I apologize for the crappy start. I revised this chapter, hopefully, make things right. I have played both series and read some lore, but never really went in depth as much as I should have. I had asked others for their opinions, who know way more than I mind you, and I guess I was lead down the wrong path. For now on, I'll look deeper into both lores myself before I make a stupid mistake like saying the Reapers are more advanced than the Forerunners. My bad, I was an idiot, call me what you will I deserve it. Hopefully, these adjustments sorta make up for my incompetence.
It wasn't supposed to be this way. John said before we raided the Control Room that once we activate Halo and destroy the remaining Flood on the ring that we will go home. Oh, how naive we were to believe that. John, Arbiter, and myself included activated the ring after the Monitor betrayed us and sadly killed Sgt. Johnson. Once John disposed of the Monitor with Johnson's Spartan Laser, I activated the ring and we all fled the room as it was coming apart. At first, we had means of escape until the Arbiter mentioned the ship Johnson came on. From there, we headed in that direction. We escaped on a Warthog back to the ship the late Sergeant Major arrived in, Forward Unto Dawn, where John imputed me into the ships control system and I immediately jump-started the ship. We barely escaped the installations blast that would have obliterated us, but the explosion was massive enough to cause a rupture in slipspace. We were supposed to be done. Our days of fighting were finished, but I guess fate had it different for us three.
Alarms and red lights were blaring around the Forward Unto Dawn. The ships warning and defensive systems were telling the three heroes of the Human-Covenant War that they were in grave danger.
"Cortana!" The Master Chief called out to his only friend. Sierra-117, humanity's greatest Spartan, ran through the halls to get to the bridge where his ally and former enemy, the Arbiter, was at. Though it was only one, Cortana knew he was asking for a status report.
Chief's green helmet echoed with the females near frantic voice, "Something happened to slipspace! We were sucked into some kind of hole that I do not recognize! The Forward Unto Dawn is falling apart!" A loud boom was heard behind Chief, "Hurry, John!"
Chief did not need to be told twice let alone at all.
Chief kept running until he finally blasted through a door that held the bridge where he spotted the familiar silver armored Sangheili seated in the Ship Navigators chair. Arbiter did not look back as he already knew Chief was the one who entered the room.
"Demon," Arbiter spoke, "The construct informed me of the situation. The controls are not functional. I suggest we take a seat and wait this out. Hopefully, we come out unscathed." Arbiter showed no fear in his voice as he sat patiently for the end of the ride onboard the Forward Unto Dawn waiting to either arrive at Earth or perish. If it comes to death, Arbiter will die with honor and knowing that the Sangheili will prosper and make peace with Humanity, and hopefully, with every other species too. Rtas 'Vadum, his most trusted friend, will make sure of that.
Chief nodded his head and took a seat next to Thel.
A once proud commander of his own fleet, Thel 'Vadam was disgraced by the Prophets and High Council, including his own people, when he failed to protect one of the rings, from, of all people, The Master Chief. He was given a chance to redeem himself by becoming the Arbiter, the once highest honor any Sangheili could ever receive turned into a suicide soldier, and he made well on his second chance that he was welcomed back by his kind with open arms. When Arbiter found out the purpose of the Halo rings and slew Tartarus, he convinced the Sangheili's to side with their greatest enemy in order to save the galaxy from the Covenant. Humanity and Sangheili succeeded as both races led out an all-out assault at the Citadel where Arbiter was the one who put down the mad Prophet of Truth with his own blade and ended the Covenant. It wasn't too long after that the Flood would try to consume them again, just like they had since Installation 04, and both he and Chief vanquished with the recent activation of Installation 08.
The Master Chief, John-117, is considered to be humanity's greatest savior. Humanity was on the brink of losing the war with the Covenant, and the Fall of Reach only made it so certain that Humanity will be wiped out. When the Master Chief was awoken from Cryosleep on the Pillar of Autumn, no one throughout the galaxy would believe that he would single-handedly change the tide of the war. Master Chief is responsible for pushing the Covenant back and much more. He destroyed Installation 04, decimated an entire covenant armada by himself, and helped prevent Galactic Genocide twice, and those just a few of his noteworthy achievements over his illustrious career. Though a savior to humanity, a super soldier who has defied all odds and is covered up head to toe with Mark IV Mjolnir Spartan Armor, John is a very reserved person as he hardly speaks, and when he does, it is no less than ten words at most, and more if you're lucky. Though Master Chief would be lost without his greatest ally, the AI he swore to protect at any and all cost, Cortana.
Cortana is an AI, an Artificial Intelligence program, who supplies the Master Chief with any tactical advantage he may need, though her abilities are not limited to just helping inside the suit. Cortana can tap into any type of technology whether it be Covenant, Humanity, or even Forerunner, and use it to its best potential after several minutes of looking through it. When Cortana was made, she was given the option of choosing which Spartan she wants to accompany. After looking through them all, she chose Sierra-117 for a number of reasons, but her main one was that John was lucky. John has an extraordinary amount of luck, and that served him well even though he may not see it himself as being all that lucky. Cortana has her own set of achievements, one of them was preventing Installation 04 from firing when Master Chief was tricked into helping 343 Guilty Spark when he first met the bastard. Though Chief may have destroyed the ring by causing the Pillar of Autumn's engines to be damaged to critical levels, it was Cortana who suggested the idea. Since John prefers to be mute, Cortana speaks for him through his radio.
The three heroes watched as the slipspace suddenly began to dissipate. "Slipspace is finally coming to an end." Cortana appeared next to Chief on a small pedestal in her purple physical form. She and Chief made eye contact as Cortana flashed a brief smile to her longtime friend. Cortana stated, "Looks as though we made it." Cortana, Chief, and Arbiter watched as the slipspace finally disappeared with their ship mostly intact. How did the vessel manage to stay together is unknown to them, but no one will question it either. The first thing the trio saw was a planet they have never seen before. The planet had a bluish tint to it as if it was mostly water and they could clearly see the clouds that surrounded the planet's surface. Little spots of green were seen past the clouds most likely indicating land and possibly signs of life.
"Where are we, Cortana?" Chief asked as he got up and began to fiddle with the controls.
"Scanning." Cortana said before her face was puzzled, "I...don't know where we are." Chief and Arbiter looked to Cortana with Arbiter's expression showing slight concern. "There are no records in my files showing me our location, let alone what planet that is."
"What cluster are we in?" If anything, this was an unknown planet human and Covenant may have skipped Arbiter thought to himself. But as long as they know what cluster they are in, the road home will be easier.
"Scanners are picking up nothing."
Or not.
Arbiter grunted in frustration. Either the construct was useless or they really are lost. Whatever it may be, Arbiter kept his thoughts to himself as there is no reason to start drama right now.
"Wait!" Cortana held up a hand, "I'm picking a distress beacon on the planet's surface. Human!"
"Human?" Arbiter was now confused, "You said you don't know where we are, and now you claim to have picked up a human distress call? How could there be humans here if you have no data indicating our current whereabouts?"
"I was stuck on High Charity for a while, Arbiter. I didn't have time to update my databases with any new information considering we went to blow up Installation 08 the very next second!" Cortana bashed Arbiter. Though Chief and Arbiter may have gotten along, that did not mean Cortana shared the same feelings. She trusts Chief with her life as evidenced by many experiences, but only recently did she learn about the Sangheili's decision to switch to Humanity's side. To Cortana, Arbiter was still not trustworthy. "Maybe within the time period I was absent, humanity traveled to new places." Cortana then paused as another thought crossed her mind, "Or this is a secret facility even I wouldn't know of. Whatever it may be, we need to help them. I'm setting a course for the beacon. You boys should go get ready."
Master Chief and Arbiter looked at each other and nodded their heads. Both left the room and headed straight to the armory. As the duo left, Cortana let out a sigh. "I have no idea where we are. As a matter of fact, we're not even in the Sol Cluster. I don't know what cluster we're in, to begin with. Where did that slipspace take us?" Cortana scanned for more clues to hopefully get answers but soon found herself being blocked by a strange barrier. "What's this?" Cortana thought to herself as she tried to bypass the barrier. The coding this firewall had was outstanding, even alien to her. It piqued Cortana's curiosity as she continued to attack the walls.
Master Chief and the Arbiter were inside the armory getting their weapons ready. Since the Sangheili had switched sides, it was no surprise to Arbiter that this craft would have some weaponry he favored. Arbiter equipped himself with four plasma grenades, a Type-51 Carbine on his back, dual-wield Type-25 Directed Energy Rifles, and his favored Type-1 Lethal Energy Sword, the same one he killed Truth with. On the other hand, Master Chief had four fragment grenades, the Spartan Laser on his back, an Assault Rifle in his arms, and an M6G Pistol at his side. Though there were other weapons to take, these were the arms both soldiers decided to keep.
"We help the humans, then we go home." Arbiter stated to the Chief. Chief nodded in agreement and made way to the door along with Arbiter. Just before they could exit the room, Forward Unto Dawn suddenly died as both soldiers quickly grabbed onto the nearest object before they were hurled towards the ceiling.
Hanging by one arm, Chief put his left hand next to his helmet to radio in the AI. "Cortana!" Chief called out to his friend, "Forward Unto Dawn is dead! Can you reactivate the power?!"
"Working on it!" Cortana replied, "But I'm being attacked by something else, so my hands are currently tied!" Cortana then whistled lowly, "Wow this one is feverishly trying to disable me, but its attacks are pretty pathetic if you ask me."
"Cortana! The engines!" Chief groaned.
"Right, sorry." Cortana went silent for a few moments before returning. "I have good news and bad news. Good news is that we'll be safe landing because I was able to reactivate the Forward Unto Dawn's shields."
"Bad news?" Chief had a fair idea of what the bad news was.
"The engines are damaged beyond repair. Multiple components of the engines blew out. I'm assuming slipspace played a role in this, so prepare for a crash landing." Cortana calmly stated much to the annoyance of Chief and Arbiter. What a great start to the journey home.
The mission was a fucking bust right from the start. Jenkins was killed a minute into the mission, Geth had seized control and turned nearly the entire camp into blue-glowing-electrified zombies, the Geth stole the Prothean beacon, and now the assigned Spectre Nihlus was found dead. After questioning a survivor, who only lived because of his lazy-ass hiding behind crates to sleep on the job, Nihlus's murderer turned out to be Saren Arterius, the best Spectre in the entire galaxy and the one leading the Geth attack on Eden Prime.
"This is some shit we got ourselves in." Commander Shepard said as he watched the survivor walk away from the action to hide. This wasn't his first battle with high stakes, but this one couldn't be any higher now. Spectres are supposed to be the greatest forces the galaxy has to offer as they work outside of official law established by the Council at the Citadel and to see one dead is a bad omen, especially if they were killed by another Spectre. Not only that, but Nihlus was attending this operation for two reasons, and one of those reasons was to judge Commander Shepard to see if he was worthy of being the first human Spectre. But after this mess, there is no way that will happen.
"What do we do, Commander?" Flanked to his left was one of Commander's Shepard's most valued allies, Staff Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko. Kaidan was not your average soldier, he was an L2 biotic, and biotics are known to be quite powerful if trained properly. Being a biotic meant that Kaidan was capable of creating mass effect fields with the element zero nodules embedded in his body tissue and use those fields for a variety of offensive and defensive capabilities. Being an L2, however, meant that Kaidan was always in constant danger of suffering massive migraines at any moment, and that is a blessing compared to other side effects other L2's have to go through. Though Kaidan rarely suffers migraines, and when he does, it's usually during non-combative situations.
"As Powell said, take the cargo train and find Saren." Commander Shepard replied and reached over his shoulder to grab his Lancer I Assault Rifle.
"Yes, sir." To Commander Shepard's right was one of the sole survivors of her squad that was guarding the beacon, Gunnery Chief Ashley Willaims. She is not a biotic like Kaidan, but her skills in combat are not to be underestimated. Ashley isn't a regular soldier, she comes from a heritage of military as her ancestors served in the Alliance forces before her with Ashley following in their footsteps. Though it wasn't easy for reasons Ashley is proud and not proud of, she proved her mettle to be where she is today. But right now, Ashley is not in the best situation. Her entire squad was killed right in front of her and she had no way to save them nor the camp she was supposed to protect. The least she could do is help Commander Shepard get that beacon back from the traitorous Saren.
Commander Shepard led the three-man group towards the location of the cargo trains but was quickly ambushed by a couple of Geth forces that were guarding the area. All three of them took shelter behind a couple of nearby crates and quickly dispatched of the mechanical menace. Once it was declared safe, the trio ran down the walkway and down the stairs where they were again faced with more Geth Troopers, and a Geth Destroyer, a more powerful Geth marine with a shotgun and powerful shields.
"Get to cover!" Shepard commanded the group as they hit behind barrels. "Destroyer's shields are up! Kaidan! Can you Overload the shields?!" Shepard asked and went out of cover to fire his weapon at the oncoming behemoth.
"I'll try!" Kaidan rose and lifted his hand. His body was surrounded by a blue mist of element zero as Kaidan then forces his hand to attack the Geth's shield. The Destroyer freezes in place for a moment as a surge of electricity sparks, indicating that its shields are indeed down. "Shields are down!"
"Open fire people!" Shepard, Kaidan, and Ashley unloaded their weapons onto the Destroyer as the Destroyer fired its shotgun at Shepard, but Shepherd's shields caught the plasma shots and protected him from certain death. The Destroyer fell to the ground dead, but behind him was a group of regular troopers that began to fire past the fallen Geth as the trio took to cover once more.
"We need to kill the Geth quickly before Saren gets away with the Beacon, Commander!" Ashley waited for her Lancer to cool off from the heat it was building up before getting out of cover and firing again.
Shepard grunted in agreement. These Geth were holding the line, and if they continue to waste time on them Saren would leave with the beacon and all of this would be for nothing. Shepard put his Lancer back and reached for his Avenger I Sniper Rifle. He pressed a small button on the Sniper Rifle so the barrel and stock would be unsheathed. "Alenko, Williams! Cover me!" Shepard took aim at a Geth trooper and shot a plasma round at its head. The Geth's head exploded into many pieces as it dropped dead. Several of the Geth Troopers took aim at Shepard, but that change of focus would be their downfall as Ashley and Kaidan blasted several holes through them with their weapons. The trio sprinted past the dead Geth and saw more Geth coming into view down the way. Shepard swapped out his sniper in favor for his Storm I shotgun. Shepard ran into a Geth Trooper as it fired at his shields; Shepard responded by blasting the Geth away with one shot with his shotgun into its gut before taking cover behind a small wall to let his shield recharge.
Kaidan and Ashley took to cover as well but promptly opened fired on the last remaining Geth Troopers, one of them being another Destroyer. "I got the big guy!" Kaidan used his Biotic powers once more to reel his hand back before pushing it forward and sending a blue projectile at the Destroyer. The Geth Destroyer was forced off its feet by a massive throw of element zero energy and was left stunned on the ground. With Shepard's shields fully recovered, the Commander sought the opportunity created by Kaidan and switched to his sidearm, the Kessler I pistol. Shepard opened fired at the downed Destroyer's head along with Willaims as they made quick work of it. Kaidan kept the pressure on the remaining Geth before Shepard and Ashley provided support and dismantled the rest of the Geth forces.
"Onto the train, hurry!" Shepard, Kaidan, and Ashley ran onto the cargo train where Shepard ran to the console and pressed several keys to get the train moving. "Good work team, now we just need to find Saren and take back the Beacon."
"Commander," Ashley yelled out and pointed to the sky, "Something is coming down, and it looks like it might land near us!"
Shepard looked to where Ashley was pointing and witness a fireball heading in their direction. "More Geth?"
"I'm not sure, Commander." Kaidan replied, "That looks too hot for anyone to withstand, but I'm no Geth expert either." Kaidan squinted his eyes and tried to make out what the object was. "It...looks like a ship."
"Is it the Normandy?!" Shepard asked, fearful of the Geth taking down the Normandy and its crew along with Captain Anderson and it's Pilot Joker.
"No, it doesn't look like the Normandy," Kaidan answered as Shepard let out a silent sigh of relief. The blazing fire that is the unknown vessel grew closer and closer as Kaidan was able to make out more of the craft, but the design was unfamiliar to him. "It doesn't resemble any ship I have ever seen. Maybe it is more Geth forces?" The three watched the ship crashed land near their destination without any attempts to save itself.
"If it is Geth, I hope they're dead and took some of those bastards on land with them." Ashley snarled as the train ride would only last a minute longer before coming to a complete stop. There was smog of smoke clouding the docking bay, but it looks as though the craft missed the area.
"Demolition charges!" Kaidan yelled out and the trio saw a massive hunk of metal with a timer counting down. "The Geth must have planted them!" Kaidan said as Shepard ran over and began to disarm the bomb.
"We need to find them all and shut them down!" Ashley and Kaidan waited by Shepard's side to protect him.
The commander got away from the bomb when a beep was heard and the timer disappeared. Shepard equipped his Lancer once more and looked at his team. "Let's find the rest then! Hurry!" Shepard shouted and led the team up a rampway where they encountered more Geth and another bomb.
When Forward Unto Dawn finally made contact with the surface world, it slid across the landscape and shredded any building or land in its path for a few moments before it came to a complete stop with a massive amount of terrain covering up the front of the ship entirely. Inside the Forward Unto Dawn was a wreck. Everything was scattered everywhere. Some supplies were by themselves in separate areas and some were in piles. Underneath one of the heavy piles of supplies arose the Arbiter with his weapons still equipped on his back and sides.
Arbiter steadily got up and checked himself for any damages. A few bumps and scratches. Somehow he came out unscathed from the abrupt crash landing. Arbiter readjusted his jaws and looked around for his ally, "Construct, where is the Demon?"
"We have names, you know?" Cortana said with a pestered tone, "And Cheif is five feet to your left under a pile of Assult Rifles." Master Chief rose up from the pile from the position Cortana said he would be at, "Are you, tough fellas, okay?"
"We are," Chief responded.
"What was engaging you, another AI?" Arbiter asked. Though he was not one to be concerned about an AI, he understood the importance of having one, especially at this moment where they are in parts unknown.
"Yes, it was." Cortana answered, "I was looking through databases on the planet's surface where I encountered a firewall of sorts, which I assume that opposing AI was the one who set up those barriers. It wasn't Forerunner technology, no, it was a significant downgrade from their type of technology." Cortana explained to them. "I attempted to bypass it when suddenly the ship went dead on us, so I wasn't able to break through for I put most of my focus back onto the Forward Unto Dawn. I would discuss it more, but that can wait until after we assess our current situation."
"Did you find out anything about the planet we are on?" Chief questioned while picking up an Assault Rifle from the floor.
"I did." Cortana answered, "It's a planet called, 'Eden Prime.' Eden Prime and I quote from the data I'm looking at, 'This idyllic agrarian world was one of the first human colonies established beyond the Charon mass relay. Eden Prime's fertile biosphere drew heavy immigration from the Systems Alliance and other humanitarian organizations. Eden Prime's biosphere is unusually well-suited for the importation of Earth-native life. This fertility drew heavy immigration and development by the Systems Alliance and various corporations.'"
This left the duo with more questions than answers. Charon mass relay? One of the first human colonies? Systems Alliance? Corporations?
"I'm looking through more and more data, and I'm finding very confusing information. I tried looking up for anything related to the UNSC or Sangheili dossiers, and I am finding nothing, not even the Convent are listed in any of these databases. As a matter of fact, I'm discovering new races we never encountered before. Turians? Quarians? Krogen? Asari? Salarians? These are species unknown to any UNSC files I have in store. There are millions of more knowledge to go through at the moment, but right now the best thing we can do is abandon ship. Be on your guard boys, we're lost and I sense many hostiles outside." Cortana finished speaking. Arbiter and Chief acknowledged her warning and headed towards the cargo bay. Once there, Chief went back to the small podium that held Cortana's chip and removed it when it glowed a bright blue, indicating that Cortana was inside it. Chief placed the chip into the back of his helmet and headed towards cargo doors with Arbiter. "Oh, Arbiter, take that radio com from the crate two feet from your left so I am able to communicate with you too." Arbiter did as so and placed the small radio next to his ear.
The first thing any of them heard was a firefight when Master Chief and Arbiter exited the Forward Unto Dawn. Both lost soldiers followed the noise and came across a destroyed docking bay that had several robotic humanoids with guns firing at three armored people. "The three individuals have human signatures, but I can not confirm if they are allies or not."
Whether they were allies or not, it didn't matter to Master Chief, they were still human, and if they turn out to be enemies, they'll be swiftly subdued anyways. Master Chief and Arbiter ran towards the docking bay and jumped over the railings.
"Sir! We have more hostiles!" Kaidan yelled out as he saw two figures jump over the railings. Shepard grabbed a grenade from his pocket to throw it at the two new figures but paused when he got a closer look at them.
"Wait a moment, Kaidan. Those aren't Geth." Shepard, Kaidan, and Ashley took glances at the new figures and were shocked when they attacked the Geth with their strange weapons. The Geth turned around and began to fight back, but one of the newcomers, the taller and silvered one suddenly vanished while the green armored behemoth rushed towards a Geth Trooper and punched its head clean off. All of the Geth focused fired on the green one, but he ran past the bullets while firing what seemed to be an Assault Rifle of sorts. Suddenly, from behind the Geth, a shiny white dual blade appeared from thin air and ripped through one of the Geth's chests. The silvered armored figure reappeared, most likely using active camouflage as to sneak attack them. He pulled the blade out of the Geth's chest as several of the Geth turned around to shoot at the swordsman, but the sword swiftly and effortlessly slashed through all of the Geth in one swing. The last remaining Geth, a Destroyer, was about to unload its shotgun onto the sword user, but the green one ran up to the Geth Destroyer and ripped the shotgun from its hands before using the weapon against it and blew its head off.
"What are they?" Ashley asked to no one in particular.
"I don't know, but I hope their allies." Commander Shepard admitted to them. The two new individuals proved themselves to be highly dangerous by wiping out a unit of Geth in several seconds. None of them could recognize the armor on the humanoid, if it is even human underneath it, and the silver looked to be a whole new species itself. Commander Shepard has never seen anything like that one, and he's seen a lot in his military career. Commander Shepard slowly rose from cover and cautiously approached the duo with his assault rifle pointed down, but ready to be used just in case.
Master Chief and Arbiter saw the three humans approaching them and stood ideal while remaining on guard. Their black armor did not hold any resemblance to any UNSC type of armor, especially the white and pink striped one. They looked similar to ODST armor, but they weren't.
"Thanks for the assistance," Commander Shepard said as he held up his hand to signal Kaidan and Ashley to holster their weapons, "But may I ask you a question? Who are you two?"
"I am the Arbiter, leader of the Sangheili race," Thel answered. Internally, Thel was slightly taken aback that he needed to introduce himself. Usually, most humans know who and what an Arbiter was simply because of the infamous image Arbiter's before him imposed on humanity's history. Though each Arbiter was different, they kept one aspect about them the same and it was appearance so there should be no reason why these men could not recognize him.
"Master Chief Petty Officer Spartan - 117." Master Chief answered robotically, all too familiar with identity protocols.
Shepard was baffled by both answers. What is the 'Sangheili race' and why hasn't he ever seen one until now? And Master Chief Petty Officer? Shepard has seen the Master Chief Petty Officer and even shook the great man's hand, and this green giant was not him. Shepard decided to test the waters once more, "Okay, let's try this again, but I'll go first. I am Commander Shepard. This is Staff Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko and Gunnery Chief Ashley Willaims." Commander Shepard introduced himself and his crew in hopes of getting a proper answer, "And you two are?"
Commander Shepard has never seen a Sangheili before, but he was able to tell that the alien was scowling at him.
"We will not repeat ourselves, Commander." Arbiter was not amused for Arbiter wasn't in the mood for games. Kaidan and Ashley tensed at the slight aggression from Arbiter's tone, but Shepard gave both of them a look to stand down.
"Chief, Arbiter, whatever we tell this guy will not convince him," Cortana chimed in, "There are no records of the UNSC or of the Sangheili race on this planet's databases. I highly suggest a parley until I am able to gather more data from a greater source."
Chief and Arbiter quietly acknowledged Cortana's suggest before both individuals aimed their weapons to the floor. Shepard, Kaidan, and Ashley shared confused glances for a moment at the peaceful action taken and listened in when Arbiter began to speak.
"Seeing as none of you know who we are, and we do not know who you are, I suggest you take us to your superiors so we may clear the air." Arbiter stated and Shepard nodded his head.
"Agreed," Shepard said and looked around for a moment, "You didn't happen to see a Turian, did you?"
"Say no."
"No." Master Chief followed what Cortana said.
Shepard's face twisted in slight anger as he shook his head, "Damn it." Shepard was about to call for an evac but took a double take when his eyes caught a beacon to his far right. Shepard walked towards the beacon in curiosity and caution as this is the first beacon he's seen in person. Kaidan and Ashley followed suit but did not forget the two mystery's with them. Arbiter and Master Chief watched the three approach the beacon but were not interested in it as they had bigger problems.
Arbiter turned to Chief with a grunt, "I assume we're in possible enemy territory?" Master Chief shrugged his shoulders in response.
"That is a high probability, but it doesn't explain the lack of UNSC and Sangheili details. Where exactly did that slipspace take us?" Cortana rhetorically asked them, "I'm going to run simulations to get an estimated answer, in the meantime, try not to make enemies out of your new friends."
Arbiter rolled his eyes as the Chief gave no reaction to Cortana's sarcasm, but their thoughts were shattered when they heard Ashley shout her commander's name.
"No, don't touch him! It's too dangerous!" Ashley and Kaidan were huddled together as Kaidan was helping her from the ground. Commander Shepard, on the other hand, was levitating in the air front of the beacon with his arms and legs spread out.
Arbiter and Chief were about to pull Shepard away from beacon's pull, but Cortana stopped them. "Don't! You'll be pulled into its gravitational force too! Be ready to catch him though, the beacon's energy readings are overloading!" On cue, the beacon exploded as Shepard's body was flung from the harmless explosion. Master Chief swiftly caught the Commander and placed him on the ground as Kaidan and Ashely rushed to their leader's side.
"He's unconscious." Chief simply stated.
"Thanks for catching him," Ashely said without looking up to the Master Chief. Kaidan was already radioing in for immediate evac.
"This is Staff Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko to Normandy! Joker, you better come quick, Commander Shepard is out cold!" Kaidan said over the coms, "The beacon! It started to pull Ashely towards it when Shepard threw her out of the way, and then it forced Shepard to it where it took him off the ground for a few moments before it exploded! Yes! The damn thing exploded, but we can discuss details later! Just make sure Doctor Chakwas is ready!" Kaidan then turned his head towards the Arbiter and Master Chief, "And tell Captain Anderson we're bringing two new guys. One of them is an unidentifiable alien and the other is a heavily armored green machine, possible organic under the suit. Neither of them has any connection with the attacks on Eden Prime and wish to speak with Captain Anderson. Kaidan out." Kaidan took his hand off of his helmet and ran over to Commander Shepard's side.
