Author's Note: This is my second fanfiction; my Twilight one is going to be deleted to make room for this one. If anyone is upset by this, I am willing to surrender the rights to it.
Disclaimer: I do not own, nor have I ever owned, any part of the BioWare production of Mass Effect. This is a work of fiction for those who enjoy yaoi-goodness and are willing to put up with a love triangle. Enjoy!
Warning: This contains yaoi, or male/male relations. If you do not want to read any part of a yaoi romance, then don't bother.
Jonathan Shepard stood at the helm of the SSR Normandy, arms crossed as the 26 year old Marine stared over the process of liftoff for the experimental ship which was a combination of human and Turian engineering. Shepard was a talented Biotic Adept for the Systems Alliance, and he often felt bad for his best friend Kaidan Alenko, who was a Sentinel for Systems Alliance. Kaidan often suffered from headaches, which he would quickly smile and wave off any worries about. Sighing, Shepard listened to Joker and Kaidan complain to each other about the Turian Spectre aboard the ship; although the official story was that they were doing a systems test for the ship, Shepard figured that there was something else afoot.
Hearing Captain Anderson on the speaker ask for him, Shepard laughed as Joker made a smart-ass remark about Nihlus. Heading to the communications room aboard the Normandy, Shepard walked in to see Nihlus and Anderson speaking to each other. "Hello, Shepard; we wanted to talk to you about this mission. Eden Prime is a paradise to you humans, isn't it?" Nodding, Shepard said "I've never been there, but I hear it's a real beauty of a planet."
Nodding, Nihlus said "Yes...but such beauty and paradise is fragile, fleeting...even temporary." Shepard bristled and said "Is that a threat?" Blinking, Nihlus' mandibles twitched (Shepard thought it was a smile; he couldn't be certain.) "No. It's merely a statement of fact as to how fragile a human's perception of perfection is." Shepard relaxed a little, then Anderson came into the conversation and discussed what was happening on Eden Prime about the beacon. After a few minutes spent on figuring out what was to happen, and that he was a candidate for the Spectres, there was a transmission feed from the planet's surface, showing human soldiers under fire from an unseen enemy, when a pale man wearing a red and white Phoenix-style armor came over and said "Get down!"
Looking up at the sky, the pale man said "This the 7th Division of the Systems Alliance military; we are taking fire. Repeat, we are taking fire!" Immediately, the screen showed a large ship that seemed to be reminiscent of an octopus and emitted electricity. The screen became static-covered, while Joker commented on the lost transmission; Anderson asked for it to be replayed, then paused on the image of the ship. Anderson told Joker to fly them to the planet, ending the request with "This mission just got a little more complicated." Nihlus simply stands there, looking contemplative and almost...shocked to see the ship there.
Shepard, Jenkins and Kaidan all ran across the field after being dropped off by the Normandy; immediately, they begin scouting when Jenkins is shot down by what appears to be a pair of hovering gun turrets! As soon as Jenkins falls, Kaidan and Shepard fire their guns at the turrets, bringing them down to the ground. After they see that the coast is clear, Shepard and Kaidan walk over to examine Jenkins and notice that the rounds fired were able to rip right through his armor and his shields!
"That shouldn't be possible, should it Commander?" Shepard looks puzzled but says "We need to keep moving, or the enemy will take all three of us and the colony down." Nodding, Kaidan takes point while Shepard covers the rear; soon, they run across more of the turrets and take them down when they hear gun fire coming from about twenty yards away. Rushing toward it, they see the man in the white armor from earlier firing what appeared to be a pistol at some mechs that were approaching him. Immediately, Shepard and Kaidan started firing at the mechs, while the man in white armor sought cover; when they approached, the man fired a Throw biotic field at them, yelling out "Stay where you are!"
Moving from behind the rock, the man held up a glowing hand while keeping the pistol in the other; relaxing as soon as he saw that Shepard and Kaidan were human, the man smiled and said "Colonel Ashton Williams of the 212. Are you the one in charge here?" Ashton directed this at Shepard. "Commander Jonathan Shepard; I was sent to investigate what had happened to the colony here and bring back the beacon uncovered here earlier." Nodding, Ashton said "My unit was attacked-ambushed. I think it might be the geth." Kaidan quickly butted in by saying "That can't be right; the geth haven't been seen beyond the Perseus Veil in over a hundred years. Why appear now?" Ashton shrugged and said "They must be after the beacon." Nodding, Shepard ordered them to move out, all the while wondering what could possibly have caused the geth to want to make a sudden appearance in Terminus space...