The Second Beacon:

Shepard groaned and she slowly opened her eyes. She remembered the last time Saren had given her an electric shock which had made her feel intense pain. It was at that moment that she felt Saren enter her mind, she had never felt such a feeling before as Saren searched her memories for the information he needed on the Cipher and soon, he had that information. Now that Saren had what he wanted, he had sneered at her and informed her that she would soon be meeting his boss, the one who was really behind everything that Saren had been doing. Shepard had been knocked out again and the next time she woke up, she was surrounded by troops in white armour and a blacked robed woman who had then sealed her into a stasis pod to keep her knocked out. She felt like she had lost. But as she looked around, this room looked familiar, she saw hospital beds and medical equipment.

Then she heard a gasp "Commander, you're awake."

Shepard looked at gasped in relief when she saw the face of Medical Officer Karin Chakwas "Dr Chakwas?" Shepard stated and then she rubbed her eyes "I am dreaming or this is real."

Chakwas laughed at Shepard's reaction "I assure you commander, I am real. You're back on the Normandy. You've been here ever since Kaidan brought you back."

"Kaidan?" Shepard questioned

"Aye." Chakwas replied "Kaidan led the team and rescued you from Mustafar. They all agreed to get you back because you were what kept the team together. Also, without you, we had no information on what to do."

"Well we have a problem." Shepard stated "Saren's going after another beacon."

"I know." Chakwas stated "The team also managed to recover information from the base. They found some coordinates that Pressley is looking at to see where they lead."

"I need to see the team." Shepard stated and tried to leave the bed only to groan and fall back on the bed as she stood up.

Chakwas ran over to her and helped steady her "Take it easy Commander, you've been unconscious for a while. It's best that you rest, I'll go gather your team in here."

Chakwas left and soon she returned with all of her squad mates.

"Commander." Kaidan stated "I'm glad you're alright."

"Aye, this crew's not the same without you." Ashley agreed.

"You're what's kept us all together." Wrex stated

"And we'll follow you no matter what." Garrus added.

Shepard smiled at the loyalty of her crew "Thank you guys, for coming after me. I knew that you would come."

Kaidan laughed "It wasn't easy. We had no leads on where Saren had taken you and my plan was a long shot. I used the force to try and find you and there was no grantee that it would work."

"Well it did work." Bau stated "And we have some important information. We know Saren's going after a second beacon and we also know the location of another base of his. I've already informed the Council and they've sent an STG patrol to investigate the location."

"Hopefully Pressley will have located the site of the second beacon soon." Liara stated "We need to find it before he does and he already has a head start on us."

"Then we'll need to hurry when Pressley locates the site." Tali stated

Shepard smiled at her team "You all did well. When we first came together, we had so many different backgrounds and we all had different ideas. But it the time we've worked together, I've developed a strong respect and love for my crew. I would not trade any of you for someone else. I'm glad to have worked alongside all of you."

"We're with you." Bakira stated

Liara had a though "There is still something worrying though." She stated "Just who were those people we encountered on Mustafar."

"Could they be Cerberus?" Ashley suggested

Kaidan shook his head "I doubt it. Sure Cerberus is an extremist group but working with a Rogue Spectre is not something they would do."

"And a Spectre that hates humanity." Bau added "Besides, they wouldn't be the ones to lead a Geth attack on a major human colony."

"I feel you're right." Shepard stated "But whoever they are, they're dangerous."

"The Council have been informed and they've informed me to look for anymore information we find." Bau added

"Yularen also wants information as well." Kaidan added

Shepard looked at them and was about to say something when Chakwas entered the infirmary "Hey, Pressley has managed to decode the location of this new Prothean beacon."

"So he knows where Saren's going then?" Bau asked

"Yes." Chakwas stated "He asked me to come and get you but he seems to be a bit worried. The location seems to have spooked him."

"Then we better go see him." Shepard stated and she climbed out of bed.

"Commander, you really shouldn't be doing this." Chakwas stated

"I'm fine Dr." Shepard stated "I was still tired before. But I can't stay here, what will my team and crew think. I'm going."

Chakwas sighed, Shepard could be so stubborn sometimes.

...

Shepard along with Kaidan and Bau soon arrived back in the CIC of the Normandy where Pressley was waiting. "Commander." He greeted "I am glad to see that you're fine. Even though I was made CO after your capture, there was no way I could abandon you. I will admit, I didn't think much of you at first but overtime, I've grown to respect you."

"I'm glad to hear of it." Shepard stated "Now I've heard you managed to decode the location of the second beacon that Saren's going after."

"I did." Pressley stated "And the location spooked me. I've never been to this location but I've heard of it. Many people have heard of it, Chakwas has talked about it as she was among those who actually discovered the location. You better have a look at this." He opened the navigational computer on the CIC's computer and showed then the location and when Shepard saw the location, she could see why Pressley was spooked. This was going to be a problem.

Bau noticed this "Shepard, do you know this location?"

"I do." Shepard stated "I've never been there but I've heard of it. Hell, very few people have actually set foot there."

"Where are we going then Commander?" Bau asked

"Pandora, we're going to the moon of Pandora." Shepard stated and then activated her comm "Joker listen, we've got to hurry for this one. Set a course for Pandora."

"Pandora, Shepard?" Joker questioned "Where are we going there?"

"That's where Saren's going!" Shepard shouted "We have to get there fast. We cannot let Saren lay waste to that moon."

...

Joker had quickly put the coordinates to Pandora and the Normandy started the trip to Pandora. Shepard had heard of Pandora, the moon was said to be a place of wonder, a tropical paradise untouched by modern day technology. The Republic had discovered this moon not long after first contact with the Citadel. Despite the moon being rich in resources, the Republic decided to leave Pandora alone due to the fact the planet had an intelligent species that were very primitive. The Senate didn't want to set a bad example. There was a small science base to study the nature of Pandora but that was it. Shepard wanted to know more about Pandora and there was one person who knew more about the moon, one of those who had visited Pandora.

Shepard had returned to the infirmary to speak with Dr Chakwas, she had been to Pandora and she knew more about the moon than anyone else on the Normandy.

"Commander." Chakwas greeted "I see you're doing alright, to be honest I would advise you against going on another mission but I know that you'll refuse to let what happened let you down."

"True." Shepard stated "I wanted to ask you something about our next mission."

"And what's that?" Chakwas asked

"Saren is heading to Pandora, it seems that the second beacon that he's after is there." Shepard replied "You've been to Pandora before, is there anything you can tell me about it."

"Pandora?" Chakwas gasped "I've done more than just visit it, I was actually among those who discovered it."

"How?" Shepard asked "I'm interested in hearing the story."

"Well, it was many years ago, I was still just a recent graduate from University." Chakwas explained "I was on a trip with a load of other science graduates to head to one of our new science bases to study a system when our ship flew into a meteor shower. Our ship was badly damaged but thankfully, our captain, Voss Parck was able to crash land on a distant moon. When we crashed, we ended up damaging our communications relay so we had to find a way to fix it. Our trip there ended up being quite the adventure, I remember when we first met the native Na'vi, it was difficult at first, me and my friend, Dr Grace Augustine were the first to encounter them and we had no way of communicating. They were very untrusting of us but as soon we began to form bonds."

"How did you form bonds?" Shepard asked

"I think we really began gaining the trust of the natives after Grace and I saved a young Na'vi girl who had been poisoned by a toxic plant. Grace had studied the flora as was able to identify the poison and my medical skills allowed me to make an antidote. We didn't know it at first but that girl was actually the daughter of a Na'vi chief. That really made us friends with many of the clan members." Chakwas explained

"So what did happen eventually?" Shepard questioned

"Well after a while, we were eventually able to get our communication's array working again and were able to transmit a distress signal. Since Parck was a military official, he was able to get help to us quickly and we soon left the moon. But Augustine had developed a fondness for the moon and wanted to stay to study. She applied to have a small base constructed and tried very hard to keep it a place to study. She did not want to have it become a proper colony. That became hard due to the discovery of the mineral wealth which led several companies allying to have mining rights. Auguestine was very against it fearing it would lead to conflict with the natives, many of which were still distrustful of humans. The military personal at the base was kept small so they didn't provoke the natives and even then, there were still a few extremists among the Na'vi. It was only after the Batarian attack on Pandora that really convinced the natives that we were not there to hurt them. Voss now commands a small base on the mood Medusa now as there were several small scale illegal slaving and mining operations on Pandora. Voss tracks everything going in and out of the system."

"We've already informed Republic HQ about what's going on so we'll have clearance to enter the system." Shepard responded "I'll see you later."

"Goodbye Shepard, and please say hi to Augustine for me." Chakwas replied which made Shepard chuckle.

...

The Normandy soon arrived at their destination. Because the Republic had limited travel to this system, not much was known about it. The main planet was a large gas giant known as Polyphemus that had a number of moons, one of which was where they were going. Another moon that orbited Polyphemus was Medusa, a moon where the Republic had a base to guard the system after the Batarians attacked the system during the Verge War to take control of Pandora's resources which would have allowed them to rebuild their fleet which had been devastated in the recent Battle of Corellia.

As the Normandy flew towards Pandora, they were contacted by base control on Medusa and they transmitted their Clearance code. Pekue had informed Republic High Command of their discovery which was why they were permitted entry. They were ordered to send a shuttle to the research base on Pandora where Admiral Parck Voss was currently waiting.

And so Shepard and the team boarded the shuttle and Luke flew them towards the shuttle. While they were flying down to the surface, Shepard handed everyone a breathing mask. "We'll have to wear these while we're outside the main building." Shepard stated "I've been warned that Pandora's atmosphere is toxic to most species due to high levels of toxic gasses including carbon dioxide that will kills us within minutes so take no chances."

The team all nodded and Liara looked out of the window at the rainforest floor of Pandora "Goddess, this place is a natural beauty."

"There are many sites on Pandora." Luke stated "The science community love this place, studying the wildlife of a planet untouched by industry and they prefer to keep it that way. The natives here aren't always friendly."

"How do you know that?" Kaidan asked

"My dad, he served here during the Verge War." Luke replied "Pandora is a wonderful place but also dangerous. Keep an eye out, this planet has fierce predator species that will eat you if you're not careful." A few minutes later, they arrived at the Science base landing pad where Luke landed.

Shepard and her team quickly put their breathing masks on and then they left the shuttle where two people were waiting for them. One was a woman wearing a scientist lab coat and had shoulder length auburn hair while the other was a military man wearing a military uniform and had short brown hair.

"So you're Commander Shepard." The man greeted "I've Major Voss Parck, commander of the security in this system. This is Dr Grace Augustine, the head scientist here."

"Nice to meet you two." Shepard responded shaking their hands "My ship's doctor, Dr Karin Chakwas mentioned the two of you."

"Any friend of Chakwas is a friend of mine." Grace replied "So what brings you to Pandora?"

Shepard looked at the two of them "It might be best we speak inside. We need a place to plan otherwise Pandora may be in real danger."

"Danger? What danger?" Grace asked

"It will take some time to explain." Shepard stated

...

Everyone had gone inside into an empty office where Shepard and Bau explained what was going on. They informed Grace and Voss about Saren and what he was doing.

"We know that he is seeking a Prothean beacon." Bau explained "Some kind of a vision he had was incomplete as the beacon from Eden Prime was damaged."

"There seems to be a Prothean beacon here on Pandora." Shepard added "This was where the information Saren had in his base sent us."

"Pandora's a big place." Voss stated "Finding that beacon won't be easy."

Kaidan then spoke up "You know, there is something that confuses me. Saren's had a head start on us but it seems he's not here."

"He may have used a stealth ship to enter here undetected." Garrus suggested.

"Why didn't he use his Geth forces, or these new allies of his?" Ashley questioned

"We mostly destroyed his Geth fleet in the Armstrong Cluster." Shepard stated

"Plus, these new allies won't want to draw attention to themselves." Bau added "Saren must have come here alone. Maybe he hasn't found the beacon because he doesn't know where on Pandora it is."

"Then we have to find it before he does." Liara stated

"But where could it be." Shepard stated "We don't know this place well and it could take days to find the beacon."

"Well, I know some people who might have an idea but there's no grantee." Grace stated "I just need to prepare."

"For what?" Bau asked

"For the meeting." Grace replied.

...

A few hours later, Shepard was being taken to their new destination. Grace had informed her that they would be meeting one of the local Na'vi tribes who knew the area well and may have information for them. Grace had told her to let her do the talking since Na'vi were suspicious of newcomers and only bring a few squadmates and so she had brought Bau since he was a spectre as well as Liara and Tali for their knowledge in biotics and technology.

The team were being flown across Pandora in an Aerospatiale SA-2 Samson, a small craft designed to bring small teams across Pandora. The base used them as transport around Pandora and they were being piloted by the team's best pilot, Trudy Chacon who was taking them to a their location and also knew the tribe they were being taken to.

"How long have you known these natives?" Bau asked

"A long time." Grace replied "The Omaticaya were the first tribe we contacted when our ship crashed here. They're also the tribe that led the fight against the Batarians when they attacked Pandora."

"What can you tell us about the Na'vi?" Shepard asked

"Different tribes have different lifestyles." Grace stated "The tribes of the rainforests that cover this part of Pandora live in massive trees called Hometrees which can stand over 150 meters tall. They're amazing sites and the Na'vi hunt for their food in different ways such as fighting on their six legged Direhorses or their flying Ikran. The rainforest tribes hunt only for what they need to survive."

"What about the other tribes?" Shepard asked

"We know little of the other types of tribes since we haven't had as much contact with them." Grace informed them "But we do know that the Horse Tribes of the Central Plains mainly use the Direhorses and the Na'vi of the eastern sea hunt through the sea using the Ikran. All of the tribes are unique but we know more of the Omaticaya than any other."

"What can you tell us about the Omaticaya?" Liara asked

"They were the first tribe we can across." Grace stated "Our first meeting wasn't pleasant, we were outsiders, unwanted and feared by them. But slowly we formed a bond with a few members and I wanted to stay. I made quite a few friends with this tribe. Their leader Tsu'tay was one that was hostile to us but warmed up eventually. Now they will be suspicious so like I said let me do the talking. Maybe Neytiri or Mo'at will have some information." At Shepard's look, she replied "Neytiri is Tsu'tay's mate and the clan's Tsahik, the clan's spiritual leader. Mo'at is Neytiri's mother and the previous Tsahik until her mate's death during the Batarian attack which also destroyed their original hometree. They speak for the Na'vi's deity known as Eywa. They know more of the land so they might know something."

"One small problem." Liara stated "This beacon most likely predates the Na'vi, they'll have no idea."

"It's the only thing I could think of." Grace stated "Besides, they need to be warned of this threat."

"Well you'll get the chance to do that soon." Trudy called "We're approaching the landing site.

"Good, set us down." Grace ordered.

...

Trudy landed the Samson in the middle of a clearing and the team got off with Trudy staying at the landing site. Grace took the rest of the team towards a massive tree that stood out from the others since it was way taller. They soon came across the Na'vi and just like Grace said, Shepard saw that they were eying them with suspicion.

The Na'vi were a very primitive species. They still dressed in clothes made from animal skins and actually left most of their skin uncovered. The Na'vi were also very tall and the average adult stood at nearly 3 meters tall and had deep blue skin as well as tails on their back. They all had black hair that had a pony tail which was also an important organ since this pony tail actually had special tentacles inside which the Na'vi used to bond with their mounts. The Na'vi also had natural occurring carbon fibre in their bones which made them strong and they had three fingers and toes on each hand and foot instead of four like the humans.

Grace led Shepard and her team into the large tree which was hollowed out and the ground part seemed to be used as the throne room while the upper parts of the tree were used for sleeping and perches for the Ikran. Sitting on a simple wooden throne was a male Na'vi who wore more decorative clothing which included feathers.

Grace started speaking to this man in the native Na'vi language which Shepard did not understand "Olo'eyktan Tsu'tey." Grace spoke

"Dr Grace." The Na'vi known as Tsu'tey replied "It has been a while."

"It has." Grace replied "I can here to ask you something."

"And I guess it has something to do with these new Sky people you've brought." Tsu'tey stated

"It is." Grace replied "Although they don't speak your language."

"They let's just speak in your language." Tsu'tey said in English which surprised Shepard and the team which made Tsu'tey chuckle "Oh I do understand your language, Grace was just trying to be respectable. So, who are you and why did you come to Pandora. From your friends, you must be from this Citadel Space that I've been told about, not many reasons to come to our home."

"My name is Jondum Bau." Bau introduced himself "I'm a member of the Citadel's Special Tactics and Reconnaissance also known as the Spectres. It is my job to track down dangers to Galactic Society and piece. Another Spectre known as Saren has gone Rogue. He recently attacked the human colony of Eden Prime and recovered something of great importance. There's no point explaining everything but we recently raided one of his bases and found out that he is seeking something else. The coordinates for what he was seeking lead here to Pandora."

"Is our home under threat?" Tsu'tey questioned as he stood up from his throne.

"In truth, we don't know." Shepard admitted "Saren had a head start on us but Pandora seems to be fine. He may have decided to come here alone but we really cannot confirm or deny that Pandora may be in danger."

"I shall have my warriors ready regardless." Tsu'tey stated "But what is it that this Saren is seeking?"

"It's called a Prothean beacon." Bau stated "Some kind of Ancient device from an ancient species. It most likely predates your species as the Protheans vanished 50,000 years ago."

Tsu'tey thought for a moment "I do not know what this thing is but I may have a lead. A while back one of my hunters found a strange building in Ayram Alsing. You could start there."

"It's better than nothing I guess." Shepard replied "Thanks for that information."

"You're welcome." Tsu'tey stated "And I wish you good luck in your quest."

The team then returned to the Samson where Grace ordered Trudy to take them to their next destination.

...

As Trudy flew the Samson towards their new destination, Shepard looked at Grace "So do you have anything you can tell us about where we're going now?" she asked

"Ayram Alsing is the Na'vi name for what my scientists call the Hallelujah Mountains or the floating mountains." Grace replied

"Why do you call them that?" Liara asked

"Because they really do float." Grace stated "They're one of the most wonderful sites on Pandora, they're like Icebergs floating in the air."

"How can chunks of land float?" Tali asked

"Some kind of magnetic thing with the substance in the mountains is what we think." Grace stated "We've never done a full study on them; they're an importance location for Na'vi culture. Na'vi Hunters go there for a final trial to become proper hunters. They're a breeding ground for Mountain Ikran so the Wildlife will be dangerous so be on your guard."

Trudy then called "I need you guys to be quite for a while. It's going to be rough flying here; the Flux is messing with my instruments here. I really need to concentrate otherwise I'll crash."

Trudy soon flew past the large floating islands which was indeed a fabulous site to look at. Shepard could see just why Pandora was considered an interesting place and why scientists wanted to study this place. As they flew by, Shepard saw something on the side of one of the mountains. She saw that it was a large hole but didn't look like a natural cave, the hole looked like it had been carved and there were designs etched onto the walls surrounding the hole. That had to be it as the symbols were similar to what Shepard had seen on the beacon on Eden Prime.

"Guys, that has to be it." She called out pointing to what she saw "We need to check that place out."

Grace nodded. "Trudy, land us on that island."

"As you command." Trudy stated and soon she landed the Samson on the island. She couldn't fly to the hole since she was unable to hover due to the flux, this meant that the only way to get to the site was to repel down the mountain.

After Trudy had landed, Shepard and her team quickly got cables and attached them to the Samson which would be able to support them as they repelled down the cliff. With their equipment ready, Shepard along with Bau, Liara and Tali then repelled down the cliff and they were soon at the large hole. They left the cables so that they had a way back out. They would most likely loose radio signal inside and so they had to be prepared. The hole led through a large tunnel which had no natural light and so the team activated the torches on their helmets and soon they began walking down the large tunnel.

As they walked, they saw markings on the walls which Liara recognised "This is defiantly a place for the Protheans. I've seen these symbols in other Prothean ruins I've researched."

"Why would the Protheans have a base here?" Tali asked

"We may never know." Liara admitted "The Protheans built their Empire so long ago and we know little of their history, many of the species today would have been very primitive in the days of the Protheans."

"And the Na'vi are still primitive today." Shepard added "With no written history, we have no idea how long the Na'vi have been here on Pandora. I doubt that the Na'vi had evolved when the Protheans were here."

"History is interesting but it's not why we're here." Bau stated

"Indeed." Liara stated "We need to find the beacon if it's here and then leave before Saren finds us."

They soon came into a large room although it was still very dark and they couldn't seen anything except for the beam of light coming from their torches. "There must be something here to let us see more." Shepard stated

"I have an idea." Bau stated and he put a visor on "These are Spectre class night vision goggles. I may be able to see what's here." He looked around and soon he saw something on a balcony "Over there, there's a console, it may help us find the beacon."

Bau led the team up a small ramp to the console and Liara activated it but she sighed "Damn it, these controls are all in an ancient form of the Prothean language. I have no idea what it says, the prothean dialect is different in ruins and I only have a small understanding on the language."

"Let me have a look." Shepard stated and she looked at the console "Hey, I can read this."

Bau gasped "Of course, the Cipher." He stated "Remember what Shiala told us, the Cipher helps people think like a Prothean, it's allowing you to read the language."

"What does it say?" Liara asked

Shepard looked over the controls "This place seemed to have been an old archive of the Protheans. This base was a small outpost, not a proper colony. It seems just like us, the Protheans had a base here to study this moon only without the Na'vi."

"What about the beacon?" Bau asked

"Hang on a sec." Shepard stated "I just need to try and find the section about the beacon." She looked over the controls and smiled "I've found it." But then the smile faded "What?"

"What's wrong?" Liara asked

"The beacon." Shepard answered "It says here that the beacon has already been released from it's holding place. Hang on, I've found the lights."

The lights came on and lit the room and they found themselves in a large domed room and in the middle of the dome went down and there was a pedestal in the middle with the remains of what look like a shield."

"Oh no!" Shepard stated "That must have been were the beacon was. Saren's already been here."

Then they heard a sniper shot and the team all turned to see a Geth Sniper perched on a nearby balcony.

"Geth ambush!" Tali yelled and the team all ducked behind the console as a small squad of Geth appeared and opened fire. Now the firefight began.

Liara used her biotics to throw the Geth around while Bau managed to snipe them while they were floating. Shepard opened fire with her assault rifle and Tali used her pistol. It took a while but soon most of the Geth were down, all that was left was a Geth Prime.

"Keep it distracted." Tali stated "I'm going to try and harvest it's data core, it may hold some information for us."

"Be careful Tali." Shepard stated

"I will." Tali stated and she ran behind cover while Shepard provided a distraction by firing at the Prime but purposefully missing. Soon, Tali ran at the Prime from behind and grabbed hold around the neck. The Prime shook around trying to shake her off put Shepard pulled out a small vibro knife and stabbed the prime in the chest which damaged it's firing controls and then she grabbed the Primes head and stabbed it again. She reached inside the now exposed electronics and using her knowledge of the Geth, she was able to harvest the core and the Geth dropped to the floor.

Tali sighed and activated her Omi tool "Just give me a few minutes." She stated "I need to analyse this data."

"We'll look around and make sure that there's no more Geth around." Shepard stated

"I'll stay with Tali." Liara stated and Shepard nodded and she and Bau went to look around. Now that the lights were on, they could see much clearer.

As she looked around, Shepard could hear a humming noise and she walked over to a corner and saw a small orb floating in the air. It was some kind of Prothean artefacts and it seemed to be calling Shepard somehow. She carefully approached it and saw something in her pack was glowing. She searched her pack and found the strange device that the Asari Consort had given her when she first started her hunt for Shepard. She had almost forgotten all about it. She held the device out and it flew into the orb and then the orb started glowing brightly. For some reason, Shepard seemed draw to it, like the orb was calling her. So she slowly held out her hand and touched the orb and she closed her eyes when there was a bright flash of light.

When she opened her eyes, she was no longer in the ruins anymore, instead she was inside some kind of hospital room where a woman lay in bed holding a baby girl. She gasped when she saw that the woman in bed was her mother and the baby was her and the man next to her was her father.

"He will come after her you know." Her father said "He said that she was powerful."

"I won't let her heritage harm her." Her mother hissed "She deserves better than that, she's my baby girl, no matter what her heritage is or he says she is destined to do."

"Hiding the truth may hurt her." Her father added.

"When the times comes, I will tell her." Her mother added and cuddled the baby as she cooed.

Shepard stared at this in shock, just what was she seeing? Then the vision faded and a new vision started and saw that she was now standing on some kind of bridge on a ship in the middle of the battle. She saw ships of the Republic along with ships of the Citadel fighting against ships of a group she did not recognise. The battle seemed to be fierce and no clear winner could be seen.

Then another vision started and she saw that she was standing in some kind of dark throne room. A large stone throne was in the centre and a black hooded figure sat on the throne and kneeling in front of her were two figures. One was a cloaked figure while the other wore black armour that covered his whole body.

"You know what to do." The man on the throne hissed in a raspy voice.

"Yes my Master." The armoured man stated and walked away and Shepard saw the hooded woman approach her. When the woman was close enough, Shepard could only gasp at the face she saw, it was her, she was looking at herself.

"Don't be afraid of who you are." Her vision self stated and then activated a large red lightsaber, just like the ones that Kaidan and Saren used only this one was double bladed. The vision of Shepard suddenly swung the lightsaber and Shepard closed her eyes and fell backwards.

"Shepard!" Bau called and Shepard opened her eyes to see Bau standing next to her and that she was lying on the floor "Are you alright? What happened?"

"I'm fine Bau." Shepard answered as Bau helped her stand up "I just had some strange vision when I touched that artefact."

Bau looked at the orb that Shepard had touched "It's strange but I don't understand anything about Prothean artefacts. Anyway, Tali found something within that Geth audio."

"I'll be right there." Shepard answered and Bau left but before Shepard could follow, the orb made a noise and stopped glowing. Then Shepard watched as a hatch opened on the orb and a large black metal box was ejected slowly and hovered in the air. Shepard could see a lid and so she carefully lifted the lid to see what was inside. What she saw was shocking, it was a large metal tube that was silver in colour and had a decorative metalwork. It looked like the lightsabers she had seen only this one had some kind of cross guard. She carefully picked it up and looked over it. She had no idea on how to activate a lightsaber but she soon found the switch and suddenly, the blade emerged from the handle, only this one seemed be a bright violet rather than the red that she had seen Saren use. Then to her shock, two smaller purple blades emerged from the side, now this looked more like a proper sword than a lightsaber.

"Shepard, are you coming?" Bau called

Shepard quickly deactivated the lightsaber "Yes, I'm coming." She called. Shepard put the lightsaber in her pack; she would talk to Kaidan about it later. She soon joined Bau, Liara and Tali.

"Hey Shepard." Tali greeted when she returned "I've managed to decrypt this data, you need to hear this." She activate the recording which she played through her Omi Tool.

"So this is it, what you were looking for?" a voice that Shepard did not know called in the recording.

"Yes." The familiar voice of Saren called "This beacon is what we need though it is deactivate it. Have it shipped to Virmire. I shall unlock it there. Now to set a trap for the Republic when they come."

"You think they will come here?" the other voice asked

"Oh I'm sure they will." Saren replied "They will try and stop me recovering this but they'll be too late."

"That's all I was able to find." Tali stated

"But it proves that Saren was here and he took the beacon." Liara added

"And we now know where he's going." Bau stated "I guess there's only one thing to do."

Shepard nodded in agreement "Let's head back to the Normandy."

The team soon went back to the entrance that they had used to enter the ruins and they reattached their equipment and were able to used the automatic lifts to bring them back up to the top of the floating island where Grace and Trudy were waiting.

"So did you find what you were looking for?" Grace asked

Shepard shook her head "Our enemy got to it first."

"So what are you going to do?" Trudy asked

"We need to get back to our ship." Shepard replied "We know where our enemy is based and so we need to get there."

"Then let's get back to the base." Trudy stated and they all got back into the Samson.

Trudy then flew back to the research base where they reunited with the rest of Shepard's team. Shepard quickly explained what happened and that they knew where to go next so they all got back in their shuttle and Luke flew them back up to the Normandy. After informing Joker of where they were going, Joker quickly plotted a course to the next destination.

Chapter End:

Notes:

Well, this took a while. The reason this chapter took so long is because I have been so busy working on a 12,000 word dissertation for my University which has to be finished for early May and I needed to concentrate on that. Most of it is finished now but I still have a few more bits to do on it but once it is finished, I will work hard to finish this story. I used this story to show Pandora and I actually have an idea for a short story which will talk about the discovery of Pandora and feature Chakwas who I gave a little backstory here. I also used this mission to give Shepard her own lightsaber which is meant to be a violet version of Kylo Ren's lightsaber from the sequel trilogy as I wanted Shepard's lightsaber to be unique. I also used this to use the Consort's gift as since I decided not to the Lost Module Quest, I had to make something new.