Hello again, everyone, and welcome back to my Gears of War/Mass Effect crossover.
I'm very happy to see that things are going quite well. We're going to be seeing a few divergences from the original story. I won't spoil anything, but I will say that a hint of one such divergence will be present in this chapter. I'll leave the meaning of that hint to the rest of you.
As always, leave a review, and enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own the Gears of War or Mass Effect franchises. They are the respective properties and trademarks of BioWare, Electronic Arts, Epic Games, Microsoft Studio, The Coalition, etc. Any material original to the franchises belongs to their respective developers and publishers. Any material not original to the franchises is of my own invention. I do not own any music listed in each chapter. Any music listed belongs to it's original composers and/or artists.
SSV Normandy
Approaching Feros
February 8th, 2183
Back aboard the Normandy, Marcus was eating some food at the small table where the other crew members would have their MRE's (Meal, Ready to Eat). He dug his hand into the MRE he was eating out of, which held some pork, green beans and rice, a hearty meal for a soldier of war. It's quite good, he noted as he ate some more of the meat inside of the plastic container. Not as good as a full meal, but not bad.
As he ate, he recalled some of the things that had happened that week. For one thing, Garrus was quickly becoming proficient with the M-7 Boltok, the revolver based on the older design from Sera. Might be time to each him how to use the Lancer, he decided. Kid's shown that he has a talent for firearms; just needed some time to bring it out.
That caused his mind to drift back to when someone had 'borrowed' his M-85 Shredder shotgun. It was a funny incident, one that had never failed to elicit a slight chuckle from him, as well as some concern.
. . .
Three Days Earlier
Sifting through the locker down in the cargo hold, Marcus was starting to frown. He'd been looking for his Shredder shotgun for some time, since he needed some practice to use it better. Things would've gone well, if not for the fact that his shotgun had gone missing. Shepard didn't know where it was, and neither did Garrus or Wrex.
Part of his concern was that whoever had the gun would accidentally blow off their hand, foot or, Allfathers forbid, their head. The other was due to the fact that it was a projectile shotgun, not a mass accelerator shotgun, and as such fired much larger rounds. A poorly aimed shot could rupture the hull, which would mean sealing all compartments until the damage was repaired. It could also tear a hole in the deck plating which, while thick, wasn't bulletproof.
Looking towards where Baird was, he found the inventor tinkering with the Pulse module that he'd created during his training. From what he could tell, Baird was trying to make it smaller, both to reduce the bulk, and to get rid of anything that the module didn't need in order to function more efficiently. "Baird," he asked, "did you borrow my shotgun without telling me?"
"No," Baird replied. "Why would I? You'd rip my arm off if I did such a thing."
"Point taken," Marcus noted. As he turned to leave, it occurred to him that he might've forgotten to put it away. There had been a couple of times were he had left it in the firing range, though he always made sure that it was unloaded and open. I wonder… he thought to himself as he walked into the firing range.
It turned out, his guess was half-right: it was in the firing range, but it wasn't attended, nor was it unloaded and empty. Tali, of all the people on the Normandy, was holding the shotgun. She was standing in the proper stance, but it turned out, she had placed her large finger on both of the triggers. Before Marcus could warn her, she pulled hard.
There was a loud KA-BOOM as both barrels of the shotgun discharged simultaneously, the first of the shells superposed chambers firing their payloads out the muzzle. The recoil was so strong that Tali, thinking it would have the same recoil as her Scimitar, was knocked her onto her ass before she could say 'knife.' Worried that she had been firing standard buckshot, Marcus sighed with relief when he saw a cloud of metal powder pop into existence at the other end of the range.
"Keelah," she muttered, unaware of Marcus' presence in the room. "That shotgun has a lot of recoil! I'm surprised that anyone can -" At that moment, she turned to the right, spotted Marcus standing there. She squeaked with fright, while dropping the shotgun onto the floor, and jumping at the same time. "Oh! I'm so, so sorry Marcus!" she babbled. "I-I couldn't help it. I -"
For the first time since meeting her, Marcus felt a little sympathy, and more than a little amusement. He smiled, before shaking his head slightly at the scene. "Quiet," he said, prompting Tali to fall silent. "First of all, what the fucking hell were you thinking borrowing my shotgun without asking me? You could've gotten yourself into a lot of fucking trouble." At that, Tali's eyes went wide, before she bowed her head in shame. "However, since you were just curious, and since you showed that you knew some of what you were doing, I'll let the matter drop."
"I-I… um… thank you," she stammered. "It's just that I -"
"I know, Tali. You were curious; there's no harm in that. Just don't take my guns without asking me for permission next time. OK?"
"OK?"
"Good."
. . .
Present Day
The memory faded from Marcus' mind a moment later, returning to the library that was his long term memory. Ever since that day, Tali had started coming in more often to use his firearms, though she always asked him permission before using them. In addition, he had Baird make sure that she had someone watching her, so that she wouldn't hurt herself. So far, all was going well, and Tali was really starting to get into the swing of things.
He was about to get up when he heard the intercom chime. "Marcus Fenix, Damon Baird, Tali'Zorah, Urdnot Wrex, Augustus Cole, report to CIC immediately. Fenix, Baird, Tali'Zorah, Cole and Wrex, report to CIC immediately."
"Yeah," Marcus frowned. "I heard you the first time." Getting up from the table, he tossed the now-empty MRE container into a nearby recycle bin, before walking up the ramp that would take him to the Combat Information Center, and the briefing/comm room that was built into it.
Apparently, he was the second one there, as Shepard was standing in there, waiting for the others to arrive. Hearing someone, he turned to see Marcus, who was wearing his armor, save for the helmet. "Morning," Shepard nodded. "You doing OK, Marcus?"
"Yep," Marcus nodded. "Doing fine." Seeing very small bags under Shepard's eyes, he asked, "The Prothean vision again?"
"Yeah," Shepard nodded. "You gotta hand it to the Protheans there: they certainly knew how to make information unforgettable."
"What did the doctors at Huerta Memorial say about that? I'm not the kind of guy that understands their mumbo-jumbo. Baird is, but I'm not."
"I know what you mean. According to their Prothean expert, who was an Asari, Nihlus was right when he said that I had a psychological trigger implanted into my brain. Anytime someone mentions the word 'Reaper', it causes a spike of activity in my hippocampus and prefrontal cortex. In addition, she said that she saw some kind of squid-like creature in the vision when she did a mind-meld with me, and that she vaguely heard a voice say 'Reaper' when she did so. If that isn't proof of the Reaper's existence, then I don't know what is."
"I agree. I'm no expert, and I know only a fraction of what most people know, but I can say that the Protheans didn't pull pranks when it came to something important. Otherwise, they wouldn't have made certain that you would remember that kind of thing."
"That much is clear." As he said this, the others arrived inside the CIC, fully geared up and ready.
"What's the deal?" Cole asked. "We goin' to hurt some Geth, or what?"
"We will, but not today," Shepard explained. Pulling up an image of the planet Feros, he said, "We'll be entering the system Feros is in in around twenty three hours. According to the Salarian STG, Feros is a colony owned by the ExoGeni Corporation. According to intel, they specialize in interplanetary exploration and colonization, though they have done some mining operations and artifact reclamation."
"In other words, we're going to be dealing with people that run cities for a living," Baird snorted.
"Pretty much," Shepard nodded. "The colony on Feros is known as 'Zhu's Hope', and it appears to be a small, archaeological colony that ExoGeni set up. Feros is known primarily for having Prothean structures that are relatively intact, though most of these structures have been looted in the past. ExoGeni, from what I can tell, likely found something they were interested in.
"However, the colony as gone dark recently, and no one knows why. Alliance Intelligence and the STG believe that the Geth might be responsible for the comm blackout, though they aren't fully sure. Our job is to head there and find out what is going on; if it's the Geth, we'll neutralize them and secure the colony. Any questions?"
"If there are Geth down there, how many are we looking at?" Marcus asked.
It was Tali who answered that question. "We'll likely be looking at between a hundred and a hundred fifty Geth platforms, and that's not counting the drones and any Armatures that they have."
"Armatures?"
"The walkers you encountered on Therum when you rescued Liara. The only ones larger than them are the Colossi, and they're nearly three times as large."
"Shit," Baird frowned. "Those things are like fucking tanks with legs. Good thing we have some explosive ordinance with us."
"Shit yeah!" Cole beamed, cradling his M-150 Boomshot like an infant in a crib. "Ain't nothin' a Boomshot won't fix!"
"Just be careful with that thing," Wrex cautioned Cole. "I'd rather not be the first Krogan to be blown up by that weapon."
"No need to worry man. The Cole Train knows how to be safe."
"Glad to hear," Shepard nodded. "Any further questions?" When none presented themselves, he said, "Alright. Get some rest and get ready for tomorrow. We arrive at 0530 hours local time." With that, the team dispersed.
As they did so, Marcus felt a slight tightening in his gut, as though someone was gently squeezing it with a hand. The hairs on his neck hackled when he felt that sensation. Either we're going to have something bad happen to us, or we'll find something bad there, he thought. There's only one way to be sure, though. With that thought in mind, he headed down to the gym. He needed exercise today.
. . .
They arrived at the colony shortly after the team had gotten up at 0500 hours local time, with everyone fully geared, showered, and ready for war as the Normandy came in for a landing. Instead of an actual Space Traffic Control, they got coordinates from an automated guidance system that allowed them to find the actual colony. The port was inside of an alcove located on the Prothean skyscrapers that jutted from the landscape like pillars supporting a building.
As the others got ready, Marcus made sure his helmet was snugly in place, having repaired the dent that he'd gotten on the first mission he'd worn it on. All around him, the others made sure their gear was ready as they too prepared. "Equalizing Internal Pressure with Exterior Atmosphere," the VI clinically announced. After a moment, it said, "Logged, the Captain is Ashore. XO Pressly Has the Deck." With that, the door built into the ship's hull retracted, allowing the team to walk outside.
The interior of the docking bay was well lit, though the setting sun gave the concrete-like material the walls were made out of a dull gray color, with undertones of brown and red. The place was also old, with the only new construction being the docking clamps and passenger ramps. The exterior, or what little they saw of it, wasn't much different. The only things that had vibrant colors were the Normandy itself, as well as the armor and equipment everyone else was wearing. There wasn't a cool color in sight, not a blue or green; just a steady seepage of sepia brown, tired grays, dull reds and muted yellows. What an unrelievedly depressing place, Marcus noted to himself. He found himself thinking of the house where he lived with Anya at, and the bright, vibrant colors of the garden that he and his son had planted.
As they moved out, he spotted someone standing near the dock. The man was tall, with dark skin and hair, and was wearing a worker's uniform. A name tag identified him as David al-Talaqani. "We saw you coming in," he said to them. "Fai Dan wants to see you immediately."
As he spoke, Baird noticed something off. "Marcus, you hear that?" he asked.
"Yeah," Marcus nodded. The something that was off was David al-Talaqani's speech. For one thing, the man sounded stressed, though he also sounded as though someone was saying comforting words to him. For another, he paused for an unusually lengthy amount of time between words.
Shepard, if he did notice it, didn't comment on it. "Who's Fai Dan?"
"He's our leader," David explained. "He needs your help to prepare for the Geth. They're making another push. Please, up the stairs and past the freighter."
Just as he said this, Marcus spotted movement. "LOOK OUT!" he shouted, tackling al-Talaqani to the ground, just as a bolus of red-white particles zoomed overhead. Getting into cover with the civilian, he pulled his M-25 off of his back.
"Geth on the docking walkway!" Tali shouted, firing her sidearm, an M-3 Predator, at the offending hostiles. Peering over cover, Marcus could see a handful of Geth Troopers, Saboteurs, as well as a Rocket Trooper, who was readying a missile launcher.
Cole, however, spotted his chance to use his new gear. "WHOOO!" he shouted, popping out of cover before firing his M-15 Battle Lancer at the Geth. The rifle roared as it fired .338 caliber rounds down range, causing some of the Geth to duck into cover. Two were too slow, however, and they fell as the higher powered HESH rounds tore into their barriers and armor, destroying them immediately. One of those rounds impacted the optical sensor of the Geth Rocket Trooper, blasting it apart.
Cole wasn't done yet, however. "Moving up!" he shouted as he charged the Geth, roadie running to avoid being hit, before sliding behind cover. Marcus and Baird, on Shepard's order, moved up, with Shepard, Wrex and Tali providing support for the Gears. Pulling out a bolo Frag grenade, Baird tossed it at the Geth.
The grenade fragmented into several submuntions, before detonating explosively. Barriers were shattered, and Geth were shredded by the concussive blast and shrapnel from the grenade. Only two were standing now, with one bull rushing Cole, who gladly returned the favor by doing the same. Shoulder ramming the Geth, he sent the platform tumbling to the ground, while Marcus fired on the other one, allowing Cole to smash the Geth's head with a foot. "Huh, you're done!" Cole shouted.
Marcus was about to claim the shot when Shepard fired his Viper, blasting that Geth's head apart. "Nicely done, you three," he nodded. Looking at David al-Talaqani, he asked, "You OK?"
"I'm fine," al-Talaqani replied, his breathing fast as he looked around. "You have to get to the colony!"
"We will," Shepard nodded. Looking at Cole and the others, he said, "Form up and move out!" Once the others were with him, they advanced into the building, weapons aimed.
As they moved to the entrance of a stairwell, Marcus noticed something. For one, it appeared as though his armor's motion tracker/sensor suit was being jammed, as the circle in his HUD's lower right corner turned red. In addition, he noticed a flicker of movement, his ice blue eyes catching a hint of something metallic up ahead. "Hold up." he told the others, with the team stopping.
"What is it?" Shepard asked.
"Something's jamming my suit sensors," Marcus informed him.
"Same thing's happening here," Baird nodded. "My omni-tool's detecting some kind of jamming frequency. My guess, the Geth have a new toy up their sleeves."
"I got an idea," Cole suggested, hefting out his Boomshot. "How 'bout we blow them bitches up?"
"Sounds like an idea," Wrex smiled in approval of Cole's idea.
"Let's give it a try," Shepard nodded. With that, Cole moved to the front, before loading in a five shell magazine. Taking aim, he pointed directly at a pillar in the stairwell before pulling the trigger. There was a loud TOONK-BLOOP, like that of a cork being pulled out of a wine bottle, as the weapon fired. There was a blur of movement from the muzzle, presumably the grenade, that flew over to the pillar.
The moment it impacted, there was a loud KRA-BOOM, with the grenade detonating on impact with the pillar. Shrapnel flew everywhere, causing whatever it was that Marcus spotted to zip into view for a brief moment. It looked like a Geth, but it lacked most of the armor plating that one had, with the artificial muscles being exposed. In addition, it's hands and feet were pressed onto the wall, though it didn't seem to grip the material.
Baird, however, took the opportunity to use the other explosive weapon he'd brought along, courtesy of Carmine allowing him to do so. Firing the M-130 Torque Bow from the shoulder, he watched as the bolt flew out of the muzzle of the weapon, before smacking into the new Geth platform. Magnets, along with physical barbs, allowed the bolt to remain firmly adhered to the platform. There was a loud boom, whereupon the platform was cut in half, the destroyed machine falling to the floor. While Baird wasn't a long range specialist like Carmine, his aim was quite good, and it proved true in this case.
Apparently, that was the sole platform, as Marcus watched as his sensor suite returned to normal operation. "Good work," he heard Shepard nod. "That's one Geth platform down."
"Part of it fell onto the ground nearby," Baird noted. "I'm gonna go check it out." Walking over after making sure there were no other unwanted guests, he scanned the platform with his omni-tool a moment later. "Hhmm, creative assholes. Looks like they're using microscopic scale barbed hairs on the hands and feet of these drones to allow them to adhere to the walls. A for effort."
"That's very similar to how geckos can hold onto glass, even when upside down," Shepard noted curiously. "From what I recall from biology class, they have small hairs, called setae, which make use of the Van der Walls force. It allows them to walk on even hydrophobic surfaces with ease, and even travel upside down with little trouble."
"Talk about creepy-crawlies," Cole frowned.
"Well, gotta give 'em points for ingenuity," Marcus shrugged. "Either way, the Geth are starting to get quite dangerous. If they can crawl on walls, then who knows what else they can do."
"Agreed," Shepard nodded. "Tali, Wrex, you and I will provide support. Marcus, you and the others will take point. Your weapons are effective against these metal bastards, so that's what we're going to do."
"Got it," Marcus nodded. "We'll need to preserve ammo as well. We don't want to run out on missions like this."
"JACK can get us ammo supplies," Baird added. "I know, he's obsolete, but he still has a few uses left. Remind me to order some custom electronics when we get the chance. If we do, I can really go wild with those designs."
"Sounds good." With that, the team moved out. The colony, or what looked like the colony, was up some stairs, with the team emerging out of the stairwell. Almost immediately, a number of rifles, shotguns and handguns were aimed directly at them. One of the soldiers, spotting Marcus and Baird, fired reflexively. Both Gears dodged the shots, with some of the concrete-like material of the hallway spalling off into the air.
"Cease fire!" Marcus shouted. Looking at the man, who dropped his weapon with a whimper, he growled, "Dipshit."
"Stand down, people!" one of the soldiers shouted. Looking at them, she said, "Sorry, sir. We're all on edge, what with the constant Geth attacks. Speak to Fai Dan, he'll fill you in on what's happening."
"Got it," Shepard nodded.
As they walked along, Marcus noticed even more anomalies in the area. For one, the colonists were on edge, though they acted as though someone, or something, was calming them down. This place gets stranger by the fucking second, he thought as they walked along. It's like someone has them on drugs that keep them calm, yet enable them to fight.
Baird, who also saw what was going on, frowned immediately. "This is some fucking weird shit going on. What's got these people acting like this?"
"I dunno, but I don't like it," Cole added. "This is some strange bullshit here." Behind them, Shepard also frowned as they advanced.
As they got closer, Marcus heard a click inside of his armor, then a message came up on his HUD. "Warning: Biohazard Detected," the suit's VI informed him. "Life Support Systems Engaged. Air Filter Quality: Excellent. Time to Replacement: 4 Hours."
"Shepard, we got trouble," Marcus frowned.
"What is it?" Shepard asked.
"Get your mask on!" Baird hissed frantically. While Shepard would've been confused, the urgent tone of his voice stifled any form of resistance, with he and the others making sure their helmets were sealed tight. Once they did so, Baird spoke over the comm. "Some kind of biohazard in the air. I don't know what it is, but it's definitely something we don't want in our lungs. Could even explain why the colonists are acting so fucking weird."
"I agree," Shepard nodded. "Helmets or filters on until Baird says we're in the clear." With that, they proceeded forwards.
As they did so, Marcus heard a sound, a memory coming to the forefront of his mind. Following the sound, he walked inside to see someone lying on a bed inside of a tent. The man was shivering, as though he was having an intense fever, and his hands were in front of his face. The man was hacking and coughing, like someone was trying to choke the life out of him. To make matters worse, there were eight people in the tent that were having the same symptoms as well.
Just then, a woman wearing a medical uniform, and a rebreather mask over her face, came inside. "Is there something wrong?" she asked.
"What's wrong with these people?" Marcus asked. "They ill?"
"Yes," the doctor replied. "However, I am still at a loss as to what this illness is. As far as I can tell, it's a severe form of flu, though I confess that it doesn't sound viable as a prognosis. I'll continue to monitor them as best as I can, though."
While the woman's tone of voice was reassuring, Marcus had a frown on his face as he stepped back. I don't like the sound of that cough, he frowned. It's too fucking much like what happened at Mercy.
Apparently, Baird and Cole had heard it too, as Baird said, "Is that what I think it is?"
"Possibly," Marcus frowned. "If so, then we've got more to worry about than just Geth around here."
"I really hope it ain't what I think it is," Cole frowned. "I still get nightmares about that."
"Me too," Marcus nodded. "Still, we'll let Shepard know about it. If it's what we think it is, then we'll do what we can. If not, then that'll be a relief." With that, they continued to follow Shepard.
The freighter hallway had a few rooms, but the door was straight ahead, as they quickly exited. To the right, there were two people that were talking with each other. One was a middle aged man of Asian descent, while the other was a dark skinned woman that was wearing combat armor. "Commander," the man gasped, a relieved expression on his face. "I'm glad they finally sent someone to help us!"
"You're a bit late, aren't you?" the woman remarked.
"Hey!" Baird protested. "Can we stop continuing the friggin' monotony of sarcasm please?! It's getting on my fucking nerves!"
"Arcelia!" the man, identified by his name tag as Fai Dan, barked out. "I'm sorry, Commander, sir," he said apologetically. "Everyone's been on edge since -"
He was promptly interrupted when Arcelia shouted, "Watch out! We've got Geth in the tower!"
"Defend the heart of the colony!" Fai Dan ordered.
"We'll handle 'em," Shepard replied. "Marcus, Cole, Baird, you've got point! Wrex, Tali, provide fire support!"
"We're on it!" Marcus shouted. Pulling out his Shredder shotgun, he fired the first two chambers of the superposed shells, while Baird fired back with his M-35 Fusilier. Buckshot and bullets flew down range.
Two Geth caught the storm of buckshot that was hurled at them. The barriers flickered, but held firm, only for the bullets from Baird's sidearm to take the barriers down. The second storm of buckshot arrived milliseconds later, with the two Geth being ripped apart. Cole, firing his M-15, blasted apart another Geth, before the squad moved up, weapons in hand.
Moving forwards, they quickly found more Geth in a hallway to his right, prompting him to send more buckshot down range. Moving forwards over the shredded platforms, they found themselves in another room, with the roof having been partially blasted upwards, making a hole that the Geth could get in through. More Geth were in the area, including a Geth Destroyer that was dropped off by a Geth ship that was now leaving the area.
Working together, the team advanced forwards, weapons firing. Firing off a blast, Marcus pulled the trigger again, only to hear a beeping tone in his HUD. Empty, he realized. "Reloading! Cover me!" he shouted. In response, Tali, Wrex and Shepard intensified their fire, while Marcus opened the shotgun and fed two more shells into it.
"Marcus!" Cole shouted, with the Gear looking up to see a Geth Juggernaut charging at him. Throwing himself to the left, he dodged the incoming bot, before snapping the shotgun closed. In his adrenaline fueled state, he pulled the two triggers of his weapon simultaneously. The shotgun kicked in his hands, but his aim held true, with the Juggernaut's barriers failing, allowing the storm of buckshot to tear off a massive chunk of armor.
The blow also staggered the Geth Juggernaut, allowing Cole, who was now closer, to deal the killing blow. Shifting the grip on his M-15, he swung the fore-end like it was a sword, allowing the tungsten carbide bayonet to cut into the Geth's neck. The force of the blow, combined with the sharpness of the knife, allowed Cole to send the Juggernaut's head flying through the air, with the head flying down a hole in the ground. "Hole-in-one, baby!" he shouted. "The Cole Train's on a roll! WHOO!"
Baird, who was further up, was working with Tali and Wrex, while Shepard added his own fire to the fight. Wrex, using his biotic capabilities, yanked two Geth platforms towards himself and the others. Tali, firing her own shotgun, blasted one of the two Geth apart, while Baird, using his M-25's chainsaw bayonet, cut that Geth in half, sending fluid and pieces of armor flying everywhere. "Fresh scrap metal for sale!" he shouted.
With that, the area went silent. "All clear!" Marcus shouted.
"Good work, people," Shepard nodded. "Marcus, that was some stellar fighting on your part. Good show of courage."
"Yeah," Marcus nodded. "Thanks." This isn't even close to how hard we had to fight back on Sera.
"Haha!" Cole beamed. "I played golf with that Geth's head! Got a wicked swing with this thing."
"Yeah," Baird nodded. "Either way, remind me to come back here to snag some spare parts from these Geth. Now can we get back to the colony?"
"Good idea," Shepard nodded. "Regroup, and head back to the colony. Fai Dan's going to want to speak with us."
"Copy that," Cole nodded as he, and the others, returned to the colony.
. . .
Sure enough, Fai Dan was grateful to the team, and explained to the group that there were a number of problems. The first was that they needed to find out how the Geth were able to target their colony so accurately. In addition, they were running short on power, food and water. This left Shepard with the unenviable task of determining who did what.
It ended up turning out like this: Marcus, Cole and Baird would handle getting the food and water supplies, while Shepard and the others would handle finding out how the Geth were coordinating their efforts to attack the colony. Once they got to a part of the tunnel, they would split up and handle their respective tasks. "You sure you three are going to be alright?" Tali asked.
"We'll be fine," Baird nodded. "We've handed worse shit than this. Those Geth were a fucking pushover."
"Enough," Marcus decided. "Let's move." With that, they split up and began heading out. As they walked along, he noticed a door that was still in operation. Opening it up, he moved forwards. Just as they did, he heard a growling sound. "You hear that?" he asked the others.
"Yeah," Cole nodded. "Somethin's out there, waiting for a meal."
"I hope it isn't fucking Bloodmounts again," Baird moaned. "Those things are worse than the Tickers. At least the Tickers were easy to deal with."
"I know," Marcus nodded. "Alright, on the count of three, we move into there, weapons at the ready." Once everyone had loaded, he said, "Two… three… go!" With that, they charged inside, weapons ready. This proved to be a wise move, as they spotted the source of the growls.
To them, the animals they found were reminiscent of dogs, only their canine teeth extended out into tusks, like those on a wild boar. Their underbellies were white, while their backs were a black color, with tiny scales in lieu of fur. Flexible spines extended from their backs, and their goggle-like eyes were opaque. The way they moved with fluid grace only indicated how dangerous they truly were, as did the aggressive growling they gave off.
Weapon aimed, Marcus watched as the two beasts charged at him, roaring loudly as they did so. In response, he quickly fired his shotgun twice. The concussive blasts echoed in the chamber, while the heads of each of the creatures, Varren if he recalled Reynold's words correctly, exploded in a shower of blood, bone and brain matter.
That caught the attention of the Varren pack, as they came over to see what was going on. Upon seeing two of their brethren dead, and Marcus and his friends with his weapon drawn, they did something they didn't expect: instead of attacking, they stopped where they were at. "They're backing off," Baird noted. "I guess they got the message."
"Or something else got the message," Cole added, pointing towards another Varren that was approaching them. It was a majestic creature, with a dark red hide on it's back, and a blood red underbelly. It snapped and snarled angrily at the other Varren, while it made a whining sound similar to that of a dog in pain. Eventually, it dragged itself over to Marcus and the others, before lying down, the whining sounds continuing to come from it.
"Baird?" Marcus asked.
"Hang on," Baird replied, using his omni-tool to scan the Varren. "Oh, the poor fucking bastard."
"What is it?"
"This guy's got a really bad case of worms. They're moving underneath his skin, eating bits of his organs. No wonder this guy's been so aggressive: he's been trying to get the colonists to kill him. Poor bastard's in misery."
"Shit," Cole frowned. "That ain't any way to live, even for an animal."
Marcus, hearing all of this, knew that the Alpha Varren was asking to die. Frowning, he shook his head and said, "You two head back to the entrance. I'll take care of this." As the two did so, he bent down and said, "I'll do what I can to make this painless." Pulling out his knife, which Dom had given him at Mercy, he drove the knife into the base of the Alpha Varren's neck and cut upwards.
The Alpha Varren jerked from the pain, while red colored blood spurted out of the wound. Interestingly enough, it didn't struggle, but rather gave a heavy sigh as it looked at him. For a moment, Marcus saw a hint of relief in it's eyes, as though the Varren was saying, 'thank you,' then it's eyes went dull, the spark of life fading from them forever. Frowning he got up and turned to leave.
As he did so, though, he felt something nudge his leg. Looking down, Marcus found one of the Varren nudging him, before it looked up and growled at him. Looking behind, he watched as another Varren, likely the Alpha Varren's mate, nudged the corpse of it's mate before walking away with the others. Looking down, Marcus noted that the Varren nudging him stayed, growling as it looked expectantly at him. "Hhmm… Alright," he decided.
As he approached the others, Cole asked, "Is it dead now?"
"Yeah," Marcus replied. "That poor bastard was in pain. He looked relieved when I put him down. Now I've got another one following me."
"Probably because of instinct," Baird noted as he bent down and examined the Varren. It sniffed at him, before making a chortling sound as the Gear scratched it's head. "My guess is that he trusts you, Marcus. I could be blowing smoke up your ass, though. My advice is to talk to Wrex about it. He might know more on the subject."
"Agreed," Marcus nodded. With that, they went to take care of the water. That left getting the water taken care off, as before he left, he'd found power cells in a wrecked rover nearby. Thankfully, there were only a few Geth Troopers, nothing they couldn't handle. Noticing some valves, Baird had begun to turn them on. Reaching the final valve a minute later, he smiled when they heard the sound of something flowing through the pipes.
"Nice," Marcus nodded. "Now they've got water. Do we have a means of giving them power?"
"Yep," Baird nodded, holding out what looked like power cells. "I found these in a wrecked rover where the Varren were at. I figured they might come in handy."
"Hhmm, nice work," Marcus nodded. Suddenly, he thought he spotted movement nearby. Immediately, he drew his weapon and aimed, expecting a Geth he or the others missed. To his relief, it was another Human being, likely another colonist. The man's uniform identified him as Ian Newstead.
"Don't shoot!" Ian shouted, his brown eyes filled with alarm.
"Watch it!" Marcus growled. "I could've killed you for pulling that shit!"
"OK," Ian replied, relaxing now that he knew he wasn't going to die. "Still, word of advice: you don't want to go down there!"
"Why?" Baird asked. "What do you mean by down there? More importantly, what are you doing down here, asshole?"
"Nothing I should be, and anything I shouldn't," was Ian's cryptic reply. Before Baird could ask more, the man let out a loud cry, before recovering himself. "Aagh! That was a good one. Very intense."
Immediately, Marcus was reminded of the strangeness of this place. "Are you OK?" he asked.
"Just invoking the masters whip," Ian replied. "Reminds me that I'm still alive. You're here for the Geth, aren't you? You're not the only one interested in those things?"
"Who else is?" Marcus asked. "Are they looking for them, or to get rid of them?"
"Get rid of them," Ian replied. "They're a thorn in the side of -" Moments later, Ian let out a shrill screech of what sounded like pain. Then, that screech was replaced by hysterical laughter.
"This guy's clearly lost his fucking marbles," Baird frowned, perplexed by the odd behavior.
"What the hell's wrong with you?" Marcus growled. Just as he said this, Ian fell unconscious, with Marcus catching him before lowering him to the ground. "What the hell?"
"This is some fucking weird bullshit," Baird growled. "A man just happens to fall unconscious, while screaming like a Former. What the fuck is going on here?!"
"I don't know, man," Cole frowned. "Whatever it is, it's some weird bullshit."
"Yeah," Marcus nodded. Already, the feeling of foreboding that he'd felt yesterday was getting stronger. "We'll need to keep an eye out for this. Something tells me this is more than just a simple Geth attack. Let's link up with Shepard. Hopefully, he can make more sense of this than we can."
(Author's Q&A)
SpaceCommander-09: Thank you. That was intentional, though the M-99's a bolt action rifle still.
MarauderPrime12: It's not a simple trinket. You'll find out soon enough.
Chronus1326: Thank you. I put quite a bit of effort into creating that OC.
Guest: Wow indeed.
edboy4926: Thank you.
Guest: Oh, heck yes! The HoD is coming to town!