A/N - I had to make up a bit of lore becuase I couldnt find much info about, its nothing major but just wanted to point it
Shepard was being flooded with too much information every time he opened a new window on his terminal. He was browsing the extranet for a few hours to see what happened in the 2 years that he was gone. His team broke apart after his sudden death. Garrus was missing and god know where he was, Tali returned to the Flotilla and continued her work on Geth research, Kaidan returned to serve in the Systems Alliance and Liara became a information broker on Illium. Seems like everyone was around here and there and he was questioning if they would even join back. Being forced to work for Cerberus and all.
He tilted his head and started talking to the ceiling "EDI, which planet did the original Normandy crash on?". A blue avatar popped out of the terminal near the door "The remains of the SSV Normandy crashed on Alcherra in the Amada system" said a female voice in monotone. "Tell Joker to set a course for there then" Shepard commanded "seems some of my previous crew is reported as missing" he had a habit of collecting tags of those who served with him or on his ship, no matter how inconsequential their role was. "Understood commander, relaying your order to Flight Lieutenant Moreau" as soon EDI finished her sentence, her avatar shrunk back into the hologram. "Might take a few hours to get there, better sleep on what learned so far" Shepard said to himself.
Danil was teriffied of going near the Emperor damned ship, but he was far more terrified of walking for longer in these icy plains and not finding another shelter. He began judging the wreckage. Some chunks of it were half frozen or completely encased in ice, it was here for a long time already. Weighing his odds out Danil decides to go down into the crater and wait out the blizzard. The sergeant he was dragging was still unconscious. He felt heavier by the minute.
The journey down the Crater was surprisingly easy. His boots were specially made for snowy and icy terrain so the soles had spikes to get a better grip when going down hills and the like. Although the extra weight didnt help. When he reached the bottom he got a better look at the interiors of the ship pieces of hull and cargo were scattered everywhere. He decided to go inside what he could only describe as long hallway, it made him feel uneasy. The cave fortresses of Valhalla have been said to be designed similarly to Imperial navy space vessels. Hallways with multiple bulkheads and doors that shut vertically instead of horizontally, this was done in order if theres a sudden loss of power the mag locks on doors would stop working forcing a automatic lockdown of the ship. But this hallway was far too long and the only doors he saw were horizontal. This further confirmed his fears that this was in fact a xeno ship.
After laying his comrade down against a wall he sat next to him and fished out a blanket from the sergeants pack. He dug around and was glad to find a heat lamp too. Every Valhallan who goes on patrol is told to take a heat lamp but most tended not to take them on simple patrols, because those only took a few hours and not a few days. Placing it in front of them Danil turned it on. The small box stood on its foldable legs and slowly began warming up its coils. The reflective layer behind it began being put to use as he felt the warmth on his exposed face. He finally felt comfortable for the first time in a while. Seeing how he is safe right now its a good time to examine the condition of he lasgun he took from his dead squadmate. The main body only had minor scratches and the barrel was freshly changed, very lucky he picked this exact one. But thats where Danils luck run dry. He only had 2 powerpacks that were on half charge and 4 packs for the laspistol. This wouldnt last even for a small fire fight. He sighed in realizing how bad this all is.
After changing out his powerpack he gets out from under the blanket warmth and decides to stand guard until the sergeant wakes up. Hes not going anyhwere dragging that pile bricks around. And also in case some snow cat decided it wants to munch on human flesh.
The sudden jolt woke Shepard up from his sleep, he reached out for the clock on his bedside stand. 4 hours passed. 4 sweet hours of sleep and clear thoughts, but now its over. Putting on his suit and armor he tells EDI that hes going to go alone to the planet surface, no one else. Slowly walking to the elevator he gets a private transmission from Miranda "Commander I urge you to take at least me or Jacob with you down to Alcherra, we dont know whats down there or if its-" Shepards cuts her mid word and answers with a annoyed tone "The reason I said I go by myself is because I need to face this mess myself. No one comes with me except for the pilot of the Kodiak" He ended the transmission and shut off his communicator. He knew Miranda would continue pesterimg him about so he wanted to hurry to the drop shuttle.
The ride down was just like any other but Shepard dreaded the sight that was infront of him the shuttle doors slid open. His ship was scattered, ruined, cut apart and layed to waste on some backwater snow ball. After checking most of the wreckage Shepard decides to check the bridge. While walking along the hall of terminals and nav computers he notices that the floor has fresh markings. Foot prints.
Insticts began kicking in from years of combat and covert ops as he took out his Mattock. A new Cerberus rifle design, a hard hitter and proper improvement over the Avenger. Slowly advancing around the corner he sees a single man in arhaic winter clothing. A blue coat which appeared to be lined with fur and one of those old fur hats he always saw europeans wear. Shepard walked up closer and took off his helmet. He kicked his foot and shouted "Identify yourself! What are you doing here?" . No response
Danil jolted from his sleep and damned himself for dozing off while being on watch. After feeling his dried up and cracking lips he grabbed a handful of snow and began chewing it to just numb the feeling of dehydration. Just as a precaution he looked around to see if anything changed, nothing. Thats when he heard as what he could describe as a valkyries in the distance approaching down for a drop. But what he saw wasnt a valkyrie. Instead it was another damn smooth edged space craft. "Oh for the thrones sake, cant you leave this alone?" Danil snapped.
Trying to get to into some cover to hide from the approaching object. He saw as the small ship swooped down and landed. It was obviously a transport but smaller than a valkyrie, might hold 10 men if you squeezed in. The doors on the craft hissed and slid to the side, not Imperial standard he mumbled under his breath. But what stepped out was definitely some kind of humanoid. But the armor didnt look right. Too thin and small, he doubted if it could even stop shrapnel from a basilisk shell. But the armor made him remember the stories from veterans who returned from the Imperiums fringe worlds. Some new xeno race that called themselves Tau. The designs all matched up. He also remembered how Imperial citizens defected to the Tau. But this didnt make sense, what were Tau doing om Valhalla?
Danil looked up and realised in horror. There were 2 suns in orbit. Valhalla has one sun and one moon that is visible at all times. Which could only mean the ork psyker somehow sent himself and the sergeant thru the warp and into a Tau world. "This must be my lucky day!" he said in disbelief. He glanced again at the figure, he was walking around and examining the wreck. A scavenger maybe? Or perhaps recovering a long lost vessel? Didnt matter, what did matter is getting off this world. And the only ticket was the shuttle. While examining the small vessel he hear shouting. When he looked around for the humanoid he could see him. He heard shoutimg again. This time he realised it came from the direction of where he left the sergeant.
Slowly making his way down the sliced hallway he saw the humanoid pointing what looked like a sidearm of sorts at the sergeant. Now Danil can confirm it was indeed a human, he took off his helmet. "Drop the damned pistol xeno collaborator!" He sneered. The human turned around and now both were in a standoff. Both pointing their guns at each other.
