I don't own Mass Effect. Bioware does.
Over the next few days, Jane had been continuing practice with omni-tool hacking. Saren observed on the sidelines throughout the session. In the meantime, he was checking over two of the Prothean rifles they got from her father. Whoever assembled it must've had some incredible skills.
Saren put aside the rifle and stood to his feet.
"How's it coming along?" he asked.
Jane barely finished her objective when she tilted her head towards Saren.
"Better. I've gotten the hang of the higher security levels, anyways."
Saren's mandibles flexed into a grin full of pride. Currently, he was still waiting for word from Anderson concerning Ivan's whereabouts. In the meantime, Saren adjusted the level through the console slightly. It was the hardest setting, but he was confident by now Shepard would pick up quickly. Seconds later, Jane started her next session. Still, Saren decided that Jane would learn much more from missions arranged in a spontaneous fashion opposed to a scheduled course. While Jane made her progress, he finally heard a ping from his omni-tool, so he turned it on and read a message from Anderson:
{Patrols reported unidentified vessels entering the Artemis Tau Cluster. Intercepted coms suggest our friend Barnes is with them. Not sure what they're after in that sector. Deal with them how you see fit.}
From there, Saren saw this as an opportunity to form a mission out of the update. This was especially when Jane finished her task minutes later.
"Shepard," Saren announced, "our next mission just came up."
Jane paused in her tracks before she turned and approached her mentor.
"So what have we got?" she asked.
"It's Ivan. He's on the move, and was recently reported in the Artemis Tau Cluster," Saren answered, picking up a bag.
Jane took a few moments to put away the equipment before she followed Saren out of the room and they made their way out of the academy. They headed through the Presidium and returned to their apartment, where they gathered their equipment and slipped on their armor. Once they finished, they rushed over to the Spectre docks. Saren led Jane aboard their shuttle, settled into the cockpit and turned on the ignition before he flew it out of the Citadel.
"Do you want to handle him personally?" Saren asked.
"It would most certainly be nice," Jane nodded.
He kept watch on the galaxy map, looking over the various systems within the clusters. His eyes scanned the IFF history of ships that had recently entered the cluster. Saren carefully scanned each IFF history to find a matching IFF of their target while the shuttle hovered closer to the Mass Relay. Anderson had also given them general coordinates to where Ivan's ship travelled after exiting the Mass Relay, saving them the time of having to scan every stem for Ivan's caravan. This proved to be helpful when they reached the system within the coordinates a while after the shuttle exited the Mass Relay. They travelled between the other planets within the system until they came to orbit over Therum.
"I've got a small archaeological camp on the scanners. Looks like Ivan's crew has made their advance."
"Let's hope we're not too late," Jane replied, uneasiness apparent in her tone.
"We'll be dropping right on top of them," Saren suggested, "getting in, and defending that expedition team down there."
They both returned to the cockpit, and Saren turned off the autopilot before diving down into the atmosphere. Jane stared intensely through the windshield while the shuttle maneuvered through the clouds. They pierced the thick atmosphere to have a good look of the volcanic surface below. The rock was a deep maroon and black with rivers of lava flowing plentifully in rivers on the surface. Now it was a matter of finding a suitable place to land. The shuttle kept relatively close to the ground, flying over the mountains when they came into view of the mining camp, spotting a group of prefabs down below. Ivan's team was approaching heavily on a group of PMCs and small mechs returning fire further up the hill.
Saren descended the shuttle towards the ground and found a suitable place to land, turning off the ignition before he gathered his weapons. Picking up their weapons and putting on their helmets, both charged outside with the PMCs' backs to them. Thinking fast, Jane and Saren aimed their guns at the PMCs and pulled the trigger, launching a volley of bullets at them. Ivan's crew began to scatter once they realized they had been flanked. Only a few turned to face them at first, not realizing which was the greater threat, the campsite guards or the two unidentified assailants behind them. The campsite guards in question found a chance to fight back. As the rest of Ivan's subordinates began to take notice of their rapidly falling comrades, they turned in an effort to fight off the newly arrived counterattackers. Among the counterattackers, an asari unleashed a biotic shield to defend her allies from Ivan's forces.
The resulting singularity swept up much of his remaining troops, allowing them to be quickly picked off. Seeing the battle was quickly going against his favor, he opted to begin falling back to a line of vehicles. With Ivan in retreat, Saren and Jane met up with the archaeologists, the asari turning her attention towards them.
They both recognized the young asari upon first glance.
"Ms. T'Soni? We didn't know your team was located here," Saren greeted.
Liara nodded.
"I'm glad to see you two are doing well," she replied.
"Likewise. Anyways, does your mining team have any remaining explosives?" he inquired.
Liara took a moment to glance at her teammates.
"We still have some left. What's the plan?" Liara gestured.
Jane turned on her omni-tool and pulled up a map.
"The attackers won't be gone for long," she suggested, "we could at least use them to whittle their heavies down the next time they come around."
Saren nodded while he folded his arms.
"Good idea, Jane," he praised, "we'll get to work setting them up."
Saren, Jane and the campers wasted no time in setting up the plan. Fortunately, the mining camp was set at the end of a crevasse, with a lava pool cutting off the rest of the way. Most of the defensive structures were still operational, and the placement of explosives at least made the option of driving up the front of the camp area would lead straight into the explosives. The Spectres assisted the campers in planting the explosives while they kept track of their targets. Ivan appeared to be regrouping, giving them enough time to prepare the explosives before getting back a safe distance.
This poor excuse of a father was still in the middle of discussing how to form a counterattack with the remaining of his squad.
"Boss, we should just pull out. Their air defenses are still up and those two who managed to get a drop on the boys dealt quite the pain on us."
Ivan shook his head in disagreement.
"C'mon, it's just ground troops," Ivan clarified, "they don't have any anti-armor. We push in now, we can still catch them off guard. Besides, they have nowhere to run. We'll catch up to them in minutes if they try to leave ground-side."
Ivan stood to his feet.
"Now, let's go. I've already had one bad operation this month, I'm not letting another happen so soon," he commanded.
Ivan gestured his squad to stand to their feet before they emerged from hiding. They advanced back up the path to the archaeological dig site they had been successfully besieging until the two unidentified interlopers forced them to retreat. With knowledge that they were present, there shouldn't be anymore surprises as long as they kept their wits about them.
Venturing to the dig site without any surprises, though, seemed easier said than done. With their armor support, they did quickly push back the remaining guards at the site back further among the prefabs. They finally began to close in on what was left of their cover when explosions roared underneath their feet. To add insult to injury, their hope of escape started slipping away. One of the vehicle drivers managed to climb out when a stray round pierced his helmet, killing him instantly. Among hacking, Saren had been teaching Jane the use of a sniper rifle back on the Citadel.
"Excellent shot," he hummed, looking down his own rifle scope at the attackers below.
Having confirmed a target in site, Saren took aim and pulled the trigger. Another went down as he loaded another thermal clip into his rifle. Jane peered through the scope of her rifle until she found Ivan. She wanted to see the gray matter spray out the back of his head, but he didn't deserve such a quick death. Besides, she just wanted to look him one last time in the eye before she finished him off. She fired her rifle, catching him clean through his chest. Letting out a startled gasp, Ivan clutched his chest as it bled profusely.
"That's for mom," Jane mumbled as Saren followed up with another shot.
The blow to the head was enough for Ivan to drop to the ground. The last few hostiles only had their ruined vehicles for cover. One by one, each one fell from another shot. By the time Saren and Jane cleared out their targets, the turian Spectre signaled to the archaeologist that the coast was clear. Jane kept her eye on where Ivan fell, strolling calmly up to him with her pistol in her hand. He was leaning up against a bit of cover as he clutched his chest, coughing blood between heavy breaths.
"Ivan…" Jane started.
Ivan slowly tilted his head upwards until he met Jane's eyes.
"You again…" he grumbled.
His eyes dropped again as he looked away from her to nothingness, continuing to breath heavily.
"Ha-H-Haaannnah…please…forgive me…"
Jane stared in confusion while she blinked twice. She hesitated only a second longer before she raised her weapon and shot him through his temple.
"She'll be waiting for you on the other side," Jane said to herself.
Saren watched as she walked away from her late father.
"You alright?"
Jane paused for a moment before she nodded. He reached an arm out to bring her close. The instant she spotted his arm from the corner of her eye, she stepped a little closer to Saren and leaned onto him. They stood there for a little longer before helping Liara and her party to treat the wounded and see to repairs and clean-up on its way. During that time, Saren and Jane sought a chance to hold a small meeting with Liara. Walking inside one of the prefabs, they met with her inside of the mess hall.
"Thank you, Arterius. I don't know how you found us when you did, but I'm glad you arrived. You two forever have my gratitude."
"Anytime, Liara," Jane replied, "how have you been doing?"
"I've been continuing my expeditions over the last couple years since I had met you two," Liara answered, "it's therapeutic, digging through ancient ruins."
"Glad to hear it," Saren hummed in enthusiasm.
"Other than that, nothing too interesting has happened outside of today. What about you?" Liara returned.
Jane rested her arms on the table.
"I've been undergoing Spectre training under Saren," Jane answered.
"She's doing very well, as a matter of fact," he added.
Liara smiled back.
"That's splendid. My team in the underground ruins have recently dug up something," she commented, "we were going to have it shipped back to Citadel space when the pirates attacked."
Saren let out an enthusiastic hum. They stood up and exited the building before making their way to the mine.
"Perhaps we could send it back with you before more trouble comes," Saren suggested.
"I appreciate your offer," Liara nodded.
The three walked up to a pipe that jutted into the Earth at a forty-five degree angle. Waiting for the decontamination cycle to complete, they entered, walking down the long corridor to the first landing. Along the way, they had to turn at a few corners. The were initially greeted by the usual sights within a cave and a small path of metal stairs and prefab walkways before entering a small tunnel of complete metal. The plates had long since lost their tarnish, but the way the panels were interwoven was unlike any other form of architecture either of them were used to. Jane suspected that whoever built this tunnel had extraordinary skills.
"Well, what an incredible sight to behold…" Saren muttered aloud.
Before long, Saren, Jane and Liara arrived in a large circular chamber where the middle dipped down a bit like a shallow bowl or dish, where a small control console sat in the middle. Liara led the other two to the center where she tapped the controls and sent the center of the room receding deeper into the ground. While the platform descended, Jane resorted to observing the mechanical parts in action while she waited. All along the walls were a series of hydraulics, constantly shifting as they traveled further down into the planet surface. Sharply, the platform slowed down as they reached the bottom, the exit facing deeper into the mine.
"Here it is. We just dug it up a couple of days ago, and we were preparing to have it lifted to the surface," Liara added as she gestured to a prism with a surface like stainless steel.
Jane felt mesmerized at the size of the strange device when she caught a glimpse of it.
"A functioning beacon," Saren hummed, "I mean, is it active?"
Liara shook her head.
"We haven't accessed its files yet," she admitted.
Jane looked sternly at the metal pillar, looking for some sort of access point or possible opening.
"How do these things work?" she asked, walking up to it.
Saren approached Jane seconds later.
"I can show you," Saren offered, "but you most likely need to be careful handling the beacon."
"Now now," Liara interrupted, "we should probably do this in a safer environment. We don't know if—"
Jane just started examining the details of the beacon, attempting to remain cautious as she could. Slowly approaching it, her fingertips slowly brushed against the side of the structure, causing the beacon to suddenly glow. Without warning, Jane felt a sudden shock from the beacon, eliciting a startled yelp out of her. An invisible force yanked her forward and hoisted her up in front of the beacon as electric jolts riddled her body. Saren's mandibles twitched rapidly as panic surged through his spine.
"No," he gasped to himself.
Jane felt her mind being pulled inward as her mind's eye was suddenly pulled into a dark chamber. Before her was a map of the galaxy, as she looked around.
"W-What is this?" Jane gasped to herself.
Her words echoed into nothingness around her. Jane made as much effort as she could to move a limb, but she felt as if someone paralyzed her body. Within the galaxy map below her, little red blips lit up, scattered and few across the galaxy. Having no clue how to break free of this trance, her eyes squinted carefully at the red blips.
A few more seconds passed when Saren sharply pulled her down, away from the beacon and back into the real world.
"Hey, you alright?" he asked.
Having snapped out of her trance, Jane felt her breath quicken over the recovery from the shock.
"Jane?" Saren kept repeating.
Jane groaned softly as her vision returned and she turned her head towards her mentor, who sat on the ground and held her in a gentle embrace.
"Saren," she whispered.
"You had us worried there for a moment. Are you feeling alright?" Liara repeated.
Jane wanted to nod, but she held her forehead with her hand as a headache refused to dissipate. Softness in his eyes, Saren nuzzled his face against hers, his subvocals letting out soft purrs.
"Easy. Let's get you to your feet."
Saren wrapped his arm around Jane's shoulder and helped her to her feet.
"So, what did you see while you were using the beacon?" Liara asked.
"I…uh," Jane stammered.
"Let's just take it easy for now. The first time using a beacon is hard on everyone," Saren interrupted.
The two returned to the surface to give Jane a chance to recover while the dig-site workers retrieved the beacon. All Saren could do was let Jane rest closer to him while she rested on a bench. He quickly fetched ration packets for the two of them while they continued to rest. When he returned to the bench, he offered a ration packet to Jane.
"Here. You'll feel better," he told her.
Jane accepted the ration packet and she started eating out of it.
"Thanks, Saren," she replied softly.
They continued to eat silently as the nearby workers loaded the beacon onto their shuttle.
"I remember the first time I looked into a beacon," Saren admitted.
"Y-You do?" Jane paused.
"Yes. It was terrifying. I was still in the turian military at the time, still a sergeant. My squad was the only one to push through a team of pirates on a colony, looking to make a smash and grab. Our orders were to reach the beacon and secure it for ex-fil," Saren started explaining, "one of my squad members got too close. I pulled them out and got connected in their place."
"So…what did you see?" Jane asked.
Saren sighed as he sat down next to her.
"It was history records," he answered, "it revolved around what little we know about the Prothean-Rachni Wars. The beacon was heavily damaged at the time, so it blew up."
In between bites from his ration packet, Saren placed his arm over Jane's shoulders.
"So what did you see, Shepard?"
"It was the galaxy map, with markings all over it. I don't know what it was trying to tell me," she answered.
Saren placed a finger on his mandible as he thought over her answer.
"Locations, at most. We'll check it out further when we can."
With the vision still embedded in her head, Jane turned on her omni-tool and pulled up a map of the galaxy before she set off to place marks on the locations of the red blips where she last recalled seeing them.
"I still remember a few of them," she admitted.
"I see," Saren mused, "perhaps we can look into these locations you speak of and see if there are any interesting findings."
By the time they finished their meals, they began preparing to leave for their shuttle.