Chapter 2

The Beacon

"Saren?" Dom asked his father. Both of them were walking down the halls of the Rayya, coming back from their daily shooting practice.

Dom had been learning well, having recently upgraded from a pistol to his father's sniper rifle. As it turned out, he was a natural, in part thanks to the teachings of his old man.

His father nodded. "Odd name, right? Apparently he's a Turian Spectre sent by the council to check...well, I don't know the details yet." He looked at his son. "That's why I'm going to meet him with Admiral Zorah. As Chief Military advisor, he'll want my input as well."

He said that last part wistfully, as if old memories were resurfacing. After a few seconds, Don decided to speak.

"Tali says that her father can get you a position in the Marines again, if you really want to go fight again."

The older Quarian sighed. "Yeah, he already offered me the position. I've been turning them down for thirteen years, you know..."

Dom was quiet for a few seconds, before asking a question that had been floating around in his head for a while. "Why did you quit after Mom died?"

His father stopped in his tracks, making his son stop a few steps later. The son turned back to see his father staring right at him. Yet somehow he knew that under his mask his eyes were glazed over, thinking.

After a bit, the Father's Omni-tool started beeping. He snapped back to reality and checked his wrist. He faced his son again.

"Okay, Dom, I've got to go. You know the rest of the way to Raan's place, right?" He asked.

When his son nodded, he turned to leave, before hesitating. Quickly, he walked towards Dom, wrapped his arms around him and whispered, "It's always great to spend time with you." He then got up and, with a little wave, walked down the ship's corridor.

Before disappearing around the corner, he yelled "Don't get into any trouble!", making his son giggle.

"You know me!" Son yelled back, chuckling when he heard his father's voice shout "Exactly!"

Smiling broadly, the teenage quarian turned and skipped in the opposite direction, also disappearing around the corner.

I zoned out, memories of the Rayya and my father resurfacing. Why? I asked myself. Why is that damn Turian coming back into my life?

"Hey, Dom, are you okay?" Powell snapped me out of my reverie. I looked up to see him and Kaiden looking at me, concerned. Ashley was already on the train, probably prepping her weapons or something.

I shook my head, more to get focused than as a response my friend's concern. "Don't worry, I'm fine." I turned to Kaiden, feeling a fire ignite inside me. "So are we going to chase after the Turian?" I asked, barely hiding my fury.

Kaiden didn't seem to notice as he replied. "Well, our mission is to secure the beacon. As such, we need to make sure Saren doesn't get it first." With a small smirk, he added. "Normally I'd say this is where we part ways, but you've helped us this much already, so we'd might as well bring you along till the end."

I let out a small chuckle. "I'd be glad to keep helping the Alliance, Kaiden." I shrugged. "After all, they allowed me to stay here nine months basically for free, so I do owe them at least a priceless protean artifact."

Kaiden nodded. "I'm glad to have you on board. Plus, if you're lucky, the captain might let you evacuate on the Normandy." He said, before facing Powell. "As for you, Ashley and I passed some scientists holding up near the dig site. Just knock and say you're human and they'll let you in."

Powell nodded, but as Kaiden turned to leave he yelled. "Wait! How am I supposed to defend myself if more of those robots attack me?"

One glance at Kaiden was all I needed to know that there were no more Geth that way. But I felt myself itching to go after Saren as soon as possible and a useless debate would just end up wasting time.

I took my pistol off my belt and held it out towards Powell. "Here. Just aim for the head and always take into account the recoil, okay?"

Powell hesitantly took the gun and held in his hand, examining it like a work of art, speechless. After a while, he clasped it to his own belt and turned to me.

"I...I don't know what to say..." He said, a smile slowly creeping its way back on his face.

I just smirked and said. "Don't mention it. I've got a spare anyways." I held my hand out, signaling the weird human motion that Powell had taught me the first time we met. "Thanks for being a great friend during my stay here."

Powell smiled, grasping my hand. "It's no problem. Good luck with the mission as well as the rest of your pilgrimage!" He shook my hand up and down while I tried to imitate the alien motion. I need to practice this "handshake" thing a bit more.

Finally, he let go and, with a nod, started jogging back the way we came, finally disappearing out of sight behind the trees I had used for cover.

Content, I faced Kaiden, signaling that I was ready to leave. He nodded and we both made our way towards the train, where Ashley was fiddling with the control panel, eager to run after Saren.

I shuddered when I thought of that name. Saren, a name that has sent shivers down my spine since the first time I heard it. He didn't seem like a nice guy to begin with, but after a while I realized that he was much more than a shady Spectre.

He was a true monster.

"That was a nice move." I turned my head to see Kaiden looking right at me, pensively. Apparently, he's still trying to decifer what kind of person I am. "What you did back there. It saved us a lot of time."

"Well," I replied, "It had to be done. Plus, I owed him one. He taught me a lot about human customs and culture during my stay here. I had to repay him, right?"

Kaiden nodded. "Yeah, I had the impression you two knew each-other. Which reminds me…" He stepped foot on the train first, then turned to face me. "You haven't exactly introduced yourself yet…"

Internally, I felt myself face-palm. Granted, we were in the middle of a war zone, fighting Geth left and right, but I had forgotten to tell the two soldiers that had been fighting alongside me this entire time my own name.

"Oh, sorry!" I quickly stammered, stepping on the train myself. "My name is Dom'Quijot nar Rayya, but I find it's much easier if people call me Dom."

I caught Kaiden actually stifle a snicker, which intrigued me. Kaiden must have felt my gaze, because he quickly switched back to his now trademarked stoic expression.

"Sorry", he apologized. "It's just that your name reminds me of an old tale from Earth." Now that was something the piqued my interest. I had always been curious of other species and their cultures, making me absorb every information I could find like a sponge.

"Do tell…" I nudged as we started walking to the front of the train. "We have time: it'll take a bit for the train to get there anyways-"

As soon as I said that, a loud banging sound got my attention from the front of the train. Both Kaiden and I rushed over to find Ashley bashing the controls loudly, yelling obscenities.

"Fucking piece of sh-"

She paused, then turned to face us, silently fuming. Kaiden decided to speak first.

"What's the problem here, Chief?" he asked.

Ashley, who was red with frustration and fury, gestured towards the train's control panel. "Those damn 'bots must have blocked access: I can't turn it on."

I glanced over her shoulder at the panel. It was human technology, of course, but it wasn't that foreign to me, especially considering I had spent nine months around this kind of tech. Even from where I was I could see the error sign that Ashley was infuriated about flash on and off on the screen. Well, I'd have to take a closer look, I quickly analyzed the error I was seeing, but from here it seems like a data overload, which is…

I snorted, moving in front of the panel myself. Ashley and Kaiden looked at me quizzically when I lifted up my left arm and opened up my Omni-Tool. I decided to explain while I fixed the problem.

"The Geth tried to impede our progress by injecting random codes into the train controls, thus overloading admittedly pretty basic Data core." I explained while wirelessly connecting my Omni-Tool to the control's interface. After succeeding, I expertly started typing in a code in order to reverse the Geth's defenses.

"Here's something funny though." I continued, now ridding the panel's memory banks of the unwanted data. "The Geth were sloppy. They only injected raw data into the banks. If they were clever, they could have installed a few VIs to renew lost data, in case of a power outage or, in this case, a hacker destroying unwanted data."

"That's fascinating." Kaiden said. "But can you fix it?"

As soon as he had uttered those words, the train slowly started moving after a loud crunching noise. I turned to face the humans, beaming.

"It's already done!" I proudly said. "It was an easy fix, really. I just had to, as you could put it in everyday terms, 'Throw away the trash' that was cluttering the system."

Kaiden smirked again, an action he seemed to become more and more comfortable doing around me, while Ashley just nodded.

"You seem to be good with Tech, Dom." Kaiden observed. I felt a bit of pride at receiving my statement that I grinned when I responded.

"Yeah, I'm one of the best on my home ship. Maybe even in the entire Flotilla…" I realized I was boasting a bit too much and started rubbing my neck awkwardly. "At least it makes up for my disgraceful lack of skill regarding mechanics…"

"Nevertheless," Kaiden said. "It's a good skill to have. Especially during this mission."

"About Saren, what's our plan? How are we going to stop him from getting to the beacon?" Ashley asked him. I decided to reply, since I knew the answer.

"The beacon is at least 4 meters tall, maybe more. Plus, it probably weighs several tons. Even with a few minute's head-start, there's no way he can steal the beacon before we get there."

"There, we catch him red-handed and turn him into the council." Kaiden pounded his fist into his palm, to emphasize his point.

I suddenly had a disturbing thought. I didn't think about it before but…it does seem like his style. "What if…his goal isn't to secure the beacon, but to destroy it?" I turned to Kaiden. "Also, I'm pretty sure Powell described his skin, thus his hands, as grey."

Kaiden stifled another snicker while Ashley rolled her eyes. "To be caught red-handed means to be caught in the act." She explained, seemingly calmer than before. "Like, you know, to be caught with blood on your hands after a murder."

"But either way…" Kaiden interjected. "It's an ancient Prothean artifact. Those things have lasted Tens of thousands of years, so it must be extremely hard to destroy. We'll have time to catch up to him."

With that, he turned to face the opposite way, watching the sidelines of the tracks for Geth activity, surely. Ashley gave me a…weird glance before sitting down on a nearby crate, examining her weapons.

Oh wait, that reminds me! I took my Sniper Rifle from my back and quickly took out the used thermal clip that had almost cost me my life. Those innovative cartridges are extremely useful, but sometimes they can get me into easily avoidable situations. Considering my rifle was the only known gun that used them, I could have easily gotten a different one, able to recharge automatically. But then I would have to get rid of this one…

I absentmindedly started brushing off some dirt from its side. Even though I knew it was there, I was surprised to uncover a small bronze plaque on its side. I read the inscription, even though I already knew what was written on it.

Vad'Quijot vas Rayya

For his service in the Main Flotilla Marine Corps

I felt sudden nostalgia, remembering how I learned to shoot. How I held the gun wrong the first few times, how I accidently dropped it on my foot once, how my father laughed while I tried to find a comfortable position to look through the scope…

I looked up at the burning landscape rolling by and was soon filled with hatred. A burning hatred for that grey and blue monster of a turian. I was not only ready to meet him, finally confront him about that special day that happened six years ago, but turn him in and expose him for the killer that he truly is.

With a new fire alight inside me, I took out a fresh thermal clip and clicked it into place. I then just watched the scenery pass by quickly, leaning against my most prized and cherished possession.

Am I ready?...No, but I don't have a choice now…

After about ten minutes of watching hills roll by, covered in soot and debris, I saw something extremely disturbing up ahead. I got up from the crate I was leaning against to stare blankly at the sight. I heard Kaiden and Ashley walk up behind me. Ashley let out a little gasp while Kaiden whispered "My God…".

We were almost at the end of the tracks, passing by what used to be living quarters for the dock workers and their families. I say used to because now it was almost unrecognizable. The walls of the buildings were charred and burned. Destroyed junk and Tech was littered everywhere, as if a wild animal had come crashing through, leaving nothing behind.

Yet there were things behind. Bodies, both on the ground and impaled on spikes, completed the disturbing scene. I felt my hand clenched when I saw a small body on the ground, its arm outstretched towards another, immortalizing the young human's final moments. This is all because of him… I know it!

My mind was on fire now. I felt that bringing Saren to justice wouldn't be good enough now, a view that I apparently shared with one of my companions.

"Jesus Christ…" Ashley muttered, before clenching her teeth. "Urgh! We need to get to Saren now and take him down! That reptile son of a bitch won't know what hit him before he's burning in Hell."

Kaiden sternly looked at Ashley. "Chief, calm down. Our job here is to secure the beacon and, if possible, capture Saren. He can't be punished by the council if we turn in his Ashes in a shoe box." Ashley was still frowning, but Kaiden ignored her and turned towards me.

"Are we almost there, Dom?" he asked. I wasn't listening, though. My eyes had been locked on a fire still burning inside one of the settlements. Through the flames, I could have sworn to see a familiar silhouette, fighting to douse the fire. Slowly but surely, the figure noiselessly fell to its knees, not able to take the smoke and heat.

"Dom!"

As soon as the figure slumped down completely, I snapped back to reality. I quickly faced Kaiden.

"Uh…Yeah. In fact, there it's right over there." I pointed behind the biotic, who squinted at the bridge in the distance. He was obviously thinking about a plan: I had to get my head in the game. With one last look at the fire, I grabbed my rifle and took position next to Ashley and Kaiden , who were looking at our destination.

When we got closer, I saw that there were Geth patrolling the bridge, as if they were standing guard. Even from this distance I could see that most of the troopers only had assault rifles, just like most of those I had faced up until now. I was about to say that the opposition would be no problem, but I caught a glimpse of another Geth trooper right next to the tracks.

I nudged Kaiden and pointed at the trooper, who was crouched over a strange, pill-shaped machine. On its back, clasped to its pale, lightly armored body, was unmistakably a rocket launcher. It was pulling wires in and out, reconnecting some and cutting others, when it felt us coming. It quickly stood up and ran up the steps to the bridge stretching over the train tracks, where the other Geth were getting ready for us as well.

As soon as it ran away, revealing to us the entirety of the strange contraption, I heard Kaiden pull out his assault rifle and Ashley curse loudly behind me.

"Shit!" She drew her own rifle, readying herself for a fight. "That place is swarming with Geth!"

"That's not all…" Kaiden informed us solemnly. He pointed at the pill-shaped object on the side of the tracks. "That machine is some kind of bomb." He faced me. "Looks like your assumption was right: Saren does want to destroy the beacon and he has the firepower to do it."

A bomb?! Oh crap…okay, don't panic… I immediately started thinking of a plan, with the bridge filled with synthetics and bombs drawing ever closer. I brought my hand to my chin and absentmindedly tapped at my visor, something I do a lot when brainstorming.

"Do you two know how to disarm bombs?" I asked.

Kaiden replied. "I do. I'm not the best mechanic, but I have an above-average level of physical Tech."

I nodded and smiled. "Perfect! Then we have a simple plan." I pointed at Kaiden. "You disarm the bomb while Ashley and I cover you. We move as a group to each and every bomb and take care of them."

When they didn't object, I grabbed my sniper rifle and waited for the train to stop at the docks. Why aren't the Geth shooting at us yet? I wondered, blocking out the sounds of Ashley stowing her rifle and cocking her shotgun and Kaiden readying his Omni-tool to assist him in disarming the bomb. I took a deep breath as the train started slowing down.

When it finally crawled to a stop, the Geth started firing at us immediately. The doors opened and we sprinted for the wall the bomb was propped up against. My ears were ringing as I heard my companions fire back at the Synthetics, flashing a grin whenever I heard one cry out in simulated pain.

I got to the bomb first, slamming my back against the wall. As Kaiden crouched down and immediately started pulling wires, aided by is glowing Omni-tool. I felt Ashley's body dive next to me: she had stopped shooting, probably in order to recharge her shotgun. I took this as a queue to start shooting myself.

I brought the barrel of my sniper rifle around the corner, peering through the scope at the Geth. I aimed for the closest one, who was also waiting for its weapons to recharge, probably. I pulled the trigger and the Synthetic fell to the ground. As I felt shots impacting my shield, I quickly switched targets, taking down two more Troopers before I had to duck behind the wall again.

I leant against the wall, quickly stowing away the spent Thermal clip. It only took a quick glance over at Kaiden to figure out that he was almost done. Ashley took my place at suppressing fire as I slinked over towards the Biotic. He got up, pulled out his own assault rifle and informed me of the situation.

"I rooted around the control panel a bit, which is why this took a bit longer than expected." He told me. "I managed to find out that there are three other bombs on the docks. I also found the timer the bombs are all set on. We only have about five minutes to disarm the other three."

"Then there's no time to waste." I nodded, before turning towards Ashley, who had switched to her Assault rifle. She quickly ducked towards me, Kaiden taking her place in knocking out the Geth.

"Okay then." I informed her, reprising once again the role of impromptu commander. "Kaiden says that there are three more bombs here that'll go off in about five minutes. We need to push up those stairs! I suggest you going first with the shotgun, then Kaiden and I take up the rear. From up on the bridge, we head towards the nearest bomb. Got it?"

Surprisingly, she didn't object. All she did was nod and take her position besides Kaiden. I smiled at her complacency as Kaiden ducked behind cover as well. I waited a second or tow for his shields to get steady again before shouting. "Okay Ashley! Go in 3, 2, 1…Go!"

Ashley practically ran up the stairs to the bridge, firing her shotgun at the appropriate times. When she was about a quarter up the steps, I signaled for Kaiden to go as well. I followed him up, shooting at the closest Geth and managing to disable two of them on my way up.

Thankfully, at the top, there was a crate that we could duck behind for cover shielding us from the ever-present, albeit smaller, Geth enemies. I crouched behind the crate in order to regain my breath, before springing up and firing two more shots into two unfortunate Geth heads. When I ducked down again to change thermal clips, I used the small moment of relaxation to look around at the scene, scouting out the location of the other bombs.

We were currently on the right side of the bridge. The entirety of the Geth forces had, for some reason, fallen back to the left side. Behind the small Synthetic army, I saw another pill-shaped bomb, tucked away in a corner of the dock. Behind us, where there was no Geth, we saw two bombs, along with some convenient crates that we could use for cover.

I nudged Kaiden and pointed behind us. When he nodded his approval, I did the same to Ashley.

"I'll stay here for cover: it's a good sniping position. You two go disable those bombs!" I yelled. They both nodded and, with just a few more shots in the Synthetic's direction, they started sprinting toward the machines, leaving me to hold off the Geth.

Immediately after they had left, I got up from my crouching position, slamming the new clip and locked onto a Geth Trooper careless enough to still be out in the open. Boom, Headshot! I smirked as it fell down, before focusing on another, than another. At the fourth Geth I had to duck and reload again, by after a few seconds I was back up and shooting.

After I had gone through my third clip, proud of my shooting abilities, I saw, out of the corner of my eye, Kaiden and Ashley moving onto the second bomb. I quickly changed my ammo clip and sprang up to cover them.

Three Geth had noticed them. I had already cut through the enemy forces well enough that there were now only a few left. In a last-ditch effort to stop them from disarming their bombs, they were firing wildly at the two, not even caring about making sure they were safe from my own shots.

I brought the scope up to my visor once more and quickly lodged three shots into the Geth's heads. As soon as I had put the third Trooper out of commission, I noticed another one out of the corner of my eye. It was only about ten feet away, surprisingly.

It was the pale Geth from before, the one that was arming the bombs when we had first arrived. It was slowly walking towards the bomb that my two companions were disarming. It reached its arm behind its back and took the giant weapon it had clasped there. It was a rocket launcher.

I instantly realized the Geth's plan. It's trying to blow up the bomb manually! I had to stop it, both for my teammates and for me. If that bomb would have blown up, the entire docks would be gone, myself included.

I panicked, shooting my rifle without aiming. Luckily, it hit the Geth specialist's hand, making it drop the Launcher. I brought my rifle to my eye in order to finish it off, but when I pulled the trigger, the gun didn't fire: I was out of ammo again.

"Kazuat!", I swore. I dropped my gun on the crate, only seeing one possible option left. The Geth had bent down and was now picking up the rocket launcher: this was my chance. I vaulted over the crate and ran towards the Specialist, tackling it to the ground, where we both fell with a CLANG!

The Rocket launcher spun a few feet away from us, unreachable while we were both wrestling on the floor. The synthetic responded to my tackle immediately by grabbing hold of my wrist, trying to yank my own hands off of it. I had gotten the element of surprise, but I was still without a weapon. I had to improvise.

The Geth found my other wrist and used my fragile position to turn the tables, flipping me over on my back. It let out its trademark garbled growl as it straddled me, holding down one of my arms while the other found its way to my neck.

I felt its three-fingered hand press down on my throat as I struggled. It was going to choke me if I didn't react. I thrashed around, clawing at the Specialist as it held me down.

As my vision started blurring, my free arm found a sharp piece of metal on the ground next to us. It was a piece of the Geth's light armor that I had chipped off when I had shot at him!

Without hesitating, I grabbed the armor piece and, with the last of my strength, slashed at the Geth's arm that was holding me down. It let out a garbled scream of simulated pain as a blue liquid gushed out of the wound, making its grip loosen just enough for me to tear away its arm. I let out a gasp, finally taking air back into my lungs again, as I got up with a jolt, adrenaline pumping through my body. The specialist was knocked back onto the ground, its mind undoubtedly working overtime to deal with my new actions.

Still holding the sharpened piece of armor, I grabbed the Geth by the broken arm and pulled it, flipping it over on its front, making sparks fly from the cut wires as it let out another garbled screech. If I didn't know what it had done to both my people and the colony, I would have felt sorry for it.

On its back leading up to its head was a group of wires that I knew were pretty important. Without a second thought, I brought my foot down onto the Geth's back, making sure it didn't squirm, grabbed hold of the wires with one hand and used the sharp piece of metal to tear each wire one by one. The synthetic was spastic at this point, screeching pathetically as its limbs convulsed and sparks flew from various wires.

It was then that I actually felt a small tinge of guilt. It was very small, yet it was still there. I tried cutting the wires faster, but they were too strong to cut in one single slash. The Specialist had stopped struggling, probably due to a power loss and its screams grew fainter and fainter until its light faded, leaving only a mangled platform behind.

I looked into the Geth's "eye", making sure that it was just a piece of hardware, before my entire body went limp as I let out a long sigh of exhaustion and relief. I collapsed on the ground, closing my eyes for just a second, savoring the fact that I was alive for just another day.

Footsteps running towards me reminded me that there was still a chance my life could end today. I tiredly lifted my head up to see Kaiden running across the bridge, Ashley following him closely. With a groan, I lifted myself up into a sitting position. I noticed that the two weren't shooting anymore, probably meaning that there was no Geth left.

Kaiden didn't stop running when he asked. "Dom? Are you okay?" When he saw me nod a reply, he started sprinting towards the bomb on the other side of the bridge. My eyes widened when I realized that the d job still wasn't done.

"Oh, crap!" I exclaimed, scrambling to get back on my feet. "I forgot about the bombs! How much time do we have left." When I got up, I felt a hand on my shoulder, holding me back rather than comforting.

"Calm down, Quarian!" Ashley said, removing her hand when I turned to face her. "We've got plenty of time. Since you took care of the Geth on this side, we were able to disarm the bombs quickly. Good call, by the way…" She said the last part while gritting her teeth, as if she couldn't bear to say it normally.

I smirked underneath my helmet. "What is this I hear?" I teased, mockingly bringing my hand up to the side of my head, as if I were listening for something. "Ashley Williams giving me, a Quarian, a compliment?"

She pushed past me, not even looking me in the eye. "Don't get used to it..." she muttered. I grabbed my rifle from the crate and followed her, hoping that I hadn't hurt her pride or something.

We walked in silence to the other side. Next to the bomb Kaiden was working hard to disarm, a large opening in the wall led to some sort of balcony. From there, we could see the destroyed landscape perfectly, even though the sight of it still made me clench my fist in anger.

It's almost done...I reassured myself. We only have to get the beacon and bring Saren to justice...my works basically done. Although...

"Hey!" I asked Ashley, who was a few feet ahead of me as we rounded the corner to the Balcony. "Did you see the beacon around here when you were defusing those bombs? I mean, we st-"

I bumped into Ashley, who's military build did not waver against my untrained, scrawny frame. She seemed to have stopped suddenly, staring at something in front of her. Puzzled, I leaned to the side to catch a glance of my own.

"What're you looking a-" The rest of my question was lost as I stood, agape, in front of the Prothean beacon. I had seen it from afar when they had dug it up, but seeing it up close was a different experience altogether.

The beacon was a sleek, black monolith, scraping the skies at about twelve feet tall. It towered over us literally, but it also seemed to release a sort of...energy. It's hard to explain how it felt, you can only understand by experiencing it.

"Woah..." I breathlessly said. "That's...it's..."

I heard footsteps behind me, Ashley already having started to walk over to the beacon for a closer look. I turned to see Kaiden, smirking at the artifact with pride in his eyes.

"This..." he started saying."Is what we came for!"

I smiled at his words, looking back at the beacon. I felt happy, knowing that I had helped out these two strangers.

"Hopefully it'll help humanity get the recognition it deserves!" I happily expressed. Kaiden's own expression faltered as he tore his eyes away from the beacon to look at me.

"Do we really deserve it, though?" He sincerely asked me. "We're still new to the galaxy. Most humans aren't even used to the concept of alien life, yet."

"Pfff!" I snorted. "Every species has people like that! What you lack in experience you guys make up in courage, resourcefulness and, to be honest, a crap-ton of luck!"

My words must have been reassuring him, because his head perked up. He let loose another smile.

"Thank you, Dom." He replied, before frowning again. "Too bad that luck didn't help us nab Saren. He's nowhere to be found..." My heart clenched: Saren was still at large.

Kaiden shrugged it off and looked at the Prothean artifact again. "Oh well, at least we got what we came for." With that, he brought his hand up to his temple. I stood staring at the beacon for a little longer.

It felt as if it was calling for me, beckoning me towards it. I wondered what kind of purpose it served back in the Prothean times. Maybe it was a kind of Comm device, or a vid-player. In any case, it's practically priceless.

I looked at Kaiden again when he started talking. "This is Lieutenant Alenko calling Normandy, do you copy, Normandy?...Yes, we have secured the beacon and are waiting for ex-"

A strained cry made my head spin around to the beacon again. Ashley was now about six feet from it, dragging her feet along the floor. She was waving her arms about, as if she was resisting an invisible pull.

"Chief!" Kaiden yelled, not knowing what to do when put on the spot. I reacted immediately, running as fast as I could towards Ashley, clipping my rifle of my back swiftly.

I grabbed Ashley by the arm and yanked her out of the way. She rolled a few feet away, before scrambling to her feet. I could make out the look of confusion on her face for only a few seconds, before I felt my body get yanked forward, towards the beacon.

I tried struggling, planting my feet into the ground, but it was useless as I was lifted up into the air violently. I gritted my teeth, unable to scream as my body was contracted in place. Then, like a sniper shot to the face, I experienced the most ear-splitting headache.

Death, destruction, hills red with blood.

I saw...something, through my daze.

Ships coming, planets destroyed, civilizations toppled.

I closed my eyes in pain: it was unbearable. Yet even with my eyes closed, I still saw the horrid vision.

Death count rising. Ten thousand, twenty million, eight billion, half of the galaxy.

I wanted it to stop! I tried begging, yelling, but my voice was just a croak in my throat.

They cannot be stopped. They will not die. They are coming to harvest us.

I could barely breath, but I still tried to crack open one eye.

A giant ship, coming from an unknown and unexplored region of space, let out a shrill metallic cry, booming from across the hills, mountains and plains, cities crumbling in ruins.

We are the crops and they are the reapers.

I was torn from the strange vision with an explosion, coming from only a few feet away. Through my half-lidded eyes I saw the beacon was the victim, having self-destructed. In a split-second I received a painful stab in my left shoulder, tearing through my suit already fragile from the Husk attack, before falling to the ground, banging the back of my head on the concrete below.

My ears were ringing and my vision was blurred. I could barely make out a silhouette at my side, crouching over me. I could also hardly hear a vice behind the figure, shouting into his Comm, saying words that I was too weak to understand.

I turned my head slowly to look at my left shoulder. I felt pain, horrible pain, as well as a wet sensation. Sure enough, I saw a piece of shrapnel stuck in my shoulder, my suit slowly taking on a reddish tint. As if it had just happened, the weight of the situation impacted me as I felt my suit automatically pump antibiotics into my system. My muscles relaxed due to the live-saving drugs.

In my last second of consciousness, I felt two arms below me, picking me up. We started moving, my body bobbing up and down with every step they took. I wanted to reach out to that person, ask who they were, but I was too weak to even move.

I blacked out, falling into a hopefully dreamless sleep.

Sorry for the wait, I had to go to Spain, then school started and...yeah.

Anyways, here you are! The second chapter! Thank you for following and for the two who left reviews without me even having to ask! Thank you so much for your support, Dragon Wyrm and seabo76!

If you want to leave feedback, questions or Death threats in the reviews, don't hesitate to do so! I love interacting with strangers over the internet!

Anyways, till next time!

Next Time:

Dom wakes up, surprisingly, on the Normandy, where he meets new friends and allies. The ship is en route to the Citadel, where Kaiden, Ashley and Dom can bring Saren to justice.

Will they succeed, or will pointless bureaucracy weigh them down? Who jumped in to help Dom when he was dying? Will this have any repercussions on his health? Those questions will be answered in the next Chapter!

The Masked Commander