Hello Everyone, Reader Here! I know it's been a while, sorry about that! I'll leave the author notes for the bottom, so let's get into the new chapter! Thanks, and enjoy!

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN MASS EFFECT OR LOST PLANET

Chapter 2: Homeside

(Twin System - Earth's Moon, Artemis Station - June 10th, 2515)

Sitting in his black office chair, the chief scientist of the Artemis Station, Hertz Druer, typed furiously on his computer, the mans faded emerald eyes staring at the information present on the brought up document. Behind him was a large window that showed the darkened planet of Earth, the only visible spots being the domed cities that glowed like shining beacons within the vast void of darkness.

The clean room was barley lit due a side effect of humanities prolonged existence under ground. Although they used artificial lights within the underground cities, the lack of real sunlight had drastic effects on the eyes and the human sensory system in general. Peoples eyes were usually lacking in color, some even lacking any color at all and appeared hazy as well. This also lead to peoples visions to be impaired as well, though in return other things were much greater than before, such as hearing, smelling and taste.

"Project Dawn... Everything is on schedule for our target date. With the recent shipment of materials from the the outer systems, we should be ready to move on to the next phase." said the aging man as his hands came to a full stop.

Project Dawn was one of the most ambitious scientific and architectural projects in recorded human history. Surviving the Everlasting Winter, the construction of the station he was currently on, not even the building of the space bridge between Earth and Mars wouldn't even come close to approaching the grandiose expectations this project was setting for. For this project to occur, however, the needed resources were so great that normal mining operations could never fully supply the monstrous demand that seemed to increase with every day. It was then that the planet cracking began to gather these essential sources.

"Excuse me, sir..." spoke a voice behind the door to the room.

"You may enter." he swiftly replied while turning his head to the door. A short black haired asian man walked into the room and gave Hertz a quick salute. After he reciprocated the gesture, the scientist motioned for him to take a seat opposite of him and he did so.

"So Chi, how did the test with those prototype rifles go?" asked Hertz as he closed the document. Project Dawn was a venture that had to remain a secret only fully known to the highest level, being himself, the president and a few independent contractors.

"The test went on without a hitch. They seemed to do quite well with the soldiers, with none of them reporting any sort of discomfort or mechanical issues. However, the only things they did lack in was the fire rate and ammo capacity, issues that command wants sorted out before the next testing." Chi responded politely. The head scientist sighed aloud as he stood up from the chair and grabbed a bottle of alcohol and poured himself a glass.

"You want some? It's on the house." he said while holding an empty glass with a mischevious grin. Chi gave him a blank look before a smirk of his own found its place on his wrinkled face.

"Who would have thought the 'Greaf Hertz Druer' would be both an alcoholic and a laid back slacker! No offense though. By the way, I will take you up on your offer." he said with a hint sadness. Hertz initially appeared stunned that his old friend had accepted his offfer for a drink, let alone crack a joke, deviating from his usually serious personality. He would know, as they have been friends for nearly twenty years.

"Whats up Chi? You only ever loosen up when something stressin you out. Want to talk about it?" he said while he offered the cold beverage to the wary man. He grabbed the glass and downed the entire drink in a single sip.

"It's... complicated. You hear those news stories about the illegal settlements?" Chi asked while passing the glass back to him for a refill. He nodded slowly as he refilled the glass.

Illegal settlements were a common issues in a world where rebuilding the surface had been a booming industry among entrepreneurs. Establishing settlements on the surface would yield great benefits, such as prestige, government contracts and in the end, the enticing offer of money. Though to build anywhere close to or on the surface required expensive permits and licences that few could afford. This lead to many radicals, bandits and fools to take the greatest risk of trying to illegally build them, to which usually ended in tragedy.

"Well... You see, these Damn religious fanatics... think they are are called the Followers of the Coming Armageddon, stole my plans regarding an advanced generator that would help the recent energy issues with the surface cities. When the military tracked them down to one of their outposts, they found that each of them had been somehow mind controlled." he said solemnly.

"Mind control? Damn, that's some stuff that your average occultist shouldn't have. Did they find out who was behind it?" he asked while he handed over the refilled glass. The Asian man shook his head as he took the brownish drink and placed it on the desk.

"Nope. What's even more disturbing is that they kept muttering this gibberish we couldn't understand before they committed suicide. This just recently happened so I wouldn't be surprised if a report of the incident ends up on your desk soon."

Hertz took a sip of his own drink before he rubbed his stubbly chin, brooding over this information that he was just told. Why would they need the designs of an advanced generator? He could only assume that they were trying to reverse engineer the damn thing into a bomb of some sort. What also concerned him was the fact that whoever was behind this had the power of mind control, a type of power that was not unheard of, though inherently rare among Thermal Humans.

"Well at least we can celebrate the fact that the situation was resolved without any major issues. Though I personally will look into this case as it interests me as to who's behind it all. Mind control? I could only imagine the data I could collect from such an individual." he said almost gleefully. Chi sighed while also sporting a small smile on his face.

"Well I guess you do still have that awe-struck look whenever you have the chance to experiment. Geez, I could've swore you child there for a second, not the leading scientist of this generation." he said playfully. The green eyed man barked out a laugh before the two continued to discuss a variety of topics over their drinking.

(Earth, New London - Lt. David Anderson - 2 P.M)

Standing in one of the first rebuilt city on the surface of Earth, one of the most promising recruits of the N7 program had to offer, gazed over the sky scrapers of one of the most technologically advanced cities that humanity had ever built. The dome that kept the cities atmosphere in control displayed the time of day as it would have been shown back when the sun still had existed, creating a sense of a reality many wished to see again.

"Or an illusion, if you ask me..." he quietly said as he pulled his rifle over his shoulders. Although it was aesthetically pleasing when compared to staring at standard lights, he felt that it created a sense of falsehood of security within its denizens, that there was nothing wrong in the new world they inhabited. He had been outside the sturdy walls and bright lights of New London. He knew better than most people who have never been to the 'true' surface of Earth. And it wasn't as pretty or glamorous as many people wished it to be.

"Look alive Anderson." spoke the cheeky voice of man nearby. The man was a Carl Johnson, a fellow member of the N7 program who specialized in sharpshooting, as evident with the bulky sniper rifle on his back. They were both outfitted with light infantry armor that was meant for scouting purposes or for mech pilots. The slim suits were painted a camouflage white and traced in grey.

"Aren't we just going to kill some Akrids? Also they are only supposed to be Category M's as well, so they shouldn't pose too much of a threat to our squad when we're traibed to take down Category L's." spoke Anderson arrogantly as the two began walking to the Vital Suit bay.

"You shouldn't be too cocky Anderson. For all we know there is some sorta god-like Akrid just waiting for us to blindly attack it. Take a look at what happened to Charlie squad just three days ago. They blindly charged in and nearly got slaughtered by the Category L's." said Johnson while closing his cloudy brown eyes. The lieutenant merely rolled his eyes before responding to his comrade.

"I thought the only reason they nearly got killed was that their Vital suits malfunctioned in the middle of the fight? Though I do admit, that was pretty stupid of them to do that." he spoke as they reached the door to the launch bay. The door automatically opened and the two stepped inside to suit up.

"Let's just hope that doesn't happen to us then." spoke the Carl over the large suits speaker. His suit was armed with a VS rifle and a high powered laser rifle, both of which were suited for long range engagement. Anderson's was outfitted with rapid fire gatling gun and a pile bunker, a devastating pike-like device used in close quarters combat, with a retractable cannon on the suits shoulder for maximum versatility.

"You boys done arguing? We got a job to do." spoke another voice. Turning to the direction it came from, a purple colored V.S armed with a shotgun and a laser lance approached. Behind her were two grey colored V.S's armed with gatling guns, missile launchers and a flamethrower.

"Yeah Jenn, our mid life crisis is over. Let's get this crap over with." spoke Anderson as he turned towards the pressure chamber and began moving towards it. A loud sigh was let out across the radio as the others began following in suit. When they were fully inside the room, the large metal doors closed and the bidding of escaping air filled the room.

"So Jenn, how was your date last night?" spoke Anderson suddenly. He wanted this to be as least awkward as possible, so he tried asking a question to break the tension filled atmosphere.

"It was pretty fun. Me and Kyle went shopping, saw a move the had dinner at a nice little restaurant by the river. Nothing too exciting, not that mind however." she said pleasantly.

"Haven't you and him been dating for 2 years now? When's he going to pop the question?" asked C.J. The squad could audibly hear the girl flush as she made a few babbling noises before she began to swear at the man for getting on her nerves.

"You should know better than to piss off Jenn, sir. She's gonna kick your ass when we finish the mission, you know?" spoke the voice of Conner from one of the grey V.S's. Inside the other V.S was the silent but ever vigilant Mateo. The five were regarded as one of the most experienced and well trained fighting squads within the U.N.E military, they were also very close with each other as they had been through thick and thin together.

As their bickering began to slow down the pressure equalization finished. The large grey door that separated the insulated world of New London and the harsh untamed out lands of Old London screeched open. Only the few sparingly placed lights illuminated the otherwise entirely black darkness. Arriving the headlights on their V.S suits only gave them a vision of a few feet in front of them, which made them rely on GPS to navigate the old city. Although many had called for New London to be expanded, there never was enough resources to try the usually risky attempt at altering the protective domes. If done improperly though, the lives of hundreds of thousands of people would be at stake.

"Command reported that a multiple C:M Alrids, so let's be weary of anything. Anderson, your up front with Mateo and me while Conner and C.J will cover the rear. Let's move out!" she said as they all confirms over the radio and took their appropriate positions.

"C.J, see anything with that thermal scope of yours?" asked Connor.

"I've got something 5 clicks from our position. Gonna take it down." he said. Taking aim with the rifle, C.J opened fired with the heavy rifle. The round hit the Akrids weak spot, the insect exploding before its heat signature vanished in nearly a second later. Without the protective thermal energy, the extreme cold would instantly freeze anything that was unprotected.

"I'm detecting more Akrids moving in from the north!" yelled C.J aloud. Anderson sighed aloud and began to start up his gatling gun.

1 Hour Later

The five V.S's were covered with the stain of frozen blood, surrounding the was a scene of pure carnage. Dozens of Akrid corpses ranging in categories laid disfigured across the snowy landscape. The fighting had just concluded, as seen with the stema still flowing from the ends of their gun barrels.

"What did I tell you C.J? Easy as can be!" explained the lieutenant as he turned his V.S sideways.

"Were still not even back at the settlements, anything can happen between here and th-" he spoke but was interrupted when a massive tremor shook the ground and their V.S's. After a few minutes the shaking subsided, only to reveal an Akrid the size of a skyscraper climbing out of the broken permafrost. The creature let our a terrifying roar as it fully climbed out of the hole, with all five V.S's currently focusing on the beast as it readied for its assault.

"Told you so." said C.J smugly as he readied his sniper rifle. This particular Akrid was not like the ones they had just fought a few minutes prior. This one was a category G, the most powerful and dangerous of all Akrids, usually having special abilities that, besides their enormous size, discerned them from their normal counterparts. Another thing that made them more dangerous was their higher intelligence that allowed them to coordinate their attacks, use and adapt different strategies and tactics and control lesser Akrids to do their bidding.

"C.J, aim for its head! Conner and Mateo, distract it while me and Anderson gets close with his pile bunker!" yelled Jenn as she readied to move out. The two grey V.S's fired at the creature with their gatling guns while C.J fired his rifle at its head, pulling the creatures attention away from the oncoming duo. Along the way they ran into multiple smaller Akrids that they easily took down, Jenn using her laser blade to slice through them with ease while Anderson used his own machine gun to take out a few.

Reaching the larger Akrid, the girl slashed at its leg with the sword while firing a few shotgun rounds to bring the creature down to use the pile bunker. With its thermal core exposed, Anderson let out a roar as he sent the driver to impale the beasts central core when he felt the arm of his V.S be forcefully stopped. Looking forward he saw what looked liked a fore field had prevented him it. The creature used one of its long tendrils to brush him away, with his V.S crashing into a nearby wall.

"Dammit! The thing has some sorta shield protecting it!" he yelled over the intercom. He fired a shot with his cannon to see if it was still active and saw the round explode as it reached the aqua blue covering. Cursorily, at that exact moment, he noticed that sniper round from C.J managed to hit the Akrid, meanwhile his didn't.

"It probably can't keep its shield up entirely around its body, so I guess it picks and chooses to protect itself from attacks that would endanger it the most." he thought. Arming the pile driver, he began to move towards the Akrid again with a new strategy.

"I see a weakness in its defense! You all need to keep attacking its vital areas so it cant block my attack! I'm going for its core again, so keep up the pressure!" he yelled into the intercom as his V.S went into full speed. He dodged and sped his way around the smaller Akrids that attempted to slow him down. He ducked directly under the monsters tendril as he readied his driver to attack.

Just as he was about to send it into the creature, he quickly fired a round from his cannon to distract the shield. Seeing it activate the shielding, he plowed the device straight into the Akrids scaly hide, the pike digging through its flesh until it passed through its thermal core. The beast let out a shrill cry as it body twitched for a bit until it collapsed on its own weight, with Anderson just barely making it out of its falling range. The five stared at the corpse of the beast for a while until the squad leader spoke up.

"Well that was... interesting to say the least. Lets head back to base to give the full report to command before they get their panties in a bunch." said Jenn sarcastically. They all agreed as they returned to New London with little interference. As he exited his V.S withing the Suit Bay, Anderson suddenly felt a chill through his entire being. Worryingly his squad mates looked at him with concern.

"You okay dude? Your eyes look like they've seen a ghost." spoke Conner as he placed his arm on Anderson's shoulder.

"I... I... I don't know. Its just that I got this feeling that something really bad has just happened." he said tiredly while shaking his head.

"Probably just your nerves dude. Lets go grab some beers after we get done with this debriefing." said C.J as the lieutenant nodded before following them to the command building, still unable to shake that feeling that something dangerous was in his imminent future.

(U.N.E Presidential Home - The Undercity - President Christopher Freeway - 11 P.M)

The most powerful man on Earth relaxed against the cushions of an expensive chair as he watched the evening news on his flat screen television. Although he could very well get a report on anything he needed, it never beat watching good old t.v. with a nice dinner and a cold drink. He had never married or had kids, so the spacious house was only occupied by him and a few servants that kept the house in order while also attending to his needs.

The Undercity was the U.N.E's official capital, located within the deepest known reaches of the Earth. It was where the U.N.E's senate building was located, where many of the various departments were found as well as the presidents residence. As such, it was one of the most expansive and busy cities on Earth.

"Nothing's catching my eye. Guess I'll watch some..." he pauses as a phone call drew his attention away from the T.V. Pulling the phone from his pocket, he accepted the call and responded.

"Mr. President, this is General Kreugen. An urgent issue that has come up with a recent expeditionary team that had gone to the outer systems." spoke the worried voice of one of the presidents most trusted military advisers. Although he knew that the 'expeditionary team' was merely a cover story for their real mission, anything involving them was highly urgent for Project Dawn's future. With his attention fully drawn, he turned off the T.V before speaking.

"Breath, General. What happened?" he could hear the man take a deep breath before he began his explanation.

"Sir they... they have made contact with extra-terrestrial lifeforms. They are waiting for your orders exactly right now for your orders," spoke the man with almost a whisper. At that moment, the President almost dropped his phone in complete shock. He knew that this wasn't a joke as his general only ever called him when there was a pressing issue that needed to be addressed.

"I..." he said before steeling himself. This was going to be one long evening.

There we go! I do hope you enjoyed it! I know you've all been waiting long for this, so I wish you can forgive me. For the past while I had little drive to work on this as I had interests in working on other projects, though recently I've felt good enough to get back into continuing this story. As always, thanks for reading and have a good one!

Next Chapter: Contact