Location: Serpent Nebula, Widow System, Citadel, Human Embassy 2183
A transcript of a meeting between Admiral Steven Hackett, Captain David Anderson and Ambassador Donnell Udina.
Ambassador Udina- Well what about Shepard? She's a spacer. Lived aboard ships most of her life.
Captain Anderson- Military service runs in the family. Both her parents were in the Navy.
Admiral Hackett- She proved herself during the Blitz. Held off enemy forces on the ground before reinforcements arrived.
DA- She's one of the only reason's Elysium is still standing.
DU- We can't question her courage. However, we can question her age. She's far too young.
DA- She's still very capable. Her youth could be of advantage.
DU- I will not entrust such responsibility to someone so young. We need someone who will get the job done and has had experience in doing so.
SH- Shepard has proven she has experience beyond her years. Her conduct during her missions have shown she has great promise and leadership ability.
DA- Lieutenant Shepard could well be the person we are looking for. There aren't many as capable as her.
DU- You're right. There aren't many but there is one. Come on Captain, we all know you're dying to put his name in the mix.
DA- I'm not dying to put his name in the hat. In my honest opinion he's the only other choice. There isn't a soldier out there who's done more for humanity.
DU- We have almost nothing on him. Everything we have has been gathered since he joined the Alliance. All we have is that he grew up in the streets of London… after some unfortunate circumstances.
SH- That maybe true Udina. But he has shown that he's a survivor. He saw his entire unit die on Akuze. He could have some serious emotional scars.
DA- Every Soldier has scars. He's a survivor.
DU- Let's not forget what happened on Torfan. He got most of his unit killed.
DA- He gets the job done. No matter what the cost.
DU- Is that the kind of person we want protecting the Galaxy.
SH- That's the only kind of person that can protect the Galaxy.
DU- (Sigh) The council won't like this one. I'll make the call.
The three of them began looking through his Dossier and looking for ways to best present the candidate to the Council. Nihlus had given them a shortlist of Alliance personnel he would volunteer to the council for SPECTRE candidacy, after weeks of deliberation the Alliance had finally chosen their candidate. They knew he had the ability to do what was necessary, but at the end of the day, the Council would decide whether or not they felt he was capable of doing the job.
The biggest political decision humanity has ever made had just been decided. And their candidate for the 1st human SPECTRE was.
Commander Nathan Anderson.
~o~o~o~o~o
Weeks Later
Location: Local Cluster, Sol System, SSV Normandy SR-1
I stood looking outside the window into space, as earth was beginning to fade out of sight as the pilot flew closer and closer to the mass relay. A few hours ago the deep, serene blue of the oceans complimented the lush green forests of Africa began to fade into the darkness and soon I saw nothing but the void.
I left the XO's quarters a made my way towards the cockpit in order to supervise the pilot.
The FTL drive was engaged and in seconds we were in fast approach of the Charon relay. "The Arcturus Prime relay is in range. Initiating transmission sequence" The ship flew past Pluto and continued down its path.
I continued my path through the CIC. Corporal Jenkins saluted me as did Navigator Pressley. "We are connected. Calculating transit mass and destination. The relay is hot acquiring approach vectors. All stations secure for transit" the pilot announced.
I entered the cockpit to find 3 people inside it. There were two humans sitting in the pilot's chairs and the Turian was standing in the centre with a business like demeanour. His arms were folded and the pistol was in clear sight. Almost as if he was daring someone to try something on him.
"The board is green. Approach run has begun". The ship glided towards the mass relay. The ship accelerated quickly after entering the relay.
"Hitting the relay in 3…2….1…." the ship all of a sudden jerked slightly. Some lost their balance but quickly regained their composure.
Joker began checking the system status "Thrusters… check… Navigation…. Check… Internal emissions sink engaged. All systems online. Drift… just under 1500 K," he had a hint of pride in his voice.
"1500 is good. Your Captain will be pleased," the Turian praised before leaving the room.
"I hate that guy," Joker commented.
Alenko looked at him with some amusement. "Nihlus gave you a compliment… so you hate him?"
"Remembering to zip up your jumpsuit on your way out of the bathroom? That's good. I just jumped us to the other side of the Galaxy and hit a target the size of a pin head. That's incredible," Joker ranted. "Besides, SPECTRE's are trouble. I don't like having him on board. Call me paranoid."
"You're paranoid. The Council helped fund this project. They have the right to send someone to keep an eye on their investment," Alenko defended the Council.
"Yeah, that is the official story. But only and idiot believes the official story."
"Don't be naïve. They don't send SPECTRE's on a mission like this unless something big is going down," I reprimanded the Lieutenant.
"I still think you're both just being paranoid."
"Well, bad feelings are an occupational hazard. We don't go anywhere unless there's a good reason, so what are we doing here?" the pilot questioned.
"Joker! Status report."
"Just cleared the mass relay, Captain. Stealth system engaged. Everything looks solid."
"Good, find us a comm buoy and link us to the network. I want mission reports relayed back to Alliance brass before we reach Eden Prime."
"Aye, aye Captain. Better brace yourself sir, I think Nihlus is headed your way."
"He's already here, Lieutenant," the Captain groaned. Everyone in the cockpit shook their heads.
"Tell the Commander to meet me in the comm room for debriefing," the line was cut.
"You get that Commander?"
"Great you piss him off and now I have to deal with it."
"It's not my fault. The Captain's always a little pissed off," Joker defended himself.
"Only when he's talking to you Joker," Lt Alenko quipped.
I left the cockpit not acknowledging anyone in along the way. However, I was stopped by the ships Navigator. He was having a heated discussion with someone aboard the ship but abruptly stopped when I came into view. "Congratulations Commander looks like we had a smooth run. You heading down to talk to the Captain?"
"I'm giving him the status update now."
"With all due respect sir maybe he'll tell you what's really going on around here."
I couldn't help but scowl at the way he said that, especially how he emphasised the "you" in the sentence, but I bit my tongue. "Good it looks like I'm not the only one with a functioning brain around here."
"So it's not just me. Why would they send Captain Anderson and a SPECTRE if we were only testing the stealth drive? SPECTREs don't go on routine shakedowns. It just doesn't add up."
"You don't trust Nihlus?"
"I don't like Turians in general. Runs in the family. My grandfather fought in the First Contact War. Lost a lot of friends when the Turians hit."
"Why the SPECTRE is here is on a need to know basis. I trust the Captain and so should you. Just follow the orders you were given."
"Understood Commander," the Pressley saluted before returning to his post.
I continued his path towards the comm room. Just as I was about to walk past them Corporal Jenkins put an arm in my path.
The Corporal saluted "So what do you think Commander. We won't be staying on Eden Prime for long will we? I can't wait to see some real action."
"I sincerely hope you're kidding. Corporal, your real action usually ends with me patching up crew members in the infirmary,"
Stupid kid actually wants to see action. That kind of attitude will get you killed almost as surely as running naked though a battlefield with a giant sign that says 'Kill Me JACKASS'.
"You need to calm down Jenkins. A good soldier stays cool. Even under fire."
"Sorry Commander but the wait is killing me. I've never been on a mission like this before. Not with a SPECTRE on board."
He's like a fucking kid in a game store "Just keep your head down and follow my orders and we won't have any problems."
"Easy for you to say. You proved yourself on Akuze, Torfan and Elysium. This is my big chance. I need to show the brass what I can do!"
"Then don't get too anxious. If you're in this for personal glory, you'll end up dead and you'll take your team with you. That's the legacy you'd leave behind. So don't play the hero, just do your job."
"Don't worry sir. I'm not going to screw this up," he still had that stupid grin on his face, "I still can't get over the fact that I met a real life SPECTRE. They protect the Galaxy at any cost. They operate above the law."
"Hey Commander you'd make a good SPECTRE. Like what happened on Torfan. That's what they're looking for. Success at any cost. Ruthless efficiency, show no mercy," what he thought may be praise is bringing up a lot of bad memories I would rather forget.
"Or when you held off an entire enemy fleet during the blitz almost single-handedly saving the colony."
"There was another person who helped me Corporal. Don't forget that," Dr Chakwas said.
"Let's not forget being forced to survive on Aku-"
That's it. I cut him off and damn near yelled "50 MARINES DIED THERE CORPORAL. Show some goddamned respect. What happened there shouldn't be glorified." I seethed. Akuze was the last place I wanted to be reminded of.
Jenkins looked genuinely sorry for what he said "I'm sorry Commander… I didn't mean to offend you it's just."
"I don't have time for this shit. Captain's waiting for me"
I pushed past Jenkins and into the comm room. I wasn't too surprised that the Captain wasn't there yet but I was surprised that Nihlus was there waiting for me.
"Commander Anderson. I was hoping you'd get here first. It will give us a chance to talk."
"What about?"
The SPECTRE began pacing around the small space, inspecting me and my form. He towered over me and I'm not short standing at 6'2. "I'm interested in this world we're going to- Eden Prime, I've heard it's quite beautiful."
What's his angle? "I'm a Marine. Not some tourist on holiday."
"It's more than just a tourist destination, isn't it, Shepard? Eden Prime is a symbol of your people. A perfect little world on the edges of your territory. Proof that humanity can not only establish colonies across the galaxy, but also protect them. But how safe is it, really?"
"Are you trying to scare me SPECTRE!"
"Your people are still newcomers Shepard. The galaxy can be a very dangerous place. Is the Alliance truly ready for this?"
Captain Anderson walked into the room before I could inquire further into what Nihlus was talking about. "I think it's about time we told the Cmdr. what's really going on."
"This mission is more than just a simple shakedown run."
"I already figured that out."
"We're making a covert pick up on Eden Prime. That's why we needed the stealth systems operational," Anderson explained "A research team recently unearthed some kind of beacon during an excavation. It's Prothean."
So what! Some random scientists unearth a beacon from some regal species which opened the doorway to galactic civilization and now they want a fucking SPECTRE and a crew packed with the Alliance's best soldiers to pick it up. That doesn't make sense. Why not have a Council team pick it up.
"This is big Shepard. The last time humanity made a discovery like this, it jumped our technology forward 200 years. But Eden Prime doesn't have the facilities to handle something like this. We need to bring the beacon back to the Citadel for proper study."
"Obviously, this goes beyond mere human interests, Commander. This discovery could affect every species in Council space."
"Why didn't we keep the beacon for ourselves?"
"You humans don't have the best reputation. Some species see you as too selfish. Too unpredictable. Too independent. Even dangerous."
"So you'd rather have us collared and leashed. So dependent on the Council that we can't think for ourselves!" I seethed.
So they sent a SPECTRE here to hold our hands so we don't fuck everything up. They send aliens to consolidate their power so humanity doesn't get an edge. "We can handle this on our own!" I growled
"Unless something goes wrong," Nihlus retorted.
"Relax Commander we need the council's help. They know more about the Protheans than we do. Besides, this is also a gesture of good will from the Alliance."
"That still doesn't explain him," I glared at Nihlus.
Anderson began to explain that I was up for SPECTRE candidacy and that Nihlus had put my name forward. He wasn't a racist like most of the Turians I've encountered he care more about my skills than he did my species. But at the root of the matter was the political agenda on the part of the Alliance. They were going to try and milk as much benefits as possible from my actions as they could again. I'm getting sick of being the poster boy.
"We should be getting close to Eden-"
"Captain! We've got a problem," Joker interrupted Anderson in the middle of his sentence.
"What's wrong Joker?"
"Transmission from Eden Prime sir. You'd better see this!"
A holo appeared in front us of Alliance soldiers being decimated by enemy fire. A woman in white Phoenix armour ordered the marine to get down as she continued to fight. The commanding officer was sending a distress signal requesting aid. The camera began to pan to a group and dumbstruck soldiers who looked to the sky. Each had their jaws on the ground and the will to win instantly escaped them. I thought I saw a giant squid for a second before the transmission ended.
"Reverse hold at 38.5," Captain Anderson instructed.
The video was pulled back to the time specified and I got a good look at the squid. It wasn't a squid. It was a fucking machine and it was gigantic. It looked like something straight out of a horror film. The red lightning that it emitted only made the construct more ominous; as if hell itself was splitting open and the devils hand was preparing to raze the ground. It was as if someone had ripped the sky open and hell itself was flooding open.
We made a plan to get the beacon off of Eden Prime as quickly and as stealthily as possible. I had to pick two people that would go with me on Eden Prime. Lt Alenko was the only combat ready man on board this ship that I was aware of. But then Corporal Jenkins came to mind. He was young and inexperienced but he knew the area better than any of us so I selected him also. Let's just hope that this mission doesn't get too fucked up.
~o~o~o~o~o
Location: Exodus Cluster, Utopia System, Eden Prime
We were dropped off in some field on top of a hill. I checked my Omni-tool to see where the beacon was. We had about a click away from the dig site.
"Jenkins we need to get to these coordinates. What's the quickest way to get there?" I asked whilst sending him the location.
The area we were in was too quiet for my liking. How is it possible that there's an invasion going on and we still couldn't hear a single gun being fired? And where was that machine? Something that big doesn't go unnoticed.
He scanned the terrain and proceeded to guide us. Alenko and I followed him to the bottom of the hill. I could hear some humming in the distance. Jenkins had ventured too far forward and we broke formation.
"Jenkins pull back; I have a bad feeling about this" I commanded.
But the kid didn't listen or he reacted too late. A group of drones flew into view as he stepped out of cover and the drones cut through his shields like butter.
Lt. Alenko and I quickly dispatched the remaining drones. He inspected Jenkins to see if there was any saving him. "He's gone. They ripped right through his shields."
I felt a pang of hurt and irritation as I stared at his lifeless corpse. "Stupid kid should've listened. And I shouldn't have let him lead even if it was for a minute" I snarled to myself. I pushed my feelings to the side "Leave him. We need to finish the mission."
"Aye, aye, sir."
We continued forward encountering some more attack drones but we were very careful. After what happened to Jenkins I need to make sure that the Lieutenant and I make it through alive.
"I've got some burned out buildings here, Shepard. A lot of bodies" Nihlus informed. "I'm going to check it out. I'll try to catch up with you at the dig site."
"Come on Lieutenant I want to be there when Nihlus finds the beacon," I instructed.
Upon turning at a tree we discovered a woman running into cover behind a giant rock. "Alenko I want you to relieve pressure to her left. I'll draw their attention to the right. GO!"
Alenko did exactly as I instructed and destroyed some of the robots on her left. I took out my shotgun and charged my barrier up. OK here goes nothing. I ran out of cover and blasted their heads off. The Alliance woman was mainly focusing on the drones which allowed the Lt. and I to handle the ground troops.
"Clear!"
"Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams of the 212. You're the one in charge here, Sir?"
"I need a status report. Now!" I demanded!
"Oh, man… We were patrolling the perimeter when the attack hit. We tried to get off the distress call, but they cut off our communications. I've been fighting for my life ever since."
"Any idea what kind of enemy we're facing?"
"I think they're geth."
Lt Alenko stepped forward "Impossible, the geth haven't been seen beyond the veil in over 200 years. Why now?"
"They must have come for the beacon. The dig site is close. Just over that rise. It might still be there."
"Can you fight Williams?" I inquired to which she nodded. "Good then you're coming with us. Let's move out!"
~o~o~o~o~o
It turns out that the beacon was moved from the initial dig site. We encountered some weird zombie crap on the way to meeting Nihlus at the spaceport over the cliff. I call them husks since it was a man impaled by a spike and suddenly becoming a zombie, a husk of what he used to be. We ran into a crazy, religious researcher and her assistant. I had to punch his lights out to stop him from doing something crazy, well that and he was seriously starting to piss me off.
We charged towards the spaceport and that was when I saw the most frightening thing. There was this mammoth ship. It completely dwarfed any alliance dreadnaught in existence. It had multiple arms and there was red lightning coming from it. The sound it made was horrifying and mind crushing. That was when it dawned on me that it was the same ship from the video.
"What is that? Off in the distance" Lt Alenko was bewildered and so was I.
"It's a ship. Look at the size of it!" Williams stated. It began to ascend into the sky, but for some reason it almost felt like it was staring me down.
We were snapped back into reality upon hearing geth fire in our direction. I remembered that Williams had a sniper rifle on her back. "Alenko, overload their shields. Williams I want you to snipe those I can't reach. GO!" I ordered.
Alenko overloaded their shields and messed up their circuitry, which worked perfectly with what I was going to do. I threw two grenades at the rock which the geth were using for cover. The formation was fragile so the blast caused the rocks to pile on top of the geth.
I had the displeasure of dealing with the husks. My shotgun made me ideal for the tasks. I never let a single one of them near me or my team.
Williams perched herself on top of a rock and got quite a few headshots in. With Alenko and I drawing their focus they couldn't hit her. Eventually we cleared the geth out. "CLEAR!" Williams joined the two of us at the space port.
I sent Alenko to investigate the dwellings to see if there was anything useful in them. "Commander you're going to want to see this."
He stood in front of a group of civilians. They were probably the only lucky bastards to survive this attack. Something about them gave me a bad vibe.
"Nobody move's a muscle until we know who you are!" I bellowed.
"Nice going Cole, I told you we should have stayed hidden."
"It's okay we're all on the same side here. We're just farmers. We've been hiding ever since that ship first showed up," Cole explained.
I doubt they'd have anything useful to tell me about the attack or the beacon. "Hey Cole, we're just a bunch of farmers. These guys are soldiers. Maybe we should give them the stuff."
"Geez Blake you've got to learn when to shut up," Cole hissed.
"If there's something you're not telling me…" I threatened.
"Some guys at the spaceport were running a small smuggling ring. Nothing major. In exchange for a cut of the profit we let them store it in the shed."
These guys aren't fucking serious! They stayed for their own greed not to hide from the geth. "You greedy bastards! You weren't running for your life! You were running to check on your merchandise."
"No it's not like that… I just knew there were some packages here. Something we could use. I found a pistol. Figured it would come in handy if those things came back, But you'll probably get more use out of it than we will."
I know the greedy son of a bitch is lying I can tell. If he thinks he can get away with it he's sorely mistaken. I grabbed Cole by the shoulder and pinned him up against the wall. "I'm only going to ask this once. Think long and hard before you lie to me again," I warned and aimed my pistol at the base of his skull.
"Are you sure all you've got is one lousy pistol."
"N-no… sir… I've got credits and an assault rifle too. Here take everything," he pleaded as he emptied his pocket of his credit chit and the pistol.
"Keep your money I'm no thief."
"Wait a minute Commander." Williams requested. "Who's your contact at the spaceport, Cole? What's his name?"
"He's not a bad guy, I don't want to get him in trouble. I'm not a snitch."
"I think you've got bigger concerns that that Cole," I cocked the pistol
"His name is Powell."
"No honour among thieves," Williams sighed.
"Please that's all I know," he pleaded.
"I should go," I dropped Cole on the ground and proceeded to the meet up point I had agreed with Nihlus. Something doesn't seem right. If Nihlus was there then why didn't he help us out with the geth? I got the answer as soon as I walked up to the platform where we agreed to meet.
Shit Nihlus. I cursed under my breath. The Turian SPECTRE was on the floor with a bullet wound in the back of his head. There is no way that a geth did this. His gun is holstered and his shields are down and I doubt he'd be careless enough to get complacent in the middle of an active battlefield. He wasn't killed in combat, killed by someone he trusted enough to drop his guard around them.
"A Turian… you know him?" Williams asked but I didn't answer. I was still thinking about who Nihlus could trust on this planet enough to completely drop his guard.
"He's a SPECTRE. He was with us on the Nor-" the lieutenant was interrupted by the fumbling behind the crates.
"Get out of there before I start shooting," I demanded
"Don't shoot, I'm human just like you."
"I like the way you hid behind those crates during the fight. Really helped us out. Thanks a lot," my lauded. Everyone picked up on my sarcastic tone. The Chief was trying to suppress a smirk.
"I don't even have a gun and I'm just a dockworker…I… you're messing with me," he finally picked up on my sarcasm. "Anyway my name is Powell and I saw the other Turian shoot him."
"What other Turian?"
He proceeded to explain how Nihlus was killed by another Turian named Saren. Apparently Saren was a friend of Nihlus' which would explain why he wasn't alert when he was killed. He informed us of where Saren was headed as well.
That was when I got to questioning him about Cole. He was stealing grenades from the soldiers and smuggling them. Williams wasn't happy one bit about it and neither am I. We're protecting these bastards and he's robbing us.
"Too many people died here for you to start jerking me around!" I snarled before aiming my shotgun at him and he gave us a bunch of experimental pistols, SMG's, Assault rifles and shotguns. Before running in the direction we came from.
~o~o~o~o~o
When we got off of the cargo train we were immediately greeted by a geth entourage. Supressing fire had us pinned to the spot. There was nothing we could do until the gunfire stopped.
I could hear a feint humming amongst the gunfire and it was growing louder and louder. I looked into a space next to Williams; she had heard it too and began searching for its origin.
That was when I noticed the faint outline of and arm in contrast to the shadows which were created by the crates. It's a cloak. "Williams get down!" I roared. I pushed her into the ground just before the omni-blade could run through her spine.
Alenko trapped the cloaked geth in a stasis field and launched it into an abyss. I gave him the thumbs up. However, my pleasure was cut short when my visor was picking up an abnormal frequency coming from nearby. Once Williams had cleared the area I approached the navpoint my suit was giving me.
"It's a bomb," Alenko acknowledged.
"How much damage could it do?" Williams asked.
"This on its own would level this entire station. A couple of them could destroy the colony."
"Can you diffuse it?"
"Yeah just give me a second. Omni-gel would work but I've ran out." He tinkered with it for a minute and stood up. "Commander you aren't gonna like this," he grimaced "According to this thing there are three left on this tram station."
"This place is fucking huge! How much time do we have?" I demanded
"3 minutes 28 seconds."
Shit we don't have enough time to go to each of them as a group. "We need to split up. Alenko send the coordinates of each bomb to our Omni-tools. Rendezvous at platform 7 when the job's complete. GO!"
Once I had the coordinates I charged for the bomb furthest away from platform 1. As I had expected geth were guarding each bomb and in strong numbers. Doing this would not be easy.
Instead of subtlety I opted for speed. The ledge was 100m from where I was and there was a pole which rose high into the sky. I used a move that I helped invent during my time on earth; I call it the Biotic Tether. I grab on to something with my biotics and then use the link to draw me closer and with great speed.
I used the tether to propel me directly into the sky, so I could re-manoeuvred my body to arrow directly at the geth horde guarding the bomb. Mid-way through my descent I tossed a grenade in the centre of the crowd and it exploded on impact.
I was about to collide with the ground and I needed to capitalise on my momentum, with my biotics concentrated in my fists I punch the ground and caused the remaining geth to fall either off of the ledge or on the floor. Those that still remained I quickly dealt with them with my shot gun.
I slapped a lot of Omni-Gel on the bomb and to my delight the countdown had stopped. After making sure the area was clear I headed to the rendezvous point.
~o~o~o~o~o
We'd finally reached the beacon after clearing through an army of geth. I had Alenko go through the crates to see if there was anything useful we could find.
"Captain, the beacon is secure. Requesting immediate extraction."
"Good Commander, we're on our way."
"By the way sir we have some bad news."
"What is it?"
"Nihlus sir… he-" I stopped to look at Chief Williams. She was approaching the beacon and a green aura had engulfed her. She was being drawn closer and closer to it in spite of her attempts to pull away.
I barged past Alenko and leapt to her side. The pull of this field was surprisingly strong, I wasn't going to let Williams get sucked into the beacon, I've already lost one soldier today there's no way I'm losing another. Using all of the strength I possessed I tossed Williams aside and she landed like a rag doll. Then my personal struggle against the Prothean beacon began. The force was too strong and it drew me before the beacon itself. My mind went numb.
Before I could even process what was happening to me there were images being burnt into my psyche. Incoherent screams invaded my mind and that same sound which that ship was making was boring through my skull and I could actually smell burning flesh. The air became thick with smoke which started clog my lungs. I could feel rain pounding against my skin, hear the parade of gunfire, fear gripping my heart like a vice, fire licking at my face, bullets destroying my knee and a whole concoction of emotions and feeling taking control of my senses. It was horrifying, watching and experiencing such destruction. It all became too much and soon darkness claimed me.
A/N
Essentially Nate is Earthborn/Colonist, and he's Ruthless/Sole Survivor and a War Hero.
In this story Nate is going to be a Vanguard. It's my favourite class because of the mixture of biotics and close range fighting. He's going to have some of the powers that only become available in ME2 such as charge, but I don't want him to know everything at the beginning, otherwise there's no room for improvement.
Femshep will be introduced in the next chapter. And other ME2 and ME3 characters will have cameo appearances so see if you can spot them.
This story is probably going to have about 25-30 chapters. So I hope you stay on for the ride.
Please review and tell me what you think of the first chapter!