Feros is going to be quite a bit different from the game as far as the outcome goes, just as a warning. Again, thank you all for reading and I hope you continue to enjoy it as much as I enjoy writing it. R&R please.
Luke was slow to get to the airlock. He had taken a little extra time to give his gear a good once over to make sure that everything was functioning properly. With the reports of Geth activity in the area and the lack of communication from either Zu's Hope or the ExoGeni facility, Luke was expecting a fight to be sure.
As he made his way toward Claire and the rest of the team, Ashley met him halfway.
"Hey, look I know we have not really talked since Saleon but I want you to know, I've got your back." Luke smiled and pulled Ashley into an embrace.
"I'm sorry for what I said, Ash. I really miss you." The apology seemed to throw Ashley for a loop but after a second she returned the hug and kissed Luke on the cheek.
"I missed you too. Look, we are both on Claire's ground team for this mission with Wrex and Garrus. We can talk more later though?" Ashley's tone suggested hopefulness. Luke released her with a smile and followed her over to the door of the airlock.
Claire nodded to her brother and continued with the mission brief. "Joker had to make a hard entry into the docking bay meaning the power is down for the complex, or just the docking bay. Either way, that is a bad sign. I want shields and barriers up the moment we exit the ship."
Claire drew her assault rifle from her back as the team followed suit. They moved quickly off the ship and down the docking tube taking cover behind some of the crates.
"There's someone in the walkway." Garrus whispered as he peaked over the crate. He switched to his sniper rifle and took aim as Claire and Luke stepped out of cover and approached.
"You're here. Thank goodness. Fai Dan said you would come but we had almost given up hope." The colonist ranted.
"Hey slow down there friend. What's going on here?" Claire asked placing a hand on his shoulder.
"You don't know? We are under attack and have been for days." Luke exchanged glances with Claire.
"Under attack from who?" Claire asked.
"Geth." The answer was short and suddenly confirmed as a pulse rifle round ripped through the colonist. A full squad of Geth troopers supported by snipers opened fire on the Normandy team and the ship itself.
"NO!" Luke howled. He leveled his rifle and started firing. He roared as he sprayed the bullets at the geth wildly. Suddenly, he felt someone knock him to the ground as a sniper round whizzed past him. Luke rolled over to see Ashley charging her rifle as she scrambled to her feet.
"I told you I had your back." Luke smiled and nodded. He stood and held his cover. He took a slow breath and aimed drilling the sniper in the head that had nearly hit him.
Luke glanced toward the hall and saw the bodies of nearly a dozen colonists. His blood boiled and his mind clouded. These geth were butchering people!
With his shotgun in one hand and his assault rifle in the other Luke sprinted forward. "Luke! Keep to cover!" Claire shouted, but Luke ignored her. He fired shotgun rounds around blind corners and continued constant bursts of assault rifle rounds spraying down the hall ahead of him. His shotgun over heated and he dropped it taking more control of his rifle and firing short controlled burst. The rifle quickly over heated at the overuse and he dropped it to the ground as well pulling his pistol. He leapt forward tackling one of the geth troopers shooting it twice through the chest before they hit the ground and rolled off when the metallic corpse collapsed just in time to fire another round through the last geth's head. Luke breathed heavily and kept his aim on the tunnel that left the docking bay.
"Are you alright?" Ashley asked as she knelt beside him covering the hall.
"What has gotten into you Luke? That was reckless and stupid." Claire snapped pulling Luke to his feet.
"I'm not going to apologize for getting the job done. Maybe I could have thought through it a little better, but we are through. Let's just go." Luke said holstering his pistol. Wrex tossed him his shotgun and gave him an approving. Luke smirked and put his shotgun back on his back.
"I understand what's got you bent out of sorts one this one, but getting yourself killed is not going to help." Garrus said handing him his assault rifle. Luke wet his lips and nodded.
"Yeah, I hear you." Luke said patting his friend on the shoulder as he wiped the dirt from his weapon and waited for Claire to signal for them to move. Claire waved them onward and Wrex led the group forward with Luke and Garrus on his flanks. Ashley stopped Claire before they could follow.
"Hey, is Luke okay to be on a mission like this? You know merciless killers going after defenseless colonists. It might hit home for him." Ashley said softly. Claire sighed and palmed her forehead.
"Geez, how could I have not seen that? I just started seeing all of this as a soldier rather than personally. I just start concentrating on keeping my team and everyone else alive and forget how anyone feels."
"I understand skipper, really. But you probably saw some stuff on Mindoir too right. Why is this not blurring your focus?" Ashley said as they headed after the team.
"I did see some horrible things on Mindoir but Mallory and I had councilors, our foster parents, and then the military to help us along. I simply vowed that I would not let anything like what happened to Mindoir happen on my watch." Claire said as they slowly caught up to the rest of the squad.
Suddenly, a shot rang out and nearly hit Wrex as he peaked around the corner. Luke made a puzzled face pulled the krogan back from the corner.
"Hey! Don't shoot! We're human…well, most of us." Luke shouted looking back at Wrex and Garrus. He lowered his rifle and slowly stepped out around the corner.
"Thank God. We had almost given up hope." One of the defenders said. Luke saw the exhaustion and desperation in their eyes. He knew the feeling.
"Just some nervous trigger fingers, commander. All clear." Luke said turning back to his sister.
"You're being awfully official." Claire said placing her rifle on her back. Luke wet his lips and followed his sister past the thin defense the colonists had erected. The colony reminded Luke of Mindoir during the attack. He closed his eyes for a moment and breathed deeply pushing the gruesome images and the memory of the beatings back down.
Warzone did not even encompass how desolate the colony appeared. Fires burned near every structure. Plasma burns scarred every wall to some extent while blood stained the ground in massive pools. Luke swallowed the lump in his throat and looked over at Ashley. She gave him an encouraging nod and a smile. It made him feel a little better.
As they made their way through the freighter that was doubling at their hospital and shelter, Luke noticed and elderly man and woman in one of the rooms. The woman was writhing in pain and snarling about something that he could not quite understand. He closed his eyes and turned to follow the rest of the team.
"Commander, thank you for coming to help us." A man said stepping in front of Claire.
"You're a bit late aren't you?" A women broke in before Claire could answer. Luke Glanced at her and was aobut to say something but the man stopped her.
"Arcelia please. Apologies Commander. We have been holding for well over three days now hoping that someone would respond to our distress call. We were hoping for a small fleet." Claire looked back at the rest of the crew then back to the two colonists.
"We're here to help in any way we can." Claire replied.
"I'm relieved to hear that. We-" Suddenly, Arcelia pulled her rifle.
"Look out! We have geth in the tower!"
"Protect the heart of the colony!" Fai Dan yelled to the defenders. Luke grabbed Claire's shoulder.
"We have to help defend this place. They don't have the training, or man power to stand against the geth." Luke said looking back at the doorway leading to the tower.
"Let's clear these things out." Claire turned to face the rest of the squad. "Listen up. We're clearing the tower for the colonists to give them a fighting chance until we can assess what exactly is going on here." Luke smirked and pulled his rifle immediately. Wrex roared and followed Luke into the fray as the geth opened fire on them.
Claire moved in right behind them while Garrus used his sniper rifle to kill those he could. Ashley supplied suppressing fire to try and keep the geth down while everyone moved into position. "Pour it on!" Claire shouted. Everyone in the squad stepped out from cover and launched continuous lines of rounds into the invaders.
Within three seconds, all the geth were dead, riddled with holes. Claire waved them forward. As they advanced they heard colonists being fired on up the stairs.
"Did the geth just sneak by some of the defenders?" Ashley asked.
"These people are civilians. When a bullet comes their way, they duck. The geth might have assumed they killed them." Garrus said keeping his rifle level.
"Geth usually pay a lot more attention to detail than that. It's like they were after something and did not have time for the colonists." Claire said as the took cover next to the doorway. Luke tossed a grenade and the moment it detonated, he charged through and fired a three round burst through the head of a shock trooper. Wrex used his shot gun to finish off the last two troopers before they started moving forward again. In front of them was a small fork in the hallway. Through one passage they could hear a geth drop ship hovering, but there were tracks that showed that the geth had gone down the other way.
"Should we split up?" Luke asked. Claire looked over at him and wet her lips.
"That might be our only option." Claire sighed and looked around. "Alright, Ashley and Garrus will stay with me. Luke, you and Wrex head down that other hallway and see what you can find. If there is anything that looks like you might not be able to handle it, come back and wait here. We'll take it on as a team, and vice versa. If we get overwhelmed we will fallback and hold here." Luke smirked over at Wrex who returned the expression with a nod.