Three sets of boots hit the ground as Shepard, Alenko, and Jenkins landed on Eden Prime. They were on a critical mission to retrieve a beacon, and each man was trying to stay focused.
"Ship perimeter secure, Commander!" Lt. Alenko called out after a quick survey of the area. The Commander looked around himself as he removed the safety on his assault rifle and swapped it for his shotgun.
"This place got hit hard, Commander. There are hostiles everywhere. Keep your guard up," Nihlus chimed in over comms. Shepard grunted quietly in affirmation.
"It smells like smoke and death," Alenko commented. Shepard brought up his map.
Satisfied with his idea of where to go, Shepard started off, pistol at the ready as he led Alenko and Jenkins toward the swamp.
"What the hell are those?!" Alenko shouted, alarmed at the floating creature a few yards away.
"Gas bags. Don't worry, they're harmless," Jenkins answered. Shepard stopped for a moment and took aim at the closest floating cow-like creature. He squeezed off a single shot, and the gas bag exploded into green slime.
"Damn!" Alenko shouted, ducking slightly. Shepard had already started off again, tromping boldly toward a murky pond. His subordinates followed, and Jenkins almost ran into
Shepard when he stopped momentarily. He started off to the right, and ran up the shallow side of the pond, where there was a sort of hill right off the bank. Alenko and Jenkins watched as Shepard tried to run up its side before stopping and scowling at it, and turning around to stomp back into the pond. Jenkins looked toward Alenko with some reservation. The lieutenant shrugged. They could hear gunfire in the distance over the sloshing of their steps.
Shepard stopped at a crate, obviously puzzled at its being there. Opening it, he pulled the shield generator out, and appraised it before adding it to his pack and continuing the aimless walk around the pond and the bank. With each corner, the unsure looks of Alenko and Jenkins intensified, not that Shepard saw them.
"Are you sure this guy is a war hero?" Jenkins whispered at one point.
"Being a hero says nothing about a sense of direction," Alenko replied quietly. Jenkins shrugged.
"I guess. How does he get everywhere in the nick of time then?"
"Maybe he's also lucky. Maybe the bad guys are incompetent. Shepard's a hero, a good soldier, and our CO. I have nothing but admiration."
Jenkins snorted. Shepard was stopped again, looking around with a confused scowl on his face. He brought up the map again.
"Oh," the Commander said simply, and marched back up the hill. Reaching the landing point again, he stared off the cliff into the early afternoon light momentarily before turning about on the spot and repeating the walk through the pond. The tension was beginning to build with the Commander's intensifying confusion.
He marched up the hill again, and brought up the map once more. Grunting and scowling, he turned down a narrow pathway. Alenko and Jenkins sighed in exasperation, the clearing with the path that they were obviously meant to take in front of them.
"See, Jenkins, everything's fine. If we follow the Commander, everything will be a-okay."
I started playing Mass Effect for the first time recently. I am ashamed to admit that it took me about seven minutes to get out of the boggy area on Eden Prime because I felt like I was missing a small branch path by the pond. The Citadel is Hell for me, but at least there is shuttle transit.