Chapter 7

"Captain. We're approaching Eden Prime." Joker said into the comm.

"Lieutenant Alenko, Corporal Jenkins. Report to the shuttle bay." Anderson announced.

"Good luck." Joker smirked as Kaiden rose from his seat.

Kaiden shrugged and left the bridge. He stopped off at his locker, put on his armor, checked his assault rifle and proceeded to the shuttle bay. He cleared his thoughts to ready himself for the mission but not before wondering what the first mission with Commander Shepard would be like.

The majority of the crew liked her, some of the older crewman couldn't believe this 'hero' was so young. Kaiden had heard all the stories that were circulated by the crew regarding the heroics of their XO. Speculation about her had been rampant. He had decided to keep an open mind and had not formed an opinion yet.

Upon entering the shuttle bay, Kaiden could hear Jenkins chattering exitedly. He was telling anyone who would listen about his childhood on Eden Prime, his enlistment into the Alliance Navy and his eagerness to prove himself. Kaiden rolled his eyes as he joined his teammates.

Shepard stood quietly, waiting for the ship to get into drop position and Kaiden watched her, admiring her calmness as Nihlus and Captain Anderson briefed them about the mission and the suspicious incidences surrounding it.

"Nihlus," Jenkins said, companionably, "going with us?"

"No." Nihlus stated flatly as he headed toward the open bay door. "I work better alone." Nihlus stepped out of the ship as if he was walking onto a platform and not parachuting into a drop zone.

"Nihlus is going to scout ahead of you. Keep your eyes open and report back as soon as you learn anything." Anderson said.

Shepard nodded her helmeted head and said, "Yes, sir. " She turned to Jenkins and Alenko. "Move out!"

The three jumped out of the ship and parachuted to their landing zone. Kaiden looked around the site and cringed as Jenkins began to expound upon the flora and fauna of the region. Shepard's voice came over the comm, "Alright, let's head toward the colony and keep alert."

Eden Prime was beautiful; lush with vegetation, rich with wildlife; it had been the perfect planet for one of the first colonies. They followed a rough path that cut through a wooded area and headed toward the settlement. Shepard suddenly stopped and crouched. She motioned for them to halt. Kaiden quickly and quietly moved into cover. Jenkins was new, but he responded quickly to her order. When nothing appeared, Shepard motioned for them to move forward.

As Kaiden looked for his next cover, Jenkins walked out onto the path and gunfire erupted from in front of them. Kaiden raised his gun and saw two defense drones hovering in front of them. He quickly fired and used biotics to throw the machine out of range. The device exploded when it hit the rock formation behind it and Kaiden saw the other machine explode from Shepard's gunfire. Kaiden rushed to Jenkins, but Shepard had gotten there first.

He looked at Shepard, who was kneeling next to Jenkins. "We will take care of him as soon as we're finished the mission." She said, sadly, her compassion for the fallen soldier etching lines in her face. "Keep on your toes, Alenko. Let's move out."

Shepard stood up and continued cautiously down the path. Kaiden followed, a myriad of thoughts racing through his head. The sound of gunfire came from ahead of them and as they rounded a bend in the path, they saw one soldier ducking into cover, while another was killed by a strange looking being.

Shepard had rushed forward and was already engaging the enemy as Kaiden ducked into cover and began firing. The creature that had attacked was dead and Shepard was using her foot to inspect it.

"Thank you for coming!" The female soldier said, running up to them. "I'm Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams of the 212."

"What happened here, Chief?" Shepard asked.

"We were attacked. My whole unit was wiped out." Williams looked at Shepard, then at Kaiden.

Kaiden was looking at the attacker, which now appeared to be mechanical. "What is it?" he asked.

"I think they're Geth." Williams said.

"The Geth haven't been outside the Verge in decades. Why now?" Shepard exclaimed.

"I think they're after the beacon." Williams said.

"Commander. I've reached the first marker." Nihlus said over the comm channel. "There are signs of fighting here. I'm going to go on ahead to the outpost."

"Understood. We're right behind you." Shepard responded

Kaiden sighed, "What is going on here?" he wondered out loud.

"We're not going to find out by standing around." Shepard said, "Move out."

They followed the path toward the outpost where the beacon was supposed to have been found. As they approached Kaiden saw the area was swarming with Geth. He had read about them in a history class once and never thought he'd see one. They were sophisticated robots that had been created by a race known as the Quarians. The Geth were given artificial intelligence and had rebelled against their creators, causing the Quarians to flee their home world. They were extremely efficient fighting machines and the bodies of the soldiers Ashley had served with were lying all around as proof.

Large spikes rose from the ground in several places and some of the bodies were impaled. As they got closer, several spikes withdrew into the ground and the corpses that had been hanging from them stood and began to come toward them like some kind of zombie. "What did they do to them!" Kaiden exclaimed, as he raised his rifle to fire.

The zombie-like husks of the former human soldiers were fast and ruthless. They mindlessly attacked the trio while Geth troopers fired from cover. Kaiden ignored his growing headache and used his biotic abilities to kill the attackers.

When the area was finally secured, Shepard began searching. "Where's the beacon?" she asked.

"It must have been moved." Ashley responded, looking around the dig site.

Shepard ordered them to search the surrounding buildings for any clues that would lead them to the beacon. Kaiden headed for a building and cautiously opened the door. The small room he entered appeared to house the supplies for excavation. He quickly scanned the room to ensure that there were no hidden dangers then left to proceed on.

The next building housed computer equipment and Kaiden used his omni-tool to review and download the last logs. As he left this building, he could see that Ashley and Shepard were talking with a few survivors. He walked over to them and heard Shepard talking on her comm.

"Ok, Nihlus. We've found some survivors who need extraction, but we'll meet you as soon as they're taken care of." She closed her omni-tool and looked up at Kaiden.

"I downloaded the last logs, but they were recorded before the attack." Kaiden reported.

Shepard turned to Ashley. "Ashley, lead us to the warehouse area that Nihlus mentioned."

...

The warehouse area was defended by more husks and Geth. Kaiden began firing and used his biotics to shield his teammates. The fight was beginning to take its toll on him. He was going to have a major migraine after this. That was the trade-off for his biotic abilities. He was able to harness massive amounts of power, but the side effect was the headache that accompanied that use of power.

When Kaiden's mother was pregnant with him, a transport carrying the newly discovered energy source named Eezo, crashed near their home in Vancouver. The resulting exposure to the Eezo corrupted Kaiden's DNA. When he was old enough, he was given an implant to help regulate the biotic ability and enable him to learn to use it.

Kaiden usually used his ability sparingly, to prevent major debilitating migraines, but the enemies they were now facing were using power weapons and were skilled in tactics. He fired his weapon killing a husk that had flanked him and used his biotics to throw three more away from Shepard.

This group of enemies was doing its best to stall Shepard and her team. Kaiden was flanking Shepard as they made their way closer to the buildings and the central area of the compound. Suddenly an enormous roaring filled the air and the ground shook. Looking up, Kaiden watched as the ship from the briefing came into view. It spread its elongated legs as it landed on the opposite end of the colony.

The last of the geth were dispatched and Kaiden stood looking around, trying to stem the tide of the migraine that was building.

"I've been unable to contact Nihlus. Look around and see if you can find anything." Shepard instructed.

They spread out and began working their way around the area. Kaiden climbed some steps that led to a receiving area for crates of supplies. There was a tram line to one side and he surveyed the stacks of crates looking for any clues.

"I found a body over here." Ashley called over the comm.

Kaiden hurried to Ashley's position and looked at the body. "It's Nihlus." Kaiden said and look sadly at Shepard.

A sound from behind a pile of crates startled them and they raised their weapons as a dockworker came out. "Don't shoot!"

"What happened here?" Shepard asked.

The terrified man said, "I was hiding when I saw that turian walking around the docks. Another turian came up to him. Your guy seemed to know the other one and called him 'Saren'. Then when your guy relaxed, Saren shot him."

Shepard shook her head, "Saren. He's another Spectre."

"Yeah, but why would he kill Nihlus? Isn't he some sort of hero?" Kaiden asked, confused.

"We're not going to find out standing around here," Shepard said. "Where did Saren go?"

"I think he headed for the tram car." The dockworker replied.

"The tram goes to the other side of the outpost," Ashley said.

Shepard showed the dockworker where she had sent the other survivors for pick up and headed for the tram.

Kaiden flanked Shepard as they made their way to the tram. Geth came out of nowhere and began firing. Kaiden leapt into cover and used his biotics to throw the enemies. Killing the geth before they could regain their ground, the group made it to the tram.

Shepard operated the controls and the tram rapidly carried them to the opposite side of the outpost. As they arrived at the platform, more Geth that were working on a device began firing at them. After dispatching these enemies, they inspected the device.

"It's a bomb." Kaiden informed them. "According to my omni-tool, there are three more around the landing area."

"Can you defuse it?" Shepard asked.

"Yes, but we have to hurry. They've been primed already." Kaiden said, working on the bomb.

Suddenly, gunfire erupted as more Geth attacked. Shepard and Ashley protected Kaiden while he finished defusing the first bomb. The Geth weren't making things easy, firing constantly. Shepard, Ashely and Kaiden covered each other, firing and sprinting to the next cover moving closer to the second bomb.

Kaiden crouched down with Shepard and Ashley covering him and worked on the second bomb. Once that was defused, the trio sprinted again from cover to cover, killing Geth after Geth desperate to reach the third bomb in time.

"How many enemies are there?!" Kaiden fumed, his head pounding as he shot biotic bolts at Geth.

Finally they reached the third bomb and Kaiden defused it as a loud roar announced the departure of the strange ship.

As they rounded a building, a towering obelisk came into view guarded by several geth and husks. They killed the remaining enemies and secured the area around it.

"This is the beacon?" Kaiden asked incredulously, eyeing the structure.

Shepard stepped off to one side and touched her comm link. "Shepard to Normandy. Beacon secured, ready for transport."

"It's huge." Kaiden took a step toward the obelisk to get a closer look. A loud humming erupted from it and a green light beamed toward Kaiden.

"Look out!" Ashley yelled.

The beam began to drag Kaiden closer to the obelisk. Shepard rushed to Kaiden and wrenched him from the beam. He fell and Ashley grabbed him, helping him back to his feet. Now Shepard was caught by the beam which lifted her several feet from the ground.

"Shepard!" Kaiden yelled and tried to get to her, but Ashley held him back.

"Don't touch her!" Ashley hissed and watched worriedly.

The green light emanating from the beacon and surrounding Shepard grew intensely bright and Shepard's body went rigid, then with a loud bang, the obelisk exploded, sending Shepard flying.