Author's Note: Hello, everyone! Whew, writer's block plus self-editing plus baby brother = nightmare! Well, at least I managed to finish the chapter. I hope you all enjoy it!
By the way, one of my reviewers asked a very good question: is Shepard going to be a paragon? Overall, yes, but she will have some renegade moments.
Another question that I never got to answer was: Why not a femshep and Link couple? Mainly it's because I already have pairings planned out for them. What are the pairings? Well, you can either wait and see, or you can guess in your review; whichever you prefer.
Now, on with the chapter!
Disclaimer: I do not own Mass Effect or Legend of Zelda.
Chapter 4: Pyrrhic victory
Amidst the chaos that had once been a spaceport, a single Turian stood along with several Geth. His armor was silver and black, and his face bore no tattoos. However, what truly made this turian unique was his left arm, which was similar to those of the Geth around him. Cables stretched from the arm across his chest and even to his left leg. His face also bore synthetic replacements, metal strips attaching his two front mandibles to the rest of his face, and his eyes little more than glowing lights inside the sockets.
He studied the area as the Geth continued placing colonists on spikes. So far the attack had been flawless; the colony was all but destroyed, and the Prothean beacon was in his possession. All that remained was to destroy the evidence of his involvement.
A paradise, the turian scoffed to himself. If this is what humans assumed to be the most beautiful and well protected of their colonies, then they had a lot to learn. He wasn't surprised, given how barbaric the species was in relation to the rest of the galaxy. Humanity was too naïve to see how weak they truly were. It was high time for them to learn their place.
The turian shook his head slightly, focusing back on the present. Now wasn't the time to concern him with the humility of an entire race. He still had a mission to complete.
With that, he walked towards a white Geth, who stood at attention after it had secured the area. On his approach, the flashlight head turned to him, awaiting his command.
"Set the charges. Destroy the entire colony," the turian coldly commanded, "Leave no evidence that we were here."
The Geth nodded and headed for the tram station, while the turian turned his attention toward a small pillar that emitted a green aura. He walked right up to it, studying it as the beacon began to hum. It was funny how one small piece of history could have such a universal impact in the right hands. Fortunately for him, he had those hands.
At this, the turian was suddenly lifted off its feet, as the beacon began its work.
Xxxxxxxxxx
As the tram began its course to the center of the spaceport, Link pondered over what happened in the last couple of minutes. They had found the Spectre Nihilus dead, and according to the sole surviving dockworker/smuggler, it had been the work of another turian by the name of Saren. He didn't know what was worse: the fact that a turian was working with one of the most despised races in the galaxy, or the fact that it had been someone Nihilus had known and trusted. Who is this Saren? Why is he working with the Geth? Is he working with them willingly?
There's only one way to find out, Link thought as he saw the spaceport up ahead. He took up his sniper rifle as Shepard and the others brought their weapons to bear. The minute the tram came to a stop, Link heard a familiar and ominous beeping sound.
"Demolition charges!" Kaidan exclaimed. "The Geth must have set them up!"
"Alenko, Link, take care of the charges. Williams, cover Alenko!" Shepard ordered as she focused her assault rifle to the Geth above them.
Without hesitation, Link sprinted up the ramp, switching his rifle out for a pistol while Shepard covered his back. Seeing no other charges yet, Link began crossing the walkway to the other side, taking cover as his shields absorbed a few shots. As soon as they recharged, Link brought his pistol up and fired on the synthetics, taking on down before ducking back into cover. Shepard laid down suppressing fire, giving him time to cross the rest of the way.
Once across, he found another charge and began disarming it as Shepard continued to cover him. As soon as he was done, Link turned around and fired upon the Geth grouped together on the other end. They were soon joined by Kaidan and Ashley, who quickly moved up when the Geth went into cover. Kaidan appeared to have found another bomb, which left at least one more unaccounted for. Judging by the Geth's position, Link figured it was near their location.
The team increased their assault on the Geth defensive, reducing their numbers to one large juggernaut, who charged toward Shepard and Link. Its shields disappeared from the onslaught of rounds, but it still kept going until Shepard put a few rounds through its head. Link jumped out of the way as the Geth's inertia carried it toward him until it fully collapsed.
Wasting no time, Link and Alenko rushed over to the other side, finding what Link hoped was the last one. Alenko went ahead to disarm it while everyone else focused on the Geth coming up from the platform next to theirs. A couple of husks took part in the assault, but were quickly taken down as Alenko finished.
"That's all of them," He said, slightly relieved.
Breathing a sigh of relief, Link followed Shepard to the next platform. There Link saw the catalyst behind the attack: the Prothean beacon, emitting a strange green glow. Seeing no hostiles, Shepard began calling the Normandy for pickup while Link and the others checked out the ancient artifact.
"This is amazing," Kaidan said. "Actual working Prothean technology! Unbelievable!"
"It wasn't doing anything like that when they dug it up!" Ashley exclaimed.
Hearing that made Link both intrigued and cautious. If the beacon wasn't like that before, it could only mean the enemy tampered with it. The only question was what did they do to it?
Link noticed that Ashley was getting closer to the beacon. Before he could pull her back, he heard a small hum growing louder and louder…from the artifact! Acting quickly, Link pushed Ashley away from the beacon, just as it flashed green.
Link felt himself being pulled towards the device. He dragged his feet and tried pushing against the pull, but it was too strong! He also felt one of his hands beginning to burn! What was happening?
Suddenly, Link was grabbed from behind, and then tossed away. He crashed into something, or someone, but he wasn't focusing on that. Though the pull was gone, his right hand still burned! He clutched at it, the pain becoming more unbearable by the second. He looked at the back of his hand, where the pain seemed to be the worse, and saw a gold light starting to burn through his glove! Soon after seeing it, he received an intense headache. He started hearing voices, and images flashed through his mind, too fast for anything to be clear. The voices turned to screams, getting louder and louder as the images kept coming.
Just as the pain became too unbearable, there was an explosion…and then blackness.
Xxxxxxxxxx
Inside the dark Geth dreadnought, a figure dressed in black walked through the hallways, her face showing no emotion. She looked human, with the exception of her blue skin. She was an asari, a member mono-gendered species that are known to live over a thousand years.
She approached a familiar turian sitting in synthetic chair, deep in contemplation. She stopped a few feet behind the chair and cleared her throat.
"We identified the ship that touched down on Eden Prime," she stated. "The Normandy; a human Alliance vessel. It was under the command of Captain Anderson. They managed to save the colony."
"And the beacon?" the turian asked, slight agitation in his voice.
"One of the humans may have used it."
At this the turian growled, and then quickly went berserk, tearing apart the small room he was in before turning his frustration toward the asari. He grabbed her face, intent on tearing her apart as well. The asari didn't even flinch.
Seeing the asari's lack of reaction, the turian slowly calmed down. A moment lasted before he let go of her face.
"This human," the turian said slowly," must be eliminated."
With that, he returned to his seat, and therefore to his meditations. The asari stayed a moment before leaving the room, seeing to her other duties. The turian remained in solitude for a few moments until he heard chuckling from a dark corner.
"You really should learn to not shoot the messenger, Saren." a dark voice said.
Saren growled. Of all his followers, he couldn't stand this one.
"I'm not in the mood," Saren said.
"What? I told you that you should have destroyed the beacon beforehand," the voice replied.
"The destruction of the colony would have ensured that," Saren countered. "It would have been an unnecessary step had things go as planned."
"You underestimated them," the voice said. "And now you're going to have to face the consequences."
"This is merely a minor setback," Saren growled. "It can easily be rectified."
"Says the alien who can't even destroy a colony properly," it joked.
Saren jumped out of seat and approached a dark figure clad in heavy armor.
"Don't lecture me about failures, pirate," he spat out. "As I recall, several of your exploits did not end in victory as well."
The dark figure smiled, not falling for the turian's taunts. Seeing this, Saren's fists clenched. Every day, it seemed like this one preferred to mock him rather than follow him. If it wasn't for the man's skills and contacts, he would have thrown this scum out the nearest airlock long ago. Still, at times like this the thought definitely seemed tempting.
"Those 'failures' took care of the undesirables in my crew," the voice responded. "Crude, but effective."
Saren growled and turned away from the pirate, wondering why he even bothers trying to argue with him. No longer able to meditate in peace, the aggravated Spectre walked out of the room, stating that he had some loose ends to take care of.
Shortly after, the figure pulled out a datapad he had hidden behind his pack. On it was a rugged image, a picture sent by a Geth via the network just before it 'died'. In the picture were two Alliance soldiers, one a redheaded female wearing N7 armor, and the other a blonde male with fierce blue eyes. Although he couldn't see them, the figure knew the male had pointed ears like an elf.
"So, you finally make an appearance," the man said.
The man then chuckled darkly, his yellow eyes never leaving the image of the blonde soldier.
"Well, then. Let the games begin."
Please review and let me know if there's anything I need to fix!