The sounds of gunfire and screams told me where to go. Saren and the geth landed in separate locations. I am assuming he is closer to the relic site and the geth attack is to cause a distraction. I stay inside the edge of the forest to hide from those flashlight heads. I observe how they operate. I remember geth are linked and the more geth, the smarter they are. They tend to travel in groups of five or six and are somewhat spaced apart. Crap I was hoping they would cluster together. I could toss a grenade when I find one to take out a few, dumb the survivors down, and take the rest out while they are surprised.
I came across a battle. A platoon of soldiers are fighting the geth. Three soldiers are down and only one dead geth. I watch to see how the geth fight. They are coordinated. Right now there are four remaining soldiers, wait one grabbed a soldier in white and pink armor and waved his arm in the direction to go. Wait, is that Ash?
I continue observing and notice the soldiers' shields go out faster than the geth's. I am going to have to be careful of my shield strength. Unfortunately the answer to who will win is decided. I will wait until the geth move on and scavenge the fallen warrior's weapons and shield generators.
The geth wastes no time moving on. I see black smoke rising into the clouds in the distance. The geth are heading that direction. Now is the opportunity. I wait a few minutes to make sure the geth are gone and walk towards the battle ground. I grabbed the first gun I saw. It's a strange looking weapon. It has a curved top and says M7 near the exit of the barrel. An assault rifle. I found a pistol. The guns are magnetic and attach to the armor. I could tell the armor would not fit me. I wedged the pistol into the back of my pants and collected as many grenades as I could. I found four. I used one to see how far a floating grenade will travel in five seconds. About five meters. I practice using the rifle and pistol to get a feel for the recoil and how to quickly switch. Afterwards I pick up the bodies and move them out of the way. The geth will not find them and convert them to husks. I respectfully position their bodies to make it look like they are only resting. I hope their souls appreciated the care I gave their shells. Honestly I do it for me. I would want others to do the same. I give them a moment of silence.
I walk to a warehouse looking building. This places seems familiar
BANG!
That shot sounded different from the geth weaponry.
I scope the environment. I count five geth in the loading area and one on the roof with a sniper rifle. Normally six versus one is a bad fight but I can align myself so that we are in a straight line. The rear geth won't attack as it would risk the front geth which I'll be handling. The sniper worries me. I will have to find cover and pop out quickly. Minimize the time the sniper could see me and always move a bit away so I don't stand up and shoot me immediately.
I move closer and avoid being seen. I will wait until the geth is turned away from me and throw a grenade. I will have to be quick to take out the ones whose shields are down, find cover, and take down the one closest to me. I am hoping reducing the numbers will make the sniper sloopy. I tell myself to keep calm, take your time, let your shield recharge if it is drained. I do not need to take them down right away, just to take them all down and live.
I crouch and make my way to a crate for cover. They did not see me. I move up and just as I made it to cover, behind me are the sounds of gunfire. They came from over a hill. They are not aiming for me or the geth. It makes no difference now as the geth are on edge. Now is as good a time as any. I twist the dial for ten seconds and toss it as the geth. When the explosion is heard I peek out of cover and find my targets. The ones without a slight blue aura are my targets. There are two of them. I quickly take both of them out and the other three almost take down my shield. I could hear thumb, thumb when the bullets hit my shield. I wait until my shields are recovered and roll out to my right. I stand behind two stacked crates. The sniper can not get to me but I am more vulnerable to the ones on the ground.
Do not be a hero. Take one down and move on to the next. Do not let even one into your field of view. Be quick and move up to avoid a flank attack. I managed to take two down. I moved up and was forced to kneel behind a small box. If I stand, the sniper might get me. The remaining ground geth has taken cover. He won't come out. Crap how do I get out of this?
Metal sparks emerge from where the geth is hiding. I look to my right and there are 2 men in black armor and a pink one.
"This is no time to play the badass. Get out of here." the tall black armored one yelled.
"There is a sniper on the roof. Take him out." I yell.
"On it" the other black armored one says as he throws a blue light at the last geth. It hurls him off the building.
"Thanks for the assistance. I was not sure how I would have taken them out" I say.
"What are you doing here and where did you get those weapons? Those are military issues." the pink soldier asks. She removes her helmet and reveals a taught face with pulled back black air. Definitely Ashley. The others do the same. Kaiden was the shorter one who threw a biotic blast and Shepard looked like the one on the cover of the games.
"I found the bodies of soldiers and took what I could. I was careful to get familiar with the weapons and positioned myself so enemy fire would ideally be coming from one general direction." I explain
This seems to surprise them. They probably think I am a gun crazy colonist who wants to shoot robots.
"Who are you?" Shepard asks.
"My name is ******" I reply
"Are you a veteran?" Kaiden asks.
"No. I was camping when the geth attacked and decided to put up a fight" I explain.
"You have a grasp of battlefield positioning and how to reduce risks. You quickly eliminate four geth as the remains are close to one another. You clearly have experience in war despite being so young" Ashley replies.
"This isn't the first time I have been in a fight." I replied.
Shepard steps forward. His face wears a scowl. "What you did was reckless and dangerous. You could have been killed!" His voice is angry but has a hint of concern. Shepard probably worried for my safety. Must be a paragon. I step closer.
"Look I understand that you are a soldier and it is your job to protect civilians. That is good. It is honorable. However I take care of myself. I am careful and have a plan before I do anything yet can improvise if need be. You do not need to worry about me as I do not look like it but I have killed more people than you and things that would turn you whiter than a polar bears bottom" I say
This causes the three to give each other a look and their faces are hiding their concern.
"What do you mean you killed more people?" Kaiden asks.
"Oh wait you guys probably think I am a spree killer of something. It is not like that. I am actually kinda old and when you live the way I do, challenges find me and I overcome them. I never killed anyone that did not attack me or innocents first. I am sorry for my wording. Please forgive me."
The stress in their faces fade and a soft sigh of relief is released.
"What exactly are you?" Shepard asks.
That is a good question. How would I describe myself?
"I guess I am a nomadic warrior. I go where the great flow takes me."
"The great flow?" Ashley raises an eyebrow.
"Fate, destiny, karma, god's plan, whatever you want to call it. Like a river that is always running, we are fish that can choose to go against the flow or with it. Sometimes we need to go against the current of the river but is is generally best to submit and enjoy where the river takes you" I explain
"You are an interesting person," Kaiden says.
"Oh you have no idea. So why are you guys here?" I know why but I need to keep the flow of the conversation normal.
"We were sent with a turian spectre to secure the prothean device and then we met Ashely" Shepard explains.
The shot I heard. That was Saren Murdering Nihlus. Keep cool. If you want to join them, help them and make yourself valuable.
"There is a turian leading the geth." I say
This takes Shepard and Kaiden aback who give each other a weird look. Ashley looks furious.
"You don't think Nihlus is involved, do you Shepard?" Kaiden asks.
"I don't know. This operation has been hush hush since the beginning" Shepard replied.
"If a turian is involved we must kill this son of a bitch" Ashley spits those words full of rage.
"Do you know what he looks like?" Shepard asks?
"Yeah I do. He was doing something over there" I walked over to where Nihlus' corpse was. Shepard and Kaiden look surprised and angry. Ashley looks a little happy that he is dead. I remember she has issues but this seems a bit much.
"This is not the one I was talking about" I say.
A man steps up from behind a crate. "He is right. Another turian shot and killed him. I saw the whole thing." the man says.
"If you saw him then why are you alive?" Shepard asks.
"They didn't know I was here. I was sleeping on the job when he popped the other one."
"You were getting some shuteye while everyone else was getting killed?" Ashely asks.
"Hey I work hard and get exhausted sometimes. It doesn't matter now. I saw the whole thing. They both knew each other. He called the other one Saren."
"Did he have a weird metallic jaw?" I ask.
"Yeah he did"
"What should we do Shepard?" Kaiden asks.
Shepard is going over the situation in his head. We have a dead spectre, an enemy never before seen, violent transformed people, a man down, and two people I do not trust. At least one is an alliance soldier but the other one is a complete unknown. While I do not trust him, he has proven basic combat experience and I need someone who knows what this Saren guy looks like. I do not like this but I don't really have a choice.
"Hey ******* Would you come along with us? I know I am asking a lot of you but it will be useful to have someone who will recognize Saren" shepard asks.
"Seems like the flow is pulling me down this path" I say. We head to the train and rest for a moment. There is an awkward tension in the air. I have to break it.
"Penny for your thoughts?"
"Who exactly are you?" Kaiden asks.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean most people do not pick up a gun and fight robots willy nilly. Where did you get your training?" Kaiden asks. Shepard listens closely.
"I have traveled a lot and picked up many things from many places. I use common sense and what I have learned to either deal with or avoid whatever I encounter." I explained.
"How old are you?" Ashley asks.
"I stopped counting. At a point you come to realize that age doesn't really matter. It is how much you experienced and learned. Some people live into their forties and are immature brats while admittedly rarely some twenty something year olds can be surprisingly wise. I just focus on learning and bettering myself. That is all anyone can really do."
"You are very smart," Ashley replies.
"Two plus three is what again?" I joke. This gets a chuckle out of everyone.
"What about friends or family?" Shepard asks. I feel like he is trying to figure me out. Determining my mental status. What am I supposed to say? I have friends but they are away and my parents died of old age a long time ago.
"I do not have any friends and my parents are gone." I say hoping the conversation changes the topic.
"What happened?" Kaiden asks.
"Naturally causes. It is alright I moved on." The tension in the air thickens. They seem to think I do not want to talk about this.
"What do you do for work? Ashley asks to make this chat enter a more positive note.
"I do not work. I learned survival skills and live off the land. I make most of what I need and trade what I can not make, which is very rare."
"You have no money whatsoever?" Shepard asks. This seems to interest him.
"No. I pick up gigs from time to time but that is to alleviate boredom then I donate the money. Usually animal shelters."
"What do you do if you get sick or eat the wrong space deer?" Ashley asks.
"If I get sick then I'll get sick. I thoroughly cook my food and rub it against my inner elbow. If there is no reaction for a while then I will slowly eat it and eat more depending on how I feel."
"What about water?" Kaiden asks.
"Collect some clay from under the soil, make some pots, make a small fire, add some small stones, dry the pots, fill with water, drop a hot stone to boil the water. The pots haven't been fired yet so I would have to do that later. If the water is contaminated I assume it is, I only have a cup or two until I set up a filter made out of sand, charcoal, and leaves. I would boil the flowthrough. That is enough about me. What was that blue light you threw Kaiden?"
"Oh I am a biotic. I can generate mass effect fields and use them in combat."
"I need that."
"Sorry you have to be born with it." Kaiden says.
"I guess my good looks is enough."
"What am I not good looking?" Kaiden asks.
"Let's ask Ashley. Do you think Kaiden is cute?" This causes her to look red. Oh my god this is hilarious.
"Well um… I suppose some women would find you… pleasing to look at. Not me of course." Ashley quickly spits out.
"Hear that? She called you ugly." I joke.
"I did not!" Ashley yells while Shepard tries not to laugh.
"Ok ok I had enough. What is your story Shepard?" I ask. I wonder which story he has.
"I come from a military family. My Mom serves on a dreadnaught. My father was in the military but I do not have any connection to him. I am known as the hero of Elysium for repelling a batarian attack." Shepard said.
We continued talking until we reached the station and went back to work. We found and diabled a couple of bombs until we ran into an issue. Three geth at the otherside of a long walkway. We could duck behind cover on the left but if we advance the overpowered sniper rifle would disable our shield and the other two would fill us with lead. Or microscopic iron particles whose mass had been artificially inflated. Whatever the point is, it is lethal. Think how we can advance and be protected. It takes too long to duck for cover. The angle would allow the geth some time to fire upon us. It is too far for grenades and no one has a sniper rifle. If only we could switch to full shie… wait.
"Guys I have an idea. What if we go in pairs. One of us walks forwards and unleashes a full mag and when the shield goes down the other one quickly moves ahead and protects the other. Then they both go for cover while the other two advance past them while the shields recharge and guns cooldown." I spitball.
"That could work" Ashley says.
'If I get close enough a biotic blast could blow all of them away" Kaiden states.
"Let's do it" Shepard says. "Kaiden and I will go first. Stay directly behind us."
Kaiden goes first and tries to aim for the sniper. He is too far of course to hit him but it is to reduce the accuracy of the sniper. His shield goes down then Shepard quickly cuts in front of him, continuing shots at the sniper. When both of their shields are down they get behind us. It makes me anxious when both their shields are down but I remind myself the geth doesn't have enough time for his rifle to cool down and hit one of them. Myself and Ashely continue and repeat the alternating pattern until Kaiden sends a massive biotic blast that rips the geth apart. We disable the last of the bombs and make our way to the relic. We see Saren glide into the sky. We briefly see each other. I would be tempted to kill him if I didn't think he was a slave to the indoctrination.
"That was him. That is Saren." I Point.
"Does he have the relic?" Kaiden asks.
"Negative. The relic is over here" Ashley steps towards the fifty thousand year old object when suddenly she is whisked into the air. Shepard without hesitation grabs her and tosses her to Kaiden and I. There Shepard is floating in the air. Visions of metal and flesh downloading into his brain. It is actually taking some time.
"What should we do? Should I try pulling him out?" I ask.
"I do not know if that is a good idea" Kaiden says.
"We can't let that do whatever it is doing to Shepard" Ashley said.
"I am going to try pulling him out" I say.
"Be careful," Ashley said. "I'll use my biotics to keep you safe" Kaiden said.
I approached Shepard. I gently try to pull Shepard away. I know he will be released shortly. I can feel the information being unleashed from the device. It pulses fear and panic. I could not see the visions. The players in the game only saw what Shepard sees but not what he feels. It is not good. Out of the core of the device a burst of energy appears and launches shepherds into me, knocking me down. Kaiden and Ashely run over.
"Are you alright?" Ashley asks the both of us. She is definitely worried. She probably feels like she was the one that should have been knocked out. I reply I am fine but Shepard is out. His eyeballs are looking side to side and up and down. I have never seen anything like this.
"This is Kaiden to Normandy. We need immediate extraction to our position. Shepard is down and the device has been neutralized." A brief moment passes. "ETA in ten minutes. Are you ok *********?" Kaiden asks.
"I am fine. Shepard does not look good." Shepard's skin is quickly becoming pale. His body is using all available energy to process the visions. It is a sickly sight. Ashley looks at me while we wait until the normandy arrives. She is beautiful. The curves of her body. The strength and speed I witness. The beautiful black color. That is the most amazing ship I have ever seen. I can't wait to see the second one in real life.
The ship lands and Captain Anderson steps out and asks for a report. I pick up Shepard and walk towards the ship.
"I shot some robots, met these three, may have blown up the relic, and needed to carry Shepard to the doctors. Where is the medical unit?" I asked while I passed Anderson and entered the ship.
"Who is he?" Anderson asks. "Dr. Chakwas is to the right after you take the center elevator up one flow?"
I enter the loading bay and notice it feels much larger than in the game. I look around and think to myself how Garrus will be working on the mako, wrex will do… something, Tali working on the core and Liara researching the reapers. I am standing in front of the tediously slow elevator. I shift my weight to my left leg and use my right to press the call button. I enter the elevator and go to the doctor's office.
"Oh my god what happened?" Chakwas puts down her folder, stands from her chair and walks to me to inspect Shepard.
"The prothean device did something to him. He was levitating in the air and hasn't woken up since." I say.
"Put him on the table. This one" she points to the one with a head scanning device. She inspects Shepard's head for injury and could find none. She places the scanning device over his head and begins collecting data.
"That is odd. These are abnormal brain waves for someone comatose."
She is right. The monitor says he is in theta state. The dream state. I am not that familiar with brain waves but it looks erratic. He is periodically switching to gamma state. Something recorded in meditating monks. His brain is going to be exhausted. Kaiden, Ashley, and Anderson walk in.
"How is he Doctor?" Anderson asks.
"I have never seen anything like it. It is as if he is dreaming but different. He looks pale. Do you have any other information about what happened?" Chakwas asks?
"No sorry. We are just as lost as you are" Kaiden says.
"Is the Shepard dreaming of sheep?" I ask.
"Now is not the time for jokes" Ashley barks.
"I'm sorry" I do not like tension. I try to relive it but there is a place and time for it. This is neither.
"There is nothing I can do for him now. How are you all feeling?" Chakwas asked.
"I have a slight migraine" Kaidnen states.
"No issues here doc" Ashley said.
"Where is Jenkins?" Chakwas asked.
Kaiden looked shocked. Did he forget about him? No this isn't that. He looks distraught.
"He didn't make it" Kaiden looks down.
I look at Kaiden and sense something is off. I am going to ignore that for now. Chakwas rushes us out of her area. I offer to help Ashley and Kaiden recover the bodies. We took the mako and we arrived at where I found the soldiers. I step out and point to where I placed them. When Ashley sees the bodies she seems spooked.
"Did you place them like this?" Ashley asked me.
"Yes. What is the matter?
"They look peaceful." She states.
I stare at her for a minute. Thinking of what to say. "They earned their rest." We removed the body bags and placed the sleeping warriors inside the black plastic coffins. We placed them in the back of the mako and took a scenic route to Jenkins. It would have taken less time then taking the train back and walking. The air in the vehicle was frozen. Kaiden looked like he was about to break. Ashley was driving. I was in the passenger seat and we kept giving each other looks. Kaiden is not alright.
When we reached Jenkins, Ashley and I stepped out. Kaiden waited for a minute. He slowly opened the door and walked towards the corpse of his friend. Then he started crying. He was wailing. Ashley and I were shook. It is rare to hear cries of pain this saturated.
"Hey hey Kaiden. What is wrong?" I speak softly. Ashley and I move closely to console this broken man.
"J-jenkins was… was my l-lover. I Loved him and HE WAS RIPPED AWAY IN FRONT OF ME!" Kaiden kneeled down and cried. Howling in pain.
Oh man, I was not expecting that. I feel really bad for this guy. I have been through plenty of painful things but I never lost a love like that. Ashley and I look at each other looking for ideas on what to do. I kneeled down and wrapped my arms around Kaiden.
"Let it out. Let it all flow out. It is clear you loved him immensely. We should take a moment to respect his sacrifice then return him to the normandy. Do you think we can bring him home?" Ashley squats down and rubs her hand through Kaiden's hair to try and soothe him. Kaiden is at a loss for words. He shakes his head. Ashley and I load Jenkins into a bag while Kaiden watches. He cries harder when we zip up the bag and cover Jenkin's face. We load Jenkins into the mako and have a silent drive back to the normandy. I look at the window and see the damage to the colony the geth have caused and wonder how many people right now are going through what Kaiden is feeling right now?
We drove the mako into the Normandy. Kaiden watches us unload Jenkins into a room I was not familiar with. It was never a part of the layout in the game. It's a room dedicated to the fallen. He asked us for a moment alone and we obliged. After a few minutes he exits, enters the elevator and is not seen for the rest of the day. I tell Ashley I can move the rest for her. Today has been a heavy day. I place the bodies onto platforms.
"I hope your transition to the energy worlds is a smooth one. Receive your training from a good instructor and develop the skills you may need to achieve a desired reality." I finish my "prayer" and turn around. Ashley was in the doorway.
"How much did you hear?" I ask.
"Enough. What kind of prayer was that?" she asks with a curious gaze in her eye.
"Mine."
"I came down to pray too. Would you care to join me?" Ashley asks.
"I do not. I appreciate the invitation." I replied.
Just then the room shakes for a brief moment. The weight of my body begins to shift. The pull of gravity feels unnatural. The normandy took off with me in it. It looks like the flow is taking me somewhere.