BREAKING NEWS! What appears to be a major fleet action has broken out in the skies above Eden Prime. It is unclear at this time who the aggressors are, let alone what their goals are. A Federation Task Force in the area has sustained serious casualties, though at this point we are unable to give specifics. But information from civilian ships in the area appear to indicate the loss of at least one capital ship, and the landing of enemy troops on Eden Prime.

The Navy spokesperson is, understandably, unable to provide any details of what is happening. But we have been he has informed us that a major counterattack in underway, including no less than 9 battleship squadrons, and 9 carrier squadrons pulled from 1st, 2nd, and 3rd fleets.

I'll have more for you as the situation develops, I'm Emily Wong 1st Federation News.

1st Federation News broadcast 2 hours after initial attack on Eden Prime.

"Set the ship to condition one, all hands man your battlestations," Captain Anderson said as he entered the CIC.

"I'm headed to the bridge," John said. Federation Naval regulations stated that during combat if the ship's CO was in the CIC the XO should be on the bridge and vis versa. That way a single hit couldn't kill both of them.

The sharp whistle of the bosun's pipe and the announcement, "general quarters set condition one, all hands man your battlestations! This is not a drill!" came over the Normandy's PA followed by the BONG, BONG, BONG, of the general quarters alarm. Inlaid red lights in the floor and ceiling began flashing in time with the alarm.

Controlled chaos erupted in the CIC as men and women not already at their posts rushed to their stations. A steady stream of people came rushing up the port side stairs, and a few ran down the starboard stairs.

John forced himself not to run, schooling his face into a calm indifference. As a command officer the crew would look to him and Captain Anderson, they had to see that they had the situation under control. Even if that was the furthest thing from the truth.

He stepped through the door to the bridge just ahead of the people taking station at the weapons consoles. Joker was still seated at the Normandy's helm with Kaiden at the primary fire control station next to him.

"Commander," Joker said looking back at him, "it'll take us just over 80 hours to reach Eden Prime on Mass Effect thrusters."

"You get that Captain?" John asked as he pulled up the Normandy's sensor readouts on his optical implants and made sure his link to Anderson and the rest of the crew was stable.

"Yes," Anderson replied in a direct message only John could receive as Jane stepped onto the bridge, "that's too long."

"Agreed," John replied as he watched his sister, "I think we'll have to risk an FTL jump."

"Alenko get back to the auxiliary fire control," Jane said gesturing towards the CIC with her thumb. Part of her job as commander of the Normandy's marine detachment was operating fire control unless she was groundside.

"Agreed, drop us out 90 light seconds from Eden Prime," Anderson ordered. "That should give us plenty of room to maneuver if there is a welcoming committee."

"Yes ma'am," Kaden said getting up from his seat and heading back to the CIC.

"Aye sir," John said. Then switching so that both Joker and Jane could receive, he said, "the captain wants and FTL jump 90 LS short of Eden Prime."

"Aye sir, shall I blow heat before the jump?" Joker asked.

"Yes."

With that Joker settled back slightly into his seat. After a moment the stars visible through the bridge windows began to distort, like looking through water or glass. Then they began to shift red and slowly started to fade away replaced by new stars.

John couldn't suppress a smile as he watched, he never ceased to be amazed at FTL travel, and watching as the Mass Effect field redshifted the universe was like looking at a hidden world.

Staring at the universe's fireworks display John let his mind wander. It would be 20 minutes before they reached Eden Prime, and there was nothing else for him to do except hurry up and wait.

It was an age old truism that naval warfare was brief moments of sheer terror and exhilaration punctuated by long stretches of mind numbing boredom. It had always been so, from the age of sail to the age of starships.

John's philosophical musings took him from the juxtaposition of him stargazing one minute and potentially fighting a battle the next, to the way people perceive time, to the question of what actually separates now from the future.

Before he knew it the stars outside the bridge window had returned to normal and he was back in command mode. Drawing up the Normandy's sensor feeds to his optical implants he bypassed the displays and took a look at the raw data.

Dozens of EM sources had been picked up and the Normandy's computer, with assistance from Holly and various crew members, was trying to identify them. If they waited, they'd receive an update from the local battle substream in about 90 seconds, but nobody was willing to wait.

All each EM source was at the moment was a point of data, or a datum. The first step in turning that datum into something useful was to analyze the range of different EM frequencies that comprised it.

Each class of starship or type of space station produces a unique mix of frequency that is called its Electromagnetic signature, or EMS for short.

This is because the various technologies used on every starship and space station each produced EM emissions on different frequencies, which can be picked up in said ship/stations waste EM. The hull shape and even the location of various pieces of equipment can further alter these frequencies.

By analyzing the frequencies and comparing them to known profiles a ship can be identified from that, if its profile has been recorded.

Once the ship is identified other information such as range can be determined by simply measuring the intensity of the EM source, since its starting strength is a known quantity. But when that is not known, such as for an unknown vessel, other methods have to be used to determine range. Range is an important factor not just because it lets you know if someone is close enough to shoot you, but because a ship's size and speed are impossible to determine without it.

Starships have three ways to find the range of an object in space. The first and most accurate is with an active scan like LADAR or a ranging laser. While accurate they are also very short range, only being effective at ranges below one million kilometers.

For the Normandy these also have the added drawback of giving away her location, and therefore can't be used while in stealth.

The medium distance range finding method, which Joker was currently maneuvering to employ, was to turn broadside on to the datum. Then two observation points, one on the bow and one on the stern, would look at the datum. Being separated from each other by the length of the ship each observation point would see the datum in a slightly different location, and by measuring the difference some basic trigonometry would get the range.

But of course, this was limited by the distance between the two observation points, and the maximum distance which it would work varied depending on the length of the ship.

For long distance range finding, typically above 500 million kilometers, a single central observation point was used. As the ship flies in a straight line the central observation point watches the datum until it can detect a change in the datum's relative attitude, and the distance the observing ship moved is used to calculate range.

Therefor this method could, in theory, measure the range of any detectable object. But it was also the most inaccurate, owing to the fact that the two compared measurements were taken at different times and the movement of the datum would introduce errors. But given the large distances over which it was used, the errors where acceptable.

But that particular method wouldn't be needed now, all of the objects the Normandy was interested in where less than 30 million kilometers or 90 LS (light seconds) away.

In only a few seconds dozens of datums were resolved into Terran ships, most of them identified by their IFF (identify friend or foe) transponders. But a few had clearly had their transponders knocked out, and others were so badly mangled that EMS could only identify them as Terran.

Most heartbreaking of all where the wrecks. Though some where certainly enemy wrecks, others were equally certainly friendlies.

Far more worrying however was what John didn't see.

There was no sign of a crippled ship or debris field large enough to be the battleship that led the attack. There were two debris fields large enough to be capital ships and a cripple. Though that was already IDed as friendly.

There were also clear signs of continued fighting in orbit. Based on the signal locations, and what ships had and had not been identified it looked to John as if TF 317 had been pushed away from the space directly above the main settlement.

But TF 317 appeared to be rallying. Furthermore, in spite of their losses they also appeared to be significantly more powerful than the enemy force.

Then John looked closer at the signals, and with a sick certainty he realized he was right. But the Geth were fighting a delaying action, only engaging the Terran ships enough to slow them down.

And there was only one reason they would be doing that…

"Captain, they Geth definitely know about the beacon," John said in a private channel with just Captain Anderson and Jane.

"This attack would seem to indicate that is likel…" Anderson trailed off, "I see what you mean."

"I don't," Jane said. Although Jane was probably more knowledgeable about military strategy and tactics overall than John, she wasn't as familiar with the specifics of naval warfare.

"The Geth are outnumbered and outgunned, but they're not retreating. They're fighting a delaying action to keep our ships away from the main settlement," John explained.

"Because they're trying to keep our ships off their ground forces and keep their exit corridor open," Jane said grasping the situation immediately.

"Yes, while we could likely help with the naval battle our top priority is the beacon, and I think it is clear that we'd be of far better use providing fire support to the ground troops," Captain Anderson stated.

"And getting my team on the ground to secure the beacon," Jane added.

"Joker, bring us in to drop the Mako as close to the following coordinates as possible then bring us back up to provide orbital fire support," Captain Anderson ordered in the general command channel.

"Aye aye sir," Joker replied.

"I'll prep my team," Jane said getting up from fire control. "Alenko, Jenkins, meet me in the vehicle hanger, and somebody grab that turian."

"Captain, Major," John interrupted still in the private channel, "request permission to join the landing party."

Jane stopped beside him and raised her eyebrow.

"I'm the best combat hacker and engineer on this ship, between the Geth and the beacon you're gonna need me," John argued. While that was true John could also admit to himself that he was excited at the prospect of examining a working Prothean beacon himself. "You're in command of the ground team, I'll obey your orders."

"He's right," Jane said after a moment.

"Are you sure that's how you want to play this John?" Captain Anderson asked.

Anderson's use of John's first name told him that it was personal rather than professional concern. And it wasn't for John's safety, military life was inherently unsafe. No, this was concern about John's career.

Or to be more specific, John gaining command of the Normandy.

No matter how advanced or powerful the Normandy was still a destroyer, and rated a commander as her CO. Anderson was a captain. Given his record he would probably be given command of a battlecruiser, except he had been selected to command the Normandy through her shakedown.

John on the other hand was only a Lieutenant Commander, but he was up for promotion and had commanded two DEs and served as XO of the destroyer Tassafaronga. He also had an exemplary record, as well as having received the Star of Terra for his one man stand at the Battle of Elysium.

It wasn't much of a leap in logic to assume that he had been assigned as the Normandy's XO to learn the ship before he took over for Anderson as her captain.

But running off on a ground mission rather than staying with and learning his ship could endanger that.

"Captain that beacon is more important than any or all of our lives, and is far more important than my career or my next assignment," John said firmly.

"I agree," Anderson replied with more than a touch of respect, "and I had the same thought. But I wasn't going to order it."

"I understand sir and thank you."

Jane stepped into the machine at the back of the vehicle bay that looked like a metal ring suspended from the ceiling surrounded by four metal arms. Grabbing ahold of the two handholds she activated the machine.

Everyone else could put on their armor by themselves, though it was easier with a little help. But Jane's Excalibur class armor was too large, heavy and complex for that. It was the most advanced suit of power armor the Federation had developed, and as a result the suit had to be assembled around the wearer.

Excalibur armor also had a number of drawbacks in addition to an eyewatering cost. Each suit had to be tailored to its user, which made spare parts and replacement of the suit a logistical nightmare. Also the suit's enhancements put so much strain on the user that it could seriously injure or kill even someone with N7 cybernetic enhancements.

To use Excalibur armor required a set of even more extreme and invasive implants, and N7 was already considered exceptionally invasive. Use of the armor required full replacement of the skeletal and peripheral nervous systems as well as the most advanced reflex and motor control processors yet developed.

These enhancements where only given to graduates of the Titan Advanced Warfare Center or TAWK (pronounced talk). The TAWK was responsible for the development and training of supersoldiers, despite the Federation's claims otherwise.

These supersoldiers, of which Jane was a member, were known as Titans.

When the armoring machine switched on it lifted Jane slightly off the deck and began assembling her boots. After that it worked its way up to her calves, thighs, pelvis, abdomen, torso, upper arms, lower arms, and finally her hands. Each piece connected through ports to Jane's nerves, bones, and musculature, and as each piece was added it went into lockdown preventing her from moving. Overall, the armoring process felt like a combination of ascending paralysis and being canned.

No matter how many times Jane went through it, it still required a bit of will not to freak out. She considered it a matter of personal pride not to let her discomfort show.

When the armor assembly was complete the machine returned to its normal position and the armor lockdown released. Though Jane could have overridden the lockdown at any time, but it was best if the suit didn't move until it was fully assembled.

Stepping onto the deck Jane moved her arms and legs in a practiced motion that helped her adjust to the enhanced speed the armor provided. Grabbing her helmet from its stand she sealed it to her armor, making sure to switch her visor from one way to full transparency, as she headed for the Mako.

Rounding the Infantry Fighting Vehicle (IFV) she saw John finishing helping Jenkins with his torso armor as Kaiden adjusted his helmet.

John was the first to notice her as he gave Jenkins armor a slap on the back and said, "Major Sheppard."

"Major," Kaiden said putting his helmet on and snapping a salute.

"Ma'am," Jenkins exclaimed in surprise also saluting.

"Lieutenant, Private," Jane replied returning their salutes then nodding to her brother, "LC Sheppard." John didn't have to salute her because he wasn't technically under her command yet. "Has anyone seen Nihlus?"

"I'm here Major," Nihlus's voice came from the elevator near the back of the garage.

Turing around she saw he was carrying a very powerful shotgun. According to her optical scanners it had at least three times the power of a standard military shotgun, and likely five times the thermal capacity.

"Nice gun."

"Nice armor," Nihlus replied without missing a beat, "Excalibur MK2. I suspected you were a Titan when I met you, it will be interesting to see what you can do."

He was wrong however; Jane's armor was the brand new MK 3. But there was no way Nihlus could know that. In fact it would have probably been a rather large security leak if he had.

"So, you've heard of the Titan program," Jane stated as Nihlus folded his shotgun away and placed it on the small of his back.

"Oh yes, it has been the subject of considerable study," Nihlus said drawing and unfolding the assault rifle from behind his right shoulder. "It's inspired many of our governments to develop their own supersoldier programs."

"The Titan program is not a supersoldier program," Jane said automatically as she scanned the Turian's assault rifle. It was every bit as impressive as the shotgun. "Those are some impressive weapons. Where did you get them?"

"Spectre gear," Nihlus replied putting his rifle away, apparently satisfied with his examination. He then drew his sidearm and began to examine it, "they are the most advanced weapons yet developed, and restricted for use only by the Spectres."

Jane was saved from making a response by a message from Captain Anderson, "ETA to drop zone fifteen minutes Major. Be Ready."

"Yes sir," she replied as a timer appeared in the top center of her and everyone else's ocular display. Heading for the weapons lockers across from the Mako she called out, "drop in fifteen, grab your gear!"

Opening her personal equipment locker Jane examined the contents. At the bottom of the locker was a hip fired six-barrel gatling gun, by far her favorite weapon, it had a heat sink that rotated with each barrel as it fired to keep the weapon from overheating. But it could tear through infantry and even light vehicles with ease.

But if everything went according to plan this mission would be fast. And while between her own strength enhancements and her armor the gat's weight wasn't an issue, the weapon was bulky. It required a special cargo rack on the Mako and there was no way she could stow it on her armor. Meaning she would constantly have one hand occupied holding it, unless she set it down.

Instead, she grabbed her M-7C Mjolnir assault rifle. Based on the M-7 Lancer that was standard issue in the Federation armed forces the C variant was designed for use by Titans. Taking advantage of a Titan's greater ability to withstand recoil the C was more powerful, and had been given the name Mjolnir for its power and its loud report.

For a side arm she always used an M-6 Carnifex, though hers was similarly modified to the Mjolnir. Titan versions of the M-22 Eviscerator shotgun and the M-98 Widow, called the Annihilator and the Terminator respectively, rounded out her armament. For a heavy weapon she selected her M-100 grenade launcher, and four hand grenades to round it all off.

Next to her she saw John quickly checking his N-7 Hurricane submachinegun before attaching it to his right leg and repeating the process with his own Carnifex which he attached to his left leg. He then grabbed multiple packs of tools and equipment and began attaching them across his armor. Finally, John opened a secure drawer in his locker that was full of biochips.

Jane took an involuntary step backwards. Those chips were full of the nastiest viruses, worms, and daemons imaginable. Many of them John had designed himself.

John looked at the chips much the way Jane imagined she must have her weapons, before selecting six chips and inserting them into his neural ports.

Jane shuddered. She knew all of the programs were inactive and the chips were designed to contain them, still she couldn't be paid to put one of those brain bombs in her ports.

As John was about to slide the last chip in he looked at her. Something of her discomfort must have shown on her face because his hand suddenly shot out and tapped her with the chip.

Jane jumped back as if bitten by a snake. She barely prevented herself from screaming.

John simply smiled and slip the last chip into his port while mouthing, "payback," at her.

She took a deep breath; this was neither the time nor place to chew John out. Besides she could admit to herself she probably deserved that. When they were kids she had always delighted in scaring John with the various creepy crawlies she found outside. Once, while they were on Earth, she put a scorpion in his underwear drawer and had laughed for hours at his scream. The two stings she had taken catching the thing, and two weeks grounded as punishment by their parents were well worth it.

After making sure no one besides John could see her face Jane stuck her tongue out at her brother. To which he laughed.

Jane laid her hand on his shoulder to tell him all the things she couldn't at the moment, and that she wasn't good at saying anyway. John took her hand and squeezed it, still smiling.

"Love you sis," he mouthed.

Jane nodded and squeezed back. Clearing her throat she bellowed, "everyone ready?"

"Yes, ma'am," Jenkins said. And she could see he had his rifle, shotgun, sidearm, and grenades.

"Ready to go ma'am," Kaiden confirmed, his own pistol, SMG, and equipment also stowed.

"Alright we've got about eight minutes to be in the Mako and ready for drop. Move!" Jane shouted.

At her words everyone, Nihlus included, tromped up the Mako's rear ramp and began to get strapped in. Though she did have to stop and help Nihlus with his straps, he wasn't familiar with them, and they hadn't been designed with Turians in mind.

When she turned around to head for the driver's seat at the front of the vehicle, she saw it was already occupied. John was busily adjusting the seat to fit his taller frame.

"What do you think you're doing?" Jane asked.

John looked back at her and said, "taking my position," as if it where the most obvious thing in the galaxy. Before Jane could tell him to move, he said, "you're in command. The traditional place for a commander is in the turret. Besides I'm a better driver than you."

Jane couldn't argue with his first point and climbed up into the turret while replying to his second point, "according to whom?"

"Ah, the insurance company, the three skycars you've totaled, and how many speeding tickets?"

"Seven," Jane mumbled. Apparently, she couldn't argue with either of his points.

"I think you mean eight, just because you flirted your way out of a ticket doesn't mean you weren't guilty."

"Fuck you," Jane said without any venom and John immediately burst into laughter. He was soon followed by Kaiden, Jenkins, and Jane herself.

After the chuckles died down Jane noticed Nihlus looking at her, and she wasn't sure what to make of his expression. She, like nearly everyone in the Federation military and diplomatic services, had several programs to help her interpret alien body language, but there was a lot it missed or couldn't identify.

Like Nihlus's current expression.

John had told her that even the fact that the program couldn't identify the expression could tell you something. But honestly, she hadn't really been paying attention when he had talked about it, and she knew her own limitations enough that she doubted it would be much help even if she had.

That left the direct approach, "something wrong Spectre?"

"Not wrong, but I am curious. I may be getting a mistranslation of what was just said, but in the Turian military if someone spoke to a superior officer the way your brother did, family or not, that would be a cause for major disciplinary action. And laughing at a superior even more so." Nihlus didn't sound accusing or scornful to the best Jane could tell.

"Depends on the officer," Jane replied honestly, "some would have that reaction. But I don't. I don't mind occasionally being the butt of the joke, I'm a big girl I can take it. I think it is important to be able to laugh a little in this line of work, otherwise you just go nuts."

"I see. I've noticed that Federation ships tend to have a looser discipline than I am used to on Hierarchy ships. I don't mean that as an insult though."

"I didn't take it as such, and that doesn't surprise me. But we have found that too high of a level of discipline can be almost as much of a problem as too little. It makes people more inclined to snap under pressure and creates environments for abuse of power."

"Hmm, I'll have to…"

Whatever else Nihlus said was cut off by Captain Anderson's voice, "ETA to drop 90 seconds. Remember Major your objective is the Beacon, head straight for the dig site. Don't worry about helping the embattled ground forces, the Normandy will provide them orbital support. But that also means we won't be able to support you."

"Yes sir," Jane said, "ready to drop on your order."

"Stand bye."

When she returned her focus to the Mako Jane saw Nihlus was giving her a different look, one that neither she nor her program could ID any better than the last. "We are dropping in less than sixty seconds!" She said after a pause.

At her words everyone's focus snapped to the task at hand, double and triple checking their straps and making sure their equipment was secure. Then an anticipatory silence descended on the Mako as they waited for the drop.

Jane and everyone except Nihlus watched the timer in their displays tick down. 30 seconds, 20 seconds, 15 seconds, 10 seconds, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1…

When the timer hit 0 the bay door at the front of the hanger opened and John gunned the engine. When the Mako's tires cleared the ramp a familiar sense of weightlessness lifted Jane's stomach then the first blast of the Mako's thrusters jammed her down into her seat before again being replaced by weightlessness. The pattern of weightless freefall and hard thruster burns repeated 4 times before being replaced by the bone jarring impact of the Mako hitting the ground.

Before the Mako even stopped moving John had the accelerator floored and the wheels dug into the wet ground sending mud flying. The Normandy had dropped them in a small patch of level ground between two gently rolling hills

Jane checked the sensors and all-round visual feeds looking for any sign of hostiles. The sky was a brilliant red orange, far more vivid than she normally saw. Jane immediately knew the cause, large amounts of smoke in the atmosphere, and she forced herself not to dwell on the implications of that.

"According to the positioning system we're just over one klick from the dig site," John reported. "There is a ravine up ahead, I'm going to take us through that."

"Rodger that," Jane agreed. For a navy puke John had good instincts for armored vehicles, by sticking to the low ground they would be hard to spot and harder to target.

If we're lucky we might be able to reach the Beacon before the Geth even realize we're here.

No sooner had the thought run through Jane's head then two Geth drones darted overhead.

"Fuck," she growled. Louder she said, "enemy drones," as she opened up on them with the Mako's coaxial gun.

"Well, they know we're here now," John commented. "Tight turn ahead, I'm gonna take it at speed. Hold on."

The Mako lurched alarmingly as John powered around the corner, ringing a curse from Nihlus and a yelp of surprise from Jenkins. Jane suppressed a snicker at the slight crack in the Turian's demeanor.

She was so amused she almost didn't see the signal pop up at their 7 o'clock position. She looked to see what it was as she traversed the turret around and her blood ran cold.

In a small rocky crag that shielded them from the Mako's sensors until the Mako had already emerged from the ravine were a half dozen mechs, Geth presumably, with three large weapons. Jane wasn't familiar with Geth weaponry, but she could guess what those where.

Disruptor missile launchers.

Working on the same principle as a disruptor torpedo, disruptor missiles were used to defeat the kinetic barriers of armored vehicles by increasing their mass to the point the barrier can't stop them.

The moment the turret was on target Jane fired the mass accelerator followed by a long burst from the coaxial gun. The mass accelerator slug blew the mechs apart, but it was just too late.

With their increased mass the missiles where slow enough that Jane had a full second to try to target them with the coax, and she was rewarded with the sight of one missile exploding midair.

But she'd never get the other two. There simply wasn't enough time.

Ten meters from impact the Mako's defense systems engaged firing several canisters of shrapnel at the warheads. The closest missile flew through a pattern of shrapnel and was ripped to pieces. But the third trailing weapon found a gap in the pattern.

Jane caught sight of the disruptor missile as it cut through the Mako's kinetic barrier. The blue flash of the barrier contrasted with the bright yellow of the weapon's exhaust. The missile's nose was painted bright red and Jane was somewhat surprised that the Geth would do that as she also wondered it that painted nose would be the last thing she would ever see.

This is going to hurt.

The Mako shuddered as the missile slammed into the left rear, spraying shrapnel into the fighting compartment and killing the engine. The force of the impact literally shoved the undercarriage, already lightened by the mass effect field, to the side. With the Mako's mass already shifted to the left from the turn it began to roll.

As it reached the point of no return the mass effect field failed, had it failed a fraction of a second earlier the Mako's increased weight would have righted the IFV. Instead, its entire 55 tons further powered the roll.

Only Jane's enhanced reflexes enabled her to launch herself from the turret before it was smashed into the fighting compartment. She hit the side of the compartment hard enough to see stars and leave a sizable dent in the metal.

Shaking her head, she pulled up her team's vital signs and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw John was alive. His heart rate was elevated, and his armor registered several minor injuries, but he was fine, as was Kaiden. But a lead weight settled in her stomach when she saw Jenkin's readout: no heartbeat, trauma to the chest and abdomen, massive blood loss. And she obviously had no read on Nihlus.

Pushing herself up she looked back and saw both Nihlus and Kaiden working to get their straps off, along with an orange glow from behind one of the panels.

Back when Jane had been in training one of her instructors on armored vehicles used to run evacuation drills for the vehicles. Right then Jane could hear his voice saying the words that began every drill.

"Oh bugger, the tank's on fire."

"Fuck," Jane exclaimed surging up and pulling the lever for the ventral escape hatch and throwing it open. She then rounded to the front of the Mako where John had just finished cutting himself free from the driver's seat.

Without stopping to explain she grabbed her twin brother and practically threw him out the hatch. Kaiden was beside her in the next moment and was already slipping out, which just left Nihlus.

Looking back, she saw him trying to free Jenkin's corpse from its restraints as the fire was already leaping out from behind the panel. For a moment she wondered what he was doing, then she realized he probably didn't know Jenkins was already dead.

Running the few steps back she grabbed Nihlus by the shoulder and yelled into his face, "he's dead! We need to get out of here right now!"

As if to punctuate her point a burst of flames rushed past them catching the seats opposite them on fire. Taking the hint Nihlus followed her to the escape hatch and climbed through. As soon as he was clear Jane followed the Turian.

She'd barely made it halfway out of the hatch before a stream of blue-white streaks washed over her and alarms in her suit started beeping as her kinetic barriers dropped to 40%. She instantly dove down the opposite side of the Mako from the incoming fire.

As Jane came up to her feet, she saw Nihlus's kinetic barrier appear to pop like a soap bubble, indicating it had failed. In the opposite direction she saw a dozen mechs similar to the ones that had fired the disruptor missiles at the Mako.

They were mostly white and stood out against the green Eden Prime hill. Their hood shaped head had what looked like a large spotlight on the front, which also didn't help them to blend in. And each one of them was firing.

Jane knew she and Nihlus had to move. With the fire spreading the Mako's fuel tanks could rupture at any moment. She couldn't see John or Kaiden, she'd have to hope they already made it clear.

"I'll draw their fire while you get clear," Jane commanded, "then you cover me."

To his credit Nihlus didn't question Jane's authority to give him orders. He just nodded and said, "ready when you are."

"Go," Jane shouted as she rose just high enough to fire over the Mako. She put the closest Geth (she assumed it was a Geth though they still didn't have any solid confirmation of that) in her sights and squeezed the trigger.

Her Mjolnir's heavy fire bit into the target's kinetic barriers shattering them in under two seconds and smashing the mech into scrap. At the same time as her target went down multiple streams of fire poured into her stripping her own barriers faster than she anticipated.

Ducking further down she fired back at the sources of fire. As she did Jane noticed the enemy's weapons fire sounded odd. Rather than the rapid CRACK CRACK CRACK she was used to, these weapons made a snapping TIT TIT TIT sound.

But she didn't have time to ponder what that meant as she heard Nihlus shout, "I've got you covered Major."

Jane didn't hesitate. She sprinted as fast as she could for the nearest set of rocks she could see. Rounds snapped and sizzled past her and she was sure she felt a few hit her armor. Then she was diving behind a rock and she had a moment to breathe.

"I've done what I can to scramble their targeting systems but it doesn't last long, just a few seconds." John said over the radio.

Jane looked around for him and spotted him ten meters to her right crouched behind a boulder with Kaiden.

"I tried to protect us with a biotic barrier, but they cut through it in seconds," Kaiden added.

"They also don't seem to be pausing to let their weapons vent heat," Nihlus said. "Given the volume of fire they are pouring against us I don't understand how that is possible.

"There are some short gaps of two for three seconds, but I agree," Jane replied thinking. "It's just a matter of time before they drown us in reinforcements, we need to end this quickly. John, you said you weren't able to scramble their targeting for long, but you could scramble them?"

"Yes. Five or six seconds."

"Ok, get ready to scramble them again. When you do, we'll hit them with everything we've got."

"Got it."

"On my mark," Jane said. Taking in a deep breath she pushed everything from her mind. "Mark!"

Leaning out from around her rock she sighted up on the first Geth she saw and squeezed the trigger. Her rifle let out a harsh CRACRACRACK, the mech's barrier popped and it's upper half was reduced to confetti.

Mechanically Jane moved on to another, aware of the cracking of Nihlus's rifle and crackling BUUURRRP of John and Kaiden's SMG. And while the Geth's accuracy had definitely been reduced far too many of their shots where still finding their mark.

Jane watched as her barrier drained with worrying speed, but the Geth were also falling quickly. When there were only three active platforms left the scrambling wore off and their fire force Jane back behind the rock.

As John had warned it didn't last long, but it had lasted long enough. As Jane saw John nail one of the platforms before it could shift its fire to him after suppressing Kaiden. One of the two surviving mechs then turned to cover its now exposed flank and Nihlus cut it down. Before Jane's barrier could finish recharging the last Geth was a sparking heap on the grassy hill.

"Sound off, anyone hurt?" Jane called out and was met with negative responses.

"Did you notice their rate of fire?" Kaiden asked, "there was no pause to let their weapons vent heat."

"Yeah," Jane replied, "Nihlus and I both noticed the same thing."

"I noticed that too," John interjected, "but I also noticed the sound their weapons where making."

"That popping tit tit tit," Jane attempted to imitate the Geth weapons. "I wondered about that."

"I've heard that sound before," John said. "The crack one of our weapons makes is the sonic boom of the bullet they fire. But that popping sound, kind of the sound of a spark jumping but much louder, is created by rapidly expanding and contracting superheated air. Basically thunder."

"You're talking about directed energy weapons," Kaiden said.

John nodded, "plasma to be specific."

"It certainly chewed through our kinetic barriers," Jane added, glancing at the burning Mako.

Flames were shooting up through the escape hatch like a blow torch and the paint was starting to peel off the outer hull. A blast suddenly peeled the IFV's bottom back like a tin can and sending the wheels flying.

Jane sighed, "well I guess we're on foot. Move out."

Chapter two is up!

In my last two chapters I thought I put in a line between the story and the author's comments. I am going to try again here, but I am also putting a bigger gap in case that fails.

So, one of the difficulties you would face in the Mass Effect universe is trying to identify and range any contact you detected, given that active sensors are severely limited in range. I actually gave this a lot of thought and wanted to explain how it works as it will come into play farther down the line.

I decided to bas my ideas on the way submarines work today. By studying the sounds a ship and it's machinery produce a modern sub can ID a class, sometimes even a specific ship! The same should work regarding the EM output of a starship. As for ranging I basically used the same principle that optical range finders have used since their invention.

Jane's armor is obviously partially based on the Mjolnir Spartan armor from Halo. Though with a few alterations for the setting and a few ideas of my own. And it makes sense that if you are creating supersoldiers you would create armor tailored to their capabilities.

Similarly with Jane's weapons, they are either existing weapons modified her greater capabilities or weapons that have just been up powered given that Jane can handle more recoil. And recoil was the limiting factor in Mass Effect

Finally, there is the disruptor missiles. Much like z98 I saw no reason not to deploy the Mako, but to be honest I didn't actually want it in these scenes. So I had to knock it out, and I spent a lot of time trying to think of a way to do that without rendering the vehicle useless or the weapon used to knock it out then being completely forgotten. And the Mako's kinetic barrier was also a bit of a sticking point, given we have seen how powerful it is.

Then I realized there are already in universe weapons for bypassing kinetic barriers, disruptor torpedoes. It of course follows that these weapons would be duplicated in a shoulder launched version for taking out armored vehicles with kinetic barriers. And they have a built-in weakness that prevent them from being OP, they are slow. They would also probably be pretty bulky. Honestly I am surprised that Bioware didn't think of this and include it in the game.

On to questions.

The first question I saw was about fifth fleet, and I was rather surprised. I looked back and oh boy is there egg on my face (embarrassed emoji). I completely fudged counting when I wrote that, and math was one of my best subjects in school too. So I have fixed that in edit.

As for Admiral Hackett, in this timeline her commands the 2nd fleet.

The second question I got was as to why the Federation would allow Nihlus on the Normandy. And the answer is, frankly that I agree they probably wouldn't. The IRL reason is I am kinda hemmed in here, and Garrus will be the same issue. But in universe, well the Normandy is the best ship for the job of retrieving the beacon and later hunting Saren, and I also agree with z98 that the emission sinks would probably be the real secret of the Normandy class. Most everything else could be figured out by the Council with a few minutes of thinking. As well as the Normandy's radar absorbent coating, which she would need to not be picked up by active sensors. (I don't think I mentioned that yet)

So Nihlus and later Garrus might be allowed onboard as a show of good faith, while at the same time taking the reasonable precaution of not letting them near the sinks or to touch the outer hull. Which is something I was already planning to add. Another point as to why this is being allowed is that I have implied that the Normandy class is one of the less ambitious goals of the paradigm shift strategy. And I can assure you there are projects there the Federation wouldn't let the Council touch with a ten meter barge pole.

If you liked this story you can check out my original story The Burning of a Pyromancer at my deviantart page, pyromancer707

P.S. Sasha, on the off chance you read this I am sorry for what was said back in summer. I miss talking to you so much. I was in a very dark place, please let's talk again.

Your friend, Miriana.