Lots to say, really. This is a novelization of ME1-ME3 with a separate timeline. I've changed a ton of details about the galaxy that either didn't make sense to me or appeal better to me (i.e. the structure of the Alliance military). The main character, Em, isn't really a paragon/renegade whatever, it's just what makes sense to me. Some dialogue from the game is there if I can remember it, and events unfold generally with the same results as the game, even if the length of the missions or the events within in the missions are changed drastically. I can't really think about much else to add to my notes right now, but I hope you enjoy this narration. It should pick up speed as time goes on; this is the first thing (outside of research essays and the like) that I have written, so it's a learning experience for me.
"What about Ferin Shepard? She's been N7 certified."
"I don't know...she could be unstable. She saw her whole team die on Akuze."
"She's a legend. A survivor."
"Is that the kind of person we want defending the galaxy?"
"That's the only kind of person who can defend the galaxy. Don't forget what happened during the Skyllian Blitz. Shepard single-handedly held off an entire company of batarians and dragged her entire N7 team to safety. Her actions once she got to her ship held the entire batarian fleet off until reinforcements could arrive."
"Not to mention her specialization as a Shadow makes her perfect for the kind of work that they'll have her doing."
"Like I said, Shepard's a survivor. She'll do."
"...I'll make the call."
"Preparing to hit Arcturus Prime relay in 30 seconds."
"Roger, 30 seconds."
Major Ferin Shepard strode towards the helm of the ship. An Alliance Army Special Forces Soldier in the N7 division, she had spent a great deal of time onboard starships, even though the charter of the Army - the land-based branch of the Alliance Military - generally indicated that its warriors would remain on the ground. She was the only Army soldier on the ship, with the majority of the personnel onboard being Marines or Navy crewmen, but was familiar with every person onboard the SSV Normandy, as she'd been assigned to the ship for the last standard solar year.
"Thrusters...check. Internal heat emissions are managed. All systems are green. Drift...just under 1500 K."
"1500 is good. Your captain will be pleased."
The speaker, a turian, sounded strange. The automatic translators implanted in Ferin's brain turned his language into English, but the sounds coming from his throat sounded like several people were speaking in unison, like there was an echo. He turned and walked away, nodding to Shepard as she stepped past him.
"I hate that guy," the pilot said.
"Ease up, Joker. He gave you a compliment, so you hate him?"
"Remember to zip up your jumpsuit on the way out of the head, that's good. I just transported this ship halfway across the galaxy and hit a target the size of a doggone pinhead. That's incredible."
Ferin smirked slightly as she arrived behind Joker.
"Need an ego boost, Joker?"
"Just give credit where credit's due. Besides, he's a Spectre. They're bad news."
"Guardians of freedom and the galaxy, you mean."
"Yeah, bad news. What the hell is he doing on our ship?"
Lieutenant Alenko shook his head. "The council funded this mission. They have a right to send someone to keep an eye on their investment."
"Yes, that is the official story. But only an idiot believes the official story. They send a Spectre to see if the stealth systems work? Right. I call bullshit."
Ferin shrugged.
"You worry too much, Joker."
"Yeah, well, you tell me why the Alliance wou-"
A screen suddenly opened up on the holographic panels in front of Joker.
"Joker. Status report."
"Just cleared the mass relay, Captain. All systems are a go, stealth systems are engaged.
"Good. Find a comm buoy and get us linked into the Alliance network. I was mission status reports sent to them before we reach Eden Prime."
"Aye aye, sir. Better brace yourself, sir, I think Nihlus is headed your way."
"He's already here, lieutenant. Tell Major Shepard to meet me in the staff room for a briefing.
"Yes, sir." As the transmission cut out, he turned to Ferin, raising an eyebrow. "You get that, ma'am?"
"Yeah, I'm on it. By the way, Captain Anderson sounded pissed. What'd you do?"
"Nothing, he's just always pissed."
Kaidan shook his head. "Just when he's talking to you."
Ferin smiled and turned, shaking her head and walking away. Joker and Kaidan always managed to make her laugh, somehow. It was just the dry wit, she supposed. She passed Navigator Pressly, a seaman with the rank of Lieutenant Commander, O-4. He was the XO of the ship, Captain Anderson's second-in-command, equivalent in rank to Ferin. He greeted her as she walked past. "Major. Hear anything from Captain Anderson about the Turian?"
"No, but I'm on my way to meet with Anderson right now."
"Oh. You might want to check your hair, then."
Ferin ran her hand through her dirty blonde hair. There were always a couple locks that hung down over her right eye, while the main body of her hair normally and thankfully laid flat, reaching down to just about her armpits. Still, the hair that hung over her eye never went away, no matter how much effort she put into taming her hair. She sighed.
"Anderson will just have to deal with my so-called unprofessional haircut."
Pressly smiled. "Maybe put on an actual uniform, for a change, too?"
"You know that Anderson doesn't give a damn about my uniform, and neither does anyone else in the military...except for some POGs and some uptight flag officers," Ferin retorted. Unlike the rest of the crew of the Normandy, Ferin normally walked around casually out of uniform - a black N7 sports bra, a pair of black or dark blue utility trousers, and one of her black N7 hoodies, partially unzipped, was all she normally wore around. On days she felt like being formal, she'd throw a black t-shirt or tank top on under the hoodie.
Pressly shrugged in mock disapproval. "Well, let me know if he wants that turian spaced."
With a laugh, Ferin turned and strode off, reaching the briefing room. There, she saw the turian standing casually before the screens. He smiled and nodded at her as she approached, fixing his glowing green eyes on her. She returned his gaze steadily, allowing her own dark blue eyes to bore mercilessly into him. After a moment, the Spectre spoke.
"Major Shepard. I was hoping you would get here before Captain Anderson. I wanted to speak with you."
"About what, Nihlus?"
"This planet we are going to, Eden Prime. Your people have stories about this planet. They say it is very beautiful."
"Beyond beautiful, I've heard. I've never been there, but I've heard it is a true paradise."
"It has become a symbol of sorts to your people, has it not? But such a place...can be fragile. At risk."
Ferin sharpened her eyes into her patented death-stare, the kind of stare that had unsettled even her drill sergeants, years ago when she was being trained.
"Is that a threat?"
"I'm simply saying that the galaxy can be a dangerous place. More dangerous than humans have yet discovered."
As Ferin was about to retort, Captain Anderson strode through the door. She snapped to attention as the burly man walked in.
"As you were, Shepard. I think it's time to tell you about what we're doing. This isn't a simple shakedown run."
"That much was already obvious, sir."
"Always the smart one, eh, Shepard? We're here to retrieve a device from the colony. It's Prothean."
"You mean like the Mars Archives?"
"Exactly. Shepard, this could be big. The last time we made a find like this, our technology jumped forward two hundred years."
"So, what do you want me to do, Captain?"
"You're going to take a couple crew members down and secure that device."
"Roger, sir."
"There's more. Nihlus here will be accompanying - and watching - you."
"What's going on, sir?"
Nihlus spoke. "You're being evaluated for potential induction into the Spectres."
"This is important, Shepard. A human Spectre would increase our standing among the galactic community enormously. It would even strengthen our petitions for a seat on the Council."
"I understand, si-"
Joker's voice suddenly came over the intercom.
"Sir, we're receiving an emergency broadcast from Eden Prime."
"Patch it through, Joker."
A panicked voice suddenly filled the room as a soldier's face appeared on the screen. The background was orange and red, with the sounds of battle and anguished screams clearly audible. "-ing overrun! We request immediate assistance from any Alliance forces nearby! We can't hold them back, the colony is overrun!"
Suddenly, a globe of plasma smashed into the side of the marine's head. His head snapped sideways, his helmet instantly melting into his skull and the sizzling of his flesh audible over the transmission, even over the gunfire in the background. His mouth opened almost in a scream, then he fell backwards. The camera tumbled to the ground, landing with the lens facing skywards, where a gigantic dreadnought could be seen descending before the image cut out.
"Shepard, get Alenko and Jenkins and get your gear together!" Anderson turned to see Ferin already moving to the door. She looked back and nodded at him as she continued moving, running to the elevator and punching in the armory deck. Ferin raised her wrist and punched several buttons on the holographic display that came up. She spoke into her wrist, quickly.
"Lieutenant Alenko. Corporal Jenkins. Get to the armory and get kitted out, now!"
She didn't hear the acknowledgements, shutting off the communicator and jogging into the armory to grab her equipment. The standard N7 armor was manufactured by Hahne-Kedar, a light, durable armor interwoven with electronic sensors and designed out of ferrofluids, ceramic plates, ultra-strong titanium alloys, and synthetic leathers. The resultant armor was tightly form-fitting, yet flexible, and provided some of the best protection in the galaxy against shrapnel and lower-velocity debris. Additionally, the armor was designed with virtual intelligences built in that stabilized and optimized weapons systems for maximum effect. Against mass-accelerated rounds, it would be shredded like wet tissues, but that was what kinetic shielding was for. Each branch had its own standard issue - N7 Destroyers tended to have extremely heavy armor manufactured from Aldrin labs, while N7 Shadows were issued Hahne-Kedar light armor, and so forth. As an N7 Shadow, Ferin had been issued a jet black, lightweight set of armor compromised mostly out of flexible, synthetic fibers, little more than durable cloth for the base layer. A heavy, flat ceramic plate covered her chest with an N7 logo emblazoned on the right side, with another pair of ceramic plates resting on her forearms, and on her thighs. There were thickened fibers over her knees and elbows to act as kneepads and elbow pads, and heavy metal shoulder plates to protect her neck and shoulders from oncoming fire. The Systems Alliance flag rested on her back and on the left side of her chest plate, a royal blue flag with the Alliance's golden shuttle and three stars centered on it. A blood-red stripe bordered with small white stripes ran down the center of the right arm from wrist to neck, the only part of her armor that wasn't a shade of black, aside from the Alliance flag and the N7 logo on her chest.
After tossing her armor on, Ferin grabbed her weapons, an N7 M4 "Valkyrie" assault rifle, an N7 M92N "Valiant" sniper rifle, an N7 M5N "Legion" pistol, and an N7 mono-molecular edged longsword. Again standard-issue, the weapons had been uniquely customized to be extremely flexible. The assault rifle had a SMRCO sight mounted - Short/Medium Range Combat Optic - which allowed switching from a standard non-magnified chevron sight to a 2.5x or 4x magnified chevron sight, switching from thermal to night to daylight optics, dark green, light green, dark red, and light red chevrons for varying light conditions, all at the touch of a button, in addition to an automatic heat warning when the weapon was approaching critical heat levels. Almost every detachable part of the weapon had been swapped for parts Ferin felt were more useful. A shortened barrel increased flexibility and ease of usage, a kinetic stabilizer and recoil damper reduced recoil, while capacitors aided in the mass acceleration of the weapon, increasing muzzle velocity and ability to penetrate cover. A combat scanner rested on the right rail, allowing for detection of enemy targets through cover, and she had modified the chipping system to chip tungsten into shaped, armor-piercing rounds that did lethal damage to both organics and synthetics. Each round fired was a 5.56x45mm round, but at a velocity of around 1.7 km/s, and with a maximum effective range of around 2 kilometers. The entire weapon was manufactured out of frictionless materials, including the barrel, which was custom designed with rifling that provided the round with accuracy at long ranges without friction wearing on the weapon. The weapon could be cycled between semiautomatic, burst, and safe, allowing for flexibility between close and long range engagements. The weapon itself bore a heavy resemblance to the old carbines that had been the staple of the U.S. military from the 1960s until about 2080. The weapon even had a magazine, like the old models, though it served only as a foregrip. Someone had been really nostalgic when they had designed the new M4 off of the M-8 Avenger design, but it was one of the most solid weapons she'd ever used, able to fire around 30 rounds per thermal clip, accurate, and deadly.
The sniper rifle was similarly modified, with kinetic stabilizers, recoil dampers, and capacitors, but had been modified with an extended, high-caliber barrel, and a heat sink. The ammunition block was a super-high density mixture of tungsten and depleted uranium. The weapons system fired five rounds per thermal clip, firing .338 caliber rounds accelerated to 3.7 km/s. Though it was not as lethal as some of the weapons that were available to the Alliance, such as the M-92 Mantis (which it was based off of), it could fire multiple rounds at a fairly rapid pace, and headshots were devastating, regardless of whether the target had shielding, biotic barriers, armor, or all three of the above. Coupled with an easy reload system and its effectiveness between ranges from as close as 200 meters away to as far as 6 kilometers away, it became a staple of her arsenal. It was the weapon that Ferin had trained on the most at N-School, and was the weapon she was most comfortable with.
The pistol, by comparison was far less fancy, relying solely on frictionless materials, a heat sink, and a modified action that allowed it to be fired as fast as the trigger was pulled. The rounds fired were basic anti-personnel rounds, designed to fragment and tumble upon impact to maximize injury, but the pistol had few bells and whistles - it was a reliable sidearm that she carried with her wherever she went. It was based off of the M-5 Phalanx's design with only a few changes, most importantly the modified action - the Phalanx, a deadly hand cannon, fired slowly but accurately. The new Legion, named because it was as much of an improvement over the Phalanx as the Roman Legion had been over the Greek Phalanx - fired rapidly, retained the massive damage each round could do, but sacrificed some accuracy that it more than made up for in capacity. The Phalanx only fired 5 rounds per thermal clip, but the Legion's modified action made it necessary to rework the heat sinks and resulted in an 18-round clip.
As for her sword, it was a masterpiece of craftsmanship, as were all swords crafted for N7 members. Each one was forged according to the individual Shadow's specifications; Ferin's had a 3 foot long blade, curving into a point, with a hand-and-a-half hilt and no cross-guard. The slashing edge was mono-molecular, held rigidly in its position by manipulation of magnetic fields and nuclear strong forces to prevent it from losing its edge. Her blade was specifically made for slashing, but the blade was strong enough for thrusting, and was absolutely lethal in close quarters.
Once she was geared up, she jogged to the exterior airlock of the Normandy. Captain Anderson and Nihlus were already there, Nihlus with weapon in hand, in the same red and black turian armor he had been wearing since he had boarded. She glanced at him questioningly.
"You're coming with us?" she shouted over the wind.
"Negative. I move faster on my own," he responded, "but I'll be providing intel and scouting out ahead of your team."
"Approaching DZ 1!" As soon as they heard Joker's voice, Nihlus nodded at her and rolled out of the open airlock door, disappearing into the dust below. As the Normandy began moving again, Captain Anderson placed his hand on her shoulder.
"Major, let me be clear. Your priority is the beacon; help civilians if you can, but you cannot divert from your objective."
"Roger that, sir. Lieutenant Alenko! Corporal Jenkins!"
The two Marines glanced at her. They had suited up in the basic Marines kit - a set of navy blue Aldrin Labs armor, M-8R2 "Avenger" assault rifles, and M-5 Phalanx pistols. Kaidan was also carrying an M-4 "Shuriken" SMG, while Jenkins was carrying an M-23 "Katana" shotgun.
"Yes ma'am?"
"We're dropping. Sweep and clear, watch your fires and make sure you don't hit any civilians."
"Oorah, ma'am. Let's fuckin' rock and roll!" Jenkins blurted out excitedly. Ferin glanced at Kaidan, shaking her head.
Turning to the Captain, she saluted. "I'll see you on the other side, sir," she said, before rolling out the door, followed quickly by Kaidan and Jenkins.
"Drop complete. Returning to orbit."
Ferin raised her hand to shield her eyes from the mist rising from the departing spacecraft as she pulled her M4 off her back. She was standing up to her knees in a muggy swamp. Great, she thought. Eden Prime's the most beautiful planet settled by humanity, and we get dropped in a fucking swamp.
"Perimeter clear, ma'am."
"Alright, let's move. Watch spacing. We're three klicks out from the colony, azimuth 3-4-9 degrees magnetic. Jenkins, you're on point."
"Roger, ma'am."
The bulky corporal jogged forward steadily, his assault rifle held at the low ready as he moved through vegetation and rocks. The increased speeds of projectiles and therefore range in the age of element zero meant that infantrymen had to be careful to conceal themselves as best as they could or risk being hit by snipers from extreme long range. Assault rifles were still generally not capable of inflicting lethal wounds unless their target was within a kilometer or lacked kinetic shielding, due to the low mass of the rounds when they impacted after having much mass shorn off by the atmosphere and the already small rounds fired. Sniper rifles, however, when properly deployed, were lethal threats from immense ranges. Ferin followed a few meters behind the corporal, with Kaidan watching their rear as they moved in a small column towards the colony. Still, even at the rapid pace they were moving at, it was almost half an hour before they arrived at the outskirts of the colony. Smoke was rising into an ominously red sky, but there was very little sound coming from the colony; just a few gunshots from time to time. Ferin looked around uneasily, then started slightly as a turian's voice came into her earpiece. I wonder why the sky's red, she thought to herself as she looked up. Clouds were swirling in a strange spiral pattern around a gigantic ship parked in the center of the colony.
"Major Shepard, this is Nihlus. I've got a lot of dead civilians here, and a small group of buildings. I'm checking it out. Radio silent, over."
"Roger, Nihlus. Out."
Jenkins spoke up.
"Shit...Eden Prime got torn up real bad. I hope my dad's alright."
"It'll be alright, corporal. We can make sure the colonists are alright after we've secured the beacon."
"Yes ma'a-"
"What the fuck is that?" Kaidan raised his weapon, pointing it at a strange creature that looked like an engorged balloon.
"It's just a gas bag. Don't worry, they're harmless."
"If you say so..."
"Just keep moving, soldiers."
"Hey, ma'am, we're fuckin' Marines."
"Lock it up, Jenkins. We're going into combat."
"You get too seri-"
As Jenkins was speaking, several bolts of plasma suddenly flew past him. He swore, dropping to a knee as he raised his assault rifle and began triggering off rounds.
"Contact! Twelve o'clock, enemy drones!"
Ferin dove to the side, rolling as she hit the ground and coming up with her back against a boulder, facing Kaidan as he stumbled sideways, landing on his shoulder and crawling a few meters behind a log. She took a breath and leaned out, firing off three rounds, as the familiar adrenaline of combat flooded her veins.
"Jenkins! Get to cover!"
The inexperienced corporal rose, turning to the side, when a new volley of fire came at him. Ferin saw his shields flare bright blue, then shatter. He stumbled as he ran, then fell as a jet of plasma burned through his side, a second striking his knee and a third hitting his chest as he fell. They melted through the Marine's body armor like it was nothing, leaving him lying unconscious on his side.
"Man down!"
Ferin swore as she fired another six rounds, then ducked back behind cover as enemy plasma bolts shot towards her. She saw Kaidan's hand flare purple momentarily as he raised his left hand in a twisting motion, then clenched his hand into a tight fist. She ducked back out in time to see one of the drones rip itself apart. She raised her rifle and fired around three rounds, aiming carefully at the rightmost drone. The three shards of metal smashed into the unshielded drone and punched holes through its chassis, dropping it to the ground. As she readjusted her aim, Kaidan fired a round from his pistol, dropping the final drone. Ferin sprinted forward, sliding to cover behind a second rock as Kaidan rushed up to Jenkins.
"Jenkins! Stay with us!"
Ferin ejected the thermal clip from her weapon and slammed a new one in, rocking the bolt back and securing the new clip as she peeked out. She turned to see Kaidan shaking his head.
"Tore right through his shields. He never stood a chance."
"We'll mourn later, LT. Right now, we have to go."
"...Aye-aye, ma'am."
Shaking his head, Kaidan pulled one of the two dog tags around Jenkins' neck off, tucking it into his trouser pocket, and unslinging his assault rifle.
"I'll take point, ma'am?"
"Negative. I'll lead." Ferin cocked her head as she heard gunfire. Another firefight...she turned and looked at Kaidan. "Whoever that is, they'll need assistance. Let's move, Kaidan!"
The two operatives jogged off, their boots splashing in the mud as they moved quickly and quietly towards the engagement. As they ran, they saw three Alliance soldiers running towards them, firing their weapons behind them wildly. One soldier grunted as a bolt of plasma lanced through his chest, knocking him to his knees, a hole two inches across burned through the center of his chest. A female swore, skidding to a halt and turning around.
"Fuck! Prentiss, cover me!"
She turned, ducking low and ran to the casualty as the other soldier triggered off a long burst of automatic fire from his rifle. The female stumbled as a blast of plasma deflected off of her shields by her ankle, then grabbed the fallen soldier, dragging him behind cover.
"Reloading!"
"Got you covered!"
The female leaned out and fired off three rounds. As she returned her back to the rock she was hiding behind, she saw the two operators running towards her and waved her arm at them.
"Over here! We need support!"
"I'm hit! Williams!"
The female swore again, then leaned out and fired off another burst.
"On my way! Let me just grab Nietrom!" She grabbed the fallen soldier beside her and began running back towards Prentiss, dragging the soldier slowly by the drag handle on his armor as she rushed the 50 meters back towards her comrade.
"Give her cover!"
Ferin dropped to a knee, sliding several meters, as she raised her rifle and sighted through the chevron, firing several rounds in the direction the two soldiers had been firing at. With no targets though, the suppressive fire was only so effective, and several rounds fired by the geth hit the running soldier, including one that tore through the drag handle. Though all the blasts were deflected by her shields, her hand came off of the dead soldier. She swore, starting to skid to a halt and turn, when Ferin yelled at the top of her lungs.
"Get your ass to cover, soldier!"
Williams shook her head and sprinted the last thirty meters to cover, tossing herself sideways as soon as she reached the rock behind which Prentiss was lying.
"Take out the geth! I need to treat Prentiss!"
"Affirmative!" Ferin scanned the field and signaled for Kaidan to pin the enemy down as she sprinted to the right, trying to get into a flanking position. She raised her left arm, activating her omni-tool as she spun a tactical cloak around her, fading into invisibility as she continued to sprint. The adrenaline was rushing unchecked through Ferin's blood as she started sprinting up a hill, throwing herself into the prone as she began to reach the crest and crawling the remaining few meters to the top. From there, she had an unrestricted view of a squad size element of geth moving forward, twelve troopers covering each other as they bounded forward. She took a calming breath, trying to get her breathing under control as she rested her cheek against the cool stock of her Valkyrie, sighting carefully at the one who she guessed to be their squad leader. Then they did something so startling she stopped, as they reached the corpse of the soldier, Nietrom. While covering each other, one trooper rushed out and grabbed his body, dragging it back to their lines. He pulled what appeared to be a silver platform out of his pack and placed it on the ground, extending three legs like a tripod, before placing the corpse on top of it. As Ferin narrowed her eyes, trying to figure out what the hell the geth was doing, a spike shot out of the platform, impaling the corpse and lifting it ten meters into the air. A gasp escaped Ferin's mouth.
What the fuck? She shook her head in shock. I'll get you fuckers back for that. She resighted, placing the glowing red chevron on the back of the closest geth. She exhaled, then fired four rounds, shattering the geth's shielding. As it stumbled forward, trying to catch its balance, another two rounds punched into its back, knocking it onto its chest as a silver, viscous fluid sprayed from the quarter-sized holes. As the synthetic attempted to rise, another four rounds tore into it and it stopped moving. The other geth rushed to cover, hiding themselves from Shepard, but putting them in a lethal crossfire with Kaidan and the female soldier, who had set up her M-76K Revenant, a light machine gun, with a bipod to cover the narrow pass. Kaidan was firing three to five round bursts from his automatic Avenger, while the 290K was spitting seven to twelve round bursts at the geth. Geth who attempted to seek cover from the lethal fire found themselves exposed to Ferin, who, at a range of only 300 meters, had almost perfect accuracy with her Valkyrie. Within half a minute, the entire squad was wiped out. After a few moments to confirm all the geth were dead, Ferin rose from her position and circled back around, reloading her Valkyrie as she arrived back at Kaidan and the other soldier's positions. As she arrived, the female soldier saluted.
"Staff Sergeant Ashley Williams, Alliance Army, ma'am!"
Ferin returned the salute quickly, examining the young woman closely. She had to be no older than 24 or 25, a few years younger than Ferin. Still, at the rank of staff sergeant, she had been promoted fast; she was either highly squared away or well-connected. Up close, Ferin could see the NCO stood almost a foot taller than her; at least 6', at most 6'3". Her appearance was almost the opposite of the Special Forces officer; she had a powerful build, with broad shoulders, clearly strong and athletic.
"Major Ferin Shepard. What's the situation, sergeant?"
"It's a mess, ma'am. Didn't see the geth coming until they were only a hundred klicks from the planet, and by that point it was too late. I was on patrol around the perimeter when the attack came. We tried to get off a distress call, but they cut our comms. Been fighting for my life ever since."
"What's your unit? Where are they?"
"Company C, 1st Battalion, 212th Infantry Regiment. We were ordered to hold the center of the colony, but we were forced to fall back. I'm the last survivor from my company."
"How many other units on the planet?"
"Command only put 1st Battalion on the planet. Alpha Company and Bravo Company were holding the flanks, but I don't know their statuses now. The last transmissions Captain Kealey got from them were panicked shouting. As for Delta Company...last I heard they were bunkering down in the barracks and getting ready to defend the base."
Kaidan interjected. "Sergeant Williams, do you know where the Prothean artifact is?"
"The old thing the scientists dug up? Yeah, the dig site's just out of town, sir."
"Can you still fight, Williams?"
"Hell yeah, ma'am. Time for some payback."
"Hooah. Let's move out. Williams, take us to the dig site."
The soldier nodded, standing up and brushing the dust off of her red and white armor. She popped her expended four thermal clips out of the weapon and slid in another speed-loader of four, then started trotting in the direction she had originally been running from. Ferin looked around her one last time, then followed, reloading her Valkyrie as she did so. Kaidan followed soon behind her as the three quietly began moving towards the heart of the settlement.
"How many enemy, Williams?"
"Not sure, ma'am. We were overrun by a company minus."
"Only two platoons?"
"Yes ma'am. Each platoon was led by two...really big geth. They were like heavy mechs, I guess, they had rockets and heavy machine guns, but they took cover and fought like real soldiers. Heavy armor, too, we couldn't scratch them or even shatter their shields. We tried to get the .50s on them, but they punched through too fast."
"So we're looking at a battalion sized force on the planet?"
"Yes ma'am. I'm surprised you only came down with the LT."
"Another Marine came down with us, but he was KIA. There's also a Spectre with us."
"A Spectre? Here?"
"Yeah. He's out scouting ahead of us. Speaking of which...Nihlus, come in."
"Yes, Major?"
"What've you got going on your end?"
"Just a lot of bodies. Had to put down some geth. This colony was hit pretty hard."
"Any sign of the beacon?"
"Negative. Keep your eyes peeled. I'll call back in a minute, I think I've reached the center of the colony."
"Affirmative. Shepard out."
Ashley spoke up. "Major, we're at the dig site."
"Where's the beacon?"
"I don't know. The researchers must have moved it, ma'am."
"Or the geth took it. Shepard, maybe Nihlus has eyes on?"
"Look around. See if you can find something that'll tell us what's going on. I'll try to raise Nihlus."
As the two warriors scoured the dig site, keeping their weapons pointed outwards to maintain security, Ferin called Nihlus.
"Nihlus, this is Shepard. Come in."
No response came from the other end.
"Nihlus, Shepard. Acknowledge...Nihlus?"
Kaidan threw a questioning glance at her.
"He isn't responding. We'd better check on him."
Ashley interjected, "The center of the settlement is up there," pointing towards the top of the hill they were standing beneath. "We lost a lot of good soldiers up there."
"We'll avenge them. But I need you to focus, sergeant."
"I...aye aye, ma'am." Ashley shook her head and raised her Revenant to the low ready. "Still got plenty of thermal clips and lots of those geth bastards to kill."
"That's the spirit, Williams. Let's get moving."
In a line, the three began slowly trudging up the hill, their senses hyper-alert.
"This is wrong. Where are all the geth? There were dozens of them less than twenty minutes ago. I smell an ambush."
"Or they've already completed their objective," Kaidan suggested.
"We keep going until we find evidence that the beacon's gone. But keep your -"
Ferin suddenly threw up a fist. Ashley and Kaidan froze as she panned her rifle to a building to the right.
"I saw movement in the window. Stack up."
The three quickly moved to the door, forming up in a line by the door. Ferin dialed up her omnipad, quickly aligning the pins on the door's security chip. Once the door unlocked, she tapped Kaidan's shoulder. He quickly nodded at Ashley, who tapped the door and charged inside, followed closely by Kaidan and then Shepard.
"Don't shoot, please!" What looked like a scientist and a lab tech were huddled on the ground, raising their hands.
"Who are you?"
"I-I'm Doctor Warren. This is Doctor Manuel."
The man who she had introduced was rocking back and forth muttering about the end of times.
"What's his deal?"
"He's j-just a little shaken up from the attack. We all are. Who are you?"
"My name's Major Shepard, I'm with the Alliance Army."
"Wait, are you - I've heard of you. You were awarded the Star of Terra after the Skyllian Blitz, weren't you?"
"Yeah. We're here to recover a Prothean artifact that was dug up here. It's not at the dig site anymore, though. Do you know anything about it?"
"Yes, we moved it to the other side of the colony at the spaceport to prepare it for transit back to the Citadel. I think...I think that's what the geth were after."
"Thanks, doc. Stay here and keep your heads down."
"We will, Major."
Ferin stepped back outside, rejoining Kaidan and Ashley. They glanced at her.
"You hear what she said?"
Ashley nodded. "Spaceport's on the other side of the colony, ma'am. I can take you there, we'll need to take a shuttle though."
"Alright. Let's see if we can raise Nihlus real quick...Nihlus, come in. This is Shepard."
Again, there was no response.
"Nihlus? Fuck. We need to find him before we head out, he said he was around here."
"Affirmative, ma'am. Let's go."
The three warriors spread out, looking around the ruined colony for the turian. Fuck, I hope he didn't get himself killed, Ferin thought as she looked around. The colony had been hit by a lot of geth, and a few hundred to one was long odds, even for a Council Spectre. Sudden movement caught her eye. Holy shit! Her eyes opened wide as she shouted to the others.
"The people on the spikes! They're...they're still alive!"
Both of them turned as she turned back, looking at the gigantic spike. It was retracting, but the person writhing on it was wrong. His...or her...clothes were gone, and it looked like the person's body had been almost mummified, down to dried skin and bone. Blue lights were running along the length of his body...his eye sockets were glowing bright blue, as was his mouth cavity, but the head looked like nothing but a skull. Ferin instinctively raised her rifle, before shaking her head. He's a colonist...or she...or...whatever, they need help. She cautiously stepped forward.
"Sir, I'm here to help."
His head snapped around towards her with inhuman speed. She jumped back, raising her rifle. A howl burst from the colonist's throat and he charged.
"Halt!"
The word had barely left her throat when the thing was on her. She smashed it back with the butt of her rifle, throwing it back with a strength that was disproportionate to the small soldier. It landed on its back a meter back, and she leveled her rifle.
"Don't move!"
The colonist ignored her instructions, leaping upright and charging again. She got off three rounds before it was on her. The colonist had shields, she noted with surprise, as all three rounds were flattened against a kinetic shield, before she bent down and heaved the colonist over her 5'3" frame, flipping it over her. The next thing she noted was that the colonist did not weigh nearly as much as he should have - he was a good 5'7", but he couldn't have been more than a hundred pounds, less if you took into account the higher gravity of Eden Prime. Ferin ignored the confusion, as she raised her rifle and fired another eight rounds at the colonist. The first two were deflected by its kinetic shield, but the remaining six punched into its face, leaving chunks of bone and...metal? Ferin crouched down beside the corpse, confirming it. There were scraps of bone and brain matter and pieces of scrap metal splattered on the ground, but no blood at all. Whatever the colonist was before, he wasn't human anymore. As she turned over a piece of metal in her hand, Kaidan and Ashley ran up to her.
"Major! Are you...what the hell is that?"
"These spikes...they're not using them to kill the colonists. They're turning them into these...things."
"It looks like...I don't know what that is. It's just a husk of a human."
Kaidan shook his head. "Strange. Turning our own against us. We'd better be careful, Shepard."
She nodded at the lieutenant. "Move out, we need to find Nihlus."
"Roger, ma'am."
The soldiers quickly continued moving towards the center of the colony, encountering several other human husks, which they promptly dispatched with their rifles. All were on edge - the things looked almost exactly like human skeletons, or zombies, or something, and brought to mind too many old vids of zombie apocalypses. Even these days, some Hollywood companies would come out with a zombie movie once in a while. As they pressed on, Kaidan suddenly gasped as they saw the dreadnought that Ferin had seen on the emergency transmission from the officer, on board the Normandy. "What is that?"
"It's a ship! Look at the size of it!" Ashley stared in shock. The massive ship was at least two kilometers long, shaped like a squid or something, parked in the middle of the colony. As they watched, it ascended, red energy blazing around it as it disappeared into the sky. "Holy shit."
Ferin shook her head. "Focus, we need to find Nihlus. Spread out and search the docks."
"Wait, Major, is this him?"
"Oh, fuck."
Ferin walked over to the body, crouching down beside it and examining it. There was a single bullet wound at the base of the turian's skull, with no exit wound. It looked like a round had been fired upwards at close quarters, within a few feet, into the turian's head. An execution, Ferin mused. She suddenly stiffened as the sound of a footstep came from behind her team, and the three warriors spun, raising their weapons. A frightened colonist stood there, falling backwards as he saw the three assault rifles aimed at him.
"No, don't shoot! I'm just a dock worker!"
Ferin frowned, lowering her M4. "How'd you survive the attack? You're the first survivor we've run into who wasn't in a locked building."
He looked around uneasily, refusing to meet her gaze as he stammered. "I-I was hiding behind the cr-crates when the attack came."
Kaidan looked at him skeptically. "Really? Why didn't anyone else have the idea of hiding behind the crates?"
"Well, th-they were...the attack came too fast. I was the only one who made it."
His look of skepticism turned into a deep frown as he regarded the rotund farmer. Ferin stepped forward, shaking her head.
"You were the fastest one." She uttered the sentence calmly, with no inflection.
"Okay, look, I was already behind them. Sometimes...sometimes I get tired and I need to catch 40 winks to make it through my shift. So I have to find somewhere where the supervisor won't find me."
Ashley scoffed. "You piece of...you survived because you were lazy?"
"I'm sorry!"
Shepard shook her head. "You're a lucky man."
"Look, I...I saw what happened to your turian friend there."
"Oh, really?"
"Yeah. He met another turian here. I-I think they knew each other. He seemed to relax, let down his guard. When he turned his back, the other turian shot him in the back of the head. He almost saw me! I was lucky that he didn't."
"Hmm. Did you get any names?"
"Umm...yeah, I think your friend called him Saren."
Good to know. Ferin frowned. The name sounded familiar for some reason. A bad feeling. She couldn't place it, though. She returned her attention to the man. "What's your name?"
"It's...it's Powell."
"Okay. What direction did the other turian go? And do you know anything about the Prothean artifact?"
"I...no, the...the artifact, that's why those scientists were so excited, right? They moved it over to the other side of the space port. I think that's where the turian was headed too."
Ashley nodded. "I know where that is, Major."
Ferin nodded at her. "Before we go, Powell, do you know anything else that could help us? Anything at all?"
He paused, looking around guiltily, before responding. "N-no."
"Really? You seem like you're uncomfortable about something."
"Yes, I'm uncomfortable," he burst out. "I'm in the middle of a goddamn war zone and a fucking Alliance soldier who's supposed to be protecting me is interrogating me like I'm a criminal! I'm not a criminal! I'm a citizen of the United States! My parents were born in Quebec! And you're treating me like a common smuggler or something! I've never done anything wrong!"
Ashley looked at him curiously. "We never asked you if you'd done anything wrong. Aside from the being lazy thing. We just asked for information on the enemy."
Ferin nodded. "Seems like you have a guilty conscience. If there is something you should tell us, you probably should, as we're trying to protect you."
Powell squirmed some more. Finally, he nodded. "Okay, look. I was running a...I was skimming a little off of the incoming packages. Me and a few others were making some extra money by selling some of the goods. We'd take pistols, crates of grenades, and hide them in the farmer's sheds and sell them on the black market. No one ever noticed if the military orders were missing some stuff."
Ashley's expression darkened as he explained his crimes. As he concluded, she lashed out, slapping him and knocking him to the ground.
"You greedy piece of shit! We're out here, busting our asses, trying to protect you, and you steal the equipment we use to defend you? All you can think about is how you can rip us off?"
Ferin grabbed and pulled the furious sergeant back. "Sergeant Williams! Williams! Stand down!"
Ashley continued to struggle for a moment, then stopped fighting, taking several deep breaths. The bruised smuggler, from the ground, cried out.
"I didn't think you would ever need to use them!"
Ferin shot him one of her death glares. "And that excuses it?"
"Look, I'll give it all to you! Here. Here's some grenades, here's a shotgun."
Ferin shook her head. "You want forgiveness, you find ways to give back to the Alliance military. A lot of Soldiers died here today. That equipment you stole from them could have saved some of their lives."
He hung his head. "I'm sorry. Here...here. I was saving this for later. Experimental technology. Could be worth a fortune. An implant."
Ferin took the chip, examining it. It was a Mk4 Impulse Accelerator. Advanced stuff for front-line units, but the Special Forces operator had Mk 6 prototype technology. The smuggler didn't know what he was talking about, with experimental technology. Ferin's implants could do twice what the Mk4s could do, enhancing strength, speed, stamina, and agility beyond that of what her gene therapy had done, in addition to regulating adrenaline and hormones to control stress reactions and time dilation in combat. The hormone regulators allowed a soldier to experience time dilation every time they entered combat, as opposed to the old levels of only 50-60% of soldiers experiencing time dilation in combat back in the 21st century. They also had the benefit of regulating menstrual cycles for female service members, and generally stabilizing moods. Ferin shrugged and tossed it to Ashley to hold onto.
"Stay here. And maybe think of a way to atone for the deaths of all those people you killed."
Ashley spat on the ground as she turned away.
"This way, ma'am."
Once they were out of earshot of the smuggler, Ferin put her hand on Ashley's shoulder.
"Hey...hey, Williams. You alright?"
She shrugged. "That greedy son-of-a-bitch stabbed us all in the back. Maybe Nietrom, Prentiss, the rest of my company...maybe they'd still be alive if he hadn't stolen our gear. Maybe, probably not, but there was that chance and he stole it from us."
"I know. Trust me, we'll make sure he pays. He'll be in prison for a long time. But I need you focused on the mission, Sergeant."
"I am focused, ma'am. We're wasting time. The other turian might already be at the beacon. We need to take a tram to get there, it's down this way."
"Roger that, Williams. Lead the way."
Williams raised her rifle and moved off towards the docks, followed closely by Ferin and Kaidan. They froze as Williams tossed her left hand up, clenched into a fist, and dropped flat to the ground. Ferin crawled up to Ashley's position.
"Sergeant?"
"The docks are a chokepoint, ma'am. Lots of geth, plenty of cover, but they're literally just straight lines. It'll be hard to advance and it'll be hard to hit targets. It's literally 500 meters straight, then a turn, a short 50 meter walkway, and another 500 meters to the ferry."
"Great. Stay here with Kaid-the lieutenant, Sergeant."
"Roger, ma'am."
Ferin crept forward, activating her tactical cloak and disappearing from view. She quietly slung her assault rifle and advanced at a quick crouch-run until she reached the dock. She unslung her Valiant and gently deployed its bipod, resting it on a crate and pressing her cheek to the weapon's stock, her nose against the charging handle. Through the scope, she counted two squads of geth on that section of the docks. Must be at least a platoon sitting around here, she mused. Looks like they've got commanders too...some of them are twice the size of the others. She activated her omni-tool.
"Kaidan, come in."
"Yes, ma'am?"
"I've got a platoon-size element of geth. We can't go around them, we're going to have to go through."
"...roger, ma'am. You serious?"
"Yeah. There's a few of them that are a lot bigger than the others. Can you hit them with your biotics?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"Okay. I'm going to open fire from the end of the docks with my Valiant."
"Aren't we a little close for your sniper rifle?"
"Negative. I can comfortably use it at five zero zero, and we'll need the high caliber against those big geth."
"Geth primes, and geth destroyers, ma'am."
"How do you know what they're called, LT?"
"I was Naval Intelligence before I went infantry, ma'am."
"Alright. Well, I'll hit the prime, you overload the destroyers, Williams sprays suppressive, and I'll advance as close as I can and start picking them off with my Valkyrie. You and Williams stay on overwatch."
"Roger, ma'am. Good luck."
Ferin placed her assault rifle on the crate within reach of her, then returned her eye to the scope, exhaling as she began aiming the heavy anti-material rifle. She rested the crosshairs squarely on the geth prime's chest, breathing steadily as she tracked its movements. After an exhalation, she gently began squeezing the trigger, pulling it back steadily until suddenly a round exploded from the weapon with a thunderous retort. She winced as the weapon kicked back into her shoulder with the old, familiar force - enough to dislocate a normal human's arm. The geth prime, meanwhile, toppled backwards over the railing of the dock, a hole a quarter of a foot across blown through its chest. The round had shredded its shields and armor like wet tissue paper, leaving the geth to take a step backwards before the light in its flashlight head died, and it crumpled backwards, flipping into the canyon below the docks. Ferin resighted on a second target, then a third and a fourth, before she pushed the sniper rifle to the side as her tactical cloak died, and grabbed her assault rifle. She quickly ducked behind the crate and preparing for combat as Ash's machine gun roared to life, spraying bullets liberally across the docks. Ferin had noticed that the moment the geth prime's flashlight had turned off, all the geth around it had...flared, or something. They'd all gone dark, then restored almost instantly. She wasn't sure what it meant, but it was an anomaly, and she hated anomalies on the battlefield. She leaned out and fired off several rounds at a geth, dropping it quickly as the armor-piercing rounds shattered its shields and smashed through its armor. As she ducked back behind cover, her earpiece crackled to life.
"Shadow 1-1, come in. This is Storm 6."
"Captain, I'm a little busy right now!"
Ferin ducked down a little deeper reflexively as she heard a round crack over her head, flying over her cover. She rolled out of cover, somersaulting forward to a heavy metal crate a few meters ahead of her.
"What's the situation down there, Major?"
"Not good, sir. Where've you been?"
"We went dark to avoid some geth ships. Request SITREP."
"We have two KIA, Corporal Jenkins and the Spectre, Nihlus. Majority of Alliance forces, 1st Battalion, 212th Infantry presumed KIA. We've encountered one survivor, Sergeant Ashley Williams. Lieutenant Alenko, Williams, and I are currently in contact with a platoon-sized element of geth in pursuit of turian who appears to be working with the geth."
"Shadow 1-1, say again. Nihlus is dead?"
"Affirmative."
"Fuck."
"Roger that."
Ferin leaned out and fired off sixteen rounds at a crate that a geth that was getting too close for comfort was taking cover behind, before dodging back behind cover as three rounds smashed into her shields.
"Have you secured the Prothean device, Shadow 1-1?"
"Negative, we're bogged down fighting enemy forces. There's a tram at the end of the docks that Sergeant Williams says will take us to the device, but we can't reach it! We could use indirect if you can offer it"
"I'll route you to the fire direction center."
A moment later, a new voice sounded. "Shadow 1-1, this is Storm 4-1. send us coordinates and we will provide fire support."
"Roger that, Storm 4-1. Sending."
Ferin set her rifle to the side and quickly brought up her omni-tool's interface, punching in coordinates as she started speaking to her team members.
"Sergeant Williams, LT, we're getting fire support from a frigate in orbit. Fall back!"
"Ma'am, they'll destroy the docks with a fire mission!"
"We'll figure out another way. Get moving!"
Williams spoke up.
"Ma'am, there's vehicles back at our base that we could use to reach the port. They're slower than the tram, but they'll get us there."
"You didn't mention this before we engaged a fucking platoon?"
"You didn't give me time to, ma'am."
"Just get your asses moving. Danger close."
She switched her channel back to the Normandy.
"Storm 4-1, fire mission fire for effect, over."
"Shadow 1-1, fire for effect, out."
"Hit my target, over."
"Uploaded coordinates, out."
"Platoon-size element of dismounted enemy, three light armor, in the open. Requesting 60 mike mike or smaller, danger close, over."
"Infantry platoon, three light armor, in the open. Sending 60 mike mike, over."
Ferin scrambled upright just in time for a geth to tackle her. The two toppled to the ground, struggling to gain the upper hand, but the geth had the dominant position and the advantage in size, though Ferin had the advantage in strength with her cybernetic enhancements and gene therapy. They struggled for a minute, before Ferin's omni-tool crackled again.
"Shot out."
Fuck! Ferin gritted her teeth and heaved the geth over her, onto its back, and somersaulted backwards to land on top of it, straddling it. She punched twice before the geth managed to lever her to the side and regain its position on top of her. In that instant, Ferin managed to get a hand free and seized her N7 pistol, firing six rounds rapidly into the Geth's lower abdomen. A silver, slippery fluid that smelled like motor oil sprayed across her armor as the geth twitched and she kicked it off of her, holstering the pistol and grabbing her assault rifle.
"Shot over."
She sprinted back, ignoring the rounds flying towards her and slid into position behind her sniper rifle. She let her assault rifle dangle from its sling around her shoulder, not bothering to deactivate the weapon and allow it to enter it compact form as she picked up the heavy Valiant and started sprinting away from the docks. Two hundred meters away, she dove into a shallow river bank that turned into a waterfall over the edge of the chasm the docks sat over, hunkering down and covering her head as the water splashed over her.
"Splash over."
"Splash out!"
Five seconds later, the first explosions hit, only four hundred meters away from her. Even though the shells were tiny compared to what the Normandy had at its disposal, the small distance she was from the shells meant that dirt was kicking over the river bank and the ground was shaking as dozens of 60 millimeter mortar shells hit the ground within seconds of each other. A few moments later, the explosions stopped.
"Rounds complete, over."
Ferin coughed. "Rounds complete, out." She stuck her head up over the river bank, to see the metal and stone infrastructure of the docks warped dangerously. They were creaking and bending more as each second went by. Guess the docks really are a no-go...at least those geth are dead.
"Storm 4-1, BDA to follow."
"Send it."
"All targets destroyed, local infrastructure destroyed. Acceptable collateral damage."
"Affirmative, Shadow 1-1. We're sitting ready if you need us again."
"Well, if you want to take that big-ass dreadnought..."
The receiver chuckled as he cut the transmission. Ferin crawled out of the small gulley, looking around.
"LT, status report."
"Good to go, ma'am. Sergeant Williams and I have secured a car from the base. We're en route to you now."
"Roger that. Hurry it up. I don't want that turian escaping."
"Affirmative. Be there in under a minute."
Ferin compacted her Valiant back into its traveling form, attaching it to her back again as she picked up her assault rifle, making sure the weapon wasn't damaged. True to his word, Kaidan and Ashley arrived in thirty seconds. The vehicle they'd secured was a Panther, a standard Alliance all-terrain vehicle, four-wheeled and built wide to avoid flipping. It also had boosters, a lot like the M35 Mako. There was no weapon mounted on the one they'd secured.
"Of all the vehicles on the base, you grabbed one without a turret?"
"All the ones with turrets got blown up. Get in, ma'am!"
Shaking her head, Ferin clambered into the passenger, rolling the window down and resting her assault rifle out of it.
"Step on it, sergeant."
"Roger ma'am."
It took about ten minutes to reach the spaceport, Ferin grinding her teeth the entire time. Sergeant Williams stopped in the parking lot, opening her door and grabbing her machine gun.
"Williams! What the fuck are you doing?"
"Dismounting, ma'am?"
"Just fucking drive into the port! We need to get to the artifact, now!"
"I...uh, yes, ma'am."
Ashley climbed back in, restarting the Panther. Ferin shook her head as they smashed through the gates of the spaceport, driving several hundred meters.
"There's the tram terminal!"
"Do you know where the artifact is?"
"One of the loading bays, I don't know which one. There's only three, so it shouldn't take long to search the-hold on!"
Ashley suddenly jerked the vehicle to the right, turning 90 degrees in less than a second. The vehicle skidded, raising onto its left two wheels, before settling back and taking off in the new direction.
"What the fuck, sergeant?"
"Sapper teams! The geth are planting bombs! They've gotta be withdrawing from the port, we need to disarm those bombs!"
"There's no time, sergeant, we have to get to that artifact!"
"If we don't disarm those bombs, the artifact'll get blown up too! The colony's going to take years to recover if they have to rebuild the spaceport!"
"I gave you an order, sergeant!"
Ashley snarled, but changed direction again, the vehicle skidding harshly on the pavement. Without warning, plasma bolts started flying towards them.
"Geth, 2 o'clock!"
Ferin sighted out the window, squeezing off rounds in an attempt to suppress the geth as they took off towards the loading bays. A moment later, there was a violent impact as the truck glancingly hit a heavy metal crate.
"Fuck, hold on!"
The truck swerved dangerously as Ashley tried to maintain control of the Panther, only to send it skidding horizontally at fifty miles an hour. Before Ferin could make sense of the situation, the truck was rolling, smashing into a wall and ceasing movement, upside-down.
Ferin opened her eyes, her head hurting badly and her ears ringing. She raised her hand and touched her head with a groan of pain, her hand coming away bloody. She looked around and found her Valkyrie half in the truck, half out, the barrel twisted badly and the weapon broken open. Ugh...fuck...she unsteadily looked around to find Williams stirring beside her. She wasn't sure where Kaidan was...he wasn't in the truck, but gunfire was audible outside, so maybe he was still fighting the geth. With a groan, Ferin crawled over to the sergeant.
"Williams...Williams, you okay?"
The woman groaned.
"I think I have a concussion. And I think my arms are broken."
Ferin touched her shoulder.
"You'll live. Come on, we gotta go."
"This what they make you N7 guys do? Crawl around when your arms are broken?"
"Pretty much. Come on, sergeant, we'll get you to a doc after we get out of here."
"If we get out of here."
"We're getting out of here. Where are the fractures?"
"My..." the sergeant gasped with pain. "left forearm, right...upper arm thingy."
"Alright, sergeant. I'm going to pull you out of here, okay? Your suit should already be stiffening around the breaks and forming a splint, right?"
"What kind of armor do you think I have? Our armor's from freaking 2120."
"Okay, I need to pull you out and splint your injuries, then, okay? It's going to hurt."
"Just do it...ma'am..."
Ferin, grimacing with pain, crawled on top of Ashley.
"There's not enough room to pull, so we're going to do a neck drag."
"My arms are broken, ma'am."
"I know. We'll use your legs. Come on."
Ashley bent her legs, locking her feet around Ferin's neck, with Ferin's arms outside of her legs. A moment later, the officer started crawling, dragging the wounded sergeant feet first out of the truck, eliciting an agonized howl from the NCO. As they reached the exterior, Ferin saw Kaidan using his pistol to defend their location.
"Major! I thought..." he trailed off as he saw the improvised neck drag.
"No, it's not sexual, LT. Williams has two breaks in her arms. You okay?"
"As much as I can be. I got thrown out of the truck when we hit the crate. Luckily, my shields broke the fall...sort of."
"Alright. See what you can do for the sergeant. Pill pack, splints."
"Her armor doesn't auto-splint?"
"She said it don't."
"Alright."
Kaidan pulled his combat aid kit, checking for other injuries on the sergeant while Ferin crouched down behind cover, pulling out her N7 Legion and returning fire at the geth. There seemed to be a lot fewer of them than before, and they all seemed to be generally falling back. The commando looked around.
"Kaidan, can the sergeant get us to the artifact?"
Ashley struggled to her feet, pulling her pistol as she nodded. "I can, ma'am. Luckily, we crashed into the loading bays. It's in here, somewhere."
"You don't need to shoot, sergeant."
"It's fine, ma'am. Pill pack's in me, splints are holding the bone firm, and the medigel's working. I'll be right as rain."
She limped through the gate the truck had smashed into, followed quickly by Kaidan and Ferin.
"Luck, for a change. That's gotta be it."
Ferin nodded in agreement at Kaidan as they looked at the artifact. "Why'd the geth leave it...?" Ferin shook her head. Something wasn't right. "Secure the area. I'll radio the Normandy."
She turned away as the two warriors moved to secure the area.
"Storm 6, this is Shadow 1-1. Package is secure, requesting evac at my location."
"Roger that, Shadow 1-1. Inbound for pick up."
Ferin spun as she heard a shout and saw Kaidan staggering backwards in front of the Prothean device, Williams standing helplessly beside him. The artifact was glowing, getting brighter and brighter. Ferin immediately sprinted towards Kaidan, grabbing him and pushing him backwards away from the beacon. She turned to look over her shoulder and suddenly went limp, even as Kaidan shook his head as he regained her bearings.
"What..Major!"
Kaidan gasped as Ferin was lifted into the air, and started to move towards her before Ashley seized him from behind.
"No, it's too dangerous!"
Ferin felt a wordless scream building up inside her, but that she could not release, as images of death, destruction, strange images and words she couldn't understand appeared in her mind. There were insect-like creatures...gigantic space ships...genetic experiments? Then, as though from a distance, she heard an explosion. She noted without alarm that she was sailing through the air, just before everything went dark.