Lieutenant Commander Shepard was not disappointed to hear that the Normandy came with a HEV Bay. He'd be dropping out of them for almost a decade, why stop now?

Normally a corvette would have a platoon of marines stationed on her, but since the Normandy was brand spanking new, there hadn't been enough time to reassign the necessary squads when the shake-down run had been ordered. So he was working with a slapdash squad. Four of the marines had to be stationed on all times aboard the Normandy in case of boarding action, even if it was a . So he was looking at two ordinary Marines, who both wore standard UNSC fatigues.

Corporal Jenkins was the poster boy of the UNSC Marine Corps. Eager, willing, and absolutely gung-ho, the eager marine was ready to show UNSC brass what he was made of. He was what Jonathan was when he joined the Marines. The LC had learned from the experiences that he had gone through.

Staff Sergeant Kaidan Alenko seemed to be a little more reserved. Calm and cool, the marine was a rarity; he was a biotic. Having been apart of the Ascension Project, Jon was ready to bet that he had run across them on Arcturus Station or the Academy.

"Commander!" the two Marines saluted him. Saluting back, he decided to get to know them better. He knew that in order to gain respect, that he needed to know his men better. That was how his father did it and how his mother did as well.

"At ease marines. Quick question; any of you have HEV training?" he asked. He was an ODST. Dropping from orbit was how he usually inserted into combat situations. He just wanted to be ready for anything.

The two marines looked at each other with confused looks.

"Sir, we are both ODSTs. Jenkins here just got back from drop school, but we're both shock troopers. Sir," Alenko said curtly. Jon mentally slapped himself. He had forgotten that the marines aboard the Normandy were all ODSTs.

"Sorry Staff. Just wanted to know. Forgot to check out the dossier. Where you from Jenkins?" he asked the eager marine. The marine looked at him with excitement.

"I'm from Eden Prime. It's a beautiful place. Settled there just twenty years ago. Can't wait to get back sir!" the corporal was like a puppy. Full of energy and ready to go.

"How's Eden Prime this time of year?"

"Sir, it's near harvesting time. Harvesting time is about six times a year and we're able to harvest a lot of food. In fact, Eden Prime supplies the Inner Colonies with a lot of their food sir!" he said proudly. Kaidan had probably heard all of this.

"How do you feel about the mission?"

"Sir, I think this is my chance to show UNSC brass what I'm made of. I'm ready to show that I'm one of the best! I'm excited for it sir."

Overeager. Tries to impress to hard. Must let him calm down. Better combat performance, plus, it will let him to think about things more.

"Jenkins, as long as you calm down and have your eyes down the trigger, we'll all be going home in one piece. Besides, this is a simple shakedown run. We're not going to be meeting resistance." Hopefully, he added. He knew that the beacons were important, hence the secrecy. The batarians or any Terminus System scum might try to get it in order to learn from the tech.

"Yes sir. I'll be sure to keep that in mind," Jenkins replied, with a little less enthusiasm.

Soon, he heard a beeping sound and Commander Adriana Alvarez's voice filtered through.

"Shepard, we have arrived in the system, but I cannot reach any of the ships in orbit. Auntie DOT is doing a scan," Adriana said over the comms. Nodding, he turned to the two marines. Better to be safe than sorry.

"Something wrong sir?" Jenkins asked and Shepard nodded.

"We just arrived but none of the ships are responding to our hails," he informed them. Should I? Ah, fuck it, better safe than sorry. "Armor up. Get ready for a HEV drop if things get dicey."

"Should we prep the Cougar?" Kaidan piped up. No.

"No. The Cougar has too much of a profile and we want to be discrete even if this is a simple shakedown run. Besides, we don't even know if there is something wrong. I'm heading up to the CIC. Meet me in the HEV Bay," he ordered and the two marines nodded their assertion, before saluting.

Heading up the elevator from the cargo bay was slow and tedious, far too slow for a simple corvette, but he was soon in the CIC. There the various crew members were trying to figure out what the hell was going on.

David Anderson was there, looking as Adriana directed her sailors. He was in nominal control but he wanted to see Adriana command.

Adriana was in control of the situation, standing over the galaxy map in the CIC. Anderson was in the corner, looking and watching.

"No good mam! A squadron from the 3rd Fleet was in charge of the defense of the planet. But we can't get any signal from anywhere!" the comms officer said frustratingly. That's not good. Standard operating procedures, even for stealth warships, meant that all lines of communication should have been open in UNSC space.

"Can we get into contact with the garrison or any civilians on the ground?" she asked, looking over the map.

That was when the sensors officer reported that they were picking up eight ships in orbit around the planet.

"Mam, 8 ships in orbit. Not UNSC."

"Damn," Adriana swore. "Alright, make sure that the stealth drive is on and inform Lieutenant Moreau to keep us nice and steady...and away. Comms, is there anything from the ground?"

"Let me see...scanning...signal from the 212! Right near the dig site! What the hell?! Its a distress signal!" the comms officer swore.

"Just patch me to the unit. Put it on the screen."

The tactical map changed from the planet to the ground, where UNSC marines in combat gear were scrambling. Assault rifle fire was heard while the powerful punch of battle rifles and DMRs rang familiar to Shepard's ears. Various marines were running, taking cover, getting hit by some...mass accelerator rounds. A marine's energy shielding flared golden right before a sniper round slammed into his skull, knocking him on his ass.

"This is Major Ashton. We are under assault! The dig site has been taken! All orbital assets destroyed!" the camera shook a little as the Major yelled over his shoulder. A marine yelled that she was nearly out of ammo. "We are taking heavy casualties, repeat, we are taking heavy casualties! Requesting any assistance-"

A loud explosion threw up dirt everywhere, forcing the major down. Two marines started to fire, only for both to be cut down in a matter of seconds. The major yelled at another man and then several mass accelerator rounds cut into him. The camera fell and the feed was buzzed out.

"Nothing else mam...whoever this is, they are jamming communications," the comms officer said solemnly, muttering curses.

"Sensors, what are those eight ships in orbit? Their origins, something?" Adriana asked.

"Commander...this can't be right. Sensors are saying those are geth ships in orbit! Four geth cruisers and frigates, all maintaining standard formation. The geth haven't been seen outside of the Veil for hundreds of years!" the sensors officer protested.

"Well, what can that the Normandy do to them?" she turned to the weapons control officer. The weapons control officer looked to ponder for a moment, going over their options.

"Pulse lasers can take out the frigates, EMP cannon and spinal gun should do the rest for the cruisers. We sneak up on them…" the weapons control officer murmured.

"And lay right into them. Like your thinking guns. But first, we need to get boots on the ground. Captain?" she turned the show to Anderson. The black officer started to think.

"We'll send in Shepard and his team to secure the beacon. The beacon is top priority. Is there any anti-air defenses?"

The sensors officer looked at his console. Scanning it, he continued to go through it and analyzed the data.

"No. It seems that they just jammed comms and isolated the dig site near the spaceport. The Pelican should be able fly without worrying Captain. However, I was unable to conduct a full scan. Don't want the geth to pick us up on their ladar," the officer told Anderson.

Captain Anderson took over from Commander Alvarez, his reputation as a calm and cool officer coming into play. He looked over the galaxy map and looked to think over their options.

"Alright. Normandy will drop Shepard and his team right next to the dig site. After that, the Pelican will extract the beacon and whatever survivors Shepard can find. In the meantime, the Normandy is about to deal with some geth," Anderson said, pounding his hand into his fist. The official commander of the Normandy looked at Adriana with bright eyes.

"Commander, this is your show and your crew. You're in charge. I'll be here for advice and guidance. Make it happen."

Adriana saluted before looking over the galaxy map again. She then looked over to Shepard and gestured him over.

"What do you think Lieutenant Commander?" she asked him.

I don't know. Geth, death, and a squadron of UNSC ships just...gone. We're supposed to have the most powerful ships in the galaxy. Who did this?

"Commander, I don't know. All I know is that securing that beacon is top priority."

"Dismissed. Get your team ready."

Shepard nodded, before he exited the CIC and headed back to the cargo bay.

One slow elevator ride later, he was near the HEV bay where Jenkins and Alenko waited.

The two ODSTs were strapped in full combat gear, with Jenkins carrying a BR85 battle rifle and a shotgun for close up work, while Alenko went with a MA6D and M6K magnum. Each of them were ready for battle and hovered over the small holotable that showed the dig site, along with the nearby spaceport. He shouted

"Get strapped in! We're heading down there in less than two mikes!" he shouted to the other ODSTs who nodded their heads and prepared themselves for what would happen soon.

"Shepard, you already know what you have to do. Secure the beacon and search for any survivors. Kilo 023 will be on stand by for pick up," Adriana's voice came over the PA system.

"Approaching drop point," Lieutenant Moreau's voice said over the PA system.

"Get ready team!" Shepard encouraged. The three marines were ready for ground combat. Taking his assault rifle, sub-machine gun and pistol, he attached them to the magnetic strips inside the pod. He then attached himself into the pod itself.

The pod represented home for the ODST. It was the pod that allowed to deploy rapidly and it was the pod that let arrive on planets safe. He was ready for this. But the geth? They had no intel on the geth. No one really thought about them; forgotten memories of a war three hundred years ago. Three hundred years since the quarians screwed up.

Shepard knew a quarian, someone he had conducted an anti-piracy raid with. He was part of the Migrant Fleet Marines, the naval infantry of the Migrant Fleet. The ship that Shepard had been stationed on, the UNSC In Amber Clad commanded by a Captain Cole. The In Amber Clad was on routine patrol when a Migrant Fleet ship came under attack by batarian pirates. Two MAC strikes later, the In Amber Clad was assisting the quarian vessel in exacting revenge. It was one of Shepard's first actions as an ODST, clearing out a batarian pirate base and earning his first Purple Heart.

Just before Elysium.

Jonathan put on his helmet, the visor polarizing. Soon, motion tracking, health bar and energy shielding were online. His VISR was tapping into the communications satellites around Eden Prime, though the jamming signal was still there.

Cracking his neck, he was awaiting the drop order. The pod closed.

It turned. His face showed up on the screens on the other marines' pod.

"We are dropping into hell troopers. We are green and mean! We are UNSC Marines, but not only that, we're Orbital Drop Shock Troopers! Keep your eyes down the sights, fingers on the trigger, and we get out of here in one piece!" he said spiritually over the comms to Alenko and Jenkins. The countdown sequence began. Three beats.

His brain started to pound, thoughts about death filtering in.

Two beats.

His heart started to accelerate, excitement pumping.

One beat.

Feet first into hell.

"And we're off!" The pilot in the cockpit of the Normandy gleefully said as three HEV pods dropped from the Normandy heading straight into the war-torn planet of Eden Prime.

And we're off.

Thank you for all the reviews, follows, and favorites! Also, I will only reply to reviews who are logged in. This is the only time I will respond to Guest reviews.

OMAC001: No Covenant.

aDarkOne: Oh, there's gonna be push back against the UNSC and humanity. Humanity has been here for almost sixty years, so they're more integrated, but there's also a bigger fear.

darkfinder: A small price to pay for peace. Probably will explore the UNSC-Turian War in another story after this one is done.

GUEST: Yes they would. UEG is still in charge of the government. Also, their ships are more powerful than the turians, but they are still massively outnumbered by the Citadel Alliance. Think about when the Council in the canon games refused to send a fleet into the Terminus. They would be able to defeat them, but they would be exhausted. Same might happen to the UNSC.

ThePizzaMan: Good point. Don't have an answer to that right now.

Josh1995: Chief won't be a biotic. He's pushing seventy in this, but he will be in it.

DanielRMaxwell: Won't have any spoilers, but UNSC don't anything about the Flood. Will there be flood in this story? Still to be determined. Also yes, I am.