AN: I'm back, life's been shit. Let's just move on.

Speech

Thoughts

Radio/machine speech/scene change

Mass Effect 1: Blue Milk Run

The Normandy glid through space silently, its massive engines powering its momentum. The stealth corvette's destination? A small sleepy system called Eden Prime. By all accounts the system, which bordered Citadel Space, was the perfect destination for testing the stealth systems of the warship.

A casual observer would note that the ship was unlike either Turian or Imperial vessels in design. It was wider then it was long, with a pair of extra prows sticking out of the two hundred meter long wings. Indeed, it bore a closer resemblance to the old flying wing type aircraft then a spaceship. But it was fast and deadly, both in space and in atmosphere.

The two additional prongs held hangers and landing gear, as well as additional weaponry. The command bridge was set in the center of the ship, fed information by a vast array of cameras and sensors to ensure its commander and assisting A.I. would have access to all relevant data.

The wing would approach the relay, blue energy arcing to it signaling the Normandy was making a jump via relay. Barely an instance later, the ship vanished in a blue flash of light, only to reappear an hour later in the destination system.

Aboard the Normandy:

The command bridge was a flurry of activity, personel checking readings from their instruments. The Normandy, besides being a new stealth ship, is a test bed for new technology. Including far more efficient and powerful E-zero engines. Now, you may be wondering, why would the Empire bother with such innovations; simply put, they didn't trust the Citadel races enough to give them the far superior slip space drive, or even warp engines. Hence this test.

A man in an Imperial Navy uniform, a deep grey quasi armored suit with bronze trim and rank insignias, sat in the helm's position, he spoke aloud as he finished his checks: "All systems are green, no fuel leaks…An hour was cut off the last gen's travel time." A slight smile crossed the lips of the man who spoke, "And we have a drift of 12k."

A flanged voice broke in at that point, as a Turian in black and crimson Legionary Power Armor nodded and replied: "12k is superlative. Your commodore will be pleased." With that, the alien departed the bridge.

A heavy sigh escaped the flight lieutenant, "Smug bastard." His temporary co-pilot, a ground pounder picked up for his expertise in Biotics and Psychic powers, turned to look at him with a raised eyebrow. "Don't get me wrong Lt, I know he's here to look over the Turian's investment in this. But something rubs me wrong about the guy. Could be the fact he's a Specter, or the fact he seems to know a lot more then he lets on."

"You're paranoid, and that's coming from someone who can read minds." The man besides him scoffed. "Think Joker, if Specter Nihlus was up to something, wouldn't he have been off the ship long ago? The Commodore does have the authority to remove him, especially as we are independent from the Citadel."

"Yeah yeah, all I'm saying is they don't send Specters on simple 'shake down runs' Kaiden. My money is something else is going on." The pilot retorted. Before the two Imperials could get into it more a soft chuckle broke in.

"Now now you two, keep a lid on it until you're off duty. Commodore Anderson has enough on his plate without having to micromanage the crew gossiping." The voice that spoke was male, and instantly recognizable from a dozen propaganda videos and interviews. Commander Michael Shepard, commander of the Normandy's ODST/Stormtrooper compliment.

"Aye sir, speaking of the Commodore, he just sent a text com saying he wants you to head to the coms room. No reason why was given, but I'd recommend not keeping him waiting sir." Flight lieutenant Moreau replied dutifully as he kept checking his instruments, a literal 'Joker' he may be, but he was a professional.

Michael nodded: "Thanks for the headsup, I better go see what the old man wants." And with that he turned on his heels and headed for the coms room. On his way he passed the X/O, Pressly, who was confirming the status of Engineering; as well as Doctor Chakwas talking with the greenest member of the Ground Team, Corporal Jenkins. To be fair, calling Jenkins green would be a disservice to the man, he had fought in the war against the Mechanids, and had a decent combat record to show for it.

It had been a brief minute trek, and now as he entered the coms room, whose door had opened upon reading his armor's IFF. The room was relatively large, as it also doubled as a briefing room for the ship's officers and the ground team if circumstances demanded. Besides the terminals and com gear, the room had another inhabitant at the moment, Specter Nihlus.

"Commander Shepard, I was hoping we could speak for a moment before the Commodore arrives." The Turian's cool flanged tones grated mildly on Shepard, his mother had passed on some of her irritation with them for killing his father during the Shanxi conflict. Sure, he got better, thanks to his soulstone being retrieved, but that's a bit beside the point.

Still, he was a professional, and so he kept his tone even: "On what topic exactly Specter?" He was slightly curious as to what exactly the agent of the Citadel was after. Afterall, as Joker said, this was HIGHLY irregular to say the least.

A tap on the central table, and a hologram of Eden Prime appeared hovering over it; the Turian regarded it as he spoke clinically: "This colony is a relatively new one, yes? Close to the Veil and to Citadel Space proper in equal measure. How protected is it against a potential Geth attack?"

"As well as any other Imperial Colony. If an attack were to happen, barring any communication issues, there would be a fleet of warships in orbit within an hour, and a counterattack under way within two…as you likely could guess from the reaction time when Arcadia was attacked by the Batarians." The commander replied, trying to gage the purpose for the question.

However, before anything else could be said, an older man in a Commodore's uniform entered. The commanding officer in charge of the operation, Commodore Anderson, and as soon as the door shut, he spoke: "I think it's time we bring the Commander up to speed, Specter."

"Agreed." The agent said with a nod. "How much are you aware of your species' influence in Citadel Space, Shepard?" The commander bit back the obvious reply. Afterall, he had BEEN to Thessia and numerous other Citadel Alliance planets. He KNEW how influential the Empire was as he had helped BUILD that influence fighting in the frontline.

Still, he'd humor the Turian: "Imperial companies provide newer tech to the Citadel, such as that power armor you're wearing; Aquila Industries does good work it seems. But I digress, we also provide supplemental training, security, and advise to multiple races within the Citadel. May I ask where you're going with this?"

Anderson stepped in here, "Shepard, the one thing the Diplomatic core has been angling for, despite our current influence, has been a Specter from the Empire. Something unprecedented, not only as we are not a member of the Citadel Alliance, but we have been on the 'Galactic Stage' the rest have been on for less then a hundred years. In short, they'd see it as a coup de tat for one of our best to be selected."

Shepard's gut started to sink at that, but he put on a brave face as expected, "And I suppose that's where I come in sir?"

The commodore nodded in reply, "Indeed Shepard. You're one of the most publicized figures the Citadel knows of. Your war record is impeccable, and you saved multiple VIPs on numerous occasions. Not to mention that you are seen as the face of the Imperial Marine Corps by many due to your appearance in propaganda reels and posters." Anderson chuckled at the Commander's discomfort at the mention of those pieces, "In short, you are the best choice for the assignment."

For his part, Michael restrained a grimace, just his luck really. Still, 'through the warp and far away' and all that. "Yes sir, I'll do my best to live up to my reputation." He managed to put on a winning smile as he said that, though internally it certainly felt hollow.

Before anything else could be said, the internal coms activated: "Com, Sensors, getting unknown contacts around Eden Prime. Six ships, roughly frigate weight by our reckoning; and one signature that is completely off the charts energy wise, it's closer to one of our ships."

Chills ran down the spines of those in the com room. "Pressly, get us in visual range, make sure the stealth systems are active; second check if any transmissions are originating from the colony, or if there's a jamming field in place." After relaying those orders, he turned to the ODST, "Shepard, get your ground team ready on the double. You and your men will likely be needed before the day is done."

Shepard saluted and headed off, already forming his armor, and spoke into his tac radio: "Normandy Ground Team, assemble in the hanger armored up. This is not a drill, repeat, this is NOT a drill."

Ten minutes later, Normandy Port Side Hanger:

The twelve ODST assigned to the ship had gathered. They were armored up in their modified Enforcer pattern power armor, their weapons clasped to their chest armor. They were silent as they looked upon the holo projection that the Normandy's AI, Bradley, had generated to show the situation.

It was…bleak to say the least. Shepard counted six destroyed frigates drifting in space, and the attackers were in geosynchronous orbit. Most of the ships, while changed and sporting heavier weapons and other changes, were obviously Geth ships. But it was the flagship of this group that was the worst news. It was a cephalopod styled ship, four kilometers tall and one kilometer long; glowing a baleful orange.

It was not the largest ship the Imperium had ever encountered, they fielded far larger on a regular occasion even. But it gave off a ghastly aura not seen outside of but a few ship types. The Lt Commander had a feeling this ship would be particularly difficult to deal with, but that was not his job.

Anderson and Nihlus entered the hanger, and the human officer spoke to the gathered troopers: "The attacking warships have created a com jamming net that covers the entire system. Unfortunately, that means the colony has not gotten out a distress call yet, nor can we contact the wider Imperium. Normally, we would withdraw and report, rallying reinforcements to eliminate the aggressors." The man sighed.

"We do not have that luxury. The colony needs reinforcements NOW. As such your unit is being orbital dropped to the areas scanners report you are needed at. However, Shepard, you Alenko and Jenkins will be backing up Nihlus in securing a Prothean Beacon on the planet." Anderson quickly held up a hand to forestall protests: "I am aware of what you think Commander, however the Beacon was the primary objective of this leg of the Op. More information will be shared later, but time is of the essence. Make ready for a combat drop troopers, and good hunting!"

The troopers saluted as the ship's intercom chimed: "Entering atmosphere now Commodore, we'll be at the drop point in thirty seconds." Joker's voice was reassuringly calm, the hotshot pilot having pulled off dozens of combat drops in the past against far more intensive anti-air defenses. "We haven't been spotted yet sir."

The troopers went to the exit, dividing into fire teams of three men each; except of course for Shepard's, who had an extra in the form of the Specter. The ramp dropped, and soon the units lept out, plummeting to the ground below, like miniature meteors. 'Feet first into Hell' indeed.

Groundside: Second Lieutenant Ashley Williams

Ash growled in anger as she hosed down another Geth attacker with plasma fire. They just kept coming. If a Geth was not destroyed beyond repair, it would simply get back up a few seconds later; its armoring fully repaired. It was like fighting Necrons, except far more annoying.

A cry of pain to her left told her that one of the local militiamen she had been assigned to train had fallen prey to their attackers. The Geth were nothing like what intel from the Quarians reported, not only were they far harder to kill, but they attacked with strange gauss-plasma hybrid weapons that spat a twisted orange colored projectile when they fire. Said projective could drop the shields on a civilian militiaman's armor in three shots, and kill him in two more.

Marine and ODST armor faired much better, but there were a few dead CDF from the retreat that showed that even they could fall. Another spray from her gun ripped apart a grey machine with a glowing purple eyestalk, tearing its head off and ripping both its arms apart.

It was a small comfort however as the local defense commander, by right of Seniority and actually being ASSIGNED to the unit as a commander rather than an instructor, shouted over the din of battle: "Fall back! Fall back! We're about to be overrun, retreat to fallback positions!"

Williams' reaction speed saved her ass here and caused her to dive to the floor as a bolt of glowing orange energy flew overhead. It screamed balefully as it passed, and exploded brilliantly as it slammed into the heavy weapon position. She grimaced as her HUD marked that team KIA, likely disintegrated by that projectile.

She snarled in reaction and started to sprint back to the fall back point, spraying over her shoulder the entire way. She was hoping to at least delay the Geth advance, but this hillock they were on was not the most defensible when surrounded. And judging by the Geth approaching from the west, they were about to be cut off and surrounded by the machines.

Just as she was preparing to sell her life dearly in defense of her beloved nation, four streaks of light caught her eye. Zooming in, while continuing to fight, she felt her pulse race with newfound vigor. Three ODST and a tail riding Turian were dropping in near her position. And as they approached closer, she recognized the leader of the small unit by his armor's markings, it was Shepard.

"We may just make it out of this yet." She thought to herself with a grin as another spray of fire brought down a Geth Prime by brutally ripping its head stalk off spraying that strange white coolant everywhere.

With Fireteam Shepard:

"We're coming up near the beacon. Looks like there's a defensive position that was just overrun not to long ago to the north of it. There's likely some CDF and Marines in the area still sir!" Alenko said into the coms.

Shepard was thankful to have the calm presence of his fellow psyker in his fireteam. It helped to balance out Jenkin's nerves; not that he could blame the private, his family had moved to Eden Prime after the end of the last war and thus were in the line of fire. But it was Nihlus that concerned him.

A concern that seemed justified when the Turian broke ranks and started plummeting quicker towards the Star Port. Shepard snapped into the coms, "Specter, where the hell are you going?"

"I'm faster on my own Commander. We'll meet up at the Space Port. Don't keep me waiting too long, or there won't be many Geth left for you." The Turian replied, and the ribbing at the end surprised the ODST commander. He had not expected a seemingly stereotypical Turian to HAVE a sense of humor. Especially not a Specter.

"We'll try and move quick enough for you Specter. We may be bringing some friends however." He jested in return. "Shepard out." The line with the Specter cut as he focused on his own landing.

"Alright men, nothing has changed. Let's teach these flashlights why you do NOT mess with the Imperium and her Marine Corps!" Michael said, feeling his own nerves die down now that he was fully into his command role and about to hit the battlefield.

The three ODST fell at a rapid pace, that was accelerating. Their huds, as they got closer, started to pick out Geth targets. "Right, micro missiles on. Let's make an impression men. Give them hell!" With that order, the ODST's armors opened up with their landing missiles. Wrecking a path of devastation and havoc upon their unaware foe, opening a landing area for the troopers.

A landing zone they eagerly took advantage of. As they landed, the commander noted in the back of his mind that his IFF said Ashley was nearby. It would be good to have her backing the fireteam up against the Geth. The troopers targeted their foes with precision weapons fire, tearing gouges out of the lines of advancing automita.

Shepard witched to his weapon's gatling configuration and started to lay down some major hatred for the invaders to the tune of about two thousand four hundred rounds a minute of laser fire. Granted, the lasers weren't as dangerous per bolt as plasma projectiles, but the sheer volume allowed him to tear targets to pieces. Itty bitty pieces.

Alenko meanwhile was firing his weapon one handed, while his more esoteric gifts went into play. His psychic talents manifesting as torrents of warp lightning, which bypassed the shields of the Geth and ripped their forms to shreds. At least, most of them. The Primes seemed immune to the powers of the warp to a degree. Which was fine, as Kaiden used his biotics to lift those who survived into the air for easier kills.

Meanwhile, it seemed that Jenkins had fallen into something of a berserker state. He had switched to dual shotguns, and was dancing the dance of death. Or gun kata as it is known to many nerds and aficionados of strange combat styles. He was so wrapped up in killing Geth, which by his own count he was on one hundred fifty, that he didn't notice that his shields had fallen. Nor did the man notice the drones sweep in from the sky, until it was far too late.

"Jenkins! Drones on your 3." Shepard barked as he brought his heavy weapon to bare. But it was too late for the private, in less then a second, he had been riddled by so many holes he could be confused for a strange and bloody Swiss cheese.

This prompted the commander to roar in outrage as he brought his own talents with the warp to bare upon these drones. Causing them to enter a singularity he opened temporarily, destroying the drones with ease. The two ODST, now without foes, rushed over to their downed squad mate.

Jenkins's breathing was shallow, "Commander…I don't think I'm going to make it sir…" He coughed here, almost seeming like he was trying to laugh. "P-pity. I was looking forward to introducing you to the folks. Just…do me one favor sir…Make em pay…Teach them why they don't fuck with the Imperium sir."

Michael solemnly nodded, "I will Richard. See you on the other side, trooper." A ghost of a smile crossed the man's face, and with a brief nod, he breathed his last. "Make a marker here Lt, we have to move on."

"Yes sir. If we hurry we might catch up to Lt Williams." The veteran noted as he finished marking the spot and taking Jenkin's tags. "That's the hope at least Alenko, let's move it."

Nihlus, the Rail Station:

The Turian Specter observed the carnage with no small sense of dread. The defending CDF forces had been wiped out to the last man. A full platoon of troopers eradicated. Though the Turian had to give the troopers credit, judging from the indents in the ground and the burn marks they had held off a force eight times their size for a time; and indeed had inflicted six times their numbers in losses, thanks to fighting from the fortified rail station.

As he walked through the overran facility, he grimaced. "Intel seems to have dropped the ball again. Fantastic. I just know there's going to be heads rolling for this blunder, especially with how the Quarians are probably going to react to this." Nihlus thought as he stealthily made his way towards the rail line, planning to secure it.

Afterall, he suspected that the Geth had come for the beacon. And if they did, they would have moved it, with the easiest way to do so being to move it by rails to the space port. From the space port it could be loaded onto a ship and spirited away with ease.

Why they would want the beacon when they seem to have superior technology to Element Zero based tech already was beyond him. But whatever the reason may be, it was likely not for the good of the galaxy, if this was any indicator.

He stepped around a crate, and heard movement on the other side. Drawing his side arm, he crept close to the source, staying low. The agent's eyes narrowed as they saw a Geth with what appeared to be a flamethrower approach a small cluster of boxes near the far end of the station.

Disengaging the safety on his weapon, the specter took careful aim with his rifle, a custom high caliber weapon with a silencer, and pulled the trigger. The round sped down the chamber and took out the flamethrower user's head stalk, dropping the automaton with a single carefully placed shot. "And they said making a rifle that fires rounds the size of a human coin was pointless."

Nihlus' coms' bead activated at that point: "Specter, the beacon is not where it's supposed to be. The Geth likely moved it." Shepard's transmission confirmed what Nihlus suspected, but the confirmation was not gratifying; rather, it left him with more questions then answers.

"Understood. Meet me at the rail station Shepard, we're going to get to the bottom of this. One way or another. Nihlus out." The Specter upon ending his brief call started to get into a better fighting position in case Geth came to see what happened to their ally. Only to come face to face with another Turian in Legionary power armor.

This was, naturally, quite jarring. Doubly so when the Specter saw the face of the Turian before him, "Saren…" The other Specter turned slightly and grinned slightly "Nihlus."

Nihlus pointed his rifle at the ground, confusion playing on his face: "What are you doing here Saren?" His friend circled around to his right shoulder, that same disarming look on his face. "The Council thought that securing this beacon may need a second Specter. So they sent me."

Nihlus furrowed his brow, last he knew his friend was on an op out in the peripheries of Citadel Space. Something about this was triggering his well honed paranoia, and he wished he could put a finger on it. "Well I'm glad to have your help, Saren. This op went fubar, the Geth's surprise attack has thrown this whole thing into chaos."

The other Turian put a hand on his shoulder, "Don't worry Nihlus, I have everything under control." Before Nihlus could respond to that, a crack of a gun firing resounded three times…And the council agent knew no more.

Shepard's fireteam, half a mile out:

The sounds of gunfire resounded ominously from the rail station, rolling like thunder. Michael frowned as he and his team continued fighting their way to the station. "That didn't sound like one of our guns." He noted dryly as he disemboweled a Geth Prime with a burst of plasma to its gut.

"Aquila made, high caliber at that." Alenko noted. "Something's wrong, our Specter contact had silencers on his weapons." The commander frowned at that reminder. There shouldn't be two people using Aquila Industries firearms on the planet, let alone their military grade line.

Another burst of fire from his rifle brought down one of those strange zombie like cybernetic creatures. "Agreed. Double time it people. Weapon restrictions, if you had any, are lifted." The three ODST continued their assault at a much more rapid pace, pushing through the horde of Geth and their chaff like a hot knife through butter.

Even so, it took three minutes to clear the forces in their way due to just the sheer quantity of them. As it would turn out, that was two minutes too late for their Turian ally. The three Imperials stopped in the rail station when they found the body, with two fist sized holes in his torso.

"Damn, we're too late." As Shepard remarked that, and scanned the area for more hostiles, Alenko started to check the corpse. "I think it's safe to say that two of the shots we heard hit him. What the third was at…I can't say. But from the exit wounds, he was first shot in the back here." Pointing to the lower wound; "Then likely he spun around in shock to try and get a shot off, and was then hit here from the front." Here he pointed to the hole in the Turian's left breast. "Both shots were at point blank range. Whoever did this was good enough to sneak up on him."

Ashely remained quiet, focused on sweeping for survivors, or hostile contacts; and so she was the first to notice the movement behind one of the crates. "Contact." The two officers trained their weapons on where she indicated with nary a second of hesitation.

"Come out of there." Shepard barked. He hoped it was a survivor, but if it was Geth, that'd be a whole different kettle of fish. One their weapons were perfectly capable of dealing with. But thankfully, it was not a Geth that came out from behind the crates, but rather an older man with visible cybernetics.

The three troopers relaxed a bit at the sight, "What happened here?" The commander asked, suspecting that the old cyborg probably saw what went down, and why Nihlus was dead.

The man straightened up: "The Turian ran into another of his kind. But, instead of saying, I can show you." Extending his left hand, a hologram rose above it, a perfect play by play of the events four minutes ago. After it finished playing, and froze on the face of Saren Arteus, the Cyborg spoke again. "And that's what happened."

Shepard internally cursed, Saren was one of the Citadel's top agents. His mind raced as to what was going on, and why he had killed Nihlus. Could the Council have discovered some crime that Nihlus needed to die for? Had the other Specter gone rogue and killed Nihlus? There were quite a few possibilities, and none were good.

The man quickly shook himself of his thoughts, after thanking the man he issued his orders to his fire-team. "We won't learn anything else here, we need to double time it to the Space Port. Letting the Geth escape with the beacon is unacceptable, and justice demands deliverance."

The three ODST took off onto the rail way, fighting their way to the port. Harassed by drones, walkers, and mass Geth forces; both on the train and firing on it. Thus the Imperial ODST fought on and on, defending themselves and the planet from the Geth, striking them down with wrath and impunity.

The propagandists would say that the Geth retreated in fear of those three when they finally hit the space port…The reality though was far different.

Space Port:

The three human soldiers were still blazing away as their train pulled in. Biotic powers and the warp were brought to bear on their foes in equal measure, devastating them with combinations of lethal ability and dazzling visuals. Lightning raked units that had been lifted, creating air burst bombs out of the captured infantry models.

Shepard led from the front, using his powers and weapons to cut a way forward for his team, while Alenko provided support in between disabling bombs and Williams utilized precise targeting to eliminate enemies from afar.

And yes, bombs. Thermonuclear. Eight of them in total. The last and largest, which was at the beacon itself, was a quasi mortar type, which would fire eight airburst nuclear shells into the air. The goal being to render the area around it uninhabitable in a twenty-mile radius.

As the last bomb was disarmed, disaster struck. The beacon grabbed onto Ashley, who had wandered too close to it by accident while policing the slain Geth. Which prompted her commander to grab her and throw her out of the gravitational malarky. But, unfortunately that resulted in HIM being trapped instead.

Visions danced in his head, violence…death…strange machines…Nothing concrete. But the violence of the incident was enough to knock him out, just as the beacon exploded.

Aboard Sovereign, Saren, Half an Hour later:

The apparent rogue specter sat upon a command throne deep within the massive dreadnought. He was contemplating the action on Eden Prime, and awaiting the report his right hand woman had for him. "Nihlus' death was…unfortunate. A pity he arrived when he did, otherwise he may have lived. But then again, he always did rush into danger. Still…The Imperials arrived far sooner then expected, especially their reinforcement fleet. Revealing everything Sovereign can do this early in the game is tantamount to defeat."

As he continued to muse, his fingers steepled in front of him, an Asari in dark clothing walked into the chamber and stopped at his shoulder. She would easily be recognized as Matriarch Benezia by anyone in the know about Asari Politics. She was a well-known figure in the older echelons of the Imperium leaning 'Goddess' Arms' party, so it was a bit of a surprise to see her with the rogue Specter.

Saren turned his head slightly, and spoke quietly: "What news?"

"The nuclear weapons were disabled by an Imperial ODST team. The colony was saved as a result. Unfortunately, before the sabotage charge went off, the Beacon was used…We identified the user as Commander Michael Shepard." The Asari replied calmly and levelly, as if discussing the weather.

The rogue Turian barely restrained his rage, "Have our agents on the Citadel prepare to eliminate him at my command. This human cannot be allowed to know what is coming. Now, what of the secondary targets?"

The Matriarch smiled dangerously as she spoke, "They have both been located, and agents are in place to remove them. They only need your go ahead." The Turian smirked in reply, "Excellent, then we are closer then ever to the return of the Great One."

Next Time: Mass Effect 1: The Heart of the Citadel

Review please and thank you

Codex: Legionary Armor

The latest Turian Power Armor, the Legionary pushes Aquila industry technology to its VERY limits. Powerful miniaturized E-zero reactors power energy and kinetic fields that outclass old heavy tanks, as well as allow the suit to sprint at speeds in excess of one hundred miles an hour for extended periods of time. Secondarily it contained advanced life support and targeting features, allowing the soldier inside to fight for far longer then normal and fight in the void as well as at the bottom of the sea. Truly the Legionary Power Armor is an amazing bit of technology for Citadel standards.

It was designed in response to the Ork war, and is likely to see service for the foreseeable future.