[Shattered Soul] 8 – Feros Part 1

[A/N: This will be an AU Mass Effect following relatively close to the base game. I'm just not gonna be able to keep track of all the details, data, voice  dialogue, etc]

As the Normandy neared the planet, Feros, Shepherd, and everyone else gathered in the cargo bay, readying themselves for the coming battle. Church noted the surprising lethality of their weapons. Ultimately, their weapons were inferior to the ones utilized by Humanity from Church's universe and the Covenant, even if the UNSC's weapons would be more expensive to maintain and acquire sufficient ammunition compared to these mass-effect accelerated guns that used ammunition the size of a small grain of sand.

Church informed the...Krogan, Wrex, of the advantages of the UNSC weapons, which led to the reptile grabbing the M45 Tactical Shotgun, a favorite of the Helljumpers, the UNSC's ODST, for its stopping power and ability to shred through Covenant shields in close range and deal devastating damage to anything that got too close for a soldier’s liking with even a near miss providing crippling damage to whatever it hit, most of the time.

It was noted that the shotgun struggled against the Covenant's more elite infantry and their better armor and shields, but against some basic machines with primitive shielding compared to the Covenant, it would prove lethal in close range.

Church was surprised by just how much the Krogran took with him from the ship, but if there's one thing the Krogan did not grab enough of, it was ammunition, as nearly all of the UNSC weapons the Krogan grabbed were with the magazines already inserted, meaning the shotgun had a mere eight shells before the Krogan would run out of ammo.

This led to Church's following suggestion: among the weapons the Krogran grabbed were some Covenant weapons as well, though they were far more sparse than the UNSC weapons the Krogran grabbed. 

The weapons are A Needler, a Plasma Sword, multiple Plasma grenades, and a plasma pistol.

Church recommended the Plasma sword as a second option for close combat due to its lethality in close range and ease of use. 

Church did not know how the Krogran managed to carry so many weapons with him in such little time on the UNSC Last Stand, but Church was thankful for it. At least with the UNSC weapons, Church should get a front-row seat to just how effective the UNSC weapons would be compared to the guns here and how strong the Geth were.

While the Krogan prepared for the coming battle, Church's gaze moved over to the Quarian, Tali'Zorah. From his brief conversation with her, Church knew that she wouldn't be a reliable source of information while she still held such resentment towards the Geth and AIs in general. It was clear to Church that her people were arrogant when they created the Geth, her people skirting the supposed laws of the Council against the creation of AI, calling them VI that grew in intelligence and processing power with the more Geth programs connected in their local network. 

From what he learned, the Quarians initiated hostilities first, wanting to shut down the Geth, which led to the Geth retaliating for fear of extinction and kicking their creators off the planet. Though the question Church had was, why? Why did the Geth leave now? Why did the Geth not seek to eliminate their creators to prevent a future threat to the chance to grow while the Quarians fled from the planet? Why? Going off their limited intelligence, they still should have recognized the danger and sought to eliminate it. 

Suddenly, the intercom buzzed to life, and the pilot, Joker's voice sprung to life.

"Shepherd? We're nearing Zhu's Hope, landing in two minutes," Joker informed the Captain.

"Alright, Joker," Shepherd responded before focusing on e everyone else, "Everybody got that? Good, arm up and prepare yourselves. We have no idea what's going on down there, and we cannot contact Zhu's Hope. Wrex, Garus? I want you both to be upfront with me. Ashely and Kaden? Watch our backs. Tali? I want you with us; we do not know what we'll encounter. Joker? Once we are out of the ship, lock it down, keep a few of the marines guarding the exits, and lock down the ship. We're entering a warzone, so keep comm chatter to the minimum," Shepherd began flinging out orders left and right.

As everyone got up and checked their gear and guns, Church watched through the ship's sensors as the Normandy neared an improvised dock bay built into the side of some of the ruins stretching across the planet.

These...Protheans. Who were they to span across the Galaxy as much as the Forerunners? What could have made them go extinct? Infighting? Something akin to a Universal threat like the Flood? Shepherd saw these 'Protheans' go extinct via some device they called a 'Beacon,' and he and Saren believed the 'Reapers' were the cause of the Prothean extinction.

As the ship set down, it lurched forward, and the dock bay's magnetic coils were attached to the ship's hull, locking it in place.

"Joker, open the cargo bay doors," following Shepherd's order, the cargo bay doors slid open and everyone stepped out of the ship. The bay doors closed as Tali and Kaden were the last to step out.

"Good luck, commander," Joker wished before silencing the comms.

Without answering the pilot, Shepherd said, "Zhu's Hope is just ahead of us, through those tunnels and up a flight of stairs. We still haven't received any response from the colony, so be prepared in case of the worst. Wrex, Garrus? With me. Everyone else? Stick close and keep an eye out."

Jumping through each 0mni-tool and connecting them all via a network centralizing in Wrex's omni-tool, Church began his work in preparing firewalls and everything else he possible could with the limited computing power the devices had to keep the Geth from hacking their omni-tools.

However, as they stepped onto the catwalk, they noticed a man nervously waiting for them further down the catwalk. This man, clearly a civilian, was armed with a simple pistol and seemed to be glancing everywhere as if expecting a sudden attack.

Just as Shepherd neared, the man finally spoke up.

"We saw your ship landing. Fai Dan wants to speak with you," the man said, still wary.

"Whose Fia Dan?" Garrus spoke up.

"He's our leader. We need help preparing for the Geth. They are making another push. Please, up the stairs, past the-" Before the man could continue, a robotic head with a giant eye peeked out from behind the cover.

"Down!" Shepherd shouted too late as the Geth peeked around and fired upon the group, gunning the colonist down before they could react. Their shields flared up as they took cover behind shipping crates.

The Geth were relentless with their attack, not giving Shepherd or the others any edge or allowing them to peak from behind cover.

"Grenade!" Shepherd warned as she tossed a round beeping device in between the two Geth at the end of the catwalk.

Just as the device flew between the Geth, Shepherd clicked a button on her omni-tool, and the devices were sent an activation code, setting them off and thrusting the two Geth platforms into the nearby railing.

"Quick! Before they get back up!" Tali warned the others.

Wrex, Garus, and Shepherd charged forward while Church assaulted the two Geth Platforms through Electronic Warfare. These two Geth Platforms had over a dozen Geth Programs, each controlling the platforms and working together, and while at first Church believed he could beat the Geth through his superior programming, they had him beat in processing power. These two Platforms were linked with something further into the ruins, a few miles away, that was giving them massive amounts of processing power, enough to fend against him and to allow the Geth programs to start battering against the firewalls Church had erected. 

He held them off, but eventually, they would have made it through his firewalls. Luckily, in the short amount of time that Church was fighting off the Geth programs, the team had reached the Geth and destroyed their platforms, severing the connection they needed to try and hack the omni-tools.

It had only been a single battle, and Church already knew that he'd have to change tactics and get a hold of some upgrades.