Disclaimer: I do not own Mass Effect, The Electric Company, or Nissan.
A/N: I'm back, Hopefully. Kind of. Ish. :s I'm hating life right now.
Normandy SR-1, orbiting Feros, Theseus System, Attican Beta Cluster
February 18th, 2183. 10 P.M., Zhu's Hope Time.
(Liara)
The Geth don't nap, I guess. We're gearing up to head into the colony tonight, rather than waiting.
"Alright, we'll be planetside in a few minutes. Wrex, Kaiden, I want you two to stay here as backup, in case anything goes sideways." Shepard orders, with little argument from them. "The rest of you are with me. Let's do it."
We move out of the airlock, weapons raised, only to find a colonist. As Shepard moves to talk to him, I look at everyone else. Garrus and Tali are focused on the man, But Ashley is watching Cory, as he... Seems to be staring off into nothing. Famous last words, when he dives into the colonist, preventing the man's head from exploding.
"Down!" I'm forced into cover to prevent the same thing by Ashley. Cursing at my lapse in focus, I pull my pistol from my hip, and join the fight.
(Garrus)
The fight is short thanks to our combined arms, and I take a look at Zhu's Hope as we make our way to their leader. There are portable floodlights scattered about as the few people outside try to make repairs to critical utilities.
"They look more like refugees than colonists." Dr. T'soni remarks, and I nod. Their cattle-weary look, and sluggish movements fit with the description.
"These people have been under constant attack." Shepard states. "They're not soldiers, or even militiamen. They've no experience in this kind of thing." Our conversation dies down as we approach the colony leader.
(Ashley)
"Fai Dan?" Shepard asks the two people at the barricade, and the man steps forward.
"That would be me. And you are?" He inquires.
"Commander Shepard, Alliance." Shepard responds.
"Well Commander, thank you for coming. As you can see, we're in a bit of a situation here."
"Where have you been, Commander?" The woman standing next to Fai Dan cuts in. "You're a fair bit late to be helping us. And your group looks a bit strange to be Alliance."
"Arcelia, please." Fai Dan chastises her. "We owe this man." He turns back to Shepard to continue, only to turn back towards the tower. "Oh, no. More are coming!" He shouts to Shepard. "We need to protect the colony!" He declares, swiftly retreating to a safe distance. What an ass. 'Then again, he might have the right idea.' I reflect briefly as the air becomes filled with gunfire.
(Shepard)
Things were going so well, too, until they started dropping on our heads. We had made our way further into the building and just mopped up those damnable recon drones when a dropship settled in above our heads, too quiet for me to notice. We would all be dead if not for Weston giving us a moments warning. As it stood, we were left scattered, out of cover, with the larger, nastier units right in the middle of us.
When the dust cleared, Vakarian was on the ground, Weston right by his side.
"Shotgun blast at close range, barely missed the Femoral," He rattles off as He applies a blue-striped injector to Vakarian's leg. "Or the Turian equivalent." He adds, before shaking his head a bit.
"How are you feeling?" I ask the groaning man.
"Like Wrex tried to eat my leg." He replies. "Is it bad?" He asks the man tending to said leg.
"There's some tissue damage, nothing that the Medi-Gel won't stabilize long enough for Chakwas to put it back together." Weston informs him. "Unfortunately, you're not going to be able to run anywhere on it for a little while."
"Damn, I have to go back to the Normandy, huh?" The injured man asks me.
"It's for the best, Garrus."
"Well, don't expect me to be happy about it. "He grumbles. "Don't have too much fun without me."
"Well," Weston starts, "I'll score some headshots for ya man, don't worry."
"Worry? I'm just worried the big bad robots will dominate you all without me there."
"You handled that pretty well." I comment as we come back from dropping Vakarian off, back-up in tow.
"What'cha mean?" He asks, checking over his weapons along the way.
"Well, you got everybody moving when that thing came from out of nowhere, and you stitched Garrus up pretty well for a field job. You even had Dextro Medi-Gel on hand."
"I usually come prepared, Shepard." He replies, holstering his shotgun, and I take a look at his gear.
"To tell you the truth, I'm surprised you don't have a massive rifle strapped to your back." I say,
"Can't take it everywhere." He shrugs. "It starts to lose effectiveness at closer range, mostly because of it's size and weight." He draws his P90. "This one, meanwhile, won't leave my hands until my last breath does too."
"Seems small, compared to your armor."
"It packs enough punch to make up for the loss of intimidation." He says with a smirk. When we get back to the team, I start to explain the plan.
"Okay, The Geth seem to be focused around ExoGeni HQ, across the skyway." I say as my Omni-Tool projected map flickers. "An issue with this is that there are still Geth in the Tunnels under Zhu's Hope. There are also issues with water, power, and food here that can be solved down there as well."
"Kaiden, Echo, Wrex," I point to them. "You three are going down there and getting this done. Tali, Liara, and Ashley are coming with me to the HQ. Any questions?" I ask, wrapping up.
"Yes," Wrex starts. "Why are we getting the punk duty?" I chuckle a bit at this.
"Don't worry, there'll be plenty down there for you to do, a fair bit of it exciting." I add with a smirk at Wrex's eyeroll. "If that's all, then lets get moving."
(Tali)
"Hold up." I look behind us to the green/gray-armored man wielding a shotgun. The armor is silver where various rounds hit, creating an almost artistic-looking array of pockmarks and lines where it saved his life. "You should take this." He says, flipping the weapon and offering it to me.
"Thanks, but why?" I ask quizzically.
"I have four weapons, you have one." He explains. "You can put it to better use anyways."
"Well, thank you then. I'll treat it well." I assure him.
"I would hope so," He chuckles. "It cost a fair bit to make."
(Ashley)
"Commander! I can't aim this damn thing when you're swerving all over the place."
"Tell that to the Geth." He mutters. "Hang on!" Is all the warning we get as he hits the thrusters again, dodging the pulse shot and nearly sending us off the skyway. My stomach lurches as we land on Geth, judging from the sound.
"Urghhh.." I look down to find our biotic talent looking as though she wants to puke all over me, along with the rest of interior.
"Easy girl," I chide her gently. "Just breathe, and try to relax."
"Eyes up, Chief." And as easy as that, I'm back to the turret.
"This place is a mess." The interior of the tower shows it's age, with piles of debris sitting around for far longer than the now-destroyed Geth. "You sure did a number on these things, Tali." I comment, kicking one of them as she looks over the weapon in her hands.
"It was more the shotgun," She says, distracted. "Could you tell me what this is?" She asks, showing me an inscription along the side.
"Hmm, it's in Arabic," I mention, pulling up my Omni-Tool. "Let me find the translation." The scan I run brings it up quickly. "Well, doesn't somebody have a sense of humor." Tali looks at me with confusion, and I elaborate. "It's the first line of Psalm 144. It translates to: Praise be to the Lord my Rock,who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle."
"And the amusing part?" Tali asks.
"It's inscribed in Arabic. The people who created and speak in this language practiced a religion that was very unfriendly to the religion this text is from."
"Rather ironic, then." Tali says.
"Yeah, didn't know Epsilon had a sense of humor."
"While that's all well and good, Chief, can we get moving?" Shepard chuckles from the path deeper into the tower, and I blush.
"Yes, Commander." I reply quickly, hustling to catch up to him.
(Cory)
"Why did we get the shit job?" Kaiden mutters as we descend Into the tunnels under Zhu's hope.
"I figure Shepard just wanted to take the ladies with him." I reply sarcastically, eying the tunnels with apprehension. Kaiden slows a bit at this statement.
"You think so?" He asks, and I consider it, chuckling.
"Could be they're there for there talents," I start. "Or, it could be for their assets." I finish with a smirk.
"I'm sure." He laughs off.
"No, seriously," I say, putting a serious expression on. "Those are some very attractive girls."
"Well, yeah," Kaiden admits. "But Tali? I mean, I've never seen an unmasked Quarian. They could look like Krogan for all you know."
"I would know, actually." I say, and he looks surprised. "You'd be amazed at what I've seen, Herr Alenko."
"I should've figured you for the type." He mutters.
"Actually, it wasn't a romantic situation, or a female for that matter."
"And here I thought you were some kind of deviant." He drawls. "So you're basing it off of one person, for an entire race? How rude of you." His demeanor is joking.
"I have high hopes from the encounter. It was one sexy dude." I say, and Kaiden snorts.
"Right. Well, back to the actual subject."
"Whether or not Shepard is a player?"
"Yep. Now that you said it, I think the matter will have to investigated. After all, We might have to guard those girls from a predator such as the Commander." As he says this, I smille grows on my face to match his.
"Kaiden, I think you and I will become fast friends."
(Ashley)
"Arggh, stupid machine!" The Krogan growls as we start to creep up on him. "Tell me what I want to know!"
"I'm sorry," The V.I. rambles off again. "But you do not have authorization to see that information. Now will you please return to your day? You have a line forming up behind you." Oh, shit. As he starts to turn, we open up with our respective assault rifles, the sheer fire making him stumble mid-charge and finally fall dead, a few short feet in front of us.
"Krogan do not want to go down," Shepard remarks as we walk past.
"Too bad they don't have a sense of self-preservation." Liara replies.
"It's good for us, Doc. Let's see what he was trying to figure out."
(Cory)
"Ah, fuck." I sit glaring at the busted third water readout. We decided to split up, each of us taking a different direction to save time. Now I was looking at a panel that wouldn't work, owed to the rounds that grazed it. In a fit of frustration, I kick the pipe, and again. And again. I only stop when said pipe starts making hissing noises at me. "Oh, shut up." It doesn't of course, but starts making another noise: rushing water. The pipe's a fair bit dented and leaking from where my boot made contact, but it's working again. "Must've kicked something into place," I mutter.
"Echo! Wrex! Anybody!" comes over the radio, amidst the sounds of growling.
"Kaiden?" I ask, making my way towards the center of the tunnels. "What's up?"
"Big, nasty Varren trying to make me a meal!" I don't ask anything else, heading toward his position. I get there in time to see blood dripping from the beasts' claws, it trying to tear Kaiden open. I don't hesitate, running full force into the beast and bringing it off of him.
This raised two important factors: It was no longer on Kaiden, and it was now angry at me. It demonstrated this by charging me into the defunct Grizzly, now intent on ripping me apart. I keep forcing it's claws away, one catching my helmet as I jam my legs under it, pushing off and sending it away from me. I'm scrambling for my pistol when the report of a shotgun goes off, stunning the beast. I look to the source, seeing a blood-stained Wrex grinning ferally at the beast. The alpha looks scared now at the odds, and tries to run for it, only to fall dead as our firepower brings it stumbling down. I lean back onto the Grizzly, closing my eyes.
"Echo, you good?" Wrex calls.
"Yeah," I reply, Not opening my eyes." Thanks man. Kaiden, you good?"
"I'm good." He confirms. "I thought I got them all, And I was yanking the power cells out of that Grizzly when that asshole came out of nowhere. Splitting up wasn't the best of ideas." Kaiden points out.
"I got my job done," Wrex grunts. "You two were the ones who should've stayed together. I just came in to save your asses."
"My hero," I groan, finally getting up. "Kaiden, if you're alright, rip those power cells and lets get the hell out of here." He nods, and I'm about to continue when we hear... Screeching. The sounds of claws on stone.
"Uh, what is that?" Kaiden asks.
"Knowing my luck? A zombie horde." I mutter, drawing my P90.
"Hope you're wrong." Wrex says, and he actually looks shaken. As the first Thorian creeper comes into the Varren nest, I reply.
"I wish I was."
I wish that this was worth the wait. I... I'm doing what I can, when I can. The story isn't coming along the way I planned it to. All I can say is thanks for sticking with it for this long. It's not done by any means, but I'm not sure when the next chapter will come, considering the last couple. It will come, at least. I apologize for the wait. Hopefully, the next chapter will be written soon.