There are a few self-insert variants where a soldier or soldiers ends up in the world of Mass Effect. It's an interesting premise, and one not explored very often- I've read exactly two stories like that. This is my own take on the idea. This does not even pretend to be a self-insert- all characters are entirely fictional.

This is a Gen4 story. Gen4 is a designation I gave to a group of stories I recently began writing. The idea is that I write the first chapter or two of each, post, and then see how I like it and how my readers respond. If the response is good, I continue. If not, I focus on something else. Please review if you like (or dislike) this story. Its future depends on it!

Today's battlefield is not the same as the battlefield fifty, twenty, even ten years ago. Information is key, drones fly over the battlefield and today's soldier is tightly linked into command elements as well as air and naval support. Moreover, we are fighting increasingly asymmetrical warfare against insurgents rather than armies. It is conceivable that within the next ten years, new threats and new technology may change the battlefield yet again. Therefore, our soldiers must be trained and conditioned to fight in a changing reality of warfare. -General T. Casey, shortly before American entry into the war in the Middle East

Prologue: Flames of War

The underground testing of a nuclear device in Iran has sent shockwaves through the international community. The UN, along with several nations, has condemned the actions and economic embargoes have been announced...

As ships gather to form an international blockade fleet, President Khomeini has released a statement condemning the West and announcing his intentions to use nuclear weapons to "purge the Holy Lands of unbelievers"...

Iranian forces have moved into Iraq, joining with insurgents and attacking American forces from the northeast downwards. Although facts are slim at this time, it is clear that the Americans are slowly but surely being pushed back...

US forces are pulling out of Baghdad, reasoning that they can no longer hold the capital. The President has released a statement today, stating that the United States will not abandon their allies in the Middle East, although the United States has still not formally declared war on Iran...

Islamic fundamentalists have again taken control of Egypt, ousting the democratically elected but unstable government in a quick but violent coup. The new dictatorship has announced its support for Iran and denounced the west as "capitalist heathen"...

Syria has joined Iran and Egypt in the new Islamic alliance. Iranian forces continue to push south in Iraq. Iranian warships in the Persian Gulf have enforced their blockade by force, engaging and destroying a Saudi tanker bound for the United States...

Oil prices have shot through the roof and shortages appeared around the world. Cars are lined up behind pumps across the continental United States, bringing to mind unhappy memories of the oil crisis in the 1970s. Meanwhile, UN forces have engaged Iranian warships and limited airstrikes on Iranian soil have been carried out. There has been no word from Israel, though the isolated nation must be feeling the pressure...

Egyptian forces have moved to occupy the Gaza Strip, as joint Syrian/Iranian armies roll into northeast Israel. The Jewish nation has responded by declaring war. Israel's allies in the west have pledged their support, and the United States has finally declared war on Iran. The question of nuclear weapons remains tensely in the air as the conflict escalates...

US and EU forces are racing across the Mediterranean to reinforce Israel, with airlifts supplying desperately needed supplies to the nation. Surprisingly, Russia has also pledged support, and the Admiral Kuznetsov has diverted from training operations in the Black Sea...

It is now two months into the conflict, and Arab forces continue to inch toward Jerusalem. The first international reinforcements have reached Israel, but it remains to be seen how much of an effect they will have...

With the help of US, Canadian and European forces, the tide has turned for Israel. Troops continue to hold the line in the north while beginning a slow but sure push has begun in the south. Tactical bombing continues to whither attacking Islamic forces...

It is day ninety-three of the conflict and Coalition forces has officially moved onto Egyptian territory. In a surprise move, an American contingent has landed in the north shore of Egypt, pushing toward Cairo with the goal of ousting the current government and ending Egyptian involvement in the conflict...

In Britain, Canada and the United States alike, men, women and children take a moment to remember those who lost their lives in conflicts around the world. But it is different today. Coalition forces have advanced to Cairo and Damascus, in both cases fighting for their lives. Around the world, people are praying for the soldiers still out there...

Outside Cairo, Egypt

November 11, 2012 - Day 104

American Convoy

The convoy rolled quietly across the sandy desert. Sounds of battle could be heard, seemingly from all around them. Explosions flashed across the horizon, somewhat dulled by the rising sun. A weak glow came from the city of Cairo in the distance, from flames ignited by bombs and ruptured gas lines.

"Alright, listen up, ladies!" a tall African-American man said inside his Humvee. His insignia identified him as First Sergeant Jason Adams, USMC.

"Really, you pulling that on us, mano?" Corporal Julio Hernandez teased. He was quite a bit shorter than the Sergeant, though with a stockier build.

"Shut it, marine," the Sergeant snapped. The Hispanic corporal could be an earful, but he was a damn good soldier. Not that he would ever admit that out loud, of course. "We're headed toward a Coalition position on the outskirts of Cairo. They're under heavy fire and pinned down."

"I won't lie to you, there's fishy about this. They say our boys are defending something important, but they won't tell me what. That means it's something important, at least."

"Yeah, important to the REMFs," Hernandez muttered.

"Shut it, marine. If the higher-ups think it's important, then it's important."

Hernandez muttered something in Spanish under his breath. The Sergeant shot him a look, but didn't comment.

Coalition Position

"Air strike inbound! Danger close!" Rav Samal (Sergeant First Class) Zarah David crouched behind a severely smashed wall and covered her head. Seconds later, a line of explosions ripped through the slowly-advancing line of Egyptian armour, completely shredding it. Seconds after that, an Egyptian tank rolled over the ruined hulk of another.

"Damn it to hell!" A British-accented voice shouted from beside her. "Those wankers just won't bloody die! We have to pull back!"

"Our orders-"

"To hell with our orders! Everyone higher than Sergeant is dead along with three quarters of our men, the enemy keeps coming and nobody is coming to-"

Zarah grabbed the much larger man by his collar. "We will not abandon this position! We will hold the line here! What we discovered here is-"

She collapsed to the ground, clutching her side and letting out a stream of curses in Hebrew. Upon seeing the Brit's concerned expression, she said through gritted teeth, "Didn't penetrate. But damn, that hurts. We will stay here until we win, or we will stay here until we die."

The woman soldier slammed another magazine into her salvaged AKM rifle- her MTAR-21 had run out of ammo an hour ago. She peered above the wall and fired quick bursts toward the advancing lines of infantry to little avail. Their few remaining machine guns chattered away, and a long missile streaked toward one of the advancing tanks. One brave soldier ran through the gunfire and jammed a grenade into the exhaust grille of an Egyptian tank. The explosion destroyed the tank- and took the soldier with it.

"Look, I know it was your homeland that was attacked, but if we don't get help soon, the Egyptians will roll right over us. I don't see what's so important about this."

The Israeli nodded grimly in response before bringing up her rifle again. "Neither do I, but it's not my place to question. We hold here."

"Bloody ridiculous orders."

American Convoy

The Humvee bounced across the rough ground. They were now on the outer edge of Cairo, driving through abandoned, ruined, streets. It seemed almost calm and peaceful if it weren't for the sounds of battle raging only blocks away. Suddenly, the lead vehicle in the convoy exploded.

"AMBUSH!" Sergeant Adams shouted. "Dismount! Move it, Marines!"

Corporal Hernandez grabbed his rifle and followed the Sergeant out of the vehicle. Outside, it was chaos. Egyptian soldiers had appeared out of seemingly nowhere. They had taken cover inside the partially ruined buildings and were hammering the now stationary convoy with assault rifle and machine gun fire. He quickly took cover behind what might have once been a garbage can.

Behind him, an LAV was hit by an RPG and exploded, while its partner continued to rake the buildings with its Bushmaster gun. Time seemed to slow down as Hernandez brought up his weapon and shredded several Egyptians before he dropped back into cover.

"Suppress those positions!" the Captain shouted over the radio. "We have to push forward!"

"Easy for you to say," the Corporal muttered. He quickly swapped out magazines, dropping the old one out and slamming in a new one before slamming the bolt forward. "This isn't fucking Call of Duty, mano."

He fired in a seemingly wild, random pattern, but was actually carefully picking targets and squeezing off quick bursts. He shot at one man leaning out a window, not even waiting for him to drop before moving to the next target. The Corporal was careful to stay in cover as much as possible as bullets zipped by.

The convoy continued to inch forward, hosing the Egyptian positions with gunfire. Another RPG streaked toward a Humvee and blew it apart, the last shot fired by the enemy. It took almost a minute for the convoy commander to realize the threat was neutralized. "Cease fire, cease fire!"

"Everybody mount up. Let's move."

As Hernandez stepped back into his vehicle, he couldn't shake the overwhelming feeling of dread. The mission was turning to shit and they all knew it.

Coalition Position

"Incoming helicopters!" someone shouted, and Zarah cursed under her breath. They were falling apart and the Egyptians were pushing forward into their position. Three of the helicopters- they appeared to be larger transports, not gunships, were advancing straight toward them.

"Do we even have anything to hit them with?" the Brit asked from beside her.

"No!" She took another look at the helicopters, then ducked back down as a burst of machine gun fire slammed into the stone wall behind her. "Does anyone have an identification?"

"Hinds! They're Hinds!" a soldier reported from behind a collection of sandbags.

"Whose Hinds?" Zarah shouted. The Mil Mi-24, known by its NATO reporting name "Hind", was a mainstay of the Russian armed forces- but it was also used by the many others around the world- including the Egyptians. She struggled to pull the binoculars out of their pouch as the battle raged around them.

"They're Russ-" the observer shouted before his brains were blown out by a stray round. At the same time, a trail of smoke and fire blazed up from the ground towards one of the helicopters. When it made contact, there was an explosion and the helicopter spiralled toward the ground. Seconds later, a fireball rose from the impact site.

The other two immediately broke off. One of them went hard to the left. It began climbing before anti-aircraft artillery fire shredded it and it exploded in midair. The other tilted forward and increased speed, careening towards their position and dropping altitude. Just before it passed the building, the pilot jerked back on the collective and the cyclic at the same time, stopping the helicopter and dropping it to the ground.

Eight men hopped out of the aircraft before it leaped into the sky again. They immediately dashed for cover, returning fire on the Egyptian attackers. One of them, a large man cradling an AK-101 rifle, crouched down next to the Brit and the Israeli. He shouted over the din of gunfire. "Lieutenant Alekseyev. Spetznaz."

"Spetznaz? What the bloody hell is the Spetznaz doing here?"

"Who are you?" Alekseyev asked, his question directed at both of them.

"Rav Sa- Sergeant First Class Zarah David," she replied, pausing slightly between her first and last name. "IDF."

"Staff Sergeant George Lloyd, British Army. Guess you're in charge here."

"Only until relief arrives." The Russian paused to fire his rifle at the advancing enemy, causing some of them to head for cover rather than charge straight in. "There's an American convoy on its way."

"Mind telling us what in the name of God is going on?" Lloyd asked.

"I do not know. We were supposed to secure this position and escort some special team, but their helicopter was shot down. I know it is important, if that is what you are asking."

"That's what they've been telling us all day."

American Convoy

"Oh, I know it's important," a young Private insisted. He was a scrawny, rather pale guy, smaller than either Adams or Hernandez. The Corporal couldn't remember his name- it was something Spanish-sounding but the guy didn't speak a word. "But what's so important that you've got the better part of a company going after it from one side and half the city of Cairo on the other?"

"It's not your job to think," First Sergeant Adams told him roughly. "Keep your head on tight, we're about to head into the thick of it."

"I think it's a nuke," Hernandez theorized. The others looked at him. "What? It's the only thing that makes sense. We want to get it the hell out of Egyptian hands. The Egyptians want to detonate it to go out in one last glorious jihad."

"Why the fuck wouldn't they tell us about it?" the Private asked, jittery. "If it's important why the fuck don't they tell us why?"

"Maybe they-" he began to reply, but was cut off when the vehicle in front of them exploded.

"Ambush! Dismount!"

"Jesus Christ, again?" the Private said before jumping out of the vehicle- and promptly getting his head sliced off by a piece of shrapnel as the ground exploded three feet away. There was no gunfire, just explosions.

"They're shelling us!" the Captain shouted. "Move out, get to-"

A boom echoed through their radios and he went silent. First Sergeant Adams immediately took command, his place or no they couldn't stay there. "Everyone on me! We're heading to the rendezvous point on foot! Move out!"

Shells continued to pour onto the convoy, destroying their vehicles and shredding their men as they scrambled for their objective and the cover it would hopefully provide. Corporal Hernandez ran by one Marine who was dragging another who was missing his legs. He shouted, "Leave him!"

"But-"

"Then you're dead too! Move!" Though he didn't look back to check, if he did he would have noticed the other man drop his friend and follow at the fastest pace he could manage.

Coalition Position

"Hear that?" Lloyd whispered. A moment later, there was a colossal bang and a crater appeared in front of them in a plume of smoke. The Egyptian troops stopped briefly before they began to pull back. "Get to cover! They're shelling us!"

"There is none!" Zarah shouted back.

Alekseyev glanced at the building behind him. It was what they were supposed to be guarding, and it had escaped relatively unscathed. "What about the building?"

"What good will that do against an artillery shell?" Zarah asked frantically.

"I don't know, but it's better than here!" Lloyd told her.

"They told us that we were not to enter the building under any circumstances! It could be filled with poison gas, or radioactivity-"

"What the hell are you doing?" another voice shouted. This one belonged to an American soldier, who was running towards him. "Get to cover! The building!"

"Very specific orders not to go in there!" Zarah shouted back.

"They told us the same damn thing! But unless you've got a better option-" he gestured around to the ruined buildings and enemy forces around them, and to his own men. "We're going in."

The American kicked open the door and entered, gun at the ready. Zarah ducked as a shell hit barely a few metres away, and followed the rest of them in. She carefully trained her captured weapon around, covering the entrance. The inside of the building was dark, as expected, and surprisingly empty, with only a few crates inside.

"The fuck?" Corporal Hernandez uttered. "It's an empty warehouse."

"In here!" Alekseyev shouted. He gestured with one hand toward a hatch embedded in the floor. "Looks like it leads to a basement, a bunker, maybe a tunnel."

Sergeant Adams nodded. He keyed his microphone. "Uh, command, this is Uniform Mike One-One, we've entered the target building. It appears to be empty except for a few unidentifed crates, and there is a hatch in the floor leading to an unknown location."

"What?" a female voice replied. "Uniform Mike One-One, you have explicit orders not to enter the building, over."

"Yeah, well, their shelling-" Midway through the sentence, a sudden blast threw the African-American to the floor. When he regained awareness, he saw that there was a large hole where the wall and part of the roof used to be, and what used to be soldiers and Marines in the general area. He felt himself being dragged, and could barely hear gunfire around him.

"This is Uniform Mike One-One!" Hernandez shouted into his superior's radio. "We are under heavy fire, requesting assistance! We are now moving through the hatch in the floor, we are retreating into the lower area of the building. We have no idea what's down there."

"Uniform Mike One-One, under no circumstances enter the lower area of the building, repeat under no circumstances enter the lower area of the building-"

"You've never been shot at, lady! Send us some fucking reinforcements and tell us what's going on down there!"

There was a sigh at the other end, but Hernandez could not hear it over the din of gunfire. Beside him, an IDF soldier took a bullet through the neck and collapsed to the ground. "Copy that. Be advised, suspected nuclear device in the area. Use caution and do not attempt to tamper with any devices. A specialized team will be there in five."

"Close enough." He barely noticed the artillery had stopped as the Egyptians continued to advance. The Corporal lowered his Sergeant down and let go as soon as he felt someone or something take his weight.

"Go, I cover you!" a soldier with a Russian voice said to him, firing his Kalashnikov at the advancing troops. He needed no second bidding, climbing through the opening and down the cold metal ladder. There was an ear-curdling scream from above as the Russian was hit, followed by a stream of cursing and a weak, "Go on, close hatch!"

At that point, Julio stalled, and it almost cost him his life. He wanted to go up there, grab the Russian man, and drag him back in. Rescuing him was the right thing to do, he knew that in his heart. But his brain told him that it was stupid and it would get him killed.

"Take defensive positions! Corporal, shut that hatch!" The high-pitched but strong voice of the Israeli woman brought him out of his trance. He pulled the heavy piece of metal down and turned the locking lever. It would buy them some time.

After dropping into the basement area, he took a quick moment to observe his surroundings. The room was fairly small, maybe about the size of a single-car garage. Strangely, it seemed to be built from old, grey stone, although he could barely tell since the only light came from their own flashlights.

What shocked him the most was how few of them were left. Maybe a dozen, a mix of US Marines, IDF, and a Spetznaz were standing in the room.

"This position isn't defensible," the Sergeant announced, struggling to his feet.

"I know," announced the Israeli woman from a corner of the room. She pointed her flashlight down what appeared to be a narrow stone tunnel. "There appears to be a way out, or somewhere at least."

"Or it could be a dead end," Hernandez growled, nonetheless moving to the edge of the room and peering down the tunnel.

They could hear shouting from above, though none of them could make out the words. "Make it quick."

"Lieutenant?" Zarah asked the Russian.

"Go, we will cover you." He nodded. "Defensive positions, everyone. Best you can."

First Sergeant Adams limped over to the corner. He turned to the Israeli. "I'm afraid I'm at a loss, miss-"

"Zarah David. Sergeant First Class."

"David." He pronounced it 'da-veed'. "Like NCIS. Damn, shit just gets weirder. Lead the way."

"Wait!" another female voice shouted as they stooped to enter the tunnel. "I should come with you."

He glanced the the new arrival. "You a Marine?"

"No, CF," she said, slightly embarassed.

"Shit, sorry. Can't tell the difference between CADPAT and MARPAT in this light." He waved her into the tunnel and they began heading deeper into the... whatever it was.

"I'm an EOD tech, they sent me in to deal with IEDs," the woman explained. "I know a nuke isn't an IED but, well, better than nothing."

"This is unusual," Zarah said from up ahead. Behind them, gunfire began to echo through the structure. She shouted, "Move quickly, we found something."

Two Americans, a Canadian, a Brit and an Israeli moved quickly down the tunnel. It wasn't far to the end, and they emerged into a larger, very strangely furnished chamber. The walls were smooth and grey, made of some type of metal or plastic. Casting their flashlights around revealed several angular boxes jutting out of the ground, covered with what appeared to be glass on top. A round pedestal of a similar appearance sat in the centre of the room.

"What is this, some Pharaoh's tomb?" Hernandez asked. His hand brushed against the glass surface of one of the boxes, and the glass suddenly lit up with strange symbols, with more projected in front of the wall above. Hidden lights came on, bathing the room in cold white light.

"Not unless he came from another planet," the Canadian woman muttered.

"You watch too much TV," he dismissed in response.

"Well, fuck me," Jason breathed. Behind them, the gunfire began to die down in intensity. "Maybe it's some kind of top secret military installation."

"I never thought I'd see anything even remotely like this," the Brit remarked.

"I don't think we have time to find out," Zarah snapped, crouching behind the central pedestal. "Take defensive positions."

"I think there's a door," the EOD tech told them as she crouched behind one of the control consoles. "We just need to close it."

They each sneaked a glance at the Corporal, who was behind the pedestal with the female Sergeant. He replied. "What? Don't look at me. Just because I turned on the light by accident doesn't mean I know Arab."

"First, it's Arabic, and second, this isn't in Arabic," Zarah corrected harshly, still aiming her weapon at the entrance.

Bringing his own weapon up, Julio put his hand on the top of the central pedestal. It clicked down slightly, and what seemed to be a full hologram appeared over top of it. It was of a woman in a white dress, with flowing brown hair and a severe expression. She told them cryptically- and surprisingly in clean English- "This is a sanctuary, where one may find the key to great power. Wield it carefully, or the consequences will go beyond your very reality."

"What the bloody hell is that supposed to mean?" Sergeant Lloyd shouted.

"Okay, this is some seriously scary shit. Let's get out of-"

His thoughts were interrupted by a rapid-fire burst of Arabic, followed by a rapid-fire burst of bullets that impacted the centre pedestal. They immediately returned fire, tearing apart the Egyptians stuck in the tight passageway. But there were five of them, and they were rapidly running out of ammo.

A grenade bounced down the tunnel, and Staff Sergeant George Lloyd jumped on it, bringing the total down to four. His actions resulted in the rest of them receiving a splattering of gore rather than deadly shrapnel. Someone called his name, but there was no time to grieve.

"Two magazines left!" Sergeant Adams shouted. "Unless you close that door or find us a way out of here, we're dead."

"Well, sir, we could hope for a miracle," the Canadian deadpanned. "At this point it wouldn't be too far out here."

"Corporal, get that door closed!" Zarah shouted at the man next to her.

"How? Do I just press random buttons?"

"At least you'd be doing something!" the female explosives expert shouted back. She grabbed the late Sergeant's blood-covered L85 and raised it to her shoulder, firing into the entry tunnel. "Why the hell not!"

That was exactly what he did. Handing off his M16A4 to Zarah, whose captured AK was now empty, he began randomly hitting the lit-up top surface of the pedestal. He felt several clicks, so it was obviously a control system that was doing something, but nothing happened. He pounded it in frustration as a bullet nearly took his fingers off.

Suddenly, a high-pitched whine began to fill the room. They tried to shut it out and keep fighting, but it grew stronger and stronger until both sides were debilitated. The Corporal collapsed to the floor, covering his ears. He thought he saw a flash of bright light before he passed out.

What appears to be an explosion of epic proportions has rocked the city of Cairo. Though details remain slim at this time, the epicentre of the explosion appears to be a hotly contested area, and rumours indicate that both sides were fighting over a nuclear device. Those rumours appear to be confirmed, as only a nuclear weapon could create an explosion of this magnitude. Casualties are heavy on both sides, with entire divisions of the US Army, USMC, and IDF wiped out. The explosion, estimated to be at least twice the power of the bomb dropped on Hiroshima, has decimated the city, and deadly radioactivity continues to rain down on the remains. Current death tolls are estimated at one million at the minimum. We will continue to report on this story as it develops.

No, this isn't in the wrong category. In the next chapter, our heroes will wake up in a not-so-unfamiliar place, at a not-so-unfamiliar time. Also, don't try looking up the quote. I couldn't find one that I liked, so I made one up.