"Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few"
- Prime Minister Winston Churchill
Four men sat in a room, all four of whom were deep in discussion. One was clad from head to toe in drab olive green armour, two in naval uniforms with ranks that couldn't have been too far removed from each other in influence, whilst the fourth and final member wore a simple grey suit and bore a look of frustration.
"Look Spartan-117, neither the captain nor the admiral have been able to suggest anybody, do you have you have a suggestion for whom we can send?" the one in the grey suit said.
A deep gravelly voice spoke up in reply, "well ambassador I do in fact have a suggestion for you."
"And who might that be?" the captain asked.
"Perhaps Lieutenant Commander Alexander Shepherd, Spartan-IV048." the master chief replied, his voice practically grumbling from lack of use.
"Ah, I wondered where he ended up, looks like I had the right measure of his character when I first met him, it was just days after we had arrived at new Shanxi to be the colony's defence, Batarians had been sneaking into the system on board captured Asari and Turian freighters, as soon as we got reports of fire fights down on the surface, and more were coming from relay 314 system, by the time the marines were offloaded to the surface only fifth platoon remained on the Indefatigable, when we went back up to orbit they had boarding craft ready by and it was already too late to prevent their boarding action, it was thanks to his co-ordination and fighting that the all two hundred of the Batarians boarders were eliminated." the captain explained.
"Hmm, he certainly has courage and initiative, anything else you can say about him?" the ambassador asked.
"Well when he joined the marine corp, he had only just finished his bachelor of engineering specializing in civil engineering, as for after his first deployment he joined the ODST's a few months after his promotion to 1st lieutenant. It was a few years after that he was that awarded the silver star for his actions at Elysium when a group of Batarians slavers attacked the planet, in fact wasn't it you admiral who presided over the medal ceremony?" the captain asked.
"Yes that was me, he was promoted to major as well from memory too for that, he joined the Spartan Branch shortly after and consequently changed branch from marines to the Navy, I personally put his name forward for that after seeing the helmet cam footage." the admiral added
"Hmm, highly intelligent and decorated, sounding even more promising as a candidate, so we are resolved that Lieutenant Commander Shepard would be a suitable candidate for the joint services program?" the ambassador asked. All three of the military men nodded their agreement.
"I'll make the call gentlemen," replied the ambassador.
The year is 2598
Humanity still struggles to rebuild after the human covenant war, the recolonisation efforts though are going as fast as ever. But in all this human industriousness, humanity is not as isolated as it once was seventy three years prior, the universe teems with life and humanity's opinion is just a conflicted about the existence of alien life just as much as the alien's opinions are conflicted upon their opinion of humanity.
In 2569, humanity discovered an ancient artefact of unknown construct in a system on the edge of UNSC space. Studies conducted upon the artefact reveal it to contain an element with mass altering capabilities. The scientists of ONI called it the simplest and yet one of the most startling of discoveries as yet made by humankind...
The rest of the universe simply calls it...
Mass effect
UNSC Infinity - Epsilon Eridani system - Reach orbit
Lieutenant Commander Alexander John Shepherd
17/5/2598 (revised date, military calendar)
1354 hours (military standard time)
He always did enjoy the view from the infinity, always moving, and constantly showing off the spectacular beauty of the planet below. Reach, she was looking much healthier than she had done for nearly fifty years, the auroras from the electromagnetic waves of the system's sun, scattering waves of blue and green through the atmosphere, the plains once again bloomed with grass and the oceans looked healthy once again. In the distance was the largest construct that humanity had ever built blinking back at him with its blue core of element zero. Moments later a great disk blossomed, shimmering a great many colours, then just as suddenly, it faded away leaving behind a single ship.
"Alexander! The Chief wants to speak to you," a voice shouted out to him. Alexander turned around, recognizing the voice "Kaidan so you finally return! Where to?" Alexander exclaimed.
"Just follow me! So, Alexander what have you been up to?" Kaidan asked as they walked down the corridor away from the observation deck, towards the combat training deck where the holographic training area was
"Not much, though I did end up getting deployed to Mindoir, you know the place, one of those colonies that is out near the New Shanxi relay." Alexander replied.
"Oh more Batarians slavers, really, come on. Why do they never learn?" Kaidan replied.
"Yeah well tell that to the slavers." Alexander quipped, flashing a wryly smile. Moments later the door to the combat training deck slid apart revealing the backs of several trainees. "Ah, the biotics classes using the space, ah I remember when I was one of them learning how to use my mind to lift objects and throw them and manipulating gravity, still can't lift a Spartan though with my biotics though, shame really I'd have been a thousand credits richer." Kaidan commented.
"Yeah well lucky for me you never managed it!" Alexander replied, laughing as he said it.
"Reminiscing are we?" a deep gravelly voice asked from behind. The two men turned around to find a olive green behemoth behind them, the very moment they realized who it was they snapped to attention, saluting. "Didn't notice you there, sir." Alexander stated, slightly confused as how even after six years of being a Spartan that he still didn't have the discipline to hear a seven foot tall super soldier's stealthy yet purposeful walk. "Well of course you wouldn't if you weren't paying attention... I did have active camouflage on," replied the super soldier.
"Sorry for not paying attention sir, so um you wanted to speak to me chief?" Alexander asked. "Yes I did, what I'm going to say though applies to both of you, is that understood?" the chief said.
"Sir, yes sir." the two Spartans replied. "Good, command has seen fit to attach you, Alexander, to a joint operation with the Citadel Spectre's, for added insurance I have seen fit to also deploy you Kaidan alongside Alexander for this mission is that understood?" the chief asked.
"Yes Master Chief, very clear sir." Alexander and Kaidan replied, Kaidan then asked, "Which ship will we be aboard for the joint op sir?"
"You will report to the UNSC Normandy, currently Captain Anderson will be CO of the ship, currently the UNSC Normandy should have arrived in system from it's first slipspace jump and be preparing to dock with the UNSC Infinity, now go get your equipment, Spartans." the master chief ordered. Alexander and Kaidan snapped to a salute, "sir" was all they needed to say before they walked away to collect their gear.
"The Normandy damn and captain Anderson is the CO!" Alexander exclaimed.
"You know him?" Kaidan asked, his curiosity evident.
"Hell yeah I know him, I served on his ship for two years, the UNSC indefatigable, to be honest though I thought he may have been promoted to rear admiral by now." Alexander explained as they entered the armoury where their equipment was kept.
"Hey gunny could you help us get the armour on?" shouted Kaidan to one of the gunnery sergeants as they walked through into the armoury over to where the Spartan's armour was kept in storage, opening one of the crate revealing an urban grey camouflage set of MJOLNIR power armour.
"Be right over there Spartan!" shouted the gunnery sergeant as he worked upon getting another Spartan equipped for training.
"This one would be yours Alexander, you always did prefer your stuff to blend in with the environment." Kaidan commented as he looked for his own armour. As soon as they found Kaidan's set of armour, the two Spartans began to put the armoured under suit on whilst they waited for the gunnery sergeant and his armoury assistants to arrive to help them with the other components of the Mjolnir armour. Moments later after they had finished putting on the armoured body suit the gunnery sergeant arrived to help, progress began to be made with putting the urban grey armour on and fifteen minutes later the Spartans were fully armoured.
"Kaidan, I'm going to collect some of my stuff from my personal quarters, I'll meet you at the docking cradle ok?" Alexander asked.
"Sure, I'll meet you there! Also thank you gunnery sergeant for helping us." Kaidan said as he walked away. Alexander took his leave thanking the gunnery sergeant for his assistance then made his way quickly to his quarters, a space he shared with Kaidan, and went over to the laptop on the desk and removed a data crystal chip from it and inserted it into the back of his helmet. The moment the connection was made, a feeling of quicksilver being poured over himself spread through his nerves for the briefest of moments then just as quickly as it came the feeling faded.
"Good morning Alexander, good to see you awake for once..." a female voice said with the faintest hint of sarcasm in the tone.
"Ha ha Mira, very funny, I'd put money down that people would say you were and I were an old married couple... anyway I assume you've been notified of our deployment?" Alexander asked the AI, his tone hinting that he wasn't taking snark.
"All I know is that we're being deployed to the Normandy for a shake down run, also we are an old married couple..." replied the AI; the cheeky tone all the more obvious.
Alexander's eyes narrowed, and then he just started walking. "You love snarking... It's just sad that I just can't stop snarking back." he replied minutes later, halfway through the walk to the docking cradle. Alexander walked into a large hallway where heavy vehicles were moving supplies. "Where to from here Mira?" Alexander asked, a yellow line materialising on Alexander's HUD in response, "you'd be completely lost on this ship if it weren't for me wouldn't you..." Mira commented sardonically.
"Hey, little miss GPS is talking too much..." Alexander replied with an evil grin on his face. "Oh, now that wasn't nice..." Mira said, her face appearing in a corner of Alexander's HUD displaying a pout for added effect. All Alexander could do was laugh and then he muttered an apology as he followed the yellow line. As he did so, Mira began to hum in his ear, after a good hundred metres he just had to ask "what are you humming Mira? It's getting a little bit annoying..."
"I'm humming the yellow brick road, do you want me to sing it?" she asked, an evil grin spreading across her face in the corner of Alex's HUD.
"This is to get back at me for the GPS comment isn't it..." Alex said, defeat evident in his voice. The lack of a response made the answer all the more obvious. After several more minutes of walking and humming, Alexander was finally at the docking cradle and Kaidan was standing beside the entrance. "I've already knocked, we've got permission to board whenever we're ready" Kaidan said.
"I'm ready whenever you are Kaidan." Alexander replied.
"Good, lets get on board."
UNSC Infinity - Epsilon Eridani - Reach orbit
Lieutenant Commander Alexander John Shepherd
17/5/2598 (Revised date, military calendar)
1424 hours (military standard time)
As the two men walked along the docking arm, Kaidan looked out the window then turned to Alexander "You should probably have a look at the Normandy Alexander, it's quite the sight, I'm surprised it can maintain stealth when it's so streamlined..." Alexander turned towards the window on Kaidan's suggestion, realizing he hadn't actually looked out the window at all. When Alexander observed the Normandy it had all the usual hall marks of a UNSC prowler class Starship, it was coated in matte black stealth ablative coating and to Alexander, it presumably had the usual texture buffers which were applied underneath that forming an effective active camouflage. Further along he could see a that the engines were vastly different in shape but were by the looks of the design equally effective at keeping the ship's electro-magnetic signature masked. The engines distinctive design bore the tell tale signs of the ship being a technology demonstrator which was just as much a demonstrator as the Starship that it was attached to it was a demonstrator.
"Huh, well they did say it was on a shake down run... Guess we'll find out more from captain Anderson." Alexander commented to nobody in particular. The two Spartans turned away from the sight and moved into the airlock of the ship, allowing for the decontamination cycle to finish before they moved to enter the Normandy itself. The moment the door opened revealing the interior of the vessel Alexander and Kaidan were greeted to the sight of Captain Anderson standing at the airlock.
"Alexander, long time no see, it's a pleasure to meet your protégé lieutenant Alenko as well, I'll be briefing you on the mission once we set off and are proceeding towards the final destination Spartans." Captain Anderson quickly spoke before he turned to head to the helm where the helmsman was situated. The two Spartans turned towards each other and then gave a shrug, "I think he's keeping something back Alexander." whispered Mira into his ear
"I think so too, but we'll find out soon enough won't we, I guess we'll just deposit our stuff on the crew deck until then." Alexander replied as he walked to the back of the CIC.
"All crew to their stations, we are about to detach from the UNSC Infinity and perform an in system slipspace jump." Captain Anderson spoke through the ship wide comms system. The two Spartans paused in their steps, the same thing going through their mind. Switching to their internal comms system, Kaidan spoke "in system! Are they mad? That's like asking to be teleported into oblivion especially with a mass relay nearby!"
"Yeah no joke, there have been way too many near misses with just arrivals and departures from systems with mass relays... let alone in system…" Alexander replied.
"Relax you two, there's only a 28.4% chance rounded down that we would be..." commented Mira with a little bit of an edge to her voice.
"Right..." replied Kaidan dryly. Silence fell between them as they continued their walk down to the crew deck. Moments later Alexander felt the change in inertia when the ship disengaged from the Infinity. They placed their bags in the recreation area and then rushed to find a place to observe the slipspace jump and it's re-entry into normal space. They walked into an observation hallway just as Captain spoke over the internal shipboard comms. "Jump on my mark Mithras, 3... 2... 1... MARK!"
Moments later everything beyond the window disappeared and was replaced by an impenetrable darkness, darker even than the depths of dark space as they entered the realm of the eleven dimensional slipspace. Mira counted the seconds as they went by, moments later Captain Anderson spoke once more "re-entering normal space in three." seconds later real space reappeared the nebula off in the distance and the planet reach far in the distance, with the mass relay now much closer.
"Was anybody else holding their breath?" Alexander asked.
"Yeah, I was." replied Kaidan.
"So was I..." added Mira. Alexander rolled his eyes, "good way to break the tension Mira." Alexander and Kaidan moved to go and retrieve their bags and place them somewhere more permanent and out of the way. Several minutes of searching for a place to bunk they discover the barrack to be empty. "Strange that the barracks is empty isn't it?" Kaidan commented.
"Hmm, it is unusual, though I guess understandable given what the Normandy is... Still seeing as nobody uses this area I guess we can call this place home." Alexander replied at the implied question.
"True... Still eerie though." Kaidan replied.
"We'd best go and meet captain Anderson, see what's happening." Alexander called out to Kaidan, "meet you up there in five Alexander." Kaidan replied.
Alexander nodded and then made his way up to the CIC, travelling through two whole decks and a bulkhead to get up to where the captain would be. When he got there one of the guards on the CIC, an ONI spook spoke to Alexander. "The captain is in the meeting room behind me, you'd best take the helmet off too Spartan."
"Sure" Alexander replied as he took the helmet off and entered the meeting room, in the centre of the room was a table surrounded with chairs up the back was a holo-projector and occupying the room was the Captain as well as another wholly unexpected guest. "Why is there a Turian here captain?" Alexander exclaimed his eyebrows arching, moments later Kaidan entered the meeting room, his helmet in his hand, and the moment his eyes rested upon the Turian they widened in.
"Spartans, this is Nihlus Kryik, he is one of the council's Spectres and he is also the council's representative on this mission..." Captain Anderson spoke.
"That still doesn't answer why sir." Alexander interrupted
"I was getting to that Lieutenant Commander, as I was saying, you two Spartans will be working together with Nihlus Kryik to secure an artefact of Prothean construction on Eden prime also Nihlus was here to observe the Normandy in action due to the council having provided construction support and financial support. Further more Spartan-IV048, you will have to get used to having Nihlus Kryik around for much longer." the Captain replied irritation evident in his voice.
"As he said I'm Nihlus Kryik, it's an honour to meet a few of humanity's strongest." Nihlus said, the distinctly flanged sound of his speech noticeable as he presented his clawed hand. Alexander batted an eyelid and then grasped Nihlus' hand firmly in his grasp.
"Hmm well I guess I'll just have to get used to it, shall we begin the briefing in detail?" Alexander asked captain Anderson.
"Yes, we shall," Captain Anderson replied as he activated the holo-projector, displaying an artefact that was and tall and rectangular but with a base that was curved, almost suggesting that it was in fact a very simple piece of architectural artistry. Anderson then continued moments later. "This is what we've have been instructed to retrieve from ONI facility 143 delta, two weeks ago it was discovered by a surveyor team who were preparing to begin work on a quarry. They notified ONI the moment they discovered, no doubt wanting to avoid any of the 'rumours' that the conspiracy nuts scream and shout about on the extranet..."
"Yeah, conspiracy theory's that we all know to be true... Unfortunately..." Mira whispered into Alexander's ear.
"I assume you mean the flood..." Nihlus asked; both Spartans cringed at the flood's mention.
"Yes, precisely, there is a reason why there is a standing order for the deployment of Spartans where possible for the securing of artefacts of unknown origin." captain Anderson.
"Actually if it's been two weeks why was it dug up then?" Kaidan asked.
"You two are the only Spartans that were available for any sort of new deployment in a reasonable time frame, so they deemed it worthwhile to deploy the ODST contingent of the UNSC Gift of the Gab which has been serving as the colony's orbital defence for a few months." Anderson replied
"Well I guess considering the ODST Corp these days have kinetic barriers makes the idea of ODST's securing such artefacts feasible." Alexander commented.
"Yes, it does, which means when you get down to the surface, your team's call sign will be Blue team and Alexander will be Blue Actual, you'll have to meet up with the ODST's and work together to get the artifact moved to a suitable location for the Normandy to pick it and move it to the citadel where the citadel spectre's will take over. Clear"
"Crystal clear sir." replied the Spartans.
"Dismissed"
UNSC Normandy - Utopia System - FTL
Lieutenant Commander Alexander John Shepherd
18/5/2598 (Revised date, military calendar)
0259 hours (military standard time)
5639 hours (Eden prime local time)
Alexander leaned forward out of the bunk, having just awoken from his sleep, it wasn't exactly like as though there was much he could whilst he waited after having gotten the briefing done and out of the way.
"Mira how far out are we from Eden Prime?" Alexander asked
"Half an hour Alexander, Though still as impatient as ever." she replied.
"Yeah well... You know what we are like, I thought the stories of Spartans being extremely bored when not fighting was just a story..." Alexander replied colourlessly. Then he added, the colour in his tone returning with each word "Well let's head to the bridge, I'm sure something interesting will happen up there."
He stood up and headed for the exit, calling out to Kaidan "Do you want to join me on the CIC for the arrival Kaidan?"
Several floors and a bulkhead later, Kaidan had joined Alexander up in the CIC, The both of them standing by the holo-projector with the spectre standing off to the side talking to captain Anderson. It was then that the CIC exploded with activity "Sir, I'm receiving a coded transmission... they've declared Winter Contingency B sir..." shouted an ensign.
"Winter Contingency! Shit, Spartans hard drop, you'll be on you're on for this. Nihlus you'll have find a way to fit yourself as comfortably into a pod if you want to join them." Captain Anderson. The Spartans moved as fast as they could down to the armoury followed closely by Nihlus.
"Spartans, what is winter contingency?" Nihlus shouted as he followed Alexander and Kaidan down through the armoury as Alexander grabbed an M6D and an MA5D whilst Kaidan grabbed an M7SD, the successor to the M7S, as well as an M6D.
"Winter Contingency, its the UNSC's highest state of alert, right now seventy percent of the entire UNSC fleet has just left their current deployment, making a beeline for Eden Prime, anything that gets in the way is going to find out what it means to stop the UNSC fleet from executing it's duty. I assume you know when the last time was when winter contingency was declared?" Alexander shouted running full pelt.
"... New Shanxi... I'm glad that I wasn't around for that piece of hell" Nihlus replied, matching the Spartans pace.
"Yes... New Shanxi..." Replied Alexander as he ran he ran though into the drop bay. Alexander came to a stop and turned his attention to Kaidan and Nihlus, noticing that some of the colour in Nihlus' face had left. Soon enough they started to help Nihlus find a way to sit in one of the pods safely during re-entry that was likely to be relatively comfortable for the drop. Ten minutes had gone by whilst the Spartans had helped set Nihlus up in his pod along with locking his trajectory controls to those of Alexander's pod. Soon they were all set up and now all they had to do was wait for the pods to be dropped.
"Spartans, sensors detect that there is a very large vessel down on the planet's surface close to the colony, your orders are to secure the colony and that artifact. Do not attempt to board that ship is that understood?" the captain ordered, asking for confirmation.
"Yes sir." the two Spartans replied, slightly despondently.
"Good, the Normandy will be stay up here and provide overwatch support with the sensors but if you need something blown up well you'll probably be on your own for that as we'll be maintaining radio silence for the most part, good luck." the captain replied.
"You'll be dropping in thirty seconds..." an ensign spoke over the comms.
Twenty five seconds later... "Dropping on my mark in five... Four... Three... Two... One... MARK!" shouted the ensign as the Human Entry vehicles rocketed away from the Normandy.
-|-|-|-|- Chapter end -|-|-|-|-
Author note: first published: Unknown last edit: N/A
Hello Internet,
I hope you've enjoyed reading the first chapter; this is as you may notice by looking at my account my first fan fiction.
Now for some house keeping issues, the first being reviews. I sincerely hope you, the reader, decide to give me your opinion. With your reviews I won't be able to know if I'm writing satisfactorily so don't be frightened, I won't bite you through the Internet... Much ;) (I particularly would appreciate it if people would tell me if I've changed tense)
As for the update schedule I'm thinking fortnightly until further notice, due to other commitments. Anyway its fortunate that I've already got a few chapters prepared so no worries if I'm not quite able to keep ahead for long.
Facts about this piece 'o' fiction: The word count is 4133 words and spans eight pages in MS word.
Thellton