Summary:
The team have quickly arrived at Feros, finding it under Geth assault. Assisting the colonists of Zhu's Hope, the squad must figure out just what feels so wrong about the place...
Chapter 13:
We headed past the down the stairs and along a corridor... We moved carefully, then I spotted movement on my motion sensor. We crouched and moved even more cautiously... I poked my head in a room and spied the Geth, 4 units... And two Krogan. Fuck.
I pulled out both a high explosive grenade and a flashbang... I pulled the pins and tossed them, leading to confusion. The Geth were obliterated, but the Krogan were only burned, still standing. They shook their heads, but I quickly blew one's brains out, and as the other charged me, I dodged and his head slammed into the wall. When he turned around, his head literally exploded. Tali pumped her shotgun, cooling it.
She was so badass and I found it really sexy... I nodded to her, giving her a two fingered salute. "Cheers love." I thanked her. She nodded back and moved to the transmitter. I searched the Krogan but found nothing. I stood up and saw Tali walking toward me with a purpose. She grabbed my arm and pulled me along as we walked out of the room at a brisk pace... "What? Tali, what's-" I cut off as the transmitter, and the room behind us, blew up.
I was quite shocked to say the least. "Sometimes brute force is the best way." she shrugged, definitely grinning at me. Well... Looks like she's taking a leaf from my book.
As we headed to the RZ, I spotted more Geth moving toward Shepard... "Fuck, come on!" I exclaimed. We ran up the stairs and turned, following them. I saw Shepard descending some stairs from some kind of upper area in Utilities... Tali and I got behind the Geth and opened fire. They quickly fell and Shepard turned to us, along with Wrex and Garrus.
He looked at the Geth, then us. "Well, thanks." he said to us and I just shrugged. "We've got one more valve left." he explained to us.
"Well, I guess we'll tag along." I said as we walked along a walkway. We reached the valve and turned it, the water flowing again. I then heard... Muttering. "Wait..." I held my hand up and carefully peeked around the corner...
A colonist...
He seemed to be in pain. "Voices! Voices in my head!" he exclaimed. "No!" he suddenly shouted. "No! I will... Resist! Outoutout!" he cried out, clutching his head. I put my rifle away and began to approach him slowly. I felt a tug on my shoulder and turned to see Tali looking up at me.
Her eyes averted from mine for a second. "Be careful... He could be dangerous..." she spoke in a hushed voice.
I nodded to her then, taking her hands in mine and smiling. "I'll be careful, don't worry." I promised her. She seemed satisfied with that answer and let me go. I approached him then. "Hey, you good man?" I asked him. His gaze snapped to me.
He spoke in a monotone voice. "Yes. Unlike you if you go down there..." he... Warned me, I guess?
I raised my eyebrow and cocked my head. "Down? Down where?" I asked him. "We're already in the tunnels..." I pointed out to him and he shook his head.
"No! Not... The tunnels are just... The beginning..." he managed, holding his head as if in great pain. "AHHHHH!" he cried out, crouching from the pain. "That all you got?" he asked, amused it seems...
I backed up slightly from him. "You're in a lot of pain... Anything we can do?" I asked him. He just looked up at me, grinning as he did.
He shook his head and stood back up. "M-maybe... But... Not... Here- AHHHHH!" he sobbed out... What the hell was wrong with this guy? "Can't... Stop it... You... Have to..." he said and cut off, a blank look adorning his face...
I backed up a little more. "Let's go guys... He'll be fine since we've cleared out the Geth. We'll let Fai Dan know about him, and maybe they can pick him up." I suggested. Everyone nodded as I walked on, but Tali caught up with me.
She saw right through me it seems. "What's wrong? You look... Disturbed." she told me and I managed a chuckle.
I gave a smirk. "Nothing gets past you, love. You're too smart for me." I shook my head in amusement and she also let out a laugh. "It's just..." I sighed deeply as the others caught up. "I've seen something similar before, back during the Cold War. A friend of mine was brainwashed by the Russians, although he didn't know it. He got horrible headaches like that, said it's like someone trying to claw their way into your mind..." I sighed, looking back at the passage where he was. "Just brought up some memories, I guess. Can't shake this... Off feeling I have about this place though." I said and cast my gaze about us.
Garrus nodded. "He's right. I can't place it but... Every instinct tells me this place is unsafe..." he agreed with me, giving a nod.
Wrex snorted then. "I'm a Krogan Battlemaster, and even I feel uneasy." he added.
Shepard then sighed. "I feel it too. We'll be careful. Let's just get back and report our progress." he suggested and we all agreed with that. We went back up the tunnels and found Ash patrolling near the door. She saluted as we approached. "At ease, Williams." Shepard told her.
She nodded curtly. "Aye skipper. Nothing to report. It's quiet around here for now." she said as we walked with her through the colony. Garrus, Tali and Wrex went off to see if there was anything they could do.
I then spoke up. "We've got the power cells and done what the colonists wanted." I told her and she nodded to me.
"Good job, Sir... May I speak freely?" she asked and both Shepard and I nodded in response. "This place... These people... They're... Well... Weird." she whispered to us. I saw Kaiden approach and also salute.
We nodded and he stood at ease. "She's right. Every time I ask about the colony they just direct me to Fai Dan." he informed us. "Liara tried to help a woman with a console maintaining the ship, saying she could lend a hand, but the woman rudely refused her. It upset her a bit. She's in the freighter, sitting down." he said, a sadness to his tone. John bristled at that and the temperature dropped a little...
I patted his shoulder and nodded with an encouraging smile. "Go check on her, bud." I said and he walked toward the large ship, entering it. "Yeah, this place makes my bones ache and my eye twitch. Something's afoot here." I looked around us again.
I then leaned in a bit closer to them. "Tali, Shepard, Garrus and myself will head to ExoGeni. You two and Liara see if you can dig anything up. Discreetly. Kill Geth as needs be. Wrex can patrol the area, and if something goes awry, try not to harm the colonists..." I told them and they nodded to me. I handed the power cells to Kaiden. "Take these, give them to whoever needs them and see whoever was asking about the water and food. Tell them it's done." I said and they both saluted, walking away as I headed to Fai Dan.
I showed him a picture of the destroyed room on my Omni-Tool. "Transmitter's gone, we've also supplied you with water, food and power." I informed him and he smiled widely. "Thank you so much Commander." he put his hands together and bowed slightly in thanks. "You've done more than you had to." he nodded.
I then raised my eyebrow at him. "We also had a rather... Interesting encounter, down in Utilities." I told him and his own eyebrow raised. "We met a man, a member of the colony down there in rather... Poor health. Mentally, I mean." I told him and he sighed.
He shook his head then. "Ah, that's Ian Newstead. He's not very well, as I'm sure you could tell." Fai Dan lowered his head in sadness of this fact.
I was a bit sceptical. "Hmm. Right. And you've not thought to... I don't know... Go and get him from the tunnels? They're not exactly safe." I pointed out and Fai Dan shook his head.
He gave a sad sigh. "Commander, you must understand. The needs of the many over the needs of the few. I could not possibly sacrifice more lives helping him when he may be beyond help. That would be reckless and irresponsible." he said. He had a good point there.
I then folded my arms. "Yet you're willing to risk our lives?" I asked him and he froze for but a second, but I caught it.
He scoffed and shook his head. "That's different. You're two Spectres. And your team is heavily armed and heavily armoured." he told me.
I pointed at him for a second. "Yeah but... You didn't know we'd come." I pointed out. I swear he grit his teeth.
"Anything else, Commander?" Well, that's the end of that conversation then...
I decided to press a little more. "What about some of the... Strange behaviour around here?" I asked him.
He stopped for a second, looking confused before chuckling a little in realisation. "Oh, that. Commander, I know you've lived your life in battle, but some of these people have never even held a gun before. They're scared. Nerves get the better of them." he explained to me... Right, sure. Nerves make you act weird. Got it.
I felt a hand on on my shoulder and turned my head to see Shepard gesture to me that we're going. I gave Fai Dan the 'Ocelot Hand Gesture' as it was known. I pointed at him with my index and middle finger with both hands, then let my hands open up as I slowly walked backwards before fully turning and following them out.
We went up the elevator to the skyway and found Geth attacking two colonists. We quickly gunned them down and opened the doors...
"Fuck off." I simply said when the Mako was revealed. "This thing is a rolling death cage with thrusters." I shook my head as Shepard began to climb in.
He turned his head to me and smirked. "What's wrong, Wyatt? Scared?" he asked me in a challenging tone.
I scoffed at that. "Of your driving? Absofuckinglutely." I answered before giving in and climbing in with Tali and Garrus. We all fastened up tight and held on. When we felt movement, we all prepared for the worst... The gun fired almost immediately. Only halting to cool down before opening fire again, or a large round was fired. A window then popped before me... A communication. I pressed it..
"The last batch went south... Are they looking for her?" came a female voice.
I analysed the signal closely. "Weak signal, Shepard..." I told him. Tali then pulled the window over to her.
"I'll try to clear it up and pinpoint the location through the Geth jamming systems..." she said and began to type away. I just left her to it and hung on.
I smirked and leaned over to Garrus as much as I dared without being flung about. "I like girls that take control." I mumbled quietly and he let out a laugh at that.
I saw the signal pick up again and Tali was transfixed with trying to pinpoint it... "More comm chatter, Shepard. Still weak." I pointed out as it played.
It was the same voice. "Any sign of movement? Lizbeth could still be in there..." she said, sounding rather desperate. "It's only been a few days." she continued. We continued to be thrown around as the gun continued firing. We almost flipped again before another signal was picked up... "She's my daughter. I'll wait for as long as I need to." she spoke to... Whoever was there. We continued on, slowing for a second, maybe a door? We went through and then the radio came back on. "We've got movement! Some kind of vehicle... Not one of the Geth." She said.
I turned toward the cockpit. "There're close enough for a visual, Shepard. We're close." I told him. We surged forward again then came to a halt. The green light to exit came on and we all poured out, attempting to keep our cheering and vomiting to a none. We saw a ramp leading down to some kind of ruin. We headed down and saw some kind of security forces dressed like Arcelia.
We got past and someone in a suit of some kind held a pistol on us. "That's close enough!" he barked out at us. Huh. Paranoid.
The girl next to him rolled her eyes. "Relax Jeong. They're obviously not Geth." she pointed out to him, but he wasn't so easily convinced it seems.
He shook his head and glanced at her. "Get back Juliana! Who are you?! What do you want?!" he asked us. Well, more demanded really.
We all shared an amused glance. "I'm Commander Shepard, this is Commander Warwick. Council Spectres. Here to remove your Geth problem." Shepard told him.
I clicked my fingers on my left hand and led it into a point like a salesman. "Good to the last Geth." I nodded with a chuckle.
The woman Jeong referred to as Juliana seemed relieved at hearing that from us. "See? You worry too much." Juliana said to him.
He scowled back at her. "And you trust too easily Juliana." he told her simply, turning to her fully now.
She kept her attention on us though. "I'm just glad to see a friendly face. I thought we were the only humans left on the planet." she said to us.
I shook my head at that. "Zhu's Hope's holding out just about." I informed them.
Juliana whirled around on Jeong, who near enough shit his pants. "I thought you said they were all dead?" she asked him accusingly.
He denied that. "I said they were probably all dead." he defended himself. Ah, technicalities. Gotta love them.
Tali then spoke up. "They're still surviving, despite the odds." she said, a hint of admiration in her voice. Then again, I suppose her people knew all about that...
Juliana nodded to us then. "We know what that's like... Damn synthetics are relentless..." she sighed.
Shepard then nodded to her. "We'll do what we can to drive them off." he promised her. "But to do that, we need some information." he bargained.
Jeong was instantly onto that. "What kind of information?" he asked us. Ah, gotta love those company secrets, and keep them safe, even at the expense of others!
Juliana rolled her eyes again at him. "Ignore him. The Geth are up in the ExoGeni Headquarters, just a bit further along the skyway." she gave us directions.
Jeong was quick to point something out. "Those headquarters are private property, soldier. Remove the Geth and nothing else." he 'warned' us. Right. Sure. Whatever.
I scoffed at him then. "Right. We'll remove whatever we damn well please if we think it's shifty. Got a problem? Talk to the barrel of my gun. Want to mouth off? Talk to the butt of it. Both will eagerly greet you, but only one will leave you standing at the end." I stated to him simply. He wised up and said nothing.
Juliana then spoke up again. "Commanders! Before you go... My daughter, Lizbeth, she's missing." she said, clearly upset about the whole thing.
Jeong was rather quick to shoot the idea down... "They shouldn't waste time looking around. We can do a proper accounting of all our casualties after the Geth are gone." he said as if he were sure.
Juliana was not happy about that. "That's my daughter you're talking about! She's still alive, I know it." Juliana asserted to us, and I understood that.
Shepard began asking some more questions, getting more information. I saw a man gesturing to me and I walked over. "Thanks for coming over, Commander. I was hoping to ask a favour... I rushed out of my office to get away from the Geth, and left some important blueprints behind for some mods. Would you see if you can find my office, and if you do, copy said blueprints onto this OSD?" he asked and handed me the device.
I gave him a nod. "Aye, if I find it, I'll get them for you." I agreed.
He smiled then in relief and thanks. "Thank you Commander. I'll pay you for your trouble, of course." he promised, and that made me more determined. I'm still a PMC operator at heart...
"Volunteering us for harms way again, Commander?" came Garrus' voice from behind me. I spun around and smirked at him.
I then handed him the OSD. "Just you Garrus." I told him, patting him on the arm as I walked past. He stared at the device for a minute, realising he volunteered himself, before pocketing it and following. We headed back up the ramp to the Mako before I held my hand out and stopped us... "We need to keep an eye on Jeong. I don't trust him not to try something." I narrowed my eyes behind me at his figure down below.
Shepard nodded to me in agreement. "He's right. Let's watch our backs." he said as we climbed back in the Mako and set off again. We moved upwards, through the lot where we were, and then levelled out again. About a minute later, I felt the gun firing once again.
The communication panel flashed before me again and I intercepted the signal... "You owe us for this, the Skyway is crawling with Geth..." a male voice said.
Another then sounded out. "Package is secured... We're leaving now." it reported.
A more worried voice then came on. "Wait... Shut down the comm! We've got incoming Geth! Damn it, shut down the comm!" he ordered before it went completely silent... Not from it shutting down either...
I then sighed and brushed away the panel. "Whoever that was, they're goners." I told Shepard, who looked back and nodded. I felt us jump again and I think we landed on a Geth unit... I felt multiple impacts on the shields as we all sat there, being flung left and right by Shepard's manic driving.
The outside cameras activated for us and we saw our destination... Some kind of thin wall. The Mako wouldn't fit at all. "The Geth certainly don't waste time moving in..." Garrus spoke.
Tali nodded in response. "They wouldn't just set all of this up for no reason... They must be looking for something." she told us as the green light came on and we all unfastened and disembarked.
Shepard didn't get out yet. "Wyatt, secure a position, I'll cover you from here with the gun!" Shepard ordered and I nodded to him. I moved to a section of pillar that had fallen, while Tali and Garrus took cover either side of the thin doorway.
I noticed movement above us... "Ah fuck... Spider-Geth!" I exclaimed. "Garrus, deal with them, Tali, give me a hand with the ground troops!" I barked my orders. Both nodded, and Tali took cover next to me. They were to the left and above us, on a raised platform... Three ran at us and Tali popped up and blasted them to kingdom come.
I then threw a grenade up and waited a few seconds before detonating it above them. I saw hydraulic fluid and synthetic limbs go flying all over. I then spotted the last Spider-Geth fall from the ceiling, completely inactive. Shepard then sprayed the platform with the Mako's gun, taking out a few that survived. He disembarked and we kept moving. We headed up the ramp to the platform...
I gestured with my gun. "To the right, sealed door. Tali, can you open it?" I asked her.
She gave me a nod of certainty. "Yes Commander." she stated and ran over to the locking mechanism. She typed into her Omni-Tool and the door opened in no time. We headed inside and found nothing, just some crates. Shepard and Tali opened them up, finding some equipment and mods.
I heard a whirring noise and turned to Garrus, who's eyes widened as we both turned our heads and my eyes did the same... Oh fuck me sideways... "Armature!" I exclaimed. Tali and Shepard spun to face it as it unpacked and we all unloaded our weapons into it... I quickly slid under it, took my knife, and jammed it hard into the Armature's underbelly, pulled out the knife and ripped out some wiring. It went haywire and I quickly slid out as it collapsed and powered down.
We were all breathing heavily... And then I began laughing. Everyone seemed a bit confused, but ended up joining in. "Why... Why are we laughing? We almost died!" Garrus asked, which just made him laugh more.
I took my helmet off and held the wall as I recovered from the laugh. "Sometimes... All you can do is laugh." I gave a carefree shrug of my shoulders as we exited the room and I replaced my helmet. We headed over to the door inside and found it shielded... I gave it a hard bash with the butt of my rifle...
SIA then spoke up. "Commander, this shield is even more powerful than the one in the Prothean Ruin on Therum." she told me. Right, so we're not even busting this one with guns at all...
I then turned around. "Tali?" I asked. She walked over and again typed into her Omni-Tool, glancing up every so often. Her Omni-Tool flashed red and she kicked the shield, swearing in Khelish.
She then turned to me apologetically. "Sorry, Commanders... This shield... Is unlike anything the Geth have ever created before." she explained to us. "We'll have to find a way around." she told us. I turned my head and saw a hole, leading to... I don't know. The actual route to the area it accessed was blocked due to fallen debris...
I walked over and looked down. Huh, not that far at all... "Looks like a one-way drop, Commander." Garrus told me, seeing what I did...