DISCLAIMER – I do not own Mass Effect franchise, the story, or any of its characters. All rights go to Bioware.
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Somewhat shorter chapter this time around. I keep writing this as one big continuous story in one big Word document, so it is only later that I form a chapter from one logical section of the big story. It means that some chapters might have 4-5k words, and some might have 9-10k. So, that's just a heads-up.
As a RESPONSE TO REVIEWS:
Thanks, people! As far as the thing that Indecisive Bob, OBSERVER01, and idiot. of . wanderlust noticed pertaining to the Beacon not exploding or implanting data in Shepard's head, I thought – hell, why do I have to stick to the template? Bioware didn't intend Shepard to be defined by the Beacon, but by the choices; the Beacon was only a McGuffin needed for the Game. So – why couldn't he use his biotics to yank Ash out of there? In any case, the later chapters will depict the consequences of everything that happened on Eden Prime.
Chapter posted on 22.11.2016.
Tags: Action, Sci-fi, Adventure, Friendship building, Love.
Rated M – for mature and adult themes.
Enjoy…
Chapter 4 – The Aftermath
Captain Anderson watched in silence the video of Nihlus's assassination that the spaceport's security feeds had caught, with Marcus and Jaina standing in the comm room next to him, observing.
The vid had a poor quality to it. Not only was the source some cheap security cam, but the glare of the sun was also playing a major part in obscuring the people of interest – their bodies shadowed and their silhouettes outlined by a glaring orange band of sun's shine.
Still, the images and sequence of events that the video provided were undeniable. The unknown enemy was obviously a turian even though his face was obscured by shadow, and when Nihlus had appeared, everything that followed had only corroborated Powel the Smuggler's story. The short verbal exchange that ensued between Nihlus and the other turian that Powel claimed was named Saren was obvious; the fact that the two men knew each other could not be denied either. They all clearly saw how Nihlus behaved with ease around the other turian… how he turned his back on him… how the other turian casually raised his weapon when Nihlus couldn't see – the muzzle obviously under Nihlus's shields – and unloaded a round straight into the back of Nihlus's head. There was not so much as a flinch from the other unknown turian.
The turian was soon joined by a large group of geth before he moved away toward the docks, and the video soon showed Marcus's team blazing down from the nearby rise and wreaking havoc on the geth, ending up with the exchange they had with Powel.
Anderson then rewound the video back to play out the scene of Nihlus's murder and paused at the moment the other turian turned toward the general direction of the camera after he had done the deed. Marcus and Jaina could clearly see the angry frown that marred captain's face and shared a look.
"That turian," Anderson spoke gravely. "That is Saren."
"I assume that from your tone that you know this Saren guy, sir?" Jaina asked with a raised eyebrow.
Anderson merely nodded.
"How positive can you be that it's the man you know?" Marcus asked, then motioned toward the screens. "The video's been cleared up as much as possible by our techs, but there's still no clear outline of their faces."
"Oh, I know Saren," Anderson growled, not taking his eyes off the screen. "You could say he and I have a history. This turian's way of handling himself, his body language, his movements… I could recognize it anywhere. The encounter I had with him long ago has left a sufficiently bad memory for me to memorize it well."
He took a deep, calming breath, then continued:
"This is bad business. Saren Arterius is a Council Spectre. One of the best they have. And he hates humanity. He was on Shanxi in '57. He lost his older brother in that war, one General Desolas Arterius."
There was a moment of pause as Marcus and Jaina shared another meaningful look.
"If that's the case, then we have a big problem," Jaina spoke. "A human-hating rogue Spectre that has aligned himself with AIs, and is rampaging across human colonies. Not only do we have no idea why he's doing it, but he's protected by the Council, and we have next to no evidence to prove his guilt."
"We have the smuggler's testimony on video, and we have the security camera recording," Anderson said calmly. "That is a good piece of evidence to start."
Marcus raised an eyebrow, tilting his head dubiously.
"I'm no lawyer, but the way I see it, that evidence holds no weight," he said. "Powel is a smuggler, which makes it his word against a respected Council Spectre, and the recording of the murder is not clear enough to show it's Saren."
"Do not discount these things so lightly, Commander," Anderson said with certainty. "The evidence might not be rock solid, but trust me when I say it's sufficient enough to cause reasonable doubt, and that is a very powerful thing in galactic judiciary proceedings."
"True, but this is not a civic law we're facing here; this is intergalactic politics," Jaina pointed out. "Things like laws are disregarded there. The only thing that matters is political power trade. Do you really think this evidence would be sufficient for the Council to revoke Saren's Spectre status?"
Anderson made a few steps around the room, and conceded to her point:
"It's a bit too optimistic for that to happen, true… but this puts Council into the spotlight. A big spotlight. They cannot openly deny and try to bury this; the Galactic community would flay them alive! So, they will try to prove their top agent's innocence. Now that is our big break. It will put Saren into the spotlight. He would be tracked, and his actions – both current and previous – would be closely investigated. He couldn't move openly; he would be bogged down."
"Which buys us time," Jaina said as she looked up at Marcus. "We could use it to find solid evidence, or to discover why he attacked the colony in the first place."
"It was clear he did it for that beacon," Anderson stated with certainty.
"Are you sure it was just for the beacon?" Marcus asked. "I know we saw his geth carrying the beacon to the spaceport, so it was of some interest, but Saren just left the damn thing there. Seems odd to just leave your plunder if you already went through all that trouble."
"That's because he didn't need the beacon anymore, Commander," Anderson spoke gravely. "I know how Saren thinks. He views the universe in a matter of usage: if something is useful, he will keep it; if not, he will discard it without a second thought. And trust me when I say that he left the beacon because he got everything he needed from it."
Marcus shared a significant look with Jaina, just as she spoke up, "That field that Williams got caught in…"
"Yes, but I think it is better that we didn't let that field do whatever it was supposed to do," he said. "The components were overcharged, and we didn't have any Prothean experts with us."
"I agree," Anderson said. "You did the right thing by shutting it down, Marcus, rather than destroying it. The Citadel has the best experts in the field of Prothean technologies, and I'm sure they will find a way to keep the beacon safely active."
"But will they let us use it to find out what Saren was after?"
"If you become a Spectre, they will," Anderson replied with certainty.
"And what do you think my chances are when it comes to that now that Nihlus is dead?" Marcus asked.
Anderson sighed, then motioned them to sit on chairs that were lined along the circular walls of the comm room.
"The chances of you becoming a Spectre were all but assured once Nihlus put your name forth," he said. "His death presents a problem, but the comm and vid records from the ground relieve you of any blame. In fact, the Council will want to hide the fact that Nihlus made a rookie mistake when he let his guard down like that. That leaves us with the beacon. It was retrieved, and it's undamaged. We'll have to convince them that we didn't shut it down for good."
"Not a problem with that," Marcus spoke up. "Allow me to talk, and if the Salarian Councilor is anything like the rest of his kind, it will be easy to convince him – one tech savvy to another. The other Councilors can't object that."
"If what you say is true, then that means we have achieved our mission parameters, and the Council will be more than happy, believe me." Anderson went quiet for a second before he continued. "But once the Council sees that part of the security vid where you plow your way through the entire geth platoon in front of the spaceport, wrecking them left and right?" he paused and smiled broadly, shaking his head. "They are going to be awed. And if they try to make that in the form of public hearing – as they most certainly like to do – they might as well publicize that they're biased against us if they were to decide against making you a Spectre."
Marcus snorted mirthlessly. "Easy for them to just watch and be amazed at the few good bits," he said. "The situation planetside was fubar. There was a whole damn battalion of Alliance troops protecting the spaceport area, and they were gutted in the first strike. By the time we got there, the ones who were fighting the geth were civilian militia."
"Has there been any word from the planet, Captain?" Jaina asked.
Anderson sighed.
"I won't lie to you," he said. "Almost eight hundred Alliance soldiers were lost, as well as all thirty armored vehicles and the trident flight squadron. The flotilla that guarded the planet was sliced through with supreme firepower. We lost eight ships today. As for the orbital defense platforms, they took almost no damage – they were bypassed entirely; so much for their usefulness against pirates and slavers… and spaceport GARDIAN turrets were taken out fast. Way too fast. The civilian death toll was far worse."
"What is the Alliance going to do about it?" Marcus asked.
"Repair and rebuild," Anderson shrugged. "But if you're asking me what they are going to do to prevent it from happening, or retaliating, for that I have no answer. The truth is that we are spread too thin defending our colonies throughout the Verge. We have too few ships, and too few men; and this thing with Eden Prime will make the people reluctant to enlist. The Alliance will have to do some serious reviewing when it comes to its system and doctrine. In the meantime, we – meaning the Normandy – must do our part to mitigate the damage."
"So, what are we doing?" Jaina asked.
"A lot of military gear was left on the surface, and no troops to guard them," Anderson said. "The SSV Belgrade has already arrived to provide relief, but they can't take the heavy gear with them since the cruiser can't land."
"You're talking about those Triton mechs, aren't you?" Jaina queried. Anderson nodded in response.
"I've had Sergeant Miller's team take two Tritons; we couldn't spare any room for more. They'll be our responsibility for the conceivable future. Who knows – maybe we'll find some use for them. We've also picked up a number of geth infantry weapons that will be studied. Belgrade's troops will pick up whatever is left, which I doubt will be much once scavenging picks up.
"And then there's Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams. I'm keeping her around," he said firmly. "Her unit was destroyed, so all that she's left with is to wait to be redeployed, and soldiers as good as she is are hard to come by. I've already made arrangements for her to be redeployed as part of the ground team with us here."
"Well, she certainly seems very tenacious and driven," Jaina commented. "And she can pilot the Triton mechs, as we've seen, so that's certainly a boon. She'll certainly be a decent addition to the Normandy."
"I'm glad you see it that way, Commander," Anderson said with satisfaction, then stood up, being quickly mirrored by the other two. "We'll have our jobs cut out for us. As for me, I have a report to make. Dismissed!"
The other two saluted and walked out of the comm room.
Anderson waited until they left, then turned to the console and punched in a few commands. The large screen changed to show the video from Marcus's helmet recording. He rewound the progress bar to the segment he wanted, and pressed 'play'.
"Well, no offence to your devotion, miss, but your Alliance has proven time and again that they can't do squat when it comes to protecting its colonies, and this particular case just drives the nail in your coffin. Just look around you! You had a whole battalion down here, armored vehicles and all, and they just steamrolled right over you. You didn't even see them coming! Your early warning systems have utterly failed in their jobs, and you want us to rely on you? Thanks, but no thanks! We're not putting our faith into someone who's not even able to defend himself. Besides, us colonists are not morons out to start gang wars; we know we need to rely on each other out here. That's why we want these weapons, that's the reason I provide them with weapons, and I will keep doing so whether you like it or not. Captain Luciano knew that, and that's why he let me continue."
Anderson paused the video, a grim frown never leaving his face. He spoke to the VI.
"Compose a message to Admiral Stephen Hackett. Copy the selected video segment and attach it to the note. Message text begins:
"I have attached a video clip in this message that originated from Commander Marcus Shepard's helm recording device. The man you'll see is one of Eden Prime attack survivors. You need to hear it. I knew the situation was like he describes, but I never knew it was this bad. This attack just drove the point in. We're not able to defend our own colonies, for Christ's sake! And Eden Prime is practically at our doorstep."
Anderson sighed heavily, then continued:
"We need to change our doctrine, Stephen, because the way things are, it might just be a matter of time before something worse happens."
"Message text ends."
Anderson let out a deep, weary sigh, and pushed the 'send' button.
Marcus separated from Jaina when they walked out of the comm room and into the CIC. She took her XO's post in captain's absence, with Marcus hanging around long enough to see where the ship was at.
The Normandy had left Eden Prime after a few hours that were dedicated to assisting relief operations in whatever limited capacity it could. The ship was now burning hard toward one of the primary relays present in the cluster – the one that connected the Exodus Cluster directly to Serpent Nebula.
Assessing their location on the starmap, he left the CIC and descended down onto the crew deck, promptly angling toward the mess hall to grab himself something to eat; the biotic usage did have its side effects. Using the specialized nutrient cocktails during the combat that his suit could inject directly into his bloodstream was only an emergency stopgap. The human body still had the need to draw on energy from the digestive tract. Jaina had used significantly less biotics than he did, so a protein bar was enough for her for the time being, but he had burned hard down there. He needed his stomach filled.
A microwaved military ration of beef stew that he ate was not as bad as some other military foodstuffs. The meat was real, and the vegetable sauce was spiced up properly to hide the blandness. As he was halfway through the meal, another figure carrying a tray of food approached from the other side.
"Hey, Commander," Ashley spoke as he looked up at her. "Mind if I join you?"
Marcus motioned her welcomingly with his hand to sit across from him as he chewed his food.
"Nice of you to join us on the Normandy, Chief," he said as he swallowed. "How do you feel being assigned here?"
"Are you kidding?" she said enthusiastically, her eyes wide. "Being posted on Alliance's most advanced ship is like prestige!"
Marcus chuckled at her eager straightforwardness. It was refreshing compared to some of the awkward reservedness that some personnel tended to assume unintentionally.
"Well, the Captain has had the opportunity to see you in action thanks to our helm camcorders," Marcus spoke between the bites. "He's pretty impressed by your performance, and I have to say that so am I. The way you handled that Triton showed initiative and quick thinking. This ship's ground team needs that."
"Thanks, Commander," Ashley replied looking down in what Marcus clearly saw was slight bashfulness. She then looked up, her speech uncertain. "If I may ask, sir – if I understood it correctly, Commander Jaina Shepard is your wife?"
Marcus nodded as he chewed his food.
"So, how come the two of you are assigned to the same ship?" she asked, squinting. "The regs are clear about married couples having to be on separate posts, yet both of you are N7."
Marcus waved with his fork.
"I am not posted to the Normandy," he said. "Jaina is the ship's XO, but I'm field N7 agent, and the Normandy is merely transporting me."
"Huh, I see," Ashley nodded ponderously. "It's one of the methods in which Spec Ops N7s operate, huh?"
"That's right," he replied. "For the lack of a better term, the Normandy served as my taxy for the purposes of this mission. Things might change once this whole deal with the Prothean beacon is resolved."
"Right," she said slowly. "And on that note, I have to thank you for saving my ass again when that thing began pulling me in. That was twice in one day."
"Any time, Ash; that's what brothers and sisters in arms are for. Though, one might start to think you like being bounced around by biotic throws," Marcus jabbed with a smirk.
"You won't be hearing any complaint from me, sir," Ashley replied in all seriousness. "I'm glad I did not have to find out what that field would do to me if it pulled me all the way in! And if someone without biotics tried to rescue me, they would've likely been pulled in instead."
"Which is why I trust you'll remember to be more careful next time when you deal with unknown artifacts or technology," he said. "Now, I'm not scolding you here, Ash – any one of us could have been pulled into that field – but at least now you know that curiosity killed the cat."
"Don't worry, sir," she replied empathically. "That lesson sure is learned!"
Marcus raised his eyes when another person joined them.
"Kaidan," Marcus greeted the man.
"Commander," he replied as he placed his plate of food on the desk and lowed himself on the chair. His face was scrunched up in a frown, and he was squinting.
"Something wrong, Kaidan?" Marcus asked as he examined the man's expression.
"Ah… nothing serious, sir," he replied. "It's just a migraine from biotic use. I did maintain that barrier for the entire duration of the mission; haven't done that in a while, so my L2 is flaring a bit. I'm gonna go take a short nap after this."
"You have an L2 in your head?" Marcus queried as he leaned with his elbows against the desk and took a sip of his water cup.
"Yeah, but I'm the lucky one," he replied. "All I get are migraines every now and then. I figure human biotics are rare enough that the Alliance is willing to have us as active soldiers despite the side effects."
"That's true," Marcus said. "We're a whole new factor on the battlefield. Some of the old tactics had to be abandoned when we were faced with the existence of the biotics."
"I've always wondered what biotics feel like," Ashley spoke up with interest. "I mean, it must come naturally to you, but…"
"It's not easy to explain, unfortunately," Marcus spoke as Kaidan ate. "Biotics are developed while we're in the uterus. We grow with them, so it's like having another limb."
"Yeah, and it tires you out like a real limb if you use it too much, except that it's in your mind," Kaidan added. "It drains you of your energy, makes it hard to run or even move after using it for a while. Makes you hungry as hell, too!"
"Which reminds me," Marcus spoke up as he looked at Kaidan. "Since you're permanently assigned to the Normandy, talk to Jaina to fix you up with a nutrient cocktail injector in your omni-tool if nothing else. One shot of that counts as a full meal and the effect is noticeable in seconds. It's a game changer in prolonged combat."
"I'm gonna be fixing him up with that before we even reach the Citadel," Jaina's voice came from the side as she sauntered her way to the table and sat next to Marcus.
"Thanks, Commander, I sure am going to take you up on that," Kaidan said appreciatively.
"So, what's it like when you channel your biotics?" Ashley asked with interest, looking around at the three people. "I mean – if it's not like a private thing or something…"
"No, not at all."
"It's like there's something inside of your head, just sitting there," Jaina said, circling the side of her head with her finger. "It does nothing until you concentrate on it, and then it spreads like a tingle through your brain."
"But how do you send something flying?" she asked. "I've seen many biotics waving their arms around…"
"That's because of how hard it is to actually teach your brain how to use those damn eezo nodes that are spread throughout it," Jaina replied with a smirk as she crossed her legs. "Your brain can feel it, but it doesn't actually know what the hell it's supposed to do with the thing. So, you must teach it by using mnemonics – also colloquially known as waving your hands while you concentrate on what you want to do. Eventually, your brain will rearrange its internal pathways – learn, so to speak – so that it activates your biotics if you move in a specific way while you concentrate on that tingling in your mind."
"Like muscle memory in martial arts!" Ashley exclaimed.
"Exactly," Jaina replied. "Some people can do it without mnemonics, though – like Marcus here."
"You can, too," he said. "Don't sell yourself short, Jay."
She just shrugged, smirking. "Not as good as the teacher," she said, tapping his shoulder as she leaned into him, then added, "Yet, anyway."
"I just had a head start," he said. "A bit of sleight of hand on the streets of L.A. when I was a kid."
She humpf-ed, smirking. "Showoff," she said.
"I take it that skill is a good thing?" Ashley queried.
"Imagine maintaining a suppressive fire with an assault rifle while launching biotic detonations straight into the enemies midst," Kaidan replied.
"Daymn!" she exclaimed, then looked at Marcus. "You can do two things at the same time like that?"
"Yeah, but have you ever tried writing with both hands at the same time, Chief?" Marcus countered. "Neither one will do the intended job properly."
"Huh… I guess I see where you're coming from."
"Don't sell yourself short, Marc," Jaina spoke admonishingly. "Your 'ambidextrous writing' may not win calligraphy contests, but the message is damn well clear to the enemy."
"We'll never know if it's true or not," Kaidan spoke up. "No enemies were left on Eden Prime to comment about that message they received."
A few chuckles spread across the table.
"And here's to that," Marcus spoke as he raised his cup of water.
"Here-here" they echoed and clinked their cups together.
It was early morning by general time zone.
Most of the Normandy's crew was still at their nighttime rest, with only a few crucial people maintaining systems as the ship was in flight.
Marcus was at the small starboard observation deck, gazing into the void of space that was being broken by blue streaks of light from the FTL. He was not thinking of anything, really. The barely perceptible hum that permeated the space seemed to lull him into an out-of-body state, and the distant stars and constellations seemed to call out to him.
The door opened with a hiss, and he turned his head half-heartedly to look behind from the corner of his eye.
"Can't sleep?" he heard his wife's voice as she approached the sofa he was sitting on.
"I've rested up sufficiently," he replied.
He felt her hand brush across his shoulders as she circled the edge of the sofa, trailing down his arm that rested against the backrest. He looked up at her as she stepped in front of him and descended into his lap, slowly, almost carefully, never breaking eye contact as she seated herself, resting one hand on his shoulder and the other on his broad chest.
He placed his paw against the back of her neck and brought her in for a hungry kiss that sent shivers down her spine and heat down his body as they drank from each-other like they were parched of water for months. Her body molded against his, sinking deeper into the embrace as his other hand trailed down to her hip, pulling her in.
They parted after a long while, their breathing heavy, lips wet, and her pink-hued cybernetic eyes never leaving his piercing blue gaze for a second. Little pecks ensued, sweet and soft, as he trailed his strong, calloused hands down her flanks, eliciting small cooing sounds from her throat.
They finally slowed down as she rested her forehead against his, their eyes closed and just basking in the fuzzy feeling of content, satisfied in this little act of intimacy they had managed to sneak away with.
She moved slowly, gently rubbing her nose against his as a tiny giggling sound involuntarily left her throat.
"All is right in the world," Marcus declared with a content sigh.
"All is right," she echoed in the same way.
"You know, I was thinking," Marcus spoke with a casual tone. "In a year or two, we say goodbye to all of this – the Alliance, the Council, the Universe – and go to some verdant world far away, where nobody goes to… have six or seven of those pesky little parasites – what was it they call them? Kids?"
Jaina was grinning and shaking her head gently in amusement. He continued:
"I was thinking four beautiful girls and three strapping boys… you could be the cool badass mom, and I could be the terrifying dad that glares at his daughters' boyfriends as he demonstrates the accuracy of his hunting rifle when they come for dinner…"
By this time, Jaina was shaking from trying to contain her laughter as she buried her face in his shoulder.
"And we wouldn't be living in an ordinary prefab – nope, no how!" he stated. "We'd live in this beautiful lodge at the edge of forested mountains, right next to the foaming mountain stream. I'd go hunting, you'd do your sculpturing with the jackhammer…"
"God, that only happened that one time!" she laughed as she turned her head skyward.
He chuckled with her.
"And we'd raise farm animals," he finished somberly. "We'd have some sheep and goats; I hear they do well in mountain climates… And all would be right in the world."
Jaina was blissfully silent as she listened to his story, gently stroking the side of his neck with her thumb.
"I'd like that… sounds like a plan," she said sincerely, then gave him a stern look from above. "But I want a pair of big-ass GARDIAN turrets hidden underground right next to the house. This future badass mom won't be having her kids at slaver's crosshairs!"
"Bad-ass future mom?" he said with a smirk, then gave her a sharp swat on her shapely rump. "It looks like a nice-ass future mom to me!"
"Marcus Shepard," she said in mock haughty and stern voice. "The first chance we get time together off this ship, you will be taking responsibility for manhandling my assets during a time and place where further actions are inadvisable!"
"Oh?" he kept his eyes locked with hers' as he maintained that cocky smirk. "You mean to say that I am to back up my actions with something more?"
She lowered her face millimeters away from his. "Significantly more," she squeezed out as mirthful lust raged in her eyes.
"Oh, but I don't think you'll be able to handle it, Mrs. Shepard," he retorted smugly.
She bit her lower lip and smiled devilishly.
"Is that a promise?" she asked with a grin as she felt something hard right at the place she was sitting at.
"Cross my heart and hope to cry," he replied cockily.
She stood up then, her eyes glinting down at him from behind her auburn bangs, and straightened her officer's uniform.
"I'll hold you up on that, Mr. Shepard," she replied calmly, then cleared her throat. "In the meantime… we'll be arriving at the Widow system in about an hour. You should be the one to oversee the handover of the beacon."
He nodded somberly. "I'll prepare."
"Alright then! Oh, and don't forget to be in the cockpit once we get there; the Citadel is a beautiful sight, you'll see!"
"I'll take your words to heart then," he replied as she moved to leave the room.
Marcus sighed deeply. He'd need a cold shower. A very cold shower.
The next chapter will be a long one, so no exact promises as to when will it arrive, but shouldn't be later than about one week from now. Remember, I've already written a few chapters in advance, but I'm keeping a 'buffer', so I post a new chapter when I advance in overall story – so that I can make certain adjustments if the need arises.