Allegra watched Joker and Kaidan bicker good-naturedly back and forth. It was clear the two had already become fast friends even though they hadn't known each other long. A slight pang of jealousy coursed through her. It had never been easy for Allegra to make friends. On the contrary, Cade made instant life-long friends with each and every person he met. There was just something so extremely likeable about him, something Allegra did not possess.
It wasn't that Allegra was unlikeable, it just took awhile for people to get used to her. Cade told her she had an unapproachable air about her, whatever that meant. Allegra figured she didn't need friends. She didn't have time for them anyway. And subordinates didn't look to you for leadership without question if you were their 'buddy'.
Allegra shook her head to clear her thoughts and focused back on Joker and Kaidan's conversation just in time to hear the comm system beep with an incoming message.
"Message from Eden Prime," Kaidan commented.
"Play it. It might be important," Allegra ordered.
"Yes, ma'am," Joker replied, receiving the transmission.
Allegra, Joker, and Kaidan started at the monitor as the message played. They all wore similar looks of horror and confusion.
"Tell the Captain," Allegra told Joker immediately after the message cut out.
He did so. Allegra pondered this new development. They were supposedly only going to Eden Prime for a simple shakedown run. Although, Allegra hadn't been able to fathom why they would go to Eden Prime to test out their stealth systems. It didn't make any sense. And now Eden Prime was being attacked by something unknown. What the hell had they gotten into?
"I've never seen a ship like that before," Kaidan commented quietly, turning in his seat to face her.
"Nor have I," Allegra replied. "There's something going on that the Captain hasn't told us about. Something important."
"Here comes the commander. Maybe he'll know," Kaidan said.
Allegra spun and, sure enough, Cade was walking quickly up towards the cockpit. "Cade, what the hell-"
"Allegra, Lieutenant Alenko, suit up. I've already let Jenkins know. Be in the cargo hold in five minutes," Cade ordered, interrupting Allegra.
Kaidan immediately stood up and rushed off to grab his gear. Allegra stared at her brother. "I don't like this Cade. Who would attack Eden Prime? What was that ship?"
"I don't know, Allegra," he replied quietly, eyeing Joker.
"Why are we here? This isn't to test out the ship."
"I'll tell you when we have time," Cade promised. "Just get ready."
Allegra rolled her eyes in frustration, but headed down to her locker to grab her things. She quickly slipped into her armor and grabbed her weapons, arriving at the door in the cargo hold as Kaidan did. Jenkins was already there, pacing nervously. Captain Anderson, Nihlus and Cade approached seconds later.
Anderson looked them over. He turned to Cade. "Your team's the muscle in this operation, Commander. Go in heavy and head straight for the dig site."
Dig site? Allegra wondered.
"What about survivors, Captain?" Kaidan spoke up.
"Helping survivors is a secondary objective. The beacon's your top priority."
Beacon, what beacon? Allegra looked over at Cade, who seemed to know what the Captain was talking about.
"Approaching drop point one," Joker announced over the intercom.
Nihlus checked his assault rifle one last time then jumped out the open cargo bay door.
"Nihlus will scout out ahead," Anderson explained. "He'll feed you status reports throughout the mission; otherwise, I want radio silence."
"We've got his back, Captain," Cade answered.
"The mission's yours now, Shepard. Good luck."
"We are approaching drop point two," Joker stated.
Cade, Allegra, Kaidan, and Jenkins readied themselves then quickly jumped from the ship to land on Eden Prime.
Once they had all safely landed, Allegra looked around, bringing her assault rifle up. Cade took out his own assault rifle, while Jenkins and Kaidan readied their pistols.
"Ship perimeter secure, Commander," Kaidan said.
"Oh god . . . what happened here?" Jenkins breathed in horror. Everything was burning and bodies littered the ground.
Allegra recalled Jenkins was from Eden Prime. He just better not get too choked up about the situation; it was all their lives on the line here.
"This place got hit hard," Nihlus said over the comms. "Hostiles everywhere. Keep your guard up."
Cade started to lead them away from the drop point. Jenkins followed immediately behind him, with Kaidan and Allegra bringing up the rear.
"Smells like smoke and death," Kaidan murmured to Allegra.
She nodded in silent agreement.
The group hurried on. They crested a small hill and noticed some sort of floating something down near the bottom.
"What the hell are those?" Kaidan wondered.
Allegra shot one and it blew up.
"Damn!" Kaidan yelled in surprise.
"Floating gas bags," Allegra said, answering his question.
"Did you have to shoot it?" Cade asked.
"He wanted to know what it was," Allegra said in defense.
"So you shot it?"
"I'll shoot you if you don't shut up."
"I'd like to see you try."
Allegra glared at Cade. "Will you tell us what we're doing here? I don't think this place was attacked for those gas bags."
Cade sighed and looked into the earnest faces of his team. "All right, fine. Some of the colonists here recently dug up a Prothean beacon."
"Prothean?" Kaidan repeated. "That explains a lot."
"Why all the secrecy?" Allegra asked. "Why not tell us what we were doing here?"
"The captain said it was strictly on a need-to-know basis," Cade replied. "We thought this would be a simple grab-and-go mission, but apparently someone found out about the beacon."
"So they attacked to try to steal it for themselves," Allegra finished.
"Exactly. We have to secure that beacon so it doesn't end up in the wrong hands."
Cade moved them out once more. They hurried along for a few minutes until they came to an area that was more wide open then where they had previously been. The team crouched down behind some rocks, Cade peering around them. He didn't see anything so he motioned for Jenkins to go on ahead.
Jenkins moved from the cover out into the open. Almost immediately a couple of drones appeared and shot at him. Jenkins screamed and fell to the ground. The other three opened fire and quickly took out the drones.
Cade slowly approached Jenkins' body, Allegra and Kaidan close behind him. Kaidan bent down, shaking his head sadly as he closed Jenkins' lifeless eyes. "Ripped right through his shields," Kaidan muttered. "Never had a chance."
"Leave him," Allegra said coldly, looking away. "We need to finish the mission."
Kaidan looked over at her like she was insane, then quickly looked to Cade.
Cade frowned at Allegra. "We'll see that he receives a proper service once the mission is complete."
"Fine," Allegra replied. "Let's move out."
Kaidan followed the two Shepards silently. He was still pretty shook up about Jenkins' sudden death, and couldn't believe Allegra suggested just leaving him. She really did focus everything she had on a mission. He was glad Cade had stepped up to do what was right.
Further up the hill, a few more drones appeared. Kaidan used his biotic throw on one of them as Allegra and Cade each shot at another.
Their comms crackled with Nihlus' voice, "I've got some burned out buildings here, Shepard. A lot of bodies. I'm going to check it out. I'll try to catch up with you at the dig site."
After destroying a few more drones, they arrived at the top of another hill in time to see a female Alliance soldier running towards them. She was being chased by two drones but she managed to tear down the both of them. She was able to duck behind some rocks just as two robotic troopers appeared.
Cade and Allegra hurried forward to help the soldier fight them off. Kaidan quickly threw up a barrier around them as the troopers opened fire. After a few intense minutes of fighting, the team finally managed to destroy the troopers.
The soldier sighed heavily and lowered her weapon. "Thanks for your help," she said gratefully. "I didn't think I was going to make it." She straightened and introduced herself. "Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams of the 212. You the one in charge here, sir?" she directed at Cade.
"Are you wounded, Williams?" Cade asked, looking over Ashley critically.
"Nothing serious. The others weren't so lucky. We were patrolling the perimeter when the attack hit. We tried to get off a distress call, but they cut off our communications. I've been fighting for my life ever since."
"Where's the rest of your squad?" Allegra questioned.
"We tried to get back to the beacon, but we walked into an ambush. I think . . . I think I'm the only one left."
"This isn't your fault, Williams. You couldn't have done anything to save them," Cade consoled.
"Yes, sir. We held our position as long as possible. Then the geth overwhelmed us."
Kaidan's head snapped up. "The geth haven't been seen outside the Veil in nearly 200 years. Why are they here now?" he wondered incredulously.
"They must have come for the beacon," Ashley answered with a small shrug. "The dig site is close. Just over that rise. It might still be there."
"We can take care of this," Allegra said, beginning to turn away from Ashley.
"Let me come with you," Ashley protested. "The geth slaughtered my unit. Give me a chance to get even."
"She knows the area, Commander," Kaidan pointed out. "And we could use the extra firepower."
"Let's not forget that I'm in charge here," Cade said. He turned to Ashley. "We could use your help, Williams."
"Aye, aye, sir. It's time for payback," Ashley growled.
The team continued on. As they walked, Ashley informed them on what she knew about the beacon. It wasn't much, just that the colonists had been digging with the intent of extending the monorail when they had run into some Prothean ruins, among them the beacon. She admitted to not knowing much about the beacon itself, but she had heard one of the researchers say it could be the biggest scientific discovery of the century.
As they got closer to the dig site, they ran across more geth. Kaidan watched the two Shepards dispatch them with ease. He had never seen anyone fight like they did. They were both very well trained with their weapons, and they moved in perfect synchronization. He figured it must be some twin thing they shared. Even Ashley was an excellent fighter, well versed in each different gun she carried. Kaidan felt slightly useless as he really could only use a pistol and relied on his biotic abilities for the most part. His three teammates were much better fighters than he was.
He cleared his head of these thoughts as they finally arrived at the dig site.
"This is the dig site," Ashley confirmed. "The beacon was right here. It must have been moved."
"By who?" Kaidan wondered. "Our side? Or the geth?"
"Hard to say," Ashley responded. "Maybe we'll know more after we check out the research camp."
"You think anyone got out of here alive?" Allegra asked doubtfully.
"If they were lucky. Maybe there are some people hiding in the camp," Ashley suggested. "It's just on the top of this ridge."
Their comms beeped as Nihlus spoke, "Change of plans, Shepard. There's a small spaceport up ahead. I want to check it out. I'll wait for you there."
Cade led them up the ridge until they arrived at the camp. The place had been hit hard, many of the buildings still smoking from various fires. Kaidan noticed some curious looking stands set up in various places around the camp. As he looked closer, he noticed what looked like human-shaped robots impaled upon the spike end of each stand. Suddenly, the spikes on each stand started to retract, and the things impaled on them began twitching and moving.
"Oh god, they're still alive!" Kaidan cried in revulsion.
"What did the geth do to them?" Ashley whispered. She quickly explained how she had seen some of the geth troopers impaling a colonist onto one of the spikes.
"You mean these were the colonists?" Cade gasped.
Ashley was about to reply, but was cut off as the husks of the colonists began to attack. Luckily, they didn't move very fast, but it took a few shots to each one to put them down. Kaidan tried not to think about how they used to be innocent people.
Finally, they had dispatched all the husks in the area. They looked around at some of the buildings close by, trying to find any survivors. As they walked up to one of the buildings, they noticed that the security lock was engaged. Allegra quickly overrode the lock and the door swished open.
"Humans!" cried a woman standing inside the small building. "Thank the Maker!"
A man who was fidgeting awkwardly beside her cried, "Hurry! Close the door! Before they come back!"
"Don't worry. We'll protect you," Cade assured.
"Thank you," the woman replied. "I think we'll be okay now. It looks like everyone's gone."
"You're Dr. Warren," Ashley realized, "the one in charge of the excavation. Do you know what happened to the beacon?"
"It was moved to the spaceport this morning," Dr. Warren replied. "Manuel and I stayed behind to help pack up the camp. When the attack came, the marines held them off long enough for us to hide. They gave their lives to save us."
"No one is saved!" cried Manuel. "The age of humanity is ended. Soon, only ruins and corpses will remain."
"What's wrong with you assistant?" Allegra asked with a grimace.
"Manuel has a brilliant mind, but he's always been a bit . . . unstable. Genius and madness are two sides of the same coin."
"Is it madness to see the future? To see the destruction rushing towards us? To understand there is no escape? No hope? No, I am not mad. I'm the only sane one left!" Manuel yelled.
"I gave him an extra dose of his meds after the attack," Dr. Warren explained.
"Have you seen a turian in the area?" Cade asked.
"I saw him," Manuel muttered. "The prophet. Leader of the enemy. He was here, before the attack."
"That's impossible!" Kaidan rebuked. "Nihlus was with us on the Normandy before the attack. He couldn't have been here."
"I'm sorry," Dr. Warren interrupted. "Manuel's still a bit . . . unsettled. We haven't seen your turian. We've been hiding in here since the attack."
"Can you tell me anything about the beacon?" Cade questioned.
"It's some type of data module from a galaxy-wide communications network," Dr. Warren replied conversationally. "Remarkably well-preserved. It could be the greatest scientific discovery of our lifetime!"
"So we've heard," Allegra commented.
"We have unearthed the heart of evil. Awakened the beast. Unleashed the darkness," Manuel rambled crazily.
Kaidan could tell Allegra was growing impatient with Manuel. She was glaring at him and shifting her weight around. As he continued with his rant, Allegra shook her head and growled, "Say goodnight, Manuel." Before anyone could stop her, she punched Manuel right in the face, knocking him out cold.
"Oh my god!" Dr. Warren yelled. "What did you do?"
Cade gripped Allegra by the arm and pulled her forcibly away from Manuel's body. Kaidan stared at her in shock, while Ashley looked as though she was trying not to laugh.
"That might have been a little extreme, Commander," Kaidan gently said to Allegra.
Allegra looked up at him, a curious expression on her face.
"You can't just go around whacking people in the head!" Dr. Warren continued.
"It was only a matter of time until he did something crazy. And dangerous," Allegra replied, defending herself.
Dr. Warren sighed. "I suppose you're right. By the time he wakes up, the meds will have kicked in."
Cade was still shaking his head at Allegra in disappointment. "Perhaps we should get out of here," he said. "Williams, take us to the spaceport."
As they were running up a nearby hill to get to the spaceport, they heard what sounded like a gunshot in the distance. Kaidan glanced over at Allegra, who was standing next to him. She wore a deep frown and had swiftly brought her gun up. Kaidan followed suit with his pistol.
They finally came to the top of the hill, noticing a ramp immediately in front of them. Kaidan glanced up at the sky at a sudden strange noise and gasped in surprise. "What is that?" he called. "Off in the distance." He pointed to the strange ship flying away from the planet.
"It's a ship. Look at the size of it!" Ashley cried in astonishment.
"It's the ship from the transmission," Cade realized.
"I've never seen a geth ship that looked like that," Allegra commented.
"Maybe it's not the geth," Cade replied.
"Then what – Alenko! Behind you!" Allegra suddenly shouted, brining her gun up and shooting a rapid burst into something directly beside Kaidan.
Kaidan spun in terror to see a husk writhing on the ground at his feet, another one making its way up to them from the spaceport.
The group opened fire, their teamwork quickly finishing the attack. Cade led them down the slight hill toward another group of small buildings. As they approached one tucked away in the corner, a group of three people slowly exited the building.
"Everybody stay calm out there," the man in front called. "We're coming out. We're not armed."
"Is it safe? Are they gone?" one of the colonists asked anxiously.
"You're okay now," Cade replied. "Nobody's going to hurt you."
"Those things were crawling all around the shed," the first man explained. "They would have found us for sure. We owe you our lives."
"I – I still can't believe it," the second colonist stammered. "When we saw that ship I thought it was all over!"
"It showed up right before the attack. Knew it was trouble the second I saw it. So we made a break for the sheds."
"Tell me everything you remember about the attack," Cade demanded.
"The three of us were working the crops when that ship showed up," the man said slowly. "We just saw it and ran. I don't know what happened to the rest of the crew."
"They were by the garage," the third colonist muttered. "Over near the spaceport. Right where that ship came down. There's no way they survived."
"You don't know that!" the second colonist cried angrily. "We survived. If they made it to the garage, they could've had a fighting chance!"
"We should go," Allegra said to Cade.
"Hey, Cole," the third colonist directed at the first, "we're just a bunch of farmers. These guys are soldiers. Maybe we should give them the stuff."
"Geez, Blake. You gotta learn when to shut up!" Cole cried.
"Do you have something to tell me, Cole?" Cade questioned, stepping forward to tower over the farmer.
Cole sighed. "Some guys at the spaceport were running a small smuggling ring. Nothing major. In exchange for a cut of the profits, we let them store packages in our sheds."
"You greedy bastard!" Allegra shouted. "You weren't running for your life! You were running to check on your merchandise."
"No! It's not like that. I just . . . I just knew there were some packages here. Something we could use."
Kaidan agreed with Allegra, but decided to stay quiet.
"You're breaking the law, Cole," Cade said seriously.
"We're not hurting anybody!" Cole defended. "Hell, most of the time, I don't even know what's in the packages. I just thought there might be something we could use. I found a pistol. Figured it would come in handy if those things came back. But you'll probably get more use out of it than we will." He handed a pistol over to Cade.
Allegra took a quick step forward. "We're risking our lives to save this colony," she growled. "You sure there's nothing else in here that could help us out?"
"Yeah, there's one more thing. I was going to sell it after this was over. But you probably deserve it more than I do." He handed something else over to Cade.
"Who's your contact at the spaceport, Cole? What's his name?" Ashley spoke up.
"He's not a bad guy," Cole replied. "I don't want to get him in trouble. Besides, I'm not a snitch!"
"Would you rather be a snitch or a corpse?" Allegra asked evenly, aiming her pistol at Cole.
"Allegra!" Cade bellowed angrily, forcing her arm down.
Cole looked at Allegra in horror. "Powell!" he cried. "His name's Powell!"
Kaidan took a second to marvel at Allegra. He didn't exactly like they way she handled things, but he'd be damned if she didn't get the information they wanted.
"No honor among thieves," Ashley murmured.
"That's all I know. Really," Cole said, shrinking away from Allegra. "So let's try to keep things friendly from here on in, okay?"
"We have to go," Cade said, still glaring at Allegra. He pulled her away towards the spaceport, muttering, "We'll talk later." Kaidan did not envy having Cade Shepard angry at her. Ashley gave the two Shepards a curious glance, but quickly turned away.
As they walked towards the platform of the spaceport, Cade handed the pistol Cole had given him over to Kaidan. He took it with a grateful nod.
Allegra was the first to walk up onto the platform of the spaceport, stopping short at what she saw.
Kaidan came up directly behind her. "Commander," he said, "it's Nihlus."
"Something's moving!" Ashley announced. "Over behind those crates!"
All four of them quickly brought their guns up, aiming in the direction Ashley pointed. There was some rustling, then a human popped up from behind the crates, his arms raised over his head. "Wait!" he cried. "Don't – don't shoot! I'm one of you! I'm human."
"Why were you sneaking up on us? We nearly killed you!" Cade shouted in exasperation.
"I . . . I'm sorry. I was hiding from those creatures. My name's Powell."
Uh oh, Kaidan thought. This was the farmer's smuggling contact. He wondered how Allegra would react to him. Cade must have been wondering the same thing, because he shot Allegra a look that clearly told her to back off from her aggressive stance.
"I saw what happened to that turian. The other one shot him," Powell continued.
"Other one? There was another turian?" Cade asked.
Powell nodded.
That was enough to distract Allegra for a minute. "How did Nihlus die exactly?" she asked.
"The other one got here first," Powell stammered. "He was waiting when your friend showed up. He called him Saren. I think they knew each other. Your friend seemed to relax. He let his guard down . . . and Saren killed him. Shot him right in the back. I'm just lucky he didn't see me behind the crates."
"A Prothean beacon was brought to the spaceport earlier today," Cade began. "What happened to it?"
"It's over on the other platform. Probably where that guy Saren was headed. He hopped on the cargo train right after he killed your friend. I knew that beacon was trouble. Everything's gone to hell since we found it. First that damn mother ship showed up. Then the attack. They killed everyone. Everyone! If I hadn't been behind the crates, I'd be dead too!"
"How come you're the only one who survived?" Allegra questioned. "Why didn't anyone else try to hide behind the crates?"
"They never had a chance. I . . . I was already behind the crates when the attack started."
"Wait a minute," Kaidan spoke up. "You were hiding behind the crates before the attack?"
"I . . . sometimes I need a nap to get through my shift. I sneak off behind the crates to grab forty winks where the supervisor can't find me."
"You survived because you're lazy?" Ashley asked incredulously.
"If you hadn't snuck off for that nap you'd probably be dead just like all the others," Cade surmised.
"Yeah, I guess. I don't really want to think about it."
Allegra shook her head in disgust, then finally said it. "You're Cole's contact here on the docks. For the smuggling ring."
"What?" Powell gasped. "No! I mean . . . what does it matter now? So I'm a smuggler? Who cares? Everyone's dead."
Allegra crossed her arms over her chest and coldly asked, "Anything hidden nearby that we could use against the geth?"
Powell sighed in defeat. "A shipment of grenades come through last week. Nobody notices if a small pieces go missing from the military orders."
Ashley huffed in indignation. "You greedy son of a bitch! We're out here trying to protect your sorry ass and all you can think about is how you can rip us off?"
"I never thought you'd actually need those grenades!" Powell cried, throwing his hands up and backing slightly away from them. "Who'd want to attack Eden Prime? We're just a bunch of farmers! How was I supposed to know?"
"Hand over those grenades," Ashley snarled.
"They're yours. Take them," Powell said, handing them over. "My smuggling days are over. I swear."
"Too many people died here for you to keep lying to us!" Allegra roared. She and Ashley both brought up their guns. Kaidan and Cade looked at each other in alarm.
"Allegra!" Cade hissed.
"Okay! All right!" Powell cried. "There was something else. Experimental technology. Take it. I don't need it. I didn't want anyone to get hurt. Really. I'm sorry."
Allegra and Ashley lowered their weapons. Powell handed something over to Allegra.
"We need to find that beacon before it's too late," Cade said decisively.
"Take the cargo train," Powell spoke up. "That's where the other turian went. I . . . I can't stay here. I need to get away from all this." Powell quickly departed.
Cade turned to Allegra. "You're really starting to piss me off," he said lowly.
"I'm just trying to get the job done," Allegra replied icily.
"Uh, guys? Maybe you two could discuss this later," Kaidan interrupted. "More geth are here."
The team fought their way onto the cargo train, taking out quite a few geth. They managed to get to the other platform with little trouble. But Kaidan immediately noticed something sitting on the platform as they got off the train.
"Demolition charges!" he announced. "The geth must have planted them."
"Hurry!" Ashley cried. "We need to find them all and shut them down!"
As Kaidan had the most technical abilities of the group, he hurriedly got to work on disarming the bomb while the others covered him from surrounding geth. They moved over the platform, Kaidan successfully disarming more charges while the other three destroyed all the geth.
On the far side of the platform they saw the beacon. They approached it in awe. There was some sort of misty light surrounding the beacon, and it hummed lowly. Cade radioed in to the Normandy as Kaidan and Ashley stepped closer to the beacon.
Kaidan could hardly believe his eyes. "This is amazing," he said, wonder evident in his voice. "Actual working Prothean technology. Unbelievable!"
"It wasn't doing anything like that when they dug it up," Ashley commented. She turned and headed back to Cade and Allegra.
Kaidan, however, couldn't seem to help himself from getting closer to the beacon. It was like it was drawing him in; he didn't even notice his feet moving. All of a sudden, a brilliant light erupted from the beacon and Kaidan was lifted into the air. He heard shouts behind him, then a huge mass launched itself into his body. Kaidan realized it was Cade. He watched in horror as Cade was thrown into the beacon's grip instead. Allegra ran up to Kaidan, holding him steady on the ground as they watched Cade, unsure of what to do.
Cade was kept in the beacon's grip for a few very tense moments, his body twitching, until the beacon exploded brilliantly and flung Cade backward. With a cry of shock, Allegra ran to her brother. He was unconscious. "Radio the Normandy," she muttered, her features revealing the panic she was feeling. Kaidan's heart wrenched at the look in her eyes as she tried to rouse Cade. He quickly radioed Joker.