Feros Part 7 The Thorian

Zaed, Chloe, Sha'ira, and Kasumi made to them in record time. Coming through the escape tunnel the underground had concealed. His first bit of news was not that great.

"Well.. I thought everyone knew it was the pilot." Zaed shrugged. The cockpit of the Normandy had quite the technological upgrade. A lot of illegal stuff in it at that. Considering how Leo based Joker on the series not thinking about other matters was him screwing up. He did not like screwing up like that. "Talked to him a little. His sister is.."

"Yeah, he said money was needed for her schooling." Jack nodded remembering a brief talk with the pilot. "The Iff converter.."

"Wait you knew?! Why didn't you two say anything!?" Leo rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I was stupid and careless. Might cost me something later." Shaking the anger off he looked at his people. "Continue.."

"I was not allowed to say anything." Morinth shrugged. "Nihlus was clear about that. Something about checking on a Turian General leaking information."

"Yeah, he has a relationship with General Invectus. A Turian general he was involved with on Arcturus Station." Leo frowned at the damage that could cause. "I will deal with that when reboarding the Normandy."

"So anything good in here?" Chloe didn't like the sound of that. So she changed the subject. "Have to be really important if they made it so secure."

"Nothing worth investing in. The tech is degraded a little and will take time to reverse engineer." Maya stated. "Exogeni, spent a lot of money to find ancient Xenos artifacts for nothing really. To bad about that element zero though." She shared a look with Leo. They would definitely discuss that later. "How about we get out of here, get her treated, and get the blasted Thorian taken care of?"

"Sound good to me." Leo injected Chloe with a small cocktail. "A little additional help to tide you over for the procedure. Made a few minutes ago." She blinked a few times then smiled. "The rest of you take the Krogan back topside and a small team with myself will continue forward."

"I am sick of being down here so definitely going back up." Jack said. The Ardat Yakshi feeling the same way. "Best of luck down here."

Samara, Leo, Maya, and Kasumi pushed forward. Zaed was given explicit orders to find a way to damage the place. Or make it impossible to get into easy. Thankfully the thief, Kasumi found a nice route to take for them to arrive faster.

It was good to have specialists that looked at matters differently than yourself. Going through small spaces was easy for most of them. With Leo just having to remove his armor to get through some areas.

Samara reminds him if he had a catsuit on, he wouldn't have that problem. It was noted to make a catsuit that provided the same armor benefits. But armor was just more practical. Even Kasumi wore a thin material one after the suggestion was made before everyone split up in the beginning.

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The Thorian is not alone-

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After taking out a few Geth in the area, they advanced to the next area. Immediately getting into cover to watch someone talking to a green Asari. By the looks of it was definitely a clone of Shiala, one of Matriarch Benezia's people.

The other was a Salarian. And another Spectre known as Jondum Bau. What he was doing here was beyond Leo or anyone else who currently saw him. Zooming in Leo was about to take them both out but held off.

A.I.- Allow him to leave. The footage is good enough to blackmail him for later. Only a problem if you do not recruit the Thorian.

"To bad we don't have audio." Kasumi teased. Leo pointed to her omni-tool. The A.I. drone had flown over. Keeping a fair distance way. "Oh goody."

"Jondum Bau, your investigation has lead you to the wrong place. Saren is not here." The clone said. The voice of the Thorian messing with the Salarian already. Spores were leaving her mouth while speaking. "Leave while you have the chance."

"If Saren is no longer here, where is he then? Surely you know?" Jondum did not believe her even though she was speaking the truth. The fact she was a green asari did not sit well with him. "What happen to you, did you contract some disease?"

"Where Saren has gone is of no concern of mine. He attacked me, that is all that matter." The clone stated. It was trying to get rid of the Spectre but not having much luck. "Zhu's Hope .. does have an infestation. It would be best to evacuate."

As the two conversed, Leo kept his senses sharp. Especially with the lingering Geth having increased. But they were better to deal with instead of the mercenaries.

Speaking of the mercenaries.

*Kabooom!* A large explosion went off. Several of them in fact. Unfortunately, it was not Zaed. But several mercenaries getting into a firefight with Geth. And.. a bunch of green Asari that all looked the same.

Jondum Bau did not hesitate as he disappeared in the ensuing chaos. Much to the clone he was talking to happiness. It frowns looking at the Blood Pack getting killed by the Geth however.

"So what are we going to do?" Maya asked. "Either way most likely have a fight on our hands."

"Get to the Thorian then get out of here. Maya stay close to Kasumi and find an entrance directly to the target." Leo shot off in a sprint. "Samara your with me."

The two glowed with Biotic might as the vanguard, they charged into the group not taking either side outright. The Geth prioritized taking out the Blood Pack. Seeing them as the dominant threat.

"Get that bitch!" A Krogan shouted. He was not talking to anyone but Kasumi. Apparently, she either ran into him recently or.. did something to him in the past. Most likely the first as she was pretty well hidden currently. "Give me that rocket launcher!"

The vorcha did not resist of course.

*Fwooosh!* The rocket was fired to quickly. The krogan was really upset. The good news a shot from a Geth took him out. Blowing his dumb lizard brains everywhere.

*Booom!!* The rocket went off but did not hit its target directly. A biotic barrier by Maya erected just in time sent it off course.

"Aah! You son of a bitch!" Kasumi screamed as she smacked against a wall. "It was just a few thousand credits!" Her fist shook as she waved it angrily. "Ohh he is dead already. Well thanks their Geth.." She had to duck as the Geth fired at her. "Forget the thanks you bucket of bolts!"

*Pow!* A pistol went off. Maya shotted the eth that shot at Kasumi. She then moved towards the target.

"Move you idiot or get hit!" Maya shouted. She threw her hands out and a giant shockwave went towards the Geth that approached Kasumi from the side.

Kasumi jumped in the air when the shockwave approached. Missing it completely by pushing her shields against it to ride it up. She then threw some grenades down.

"Ha!" With a biotic push, Kasumi was pushed out of the way further as she landed on a support beam. "She opened fire with a teammate nearby! You suck Maya!" Drawing smgs she started firing on the Geth.

"Sorry, not sorry Kasumi. It had to be done."

*Kaw!* An unusual sniper round went through the air. Hitting against the ledge Kasumi was on.

Leo flipped over some Geth using them for cover. The A.I. drone start moving and opening fire. The mini-drones attached to going down interfacing with some of the down Geth. Taking control then firing on the other Geth who were confused.

The interfering signals causing problems. The fighting was ending pretty quickly due to this.

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5 minutes later-

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Sweeping the place they moved on. No reason to waste any more time. The Thorian's later was pretty dark and felt more like a boss's layer in a dungeon more than anything. The Thorian was quite large and had several features that reminded him of plants and several insects in some ways.

Leo looked at the creature in blatant curiosity. Seeing it up close was worth it. Torn between killing it to study its metabolic breakdown or injecting it with different stimulates to see the way it would react.

He was a scientist before a Champion. Some methods were hard to resist. But he also had to think about the overall mission.

*Splurt!* The Thorian let out a body from its.. Xenos birth canal really. The discharge was something to see. As a fully formed Asari stood up. The spitting image of the one that appeared earlier. Well, it was a clone so.. yeah.

"Ok, not here to kill you outright so let's talk." Leo offered. He stood in front with his arms crossed. Maya taking tissue samples from the surroundings. Kasumi holding in her vomit. She was glad to have the helmet on currently. Samara just stared at the creature marveling at its.. beauty she put it. "Send out the real Shiala for I can talk to her and you can even gather additional clones of her to help defend you if it makes things better."

"You are not here to kill me?" The Thorian asked through the clone.

"Not yet. Depends on your response. Thus the reason I didn't attack the little critters while coming in here." They passed by several Thorian creepers to make it to this location. "You want to get back at those responsible for the testing and prodding done to you and your.. what ever the hell they are?"

"I am listening." The Thorian's tentacles.. wiggled a little. The fact it came from what appeared to be the head was disgusting. Kasumi couldn't stop talking about it on the secure channel.

"Saren.. the Turian that came here before. I need to know everything that happened."

The two conversed for an hour. Up until the A.I. informed him that Jane and her team were heading to them. Leo had to resist the urge to ask the Thorian to slow them down.

It was really hard to do so.

"We are running out of time." Leo looked at the massive creature and really wanted to dissect it. But he didn't have that option. Right now anyway. "What's it going to be? Stay here and inevitably die or sign up with me?"

"The Leviathan, as you call it. Is recovering faster than I anticipated. It must not be freed." The Thorian was not willing to let its enemy get away after all this time it seemed. "They must pay for wiping out my species."

"I can understand that but it's reach has already started. Your telepathic abilities may allow you to resist it but that won't matter if it starts Indoctinating others to come and kill you. Let alone the Geth that are coming after you." Leo stated his doubts.

The Thorian wiggled about before coming to a decision. The real Shiala came around. Her purple skin made Samara, who remained quiet exhale. She didn't know she holding her breath throughout of the talks. The green Asari intrigued her quite a bit.

A.I.- She is clear of Indoctrination by the Reapers but not by the Thorian. A simple inoculation can remove from the hold. Does not matter if it is done nor or later.

Leo decided to do it later. Just in case the Thorian gets froggy on him. Shiala decided to transfer the Cipher to Samara first. Then Leo would try a meld with her. Which shocked the young acolyte of Benezia.

"That.. was a lot.. of information." Samara wobbled on her feet a little. Maya kept her standing. Which was a little surprising. "I will find in a few minutes." A look of worry on her face as the Cipher was just the collective consciousness of several creatures the Thorian absorbed. Which contains a bit of the fighting against the Reapers.

"Hold still." Leo grabbed Shiala by the temple locking eyes. "Do it." Understanding she initiate the Meld with him but his biotics encompassed them both. 'this better work.'

A.I.- I am running the scans now.

The A.I. was checking over he Shiala's neuro activity during the meld and comparing it to that of other Asari.

The Thorian feeling the connection to its thrall disappear was scared. Its tendrils moving about wildly. A bit of the wall was smashed up but did not collapse.

"You removed us from our link." A clone Shiala said. Staring at the original it felt a sense of loss. Akin to a child losing its parent. "I do not like this."

"Not for you to like. She had something we needed." Maya had her hands at the ready. "With all the clones you will be fine. Just proves humanity is not the meat you take us for." The Thorian words at point displayed its overconfidence in its superiority. Much to Maya's annoyance. 'I really want to glass this planet! Element zero be damned!'

"I doubt all of you are that strong willed." A clone stated. Maya just grinned at the green Asari. Samara had a small smile on her face as well. 'I was unable to turn the Justicar into a thrall as well. The galaxy has changed greatly.'

After they finished and the Thorian signed a Partial Contract with Leo, they stealthily left the place. All that was left was for Leo to treat Chloe. Whatever Jane did with the Thorian had nothing to do with him.