90 – Virmire (3)

The group on the land included Samael, Liara, Shepard, RR, Tali, Javik, Wrex, Samara, John, Grunt, Thane, Kasumi, and a few unnamed cremembers. The rest stayed on the Phoenix and another large transport ship that followed them.

After all, the Thorian was too big to fit the Phoenix.

Samael entered the facility cautiously, aware of what to expect, but the many changes in this last cycle of his made it necessary to be careful. He took the lead, with the others closely following behind him.

The facility featured only minor differences from previous cycles, but one change stood out the most: unlike before, when he had found some prisoners alive, now...

'' How horrible.'' The Ardat-Yakshi that came with them commented as she saw the interior of the place. Various cells with dead prisoners, and those are the lucky ones.

Some were still alive, but they weren't 'normal' anymore. The Reapers and those indoctrinated by them had experimented a lot on those prisoners, to the point they lost their sanity.

Their bodies were mangled, reconstructed, and beyond saving, just like their minds. They were part of the point of return.

Without saying a word, Samael started to kill those people. It was the last act of mercy he could give them. The rest of the crew, noticing that, followed suit.

They continued ahead, encountering something that made Wrex pause for the first time in a while. He found a few Krogans, but ...

"...What is this?" The Krogan's voice was low and threatening. Those who knew him recognized the anger behind his words, and the crowd said nothing and watched in silence, understanding exactly why he had such a reaction.

In front of them and in another area, stood countless cryo pods, all of them with Krogans inside. Well, they were once Krogans but now, they were mangled beyond recognition. The only reason they even knew it was Krogans inside the pod was because they had a label.

Also, RR nudged Samael, indicating they were indoctrinated. He already knew that, as his soul told him, but he nodded at RR in appreciation.

Samael took this opportunity to explain, using the Shadow Broker as a 'helper', '' We had received reports about this, but seeing it's another story.''

"Explain. Now." While some might see Wrex as a calm and collected individual (?), he was not. He was smarter and more committed than other Krogan, but at the end of the day, just like Grunt, he was still a Krogan.

Seeing so many of his species treated like lab rats was deeply infuriating. It's not like he didn't know that other species, like the Salarians, were doing the same thing or even worse, but as Samael said, witnessing something is different from just hearing about it.

"They are clones. Literally clones," Samael said, looking at Grunt. "Unlike Grunt, where we cautiously ensured everything was in order, they didn't care about that. Not only did they clone extensively, but they also conducted experiments with their DNA."

This wasn't exactly new information for Samael, but what bothered him was that their research appeared to be more advanced than in previous cycles. It wasn't a level of advancement that warranted immediate danger, but it was enough to raise some alarm bells.

"That one was fused with the DNA of a Yagh. Clearly, it didn't work," Samael remarked, gazing at a cryo pod that stood out from the rest. It was enormous, easily 15 meters tall, dwarfing Wrex and the others by a large margin.

Only God knows how strong that creature was meant to be, as it lay dead inside the pod. Just to be sure, Samael fired a few shots at it.

Everyone wore grim expressions as they looked inside the other pods and read the labels others had placed on them. Some of the pods had other defective experiments on them, like a Krogan mixed with an Asari, or a Krogan with an Elcor.

But, a thought made them pause: If those are the failed ones, where are the ones that worked...?

Javik spoke in a grave tone, "It seems they thought the Krogan were the perfect match to infuse with DNA and create a new species. Good for us that it didn't work that much."

Samael patted Wrex on the shoulder, as the Krogan was still trying to calm down. "This was the Reaper's doing. He's gone now."

'' But others like him still live and are coming for us.'' Wrex said with a rage-filled voice, but it also contained patience and wisdom with it, '' They will pay for this.''

'' We will make sure of that.''

Just then, Shepard called out to Samael, '' Samael. You might want to see this.''

Her voice had a hint of fear in it. Samael and the others stopped looking at the pods and rushed to where Shepard was. Upon reaching her location, they paused too.

"This..."

Wrex grinned for the first time since arriving on the planet. "Good! A chance to release some anger!"

Shepard was staring at something outside, a courtyard that was infested with countless failed (?) experiments and, for some reason, all green. The only thing that separated them was a few feet drop.

The failed experiments hadn't noticed them, but Samael knew their green color meant the Thorian was close, so he said., "Remember our mission. We are here to grab someo-something the Reaper took from Feros. Our reports say it is an old species, older than even the Protheans. It should have information we don't have, but for us to verify that, we need to save it first.''

"So, Samara and I will search for it while protecting our friend here.'' Samael pointed at the Ardat-Yakshi,'' We don't need huge numbers for that. Meanwhile, the rest of you will deal with those creatures. Don't hesitate, they're not there anymore, only their bodies still remain here. Killing them is a way to save them too."

"Shepard, you lead." Samael said, and no one objected. ''Now go. We'll start looking around once you create a distraction."

"Leave it to me!" Shepard thrived under pressure, feeling that it allowed her to grow both as a person and a soldier. She hoped those under her command would feel the same. It helped the fact that they were all, in one way or another, under Samael's influence.

The mission was straightforward: create enough chaos to distract the creatures below while they waited for Samael to retrieve whatever was inside the facility.

With all that out of the way, Samael went deep into the facility, to rescue the Thorian, while the rest looked at Shepard, waiting for her command.

''You heard the man, our job is to attract their attention until their mission is over. So, you can cause as much chaos as you want.'' She took two grenades out of her armor. "Thane and Kasumi, do your job and eliminate as many as you can, but be careful not to engage directly. We don't know their strength, but just from their appearance, we can assume they are formidable. Avoid getting hit and wait for my signal to start the attack."

The Drell and the human nodded and cloaked themselves under the watchful eyes of their teammates. They were now waiting for Shepard's orders.

"RR, Tali, and Liara, you will stay up here and use your specialties to make a difference, create singularities, look at the radar, and such. If things start to look bad, don't hesitate to call for a retreat."

The trio nodded, and Shepard looked at the rest of the group. "You all have one job!"

She threw the two grenades she was holding—one toward the pods they had just destroyed with bullets and the other toward the courtyard filled with the failed experiments.

"Release them and have some fun!"

BOOOOM!

That was the signal everyone needed. A few seconds after the explosion, everyone jumped down, including the cloaked Thane and Kasumi, leaving only RR, Tali, and Liara up there.

Most of the experiments survived the grenade blast, but now some are on fire and more agitated, making them even more dangerous than before. Despite this, the team was focused on saving/killing those poor souls trapped in their bodies.

Liara threw a singularity at the middle of the enemy, a gesture Grunt noticed immediately as he threw a grenade at it. Biotic powers were the best to create devastating combinations, like now.

BOOM!

A large number of enemies died, but their numbers didn't seem to diminish. Shepard noticed that and screamed, " DON'T STOP!''

No one had plans to do that. With RR having a view from above, thanks to Tali's drones, she could accurately pinpoint and plan where they needed to attack to maximize damage.

She could also see Thane and Kasumi through their cloaks. After all, their technology was linked to LD, "Thane, there's one that looks dangerous 20 meters to your right, avoid that route if possible. Kasumi, a team member needs help 10 meters to your left."

Tali was also assisting by controlling drones, which provided RR with vision and targeted the clones/experiments, killing them.

The situation was under control, they just needed to make more noise to attract more enemies and, ultimately kill all of them.The situation was under control; they just needed to make more noise to attract additional enemies and ultimately eliminate all of them. This would make it easier for Samael to achieve his goals.

Until now, things had been relatively easy for him and his group.

WITH SAMAEL

Samael, Samara, and the Ardat-Yakshi named Myany T'kenis heard the explosion and the shots, but they didn't stop. They passed through increasingly disturbing sites, and after ensuring that everything in those places was long gone, they continued their way through the facility.

They also encountered enemies, but with a Matriarch and Samael by their side, they really didn't stand a chance.

BANG! BANG!

Samael finished dealing with one enemy and thanked Samara for her help. Like all Asari, she was using her biotic powers to assist him. "Thanks for that."

"Don't mention it."

Myany lowered her weapon and began to question why she was even there, as they clearly didn't need her help to fight those creatures.

Samael made sure to always look out for the Ardat-Yakshi because, without her, their mission would be a failure. "Are you okay?"

Myany nodded, but her expression didn't look good. "I'm fine, but I feel like I'm not helping much."

Samael smiled at her "What do you mean? You are the most important member of this team. Without you, this whole thing would be meaningless."

Myany knew her mission, and she had been taught personally by the Headmaster the process of carrying it out. However, she still didn't understand the reason behind it, which is why she felt conflicted.

If she had known that only she and her "defective" sisters were capable of saving the indoctrinated, she would have embraced her role with confidence. But until that day arrived, she remained unsure of herself.

Despite her doubts, she knew what she had to do. She looked at Samael with determination and said, "Let's continue."

Samael nodded and followed suit. They ventured deeper into the facility, to the point where the sounds of Shepard and the others' gunfire were barely audible.

After several minutes of walking, they finally reached their destination: a hole in the ground with something 'sleeping' deep within it.

'Hello, old friend.'

Everything in this mission up to this point was a breeze. Now, it was time for the "fun" part: dealing with an indoctrinated Thorian.

Just on cue, almost as if it heard Samael's thoughts, the creature began to wake up. Tentacles that resembled vines emerged from the ground until, finally, something that looked like a head surfaced from the hole.

Samara and Myany took a step back, clearly taken aback by the creature's appearance. They were even more shocked when its head opened up, and a green Asari was spat out.

The Asari then spoke in an arrogant tone, and ancient tone, "You're in the presence of the Old Growth. Be in awe!"

It was clear that it was the creature speaking through the Asari rather than her normally. Samara and Myany looked at Samael, awaiting his next moves as they honestly didn't know what to make or do in this situation.

Samael was prepared to take action.