Some things.

Yes, down the road Tyler will be romancing Shepard. Eventually. And yes, he'll try to change things. Of course, who knows if he'll be able to? Also, feel free to blare R.E.M.'s song of a similar name when reading this for added stimulation (if that yo thang!).

Disclaimer: I don't own Mass Effect.


Chapter 2

The End Of The World As I Know It


"We're the only survivors that we know of," Dr. Mariel explains sadly, looking down at her feet. "We can only hope others have made it to safety as well."

"Really? That's terrible," I respond, honestly appalled.

Insisting I do indeed have amnesia, the doctor and another person hiding in the clearing with us, Alexa, have been trying to fill me in on the situation, apparently believing that will have to do for now.

Both of them have professed that they've known me for most of my life. Years ago, I even attended the same preschool as Alexa there, so they claim. Except that I'm fairly sure that isn't right, because I've never seen that girl in my life.

But I've still been listening to them with rapt attention, despite how incredibly unbelievable it all sounds. What makes it worse is that Dr. Mariel and Alexa don't seem like they're being untruthful in any way, which scares me more than I'd like to admit.

After my little freakout before I've made sure to keep a tight lid on my growing distress. The situation I'm in is certainly terrifying, and it's gotten even more so the longer Dr. Mariel and Alexa explain things, but going off the handle isn't going to do me any good. I just need to keep myself together so that I can figure out what's going on, and what happened to me after I passed out last night.

If I have to go along with things to do that, I will.

That's why I haven't countered any more of their outrageous comments, or their continued references to my "brother" Robby. And now that I'm being more open and cooperative, they've thrown a lot of information at me, mostly concerning "the attack."

It came out of nowhere, Alexa said. Evidently they'd just been going about their normal routine of things when it happened. The town was bombarded with little warning, utterly destroying it and killing anyone not lucky enough to have gotten away. Those gathered here in the clearing were the only survivors they knew about.

I had Robby to thank for saving my life, according to Dr. Mariel. As everyone was trying to escape all of the chaos and destruction, several people found my "brother" struggling to carry my unconscious dead weight near the edge of town, and brought the two of us along with them here. That's when I learned that I'm not even in the same city. Instead, I've been informed that we're just outside the town of Trankala, wherever that is. They told me it was a few clicks south of Constant when I still looked confused, but that of course doesn't help me considering I've never heard of it either.

All of this just makes everything that much more unsettling, really. Not only do I have no idea where I am or who I'm with, these people are also under attack. Damn it, how did I even end up here? I've never experienced something like this before. The possibility of all this just being a massive prank did cross my mind at one point, but that idea quickly lost its merit the more I heard from them...all of this is just too complex to be some sort of prank. Besides, nobody I know pranks anybody like this. It's too elaborate.

I almost wish they were lying though, I muse. Then, at least, I wouldn't be right in the middle of some sort of massacre.

"We'd all be dead if Grant hadn't saved us," Alexa admits quietly, subtly glancing over at the man.

"Grant's the only one here with any sort of combat experience," Dr. Mariel hurries to inform me, seeing my questioning gaze. "Well, except for you."

My eyebrows rise hearing this, "Me? I've n-"

A cry erupts from the other side of the clearing, interrupting me. Someone shouts for a doctor.

"Drats," Dr. Mariel murmurs grimly, turning to Alexa. "Can you stay with him, Alexa? I am needed over there."

Alexa nods, and Dr. Mariel bustles off.

"What's she doing?" I ask curiously.

Alexa sighs. "She's going to check over Mr. Silvak, the only other injured person besides you that we had time to take with us. He's not doing too well though."

"Oh," is all I can muster as I look after Dr. Mariel, seeing her leaning over a man laying on the ground. He isn't moving.

When my gaze returns to her, I find her watching me. She's fairly pretty, pale skin tone with shoulder length blond hair and blue eyes. Noticing I've caught her stare, she gives me an uncomfortable smile before glancing away. Hm, must be the whole supposed-amnesiac thing.

"So, who is attacking you?" I inquire, gaining her attention once again. She looks at me oddly, and I blink in realization. "Us, I mean. Who's attacking us?"

Alexa's mouth thins, looking decidedly unsure. "I-I don't know, actually. Everything...it just happened so fast. One minute I was eating lunch, and the next I was running for my life and the town was on fire. They're not human though, whatever they are..."

As she trails off, I almost laugh. Thankfully, I'm able to hold it in, but I still can't stop the doubt from reaching my face. I mean, really? Not human? She doesn't mean what I think she does, does she?

I clear my throat, wondering if I heard that wrong. "Are you...are you saying it was aliens that did this?"

And they think I'm the crazy one! This is messed up.

"Well, yeah, of course!" she adamantly tells me, her confidence surprising me. "Nobody else would do this to us! And I saw them...we all did. They were like robots or something!"

"I-...how-..." I'm just speechless. How do I respond to some girl saying she thinks aliens are invading? I don't know whether to laugh or cry, seeing as how I'm stuck in this clearing with her and these other people who believe it too.

"It's the geth," a voice butts in, its gruffness I recognize. I almost flinch as I turn around and find Grant standing behind me, weary of another smack or punch, but I manage to control that reflex.

"Huh?" I burst out when what he said sinks in, knowing I must have heard that wrong.

At the same time, Alexa looks just as confused. "The geth?" she repeats, disproving my I-must-have-heard-it-wrong theory. "But I thought they only existed beyond the Perseus Veil..."

"Yeah, well now they're here," Grant answers, his tone even. "And it's gotta be because of that damn beacon."

"Beacon?" I mouth as Alexa simultaneously voices it.

"Yes," the man barks, annoyed. "You know, that weird piece o' crap they found a month ago. There ain't no other reason those hunks of metal would come to little ol' Eden Prime, is there?"

As they're carrying on, I gape at them in stunned silence as each bomb drops. Geth? Beacon? Eden Prime? I am...I don't know. Flabbergasted. Yeah, I am flabbergasted.

"You have got to be kidding me!" I exclaim, my mind racing. Now it's official, this has to be some type of joke! I clearly recall all of this stuff from Mass Effect. I'd just played through both ME games twice in the last two months, after all!

Alexa and Grant are both taken aback at my outburst, judging by the way they're looking at me.

"What now, Banks?" Grant finally asks, sending me a withering glare.

Dr. Mariel wanders back over at that moment, her expression curious as she notices the tension.

"Is everything alright?" the doctor wonders, looking back and forth between us.

Grant scoffs. I don't respond, still trying to wrap my head around what they've been saying. My mind is trying valiantly to understand it all, but everything they've been talking about just isn't possible. I'm not seriously on Eden Prime from Mass Effect, am I?

I grunt, even thinking that is ridiculous. This has to be some kind of prank after all. Or maybe I'm dreaming? It just feels so...so real though.

"Tyler, what's wrong? Are you remembering something?" Mariel asks me, giving Grant a dirty look.

I shake my head, my breathing starting to increase.

No, this isn't a dream - it can't be. It's too clear, too real. Plus, if I needed further proof all I need to do is look down at the twinging cut on my arm. You can't feel pain in dreams they always say. Well, the cut is stinging, my cheek is bruised from being punched, and that first smack from Grant is also still a bit sore.

But if this isn't a dream, or a nightmare, then what is it? Are Grant, Alexa, and Dr. Mariel just messing with me by saying all this Mass Effect stuff? They're amazing actors if that's the case.

"Tyler?" she prompts again, stepping up to me and touching my arm.

I jump back from her, shaking my head vigorously.

"No," I mutter shakily, sitting down as my legs suddenly feel weak. "You don't understand. I don't have amnesia. M-Maybe I am crazy though...nothing is making sense!"

"Tyler, please, you've got to stay calm. I know it's hard, but getting worked up won't help anything."

I snort derisively, wiping my eyes as they begin welling up against my will.

"I can't be calm! You don't get it. I remember my life, there's nothing missing in my memories except for what happened after I passed out. I was drunk in my apartment, I remember that, on Earth! And then there was an earthquake! I blacked out after that, but then I woke up here. And now you're saying we're on Eden Prime, which is just a fictional place from a fucking video game! Maybe...I don't know, maybe I died in the real world or something! Or I'm in a coma..."

I let my words trail off, pondering these new developments in the strained silence that follows.

Is that it? There was all that shaking before I passed out, maybe I was killed or injured in that earthquake, and this is just a very elaborate coma dream? I've seen TV shows and movies where that kind of thing happens.

"And now he's just delusional," Grant bitingly comments, disgusted.

"Enough, Grant!" Dr. Mariel snaps. She returns her attention to me. "Tyler, I know for a fact you haven't ever been to Earth. You've been to Sol system while at Norton Academy, yes, but never to Earth itself. You told me so yourself just a couple of days ago."

My brow creases. No, I definitely didn't do that. And what's this about Norton Academy? I have no idea what or where that was, and I certainly never traveled anywhere with that name. Besides, I've also never spoken to the woman before waking up today. Why is she saying I had then?

"I'm not certain where these...these ideas of yours are coming from, Tyler, but you need to realize that here and now is the real world. We are on Eden Prime, you were born here. We are under attack at this very moment. I'm close friends with your mother and I've known you since before you could walk. I've patched you up plenty of times. Please, dear, trust me. Trust us."

My shoulders slump, hearing the pleading desperation behind her words. None of it is right, it can't be real, but she's just so passionate about what she's saying that I feel like I should remember what she's talking about. But I don't. No, I've lived on Earth my entire life. The only habitable planet. And if she knew my mother, well then she certainly wouldn't know me because I hadn't seen my mother since I was little.

I bow my head as I try to deal with my swirling thoughts, but it shoots up when I hear a younger male voice that I recognize belongs to Robby.

"Tye, you're my older brother. You've always been there for me," he says tremulously. "I know you don't remember that right now, but I'm here for you too. I am your brother, whether you want to believe it or not!"

"I..." I start, grimacing. "You can't be though...I don't remember you."

He looks at me fiercely, not giving in.

Dr. Mariel coughs softly. "Rob, why don't you tell your brother some things about himself and his life to see if that might jog his memory. There's a chance that could help."

My "brother" nods, taking a seat in front of me. Grant and Alexa have backed off and moved away by this point, but Dr. Mariel stays standing where she is as Robby begins.

"Er, well, you're 4 years older than me," he tells me a little uncertainly at first. As he gets into it, however, he becomes more confident. "We live here in Trankala. You sometimes help me with my homework from Kennedy Prep. That's where I go, and I'm - I was - just about to graduate. And you- well, you didn't go there, but when you graduated from Norton Academy, you came back to Eden Prime for awhile. That was awesome, but later you left again. To explore, you said. Last year you finally came back, to help us with the farm and everything. You told us you'd worked as a mercenary for awhile, and Mom and Dad weren't exactly happy about that. They were just glad you were safe and out of that business now though. And they...well, t-they're dead n-now...but-"

The kid lets out a sob, which soon turns into several more before he can go on. Dr. Mariel shushes him, consolingly rubbing the grieving boy's back. "There, there, Robert. That will do, thank you."

Mariel looks to me questioningly, and I just look back helplessly. Nothing has "jogged my memory" as she thought it might. The doctor's expression becomes grim as she gets the message.

She sighs, patting Robby's back. "We'll sort him out once we're all safe again, alright dear?"

Robby nods, quieting his anguish somewhat as I look on.

Grant suddenly comes running back over to us, his manner agitated. I know something is wrong right away, as does Dr. Mariel it seems, but before either of us can speak the armored man thrusts a pistol into my hands.

I grasp it reflexively, but with more than a little confusion. "What's this f-"

"No time!" he shouts, already moving away. "They've found us, one of the lookouts reported in. They'll be on us any minute and we need to make a stand if we want to have any hope of getting away. Just follow us and kill any geth you see!"

I blanch, staring down at the gun at my hand. I don't know how to use th-

My train of thought stops, my full attention now on the futuristic-looking pistol in my hands. Just like the ones in the Mass Effect games. But that isn't the only reason I'm caught off guard. No, what has really taken me for a loop is how right it feels in my hands. It's familiar. It feels like it's just an extension of my own hand, and the feeling is so intense I can't not notice it.

It's obvious that I've used this weapon before. A lot, if I'm as comfortable with it as I feel at the moment. My muscles twitch in anticipation of its use, like they know what's coming. The problem with all of this, however, is that I've only used a couple fire-arms in my lifetime. I went hunting once with my Dad, and I've been paintballing with friends a few times, but that is the extent of my experience with any sort of guns. And I've never felt like this when I did those things.

What the hell?

In the background, I can hear Dr. Mariel telling Grant that she doesn't think giving me a weapon is a good idea in my current state of mind, and Grant replying that they need every available gun against the geth, but I'm not really paying attention to them. I'm still caught up in my own twisting thoughts. I'm still trying to make sense of why I feel like I can use the pistol in my hand. I've never felt this way before...so why do I now? I don't even fully comprehend the fact that I'm being ushered out of the clearing and down a hill by Mariel and Robby until the gunfire starts.

Thrown out of my disturbed thoughts by the jarring cracks of weapons being fired, my gaze sweeps around the area, taking in every detail almost mechanically. I'm clearly very practiced at being aware of my surroundings too, I conclude in further confusion.

Dazed, I'm ducking down in a small trench with Mariel, two women, and three children while the rest of the group is sitting near the top of the hill, shooting their weapons over the top of it. Robby is up there too, I see. Whoever or whatever is attacking - the supposed geth - must be on the other side of the small hill. One of the men shooting suddenly falls back and blood splatters around him. I stare in horror at the guy's limp body as it slowly rolls back down the hillside toward us, eyes wide.

Somehow, this further snaps me out of my stupor and I shake myself. I need to help! These people are being killed.

Jumping up and ignoring Mariel's startled cry, pistol still grasped in my right hand, I hurriedly crawl up the mild slope and settle down next to Grant, who is laying down with his gun just peaking over the hilltop. Mirroring him, I poke my head up over the peak of the hill just enough to get a glimpse of what we're up against. Dropping my head back down, the blood in my veins turns to ice and a heavy weight forms in the bottom of my stomach as my mind reels at what I just saw.

Armored robots...geth! Just like Grant said! And a bunch of them. Moving toward us fast. We're going to be overwhelmed, I think desperately.

"Banks!" Grant barks over the sound of gunfire. "Don't just sit there, SHOOT!"

I push my utter disbelief and terror to the back of my mind and do as he says, realizing I can figure out what the hell is happening when I'm not being shot at by killer robots. Aiming my puny pistol against the army of geth (I can't believe I'm actually calling them that), I take one of them out with a solid shot straight to the head. I'm not sure how I did that so easily, but no complaints here. I shoot another one twice before it goes down.

I keep on taking out as many as I can, and I'm shockingly good at it, but they just don't stop. When one of them is destroyed, another takes its place. The geth are quickly gaining ground and it's only a matter of time before they'll inevitably be upon us. It's hopeless!

"Use your biotics!" Grant yells from his spot beside me, glowing blue as he lifts a group of the geth with just an arm gesture.

I choke in surprise. "B-biotics? What?"

I hear him growl as he fires his assault rifle several more times before turning to me.

"Yes, you imbecile! You don't remember? You're the only other person here with biotic implants!"

He returns to firing his weapon as I attempt to digest that bit of information. I'm a biotic now too? I'm on Eden Prime, geth were attacking, and I was a fucking biotic? I don't know what to think - has my Mass Effect game just completely swallowed me up or something?

Mind snapping back to the task at hand, I poke my head up again and look out at the rapidly approaching geth. Eyes narrowing, I try focusing on what I want to happen to the geth.

Come on! Throw, damn it! Throw!

Unfortunately, nothing happens, except for my head almost getting taken off by a volley of machine gun bullets. Shit.

"Fuck, Banks! Don't tell me you forgot how to use them!" Grant swears in frustration, coming to the correct conclusion.

I cut him a helpless look, which only appears to piss him off more.

"Son of a bitch! You've even got an L3 - it should be easy as cake!" he says angrily, turning away from me as he apparently gives up on me.

I shrug and go back to shooting as many of the robots as I can, pausing without a second thought to keep my pistol from overheating when I feel I need to. In between firing, I continue to try using the biotics I'm supposed to have in a number of different ways, but nothing seems to work.

Several minutes later, as the geth are getting dangerously close, Grant pulls his gun back and rolls away from the top of the hill.

"They're too close! RETREAT!" He bellows harshly at the few of us that haven't been picked off yet. Robby has survived, I'm oddly relieved to see for some reason. Maybe because I talked with him earlier.

We all back away, happy to be putting distance between us and them. Mariel and the others who stayed back join us as we all make a dash for the top of the next hill over.

It's as we are about to reach the peak of the far hill that it all goes to shit. The geth must have gotten over the hill top we'd previously been shooting from before we made it over the next one, because shots are suddenly being fired at us. And then out of the corner of my eye I see something big and blurry shooting directly toward me. I only have enough time to throw up my arms for protection before the rocket explodes into the dirt at my feet.

The next thing I know I'm flying through the air and screaming as I crash into the ground. Hard.

Blackness takes me, but then I'm suddenly aware again. I hear shouts and gunfire, and blearily notice movement and dark figures around me. The blurry figures are running away, I can tell, some are dragging others. I hear more screams, and thumping that sounds almost...robotic. Everything is out of focus though, my ears are ringing, and my head is pounding.

Time passes, but vague awareness gradually comes back to me. I realize I'm on the ground, and my mind furiously tries to figure out what just happened. Groaning at my disorientation, I try lifting myself up with difficulty. After fumbling momentarily, I manage to push myself up and stumble as I look around me, my senses finally returning to somewhat normal.

I see geth disappearing over the top of the far hill, leaving me alone. I hear echoing gun retorts off in the distance, but otherwise its quiet. I stand there weakly for a few seconds, before my attention is drawn to the cratered ground around me. Immediately, I pale at the gruesome sight. So many dead. And I should be too...how? How am I still alive, I wonder? That rocket landed right next to me, it should have ripped me apart like it did them. I see red-stained dirt, a lot of it, and blackened body parts all over the place.

Dropping to my knees, I want to throw up. All these people...they've been blown up! Like...like it's nothing!

I swallow roughly, watery eyes making my vision blurry again. None of them are recognizable, so I have no way of telling who's dead. Not that it would matter though, I muse, seeing as how I don't know any of them apart from those I'd met less than an hour ago.

Yet some of them did survive, I realize as the scene I briefly awoke to suddenly zaps to the front of my thoughts. The figures I was seeing, they were running and pulling anyone they could away. It was them, I sigh in relief. At least some of them got away. I find myself strangely hoping one of them is Robby. And Dr. Mariel and Alexa too.

But they left me. The thought irrationally rams through, and I can't help but feel a bit betrayed.

I mentally berate myself at that.

Come on, Tye, think about it. That rocket practically hit you and you were down for a good bit, they probably assumed you were dead. Seriously, who wouldn't have been dead after that? And it's not like they could take the time to check, otherwise they'd be dead too. Hell, the geth may have already caught up and killed them by now anyway!

Trying to brush away the dark turn my thoughts begin to take, I stand up and steady myself. I can't stay here, that's for sure. I have to keep moving, maybe I can catch up to the others and help them out. If they're still alive.

As I crawl up the hillside, my heartbeat starts increasing rapidly. Fuck. It occurs to me that I'm all alone now. Maybe Robby and the others are still alive somewhere on Eden Prime, but right now I'm on my own against all of these geth trying to kill anything and everything, with only a pistol and a knife to defend myself.

This gets me to pause. Did I really just think all of that, in complete and utter seriousness? I still can't believe what's going on. This is real, all of it! The geth, this place, Mass Effect. And it's life or death! Particularly more so the latter, if all the people that just got blown up right next to me is anything to go by. It's almost too much to handle. My adrenaline was already pumping before, but now it's kicked into overdrive as I try to control the rising hysteria within me.

I wearily climb over the hilltop and start down the other side once I confirm its clear. It seems I'm moving through some rolling fields, one sloping hill after another. Who knew Eden Prime had such hilly terrain? I hit the next uphill slope and make it about halfway up, when I hear the loud chattering of gunfire behind me. Whipping around, I cringe as bullets spray the dirt around me.

It's more geth! They're marching over the hill I just came from, a group of about a dozen. I'm not sure where they appeared from, as they weren't anywhere close when I was on that hill only a minute ago, but I have no time to find out as I'm forced to dive to the side of more shots fired in my direction.

Shit, this isn't good, there's no cover! And there's too many of them.

I scamper up the rest of the hill as fast as I can, reaching the top gratefully unscathed. As I lunge over the top, however, I'm hit by several bullets. The impact sends me crashing down the other side in shock. I tumble to a stop a fourth of the way down, and it takes me a moment to realize that I'm not actually in much pain. Scrambling up, I feel my back, but there's no holes or even blood.

Huh? But I know for a fact that I was shot, in multiple places.

My bewilderment is short-lived as I notice the thin blue layer covering my body, slowly fading. I blink in sudden understanding.

Was that...yeah, that was. Barrier!

Somehow I'd managed to create a biotic barrier! Instinctively, I guess, after hearing the gunshots. And because of that the bullets didn't connect all the way, that's why I'm not dead and holey right now. And, another revelation smacks me in the face, that must have been how I'd survived the rocket blast.

I look down at my body in awe, as if I've never seen it before. This is just...insane. All of this - it's unreal! How can this b-

More gunfire reminds me that the geth are still there, having by now moved up to the hilltop I just fell down. A spray of bullets connects and knocks me back a few feet, my barrier lighting up against the deadly projectiles. But it's weakening quickly under the rattle of bullets, I notice with a start.

Jumping into action, I pull up my pistol and fire a couple rounds at the group before sprinting up the next hill, trying my best to avoid being hit as much as possible. Still, a few inevitably get me, although thankfully I'm saved by my now shuddering barrier.

There's no hesitation as I dive down the other side when I reach the top, and it comes not a moment too soon. Just as I start rolling sporadically downhill I feel my biotic barrier fade away completely.

Whew.

That was too close. I reckon those geth probably won't be giving up so easily though. They'll be making their way up that hill in pursuit of me, which unfortunately means there's no time to stop and rest. I'm not sure where I'm going to go either, as I can't see any sign of the others nor do I have any idea of which way they might have gone from here, so I just start running. As fast as I can, in the opposite direction of the robots. Over the next hill, and the next, and the next.

The geth are pretty slow, so I figure it shouldn't be too hard to outrun them. As I run, my chaotic thoughts spiral on. This situation that I've been thrown into is psychotic. All of the crazy things I've learned in the last 60 minutes swirl around in my brain like a hurricane.

To start with the most recent game-changer, the geth are real. And they're attacking me. The pistol I'm holding is clearly not from the 21st century. I've been told that I'm on Eden Prime, which to my knowledge is just a fictional planet in a science fiction video game. Grant also mentioned the beacon that's been found here, which I know to be one of the Prothean beacons from the game, assuming Grant was talking about the same thing.

If none of that is enough, according to Mariel and all those people, I'm not the same person I remember myself to be. They claim I've never been to Earth for one thing. I apparently worked as a mercenary for some time as well. Of course, this was told to me by Robby, my "brother," so who knows if there's any truth to that. Although it would certainly explain my sudden proficiency with the pistol, I suppose.

Still...this is all just fantasy stuff from Mass Effect! It can't be real, can it? Except, I'm experiencing it right now. There's no getting around that.

Once again, I find myself considering the idea that maybe I have died, and this is heaven (although being attacked by robots certainly doesn't seem like something that would happen in heaven). Yeah, not likely. Okay, if not that, then maybe I'm in a coma for some reason. There was an accident or something, and I'm currently actually lying in some hospital somewhere being monitored by a machine.

Dark, but I can't exactly rule it out. And there are other possibilities. What if I've just snapped and gone completely insane? I don't feel insane, but I can't rule that out either. Or you know, while we're at it might as well toss the my-Mass-Effect-game-has-eaten-me theory in the ring too.

Hm. Fuck me.

Whatever the real explanation is, I have no means of confirming it one way or another. Have to say, I'm leaning more toward the coma scenario at the moment, since that seems to be the most realistic, given the choices. Well apart from the one that labels me as a crazy person foaming at the mouth. That one I don't like...and I'd really prefer it not being the one that's happening here, thank you very much.

Whatever is going on though, I've come to a decision. I've just got to go with it - I don't have a choice. Go with the flow and survive. That's what I'm doing.

Coming to that resolution helps to calm me a surprising amount, I soon find. All of that other stuff doesn't matter for the time being. I can't be worrying about everything, I need to just focus on surviving. Yes, be a survivor. Easy enough, right?

I file those musings away for later as I reach the apex of the next rolling hill, gasping for breath as I steady myself against a tree. I've been running for I don't know how long, but it feels like my lungs are going to burst. Glancing back over my shoulder, I peer behind me cautiously. I don't see geth anywhere, and I hope I managed to lose them, but I'm doubtful. Better to be safe than sorry, I decide as I turn forward again.

I begin moving again, this time at more of a jogging pace than an outright running-for-my-life speed like before. It's as I reach the bottom of that hill that I see him. Another human, wearing armor and carrying several guns. He's obviously a soldier of some sort.

I grin in relief at finding someone else, someone who looks capable enough to defend himself. That is, until I see him running straight out into the open, right downwind of a small group of patrolling robot drones. I'm positioned off to the side of where he's facing, and I can tell all the way from here that he's left himself wide open.

The scene leaps out in my mind as something familiar, something I've seen before and something I should recognize, but it's subtle enough that I don't pay that feeling any attention as I dart toward the oblivious soldier.

I'm running when I see the drones take notice of him, and the man lets out a war cry just as I finally make it to him - a split second after they fire. Unable to think of anything better to do in that instant, I don't stop and barrel right into his side, cutting off his cry as I tackle him to the ground and we tumble behind some natural cover.

I hiss as I feel the stinging on my shoulder, a bullet having grazed me. I'm lucky I wasn't hit anywhere else. Should have tried to put up another biotic barrier, I reprimand myself.

The other guy moans, and as we fumble around on the ground, I hear a shout and some gunfire. Then it stops. I finally manage to untangle myself from the man's legs when a shadow passes over me. Gaze shooting upward, I find a pistol in my face, barrel aiming between my eyes.

"Identify yourself," a female voice demands in a no-nonsense tone.

Squinting against the bright sunset behind the two figures, I put up my hands.

"Who are you?" she impatiently repeats when I don't immediately say anything. She didn't really given me much time to answer, sheesh.

"Tyler. Tyler Banks," I hastily reply this time.

The second soldier, clearly male, lowers his weapon. "Uh, Commander, I don't think he's a threat."

"You're right, Lieutenant," the woman says crisply, holstering her pistol. She steps past me as I drop my hands in relief and approaches the man I tackled, who is by now sitting up and rubbing his side. "Corporal Jenkins, didn't you learn anything at the Academy?"

I freeze. I know that name...

The man, Jenkins, shrinks away from the woman slightly. He brings a hand up to the back of his neck, rubbing it sheepishly. "Sorry, Commander. Guess I got a little too excited."

"Don't let it happen again," the Commander bites out, turning away from him. "Alenko!" she snaps. "Give the corporal some medi-gel."

By now, I have a pretty good idea about who these people are. I stare at them, my mouth dry.

"On it, Commander," the second man responds, glancing at me curiously as he moves to do just that.

I swallow when the woman turns back to me, and my heart skips a beat as I realize who I've just run into.