A/N:
I do not own the Mass Effect series or do I own the Homefront series.
I would also like to say that I'm trying something a little different and see what people think. I personally liked the game Homefront, but I must admit that it was a bit outlandish. I will still be working on The Matrix Effect and its sequels coming soon, but I hope you like what I made here. Paterson and Court are two characters I invented myself so I hope you like these guys. Enjoy.
MEMORIES OF THE HOMEFRONT
CHAPTER 1
Staff Sergeant Timothy Paterson adjusted his watch when he crossed over from central time to Mountain Time. The watch reads 11:34 pm, 09/23/2028 and Paterson put his hand down. He was feeling a little tired from this drive from the reestablished Fort Carson, Colorado to the port of San Francisco where the U.S. military was spring boarding an offensive of the South Pacific.
Paterson was right now sitting in the passenger seat of the Army's new M939 truck, with a converted fuel cell that runs on electricity instead of gasoline. This truck was one of many brand new vehicles being produced day after day since the liberation of western United States and Canada. He would not have imagined it two years ago, because two years ago he was conducting guerilla warfare against the Korean occupation in dilapidated suburban buildings. Now he was a full-fledged soldier about to bring the fight to Korea's front yard and to make things better, the United States was enjoying a new booming wartime economy. Not to mention that Mexico and Canada are also joining in this fight for what Korea did when they activated their faux GPS Satellite in 2025. They didn't just wipe out all electronic gear in the western U.S., but also in Mexico and western Canada. Texas has rejoined the union, not out of gratefulness but out of necessity. The Korean occupation invaded the newly succeeded Republic and killed 99% of the governmental body so without a leg to stand on, the former Republic reapplied as a state and was allowed to return to the United States. Even better was the support of the European Union. This is what people of his great-great-grandparents generation must've felt during the Second World War.
Along with him was his friend Sergeant Jonathan Court. Also a former American resistance fighter now turned American soldier, he was taking over driving duties as they were not making any overnight stops, because it's still not safe to camp at night and the quicker to participate in this great offensive the better. Court was excited for the simple fact that now America can punish the Korean beast that created so much turmoil and destruction from 2025 to 2027.
They were driving through an old highway somewhere in Nevada and they were the only vehicle out on the highway. The highways of western United States are now under control of the U.S. Military and only transport vehicles are allowed on and off the roads. Transportation of passengers and cargo from one end to the country to the other was now utilized by train. Occasionally there have been a massive order of vehicles to be transported to the west coast and not all vehicles can take the train as cargo. So soldiers like Paterson and Court were taking their M939 on the road.
Paterson would like nothing but sleep, but he must stay alert for potential highwaymen on the road. Court saw Paterson getting a little tired. "You can go to sleep if you want." Court told his friend.
"No." Paterson told his friend. "I learned to stay up when I drove trucks for a living. Besides, we should be on alert. I hear stories of crazed hillbillies still fighting isolated pockets of KPA out here. I also hear stories of Koreans, that haven't been captured and put to work cleaning up the Mississippi River, are also known to still roam the desert and mountains."
"That's not what I heard." Court said. "I hear other stories, stories that go further back to the 1950's. Old stories of UFOs and people getting abducted by those UFOs."
"You believe that stuff?" Paterson narrowed his eyes at his friend. "You must have had more time on your hands during the financial crash, because I didn't have the luxury of indulging in farfetched stories."
"You have no imagination." Court smirked. "I was in college at the time, remember?"
"Oh, I have imagination." Paterson smiled. "It's just that my imagination doesn't involve little green men coming down in flying saucers."
"Actually, grey and sometimes tan." Court corrected Paterson.
"Excuse me?" Paterson gestured to explain what he said.
"Often they are grey or tan in color." Court added. "They were also seen to have big dark eyes and large heads."
"Really?" Paterson's interest rose slightly.
"What I also heard is that the government established a secret airbase out here in the Nevada desert…" Court was interrupted when the engine started to stall. Then the truck stopped moving.
"What happened?" Paterson asked.
"I don't know?" Court looked puzzled as he tries desperately to start the engine again. "It just stalled out."
"Dammit." Paterson exclaimed. "Not out here." Paterson grabbed his M4 rifle, his gear, and he put his cover over his head. "I'm going to check out where we are. Radio in our position. See if we can get someone out here to help us out." Paterson was pulling out his night vision goggles to see if some random highwayman was lurking out behind a bushel of tumbleweeds.
"Paterson." Court called to his friend. "The radio's not working."
"What?" Paterson couldn't understand what's going on. "We gotta do something, because I'm not spending the night out here." After Paterson finished his sentence, a bright flash came out of nowhere. Paterson was blinded, because the night vision goggles increased the flash.
"Paterson!" Court grabbed his gear, cover, and his M4 rifle. He rushed to assist his friend while wary of the bright light. He checked Paterson's eyes. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah." Paterson rubbed his eyes after dropping his goggles on the ground. When he was able to see again, he gazed at the light above their heads. "What is that?"
After Paterson asked, the two soldiers unknowingly lost consciousness and fell to the ground.
Paterson opened his eyes and he was lying on a table. He couldn't move his body or even his head; however he could see what was going on.
He saw someone or something moving around in front of him. The person was looking over another table in front of him, examining another body. When Paterson realized that body belonged to Court, he yelled at the person. "Hey! Where am I?"
When the person turned around, he was given the jolt of his life. After seeing so many horrors the war could throw at Paterson, he never felt sheer terror until he saw the face of the person examining his friend.
The thing's head was oval shaped. Its eyes were large and black. The color of its skin was grey. It looked like it had two mandibles growing out of the top of its head. It looked at Paterson and lifted its left arm, revealing three fingers on its hand. The thing was pressing down on a few buttons next to the table and blackness came over Paterson.
157 Years Later
The SR2 Normandy was leaving Omega, as Commander Shepard just recently re-acquired Garrus AKA Archangel. Shepard was thrilled to have his old squad mate and friend back, but now he was worried about the condition of his turian comrade. Garrus just received an injury that would normally kill anyone else. In Shepard's disciplined trained mind, he knew he must stay focused on the mission. One of the first objectives was to go to the prison space station of Purgatory. On their dossier, they had to pick up a highly advanced biotic convict only going by the name of 'Jack'.
As the Normandy was passing through Omega's asteroid belt, the ship's Master at Arms Lieutenant Jacob Taylor called the Commander to the comm room. Shepard walked into an almost empty room with nothing but a long oval shaped table, projecting a virtual hologram of the SR2 Normandy. Jacob was waiting for the Commander.
With almost a solemn tone, the darken skin man told Shepard the update on Garrus's health. "Commander. We've done what we could for Garrus, but he took a bad hit. The docs corrected with surgical procedures and some cybernetics. Best we can tell, he'll have full functionality, but…"
As Jacob was about to finish his sentence, the doors to the com room hissed open and in came the battle scarred turian. The skin on the right side of his face, including his right mandible, was burned and mangled. Along with his damages, his blue armor was scarred from where a rocket had exploded.
Shepard smiled when he saw his friend walking around. "Shepard." Garrus simply said to the human.
Jacob lit up when he saw the turian. "Tough son of a bitch. Didn't think he'd be up yet."
"Nobody would give me a mirror." Garrus said. "How bad is it?"
Shepard just smiled and crossed his arms. "Hell, Garrus, you were always ugly. Slap some face paint on there and nobody would even notice."
Garrus was attempting to laugh, but felt the pinch of the pain of his injuries. "Don't make me laugh, damn it. My face is barely holding together as it is. Ah, probably for the best. Everyone was always ignoring you and hitting on me. Time for you to get a fair shot at it." Shepard smiled and shook his head. Then Jacob salutes to Shepard and walks out of the comm room as Garrus spoke again. "Frankly, I'm more worried about you. I've heard bad things about Cerberus these past few years."
"That's why I'm glad you're here, Garrus." Shepard said. "If I'm walking into hell, I want someone I trust at my side."
"You realize that this plan has me walking into hell, too." Garrus gusted out a small laugh. "Just like old times. I'm fit for duty whenever you need me, Shepard. I'll settle in and see what I can do at the forward batteries."
"I'll keep you posted whenever…" Shepard was interrupted by the computerized feminine voice known as EDI.
"Shepard." EDI appeared replacing the virtual image of the Normandy as a bright blue sphere. "I have found something."
"What is that?" Garrus asked.
"This is EDI." Shepard said. "The ship's A.I."
"A.I.?" Garrus shakes his head. "Cerberus knows no boundaries, do they?"
"What did you find?" Shepard asked.
"I found an abandoned ship located in the middle of a cluster of asteroids." EDI said.
"There are a lot of old ships in this area EDI." Shepard said. "What makes this one so special?"
"The Normandy's systems are more advanced to pick up unusual anomalies than most known ships in Citadel space." EDI explained. "This ship is of salarian origin. It is emitting a distress signal and reading two weak life signs."
Shepard's curiosity got the best of him. "Let's check it out." Then Shepard turns to Garrus. "Looks like I'm going to need you sooner than I thought."
"I'll get my gear ready, Shepard." Garrus said. "We should bring the salarian doctor along."
"Mordin?" Shepard said. "I agree. He could probably identify the markings on the ship better than we can."
They took the Normandy's Kodiak shuttle when the ship came into sight. The salarian ship looked undamaged, but just drifted in the empty confines of space. The shuttle docked next to a circular opening and Mordin instructed the Commander on how the salarian technology worked.
When to door opened; Shepard, Garrus, and Mordin entered the dark empty shell that was once a ship. Shepard and Garrus had their breathing helmets on while Mordin simply wore a breathing mask.
The door closed behind them and EDI spoke through their communicators. "Shepard. I can access the ship's mainframe and temporarily activate the ship's basic power source to access through the ship's interior a little easier."
"Do it EDI." Shepard ordered the A.I. and after he gave the order, the ships power and lights hummed back to life. Then he looks at the salarian. "Mordin, what's your take on this ship?"
"It would appear to be a research vessel." Mordin said. "Typical standard salarian research vessel."
"What were they researching?" Garrus asked.
Mordin activated his Omni-tool and looked over a control panel. "This research was part of research group that specified on… on… yes… studying pre-Mass Effect species. According to the markings this is the same group that discovered the krogan during the Rachni War."
"Study?" Shepard looked perplexed. "You mean they observed these species."
"That plus they would take them on board temporarily." Mordin said.
"You mean they abducted these pre-Mass Effect species and ran tests on them?" Shepard inclined.
"Precisely, but no harm came of them." Mordin activated the door behind the trio and pointed down the room. Mordin just walked towards the room while Shepard and Garrus followed. "The control room is this way. Can access knowledge of what happened to ship's crew."
"Doctor." Shepard pressed on the issue. "What did these researchers do?"
"They simply selected a single member of the planet's sentient life and brought them onboard." Mordin pointed to the large room they were in.
"Shepard." Garrus called for his old friend. "Stasis pods. It looks like they haven't had power for quite some time. There must be a hundred of them."
"Yes." Mordin added. "Each containing a different species discovered. See for yourselves."
Mordin wiped the frost from the condensation from the window of the stasis pod, caused from the cold dead ship's lack of power. Shepard and Garrus can see the occupant inside. It was a dead alien. It was a mummified alien with green wrinkled skin. It had two large eyes, an open gaping mouth with sharp teeth, long thin arms & legs, and it wore only a loincloth around its waist.
Shepard looked at Mordin, but he walked over to what looked like a locker next to the defunct stasis pod and looked inside.
"They also take what was on the creature's possession to study its level of technology and advancement." Mordin pulls out what looks like a wooden handle and a piece of sharpened stone at the tip. Then he pulls out a bag made of some animal hide. "The evidence shows this species is only in its Stone Age level of development." Then he places the items back in the locker.
"Poor bastard didn't know what was going on." Garrus shook his head at the dead primitive alien.
Mordin activated his Omni-tool and said. "The ship's power suggests that there is still power on two of these stasis pods. Over by the upper left corner of this room." He said as he pointed. "I will check out the ship's cockpit and activate flight records to find out what happened."
Mordin walked away, while Shepard and Garrus walked over to investigate the pods.
"It's a damn shame." Garrus commented. "If these species are anything like us, they probably had people who knew them and wondered what happened to them."
"I know." Shepard added. "These beings were taken on board this ship so some salarians can poke and prod them all they want."
"I think we found it." Garrus said as he saw soft lights of the two stasis pods. Garrus decided to do the honors by wiping away the frost on the glass canopy. He looked inside, but he was awestruck when he saw what was inside. "Spirits."
"What is it?" Shepard asked.
"Shepard, you need to see this for yourself." Garrus inclined.
Shepard looked through the wet glass and he lost his breath when he saw what was inside. It was a human.
Garrus went over to the other pod and he looked inside. It was the same response as before. "Shepard. Another human."
"My god." Shepard shakes his head. "They were doing this to humans as well?"
"Don't forget what the doctor said." Garrus pointed out. "This ship studied pre-Mass Effect species. Humans are still new to the galactic scene. It's obvious that this ship is older than the humanity's first discovery of those Prothean ruins on Mars."
"Well, they're still alive and they need help." Shepard activated his communicator. "Mordin, we got two live ones here and they're both human."
Mordin responded over the communicator. "Really? Fascinating. Just picking up information from flight log. Be there in a moment."
"EDI." Shepard said. "Tell Dr. Chakwas to get the med bay ready. We're bringing in two passengers."
"Yes Shepard." EDI responded.
Shepard stood outside of the medical bay with Garrus and Jacob. They were waiting for the results of their two newest guests as they were being studied by Mordin and Dr. Chakwas.
Miranda Lawson came up to the three men and she had an inquisitive look on her face as she read her data pad. "Are you sure I'm reading this correctly?"
"I'm afraid so." Shepard said.
Miranda skimmed through the report. "Salarian research vessel? Ship containing pre-Mass Effect species? And of course, two humans on board from roughly the early 21st century? The Illusive Man's going to love this."
"I don't want to add fuel to his cause." Shepard said as he was painfully reminded that he works for a famed xenophobic human group. "When you send a report out, make it sound like we found survivors and not victims of experimentation. Understood, Lawson?"
"Yes, Commander." Miranda shrugged. "So what did you find on that ship?"
"Well, it's what the report said." Shepard looked at Miranda's data pad.
Jacob added to the conversation. "But if you're looking for proof, look at the personal effects they had with them." He pulled out his own data pad. "They had two M4A1 assault rifles with M68 Close Combat Optics attached to them. Two Beretta M9 pistols. Attached to their personal effects were old files that contained their medical, dental, and service records."
"Were these men soldiers?" Garrus asked.
"I believe so." Jacob said. "I can't wait to break down those antique weapons. It will be a pleasure to see how they worked."
"Just be sure to put them back together." Shepard said. "It still belongs to them."
"But what about these soldiers." Miranda asked.
Jacob passed the data pad to Shepard as he read aloud. "According to their personnel records, they were part of the United States Army." Shepard said. "Their names are Staff Sergeant Timothy Paterson and Sergeant Jonathan Court. They were heavily engaged with the Second Korean war from 2025 to 2027 fighting the occupation forces with the American Resistance network. After the Korean withdrawal, they enlisted in the U.S. Army in 2027 and they were stationed in Colorado when they had orders to report to an army division being formed out of San Francisco."
"I guess the salarian ship took them somewhere in between." Jacob said.
Right then, the door opened and Dr. Chakwas and Dr. Solus walked out of the medical bay.
"How are they, doctor?" Shepard asked.
"They are still out cold, but they are in perfect health." Chakwas said.
Mordin said. "They will recover, but after prolonged time in stasis they will be asleep for days."
"My God." Shepard said while shaking his head. "They are going to wake up realizing that it's not their time period anymore. Losing two years being dead was bad enough for me, but imagine the shock those two will feel when they realize that they have been asleep for over a hundred and fifty-seven years."
Garrus tried to lighten the mood a bit. "They'll also be the oldest military recruits in Alliance history."
Shepard shrugged the turian's comment and looked at Mordin. "What did you find out from the flight records?"
"It would appear they were studying species from each of the individual planets in the Terminus systems." Mordin activated his Omni-tool. "They were going to study the progress of each species and when the testing was over, they would use the Mass Relays to slip back a few minutes after the moment of abduction and return the individual back to where they found them."
"Slip?" Shepard asked.
Mordin explained. "Timed dilatation of the Mass Relay can be achieved by altering the physics of the Mass Relays. In other words… going back in time. Method stopped recently when crew of these ships were losing years of their lives. Often a salarian lived to be forty years of age, but constant use of slip aged salarian crew faster and often reaching old age by the time of being thirty to thirty-five."
"So this crew was using a Mass Relay to go back in time." Garrus said. "What went wrong?"
Mordin closes his eyes and shakes his head. "They used the Omega 4 Relay. Systems shut down. The crew was dead, mysterious reasons. Only survivors in stasis pods when their power source lasted."
There was a moment of silence, but the silence was broken when Joker, the ship's pilot made an announcement. "Heads up everyone. We'll be arriving at Purgatory space station in fifteen minutes."
Shepard looked at his crew. "Alright. What I understand is that this prison is run by the Blue Suns. I'm going to bring Zaeed up here from the engineering deck since he's familiar with the merc groups." Then he looks at Miranda. "And since Cerberus is making the pick-up for Jack, I want you to come along Miranda."
"Yes, Commander." Miranda nods and she walks back over to her office.
Shepard opens the medical bay door and looks at the bed being occupied by the two time warped soldiers. He looks at Dr. Chakwas and Mordin. "When those two wake up, they are going to need all the help they can get. Have Chambers come down here and talk to them on coping with the culture shock."
"Yes, Commander." Chakwas said and Mordin just nodded.
Shepard just spoke. "Now let's get ready to pick up Jack."