Chapter 1: The Discovery

[blablabla] : intercom/omni-tool/cellphone/radio.

'Blablabla' : speaking/whispering

*blablabla* : thinking

Councilor Tevos was anxious. And the cause of it was obvious: the council decided to open a Relay. Last time it happened, the Rachni were discovered. But it was decided, and they could not turn back now. Aboard the Destiny Ascension, on the main deck, she waited patiently as they approached the Relay. With the Destiny Ascension was a sizable fleet of Cruisers and Carriers, with many civilian Frigates containing science teams. After making the last preparations, they jumped Relay 314 into the unknown.

On arrival in the unknown system, Tevos's anxiety grew. What will they find? Will they find anything at all? Questions crowded her mind, some that would be answered immediately. Five minutes after the jump, an officer on deck cried out:

'The third planet from the star of the system is a garden world! Preliminary scan shows it to be similar to Thessia, if not larger.'

Another, this one called Necko, if Tevos remembered correctly, gave a second report:

'All systems nominal, Councilor! Should we make route for the planet?'

Tevos cursed herself. She almost forgot that she took exclusive control over the operations, if only to calm her fears. She gave an quick and determined answer to the crew.

'Get us closer to this planet. Get an exploration team ready.'

'Yes councilor!' was the response she got.

Tali was nervous. Half an hour after entering the system, she and 3 others were called into an briefing room. They were now sitting at the table. Too cull with her nervousness, she started examining the others in the room. The Asari on her left,was an archeologist and her friend. To her right, an Salarian scientist called Mordin, if she recalled correctly. Facing her, was an Spectre. His name was Garrus, if she heard him right. Right when her anxiety was about to take over again, the Councilor walked into the room.

'I'll be brief. Your task is to make landfall on the planet, establish an temporary base, and report to us about anything you find down there.' Tevos spoke.

The Spectre, Garrus, spoke too: 'And where exactly is ''down there'', Councilor?'

Tevos stared at Garrus before answering: 'The third planet of this system. It's a garden world.'

Tali frowned at this. Something wasn't right, in her opinion. It seemed Liara noticed it too, because right after, she asked a question: 'why am I needed here? I'm an archeologist, not a scout. Neither is Tali and the Salarian.'

Tevos sighed, and spoke: 'A short while after you were called here, we got visual on the planet' she used a console to make an hologram of the planet appear, some locations focusing, some in space, others on the surface.

'As you can see... there is indisputable evidence of an civilization on the planet.' she used the console to zoom on the location in space; 'With... space technologies.'

The room stayed silent. Tevos continued after waiting a minute, to let this information sink in.

'Or at least was. The state of the infrastructure leads us to believe' she zooms onto a city, with building in a ruined state, rusted vehicules and destroyed roads 'that roughly 8 years ago, standard galactic time, something catastrophic caused the specie inhabiting this planet to undergo an extinction event.'

Again, silence.

Tali was scared.

Liara was somewhat excited.

Mordin was intrigued.

Garrus was tense.

'An shuttle will await the four of you in the main hangars. Another team will meet you there. They have two objectives. The main one is classified, and takes priority, but the second one is to protect all those present here.'

The silence was broken by Mordin, who finally spoke: 'SoSpectreGarrusisheretoprotectusshouldthesecurityteamdecidestoleaveus?'

It took an moment for Tevos to understand the question. After all, the Salarian spoke so fast that half the question was an complete garble of sounds. But when she did, she answered his question to the point.'yes, that would be correct, doctor Mordin.'

Garrus mumbled just loud enough to be heard: 'Great, I have to babysit a bunch of people.'

Tali held a nervous laugh, as did Liara.

The shuttle broke through the atmosphere, heading toward the city they will later know as Lucella. All the members of the expedition were tense.

'are you okay, Tali? You seem tense.' Liara murmured to her, breaking the silence.

Tali jumped, having been lost in thoughts'Y-yeah! I'm fine, Liara.'

Liara's expression was clear, she didn't believe her.

The intercom resounded inside the shuttle, the pilot speaking to everyone: [We're approaching our destination.]

Since the infection happened, most things that we're enjoyable became a living hell.

Eating? Difficult. Sleeping? Almost impossible with the infected around. Playing in the fields? A death wish.

However, everyone could agree that living was better than mindlessly walking around all day. And so, the Safe Place was born. Over time, the city was cleared of infected, but it was deemed safer to not expend the Safe Place. Doing so will only stretch the resources they had thinner than they already are. But still, it was pleasant not to have to cower in fear in the streets of the city. It was impressive, really. Clearing an entire city in 10 years? He would think it impossible if he hadn't seen it happen. But he did.

That night, he was simply scavenging the mall for any canned food they'd have missed. That's when he heard it. The sound was one of engines, if he should guess. The power went out years ago, so it could only mean one thing. He ran to the exit of the mall,dropping his bat in the process, and quickly took cover behind a car his friend and him moved to provide an hiding spot. Behind him, a wall corner. To anyone with an untrained eye, there was nothing suspicious.

He looked around but saw nothing. However, the engine noise was getting louder. Until it was right on top of him. He lifts his head upward, excepting a helicopter. What he saw was so different, so strange that he could only stare at it. And then, it flew downward, toward him. He quickly gets down, hoping he hadn't been spotted. He looked toward the cleverly hidden mirror he replaced a set of windows with, and removed his blue beret, trying to get a good look at the place where the shuttle was landing. And what he saw, at first, made him do an double-take to make sure he wasn't hallucinating. Then the fear kicked in. *aliens?!*

That was the last coherent thought before one of them spotted him

And that's it folks! Hope it was entertaining! I'll see y'all again!