If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:
If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;
If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: 'Hold on!'
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And—which is more—you'll be a Man, my son!
- If, Rudyard Kipling
ILS Normandy SR-1, Sol System - Lieutenant Commander John Shepard nar Arcturus
March 15th, 2183
"Captain on deck!" John Shepard barked, snapping off a salute that was mirrored by the rest of the ships company by the airlock. Wind chimes played in the traditional quarian salute to a senior officer, offset by the trill of human bosun's pipes and the basso rumble of krogan horns over the Normandy's PA system.
Captain David Anderson nodded, returning the salute. "At ease. We've got work to do people, so let's get to it."
"Aye-aye sir!" the various marines and naval personnel chorused, and the ships company scattered back to their workstations.
"Welcome aboard the Normandy, sir," John Shepard stated, then grinned. "Good to see you again sir. It's been too long."
Anderson grinned back, enveloping Shepard in a decidedly non-regulation hug. "You too! You've grown since I had to carry you to the Tai Shan's med bay. And you've stayed busy since graduating from N school as well."
"I think you could say that sir," John answered, his face turning grim as he looked the man who'd been half mentor, half father, and all inspiration since he'd been only nine years old. Anderson's eyes fell to the bit of black and red ribbon upon John's breast, next to the N7 logo both men had on their uniform. The Cross of Brotherhood and Honor Under Fire, the highest award the Independent League could bestow upon its service personnel.
John's mind wandered back six years, to the opening hours of the First Pan-Galactic War. He'd been on leave on Elysium with a friend, and together they'd held off the batarian slavers blitz until help had come. John had survived, barely. Alexandra Harrington, John's childhood friend and fellow N school graduate, had not. John still mourned Alex and the other friends he had lost, in that war and the others since. Elysium had been the true start of John's career, but he still carried the ghosts from that battlefield.
That action was what had landed his current birth, serving as the Executive Officer aboard the very first League stealth recon frigate in command of the marine detachment. As a bona fide war hero and one of the best N7's in the entire League, John was perfect for the Normandy's mission. Quietly go places League forces had no right being and do violent things to the enemies of its member species. That was something John had proven himself very, very good at, as had Captain Anderson. Anderson was a veteran of even more battlefields than John was, though he was getting a bit long in the tooth to actually suit up and pound dirt.
"Sir, may I speak with you privately?" John asked respectfully, going back to an attitude of business.
"Of course Commander," Anderson nodded. "First though, get us underway. Then meet me in the comm room in 90 minutes. I've got a few things I need to take care of."
"Aye-aye sir. Destination?"
"Eden Prime. Fast and quiet. Let's give the new stealth systems a trial run. I don't even want Charon command to know we hit the Eden Prime relay until after we're gone."
"Yes sir." John saluted again, then turned to head up to the galaxy map. It wasn't a very long walk, frigates were not big ships, though the Normandy was at the top end of the scale for a frigate.
"Lieutenant Pressly," John called, nodding to the older, balding human man who was conferencing with one of the quarian engineers.
The older man looked up and nodded. "What can I do for you Commander?"
"Set a course for Eden Prime. Tell Joker to get us there fast and quiet. The captain wants to test out the new stealth systems."
Pressly saluted and nodded. "Aye-aye sir, I'll get it done."
With that taken care of, John started on his "rounds." It was a tradition he'd started many years ago on Jump Zero, Brain Camp to its graduates, where he went around to get a feel for the crews moral and dug a little deep into their pasts. Ships were cramped, with everyone, even the officers, living in each other's laps. The only exception was the ship's captain, who got his own cabin, small and cramped though it was.
John started with another old friend, Doctor Karin Chakwas. As the ships medical officer, Chakwas heard and saw more than most of the ships company, and she was a good barometer for the general attitude aboard ship.
Karin looked up as John stepped in, smiling slightly. "More headaches? Kaidan was by earlier, the two of you have been training hard. If you keep this up, I'm going to run out of migraine medication before we even begin our cruise."
"Not this time Doctor," John grinned. "Though I think I might have skinned my knee again."
"Ha! I remember far too many situations like that when you were in brain camp," Chakwas laughed, then cocked her head to one side. "But you're not here to talk about skinned knees, are you Shepard? Am I to be the latest victim of one of your perambulations? I must say, I think the ship could use one about now."
"Why's that doctor?"
"The tension, you can feel it in the air. The crew knows that this isn't your average shakedown run. We're fully crewed, and people like you and Captain Anderson don't end up together on a cruise if we aren't expecting trouble."
John nodded. "That sounds like what I should expect from the scuttlebutt. I'll make sure to settle everyone. I've got it on good authority that we're headed for Eden Prime. That's well within League territory."
"Hmm, and yet I somehow can't' shake the feeling that there is more to this mission," Dr. Chakwas mused. Then she shrugged. "Ah, well, regardless of those factors, I'll keep you marines patched up when you get banged up. Don't think I don't know your reputation young man. You were bad enough when you were just in the Rumble Room with Grandmaster Shali O'Torus. I've seen your medical record. You've been patched up more times than most krogan are."
"I'll just have to leave myself in your capable hands doc. Keep a ready supply of medigel though, dextro and levo."
"Oh I will, never fear."
John nodded and stepped out of the med station into the mess. He spied several of his marines gathered around the table, sipping at drinks and looking restless. John strode over, and his own department head, Lieutenant Kaidan Alkeno stood and braced to attention as he approached.
"Atten-shun!" Kaidan barked, and the rest of the marines stood and braced themselves as well.
"At ease, this isn't a formal meeting," John ordered, nodding to the marines. They nodded and relaxed a bit, though they all looked fairly tense. "You boys and girls look like you're expecting trouble."
"I always expect trouble," Lehroi Jehkans growled. "Especially when you're involved Commander."
"That's funny Jehkans," John answered, showing his teeth. " I seem to remember you causing most of it."
That got a chuckled from the marines. John and Jekhans were old schoolmates from Brain Camp, and while they'd been friends by the time they left, there had been bad blood between them at first. They'd gotten into a scrap that had hospitalized both of them, which John had won, barely. After that, John had earned the krogans grudging respect, and they'd been friends since. Which was good, because these days Jekhans was massive being. The krogan was big even for his species, and towered over the 1.9 meter human Commander at 2.6 meters.
Bowing his head in submission, Jekhans' rumbled, "Only for our enemies, Shepard."
"This whole run smells like trouble to me," Ardun Valk growled, blinking her four eyes one at time. "With respect sir, what's an N squad like this doing on a shakedown run?"
"The same thing we always do marine," John answered. "Our jobs. Which right now, consists of waiting for orders. Understood?"
"Aye-aye sir," Valk answered, saluting crisply. "I have nothing but respect for you and the captain, but I'm worried. I've heard from my family back home. The Citadel's stepped up their patrols on the border, and they're been too many skirmishes to make me feel comfortable lately. To many of my sisters are still under the Council's boot."
"We're not here to fight the Council," John cautioned. "Remember, the real enemy is still out there."
Valk nodded. "Of course sir. Too many of my friends were killed for me to forget the Reapers. I'm from Camala, but even there we felt the shadow."
"We should have kept fighting when we had the chance," Prazza'Mal vas Normandy growled. The quarian marine had a few marks on his record indicating he had an attitude problem, but he was also an excellent engineer. John was confident he could keep Nara in line; he and Kaidan could come down like a ton of bricks when they had too.
John shook his head, looking pointedly at Mal, Valk and Jekhans. "We're marines. It's natural to want to fight. But keep your heads cool and your minds sharp. If there is more to this mission, you'll find out when the time comes. Until then, we stay disciplined. Understood?"
"Aye-aye sir," the marines chorused.
Nodding in satisfaction, John jerked his head at Kaidan. "Lieutenant, come with me down to the armory. I want to check out the mako."
"Of course commander," Kaidan agreed, standing and heading over to the elevator with John.
Once the door slid shut, Kaidan sighed and rubbed his temple, his eyes squeezed shut tight.
"The doc said you were having problems again," John observed. "Bad?"
"Nothing I can't handle sir, you know that," Kaidan assured. "But I don't think the mako needs any additional inspections, or that you just want to talk about the fact that both of us get headaches and nosebleeds from time to time. This about the mission?"
"Yes. I agree with the troops. Something's up. We've got three biotics on our ground team Kaidan. Three. What's that tell you?"
"Either they expect us to get into serious trouble, or personnel screwed up. And I don't think Arcturus was going to let many foul ups happen on this bird."
"Exactly. We're making for Eden Prime. Know anything that might send up flags?"
Kaidan frowned, rubbing his chin. "Other than what you know? Probably not. It's an older colony and fairly secure. The last time it was threatened at all was the Blitz, and even then not many of the raiders actually made it to the surface. Although..."
"You trailed off there. I need to know if there's anything at all Kaidan."
"Well, it could be nothing. But you know I read the scientific journals from time to time, helps calm me down. I seen repeated mention of a prothean dig there. That's not unusual, Eden Prime was a prothean world. But recently, nothing's been reported from that dig. Now, it's possible there's nothing to talk about, but on the other hand..."
"On the other hand they found something big enough that they're not talking at all," John grimaced. "Prothean. That could mean the Council. And this deep in our turf, Council means Spectres. You think they'd make a grab?"
"It would have to be pretty big for them to risk it. A Council Spectre in League territory would be bad enough, but one trying to steal prothean artifacts from a League world would reignite the war for sure."
The elevator opened, and John and Kaidan walked over to the mako. It was an impressive sight, one that took up most of the Normandy's cargo bay. The mako infantry fighting vehicle was the latest in League military hardware. It possessed an eezo core that allowed or orbital insertion, a canon that could take out a turian tank, and room for half a dozen marines, plus crew. It was a tight squeeze, but it beat walking.
"Fancy a ride?" John asked, grinning slightly.
Kaidan rolled his eyes. "Only if I drive."
John clutched his chest, feigning injury. "Kaidan, you wound me!"
"Uh-huh. Do you remember my graduation?"
"Of course, we took a shuttle dirtside and went bumming around the Australian outback for a few days."
"And how many times did you, me, and Jak manage to crash that ancient jeep?"
"Oh, probably half a dozen times."
"And how many times did you crash it, sir? On flat, open ground I might add."
"Half a dozen. But I was just a kid then! You can't honestly think my driving hasn't improved."
"Has your dancing?"
"That's low marine. Real low."
They bantered like the old friends there were for a while, then John continued his walk. He talked with Adams in engineering, and the sarcastic pilot, Flight Lieutenant Moreau. John decided he was going to keep an eye on the pilot, and not because of the man's brittle bone disease. The nickname, "Joker," set off enough alarm bells. His unkempt appearance and unprofessional attitude made John sit up and take notice. He wasn't going to do anything unless the pilot proved a problem, but at the same time he needed to keep an eye on the man. On a ship this small, a bad attitude could fester like an open wound.
Exactly at the appointed time, John stepped into the comm room. It was empty, save for the captain. Anderson looked up from a data slate when Shepard entered the room and nodded. "Right on time Commander. Let's get straight to the point. This isn't what you would call your standard shake down run."
John nodded, spreading his legs slightly and putting his hands behind his back in the at ease position. He stayed silent, politely waiting for his superior to explain.
"The Normandy is the first in her class, as you know. The council has had stealth ships for years, and the League is just now catching up. We're too valuable for command to dither about with more trial runs. Which means our mission to Eden Prime is the real deal. We're after a prothean beacon."
John kept his face neutral, though internally he was nodding in confirmation. This was exactly the sort of discovery that might just be big enough for the Citadel to risk full scale war. It had been the Mars prothean archives that had given the League the leg up it needed to catch up and in many ways surpass the Citadel. A beacon could contain additional knowledge that might tip the delicate balance of power. That wasn't something the Council would be willing to risk.
"Shepard, I don't think I need to tell you this, but word of this cannot get out. If it does, the consequences could be disastrous. If the Council knew we were taking a beacon back to Mars for study, they might just preemptively declare war before we could get the data we need from it."
"Sir, I think I can assure you that everyone on board is ready for this. We all know what's at stake, especially the batarians on the crew. They've seen what war can do to a world first hand."
Anderson grunted. "And all too many of the others as well. You were there during the blitz son. You know that war with the Council would be exponentially worse. We have to keep the peace, at least for now."
"Aye-aye sir, I'll draw up retrieval plans for the ground team, I think we-"
"Captain, we just came through the Eden Prime relay 10 minutes ago. We're getting a transmission from the planet," Joker's voice suddenly stated over the intercom. "I think you need to see this sir."
"Put it on screen Joker," Anderson ordered, stepping over to one of the displays.
A grim faced human woman appeared, her face stained with sweat and blood. "This is Lieutenant Commander Ashley Williams. Eden Prime is under attack, I repeat-"
Another body crashed into Ashley, and the camera shook as the sound of an explosion distorted the audio. After a moment, the camera shifted, suddenly, as whoever's helmet it was in turned and fired at distant shapes. Then it looked up as a drop ship appeared over head, one in the shape of a scarab-like insect. Then it panned back to a snarling Williams. "This is code Delta, they're after the Macguffin. We can't-"
The screen suddenly went to static. "It just cuts out after that sir, and the entire planet's silent. Multiple hostile ships in orbit. The defense fleet's a cloud of debris," Joker added.
Anderson frowned for a moment, then turned to John. "Take us in to the coordinates that video was broadcast from. Keep the stealth drives engaged."
"Aye sir," Joker's voice answered, much more subdued than it normally was.
Shaking his head, Anderson locked eyes with John. "This mission just got a lot more complicated."
"Yes sir," John fervently agreed. "But what are the geth doing here? They haven't been out of the Veil in 300 years. What changed?"
Anderson shrugged. "That's for someone else to determine. Right now, we've got a more immediate problem: Getting that beacon before the geth get to it."
Twenty minutes later, John was with his ground team in the Normandy's hanger. They were all preped and briefed in on the situation, and everyone was wearing their game faces. Mal was especially grim. The geth were the quarian's ancient foe, and the reason that his people now called Earth their homeworld instead of Rannoch.
"Your priority is the beacon!" Anderson shouted as the hangar bay door slid open. "Find it, and signal us for retrieval! The fleet will just have to sort the rest of this mess out later."
"Aye sir!" John shouted, then turned to his men and jerked his head out the door. "Let's move marines!"
The Normandy was still a few hundred feet above the ground, and John's eezo powered grav belt kicked in, slowing his decent enough that he only landed about as hard as if he'd jumped five meters. John rolled, coming up with his Rapier shotgun at the read. The rest of his squad landed and formed up, then moved out. John looked into the distance. The fields of Eden Prime's lush agriculture were burning. Defenses from the main colony traced angry lines through the smoke blackened sky, and the geth's own weapons fired back, most of them slashing into the colonies kinetic barriers.
"This is bad," Jekhans growled. "the Oath of Protection will bid the krogan people attack the geth in force now. That opens up a front we can ill afford now."
"Don't forget the quarians," Mal growled. "We already owe the geth a debt. Now they invade our new home? It's time we paid more attention to what happens behind the Veil."
"Stay sharp," John barked. "There's sure to be more geth ahead. Jekhans, take point."
The big krogan growled his agreement and stormed ahead, weaving his way through a rocky outcropping. John paused, watching the squad file past. Something didn't feel right, where were the-
His head snapped around as John heard the sounds of rapid fire mass accelerators. A flight of drones had swarmed out from behind the rocks, and their fire ripped into Jekhans'. The krogan jerked, and blood splattered the ground as his shields and armor were torn to shreds.
With a roar, John jerked forward, using his biotics to yank him across the battlefield faster than the eye could see. He crashed into a drone and fired into it twice, sending the disk shaped platform spinning away with a large hole in its center. Kaidan biotically warped the shields of another as Mal's electronic hack overloaded a third, and Valk's Valkyrie assault rifle barked as she blasted the last drone into scrap. With the drones down, Kaidan rushed to the stricken krogan's side.
"I'm OK!" Jekhan's wheezed, struggling upright as his regenerative biology sealed his wounds. "Just need some medigel. Sorry Commander, I was reckless."
"Pain is the best teacher. I think you've learned your lesson," John answered, slapping a patch of medigel on one of Jekhan's wounds. The krogan would live, which was why John had put him on point. Everyone was angry, and that dulled your senses. Unlike a human or quarian, who would have died from wounds like these, a krogan like Jekhan could take punishment that severe and keep fighting. "Come on, let's move. The geth know we're here now."
The team continued to advance, now going by twos so that the others behind could cover those advancing in a leap frog pattern. It paid off when more drones appeared, these armed with rockets. The first barrage forced Valk and Mal into cover, and John stood to launch a kinetic biotic strike, then ducked back down. As soon as he did, Kaidan stood and hit the drone John had targeted with a warp. The two biotic energy fields collided and reacted, producing a violent explosion that knocked the drone from the sky. Jekhans lifted his massive M-100k grenade launcher and hit two drone that had drifted too close together with an air burst. John one down with his Rapier and Kaidan's Eagle Pistol punched holes in the other. Valk and Mal focused their fire to bring down the last drone.
John's ears were still ringing from the firefight, but in the distance he heard the sound of a old model Revenant squad support weapon opening up. "Sounds like the garrison is still fighting. Move out!"
The team crested a rise looking down into the valley where the dig site lay, and John raised a fist to order a halt. Pulling out his electronic field glasses, John took a moment to survey the valley. He caught site of several metallic beings with cyclopic eyes pulling a struggling human towards an oblong container. One of the geth stabbed the man in the neck with something, and his struggles ceased. Then the geth put the man in the container and sealed it. There were already several dozen full containers in neat rows, a grim testament to the geth's efficiency.
"They're rounding up the scientists and other civilians loading them for transport," John growled, tucking away the glasses. "Come on."
The squad ran forward a few hundred more meters, then dove for cover when mass effect rounds peppered the ground around them and flew over their heads. John peaked out from behind a boulder, and spied a team of Leaguers in full retreat. One of them, a krogan, was the one wielding the distinctive sounding Revenant. He was spraying bullets in the direction he was retreating from, using his body as a shield for the others. He finally gave out as the rest of his party reached cover, slumping to the ground as the geth's fire tore him to shreds. The others peaked out from behind their boulder and fired back at the geth, but they were clearly outnumbered. Additional geth trooper platforms like the ones John had seen impaling the human were advancing, supported by drones.
"Covering fire!" John ordered, and stood and hurled a biotic warp at the geth. "Spread out, flank the geth!"
The rest of the squad smoothly split, dashing from boulder to boulder as they fired on the geth. The beleaguered friendly squad raised a cheer and intensified their own fire, rallying as they saw the friendly forces. Caught between two forces, the geth assault fragmented, then was destroyed as John's squad swept down upon them.
"Kaidan, get some marines on that hill. I want to know what's coming for us," John ordered, then stepped over to people he'd just rescued, keeping his gun pointed up into the air. "Lieutenant Commander Shepard, League Marines. What's the situation?"
"You still don't know how to hold a goddamn gun, recruit," one of the other humans growled. The he reached up and pulled off his helmet, revealing an old, weathered face with a massive scar over an artificial eye. "Well dip me metal and call me a turian. Goddamn but it's good to see you Johnny."
"Gunny?" John gasped, taken aback for a moment. Then he grinned and saluted, lowering his gun so that it pointed at the floor and stepped forward to shake Zaeed Massani's hand. "I haven't seen you since you pinned my N7 strip on. What the hell is a bosh'tet like you don't here chief?"
Zaeed laughed bitterly. "I'm goddamn retired, can't you tell?"
Another human stepped forward, saluting crisply. "Lieutenant Commander Ashley Williams, 2nd Frontier Division, fourth company, commanding officer. What's left of it, anyway."
"All here ma'am," a quarian with chief stripes on his armor grunted. John glanced around and tried not to blanch. The other four were obviously not members of the 2nd Frontier.
"We'll have to hold introductions later," John said before anyone else could speak up. "Right now, we need to find that beacon. Williams, you're the woman on the ground here. What's the situation?"
"Bad sir," Williams answered, a grateful look in her eye. John could easily have undercut her and asked Zaeed, who he obviously new. But John was respecting the chain of command and addressing the officer in charge. Even if her command was likely wiped out. "The geth his us hard and fast. We only had a few minutes warning, and most of the garrison wasn't able to deploy. Kinetic strike on the main bunkhouse. I got the few people I had on the perimeter to close up and try to defend the dig site and beacon, but the geth hit us hard. We're all that's left. It wasn't for Chief Massani and his friends, the 2nd wouldn't exist anymore at all. They came in from the hills and hit the bastards in the rear. We were forced to retreat, but we made those metal bosh'tets pay."
That was far worse than John had thought. "So the geth have the beacon?"
"Aye sir," Ashley nodded. "We were making a push for it, but we were driven back again. Leerg, the krogan..."
"Dead ma'am," Valk said, coming up and shaking her head. "Must have near a hundred rounds in him. He died hard, there's a pile of dead geth with Revenant sized holes in them back there."
The female quarian in non-standard armor flinched and bowed her head. John's eyes narrowed. Unless he missed his guess, the dead krogan was one of his old instructors, Jorgal Leerg. He was a legend among the N7, though he was off active duty. That meant the quarian was Oro'Veskar, reputedly the deadliest markswoman the League had ever seen. If they'd been pushed back along with Zaeed, things were ugly.
"We've got to get to the beacon. My team's making a push for it," John stated. He didn't ask for anyone to join him, these soldiers had already been through hell. If their spirits were broken, they wouldn't do him any good.
"Guess I better come with and make sure you're guns pointed down range," Zaeed growled, stepping forward. The two female batarians behind him who'd remained silent stepped forward, their guns held with purpose and assurance. Fighters, then.
"I'm with you sir," Williams piped up. "I'll follow your lead."
"Guess I better come with. This many officers are gonna need at least one Chief to babysit them," the quarian remarked to absolutely no one and everyone.
Zaeed grinned, his scar turning the expression into a ghoulish one. "If you're half as good as your father, you're more than welcome Chief Reegar."
"Thank you sir," Reegar answered, nodding to Zaeed.
"Right then, move out!" John ordered. The two squads advanced, pushing back towards the geth lines.
In the distance, the sirens of Eden Prime continued to wail as the once green planet burned.
Prothean Digsite, Eden Prime - Spectre Nihlus Kryik
March 15th, 2183
There were a great many places in the galaxy that Nihlus would rather be at this particular moment than on Eden Prime. Unfortunately, Nihlus also estimated that there was no place he needed to be more. The once green world of Eden Prime was under assault from the geth, a synthetic race long thought banished to the dark corners of the galaxy. Of course, that had been before the humans had buddied up to their creators, the quarians. It had taken more than two decades, but it appeared that the geth were making their move now.
"Just what this galaxy needs, another faction in this conflict," Nihlus growled. The Citadel and League were the big players, but there was the Illuminated Primacy and the Omega Alliance out there as well. Minor powers and with militaries dwarfed by the two galactic super states, but with the geth in play the waters would be further muddied. Still, perhaps the geth would have the good graces to focus only on the League, weakening them enough that the Citadel could force them to stand down. "Sure. And maybe asari will suddenly lose interest in sex."
Originally, Nihlus had been sent to Eden Prime to monitor the League's activity and estimate their threat to the Council. When they'd uncovered the beacon, Nihlus had sent a frantic message to the Council. He'd intended to sabotage or steal the beacon somehow, but the geth had arrived before he could put his plan into action.
Right now, Nihlus was keeping a close eye on the prothean beacon that the geth had moved to the star port. He couldn't possibly hope to take down the score of geth combat platforms in the area, but he could at least hope to find out what they were doing with it. For now, the geth were just standing around as one of their dropships shrieked in from on high. Nihlus watch as the geth all turned and knelt to the ship. That was strange, why would they do that?
More geth walked off, forming a corridor of troopers, almost like a bodyguard as their electronic warbles they used to communicate filled their air in a song-like cacophony. Then Nihlus' blood ran cold. Out of the shuttle stepped a turian, his metal skin glinting in the dim, smoke-filled light.
"Saren," Nihlus growled.
Saren Arterius had once been a Spectre like Nihlus. He'd served the Council well and faithfully for decades, until something had gone wrong. For whatever reason, Saren had decided to attempt to spark a war between the Citadel and the League. His hatred of the League had been well known, Saren had been a POW during the League/Turian Conflict of 2157. Somehow, that had translated to Saren actively working with the Reapers to destroy the League. He was considered the greatest traitor to the turian people to have ever lived.
Swearing softly, Nihlus' finger twitched toward the trigger. He had Saren in his sights, but he couldn't take the shot without revealing himself. Saren had been thought dead, killed by Flavus Vakarian six years ago when he'd chased Saren down on Omega station. They'd never found the body though, and privately Nihlus had always figured that Saren had slipped away, even if they had found a pool of his blood large enough to kill any normal turian.
Saren stepped up to the prothean beacon and the construct glowed with sudden life. Saren was lifted into the air for a few moments, then set back down. What was going on? What was the traitor doing? Nihlus leaned closer, coming closer to the ledge he was spying from. His motion disturbed a small rock, causing it to fall in a puff of dirt. Nihlus pressed back down, praying to the spirits no one had noticed.
Saren turned, glaring up at where the rock had fallen. Then he extended a talon and pointed right at Nihlus. The geth turned as one and began to advance, firing as they came. Nihlus scrambled away, wincing as his shields drained and a shot grazed his shoulder. This day just kept getting better and better.
Prothean Digsite, Eden Prime - John Shepard
March 15th, 2183
"Sir, we've got movement up ahead," Prazza'Mal called over the radio.
"Geth?" John asked, holding up a fist to halt his column.
"Yes sir, but they're chasing someone. A turian."
"We've had reports of a turian sneaking around the colony," Kal'Reegar whispered from John's side. "Nothing confirmed, every time we sent out patrols we came up empty."
Thinking quickly, John made a snap decision. "If the geth are chasing him, I want that turian alive. If possible."
"On it sir!" Mal responded, and the sound of his Valkyrie assault rifle echoed through the valley.
"Dammit marine wait for backup!" John swore, motioning his team forward.
"Sir, there's only a few geth, I should be... Sweet Ancestors, that's a big one." John heard an explosion, and Mal's link went dead.
"Valk, Kaiden! Get to Mal now!" John snapped, storming up the hill with Reegar and Williams hot on his heels.
"He's down sir, and the geth have got us pinned," Kaidan answered. "They hit that turian too, looks like he's bleeding out."
John caught sight of the geth, who were pouring fire at the rock Kaidan and Valk were sheltering behind. The lead geth was enormous, standing over 2 meters tall and wielding a massive rocket launcher that was rapidly reducing John's soldiers shelter to rumble.
"Jekhans, charge my target on my mark. Mark!"
John and the krogan biotic leapt forward, using their biotics to propel them at near light speed. They slammed into the lead geth almost simultaneously, causing it's armor to crumple as the massive construct was thrown away. Rounds scattered off John's shields, but he and Jekhans stood their ground and fired at the remaining geth. John's shotgun punched holes in the geths' barriers, and Jekhans' grenades blew them to smithereens. More geth tried to flank the two marines, but Ashley lead the others against them, driving the geth assault back, at least temporarily.
"Check on Mal," John ordered, hurrying over to where the turian lay. "Who are you? Why are you here?
"Saren," the turian coughed, his eyes starting to film over with pain. "Saren... geth... the beacon..."
"Hold on, I've got dextro medigel, I'm administering it now."
John injected the medigel, and the turian closed his eyes, laying back down in the dirt. He seemed to have stabilized, but that might change.
"Shit," John growled softly, then activated his comm. "Massani, Veskar, get over here."
The two retired ncos hurried over. John nodded to the body. "Is this who I think it is?"
"Goddamn it," Zaeed spat. "if you think that's Spectre Nihlus, then yes."
Veskar knelt, gently searching Nihlus. "What's Nihlus doing here? Why would the head of the Citadel's anti-Reaper task force be on Eden Prime?"
"He said something about Saren and the geth," John whispered, his eyes up and watching for enemies.
Grimacing, Zaeed glanced up at the geth dropships visible in the distance. "It means that this situation is a hell of alot worse than it looks. And it looks goddamn awful."
"That's what I thought. I'm going to have to get hold of Vakarian," John muttered.
Zaeed nodded. "Falvus' kid?"
"The same. I worked with him a couple times out in the Kites Nest, taking care of pockets of Indoctrinated batarians. If Saren's alive... Well, he's going to want to know. That, and perhaps we can finally convince people who the real threat is."
"Good luck with that Commander," Veskar muttered. She stood and shook her head. "Wasn't carrying any intel I can see. Still, I swiped his omnitool, but don't expect to get anything off it. Nihlus is a pro. If any of us survive this, I wouldn't bet on getting much intel from his interrogation."
"Then it's time to move on," John motioned the team forward, and they made their way over the hill to the spaceport. There were quite a few active geth, and the beacon sat right at their center. John surveyed the area and came to a quick decision. The geth were obviously mustering for another assault on his team. If he gave them time to launch it, the two squads would be overwhelmed. Mal was down, dead from his reckless engagement. If John waited, he was going to have a lot more dead marines.
"Williams, take Veskar, Valk, Reegar and the two batarians you came with. You're providing covering fire. Alenko, Massani, bring the Spectre with us. He might be the key to this whole mess. Jekhans, you're with me. We're hitting them hard and fast. Jekhan's and I will close with biotics and try and secure control of the beacon. Go."
The teams split, and moments later John rushed headlong down the hill, sprinting for an overturned crate at the base while Williams and her squad opened up on the geth. Veskar proved to be worthy of the title of deadliest shot in League space by using her massive Black Widow rifle to drop two of the larger geth within moments. The other geth were forced into cover by the team's sustained fire, and only a few shots splattered of John's squads shields before they reached the crate. Waiting a few seconds for his barriers to recharge, John lobbed a grenade over the crate, aiming for a cluster of geth.
"Try not to damage the beacon!" he shouted, then vaulted over the crate and used his biotics to launch him into a knot of geth. John's initial charge stunned the geth, and the burst of biotic power from his landing laced them with biotic charges. John then collapsed his biotic barrier, drawing the energy in then causing it to radiate in a sphere of force from his body. The geth went tumbling away, their barriers drained by the radiant energies. The rest of the team picked off the geth before they could rise, and again John hurled himself forward.
This time he crashed into one of the larger geth, which managed to stay on its feet. John stabbed forward with his shotgun, which had a mono-molecular silicon bayonet attachment. It easily pierced the geth's armor, and as he drew his weapon back John fired, denting the heavy armor. He jumped to the side as the geth brought its own massive weapon down where his head had been, using his biotics to warp the armor of the geth and make it more vulnerable to his attacks. The geth's head exploded, and the faint white trail of an anti-material round showed John that Veskar had just added another geth to her tally.
Spinning around, John checked for more hostiles. Nothing. He scanned the skies, but no transports were racing towards them. In fact, they were all leaving, speeding for the upper atmosphere. "It won't be that easy, check for traps!" John barked.
After just a quick sweep, the team found a bomb, an ancient turian design, probably from one of their stockpiles. "This isn't the only one, find them all. Check for pockets of radiation."
Two minutes later, the team reported six bombs disarmed. John breathed a sigh of relief, and touched his hand to his helmet to contact the Normandy. "Normandy, this is shore party. We've located the beacon and several survivors. I have one casualty that's going to need-" John's head snapped around. Williams had stepped forward to inspect the beacon, and it had somehow activated. She was trying to scramble away, but it was drawing her in somehow. Without hesitation, John sprang forward, shoving Valk out of the way. Grabbing Williams around her torso, John spun in place and threw her clear, then tried to jump out of the way. His feet slid, and he turned, trying to-
bodies
pain
torment
blood
beasts
fire
death
scream
darkness
stars
away
John's mind fled.
