Recap: "D-D-D-Do it. OHH Dear God! DO IT! I CAN'T TAKE IT!" Was all he could say until he started screaming again. Wrex quickly moved up and knocked him out with a headbutt. Everyone was now worried as they watched Shepard still have a look of pure agony on his unconscious face.
Now
Agony. Agony was the only word he could use and yet it still didn't fully describe it. Only point in the right direction of the feeling. Shepard knew he wasn't conscious. Not after the hit Wrex gave him. Even unconscious, the pain didn't stop, only eased up a little. Shepard then found himself back in his inner world, the forest on his back. He looked around and noticed something was different. Before when he was here last time, the night sky was just full of stars. Now though it had a blue crescent moon. He then noticed the difference here and home was that on Mindoir, they had 3 moons. Then he heard footsteps behind him. He quickly turned around to his mother once again.
"Mom? What the hell happened?" John asked as he got up. Hannah stared at him for moment before she answered.
"You and your friends faced a thresher maw and the 2 women, the human and asari, were almost killed. In response to your desperation to save them, your true power awoke for a brief moment." Hannah told. John looked at her strangely.
"My true power?" John asked. Hannah nodded very seriously.
"Yes. That structure that surrounds your DNA is the cause of it. Did you ever wonder the cause of it? All that power?" Hannah asked. John knew he didn't have to answer.
"All those times. Akuze, Torfan, the spar with your krogan friend. Each of those times you were under great emotional distress. This time however, was different." Hannah continued on.
"What do you mean different. Do you mean the power output?" John asked. Hannah looked as if she was considering her answer before speaking.
"Partially, but the main reason of why it's different is why it happened." Hannah explained. John raised an eyebrow at her answer. Hannah decided to elaborate seeing his questioning look.
"All the other times before this one was about you more or less. Whether it was your life, your goals, or your pride; it was about you personally. This time however, people you genuinely cared about were in danger." Hannah said making John start to realize it.
"But why more for others and not myself? You'd think self-preservation would take priority in this case." John said. Hannah looked at him with a stoic expression. From what he remembered of her, that usually meant she was a little disappointed that he didn't see something. Before he could say anything else he saw her smile a little.
"I'm a little surprised that you don't realize it. It is because of your heart, my son. The one thing I couldn't change, even if I wanted to. Your heart was always compassionate and good. Even as a baby you you always had kindness in your eyes. Your heart is what allowed you to stay as a person and not a monster who would not let anything get in his way. When it is people you know, you form a bond with them. You come to care about them, and when you see them in danger, you become under even greater emotional stress." Hannah explained smiling at his surprised expression. She was right. When he lost everything on Mindoir, he had a huge loathing for aliens thinking that they were all responsible for what happened to his home. It all changed as he traveled and trained with Zaeed. As the years went by, he visited many worlds with Zaeed to learn what was what. In doing so he learned the history of humanity, krogan, asari, turians, batarians and other species as well as the organizations that came from them. After seeing the various tragedies that all of them shared, he his hatred had lessened. When he found out that other non-human colonies were attacked by slavers, some even coming from the colonies own races, his hatred lessened and focused toward slavers in general.
"What's with the moon? Why is there only one?" John asked. Hannah looked at it for moment before answering.
"The each moon represents your true power. Currently you only managed to tap into a small part of your first level." She said.
"Then, when it becomes full, I will have completely unlocked my first level?" John said trying to figure it. Hannah smirked a little at his question.
"No, when tap into all of it, it will be a waxing gibbous. When you have full control over it, only then will it be a full moon." Hannah explained. John ahhed in understanding. It made sense, a little. Then he thought of something.
"Will I have to train to bring it out? Or will it come out on it's own?" John asked.
"It will only move forward when you tap into more and more when your emotions are pushed to extreme heights." Hannah answered.
"Why did it cause me to be in so much pain?" John asked remembering the agony he felt after killing the thresher maw.
"It is because your body wasn't ready for the strain. You briefly tapped into your first level fully for a few seconds. In that time it caused your arms' biotic nodes to go into a sort of overdrive, bringing out incredible power, but also bringing an incredible strain on your nodes as well as your arm muscles . Luckily with your genetic tailoring I had grafted into you, your body should adapt to the trauma and not be feeling that amount of pain from it anymore." Hannah explained. John was about to ask something else when the world started to fade again once more.
"It would appear that our discussion is over. Goodbye John. Promise me you want put yourself into a stressful situation like that again." Hannah said, causing John to look afraid before nodding his head fast. Hannah smiled at him. It was the last thing he saw before his vision faded to black.
Back on the Normandy, at the same time.
Shepard's squad had turned off the beacon and got him onto the Normandy as fast as they could. Even unconscious, Shepard looked to be in a lot of pain to them. As soon as they had brought him on to the Normandy, they quickly made way to the med bay. When Chakwas saw the state Shepard was in, she immediately told them put Shepard down and then ushered them all out. She then began scanning him to see what was wrong. After starting by examining his lower torso, she moved up until she got to his arms.
'His nodes have changed! There stronger now, at least a little. But they've been strained severely. The strain then caused them to actually pull his arm's muscles closer to them! What could have caused this?' Chakwas thought trying to figure out what happened. She then injected a muscle relaxer and a sedative to calm him down. For the next few minutes she watched as Shepard regained consciousness. He tiredly looked around the room until he saw Chakwas.
"How long have I been out?" He asked, voice very weak.
"An hour at most." Chakwas responded.
"Hmph at least I'm ok." Shepard said.
"How are you feeling?" Chakwas asked.
"Exhausted. A little thirsty. Maybe... high too." Shepard said looking as if he was trying to figure out how the last one happened.
"That last part is the muscle relaxer and sedative I gave you to keep you calm. Medi-gel won't help with something like that. Only time, and your fast healing, will." Chakwas said getting a little worried now. Shepard wasn't making any snide remarks about her or her room. 'It must be more serious than I thought.' She thought.
"You got any water in here?" Shepard asked dryly.
"Sure, here." Chakwas handed Shepard a cup of water from the water dispenser in the med bay.
"Thanks." Shepard greedily downed the cup in loud gulps. After a few more cups Chakwas continued.
"Shepard what caused this to happen?" She asked in a low voice.
"Check my DNA." Shepard stated, sticking his arm out. Chakwas looked at him in shock for a minute before she took a needle and extracted some of his blood. She then looked into the microscope and checked it out. Her eyes widened a little at the site. The visual she was seeing was of Shepard's DNA and the structure that surrounded it was glowing a light blue light. Similar to one biotic nodes in the body when they are active.
"What does it mean?" She asked turning to Shepard.
"I think it means... I'm changing. Or mutating." Shepard said.
"I'm might need to keep you in observation for a few days." Chakwas said thinking that this could hurt Shepard again since it did put him in her med bay. Shepard just shook his head.
"I get the feeling we don't have that kind of time." Shepard said getting up. He noticed his healing had already taken care of most of the damage. Taking the time to check out is body's condition, he noticed that he felt a little stronger and lighter. To himself at least. He then thanked Chakwas and exited the med bay where he met up with his team.
"Shepard are you okay?" Ashley asked noticing him first. Her question caught the attention of the other squad members, making them turn in his direction.
"I'm fine Ash. Just a little exhausted... and hungry to." Shepard said as he kept walking towards the kitchen, hoping to find something to sate his hunger.
"What happened out there Shepard?" Kaidan asked.
"Yes, I've never seen anything like that." Tali added in. Shepard continued to search for something until he found a banana, some peanut butter, and a loaf of bread.
"My full power surfaced for a minute." Shepard responded as he walked over to the table and began making a peanut butter and banana sandwich.
"How? I've only seen asari matriarchs move as fast. Even then there are only a few who did it and it took them years to do so. Afterwards, they were completely exhausted after one flash. You on the other hand had a lot more power." Liara said wanting to know how Shepard was able to do that stuff.
"Hmph. I haven't seen anything like it until now. That form you took was something I had only seen asari go into during meditation, but their powers didn't skyrocket like your's did nor was their biotic aura so intense. What makes you so special?" Wrex followed up. Shepard took a bite out of his sandwich and looked at Wrex confused as he chewed his food. He took on a form? Granted his vision became engulfed in biotic energy and he felt incredibly stronger, but that was all he noticed. He then swallowed as he spoke.
"Form?" Shepard asked. Wrex nodded.
"Yea. You were covered in an intense biotic aura and your eyes were glowing with a bright light. Couldn't even see your pupils." He explained. Shepard was shocked at that. He started thinking it over when he heard Garrus speak.
"What I want to know is how you did it and how did it increase your biotics to such an incredible level." Garrus said.
"Liara, are you sure there aren't any matriarchs who could do what I did?" Shepard asked, looking at her.
Liara spoke while shaking her head, "No, we didn't think of that power strike of yours. We never mentioned anything like a full biotic overdrive." Then Tali spoke up.
"Maybe humans have hidden biotic potential?" She offered up. Kaidan shook his head.
"No, if there were there would be at least one more biotic who could do what he does." Kaidan said. Shepard then spoke up.
"It's because of my DNA." Shepard said gaining their attention once more.
"Your DNA?" Garrus asked with a brow raised. Shepard looked down.
"I'm not what you would call a natural human." He said puzzling all of them. He looked up, seeing their confused faces. He elaborated.
"I'm a test tube baby. A genetically modified test tube baby. My mother created me using science and a lab." Shepard said. His explanation caused all of them to go into shock. He was genetically modified?
"That explains a lot, now that you mention it." Kaidan said after a minute. Everyone looked at Kaidan, wondering what he meant.
"What are you talking about Alenko?" Garrus asked.
"What I mean is that Shepard has always recovered from some serious injuries. I remember when I saw Shepard on Torfan. After fighting with that justicar, he looked like he was about to pass out." Kaidan said.
"Was not." Shepard said biting into his sandwich again.
"You didn't see yourself." Kaidan retorted.
"I wasn't that bad." Shepard said.
"Really? It looked like you took an epic beating." Kaidan said smirking. Shepard just shook his head no as he continued to eat.
"You were limping to your ship at the end of it." Kaidan said chuckling with Shepard.
"Yea, that was a pretty tough fight." Shepard said as he continued eating. He finally finished his sandwich as he turned to everyone.
"So your genetically modified?" Tali asked.
"Yep. To be more smarter than a salarian, have more biotic power than a asari matriarch and heal on par as well as outfight a krogan." Shepard said.
"I can attest to those last 2." Wrex said.
"What I'm not smart enough?" Shepard asked smirking.
"I haven't seen you do anything to merit it." Wrex responded jokingly.
"Look at that cryotube down below and you try to figure it out then." Shepard challenged. Wrex put his hands up.
"That is one challenge I won't do." Wrex said making everyone chuckle. That was when Joker called up.
"Hey is Shepard up yet?" Joker asked over the intercom.
"I'm right here Joker, what's up?" Shepard asked.
"Good to know your awake. I've got Captain Anderson and Ambassador Udina on the comm. They say it's about your next assignment." Joker said. Shepard raised an eyebrow.
"Do they know what happened?" Shepard asked.
"Uh they know you were unconscious but other than that, no. Why? Did you want me to tell them?" Joker offered.
"No, in fact I'd rather no one else know." Shepard said as he got up. He then spoke, "Tell them I'll be on in a minute."
"Right." Joker said as Shepard made his way to the comm room. When he finally entered, he turned the comm on and both Anderson and Udina's holograms appeared.
"Shepard, we heard that you might have been unconscious. What happened?" Anderson asked.
"Just an overuse of my biotics." Shepard replied smoothly. No sense in lying or telling the whole truth.
"Well in that case then, let's get to business." Udina said.
"Yes. Joker mentioned that you have my next mission?" Shepard asked expectantly. Anderson nodded.
"Yes. We've received reports of geth sightings near one of our colonies, Feros. We have not been able to contact the colony for some time now." Anderson said.
"The colony has been out of contact for around 2 days now. This could another clue to find Saren, Shepard." Udina said.
"Yea, okay. We'll head there immediately." Shepard said. Udina quickly logged off. Anderson nodded goodbye as he logged off.
"You want us to set off for Feros immediately Shepard?" Joker asked, having heard listened in on the conversation.
"No, are we still connected to the comm buoy?" Shepard asked Joker.
"Umm yes we are." Joker responded taking a look at the status.
"Can you please connect me to Admiral Kahoku, Joker?" Shepard asked.
"Sure." Joker said already knowing what Shepard was up to. A few minutes later and Kahoku's hologram came up.
"Shepard! Any news on my team?" Kahoku asked. Shepard looked down for a second before answering.
"Admiral, I'm sorry to say this but your team is dead. They ran into a thresher maw." Shepard said. Kahoku looked stunned for a minute before he spoke again.
"A thresher maw? That's not.. My men wouldn't just stumble into a thresher nest. Not the whole unit!" Kahoku said with obvious rage. Shepard could understand the admiral's feelings on this so he decided to be patient and calm with the man.
"Someone lured them there with an Alliance distress beacon. It was set perfectly right beside the the nest." Shepard said. Kahoku looked like he was now trying to compose himself. He slammed his fist into his hand as he spoke.
"Dammit. I had a bad feeling ever since my team disappeared. An Alliance beacon used as bait. My unit wiped out. But nobody seems to know anything about it." Kahoku said before sighing. He then continued, "Ghost I appreciate what you did. Now I need to do my part, the families of those marines deserve to know why they died."
"Of course I understand. If you need my help again, just call." Shepard said as he nodded to Kahoku. The line cut off shortly after that.
"Joker, get us to Feros. We need to get there fast." Shepard ordered as he walked out towards his room.
"Roger that Shepard." Joker responded as he started punching in the coordinates. Shepard decided to change his course and instead went to the cargo bay to continue his construction of the cryotube. He worked on it for a while until Tali came to help. With her help he had finally completed the cryotube. Shepard then looked over the design and made sure it was functioning right. (If you want to know what it looks like, just look up the cryotube they had in star trek: into darkness)
"Shepard how exactly do you know it's functioning?" Tali asked as he scanned over ever inch of it. Shepard had his omni-tool over it performing all types of different scans before answering.
"Well Tali that's what I'm going to check out right now. Currently I'm scanning for any coolant leaks, loose wires, out off place components, anything that should not be where it is." Shepard said as put his omni-tool away. He then began typing on the tube's interface and activated it, opening the the tube.
"Wait Shepard, you don't mean..." Tali said before Shepard nodded his head.
"Yep. I'm going to test it out. Putting it up for ten minutes." Shepard said as a timer popped up. He then turned to Tali.
"Okay if the 10 minutes go off and it doesn't open immediately hit the emergency switch right on the interface. It's the red button. If that doesn't work, break the glass." Shepard said just before he got in. The tube having built in motion and heat sensors, closed upon sensing someone entering. Everyone was now watching. Liara and Kaidan had come just in time only to see Shepard get in. Ashley, Wrex and Garrus had been watching the whole time silently. Everyone was about to say something when the tube closed on Shepard and they saw the inside freeze, frost immediately covering the glass. Everyone waited with bated breathe as the minutes rolled by. Eventually the time ran out and they waited for a few seconds.
"Is it going to open?" Ashley asked getting worried.
"I don't know." Garrus said. Tali looked like she was going to sprint towards the cryotube until everyone heard a loud click. The tube opened up and a second later Shepard flew out.
"Ahhhh, ooooohhhhhh." Shepard moaned out as he rubbed his arms for warmth, shaking uncontrollably. Everyone watched stunned at how Shepard was acting.
"Is it that bad?" Liara asked.
"Y-Y-Y-Yeah." Shepard said, teeth chattering.
"Did you sleep?" Wrex asked.
"L-L-L-L-Like a-a b-b-baby." Shepard chattered out. The cryotube worked, the only side-effect being that the subject will feel the effects of the subzero temperatures. In other words: Fucking Cold!
After an hour of recuperation, and about ten bowls of steaming hot soup, Shepard was back to normal. During that time, the Normandy was now closing in on Feros. Everyone got their gear ready, thinking all they were going to find was geth. When they walked out of the Normandy, they saw someone waving at them. They cautiously approached the man even though he wasn't threatening them. For some reason something about the man was giving Shepard an off feeling. Like there was something behind the guy. It wasn't like how he could sense biotics or electricity that's for sure.
"We saw your ship coming in. Fai Dan wants to speak with you immediately." The man said.
"Who's Fai Dan?" Shepard asked wanting to know about the guy.
"He's our leader. He needs your help to prepare for the geth. They're making another push. Please, up the stairs and pass the freighter." The man said. Shepard then sensed something coming their way, something with electricity.
"Get down!" Shepard shouted as he tackled the guy to the ground. They both were narrowly missed by a rocket hurdling over them and passed them. His squad took cover immediately and began firing. Ash and Wrex were in the front shooting every geth with their respective assault rifle/shotgun. Wrex even used warp on a few to weaken their shields. Tali supported Ash by using overload on a few in front of her, helping her take them down faster. Tali then used AI hacking on the geth in the back which then took out three other geth before being shot by reinforcements coming from the stairwell. Kaidan quickly put a barrier on himself and began shooting, taking out 2 geth hoppers before his barrier weakened to much forcing him to take cover again. Garrus provided long range assistance by sniping several troopers on the walk way that had looked up from their cover. Liara joined in by using a singularity on the remaining geth, causing everyone to fire at the floating enemies. While all of this was going on Shepard and the man had rolled to the side. Unfortunately while the rocket had missed them, one of the geth's rounds had hit the man in the shoulder scoring the subclavian artery. The man could not move his arm and was losing a lot of blood. The round had also went completely through the man's shoulder. Shepard used medi-gel, but for some reason it wasn't working as fast as it should be.
"I'm not letting you die." Shepard said as he put pressure on the wound. The man had broken into a cold sweat as he watched Shepard try to save his life. He then gently used his good hand to take Shepard's hand off the wound.
"It's fine. Go help your people... and... go... save... mine." The man said with a dying breathe. Shepard watched as the life slowly ebbed away from the man's eyes. He took his hand and gently shut the man's eyes. Remorse and guilt coursed through him like a torrent of water. Then anger surfaced. Shepard took out his HMWA, got up and did a continuous spray-and-pray sweep, finishing all the other geth in sight. Without speaking, he made his way toward the stairwell. Everyone saw this and noticed the man's body. Without saying a word they followed, knowing Shepard did not want to talk right now. As Shepard made his way up, he was attacked by 2 more geth hoppers. Without even batting an eye, he used a combination of warp and overload on them. He then took his shotgun out and quickly shot them down without stopping. Everyone was starting to get worried about Shepard. They hadn't really seen him this quiet and this deadly. It was like looking at a machine right now. That was when Kaidan realized what was going on.
'For him, it's probably like watching Mindoir all over again. He must feel connected or responsible for this in some way.' Kaidan mentally surmised. Looking over at Wrex he could see that the krogan had come to the same conclusion. Kaidan knew Wrex was smarter than others gave him credit for. Shepard didn't need to tell him that. They reached the top of the stairs and came up too a couple of colonists who were guarding the passage.
"Oh man, we thought you were geth! Hurry go speak to Fai Dan. Just go through the freighter and take a left once you exit on the other side. You'll see him." One of the group said. Shepard nodded and walked where they had pointed him towards when he looked around. He noticed his squad did the same, probably looking for various points to come across. That was when Shepard noticed something strange. The same feeling he had when he met the man in the dock had come back tenfold. This feeling though was different compared to him sensing biotic and electricity. If he had to compare the feeling of biotic and electricity, it would be with wind and static respectively. Depending on a person's ability with biotics it would be similar to the strength of wind being blown. It had no real temperature, but his body did simulate one. With Liara he would compare her aura with that of strong but gentle very cool wind. With Wrex and Kaidan it was more like a mild gust of mildly cool wind considering their not as strong with their biotics. With geth and by extension Tali, given her suit's cybernetics, it would be a more static feeling given the electricity. From a geth juggernaut to a dropship, he would compare it to a very strong static feeling that was all over him. With Tali and smaller geth, it would be a more easier static feel like you know it's there but as long as you don't pay much attention, you don't notice it. Now though there was this new feeling as if there was this heavy mist in the air and it got thicker around the people. When he had gotten to the middle of the freighter, the feeling intensified again. Whatever was causing it had to be under him right now, but he would get to it later. People needed his help now. He was broken out of his thoughts when he heard his friends talking.
"Damn, these people had it rough." Garrus said having looked around a little.
"Gotta agree with you there Garrus." Ash said, nodding her head.
"They've done well for civilians considering the firepower they've been facing." Wrex said.
"Yes. The geth have amazing technology ranging from hacking to unbridled firepower. These colonists are tough to have lasted this long." Tali said.
"I wonder how many need medical aid." Kaidan said absently. Liara could only nod along with him as they passed the med bay. As they walked past it, Shepard could see some people inside. He made a mental note to go and see if he and his team could do anything later. They kept looking around and saw a few people guarding another entrance to the colony. Shepard walked over and saw one of the people turn to him.
"Oh are you Ghost?" the man said.
"Yes." Shepard responded.
"Oh, Ghost. I'm glad they finally sent someone to help us. I'm Fai Dan." The now named Fai Dan said.
"Shepard." Shepard said shaking the man's hand. That was when a woman in light armor came up.
"You a little late aren't you?" She said accusingly.
"Arcelia!" Fai Dan scolded.
"I just got wind of this a few hours ago. If I had known sooner, I would've been here sooner too." Shepard responded. Arcelia just glared at him.
"Sorry Ghost. Everyone's on edge since-" Fai Dan said until he was cut off by geth chatter.
"Watch out! We've got geth in the tower!" Arcelia shouted. The squad turned to see a few geth in the passage.
"Protect the heart of the colony!" Fai Dan shouted. Everyone took out their preferred weapon and fired on the geth, instantly killing them. Shepard and his squad charged in killing geth left and right as they ran up the tower. A geth hopper nearly got the jump on Shepard when Ash got sight of it and shot down.
"Thanks for the save." Shepard said as he continued to shoot. Ash merely nodded back smiling, happy she got the chance to be able to help Shepard. They continued on until they arrived to an area where the geth dropship was spewing out the enemy. Everyone quickly opened fire in several directions. Tali used her AI hacking on the geth juggernaut in the middle of the room, allowing them to knock the geth off guard. Kaidan and Liara quickly used warp on 2 geth hunters who had snuck up on Wrex and Garrus and continued to battle them. Wrex took on 3 troopers at the same time. While he was doing that, 2 geth snipers had a lock on him, ready to fire. Garrus saw them and with the precision of a master marksman he got both of the snipers, making Wrex's fight easier. Shepard and Ash were tag teaming the geth that were moving in and out of cover. Ashley kept using her assault rifle on the groups of units running around while Shepard backed her up by keeping off any hunters coming up from behind. He then used singularity on several geth, following up with an overload. The result being a type of EMP field that took out the captured geth. The geth dropship was spent of units and left. The squad having killed all of the groundside geth waited for a minute until Shepard confirmed that there were no geth near them since their scanners had been blocked the whole time.
"Come on we should go tell the colonists that it's safe. For now at least." Shepard said as he walked towards the stairs. Everyone gave an affirmative as they followed him down. After a few minutes of silently walking down, Shepard realized something about his sixth sense. Earlier he wouldn't have been able to sense either Tali or any of the biotics in their group unless he was near them like within 3 meters. Now though he could detect them if they were 12 meters away. Perhaps that his full power increased his sense? Maybe. This was only partially of his full power though. If his sense had increased that much because of unlocking it partially, what would it be like if it was his full power? Shepard decided not to worry about it since it wasn't that important.
"So are we going to roll out to where the geth are bunkered?" Ash asked Shepard.
"We will soon." Shepard responded.
"What about Fai Dan and the colonists?" Liara asked.
"That's why we're walking down. I've got a plan forming in my head, but first I need to get more information on things here before we do anything." Shepard said.
"We will be getting the geth, right Shepard?" Wrex asked still wanting to fight.
"Yes but I just want to make sure things are squared away in the colony before we leave." Shepard explained.
"They should be okay now." Tali added in.
"Yea but you all saw how they were. Some were hiding while others looked exhausted while using standard weapons and equipment. On top of that the geth could be under the colony affecting multiple things that support them." Shepard said knowing the damage was more than what it looked like.
"Hmm Shepard's right. At the least we should see if they have any other problems." Garrus said, mulling over Shepard's response.
"Yea I think it would be best to check in on things. Colonies like this are more vulnerable to other dangers besides invaders." Kaidan said looking at Shepard. The man mentioned knew Kaidan meant something by that and he didn't really care that much. If his past gave him experience with this that caused others to trust his judgement, who was he to say no? They all then walked out of the tower to see the Fai Dan and the others. Fai Dan was the first to greet them.
"The tower's secure thanks to you Ghost." Fai Dan said thankful. Shepard shook his head no.
"It wasn't just me, my team's help was critical to our success." Shepard said making his squad smile a little. Shepard never took full credit when he did things with others and they were happy that he always kept them in mind. Fai Dan nodded his head.
"Yes, my apologies. You all helped us greatly. Thank you." Fai Dan said looking at the squad. Each had a reaction to it.
Wrex held his head up proud.
Liara and Tali were smiling and blushing a little at the praise.
Ash and Kaidan were both smiling at the recognition.
Garrus tried to play it cool by crossing his arms and holding his head proudly like Wrex. Shepard seeing their reactions couldn't help but smirk a little.
"I'm just glad you colony is safe." Shepard said. Fai Dan looked at him again.
"I appreciate your concern and your efforts against the geth." Fai Dan said. Then Arcelia spoke up.
"They may have been slowed, but they'll be back. They always come back." Arcelia said in a dreadful tone.
"Help me find what the geth are after and I promise my team and I will get you out of here alive." Shepard said trying to ease the woman's nerves.
"We don't know what they're after. They came, they attacked us, that's all we know." Fai Dan said.
"You know where their base of operations is?" Shepard asked.
"Their main base is at the ExoGeni headquarters. A good place to start looking if you want answers." Fai Dan informed. That got Shepard to raise an eyebrow.
"What's ExoGeni?" Shepard asked not having heard of it.
"ExoGeni is the company that most of us work for. They fund the colony. The skyway up the tower leads directly to headquarters, you can't miss it." Arcelia said.
"Of course, there's an army of geth between here and there." Fai Dan added in. Shepard sighed.
"I just knew this wouldn't be easy." He muttered.
"Then maybe I can get this colony operational again." Fai Dan said hearing him. Shepard decided to ask about the colony.
"What do you need to get this place operational again?" Shepard asked.
"We need those geth destroyed." Arcelia said. Fai Dan nodded in agreement.
"Yes Arcelia is right. We still have geth in the tunnels underground. We also have more mundane problems like food, power and water. I'm not sure where we stand on those matters though. You should ask the people overseeing them." Fai Dan said.
"Wait you have geth in the tunnels under you? What information do you have on them?" Shepard asked.
"Not much. They're in the tunnels somewhere, likely guarding a transmitter to coordinate attacks. It's not a critical threat right now, but getting rid of it will help us defend against further attacks." Fai Dan said. Something about the way he spoke rose an alarm in Shepard's head, but he ignored it for now.
"What's the problem with power supply?" Shepard asked.
"May O'Connell is working on that. She'd know more about it." Fai Dan said pointing to where they entered the colony first.
"What of the water situation?" Shepard asked wondering who was in charge of that.
"Macha Doyle had been assigned to that particular issue. If you have any insight to offer, please speak to her. She should be where May is." Fai Dan responded. Shepard nodded paying attention to every detail.
"And the food situation?" Shepard asked again.
"Davin Reynolds is tasked with securing food for the immediate future. If you can assist, speak to him. He is in the freighter at the end of it." Fai Dan explained. Shepard nodded having gotten it all down.
"What can you say about the geth base's defenses?" Shepard asked.
"I don't have any details, but I'd wager it's more defended and fortified than a command post." Fai Dan said before Arcelia added in.
"They landed at least one geth ship at ExoGeni and I've seen large walking tanks on the skyway. Expect a hard fight." She said. Shepard thought everything over until he spoke up.
"You do know that's their plan right?" Shepard asked the 2. Everyone was looking at him confused.
"What do you mean?" Fai Dan asked.
"While one of those problems is no big threat, combined and coupled with the main geth force, it's merely a strategy to kill what's left of you." Shepard said shocking everyone. Arcelia got angry at him.
"Of course it is! We already know that!" She yelled at him.
"No you don't understand." Shepard said coldly, silencing her. He then continued, "In cutting off your water and food supplies, the geth have effectively made you all have a fixed number of supplies, making what defenders you have start to weaken from hunger and dehydrated which stunts them in fighting. In taking out the power they have ensured that what sensors and automated defenses you have left are turned off. Finally with the geth in the tunnels able to coordinate attacks, they made it possible for the other geth to know where to enter and attack. Not only that it provides the geth the ability to possibly drill under you all and come out in the middle of you colony." Shepard explained causing the 2 colonist to go wide eyed at the implications. Shepard's squad was stunned at his insight at it all and how much it made sense.
"I said it before and I'll say it again, scary." Wrex said with everyone else nodding in agreement.
"Please you have to take those geth in the tunnels out at least. Please!" Fai Dan said a little more frantic now.
"Don't worry. We are. Everyone go talk to the people Dan here mentioned and comeback once you have the information on things." Shepard told. His squad nodded and went to collecting everything. Shepard waited outside the tower until everyone came back.
"What did you find out?"
"The colonist can hunt varren after the geth are wiped out. Even then though the alpha varren is out there so it makes it more difficult. Trust me I know what they mean." Wrex said having spoken to Reynolds.
"Okay, what else?" Shepard asked.
"We need to find some power cells on this planet, possible an old grizzly's or a mako's power cells to power the colony's generator." Tali said having talked to May O'Connell and thinking of what could be used for the generator. Shepard nodded.
"Alright good. What about the water supply?" Shepard said. Liara spoke this time.
"The geth have turned off the water valves in the tunnels. For the water to flow, they must be switched on." Shepard nodded thinking it over.
"And then there is the geth's main force." Kaidan said. Shepard thought it all over quietly.
"That means we will need 3 teams. One to deal with the main base, and the other 2 to deal with the problems here. That means the one team will have 3 while the other teams will consist of 2 each." Garrus said. Then Shepard spoke up.
"Or 2 teams consisting of 3 each and a team of 1." He said.
"Shepard what are you talking about?" Tali asked.
"Look I know what I'm about to say is a little unorthodox-" Shepard said until Wrex cut him off.
"It's not unorthodox, it's suicide." Wrex said having realized what Shepard was going to say.
"What do you mean Wrex?" Liara and Tali asked at the same time.
"He means that Shepard is planning to go alone." Kaidan answered. This caused everyone to look at Shepard who nodded in response.
"No it is suicide!" Ash said not wanting things to be like this. Shepard then quieted them down.
"Look all those tasks will require ingenuity and power as well as multiple people. This colony also needs more better equipped and trained defenders. And I can't be in multiple places at once, but I can slip into a heavy defended base." Shepard reasoned. He then looked around and noticed that Fai Dan and Arcelia were a ways away from them out of ear shot. Shepard then leaned toward everyone. Seeing this, they too leaned in a little.
"Also when we entered this colony, I sensed something abnormal. It was different from biotics or electricity and the most abnormal part was it was concentrated around the colonists and the middle of the freighter. I want you all to figure out what's going on here." Shepard said. Having traveled with Shepard for awhile now they took his word for it. They themselves noticed some abnormal behavior in a few of the colonists but didn't think to much of it. Now though...
"Also keep you helmets on, just in case. This thing feels like a mist so it may be an airborne type of something." Everyone nodded except Tali who just stared at Shepard. Shepard noticed and couldn't help but rub the back of his head and apologize.
"Sorry Tali. Anyway the teams are going to be as such. Team 1: the girls, team 2: the guys." Shepard said. Before anyone could question it he explained why, "The reason being is because this organization makes balanced teams." At their confused expressions he explained a little more clearly.
"Each of the girls have developed into one particular set off skills. The guys on the other hand have gone into a mix of 2 each. Think of it like this, Tali tech skills can only be matched by a combination of both Kaidan's and Garrus'. Ash's is matched by Wrex and Garrus' skills when it comes to weaponry. Liara is matched by Kaidan and Wrex in the biotics department. That doesn't mean either of your teams is superior though, but equal." Shepard explained. Everyone thought it over and noticed he was right.
"Wait Shepard what about you?" Ashley asked. Shepard looked down for a bit before he looked at them seriously.
"Not to sound arrogant, but I think I equal both of your teams. You all saw how I took on Wrex back on the Normandy and that was me holding back a lot. Granted Wrex did to but not as much. Sorry Wrex but if it was a real death match, I would have killed you." Shepard said.
"I noticed that, but don't think it means I wouldn't have gone down easily if I didn't hold back." Wrex said grinning a little.
"Oh I know. I was counting on that." Shepard said smiling. Shepard then turned his attention to everyone.
"Okay Wrex and Ashley are the leaders. Any complaints?" Shepard spoke. No one made a sound.
"Okay then, be careful." Shepard said as he and everyone else made their way into the tower. Shepard separated from everyone else. As he continued to gain a further difference from them he felt something he hadn't felt since he and Zaeed parted ways a long time ago, loss. Not the kind when someone special dies, but when people whose company you enjoy suddenly leave and you are all alone. He couldn't help but smirk a little at himself.
'Mom was right, my heart does care to much.' Shepard thought as he arrived into the garage and found a mako. He entered it and began to turn it on.
"Isaac think you can control the turrent?" Shepard asked.
"Ohhhh yeeeeaaaaahhh." Isaac said happy he could finally shoot something for a change. Shepard smiled as Isaac took control of the mako's cannon and turrent. The garage door opened up and he gased the accelerator out.
So yeah, here we go. Read and Review please! Hope you enjoyed it!