Disclaimer: I do not own Mass Effect, its universe, or any of the characters mentioned in it. The only thing I do own are James Clark, Ronald Black, Emilia Guarez, Aaron Rhyder, Logan Butler, and Erik White.

Chapter 1: Out of the Blue

"Shit! Captain, get down!"

Another volley of fire rained overhead as I slid behind a crate. I took out my Thunder assault rifle and blind fired it behind me. A couple of moans and I knew I had hit something. I switched to my M-100 grenade launcher and motioned to Kevin, one finger pointing down and then fanning my hand sideways. Cover, then suppressive fire. I shot out of cover and immediately took a hail of gunfire; my shields were taking a beating today. I fired two grenades in quick succession and grinned as husks were tossed all over the field. The big husk was also down: bonus. Kevin and the other Alliance soldiers rose from behind the crates and fired in wide arcs, covering the enemy line with fire. My shields gave out and I ducked behind cover again. I accessed my omni-tool and activated the shield tool, producing an orange hexagon-shaped kinetic shield from my omni-tool. Sliding out of cover, I kept my shield and pistol in front of me, unloading everything in the clip. Wave after wave of husks were shot down, seemingly endless. Finally, the remaining husks ran away, disappearing among the concrete rubble. I breathed in relief and ran to meet the rest of my squad. "You all did good out there, men," I said, taking deep breaths.

"Thanks, Captain," said Private Kevin. "These husks are getting bolder every day. Even animals know not to stick their noses where it hurts."

"These things are definitely not animals," said another soldier, shouldering his gun.

"Either way, we don't have much time," I cut in. "We need to report back to base quickly. They can use all the help they can get."

#############

I ducked underneath a stone pillar, leaving behind another forest of debris behind me. I looked overhead and saw another one of those giant starships fly over. Black, ominous, and emitting a piercing sound that bore into your head. Sightings of those ships were an everyday occurrence nowadays, but usually, it meant more of those husks were nearby. "Captain?" asked Private Kevin.

"Yes?"

"Any word from Overlord? We're not getting any connection on our end."

I checked my omni-tool. No response. "None."

The private looked up, and then shook his head. "How the hell did they manage to—"

I signaled with my hand. Slowing down, I crept up to a fallen tree, my squad of five following in suit. "See something, Captain?" asked a soldier.

"Quiet, Private," I hushed, and brought up my Titan sniper rifle. I looked through the scope. Two average husks were wandering aimlessly around the forest. I fired one shot, blowing a head off with it. The remaining husk stopped and turned ominously towards the direction of fire. The eyes were piercing blue, and always seemed to stare right through you. I fired another shot, but this one bounced off of an invisible barrier. "Biot—" I began to yell.

A wave of blue energy resonated through the forest, knocking me and my team to our feet. I threw a grenade in the husk's general direction and scrambled to my feet. Something flew past me and exploded behind me. A scream from behind me and I turned around. A piece of bark had embedded itself in one of the soldiers, who was also covered in horrible burns. I grimaced, and looked ahead. Several dark-blue colored husks were charging towards us, a blue corona surrounding them. I fired a couple of shots from my assault rifle, but they were easily deflected by the barriers. I switched to my Executioner shotgun, and activated Warp ammo. "Team, biotics!" I yelled again, as if that wasn't obvious enough.

I unloaded an entire clip into the approaching group, which by now was seven feet away. One husk hit the ground, blue glow slowly fading away. Sniper fire from behind me took down two more, and by this time, the husks were spreading out, aiming to flank our position. I moved to the right. "Private Kevin, cover the left!"

A yell from behind me and I turned around again. Several big husks had come up from behind, catching one of the soldiers by surprise. The husk swung its arm into him, and he was down. I fired a Concussive shot into the group, blowing back most of them.

Suddenly, I couldn't move. I noticed a blue energy around my arms, and realized what had happened. Shit, biotics! I thought as I was roughly thrown to the side. I hit the ground rolling on my side and kept rolling, bouncing off a rock. I looked around and saw I was falling down in mid-air; I had been thrown off the side of a cliff! I whirled around and I flailed around with my arms upwards, managing to grab hold of a rock sticking out of the cliff. My vision blurred as I looked down. Then I looked up to see a husk, which was standing right above me! I reached for my Carnifex and aimed for his head. Its four eyes glowed brightly as it reared back to attack; acid spewed from its mouth as I fired three rounds into its head. The acid rained down on me and I lost my grip. I tried to steer myself towards the cliff face; maybe I could slow myself down. My shoulder pad grated against the rocks and I took my combat knife out, driving the blade into the cliff and showering me with sparks. Abruptly I hit a tree branch, snapping the entire limb. Branches and leaves ripped at my face until finally I bounced off the side of the tree trunk and landed at the base of a tree. My head hit something hard and I was out like a light.

#############

I opened my eyes, and winced at the bright light. I slowly sat up, grimacing at the sudden jolt in the ribs. But I couldn't stay here for long; the husks would be here sooner or later. "Damn," I grunted, getting to my feet. I kept one hand on my hand cannon for husks. Either way, I had to report back to base.

I stumbled ahead, vaguely heading towards the city; at least there I could get some bearing. Then I heard a rustle to the right, swinging my Carnifex towards the sound. As if on cue, a husk leapt out of the bushes, bursting with flames. I fired two shots in its head, which caused it to explode, disabling my shields. Three more husks charged at me right behind the abomination, with a Scion behind them. I fired everything in the clip, taking two husks down. I holstered the hand cannon and swung my shotgun upwards, taking the last husk's head off. The Scion fired a biotic shockwave at me, ripping through everything in its path. I dove to the side firing two rounds into the Scion, which seemed to do nothing to it. Another husk ran from behind the Scion, who fired another shockwave. I rolled to the left and dropped the shotgun. Shit! I don't have another gun to—"

A loud crack sounded all over the forest, and the husk's head exploded, raining metal pieces over me. Two more cracks, and the blue hump on the Scion's back popped open, releasing gallons of blue liquid. The Scion fell face forward. I picked up my shotgun, loading two more rounds into the clip. "Who's there?" I yelled, cocking my shotgun to prove my point.

A laugh from above me. "I just saved your ass, and now you're trying to intimidate me?"

I looked up, and barely saw a dark shape fall from the tree, leaping off each branch in succession. The figure touched down. "Name's Emilia Guarez, ex-soldier of the Costa Rica military."

I looked her up and down. She was Hispanic, that much I could tell, and she wore her black hair in a ponytail, with one earring in the shape of a cross on her right ear. She wore a black tank top, with a black flak jacket over it. She also had on tight black jeans, with a holstered pistol. Her sniper rifle was balanced on her shoulders, which she kept still with one hand. "Captain James Clark of the 13th regiment of the Alliance in New York," I stated, which I knew by heart. "Or at least I was, until my squad and I were ambushed by a group of husks."

"Thirteen. That's an unlucky number," she said, strapping her rifle to her back. "Where were you headed anyway? There's nothing in New York anymore, except a bunch of husks and dead people."

"And the last major Alliance force in the northeast of America. I need to regroup back at base."

"Need any help? I heard that New York is completely trashed."

"You can come if you want to." I frowned. "Wait, I was in New York only hours ago. I'm pretty sure it's still standing."

Emilia slid the rifle onto her back. "Not what I heard."

"That doesn't matter. I just need to get back."

"Whatever. Just calm down."

#############

The trek back was short and uneventful to say the least. We didn't encounter any husks on the way, but we did notice a couple walking towards the city ahead of us. Emilia took out her pistol. "I got them," she said, cloaking herself.

I watched the husks, eyeing them with the scope of my sniper rifle. The first husk's head exploded, two more holes appeared in its chest. The second husk's legs were cut out from beneath him, dropping him to the ground. The last husk was cut in half, and shot in the back. Emilia appeared behind the corpses and waved to me through my scope.

"These guys split off the main group," said Emilia. "Look."

I looked through the scope of her sniper rifle. Viper sniper rifle, one of the new issues, I noticed. Three big husks were lumbering in a parking lot, moaning occasionally. I fired two shots; the husk hit the ground. The other two turned around as I lobbed a mine at them. I drew my assault rifle and fired at the mine, detonating it in front of the two husks. The resulting explosion ripped them apart; they never had a chance. "Nice shooting," laughed Emilia, taking back her sniper rifle. "Are all the soldiers in the alliance like you?"

"Only the crazy ones," I replied, loading another thermal clip into my gun. "Come on, the Alliance base isn't too far from here. I think."

"I hope," said Emilia.

Dust streamed from the rubble above them as they walked on to the Alliance base camp. Everything scurried: rats, husks, and soldiers. I hadn't seen any civilians in a long time, ever since the attack on Earth. I looked up to the sky, imagining the huge space battles that must have been taking place while the people below struggled to survive. I hadn't heard any news about what was happening to the rest of galaxy for a while now. I looked at Emilia, who was absentmindedly cleaning her gun. "Emilia?" I said, glancing back down.

"Yeah?" she responded, who stopped cleaning her gun.

"If you were in the Costa Rican military, how did you end up in New York?"

She laughed, the sound echoing all over the city. "Actually, I think I probably arrived somewhere in Pennsylvania before coming here. Me and my unit were dispatched in a helicopter to eastern Costa Rica to help train the recruits when Earth was attacked. We only saw a couple of those black starships in the sky around us, and we kept hearing all these transmissions about the world being attacked, and how it was all over." She shook her head, looking down.

"I don't think the pilot knew where he was going. We just kept flying. We didn't exactly pass through the cities; we just kind of skirted around them. Eventually we reached the ocean. I fell asleep onboard, and the next thing I know, I wake up and the helicopter's spinning around, my team flying out the door, and the pilot's screaming at us to hang on. We crashed in some forest; I was the only one that survived. So I just took my guns and whatever provisions were left and made my way north, or I thought it was north at least. Picked up news that I was in America and heard about the Alliance gathering in the north. I'm guessing then it was only a couple of days before I ran into you."

I stopped. "I think we should be getting close to base camp now."

Two massive gun turrets swiveled in unison in front of the pair, oblivious to them. Below, ten Alliance soldiers stood at ready in front of slanted metal doors entering the underground base. Three more soldiers ran up behind us, guns trained on our backs. One of the men guarding the door walked up, two feet from us. He wiped a bead of sweat from his brown hair. "Name and rank. Now."

"Emilia Guarez. Ex-soldier of the Costa Rica military. My team and I were being transported via helicopter when we were attacked. We crashed somewhere near New York, but I was the only survivor." He motioned to me.

"Captain James Clark of the 13th regiment of the Alliance in New York. My squad and I were ambushed by a group of husks. I don't know what happened to my squad."

The man lowered his weapon. "Commander Ronald Black. We were expecting you, Captain. So far, you're the only recon team that's made it back to base. Come on, we need to get to the briefing." The commander looked at Emilia. "You come too."

Emilia looked at me. I nodded. The doors slowly slid open, grating from disuse. The three soldiers from behind ushered us in, right behind the commander. The doors started to close again.

Inside, the dark hallway was dimly lit by computer interfaces and wall lighting. There were soldiers constantly running past us, delivering things or rushing to their positions. "Nice setup," commented Emilia, noting the racks and racks of weapons passing by.

"It's good, but it's not nearly enough," said Black darkly.

We arrived in a big, spacious room, with everything centered on the command console in the middle. Several officers were in intense discussions around the console, oblivious to the newcomers. "Something important happened?" I asked, glancing around the room.

"We were just told that Earth wasn't the only place attacked. The Reapers hit just about everywhere else in the galaxy—"

"Wait, the reapers?"

The commander stopped. "Right, the briefing. Captain, we now have a clear idea of what our enemy is. Do you have any clue what a Reaper is?"

"Not exactly. I'm guessing it's one of those big black ships that are always flying around?"

"Yes. Three years ago, the Citadel was attacked by Saren's army of geth. That's the official story. Actually, a Reaper called Sovereign led a fleet of geth ships to the Citadel to open the Citadel relay."

"The Citadel is a relay?"

"Yes, a big relay that they created that was meant to open a pathway from dark space for the rest of the Reapers to enter and attack the galaxy."

What the shit? How could we possibly stop an enemy that more or less built the technology we used today? They would know exactly what they were up against. "So the Citadel is gone?"

"No. Commander Shepard stopped Sovereign from opening the Citadel relay. The Reapers came here from dark space."

I stared at him. "But didn't he die?"

"Apparently not. He's back and he's trying to unite the galaxy against the Reapers. If we're lucky, we can hold out here long enough for him to arrive with reinforcements."

"So that's the plan?"

"It's the best one we got. Captain, I'm appointing you to be in charge of another recon team. A helicopter will be here soon to transport you and your team."

"What about me?" asked Emilia, who had been silent the whole time.

The commander looked hard at her, and seemed to be weighing up decisions. Then he looked back at me. "Captain, are you sure of her abilities in combat?"

"Yes, sir. She's a damn good soldier."

Black seemed to think it over. "Very well, she's assigned to your squad. The private here will escort you two to the armory for refitting. Be back here in ten minutes."

#############

Ten minutes later, and we were armed to teeth. I had picked out a nice machine pistol, the M-4 Shuriken, and more updated versions of my other weapons. My armor was above standard-issue and its shields could take more punishment. Emilia, on the other hand, had opted out of new armor, and instead had taken a couple of grenades. "If I get hit in battle, that's my fault," she had explained, donning light combat armor. "Besides, I'm supposed to move quickly and avoid being noticed. You're supposed to stand out there and attract attention."

I stepped out onto the landing pad. There were other gunships there too, although more equipped for combat than transportation. The helicopter I was assigned to was waiting in the middle of the hangar, slowly moving to the landing pad. The squad was waiting by the vehicle. "Captain," said one of the soldiers, saluting.

"At ease, private," I said, chuckling. "You don't have to salute to me. Are you all ready?"

They nodded. "Private Emilia will also be joining us on this mission," I said, motioning to Emilia. "We'll scout out the north side of the city for survivors and report back to base. Are we clear?"

"Yes, sir."

I waved at the pilot, who started the helicopter. "Let's move."

The helicopter slowly floated off the landing pad. "Overlord, this is Recon Team 142, we are moving to position," said the pilot into the radio. "Permission for flight?"

"Permission granted," the radio echoed back. "Stay alert, transmission is…watch for…back to base now!"

"Overlord, transmission is breaking up…" I was barely paying attention, though. I looked out the side of the helicopter, and reared back as the husk slammed against the side of the door. "Private, door gun!" I shouted, as the husk hit the window again, cracking it.

The door gun roared to life, ripping the husk to pieces. "This is Overlord, we are declaring a state of emergency! Attacks from all sides of base. All available hands move to north side for reinforcement! Any air support is needed at—". The line cut off.

"Hostiles in the air!" shouted the pilot over the gunfire. "Holy shit!"

I looked up through the pilot's cabin. Hordes of Reapers were quickly surrounding the base, firing red beams of death. Turret fire bounced off their shields like they were pellet guns. "Get us out of here!" I yelled at the pilot.

"Already on it!" he shouted back, suddenly throwing the helicopter forward. "Shit!"

The helicopter weaved to the side, barely avoiding a husk that had launched itself where the helicopter had been only moments before. Another husk, and then hundreds of them were flying past us, barely missing each time. "Private, where's that door gun?" I shouted.

"I'm trying, sir!" he yelled, firing the minigun.

Suddenly, a huge black shape blotted out the windshield. "Shit, shit, shit!" I heard the pilot yell as I hit the back of the helicopter. Emilia fired through the cracked window. "Reaper!" she shouted, firing again.

The pilot jerked left hard, throwing us to the side again. A red flash passed the side of the helicopter, actually burning my shields. The left door burned off, taking the private with it. Then the helicopter was spinning, faster and faster. "Hang on!" I heard the pilot yell, and then a scream. I grabbed a chair, feeling the loss of gravity as everything flew out the side of the helicopter. Emilia had stuck her sniper rifle into a nook behind a chair, and was trying to hang on too. Another soldier flew out the door.

The gunship slammed into something hard, and then nothing.

My first attempt at a Mass Effect 3 fanfic. I'll try to post somewhat regularly, considering I'm guessing as to what happens in Mass Effect 3. Please read and then review!