Acronym:
CP – Command Post
CHAPTER VI: A VISION
Upon arrival at the spaceport proper, the three Alliance soldiers immediately came under fire from the geth. Alenko overloaded the shields on a rocket trooper before throwing it into a wall. Williams opened fire on a pair of geth troopers that already had the fireteam in their sights. Shepard lifted them both into the air as the chief put a few rounds into the synthetics' heads.
"Get down!" the commander shouted at Williams as a sniper round cracked overhead not a moment later. Shepard's barrier flared as she stood for a moment, hurling a wave of dark energy at the several troopers and sniper at the other end of the train station sixty meters away. The sniper fired again, and Shepard felt a throbbing pain that felt like a hammer hitting her left shoulder; the barrier absorbed much of the impact energy, but the rounds were too large and traveling at too great a velocity to dissipate all of the kinetic energy. Shepard stayed in cover to recharge her barrier, and blind-fired her pistol toward the geth. She was rewarded when incoming fire shifted towards herself, giving Williams time to take aim on a geth.
Unfortunately the geth marksman…marksbot?…dropped into cover before the chief could get a good aim on the sniper, but the NCO took down a different trooper with a burst of shots from her assault rifle. Alenko placed the finishing headshot on a rocket trooper, but he immediately came under fire from several geth troopers. He strengthened his barrier, then performed a lift on a pair of the troopers. Williams and Shepard dropped one each, but each of them took fire from several hostiles every time they left cover.
These geth had better cover, positions, and numbers. The commander decided on a new tactic.
Shepard concentrated on the dark energy surrounding her for several moments, and began to hurl shockwave after shockwave of crackling blue energy at the geth. Several of the geth were hurled into the air and off of the edge of the platform. The remaining two tried to back up to better positions as their comrades and their cover flew off the edge of the train platform. Alenko and Williams did not hesitate to end their attempts with several well-placed shots.
The dark energy surrounding the commander surged, so strongly that Alenko felt the hair on his head rise in response. The commander reached toward the platform where the geth sniper had taken cover, pulling the trooper out of cover as well as ripping off several large structural panels near the sniper. Alenko overloaded its shields, then joined Williams in putting an end to the frustrating sniper.
"All clear," Williams said.
Shepard started to stand, but teetered a little before half-sitting, half-falling back to the ground. Both marines ran quickly to her side.
"I'm…okay. Just a little…lightheaded," she responded. Kaidan removed an energy injection, but Shepard beat him to the punch. She inserted the port into a seal in her side. The commander sat for a few seconds, taking a couple deep breaths. "I've been pushing my biotics pretty hard," she said.
No shit, Kaidan thought. She had used powers more frequently than him, and her powers looked to be stronger than his own. Alenko had always been regarded as a powerful biotic, matching his peak L2 power with pinpoint control. However from what he had seen, her abilities were stronger than his, and she could recharge much faster than him. Anyone that ever doubted that she should be an N7 just needed to watch her in action for sixty seconds. He then glanced at a small ding in her armor near the shoulder, her barrier looking to have dissipated most of the impact force.
Williams seemed a bit puzzled by the commander's sudden fatigue as she continuously scanned the area for hostiles, so Kaidan explained for the gunnery chief. "Manipulating dark energy takes a toll on the fatigue and vital nutrients of a biotic. After using biotic abilities, particularly in rapid succession or in stressful situations, biotics must rest to let nutrients return to their bodies. Energy injections give a temporary boost to vitamins, minerals, and electrolytes, but at some point a biotic must rest."
"What happens if you don't rest or replenish nutrients?" the chief asked.
"Pain, unconsciousness, and eventually death," Shepard responded bluntly.
The chief paused for a moment, looking a bit surprised and alarmed at this revelation. "How…how long before a biotic needs to rest?" she asked.
"Depends on the strength of the power, the duration, the gravity field of the planet. But biggest factor is the person, such as size and strength. I don't exactly have size on my side, to have large energy reserves to tap into," she replied
Alenko found himself pondering the commander for a few moments. Despite her power output, this was the first time she had to stop for a quick rest. She had kept her barrier at full strength and used offensive powers, the latter quite liberally. In some of the engagements, she hadn't even discharged a firearm, simply relying on her biotics. If her powers literally could crush geth, what would power of that level do to organics? Where did all of her power come from? Did she have a custom implant? Or had the Alliance developed a new implant themselves? And just what did that earlier omni-tool message mean? A fair portion of her history was restricted, from what he had heard…the lieutenant returned his mind to the situation. They had a mission to complete. Any musings would have to wait.
The commander slowly got to her feet, and Williams pulled up her Omni-tool's map. "According to the map, this is a tiny spaceport. If they brought the beacon to the spaceport, and we can't see it from here, it would be on the other side of this wall at the loading ramps," the chief said. "Unless they took it off world."
Shepard nodded. "It's a good bet they did. If the beacon's not here…we'll start searching around the dig site and mop up any geth we find."
The fireteam advanced cautiously, wary of a geth trap, but all of the synthetics were gone or dead. The geth didn't have any places to hide – this side of the spaceport had no cover.
The beacon sat at the very edge of the platform, a dark gray spire perhaps seven meters tall and thirty centimeters wide, a line along the center glowing faintly green. A barely perceptible hum emanated from its base.
"Wow! This is amazing! Actual working prothean technology!" Alenko exclaimed upon seeing the activated device.
Shepard had a similar look of awe as she approached the beacon slightly ahead of the two marines, perhaps twenty meters from the beacon. Her voice held just as much excitement as Alenko's. "Just think of the knowledge! That is contained…right…here…" The commander's voice trailed off as she stopped moving, the marines stopping just behind her as she turned to face them. "Why is the beacon here? Why wasn't it taken offworld, or destroyed so we can't study it?" she asked, her eyes narrowed as the momentary awe at the sight of an active prothean device being quickly replaced by puzzlement and concern.
Her comment instantly snapped the two marines to her line of thinking. "You're right…" Alenko said quietly, his eyes narrowing as he began to think why. Why would the geth attack Eden Prime, then just leave the beacon behind for the Alliance to find? Or why not just destroy it?
Suddenly the beacon let out a loud pulse. All three Alliance soldiers staggered, then the beacon began to inexorably pull them towards it.
Alenko mostly kept his balance as he tried to pull himself free of the mysterious force. He glanced over to Williams, who seemed to be stuck in the same pull, her legs straining to keep her balance. He then glanced forward to Shepard's eyes, meeting her gaze for a split second, her eyes holding a look of both surprise and concern. Before he had a chance to do anything else, though, Shepard's body flared bright blue. The lieutenant suddenly felt the sensation of a truck crashing into his chest and the subsequent whiplash of his limbs. He found himself flying backwards, suddenly and forcefully free of the beacon's mysterious grip. He rolled twice before coming to a stop, no longer feeling the inexorable pull of the beacon. Glancing to his side, he could see Williams lying on her side, slowly rolling to her feet.
The commander, however, had been pulled to the base of the beacon. Her corona flared then suddenly vanished as she was lifted about a meter off of the ground.
"SHEPARD!" Alenko yelled as he leapt to his feet, preparing to pull the commander away from the beacon.
"NO! Don't touch her!" Ashley shouted at him, grabbing him and holding him back momentarily. "It's too dangerous! We don't know what it's doing!"
Shepard had felt herself get pulled backwards towards the beacon. She had staggered backwards, struggling to keep her feet and balance. She had glanced to the two marines, and to her dread, she had seen they were trapped in the same mysterious force that she was. The commander instantly made a decision. Charging her biotics, she hit both marines with a weak throw, making sure to hit Alenko harder due to his higher mass and natural biotic resistance. Both marines went airborne and flew away from her, and she saw with relief that both had apparently left the beacon's mysterious invisible force.
Shepard then felt herself lifted into the air. Her vision suddenly narrowed and turned to hellish shades of red and orange. The landscape of Eden Prime transformed into a fiery wasteland. The fire ran through every nerve in her body, but despite the pain, her mind remained transfixed on the images being flashed through it. Scenes flashed before her eyes THEY'RE HERE showing humanoids running in panic as something RUN descend from the sky. The hellscape suddenly transformed back into Eden Prime, only to return a moment later to the incomprehensible images flashing before her eyes, this time showing what looked to be some sort of space station. A brief flash PAIN showed a humanoid being torn apart…her mind flashed back to Eden Prime, then to…one of the nearby HIDE machines turned to face her…it saw her…she had to run she had to get out of here she had to escape NOW
Shepard watched as the burning landscape of Eden Prime returned. She heard someone call out her name, but she was filled with an overwhelming urge to flee and hide, but she couldn't move couldn't flee from the approaching horrors. The machines approached, almost FLEE FLEE FIGHT upon her…she screamed as her body exploded in pain and her world went black.
Kaidan watched helplessly as the beacon did exerted its mysterious force on the commander as she let out a terrified scream. A moment later the beacon exploded with a concussive blast that hurled the commander into a wall nearly ten meters away and knocked both marines onto their backs. Shepard landed on her side and Kaidan immediately jumped to his feet, rushing to her limp body. He opened his Omni-tool's first aid program and checked the commander's dangerous vitals. Heart rate 149, respiratory rate 23, blood pressure 85/57. Her temperature had spiked from a normal 310 Kelvin to over 311 in just a few seconds of interacting with that beacon. No broken bones, didn't appear to be any internal bleeding, but the combination of high heart rate and breathing, plus low blood pressure… Shit…
"Is she going to be okay?" Williams asked in a near panic.
"I'm not sure yet," he responded, replying in a tone much calmer than he felt. "Normandy, this is Lieutenant Alenko. Come in."
"Authenticate, Lieutenant. X-ray Golf Tango," the comm officer queried immediately.
"Alpha Whiskey Papa," was the response.
"Confirmed," the comm officer said.
"Get down to our position now."
"Copy that," the pilot responded as he began to maneuver the ship. The pilot sighed in relief – he was who he said he was, confirmed by voice analyzers, and they weren't compromised. The ground team had dropped out of contact almost immediately after they had hit the ground, and just now popped back up on their sensors. "What the hell happened down there, Alenko? There was a sudden burst signal on our passive array, and you just popped back up on voice comms. And the commander's armor is glitched out, her lifesigns are all over the place," Joker responded.
"It's not a glitch," came the grave reply.
Joker paused for a brief moment as the response sunk in. "Shit. How bad?" he said as he executed the planned approach trajectory.
"Breathing but unconscious, dangerous vitals. It doesn't look good. She might go into shock," Alenko told him.
"Fuck, stand by," he said quietly. "ETA three minutes," Joker said, louder than his curse. He had kept an approach trajectory calculated to their last known location the entire time, and after that ship had flown off Anderson had ordered the Normandy to decelerate above the planet's exosphere, slow enough to drop in the atmosphere almost immediately, but still have enough speed to enter orbit or leave for interplanetary space quickly. It burned fuel faster than a krogan going through a buffet, but it left them with the option to descend very quickly. Joker exercised that option now.
He told the crew to fasten in or hold on as the ship dove towards the planet; despite the artificial gravity, sudden ship maneuvers could be anywhere from mildly to very disruptive to the occupants inside. Fortunately most of the heat would be dissipated into the air around their descent and the shockwave; even then, he had to optimize the descent and approach pattern so that the loading ramp wouldn't be too warm when getting the ground team onboard. He entered the atmosphere at an attitude to minimize heating to the loading bay, and maneuvered to reduce the supersonic shockwave. At high enough speeds, and/or low enough altitude, with a large enough object, the shockwave could hurt or even kill people. There would be a shockwave here, it would certainly break some windows, and Joker didn't care one damned bit.
Alenko looked at his omni-tool to watch the Normandy begin to descend into the atmosphere, and that was when the realization hit him. Shepard had possibly saved his and Williams' lives. The commander had reacted to biotically throw the two of them clear. He, meanwhile, had mentally frozen as he had done nothing to try to break free of the beacon's force. Shepard could have used that dark energy to biotically charge to safety, but instead she had used it on the two of them, instead of saving herself. Now the beacon had done something to her, and had quite possibly killed her, while he had done nothing. Other than maybe get her killed. He cursed at himself as he returned to bring up the commander's lifesigns.
Her heart rate sped up even more…shit, don't go into shock, Alenko thought, only to watch as her heart rate slowed slightly again. He could do nothing here; the commander needed a qualified trauma team, the sooner the better, so they could treat…what? What had happened to her? He glanced back to his omni-tool, looking at the Normandy's telemetry, watching as the ship rapidly slowed from suborbital velocity to subsonic speeds.
He looked back to the unconscious commander, watching her heart rate finally drop below 140, though her blood pressure still remained dangerously low. He glanced up to see a small speck in the sky that quickly revealed itself to be the Normandy. The stealth frigate, stooped over in a nearly vertical plunge like the dive bombers of hundreds of years ago, suddenly pitched up and quickly bled off the rest of the vertical velocity. The lieutenant's sharp hearing allowed him to discern the sonic boom from the Normandy as two distinct ear-splitting thunderclaps a fraction of a second apart, courtesy of her earlier supersonic flight.
The Normandy roared to a stop with the loading bay already opened and facing the platform, with a wave of convective heat briefly preceding the ship. Alenko picked up the commander and carried her unconscious body onto the ship, wondering what the hell was wrong with her.
Captain Anderson barely waited for the lieutenant to jump aboard. "What the hell happened?"
"The beacon exploded, sir. It pulled all three of us towards it, but Commander Shepard biotically threw us out of the way. It lifted her into the air and did something to her, then it blew up a few seconds later, sir," he replied, hurrying towards the elevator with the unconscious commander in his arms. "It knocked her out. I thought she was going to go into shock for a minute. She needs to get to the medbay, sir."
"Nihlus? Jenkins?" Anderson asked as he followed the lieutenant.
"Both KIA, sir," Alenko responded.
Shit, the captain thought.
"Sir, I have to get her to the medbay now. She could go into shock," the lieutenant responded, hitting the button for the elevator. As always, the elevator took its damned time. Why the hell is the elevator so damned slow on the most advanced ship in the galaxy?
The elevator doors finally opened, and Alenko saw two crewmembers waiting for him. He didn't bother handing the commander over to them, simply running to the medbay and laying her gently on a cot. Doctor Chakwas already wore scrubs and gloves, and she immediately began asking Alenko what happened. She had also been monitoring Shepard's lifesigns from her armor's telemetry.
After several minutes, the doctor and two medics had all the information they needed from the lieutenant. "She's in no immediate danger, sir. We'll take it from here," a crewwoman told him.
The lieutenant nodded and contacted Captain Anderson via omni-tool; the O-6 immediately ordered the O-3 back down to the cargo bay.
Anderson shook his head and muttered another curse as Alenko carried the limp commander up to the medbay. He wanted answers now, but answers wouldn't change anything. He had immediately noticed that Jenkins hadn't boarded the frigate; instead Alenko had come aboard with a female marine that looked to be about Shepard's age, give or take a bit. O-2 or an E-4, maybe an O-3 or an E-5. The newcomer apprehensively glanced around the loading bay, then quickly straightened upon seeing the captain approach her.
She quickly saluted; whether out of surprise on seeing him or simply our of habit, the captain couldn't tell. He returned it. "G-gunnery Chief Ashley W-williams, sir. With the 212 on Eden Prime."
"What the hell happened, Chief?" he asked, his tone sharper than he would have liked.
"Sir, a large force of synthetics attacked the colony. The garrison CP said four frigate-class ships. They hit us hard, and…my squad went down, sir. I tried to link up with the platoon, but I encountered Commander Shepard and Lieutenant Alenko. They saved my life, sir."
Anderson nodded, softening his expression. It wasn't this marine's fault that shit had gone sideways on Eden Prime. "There was a turian Spectre that we deployed."
Williams nodded. "Yes sir. Nihlus. We found his body, but he wasn't the only turian there."
Anderson's eyes narrowed. "You mean there was another turian on Eden Prime, Chief?"
She nodded. "Yes sir. We only found one survivor, Captain, a dockworker. But he claimed that Nihlus was killed by another turian named Saren."
"What? Saren?" the captain exclaimed in surprise and not a bit of anger.
"Yes, sir. Powell – the dockworker, sir – said Saren. Commander Shepard said he was another turian…Spectre…" her voice trailed off as she saw the captain's face, immediately wondering if she said something wrong.
"Are you certain the dockworker said Saren, Chief Williams?" Anderson asked, his voice low and angry.
The chief gulped slightly. She knew Captain Anderson by sight and reputation – nearly all marines did – but his expression flipped from frustration to rage at just the mention of the name "Saren." She nodded her head emphatically. "Positive, sir. The dockworker described what happened – sir, that entire conversation would be on my armor's recording systems. Nihlus was shot several times, and the commander noticed that his armor recording systems were destroyed by a shotgun at very close range."
Captain Anderson said nothing; the chief could see while that he was no longer completely seething, he was still very angry about something…and it wasn't the beacon.
Anderson scowled slightly as his omni-tool went off, and a minute later, Lieutenant Alenko returned to the cargo bay. The two marines then proceeded to tell the full story to the captain.
Doctor Liara T'Soni looked again at the display screen in the pressurized hab module, excitement at her next dig beginning to overcome the dreary gloom of this planet.
She had arrived at Junthor seven weeks ago upon hearing from one of her university colleagues that this world housed a site of prothean ruins. Upon arrival, however, she had been disappointed. She learned that the only prothean site was a small research outpost on a world otherwise replete with ruins from an earlier civilization. Two small prothean buildings. Nothing else of note in a cold, ghostly world filled with empty, wind-swept ruins, silent except for the sound of the periodically howling wind that nevertheless eerily penetrated the enviro-suits.
Upon arrival, however, Liara quickly determined that the protheans likely were doing the exact same thing that her asari colleagues were doing: researching the endless arcologies on this planet's surface. The asari researchers from the University of Serrice had found little of note, other than a series of ornate symbols near the prothean site that had been partially translated. Crude, hasty sketches of comparable symbols had been placed on the reverse side.
Zero progress on the translation of both sets of symbols had been made after years and years of trying. The researchers had searched the endless, empty…spooky…ruins for any additional symbols, any data caches, or anything that could jump-start the process. Liara had instead focused on decrypting the prothean data stored and still mostly uncorrupted in their two small labs. Being a pureblood, the other asari naturally scowled at the thought, proclaiming confidently that nothing of value could be pulled from the protean storage devices, but Liara had quickly proved them wrong. She used their admittedly sketchy knowledge of the prothean language to partially translate the symbols in a tiny fraction of the time before returning to decrypting the rest of the prothean data caches.
She fully checked her environmental pressure suit while she walked towards the airlock; the shuttle would arrive soon. Shuttle trips were infrequent, usually only dropping off supplies once every few days, and Liara would not learn any more from this tiny prothean presence. She had little reason to remain here, and even less desire to. She would leave the rest of the work and translation to the Serrice researchers – researchers that would be mostly glad to see her gone. She would miss nothing from this planet.
"Doctor T'Soni!" a human researcher exclaimed. Emily Marceau was short and thin – like most excitable, energetic young researchers that were completely absorbed in their work, she sometimes forgot to eat. She was a young researcher from a human university as part of an exchange program, and had only been on Junthor for three months, the only non-asari on this planet. "It's so sad to see you go," Emily said with a disappointed look on her face. Well, Liara had to admit, the prothean researcher recognized that she would miss working with this young human. Despite humans being new on the galactic scene, despite not having the wisdom of the asari, the speed and intelligence of the salarians, or the strength of the turians or krogan, they nevertheless possessed an indomitable determination – a determination that they would never stop pursuing their goals, regardless of obstacles in the way. Unlike many other members of the galactic community, Liara found their indomitable will to be intriguing, even fascinating.
"It has been enjoyable working with you, Emily," Liara responded. The two "young" researchers had started to bond, due to their differences with respect to the rest of the asari – Liara was a pureblood and Emily was non-asari. The human girl seemed to not notice, or simply not care about, any of the sidelong glances that other asari gave towards her due to her "different-ness." Instead she seemed to be caught up in the excitement of discovery and a brand new job right out of school. A lot like I was fifty years ago, Liara couldn't help but think in amusement. Despite the fact that Liara was considered little more than a child amongst asari, this human woman in front of her was truly young by any asari standard.
"I can't believe how long they've been working to translate those symbols. And you figure it out in weeks!" she exclaimed in admiration and awe. Then her eyes narrowed as she looked down at the floor. "'Monsters from the id', though. What do you think that means?"
"I am not sure," Liara replied. That statement wasn't entirely true. Liara had started to develop a theory that something wasn't quite right in the galaxy. Given the number of sapient life forms in the small part of the explored galaxy, all of which had reached sapience in the last few hundred thousand years, one should expect that the galaxy should be overflowing with life. But that wasn't the case. All of the FTL-capable species seemed to be at approximately the same stage of evolution, discovering FTL within the last few thousand years. Liara had personally explored ruins from five vanished FTL-capable species now. The protheans had been the most recent, but in the past million years three other species had definitely vanished, not including the species that built the ruins on Junthor, which were likely far older.
"Well, we haven't translated the rest of the last word yet," Emily replied. "Id…wonder what it could be…" the human said quietly, pondering the partial translation of the word. The two women continued talking for several minutes until a series of beeps at a console informed them that the shuttle had dropped out of FTL and had just pinged the research camp. "Please let me know what fascinating things you uncover at your next site!" Emily exclaimed.
"I will. Good luck with radiometric dating these ruins," Liara replied. The composition of the materials used in these arcology husks precluded radiometric dating by any available method, and the team was trying several novel approaches to try to get an age of the ruins that littered Junthor.
Liara put her helmet on and sealed it. A series of beeps a second later told her that her suit's life support system functioned nominally. She picked up her cases of belongings and began to carry them into the airlock. Since each opening of the airlock used up reserve air, the research teams scheduled their work in such a way to minimize the number of cycles.
Two asari researchers waited on the outside for the relief to take their place. Liara finished with her last load of cases, and saw that two researchers waited for her inside the transition area.
Once all three were ready, the airlock began to cycle, first by pumping out as much of the breathable air as possible into temporary tanks, before pressurizing the vestibule with Junthor's atmosphere of carbon dioxide. The cycling took a minute, and the outer airlock door opened to reveal the dreary expanse of ruins on this cold world.
Liara moved her crates out of the airlock, helped by one of the other asari. The airlock door closed and began to cycle, and by the time the process completed, she could see the shuttle slowing for a landing. The mech loaded and carried all of her gear towards the shuttle a hundred meters away.
The young asari scientist looked around in her helmet at the expanse of ruins on the horizon. Unlike combat helmets, this one was made for not obstructing the field of view, rather than surviving battle damage, and afforded her a full view of her surroundings. While this world was barren of all life, it felt…more than that. Cold, dark…unsettling. Just what had happened to the species that created such massive structures? Did they experience a violent end, just like the protheans appeared to? Walking through the silent, empty husk of what had once likely been a vibrant civilization, the thought sent a slight chill through her. Regardless, it would be good to put this world behind her, not to mention get away from the prejudiced, "educated" asari.
Her next site would have far more potential, and she was excited at the possibilities. A human corporation named Eldfell-Ashland would be paying her a significant sum of credits to investigate extensive prothean ruins on a human planet called Therum. They had been keeping the fact of prothean ruins on Therum a secret; they likely wanted to hoard all the technology and data they uncovered. In her agreement, though, Liara had specified that she retained the right to publish information about anything she discovered on Therum, only requiring not to mention Therum by name.
Still, a corporation would not agree to such terms unless they had truly found something that they couldn't explain – or loot. That fact made Liara intrigued at what she could uncover. She boarded and strapped into the shuttle as she updated her datapad from the shuttle's local cache with news from the rest of the galaxy. Scanning through the headlines, she saw something about her mother's teachings, and instinctively frowned. Liara and her mother weren't on speaking terms, having not spoken in nearly a year. Her mother had been aloof and distant, even when Liara had been a child, focusing more on her Matriarch duties. Now, she wanted her only daughter to follow in her footsteps, or at least be something more influential than a prothean researcher, and the barb at her career choice came back to the front of her mind. "What's an archaeologist? Someone whose career is in ruins."
Liara scowled, remembering the path Benezia wanted her only daughter to follow. The young asari had no desire to spread teachings, to attract followers, and she had less desire to become a follower, even in a group that focused on the mystery of the protheans. Most of those asari espoused teachings on the protheans that were simply nonsensical. Etilia, who believed that the protheans somehow achieved transcendence. Nyessa, who thought that the protheans were the mass relays and Citadel, after uploading their consciousness to these devices. D'Senna, who preached that the protheans had benevolently "uplifted" all of the current species, and then had embarked on a one-way journey to the Andromeda galaxy. The journey to Andromeda at least had some tiny, remote basis in possibility, and as she remembered, a couple of the many major technological hurdles had been overcome. No matter how many obstacles were overcome, though, Liara knew no one would be traveling to Andromeda in her lifetime. The trip would take two and a half million years, though to the occupants traveling at nearly the speed of light, they would only age a few hundred years. FTL drives could not run for the hundreds of years required for such a journey, so any trip would have to be run at nearly the speed of light, using relativity to reduce the effects of aging on both the ship's occupants and the ship itself.
Regardless, the young asari doctor was satisfied with her life. She got to study and understand the species responsible for the greatest creations in the galaxy: the Citadel and mass relays. She could be the first to unearth ruins, and walk on worlds untouched since the days of the protheans. And, she realized, she had started to feel a slight hint of dread after her time at the last several sites, as all her research had begun to hint at the same conclusion: something terrible had befallen the protheans in their final days.
He ran as fast as his feet could RUN flee, leaping over HIDE a collapsed wall and turning to fire his particle rifle at the monstrosities FIGHT approaching his position
Saren Arterius awoke with a start, blinking his eyes several times as he tried to make sense of the vision. He rubbed his fringe, pondering the latest dream from the prothean beacon. Despite the rest, and assistance from Matriarch Benezia in the form of melds, he hadn't come any further to uncovering anything useful.
This was supposed to be it. Years and years of investigation, planning, and searching – all had come down to this beacon. Yet, only fragments, hints of information at what the interlopers had truly done. He felt disappointment swell up within him as he…or had he? Had he really felt disappointment? As with all his thoughts, was it his disappointment, or someone…something…else's?
Regardless, Saren knew that to achieve salvation for billions, he had to be useful. And to be useful, he had to understand the beacon. But, at the moment, everything remained a jumbled mess, telling him fragments of the protheans' final days. Fragments of their final days against the Reapers. Fighting an enemy that could not, and should not, be fought.
The worst part of Eden Prime hadn't been the beacon's visions, but rather the death of his closest friend and protégé. He and Nihlus had been colleagues, collaborating on many missions over the decades. Yet Saren had been forced to shoot…no, he had chosen to shoot Nihlus.
As terrible as the act was, he simply had to shoot Nihlus on Eden Prime. He had to prove his worth and determination to Nazara, demonstrating that organics would do whatever it took to ensure their survival. Through that terrible act, he could achieve salvation not for himself, but for billions of others. Sacrificing some so others could live. That was why he was a Spectre.
He saw Benezia approach; slowly, deliberately walking towards him. Benezia and Saren's footsteps never made any noise in these tomb-like hallways, at least until they did. Then the sound of his boots on the hard metal echoed endlessly throughout the ship, an unending cacophony of harsh, perpetual crashes that did not cease until long after he had finished walking.
He focused on the matriarch rather than the unsettling angles of the walls and ceilings that surrounded them, sides that perpetually seemed to close in on him no matter how long he looked at them. The corridors on Nazara seemed to always change, rearranging themselves at random, the god's interior an ever-shifting labyrinth that seemed purposefully made to bait and trap the unwary. At one glance a corridor would be wide, tall, and well-lit, and after a quick glance away, the same corridor would be claustrophobically narrow and dark. But despite Nazara's massive size, Saren never once got lost in the maze of passageways, always arriving exactly at his destination at exactly the intended time.
Time…another unnatural concept aboard Nazara. On some days, it would seem that only mere minutes passed between meals, when it turned out to be hours. Other times, he realized a full day would pass between eating. When it seemed like he only slept for minutes, it would be hours. If he slept hours, it felt like minutes. But no matter what, the quiet, uneasy whispers from his dreams lingered at the fringes of his mind, waiting to –
Focus. He had to keep focus on Nazara's wants and needs, not on his own body's. Focus would allow billions of organics to be spared from the coming fire.
The asari placed her hands behind her back. "You made the recommendation to the Council?" she asked with her characteristic calm, soothing tone, allowing Saren to ignore the perpetual whispers at the fringes of his thought.
"Yes. The Council will sit on their hands, at least for the moment. They will likely need additional convincing." Saren highly doubted that the Council would act on his recommendation, but if they did, it would give them an opening.
Benezia nodded, remaining silent. There it was again, the distant sound of small, soft feet on a hard floor, echoing quietly yet still audibly through the chamber. Tap-tap, tap-tap, tap-tap, tap-tap. Just as soon as he focused on the footsteps, though, they stopped.
Despite the calm, Saren sensed the matriarch felt slightly uneasy about something. Saren always felt uneasy as well, a constant consequence of the ancient god in which they resided. But…what was he really uneasy about? Was it those dark tendrils that forever lingered at the edges of his consciousness, always whispering, ready to fully and instantly consume his mind the moment he failed to be useful? "What is it?" he asked.
The asari closed her eyes for a moment before stating, "There is clear evidence that places you on Eden Prime."
"The dockworker," Saren said. "Testimony from one traumatized settler is of no concern. Those claims can be dismissed."
"It is not only the dockworker," Benezia gently clarified. "A quarian has also acquired evidence against you. Apparently she disabled geth units that had returned to the edge of the Veil and recovered their data cores. Units that had been on Eden Prime with you."
"Their data cores should overwrite and self-destruct," Saren growled.
"Apparently this quarian knew exactly how to prevent that," the matriarch responded. "She recovered significant data caches that show we are in league with the geth, and involved in the Eden Prime assault."
Saren felt heat in his mind, the whispers at the edge of his thoughts turning louder –
Benezia's smooth voice continued, pulling Saren out of his trance. "This quarian is attempting to sell this information to the Shadow Broker in exchange for protection."
Saren returned to his thoughts after the momentary fog that had occupied his mind, blinking his eyes in rapid succession. "Pay off the Shadow Broker's agents. Make them an offer they can't refuse."
Benezia nodded. "It will be done."
A momentary pause in speaking returned the interior halls to complete and utter silence. Silence…the silence was most unsettling of all. Only eerie silence hung throughout Nazara's shifting corridors. And on the few times when it didn't, the distorted echoes of whispers, footsteps, and breathing only served to distract one from any coherent thoughts. The whistling wind down a corridor, the soft groaning of metal, the ringing in the ears, the screams – oh Spirits the screams…
"The first ship that touched down on Eden Prime has been identified," Benezia told him as he focused on her words, words that broke the haunting, nearly perpetual silence. "The Normandy."
"Under the command of Captain Anderson. Who was the human Spectre candidate?" Saren asked, his voice harsher and lower.
"A Lieutenant Commander Shepard. Known as the – "
"Heroine of the Blitz. Yes," Saren finished. He knew about Shepard, of course. Anyone in this galaxy knew about her. Young, even for her species, but talented nonetheless. And, if the turian, asari, and salarian intelligence assessments had any shred of accuracy to them, her biotic power rivaled that of asari matriarchs. She would have been a capable, dangerous opponent. Fortunately, she would not be a problem anymore. "The Alliance will not be able to keep her demise at the talons of the geth a secret for long."
Benezia shook her head slightly. "The geth did not kill her. It was she who interacted with the beacon."
Saren nodded. Nazara's hacking of the Citadel species' networks had provided them with a wealth of information. As it was with these insects, most of it was worthless, but every so often something of use would come from it. The fact that she had been able to fight through the stay-behind geth to get to the beacon spoke well of her skill. "Regardless of how she perished, news of the death of such a famous figure in the Alliance, plus news of her now-failed Spectre candidacy, will throw them into disarray. Add to the knowledge of the geth attack on one of their most peaceful colonies, and the Alliance will be panicked, rushing to protect their worlds." A small, contented smirk appeared on his face. "Their fleets will be scattered throughout the Traverse, insects rushing to protect their hives. Their chaotic scurrying will eventually spill over into the other Council species."
Benezia did not seem to be at ease from Saren's words. She remained in front of him, hands clasped behind her back, the harbinger of bad news.
Saren regarded her expression for several moments, his thoughts interrupted by the bare footsteps again, slightly louder and somehow closer this time. Tap-tap, tap-tap, tap-tap. The footsteps suddenly stopped as soon as Saren started to focus in on them. Saren did not speak for several moments, intently listening for the return of the footsteps. Fortunately, they did not return, so he focused on Benezia again and asked, "What happened?"
"The human that interacted with the beacon, Commander Shepard…she survived," Benezia told him.
Saren shot up in his seat at the revelation. "How? We sabotaged the beacon, set it to overload the physiology of anyone who approached before it self-destructed," he growled.
"We are not sure. The Alliance medical reports indicate she will regain consciousness, but they do not know how long it will take," Benezia said.
Saren let out a yell of anger that sounded more like a primal roar, before quickly calming down at the non-surprise of the beacon's use. After all, he already knew that Shepard survived the sabotaged beacon…right? Yes, Benezia knew, so therefore he, Saren, knew as well. Everything was shared between them. They did not need words to convey information. The whispers in their minds conveyed all the information and the knowledge that they would ever need.
Of course, Saren's mind was still entirely his own, just as Benezia's mind was still her own. With his mind entirely his own, as always, he then focused then on the human who had somehow survived the beacon's sabotage. "Eliminate her," Saren said coldly.
"It will be done," Benezia replied, then adopted a thoughtful expression. For the first time since she had approached, she had emotion in her voice. "If we attack the Citadel now, we still stand a good chance of success."
The voices in his head spoke for him. "We only will have one chance to activate the relay. The chance is too great for C-Sec to seal the station before we reach the Tower. We must move quickly and bypass the defenses. We need the Conduit to ensure success. And we must first learn how the interlopers stopped the signal. We must prevent any such anomalies from occurring in the future." No, Saren told himself again. Those were his words, coming from his thoughts. Saren slowly leaned back in his chair, looking into the suddenly dark, endless corridor beyond. "Regardless, it will soon begin."
Author's Notes:
If Saren really wanted to "leave no evidence that we were here," he would have done an orbital bombardment, or use a a few two-stage nukes scattered around the colony, not place four bombs in a spaceport. The geth were pretty spread out, judging by the size of Sovereign in the distance, and it would make more sense to disperse the nukes or bombs (whatever they were). And Sovereign had after the cutscene with Saren shooting Nihlus, well before Saren says "destroy the colony". So how did Saren leave Eden Prime, then? (Yay for "get to N points before the timer runs out" gameplay) Given the fridge logic surrounding this part, I changed things up a bit.
I know that Junthor is a reference to Forbidden Planet with "monsters from the id", but in this story it might actually be something other than a movie reference.
Next will be several chapters on the Citadel. I mostly followed the story, but added/expanded on certain events.