Chapter 2: Contact

It had been some time since Kari had landed on Eden Prime, four days so far. The days had been much longer than those on the Migrant fleet, nearly three times as long in fact. She had found herself waking up in the wee hours, and getting sleepy in the middle of the day but she had finally gotten used to it. The humans on the planet seemed to take small naps when they felt sleepy and then slept through most of Eden Prime's thirty-two hour night. The ones that had been there longer at least, she often saw laborers out in the fields in the middle of the night, working by the light of omni-tools or massive halogen lights that they carted out into the fields.

Kari had started to mingle a little with some of the human colonists. Most of them simply ignored her presence, some were curious…and a few hostile. After one particularly bad encounter with one of the officers of the local law enforcement, she had decided that perhaps her time was better spent away from the main colony on the outskirts of town. She had gear enough to make a makeshift campsite if she needed it, and it seemed that no one but farmers ever went out into the fields.

One day when she was out collecting samples and running tests. Kari had encountered what she thought was a type of weed. The plant was rather unsightly and she had figured that no one would mind if she took a few leaves. However, as chance would have it one of the farmers was driving by on a machine called a 'tractor' and he had stopped her and asked what she was doing to his crop. It had turned out that the old man had planted the weed and it was something called "tobacco" and was used to do something called "smoking:" Evidentially, the plant was harvested, the leaves were cut up and dried and then vaporized or burned. The resulting smoke was then inhaled.

Kari had never heard of any such thing before, and she had apologized profusely for her trespass and offered to pay for any damages. She fully expected to be arrested, or have some sort of punishment levied against her but the old man had instead invited her to stay with him and his wife after hearing the young quarian's story. Sam and Ellie Ellis lived in a small house on the very outskirts of the colony. They didn't like in the tower apartments like most of the rest of the humans on Eden Prime, but had settled for a rather low-tech house built from materials gathered from the local plants and stones from a nearby quarry. Kari had never seen a "wood" house before, it was somewhat crudely made, trunks of trees that had been stacked on top of one another, with notches sawn into them so that wood compacted nicely and one could still see some of the knots where the limbs had once sprouted, but the house was sturdy and had a sort of rustic charm to it.

Of course, Kari's natural curiosity got the better of her, and she had asked question after question of the grey haired humans. They explained that they were from earth, but overpopulation had pushed them to come here when they were both younger. He had been a soldier once and she had been in the medical field, something called a "nurse". They had met when he had been injured in the battle of Shanxi during the First Contact War. Sam's wound hadn't been life threatening, but it had meant he would never be a soldier again. So they decided to become farmers and build a 'log cabin' on one of the agricultural worlds.

Kari found it all fascinating, she asked more questions of them and they seemed happy to indulge her. It seemed that they had a son once, but he had left some years ago to join the Alliance Navy. They didn't have much company out where they lived, and so someone to talk seemed a welcome diversion for them, especially since they seemed to be living by pre-space flight standards as far as communication went. They had their own questions for her, about her people, her family, her pilgrimage, her suit and she was happy to answer. Although it felt a little strange admittedly, no one on the fleet other than her parents had shown such an interest in her, but still it was pleasant to finally have someone to open up to a little bit. After the evening meal, the two excused themselves but not before giving her use of their son's old room; she offered to pay but they wouldn't accept.
"You stay as long as you want dearie." Ellie had told her, "We are glad of the company."

It was very kind of them, Kari thought, as she got undressed for the night, removing the violet fabric that wrapped around her body and composed her hood, leaving her in just her envirosuit as she lay down on the surprisingly soft bed. Even through her suit, she could feel the difference. It wasn't some old piece of insulation wrapped in cloth, it wasn't even one of the nicer foam mattress that some quarians gave their children when they got their first suit. It was made of something else entirely…and it was sooooo soft.
"Keelah" she remarked, pressing the mattress with a finger. It felt like she was laying on top of a cloud.
She smiled and snuggled into the bed comfortably; thanking the ancestors that not all humans were as the first one she met. As the light of Eden Prime's moon caressed the fringes of the curtains tenderly, Kari feel into the deep warm ocean of sleep.

It had been less than an hour since the call came in. Eden Prime, the great symbol of Alliance progress had gone dark. Whispers and murmurs of speculation, rumors and fears were spreading faster than wildfire in the Briefing Room, but there had been no official word as of yet.
"I heard it was Batarians…" one ensign was overhead to say. "my buddy…. and he said it was the Turians"another private hissed.
"Don't be stupid…our side now…they wouldn't-"

"Quiet down."the voice of the ship's captain, Hall broke through the fog of whispers. The captain, a short grey-haired man with a hard-lined jaw and grizzled features took the dias at the head of the room. Silence followed in his wake, as his piercing grey eyes scanned the room, they seemed to be scrutinizing and judging each and every one of them, including James.

After a long moment, Captain Hall activated his omni-tool, his voice came sharply and distinctly.
"Listen up. We have just received word from the SSV Normandy, who was the first on the scene."
A small red indicator light flashed on his omni-tool, the "attention" whistle sounded across the intercom system as the captain spoke.

"At 21:39 hours Terran Standard Time, the colony of Eden Prime was attacked by a warship of unknown origin." The captain paused for breath, letting the weight of the words sink in before he continued.
"The report goes on to indicate, that this warship was carrying Geth soldiers, who have taken control of the colony."
There ws a resurgent of whispers and murmurs. Captain Hall ignore them, continuing to read to the read in his deep baritone voice.

"At this time, we cannot confirm the current state of the colony, or if there are survivors, but initial reports indicated that the Geth have been targeting civilians."
More whispers surfaced…some desperate and worried.
"The SSV Halcyon has been diverted, to aid in securing the colony and eliminate the Geth threat. More details will follow as they become available."

Captain Hall nodded to Bishop, "Commander Abendroth, you will be leading the forces on the ground. Prepare your men."
Bishop snapped a smart salute, which Hall return and then left the room . After he had departed, Bishop turned to the crew that had gathered. "All N7's remain, the rest of you: dismissed." He barked and one at a time, the crew got up out of their seats and filed out, leaving only James, Keira, and Thomas left.
"All right… here's the score…"

Kari awoke some hours later, feeling refreshed and better than she had these last five days. It was still dark outside and would be for awhile, but her omni-tools chrono told her that dawn wouldn't be far away for Eden Prime and that she should probably take this opportunity to get some supplies from her shuttle if she was going to be staying with the Ellis's for some time. She swung her feet across the bed from under the comforters and placed them on the floor. The window was still open, and a gentle breeze was rolling in across the landscape. The soft chirping and murmuring of the local insect and bird life had already begun to signal a new day's pending arrival, and in the distance she could see a few roaming lights from the workers and their vehicles as they began their work.

Kari pressed her weight against her legs, pushing herself up off the bed, despite her minds unconscious objections.
I could lay in that bed all day,she thought but she dismissed the idea, she had too much work to do. There was still the samples she had to take, soils compositions to measure, and then perform experiments with dextro-amino flora to see if the human's agriculture could be adapted for the liveships.

To be entirely honest, it was a long shot, and she knew it…but she didn't want to go back to the fleet with just another piece of tech or a small datacache on where resources might be like most pilgrams. She wanted to do something truly special, something that could change the quality of life for her people for the better.
And, she had to admit, it would be nice to be vindicated…

"Good morning." Mrs Ellis chimed brightly as she peaked in from the doorway. Not fully stepping into the room, just in case.
"Oh! Err- umm- one-.." Kari sputtered as she gathered up her discarded azure fabric and wrapped it around her once more; hiding the suits mechanisms, cables and latches, and made her presentable once more. Well, at least by Quarian standards.
For a Quarian to wear just a suit, without any sort of decorum or cover was a bit immodest. Males tended to get away with showing a bit more suit than the females did, though. It was an acceptable double standard in the eyes of the Quarians.
"Come in." Kari said at last and Mrs Ellis toddled into the room.
"I heard you stirring, but I wasn't sure if you were dressed yet…although I remember you mentioning that you always wear that suit."
Kari nodded. "Yes, our immune systems are too weak to be without them."
Mrs Ellis' nodded, her features flashed something, it was somewhat sad…pensive, but it passed too quickly to dwell on.
"Well. I made you some breakfast. Sam's already gone out to the fields, you should join him when you're ready. He said he's got a few things you might be interested in for your fleet."
Kari felt a little ashamed that she hadn't mentioned to the Ellis's that she couldn't eat human food. It was levo-animo acid based. She was dextro-animo.
"Thank you, Mrs Ellis...but I can't eat human cuisine. My body can't process it "
Ellie shook her head, "No no no, dearie. It's some of that Turian stuff. That asari at the market told me your kind could eat Turian food, right?"
Kari blinked.
"When did you-"
Mrs Ellis chuckled, "This morning, when you were sleeping. I was going to ask you what you wanted but you were out like a light. So me and Sam went down to the city and got some food. The lady at the market told us that it was some of the finest dextro-what-not's that they had available. I just hope I cooked it right."

Kari was dumbfounded. She had just met the Ellis's last night and already they had gone far out of their way to not only make sure she had a place to sleep..but something to eat too?

"I don't know what to say…"she managed after a long silence "Thank you."
Mrs Ellis smiled, it was warm…comforting…motherly. "You're welcome, dearie."
Kari blushed and wrung her fingers a bit. "I'll find someway repay your kindness, I swear…" the words sounded a bit like a hollow promise, but she meant them.
Mrs Ellis shook her head, "Pay it forward, sweetie."

Kari inclined her head a bit, "Pay it forward?" she repeated, she had never heard that phrase before.Did she mean that she wanted payment right now? thought Kari as she started to reach for her credit chit.
Mrs Ellis shook her head again, grabbing the young Quarian's wrist. "It's an old Earth saying." She explained. "My pappy always used to say it….it means 'When a kindness is given to you, give a kindness to another'."
Kari tilted her head again, "I still don't understand…" she said, feeling a bit stupid.
Mrs Ellis chuckled. "Instead of giving back to the person that showed you kindness, you give a kindness to another person. That way it keeps on going….pay it forward."

Kari nodded her head, finally understanding what she meant. Mrs Ellis smiled and patting her arm softly. "Good, now go get your breakfast before it gets cold."
Kari felt a little smile spread across her lips.

I made the right choice.

This was always the hardest part of the mission: getting geared up.

James thought.

It wasn't an exceptionally difficult task to perform, indeed, many of the actions were second nature to James and most Marines: snapping the pieces of his Serrice Council armour into place, making sure the straps were taught, but not so much to prevent circulation disruption; checking weapons; making sure they had full magazines of thermal clips; loading a few extra into the pack; picking what weapons they would need.

No, the very fact that everything that he did to prepare for a mission was second nature now, meant his mind could wander…into dark valleys and crevices he'd rather not revisit.
The Geth have been targeting civilians. Captain Hall's words still ringing clearly in his mind, dragging his consciousness down into those inky depths of memories he rather just forget about.

Elysium: a cold spring day, sunny, soldiers on leave, enjoying the company of old friends and new in the park. Some of them sitting on the green-talking. Others playing rugby or football, Donald running on the path with a small band of marines, he never could stop…always driven…always pressing forward. James admired him, and envied him.
Then the sky grows dark, a cloud perhaps, or a transport? No…warship. Pirates…slavers… gunfire rings out, screams…children crying….

James snapped the magazine into place on his M-8 Avenger, the weapon's systems giving a soft whirr as the first clip slide into place distal of the heat sink. He snapped it into position on his mag-locks over the right scapula before he reached for his M-23 Katana.
It had been seven years since that day, since his first battle. He had watched so many die that day, and in the days since then. It wasn't something he talked about, or even thought about that much, a part of himself he'd rather keep locked up deep within the recesses of his mind. Over the years it had gotten easier, to watch friends die. Soldiers… He always told himself that they died so that countless others could live, that they died fighting to keep humanity safe. They died for their loved ones.
But civilians…it never got easy to watch a civilian die…

"Five minutes." Bishop noted, checking his timepiece - one of those ancient things, circular and metal that was held to the wrist with a strap. A relic of a time before the discovery of the Mars archive and the founding of the Alliance.
"We had better get to the cargo bay, we should be ready when arrive at Eden Prime."
"Aye, let's get to it then." Ace said, snapping his breather helmet into place. Keria was already standing by the door, holding her M-98 Widow sniper rifle causually at waist level. Her body language communicated to James that she was anxious, restless but also ready. "Hurry up, you two." she grumbled at James and Thomas.
James nodded, more to his own mind that to Keira. He had already lived through the Skyllian Blitz once, he didn't need to relive it now.

James snapped his M-23 into the mag-lock on his back and reached for his Tyriel Communication Corp Death Mask in his gauntleted hands before sliding it over his short cropped blonde-hair.

Tyriel Corp always made the best gear when it came to providing protection. The Death Mask featured the best in both auditory and physical protection while providing clean, easy-to-process combat data via the uplink to his suits sensors. It also allowed him to deploy his tech programs from his omni-tool much faster than the standard N7 helmet and didn't inhibit his biotic functionality either. In other words: it was the perfect helmet for a Sentinel. Not to mention the fact it was roomy, which was a boon for someone such as James, being just over 2 meters tall in height. James was in no way small, by any stretch of the imagination, and neither was his head. It was nice to finally have a helmet that fit him, even if it had put him back more than he would have liked.

"Let's go." James finally said, joining the others at the door. They made their way down the corridors, plodding out slow heavy beats with each step. Clacking of plates and snapping of boots made the circular metal hallways come alive with their own rhythms of battle. Like the cadence of war-drums snapping out their salute to those who had gone before. As they passed, each one of them reached out, placing a gloved hand on the Memorial wall, a bare piece of metal, with the names of all those who had died in the Halcyon's twenty-five years of service lived on.
"Two minutes." Bishop said, checking his timepiece as they entered the elevator, the descending down into the depths of the ship. After a few seconds, the lift opened, and Bishop turned to his men. He gave them a slight nod. It was a small gesture, simple but James knew what it meant.
"Whatever happens, make me proud."

He turned, and stepped out of the elevator. As they followed behind him, James's eyes drifted upwards towards the UT-47 Kodiak. The ship was fueled up, fully armed and ready to go.
"Captain, this is Commander Abendroth. Strike team reporting ready, sir."

"Standby, Commander. We will be dropping out of FTL momentarily." Came the captain's voice over his suit's com.
"All hands. This is the Captain. Prepare for contact."

The deck shifted, a sudden surge towards the bow of the ship just before the kinetic dampeners set in. They were in the fight.
"This is SSV Halcyon, to any allied ships in the area." The pilot's voice came over the closed combat channel. "This is Lt Kendon, requesting combat data and permission to engage hostile forces."

There was a moment's pause…
James began to worry…were they too late, had the colony been destroyed?

"This is Lt. Moreau, SSV Normandy. If you're the cavalry, then I'm filing a complaint with Alliance brass. Still, at this point we can't afford to be choosy. We've got Geth cruisers heading your way. We are on an intercept course. Let's give these bastards hell."

"Roger that, Normandy, moving to engage."

The com channel suddenly went loud, combat chatter flowing over the channels as torrents of information began to pour forth from the Halcyon's crew. Even as they did, Captain Hall's voice came clearly.
"Commander. Get your team on the shuttle. We will be dropping you directly into the hotzone."

"Aye aye, sir." Bishop said, his hand pressed to his earpiece. '"You heard the man, let's go save a colony."

Three weeks since she had arrived on Eden Prime, and in that Kari had learned a great deal. Not only had her research into better agricultural methods for the Migrant Fleet yielded fruit, but she had learned a great deal about human culture, and indeed the galaxy as a whole. When she wasn't out in the Ellis's fields collecting samples or running experiments back at her lab she had set up with Mr Ellis's help, she was out meeting new people or talking to the Ellis's. It seemed that the Ellis's had garnered a great amount respect of the locals over the years they had lived on Eden Prime.

It had smoothed things over for Kari a great deal, being seen with the Ellis's. People that had previously ignored her actually came up and spoke with her, and those who had mistreated her simply kept their silence. Even the other aliens seemed to be more hospitable. She had wasted many an hour talking to the turian–asari couple who ran the local grocer where Mrs Ellis bought her food from and there was even a Volus that she had gotten to know on one of her trips to the hardware store.

"Not-hrrrrrkkk-everyone can see-hrrrrkk-opportunity when it-hhrrrkkk-comes to agricultural worlds." The volus had told her as she and Mr Ellis had been checking out.
"But farmers are much-hrrrkkk-easier to work with-hrrrkkk-they are much more reasonable-hrrrrrkkkk- than what I used to deal with on the Citadel."

It seemed to Kari that a lot of people wanted a different life than the one they had been given. It was a sentiment she could relate to all to well. Growing up on the fleet she had always wanted a different life. Her entire people wanted it, having been driven from their homeworld, Rannoch, by the Geth. There wasn't a day that went by that each one of them dreamed of seeing its cliffs and skies again. Its oceans and valleys, for them, a world of their own was just a myth, a dream that rapidly dissipated when the fog of dreams gave way to the stark incandescent light of reality. Yet, it was a dream that she had lived, for three weeks...and she didn't want to give it up.
It wasn't until later on that day when Kari and Sam were working on an old petrol-powered tractor that her thoughts really started to weigh down on her. "You know…Mr Ellis…" she began, working her fingers deeper into the tractor's rusty engine.

"I must confess that I envy your people." She said, pulling a damaged spark plug out and laying it gently aside, life on the fleet had taught her that even damaged things can be useful.
"How is that my dear?" Mr Ellis asked, although he suspected he already knew what she was going to say.
"It's just that…humans have a planet, a world to call their own…several, in fact. My people have nowhere, everyday is a struggle for survival, we may not act like it is, but…" she sighed heavily. She knew what she wanted to say…but the words felt wrong, like even speaking them was a betrayal of her people.
She was about to speak when Mr Ellis put a hand on her shoulder. Kari turned her head to face him The old man smiled at her, it was a soft thing, comforting, like if empathy were a blanket she could just wrap herself up in… it was something she could never get from another Quarian….

"I understand." Mr Ellis murmured.
"Sometimes the hardest choices in life are the ones with the simplest answers. In the end, we all have burdens we must bear, crosses we must take up."
Kari turned her head slightly. "Crosses we must bear?" she asked curiously. Mr Ellis chuckled, "Old human saying."
Kari looked up at him, meeting his eyes, unsure of what exactly he was telling her. "So…you think I should go back to the fleet, then?"
Mr Ellis's looked at her, his expression was…beyond her, sad almost, weary, frightened?
"That my dear, it is up to you…it is your decision, and you must live with it…but know you will always be welcome in our home, whatever you choose."
Kari looked down at her feet, embarrassed, confused, humbled but…grateful…nevertheless.

"Now…I think we have worked hard enough for today. Let's go get some lunch and maybe we can go to the beach this afternoon eh?"
Kari's face lit up. "Really?" she asked anxiously, hardly believing her ears.
Mr Ellis nodded with a sagely grin, "Yes, really, but not before we eat. Ellie went to a lot of trouble to make a special lunch for us today, so you better tell her thank you." He poked teasingly.
Kari could hardly contain herself. "Oh I will. I will, I will, I will!"
Even as the Quarian rushed ahead of him , Mr Ellis couldn't help but laugh.
"Kids…always the same, no matter the species."