Mass Effect: Maelstrom Siblings

by Leaf Ranger

When faced with protecting an entire galactic community, it's always good to have friends and squad-mates at your side. But it's even better when you've got your brother with you as well. Get ready galaxy, because here come Alicia and Naruto Shepard, the Maelstrom Siblings. Rated M for swearing, action, gore, and implied sexual situations.

7. Trouble in Paradise

Well we've finally reached it. The first chapter that actually covers the events of the game. Sorry it took so long to get here, but I wanted to make sure and give…well enough info on Naruto and Alicia's background to understand them. Sadly, looking back, I think I did way too much on Naruto and not enough on Alicia. Guess we'll see what happens, won't we?

Thank you to everyone who has so far supported this fanfic, and helped me to have the confidence to get to this point. I honestly was and still am very nervous about this fanfic, but I'm also excited, and hope that it continues to entertain and impress.

On a different not, HeliX Sol is looking for people who could perhaps draw fanart for their fanfics. If you're interested, or know someone who can draw fanart for them., please contact them via PM, please.

So, without further ado, onto the show!

Disclaimer: I do not own Mass Effect or Naruto. They are the property of Bioware and Masashi Kishimoto respectively. This is a nonprofit fan made fiction. Please support the official releases.

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Chapter 7

Trouble in Paradise

Arcturus Station, 2183

The heart of Alliance operations, home to the Systems Alliance Parliament, and headquarters for the Systems Alliance military, Arcturus Station was one of the busiest locations in Alliance space. Warships were constantly docking to transfer crewmembers and cargo, receiving new crew transfers and deployment orders before launching. Platoons of marines would be transferred from one transport ship to another to be ferried to their new postings, or to be rotated back home for well-deserved leave. The highest ranking officers of the Alliance overlooked scouting reports and declassified intelligence files, and used that information to direct the warships and marine forces of humanity in the defense of their borders.

At one of the docking ports lining the exterior of the station was the newest ship in the Alliance navy, the lead ship of the new Normandy-class Stealth Reconnaissance frigates, the SSV Normandy, designation SR1. At a glance, you could tell she was a different breed from her fellow Alliance ships. While most Alliance ships were angular, looking like large triangular darts, this ship was sleek, with a rounded main hull and engines mounted on short wings, giving her the look of an oversized fighter rather than a warship. Reaching in between ninety and a hundred meters long, her hull was painted black and a grayish-white, with a few red lines accenting her hull, and her name proudly displayed along her sides.

The Normandy was the product of a joint design venture between the Systems Alliance and the Turian Hierarchy, an attempt to bridge the gap that the First Contact War had created between the two races and governments, with her development being sponsored by the Council itself. As such, she incorporated many new design features not yet seen in the more mainstream warships used by the Alliance or the Hierarchy, making her a cutting-edge prototype.

Onboard, Captain David Anderson frowned as he sat in the captain's cabin on the ship's 'crew deck', listening to the communication in front of him. He was currently connected to both Admiral Steven Hackett, commander of the Alliance Fifth Fleet, and Ambassador Udina, humanity's ambassador to the Council races on the Citadel. Currently, they were in discussion regarding a certain 'guest' who had been onboard the Normandy since it left Earth's orbital construction yards.

"So the reason I've got a turian Spectre onboard is not because the Council and the Hierarchy want to see the culmination of this little joint venture, but because they're evaluating Commander Shepard for Spectre candidacy?" The London born Alliance captain asked, looking from the image of Hackett to Udina. It was the latter who responded to him.

"That is correct, captain. Nihlus was the one who put forth Commander Shepard's name for candidacy and the Council believes that he is onto something here. Her record is one of the best in the Alliance," Udina said.

"She's one of the best I've seen in years," Hackett said in his gruffer tone. "Military service runs in her blood, what with both her parents serving in the Alliance. She stood the line on Elysium, and was instrumental in saving a battalion of marines on Torfan that was in danger of being destroyed. She's a highly skilled N7, and quite a capable biotic."

Anderson nodded at all that, sitting back slightly in his chair. "That's all true. But what about her brother, Captain Naruto? I'm surprised the Council and the Alliance aren't trying to make him a Spectre," he commented. (1)

Udina just gave an 'hmph' noise. "Believe me the turians at least would love nothing better, if to simply get more control over him. But the rest of the Council and the Alliance both think that he is not entirely the best choice for the job. This will be humanity's first Spectre, and it should be a human who takes the position, not an adopted alien," he said.

Hackett gave a bit of a glare at Udina, before speaking up. "Captain Naruto is an excellent marine, and has proven to be as good an N7 as his sister. But there are questions about his temperament being the right one for the job, after that incident onboard the Randolph," he said, making Anderson nod quietly.

"Alright, I understand then. I'll afford Agent Nihlus as much courtesy and assistance as I am able. But I do think there could have been an easier way to do this then springing it on me and my crew when we're about to commence our ship's shakedown run," he said.

"This is a simple but important mission you're going on, Captain Anderson. A perfect chance for Nihlus to begin his assessment of Commander Shepard. Complete the mission, and rendezvous at the Citadel," Udina said, before narrowing his eyes. "This is our second chance at getting a Spectre agent of our own, Anderson. I think you can appreciate what this means for us if we succeed and the consequences if something should go wrong. Do not allow the latter to happen," Udina said, before curtly signing off.

The dark-skinned captain growled softly in anger. "That man is a certified jackass," he said to Hackett, who simply nodded in agreement, not seeming to care about the breach in protocol.

"Why do you think I made sure to avoid any posting that put me within fifty light years of him?" Hackett asked with a wry grin. "Good luck out there captain," he said.

"Yes sir," Anderson said, saluting, as Hackett returned the salute, and then signed off. Anderson sighed before activating the ship's internal comm, directing the message to the helm. "Flight Lieutenant, status report."

"We're all good to go here sir. All crew…and our passenger, are onboard, ship is fueled up, systems are online, and my lucky fuzzy dice are hanging from the viewport. We're good to go once we ask for clearance to leave," Flight Lieutenant Jeff 'Joker' Moreau said over the comms.

"Watch the sass there, Joker. Run final systems check, and then request clearance to leave dock. Let me know when we're underway," he said, as he cut the communication.

Onboard the station, spectators watched from observation points as the Normandy was detached from the mooring clamps and her maneuvering thrusters began to fire, gently pushing the ship away from the station and turning her to face open space. The engines glowed gently as she began to move away, the spectators cheering as they watched their newest warship set sail.

The Normandy passed a couple other ships as she headed off, a flight of patrol fighters moving in and saluting the warship with a waggle of their wings before peeling off. As soon as she cleared the traffic around the station, the engines lit up and the ship surged ahead, no longer restricted in her speed as she headed towards the Mass Relay.

Onboard, Lieutenant Commander Alicia Shepard groaned as she stood up from her bunk in her shared quarters, stretching out her back muscles. The Normandy's accommodations were not the worst she had been in, but they were still rather cramped, given the ship's size. The ship's enlisted crew members and junior officers had to share sleeping pods located in the forward part of the crew deck, while the more senior officers, such as herself, the navigation officer, the chief engineer, and the commander of the ship's marine detachment had to share quarters located at the rear of the crew deck. (2) The chief medical officer, Doctor Chakwas, bunked inside the medical bay, so she was on hand for emergencies, while Captain Anderson, as the CO of the ship, got his own cabin.

Alicia moved over to the fold out sink inside the cabin, pulling it down and activating it to splash water in her face, before glancing up in the mirror above said sink. Staring back at her was a rather lovely twenty-nine year old woman with startling blue eyes and fiery red hair, currently in a loose ponytail with bangs over her forehead. She smiled at that, enjoying that one of the perks of being an N7 was somewhat looser regulations on appearance, so long as you looked presentable at official inspections and functions. She lightly traced the scar that marred her left eyebrow, her souvenir from the Skyllian Blitz, before turning the sink off and folding it back up. She grabbed a towel and dried her face and hands off, setting the towel aside and checking her uniform over. Seeing her left sleeve had bunched up a bit, she tugged on it, pulling it down to cover the tattoo on her left bicep of the N7 logo over a blue maelstrom, smiling softly in remembrance of when she got it. It was something she had gotten after graduating from the N7 program, along with Naruto, who had his own except with a red maelstrom instead.

Her uniform straightened out, she proceeded out into the small hall that connected the officer quarters to the crew deck. She turned as she did, heading up the stairs that led to the main deck, where the Combat Information Center and the helm were located.

As she passed by them, some of the younger crew members glanced up at her, and began whispering to their nearby crewmates. It was understandable, considering Alicia Shepard was a rather well known figure in the Alliance Navy. Her family being the one who not only discovered, but raised the vulzan Naruto would have been enough to turn some heads, but Alicia had topped that by leading the defense of the colony of Elysium against a numerically superior force of pirates and raiders, even standing with only her brother against hundreds, or thousands if you believed the gossip, of pirates and slavers. She had also been made well known two years later during the invasion of Torfan, when a battalion of marines under a Major Kyle had been pinned down, with half their numbers decimated. Request for reinforcements had led to several of the warships deploying their marine detachments and navy combat personnel, including the then Lieutenant Alicia Shepard. Her unit had linked up with what was left of Major Kyle's battalion, and Alicia had been instrumental in not only rallying the rest of the unit, but helping them break the enemy defenses they had been assigned to take out.

Alicia however just kept moving up to the helm, where she could see an armored turian figure standing, making her hesitate a bit. The turian Spectre, Nihlus, had come aboard before the ship had left Earth's orbital construction yards, and had seemed to be…well stalking her. At least that's what it seemed like to her, considering he seemed to always be somewhere nearby. Shaking her head, she moved up next to him, entering the cockpit where she could watch as the ship approached the Mass Relay.

In the pilot seat was Flight Lieutenant Jeff Moreau, or Joker to most people. He was somewhat shorter than Alicia, and had a slighter build, with his lower face covered in a very short, fine haired beard. Currently he was expertly working the holographic controls. He reached over to activate the ship wide comm as the Relay grew bigger in the viewports on the bow of the ship. "All hands, prepare for Mass Relay Transit," Joker said, as he reconfigured the ship for the jump through the Relay.

Outside, the two exterior engines were retracted, sliding under the inner engines until they were now closer to the hull, giving the ship an even more streamlined appearance.

In the cockpit, Joker checked their approach vector. "Board is green, approach vector set. Transit in ten seconds," he reported, as Alicia moved to grip the nearby bulkhead with one hand, a slight grin on her face as she watched them now angle to move along the side of the Relay, which was starting to charge up.

"Three, two, and one," Joker said, as the ship was pulled into the field of the relay, and then was catapulted away, hurtling through space at unbelievable speeds. The space outside the viewports turned into a blue and purple vortex of light for a few seconds, before the ship slowed as it was caught in the field of their destination Relay.

Joker quickly began running through the post relay jump checklist, verbalizing the results. "Thrusters are green, navigation systems are green. IES stealth systems are engaged and reading as green. All systems reporting as operating and normal. Drift…just under fifteen hundred k," he said with a hint of pride at having managed to aim the ship to a point where it came out of its Relay jump quite close to the destination Relay.

Nihlus, his arms crossed, simply nodded. "Fifteen hundred is good. I'm sure your captain will be pleased," he said, as he turned and started to make his way aft. Leaving behind a somewhat glowering Joker, who glared back over his seat at the retreating turian. Looking forward again, Joker shifted his service cap.

"I hate that guy," he muttered, adjusting the ship's position and moving it away from the Relay to prevent any other incoming ships from ramming them by accident.

Next to Joker was another man, Staff Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko. A member of the Alliance Marine Corps, he was a specialist in both technical skills and biotics, leading to him falling under the 'Sentinel' training program in boot camp. He had been assigned to the Normandy as the current head of the marine detachment onboard, though that really only amounted to five other marines at the moment. The ship was running with a skeleton crew, and would pick up her full crew and marine complement after completing her shakedown run to Eden Prime, the human colony located in the Utopia System of the Exodus Star Cluster.

Now he looked up from where he was running an analysis on the ship's weapons, glancing at Joker with a look of bemusement. "So you hate people who pay you compliments?" He asked.

Joker rolled his eyes. "It's only a compliment if it's not an understatement. You remember to add grease to your hair each morning, or zip up your jumpsuit after leaving the bathroom, that's good. What I just did was jump us halfway across the galaxy and land on a target the equivalent size of a pinhead. That's not good, that's incredible. So yeah, I hate the guy," he said.

Alicia snorted a bit as she glanced at Kaidan's hair, which did remind her of the greaser hairstyle worn back in the 1950's. Shaking her head, she listened as Joker continued. "Besides the fact that he obviously has no appreciation for incredibly flying, he's a Spectre. Spectres are always trouble. Call me paranoid, but I really don't like the idea of having one onboard."

Kaidan rolled his eyes. "You're paranoid, Joker. Nihlus isn't here to cause any trouble; he's just here to see how this ship turns out. Remember the Council helped fund this project and they want to make sure the investment pays off."

Joker scoffed. "Oh sure, that's the government's 'official' story. That's why you know it's a load of crap. No government ever tells the truth, especially when sending their top agents out on stuff like this," he said.

Alicia decided to butt in. "He's got you there Kaidan. If the Council really wanted to keep an eye on this ship, they could have sent someone not charged with maintaining galactic peace by any means necessary. Like a bureaucrat. Isn't this the sort of thing they live for? Finding out all the ways we're wasting money or not following the fifty million unnecessary guidelines they put into place?" She asked.

Joker nodded. "Exactly. You'd definitely know this was routine if we had a salarian or asari bureaucrat onboard. Mark my words, there's more going on then what the captain's told us," he said.

At that moment, as if summoned by Joker's words, the comm activated and Anderson's voice spoke up. "Joker, status report."

"Speak of the devil," Joker muttered under his breath before speaking up. "We're clear of the Mass Relay, captain. All systems are in the green and stealth systems are engaged. We're ready to move out on your orders."

"Good. Find the nearest comm buoy and link up with the comm network. I want to be able to send back reports to Alliance command before we hit Eden Prime. Then hold position and wait for further orders," Anderson commanded.

"Aye, aye captain. Also…our guest was heading back aft sir. Might want to brace yourself if you run into him," Joker said.

"Thank you for the warning, Flight Lieutenant," Anderson said, his tone sounding a bit distracted and angry. "Have Commander Shepard join us in the communication room for a briefing on the mission. Out."

As the communication cut off, Alicia rolled her eyes. "Well he doesn't sound happy. Guess something's happened. Maybe somebody scratched the paint already," she said.

"Naw, captain just always sounds angry when he's talking to me," Joker said.

As Alicia turned away, she heard Kaidan mutter "can't imagine why," under his breath, making her snort again as she headed aft.

Making her way back towards the rear part of the CIC, she blinked as she heard the ship's navigation officer, Lieutenant Pressly, speaking over his comm with someone. "I'm telling you Adams, I think he's up to something. You should have seen him pass by just now, looking like he was on a mission or something," the balding officer said.

The man on the other end of the ship, Engineer Adams, could be heard sighing. "Pressly, he's a Spectre onboard a ship that the Council funded its development. I think his mission is to make sure their money wasn't wasted," he said.

Pressly just frowned at that. "Still, this is an Alliance ship. It's just not right having someone who's not Alliance onboard."

"Problem with our guest, Lieutenant?" Alicia asked, as Pressly turned, snapping to attention.

"Oh, sorry ma'am. I didn't mean any disrespect," he said, quickly saluting.

Alicia returned the salute. "At ease Pressly. Speak your mind," she said.

The navigator shifted a bit. "It's nothing ma'am, just…a bit uneasy about having a turian Spectre onboard. Spectres are bad enough, but a turian one is…well I think that's rather pushing it. This is the Alliance's most cutting edge warship," he said.

"Which the turians helped design and build. Kind of hard to keep any secrets about the ship from them when they've got the blueprints for it," Alicia said with a slight grin, as Pressly looked a little sheepish at that point. "I don't think Nihlus is here to steal anything or sabotage the ship. But I do think there is something going on," she said.

"So I'm not the only one," Pressly said. "I'll admit I was surprised that you and Captain Anderson were assigned to the ship for the shakedown run. I could understand if they handed over command afterwards, but for something as simple as making sure the systems work? It's a bit overkill having two of the biggest heroes of the Alliance command a ship for a simple shakedown run," he said.

Alicia nodded. "Well hopefully we'll get some answers soon enough Pressly. For now, keep us flying straight and true," she said.

Pressly nodded as he saluted. "Yes ma'am," he said, as Alicia saluted him, and moved on. She had to admit that Pressly's suspicions mirrored her own. The run to Eden Prime didn't really require the services of people like her and Anderson, as any competent command officer could have handled commanding the ship for such a simple mission. Having the two of them here definitely meant something was up.

She allowed herself to be pulled from her thoughts as she walked past Doctor Chakwas, the somewhat aging medical officer shaking her silvery hair covered head at the enthusiastic ramblings of Corporal Jenkins, one of the young new marine recruits onboard, who was excitedly talking about having a Spectre onboard, and hoping to see some action. Slipping past the dividing wall that separated the entrance of the comm and briefing room from the CIC, she returned the salute of the two marines posted at the door and entered.

Inside, she found Nihlus, his back to her as he studied a large holo-image of some of the countryside of Eden Prime, a beautiful plain with lots of grass and greenery, and some buildings in the distance. She approached him, causing him to turn to her as she neared him. "Studying it for tactical weaknesses?" She asked jokingly, while trying not to be slightly intimidated by the white face paint and staring green eyes he had.

Nihlus simply turned back to the image. "It looks like quite a lovely world. Your people have worked hard to make it so, haven't they? Safe and tranquil? Proof that humanity can not only colonize the stars, but protect their colonies, yes?" He asked her.

Alicia frowned as he heard his questions. "Uuhhh…yes, yes it is," she said a bit suspiciously, turning to look at him fully. "There any reason you're bringing this up?"

Nihlus's mandibles twitched a bit, as he looked at the image again. "The galaxy is a dangerous place, commander. I wish to see if humanity is truly ready to handle the threats out there. If the Alliance is ready to defend itself against the dangers the rest of us face."

"Okay, I am confused now," Alicia said, as the door opened and Anderson entered.

"Perhaps it is time we fully explain what's going on here," Anderson said, making Alicia turn to him. "I'm sure by now you've guessed this is far more than just a shakedown run for our new ship."

"I had suspicions, as does pretty much the rest of the crew," Alicia said, arms crossed. "I'm guessing orders from brass are why we're being kept in the dark?"

Anderson nodded at Alicia's guess. "Correct. We're on a covert retrieval mission that concerns not just the Alliance, but the Council as well. Information has been on a strictly need to know basis, and as of this moment, you need to know," he said.

As Alicia nodded, Anderson continued. "Workers on Eden Prime recently excavated a piece of Prothean technology and a team of experts quickly moved in to study it. They're calling it a beacon. We've been assigned to retrieve the beacon and bring it to the Citadel where a joint team of experts will begin studying it for information. This is big Shepard, very big. The second to last time we uncovered something like this, the information we learned jumped humanity's technology forward by at least two hundred years. And I doubt I need to tell you how important the last discovery we made like this was."

Alicia chuckled softly. "Don't tell Naruto that. He'll get a big head if he's told him being discovered was on par to the finding of the Mars Archive," she said.

"The fact remains that we need to handle this quickly and carefully, hence why we're using the Normandy. Her stealth systems will allow us to pick up the beacon and be gone before anyone can take interest, such as pirates from the Terminus Systems," Anderson said.

"The beacon, however, is not the only reason I'm here," Nihlus said, stepping forward. "I'm here to evaluate your capabilities in the field, as a soldier and a leader. I wish to see if you are Spectre material."

Alicia's eyes widened at that, and she gaped for a few moments. "…well…I guess that explains why you've been following me around the past few days," she said finally. "So I'm being assessed as a possible Spectre candidate?"

"Correct. You were pretty much at the top of candidates from the Alliance military for recruitment into the Spectres. Your actions on Elysium and Torfan prove you have the potential capability to be a Spectre. Very few could rally people in those situations to not only fight, but to win. And fewer still could face the odds you have, and survive," Nihlus said.

"This is incredibly important for the Alliance. If we can get a human Spectre, it would show how far humanity has come since we first joined the galactic community. It'll be the first step towards humanity having a bigger role in shaping galactic policy," Anderson said, as Alicia grimaced slightly.

"So no pressure," she said. "It's just the fate of humanity's place in the galaxy."

"If what I've read about you is true, you'll rise to the occasion, commander," Nihlus said. "I wouldn't have put your name forward as a Spectre candidate or agreed to be your assessor if I thought otherwise. This will be the first of several missions we'll be working together, while I evaluate your skills, leadership, and mindset."

Alicia blinked at that. "Alright. I'll do my best not to let you or the Alliance down," she said.

Anderson gave a nod of understanding. "Alright then. When we reach Eden Prime, you'll lead the ground team to extract the beacon ASAP. Nihlus will be there to observe how you handle the situation. You'd best get to the hanger bay and-," he said, only for the comm to activate.

"Captain, we've got a problem. Incoming distress call from Eden Prime! Time stamp shows lag of thirty minutes," Joker reported, as Anderson frowned.

"Bring it up on screen here and standby for full burn," he said, turning to the holoscreen.

The idyllic image of Eden Prime was soon replaced by a shaky image from a helmet camera, as immediately the familiar sound of M-7 Lancers and M-15 Vindicators mixed with unfamiliar automatic weapons fire. Several energy explosions were going off, as a female marine was seen running to the cameraman, shoving them as they yelled 'get down'. A moment later the spot they had been standing on erupted in another explosion, as the female marine got up, and started firing.

The cameraman managed to get back up, as another marine with officer bars on his armor quickly grabbed them, steadying the camera. "We're under attack! Repeat, we are under heavy attack from an unknown enemy! They came out of nowhere! We need-!" He yelled, only to be cut off as an explosion nearby rocked both of them. Steadying himself, he continued the distress call. "We need reinforcements or immediate evac! We've sustained heavy casualties and can't hold this position! Repeat, we need immediate-!"

This time, he was cut off by several rounds slamming into his armor's shielding, dropping them and piercing right through his armored plating like it wasn't there. The officer dropped to the ground, as the cameraman seemed to fall backwards, and started backing away from the corpse, as a loud rumbling and a deep, horn like blast seemed to fill the air. The sounds of weapon fire ceased, as the cameraman looked around, the camera focusing on a massive dark shape starting to fill the sky. Red lightning crackled across its surface, as five large mental tentacles slowly moved and waved as it descended, emitting the noises they heard.

Just as suddenly, the weapons fire began again, and the camera shook, indicating the operator was rising to his feet, and then started running, before the entire image became nothing but static.

"That's the entire message sir. Everything cuts out after that. I've tried hailing Eden Prime, but I'm not getting any response at all," Joker reported.

Anderson didn't respond, instead touching the holographic control panel of the holoscreen. "Reverse video and hold at time index 38.5," he ordered.

The video quickly rewound, stopping at the image of the massive metallic shape that had been descending. The trio stared at it, before Anderson spoke again. "How long before we reach Eden Prime?"

"At full burn, seventeen minutes sir. We're the only Alliance ship in the area."

"Put the ship at general quarters, and take us in Joker. Fast and quiet. We'll be making ground drops near the beacon's location, and then moving to reinforce the main colony," Anderson ordered.

As the ship's alarm went off, calling the hands to their action stations, Anderson turned to Alicia. "Commander, I want you to take Lieutenant Alenko and Corporal Jenkins with you. You'll handle the beacon mission, while we move in to support the defense of the colony."

"A sound strategy, captain. A small team can move fast and quietly. I'll drop with them, moving on ahead to scout the terrain for them," Nihlus said.

Alicia nodded to Nihlus. "Appreciate it," she said, as Anderson nodded as well.

"Then get to the hanger and get suited up," Anderson said, as he turned and headed to the CIC.

Alicia brought up her omni-tool, activating the comm to reach her two squad mates. "Alenko, Jenkins, report to the hanger bay and suit up for full ground combat," Alicia ordered as she also headed out of the comm room, trailing behind Nihlus who was rapidly moving out.

The duo quickly headed down the stairs to the crew deck, and turned to enter the elevator that would take them to the hanger/engineering deck of the ship. Jenkins and Alenko soon joined them, as the door closed and the elevator descended, the door on the opposite side opening up into the hanger bay as the elevator stopped at the bottom. Nihlus moved off to one side to check his gear, as the trio of Alliance personnel moved to the equipment lockers that had their armor and weapons stored in them.

Jenkins soon was outfitted in the standard marine infantry armor, with an M-3 Predator clamped to his hip plate while he checked over his M-7 Lancer. Alenko's armor looked similar to Jenkin's, except for the small emitters mounted onto various points of the armor that helped generate the hard light 'tech armor' that Sentinel trained soldiers were famous/infamous for. Besides the standard M-3 Predator, he was also outfitted with an M-12 Locust Submachine Gun, a lightweight SMG designed by Kassa Fabrications for the Alliance, but made infamous in 2176 when a Locust was used to assassinate the United North American States President Enrique Aguilar, and the Chinese People's Federation premier Ying Xiong. Despite this black mark on its history, the Locust was a favorite of Alliance operatives and soldiers for use on high gravity worlds or discreet operations, due to its lightweight design and accuracy over a considerable distance, thanks to its 'floating bed' internal design that mitigated the weapon's recoil.

Alicia's armor, unlike Alenko and Jenkin's, had a significantly greater amount of armor plating and was charcoal black in color, with a red and white stripe running down the right arm from the pauldron to the gauntlet of her armor. On the right side of the breastplate was the N7 logo, identifying her as a full graduate of the ICT program. N7 armor, unlike the normal marine infantry or officer armor, was highly modular and adaptable, allowing operatives to tweak the pieces and modules in their armor to best benefit their mission and combat capabilities. In Alicia's case, she had chosen modules that increased the armor's shielding, as well as helped decrease the power buildup in her biotic implant, thus improving her ability to rapidly use and maintain her biotic techniques. The armor plating was also significantly stronger than normal, given the fact that as a Vanguard trained soldier, she was often on the frontline and in the thick of combat. However, the gauntlets were the most unique part of the armor, as they incorporated an extra little edge that Naruto had given her, as well as himself. Each gauntlet housed a retractable monomolecular edged blade that could be extended or retracted, with said blades being useful for stabbing or slashing with. Alicia found them to be quite effective when combined with her biotic charge, using the force of her charge to slam the blades straight through an opponent's shields and armor, and into their bodies with terrifying force.

She also carried the standard M-7 Lancer, but instead of the M-23 Katana or M-27 Scimitar shotguns, she now carried a different shotgun, the N7 Crusader. Unlike most shotguns, this one fired large solid slugs, giving it greater range, accuracy, and armor penetration, but reducing its effectiveness against multiple opponents at close range. Alicia found though that the weapon worked quite well for her, as she could easily pick off a single target with a combination of charge and shotgun, and then use a nova to clear out any surrounding enemies. And she liked the armor penetration and range it gave her.

Besides the N7 Crusader, she also carried a newer weapon developed for N7's, a new sidearm labeled the N7 Mustang. The weapon looked quite similar to a revolver from the old west, except bulkier. What was unique about the Mustang was that the weapon featured a revolving chamber that carried six mini thermal clips in it, rather than having one regular sized thermal clip. When the weapon fired, the chamber would revolve the currently heated thermal clip away from the cooling chamber as the next one was rotated into place, the action continuing each time the weapon was fired. This allowed for a steady, semi-automatic firing rate, which when combined with the punching power of the 'slugs' fired from the weapon, made it an incredibly deadly weapon that could be used to take out a group of lightly armored opponents in close quarters, or deliver several projectiles into an armored opponent, downing them quickly. The weapon did come with a safety feature that prevented it from being fired too rapidly, and thus allow the thermal clips time to cool as they were rotated, but said safety feature was capable of being disabled in desperate times, allowing the operator to 'fan the hammer' and deliver six extremely rapid shots, at the expense of overheating the weapon and forcing the operator to replace the thermal clips.

Finishing her armor and weapon check, Alicia made sure the breather mask was in place on her helmet, joining her two squad mates. "Alright, here's the mission. We're going to be dropping onto Eden Prime and moving to locate and extract a high value target. However, there are unknown hostiles on the planet. We do not know their composition, numbers, or intent, so eyes sharp and weapons ready. Understood?"

"Yes ma'am," they both chorused. Alicia paused a she noticed Jenkins was tense, and turned to him.

"Jenkins, you alright?" she asked.

The corporal shifted a bit at her question. "Just excited and worried ma'am. This is my first combat drop, and Eden Prime is my home," he answered truthfully.

Alicia nodded in understanding as she placed a hand on his shoulder. "I understand. If your family is down there, I'm sure they're safe," she said, as Nihlus soon moved to stand near them. Anderson soon exited off the elevator, and the trio stood to attention.

Anderson, not wasting any time, approached while raising his left arm, activating his omni-tool and bringing up a holographic display. "We've run a scan of the area leading to the dig site. The best path leading to the dig site is here, but it runs through some narrow defiles, perfect places for ambushes. There's a second path here, but it is too small for anything but a single person to traverse at a time."

"Then I should take that path," Nihlus said. "I can provide cover for Commander Shepard's group, as they take the wider path."

Alicia nodded as she looked at the path. "Sounds good to me sir."

Anderson nodded as he relayed written commands to the helm. "Alright then. Your team will need to move hard and fast. Get to the dig site, secure the beacon, and wait for us to return for extraction. We'll come and get you once we've ensured that the main colony is secure."

"What about survivors, captain?" Kaidan asked, having to shout as the alarms in the hanger bay went off, and the main door began to lower, allowing them to see the sky of Eden Prime, filled with smoke and turned orange by fires. If not for the force field in place, they likely would have been buffeted by a strong wind.

"If you can rescue survivors while heading to the beacon, do so, but the beacon is the primary objective!" Anderson shouted, as they could see the landscape drawing closer, and the ship slowing down.

"Captain, we're approaching drop site one!" Joker reported over the comm.

As the ship prepared to stop, Anderson issued some final orders. "Maintain radio silence except beyond necessary transmissions between your team and Nihlus. He'll be your eyes and ears," Anderson ordered.

Nihlus nodded in understanding, drawing the shotgun from his waist clamp, and rushing to the open hanger door as the ship stopped. He quickly grabbed one of the rappelling lines, and easily slid down it to the ground, before quickly moving off. As the line was auto-retracted, the ship began to rise up and move forward to the next point.

As they ship again started to slow, the trio moved to the door, with Anderson nodding to them. "Good luck Commander!" He shouted.

"Yes sir!" Alicia shouted, as the ship maneuvered into position, and stopped. "Let's move it people!" She shouted, grabbing the rappelling line and sliding down, Jenkins and Kaidan quickly following on separate lines.

On the ground, Alicia quickly drew her Lancer, scanning the area, as Jenkins and Kaidan joined her, quickly drawing their own weapons. Standing in a triangle formation, they all swept the area, checking their HUD motion trackers for any signs of enemy. The only thing they did find was large floating organic creatures that looked like fleshy balloons.

"Clear," Jenkins reported, followed quickly by Kaidan.

"Clear. Nihlus, do you copy? We're on the ground and preparing to move out," Alicia reported to the Spectre.

"Confirmed, Shepard. I'm making my way along the second route here. No signs of contacts, but I do hear weapons fire," he reported.

"Copy that. Alright people, I'm setting the dig site's coordinates to your HUD compass. Jenkins, you'll take point. Kaidan, bring up the rear. We need to move fast, but be cautious. The last thing we want to do is run into an enemy ambush," she said.

"Copy that ma'am," Jenkins said, as he took the lead, clenching his assault rifle as they quickly began making their way towards a nearby cliff side. Off in the distance, they could see the large buildings of the colony, and the small flashes of weapons fire as defenders fought off whoever was attacking. However, there was also evidence of the conflict much closer to them, as they also came across two bodies, so badly burnt and scorched that their clothing and flesh had mostly been burned away, making them almost skeletal in their appearance.

Jenkins gagged over his comm at the sight, as Kaidan knelt next to the bodies. "Looks like some type of flash fire. They were likely dead before they even knew what happened," he said, checking the ground around them. "Looks like some type of fast burning incendiary device. There's scorch marks here from a fire, but it doesn't extend that far out, and none of the grass out to a certain point is even burned."

"I've never heard of that kind of weapon technology," Alicia said, as Kaidan shook his head.

"Neither have I ma'am. Whoever this enemy is, they're not using weapons or tech that is standard for most Council races, former or current. This is something new," Kaidan said.

"Alright, move out," she told Jenkins, who grimly nodded, trying not to look at the corpses, or the colony buildings under attack.

As they approached the cliff face, Jenkins held up his hand in a fist, and all three stopped and crouched, with Alicia moving up next to Jenkins. They were coming to a bend in the path, with rocks littering the ground ahead of them.

Alicia studied the land, before nodding. "Alright…move from cover to cover," she said quietly. "Jenkins, you move up the left side. Kaidan, you take the right. I'll take the center. Move from cover to cover, and don't advance till you see it's clear," she said.

The trio began to spread out in a line, moving to their respective sides of the path now, and began to leapfrog from cover to cover.

Jenkins had just moved clear of a large rock, and was heading for another one, when they heard the sound of some type of engine, and a pair of metallic drones appeared ahead of them from around another bend. The two drones locked onto Jenkins, who was in the open, and almost immediately the cannons mounted underneath opened up on him. Jenkins was barely able to let out a cry before the rapid fire cannons shattered his shields and ripped through his armor, dropping him.

"Bastards!" Alicia shouted, as she opened up with her Lancer, the rounds impacting one of the drones. Its shields sputtered and died off, and the rounds riddled the drone, causing it to explode. The other one turned to her, only to meet a similar fate as Kaidan's Locust riddled it with rounds.

Alicia quickly rushed over to Jenkins, dropping next to him and yanking the breather mask off his helmet. "Jenkins?! Answer me damnit!" She shouted, as Kaidan dropped next to her.

However, it was quickly apparent that Jenkins hadn't survived. The chest piece of his armor had been perforated, and blood was pooling out already. Kaidan connected to Jenkin's suit, and checked its sensors, before shaking his head. "Sorry commander. He's dead," Kaidan said softly.

Alicia just clenched a fist, growling softly. "Damnit…he's just a kid," she said quietly, head lowered. She remained like that for a few moments, before reaching forward and closing his eyes. "I'm sorry Jenkins," she whispered softly, before standing up. "…we'll give him a proper service after we're done here. Mark this location," she said, as she gently picked Jenkin's body up by the shoulders and dragged him to a more secure spot.

Kaidan, marking the spot in his suit's computer, turned now to regard the drones they had shot down. Both drones, outside of the bullet holes that riddled them, had very sleek, curved lines to their design, rather than being boxy or angular. They had a single glowing optical lens in front, and a single rapid fire cannon mounted on the underside of their chassis. Kaidan pried one open enough to pull out some of the circuitry and components for study, as Alicia joined him. "This stuff is definitely new to me, commander. I've never seen tech like this, or in this configuration for. Whoever this is, they're definitely not using Council race tech," Kaidan commented.

Alicia nodded at his words, glancing ahead. "We need to keep moving. Keep your eyes open lieutenant. I don't want any more casualties. Understood?"

"Yes ma'am," Kaidan said, as they advanced forward, finding themselves now approaching a small clump of trees. Alicia frowned as she switched from her assault rifle to her shotgun, preferring to have it while in the trees in case of ambush in such close quarters.

However, the small clump of trees proved to be empty, and they soon emerged, finding a small valley heading downwards. Alicia narrowed her eyes as she saw what looked like figures in the distance, and cursed a bit. "Wish we had a sniper with us. They'd be able to pick out who's down there," she muttered, switching back to her assault rifle while trying to zoom in with her helmet's optics. However, the zoom was not powerful enough to determine who or what the figures were.

Her attention was drawn away however by Kaidan pointing. "Commander, look there!" He shouted, as he pointed to a much closer figure that was moving carefully towards the group as well.

Alicia's gaze fell on the figure, and she nodded as she recognized the armor. "We've got a marine survivor. Let's try to link up with them, they can help us," she said, as the two began to rapidly head after the figure.

As they drew closer, they were able to make out that it was a woman, who had a Vindicator pulse rifle currently folded on her back, while in her hands she had an M-92 Mantis sniper rifle. She was lining up a shot on the group below when she stiffened, her motion tracker likely alerting her to nearby movement. She whirled, sniper rifle up, only to stop as she recognized that those approaching weren't enemies. She signaled them over quickly, turning back to the enemy group.

As Alicia and Kaidan reached her, the female marine nodded to them. "Sorry about that. Can't be too careful out here. Damn geth are everywhere," she muttered, making Alicia and Kaidan blink.

"Geth? The geth are the ones invading the colony?" Alicia asked, as the woman nodded.

"Yeah. Damn flashlight heads are swarming all over the place out here. They ambushed my squad and…well…let's just say there's not much of a squad left," she muttered softly, before turning her head to look at Alicia. "Gunnery Sergeant Ashley Williams of the 212th Battalion, 2nd Frontier Division," she said.

Alicia's eyes widened at that. "Williams? I know that name. You used to serve under my brother, back on Watson. Lieutenant Commander Alicia Shepard, of the Normandy. And that's Staff Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko."

Ashley's brown eyes blinked in surprise behind her visor. "Really? You're Naruto's older sister?" She asked, before shaking her head. "Perhaps later ma'am. Right now, we've got a situation we should focus on."

"Right. Situation report sergeant," Alicia ordered.

"The trouble started last night, when we found Bravo Squad KIA. Able and Charlie were under attack as well. My squad, Dog, was on patrol, and we moved to help, but our ambush we set up turned against us. I've been trying to link up with the elements of the 232th Battalion at the encampment the researchers set up, not too far from where they found the beacon. I'm guessing that's why you're here," Ashley reported.

Alicia nodded at that. "Least we know who's trying to steal the beacon now. Geth. Can't believe it. They haven't been seen beyond the Perseus Veil for over three hundred years, since they rebelled against the quarians and drove them from their home world," Alicia said.

"Really wishing right now that the quarians had managed to nuke the synthetic bastards when they had the chance," Ashley growled out, as she looked through the scope of her sniper rifle. "There's a group of them between us and the dig site, and they're…wait…what are they doing?" She whispered, her voice growing horrified.

Alicia popped up, raising her Lancer to look through the scope on it, frowning as she was able to make out the group from earlier. She could make out what looked like a human civilian being held by two geth. The geth, being synthetics, had robotic bodies that looked similar to that of their Quarian creators, with reverse bent legs and tri digit hands. However, their heads consisted of an armored hood that covered a narrowed, forward jutting 'head', which largely consisted of a single glowing optical lens.

The two geth were placing the man on some type of tri-legged pod, with the man trying to struggling, and failing to get away from them. One of the geth reached out, and Alicia could see a small shock hit the man, who went limp, his body twitching as he now lay on top of the pod.

What happened next horrified the trio, as suddenly a massive spike shot up from inside the pod, impaling the man through the chest and dangling him in the air. The man let out a scream that was cut short by the lack of air in his pierced torso. And yet no blood seemed to be seeping out.

Alicia felt horror and rage fill her, as she pulled out her shotgun. "Ashley…you've got the one on the right," she said, as her biotics began to flare. Ashley just nodded, training her scope on her assigned target. With a loud report, the sniper rifle went off, causing the shields around the geth's armored head to flare. The synthetic soldier turned just as a second round went off, resulting in the shields shattering and the geth's head exploding in a shower of sparks and mech fluid.

The other one barely was able to turn before a blue comet of biotic energy struck him, quickly dissipating to reveal Alicia with the gauntlet blade of her left arm penetrating its shields and stabbing into its chest plate, followed by her bringing her shotgun to its chest and firing, the slug ripping through the torso of the geth and blowing out a goodly portion of its internal circuitry. She quickly retracted her blade and watched the bot slump over as Kaidan and Ashley joined her.

"Why the hell did they do that?!" Ashley demanded, trying not to look at the corpse now dangling above them. "Why the hell would they impale him like that?! Why not just shoot him?!"

"Calm down sergeant," Kaidan said, even though his voice held some anger in it as well. "We need to stay focused right now."

Ashley took a deep breath, before nodding. "Understood sir," she said, before pointing further down the valley. "The dig site and researchers' camp should be further down that way."

At that moment though, Alicia's comm crackled. "Shepard, this is Nihlus. I'm overlooking the dig site, but there's no sign of the beacon here. I am seeing a lot of geth…with some strange devices. They're using them to impale victims. I'm not sure why."

Alicia touched the side of her helmet. "We just saw it here too. Took out two geth. We lost Jenkins to some drones, but picked up one of the surviving marines. If the beacon isn't at the dig site, maybe it is at the researcher's camp?"

"It's possible. I can see it not too far off, but there's no clear way for me to reach it. I'll try to circle around and find a way to link up with you. Nihlus, out."

Alicia nodded as she ended the comm, trying to reign in her emotions as she turned to her two squad mates. "That was Nihlus. The beacon isn't at the dig site, so we're going to head for the researchers' camp. He'll try to meet up with us there. There are geth ahead of us though, so be ready for a fight," she said.

"Yes ma'am!" They both said.

As they started to move out, Ashley looked to Kaidan. "Nihlus? Who's that?" She asked quietly.

"He's a turian Spectre, who's here as part of the mission to retrieve the beacon. He took a different route to help scout out ahead for us," Kaidan said, as Ashley nodded.

They made their way further down the valley, until Alicia held up a hand for them to stop, and pointed to some rocks big enough for them to take cover behind. Once in cover, the trio peeked over the rocks, scanning the area below.

They could see the excavation site, where the beacon had been located. There had been some ruins there, consisting of a small arena with a pedestal in the center, where the beacon likely had been placed. Now though, it was empty, save for six geth and a few more of those spikes. Alicia's eyes hardened as she noticed that on two of the spikes were Alliance marines.

Scanning the geth's position, she quietly nodded. "Alright…Alenko, throw down a singularity on the group of them. Capture them and I'll hit them with a throw. Williams, target the ones on the far left and right. They're too far out to be affected by the singularity. Understood?"

The two marines next to her nodded, as Ashley brought her Mantis back up, and adjusted the scope, sighting the first target. She quietly aimed, before firing her first shot, rapidly trying to settle the rifle to get her second shot off.

Below, the geth suddenly found one of their numbers dropping as two loud cracks ripped through the air. Another two loud reports resulted in a second geth dropping, this one on the opposite side from them.

Kaidan, seeing them distracted after the first of their group went down, quickly popped up, his biotics flaring as he launched the singularity towards them. He quickly ducked back down, but not before his shields had flared from a few hits from one of the geth spotting his movement and swinging around to fire. It hardly mattered though, as three of the four geth were captured in the singularity, with Alicia raising up and tossing out a biotic throw, the blue mass of dark energy slamming into the singularity and causing it to become unstable, erupting in a massive explosion of molecular destroying dark energy. The three geth trapped inside the singularity were disintegrated, leaving nothing behind, while the fourth one was thrown off to the side by the explosion. It had quickly returned to its feet, only to be riddled by rapid fire from all three of the Alliance soldiers, leaving a smoking and sparking pile of circuits.

"Good work people! Let's move!" Alicia said, hopping over the cover with Lancer drawn again. Kaidan and Ashley quickly followed, the trio passing through the empty dig site and quickly moving up the hill towards where the researcher's camp was located.

However, they soon found that the camp had fared no better than the rest of Eden Prime so far. There were three buildings, and a few large pieces of research and digging equipment, as well as some vehicles. The equipment and vehicles had been moved to form a defensive barrier, but that barrier had been trashed, the equipment tossed aside and one of the vehicles a burning wreck. One of the three buildings was also on fire and in shambles. However, they saw no sign of the beacon.

There were, however, several marine corpses on the ground, their armor riddled with holes, with one's helmet having a large hole in the center of the visor. There were also a couple of civilians dressed in scientist coats lying near the burning and destroyed building.

Ashley let out a soft growl. "Damnit…how in the hell did they tear through here so fast?! There had to be twenty marines stationed here!"

"I don't know. Start searching for survivors and-," Alicia started to command, only to be stopped as they heard a groaning noise, of metal grinding against metal.

Near one edge of the camp was at least ten more of the large spikes the geth had used earlier, each one deployed, and with a corpse hanging off of it. Now though, the metal spikes began to retract back into the pod, bringing with it the body that was impaled on said spike. The first one fully retracted, the spike being pulled out of the corpse, which slid off the pod.

And then, as if out of a horror film, the corpse stood up, giving them their first good look at it, and seeing that it clearly wasn't human anymore. The body was still humanoid in appearance, but the skin now looked like some type of organic metal, with lights and tubing running over parts of it, disappearing into different parts of the body. In the center of the chest was a hole where the spike had pierced it, yet this didn't seem to impair the creature in any way. The eyes now glowed with blue energy, no longer organic, but now cybernetic. The creature let out a groan, one tinged with metallic notes as it at first started to shuffle, and then broke into a shambling run as it came towards them, still releasing that half organic, half cybernetic groan and growl.

As one, the three of them raised their weapons, opening up on the shambling cyber-corpse, their bullets ripping through the body and dropping it where it stood. And yet the other spikes were also dropping as well, bringing with them more cyber-corpses.

"They're creating fucking cyber-zombies?! What is this, a B horror movie?!" Alicia shouted, as the corpses began to get up. "Alenko, singularity! I'll throw out a shockwave when they're trapped! Williams, pick off the stragglers and let me and the lieutenant handle the rest!" Alicia shouted, as Kaidan threw out the singularity.

The walking dead walked right into the singularity, apparently having no idea it was there, or having no feelings of self preservation. As they were yanked off their feet into the swirling energy that held them in place, Alicia launched the shockwave at it, the blasts of biotics energy cascading towards the singularity, and blowing the zombies within off in various directions. Some were killed from the concussive force slamming into them, while others were killed by impacting into objects with enough force to break critical parts of their body that allowed them to function. A few however got back up, and started shuffling towards them again.

Alicia quickly brought up her Lancer, opening up on the stragglers, the rapid roar of the Lancer mixing with the lighter cracks of Kaidan's Locust and the three round barks of Ashley's Vindicator. The cyber-zombies kept shuffling forward through the hail of gunfire, even as limbs were shot and damaged, rendering them useless. But the rapid rounds took their toll, and soon enough all the cyber zombies were on the ground, twitching and sparking, but no longer functional.

Alicia panted softly, popping the thermal clip from her weapon and slotting a new one in, seeing Ashley and Kaidan do the same. "Okay… so we're facing killer robots and cyber-zombies…somehow this feels like some weird sci-fi nerd's fanfic or something," she said.

Kaidan was frowning as he looked at the now again dead corpses. "Why are they doing this though?" He asked. "What's the point of creating these…these husks?" He asked. "They're terrifying and demoralizing, but they're not exactly…durable," he added.

"Who knows what the hell is going on in some computer's head," Ashley muttered, glaring at the corpses. "Probably some weird experiment."

"Well whatever the reason, we'll need to be ready if there are more. You two start sweeping the camp for any sign of survivors or where the beacon might be. I'll try to contact Nihlus," she said, as she turned to her comm. "Nihlus, do you copy? This is Shepard, over," she said.

There was a few moments of silence, and then Nihlus responded. "Commander, I heard a lot of weapons fire and explosions coming from the research camp. What's going on?"

"We've arrived at the camp, but it looks like we were too late. The geth already tore through here and took the beacon. Looks like they killed most of the marines and researchers here too. We've found out what those impaling spikes were for. They're using them to create some type of cyber-zombie. Highly aggressive, but not exactly durable. We managed to clear out ten here with little problems. Sweeping the camp for any survivors or information on the beacon."

"Understood. I'm going to move on ahead then. There's some warehouses not too far from you're at, right next to a tram system. I'm going to investigate. Come meet up with me when you're finished. Nihlus, out."

"Roger," Alicia said, before cutting off the comm, and moving over to one of the corpses, making sure to get a get look at it. Her armor's camera system was currently recording, and she wanted to make sure to give it a good look at this thing for the debriefings later. After studying it, she flipped it over with her Lancer, examining the other side, before moving to one of the spikes. However, she was soon called away by Kaidan, who was at one of the two surviving buildings.

"Commander, we've got a locked door here. I can hack it, but we don't know what's on the other side," Kaidan said, as he brought up his omni-tool.

"Right, do it. Sergeant, get over here. Prepare to open fire if anything undead or robotic is on the other side," Alicia said, gripping her Lancer.

Ashley joined them, as Kaidan started to hack the door, only for a voice on the other side to interrupt. "Wait, are you human?! Are you soldiers?!" The voice, a female one, yelled out through the door.

"I'm Lieutenant Commander Alicia Shepard, of the SSV Normandy, here with Lieutenant Alenko and Sergeant Williams. Who am I speaking to?" Alicia demanded back through the door.

"I-I'm Doctor Warren! Please, let me get the door opened," the voice said, as they heard some movement inside, and then the door opened up, revealing a woman with short auburn hair. From further within, a male voice spoke up.

"Hurry, inside, before they return!" The voice said, sounding unhinged.

The trio entered the building, finding a somewhat balding man wringing his hands, his eyes wildly shifting around, as Warren spoke. "Thank the Maker. We heard the gunfire, and thought perhaps geth were still around. But then I heard your voices and…well I'm glad to see humans."

Ashley nodded. "Doctor Warren, you were in charge of the excavation, right? What happened here?" She asked.

Warren fidgeted slightly, looking away. "The research team decided to move the beacon to the spaceport, figuring it would be easier for extraction. I had stayed behind with Dr. Manuel and a couple other researchers to start packing up our equipment, when the attack began. Before we knew it, those…robots were swarming over the area. The marines held them off long enough for me and Manuel to hide but…my assistants…they…we hid inside here, listening to the fighting…there was…there was screaming and…then nothing," she said, whispering the last few parts. "We've been hiding in here ever since and…well now you're here, so I guess we've been saved."

"Saved?! No one is saved! The age of mankind is over! Darkness and death approach!" Dr. Manuel suddenly shouted, his eyes bulging.

Alicia blinked, and looked at him. "Is…he okay?" She asked, a bit worried.

Warren nodded. "He's always been a bit…fragile, and I think this attack has shaken him up. I gave him some of his medicine to hopefully calm him down," she said.

"You do not understand! I have seen the truth! The darkness approaches, with its prophet leading its agents! He arrived, leading them!" Manuel shouted loudly.

Alicia frowned at that. "What do you mean? You saw someone?" She asked.

"Yes! Before we hid, I saw him! The leader of the agents of darkness! The turian will lead the destruction of us all!" he shouted.

Kaidan blinked at that. "A turian? Here?" He asked.

"What the hell is a turian doing here?" Ashley asked.

"Please, just ignore him. Manuel is not well," Warren said, as she guided her colleague to a cot nearby.

Alicia nodded quietly at her words. "I understand. I'm afraid we need to keep moving, so I'd suggest locking back up after we leave. We'll try to send someone to pick you up as soon as we can," she said, before turning to Ashley. "Williams, take us to the spaceport. The sooner we get to that beacon, the better," she muttered.

The trio left the building, and the door shut behind them, as Ashley frowned. "Do you think that guy was crazy? I mean he sounded like it, but still…why would he claim to see a turian with the geth?"

"You get many turians out here Williams?" Alicia asked, only for Ashley to shake her helmet.

"No ma'am. About the only visitors I've seen out here have been one or two asari. We don't have anything here to interest anyone except humans. At least, before the beacon that is," she said.

"Hmmm, maybe he mistook a geth for a turian. In all the confusion and chaos, it's possible," Kaidan suggested.

"Maybe," Alicia said, as she activated her comm. "Nihlus, this is Shepard. We've confirmed that the beacon was headed for the spaceport this morning. It's possibly still there."

"Understood. It looks like there's a tram at the station we can use to head out that way. I'll be waiting here," Nihlus reported, as Alicia nodded.

"Roger that. Out," she said, as they quickly got moving.

At the warehouses, Nihlus cut his comm, and hefted his shotgun, advancing towards the tram station nearby. Hearing movement though, he dropped into cover. Checking his own HUD's motion tracker, the turian Spectre noted movement, and gripping his shotgun, he came out around the corner, preparing to fire, only to stop and blink as he registered what was in front of him. "Saren? What are you doing here?" He asked.

Standing before him was a turian in gray armor, wearing no helmet, and instead having a cloth covering the back of his head and his head fringes. The turian turned to look at him, giving him a smile. "Nihlus…I was looking for you," he said, as he started to walk towards Nihlus. Nihlus blinked for a moment, as he swore he saw Saren's eyes glow blue for a second. "The Council thought you could use some help, given the importance of this mission. I landed not too far from here, and headed this way when I picked up your comm chatter."

Nihlus frowned, as that seemed off to him, but shook his helmeted head. "I'm glad for the assistance. The geth being here…well it's a complete shock. This situation is bad," he said, as Saren moved past him. Nihlus frowned as he saw some movement to his front, and stepped forward to get a better look.

"Don't worry Nihlus…I have everything under control," he heard Saren say from behind. And then there was a brief blinding pain, followed only by darkness. (3)

Alicia and her team were making good time towards the warehouse, having stopped to clear out some geth assaulting a small storage shed that some farmers had held up in. The farmers, part of a small smuggling ring, had been using a few of the weapons they had received from a contact at the docks to defend themselves. Normally Alicia would have turned them over to the authorities, but considering the current situation, she let it slide, instead directing the farmers to the research camp to hole up there with their weapons and Doctor Warren. They had agreed, heading off, while the trio continued on their way.

Ashley wasn't too happy though, seeing as how some of those supplies were meant for the marine garrison, feeling like the farmers were screwing over the soldiers assigned to defend them. But she let it go, seeing as how there was nothing to do about it right now.

The trio was rounding a bend, when Alicia stopped, her blue eyes widening behind her visor at what she saw. Kaidan and Ashley, who were behind her, both stopped, at first confused at what made their leader stop, and then comprehension followed by horror and stupefaction as they saw what Alicia was seeing.

At the bottom of the hill they were on was the warehouses, with a tramway exiting the warehouses and heading off to the somewhat distant spaceport. It was the massive object near the spaceport that had drawn their attention though. A massive, black, monolithic object, towering above the countryside, red energy arcing and crackling across parts of its surface. It was the spaceship that Alicia had seen in the distress call, only now she was seeing it in real life.

The ship looked like a giant robotic squid, standing on five massive metallic tentacles, its body standing up high, tapering to two massive points. Lights could be seen dimly blinking along lines of the ship, barely illuminating it.

The ship let out a thunderous, blaring, horn like blast, that even at the extreme distance they were from it, shook their bodies. They stood there, staring at it, before Kaidan finally spoke. "That is a really big ship," he said.

"Yeah…we were in a firefight with some of the geth when that thing came down…it was like a demon from hell," Ashley whispered quietly.

Alicia said nothing though, as she felt something clutching at her heart. It wasn't fear, but something else, something she couldn't describe. That ship…she didn't know how, or why, but she knew, somehow she knew, it was something that was going to affect her for the rest of her days.

Shaking her head, she looked down to the warehouse. "Let's move it people. Giant ass ship or not, we've got a job to do. Keep your eyes peeled for Nihlus, he should be here," she said, as she started to advance down the hill, Kaidan and Ashley behind her.

As they drew closer to the warehouse, Alicia held up a hand, eyes narrowing. She could see a couple of geth moving about, with several of those zombie creatures wandering aimlessly, their glowing blue eyes searching. Alicia frowned because she would have thought Nihlus would have cleared them out, or warned her about them. Using hand signs to point to some cover, the trio hunkered down, as she activated her comm. "Shepard to Nihlus, come in," she said.

Static was her only response and she frowned more, before speaking again. "Shepard to Nihlus, respond over," she said again, only to receive no communication. Cursing, she cut the comm. "Something's wrong here…alright, we'll need to take the geth down first, and concentrate on the zombies afterwards," she said, scanning where the enemy stood for ideas.

Ashley, who was doing the same with the scope on her Vindicator, stopped as she saw something. "Commander, there are some canisters down there with explosive material. The geth are practically on top of them. We could blow those first."

Alicia nodded at that. "Good work sergeant. They have computer controlled seals?" She asked.

"Affirmative commander," Ashley said, as Kaidan already figured out what Alicia was thinking.

"I can hack the seals commander, but I'll need to get a bit closer to be in range. You want me to move up?" He asked.

Alicia nodded at that, looking at the ground between them and the spaceport. "That group of rocks there. Is that in range?" She asked, pointing.

Kaidan took a look, and nodded. "It is. Give me cover," He said, as he slowly began to move out, while Alicia and Shepard both held their assault rifles at the ready, on overwatch for Kaidan.

The sentinel trained lieutenant quietly made his way down to the rock outcropping, doing his best to be stealthy. Unfortunately, as he neared his destination, his foot slipped on some loose rocks, which rolled down the hill, clattering as they hit the sides of a couple of stationary rock formations.

The zombie creatures slowly turned, hearing the noise, and one of them let out the unearthly screech, pointing towards Kaidan, who was barely able to duck into cover before the geth turned towards where their creations were pointing. Alicia cursed as she pointed to the zombies starting to shamble in Kaidan's direction. "Target them first! Leave the geth to Kaidan," she said, opening fire on the shambling horrors. Ashley did the same, both of them shredding the first couple of walking dead.

The two geth, hearing the weapons fire, turned from the rock formation their husks was assaulting, and focused on the two soldiers firing down from cover. Both raised their own assault rifles, and rapidly began pouring fire onto Alicia and Ashley's position, forcing them both into cover.

Alicia cursed as she nearly had gotten a face full of rock shards when one bullet had ripped into the rock in front of her, having barely ducked in time. "Kaidan, any time now would be great!" She shouted over her comm.

At his position, Kaidan grinned. "Prepare for fireworks commander," he responded back, tapping into his omni-tool and issuing final commands to the sealant computers on the explosive canisters. The computers, receiving the orders, began to overload, causing the material inside to heat up as the cooling systems that kept the material stable failed.

Soon enough, the two containers exploded behind the geth, who were still pouring consistent fire onto Ashley and Alicia's position. That fire was interrupted by both geth being thrown forward, flames licking their chassis and metal fragments pinging off their shields as the concussive force threw them both forward. A piece of shrapnel whipped passed them, piecing the back of one of the cyber zombies heads, causing it to drop like a rock.

Kaidan smirked, only to let out a yell of surprise as another of the husks crawled over the rock he was using for cover, roaring as it hurled itself at him and drove him to the ground. Grunting, he struggled and grappled with its arms, trying to get his feet underneath it to kick it off, as it struggled to bite at him, claw at him, even as its circuits started to glow, slowly building up some type of electrical aura around itself.

Sensing that whatever it was about to do wasn't good, Kaidan did the only thing he could think of. "Computer, verbal command! Tech Armor Detonation!"

His armor's computer, hearing his order, immediately sent the command to the tech armor modules, which initiated the detonation protocol. Sentinel tech armor, when either overwhelmed or ordered to detonate, would unleash an energy pulse upon detonation that staggered or threw back nearby enemies, giving the Sentinel some breathing room. It did, however, have the downside of draining shields to zero, forcing the operator to seek cover and give their shields a chance to recharge so they could reactivate their tech armor.

Now, as ordered, the tech armor modules unleashed a surge of energy, destroying his tech armor, but throwing the husk off of him and back over the rock. Scrabbling backwards, Kaidan drew his Predator, firing into the head of the zombie he blasted off of him, and running to rejoin Alicia and Ashley.

The other husks, which hadn't been killed already by Alicia and Ashley's weapons fire, or the explosion, surged up the hill after him, arms outstretched, the metallic moans and groans mixing with the weapons fire.

Alicia, seeing her Lancer about to overheat, dropped it, grabbing her shotgun and firing at the first husk in range. The slug ripped through the cyber creature's chest, causing it to drop instantly, as another one took its place. She fired into that one, this time blowing its head off, causing it to drop, eve as a third one rushed up behind them, almost on top of her. With a yell she shrouded her fist in biotic energy and slammed it into the creature, the biotic energy enhancing the potency of her punch and causing her to send the husk flying back, as she brought up her shotgun and finished it off. Next to her, Kaidan had charged up his omni-tool, unleashing a beam of electrical energy. Known as 'overload', the ability was a useful tech ability amongst tech minded soldiers that could overload shields, electrical equipment, weapons, and synthetic opponents such as drones and mechs.

Kaidan's overload struck one of the husks, and the creature immediately began to twitch and spasm, letting out an unearthly shriek as the electrical energy fried its circuits, causing it to fall over. Kaidan quickly shot another husk, as one tried to crawl over the rock that Ashley was using for cover, only to be blasted in the face by her Vindicator.

Alicia saw the last husk charging at her, and with a roar, she threw her left fist forward, the retractable blade in the upper part of the gauntlet shooting forward and stabbing the husk in the face. It hung there limply on her blade, till she retracted it, causing it to slump over. Panting, Alicia leaned a bit on the rock outcropping, checking her shotgun's readout, and seeing it was close to overheating too. Popping out the thermal clip, she slotted in a new one. "Sound off!" She ordered.

"Here ma'am!" Ashley shouted, putting a new clip into her Vindicator.

"Here ma'am," Kaidan said, removing his breather mask in order to drink one of the field energy drinks all biotics were given.

Alicia nodded as she removed her own breather mask, quickly grabbing one of her own drinks. Finishing it off, she replaced her mask, retrieved her Lancer and slotted a new thermal clip into it. "Alright people, we need to keep moving. These damn things delayed us for too long," she said, as she quickly headed down the hill towards the warehouses.

The trio quickly entered the area around the warehouses, slowly heading to the tram, as Alicia kept trying to raise Nihlus. Static continued to be her only response, causing her to frown. Where was the Spectre? Why wasn't he answering?

It would be Ashley who found the answer, as she rounded a corner of one of the containers, and stopped. "Commander? I've got a turian here. Looks KIA," she reported.

Alicia felt her blood freeze, as she and Kaidan quickly joined Ashley. As soon as her eyes landed on the armored body laying splayed on the ground, she cursed. "It's Nihlus," she said, approaching him.

Nihlus lay face down on the ground, arms thrown out, his helmet covered head tilted to one side. There was a quite visible bullet hole at the back of his helmet, with a second hole visible in the middle of his visor, the second hole being messier. A pool of dark blue blood was forming around his head, leaking out of his visor.

"Single shot," Kaidan said, examining the body. "Looks like he was shot from behind, in the back of the head, and the bullet went straight through."

Alicia shook her helm, as she was down on one knee, also looking Nihlus over. "This mission is just becoming one gigantic clusterfuck," she muttered, looking up to Kaidan. "First Jenkins, now Nihlus? This beacon damn well better be worth all this death and destruction."

Ashley, who had been standing nearby, suddenly turned with her rifle up. "Contact!" She shouted, causing Kaidan and Alicia to surge up to their feet, grabbing their weapons, all three detecting movement on their trackers.

"Wait, don't shoot! I'm human! I'm unarmed!" A voice shouted from behind a nearby crate. A human male wearing a skull cap peeked out. 'Please don't shoot me!"

"Come out with your hands up!" Alicia ordered, as the man did so, wearing regular civilian clothes. He hesitantly moved towards them, hands still up. "Williams, Alenko, keep an eye out," Alicia said, as she holstered her Mustang, the weapon she had grabbed when Ashley warned them.

"H-Hey, I'm not a threat. I was hiding, when I saw what happened here," the guy said, pointing to the turian.

Alicia frowned at that, as she stepped forward. "Who are you? And what did you see?" She asked.

"My name's Powell. I work here, offloading cargo to store in the warehouses," he said, rubbing his hands. "I was hiding behind some crates from those robots, and then I saw him. The turian," he said.

"Him?" Alicia asked, pointing to Nihlus, only for Powell to shake his head.

"No, not him. Another turian, wearing grey armor. Your turian there appeared, and was surprised to see him. Called him Saren. It sounded like they knew each other. The first turian, Saren, said something about the Council saying your turian there could use some help. Your turian lowered his guard and…and that Saren shot him. Right in the back of the head," he said, trembling a bit.

Alicia frowned heavily; glad her helmet cam was recording all this. The Council would definitely want evidence on who killed their agent. "Where did this Saren go?" She asked.

"He hopped onto the cargo train, probably took it out to where the beacon is," Powell said, frowning. "It's that damn beacons fault. First that mother ship pops up, and then all those robots swarm in, killing everyone! I'd be dead too if I wasn't behind the crates," he said.

Kaidan frowned when he heard that. "Wait, you were the only one who managed to get behind the crates? Why didn't anyone else try to hide here?"

Powell shuffled a bit. "They…didn't get a chance. I was behind the crates already when the attack started. I-it wasn't anything bad, I just…sometimes, I need a little nap to get through my shift, that's all," he said.

Ashley scoffed at that. "You survived because you're lazy? Well that's a new one," she said.

Alicia nodded. "It probably saved your life. But this probably isn't the best place to be. We've cleared out most of the enemies between here and the researcher's camp, back up the ridge. If you head that way, you can link up with some other survivors."

Powell nodded, before looking off to the side. "Look ummm…I…I maybe have some gear here you could use," he said, as he retreated behind the crate, and soon returned with a container. Opening it, he revealed a number of grenades. "I ummm…found these while I was hiding. You can probably use them more then I can, and-," he said, only for Ashley to glare as realization struck her.

"You're part of that damn smuggling ring that was stealing munitions! We're busy risking our lives to protect you and you're stealing from us?!" She shouted angrily, stepping forward with one fist clenched, as Powell recoiled, throwing his hands up.

Alicia placed a hand on Ashley's shoulder. "Easy there Williams," she said, looking to Powell. "A lot of marines died who could have made use of some of the stuff you've stolen," she said, as Powell looked away.

"L-Look, I-I didn't know they'd need it. This place is peaceful! How were we supposed to know that there was going to be an attack," he tried to explain, but faltered at the angry look Ashley still had.

"Maybe, but still. I'm going to let you go, because we've got more important things to do, but you better make this right Powell," Alicia said, as she picked up the container of the grenades. "Marines and sailors fight and sometimes die to protect you Powell. They deserve better than to have their equipment stolen for an extra credit."

Powell looked down, shuddering. "…y-you're right…I…I didn't think it would hurt anyone…b-but…I-I'll make it up! I swear!" He said, looking up.

Alicia nodded. "Make sure you do," she said, before turning to her squad mates. "Everyone grab some grenades. Never know when they'll come in handy," she said, as the pair quickly grabbed a few of the disc shaped explosives. She quickly grabbed the remainder, dropping the container and pulling out her Lancer. "Alright, let's move out!" She said.

As the trio left Powell behind, Ashley growled softly. "I still can't believe you're just letting him like that!" She said angrily.

Alicia glanced back at her. "There's not a lot I can do right now Williams. We can't take him with us, we have nothing to lock him up with. Rest assured that I'll report his actions when the mission is done. But if he shows he's willing to make things right, he deserves that chance."

Ashley just growled again, as they made their way over to the tramway. It was a long magnetic railway, leaving the warehouse and heading off to where the main spaceport was. As they neared the station, there saw there was a cargo tram present, simply a series of open platforms with retractable guardrails and magnetic securing clamps. Each section could be separated from each other, to create smaller trams for cargo if need be.

Unfortunately, the tram was not unoccupied. They could make out a few geth on the tram, at least three of the normal soldiers they had encountered, and one massive geth, almost twice the size of the other ones. It also had three optical lights on its 'face', rather than one.

"Okay…what the hell is that? Alicia asked, staring at it. "Now we've got super geth or something?"

"I don't know, but it definitely looks like a pain to fight," Ashley said.

The geth, seeing them, began pointing, those strange beeping and clicking noises audible even over the distance between them. The large one, painted a deep red, pointed towards them with one servo while carrying one very large nasty cannon in the other. The three other geth began rushing towards the ramp to exit from the tram onto the station.

"We need to find cover! Pick off the smaller ones first!" Alicia shouted, diving behind some crates. Ashley and Kaidan did as well, as weapons fire began tearing into their cover. The trio of smaller geth approached, all firing their assault rifles, which rapidly fired superheated rounds at them.

Alicia glanced up for a brief moment, before dropping back down, pointing to Ashley. "Sergeant, put a grenade right in the middle of them! Alenko, covering fire!" She shouted.

As she and Kaidan popped up, firing at the geth, Ashley grabbed one of the grenades they got from Powell, priming it. Popping up she tossed the disc as it started beeping, ducking back down to avoid return fire.

The disc landed in the center of the group of geth, who glanced down at it. They had only just processed what it was, and attempted to jump away, as the grenade exploded, with fire and shrapnel ripping through the air. The geth were thrown away by the explosion, one of them with a leg ripped off, another perforated by shrapnel and debris. The mostly uninjured one started to get up, only to be yanked into the air as Kaidan nailed it with a biotic 'pull' causing it to float in the air towards them. Alicia grinned as she pulled out her shotgun.

"Skeet shooting!" She shouted as she shot the hapless geth, causing it to spark and sputter as its optical unit died out. The shrapnel ridden one was also dead, but the one that lost a leg was starting to crawl towards them, until Ashley fired two bursts, the first burst dropping its shields and the second one blowing its head off.

Alicia turned her head to the much larger geth, which had simply been watching. Now it let out a loud metallic 'roar' like noise, stomping towards them with its cannon aimed at them. "I think we pissed off the big one!" She shouted, drawing her Lancer and firing at it, only to curse as she saw its shields were holding.

Ashley and Kaidan also turned their fire on it, but the shields around this larger geth were not dropping as fast as its counterparts had, as its cannon charged up, and fired a large bolt of energy at them. Alicia barely ducked as the energy blast ripping into her cover, tearing the crate in half. Kaidan tapped into his omni-tool, charging an overload ad firing the electrical blast at the geth, causing it to stagger and its shields to flare and fluctuate.

"Good work lieutenant!" Alicia shouted, popping up and throwing her own grenade at the hulking metal beast. The grenade exploded at the giant geth's feet, shrouding it in fire and smoke, only for it to step clear, its chassis streaked with smoke and ash, and a few pieces of shrapnel lodged in it, but otherwise intact. It responded by firing a second blast, which ripped through Ashley and Kaidan's cover, sending them both flying. Kaidan's tech armor protected him from any additional damage, but Ashley let out a cry of pain, as Alicia saw on her HUD's monitor that Ashley's vitals spiked and were now slightly erratic.

"Alenko, take care of Williams!" Alicia shouted, as she drew her shotgun, charging her biotics. With a yell she unleashed her charge, slamming into the giant geth, only to blink as the aura of biotics faded and the geth was still standing, though it had been staggered. She quickly brought up her shotgun, pumping a round into its chest and causing it to stagger back as the round slammed into it, penetrating its armored plating, but not bringing it down. She prepared to fire a second round, only for one massive arm to sweep down and knock the shotgun from her hand, before the cannon followed and sent her flying.

Alicia hit the ground; letting out an 'oof' and feeling like her ribs had been cracked, as the metallic beast stomped towards her. She growled in pain, drawing her Mustang, as she got to her feet. "Okay…round two buddy," she said, as she prepared another biotic charge. With a yell, she again slammed into it, only this time she drove the blades of her left gauntlet into the geth's chest, staggering it again. Using her feet to gain leverage on the thing's knee joints, she brought the Mustang up, yelling as she pumped round after round into the things head, reducing it to broken circuits and metal. She barely was able to release her blade and jump away as the entire metal behemoth fell over dead.

Panting, she clutched her mid-section with one arm as she holstered her Mustang with the other, groaning as she found her Crusader shotgun and bent over to pick it up. "Oh yeah. That's going to be sore tomorrow," she said, as she moved over to where Kaidan was helping Ashley to her feet. "Status?" She asked.

"Williams is fine. She landed hard on her back and it jarred some scar tissue there," Kaidan said, as Ashley gingerly rubbed her back.

"Old war wound. You should ask your brother about it when you can, commander," Ashley said, looking at her. "You don't look so good there, skipper."

"Oh, just a little love tap," Alicia said with a half grin, half grimace. "Though I wouldn't mind Kaidan giving me an assessment," she added.

Kaidan quickly moved over to her, scanning her mid-section. "You bruised a couple of ribs there. Nothing life threatening at the moment," he said. "Definitely should use some medi-gel though."

Alicia nodded as she activated her suits internal systems, letting out a small sigh of relief as she activated the medi-gel dispenser, and felt her armor automatically distribute some of the stored medicine to her midsection. "That's better," she murmured, standing up straighter now. "Well that was certainly a fight for the history books. But let's celebrate later. We're almost done with this shit storm of a mission," she said.

With nods from her two squad mates, Alicia moved to the tram, and the trio headed to the front car. Kaidan quickly de-coupled the front section as Alicia accessed the controls, and the trio was on their way.

At the spaceport, Saren moved quickly past some of the geth, stopping at one. "I want you to set the device there and prepare it for detonation. It should wipe out the entire colony, and any evidence we were here along with it," he ordered, as the geth simply turned, a couple other units joining it as they moved to a massive crate, and began unloading it. Saren turned his now glowing eyes towards a tall thin antenna like device that glowed and pulsed softly with green energy. He approached it, opening his arms wide as he felt the energy reach out, touching him, and soon lifting him into the air.

Two of the geth nearby simply stood guard, watching as Saren was enveloped by the energy, hovering in the air for several moments, before he dropped back down. He stood there for a few seconds, shaking his head and holding it in one hand, before straightening up. Turning to them, he nodded. "Let's move," he ordered brusquely, as he quickly stepped past them, the two of them and every other idle geth falling in line behind him as they got onto a large transport ship, similar to a wingless and legless insect in appearance, and flew off back towards the massive ship.

Alicia frowned as she watched the spaceport drawing near, as she saw the massive giant spaceship, now much closer, start to rise up and take off. "Looks like they're bugging out!" She shouted to her squad mates.

"Do you think they took the beacon?" Kaidan asked worriedly, as Alicia focused on the spaceport.

"Only one way to find out," she said, as their small car arrived. The trio quickly piled out, taking cover in case there were any enemies nearby. Yet there wasn't any movement, no enemy fire, nothing.

Alicia frowned, as she slowly stood up. "Okay…that was unexpected," she said, as the others stood up as well.

"Maybe we caught a break," Ashley commented, glancing around.

"I hope so," Alicia muttered. "Kaidan, can you tap into the security network here and try to find the beacon?"

"One moment," Kaidan said, as he moved to a nearby terminal and started connecting to it. He frowned as he tapped into the computer systems. "A lot of the security systems are shot but…I've still got surveillance. Pulling it up," he said.

Above his omni-tool, a holographic screen displayed a part of the spaceport. Kaidan began to flip through the different cameras, a couple of which were offline. He stopped however as he came across one image. "Here, I think this is it at the main landing pad…but there's something else there," he said with a frown. "Some type of large device."

"What was that about a break?" Alicia asked with a weary sigh, as Kaidan cut the connection. "Let's move out," she ordered.

The trio quickly moved to the main landing pad area, finding no enemies at all. What they did find though made all three of them sweat with fear and dread.

Kaidan was scanning the van sized device that was sitting in a cradle. "I can't believe this…commander, if I'm reading this correctly…this is a fifty-megaton nuclear explosive," he reported, as he carefully examined the readouts he had hacked into it.

Alicia just stared. "…talk about overkill," she muttered, looking at the device. "Can you disarm it?"

"…I think I can. The arming device is pretty well protected by an advanced security system, but the main and backup power systems are more open to intrusion. I'll have this thing deactivated in four minutes and twenty-three seconds," he said.

Ashley blinked at that. "Why that time?" She asked.

"Because in four minutes and twenty four seconds this thing will explode," Kaidan responded, rapidly typing on his omni-tool.

Alicia took a deep breath at that. "…good to know," she said, staring at the explosive device that could very well end her life.

In fact, it took Kaidan a little over two minutes to finish accessing the power systems. "Okay…unfortunately, there is a failsafe. We'll need to manually disable the power systems at the same time I'm disabling the commands," he said. "The main power manual control should be on the far side of the device, while the backup control is on the left side there," he said, pointing them out.

Alicia nodded. "Right. Williams, the backup power control. I'll take the main one. Kaidan, the count is yours," she said, as she moved to the other side, as Ashley got into position.

Kaidan nodded, as they go into position. "Cutting power in three…two…one…now!"

As one, the trio disabled the power, and the device slowly whined down, eventually going inert. Alicia let out a sigh of relief. "Please tell me we had time to spare," she said, coming out from behind the bomb.

"Does fifty-two seconds count as time to spare?" Ashley asked with a bit of a smirk, as Kaidan disconnected from the bomb.

"Smart-alec," Alicia said, as they turned to their prize. The Prothean beacon stood there, still glowing, as Alicia nodded. "Looks like the beacon is intact," she said, as she turned away, activating her comm. "Shepard to Normandy, do you copy? Normandy, please respond," she said.

Ashley frowned as she studied the beacon. "Huh…I wasn't expecting to see it glowing," she said, as she started to take a step forward. "Do you think they activated it?"

"They might have. Or maybe they've tampered with it," Kaidan said. "We should check it for any bombs or traps," he said.

"Copy that sir," Ashley said, now moving forward, only to stop as the beacon flared, and the energy pulsed. She let out a yelp as she felt herself being dragged forward, as if gripped by some invisible entity. "What the hell?!"

Alicia turned back to them, her eyes widening as she saw Ashley's predicament. Running forward, she grabbed Ashley, as did Kaidan, the pair pulling on her, as the beacon kept tugging back. Ashley was yelling, feeling herself pulled in two different directions.

Alicia growled, as she kept pulling her. "Let go you glowing piece of ancient space crap!" She yelled, giving a mighty pull and turning. Her tactic succeeded in yanking Ashley free and throwing her aside. Unfortunately, the beacon now latched onto Alicia, who let out a scream as she was pulled struggling into the air.

And then the scream stopped, her eyes going wide but unseeing, as through her mind flashed visions of death, destruction, horror, pain, fear, and despair. She hung there in the air, mouth open and gaping, as the beacon transmitted these images into her.

Kaidan and Ashley could only watch in horror as the beacon trembled and shook, the aura around it building, until with a sudden flash the aura exploded outward, and the beacon itself exploded, sending them flying, as well as Alicia. She crashed to the ground beyond them, rolling, and then laying there, completely unresponsive. Ashley and Kaidan rushed to her side, Ashley trying to wake her while Kaidan checked her vitals. But she simply lay there, eyes closed, her breathing shallow as her body twitched and jerked slightly.

Unknown ship, sometime later

In space, the massive ship that had just invaded and now left Eden Prime flew silently through the void, like a great metallic predator on the hunt for prey. Inside the ship, Saren Arterius quietly sat in a chair, silently brooding over the images he had seen from the beacon. He didn't move at all as another person made their presence known behind him, as a feminine cough echoed through the room.

"Eden Prime was not destroyed, my lord," the figure, an asari in a horned headdress and long dark dress said in an elegant and cultured voice. "The humans were able to disable the bomb before it could detonate."

Saren didn't shift from his seat, as his voice echoed through the chamber. "And the beacon?"

"The reports we intercepted indicated that it was destroyed. However…one of the humans possibly accessed it before hand, and received the same visions you did, my lord," she reported.

Saren growled, slamming a fist down on the armrest of the chair, before roaring out angrily, the lights of the room seeming to flare in sync with his anger as he flipped the table in front of him, before rounding and grabbing the asari by her face, driving her into a wall. His face came close to hers', eyes glowing dangerous as his voice took on a quiet, silky, deadly quality. "This human must be eliminated. See that it is done," he snarled, before shoving her away, and stalking off to continue his brooding. He would not see his plans undone. Not by a lowly human, or the cowardly Council, or anyone. The Reapers would return, and by his hand.

---

Wow…I'm incredibly surprised at how rapidly I churned this chapter out, considering its size. Hope its quality matches its quantity.

So yes, this is Eden Prime, the prologue mission for our dear Commander Shepard in the game. I hope you all enjoyed it. *nods*

Thank you to Kyuubi123 and a7xfanatic11 for their aid in betaing this chapter!

Till next time, faithful readers!

1. To clarify, Naruto and Alicia are parts of different branches of the military, and as such, use different ranks. Naruto might be called a captain, but he's part of the Marines, and so his rank is equivalent to that of a Navy Lieutenant. So Alicia's rank is still higher.

2. This is a change I've made to the Normandy because I feel it is more realistic. Looking at the interior design, and the fact that supposedly, this ship has fifty crew members onboard, and only eight sleeping pods, I decided to expand the crew deck's design a bit. For those of you who have played the game, the officer quarters that I described are located behind that wall at the base of the stairs leading up to the CIC deck from the crew deck. I believe that there is ample room back there to add a couple of cabins that would be shared by senior officers, who realistically would have such cabins even on cramped warships.

3. SPOILER ALERT! SPOILER ALERT! This here contains spoilers and is directed more towards actual Mass Effect fans who have played the games already. If you haven't, please ignore this unless you don't care about spoilers. SPOILER ALERT! SPOILER ALERT!
To you Mass Effect fans who have played the games, you'll probably be wondering why Saren isn't half robotic at this point, like he is in game. That is because I thought it was dumb for the Council to trust a guy who looked like he was half machine. Therefore, Saren at this point is still mostly turian, so as to keep up his façade as a loyal Spectre of the Council.