Chapter 3 - Chapter 3, Fall of Eden

Chapter 3! This is where we see the story start to take shape. We're first introduced to the main antagonist and we also meet one of the new antagonists that I've made specially for this story.

Nothing more for me to say over than, Enjoy!

Chapter 3

Fall of Eden

"Engaging stealth systems." Said Joker through the radio. "Somebody was doing some serious digging here, Captain."

Austin, Kaiden, Jenkins and Nihilus were all in the cargo bay. Both Kaiden and Jenkins were now in their Alliance armour and helmets. They couldn't help but feel a bit obsolete compared to the Helldiver next to them, who was currently checking his weapons. His suit also appeared to be doing something as well since whole components on it seemed to moving. Panels were popping open and then closing, some small panels rotated, small bits of steam would suddenly shoot out of hidden valves, even certain bits of the armour plating were moving. Kaiden was now finding it difficult to still think of that thing as a suit of armour, the way everything moved on it was so fluid, it was almost as if that whole thing was Shepard's actual skin.

Finally Anderson spoke up. Austin placed his Assault rifle back on his back and turned his attention to the captain.

"Your team's the muscle in this operation, Commander. Go in heavy and head straight for the dig site."

"What about survivors, captain?" Kaiden asked.

"Helping survivors is a secondary objective. The beacon's your top priority." Anderson replied. He had to raise his voice as the cargo bay door opened, letting in the sunlight of Eden Prime and also drowning out a lot of other sounds with the wind.

"Approaching drop point one." Said Joker.

Jenkins turned to Nihilus, who he noticed had also finished suiting up. "Nihilus? You're coming with us?" he asked.

Nihilus shook his head. "I move faster on my own." He replied. Then he left the cargo bay and was gone from sight. Austin stepped up to the very edge of the opened door and looked down at the ground.

"Nihilus will scout out ahead. He'll feed you status reports throughout the mission; otherwise, I want radio silence." Said Anderson.

"We've got his back, Captain. Ready and able!" Austin replied.

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

"We are approaching drop point two." Joker said. The Normandy began to hover over the designated drop off point. Before it had finished descending to a safe height however, to Jenkins' and Kaiden's surprise, Austin jumped.

"Commander!" Kaiden shouted after him. Both soldiers ran to the edge, but they were too late to stop him. When they looked down at the ground however, instead of seeing a body, they saw a small crater with a Helldiver crouched down in the middle. The impact on the ground hadn't even injured the Commander.

"Wow!" Said Jenkins. "I can't believe he survived that."

Anderson smiled. "Why do you think they're called Helldivers, Corporal?" he asked. "They dive into battle, and give their enemies hell!"

Once the Normandy was low enough, Jenkins and Kaiden disembarked. Austin stood up from the crater and unholstered his assault rifle. "Sorry if I gave you a bit of a scare there, gentlemen." He laughed. "I've got a bit too used to that habit."

"At least warn us next time you're going to do something like that, Commander." Said Kaiden.

The other two soldiers unholstered their own weapons and Austin spoke into his wrist communicator.

"Quick comm system check. You read me, Nihilus?"

"Loud and clear, Commander. This place got hit hard. Hostiles everywhere. Keep your guard up. Nihilus out." Came Nihilus's voice through the radio. Austin turned to the other two who nodded.

"Alright guys. Let's find us a beacon. But stay sharp." He said.

They only walked for a few minutes before they came across a very odd sight. They were animals, very large bubble like floating animals.

"What the hell are those?" Kaiden asked.

"Gas bags. Don't worry - they're harmless…" Replied Jenkins.

Austin however wasn't so sure and he fired a shot at one of the creatures. The gas bag exploded in a huge gas explosion causing several bits of burnt flesh and blood to fly everywhere. Austin turned to Jenkins. "You were saying?" he asked sarcastically.

"…as long as you don't shoot them." Jenkins finished.

"Right. Important safety tip." Said Austin. "Let's press on."

A short walk later though, they found an unwelcome sight. Dead human bodies.

"Oh god. What happened here?" Jenkins asked worryingly.

Austin knelt down in front of the bodies. He extended his left hand out and activated his omni tool. A holographic scanner emitted from Austin's wrist and moved over one of the bodies.

"Hmmmm. That's interesting." He said.

"What is it?" Asked Kaiden.

"This body's been cooked from laser fire. Who uses laser fire? Plus this one looks like it's been melted. From acid, and they've only been like this for about an hour or so. This is more than a simple colony attack." Said Austin.

As the three soldiers neared a very open field, Austin's visor suddenly lit up. "Hold it, guys!" He ordered. They remained crouched for a while, but nothing happened.

"Hmmm. Must've been my imagination." He said as he indicated to Jenkins to scout ahead.

Suddenly, out of nowhere a pair of large robotic drones with guns attached to their undersides suddenly flew into view. As soon as they spotted Jenkins they opened fire on him instantly. Jenkins's shields didn't seem to make any difference, the laser bolts tore right through his skin, he fell instantly.

"Contact! Contact! Alenko, get to cover!" Austin yelled. Both the soldiers dove for cover behind some rocks. Austin risked one glance at his targets in order to get a clear view. Taking a chance, he fired. The shots from his rifle managed to hit one of them causing it to explode. The other drone however dodged his shots and fired back. Kaiden however quickly counteracted with a biotic blast. The other drone exploded on impact.

"Alenko, are you alright?" Austin asked.

"I'm fine, Commander." Kaiden replied. "What where those things?"

"Wish I knew. But they're too badly damaged for me to scan them properly." Austin responded.

The two soldiers walked over to Jenkins's body. Nothing. He was gone. Kaiden knelt down and closed the Corporals eyes.

"Ripped right through his shields. Never had a chance." He said.

Austin also knelt down. He placed his hand on Jenkins's forehead, bowed his head and mumbled something that Kaiden didn't hear.

"I may not have known him long, but I promise you, I'll make sure he receives a proper memorial service once the mission is complete. But I need you to stay focused, Kaiden."

For a moment Kaiden was silent. That was the first time the commander had called him by his first name. Normally Kaiden would've simply thought that the Helldiver didn't care. To him Jenkins had been obsolete, but the way he had just talked about Jenkins really did sound as if he cared. Maybe the Commander wasn't so different after all.

"Aye, aye, sir." He replied.

With one man down, the two soldiers decided to take it slow and be extra careful. As they neared the top of a hill, Nihilus's voice sounded over the radio.

"I've got some burned out buildings here, Shepard. A lot of bodies. I'm going to check it out. I'll try to catch up with you at the dig site."

They rounded a corner when Austin's visor lit up again, this time it said something different. "Caution! Life form detected!" His suit's computer said.

"Keep your eyes peeled, Alenko. I don't think we're alone here." He said.

Out of nowhere a woman suddenly appeared. She was running. Being chased by two more of the drones they had just encountered. Austin used his masks zoom to see clearer. Closer inspection showed that the woman was the same Alliance soldier that he had seen in the transmission earlier. From what could be seen of her face, she had tanned skin and whore white Alliance armour with certain parts coloured pink.

The drones continued to fire on the woman as they chased her. One shot managed to hit her, but her shields managed to absorb the laser. She then pulled out her gun and slid, firing on the drones as she did so. Both the drones exploded from the shots she fired. Then they all noticed something else. There were two tall humanoid like robots with a colonist prisoner. The robots were very odd. They had only one single eye, three fingers and bowed back legs similar to what a Quarian had.

They had their prisoner draped across some sort of tripod. Then suddenly a huge, long spike shot out of the tripod, impaling the colonist in the process. The woman quickly retreated behind a large nearby rock but the robots must have heard her since they turned their attention to where she had just been and began scouting the area.

Austin and Kaiden decided that now was a good time to help. They both fired at the robots from the top of hill. The first robot's head exploded from the heat sinks while the other simply fell down dead.

Austin ran up to the woman, who was catching her breath. "You alright?" he asked.

As soon as the woman saw him she instantly pulled her gun on him, a look of fear in her eyes.

"Whoa! Whoa! It's okay miss! He's on our side! He's a Helldiver!" Kaiden shouted as he caught up. The woman calmed down and slowly lowered her weapon.

"I'm so sorry." She said, clearly out of breath. "I thought you were another one of those things."

"It's alright. You're safe now. Now just take a deep breath." Austin said reassuringly. "What's your name, soldier?"

"Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams of the 212." She responded to Austin. "You the one in charge here, sir?"

"Commander Shepard of the Helldivers." Austin said back. "Are you alright?"

"A few scrapes and bruises. Nothing serious." Ashley replied.

"Where's the rest of your squad?" Austin asked.

"We were patrolling the perimeter when the attack hit. We tried to get off a distress call, but they cut off our communications. We tried to double back to the beacon. But we walked into an ambush. The whole ground started shaking violently as though there was an earthquake. Then this huge thing suddenly burst out of the ground. I couldn't see what it was; I only saw a silhouette and people being burned by some sort of liquid. I don't think any of the others… I think I'm the only one left."

"This isn't your fault, Williams." Austin said reassuringly.

"I know." Ashley replied. "But it doesn't make me feel any better."

Austin unclipped a small flask from the back of his combat belt and gave it to Ashley. "Here. Have some of this. It'll help you get your strength back." Ashley took the flask and began to drink from it. Austin meanwhile went over to the still intact robot corpse. Kaiden walked up to Ashley.

"Any idea what these robots are?" He asked.

"I think they're Geth." Ashley replied.

"What? But that's impossible. The Geth haven't been seen outside the Veil for nearly 200 years."

"No, she's right, Lieutenant. I've scanned the body 3 times and it keeps saying that they're Geth." Austin objected.

"Then why are the Geth here? On a human colony?" Kaiden asked, clearly puzzled.

"They must have come for the beacon." Ashley answered.

Austin stood up and turned back to Ashley. "Ash, do you know where the beacon is? It's imperative that we find it, especially with the Geth here."

"The dig site is close. Just over that rise." Ashley indicated to where the path she had just appeared from lead. "It might still be there."

"We'll take it from here." Austin said.

"Let me come with you, sir. The Geth slaughtered my unit. Give me a chance to get even!" Ashley objected.

"She does know the area, Commander. And we could use the extra firepower." Kaidan added.

"A fair point." Austin admitted. "Alright then, Williams. You're with us. Let's move out."

"Aye aye, sir." said Ashley.

With the group now back as a team they were able to cover more ground more quickly, plus they didn't need to be as careful as last time. Since Austin had scanned the Geth's corpse, he now had new Intel on them and his suit could now detect them. So if the Geth attacked again, they would know about it before it happened. As they neared the dig site, Austin's HUD lit up again. "Geth detected!" His suits computer voice said.

"I'm detecting more Geth ahead. Be ready." He said to his comrades.

Once they had fought their way through, they came across the dig site. Although the design was clearly Prothean there didn't seem to be what looked like a beacon.

"This is the dig site." Said Ashley. "The beacon was right here. It must have been moved."

"By who? Our side? Or the Geth?" Asked Kaiden.

"Hard to say. Maybe we'll know more after we check out the research camp. It's just on the top of this ridge. Up the ramps." Ashley replied.

Austin looked down at the ground. He noticed what looked like small skid marks and began scanning the ground with his omni tool. "It was dragged." He said. He then took a closer look at the marks. "It was moved by our side. There are human footprints next to the drag marks. Let's check the camp first though. If there are any survivors then they'll most likely be hiding there."

As they started moving up the ridge, Nihilus's voice once again sounded over the radio. "Change of plans, Shepard. There's a small spaceport up ahead. I want to check it out. I'll wait for you there."

The soldiers reached the top of the ridge. The camp looked deserted. There were three more of those strange tripods with spikes that they had seen earlier, all of which had a body impaled on them.

"Looks like they hit the camp hard." Said Ashley.

"It's a good place for an ambush. Keep your guard up." Kaiden responded.

Suddenly, one of the spikes retracted, bringing the body down with it, and it was moving.

"Oh, god! They're still alive!" Kaiden said, horrified.

Something was different about the body though. It wore no clothes. Instead it was covered in wires and tubes that glowed blue with energy. The same had been done to the face, the eyes even glowed, completely robbed of any life the person had once had. The facial expression was one of pain and sadness. It slowly moved itself off of the tripod it had been mounted on. There was a large spark of blue energy as the body dismounted.

"What did the Geth do to them?" Ashley said, also horrified.

The husk looked up at the three soldiers in front of it. It's posture was bent and it appeared to have a limp left arm. It gave a low, menacing groan as it slowly began limping towards them.

"Hold it!" Kaiden ordered.

The husk ignored him and continued moving toward him, picking up its pace a bit.

"I said hold it!" Kaiden ordered.

Still the husk didn't stop. Now it was running at Kaiden, screaming like a wild animal as if it were ready to tear him apart. Kaiden wanted to fire but he kept hesitating. This was, or had been, a person, a human. Did it even know what it was doing, or was it a simple mindless zombie. He couldn't decide.

The husk roared and lunged at Kaiden. Before it got him though, several shots hit the husk in the head and then the chest. Heavy amounts of blood and bright blue liquid oozed from the wounds and the electrics sparked as they were hit. The husk fell hard to the ground. It now lay on the ground, this time completely lifeless. Kaiden looked around. Austin had been the one that had shot the husk for him.

"Thanks." Kaiden said shakily.

"You're welcome. You hesitated after all. It would've killed you if I hadn't." Austin replied.

Suddenly the other two spikes retracted, releasing their husks. This time though there were no hesitations. Austin unclipped one of the grenades strapped to his chest and threw it at the husks feet. It exploded upon impact, blowing both the husks to pieces. Austin knelt down in front of the one he had shot and scanned it.

"What where those things?" Ashley asked, also a little shaken by the husk's attack.

"They looked human. But I've never seen anything like this." Austin replied as he read the scans inside his helmet. "Whatever the Geth did is incredibly complex, even for them." Then his HUD lit up again. "Life forms detected!" His suit said.

"I'm seeing life forms in that building." He said. His comrades raised their guns and took cover close to the building.

"Keep me covered. I'll take care of the door." He ordered as he walked up to the locked door. He activated his omni tool and held it close to the lock. The HUD in his helmet showed it was a standard encryption. Easy for any Helldiver to break. His suit could hack through that without any assistance. Sure enough, the locks disabled and the door opened. Austin moved in, assault rifle at the ready.

"Please! Don't kill us!"

Austin immediately lowered his gun once he saw that the two doctors he was looking at where not armed.

"It's okay, it's clear! He yelled to his comrades, who came inside as well.

"Humans! Thanks the maker!" said the doctor who had originally been frightened of Austin.

"They've obviously never seen a Helldiver around here. I thought Eden Prime was in our territory." Austin thought.

The other doctor suddenly moved forward slowly and spoke. "Hurry! Close the door before they come back!" He said.

"Don't worry. We'll protect you." Austin said. "I'm not gonna hurt you. I'm a Helldiver."

"Oh. I'm sorry. It's just, I thought you were one of those things when I saw your helmet." The female doctor replied.

"Don't worry. You're not the first." Said Ashley. "You're Doctor Warren, the one in charge of the excavation. Do you know what happened to the beacon?"

"It was moved to the spaceport this morning." Dr. Warren replied. "Manuel and I stayed behind to help pack up the camp. When the attack came, the marines held them off long enough for us to hide. They gave their lives to save us."

"No one is saved. The age of humanity is ended. Soon, only ruin and corpses will remain." Said Manuel.

Austin stepped up to Manuel as he spoke. Manuel didn't even move as the Helldiver stood right in front of him. Austin scanned both of Manuel's eyes. They were delirious. "What's wrong with your assistant?" He asked as he continued looking face to face at Manuel.

"Manuel has a brilliant mind, but he's always been a bit… unstable. Genius and madness are two sides of the same coin." Dr. Warren replied.

"Is it madness to see the future, to see the destruction rushing towards us? To understand there is no escape? No hope? No, I am not mad. I'm the only sane one left!" said Manuel, still oblivious to the Helldiver standing close enough for Manuel to hear him breathing.

"I gave him an extra dose of his meds after the attack." Dr. Warren added.

Austin moved his right hand in front of Manuel's eyes. There was a small flash, and Manuel suddenly seemed to pass out. Austin however caught him and gently laid him down.

"What did you just do?" Dr. Warren asked, alarmed.

"It's alright. I just put him to sleep." Austin replied. "He clearly wasn't in his right mind. You're lucky he didn't try anything yet, but he could have easily done something crazy, and dangerous. Don't worry. He'll wake up in a couple of hours."

"I suppose your right. At least by the time he wakes up, the meds will have kicked in." Dr. Warren replied.

"It was better than knocking him out with a punch Dr., trust me. If I'd hit him too hard...could've easily killed him."

"I know." Dr. Warren replied.

Austin turned back to Ashley. "Williams, take us to the spaceport. Dr. Warren, it's best that you lock the door behind us. There may be more Geth out there." He said.

"Good luck, Commander." said Dr. Warren as the soldiers left. The door closed behind them and locked again shortly after.

Nihilus proceeded into the spaceport, gun at the ready. This mission hadn't gone at all to plan, half the colonists where dead, there where Geth everywhere and the beacon hadn't yet been recovered. He took cover behind a nearby crate. Nihilus could sense he wasn't alone, someone else was here. It wasn't a Geth though; Nihilus could smell him, as well as hear him. He took a deep breath and moved out of cover, pointing his gun at his target. When he got a clear look however he was completely stumped.

"Saren?"

Right in front of Nihilus was another Turian. But not just any other Turian, it was Saren Arterius, his old Spectre mentor. Saren turned around at the mention of his name. Unlike Nihilus, Saren looked completely different. For starters his entire left arm was missing. In its place was a cyberneticly crafted arm that, oddly enough, closely resembled a Geth's arm. In addition to this, he had various over tubes and cybernetic implants connected to parts of his body. His face was pale grey with no face tattoos, he also had cybernetic implants on his face too, and even his eyes were glowing. He also seemed to wear some sort of cowl over part of his head.

"Nihilus." He spoke. Even Saren's voice appeared to have hints of cybernetic implants. Overall, he wasn't a pretty sight.

"This isn't your mission, Saren. What are you doing here?" Nihilus asked as he lowered his gun.

Saren walked up to Nihilus and placed his non prosthetic hand reassuringly on Nihilus's shoulder.

"The Council thought you could use some help on this one." He replied.

Nihilus relaxed as Saren walked past him.

"I wasn't expecting to find the Geth here. The situation's bad." said Nihilus.

Although Nihilus was known for being one of the best at sensing danger, he failed to notice Saren drawing his gun.

"Don't worry old friend. I've got it under control." He said.

Saren pointed his gun at Nihilus.

"This is very strange." noticed Austin.

The three soldiers where stood in front of what looked like a massive chasm. It looked recent, as though it had just been dug up this morning. But even with the latest technology of today and with earth movers it just didn't seem possible to create something this large in that time.

"This wasn't here earlier; it was all flat last time. The Geth must've done this." Ashley said.

"But what could the Geth have that could cause something like this?" asked Kaiden.

Suddenly, a gun shot rang out in the distance. Immediately the three ran in the shot's direction, as they rounded the corner though, what they saw next left them completely speechless.

"What is that? Off in the distance." Kaiden asked.

Off in the distance was an absolutely massive ship. It was the same ship that had been seen earlier in the transmission. But even though it was still far away, it looked massive. The ships design seemed to resemble a Reaper cuttlefish with some elements of a squid. It seemed to glow and pulse with some sort of red energy and it appeared to be making some kind of odd machine noise.

"It's a ship. Look at the size of it!" Ashley replied.

Although the ship was clearly landed and wasn't going to take off any time soon, it still seemed that some of the mechanical arms it had where moving. It looked and seemed to move like a living creature. Austin's HUD then lit up. More husks and Geth where moving in on them.

"Hold position! We've got the high ground this time." He ordered.

They all took up defensive positions behind rocks. Geth after Geth fell as the soldiers fired on them from the top of the hill. One Geth managed to get close enough, but Austin was prepared for it. He swung out of cover and grabbed the Geth by the neck. He then threw the Geth to the ground and brought his right wrist back. His omni tool flashed on. As it did, a blade suddenly flipped out of it. Before his target could even react Austin brought it right down into the Geth's eye stalk. It blew apart upon impact. That had been one of Austin's favourite weapons, the omni blade. Of course, he had his trusty sword but it was sometimes risky to use it against certain enemies since they could be wearing body armour and that could damage the sword, maybe even break it. So he mostly stuck to using the omni blades, his combat knife, or the hidden wrist blades concealed inside his armour. Once the rest of Geth had been dealt with, the soldiers moved closer to the Spaceport. Then Austin's HUD lit up again.

"More life forms in that building." He said. Once the building's doors had opened the colonists inside filed out.

"Everybody stay calm out there. We're coming out. We're not armed." One of the colonists said.

"Is it safe? Are they gone?" asked a female colonist.

"You're okay now. Nobody's going to hurt you." Austin replied.

"Those things were crawling all over the shed; they would've found us for sure. We owe you our lives." The lead colonist said.

"I still can't believe it. When I saw that ship I thought it was all over." said the female colonist.

The ship she had just mentioned was still there, but the colonists couldn't see it since it was behind the large hill the building was next to. Austin however still remained vigilant in case the dreadnought started moving.

"It showed up right before the attack. I knew it was trouble the second I saw it." The lead said.

"What do you know about the ship you saw?" Austin asked.

"I was too busy running to get a good look at it." The lead colonist replied. "I think it landed near the spaceport."

"Tell them about the noise, Cole, that awful noise." said the female colonist.

Cole continued. "It was emitting some kind of signal as it descended. Sounded like the shriek of the dammed. Only it was coming from inside our own heads."

"It was probably trying to block communication." Austin replied, trying to calm the colonists down.

"Whatever it was, felt like it was tearing right through my skull, almost made it impossible to think." Cole replied.

"We should get moving. It's best you get somewhere safe." Austin said to the colonists.

"Hey, Cole. We're just a bunch of farmers, these guys are soldiers. Maybe we should give them the stuff." Said the other colonist.

"Geez, Blake. You gotta learn when to shut up!" Cole replied.

"Is there something we should know, Cole?" Austin asked sternly. He didn't have to yell at them; his appearance alone was enough to intimidate the colonists into telling him the truth.

"Some guys at the spaceport where running a small smuggling ring. Nothing Major." Cole replied. "In exchange for a cut of the profits, we let them store packages in our sheds."

"You're breaking the law doing that, Cole." Austin replied crossly.

"We're not hurting anybody! Hell, most of the time I don't know what's in the packages. Just thought there might be something we could use."

"Who's your contact at the spaceport, Cole? What's his name?" Ashley asked forcefully.

"He's not a bad guy. I don't want to get him into trouble. Besides, I'm not a snitch!" Cole replied.

"He might have something to do with this whole attack, Cole. We need his name. It's important." Austin replied gently.

"Yeah, okay. You're right. His name's Powell. Works the docks at the spaceport. If he's still alive." Cole replied.

"You did the right thing, Cole." said Austin. "Head back up to the camp. There are two doctors there. You should be safe with them."

The colonists went back up the hill the group had just come while they proceeded into the spaceport, the large mother ship still loomed over them. When they reached the space port however they found an unwelcome sight. Nihilus's body lay on the floor, completely motionless and blood pouring out of the back of his head.

"Oh, Fuck." Austin ran up to Nihilus.

"A Turian? You know him?" Ashley asked

"He's a spectre. He was with us on the Normandy." Kaiden replied. "Must have been one of the Geth."

"I don't think so." said Austin. "The Geth use lasers. If a Geth had killed him the wound would be cauterised and it wouldn't be bleeding. This was a heat sink round, and at point blank range. Keep your guard up. Whoever did this might still be around." Suddenly his suit detected movement.

"Something's moving! Over behind those crates!" Ashley said.

All the soldiers readied their guns and pointed them at the crates.

"Come out! We know you're there!" Austin shouted.

A man emerged slowly from behind the crates with his hands raised.

"Wait! Don't—don't shoot! I'm one of you! I'm human." He said quickly.

Austin lowered his gun; the other two did the same. "You need to be more careful. Sneaking up on us like that could've got you killed!"

"I..., I'm sorry. I was hiding, from those creatures." The man replied. "My name's Powell. I saw what happened to that Turian. The other one shot him."

"What other one?" Austin asked. "Tell me what happened."

"The other one got here first. He was waiting when your friend showed up. He called him, Saren. I think they knew each other. Your friend seemed to relax. He let his guard down… and Saren killed him. Shot him right in the back of the head. I'm just lucky he didn't see me behind the crates." Powell replied.

"We were told a Prothean beacon was brought to the spaceport. What happened to it?" Austin asked as his mind went back to the mission at hand.

"It's over on the other platform, probably where that guy Saren was heading. He hopped on the cargo train right after he killed your friend." Powell answered. "I knew that beacon was trouble. Everything's gone to hell since we found it. First that damn ship showed up, then the attack. They killed everyone. Everyone! If I hadn't been behind the crates I'd be dead, too!"

"How come you're the only one who survived? Why didn't anyone else try to hide behind the crates?" Austin asked.

"They never had a chance. I… I was already behind the crates when the attack started." Powell answered.

"Wait a minute. You were hiding behind the crates before the attack?" Kaiden asked suspiciously.

"I… Sometimes I need a nap to get through my shift." Powell answered. "I sneak off behind the crates to grab forty winks where the supervisor can't find me."

"You survived because you're lazy? asked Ashley.

"If you hadn't snuck off for that nap you'd probably be dead just like the others." said Austin.

"Yeah. Yeah, I guess. I don't really want to think about it." Powell replied.

"Hold on! You're Cole's contact here on the docks. For the smuggling ring." said Austin.

Powell panicked. "What? No! I mean, what does it matter now? So I'm a smuggler, who cares? My supervisor's dead. The entire crew's dead. It doesn't matter now does it?" he asked.

"It does if it's weapons." Austin replied crossly. He wasn't happy at this, The Arkane council often lent some weapons to human colonises. Eden Prime was one of them.

"You greedy son of a bitch!" Ashley shouted. "We're out here trying to protect your sorry ass and all you can think about it how you can rip us off?"

"I never thought you'd actually need all of this equipment. Who'd want to attack Eden Prime? We're just a bunch of farmers! How was I supposed to know?" Powell replied defensively.

"Calm down, Williams. Forget about him. He's not worth it." said Austin.

"You're lucky that he's here, Powell. Otherwise I'd be having a serious word with you about this. Hand over what you've taken, we could use it!" said Ashley.

"Here, it's all I have. Take them. My smuggling days are over. I swear it." Powell replied, handing over some bits of technology and even a Helldiver Pistol. Austin was disgusted by this. Fortunately his helmet hid his expressions.

"You still have something else on you! My suit can sense that you're lying!" He said to Powell, this time not trying to hide his anger but he quickly calmed down, remembering his training. "A lot of marines died her today Powell. This tech could have come in handy. If I were you, I'd think of some way to make it up to them."

"Yeah, okay. There is something else I was saving. Could be worth a fortune. Experimental technology, top of the line. Here, take it. I don't need it. I didn't want anyone to get hurt. Really. I'm sorry." Powell said as he handed over what looked like a tactical cloak armour implant. This took Austin by surprise. The Arkanes didn't often share their latest inventions until they knew the current one was out of date and ready to be replaced by a new model, and the tactical cloak had only just recently been invented. Why was one of these on Eden Prime? He would have to investigate after the mission was over.

"We'd better find that beacon before it's too late." He said to the other two.

"Take the cargo tram." said Powell. "That's where the other Turian went. But be careful, I think that's also where the ship is currently landed as well. I can't stay here. I need to get away from all this." Powell left, leaving the soldiers to get to the cargo tram.

Saren walked past the rest of the Geth who were securing the perimeter. He had what he came for, now it was time to make sure no one else knew about his presence and the Geths. He walked up to his lieutenant, the one he had taken to calling, The Terror Geth.

This particular Geth was vastly different and completely distinguishable from the others. Like the others it shared the same Geth body type, but the similarities ended there. It was a Geth prime, so it stood much taller than the other Geth and other life forms. A bit of extra height though made it taller than even a normal Geth prime. It was covered in large armour plates that covered every bit of its body rather than having some of the tubes and wires exposed like the others. It's head was also vastly different so that it was distinguishable from the others. Whilst all Geth had plain white optic eyes, the Terror Geth had a large red one. Two long horns also protruded outward from its head like a Bull. It also had the spikes that all Geth had at the bottom of their faces, but they were slightly longer, and more pointy. The most distinguishable features of its face though were the flaps on its face. This was the first of the Geth to have flaps that would move to resemble eyebrows. The Terror Geth though always had his flapped out so that it not only looked like a crest, but also so that it looked like it was always angry. In place of its right arm it had a massive plasma blaster that was powerful enough to blast through almost anything. A tube was connected from the gun to a socket on its back. There were also some more small spikes on its shoulders, it was more muscular and it lacked the same bowed back legs that all Geth had. Instead, it had more normal human like legs. But they were still taller, hence the Terror Geth's extra height and larger feet. Probably the most frightening thing about this Geth though was its voice. Unlike all other Geth which made a light mechanical chirping sound, the Terror Geth made a more deep metallic groaning noise as if it was mad or angry. Overall the Terror Geth was so frightening that even Saren did sometimes feel a bit nervous around his lieutenant.

"Set the charges. Destroy the entire colony. Leave no evidence that we were here." Saren ordered.

The Terror Geth nodded and made a low menacing growl in response. It then turned to the other Geth, motioning them to get to work. Saren meanwhile walked up to the Prothean beacon that he and his Geth had come for. As he approached it the beacon started to pulse and then he was suddenly lifted into the air.

The cargo tram neared the end of its journey. As they neared their stop, Austin spotted more Geth. Just off a few metres in the distance stood the massive ship, up close it towered about two whole kilometres. Suddenly a Geth soldier spotted them and they dove for cover. Then The Terror Geth saw them. It growled and ordered the other Geth to fire on the humans while the remaining Geth set the demolition charges, any other Geth seemed to be heading back to the massive dreadnought which looked as though it was preparing to take off. The Terror Geth charged up its plasma cannon and fired at the tram.

"Incoming! Move!" Austin shouted. All three soldiers leapt off the tram just the plasma shot hit it, and it exploded.

"That is one scary ass Geth." said Kaiden as they dived for cover.

"I saw that Geth earlier. It was leading the assault. I think that's their leader." said Ash.

"We've got a bigger problem." Austin said as he motioned to a large device with a countdown on it. "Demolition charges! The Geth must have planted them."

"Hurry – We need to find them all and shut them down!" said Ash.

"Okay. Here's the plan. You two cover me and draw their fire. I'll disable the charges." said Austin.

As Austin began disabling the first charge, Ashley and Kaiden began firing at the Geth units from cover. The Terror Geth growled as several Geth soldiers were caught in the gunfire. It angrily motioned for some more Geth to concentrate their fire on the humans. It charged up another plasma shot.

"Move!" shouted Kaiden as he pushed Ashley out of the way.

The Terror Geth fired another shot but that one missed as well.

"Hey! Over here you bastard!" Austin shouted as he fired a concussive round at the Terror Geth. It hit the Geth but when the smoke of the impact cleared it didn't look as though he'd made a dent. "Why do you never play fair?" Austin shouted as he ducked behind cover and disabled the last demolition charge. He then activated his secret weapon. A small compartment on the left wrist of his suit opened and a small gun appeared out of it. His mini nuke launcher. Once the shot was fully charged he moved out of cover and aimed the shot. "Fire in the hole!" he yelled. The nuke soared towards the Terror Geth, but at the last moment it activated a shield of some kind. It stopped the nuke mostly but when the smoke cleared it was obvious that it had done some damage. The Terror Geth clutched at its side which had been either blown apart or badly damaged, at the last moment it retreated back to the dreadnought. Before the humans could pursue, loads of dust, dirt and rock was thrown into the air as the ship's main thrusters fired and soared off into the sky.

When the smoke cleared there was nothing. All the Geth had either been killed by them or retreated to their ship which was gone now. Where it had been was a massive crater which looked like a nuclear bomb had been dropped. Then they saw the beacon, it was still intact.

"Normandy. The beacon is secure. Requesting immediate evac." Austin spoke into his wrist communicator as Ashley and Kaiden walked up to the beacon.

"This is amazing. Actual working Prothean technology. Unbelievable!" said Kaiden

"It wasn't doing anything like that when they dug it up. Something must have activated it." said Ashley as she stepped closer to the beacon. Kaiden walked back over to Austin.

"Roger, Normandy. Standing by." Austin said as he ended the transmission and nodded to Kaiden.

As Ashley took a closer look the beacon suddenly admitted a pulse and some invisible force started to pull her towards the beacon. Despite Ashley's best efforts she couldn't get free.

Austin noticed and ran over to her. Using all the enhanced strength his suit had he pulled Ashley out of the way. However the gravity field suddenly pulled him in, he tried everything but he couldn't break free. Then he was suddenly lifted into the air by an invisible force.

"Shepard!"

"Don't touch him! It's too dangerous!" Kaiden shouted as he held her back.

Several horrifying vivid images seemed to flash before Austin's eyes before everything went black. The beacon exploded. The force of the blast sent Austin flying, as he hit the ground his whole suit seemed to shimmer white and emit some kind of mechanical screech, and then he completely froze.

"Commander!" Kaidan yelled as he and Ashley ran up to him.

They tried to remove his helmet but no luck. It was as if it was welded shut. They then tried to move his arms and legs to make him more comfortable but they couldn't do that eather. His whole armour was completely frozen in place.

"I can't move him at all. He's completely frozen." Ashley said.

Fortunately at that exact moment, the Normandy touched down.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Also if you're still finding it a bit difficult to picture the Terror Geth try to think of Shockwave from Transformers 3. The Terror Geth is basically based on his design. I've also done a fanart of him. So that should clear things up. You can also expect to see the Terror Geth again, he'll be a recurring villain throughout the whole story.

As always reviews are welcome.