Chapter 6 – Chasing Starlight – Eden Prime
A/N: Some dialogue is taken directly from Mass Effect, which is owned by Bioware. Thanks to Ms Stitcha who encouraged me while I was having difficulty writing this chapter!
Joker and Kaidan sat in the cockpit, Kaidan copiloting as they headed towards the mass relay that would link them to the system of their destination. The guest they had to wait overnight to arrive was causing quite the stir onboard the Normandy, and Joker wasn't shy about sharing his feelings with Kaidan.
"Who would have thought the person coming in from turian space would be a turian?" Joker asked Kaidan, half sarcastically, half seriously. "I mean, I guess it kinda makes sense. Who else would be coming from out there?"
"Yeah, but it's still a bit surprising," Kaidan commented. "Especially since this is supposed to just be a shakedown mission."
"Yeah, I'm starting to doubt that. You know, now that there's a turian spectre aboard." Joker rolled his eyes. "It just doesn't seem right."
Kaidan responded very diplomatically, "I'm sure there's a reason. Commander Shepard will tell us when we need to be in the loop."
"Maybe, but who says she even knows?" Joker sighed, "I just hate not knowing. It would be nice to have an idea of what I'm about to fly this bird into."
"Like I said," Kaidan reassuringly repeated himself, "I'm sure we'll know when we need to. I doubt the alliance spent all this money on this ship just for it to get wrecked right away."
"I suppose you're right." Joker shifted gears. "Approaching the mass relay, Captain."
As if on cue, Anderson appeared in the cockpit, accompanied by the turian. Kaidan was glad that the conversation he and Joker were having had just been wrapped up and hoped their guest hadn't heard it. Even though he didn't know why this turian was there, Kaidan didn't want to leave a negative impression, on either him or the captain.
"Lieutenants, this is Nihlus. He'll be accompanying us on this mission. Nihlus, these men are Flight Lieutenant Moreau and Staff Lieutenant Alenko."
Kaidan stood and saluted his superior.
"At ease, Alenko." Kaidan softened his posture and nodded. Anderson looked specifically at the pilot, who had not responded at all, "Joker, I expect the upmost respect for guest."
Joker didn't stand or salute because he was preoccupied flying the ship. He responded without taking his eyes off the void "Of course, Captain, you got it."
"Good," Anderson said, leaving the bridge and Nihlus behind.
An uncomfortable silence filled the room. Why is Nihlus hanging out in here? Kaidan wondered. He focused on his station, and Joker just kept flying the ship. It was only a few moments until Joker ended the quiet.
"Welcome to the Utopia System. Thrusters, check. Navigation, check. Internal emissions sink engaged. All systems online. Drift, just under 1500k."
"1500 is good; your captain will be pleased." Nihlus stated before leaving the cockpit.
Only moment after he was gone, Joker sighed. "I hate that guy."
"Nihlus gave you a compliment…so you hate him," Kaidan retorted.
"You remember to zip up your jump suit on the way outta the bathroom, that's good. I just jumped us halfway across the galaxy and hit a target the size of a pinhead, so that's incredible." Kaidan couldn't help but roll his eyes at Joker's reasoning. He was right, but a little modesty might suit him. Joker had more to say about the situation, though, "Besides, spectres are trouble. I don't like having them on board. Call me paranoid."
"You're paranoid," Kaidan called the pilot out. "The council helped fund this project, they have a right to send someone to keep an eye on their investment." Kaidan spoke with confidence, but he wasn't sure he believed it himself.
Joker scoffed, "yeah, that's the official story. But only an idiot believes the official story."
Before Kaidan could respond, another voice broke into their dialogue. Shepard had moved so quietly into the cockpit that neither Kaidan nor Joker noticed her arrival. "How are the stealth systems operating?" Her tone was very business-like, and spoke without acknowledging the gossip-like conversation they had been having. Her interruption took Joker by surprise.
"Uh – yes, ma'am! Looks like everything is operating correctly."
Shepard nodded, and then changed her tone. She had clearly had some business to check on up here, but also cared about her crew. She spoke again, her tone cordial and empathetic instead this time. "Is everything alright in here?" Though she hadn't specifically asked Joker the question, Kaidan got the impression it was directed more to the pilot than himself.
"Yeah, Commander. I'm just a little tense." Joker sighed and shrugged. "I didn't expect there to be a spectre on board."
There was a slight pause, and Kaidan felt the need to chime in. "It does seem a bit odd, Commander. I suppose the council is checking on their investment, but something just doesn't feel right."
"I agree." She straightened her posture, then continued. "When I know more, I'll fill you in." Kaidan didn't know why Evelyn's response surprised him; after all, he had just reassured Joker of this himself a few moments ago. Her ability to command and yet also be warm is incredible, he thought. Perhaps that's what surprised him the most. She was able to be both caring and friendly, but very professional at the same time. He admired this about her.
Anderson's voice came over the comm, ordering Shepard down to the communications room. "I better get down there," Evelyn said. "Hopefully I'll have some answers for you after this, Joker, Kaidan," she turned and headed out without hesitation.
Kaidan immediately noticed the use of his first name. He wondered if she had done so intentionally, or if she had even realized she called him "Kaidan" in the first place.
"Holy shit," Joker's surprised, hushed tone, interrupted Kaidan's train of thought. Joker scrambled as he contacted the Captain to show him the unexpected horrors that were shown in the transmission coming from Eden Prime. Kaidan's thoughts matched Joker's as he watched the video; Eden Prime, a primarily civilian-inhabited garden planet and colony known for its beauty and farmlands, was under attack. Even if this mission's original purpose was to be a simple shakedown mission, its more than that now, Kaidan thought.
Moments later, Shepard rushed back up to the bridge. "Alenko!" She shouted from a short distance away. "Suit up – we're going down there!"
Kaidan stood immediately, acknowledging the order as he moved. The two swiftly jogged down to the armory and began to prepare for the attack.
Evelyn pulled off her uniform, revealing that she only had a thin camisole on underneath it. Kaidan noticed how gorgeous she looked, her abdomen toned and waist defined, but immediately shook off the distraction. There were civilians under attack down there that needed his help. Now was not the time to ogle his commanding officer.
Evelyn noticed Kaidan's short gaze on her, and moved her eyes away from his face. They landed on his chest, noticing his attractive, toned muscles. Evelyn forced herself to focus on getting herself ready for battle; she was used to getting into her armor in front of other marines, but for some reason, in front of Kaidan she had to steady her thoughts on the mission to keep from blushing.
There was one other marine down there with them, Jenkins, who was already dressed and getting their weapons ready.
Time passed so quickly – before they knew it, Evelyn, Kaidan, and Jenkins had been briefed by Anderson and were groundside on Eden Prime. It was dusk, but the smoke everywhere made it darker, seeming later than it was. The dreaded, but familiar, metallic odor of blood crept through the filter of Shepard's helmet. The last time she had seen this much bloodshed had been Elysium. Her mind had started to flash back to it, but her resolve was strong. She compartmentalized the memory, as she often had, and moved forward.
The path ahead looked clear, so Evelyn ordered Jenkins on ahead. Out of nowhere, two recon drones ambushed him. She and Kaidan overloaded one each, but it was already too late.
"Damn it!" Shepard cursed herself. Kaidan looked at her, his visage, surprised, and concerned at his commander's reaction to their comrade's death. He had expected her to be more stoic, given their previous interactions and her experience. As they approached his body, Kaidan noticed Shepard clenching her fists. She took a deep breath, relaxed her fingers and shoulders, and stated plainly that she would see to it that he got a proper burial after the mission was complete. Kaidan shook off her reaction, just as she had, and reassured her by laying one hand on the back of her shoulder. She shivered at the unexpected touch, but then turned to Kaidan and smiled slightly. "Thanks," she simply said. "Let's move out."
They came around a bend and saw another marine, firing from what little cover she had from the intelligent, humanoid machines attacking her. As Shepard and Kaidan drew closer, Kaidan exclaimed in a hushed tone, "Geth? What are they doing out here? Why are they attacking a human colony?" Shepard, focused on helping the marine, sent a combat drone out to draw their fire away from her. Kaidan overloaded the geths' shields, Evelyn sabotaged their weapons, and the drone finished the last unit off. They rushed over to the marine as soon as things were clear.
"Are you alright?" Shepard inquired.
"I'll survive." She breathed hard. "I'm Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams of the 212. You in charge here, ma'am?"
"I'm Commander Shepard, and this is Lieutenant Alenko." Kaidan thought it was incredibly thoughtful of her to take the time to introduce him as well. "LT, run a first aid diagnostic on her," as Kaidan followed the order, Evelyn continued her conversation with Ashley. "Do you know what happened here?"
"The geth are after the beacon. They're attacking everyone in sight. Civilians, too. Bastards." Williams punched the rock they were taking cover behind. Kaidan calmly requested she hold still. Here he was trying to patch her up and she was punching something that could break her hand. "Sorry, LT," she shook her hand, and looked back to Shepard. "They took out my entire unit. Then impaled most of them on those spikes," Williams motioned slightly ahead. "I'm sure that's where I would have ended up if you hadn't gotten here."
"I'm sorry to hear that, Williams. Are you able to show us the way to the beacon?" Shepard respectfully inquired, her tone also suggesting that if Williams could, she needed to.
Ashley nodded and Evelyn and Kaidan followed her lead. The spike Ashley pointed out lowered as the three marines approached it. A husk of a human fell from it and started dashing toward them, groaning and screaming. Kaidan instinctively used his biotics to forcefully throw it far from them, rendering it lifeless on the ground. Evelyn was beyond impressed. Sure, she had read on Kaidan's dossier that he was a biotic, but seeing him in action was something else. It was suddenly real, not just words on a data pad. Evelyn hadn't worked with many biotics, and the ones she had didn't measure up to Kaidan at all. His abilities intrigued her; she hadn't met a human biotic as powerful as him.
"What the fuck was that?" Ashley's reaction, however, was to the husk, not Kaidan's biotics.
"I'm guessing that spike did this to him," Kaidan hypothesized. "You said that the geth put most of the humans on these things?"
"Yeah…" Ashley's voice trailed off.
"Then we can probably expect more." Evelyn pointed out.
"At least we know they're weak to biotics, now." Kaidan noted that the husk did not move after he threw it.
"We're lucky to have you, Alenko," Evelyn declared. If they hadn't been standing over a dead former-human-zombie-thing, Kaidan might have blushed. But the husk wasn't the only thing ruining the mood; the smell of the dead was growing more pungent as they traveled closer to the beacon's location.
After talking with some civilians who managed to hide during the attack, the three came to the star port, where they found their turian friend.
"Oh, no, Nihlus," Shepard's tone was hushed and mournful. She knelt down beside him, checking for a pulse, but there wasn't one to be found. "Damn it, this day just keeps getting worse," she muttered.
A sound came from behind some crates; Kaidan and Ashley quickly pulled their weapons towards it, and a man emerged with his hands in the air. "The other one shot him. Looked like they were friends. I thought you would want to know." He plainly stated. Evelyn ordered Kaidan and Ashley to secure the perimeter while she got more details from the dock worker.
The three pushed ahead, dealing with more geth and husks as they went. Evelyn made note of William's impressive combat abilities, and considered asking Anderson to keep her as part of their crew. Kaidan used his biotics to lift or throw husks, and Evelyn handled sabotaging the geth, with Williams aiming her assault rifle at anything that didn't stop moving after Kaidan and Shepard's attacks.
Finally, they reached the beacon. As Evelyn contacted the Normandy for pickup, Kaidan and Ashley drew closer to the Prothean artifact to check it out.
"This is amazing – real, working, Prothean technology." Kaidan said.
"Yeah, I guess." Ashley shook her head. "That thing caused all this trouble. I'm just not sure it was worth it. So many lives, lost…" She turned around and walked toward Shepard, "I just need a little time to process everything that has happened here."
Kaidan nodded, taking one step closer to the beacon. He would have reassured Ashley, but started to lose control over his body. The beacon was pulling him closer to it. He grunted as he struggled to hold his ground. He didn't want to ruin the artifact or activate it prematurely. They needed to get it to the ship. The draw of the beacon started to give him a migraine, and just as he felt he was about to lose the battle with this mysterious force, he was shoved out of the way, catching a glimpse of dark red hair from the woman who aided him.
Desperately, Kaidan looked up to see Evelyn in his place, now held prisoner by the beam. She was frozen, her body stiff, suspended in the air, her eyes wide, and her face contorted with pain.
This is all my fault! Kaidan thought. He started to move towards her, but Ashley restrained him. "Don't touch her! It's too dangerous!" the brunette exclaimed. Kaidan knew she was right, and relaxed, his body language telling Ashley he wouldn't try anything. He watched Shepard, pained, wishing he hadn't taken that step toward the damn beacon. Whatever happens to Evelyn is my fault. How could I be so stupid?
With a flash, the beacon exploded, which caused it to release its hold on Shepard and send her flying a few meters away. She laid on the ground, lifeless, and Kaidan rushed to her, followed closely by Ashley. Evelyn's eyes were closed, her brows slightly furrowed, her lips just barely parted. Kaidan quickly checked for a pulse.
"She alive." Thank God. He couldn't have lived with himself if she had died because of his curiosity.
Just then, the Normandy landed. Kaidan very carefully picked Shepard up, and gently carried her up the ramp into their ship. He prayed she would wake up, and that she would be alright when she did. He knew he would have a lot of answering to do to Captain Anderson, and hoped his superior officer would be understanding.
A/N: Chapter 7 on the way! It's a bit fluffy and has been a lot of fun to write after being frustrated with this chapter! Thanks again for the reviews, favorites, and follows - y'all make my day. :)
PS: Cover art coming soon! XandraSketches from tumblr is working on something for me - I can't wait to see it!