Chapter 2: Trouble in Paradise, Pt. 2

Well, this could have gone A LOT better. We made it to the Tram with little trouble. By the time I caught up to Shawn, he had already taken care of the few Geth that had fired at him.

Then we moved to the tram, and that's what seemed to cause the biggest issue. I knew there would be Geth here, but I guess I just wasn't as prepared for my first firefight as I thought I was. I suck at switching cover, suck at moving forward, and I'm not the best at avoiding damage. My shields were constantly getting taken down, but I guess that's to be expected from a newbie.

What wasn't expected was the relative ease at which we went through the first car. There weren't as many Geth as I remember there being, but they went down fairly easy. The hard part was halfway through car number two, where all the Geth I remember there being at the first one and at the warehouse must have gone to. Now there's ten of them and two of us, which wouldn't be an issue if I was with Shepard. But I'm not. I have civilian issue pistols and civilian issue shields. Oh and no armor. Just another perk I have going for me. Not to mention Shawn is slowly bleeding out next to me, and we have zero medi-gel. He got hit moving over to help me, and I'll be damned if I'm gonna let him die.

I pull out the shotgun I took from Nihlus, and then briefly pop up to aim from behind the bench, I fire seeing the rounds impact against my target's shield followed by the telltale electrical surge of his shields overloading. I fire again, hitting my mark when I see the Geth's arm get torn from his torso, the rest of its body falling soon after. Unfortunately I need to wait for this thing to cool down, so I duck back into cover. Thank God for spending time at the shooting range before this, otherwise I'd be royally fucked at the moment.

"Shawn, how are you holding up?"

"Been better..." he muttered through grit teeth, his hand clamped to his abdomen to help stem the bleeding.

"Just hold in there bud, I'm not letting you die on me." I replied. With that he just pointed in the direction of the Geth. I turned to see one about four feet away from me and closing.

Oh shit. 3 feet.

Do something body! Obey my brain! 2 feet.

I pulled up my shotgun above the cover I was in, staying ducked down with the barrel in the direction of my assailant, and pulled the trigger. I look up to see this white substance covering my gun and upper arm along with a Geth laying around the corner who appeared to be sawed in half, the only thing keeping it together was thick cable on its back which I guess would be the equivalent of its spine.

Holy shit! The game was never that graphic. Not that I don't like it. It's actually kinda cool. Not the time to think about that though. I'm damn lucky that my shot was close enough to breach its shields and kill it, but I can't rely on luck to swoop down and kill all these things. Let's see... there's still...8 Geth left between me and my goal. Also, focusing on not getting shot seems like a good idea. I should focus on that.

I pop up from behind cover again to take aim, and right as I fire, I see a hail of accelerator rounds whizz by me and into the small Geth horde in front of me. Well, whadaya know… I guess I can rely on luck for the rest of these Geth.

Seeing as how our semi-sentient enemies were caught off guard, it wasn't long before their shields were down. Rounds started tearing into metal, small spurts of the white, metallic blood painting the floor of the tram. The flash of biotics and assorted tech explosions accompanied the gunfire, making for a deadly combination, and quickly eliminating the threat.

Thank God! I turn around to see three people running towards us, one was clearly male, Kaidan it looked like from what I saw from his face, and one in white and pink armor, Ashley I'm guessing; the third and final was a female, wearing red and black armor with a signature N7 mark on the breastplate and red command stripe down her right arm. Shepard.

"I'm Commander Madison Shepard, Systems Alliance. Are you people alright?"

Yep, there's Jennifer Hale alright. It was hard to tell all her features from behind the helmet, but she appeared to be have pitch black hair in the style of default Shepard possibly, deep blue eyes, and soft facial features not counting the minor scar above and under her right eye, and a deep one half hidden on her neck. Not unattractive in the least, but there was something behind her eyes. I couldn't tell what it was but there was some kind of fire or fierceness behind them. It was almost unnoticeable, but at the same time unmistakable if you caught it. FemShep it is I guess.

"Well… Shawn here took a bullet when he was helping me," I replied. "You guys have any spare medi-gel for him?"

"Of course," Kaidan said as he walked over to help Shawn and applied the medi-gel. "There, that should take care of it. I suggest getting off the tram though. We're heading deeper into what we've heard is enemy occupied territory on the other side of this tram."

"That's great and all, but I'm coming with you," I interjected as Shawn made his way off the tram. "I'm not about to sit around here and do nothing. I saw those things haul off some equipment over here, but I'm not seeing it on here. Whatever it was it didn't look good, and If it's what I think it was, you're gonna need help, trained or not."

"Well Commander, he made it this far. Why not give him a chance?" asked Ashley. Thanks for the support there Chief, didn't exactly think it'd come from you though. "And if there's any truth to what he's saying, an extra pair of hands could be useful. Not to mention an extra gun in our favor."

"True, but he could also hinder us. It's our job to protect civilians, and bringing him with us puts him right in the line of fire. We don't know how adept he is in a combat situation. Yea he made it this far, but we don't know how many Geth he took out and how many the other guy took out. It could end badly Shepard."

"Ok, that's hardly fair," I started, glaring at Kaidan. "I may not have professional training or military grade equipment on me, but you need any help you can get right now. Besides, whether you want me to or not, I'm coming with you guys. Your other option is putting a bullet in my head and tossing me off the edge of this tram. Cause that's the only way you're getting me off this thing." Ok, that may have been a little extreme, but I got my point across. My mouth needs to stop acting without my permission. It always gets me into situations like this.

Wait... why is Shepard looking at me like that? Fuck. Don't tell me she's a renegade, cause I really don't wanna get gunned down by the so-called hero of this galaxy... Stay composed, don't show fear, and don't look away. It shows weakness.

"I like this guy," Shepard piped in with a smirk. "He's got guts. It doesn't look like we're changing his mind, and he seems confident enough. Kaidan you make a good point, but his and Ashley's are better. We weren't exactly prepared to fight a Geth armada and I'll take the extra firepower. But just to be clear..." She paused, looking at me like I was supposed to answer something.

Oh, she wants my name. "Rick. Rick O'Connor."

"Ok, Rick, I'm giving the orders here, and they will be obeyed. If you disobey any order, you are left behind. If you disobey any order that endangers my squad or you so much as try to betray us, I will have no qualms complying with your earlier wishes and vacating your brains from your skull before the Geth get to. Are we clear?"

Gulp…

I stood there, shock evident on my face. Did she really just say that? I assumed she was paragon. Is she a renegade? Paragade maybe? If she was full renegade I would've been shot when I told her to, but if she was full paragon she wouldn't have said what she just did. She must be paragade. I've always liked the thought of a Shepard who chooses the good options but is a badass at the same time. I mean I always thought it was lame to not have a good combination of selflessness and ruthlessness. Every paragon option was like 'stop this guy from shooting this guy' or 'calmly talk down the crazy' and it undermines what Shep can do. On the other hand all the renegade stuff was awesome where she basically does what she wants: kicks somebody out a window, snaps a guy's neck, or shoots someone in the face simply because fuck you, that's why. Now that I see what might be a paragade Shepard in front of me, it's honestly kind of intimidating.

"I said, are we clear?" Shepard repeated.

I snapped out of my daze and responded, "Crystal, m'am."

"Don't call me m'am. It's Shepard. And this is Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams and Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko." She said, both of them nodding towards me. "Let's go get this beacon we came here for."

If only it were that easy Shepard...


We were halfway to the station where the beacon is kept, everyone standing at the edge of the tram with their weapons ready.

"You know this was supposed to be a pick up mission. That's it." I heard Kaidan say somewhat bitterly from behind me.

"Yea it is awfully convenient a bunch of Alliance commandos show up right as Geth attack. Guess you guys weren't the only ones who found out about the Prothean beacon." I responded.

"If there's anything I learned throughout my life so far, it's expect the unexpected." Shepard chimed in. "It's a lesson I learned the hard way, first on Mindoir, and then again on Akuze. Compared to a thresher maw this is a cakewalk though."

Holy hell… No wonder Shepard has a tough exterior. Losing all your loved ones to slavers and then your entire squad to a thresher maw can do that to you. Not many people could walk away from that with their sanity in check let alone any optimism. Also explains her eagerness to kill me if I endanger the squad. Can't say I blame her exactly.

"Still, it would be nice for things to go according to plan just once," Kaidan continued right as the tram stopped.

"Can't say I disagree LT," Shepard replied. "But we get what we're given, and right now we've been given a bunch of Geth to take to the junkyard. Ashley, Kaidan, you two take point. I'll take up the rear with Rick here and give covering fire with my Mantis. Rick, use your pistol for suppressing fire as well. Move out!"

With that said we made our way off of the tram, up a ramp, and right into some Geth. As soon as they noticed us, their guns lit up, rounds ricocheting off our shields and walls alike, but this didn't deter the Alliance operatives. Like a well-oiled machine the three marines returned fire, easily taking the enemies' shields down. Kaidan then seemed to glow for a second as the Geth across the way floated into the air like helpless balloons. One flashlight head crackled and then died followed by a second.

"You know, now would be a good time to fire your gun. Or you can just stand there and be useless making me regret bringing you along. Whatever works for you." Shepard said with a smirk.

It was then that I realized I had been just standing there dumbstruck the whole time. Right, time to help. With that I fired a few rounds into the Geth suspended in front of us, and for the moment we were free from harm.

"Oh shit..."I heard Ashley say from in front of us. Well I thought we were fine, and then I remembered those bombs, which is probably what she just found. "Shepard we got an issue. It looks like a bomb, synced to go off with about 3 other ones. If we don't disarm these and disarm them soon, it'll be like this section of Eden Prime never existed."

"These bastards would do this..." Shepard murmured under her breath. "Ok, here's what's gonna happen," She said as she started messing with the explosive. "I'll stay behind and disarm these. I've had some experience with this before." Interesting. I'll have to ask her about that later. "You three move ahead and clear out the remaining Geth. Understood?"

"Understood," said Ashley and Kaidan in unison. "Yes, m'am." came from me. I then instantly cringed a little upon seeing Shepard's look at me.

"Rick, I told you: it's Shepard or Commander. I hate m'am. Say it one more time and you'll be breathing through a tube for the next week. Now get going! We don't have much time..." and she went back to tinkering with the bomb.

Ash, Kaidan, and I ran ahead, looking for the next bomb and keeping our eyes peeled for Geth. We found the next bomb up and to the left of the first one, right in front of a bridge. "Commander, we found the next bomb," Kaidan said into his comm, "We're holding position here until you can catch up. No Geth in sight at the moment."

"Good job LT," I heard come from his comm. "Just finished with this one, I'll be up there in a second."

"So..." I started, "is Shepard always so...what's the word...harsh?"

"Couldn't tell you," replied Ashley. "I just joined her and the LT here about thirty minutes before you did."

"To answer your question: yes." Kaidan said to both of us. "It's just her personality. She takes missions seriously. On the ship or on shore leave, she tends to relax a little bit more. If you guys went through the things she did I'd like to see how you behave. Those things...change a person. The fact that she isn't utterly broken is amazing in my opinion. She just might not show it, but her crew is her family, and she'd do anything for them. When I first met her, I was terrified. Rumor had it she was a real ball-buster, and I'm not saying she isn't, but she has a good reason. After working with her for a while, I can't help but admire her…"

Ooooh, Kaidan, is that more than admiration I hear? Guess we'll have to wait and see. Assuming she even lets me on her ship. Well technically if Anderson let's me on the ship since it's currently his, but yea.

"Good job guys," Shepard said as she came running up. "I'll take care of this and you guys move on ahead."

I didn't wanna disobey orders so I ventured forward across the bridge with Ash and Kaidan, the three of us taking cover around bomb number three. And naturally as we do, Geth coming pouring out of the opposite end of the platform. The three of us exchange fire with the machines, Ash and Kaidan were taking out more than me, but I guess that's to be expected.

I popped out of cover, firing rounds towards the Geth, bullets bouncing against shields. Just a few more and they should go down...Yep shields down. Keep firing... and then my bullets started piercing its metallic hide, my foe crumpling to the ground in a heap right as I notice the one standing next to it had its shields recently taken down. "Line it up...and BOOOM headshot." I thought to myself as the bullet pierced the light on the Geth and rendered it useless.

We seem to be making good progress. Well at least until more Geth started coming in. For every Geth we killed it seemed like another took its place.

"Shepard, are you done over there?" Ashley asked over her comm. "Cause we could really use some of your sharpshooting over here right about now."

No answer. Well no traditional answer that is. Her response came when we saw a flash of light causing two Geth to drop their guns which were glowing bright red. Sabotage. Infiltrator Shep. Cool. Next thing we know, we hear a crack and see one of the Geth standing in the background fall to the ground. Another crack and a Geth's head explodes, its body sagging over. Well, it's flashlight exploded. Whatever that would be for Geth anatomy. I'm sticking with head. Ok enough distracting thoughts, help take out the two unarmed ones. The combined firepower of the three of us made short work of the disarmed machines.

Ok still got a few enemies over there. I popped up to fire lowering the shields of my target and a sniper shot following it up to finish it off. Wait...what's beeping? Fuck, that's my shields. Must duck into cover. Phew...I just made that. Ok, wait here until they go back up. You know, this would be a hell of a lot easier with a HUD. Oh well, just have to wait a little bit.

Ok that should be enough time, let's see who I can help ki- "OW!" I exclaimed as a bullet grazed my shoulder. Ok not enough time. Get back in cover.

"Suck it up rookie!" Shepard said as she made her way over, sidling from cover to cover across the bridge.

"Easy for you to say! You have armor! If you haven't noticed, I'm still in civilian clothing."

"Statement still stands!" She retorted with a smile. "Talk to me about pain when you have a thresher claw stuck in your leg, no medi-gel, and you can't take it out because the only thing standing between you and bleeding out is keeping said claw jammed in your leg."

"...Point taken..." I reply. "But still, you're an N7 operative, the best of the best, the cream of the crop. This is an average day for you. For me, this is my first firefight. Ever."

"Well for your first firefight you're not doing half bad... not good, but not half bad." She said as she destroyed another Geth. "Your shields should be up now. Help me finish these bastards."

And with that we made short work of the remaining Geth. Our mass accelerator rounds easily tearing through the remaining forces, and there were no more injuries or casualties on our end.

"Shepard you better get to work on these bombs," Kaidan said "We've only got about two minutes left before we're nothing but dust."

"Right, I'll take this one. LT, I'm trusting you to take care of the last one over there," She said pointing in the direction of the metallic corpses. "Rick, you stay here with me. Ashley you're with Kaidan." And with that they ran off, and I accompanied Shepard as she kneeled down to disarm the bomb.

"So, I was talking to the people left at the warehouse. They seemed to trust you, considering you led them to safety..." Shepard said to me. This is good. "But they were kind of suspicious of you." This is not good... "Said you ended up here under strange circumstances, that you couldn't tell them the whole reason you ended up here, and that you seem to know a lot about what's going on."

Welp, time to see if the cover story I jumbled together holds.

"Listen, Shepard, it's not ideal but you wouldn't believe me if I-"

"You didn't let me finish," she interrupted. "The Geth are clearly here for the beacon, but they say you knew the attack was coming a few before it actually happened. I was planning on shooting you the moment I saw you, but then they said you went off trying to help, and on top it, I saw that you handled yourself decently in a combat situation. Not only that but you were killing Geth. I thought you were the one who brought the Geth here with the information I had previously, but it didn't really add up. So you have til I'm done disarming this, or I'll take you back to my ship, throw you in the brig, and get info from you there." And with that she pulled out her pistol.

Awesome.

"I was on a ship with my family. We were relocating here; hoping to build a new life. Geth attacked the ship. I was the only one to make it to an escape pod...unfortunately. My pod made it here, but it was damaged in the escape, so I didn't exactly land like I was supposed to. They found me here in the field where my pod landed. I've been unconscious until earlier today. The only reason I knew the Geth were on their way here is because we were on the same trajectory when our ship encountered them."

I stood there silently as she continued to tinker with the bomb, but not for long though cause she finished a few seconds after I was done.

"Kaidan, how's it going on your end?" She said into her comm as she stood up. I didn't hear what his response was, but seeing as how we weren't hauling ass over there, I'm guessing it was good news. "Ok, I'll meet up with you shortly." Turning off her comm, she looked at me, "Look Rick, I'm sorry to hear about that. I know all too well what it's like to lose family like that..." Well that just makes me feel bad for lying now. "But at the very least you convinced me enough to not detain you, so there's that." she said putting her gun away. "It doesn't mean I trust you though. At the very least I'm grateful for you deciding to help. It shows courage. This colony gained a good member."

Actually I wasn't planning on staying here. I mean I have nothing else to do. Might as well help save the galaxy and all that. What's the worst that can happen?

Shit... I just jinxed EVERYTHING didn't I...?

"Actually Shepard, I was going to ask you...not quite sure what you'll say, but I was wondering if I could come with you after this. If you're the person I think you are, you aren't gonna let what happened here go unpunished, and I want to come with you. I may be new here, but I'm not one to let something like this slide. First my family and now my new home? I don't think so. Take me with you and I'll try my hardest to be a useful member of your crew, and hopefully ground team."

Shepard stood there for a minute, thinking about my question. Please don't let me be jinxed...

"Alright... I don't see why not. You have potential, and it looks like you're in decent shape. The Alliance could use a soldier like you. It's not exactly my operation, but I'll put in a good word with the Captain to keep you around."

Oh it'll be your ship soon enough Shep...don't worry about it. "Thanks Shepard. I really appreciate it." I said.

"We can talk about the details later, right now we need to get to the beacon," she replied, turning to her comm, "Kaidan, you still by the disarmed bomb?"

Shepard's comm sparked to life again, but I couldn't make out what was being said again. "Ok," Shepard spoke back, "We'll meet you over there. Don't do anything until we've arrived."

"Update for the guy who doesn't have a comm?" I asked as we started walking.

Shepard chuckled and then responded, "Forgot you didn't have your omni-tool to our channel, switch it to..."

"Uh, Shepard? I don't have an omni-tool period. Woke up in the hospital, remember?"

"Right, well we're moving to where the beacon is stored. Kaidan and Ashley moved forward to scout for Geth, and they took out the remaining forces they ran into, so now they're waiting for us to catch up. When we get there, we'll call the Normandy for pick up. It should be safe. Kaidan says the scans he's run show the ship's leaving. They think this place is about to blow so it makes sense."

"Normandy? Is that your ship?" I asked. "I heard about that. Prototype Turian-Human hybrid ship. Top of the line right?"

"Yes..." She said hesitantly. "The Normandy's supposed to be top secret. I don't know how you could have possibly heard about it. Gotta tell ya, you're not helping your suspicious aura thing, Rick."

Fuck. Keep extensive game knowledge to the minimum in the future. Forgot about that detail about top-secret production.

"I have...friends in high places," I replied as quick as possible.

"Really...well I probably know half of those friends," She said as we walked down the ramp to where the beacon was. "But, we'll save this conversation for a later time."

As we walked up, however Kaidan had already started getting pulled toward the beacon, and Shepard saw this. She shoved me to the side and silently sprint forward, throwing the lieutenant out of the way, and getting suspended mid-air herself. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head, while her arms and legs spread a little and stiffened. It almost looked like she was having a floating seizure. Then, without warning, the beacon exploded, sending Shepard's body flying into Ashley.

Even knowing that was coming, it was still surprising for me. The explosion was a lot bigger than the game portrayed it. Hell, the shockwave knocked me on my ass. And it happened so quickly.

"Kaidan to Normandy! We need pick up immediately! Send Chakwas and a med-squad, the beacon just did something really weird to the Commander. I think she's alive, but she's out cold. We need this ASAP Joker!"

The rest was just a hectic blur. People hauling Shepard into the Normandy, Anderson questioning who I was, Ashley and Kaidan getting separated from me, Chakwas slapping some medi-gel where the bullet grazed me, then being taken to a room where I could rest, which I honestly need right now. Well... after the shock of today's events pass that is. I wake up in the world of Mass Effect, I have to fight a bunch of Geth, I meet the Commander Shepard, and now I'm on the Normandy! It's almost too much to process.

I just wish I could walk around. I'm not in the brig, but I'm in lockdown soooo... yea. I mean I completely understand considering everything that happened, but still. As I lay down I realized just how exhausted I really was. Fighting an army of semi-sentient robots does that to you apparently. Guess I'll just wait until Shepard and Anderson come talk to me. Might as well just lay...here...think about...whatever…

A/N: And that's it for this chapter. Hope you guys enjoyed it. Should be updating soon again.

Again, any criticism or feedback can be left in a review or a PM, so feel free to do so.

Rfalzar, signing out.