CHAPTER 5: THE HERO
Well, what about Shepard? He's a spacer. Lived aboard starships most of his life.
Military service runs in the family. Both his parents were in the Navy.
He proved himself during the Blitz. Held off enemy forces on the ground until reinforcements arrived.
He's the only reason Elysium is still standing.
We can't question his courage.
Humanity needs a hero and Shepard is the best we've got.
I'll make the call.
"All stations secure for transit."
Commander John Shepard stopped on the bridge of the SSV Normandy. Shepard looked past Jeff Moreau, Joker, into the black of space. The Charon Relay was enormous in the viewport and was only becoming larger.
To his right was Nihlus Kryik, Citadel Special Tactics and Recon. The Turian stood silent with his arms crossed and his mandibles twitched as he watched out the viewport.
Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko sat in the copilot's seat and, if anything, seemed to be an irritating presence to the helmsman of the Normandy. Joker was a notorious control freak.
There was a jolt as the ship transitioned through the relay. Shepard was shaken from his reverie as the Normandy came out in the Exodus Cluster.
Joker read his readings of the board and reported them to Kaidan for notation in the ship's patrol log.
"1500 is good. Your captain will be pleased." The Turian turned and walked away towards the CIC. Likely in search of the very captain he had just spoken of. Joker scoffed.
"I hate that guy."
Shepard smiled amusedly and Kaidan raised an eyebrow at the rude remark.
"Nihlus gives you a compliment and you hate him?"
Joker looked at the Normandy's Executive Officer over his shoulder with an eyeroll before looking at Kaidan.
"You remember to zip up your jumpsuit on the way of the head? That's good. I just jumped us halfway across the galaxy and hit a target the size of a pinhead! So that's incredible!"
Shepard's smile got wider.
"Besides, Spectres are trouble. I don't like having him on board. Call me paranoid."
"You're paranoid. The Council helped fun this project. They have the right to send someone to keep an eye on their investment." Kaidan's voice had an edge.
"Sure that's the official story, but only an idiot believes the official story."
Shepard lazily turned his head towards Kaidan.
"Come on Alenko. They don't send Spectres on shakedown runs. There's something Captain Anderson isn't telling us."
As if Shepard were calling his name, the Normandy's commanding officer called Joker over ship comms.
"Joker! Status report."
"We just cleared the Mass Relay captain. Stealth systems engaged."
"Good. Find a comm buoy. I want mission reports relayed back to command before we make for Eden Prime."
"Aye aye, captain. Be advised, I think Nihlus is headed your way."
"He's standing right next to me, Lieutenant."
Joker had the decency to look slightly embarrassed and shook his head.
"Tell Commander Shepard to meet in the comms room for briefing."
"Roger, sir."
There was a chime as the captain disconnected.
Joker looked over his shoulder.
"Commander?"
Shepard straightened and nodded.
"Did he sound pissed off?"
Without waiting for an answer, Shepard turned and moved towards the Normandy's comms room behind the Combat Information Center. As he was walking away Shepard heard Joker muttering under his breath.
"The captain is always pissed off."
"Only when he's talking to you, Joker." The smile in Kaidan's voice belied the truth in the statement.
Shepard walked past Navigator Pressly talking to Head Engineer Adams down in the engine core. He didn't interrupt their conversation as he walked towards the comms room. Doctor Karin Chakwas flagged him down. She was speaking to Corporal Richard Jenkins. Something about how Nihlus wasn't telling them everything.
As Shepard walked over he eyeballed Jenkins. The young marine was promoted to corporal out of basic training given his exemplary performance there, but this seemed to have made him overconfident. His overconfidence and hunger to prove himself as a Marine worried Shepard. It was the type of thing he'd seen many times and it usually ended up with somebody KIA. Whether it was the overconfident boot or a veteran squadmate putting themselves in the line of fire to save them.
Jenkins came to attention and saluted Shepard as the XO walked up. Shepard returned the salute and Jenkins dropped his after Shepard.
"What do you think Commander? We won't be staying on Eden Prime to long, will we? I'm itching for some action!" Jenkins excitedly spluttered as Doctor Chakwas seemed to be struggling not to roll her eyes.
"I sincerely hope you're kidding, Corporal. Your real action usually winds up with Marines in the ship's morgue and on my operating tables."
Chakwas sounded irritated. Shepard couldn't blame her.
"Just do your job, Corporal. Going looking for a fight will just get somebody hurt."
Jenkins' face fell and the young man looked abashed.
"Aye, sir. I'll do the Alliance proud, sir."
Jenkins saluted Shepard and the Hero of Elysium returned it before nodding to Doctor Chakwas who returned the nod with a wry smile. As Shepard turned away he pondered the good doctor for a moment.
Karin Chakwas had been in the Navy a long time and she had definitely been around. Technically, she outranked him by one grade. Chakwas held the rank of Major.
She'd ridden out the First Contact War on the SSV Verdun. The Verdun was in the first wave of the counter-offensive into Shanxi. The Verdun was the ship that fired a slug accelerated to a fraction of the speed of light into the bridge of the THS Honor of Palaven, the only Turian dreadnought destroyed during the Second Battle of Shanxi.
She'd been among the first medical officers on the ground during the Skyllian Blitz. While Shepard had been on the front lines leading a counter attack into the flank of a Batarian platoon who was attacking Elysium, Doctor Chakwas was in the trenches, patching up wounded Marines and civilian militia. She'd even gotten some shrapnel in her shoulder as a souvenir.
Doctor Chakwas had missed Torfan, but that was ok. Shepard had to.
Shepard entered the comm room and noted the absence of Captain Anderson. Nihlus Kryik was in the room by himself. Which, in itself, was strange. Nihlus had been with the captain about thirty seconds ago…where did he go?
Maybe he had to hit the head Shepard smiled bemusedly to himself as he walked up to Nihlus. The Spectre turned around to face Shepard.
"Commander Shepard. I was hoping you'd get here first. It will give us a chance to talk."
Shepard eyed the Turian with an easy smile on his lips. The smile hid the guard that Shepard had raised in his mind.
"What about?" Shepard kept his tone cordial.
Nihlus turned and looked at the image of Eden Prime on the holo projector.
"I wanted to ask about this colony we're going to. Eden Prime. I've heard it's quite beautiful."
Shepard peered at the image as well.
"So they say. I've never been."
Nihlus stopped and looked Shepard in the face.
"They say it's a paradise. Serene. Tranquil. Safe. Eden Prime is something of a symbol for Humanity, isn't it? Proof that Humanity can establish colonies and protect them."
Shepard was confused by the conversation. Yeah…Eden Prime was pretty. No, it hadn't ever been raided like Mindoir. What was the Turian getting at?
"What's your point?" Shepard crossed his arms.
Nihlus turned and regarded Shepard with a pointed look.
"Your people are still newcomers, Shepard. The galaxy is a very big place with very dangerous people in it. Is the Alliance truly ready for this?"
For what?
Captain Anderson chose this moment to enter and join the conversation.
"It's time we tell the Commander the real objective."
Nihlus nodded. It was a very human gesture.
Shepard let the easy smile come back and he turned to Captain Anderson.
"The crew has been wondering what's going on, Captain."
Captain Anderson snorted.
"We're making a covert pick-up on Eden Prime. That's why we needed the stealth systems operational."
Shepard's mind raced through possibilities.
"What's the payload, Captain?"
Captain Anderson stepped forward and presented an image of a somewhat cylindrical device. The geometry and technology of the object bugged Shepard.
"An excavation team on Eden Prime uncovered this a few days ago. A beacon of some sort. It's Prothean."
Shepard's mouth became tight as he thought. The Captain echoed the thoughts going through his mind.
"This is big, Shepard. The last time Humanity made a discovery like this it jumped our technology forward by 200 years."
Nilhus cut into the conversation.
"Obviously this goes beyond Human interests, Shepard. This could be a discovery that effects all of the species in Citadel space."
Captain Anderson nodded in agreement.
"We're going to pick up the beacon and then it's all ahead flank until we're in a secure dock on the Citadel."
Shepard turned to Nihlus.
"Well that explains your presence then. I had wondered why a Spectre was on board."
Nihlus' mandibles twitched.
"The beacon is my primary objective for the moment Shepard, but it's not the only reason I'm here."
Shepard turned to Anderson.
"Captain?"
"Nihlus is here to evaluate you." Anderson nodded to Shepard.
"For what?"
Anderson placed a hand on Shepard's shoulder.
"It's time for Humanity to join the Spectres Shepard. Nihlus here put your file forward." Anderson nodded to Nihlus. The Turian stepped forward towards Shepard.
"This will be the first of several missions together Shepard."
Shepard nodded and was about to ask why a Turian would want a Human in the Spectres when Joker rudely interrupted.
"Captain! We've got a mayday from Eden Prime. Bringing up on comms room screen now."
All three occupants of the comms room reoriented and faced the screen. There were disjointed views of what all three warriors in the room knew to be a firefight. Just from the few shots he saw, Shepard judged that the unit taking the video was surrounded. There were no visible hostiles in the video. A female Marine shoved the individual taking the video to the ground and raised her M7 Avenger to engage a target.
In moments the faceplate of an Alliance Marine filled the screen.
"-eed evac! They came out of nowhere! We need-!"
An earsplitting screech came from the speakers as something began to interfere with the transmission. Likely comms jamming from whoever had hit Eden Prime. There were a few frames of Alliance Marines fleeing in terror, some having abandoned their weapons. Static filled the screen.
"It just cuts out after that. No comms whatsoever." Joker sounded distressed. Shepard had to agree and looked to Nihlus. The Turian Spectre seemed disturbed.
"Marines don't run…" Shepard muttered as he cut his eyes to Captain Anderson. Anderson nodded and, surprisingly, so did Nihlus.
The policy was a holdover from the days of sail when the Marines of a ship were typically ordered to hold to the last rather than turn a ship over to the enemy boarders. If the Marines were all killed, the last man was to scuttle the ship and go down with it.
Marines don't run. Displace to a more tactically advantageous position? Certainly.
But they never ran. They retreated in good order.
"Reverse and hold at 38.5." Anderson stepped forward and cocked his head to the side. A still image of a somewhat squid like vessel filled the screen and Nihlus' mandibles twitched as Shepard crossed his arms.
"ETA to Eden Prime Joker?" Anderson turned to Nihlus.
"17 minutes. No friendly vessels around."
Nihlus nodded and turned to walk away.
"I'll retrieve my equipment and meet you in the cargo hold."
Anderson then looked at Shepard.
"Take us in Joker. Fast and quiet. Shepard, prep a fireteam and move to the cargo hold."
Shepard power walked to the door bringing his omnitool up.
"Alenko, Jenkins, get to the cargo hold. Suit up and bring what you need for a fight. Weapons and ammo, we're not stopping to take in the sights. Most ricky tick, copy?"
Both Marines acknowledged the Commander's orders. As the Commander turned to move downstairs, Captain Anderson entered the CIC and nodded to an Alliance Sailor standing against the wall observing the CIC.
"Chief, bring us to General Quarters."
The Operations Chief saluted.
"General Quarters, aye, sir."
The Chief moved to an intercom on the wall of the CIC. She hit an alarm on the wall before picking up a microphone connected to the Normandy's 1MC.
"General quarters, general quarters, all hands man your battle stations. Route to stations, up and forward on the starboard side. Down and aft on the port side. Report readiness to CIC."
The klaxon and pounding of boots reverberated through the ship as Shepard entered the elevator to descend into the cargo hold.
Shepard placed his helmet over his head and locked it into place as Nihlus primed his weapons and readied himself for insertion. Alenko and Jenkins stood behind him, checking each other's suits and armor.
"Once you clear the LZ, make your way to the dig site as quickly as possible. Once there, report in and stand by for extract."
Jenkins looked out the open cargo door at his birth world.
"What about survivors captain?"
Anderson shook his head.
"Survivors are secondary here, Corporal."
Jenkins looked bothered by that but didn't argue.
"Approaching drop point one."
Jenkins looked to Nihlus.
"Nihlus, you're coming with us?"
Nihlus didn't even look at the young Marine.
"I move faster on my own."
The Turian dropped to the ground onto Eden Prime and sprinted away as the ship lifted off and moved away.
Anderson looked to Jenkins.
"He's going to scout ahead. You're the muscle here. Get to that dig site and secure the beacon."
Shepard nodded before displaying a sly smile.
"Don't worry, sir, we'll get that beacon for your trophy case."
Captain Anderson smiled amusedly.
"See that you do, Commander."
"Approaching drop point two!" Joker warned as the ship began to rapidly descend.
"The mission is yours now, Commander!" Anderson turned and walked towards the elevator. The lift would be locked down and pressurized once he was back up in CIC.
Sheperd jumped to the dirt and crouched as Kaidan and Jenkins dropped next to him.
"Welcome home, Jenkins." Alenko muttered to the corporal as the Normandy lifted off and away.
The three Alliance Marines advanced out of the drop zone in a wedge formation, each sweeping a different sector of the landscape with their rifle, twisting at the waste like an old main battle tank. Jenkins turned around and checked the group's rear before looking back forward to cover his sector.
Shepard's eyes crossed the landscape smoothly. There were distant firefights occurring as the colony's garrison fought off the hostiles. Shepard wasn't picking up any chatter from them on Alliance channels. Not good. Either command and control was shot to hell and the firefights were groups of surviving Marines or the enemy had sufficient jamming capacity to knock out Alliance technology. At least the short-range comms were still up.
"What are those things, Jenkins?" Alenko asked absentmindedly as they passed what looked like a malnourished balloon.
"Gas bags. They're harmless." Jenkins said as if it was the most natural thing in the world.
"Lock it down. We're moving through the draw to the east. Jenkins, you have point." The usually congenial Shepard was all business. Jenkins moved forward and took his place at the front of the formation as they moved through the small crack in the rocks and into a cliffside area.
The three Marines stopped in cover for a moment to observe the area to their front. A cliff direct front necessitating a turn to the right. There were a few boulders before the land opened up into clear ground. On the other side of the open ground was higher ground and concealment in the form of trees and brush.
"Move fast through here." Shepard radioed as he waved his hand forward and the fireteam advanced into the new area. Alenko moved up to cover before taking position to cover Jenkins crossing the open ground. Shepard took up position behind a boulder and shouldered his weapon.
A muted humming made the hair on the back of the Commander's neck stand up. He opened his mouth to tell Jenkins to take cover, but only watched as Jenkins came under a hail of gunfire from two drones that had appeared from behind trees.
Jenkins fell like a marionette without strings as Alenko and Shepard opened fire on the drones. The drones bobbed to and fro almost weightlessly as Alenko struggled to land his shots. Shepard fired two inaccurate bursts before stopping and aiming carefully.
The Marine exhaled and squeezed off a short burst that exploded one of the drones. The other turned to focus fire on him, seemingly having prioritized him as a threat, but Shepard fired off another burst which exploded the surviving drone before it could fire at Shepard.
Shepard advanced and took cover past Jenkins as Alenko dragged the lifeless Marine into cover. As Shepard scanned the treeline and high ground, Alenko sighed audibly.
"K.I.A. Commander. Armor diagnostics say that his shields went down almost immediately when he was fired on."
Shepard nodded.
"Henceforth assume we're fighting with next to no shields. Lieutenant, I want you to keep your head in the game. We'll recover Jenkins following mission completion. Copy?"
Alenko nodded and held out Jenkins' ID tags. Shepard took them and stowed them away before opening a channel with the Normandy.
"Normandy this is Shepard. I have one KIA, Richard Jenkins." Shepard looked at the Corporal's body as he waited for the reply.
"Roger Shepard. One KIA. Continue mission."
Captain Anderson's reply was crisp. Shepard waved at Alenko as he turned to move into the treeline. Alenko peered at Shepard before patting Jenkins on the shoulder pad and standing to follow his commanding officer.
Shepard and Alenko moved at a good clip through the stand of trees until they reached the edge of another clearing. The edge of the clearing was at the top of a ridge and lead into what looked like a long and wide old riverbed.
Shepard paused at the edge of the clearing and peered forward through the optics of his rifle. Two people caught his attention. No…not people. Some sort of synthetics? They were dark purple and their heads looked almost like flashlights. He watched as they laid a human prisoner back on something. The Commander flinched when a large spike shot through the man's chest and lifted him in the air. Shepard shook his head. Strange method of execution.
Shots drew his attention and the Marine's eyes shot over to two more of the drones chasing down another human. A woman. Armed and armored. A Marine? Alliance Security Forces? The woman fell but broke her fall before rolling over and destroying both drones with single shots from a handgun. Shepard smiled as he stood. A Marine then.
"Lieutenant, move to support. I've got you covered."
Kaiden moved forward and prepared to open fire as the two synthetics who had executed the human prisoner turned and opened up on the female Marine. The female Marine hid behind a rock and opened fire with her handgun.
Shepard heard Kaidan bellow "Blue, blue!" as the female Marine dropped backed into cover to let her weapon cool. Kaidan slammed down behind a boulder and fired a few bursts from his rifle to allow the female Marine to cool her weapon.
While this was happening Shepard collapsed his assault rifle and drew out a sniper rifle. The Commander laid out in a prone position and fired at one of the synthetics who was advancing on the female Marine whilst firing his weapon on fully automatic. One shot from the sniper rifle penetrated the synthetics shields and the machine fell limply with a smashed head.
Shepard switched to the other synthetic and fired a snapshot into its torso. The thing's shields failed and a large hole was punched in its torso. The synthetic stumbled before crawling behind a large boulder with one hand. The other arm dragged limply behind it.
Alenko stood and advanced on the synthetic's position slowly with his rifle at a low ready.
The female Marine moved from behind her boulder and drew a shotgun. The female Marine sprinted forward with long strides and a snarl that was audible to Shepard even from his position. Shepard repositioned and sighted in on the remaining hostile, but the female Marine blocked his line of fire.
The synthetic raised its rifle in one hand. The female Marine knocked it away with a kick and fired a shotgun blast directly into the synthetic's head. The metal and polymer scattered, and fluids spattered on the female Marine's white and pink armor. The female Marine fired another blast into the machine for good measure before turning and observing the surroundings with her weapon at the low ready.
Kaidan arrived and took cover before observing the area. Shepard collapsed his rifle before calling out,
"Clear!"
The female Marine called out the same before collapsing her shotgun. Shepard came forward and the female Marine acknowledged him with a nod rather than a salute.
"Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams."
Shepard looked at the Gunnery Chief's face and saw a certain arrogance in her eyes. Infantryman. Probably Recon trained judging from the aggressiveness she had just demonstrated.
"Commander Shepard. SSV Normandy. We're here for the beacon. You alright, Gunnery Chief?"
The Gunnery Chief came to a sort of attention, but not quite there. Shepard wanted to snort. Marine Infantry and especially Marine Recon had a way of expressing contempt with their posture. Gunnery Chief Williams was definitely telling him to go fuck himself because she didn't need nor want saving.
"Ready for more, sir."
Shepard smiled at the Marine and he kneeled down as the Chief did the same.
"Sitrep, Chief."
Williams gestured with a knife hand towards towers in the distance. Large red and blue tracers were flying into the air at what appeared to be base of the towers.
"With the 212th Infantry out of Fort Ernest Smith, sir. My platoon was assigned to babysit that dig site up ahead. My squad was patrolling the trails around the area when those synthetics hit the garrison. We tried to double time it back to the platoon but walked into an ambush. I think…I think I'm it, sir. I've got no comms with anyone else on the ground, but the shooting stopped over there a few minutes ago. Someone won and the Geth are the only ones I've seen around since."
Shepard looked at Williams as she peered off towards the horizon at the tracers rising from what was likely Fort Ernest Smith.
"Geth, Gunnery Chief?"
Williams turned back.
"Affirm, sir. I believe they're here for the beacon."
Shepard inhaled deeply and exhaled.
"Copy Gunnery Chief. Fall in. You're with us until we can hook up with your unit."
Williams nodded and pulled out her rifle.
"Rah, sir. Permission to take point?"
Shepard nodded and pointed a knife hand in the direction of the dig site on his tactical map.
"Go ahead. Alenko, tail end Charlie. Williams, lead us out."
The Marine NCO stood and set a quick pace towards the dig site as Shepard and Kaidan fell into a line behind her