Chapter 1 – The Distress Call
SSV Normandy

It is 01.35 AM in the Normandy. Almost every non-essential crew member is sleeping. Commander Shepard is among the ones who can't sleep. The Prothean visions kept on flaring up, with gruesome images, deaths, and screaming. She went into the elevator, going to the crew deck to sit on the mess hall. The mess hall itself is empty. She grabbed a snack bar, then proceeds to eat the block of nutrients. The sensation of the Normandy itself is quite eerie, considering that the normally bustling hall is empty. Even so, she could hear people snoring, cuddling up with their bolsters, or pillows, or anything the crew have on hold.

"So much for sleeping, then…" Shepard mutters, as she eat the bar of nutrients. She then went to the beverage machine, procuring what looks like Arabica coffee, and drank the whole thing up. But by the look of things, waking up that late have no perks. She returned to her spacious captain's chamber. A large aquarium is placed on the wall, showcasing…. Nothing, because she never bothered on filling the aquarium. She then jumped to her bed, and she slumped to the cushion. Suddenly, her omni-tool starts on beeping. It's Joker.

"Joker, what the hell are you doing? Stalking me in my bed?" Shepard grunts.

"I wish, but we got a distress call, from a nearby planet. He said something about something important to take a look at. You wanna hear the message, commander?" Joker replied.

"I got nothing to do anyways. Shoot."

The omni-tool then played the signal.

"To the SSV Normandy – Shepard, I need help! The geth have breached the defenses of my research station! I have important research especially for you. Please help! A lot of civilians are also in danger! The Alliance marines guarding the research are practically slaughtered! Please, help…." And the message goes dead.

"Wanna take a look, Shepard?" Joker asked.

"Finally, I feel important… The guy basically knows about me! We're going in. The guy's probably dead, though. Wake up the squad. I want Kaiden and Ashley in the briefing room, ASAP!" Shepard said.

"Aye-aye, Commander!" Joker exasperated.

Luckily for Joker, Shepard didn't notice the slightest hint of sarcasm in his reply. Shepard then grabbed her armor. It is not that heavy in weight, considering that she needs to charge ahead to attack. She then grabbed her custom-designed shotgun. It is fabricated by Hahne-Kedar. The shotgun itself is capable of breaching armor. She pressed a button on it, and it shrunk to a small rectangular size, then latched it on her waist. She then grabbed her trusty M3 Predator pistol. It is specially fabricated for Shepard, with a mass-accelerator system that would easily kill a person with a shot, even when wearing a helmet. It is also equipped with a scope to augment its custom mass-accelerator. She holstered the pistol to her thigh, then she grabbed her SMG. It is an M9 Tempest, specially designed with recoil reduction laser sights to decimate targets in medium range.

"Right, time to rock and roll." She muttered to herself.

Hastily, she called the elevator to her captain's cabin. The elevator arrived, and quickly Shepard walked into it. Weirdly enough, it took several seconds just for the elevator to reach the designated floor. She paced herself to the briefing room, with Kaiden and Ashley waiting on the chairs.

"Lemme guess… There's a distress call from somewhere, and we're supposed to answer." Ashley remarked.

"Correct. We have received a distress call from a research laboratory. The weird thing is, the message didn't refer to us as a ship or refer to me, the CO as, well, the CO. The man himself referred to our ship as the Normandy, while referring to me as Shepard."

"So? What's your point?" Ashley asked.

"The guy had a surprise waiting for us, I think. I mean, who else is going to be able to detect the Normandy now? We're on stealth mode." Shepard said.

"Good point." Kaidan commented.

"What's the plan then, Commander?" Ashley asked.

"We head in, kill the geth, extract the scientist, while also questioning him on knowing our position and identity. Kapish?" Sheapard replied.

"Kapish." Kaiden and Ashley shouted in unison.

"Okay. Joker, prepare the Mako. We're landing on this planet." Shepard said to the intercom.

The squad then assembled to the garage, where they assembled inside the Mako. Shepard entered the cockpit. She prepared and checked the Mako before the drop. Not long after, the cargo door opened, along with the ship's VI notifying that the cargo hold's open. The Mako then drove out to the planet. The planet itself is sandy, with no signs of life. It is quite reminiscent of a barren wasteland.

As they fall, the thrusters activate, cushioning its land to the planet. A satisfying circle of sand then emanate from the ground. Shepard then stepped the throttle, bringing the engine to life as it ran across the sandy terrain.

"Ashley, man the cannon." Shepard commanded.

"Aye-aye, Commander. But what do you think? Strange guys stalking at us? Knowing the position of the covered Normandy? What is he, an obsessed scientist?" Ashley remarked, as she went to the cannon controls.

"Yeah. What does this guy do? I mean, this could be a trap. Look at it. We're on a weird sandy planet, it's not even dusk in the Normandy, and the guy specifically referred to us. Is this a geth trap?" Kaiden said.

"Whatever. Just keep your eyes peeled." Shepard said.

"Yeah, we don't exactly have peelers." Ashley joked. But suddenly, Shepard yanked the controls of the Mako. The vehicle jerked violently to the left. In the motion, Ashley's foot hit the hatch's very thin walls.

"What the hell is that for? Can't you take a little joke?" Ashley complained.

"How about you, Chief?" Shepard said, as she made a little chuckle.

The rest of the journey to the scientific station is made in silence. About fifteen minutes later, a small station can be seen in the vast desert. The station itself is white, in contrast to the planet's red sands. As the Mako approaches the station though, a geth armature could be seen. It panicked and fired on the Mako, alerting other geths in the vicinity."

"Geth!" Shepard exclaimed.

Ashley then pushed the cannon's controls. It fired a cannon to the armature. But the thing wouldn't quit. It kept on firing while the geth troopers advance towards the Mako. As the shields kept on lowering, Shepard kept on driving erratically, in hopes of dodging enemy fire. Ashley kept on shooting the geth armature while the cannon cooled down. But it kept on shooting projectiles. Shepard did her best on evading the projectiles, but some of them kept on hitting the Mako. But eventually, the cannon did cool down.

"Eat this, you motherfucking robot!" Ashley exclaimed. As she did so, the cannon fired, piercing the geth armature's metallic casing. A satisfying explosion is seen later, as Ashley dealt with the other geth troopers. One by one, the geth tumbled down as the machine gun's ammo hits each of the geth. Soon enough, the last geth dropped dead, as Ashley fired the cannon to the robot.

Finally, the scientific station is in view. The Mako halted as Shepard slammed the brakes, jerking the vehicle violently forward as the squad is pulled by the inertia. Again.

"You just can't drive, can't you Commander?" Ashley grumbled.

"Special driving comfort just for you, Chief." Shepard joked.

Ashley chuckled on the remark, as they proceed on a delta formation. Shepard leads the squad, as they entered the hallways of the scientific station. There, they found a thick door, along with a screen. In it, a futuristic suit is visible along with a man, in a scientific robe. He is wielding a volus-produced rifle. The hallway itself is full of corpses. It is littered with dead soldiers, along with the geth. The funny thing is, there is no geth visible in the blood-stained white hallway. Instead, a single Alliance soldier is sitting while panting heavily. Blood is gushing from his leg wound.

Shepard grabbed a medi-gel kit, applying it on the downed soldier.

"State your name and rank." Shepard said.

"Private Duncan Shields, ma'am. I presume you're Commander Shepard." The downed soldier said.

"Yes, I am. How do you know my identity?" Shepard asked.

"Don't ask me. Joe the scientist told us all about this. Said to us to prepare for an incoming attack. Said he had a vibe. Suddenly you showed up on our radars, along with the geth. We fought, while also protecting the scientist. Luckily, you came and killed the geth. Heh, the lady with the black armor saved us. Hooray." The soldier remarked.

"Watch your words, Private. I could strip you off your ranks. What's the code for the blast door? And where are your comrades?" Shepard questioned.

"I'm the last guy standing. The code is five-five-three-eight. Make it quick. More geth are coming." Shepard said.

"Noted. Kaiden, open the blast dors!" Shepard commanded.

"Yes, ma'am!" Kaiden submitted.

The controls are then pressed, with Kaiden entering the corresponding password. The blast door then opened, revealing a young man in a lab coat. He looked confident, strangely enough. He pointed the gun at the squad.

"Identify yourselves." The man said.

"I'm Commander Shepard. This is Kaiden Alenko and Ashley Williams. We're all crew of the Normandy." Shepard said. "But how do you know 'bout the Normandy and its position?"

As the man lowered the rifle, he said, "Every one of us has our own secrets. Captain Joseph Adriel here, of the Alliance N7 Marine."

"What the hell is a marine doing here, on a research station, while dressed in the lab coat?" Shepard asked.

"The suit. That is my life's work. It is a technological marvel that I hope will protect us against future threats. It is called the Nanosuit, but I will explain that to you later. But there's a catch. This is made with Collector and Reaper technology, or at least it's augmented with that technology. I made a promise with these guys that unfortunately, I didn't keep. They will be after me. So now, I will have to dispose of my current body." Joseph said, grimly.

"You WHAT!? How are you going to do that?" Shepard shouted.

"Strap me in that chair. Pull the lever if I said to you to do so." Joseph said.

As he strapped himself to the metallic chair, Shepard then pulled the lever. "But wait, what does this do?" Shepard asked.

"Questions later. What you need to do afterwards is get the suit in the briefcase and leave! The geth are coming soon, ASAP!" Joseph said.

As the machine whirred up, Joseph shouted in pain, and swore, "GODDAMIT! KEEP ON PULLING THE LEVER TILL THE EKG SAID THAT I'M DEAD! KEEP PULLING!"

Shepard replied, "KILL YOU? FUCK THAT!"

"I'M AS GOOD AS DEAD SHEPARD! FUUUUCK! I OWE THE REAPERS! I MADE THE DEAL WITH THE DEVIL! FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCCKKKKKKKKKKKK! Urgh…." Joseph said.

The EKG showed that Joseph's dead. Shepard then grabbed the suit referred to as the Nanosuit, while commanding to his squad, "Get in the Mako! Grab Pvt. Shields, we're leaving this post!" Shepard commanded.

Kaiden proceeded on by hoisting the downed soldier. The soldier asked, "What about the doc? Where is he?"

"He's dead." Shepard replied.

Author's Note: Whew! I started with a long chapter. Do please review about my writing and please also review about my conversation scenes and my fighting scenes. Thank you for reading. BTW, what happened to Joseph, anyways? What do you think? And how will the squad react to Shepard's questionable actions? And what the fuck is a Nano-Suit doing in a Mass Effect fan-fiction? Read the next chapter to find out! BTW, thank you for reading! And again, please review!

P.S. – Update rates are going to be once per two weeks, since I'm now facing my finals. But June's update rates are probably going to be quick.