Zhu's Hope

From Mass Effect Wiki

Zhu's Hope is the small settlement and port where Commander Shepard docks upon arrival at Feros. The outpost is built into one of Feros' ancient crumbling skyscrapers and makes use of ancient Prothean water conduits and abandoned hydroponic bays. The colonists sometimes hunt varren for additional food. It functions as ExoGeni Corporation's main port while the larger part of the colony lives closer to the headquarters up the Skyway.

Though there are some small shacks around, Zhu's Hope is centered around a crashed freighter called the Borealis. The salarian merchant, Ledra, intended to make a fortune by supplying the fledgling colony, but since the geth attacked Feros, the colonists have mostly been using the ship for shelter.

[edit] Colonists

• Fai Dan
• Arcelia Silva Martinez
• Macha Doyle
• May O'Connell
• Davin Reynolds
• Greta Reynolds
• Hollis Blake
• Calantha Blake
• Hana Murakami
• David Al Talaqani
• Ledra
• Ian Newstead

Spoiler warning: plot and / or ending details follow.

Zhu's Hope was used as an experimental control group by ExoGeni after the corporation discovered the Thorian below the colony. According to the ExoGeni VI, the last report before the geth attack was that 85% of the colonists were infected with mind-controlling Thorian spores. This infection makes the colonists act strangely and turn violent when Shepard returns from the ExoGeni headquarters.

Shepard's actions determine the fate of Zhu's Hope; if Shepard shoots Ethan Jeong, ExoGeni pull their funding but Zhu's Hope becomes free to grow without their influence. If Shepard can persuade Jeong to use this incident as good publicity, ExoGeni pour the money in and start building Zhu's Hope anew. However, this is dependent on how many colonists survive.

[edit] Trivia

'Zhu's Hope' may be a nod to Hadley's Hope, the colony on the planet LV-426 from Aliens.