A/N: WHAT IS UP MUCKAAACHUNGAAAAAS!? It's Travez here! I'm here to bring the first half of the chapter that I was seriously not looking forwards to! As i told you guys in the update, I freaking hate Zombies in Video Games, Movies, TV Shows, and Tabletop RPGs! As Such I've decided to split this chapter in two for the sake of my sanity! I will post the second half of this chapter as soon as I can but I promise you, after that, I am going to be taking a freaking break because I frickin hate Zombies!

Now aside from this, I've got some news for the lot of ya! Thanks to my beloved girlfriend, Wolfflight of ShadowClan, I have come up with a story that I think you guys might love that is inspired by the recent release of God of War Ragnarok. I will leave the details a surprise, but if any of you guys played God of War (2018) did you know that Baldur, in Norse Mythology, has a blind, identical twin brother named Hodur? I did some research into this, and, after watching the cutscenes for GoW 2018 and Ragnarok, I kinda think if Hodur had made an appearance, I would like to think he'd be more receptive of his mother in this one, and would side with the Vanir.

In any case, the idea I have for this story that I'm plotting is having it that this will be a D&D story with a nice little twist that I have planned. In essence, this story will take the idea of God of War, where Gods with Divine blood in their system need to earn their place amongst the Gods, but have enough divine power in them that these characters who choose to become Clerics, Paladins, Druids, Rangers, and even Warlocks don't need outside forces like Gods or Otherworldly Beings to give them power, they can draw it from within themselves, to varying levels of power and degrees of control. But more on that another time.

I've got a chapter to deliver to you all and I think that is enough out of me for now. Sorry if this chapter is a bit fast-paced, but I tried to slow it down as much as I could, but to be honest, my hatred and aversion to Zombies influenced me greatly. Anyway, please be sure to Follow, Favorite, Review, and Share this story with anyone and everyone you know who likes Cyberpunk 2077 and Mass Effect content! Catch ya on the Flipside! Shepard…

Chapter 5 Part 1: A Feros-cious Zombie Outbreak

"RIGHT INTO CORPO TERRITORY AGAIN!" Shepard shouts indignantly as he sits in the mess hall, reading up on Feros. "What did I ever do to Udina to get sent into Corpo Territory!?"

"You were born…" Kaiden says, smirking, which earns him a look from Shepard. The Ground Team can't help but giggle at V's expense as he sighs as the doors get ready to open.

"Look on the bright side, Shepard, at least it isn't Noveria, where the place was crawling with them!"

"Good point but still…" Shepard says, but before he steps out, he has a feeling in the back of his head. "Everyone, before we depart, activate the filters in your mask, my gut tells me we are going into a Biohazard Zone…"

"What kind of Biohazards?" Ashley asks.

"I don't know but still, keep your filters on at all times." Shepard says, the doors getting ready to open, "Joker, until I say so, nobody is to leave the ship, make sure the Oxi-Filters are being fully utilized!"

"Aye aye, Commander, but whats wrong?"

"I got a bad feeling about this place, like we're walking into a biohazard zone." Shepard says.

"What makes you say that?" Joker asks.

"Instinct, now keep everyone on the ship until I say otherwise." Shepard says.

"Aye aye!" Joker says, the doors fully open. Stepping out of the Normandy, Shepard can only sense that bad feeling getting worse and worse by the second as they begin down the long hallway to find somebody standing, waiting for them.

"Hello? Are you Commander Shepard? David al Talaqani! We saw your ship, Fai Dan has asked me to get you so he can speak with you."

"Who's Fai Dan?" Shepard asks.

"Our Leader, he needs your help preparing for the Geth, they've been attacking us non-stop, and are preparing another push. He's just up the stairs and past the Freighter." David says. As he stops, Shepard notices movement out of the corner of his eye, and the world becomes that signature shadow of Aquamarine, his Sandy activating as he pulls David out of the way of a missile attack. Seeing this, Ashley slams her fists together and roars, charging in with her tomahawk and begins hacking at the Geth that appear. Once he sets David behind some cover, he charges in with his team, and quickly, they begin to fight their way through waves of Geth that seem to appear out of the woodwork. Tali smiles as she uses a combination of her Cyberdeck and her Omnitool to hack into the Geth, her hidden face beaming as her new armor is actually standing up to the punishment it is taking. It's thanks to their most recent stop that everyone managed to get an upgrade to their arms and armor and they are all the better for it.

The reason for this that, on the way here, they made a stop at Noveria, and actually came across Militech, Earth's biggest military weapons and armor corporation, and after showing them how he and Tali had designed the Thermal Clips, how the Geth actually used more advanced versions of Shepard and Tali's designs, along with Ashley giving a demonstration of how Thermal Clips work, Militech was actually impressed and decided to make an investment on the technology. So Shepard passed them the basic designs, some advanced examples from the Geth, and with Ashley performing more demonstrations to be recorded for experimentation purposes, Militech decided to contact Barla Von and set up investment accounts for the three. Thanks to this, not only did the patented Thermal Clips actually net them some good credits, but it also earned them some investments down the line.

Back to Present, the Ground Team quickly wind their way through the stairs and corridors until finally reaching what appears to be some sort of wrecked base camp. Once Shepard enters, he can see that everyone is on edge, their bodies tense, but also, something about his place is just causing his survival instincts to scream "run". However, thankfully, he hears somebody call him over. "You, Fai Dan?" Shepard asks.

"Oh Commander, I'm so glad they finally sent somebody to help us!" The man says, apparently he was.

"A Bit Late, aren't you?" A woman says.

"Arcelia!" Fai Dan says.

"It's alright, choomba! Though, to be fair, somebody was jamming your comms, so we only got the distress signal a few days ago." Shepard explains, looking at the group.

"Sorry, Commander, everybody's been on edge since-!" Fai Dan says, still trying to apologize when a sound hits their ears.

"WATCH OUT! GETH IN THE TOWER!" Arcelia shouts, to which Shepard brings out the Amarok.

"Tali, Ash, you with me, Garrus, you take Kaiden and Liara, keep the fighting here! And Wrex!" Wrex looks at Shepard through his helmet, but the big lizard is, despite his face being covered, V knows he is hoping to do what he thinks Shepard is going to do. V simply points to the Geth coming towards the door. "Smash…"

"FINALLY!" Wrex shouts, happy to be given that order. Smash is the codeword that Shepard came up with for Wrex to cut loose and cause as much havoc as he needs to. Shepard smiles as several Geth push through the doorway and Wrex just charges in, laughing like a maniac, clearing the threshold for Tali, Ash, and V to get through as they start going on a killing spree. Soon they make their way into the Corridors and find a Dropship having set themselves up over a large hole, where the Geth are pouring through. Thankfully, as Wrex forces his way through the units, Shepard, Tali, and Ashley manage to start firing at the Dropship, piercing their shields and starting to deal damage, which forces the ship to retreat.

"That looks like that will be enough of the Geth!" Ashley says.

"For now, at least. We need to get back to Fai Dan, get a reading on the situation!" Tali says.

"Yeah…" V says, to which Wrex walks over, full of holes, but his body language, by Shepard's recollection, is one of a person who has had a lot of fun. "You good, Wrex?"

"Already regenerating, thanks for that Shepard. Though, if you wouldn't mind, once we're out of here, I'd like to ask a favor."

"We'll talk about it once we're out of here!" Shepard says, giving the Krogan a thumbs-up. Once they get back to the colony, Shepard finds that Garrus, the great detective that he is, has been gathering intel ever since the Geth stopped attacking. Turns out the colony is in desperate need of food, water, and power for their medical equipment, not only that, Fai Dan thinks there might be transmitters in the tunnels that are helping the Geth Coordinate their attacks. "I think we can hold off going to ExoGeni for the time being, if we can get these colonists the supplies and security they need in the Short Term, it should help us in the long term."

"You're just trying to delay interacting with anymore Corpos, aren't you?" Ashley teases with a smile. "Who'd have thought money was the one thing that scares you."

"Not funny, Williams…" Shepard says, groaning. He then sets everyone off to different tasks, with Ashley and Wrex getting the food for the colonists, whilst Garrus, Liara, and Kaiden go after the Water Supply, and Shepard goes with Tali to deal with the Power Supply, after that, they would regroup to take out the transmitters and the Geth guarding them. Everything would go pretty smoothly for these tasks… A little too smoothly for Shepard's tastes, as he and Tali got the power supply back on, they would hear footsteps running through the tunnels. Once the squad reunites, they hear the footsteps leading to a dead-end, and they see a Colonist standing alone.

"You shouldn't be down here, or going any further than you are." The man says.

"Who are you? What are you doing down here?" Shepard asks.

"Ian Newstead, and nothing that I should be, and anything I shouldn't!" Ian says, but then his face contorts with pain. "NOOO!" He then calms down, "Okay… That was a good one, very intense…"

"Are you alright?" Shepard asks, concerned.

"Yeah, I'm fine, just invoking the "master's" whip, helps remind me that I'm still alive." Ian says, looking at Shepard. "You're here for the Geth, right? You're not the only one interested in those things."

"Who else is interested in the Geth?" Shepard asks, noticing the emphasis on the word "master".

"Not looking for, looking to get rid of…" Ian says, "They're a thorn in the side of the-" He then screams in agony, however, as Ian begins to explain what is going on, telling him to ask Fai Dan about something, a Geth Sniper shoots Ian through the head as a pain rips through him. Shepard, snarling, helps get rid of the Geth, to which the group know there is probably no other way to deal with this, or find out whats going on, than to go to ExoGeni for Answers. Thankfully, once they exit the tunnels, a Mako is parked and waiting for them, and the group begins to make their way over the Skyway to the Corporation's Headquarters.

"Wait, Shepard, I think I'm getting something over comms, but the Geth Interference is making it difficult to overhear whats going on." Tali says.

"Keep on it, Tali, maybe you'll pick up some intel!" Shepard says, "Garrus can you handle shields and repairs while Wrex takes over the gun?"

"I believe so, Commander!" Garrus says, to which Wrex smiles as the two switch places.

"The Last Batch went South. What are they Looking for…?" The chatter says, Tali making sure to record everything she can get. "Any sign of movement? Lizbeth could still be in there, it's only been a few days!" As she does this, she tries to pinpoint the source of the chatter. "She's my daughter! I'll wait as long as I have to!" That is when it's becoming clear, whoever this woman was, she is looking for her daughter, who vanished a few days ago, and they have been keeping an eye on the Geth's movements, which have been focusing more towards the south, towards the Colony. Whatever it is the Geth are after, and possibly whatever this thing is trying to get rid of the Geth, they must be related in some way. Thankfully, the ride isn't that long, as Wrex appears to make short work of the Geth whilst Garrus barely has to do anything with repairs and shields. "Hold on, we've got movement! It seems to be a Vehicle, not a Geth Armature!"

"Tali, anything about that chatter?"

"It seems they know we're coming, and the one talking is looking for her daughter, apparently she is arguing with somebody." Tali explains.

"Alright, maybe this will give us an opportunity to figure out what is going on." Shepard says, finding a place to park the Mako and turn it around for some movement to the other side of the Skyway. Thankfully, there is a set of stairs that lead down a bit, there appear to be signs of non-Geth related movement and light down there. As the group descends, guards raise their weapons.

"THAT'S FAR ENOUGH!"

"Jeong, relax! These aren't Geth!" The woman says, to which Tali recognizes from the chatter.

"Get back Juliana!" The Guard says. "Who are you!? What do you want!?"

"Relax, Choomba, the name's Commander Vincent Shepard, I'm here to take care of the Geth!" Shepard says, trying to remain calm as the guns are aimed at him.

"See Jeong? You worry too much!" The Woman says, smirking at him.

"And you trust too easily, Juliana!" The Security Guard says, glaring at her, Shepard can tell there is something wrong with this picture, but also notices something on the man's shirt, something he recognizes from both the Silversun Strip and from the Sparta System. It's a pin of some kind.

"Personally? I'm just glad to see a friendly face. I thought we were the only humans left on this planet!"

"Not so much, the colony to the south is still holding on, but by a thread!" Garrus says, looking to Juliana, who looks shocked, but then furious at Jeong.

"WHAT!? Jeong you said they were all dead!" Juliana says, shouting at him.

"I said they were "probably" all dead!" Jeong says, to which Shepard then flicks his finger and lifts the man up with his biotics. "HEY! LET ME GO!" That is when Shepard grabs the man's shirt and rips off his pin. "Hey, give that back!"

"You guys recognize this?" Shepard asks his squad, holding it out.

"That's the same symbol from the virus that was placed in the Cyberpunk Simulator on the Silversun Strip!" Garrus says.

"And what we got from the Distress Beacon in the Sparta System!" Ashley says, glaring at Jeong!"

"What? What are you talking about?"

"Let's just say that the people who sport this symbol…" He shows it to Julianna, "Have nearly gotten one of my comrades nearly thrown in prison on false charges and got several marines killed in a trap with a Thresher Maw!" Shepard says, snarling. "Does anyone else you know wear this symbol?"

"Yes, I've seen it before, on higher ranking members of ExoGeni and some of the guards, though Jeong is the only one here who has it!" Juliana says, to which Jeong starts sweating.

"Wrex, I hate to take you out of this, but I need a strong biotic who can physically and biotically overpower a human to keep an eye on this guy till we get done with the Corpo Building." Shepard says.

"You owe me Krogan Sized steak dinner if we visit the citadel again for this!"

"Consider it done!" Shepard says, glaring at the guard, in which Wrex ties the man up in several knots and begins to play guard dog on this man, but Shepard also takes the time to Gag the Man, and to prevent him from talking. "Now, Juliana, if you wouldn't mind giving us some information about what is going on around here, maybe there is something we can help you with."

"Of course!" Juliana says, in which she gives what information she can, and Jeong angrily thrashes around, trying to keep her from talking. It takes a bit but soon, Shepard believes he has enough to go on, "Commander, before you go, there is a favor I would like to ask."

"What kind of favor?" Shepard asks.

"My daughter, Lizbeth… She's missing…" Juliana says, "She was working inside the building when the Geth attacked, I managed to get a communication from her, but it was buzzing with interference. However, the ID indicated it was her, so I know she is still alive!"

"How long ago was this?"

"About an hour ago! My daughter is a very resourceful woman, her father, my ex-husband, was in the Alliance Military and put her through the same training when she was a little girl to protect herself. I know she can hold out on her own, but I don't know for how much longer, she must be running out of food, water, and possibly options as well."

"Who was her father?" Shepard asks.

"Kyle Baynham…" Juliana says.

"Wait… Are you talking about Major Kyle Baynham?"

"You know him?" Juliana asks.

"That man saved my career…" Shepard says, but hesitates, "After Torfan…"

"You're Shepard…? My husband spoke highly about you, even after what happened, but the guilt ate away at him… We divorced because he couldn't deal with his guilt and what had happened… Please, Shepard, I'm begging you, please save my daughter!"

"Your ex saved my career and my life on more than one occasion, I'd be honored to return the favor!" Shepard says, saluting the woman, who smiles with tears in her eyes, in which Shepard and crew quickly make their way towards the ExoGeni Building, 'Major, once I save your daughter, I'm coming for you next, sir. You saved me, and now it's time to return the favor!'

"Hold up, Commander!" A man says, walking over to Shepard. "Gavin Hossle, I'm a freelance Scientist who works at ExoGeni, I need to ask a favor of you."

"What kind of favor?"

"I heard some rumors on the ExtraNet a short while before the attack that you had been working on new weapon's technology. I have a brother in Militech who has offered me a job on Earth to bring my research to help on the project with the tech you developed. If you could retrieve my data, I can get out of here and help Militech create the new weapons." Gavin says.

"If I come across them, I'll bring your data back!"

"Alright!" Gavin says, smiling, "Also, I not only make weapon mods, but Cyberware Mods as well, if you need a quick mod job when you get back, I'll throw one in on the house for free if you bring back my data!"

"Done deal!" Shepard says, smiling as he and the group make their way across the Skyway again. However, once they get going, they begin hearing more chatter. "You owe us for this, Jeong! The Skyway is crawling with Geth!" Shepard listens in on this one, "Package is Secured, we're out of here!"

"Wait, shut down the Comm! We've got Geth incoming! DAMMIT SHUT DOWN THE COMM!" Another person says on the comms.

"I got a bad feeling about this…" Shepard says, the group making their way to ExoGeni's Building, and quickly begin clearing out the Geth from the area. However, as they begin to clear out the Geth, they begin hearing gunshots within the building, and Shepard leads the group to the location of the sound, soon finding themselves with several Geth Platforms and Varren Corpses on the ground, only for a shot to whizz by Shepard's head.

"Damn it!" A woman's voice says, "Sorry, I wasn't looking, I thought you were Geth, or maybe a Varren!"

"Lizbeth Baynham? What are you doing here?" V asks.

"My own fault, everyone decided to clear out of here, but I decided to stay behind to back up any data from the research we had. By the time I tried to find a way out, I had to find a place to hide. The Geth placed up an energy field to keep anyone trapped inside from getting out." Lizbeth says. "It seems they're trying to stop people from getting to the…" She stops but then clenches a fist, "To the Thorian…"

"Thorian?" Tali asks, "Whats that?"

"An Indigenous Lifeform, ExoGeni was studying it, and I only recently got promoted to a high enough rank to gain access to it…" She then pulls out a pin from her pocket, "I was given this when I proved i could be trusted with the research."

"You're with these guys?" Shepard asks.

"No, I don't work with Cerberus!" Lizbeth says.

"Cerberus?" Garrus asks, "Is that what these guys are called?"

"Yes, they're a human extremist group that is trying to secure human domination over the Galaxy… Through any means necessary. Right now they are a Black Operations Group working on Alliance Funding, but I was contacted by a rebel group within Cerberus, called Orthrus, that is trying to take them down from the inside. Miranda Lawson, Orthrus's Founder and my real boss, got me and my mother sent here to find out whats going on and shut down their operations." Lizbeth explains, "But first I had to prove myself worthy of their trust, and just as I got promoted enough to get the data on what is going on here, the Geth attacked, and Cerberus agents stormed the building. Luckily I kept the pin on me so they thought I was somebody they could trust, and their soldiers helped me get this far before they were killed by the Geth."

"Did you shut off their comms on their suits?"

"Yeah, I scanned them to make sure every form of communication was shut off. Now I need your help to get out of here, and get this data to Miranda."

"We'll help you, if somebody is out there going after these extremists, then I'm all for it!" Shepard says, "But stay here and keep a low profile, once we have the data, maybe you can help us understand what is going on?"

"Absolutely!" Lizbeth says, smiling as the group continues on.

"Cerberus… An Extremist group like Terra Firma…" Ashley says, "These people give humanity a bad name!"

"We'll make this right, Ashley!" Kaiden says, "No matter how long it takes!"

"I'm not letting those rabid dogs get away for long." Shepard says, now knowing the name of his prey. It takes some doing, but the group not only manages to dislodge the Geth Ship and recover Gavin's, but also finds a VI that is guarded by a Krogan, who isn't all that difficult to take out.

"Welcome Back, Research Assistant Lizbeth Baynham!" the Virtual Intelligence says.

"Good to see you again, tell me, what was that Krogan attempting to do at this console?" Shepard says, finding the Pin attached to his glove, probably by Lizbeth herself. 'Clever Girl…'

"The Previous user had attempted to gain access to details regarding Species 37, the Thorian. I was unable to get any relevant data. Alongside not having authorization to access the files, no new relevant data has been recorded on Species 37. All Sensors Monitoring the Observation Outpost at Zhu's Hope have become inactive for several cycles." The VI explains.

"The Thorian is at Zhu's Hope!?" Shepard asks.

"Affirmative, the Thorian is located within the Substructure of the Zhu's Hope Outpost."

"Tell me everything you know about the Thorian, don't leave out any details!" V says, shaking. The VI then goes on to basically say that the Thorian is, in the most basic and essential terms, a giant sentient fungus that, when it releases it's spores, and said spores are inhaled, infect, control, and eventually zombify their hosts, placing the infected under the Thorian's Control. ExoGeni, in this case, was utilizing Zhu's Hope as a testing ground for the Thorian's Mind Control and Zombification Processes, and, before the Geth attacked 85% of the people had been infected. Not only that, the thing is huge and, like any good fungus, has a huge neural network that seems to stretch the entire planet, not to mention it's intelligent, but doesn't likely see the hosts of it's spores more than tools. Moreover, it actually inflicts pain on a host's nervous system, conditioning them to obey it's commands over time, hence Ian saying "the Master's Whip" earlier.

Once they get back to Lizbeth, she confirms that she only recently got Promoted but didn't have enough time to access all the data, literally, her promotion came just moments before the attack. Thankfully, Shepard can sense she is telling the truth and gives her a copy of the data to give to her boss, the group quickly returns to the Skyway, in which their Mako quickly takes them back to where Julianna is.

"Shepard, get back here, fast! We got a problem!" Wrex says. "I just had a chat with our friend, Jeong, and it turns out he knows something we don't!"

"We're on our way, Wrex!" Shepard says, and soon the mako makes it back to where everyone is located. "Whats the situation?"

"I had a nice little chat with Jeong here, and he says that ExoGeni is going to purge this place, not only, that, they're sending some Black Ops group called Cerberus to do the deed!"

"Cerberus!?" Lizbeth says, aiming her gun at Jeong. "How dare you! These are innocent people!"

"I do this for the betterment of Humanity! With the Thorian's power we can take over the Galaxy!" Jeong says.

"You're a sick twisted man! Good thing I whipped up something for this colonists that will break the Thorian's hold on them!" Lizbeth says, she draws her gun. "By the way, Orthrus sends it's regards…"

"Wha-" That is when Jeong's head is blown off by Lizbeth.

"Lizbeth, what did you do!?" Juliana asks, horrified.

"What needs to be done to stop another war from breaking out, mom!" Lizbeth says, "I won't let Cerberus drag humanity down into the Abyss, I won't!"

"Lizbeth, I need you to calm down! Now you said you whipped up a cure for the colonists, did you lie to me?"

"I did… I was afraid you'd kill me once you knew how much I knew based on your reaction to the Thorian's data when you confronted me!" Lizbeth says, "I tried sending the data to Miranda but the power was cut before I could do it. Though the Cerberus officers were dead, I still had some power left on my Omni-Tool to synthesize to create the blueprint for a non-lethal neurotoxin that will knock out the colonists and sever the thorian's control over them. If we can synthesize the neurotoxin and load it into gas grenades, chemical rounds, monowires, blades, and knuckles, we could save the colonists!"

"Well then guess who has the mods to help?" Gavin asks, walking over, but holds his hand out. "Data, please!"

"Of course…" Shepard says, and thanks to this Gavin loads everyone up with specialized Neurotoxin armaments for the Thorian Battle.

"Remind me again, this Neurotoxin will harm the Thorian and save the colonists?" Shepard asks.

"Yes, but those who have been fully overtaken and transformed by the Spores will die upon even skin contact with the toxic vapors." Lizbeth says, "Good Luck Commander…"

"Why do I feel like we're running headlong into a Zombie Game?" Shepard asks, remembering the one time he played the original Resident Evil as a kid, and how those death animations scarred him for life, causing him to shiver in fear. The group gets back into the Mako and once they arrive near Zhu's Hope, Shepard notices something crouching nearby. "Okay, that's not ominous at all…"

"Shepard, before you step out, what are zombies?" Garrus asks.

"Undead monsters that are mindless and eat the flesh of the living, at least in more modern culture. I remember this one game I heard about called the Last of Us where a specific Cordyceps Fungus evolved to take over humans, and turned them into zombies, much like the Thorian is doing now… I am not looking forward to this at all…" Once they step out,the creature stands up and charges at them, in which Shepard activates his Sandevistan and punches it in the face, the knuckles opening up as a fine green mist flows from the metal bits. Upon contact, the knuckles blast the Thorian Creeper to die upon contact, it's body rotting away rapidly as the toxin is absorbed by the fungus.

"That was no colonist… No amount of infection could cause that…" Tali says, "Right?"

"Trust me, this was relatively tame compared to the types of undead we humans created for video games and tabletop rpgs." Shepard says, shivering. "Just remember, no hitting the colonists, that's what the neurotoxin is for!"

"NOW LET'S SMASH SOME ZOMBIE SKULLS!"