Author's Note: WHAT'S UP MUCKACHUNGAS!? IT'S TRAVEZTY! And today I'm going to bring you a bit of bad news… You see, I had been reading all of the reviews for the original version of this story, and, honestly, looking back on my previous attempt at it, I know I could've done a whole lot better. There were many… Many… MANY problems with that story to begin with, the first of which was the fact that I had decided to use a build that I honestly had a lot of trouble with inside of Cyberpunk 2077. The Fact is that I had decided to go for a Sandevistan Build, which, much to my annoyance, was far more trouble than it was worth! You see, during my first attempt at a full playthrough, I had used a Cyberdeck for the longest time, and I got really used to using it, in fact, I loved my Militech Paraline to death! Despite that, I didn't know what I was doing for the life of me, and I didn't exploit my beloved Paraline to the degree I should have! I had no idea how that game worked, and as I got more intune with my inner gunslinger, I got used to how it worked. However, around the time I started writing this story, I had decided to try again and switch things up by trying a Sandevistan Build…
Now I like the Sandevistan as much as the next guy, but the problem was that I had gotten so used to my Paraline that when I wanted to activate my sandy, I would activate my scanner instead, and this has gotten me killed more than once! Not to mention the time slowing part really got under my skin as I had a really hard time adjusting to both the mechanics, it's cooldowns, and the button switch. Now I'm starting a new playthrough with a cyberdeck, being reunited with my beloved Paraline, and it feels like I've found myself again. So I've actually decided to take this one step further. I'm going to be revamping this story with a new Vincent "V" Shepard that, instead of trying to suit the build of a David Martinez, actually suits my personal playstyle as V: A NetRunner with a Penchant for Snipers, Pistols/Revolvers, and SMGs with a bit of Blades thrown in for flavor. Plus, my current attempt at a build was inspired by Sombra from Overwatch 2, so there is that too. In any case, an Infiltrator actually answers almost all of my issues, especially if we go by Mass Effect 2's Standards! In any case, with this in mind, I have a plan for Shepard going forward.
Aside from that, there is one more major factor that needs addressing, as it had cause some major issues in the last attempt, and that is Shepard's relationship. As you guys know, I had tried to set Shepard up with 2 girls, and I regret everything. So now I'm going to set up Shepard with Tali, who is the best girl of the series, hands down! Besides, the build I plan to have Shepard use will be what I'm planning for V, which has V dumping Body whilst focusing mainly on Cool, Intelligence, Reflexes, and Technical Ability, with dominant stat being Intelligence with Reflexes and Tech being tied for second place, and Reflexes in third.
In any case, I think that is enough out of me for now, and I'll let the story speak for itself! Please be sure to Follow, Favorite, Review, and Share this story with anyone and everyone you know who likes Mass Effect and Cyberpunk 2077 Content! Catch you on the Flipside! Shepard…
Prologue:
"Well, what about Commander Vincent John Shepard?" Councilor Udina asks. "He's an Earthborn, Night City Native, comes from a distinguished family of Corporates."
"Unfortunately, never knew his family, his Great grandparents and grandfather were all killed, and his mother sacrificed herself during the Second Contact War." Captain Anderson says. "His great grandfather was Thrice-Dead V, an Arasaka Counterintelligence Officer who was let go after his corrupt boss attempted to force him into a coup d'etat in Arasaka's power structure. He made a name for himself as a Solo who cleaned up Night City's of Cyberpsychos and got them into an experimental, but cheap and effective, treatment that cured the afflicted. He would later rejoin Arasaka, and would completely revamp MaxTac's Modus Operandi when it came to Cyberpsychos. He also ended up becoming Mayor of Night City and would prove to be an effective leader."
"His Grandfather, Jackie Shepard, who was also an influential man, had been fostered by the Aldecado Nomads thanks to V's friendship with their leader, Panam." Admiral Hackett explains, "His time with the Nomads would be instrumental when he joined the Military and was the commanding officer of the team who not only activated the Sol System's Charon Relay, but also made first contact with the Quarians. His connections with the Nomads allowed him to understand and Sympathize with the Quarians, smoothing over the First Contact and establishing peaceful and friendly relations with them. Thanks to Jackie, we were able to prepare ourselves for when the Second Contact War came about."
"Finally, there is his mother, Hannah Shepard. She, unlike her son, chose to live the life of a Streetkid, growing strong bonds with the communities of Night City. Thanks to her gaining a great reputation, the Military was able to recruit her so she could achieve her dreams of seeing the stars…" Captain Anderson explains, "She had Vincent a few years into her service, the exact same day her father and grandparents died… Not long after that, the Second Contact War began, and Hannah left her son in the care of someone she trusted… She served valiantly in the War, but became a legend when she sacrificed herself in a blaze of glory by fighting off a hundred Turian Soldiers, all while being bombarded by ships from orbit. By the end of it, she was dead, but died on her feet, standing defiantly over a mountain of corpses. This earned her the Alias of "Demon Lord"."
"Which brings us to Vincent…" Councilor Udina says, "According to his records, while he was in the care of your wife, though an Earthborn, he had graduated from Arasaka Academy with Flying Colors at a very young age, even becoming a member of the Counter-Intel Unit like his Great Grandfather before him, even though he spent a lot of time with a subsection of the 6th Street gang known as the Tenth Street Reds."
"An Anti-Alien Gang?" Udina would ask.
"The Reds used to be a peaceful coalition of Humans and Quarians who protected and helped their communities from the violence of the other gangs, and Shepard left on amicable terms with them once he decided to join the military, they even threw a party for him at the Afterlife with 6th Street, where they revealed everything they knew about Vincent's family, revealing their legendary status, even ordering him the drinks that belonged to those tied to his family's legacy: Johnny Silverhand, Jackie Welles, V Thrice-Dead, Jackie Shepard, and Demon Lord Hannah." Anderson continues, smiling. "The Reds only turned Anti-Alien after the Blitz, not even Shepard knows about this."
"Speaking of the Blitz, Shepard's Military record is astounding. After working for Arasaka, living with a military family, and serving in the 6th Street's ranks among the 10th Street Reds, he had plenty of commendations and training that allowed him to get into boot camp. He was among only 2 students of his class to earn an invitation to N-School after a few years of service… He had managed to be tied for top of his N-School class with Kai Leng, both of them becoming the youngest soldiers to obtain the N-7 Designation in the school's history." Admiral Hackett reveals.
"However, after that, things began to go downhill from there… After graduating, he was forced to fight Kai Leng after the latter had murdered a Krogan, with Shepard being judged as innocent and commended for stopping Kai Leng. Things only got worse when his unit decided to take Shore Leave on Elysium, just hours before the Skyllian Blitz began…" Captain Anderson explains, "Shepard was the only survivor of that battle, but held the line against the Pirates and Slavers long enough for reinforcements to arrive. This earned him the Star of Terra and a promotion to Commander, but after that, he was put on an extended Shore Leave because of his survivor's guilt and depression. He's only recently recovered and is fit for duty again, hence why we had him transferred to the Normandy to get him back in shape. Despite that, Shepard is the only reason that Elysium is still standing"
"We can't question his courage on this matter… Nor can we question his skill…" Udina says, taking everything in.
"Councilor… No… Former Rear Admiral Donnel Udina…" Captain Anderson says, using Udina's former rank, "Humanity needs a Hero, especially now… and V is the Best we've got…" Udina looks at the picture of Shepard, then looks at the others, nodding.
"Alright… I'll make the call."
Meanwhile…
Coming from one of the Normandy's windowed rooms, Vincent John Shepard is tinkering away at a broken weapon whilst one of the new recruits sits nearby as the man does his work. "Wow, Commander, never knew you were such a techy."
"Come with the turf, choom…" V says, doing a double check on his work. "The best thing about modern weapons is that, thanks to mass accelerator technology, our modern weapons are just like the Borg Weapons of the late 2000s."
"Borg Weapons? You mean the weapons that combined old gunpowder Power Weapons with the Technological Railgun Weapons?" The serviceman asks.
"Exacta…" V says, "Thanks to those similarities, it's pretty easy to fix modern weapons…"
"Commander!" A Voice says, over comms, "You're needed on the bridge, we've got a visual on the Mass Relay!"
"Roger Roger, Joker! I'll be there shortly!" He then puts the safety on the gun and pulls the trigger after aiming it, smiling as there is a click but no rounds fired. "Perfect, here you go soldier, right as rain now!"
"Thank you, Commander!" The Serviceman says, rushing off. V smiled as he put his tools away in his footlocker and then made his way to the bridge, where everyone was hard at work preparing the Normandy for being launched to their next destination by the Mass Relay. Walking onto the bridge, he sees the great, for the lack of a better term, oversized high tech catapult greeting the crew with the light of it's Element Zero Core. He smiles as Joker prepares the crew for the final approach to the Relay, in which V smiles as he thinks about what adventures lie ahead.
"Alright, Relay's hot. Acquring approach vector." Joker says as V walks up behind him, watching the whole process.
'This never gets old…' V thinks as the group.
"All stations, secure for transit!" Joker says as they draw in close, "Board is green, beginning approach now!" Shepard then hears somebody approach behind him, and he sees a Turian dressed in the armor of a Spectre walk up behind him, watching carefully as Joker runs the final calculations. "Hitting the Relay in 3…" Joker's excitement is palpable, but so is Shepard's as his eyes widen as the Normandy starts to become coated in Eezo via what could only be described as a lightning bolt, "2…" The ship lines up with the launch vector and the mechanics of the drive core begin to power-up. "1…" The next thing everyone knows is that they are sent flying like a bat out of hell straight towards their intended destination, in which V has to struggle to nor whoop at the sheer speed they are going.
"Okay… Thrusters, check… Navigation, Check…" Joker says as he checks on the Systems to make sure everything is holding fine, "Internal Emission Sinks have been engaged. All Systems online, and Drift is just under 1,500 K!"
"1,500 is good. Very good indeed! Your Captain will be pleased!" The Turian says, doing the turian version of a smile. He then begins to walk away and once he is just out of earshot and Joker just sighs.
"I really hate that guy!" Joker says.
"Nihlus paid you a compliment by Turian Standards, and you hate him?" Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko asks.
"Hey, you remember to zip up your jumpsuit on the way out of the bathroom? That's good!" Joker says, "Me? I just jumped us halfway across the galaxy aiming and directly hitting a target the size of a pinhead! That's incredible!"
"Settle down you two…" Shepard says, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"Sorry Commander, it's just that I've got a bad feeling about Nihlus!" Joker says.
"Mind clarifying, choom?" V asks, his attention caught.
"Well we have a Spectre on board our ship when this is supposed to be the Normandy's shakedown mission, to test her out and put her Systems to the test." Joker says, "You can call me paranoid-"
"You're paranoid, Joker!" Kaidan says. "The Council helped fund this project, so they have the right to send who they please to keep an eye on their investment!"
"But that's the official story, and only idiots believe the official story!" Joker says, "The Commander can attest to that!"
"Joker has a point…" V says, rubbing his chin, "You don't send a Spectre on shakedown runs for publically known ships… Which means-"
"That the Captain knows that there is more going on than he is telling us." Joker says.
"Joker, if you weren't already a pilot, you'd have made a great counter-intel agent." V says, smiling at Joker, "That or a NetRunner."
"Trust me, Commander, tried the whole NetRunner stuff, not my thi-" Joker says.
"Joker! Status report!" Captain says over comms.
"Uh, just cleared the Relay, Captain! All Stealth systems are engaged and everything looks solid!"
"Good, find the nearest comm buoy and link us into the network! I want all mission reports getting sent back to the Alliance Brass before we reach Eden Prime!" Captain Anderson says, clearly annoyed.
"Aye aye, sir. Also, watch out, I think Nihlus is heading your wa-"
"I'm already here, Lieutenant." Nihlus says.
"Also tell Commander Shepard I want to see him in the Comm Room for a mission debriefing." Captain Anderson says, cutting the chatter and ending the call.
"You get that, Commander?" Joker asks.
"I did… Hopefully I'll get to know what's really going on. Also, Captain sounded pissed, he only gets that way when the mission is suddenly changed."
"Or when he's talking to me." Joker says.
"Can't imagine why." Kaidan says. Sighing a bit as he hears the quip, V turns around and makes his way back down the hall, thinking about what could possibly be going on that requires a Spectre to be joining them on a shakedown mission. Joker was right, something wasn't sitting right at all. However, that is when his ears pick up on something…
"I'm telling you, Adams, I just saw him. He was walking like he was a man on a mission!"
"He's a Spectre, Pressly, they're always on missions. And before you say we're getting dragged along with it, take a chill-pill, you'll give yourself an ulcer if you don't!"
"Why you-!"
"Navigator Pressly…" V asks, walking over, causing the distracted man to practically jump out of his skin as he turns around.
"C-Commander!" Pressly says, saluting, before calming down. "Congratulations, Commander, it seems like we had a smooth run. Are you heading down to see the Captain?"
"I am, but what was all that about? Mind sharing the detes?" V asks the Navigator, who pinches the bridge of his nose.
"Lord give me strength…" Pressly says, "It's just that… Adams and I didn't mean to cause any trouble, but you have to admit that something doesn't sit right with this mission! The whole crew is feeling it as well!"
"Honestly, I'm with you there, you don't just send a Spectre on a Shakedown Mission, even if the Council did fund this ship's creation." Shepard says.
"Exactly! I think the Alliance Brass is keeping something close to the chest. This mission was supposed to be a test-run of the Normandy's Stealth Systems, but then they put Captain Anderson in charge, then, at the last minute, they bring in Nihlus, a Spectre!" Pressly says, "Why would the Citadel Council send a Spectre, one of their top covert agents, and a Turian Spectre no less, on a Shakedown Run? Nothing's adding up!"
"Okay, I heard some venom when you spoke both Anderson's name and talking about Nihlus like that. Even if this mission doesn't add up, you have two minutes to enlighten me…" V says, leaving the threat hanging in the air.
"Sorry Commander… It's not that I have any problems with the Captain, it's just that I can't figure out why he's here! He's one of the Alliance's best and most decorated Special Forces Officers, with enough medals that you could melt them down to make a life-sized statue of him and still have enough to make and assemble the parts for an anti-material rifle with the leftovers!" Pressly says, "The point is you don't send a soldier that prestigious on a simple throwaway mission, and he's taking this so seriously that it's like he's expecting us to get attacked by a pirate fleet any second now."
"And Nihlus? What's your beef with him?"
"Just don't trust Turians in General. I mean Quarians I get along with just fine, they've been our friends for the past several decades now, and they helped us advance to the point my grandfather was able to fight in the First Contact War on equal footing with the Turians."
"That was Three-Decs ago, you can't blame Nihlus for something I doubt he was involved in!" Shepard says, looking at him.
"That is true, but aside from my trust issues with the Turians, it's the fact he's a Spectre, the Galaxy's best of the best, on a ship that is only supposed to be on a test-run, especially one of his species. More to the point, we're an Alliance Vessel, Human and Quarian Military, but a Spectre doesn't answer to the Captain, nor to the Chain of Command, meaning if we give him even the smallest reason to, he'll nail us to the Council's dart board and they can play with our lives as they see fit. Add to that is the fact that Nihlus is looking like he's expecting a fight in the very near future, and it's making us all nervous."
"I was hoping to ask Captain Anderson about it, but be mindful of your tongue and thoughts, Pressly." Shepard lightly reprimands, "I was going to ask Anderson about what is going on, and I hope you manage to keep us all out of trouble until we do, or if I'm allowed to speak on it."
"Alright, I'll try to get everyone to relax and do their jobs so that way we are ready should any trouble occur. Good luck, Commander." Navigator Pressly says, to which Shepard just turns and continues on his merry way, only to find Corporal Jenkins and a very familiar Ripperdoc walking to each other just outside of Comms.
"I'm telling you, Doc, Eden Prime isn't just the kind of place a Spectre would go to, even on a mission! I'm saying that as an EP Native!" Jenkins says, "Meaning there has to be more to this mission than we're being told, I'd stake my next paycheck on it!"
"Stop talking nonsense, Jenkins. Anderson is in charge here, he wouldn't take orders from a Spectre, I mean not after-" Chakwas says, stopping herself before she turns towards V. "Ah V, how is my favorite regular doing today?"
"Doing fine…" Shepard says.
"Commander, please tell me we're not going to be staying on Eden Prime too long, I'm itching for some real action." Jenkins says, saluting V.
"More like your trigger finger is itching, Corporal, especially after I tuned up your gun a few days ago." Shepard says, looking at the Corporal. "But I'm seriously hoping you're joking Jenkins, getting shot often lands me in the Doc's hospital beds in the Infirmary. Trust me, the longer you stay out of there between visits, the easier she is on you and your chrome."
"I should hope so after your first few cases of "real action" got you stuck in bed for a few weeks each time, and then going stir crazy from being able to do absolutely nothing." Chakwas says, smirking at V.
"In any case, you need to get chilled, Corporal. Even under fire a soldier needs to learn to keep cool." V says.
"Sorry, Commander, but the waiting's driving me nuts. I've never been on a mission like this before, not even with a Spectre on board. I mean those guys can go where they want and kill whoever they want."
"You watch too many spy vids, Jenkins." Chakwas says, "Even the Spectres have somebody to answer to when they step too far out of line. They can also easily have their Spectre Status revoked if they go too far, and then they will be saddled with all of the crimes they committed in the Council's name."
"But-!"
"Jenkins!" V says, "Just breathe and focus, treat this like every other assignment and stay in formation, and everything will work out fine."
"Easy for you to say, you've got an entire family legacy of heroes and you've also proven yourself during the Skyllian Blitz! Everyone knows the kind of legend you are!" Jenkins says, not noticing Shepard's eyes glowing with anger in his eyes, but Chakwas notices, and she immediately gets scared. "This is my chance at the major leagues, I need to show the Brass that I can handle anything they throw at-" However that is when Shepard pins Jenkins to the Wall, the tip of his Mantis Blade out against Jenkins's throat, everyone nearby turning in shock to look at Shepard. "C-Commander?"
"You're young, brash, and foolish Corporal, rushing to your death as if life was nothing but a video game. If you don't fix that attitude of yours, choom, then you're going to get zeroed before you know it." Shepard lets him go and retracts his blade. "You shouldn't think of life that way… You've got a long career ahead of you. So don't do something to mess it up simply because you're in a rush to gain recognition…" His eyes lost their glow, "I lost too many comrades and friends because of that…"
"Y-Yes, sir…" Jenkins says, looking at Shepard now, his eyes filled with both fear and awe. V, merely sighing, makes his way to the comms room, not liking the fact that Jenkins is acting just like he did some years ago… But before he enters the room, he leans against the wall and fights back the images of the Blitz that force themselves to the forefront of his mind. Grabbing his head, he hears the gunshots, and hears the screams of the innocent bystanders either getting shot, eaten by the Varren, or taken prisoner, kicking and screaming as they do so.
"SHEPARD FALL BACK!" A familiar voice would call to him, "WE CAN'T HOLD THEM HERE!"
"Get the civilians to safety, I'll try to buy you some time!" Shepard had said then.
"Never! I told you once before, WE ALL GO HOME OR NOBODY GOES HOME!" He would say as Shepard would hear the sound of a blade being drawn.
"Stubborn lout!" Shepard had said fondly, smiling as his Mantis Blades came out of his arms. "LIEUTENANT, GET THE CIVILIANS TO SAFETY THEN GATHER EVERYONE YOU CAN TO JOIN FOR THE FINAL PUSH!"
"Aye aye sir!" A voice said over comms.
"Ready, V?"
"Always, K!"
"AAAAMAAAAZOOOOON!"
Shepard would then take deep breaths to steady his nerves as he stood up, and proceeded into the comms room, the memories receding back into the depths of his mind. "Get out of my head…" He would whisper under his breath as he would prepare himself to enter the Comms Room, taking one final breath before opening the door. However, much to his shock, he sees Nihlus standing there, looking at images of beautiful scenery. V, on the other hand, takes slow and careful steps as he makes his way into the room, hoping to get as close as possible, maybe to have some fun with the Turian if possible. Nihlus, looking at the images, feels something brush against his natural armor and turns around and draws his weapon, finding himself aiming a gun at Shepard, who is merely holding a feather in his hand.
"Shepard!" Nihlus says, "Sorry, I was hoping you'd come here, but I didn't expect you to be so quiet about it."
"Comes with being an Infiltrator with Optical Camo and Lynxpaws…" Shepard says, slapping his knee with one hand.
"Still, to be able to sneak up on me like that, that is rather impressive. In any case, I was hoping to talk with you alone."
"Really? And where is Captain Anderson?"
"He said he would be delayed for a minute or two, and that he'll be here soon." Nihlus says, looking at Shepard as he steps to the side. "I had heard that Eden Prime is a beautiful world, naturally it's got my interests piqued."
"From what I've heard, they say it's a paradise, not unlike the Garden of Eden the biblical ancestors of Adam and Eve once lived in before the Devil, taking control of a serpent's body, tricked them into committing great evil against God." Shepard says.
"I wouldn't go that far, but yes… Serene. Tranquil. Safe. It has become something of a symbol for your people, hasn't it?" Nihlus asks, with a genuine curiosity. "Even the name Eden has me interested, got me looking into one of the religions of your people, and the literary works related to them. My latest interest is the series "The Divine Comedy" by Dante Aligheri. A Fascinating read into one's own take on the afterlife… Tell me, which of the books do you prefer in that series?"
"I've read all of them, but my personal favorites are that of Inferno and Purgatory." V says, looking at him. "The Consequences of living an evil life, and the chance of redemption for souls who were not so far gone that they deserve a second chance."
"Interesting… Tangent aside, Eden Prime has become proof that Humanity can not only establish colonies throughout the galaxy, but protect them and keep them safe…" Nihlus says, "But I wonder, how safe are they, especially Eden Prime, really?"
'Here it comes…' Shepard thinks, "Okay, Spectre, I know I may be stepping out of bounds, but everyone knows something more is happening that you're not telling us…"
"And you've got a really sharp crew aboard this vessel if they picked up on something like that. I have to admit, you humans are certainly more impressive than I originally thought." Nihlus says, "Despite being newcomers to the wider Galaxy, your people have proven they can make connections with the wider community with the Galaxy, and have the, as your people say, juevos and the strength to take it head on. But I wonder, is the Alliance really ready to take on what lies ahead?"
"I think it is about time we told the Commander what is really going on." Captain Anderson says.
"Po-" V says, before correcting himself, "Captain!" Nihlus notices this, but makes no show of what he did.
"Commander Vincent John Shepard, this is far more than a simple Shakedown Mission."
"I knew it… Heck, the entire crew could sense it!" Shepard says.
"Then I think I have a good crew!" Anderson says, smiling proudly, "As well as an XO who could sense such things." Anderson then looks directly at Shepard, "We're making a Covert Pick-up on Eden Prime, it's the reason why we needed the Normandy's Stealth Systems fully operational before we could begin."
"And the reason why this needed to be on the down-low?" Shepard asks.
"Top Brass ordered it, strictly NTK…" Anderson explains, looking at Shepard, who nods as his look becomes serious, "A Research Team on Eden Prime has found something truly amazing, a Prothean Beacon!"
"Wait what!?" Shepard says, keeping his voice low. "But didn't they all go ghost over 50,000 years ago?"
"Yes, but their legacy remains. The Mass Relays, the Citadel, everyone's variations on the Ship Drives, all of it based on Prothean Technology." Nihlus says.
"This is big, Shepard! Last time we made a discovery like this, our tech got 2 centuries worth of upgrades in a few years, and that was before we made First Contact with the Quarians!" Anderson says, "Unfortunately, Eden Prime doesn't have the facilities to handle this, so we've been asked to extract the beacon and bring it back to the Citadel for Study."
"What will happen to Humanity if we hand over the Beacon?" Shepard asks, and Nihlus realizes he would be speaking for the crew if they asked.
"While the Citadel gets to physically claim the beacon, all the discoveries made, as a finder's fee, will be given to Humanity first, due to Humanity unearthing it." Nihlus says, "Trust me, it took a lot to convince Councilor Sparatus to allow this."
"Why would Sparatus be so against us getting our rightful share of the discoveries?"
"He fought in the Relay 314 Incident, was on the ground when the Demon Lord of the Round Table, your mother, had slaughtered his entire platoon on her own before she, as you put it, got "zeroed". Sparatus is not one to forgive and forget so easily." Nihlus says, "But obviously, this goes above human interests, as this discovery could affect every species within Citadel Space."
"And why didn't we keep it for ourselves?" Shepard asks, and again, Nihlus sees what Shepard is doing, and would smirk, impressed with him if it were possible at the moment.
"Let's just say that you humans don't have the most stirling reputation in the Galaxy. Most of the Galaxy sees your people as Selfish, as well as too independent, too unpredictable, and even dangerous. Add into the mix the fact that your grandfather actually helped your species give safe harbor to the Quarians and allowed them to make colonies on the Dextro Worlds within your territory, even helping them get themselves set up, and it made things just a bit worse."
"Remind me again why the Citadel Races hate the Quarians?"
"It had to do with their creation of the Geth. They created Simple AIs in order to deal with the most dangerous tasks they weren't willing to risk performing on their worlds, but a design detail allowed the Geth to gain sentience, and thus, in a panic, they tried to destroy the Geth, and the Geth retaliated, driving them off their worlds and to live as nomadic spacefarers. Because of this mistake, the entire galaxy shunned them and often saw them as vagrants. However, because humanity has vagrant peoples of their own, and your grandfather was raised by some of them, he negotiated a peaceful First Contact and even gave the Quarians places to call home within your territories." Nihlus explains, "As such, the Quarians are now considered to be citizens of the Alliance. This fact alone has not done Humanity any favors in the eyes of the Council Races, they think you are harboring criminals, though some of us see that you are actually doing what you humans do best, uplifting downtrodden people, and forming strong bonds with them."
"And sharing that Beacon with the Council will not only secure us better relations with the Citadel Races, but it will also grant us some access to their scientific expertise, as they have more knowledge on the Protheans than we do." Anderson says.
"However, that's not my only objective here, Shepard…" Nihlus says, "The Alliance Brass and the Council, barring Sparatus, have been going back and forth about potential candidates for a Human Spectre. There was one attempt made before, but due to circumstances, and, in my opinion, a heavily anti-human bias and sabotage on the evaluation, it failed. That is why the Council decided on me to evaluate you, Commander Shepard, I don't have an anti-human bias as my brother in arms did, and I specifically chose this pick-up to be your first test. Should be an easy in-and-out, if things go according to plan."
"Wait… Are you saying?" V asks, shocked.
"That is right, everyone in the Brass, and all but Sparatus on the Council, have agreed to give you a shot at being the First Human Spectre." Anderson says, smiling proudly.
"You're serious?" V asks, shocked, "Is that why you've been tailing me?"
"It is, plus, and I hope you forgive me for this, but I've noticed the blueprints you left laying out one day and I noticed the possible ideas you had for improving our current weapons technology." He then pulls something out of his pocket, "Thermal Clips, i think these were called…" he holds up an ammo magazine looking item that has wiring flowing through it, "This is a rather ingenious solution to the cooling problems of our current weapons technology! Not only that, there were other things that piqued my interest when I took a look at your blueprints, namely the revamped variants of your "MaxDocs" and "Bounce-Backs" pretty interesting pieces of First Aid medical tech!"
"Th-Thank you!" Shepard says, now nervous.
"You will share this technology with the Council, will you not?"
"I was planning on it!" V says.
"In any case, V, Humanity has been pushing for this opportunity for a very long time, as we've been wanting a larger role in Interstellar Policy, and more of a say with the Council." Anderson explains, "The Spectres represent the Council's Power and Authority. If they accept one of our own into their ranks, it will not only silence the belly-achers back home, but it will also show everyone how far humanity has come in the short time we've been on the galactic stage."
"Not many wouldn't have done what you could've done on Elysium, let alone do as much as you did in that battle. You not only showed remarkable will to live, but also resourcefulness and courage, talents that the Spectres find tantalizing." Nihlus explains, "Plus, your family are Legends in their own right, and your mother, though a boogey-woman to some, she was an inspiration for me. Your own abilities were, as you say, "the cherry on top" of it all. That is why I put your name forward for the Spectres Evaluation."
"Wait what? My family legacy aside, why would a Turian put forth a Human for the Spectrer Evals?" Shepard asks, completely confused.
"I'm one of a number of Turians who aren't against the humans, and were infact inspired by your race's courage and resilience against what we thought was a vastly superior foe. Your people saved an entire race from going extinct through simple generosity, and you found simple but ingenious solutions to counter our top of the line tech, which revealed weaknesses in our technology that we never comprehended and are still trying to fix even to this day. On top of that, despite all the negatives of your race, your people have proven to be resourceful and resilient, even against the odds. Those who are in the same camp as I am all see humanity's untapped potential to the galaxy as a whole, and especially the Spectres." Nihlus explains.
"We Spectres are an elite group, the best of the best of our individual species, as such it's rare to find an individual with the skills we seek when pursuing candidates. Trust me, I took a look at the potential candidates for your race, and when we boiled down the potential candidates, only 3 made the cut, and 2 of them were discounted. One of them had their family blacklisted thanks to what my people forced their ancestors to do during the Battle of Shanxi after your mother had died. The other was considered more favorably, but considering the circumstances of both his training and what happened to get him in real trouble would've caused him to be discredited the moment he was inaugurated. That left only you, the son of the Bogey-Woman of the Turians, but unlike then, you had a practically squeaky-clean record, with the only black marks being due to circumstantial evidence."
"The point of the matter is, Shepard, I don't care that you're human, I care that you have the skill and determination to get the job done." Nihlus finishes.
"And I assume this is good for the Alliance?" Shepard asks.
"Oh yes, Earth needs this, as such, we're all counting on you!" Anderson states.
"And I need to see your skills for myself, thus Eden Prime will be the first of several missions we undertake together." Nihlus says.
"As such, you'll be in charge of the ground team going forward. Nihlus will accompany you and begin his evaluation as soon as the mission starts, and your job is to secure the beacon and get it back to the Normandy as quickly and quietly as possible."
"Alright then… I'll assemble my ground team and we'll be ready when you blow the whistle." Shepard says.
"Good, we shouldn't be far from Eden-"
"CAPTAIN!" Joker says over the intercom, "We got a problem! Look at this!"
"Play it on screen!" Anderson says, and as soon as he says it, a distress transmission from Eden Prime Plays on screen, in which everyone looks in shock as they see the soldiers on Eden Prime fighting against some sort of enemy while calling for help, only to look up to see something massive sinking down towards them… Shepard, taking a closer look at it, records it with his Optics, seeing a huge, black, cephalopoid shape cloaked in black smoke and crackling with red energy, and Shepard begins drawing it on a sketchbook he has on hand. Once the group gets a better look at it, Joker explaisn that all comms are dead around Eden Prime, in which Shepard immediately walks out. "Getting ready?"
"Oh yes, Sir…" Shepard says, "I've got a feeling I'm going to need to bring my new "toys" along for this one…"
"Joker, eta?"
"17 Minutes, sir!"
"Take us in fast and quiet!" Anderson says. "V, get Jenkins and Alenko suited up and ready to go!"
"Right!" Shepard says, rushing out. Anderson turns back towards the screen frowning as he looks at the machine that appeared in the footage.
'I have a bad feeling about this…' Anderson thinks.
Eden Prime
Landing in the ground, Shepard remembers their primary objective is to locate the beacon and get it back to the Normandy; after that, they are cleared to perform rescue operations. They are also cleared to take down any hostile that comes their way. Once on the ground, Shepard's scanners pick up no signs of human life anywhere, except for creatures that-
"What the hell are those things!?" Kaidan asks, seeing the creatures in a water source nearby.
"They're just some Gas Bags! Don't worry, Lieutenant, they're harmless!" Jenkins assures.
"Shepard, this place got hit extremely hard… There are hostile everywhere, be on your toes!"
"Roger roger!" V confirms. "Alright, stay in a tight formation, no wandering off! Jenkins, you know this place better than us, so you take point!"
"Yes, Sir! It's also fortunate that Joker dropped us off here! My family's home isn't far from here!" Jenkins says, a bit of excitement evident in his voice. Leading the formation, Jenkins leads the group through the swampy terrain covered in rocks as the sound of fighting is evident in the distance. However, the group soon comes across a disturbing sight "God…" the two of them come across a pair of human corpses that seem… desecrated, but when Shepard scans them for identification, his scanners pick up something unusual, a lot of tech flowing through these bodies, far more than enough to cause somebody to go Cyberpsycho! V noticed more and more of these corpses lying about as they continued before coming to a rise in which he called a silent halt. Jenkins, pulling back, would watch as Shepard would look through the scope of his rifle and would see nothing, signaling to move forward, but slowly and carefully.
With this, Shepard, Alenko, and Jenkins would move forward to covered areas, but as Jenkins was moving towards the next spot of coverage, a warning on their scanners came too late as two drones would dive out of nowhere and shoot Jenkins down. "Jenkins!" V would shout, but then his eyes turned to one of the drones, his cyberdeck breaking through… A surprisingly easy ICE Program and would short circuit it easily,sending the drone crashing to the ground as Kaiden would start shooting the other, only for a third to come up and Shepard to take care of it. Once they were all destroyed, Shepard would walk over to Richard L. Jenkins's body and closed his eyes, but was shocked to find Jenkins's shields still active.
"It ripped through his shields as if it were nothing!" Kaiden says.
"If that's the case then the rounds were either moving too fast for the shields to keep up with or too slow for them to detect." V says, "In either case we will ensure Jenkins gets a proper funeral later, but right now we need to keep focused." Kaidan nods but then sees Shepard take something out of his pocket and puts it in Jenkin's mouth, a coin of some kind. "For the Ferryman of the Dead… At least until we can give him a proper service." V then notices that the three drones sent after them are still intact and a wicked grin crosses his face. "Kaidan, watch my back…"
"Commander?" Kaidan asks, to which Shepard brings out his tools and begins to take apart the drones with shocking speed and precision, in which the Lieutenant's eyes widen as he realizes what is going on and keeps watch.
"Nihlus, do you read me?"
"I read you loud and clear… What's wrong?"
"Just a status update, we downed three enemy drones, and I'm going be delayed by a few minutes to harvest some of the enemy's tech. Maybe the Council and Alliance might get a better idea of the people attacking us and prepare for it."
"Smart Move, Nihlus out." Nihlus says. With confirmation, V sets to work and within a few short minutes, he manages to break down the drones to some salvageable components as well as it's Weapon, which he stashes away. With this done, the duo set out further into the field, quickly taking down a few more drones along the way, "Shepard I think we might be too late to help the colonists. There are a lot of buildings here that are on fire, and too many dead bodies…"
"Fuck…" V says under his breath as the duo continues.
"I'll investigate while you head to the dig site. We'll rendezvous there!"
"Acknowledged…" V says, finding their way to a forested area, one that is pretty easy enough to traverse. However, as they begin to make their way through, the sound of gunshots begin reaching the ears of the duo, and Shepard decides to activate his optical camo, taking cover as Kaidan does as well. Their eyes soon see a female soldier running through the field like her ass was on fire, with two drones chasing after her. However, much to V's shock, he sees her draw a Militech M-10AF Lexington and fire two short barrage at the drones, taking them down quickly.
"Whoa! Did you see that Commander? Took those drones down with gunpowder rounds!" Kaidan says, obviously impressed.
"That is impressive…" V says but then uses the zoom function to see what the soldier sees as his eyes watch as what appear to be two humanoid mechs holding a man down to some sort of stand, only for him to get impaled through his chest by a huge sharp spire. Without thinking, Shepard's scanner activates, showing this man has no Cybernetics… At least for a split second before, as if in slow motion, his scanners reveal the man rapidly and haphazardly getting chromed against his will, reminding V of how Maelstrom was sick enough to do the same thing to innocent people. What's more, this metal was taking over the majority of this person's biological functions and nervous system, it wasn't anything he'd wish on his worst enemies. Shepard had to keep him from blowing his guy's airlock and exposing their position.
"Commander?"
"Just be glad you don't have any optical scanners right now, Alenko…" V simply says, looking pale and green. After this, the two bits notice the female soldier, who takes cover, and Shepard rushes forward with Alenko, anger filling his system as his eyes lock onto one of the robots. His eyes scan the creature and find the thing has some pretty high grade security, probably Military Grade level. However, thanks to his cybernetic implants, it shouldn't be too hard to Crack. Moving as fast as his chrome could, he launched his ICE-Pick Daemon into one of the bots and managed to break through. 'Perfect! Now let's see how you like it when you get zapped!' Launching his Short Circuit Quickhack into the machine, it let out a squeal of pain as electricity ripped through it. The other two bots were quickly cleaned up after that once Shepard got back into cover.
"Phew…" The female soldier says, and notices the designation on V's Armor. "Thanks for the assistance, Commander, I thought I was toast!" She then salutes Shepard, "Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams of the 212! Are you the one in charge here, sir?"
"Of my squad, yes but enough of that. You alright, choom?" V asks.
'Choom? Is he coming onto me?' Ashley thinks confused. "A few scrapes and burns, but nothing major, the rest of my unit wasn't so lucky… I think I'm the only one left."
"What happened here?"
"My unit and I were on patrol when the attack hit, they caught us off guard. We tried to send a distress call, but the enemy cut off our comms. I've been neck deep in those things ever since!"
"And the others?"
"We had a feeling these guys were after the beacon so we tried to double back in order to secure it, but walked right into an ambush. I think I'm the only one left." Ashley says.
"Don't blame yourself, Choombatta, it's not easy to fully recover from an ambush, especially one like that. You're not at fault here, and there was no way to save them."
"I know sir… We held our position for as long as we could, but the Geth were too many and we got overrun…" Ashley continues l.
"The Geth!?" Kaidan asks. "But they haven't been seen beyond the Perseus Veil in 2 Centuries! Why are they here now?"
"Probably the beacon! It's not far, just over that rise! I think it's still there!" Ashley says.
"Thanks, Williams. You know…" He eyes her gun, "it's rare to see a Lexington nowadays, and I would like to get a closer look at it. Besides, we could use the extra help!"
"Aye aye sir! It's payback time!" Ashley says. Shepard nods but then draws out his own Lexington, and then walks to the man on the spire, "Commander?" Shepard takes aim and then fires a single bullet into the man's skull. "Wha-!? He's already dead!"
"No he wasn't…" Shepard says, "He was in a state of conscious paralysis as his body was being overloaded with cybernetics… If he was let down after the process finished, he would have gone Cyberpsycho… Better to put him out of his misery… The transformation would have taken hours and he would have felt every second of it before being let down." V looks at Ashley with Hardened eyes, but she nods, understanding. "Alright, move out!" It doesn't take long for the group to make their way towards where the beacon was located, trudging through the rocks as carefully as possible. However, Kaidan notices something shiny and call it out, in which he and Ashley dive behind cover. However, as Ashley looks at Shepard, he sees him turn invisible, and follows his steps as he seems to close the distance between their current position and the ruins. Using this chance to draw closer and, Ashley and Kaiden start laying down fire as the Geth lay down energy shields to block their fire.
"Tch!" Kaidan says, but then notices something shimmering behind them.
"Peekaboo!" V says, stabbing one of the geth through it's Shields with a Mantis Blade before drawing his Lexington and firing a barrage of Mass Accelerator Rounds into another one, leaving an opening for Ashley and Kaiden to defeat the remaining two as Shepard pops the orange hot magazine from it's handle and Shepard smiles as the metal piece rapidly cools to nothing. "Holy Frijoles! It actually works!" Shepard says, picking up the lip! "I'm a genius!"
"Commander, what the hell was that?"
"A bit of a modification of mine!" Shepard says, "I simply remodeled a Mass Accelerator Pistol into the shape of a Militech Lexington, increasing the power output and the amount of shots fired in the process. However, that is where I ran into a problem… The damn thing overheats way too fast, and the internal cooling system wasn't able to compensate fast enough… However, thankfully, I found a work-around!" He then picks up the magazine. "My invention, Thermal Clips!"
"Thermal Clips?" Ashley asks, then picks up one of the Geth's guns and, to V's shock, he sees the Guns of the Geth have similar tech! "You mean like this?"
"I got beaten to the punch by a machine…" V says, but then smirks, proceeding to dismantle the clip and his scanners rapidly figure out how it works! "Oh so that's how they managed to figure out how to completely bypass the heat storage problem! And… oh so they are reusable, but don't release the heat as fast as mine do!"
"He's a real tech-wiz, isn't he?" Ashley asks.
"Don't get him started, once he sees a piece of tech that interests him, he'll not stop till he rips it apart and understands how it works." Kaidan says, "I suppose that's how he figured out his Thermal Clips…"
"It is indeed, but let's get back to the mission!" He picks up a few rifles from the gethband re-inserts his Thermal clip into his Lexington, and the trio turn and Ashley looks around.
"This is the dig site!" Ashley says, "Wait, where's the beacon? Did it get moved?"
"Looks like it!" Shepard says.
"But who moved it? The scientists, or the Geth?" Kaidan asks.
"I hope the scientists, probably to put it somewhere safe before this place got overrun! I think if we get to the research camp, we might find out more! It's not too far from here!" Ashley says.
"Ya think we might find some survivors?" V asks.
"Not sure, but hopefully!" Ashley says. "The camp is up the ramps that lead to the top of the ridge!"
"Alright! Let's move out, chooms!" Shepard says. "Nihlus! Got an update for you!"
"Tell me you have the beacon!"
"No… it seems the beacon was moved to the research camp nearby just as the attack hit. If we're lucky, we might find it there. I'll update you once we know more." Shepard says.
"Roger that. By the way, change of plans, there is a Spaceport up ahead, if the enemy has moved the beacon from the Research Camp, it will likely be going there for extraction, I'm going to investigate it, and, if I'm lucky, cut them off."
"Roger roger! We'll let you know if the beacon is at the camp once we get there!" Shepard says. "If not, we'll rendezvous at the Spaceport."
"Roger that, Nihlus out." Nihlus says, in which the group then makes their way up the ramps towards the camp, keeping a tight formation as Shepard scans the area around them. As the group climbs the rise, Ashley gasps.
"Oh no…" Shepard says, seeing the destruction.
"They hit the camp hard…" Ashley confirms.
"Perfect place for an ambush, keep your guard up!" Kaidan says.
"No need to tell me twice." Shepard says as they come across more of those spires with fully birged out bodies that were impaled on them. These fonks were practically desiccated corpses with extremely advanced tech having been forced into them, practically borged out and left both conscious and with medicines to dull the agony. "Poor bastards…" However, that is when his scanners pick up on the cybernetics powering up as the spires lower the bodies to the ground. "CYBERPSYCHOS!"
"My God, what did the Geth do to them?" Ashley asks as the corpses start standing up. The group quickly takes cover as V gets to Short-Circuiting one of the creatures as the others are lowered to the ground. As the group continues fighting, one of the cyberpsychos gets close enough to Ashley that one could practically smell it's Decaying breath, only for Shepard to backstab it. Soon all of the creatures were taken care of, but as Shepard goes to examine the tech, his cybernetics warn him of something trying to hack into him, and his Self-Ice activates to counteract it. Jumping back, Shepard uses the Ping Hack to find any possible way for something to be hacking into him, only for his results to lead back to these… Husks… For the lack of a better term. It reveals that the tech, despite having been short circuited to hell and back, is still, somehow active! Taking out an EMP Grenade, and dropping it amongst the bodies of the Husks, he has everyone get back. Thankfully, once it goes off and he Pings again, the tech of the creatures is finally down and out. "Commander? What's wrong?"
"That wasn't normal tech… I don't think I should mess with it!"
"Why is that?"
"Normally, when it's host dies, the Cybernetic Implants shutdown due to a lack of electrical impulses powering them, but those things were not only still functioning, but they tried to ICE-Pick me!" V explains, "I know for sure I don't want to fiddle with that tech, even after I EMPed to hell!"
"Probably a smart move… But what about the Geth, you were fiddling with their bodies!"
"Because once they bit it, their mechanical bodies were rendered inert." Shepard says, to which Ashley nods, understanding, and after that, they look around the camp, and eventually find a locked camp unit. "Huh… I think somebody is inside!" He takes the interface plug from his wrist and plugs it in, running his ICE-Pick and smiles as he opens the lock. "Alright! We're in!". Once the door is open, Shepard looks inside. "Anyone in here? Alliance Military, we're here to help!"
"Humans? Oh thank the Maker!" A woman says.
"Hurry! Close the door before they come back!" A man says, whispering loudly.
"Don't worry, it's all clear now!" V says.
"Wait, is that you, Doctor Warren?"
"Williams!" The woman says, "Thank the Maker you're alright!"
"Commander, this is Dr. Warren, she's the lead scientist in charge of the dig site!" Ashley says.
"Pleasure! While I would like to make a more formal introduction, we need to know what happened to the Beacon!" Shepard says.
"We moved it to the Spaceport just this morning! Manuel and I stayed behind to help pack everything up. When the attack hit, the marines bought us just enough time to take cover. They sacrificed themselves for us."
"Sacrifices will continue, as nowhere is safe! The Age of Humanity is at an end, and soon only Ruin and Corpses will remain!" The man, obviously Manuel, says hysterical, but Shepard notices something odd with his scanners.
"Quick question, did you notice a Turian in the area? He's the Operation's leader!" Shepard says.
"I saw him! The Prophet, the Leader of the Enemy! He was here before the attack!" Manuel says.
"That's impossible! Nihlus was with us on the Normandy before the attack, it couldn't have been him!" Kaiden says, that is when Shepard notices something on Manuel's neck.
"I'm sorry Manuel-"
"Manuel… Can you show me who it was?" Shepard asks, revealing his interface plug, this causes Manuel to look at Shepard and nod.
"What are you doing?" Doctor Warren asks.
"Manuel, I need you to let me in once I put in the plug, can you do that for me?" V asks.
"Yes! Yes! Bring the truth with you!" Manuel says, in which Shepard gently inserts his plug into Manuel's neuroport.
"Connection established, access granted, initializing Synaptic Net Dive…" V says, in which Shepard finds himself inside of Manuel's software, in which an avatar of the man shows up and leads the way to the memories, leading him down a few halls before bringing out a data pad with images of the Turian who had been at the attack, but they aren't very clear… However, what is clear is that this Turian has some very telling Cybernetics, and Manuel saw that this turian, during the attack, set himself to killing anyone he could find that had a Neuroport, almost as if he was expecting someone to have evidence. Shepard nods as he gives the Avatar a comforting pat on the shoulder before exiting Manuel's mind. "Nihlus, come in, we got bad news!"
"Shepard, what's wrong?" Nihlus asks.
"We have a Turian with Cybernetic Implants that was here before the attack, and one of the scientists thinks he was acting as a coordinator for the attack." Shepard says, "The beacon was also moved to the Spaceport before we arrived, so it might still be there!"
"Thanks for the heads-up Shepard!" Nihlus says, "Did this witness see any colony markings?"
"No, his memories show he didn't get a good look at the Turian, but the man had some cybernetics on him! But the images weren't too clear, and were only out of the corner of his eye."
"Roger that! If you come across this Turian, capture him if you can! Other than that, rendezvous at the Spaceport, and double time it!"
"Yes, sir!" Shepard says. "Williams, lead the way!"
"Sir!" Ashley says. As the group makes their way towards the Spaceport, close enough to get the structure in sight, Nihlus arrives, noticing a familiar shape, but takes cover.
'Turian… I can't believe one of my own kind would organize such a bold attack on the humans, especially after the Relay 314 Incident! Are they trying to provoke the humans into another war!?" Nihlus thinks, 'But a Turian coordinating the Geth? This doesn't make sense… Questions for later…!' Nihlus thinks, stepping out of cover with his rifle drawn, activating his body cam as he does so. "Freeze!" The Turian then turns to him, the shadows hiding his features, but the markings on his face, as well as the coldness of his eyes are recognizable. "Saren? What are you doing here?"
"Ah Nihlus… Good to see you!"
"This isn't your mission, Saren. What are you doing here?" Nihlus asks, noticing a slight gleaming on Saren's armor, his natural armor that is, as well as what appear to be tubes flowing through Saren's exo-armor.
"The Council thought you could use some help on this one…" Saren says, to which Nihlus notices that Saren's eyes are no longer his natural ones, but cyber-optics. Slowly the pieces come together.
"I never expected the Geth to be here…" Nihlus says, "The situation's worse than I thought it was."
"Don't worry, I have it all under control…" Saren says, turning towards Nihlus with his pistol aiming for the back of Nihlus's head, Nihlus turns around quickly, aiming his gun… Only then…
A Gunshot is heard in the distance as V and his squad set eyes upon the spaceport, and Shepard's HUD automatically registers this: Nihlus, Status: Flatline. "NIHLUS!" Shepard shouts.
"Commander, what's wrong?" Ashley asks.
"It's Nihlus, somebody just zeroed him!" Shepard says.
"Commander! Over there!" Kaidan says, pointing towards the Spaceport, "What the hell is that thing!"
"It's a ship! Look at the size of that thing!" Ashley says. Shepard, all the while, is looking at the creature as the black clouds and red energy radiate around it, but V clearly identifies it as his optics record it all, quickly scanning the ship and creating a perfect 3D model of the thing in his databanks. The Entire structure looks almost like that of a grotesque hybrid of a cuttlefish, a squid, and an octopus, with multiple legs to act as landing and crackling with large arcs of crimson lightning. What's more, Shepard has a really bad feeling about it as he takes a step closer, only for a firefight to ensue just moments later, with Geth and Husks appearing out of the woodwork as the trio draw closer to the Spaceport. After clearing out the Geth and Husks, they find a shed that was locked, and get a quick bit of information from the survivors that were inside, but what really struck V as odd was the fact that the ship let out some sort of screech that had caused the farmers some sort of pain in the head. Putting that in the back of his mind for later, the group make their way to the Spaceport, where…
"Oh no…" Shepard says, rushing over to Nihlus's body, and V's scanners pick up for any signs of life… But it's no good, Nihlus was shot through the head… He died quickly and painlessly, but… That is when Shepard notices Nihlus's hand in an odd position, and finds him holding something… Opening Nihlus's hand, he finds a recording device, though a bit damaged due to Nihlus falling on top of it. "Captain, we got bad news…"
"What is it, Commander?" Captain Anderson says.
"Nihlus is dead, we heard a gunshot echoing from nearby, but his killer is long gone."
"Damn it! The Council isn't going to like this!"
"I got a recording device on hand, I think Nihlus managed to get a look at his killer before he died!" Shepard says.
"Keep that recording device on hand. Right now we need you to complete the mission!"
"Roger!" Shepard says, but then they hear movement, in which a man comes out from a few crates, in which Shepard and the group draw their guns.
"Wait, don't shoot!" A human says, raising his hands.
"Powell, I presume?"
"You know me?" Powell asks.
"Only that we managed to convince your buddies over at the shed to tell us about your smuggling ring!" Ashley Williams says, snarling.
"Damn it, Cole!" Powell says. "Look, I'm sorry for sneaking up on you, but I was hiding! I saw what happened to that Turian, the other one shot him!"
"Oh?" Shepard asks, recording this, "Tell us everything you know!"
"The other turian had gotten here first, he was waiting for something when your friend showed up. He called the guy "Saren". I think they knew each other. Your friend seemed to relax a bit, but seemed to pretend to let his guard down, and when your friend knew something was wrong, he turned around to aim, but Saren shot him right between the eyes. I was lucky he didn't see me!"
"And the Prothean Beacon? We were told it was brought here!"
"It's over on the other platform, and I think that Saren guy was waiting for the tram to take him there. It arrived just a few moments after he killed your friend. I knew that thing was trouble the moment I laid eyes on it! First that damn Mother Ship shows up, and then an attack right afterwards!" Shepard stops recording and, after Powell let's his tongue slip, he hands over some grenades he was going to smuggle, and, among them, Shepard finds something interesting.
"A Schematic for an Emp Grenade?"
"Yeah, with the Sticky and Homing Variant! It's an old piece of Earth Tech from 2077, I thought such an antique schematic might sell for a good price!"
"Well I'll be confiscating it!" Shepard says, taking it from Powell, "Consider yourself lucky on this one, you're going to get off easy." Ashley looks at him and then as they board the Cargo Train…
"You're just going to let him go!?" Ashley shouts indignantly.
"Of course I'm not." Shepard says, "Had him recorded the whole time… I will make sure he gets busted by the Alliance Brass, and once I copy down the schematics for these grenades, I'm going to sell them to a museum!" He studies them hard and smiles as he brings out some of his pieces of scrap components and begins working on modge-podging together some EMP Grenades. As the train comes to the other side, Shepard's sensors immediately go on the alert as he senses something. "Uh oh!"
"What's wrong commander?" Kaidan asks.
"Tactical Nukes, 4 of them!" Shepard says.
"Saren must've had the Geth plant them!" Kaidan says.
"Cover me!" Shepard says, "It's showtime!"
"Aye aye!" Ashley says, "We'll keep them busy!" The Geth and Husks start to swarm the area as Shepard gets to work on defusing the bombs, focusing hard as he moves as fast as he can, recalling his N7 Demolitions Training. As he disarms them, he removes their components with a smile on his face, knowing that it will not only supply his experiments for the near future, but if the Geth try to reactivate the nukes, it's only going to be that much harder without the components needed to coordinate the signals. "Commander, are you almost done!?"
"Just a few more seconds and I'll have the last one!" Shepard says, to which Ashley looks to Shepard as he rips some components out, "Done!" He then disappears and, quickly, Shepard gets behind the Geth forces and starts backstabbing, hacking, and sapping each one he can get his hands on, before quickly breaking them down to their components and ripping them apart, whilst collecting a few of their guns. Once the area is clear, they notice a green light flowing skywards as Shepard notices a piece of tech that is emitting that light. "That must be it! Captain, we have eyes on the beacon, but no sign of Saren!"
"Damn it! For now, secure the beacon, we need to get it safely aboard the Normandy!"
"Roger that!" Shepard says, activating his recording device so they have evidence for the Council to see they had done their job. "Normandy, eta?"
"Two minutes, Commander!" Joker says, over comms.
"Roger that!"
"This is amazing!" Kaidan says, "Actual working Prothean Technology!"
"It wasn't doing anything like this when they dug it up! What caused it to turn on?" Ashley asks, going in for a closer look, but as she does so, the Beacon begins to light up uncontrollably. "WHOA!" Ashley shouts as she feels a force grabbing at her.
"WILLIAMS!" Shepard shouts, pushing Ashley out of the way, only to get caught in the field as well.
"SHEPARD!" Ashley shouts, trying to rush to the Commander.
"No, don't touch him! It's too dangerous!" Kaidan says, in which Shepard unleashes a blood curdling scream as he feels information being forced deep into his head, incoherent messages that show violent and gruesome scenes, a fleet of ships just like the one they had saw earlier, and creatures beyond description. Once the transfer is done, the beacon explodes and V falls to the ground, unconscious… Little does Shepard know that his Cybernetics recorded everything he had seen, from his visions, and have added them to his databanks for later review.
"Wake the Fuck Up… Samurai…" A voice says, in which Shepard's subconscious mind turns towards a glowing alien figure. At first it's shape is unrecognizable, but then it begins to take on the form of a man with shoulder length brown hair, dressed in black and red leather pants, a militaristic vest, with red tinted sunglasses that he slowly takes off, a shaggy beard with mustache, shoulder length straight brown hair, and his left arm… Is pure silver… "We've got a Galaxy to Burn…" He takes his glasses off with a smirk on his face, and a nostalgic look in his eyes. "Now why does this feel fucking familiar?"