Breakpoint

Author's Note:

I'd had this in the works for some time now, but between school, work, and life in general I didn't have much time to write. I plan on knocking out a chapter each week or so, but given the time it's taken me to do this it may be subject to change. I would like to dedicate this work to the authors Tairis Deamhan, Calinstel, venomRED, ColossusProblematic, and those on the BSN forums whose works helped to inspire my own. So, without further ado, here is my story!

Chapter 1: Eden Prime

The commander walked at a brisk pace through the frigate, passing crewman and soldiers as he went. The SSV Normandy had just received a distress signal from Eden Prime, their current destination with the Council-funded prototype ship. What was officially a shakedown run to test the human/turian designed ship's stealth drive had just been revealed to Commander John Shepard to actually be a covert pickup operation. An archeological dig site on Eden Prime had uncovered a prothean beacon. As with all prothean technologies found, the beacon was said to an advanced device left by the space-traveling species that so famously created the Mass Relays and Mass Effect technology used in nearly every high-tech device.

This is big, Shepard. The last time humanity made a discovery like this, it jumped our technology forward two hundred years. Captain Anderson's words still rung in his head, the gravity of the situation sinking in as Commander Shepard reached the elevator. Weapon schematics, technological breakthroughs, the possibilities were endless. Given the distress signal they received from the colony under attack, the assailants were probably after the same thing.

Already in full gear, Commander Shepard reached the elevator to the cargo hold, Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko already there waiting before the doors with Corporal Richard Jenkins. Both soldiers of the Alliance Navy, the two men stood in the familiar blue BDUs as they discussed the mission before them.

"Finally we get to see some action! I knew it wasn't a shakedown run!" the corporal exclaimed, anticipating the coming mission.

"Let's just try not to get carried away. Remember, we're here for the beacon. We're supposed to avoid a fight if we can," Alenko said, nodding to Shepard as he entered the elevator with them, "Commander."

"Alenko, Jenkins," he nodded back, the servicemen saluting as the elevator went into motion, "At ease, soldiers. And remember: focus, we've got a job to do."

"Easy for you to say, Commander. You fought in the Skyllian Blitz, a mission like this should be like a walk in the park for you!" Jenkins exclaimed.

For his part Shepard only gave a barely detectable smile. "I know you're eager, Jenkins, but remember to stay focused and alert. Do that and you'll have a long career ahead of you. Let's just hope we don't have to resort to heroics to get the beacon back to the Normandy."

The young man was certainly enthusiastic, something the commander had seen before from nearly every green soldier that he had served with before. He reminds me of how I was, he thought as the elevator reached the cargo hold, coming to a stop and allowing the door to slide down. Alenko and Jenkins stepped out and went to the lockers for their gear while Shepard focused his attention elsewhere in the cargo hold. Nihlus, the Council Spectre, was already there, arming up and checking the sights on an assault rifle. The turian spectre's height furthered his presence of authority, standing several inches taller than Shepard himself. Though mostly involved in the Alliance, the commander had heard the stories about who the Council selected to become spectres, and what they did for "the good of the galaxy."

As skeptical as he was of the power they were granted in completing their missions, he understood that any spectre was both dangerous and cunning. And with the cooperative Alliance/Council mission in-progress, any action against Nhilus while he was on the Normandy (or him towards its crew) could trigger an inter-galactic incident, given the post First Contact War relations. The commander had given Nihlus the same respect that he would of any other soldier, and had received the same treatment in turn. And as the spectre's purpose aboard the Normandy was to judge Shepard's merit for his own spectre candidacy, impressing the turian enough would grant him the honor of being the first human spectre, a great accomplishment for humanity in the eyes of the galactic community.

Upon seeing his approach, the turian looked up from his rifle and looked him in the eyes, his reptilian features appearing set and focused.

"Commander Shepard, it seems that this mission just became a lot more complicated," he said in a flanged voice, his mandibles twitching as he spoke.

"Fortunately if it goes as planned, I will witness not only your abilities in combat but also will bear witness to your ability to command. One way or another, we will have fewer missions to complete before I can cast my judgment."

"Good to know," he responded carefully, unsure of saying that fewer missions with him was good would be insulting or not. "Until then we've got a job to do," repeating the words he had spoken earlier.

"Indeed." With that, the spectre when back to checking his weapons.

Grabbing his helmet from the locker nearby, Shepard turned to find Alenko and Jenkins already geared up and waiting by the door. Their helmets, like his, had no breathing masks, as Eden Prime had an Earth-like atmosphere. Nihlus for his part seemed he would forgo a helmet. Given that he had equipment and shields that far surpassed their own, he doubted a helmet would make much of a difference.

The lift came down once again, revealing none other than Captain Anderson as he stepped out and made his way across the room to the team. A decorated war hero, it was said that he had so many medals that had he melted them all down they could be made into a life-sized statue of him.

He stopped a few paces away from the three soldiers, who offered a crisp salute.

"At ease," he gestured, continuing, "Gentlemen, you've already been briefed on the mission. You're the muscle in this operation. Go in heavy and head straight for the dig site."

"What about survivors, Captain?" Alenko asked, voicing the commander's own thoughts.

"Helping survivors is a secondary objective. The prothean beacon is your top priority!" the captain called out over the sudden gusting of wind that filled the cargo hold as the Normandy's doors slid open.

"Approaching drop point one," the pilot, flight lieutenant Jeff "Joker" Moreau, blared over the intercom. Why he had said "drop point one" was quickly answered as Nihlus approached the exit.

Apparently Jenkins was just as surprised.

"Nihlus, you coming with us?"

"I move faster on my own," came the turian's reply as he ran forward off of the cargo hold ramp.

"Nihlus will scout out ahead," Anderson continued, "He'll be feeding you status reports throughout the mission. Otherwise, I want radio silence."

"We've got his back, Captain!" The Commander said, loud enough to reach the Captain over the increasing gusts.

"Approaching drop point two."

Nodding, Anderson strode across to Shepard and clasped his hand on his shoulder.

"The mission's yours now, Shepard! Good luck!"

Well, this is going to hell in a handcart, Shepard thought as he and Alenko made their way up the hills. No sooner had they landed than the team was ambushed by two drones, cutting through Jenkins' shields instantly as they tried to move up the slope and into cover. While the drones were easy to dispatch, their weapons proved to be far more formidable, and with Jenkins now dead, it was just the two of them and Nihlus. So much for the future he had ahead of him, he thought bitterly.

"Look, up ahead!" Alenko whispered sharply, snapping the commander back to the present. "Another pair of drones in the trees before the clearing."

"I've got the one on the right. You take the one on the left. On three," Shepard said quietly, counting.

"One…two…three!"

On his command, their rifles roaring to life as the rounds found their targets. The previously hovering drones now spiraled down to the ground, exploding on impact. Advancing forward, the two continued at a faster pace, knowing now that any other drones in the area would be alerted by the gunfire.

"Got some burnt down buildings here commander…and a lot of bodies," crackled Nihlus' voice over the comm.

"I'm going to check it out. I'll try to catch up with you at the dig site."

Reaching a clearing, Shepard cautiously scanned the area. Aside from several tall rocks strewn about, the clearing before them would have as little cover as the hills behind them, leaving them vulnerable to any attack from the cliffs overlooking the valley.

Just ahead, a sprinting figure appeared around the cliff wall. Raising his weapon, Shepard saw through his scope that the figure was, in fact, a woman - apparently one of the soldiers that had appeared in the video recording they picked up alerting them of the attack. Chasing her were two more flying drones, their guns raining down upon her with little success.

"Let's move!" he shouted, sprinting towards her position with Alenko close behind. Regardless of the priority, we could use any soldiers we can get.

The soldier deftly brought up her pistol as she slid to the ground, firing up at the drones with pinpoint accuracy. The drones destroyed, she sprung back up to take cover behind one of the rocks, swapping out for an assault rifle instead. Seeing the two of them approach her stance relaxed some, but she quickly motioned for them to take cover as well. Ducking behind one of the small boulders, Shepard snuck his head out to scan the area.

Just then, he saw movement; two synthetics, humanoid in shape, their single optics glowing brightly as they advanced slowly in the direction of where the survivor was hiding. A strange, mechanical clicking could be heard from their direction; whether they were communicating to each other or not wasn't clear. What was, however, was that they hadn't seen either of them yet, focused only on the woman's position.

Signaling Alenko, he motioned his weapon to the synthetic on the right. Nodding, Alenko aimed for the left, leaving Shepard to count to three again using his fingers.

The woman took notice and, upon seeing them spring up, also aimed around her cover and let loose on their now ambushed foe. Neither got a shot off as their three rifles bore into them, quickly dropping the robotic beings to the ground.

The woman before them stood clad in what appeared to be Phoenix armor, its telltale pink and white armor joked about amongst the Alliance. While primarily worn by women, some male officers wore it saying "real men wear pink." It certainly lacked for camouflage in most combat scenarios, though.

"Boy, you're a sight for sore eyes," she panted, evidently still out of breath from her sprint.

"Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams of the two-twelve. You the one in charge here sir?" she asked, addressing Shepard.

"Are you wounded Williams?"

"A few scrapes and burns, nothing serious," she exhaled, "The others weren't so lucky…" she gulped for air again, attempting to slow her breathing.

"…Oh man...we were patrolling the perimeter when the attack hit. We tried to get off a distress call, but they cut off our communications. I've been fighting for my life ever since."

"Fighting against these…things?" Shepard gestured towards the broken synthetic nearby.

"Yes sir. We had doubled back to the dig site but fell into an ambush. I…I think I'm the only one left." She paused, her breathing steadying.

"We held our position for as long as we could until the geth overwhelmed us."

"The geth haven't been seen outside the Perseus Veil in over 200 years," Alenko voiced. "Why are they here now?"

"They're probably here for the beacon. The dig site is just through this trench. It might still be there."

Nodding, Shepard spoke once again. "You're the only survivor we've seen so far and we're down a man. We could use your help, Williams."

"Aye, sir," she said, a cold fire in her eyes. "It's time for payback."

A lone gunshot reverberated across the trench's walls, its echoes coming from the dig site's direction. Raising his rifle once again, Commander Shepard motioned towards the trench.

"Move out!"

"Four more on your right!" Shepard called out, tossing a grenade at the geth closest to their cover, rewarded by the resulting shrapnel and metallic screeches of their demise.

"Give me a few more seconds!" Alenko grunted, crouching down over the last of the antimatter charges the geth had set. With Williams defending the walkway, the geth were unable to push forward as the commander hit them from the right. Another light dimmed as Shepard shot a geth's optic, the synthetic crumpling to the floor.

"Two left!"

"Just about…got it! Last charge disarmed!" Alenko rose to his feet as the last of the geth fell to Williams' shotgun, its barrel still smoking from the blast as the geth's optic dimmed. Walking over to it, she gave the disabled machine a quick stomp to its "face" as the metal dented in. "Bastard."

The three of them advanced, scanning the spaceport's docks as they went. Things had gotten ugly, fast. Upon hearing the gunshot, the team advanced through the trench into the dig site, only to find that the beacon was nowhere to be found. What they did find were colonists…impaled on spikes. The geth apparently used the spikes to turn them into something resembling cybernetic zombies, shells of what they once were. The colony was riddled with these devices, and not all of the bodies impaled upon them were fully transformed. Those that were "incomplete" in their transformation were shot down, the devices disabled to prevent more from flanking them as they passed. The team was wondering how the situation could become any worse when they came upon the spaceport…and Nihlus' body.

The gunshot from earlier had apparently found its mark, and a surviving dock worker almost found himself shot before they realized he was unarmed. The man frantically spoke about a gigantic ship that came down before the attack and later seeing Nihlus and another turian he called "Saren" speaking while he watched behind a crate. When Nihlus had turned around, Saren shot him in the back of the head, not even looking back as he left towards the spaceport's docks. The beacon had been moved from the dig site. Apparently it had been brought to the spaceport for extraction earlier that morning. Saren was now either here at the platform or long gone, and judging by the bombs left in his wake, Shepard suspected it was the latter.

A moaning was heard from their left, down by the dock's loading platform. Signaling Williams and Alenko, the three moved up with their weapons ready. The shrieks in response to their presence confirmed his suspicions that more of the "husks" were waiting for them; sure enough, the glowing eyes and greyed bodies shambled towards them, moving at an unsteady run.

The first of the five met a full shotgun blast to its face, the now headless body collapsing to the floor as the others met similar bursts of fire. While unnerving, the husks had little in the ways of protection or offense. Even so, none of them wanted to let them get too close.

With a final burst to the chest, the last husk remaining fell unceremoniously, leaving them to focus on the object behind it. The prothean beacon still remained at the spaceport, emitting a green light as it stood solitary in its place on the loading platform.

Breaking the silence, Shepard spoke into his headset.

"Normandy, this is Shepard. We've got the beacon and are ready for extraction."

Williams and Alenko moved forward to the beacon, both staring at the device while Shepard spoke with Captain Anderson and Joker.

"This is amazing! Actual working prothean technology," Alenko marveled, looking the beacon up and down.

"It wasn't doing anything like this when they dug it up," Williams agreed, "Something must have activated it."

"Well, I'm keeping my distance until we can get it secured. Until we get it to the Council we still don't know what we've got here."

Striding past her, Alenko walked over to Shepard as the commander finished his conversation with the Normandy.

"Roger that, Normandy. Shepard out." Seeing the man approach, Shepard gave him a weary smile that didn't reach his eyes.

"Tough day, Commander. Jenkins, Nihlus…"

"I know," he replied, not wanting to continue the topic. "I hope this beacon's worth it to the Council and the Alliance. I'm tired of-" he glanced over Alenko's shoulder and quickly brushed past him.

Turning, Alenko saw Williams being drawn near the beacon, its green light pulsing as a warbling sound emitted from the device. Her feet literally left the ground just as Shepard grabbed her out of the air, throwing her to the side. Now in front of the beacon, however, he found himself in the same position as she was; suddenly he was drawn up off the ground and was held there before the beacon as his senses were suddenly bombarded.

Piercing noise, fleeting images, and incomprehensible sensory data bore into his mind. His body went rigid from the beacon's influence as he could only grit his teeth at the onslaught. He felt powerless, unable to move or hide from it. It was unbearable, inescapable. On the verge of unconsciousness, the beacon suddenly flashed green and shattered, throwing him backwards with explosive force. The fall barely registered in his besieged mind as darkness washed over him.