"Sarah Shepard is just an exceptional soldier, Nihlus." Anderson said, "I don't understand why you're so suspicious of her skills. Why do you think that she actually died on Akuze when everything went wrong and was replaced with a fake?"
"Because she has shown no affect by the deaths of her team." Nihlus said, "That is not the human way."

"That just shows how little you know her. Sarah internalizes, and won't show anyone how she feels. Unless it was someone she trusted completely. Someone she felt she could say anything to."

"You are saying that she is qualified enough at internalization to not have shown any affect at all."
"She's the best of us, if she weren't someone else would be nominated for the Spectres."

"Would you trust someone like her with information about the beacon?"
"She'll find out one way or another. It's better to be honest. Shepard has reacted... poorly to lies from those who are in the know about her operations."

"Then we will tell her. Bring her in."

-=0=-

Sarah walked into the comms room, nodded at Nihlus and Anderson. She said, "What's the situation? Why did you call me in here?"
"This isn't a mere shakedown run." Nihlus said.

"Prothean discovery?" the veteran asked, already knowing the answer.

"Yes, how did you know?"
"Seemed like the most reasonable explanation for the Council sending a Spectre on a shakedown run for a non-Council species' most advanced ship."

Nihlus nodded, and said, " There is more to it than that. Your leaders have nominated you for the Spectres."

"What?" Sarah asked, struggling to keep a confident smirk off her face. "Why wasn't I told about this?"
"Candidates are never told before their first evaluation mission with a Spectre. This will be the first of several operations we perform together, Commander."
She took a deep breath, perfectly recreating her angry attitude, and said, "You think that I want to spend my time working on a bunch of missions so that I can be a puppet of the Council?"
"You already call on them to settle your personal disputes with C-Sec agents." Nihlus replied.

"That is beside the point. That's me using the Council for my purposes. Being a Spectre would be them using me for theirs. I'm an Alliance soldier first and foremost. Being a Spectre would force me to try and equally split myself between two loyalties."
"I understand your concerns, Commander. As a Spectre if you are asked to perform a mission it will never be one that forces you to choose between the Alliance and the Citadel Council."

Sarah took a deep breath, and was about to speak when Anderson said, "Shepard, if you can make it into the Spectres it will be a huge leap for humanity. It will show the galactic community just how far we've come in the few decades since first contact."

Sarah sighed, and said, "Alright. I'll do my best to get in. What do you need me to do, Nihlus?"
"Just do this mission how you would normally, Shepard."
"For me to do it how I would normally I'll need to know the details."
"This isn't just a shakedown run, on Eden Prime they found a prothean beacon." Anderson said.
"That could be huge. The archives on Mars catapulted our technology forward a hundred years at least." Sarah said. "We're here to retrieve it?"
"Yes" Nihlus said, just before Joker's voice came out of the intercom.

"Captain, distress signal from Eden Prime."
"Put it on screen." the Captain.

As the video flared into life, they were greated by a red sky, a few trees. Then the sounds of gunfire echoed throughout the room. The camera collapsed, and an Alliance soldier ran up to it. She shouted, "We are under fire from geth platforms! Hundreds of these things just showed up in a massive dreadnaught!" before several rounds pierced her shields, "Requesting immediate backup! Repeat, we are under attack by geth!"
Sarah took a deep breath, and said, "We've got to get down there asap. Recover the beacon before the geth can steal it."

"If we rush into combat, Shepard, it will end poorly." Nihlus said.

"Just because I said we need to quickly get down there doesn't mean we have to be stupid, Nihlus."

"You have a plan, Commander?"
"I always have a plan."

-=0=-

Jessica looked around the room, as Anderson walked up to her. She nodded at him, and said, "Captain."

"I've played along with what Sarah said about you and your companions. I know it's a lie, Jessica."
"That's not my name."

"That lie is unbefitting a dead woman."
"I don't know why you think I'm someone I'm not."

"Shepard, quit lying." said Anderson, "I know who you are. How aren't you dead?"
"Who you're thinking of is dead. I can't say more, it might cause problems."
"You're being as evasive as Sarah."

"For a good damn reason." Jessica replied.

"Tell me what's going on or I'll vent you out the airlock."

"You ask a heavy price for passage on your ship, Anderson. It's a price I'm not willing to pay."

"Then you are no longer welcome onboard the Normandy."

"Anderson don't push your luck."

"I need to know what is going on beyond what Sarah has told me. How far back did she turn back time to give the galaxy another chance?"

"It doesn't have anything to do with her turning back time. The arrival of myself and my companions is because of something no one in this galaxy before we appeared had influence over."

Anderson said, "Care to make that a bit more clear?"
"I'm not the Jessica Shepard who you think I am. That woman died a long time ago."

"So you're from an alternate reality?"
"You know how this kind of shit goes, Anderson."

He nodded, and said, "How long until you'll be gone?"
"Nothing's certain. Hopefully soon. I've got my own people to take care of."

-=0=-

Sarah glanced at Jenkin's corpse, and said, "We'll come back for him after the beacon is recovered. Right now we need to find someone who can tell us what's going on."
"Death. Chaos. Carnage on all sides is what it looks like." Kaidan replied, closing Jenkins' eyes. "Lead the way, Shepard."
"Right into the eye of the hurricane." she sighed, walking forward, rifle in hand.
"You could try to be a little bit more optimistic about what is going on."

"You see what's going on here, Kaidan. Not a lot to be optimistic about."

"You know what's coming after this, Shepard."

"You know the reason that I'm not feeling the most optimistic about what is happening, Alenko."
"Anderson insisting that Miranda be left behind on the Normandy."
"Do you know how many strings I had to pull to even get her placed on the ship, Kaidan?"
"More than you should have."

"I had my reasons. I want someone I trust so unconditionally that I would hand them a knife to stab me with and look the other way without even having to worry about my safety beside me on the battlefield."

"After this there'll be more liberty. You've just got to push through the bullshit that comes from doing this kind of work."
"It may come from doing this work," Sarah said, firing a few rounds into a couple of geth drones, "but I still think it's a waste of goddamn time. If I had a full team of specialists, then maybe Saren wouldn't get away today."
"You don't know how much the universe would be fucked up if we caught him here and now."

"I don't, but I can still wish for things to go better."

"Maybe you could quit wishing for things that are already set in stone to be better and focus on finding the things you can change."
"Currently we're working on a fight through a few geth, we haven't even reached Ashley yet."

"She's right around this corner."

"Yeah. You take the geth on the left?"
He nodded, as they rounded the corner. Their shots were already lined up before the geth could react. Ashley dove behind cover, and was about to open fire, when she heard two non-plasma rounds fly overhead. She peaked around the corner to see the geth drones dead, and looked up the hill to see Shepard and Kaidan.

The Commander and Lieutenant walked over to her, and said, "Soldier, what's going on down here? Why is the colony under assault from geth?"
"It's probably for the beacon, who are you?"
"Commander Shepard, N7. What can you tell me about the beacon?"

"It's prothean. The scientists who work at the dig site seemed really excited about it. Kept going on about how it could be the biggest discovery in over three decades."

Sarah nodded, and asked, "How many more of these things are there, do you have any idea?"
"No damn idea, Ma'am."

"Have you seen any turians around here? The one we're looking for is named Nihlus. We lost contact a few minutes ago, and haven't been able to raise him."

"I haven't seen one. Sorry."
Sarah nodded, then said, "What's your name, soldier?"
"Staff Sergeant Ashley Williams, Ma'am."

"I asked for your name, not your rank, Williams. Where's the rest of your unit?"
"Dead."
"Can you still fight?"
"Yes, Ma'am."
"Do you know where the beacon was being stored?"
"Yes, Ma'am."

"Can you take us to it?"
"I can, Commander."
"Then lead the way, Williams. Alenko and I'll cover you. Just get us to that beacon ASAP."

-=0=-
Bryce leaned against a railing, and looked up towards the King's Palace. He looked at it, the glimmering towers of purest silver. He looked at the indestructible walls of a material so rare that outside of the realm of the Lucis Entia it was thought to not even exist.

He observed it in silence for a while, the crown jewel of the dimension filling his sight. Then, he heard a Lucis Entia say, "Lord Cousland, the rumors on the street are quite strange. They are saying you have reformed the Guardians to fight the Dark Brother."

"Any action I may have taken upon that path was under the King's direct command."
"Why would the Guardians be needed once more?"
"The Dark Brother grows stronger."
The Lucis Entia nodded, and asked, "How much stronger?"
"Too much for us to draw comfort in the power of the Old Blade should it awaken."
"Will you lead the final assault against him? When the Shepard is corrupted?"
"That is not my choice to make. It is hers."

"Will she know the consequences?"
"She will, unless she somehow manages to slay him too soon."

"She will not." the man said, drawing a blade, and stabbing at Bryce. The ancient noble deflected the attack, and said, "So, you are a Shadow Brother."
"The Dark Brother shall rule over all. You even said that soon he shall have power too great for the Old Weapon to stop. The new era is upon us, Bryce, and you're clinging to the past."
Bryce silently struck at his foe, and the force of the attack sent him staggering backwards. He shrugged, and countered, attempting to stirke down the most loyal servant of the King.

Bryce deflected the attack with ease, and pinned the traitor to the ground. With a single strike he ended the threat. He then looked up at the palace, and said, "I pray you have a plan, your majesty. For the times grow ever darker, and now your brother attempts to slay those who do not side with him. Assassins walk our streets, and it is impossible to tell who serves the right side."

-=0=-

Sarah looked at Nihlus's corpse, and said, "We won't let your death have been in vain, Nihlus. We'll see to it that whoever did this pays."

"It was the other turian." a dock worker said, "The dead one called him Saren."
"Saren, figures. He has always hated humans." Sarah said, "Is there anything else you can tell us about what happened?"
-=0=-

A/N: Hopefully you all enjoyed this chapter. If you did, please leave a review detailing what you enjoyed. :-)