The Isandlwana siddled up beside the Madison. All of the windows on the derelict ship were frosted over. A thud resonated through both ships as the Isandlwana docked via an umbilical bridge. Two drones made their way through the bridge to cut open the Madison's airlock.
Chief Williams reported to the command deck in heavy pheonix armor. The other members of her team made a final weapons check. Alenia wearing light armor, fussed over the various equipment hanging off her belt. The only weapon she carried was a pistol.
"Don't you want something else besides a pistol?" asked Ashley for the asari's lack of firepower.
"My stength lies in my biotics," said Alenia without looking up from a tracking device she was toying with, "Besides I have you to protect me."
Shaking her head Ashley turned to her team, "Okay, listen up! Keep your formation tight, I don't want anyone getting lost in there until we can get the lights on first."
"Do you think we're really going to find anything?" asked the engineer Sgt Wilcox.
"I don't know what we'll run into which is why we need to take this seriously," answered Ashley firmly.
Another marine, Pvt Giles added, "Excuse me ma'am but I've been on forty-five salvage runs and never found anything to get excited about."
"That doesn't mean squat," said Ashley, "If anyone doesn't do their job you'll be scrubbing the Madison's toilets until we make it back to the Citadel."
"Yes ma'am," both marines said at once. The asari only rolled her eyes.
The team of four filed into the airlock. Packed in tightly, everyone did a final check on the seals of their suits. In a moment they would have to travel through the vacuum of space across the umbilical bridge. An electric feeling of anticipation filled the air as the airlock depressurized. Having the full faceplate on her helmet gave Ashley a sense of claustrophobia.
"We have two hours of air unless we can activate the Madison's atmosphere," said Sgt Wilcox.
"Noted," responded Ashley just before the outer doors opened. Taking the first step, Ashley entered the bridge leaving the Isandlwana's mass effect field. Zero gravity overtook her causing her to slowly summersault through space, "Shit!"
"I've got you," Alenia's voice radioed through Ashley's helmet as she grabbed the chief by the leg, "You need to walk slower."
Righting herself Ashley let her boots lock onto the magnetic part of the bridge. A bout of laughter from the two marines caused her to flush with embarrassment, "Cut the chatter!"
Proceeding along more carefully Ashley gawked at the vast void of space all around them. For a moment she thought of the terror Shepard must have felt after getting spaced.
Twenty yards ahead she could see the bots finishing off the Madison's exterior airlock door. For security reasons it wasn't possible to hack the outer door. The cruiser appeared massive compared to the frigate. Against the expanse of space the ship had a forboding aura around it.
"We reached the hull," radioed Ashley back to the bridge of the Isandlwana.
"Good, keep us informed," responded Capt Briggs watching from a large port window.
The bots floated out of the way carrying away the slender piece of steel they had cut out. Ashley approached the hole carefully stepping into the airlock one leg at a time. The interior door was sealed tight as expected. They piled into the airlock allowing the bots to seal them inside. This way the Madison wouldn't lose pressure after opening the interior.
"Sgt Wilcox, get that door open," ordered Ashley.
The sergeant moved forward taking apart the console to hack the door open. Connecting his omni-tool to the switchboard he discovered a small amount of auxilery power was available. The door lock was an old style security system. Slapping a small amount of omni-gel on the circuits caused the door to swoosh open.
Inside the Madison was pitch black save for some dim emergency lighting on the floor. The atmosphere inside had been chilled by the absolute zero temperature of space. Goosebumps spread across Ashley's body causing her to turn up the heating unit on her suit. Following protocol she motioned Giles, the point man, into the corridor.
"Nothing ma'am," he said while looking down each direction.
"Keep moving," Ashley took the lead heading to the left. After passing through a section containing a series of computer stations they reached the Madison's bridge. Automated lights blinked on and off across the controls. No physical evidence indicated anything had gone awry.
"Maybe they scuttled the ship," whispered Wilcox. He sat down at the main computer attempting to reboot the ship.
"Try to find out." Ashley turned away activating the radio channel to the Isandlwana. "Captain, we reached the bridge. So far we've found nothing."
Crackling back through the radio the captain said, "Continue your search through the lower decks."
"Roger that," said Ashley. Placing a hand on Wilcox's shoulder she ordered, "I want you to stay here and try to get the power back on."
"Looks like the ship's atmosphere is intact. Oxygen levels are normal. So it's very possible the crew is still alive on the ship somewhere." Wilcox never took his eyes off the screen as he continued to check the status of the vessel. "I should have the power up and running in a few minutes."
"Good work." Ashley removed her helmet taking a breath of stale air. Giles and Alenia did the same.
Leaving Wilcox, the trio proceeded towards the back of deck one. With the main power out they had to rely on their own flashlights. The ship's narrow corridors, steel beams, and posts cast a multitude of shifting shadows. Not a sound could be heard outside of their own footsteps and breathing.
A short distance further the ship opened up into the Combat Information Center (CIC). The majority of the top deck consisted of large open rooms making for an easy search. Going through the conference room and private officers's quarters turned up nothing. After finishing the search they met in the CIC.
"Not a goddam thing," said Pvt Giles.
"Find a hatch so we can check out the next deck." Ashley paced around wondering what might be going on.
"Like I said, they probably abandoned ship." Pvt Giles set his weapon into its slot on his back.
"Then you can be first to go down," said Ashley slapping him on the back.
"Damn it," whispered Giles. "Can't we take the elevator?"
"How do you expect it to work? The power's out," Alenia smirked, "I think I see the hatch over here."
Alenia went over to a panel near a computer station at the back of the CIC. Popping the panel open revealed an emergency ladder to the lower deck. A faint hissing noise could be heard for a moment.
"What the hell was that?" asked Giles.
"Probably some leaking pipes," said Ashley taking a quick look down the dark shaft, "Quit wasting time, get down there."
Giles entered the shaft muttering under his breath. It was barely big enough for a human to move down the ladder. Luckily there were no krogans on their team. A faint orange light outlined the hatch for deck two. Moving down to that level he kicked it open. The hatch hit the deck making a loud metallic clanging noise. Again the hissing sound seemed to rise up from the bowels of the ship.
Giles muttered, "What the fuck is that?"
"Are you alright?" asked Ashley peering down at the top of Giles' head.
"Yes ma'am, just waiting on you," he shouted back up the shaft before entering the second deck.
"After you," said Alenia checking her motion sensor.
"Don't tell me you're scared," said Ashley before taking hold of the ladder.
The asari didn't answer. They moved down into the next deck. The trio settled in a wide corridor running down the center of the ship. This deck housed crew considerations. The corridor branched off into four directions.
"How do you want to do this?" asked Giles taking out his assault rifle.
"You can stay here so we don't forget where we came in," said Ashley looking down the cross section.
"I'm getting movement on my sensor," said Alenia moving over to Ashley to show her. A small red dot had appeared on a circular screen.
"I don't see anything," said Giles looking at the level five combat sensor mounted on his rifle.
"This one is more advanced than your standard sensor," said Alenia leaning close to Ashley.
"It's gone." Ashley stared into the blank monitor.
"How can that be?" asked Alenia tapping the screen.
"Heh, guess it's not so advanced after all," said Giles.
"We're wasting time," Ashley retrieved her rifle from her back holster, "Alenia why don't you wait here with Giles?"
"I'd feel safer with you," Alenia said placing a hand on the chief's shoulder.
"Looks like you've got a new best friend," laughed Giles.
"Shut up Giles. You've just awarded yourself toilet duty for the rest of the trip." Ashley glared at him before addressing the asari, "Let's move."
"Fuck'n bitch," whispered Giles finding himself completely alone by the hatch.
The corridor Ashley took led to some crew amenities. Walking along she came across a large door with the word 'gym' painted on it. Using her combat knife Ashley managed to wedge open an otherwise sliding door.
"Want some help?" Alenia didn't wait for a response. Raising a hand she forced the door open with her biotics.
"I hate not having electricity," said Ashley putting her knife away, "Thanks."
"No problem Ash," Alenia followed the chief inside the gym shining her flashlight on the weight machines.
"Please don't call me Ash," said the chief while scanning the weight room.
Ignoring Ashley's complaint Alenia kept an eye on her specialized radar, "Did the Normandy have a gym?"
"No, the ship was too small. Tiny compared to this one. We didn't even have rooms, just sleeper pods," explained Ashley continueing her search.
"I hate sleeping in pods. They're so claustrophobic and unnatural," Alenia picked up a small barbell curling it a few times just for fun, "So how do you stay in such great shape?"
"Am I the only one taking this mission seriously here?" asked Ashley putting her assault rifle away in frustration.
"C'mon Ash, the crew obviously scuttled the ship."
"Don't call me Ash."
"Why not?"
"Because it's weird coming from you. The last person to say my name like that was Shepard," Ashley sat down on a bench hanging her head, "This whole mission is a waste of time. We should be finding the bastards who killed him."
"I'm sorry chief, do you want to talk about it?" Alenia sat down next to Ashley putting a hand on her back.
"No, you wouldn't understand anyway," said Ashley stuffing her feelings.
Alenia tried to think of something to say but her sensor began beeping. A glance at the screen showed several red dots moving quickly towards the bow of the ship. "Take a look at this."
"What is it?" asked Ashley watching the dots move out of view.
"Could be survivors or an unknown organism. I can't tell what deck they're on," said Alenia tweaking a few buttons on the sensor.
Ashley opened a channel to the Madison's bridge, "Sgt Wilcox what's the status on those lights?"
A long pause followed before the sergeant's voice crackled over the comm channel, "There's an anomaly with the power grid. Only local and basic systems seem to work."
"Just keep trying," said Ashley moving back out into the corridor.
Alenia walked pass Ashley following the signal on her sensor. The red dots moved at awkward angles. They went around rooms instead of through them as though they were inside the walls. She held up her flashlight looking for the unknown organism.
"Hey wait up," called out Ashley jogging to catch up to her, "Have you found anything yet?"
"No, I'm starting to wonder if the ship's structure is playing tricks on my sensor." Alenia entered a large open room. Casting light on the surrounding area; she recognized it as the mess hall.
Ashley went ahead of her asari ally checking around the mess tables. Many of the chairs were knocked over as though everyone got up in a panic. Dark stains dotted the floor here and there. Getting closer with the light Ashley could see they were actually holes. Puzzeled by this she bent down peering into the deck below. The edges of the holes appeared to be melted. A shadowy figure raced across the floor beneath her.
"Hey I saw something!" said Ashley waving Alenia over.
"What was it?" she asked kneeling down next to the chief, "What the hell happened here?"
"I don't know what it was. About the size of a human maybe," said Ashley angling her flashlight to get a better view of the room below.
"A human? I wonder if they picked up a sentient being? Perhaps stumbled upon a new race," said Alenia with excitement.
"Out here in the Voyager cluster? Unlikely," said Ashley scratching her head. The echo of gunshots from down the corridor grabbed her attention. Putting a hand to her ear she tried to contact Giles, "Giles what's your status?"
The private yelled into his comm, "They're everywhere! We have to get the fuck out of here!"
"Sit tight, we're on our way!" Ashley started running back with Alenia to help the marine.