Author's note:
From here on, I hope to be able to have a new chapter every week.
Lieutenant Kaiden Alenko
"Commander, we've located the beacon."
"Copy that, Williams" We're on our way," replied Shepard over the radio. Kaiden got up from the geth he had been examining. He had hoped to pull its memory core to find out more about why the geth had attacked but it seemed that, like the other geth he had scanned, this one had flashed its memory core. Kaiden followed the Commander as they wove their way around piles of crates to meet up with Shepard and Williams. Within moments they came into sight of a strange grey obelisk with veins of glowing green running up its surface. It looked sufficiently alien that Kaiden concluded it must be the beacon even before he spotted Shepard and Williams standing a few meters from the thing. "Good work with the bombs, Shepard", the commander said nodding to his sister, "and good work keeping her in one piece, Williams." Kaiden could see Williams begin to blush slightly at the compliment. "Alenko," he continued and Kaiden turned to face him, "contact Anderson and let him know that we've…" The Commander stopped talking and sprinted towards the beacon. Kaiden turned to see Williams being dragged towards the beacon by an unseen force. In an instant the Commander reached Williams and threw her back towards the rest of the group. Kaiden's sigh of relief was cut short when the Commander rose into the air in front of the beacon, which had begun glowing even brighter than before. "John!" Shouted Shepard, her body tensing. Kaiden could see that she was about to try to pull him away from the beacon's grip. "Stay back!" shouted Kaiden, not knowing if it was the right decision. "We need to find a way to shut it off from a distance." Kaiden could see that Shepard was still ready to jump to the Commander's aid but she didn't get the opportunity as, at that moment, the beacon exploded knocking Shepard, Kaiden and Williams to the ground and sending the Commander flying through the air. Kaiden watched helplessly as the commander's helmeted head hit the ground with a sickening crack.
Shepard and Williams were kneeling next to the Commander's prone form within seconds, carefully pulling off his helmet and checking his vitals. "He's still got a pulse." reported Williams. "He's still breathing." added Shepard, sounding worried despite the good news. Kaiden activated his radio and tried to hail the Normandy, hoping that the jamming had stopped when the dreadnaught left. "This is Lieutenant Alenko. The spaceport is secure but we need immediate extraction. Commander Shepard is down. I repeat, Commander Shepard is down."
"Copy that Lieutenant." came Anderson's reply. "We'll have Chakwas on standby when we touch down. Anderson out."
Kaiden walked over to join Shepard and Williams. Shepard had her omni tool out and was scanning the commander. "His neck and back aren't broken but I can't tell any more than that. We need to get help." She said. Kaiden could hear the barely suppressed panic in her voice.
"The Normandy, the frigate that the Commander and I are stationed on, is inbound. The doctor on board is one of the best."
Shepard and Williams were kneeling next to the Commander's prone form within seconds, carefully pulling off his helmet and checking his vitals. "He's still got a pulse." reported Williams. "He's still breathing." added Shepard, sounding worried despite the good news. Kaiden activated his radio and tried to hail the Normandy, hoping that the jamming had stopped when the dreadnaught left. "This is Lieutenant Alenko. The spaceport is secure but we need immediate extraction. Commander Shepard is down. I repeat, Commander Shepard is down."
"Copy that Lieutenant." came Anderson's reply. "We'll have Chakwas on standby when we touch down. Anderson out."
Kaiden walked over to join Shepard and Williams. Shepard had her omni tool out and was scanning the commander. "His neck and back aren't broken but I can't tell any more than that. We need to get help." She said. Kaiden could hear the barely suppressed panic in her voice.
"The Normandy, the frigate that the Commander and I are stationed on, is inbound. The doctor on board is one of the best."
Within minutes the Normandy landed at their position. Despite the dire circumstances Kaiden couldn't help but admire the new frigate. It was a beautiful ship, built along much sleeker lines than normal human or turian vessels.
The Normandy's cargo bay opened and Dr. Chakwas ran down the ramp accompanied by two crewmen carrying a stretcher. At the doctor's orders, the Commander was carefully lifted onto the stretcher and carried to the med bay as the ship lifted off. The team followed her but were shooed out by Chakwas before she began examining Shepard's head.
At that moment Anderson walked onto the crew deck. "What happened down there Alenko?" he asked. "Where are Jenkins and Nihlus?" Kaiden took a moment to order his thoughts before replying.
"Sir, the forces attacking the colony were geth. Jenkins was killed during the first engagement and we found Nihlus dead, killed by another turian according to an eye witness. We tagged both with locator beacons for recovery."
Anderson nodded and activated the ships intercom. "Joker we have two locators in the vicinity, set us down for recovery operations."
"Aye sir." Came the unusually serious response.
"Now Alenko, who are those two?" the captain asked, pointing at Shepard and Williams.
"That's Gunnery Chief Williams and Lieutenant…" Kaiden's response was cut off when Shepard walked over to the two of them, removing her helmet on the way revealing her bright red shoulder length hair.
"Captain Anderson?" She exclaimed. Kaiden saw recognition cross Anderson's face.
"Why if it isn't little Cassandra Shepard." he said, "You've grown since I last saw you." A weak smile crossed her face. "It's good to see Captain, though I wish it were under better circumstances."
"He's in good hands." Anderson reassured her, "Chakwas is the best military doctor the Alliance has. Now, both of you take Williams and head to the armoury. No sense waiting around for news in full armour."
"Aye sir," replied Kaiden. He walked over to where Williams was standing at the entrance to the med bay. "Williams, come with me. We need to get our gear stowed." She followed without a word. The three of them took the slow ride down the elevator to the cargo bay, where they removed their armour quickly, none of them wanting to miss any updates on the Commander's status. The three returned to the main deck and sat at the mess table. A few minutes later Anderson walked into the mess area, gesturing for the table's occupants to remain seated. "I need to know exactly what happened." he said, "Starting with what happened to Shepard…" he gestured towards the med bay, making it clear which Shepard he meant, "and what happened to the beacon."
"It's hard to describe sir." said Kaiden "The beacon picked Shepard off the ground and then exploded. He was caught in the blast."
"It's my fault, sir." interjected Williams, "I must have gotten too close to the beacon and it started to pull me towards it. The Commander threw me out of the way but got caught by it himself." Williams looked apprehensive while Anderson considered this. "It doesn't sound like it was anybody's fault." he stated eventually. "None of the data we received about the beacon suggested that it would do what it did. Now tell me what happened to Nihlus."
Kaiden, Williams and Shepard spent the next hour being thoroughly questioned about every aspect of their encounter. Kaiden was exhausted by the time Anderson left to file his report and to 'make arrangements' as he put it. "I think it's time for some proper introductions." said Kaiden, breaking the silence. "I'm Kaiden."
"I'm Cass." replied Shepard
"Ashley" said Williams "or just Ash."
"So why were you on Eden Prime Cass?" asked Kaiden, hoping to get some kind of conversation going to break the sombre mood around the table.
"It was a stop over." replied Cass, "I was on my way to Earth for N6 training."
"You look a little young to be an N5." said Ashley.
"I'm hoping to break John's record for youngest N7 in history." replied Cass.
"John? That's the Commander, right?" asked Ashley.
"That's right."
"What was it like growing up with the hero of Elysium?"
Cass laughed. "Try to get a grip on that hero worship, Williams. John tries to hide it but that sort of thing really embarrasses him."
"Come on, what was he like growing up?" asked Alenko. He was very curious. He didn't know much about Commander Shepard's youth, despite having worked with him for over a year.
"John and I grew up on various alliance support vessels. Our mother refused dozens of promotions so that she wouldn't be transferred onto a ship that she couldn't have us with her on."
"What about your father?" asked Ashley.
"John knew him but I never did. He died in a slaver attack just before I was born."
"Sorry." said Ashley, looking embarrassed.
"Don't worry about it" said Cass, "Like I said, I never knew him." Cass was quiet for a moment before continuing, "John was sent away to the Ascension Project when he started showing signs of being a biotic. I was five at the time. He was signed up for the navy as soon as his training finished."
Alenko nodded. He was familiar with the not quite conscription that the Alliance practiced on biotics.
"Not long after he left, our mother was offered a position on the SSV Einstein. The Captain of the Einstein was willing to let me stay on the ship when it wasn't on manoeuvres. That's where I met Captain Anderson, by the way. He was the captain of the SSV Tokyo at the time." Cass shook her head, "But you wanted to know about growing up with John. I didn't see him from the time he left until he finished basic training but once he finished, he was the best older brother I could ask for." She smiled, "Whenever he could manage it, he'd arrange to have his shore leave while the Einstein was away on manoeuvres. The military bases I was left on while the Einstein was away weren't bad places but it was tough not knowing anyone there. John would pick me up and spend his shore leave with me. We still message each other regularly and try to meet up when we can," Cass looked around, "although had didn't mention that his new posting was on such a nice looking ship."
"Don't be too tough him." said Kaiden. "Almost everything about the Normandy is classified. All any of us are about to say to our families is the name of the ship and that Captain Anderson is the CO."
"So what's so special about it?" asked Cass.
"If I told you, I'd have to kill you." replied Kaiden, struggling to keep a straight face. Ashley and Cass Laughed, ruining Kaiden's attempt to remain serious. Before long, the conversation moved on to trivial matters. Kaiden was pleased, he had managed to get their minds off the Commander and they both looked
Half an hour later, the door to Anderson's cabin opened and he stepped out walking over to join the three at the mess table. "Shepard, the Normandy is headed for the Citadel. From there you have passage booked on a civilian ship headed for Earth. Expect a stopover of about two days."
"Thank you, sir." replied Cass.
"Williams, you've applied for a transfer to a shipboard posting six times in the past year. Correct?"
"That's right, sir." said Ashley, looking slightly sheepish.
"I've put in a request to General Heaphy of the 10th Frontier Division. Effective immediately you have been transferred to my command on the Normandy."
Ashley turned bright red. "Th-thank you, sir."
Kadin reached over and shook Ashley's hand. "Welcome to the Normandy, Chief." he said.
Anderson left the mess hall for the CIC leaving the three alone at the table again. Before Kaiden could try to start another conversation, the med bay door opened and Dr. Chakwas emerged. Cass immediately jumped up from her seat, hurrying over to the doctor.
"Before you start bombarding me with questions, young lady, the Commander is going to be fine. He had minor concussion and he bio-amp was overloaded."
"Is he awake?" asked Cass, looking ready to rush into the med bay.
"Not yet but now that I've finished working on him, there's space for one person to wait in the med bay for him to come to."
"That should be Lieutenant Shepard here." Said Alenko, before Cass had to ask. Ashley nodded.
"Thank you." Cass said simply and walked into the med bay with Chakwas.
Ashley stood in front of the door. Clearly planning to wait. "Ashley," said Kaiden softly, "why don't you go get your gear stowed? There are some spare lockers next to the armoury. You might want to give the Commander's rifle a once over before you return it too."
Ashley nodded. "Yeah, you're probably right." With that, Ashley left the mess hall, leaving Kaiden alone. He sat back down and began to write his report of the mission.
