8 Ch.8 - Zhu’s Hope

"Ready to bust some headlights kid?" Wrex asked with an excited smile as he adjusted his favored shotgun.

"Indeed. I've analyzed Geth patterns and strategies from past encounters, as well as extrapolated possible developments using pure logic when looking at our own abilities." I answered with some confidence, earning me a grunt of acknowledgement, but it would seem this answer disappointed the krogan slightly.

Tali has also gone in great detail regarding anything Geth due to her's and her people's conflicts influencing her.

Although I could not understand the depth of her feelings regarding the Geth, I could understand the distaste for their usage of the 'Dragon's Teeth' to turn humans into 'Husks'. A strategy which could only be born from pure logic and an absence of 'morality', to turn one's enemy into a weapon.

It helped me learn more of the consequences of delving too far into such a mindset. The lack of…heart, makes this approach unpalatable to me.

Scientists who lose their paths, Cerberus which has sacrificed humanity to 'push it forward', Geth who corrupt the living for their purposes and seem to have decided on following the 'Reapers' and Sarren in the elimination of organic life.

That last one brings me some pause however.

This new goal of 'reaping' organic life the Geth seemed to have adopted, clashes against what Tali has told me of her people's exodus from their homeworld after losing their home planet.

When a synthetic being, something based on logic, makes decisions, they are usually executed with extreme precision and without pause or fail unless it threatens the continued existence of the being. The Geth, had a near total victory against the Quarian and clearly had advanced enough technology to continue and end the war. End the threat to their existence, but they never did.

From what I understood, the Geth never pursued the Quarian people, never attacked the Migrant Fleet nor did anything beyond 'protect their borders' within the Perseus Veil.

This led to a 300 year stalemate, meaning that, logically, the Geth made one of two decisions: to not seek war or to prepare for it.

Their recent actions suggest the latter, but I could not understand any form of logic behind their current approach to war.

If one approaches conflict logically, the best opening moves would be to eliminate the most isolated or weak targets, in this case the Quarian Migrant Fleet, or destabilize the biggest threat, that being the Turian Military in the eyes of the Galaxy at large.

Attacking Human colonies, unimportant targets when thinking objectively, focusing on Prothean artifacts, none of it matches Geth patterns unless they have somehow progressed to a thoughts process beyond understanding.

It is also extremely unlikely Sarren, an organic agent, would convince them to move against humanity for no apparent gains while creating various threats for them.

If the Geth wanted to kill all organic life forms, then they would have needed to create more troops, weapons and ships, requiring ressources which would have been limited in the Perseus Veil, necessitating travel and facilities outside of it. But there has never been any indication of such a thing, further confusing me as to why the sudden change.

It is as if something convinced the Geth to act against their own best interests or to ignore certain aspects. Something I sincerely doubt Sarren, or Dr. T'Soni's mother, would have managed.

So what changed?

"Neo? Are you ok?" Tali asked as I felt her worry for me again.

"I am Tali. Simply pondering some data." I softly answered.

It looked like my friend was about to speak, but she was interrupted by the Commander using our comms.

"Everyone out! We've got Geth trying to overrun the colony inbound!" She ordered, causing the rest of the ground team to immediately head out.

It took a few minutes to properly reach the colony itself.

The airlock and making our way through the ruined building taking time.

Stone like walls showing the traces of time as some green overtook it, bullet holes from the era the civilization crashed or from those who've been here since, evidence of cave-ins, blocked doors, cut off routes and even broken walls and ceilings.

On our way, Tali and I paid attention to the seemingly new model of Geth.

Lightweight, little to no armor, soft looking synthetic muscle tissue, with small hooks on the hands and feet. Clearly meant for infiltration and agility.

The location of the body suggests they are proficient in inclosed buildings, but the lack of weapon hints either concealed ones within the body or possibly built in somehow. Later study required.

I could see the physical resemblances to Quarians by the design. Something suggesting that the Geth might have a form of 'attachment' to the shape if they haven't changed to more efficient designs. Or maybe it is a lack of 'imagination' and creativity halting such progress.

We made our way to the site proper, finding several standard customizable outpost units set up on the rooftop.

These pre-made structures revolve around the principale that each 'room' is detachable and can be connected to the 'main corridor' to form 'complexes' to fit all needs. In this instance, mainly housing.

But as we took in the overall situation of the colonists, we heard gunfire on the other side of the colony itself.

'Low energy, elevated stress levels, sensitive to stimuli, signs of hunger and mild dehydration. This situation is not optimal for continued defense.' I analyzed quickly as we all rushed passed the meager number of armed colonists and made our way through the ruined skyscraper the gunfire was now coming from as we tracked the trail of bodies.

"Three more coming down the stairs!" We heard Garrus yell between gun shots.

"I'll hold them!" Lt. Alenko responded.

"And I'll know 'em down!" The Commander finished as the telltale signs of a shotgun resounded.

"Back up's here!" The Turian announced as Wrex, Ashley and I rushed passed him and began suppressing the Geth even further.

"Ash, Neo! I want you two to head down to the colony and make sure they don't get any surprises! Take Kaiden and Tali!" Shepard ordered as I cleanly shot two Geth Trooper models through their lights.

'Logical actions make targets predictable. Must alter my own to eliminate weakness. Efficiency is not always optimal.' I inwardly noted.

"Understood." I calmly responded as I continued firing while retreating.

"Everyone else, I want to sweep this building! This is where the colonists said the Geth kept coming from and I want it to be ours!" The Commander quickly ordered as she dashed out of cover, used a biotic [Charge], causing her body to be encased in a blue aura before crashing into a Geth Trooper, sending its broken form crashing into the wall and smearing it with its white conductive fluid, then she fired her shotgun at point blank range on its partner, used one hand to [Pull] a third from further away before gifting it a new hole with her weapon.

Meanwhile Garrus was quickly shooting down the various turrets and drones deployed by the Geth with great efficiency, Liara protecting him while supporting the frontline by [Warping] or putting some Geth under [Stasis], and Wrex was very enthusiastic about not being out done by the Commander as he happily charged against a Geth Destroyer.

My own group fell back to the colony with nothing in our way.

Once there we have a quick look, not finding any sort of panic, fighting or Geth Dropship, so we approached the nearby colonist with Ashley and Lt. Alenko in the lead.

"Is everything alright? Where's your commander?" A man in his mid 50's, shaven head, tired eyes, normal frame and wearing a worn white mechanic's outfit.

"The Commander is cleaning up the rest of the tower with the other half of our team. She sent us down to make sure no Geth gets the drop on us or you." Lt. Alenko calmly answered with a reassuring smile.

"That's very thoughtful of her." The man replied rather politely.

"C'mon LT, we should secure the area." Ashley brusquely said.

"Right. Ash with me, we'll cover the East side, Tali and Neo have the West." The Lieutenant ordered with a quick nod to the older man before we each went around the colony.

Tali and I immediately began scanning the area for any signs of Geth, while she also sent out her drone for some reconnaissance.

We discovered problems in the water and electrical systems, both of which would cripple the colony if not fixed soon, but no signs of Geth.

While scanning however, I did pick up some odd readings in the air. Not putting chemical warfare out of the possibilities, I used my Omni-tool and suit systems to analyze a sample.

As a result, I discovered that there was an unrecorded species of spore, invisible to the naked eye, floating all around us.

Unrecorded meant possibly dangerous. Even if the colonists, who have been inhaling the spores for a long period of time, seem to exhibit no obvious effects. The constant breathing in of an alien fungus' spores is highly unrecommended as a whole.

This is something I shall warn the others about.

"Anything Tali?" I asked my partner.

"No. My drone hasn't found anything new either. Not since we spotted that Dropship flying away." The Quarian answered as she deactivated said drone.

"I found a type of fungal spore which maintains a constant presence in the air that worries me, but nothing else." I reported to her.

"A spore? Really?" She asked out of curiosity.

"Yes. There is no similar spore I could match it to on short notice, but I would prefer to warn the others sooner rather than later to avoid any potential problems. Even if the colonists appear fine. We do not know the effects of inhaling alien fungi." I seriously answered.

"Huh. I guess having to always wear an enviro-suit does have its advantages." Talk jokingly commented as she place a hand on her hip.

"It would appear so." I replied with a small smirk. "Shall we head back? With the flight of the Dropship I would assume the Commander and the rest of the team should be on their way back."

"Yup. We can report what we found about the water, power and your spores." She confirmed with a quick nod before we both closed our Omni-tools and went back to the Skyscraper the others cleared.

There we found the Lieutenant and Ashley, with an approaching Shepard, Garrus, Liara and Wrex, and everyone appeared unarmed.

"Status report." Shepard cleanly ordered.

"No Geth in the colony but we've heard some colonists talk about some in tunnels under it, but these people need food, Shepard. They're running low." Lt. Alenko reported with care for the well being of the colonists.

"Well we found some problems with the power and water systems. The water just needs to be reactivated, but the valves are in the apparently Geth infested tunnels. For the power though, we need some replacement power cells." Informed Tali as she built off the Lieutenant's report. "Oh, and Neo said he found a weird spore in the air. He recommends helmets to filter your oxygen since he couldn't find anything on it."

"The colonists have been breathing it in with no problem though." Ashley pointed out.

"Be that as it may, even without any visible short term effects, I do not think it wise to risk possible long term ones when faced with an unknown fungi on an old world such as this." I retorted neutrally.

"I'm with Neo." Garrus said casually. "Not really feeling up to testing out unknown spores, especially when we only have some kind of evidence that humans aren't being harmed yet."

"Meh. I've dealt with worst than a mushroom, but at least I get to headbutt things harder with my helmet." Wrex shrugged with little care.

"I do believe caution in the face of the unknown is wise." Dr. T'Soni advised as she supported me.

"Well alright then. Helmets on for everyone. After that I'll ask around to see if the colonists know anything that can help their situation before we head out." The Commander said as she looked at the team. "Meanwhile the Normandy will prep the Mako for us and when we're done helping out here, I'll take a small team to investigate ExoGeni's Headquarters."

"""""""Understood.""""""" The Squad responded as everyone prepared.

The Commander went to talk to the middle aged man we had encountered earlier, who was apparently the leader of this colony, a man named Fai Dan.

Tali went to discuss the power cell issue with a female colonist by the name of May O'Connell. She suggested I wait a bit away due to my large stature and armor being seen as intimidating.

A good thing to know in case I ever need to intimidate anyone in the future.

It didn't take long for Tali to return.

"She said that we could find the right power cell if we could scavenge some of the vehicles left down in the tunnels when Geth started attacking. Apparently they left quite a few. But the main area she suggested was last said to be infested by Varren." Tali reported to me.

"The Varren could help the food crisis Lt. Alenko reported, but we do not have anything which could serve as a suitable power cell aboard the Normandy? Not even from the Commander's 'Pile' or your own parts?" I responded as we walked together.

"*Sigh* The systems are just too old. ExoGeni really skimp out on equipment. The only reason we could replace the power cell with one from their vehicles is because theirs were that old too." My friend answered with some mild annoyance towards the founders of the colony. "But good call of the Varren bit."

"All we can do is report it for now." I said as we all slowly gathered, ready for action.

"I got a rundown of the tunnels from Fai Dan." Shepard began as she showed us a holographic map using her Omni-tool. "The water valves are located at various points on this path. The colonists also guess that the Geth transmitter is near the end of said path.

Now, Tali said that to fix the power situation she would need access to this area, which is also coincidentally filled with the Varren which could fix the food situation. So, when we get to this junction, Tali, Neo, Kaiden and Liara are going to go and take care of things and then keep our way out cleared until Garrus, Wrex and I sweep the Geth, turn on the valves, bust up the transmitter and come back.

Any questions?"

Seeing none, the Commander nodded and we headed out.

_______________________________________

EXTRA AUTHOR NOTES:

A bit short but this feels better than me trying to stretch out the chapter and feeling annoyed by it.

Anyway, here's Neo on his first Main Mission so far.

I'm trying to make it come across properly that Neo is currently a Party Member. His status is the same as the others and gets no special treatment, resulting in him not being picked every time or somehow becoming equal to Shepard or the 'real leader'.

I'm also working on trying to make it less game-like and a bit more realistic by having the Squad help out around the colony, splitting up to better cover their bases and having everyone work together when they can.

While this happens, I'm trying to make party divisions logical, like having Garrus, Wrex and Shepard together for a combat heavy encounter while the others take care of secondary objectives.

During the mission I'm also trying to have Neo show his advanced intelligence and 'stats' by using deductive reasoning, putting clues together and finding said clues before others, and having a higher awareness of his general situation. It's a bit hard, but I'm don't want him to be an 'in-your-face' type of smart character that just talks and everyone else is just going along with it.

Next chapter will have more combat, I'll see how I do there. Then there will be party split due to the Mako and I'm thinking about leaving Neo behind to take care of the Colonists instead of shoe-horning him into going when I logically believe Shepard would bring Tali and Wrex to Geth HQ.

Anyway, hope you still enjoyed even if it was a bit boring.

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