Interloper: Chapter 2

The Geth at the dig-site were brushed aside with little resistance, as were the husks. Shepard seemed to be in a hurry, not even checking the buildings of the research camp.

"What the hell is that?" Ashley yelled. In the distance the roiling epicenter of the crimson storm cloud that covered the sky cleared to reveal the massive form of sovereign, the steady buzzing that had been building in my head since we passed the dig site became so fierce I had to blink back tears.

"Whatever it is, it came from the by the spaceport." Kaidan said.

"Nihlus, come in Nihlus!" Shepard was yelling over the sound of the departing dreadnaught. "Something's very wrong here."

I couldn't help but agree. The spaceport looked utterly deserted, not even Geth moved about. As we approached, the situation looked grimmer. The small building that had hidden the farmers was blown open, the smuggler, Powell, was draped over the crates he had hidden behind. And sprawled out on the flaw…

"Nihlus!" Jenkins ran up to the broken Turian. The rest of the squad spread out and secured the landing strip. I hung back, expecting an ambush, or an attack. "He's dead." came the anguished confirmation. The sound of hurt caught me by surprise. The one conversation Shepard had with him in the game really didn't show just how strong his adoration of the Spectres was.

"Commander, the beacon was moved to the other side of the spaceport, there should be a tram around here." I spoke up. I was imagining a ticking timer on the bombs Saren must have just planted.

"Alenko, Williams, find and secure the tram. Liddle, Jenkins…" a burst of gunfire came from by the trams. We ran over, finding Ashley and Kaidan ducked behind a support. The massive form of a Geth Destroyer stood astride the tram, hosing down the station with fire. Our arrival distracted the platform long enough for Kaidan to toss it off the tram line with his biotics.

"Alright, everyone hold on." Shepard ordered, running a hand over the tram's control board. There was the brief orange glow of an omni-tool and the car shot off like a rocket.

The far station was a mess. The Geth had torn the place up pretty badly on their way out.

"Is that a bomb?" Ashley asked, pointing to a cylindrical object covered in Geth tubules. The object beeped, a display obviously ticking down.

"Spread out, this can't be the only one. Disable them, fast!" Since I didn't have any way to shut down a colony destroying bomb without being in danger of setting it off, I followed Jenkins down to where the beacon was being held.

Still in one piece. I was relieved.

"No bombs here." Jenkins confirmed, looking up at the beacon. "Is it supposed to do that?" the beacon was glowing green.

"It wasn't doing that when they brought it in." I said, filling in the appropriate dialogue. I could get used to being an NPC I suppose. I was about to warn him not to get to close when the beacon flared. Jenkins was being drawn towards it. In a panic, I looked back to where Shepard was still disarming one of the bombs. This was the part where she was supposed to rescue one of the crewmen. I waved and yelled, trying to gain her attention, but she was focused on the task of disarming the warhead. I looked back to Jenkins. He had almost reached the beacon.

Here goes nothing. I thought. I threw myself into the struggling corporal for the second time that day. I managed to throw him aside, but it was too late to tear myself free. I was lifted into the air. The buzzing drowned out everything, as if angry hornets had been released inside my head. Then the visions started. They were so much worse than the game could have prepared me for. Dully, I heard yelling below me. I didn't feel the beacon explode.


The world returned slowly. It started out as a hazy set of colours, but eventually sharpened until I was staring blankly at a metallic ceiling.

"Dr. Chakwas, I think he's waking up." A grey-haired, older woman stood over me. She ran a pulsing orange light over my eyes.

"Michael? Michael, can you here my voice?" her tone was gentle yet professional. I tried to respond, but my voice caught in my throat. I simply nodded instead. My neck was pretty stiff too. "Well Mr. Liddle, you seem remarkably healthy for someone who's just been through what you've experienced. Whatever that beacon did to you wasn't meant to happen to a Human brain."

"How long?" I managed to croak.

"A whole week, I'm afraid. Someone with the standard augmentations I might have been able to bring around in a day, but medical scans revealed you didn't even have your standard colonial immunizations. I also recorded some immense peaks in beta wave activity, usually seen in those experiencing intense dreams."

A whole week? Shepard was only out for 26 hours. I'm lucky to be alive.

"I saw, I don't know what I saw." I said honestly. While in theory I had just seen the Prothean extinction at the hand of the Reapers, in actuality the entire vision was a jumble of images, emotions, and sounds. Another figure walked up on the other side of me.

"So you're really gonna make it?" Jenkins asked. From what I could see, the young corporal's face was etched in concern.

"Yes, yes." Dr. Chakwas replied, "Mr. Jenkins here has barely left my sickbay since they dragged you on board."

"I wasn't left on the colony?" I asked. Of course Shepard was brought on board in the game, but she was Alliance military, as far as this crew was concerned, I was just some colonist.

"The Normandy was bar-none the best care facility on that planet." The doctor said with a touch of pride, "and besides, the Commander decided, ah, there you are Shepard, I was just about to call you down."

"I take it our patient is awake?" Shepard asked. I looked up at her and caught a glint of concern. It was a stark difference with the stern, commanding presence she had held on the ground.

"Present." I croaked again. My voice was a lot more confident this time. Dr. Chakwas placed a small cup of something on the tray by the bed. I downed the whole thing in one gulp. The liquid cooled my parched mouth and throat, and the ache in my head subsided.

"Liddle, this is Captain Anderson, my CO." A familiar face moved into view.

"That's a hell of a thing you did, soldier. There are marines who wouldn't have pulled such a stunt."

"Thank you?" I said hesitantly. The captain nodded, which I took as a sign that he had paid me a compliment. "Eden Prime?" I asked, trying o sound as concerned as possible.

"I'm afraid it's a bit of a mess right now. The colony got hit pretty hard. The hall of records is just gone, we can't even begin to account for the missing yet.

How convenient I thought

"Listen, we need to know what you saw in that beacon." The captain's voice was firm, resolute. He fixed me with a strong stare.

"Captain, the boy needs rest after what his body's just gone through." Dr. Chakwas began to object.

"No, it's all right." I said, "I saw, at least I think I saw the Protheans. They had some kind of war. There were machines." I tried to remember what the visions had shown me. The images were so blurry, I wasn't even sure if they matched up with what I remembered from the game.

"These machines, did they have a name?"

"I think the Protheans called them… Reapers." The atmosphere grew cold.

"That proves it then, that's why Saren wants this Conduit, to bring back the Reapers." This caught me off guard. If they already knew about the Conduit.

"Who's Saren? What Conduit?" I asked.

Commander Shepard looked to her CO, who gave her the go ahead. "While you've been out, we've been docked at the Citadel. There's been an investigation going on about the Eden Prime attack. A quarian came forward with evidence that a Spectre named Saren lead the Geth in their attack, and that he was searching for something he called the Conduit. What you saw confirms that the Reapers are involved somehow."

"Shepard's been assigned by the Council to go after Saren." Anderson said. "I need you to brief the team, any information you gained from the beacon could be critical."

I nodded slowly, sitting up. I had apparently been fitted for an alliance uniform since being brought aboard.

"I think I can manage." That caught me a stern look from the doctor, but the captain's presence seemed to stay her hand. I got shakily to my feet. A week in bed hadn't done wonders, but everything seemed to work. "Lead on."


The team filed into the ship's small comm. room. I recognized Tali and Garrus, who must have been the C-sec officer the quarian had approached, as well as Wrex, which meant that the altercation at Chora's Den must have happened. Alenko and Williams both took seats across from me, which meant they must be along for the ride too. I didn't see Jenkins anywhere, but he was just a grunt after all. Finally, Shepard and Anderson entered the room. Shepard called the room to attention, and introduced me.

"This is Michael Liddle, of the Eden Prime Militia. He was the one who interacted with the Prothean beacon." All eyes fell on me. Wrex gave a derisive grunt. I stood slowly. "Michael, this is Tali'Zorah, who brought the evidence against Saren, and Detective Vakarian, her C-Sec contact."

"Former C-Sec contact." Garrus corrected, raising a clawed finger.

"Right, you've meet Lieutenant Alenko and Gunnery Chief Williams of course." The two Alliance soldiers nodded respectfully. "And this is Urdnot Wrex, a mercenary; we've acquired his services for the duration." Wrex didn't seem overly interested in the proceedings.

"Let's lay out everything we know." Anderson took center floor. "Saren Arterius has gone rogue, and has attacked the colony of Eden Prime. He has somehow gained the support of the Geth, and a major Asari Matriarch. He is searching for something called the 'Conduit.' What else do we know?"

"Well, we have at least a partial copy of whatever he gained from the Eden Prime beacon." Kaidan said, looking at me.

"I don't know if he got any more than I did," I began, "all I know is that I saw a war, and if that's what Saren wants to bring back, we have to stop him."

"Okay people, give me options." Commander Shepard said, steepling her fingers. She seemed a lot more out of her depth than she had in the game.

"We know he's working with the Geth," Kaidan noted, "We should be monitoring Alliance intel on any Geth incursions." Anderson nodded.

"We've been monitoring a lot of Geth interest in the Horse Head Nebula and the Attican Beta, especially our colonies of Feros and Noveria."

"Didn't the quarian's data implicate a Matriarch Benezia? I believe she has a daughter involved with Prothean archaeology. Could be a possible lead." Garrus said.

"'The Quarian' has a name." Tali haughtily interjected.

"He's right though, this daughter might be able to tell us what an Asari Matriarch is doing signing on with a rogue Spectre. I want to make this our first priority." Shepard said.

"It's your mission, Shepard, you're outside the usual chain of command now. Admiral Hackett will be keeping you informed of anything that comes up on our end."

"Thank you, Captain." Shepard saluted the older man smartly. Anderson returned the salute and left through the double doors. "Now, we have to deal with you, Liddle."

Well that wasn't ominous at all.

"I'm not going to lie, I think you can be an asset. The images in your head are our best lead right now as to what Saren knows, and what he is trying to do. The problem is, Alliance regs don't allow for the impression of civilians."

"Commander, what about the Green to Blue Program?" Ashley asked, "With his militia background and some extra on-site training, there's a good chance we can transfer him straight into the crew."

"I don't think that would work. With the total data blackout from Eden Prime, the paperwork wouldn't even get off the ground." Kaidan said. The conversation seemed to flow around me, with options ranging from simply taking me and not telling anybody, to leaving me on the Citadel with a cheap apartment and an FTL radio. Finally, Garrus spoke up again.

"Commander, why not simply deputize him?" the room looked at the Turian. "Surely someone briefed you on your new powers as a Council Spectre. You have the authority to deputize assets in the pursuit of your mission, forcefully, if necessary." Commander Shepard seemed to consider this for a second.

"Michael Liddle, I officially name you my deputy, you will follow my commands and the commands of Alliance officers on this ship. Is that clear?" Here it was, the chance to join the famous Commander Shepard in her quest to save the galaxy.

"Clear, Commander." I said.

"Good, now report back to the Medbay, it looks like you're about to collapse." I gratefully made my way back towards the dim infirmary.