AUTHOR'S NOTE: Got one quick thing about what you're going to see described within the first few paragraphs. And this is a result of thorough discussion with both my editors and other ME fans. Essentially, that it just makes absolute sense that an N7 MUST not only be a jack of all trades, but a master of all trades as well. Best of the best, after all. But given that Shep isn't biotic, essentially, just imagine him as a mix of Soldier, Engineer, and infiltrator. The reason Bioware doesn't do that in game is completely justified, of course, gameplay and what-not, but from a story perspective this just makes sense. Anyways, hope you enjoy today's chapter!

I followed Anderson through the airlock. It had been three days since I graduated from my N7 training. Flying colors. Dad would have been proud. According to Alliance standards, I had mastered the use of each weapon category. Rifle, shotgun, sniper, pistol. While I preferred the rifle, always had, I would be just as comfortable with any of the others. Additionally, I had received extensive technical training. While it wasn't part of my training when I first enlisted in the Alliance, you don't get to be an N7 without being the best of the best. I could go toe to toe with a Quarian if I ever have to. Unfortunately, I'm not biotic, so that's one thing I can't be trained in the use of. But I can be trained into how to counter them. Normally, that just consists of caution and dampeners.

I shifted my shoulders as I enjoyed the sensation of my N7 armor. The best armor the Alliance could give to a ground trooper. Often replaced with new experimental versions. Not to mention it just looked badass. I glanced around at the bridge of this ship. Anderson had explained earlier. The SSV Normandy SR1. A joint project between the Turian Hierarchy and the Alliance. And carrying an experimental drive core and stealth drive. I'll need to ask the head engineer about that later.

"Shepard, this is the pilot, Flight Lieutenant Jeff Moreau, Joker," Anderson introduced, gesturing a hand at the pilot's chair. The viewport was just the dock of Arcturus right now, but wouldn't be for long. He just waved a hand disinterested, a glance back. He had a beard, just pushing Alliance regulations. Hm, hell, I tend to let my own do that sometimes. He led me through the ship's command corridor to the broader CIC.

"Designs different, Anderson. Why's the command platform raised up?" I asked curiously.

"Turian method. Better oversight of the whole bridge and position of respect and authority. All to better help control and carry the Captain's voice. Alliance thought they'd give it a shot," Anderson answered. I nodded, musing on that a bit. Anderson then pointed out another man. Older, light skinned, balding. "Navigator Pressley." The navigator saluted, and I gave a short one of my own as Anderson let him be at ease. Anderson than moved to the side and down a set of stairs to the second level. Elevator right in front of us, mess hall behind it, captain's quarters on the left, sleeper pods further down the middle to the back, and med-bay on the right. "Let me show you our doctor. I think you'll approve," Anderson smirked. I raised a brow as he led me towards the door. He stepped to the side as it opened, and my eyes widened as a woman stood there, smiling.

"Commander John Shepard. It's been too long," Karin Chakwas greeted. Not only was she the doctor who delivered me, but she had become a friend of my mother too. Which, given their Alliance lives, meant that if I needed to see a doctor, even for a checkup, it was normally her. Sometimes I think she mother henned me more than my own mother.

"Well I'll be damned. Didn't expect to see you, Chakwas," I smiled.

"Anderson requested me. It seems my lot in life is to be the woman who patches you up every other bloody day," she chuckled, teasing me. I was an adventurous kid. Something Dad encouraged.

"The two of you can catch up soon. I need to finish showing John the ship, then brief him on the mission. Sorry, Karin," Anderson apologized.

"Of course, David. Try not to break a limb the moment I stop looking, won't you, Shepard?"

"No promises, doc," I chuckled. Anderson then doubled back to a cargo elevator and we began the descent down.

Very. Very slowly. I turned to glance at the Captain, brow raised.

"I'll have the engineers take a look at speeding it up a bit," he muttered. Finally, we came to a stop in the Cargo hold. Armory with lockers on the left, cargo bay doors ahead, and to the right?

An M-35 Mako. I whistled. I got a new toy.

"Alenko! Jenkins! Over here!" Anderson called out to a pair of men talking by the armory. Both looked up and made their way towards us. "Shepard, this is your ground team. Small for now but that can change. First, Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko. Sentinel class." Biotics and tech. Good, got some biotics ourselves. I nodded a greeting as the man saluted. Slicked back hair, firm features. A soldier. "And Corporal Richard Jenkins. He was young, eager, wearing a Beret. Everything about him said "Red-shirt." I didn't want that to be the case.

"An honor to meet you sir!" Jenkins greeted cheerfully. I nodded again. 'Try not to get attached to any of them, John. You know what will happen."

"Now, we'll introduce you to Adams, and-" Anderson was cut off by the ship intercom.

"Captain, Nihlus just arrived on board. Wants us to head out immediately," Joker informed.

"Tell him I'll meet him in the comm room when he's ready. Go ahead and get us moving," Anderson answered. "We'll introduce you to Adams later."

"Who's Nihlus?" I asked as we made our way back to the elevator.

"A Council Spectre. He's been assigned to be alongside us for the Normandy's first run. It's just a shakedown run to Eden Prime, test the ship out," Anderson explained.

"A Spectre? Why would they send a Spectre for a shakedown run?" I raised a brow, hearing Jenkins gasp in surprise behind us, having heard us.

"It was Co-designed with the Turians, they're just as interested in making sure all goes well as we are," Anderson remarked. Not a satisfying answer. And he gave me a look that said it wasn't everything. I accepted it. I'd likely know in time, and he clearly wants to tell me, just can't. When the elevator finally stopped, I grabbed a protein bar out of the mess, having felt a bit hungry. After quickly munching it down, I started to make my way up to the bridge.

"Arcturus Prime relay is in range. Initiating transmission sequence," Joker stated on the intercom. It was standard procedure for a vessel's first flight. Not something we'd hear often at all afterwards. As I came to the head of the CIC and its galaxy map, passing by Pressley, Joker continued. "We are connected. Calculating transit mass and destination. The relay is hot. Acquiring approach vector." The flight crew were all running the checks, all seemed calm. "All stations secure for transit." Through the bridge viewport I could see the Mass Relay as we approached. The bright blue Eezo core and the two spinning circles that… kept it stabilized? Not sure, the relays are still not highly understood. There was a Turian in red armor standing to the side of Joker's seat, watching with his arms crossed over his chest. And in the seat to Joker's right, Kaidan. Guess he must have gotten up here while I was getting the snack. "Board is green. Approach run has begun." Energy shot out from the Mass Relay, connecting with the drive core on our ship as we followed its length. Joker gave his countdown, everything outside went white for less than half a second before we ended up back in normal space, hundreds if not thousands if not millions of light years away from Arcturus.

"Thrusters… check. Navigation… check. Internal emissions sink engaged. All systems online. Drift… just under 1500k," Joker listed off. A good number. A very good number. I may want to take look at his file, maybe he's set some records.

"1500 is good," the Turian, Nihlus, nodded. "Your captain will be pleased." I got a look at his face now. His plates were brown, but his face was also almost entirely painted over by white colony markings. He then immediately turned, likely heading to the comm room to meet with Anderson.

"I hate that guy," Joker muttered. I raised a brow, Kaidan turned with the same expression.

"Nihlus gave you a compliment… so you hate him?"

"You remember to zip up your jumpsuit on the way out of the bathroom? That's good. I just jumped us across the galaxy and hit a target the size of a pinhead. So that's incredible!" Joker retorted. "Besides, Spectres are trouble. I don't like having him on board Call me paranoid," Joker shrugged.

"You're paranoid," Kaidan stated. I gave a light chuckle. "The Council helped fund this project. They have a right to send someone to keep an eye on their investment."

"Yeah, that is the official story," Joker remarked. "But only an idiot believes the official story." He's not wrong. And a Spectre is a bit much.

"They would never send a Spectre on a simple shakedown run," I mused.

"So, there's more going on than the Captain's letting on," Joker looked at Kaidan. I was about to cut their chatter, that they shouldn't question their CO so much, but Anderson requested a status report before I could. During that pause, I did remember that it might have just been different than that. It's only natural to want to know everything about what you're doing. "Just cleared the Mass Relay, Captain. Stealth systems engaged. Everything looks solid."

"Good. Find a comm buoy and link us into the network. I want mission reports relayed back to Alliance brass before we reach Eden Prime."

"Aye, aye, Captain. Brace yourself, sir. I think Nihlus is headed your way," Joker grumbled.

"He's already here, Lieutenant." Joker froze, sitting up a helluva lot straighter. "Tell Shepard to meet me in the comm room for a debriefing." A debriefing? Am I about to hear what it was he couldn't tell me?

"I'll be right there, sir," I answered, revealing that I had listened in to the whole thing. Anderson didn't reply, I just made my way towards the comm room. Presley was talking to someone on comms about Nihlus, looking like a man on a mission. And as I neared the comm room, Jenkins was leaning on the wall talking to Chakwas.

"I grew up on Eden Prime, Doc. It's not the kind of place Spectres visit. There's something Nihlus ain't telling us," he remarked. Chakwas wasn't as convinced.

"Anderson's in charge here, he wouldn't take orders from a Spectre," she argued.

"Not his choice. Spectres don't answer to anyone," he argued with childlike enthusiasm. "They do whatever they want, kill anyone who gets in their way."

"You watch too many spy vids, Jenkins," Chakwas laughed dismissively. Jenkins saw me approaching their general direction and called out.

"Hey, Commander, think we'll be staying on Eden Prime long? I'm itching for some real action!" Yep. Red-shirt. I'm going to need to teach this kid to relax. That, or one simple firefight will destroy his romanticized illusions of war.

"I'm too old and cynical to believe you're kidding, Corporal. Especially after having known Shepard for so long. Your real action usually ends with me patching up crew members in the infirmary," Chakwas chastised.

"You need to relax Corporal," I stated firmly. "A good soldier stays cool, even under fire." I saw a glint of recognition and sympathy from Chakwas. I used to be like Jenkins this way. And the doc knows very well that I learned the hard way. This kid doesn't have to.

"Sorry, Commander. But this waiting is killing me. I've never been on a mission like this before. Not one with a Spectre on board!"

"Jenkins," I put a hand on his shoulder, shaking him a bit. "Treat this like any other assignment you've had. Stay cool, stay calm, stay focused. Do that, and everything will work out."

"Easy for you to say. You proved yourself on Akuze, and then during the blitz! Everybody knows what you can do!" Now, I had to resist removing my hand from his shoulder and breaking his jaw. Chakwas wasn't fast enough to shut Jenkin's mouth, but her eyes quickly widened then hardened, staring at Jenkins with the message clear. Shut the hell up.

"Jenkins," I let out a deep breath, controlling my anger. "This is your first, and final warning. Do not talk to me about Akuze. Fifty good men and women died that day. Do not talk to me about Elysium. I did not make that defense all by myself. I was just the only one to survive it. My own goddamn father died in my arms that day. War is hell, Jenkins. Hope to the ends of the universe that you never have to fucking see it." I quickly left, leaving Jenkins with a frightened look at my outburst, as I stormed towards the comm room. Before I entered, I quickly took another deep breath and wiped the fury from my features, instead replacing it with calm. I strode down the small hall, and Nihlus was standing with his back to the door, looking at an image pulled up on the console. He turned, and I wondered where Anderson was.

"Commander Shepard. I was hoping you'd get here first. It will give us a chance to talk," Nihlus stated formally.

"About?" Nihlus looked a moment longer at me, before pacing just in front of me. "I'm interested about this world we're going to. Eden Prime. I've heard it's quite beautiful." These aren't the kinds of questions I'd expect a Spectre to ask.

"The brochures paint it that way. But I've never been," I shrugged.

"It's become something of a symbol for your people, hasn't it?" Again, more odd questions. "Proof that humanity can not only establish colonies across the galaxy, but also protect them. But how safe is it, really?" Alarms started to go off in my head. Was he one of the Turians who still presented Humanity? Even after thirty years? The fact that his back was turned to me as he finished didn't help.

"If you know something, Nihlus, I'd much prefer it if you just said it." He turned.

"Your people are still newcomers, Shepard. The galaxy can be a very dangerous place." He crossed his arms over his chest. "Is the Alliance truly ready for this?" A door opened behind me. Before I could even ask what he meant, Anderson stepped to my side.

"I think it's time we told Shepard what's going on."

"This mission is far more than a simple shakedown run," Nihlus stated.

"That was a bit obvious. A Spectre is a bit much, after all," I remarked. Nihlus' mandibles flared slightly, a smirk, I think.

"We're making a covert pick-up on Eden Prime. That's the real reason Joker had the stealth systems operational," Anderson began.

"Need-to-know basis?" I asked.

"Straight from the top," Anderson nodded. Alright, this was serious. "A research team on Eden Prime unearthed some kind of Prothean beacon." I let out a whistle.

"Helluva find…"

"This is big. We haven't made a discovery like this since the Mass Archives, and that jumped our tech forward two centuries," Anderson continued. "Eden Prime is still a new Colony. It doesn't have the facilities to handle this. We're taking it back to the Citadel for proper study."

"Just as obvious that this wasn't a mere shakedown run, Commander, this obviously goes far beyond human interests alone. This discovery could affect every species in Council Space," Nihlus reminded.

"So, Prothean beacon. That's certainly a high priority. Is Nihlus here because we suspect there was a leak, and thus, trouble, or just as an additional precaution?"

"I always expect trouble, Commander," Nihlus remarked. Alright, lay off the mysterious edge lord stuff.

"The latter. And something else," Anderson spoke up again. "Nihlus is also here to evaluate you." My eyes widened.

"Evaluate me? Sir?" Anderson nodded as he continued.

"The Alliance has been pushing for this for a long time. Humanity wants a larger say in interstellar policy. More say with the Council. If the Council accepts a Human into the ranks of a Spectre, it shows how far the Alliance has come."

"Damn, after only thirty years? All the others have been around centuries to thousands of years, yet they haven't gotten any farther than we are now," I remarked. Nihlus just ignored it.

"You survived a Thresher nest and held off an enemy assault during the Blitz. You held them back despite being the only position left standing. You showed not only courage, but incredible skill." At least he didn't add 'single handedly.' "That's why I put your name forward as a candidate."

"That's… big." I quickly thought about it. I still think I'm being given too much credit, but if Nihlus evaluates me and sees me worthy for the Spectres, well, guess I'd be good enough then. I'd be serving the Alliance, serving Humanity, even if I was also getting orders from the Council. And Dad? Well, it would make him proud. "I won't let the Alliance down, sir."

"I know you won't, son," Anderson nodded.

"I'll need to see your skills for myself, Commander. Eden Prime will be the first of several missions together," Nihlus added.

"You'll lead the ground team to secure the beacon and get it back to the Normandy. Nihlus will accompany you to observe."

"We'll be ready to go the moment we touch down," I stated.

"Good. We should be getting close. I'll-" Anderson was cut off by Joker on the intercom.

"Captain! We've got a problem." Shit.

"Report."

"Transmission from Eden Prime, sir. You better see this!" Joker sounded nervous. Anderson glanced at Nihlus, and him back to the Captain.

"Bring it up on screen," Anderson ordered. The three of us watched curiously as the holo-screen lit up. We heard gunfire immediately. It was the helmet cam of a soldier. He and his squad were engaged in a firefight. But what really struck me as odd was that the enemy fire didn't sound like kinetic weapons. No mass accelerators. It sounded like an energy weapon. But who the hell has energy weapons? Even the Asari haven't made effective prototypes yet. The visuals were confirmed as a soldier, a woman in white armor and a pinkish-red trim ran up to the camera. She avoided enemy fire, and one that must have been a heavy round as it caused a plume of dirt to shoot up. But the dirt looked liquified, goop-like. Not to mention a large puff of smoke. It has to be energy. Plasma.

"Get down!" The woman shouted as she tackled the soldier with the cam to the ground. She then stood and opened fire again. There was a lot of static as the camera turned into another blue explosion. I couldn't see what they were shooting at. Another Alliance soldier stood in front of the camera now.

"We are under attack! Taking heavy casualties. I repeat: Heavy casualties! We can't-" The man covered himself from another explosion. "Need evac! They came out of nowhere. We need-" The ground seemed to shake and both the soldier and the soldier with the camera fell to the ground as a kind of mechanical whirring was heard in the distance. Most of the shooting seemed to stop as all the soldiers turned to look up. Descending from the dark, clouded sky, was a massive… ship? With large metal tendrils, like tentacles reaching down, like it was landing. I had never seen anything like it. The gunfire resumed, more and more explosions. Then the feed went dead. Fucking hell…

"There's nothing else, sir. No comm traffic at all. Just goes dead…" Joker murmured.

"Reverse and hold at thirty-eight-point-five," Anderson ordered. The video did as told, and we got a still image of the ship. Chills were sent right up my spine.

I have a very bad feeling about this.


Kaidan, Jenkins and I set down at the LZ designated. Right from off the ship. Nihlus had departed just before us, saying that he moves faster on his own. Suppose Spectres have a right to that kind of confidence. Our plan was still largely the same. Small strike team so to not draw much attention. Extracting the beacon is the number one priority. Everything else comes second. I kept glancing at Jenkins, he was worried. This was his home after all.

We moved forward, Lancer rifles out and ready. We could still hear those energy weapons and even see some streaks across the sky. And plumes of smoke in the distance. We moved down a hill, following a conveniently placed dirt path. But there were… things by the river beside us.

"The hell?" Kaidan exclaimed.

"Gas bags. Harmless," Jenkins reassured.

"Then ignore em. Move on," I ordered. We passed a rock that had two charred corpses lying on it.

"Oh god…" Jenkins murmured. I warned ya kid. Should I be concerned that it doesn't really faze me anymore? We passed more bodies. A path towards a tree line, and a lot of rocks we could use as cover. Would make a good sightline for hostiles. I held up a clenched first, signaling for the others to stop, and dropped to a knee. I couldn't see anything, but that didn't mean they weren't there.

"Jenkins, head straight for the rocks," I whispered. Jenkins moved, watching, nothing happened. As Kaidan and I moved to follow, Jenkins moved again. I didn't tell him to do that. I heard more energy weapons as Jenkins cried out, firing off two rounds as I stood to run and knock him out of the way. It was two drones.

"No!" I shouted. He was being riddled by the drone's fire, unable to shoot and crying out again before I managed to knock him out of the way and into cover. He was screaming as the rounds were burning through his armor and chest. Anger rising, I readied my rifle and stood in cover, opening fire, as did Kaidan. Three drones, they fell. A round had impacted my shields and nearly collapsed them. Just one round. Fucking A. I kneeled back down to Jenkins as Kaidan ran over. The screaming had stopped, but he was still conscious. Barely. The energy rounds had melted into his chest cavity, as well as his abdomen. Medi-gel wasn't going to fix this. But it would at least make it easier.

"I-" I'm sorry, sir…" he coughed.

"Don't apologize, Jenkins," I murmured.

"Tell my parents I love em, will ya?

"I will."

"Damn it," Kaidan cursed under his breath.

"Thanks. Heh…" he struggled to laugh as he coughed again. "It doesn't hurt anymore…" His head lulled back, and his breathing stopped. I removed his helmet and ran my fingers over his eyes, closing them. I used my Omni-tool to mark the body for proper burial once this was done.

"It ripped right through his shields… what kind of weapons are these things using?" Kaidan questioned.

"Sounded like some kind of energy weapon. Plasma, maybe. My shields almost collapsed deflecting just one," I answered.

"Christ…"

"We gotta stay focused, Alenko. Come on, stay close to cover, if not in it." I led the lieutenant onward. Another trio of drones came out from behind the tree-line, but luckily, we both dove into cover behind rocks without taking any hits. So, we were able to take down the drones with a few controlled bursts.

"Got some burned out buildings here, Shepard. A lot of bodies," Nihlus informed over our comms as the last of the drones were taken down.

"We've seen bodies too. And some drones. They took down Jenkins. One round almost collapsed my shields. The hell are we up against, Nihlus?" I questioned, a bit angrily. He paused.

"I don't know. Not yet." I cursed under my breath and we continued through the trees, putting down another trio of those drones. We came out of the trees and saw down a hill. There was a soldier running from more gunfire. I think I recognized the soldier as the woman we saw first in the distress signal. We moved forward to provide support from cover as a round impacted her shields. The drones still hot in pursuit. So, she dove forward on the ground, facing the drones with pistol in hand. Both came crashing to the ground. Then both she, Alenko, and I focused on something else, just further ahead. Two metal figures placing a colonist, a man, on some kind of… circular table?

A spike rose from it, impaling the main straight through the chest and lifting him up. Like some Vlad The Impaler shit. And the poor bastard was still alive! The woman began to run back, her eyes meeting us. The metal figures took notice, which was impossible to miss given their heads were dominated by a large glowing eye. The soldier took cover again not far ahead of us. She looked at us and nodded. As the robot things moved to engage, we opened fire. A controlled burst broke through their shields, and another caused white fluid, perhaps hydraulic fluid, to spew out like blood. Both went down, and we ran forward to meet with the soldier. She panted as she lowered her weapon.

"Thanks for the help Commander. I didn't think I was going to make it." she panted again. "Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams of the 212. You the one in charge here, sir?"

"Commander John Shepard. You wounded, Williams?"

"A few scraps and burns. Nothing serious. The others weren't so lucky," she murmured.

"Damn it… We were patrolling the perimeter when the attack hit. We tried to get off a distress call, but they cut off communications. I've been fighting for my life ever since…"

"You'll be alright, Williams. Now, just what are we facing here," I murmured as I approached the bodies of the robots. I rolled one over so that its front was facing upwards. It looked so familiar, but I couldn't place it… Oh shit.

"Sir, I think they're-" Ashley began.

"Geth. It's fucking Geth."

"The hell? The Geth haven't been seen outside the Perseus Veil in about three hundred years! Why now?" Kaidan questioned.

"They must have come for the beacon. Would never have thought they'd care that much about it," Ashley stated.

"Where's the dig site?" I asked.

"Just over that rise. Might still be there," she answered.

"Williams, you still combat ready?"

"Absolutely, sir," she readied her rifle.

"Then come with us, we'll need all the help we can get." Ashley nodded and then proceeded to follow us along. Past another pair of impaled colonists. We turned a bend, seeing old Prothean architecture reaching into the sky. I still wasn't comfortable with sightlines, so we kept going from cover to cover. Which paid off, as Geth opened fire, moving closer. We timed our fire so that we only stood together, so that to best mow down the Geth. And it worked, the first time we stood, we put down each of the Geth troops. At the base of the dig site, there was nothing but more impaled colonists.

"Shit, they moved it," Ashely cursed. She then froze, slowly stepping close to one of the bodies. It wasn't as… decayed as the others. Its skin was becoming pale, but still had some color. And I think I could recognize it as a woman, and dark hair lingered, not quite having completely fallen off yet.

"I recognize her. Laura. Friend of mine in the squad. Damn it… I remember this boyfriend she talked about. Scott, I think…" Ashley sighed. "Shit."

"Why are they doing this…" Kaidan murmured.

"I don't know. But we need to find the beacon. Any ideas, Williams?"

"We should try the research camp. If there's any survivors, they'll know."

"Then we move." A voice popped up on our comms again. It was Nihlus.

"Shepard, change of plans. There's a small spaceport up ahead. I want to check it out. I'll wait for you there."

"Wilco. Beacon's been moved, and we picked up a survivor. Says if there's any survivors at the research camp, they'll know," I informed.

"Understood. Keep me posted." Comms went silent.

"Who was that?" Ashley questioned.

"Council Spectre. Nihlus," I answered casually. Simply leading them both up out of the dig site. More fires, more smoke. More of those… impaled people. Ashley cursed under her breath again.

"Watch for ambush," Kaidan warned. As we moved by them, the spikes impaling the three colonists to our left retracted. The bodies moving. Yet also, glowing blue with machinery under their patchy skin. "Oh god," Kaidan muttered. As they stood, we could see wires and circuitry coursing through their entire body, their eyes replaced with some kind of metallic light, like the Geth.

"This is fucked…" Ashley exclaimed. They stood, and then screeched, charging straight for us, long metallic claws brandished.

"Open fire!" I ordered. Bullets impacted them center mass, but they didn't stop. They didn't even seem to register it. So, I aimed higher. A stream of bullets impacted the… thing, in the head, destroying the head, and causing it to drop dead. The process repeated with the other two.

"How the hell are they turning our dead against us?" Kaidan questioned quietly. No one had an answer for him. We checked two pre-fabs that were still intact. One was empty and unlocked. The other was locked, and no one responded when we tried to call out inside. So, I used my Omni-tool to hack through the lock. A simple task, as pre-fabs aren't exactly built for full security. I bypassed the lock, and the door opened.

"Don't shoot!" A woman exclaimed. I lowered my weapon, stepping inside. A man and woman both alive. She immediately appeared relieved upon seeing us.

"Humans! Thank god!"

"Hurry! Close the door! Before they come back!" the man whispered anxiously.

"Don't worry, we'll protect you," I reassured.

"Thank you," the woman was calmer than the man. "I think we'll be ok." She peered around me. "Looks like everyone's gone."

"Dr. Warren? The one in charge of the excavation? Do you know what happened to the beacon?" Ashley questioned.

"It was moved to the spaceport this morning. Manuel and I stayed behind to help pack up the camp," Dr. Warren answered. "When the attack came, the marines held them off long enough for us to hide. They saved our lives…"

"No one is saved. The age of humanity is ended. Soon, only ruin and corpses will remain!" the man, Manuel, prophesied. I ignored it.

"Is there anything else you can tell me about the attack?" Warren put a hand to her forehead as she recanted.

"It all happened so fast. One second we were gathering our equipment, and the next, in our shed while the Geth swarmed."

"Agents of the destroyers. Bringers of darkness. Heralds of our extinction!" Manuel continued. He was ignored.

"We could hear the battle outside. Gunfire… screams... I thought it would never end. We've just sat here until now.

"Any ideas why the Geth would want the beacon?"

"Any knowledge the Protheans left behind. We honestly don't know what the beacon would have held," Warren shrugged.

"We have unearthed the heart of evil. Awakened the beast. Unleashed the darkness," Manuel shivered.

"Manuel! This isn't the time!" Warren chastised.

"Have you seen or heard a Turian around here? He was making his way to the spaceport." I wanted to know if Nihlus was taking moments for survivor hunts.

"I saw him. The Prophet. Leader of the enemy. He was here, before the attack."

"Well, that wasn't Nihlus…" I mused, suspecting that we just got a big clue into this situation.

"What's wrong with your assistant?" Kaidan questioned, a bit bluntly. Warren appeared a bit embarrassed. For his sake, I suppose.

"Manuel has a brilliant mind, but he's always been a bit unstable."

"Is it madness to see the future? To see the destruction rushing towards us? To understand there is no escape? No hope? No, I am not mad. I'm the only sane one left!"

"Look," I sighed. "Stay here, stay safe. People will know where to find you when this is over. Alenko, Williams, move out."

"You can't stop it. Nobody can stop it. Night is falling. The darkness of eternity!"

"Manuel, go lie down. Let the meds kick in," Warren insisted. I tried to ignore the chills.

We heard a single gunshot. Not a Geth weapon, though. Kinetic. But as we turned the corner, we forgot about it. We froze as we saw the massive starship from the vid, standing at a distance, no doubt, but still standing high in the sky. Fucking massive. Enveloped in a layer of thick red clouds. There was a low metallic rumbling. As it ascended. It flew off towards atmo, leaving Eden Prime behind.

"Fucking hell…" I muttered. We began to move down towards the spaceport but saw Geth patrolling. So, I pulled out my sniper and ordered the others to approach and attack. I'd cover them. They moved together as I got down onto my stomach. I fired at one Geth as they got into position, breaking through its shields and causing its head to burst with just one shot. That got their attention, but the fire from Ashley and Kaidan distracted them further, allowing me to continue picking them off. As well as the walking corpses that accompanied them. With that done, there was another Pre-fab I led the others to check out. Before I even began decrypting, there was a voice.

"Everyone stay calm out there. We're coming out. We're not armed," the man stated loudly. The door opened, and two men and a woman stepped out, hands in the air.

"Are they gone?" the woman questioned.

"You're ok now, no one's going to hurt you," I reassured. They breathed a collective sigh of relief.

"Those things were crawling all around the shed. They would have found us for sure. We owe you our lives," the man nodded.

"When we saw that ship, I thought it was all over," the woman wiped sweat from her brow.

"It showed up before the attack. We made a break for it the moment we saw it," the first man remarked.

"Anything you can tell me about it? We just watched it fly off," I asked.

"It did? Then maybe this madness is about to be over… Ok, well, too busy running to get a good look. Think it landed by the spaceport," he gestured back in that general direction. "And the noise… it was emitting some kind of signal. Like the… shriek of the damned," he groaned. "Like it was from inside your own head.

"Thanks for the info. Stay here, you'll be fine," I nodded.

"Hey, we're just a bunch of farmers," the other man whispered to the lead. "These guys are soldiers. Maybe we should give them the stuff."

"Geez Blake. You gotta learn when to shut up!" I just raised a brow, crossed my arms over my chest. He sighed. "Some guys at the spaceport were running a small smuggling ring. Nothing major. In exchange for a cut of the profits, we let them store packages in our sheds.

"So, figured something in the sheds could have helped?"

"Yeah, yeah. Not hurting anybody, don't even know what the hell is in the packages. Found a pistol. You'll need it more than I do." Cole took the pistol from his back pocket and handed it to me. I just chuckled.

"Look, just hold onto it in case more Geth come. I already have a pistol. No doubt much better than a low-level smuggling ring." Ashley seemed a bit peeved but wasn't saying anything.

"Uh… alright… well… there's one more thing that may actually help.

"Who's your contact? What's his name?" Ashley questioned.

"He's not a bad guy," the man defended. "I don't want to get him in trouble. Besides, I'm not a snitch!"

"For all we know, the smuggler might have leaked the reason for the attack. We need his name," I pushed.

"Damn it…" the man sighed. "Powell. Works the docks, if he's still alive…"

"Thanks. Again, just stay here, you'll be fine." They returned inside their pre-fab, and we continued to the first parts of the space-port. But where was Nihlus? Then we saw a Turian body lying face first on the ground ahead. I say face first, but I don't think there's even a face left. Shot in the back of the hand, up close. "Shit," I murmured as I crouched beside the body.

"Movement behind the crates!" Ashely aimed her weapon, and I stood, rifle up. Hands shot up from behind first.

"Wait! Don't-Don't shoot!" he stood into view. "I'm one of you! I'm human!" he shouted, palpable fear across his face.

"Careful, sneaking up nearly got you killed," I stated calmly as I lowered my weapon.

"I… I'm sorry. I was hiding from those… things. My names Powell," Ah, is it? "I saw what happened to that Turian. The other one shot him." The other one? Like what Manuel said…

"Other one? Tell me how Nihlus died. Tell me everything." I made sure my helmet cam was recording.

"The other one got here first. He was waiting when your friend showed up. Your friend called him Saren. I think they knew each other. Your friend seemed to relax, let his guard down… And Saren killed him. Turned his head into that blue bloody mess of brains on the floor," Powell shuddered. "I'm just lucky he didn't see me back here…"

"Where did Saren go afterwards?" I questioned.

"He jumped on the cargo train and headed to the other platform. Probably going after the artifact thing. Ugh…" Powell shuddered again. "They killed everyone. Everyone! If I hadn't been back here, so would I!"

"Not everyone here died. Group of farmers lived. They mentioned you as being their contact…" I trailed off. I was convinced now the man had nothing to do with it, but if he has something to help us fight off the Geth…

"Ah shit… I'm glad Cole's alive but, damn it… but… what does it matter now? Everyone's fucking dead!" he exclaimed, on the verge of breaking down.

"Smuggle anything we could use to fight these bastards off?" Powell perked up a bit.

"Uh… yeah. Yeah. Shipment of grenades. No one notices a few small pieces missing from military orders." I was about to ask for him to hand it over, when Ashley had had enough.

"You greedy sonuvabitch! We're out here trying to protect your sorry ass and all you can think about is how you can rip us off?!"

"I never thought you'd actually need them! This is Eden Prime! A bunch of farmers! No one could have expected this!" Powell defended.

"Relax, Williams. Not worth it," I tried to calm her.

"You're lucky he's here, Powell," Ashely sneered. "Hand em over." He didn't hesitate. More grenades always helps.

"In the meantime, I'd think of a way to make it up to the dead marines, Powell," I began to turn, expecting he'd probably go enlist later on, or… something. Turns out, he had something else.

"I got something else. Experimental. Take it," he handed it over as well. They were also grenades, but a high explosive prototype. Well, they'll be getting some field testing.

"Thanks, Powell. Alright, move out," I ordered the others as Powell just began to scramble off in the opposite direction. Good thing for him too, because as we moved to the ramp down to the cargo train, there were more Geth. The close range meant we simply held down the triggers and they collapsed before they fired themselves, splattering hydraulic fluid everywhere. On the walled platform above the train itself, we had an excellent sightline on a number of Geth on the cargo train. So, we used it to mow down many them before we had to move on to the cargo train itself. Then, push to the front so we could activate it to make its way towards the beacon. They were waiting for us, but at range. So, I just pulled out my sniper as Kaidan and Ashley gave me some suppressive fire.

There was a larger Geth, slowly lumbering towards us. It survived one shot to the head, though it's headlights were flickering. And a second put it down before it caused any problems.

"Textbook work. Get moving," I encouraged. I made my way to the controls and keyed it to move to the other platform. Where the beacon should be. As the train was coming to a stop, I could already see that the area had plenty of Geth. And, besides the platform we'd leave the train from, a bloody bomb.

"Cover me!" I ordered, as I crouched beside it and began disarming it. My Omni-tool connected with my HUD and displayed the proper process from its scan of the bomb. Cut a wire here, send a signal here, and it was disarmed. With that, I led the others up a catwalk to the upper level. Likely where the other bombs would be, and, of course, more Geth. As confirmed by the gunfire. To our luck, at least, they were concentrated on the adjacent side. That meant I could snipe, while Kaidan and Ashley suppressed. It's a tactic that continued to work. And so, before long, we had disarmed a total of four bombs. Would have leveled the entire area. We moved to mop up the last of the Geth, but were looking out amongst a large, molten crater. This had to be where that massive ship had touched down. It certainly left its mark on this place.

Fortunately, the beacon was right there. Just a few more Geth, and another one of those corpses to put down first. It was a task quickly accomplished. The Beacon was shooting a kind of… green beam up towards the sky and enveloped in a barely visible green aura. I activated my comms.

"Normandy, we have the beacon. Requesting immediate pickup."

"Good work, Shepard. Inbound to your coordinates," Anderson answered.

"Thank you, sir. But, there's more. Unfortunately-" I glanced back at the others. Ashley was getting close to the beacon, and I had a bad feeling. Really bad. The beacon then glowed green and seemed to be pulling her in, closer. Instinct kicked in, and I moved Kaidan out of the way as I knocked Ashley away from the beacon. Now, just left with itself as it held me in front of it, firmly. Somehow. It lifted me into the air in front of it as I felt my mind burn. I grunted in pain as images flashed in my head. Images of blood, of metal, destruction and of death.

Everything faded to black.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hey guys, just a few small things Imma say real quick. First, for the newbies, that body that Ashley described? Laura? Reference to my Andromeda story. Additionally, want to say some things about the weapons. In the Mass Effect lore, plasma weapons, which the Geth use, would be ENTIRELY unaffected by Kinetic barriers (shields.) They would just pass right on through. Obviously, Bioware couldn't do that in game because that would be OP as fuck. And I can't really include it, because, come on, fucking plasma rounds? They'd be down after a single shot. They'd be like Jenkins. I can't write a believable story where no one on the crew ever takes a shot at all, to the shields or otherwise. Third, and final, just mention about the armor cam. It's without a doubt standard issue for marines. I mean, hell, the one in the distress call had one. I assume they all do. Especially high-level operatives, like N7, so they can review the op afterwards or get the most accurate report. All that shit. And I'll be making use of that later, don't you worry. I'm consistent like that. Anyways, hope you enjoy, and see ya in the next one!