A/N 1: Just testing the water a bit with this. It's the prologue of what I hope will become a series of Mass Effect inspired stories. These stories will not focus on Commander Shepard or any of the other main characters, although they may appear from time-to-time. So with that in mind, please... enjoy. JoelACooper
The sound of explosions tore through the Presidium. Waves of glass and steel hurled themselves overhead and into the delicate waters with an immense splash. Smoke billowed into the artificial daytime like a massive structural pillar holding up the animated sky.
The Mass Relay sculpture fizzed and whirred as the space around it buckled in a brilliant blue light. It was like a horrible hole was being torn, torn by creatures trying to haul themselves through from a different reality. And they did. Creatures of metal and plastic, of oil and hydraulic fluid. Like a swarm of locusts they flooded into the Citadel, and like ghouls they made their way through the Presidium, slaughtering all who stood in their way. Bolts of lightning fizzing off the perfect white surfaces as they cut down diplomat and merchant, preacher and pedestrian alike. Killing as only a machine can. Cold, calculated, completely without mercy.
The occupants of Presidium began to flock away from the sculpture and their pursuers. They ran like a herd of sheep from a wolf, those who were hit, lay where they fell. Trampled. Cold. Dead. She didn't know who they were, or where they'd come from, but she had to get away. Bolts of energy hissed in the plastic around her feet and head, missing her by mere inches, forever burning death into the pristine coating of the Presidium. Screams filled her ears, and smoke filled her nose and throat, burning her senses and forcing tears from her eyes.
The stampede pressed forwards, Alex among them, not knowing where they were going, but she didn't care just as long as they kept moving. At least, until that planting box came out of nowhere.
Her left foot snagged on the leaves of an exotic Salarian flower, the red petals sending her sailing through the air. Time seemed to slow down as the ground retreated from beneath her. Her head made contact with the front of a posh restaurant and everything went black.
{- -« »- -}
It was only a vague haze at first, spinning and whirling in front of her face. As the spinning stopped, and the haziness in her eyes gave way to the crisp minimalism of the Presidium, Alex realised that she must have been knocked out for a good few minutes. The Presidium had changed from the, pristine diplomatic nerve-center of the civilised galaxy, to a post-apocalyptic war-zone. The crowds had vanished; panels were strewn across the floor; railings were missing; and trees were burning. But worst of all was the bodies. Instead of being respectfully collected by this invading force, they had been left where they fell, face-down in their own pools of blood, faces still contorted with fear. The dank stench of death was enough to overpower even the scorching plumes of smoke.
Her head sloshed around as she hauled herself to her feet. She supported her weight against the wall of the restaurant for a few seconds. That's when she saw them, lights sweeping through the smog, checking every nook and cranny, slowly advancing through the darkness. Relief flooded through her body, a search party.
"Hey, over here! Help!" her voice reverberated along the platform, causing all the lights to snap in her direction, but instead of rushing to her aid, they seemed to consider her for a moment before the tallest of the lights began to advance towards her, the others returning to their previous task. Fear once again clasped Alex in its steely grip as she realised that she had seen these awful things before.
The silver tip of a rifle appeared out of the smog but Alex wasn't there to see it, she had already concealed herself behind an upturned table inside the restaurant. The contents of the expensive Asari dinner were splashed carelessly across the floor. Over the top of the table, She watched as the hulking creature stopped outside the window, its single bright eye sweeping over the surrounding landscape. It was at least ten feet tall, its polished white exterior fitting in well with the surroundings of the Presidium. As the cyclops' eye swung around to the restaurant, Alex ducked back behind the table, hoping that it hadn't seen her.
A few seconds of silence, she let out a breath that she didn't realise that she was holding. On the back wall of the restaurant, she noticed a door marked, 'kitchen'. As she began to crawl towards it, she heard the thud of large footsteps on the shattered glass, a large shadow descending on the back wall. Shocked by the sudden appearance of the monster, she immediately bolted for the door, slipping on several spilled dishes of food. As the door began to slide open, the table she was previously hiding behind flew over her head and jammed itself in the frame.
An unstoppable object collided with her left hand side, flinging her across the room and slamming her into the opposite wall. She slid to the floor, facing the monster in front of her, its huge frame having to crouch slightly to fit into the confines of the restaurant. As it brought its rifle up to its chest, Alex curled herself into a ball, hiding her eyes with her arms. She was hot; she was tired; she was sweaty; she stunk of burning, and death; and now, she was going to die.
As the faint shimmer of blue light filtered through her eyelids, she squeezed them tighter. Unable to contain her terror any longer, she opened her mouth and let out a blood curdling scream, releasing all of her feelings into the air. She heard gunfire around her, commotion, yelling. Then, with an almighty crash, it ceased. That was it, she was dead. Gone, probably to be forgotten forever. She kept her eyes closed for a few seconds, before finally deciding to open them, and find out what was in store for her in the afterlife.
To her surprise, she was still in the very same restaurant, in the very same situation as before. Almost the same, except that the creature that was going to execute her, was now lying dead on the floor, its twisted body seeping a white fluid out of a series of bullet holes that now adorned its chest and head, its single eye lying dark on the front of its face. A few soldiers in various colours of armour had taken the place of the creature, two were inspecting the damage to the dead thing, and three others were standing guard.
One of the soldiers who was inspecting the damage to the dead robot walked up to Alex and crouched down to her, taking off his helmet. He placed his hand on her shoulder and spoke on a gentle voice, "Are you alright miss?" Alex slowly nodded her head, wiping tears from her face. A smile crossed his lips briefly, "Good. I'm Sergeant Dixon, we're with the Alliance." he gestured to the other soldiers in the room.
Through chattering teeth and trembling breaths, Alex introduced herself. "I-I'm Alex Chamberlain, d-daughter of representative Louis Chamberlain."
The Sergeant smiled, "I know your old man. I was a bodyguard for him last time he visited Earth."
"Oh, really? He never menti..."
One of the soldiers called over his shoulder to the Sergeant, "Sarge, we gotta move! They've seen us." Bolts of energy began to fly past him, a few being soaked up by his armour. Without being phased, he raised his rifle and returned fire, as did the others.
Dixon turned back to Alex as he replaced his helmet, the visor blocking out his eyes, his voice sounding coarse and robotic through the modulator, "Come on we need to go." As she took her first step forwards, she grunted and doubled over in pain, clutching at her ribs. She'd forgotten about her injury. Sighing, Dixon slung his rifle on his back and gently scooped her into his arms. She clung as hard as she could to the cold, black steel of his armour. It was rough, and uncomfortable, but right now it was probably the safest place on the entire Citadel.
Turning back to his soldiers, who were still firing out of the shattered windows, he yelled his orders, "Right lads, cover me, then follow behind, we're gonna make a run for the wards!"
The soldiers boots clanked on the floor of the Presidium as they made their way along the structure. Alex couldn't see what was going on, her face was pressed tight against the Sergeants armour, but her ears were filled with the blasting of rifles, and the hissing of shields.
Suddenly, the group came to a stop. As alex opened her eyes, she realised that all the soldiers had taken up firing positions in a small floral garden. At the back of the garden, in the opposite direction to the Presidium, was a set of elevator doors.
Dixon placed her on the ground, with her back against a small planting box at the rear of the squad. He took out a small syringe and injected the blue fluid it contained into her ribcage before she could protest. Almost immediately, the pain in her ribcage began to alleviate, until it disappeared entirely.
Dixon spoke straight to her face, keeping his helmet on and whispering through the modulator, "Over there is an elevator to the wards." He pointed back over to the wall behind him, "Get in it and press the button for the medical suite. Dr Michel should still be there, and the place is surrounded by C-sec. You'll be safe there. We'll give covering fire. When I tell you to run, you run. Don't stop, don't slow down, don't turn around, just run! Understand?" Alex opened her mouth to protest but he cut her off viciously, "Understand?!" Alex nodded as fast as she could, shocked by his outburst. He plucked his rifle from the back of his armour. She could hear the gears whirring as the different parts of the rifle affixed themselves into place. Finally, he shouldered it and spoke again, "Good."
Rising to his feet he began to fire at the invaders, barking orders at the other soldiers. Alex didn't know how many of them there were, didn't know how close they were, didn't know anything about them. She was so focused on her fear, that she almost didn't hear Dixon shout to her.
Without a glance back, she bolted across the open courtyard, her feet beating heavily against the floor. The door slid open and she hurled herself inside. As the doors slid closed, she could see dozens of the cybernetic monsters closing on Dixon and his squad. They were fighting for their lives, using all of the weapons, powers, and biotics they had, but the enemy was still advancing.
Finally, she saw the mass relay light up again, and a small, white buggy came flying through the blue haze, three dark figures staggering out of it. The doors closed and sealed with a hiss, blocking her view of anything else.
{- -« »- -}
Alex sat in the interviewees chair, shifting uncomfortably. The Alliance recruitment officer had been looking at her papers for at least 5 minutes, as if he was trying to come to a decision about her. It didn't look good.
He dropped the papers on to the desk with a dull slap and leaned forwards onto his elbows, his high-collared navy uniform staying rigid against his neck. His voice was low and monotone, as if he was speaking from a pre-determined script, "I'm afraid that your fitness scores aren't quite high enough for me to allow you to sign up to the Marines." A pang of disappointment pierced her heart, she'd been training for weeks to try and get into the marines. As she was about to apologise for wasting his time, the interviewer continued, "However, your fitness scores are well above average, and your written examination scores indicate that you have a high leadership potential and excellent creativity levels. Therefore, I'm happy to offer you a position on an officer training course." The interviewer reclined into his chair, running his thumb and forefinger along his chin. "Are there any questions?"
Alex thought to herself for a few seconds, she'd not even considered being an officer, and she could always ask for a transfer if she really didn't enjoy it. Alex steeled her nerves and spoke up, "Just one."
He raised an eyebrow, "Go on."
A sly smile crossed Alex's lips as she spoke, "Where do I sign?"
A/N 2: I hope you enjoyed this prologue. Comments and criticism of the bad and praise of the good are more than welcome, I am a novice writer after all, and I definitely hope to improve. Thank you for taking the time to read this taster, and I hope you come back for more. JoelACooper