Disclaimer - I don't own anything in here relating to Mass Effect, Bioware gets to claim that. I do own the the things that aren't mentioned in the game however.
A/N - This is my first Fan Fiction so please feel free to give me any hints.
I hung in mid-air, staring at the blue tiled floor below me as I listened to the sound of gunshots ring out far away. Was the human group under attack? I tried desperately to see what was happening, but I could barely see anything beyond my cell as the poor lighting of the cavern prevented me from seeing what was going on. The only lights in the complex were located in a small corner at the back, where the miners had been keeping their belongings. Much to my annoyance, the areas lit by the lights were outside my line of sight. If only I had asked the miners for more lights, maybe I would have been able to see what was happening. All fell silent in the cavern. Were the humans still alive? My heart sank; I hoped desperately that they were okay.
After a while I started wondering if I could trust the humans. How could I? I didn't even know their names or who had sent them here. Just as I was about to give up on them I heard the mining laser start up. Peering through the gloom, I could just make out the beam of the laser cutting away at the mine floor. Almost as soon as it had started, the laser was turned off and I was thrust again into the unforgiving darkness.
I wondered why it had started. I didn't think there was anything that it could be used for unless…no…I don't want to think about it.
I heard one of the small elevator's behind my cell start up on the floor below me. I hoped that it was the group of humans, not the krogan. As it juddered to a halt behind my cell I tried to look over my shoulder to see who it was without success. Then I heard footsteps behind me. Whoever it was they were walking very quietly. As they came closer I could see that it was the group of humans. How they had managed to access the elevator I had no idea.
I called out to them over my shoulder, "How…how did you get in here? I didn't think there was any way past the barrier!"
"We have to get you out of here before more geth arrive." The leader of the humans answered, ignoring my question completely.
"Yes, your right" I replied, feeling slightly annoyed that she hadn't responded to my query. "I've seen enough of them to last a lifetime. That button should shut down my containment field". The leader looked over at the console and was about to head over to it when the other female in the group said,
"Hold on, Commander. Her mother is working with Saren. Should we trust her?"
I was starting to get very angry now. I could tell by the warmth on my face that I was blushing profusely.
"I am not my mother! I don't even -- I don't know why Benezia joined Saren! I don't want anything to do with that turian bastard!" I replied angrily, spitting out the last word with distaste.
"If she was with Saren, the geth wouldn't be trying to kill her." The Commander told her companion calmly. The leader then walked over to the console and turned it on, then pressed a button on the holographic keyboard that appeared.
I immediately fell to the tiled ground, landing heavily. I greedily sucked in the cool, damp air in deep breaths as I picked myself up off the ground.
"Any idea how we get out of this place?" the male asked.
I walked over to them.
"There is an elevator back in the centre of the tower. At least, I, I think it's an elevator. It should take us out of here. Come on!" I told them.
The leader nodded to her group and they followed me without uttering a word as I led them past the smaller elevator they had used, and headed towards the main elevator that linked all of the cells together. As we stepped onto the elevator platform I broke the silence and spoke quietly to the commander.
"I, I still cannot believe all of this. Why would the geth come after me? Do you think that Benezia is involved?" I asked her, sadly.
The male replied for the Commander, "Saren's looking for the Conduit. You're a Prothean expert. He probably wants you to help find it"
I'd heard about the Conduit somewhere before but I couldn't quite remember what it was. I turned to the male and said,
"The Conduit? But I don't know --" I was interrupted by a sudden deep rumbling noise. I looked around, wondering where it had come from.
"What the hell was that?" the female shouted over the noise which had now engulfed the elevator, almost deafening us.
"These ruins are not stable." I yelled back, "That mining laser must have triggered a seismic event."
I shouted to the Commander, "We have to hurry. The whole place is caving in!"
I hurriedly activated the elevator and could barely hear it over the roar of the earthquake. The Commander yelled over her mike,
"Joker! Get the Normandy airborne and lock in on my signal. On the double mister!"
I wondered who this 'Joker' was and I decided that the 'Normandy' must have been the team's ship. However, I didn't get much time to ponder on this because I almost fell over, due to a tremor that vibrated through the earth and the entire complex. I only just managed to hear the reply to the leader's demand over the din,
"Aye Aye, Commander. Secure and aweigh, ETA eight minutes." a male voice said calmly.
"Not much room for error." The male commented dryly.
The elevator sped upwards. I thought about the events of the past few hours. My mind being distracted only by the tremors that were by now increasing in frequency, threatening to throw us off our feet.
When we made it to the top of the large, clammy elevator shaft I saw the krogan from the mine with some geth, walk out of a cell very similar to the one I was trapped in. when they had walked through, the barrier curtain activated, leaving us trapped inside with them. The Commander held out her hand to the side to tell us to stay put.
The krogan called out to the leader of the human group in a chilling tone,
"Surrender. Or don't…that would be more fun."
If I had thought that the human leader's voice sounded harsh back down in the mine, it was nothing compared to the harshness she used now, completely devoid of emotion.
"In case you didn't notice, this place is falling apart!"
"Exhilarating, isn't it?" replied the krogan in a mocking tone.
Although the Commander seemed surprised that the krogan seemed to not have any sense of self-preservation, it did not surprise me in the least. You could hire a krogan mercenary to do anything for the right price. Apparently someone had neglected to tell the Commander leader this.
Seeing the human's shocked reaction, the krogan decided to press on and continue with the conversation,
"Thanks for getting rid of those energy fields for us. Now, hand the doctor over."
I decided to help out the Commander, who still appeared to be shocked, and shouted at the krogan,
"Whatever it is you want, you're not getting it from me." I intended to sound brave and heroic but instead I ended up sounding insignificant and pathetic.
"She'll stay with us, thanks." The Commander said coolly, regaining her calm composure. I decided that the human must have no sense of self-preservation either, to talk to a krogan so boldly, as though she had put no thought whatsoever into what she was about to say.
"Not an option." The krogan told her, in a nasty voice, "Saren wants her. And he always gets what he wants."
The krogan then spoke to the geth behind him,
"Kill them. Spare the asari if you can. If not, it doesn't matter."
Immediately the geth opened fire on us, forcing us to dash for cover. I ran over to one of the crates near where I was standing and just knelt there, too frightened to use my biotics to help out the humans. I listened to the fight, not daring to come out from behind my crate for fear of the krogan taking me away to see Saren. Eventually the gunshots ended. I peeked out over my crate and saw that the geth were dead, every one of them. The krogan lay at the human leader's feet, dying slowly. Suddenly a tremor shook through the earth, on a much grander scale than the ones that came before it. We ran up to the barrier curtain and as we arrived the barrier disappeared, allowing us to escape the inevitable fate of the mine. We ran as fast as we could up the sloping platforms, not stopping for a breath of air. Suddenly the human leader stopped. She could see that I was falling behind. She called out to us,
"Move! Move! Move!"
She waved me past and then continued running. We could hear the krogan's roars of fury slowly fade as we moved further away from the elevator shaft. I was breathing heavily; I was not cut out for running quickly for long periods of time.
Finally, we made it outside the complex. I was glad to see that I was not the only one huffing and puffing. As the Commander came down the sloping gangway, a shaft of smoke shot out, and we heard some boulders crash around the inside of the complex. It seemed that we had made it out just in time. After we had recovered I spoke to the Commander.
"Please. What is your name?"
"My name is Amilee Shepard. Commander of the SSV Normandy and Agent under the Special Tactics and Reconnaissance branch of the Citadel."
So, this was the first human Spectre everybody was going on about. This was the 29 year old human who uncovered that Saren Arterius was a rogue Spectre. I just stood there, shocked that the first human Spectre was a mere 29 years old. I had expected someone a little older, in their mid 30's at least. I looked towards the Commander in a new light, with much admiration and respect. She opened her mouth as if to say something to me but was interrupted by a voice over her earpiece.
"Hey, Commander. Going to come on board sooner or later?" enquired the voice teasingly.
"Yes, Joker." She sighed. "Coming with us, Doctor?" The commander said to me over her shoulder as she walked towards her ship. I shrugged as I followed her past the lava pools towards the Normandy.
Please Review! I hope you enjoyed chapter 2 of 'A New Beginning'!
