A/N: Told you. Only three months this time. Gavoon, no Gandalf beards! Hooray!

Yeah, but still, I know that that is WAY to long, especially for the length I average. Blame finals. And swimming championships. And the fact that Mass Effect (the first one) is now available on the PS3, giving me yet another something to do in my spare time instead of write.

Don't worry, though. All it really did for me was reinvigorate my love of this story. I know it sounds egotistical, but as I was writing the chapter outlines for Saren's Effect, I couldn't help but think to myself, "This is going to be so flipping sweet."

When I eventually get to it.

So, in an effort to distract you from the fact that I'm kind of lazy, try this joke!

What do you call an engineer when he's being mean?

An omni-TOOL.

Heh.

Enjoy. I own nothing.

Sweat poured from Kaidan's brow. His lungs were on fire, but it helped that the dull thumping from the back of his skull blocked out any other feelings of exhaustion. The group's boots thudded on the think, metallic catwalks that crisscrossed above Eden Prime's residential district. If his comrades were tired as well, then they showed no signs of it. They kept running, trying desperately to reach their objective-the Prothean obelisk. Pre-fab lights shone on the path, directing them through the midnight labyrinth of walkways and stairs. So many stairs.

Though Ashley had claimed it was still at the dig site, the marines, plus the Spectre, were dismayed to find that it had been moved when they arrived. Nihlus, in particular, was seething silently at the Chief, and the Commander. Kaidan could understand it, at least a little. He needed someone to blame, some reason, at least, for the delay, but the ever growing presence of Shepard was more than enough to keep him quiet, at least on that particular topic. Instead, they moved past it, and the nearby data logs-surprisingly uncorrupted by the attack- pointed towards the center of the colony, near the landing pad, according to Jacob.

However, the closer they got to their destination, the more and more geth decided to show up. Shepard, Jacob, and Kaidan's biotics were soon spread thin applying barriers and launching counterattacks to the coordinated assaults. Jacob seemed to be the more defensive kind of guy; he would bring up a personal shield and get up close to fight. He most likely had blunt force biotic training, to match the melee style of fighting he preferred. Shepard, on the other hand, was a whirlwind of power. She would charge forward in a flash, delivering biotic strikes where she could and bullets where she couldn't. The intensity of her fighting style was…frightening, to say the least.

Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams wasn't a specialist, but she proved herself at least as deadly as the commander with her guns. Unlike Vega, who relied on heavier, more powerful machine guns, the Chief preferred a marksman's approach- steady aim, steady shot. She was precise and efficient, taking out her targets in the smallest amount of time.

Speaking of precision, the legend that was Nihlus Kryhik put any spoken words to shame- he outran, outshot, and out maneuvered any geth that targeted him. The guy had definitely earned his Spectre status. The story Jenkins had told about him fighting off an entire platoon single handed wasn't so hard to believe now as it had been around the poker table.

They kept running, and running. If what Jacob and Ashley claimed was true, they needed to retrieve it before the geth captured it, retreated back into their monolithic ship, and fled back beyond the Veil, for whatever reason they wanted it.

In front of him, Jacob ducked as a geth bullet passed mere inches above his head. He had to give them credit, the machines never did know when to quit. Kaidan spun in unison with Vega, unleashing a cryo-freeze program from his Omni-tool as the latter let loose a short burst from his rifle. He kept up his pace, trying desperately not to trip over his own legs as he ran. The group rounded a corner, and he heard Shepard shout "Down!"

Kaidan grabbed Vega's collar and yanked him hard, sending the corporal stumbling to his knees behind a large crate as a volley of geth fire filled their shadows with holes. Taking a deep breath, he peeked out from behind their cover on the opposite side, leveling his pistol to eye level and readying his Omni-tool again.

Before him stood a whole company of geth troopers, accompanied by a huge colossus of a machine on four legs. Their mechanic humming reverberated as they moved to face the new intruders. Their flashlight heads tilted sideways and turned red as they targeted the group. Three of the troopers had focused fire on himself and Vega. Another half dozen were converging on another wall where Ashley and Shepard had made their nest. Jacob was busy darting from box to box, taking out any geth that got too close with a biotic punch or a shotgun slug to the face.

And Nihlus was busy being the big goddamn hero, strafing to the side and drawing the massive geth's attention away from his teammates. He let loose a dozen shots, two of which glanced the colossus' shield and another which penetrated its eyepiece. The monster of a machine responded with a blast from its cannon, forcing the turian to the ground to avoid being incinerated. He rolled left, avoiding the second shot. His shield flared, and he ducked right to dodge the remaining few troopers, who now focused solely on him.

With stark realization, Kaidan acted quickly. He raised his Omni-tool, loading up his overload program and targeting the colossus with his left hand and letting loose a biotic from his right. The twitch in his skull signaled the spike on his biotics. He groaned preemptively- this was going to hurt him a lot more than it was going to hurt the geth. The L2 implant surged, and his nervous system was jump started with adrenaline, letting the blast fly like a massive wave of water.

The overload hit first, disrupting the machine's shields and paralyzing the troopers beneath it. The colossus turned just in time to get a literal smack in the face from Kaidan's second attack. The edges of his vision hazed, but he was able to get the image of the colossus struggling to remain upright. Its headlight flickered, but his view was diverted to a sudden pang to his left, where he saw half a dozen geth fly into the air like rag dolls. A blue shockwave tossed them outwards form one of Shepard's lift grenades. Ashley poked her head out of cover, finishing the helpless floating machines with several quick shots, like fish in a barrel.

All of a sudden, a huge hand grabbed Kaidan's head and forced him down. He was just able to make out the blue light of a giant mass accelerator round that almost razed his nose before his head hit the box, turning his vision red. The back of his head grew warm, sending a small wave of pain through his skull. Somehow, that thing was still alive, and still trying to take off his head, which now pounded with the stress of his implant. He forced himself to keep his puke down, and let out a huge breath instead. Vega shouted something at him, but the noise was drowned out by the ringing in his head. The large man shoved him down and rolled out of cover, drawing a grenade launcher from his back.

Wait, a grenade launcher?

Vega shouted something else and took a knee. Jacob and Nihlus perked up, and dove for cover behind nearby crates. The colossus straightened up, and its eye glowed red. It tilted its head, locking on to the marine before Vega let out a roar (Kaidan was glad he was able to hear that much, but only for a second) and pulled the trigger.

Faster than his eye could follow, Kaidan could only hear the boom of the grenade as it burst from Vega's launcher with a flare of yellow and see the resulting trail of smoke and light as it screamed toward its destination. It blasted into the colossus with an equally concussive boom. The giant geth staggered, the metal plates on its armor groaning under the strain. Another grenade followed it, tipping the machine on its side. A third round to the stomach, and it exploded with a fiery boom, taking with it the rest of the geth company still shocked by Kaidan's attack.

The threat gone, at least for now, Vega rose, breathing heavily. He tossed the grenade launcher to the ground and walked over to Kaidan. A quick smile and an outstretched hand were more than enough to get the lieutenant back on his feet.

"Where the hell did you get one of those?" he asked, breathlessly. The pounding from his implant was going to hurt for a while. Kaidan made a mental note to get stronger combat migraine meds from Chakwas when they got back.

Vega laughed. "Took it off one of the troopers while we were running. Good thing, too, else you might be one big fried son of a bitch."

Kaidan chuckled, and fetched his pistol from the ground before he heard Jacob let out a long, low whistle.

The two looked over at the rest of the group, who looked no worse for wear. They were all staring, wide-eyed, at the Prothean obelisk.

In the back of his mind, where most of his feeling was coming from today, anyway, he found it hard to believe that they had gone through that entire firefight without noticing the giant, glowing, green statue in the corner.

"The hell…," Vega muttered.

They advanced toward the thing, curious. It was simple, yet ornate. The material was more stone than metallic, Kaidan noticed. Several lines of glistening green light ran up and down its sides. It stood on a durasteel pedestal, near the wall of the complex. Beside it lay the bodies of the geth they had taken out, most likely a guard team to protect it before they could get it onto that giant ship of theirs. Shepard took another step toward it, in front of the others. Kaidan could see her deep blue eyes in contrast to the pale green the obelisk emitted.

Until, quite suddenly, the lines of light on the obelisk tinted red. Shepard froze, and her eyes flashed. She took a step back, and a deep breath when they reversed back to green. She glanced around nervously.

"What was that?" Jacob spoke, inquisitive. "It never did that before."

"Yeah…" Ashley agreed, quietly. "What's going on"

Silence hung over them like a blanket. The air grew thick, but why Kaidan never knew. His eyes were on Shepard. Her eyes never left the obelisk. She said nothing, like she was deep in thought.

He was about to chip in his two cents when he felt something, a shift in tension. Shepards eyes didn't move. They just stared, unblinkingly, at the prothean device. The others spoke in hushed tones, but their voices started to fade away. All he could see was her eyes, her blue as blue eyes. His migraine thumped repetitively in his mind. He was paralyzed by them, entranced. The air around him started to hum something low in his ears. It was so intense, so loud it drowned out his other senses. The pain in his head lit his head on a slow, pulsing fire.

He failed to notice the subtle journey of her hand, inch by inch, down to her belt. He failed to notice it glance over her gun, and then move to the grenades at her side. He failed to notice her unclip it, and slip it up her back just as the base of her neck began to turn violet…

And suddenly his whole world was upside-down. He was flung into the air with a tremendous boom. The echo lifted him off his feet, weightless for mere seconds. Then the wave brought him crashing back down, tumbling across the deck with ungraceful force.

He was dizzy. He couldn't think. The only thing he could process was the fact that Shepard had just attacked them. The thought ran through his head like a bad dream. It kept going and going, never sounding right. There was no way she would attack them. She was Shepard. She attacked them. No, that didn't even sound right. She attacked them. No. Yes. No.

His head spun. His vision was blurry. He slid in and out on consciousness. In and out of the back, he recalled several things. First, she was staring at them, all of them. Her face was unreadable.

Then black. She approached the obelisk again. It shone red again, matching the hue of her omni-tool. He vaguely thought it shouldn't be that color, then black.

Then the obelisk surged. Shepard was lifted up, glowing green as information was wrung from the device like water from a towel.

Then black. Shepard was slumped on the ground, she stood, ignoring the static from her comm the sounded like Jokers frantic voice. He yanked the thing from her ear and crushed it in a blue fist.

Black. Shepard was talking with geth, directing them. That didn't make sense, either. Shepard attacked them. No. She was a traitor. No, Shepard was no traitor, Kaidan thought as hard as he could. She…

She looked over, again, at her fallen comrades. The geth chatter was unintelligible, but Shepard spoke something to them Kaidan couldn't hear. The troopers nodded acknowledgement, and Shepard turned away as they approached the unconscious soldiers, strewn on the cold metal platform. Kaidan tried to rise, but intense vertigo forced him back down into a slump. Spit and bile came up into his mouth. A hard geth foot stomped down by his face, sending shivers up his spine. The geth raised its gun to his head, the flashlight staring down into his eyes with a disconcerting lack of empathy…

The light in its head exploded, and Kaidan turned, too fast, to see four other geth collapse with bullet holes in their heads. Nihlus struggled to stand, raising his pistol. The barrel was red hot, and smoking. The turian held fast to the railing, grunting as he supported himself. He panted, and leveled his gun at Shepard's head. The marine stared back, eyes unblinking. Two more of her geth companions circled her, rifles raised at the Spectre. They chattered, but Shepard held a hand up to stop them.

Nihlus growled, and pulled himself all the way up, still leaning on the rail. His pistol remained firm, despite the rest of his body shaking.

"You…" He spat out, with as much venom as his strained lungs could manage.

"Me," Shepard agreed icily.

Nihlus breathed heavily. The grenade must have hit him the hardest, Kadian realized; his armor was charred from the initial blast, and scratched and dented from his fall. The turian had guts, he had to admit.

"Why?" was all he could manage. His gun wavered.

Shepard didn't budge. The geth at her side clicked.

"Why what?" she asked.

Nihlus spat out a clump of blood. "Your…own people…You swore…"

"Exactly," Shepard shot back. "I swore to protect them any way I know how."

She turned her head away from Kaidan, and Nihlus's hand gripped his gun to tightly Kaidan was sure he would break it in two.

He couldn't see her eyes, but he imagined them glowing, like they did whenever she felt particularly…powerful. They stared off into the distance, where the hulking, black form of the alien ship loomed, and somehow cast an eerie red glow across the colony. Shepard spoke slowly and quietly.

"Sovereign's way is the only way," She finally answered. "The Reapers are coming."

The strange bass of her voice carried, and Kaidan shivered. The back of her neck started to glow, and Kaidan closed his eyes. He knew, somehow, what was coming next.

A gunshot rang out, then a thunderous rush of wind. Then a sickening crunch, and silence. Somewhere, a geth chattered, and a tear ran down Kaidans cheek.

And then another shot rang out. Kaidan's eyes burst open as yet another geth trooper collapsed to the ground. Shepard spun around as two more of the robots fell with similar dull thunks. Gone was her visage of confidence and control. Confusion and anger boiled up now.

She assumed a fighting stance, and her amp started to glow once more. Quiet hung over the scene like a blanket. Kaidan sucked in a breath-

And a volley of shots bombarded Shepard, covering her in gold-and violet specks. She dove to the side as the bullets bounced off her barrier, and grabbed one of the fallen geth rifles. She somersaulted to avoid the next round and crouched, rifle level, a scowl on her face. Her blue eyes flashed as she searched for her invisible assailant.

And a furious roar tore her to her feet. Kaidan couldn't see much, only a figure sprint over the roof of the complex and unleash an omni-blade. Shepard swore and dove to the side as the glowing sword embedded itself into the ground where she had been kneeling not a second before. In the golden glow of the weapon, Kaidan could just barely make out a turian face, growling with livid fury. Shepard raised her rifle and fired, but her opponent was too quick. The blade-which, as Kaidan realized with awe- was attacked to the barrel of her assailant's gun- slashed outward, slicing the nose of her gun in half. Shepard grunted, and ducked down just in time to avoid another stab.

Before he could get in another strike, biotics rippled up Shepard's arms, and the turian was thrown away in a wave of blue. He flipped backward and landed on his feet, but his gun clattered to the ground a few feet away. Undaunted he drew forth two pistols from his belt, raising them like a gunslinger towards the angry marine. Two flashes let out before he was slammed by a charging Shepard, who pushed him back against the wall. One of the pistols fell, helplessly from his grasp. But the turian didn't let up- a swift kick to the woman's stomach sent her reeling, but his follow up shot was dodged. He shot again as Shepard closed in for the second time.

This time he was ready. Another shot glanced harmlessly past as she ducked, but he was able to get in two punches in the shoulder before being hit by a massive biotic kick. He raised his gun arm to block it, but the gun was knocked away. Shepard smirked, but the turian was expressionless as he grabbed her now vulnerable leg and twisted. Shepard yelped and spun in a second kick that whipped the turian's face with her heel. He grunted and stumbled at the impact, but not before slamming the helpless marine to the ground. Shepard hit the floor with a grunt, but wasted no time in jumping to her feet and into a crouching stance.

The turian assumed a similar pose, but this time he had drawn a long, deadly looking knife from his belt. He flipped it, testing it in his palm, before bracing it in reverse. The ever present red light of the monolith at the edge of the colony and the curious shimmer of the Prothean obelisk danced off its edges.

Shepard responded in kind with her own choice of weapon. A spark from her amp bathed her palms in electric blue biotics. Kaidan felt sweat drip down his neck. He was growing dizzy, but adrenaline had kept him from blacking out.

He pulled himself upright against the railing as Shepard leaped toward the turian, throwing a wild biotic punch toward his head. Her opponent dodged, and blocked her second strike with a sideways sweep of his arm. He spun the knife outward, slashing down as Shepard twisted away so that her shoulder was facing the turian.

She lashed out with a backhanded biotic blast, which flew over the aliens head as he ducked and lashed out with a kick aimed at her head. Shepard blocked it, and grinned as she attempted to flip him the same way he did to her.

The turian, however, anticipated this. Before she could grip his leg, he twisted off the ground so that she was actually supporting him. As soon as she realized her mistake, Shepard tried to toss him to the ground with a biotic surge, but not before one of his hind talons swept across her check, sending him tumbling to the side with a curse. The turian, meanwhile, landed on the ground feet first, knife in hand. Shepard jerked her face back to him- a long, bloody scar ran across her cheek, clipping her eye and slicing her eyebrow in two.

This time, the turian wasted no time pressing his advantage. He swung his knife low, forcing her to respond with a counter. She aimed for his head with a palm strike, but he shifted left. A haymaker from Shepard forced him to move left, behind her, and earned the commander a swift kick to the back of her leg, bringing her to her knees with a crack and a scream. Kaidan winced. She swung herself around with a fistful of biotics, but the turian was faster, moving behind her again and way from the blast. The knife flashed down, slicing off her hand and leaving a bloody trail down her forearm. The blade cut through armor and flesh alike, causing Shepard to let out another scream.

Kaidan's stomach churned as he realized she was getting desperate. Still kneeling on the ground, she let out a high kick backward with her good leg, thrusting a biotic foot toward the turians stomach.

Then time seemed to move in slow motion. When Shepard realized she had struck nothing but dead air, it was too late. The turian flipped as she rolled backward, desperately trying to throw him off-

When he buried the knife dead into her stomach with a thunk. As he pulled it out, a trail of blood followed, leaving a gaping hole in the commander's abdomen. She let a small 'oh," before collapsing to the ground.

The turian stood up, slowly. He didn't even seem to be breathing heavy as he slid the knife into its sheath without a second glance. Shepard lay on the ground, unmoving. Kaidan could see her face, all bloody and bruised. The sight of it almost made him throw up. Shepard…

Why Shepard? Why?

He tore his gaze away from the sad sight, and focused on the turian. From this angle, juxtaposed against the black and red sky, facing the ship, whatever it was, seemed, almost surreal. Just a lone, black figure staring into hell.

"Spirits," The turian murmured to himself. "It wasn't supposed to be this soon."

Kaidan coughed, breaking the alien out of his reverie. He looked over to Kaidan, and seemed genuinely surprised to see the marine still alive, and slumped against the side of the platform.

The turian cocked his head and drew his knife as he advanced toward him. Kaidan tried to tense up. He reached for his biotics instinctively, but any attempt he made was met with a wall of migraine. The turian knelt down and pressed the blade to his throat. Cold steel rubbed against his trachea as the turian spoke, his voice emanating the same threatening sub-harmonics as Nihlus.

"Who are you?" he asked.

Kaidan gulped. The edge of the knife rubbed against his skin, leaving a small scratch. "Kaidan, Kaidan Alenko," he managed to get out. "SSV Normandy, Alliance Navy."

"Saren Arterius, Spectre." Damn. "That was your commander." It was not a question.

"Yes. No. She… she attacked us, for the obelisk. She…she killed Nihlus."

"Nihlus?" the turian seemed alarmed. The pressure on his jugular was lifted as the knife slid back into it's owners sheath and Saren looked up, before sprinting over to his fellow turian.

He knelt down low by his comrade, and murmured something that Kaidan couldn't hear. He reached back behind his head and untied the shawl around his fringe, and used it to close Nihlus' open eyes. He pressed it against the dead turians temple and bowed his head in prayer.

Kaidan gulped again, trying to breathe in fresh air. While Saren attended to his friend, Kaidan tried to find the other friends. Ashley and Jacob were crumpled up on the ground not ten feet from Nihlus, both unconscious against the wall. James was sprawled out in a heap of armor closer to Shepard, facedown. And the commander-

The commander was moving. Kaidan blinked, and tried to cry out as words stuck in his throat. She propped herself up with effort- her good arm was shaking, but she managed to press a button on the omni-tool at her wrist. Her left arm she kept close to her chest, covering the hole in her abdomen with the stump that used to be her hand. She edged closer to Vega, silently. Auburn hair stuck to the sweat on her face, and her blue eyes were sparking with electricity. A slow, low hum echoed through the air as she reached for Vega's slumped body.

A huge, mechanical roar let loose from the bowels of the monolith. It shook the platform, and diverted Saren's attention away from Nihlus for just long enough for Kaidan to regain his voice.

"Saren! BEHIND YOU!" Kaidan managed to shout.

The turian dove to the side and grabbed the pistol out of Nihlus' limp hand. A wave of blue came crashing past him, blasting through the railing and sending Nihlus' body over the side. Saren grimaced and raised his gun.

Shepard was standing now. She struggled to support herself and a half-conscious Vega, but somehow she managed it. Her arm was wrapped around his neck, crushing his windpipe. She held him in front of her, hefting him like a human shield. He tried to break free, but he was too weak and her biotics were beginning to flare up. Saren moved closer, gun raised, but Shepard spoke out before he could take another step.

"You shoot, he dies. You move, He dies." Shepard gripped Vega's neck tighter, as if to prove her point. Kaidan tried to stand once he saw his friends face turn blue, but damned nausea and pain drove him back to his knees. Shepard backed up, closer to the edge.

Saren didn't respond immediately. Kaidan swallowed again. If he fired, his friend would die. The turian tightened his fingers around the trigger of the gun. Then he spoke.

"Human, you have no idea who you're dealing with."

"No, DON'T-!" Kaidan screamed as Saren pulled the trigger.

The bullet hit Vega in the shoulder. The marine shuddered with the impact, then fell limp. Saren fired off another round, picking up his advance to a sprint. Shepard let out a roar of frustration and sent another wave of biotics at the turian. Kaidan watched as the turian tried to avoid it, but he was running too fast. He was torn off his feet and hurled through the air-

And the obelisk glowed as he fell toward it. He was caught in a blinding haze of green, and slowed to a halt. His body grew rigid, and the ancient stone whirred and hummed. The pistol in his hand dropped as energy spiked through him, arcing his back and causing him to let out a scream. Then the stone released him with one last hum, dropping him unceremoniously to the ground.

Shepard, in the meantime, had taken her window of opportunity. Somehow, despite her wounds, she managed to heft Vega's massive, limp form up onto her shoulder and fling him over the edge of the railing, before vaulting over herself.

Before Kaidan could even comprehend why that was smart, he heard the subtle thrum of an engine as a mobile geth platform rose above the deck, carrying Shepard and an unconscious Vega on its back. Kaidan stared after them, wide eyed, as they flew off toward the giant ship. Shepard never looked back at him.

And it was quiet, except for Kaidan's ragged breathing. Ashley and Jacob were still unconscious on the ground, and Saren was only semiconscious, it looked like.

With a groan, he reached for his omni-tool, and pressed a button. Joker's panicked voice came in over his comm.

"ALENKO! Thank god," the pilot breathed. "Jesus Christ, man. What the fuck is going on down there? I tried to reach Shepard, but I got disconnected somehow. Are you guys okay?"

Kaidan took a deep breath. "Joker, we…we need evac. Now." His vision was growing cloudy again. The migraine was threatening to knock him out.

"Okay, okay. Where are you?"

"Center of the colony. And Joker?"

"Yeah, man?"

"Hurry."

"I'm on my way, don't worry, man. Just listen to the sound of my voice. Alenko? Alenko!"

But Kaidan was already out of it. He slumped against the rail, overcome by pain in his head. His eyes struggled to stay open.

The last thing he saw was Saren's unconscious body at the foot of that damn rock, before he, too, passed out.

A/N: Not gonna lie, this was really fun to write.

On Kaidan- Finally spelled his name right, and he got a bit of a cool fight scene in this one. But if you're disappointed that he was still a bit of an observer, remember that he hasn't really become a major character at this point, even in the games. But trust me, he is definitely going to grow and come into himself later- big things, baby.

On Ashley/Jacob- they're unconscious almost the entire chapter because, well, they honestly didn't have anything to do in this chapter. Jacob, at this point, is basically an extra, but Ashley's absence should play into her part later.

James- this chapter is a bridge for him, honestly. But rest assured, he will return. Think Noveria.

And finally, Shepard-she was probably the hardest to write in this chapter. We've already established in the previous chapters that she is a genuinely good person. I want her fall from grace to be epic, which is why I wrote Akuze in the first place. So finding a reason for her to turn her back on her crew and humanity in general is a pretty big stretch, all things considered. When I write her, I'm always trying to convey that sense of inner turmoil in her- she's conflicted between her emotions and the indoctrination, but it's impossible to fight Sovereign.

All her inner thoughts kind of explode later, when she fights Saren for the first time, and finally has an outlet for her aggression If you're angry about that ("what happened to 'best damn biotic in the alliance navy'?"), consider this- Saren is a Spectre. Not only that, but the youngest person to ever become a Spectre in the history of the council. Seeing as he's pretty much of an age with the Illusive Man, that gives him at least a solid four decades' experience against people like Shepard. So, in that department, it'd really take some major scale-tipping to Shepard's side to give her a chance at beating him, as it were.

Please review, tell me what you think. Any advice is always welcome, so long as you're nice about it. The next chapter isn't as...intense, so I hope to finish it sooner.