"Nihlus, Spectre Nihlus, can you hear me? Nihlus, NIHLUS!" The lieutenant grabs hold of the turian's shoulders and shakes the alien to accompany his shouts. "Nihlus! Nihlus, we need to know your condition! Wake up!" Shepard, Ashley, and Jenkins loom over the Spectre and Kaidan quietly. None of them know what to say, nor do they have the rationality to do so after so much in one day. Their experience on Eden Prime had been anything but easy-going thus far, and just because Nihlus was down didn't mean they could afford to get soft.
"Nihlus, wake up!" The lieutenant continues to shake the limp turian. "I can't tell where the bullet entered, it blew straight through him," he explains, looking to Shepard. The commander remains poker faced, his face void of emotion.
"He's most likely in a coma . . . if not already in the process of dying."
"You guys know him?" Ashley chirps in, getting Kaidan to shift his hazel eyes to her.
"Yeah, he's a spectre we dropped in with." The gunnery chief widens her eyes in mild surprise, her tone lightening.
"A spectre? Wow, the council really must've wanted that beacon. . . Apparently so did the geth." Her eyes drift from the unmoving turian to the headless synthetic she had killed. Milky white liquid leaks from its neck cavity onto the platform's metallic surface, giving her a wry smile.
"No," an extemporaneous voice rasps. Everyone stares down at the Spectre as his mandibles struggle to move. "Not the geth . . . tch . . . Sssssaren." The small party is astonished to hear the turian speak; together they converge around him.
"Whoa, Nihlus, relax . . . Save your strength, you need immediate medical treatment. The way I see it, you're lucky to be alive," Kaidan explains, hovering over the Spectre like a doctor to a patient. Shepard doesn't share his sympathy.
"No Lieutenant, let him speak. Nihlus, who's Saren? Is he who shot you?" Shepard takes a calm knee next to the turian. The commander is oblivious to Kaidan's glare of disapproval. For an instant, Kaidan thinks about objecting Shepard's order, but elects to respect his superior officer instead.
"Saren Arterius . . .," the turian's dark eye lids flutter open as the name rolls off his tongue. "He's a spectre from the Citadel, just like me, turian. He was here when I arrived and convinced me to lower my guard . . . That's when the dock worker sprang out . . ." Shepard furrows his brow.
"Dock worker?"
"The dead human . . . He interfered with the bullet's path, but . . ."
"At such close range it went through both of you," Kaidan concludes, causing Ashley to nod.
"My thoughts exactly," she agrees. Nihlus turns his crested head to spit blue phlegm.
"The fool died pointlessly in a wasted attempt to save me . . . tch . . . Damn fool. People should learn not to play hero in matters that don't concern them."
The commander was uninterested about the dock worker's heroism. He was dead-set on the mission and nothing more."What about Saren," he demands, prodding the Spectre's shoulder. "Why did he do it? Why shoot you?"
"The bastard wants the beacon, Shepard." The turian's tone rises as feeble talons grip Shepard's black wrist bracers. Nihlus squeezes with what strength remains in his hand, his eyes locking with Shepard's. "You can't let him get away with it . . . tch . . . Forget me and go stop that son of a bitch."
Shepard gives him a stiff nod and stands tall, the rest of the squad watching tensely. "You heard him, our mission is in jeopardy," Shepard proclaims, receiving a look of disbelief from Kaidan. The commander ignores the lieutenant, his gaze dropping back to the turian. "Nihlus, which way did he go?"
"Take the transit," he moans.
Kaidan clashes with his morals of authority and rank. Your superior has just given an order, now keep your mouth shut and follow it. Yet morality pulled against him. Or speak your mind . . "Commander, we're not just going to leave him here, are we?" Shepard gives him a blank look, hinting nothing. The next words are grateful music to the lieutenant's ears.
"No, Corporal!" The youngest among them snaps to a clumsy attention at the sound of his leader's voice. "Stay and guard Spectre Nihlus. Apply some medigel to his wounds and do not leave his side. Lieutenant, I want you to call in an evac shuttle for them. After that, you, Williams, and I are moving out."
Kaidan can't keep the tiny smile from his face as he lights up his omni-tool to complete the task given to him. Ashley patrols the perimeter with Shepard while the Corporal clumsily treats Nihlus. Jenkins' shaking hands get the job done adequately, Kaidan talking him through the process after the completion of his message to the Normandy. Ashley and Shepard return right on cue.
"We're ready to move out, Commander," Kaidan confirms, earning another stiff nod.
"Good. Corporal, be on your guard. Lieutenant, Chief, let's move out."
The docking platform's steel paneling drinks the sun's radiant heat vigorously. The rays bounce off the metal onto their sizzling armor, intensifying their body's sweat production. Together the trio moves in a triangle formation through the jungle of crates, Jenkins and Nihlus already out of view. It's Kaidan who has the point/lead of the triangle, his attention focused on the large transit twenty yards ahead. Right as his jaw moves to speak, he bites down hard on his tongue from the impact of a geth's trooper's shoulder. The charging impact knocks the lieutenant from his feet to his back with a grunt, his gun sailing away. He recovers to find the synthetic's weapon in his face, the barrel of the gun close to kissing him, but only for a moment. A storm of bullets save Kaidan from death in a spray of white geth blood. In the seconds it takes Kaidan to wipe off his helmet's visor, Ashley is standing over him offering a hand. He takes her hand and rises to his feet with a weak smile.
"You should watch yourself; I might not be here to always watch your back," she says, giving him a wry smile in return. She then hands him her sidearm to replace the one he lost.
"Thanks for the save, I'll uh, be more careful."
"Good idea Lieutenant, now let's catch up to that headstrong commander of yours." The female soldier tilts her head at the man who's already pacing down the steps to the transit station.
Kaidan nods in agreement. The duo of Alliance officers then break into a jog after Shepard. They come to a halt at the top of the stairs when they realize the commander is heavily engaged with a slew of geth.
Below them aboard the lengthy transit, are at least a dozen geth gleaming in the sunlight. Each synthetic focusing its gunfire completely on Shepard, the rounds dancing around the prone commander wildly. Kaidan instantly rushes for the stairs, only to be stopped by Ashley's free hand. He gives her a sharp look of confusion before she produces a grenade from her utility belt. Taking proper steps to ensure a good throw, she lobs the explosive at the transit. Together they watch as it falls down and bounces, perfectly landing midway between the transit and detonating.
The geth don't know what hit them.
The fiery-plasmic explosion tears through shields, geth, and transit, spitting hundreds of geth parts in every direction. The remaining geth slow their rate of fire to stare at the grenade's lasting effect on the broken transit. They hardly react to Shepard, Kaidan, and Ashley racing onto the transit's far end. The first geth is caught unaware and blown to bits by Shepard's shotgun before Kaidan compliments her on the throw.
"Nice throw, Ashley!"
"I learned from the best," Ashley shouts back, another geth dropping from a burst of her assault rifle. Reaching the gap on the transit left from the grenade, the trio simply jumps across, their shields absorbing any contact from geth gunfire. The couple of geth still standing manage to force Kaidan into cover before biotically flying off the transit. Shepard hides any joy from the biotic push, and proceeds to activate the transit's terminal. His companions are surprised as the train lurches underfoot, its speed increasing tenfold in a matter of seconds. If not for their helmets, their faces and would flap in the wind because of the transit's velocity. The wind's ferocity was enough to make all three Alliance soldiers hold onto something for extra security. All of them feel a wave of the relief when the transit screeches to a stop. Once they reach the upper level of the transit station however, their danger resumes with the sight of an armed explosive charge.
"SHEPARD! They're arming charges! We have to defuse them before they go off," Kaidan yells, his feet already propelling him across the stone bridge. He makes it halfway when the geth start shooting, the rounds showering the Lieutenant as he sprints. Kaidan's shields take round after round as he grits his teeth and grunts, finally diving into safety next to the charge. Encountering the swarm of enemies, Shepard and Ashley take their time crossing the bridge while Kaidan disarms the boxlike explosive.
"Are you alright over there?!" Ashley's voice cuts through the resilient shooting.
"Yeah, I'm alright! We need to defuse these bombs or the whole station's going to blow," he shouts back, his digits frantically working to overload the explosive's systems. After five fat drops of sweat lick his temple, he succeeds and gasps in relief. "I got it!" That's when his omni-tool beeps in alarm, drawing his eyes to the orange blare. "Oh shit," he whispers, "THERE'S TWO MORE!"
Hearing Kaidan, Ashley and Shepard exchange a look and push across the bridge. Like Kaidan, they rely on their shields to get them to the other side, each of them shaken from the bullets' numbing bites. Plopping down near Kaidan, who's now moving forward along the crates, both soldiers find themselves panting for breath.
"We . . . need to speed this up," Shepard huffs, his hands dexterously reloading his handgun. Ashley does the same with her Avenger assault rifle and nods stoutly. Kaidan flings a geth over the ledge with biotics when Shepard stands to join the fray, his pistol shots crumpling a geth trooper. "Push forward now! We have to stop those bombs!"
His allies get the message, each unleashing hell upon the geth.
In a minute's time, the trio had moved efficiently along the stone loft. Two dozen geth lay dead in their wake as Kaidan squats beside another charge, his fingers working madly. Shepard and Ashley give everything they can to keep the firefight away from the staff lieutenant. After what feels like ages, Kaidan bolts back to his feet with gun in hand.
"Go, go, go," he exclaims, waving a hand forward at the geth. Shepard obliges by throwing geth left and right with biotics, their synthetic shrieks echoing off the station's stone walls. The commander's companions follow up the assault by rushing past him with guns blazing. The geth hurry to resist the horde of bullets but fail miserably, each cyclops-machine crumbling after the last. "The last charge is just up ahead! I'm picking it up on my scanners!"
That solidifies the squad's swift pace.
Shepard shatters a flashlight-head with deft aim; Ashley mows down a pair fifteen yards ahead, while Kaidan slides into cover next to the final charge resting against the wall. This time experience with the other charges pays off as the lieutenant disarms the last detected bomb within seconds. Sighing he rolls onto his back, the goose bumps, uncertainty, worry, and adrenaline fading from his exhausted body.
"Is that all of them?" Ashley demands, the sights of her rifle still aimed down the walkway despite the lack of living geth. Kaidan removes his helmet and nods, sweat leaking from his black hair in rivers. The commander for once, appears satisfied as he strides ahead, cautiously aware of the set of stairs he's approaching. When he freezes like a statue, Ashley can't resist the urge to question him. "Commander, what is it? What do you see?" He looks her way with glinting blue eyes.
"The beacon, let's hurry up and get down there for retrieval." Ashley exchanges a look with Kaidan, her feet then carrying her towards the star-struck commander. It's when she reaches him with Kaidan close behind that Shepard starts his descent.
Miraculously undamaged by the geth invasion, the Prothean artifact stands tall and proud, its shape ignited by a bright-green aura. Its magnificence goes unrivaled with Eden Prime's scenery beyond, the archaeological find itself mainly catching the eye. The trio reaches the artifact's area with smiles, even Shepard containing a grin on his face. The florescent green power of the beacon glows on their faces when they force their legs to stop moving five yards away. Shepard swivels away proudly, raising a hand to his comm link.
"Normandy, this is Commander Shepard; we've secured the beacon," he says, leaving Kaidan and Ashley to gawk at the device. Both soldiers approach in enthusiasm.
"This is AMAZING," Kaidan exclaims, his voice lighting up for the first time on the mission. "Actual, working, Prothean, technology, unbelievable!"
"It wasn't doing anything like that when they dug it up," Ashley confesses, her expression wary. Kaidan shuffles away as she takes a step closer in awe. "Something must have activated it."
"Roger Normandy, standing by," Shepard concludes the comm chat and spins to find his lieutenant. Both men disregard Ashley's further approach, her eyes narrowing at the beacon's strength. Suddenly, the artifact implodes with green, a new aura highlighting the female soldier and dragging her closer. Struggling to keep her balance, her heart races at light speed as she fights to speak but can't. Shepard realizes the gunnery chief's peril earlier than Kaidan, breaking into a sprint towards her. He leaps, wraps his arms around her waist, and throws her to safety, the beacon easily replacing her with him.
Just like Ashley, he has to battle for his balance as flashes of green, red, and purple hue smash about in his head. The beacon seems to be absorbing him. To make matters worse, it was painful.
The commander curses under his breath, twists this way and that, but can't squirm free of the beacon's draining force. His lungs lock, his breathing shallows, his heartbeat spikes, his wits abandon him and soon he's left with nothing but the brutal will to survive. Like an animal he resists the beacon's vehement attack, images of fire, death, destruction, and machine searing their way into his head. He wants to scream as his head feels ready to burst and split, but finds himself unable. The artifact as full control of his body. . . To die like this, who the hell would have thought?
"Shepard!" Ashley attempts to crawl away from Kaidan's grasp as the commander floats from his feet. As Shepard hovers in midair, the Alliance soldiers stare at the commander in disbelief.
"No don't go near him, it's too dangerous," Kaidan insists, his muscular arms squeezing her. Meanwhile Shepard's body convulses, shudders, and twitches. Entirely immobile, he loses all train of thought as the beacon clutches him in its humming embrace.
FIRE, MACHINES, DEATH, DESTRUCTION. FIRE, MACHINES, DEATH, DESTRUCTION.
Fire, machines, death, destruction. What does it mean?
Abruptly, the beacon's peak explodes in fiery green-white streak. In a spray of shrapnel and heat, the beacon's green flames surge forward and engulf Shepard. The commander does not burn, does not cry, he just simply dissolves in a flash of blinding light. Together the Alliance soldiers stare in crazed shock. Neither knows what to do or say as the beacon's pieces roll and bounce around them. The duo is flabbergasted by Eden Prime's consequent serenity; the beacon's humming had been obnoxiously loud as it devoured their commander.
Now there was nothing.
Climbing to their feet, they can't take their eyes from the artifact's broken remnant. That's when the blinding light returns, piercing their eyes as it throws a body from its green-white portal. As rapidly and unannounced as it appeared, it disappears, leaving Kaidan and Ashley to rush towards the man it had delivered.
"Oh my god, is he alive? Kaidan is he alive? What the hell just happened?" Ignoring the gunnery chief's wild exasperation; the lieutenant calmly rolls the man onto his back for examination. "My god, is that Shepard?"
Kaidan shakes his head.
"I have no idea."