Mass Trek
Chapter 11: ExoGeni
Peters held up the item he had found. "It's a geth rifle." He pointed to something that stuck out from behind some crates. "And I'm pretty sure that is a geth foot."
"You mean they boarded?" Truman asked.
"That's exactly what happened," Kaidan replied before he pointed out several more signs of a firefight. "The colonists certainly put up quite the fight. Any chance we can scan for geth?"
Peters gave the Lieutenant a sour grimace. "Not likely sir. Not individual ones, anyway."
Kaidan nodded. "Let's get to that survivor then. Crewman, you know how to pilot a shuttle pod?"
"Yes sir," Truman replied.
"Then take it out of here and await further orders. Don't do anything to draw attention to yourself in case the geth come back."
"Aye sir."
Kaidan turned to Peters. "Let's go, Petty Officer."
Kaidan and Peters quickly advanced toward the forward bulkhead of the hanger. Truman waited until they had reached the door before engaging the engines and backing the shuttle pod out of the hanger.
Kaidan allowed Peters to take point so the Lieutenant could use the tricorder to find the safest route. Kaidan blinked at the things he was seeing. "Peters, there is 23rd Federation century tech inlaid with all the Citadel tech."
"I'm actually not surprised, LT," Peters replied. "The Federation is not exactly keeping its 23rd tech under wraps- its no longer classified and the Citadel can't gain a tactical advantage over us with it. We've come a long way since then."
"While the Citadel species are struggling to keep up," Kaidan observed. He pressed a command into the tricorder. "Okay, we'll need to go right at the next junction."
"Keeping to the pressurized sections, El-tee?" Peters asked.
"I'm not willing to bet that our survivor is not going to be able to get dressed in our spare suit for a space walk," Kaidan explained. "Might as well find a stable route now, rather than wait until later."
Peters grinned. "That's solid thinking sir."
Kaidan paused at the next junction and scanned the options. "The passageway to our left is sealed with emergency bulkheads."
"I'm surprised they still work on a boat this old."
"We'll have to cross the ship all the way to the starboard side."
"That doesn't seem so bad, sir."
"But we'll have to descend a deck to do so. Then we have to find a way up several decks to get to him."
"With no help from the turbolifts. This'll take some time if he can't move under his own power."
~Mass Trek~
Inside the Exo Geni building Shepard pulled the Mako to a stop and powered down the main engine. "Good call, Garrus. It bought us enough time to get here."
"Happy to help," Garrus replied. "I'm glad Federation tech was capable of pulling it off. I know Citadel tech is nowhere near that level."
Wrex opened the hatch and sniffed the air. "There's another krogan in the building. I can smell him."
"We'll keep an eye out for him, then," Shepard replied as she grabbed her rifle. "Chief, you know what to do."
"Roger that, Commander," Ashley replied. "I'll still be here when you get back."
Shepard opened the hatch. "Let's move, people," she ordered as she dropped to the ground. Wrex landed on the ground behind her as she moved forward.
When Garrus landed, the Commander had already done a tricorder sweep. "Anything, Shepard?"
"There's a door to the rest of the building, but it's locked with Citadel tech. Garrus?"
Garrus activated his omni-tool and took a look over the lock. "No go, Commander. The lock is a code system I am not familiar with. I can't even read the characters."
Shepard stepped close to him and looked over his shoulder at the tool. Garrus thanked the spirits that Turians were incapable of blushing as she studied the code. "Spirits," he thought. "What is with me?"
"I'm no language expert, but that looks like Klingon," Shepard informed them. "I can't read it either."
"Well that's great," Wrex growled. "A code we can't crack in a language we can't read." He turned from where he stood. "And while you two have been trying to crack the door, I've found another way in." He pointed to a hole in the ground. "My own scans with my omni-tool say this leads deep into the building."
Shepard approached him and looked down the hole. It was slightly deeper than Garrus was tall and did seem to lead deeper into the building. She nodded her agreement. "Alright, we'll take this route. Wrex, will you do the honors?"
The Krogan gave a chuckle and rolled his shoulders. "With pleasure, Shepard." The Krogan drew his shotgun and jumped in. "Clear!"
Shepard and Garrus jumped in behind him. With Wrex to take point, they descended deep into the building. In some of the narrower parts of the passage it was difficult to see around Wrex. After a few minutes of travel, the tunnel opened into what looked to be a forgotten part of the skyway.
Just after Wrex had entered the cavern, a disruptor was fired, missing the Krogan but almost hitting Shepard. Shepard could smell the ozone from the ionization of the air near her.
"Hold your fire!" Shepard ordered, with the intent that not only that the shooter would stop but that Wrex wouldn't shoot back. "I am Commander Shepard of the Normandy!"
"I'm so sorry!" came the reply in a female voice, followed by a clatter that Shepard could only assume was the disruptor. "I thought you were those robots!"
Wrex snarled at her. "Do I look like a damn robot?"
Shepard turned the corner just in time to see the woman put up her hands. Shepard glanced at the Asari design disruptor pistol on the ground. "You are?"
"Lizbeth. Lizbeth Baynham. I'm a researcher here."
"Is there anyone else here?" Shepard asked.
"I... I stayed behind to... to try to contact Colonial Command. But then the robots cut power before I could manage a stable subspace link."
"The Feros colony's distress call reached the Citadel. We were dispatched to assist."
Lizbeth glanced at the Starfleet arrowhead sigil on Shepard's armor. "A Federation officer?" She blinked a few times. "Your the human Spectre!"
"I am."
Lizbeth bit her lip, like she had something to say.
"What is it?" Shepard asked.
Lizbeth shook herself. "Nothing." Garrus had picked up the disruptor pistol and handed back to Lizbeth, certain she would not try to shoot them again. "How are the colonists of Zhu's Hope?"
"They're holding their own. Better now since we've destroyed one of the cruiser's dropships. The robots, called the Geth, haven't sent another out. Now," Shepard stepped closer. "I need to know everything you do."
Lizbeth sighed. "Will you do everything you can to help the colonists?"
"Yes."
Lizbeth nodded. "ExoGeni found an ancient lifeform under the colony. We call it a Thorian and it's some form of sentient plant. Now it's sending spores into the air. The colonists are all under its influence. I objected to making the colonists test subjects and was put on probation for it. If I objected further, then they would have made me into a test subject too."
Shepard grimaced. "That doesn't sound good. Is there a way to free the colonists of the influence?"
Lizbeth shook her head. "I can't think of anything."
"We were at the colony not too long ago," Garrus mentioned. "Will we come under the influence of the Thorian?"
"No. It will take extended exposure for it to take effect. Any spores you have inhaled will break down and be safely absorbed in your system."
"Well, before we can deal with this Thorian, we will have to deal with the Geth cruiser clinging to the building."
"I'll go with you. My ID will get you into restricted areas."
Shepard grimaced. "I'm not comfortable with letting a civilian into a firefight."
"I can't go the way you came-" Lizbeth admitted.
Shepard opened a channel. "Chief, can you get the Mako's transporter to work?"
"Let me check," Ashley replied. She took a few moments before she replied, "Yes, Commander. Need a beam out?"
"Can you lock on to a civilian standing with us?"
"Granting sanctuary, skipper? I've got a lock."
Lizbeth handed over her ID and nodded her consent.
"Energize," Shepard ordered.
When Lizabeth was safely away, Shepard hefted her rifle again. "Lets crash this party."
~Mass Trek~
Chakwas performed her scans on the patient. "You did well in your field medicine, Lieutenant. He won't need much more from me, though I'll keep an eye on him."
Kaidan nodded. "He introduced himself as first lieutenant Kahoku before he passed out."
"What was he doing in there?" Chakwas asked.
"Protecting something I have to speak to the Commander or Pressley about," Kaidan replied.
As if on cue, the doors to the infirmary opened and Pressley waltzed in. "Lieutenant Alenko, is everyone alright?"
Kaidan stepped away from the bio-bed. "None of the away team suffered any injuries, and the young lieutenant here only suffered minor injuries. We found that the Geth actually boarded the Crete, but it didn't get far. Most of the damage was caused in ship to ship combat." He glanced towards the doctor and the colonial officer. "And we found something in that mysterious compartment you and the Commander will want to hear about. We actually brought it aboard."
"What is it?" Pressley asked.
"The reason the colonies have had such a success against the Batarians. They have rudimentary cloaking technology."
~Mass Trek~
Wrex blasted the last Geth with a disruptor blast from his shotgun. "HA! That was fun! Let's do it again!"
Shepard hurried to the controls. "Let's get rid of that cruiser before they send reinforcements. Hmm."
"What is it?" Garrus asked.
"Apparently, the door control system has a glitch. A enter a certain psi setting in the computers, and they shut with such force that they sheered a shuttle in half. At least, that's what this maintenance request insists." Shepard entered the correct setting. "Let's see if this works." She engaged the shutting mechanisms. "Get to cover. We don't know how bad the shrapnel will be."
Garrus and Shepard shared a console while Wrex stood behind a pillar. When the severing began, Garrus instinctively covered Shepard with his own body. He saw some fire lick at his shields momentarily.
When they heard the cruiser fall, Shepard could hear Joker trying to raise her.
"Go ahead, Joker."
"Finally. Commander, Lieutenant Alenko and his away team have returned. We're also no longer detecting Geth activity."
"We just sent their cruiser plummeting to the surface," Shepard replied. "We've just discovered that there's a sentient lifeform under the colony that's affecting the colonists. We're on our way back to deal with it."
"Do you want us to beam additional security personnel to the surface?"
"We should have it covered. However, we may need Doctor Chakwas ready to assist."
"Copy that, Commander."
"Shepard out." She turned to her team. "Let's move. We've got a first contact to conduct."
A/N: Sorry about the long wait. Training is really rough on the brain and takes an enormous amount of my time. The only reason that I got this chapter done was because I had surgery and am on leave until I'm properly healed.
If you haven't already guessed, I'm trying to lean the story to Garrus being the love interest. I've always liked it. Garrus has been Shepard's most loyal companion throughout the game, provided he survived the suicide mission.
The story will continue, I hope. I have new ideas for it from time to time.
Until next time,
Live long and prosper.
