CHAPTER II – Events of Eden Prime
Jillian went to her locker and took her armor. After she was ready she went to the bathroom. She washed her hands and looked into the mirror. An average woman was looking at her, little untidy hair with a little too long fringe falling at her amber eyes. She was a smaller than average women, but it didn't many anything to her disadvantages. Her body was lean, yet athletic. There were some minor scars all over her body, nothing too serious. You could seen a tired look in her eyes, like she experienced many things in her life.
Now she could let her guard down a little, only when she was alone. When she was along with other soldiers or in public, she always wanted to make a good impression of a strong person without any problems or scars. It always worked so far, that if you didn't hear about her troublesome childhood back on Earth or what happened on Akuze you'd never guess Shepard lost all her squad back there. And those things always leave deep scars, especially on rookies.
Shepard sighted and looked again in the mirror, like she was trying to assure herself and get her morale higher. She had to stay strong. She had to lead a team, so she had to be strong. For them. She couldn't afford for any casualties. No matter how complicated this mission might get, everyone will get back safely.
Getting out from the bathroom she changed again. Stronger look in her eyes. She was Commander Shepard. "Engaging stealth systems.", she heard when she entered the elevator, leading her to the bottom of the ship, the storage room and engineering.
There she met Alenko and Jenkins. She nodded, welcoming them and Jenkins saluted. Damn it, Jenkins was very ambitious, too ambitious. He will be most likely trying to play the damn hero. This was not good, because in reality heroes always die, and not live to tell their tale like in comic books.
Jillian got to the table and took her equipment. She didn't have to get all firearms like soldiers, since she was partially a biotic. Vanguard. She took the gun, rifle and shotgun. She didn't take any sniper rifle, she hated them and she was definitely not a sniper. She preferred closer combat.
When she was checking on her equipment, Captain Anderson came over.
"Your team's the muscle in this operation, Commander. Go in heavy and head straight for the dig site.", ordered the Captain. Jillian nodded only, clipping her gun to her armor.
"What about survivors, Captain?", asked Kaidan.
"Helping survivors is a secondary objective. The beacon's your top priority.", answered Anderson.
"Approaching drop point one.", they heard Joker's voice.
Jillian started to think. Why drop point one? Were they splitting apart? This is when she seen Nihlus coming.
"Nihlus? You're coming with us?", asked curiously Jenkins.
"I move faster on my own.", answered the Spectre, checking on his gun, before sprinting to the exit and jumping down. That's when Jillian seen him for the last time.
"Nihlus will scout out ahead. He'll feed you status reports throughout the mission; otherwise, I want radio silence.", ordered Captain.
"Understood, sir.", nodded Shepard.
"The mission's yours now, Shepard. Good luck.", said Anderson.
"We are approaching drop point two.", Joker informed them again.
Jillian looked over to Jenkins and Kaidan.
"Ready?", she asked them. She always wanted to make sure nothing unexpected would happen or at least to reduce the chances. Both soldiers nodded and took her helmet.
Five minutes later they landed on the ground.
Hitting ground from the jump, Jillian took out her riffle. She looked around, looking for the enemies or any survivors. She didn't find anyone.
"Ship perimeter secure, Commander!", informed her Kaidan.
There was no one to be found. Except some flying aliens around. They were however not lethal. If Shepard could remember right, they were filled with gas or something… Not dangerous anyway.
"Damn! What the hell are those?", shouted Alenko, pulling his rifle and aiming at one of them.
She managed to pull his rifle down just at time.
"Soldier! What the hell are you doing?", snarled Shepard. "I don't remember ordering you to shoot everything that you see moving!"
Before Kaidan could have said anything, she already turned around and made her way forward. Moment later they approached a small meadow and this is where she got a bad feeling. She crouched and ordered her team to stay. For a moment she looked around and finally made a signal to move out.
Jenkins and Kaidan moved ahead. Jenkins got too quick, rushing with enthusiasm and letting his guard down. That's where they hit him. Recon drones shot at him, breaking his shields. The soldier was shocked and didn't react at all and then his body fell to the floor, not moving anymore. It all happened within seconds.
Jillian quickly rushed to the nearest rock, covering herself from the gunshots. With some aimed shots one of the drones fell to the ground. Kaidan took another down. Shepard rushed to another cover to have a better point to shoot and a moment later all drones were down. Shepard stood for a second behind the cover, looking around if they were safe. Then she nodded to Alenko and they both came out from covers, making their way to the fallen Jenkins.
Coming to the body, Kaidan crouched and closed fallen soldier's eyes. "Ripped through his shields… Never had a chance…", he managed to say, shock in his voice.
Shepard cursed herself. She promised herself no one was to die, not on her watch. She stood for a moment, not really knowing what to say or what to do. Stay strong, she reminded herself.
When Kaidan looked at her, she looked him in the eyes. "Sometimes marines die. The rest of us have to carry on. We still have a mission to accomplish. We have to find that beacon, Kaidan.", said Jillian, taking her helmet off. Then she laid a hand on his shoulder, "We will mourn him. Later."
Shepard took her rifle again and moved on, followed by Alenko.
They didn't have to walk long enough when they were attacked by another recon drones. It didn't long enough to shoot them down. They found some burnt bodies, it was hard to tell if they were males of females.
Then they heard it. Some gunshots not far from them. Jillian run ahead to the nearest cover and hid herself. Same did Kaidan. Then she seen someone running, a female soldier. She was running from recon drones. Just when Jillian wanted to aim and shoot, the female officer shoot them. Clear shots and seconds later two drones hit the ground. Jillian crouched again at her cover, looking to Kaidan, when the officer run and hid behind a cover. That's when Shepard seen some strange looking pursuers. Droids… Geth. Wait, geth? She thought they disappeared long time ago.
She rushed from her cover to find herself a better view. Before she got to the cover, she shot down one Geth. Kaidan used his biotic powers to throw another Geth, and Shepard shot it. The last Geth was killed by that female soldier.
Now that they all were finally safe, Jillain turned around to the soldier, who was approaching her.
"Thanks for your help… I didn't think I was going to make it.", she said, clearly still shocked. Then she saluted and stood straight. "Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams of the 212. You… You're the one in charge here, ma'am?", she asked, taking her helmet off.
Shepard looked at the officer, who revealed her face. She was a tall, rather athletic, but still slim built woman. She had dark hair, but Jillian couldn't say the length, since they were styled into a bun. She had brown eyes. She wore a phoenix armor. Right now Shepard got the impression the soldier was really scared, even shocked.
"I'm Commander Jillian Shepard from the Normandy and this is Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko. Are you allright, Williams?", asked Jillian, looking at her searching for any visible wounds or scratches.
"A few scrapes and burns. Nothing serious…", answered the Chief. "The others weren't so lucky…", she sighted and nervously started to walk around, not knowing what to do. "Oh, man… We… We were patrolling the perimeter when the attack hit.", Williams shown the direction. "We tried to get off a distress call, but they cut off our communications… I… I've been fighting for my life… ever since.", she finally managed to look at Shepard again.
"What happened to your unit?", asked Jillian carefully, somehow guessing what the answer will be.
Ashley looked at Shepard with more painful expression. "We… We tried to get back to the beacon. But we got into an ambush. I… I don't think any of the others…", she remained silent for a moment. "I think I'm the only one left.", she finally managed to say.
Jillian bit her lip. She could understand the soldier too good. She step forward to her and put her arm on her shoulder. "Don't blame yourself, Chief…This isn't your fault. There's nothing more you could have done to save them.", she said.
"No… It's just…", sighted Chief, trying to get her head clearer. "We tried to hold our positions… as long as we could. But at the end they just… Overwhelmed us.", she looked at Commander. "I think they're geth."
"Geth?", asked Kaidan in disbelief. "The geth haven't been seen outside the Veil in nearly 200 years. Why are they here now?", he made his way to check on the bodies.
"I don't know.", said Ashley nervously. "They… They must have come for the beacon… I… The dig site is close. Just over that rise. I think it may still be there."
"We could use your help, Williams. Want to join us?", asked Jillian, looking at the Chief.
"Aye, aye, ma'am. It's time for payback.", said Ashley with a serious glare, grabbing her riffle.
Now three soldiers made their way to the dig side. However when they got close enough they were attacked by some Geth, again. Jillian cursed them in her head. Soon all of their enemies were dead and she had to admit the Chief was an excellent part of the team. Her skills with the gun were amazing and she knew she could trust in Williams's skills in the battle.
They got to the dig side, but nothing was there. Jillian turned around to face Ashley.
"This is the dig side., said the Chief. "But… the beacon was right here. I don't understand… It must have been moved."
"By who? You think by our side or the geth?", asked Kaidan.
"It's hard to say.", she looked at him. "Maybe we'll more after we check out the research camp."
Jillian raised an eyebrow. "You think there can be any survivors? Well… We make for the camp.", ordered Shepard.
"It isn't far, ma'am. It's just on the top of this ridge. Up the ramps.", said Ashley, moving ahead.
Not much later they hit the camp. It was in ruins, but there were strange, huge spikes impaled with human corpses. Just when Jillian got closer, they moved.
"Oh, god! They're still alive!", shouted Kaidan in shock.
The spikes shortened, but they were no humans. Not anymore. They were like… half-machines? They got tubes, sinks and other strange things sticking out of their bodies. Their eyes were glowing blue. They were like zombies. Jillian moved back, drawing her gun.
"What did the geth do to them?", asked Ashley shocked."Stand back! Don't move any closer or I'll shoot!", shouted at the moving zombie.
But the strange things made their way closer to the marines. Jillian started to shoot, but they were harder to kill than she expected. She decided to hit on their legs first. She managed to kill one. In the meantime she seen Kaidan lift another, and shoot him, but one of them was dangerously close to Ashley. She rushed to the Chief and managed to cover her just in time when she felt a powerful electrical blast. She groaned silently and irritated. In anger she used her biotic powers and threw him, while he was flying in the air, she shot him several times, only stopping when it hit the ground and didn't move anymore.
"Shepard! Are you allright?", she heard from behind.
"Yeah.", she answered shortly, not even looking at Williams. "C'mon people… Let's move on."
Shortly they found two survivors, scientists who worked on the dig site. They learned that they moved the beacon to the other place. Jillian got really irritated with the scientist who panicked so they moved on very fast just after gaining information.
They were almost at the station when they all seen something up ahead.
"Wha… What is that? Off in the distance!", shouted Kaidan.
"It's a ship… Look at the size of it!", answered Ashley, as shocked as Alenko.
It was the same ship Jillian seen on the footage back at Normandy. But it was much bigger than she expected… and the shape of this ship reminded her of a prawn. It was taking off at the moment. The three of them stood for a moment just looking at the ship flying off. Noone of the seen such ship before.
Jillian was the first who stopped daydreaming. "People, I know it was something you didn't see before but it would be nice if you'd survive to later tell the tale.", she said to the two managed to aim her riffle and shoot just in time, because of the moment they let their guard down the geth spotted them from afar and some husks were coming as well. Shepard run to the cover and shot at containment cells, killing the gets. Only the husks remained, but they were making a good team. Kaidan lifted one of them and Ashley was shooting at it at the same time and Jillian managed to kill another one at the time.
They moved closer to the station, but it looked abandoned. No survivors or enemies.
Then Jillian saw him. Nihlus. Dead. Kaidan crouched, checking up on him and reported. "He's dead…"
"You know him?", asked Ashley.
Jillian didn't say anything, just nodded. She was thinking. Why was Nihlus dead? What happened here? Spectres were best of the best and if something managed to kill him, it was dangerous.
"He's a Spectre and he was with us…", explained Kaidan.
A moment later they found a survivor. A worker named Powell witnessed everything what happened. He said Nihlus was killed by another turian named Saren and that the he and the geth transported the beacon to another platform.
The team made their way to the platform fighting geth troopers and not much later they were already on their way to get to Saren. Some minutes later they finally arrived at the station, but there was a surprise.
"Demolition charges! The… The geth must have planted them.", said Kaidan.
"We need to find them all and shut them down.", ordered Shepard. "Alenko, you are disarming, we'll cover you."
Kaidan run over to the charge and seconds later he disarmed it. Jillian moved ahead. Moment later they were under fire.
"Snipers ahead!", shouted Jillian. "Williams, grab your sniper rifle and take care of that bastard!"
"Yes, ma'am!", answered Ashley.
Jillian rushed through the bridge to the spot where she spotted the other charge. She took cover and let Kaidan do his work. She run to another cover and had shot another two geth, when Kaidan run to disarm another charge. Shepard was aiming at another geth and wanted to pull the trigger when she seen a clear headshot and second later the dead body hit the ground.
A moment later Alenko disarmed the last charge and they were safe.
"Good job.", she said to both of them.
They made their way to the lower platform where the beacon was placed. Not for long, because some shots missed them only some inches. They both run to cover to fight the geth. Jillian got a shotgun and charged at the husks, shooting them. They were all dead very fast, since shotgun was very effective in short distances. At the same time Ashley with Kaidan took down all the remaining geth.
The team went to check up on the beacon. "Normandy, the beacon is secure. Request immediate evac.", said Shepard, looking around.
"This is amazing! Actual working Prothean technology… Unbelieveable!", said excited Kaidan.
"It wasn't doing anything like that when they dug it up…", answered Ashley more concerned than excited. "Something must have activated it…"
Chief Williams moved closer when Kaidan went back to Commander.
"Roger, Normandy. Standing by.", Shepard quit the transmission and turned to Kaidan.
"So, Commander… It was far more what we've been expec-"
Kaidan couldn't finish because Jillian shoved him, little violently. She just seen something wasn't right with Chief Williams. She seen her being pulled by the beacon and without thinking she rushed to help her. Shepard jumped and grabbed Ashley, shoving her to the ground, far from the beacon. But now she was trapped and couldn't move… Then a strange force moved her into the air and the last thing she heard was Ashley's voice shouting her name. Second later she was seeing strange images and visions. Her head felt like it would explode. Then it suddenly stopped and she felt her body slam the ground. Then everything went black.
I hope you liked Chapter II. As you see it's still much in-game, but some things added, changed or cut off. I will change as much as I want, but as far the game's plot was ok with me, so no big changes were done in this chapter. I hope you enjoyed reading and I ask you to comment, review, fav, subscribe… I really, really appreciate all the feedback I get.
As for my Shepard, I mentioned she's a Vanguard, Earthborn and Sole Survivor. I may get her some powers from ME2, but unsure yet.
I hope you like my story enough! And well… Even if this will be a Shepley, I don't want to rush things just to make a romance story of it and nothing more. I mean… Oh yes, the Reapers… They are too and we've gotta move our ass to save the world and not to think only about our Love Interest, right? And by the way, relationship is built with time, not in the matter of seconds.
SenseOfPoiseAndRationality, thank you for kind words and I'm very glad you enjoyed reading so far!
Greetings and take care,
~Sins of Redemption