'We cannot change our past. We can not change the fact that people act in a certain way. We can not change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude.' -Charles R. Swindoll
The cargo port was in pretty bad shape, creaking on its bare bones. It groaned as Nihlus took a step too close to a scorched platform. Hunks or grand scraps of metal marked the port like freckles on a child that develops affection for the ever constant rays of sunlight. A column of ivory colored paneling towered above the people that remained there casting an eerie lime shadow across them all. Shepard gave the beacon an equally menacing stare in reciprocation then paced back towards the stairs as she hailed the Normandy. Joker answered easily enough spinning the ship back around to head for their location.
Nihlus stood just a few steps from Shepard, his keen eye on the beacon, searching for any other disturbances. He figured that Alliance patrol would arrive soon enough and felt the need to keep a touch on this colony even after they left. Spirits knew how corporations were ruthless in pulling their funding for colonies- especially human colonies.
Kaidan and Bahtia keep easy conversation just a short feet within the beacon. "It's odd how it glows now… It wasn't doing that when the archeologists first eroded the machinery," Bahtia explained, her head swiveling in the direction of the beacon.
The Lieutenant frowned as he turned to view the ancient piece of technology himself. "So...what exactly made it react like that?"
He took a step forward just as Bahtia turned her back to him. Had she seen him, she would have gripped his arm without a second thought to keep him from touching the beacon. But she didn't.
Lime lighting danced around the beacon then pulsed intensely, responding to Kaidan's presence immediately. He curled in on himself in this poor attempt to break his latch between he and the beacon. It continued to pull however slowly. Shepard and Nihlus cursed rushing forward to grab him. Shepard knew she didn't have time and instead used her biotics to surge her forward. Her body knocked into the Lieutenant's but she was ready; her arms encircled him and twisted him out of the direction of the beacon. He went tumbling into safety while the other three watched helplessly as the power of beacon lifted her off of the ground.
"Shepard!" Nihlus growled, his eyes shifting between her and the contraption. He considered shooting it, but he knew there was the possibility he could kill her. And the knowledge stored inside of it?
Kaidan thought he could do the same thing and pull her out the beacon's harm but Nihlus' firm glare and Bahtia's arm kept him from moving further. "It is too late now," Bahtia murmured her earth-toned irises zeroing in on the young Commander.
Shepard gasped involuntarily.
Images..
Images.
Images.
Images.
Death, synthetics, somewhere...changing, conforming into...Into...Geth?
Wires twisting with flesh, metal mending with bone and converting living beings into something new entirely. Something dark and unspoken of, a husk of their former selves… or whatever they were before that.
Her biotics flared, her silver irises brightening as a hunter green shimmer moved over them. They continued to flare, encircling her and encompassing. Her ears registered a frightened shout of 'she's going to lose it' and maybe even 'we need to get to cover', but her mind did not register or record such sounds.
All she could feel, see, taste, touch, and hear was destruction.
Her destruction.
Their destruction.
It ended too quickly, too violently.
The biotic amp on Shepard's body overheated from the swirl of crimson and violet encompassing her. Her arms spasmed uncontrollably. Breath hitched, face beginning to sweat, her biotics lashed outwards destroying the beacon and knocking her back several yards. Bahtia reached her first in her motherly panic, trying to wake her from this slumber. It was no use. Kaidan turned on his omni-tool to scan the Commander but when she shook again with biotic tremors he let her be.
Nihlus, again, hailed the Normandy.
"We need evac immediately. Have the med-bay on prep, Shepard's down."
. . .
Karen Chakwas observed the woman frowning and muttering in her dream state. 'REM sleep' labeled the Commander's current state of consciousness; she was having a vision of some sort judging from the manner in which her eyes continuously shift under the machines monitors. Chakwas hummed thoughtfully as she strode across the room to decipher Shepard's current vital numbers. Another biotic sat silent within medical bay, his eyes closed, hands lifted partially as he emitted a biotic barrier to encase the commander. On routine she would emit dangerous biotic flares that countered Kaidan's barriers heavily leaving him straining for energy in his chair. It'd been a eight hours since the last surge, Chakwas noticed, and she urged the L2 biotic to ease off and take a rest.
He obliged, shuffling out of the med bay only to run into Nihlus. They exchanged expressions; Kaidan's a silent look of stressed tension and Nihlus with his steely, 'I'm respectable' gaze. Nihlus dropped his shoulders, a turian mannerism that displayed empathy as well as understanding on another's part. The human sighed then gestured to Shepard still on the table.
He licked his lips, speaking in a dried tone, "She's still unconscious. Dr. Chakwas said she thinks her flares have settled for now, but…"
"Good to hear," Nihlus nodded.
Again, Kaidan scratched behind his neck that spoke qualms to the amount of guilt weighing heavy on his shoulders. Finally the Spectre reached out to give the Alliance soldier a reassuring pat explaining to him that this situation is exactly why they are expected to be an attentive on the battlefield. Not to mention that Shepard's the second soul he's inadvertently knocked into a coma. Kyrik slithered past as Kaidan decided to gather some energy with food and maybe a couple of bullets lodged in his foot. The 21st century kind of bullet.
When he caught sight of the Commander, her nostrils flared as they exhaled roughly. Her body twisted , straining against the medical red tape laced across her body, then under the table. Nihlus clicked his tongue without a single thought. The doctor lifter her head at the sharp sound to train her eyes on the turian. He offered but a sheepish tilt of his head then beelined to hover next to the biotic. Shoulders twitched slightly, rolling ever so carefully under the red tape. Then her eyes fluttered and her hands clenched. She began jolting violently as her body awoke, hands curling into steady fists and pumping themselves film of biotics. Blinking, Nihlus minutes to her in a tone weighing heavy in dual tones that was usually reserved for young children.
"Shepard you're fine. You're in the medbay on the Normandy." Dull colors of violet and crimson flickered then began to die down. "That's it. Now," Nihlus raised a hand to gesture the doctor over without turning his attention from the female before him. "I know this isn't the best time to humiliate you, but I would like to point out that I carried from the surface of Eden Prime onto to this very table easily."
She groaned, glancing up at a busy Chakwas untying the red tape for confirmation. Karen chuckled as if to say 'sorry dear'. "I fucking hate you, Nihlus," Shepard muttered her body carefully sitting up once she was free. She slid off of the table only to put her support on it.
"And just when I thought we were beginning to build something special, you wound me Commander."
"Pipe it, before I actually wound you."
Nihlus slithered away from her form pressing one palm to chest to insinuate injury. She rolled her eyes then turned her attention to the expert military-trauma doctor. Said medical professional suggested she go speak to Anderson once she felt she could walk properly. The biotic grumbled some colorful remarks at explaining her vision to the Captain. Stumbling the slightest, she fled out the door, Nihlus trailing closely behind her. Her temper became the best of the human (it tended to do that around the Nihlus in particular) and she sent a mild insult over her shoulder. Much to her chargen the turian only chuckled and broadened his stride to match her every step.
Speaking in low tones, he offered, "I'm sure your Captain will hold each of your words with integrity. He will not question your judgement on this."
Her eyes took a heavy combat roll. "You don't know him like I do. And honestly, I wouldn't blame him for calling me bat shit crazy…"
"...bat? As in the instrument you use in Earth sports?"
"No, as in the animal."
"Ah. You're culture is incredibly contradicting. Who would think to give the same name of a piece of sport equipment to an animal?"
"Ever heard of 'no one gives a flying fuck'?"
"See, now that's misleading as well. Since when do fucks fly? Or are humans using some sort of asari based tricks to get around?"
She couldn't help it; she actually laughed.
And almost vomited for doing so.
. . .
"The Citadel. Heh. It's been awhile since I've seen the piece of shit."
"Shit? All due respect ma'am, it's larger than all of our spaceports combined. Don't you think it's at least a tad bit interesting?"
"Mm. Something tells me you're just throwing all of these compliments because Nihlus is babysitting."
The mentioned turian chuckled from his chair positioned closest to the airlock of the Normandy as he ran through a few standard calibrations on the main guns. Joker had long since given up trying to convince him to let them be when he noticed a slight performance enhancement in the ship's systems. In fact, they both seemed to be more lenient of the other now that the ominous tension of dealing with Eden Prime faded away. Kaidan took his original seat on Joker's right and Shepard took the left. She conveyed her utmost pleasure at the feeling of the abrasive seat as she sank into it, her biotics doing much of the talking.
Other than the occasional small talk, not much had been said between the group of four.
Joker yawned allowing his arms to settle onto his lap. It'd be a few hours before they reached the Citadel- if that. Might as well strike up a decent conversation to keep his thoughts muddled and to stop his fingers from simultaneously twitching.
"So...Bats," his tongue rolled over the nickname Shepard insisted he used around her. The Commander did that snort-growl thing that only meant she was mildly amused and swung her leg over her left armrest to let it dangle freely.
"How many times exactly have you visited the Citadel?" Joker raised his eyebrows in genuine curiosity. They were all wondering. Alliance soldiers typically didn't head out on the space station for shore leave. It happened to be more like a touch and go base for the ships dressed in navy blue.
Shepard hummed thoughtfully, "hard to say. Spent a few holidays celebrating for the grandparents. Occasional trip for some advanced hardware. Occasional screw up that had C-Sec notified and required my presence for...confirmation. Other than that, touch and go for refuel."
"Citadel Security? Really, Commander?" Nihlus raised a brow-plate to showcase his mockingly stern expression yet the question in his eyes were no facade.
"Every dog has his day," she drawled, her eyes glinting when she found the controls to unlock the windows. An infinite amount of stars twinkled, grinning wide at the sharp toothed human. "Not going to give you all of the details, but the guy they sent to pick me up from dry dock?" She whistled low and long.
"Old enough to my dad, I'm sure, or old enough to have kids in general. Real strict. A 'breathe at the wrong angle and I'll rip your lung from your arsehole' kind of guy. Amusing at first, but irrelevant down the line. For a grumpy old turian, he wasn't half bad. I didn't at the time, but I've grown to really like him. Probably because he whipped my nineteen year old ass into shape," she remarked, grinning at the sound of the guys laughter.
"Maybe you might see him when we dock. You remember his name?" Kaidan inquired.
She tensed at that, then relaxed with a dry huff. "No. But it doesn't matter. After all was said and done and the situation was solved, he said that I reminded him of his own brats. He figured he should be at home raising them, not on the Citadel handling the ass end of someone else's bullshit. When I went there a month after searching for the old fuck, he had retired."
Snorting, Shepard gazed at the spheres of hot gas and unknown. "Crotchety old bastard. Closest thing I had to discipline besides the military at that point. Funny. As much as I gripped and moaned about all of his rules, I was the one throwing a tantrum at his sudden absence."
Joker, Kaidan, and Nihlus all trained their eyes on her. She glanced up then, flashing a smirk. Jeff knew hidden pain- did it too often himself. But the lines along her straightened and disappeared as her smirk melted into her relaxed grin.
"Who watched that biotic ball tournament before we shipped out?"
And the cockpit erupted in fury.