Chapter 9- Feros

Urdnot Wrex gave the giant claymore a few testing swings. I had decided to make each crew member's weapon unique, custom built for its intended user. Thus, Wrex got a claymore while Tali got a shortsword.

"These are good weapons, Tenno, but I don't think that all of us know what to do with them." He stated, gesturing at the rest of the team. Of the Normandy ground team, only he and Garrus had any idea of what to do with the melee weapons, the former due to him being Krogan, while the latter due to his SpADE training. Ashley and Kaidan just stared at their swords curiously, Tali was scanning her sword for valuable tech, and Shepard was giving putting his weapon through a few clumsy test strikes.

"Uh, Tenno? I asked for weapons that were viable in modern combat scenarios, not glorified museum pieces." Shepard said, sheathing his shorter katana in disgust.

"Excuse me? A sword is perfectly viable in modern combat. All you need is the advantage of stealth and you can eliminate nearly any enemy silently and with a single strike. Kinetic barriers do nothing to stop the blade, and the blades could cut through a Warframe easily if you put a little power behind the strike. Most fighters nowadays just hide behind their guns and are helpless in melee, so all you need to do is close the distance and they can't hurt you." I replied.

"Not all of us have a suit of overpowered armor to absorb all incoming fire while we close the distance." Kaidan commented.

"I know, but Garrus and Wrex shouldn't have any problems doing so."

"One's a krogan and the other has undergone extensive training under you." Shepard said.

"Point taken. If you don't know what to do with these, just leave them on the ship for now. I'll do my best to train you guys after we leave Feros, but for most of you, the swords will just be dead weight. Now, do you guys want to see the guns I made for you?" I asked.

"Yes please." Shepard replied. I gestured to the requisitions officer to bring the case containing the various firearms that I had designed and made.

I opened the container, revealing its contents, composed of various weapons.

"Please take the ones with your names engraved on them." I smiled as the group picked through the case, drawing out their particular loadouts.

"Okay, what is this?" Ashley asked, holding up her shotgun.

"That's the Charybdis shotgun. It has two barrels and a duplex-auto mode of fire. By that I mean that it fires once when the trigger is pulled down, and fires again when the trigger is released."

"Sounds impractical. What are these crescent bits?" Shepard asked, indicating at what he meant.

"Those are firing block adapters. Unlike the current guns in the armory, these weapons go through conventional firing blocks at a much higher rate, so you should carry multiple firing blocks with you at all times. Technically, these weapons should be able to accept any scrap metal as ammunition, but firing blocks offer a much higher quality of shot when compared to, say, a scrap of iron, but both will do the job."

"How? All weapons use standardized firing blocks, but you say that any metal will do, regardless of its shape?"

"Any metal excluding Thulium will work."

"Why not thulium?" Garrus asked.

"The original design designated all turians as 'Thulium-Organic alloy', and would have attempted to convert any turian shooter into ammunition."

"Ouch..." Garrus said, realizing the implications of what I just said. He regarded his sniper rifle with a wary gaze, as if it would try to eat him as soon as he turned his back.

"What's this bow doing here?" Shepard asked, holding up the weapon in question.

"The Odyssey uses mass effect field projectors to accelerate an element zero infused arrow. It travels just slow enough to ignore kinetic barriers, and it can be guided through the air by a biotic. Do you have a problem with that?"

"Yes. A Geth pulse rifle can shoot thirty times in the time it takes for one arrow to be fired. That's more than enough to kill someone, even with full kinetic barriers." Shepard replied.

"That is why the bow is not your main weapon. You pull out the bow when you're facing something big, like an Armature or a Prime. It should be able to take one of those out with ease. However, when it comes to the little Geth, just shoot them with a rifle."

"I see. We'll test that theory out on Feros. Speaking of which, we leave for Feros in two hours. We should arrive there tomorrow. Right now, I want everyone to head to a firing range out in the wards and familiarize yourselves with your new armaments. I want you back here 30 minutes before we depart. There are to be no antics, no drinking contests, and most of all, NO ASARI HOOKERS! DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?" Shepard said, fixing Garrus, Wrex, Tali and Myself with a scathing glare.

"YES SIR!" We all replied, before entering the elevator and exiting the ship.


Several minutes later, the squad went its separate ways. Wrex disappeared somewhere into the wards, saying something about an old friend owning a shooting range. Garrus and I took Tali and Liara off to the C-Sec Academy, while Shepard, Kaidan and Ashley all went to some alliance owned practice range.

Soon, my party arrived at the academy, where we were met by the remaining members of SpADE.

"Well, well, well... What do we have here?" The flanging voice of Jovan Tarik sounded off in my ears.

"Hello, Jovan. How's life on the Citadel?" I asked.

"Nothing's changed... much. Pallin has disbanded SpADE in all but name. All we do now is sit around the Academy because the good executor thinks that we are too much of a risk to take on missions. It seems that you and your weight with the council was all that kept this from happening sooner." Shalia replied, frustration clear in her voice.

"Damn, I knew it would be bad, but this? Pallin pushed for this organization's creation barely half a year ago, and now he's destroyed it!" Garrus exclaimed.

"Too true. Anyway, what have you and master ninja been getting up to lately?" Shalia asked.

"Nothing much. Just tagging along with Commander Shepard, blowing up Geth and rescuing damsels in distress." I said, indicating Liara as being said damsel. That was when Kero'Sen asked his own question.

"So, what are you doing back here? Don't you have more Asari to rescue from the evil Geth?" The Quarian asked.

"I have to get these three," I pointed to my three companions, "To the firing range to test out some new weapons that I made for them."

"Aww, you never made any weapons for us when we were part of your unit!" Shalia exclaimed in mock jealousy.

"Don't worry, I'll make you all swords as soon as I'm done with this particular adventure. Now, I really need to get these three over to the shooting range. However, I am free for the next hour and a half, so I may be able to assist you guys." I thought for a moment. Given that Saren would soon attack the Citadel, I decided that the Council could use a few extra bodyguards. "How does bodyguard duty for the Council sound? I may be able to pull a few strings to make that happen."

"Standing around guarding politicians? I never thought I'd sink so low as to think of that as an improvement from my current condition." Taren said, garnering a few laughs from the surrounding SpADE officers.

"So are you up to it or not?" I asked. The SpADE members all showed their assent in some form. "Excellent. I'll see what I can do about it. Could you help my companions find the firing range while I try to talk to the council?"

"Sounds good." Jovan said, before ushering Tali and Liara along, while Garrus fell into step with his former comrades. I sent a short message to the council voicing my concerns.


Approximately ten minutes later, I was sitting down at a table, the three Council members sitting down around me.

"So, you are proposing that we take your former 'SpADE' unit and re-task it towards a guard role?" Valern asked.

"Exactly. In its current state, the unit is being misused, and is unable to act as it once was capable of doing. In its new role, it would provide heightened and capable security, should something like the Batarian kidnapping attempt happen again. Each and every one of the unit's members have been personally trained by me, so I can attest to their capabilities."

"I agree with Tenno. You cannot have too much security when it comes to matters of galactic importance. What if Saren somehow manages to attack the Citadel? Granted, he will not be able to make it past the defense fleet, but on the off chance that he makes it through, we will be his most likely target. Are there any objections to this?" Sparatus asked.

"Yes. By re-tasking this unit, we risk appearing weak at a critical moment. This appearance of weakness could be all that Saren needs as motivation to strike." Tevos countered.

"This isn't the Asari Matriarchs' council. A single appearance of weakness will not have all your opponents leaping in to tear you apart. If anything, this is a show of strength, as a new elite force of highly trained enforcers will be assigned to you, not only as a guard team, but also as a strike team at your personal disposal." I replied.

"I agree. The SpADE unit proved itself in its previous role multiple times before Pallin began to misuse the unit. Re-tasking said unit would allow us to use it more efficiently, both as a set of additional guards and, as Tenno said, an elite strike team." Valern said.

"It seems that you are outvoted on this matter, Tevos." Sparatus said.

"Very well. We will make the necessary arrangements." Tevos said. "However, I do wish for a demonstration of the unit's skills before I draw any conclusions."

"That can be arranged. Is there anything else you three wish to discuss with me?" I asked.

"No. That will be all." Sparatus replied. I said my goodbyes, before turning and leaving the room.


I returned to C-Sec academy several minutes later and gave my former trainees the good news. Shortly afterward, SpADE received a message formally informing them of the development. As they left the academy, I entered the firing range.

In the time of my absence, Garrus had used his new sniper rifle to great effect, having caused several hundred credits of property damage with a gun that could punch a hole clean through a Mako.

Tali and Liara, having little to no combat training, were less successful. While both of them knew how to use a gun, both of them were not trained to use them well. While Tali was slightly more skilled with her own weapons, as she had received some combat training before leaving on pilgrimage, Liara was almost clueless, the many scorch marks on the wall surrounding her target making that fact clear.

"Hold the pistol with two hands. This isn't some action vid where a hero charges in dual wielding SMGs. You have to aim your shots, not just spray and pray." I said, correcting the Asari. Of her next three shots, two hit.

"We'll be returning to the Normandy in an hour. Get what practice you can with those guns, you will need them on Feros." I said, addressing the group, before joining the shooting match.


BANG!

BANG!

BANG!

"Another hundred credits down the hole." I said, inspecting the damage caused by Garrus' latest barrage of gunfire.

"I can see why you said to use this rifle with caution." Garrus replied, grabbing a pair of firing blocks from the pile that he had next to him.

"Yeah, that thing could take out a line of charging krogan with one shot." I replied, firing off a burst with my Soma.

"Glad that it's on our side, then." Garrus said, placing one of the blocks into the adapter before beginning to fire again.

A series of rapid two shot bursts turned my head, allowing me to see Tali chew through a pair of firing blocks on her shotgun. It seems that she had mastered the weapon's duplex-auto action, and was now seeing exactly how many target dummies she could decapitate in as short a time period as possible. Running out of ammo, she quickly switched to her SMG, setting it to wide focus before unleashing a rapid string of full auto shotgun blasts. Noticing her success in dummy destruction, I walked over to a control console near the edge of the firing range and activated a function that I had built into the range for training my SpADE agents.

A series of modified LOKI mechs stepped out of storage alcoves, raising custom designed stun rifles. The weapons were based off of the Corpus Amprex and fired powerful electric shocks, enough to knock someone out with two or three hits. In addition, this particular model of mech had been modified for enhanced mobility, while the VI controlling the mech had also been upgraded significantly. Garrus shot me a scathing look in the moments before the modified mechs opened fire.

A storm of electrical fire caught two of the room's four occupants by surprise. Tali threw herself to the side moments before a string of electrical discharges crossed the space she had just been occupying. Liara took one hit and dropped to her knees, which was a blessing in disguise as the next three discharges flew over her head. She scrambled to the nearest piece of cover, a stack of crates, while I activated a set of voice amplifiers in my warframe's helmet.

"You have a new objective. Eliminate all mechs using any means at your disposal." I said, before sitting back and watching the show.

Tali overloaded one of the mech's shields, before sabotaging its weapon. The pulse of electricity coursed through the mech, disabling it. She then took cover as return fire streaked through the air she had occupied seconds before.

Reloading her shotgun, Tali waited until the first mech came into her line of fire, before releasing a rapid two shot burst, dropping the mech. A second pull of the trigger sent another mech down, after which Tali retreated as return fire streaked back towards her. Stowing her shotgun away, she pulled out her heavy pistol. Taking aim, she fired three times at one of the two remaining mechs that were attacking her. The first shot was deflected by kinetic barriers. The second one missed, but the third shot slammed into the mech's chest, forcefully deactivating the robot. The last one fell prey to one of the Quarian's overloads fired from her omni tool.

As Tali dispatched her foes, Liara was having trouble dealing with her own. The asari had never taken part in any real combat, and her inexperience, coupled with her being hit early on, severely hampered her ability to fight. A biotic singularity had temporarily incapacitated her foes, allowing Liara to partially recover from the hit she had taken. She pulled out her SMG and opened fire, spraying bullets in the mechs' general direction. She scored a few lucky hits, taking out one of the mechs, before the singularity expired and the mechs recovered. That was when Liara ran out of ammunition on her SMG. She cursed, reaching for a firing block that was not there. Then, she pulled out her heavy pistol and fired several times, taking out another mech. A biotic warp coupled with a lucky pistol shot took out a third enemy, but in the process of doing so, Liara had exposed herself for too long, allowing the surviving two mechs to draw a bead on her and shoot. The two bolts hit Liara, and the Asari crumpled to the ground. The mechs attacking her turned on Tali, who expertly overloaded one before taking aim with her pistol, firing several times. She missed most of the shots, but scored a direct hit on the overloaded mech, taking it out. However, this gave the other one an opportunity to fire, and Tali's young physique was not as robust as that of Kero'Sen, who could only take two shots before passing out. Thankfully the shock guns had been modified so as not to permanently damage any equipment worn by their target, including Quarian enviro-suits. The shot hit Tali square in the chest, sending her to her knees, incapacitating her. While she was still conscious, she was too weak to aim and handle recoil. However, as she fell, she got off one last shot, which, through an extreme stroke of luck, struck the robot directly in the chest, and with its barriers already weakened by Liara's singularity, the LOKI mech was disabled.

I shifted my attention to Garrus, who had so far not taken a single shot at his opponents. Instead, he had led them to a narrow passage between two stacks of crates, and was now taking aim with his sniper rifle. The robots that had been chasing him suddenly stormed through the narrow passage single file, as the pass was too small for any other method of passage. That was when Garrus' rifle spoke.

A single shot blew clean through all five mechs' chests, downing them all.

"Show off." I said, while Garrus bared his mandibles at me in a cheeky grin. That was when Tali passed out, thumping to the ground.

"So, I assume that we are heading back to the Normandy?" I asked.


"Why is it that whenever you leave this ship, you come back with at least one of my team members unconscious?" Shepard asked, gesturing to Liara, who was now sleeping peacefully on one of the cots in the medbay. Liara, having taken multiple hits, was still unconscious, while Tali had woken up minutes before Shepard had returned to the ship.

"It was a training exercise against mechs with stun guns. Liara managed to take out three before she went down herself." I replied.

"So, do you think that she would be an asset on the ground team?" Shepard asked.

"Yes, although not on the front lines. Her strength lies in her biotic abilities, but her skill with firearms is sub-par. By comparison, Tali took out seven mechs, although her skills are especially suited towards fighting synthetics, so her kill record would be skewed in her favor while fighting them. Thankfully, we are fighting Geth so we will be able to use that to our fullest advantage."

"Good. Now, I want you and the rest of the ground team ready for combat by the time we reach Feros. That means getting some rest, as the trip to Feros will take about 15 hours."

"I will do just that. Now, what did you think of the weapons I made?"

"They are effective, but ammunition is a major concern. Thankfully, I found out that we can keep the guns running off of Omni-Gel, which we have in plentiful amounts due to me breaking down some of our older weapon and armor sets." I sighed at that. Omni-gel could do damn near anything.

"Glad to see that they are up to snuff. Now, if you will excuse me, I am under orders to rest up for the coming mission, so I should go." I said, smirking under my helmet to have a chance to use that line against Shepard.

I then turned and exited the medbay, heading into the elevator. Diving into my ship, I headed to the armory, removing my warframe and putting it into its storage alcove. Then, I retracted any nanites I had out before heading to my personal quarters. Closing my eyes, I practically collapsed onto the bed, going out like a light.


I spent most of the ride to Feros sleeping, the nanites in my brain keeping me in a sedated state until an hour before we reached our destination. Right on the dot, I woke up, my brain nanites sending me into a fully conscious and alert state.

I walked into the armory and donned my Warframe, before opening my weapons locker to choose a loadout. Given that I would be fighting Thorian creepers, I would have given up a lot for an ignis, but alas, I did not have the Grineer-built flamethrower with me. Instead, I decided on taking the Phage as my primary, while packing the Angstrum as my secondary. My Nikana completed the loadout, the curved blade resting on my hip. I dove into the Normandy cargo bay to see the rest of the team hard at work, preparing for ground operations. Since there was no restriction on how many party members Shepard could take, the entire team could be utilized to maximum efficiency, which was critical to the plans that I had drawn up for Feros.

The hour leading up to our arrival at the besieged colony was spent in silence, as the rest of the team checked over their new weapons. Out of all the ground team members, only Garrus, Wrex, and surprisingly, Tali, had elected to carry their swords into battle, although Tali's weapon was sporting a significant amount of modifications to the hilt area. Curious, I walked up to her.

"Tali? What did you do to it?" I asked.

"Well, I noticed that the blade was infused with Eezo, so I made some additions to it in order to allow me to use it more effectively." Tali said.

"Oh? And what kind of modifications did you make?"

"The kinetic generator built into the hilt is amazing, but it assumes that the sword will be in constant motion throughout a battle, and I intend to use it more as a weapon of last resort. As such, I added in a power cell adapter, similar to the one used in my enviro-suit, allowing me to power the weapon at all times while in battle. At best, it will allow me to manipulate mass effect fields in a manner similar to biotics through use of this weapon, and at the very least, it would allow me to alter the mass of the weapon and deflect biotic attacks." Tali explained.

"Interesting. I'll keep an eye on it as soon as we hit the ground." I replied. Tali nodded in response, before returning to her work.

Finally, the Normandy arrived on Feros, coming in to dock at one of the giant towers that studded the planet's surface. I met Shepard and the rest of the ground team by the airlock, just as the decontamination cycle began. I tapped my foot impatiently as the cycle ran its course, before finally the door opened, allowing us out onto dreary old Feros. Immediately, Serina piped up out of my helmet's loudspeakers, allowing the entire squad to hear her warning.

"Alert. Class 6 bio-hazard detected. Please ensure that you are equipped with warframe breathing gear of class 4 or higher." The AI's monotone voice rang out, causing the entire squad to pause in its tracks.

"Bio-hazard?" Shepard asked, a look of worry on his face.

"Serina, analyze this bio-hazard. I want a full report-" I was cut off as Serina's analysis played. At first I wondered how the process took so fast, as she had previously taken several minutes to analyze any unknown substance that we had encountered. Then, I remembered that she was now an AI.

"The bio-hazard is a form of plant spore, with an unknown source. While non-lethal, it appears to have severe mind altering properties, likely causing insanity, migraines, and an altered mental state if inhaled for prolonged periods of time." the AI stated.

"What the? This did not show up on the planetary data readout!" Shepard said as he made sure his helmet was on securely.

"It seems that it emulates a harmless form of pollen, which would cause it to bypass most standard scanning arrays." I replied.

"Do you know what it is?" Liara asked.

"No." I replied, as we made our way out of the docked frigate's airlock and onto the colony tower proper. I saw the guard waiting for us as we disembarked.

"We saw your ship. Fai Dan wants to speak with you immediately." The guard said.

"Who's Fai Dan?" Shepard asked.

"He's... our leader. He needs your help to prepare for the Geth. They're making another push." The man said. "Please, up the stairs, past the frei-" The man never got to finish, as a Geth sniper picked him off with a clean headshot. The ground team ducked behind cover as a rocket soared our way, impacting harmlessly against the guard's barricade.

"Don't worry, I've got this." I said, raising and charging my Angstrum. The custom-modded rocket pistol prepared a crippling 8 rocket spread as I stood, pointing it towards the Geth, who were preparing to fire again. I released the trigger just as the Geth rocketeer took aim again. The red painted robot never had a chance to fire, as a spread of small but powerful rockets impacted his position, sending Geth parts, chips of stone, and coolant flying everywhere. Twirling the Angstrum, I placed it back on my hip. The rest of the ground team just sighed, as if they were expecting me to do such a thing.

"Well, that was fun!" I said as my team got out from behind their cover. We made our way through the tower proper, taking care of any Geth that stood in our way. The weapons had proven to be extremely effective, with any ammunition used being quickly replaced with Geth remains. I used my Nikana to dispatch anyone that survived the gauntlet of firepower that my team had been throwing at them, as the Phage was meant to be used against Thorian creepers, and the Angstrum was simply not meant for close quarters engagements. Finally, we reached the colony proper. Seeing the makeshift barricades with the ill equipped colonist militia crouching down behind them, I could only thing about how screwed these guys were if the Geth really decided to attack in force.

"Allright, we're here. Now, I will go speak with Fai Dan. The rest of you, find something useful to do in the meantime." Shepard said, before leaving, most likely to look for Fai Dan. Ashley, Kaidan, and Liara soon left to do their own thing as well, leaving me and my Turian, Quarian, and Krogan squadmates alone.

"Allright, what's really going on here?" Garrus asked.

"Do you want the long version or the short one?" I asked back.

"Short please." Tali said.

"Very well. This colony is the site of an experiment by ExoGeni corporation, testing the effects of Thorian spores. Said spores have an unusual effect on the minds of anyone effected by them: Essentially, they twist the mind and turn its body into a loyal servant of the Thorian, a giant plant creature that lives under this colony. The Geth are here because the Thorian has something that Saren wants, namely a cipher that would allow him to make sense of the Prothean vision he received on Eden Prime. We're here to get said cipher, and kill the Thorian, assuming that I can't make it co-operate with us." I said.

"Wait, what?" The rest of the group asked.

"Exactly. In the game, we killed it without a second thought, but I hope that we can avoid such an outcome this time around. After all, I can be very... persuasive, if I want to be." I said, shifting my armor into Nyx form. The rest of the group just stared.

"Oh, right. This is the Nyx warframe. It has mind control capabilities." I said, realizing that they didn't get the joke. I shifted the frame into Ember configuration, as fire beats plant every time.

"What's that?" Tali asked.

"What's what?" I replied.

"That thing you just did with your armor! I've never seen anything like it!" Tali said.

"Oh, this?" I asked, shifting my frame back into its Volt configuration as I realized that we still had Geth to fight before the Thorian creepers made their appearance. "This is my Warframe changing its configuration. Each configuration has its own unique abilities. Take this Volt configuration, for instance. It has powerful electrical projectors that allow me to shoot lightning bolts at enemies, as well as create energy barriers and sprint at incredibly high speeds for short periods of time. The configuration I used previously was the Ember, which, true to its name, is capable of shooting fire in various forms, as well as coating enemies in a powerful accelerant, which causes them to burn even brighter." I said.

"How many configurations are there?" Tali asked.

"I can currently create twenty different configurations of Warframe, but that is by no means the limit. Were I to return to the Tenno home dimension, I would likely be able to 'learn' more warframe configurations. Technically, I can form an infinite amount of combinations with the nanobots contained in this armor, but the problem is creating a configuration that works." I replied.

"That's amazing! The technology required must be centuries ahead of anything we have on the migrant fleet! Are you sure you can't give me any right now?" Tali asked.

"Tell you what. If you can get more kills than me on this next mission, I'll share with you the blueprints for a powerful Grineer sterilization field generator that can encompass an entire liveship. If not, I'll give it to you once this mess with Saren is over." I said. The device in question was used by the Grineer to create habitable zones on the toxic surface of Earth, hence their ability to 'cut off life support' to various sections of the planet. It used the fairly primitive Grineer technology, so the Quarians should be able to produce it.

Tali's eyes noticeably widened behind the helmet, as the glowing areas beneath the faceplate grew to nearly three times their normal size.

"You're on!" The Quarian said, raising her shotgun and giving me a determined look, before walking away to the spot where the Salarian merchant, Ledra something or other, was standing. I watched as the two talked for a little, after which the Salarian gave her a small bag containing her purchases. I then saw her remove a small grenade launcher from the bag, one small enough to be attached underneath a shotgun barrel. Then, she took out a large roll of adhesive tape, which she promptly used to fasten the launcher to the shotgun. Then, the quarian engineer grabbed the two bandoliers of grenades that she had purchased, strapping them around her waist. I could have sworn that she was smirking under that helmet.

While all this was happening, Wrex and Garrus had wandered off, presumably to look for Shepard. I decided to do the same, although I had the advantage of knowing where to look. I walked up to Shepard just as he was finishing up his conversation with Fai Dan.

"Good, you're already here. Saves me the trouble of looking for you." Shepard said.

"What's the plan?" I asked.

"This colony is on its last legs. They need food, water, and power if they're going to survive once we remove the Geth, and our enemy seems to have a transmitter of some kind under the colony, co-ordinating their assault. We'll handle all that, and afterwards we will all head for the ExoGeni building out across the skyway." He replied.

"If I may, sir, I believe that splitting up would be a better approach to this." I replied.

"Oh? Do tell." Shepard said.

"I believe that you take three of our ground team members with you to the ExoGeni building immediately, while I stay here with the rest of the ground team and secure the colony. This will allow us to A. Complete our objectives in a much more timely manner, and B. It will leave a force here to defend the colony should the Geth make another push." I said, remembering how Shepard had only two teammates with him ingame.

"Hmm. Well then, who do you propose I take with me?" Shepard asked.

"Take Ashley, Kaidan, and Liara up with you to the skyway, while Garrus, Wrex, and Tali stay here with me." I replied.

"I see. While your plan is sound, your group has almost all our strong combatants, as Garrus, Wrex, and you, Tenno, are our best frontline soldiers."

"True, but your group not only contains you and Ashley, but it also has almost all our biotics, with my group's biotic support coming from Wrex alone, and he isn't as powerful a biotic as say, Kaidan or Liara."

"Very well. I'll go along with this, on one condition. I want air cover along the skyway, and your shuttle is the best we have in that department. I want your shuttle providing air support for us as we move along the skyway, as we'll be exposed while we're doing so." Shepard said.

"That's acceptable, as my team will be spending most of its time underground anyway." I said, before uploading a program to Shepard's omni-tool.

"What's this?"

"It's a target painter. While it's not as effective as my helmet based one, it should allow you to call in airstrikes through use of your omni-tool. Just point at a target, and let the Hunter do the rest." I said, before disabling my helmet speakers and ordering Serina to launch the shuttlecraft. About 30 seconds later, the Hunter came into view, circling above the colony.

"Excellent. I'll brief the rest of the squad. You, meanwhile, go around and ask about what you need to do to get this colony up and running again." Shepard said.

"Yes sir." I said, turning and walking to the various colonists that would re-iterate the requirements to feed, power, and sate the thirst of the colony. Meanwhile, Shepard briefed the remaining ground team members on the plan of attack. Immediately afterward, Shepard departed with his half of the ground team, heading up towards the skyway. I met up with the rest of the team.

"Allright. We'll be heading down into the tunnels. There is a Geth comm relay down there that is coordinating their assault on Zhu's hope. In addition, we are to re-activate the colony water supply, which the Geth have cut off, as well as find a pack of Varren for food and recover some power cells for the colony power supply. Any questions?" I asked. Before anyone could reply, the tell-tale sound of a Geth firing a rocket came from the tower.

'Shit!' I cursed. I had forgotten about the Geth surprise attack that normally happened when you first met Fai Dan.

"Protect the heart of the colony!" Fai Dan shouted as everyone in the rocket's path scattered, the projectile missing its mark and exploding on a far wall. I readied my sword, about to charge into the tower, when a loud 'BOOM!' came from the structure. Looking around, I saw Tali reloading her grenade launcher.

"Secure the tower!" I shouted, as Garrus pulled up a screen on his omni-tool. On it were two pictures, one of me, another of Tali. As I watched, the number 5 appeared under Tali's picture.

"Someone's got to keep score." Garrus deadpanned as we ran into the tower.

My only response was to growl as I sliced a Geth in half.


A/N: Sorry about the late update. School has been extremely demanding of my time lately, forcing me to go on temporary hiatus.

With that in mind, I have decided to split the Feros arc into several smaller chapters, as writing massive 10k chapters would cause any reasonable update rate to go straight out the window.

Finally, I have been having an infestation of plot bunnies, which breed like rabbits despite the genophages I have unleashed on them time and time again. However, should I start a new story, my update rate will likely drop even further, which is a problem. However, I would like to get to work on at least one of these, as starting a new fic is the best way to motivate me to work on this site. As such, please vote for your favorite of these three in the reviews section, after which I will either A. Set up a poll on my profile should I not get enough feedback, or B. Get to work on the new story, as well as update my old ones.

They are the following:

1. (Bionicle Fic) Title: Colonization. A human colonization craft carrying a million men and women in cryostasis arrives in orbit of Spherus Magna, a few years after the defeat of the Makuta and the migration of the Matoran out of the Great Spirit Robot. Left with no alternative, the colonists proceed with colonization, bringing them into contact with the many races inhabiting the newly reformed world of Spherus Magna.

This story has been in my head for quite some time, since before I released 'Unity, Duty, RWBY', having been passed over for that particular fic. Now, I'm giving my loyal readers who have stuck with me through my long hiatus a chance to decide whether they want this particular story or not.

2. (Sword Art Online Fic) Title: The Other Server. The story of Kirito and Asuna and their fight to save the thousands trapped in Kayaba Akihiko's death game is an amazing one, showing human strength, versatility, and skill at its finest. It also only freed one server. After all, the death game of Sword Art Online was also released in America, with a separate server being created for that particular country. Unfortunately for the players imprisoned inside, Kayaba Akihiko cannot be in two places at once. With no alternative way out, the people of the American server of SAO have no choice but to clear all 100 floors of Aincrad to earn their freedom... or die trying.

This will be an all OC fic, which I know is kind of frowned upon. It will incorporate the setting from SAO, but the plot line will be different due to there being completely different characters. With regards to unique skills, I do plan on dishing them out to select characters, but I will try my best to not make them OP. An example would be: «Battle Fury»- Attack speed slowly increases as battle goes on. Reset upon exiting combat. A nonexample would be- Kill wave- Insta-kills everything in a 1 mile radius when used.

3. (Code Geass/Elder Scrolls: Skyrim Crossover) Title: TBD. As Lelouch faces down the firing squad in the Shinjuku Ghetto, a mysterious green haired girl takes a bullet meant for him. As she dies, she uses a telepathic ability to inform Lelouch that he is Dragonborn, a powerful individual with dragon blood coursing through his veins. With this newfound power, Lelouch now possesses the ability to change the world, and has a chance to make good on his oath to wipe the oppressive empire of Britannia from the face of the world.

Essentially, this replaces Geass with the power of the Dragonborn. This particular idea has not been around in my head for very long, so it will take some refining to iron out all the kinks contained within, such as finding a way to prevent C.C. from dying, (I'm thinking Vampirism) and finding another goal for the Emperor, as the world of C. and anything related to geass won't exist in the universe. I was thinking of casting Emperor Charles in the role of Miraak, and replacing the knights of the Rounds with Dragon Priests, with Bismarck being Konahrik, Luciano being Hevnoraak, and so on and so forth.

So, take your pick of these three and post the one you like most, and I will do my best to get it and my old fics out, although with my update rate being what it is, it may take a while.