We stepped out of the sterile airlock and come in contact with a discouraging sight. Our surroundings are aged brownish gray concrete. The air feels stale and punches the nose with heavy mold. The eeriness of the atmosphere scratches the eardrum, which makes hair stand up. There is a stranger located at the end of the loading dock. He gives off a strange vibe then speaks.
"Are you alliance?" he asks Shepard.
"I am. We came as soon as we heard the geth were attacking. Do you know why?" Shepard asks.
"You need to speak with Fai Dan" the colonist stated.
"Who is he?" Shepard asks.
Oh yeah, I remember this. Fai Dan is the leader of the colonists. He is going to shoot himself to resist the thorian. Hopefully I can prevent that. The question is, should I? I have changed very small details in the past universes I went to. Sometimes it helped, other times it made things worse. That is if I will even have the opportunity. Hold on, doesn't this colonist. BANG. BANG. "NO!" I yell. His body drops to the ground and reveal the metal executors. I should have saved him. How could I forget?
"Everyone get down" Shepard shouts.
Ashley runs towards the back of the group where Tali and Myself are located. She orders us to stay back. We keep low and watch the masters of the battlefield at work. Kaiden levitates one of the geth whose head explodes from a round shot out of the turian sniper's rifle. Shepard switches to a shotgun and takes out the remaining geth with assistance from Wrex.
"Area is clear. Be careful. They took us by surprise. They can be anywhere. Was anyone injured?" Shepard asked as he canvased the walls.
The humans shake their heads no. The aliens voice their concerns. I ignore them and walk grimly towards the empty vessel of the colonist. The strings of his soul have been prematurely severed from his physical puppet. I look in his empty eyes that express a cold shock. The guilt I feel is immense. I slightly bow in shame and tighten my eyelids to block the buildup of tears. A clothed hand is placed on my shoulder.
"Are you alright?" Tali reposefully asks.
"I knew the geth were coming. He died because I couldn't react in time" I said. Ashley hears me.
"It is not your fault. We can't save everyone" Ashley said.
"I know" A dark fire ignites within my chest. My brows grow tense and my vision focused. My jaw is taught and my voice stiff. "Let's get these geth" I said.
We make our way to the elevator shaft. The geth have closed off access. Three drones and two jumpers need to be cleared out. Tali shouts out that every geth we eliminate will diminish the intelligence and accuracy of all other geth in the immediate area. In response, Shepard orders those closest to him will take out the drones and for the rest of us to keep the jumpers off their backs. Wrex tried to use his biotics, unfortunately, it dodged his blast just in time. Accuracy will be an issue with a moving target. I use my shotgun and follow the path of one of the jumpers. It leaps from one area to another. I study its movements and determine where it will land next. I aim at an empty space on the wall and as soon as it leaps, the trigger is pulled. The irritating jumper is meets my spread of bullets.
"Nice shooting. Took you a little while" Wrex comments.
Ashley took down one of the drones, leaving the other two a challenge for Shepard and Kaiden. Tali sees this and pulls out her omnitool. Wrex gives a quizzical head tilt and observes her fast three digits. The remaining jumper leaps on top of the other drones and scratches everywhere it can. Kaiden seizes the moment and launches a biotic blast to destroy the two. The last drone is confused and weak. It does not experience this for long as Shepard quickly forces it to have dreams of electric sheep. A green light and pleasant beep are observed.
We load the elevator. It is a tight fit. The atmosphere gains heat hastily from the exhales of the fight. The elevator stops. Everyone raises their weapons towards the door and prepares for combat. The steel mirror polished doors reflecting the determined faces of the galaxy's best fighters slide open to reveal an empty hallway. We slowly exit and walk out two at a time. Some go left, others head right and make sure the area is clear. We cautiously found our way to the colony.
"Stop, nobody moves!" Guard one draws his obviously vintage rifle. Will that thing even fire?
"Calm down. Do they look like geth?" guard two said. This causes one to slowly lower his weapon.
"We are looking for Fai Dan. Do you know where he is?" Shepard asks.
"He is in here somewhere. Everything was already a mess before the geth attacked exogeni. Now it is a complete disaster. He has probably been pulled to five different problems since we spoke" He positions his body to allow entrance into the rundown colony.
"Everyone split up and find Fai Dan" Shepard said.
I joined Kaiden and chatted with the locals. One woman says he was in the medical area, the doctor says he went to the pantry. He was not there either. Each person we talk to acts strangely. The thorian's spores altering the behavior of the colonists is starting. Kaiden catches this and asks for my opinion.
"Do these people seem off to you?"
"You are asking me?" I said.
"Good point"
"Hey!" I shout in fake hurt. Kaiden's omnitool goes off and he tells me Shepard found him. Kaiden opens the local map and we walk over there. We find everyone there. I remember after the conversation the geth will launch a surprise attack. I kneel behind one of the broken concrete pillars and rest my rifle on the makeshift platform. I focus intensely in the empty area. The deadly shine of metal comes around the corner and I fire. I will not let anyone else die. "Geth are here" I yell and fire several more rounds. It is short work to eliminate the threats.
"Good work *********. You were prepared for the geth" Ashley said.
"It is like you knew they were coming," Shepard said.
Crap, think fast.
"We removed the geth on our way here. Any others would have come from another entrance" I hope this satisfies them.
Shepard finishes the conversation with Fai Dan and we head to the mako. Several geth temporarily stood in our way. Garrus took most of them out as they were very far away and only he had a sniper rifle. We made it to the mako and counted six chairs. Ashley stayed behind to defend the colonists, or more like get a break from the aliens, while the rest of us loaded up. Shepard and Kaiden sat up front while the rest of us squeezed into the back. Wrex is compressed by the safety rails. I can tell he is thinking of ripping them off. Garrus seems calm and Tali is nervously twisting her fingers.
The highway leading to exogeni is in dire need of repair and makes the ride very uncomfortable. Let me tell you a car ride where the vehicle is tilted at least thirty degrees is not fun. I try to relax, until that is when Shepard hits a very deep pothole. The forces drive my skull into the wall of the interior.
"Watch it!" I rub the spot that hurts.
"Sorry, I hit pothole" Shepard said
"After that I'll need some pot in my hole"
"I have some you can try when we get back" Kaiden offers.
"What?! They allow you to have that?" I ask.
"Yeah. special privilege of my mark 2 biotic implant. I use them for my migraines" Kaiden explains.
"I do not understand" Tali said.
"It means he is enjoying the thresher maw stank" Wrex replies.
"The what?" Tali is still confused.
"He is inhaling the reactor fumes if you catch my meaning" Garrus said.
"Oooohhhhh" Tali gets it.
Any geth on the bridge did not last long. The mako ran over drones with ease and the shields could take a couple of rockets before needing a recharge. The colossus is an obstacle. Kaiden manned the large weapon above our heads. A storm of bullets took out the shield as Shepard swerved to avoid the energy blast. When the colossus' shields were depleted, A slew of rockets violently pacified the metal creature. As we drove, a faint signal picked up.
"He**o *an anybo*y hear me?" She pleads.