realize, it was a blood bath. All the scientists, including the head of this facility, Doctor Davis. I am the only survivor of this base. Cerberus broke the communication systems and I couldn't send a message out. Thought I was done for" Priosla said sadly thinking about all the innocent lives lost in the facility.

"Goddesses! If only we knew what was happening here-...Do you still have the object your team uncovered?" Liara asked.

"Yes, when we heard of the base attack, we moved them one level below" Priosla said.

"We would like to see it. Though I'm concerned as to why Cerberus is interested in this and how the hell did they find this place!?" Shepard said frustrated, after he finally decided to get this over with.

"If only we had answers to everything. Follow me" Priosla said as she walked through another corridor towards the elevator. Shepard and Liara followed her.

"So, this artifact, its not Prothean I assume" Liara asked curiously to the fellow scientist.

"How did you know? Priosla asked wondering if they came here with information handy.

"We were already told about its nature, just wanted to know what this fuss is all about" Shepard said as the three approached the elevator. Priosla opened the door and they all entered the elevator. She then pressed a button that started to move the elevator down. It was only 5 seconds and they already reached the lower level. The door opened and they stepped out to see the place was not an artificial structure, but a natural underground, leveraged by the scientists to work as a facility's lower section. The walls were nothing but greyish rock that were unevenly spread across.

"Huh, with the rock's density, Cerberus's scanners wouldn't have been able to identify this place. Nice work" Liara commended with a smile. The underground section was huge enough to hold a tennis court. There were many cables, gas pipes, holo consoles along the way.

"Thanks. This is what we identified. Behold the sight, Commander!" Priosla said as they reached the central chamber that housed a blackish silver toned object, twice the size of the largest african elephant. The object looked like it was a piece of something large, abruptly cut off by a precise beam, like a high coherence laser. The structure had both organic and sharp curves and bends. It screamed wholly alien, yet something familiar.

"My-...GOD! That thing is huge!" Shepard said and his eyes were popping out in astonishment and fear.

"What is this, Priosla?" Liara asked.

"We studied its structure and composition. Davis assumed this object, with the appearance and presence of certain angular design, was a piece of starship's hull, belonged to an unknown species. Funny thing is, this object even as we speak, still emits low burst neutrinos at a certain interval. I can't possible imagine how its still active while buried 250 meters under!" Priosla said still marveling at this piece of material.

"How old is this exactly?" Shepard asked. Even he was told this before by Hackett, still he needed confirmation.

"I am not lying when I say this. The rock samples around this object that absorbed the neutrino pulse dates back to approximately 480 million years back" Priosla said which stunned Liara as she shook her head mildly to check if she was dreaming or still in reality. But for Shepard, he got the answer he sought.

"This is unbelievable! All this time, I believed the Protheans were the only advanced species in the galaxy, that is no evidence anything that existed before turned up except a few scraps. But this completely rewrites history!" Liara said feeling both anxious and excitement at the same time.

"What else can you tell us about that object? Hackett mentioned that it lot stronger than anything we have created" Shepard asked the asari scientist. She took a deep breath before answering the question.

"To test the material's melting point, we used a particle accelerator powered by mass effect fields from an eezo core. You wouldn't believe me but the particle beam's energy after consuming almost a megaton of eezo, still couldn't cut through the structure. Davis used the test results and the material's reaction to predict the peak energy output needed. Based on that, the prediction was the particle beam's energy had to be close the output of a supernova. Yes, I said it right, SUPERNOVA!" Priosla said as he voice was quite loud. It was not the tense, but the mind boggling research data she still can't believe.

"A Supernova? That is not-...no material in the galaxy can actually withstand that. I-..uhh-...don't know what to say" Liara said sounded more despondent as she couldn't even comprehend the implications of this study.

"Well, someone in the distant past did know how to make these. The material this object's made of, the molecular scans revealed its a blend of Titanium and Iridium. But not as an alloy or composite. This material has been engineered at the atomic level, as if the atoms of Titanium and Iridium were forced to occupy the assigned space to form a certain molecular structure with desirable properties. This feels almost like what humans would call it, 'Space magic'" Priosla explained.

Shepard and Liara were petrified at the fact being thrown at their way.

"Who does this belong to? Based on what she is telling, whoever ot whatever lived in the distant past were definitely incredibly advanced. Damn! Now Cerberus has the research data and if my hunch is right, they will studying this material" Shepard thought as he cursed how this critical piece of information slipped into Cerberus's hands.

"Is it possible to replicate this material?" Liara asked out of curiosity.

"Not with our current understanding of science and engineering. I don't if we are even capable of this feat" Priosla replied though she was amused for a while at this idea.

"Is there anything else, doctor?" Shepard asked.

"Yes, there was one more object we found nearby the hull fragment. This-..." Priosla said as she walked around the huge artifact and took a piece of rock in her hand from a nearby table. Shepard and Liara took the rock in their hands and were curiously looking at it. That's when their eyes caught something, there was a small black silver metallic sphere with mildly visible cuts in different angles.

"What is this?" Liara asked confused.

"Not sure, this object, when we touched, it did nothing" Priosla said and Shepard instantly rubbed his hands above and it started to glow.

"Whoa! Was it supposed to do that?" Shepard asked as the three tensed as the sphere started to glow along the cut lines with bluish white light.

"I am not sure. It never did anything like this before. But-...it acted this way only after you touched it. Interesting, I am wondering if this thing is supposed to activate with a human touch? Since none of the other human scientists laid hands on it, I can't say for sure" Priosla said rubbing her chin.

"Uhh Doc, I guess its good to focus here!" Shepard yelled in anxiety as the rock suddenly broke in 2 half and the metal sphere suspended mid-air. Suddenly, it began to shift along the cut lines in 3 axes and stopped. Then it emitted a stream of blue light that covered the entire underground facility.

"By the goddess! Its-...its a holo projector!" Liara said as her breathing picked up pace.

Then all of a sudden...

"Lord Hood, We are in position above the Forerunner planet, designated 'Seaward'. Planetary defense fleet on alert and inbound" a human in a strange deep blue officer armor spoke.

Another human in a officer armor with much more grandeur design standing in center of a big hall what could only be assumed as the ship's bridge, activated the holomap of the planet and he touched it. It blinked as he rotated the hologram and took a curious look as if searching for something.

"Scan the planet for the flood. I hope we got ahead of them" Lord Hood said. He looked old, white skinned, yet muscular.

"Scanning in progress..." another officer said.

"What about Didact?" Lord Hood asked.

"Sir, Commander 117's fleet is engaging his forces in the space over Heian. But he has taken a Spartan regiment to the groundside to stop Didact's promethean troops from entering any city" a human officer standing on the bridge answered.

All of a sudden, every holo screen and Seaward's holomap blinked in red.

"Damn it! Flood infestation detected on the remote locale. It looks like the parasite is ahead of us still" an officer spoke in alarming tone.

"By the gods above! I wish this nightmare ended. Warn the forerunner fleet of the flood forces. Take the prime cruiser "Point of Light' and purge the region. Not a single flood spore should survive!" Lord Hood ordered.

"Yes sir! Preparing firing solutions, moving a cruiser to the nearby orbital point" a human officer standing by a console answered.

Suddenly the hologram started to flicker in static, as if low on power and shutdown and dropped to the ground in free fall with a thud. Liara slowly took the projector in her hand.

"This is the most sophisticated holo-projector I've ever seen!" Liara said curiously looking at the metal ball.

"I'm still processing what I just saw. This-...doesn't even make any sense. Those people we saw in the holovid-...are humans!" Shepard said with a blunt facial expression, as if caught in a trance. He simply couldn't comprehend what he saw with his own eyes. He damn sure know if he revealed this to any other person, he would be considered borderline insane and admitted to an asylum.

"That is not possible commander! Humans!? Maybe they are human looking humanoid creatures, like us maybe. I know your kind never made it to the stars till the charon relay was found, as per your codex. Ooorrr-...does your people have anything to do with this!?" Priosla asked in suspicion. Shepard raised his eyebrows in confusion.

"What the hell are you implying!? Didn't you observe the footage? There was a mention of the Spartans!" Shepard clapped back at the asari scientist as he felt some accusations thrown his way.

"What does that mean?" Liara asked with no knowledge on that term.

"Spartans are ancient Greek human warriors, fought and won wars only a mega army could hope to achieve. You can look up in the extranet for 'Battle of Thermopylae' under human history. The point here is, the holo projector was found with the artifact, hundreds of millions years old. And-...it has recordings of humans who talk about things only we know. I-...I can't even think of what could this possibly mean" Shepard said as he made short pace forward and backward, nodding his head in denial.

"Does that mean, humanity existed in Earth's prehistoric past? Shepard, do you know if any of your scientists uncovered any evidence on Earth?" Liara asked, even she was confused after what she saw.

"Nothing that I know of, but I can ask admiral Hackett about this" Shepard replied.

"Commander? Liara? Check this out" Priosla said as she picked up the rock pieces that held the spherical holo projector. It had some strange carvings connected by lines, like symbols connected to form a network.

"These symbols are etched, maybe with a laser or something" Priosla said.

"I will take a scan of this pattern and send it to Alliance and see if they can come up with something. Liara, hope you recorded the holo-vid in your omnitool?" Shepard asked as he scanned the symbols.

"Ofcourse commander. But this discovery is groundbreaking! The mention of Forerunners, Flood...these are totally unknown. But if anything turns up in the future that gives more information on people referred here, the thousands of years of galactic history could change. All this time, the galaxy was fascinated by the Protheans and their feats, But there has always been more to it" Liara said feeling glazed.

"We all have only explored the tip of the iceberg in the Milkyway, Liara. Now, I will inform admiral Hackett once we get back to the Normandy. The alliance fleet can secure this hull object" Shepard said to which Liara nodded.

Then the three made it to the top side to get to the communications terminal to use the array to contact Normandy.

A while ago...

When Shepard and Liara were off to the moon, the remaining crew were sent to Feros, the old Prothean world with their ruins covering 2/3rd of the planet. It took sometime to reach the relay system to Casbin and jump to Attican beta cluster, in the Theseus system.

Feros was a potential world in the habitation. Exogeni corp founded a small colony that had 1000 inhabitants who would stay there to study and assess the potential for full colonization.

"Guys, we have reached Feros, I am headed to the space dock where we have the settlement to park the Normandy" Joker said over the comm.

"Alright Joker" said Ashley.

"What is the situation here?" Tali asked.

"Man, the planet is screwed up! Sensors are picking up lots of geth activity around the colony" Joker said.

"So, once we get out, what's the plan? Obviously we are gonna make contact with the settlement. Then locate Saren if he is here and bust his ass!" Garrus said.

"Well, that's it" Ashley said.

By the time, Normandy was parked in the dock as the magnetic clamps held the vessel.

The crew walked through the CIC and entered the airlock. After pressurization, the door opened as Wrex, Tali, Ashley, Garrus and Kaiden walked out and turned right. Along the pathway, they saw a space dock worker standing. The crew approached him.

"Fai dan is waiting for you, he needs your help with the geth" the worker said which made others glance at each other in confusion. They observed the worker's face was deadpanned, as if he was deep in his thoughts and uttering words just from his mouth.

"Uhh-...okay. Guess, the people of Feros got no basic courtesy to introduce themselves" Ashley said.

"Who the hell is this Fai dan and why does he wait for us? Do you know about our arrival?" Wrex asked.

"I don't know, Fai dan can answer your questions-...now please *BAAM*" the worker spoke and all of a sudden blood splattered everywhere as the Normandy crew saw a big hole in the worker's chest.

"DAMN! GETH! COVERING FIRE!" Kaiden exclaimed as everyone took cover.

MULTIPLE GUN SHOTS* *BAAM*

The geth units fired explosives that pinned the crew down. There were 5 geth units of which each one took a geth down with their rifle easily. There was a geth sniper on the far side of an entrance. Garrus took out his sniper rifle and aimed for it's head and shot a clean round through its face.

"That's all for now, but the sensors are reading multiple geth over the next pass" Kaiden said.

"We have to keep moving. Lets see if we can find any colonists over here. If anyone's alive, they need our help to fight the geth" Tali said.

"Yeah, let's go" Ashley replied. The 5 walked to the right and turned left. There were stairs and suddenly 3 geth units started firing from defensive position. Apart from them, there were 2 geth units that moved like a lizard, leaping across the place, from wall to wall.

"What the hell is that thing?" Wrex said as he fired his shotgun towards a geth prime and hit it with a biotic slam.

"Those are hoppers! Be careful with them!" Tali replied as she sent a defense drone for distraction towards a geth shock troop unit and fired her shotgun.

"Ahh crap! Little too late for the warning!" Garrus yelled as the hopper latched onto him as he fell down. The hopper was about to beat him and shock him to death, but Garrus grabbed its hands and struggled with it to get away from its grip. Ashley dodged an attack from a geth unit and tackled the hopper and immediately took her sidearm and shot several rounds to its face as it laid dead.

All the geth units have been killed by then.

"Everyone in one piece?" asked Kaiden to which others nodded.

"Not even a scratch" Wrex said as he reloaded his shotgun.

Then the crew moved to the top side using the stairs and reached a doorway which led to the open space where the sunlight was shining dim and everyone could see the old and damaged Prothean skyscrapers. But that was not the only sight, there were smoke and fire too.

The crew managed to see a few armed personnel pointing guns at them behind a barricade.

"Hold your fire! We are from the alliance!" Ashley yelled. Then they lowered the guns seeing the friendly faces.

"We didn't know alliance had Krogans, Turians and Quarians" a woman said, wearing a security guard attire spoke holding her assault rifle. It was not alliance standard gear. Her face was weary and there were some bruises, from the geth assault probably.

"And who might you be?" Kaiden asked.

"Greta Reynolds. I am part of the 300 of Exogeni's pilot colony, Zhu's hope. I manage the security details. My husband Davin deals with the food and supplies for our people. We were already having a hard time and now the Geth have made it worse" she said.

"This doesn't look much like an active colony. Downed frighter, geth troops all over" Garrus said.

"Yeah, there used to be around 1000 people. But with the geth's arrival, now only 300 left. Most of the colonists here have never seen combat. They are now just running with survival instincts" Greta said sounding tired.

"Thanks for the help anyway. If you want to ask any more questions, check with Fai dan. He is behind the quarters" a nearby colonist spoke anxiously. He was afraid of the present situation and even though he holds a gun, clearly he was no fighter.

"Guess, Fai dan is the answer to everything in Zhu's hope. Lets find him" Tali said. They moved through the walkway to the left as they watched the ruins of a downed freighter.

They walked along the path and finally reached the spot behind the quarters that had another doorway. They walked passing by a couple of women who were muttering something in their mouth, babbling in fear as they worked on the terminals. One thing was certain to them, these people are not really well. Their thoughts are not well aligned as if they are struggling to think every second.

There was an old man, perhaps in the mid forties with a brown hair, tan skin, and a young woman in a security armor with a rifle in her hand, same as Greta, standing and discussing something.

"Ahh! You must be the crew of the Normandy! The Alliance sent us a note on your arrival. I am Fai dan and this is Arcelia Martinez, runs security here" the man spoke.

"Hello, guess a lot a people here don't wanna talk to us. Some are-...working in fear" Ashley said.

"Apologies, they have lost people in the geth attack. I am barely holding them together. We are simple colonists, most of us have not even held a gun in our lives" Fai dan spoke with deep despondence.

"What exactly the geth want in this place?" Garrus asked.

"Not sure, this world is full of ruins. Maybe the geth are holed up in here to see if they find anything valuable" Fai dan said.

"That's odd. There are many other worlds out there with prothean ruins. But only Feros has seen this kind of aggression from the geth" Tali said which made the security guard to shrink her temples in anger.

"Then maybe you can ask those damn geths what they want! If not for your people, we wouldn't be in this mess!" she gritted in anger. Others including Tali was quite taken back, though Tali didn't react since she could understand what they have been going through.

"Whoa! Easy lady, that kind of attitude is not gonna do much. We are only here to help with the geth attack" Kaiden said raising his arms to calm everyone down.

"*SIGH* I'm sorry for that. Its just-...the geth have occupied the lower levels and Davin couldn't get us the supplies. Even if we hide from the geth, we would all die of starvation anyway" she said deadpanned and others understood the frustration she was in.

"Listen, instead of yapping, tell us what the problem is, maybe we can be useful to each other" Wrex said with coldness in his tone. Fai dan and the security guard glanced and nodded.

"The geth have a base nearby the Exogeni HQ. When the geth attacked us, we split into 2 groups. You can meet with the scientists and engineers in the outpost, by moving through the skyway. There is an old functioning elevator through that door behind me, that will get you there" Fai dan explained.

"Good, then we can ask Joker to get the Mako ready in the skyway" Kaiden said.

"Now about your issues, what can we do to help?" Ashley asked.

"We use the old Prothean aqueduct systems for water supply. Thing is the valve controls are downstairs and geth have blocked our passage. Then we need a power cell to start up the motor and other electricals. The crew lost it somewhere below. Finally the food, we rely on varren meat which we get plenty here. But Davin mentioned that there is an alpha varren that is too aggressive and getting the meat is impossible with it being alive" Fai dan said.

"They should be available in the lower levels, that is if you can get rid of the geth" Arcelia added.

"Hmm, alpha varrens are indeed mean bastards. But nothing a krogan can't handle" Wrex said.

"Then lets clean up the geth and take care of these hindrances. Wrex can take care of the varrens, Myself and Ashley can look for the lost powercell. Kaiden and Tali can work on the valve control" Garrus said.

"Sounds like a plan. Let's move then" Tali said.

"Guys, before you go. FYI, Commander Shepard and Liara are done with their mission and have requested pickup, I will be leaving now" Joker said over their comm channel.

"Finally, its about time. Let's grease things up for the commander till he returns" Garrus said. Then the Normandy crew took to the doorway to the lower levels to take care of their chores.

...

Saren and a geth contingent reached Feros while the Normandy entered the colony at the same time. Saren knew of Shepard's presence, so he hastened his search for the Thorian creature. This time Sovereign ship was not brought to avoid unnecessary attention. He travelled to the surface using a geth ship thus making others believe this was only a geth attack.

Saren and an Asari commando named Shiala landed near a Prothean skyscraper on the now unused highway that leads into a tunnel. Shiala is the one who's gonna help Saren communicate with the Thorian.

"The human scientists were sent here originally to study the Thorian which they dubbed species 37. Your geth units have assaulted their HQ and successfully retrieved the data from one of their VI." Shiala said.

"So does this tunnel leads to the Thorian?" Saren asked.

"Yes, according to the data. But, the seismic scan shows networked organic bundles that spread across this whole metropolis. Interesting-...these bundles act as carriers" she said, quite surprised looking at the data in the datapad.

"Carriers of what?" Saren asked curiously.

"Carriers of information, responses to stimuli, like a sentient being's mind" Shiala said which quite perplexed the spectre.

"Then if these bundles alone are the size of a city, imagine the size of that being. Let's move in. Following the bundles, should lead us to the body of the Thorian" Saren said as he, Shiala and 5 geth units which includes 2 primes got on a geth ground vehicle and rode their way in.

The tunnel was dark and the artificial lights in the ceiling edges still glowed with power, suggesting the longevity of Prothean Engineering. The scanner beeped in periodic intervals suggesting the presence of the bundles. Then suddenly the ground vehicle stopped.

"What happened?" Saren asked.

"We need to turn left through the maintenance access way. This vehicle can't go further" A geth platform spoke in its cybernetic tone.

"Fine, we will walk it off" Saren said as he, Shiala and the geth units got out of the vehicle. Saren then turned left to see a door with green blinking lights.

"Thats the one" Shiala pointed to the same door as she opened the door. It led to a pathway with multiple consoles and machineries, then to a staircase. Saren and the others walked through the walkway looking around.

"Have to admit, even after fifty thousand years, this place stands great. A testimony to the prothean architecture" Shiala commented to which Saren didn't respond.

Then after taking the stairs that went round and round to a level 100 feet below. They finally reached a place what appeared to be the catacombs.

"Saren, look! Over here" Shiala called out as she turned on a flash light in her omnitool, that revealed dark ash green colored tree root like structure going all the way forward from their left and right side.

"So this is it. The nerve bundle you referred to. This path should straight away lead to the Thorian. Let's move" Saren said as they started walking, following the roots. The place was quite dark and not everything was visible.

...

Aboard the Normandy...

Shepard contacted the Normandy using the facility's comm array. Joker received the signal and he flew the Normandy from Feros all the way to Casbin's moon for extraction.

"Commander, I am bringing the Normandy to the ground 100 feet from the facility. Also the 5th fleet have been alerted to pick up the survivors and the artifact. They will be here in an hour" Joker said.

"Thank goodness, your pilot came fast. I was beginning to feel hungry and this facility was out of food" Liara said which made Shepard raise his eyebrow.

"Thank you Joker. We are coming out" Shepard replied.

"Then, I guess this is it Commander, Liara. Its been a pleasure meeting you both-..." Priosla said as she shook Shepard's hand in respect which he reciprocated, "Though the discoveries we made today is gonna have our people throw fits. Hope the alliance can find out the truth in it" she said.

"I hope for the same. But right now, I have a mission to stop a rogue turian spectre which is much more important" Shepard said.

"Then good luck commander, Liara. May the goddess Athame watch over you" Priosla said with a warm smile. Shepard and Liara opened the air lock as they wore the helmets on. After the depressurization, the exit door opened. They both watched the Normandy touch down, blowing the moon dust 100 feet away. Shepard and Liara walked towards the airlock door steadily. As the door opened, they both stepped inside for the decontamination and pressurization procedure. Once done, they were back inside the CIC.

"Joker, get us back to Feros! Liara, eat something in the cafeteria and take rest. Will let you know once we are near planet side" Shepard said to which Liara nodded.

Shepard then walked into the cockpit and stood nearby Joker as he hovered the vessel above and blew past the moon's gravity field and activated the FTL drive to jump to the relay system.

"So commander, I forwarded your report to Hackett. He asked you to contact him once you're back" Joker said.

"Thanks Joker. Besides, how is the crew doing on Feros" he asked with a hint of concern though he trusts their abilities

"Well, the place was crawling with those damn geth and the colony members were having tough time to survive. *SIGH* Wish we could stop Saren before more innocents pay the price" Joker said as he let go of the console since he didn't need to control till the ship exits FTL.

"Don't worry, we'll stop him" Shepard consoled the pilot in a reassuring way.

"Yeah I know, if someone can get this done, its you. So what did we even find in the research base that had us split?" Joker asked curiously since Shepard had to send the others to Feros to personally take care of this mission.

"Huh, you won't even believe me if I told you. But I don't want to cause any distractions to any of the Normandy crew right now. So it will be between me and Admiral Hackett, for now" Shepard said still feeling incredulous.

"Well, then I won't pry. You're right. Need to focus on Saren right now, rest can wait" Joker said to which he let an evasive smile and went to the FTL comm room. There he opened a channel to Admiral Hackett as his hologram materialized slowly.

"Sir!" Shepard saluted as the admiral did the same.

"Commander, I saw your report forwarded by your pilot. *SIGH* Its sad to hear except one Asari scientist, rest all died in the skirmish. But the research data itself has caused quite a stir. Our engineers in the fleet viewed the recording from doctor T'Soni's footage and-...I don't know how to say it-...the existence of an incredibly advanced humanity in the distant past? Are you sure that's what you saw?" Hackett asked with stiff composure, though Shepard could see visible doubts in his facial expression.

"Sir, if you had seen the full footage, you would know I'm telling the truth. Our ships are moving to the lunar base to retrieve the artifact and the survivor. But imagine the repercussions! If this news gets leaked out on the extranet. If the council learns of this-..."

"We will keep this quiet for now, Sir. That would be in everybody's interest since we need people focusing on bringing Saren down" Shepard said.

"I was thinking the exact same thing. But we have another problem. Cerberus has the research data on the artifact. If the reports are true, then Cerberus must be trying to study and replicate the material" Hackett replied.

"Can they?" Shepard asked.

"No, Dr. Davis's reports are certain that no engineering technology in this galaxy right now can replicate that material"

"Do we know anything about the Cerberus?" Shepard asked curiously since he too have only limited information.

"They are a pro-human secret organization well known for illegal and immoral experimentations. They say they represent humanity's best, but their agendas says otherwise. We only know that a person who calls himself the Illusive Man is running the show, but nothing else apart from that. I am conducting an investigation on how Cerberus learned about this facility as this is a major security breach" Hackett said as he rubbed his chin.

"So what do we do now, sir?" Shepard asked as he got little tensed after learning the dangers of such knowledge in Cerberus's hands.

"You do what you do best Commander. Get Saren and stop the geth. In case we make any progress, will let you know. Take care Shepard" Hackett said as turned off the comm as his hologram slowly dismantled. Shepard reflected on the conversation for a minute and realized the admiral was right, he needs to do his best to catch Saren fast.

"Commander, we are about to hit the relay. Then its 15 mins to Feros" Joker said over the speakers.

"Thanks Joker, we'll get ready" Shepard said as he radioed Liara to get meet him in the CIC in 15 minutes.

The Normandy cruised nearby the mass relay as a streak of energy from its eezo core hit the vessel creating a mass free space around it. Then the next second, the ship entered the faster than light speed as it warped through the space time towards the relay in attican beta cluster.

After 15 minutes, the Normandy exited the FTL as it jumped to the next system where Feros is.

After 30 more minutes of travel, the Normandy finally entered the orbit of Feros which Liara took a look from the glass window.

"By the goddess! This is the Prothean world Feros. Even the city lights are burning bright after several millennia!" Liara said as her face turned gloomy in excitement.

"We will be at the docks waiting for your return. Also the reset of the crew have found the geth base. But need to move along the skyway. I have unloaded the Mako since you're gonna need it" Joker said.

"Understood" Shepard replied as the Normandy entered the docks and the magnetic clamps held the vessel in its grip.

Shepard and Liara walked out of the ship along the walkway only to find many geth bodies.

"Seems our crew had some fun with the geth forces" Liara said with humor.

"Huh, looks like you are working on the humor" Shepard quipped.

"Well, If I am stuck with you all, then maybe its time I improvised my mannerism" Liara said with a smile. They both took the stairs and reached the upper level. There at the doorway, they met few colonists, both armed and unarmed along with his crew.

"COMMANDER! LIARA! OVER HERE!" Ashley yelled from across the site for which he waved his hands. He then, walked towards his crew who were already talking to few people.

"Hey guys? Had fun without me?" Shepard asked.

"We could say the same about you two. So what was that secret mission was all about?" Wrex asked.

"That is a long story Wrex, once we deal with geth here and return to the Normandy, We both will share it with you all" Liara replied.

"Ahh, you must be Commander Shepard. Thanks to your crew, we are quite relieved. I am Fai Dan, in charge of this place. We are colonists of Zhu's hope" a man named Fai Dan spoke as he approached Shepard.

"Yeah, your crew fixed the old prothean aqueducts, helped with food supplies and we also got this place back online" Arcelia said in cheering tone.

"Glad to hear that. But we need to move to the geth base. If required, Normandy can help with evacuation. You can leave this place" Shepard said and the man suddenly flared in anger.

"NO! NO ONE LEAVES! *GRUNTING*-...No no-...I'm sorry. This-...world is our home commander. We want to stay here" Faidan said as if he was crippled for a moment before pulling himself together, followed by rapid breathing. This made everyone look at him suspiciously.

"Okay that's it. We need to know what the hell is going on here! All your folks are acting weird and that one guy in the lower levels yelled about some voices in his head" Garrus said as he came forward looking down upon the human which tensed everyone.

"What do you mean Garrus?" Shepard asked confused.

"Something is wrong here, commander. These people are in some kind of trouble we don't know yet" Kaiden explained.

"No, nothing. I mean it. Its just that, this place has too much trauma. It will take time for us to heal from that. You need to move to the skyway to reach the HQ. Now would you excuse me-..." Fai Dan said as he walked aside. Shepard looked at him suspiciously wondering what might have happened here. But he decided to go with the mission.

"Then, lets get to the Mako in the skyway and deal with the geth, quick!" Shepard said as all the 7 entered the doorway that lead to the stairs. From there, they turned right to see the elevator with a green hologram. Shepard opened the door and everyone hopped in.

"So Exogeni took interest in this planet for colonization, and they setup a pilot colony for testing. But are they aware of the geth attack?" Tali asked.

"I sure hope so" replied Kaiden as the elevator reached the top level. As soon as the door opened

MULTIPLE GUNSHOTS*

"Take cover!" Shepard yelled everyone took cover behind the barricades. The geth troops were opening fire on them. Shepard use biotic lift to send 2 trooper in the air and unloaded the assault rifle upon it. Wrex fired an incendiary blast that shattered a geth unit. Garrus as usual, spotted a geth sniper and took a clean shot. Liara sent a biotic singularity towards 3 units that were pulled by the gravity as they whirled in the air and then threw them away with a force that shattered them to pieces. Finally Tali hacked into one geth unit using her omni-tool and forced it to open fire on another geth which led to both killing each other.

"Phew! That was close. Someone has to stay here and guard the colony. Ash, Garrus, Tali? I need you three to stay here and protect the Zhu's hope colonists. Myself, Liara, Kaiden and Wrex will move towards the geth base" Shepard ordered the crew.

"Aye aye commander" "Good luck" said Garrus and Tali. Ashley nodded in agreement.

There is the Mako, lets move!" Shepard said as they got out of the cover and made to the sky way path where the Mako was standing intact. The doors opened as the four got inside.

"Hah, this is my second ride in this rust bucket!" Wrex said as he took control of the main gun this time.

"Really? How is it like riding this vehicle?" Liara asked amused.

"Terrible, Shepard made us throw up more than once" Wrex said which made Liara give a look of second guessing.

"And why am I not surprised?" Kaiden said with smirk.

"It wasn't that bad, you know" Shepard said as he turned on the engine as it hummed in power. Then he pushed the accelerator as the vehicle moved straight. There was a big door which opened automatically as the Mako moved along the skyway with the view of skyscrapers and an evening sunlight.

"Damn! This looks gorgeous" Kaiden commented looking at the outside view.

"Agreed, but sad to see fires and explosions everywhere. But the ruins still stand the test of time" Liara complemented. Then suddenly there was an explosion nearby the Mako.

"Its the geth! We have multiple colossus and primes. Firing the main gun!" Wrex said as he aimed at a colossus and took a shot. The round exploded and its shields flared in response. The geth sent multiple missiles their way.

"Shit! They are firing missiles at us! Hang on!" Shepard yelled as he maneuvered the missiles using the vertical thrusters. The missiles barely missed, went under and exploded. Then Shepard steered hard to the left to evade one more missile. Then Wrex fired at another colossus as its shield flared too.

"Keep it steady Shepard!" Wrex yelled as he fired the minigun and killed the three geth primes. Then he fired another heavy round at one colossus and this time its shields died. Wrex immediately fired the minigun that tore holes on it as it laid dead.

BOOM* the other geth colossus managed to fire a bolt that flared Mako's shield.

BAAM* another missile hit the Mako that sent its shield flaring more.

"Shield strength is steadily dropping" Liara said quite tensed.

"Hang on!" Shepard yelled as he drove at full speed using the horizontal thrusters and crashed through the geth primes that died instantly. Wrex waited for the right moment as he kept firing the minigun to weaken the colossus's shields. Once a certain distance was closed, Wrex fired the cannon that blasted the colossus and tore a part of it as it fell flat.

"Nice work Wrex! I don't read any geth now" Kaiden said. Shepard then passed through a column and sped through the path again. There were multiple geth troopers firing their rifles. It was no problem for them as the Mako's minigun took care of them.

Finally after 2 kilometers of drive, they reached a skyscraper. Shepard took the Mako inside and saw a few geth units firing at some humans nearby a doorway. He spotted 2 woman and a bunch of security guards similar to the ones he saw on Zhu's hope.

"Looks like we've got survivors here!" Shepard said.

To avoid any injuries to the humans because of the Mako's guns, Shepard jumped out of the vehicle and took his assault rifle and opened fire on the geth units. Then he used his biotic slam to send the units crashing to the wall and die.

The others got out of the vehicle and jogged to his position.

Thats when a woman walked out from the other chamber towards them. She wore the traditional Exogeni marked attire.

"Thank you for your help with the geth. We thought no one was left alive. My name is Juliana Baynham and this is my daughter Lizbeth Baynham. We are scientists at Exogeni sent here to evaluate this world for colonization" Juliana spoke as she let a sigh of relief and sullenness.

"We are just coming from Zhu's hope. The other colonists are alive. A part of my team is providing assistance to them" Shepard said which made Juliana's face bright with smile.

"Wait, they are alive!? Thank god! Communication went dark when the geth attacked and we split, so we didn't know their fate" Lizbeth said cheerfully.

"Yeah, but those people are acting weird. They talk like its just PTSD, but no. Something is wrong with them" Kaiden said which made Juliana's face turn sour which didn't escape others notice.

"What is it Juliana? Do you know what's wrong with them?" Liara asked looking at her changing face expression.

Mom? Exogeni hasn't sent any rescue party. Our only shot for escape is with the commander and his crew. Its better to tell the truth, atleast now" Lizbeth told her mother which confused the others.

"Tell us what truth?" Shepard asked shrinking his temples in suspicion. Juliana glanced at everyone before looking at her daughter and nodded her head.

"*SIGH*-...Fine. Exogeni sent us to form the pilot colony to study the colonization process. But some of the colonists found an underground lair beneath a skyscraper and inadvertently entered it. Exogeni didn't know what happened to them as they went missing for 3 days. Then suddenly showed up, but different. As if they were in some sort of mind control. Our early scans revealed some cognitive degradation. Exogeni then confirmed the presence of the Thorian which was keeping the colonists of Zhu's hope under its influence" Juliana explained.

"So that's why those people were acting weird" Wrex said.

"But what is this Thorian? I have never heard of that" Liara said confused by the name of the species.

"Thorian is a sentient plant like species that grow like a tree whose roots cover the entire surface of Feros. It uses some kind of spore to infect other beings to keep them under their control. Exogeni was aware of this. When we tried to warn them, they shut us off and decided to observe the infected colonists to understand the nature of this Thorian" Lizbeth explained this time.

"What!? So you guys knew those people were in danger and yet did nothing?" Shepard yelled angrily and disgusted at how selfish the Exogeni corp handled the situation.

"Like I said, not our idea. But we believe the geth could be attacking this place because of their interest in the Thorian species" Juliana said which then helped Shepard understand the overall picture.

"Its not the geth that's interested. Its Saren! Saren wants something from this Thorian" Shepard said to a startling realization.

"Then that makes it even worse. Saren is already looking for the conduit. I believe this Thorian might have something to do with it" Liara says out loud.

"Wait, Saren? Conduit? What are you guys talking about?" Lizbeth asked which made no sense to her.

"Its a classified mission. I am also a council spectre investigating these geth attacks" Shepard said without giving out too much information.

"A Spectre!? Really!?" Juliana eyes widened in surprise.

"Yes, but now we need to move faster. First, to destroy the geth base. Then to take care of this Thorian and Saren if he is here too. Where is this Thorian holed up?" Shepard asked.

"In Zhu's hope. A secret passage beneath one of the living quarters" Juliana answered.

"Damn! It been under our noses all this time" Wrex said gritting his teeth.

"Exogeni wanted no one to find out about the creature. They have been pretty clandestine about it" said Lizbeth.

"You all stay put in this place. Once we are done with the geth base, we will come back and pick you both" Shepard said to which they both nodded in agreement. Shepard and the others turned around and walked towards the Mako.

"Commander? Thanks for helping us" Juliana said to which he turned his head to his right and nodded as the crew got into the Mako. This mission just got more complicated to them.

...

In Noveria...
Few hours ago...

Matriarch Benezia arrived at Noveria the same time Saren went to Feros with Shiala. Benezia used her influence as a Matriarch to fund Binary Helix, an organization that specializes in genetic research on a secret project at a place called peak 15, a remote station beneath the snow covered valley. With Saren and Benezia funding the project, they have a great pull within the company.

"So, how is the queen doing, Dr. Zev?" Benezia asked standing in a hall, which is actually a lab.

"She is doing fine. She managed to lay 350 eggs in the first batch of reproductive cycle. A significant achievement for BH. The recombinant genome has increased her fertility ten folds" Dr. Zev Cohen said, he is the chief scientist at peak 15.

"Good, Saren wants this army ready soon" Benezia said looking through the glass window where she is observing a certain creature inside a chamber, now currently under severe anesthetics.

"But this is a dangerous game Lady Benezia. When we found the egg in the derelict vessel, we thought it was just a soldier. But when we learned it was a queen, we didn't even wanna go ahead with this project" said looking at the creature with mild fear.

"As long as the queen is in our control, no matter the size of the army, they will obey her and that is exactly what Saren wants. I have to admit, I thought your people wouldn't be up to the task. But you did it" Benezia said with scorn, though with hidden respect.

"We have a rep to keep. When this becomes fully successful, Binary Helix will be the leading corporate in genetic research" Dr. Zev said with pride.

"Let me know once the eggs hatch and the army of sufficient size is ready. Meanwhile, there is one more business I need to tend to" Benezia said to which the scientist nodded. Before leaving the lab, Benezia laid one last gaze upon the creature through the glass window as it slightly moved its mandibles and antennae. Benezia smirked as she walked away and by then the creature, A Rachni queen slightly turned its head towards the window. Rachni - creatures of the past that once terrorized the galaxy only to be slained by the Krogans to extinction.

She also placed some contingency measures in the facility just in case Commander Shepard made it to this place and ruin their plan.

Benezia left the facility in peak 15 as a geth dropship was waiting to pick her up. She entered the dropship as it flew towards the geth cruiser that was hovering in the air at forty thousand feet altitude. The dropship then docked inside the vessel as she got out. One of the geth platform approached her and spoke.

"Lady Benezia, what is our next destination?" it asked in monotone.

"Get to this cluster's mass relay. Saren mentioned that the sovereign has finished re-orienting the relay to our new destination" Benezia said.

"Acknowledged" the platform said as it communicated the message to the ship's pilot platform.

Soon the geth cruiser flew above and left the planet's atmosphere and entered the vaccum space and then beyond Noveria's gravity field. Once done, the ship did an FTL jump to the the system where the mass relay is.

Benezia then went to the ship's comm relay chamber and contacted Saren.

"Benezia" Saren's cold voice called out.

"Saren, the Rachni army will be ready as you expected. Binary helix has yielded highly positive results from the queen. First batch is 350 soldiers" she said.

"Hmm, quite impressive. Then I believe we are one more step forward in reaching the conduit" Saren said which surprised the Asari Matriarch.

"So the cipher was with the Thorian?" Benezia asked curiously.

"Yes and I had some interesting conversation with the Thorian. This thing is much older than the protheans that lived here. I have struck a deal with it to give me the prothean knowledge in exchange for what ever it needs. Once Shiala has obtained the cipher from it, I will have what I need to get the conduit. Then the Reapers will return as planned" Saren said in a deep sinistral voice. Even though Benezia was away from sovereign, the indoctrination effects in the past affected her so much that she can feel the excruciation even now.

"Very well, Saren. I am headed to the mysterious planet now in a geth cruiser. Once I have found the place, I will signal you" Benezia said.

"Good, Saren out" he said as the comm channel was closed. She then exited the comm room and to the ship's CIC.

"What is the status?" Benezia asked.

"We have exited the mass free space. Now approaching the mass relay to the uncharted destination. Preparing the navigation charts with the coordinates you provided" a geth platform answered.

"Good, let us not waste time!" Benezia said. The geth cruiser pulsed through the space towards the mass relay. Benezia observed that the eezo core of the relay was spinning in another direction and it has been moved from its position pointing to a different direction.

"By the goddess! Sovereign managed to change the configuration of the relay, which is a prothean machine. How could it do it so easily!? How was it able to understand that technology!?" she muttered under her breath.

Once near the relay, the eezo core charged the ship with energy to envelope it inside a mass free space and the next moment, the geth ship entered the FTL.

"Ship in super luminal transit. Approaching destination in 5 hours" a geth pilot spoke which made Benezia uncomfortable.

"Sovereign changed the configuration and it still takes 5 hours!" she thought to herself.

"I will be in my quarters, let me know over the comm speakers once we are there" Benezia said to which the geth platforms acknowledged.

Benezia then took an elevator to her chamber to have some sleep as its been a long day for her. Matriarchs are in their final stages of life and some of the efforts do take their breath away for a while. She laid down in her bed and closed her eyes in few minutes. Geth ships dont have any room for organic personnel since they dont need sleep. But Benezia had this ship as her own for a long time so she made some changes to suit her needs.

She went into deep sleep and all of a sudden, she was dreaming. Dreaming of her early life in Thessia, her days spending time with her daughter Liara. Then having soulful conversation with her when Liara said she wants to graduate in prothean archaeology. The mild sunlight falling on their skin, flowers floating in the air, carried by the breeze.

Then all of a sudden, the sky turned red and the flowers burned in raging fire and all of a sudden she sees her city, her planet burning everywhere. There were screams and cries of dead asari everywhere. Then she slowly turns to watch her daughter Liara walking backward as she started to levitate and throw into fits.

"No!-...Liara-...LIARA!"

Benezia screams in agony as multiple organic tendrils in sage green color and blue and black metallic cables pierces her daughter's body as Liara screams in pain. Then Benezia watches her body mutates into something grotesque, both organic and cybernetically looking abomination. Her left arm started to grow long and sharp protrusions as she slowly fell to the ground, gathering herself, looking at her mother with no love, no affection, no emotions, just a rotten walking corpse. Then without any notice, she growled and lunged at Benezia.

"NO!" Benezia woke up from her bed with erratic breathing. She rubbed her face and looked around to realize she was still inside the geth ship.

"What does this mean!? I never had dreams like this before-...not-...not of my daughter" she thought helplessly.

"Lady Benezia, its about time. We are about to drop out of the FTL space" the geth spoke over the speakers.

"I will be right there" she responded as she got back from her bed. She took some time to try and understand the dream but couldn't make sense with it. She decided to shove that thought for later since the images of her daughter haunting her dreams made her fell uneasy. She made her way to the CIC.

"So what is the progress?" Benezia asked.

"We are dropping out of FTL in 5...4...3...2...1" a geth platform said as the geth ship finally dropped out of the mass free space.

"Bring the full live image on the screen" Benezia ordered as a huge holographic projection filled the CIC to live stream what was outside. It was fascinating.

"So what did the protheans record in their beacon exactly?" Benezia muttered. She saw some new terrestrial worlds and gas giants and a binary stay that illuminated the sensors. She could also see the nebular clouds in the distance which captivated her.

Then suddenly all the holograms in the CIC started to roar in static.

"What is happening?" Benezia asked loud in tense.

"Not sure Lady Benezia, scanning for anomalies" a geth platform spoke. Benezia was quite tensed as she is now in an unknown uncharted space very far from any relay. If something happens to the ship, there is no one she can reach out to for help.

"Lady Benezia, our cruiser is receiving a strange transmission, a never before seen algorithm or transmission method or semantics, thus led to the static in our sensors. It is too advanced for our systems to read" a geth platform nearby a terminal spoke.

"Is there a way to track the source?" Benezia asked. She knew if there is a transmission, then there is an advanced civilization. But her immediate fear was, whether they are friendlies or hostiles? This is a potential first contact scenario for her and she is not sure whether she would come back alive out of this.

"Tracking source-...-Signal location identified. Point of origin: 13.5 light years from our position" a platform replied.

"Take us there. This is a potential first contact scenario" Benezia ordered.

"Acknowledged. Moving the ship through mass free space" the geth pilot spoke as the cruiser entered FTL speed. The ship tore through the mass free region as the emissions blue shift can be visibly seen through out the ship. The ship was moving fine for sometime.

Suddenly the CIC started to beep in red alarm.

"What is happening!?" Benezia asked as her heart raced.

"Critical system failure! Mass effect drive core over heat! Emergency venting in progress. Status: abrupt exit from the FTL jump" the geth platforms spoke. Then the ship wide alarm went away as the systems turned green. Benezia for a moment felt like she lost her soul.

"Emergency venting successful, destination: 100,000 kilometers from the signal point of origin" a geth platform said.

"100,000? That is close enough. Get me the live feed!" Benezia said as the huge holo screen once again popped up that showed the live image of what is out there.

The next moment, Benezia was in the loss of words, breath and emotion altogether. She and the geth platforms saw a pinkish red gas giant, half illuminated by its star to the right side. But that was not what she was seeing and have eyes widened in shock.

She was looking at a structure that is present in the gas giant's orbit in its southern hemisphere. An artificial structure, ring shaped that had artificial lights on the outer surface and terrestrial world like atmosphere on its inner surface. No way that structure could be natural formation, this Benezia knew and the first thought that came up to her mind. She wondered, if this was another prothean technological secret or something unknown.

This planet was present in the prothean beacon, but since the vision was not clear, this object was missed. There is remotely a chance that this object was what the prothean were looking for.

"What is that-...ring object?" she asked in monotone.

"Unidentified. No records of any similar objects in our galaxy. This artificial structure has a diameter of 10,000 kilometers and a width of 470 kilometers and 50 kilometers of thinkness" the geth platform replied.

"Its bigger than anything we have ever seen in the entire history. Even the citadel is a tiny ant compared to this. Take us for closer look" Benezia said wondering about the engineering marvel of those that constructed that object.

"But why? What purpose do they serve?" were the thoughts running in her mind.

Suddenly the platforms received the same static in all holo terminals.

"Its the same static again!" Benezia said.

"Lady Benezia, the signal is coming from that object, precisely" a geth platform spoke which made Benezia think. She believed something down there must have sent this signal for communication. She was analyzing this from both the pros and cons of all things.

"Take us closer, let us see what we can study from this" Benezia said as the geth flew the ship towards the ring object. Once the ship was close enough,

BAAM*

A sudden violent explosion on the ship's hull.

"REPORT!" Benezia yelled.

"We have been attacked by some kind of particle beam. Significant hull breach, critical systems failure!" the geth platform said as it did their best to steer the ship towards the ring's surface.

Benezia knew that instant that she had signed her own death warrant by agreeing to visit this uncharted place. The ship crashing onto the ring was inevitable as Benezia did what she could to save herself. She protected herself by creating a 5 layer biotic bubble shield and held it longer and prayed goddess Athame to protect her. The prayer was her last hope.

Soon the geth ship's hull in the bow side started to flare with plasma. Benezia realized it was due to the friction with the atmosphere and that the ring has a planetary features. The ship was falling at re-entry velocity as the plasma temperature scorched the kinetic barriers and started to super heat the hull.

After 5 minutes, the geth platform deployed emergency glider that create sufficient lift force for gliding. But it was not enough. The ship crashed onto the ground with a huge explosion as it got dragged by its own momentum for several hundred meters and the ship began to break in half and the sudden pressure change blasted the geth platforms away shattering them to pieces. Benezia was barely holding her biotic shield as she started to become weak and there was a visible bleeding from her nostrils.

The ship after scrapping the ground for 1.5 kilometers distance finally came to a halt with the ship parts scattered across everywhere, fires raging around the crashed ship. But the worst part, no geth platform survived. Benezia was the only sole survivor who held on to a structure with the biotic shield for protection while the vessel crashed.

She slowly let go of the biotic shield as she struggled to get up. She then held on to whatever structure remained of the ship's interior to slowly walk forward along what was once the CIC. She slowly walked, unsteady with little balance and tiredness in her face. She walked through the debris and finally saw an opening through which natural sunlight lit the entrance. With what little hope she had, she made her way to the entrance and stepped outside upon what appeared to be soft grass.

Benezia was surprised to stand above the grass as she slowly made her way out of the crashed ship debris field to finally take a good look at the surroundings and to say that she was astonished is an understatement. She saw alien birds fly in the sky, clouds mildly hovering above, several trees and cliffs, rocks and boulders, water falls and river streams. For a moment, she was doubting herself if she was in Thessia or illium or just dreaming. But nope, the air felt very real as she breathed in.

"What is this place?" she asked to herself and thats when she heard humming sounds as it grew louder. She turned around to find strange robotic beings flew towards her and hovered. Then from behind, a metallic sphere with a bright bluish white light flew past the drones and placed itself facing the her.

"*UNINTELLIGIBLE WORDS*"

Benezia understood the being in front of her is saying something to her except the language was unknown. Benezia was so tired that she couldn't even get to a defensive position from these unknowns.

"Who-...what are you?" she asked hoping that thing wouldn't kill her. Then suddenly the robotic sphere spoke in the familiar language much to her surprise.

"ANALYSING VOCAL PATTERN...LANGUAGE OF THE ANCIENTS DISCOVERED...INTERESTING!" the sphere said.

"I SENT A WARNING TO YOUR SHIP BECAUSE I IDENTIFIED UNKNOWN SYNTHETIC BEINGS. BUT SOMEHOW MISSED YOUR PRESENCE. ARE YOU HURT?" the sphere asked which surprised the asari. Before saying anything, she was gazing at the being in shock and terror and a wee bit of anxiety.

"You took down our ship?" she asked.

"PROTOCOL DICTATED ACTION. BUT ITS FASCINATING TO SEE AN ORGANIC BEING AFTER 480 MILLION YEARS SINCE THE GREAT PURIFICATION" the sphere said which confused the asari to no end.

"I don't understand a thing you say. Who are you and what is this place?" Benezia asked frustrated being in the unknown.

"OH APOLOGIES! IT IS CUSTOMARY FOR ONE TO INTRODUCE THEMSELVES. I AM '343 GUILTY SPARK'. I AM THE MONITOR OF THIS HALO INSTALLATION 04" the sphere said which made Benezia give a confused look.

"Halo installation? Is that what you call this place? Wait!-...are you an AI?" Benezia asked now coming back to her senses to understand the robotic nature of the talking sphere. Though its voice and tone resembled an evolved VI, the sphere had some emotional range in its wording which scares her. AIs have always been a subject of controversy since the quarian-geth conflict. But having worked with the geth for a while, she didn't completely freak out.

"YES AND AI IS THE HUMAN WORD FOR SYNTHETIC INTELLIGENCE LIKE ME. THOUGH I PREFER THE TERM ANCILLA" 343 guilty spark said which stunned her.

"So you know humanity?" she asked.

"OFCOURSE, THEY ARE THE BIGGEST RIVALS OF MY CREATORS, THE FORERUNNERS, HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF YEARS AGO. WOULD YOU LIKE TO SPEND SOME TIME? I WILL BE GLAD TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS. I HAVE BEEN WAITING A LONG TIME TO TALK TO SOMEONE TO COUNTER THE BOREDOM" spark said which made Benezia be wary as well as fascinated by this unknown being. But the mention of humanity millions of years in past didn't sit well with her. She thought she was going insane. But the being that blasted the ship and almost killed her now wanted to have a chat. She decided to play for now, but she had to be careful. It was able to blow a ship to a pinyata and who knows what else it can do.

"The things you say are raising a lot of questions, some having implications with dire consequences. I would like to talk to you 343 Guilty Spark" Benezia said.

"WONDERFUL! LET ME TAKE YOU TO THE NEAREST FACILITY FOR A TREATMENT AND I WILL GLADLY ANSWER YOUR QUERIES" Spark said as Benezia let an evasive smile.

...

Author's notes: That's all from this chapter. And before you guys ask me anything, this chapter is just a pre-requisite for the meeting in the human shield world. I will see you all soon with the next chapter. Have a good day!