Guardians of the Effect

For the strength of the Pack is the wolf, and the wolf is the strength of the pack. –Rupard Kipling

Chapter one: Light of curiosity

Normandy Communications room

"Commander Shepard, apologies for the sudden transmission."

'Odd to hear the Illusive man apologize' thought Commander Shepard.

"I assume that it is important due to us chatting this suddenly."

"Indeed it is. One of my recon teams stumbled upon a research vessel in the terminus systems. The

vessel had no identifying marking, and no sign of life."

"Is it a Geth station? It may have survived after the hunts following the attack on the citadel."

"That was my first thought but the structure matches no known geth structures. Needless to say that research station could contain valuable information at best, supplies at worst. I've already sent the coordinates to your pilot. The Choice to investigate is yours. Good luck Commander Shepard."

And with that the transmission was over. Shepard mulled over investigating the research vessel. The Illusive man made sure to emphasize the importance of the station, which meant he had a reasonable guess as to what it truly contained. There were some upgrades that they had recently acquired in the research station that the crew and Normandy could use. Typically a research station provided a surplus of materials that the Normandy was in need of. After giving it another minute of thought Shepard gave Joker the all clear to fly to the coordinates while also giving the order for Mordin and Garrus to be ready for the mission.

Abandoned research Station

"We've Arrived at our destination commander Shepard." Chimed the artificial voice of the ships AI EDI. "It appears the Illusive Man's intel was correct in hat there are no life signs within the station. There is however a massive amount of power being pulled into a specific area of the ship. I would suggest investigating there first."

Joker also added that it appeared the station was manned with mechs, though of an older model than the ones out on the market today. After gathering her squad Shepard, Mordin and GArrus, proceeded into the station. Immediately there was something off about the station, if her instincts were correct. Though they had known there was no one on board the station itself looked as though someone had lived in it until recently? Instantly her mind went back to the colonies the collectors had attacked. Shaking off the worrying memories they proceeded further into the station.

"These rooms were for civilians, families most likely" said Garrus after they entered a room that obviously was occupied by a family with kids. To say the tension on the station was as thick as mud would not be an understatement. After finding a terminal Shepard uploaded the files to EDI for analysis.

"Can you tell me what this station was used for, and were everybody went EDI?"

"According to records this was a research vessel maned primarily by council scientists and their families. The purpose of this research is heavily encrypted and what I have decrypted so far has not led to any tangible results. There was a mass exodus after a problem developed with the research which led to the abandoning of the station."

"Well at least that is cleared up. Alright were heading to where most of the power is being drawn to. Let us know if anything else comes up in your search EDI."

"Will Do Commander Shepard."

The alarms suddenly went off after disconnecting with the terminal. Assuming that interacting with the server had triggered some failsafe the various mechs around the vessel came on. After fighting through a paltry collection of outdated mechs Shepard and squad had reached the main research wing. And it was immediately obvious that whatever was in there was not meant to leave the station. An extremely reinforced door was laid out before them, almost screaming that whatever was in there was dangerous, or extremely dangerous.

"EDI can you get us through the lockdown?"

"One moment. Done. I have also decrypted more of the files you uploaded and was finally able to find out what the research entailed. Due to the high amount of biological research data I can draw the conclusion that the Council scientists were studying-"

"Humans."

After proceeding through security the obvious answer to what they were doing here lay before Shepard and her team. A lone human was locked in stasis in the center of the room, almost seemingly asleep. She looked over the Human man, noting the various hints of battle. Short cropped hair gave the distinct impression that this man was at one time or another military. A simple 3 bar tattoo lay right under his eye, bright blue contrasting against the stark white of the skin around it. Automated machinery surrounded him giving out diagnostics and other menial data every few minutes. Mordin moved immediately to the various machines, omni tool scanning and hopefully taking whatever info they could salvage.

"EDI how recent was this research done?" Asked Shepard, trying to contain the anger building within her.

"The last log for the station is dated two weeks ago commander."

"But that would mean that the Council was experimenting on humans, or at the very least studying this one." Said Garrus in utter bewilderment.

"Records that extensive and invasive procedures were used to get current data on subject."

Garuus interjected "That explains the abandoning of the station. If this station and its research were to get out The Council would be in quite a predicament political wise."

"Odd reading in logs. Almost as if they didn't treat subject as human." Mordin quickly added.

Shepard's rage was still white hot but she was more concentrated on the human in front of her. After fighting off another wave of anger Shepard located the controls and ended the stasis field. Just as soon as the stasis ended Joker's voice came in frantic over the comms.

"I don't mean to sound urgent or anything but since you got that guy out of whatever it was a massive power surge hit the core of the station."

"The core will approximately blow in ten minutes." Stated EDI matter of fact.

"Yeah so I would hurry it up if I were you."

Swearing under her breath she motioned for Garrus to pick up the still unconscious man. Making their way worryingly through the now collapsing station Shepard and company were on the Normandy and out of the system before the station's explosion was in, from what Joker cheeringly responded, tail lights in the distance.

Scoffing at the helmsman's off brand remark Shepard had Garrus bring their newest cargo to Chakwas. Mordin was quick on their tails, mumbling faster than her translator could process, a feat within its self. Looking closer at the man they had just pulled from an abandoned, but not derelict Council research station she saw several things about that man she suspected would either be a potential ally, or an unwarranted enemy. There seemed to be a soft glow off the man, though she could account that for adrenaline pumping though her veins playing tricks on her eyes. He seemed at peace in his sleep even though he had apparently been in stasis for much longer than anyone she could think of.

'And if my own resurrection is any testament,' she though grudgingly 'He'll be a stiff as a board when he finally wakes up.'

After leaving the man in Chakwas's and Mordin's capable hands she went off to the armory so that Jacob could get some of the newer research into the weapons. Garuus deposited his weapons and quickly made his way to what, she assumed, was the newly installed Thanix Cannons. While she could understand the fascination with new weapons she couldn't help but notice the rage at which he had gone to his calibrations. She knew that it had to do with omega and, whether she liked it or not, she would support him in his hunt for Sidonis. After chatting with Jacob over the newly installed mods to the various weaponry and armory her omni-tool pinged. Excusing herself she brought up the message from Mordin.

Shepard,

Patient regaining conscious. Interesting reading. Thought you might want to be present for first contact.

Mordin.

Curiosity began to form at the Salarians short, bit informative message. Whatever was interesting about the human man they had picked up was defiantly worth looking into to. Taking the god-awful slow elevator Shepard had begun to look over the charts that Chakwas forwarded along with Mordin's message when she arrived on the crew deck.