Chapter 2: Eden Prime

June 9, 2183 CE

Amelia (Mia) Shepard

Eden Prime

1135 hours

"…in modern war, there is nothing sweet nor fitting in your dying. You will die like a dog for no good reason." - Ernest Hemingway

Mia Shepard sighed as she checked her heat sink, crouched behind a rock for cover. Three shots. This gun was powerful, but it came at a price.

"Williams, stay close. We're going to get to that beacon, soldier." She called out to the other woman crouched against the boulder next to her. Her squad, Jackal squad, were all tech specialists, infiltrators. People who liked to work alone. As such, they had been scattered throughout the dig site, stationed with different researchers and scientists to protect the beacon. Mia, being the only N7 personnel in the squad, was naturally the squad leader.

She checked her local comm channel. She hadn't heard from Johnson in far too long. She had left him to protect some scientist and her crazy assistant while she went out to help with an evac request. She looked over at the girl she'd come all this way to save. Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams had been the only surviving member of the Dog Squad of Unit 212. Mia had heard her team's radio transmissions from the nearby camp. She couldn't stand by and listen to their whole unit get slaughtered on comms when she was so close. So she'd left Johnson with the civs and hauled ass to Williams' squad when they'd come into comm range and had laid down cover fire to get Williams out of the brunt of the assault before putting out the evac call. They'd fought their way up to this point, praying her call had been heard. All she knew was there was an Alliance ship nearby that was supposed to be heading in to pick up the beacon. She just hoped they had another unit on standby.

Mia peaked up over the boulder she was crouched behind, eyeing a few geth recon drones. She took a deep breath and lined them up in her sights. Pop. Pop. Pop. She waited for her gun to cool down as Williams laid down cover fire with her assault rifle, but suddenly she stopped, lowering her gun at the sight in front of her. Mia glanced up from her heat sink just in time to see geth spikes rising from the ground, impaling the bodies of fallen humans and driving them up into the air, where they dangled. Mia shuddered as she remembered old Earth stories about a supposed vampire called Vlad the Impaler. She couldn't help but feel like that evil man would feel right at home on Eden Prime.

"Williams, get down! " Mia called, just as a geth trooper rounded the corner ahead of her and aimed its rifle at the other woman. Mia reached out, trying to pull Ashley into cover, but felt the impact of a round going through Ashley's shoulder just as she pulled her to safety. Her shields had been damaged in the firefight earlier, so the round went straight through her hard suit. Ashley fell into Mia's lap, red blood smearing across the white of Mia's hard suit. That'd be an image that followed her through many sleepless nights, she knew. Mia checked the woman's pulse, pulling up her Omnitool.

"Stay with me, Williams. We're gonna get you an evac." She said, hearing the panic set into her voice. This was Akuze all over again. Shit.

"Not… your fault," Williams said, looking up at Mia with a smile. "Thank you, Shepard. You tried."

"No, I'm not accepting this, Williams. I'm not done trying." Mia said, fighting back tears as she loaded up Medigel in her Omnitool, moving to the wound on Williams' shoulder. It'd hit an artery, according to her Omnitool. She applied the Medigel anyway, but it just couldn't staunch the flow of blood. It wasn't repairing the damage fast enough to save her life. "Don't die on me, Williams. That's an order."

"Sorry, Lieutenant," Ashley grunted, a half smile on her face as she focused her eyes somewhere above and behind Mia. She glanced up to see two Alliance soldiers, one, thankfully, dressed in black N7 armor. She waved them over, then turned back to Williams.

"See, we got you an evac. You just hold on, soldier." Mia said, trying now to physically staunch the bleeding with her hands. She looked down at her Omnitool, desperately. Hoping, praying to see a transmission from Johnson. He had to be alive. She wouldn't be able to live with herself if she'd left to save this woman and her actions had gotten Williams and another man killed in the process.

"Donkey…" Ashley murmured, a small smile crossing her face. "It's all gonna be…" she took one last shuddering breath. "Alright" she sighed as her eyes slipped closed. She didn't take another breath. Mia scanned her vitals with her Omnitool, and closed her eyes, taking a shuddering breath, before looking up to the two men approaching her.

The man in blue armor was laying down cover fire with a Mattock, taking out the remaining geth troopers, while the N7 soldier bee-lined it to the two women. Mia laid Williams on the ground gently, as though she were just sleeping, before getting herself to her feet.

"Mia?" she jumped at the sound of her nickname. No one in the Alliance called her that. She was Shepard or Lieutenant. Maybe Amelia, for the people she served with for a while, but really only her mother called her that. Never Mia. She didn't allow herself to get close enough to people for that kind of familiarity. Not after Akuze.

She looked up at the man who'd said her name and realized not only did he know her name, she knew his voice. It had been at least six years since she'd heard it, but that was definitely her brother.

"John?!" She called, taking a step towards him.

Mia hadn't seen or heard from her brother since his last email, telling her about his assignment on Elysium. He'd sent her a quick message to let her know he was safe after the Blitz, but apparently, he'd made some big hero of himself at that battle and had been far too busy to write. She got it. Her own N7 training had taken a lot out of her. There was a two-week span, just after her graduation, where she didn't move from the couch in her tiny apartment on the Citadel. She understood how tired he would be. And besides, it wasn't like she needed John to tell her what was going on in his life. That was public knowledge. As an infiltrator, she had no qualms digging through Alliance personnel files and captains' logs to find out what her brother had been up to.

But fuck if she didn't miss hearing from him. Seeing him on shared shore leaves. Just being able to hear his voice. It made her miss their dad for a moment. John had picked up their father's Irish accent from living with him for most of his young life, while Mia had ended up with something of a standard American accent from all the old Earth movies she watched growing up, along with her mother's Southern American accent here and there.

John had already holstered his gun by the time Mia made it to him, and she threw herself in his arms, smiling when he caught her easily.

"Are you alright? Is it your blood, or…?''John looked over Mia's head to the dead soldier on the ground.

"It's hers. Ashley Williams, of the 212." She sighed, her eyes tightly closed as she hugged her brother for a moment more, then remembered they were in active combat. "She was the last of her squad. I've got backup about a quarter mile north. Intel's calling them synthetics, the geth. "

"Mia, this is Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko, he's a biotic. Alenko, my sister, Jr Lieutenant Amelia Shepard." John made the quick introduction and Mia took in the other soldier for a minute, offering him a shaky smile.

She was glad to hear that two biotics had come to her rescue. That was rare to see on an Alliance ship. Humans with biotic abilities were a bit of a rarity in themselves, seeing as most of them got that way from an Element Zero exposure while their mothers were pregnant almost thirty years ago. But even human biotics were able to use Element Zero nodules embedded in their tissues to create mass effect fields, accessed and augmented by bio-amps, an implant in the users' brain. John had gotten his amps when he signed up for the Academy at sixteen. Mia considered herself lucky that she'd never had to worry about the extra stress of it, honestly.

She turned back to her brother, frowning. She hadn't been a junior lieutenant for almost four months.

"Actually, it's Lieutenant," Mia corrected.

"Oh, right. The promotion in the Traverse. You took down a slaver ship, right?" John said with a smile, lifting his eyes to scan their surroundings. Mia's eyes widened at that, but she took a step back and pulled out her Widow X.

"Yeah," she said softly, arching a brow at him before checking her heat sink. "You read my emails." She said, her voice betraying her slight disbelief.

"Every one." John smiled at her in the sweet, goofy way that he used to distract her from their mom when they were still in school. It had been video calls then. She was glad she got to see it in person. Her heart melted, but her instincts told her that they needed to keep moving. They'd been sitting here out in the open for too long.

"The geth haven't been seen outside of the Veil in nearly 200 years. Why are they here now?" Kaidan asked, keeping an eye out for synthetics.

"They must have come for the beacon," Mia said, indicating a small hill ahead of them. "It's just over that rise. We need to get to it if it's still there." She said.

"You're coming with us, right?" John said, looking down at his sister. "We lost a man on the ground a while back. I could use your help."

"Fighting with one of the best N7 soldiers to graduate from the academy? You don't have to ask me twice." Mia grinned, lifting her scope to her eye to examine the rise better.

"We need more intel, Mia. What do you know?" John asked as they started moving towards the dig site.

"They were doing some digging out here to extend the monorail for colony expansion. A few weeks back, they dug up some Prothean ruins. The beacon was inside. All of a sudden, every scientific expert on Eden Prime was intrigued. They brought us in to secure the site. I was stationed with the head researchers, just up the hill past the dig site. But I haven't heard from my man there since I left to help Williams. I'm worried, John." Mia confided.

"We'll get to them, Mia. You said you left a man with the researchers?" He asked, glancing over at her. He knew about what happened on Akuze. Losing people on missions was a bit of a sore spot for Mia, and she could feel his eyes on her like lasers.

"Ethan Johnson, N5. He should be more than capable of fending off a few geth. I'm just hoping no news is good news." She sighed, lining up a shot and taking out a geth trooper forty meters out.

"You haven't happened to see a turian Spectre out here, have you? One of our guys. Goes by Nihlus." John asked, watching her take the shot with his rifle raised. "Nice, Mia. I see your aim has only improved."

"Gotta be the best Shepard at something." She laughed, lowering her gun again. "A turian? I don't think so. But then, I was pretty focused on getting to Dog Squad, so I didn't really stop to look, either." She said, frowning. "How do you lose a Spectre? Aren't those guys crazy scary?" She arched a brow at her brother.

"He moves faster alone," Kaidan said, and though Mia wasn't looking at him, she could practically hear the eye roll in his voice. Mia cracked a smile at that.

"I see." She said, looking back and meeting Kaidan's eyes. She looked over him fully for the first time and took a moment to notice he was actually sort of attractive. And not in that standard, supercut military way she was used to. He was… cute. She let her smile linger for a moment.

Unfortunately, when she turned back to the situation at hand, they were faced with a gruesome sight. Geth spikes surrounded the dig site, human corpses impaled upon each one. Mia heard Kaidan scoff at the sight.

"Eden Prime will never be the same again. That man was still alive when they stuck him on the spike." He said, his voice low and somber.

"Impaling victims instead of just shooting them," Mia murmured, her voice just as low. "There's gotta be a reason for this level of… horror." She said.

"Classic psychological warfare. They're using terror as a weapon." Kaidan said, shaking his head.

They made it up to the dig site, Mia leading the way. When they came to the tent where the beacon had been, Mia's blood ran cold.

"It's been moved. This is where the beacon was being stored. It was here this morning when I left for Williams." Mia said, shaking her head, then turning and kicking a nearby light, knocking it over. " Fuck , we've gotta go." She said, moving up the ramps.

John paused, his hand moving to his ear. Mia assumed the Spectre that moved faster alone was reaching out to him finally. "There's been a change of plans. We're supposed to rendezvous with Nihlus at the spaceport ahead." He informed the others.

"We can check the camp up ahead for survivors, it's on the way. That's where I left Johnson with the researchers." Mia said, quickening her pace.

"It's a good place for an ambush, Lieutenant. Keep your guard up." Kaidan called, though he was only a few steps behind her, with John bringing up the rear.

As Mia crested the ridge, the spikes impaling the humans around the site began lowering. Instinctively, she raised her sights to her eye, hoping for a better look at what was happening. She gasped and almost dropped her gun at the sight.

"Gods! They're still alive!" She said, her soldier instinct taking over and popping off a quick shot, which completely missed its target.

"What did the geth do to them?" Kaidan asked, bringing up his rifle and firing. "It's like they're just…husks."

"It must take a few hours for the spikes to work… however they work." Mia took a shuddering breath, taking aim and missing again. She cursed under her breath. One shot left, and they were getting close. She pulled the trigger once more. Miss.

"Oh, fuck this. " She said, holstering her overheated sniper and pulling out her M-6 Carnifex. She pulled up her Omnitool and input a quick code. And then she was gone.


Kaidan Alenko

Eden Prime

1145 hours

Kaidan had been two steps behind Mia. He knew she was shaken when she missed all three shots. An N7 didn't take a sniper and a pistol into active combat without being damn sure they could make those shots. He heard her curse when her gun overheated, ready to throw up a biotic barrier if he needed to, but then he noticed John wasn't firing ahead of them, but behind him, and then he heard her swear. When he looked back, Mia was gone.

He'd worked with plenty of infiltrators before. That tactical cloak had saved more lives than he could count. But she'd just missed her last three shots, what did she possibly think she was going to do with a pistol?

His jaw dropped as he watched her pop up behind the husks as she opened fire. Six times. Six headshots. Six bodies fell right before they reached Kaidan. She holstered her pistol and pulled out her sniper again now that it'd cooled down. She aimed and just as quickly as with her pistol, she took out one, two more husks in front of her. But she didn't notice the one coming up behind.

"Watch your six, Shepard!" Kaidan called, throwing out his arm as a blue biotic forcefield wrapped around the husk just inches away from Mia, yanking it into the air above her in a Lift. She whipped around, aiming and firing. Another headshot and the camp went quiet.

"Damn, that's gonna be weird," John said with a chuckle, lowering his rifle. He'd hung back, and Kaidan saw the pile of bodies around the other man, who'd protected them from a rear assault. John checked his ammo, then checked to make sure the others were okay. He grinned at his sister with an easy familiarity.

"So you N7s really are all insane. Got it." Kaidan said, though looking between a smiling John and Mia, who was checking her heat sink and readying her weapon once more before they pushed on into the camp, he couldn't help but grin.

"Hang out with enough of us, you'll end up wanting to do it too, Alenko. But it's not weird at all, big brother. I'm Shepard, you're Commander. Easy." She shot him an easy grin that took Kaidan off guard. Something about her smile, even though it wasn't meant for him, melted all the tension from discovering the monstrosity they'd just fought. It was like a breath of fresh air. And Kaidan realized John had the same soothing manner after a crisis. The more they were different, he realized, the more they were the same.

"Maybe we are a little insane." John chuckled.

"Come on, " She said, nodding towards the tents, "There might be survivors holed up here," Mia said, then pointed at a shack with a locked security door. "There." She said, moving up to the door and decrypting the lock. The door opened and Dr. Warren and her assistant looked up, relaxing the moment they saw Mia.

"Oh, thank the Maker! Lieutenant Shepard, am I glad to see you." Dr. Warren said, waving them inside.

"Hurry! Close the door! Before they come back!" Manuel said.

"This is Dr. Warren, she's in charge of the excavation." Mia introduced them. "Do you know what happened to the beacon?"

"It was moved to the spaceport a few hours ago. Manuel and I stayed behind to pack up camp. When the attack came, Lieutenant Shepard was called away to help with an evacuation, and the marines left in the camp gave their lives to give us time to hide." Dr. Warren said sorrowfully.

"No one is saved." Manuel droned ominously from beside her. "The age of humanity has ended. Soon, only ruin and corpses will remain."

"Um," Mia murmured, shifting away from Manuel and slipping back into line next to Kaidan to let John do the talking. Kaidan brushed his elbow against hers, peeking down at her with a small, reassuring smile. He liked this girl, and she clearly didn't feel comfortable. After their last hour or so, anyone'd be shaken.

Mia peeked up at him, and Kaidan was once again taken off guard by her easy smile, this time directed at him. She knocked her elbow against his in a silent thank you. Kaidan knew he was going to like having two Shepards around. Working with her felt as natural as breathing.

"Doctor, is there anything you can tell us about the attack?" John said, clearing his throat and turning to the doctor.

"It all happened so fast. One second we were gathering up our equipment. The next we were hiding in the shed while the geth swarmed over the camp." Dr. Warren said, shaking her head. From beside her, Kaidan could hear the muttering of Manuel.

"Agents of the Destroyers. Bringers of Darkness. Heralds of our extinction." He murmured. Kaidan looked down at Mia, arching a brow at her in a silent question. Are you hearing this? She gave him an exasperated look, which told him everything he needed to know. Kaidan looked up as the doctor continued her account.

"We could hear the battle outside. Gunfire. Screams. I thought it would never end. Then, everything went quiet. We just sat there, too afraid to move. Until you came along." She said, motioning to the squad.

"You didn't happen to see a turian in the area?" John asked, trying to address the doctor.

"I saw him. The prophet. Leader of the enemy. He was here, before the attack." Manuel said, seeming sure of himself.

"That's impossible. Nihlus was with us on the Normandy before the attack. He couldn't have been here." Kaidan spoke up, frowning now.

"I'm sorry. Manuel's still a bit...unsettled." Dr. Warren said, gently. "We haven't seen your turian. We've been hiding in here since the attack." John nodded, looking between the two carefully before continuing.

"Can you tell me anything about the beacon?" He asked.

"It's some type of data module from a galaxy-wide communications network. Remarkably well-preserved. It could be the greatest scientific discovery of our lifetime! Miraculous new technologies. Groundbreaking medical advances. Who knows what secrets are locked inside?" she said, sounding much happier to be talking about her passion. Unfortunately, Manuel didn't seem to be over his episode.

"I have seen the heart of evil. The Beast is coming and the Darkness follows behind." He droned, louder than he had been before.

"Manuel! Please! This isn't the time." Dr. Warren shushed him, clearly getting upset with his outbursts.

"What's wrong with your assistant, ma'am?" Kaidan asked, finally too curious to resist.

"Manuel has a brilliant mind, but he's always been a bit...unstable. Genius and madness are two sides of the same coin." She sighed.

"Is it madness to see the future? To see the destruction rushing towards us? To understand there is no escape? No hope? No, I am not mad. I'm the only sane one left!" He exclaimed.

"I gave him an extra dose of his meds after the attack." Dr. Warren explained to John, who nodded.

"You should be safe here, Doctor. Mia, take us to the spaceport." John said with a nod, and Mia nearly jumped at the opportunity to get out of the room.

"You can't stop it. Nobody can stop it. Night is falling. The darkness of eternity." Manuel warned, and how sincere he was that he was speaking the truth was starting to weird Kaidan out. He followed Mia quickly, just catching Dr. Warren pulling Manuel back from the retreating soldiers.

"Hush, Manuel. Go lie down. You'll feel better once the medication kicks in."


John Shepard

Eden Prime

1200 hours

John brought up the rear as his sister led them to the spaceport, fighting geth and husks sporadically as they went. He was watching how Kaidan and Mia were interacting, and while he couldn't say he enjoyed watching his sister flirt, he was glad that they were both taking comfort in each other. They had seemed to hit it off from the start. But, he supposed, sometimes battle did that. He looked up as he heard Kaidan's voice.

"What is that? Off in the distance?" He called.

"It's… a ship. Look at the size of it!" Mia said, checking it out with her scope. They'd already cleared the geth from the area, but they could see the beginnings of what John assumed was the spaceport.

"Let's keep going, guys. Looks like there's some sort of structure ahead. We should check it out." John said.

Mia nodded her agreement and made her way up to the door. She knocked on the door, three sharp raps, and looked up at John.

"Alliance Marines. You're safe now, you can come out." She said in her public service voice. John cracked a grin at that, remembering one shore leave. She'd spent the whole dinner bitching about having to adopt a non-threatening tone while on duty. Couldn't wrap her head around how civilians could perceive her as scary.

The door wooshed open and two men and a woman came out, trying to appear non-threatening.

"Is it safe? Are they gone?" the woman asked.

"Yes, you're safe," John reassured her. "Who are you?"

"We're just farmers. We've been hiding since that ship showed up." The man in the front said.

"I still can't believe it. When we saw that ship, I thought it was all over!" the other man chimed in.

"It showed up right before the attack. The three of us were working the crops when it showed up. Knew it was trouble the second I saw it. So we made a break for the sheds. We just saw it and ran. I don't know what happened to the rest of the crew." the frontman informed them.

"They were by the garage. Over near the spaceport. Right where that ship came down. No way they survived." the second man said dismissively.

"You don't know that! We survived. If they made it to the garage, they could've had a fighting chance!" the woman chimed in.

John looked between the bickering trio and shifted his posture, straightening his back to catch their attention. He had to admit, intimidation tactics worked more often than not.

"Is there anything else you can tell me about the ship?" He asked, meeting the front man's eyes.

"Tell them about the noise, Cole. That awful noise." The second man said to the first.

"It was emitting some kind of signal as it descended," Cole said, frowning at the thought of it. "Sounded like the shriek of the damned. Only it was coming from inside your own head." He shuddered visibly.

"Probably trying to block communications." John dismissed, not sure what to make of such a strange report.

"Whatever it was, felt like it was tearing right through my skull. Almost made it impossible to think." Cole rubbed his head, as though remembering the sound alone was enough to make it hurt again.

"We've gotta get going. We'll check the docks, and send any survivors your way." John said, then nodded at the others to move out, but they froze as a single shot rang out from the direction of the spaceport. In the eerie silence following a gunfight, the noise sent a wave of panic through John. "Alenko, Shepard, move out." He said, switching on his officer voice. He saw Mia's lips twitch up in a grin at that and knew that later, she'd tell him how adorable his commanding officer voice was. He wasn't looking forward to that as much as he was looking forward to teasing her about her public service voice.

Kaidan got there first, examining the body on the docks when they arrived first and foremost. John heard Kaidan's breath catch.

"Commander. It's Nihlus." He reported, his voice almost detached. Mia jumped, turning as she heard a noise.

"I've got movement behind the crates, Commander." She called, raising her gun.

"Wait! Don't shoot! I just work here!" A man said, standing with his hands raised.

"Sneaking up on armed soldiers in the middle of an assault is a good way to get killed," Mia grumbled, lowering her gun. He frowned, shoulders sagging, but didn't lower his hands, just in case.

"I...I'm sorry. I was hiding. From those creatures. My name's Powell. I saw what happened to that turian. The other one shot him." he said, becoming more relaxed as he spoke and lowering his hands.

"Other one? What are you talking about?" John asked, arching a brow as he shifted his gun to point at the ground.

" There were two turians here, your friend, and another one he called Saren. I think they knew each other." Powell said, looking between the soldiers. "Your friend seemed to relax. He let his guard down. And Saren killed him." the man said, hanging his head as he looked at the corpse. "Shot him right in the back. I'm just lucky he didn't see me behind those crates." Powell said, gesturing to the crates he'd been hiding behind.

"We were told a Prothean beacon was brought to the spaceport. What happened to it?" John asked, shifting his weight anxiously. With Nihlus dead, they needed to find the target, and he was going to have to fly solo as commanding officer until he could get back to the ship. Leadership roles never really bothered him before. They felt natural, like breathing. He trusted his training, and he trusted himself.

But this mission had gone awry in every way. Half of his team was dead. Most of the colony was dead. Geth troopers on Eden Prime. Things had happened on this mission that no one in the Alliance could have predicted to prepare for.

But he couldn't think about what he wasn't prepared for. He had his objective, and he was prepared for that. He had to secure that beacon.

"It's over on the other platform. Probably where that guy Saren was headed. He hopped on the cargo train right after he killed your friend. I knew that beacon was trouble. Everything's gone to hell since we found it. First, that damn mother ship showed up. Then the attack. They killed everyone. Everyone! If I hadn't been behind the crates I'd be dead, too! " Powell said, indicating the direction of the other platform.

"Tell me about the attack," John said, looking in the direction he'd indicated. Mia pulled her scope to her eye, trying to get an angle of sight, as well.

"It was quick. One minute, that ship was descending. The next, those geth were swarming over the platform, thousands of them. They must have been inside that mother ship. They shot anything that moved. It was a massacre." He said, his eyes shifting nervously.

"How did you survive, then? Why didn't anyone else think to hide behind the crates?" John said, narrowing his eyes at the man.

"They never had a chance. I…I was already behind the crates when the attack started." He said, his eyes touching the ground.

"Wait a minute. You were hiding behind the crates before the attack?" Kaidan asked incredulously.

"I...sometimes I need a nap to get through my shift. I sneak off behind the crates to grab forty winks where the supervisor can't find me." He admitted sheepishly. Mia barked a laugh.

"Well, buddy, a nap saved your life." She shook her head in sympathy.

"Yeah. Yeah, I guess. I don't really want to think about it." He said, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Tell me about this 'mother ship' you saw," John said, now convinced the man was telling the truth.

"I've never seen anything like it before. It — it was huge. Landed over near that platform. The whole place got dark as it came down. And — and it was making this noise, this — this sound that bored right into your brain. That's what woke me up. The attack came a few minutes later." He said. John looked at Mia and Kaidan.

"That's exactly what Cole described." He said, meeting their eyes. "We need to find this beacon before it's too late."

"Take the cargo train. That's where the other turian went. I...I can't stay here. I need to get away from all this." He said, rubbing his head.

"Back up the hill, Cole and a few others are holed up in a shed. You'll be safe there. We'll arrange for a pick up when our objective is secure." He told the man, clapping him on the shoulder. "Thank you for your help."

John led at a sprint to the cargo train, hopping on and waiting anxiously as it took them over to the other platform. The turian, Saren from what Powell had said, was standing on a lower platform next to what was clearly the beacon. He looked up at John and the others arriving on the train, then spoke to the geth next to him. The geth began activating four bombs scattered around the spaceport. John swore.

"Demolition charges," Kaidan announced.

"Hurry, we need to find them and deactivate them," Mia said, rushing to the nearest one. "I'll take this side, you two take the other and get to Saren." She told them.

John agreed, letting her handle that bomb and taking Kaidan to the other side. As soon as they crossed the bridge, more husks attacked, leaving John to fight them off to cover Kaidan as he deactivated the bombs. He looked around for Saren when he could, but he couldn't see the man. He could no longer see the ship he'd presumably come in on, either.

A few tense minutes later, the beacon was secure. John let himself catch a breath for a minute, coming to stand next to Kaidan after Mia had joined them on the other side.

"Normandy," John spoke into his earpiece. "The beacon is secure. Requesting immediate evac."

Kaidan and Mia examined the beacon while John was trying to contact the ship.

"This is amazing. Actual working Prothean technology." Kaidan said, in awe.

"It wasn't doing any of this when they dug it up," Mia said, seeming to notice the green glow emitting from the device.

"Something must have activated it," Kaidan suggested, watching as she got closer to the device.

"Or someone." She suggested, looking back at Kaidan for a moment. She had taken one step closer and turned her head just as the beacon started to emit a vibrant green light, causing her to jolt her attention back, holding her head.

John's attention was drawn by the light and he ran at a full sprint, knocking her out of the beam and taking it himself. As he entered the beam, the beacon exploded, and his world went dark.