"Is Feros warm?" Garrus asked as the squad sat around the comm room waiting for the Normandy to reach the ExoGeni docks.

"It's quite temperate," Liara said. "I came here once on a dig. Most of the planet is covered in Prothean ruins. I've never been to this side of the planet though."

"Anything has to be better than Noveria," Garrus shuddered.

"I promise it will be warmer than Noveria," Shepard told him.

He was still bitter that Shepard had beat him at the shooting match, maintaining that she had cheated. He wouldn't admit that when he fell on top of her, he had been too distracted by the strange dip he'd felt in his stomach when they locked eyes. He wished she'd seemed distracted by it too, so maybe he'd be comfortable bringing it up, but she'd gone and shot the drone, which signaled to him that she hadn't even noticed.

It didn't seem to impact their budding friendship too poorly, however. The last few days on the approach to Feros, neither of them had been sleeping much, and they had spent several hours on the observation deck talking about anything and everything. Since Shepard had told him the story of the batarian attack on Mindoir, he'd felt a closer bond with her than ever before. There were people he'd worked alongside in C-sec for years that he didn't trust as much as this human commander he'd known for a few weeks. Whatever the reason, he'd understood completely when Shepard described that 'click', that gut reaction telling her she could trust him. He'd felt it too.

He trusted the others of course, but not to the degree that he trusted and respected Shepard.

"What do we know about this place?" Ash asked. The noise dragged Garrus away from his thoughts.

"ExoGeni has a human colony stationed here," Shepard answered. "The geth were spotted a while ago, which means Saren was probably here, if it's following a trend."

"Normandy is ashore," Joker's voice broke over the ship's intercom.

Shepard stood up. "Let's get going. We've got no clue how much of a lead Saren has on us. Time is money right now."

The seven of them marched out of the comm room, through the bridge, and out the airlock into the docks of the ExoGeni colony. The sight wasn't promising: the architecture was crumbling, scorched with the recent marks of explosion, huge broken pieces of concrete lay strewn about the ground. The geth had already made quite an impact here, it seemed.

Shepard led the way forward, gun raised. The others prepared themselves for a fight. Garrus hung back at the rear of the group, keeping an eye out for any sign of the geth. Instead, he spotted a human approaching from behind one of the fallen blocks.

"Shepard, someone's coming," he called.

She locked her gun on the human and moved cautiously to meet him. He held his hands up to signal that he was no threat.

"Are you commander Shepard? Fai Dan got word that your ship had entered our atmosphere. He wants to meet with you immediately."

The human looked weak and unwell. He couldn't have put up a fight if he wanted to, but this only made Garrus warier of the situation. He scanned the dock exit along the far wall for geth…or other sickly humans.

"Who is Fai Dan?" Shepard asked. "And how does he know it was me?"

"Just come," the human begged. "We don't have much time. The geth won't wai-"

His words were cut off when a bullet pierced through his skull and blew his brains onto Shepard's armor. The squad ducked quickly behind some of the fallen concrete blocks as geth dropped down from rafters hidden by wall overhangs near the ceiling. Even with seven of them fighting, the geth were a lot to handle. There seemed to be more of them here than they had encountered on Noveria, and larger units like juggernauts barreling through the fray.

Amidst the fighting, no one noticed or had time to aim at the geth prime charging toward Shepard. Garrus moved quickly, firing off a shot that pierced through the geth's head and brought it crashing to the ground. The shot had been hardly an inch away from Shepard's own head, and she turned to face Garrus as she ducked back behind cover.

"You could have killed me!" She yelled.

"Who's the best shot on the ship?" he replied.

"I feel like now may not be the best time for friendly banter," Liara shouted, throwing two incoming geth over the side of the dock to fall to the ground far below.

"I don't think they have an off button, Liara," Kaidan muttered.

They pushed through the first wave of geth and charged forward to closer cover. As dangerous as every battle seemed to be with Shepard, Garrus couldn't help thinking it seemed a hell of a lot better than chasing down petty thieves on the Citadel. This was work that actually got his blood pumping.

When the last of the geth had fallen, the squad rose from cover, and Shepard motioned for them to follow her. She moved slowly and quietly now, prepared for geth around every corner.

The dock exit led to a dilapidated stairwell where dim sunlight trickled down from a roof that had been blasted open by the geth. Carefully, they stepped over piles of crumbling rock, leaped over gaps in the stairwell, winding their way up the stairs until they reached the top. It should have been noisier, considering the sheer size of the squad, but they were all trained soldiers, save for Liara and Tali, who were light on their feet anyway. They knew how to move without attracting attention.

The top of the stairs led through a short hallway that opened onto the human colony. A row of metal barriers had been erected, behind which stood a line of humans with guns drawn. They held their fire at the squad's approach. Garrus couldn't help thinking that last time they'd stumbled upon a line of humans guarding a sanctuary, the humans had tried to turn on them. He kept this in mind even as the humans beckoned them past the barrier, pointing to the opposite end of the compound where the mysterious 'Fai Dan' could be found.

"Shepard," Garrus said, walking alongside her as they wound around the mobile housing units that comprised the colony. "These humans don't look healthy."

"They've been under fire from the geth for a while now," she said. "I'm sure rations are low if geth are closing in. They probably aren't healthy."

Garrus shook his head. "It's something else. I have a very bad feeling about it."

"Let's just see what they can tell us, okay? Watch my six like always and we'll be all right."

He knew he would be fine fighting alongside Shepard, but it didn't stop the uneasy feeling from creeping up his spine. Ash seemed to notice it as well.

"This place gives me the creeps," she commented, looking up at the smog-filled sky. "Something's not right."

"You mean besides the horde of geth?" Wrex asked

"I'm with Ash," Kaidan piped in.

"I also sense something…disturbing." Liara nodded.

"Never mind that. We need to focus on the geth right now," Tali said. "I'm not saying I don't think something feels…off…but it could just be how these humans are. What we do know is that the geth are here and we need to take care of that problem."

"You ever considered joining the quarian military, Tali?" Kaidan asked. "You might make a good commander."

"W-what?" Tali stuttered, "I'll stick to following Shepard's orders right now."

They found Fai Dan at the edge of the human colony, a rat-faced man with deep-set frown lines and dark circles under his eyes. A look of relief washed over his face at the sight of Shepard and her squad. Next to Fai Dan stood a young woman, her hair as short as Shepard's, but jet black. She was glowering as they approached.

"Fai Dan?" Shepard asked, extending a hand.

"Commander Shepard. I was beginning to think they'd never send any help for us. Welcome to Zhu's Hope."

"You're a bit late, aren't you?" The woman next to him hissed.

"Arcelia!" Fai Dan shouted. "I'm sorry, Commander. We're all a little on edge since the geth arrived."

As if on cue, the characteristic clicking sound of geth communication issued from the doorway directly in front of them. Fai Dan and Arcelia lifted their guns.

"We've got geth in the tower!" Arcelia said into her omni-tool.

Shepard took out a few of the incoming geth. "Kaidan, Ash, Wrex, with me, into the tower. Garrus, Liara, Tali, stay behind and protect the colony."

Garrus secretly wished he was joining Shepard in the tower. Close quarters battles were more thrilling, though also more dangerous. He obeyed orders though, keeping behind cover and firing at any geth that broke through Shepard's siege through the tower. They trickled through slowly, but eventually, the geth influx stopped, and they were left to wait for the others to return.

"What kind of squad does this commander have, anyway?" Arcelia complained loudly. "Did she bring half the Citadel with her? I've never seen aliens on board an Alliance ship."

"These aliens just saved your life," Tali spat. "Maybe you should be more grateful."

"We asked for the Alliance. Not some suit rat," Arcelia replied.

"What did you call her?" Garrus stormed forward. It was taking all of his self-control not to grab the human by the neck and toss her into the wall.

"Arcelia, please. These aliens are here to help us. We should be thanking them for keeping the geth at bay," Fai Dan tried to reason with the woman.

"You notice she didn't take any of them with her, only the krogan because they're just dumb brutes. She left the scraps behind to protect us," Arcelia glared at Garrus. "What are you going to do, bird brains? Strangle me?"

He probably would have, if Liara hadn't placed a hand on his arm and gently pulled him away. "Violence will solve nothing here," she said softly. "And Shepard will be angry with you."

He clenched his fists and stepped away. "You're not worth my time, human."

"Arcelia, why don't you go and see if you can help Macha fix the broken pipe outside housing bay three?" Fai Dan suggested.

She cast one last loathing look at Garrus and the others, then dismissed herself from their presence, taking off for the other side of the colony.

"I'm sorry, again," Fai Dan said. "Some of the humans here…we're not used to aliens. It's a human colony and we don't get many visitors outside of ExoGeni employees. She's just…"

"It's fine," Garrus said, still bristling.

Where was Shepard? He didn't like waiting around with nothing to do while she got to have all the fun shooting geth.

While they waited, he turned to Tali.

"I'm sorry she called you that," he told her. "It was a nasty thing to do."

"It's nothing I haven't heard before," Tali stared off through the opening to the tower. "A turian I met on the Citadel called me that as well."

"It's a cruel word," Garrus said.

"I know you would never say something like that, Garrus. Just understand that there are plenty of people, not just humans, who think that way about the quarians. We're not well-liked by most."

"Perhaps it's because not many people have met a quarian before," Liara offered. "You're such a solitary race…I'd only met one quarian before you."

"Why go where no one wants us?" Tali shrugged. "We belong together on the flotilla…until Rannoch can be reclaimed."

Garrus had heard that the quarians' ultimate goal was to one day return to their home planet, the same planet that had been overrun with geth. It was a pipe dream, he felt. The geth could think as one, and their numbers had grown substantially in the three hundred years since they'd forced the quarians to flee. He wouldn't say any of this to Tali, of course. Let her dream that one day she might see the home she'd never known. It was a nicer thought.

Voices sounded from the tower and Shepard reappeared with the others in tow. She still looked a wreck, though better than she'd looked on Noveria. The bruise around her eye was beginning to fade from purple to yellow, creating a horrendous rainbow of color across her face. Her neck was mottled with bruising as well from her altercation with Wrex. At least she didn't look as tired as she had on Noveria, Garrus supposed.

"The tower's clear of geth," Shepard reported. "For now, anyway."

"Thank you, commander," Fai Dan forced a weak smile.

"Anything I can do to help," she said. "What's the status here?"

"I'll be honest with you, it's bleak. Our water supply has been cut off by geth swarming the tunnels, we're running out of food, and the power keeps cutting out. We've lost quite a few good men and women to the geth too. We're really struggling here commander."

"I want to help as much as I can," Shepard told him. "But I also need to know why the geth are attacking. Is there something this colony is guarding…or growing? Anything that might be used as a weapon or…"

Fai Dan shook his head. "I don't know why they attacked. They just showed up and fired on us. They've set up a base in the ExoGeni headquarters. Who knows how many of their employees survived? None of them made it here at any rate. You should investigate the headquarters if you want answers about the geth. I can't help you there. I will warn you, there's an army of geth between here and the ExoGeni building."

Shepard sighed. "I'll need to think about a plan. In the meantime, I can have my squad help your people with some of your problems."

"It would be greatly appreciated," Fai Dan.

"Kaidan, Liara, go see about the food shortage. Ash and Tali, you check out the power problems. Garrus, Wrex, and I will head to the tunnels and see about getting the water valves turned on."

"Commander!" Ash and Kaidan saluted.

Wrex and Garrus followed Shepard out of the compound and along a route to the east where the tunnels lay.

"Shepard, do we really have time to help these people fix maintenance issues?" Garrus asked.

"I agree," Wrex grumbled. "We should head to ExoGeni. You're the one who said time is money."

"I know what I said," Shepard growled. "But I also know what it's like to live on a human colony that nobody gives a rat's ass about, wondering how you're going to fix these mundane problems without any outside help, never even having the option. Between the seven of us, it won't take long to help them fix a few problems, and it could mean life or death for these people. They've suffered enough, don't you think?" She turned and looked at them, brown eyes glowing with an unrivaled ferocity.

"You're too soft sometimes, Shepard," Wrex shrugged.

Garrus understood though. After hearing Shepard's story of Mindoir, he realized this was too personal for her to forgo. He would just have to support her. After all, she was right. It wouldn't really take that long to clear out some tunnels and turn a few valves back on.

They heard the geth before the even made it into the tunnels, chattering to each other in clicks and chirps. Shepard squatted down and moved slowly down the steps into the tunnel; a piece of concrete jutting out of the wall provided cover for her. Garrus and Wrex followed, peering over the edge of the concrete to get a better view of the geth.

Garrus was about to say he could probably take one or two out before they noticed them, but when he turned to speak to Shepard, she had rolled across to the other side of the tunnel, hiding behind a large steel pipe. She lifted her gun and left off several rounds, taking down three geth as she did so. Now alerted to their presence, the geth fired back.

It was fast work between the three of them: there weren't nearly as many geth in the tunnels as they'd encountered on the docks. It turned out that turning the water valves back on was the bigger issue. The valves were ancient, rusted over and difficult to move. Why they hadn't been replaced with better tech, Garrus couldn't say. If ExoGeni was funding the colony, they could certainly afford it.

All three of them had to pull the valve together to get it to budge, but finally it moved, the unpleasant sound of metal scraping against metal issuing from it as it shifted into the 'open' position. They took care of two more valves before returning to the colony to report to Fai Dan.

The rest of their squad, it seemed, had more involved missions, so they sat for a while, backs pressed to one of the mobile housing units, waiting for them to return.

"What do you think Saren wanted with this place?" Garrus asked.

"Whatever it is, I'm willing to bet it's in ExoGeni headquarters. I can't imagine this colony has anything to offer him. They just got caught in the crossfire," Shepard sighed. "War is terrible. So many innocent people get sucked into it with no say."

"That's just how it goes." Wrex shrugged.

Garrus was about to say something, anything, in an attempt to comfort Shepard, when Joker's voice issued from Shepard's comm link, interrupting him. "Commander, come in."

"What is it Joker?" Shepard responded.

"Incoming message from the Council. I told them you're not on board, but they asked me to patch them through."

Shepard groaned. "What the hell do they want now?"

"I know, I know," Joker sympathized. "But you're the one who signed up for this whole Spectre thing. Should I patch them through to your comm link?"

"I guess you have to," Shepard sighed.

"Patching them in now."

"Commander," A turian's voice replaced Joker's: Councilor Sparatus.

"This is Shepard."

"We've received a message from a salarian reconnaissance team on Virmire. The message was difficult to interpret, we believe the radar may have been jammed."

"Salarian reconnaissance?" Wrex grumbled. "Since when do salarians know how to use guns?"

"The Council can hear you, Wrex," Shepard reminded him.

"Hell if I care. That turian can lick my ass."

"Charming comrades, commander," Sparatus replied sourly. "We believe the salarians on Virmire may be in danger. I understand you're on the ground in Feros right now. Virmire is not far from there, just one relay and a day's journey. We want you to investigate the team's base camp and find out what's going on. You're the closest Spectre we have to the region. And parts of the message…" the turian councilor hesitated. "There may be geth on Virmire."

"Roger," Shepard replied. "Patch the coordinates through to the Normandy. We'll make way for Virmire as soon as our work is complete here on Feros."

"Thank you, commander."

The comm link shut off and Shepard rubbed her forehead. "It's just one thing after another with the geth, isn't it?"

"Look on the bright side, Shepard," Garrus smiled.

"What's that?"

"Virmire is a tropical planet!"