OoO( 1 )OoO
2183.125 CE - 1833 CST
Human Embassy - Presidium, Citadel
It had been a long day in the embassy for the voice of humanity. It was only a week ago since the human ambassador on the Citadel, Donnel Udina, made the case to the Council. A case that had laid dormant for nearly twenty years. Thinking back on it now, the ambassador couldn't help but feel as if their decision had already been made from the time that the request left his mouth, and the week long wait was just a chance to make him squirm. Regardless of their motives, he got what he asked for. Another chance at introducing a human into the Special Tactics and Reconnaissance elite, or Spectre for short.
When he first heard about the shadowy group of individuals, he couldn't say that he liked the idea of the 'Right Hand of the Council' being free to do as they pleased, so long as they had the blessing of the holier than thou Council members. But after watching them move in and out of the shadows for years, he had to say that it definitely had potential. Especially if a human were given the role of Spectre. What that would mean for humanity as a whole was that they were one step closer to achieving heights that many of the other races had not. Races like the exo-suit wearing Volus, the jellyfish-like Hanar, the lost Quarians, and the lumbering Elcor. They had all been a part of the galactic civilization long before humans, but none of them yet had a seat on the Council. For humans to achieve such grandeur before them would admittedly put a grin of smug satisfaction on his face.
But, before any of that, they had to do the impossible. They had to pick someone from the oceans of recommendations from every corner of Earth and the galaxy itself to find the one person who could get the job done. Someone who would pick up the title of Spectre and wield it like a flaming sword. Someone who would show the Council the value of having humanity on their side. And doing so was no easy task. He had already tossed out any dossiers for candidates that had a questionable history. Good though they may be, passing the Councilors someone whose past could be dug up as dirt was out of the question.
Of course, there had been nearly a thousand recommendations from the Alliance Military itself. Everything from Gunnery Sergeants to Admirals. There was even one recommendation for a Sentinel-Class biotic by the name of Carlos Rivera who had once managed to save hundreds of lives by cushioning the fall of a commercial class spacecraft. It had fallen from orbit because of a catastrophic engine rupture caused by tainted element zero in the core of the engine. The result was an explosion that nearly took the entire shuttle out. But the man had miraculously pulled it off, and held a biotic lift maneuver just before it hit the ground, landing it safely.
The incident resulted in the arrest of Dorin Fal, the volus CEO of Narhu Combine mining company, and the recall of all eezo shipped by the bribed official over the last year. The man was also given a Congressional Gold Medal for his willingness to nearly hemorrhage his brain to try and save the lives aboard the ship. But as the ambassador looked over the rest of the man's file, he became more and more disappointed. He had served in the military, but only a minimum contract of four years. Afterwards, he went back to his home on Terra Nova and continued to live as a labor worker so that he could be near his family again. He had little to no combat experience, and from the looks of it, his only method of fighting included biotics. This meant that he'd have to constantly pause mid-fight in order to allow his abilities to naturally recharge.
The man was certainly a hero, but he was no Spectre. Setting the datapad off to the side, the tired man let out a sigh. "This is harder than I thought." he said firmly before reaching over to grab his cup of coffee. It had long gone cold by now. Still, it did its job.
"Actually, I think our job may just be finished. Well, as far as the looking goes..." said the man across from him. Donnel Udina looked up at him with interest. His current assistant in the search for a Spectre candidate was in fact the reason why they needed one now. Captain David Anderson, who was himself a contender for the most decorated candidate in the Alliance Military, was intended to be the first human Spectre eighteen years ago under his predecessor, Ambassador Goyle. But the trial he was sent on was classified as a critical mission failure, leading to the rapid classification of the mission report, and the squashing of the man's hopes of becoming a Spectre.
His eyes moved down from the captain's dark brown eyes to the datapad he was holding. "Find someone that impressed you?" he asked, reaching over for the dossier. Anderson handed him the paperwork, and all he had to do was read the name on the file in order to respect the choice himself. "Lieutenant Commander Jane Lilith Shepard. I've heard about her."
"We all have. She was already a known asset because of her excellent service record. Her initial scores in boot camp surpassed even the drill instructor's own personal bests. She was chosen as a platoon leader, and led every single one of her squad through the entire six month training camp to record breaking scores. Firing range, combatives, electronic warfare, medical, survival, all perfect. Everything they threw at her came back in a neatly gift-wrapped package with a bow on top." said Anderson as he took a new, warm cup of coffee from Udina's assistant.
The ambassador nodded at the light-skinned girl before turning back to the woman's file. "In college at the age of sixteen, earned her bachelor's degree in xenolinguistics with progress in the Asari Alai dialect and Turian Common. As well as a bachelor's at the same time in electrical engineering. Both earned with exceptional marks in record times as well."
Anderson nodded after taking a sip of the warm brew. "Both of which directly reflect in her military record. She was flagged for Special Forces almost immediately after her first assignment as XO on the SSV Alexandria as a staff lieutenant. They were called to respond to a terrorist attack on Amaterasu's capital city of Okamiden. Her CO, one Lieutenant Commander Tiberius Jamal had her leading a scouting party into the building when a jamming signal knocked out her comms and her translators. She found an asari survivor inside and used her xenolinguistics skill to talk to her, and as a result got info on exactly who was responsible."
"According to the news report, the asari who barely spoke a word of galactic common trusted Shepard as a result of her expert skill in linguistics, and melded with her to share her knowledge of the culprit. She then led a manhunt throughout the city and found him within minutes. Shortly afterwards, the batarian captive spilled plans for a bigger attack on the nearby fleet depot." said Undina as he nodded at his assistant after she set yet another recommendation on the desk.
Anderson continued where he left off. "After shooting the insurgent's car down, resulting in injury to his eyes, she extracted information from him. Alerting the fleet of the impending attack, they managed to capture one of the ships, but turned the others into scrap, leaving the fleet depot without a scratch. She was then given a silver star, the key to the city of Okamiden, and a promotion to Lieutenant Commander." read Anderson as he set the cup of coffee aside.
"With a trophy like that on the shelf, you could easily cruise to retirement. But she even managed to one up that just four years later while on shore leave." said Udina, his hairs nearly standing on end as he read the name Elysium on the report.
"She seems to have a knack for one upping herself." said the Captain as he smirked at the ambassador.
Udina nodded, scratching his chin as his eyes devoured the record before him. She's dealt with extremists, terrorists, pirates, raiders, tyrants, and more at the end of her proficient sniper scope. And on the other end, she had also had a hand in over fifteen hundred defectors from Kar'shan, taking political outcasts, slaves, and even a former Hegemon from batarian clutches and placed them in a colony of their own to live life as freely as the humans do. She was a humanitarian, and whatever the equivalent was for aliens, which would be amazing for her image when being presented. She spoke multiple xeno-languages, had enough combat experience to put some admirals to shame, and all the while never once had a mark on her record. And this was just what they knew about. Many of her files were deemed classified by the UNE, or the Unified Nations of Earth. He could get them of course, but the amount of work he'd have to do to get his eyes on them would be far more than he could afford.
Even so, her public record, as well as the classified stuff he had been given with her recommendation was more than enough to make the decision. "Let's get her in here. The Council approved to have our candidate partner with another Spectre of their choosing. Let's hope she plays well with others."
"Sir?" called his assistant from her office in the front.
"What is it Tonya?" he asked, slightly annoyed about being interrupted.
"Councilor Tevos is on the holocom." she said before ducking back into her office, the door automatically closing behind her.
"Good timing I suppose." said Udina as he stood. "Captain, would you mind waiting with my assistant for a moment?" Anderson nodded, standing himself and stepping out of the lush office. Anderson tapped a key on his terminal and the door lit up, creating a sound-proof shield over the door before he finally stepped towards the holocom with a smile on his face. Shepard was the perfect piece for his big picture plan. It would take a while. Months, maybe even years. But eventually, with a human Spectre of her calibur, they'd have to concede. As the asari councilor's image appeared in front of him, he greeted her with a nod of respect. "Councilor Tevos. We have selected the candidate."
She eyed him curiously before finally speaking. "I'm happy to hear that Ambassador. But, it appears that we will have to put that on hold for the moment." she said elegantly. Were it not for the words she spoke, just hearing her voice would have put him in a relaxed state. She was like a siren of old, whose lovely voice led many sailors to a watery doom.
But as the words left her mouth, a mask of anger covered his face. "On hold!? It's been on hold for almost twenty years now!"
"Ambassador Udina, you need to learn to stay collected in situations like this. I meant to put it on hold for a few days, as a situation has arisen on one of your own colonies. A situation which affects the galaxy as a whole." she said with a soft smile.
He stared at her for a long moment. Did she just push his buttons? She knew what the candidacy meant to him, and that any suggestion of putting it off would be met with outrage. But in her initial statement, she left out the time span she had intended. Did she do it intentionally to throw him off? He turned his face to a mask of stone, not willing to give her any more sadistic joy if she had played him. "I'm afraid I haven't Councilor. We've been knee deep in Spectre candidates for the last two days."
She nodded her understanding. "Understood. The report should make its way to your desk shortly, but the Council has decided to give it a Level 5 Classification."Udina widened his eyes at the claim, knowing that in the Council classification system, level 5 was the highest. It meant that only the Councilor's themselves, and Spectres were able to see the records. "What has happened that warrants a Level 5 Classification Councilor?"
"Are you familiar with Eden Prime?" asked Tevos in that charming voice.
"A farming colony out in the Exodus Cluster. There's more of a chance of a rogue VI killing me than something exciting happening there." he said disarmingly.
The Councilor chuckled before she continued. "Then I would avoid Avina for a few days Ambassador. Because it appears that unexciting colony has just discovered a prothean beacon while excavating."Udina's eyes opened wider than they ever had before. "A beacon!? On Eden Prime!?" he asked incredulously.
She nodded to him. "The report should be on your terminal now. We're sending a Spectre to monitor the extraction of the beacon. They're preparing for flight as we speak."The gravity of the situation hit him like a wrecking ball. But even so, he composed himself. "Councilor, before you told me that another Spectre would be tagging along with our candidate to give you mission reports and to inspect the quality of our choice." he said, getting ready to thrust forward a risky idea. But she cut in before he had the chance.
"I too thought that this task would be a good assessment of your choice for the Spectre Candidacy. That's why with your report is an approval from the Council to have them drafted." she said with a knowing smile. He couldn't stop himself from showing his surprise at her foresight.
Instead, he simply nodded. "Thank you Councilor. I'll get their file to you immediately so you can see for yourself, and I'll call her in from her current duty station immediately."
"I await with anticipation Ambassador. I do hope your selection succeeds this time." she said before the image of her elegant form vanished from the comm.
Udina sighed to himself, knowing that he had been outdone again. Turning around, he headed to his computer and opened the file. "She damn well better." was all he had to say on the matter.
OoOoO
2183.126 CE - 1232 CST
XO Quarters - SSV NormandyAbruptness was never something she liked. Despite that, it was something she was familiar with. She had made a skill of rolling with the punches, but never liked having to. So when she was pulled from her duty at Armstrong Station on Luna, where she was assisting with the training of new potential special forces recruits, she just grumbled all the way to the Citadel, the flower shaped, ancient space station left behind by the protheans.
When she had arrived, she was confronted by Captain Anderson, who she had the pleasure of meeting before during her many reports back to Earth and the UNE. They had only been acquaintances previously, but she knew when she met him in the docking bay of the Citadel that this wasn't going to be the same thing. He took her to the human embassy on the Presidium or the center ring of the station. She had only been there once on business after her dealings on Shanxi. If she were honest, she loved the Citadel, and would have liked to stay longer. But her duty to the Alliance was first and foremost.
And once again she found herself pulled to the beautiful Presidium, only to be told she would be leaving the next day under Captain Anderson's command. She shouldn't complain really. Before she became an N7 recruit, she'd had a lot of CO's that couldn't lead to save their life. So having someone she knew was competent at the wheel was comforting at least. Plus, she got to actually spend the night on the Citadel and go out for an actual dinner before leaving, rather than eating at the mess hall. Rarely in all her time spent on Alliance military stations and ships had she had the chance to try alien cuisine.
Though, according to her professor in her xenolinguistics class, due to the turian's dextro-amino DNA, trying their food would end in a very bad day in the bathroom for humans. Salarian food was edible, however most of it consisted of insects, making it less appealing to humans. Asari however had a large list of delectable foods for her to explore, and did she. She spent hours in a Presidium restaurant called "The Blue Pearl." According to the waitress, the name came from stones similar to pearls that were created inside an organ of one of Thessia's largest predators. Like humans, these gems were commonly used in jewelry and clothing.
After the interesting conversation, she devoured all kinds of fish and fruit that the planet had to offer. Afterwards, she had a nice sleep in the hotel that the Alliance had put her in. Then came the call. She donned her armor, checked her weapons out of C-Sec, and made her way to the ship known as the Normandy.
Now, as she sat on her bunk, she felt restless. Something about this didn't fit. She was Special Forces, so why would they pull her onto a test mission for a new ship? And for that matter, why the hell would they put a Spectre of all things on the ship as well? Something was definitely going on, and she was being left out of the loop. She didn't like that at all.
Her omni-tool lit up all the sudden, and she heard the call that they were approaching the relay. "The Arcturus Prime Relay is in range." Wanting to shake off some of her superstition about what was going on, she stood to her armored feet and left the quarters. Returning the salute of the NCO she passed, she made her way up the stairs to the command deck. "Initiation transmission sequence." said the voice as she passed another officer who gave her a nod. She locked eyes with the navigation officer as she walked around the awkwardly large CIC. He gave her an odd, knowing smile. But she continued past him as the pilot spoke again. "We are connected. Calculating transit mass and destination."She stepped up onto the walkway which led directly to the cockpit, officers on either side working diligently at their stations. One noticed her and nodded. "Commander."
She nodded back and continued past to finally step up to the two figures seated in the cockpit, and the turian Spectre himself. She stopped next to the much taller figure and stared out the viewport. "All stations secure for transit. Board is green, approach run has begun." The Normandy approached the massive relay ahead, and as soon as they were within range, the core of the enormous prothean wonder lit up like a sun. At the same time, the gyroscopic shield generators, presumably to protect any ships using the relay from the massive amount of radiation that the core put off, began spinning faster around the glowing center. "Hitting the relay in 3, 2, 1…"As he finished, a bolt of energy lashing out at the ship and beginning to slide between the two long tuning fork-like structures of the relay, picking up speed. Finally, with the energy pulling the ship with it, it launched faster until it slingshotted the ship into the relay corridor.
Finally, the pilot spoke without the ship-wide intercom. "Thrusters, check. Navigation, check. Internal emission sinks, engaged. All systems online. Drift, just under 1500 K."
The turian next to her spoke up. "Fifteen hundred is good. Your captain will be pleased." he said simply, then turned and walked back the way she had just come.
The pilot, who was nicknamed "Joker" for some odd reason, watched as the turian left, then looked back towards his console with a sour look on his face. "I hate that guy."
The staff lieutenant seated next to him looked at him oddly. "Nihlus just gave you a compliment...and you hate him?" he asked, an amused smirk across his handsome features.
In his huffy, annoyed tone, the pilot lashed back. "You 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. That's incredible!" he said shooting the staff lieutenant a dirty glance. "Besides, Spectres are trouble. I don't like having him on board. Call me paranoid."
"You're paranoid. The Council helped fund this project, they have a right to send someone to keep an eye on their investment." said the LT as he went back to his console.
Joker rolled his eyes as he adjusted the drift of the ship. "Yeah, that's the 'official story.'" he said, using air quotes to add to his sarcasm. "But only an idiot believes the official story."
Finally, Shepard interjected. She would have liked to add her feelings on the matter, and express her doubts about the official story, as Joker called it. But as the executive officer aboard the ship, one of her duties was not to undermine the captain. "Are you always expecting the worst?" she asked the comical pilot.
Joker looked up at her with a stern look on his face. "Bad feelings are an occupational hazard. A crew like this doesn't go anywhere unless there's a reason. We've got a Spectre who needs no explanation. Captain Anderson who's more decordated than a Christmas tree. And then there's you Commander."
She raised her eyebrow curiously. "Me?"
"Yeah you, the Special Forces soldier who had a medal bigger than some dinner plates pinned on her chest after she single-handedly saved Elysium from a raid of every pirate in the Verge. I mean, you have action figures now!" said the pilot with a large grin.
"I have action figures!?" she asked bewildered.
He chuckled to himself as he turned back to the pilot console. "Not really. But after everything you've done, I wouldn't be surprised to one day wake up and have Zana Romanov knocking on your door."
"The movie director?" asked Shepard as she smirked at the man, understanding his nickname much better after the exchange. "I was curious about why I was pulled from my station for this task. It seemed rather urgent."
"I don't know Commander. The ship is stealthy, you're stealthy…" he said shrugging. "Maybe they needed your advice on how to make someone believe they were attacked by a poltergeist."
Her smirk turned to a chuckle as the pilot's comm lit up. "Joker, status report!""Just cleared the mass relay Captain. Stealth systems engaged. Everything looks solid!" reported the man as he adjusted his hat, his voice returning to its semi-professional demeanor.
"Good. Find a comm buoy and link us into the network. I want mission reports relayed back to Alliance brass and the Council before we reach Eden Prime." said the captain through the comm.
"Aye aye Captain. Better brace yourself sir, I think Nihlus is headed your way." said Joker, his less serious tone returning slightly. It was interesting watching him switch his professionalism off and on when dealing with Captain Anderson. The amount of respect he had for the captain must be immense.
"He's already here Lieutenant…" replied the captain in a no-nonsense tone. Joker just flinched and shook his head. "Tell Commander Shepard to meet me in the comm room for debriefing." said Anderson as he ended the conversation with a beep.
"You get that Commander?" asked Joker, turning his head towards her slightly before turning back to the console.
"Great. You pissed off the Captain and now I get to deal with it." said Shepard with her playful smirk on her face.
Once he saw her joking demeanor, he replied in kind. "It's not my fault. The Captain's always in a bad mood."
The staff lieutenant kept his eyes locked onto the information in front of him. "Only when he talks to you Joker."
OoOoO
When Shepard arrived in the comm room, she was met with the sight of Nihlus, the tall turian Spectre that she had seen in the cockpit. As she stepped inside, he moved forward and greeted her. Her eyes examined him quickly, noting that his dark carapace and facial markings were striking similar to her longtime friend from Shanxi. "Commander Shepard! I was hoping you'd get here first. It will give us a chance to talk." he spoke in that heavily flanged turian voice.
She crossed her arms as she eyed the turian. She had heard of the Spectres before, and wasn't sure she liked an unregulated military force. But she had never met one personally, so she had always saved her judgements. Now, she would get the chance she needed. Either way, she was still suspicious of his presence aboard the ship. As cartooney and comical as Joker was, he wasn't wrong about something going unexplained on board the Normandy. "What about?"
He paced in front of her, not in a nervous manner as humans normally do. But his body language...as far as she could read it, was one of boredom. "I'm interested in this world we're going to...Eden Prime. I've heard it's quite beautiful."
She shrugged as she watched him move back and forth. "I've never been there."
"But you know of it. It's become something of a symbol for your people, hasn't it?" he asked as he finally looked her in the eyes. "Proof that humanity can not only establish colonies across the galaxy, but protect them as well." Finally, he turned away and folded his arms behind his back. "But how safe is it really?" he finished, his tone slightly more grim.
Shepard uncrossed her arms and stepped forward. "Are you trying to scare me Spectre?" she asked, a hint of confrontation in her otherwise flat tone. She didn't like people talking so blatantly in foreshadowing monologues. It only ever led to trouble.
But the spectre turned around, his voice lightening again. "Your people are still newcomers Shepard. The galaxy can be a dangerous place. I find myself wondering if the Alliance is truly ready for this." he said as he crossed his own arms over his broad chest.
Before she had a chance to ask what he was talking about, Captain Anderson entered the room and stepped up to them both. Nodding to her, he turned and looked to Nihlus. "I think it's about time we told the Commander what's really going on." he said in an urgent tone. Despite his normally stone-cold professional demeanor, with his military fade cut, his Class A uniform, and all of his medals pinned on his chest, he now looked somewhat anxious.
Nihlus turned to Shepard, his eyes set on her. "This mission is far more than just a simple shakedown run."
The words, though hardly surprising, unnerved her. "I managed to figure out that much. So does someone want to tell me what's actually going on?" she asked, looking between them.
Anderson was the first to speak up. "Well, there's two things actually. First, we're not doing a shakedown run. The Normandy, as you may have heard, has some of the most top of the line stealth technological advances in the history of the galaxy built into it. And we're using those advances to make a covert pickup on the surface of Eden Prime."
"That seems like a rather mundane thing to keep from the crew." she said, then her mind flashed back to her many pickups of batarian defectors. "Unless the package warrants such discretion."
He simply nodded. "A research team on Eden Prime unearthed some kind of alien technology during a dig a few days ago. After thorough examination, it was found to be a beacon of Prothean origin."
Shepard's eyes widened at the claim of the find. "Oh…" was all she said for a long moment. But the first question to spill out of her mouth was, "Is it intact?"
"We wouldn't be making a covert drop onto a human world for a broken beacon Shepard." said Nihlus, slight amusement present in his voice. He seemed to enjoy her shock at what she was hearing.
Anderson spoke up again. "This is big Shepard. The last time humanity made a discovery like this, it jumped our technology forward two hundred years." he said, then a dark look covered his features. "But Eden Prime is a farming colony, not a research colony. It doesn't have the facilities to handle something so technologically advanced. That's why we need to get in there as quietly as possible and pick it up, so we can bring it back to the Citadel for proper study."
"Obviously this goes beyond mere human interests Commander. This discovery could affect every species in Council Space." said Nihlus as he stepped forward, completing a triangle of the three.
Shepard looked at them both, something nagging at her senses. She looked at the Spectre curiously. "You wouldn't be here, and neither would the Normandy if you weren't expecting trouble. So, are you?"
"I'm always expecting trouble." said the turian firmly. "Your world may be stuffed away safely inside Alliance space, but a discovery of this magnitude could justify a war to some of those in the Terminus Systems. That's why you were only informed just now, and the rest of the crew won't be until we reach Eden Prime airspace. We don't want any extracurricular calls slipping through with the mission reports."
"Understood. Now that I have a grasp on that situation, what's the second thing you mentioned?" she asked as she looked at Anderson. His face suddenly broke into a small grin.
"Nihlus isn't just here for the beacon Shepard. He's also here for you." said the human captain.
Shepard stared at him for a moment, then looked over at Nihlus who was giving her a puzzling stare. "Look captain, me and a turian had a thing once, but…"
"For an evaluation Shepard." said the man as he cut her off before she said anything embarrassing.
"Did you say, you and a turian had a thing once? What does that even mean?" asked the Spectre as he looked over at Anderson.
"Look Shepard, the Alliance has been pushing for this for a long time. 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." said Anderson as he eyed her curiously.
"Oh, I guess that's a less creepy reason why he's been following me around the ship." she said with a shrug of her shoulders.
"You noticed that did you?" he asked, his mandibles twitching in slight surprise at having been caught.
"You have very unique footsteps Spectre, might want to try softer shoes if you're following someone. Maybe socks." she said with a grin.
As the turian chuckled, Anderson just sighed and shook his head. "Dear god Commander, I think Joker is starting to rub off on you."
"Getting back on topic, you held off an assault during the Blitz single-handed. You showed not only courage, but also incredible skill. Which is why I accepted pushing your file to the top of the list when the Council asked who I thought would make a good candidate." said Nihlus as he stepped next to the captain.
"You seem rather eager to have me here." said Shepard curiously, noting his chipper attitude towards the situation.
"Not all turians resent humanity. Some of us see the potential in your species. We see what you have to offer to the rest of the galaxy, and to the Spectres. We are an elite group. And as many candidates as we may have at any given time, it's rare to find an individual with the skills we seek. I don't care that you're human, Shepard. I only care that you can get the job done." he said firmly, slightly inflating what little pride she allowed herself to have.
Turning to Anderson, Shepard eyed him curiously. "Well then, I suppose there's no refusing."
"Earth needs this, Shepard. We're counting on you." he said solemnly. She detected a twinge of sorrow in his voice, but dropped it to save for another day.
"Oh good, no pressure." she said, getting a stern grin from the captain.
"I need to see your skills for myself, Commander. Eden Prime will be the first of several missions together." said the turian.
"And on this mission?" asked the Commander curiously, still unsure who was giving the orders currently between the two.
"You'll be in charge of the ground team. Secure the beacon and get it onto the ship as soon as possible. Nihlus will accompany you to observe the mission." said Anderson as he stood at a rigid parade rest.
"Well, I'm as ready as it gets." she responded, letting out a sigh that released the tension of not knowing her situation. Every mission she had run before was a success due to the mountainous piles of data she went through prior to the actual event. Going into one now with as little as she knew was bothersome, but she could run with it now that she knew the details.
"Good. We should be nearing Eden-" started Anderson, but Joker cut him off over the intercom.
"Captain, we've got a problem!" said the comedic man, his tone now dead serious. The contrast made Jane's finger twitch, making her want to reach for her rifle.
Likely knowing he wouldn't be interrupted unless it was an emergency, the captain turned towards the ceiling mounted intercom. "What's wrong Joker?"
"It's a transmission from Eden Prime we received as soon as we left the corridor, sir. You better take a look at this." responded the pilot.
"Have Lieutenant Haley put it up on the screen back here." ordered the captain as he, Shepard and Nihlus all turned towards the awaited screen. It was only seconds before the chilling video finally appeared.
As soon as the screen flicked on, the sound of gunfire was immediately present, almost overpowering as they watched from the helmet-cam of one of the soldiers stationed on Eden Prime. Jane's eyes widened as she saw the leader of the crew shove the camera wielding soldier backwards, telling him to get down as an explosion rocked their cover. It was apparent that the one whose eyes she was seeing through was new, as most of the video was shaky and erratic. But he managed to focus on a man wearing the officer grey Alliance colors long enough to hear what he had to say. "We are under attack! Taking heavy casualties! I repeat, heavy casualties!" started the fresh LT as his heavy breathing cut his speech for a few seconds. After catching his breath for a moment, he continued, but the video started to get staticky as it wore on. "We can't-need evac! They came out of nowhere! I repeat We need-"Suddenly, the lieutenant slumped forward before falling to the ground. The camera soldier hold up his Alliance blue armored hands and it was clear from the red splash that the lieutenant who had been speaking into his camera was just killed, or would be dead soon. Shepard clenched her fists as a nearby soldier unleashed hell with her rifle to get revenge. Suddenly, the eye on the ground jerked backwards, falling backwards, perhaps shot as well by whatever was attacking the soldiers. But the eerie sight that the camera left them with made her even more uneasy. Whatever was shooting at the Alliance group had either flown into the air, or something new had caught their attention. Despite their current struggle, all of the soldiers within the camera's range suddenly stopped firing and looked straight up into the sky.
The cameraman finally did as well to the sound of the nearby NCO saying, "What in God's name is that?" And finally the camera looked up at the anomaly. To say that a chill ran down her spine as she saw what looked like a giant hand reaching for the colony would be an understatement. Never had something put fear in her like this brief three second flash of a video. Almost as soon as the camera caught the smooth surface of whatever this abomination was, it sent out a massive roar like the sound of metal being torn to shreds, amplified to an earth-shaking decibel. All too soon it passed as more explosions rocked the area, then one finally hit the soldier filming, ending the video feed as well as his life.
Shepard finally released her clenched fist, her fingers tingly with the feeling of restricted blood from how hard she was squeezing. Finally, Joker's stoic voice spoke over the comm again. "Everything cuts out after the video ends. No comm traffic at all. Just goes dead. There's nothing…"Unlike her own frown, and Nihlus' frozen look of awe at what he had just seen, Anderson had never lost his stone mask of professionalism. Still standing at parade rest, he spoke back to the pilot. "Reverse and hold at thirty eight point five seconds." he ordered, staring at the screen like he was in a trance.
As the image popped back onto the screen, Shepard looked again. With slightly more time to study, she realized that it wasn't a hand she was looking at, but only looked as much from the angle that the soldiers were filming from. Instead, it looked like some kind of sea creature that you'd read about in the tales of Arthur Jacques, Brian Conan, and even as far back as Jules Verne and H.P. Lovecraft. It was massive, blotting out any skyline behind it and any celestial bodies that might have been seen as well. Lastly, the dark surface of, whatever it was, seemed to be projecting lightning as it descended from the sky, sending arcing bolts over its sleek exterior and out into the sky. She had never believed in any kind of doomsday prophecy, but if she had, that was exactly what she imagined it would look like.
"Joker, status report." said the captain grimly as he continued to look at the chilling image.
"Seventeen minutes out and no other Alliance ships in the area, Captain." responded Joker quickly.
Letting out a heavy breath, as if he'd been holding it in for some time, the captain responded, "Take us in Joker, fast and quiet." The intercom shut off, and Anderson turned to the other two. "This mission just got a lot more complicated."
Finally prying his predator-like eyes away from the screen, the turian turned towards Shepard and Anderson, holding his arms behind his back in a similar stance to Anderson's, his grim tone returned. "A small strike team can move quickly without drawing attention. It's our best chance for securing the beacon."
"Grab your gear and meet us in the cargo hold Shepard. We'll discuss the plan there." ordered Captain Anderson as he turned away from the screen and left with a haste in his gait. Nihlus left her as well, presumably to follow.
Jane Shepard turned back towards the screen for a moment and stared hard at the image that flickered back at her. In that moment, it was almost like it was staring directly back at her, it's rending cry echoing in her head.