Out of the Twilight | Mass Effect

16

As the Normandy landed on Feros, Andra grabbed Garrus and Nihlus. "Come on. I'm starting to hate dealing with the geth, and I want you two at my back." She heard Williams say something under her breath, but decided to address it at another time. Ashley hadn't shown any outright dislike of any aliens on the ship as of yet, and Andra didn't want to push what wasn't an issue.

Once they were clear of the airlock, they were met by one of the locals. "We saw your ship. Fai Dan wants to speak with you immediately."

"Who's Fai Dan?" Andra asked. She kept her hand on the butt of her pistol. The man's voice was... off somehow. The pacing of his speech was strange. Something's not right here....

"He's our leader. He needs your help do deal with the geth. They're making another push. Please. Up the stairs, past the freighter."

Before he could direct them further, a rocket came flying down the passage and caught the man clean in the side. The turians went to cover on either side of Andra, Nihlus drawing his assault rifle, Garrus his sniper rifle. Andra ran to forward cover and drew her pistol. With the turians providing covering fire, she quickly took down the geth in the passage.

"So, anyone care to speculate on why they sent someone who was stoned out of his mind to get us?" Andra asked after sounding the all clear.

Garrus looked confused, "Wait, what? How did you get that he was stoned?"

Nihlus snorted, "His speech patterns were off. He was pausing randomly, not at a point where most humans would pause."

"Congrats, Nihlus. You get a cookie. But why a stoner?" Andra paused on the stairwell. "Hold. I think I saw something."

Easing around a support beam, Andra saw two geth on the wall of the corridor. Huh. Looks like a tree frog had a baby with a geth. Signaling to Garrus, she nodded and they surged around the pillar and took out the two geth.

"Very nice. You've finally gotten your ass in gear and to the range. Still not quite centered, but you'll do." Andra laughed as she headed to the colony proper.

Garrus chuffed a laugh, "I only missed the center because you gave an incorrect location."

"That's what aiming is for!" she smacked him lightly on the arm, Nihlus silently fuming behind them.

As they entered the colony, Andra forced the grin off her face. She felt Garrus shift so he and Nihlus were flanking her. The colonists spoke around her, commenting that it was good that soldiers had arrived, some making minor complaints about the colony. Andra filed those away, the water, the varren, the generator, and decided to handle them if the opportunity arose. These people have been through a lot. It'd be easy to get the water back on, and varren are easy. Should be an old battery or two I can scrounge up, too.

She considered approaching a man trying to calm an armed woman down when he turned to her. "Oh, commander! I'm glad to see they finally sent someone to help us."

"You're a bit late, aren't you?" the woman snapped.

"Arcellia! Sorry, everyone's been on edge since-" He broke off as the unmistakable sound of geth came from the far passage.

"Watch out! We've got geth in the tower!" Arcellia called.

Fai dan called "Protect the heart of the colony!"

Andra and Nihlus moved to cover the doorway, while Garrus shot the first two through the door. Andra nodded at Nihlus, and together they entered the hall, each taking out a geth. They headed up the staircase and cleared the landing. Andra checked a room, shot two geth and sounded "Clear!"

Nihlus and Garrus continued further down the hall and wound up in a brief fight with a small cluster of geth. Andra came up behind them to assist. She gestured to a staircase leading down, and they moved on. Once at the bottom of the stairs, they encountered a small number of geth. They mowed through the geth quickly, and Andra leaned on Garrus when they were clear.

"Hold on a sec, boys. I think the water pump is down here. One of the colonists mentioned it not working."

"Are you going to stop and fix everyone's problems?" Nihlus asked, irritated.

Andra shrugged and opened the first valve. "Seems kinda stupid to save a colony and let it die off." She found and opened the second valve. "Could just be me, though." She moved on to the third valve. "You got a problem, take charge. My mission, I say help the civilians."

She noticed an old earth mover in a room off the main corridor, and gestured to Garrus. "Hey! Wanna gut another old vehicle?"

Garrus winced, but went to help her. "Please. My back is still screaming from the last one."

Andra pulled the first battery free. "That's why you're supposed to lift with your knees, dear heart."

Garrus chuckled and pulled the second battery free. They drew their pistols in unison as they heard a growl above them. They shot the alpha varren, and the rest of the pack attacked en masse. They made quick work of the beasts and Andra blew imaginary smoke from the muzzle of her pistol. "I love it when it's easy, don't you?"

Garrus laughed and grabbed the batteries. "Let's go check in with Fai Dan."

They met with the leader of the colony where they had left him. Fai Dan greeted them warmly as they approached. "The tower is secure, thanks to you."

"I'm just glad the colony is safe. We got the water turned back on, and dealt with a pack of rabid varren for you. Also, we dug up these batteries, might be a help with you generator."

"Again, my thanks, Commander. Not many would have gone out of their way to help like this." Fai Dan said, pleased.

Nihlus stepped forward, "The geth will likely return. We need to find their base."

Arcellia shrugged, "They're based out of the ExoGeni headquarters. The skyway leads right there. But there's an army of geth between here and there."

Andra just looked at her. "I never expected this to be easy. Where's the skyway?"

"Take the elevator to the garage. There's a mako."

Andra gathered her turians and headed out. In the elevator, Garrus turned to her. "If you get behind the wheel of that mako, I'm going to shoot you."

Andra laughed. "My mission. I outrank you. I'm driving."

Nihlus looked between them. "She can't be that bad. Get in."

Andra grinned at him, and shot a smug glance at Garrus.

Garrus looked mournfully at the ceiling. "I wonder if I could jump...."

Andra smacked his shoulder.