Well its me again I managed to crank out two chapters in two days listening to the band Týr so that's a good thing i think...

Anyways this is the chapter where Mai learns her fate... we shall se what happens

Hope you enjoy the story

Boots on the Ground

By: me of course (EzeikelShepard)

The bridge of the Normandy had the air of misery as the pilot tried to navigate through the pre-DRIVE checklist. "So you hear about the one with a Krogan, a Salarian and a Human entering the Carvenous system?" asked the pilot.

"No what's the punch line?" asked his co-pilot who was one of the marines that had been assigned to Mai's command.

"That's the thing only the Salarian and Human make it out and they can't even speak afterwards…"

"That wasn't even remotely funny." The marine shook his head as he laughed at the pilot's expense.

"Pfft Hahaha that's because you don't know the context that goes with it…" Mai rolled over in her seat on the bridge as she clutched her gut.

"Oh and what context am I missing?" asked the marine in exasperation. He was getting fed up with these Wolvendon types.

"The Carvenous System is the primary Wolvendon space combat training fields as well as the only place you can square off against the Phoenix Troopers and live. Also those that return like the Salarian and the Human are the washouts." Mai tried to keep a straight face the entire time but failed with a loud guffaw.

"So basically you just called your own race washouts?" the marine pointedly glared at the pilot.

"No he just said that most Humans can't become part of the mythical Phoenix Troopers of Wolvendon."

"Shit! Nihlus don't sneak up on people! So any particular reason you are here?" asked the pilot.

"Just checking to see if you were ready to make the final jump to the Utopia system, Flight Lieutenant Moreau." The Turian specter just chuckled at the lieutenant's remark.

"Just about to make the jump. And its Joker not Flight Lieutenant Moreau."

"I'll keep that in mind for future reference. Now where is Lyall?" Nihlus looked around the bridge as he said this.

"She isn't here but I'll tell her the next time I see her that you were looking for her," came the pilots reply.

"Alright. I've always been interested in what this…DRIVE as you call it…is like." Nihlus mused as he watched the instrument board which had several windows opened signifying the various conditions in and around the ship. Pointing to a window that was off to the side and reduced in size. "What's this window represent?

"That's the lateral drift calculator."

"Hm…so is that accurate?" Nihlus was a little skeptical of the numbers that he was seeing.

"Yep drift is just under one fifty." The pilot said with a triumphant twang to his voice.

"So let me get this straight you not only have a completely unique engine design but it's far more manageable than that of a mass effect engine?" Nihlus questioned as he looked over the schematics on a nearby console.

"Yep. Jump in five… four… three… two… hang on to your seats people! DRIVE core initiated!" Joker barked into the intercom as he launched the ship towards the Utopia system at maximum faster than light speeds. Just as soon as it started the DRIVE jump ended. "Alright all sections sound off!"

The intercom chimed with a litany of voices chiming that everything is ship shape around the ship. "Is it just me or did the vehicle bay not check in?"

"Nope they defiantly didn't check in…" came Joker's strained reply as he ran through the ship's diagnostic programs to figure out what happened during the jump.

"Vehicle Bay here…sorry the Beast rolled during the jump…we got it back into position but the coms took a hit…sorry about the delay on the check in."

"What happened to Requisitions Officer Samuel?" Joker asked with a worried tone.

"Here just need to get to the medbay…the Beast ran over my foot when it rolled…" Samuel grunted into the intercom.

"Alright get to the medbay." Joker ordered as he checked the sensor sweeps of the surrounding system.

"Joker," came the crisp voice of Captain Anderson.

"Yes captain?"

"Tell Nihlus and Lyall to meet me in the briefing room a.s.a.p. got that? Anderson out."

"Got that. Nihlus go on ahead I'll find Lyall and send her your way…" as Joker gave Nihlus the rundown on his plane he turned the pilots seat all the way around to face him.

"Fine but tell her we are still going to have the talk she has been avoiding…" with that Nihlus exited the bridge on his way to the briefing room.

"So…anyone going to fill me in as to why we just lied to two superior officers?" asked the marine sitting co-pilot.

"Because Kaidan…she needs to have a few minutes to unwind and prepare after the last Wolvendon military alert. Also 'cause she could easily kill us both if we tried to turn her in." Joker informed as he returned to his original position.

"Also because she has been flying as the navigator this entire flight…" Mai got up from her seat to flash both of them a thankful smile. "Now I must go to war once again…I just hope that this time everyone makes it out alive this time…"

With that Mai fastened the plates of her armor on as she walked through the CIC on her way to the briefing room as she passed the other marine that Udina assigned to her she overheard his conversation with the head medical officer. "I grew up on Eden Prime Doc. It's not a place that a Specter would visit."

"What do you mean? This is a Wolvendon scouting mission not a Council sightseeing adventure…" Mai said in disgust.

"Sorry I was trying to say that Eden Prime is too far out of the way for such an important person to be here…" The marine had the decency to look ashamed.

Mai's hard expression softened at the marines genuine feelings of shame. "It's your first time being in active service out of boot camp?"

"Yes Ma'am…" The marine hesitated when he answered.

"You're older than me kid…by the way in the rush to get out here I never got your name…" Mai cocked her head slightly to the side to signify her genuine interest.

"It's Richard L. Jenkins, Corporal Richard L. Jenkins Alliance marine…so do you know when the real action will start? I'm itching to prove myself…" Jenkins looked like he was itching for a fight.

"I sincerely hope your joking…your real action usually lands you in my medbay with me to patch you up…" muttered the medical officer.

"Oh right… Samuel got hurt during the jump and is on his way to the medbay…" Mai turned to the medical officer as she informed her of the situation.

"Why wasn't I informed?"

"…yeah had a call from Captain Anderson…sorry…" Mai scratched the back of her head in embarrassment. The medical officer left in a hurry leaving Mai alone with the corporal. "So…I'll be going seeing as the captain is waiting for me…"

"Alright see you later then…" With that the corporal left to find another crew member to hypothesize about the reasons why a Specter was onboard the ship. Mai readjusted the fastenings on her armor as she left the CIC and entered the briefing room.

"Ah. I was hoping you would be the first to arrive…" came the reverberating voice of Nihlus from deeper in the briefing room.

"So now Specters are taking interest in me…" Mai heaved a heavy sigh as she fixed him with an unblinking stare. "What is the Council pissed about now? I only dispatched that pirate gang that attacked the base with such ferocity because they injured and killed some of the soldiers I was serving with…"

"No that's not why I'm here but now that you have brought that up I would like you're after action report on that battle." Nihlus intoned as he turned around to face the now fully armored Mai. "Must you wear that blasted helmet every time you are around others?"

"No but I wear it when I'm around the dogs of the Council…" Mai growled through the mike in her helmet.

"Well soon you will have to wear it every day-"

"Nihlus! The deal was that I would be the one to tell her!" the commanding voice of Captain Anderson rang out throughout the briefing room.

"Tell me what, sir?" Mai's voice was filled with irritation.

"There is more to this mission than you were briefed on…and before you get pissed at me for this just know I didn't get all of the mission brief till just a few minutes ago…so first of all the mission parameters have changed. It is no longer a scouting mission it's now a covert pick up of two artifacts unearthed on Eden Prime. The first is a Prothean Beacon. You know who the Prothean's are correct Lyall?" Anderson turned to Mai as he started to give her the new mission brief.

"They are the race that supposedly created the Mass Relay network and the Citadel…as well as invented the Mass Effect technology the rest of the galaxy blindly uses…" Mai could barely keep the distain out of her voice.

"Yes that is correct but I do not see why the people refuse to use the gifts the Protheans left us." Nihlus muttered quietly as he studied the various instruments arranged around the room.

"Moving on," Anderson commanded with a glare at the Turian. "The second artifact is a little odd seeing as it appears that the Protheans where studying it."

"Do we know what race built it?" Mai asked now that her interest was thoroughly peaked.

"Yes it appears to be technology similar to that used by Wolvendon-"

"ARE YOU SURE?" Mai asked in disbelief.

"Yes…and it appears to be not only intact but operational…but the facilities on Eden Prime aren't equipped to deal with it that's why we are here."

"And secondly?"

"Yes secondly there is a reason Nihlus is here."

"That reason being?" Mai asked while pointedly ignoring said Turian.

"I'm here to assess your skills to see if you have what it takes…"

"Nihlus! I told you to let me tell her…" Anderson glared at the Turian.

"Ok if somebody doesn't tell me what is going on here I might just blow a hole in the ship for fun…" Mai's anger was starting to get the better of her.

"The Council think that Humanity is ready for a greater hand in galactic politics…" Anderson began.

"And so they are allowing a Human candidate for the Specters to be put forth. That candidate is you Lyall." Nihlus finished. "This mission is to test your skills as well as many more to come."

"Tell the Council tha-"

"Captain you need to see this!" Jokers voice sounded strained as he yelled into the intercom. A second later and the view screen in room Mai and the rest occupied lit up with an emergency message form the colony.

"…Rewind and hold at 35.2 Joker." Anderson ordered. The pilot complied and the message froze on the image of something that looked like a giant clawed hand with many little claw like objects flying around it as it descended to the surface of the planet. There were also some insect like ships flying with it. Seeing those ships caused Mai to go pale behind her faceplate.

"Joker we need to get there yesterday mister!" Barked Mai as she ran towards the vehicle bay of the ship.

"Sir the Normandy is heading towards the planet what are your orders?" the pilot of the Liulfr asked as he turned to his black clad leader.

"Heh…Send in all forces we are going to save the colony even if it kills us all got that?" The black clad leader smiled as he adjusted his armor as he got up. The black leather duster he always wore was draped over the back of his command chair and the hood was pulled down for all to see his face. He had medium length light brown hair that shifted to silver near the tips which he kept in a 'warriors wolf tail' as he called it. He had sky blue eyes that looked like they had silver lightning bolts radiating from his irises. His face as a whole was young looking, he had an odd tattoo that started above the corner of his right eye and wrapped around it to come to rest about halfway down his cheek not that you would notice it normally with the color it is comprise of. All in all he had the air about him of a man that has lived so long that he has started to act like a young man once again but looking at him you would say that he looked like he was no older than twenty-seven.

"Sir? We are sending in our soldiers blind with no intel?" The pilots face was a mask of confusion.

"Look at your console again ensign…" The ensign looked back to his screen to see the same message that the Normandy had received.

"Oh…I see what you mean." The ensign had the decency to look abashed at his earlier remark.

"Good now tell the rest of the fleet to deploy all Phoenix Troopers and also tell the Normandy that Wolvendon is sending aid to fend off this attack." With that the leader donned his duster and left the bridge to go join the ground troops in preparing of the fight to come.

The sounds of battle could be heard as the Normandy's ground team touched boots to the surface of Eden Prime. Off in the distance Mai could see the colonists retreating into the super structures of the city to try and fend off the hordes of enemies that were attacking the colony.

"Let's get moving!" Mai barked as she settled into her battle mindset.

"What the hell is that!?" Kaidan yelled as a yellowish white bulbous creature floated by.

"Oh they are harmless…we call them gasbags." Jenkins laughed as they passed by the gasbags.

"So…Crimson Lyall is too awkward to yell out in battle…" Kaidan awkwardly began.

"If you must call me anything…call me Varðr…" Mai said as she swept the area with her gaze to see if it was clear.

"Varðr? What the hell does that mean?" Kaidan refused to even try to hide his annoyance at the complicated phonetics.

With a grin Mai marched on ahead as she checked her scanner just in case she missed something with her visual scan. "It's the closest thing to a rank that I have…"

"What about your Alliance rank? Commander right?" Kaidan jumped back when the barrel of a pistol appeared in front of his face.

"I do not serve in the Alliance so I do not abide by their ranks…" Cocking her head to the side she strained to hear something over the sounds of chaos. It almost sounded like- "GET DOWN!" she then shoved both Kaidan and Jenkins into cover as she dove to the other side of the pass they were passing through to hide behind a large rock formation. "Jenkins scout out the area ahead and keep your head down!"

Jenkins acknowledgment of the order came in the form of a nod as he quickly rolled out of cover to scan the area ahead of them. After doing a quick scan and seeing nothing out of the ordinary he turned around to give the all clear when he heard the unmistakable sound of mass effect assisted miniature turbine engines a series of clicking sounds. He whipped around to see what was causing the sound only to catch a glimpse of gunfire dropping to the ground with a grunt he managed to remain conscious long enough to hear Mai yell his name then everything went black.