Chapter 10 - Chapter 10, The Colony of Feros

Finally, I've finished chapter 10. So far this one is the longest out of all of the chapters.

Hope you enjoy it.

Chapter 10

The Colony of Feros

En route to the colony of Feros Austin was currently making one or two modifications to his armour.

Another beauty about the suit remover machines was that they could reassemble armour as well and even reassemble it without the user having to be inside. This came in handy for display purposes or if the user wanted to make repairs or modifications as Austin was doing. He always enjoyed occasionally fiddling with his armour. Ever since he was a young boy he'd always like occasionally building things. There'd even been some cases where he'd build something and then take it apart again and then rebuild it purely for the fun of it. In this case he often liked to just occasionally play around with his armour. It took his mind off things and it was a good way for him to relax if he was stressed since he needed to be in control and calm when handling some of the components of his armour.

At that moment the door to his Quarters opened and Liara stood in the doorway.

"Austin, may I come in?" she asked.

"By all means, Liara." Said Austin happily. He was always happy to see her.

Liara walked in and took a moment to admire the Quarters that had once belonged to Captain Anderson, but now belonged to Austin.

"Since it will be some hours before we reach Feros, I was getting bored with the wait. Thought I'd try and kill some time with you. What are you doing?" she asked.

"Just passing the time." Austin replied as he continued working on his armour. He still turned his head to talk to Liara though so that he did not appear rude. Fortunately Liara walked up to him and knelt down next to him to save him the trouble. "I'm applying some new upgrades to my armour. Since we're dealing with Geth, the Arkanes ordered our best engineers to build a new shield generator and booster that would allow my shields to be much stronger and able to better withstand Geth laser fire." He explained.

"Isn't this the sort of job suited for a tech expert?" Liara asked, slightly confused.

"Actually Helldivers are taught how to modify and fix their suits. Engineers are more taught how to fix our ships or ground transports." Austin replied.

"Do you… want some help at all" Liara asked.

"Sure. Why not?" said Austin.

For next few hours or so Austin spent the time showing Liara what various pieces of his suit did, how they worked, how to fix them and also how to replace them safely. Liara had to admit that she was finding this very interesting, and Austin explained it in such detail that he made the suit sound almost like more than just a simple suit of armour.

"I've been thinking, Liara. You know what you said back on the Citadel? About us going swimming?" Austin asked.

"Yes?" Liara answered suspiciously.

"Well, I was thinking. I found out about a private swimming pool located on the Citadel and Spectre status gives me access to it. I wondered if you might be interested. It's also just us, so swimming attire isn't necessary." Austin said suggestively.

Liara laughed. "You're joking. Please tell me you're joking." Liara chuckled.

"No, I'm not. I'm serious." Said Austin.

Liara was quite surprised. When she had mentioned swimming she had really just meant it as a romantic joke. But now that he was willing to make that a reality.

"Wow. Er…" she stuttered. Then she decided to brave. "Alright, Austin. But I still have no swimming attire. Should I buy some?"

"That's entirely up to you, Liara. What matters is that we both enjoy it together." Said Austin as he smiled at Liara.

"Be honest though, Austin. Are you just doing this as an excuse to see me naked? Because if it is, you don't need to arrange a private swim just for that." Liara teased.

"Okay, I admit it was partly that. But I would actually love for us to spend some more… Romantic time with each other. Although, being able to see you swim naked is something a lot of young males would kill for. Plus I go by an old saying. Never waste a good opportunity." Said Austin.

"You're so sweet and charming. And that's why I love you." Said Liara as she drew Austin into a kiss.

"Very well then. After Feros we'll head back to the Citadel. I'll give everyone some shore leave so that they don't get suspicious about me disappearing off the ship with you." Said Austin.

"I look forward to it." Said Liara slyly. "Oh and Austin… I want you to swim naked with me."

Feros was a very new planet for Austin. He had never been here before so it was a whole new experience. According to what he had read, the colony they were investigating was called Zhu's Hope. The colony was situated in one of the massive Prothean skyscraper ruins that blanketed two-thirds of the planet's land mass. The atmosphere was fouled with dust and terrestrial travel was hampered was hampered by crumbled debris that was dozens of metres deep. Feros was considered a poor prospect for colonization, as little open ground remained for agriculture. The only sizeable fresh water sources where poles, which where tapped by the decaying Prothean aqueduct system. The dead cities, while in good condition considering their antiquity, where of certain stability. Ground level was congested by a dozen meters of fallen debris, and the air was fouled by dust. In 2178, the human ExoGeni Corporation announced its intention to place a permanent colony on Feros, to thoroughly explore the ruins. The pioneer settlement was placed on the upper levels of the several intact skyscrapers, using the surviving Prothean aqueducts and rooftop hydroponics gardens to support the population.

Since Austin didn't know for certain if Geth had invaded he decided to take Liara and Tali for this mission. That way they would be prepared for any situation since Liara had full Biotic skills, Tali had full Tech skills and he had the soldier skills.

Unlike previous missions they didn't need to drop off in the Mako or use the drop ship. They just docked and used the airlock. When Austin stepped into the airlock though he was quite surprised. Instead of her usual tight fitting light armour Liara now had a white and pink Janissary armour set, complete with a helmet.

"Liara? I'm not complaining, but, where'd you get that from?" he asked.

"You remember that crate we struggled to open?" Liara responded.

"Oh, so that's what was in there. So you thought you'd use that instead?" Austin asked.

"Yeah. You like it?" Liara asked.

Austin looked at the armour up and down. True it wasn't as sexy looking as the tight fitting armour she had originally worn. But with this one she looked more like she was ready for a battle.

"Like it? I love it!" he said. "You sure it will help in combat though?"

"It's designed for biotic use. So, yes." Liara replied.

"Right then. Let's see if these colonists need our help." Said Austin as he unholstered his Assault rifle.

There was the sound of locking as the Normandy docked. There was a brief pause and then the doors opened. Upon exiting the Normandy they were greeted by a man.

"We saw you're ship. Fai Dan wants to speak with you immediately." He said.

"Who's Fai Dan?" Austin asked.

"He's our leader. He needs your help. The Geth are preparing to make another push. Please, up the stairs past the freighter." Said the man.

Suddenly a large rocket fired at them. All three of them were able to dodge it and move to cover, but the man wasn't so lucky. Immediately a huge gunfight broke out between both sides. Austin was now very thankful he'd brought a tech and biotic expert. If things where this bad, he'd need them. Liara was quickly able to dispatch most of the Geth with her biotics but they then brought out rocket troopers.

"Rockets! Keep your head down!" Austin yelled.

His two comrades instantly obeyed and went into cover. Liara was at least able to pull one the Rocket Troopers over the edge with her biotics before doing so. Austin holstered his assault rifle and took out his sniper.

"Just need to time this right." He thought to himself. He briefly popped out of cover, lined his target up with a rocket trooper and fired. The Geth went down instantly.

Tali was then quickly able to paralyse some of the Geth using an energy overload, giving Liara the opening she needed. The new armour she wore had better shields and helped her biotics cool down quicker. Before the Geth had time to recover she deployed a singularity. The biotic black hole consumed the Geth in seconds. The path was clear.

"Nice work, everyone." Said Austin as took his assault rifle back out. "We were unprepared for that one. Be on your guard."

They proceeded further into the colony. Although it was clear, Austin couldn't help but get the feeling they were being watched. Eventually they reached the top of the stairs and found themselves at the entrance to the colony. At first the guards were ready to fire but after seeing that they weren't Geth they stood down. After a quick stroll through the colony they found who they were looking for, Fai Dan.

"Oh, Commander Shepard. I'm glad they finally sent someone to help us." He greeted.

Next to Fai Dan was a woman. She didn't look as happy to see them as he was.

"A bit late, aren't you?" she asked crossly.

"Arcelia!" Fai Dan interjected. "I'm sorry, Commander. Everyone's been on edge since-" but he was interrupted by the sound of Geth gunfire.

"Watch out! We've got Geth in the tower!" Arcelia shouted.

"Protect the heart of the colony!" Fai Dan ordered.

"Everyone, hold this line!" Austin ordered to his team.

Everyone immediately took up defensive positions at the entrance. Geth after Geth attempted to get through but the combined force of the colonists and Austin and his team kept them from getting close. Just when they seemed to be beating them back however, the Geth's leader joined the fray.

"How many times do I have to kill that Terror Geth!?" Austin thought angrily.

Once again the Terror Geth had repaired itself from Austin's omni blade. As soon as it saw him, it growled upon seeing its old nemesis.

"Kill the Helldiver!" it yelled to its soldiers.

The Terror Geth fired several shots from its plasma blaster, which it had also repaired from last time. All the shots missed Austin and his team but they still managed to kill several of the colonists or cause explosions that killed them.

"Fire in the hole!" Austin shouted as he threw a Grenade at the last few Geth. They were obliterated in seconds. The Terror Geth however retreated.

"Stay here! We'll drive them away!" Austin ordered to the colonists as he motioned for Liara and Tali to follow him.

As they proceed up the stairs they ran into more Geth. Fortunately Liara took care of them with a massive biotic push which sent the Geth flying into the wall and crushing them. Before they could proceed however another Geth turned up. But this one was different. It seemed to leap all over the place from wall to wall, and then it lunged at Liara. The force of the impact knocked her to the ground as the Geth tried to claw at her.

"Gagh! Get it off me!" she screamed.

Austin immediately reacted. Using all of his strength, he grabbed the Geth hopper and threw it to the ground. He then pinned it there using his foot and unloaded his rifle into the Geth's head. It exploded completely, spraying some of Austin's armour with oil and other liquids that the Geth used.

"Liara, are you alright?" Austin asked as he helped his girlfriend up.

"Yes, I'm fine. Thank you, Austin." She said.

The three continued to drive the Geth back until they came to a large open chamber. There was a hole in the roof, and hovering above that hole was what looked like a Geth drop ship. Among the remaining Geth, was the Terror Geth. Once again it fired and ordered the other Geth to do so. This time though Austin activated his mini wrist nuke launcher and fired it at the Geth who were attempting to retreat into the drop ship. The nuke vaporized most of them but the rest still managed to escape onto drop ship, the Terror Geth among them. Without any more troops, the drop ship lifted off and flew away.

"Get back here, you cowardly machine!" Austin yelled.

"They're gone at least. We should let Fai Dan know that the tower is clear." Said Tali.

They headed back down to the colony. The injured were being treated by medics. Although Austin knew it wasn't his fault, he still felt as though there was something he could've done.

"The tower's secure. Thanks to you, Commander." Said Fai Dan.

"I'm just glad the colony's safe." Said Austin.

"I appreciate your concern… and your efforts against the Geth." Said Fai Dan. "If you don't mind me asking though, Commander. What are you, exactly?"

"What's the matter? You've never seen a Helldiver before?" Austin asked.

"A Helldiver? Here? I thought the Alliance was in charge of this colony?" said Arcelia.

"They are. But I'm still technically in the Alliance. They asked me to investigate when the colony went silent." Austin replied.

"Then I am grateful to you for your assistance, Commander." Said Fai Dan.

"What are the Geth after? Do you know why they're here?" Austin asked.

"We don't know. They came, they attacked us. That's all we know. We do know however that their main base is at the ExoGeni headquarters. If you want answers, that's the best place for you to look." Fai Dan replied.

With the ExoGeni headquarters as their destination they began to leave the colony. "Shepard, Liara. Didn't those people seem a bit strange to you?" asked Tali

"Well I'm still getting use to understanding humans more but they did seem a bit tense." responded Liara

"Hmm what gets me is how every single colonist almost like programming referred us to Fai Dan , almost like they… had no independent thoughts of their own" stated Austin. "But I have a feeling that before we're done here we'll have an answer".

They made their way to the upper levels. After dispatching more Geth the found the Mako, ready for them to use on the skyways. As they climbed into the Mako Austin couldn't help but feel slightly nervous. There was no telling how many Geth they'd find. He would just have to hope they weren't spotted.

The skyway was a blaze. There was laser fire all over the place. Austin could even see what looked like a Geth drop ship latched onto one of the buildings. Suddenly the radio seemed to crack into life.

"The last batch went south. What are they looking for?" it said.

"We are receiving a weak comm signal. I cannot pinpoint its location through the Geth interference." Said Liara.

"Keep that channel open at least. It sounds like more survivors." Said Austin.

After fighting their way through more Geth on the Skyway they finally reached the other side. As they entered the skyscraper the radio cracked into life again.

"We've got movement. Some kind of vehicle, not one of the Geth." It said.

"They've got us on visual. We must be close." Said Liara.

"Okay. We'll stop here and investigate on foot." Said Austin as they exited the Mako.

They didn't need to worry about tracking the signal. Austin's suit had detected nearby life forms. They appeared to be held up in some kind of bunker. The guards stood down upon seeing them.

"That's close enough!" said one of the colonists. He even pointed his gun at Austin.

"Relax, Jeong. They're obviously not Geth." Said a woman next to him.

"Oh, yeah? What about that one?!" said Jeong as he indicated to Austin.

"Jeong! He's a Helldiver!" the woman yelled.

Jeong slowly lowered his weapon. But he still seemed suspicious of the group.

"Stay back, Juliana." He said to the woman. "Who are you? What do you want?!" he demanded.

"Commander Austin Shepard of the Helldivers. We're here to remove you Geth problem." Austin replied.

"You see? You worry too much." Said Juliana.

"And you trust too easily, Juliana." Said Jeong.

"I'm just glad to see a friendly face. I thought we were the only humans left." Said Juliana.

"Not quite. Fai Dan and the rest of Zhu's Hope have banded together. They're managing to keep the Geth at bay." Said Austin.

"You said they were all dead!" Juliana said angrily to Jeong.

"I didn't know for certain." Jeong said defensively.

"We can help keep the Geth at bay. But we need information. Do you have any idea why they're here?" Austin asked.

"All we know is that they've set up base in the ExoGeni headquarters." Juliana replied.

"Those headquarters are private property, soldier. Remove the Geth and nothing else" Jeong ordered.

For Austin, that was the last straw.

"I don't know if you've noticed. But I don't take orders from you. So shut the hell up!" Austin replied angrily. Fortunately, that did the job and Jeong, shut up.

As Austin turned to leave though, Juliana stopped him.

"Commander, before you go… My daughter, Lizbeth. She's missing…" she said.

"We can do a proper count of the dead after…"

"I said shut up!" Austin yelled. "Sorry, Juliana. You were saying."

"She was working in the ExoGeni building when the Geth attacked us. Please, find her. She's my daughter. I can't bear to lose her." Juliana replied.

Austin walked up to her and put his hand reassuringly on her arm.

"You have my word, Juliana. I will find her. If she's still in the ExoGeni building, I'll get her out. Whatever it takes. I promise you that." He said.

"Thank you, Commander. Thank you." Said Juliana.

"You should stay her and remain bunkered down until I get back. And Juliana, even if the worse comes to pass, I'll still bring your daughter back. Hopefully though that won't happen." Said Austin as he headed back to the Mako, Liara and Tali quickly followed.

Once again, the skyway was filled with Geth. Fortunately Austin managed to discover an interesting way of running the Geth over. However they did also discover that Austin was not the best driver. Fortunately their journey came to an end before anyone threw up in their helmet. They quickly exited the Mako and made their way further into the ExoGeni headquarters. After dealing with the rest of the Geth they left in a rather dead end. The only doorway they could see appeared to be blocked by some kind of biotic field.

"Our weapons can't touch a field like this. We'll need another way in." said Liara.

Sure enough, after a short look they did find another way, however it lead down a small tunnel.

"A one way trip down, Austin." Said Liara.

"Well there's no other way, Liara. Let's go." Said Austin as they jumped down.

After the small drop they found something odd, dead Varren corpses. Suddenly a shot rang out of nowhere. Liara and Tali dodged it but it hit Austin right in the shoulder. Fortunately his upgraded shields absorbed the impact without any damage. Everyone instantly drew their weapons to where the shot had fired from.

"We know your hiding there! Show yourself!" Austin ordered.

Very slowly, a young woman came out of hiding. When she saw them she instantly put her gun down.

"Damn it! I'm so sorry. I thought you were Geth, or another one of those Varren." She said apologetically.

Austin, Liara and Tali lowered their guns.

"It's okay. You're safe now. Are you Lizbeth Baynham?" Austin asked.

"Yeah. How'd you know?" Lizbeth asked.

"Your mother told me to search for you. She's been very worried about you. She'll be overjoyed to know you're safe. But why were you here in the first place?" Austin asked.

"It's my own fault. Everyone else was running and I stayed to back up data. I was trapped. I tried to get out, but the way was blocked." Lizbeth replied.

"We'll get you out. But first we need to find out what the Geth are after." Said Austin.

"It's not the Geth; it's the energy field they put up. They don't want anyone else getting access to the-" Lizbeth hesitated at that point and didn't finish.

"Lizbeth, it's important we know every detail. It's critical that we find out what the Geth are after." Said Austin.

"I don't know for certain, but I'm guessing they're here for the Thorian." Said Lizbeth.

"What's a Thorian?" Tali asked.

"It's an indigenous life-form. ExoGeni was studying it." Lizbeth replied.

"What else do you know? Where is the Thorian?" Austin asked.

"I think I might. But I don't think I can show you with all these Geth everywhere. We need to get past the field." Lizbeth answered.

"Do you have any idea what's causing that field?" Austin asked.

"It has to be the Geth ship. There's no other explanation." Said Lizbeth.

"Okay. You say here for now. We've got some doors to open." Said Austin.

Before they could leave however Lizbeth quickly stopped them. "Here, take my ID. This should get you past any locked doors." She said as she handed Austin her ID which he then scanned using his wrist computer.

There were quite a few Varren and more Geth in the tunnels but wasn't anything that the team couldn't handle. As they were climbing some stairs however they could hear what sounded like a Krogan voice.

"Stupid machine! Access encrypted files! No, I don't want to review protocol!" it said.

As they reached the top they could see the Krogan. His back was turned to them and he appeared to be arguing with a VI.

"I am unable to comply. Please contact your supervisor." Said the VI politely.

"Damn it! Tell me what I want or I'll blast your virtual ass into actual dust!" the Krogan ordered.

"Please contact your supervisor for a level 4 security exemption or make an appointment with-."

"Stupid machine!" the Krogan shouted.

"If there is nothing else, please step aside. There is a queue forming behind you for the use of this console." Said the VI.

The Krogan turned around and spotted them.

"Damn it!" Austin thought. "There goes a sneak attack."

"Oh good. I really need to kill someone!" said the Krogan. However he didn't count on Liara who simply flung him aside with a powerful biotic push.

"Remind me never to get on your bad side, Liara." Said Tali.

As the group walked up to the VI it noticed them.

"ExoGeni Corporation reminds all staff that the discharging of weapon while on company property is strictly forbidden." It said. "Welcome back, Research Assistant Elizabeth Baynham. What can I do for you?"

"What information was the Krogan user attempting to access?" Austin asked.

"The previous user was attempting to access details on the study of Subject Species 37, the Thorian." The VI answered.

"What information do you have on the Thorian?" Austin asked.

"There has been no new data available on species 37. All sensors monitoring the observation post at Zhu's Hope have been inactive for several cycles." The VI replied.

Austin wasn't sure if he'd heard right.

"What does Zhu's Hope have to do with the Thorian?" he inquired.

"Species 37 is located within the substructure of the Zhu's Hope outpost." Said VI.

Now it made sense to Austin. Saren wanted the Thorian, and so that was why the Geth were here.

"Okay, tell me everything you know about the Thorian." he said to the VI.

"The Thorian is a simple plant life form that exhibits a sentient behaviour uncommon with other flora. Through dispersion and the eventual inhalation of spores, it can infect and control other organisms, including humans. The Zhu's Hope control group has yielded interesting results. Before sensors went offline, almost 85% of all test subjects were infected." Said the VI

"Wait. You're telling me that ExoGeni knew about Zhu's Hope being infected?!" Austin asked, slightly horrified.

"It was deemed necessary to assess the true potential of Species 37." The VI replied.

"I guess now the strange behaviour of the colonists makes sense now. We should inform your pilot." Said Tali.

Austin nodded in agreement and activated his wrist communicator.

"Joker, come in. Joker? Damn it! That field's blocking communication as well." He said.

"We'll have to disable that drop ship if we're going to get out of here." Said Tali.

"No argument there. VI, what can you tell me about the Geth ship and the field its generating?" Austin asked.

"I have limited data on the Geth. They have effectively blocked all sensors within the facility. I have detected unusual power fluctuations, but am unable to determine the source." The VI replied.

"That's enough for now." Said Austin. He then turned to his squad mates. "Come on. We've got a drop ship to destroy."

Getting to the drop ship was really not easy. There were even more Geth than before. As they continued to fight through the Geth put up more of a fight. Finally they caught a break from the Geth and saw what they were looking for. From what they could see, there was a massive claw which was attached to the building through the shuttle bay and linked to the Geth drop ship.

"That makes things easier. We destroy that claw; the others won't be able to support all the weight." Said Austin.

"True. But I fear we do not have the needed gear to destroy this claw. We will have to keep looking." Said Liara

Fortunately they didn't need to look far. There was a control panel nearby. Unfortunately there was more Geth nearby, and to make matters worse, the Terror Geth was with them.

"Intruders! Destroy them!" it ordered.

The team instantly dove for cover as the Geth fired on them. Despite this though they were still able to gun down the Geth. The Terror Geth fired several shots, one of which hit the cover that Liara was behind, which sent her flying. Furious at this, Austin charged at the Terror Geth.

"You'll pay for that!" he yelled. As he charged he grabbed the Terror Geth and headed straight for the wall. One thing he didn't count on though was how fragile the wall was. The whole thing fell away as Austin charged the Terror Geth into it. Just in time, Austin managed to grab onto the ledge. Liara rushed over to him and helped to pull him up.

"Austin, are you alright?" she asked.

"I'm fine. I just didn't know the wall was that fragile." Austin replied. After recovering from the small shock, he walked back up to the hole he had just caused. He looked down. There was no sign of the Terror Geth and he really doubted that the Geth could survive a fall that far. Even a Helldiver wouldn't survive a jump that high. Confident now that he wouldn't have to deal with the Terror Geth again, Austin walked up to a nearby control panel. Upon close inspection he saw that it was in fact the controls for the shuttle bay.

"Tali? If the shuttle bay door closes with enough force, could that be enough to crush that claw?" Austin asked.

"If enough pressure is applied, it might just work." Tali answered.

"Right. Cover me." Said Austin while he began fiddling with the door switch. After several attempts he finally got the pressure high enough. The shuttle bay door slammed right into the claw. The sheer force of the door crushed it completely. There was the unmistakable sound of crushing metal and the whole building rumbled as the drop ship fell away.

"Well done! Our way should be clear now. We can go address this Thorian issue." Said Liara.

At that very moment though the radio finally crackled back into life.

"I repeat, Normandy to shore party. Are you reading? Anyone there? Normandy to shore party. Come on, Commander, talk to me!" came Joker's voice.

"Is that you, Joker? What's going on over there?" Austin asked urgently.

"We're in lockdown here, Commander. Something's happened to the colonists. They're clawing at the hull of the ship!" Joker replied.

"Just keep them out of the ship for now. They can't do any real damage. We're on our way back. Just hold your position." Austin ordered. He then turned back to his squad mates. "With the Geth drop ship gone; this place will be crawling with Geth in a minute. Stand together and we'll make it out of here!" he said.

Fortunately for them the path back to where they had left Lizbeth was completely clear. When they reached the entrance back to where they'd left Lizbeth and the Mako, they found here waiting for them.

"There you are!" she greeted. "We should get out of here. I don't think this place is safe."

"First things first. You owe us an explanation. You didn't tell us every single detail that you knew about the Thorian." Said Austin. The tone of his voice could tell he was cross with Lizbeth.

"I—I was afraid. I wanted to stop the tests, but they threatened me, told me I'd be next." Lizbeth stuttered. "When the Geth attacked, I stayed behind to send a message to Colonial Affairs. I tried to tell them where to find the Thorian, but the power cut before I could send the message. I—I never meant for this to happen."

"You did what you could. Tell me where to find the Thorian and I promise I'll do all I can to save everyone." Said Austin.

"The Thorian is underneath Zhu's Hope, but the entrance is blocked. The colonists covered it with the freighter just before the Geth attacked." Said Lizbeth.

"But why are the Geth after the Thorian? What could Saren want with it?" Austin asked.

"Well, it does have unique mind-controlling capabilities. That's what ExoGeni was interested in." said Lizbeth.

At that moment the radio cracked into life again.

"Normandy to shore party. Come in." came Joker's voice.

"What is it, Joker?" said Austin.

"There's Geth chatter all over the place. Sounds like they're heading your way." Said Joker.

"Then we'd better get out of here. Let's move out." Said Austin.

"I'm coming with you! I might be able to help. Undo the mess I help create." Said Lizbeth.

True enough there where Geth on the skyway. Luckily for them they were just Geth troopers, so Austin simply ran them over. As they neared the settlement where they planned to drop Lizbeth off however, they intercepted another transmission.

"… Anybody. Is there anyone picking this up?" it said. It was Juliana's voice.

"Get away from that radio!" came Jeong's voice.

"What was that all about?" asked Lizbeth.

"I'm not sure. But we're going to find out." Austin replied.

"… This is Juliana Baynham of Feros colony. Please help us…" came Juliana's voice again before the transmission cut off.

"That's my mom. Stop. Stop the rover." Said Lizbeth.

Austin hit the brakes and Lizbeth climbed out of the Mako. Rather coincidently they had stopped just outside the entrance to the settlement. Austin, Liara and Tali quickly followed. Austin had a rather bad feeling about this. They knelt down at the entrance. From what they could see Jeong appeared to be really stressed and Juliana was arguing with him.

"You can't do this, Jeong!" Juliana shouted.

"Everyone shut up! Let me think!" Jeong shouted back, clearly panicking.

"What's going on?" Lizbeth whispered.

Austin merely put his finger to where his mouth should have been, had he not been wearing his helmet, and motioned for her to keep quiet.

"You won't get away with this." Said Juliana as a guard seized her and started to drag her away.

"Get her out of here!" Jeong ordered.

Lizbeth reacted to this and bolted out of cover.

"Get away from her, you son of a bitch!" she yelled.

Austin tried to stop Lizbeth, but he was too late. Juliana looked to the voice and saw her.

"Lizbeth!" she said as she broke free of the guards and hugged her daughter.

"Damn it! Come out where I can see you! All of you!" Jeong ordered.

Austin turned to Liara and Tali. They hadn't seen him yet and that gave him an idea.

"Whatever happens just tell them the Geth killed me." He said.

"What? Why?" Tali asked, confused.

"I'll stay cloaked. I doubt this can end well." Austin replied. "Just say that I was killed and play along with this. I'll be right behind you, I promise."

Liara and Tali nodded and walked out to where Jeong could see them. Liara caught one last glimpse at Austin before he activated his cloak and vanished from site.

"Where's Shepard?!" Jeong demanded.

"He's dead. The Geth killed him." Liara answered.

Lizbeth was about to object, but Austin quickly stopped her and whispered into her ear.

"Play along with this, Lizbeth. Please, trust me." He said.

Lizbeth quickly hesitated and then went along with Austin's plan. She felt his hand let go of her shoulder.

"Yeah. There were too many Geth. He sacrificed himself for us." She said.

Austin slowly moved closer to Jeong. He was careful not to move and stay out of Jeong's eyesight. If he got too close Jeong would see the ripples of his camouflage and his cover would be blown. His heart was beating very fast in his chest but he made sure to breathe slowly and steady and keep his adrenalin under control.

"We can talk this out. No one needs to get hurt." Said Tali.

"You don't understand. It's not that easy. Communications are back up. ExoGeni wants this place purged." Said Jeong, still nervous.

Austin made sure to stay behind Jeong. He didn't need to worry about Jeong hearing him. The Tactical cloak muffled out the sound of his footsteps and his breathing. He made sure to be ready to act fast. If Jeong became hostile, then he would intervene. If the matter was resolved peacefully though he would reappear at the entrance and make up an excuse that he managed to survive the Geth. At the moment however, it didn't look like Jeong was going to back down.

"This is a human colony, Jeong! You can't just re-purpose us!" said Lizbeth, angrily.

"It's not just you. There's something here far more valuable than a few colonists." Said Jeong.

Austin quickly moved behind Liara.

"Tell them all about the Thorian." He whispered to her.

"You're after the one thing unique to Feros: The Thorian." Said Liara.

Austin moved back behind Jeong, tensing himself to be ready for anything sudden.

"The what?" Juliana asked, confused.

"It's a telepathic life-form living under Zhu's Hope. It's taking control of the colonists there. ExoGeni knew all along." Lizbeth answered.

"You won't get away with this, Jeong!" said Juliana.

"So you keep saying. But nobody's going to miss a few colonists!" Jeong yelled as he pointed his gun at Juliana.

Austin instantly reacted.

"They won't miss you either!" Austin yelled.

Jeong instantly whirled round to see Austin uncloak right in front of him. He fired his gun at Austin gut the shot merely bounced off of him. Before Jeong could fire again, Austin grabbed his wrist and twisted it hard. Jeong screamed in pain as the Helldiver broke his wrist and his gun dropped from his hand. With Jeong disarmed, Austin let go and let Jeong fall to the floor, clutching his broken wrist in pain.

"You're not hurting any of these people anymore!" said Austin.

"Commander? But… how?" said Juliana.

"I knew this couldn't end well. So I cloaked. I was never dead to begin with." Austin answered.

Austin was a bit surprised that the other guards didn't draw their weapons on him. But then he had just materialised out of thin air and disarmed their leader in seconds. The rest of the colonists just stared at him, a look of fright on their faces. Suddenly the Guards then did react but Tali pulled out her Shotgun, Liara's biotics glowed all over her and Austin drew his rifle on them.

"Don't even try it! Drop your weapons, now!" he ordered.

The Guards reluctantly obeyed, slowly put their weapons on the ground and raised their hands in surrender. Jeong however was having none of it. Using his left hand he picked up his gun. Before he could point it at Austin however, the Helldiver reacted by activating his omni blade and stabbing Jeong in the chest.

"I warned you, you son of a bitch!" he hissed as he let Jeong collapse on the floor.

"As if we didn't have enough problems. Now we're shooting each other in the back." Said Juliana.

Austin, Liara and Tali relaxed and holstered their weapons. Austin still kept an eye on the guards in case they tried anything.

"It's my fault. I knew what was going on and I didn't do anything." Said Lizbeth.

"Don't you start, dear. You do good work and you know it." Said Juliana reassuringly. She then turned back to Austin. "So what now, Commander?"

"My comrades and I are going to deal with this Thorian, then we'll make sure you're safe." Austin answered.

"The colonists won't let you near the Thorian. They'd die first. They're under its' control." Said Juliana.

"I'm sorry. But we don't have any other choice." Said Austin.

"You can't just kill them. It's not their fault. There's got to be another way." Lizbeth objected.

Julian thought for a moment.

"I think there is. You could safely use a nerve agent to neutralize the colonists."

"You mean, put them to sleep?" Austin asked.

"Exactly. You could use something like a Gas grenade!" said Lizbeth.

Austin took a moment to ponder this.

"Actually, that might work. We're all wearing helmets, so we won't get caught in the blast. I'll do what I can." He said as he unclipped several sleeping gas grenades from his armour and handed half of them to Tali and the other half to Liara.

"Excellent. Thank you so much, Commander." Said Juliana.

"We'll stay out of your way until you clear a path. Good luck." Said Lizbeth.

Now equipped to handle the colonists, the three climbed into the Mako and set off.

Oddly, the skyway was completely clear. There was no sign of any Geth.

"That's odd. I thought there'd be more Geth here." Said Austin.

"Geth don't retreat without good reason." Said Tali.

Suddenly another huge Geth drop ship flew right above the Skyway. It fired several shots at them. Austin weaved about a bit and managed to avoid them, but he was struggling.

"Tali! Take the wheel!" he ordered. "I'm gonna give them a taste of their own medicine."

Austin unbuckled himself from his seat and headed to the currently unoccupied turret seat. Tali quickly did the same and bolted herself into the driver's seat. As the Geth ship continued to fire at the Mako, Austin fired back using the Mako's turret. Several shots hit the drop ship, some even managed to cripple it slightly. Tali meanwhile, was really having to concentrate. If one shot hit the Mako, it would flip them over and there would be no guarantee that they could get it back up again. As Tali continued evading fire from the drop ship, Austin continued firing. Then he spotted a weak spot on the Geth drop ship. Without hesitating, he fired. The shot hit the ship and it started to spin out of control. As it did, Austin could see a lone Geth emerge from the ship and cling to it. He couldn't tell what type it was though, but he guessed it was a rocket trooper. Still, he doubted that Geth could land a clear shot.

Austin however was very wrong. This was not a rocket trooper. It was the Terror Geth. Unknown to Austin, as the Terror Geth had fallen it had managed to cling to one of the lower levels of the skyscraper. From there it had worked its way back up and had signalled for another drop ship to pick it up. From there it was a simple matter of finding the Helldiver again. As the Terror Geth clung to the spinning drop ship it saw the Mako. It tried to target but the ships spinning prevented it from getting a clear shot. Then however the drop ship scraped against the side of the skyway it had been hovering over and stopped spinning. It was brief, but the Terror Geth reacted very fast. It growled angrily as it charged up its plasma blaster. Quicker than any other Geth would've managed, it locked on, and fired. The blast soared toward the Mako. The Terror Geth however lost sight of it as the drop ship plummeted out of the sky. Just when it seemed like these was no escape however the Terror Geth suddenly found itself separated from the crashing drop ship and watched as it disappeared from sight into the clouds. The Terror Geth looked up and saw that it had been caught in some of the skyway's suspension cables. Although it had been a lucky escape however, the cables where tangled everywhere and where very tight. It could take to free itself. But the Terror Geth was very patient. It was still functional and that's what mattered.

Back on the skyway Austin was cheering as he watched the drop ship disappear from sight. His celebration however where premature as he noticed the plasma blast too late. Before he could warn his comrades, the blast hit the ground right in front Mako's front right wheel, narrowly missing it. Unfortunately though, despite that there was no damage, the sheer force of the plasma blast was still enough to flip the Mako over. It landed upside down on the skyway with a loud crunch and unfortunately for Austin, he hadn't secured his safety on the turret seat. The force of the impact sent him flying past Liara and Tali and right through the Mako's windscreen. As the Mako screeched as it slowly stopped Austin desperately tried to grab a t something to stop him. To make matters worse, the direction he'd been flung in was over the edge of the skyway. The Mako finally screeched to halt, still upside down, but Austin was still flying. He still tried, but nothing he did even slowed him down. He looked at the edge. It was even closer than he'd thought. He could already feel himself falling off the skyway. Just at the very last minute though, his right hand hooked onto the edge of the skyway. Without even taking a minute to hesitate, Austin tightened his grip. He felt himself stop abruptly and his whole arm felt as if it had been wrenched out of its socket. After a few seconds, he regained his composure. He looked and saw what his hand had grabbed onto. He quickly flung his other hand up and grabbed onto the edge. Summoning up all the strength he and his armour could muster, he pulled himself until he was able to move his right hand and grip onto another bit of the edge. However the next bit wasn't as easy to grab onto and he could feel himself slipping. He looked up slightly and saw the Mako, completely overturned. Apart from the hole in the windscreen that he had just flew out of, it looked like it would still run if could be turned back over. He saw the hatch open and Liara and Tali crawled out. As far as he could tell, they looked fine. They looked around trying to find their Commander.

"Austin!" Liara called.

"Over here!" Austin yelled back. "Hurry! I'm slipping! I can't hold on much longer!"

Liar and Tali instantly noticed and rushed over to him. They both grabbed a hand each just before Austin lost his grip and pulled him up. Austin took a moment to catch his breath.

"Austin, are you alright?!" Liara asked urgently.

"I'm fine. Just a bit shocked." Austin answered. After getting his breath back he stood up and looked at the overturned Mako.

"Can we get that back up?" he asked.

"If we all push hard enough, we just might be able to." Tali answered.

"I may be able to help with my biotics as well." Said Liara.

Austin and Tali both lifted the Mako as hard as they could while Liara concentrated with all her might. A blue biotic field appeared around the Mako. After several hard pushes and enough biotic strength, the Mako finally flipped back over and landed the right way up.

"Let's not do that again." Said Liara as they all climbed back in.

As the Mako drove off into the distance, a large Geth hand appeared from over the edge and hauled it's body up. The Terror Geth had finally managed to free itself. It watched the Mako disappear. Once again, the Helldiver had survived his encounter with it and the army was decimated. No matter though. There was one more ship still on the planet. The Terror Geth could use that to get of this planet. Even with the remaining Geth, the chance of the winning this now where very, very low. For now they would have to retreat and repair. But it would have another chance. Next time, Shepard would not be so lucky.

After a short drive the Mako reached the door that would take them back to Zhu's hope. As the team got out though they found a strange looking humanoid figure standing in front of them. It looked zombified. At first, Austin thought it was a Husk and drew his rifle at it. On closer inspection though he saw that it was in fact completely different. It looked like a decayed corpse. It had no eyes and long claws for fingers. As soon as it saw Austin it lunged at him. Austin immediately acted on instinct and gunned it down. It fell to the floor, completely lifeless. They all walked up to the body and examined it closer.

"No amount of infection could have altered a human to that extent. I wonder what is going on here?" said Liara.

"Okay, listen. Kill these things, but no hitting the colonists, even if the Thorian makes them fire on us. That's what the gas grenades are for." Austin ordered as he indicated to the grenades he'd handed to them earlier.

"As you order, Shepard." Said Liara. Tali also nodded in agreement.

A soon as they opened the door, even more of those creeper monsters where waiting for them. The group gunned them all down instantly and made sure to check their targets in case one of them ended up being a colonist. As they neared the elevator, two colonists fired at them. Liara unclipped one of the gas grenades from her armour and threw it at them. The colonists only had a minute to react before they inhaled the sleeping gas and where knocked out.

"Good throw, Liara." Said Austin.

Liara blushed slightly behind her mask at Austin comment.

As they exited the elevator they ran into even more Thorian creepers and the colonists. The sleeping gas didn't affect the creepers so it was at least easier for the group to pick their targets. After a long and very gory fight the whole colony was asleep and all was quite. Austin walked over to the controls for what looked like the secret entrance to the Thorian's lair. He couldn't help but feel as though he was forgetting something though. Then he suddenly heard footsteps. He saw Fai Dan limping towards him, gun in hand. Austin pointed his gun at Fai Dan but didn't fire yet. He could tell that the man was trying to fight the Thorian's control over him.

"I tried to fight it, but it gets in your head. You can't imagine the pain." Fai Dan struggled to say. "I was supposed to be their leader. These people trusted me."

Fai Dan pointed his gun at Austin. Still though, Austin didn't fire yet. Not until Fai Dan shot first.

"It wants me to stop you… but I… I won't." said Fai Dan.

Very slowly he forced his gun arm to aim at his head.

"I won't!" he shouted, and then he pulled the trigger. Blood splattered out of Fai Dan's head and he fell to the floor.

Austin holstered his assault rifle and went up to the controls. A section of one of the buildings lifted up and revealed a passageway leading under the colony.

"Come on. Let's finish this." Said Austin, and with that the group slowly descended the stairs. Their next stop: The Thorian's lair.

To be continued...

Next chapter... Chamber of the Thorian.

Be warned that Chapter 11 will contain nudity.

Like to also clarify that the armour that Liara is now wearing is the same armour that she wears at the very beginning of Mass Effect 2 when the Normandy is attacked. I just felt like doing something new. Plus it also explains where she got the armour from. Hope that clears things up.