Disclaimer: I don't own the Halo or Mass Effect franchises.
Chapter 2: Eden Prime
Commander Shepard was making his way towards the bridge where many officers along the way greeted him with a salute. He shared a glance at Navigator Pressly.
"Commander, good to see you back on this ship" Pressly said.
"Likewise Pressly, any word on what's going on? Are we leaving Earth now?" Shepard asked.
"Yes, Captain ordered me to setup the navigation systems to move to Eden Prime" Pressly responded which made Shepard curious.
"Eden Prime? Why now, all of a sudden?" Shepard asked.
"Well, I believe its routine check, but certain information are beyond my paygrade. You can check with the Captain" Pressly said to which he nodded.
Eden Prime was one of the earliest colony world discovered and settled on by humans. Its mainly used as an agriculture world, supplying food crops to other colonies. But a lot of secrets have not yet been uncovered from the world, though many archeological scholars are pushing for a permanent research station to be housed over there.
"Sensor systems...check. Thrusters...check. Mass effect drive core stability...check. Weapon systems online...check. We're good. All personnel, prepare of a mass relay jump, destination: Eden Prime" Lieutenant Jeff 'Joker' Moreau spoke over the comm. SSV Normandy by then came closer to the Charon relay.
He walked towards the bridge and noticed a Turian standing and besides him was Captain Anderson. The Turian was none other than Nihlus.
"Commander Eric Shepard, about time you are here" Nihlus said.
"Didn't expect a Spectre to be interested in a routine check mission" Shepard quipped. Nihlus didn't respond to that though.
Spectres are agents of Special Tactics and Recon, its a separate branch in C-Sec. They are enforced directly by the council. Spectre agents are given unlimited power and authority anywhere in the galaxy, operating above the law. They only answers the council and no one else can question them. People have mixed feelings about the Spectres, on one end, they get the job done, whatever it takes. But on the other hand, these people are dangerous as they can get away with anything if the council doesn't keep tabs on them.
"Hitting the relay in 3, 2, 1..." Joker said as the mass effect core from the relay sent a tendril of energy that charged the ship and soon, the ship boomed at FTL speeds.
"Thrusters are doing good, mass effect core stable, heat sink emissions are under control at 1500K" Joker said as he ran through the holo computers.
"1500K is good" Nihlus said as he turned around moved to the comm room.
Besides Joker in the other seat was Lieutenant Kaiden Alenko, a certified helmsman like Joker and also a Sentinel, excelling in tech and biotics.
"I dont trust that Turian, not one bit" Joker said seeing his attitude.
"Relax Joker, this is just a routine mission. Besides, Normandy is a blend of human and turian engineering, so its obvious a turian representative wants to check on our ship" Kaidon said easing the situation.
"Yeah, but Nihlus is a spectre and spectres dont do regular jobs. There is something more to this mission on Eden Prime" Shepard said with equal doubts in his mind.
"See, I told ya!" Joker said looking at Alenko who nodded in disagreement.
"Commander Shepard, Please come to the comm room, now" Captain Anderson spoke through the comm speaker.
"Well, there's your cue, Commander" Joker said as Shepard moved to the Comm room.
As Shepard entered the comm room, Nihlus and Anderson were standing in front of the holo projector. Shepard stood in between them.
"I assume this mission to Eden Prime is not a regular drill. What is really happening here?" Shepard asked, this time cutting the traditional clandestine bullshit.
"I believe there is no need to keep the commander in the dark, Nihlus" Anderson spoke as he turned to look at Shepard.
"A team of archeologists unearthed a Prothean beacon on Eden Prime. We are moving in fast and quiet to secure it before it falls into the wrong hands" Anderson said.
"Wow! I didn't expect anything like this on a farm world. Besides, what do you mean wrong hands? Its our nearest neighbor, we shouldn't have any invader problems" Shepard said pondering on the Captain's choice of words.
"Last time we uncovered Prothean archives on Mars, the knowledge we dug up sent our technological advancements 200 years forward. Who knows what this beacon holds, blueprints to any technology, even weapons?" Anderson said in alarming tone.
"I now understand the secrecy behind it. But that still doesn't explain a Spectre's presence for this mission" Shepard said glancing at the turian.
"Nihlus is here to assess you on this mission and submit the report to the council. Admiral Hackett and Ambassador Udina proposed your name to be enlisted to become the next Spectre among other candidates. But Nihlus personally vouched for you at the council, even they are interested to see what you can do, especially after your heroics in the Skillian blitz. Imagine, with you as Spectre, humanity will have a strong hold in the galactic polictics" Anderson explained.
"Hmm, thought your people never liked us. How did you manage to convince the council to enlist the first human spectre?" Shepard asked.
"Well, its not that I don't like your kind, just don't trust you people. Besides, this mission will decide your future anyway" Nihlus said in his cold stoic tone hiding no irk in his expression. Suddenly their conversation was cut short by Joker.
"Captain, we are receiving a broadcast on a emergency channel from Eden Prime" Joker said which made the 3 in the comm room to be confused.
"Put it on the screen, Joker" Anderson said as they all saw a big holo screen pop up in front.
MULTIPLE GUN FIRE* *LOUD SCREAMS*
"Watch out!" a woman in a white and rose armor yelled as she fired her assault rifle at an unknown enemy.
"Alliance command, we are under attack, I repeat *Gun shots*-...we are under attack by geth forces. An unknown black ship has landed on the surface *Gun fire*...The dig site is compromised! Send immediate assist NOW!-...TEAM, FLANK THEM IN YOUR LEFT *Gun fire*-..."
The broadcast ended right there. Shepard, Nihlus and Anderson were glancing at each other in shock.
"The Geth? They haven't been seen outside the veil for 200 years. Are we sure if thats actually the geth?" Shepard asked.
Anderson rewinds the video player and stopped at the 38th second of the feed which froze to reveal a strange black ship with red lightning arc and smoke around what looks like tentacled arms. The appearance closely resembled a squid or a cuttlefish. But the three had no idea on what it could be. Anderson curiously and cautiously looked at the hologram.
"What is that ship?" Shepard asked wide eyed.
"Whatever it is, this mission just got complicated. We need to secure the beacon soon. I have a feeling the geth are there for that artifact too. A small strike team on the ground should be fine" Nihlus said.
"Nihlus is right Shepard, Get a team to the ground and get to the dig site, the geth should never get their oiled up metal hands on the beacon!" Anderson ordered.
"Sure Captain, but what about the survivors?" Shepard asked with concern for the civilians.
"Evacuating the civilians comes second, the priority is to get the beacon before the geth finds it out" Anderson said to which Shepard nodded.
"Kaiden, Jenkins? Suit up and get down to the cargo bay. We are heading to the ground" Eric said.
"Aye aye Commander" Kaiden responded. A few minutes later, Kaiden and Jenkins reached the cargo bay in their respective suits. They both saw Shepard, the Turian and Captain.
"Commander, we are ready" Kaiden responded.
"Alright, open the bay door Jenkins" Shepard said as Jenkins nodded and pressed the console which slowly opened the blast door as the inside air and outside atmosphere mixed up and created a huge blowing sound from the gale.
"Good luck, Shepard!" Anderson yelled loud enough for the others to hear amidst the roar. Shepard nodded as he brought the comm online.
"Joker, bring the ship near the ground" Shepard barked the orders.
"Touching down" Joker responded as the Normandy touched the ground side. Nihlus, Shepard, Jenkins and Alenko dropped to the ground. Then the Normandy lifted off to the air.
"Shepard, I'll scout ahead from the right side. You take the left, I'll keep a low profile and see what's up" Nihlus said.
"Roger that Nihlus" Shepard responded.
The turian spectre then sprinted to the right side, climbing huge rocks. The sun was just above the horizon, it was evening time on where they are standing.
"Well, its up to us then" Shepard said.
"Whoa! Look around. Lots of smoke and fire over there. Is there an attack or something?" Jenkins asked as anxiety level shot up.
"Listen kid, its gonna be fine. You wanted to see some action, here you are" Alenko tried to calm him down.
"Just follow my orders and get behind me and don't stray off our trail. You'll be just fine, understood private?" Shepard said looking at him.
"Yes sir!" Jenkins firmly responded.
The three moved with Jenkins covering Shepard's six a meter away while Kaiden was moving front left.
Then all of a sudden the three heard mechanical sounds and they all saw 3 strange drones flying front towards their position.
"Covering fire!" Shepard yelled as the drones started to fire at their position. The three took hiding positions in front of big rocks and fired at the drones. The drones shorted out and exploded.
"What are those things?" Kaiden asked to which Shepard could only think of one enemy.
"Must be the geth, lets move quick. They must be after the beacon" Shepard said as the three jogged forward.
"The geth? I thought those robots never left the veil for 200 years or so as our school history lessons taught us" Jenkins said to which Shepard didn't answer.
"Shepard, I see lots of bodies here. And tons of geth activity. Pursuing with caution. Be careful, Nihlus out" Nihlus said over the comms to which the 3 looked around and could already see the burnt crisps of human bodies.
"Well, you don't say" Kaiden commented.
That's when the 3 were greeted by the sight of two geth soldiers that started to shoot them.
"Shit!" Kaiden cursed as they hid behind the trees. But Jenkins was slow and got shot on the arm by the geth plasma rifle, bypassing the shield.
"Ahh-...I'm hit!" Jenkins cried as Shepard immediately used his biotics to send a medium sized bolt of blue energy that hit the 2 geth machines and sent them to the ground. The force was so much it fried their circuitry. Then he and Kaiden tend to Jenkins who was injured.
"Easy there soldier, I'm applying medi-gel" Kaiden said as he applied the medigel using his omni-tool which glowed in orange in his arm. But the plasma burn couldn't be healed completely.
"Shit, I guess I just blew it up!" Jenkins said as he still feels the plasma burn.
"Damn, the burns are deep under his skin. He needs emergency treatment in the ship. Normandy, come in!" Shepard called out.
"Yes Commander!" Joker responded.
"Need immediate extraction for Jenkins. Mark my current position and get him emergency medical treatment. We are pushing forward with the mission to find the beacon" Shepard ordered.
"Understood, Commander" Joker replied as he closed the channel.
"Jenkins, we are moving forward. Stay hidden in this position, Normandy is coming to pick you up" Shepard said patting on his shoulders.
"Thank you sir, good luck" Jenkins said with a short salute to which he smiled.
Then Shepard and Kaiden moved front and came across burning fires and burnt bodies. Also some omni-gel packs that were spread around which they picked it up for stocking.
That's when they heard another set of gun fires. This time, they saw the same white armored soldier, a woman running towards them with the assault rifle in her hand. Besides her was another soldier. They were being chased by the same geth drones which was firing at them.
Shepard and Kaiden decided to help them out by charging towards them. By that time, the soldier accompanying the woman was shot dead. Shepard immediately threw a biotic energy field on the drones which halted their mobility. Then he and Kaiden open fired on the 3 drones which exploded.
The woman soldier who tripped down slowly got up on her feet and sadly looked at the other fallen soldier.
"Are you alright soldier? Name and rank?" Shepard ordered.
"Commander Shepard? Thank god! I assume you are the official in charge of the rescue mission?" the woman asked feeling relieved as she caught her breath.
"The actual mission is to secure the prothean beacon. But after the geth showed up, we realized we had to fight our way forward" Shepard answered.
"I am Gunnery chief Ashley Williams. My team was in security detail for the archeological experts at the dig site. That's where the beacon was unearthed. It must still be there. We didn't expect to see the geth here which made things worse. Now, I'm the only survivor in my team" Ashley explained.
"What happened to the experts? Kaiden asked.
"A few of them died. A few, we escorted them to safety. Wish we could have done more" Ash said with regret.
"You did your best chief. I hope you are still in one piece. Get us to the dig site. We will handle the geth together" Shepard said to which she nodded.
The three then walked forward as the way started to descend and then went flat. Then they saw the geth as Shepard signaled them to stop. The 3 watched as the geth soldiers were holding a couple of human survivors who were too weak to escape the clutches. Then all of a sudden, a spike charged upward that impaled their chest and carried them in the air.
"What the hell are they doing!?" Ashley asked horrified at the sight.
"Let's move" Shepard said as he started to fire his rifle at the geth soldiers. Kaiden and Ashley took positions behind a rock as they fired at the geth soldiers. Shepard activated biotic shielding which took some direct punishment for the short time, which Shepard used to take out his shotgun and blast the geth soldiers. But he was then bashed by another geth which was quite bigger than the other and the metal armor was brown in color. It used cloak to surprise the Commander.
"Damn, the Commander's been hit! Lieutenant, give me covering fire!" Ashley said as he took out a grenade and threw it at the bigger geth unit.
Shepard seeing this covered himself with another layer of biotic shield. The grenade exploded taking out the geth, launching it into the air and fell down crashing a few meters ahead.
Shepard's biotic shield went down, but he was feeling a bit tired with the energy he spent.
"You alright Commander?" Kaiden asked with concern.
"Yes, a bit disoriented, but ok. Thanks chief" Shepard thanked Ashley with gratitude to which she gave a nod.
"What were the geth doing to them?" Shepard asked looking at the impaled humans.
"That actually" Kaiden said as he pointed out a couple of stakes a few meters in front that had same humans or seemingly humans. Since they are fully covered in black with blue cybernetic linings, even their eyes. The 3 cautiously moved forward towards the other stakes to take a closer look.
...
Meanwhile with Nihlus, he reached the site's logistics building. He walked slowly across the platform aiming his weapon for possible targets. That's when he heard foot steps behind. Without wasting time, he turned around and pointed the weapon at him.
"Stay where you are and identify yourself" Nihlus ordered as the being turned slowly to reveal itself. It was another turian, but with some cybernetic modifications. His eyes appeared blue in color. Nihlus instantly recognized him though and was quite surprised to see him.
"Saren? What are you doing here?" Nihlus asked letting his guard drop.
"Hello old friend, I am here to investigate the geth presence" Saren explained in his grim tone.
"This is my mission, you are not supposed to be here!" Nihlus said as he walked past him.
"Well, the council thinks otherwise. I have been forwarded your case files and thought sending another spectre might help you. Lets do this together, like old times" Saren said to which Nihlus relaxed as he turned to look around.
"Everything's gonna be just fine" Saren said with a grin as he pointed his pistol over Nihlus's head and shot him at point blank.
...
*GUN SHOT*
Shepard, Ashley and Kaiden heard a distant gunshot.
"What's that? It came from nearby" Shepard said and then all of a sudden the spikes started to let an energetic humming sound.
"Whoa, what's happening with the spikes? Oh no!-...looks like they are still alive!" Ashley exclaims as the zombie looking humans moved their limbs and the three stakes started to come down releasing the zombies.
The creatures roared in agony as they charged towards the 3.
"Open fire!" Shepard barked as he took out his shotgun and fired one zombie in close range. The zombie's body got shredded as it flew back to the ground and exploded with electrical discharge.
"Uh oh! Don't let them close to you!" Kaiden said as he used his biotics to push a zombie back which Ashley killed with her assault rifle, causing it to explode mid-air. The last one was kicked on its chest which it took and still moved forward.
"Shit, its quite stronger" Shepard said as it grabbed his rifle. Shepard held on to his rifle and there was a power struggle. Ashley leapt over the zombie and using the momentum to push it to the side. Then Shepard used his shotgun to blow it up.
"Phew! That was close" Kaiden said. Then he went on to observe the shredded parts of the zombie and saw the cybernetic implants that were surgically grafted under skin, deep in the flesh.
"These are some nasty sons of bitches" Ashley commented.
"I believe these stakes somehow kill the person and then surgically graft some weird implants on them. That turns people into these mindless husks" Kaiden explained.
"This doesn't look like geth technology. I'm no expert, but I can say, this doesn't feel like what geth would do. They could simply kill and take whatever they want, no reason to do this" Shepard said feeling something in his gut.
"The dig site's just over there, lets move" Ashley said as the 3 jogged towards the dig site where the beacon was unearthed, that's when they saw the strange black ship with tentacles far from their place but was fully visible due to its gigantic appeal.
"Whoa! What the hell is that? A ship!? Look at the size of that thing!" Ashley said loud at the sight of the horror. The black ship took off giving out a loud screeching sound.
"No Idea, but it must be a geth ship" Shepard said as they moved a bit forward and there were the same zombie husks, five of them roaming mindlessly.
"Take them out!" Shepard barked as he used his biotics to throw a husk to the ground as he fired his shotgun at another approaching husk. Its explosion killed the fallen husk too making 2 kills at the same time. Kaiden then threw a grenade and shot at it at the right moment when the 3 husks were nearby each other. The grenade exploded taking out the 3 and then they exploded with the electrical discharge.
"Nice shot lieutenant" Ashley commended to which Kaiden smirked.
Then they reached the site with a stone platform that resembled 3 prongs from the ground. But the beacon was not there.
"What the hell? The Beacon was here!" Ashley yelled in confusion.
"The geth must have moved it somewhere else. Lets hurry! We can't lose the beacon to the geth!" Shepard said they jogged to the right towards the ascending pathway to reach the logistics building. There were multiple cabinet rooms but with no civilians. Then they reached the logistics platform only to become despondent at the sight of the dead turian.
"Oh no! Commander, its Nihlus. He's dead" Kaiden said using his omni-tool to check his vitals.
"Who is he?" Ashley asked.
"Well, he is a Turian Spectre. His death here puts us in difficult position in front of the council, Damn!" Shepard cursed as he didn't expect the situation to turn from worse to batshit crazy real quick. The death of a spectre wont be taken lightly by the council. His death on Eden prime means humanity have to answer a lot for that.
"His vitals fell flat like 30 minutes ago. Cause of death, bullet wound" Kaiden said.
That's when they heard a sound of a cargo box moving. The 3 pointed their guns towards the box. They saw a man coming out of hiding.
"Freeze! Who the hell are you?" Shepard asked looking at the man, he was wearing a tan colored shirt and black pants.
"Wait! Wait! I am just a logistics officer. I move the containers around. My name is Pierre" he said out of fear in his french accent, with 3 guns pointed at him.
"Ok Pierre, care to explain what happened to that Turian?" Shepard asked.
"I was moving the shipments fast when these machines dropped. But then I saw this turian with a pistol scouting this place and-...I saw another turian walking towards him. He looked-...very odd for a turian" Pierre explained.
"How odd?" Kaiden asked feeling something major went down in this place.
"He had lots of metal cables on him. He called himself Saren and looks like the dead turian and himself were friends. He let his guard down and this Saren guy shot him point black in his head" Pierre said which made the others give a concerned look. Whoever this Saren guy is, he's definitely a huge trouble and they have deal with him too.
"Who is Saren?" Ashley asked raising her eyebrow.
"Sound like trouble. Okay Pierre, do you know what happened to the Prothean beacon at the digsite?" Shepard asked.
"Yeah, Saren ordered the geth to move it to another location, far side of the cliff. That mobile platform can take you there" Pierre replied which shocked the three.
"Wait, Saren ordered the geth? So this was Saren's operation all this time. He is the one behind this ambush and now he is working with the geth, thats makes him quite dangerous!" Ashley said to which Shepard agreed silently.
"Lets move, we'll take that platform quick" Shepard said to which the others nodded as they entered the platform and Shepard ran through the holo panel to start the train.
...
Meanwhile the turian Spectre named Saren had the Geth move the beacon to another site far from the original digsite.
The geth were setting up defense positions in the light of the Alliance's arrival here.
"Sovereign wants this beacon to be thoroughly analyzed in search of something called the Conduit. Show me that which you hold" Saren said as he stood gazing at the beacon in front of him.
Suddenly the beacon lit up and projected a force field upon the turian and caused him to levitate in the air. Then the next thing he felt was severe burns in his brain as if the neurons were firing like solar flare. He saw fast moving images of fire, death and destruction. Images of black machines destroying life across many planets, but then, the images stopped flowing for 2 seconds to reveal the image of a planet, never before seen world illuminated by its star on the right side. With that last image, the beacon stopped humming as Saren dropped to the ground on his knees. He was shaking his head to clear his thoughts as he stood up confused.
"*SIGH*-...The images are bit confusing. I need to piece them together. I saw images of the machines like Sovereign and-...mass relays?-...but the last image...a strange planet, what is that place? Is it related to the conduit or something else?" Saren thought and before he could piece together, a geth unit approached him.
"We have humans on the way to this place" the unit spoke.
"Set the place with nuclear charges with enough time to escape. And then we'll leave. The humans shouldn't find anything here" Saren said as he left for his ship. The geth units placed nuclear charges in 4 places around the site and set the timer to 5 minutes.
That's when Shepard, Ashley and Kaiden arrived at the site.
"Team, spread out and take out the geth" Shepard ordered as the remaining geth forces chirped commands and started firing at the alliance soldiers. There were multiple units of normal troopers, couple of geth hunters and a red armored juggernaut.
The normal troopers were firing their rifles from a hiding spot as Shepard used his biotics to throw a singularity field, that sent the geth units to float in the air. Ashley and Shepard then fired at the units and killed them.
That's when the geth juggernaut fired grenades that sent explosive fire and shockwaves across them.
"Damn! That big robot's a trouble, one of us have to focus fire on it" Ashley said to which Shepard agreed.
"Actually we have another problem. The geth has placed nuclear bombs on a timer to blow this place up" Kaiden said as he was standing besides a white cuboidal device with a timer that was running already under 4 minutes. Shepard and Ashley tensed at the situation.
"Can you find all the devices and disarm it?" Shepard asked hurrying as the timer was counting lower and lower.
"I can, not sure how many the geth have placed it here. But I need you to cover me" Kaiden said.
"Don't worry on that part, we will cover you" Shepard said. Kaiden then started to hack into the charge using his omni-tool.
*BOOM* an explosion rocked their place as the geth juggernaut was firing grenades their way. There were also two cloaked geth that were moving their position.
Suddenly one of the cloaked geth revealed itself and kicked Shepard to the ground. Ashley fired her rifle but the unit turned invisible again. Shepard charged his biotic shielding to give a temporary boost.
Suddenly there was another invisible unit firing their way.
"Shit! Looks like there are two invisible geth hunters here. Ashley, go front and take care of it. I will deal with the other one" Shepard said.
"Yes Commander" Ash said as she crouched and walked towards the second unit.
Shepard then got back to his feet and did a 360 degree scan around him and that's when the geth unit once again revealed itself to open fire on him. But this time, he was ready. There was a grenade from the geth juggernaut sent his way. Shepard fired at the invisible geth hunter to lure it towards him. At the right timing, Shepard dodged to his right as the grenade fell right on top of the hunter, killing it instantly. While Shepard didn't get injured, the grenade explosion took out the biotic shielding. If not for that, he would have been left burned.
Ashley watching it decided to do the same. Her armor had shields more powerful than even Shepard or Kaiden. She killed the other geth hunter just like how Shepard did.
"That's all with those invisible freaks, time to take out that brute" Ashley said as she and Shepard charged at the geth brute. Shepard switched to the shotgun and sent a biotic energy bolt that flared the geth's shields. Shepard immediately got close and fired 2 consecutive rounds from his shotgun that took out the shields completely. But the geth knocked Shepard down.
"Ashley, NOW!" Shepard yelled. Ashley threw a grenade and shot it with her pistol that exploded mid-air sending the geth few steps back, stumbling. Ashley then took out her assault rifle and unloaded all the rounds till the heat sink gave in to vent all the thermal energy. But the geth juggernaut fell flat on the ground, dead.
Ashley then helped Shepard to get up.
"You alright Commander?" Ashley asked concerned. This is not the first time, he's been doing this heroics to help a fellow soldier. This is the second time, he saved her.
"I am good, thanks. Kaiden? How's the de-fuse going?" Shepard asked.
"All the 4 charges are defused. We are safe Commander. And by the way, I have found the beacon, but there are few of those zombie husks here. Hurry up!" Kaiden replied. Shepard and Ashley jogged towards Kaiden's position immediately and reached a set of stairs. There they found Kaiden firing at the husks from a hiding spot.
Shepard and Ashley ran through the stairs and opened fire on all the husks and cleared the area.
"Guess, that's all of it" Ashley said. As Shepard and Kaiden scouted the area for any clues on Saren, Ashley took a curious look at the beacon.
"Wow, look at that! No one knows what the Protheans might have hidden inside this piece of rock" Ashley said as she took one more step forward and all of a sudden the beacon lit up again.
"Whoa!" she screamed as the beacon's energy field pulled Ashley towards itself.
"ASHLEY!" Shepard who saw what was happening ran towards Ashley and jumped on her and dragged her away from the beacon's field. But Shepard got caught within it as he was pulled front and levitated in the air.
All of a sudden Shepard felt images moving at blurry speed burning in his brain as he struggled to breathe and his eyelids blinked rapidly. The images finally stopped moving for 2 seconds as it revealed a planet illuminated by its star and then
*BAAM*
The beacon exploded and threw Shepard to the ground.
"COMMANDER!" Ashley yelled as she went to check on him. Shepard's vision blurred as his eyes closed slowly with only echoes and noise in the background.
"Normandy, we have found the beacon but the Commander is down! I repeat the Commander is down and he needs emergency medical treatment. Lock onto our position for extraction!" Kaiden called the ship over comm channel.
"What the hell!? Alright, touching down nearby your position, hold still" Joker responded and he was worried too.
The Normandy reached their position and picked them up. Shepard was then rushed to the medical bay where Doctor Chakwas was examining him, gave him the emergency treatment to stabilize his vitals.
2 hours later, Shepard slowly woke up to blurred vision as he heard echoes. It was Ashley and Kaiden's voice.
"Doc...Shepard...need to come here...!"
"Easy there Commander...you're fine!"
Shepard slowly saw the surroundings clearly as he saw Captain Anderson, Ashley, Kaiden and Doctor Chakwas eagerly awaiting for him to wake up.
"Wha-...What happened?" Shepard asked shaking his head still feeling disoriented.
"You passed out and would have dropped into coma if you were a little late. Your cognitive functions are working normal, but I detected immense amount of beta waves in your brain activity for some time" Chakwas explained.
"Feels like I woke up from a nightmare. What happened to the beacon?" Shepard asked.
"It was my fault Commander. I think I activated some kind of security system in the beacon which pulled me towards it. Then you saved my ass. But instead, the beacon did this to you" Ashley explained feeling guilty for what happened to Shepard.
"Its not your fault Williams, Things just happen" Shepard consoled her which mildly cheered her up.
"Shepard, I would like to talk to you in private. Others are dismissed" Anderson said to which the others left the medbay.
"How are you feeling son?" Anderson asked concerned like a father. Anderson always trusted Shepard and treated him more than just an XO, he saw him as a friend.
"Good sir. But I'm sorry I blew up the mission" Shepard apologized and felt quite angry at the mission failure.
"Like you said, things happen" Anderson consoled him as he took a seat and sighed. Shepard knew the captain was going to say something he's not gonna like.
"Things are looking bad Shepard, for us. Nihlus is dead, the beacon destroyed. The council will demand answers from us. This major inconvenience will put a halt on getting us a seat in the council and making you a spectre" Anderson said regretfully.
"Nihlus's death is not my fault. It was another Turian Spectre named-..."
"Saren Arterius. I know" Anderson cut Shepard off and replied which confused Eric.
"You know Saren?" he asked.
"I know he's ruthless. He is the longest serving spectre for the council. But if Eden Prime has showed us anything, he's working with the geth and that makes him a rogue spectre" Anderson said.
"What happens now?" Eric asked.
"If the council is convinced that Saren has gone rogue with enough evidences, they will revoke his Spectre status and send another Spectre to take him down. But that's where the problem lies, we only have one eye witness which won't be enough to convince the council. Usually they don't suspect the spectres that easily" Anderson explained.
"Then I will track Saren myself and bring him down, to hell with the council!" Shepard said in anger.
"I will stand by your word and document everything you say and submit it to the council. But what happened with the beacon?" Anderson asked.
"That beacon showed me images of fire, bloodshed and war. I believe its a warning. There were huge machines that killed several organic life forms. But then at the end, it stopped to reveal a planet, I haven't seen that planet before in the current star charts we have. Not sure if its unreachable or the council has blocked entry to that world" Shepard explained.
"Shepard, with all the species in this galaxy, we have only explored and occupied like 10% of it. Rest of the 90% is uncharted territory and they are far from the mass relay jump points. This planet you saw could be in one of those places and the council have strict laws about venturing into the places beyond the current galactic map" Anderson explained. Shepard couldn't help but keep thinking about that planet he saw in the vision.
"I don't know sir, the Protheans felt that planet has a significance. That's why its etched in that beacon. But I don't know what information Saren is looking for" Shepard said.
"Whatever it is, its not good, we can be sure of that. Get ready, we are headed to the citadel. The Ambassador will arrange an audience with the council" Anderson said to which Shepard nodded and saluted the captain.
Shepard in his casual clothes, walked slowly towards the bridge. On the way, he met Ashley and Kaiden.
"Shepard? How are you feeling now?" Ashley asked as she was relieved to see him walk again.
"I'm good, We are headed to the citadel to meet with the council and bust Saren out, so get ready" Shepard said.
"Citadel? Wow, always wanted to see that place and how it looks like" Kaiden said feeling enthused.
"Easy lieutenant, we are not there to take a tour. Saren is working with the geth and he is out there with full spectre powers. We need to stop him" Shepard replied.
"I know very well, I was just joking. Still, I know its not the right time to ask, but what did the beacon do to you exactly?" Kaiden asked. Shepard took few seconds to ponder whether its the right thing to do. This maybe sensitive, but keeping secrets from the crew is also not high on morale, so he decided to tell them.
"I'm not supposed to say this till the council meeting is over. But no harm in keeping you guys informed. That beacon showed images, more like memories of fire burning everywhere, organic life forms in war with machines. Beyond that it didn't make any sense" Shepard said though hiding the fact about the planet he saw in the vision.
"Hmm, not sure what that means, but lets see if atleast we can bust Saren of his crimes" Ashley replied folding her hands.
"Get ready and meet me in the bridge" Shepard said to which they both saluted. Shepard went to his quarters to wear his N7 armor. Once he was ready, he went to the bridge. There, Kaiden was waiting and then Ashley followed him. Shepard stood near Joker to look through the glass.
"Get ready folks and fasten your seat belts! For the grand journey to the citadel" Joker smirked as they watched the Normandy getting charged by a mass relay. Then the next second, it was at FTL speed. A minute later, the ship exited FTL into a bright gas cloud which slowly revealed the huge station that resembles a flower with 5 petals contracted.
"Here we are, look at how our tax payer money is going on" Joker said with chuckle.
"Holy crap! Look at the Citadel, looks great! To think this is the center of galactic politics is mind blowing" Kaiden said as his mouth gaped like a fish.
"Whoa! Check here, that ship, isn't that the infamous Destiny's Ascension? The Asari dreadnought?" Ashley looked through a window with her eyes widened.
"The ship is close to 2 kms in height, the only dreadnought in the galaxy from the size exception of Farixen treaty" Kaiden said.
"Huh, size isn't everything" Joker said though he internally admired the ship secretly.
"What!? That ship can cut clean through an alliance dreadnought" Ashley replied surprised at his quip.
"Citadel control, this is the alliance ship SSV Normandy, requesting docking clearance" Joker said.
"Acknowledged Normandy, standby for clearance...You are cleared for docking. We will put an alliance personnel for arrival" a male voice from the citadel control spoke.
Normandy entered the docks and locked itself in the docking clamp.
Then the main door opened as Anderson, Shepard, Kaiden and Ashley came out looking at the huge open space. They were all greeted by the sight of turians, asari, salarians, volus etc.,
"What is that?" Ashley asked looking at an insectoid being working on a hologram terminal.
"Thats a keeper. They maintain the Citadel's vital systems. No one disturbs them when they are working and its a C-Sec offense to do as such. None knows where they came from but their kind always gave me the creeps" the alliance officer who received the Normandy crew responded. Shepard, Kaiden and Ashley glanced at each other.
"Let us head to the embassy" Anderson said as they walk down the ramp and used a citadel automated vehicle to reach the embassy floor. Once there, they walked past a door and there was a older guy in a robe arguing with 3 hologram.
"Saren is working with the geth and attacked Eden prime! His Spectre status must be revoked! I demand action!" the man barked.
"Wow, looks like some pencil pusher, a loud one too" Ashley commented.
"You don't get to make demands, Ambassador Udina" the turian Councilor spoke in rude manner.
"We are already having the C-Sec investigate the charges you placed against Saren. If anything turns up and proves Saren's treachery, then his Spectre status will be revoked" the Asari Councilor said. With that, the hologram turned off. Udina saw Anderson, Shepard and 2 other officers standing beside.
"Well, it seems you have done a wonderful job with Eden Prime so much so that our chances of getting a seat in the council and Shepard becoming Spectre are buried alive" Udina castigated Anderson.
"That's not our fault! It was Saren, a rogue turian spectre who killed Nihlus" Anderson hit back at him.
"Whatever, the council needs proof that Saren is involved with the geth. Meet us at the council tower, we have a meeting in few minutes" Udina said as he and Anderson walked together to the council tower.
"Well, that was nice and all. Looks like we don't have time to tour this place like you said" Kaiden said shrugging his shoulders.
"This Ambassador seems he's only pissed that he missed the chance to be at the center of galactic politics, but not the struggles we went through in Eden Prime" Ashley rebuked.
Shepard meanwhile started to feel his head spinning as he closed his eyes tight and opened to clear his vision, but the more he did that, the more distorted it became. All of a sudden, images of war started to flash before his eyes, the same one the beacons etched, the scene changing rapidly that his mind can't keep up. But this time, a new set of vision projected with strange armored beings firing some directed energy rifles at some monsters he has not even seen in horror movies. But they were not clearly visible. This all changed once again to the planet he saw before, this time a clear picture, even the stars in the background.
"Com-...der! Comman-...!"
"COMMANDER! Wake up!" Ashley and Kaiden were shaking his body to wake him up as Shepard looked at them and realized he fell to the floor.
"Thank goodness! Your vitals look good except some peak neural activity for a minute there" Kaiden said as he scanned him with his omni-tool.
"What happened?" Ashley asked worried.
"*SIGH*...I guess I had the vision again. But this time, apart from the usual, I saw something different-...I don't know how to explain it. I wish I had help piecing it together" Shepard said.
"Only the Asari are the galaxy's top experts in Prothean research. If there is anyone who can help with these sort of stuffs, it could be them. But who exactly can help us right now?" Kaiden said wondering who could actually help in this situation.
The three then decided to move to the citadel tower for the council meeting. Once there, Shepard informed them that Saren is working with the geth and he was looking for the Prothean beacon too. But Saren who attented the meeting virtually denied these allegations. Instead he twisted the narrative stating that Anderson's bitter past with Saren is being used as an excuse to falsely accuse him of crimes he never committed. Shepard brought n the visions he received from the Prothean beacon and a dock worker's witness accounting on Saren killing Nihlus, except the information about the planet. But the council ultimately rejected their plea to revoke Saren's spectre status and denied the evidences submitted by them. The council meeting was adjourned.
"This meeting could have ended up in our favor if you hadn't attended the meeting. Your past with Saren has jeopardized the entire plan!" Ambassador Udina chastised Anderson which pissed Shepard off.
"Cut him some lack Ambassador! This is not the Captain's fault. Saren was smart enough to get away with this. But I will find the necessary evidence to bring him down" Shepard said angrily.
"You have done enough Shepard. Captain, meet me at the embassy" Udina said as he walked from the place and headed to the embassy.
"And this is why I hate politicians" Ashley commented.
"What was that about you and Saren's past? I thought you only heard about him" Shepard asked Anderson.
"*SIGH*...Saren and I were once part of a mission to remove a terrorist threat. The mission was a failure, but a lot of innocent people died that day and he didn't even care. He is ruthless and I know better about his politics. He has a great resentment for our kind. He uses it as a weapon to stomp on us in every chance he gets" Anderson explained.
"Now, how to prove Saren is guilty?" Kaiden asked and that's when two turians walked fast and had a heated argument a meter away from them.
"Listen, I know Saren is hiding something. Just give me sometime Pallin, I can prove he is a traitor" one turian said.
"Sorry Garrus, its been 48 hours and you haven't provided a single piece of evidence that is actually useful. Your investigation is over" the turian named Pallin said which turned the other turian named Garrus irate as he too left.
"What was that all about. Looks like he is convinced that Saren is a rogue spectre. Maybe we can talk to him to get some insight" Ashley said.
"True, let us move. Captain, we will see you later" Shepard said as he saluted him.
"I will be in the embassy if you need me. Good luck" Anderson said as he walked away.
"Lets go and find this Garrus" Shepard said as they too left the council tower.
...
Somewhere in the deep space...
The black squid like ship was cruising through the interstellar space. Saren was seated inside. That's when a female voice came out of nowhere.
"Saren, what is the next plan, now that Commander Shepard has used the beacon and learned all of its secrets like you did?" an Asari came out of the shadows, she was wearing a black suit.
"Shepard is only a human and the beacon reacted badly to him. But with the cybernetic enhancements I have, I managed to get quite a clear picture. The visions have bits of information on the conduit, but it ended up with a mysterious planet. Our people have never seen that world before" Saren said.
"Maybe I can help. If I can see through your mind and see the world you saw, I can possibly try to figure it out" the Asari said. Saren thought for a second and didn't find any harm in it. Since Asari have a natural talent of mind melding, maybe she could help.
"Alright Benezia, go ahead" Saren said as he got out of his seat and stood before her. The asari Benezia, held Saren's arms tight and closed her eyes as she started to probe Saren's surface memories. The same images flashed in her mind too but she was able to focus to the last part of the visions where she saw a planet illuminated by its star on the right. She also took a thorough scan on that specific part, not leaving even the trivial parts of that vision.
She then released her hold of Saren's arms and pondered on what she saw.
"And? Did you figure it out?" Saren asked.
"I don't recognize the world. But I took a clear look at the constellations, the stars alignment in the background, it looks familiar. I can study it and pinpoint the location of the world for you" Benezia said and immediately the chamber started to blink in red light.
"What? What is happening?-...Sovereign?" Saren asked as his eyes glowed red all of a sudden. Both him and the Asari heard echoes in the chamber, but it was actually a clear voice which only Saren could hear and understand.
"That planet-...? No, we don't know where it is, but-..."
...
"Wait, the humans or other species shouldn't find that world before us? but why?-..."
...
"Okay Sovereign, I will make sure no one find out about that world" Saren finished saying as his eyes once again turned blue.
"What happened Saren?" Benezia asked in fear.
"The Sovereign wants us to make sure no one finds out about that world. But for the first time, I sensed fear and anxiety in its voice. We need to hurry up and find the conduit and stop anyone from discovering that planet" Saren said as he once again sat on the chair and breathed calmly.
"But the visions from the beacon are not clear. We need something to streamline them in order to locate the conduit" Saren said.
"Let me work on it and update you, until then" Benezia said as she left the chamber. Saren was gritting his turian teeth as he gazed in front.
...
A/N: Thats it for the second chapter. I hope you enjoyed this and we will see you soon in the next one.