200 years ago, on an icy planet...

The constant blizzard they had been walking in for hours had annoyed them. They decided to
stop moving to catch their breath. "Spirits, Quiyn, this is hopeless!" Called out Therian.

Quiyn ignored him and attempted to contact the researcher who needed their help. "Alpha-Zeta, this is
Delta-Charlie." Static came through the comm. "Alpha-Zeta, this is Delta-Charlie, Parnos, do you
read me?" More static came through for a moment and the comm came to life. "Desis! Thank the spirits. Did you find it?!" Asked the voice, it was hard to hear due to the blizzard.

"Find it?...Doc, I don't even know what we're looking for!" He said back. "Argh...Just...Just follow the waypoint in your suit! I can't tell you any more! Just get the...Everything is..." The signal started to decay.

"What?...Doc I can't hear you!" Desis tried hitting his helmet in an attempt to fix the signal, but it
was gone. "Dang it!..." He said. "Follow the waypoint? We've been following it for three hours
and haven't found anything!" Therian said as he stood beside Desis.

Desis decided to start moving, following the blue line that acted as the waypoint in their helmets with Therian following close behind. The blizzard started to let up after they had walked through knee-deep snow for nearly 5 minutes. Once they could finally see, they saw the remains of a ship that had crashed recently. "Oh no...Spirits.." Breathed Desis as they began making their way towards it.

Down below they could see parts of the command center. There was smoke rising from the vehicles and Desis
believed they were attacked, but they couldn't stop now. They were close to their objective.
They were on an icy cliff, so they had to be careful.

They approached the ship's emergency hatch carefully. "Hey doc, we found it!" Desis suddenly said aloud, hoping the comm system worked now they were out of the blizzard. "Good! Can you get inside?" Replied the voice, he sounded hurt. "It's all sealed up!" He said in return. "Look around, th-there must be a way!" They looked at the ship's emergency hatch.

It was glowing slightly and read Break latch. Desis looked at Therian who nodded at him and he raised his rifle to fire. "Damnit Quiyn, you don't even know how to hold your rifle." Desis ignored him yet again and fired at the latch, breaking it and allowing the ship's hatch to burst open followed by groans. Both soldiers stepped back and Quiyn raised his rifle, and Therian raised his pistol, as it was all he had.

Both of their tracking lasers that acted as 'scopes' traced through the smoke. They knew what was coming, they had fought a few of the
creatures before, but they still scared Desis as he was a new recruit. With another groan, a white, frozen figure that resembled a human bursted from the door.

"Shoot it! Shoot it!" Cried Desis as he fired at it, the frozen corpse fell apart with a few bullets, but more came through.
Their groans and unworldly moans sent shivered through Desis' whole body. "Quiyn, you're not a soldier!" Called Therian as he fired at the creatures, the limb of one creature broke off as one of his rounds hit it, but it got close and Therian hit it in the head with the handle of his pistol, nearly causing the creature's head to shatter.

After that one died he turned around and fired a shot into the head of the creature that had latched onto Desis with it's arms. Once it fell off, Desis was breathing heavily. "Th-Thanks." He said and nodded at Therian. "You should have stayed on Palaven, you've no business to be here, Quiyn. You're the only private here, everyone else is at least a sergeant."

They made their way into the ship, not encountering any more creatures. "Clear!" Desis called out. "That thing the doctor wants is probably in the cockpit." Usually, Turian ships had bridges, but this ship was a small transport, only having a 2 seat 'bridge' for a pilot and co-pilot.

"Okay, which way?" Desis asked. "It should be up that ladder there. I'll stay here and keep watch. Hey, Desis?" Therian patted him on the shoulder. "I know I give you a hard time, but you're a good kid." He pointed to the ladder and Desis flared his mandibles under his helmet. "Thanks, Therian."

He began making his way down the hall and tripped over something and elicited a yelp. He turned and raised his rifle, the flashlight built into it illuminated a female Quarian. Desis breathed a sigh of relief and lowered his rifle. "Who're you? I thought the Hierarchy was the only power here?" Desis asked and helped the Quarian to her feet.

Her suit was black with grey highlights, it looked to be some sort of military suit. "My name is Rena. Rena'Ganu nar Idenna. And I work for the Hierarchy." She replied. This baffled Desis, he hadn't expected to see a Quarian here.

"I'm here on a mission with my partner, he's just down the hall there keeping
watch, we have to recover something called the 'Codex'." He explained to her. Rena coughed a few times "Th-That thing? It's in the cockpit, up there." She pointed to the ladder that Therian had already pointed out to him. "You'll need two to open the pilot's cage." She said and nudge him towards the ladder.

"Who's your commanding officer?" She asked as Desis began to ascend the ladder. "Uh, um. G-General Actdros. General Octus Actdros." Desis replied, which made Rena giggle. "You're so nervous, are you sure you're a soldier?" She said at him with a joking tone. "O-Of course! I know how to shoot." He said which made Rena sigh.

"Any fool can pull a trigger." She said once they both got to the top of the ladder, Desis pulling her up. "Okay, get in-front of that screen, there." She said and walked to the one on the farthest side of the cage. Desis did as she said and got in-front of the screen that was exactly the same as her's.

"Okay, 3...2...1...Now!" Desis said and pressed the screen where it said 'Activate'. Rena did the same and the pilot's cage flew open. Rena leaned against the side of the cage and crossed her arms while Desis walked to the pilot's seat, and reached over and picked up a cylinder that felt unusually heavy. He clipped it to his armor's belt.

"Doc, it's me. I have it." He said. "Good! Now get to the silo, don't stop for Anybody!" The doctor replied, and Desis turned his head to notice a screen with a red background. 'Self-Destruct in: 00:02' Desis' eyes widened and by the time he even knew what to do, there was a massive explosion, which knocked him against the console as Rena got flung into him.

He was thinking of his mother and father, about Therian who he had come to treasure as a friend, and their mission. "Therian! Get out now!" He said over his comm, but all he got was static. He couldn't move, with Rena's weight on him, and the pain in his arms and one of his legs, he assumed the worst, that his arms and leg were broken. He began to breath heavily, and turned his head just in time to see another explosion, and then everything went black.