The story will also include an inter-species Prothean-Human pregnancy.

Shepard looked out to the large green mountains, so clear, and inviting in the warm summer sun. She wished she could shed her armour, as she was sweltering in her skin tight suit. The light metal material was meant for easier movement and protection, and not much else. Plus, the cool wind on her hands and face was divine.

The sky of Eden Prime was all blue, not even the soft ripple of a cloud, but looking out, there were huge, almost black rectangular pillars littered about the place, grooves ran up them, glowing green. That was new. The discovery of a prothean beacon had caused the technology of said species to come alive. For what reason was unclear.

"Commander Shepard," the tell-tail distorted voice of a turian addressed the N7 graduate.

She turned, nodding in greeting to her Spectre mentor. Before looking back over the land once more.

"It is beautiful. I should have come sooner."

"Being in the military has a habit of making you forget the world around you," Nihlus moved to stand beside her, his arms crossed behind his back. His emerald irises, a quality they shared, were fixed to the environment. "Being a Spectre makes you rethink it. Though, not always for the best reasons."

Shepard hummed in agreement. "Still a nice view."

Nihlus's mandibles slide up. A smile? It was hard to tell.

"It is," he turned back to the commander. "An officer we met on our way here, by the name Williams. She informs me that another artefact was found."

Shepard met his sights. "Another beacon?"

"No. Some sort of box. They have called for a prothean expert to come take a look. Want to see?"

"You know me so well already," she followed his lead as he stepped away. "Am I that much of an open book?"

Nihlus stopped mid stride. "I just wanted to see what's in the mystery box. If you want to take the blame, that's fine."

And that was where the memories cut out.

Shepard could just about recall the glimpses of Kaidan reaching out to touch the strange machine, and her act of rushing forward to throw him out of its path. The intoxicating feeling of pure, and foreign energy. Like a mix between a Vanguard's biotic charge and pull, holding her in place, and yet tearing her mind apart. Imagines of blood, muscle and wires flashing though her mind. None of it made sense.

Then there was darkness.

When she awoke, there was gun fire.

Shepard gasped, feeling like she had not taken a breath for years. She was full of feelings of dread, the same she had felt during the Skyllian blitz. She looked out the window, to come face to face with a ginormous black ship. With weak, almost shaking legs, she made her way over, reaching out to the window frame for support.

Its front had claws that took hold of the earth under it, while its hind-end stuck up like some sort of bug. The fact that it was metal was the only sign of its non-sentient existence. Even if it moved like it was alive.

Shepard's breath caught in her throat as saw beings coming over the hill side. Geth. Six of them, all armed. Well, she hoped they were Geth, and not some other group of deadly AIs.

Hoping for Geth. Had she missed some sort of memo? National weird shit day on Eden Prime?

Shepard dropped to the tiled floor, and evaluated her situation. No amour but no hospital gown. That was something. A bra would have been appreciated. There was however, her pistol on the night stand.

She shuffled over, and let out a breath, a smile on her lips, when she found it was loaded. She almost laughed when she saw the sniper rife tucked behind the table. Kaidan was a good friend.

Shepard took up position, watching the geth move as she tired her omni-tool to make contact with her crew. Anyone who was not an AI would do.

No such luck.

Returning her glaze, she watched as the geth approached a large mental box, sat up on a platform, machines surrounding it. That must have been the box Nihlus had told her about. They lifted the panels, and observed the key pads, pressing buttons cautiously. But like the scientists, they could not get it open.

Shepard took a breath, and lined up her scope. She could have used the box as a distraction, and left, but it must have been important for geth to leave the Perseus Veil to get it.

Without giving herself another second to think about it, to reconsider, she took one of the geth in her sights and fired.

The assault was quick, Shepard had been trained for as much. Aiming for their heads over chests had been a good call. Once the threat was gone, she did not approach the box. If no one else had figured it out by this point, there was nothing she would be able to bring to the table.

Instead, she checked out the buildings, a mad dash really. Trying to find some way to make contact. She would be going back blind and with limited ammo, she trusted her abilities, and she needed more than anything to go back and help her crew, protect those civilians, but at this moment, she could be more of a hindrance than help.

She needed something. Anything.

She stopped as she found a door to one of the side rooms of the labs. Hacking the door, she discovered a console. Communications were down but as she was just about to leave, she remembered that one of the doctors had been using this room to run tests on a signal that had been radiating some sort of message. Although all that could been seen or heard was static.

But something told her to try it anyway, a need to confirm.

Visions filled her head of a whole fleet of the giant ships, their dark metal claws slicing though the earth like a knife though butter. Firing thick red beams that caused the air to smell like burning skin and blood. The mechanical beasts roared; echoes of metal slammed against metal rang out. Their bodies had expanded, walking on four bend legs.

The sky was orange, almost blending with the destroyed buildings and bloodied corpuses. And in the low light, an army stood. Aliens Shepard had never seen, stood tall. Clad in red, metal plated armour, lined with gold. They fired back at their foe, while at the same time, stumbling backwards into a giant cream building. The high and beautifully sculpted walls suggested that it could have been some sort of ancient holy or political dwelling, a sanctuary.

Their enemies ran at the army, they were the same size as them, but bare, with black armoured skin, large claws, and unnaturally yellow, glowing eyes.

Shepard's eyes were forced upon one alien. He stood in front of the rest, killing those who faced him with short but precise bursts of energy, from a gun she had never known of.

He saw as one of his men was shot down, he stopped, throwing out an arm, and with it came biotics. A ball of energy that push them back. But instead of a blue force, rippling like movement in a body of water. It was green, sparking yellow, almost white, like lightening.

He threw another before calling fourth a green holographic VI that mirrored his image. The alien's voice was deep, with an accent that sounded like one she knew from her home world.

He dragged his comrade past the threshold of a pair of meeting doors, covered by fire from his fellow fighters. He breathed like he would never be able to stop but did so when he saw the chaos the attack left behind.

There were those same boxes everywhere, and Shepard could feel pain in her chest, panic in her gut. Hopelessness and rage. She wanted to scream, bare her teeth like a wild varren.

"How many have we lost?" He asked. He was used to this, already broken to what he was seeing. He had already accepted it.

"Reaper forces have already destroyed approximately three-hundred thousand life-pods."

Life-pods?

The alien typed in a code, and the box opened. It was but a coffin, with the burnt lifeless body of another of his kind inside.

"A third of our people," and with that, he placed his hand gently to the dead man's shoulder. His two sets of golden eyes slid shut from the emotional weight. His head fell forward. But once the VI spoke again, that their mission was not yet over. He stood and lead his men on.

Shepard blinked. Her vision was blurred, her face and arms cold from where she lay on the artificial flooring. As her mind began to settle, she realised something.

There could be someone in that life-pod.

Shepard went to open the pod but concluded that she would have to stop the stasis he or she was stuck in first.

Another console, another vision. Every choice was his, every backlash his doing. He was tasked with the impossible, saving his people. Despair ate at him, his people long defeated.

Shepard stepped over to the life-pod. She disabled the stasis and typed in the code. And there, lay the very being she had seen.

It could not really be that alien. Could it?

Before her thoughts could go further, his eyelids flickered; separately, like he could control each optical organ individually. His dual pupils focused. He gasped a lung full of oxygen, before casting a biotic charge at her, throwing her to the ground. He ran, falling over his weak limbs like a new born deer.

She rolled to her feet and ran after him, stopping in her tracks when she found him. He stood, looking to the ship, part of the fleet that had taken his men.

"It never stopped. It will never stop."

His words tugged at her brain, burning softly like those memories- his memories, had. And for reason she did not even have, she reached out and touched his shoulder.

Commander Javik was his name, he too took a life pod. The VI stated that there had been a loss of power and a selection process would be activated. The pods would not be opened until another spices arose and found them, which did not sound at all hopeful.

Low power, lots of pods. Selection. The deduction was simple, even before Javik demanded that the pods were not to be shut down.

The anger she felt was blinding, and the sorrow was crippling. But as sleep filled her brain, both she and Javik feel into the darkness.

Javik fell to his hands and knees, as did she. Shepard was disorientated, and every muscle in her body felt worn thin.

"How many others?"

"Just you," she gasped for breath, listening to the way he growled in his chest as he leant back on his knees. "You can understand me?" He must have had some sort of translating device.

"Yes. Now that I have had time to study your physiology, your nervous system. Enough to understand your language."

Shepard glanced to the translator piece at her collar. It was not changing her words nor those she was receiving. He was speaking a human language. Her language.

"So, you were reading me while I was seeing-"

"Our last moments. Our failure."

"Javik, right? What are you?" Shepard leant back, using all the energy she could muster to get to her feet, even if she did sway once she did.

Javik turned. Intrigued by her knowledge. "You have a strong mind. You did not pass out. You retained focus," his features shifted but what he felt was unclear. "I am prothean."

Shepard stared. Then sighed, "Of course you are. I think I'd like to wake up now," she pointed to the geth ship. "Do you know how to destroy that? It must be a pretty old ship if you-"

"Ship?" His eyes were wide, thin lips parted. "Is this the first time this has happened. Just the one...ship?"

"Yes. Why? What does that mean?"

"This cycle might still stand a chance."

Shepard had no idea what to say to that. She looked at him, waiting for some sort of explanation.

The bangs of bullets rang out. Sharpening the two military minds.

"Let's just get out of here first," she held out her hand. "Commander Shepard. Systems Alliance Navy."

"I will follow you," he stood up by himself, then stepped to the side, so she could pass. "For now."

Shepard lowered her hand and made her way forward, employing her shields as she did so.

If this was day one of Spectre training, what did day two entail?