I don't own Mass Effect or the AvP franchise
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Eden Prime
"Nihlus, I don't know what the fuck you're playing at, but I'm not laughing. Either you talk to me, or I'm coming after you and you really don't want to make me do that." That was not good. Human colloquialisms sounded strange when translated into turian language and their voice inflexions were tough to judge, but Shepard did not sound as though she was making a joke and, with her marines to back her up, Nihlus was far from certain that he could either evade her or fight her off. The new one, Williams, would probably welcome the opportunity to shoot a turian if her body language was anything to judge by. Besides, he was supposed to avoid provoking the humans at all costs. There was a part of him, a very strong part, that wanted to reopen communications, tell Shepard what he was doing and why. But if his suspicions were right he couldn't, not yet; Not until he figured out what was going on. There was too much at stake. He heard the other human voice again. "Death's pale-faced prophet, with an iron jaw and claws of steel!" It could be nonsense, the ravings of a lunatic; it had to be nonsense. But if it wasn't... An iron jaw and claws of steel. There was only one turian he knew with those kind prosthetics. Everyone used lifelike limb-replacements. Everyone except... But he couldn't be here. Not here, of all places, and certainly not now! Not in the middle of an invasion.
Nihlus kept moving. It was fortunate that he had obtained maps of Eden Prime, and its capital city, when the Council picked him for this assignment or he'd have been hopelessly lost. He turned a corner of the narrow trail and nearly blundered into the back of a massive warehouse. That was good. Humans were not always logical, but they wouldn't build a warehouse like this in the middle of nowhere. That meant that his map had been accurate and the mag-lev station was near.
Everything seemed to be quiet. Whatever fighting had taken place here had stopped. As he moved along the warehouse wall, Nihlus found a small door, probably an emergency exit for personnel in case of fire or some other hazard. After a moment's hesitation, he pushed the door open and ducked inside. Better to get some cover between himself and the open sky. There were too many drones flying around. Even now, he didn't dare to reactivate his equipment. Shutting down his sensors left him a lot more vulnerable than he liked, but it had been necessary. Even if he limited himself to passive sensors, the power sources they used were simply too different from human equipment not to stand out on this planet, and he was quite sure that Lieutenant Alenko had been scanning for them with his drones from the moment they'd discovered his disappearance and there was no way to tell how much they could pick up, even through the roof of a building.
The warehouse was mostly empty, with only a few crates stacked up along one of the walls. Nihlus moved over and looked at them briefly. Only one was the right size for a prothean beacon. The geth had clearly moved through this area already, so he didn't expect to find it here, but it was still worth checking out.
Mag-lev replacement parts. Well, it was never more than a faint hope anyway. Nihlus drew his talon back from the crate. Something was sticking. As he looked closer, he saw a slimy, raisin-like substance that had been stuck to the crate. He rubbed it off. Just ignore it. This is not the time to worry about what kind of stuff humans put on their packaging crates.
Even as he thought it, he heard the sounds of gunfire in the distance. Considering the direction and the type of weapons involved, it seemed that Shepard and her team had run into some opposition.
Who knows, maybe she'll be out of ammo by the time she catches up with me. That would certainly be nice.
-o-o-o-
There was no warning. No sound, no movement. One moment, the team was advancing along the trail; the next, they were fighting for their lives.
Williams was in the lead, with Shepard and one of the marines following, while Lieutenant Alenko and the last marine brought up the rear. They were going uphill again and the trail was winding and narrow, slowing their progress.
"Williams, how far?"
"Just a few more minutes, ma'am. Once we reach the top, we can look down on the station."
"Good." Shepard turned around. "Alenko, anything on the drones?"
The lieutenant checked his display. "No, ma'am. Some movement, but no-"
A black shape dropped down from the rocks above. It landed on top of the marine next to Shepard, claws extended, slamming him against the ground. From out of it its mouth a tongue shot out with terrible force, punching through the thin armour covering the back of the neck.
For one second, the other humans stood as frozen, stunned by the suddenness of the attack as well as the nightmarish appearance of their new foe, then training set in and they scattered, opening the distance.
Shepard's finger tightened on the trigger, but she hesitated. Williams was in her line of fire, almost directly behind the target, forced to stay there by the narrowness of the trail. Before she could move to get a better angle, the creature's tail swept around and hit her at knee-level, sweeping her legs from under her and sending her tumbling, her rifle flying from her hands.
Shepard hit the ground and kept rolling. A claw cut into the ground where her head had been only a moment ago as the thing tried to jump on top of her and missed, buying her a few precious seconds. A Weapon! Her rifle had fallen out of reach, so she yanked her sidearm out of the holster, switching it to burst mode as she lined up the shot. Firing it like that one-handed was suboptimal at best, but the range was short and at least one bullet grazed its smooth, dome-like skull. It hesitated, buying her time for a second burst as she scrambled backwards, desperate to stay out of reach. Another hit. Not enough to kill, but that no longer mattered. The marines had recovered from the initial surprise and two rifle shots slammed into the monster, putting it down for good.
Shepard got to her feet. From the corner of her eye, she saw more of the dark shapes closing in from the trail ahead. Williams was firing already, trying to stand her ground. There was something... Shepard tried to remember the old briefings. Something about- her eyes fell on the corpse, yellowish blood was bubbling from the wounds, steam rising- The blood!
"Watch it! These bastards bleed acid! Stay at a distance!"
It was uncertain if the marines had heard her, but, clearly, everyone agreed that staying as far away from these things as possible was a good idea. They fell back, firing as they retreated. Full automatic rifle fire lashed out at the approaching creatures before they could close the distance. Two of them went down under a hail of bullets, a third was slapped aside by Kalenko's biotics, then torn up by more gunfire. Then, as sudden as it had started, the battle was over. Shepard looked around.
"Fuck it, how many were there? Did anyone get an accurate count."
"I counted seven, ma'am," Chief Williams spoke up. "Two of them got away. Ma'am, what the... Are these...? What are these things doing here?"
Shepard picked up her rifle, carefully avoiding the pools of yellowish blood that were soaking into the ground.
"Yes, it's them, alright. Guess they aren't as extinct as we thought they were. I was afraid of this. That ship you saw, Williams, that looked like a horseshoe, correct?"
"Yes, ma'am. But what-"
"Classified information, Williams. Gold level, so N7s get read in on it. I don't have time for history lessons, right now. Let's just say that that particular design has been spotted before and it's not linked to the geth, but to these things."
"You mean, like back in-"
"Yes. Back then. I'm sure you've heard some of the rumours. The thing is, we never actually found out where these things came from. Just where they ended up. That kind of ship is where it supposedly all started. But that ship was derelict and it supposedly got blown up. Now we've got one in flying condition; so either the original owners of those things are still around, or, more likely, the geth found a working example, complete with fucking xenomorphs and decided to put it to good use. It just makes our day complete, doesn't it? A xenomorph infestation on Eden Prime. And we're caught on the ground, with the wrong equipment for the jobs. No flamethrowers to be found anywhere, no way to deal with the acid, nothing."
Shepard looked around. Everything seemed still and quiet. The gunfire from the city had died down as well. Only the columns of smoke, rising above the hills, were left as evidence of the battle that had taken place. "Not much we can do about it right now. Still, at least I can get a warning out." She entered a short code string into her communicator. "Upload to the tactical net. From Shepard, Commanding officer on-scene, to all United Systems Military Units. We have a xenomorph alert on Eden Prime. I repeat, xenomorph alert on Eden Prime. The planet must be placed under quarantine immediately." She shrugged. "I don't know if or when anybody will hear that, but at least the warning is out." She switched the comm channel. "Estanza, come in."
There was a second's pause, then, "I'm listening, ma'am. Commander, I just received your update. Ma'am, what is going on here?"
"I don't know. But I intend to find out. In the meantime, try to remember the old briefings. Stay put, keep the doors and windows closed and barred, and whatever you do, don't let them get them get in arms' reach. One of them just took out Rahn in a single blow, straight through the armour."
"Fuck."
"Yeah, I know. Just hold on. The fleet is on its way. Shepard out." She closed her comm and looked at the dead marine. "I hate leaving Estanza there with those things around. He's awfully exposed. Hell, I hate leaving Rahn's body here; but there is nothing we can do about it. Now, let's keep going. We've got a Spectre to deal with and a beacon to secure."
-o-o-o-
The station was deserted. No humans, no geth. Not even corpses. Nihlus moved from over to cover, his eyes searching for any sign of movement. Part of him was relieved that there was nothing, part of him was cursing himself for his instinctive reaction in running off like this. Even if Shepard gave him a chance to explain, what could he tell her?
So sorry, Commander, but I thought a colleague of mine was here. Another Spectre, you know, running around Eden Prime in the middle of an attack, without permission from your government. Oh, and he's practically famous for hating humans. And I just wanted to make sure that you wouldn't find out. But it seems I was mistaken. No hard feelings, I hope. Yes, that would certainly put her in a better mood. Even as he thought it, he heard footsteps. Someone was walking, quite casually, through the rubble. Nihlus ducked behind a crate and waited. The other person passed by, giving him the opportunity to take a quick look. It was definitely a turian. His head-plates were light and his arm, his left arm was a metal prosthetic. Spirits! It's him.
"Saren!"
The other turian turned around, showing his face, which was unpainted, contrary to turian custom. Part of his jaws, like his arm had been replaced with a metal construction.
"Nihlus."
"What is going on, Saren. You're not supposed to be here. This is my mission."
"I know, but the council figured you might need some help with this one. We couldn't run any risk with the beacon"
"And they sent you?" That made no sense. Even if the Council wanted another Spectre on Eden Prime, which was strange enough considering the fact that Spectres were forbidden from entering human space without special permission from the United Systems government, Saren Arterius was the absolute worst choice for such an assignment. His feelings on the subject of humans were well known.
"I was passing through from the Traverse anyway," Saren answered smoothly. "Just one relay jump away."
That could explain it. Still, it was strange that the humans had allowed Saren to land on Eden Prime so easily and unthinkable that the Council would send him in without waiting for permission. Even a functioning prothean beacon would be poor justification for the diplomatic nightmare that this could unleash. Then again, the situation was desperate. If the Council had heard something about a potential attack they might have decided to risk it and try to smooth things over with the humans afterwards. He looked around. What had seemed bad from a distance was even worse up close. The Maglev station was a shambles of half-destroyed buildings and ripped-open containers. Smoke from burning buildings blew in clouds over the station.
"Spirits, Saren. This cannot be happening. Geth here, beyond the Veil. There must be hundreds of victims al ready. At least. And two Spectres, two turian Spectres in the middle of it all. Even if the human government doesn't throw the blame on us, you can bet that their press will. We need to-"
"Don't worry, old friend." Saren's voice was still as calm as though they were strolling around the Presidium lake. "Everything is under control."
The projectiles of mass effect weapons were highly supersonic. Nihlus never even heard the shot. He was dead before he hit the ground. In fact, he was dead before he even realized that he had been shot.
-o-o-o-
As they reached the crest of the hill, Shepard halted her team.
"Alright, people. Showtime. Lieutenant, get that drone of yours to do one more sweep of the area. Then we get our asses down there. Everyone, stay sharp and pay attention. Between xenomorphs, robots, and turians, we've got plenty of potential trouble. Make sure we find it before it finds us."
"Commander, I've got a turian on the drone-cam above the Mag-lev station, and it isn't Nihlus."
"What is he up to?"
"He's getting on the train. And, ma'am, there are geth with him."
"Any sign of Nihlus around there?"
Alenko manipulated the controls. In the sky above the station, the drone turned around, it's camera scanning the area.
"Commander, I think I've got him." He looked up from his display. "Ma'am, it looks like he's down."
Shepard peered over his shoulder at the small screen.
"Damn."
"Did the bloody xenomorphs get him?"
"No," Alenko worked the controls again, zooming in. "That's a gunshot wound."
-o-o-o-
"Well now, this is something of a disappointment," Shepard nudged the dead turian with the toe of her boot. "I really thought I was going to become the first human ever to kill a council Spectre."
"I don't think this was done by a human," Alenko looked at the wound. "This looks like a hypersonic impact."
"Mass accelerator, then"
"Yes, ma'am. Of course, there has been an influx of eezo weapons ever since first contact, but they're very expensive. It wouldn't be the first choice for a human."
"I see," Shepard looked around. "One of those robots, then. Doesn't make much sense either. One shot to the back of the head. That's execution style. Why would he stand still for it? Kryik was supposed to be good, and those walking toasters aren't exactly subtle. How did they manage to sneak up on him?"
"Commander! Movement! Behind the crates!"
Shepard's head whipped around as Williams called out.
"Spread out! Shoot through those crates if you can and-
"Wait!" the voice came from behind the crates and sounded distinctly human. "Wait, I'm human. I'm not one of them I'm-"
"If you're human, come on out. Slowly, hands in the air."
For a few seconds, nothing happened, then a pair of hands appeared above the crates.
"Keep going."
A man in coveralls with an Eden Prim transportation badge stood up.
"Marines! Thank god."
"Well, it's always nice to be appreciated," Shepard said. "Still, the party can wait. Explanations cannot. Who are you, and what happened here?"
"I'm just- I was working cargo, for the Maglev company. We were unloading crates when that ship landed."
"We?"
"Me, and the others. Must have been half a dozen of us."
"Where are they now?"
The man looked at the ground. "Dead. All dead. Jameson, Olivera... Those robots got them the moment they landed."
"So how did you survive?" Shepard asked.
"I was behind those crates. They didn't see me."
"Behind those crates. What were you doing there?"
He looked away, avoiding her gaze. "I was... I needed a rest. Just for a few minutes. I must have fallen asleep. By the time I woke up-"
Williams snorted. "A fucking massacre, but this guy's alive because he's lazy. Go figure."
Shepard nodded. "There's a life lesson in there, I'm sure. But never mind the philosophy. What do you know about that dead turian?"
"Him?" He glanced at the body. "He showed up later. Just a few minutes ago. Came out of the warehouse. Then he started snooping around the station. I was thinking about speaking up, but I didn't want to startle him. Not with the shotgun that he was waving around. Then another turian comes along and I decided to stay out of sight a while longer. Anyway, this second turian walks by and the first one, the dead guy, he calls out to him. He knew him. Called him by his name. Saren, or something like that."
Shepard's eyebrows rose. "And, you could understand that, because you're fluent in turian."
"I have a full translation implant. We all do, because of all the alien cargo that comes through here. You need to be able to read the labels. Besides, ever since they opened up that dig site further down the hill, there have been plenty of aliens coming through. Has been really handy. This one time, a couple of those blue chicks, the asari, were over here to look at this beacon thing they found. I tell you, they were seriously hot and-"
"Focus."
"Right. Anyway, those turians start talking. The dead guy, he was asking the other turian what he was doing here."
"Good question."
"Then they were talking about the attack and how it was all messed up. And when this guy turns around, the other one, Saren, just shoots him. Boom, just like that. No warning."
"Fuck." Shepard looked around. "Plenty of cameras in the station, but I guess they've all been down ever since the attack started. And I suppose you didn't make a recording of that conversation."
"A recording? Lady, I wasn't going to stick a camera out there or something."
"Or something." Alenko looked at him intently. "Those translation implants record what they hear and store it. At least for a while. And it's not as though anybody else has been speaking turian since then. If we're lucky, it's still in the buffer. There might even be a permanent recording ready to upload to the cloud for the software company, depending on how it was set up."
Shepard smiled. "Well, I guess that's one argument in favour of violations of privacy. See if you can get a download. If we're going to explain a dead Spectre, we'll need all the documentation we can get and then-" She turned back to the cargo handler. "That warehouse. Is there any place there where you can lock and bar the doors?"
"Yes, eh, there is an office for-"
"Good. Once Lieutenant Alenko is done with your implant, go there, bar the doors, and stay out of sight. Reinforcements are on the way. Once they land, you can come out. But not before."
-o-o-o-
After the man left, Shepard turned around and stood there, staring at the dead turian.
"Now what, ma'am?" Alenko asked.
Shepard looked up.
"We finish the job. That beacon is still out there. That's our priority. As for this turian, this Saren, you can bet he's gone wherever that beacon is."
She looked at the body again. "I don't know what made Kryik go off like that. Fuck, if he thought that other bird was a friend, why not just come along with us? I'm not fond of turians, but I wouldn't have shot one of them if Kryik vouched for him. And if he thought him an enemy, why turn his back? I guess we'll never know, but he must have had some sort of reason. Still, this ain't a right way to die for anyone." She snorted. "Besides, if anyone was going to shoot him, it would have been me. Now, let's find that kill-stealing son of a bitch and take him down."
A/N
Alas, poor Nihlus, we never got to know him well. Rather a pity, because I liked the character. He provided a good introduction to turians in general (A bit rigid in his attitude, but not unreasonable), and out of all the Spectres that you encounter in ME1-3, he is arguably the only one that really shows the organisation in a positive way. (Saren was messed up even before he got indoctrinated, Vasir is smart, but moonlights as a crime boss's enforcer, and Bau, while not a bad guy, just didn't seem very competent. One could argue that even Shepard makes Spectres look bad, considering the Council's inability to control him/her.)
I did consider having Nihlus survive, but then what? It would make no sense for him to disappear from the story, but if I kept him on Normandy, what was I going to do about Garrus? In this universe, humans are not exactly friendly toward aliens. They're not going to allow more turians running around their ships than strictly necessary. Besides, it's good to have a few characters die, even (or especially) likeable ones. We cannot have the killing be completely one-sided.
One thing I had to consider is how much of the history between humans and xenomorphs would be general knowledge. I decided to limit that, mainly so that the ME species could not find out everything just by getting on the internet. It also makes sense. Only Ripley survived the Nostromo incident and Weyland-Yutani kept her quiet. Gorman's colonial marine unit was wiped out, as were the colonists of LV-426 and most of the population of Fiorina 161. Even if we consider the computer games canon (which works for my universe) there is little chance for solid information on the xenomorphs to get out because few people survive. Sure, there would be drunken stories, told in bars by a few surviving marines, but very little hard data. The corporations would have a vested interest in keeping things quiet, hence the sealed lab on Shanxi that I described in Someone had blundered). The military would have the information, but they would keep it classified because that's what military organisations do instinctively. (Besides, the Gorman incident didn't reflect well on the military either.)
At the time of the First Contact War, the whole mess was still fairly recent and there were a few teams -like Anderson's in Someone has heard them scream- fully briefed and equipped to clean up potential Xenomorph infestations. Now it's a generation later and those teams have been stood down to free up resources to deal with more immediate threats.
What is left is a rather vague story of a sort of superpredator that was found on LV-426, caused a bunch of casualties but was then wiped out. No mention of the crashed ship/spacejockeys. Only people like Shepard, with special qualifications, get read in on the whole story (or as much of it as is actually known. Again, a lot was lost simply because nobody survived.) And even to her, it was just academic knowledge.
