For Moodybread. Thank you for sticking through with me for such a long time. I was never able to truly repay everything you've done for me, and I'm truly sorry about that. I always thought that telling you I love you every now and then and remaining faithfully diligent was enough, but lately in our time of separation I realized that it isn't. This story has been long in the works and I dedicate it to you. I hope it does justice to the Commander and his squad.
Hello and thank you for taking an interest in this fanfiction! I'd just like to say that this is the first fanfiction I've ever had the diligence to actually attempt to complete to the fullest so please bare with me if it seems rather drab at certain points. I know it isn't much and I am open to constructive criticism. Without further ado, enjoy.
~xxxxx~
"… Tau Volantis?" Shepard said bemused.
"That's right Commander," said Traynor. "The distress signal is coming from over here." She pressed a few keys on her designated terminal and the holographic replica of Tau Volantis that was hovering over the gridded glass of the galaxy map enlarged for Commander Shepard to see. "I pinpointed the exact location of the distress signal right over…" a small green dot started to blink steadily on the surface of the hologram. "Here."
"What does the signal say?" Shepard asked.
"Nothing," said Traynor. "It's coming from a broadcasting tower installed a few centuries back. Back then interstellar distress signals were nothing more than electronic flares, just shout-outs saying 'hey I'm over here!'" Traynor said jokingly. "The signal is quite fresh though, popped up at our radar just a few minutes ago."
"Uh-huh," Shepard said, crossing his arms. "And how do we know this isn't a trap? Could be just space pirates after our supplies."
"We've been through sticky situations like that Shepard, and as far as I can remember no one ever got the jump on us," a grizzly, familiar voice came from behind, it was Garrus. "Let's go for it, we'll just regret ourselves if it turns out to be an innocent soul after all."
"Wait!" yet another familiar voice said, this time it was chirpy and feminine. It was Tali. She was holding a datapad as she briskly walked towards the group from the vid comm room. "Tau Volantis is invaluable to a Quarian engineer."
Traynor gestured to Shepard that she return to her regular duties. Shepard nodded, and approached Tali with Garrus to hear better what the Quarian had to say.
Tali's helmet reflected the faint glow of the datapad that she held. Her amethyst eyes glimmered as she recited the words on the screen of the device. "Tau Volantis is a small ball of ice, not much larger than earth. No sentient life is recorded to be colonized on the planet as of the moment, but it is assumed a colony of Protheans lived here long ago, before an ice age sprang up almost overnight and wiped them out. Despite its freezing temperatures it is still possible to walk the planet with the appropriate attire."
"The ones responsible for the documentation of the planet are humans, and they come from a technological age that was quite short." Tali added after she finished reading what was on the datapad. "As you can see Shepard, not only will there be Prothean technology there worth taking, there will also be ancient human technology that was never brought back home; there could be something new there, Shepard, something that will surely give us Quarians and Geth an edge in rebuilding our homeworld!" Tali said with an energetic aura.
"That's very interesting…" said Garrus, scratching the back of his head. "But how would we know you don't just want to go down there because I'm coming?" Garrus' mandibles "curled up," forming a turian version of an assuming smile.
"Well… I didn't forget about that." Tali cooed as she snuggled up right next to the Turian.
Shepard rolled his eyes playfully. "Alright, alright. Let's go down now. We need to gear up while Cortez is prepping our ride down there. I'd like this distress signal done with. The one who sent it is probably starving down there by now."
In a dark abandoned mega-institution at the freezing planet of Tau Volantis, deep within its ruined hallways, up its massive broadcasting tower, two heavily armed men stood in front of the radio controls. One of them had his index finger pressed on top of a big red button. He wore armor that hardly looked protective. It was rusty brown, had thin plates, and not at all bulky. He was carrying what seems to be a make-shift gun. There were bloodstains all over the man's face. He had deep blue eyes and an unkempt beard. He was aged and his face had exhaustion written all over it. The other man wore red armor that looked military issued. Equipped with a utility belt, shoulder pads and a chest guard, he looked intimidating carrying a military-grade pulse rifle. His face's most prominent feature is a huge scar running down his cheek, besides that the man himself had a face that was stern and rigid, despite being slightly, humorously chubby. It befitted his personality quite well: he was a tough man, but had his soft spots. He looked like he was only a couple of years younger than his companion.
"Well? Did it work?" asked the man in red, not at all excited to hear a yes.
"I don't know. The monitor's broken so I can't tell but judging from the wiring the thing should still be working. All that's left to do is wait," replied the man in the shabby armor.
"You know that can take years right?"
"Yeah, but what else can we do? Might as well go down fighting," the man slowly sat down and buried his head into his knees as he leaned his back on the radio controls.
The vents inside the walls began to rattle.
"Hey hey hey. You still have her waiting for you back on earth. We aren't going down. We are going home."
The rattling got more violent.
The man on the floor looked up to his companion with his sad tired eyes, who was looking down on him with his eyes filled with vigor and determination despite of all the terrors they must have been through. The man on the floor couldn't help but smile.
The insides of the control room was dark, especially those away from the window overlooking Tau Volantis right in front of the radio controls. But even without clicking their flashlights open the two can see where the ear-grinding sound of blade screeching against metal was coming from: the vent grate at the opposite side of the room. Dents toward them were starting to form. It was about to burst open and let something into the same room they were in. The man in red reaches his hand out to his partner. Slowly as if nothing terrifying was about to come after them, he complies and is hoisted up by his friend at a generous pace.
At the moment both of them were firmly standing, a piece of their armor located on their chests opens up, out comes something unidentifiable at its current form. Inch-by-inch it enveloped their heads as a firm yet comfortable protective headgear. Helmets.
The depressed looking man's helmet would have looked like a bucket if it weren't for the plates in front guarding his face. Lights within the helmet beamed a powerful blue out of the three horizontal slits of the protective gear.
The fierce-looking man's helmet had blood red light shining out of the triangular eyeholes that would send a shiver down any man's spine.
Not a moment too soon the vent burst open. What appeared right in front of them did uncountable gruesome acts: growled, hissed, stalked, twitched… It was practically ready to pounce in for the kill.
Unfortunately what they were dealing with wasn't human… not anymore.