Storm Rising, by potionsmaster
Rating: T for language
A/N: More routine missions. Yes, I know the game has them go through the Arcturus Prime relay in the beginning, but I already messed with canon to get them on missions before Eden Prime. Deal with it.
Chapter 4: The L stands for 'Leroy'
Kaidan felt a little tense as he sat in the copilot's chair on the bridge. He had training to fly shuttles, but a frigate? He supposed he knew enough to make it work, but it wouldn't be pretty if he were the only one left to land the thing. He shoved the thought to the side, trying to concentrate on the upcoming relay jump.
"Hey, did you see Shepard was already suited up?"
Joker didn't take his eyes off his flashing screens when he interrupted the lieutenant's thoughts. Kaidan rolled his lips inwards as he thought; he had run into the commander earlier that morning in the showers, then again later in the mess around breakfast. Shepard had been in his BDU's at the time.
"No, but I'm not surprised. He seems like the type to be prepared for anything. Nihlus is in his armor, too."
"Yeah, but he's always in his armor. It's like he's afraid someone's going to attack him while he's on board."
"Maybe, but he didn't really have an overnight bag packed when we picked him up. I wonder what he does with the under-armor."
"Your captain had the foresight to have a few provisions already on board for me. My under-armor has been adequately taken care of," came a quiet, strange voice from behind them. The turian had managed to sneak up behind them. Kaidan threw a guilty look over his shoulder at Nihlus. Joker kept his head straight ahead, eyes wide.
"Sorry, sir...we were unsure if we were able to provide proper hospitality to you on such short notice," Kaidan said, wanting to smooth over a potential issue. Nihlus didn't seem perturbed by it, though.
"It had already been attended to, Lieutenant. Thank you for your concern. Captain Anderson requested me to give the order: begin the relay approach." The turian folded his arms across his chest. Joker scowled.
"Initiating transmission sequence. We are connected...calculating transit mass and destination. Relay is hot, acquiring approach vector. All stations, secure for transit. Board is green, approach run has begun."
Footsteps made Kaidan glance over his shoulder again. Commander Shepard was indeed already in his hard-suit, the blood red stripe down his right arm gleaming in the ambient light. He had his brow furrowed as he gazed out the window, determined look on his face. Kaidan wondered if he knew something the rest of the crew didn't.
"Hitting the relay in 3...2...1 -"
Kaidan felt himself get slightly pressed back in his seat as the Normandy was catapulted into the next system, the stars in the observation windows becoming distorted by the shift. He turned his attention back to the monitors in front of him, tracking the emissions and energy input/output gauges.
"Thrusters – check. Navigation – check. Internal emissions sink engaged. All systems online...drift...just under 1500 k..." Joker reported, still not looking back. Kaidan kept his focus on his monitors, noting the energy surge from hitting the mass relay was receding. He barely registered the commander approaching the cockpit.
"1500 is good. Your captain will be pleased," Nihlus said before walking away.
"I hate that guy..." the pilot grumbled. Kaidan fought not to roll his eyes.
"Nihlus gave you a compliment. So...you hate him."
"You remember to zip up your jump suit after the bathroom..." Kaidan tuned Joker's ranting out as he saw Shepard move into parade rest behind Joker's chair, watching the expanse of stars. The helmsman was always a little touchy when he had people looking over his shoulder. He could sympathize; nobody enjoyed being babysat.
"...Besides, Spectres are trouble. I don't like havin' him on board. Call me paranoid," Joker finished his griping.
"You're paranoid," the lieutenant shot back, "the council helped fund this project; they have a right to send someone to keep an eye on their investment." He thought he heard the commander suppress a snort at the 'paranoid' comment.
"Yep, that is the official story. Only an idiot believes the official story."
"You always expect the worst..." Shepard broke in. Kaidan stole a glance at him. Joker scowled at his monitors.
"Occupational hazard," he grumped. "Something's up, I swear. I've never been on a shakedown that was this fully staffed. I mean, I know the Normandy is a special case -"
"Joker! Status report!" Anderson's voice barked through the comms.
"Just cleared the 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. Better brace yourself, sir; I think Nihlus is headed your way."
"He's already here, Lieutenant. Tell Commander Shepard to meet me in the comm room for a debriefing." Anderson's tone had a bite to it as he signed off abruptly.
Joker shook his head. "You get that, Commander?"
"Yeah, I heard. I'm on my way..." Shepard tossed over his shoulder, striding down to the CIC.
"Is it me, or does the captain always sound angry?" the pilot shook his head again as he pinged the nearest satellite.
"Only when he's talking to you, Joker. Can't possibly imagine why..." Kaidan lifted an eyebrow at the other man, voice dripping in sarcasm.
"Oh, har har," Joker grumbled, actually looking at the lieutenant this time. Kaidan laughed at the dirty look he got. "You're so funny, your face."
"My face what?"
"Just 'your face'."
"What?" Kaidan guffawed, "That doesn't even begin to make sense!" He watched the notification of the comm buoy link flicker, then flash steadily as the signal grew.
"Your face doesn't make sense? Might wanna see Chakwas about that..." Joker said smugly, "How did your mother stand looking at you growing up, then?"
Kaidan rolled his eyes as he confirmed connection to the buoy.
"I'm fuckin' gorgeous, I'll have you know...you should be so lucky to – wait a minute...stand by..." The consoles chirped in front of him and Joker, signaling an incoming transmission. Joker acknowledged it and a vid popped up. Gunfire immediately sounded while a helmet cam's shaky image bloomed on the main screen, a marine shoving whoever had the helmet cam to the ground.
"We are under attack, taking heavy casualties! I repeat, heavy casualties! We can't – eed an evac!"
More explosions and gunfire as soldiers dropped on screen. Kaidan felt the blood drain from his face.
"They came out of nowhere! We need -!" the speaker fell backwards, dead. An unidentifiable giant ship appeared on the screen, strange appendages flexing on the bow of it. Kaidan shuddered; it almost looked like a metallic hand or some kind of sea creature from the deep.
"Shit! Shit, shit, shitshitshit, shit..." Joker whispered, keying up the comm room in his headset, "Captain. We got a problem...Transmission from Eden Prime, sir! You better see this..." He hit a few buttons and set the vid to play in the comm room. Kaidan thumbed the 'all-call' over the comm line.
"Marines, stand by for further instruction. All crew, battle stations! This is not a drill, repeat, not a drill. Be at the ready!" the lieutenant snapped, then cut the page. The CIC burst into a flurry of activity.
"Everything cuts out after that, no comm traffic at all...just goes dead," Joker said earnestly into his mouthpiece. Kaidan hurriedly logged out of the copilot terminal. Shepard was marching up from the CIC, long legs eating up the distance. Jenkins was close on his heels, trying not to look excited and failing horribly. He stopped halfway to the bridge.
"Alenko, with me! We're going ground-side. Double time, soldier!" Shepard said brusquely, jerking his head towards the stern. His brow was furrowed in determination.
"Aye, aye, Commander, on your orders," Kaidan jogged to catch up, then fell into stride with the two men. Jenkins was practically buzzing with anticipation in the elevator down to cargo bay. Shepard debriefed them as the lift crawled.
"Scuttlebutt was correct; this is more than just a shakedown. A Prothean beacon was uncovered on Eden Prime and we need to secure it. Once it's in our possession, the Normandy will transport it back to the Citadel."
The commander's voice was terse. He rolled his neck as the elevator hit the deck. Jenkins raised his hand, bouncing on his toes. Kaidan bit his cheek in amusement at the enthusiasm; it was like watching a little kid.
"Is Nihlus coming with us? I saw him leave the comm room before you and he was hustling."
Shepard pursed his lips, impatient for the door to open. As soon as the familiar hiss sounded, he was through the opening.
"He'll be on the ground with us, but I can't say for certain if he'll be in the squad or not. Kit up."
Kaidan was working on the clasps to his shirt as he made his way to his locker. Shepard stood by the work bench, checking his weapon load out. He looked on edge.
"Everything alright, Commander?" the lieutenant said softly. His under-armor was like a second skin as he slithered into it. Shepard spared a glance towards him, fumbling with his pistol for a brief moment. Kaidan didn't say anything as he locked his greaves in place. The commander craned his neck, looking for his other squad member. Jenkins was on the opposite side of the cargo bay; his locker was behind the Mako.
"That's not the only thing that's going on, LT...Nihlus is here to evaluate me," Shepard muttered. Kaidan leaned closer, fixing his mag-lock harnesses to his chest and back plates.
"Oh?"
"He put my name forward as a Spectre candidate."
"Congratulations! Is that why he's been tailing you on board?" Kaidan worked his gauntlets on, making sure he could activate his omni-tool over it.
Shepard holstered his pistol and exhaled noisily, leaning against the work bench. The elevator moved in the background.
"You noticed that, huh? Yeah..."
Jenkins came over at that point, helmet already on.
"Thank god we don't need rebreathers...Mine still smells funny after the last mission," he said, eyes bright. "I wonder if we'll run into anybody I know."
The elevator opened to reveal Anderson and Nihlus. Kaidan checked his omni-tool once again, more out of habit than anything else. Shepard pulled his headset from his helmet and fixed it in his ear.
"Temps on the ground are a little hot for helmets," he said, "Kinetic barriers should take care of anything; just make sure your charge packs are working. Stealth is the name of the game, gentlemen, and cover is your friend. Wait for my mark and we should be fine."
Kaidan gazed at the commander, excitement coursing through him. He could admit to himself that he was anxious to see Shepard in actual combat; supposedly the man was like a ghost. The enemy barely knew he was there. Nihlus' stark white colony markings stood out against his dark armor as he and Anderson approached, grim looks on their faces. The turian had added red tribal markings over the white, looking like blood on bone. Kaidan was impressed by it; he remembered being intimidated by similar ones at Jump Zero. They reminded him of skulls.
The parallel between Nihlus' colony markings and Shepard's N7 delineations was not lost on him. He wondered if the turian was going to be teaching his XO how to be a Spectre or simply observe and report to the Council. Shepard certainly had the collected confidence that Nihlus did, and seemed to have the quiet determination as well. He pushed the thoughts to the back of his head and focused on the captain. He couldn't afford to let his thoughts drift.
"This place got hit hard, Commander. Hostiles everywhere. Keep your guard up."
Shepard's stomach was in knots at Nihlus' words in his earpiece. The second they hit the ground, Jenkins had gone pale. His home planet was in chaos: fields were burning, no colonists to speak of, an eerie quiet lingering in the opressive heat.
"Oh god," he whispered, "What happened...?"
"Smells like smoke and death," came the lieutenant's quiet answer, his dark eyes darting around. Shepard could have hit him upside the head for that; Jenkins swallowed hard and his assault rifle wavered slightly as he peered around. The commander caught Alenko's eye and gave him a hard stare. The lieutenant winced in return, an almost imperceptible nod for an apology. They moved down the path and a lumpy, white thing floated by.
"What the hell are those?!" Alenko said, alarm evident in his voice. Jenkins chuckled thinly as he replied.
"A gasbag. Don't worry, they're harmless...watch." He shot one and it popped, remnants of it fluttering to the ground like morbid confetti.
"Damn!" the lieutenant swore, "was that really necessary?"
Shepard scowled at Jenkins. "Don't waste your shots," he snapped. "You just gave away our position."
"Sorry, sir..."
The corporal was chagrined into uneasy silence again while the squad moved forward on the path. Shepard crouched behind a rock, straining to see up the trail. The other two followed suit quietly. The commander glanced behind him and caught Jenkins' eye, signaling him forward. Alenko plastered himself to another rocky outcropping, looking over his left shoulder and pistol at the ready.
Jenkins hunched over his assault rifle, gliding up the path as he swept for signs of enemies. Shepard was about to give Alenko the all-clear when his attention was snapped back to the corporal's cries of pain. The corporal's body hit the ground with a sickening thud, assault rifle skidding away from the limp hands.
Shepard pulled out his sniper, squinting through the scope in time to see three floating robot drones firing energy blasts. Sound faded away to static in his head as he blew out his breath and held it, dialing in on his target.
FWOOMP!
He felt his ears pop and a blue shimmer in the corner of his left eye as he squeezed the trigger. The sharp report of his rifle and the ensuing shower of sparks from the drone weren't enough to keep him from glancing left at the lieutenant. Alenko was covered head to toe in a blue aura, throwing a ball of energy of his own at one of the remaining drones.
"...what the - Keep it up, LT!" he yelled, fighting the recoil, "I didn't know you used biotics!" The drone Kaidan threw with dark energy smashed into a tree, exploding on impact.
"You didn't ask!" the lieutenant yelled back, blue miasma dissipating around him. He threw a sabotage at the last remaining drone. Shepard's rifle cracked another round harshly, exploding it. Alenko scouted the area, making his way to Jenkins' body.
"Perimeter secure, Commander." Shepard stuck his sniper back on the mag-lock harness as he walked up to Alenko. The lieutenant was on one knee, gently closing Jenkins' eyes.
"Ripped right through his shields..." he said quietly, standing up and facing his XO. He handed the commander Jenkins' dog tags, "He never had a chance."
"We can't help him now. Sometimes marines die. The rest of us have to carry on. We still have to find that beacon," Shepard said regretfully. He flipped the tags over in his hand. Richard L. Jenkins. He honestly didn't know Jenkins all that well, but he knew the corporal helped keep the morale of the crew upbeat. This would be a blow to everyone on board. He sighed, refusing to dwell on it. Kaidan gazed at him steadily.
"Aye, aye, sir."
They continued up the hill and paused at the ridge, looking into the trees. With a glance at each other, they pulled their pistols and ducked from cover to cover, expecting the worst. They were not disappointed; more drones engaged them. Shepard knelt, leading his targets before popping some rounds in them. He felt hyper-aware of whenever the lieutenant did a throw or used his barriers, feeling the change in air pressure.
As they caught their breath, they heard Nihlus over the comm again. A glare reflected in the brush off the path and Shepard went to investigate, popping his rifle on his back.
"I've got some burned out buildings here, Shepard. A lot of bodies. I'm going to check it out...I'll try to catch up with you at the dig site."
It was a med kit. Shepard grabbed the extra medigel, adding it to his inventory. Alenko nodded in approval.
"That was lucky, sir. Can't ever have too much of that stuff around."
"Agreed, LT," Shepard pulled his sniper from the mag-lock harness again. "So I read in your file that you're trained as a field medic?"
"Yes, sir. Dr Chakwas and I went over field protocols early on; I can patch you up enough to get back to the ship in fairly decent shape. She's the surgeon, though...I just assist if needed. I thought the biotics were mentioned in my file, too..." he broached the topic cautiously.
They exited the cover of the forest, trees rustling in the hot breeze. The air was close and heavy as they started down the slope. Shepard loosely held his sniper in front of him, blue eyes scanning ahead.
"It is, but it also said you chose not to focus on them when you enlisted. I didn't see any particular extra-curricular training notes with them, either, so I just assumed that you didn't use them. Your tech training is much more comprehensive."
"I...came trained on how to use my biotics already. I felt there wasn't much the Alliance could teach me about them that I didn't already know."
Shepard nodded and held up a fist, stopping in his tracks. The lieutenant followed suit. Footsteps pounded towards them and the familiar energy weapon blast from the drones.
"Time to go," the commander said, hefting his rifle before darting down the trail, "Got my six?"
Alenko shook his head as he activated his barriers again, following suit.
"Always, Commander."
To borrow Fredricks' phrasing, 'this shit is for the birds' just about covered everything, Kaidan decided. The marine they rescued from the drones had been one of the ones in the SOS vid he and Joker had picked up: Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams of the 212. As far as she knew, she was the lone survivor of her squad and battalion. Shepard had been kind, but direct in his questions to her about the situation. They were both shocked speechless when she gave her assessment on the human sized mobile units.
Geth.
And then those spikes...he felt his stomach churn when a pair of the geth held a wounded soldier on one and a large point suddenly erupted, carrying the body as it impaled the soldier through the chest. He took note of other bodies pierced and dangling; they were unusually gray and shriveled. He tried to ignore them while the chief talked, but it was difficult. They made him uneasy. He turned his back on them, focusing on the converastion.
"...aren't any turians on Eden Prime. None that I've ever met. Not sure I'd be able to tell if one was a Spectre, anyway," Williams was saying. The commander was listening to her while sifting through a couple of crates on the ground.
"If you saw this guy, you'd know. Carries enough firepower to wipe out a whole platoon. Luckily he's on our side," Kaidan broke in, realizing Shepard was asking if she had seen Nihlus.
"Sorry...like I said, no turians," she replied testily.
"Ha!" Shepard interrupted. "Heads up, LT!" Kaidan caught an ammo modifier that added radioactive traces to his rounds. He did prefer anything that increased the damage over time threshold. He glanced at the commander still digging in the crate as he popped his magazine and fitted the mod. Williams had her brow furrowed.
"The beacon's at the far end of this trench...sir," she said, carefully avoiding any type of inflection. Kaidan himself was a little perplexed why Shepard was so preoccupied with the containers until a suit of light grade Scorpion armor appeared. Williams' eyebrows arched as she whistled in appreciation.
"No wonder we weren't allowed to get in those," she said, "They were holding back."
Shepard looked smug as he linked her hard-suit up to his omni-tool. Her stats pulled up next to the lieutenant's and his own on the holographic image. He scrolled through the various menus, comparing damage limits and shield capacities, mobility, and physics thresholds.
"Old trick I learned way back when. You'll never know what you'll find...Alenko, you'd benefit the most from the biotic and tech protection. It's yours if you want it."
Williams' jaw dropped. Kaidan himself blinked a couple of times, then said, "I'll take it. If you're sure you don't want it for yourself, sir..."
"Nah. You go ahead. Williams here has Phoenix armor; it has a built in medical interface. That'll suit her. You need the increase in stats more than I do currently. Come to think of it, Chief, take the anti-personnel rounds mod. I bet when you add that to your assault rifle, you'll be unstoppable."
Kaidan finished swapping the armor out and Shepard managed to compact the spare Onyx suit into his inventory. Williams still had a dubious look on her face while she fixed her new mod on her gun, but didn't say anything.
"Move out, keep to my nine and six...cover whenever possible," Shepard demanded, pulling his sniper off the mag-lock harness and holding it at the ready. "If I say 'duck', duck."
"Aye, aye..."
"Aye, sir."
They went made quick work of the geth surrounding the dig site. Shepard picked them off easily, Kaidan providing sabotage attacks as requested. When they reached the site, there was an empty pedestal.
"Huh...They must've moved it. It was here this morning," Williams said, scraping the dirt with her boot.
"Which side, though? Ours? Or the geth?" Kaidan asked. He wasn't really expecting an answer.
"Change of plan, Shepard. There's a small space port up ahead. I want to check it out. I'll wait for you there."
"Double time, marines...I don't like the look of this," Shepard muttered, jogging up the ramps. They crested the hill and saw more of the spikes with shriveled, gray corpses on top. Kaidan got an uneasy feeling as he surveyed the area.
"It's a good place for an ambush. Keep your guard up," he cautioned.
"Yeah," Shepard agreed, "barriers, LT. Keep them up." He shot the lieutenant a half-grin before turning back down the path. A few more steps and it all went to hell.
"Oh, god! They're still alive!"
The spikes started lowering with a metallic groan, the bodies twitching as they reanimated. The eyes and what he could only assume was a replica of vital mobility systems lit up with an eerie blue glow. He activated his barriers and immediately fanned out, laying down cover fire. He couldn't help thinking that the bodies were just dried out husks that used to be human.
"What did the geth do to them?!" Williams gasped as she threw herself behind a boulder. Shepard knelt, trying to line up a shot. The glowing bodies were moving too quickly for him to get a bead on them, Kaidan realized, and biotically threw the one that was closest to the commander. He received a grateful look, then -
"DUCK!"
He knelt down immediately and Shepard fired over his head. He felt electricity fizzle and snap over his barriers as a husk went down behind him. Williams was laying into another one that was zig-zagging towards her.
"Whoosh...little close, there, Commander...I don't know how I feel about you pointing a gun at me," he said, targeting the last husk with Williams.
"It was either that, or a grenade. Didn't think you'd appreciate the other option."
"Yeah, I don't think I would enjoy that very much."
Williams was a little breathless as she joined them. Shepard pulled their stats up on his omni-tool; so far no injuries. They moved forward and found a pair of scientists locked in a shed. Kaidan found himself surprised at how diplomatic his XO was. Williams was rolling her eyes at Dr Manuel; he didn't seem very stable and wasn't making much sense.
"We're done here...Williams, take us to the space port."
The three of them started jogging down the path when a distant pop sounded ahead of them. Shepard shot a look at Kaidan. He shrugged back, tension seeping into his shoulders as the commander opened the radio channel.
"Nihlus...come in. Nihlus...report. Hello?"
The comms were silent.
"Shit...let's move, soldiers..."
They all were on edge as they continued on the trail, eyes peeled for any sign of movement. They caught sight of the space port when they topped the hill.
"Heads up! More husks..." Kaidan reported, firing up his barriers again. Shepard pulled his pistol this time. Williams peered through her scope.
"Husks?" she asked, confused. "Looks like they have company...there's geth down there, too."
Shepard pushed past her, eyeing his own sightline. He tossed a grenade near the spikes, then blew it with his omni-tool. Williams instantly started spraying the weakened husks with a hail of bullets. Shepard and Kaidan traded shots with the geth troopers below, shields and barriers fizzling with impacts. One stubborn geth refused to stay down, so Kaidan unleashed a ball of blue energy at it. It didn't get up again.
"All clear...we should move, Commander," he said, holstering his pistol. Williams rolled her shoulders, amped from the firefight.
"Let's get the bastards," she said. They moved down the embankment, past the piles of flaming debris. Shepard led them past another locked shed, but stopped dead.
"Did you hear something?" he asked, glancing at the prefabricated hut. Kaidan shrugged.
"No, but that lock looks like the one the scientists had toggled. Might be worth checking out, seeing if there're any survivors."
Shepard investigated, activating his omni-tool.
"Williams, take point for scouting. Make sure nothing gets close."
"Aye, aye, sir."
Kaidan watched as the commander connected his omni-tool to the lock.
"Looks like a quick and dirty encryption job...shouldn't take too long," Shepard mumbled.
"I wonder why they did it. Think someone was hiding something?" Muffled noises erupted from inside the shed. The commander furrowed his brow at it.
"We're about to find out, I think."
"You sure? It looks like it's on a timer. You're about to -"
"Damn..."
"- get locked out. Here, let me -" Kaidan moved next to Shepard, shoulders brushing as he connected his own omni-tool. The commander lifted an eyebrow at him, then relinquished the position.
"Be my guest, if you think you can do better," he said amusedly. Kaidan heaved a sigh.
"System locked us out. I can jury-rig it with omnigel, though. Permission to use some of the reserves?"
"Granted, LT."
"You know, Shepard, I thought you'd bust this with a hard stare. I mean, you are proficient in tech..." Kaidan said conversationally, applying the gel to the lock. Shepard chuckled.
"Yeah, but I'm better at dismantling than 'fixing'. I can hack and do decryptions, but I have to sit and think about my next move."
Kaidan glanced over his shoulder, shooting him a wry grin. "Lucky for you, I'm quick." The lock popped open and he trained his pistol on the door. Williams focused on the door as well.
"You know, you two sound like an old married couple," she muttered to him while the commander greeted the farmers who emerged. He snorted.
"If you say so, Chief."
After Shepard had gone round a few times with the farmers, he was fed up. Nothing was going right. Jenkins, dead. Nihlus, dead. No sign of the damn beacon. Dead civilians. And a smuggling ring. He rooted through the shed, looking for anything useful. He found an encrypted weapons locker. The lieutenant cleared his throat when they poked the lock.
"Do, uh...d'you want me to, uh..."
"I got it, LT." Shepard connected his omni-tool to the lock and started the sequence.
"Are you sure? It looks like it's the same kind of timed encryption."
Shepard smirked at him as the door popped open. "What kind of infiltrator would I be if I couldn't actually hack into anything?"
"A piss-poor one," Williams piped up. They looked at her. "What?" she shrugged. Shepard laughed.
"Move out. We gotta find Nihlus."
Shepard chewed his bottom lip while he frantically disarmed the last charge, trying not to flinch as bullets peppered the wall beside him. He could feel the hum of Alenko's biotics, working hard to keep the geth at bay. Williams was an absolute beast with an assault rifle, he discovered; all he had to do was tell her to target one specific enemy and they were cut down. They were taking some hits, though. He'd already used half the medigel reserves. He hoped there wouldn't be many more geth.
He ran down his mental checklist of everything that had gone wrong so far and added 'Spectre murdered by another Spectre' at the bottom. Shepard truly wondered if there was some god or other deity that he had pissed off in another life. He sighed with relief as the bomb blinked inactive.
"How're we doing?" he asked, looking at his squad's sweaty faces. Alenko's heavy brows were furrowed, but he looked calm.
"Doing well, sir," came the determined response.
"Fine, Commander," the chief's answered, "let's go kick some flashlight heads back behind the Veil."
They headed down the stairs and into the waiting arms of more husks. Shepard could tell his team was starting to get fatigued; they almost let themselves get flanked. Alenko made good use of his biotics by throwing every opponent he could find, allowing the squad time to regroup and pin the downed enemy with a barrage of bullets. A precursory investigation after the area was secure gave them a few more weapons and equipment they could bring back to the Normandy.
Alenko walked towards the rail, gazing at the razed expanse of field.
"That must be where the ship landed..." he said quietly.
"Looks like someone dropped a bomb," Williams pointed out bluntly. Shepard turned his back on them, activating his earpiece. The lieutenant walked towards the glowing green spire.
"Normandy! The beacon is secured..." He walked a few meters away from the squad, giving coordinates.
"This is amazing! Actual, working Prothean technology. Unbelievable!"
"It wasn't doing anything like that at the dig site," Williams said, turning her back on it. She walked towards the commander.
"Something must've activated it..." Alenko muttered, peering at it. He edged closer.
"Roger, Normandy. Standing by," Shepard ended transmission and nodded at Williams. She nodded back, checking her mag-lock harness. The lieutenant was near the beacon. Shepard watched for a moment; it almost looked like he was being dragged in.
"SHIT!"
Alenko started struggling, leaning as far back as he could. He fought as his arms started to get spread out. Shepard pushed past Williams, barreling into the lieutenant. He wrapped his arms around the lieutenant's torso, throwing him out of the way. Too late he realized that he had exchanged one problem for another: he tried to resist as the field dragged him in, arms spread out painfully. His eyes rolled in his head, a searing pain in his skull. Confusing flashes of red, planets, and blood swam in his mind.
"SHEPARD!"
He could barely register Alenko shouting his name.
"NO! Don't touch him!" Williams shrieked, "It's too dangerous!"
Shepard was thrown backwards onto the platform, rolling a few times. He fought to keep conscious. The last thing he saw was Kaidan's worried face over his, omni-tool glowing over him. He tried to speak, but words wouldn't form. All that came next was darkness.