The Sentinel and The Soldier
"Tell Alenko and Jenkins to suit up and meet us in the cargo bay," Captain Anderson said, his expression a stone wall. She knew that look well. There'd be no arguing with his orders. Nihlus wanted a strike team with him for optimal speed on the ground, and Shepard agreed with his call. Judging by that last hectic, grainy video feed sent from Eden Prime, the Prothean Beacon needed to be found and re-secured as soon as possible. Whatever the hell that ship looming over the colony was, it didn't bode well for them.
"17 minutes ETA, Captain." Even Joker kept his sarcasm in check. The Normandy cloaked its eezo emissions on approach, and Joker took them as close to the spaceport as he could without alerting the huge purple dreadnought. Their stealth systems hid them from radar, but the ship itself was still visible. As their disembark time drew near, Shepard waited by the bay doors in her signature N7 armor. The red stripe down her shoulder and arm made her stand out from the grey hardsuits most soldiers wore to battle. Her squad finished suiting up in nervous silence
Private Richard Jenkins, an excitable young marine fresh from training, was eager to test himself on the field despite the harsh circumstances. He was damn near vibrating as he strapped on his helmet and attached his weapons. The redheaded man's enthusiasm seemed contagious in the few weeks she'd known him. While she hesitated on bringing him into a hot zone with little to no intel, she recalled him talking about living on Eden Prime to Dr. Chakwas. A native to the colony could be helpful.
By contrast, Staff Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko took his time properly inspecting each weapon and adjusting his Amp and Omni-tool. Kaidan was an easygoing yet cautious, dark-haired officer with a shadow of a beard he kept shaved to regulation, but he had years of experience in the Navy and a reliable head on his shoulders from his experiences. He was placed in charge of the Normandy's Marines, and being a Sentinel with an L2 biotic implant made him both flexible and dangerous on the field. Combined with her own combat tech skills and weapon expertise, they made a fairly balanced ground team. They'd just have to be enough to complete this already botched mission.
"Your primary objective is locating and securing the Prothean beacon," Anderson explained to the four soldiers waiting by the open bay doors. "This must be completed at all costs."
"What about looking for survivors?" Kaidan asked.
"That's a negative, Lieutenant. The Marines were specifically there to keep the dig site secure and the citizens safe. Best we don't waste their sacrifices." His jaw tensed, but Kaidan complied with a nod. It didn't sit well with her either, but Shepard figured that the biggest favor they could do was get that beacon away from here so the colony wouldn't be targeted. Nihlus dropped ahead of them, scouting the path they needed to take and relaying any dangers back to them. Beyond that, it'd be radio silence.
"Mission's all yours, Commander! Good Luck." Anderson saluted, and she hopped out the cargo bay onto soft grass. The exoskeleton in her hardsuit absorbed most of the impact on her knees and spine, but she was used to these sorts of entries. Jenkins and Kaidan landed with two identical thumps seconds later. Her helmet's built-in radar showed no signs of movement nearby. She pulled out her Kessler pistol and signaled the group forward. Kaidan drew his own pistol, and Jenkin's Lancer assault rifle expanded to full size in his grip.
"This port is crawling with hostiles, Commander. Keep an eye out," Nihlus warned her. She couldn't see a trace of the Turian, so he must've pushed much farther ahead. "Looks like Geth handiwork, if you can believe it."
"Geth don't leave the Perseus Veil," Kaidan commented from behind her. "This isn't adding up..." She felt the same, but she didn't think Nihlus would mention something so far-fetched if he wasn't certain. The mission only got stranger as they investigated.
"Holy shit," Jenkins mumbled, though he sounded excited. She bit back a smile. At least one of them felt confident.
"Keep the formation tight, no wandering around corners blindly. Can't trust our radars if the Geth are around." Shepard took the lead and jogged through the rolling fields of Eden Prime, following the curve of the surrounding cliffsides. The scenic wilderness and bright blue skies made an eerie contrast with the smoke in the air and the dark stains and shrapnel in the dirt. There'd definitely been some combat, yet everything was too quiet now. Even when they shot a few harmless gas bags that echoed as they popped, nothing answered.
Following a gut instinct, she stopped and leaned against a boulder. A wider and flatter area sloping down to the dig site waited up ahead, based on their map. She swapped to her sniper rifle, the Avenger extending its barrel in seconds, and then peeked the corner through her scope.
Nothing. She hated the idea of just running for the nearest cover downhill, but they didn't have the time to play it safer. She bit her lip behind her helmet's visor and waved Jenkins onward. They'd take it slowly. He trotted out, Kaidan shadowing him from a few steps behind. Almost on cue, a trio of floating drone devices came out from the trees and fired a volley of shots. Jenkins dropped hard and fast, his shields ripped to bits under the combined pressure. Shepard cursed and fired back from her spot, cutting down a drone with a single bullet. They were smart enough to dogpile one soldier, which didn't fit normal automated behavior. Kaidan, to his credit, wasted no time in dispatching the second one despite watching a squad member fall seconds before. She stepped out into the open and broke the last drone's shielding with an Overload hack while Kaidan crouched next to Jenkins to administer medigel. She took a knee and landed another clean hit, ending the fight when the drone exploded. Shepard turned back to Kaidan, who stood up from the downed marine and shook his head.
"It's no good, Commander. He's gone." Well, shit. Not even twenty minutes in, and they were one man down. It always hits hard losing someone in the field, especially like that. The assault had ended as soon as it started.
"...He was a good soldier. We'll make sure he's properly honored and buried, I promise." That's all they could do for him. Kaidan seemed to gather himself after a few moments of silence.
"Yes, Ma'am." Shepard closed his eyes while Kaidan messaged the Normandy about their casualty, and then they trudged onward. Not much farther ahead, they encountered another small group of drones, except this time a squad of mechanical creatures with floodlights for heads accompanied them.
"Geth presence confirmed," she called out to Kaidan. They sprinted for cover behind some crates, then she leveled her Avenger in the enemy's direction. Kaidan blind fired a few rounds but suddenly stopped when a third gun went off. A glimpse of white and pink armor made her lower the scope. Running towards them was a banged up Marine, clutching an assault rifle for dear life. The woman threw herself behind a short wall and took down a drone with another burst from her weapon.
"Over here!" Kaidan loosed a Sabotage on the Geth Troopers' guns, giving them all a slight reprieve from suppressive fire. The Marine waved once to acknowledge their presence, then collected herself and finished off the other drones. Good to see she still had some fight left in her. Shepard and Kaidan ended the Troopers soon after her Overload stripped their shielding away. The area went silent again, though she didn't trust that in the slightest. The Marine ran up to them, saluting after taking a second to catch her breath.
"Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams, reporting for duty." Up close, Shepard recognized the soldier from the distress call.
"At ease, Chief," Kaidan said. Shepard let him take over for the moment. "We received your distress call and came to help with the beacon. What happened to the rest of your unit?" Williams' shoulders sagged a bit, but she answered him in the same professional way.
"They're...gone, Sir. I'm all that's left of the team assigned to the beacon. The Geth ambushed and killed the rest of us." The radio came to life in Shepard's ear as the visibly upset Kaidan patched Williams up.
"Found a squad of Alliance Marines at the dig site, taken out less than an hour ago." Shepard couldn't help but grimace . "I'm closing in on the Spaceport, that's where the beacon should be by now," Nihlus said.
They had to keep moving.
Ashley leapt at the chance to join the team and avenge her comrades, and Shepard knew enough math to grasp that three was better than two. They desperately needed a front liner and the Gunnery Chief fit the bill. The makeshift group fit together quite nicely as they made their way to the spaceport. Her trigger finger on her Banshee rifle was merciless, tearing through the enemy's shielding with expert timing to maximize damage between cooldowns. Her higher grade combat armor (Shepard really needed to look into Sirta Foundation equipment) let her absorb return fire without flinching and had a nanite based wound closing effect, though Shepard didn't let her hold all the attention for too long. No one needed another casualty like Jenkins today. It was clear to anyone with eyes that she had a huge chip on her shoulder and something to prove, even if Shepard didn't know the details. It kept her focused and motivated as they cut a path, which was all the Commander could ask for.
Kaidan seemed far more energized, or perhaps this was how the Lieutenant lost his temper, and he directed that extra fire into his biotics. The zombie-like Husks that climbed off the Geth's inhumane spike tools fell to waves of controlled gravity radiating off him. He acted with a cold sort of fury, his entire upper torso glowing blue at times from the output power of his Amp, and his marksmanship combined with Sabotage dismantled opponents before they could close the distance.
He and Shepard unlocked some storage crates in hopes of finding salvageable equipment and mods, and a few fabricated housing units had surviving civilians huddled inside. After ensuring their safety… and then pulling Ashley away from a smuggler who stole military supplies, the team found their missing Spectre. Murdered, in broad daylight. But why? The Geth wouldn't have shot Nihlus in the back of the head like this, it seemed too much like a planned assassination. Someone else was here.
A shaken dock worker claimed that another Turian was responsible, one by the name of Saren. Filing that information away for later, Shepard questioned the man about the exact events that led to Nihlus being shot, and then moved onto the Geth's presence. He gave up everything he knew without a fight, more than willing to talk to the people trying to save him. Now all that was left to do was catch up with the beacon at the other train station. Shepard tried to put the puzzle together while they boarded.
The Geth did come from that strange ship after all, and then killed anyone in their way. Somehow, they knew the beacon was here and wanted it for themselves. And this Saren was right there with them, waiting for Nihlus. The mastermind of the attack, perhaps? It explained the Geth's sudden interest in a human colony.
"Why would a Turian shoot another Turian in the back?" Ashley asked as the open air cargo train took them further west. She leaned against the railing with her arms crossed. "Killing a Spectre's a big deal. They're all about honor, aren't they?"
That's what their culture focused on. The Hierarchy prioritized rules and the chain of command, everyone working for the betterment of the group. Murdering a Council agent while on business screamed rogue behavior. Shepard doubted it was a planned political maneuver. Maybe this guy was a rare extremist? Someone that wanted to tarnish Turian-Human relations? Ashley removed her helmet for a moment and scratched the back of her neck, a frown on her face.
"And working alongside the Geth too? He must be crazy, they don't talk with Organics." Kaidan shook his head, massaging his temple. A headache from his implant?
"It beats me, but they seem willing to talk to Saren. Maybe even follow his orders. Who knows what's waiting up ahead…" he said.
Bombs. Bombs were up ahead.
"Oh great, they left us a surprise. That's gonna be annoying." About three separate packages around the platform, based on her Omnitool. Shepard speculated that Saren was behind this as well, an attempt to destroy access to the valuable Prothean relic via explosives.
"Kind of an understatement, Ma'am." Ashley grit her teeth, pushing a Geth Sniper back into hiding with a spray of bullets.
"Alright, spread out and look for those devices!" Shepard ordered. Kaidan formed a biotic barrier and covered their flanks while Shepard disarmed the bombs one by one. Not a hard task for someone used to makeshift weapons, but being shot at really upped the ante. Together, they managed to both clear out the Geth and stop the entire station from being blown to bits.
"This is ridiculous, how many lamp heads did they dump down here?" Ashley groaned after they completed a quick sweep of the area. "I don't think anything's left, Commander. Geth or Turian." The massive ship finally retreated from Eden Prime's atmosphere, which made Shepard a bit more comfortable. No more Geth reinforcements.
Somehow, despite damn near everything going wrong, they secured the beacon. She just wished she'd caught up with their Spectre ally in time to save him from his fate, but regrets didn't change the past. Best she could do was make sure Nihlus would be proud of their efforts, and then try to bring this Saren guy to justice.
The beacon, a strange monolith-shaped device on a wide base, sat intact on a section of the platform overlooking the rest of Eden Prime's main colony. Whatever Saren wanted with it, he didn't damage the artifact afterward. In fact, it pulsed a soft green color. Was the beacon somehow activated?
"Good job, team. I'll bring the Captain up to speed." She tapped her helmet and radioed the Normandy, leaving Kaidan and Ashley to keep an eye on things. The ship should have a clear path to their coordinates, then they could load this thing up and take it somewhere safe. She had a long report to write and messages to send out to the fallen's families, which she didn't look forward to at all. "Ground team to Normandy, requesting immediate pickup." Ashley wandered back over to ask for their radio code, and out the corner of her eye, Shepard saw the beacon flare to life. Kaidan brought his arms up to brace himself, but it somehow pulled the Lieutenant closer. What the hell was it doing?
"Alenko, get out of there!' Shepard lunged for him, then tossed the man out of the beacon's range. Ashley braced his fall and kept him in place, but Shepard couldn't find anything to hold onto. The beacon continuously drew her in like a black hole, unrelenting in force, and then suspended her in the air. Everything around her disappeared, her vision going black. A flood of painful red light replaced it.
Images and sounds flashed in her mind. Screaming and a horrible grinding noise. Blood and whirring machinery. Fear and despondence. A low rumbling that pierced her skull like a blade. And somewhere in the midst of this flood of incomprehensible ideas and sensory overload, she felt something calling for help. Her eyes rolled back into her head. The beacon exploded, throwing Shepard to the floor. The frantic voices calling her name faded as sleep claimed her.
AN: I'm trying hard to not just make this a straight summary of the game, focusing more on emotions and thoughts as events happen. The further in I get, the easier that'll become.