"Well, what about Shepard," Ambassador Donnel Udina asks as he looks off his office balcony overlooking the Presidium's pond, arching off in both directions around the circular base of the Citadel tower. "He grew up on Earth."

"He knows how tough life can be out there," Captain David Anderson replies. "His parents killed themselves by overdosing on every kind of drug they could find in Old New York. He had to make it on his own since he was only six years old."

"He proved himself on Rakhana getting those refugees off the ground and to safety. Also proved himself during the Blitz," Admiral Steven Hackett adds. "He held off enemy forces on the ground single-handedly until reinforcements arrived."

"He's the only reason Elysium is still standing," Anderson continues, agreeing with Hackett about Shepard's actions during the raid known as the Skillian Blitz.

"Well, we can't question his courage, but what about what happened at Torfan? Shepard's a loose cannon," Udina replies, concern coloring his voice.

"Nobody's exactly sure about what happened there, reports are sketchy at best. But, humanity needs a hero," Anderson responds. "And Shepard's the best we've got."

Reluctantly, Udina nods his head and says, "I'll make the call."

In the year 2148, explorers on Mars discovered the remains of an ancient spacefaring civilization. In the decades that followed, these mysterious artifacts revealed startling new technologies, enabling travel to the furthest stars.

The basis for this incredible technology was a force that controlled the very fabric of space and time.

They called it the greatest discovery in human history.

The civilizations of the galaxy call it…

MASS EFFECT

EDEN PRIME

Guess it's showtime, Lt. Commander Dace Shepard thinks to himself as he walks up the stairs to the CIC deck, passing by crewmembers on his way. Over the intercom, the pilot's voice calmly alerts everyone to their status.

"The Arcturus Prime Relay is in range," Flight Lieutenant Jeff Moreau says. "Initiating transmission sequence."

"Commander," Private Richard Jenkins respectfully says as Shepard passes him on the way past the master systems display in the center of the CIC. Shepard returns the greeting with a pat on the back and a nod of the head, not wanting to get stopped on his way to the cockpit.

Jenkins is young, Shepard thinks to himself, young and entirely too eager.

"We are connected," Moreau, or Joker as he prefers to be called, continues over the intercom. "Calculating transit mass and destination. The relay is hot. Acquiring approach vector. All stations secure for transit. The board is green. Approach run has begun. Hitting the relay in three…two…one…"

Shepard strides into the cockpit just as the SSV Normandy, the Systems Alliance's newest frigate, swings past the tuning-fork shaped Mass Relay. With a bright blue flash, an arc of blue lightning reaches out to the Normandy and propels it to faster than the speed of light. Shepard walks up behind the imposing figure of their "guest" – the male Turian Spectre with black and white facial markings called Nihlus. Shepard warily regards their "guest," not trusting having an alien representative of the Council special operatives, or aliens of any kind. This is Earth's most advanced warship on its maiden voyage – why is he here to see all of our secrets when the Council won't even give Humanity a seat in their illustrious government?

"Thrusters…check," Joker reports, tense at having their "guest" standing over his shoulder. "Navigation…check. Internal emissions sink engaged. All systems online. Drift…just under fifteen hundred k."

"Fifteen hundred is good," Nihlus comments, attempting to make it a compliment, but failing to most of the humans in the room. "Your captain will be pleased." Joker slightly turns his head and glares at the Spectre as Nihlus leaves the cockpit.

Waiting until Nihlus is out of earshot, Joker comments, "I hate that guy."

"Hmph," Staff Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko laughs at Joker from the co-pilot seat. "Nihlus gave you a compliment, so you hate him."

"You remember to zip up your jumpsuit on the way out of the bathroom? That's 'good.' I just jumped us halfway across the galaxy and hit a target the size of a pinhead. So that's incredible! Besides, Spectres are trouble. I don't like having him aboard. Call me paranoid."

"You're paranoid. The Council helped fund this project. They have a right to send someone to keep an eye on their investment."

"Yeah, that is the official story. But only an idiot believes the official story," Joker cynically responds.

Shepard crosses his arms and frowns thoughtfully. "Poor Joker, always expecting the worse out of every situation."

Joker shoots Shepard a look and replies, "Yeah, well, bad feelings are an occupational hazard. We don't go anywhere unless there's a good reason for it, so what the hell are we doing out here?"

Before anyone can reply, Anderson calls over the comm, "Joker! Status report!"

"Just cleared the mass relay, Captain. Stealth systems engaged. Everything looks solid."

"Good," Anderson replies, trying to sound happier than he was but failing miserably. "Find a comm buoy and link us into the network. I want mission reports relayed back to Alliance brass before we reach Eden Prime.

"Aye aye, Captain," Joker responds, making sure that he didn't upset his Captain even more than he already was. "Better brace yourself, sir. I think Nihlus is headed your way."

"He's already here, Lieutenant. Tell Commander Shepard to meet me in the conference room for a briefing," Anderson orders before cutting the comm.

Joker looks over his shoulder at the XO, "You get that, Commander?"

"Great," Shepard comments sarcastically. "You piss the Captain off and now I'm gonna pay for it. Thanks." Shepard turns and begins walking down the corridor towards the center of the CIC.

"Pfft" Joker snorts. "Don't blame me. The Captain's always in a bad mood."

"Only when he's talking to you, Joker," Kaidan retorts, a sarcastic smile on his face.

Walking into the conference room, Shepard still couldn't stop thinking about what Pressley had said. Shaking his head to himself, it just didn't make much sense, for someone to hate so much and so openly. He knew that he didn't trust Turians either, much less Turian Spectres, but the Navigator wasn't even trying to hide his contempt for Nihlus. He hoped his little discussion with Pressley didn't make him too late to meet with the Captain…

"Commander Shepard, good," Nihlus says, breaking into Shepard's thoughts. "I was hoping that you would get here first. We have much to talk about."

Wary of what the Turian would want to talk about, Shepard guardedly asks, "And what would that be?"

"This world that we're going to – Eden Prime is it?"

"Yeah?"

"I've heard that it's quite beautiful."

Shepard crosses his arms, replying with some irritation creeping into his voice, "Wouldn't know of it myself. Never been. Marines don't get much shore time."

Ignoring Shepard's attitude, Nihlus continues, "It's more than just a tourist destination though, isn't it Commander? It's a symbol, a symbol of what Humanity has accomplished. Your race has accomplished more in the past 26 years than most races have yet to accomplish in hundreds. Definitely something that is worth protecting, isn't it?"

Shepard looks up quickly at that last remark, a defensive look in his eye, one that would have sent the Batarians running back on Torfan. "Is that a threat, Spectre?"

"Oh, no, Commander. Merely an observation. Humanity has come so far in so short a time. You have as many enemies as you do friends. It's always good to protect what you have."

Before Shepard could reply, Anderson walks into the comm room. "Good, you're both here. It's time that we filled the Commander in on what's going on."

Nihlus nods his head, and replies in that irritatingly controlled tone of his, "This mission is far more than a simple shakedown run, Commander."

"Figured that, Spectre," Shepard warily replies, not hiding the contempt from his voice. "Now what's really going on?"

Quick to avert an unnecessary argument, Anderson steps in, "We're here to pick something up from Eden Prime. Something that we don't want known that we have. It's why we have to keep the stealth systems up, why we are the only ship capable of succeeding on this mission."

"Why was I kept out of this until now, Captain," Shepard irritably asks.

"This comes from the top, Shepard. Far above our pay grade. Any information is on a strictly need-to-know basis."

"And now I need-to-know," Shepard warily asks.

"Yes, you do," Anderson matter-of-factly replies. "A research team on Eden Prime discovered a set of ruins. With some sort of beacon. One that is 50,000 years old."

"50,000 years old," Shepard interrupts. "That means it's Prothean." It was hard to keep the awe out of his voice. The Protheans had inhabited every corner of the galaxy 50,000 years ago, developed the Mass Relay technology and the Citadel itself, the very center of galactic society. Then they mysteriously vanished without a trace, leaving only their legacy and technology behind. It was this technology that Human scientists first discovered on Mars almost 40 years ago. It was the very technology that jumped Humanity's technology over 200 years and allowed them to discover the Charon Relay and explore the galaxy.

"That's right," Nihlus responds. "This obviously is a discovery that goes far beyond just Human interests. It could very well influence every species in Council space."

Shepard turns to his Captain and asks, "Why did we even tell the Council? We didn't need their help before, why would we now?"

"Because, Commander, sharing that beacon will improve our relations with the Council, which will further our cause in the galaxy. Also, they have more experience with Prothean technology than we do. They can help us," Anderson responds, wishing his XO would be more open-minded right now. Hard to do, after what happened in Shepard's past with other races. Kid always seemed to be out on the front-line, constantly fighting. Anderson knew from experience how much that can take a toll on someone. Shepard now was different, despite his potential to be so much more if he would just open his eyes and see it.

"Also," Nihlus adds, "there is another reason for me to be here, Commander."

"And why is that, might I ask," Shepard says, his voice dripping with sarcasm. Probably just some more PR bullshit, as if I haven't had to endure enough of that in my life.

"I'm here to evaluate you, Shepard."

"What," Shepard exclaims, not quite able to keep the suspicion out of his voice. "What exactly do I need to be evaluated for?"

"This is big, Commander," Anderson exclaims, barely keeping the excitement out of his voice. "The Alliance has been pushing for this for a long time now. To finally show that we are ready for this. And you're the one to do it."

Confused as hell, Shepard looks at his commanding officer and the Spectre, blinking repeatedly. "Pardon my language, sir," he responds, voice dripping confused sarcasm now, "but what the hell is going on?"

Anderson and Nihlus exchange a knowing glance before looking back at Shepard. Not keeping his excitement and envy out of his voice, Anderson finally replies, "Nihlus is here to evaluate you for possible induction into the Spectres." Pausing, he looks over Shepard's face, trying to see any interest or excitement about this. And of course, he sees nothing but annoyance and anger. "Dammit, Dace, think about it. This could give Humanity a bigger say with the Citadel Council. The Spectres are the Council's voice of power and authority. Having a Human as a Spectre will go a long way in giving us that bigger say, maybe even eventually leading to a Council seat itself!" Seeing Shepard's mixture of anger and betrayal on his face, Anderson presses on. "Come on, Dace, you know this is a tremendous opportunity, and not just for Humanity."

Shepard could no longer contain himself, feeling betrayed. "Dammit, Captain, you know that I've been considering an early retirement. You know that I've been thinking strongly about getting out of the military, being a civilian again. I've been the Alliance's poster boy since Elysium, and I don't think that I can handle it anymore." He knew that he shouldn't be saying these things in front of the Spectre, but at this point Shepard didn't care. He didn't appreciate being blindsided. And he was being truthful, he'd seen enough in his ten years as a marine that he wanted to step out for a while, maybe have a shot at raising some semblance of a family, something that he never had before. And here was one of his mentors, hell the closest thing to a father that he had ever had, and he was trying to delay that even more. "Captain," Shepard begins again, trying to sound calmer than he was. "Spectres are supposed to be the best of the best. Why in the hell would they want a grunt like me?"

"Because, Shepard," Nihlus spoke up, "you have impressed people. Between your actions on Rakhana and Elysium, you proved yourself to have the necessary skills to become a Spectre. What you accomplished on Torfan proved that you could make the tough choices. Your courage, fortitude, skills, and unwillingness to give up and take the easy way out are exactly what we need. I am looking forward to working with you over the coming weeks, to assess your true potential. I don't think that I will be disappointed."

"Shepard, we need this, and I'm sorry, but you are the right one for the job," Anderson tells his friend, trying to mollify him somewhat. "Everyone in the Alliance brass knows it, and so…"

"Captain, we've got a problem," Joker's voice came over the comm, interrupting Anderson's further attempts at flattery. Shepard thought he was thankful for the interruption, until he heard the rest of the news.

"What is it, Joker," Anderson asks, annoyed at another interruption.

"Message incoming, from Eden Prime. You're gonna want to see this, sir," Joker says with a trace of shock coming from his voice. Immediately, Shepard was put on edge. Turning to the viewscreen that Nihlus had been looking at earlier, a grainy video popped up. Squinting his eyes better to see through the static, Shepard could hear the distinct sound of heavy gunfire and exploding shells. Shepard closed his eyes for a moment and imagined that he was back at Rakhana, watching his men die as he vainly fought to save someone who hadn't even wanted to go with him in the first place. He forced his eyes open, seeing a female marine race towards the camera, pushing the cameraman down and yells, "Get down!" Another explosion, and a different marine turned the camera towards his face, explains hysterically, "We're under attack! Taking heavy casualties. We…augh…we need immediate evac! They came out of nowhere! We need…." The marine stopped at his kinetic shields we suddenly overwhelmed and he took multiple shots to his chest, falling out of frame. An ominous mechanical sound was heard, and the rest of the marines all look up at the same time, seemingly oblivious to the continued gunfire and explosions that were going off all around them. The camera then panned slowly up to where they were looking, and Shepard's mouth opened in shock. A massive starship, vaguely looking like some sort of insect, or maybe a cuttlefish, broke through the clouds. Suddenly, an explosion went off very close to the camera and the picture went out.

"Everything cuts out after that, no comm traffic at all," Joker informs them. "It just goes dead, nothing at all."

"Joker, reverse and hold at 38.5." The screen went back to the unknown ship, and Anderson studied it some more. It looked eerily like a gigantic bluish-black metal hand, reaching down from the heavens to snatch up everyone below. "Status report!"

"Seventeen minutes out Captain," Joker reports. "No other Alliance ships in the area."

"Take us in, Joker, fast and quiet. This mission just got a lot more complicated," Anderson says, earning the award for understatement of the year.

"A small strike team can move quickly without attracting attention. It's our best chance to secure the beacon," Nihlus recommends.

"If whoever's on that ship hasn't secured it yet already," Shepard unnecessarily adds.

"Suit up and get down to the cargo hold," Anderson orders, talking to both of them despite not having the authority to order around the Turian Spectre. Turning to Shepard, he continues, "Go get Alenko and Jenkins, you're going in."

Shepard takes a long look at the viewscreen before snapping out of it and nodding his head, "Aye, Captain."

Burning flesh. It was a smell that no one should ever have to get used to. For some odd reason, it seemed to Shepard, it followed him wherever he went. Everything burns, he thinks to himself, apparently even in paradise. Moving quickly and quietly, leading his three man team with Alenko and Jenkins, he moved closer to the rising columns of smoke that seemed to be coming from the center of the colony. Nihlus was scouting out ahead, and had told them what to expect – a lot of dead bodies. They had already seen some, and with each body they came across Jenkins tensed up more and more. There was nothing that they could do for them now, though. They had to get that beacon, and Shepard wanted to beat that Spectre to the dig site, if only to show him who's better. Coming up on a partial clearing, he stopped behind a boulder and looked back at Jenkins. There were no emotions visible behind his faceplate, despite knowing that his hometown was just destroyed. Shepard didn't hold out much hope that Eden Prime was going to continue after this attack. He motioned Jenkins forward, pointing with his Karpov-brand pistol. Jenkins nervously nods his head, and clutching his standard-issue M7 Lancer-class assault rifle, moves out amongst the boulders dotting the clearing in the uphill path. Before he can react, two drones about the size of a man's torso roar down the hill, spitting out hyper-velocity bullets. The drones quickly overwhelm his kinetic shields, and rip into him before Shepard or Alenko can react.

Snapping out of it, Shepard peeks around the boulder he's using as cover and unloads at the two drones, ordering, "Kaidan, overload!"

"Aye, Commander," Alenko responds, tapping a few buttons on his omni-tool before pointing his arm at the drones. A bright, blue-white statical discharge envelopes the drones, instantly dropping their shields. Shepard takes advantage of this by hopping out of cover, his omni-tool flaring with a brilliant orange-yellow light, and an orange pulse shoots out at the two drones, the tech mine exploding between them and shattering them. He smiles for a moment before remembering, and turns to see Alenko already kneeling over Jenkin's body, closing his eyes. "Ripped right through his shields," Alenko reports to his long-time friend. "He never stood a chance, the damn bastards got him before he could react!"

Determination in his voice, Shepard replies, "Don't worry Kaidan, he will get the burial that he deserves. Whoever is behind this attack will wish they had never come here before I get done with them. C'mon, Nihlus can't be too far ahead of us now. Let's go find him."

Alenko just looks up at Shepard and nods his head. He still could not understand what drove Shepard to never give up, no matter how many he's lost.

She had never run so fast in her life. Lungs and legs burning alike, Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams, the last surviving member of the 212 Unit of the 2nd Frontier Division of Eden Prime, ran for her life. She tried to not pay attention to the mass-accelerated slugs that were slamming into the ground all around her feet as she ran. The two drones that were following her were steadily gaining on her, no matter how hard she pushed herself. Then, something slams into her back, almost knocking her off-balance. Shit, Ash, that took out your shields, she tells herself. Get hit again and you can kiss your sorry ass goodbye. Deciding to make a stand, she dives for the ground, taking out her pistol on the way down. Rolling, she comes up on one knee and starts firing, her first two shots shredding the first drone, which in turn runs into the second one, sending them both to the ground in pieces. Managing a small smile, Williams is knocked back into reality when she hears a mechanical-whirring and clicking sound. Her smile quickly turns to horror when she sees two of those mechanical beings, the same kinds that had just wiped out her unit a few hours ago. They were holding a colonist, Rawlings she thought his name was, above some sort of mechanical object that was standing on three legs. Sheer terror is sprawled across Rawlings' face, and Williams gasps in horror as a metal spike rose out from the object, skewering Rawlings and raising the body about five meters. Unfortunately for her, the mechs overhear her terrified gasp, and quickly turn around, their single ocular lights scanning from side to side in the clearing. Williams quickly ducks behind a large boulder. but she knows it wasn't in time. Those mechs had certainly seen her. Pulling her assault rifle from her back, as it unfolded she says softly, "Well, this is it. See ya soon, dad!" She begins to swing out of hiding just like a star in those old actions vids from Earth when a blue streak flies past her face, straight into one of the mechs. The heavy round punches through its long neck, shearing its head completely off. Only then does she hear the thunderous report from the sniper rifle itself. The second mech turns with the speed that only a synthetic can manage, pulse rifle ready to spout death at whoever had taken out its partner. Before it could find a target and unload its pulse rifle, a concentrated blue orb of energy slams into its head, knocking it down. A marine, wearing the distinctive armor of an elite N7 Marine, suddenly sprints past her. He trains his heavy pistol on the synthetic and unloads an entire clip into its head. The optic shatters amongst a spray of white fluid and sparks.

"You're welcome, SIR," the marine said, voice dripping with the disapproval of a teacher scolding a student as he looks behind him.

"What," another N7 marine innocently asks, sauntering up to her and the other marine with an M-92 Mantis heavy sniper rifle propped up lazily on his shoulder. "I knew you had my back."

"Next time you should tell me what you're gonna do, so that I can be better prepared to save your ass, sir. I thought snipers weren't supposed to give away their position."

"Oh, c'mon Alenko! I didn't give away my position. I knew you would take out the second one before it found me," the sniper replies, a smart-ass grin on his face.

Williams tried in vain to catch her breath as the two marines walk over towards her, their friendly back and forth banter betraying a calm about the situation that she just did not feel. Not knowing what to do, Williams just stands there at attention, waiting for the two N7s to acknowledge her presence. Looking very closely at the two as they continue their banter back and forth, she catches herself staring at the taller of the pair. I know that I've seen that face before, she thinks to herself. Trying to rack her brain, she just couldn't figure it out. Maybe…

"You ok, soldier," asks the shorter of the pair. With his close to longer than regulation length black hair and faint Asian features, he definitely seemed to be the older of the two. She also caught the Staff Lieutenant stripes on his collar. Seems too old to have that rank, especially as an N7.

"Yes, sir," she replies nervously, barely able to catch her breath. "Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams of the 212, 2nd Frontier Division. Last one of my unit, I believe. Thank you for the help." She said the last part with sorrow and shame in her voice.

"This is Staff Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko," the taller man replies, jerking his thumb at his companion, "and I'm Lieutenant Commander Dace Shepard of the SSV Normandy. What happened here, Williams? What's the sitrep?"

"Shepard? The 'Commander Shepard.' Of Elysium and Rakhana," she asks, unable to keep the awe out of her voice.

Annoyed, Shepard replies, "Yes, Williams. Now, focus. Sitrep."

Crap, she thinks to herself. Good job at first impressions, no wonder I'm always stuck with these crap assignments, not even including the black listing. "Sorry, sir. We were out on patrol about four klicks southwest of the beacon when we were ambushed by those mechs. Tried to make it back to the beacon, but I lost all my squad trying to get back. Once I got to the other side of this clearing, I was repelled by those drones."

"Is the beacon secure," Alenko asks, as always concerned with the mission.

"I don't know, Lieutenant. I didn't make it that far. The 232 was on guard duty this morning, but I haven't heard anything from them since we went out on patrol. We tried to send out a distress call, but I don't know if it was received by anyone."

"It was, Chief," Shepard replies, looking off in the distance towards where she had just said that the beacon was. "We got here as soon as we could." Determination steeled his voice. Not that he had ever entertained the thought of being in the Spectres, he still wasn't going to allow these synthetic bastards to ruin this mission. Giving up was never an option, not for the man who raised himself since his family died when he was six. He was a survivor, that's what he did. Even if all of those around him all died, like they almost always did. But he was damn sure going to do everything that he could to keep those that he could safe. No one deserved to grow up without family, alone and scared. It's something that never goes away, he knew that personally. Going off into his own world for a moment, he walks over to one of the fallen mechs, noting its flashlight-like head and sinewy synthetic muscles under the armor. Something clicked in the back of his head as Alenko asked Williams about what the beacon was, and Williams just told him the truth, that she had no idea what it really was except for that it glowed with a dim green and was Prothean. Surely these can't be… he thought to himself. "Hey, Kaidan," Shepard calls out over his shoulder. "C'mere."

Alenko and Williams cautiously walk up behind him, and Alenko asks, "What is it, Commander?"

"Does this look like a Geth to you?"

Alenko looks confused at first, but then looks closely at the mech and realization crosses his face. "Oh my god. They are Geth! But they haven't been seen beyond the Veil in almost 300 years! Why are they here?"

"Think it has something to do with the beacon," Shepard asks to no one in particular.

"Could be," Alenko replies. "If it's really as important as everyone is making it out to be, then, yeah. The Geth might want it for themselves."

Turning to Williams, Shepard asks, "How far is the dig site, Chief?"

Pointing towards it, she replies, "Maybe about 400 meters that way. I had almost gotten there before I ran into those drones and had to make a run for it."

"I need you to take us there, Chief. No heroics, and no taking revenge. We have to secure that beacon, and I need your help."

"Aye aye, Commander," she replies, and starts off towards the dig site at the end of the ravine.

Shepard peers around the boulder, but quickly ducks back, awkwardly half-falling on Williams. Thank god she's wearing armor, he thinks. She might have felt me feeling her up. Accidently, of course. If he had been paying closer attention, he might have seen her smirk at the occurrence. Looking at Alenko, Shepard comments, "Lift 'em, LT."

"Aye aye, Commander," Alenko answers, and his entire body glows with a cyan bluish glow before he stands up and makes an upward gesture with his left arm. The three Geth troopers patrolling the dig site are all taken by dark energy, and lifted up as if they each began defying the laws of gravity. Shepard and Williams pop up out of cover and methodically take out the Geth as they float in the air.

The three walk up into the dig site, weapons at the ready, but they find nothing there, no trace of the beacon in sight. "I thought you said it was here, Williams," Shepard comments, the tension clear in his voice.

"It was here, Commander," Williams says defensively. "Someone must've moved it!"

"Yeah, but was it the scientists or the Geth," Alenko asks, alarm evident in his voice.

As if this needs to get any worse, Shepard thinks to himself. "If it was the scientists that moved it, where would they have taken it, Chief?"

"Up the hill is the scientist camp. It's also the same direction as the spaceport, which is where that massive ship seemed to land. It's this way," she says, pointing up a path in the hillside with her assault rifle. Shepard motions for her to lead the way, and she takes the point, Lancer at the ready. Too bad she doesn't have one of those Avengers, like Shepard has on his back right now. Supposedly they were light years ahead of the old M7s in terms of stopping power and accuracy. She loved her old rifle, but with how the day's events had gone, she would take whatever advantage she could get. Leading the way up the hill, she noticed what looked like the same spikes that Rawlings had been impaled on, complete with corpses on the ends. Holding up her arm to stop the two behind her quietly, she points at the spikes with her rifle to Shepard, who nods his head and quickly takes the point. Holding his pistol at the ready, Shepard cautiously moves forward. As he gets closer, the spikes begin to lower, bringing the bodies with them. Bodies that look like they have been augmented with cybernetic implants glowing with an eerie blue. "My god," Williams exclaims, "they're still alive!"

The bodies begin twitching, as if in response to Williams comment, and begin to get up from the platforms that they were lowered onto. Looking like typical old-school Hollywood zombies, the creatures, closer to husks of their former shells than anything, begin charging. Coldly, Shepard begins blasting away with his pistol, and shortly the thundering of William's assault rifle and the sharp blasts of Alenko's pistol join in. However, the husks prove resilient to their combined gunfire, and they refuse to go down easily. The third one manages to get close enough to Shepard that it sends out an electrical pulse that immediately wipes out Shepard's kinetic barriers. Alarmed, Shepard tries to shoot the husk at point-blank range, but of course his pistol is conveniently out of thermal clips. "To hell with this," he exclaims, and uses his gun as a melee weapon, clubbing the husk until its head caves in. Breathing heavily, he looks over his shoulder at Alenko and asks him, "What the fuck were those things?"

"I don't know, Commander. Looks like the Geth have found a way to turn organics into some sort of zombie cyborgs. I'm not likin' this, sir."

"And you think I am? Williams, you think there might be any scientist left in these buildings here?"

"Maybe, Commander. Only one way to be sure, I guess."

"Right," Shepard replies. "Lead the way, Alenko. I'm sure if there's any survivors they will have locked the doors. Your job to unlock them, Mr. Sentinel."

"Aye aye, Commander," Alenko replies, his sarcasm matching Shepard's. He goes up to the first building and attempts to open the door. After working with the controls, Alenko easily unlocks the door and Williams bursts in, rifle at the ready. Shepard and Alenko follow her in, only to find a pool of blood in a darkened room, with it smeared over behind the bed. Shepard quickly scans the room, and points towards the bed with his pistol.

"Stay behind me," he says, cautiously following the trail of blood as Williams quickly moves in behind him and to his left. Stopping above the mattress, the quiet is broken by a muffled sob. Looking over his shoulder to Williams, he exchanges a nod with her and quickly pulls the mattress off. Williams quickly ducks under Shepard's arm, covering the Commander, but they only find one of the scientists, clutching his mangled shoulder and curled up in the fetal position.

"Wait, please, don't hurt me!"

Shepard holsters his pistol and touches Williams on the shoulder, reassuring her to back off. Alenko quickly kneels down before the scientist and begins administering medi-gel to the wounds. "Easy now, you're in good hands. Try to relax."

"How can I relax when we are on the eve of despair? The twilight of the end is upon us! The mad prophet has arrived with his army of minions. The reckoning is here!"

Shepard and Williams exchange a confused look at the man's mad ramblings. "What are you talking about, sir?" Williams gives Shepard a strange look, amazed at the many facets of the Commander that she had seen so far – the determined marine, the wise-crack smartass, and now the compassionate concerned caretaker. "Mad prophet, army of minions? I assume the army is the Geth, but who is this prophet," Shepard continues.

"The prophet of our doom! The Turian with the glowing eyes of the damned! The leader of synthetic army! The herald of the new age! No one will be spared, no one!"

"Turian? I don't know of any Turians in the colony, I would have noticed their kind before," Williams states, a taste of disgust in her voice. Shepard gives her a look, noticing the slight tone and concerned by it.

"Nihlus maybe? We haven't seen him since we touched down," Alenko offers, trying to make sense of the confused man's ramblings.

"No, I don't think it's Nihlus. He was with us when the attack came. We weren't even in the system yet," Shepard replies. Turning to the man he softly asks, "Do you know what happened to the beacon? The Prothean artifact that was discovered here?"

"It was moved before the army of darkness arrived! But it doesn't matter. They landed at the spaceport. It was preordained long ago! Nothing will stop the coming horde!"

"Dope him up, Alenko," Shepard orders, jaw clenched from the stress of the situation. It was always hard to see civvies under shell shock. They didn't deserve to see the horror of war, but they always seemed to be the ones that suffered. Just like on Rakhana.

"You sure, Commander?"

"Yes. We don't want him hurting someone, much less himself. We need to get to that beacon."

"Aye aye, sir." Alenko gives him a shot in the arm, and they leave, re-locking the shack behind them.

This doesn't make any sense, Nihlus thought to himself as he stealthily moved towards the spaceport. None of this makes any sense. Geth, beyond the veil? For what purpose? What would Geth want with a 50000 year old Prothean beacon? They hadn't been heard from or seen since they drove their Quarian creators from Rannoch three lifetimes ago. And when had they learned how to raise the dead? Those zombie-like creatures that they created out of the Human colonists were horrific to see. He had pumped shot after shot into them and they still kept coming at him. Only one of them had gotten close though, and his side still ached from the hit he took. Definitely cracked his carapace. He hoped the Human medical officer aboard the Normandy, Chakwas he thought her name was, had experience with Turians. He knew the wound was superficial, but he didn't want to take any chances aboard an alien vessel. Quietly moving up the ramp to the loading ramp of the tram station, Nihlus crouches behind a stack of crates. He had noticed a being wandering around that didn't seem to be a Geth and was too tall to be a Human. Peering around the crate, surprise washes over his black and white face. Surely that can't be… "Saren? What are you doing here?"

The gray-skinned Turian turns around, synthetic eyes glowing an eerie bright blue. Wearing armor that was the same sickly color as his leathery skin, and with a left arm that looked too closely like the arm of one of Eden Prime's attackers, Saren Arterius carefully regards the new arrival. With the confidence born of being regarded as the greatest Spectre to ever work for the Council, Saren saunters up to his fellow Turian. "Nihlus…the Council decided that you might need help on this one my friend." Smirking with arrogance, Saren places his hand on Nihlus' shoulder as he walks past him. "Looks they were right. Leave it up to the Humans to alert the Geth to a discovery like this."

"This makes no sense Saren," Nihlus says, continuing past his friend. "Why would the Geth care about this place? This is bad, this colony is lost, and the beacon is nowhere to be found."

Saren turns around and regards his fellow Spectre with cold eyes. Nihlus always did drop his guard at the wrong time. He never understood what must be done. "Don't worry old friend," Saren coldly says, drawing his pistol. "Everything is under control…"

Carefully walking down the path towards the tram station, Williams cautiously leads her new team. She couldn't believe the cruel twist of fate that God always played on her. The same day that she gets to meet the Commander Dace Shepard, the greatest hero that not just the Alliance, but the entire Earth, had ever known, is the same day that she lost her entire unit, and he had to save her from dying not because she was fighting for her life, but because she was running for it. If Shepard seemed to judge her for it, he seemed to not be showing it, but she was sure that he did. If there was one constant in the universe, it was that the Williams family was judged, and harshly, for anything and everything wrong that they did. Glancing back at Shepard, she did note with satisfaction that he was every bit as handsome in person as he was in the vids. Alenko wasn't too bad himself either, but he didn't nearly have the charisma that the Commander had. Oh stop it, Ash. Getting shot in the head because you're too into your own personal fantasies…Williams stopped in mid-thought as the sharp report of a pistol blast cut through the air. It seemed to come straight from the tram station. Looks like there's some action going on at the station. Coming around a bend, she instantly stops and begins gawking at the horizon. A deafening roar comes from the distance, seemingly accompanied by the unholy shriek of the damned.

"What is it Chief? Why'd you…" Shepard trails off mid-question as he looks over Williams shoulder, seeing what has seemingly frozen her in place. Far on the horizon, maybe four to five klicks out, looms a massive starship. Seemingly emanating an unearthly rumbling and shrieking sound it lifts off, a trail of fire left in its wake.

"What the hell is that," Alenko asks, a strange mixture of awe and fear in his voice.

Shepard can't help but to watch as the massive ship accelerates, blasting off from the planet's surface. It's definitely the same ship as was in the distress call. The damn thing was easily two kilometers long itself. Nothing that massive should have been able to land on the surface of a planet, much less liftoff again. The Geth were obviously much more advanced than anyone else had thought before. Seemingly pulled by an unknown force, he begins walking forward, trying to keep line-of-sight with the fleeing ship as it rises higher and higher. So focused was he on the ship that he at first didn't hear the warnings of his fellow soldiers. "Look out, Shepard," he finally hears Alenko exclaim as he looked down into the face of an advancing husk, no more than five feet from him. Shepard braced himself as it rushed forward, its arm raised and swinging down rapidly, going for a wide swipe to his face. The blow never impacted as the mass accelerated rounds from Williams assault rifle slamms into the husk's neck, blowing its head clear off, ichor spraying everywhere. Snapping out of his funk, Shepard draws his pistol and begins blasting away at the other two husks that were running towards his squad. As the last husk fell from a biotic warp attack courtesy of Alenko, impacts against his kinetic barriers alerted him to a new problem. Ducking behind a boulder, Shepard draws out his rifle and lays on his belly in the grass. Zooming in with his scope, he squeezes the trigger, shearing off the head of a Geth trooper firing on Williams' position. Smirking, Williams pops up out of cover and begins peppering the remaining Geth's shields with fire, overwhelming them until the barriers collapse. The rounds drill a hole straight through its center, breaking the metallic spine and severing all important functions before overloading the synthetic's brain.

Shepard makes one more sweep of the tram station with his rifle before focusing in on the body that he saw the first time. Seeing his fears come to fruition, he confirms that it's the body of the Turian Spectre, Nihlus. A pool of blue blood lies around the Spectre's head, indicating that the pistol shot that they had heard a moment ago was an assassination. Holstering his rifle, Shepard draws his pistol and cautiously runs down the hillside, alert for any Geth or husks that might be lurking about. Making it to the station, he kneels before Nihlus' body and confirms his fears that death has already taken the Spectre. However, he still says to Alenko, "LT check for vitals. If there's anything that we can do…"

"Don't worry, Commander. I'll do whatever I can," Alenko replies, kneeling beside the body to check it, just to make sure.

"A Turian," Williams questions, wondering how the alien arrived on Eden Prime without her hearing it through the rumor mill. "You guys know this alien?"

Shepard stands up and solemnly looks at the young Chief. "Yes we did Williams. He was a Council Spectre, name was Nihlus. He seemed to be a good man. He was supposed to help us to secure the beacon, among other things…"

Alenko finishes his scans and stands up, looking at his friend with a grim look on his face. He imperceptibly shakes his head no and says, "Sorry, Commander. Nothing I can do for him."

Shepard looks off in the distance, surveying the wreckage. Just what the hell do we do now? "Well, this mission is FUBAR."

"Hear that, Shepard," Alenko agrees, getting up from the fallen Spectre. "What's the plan now?"

"If the beacon is still on the ground, then it's probably at the spaceport now. Seems the logical step to take at this point, Commander," Williams offers, trying to be of some help but knowing that Shepard was getting more and more pissed by the minute at this point. Shepard looks off in the direction that she was pointing, towards the nearby tram. After a moment's consideration, Shepard nods his head and she begins to lead them off. "Right this way, gentlemen."

A silver-white Geth trooper with blue tubing surrounding its body rises up from a silver cylinder with a control pad sitting on the side of the tramway. It turns to another trooper and says something in their chittering language. Saren strides up to it after disembarking from the tram and orders, "Set the charges. Make sure no one survives."

The Geth chitters some more and nods its head, blinking its single optic at the same time. It turns around, ready to do its master's bidding, while Saren purposefully strides off. Going through the burning remains of the spaceport, the former Spectre walks up to a totem sitting in the center of the gangway, glowing with an eerie green light. As he gets closer to the totem, his body is enveloped by the same glowing green light, and he is lifted up and suspended in the air as if he was being crucified.

"Keep it up, they're pushing," Shepard shouts at Williams, firing away at the charging Geth with his heavy pistol.

"They really don't want us to disarm this last one, do they," Williams sarcastically asks as she sprays mass-accelerated slugs into the synthetics.

"Well then, we'll just have to disappoint them, won't we?"

Smirking, Williams readies a fragmentation grenade, shouts, "Grenade," and tosses it in the middle of a cluster of three Geth. Unable to react in time to the short fuse, they are all knocked back by the explosion. With the skill of an expert marksman, Shepard takes three shots with his pistol, catching each one of the Geth in their lone optic.

"Got it, Commander," Alenko finally shouts as he gets up from the final bomb and wipes his forehead with the back of his hand. Guess it was really getting to me, huh Kaidan, he thinks to himself as Williams takes down the final Geth trooper with a staccato burst of her assault rifle. "Geth weren't playing around, were they? I would say that one of those damn bombs would have taken out this colony. But four of them?"

"Guess they wanted to ensure that they finished the job Kaidan," Shepard replies, his voice strained with tension. "Seems to me that they did a good enough job without them."

"True that, Commander."

"Hey Commander, LT, c'mere!"

Sighing, Shepard follows Alenko towards the beacon and the overenthusiastic Chief.

"Amazing," Alenko exclaims. "Actual working Prothean technology! I never thought I would see anything like it!"

"It wasn't doing anything like that before when it was dug up," Williams adds enthusiastically.

Shepard takes a look at the beacon and shakes his head. Hope it's worth all the death it's caused so far, he thinks to himself. But when has it ever been worth it. All the death I've seen, tried to stop, hell even been a part of. When has it been worth it? Touching his ear, he calls into the comm, "Normandy, this is Shepard. The beacon is secure, awaiting pickup."

"Aye, aye Commander," Joker replies in the comm, at once sounding professional yet laid back at the same time. "ETA 10 minutes. How's the LZ lookin'?"

Shepard turns around as Alenko walks up to him and continues, "LZ is secure for the moment, scanners aren't picking up any stragglers at the moment."

Meanwhile, Williams continues to get closer to the beacon. Suddenly, an eerie green glow surrounds Williams, and begins pulling her towards the beacon. Looking over Alenko's shoulder, Shepard practically shoves his friend across the floor, sprints towards Williams, and snatches her out of the air, throwing her back towards Alenko in one smooth motion. Before he can react, however, the beacon envelops him and raises him up before anyone else can react. Alenko kneels by Williams, trying to make sure she is alright before she notices that Shepard has been raised by the beacon.

"Shepard," Williams exclaims, trying to get up and save the person who just saved her, from what she did not know.

"No," Alenko exclaims, holding her down. "It's too dangerous! We don't know what'll happen if we cut him off from it!"

Flashes, beings being tortured, wiped out, synthetics killing them, altering them, harvesting them. Planets being wiped out and invaded by machines. Shepard saw all of this and more, but none of it made any sense to him. Just as the visions ended, Shepard is thrown back by the beacon as it explodes in a wave of green energy and sparks. His head lands on the metal floor of the spaceport with a sickening thud. Alenko and Williams both rush to Shepard's prone form lying on the ground. Williams begins to move him, but Alenko grabs her arm. "No, no! Don't move him! We don't know what kind of trauma he's suffered. We need to keep him still until we get him back on the Normandy."

Nervously, Williams waits around for the Normandy, hoping that the ship would hurry up and get there.