Eden Prime
"This place got hit hard..." Jenkins mumbled sadly.
"There are hostile everywhere. Watch your back, Commander." Nihlus said via comm.
"We've got your back." She responded.
"C'mon move out." She gestured in front of her with her shotgun. Death and destruction greeted them as they made their way towards the last location of the beacon. Gunfire and screams could still be heard coming from the area where they needed to go. Black smoke coiled in the air, not masking the smell of rot and decay of bodies.
Blinking the smoke out of her eyes, she flickered her biotic shield on and nodded to Kaidan to do the same.
"Keep your eyes peeled. The beacon is our main priority but we'll try helping civilians too." She ordered while she panned her eyes around.
"Aye, Commander." Kaidan responded.
Seeing an outcrop of rocks ahead of them she gestured for them to take cover.
"Jenkins take point." She nodded towards him.
He nodded to her and quickly popped out of cover. Only to be gunned down by two assault drones. Ripping through his shields.
"JENKINS!" She screamed out as she tossed a blue orb at one of the drones and ran towards his body.
"Kaidan take out the other one!" She ordered while trying to feel Jenkin's pulse.
Kaidan quickly took out the last drone and ran back towards Emily and Jenkin's body.
"He never had a chance...they ripped through his shields..." He murmured as he gently closed Jenkin's eyes.
"We'll make sure he gets a proper burial after the mission is over. But right now Kaidan I need you to focus." She told him while nodding towards the path they needed to go.
"Aye, aye Ma'am." He said while tightening his grip on his pistol.
They moved forward quickly, killing and destroying drones as they pushed onward.
"I see a lot of burned down buildings...and bodies...I'll try meeting you at the dig site Shepard." Nihlus murmured via comm.
She looked over at Kaidan, seeing the determination radiating out of him as he clenched his jaws.
He looked over at her and nodded.
They moved up towards a hill and saw below them, a female soldier in white and pink armor running away from drones.
"Oh my god! Look!" Kaidan pointed right behind the soldier where two geth held a human colonist between them over a strange contraption.
"Wha...what are they doing?!" He continued.
Suddenly, the contraption activated, impaling the colonist through the back and into the air killing him instantly.
Bile rose in the back of her throat, she struggled to swallow as her eyes took in what they've witnessed.
"Quick, we gotta help her!" She shouted at Kaidan while they took off running towards the soldier.
She used warp on one of the geth and quickly used throw on the other while shooting them with her pistol.
"Thank you for helping me Commander." The soldier said while she checked her clips.
"Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams of the 212. Are you the one in charge ma'am?" She asked sketching a quick salute.
"Yeah. Are you hurt Williams?" She asked the woman.
"Just a few cuts and bruises, my shields took care of most of it. But my...my squad wasn't so lucky. We were scouting the perimeter when they attacked. We tried to get out a distress call but they cut off our communications. Been fighting em ever since." Williams reported.
"We..we tried to double back to the beacon but we walked into an ambush...I don't think any of the others...I think I'm the only one left." She continued with a pained expression on her face.
"Don't blame yourself Williams, you did everything you could." Shepard tried to offer comfort. Knowing the pain of losing your squad.
"Yes ma'am. Uhm the dig site is close just over the rise. It might still be there." She gestured towards another hill.
Moving forward they discovered that the beacon was not at the dig site anymore.
"Change of plans Shepard. There is a small transport up ahead. I'll go check it out." Nihlus said into her comm.
She nodded to both Williams and Alenko and took off running towards the research camp. Only to see more of those contraptions with humanoid creatures in the air.
"They...they're still alive!" Kaidan gasped out as the contraption deactivated, sending the creatures to the ground to rush at them.
Dispatching them quickly they investigated the camp and found two research scientists bunkered down, confirming that the beacon has been moved to a transport unit just up past the camp.
"Quick we have to get that beacon and get out of here quickly. The geth..they haven't been seen outside the veil for over 200 years. The Council must find out about this." Emily ordered her team to move out quickly.
A gunshot rang out, sending a spike of panic down Emily's back, urging her onwards.
"Whose ship is that?!" Ashley pointed out pointing towards the sky.
"I don't know, but we gotta get over there!" Emily yelled out as they killed more geth and husks that came to attack them.
"It..it's the Spectre Nihlus!" Kaidan yelled out as they reached the transport station and finding the Turian's body on the ground with a gunshot wound to the head.
"There is something or someone behind the crates." Ashley aimed her gun towards the crates as a man came out begging them not to shoot him. He quickly told them that he saw another turian shoot the first one in the back of the head. When pressed for a name he tells them that it was another turian named Saren.
They let him go and made their way to the other platform where the beacon was placed. Making short work of the enemies in the area and deactivating the bombs planted around the spaceport, they slowly approached the beacon.
"We found the beacon Captain, we're ready for evac..." A shuddering groan distracted her as she saw Kaidan being pulled towards the beacon. Not thinking about her safety she grabs his arm and pulls him down only to be drawn into the force of the beacon.
Blood and bile filled her throat, she opened her mouth to let out a soundless scream as images flooded her mind. Blood, so much blood and death. Her vision awashed in chaos and destruction.
It was a warning. A warning of things to come.
Lights. Bright lights swam behind her eyelid and someone calling her name gently. Summoning her out of the nightmare that her mind was trapped in.
"Emi..I mean Commander Shepard can you hear me?" Kaidan's voice whispered like a beacon of light in her mind.
She blinked and sat up quickly, causing stars to flash in her eyes again once more. She placed her hands over her eyes and groaned.
"How long was I out?" She mumbled thickly trying to rub the stars out of her eyes.
"Oh about fifteen hours. Your vitals look good, although there was some unusual dream flickering." Dr. Chakwas said as she waved her omni-tool over her body.
"It was my fault Commander...If I..I let my curiosity got the better of me. I'm sorry." Kaidan murmured guilty as he bit the inside of his lip.
"It's not your fault Kaidan, don't beat yourself up about it. Dr. Chakwas says I'm fine so you don't have to worry." She gave him a reassuring smile as Captain Anderson came in to check up on her, and ask her questions about the mission and her vision.
"Tell Joker to clear us to enter the Citadel. We'll take this to the council so if this 'Saren' did go rogue we can get help on taking him down. Who knows what he'll do if he's with the geth. Humanity is at stake here." He said forcefully to Shepard.
"We'll need the Council's help on this one." He continued.
She nodded her agreement and headed for the cockpit to alert Joker.
Note: While yes it looks like I'm popping out these chapters almost 1 every single day. It'll slow down eventually because my editor has school and stuff. Wanna give a shout out to Zentaku for being extremely patient with me when I bug him 5 billion times to go over what I wrote.