[Shattered Soul] 12 – Troubles with the Colony

Down below the Zhu's Hope, Garrus and Ashley were not having a good time. With their standing orders to help the colony, Fai Dan asked the duo to venture down into the tunnels not far from the colony to gather some meat by hunting a pack of local Varren, where they also found an intact power core from a crashed Mako, which helped with the Colony's power needs, they were then sent down to Geth infested tunnels to fix the piping that supplied the colony the majority of its water.

The problem was that there were far more Geth than expected, as reported by Fai Dan's scouts. There were dozens of Geth crawling through these tunnels, most of which were the typical Geth trooper, the wall jumpers, a few rocket Geth, and a Geth Prime. Geth Primes were just a step below Armatures in terms of Danger. They typically wielded rocket launchers or Plasma Shotguns that vaporized anything in their paths, and their superior shields and hulls made them giant walking humanoid tanks that could charge through concrete and kill everything short of a group of Krogan in melee combat.

With the support of nearly two dozen Geth, Said Prime left Garrus and Ashley in a retreating skirmish, with the two having to constantly fall back and take cover as the Geth advanced after them. Luckily for Garrus and Ashley, the tunnels worked in their favor as they provided funnels to attack the Geth from limited cover before they needed to retreat further down the labyrinthian tunnels.

However, with each Geth platform destroyed, the closer the Geth got to the duo, so they were forced to take drastic measures, Ashley, who was apparently armed with a rather large amount of explosives for a human soldier, started to liberally use them, tossing grenades and mines down the corridors the Geth Platforms stormed through, each explosion taking out a few Platforms, but providing the remaining Geth cover to get closer while the Duo took cover from the explosion.

The situation looked dire until they stumbled into a group of civilian scouts turned militia of Zhu's Hope. While untrained, these untrained combatants proved effective against the Geth with their civilian model weaponry and makeshift weapons, which proved more than effective against the Geth Platforms.

With the backup, the Duo, with the help of a small group of scouts, managed to push the Geth group back, giving them a moment of reprieve where Garrus, who was previously leaning against a wall, taking cover from the Geth's torrent of plasma bolts and projectiles that would have shredded through his shielding and armor in moments.

From his historical studies on the Citadel Races and their affiliates, he knew that the Geth easily overthrew the Quarrians. Due to outnumbering their creators six to one and functioning as nearly the entire workforce for the Quarrians, the Geth had a notable advantage in almost every category, especially as they combined their Programs, becoming more capable with each program added to the network they created.

But what concerned Garrus the most was the Weapons the Geth used. They were too advanced, far more advanced than anything he had seen yet, besides a few costly custom model firearms he had seen and confiscated during his time as a C-Sec Agent. The fact that the Geth had such dangerous weapons and had finally left the Traverse meant one thing: the Geth were changing, and now with the Geth under the control of a madman, they were damn near unstoppable by most conventinetinal means. Their shielding, combined with their Platforms' armor plating, made anything less than a shotgun or explosion far less viable against the Geth unless critical areas were struck.

"They've retreated for now, but they'll be back," Garrus warned, eyes focused on the corridor the Geth retreated down before focusing on the scouts.

"Thanks for the assist; you four likely saved our lives," Garrus smiled, lowering his rifle to look upon the four human males standing at half his height before him, noting the strange posture of the four humans that made them seem a bit too stiff.

"Fai Dan sent us down here to assist you after we started hearing shots and explosions from the colony. Do you need more assistance?" One of the men asked, his face rather stoic for a supposed colonist without any formal military training. They should have felt fear, or even. A hint of nervousness, but these men looked completely blank, like they were numb. 

Sending a quick glance to Ashley, Garrus noticed her slight frown, also noticing the unusual appearance and attitudes of the scouts.

"Sure, we could use the help," Garrus eventually spoke up, breaking the silence, not that the four seemed to care.

Taking a breath, Garrus raised his rifle and spoke again, "Then let's move, before they regroup with the Prime."

Once again, Garrus noted the four men's lack of reaction, and his guts told him something wasn't right, and it seemed Ahsley agreed with him, but for now, they had more pressing concerns.

The group of six rushed after the retreating Geth, quickly catching up with the Platforms and entering into yet another gun fight with the Geth, this time pushing them back deeper and deeper until they came across the Geth Prime once again. 

It took a few minutes, but with the help of the scouts, they managed to take down the Geth Prime and destroy the Geth Relays the Geth were protecting while also fixing the water piping.

They soon also came across a rather...concerning man hiding in the tunnels, but before he could say much, the scouts stepped forward and 'escorted' him back to the colony, before the man could say anything. 

When they left the duo alone in the tunnels, Garrus said, "There's something very wrong with Zhu's Hope. We need to tell Shepherd."

"But how? Comms are down," Ashley spoke up, clearly agreeing with Garrus's statement.

"We can only wait and hope we can contact Shepherd and the others before they return. For now, let's head back to Normandy and make sure the crew is alert and ready for anything," Garrus answered with a frown, his eyes still focused on the corridor before them.

"Sounds good," Ashley said, agreeing with Garrus's plan.