EdenPrime

Diana Allers: Ashley Lawson, previously Williams, the only human to have been at Commander Shepards side since the beginning. This interview is going to compromise of everything that happened before the Geth Incident and then concluding with your life after the Battle for Earth. No doubt some of you have questions, and hopefully Commander Lawson's testimony will answer all of them. Now to the beginning, Commander let's start with Eden Prime.

Ashley: On the day that the Protheon Beacon was found I wasn't actually on duty. Delta squad were on downtime. So like most soldiers we were at the local bar. Unfortunately it was un-alcoholic beverages for us that night. Orders from above insisted that any marines on the ground were to remain sober even if they weren't on duty. As squad leader it was up to me enforce the rules on my men which they took well, if it hadn't been that I had saved everyone of them at least once I expect the circumstances would have been different. But we had a good chemistry the four of us. I remember all their names and faces, they shall never leave me. Sergeant Renner my second in command always shamelessly flirting with anyone with legs and breasts. Then there was Private Crossly a damn fine cook in my opinion and my partner. Last but not least there was Private Leo, the joker of the pack. We'd been through a lot together, become good friends. Little did I know that would be the last time I would see them.

Renner had spent most of the night flirting with us much to are annoyance. We took it jokingly since he was our friend but he was very persistent. He liked to push it to the limit, if he had known about our sexuality then it might have stopped him from pursuing us, but as he didn't know then he was a monster of our own making. But he was a good friend so we let him be. As Renner flirted shamelessly, Leo was entertaining a group of kids from the colony, joke after joke. They loved him for it though, whenever he had downtime he could be found entertaining children with his jokes and poor attempt at magic. Not only did the children love him for it, but so did their parents, giving them a much needed break. As they watched Leo with the children Renner lost his focus on his quarry and moved to some poor colonial woman. Naturally we felt sorry for the woman but it was a blessing for us. With no Renner about, Crossly and I soon found ourselves in the comfort of each other's arms. Now regulations stated that fraternisation amongst the ranks was frowned upon, but that didn't mean it didn't happen. As was the case with us. We had hidden it well from our friends and officers, but in moments like this we could lose themselves in each other. The moment didn't last; it wasn't long before our XO entered the building.

"Ah, Delta Squad. New intel has just come in. The archaeologists have just unearthed a Protheon device of some kind down at the dig site and we are being mobilised to go guard it. Alpha, Bravo and Charlie squads are already on their way in the Mako's. So I suggest you go gear up and set of, it's a long walk to the dig site. Sergeant Renner you're in charge. Dismissed."

The Williams family curse struck again. Every officer knew who my Grandfather was and because of this I was routinely punished. Never expected to get past Gunnery Chief, as far as the alliance brass was concerned I had reached the highest rank available to someone like me. The rest of the team looked shocked at the officer's decision. They knew that I was more than capable of leading their squad, I had done it before successfully and they knew it. Every good soldier knows though that you don't question orders, if they tell you to jump you ask how high. If they tell you to kiss a Turian, you ask which cheek. It didn't take us long to get our gear sorted, just put the armour over your casual clothes and slink your rifle on your back. We met outside the armoury and Sergeant Renner sent us on our way.

The trail to the dig site was a long one. In the Mako it only felt like a couple of minutes, but by foot it was definitely an hour's walk. As we walked we talked about our commanding officer more than anything. Since he bypassed me for command he had fallen down in their books quite badly. They knew what I was like and just because my Grandfather surrendered to the Turians at Shanxi during the First Contact War didn't mean that I was a bad soldier. And they weren't afraid to tell me that. Their confidence in me was astonishing; no one had ever given me much praise like my squad did. It was at that moment when trouble came over the radio.

"Delta Squad this is Brave Squad do you read me, over."

"Bravo Squad this is Delta Squad, we read you, over."

"We've just reached the dig site. What's your ETA?"

"ETA in ten."

"Roger that Delta Squad, Brave Squad ou...Delta Squad we are under attack...reque...assistan...geth...hurry."

"Bravo Squad repeat did you say geth?"

Silence

"Delta Squad double time, prepare for trouble."

With that we ran towards the dig site, rifles ready. The closer we got the sounds of gunfire became louder, as we ran down the slope towards the commotion we saw the geth attacking the unit. As we took cover we started to return fire. It was a slaughter, the geth just kept dropping from the sky and the more that fell the more men fell under their continued fire. Bravo Squad had been completely wiped out and Alpha and Charlie were down to their last rounds. It didn't take long for them to fall and leave Delta Squad on their own. Renner made the decision to fall back, it was a good call but at the wrong moment. As he and Leo got up to make a tactical retreat more geth dropped and opened fire on the two men. Their shields were ripped to shreds within seconds leaving just me and Crossly to fend for ourselves. Still behind cover I threw a grenade towards the massing Geth. As the explosion ripped the Geth apart we made our escape and headed away from the fight. As we ran from the fight more Geth dropped at the dig site, unfortunately these weren't fazed from the debris of their fallen comrades. With a quick scan of the surrounding area they spotted us. One shot was all that was needed as the Geth looked through the scopes of its rifle, it pulled the trigger.

"Crossly are you alright? Crossly? No Crossly, I need you. Stay with me."

My moment of weakness had cost me dearly. The Geth were here. There were four of them all together. Two had hold of a colonist and the other two were heading in my direction. The two with the colonist had managed to drag him onto some kind of alter, but I didn't have time to look as I had two Geth approaching my position. Normally I'd have been able to take the Geth, but with the fire fight before my ammo was running precariously low. I moved out of cover and aimed for the flashlight heads of the Geth. It took four shots to the head in order to stop the Geth trooper, which left me with only four more bullets left for the three remaining. They could only be used on the one that was close to my position, so with practiced skill I moved out of cover and fired four shots into the closest Geth and with that I had run out of ammo. It was time to run again, as I moved away from the area I stumped my foot against a rock in the ground and that's where I ended up. Rolling over, I looked towards the remaining Geth with the colonist. The alter that he was being placed on suddenly started to move as a massive metal spike shot up through the colonist killing him instantly. A dragons tooth. As the ritual was complete the two Geth turned their attention towards me and advanced. Before they could even taken a step bullets and a biotic warp came at them. Both hitting the Geth and stopping them in their tracks. That was the first time I saw the Commander.

"You alive soldier?"

"Aye Aye Sir. Thanks for the assist."

"I'm Commander Shepard, this is Lieutenant Alenko. What's happening soldier?"

"Gunnery Chief Williams. It's the Geth sir. They attacked the dig site."

"The Geth haven't been seen outside the Veil in 200 years." Spluttered the Lieutenant.

"Regardless Lieutenant, it's the Geth. They wiped out my entire unit, we were sent to guard the dig site. But before my squad could get there, the rest of the unit was attacked. We got here as soon as we could but it was too late. Shit, Crossly."

I ran towards where I left Crossly and cradled her in my arms. Removing her helmet I placed a final kiss on her lips and closed her eyes.

"I take it you were close Chief?"

"More than close, Commander. We had made plans to live together back on Earth. Even had a deposit down for a flat in Toronto."

"Joker, we need a pickup team. A Private Crossly is down. Full military honours to be given."

"Roger that Commander. Pickup team on the way."

"Come with us Chief, we need someone who knows the lay of the land. But we can't wait for the pickup team. Our mission is too important."

"That's okay Commander. The mission comes first. Thanks."

It wasn't right and I didn't want to do it but I had to search Crossly's body for any spare ammo. Upon finding some the Commander then led us down towards the dig site, back towards the Geth.

"Any suggestions Chief."

"The gap into the dig site isn't that wide. If we created a loud enough diversion to bring the Geth through it, then the Lieutenant could place a singularity in the gap. Then pick them of one by one."

"Good thinking Chief, get to it Lieutenant."

Alenko quickly got into position behind a large column away from the entrance and I took to the left of the entrance and crouched down behind a fallen column. The Commander was half way up the hill behind Alenko lying in the tall grass with her sniper rifle aimed towards the entrance.

"Chief, throw a grenade their way."

The grenade struck the side of the entrance and bounced further into the dig site. After five seconds I pressed the detonator and waited for the Geth to arrive. It was the Commander who spotted them first and took the first down with a shot to its flash light head. As soon as the Lieutenant saw them he placed a singularity in their path. As the Lieutenant held the singularity in place, I opened fire on those trapped. It didn't take long for the Geth to be defeated. As the last one fell, the Lieutenant released his hold on the singularity.

"Good idea Chief."

"Thanks Lt."

At the dig site we found nothing, the Protheon artefact we were expecting had been moved. There was no clear indication about which they had headed with it, but there was only one way out of there towards the spaceport. The delay we had suffered would have given them plenty of time to be half way there.

"Chief where we heading?"

"The starport sir, it's the only way of this rock."

I led the way towards the spaceport, with a quick march up the hill towards the camp. As we reached the camp there were more dragons teeth lined up, all of which had already been raised. But as we got closer to them all three of them suddenly started to descend. On the end of each was a gray humanoid shaped creature, but with blue electronics throughout the body. As they hit the ground the creatures got to their feet and found their targets, with a quick dash they ended up directly in front of the Commander. A quick biotic push from the Lieutenant pushed them back towards the dragons teeth, but not before one of them exploded with some kind of electrical discharge knocking the Commanders shields down. A few bursts from my rifle put them down on the ground.

"What the hell were they?"

"They looked like people."

"With electronics?"

"Quiet down Chief. Lieutenant go check those cabins."

As they waited for the Lieutenant to check on the cabins, I found a nearby ammo dump to refill. What I had managed to get from Crossly wasn't enough. With more thermal clips tucked into my armour I was ready to carry on. It was at that moment when Lieutenant Alenko radioed in.

"Commander we have survivors. I'm bringing them out."

The two survivors emerged out of the furthest cabin and headed towards the Commander.

"Do you recognise them Chief?"

"I think that's Dr Warren. And if it is then that's Manuel her assistant."

"Chief Williams, we heard the gun fight below, what happened?"

"Geth, they took the artefact."

"No they didn't, it was moved this morning. Taken to the starport."

"Thank you Doctor, you'll be safe now." Turning to the two marines "Head out."

We headed towards the starport and heard a gunshot come from ahead. As we moved into cover we surveyed the surrounding area. There was no one coming our way, the only things in front of us were more of those creatures. Three of them all coming towards them from different directions. A quick headshot from the Commanders rifle saw one of them hit the dirt. The Lieutenant used several biotic warps in order to bring down the second, and a round of rifle fire saw the final one fall. Ahead of us lay the starport and as we moved forward we found a body that wasn't Geth.

"Commander its Nihlus."

"You know this Turian. There's movement behind the crates."

"Come out."

"The names Powell, I'm a dock worker here."

"What were you doing behind the crates?"

"I was on my break, when the Geth arrived and I stayed behind them. I thought my number was up when this Turian arrived. Even more so when the second one turned up and attacked the other one. Seemed like they knew each other, clearly not that well by the looks of things. Saren was the other Turians name."

"Come on we've got to reach the starport."

Before we could get to the transport that would take us to the starport we were ambushed by more Geth. Two Geth troopers were waiting for us just round the corner from Powell, unfortunately for us machines don't get surprised, they just opened fire and we just managed to get to cover. As we let the Geth waste their ammo we saw several more heading our way from the transport station including a Geth Juggernaught, our position would quickly become over run. With a decisive order from the Commander the Lieutenant threw a singularity towards the advancing Juggernaught slowing its approach. With a precision known only to those of N7 rank the Commander quickly dispatched the two Geth in front of us. I moved out of cover and headed down the ramp towards the waiting Geth, my rifle throwing bullets towards the stationary Juggernaught ripping it to shreds. A biotic warp flew past and struck the nearest Geth followed by a single sniper round which impacted an explosive canister decimating the remaining Geth. It didn't take long once we had reached the transport station to reach the starport. Once we arrived we were greeted by more Geth this time with nowhere to hide. So we stormed across the bridge to where there was some cover. What we weren't expecting was there to be several bombs placed around the port all guarded by Geth. We had to disarm the bombs and defeat the Geth. The Commander ordered the Lieutenant to disarm the bombs as we tackled the Geth. Before long we were ready to move on we still had to find the Protheon beacon. In hindsight it wasn't rather hard to find, it was rather big and was glowing green.

"Joker we've recovered the beacon, it's time for pick up."

"Roger that commander ETA five minutes."

The beacon was fascinating it seemed to captivate your gaze and you couldn't move away from it. I unwillingly moved closer towards just wanting to touch it, it seemed to probe my mind and every touch was heaven. I was only a couple of feet in front of it when something seemed to grab me and life me up. It felt like the hand of God reaching down and giving me his blessing.

"Chief!"

Before I knew it the Commander had grabbed hold of me and thrown me to the ground, trading places with me. As I watched on in horror I saw here get thrown into the air and her body convulse in agony. After what seemed like hours as we gazed on helpless the beacon exploded throwing the Commander back towards us. With a click of her omni-tool I was able to look at her vitals everything seemed okay. Even though she was out cold. As the Normandy landed we picked up the Commander and took her straight to the med bay.

Writing this chapter was rather difficult. I know from halfway in, it is the game but how do you put the game into words and do it justice. I hope from what you've read that I have done it some justice.

Once again any comments or views please let us know.