Paradise Lost

"It was supposed to be a coffee and cake run," Chakwas reminisced. "Eden Prime, the garden world, the jewel in the Alliance's colonial crown. A simple shakedown. In hindsight, of course we all had our suspicions about Nihlus, even if we played them down, but even if the Captain had told us the truth up front, we could never have imagined the mission would snowball the way it did..." She sighed pensively. "The moment we got that distress call, the galaxy changed irrevocably."

"Shit," Kowalski breathed. "This is what I'm talking about. For everyone else, this is something you read about on the extranet... assuming the extranet still exists." He frowned suddenly. "Wait, if the extranet's gone, that means my subscription to Fornax... awwww, come on! That was a month's pay up front! God damn it..."

Karin stared at him, and he blushed furiously, right to the tips of his ears. "Shit. Sorry, Doc. Stupid to get worked up about something so unimportant, right?"

"Not at all," Karin disagreed with a grin. "You obviously thought it a worthy investment. I'll ask around if you like, see if anyone's got a hard download they might be prepared to share."

"You're awesome," the private beamed. "And here I thought you were gonna tell me I'd go blind."

"I'm not your mother, Kowalski. In fact, as your doctor, I'm pleased to see that you're displaying such a normal, healthy urge for a young man."

He sighed. "There was this one pic... nothing crude, just a candid shot of a naked asari, lying on her front on a bed. She's just lying there, feet kicked up behind her, eyes closed like she's imagining her dream guy, and... oh man. We had it pinned under the hatch in our Mako. Called her Bella. She was our good luck charm. Even the girls used to cop a feel on the way by, she was so hot."

"You marines and your asari girls," Karin chuckled. "Did you ever graduate beyond the picture?"

Kowalski laughed. "Me? You gotta be kidding. I never even got out of the Skyllian Verge after I got through with boot camp. I was deployed in the Fifth fleet, on patrol in Arcturus and Petra, peacekeeping along the Batarian border. And when the Reapers came through we hauled ass back here." He wrinkled his nose. "There was that one bar on the Arc - Aeon - where they sometimes had asari dancers touring through, but they were strictly officer rations. Beyond a grunt's pay grade." He shrugged. "Helluva incentive to make OCS, I always thought. Anyway, where was I?"

"Things you read on the extranet..."

"Ah yeah. You were right there when the galaxy changed. It's not a story for you, it's a memory."

"And not a happy one," Karin offered gently. "For a variety of reasons, that turned out to be a very, very bad day."

As the Normandy picked away from the drop point, Chakwas returned to the infirmary. Her assistant, Chief Emerson, was already working, checking their inventory, making preparations for incoming trauma cases. It seemed certain from the distress call that there would be casualties among the colony's citizens. Normally Karin would have assisted him, but as this was the crew's first ground mission, she wanted to monitor the shore party closely, make sure that everything was up to spec with their combat trauma systems.

"Shore party to Normandy, confirming comms," Shepard's voice sounded as Karin settled to her terminal, donning a communications headset and bringing up a window showing the topographic HUD that the squad would use to navigate.

"Normandy, confirming," Lieutenant Lowe, the communications officer, responded. "You are lima charlie, Commander."

"Suit telemetry looks good, Commander," Karin confirmed. "Good to go from my side."

"Ship perimeter clear," Alenko reported.

"OK. Let's move." Shepard's order was given with calm authority. Predictably, Shepard had the lowest heart rate of the three-man party, with Jenkins' anxiety already spiking within a few minutes of leaving the LZ. "Oh God," he whispered, "what happened here?"

"Normandy, shore party," Shepard broke in. "The colony looks like it's been hit pretty hard. There's a lot of smoke up ahead, seems like most of the town is on fire. No response on any military or civilian channels. Also, we're seeing sporadic energy weapons fire at range. No signs of survivors as yet. Moving in to investigate."

"Roger that, Commander," Anderson acknowledged. "Exercise extreme caution."

"What the hell are those?" Alenko, his sharp exclamation accompanied by a peak in his vitals.

"Gas bags," Jenkins supplied after a tense moment. "Don't worry, LT, they're harmless." Despite his assurance, the corporal sounded frightened.

Silence for a few moments as the team skirted the edge of a small pond, then Shepard spoke again. "We've got some bodies here, Normandy," she reported dispassionately. "Pretty badly burned. Three, four... no, five. Headed away from the colony — they were running from something."

"Tagging their co-ordinates for clean-up," Alenko added.

"Keep moving," Shepard commanded. "Spread out, advance by cover. Something killed these people, we don't know what, and we don't know if it's still out here. Keep your eyes peeled, take it nice and slow. Jenkins, you hear me?" A pause. "Jenkins!"

Uh... yeah, sure."

"I'm not your damn girlfriend asking if you want a beer, marine! Do... you... get... me?" Shepard bellowed.

"Ma'am, yes, ma'am!" Jenkins agreed with alacrity. "Nice and slow, ma'am!"

"All right, move it out."

A minute ticked past in taut silence as the team made their way up a low hill just outside the colony. Karin glanced at her telemetry readings as the marines paused to check their surroundings. Shepard and Alenko were green on all screens, but Jenkins' heart rate was still climbing, and his adrenaline levels were sky-high. Tuning to the corporal's mike pickup, she could hear his breathing, fast and panicky. "I gotta help," he was muttering. "I gotta get there, we gotta go. I'm coming, just please be alive, please..."

Karin hastily switched to Shepard's private comm feed. "Commander, Jenkins is..."

"Yeah, I know, Doc, thanks," Shepard cut her off softly. "Hold up, we got another body. Looks identifiable. Visibility is compromised, though - I don't like that corner. Alenko, move up on the flank. Jenkins, hold position and cover the LT. If it's clear, I'll go in."

"Moving," Alenko confirmed, his marker on the HUD advancing. "Yeah, I can make out a little more detail from here. Looks like a kid..."

"Jenkins!" Shepard's sudden shout of warning caused a feedback loop to squeal viciously over the comm, but through the electronic storm Karin could clearly hear someone swear, then screaming, then the grinding, guttural roar of assault rifle fire. Wincing, she slapped the volume down as dread clawed at her, her reluctant gaze drawn magnetically to the medical telemetry in time to see Jenkins' vitals flatline. Oh, no.

"Shit, shit, shit!" Alenko barked as the rattle of weapons fire died away. "All targets down, repeat, all targets down. Where the hell did they come from?"

"With me, LT!" Shepard snapped. "Normandy, Jenkins is down, repeat, Jenkins is down!"

"What just happened?" Anderson demanded. "Shepard? Shepard, report!"

Ten seconds of awful stillness, then the words Karin already knew were coming. "Jenkins is dead, sir," Shepard replied stonily. "We encountered hostiles, airborne mechanical drones of some kind. They opened fire on Jenkins when he was out in the open."

"Ripped right through his shields," Alenko reported, sounding sick. "He never stood a chance. He just ran right out there, I couldn't stop him. Shit." The lieutenant drew a shaky breath. "D'you think... he said he had a little brother..."

"Maybe," Shepard responded. "Doesn't matter right now."

"But..."

"Alenko?" Shepard broke in, quiet, but firm, "Alenko, you need to listen to me, OK? Done is done. We'll see that he gets a proper service when the mission is complete, but right now I need you to stay focused, you hear me?"

Alenko sucked in a sharp breath. "Aye aye, ma'am."

"Good. It's just you and me now. We keep it together, we both go home. Stay frosty." Shepard's comm channel clicked off as she switched to a private line to the Captain for a moment, then clicked back on. "OK, negative contacts. Let's move."

"I've got some burned out buildings here, Shepard, and a lot of bodies." Nihlus' report broke through the shock of the moment. If the turian had heard what had happened to Jenkins, he gave no sign. "I'm going to check it out. I'll try to catch up to you at the dig site."

"Copy that, Nihlus," Shepard acknowledged coolly. "We're starting to get resistance, drones of some kind. Watch yourself."

The Spectre did not respond. Charming fellow, Karin thought, but really, she could hardly blame him. Jenkins was their comrade, not his. She bit her lip as the image of the young man lying on the deck, laughing hysterically after Kaidan had thrown him around biotically, flashed through her memory. Then she pushed her grief down, locking it away to process later. There was still a mission to complete, and lives might depend on her focus.

"Contact," Shepard reported crisply, jerking Karin back to the moment. "Hostiles, look mechanical, moving in on a target, looks like a human. Strike that, two humans, one a prisoner, one making a break for it."

"Oh my God!" Alenko exclaimed. "They just impaled that guy on a spike!"

"Take 'em down!"

Gunfire bellowed over the comm, followed as always by a moment of shocking silence, then Shepard's voice. "All clear, negative contacts. Looks like we found ourselves a stray grunt. Standby, Normandy." Her mike went off-line.

Karin rubbed her eyes, looked away from the screens for a moment, and caught the gaze of her shocked nurse. "Jenkins," Emerson almost whispered, "he's..."

"There's nothing we can do for him, Chief," Chakwas said sorrowfully, "but we still may be able to save other lives today."

Emerson nodded heavily and returned to his tasks, just as the XO's comms came back on line. "Captain, we've picked up a Gunny from the two-twelve; she believes she's the only survivor from her unit..."

"That was Williams, right?" Kowalski interrupted eagerly. "The Gunny?"

Chakwas laughed. "I don't think I need to tell this story, do I? You seem to know so much already." She patted Kowalski's knee reassuringly as he pouted at her. "Yes, that was indeed Ashley, though I wasn't properly introduced until a while later..."

"Sir, Williams has identified the hostiles as geth. Visual inspection seems to bear that out — I'm uploading omni-tool scans for verification."

"Geth?" the Captain queried incredulously.

"Yes, sir. A lot of the colonist have just been shot, but the geth appear to be using some of them for... I dunno, some kind of ritual." Shepard's voice was ice cold, totally dispassionate. "They're being impaled on metal spikes that appear to have been brought in specifically for the purpose. The Gunny confirms the apparatus wasn't here this morning. We'll keep you informed - we're moving up to the dig site now. Williams is tagging along to lend a hand. I'm patching her into our comms network."

"Good," Anderson grunted. "Check in when you can."

The team progressed swiftly to the dig site, facing down another ambush with ease, and reported that the beacon was gone. Karin watched intently as they made their way toward the research camp beyond the dig, noting Alenko's stress levels were climbing as the exertion began to take its toll. Shepard, in contrast, remained baseline calm, as though nothing the mission threw at her could shake her focus, until, after clearing the camp of hostiles, she made her next report.

"I think we figured out what these spikes are for, Normandy." The XO's voice was no longer cold, thickened with anger and revulsion. "They're turning the colonists into zombies."

"Say again, Shepard?"

"The colonists that have been impaled are... changed. Sending vid footage of one of the corpses. Once they notice you, they attack, and they don't stop till they're dead. So far that's been manageable, but if there are any large groups we could be in real trouble."

Karin accessed the commander's upload and recoiled in horror. "Good God!" The bipedal creature on the ground resembled a human in physical form only. The body was laced with cybernetics, the eyes replaced with lights, and it was completely hairless, with all identifying features skewed by the rictus stretched across the blue-white, veined face. "Shepard, can you get a biometric scan, please?"

"Copy that, Doc. Alenko, take a biometric scan and upload it to Dr. Chakwas. Williams, with me, let's check that prefab out."

The data from Alenko's omni-tool began to scroll up Karin's screen. "There you go, Doctor."

"Thank you, Lieutenant. Can you take a few close-ups of the implants as well, please? And repeat the scan and take some photographs of the geth."

"This isn't a science field-trip, Doctor," Alenko objected, his tone harsh with stress. "We're in hostile territory here."

"And if we run across the geth as an enemy again, this data could be invaluable," Karin pointed out.

"Do it, Lieutenant," the Captain ordered shortly.

"Aye aye, sir."

"Normandy, Shepard here. We found two survivors from the research team - Williams can vouch for their identities. The two-thirty-two are confirmed as a total loss. Dr. Warren told us the beacon was moved to the spaceport for transport. We're heading there now to rendezvous with Nihlus."

"Roger that, Shepard," Anderson rumbled.

"What is that? Off in the distance?" Alenko gasped.

"It's a ship!" an unfamiliar voice, obviously Chief Williams, replied. "Look at the size of it!"

"Uh, Normandy, that alien ship from the distress call is taking off," Shepard reported. "You might wanna watch your six up there."

"Now we find out if the stealth systems are worth the price we paid," Anderson observed. "Shore party, we're going radio silent. Continue to your objective as planned."

"Lima Charlie, sir. Shore party out."

"Joker," Anderson ordered, "confirm rigged for silent running, and shift orbit. I want the planet between us and that ship."

"Aye aye," the pilot confirmed. "Stealth systems are engaged, coming about to new orbit trajectory."

The deck shifted beneath Karin's chair, but she paid it no mind as she opened the data files uploaded by Shepard and Alenko, getting her first good look at a new species. The geth had not ventured beyond the Perseus veil in over two centuries, and as a result virtually no human had ever laid eyes on one. Karin had seen archive pictures of the AI race that had driven the quarians from their homeworld, but the images from Alenko were much clearer, depicting a bipedal form similar to their parent race, with a single ocular sensor mounted in an almost disproportionately small head. But then again, having been designed rather than evolved, the geth were unlikely have their primary CPU housed in such a vulnerable site.

"Negative contact," Joker reported over the comm a few minutes later. "Hostile vessel has cleared the system horizon."

"Damn, that was fast," Anderson observed. "Normandy to shore party. We're clear. Shepard, report."

The sound of gunfire echoed once more in Karin's ears. "Standby, Normandy," was Shepard's terse response. Seconds ticked by, then the XO spoke again. "All clear. Normandy, repeat your last."

"What's your status, Commander?"

"Fubar, sir," Shepard responded tiredly. "Nihlus is dead."

"What?"

"The Spectre's dead, sir. Someone blew the back of his head off at close range. We have an eyewitness source - one of the dockworkers - says that another turian killed him. Said it looked like Nihlus knew him, addressed him by name."

"What was the name?"

"Saren."

"Saren?" the captain blurted, sounding shocked. "You're sure?"

"That's what he said, sir. Mind you, I don't know that I'd call our witness reliable - he's a smuggler, and pretty badly shaken up." Shepard sighed. "The geth tried to detonate explosives - looks like they were trying to cover their tracks. We've dealt, and we're nearly at the beacon - with your permission, sir, we'll get it secured, and then we can try to figure this mess out."

"Get on it, Shepard. The sooner you have that damn artefact, the happier I'll be."

Karin could hardly believe what she was hearing. First Jenkins, then the geth with their strange cyborgs, the alien ship that looked born of a nightmare, and now Nihlus was dead, supposedly at the hands of another turian? "Captain, I'm having a hard time processing all of this," she remarked, switching to a private comm line.

"You and me both, Doc."

"This Saren character - you sounded as though you knew the name?"

Anderson huffed a sigh. "That's a long story, Karin. I... hang on, the ground team's reporting in."

"We're clear." Shepard sounded relieved. "All hostiles eliminated. Normandy, we've secured the beacon. Requesting immediate evac from these co-ordinates."

Mission accomplished. Removing her headset and setting the comm feed to pipe through the infirmary speakers in the background, Karin got to her feet. "All right, that sounds like we've achieved our objectives," she observed. "Emerson, could you see to getting a grav-sled to make pick-up on Jenkins?"

Of course, Doctor," the chief agreed.

"Get Chief Crosby to draft some marines to help you," Karin suggested. "I'm sure they'll want to bring him home. Once the Commander's secured the beacon, we..." She trailed of as the telemetry alarm wailed again, and William's desperate shout echoed across the open comms.

"Shepard's down! Shit! Medical emergency! Shepard is down, repeat, Commander Shepard is down. We need evac!"

A/N: So, it's not my intention to go into this level of detail on every mission, as Chakwas' story is not necessarily tied to events on the ground, but this one time, since so much is set in motion by what happens on Eden Prime, I wanted to take a close-up look. And also, because Jenkins deserves his five minutes in the limelight... Thanks for reading, and for all the reviews and feedback - it's always great to hear from you guys!