58 Noveria Part 1 & 2 (1/2)

System: Investigate Noveria. Rescue ???? Find out the reason Vorcha were called to the location. Rewards: Vary.

Cerebus Node: Find serum for humans. Failure: Increase speed in human indoctrination.

'A serum? What in blue blazes is going on here?'

Luna: The ship will break orbit in a few minutes. Everything is working in perfect order. The closest point to the last whereabouts of the team is in a hostile territory. To get to there location we would have to ignore Port Hanshan officials and regulations.

”Do it, I rather get as close a possible. The party that comes after can through all the regulations and docking issues.” I said to her as quickly as possible.

”Is that wise?” Jaina asked.

”Yes. If we get caught pay a fine. That simple. Or we could bribe. I rather not do that.. so yeah.” I didnt even think on it really. Considering that all the crazy shit that happens here anyway. ”Meh, it will be ok. Have you finished going over the material for landing and take off? You will need to know those two if myself or Lunabella become unconscious.”

”Alright, your the commander,” Jaina said to me neutrally. Her tone was weird and odd. ”I have the basics down. Going over the other procedures as we talk. I purchased an upgrade like yours.The one that allows you to do to things at once. It has been an extraordinary purchase.”

”I am glad.”

”Listen about before. This may not seem like the best time but I rather we talk now. Better chance for you not leaving or using violence.” Jaina paused before continuing. I guess she was trying to see if I was against this. ”You were for the horde according to the memories I have of you and your cousin. But that is just a side you chose. Would you have chosen the Alliance if you could have? Back in your world and then again in this life.”

”I started off as the Alliance actually. The game Warcraft did not paint you all in a good light when I finally got around to playing it. So I switched to the Horde and played as an Orc. Then I read the books, graphic novels, and comics. My interest favored the Horde a little more when I came back to playing after I did an Alliance Night Elf for a bit. Let's just say the Sargeras server was not very friendly.”

”What happened?”

”I beat someone in a duel. They got upset since I was a lower level then them that I won. But it was really close. Far as I remember, my spent forgot to switch over to pop gear. I didnt have any so I thought it was fine. Turns out the wrong thing to say. A few minutes later I started getting ganked. The dude and a few of his bodies switched to alts and came at me hard.

”What did you do?

”Nothing told a few of guildmates. They were to bust to help. Fighting a dungeon I think. So I just logged off. Started a Blood Elf paladin on a PvE server instead.”

”Pve?”

”Player versus environment. I enjoyed it a lot more. Came across a lot of other people who were playing casually as well.”

”So reading and a bad experience as an Alliance player cemented you for the Horde.”

”Pretty much. That and the people. Made a lot of great friends that way.” I thought about it a bit more now that we seem to be focused on it. ”I pick sides easily. Then I see it through. It would take a lot for me to change my view. That or frustration. Same as other people anyway. Sometimes you just have to change it up.”

”Why?”

”Well, why not? I am a Gamer. It is what we do I guess. Now I just seem to be living it. If in Mass Effect, you were able to start as one of the other races I would have. After doing the human routes of course. They are more relatable since.. well you know I am human. Then I would switch to whatever race sounded fun.” I notice nothing was showing up on radar still. No accurate targets were available.

”I see. Just wish you would give the Alliance a little more leeway.”

”They have it. I did play a Death Knight Worgen for a bit later on. It was ok.”

”You have an obsession with wolves.” I could hear the smile in Jaina's voice.

”Use to be Dragons, dinosaurs, and demons.”

”What's wrong with being human?” Jaina sounded off again. ”Then again I was an Eldar when going to Warhammer. It is a different experience. Also, a Blood Elf when on the ship. All different from being human.”

”Nothing really. I was a human all my original life. This place lets me experience others. Why not change my race up every now and then?” I became quiet once I notice we were coming up to our destination. ”We can continue this another time. Time to get our people out of there.”

”Of course,” Jaina said as she went over a few controls in the back. ”I have a few targets I can get on my descent. Let me out here and I can clear the way.”

”A drop attack?” I thought about it for a moment. Frick it, she knew what she was doing. ”Alright in 3 seconds I will flip you over. We won't use the ejection sequence. The speed we are traveling at already will help get you there.”

”3,” I slid the hatchback.

”2,” Jaina got ready by pulling her feet up. The buckles will pull off sideways away from her body. So no tangle.

”1,” the buckles came undone. ”Fwoosh,” she flew out like a bullet. I watched as the biotic barrier encased her. As she spread it out she started to rotate in the air.

”Hmm, arcane missiles are about the same as the biotic move shred. Guess that's what she will use.” I was right. Several discs went out. The faster she slung, the more discs of raw biotic energy went out. The geth didnt have a chance. ”Have to give it to her, she could defintely wield them with ease. Better then she did in Warhammer.” Pulling the stick back, I started switching the controls over to auto defense mode. It would fly around the area of us for 25 miles getting recon data and the like.

Luna: You are clear to dropdown. Jaina has cleared the forward area for you to push ahead. Be careful, scanners pick up small heat signatures. Hover mode engaged for 20 seconds.

I spotted the entrance to the building where my people entered. Last place anyway. Seeing one of the Geth Armature nearby, I engage my mag boots and walked onto the wing. Focusing on it, I tried to image charging it. Didnt even ring in my mind till later, that there weren't any here in the game. Small changes.

Galtea: Azul get ready.

'About as ready as I will ever be.' Primary mind switched over to combat while my secondary kept me focused on getting me to my people. Best way to keep my focus I thought. Didn't know till later it did more than that.

System: Intelligence 25 Pass Biotic Charge now available.

'Sweet.' Activating my Omni sword I waited till Luna got me closer. Slannesh was quiet and didn't like this place for some reason. ”Ragh!” with a yell my energy encompassed me and I zoomed right to it. For safe measure, I activated an Adrenaline Rush.

”Fwoosh,” the Geth Armature had turned to me and fired a rocket.

'Guess it got some upgrades. Well, things just got interesting.' With adrenaline rush going I was able to think clearer and faster. ”Bam,” I smack right into it. I broke it to pieces. The parts went everywhere in the snow.

”I will clear everything out here. You can count on me.” Jaina said over comms.

”Alright. If things get dicey, Luna can get the Arwing back to you for evac.” I dashed off to the entrance. The door was jammed. ”Not going to try to hack it, I should have the strength to push this open.”

”Crrkk,” the door gave way easily as I moved it opened. The entrance was a lot bigger than it should be. Didnt match the scope of the game at all. Then I saw the additional floors.

'This is not right at all!' I thought. 'Galtea how much is different. No way this is right.'

Galtea: This planet is at least 46% different from its original.

'Well, so much for that advantage. 46% is that bad.' I moved behind a wall when I saw some movement. 'No, way. Those Geth are massive.

Out walked three Geth bigger then Krogan. Shit, they were built like them anyway. Rocket launchers on all of their backs.

'No rifles? That is odd. No machine guns either. Mabe, they are bruiser types. Let's see what info I can get.' Using Observe on them I was shocked at the info.

Observe: Geth Supreme Level 16 x3

Status: Indoctrinated

'How the hell can they be indoctrinated? They are not even sentient. What horse shit is this?' My thoughts started to get weird at that. 'Has the reaper abilities gotten that powerful?' I felt it. A nudge in my mind again. Sliding my hand up to my rifle, I disengage the electric lock slowly. Slow and easy not making a sound.

”Unit 37, the door is open.” A geth said to another. I could not tell the difference between them. But they at least had numbers to designate themselves.

Unit 37 I guess. Turned towards the door and started moving towards it. My scanners picked up he was doing a scan of the area.

'Well shit. Proximity is way to close for my suit systems to keep it from reading negative.' Right as the line came up to me I popped up. Grenade at the one near me. A concussive shot towards the next closes one.

”Kaboom,” my shot hit home. However, the grenade was caught by the geth. He held it in his hand and crushed it. Not even a muffled sound.

Unloading my rifle from his head down to his midriff I shoulder checked him. With him offset I smashed his leg before moving forward.

”Kachak,” A sniper round hit against my shields.

Shields -23%

'Woah, pretty strong.' Turning to that get I unloaded. I had to resist the urge to fight in melee.

”Tak, tak, tak,” the rounds from my gun tore right through its shield and armor. Just like that is was down. Moving my lights over the others I unloaded three shots into each of them.

'Well that was.. better than I expected.' Moving my omni tool over them, I checked to make sure they weren't still functioning.

System: Intelligence Check 24 Pass

'Alright, that is good.' Looking around d I watched as the sensors in my helmet took I'm everything. Slowly my map filled in additional details. A minute before it would be done.

Attempting communication with Jaina, I waited for her response back. ”Can you read me?”

”Yeah, I read you.” Jaina voice came in crystal clear. ”To many out here. They started rising from the ground like Undead. You are on your own.”

”Copy that. Just stay safe.” I moved forward to the next area. 'Luna, keep a good eye on her. I didn't like the sound of them rising up like that.'

Lunabella: No, problem.

As I made my way to the next door I stopped. Moving my omni tool over it, the info it let me know someone else had already hacked it. The method was odly familiar.

'Great company. There is no way Shepard is here at the same time right?' I asked Galtea. Opening the door I stopped dry. ”Holy Mother of Pearl!”

Hanging from the ceiling were human bodies. Cut open meat sacks. On a table, I saw a mixture of a human and a geth.

'Well shit. Are they trying to take the place of humans?' I moved over and accessed a terminal with my Omni tool. 'Lunabella all yours. Take your time with this. Do not get caught or underestimate them. They are a lot more dangerous than before.'

Galtea: Shepard is not here. There are humans detected in the vicinity.

'Yay.' Company. Moving over to a tablet I grabbed and checked over for any issues or alarms. I found none. Reading through the info only took about two minutes. I isolated the tablet and put on my back. A charged locked it in place without destroying the hardware.

Stepping off in the shadows out of the way and any lights the door opened. Then closed. No one. I didnt take any chances

As I waited three humans walked in the next time the door opened. I was surprised at who they were. Ashley William's, Jenkins, and Jacob Taylor.

System: Stealth 21 Pass

”Get whatever we can, then we need to move out,” Williams said. ”Place is crawling with Geth. What the hell Shepard was thinking sending us here?” Moving around she stopped at a table not to far from me. She turned and gazed over me and shrugged. A piece of equipment drew her attention from me.

”Well.. it could be worse. The others had to deal with Rachni I heard.” Jenkins said moving forward. He stopped at a table and grabbed at a body. Jumping back he fell, shit it's still alive!” He knocked over a tablet and a pan on the way down.

”Crash,” the noise echoed in the room. William's walked over and helped him up. ”Take it, easy kid. The heart is beating but it doesn't look like much else is moving.” Once he was good, she moved over to a container. I already knew what was in there. A new narcotic. Extremely addictive to humans and turians. Designed to make you crave more but remain functioning. The biggest problem was that it slowly indoctrinated you.

Taylor moved over to cover the door. With his mouthpiece retracted I could tell the man was frustrated. ”Blasted Batarian slavers. This there handing work.”

”You don't know that,” Jenkins told him as he looked over the man. His back was turned to the body. He leaned against the table and pressed something by mistake as far as I could tell. It went red before going back off again. ”Besides the citadel and the Alliance have kind of treated them bad in the last couple of years.”

”Tch, no excuse for abducting colonists. Shit, some of these people come from Omega.” Taylor gave William's a look. ”What?”

”Hitting a little to close to home I take it?” Flicking the container open she stepped back. ”Damn that .. looks like a lot.” I watched as she stepped around looking for any identifiers. Unlike humans, Geth didnt need hazmat symbols I guess.

That is when I saw the body by Jenkins light up red. A Renegade option. I waited as the body sat up. And tried to grab him.

'Pull!' I wrapped my biotics around and pulled it towards the wall. ”Creen,” it just made a metal on metal screech. It didn't explode like I thought it would. The door then opened, and a few geth walked in. I was still in cover but William's looked my way.

”Kapow,” Taylor had unloaded his shotgun. The first to geth were blasted away. Rolling into cover, the shots already missed him.

William's started unloading her rifle into the others. She was not going for accuracy as she took cover behind that container. Jenkins had a heavy pistol taking potshots at the ones blown away by Taylor's next shotgun rounds.

Moving to another location, I stealthily made my way to the control room. Once I got there I saw what was happening. The entire outside of the facility was covered in geth. Jaina was a good bit away. The Arwing floated near here above.

'Luna get whatever you can from this. See if there is a shutdown or something. This is a geth factory.'

Luna: Can't. To busy flying the Arwing and going through some of the Systems already.

'Hand over the controls to Agumon me. He should be able to keep them off Jaina. I need your focus here.'

Luna: Understood. I will divert my attention towards the new task.

The change was immediate. 'This was a lot better with her in the controls.' Galtea chose that time to get my attention.

Galtea: It would be a good idea to stop that container from breaching. William's is a pillar of this world. Taylor will be in a few years. Jenkins surprisingly has become one. No doubt due to Shepard's influence.

'Your point being?' I asked while working the controls. I found the vent access as well as the location of a bunch of humanoids. Had to be my people. An elevator shaft will take me right to them. Well close enough.

Galtea: Saving them keeps the world stable. With all the rapid changes.. it needs it. Or do you want this place to become like Riku's?

'Fair point.' Reaching over I found the controls to stopped the ones outside from coming online once the others were destroyed. Disabling it took a lot of effort.

System: Intelligence Check 24 Fail

The coding was changing to fast for me. Going a different route I triggered the self destruct sequence on the waiting geth stacks below. Might as well thin the heard a bit.

”Rumble,” the facility actually shook a little. Outside, Agumon on the Arwing fed me the data. He already picked up Jaina in the Arwing and was just circling around letting her get practiced in. A small landslide buried a bunch of the geth. In time, they would get out.

Inside there was trouble. A big gray geth came inside. Cables left from his side and it hauled the others to him. Slowly it consumed the others adding new pieces of armor to itself.

'Dang it. Why couldnt there ve a crane for me to use!?' I thought as I ran out of the room back to them. There shots were doing nothing to its shields.

”We have to penetrate that shield!” William's yelled. She popped up and threw a grenade. I don't know why but I thought she was talking to me.

”Peww,” it barely made a dent in the shield. In fact, it only warbles for a moment before it restores.

”Crap, whatever it is doing, it is almost done!” Taylor yelled. He reached over and with his biotics ripped a table off the floor. Holding it in the air, I watched as Williams had another one behind it. Taylor threw his and she threw hers into his giving it more momentum.

'Concussive Shot!' I fired it right before the table hit. It made a hole and the table went right through the head.

”Well, that was something,” I said trying not to get shot as I came around getting into a defensive position.. Jenkins had his heavy pistol pointed at me. ”Seriously kid? That thing is not even dead yet.” I jumped to the side as it fired a shot at me.

”Move Jenkins!” William's yelled.To give him credit, he did. Moving away he propped up on one of the containers and opened fire.

”Ping,” the round just bounced off. I saw Jenkins tap the side and a mark appeared on the side of the gun facing us. Shredder rounds. His next shot went right through.

”Kachaw,” I turned to see the sound had made a hole about 4 inches wide in the wall.

”Brahh, I am so calling Hasbro after this! You totally copied transformers!” I jumped across another table when a rocket went towards me.

”Boom!” The table was slagged. I was obviously not there. I had moved to the next table and started firing at the lens on the body.

It turned its sights on Jenkins. On its left arm what looked to be a shotgun came out. Jacob was already on the move. Running forward with his shield he got in the way and fired at it. It barely made a dent as it fired back.

”Kachak,” the round was powerful as it punctured his shields and sent him flying. He was alive but it would leave a hell of a bruise.

William's had five grenade discs in her hand. She kicked off the container and sent it toward the geth. Soon as the container hit it, the grenades were thrown.

”Pop,” was all that we heard. The drug burned purple. Whatever was in it actually caused the geth to slow its movements.

Observe: Geth Construct Level 40

Status: Going through the process of indoctrination, systems malfunctioning

I waited till the drug burned up. Not taking any chances I sent a biotic shockwave to push any residue away. ”Raa,” I roared and charged at it next once I saw it was already restored to normal. Lifting a few of the bodies ahead of me to take the shots. I activated Adrenaline Rush and Biotic Shielding just in case.

”Kachaw, Kachaw, Kachaw,” whatever that monstrosity of a gun was, it fired in triple succession. It went through the bodies like they were paper.

I flung the remains of the bodies at it the remainder of its head. ”Thump, thump,” only two made it. From its torso, a mechanical claw came out and pushed the others away.

The claw swiped in the air causing me to duck and roll under it. ”Tat, tat,” two rounds caught the front of it. ”Hup,” I grunted having to jump back from the claw.

”Pow,” I watched as a rocket caught it on the side of the face. Effectively removing said face.