Author's note: Oh, the dead one has now been replaced…that was quick. I even started this chapter off with some Shenko. More death and destruction…though that seems to be the whole plot of Eden Prime, doesn't it? We also get our gunnery chief, and get introduced to the husks.

8. The Other

Kaidan stumbled, and Alyss practically ran to him, helping him into cover in case more recon drones were on the way. He had a gash on his calf he hadn't even noticed until he tried to run after her; she knelt beside him, and gently applied some medi gel. His heart careened against his ribcage at her touch.

"You okay?" She asked; her face filled with concern…for him.

"Yeah, just let it set for a minute, and I'll be good to go." He chuckled, trying to bring a smile to her face—it worked.

She beamed at him. "Good."

"I've got some burned out buildings here, Shepard. A lot of bodies…" Nihlus trailed off. "I'm going to check it out. I'll try to catch up with you at the dig site."

Alyss looked at Kaidan, who nodded, the medi-gel was working, and they could continue on. They found themselves in a woody grove, which would have been beautiful if it hadn't been for all the bodies and more drones. She dove behind a tree, and only popped out to fire a couple rounds into the latter, occasionally throwing in some biotics, instead of going full out this time. She kept Lieutenant Alenko in her peripheral vision.

Shepard suddenly noticed the sound of gunfire; it had taken her a few moments to determine what the sound was. They made their way over the rise and out of the trees both with their pistols still drawn. She hadn't lowered her weapon or her barrier since they'd touched down. A woman in pink and white armor was sprinting towards them…pursued by two drones.

The woman tripped; her foot caught on a piece of rock embedded in the ground poking up and as she fell, she barrel rolled onto her side. The woman pulled her pistol off her belt, and fired two shots into each drone, causing them to explode overhead. Alyss jogged forward, ready to lend a hand.

Nothing in her training could've prepared her for what she saw. There were two synthetics, holding a colonist and putting him on a strange tripod; he looked woozy like he was just waking up after being drugged…or like he was very happy to see the two things standing over him. No one saw the spike jutting up suddenly and impaling him through the heart coming.

The woman made a horrified noise, alerting the two synthetics to her presence as she ran to hide behind a rock in the hopes that they wouldn't see her, and Alyss swore under her breath. She needed help. Alyss charged biotically at the first, and shot it in its flashlight head when she was finished, as Alenko and the woman took down the second one. What the Hell was going on here?

"Thanks for your help, Commander. I didn't think I was going to make it." The woman saluted. "Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams of the 212. You the one in charge here, ma'am?"

Alyss nodded briefly. "Are you wounded, Williams?"

She shrugged and started pacing. "A few scrapes and burns; nothing serious. The others weren't so lucky. Oh, man…we were patrolling the perimeter when the attack hit. We tried to get off a distress call, but they cut off our communications. I've been fighting for my life ever since."

"Where's the rest of your squad?" Alyss asked, though she was already sure she knew the answer.

"We tried to double back to the beacon." Williams said, looking down sadly. "But we walked into an ambush. I don't think any of the others… I think I'm the only one left."

Alyss knew that look…the weight of the world and a dozen lives counting on you; it was a look of guilt—surviving and letting all those people down. To lose them was never fun…especially because it had all happened in about thirty minutes—some of her squad had still been alive when they received the distress call, and the Normandy had only been seventeen minutes away.

She'd had the same look when she hadn't saved all the colonists on Elysium.

"This isn't your fault, Williams. You couldn't have done anything to save them." Alyss tried to console her.

"Yes ma'am." She didn't sound convinced. "We held our position as long as we could…until the Geth overwhelmed us."

Alenko cocked his head to one side. "The Geth haven't been seen outside the Veil in nearly 200 years. Why are they here now?"

"They must have come for the beacon." Williams guessed. "The dig site is close. Just over that rise. It might still be there."

Shepard gave a half smile. "We could use your help, Williams."

"Aye, aye, ma'am. It's time for payback."

Alyss didn't want to aid in a petty and counter-productive revenge scheme, but it seemed that they were going to be fighting the Geth anyways—they didn't seem to want to talk things through. She definitely understood the chief's motives, however, and didn't feel the need to speak up.

"What else do you know about the Geth?"

"Just what I remember from history class back in school: they're synthetics; non-organic life-forms with limited AI programming created by the Quarians a few centuries ago. They were supposed to be a source of cheap labor, but ended up turning on the Quarians and drove them into exile. After that, they just kind of disappeared behind the Perseus Veil. Nobody's really heard much from them since." Williams replied.

Alyss knew that Williams thought it was a waste of time, but maybe there was something she could learn—like why the Geth were suddenly beyond the veil and what that insect-like ship was doing here. It didn't look like any Geth ship she'd ever seen back in history class. She hoped she got some answers…no matter how unsatisfactory they were; she felt like they were just giving her more questions.

"Tell me everything you know about the beacon." Alyss commanded.

Ashley looked around briefly. "They were doing some digging out here to extend the monorail and expand the colony. A few weeks ago they unearthed some Prothean ruins…and the beacon. Suddenly, every scientific expert in the colony was interested. That's when they brought us in to secure the site. I don't know much about the beacon itself. But I heard one of the researchers say this could be the biggest scientific discovery of the century."

Shepard furrowed her brow. "What happened to the researchers at the dig site?"

Williams shook her head. "I don't know. They set up camp near the beacon; the 232 was with them. Maybe their unit fared better than mine."

"Describe what happened leading up to the attack."

"We were sent out a couple nights ago from the main colony to secure the area. Seemed like a routine patrol until the Geth hit us. We never knew they were coming."

Alyss knew they should catch up with Nihlus, but maybe he'd crossed through here—he couldn't be that far ahead already could he? "Have you seen a Turian Spectre around here?"

"There 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 admitted.

Kaidan chuckled, making Alyss hold her breath. "If you saw this guy, you'd know; carries enough firepower to wipe out a whole platoon. Luckily, he's on our side."

"Sorry. Like I said, no Turians."

Alyss nodded briefly, silently releasing the breath she'd held. That would have to be enough for now…they needed to meet Nihlus at the spaceport, and it seemed unwise to keep him waiting any longer than she had to. She pointed with her shotgun.

"Move out." Alyss ordered.

The trio picked their way carefully, trying their best to be quiet and not draw attention to themselves. This place would never be the same, and everyone knew it. Everywhere one looked, there were those horrible spikes with bodies on them, bodies burned to a crisp strewn across the ground, and smoke billowing up into the red clouds.

"The beacon's at the far end of this trench." Ashley pointed out quietly.

The Geth hadn't taken any time moving in to secure the dig site. It seemed like they were only scouting out in small groups, so as to be less noticeable. At this rate finding survivors seemed like a slim-to-nothing chance, but she was still holding out hope. She used her pistol to get a headshot on the nearest of the Geth, as Kaidan hacked into the second's system, and Ashley riddled the third full of ammo.

As the last Geth fell, the three moved out of cover and walked into a small clearing. It was empty, but they were exactly where Williams had said they needed to be. Someone had moved the beacon—but whom? Alyss knelt to examine the circle of metallic material, but oddly enough, it felt like stone.

"This is the dig site. The beacon was right here. It must have been moved." Ashley confirmed.

"By who? Our side? Or the Geth?" Kaidan asked.

It was good to know that everyone was on the same page.

Ashley shrugged. "Hard to say. Maybe we'll know more after we check out the research camp."

"You think anyone got out of here alive?" Alyss stood and crossed her fingers; she was hoping.

Williams grimaced. "If they were lucky. Maybe hiding up in the camp. It's just on the top of this ridge, up the ramps."

"That man was still alive when they stuck him on that spike." Kaidan said, as they stood there for a second, checking their surroundings.

"Killing us isn't enough. The Geth want us to suffer." Ashley replied, checking her ammo.

The radio inside her helmet crackled to life before Alyss had a chance to respond. It had been a while since she'd heard from Nihlus; he must've found something very important to say, since they'd been ordered onto radio silence. She took a couple steps back from Alenko and Williams, just to make sure she could hear properly.

"Change of plans, Shepard. There's a small spaceport up ahead. I want to check it out. I'll wait for you there."

Alyss pointed up the ramp; Kaidan was on the same radio frequency and he heard everything. The camp came into sight as they reached the top of the ramp, but the Geth had clearly been here. They'd left some more impaled bodies to greet anyone who came after them—but these looked different.