A/N and Disclaimer: Welcome to version two of The Shores of Infinity, readers both old and new! I hereby disclaim any ownership of the media on which this novelization is based, though I maintain the right to control distribution of my own work. This version is, I hope, improved and polished when compared to the old, which still accessible via my profile. On the other hand, I've lost my betareader to real life concerns, and am still looking for a new one, so I'm the only one who's read this over. All mistakes are mine. Enjoy the fic, please review, and thanks for sticking with me through the rewrite. Unless you're new. In that case, thanks for joining us.

The Shores of Infinity

Paradise Lost

There was blood on her hands.

"Keep pressure on the hole!" yelled Finch.

Morgan was staring into the eyes of Beaky, a fifteen year old fellow Red. Beaky was bleeding out through a hole in the side of his chest. Morgan pressed down on the wound, feeling Beaky's heart beating and the rise and fall of his breath.

Part of her knew this wasn't real.

Sweat was dripping down into her eyes, blurring already imperfect vision.

Her vision was perfect, had been corrected before basic, part of the standard gene therapy.

Morgan was thirteen, on her first run as a full fledged Red. It was supposed to be an easy one, a simple drug buy with a few of the younger members, herself included, on guard duty to make them feel important. Then the Dirks, one of the upstart gangs from the south of the Sprawl, had shown. Things had gone downhill rapidly.

Beaky's eyes rolled back into his head, a trickle of blood snaked out of the corner of his mouth, and Morgan Shepard decided she would never let herself die like him.

I need to wake up.

Shepard wrestled her eyes open. She was on the Normandy, orbiting Earth but effectively parsecs from its slums. She took a deep breath and relaxed tensed muscles. The shift-change tone sounded. It was time to go to work.

Shepard hadn't overslept exactly, but she didn't have time for more than a protein bar field ration and a quick swig of water before she made her way up to Deck One. She paused at a porthole and looked out at the receding view of Earth, letting the mix of emotions the planet always evoked in her wash over her. Relief, even eleven years after leaving, to be off the planet. A sickness in the back of her throat at the thought of what her life had been like, and what it could have been like if she hadn't gotten out of the gangs when she did. Nostalgia, for reasons she couldn't fathom.

She moved on.

"The Arcturus Prime Relay is in range," came the pilot's voice over the intercom. Shepard wasn't familiar with the entire crew of the SSV Normandy yet, but Flight Lieutenant Moreau – Joker to the crew – was the kind of person who made a lasting impression. "Initiating transmission sequence." Shepard continued on, nodding to Navigator Pressly as she went, and steeling herself for the transit. Even after all her years with the Systems Alliance, she still wasn't used to the unique sensation that mass effect caused.

"We are connected. Calculating transit mass and destination. Relay is hot, acquiring approach vector. All stations secure for transit."

Nihlus, the turian Spectre representing the Citadel Council's interest in the Normandy, was already in the cockpit. Shepard moved to stand next to him, though not too close. The turian, built along avian lines and covered in gray, plate-like scales, and with the facial markings identifying his homeworld that were usual among his species, stood behind Joker, watching him work.

"The board is green. Approach run has begun," said Joker, his voice echoed on the intercom behind Shepard. "Hitting Relay in three..."

She let out a deep breath and bit down slightly on the inside of her cheek.

"... two ..."

She glanced over at Lieutenant Alenko, head of the Normandy's complement of marines, and who was running the backup controls for the first jump. The lucky bastard didn't seem at all tense.

"...one."

Mass effect was something that you had to feel for yourself. It couldn't be described, not even one biotic to another. Shepard was a biotic, and she still couldn't even wrap her head around the experience. Losing mass is different than a change in weight, which everyone who had been off their homeworld had experienced. Changes in weight are a result of changes in gravity. Gravity is the attraction between all objects in the universe, and its strength depends on proximity and mass. Mass is an inherent property of matter. A change in mass requires a change in the fabric of reality on a quantum level.

The closest Shepard, who was usually very precise with her words, could come to describing it was to say that it felt really fucking weird.

They left the mass effect field, and Shepard let out her breath.

"Thrusters... check. Navigation... check. Internal emissions sink engaged. All systems online. Drift... just under 1500 K," said Joker.

"Fifteen hundred is good," said Nihlus, turning to leave. "Your captain will be pleased."

Shepard watched him go out of the corner of her eye. Having a Spectre aboard was odd enough, but sometimes she could have sworn Nihlus was following her, or even anticipating her movements.

"I hate that guy," Joker half-muttered, not seeming to care whether the turian was out of earshot or not.

"Nihlus gave you a compliment, so you hate him?" said Alenko, probably more out of obligation than because he expected a logical answer. Joker was rather unfathomable at times.

"Remember to zip up your jumpsuit on the way out of the bathroom, that's good! I just jumped us halfway across the galaxy and hit a target the size of a pinhead, so that's incredible!"

Definitely unfathomable, Morgan thought.

"Besides," Joker continued, "Spectres are trouble. I don't like having one on board. Call me paranoid."

"You're paranoid," said Alenko. "The Council helped fund this project, they have a right to send someone to keep an eye on their investment."

"Yeah, that is the official story. Only an idiot believes the official story."

"They don't send Spectres on shakedown runs," said Shepard. Honestly, she was surprised Kaidan believed the party line. She hadn't know him long, but her impression was of a smart guy, and one pretty savvy about these things.

"So there's more going on here than the captain's letting on," said Joker.

"Maybe," said Alenko, "but if so, odds are that the captain's trusting us to maintain some plausible deniability on the subject."

Shepard held back a grin. She'd been right about Kaidan after all: he wasn't sure what was going on, or not going on, but he wasn't aiming to rock the boat. It explained a lot.

The intercom crackled and Captain Anderson's voice, tone annoyed, emerged. "Joker! Status report!"

"Just cleared the Mass Relay, Captain," Joker replied, all business. "Stealth systems engaged, everything looks solid."

"Good," said the captain. "Find a comm buoy and link us into the network. I want mission reports relayed back to Alliance brass before we reach Eden Prime."

"Aye, aye, Captain," said Joker. "Better brace yourself, sir. I think Nihlus is headed your way," he added.

"He's already here," said Anderson. Judging by his tone, he wasn't happy with Joker's attempted warning. "Tell Commander Shepard to meet me in the comm room for a debriefing." The comm clicked off.

"You get that, Commander?" asked Joker.

"He sounds angry. Something must have gone wrong with the mission," she said, and headed aft.

"Captain always sounds like that when he's talking to me." Joker seemed almost pleased.

Kaidan scoffed. "Can't imagine why." Shepard felt the corners of her mouth lift slightly. She loved listening in on the crew's bantering, though, as XO, she rarely got a chance to participate. The Executive Officer's job had always been to say what people didn't want to hear. She was the designated bad guy for this assignment, and she could live with that.

Captain Anderson wasn't waiting for her in the comm. room. Nihlus was. He was staring at a database entry, seemingly engrossed. Shepard didn't buy it. She walked down the ramp to the main level as the Spectre turned to face her.

As much as she hated to admit it, Nihlus intimidated her.

"Commander Shepard. I was hoping you'd get here first. It will give us a chance to talk," he said.

"What about?" asked Shepard. It was bull, and they both knew it. Nihlus had obviously asked Captain Anderson for permission to speak to her alone for some reason.

"I'm interested in this world we're going to – Eden Prime," said Nihlus. "I hear it's quite beautiful."

"They say it's a paradise," Shepard said. Private Jenkins, a marine and crewmember whose excellent technical scores contrasted with his inexperience, had called it gorgeous, if she remembered correctly.

"Yes... a paradise. Serene. Tranquil. Safe. Eden Prime has become something of a symbol for your people, hasn't it? Proof that humanity can not only establish colonies across the galaxy, but also protect them. But how safe is it, really?"

Shepard took a step forward. "Do you know something?" she asked, voice hard.

"Your people are still newcomers, Shepard. The galaxy can be a dangerous place. Is the Alliance truly ready for this?" Shepard suddenly had a feeling they weren't really talking about Eden Prime.

"I think it's time we told the commander what's really going on." said Captain Anderson, his rich voice and footsteps, sounding metallic on the deck, announcing his arrival.

"This mission is far more than a simple shakedown run," said Nihlus.

"I figured there was something you weren't telling us," said Shepard, allowing a hint of satisfaction to show.

"We're making a covert pickup on Eden Prime. That's why we need the stealth systems operational," the captain said, ignoring her remark.

"There must be a reason you didn't tell me about this, sir," said Shepard

"This comes down from the top, Commander," said Anderson. "Information strictly on a need-to-know basis. A research team on Eden Prime unearthed some kind of beacon during an excavation. It was Prothean."

Shepard might not have had the most thorough education, especially when it came to history, but she knew the basics on the Protheans: They lived fifty thousand years ago, built the mass relays and the Citadel, the 'heart' of modern galactic society, and vanished suddenly from the archeological record. No one knew why.

"What else can you tell me?" said Morgan.

"This is big, Shepard. The last time humanity made a discovery like this, it jumped our technology forward two hundred years," said Anderson. "But Eden Prime doesn't have the facilities to handle something like this. We need to bring the beacon back to the Citadel for proper study."

"Obviously, this goes beyond mere human interests, Commander," said Nihlus. "This discovery could affect every species in Council space.

"Why exactly is this beacon so important?" asked Shepard.

"All advanced galactic civilization is based on Prothean technology. Even yours," said Nihlus.

Anderson was more specific: "If we hadn't discovered those Prothean ruins buried on Mars, we'd still be stuck on Earth. That was just a small data cache. Who knows what we can learn from this beacon? What if it's a weapons archive? We can't let it fall into the wrong hands. The Attican Traverse isn't the most stable sector of Citadel space. There are plenty of raiders and criminal groups active in the region. They might figure a Prothean beacon is worth the risk of attacking an Alliance ship. And Eden Prime is right on the border of the Terminus Systems."

Current politics was an area Morgan was more familiar with. "The Attican Traverse is under Citadel protection," she said. "If the Terminus Systems attack, it's an act of war."

"Technically, yes," said Nihlus. "But some of the species in the Terminus might be willing to start a war over this."

"And that's the last thing the Council wants," concluded Shepard.

"Which is why we have to keep this low-key," said Anderson, nodding.

"Are we expecting trouble?" asked Shepard, returning to more immediate matters.

"I'm always expecting trouble," said Nihlus

Anderson seemed to expect Nihlus to say more, and when the turian didn't speak the captain did: "There's more, Shepard. Nihlus isn't just here for the beacon. He's also here to evaluate you."

"Guess that explains why I bump into him every time I turn around," said Shepard.

"The Alliance has been pushing for this for a long time," said Captain Anderson. There was a feeling of history behind his words. "Humanity wants a larger role in shaping interstellar policy. We want more say with the Citadel Council. The Spectres represent the Council's power and authority. If they accept a human into their ranks, it shows how far the Alliance has come."

"You held off an enemy assault during the Blitz single-handed," said Nihlus, "and led a successful holding action with only a few civilians. You showed not only courage but also incredible skill. That's why I put your name forward as a candidate for the Spectres."

Morgan was stunned. The Spectres were the Citadel Council's most elite operatives, working outside the normal administrative and military heirarchies and reporting directly to the Council, the representatives of the turians, asari, and salarians who arbitrated disputes and kept peace between governments. Spectres were the stuff of legends. Alliance intel estimated that there were less than a hundred of them.

"I assume this is good for the Alliance," said Shepard. If there was some political maneuvering affecting her, she wanted to know.

"Earth needs this, Shepard," said Captain Anderson. In other words, even if something was going on, they couldn't afford to pass up this opportunity. "We're counting on you."

"I need to see your skills for myself, Commander," said Nihlus. "Eden Prime will be the first of several missions together.

"You'll be in charge a small ground team, Commander," said the captain. "Secure the beacon and get it onto the ship ASAP. Nihlus will accompany you to observe the mission."

"We should be getting close to Ed–" Anderson began. Joker's voice over the intercom interrupted him.

"Captain! We've got a problem."

"What's wrong, Joker?" said Anderson.

"Transmission from Eden Prime, sir. You better see this!" said Joker.

"Bring it up on screen," said Anderson.

A projection flashed into existence in front of the three of them. It was low quality, with a low resolution but plenty of static, and gunfire.

A woman in red and white armor ran towards the camera, yelling at someone to get down. The camera moved wildly and the shots continued. For a moment there was nothing but static, then the face of a marine was visible, probably the man who was holding the camera.

"We are under attack!" the man yelled over the sounds of gunfire. "Taking heavy casualties! I repeat, heavy casualties!" He continued, but the amount of static was increasing, making it more and more difficult to understand him. "We can't – need evac – They came out of nowhere, we need –!" The man fell to the ground, and the camera with him. It caught an image of two human marines as it fell, and of something else: it was synthetic, and vaguely familiar, though Shepard couldn't identify it. There was more static, more firing, a shot of crackling blue energy, and then nothing.

"Everything cuts out after that. No comm. traffic at all," said Joker.

"Reverse and hold at 38.5," said Anderson. The vid returned to the shot of the synthetic and held. No-one spoke for several seconds. Captain Anderson barked out, "Status report!"

Joker replied without hesitation or any of his usual sass. "Seventeen minutes out, Captain. No other Alliance ships in the area."

"Take us in, Joker. Fast and quiet. This mission just got a lot more complicated," said the Captain.

"A small strike team can move quickly, without drawing attention. It's our best chance to secure the beacon," said Nihlus. Shepard wondered if it was a suggestion or an order. It didn't really matter.

Anderson turned to her: "Grab your gear and meet us in the cargo hold. Tell Alenko and Jenkins to suit up, Commander. You're going in."

"Someone was doing some serious digging here, Captain," said Joker's voice, this time over the speakers in the cargo hold. The sound was slightly tinny.

"Just get us close enough for deployment," Anderson replied. He turned to Shepard. "Your team's the muscle in this operation, Commander. Go in heavy and head straight for the dig site."

"What about survivors, Captain?" asked Lieutenant Alenko.

"Helping survivors is a secondary objective. The beacon's your top priority," the Captain replied. Shepard grimaced.

"Approaching Drop Point One," announced Joker. Nihlus, who had been doing a final check of his weapons, headed for the bay doors and the mass effect field that would allow him to drop several meters to the ground unharmed.

"Nihlus, you coming with us?" asked Jenkins.

"I move faster on my own," the turian shouted over the roaring wind, and he was gone

"Nihlus will scout out ahead. He'll feed you status reports throughout the mission. Otherwise, I want radio silence," said the captain.

"Ready and able, sir," said Shepard.

"The mission's yours now, Shepard! Good luck!" Something in the captain's eyes made Shepard wonder just what he was talking about.

Joker interrupted her thoughts. "We are approaching Drop Point Two."

Shepard saluted Captain Anderson and moved to the open doors. As the ship slowed to a hover, she stepped into the mass effect field and out of the ship. She touched down lightly, with Alenko and Jenkins on her heels.

A combination of the setting sun and microscopic debris in the air had turned the sky of Eden Prime a ruddy color somewhere between pink and red. An enormous plume of smoke was visible in the distance. The rocky ground that the Alliance squad touched down on was speckled with brush, but nothing solid enough to impede movement. Shepard signaled the squad towards a gap between two rocky, steep hills. Two charred human bodies lay on a rock slab beside the gap.

"Oh, god. What happened here?" said Jenkins. This was probably the first time he had seen such gruesome casualties.

"This place got hit hard, Commander," said Nihlus over the radio. "Hostiles everywhere. Keep your guard up."

Shepard wanted to ask for details, but kept radio silence.

Through the gap was a large, open field, strewn with bolders – potential cover. Morgan hand-signaled Jenkins to move across to one of them. He made it two meters before gunfire tore into him. He let out a single scream as he fell. A low hum filled the air.

Shepard reached out, using a gesture neurally linked to the L3 biotic implants in her brain to pull anything in the general direction the fire had come from and pulled. Branches and brush flew past, and a rounded metallic disc with a blue light on the front and a gun mounted on its underbelly. Shepard crushed the thing with another gesture as Lt. Alenko, pistol in hand, scanned the surrounding area for more hostiles.

"Clear," he said, and walked over to Jenkins's body. Morgan followed.

Alenko knelt down next to Jenkins's prone body and examined it. He turned to Shepard and shook his head.

"Ripped right through his shields," the lieutenant said. "There must have been something wrong with his suit. He never had a chance." He opened Jenkins's faceplate all the way and closed his eyelids.

Shepard let her arms fall to her sides and moved to stand beside Kaidan. "We'll see that he receives a proper service when the mission is complete," she said, "but I need you to stay focused."

"Aye, aye, ma'am."

They crossed the field, moving fast and low, and entered a grove of trees with broad, flat trunks. Shepard didn't like the limited visibility, but a sheer drop on the left and a cliff rising on their right forced them into the bottleneck – activating the satellite map stored in her suit's computer showed no other viable routes to the dig site. They encountered another drone like the one Shepard had crushed patrolling at the end of the grove. Alenko took it out with a burst of pistol fire. They emerged from the trees to the sight of a figure in the armor of a Marine NCO running towards them, pursued by two drones. In the middle distance, two bipedal synthetics grabbed an unarmored man by the arms. The NCO tripped, turned it into a roll and came out firing. Shepard wasn't sure whether the other Marine took out both drones or if her own pistol fire got one.

Kaidan gestured, initiating a focused biotic push that punched through the armor on one side of the torso of one of the bipeds. It didn't react. Along with its twin, it lifted the man up over a low tripod. The man they were holding was screaming for help, but the gunfire the three Marines peppered against the bipeds' shields wasn't enough to save him: as the biped on the right fell, the one on the left activated a telescoping spike that shot out of the tripod, impaling the man and bringing his screams to an abrupt end. Then it turned, drawing an assault rifle from the frame on its back. Their fire broke through its shields as it sighted, and Alenko took it out with a clean pistol shot to what seemed to be its head.

The NCO turned to face Shepard and Alenko as the two of them approached. "Thanks for your help, Commander," she said, glancing at Shepard's rank badge. Her eyes shifted to the impaled man. There were other spikes, other bodies, as well. "I didn't think I was going to make it." She took a deep breath. "Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams of the 212. You the one in charge here, ma'am?"

"Are you wounded, Williams?" asked Shepard, letting that answer the question.

"A few scrapes and burns," said Williams. "Nothing serious. The others weren't so lucky. Oh, man... We were patrolling the perimeter when the attack hit. We tried to get off a distress call, but they cut off our communications. I've been fighting for my life ever since."

"Any idea what kind of enemy we're facing?" asked Shepard, glancing at the lieutenant to include him in the question.

"I think they're geth," said Williams.

"The geth haven't been seen outside the Veil in nearly 200 years. Why are they here now?" said Kaidan.

"More than," said Williams. "They were created by the quarians a few centuries ago with limited AI programming," she continued, probably in response to Shepard's raised eyebrow. "Supposed to be a source of cheap labor, ended up turning on the quarians and driving them into exile. Then they disappeared behind the Perseus Veil. Nobody's really heard much from them since. They must have come here for the beacon – they were doing some digging out here to extend the monorail, and a few weeks ago they unearthed some Prothean ruins. They brought us in to secure the sight after they found the beacon and every scientific expert in the colony started showing up."

Shepard nodded. "We were supposed to be the pickup team."

"The dig site is close," said Williams. "Just over that rise. It might still be there."

"You're coming with us, Williams," said Shepard. "We need that beacon."

"Aye, aye, ma'am. It's time for payback."

"The beacon was right here," said Williams as they surveyed the empty, corrugated steel enclosed dig site. "It must have been moved."

"By who?" said Kaidan. "Our side? Or the geth?"

"Hard to say," said Williams. "Maybe we'll know more after we check out the research camp. The 232 was with the them up there. Maybe their unit fared better than mine."

"You think anyone got out of here alive?" asked Shepard. She had knelt to examine the round area of stone-like material that the beacon had been found on originally.

"If they were lucky," said Williams. "The camp just on the ramps."

Shepard stood. "Williams, have you seen a turian Spectre in the area?" she asked. It had been a while since they'd heard from Nihlus.

"There aren't any turians on Eden Prime. None that I've ever met. Not sure I'd be able to tell if one was a Spectre, anyway," said the gunnery chief.

"If you saw this guy, you'd know," said Kaidan. "Carries enough firepower to wipe out a whole platoon. Luckily, he's on our side."

"Sorry," said Williams. "Like I said, no turians."

"Let's move out," said Shepard.

Williams took point up the earth ramps to the camp.

"Looks like the camp got hit hard," she said as they came to the small plateau top. Three more of telescoping spikes with impaled bodies stood off to one side, and the evidence of a firefight was everywhere. Two prefab sheds stood with their backs to a hill. Shepard walked towards them, followed by the other two Marines. The sound of metal on metal behind her brought her around, gun in position to fire.

"Oh, god!" said Kaidan. "They're still alive!"

The figure on the spike was indeed moving, twitching spasmodically as it lowered back into its tripod base.

"What did the geth do to them?" said Ashley.

The two spikes to either side were descending now, and the first had reached the ground. The body in the center arched forward, off of its spike and took a lurching step towards the marines. Its flesh was gray and desiccated, as though the moisture had been sucked out of it. Its facial features and a speckled pattern along its torso glowed blue.

"If you can hear me, I need you say something!" yelled Morgan. It occurred to her that the husk-like figure probably couldn't talk even if it could hear and comprehend her words. "Give me some sort of sign! Stop moving!" The husk – she absolutely refused to think of it as a zombie – took another step forward, then ran toward the three of them with a loping, unbalanced gait.

"Shit," muttered Morgan, and let fly with her pistol.

The fight was over in less than a minute. The husks charged them and set off an electrical pulse that wreaked havoc on their shields, but their unarmored bodies were quickly torn apart by gunfire. The only injury on their side was a second degree electrical burn to Shepards neck, which Kaidan patched up with medi-gel while she leaned against one of the sheds on the opposite side of the plateau from the spikes.

"Dragon's teeth," Morgan muttered, staring at the spikes.

"What?" said Kaidan.

"It's a myth, from Earth. A Greek hero sowed dragon's teeth in the ground and warriors sprouted from them," said Morgan. "These things remind me of that story."

Alenko nodded, and seemed about to say something when Ashley spoke up.

"That door," she said, peering at the other shed. "Security lock's engaged."

"Open it," said Shepard to Kaidan as he sealed the leftover medigel into its packet.

"Aye, aye, ma'am," said Kaidan. He put away the medigel packet and activated his omnitool to hack the lock, then took point into the shed.

"Humans!" said a female voice from inside. "Thank the Maker!"

Shepard and Williams followed the lieutenant in.

"Hurry! Close the door! Before they come back!" said a frantic male voice from the shadowy back of the shed.

"What are you doing here?" Shepard asked the woman, who had close-cropped red hair and wore the uniform of an Alliance funded researcher. There was nervous movement in the shadows behind her.

"I'm Dr. Warren. I was in charge of this excavation. We hid the shed during the attack. They must have come for the beacon. Luckily, it wasn't here. It was moved to the monorail station earlier this morning, and from there to the spaceport. Manuel and I stayed behind to pack up the camp. When the attack came, the marines held them off long enough for us to hide. They gave their lives to save us."

Warren seemed sincerely upset, but Shepard still couldn't help feeling a short flash of anger. Civilians or not, an entire squad's lives for those of two people was hardly a fair trade. She managed to keep the anger from her face. Be angry at the geth, she told herself, and proud of the bravery and sacrifice of those soldiers. You would have made the same choice. The fact was that she had made the same choice, on multiple occasions, but she had made it out of those situations alive. These marines hadn't.

A middle aged man with thinning brown hair and a wild expression emerged from the shadows. "No one is saved," he said, eyes darting from random spot to random spot. "The age of humanity is ended. Soon, only ruin and corpses will remain."

Shepard glanced at the man's rank badge and turned back to Dr. Warren. "What's wrong with your assistant?" she asked.

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

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

"I gave him an extra dose of his meds after the attack," said Warren, sounding worried.

Shepard wasn't sure that was a good idea, but she moved on. "Did you notice a turian in the area?"

Manuel interrupted before his superior could answer. "I saw him. The prophet. Leader of the enemy. He was here, before the attack."

"That's impossible," said Kaidan in a calm, measured tone. "Nihlus was on the Normandy before the attack. He couldn't have been here."

"Manuel's still a bit… unsettled. We haven't seen your turian. We've been hiding in here since the attack," said Dr. Warren.

"No offense, but are you sure giving him more of his meds was the best idea?" asked Williams, looking at Manuel, who was now staring intently at a wall, out of the corner of her eye. "Some dosages are limited for a reason."

"I know, I know! But he was practically screaming, he would have given us away," said Warren, the stress of what she'd been through in the last few hours finally making its way to her face. "I had to do something."

"Calm down, Doctor. You're safe now," said Shepard. "We're here, and there's a Council Spectre waiting for us at the monorail station. Just stay here and you should be fine."

Warren sat down on a crate and rested her face in her hands. "Thank you, Commander. I'm sorry. It's just that – "

"I know. You're not trained for this kind of situation," said Shepard. "You're doing your best. We're going to head out now. Stay safe.

"Good luck, Commander," said Warren as the squad turned to leave.

"Luck won't save you," said Manuel.

Shepard ignored him. "Williams, take us to the spaceport."

"You can't stop it," continued Manuel as they left the shed. His voice was calmer than before. "No one can stop it. Night is falling. The darkness of eternity."

"Hush, Manuel," said Warren as the door slid closed behind Kaidan. "Go lie down. You'll feel better once the medication kicks in."

Saren Arterius paced back and forth, waiting. He knew the Council had sent a Spectre, and that the Systems Alliance had sent in a strike team. It was just a matter of time before the Spectre reached him, and perhaps even the strike team, if they were very lucky.

Saren's senses had been enhanced of late, and he could hear the scrape of armored boots on the station ramp. He continued pacing, not bothering to turn.

"Saren?" asked a male turian voice. A familiar male turian voice.

Saren turned. "Nihlus." Why did it have to be Nihlus? he thought. This is… regrettable.

"This isn't your mission, Saren," said Nihlus, lowering the gun that had been aimed at Saren's torso. There was a slight note of annoyance in his voice.

Afraid I'll steal your thunder, old friend? Or still insecure about measuring up to your old mentor?

"What are you doing here?" said Nihlus.

Saren forced his features into a pleasant expression. It wasn't as hard as he had expected. "The Council thought you could use some help on this one," he said, putting a hand on his former protégé's shoulder and giving it a friendly squeeze as he walked behind the younger man. He didn't turn to face Nihlus's back. Not yet.

"I wasn't expecting to find the geth here," said Nihlus. Saren was impressed. Nihlus's words implied he had been aware of the geth's movements to at least some degree. "The situation's bad."

It was regrettable that it was Nihlus, but not that it was someone aware of the length of this operation. Anyone with that sort of intelligence was dangerous.

"Don't worry," said Saren, turning to face his friend's back and taking aim with his pistol. "I've got it under control."

A single gunshot sounded in the distance as Shepard and her squad made their way up the hill behind the research camp. Shepard signaled for a halt when they had nearly reached the top, then crawled up on her stomach to look ahead.

Off in the distance, an insectile structure, its exterior writhing with red bolts of energy, was rising from the ground.

"It's a ship!" said Ashley as the structure rose high enough to be visible to her and Kaidan. Shepard was forced to agree, but she was stunned. She'd never seen a ship that large, and she'd never seen anything a quarter of that size enter atmo. The scale of it was difficult to comprehend.

"Nothing we can do about it," said Shepard. "Let's keep moving."

They continued down the slope ahead of them until they got close enough to the monorail station that they could see the geth there. Shepard led the team east to a more secure position among some crates. She didn't spot the dragon's teeth until they started descending.

"Fuck," she muttered. "Damn things must have sensors of some sort."

Ashley managed to blow the head off of one of the husks before it reached the ground, but there were two more to deal with and a pair of geth patrolling around the station. Shepard knelt behind a crate and poured her fire into one of the approaching husks. Beside her, Kaidan aimed for the other and Ashley was training her assault rifle on the geth.

Morgan gritted her teeth and nearly dropped her pistol as it overheated. She was getting sloppy. Her target, though barely holding together, was practically on top of them. She darted out from behind the crate, shifting her grip on her pistol. She came up on the husk from the side and struck out with the pistol's butt repeatedly until it fell to the ground, twitching.

Alenko came up beside her, with Williams only a few steps behind him. He seemed to want to say something, but he didn't.

"Are you alright, Commander?" asked Williams.

"No," said Shepard, loading a new thermal clip into her gun. "Now let's go."

They walked down towards the station, the darkening air eerily still. Shepard switched on the night vision function of her helmet, but she still nearly tripped over something. Something that was very distinctly not a cargo container. Kaidan flipped on his helmet's light to see what it was.

The body of a turian lay on its stomach before them, a small, precise hole in the back the only visible injury.

Kaidan knelt next to the body and examined it. "It's Nihlus," he said. "Unless there was another turian with his facial markings in the area.

"The Spectre?" said Ashley.

Shepard nodded.

Kaidan stood. "Whoever shot him managed to get close enough that his shields--"

There was a clatter behind a pile of crates to their right. Weapons came up and around in an instant.

"Whoever you are, come out now!" shouted Williams.

"Wait!" came the frantic reply, followed by the appearance of a scruffy, wide-eyed man. " Don't – Don't shoot! I'm one of you! I'm human."

"Sneaking up on us like that nearly got you killed!" said Morgan, voice harsh. The adrenaline buildup was starting to get to her.

"I... I'm sorry," said the man. "I was hiding. From those things. My name's Powell. I saw what happened to that turian. The other one shot him."

Shepard lowered her gun and took a deep breath. "I need to know how Nihlus died. You're saying another turian killed him?"

Powell nodded. "The other one got here first. He was waiting when your friend showed up. He called him Saren. I think they knew each other. Your friend seemed to relax. He let his guard down... and Saren killed him. Shot him right in the back. I'm just lucky he didn't see me behind the crates."

This guy, who couldn't even hide without making noise, could never have gotten close enough to shoot the Spectre. That meant he was probably telling the truth.

Two dead on one mission, thought Morgan. And one of them a Spectre.

Mourn the dead later, she told herself. Finish the mission.

"We were told a Prothean beacon was brought to this station," she said. "What happened to it?"

"It's over on the other platform," said Powell. "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!"

Something was off here.

"How come you're the only one who survived?" asked Morgan. "Why didn't anyone else try to hide behind the crates?"

"They never had a chance," said Powell "I... I was already behind the crates when the attack started."

"Wait a minute," said Kaidan. "You were hiding behind the crates before the attack? "

Powell bit his lip. "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."

Ashley was incredulous. "You survived because you're lazy?"

"If you hadn't snuck off for that nap you'd probably be dead just like all the others," said Shepard. "You were lucky."

"Yeah. Yeah, I guess," said Powell, nodding. "I don't really want to think about it." He walked off towards the far end of the platform, waving vaguely in their direction.

Shepard turned to her squad. "We need to find that beacon before it's too late."

The monorail controls were easy enough for Kaidan to access, and simple to use. They had the train speeding towards the spaceport station in no time. As they pulled into the station, Shepard's HUD flashed a chemical explosive warning.

"Demolition charges," said Alenko. "The geth must have planted them."

"Can you deactivate them?" asked Shepard as the three of them rushed over to the first charge.

Kaidan flipped open a control panel and did something complicated with his omnitool. "Yes," he said. "Just watch my back, okay?"

Kaidan got the first charge disarmed without any interference, but they had to fight their way to three more charges, each set to trigger independently. At the end, as the synced timers counted down to zero and they finished sweeping the area, Shepard was limping from a deep would to her leg and Williams' shield generator was on the fritz.

"Let's find the beacon," Shepard said with a grunt of pain.

They headed for the section of the platform nearest the spaceport. A single husk was wandering in circles in front of what Shepard could only assume was the beacon. Kaidan crushed the husk with a biotic gesture and they walked down a ramp and into a floodlit space crowded with boxes – except around a gleaming metal structure that ended in a jagged edge twelve feet up: the beacon, surrounded by a pulsing green aura. Behind it, the blasted ground where the giant ship had landed looked like it had been bombed.

Shepard tapped her communicator, turning away from the artifact and the scorched landscape. "Normandy, the beacon is secure. Request immediate evac." She could hear Williams and Alenko talking behind her.

"Aye, aye, Commander," said Joker's voice. "We're coming in to the space port."

"Roger, Normandy," replied Morgan. "Standing by."

She turned around and Ashley opened her mouth to say something, but behind her the green aura of the beacon reached out to grab Kaidan.

"Commander, I – " began Ashley. Morgan pushed her aside and ran for Kaidan. She grabbed him around the waist and shoved him out of the way, only to find herself in the beacon's grip, struggling as uselessly as the lieutenant had.

She heard Kaidan call out her name, her back arched of its own accord, and suddenly all she could see was red and all she could hear was screams.

Whew!

Told ya the chapters would be big. Now you tell me: is this an improvement on the previous version? A change for the worse? A mix? If so, what did you like and dislike.

I'm thinking of including shorter interlude pieces about Shepard's past. Good idea/bad idea/don't waste time?