I suck. I really do. But please don't hate me- school, especially as an International Baccalaureate, makes it hard to write, and keep writing. But, my dear readers, I assure you, Chapter 4 will come much sooner. Maybe not nine months, probably seven.
I kidd, of course.
Please enjoy.
"This is Eden Prime Communications Center, Adam City. We've found something that higher-ups may be interested in. It seems we uncovered some ruins whilst clearing farmland, and our local history teachers seem to think it's prothean. This transmission is encrypted the best we can, so we don't attract more attention than we want. We request a formal Alliance team to come and investigate, as soon as possible. Eden Prime out."
"This is Eden Prime Communications Center…" Saran played the message twice on his omni-tool. The transmission search algorithm he had 'acquired' from one of Harkin's contacts paid off. When Saren connected it to one of his many remote servers, and pointed it towards the Traverse, he was able to bounce a signal around thousands of comm buoys to pick out any transmission with any related keywords he desired. 'Prothean ruins' were pretty high on his list.
In the years since his encounter at Camala, he had started a vigorous black operation of preparation and surveillance. Using his Spectre resources, careful to disguise himself from Valern, he was able to set up a vast network of contacts and safehouses. If there was going to be a galactic scale invasion, he was going to do everything in his power to win it, or prevent it, salarian style.
In truth, the reality of an invasion scared him. The idea that he was the only one who had any idea how to stop it scared him even more. Saren hated being scared.
Though, several months after he began his efforts, he sat down in his house on Palaven. It seemed like his first break in days. He had spent countless hours prior calling in all manner of favors to acquire weapons, secure contacts, set up safehouses, tap transmissions. Once he sat down to breathe, really breathe, the weight of reality caught up with him.
"I'm stocking up for a galactic war all on my own," he thought. And, despite his stress, he felt, almost alive. His body was more energetic and his mind more focused doing this than any operation or mission he had done under the Council. Sure, he was enforcing galactic peace, but there was never any tangible outcome. Saren often felt like the only thing he was doing was making the galaxy emptier, rather than saving lives.
With this, he was invigorated. He was determined with a clearly defined goal. And he knew, deep inside, that what he was doing was going to make a difference. This was his purpose in life, and this gave him drive.
When he became stressed, he always removed his shawl for a minute. The cloth was Valluvian, handmade on Palaven. It was a formal piece of clothing from his religion, of the old spirits of his homeworld. The spirits watched over him and guided his actions for the better. It gave him small comfort and reassurance of his plans.
And now, years later, it seemed the spirits were pointing him in the direction of Eden Prime, a human colony in the Traverse. Completely unremarkable in every way, and yet something about the transmission made his fringe twitch. Saren felt like this unremarkable colony was the place that he needed to be.
So he punched in the coordinates, and sat back as the mass relay carried his shuttle into deep space.
The SSV Normandy's engines hummed with energy. The stars raced past at faster than light speeds, creating the effect of flying through a river of swords. The dim glow of the cockpit display illuminated the room with gentle and vibrant orange light.
And Joker was discreetly trying to disguise the fact that he was watching porn from his co-pilot while flying the ship at ten times the speed of light. Kaidan didn't mind. Joker was witty and sarcastic, and quite fun to poke fun with when Anderson wasn't around. Besides, as long as he kept his headphones on, not even the muffled moaning of Ei Teela vas Boom Boom could interrupt his peace of mind.
The sound of clawed boots on the deck broke his meditation, however.
"Joker," he hissed, tapping his hand on the dashboard. The footsteps loomed closer, and the pilot's attention was entirely focused on something Kaidan didn't even want to know. "Joker!"
"Report?" Kaidan stifled a laugh of pity as his friend jumped about three feet in the air above his chair, switching off his secondary console with inhuman speed.
Kaidan snuck a glance at the newcomer. Nihlus Kryik was a turian Spectre, the official 'ambassador' from the Hierarchy aboard the Normandy for its test run. He was shorter for a turian, but no less intimidating. His black and red armor held several extremely deadly weapons on his back. Kaidan half expected him to fall over or stumble, or at least slouch with all that weight. Though, Kaidan had to admit, the guy had some shred of professionalism. He gave Joker a facial expression Kaidan assumed was the turian equivalent of raising one's eyebrows as the pilot reacted then struggled to recover his flight data, but allowed Joker to compose himself before responding.
"Erhm…Thrusters, check. Navigation, check. Internal emissions sinks engaged. Board is green. Drift just under 1500k."
Nihlus's mandibles bristled. "Good. Your captain will be pleased." And with that, he strode out of the cabin. Joker let out a huge breath.
"I hate that guy," he admitted.
Kaidan chuckled. "Nihlus gave you a compliment, so you hate him?" Joker gave a snort of derision.
"I just jumped us half way across the galaxy and hit the target the size of a pinhead! I don't know if turians have a different number system than us, but a drift of 1500 should never, in any context, ever be anything below phenomenal!" he fumed.
"You're just mad that he caught you watching porn."
"Shut up, LT," Joker grumbled, halfheartedly throwing a datapad at Kaidans face. His copilot ducked, grinning. "Besides, I don't like having Spectres aboard. They're trouble. Call me paranoid."
"You're paranoid," Kaidan shot back. "It's understandable that the council would want to oversee their little investment."
"I wouldn't exactly call it 'little', Alenko," A new voice rang out. For the second time that day, Joker nearly fractured a collarbone leaping out of his chair. Kaidan suppressed a frown as a slim hand grasped the arm of his chair, and tried to keep his gaze away from his superior officer. "That's a term I like to use for something else Joker likes to pilot in his spare time,"
Joker snorted again. Olivia Shepard chuckled, her red hair ever present even in Kaidan's peripheral vision. When she noticed the lieutenant trying extremely hard to read the same line of data over and over again, she giggled again. "What's the matter, LT? Can't take a little humor?"
"No ma'aam. I mean, yeah, but…" His cheeks burned, and it was all Joker could do not to burst out laughing. Shepard asked again, oblivious. "What, Alenko, cat got your tongue?"
"Not really a cat, more like-" Joker ducked, this time on the receiving end of a flying datapad. Kaidan turned, his gaze locked with the commanders, momentarily caught for breath.
The commander was not what Kaidan would normally call beautiful, but there was a certain elegance to Shepard that he found intriguing. She was not tall, but fit, with strong arms for a woman and subtle curves held in place by her officer's uniform. Her face was very pretty, with auburn hair tied back in a military ponytail and freckled cheeks. Kaidan couldn't help but get flustered whenever he talked to her; he wasn't attracted to her, not sexually, but something about her presence rubbed him the wrong way. When he had told Joker, the pilot had taken that a bit too literally, and thus made it his mission to annoy the living hell out of him.
Kaidan mused that he would have found Shepard attractive if it weren't for her eyes. They were a sharp, electric blue. Other men on the ship found it pretty sexy, but it just unnerved him. Sure, they were bright and flashed when she laughed, but there was an underlying danger to him that made him feel as if the commander was more than she let on.
They flashed again as she shot Alenko one of her signature grins. "Just kidding, LT. No need to get violent." She lifted her hand from his chair, and her smile dropped slightly, though her eyes betrayed a hint of something that made Kaiden's skin crawl. "Save it for when we get to Eden Prime."
"What's on Eden Prime, Alenko's voice?" Joker quipped.
Kaiaen scowled again and turned back to his screen, but stiffened when Shepard spoke again.
"Actually, we're pretty sure it's geth."
Kaidan spun, but the commander was gone. He saw Joker had done the same, incredulous. They shared a glance, both thinking the same thing. Geth, beyond the Veil? It seemed almost too far-fetched to be true.
Joker summed up the feeling in the room in two words.
"Well, shit."
Thoughts whizzed through Kaidan's heads faster than the bullets flying around the ship. The instant Shepard mentioned that they would find geth on Eden Prime, his analytical mind-though Joker just called it an anal mind- struggled to make sense of it all.
Geth had disappeared beyond the Perseus Veil centuries ago, after their war with the Quarians. Only their creators had had any contact with them at all, but Kaidan knew that those were more than likely small skirmishes and never anything with the magnitude of what Shepard and Captain Anderson suggested. Once he read the briefing alongside his companions, an eerie feeling in the back of his head told him whatever was happening had something to do with the Prothean ruins. After all, what other reason would a race of sentient machines want light-years from their stolen homeworld in the middle of the Attican Traverse?
` All that thinking brought on a mild migraine. Chakwas had given him a combat drug to help him focus on his way down to the hangar, but nothing could really take away that knot in his stomach, or the weight of his combat armor on his shoulders. He shifted, aware that he really shouldn't be complaining. He donned light armor and a single machine pistol- his own personal preference for a Sentinel class. His offensive and defensive capabilities lay in his biotics, not his marksmanship or brawn, and a field medic needed to be quick in order to respond to his teammates.
He gulped as he felt Joker steer the Normandy past what he assumed was quite a bit of enemy fire, judging from the muffled swearing in his comm. Kaidan had glimpsed geth fighters inbound, but he had faith that Joker would see them through. "Best damn pilot in the alliance," echoed through his head as he recalled the look of determination in his friend's eyes he had seen leaving the cockpit.
Beside him, the giant who called himself Corporal James Vega flexed his huge arms, sporting a huge set of armor to match the man himself. It was well polished and tough, and an equally ferocious shotgun was slung across his back, with his assault rifle gripped tightly in his bear paws. Despite his thuggish appearance, Kaiden knew that James was smarter than he looked, and one of the nicest guys on the crew. His big goofy grin and mean poker face were always a plus at the nightly gambles, too.
Vega sensed his discomfort, and patted his arm comfortingly, leaving a bruise on Kaiden's bicep. He winced, but managed to smile back at his friend. Vega beamed, but turned to attention the second Shepard and Nihlus walked in.
The Spectre looked no different than Kaidan remembered ever seeing him- carrying enough firepower for a small army and a look that could curdle sour milk. He stiffened to attention, and Nihlus nodded in acknowledgement.
"At ease, boys," Shepard commanded, struggling to remain upright as Joker maneuvered through a minefield of anti-aircraft and interceptor fire. She was outfitted in combat gear, as well- Anderson had assigned her to lead the team down, and she had certainly come prepared. She donned her N7 armor, to represent her military achievement. The 'N' designation was for Special Forces, the '7' for completing the highest level of training.
The telltale violet hue of biotics followed her, reminding Kaiden of her prowess. Although he carried an L2 implant, letting his powers spike from time to time, her L3n implants allowed her more control and stability. Coupling that with her natural strength in the field- noted, by some, to be the highest of any known human yet- and you had the one hell of a marine.
Her visage couldn't mask her eyes, however. Even in the dim lighting of the hangar bay, they were practically glowing blue. It made Kaiaen's skin crawl, but Vega gave no indication that he had noticed.
"Any advice for what we might find down there, ma'am?" He quipped, no nonsense.
Shepard frowned. "I have no clue. My best guess is to head for the center of the colony. Anderson said that that's where the Prothean artifact was. If the Geth are after it, then we need to acquire it in order to divert their forces away from these people."
Nihlus chipped in as well. "Be aware that no one, save the Quarians, have had any experience with these machines for hundreds of years. Expect the unexpected."
Kaidan and James nodded in affirmation. Shepard slipped on her helmet, and her marines followed suit.
The company braced themselves as the hanger doors opened, revealing the blood red sunset of Eden Prime bathing the fires and rubble of the colony in deep crimson. The ramp extended out, stopping several feet above the grassy earth, and Joker's voice quipped over the radio.
"Drop time 30 seconds. Go get 'em boys. Erm, ma'am."
Kaidan stifled a groan, but neither officer seemed to notice. Nihlus gripped his rifle and leapt down first, landing gracefully on his hind talons. Shepard went second, floating downwards with a hint of biotics trailing behind. Kaidan followed, successfully keeping his knees from buckling with a pillow of biotics. A large thud behind him Vega had landed as well. The Normandy's engines hummed as Joker steered it away from the landing zone, and off to safety. Kaidan watched it go, and mentally steeled himself. Go time.
The four settled into formation. Nihlus took point, Vega took rear. Kaiden stayed three steps behind the Commander, covering her back with two hands on his pistol and a third on his biotics. They moved quickly through the marshy hills, few words exchanged, except for a hand signal here and there.
Nihlus paused after a few minutes, then shot to the side, behind a tree. Shepard moved left, taking cover behind a rock with Vega at her back. Kaidan ducked behind Nihlus, as the turian held a raised fist and leveled his gun to his eye. Kaiden popped his head out mere inches to get a better view.
Two robots, who he assumed were geth, were positioned around a machine in the clearing ahead. The thing was strange mass of tubes arranged conically. Pale blue fluid seemed to emanate from the power cells at the bottom. A hovercraft of similar design floated a few feet from their position, and Kaidan realized with a sickening lurch that it carried human bodies. The two clicked and hummed in a strange mimicry of language, before the one on the left picked up a body and brought it over to the machine, placing it in the center.
Suddenly, a huge spike rose up from the thing and impaled the human through the chest. Kaidan gasped, and he felt Nihlus tighten in front of him. He braced his gun, and saw Vega readying his arsenal out of the corner of his eye as well.
Then, all of a sudden, a twig snapped, and the geth's attentions were diverted elsewhere. Out of the other side of the clearing came two humans, stumbling more than running, a man and a woman. Behind them came two flying drones blasting away with mass accelerator guns. The ground behind them was ripped apart as projectiles narrowly missed their feet.
The man noticed the new geth first. "Ash, look out!" he cried, swinging his shotgun back to face the old aggressors.
His partner, the one in white, got the hint, and leveled her gun at the geth. By that time, the two troopers had acknowledged the threat and raised their weapons. She ducked left to avoid the first volley, which flew past her and bounced off her partners shields. Two quick shots disabled the first geth, but the second was faster, and was able to return fire quick enough to push her behind a nearby ledge.
Her companion fared better. The blue tint of biotics flared in Kaidens vision, enveloping the man in a translucent violet barrier. The shots from the drones bounced effortlessly off him. A ricocheted shot glanced one of the drones flanks, sending it spiraling to the ground with a fiery crash. With a grin, the man crouched with his gun and delivered three slugs downrange, blasting apart the oblivious drones.
With horror, Kaidan realized his victory would be short lived. The human corpse, impaled mere meters away, had fallen off its hook and risen once more. This time, however, the face of a human colonist was replaced with a vicious, mechanical beast of a creature with deadly blue veins and pale, ashy, metallic skin. It charged with a shriek and tackled the man before he realized what was going on. He let out a frustrated grunt as he hit the ground hard, the monster screeching and clawing at his face with inhuman fury.
As his companion was pinned down, she growled in frustration at her helpless situation. The geth trooper kept up covering fire, ensuring that she couldn't move to assist her partner. At this point, Kaidan sensed a shift in his own group. Looking up, he realized that Nihlus had taken initiative and leapt up to lend reinforcements. With a glance at Vega, he followed suit, with Shepard not far behind.
Nihlus closed the distance between himself and the trooper in mere seconds. Silently, he flicked out his Omni-blade and dismembered the geth with a single leaping slash.
Kaidan, Vega, and Shepard wasted no time in jumping to the aide of the man, who was, more literally, pinned down by the mechanic zombie, who clawed at her face relentlessly. Vega raised his gun, and launched inhuman volley of massively accelerated projectiles, blasting the creature off the man and ripping apart its skeleton. When his clip ran out, The creature rose, somehow still standing after that barrage.
With that, Shepard answered its screech with a shockwave of biotics, lifting it up and slamming it down with enough force to shatter it's skull. The thing did not stir again.
Vega let out a whistle. "Damn. The hell is that thing?" He asked, his tone angry. "Some kind of geth voodoo?"
"I don't know…"Shepard replied, staring down the creature. Her eyes narrowed, and turned her attention to the fallen guard Kaidan was attending to. "You alright, soldier?" She barked.
The man was sitting upright, the side of his face bloody and ripped from the creature's furious attack. He winced as Kaidan applied the medi-gel, and looked over his less serious wounds.
"Yes, ma'am. Takes more than a few scratches to put me out for the count," he replied with a low, husky voice. He seethed again when the cool healing liquid brushed against his cut forehead.
"Easy…"Kaidan murmured. He was no Chakwas, but he knew the hints of a concussion when he saw them. Coupled with the beating his barriers took, he was surprised the marine hadn't collapsed already from the strain. This one was tough.
"What's your name, big guy?" he asked. Waving his omni-tool over the marine's forehead, he was surprised to find very little indication of severe head trauma. Small bruises on the outer edges of the skull and scratches here and there on the scalp, but there was nothing life threatening. Kaiden withdrew his omni-tool and stood, holding out his hand to brace his new comrade.
"Taylor, Jacob Taylor," he replied, taking Kaidans outstretched hand with a nod of gratitude. He looked around for his shotgun, and was pleasantly surprised to find it in Vegas hands, who returned it to its owner with a second nod of thanks. Raised voices turned their attention to the other half of their group.
The three men turned to find their companions in an almost comical example of a Mexican standoff. The woman in white armor had her rifle leveled at Nihlus' head, and the turian had responded in kind. Shepard held her pistol leveled at the marine, but a palm of biotics pointed directly at Nihlus. Kaiden reached for his biotics as Vega gripped his rifle out of the corner of his eye. This could get ugly, fast.
"-a turian, ma'am. On a human colony." He heard the woman say in a gruff voice, never flinching despite her situation. "We were just attacked. How do you know you can trust him?"
Nihlus response with laced with animosity. "How do we know that we can trust you? We just saw some kind of husk of a human try to kill your friend. How are we to know that the same kind of indoctrination has not happened to you?"
"I was shooting at the damn flashlight heads, you mother-" The woman shrieked, but was cut off by Shepard.
"Enough!" she yelled. Her voice silenced both of them. Kaiden couldn't help but wince as her shout echoed past with unnatural base.
"This 'turian' is Nihlus Kryik, a Citadel Spectre and licensed liaison for the council on this mission. You will get in line and treat him with respect, Chief," she growled. The woman gave her a second glance, and tentatively lowered her gun. Nihlus did the same, but not before getting the same treatment as his former opponent.
"Nihlus, if you ever pull a gun on one of my people again, I swear to whatever God that I will kill you without a moment's hesitation, no matter the consequences. Am I clear?" she seethed. Nihlus gave her a similar look.
"Shepard, last time I checked, I was the senior officer of this party," He spoke in that calm voice that Kaiden had come to associate with the delivery of veiled threats. Shepard took a step forward, and looked Nihlus in the eye again. The turian stood his ground against the petite woman, but Kaiden had a feeling that her eyes were giving him the turian equivalent of the sweats.
"Don't think, for one damn second, that I give two shits about your 'Council policy' when there are human lives at stake," she snarled. "Don't think that I give a damn about bloody chain of command when we are under attack from God knows who for God knows why." Nihlus kept up his air of indifference despite the commanders' brazen and insubordinate rant, but the medic knew enough about aliens to recognize the subtle nervous twinge of the Spectre's head fringe.
Shepard continued, undaunted. "So, if you want to arrest me, fine. You'll have to haul me across the rest of this colony in chains when you could have me save your scaly ass from some robot bullets. So once again, Nihlus, am I clear?"
Kaidan was sure if he was not sweating like crazy and with his biotics near busting, he would find the sight of a Turian Spectre admitting defeat to a human woman near a foot shorter than him quite funny.
"Crystal, Commander," he said flatly. His mandibles twitched, and Shepard stepped back down. Vega and Kaidan both let out sighs of relief, and she was at last alerted to their presence.
Kaidan winced as her eyes fell across both of them before settling on Jacob. The marine stiffened, but from her gaze or out of respect, Kaidan was unsure. She walked over, pistol still in hand.
"I don't think we've been introduced, marine," she said calmly, as if the previous few minutes had not occurred. "Staff Commander Olivia Shepard, SSV Normandy SR-1."
Jacob gave a curt salute. "Lieutenant Jacob Taylor, Eden Prime Garrison, ma'am," he replied, for the second time that day.
Shepard returned his salute, and turned now to the new woman, still a few meters to their left. She paced anxiously, always one eye on Nihlus and one finger on the trigger. At Shepards beckon, she jogged over the group, and arrived at attention.
"Gentlemen, may I introduce Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams, also Eden Prime Garrison," Shepard said. Nihlus gave a stiff nod. Kaiden and Vega both saluted briskly.
Jacob simply murmured, "Hey," under his breath. Williams shot him a quick grin, and stood at ease.
Unlike Shepard, Ashley's eyes, as far as Kaidan could see, were a deep, warm brown, in sharp contrast to the Commanders electric, energetic blue. They remained him of chocolates, all homely and rich, not sharp or dangerous. He liked them, and shuffled his feet nervously as Williams attention was drawn, once more, to Nihlus.
"What's going on here, Chief?" the Spectre asked inquisitively. Ash shared a look with the Commander, who nodded. Williams spoke up, tentative.
"At 0500 hours this morning we were attacked by some kind of ship, something like I've never seen before. We saw it's weapons take out the few gunships we've got, cut through 'em like butter, but it never turned them on us. Then, before we knew it, there were these geth pouring out of it like ants out of an anthill."
Jacob joined in at this point. "We're a small colony-not many defenses. The GARDIAN towers were taken down pretty quickly. The geth hit fast- as far as I know, we're the only soldiers who survived the initial attack. We think most of the colonists got into the hills, but they weren't here for people. Just that thing at the digsite."
Shepard and Nihlus shared a glance. "The prothean ruins, "Shepard murmured. "What do they want?" She took a few steps back, thinking. Vega kept his eyes on their surroundings, his big bear hands wrapped tightly around his rifle. Ashley moved to check on Jacob, though she kept an eye on Nihlus, a move the turian mirrored.
By now, the sun had set on Eden Prime. Dim fires burned around them, too far away but ever present, reminding them constantly of their situation. After a few minutes, Kaidan walked over beside the commander. In the light of the colony's moons, he could still make out her face, scrunched up in deep thought.
He put a hand on her shoulder, and the commander jumped. They locked eyes, and he saw the blue spark flickering out, replaced instead with a vulnerable look of a woman who was still, only human. He gave a reassuring grin and a murmured a few words of confidence. The shadow of a smile and the flicker of a thanks rose to her lips, but they were interrupted by a shout from Jacob.
"There it is!" he said in a hushed voice. Their company tensed up, and Kaiden looked up.
In the distance, a huge monolith rose out of the landscape of fiery ruins and forest. It was pitch black, standing out even against the navy blue twilight sky. The machine was massive, Kaidan saw, easily twice as big as any ship he'd ever seen. It was docked in the center of the colony, near where he assumed the dig site was. From a distance, he could make out huge ripples of energy flowing up and down its hull, bathing the machine in a vibrant, malevolent red. The sight of it gave him goose bumps, like the very air vibrated with negativity.
He felt Shepard shudder with a sharp intake of breath. He looked to see her stiffen, her gaze transfixed on the ship in the distance.
"Commander?" he asked, concerned. Shepard did not respond. He asked again, and shook her shoulder this time. Still no response.
Her eyelids fluttered, like she was blinking rapidly, but her eyes remained locked on the ship. His heart skipped a beat when he saw her eyes shine blue in the night, and another shake brought her out of her stupor.
Kaidan kept his hand on her shoulder, steadying her as she swayed. When she opened her eyes, he met her stare head on, trying, once again, to ignore the knot in his stomach when they peered into his soul.
"Shepard?" He asked again. "You okay?"
Her eyelids fluttered, but a grin spread across her face, the dangerous grin that always made him squirm.
"I'm fine, LT," She said. "Never…better."
Sovereign had made contact.
Explanations are in order, I believe.
Vega- Honestly, just covering my bases. I like to include everybody in my story, and James seemed the perfect guy to fit in this scenario. Sorry, no Jenkins. Much more epic.
Taylor- Because "I was at Eden Prime" really just doesn't cut it. And, quite frankly, I have a soft spot for the series' resident Old Spice guy. Don't worry, all you Taylor haters, he won't have a significant role until the alternative events to Mass Effect 2 come to fruition.
Which, I promise, won't take a decade to get to.
Anderson will return. And Joker will Joke.
Shepard will rise.
Dun dun DUN.
*Edit- Kaidans name is now officially 'Kaidan', not 'Kaiden'. Much thanks to TheRev28. Shame on the rest of you for not noticing. :P
