They moved out, Kaiden and John questioning Ashely on what she knew of the current situation to try to figure out what the geth would be doing on a planet like Eden Prime. Jane stayed ahead, taking the lead towards the dig site. She truly didn't care what the get he were doing, the only thing she was worried about was finishing the mission and meeting up with Nihlus. More geth appeared before they made it to the dig site, them somehow being taken down easier than before. It wasn't like they were always fighting geth and it just came naturally. It eventually became a numb kind of killing, in her mind. She just wanted to get the Prothean beacon and get back to the Normandy.
It took very little time to get to the dig site. The place was abandoned and silent with the stench of flesh sitting in the air. "This doesn't feel right," Jane murmured to herself, realizing she wasn't the only one thinking that.
"This is the dig site. The beacon was right here…it must have been moved." Ashley seemed a bit frantic when she spoke, still keeping cool under pressure. John liked that.
"By who?" Kaiden asked. "Our side or the geth?"
"Hard to say. Maybe we'll know more after we check out the research camp."
"You think anybody got out of here alive?" John chimed in.
"If they were lucky. Maybe they're up in the cap. It's just on the top of this ridge, up the ramps."
"Then I guess we're headed to the camp," Jane said.
The group moved up and headed up the ramp to the camp. More of those spikes kept appearing. Bodies were still stuck onto them. It gave most of them chills, not exactly fond of the fact that all these innocent people died. Maybe if they were faster then some people may have survived.
A call came in from Nihlus over the comm, still a bit faded and scratchy from either distance or a radio disruptor.
"Change of plans, Shepard. There's a small spaceport up ahead. I want to check it out. I'll wait for you there."
"Hear you loud and clear, Nihlus," John responded. "See you at the port."
As the group approached the camp, they were on guard, guns at the ready for any kind of interruption or surprise attack from the geth. It was empty and horrifyingly quiet, fires raging around all of them. It was too reminiscent for Jane of what Mindoir was like the day the batarians attacked. Chills danced up and down her spine, not knowing if she'd rather have geth be attacking or batarians.
She didn't want to find out.
The camp was in ruin, spikes with bodies impaled on them. Dried blood stained the alien tech with the bodies remaining lifeless on them. Fire burned remains of cabins and reserves. "Keep your guard up," Jane advised. "We don't know what's waiting for us up here." They all had their respective weapons out, guard having been on since they found Ashley. Crackles of flames filled the silence as well as the faint static of their radios. Everything seemed safe.
Until the spikes retracted.
All four turned to them, watching as the bodies that were once still begin to move, skin no longer a human, fleshy pink, but rather a grey and disgusting hue. Their eyes glowed, lifeless as much as the rest of their machine-like body. They screeched something like a skidding car, oncoming to the soldiers.
"Open fire!"
All guns fired at once, Kaiden and Jane assisting as well with biotics. They kept their distance, seeing as if they got too close, these things would release an electric charge capable of much more than taze them.
One by one, the husks hit the ground, the glowing lights that speckled the skin fading to nothing. The bodies were once again lifeless, none of the crew understanding what the hell they had just seen.
John was the first one to actually speak what was going on.
"What the actual fuck were those things?"
"I have no idea," Jane mumbled.
Kaiden chuckled. "Hm…Now we know what those spikes are for…turning our own dead against us.
Ashley shrugged, inspecting the spikes as well. "It doesn't just happen. It must take a few hours for those spikes to turn people into husks."
John cocked his gun. "Let's check out the rest of the camp in case there are more of those things."
They continued to search the camp, finding some redeemable enhancements amongst the flaming ruin. The beacon was, clearly, not there. With the threat of geth, it was a worry that they could have taken it. God only knew what they wanted with it, but if they got their hands on it, there wasn't a sure way on what they would do and how they would use it.
That was something nobody wanted to find out.
One of the intact buildings Jane inspected, finding that it was locked upon trying to open it. She picked the lock, motioning the others over in case there was something in there to surprise them. They all went in together, finding two humans inside, one hiding and one ready to fire. The female lowered the gun, a sigh of relief coming over her.
"Humans!" she cried. "Thank the maker!"
"Hurry! Close the door. Before they come back!" the man in the corner hissed, coming back up to standing and keeping behind the female.
Jane exchanged a look with John before talking. "Don't worry, you're safe. We'll protect you."
"Thank you," the female said. "I think we'll be okay for now. It looks like everyone's gone."
"You're Doctor Warren," Ashley noted. "the one in charge of the excavation. Do you know what happened to the beacon?"
"It was moved to the spaceport this morning. Manuel and I stayed behind to help pick up the cam."
"So how did you end up in the shed?" John asked.
"We hid here during the attack. They must have come here for the beacon. Luckily, it wasn't here. When the attack came, the marines held them off long enough for us to hide…they gave their lives to save us."
"No one is saved," Manuel mumbled under frantic breaths. "The age of humanity is ended. Soon, only ruin and corpses will remain."
"Did a turian end up here?" Jane figured if Nihlus was nearby, they'd be able to meet up. Maybe he'd actually be able to find the beacon first before the geth got it, if they hadn't already.
"I saw him. The prophet. Leader of the enemy. He was here, before the attack." The doctor shot Manuel a look as if to quiet him.
"That's impossible," Kaiden corrected. "Nihlus was with us on the Normandy before the attack. He couldn't have been here."
Warren apologize. "I'm sorry. Manuel's still a bit…unsettles. We haven't seen your turian. We've been hiding here this entire time."
"That's fine, doctor. Williams, take us to the spaceport," John commanded.
"You can't stop it," Manuel suggested. "Nobody can stop it. Night is falling! The darkness of eternity!"
"Hush, Manuel. Go lie down." Doctor Warren rubbed his back and moved him towards the bed. "You'll feel better once the medication kicks in." She turned back to the crew, nodding. "Good luck, Commanders."
The walk continued, no geth in the immediate area, but husks came at them from most directions. An unfamiliar gunshot surprised them all, not having it come from any of their guns. But that question was halted by the fact that an enormous ship rose in the distance, covering the area in shadows by its strange formation. None of them had ever seen something like that. Alenko was the one to break the silence.
"What is that? Off in the distance?"
None of them knew, of course, but Ashely guessed, "It's a ship…I think. I mean, look at the size of it."
"We need to get to the beacon," Jane ordered. God only knew whether or not that the ship rising in the distance had the Prothean beacon on it. They couldn't take their chances, though. They had to act fast and before any of them knew it, they were running down to the docks and taking out whatever geth or husks they had to in order to get down here.
The group of four finally made it down, John and Kaiden having scouted ahead as Jane and Williams stayed back to clear out whatever might have still been lurking in the crates or inside coming down from whatever spires still had bodies on them. Thankfully, once husks were shot down, they stayed down.
There wasn't much the two males found, other than the body of a turian who Kaiden seemed to step back at once found. "Commander…it's Nihlus…" John knelt down to inspect the body. Bullet right through the back of the skull. Turning around, he motioned for the other two to join them up on the dock. Williams was the most confused out of the three, it seemed.
"A turian?" she asked. "You know him?"
"He's a Spectre," Kaiden explained. "He was with us on the Nor—"
"Wait. Something's moving!" The reaction time on the four of them was astounding, all of them up and pointing towards the crates as a body slowly rose up. Human, thankfully, alive and not turned into a husk. He seemed to be visibly shaken and confused.
"Don't—don't shoot!" he cried. "I'm one of you! I'm human."
"Sneaking up on us like that nearly got you killed," Jane said with irritancy, glaring at him.
"I'm sorry," he apologized. "I was hiding from those…those things. My name is Powell. I saw what happened to your turian friend. The other one shot him."
"What?" John asked. "What the hell are you talking about?"
"There were two turians. Your friend and some other one called Saren. I think they knew each other. Your friend relaxed, let his guard down…and then Saren shot and killed him. Right in the back. I'm just lucky he didn't find me behind the crates."
"What about the beacon?"
"It's on the other platform. Probably where that Saren guy was headed. He hopped on the cargo train right after he killed your friend."
John lowered his gun. "I guess we're heading to the other platform. Thank you, Powell. Now get the hell out of here."
"Gladly." The human ran out from behind the crates and towards wherever he thought he could find help. Jane knew that he'd probably die—too much of a coward to face any kind of situational reality. They all moved out, taking out whatever geth blocked their path. Medigel had to be used thanks to a few bullets Jane had taken when rushing in too fast. They still had some, but John kept a closer eye on her after that.
