Mass Effect

Collected Fates

The First of the Adrian Shepard Trilogy

IV - The Beacon

One of the husks tried to clasp its claws around Shepard's neck from behind his back, only for it to be put down by gunfire from Nihlus. He turned about face, only for another husk to run at him, leaping as it charged past the Turian and down the hill. The Commander let loose a cry and proceeded to meet it halfway, grabbing an outstretched leg before calmly slamming down into the hillside before shooting several times with bursts from the Avenger rifle.

Quite calmly he continued up hill, and as Nihlus continued to shoot towards him, Shepard looked behind him to see an immense swarm of the desecrated bodies. Turning back around he continued to walk backwards uphill, firing sporadic bursts into the see as Kaiden and Saren appeared alongside Nihlus, joining the fire with bursts from their Avenger and Phaeston, respectively.

They began to whittle down the numbers within the horde a squad at a time, when somebody needed to reload they withdrew slightly before rejoining the fight. One by one the husks fell, their corpses trampled underfoot by their fellows.

Within a short amount of time, the husks were gone, a sea of grey in their place. The sheer number of corpses reached from the small stream where they had emerged to the base of the hill where they stood. Shepard looked up, and in the amber sky of the planet, he saw the red cloud, and within it a form, immense beyond imagining, floating within. He raised his rifle

"That must be where they're coming from." he stated, as the others looked to where he was pointing. The Turians looked to one another, their mandibles flared just enough to show that they lacked cheeks to cover the side of their mouths "Meaning that...their arriving from the Starport! Alenko, with me!" Kaiden proceeded to follow that order, and both spectres got the basic idea of it.

One biotic to one soldier.

The two groups proceeded to follow the stream towards the Starport, before clambering back out when they were close enough. Almost immediately there sense of smell was overpowered by a sickly sweet reeking and the smell of burnt flesh. Taking the opportunity to investigate, Kaiden nearly being sick at the sheer thickness of the smell as they drew closer to the large pile of corpses that were burning. Shepard merely grunted before looking to the starport and walking off. Followed first by Saren, then Nihlus and Kaiden.


As they entered the compound they found themselves beset by a group of husks. In a tight corridor - a ruined conveyor ran alongside to the left, leading to the transport rail. To the right was a crane, situated behind several more crates. Kaiden let loose with a biotic throw, tossing aside one of the husks into a crate, before flopping limply onto the ground. Saren chose to forgo biotics in favour of firepower, phaeston rifle roaring as he emptied the clip into the oncoming group. Nihlus and Shepard joined him, before Kaiden took Adrian's place, as the commander began to duck and weave towards the husks, a wild grin on his face before he blasted one in the face with a Katana shotgun.

With a simple nod, he continued forwards, taking care to blast each of the husks in the head as he passed them, reloading as he finished. Given the fact that the normandy was supposed to dock at the starport in order to pick up the beacon and accompanying scientists, it was all too likely that the beacon was going to be in an outlying storage room. They passed an open vent, only for them to hear whimpering and sobs. They paused, and with their guns pointed at the opening to said grate, Shepards right hand - which was sheathed in its omni tool - lit up and he knelt in front of the grate

"Who's in there?" he asked, his voice dropping to a softer tone "Its okay, you can come out now." at this the sound of scuffling could be heard, as could banging sounds from within the vent as a young child's head popped out, followed by the rest of him, then a lady clad in Alliance military colours, then a man in a mix and match uniform. At the last two Shepard looked very...strange. As if in a mix of anger and pride "Names, rank."

"Gunnery Sergeant Ashley Williams," was the first introduction. The man looked at the kid, who was still crying weakly, before turning to Shepard, 'Ashley' stepped in, a look of disgust on her features "Civilian contractor Gerasin Kuklov." Kuklov merely bobbed his head in deference to the four

"We his the pipes to protect several dock workers." he looked to the child "Go tell them it is safe now, lad." the child nodded and darted off into the pipe. Several minutes later a few more people emerged, the child at the front once again "All I know is that his parents are dead. They ran here from the hut up on the hill outside, the restless caught them."

"I need to know where the the beacon is." Shepard stated, looking to the other end of the corridor "We need it off world, now." Ashley pointed in the general direction that shepard was looking in. With a grim nod the four - or rather, small crowd of people armed with various shooting implements, mostly pistols - headed towards the room containing the beacon.


They were surprised by its simplistic appearance, to say the least. for a race of advanced aliens, the beacon resembled nothing more than a pillar on a stone slab, pulsating green. Strangely enough, while they were progressing through the facility they had heard a deep rumble, and as they exited they saw the hive like structure of the Collector vessel leaving the atmosphere, covered by the red cloud. Shepard stepped closer to the beacon, to make certain it wasn't rigged with an explosive trap.

Nothing happened.

Shepard activated his omni tool, before fiddling about with it and sending a brief sign designating it as clear for extraction. Soon enough the Normandy appeared, lowering the boarding ramp as several of its crew stepped out.

With a deep rumble, Shepard was hoisted into the air as the beacon activated and all hell broke loose.


Author's Notice: First of all, allow me to apologise profusely for the relatively short chapter. Second of all, it will be all that can be published before I leave the fiction writing for a while. A fortnight or two at most. As usual, please leave a review.

Until then, I bid thee adieu.