Mass Effect: Andromeda Wars

by Big Boss Pugh

After the death of the Archon, the kett leadership went to Primus. She has taken the kett and many species from the Milky Way for study. After three hundred years of waiting, the kett have returned and new heroes must face them. The new Mass Effect story begins in Andromeda with a hero that must unite two super powers to save them from the coming threat. Trust is the problem.

4. Chapter 4

Mass Effect: Andromeda Wars

Chapter 4: Unexpected Force

The flow of blood is everywhere on the ground. The number of lives taken is impossible to tell. Humans, salarians, turians, asari, and even angara. All of them are dead before their eyes as they exit the Hammer of Fate to find only death before their eyes. A few soldiers examine the bodies to find bullets from kett weaponry have been used on the victims. The air reeks of rotten corpses. As the team advances forward, opinions on how to handle the situation come forth. It leads to disagreements and shoving. Laura and Chris step between the groups to calm the situation.

Laura says, "This is no way to act. All of you settle down now."

Chris sarcastically agrees, "Yes, listen to the Nexus puppet. We must work with the morons to survive this."

Before she can rely, Covina interrupts, "Regardless of who is with what organization, we must hold this area and send any survivors back here to recover."

Broxis laughs and adds, "Wrong! We send out parties all over the area. Kill any victims left and take out any kett we find."

A. Paragon Option: Set up defenses for the survivors. (Save more lives)

B. Neutral Option: Hunt down and scan for victims. (Lose some lives)

C. Renegade Option: Kill everyone that is left alive. (Lose more lives)

Jackson says, "I am new at this myself, but I do understand what we can do. I need teams for defense and offense. The defense teams will stay here and keep this area safe for anyone we send back. Salvage anything useful and bring it aboard the ship with the survivors. I need only three offensive teams to move out. Any kett you find, eliminate them. Any survivors you see, bring them back to the ship for extraction. Now, let's move with a purpose."

Chris steps forward, "Let me come with you. I'll make sure any kett we see regret crossing our path."

Laura interrupts, "You need a tactical person than someone using brute force. I should go with you."

Groxis laughs, "I will tell you this. If I don't go, I'll start killing anything that walks. I don't mind fighting both the Nexus or Syndicate. Now, fighting the kett, is an opportunity for me to cut loose."

Covina walks over with her sniper rifle, "I can do better if you let me go, but this is your call. What do you want to do?"

A. Paragon Option: We all do this together.

B. Neutral Option: I know two of you are good.

C. Renegade Option: Only the strong can come with me.

Jackson answers, "We will work this out together. Covina and Groxis will come with me. Laura, you hold the defense and search for survivors. Chris, you will scout the area for anything useful and take down any kett. My team will do both."

After hearing his orders, everyone goes to work and preps for the teams of people they find. Chris proudly takes three groups out with him to search the area. Laura has medic and support staff ready to receive any parts or victims. Jackson, Groxis, and Covina head out into the surrounding area. Planet VOX-21 is mostly made of metal and sand. A few patches of trees and grass grow on the planet; however, they discover more is always underneath the surface. The first stop is at a small research facility; they find a few humans hiding inside one of the tech labs.

A man says, "Please, don't shoot us. We're unarmed."

Covina aims her gun away, "What can you tell us about the attack? How many kett are there? What did they do?"

Groxis answers, "Not the time, Covina. I'll show you how we get answers. You! Tell me how many bad guys there are, or else I'll make sure you won't have knee caps."

A. Paragon Interrutpt: Stop it, now!

B. Neutral Interrupt: Enough!

C. Renegade Interrupt: Give me an answers or die!

Jackson says, "Both of you need to relax! I'll ask them what's going on."

The man says, "My name is Gary. I don't know how much I can tell you, but all we know is the kett are back. They've taken some supplies, killed our friends, and have been moving around since. We have been locked here for quite for time. We just want to know if it is safe."

Jackson asks, "What can you tell us about this planet?"

Gary answers, "VOX-21 is a planet mostly made of metal and sand. We used this planet to break down any tech we find and see if we can repurpose it for something else. We've had some very promising projects, but we ran into a problem. Ever since the kett came back and attacked us, we lost more materials to make anything. Our Nexus allies have been less willing to help us every time something goes wrong."

A salarian comes from behind them and says, "You will have to forgive my foolish coworker. He truly believes that the Syndicate tech teams had everything they need until we show up. And as for us being your Nexus allies, you should be thankful that we brought the proper equipment to help you guys break down the remnant technology. I'm Talos, by the way."

Gary turns to Talos, "Ah, so nice of you to join us. Where did you hide this time? Was it the closet, or maybe it was the kitchen, right?"

Talos replies, "No, it was in fact your mom's house if you prefer."

Groxis laughs loudly and adds, "Now this salarina has quads bigger than you. Ha ha ha!"

Covina sighs and says, "If you are all done arguing, then report back to the Hammer of Fate. We are trying to gather anyone who is left alive or needs medicial."

Gary says, "Before we go, you may want to check out these destinations for any signs of kett activity."

Talos becomes excited, "Oh, and do check out these coordinates for anything valuable equipment. We need it back asap."

Jackson acknowledges their words. With the ship informed incoming tech experts, they hurry back to safety. Groxis, Jackson and Covina push on through the territory. It didn't take them long before they encounter kett squads. They take cover behind a set of rocks; they look over the top and see a few of the kett grunts. They look different than the others Jackson seen before on TOS-51. The kett squads have an appearance unlike anything they have records of. A few kett have a turian structure and the larger ones look heavier than a krogan. They all carry new and improved modified weapons with additional parts; the standard rifle has an extra barrel. As they walk around and go through the boxes, the team preps for an attack.

Jackson orders Covina to move further back to provide long, distance cover. Groxis laughs and charges at the kett. He fires at the group with an explosive shot; Jackson joins him and open fires at the enemy. After a few moments of fighting, the team gathers together and looks over the bodies. They could hardly believe what they see. There are scales on the body; Covina does a quick scan of the body and saves it for their record. It is hard to read, but the evidence is clear. This is a kett that has been altered. Groxis kicks the body only to see it decay faster than ever. They look around to see all the kett bodies decay away until there is nothing else.

Covina says, "What the hell happen? The just rot away that fast now?"

Groxis scoffs, "Well, at least this makes it easy to clean up the area. No kett left means no problems."

A. Paragon Option: We need a fresh body.

B. Neutral Option: This is unusual.

C. Renegade Option: This is bullshit.

Jackson says, "We may have stopped them, but we need to find out why the decay away so fast."

Groxis shrugs his shoulders, "What does it matter? They are dead and gone."

Covina steps to him, "It matters to us. We can't prove this was done by the kett if they don't leave anything behind."

Jackson steps in between and orders them to move out. With nothing else to find in the area. They move up to the next area. Before they can get far, Chris and Laura radio Jackson with news on what they found.

Laura reports: "So far, our salvage teams have found plenty to take with us. No sign of kett attacking the base, but we are receiving more distress beacons in the other parts of the planet. You may need to return back to the ship and use the Nomad to get to them."

Chris calls in: "Yeah, we are doing just find. No kett activity here and we managed to save more lives than expected. There is more trouble down the way from where we are, but you will need the Nomad to get out there. I'll see you back at base."

Jackson, Covina, and Groxis agree to return back to the Hammer of Fate. Upon arriving, they see plenty of wounded and salvaged parts ready to be taken. Once there, they all compare notes on what they know about the kett. The news is shocking to Chris and Laura about how fast the kett bodies decay. Instead of waiting, Jackson steps up his assignment to find the distress beacon in the distance land. Instead of taking Groxis this time, he takes Laura and Covina out to the source. With Groxis agreeing to be civil for now, the team comes to the new Nomad. It has a cannon attached to the rear. Jackson steps near it and invites his team aboard. They load up and drive out the the distress beacon. The journey takes them some time, but they ready their weapons for anything coming at them.

Jackson asks Laura, "I'm glad you kept the base in shape. I just hope the kett don't attack it before we are done here."

Laura replies, "I hope you know what you are doing. Groxis and Chris are quite a issue since they both are left in charge of the base. I rather one of us stay back than leave."

Covina agrees, "I hate to say it, but those two should be here with you. How do we know they won't use the ship to go on a raid?"

A. Paragon Option: I trust them.

B. Neutral Option: They are helping us.

C. Renegade Option: I'll kill them if they screw up.

Jackson answers, "They know what is at stake here. They won't turn against us knowing we have kett to deal with. For now, they will keep the base safe."

After driving for about a few minutes, a sudden thud strikes the side of the Nomad. It is the kett attacking them again. Jackson stps the Nomad and they pile out. They take cover and Jackson activates the defenses on the vehcile. They look ahead to see more kett machinery firing at them. The Nomad fires the cannon at the weapon tower of the kett. After four shots, it is destroyed, but they have more kett to deal with. Laura and Jackson go in for close combat; Covina stays back and fires from the safety of the rocks. They take them down only to see the bodies of the kett rot away within minutes. As they advance slowly, they look around at the area and find more kett equipment being used. They didn't understand what the want with VOX-21, but there must have been something serious.

They come to an old mining machine used by the kett. They see that the enemy was using it to gather resources. A small light is blinking on it. Laura urges Path Enforcer Jackson and Covina to setup an ambush in case the kett return. Jackson agrees to do so. Covina adds some explosives on the mining machine. The team returns back to the Nomad just in time as their omni-tool alerts them of more incoming kett. With a stroke of luck, a kett dropship comes by the area. They drop from the ship and look around to find the area has been attacked. Covina sets off the bomb to blow up the mining machine. Laura and Jackson move in for the kill and drop the kett. Like before, the bodies decay away after some time. They each don't understand how is it possible for them to do this.

Covina says, "Well, this is a waste of time. We won't be able to collect anything from them at this rate."

Laura adds, "This does explain why the kett were not found on the last few planets we came from. I just hope the Syndicate and Nexus will believe us when we tell them."

A. Paragon Option: We won't give up.

B. Neutral Option: This seems pointless.

C. Renegade Option: They better believe our findings.

Jackson says, "They will trust us. I'm surte of it. And, we will get a sample of the kett."

As they climb back in the Nomad, they journey to the beacon some more. Once they arrive at the source, they can't believe what they find. They find more survivors waiting inside the entrance of a small building. They didn't expect the beacon to surprise them with this. They park the Nomad to the side and step from it. A nervours turian and woman come forward with guns out. The turian is with the Syndicate and the woman is of the Nexus.

The woman says, "Stop! Don't come any closer."

Before they can fire, Laura says, "You can all calm yourself. We are here to help. We came from the Hammer of Fate to provide assistance."

The turian sighs and relaxes his nerves, "Thank the spirits you are here. We didn't know how much longer we can last. We just want to get off the planet and go home."

Jackson asks, "Is this all your people?"

The woman answers, "Yes, we have been keeping the beacon going and hope someone would picked it up. I'm happy to see you here."

The woman adds, "There may be more people over there holding out against the kett in the main building. I just hope you find them and kill those kett bastards."

With nothing else to gain from them, the team preps for the next task. Before they can leave, a woman approaches them with an interesting opportunity.

The woman, named Jill, asks them to obtain some blue prints of their work. Path Enforcer Jackson keeps it in mind, but Covina detests the idea of picking up pointless stuff when the mission come first. After they leave, the take the nomad closer to the next building. All around them is ruins. The landscape is a mess and buildings are falling over; the devastation is massive. Jackson, Covina, and Laura make sure their weapons are loaded. The nomad stops in front of a building labed "Co-Rex Technology".

They exit the nomad and slowly advance. They look around to see a few dead people, burned to a crisp. Everything looks more than just dead to Jackson. He sees the same pattern that happened at TOS-51. Many kett fire arms are scattered about the ground, but there are no kett visible. Every step they take is showing them something new.

Laura says, "The kett didn't do any of this on the last planet they attacked. It seems everyone here is shot with a bullet, but the damage done to them is more."

Covina questions the burnt bodies, "I've seen what kett weapons do, but this is something else. When could their weapons burn holes into anyone and leave no bullets behind?"

A. Paragon Option: We need to take any kind of sample.

B. Neutral Option: Something has to be taken back.

C. Renegade Option: We just need to know they can die.

Jackson says, "If there is anything the kett left behind, we need for further study. They are doing things completely different based on everything we know of them and what we read about them. I wonder if the Ryder family had to deal with this too."

It hides in the shadow. The kett is mixed with turian and krogan DNA; now the creature steps forward with a low growl. Laura, Jackson, and Covina look to the right. They quickly back up in fear of what they see. The kett-turian-krogan is massive in size and muscle; the monster grips some stone from the wall. It throws the boulder at them. Despite the fact it misses them, the impact to the wall is devastating. They all work together and keep their distance from the beast. After some time, the kett monster falls over.

Before the decaying happens, Laura quickly moves to the beast and starts cutting away at the flesh. In seconds, the body starts to decay. Jackson and Covina join her and tear at the body too. They manage to take three chunks of it away; they watch the body decay down to the bone. The discovery of the kett body infused with rem-tect is astounding. With one final act, the technology folds in on itself and disappears. They are left with pieces of kett flesh in their hands; however, it is enough. Jackson looks at the piece, bleeding from his hand.

A. Paragon Option: We got what we need.

B. Neutral Option: This will do.

C. Renegade Option: Nasty kett scum.

Jackson says, "At least we know a little more on how the kett are changed. This tiny piece of flesh will help us understand them a little more."

Laura agrres, "And after seeing them now like this, we will find better way to eliminate them. I hope what we recovered is going to be enough."

Covina confusingly asks, "Despite the dead kett monster, why did we all agree to just take a piece of dead kett from creature?"

Laura turns to her, "We now have a way to find out what the kett are made of. If we can find a weakness, then this will be it. I got some onmi containment kits for this. We need to seal them up and bring them back to the ship."
Having finished her sentence, Laura pulls out three kits from her back pocket. They slap them on the kett DNA samples. In seconds, they seal up the flesh in a small omni bag. They continue their search through the building and manage to find more survivors that hid in various locations. A few more kett are around for them to kill, but they manage to secure the people; in fact, they recover the blue prints left behind. It is time to get back to the others. They exit the building only to realize the nomad isn't made for the extra people they have. Covina contacts the last checkpoint for them to know they have more survivors. Laura and Jackson radio back to the ship and let them know about the additional people found alive.

Back at the Hammer of Fate, they take cover as best as they can. Groxis and Chris do what they can to hold back the kett surprise. It is a lot, but they manage to hold back the enemy. Groxis keeps pulling a few wounded back and providing cover; Chris picks up the radio chatter from the others.

He says, "Path Enforcer, this is Chris. The kett are hitting us hard. We need you back here asap."

A. Paragon Option: We need everyone off the planet. (Save everyone)

B. Neutral Option: We will do what we can. (Save some of them)

C. Renegade Option: Everyone for themselves. (Nearly all suvivors die)

Jackson replies, "Dali Hari, I want you to make sure all of the ship's defenses are online. We are looking for additional transports to bring everyone to the ship. Chris, I need you to hold the team together until we get back. Groxis, keep those kett back as much as you can and make sure none get to the ship. I need everyone to pull it to gether. We can do this!"

Chris and Groxis fight hard to keep the kett off the ship. Dali activates the weapons on the Hammer of Fate. Through determination and strength, they hold the area with no sign of retreat. At the building, Laura and Covina search around to find a working transportation truck or shuttle. They manage to find two over-size vehicles used for hauling supplies; the vehicles are banged up, but they both work. Jackson, Laura, and Covina jump inside the nomad, keeping the path clear for the civilians to follow. They swing by the last building and gather up the people there. It was time for them to hurry back to the Hammer of Fate.

High up in space, a kett ship arrives. It has been upgraded beyond the normal kett flag ships they use. Its cannons are massive with more than enough fire power. At the bottom of the ship is an even larger cannon. As the medium size kett ships pull away, the leader looks on to see what is happening with the surface deployment. The new kett leader has the face of a krogan with small features of a turian. The hand goes over the console and presses a button. A small kett device shows images of the progess going on. The kett leader sees Groxis, Chris, Covina, Laura, and Jackson hold back the enemy.

The kett leader says, "This will not do. Prepare to bombard the planet. We will send a message to the enemy."

The kett assistants press a few buttons here and there. The ship movies into position and gets ready to fire at the planet. On the surface, every wounded person is hauled to the ship. The nomad is aboard as Jackson, Laura and Covina join their allies outside to help drive back the enemy. In a sudden surprise, the kett start dying off. Each one decays faster than ever.

Chris says, "They just died. Why did they just die off?"

A loud noise is heard in the distance land. They witness the landscape being devastated by a blast. Jackson orders everyone back aboard the ship. Once everyone is on the ship, Dali turns on the thrusters to get the ship in the sky. The Hammer of Fate breaks through the sky and passes by the orbit. As Hali makes the ship dodge the shots from the kett ships, Jackson reports to the front and asks her for a situation update.

Dali says, "Well, the kett ships got off the planet because of that. The ship is firing on the planet with more than just shots."

The monitor comes up to reveal a massive kett ship. As everyone holds on, Dali is faced with a problem. Two to five kett ships are closing in on them. Rather than sit and wait for destruction, she uses a dangerous move to pass by the kett ships. In quick reaction, she turns on the ship's cloaking device and disappears. The damage done to the ship is minor, but they see a horrible feature of the kett ship. It charges up the cannon under the ship. The cannon generates a large amount of power before it unleashes the blast onto the planet. In a matter of minutes, sections of the VOX-21 are set on fire. The ship fires more blasts at the surface and turn the planet into a place of hellfire. No one didn't think it is possible to see a planet burn so quickly, but then again, no one has never seen the kett capable of this kind of destruction. Jackson, Chris, Laura, Covina, Groxis, and even Zor from engineering are completely at a loss for words.

Dali turns the ship away from the planet and jumps to a new sector of the galaxy. They still find themselves unable to shake off the image of a planet burning. Jackson goes to the communcations channel and contacts both parties. He didn't know how they will accep the news of what they saw, but they had to know. Both the Syndicate and Nexus leaders must know that the kett are not messing around with any plans they have in mind. As always, the Nexus leadership has Bynisa, Datri, and Mayon waiting patiently. The Synidicate is well representated by Tradox, Angrus, and Jacob.

Angrus says, "I take it your mission on VOX-21 has been a success? We don't need to be wasting time hearing any worthless reports."

A. Paragon Option: The kett are dangerous than ever.

B. Neutral Option: We need more help.

C. Renegade Option: If you shut up, you'll learn.

Jackson answers, "The situation is more than just a simple search and destroy if this was the case. The kett have wiped out VOX-21 and made sure nothing can live on the surface. The land is on fire."

Tradox nearly laughs and says, "That's impossible. No way the kett has that kind of firepower to destroy a planet."

Mayon disagrees and replies, "It would not be a surprise if the planet was destroyed by the Syndicate to cover their own tracks. Why don't you tell us what really happen on VOX-21, Path Enforcer?"

Jacob silences the words only for Bynisa to say, "Regardless of what we think, believe, or say, this information you sent us may have been a lie made by raiders to throw us off. The kett technology has not all been accounted for that we know of."

A. Paragon Option: This is the kett.

B. Neutral Option: Who else could use kett technology?

C. Renegade Option: (Cut the com channel)

Jackson says, "There is no one else in the Andromeda galaxy capable of using kett technology. This is the kett using something dangerous on us."

Jacob interrupts, "In case you didn't notice or catch on, we sent our own teams to check out various parts of the galaxy. There have been no signs of kett activity and your team seems to be the only ones encountering them. I want to trust you, Jackson; however, if this is anything less than the raids being done by outlaws or criminals, then we will act accordingly."

Datri agrees, "As we all will too. For now, you are to continue with your investtigation and find more evidence. Anything else you do, we will leave in your hands. That is all."

The holo commiuncation ends and Jackson is left thinking of what comes next. Dali radios him about a problem in the mess hall. Jackson acknowledges her words and makes hsi way to it. He comes to the mess hall and finds a problem. On one side, Chris and Groxis stand with fire in their eyes. On the other side, Laura and Covina are anxious to settle the problem with guns. Jackson steps between the groups and orders everyone to stand down.

Covina says, "We should have never brought you on board the ship, Groxis. You spent more time trying to find something to kill than save lives."

Groxis leans back against a wall, "Ha, and you were kicked out of the APEX membership. Since then, you had nothing but your stick doing the work than the gun. What's your point?"

Chris turns to Jackson and replies, "The krogan is simply saying that we have seen nothing but trouble each time we ecountered the kett. Now, this ship has too many people on here. So, we need to do something about our extra mouths."

Laura sighs at how Chris makes her fustrated. She looks to Jackson, "The problem here is not the extra people. It falls back on the Syndicate followers wantng any Nexus personal off the ship. I tried to keep the situation calm, but it is hard to do that with ignorance covering the floor."

Covina advices, "I suggest we just dump them on a nearby planet and let them defend their own people. We can continue this mission without any more trouble from Groxis and the Syndicate dogs. APEX will back us up if we need it."

Groxis gently rests his hand on his weapon and asks, "Well, since the turian is asking for favors, I got one myself. Let's just send her ass packing back to the Nexus and let the science team stay aboard. They seem to know more than the Syndicate tech squads do."

Chris scoffs at the notion, "I don't think so, you over-size tank. I rather see all the Nexus puppets kicked off the ship and sent to one of their home worlds. We can do this without them and certainly without your kind on here."

Laura interrupts, "The Nexus needs to stay on this ship and so does the Syndicate. I am more than willing to agree that anyone needs to go. So, why don't we get rid of the ones who are a problem."

A. Paragon Option: We find a new way.

B. Neutral Option: This debate won't help.

C. Renegade Option: I run this operation.

Jackson decides to use his wit and says, "No one is getting kicked off the Hammer of Fate. We will just have to find a way for all of us to work together. The leaders of both sides gave me the authority to find us a planet and call it our base. So, we will find a new planet for the people of VOX-21 to settle on. From there, we will conduct our investigation of the kett and report anything to the Syndicate and Nexus. Now, if there are no more problems, let's search for a world to land on."

Laura, Groxis, Covina, and Chris find the advice useful and promising. Path Enforcer Jackson has given everyone a reason to endure the time together a little longer. They search the stars to find any planet that has more than enough room for them to live on. The kett are moving through the Heleus Cluster and showing no signs of pause.