Thirteen years

"Chase, we-"

"Cortana" I cut her off, "I am in the middle of replacing a fabricator in my prosthetic, do you-"

"What happens? What happens if I interrupt you?"

"Well" I said, "I might lose a screw or something, gimme a minute" I said, finishing the work on my leg. I tighten the last screw on the panel, attach the entire prosthetic back onto my leg, and quickly test it out, ejecting an omni blade that goes the length my prosthetic. "Okay, done"

"What exactly is that for?" she asked

"It was fun to make, and now I'm never unarmed"

"And I just have to hide it every time you get scanned?"

"Nope" I said with a grin, "I have a Cortana grade V.I. coded in the software on the fabricator, so if it gets scanned, they'll get nothing but a harmless prosthetic."

"Okay, but back to the original topic. Thane just got word that the Prothean beacon on Eden Prime was uncovered" she claimed

"When's the Normandy's official launch date?"

"One month from today, I estimate three days before they send it for the beacon"

"This is it then" I said, running towards my locker, "Ready the ship, is the device already in there?"

"Yes, but it will need to be synced to the beacon, Vendettas information wasn't perfect"

"That's fine, how long of a flight is it?" I asked

"Since we'll have to go silent, it'll be doubled, a little over two days"

"This is finally happening" I muttered as I enter the elevator

-It's been thirteen years, you ever think of your life before?-

Not really, I've spent my entire adult life here, this is home.

-You don't miss it?-

I miss my family sometimes, and I miss my motorcycle. But that was a lifetime ago.

The elevator reached the top quickly, took me two days to overhaul it, and that was with Cortana's help. I make for the ship quickly, store my armor and take a seat for a long flight.

-Your Shade armor?-

Yes?

Suddenly the ship started raising up, and I could see the cloak ripple onto the ship as it disappears to the naked eye.

That doesn't get old.

-Why aren't you bringing your 'Demon' alliance armor?-

Once I'm officially assigned to the Normandy, I'll switch over. Until then, the assassin 'Shade' will be helping them.

Ding, ding, ding. Ding, ding, ding. I look over at the console, its Shepard calling.

"Commander" I started the call

"Major. What're doing?"

"I'm on my way to Eden Prime, doing a favor for Thane" I said, "You?"

"I just got a reassignment orders, sending me over to Arcturus station"

"Ohhh, that's interesting"

"You know what they're assigning me to, don't ya?" she asked

"Maybe I do, maybe I don't" I said, realizing I was going to be assigned with her soon, I couldn't hide my grin

"What?"

"I'm just happy is all" I said

"Okay," she said, getting distracted by an announcement, "that's my flight, I'll see you soon, hopefully?"

"You will, say 'Hi' to Anderson for me" I said, ending the call as I got a surprised look from her.

Go ahead and start monitoring Alliance channels, I want to know the second that they start making a move regarding the beacon.

-Okay, I'll have to divert some resources that you had tasked for Cerberus, but I'll inform you when something happens-

That's fine.

-We should be arriving at Eden Prime in two days, three hours. Any plans?-

I'll do a little work on my guns, I want to finish that shotgun for Shepard. Other than that, naps and anime.

-Of course, why did I ask?-

You're asking the wrong person. Project Hades?

-It's on course, why?-

I want to make a few small adjustments to the pod, I'll send you the details later, it's nap time. Where's my hammock?

-You didn't bring it-

There is no god.

-Chase, wake up-

"Five minutes" I muttered, turning over

-WAKE UP!-

"Fuck!" I yelled, falling out of my makeshift hammock

Was that necessary? And how far are we?

-You're getting a call from Captain Anderson, and about 4 hours-

"Alright, patch him through" I said, meandering over to the console

"Chase?"

"No, this is Patrick" I responded with a grin that he couldn't see

"Chase, I'm launching early"

"This sounds like something you need to talk to a Doctor about" I claimed

"Project Blackbird, we're launching soon. I need you at Arcturus."

"Oh, that's not really possible at the moment, isn't that a month away"

"Something came up, where are you?"

"Look," I said, placating towards him, "I'm in the opposite direction of the citadel, doing a favor for a friend. It'll take me a day to get there alone, not including the 6-hour flight to Arcturus."

"Damn, well start heading towards the Citadel, we'll pick you up on the way back"

"Who do you have there?" I asked

"As you know, Nihlus is here, along with Shepard. We also have all of the core officers, minus one Major" he said with an attitude, "We're launching with a skeleton crew, just notify me when you're at the citadel."

"You didn't let Shepard know that I'm apart of this too, didn't you?" I asked

"Besides myself, Nihlus, and some higher ups, no one knows. What exactly are you doing?"

"Nothing much, I owe a friendly information broker a favor, so I'm checking out a rumor that crossed his ears, I'll let you know when I start heading for the Citadel" I finished, ending the call.

-Foreshadowing much?-

I've turned into a bit of a showman, I'm just glad I'm not going to be an assassin anymore.

-Sure-

Is everything ready for contact in a few days?

-I believe that Mordin's ready for contact with the Geth, he's been quite anxious-

I know, but he can't contact them until the Geth separate completely, I don't want the Geth that secede inform the reapers of our existence.

-I know, it's Mordin that's overly excited-

Okay, I'm going to work on Shepard's shotgun, let me know when we're there.

I pull out the shotgun and start working on the multi heat sink revolver design on the front. The idea is that when she pulls the pump action, it'll switch heat sinks, exposing the other ones to cool down. I'm a little hesitant on whether to make it low damage and high rate of fire, or low rate of fire and high damage. Maybe I'll give it both, have it switch with a hit of a button. OH! Maybe I can…. and I kept working on it, making my adjustments.

-We're here-

It's been four hours?

-Time flies when you're having fun-

I miss the days when I just napped all day, and you and Mordin did all of the designs to my stuff.

-And now Mordin can focus on other endeavors-

Go ahead and find a spot at least within a kilometer of the beacon.

-Already found a spot-

How are the patrols being ran?

-From the central military communications posting, it's about 10 kilometers away on the edge of the colony. It's being randomized by an Alliance V.I.-

Perfect, lets give us some time alone with the beacon.

I get up and make my way for my Alliance uniform, placing it on with some ease, oh god, I've gained weight.

-Your alliance uniform?-

Well, worse case scenario, I get caught. I'm a major, who's an N7, and intelligence badge. I'm sure I can talk my way out.

-And the odd looking, glowing green orb?-

Classified! How long will it take for the Normandy to reach here?

-They just left, and it's quicker to here from Arcturus than the citadel, so my estimate is 15 hours-

The ship lands with ease, and I activate my personal cloak, grab my pistol and the orb, and start my walk towards the beacon. I can already see it from here.

How exactly does this thing work?

-I'll spare you the details, because I barely understand it as is. It'll let me turn the beacon on and off, and what it does is sync with the beacon, copying any data without interacting physically, so Saren and Shepard will still be able to interface with it-

And how do we sync it?

-Just push the button-

That's it?

-Yes-

I make my way down the hill; the same one Shepard will find Ashley on. Coming around the corner I could see the beacon, just like I remember it, besides it being off. I push the button on the orb and place it at the base and wait for the magic to begin.

-It's nearly synced, once it is I'll start transferring the data-

"Who're are you?" I heard from behind me, gun unfolding. Turning around I could see her patented pink and white armor.

"A much higher-ranking officer" I paused, "Gunnery Sergeant Williams"

"My apologies" she paused, looking at my uniform, "Major Jarrett. I wasn't aware spec ops had someone coming"

"I'm not with spec ops" I said, pointing towards my badge, "Alliance intelligence. And no, you will not know what I'm doing"

-She's not on record as being on patrol, must be working extra hours-

"Okay, sir" she mumbled, walking away

"Williams" I said, getting her to stop, "You're about to miss the best part" I claimed, and on cue the beacon turned on, and her mouth just dropped

-It'll only take two minutes-

Copy that

"Make sure you keep you eyes open" I said

"What does that mean?"

"I've got a gut feeling, somethings coming, just be ready. Last time I had this feeling was on Elysium"

"You were there?" she asked

"Yes"

-It's finished-

The beacon turned off, and the orb started pulsing green. "Gunny, take care" I said, grabbing the orb and activating my cloak, the look of surprise was quite entertaining. I make a quick run for my ship, giddy with excitement, and quickly enter it.

-Okay, I take it that you want to see the message?-

Oh yeah.

-Okay, place it on the table-

I placed the orb down, and the orb beamed green light straight into my eyes, and the vision played hundreds of pictures into my head, very similar to the game, but more, much more. As soon as it finished, I didn't even have the strength to stand, and I just fell limp onto the ground, passing out.

Oh, fuck me. I open my eyes, immediately regretting that decision, the bright light intensifying my head ache.

I haven't had a headache this bad in years, how long have I been out?

-About 14 hours-

What?! Why didn't you wake me up?

-Your brain waves were odd, to say the least. I thought it'd be best to let you rest, I would've woke you if the Normandy entered the system before you woke up-

When did they get here?

-About an hour ago, they're tearing through the colonial defenses-

"I'm not surprised, the Alliance doesn't know how to deal with the Geth, hell, the only people that have any idea are the Quarians" I said aloud, throwing on my armor.

"Well" she said, popping up in the front, "Good thing that we're the largest employer of Quarians outside of the Migrant Fleet. Also, I believe that the Normandy just entered the system, but since we're stealthed right now, I don't want to risk the reaper detecting us by identifying it. We're still not sure of their capabilities"

"Anyone near here?" I asked

"Not within 300 meters" she said as I exited the ship, it's eerily quiet around me. Off in the distance I could see hints of resistance fighting, along with Nazara, that's one big ass ship. Out of the corner of my eye I could see a ship swooping in, flying about 300 meters south of my current position.

Yeah, I think the Normandy's here.

-That is a safe assumption-

What would I do without you?

I quickly make my way over to where Shepard should run into Ashley, sitting behind a tree to wait for this to all go down. Up on the ridge above me I could see a Turian running around the old dig site.

Did you send the virus?

-Yes-

A few minutes later I could hear gun fire near the dig site, and on que Ashley came running around the corner with two flying drones, taking them out before taking cover behind a boulder. At the same time Shepard and Kaiden came running down the hill, engaging the Geth. Instead of doing nothing, I raise my rifle, dropping all three before any of them could take them down. I get up, decloak myself, and slowly make my way towards them, putting away my sniper. Walking down there I could see Shepard smiling, even though she has her helmet on, I could see it. Half way down I could see Kaiden raise his rifle towards me.

Engage SAM, overclock 150%.

I close the gap between me and Kaiden in three seconds flat, pulling out my blade, placing it on his neck. "Want to try that again?" I asked, voice changer engaged. SAM mode disengaging at the same time.

"Cut it off, and let Lt. Alenko go" Shepard ordered towards me.

"You want me to cut off his head, and then let him go?" I asked, Kaiden's eyes went wide, and I just dropped my sword, laughing some what hysterically. And as soon as I did Kaiden turned around and launched a biotic attack, but it simply got absorbed into my armor. "You're a feisty one, eh?"

"He's an assassin, we can't trust him" Kaiden yelled as he pulled up his pistol, Ashley just nodded. Can't blame him for that, I've become quite famous for my work, and apparently, I'm notoriously expensive to hire, even though I've only done jobs for legit entities, not getting paid. Gotta love rumors.

"You all don't have a choice" Shepard barked as she lowered Kaiden's arm, "Thanks for the assist, Shade"

"Happy to help, but we have bigger fish to fry Shepard. They're after the beacon"

"That's classified" Ashley muttered

"And good thing you kept your eyes open, gunny. Or you might not be here" I barked, and she got the hint to shut up

"Then let's move, the dig site is just over there" Shepard claimed

"It's been moved to the space port on the other side of the colony, we'll need to double time it" I ordered, and Shepard took the lead, leading us around the corner, quickly dealing with the Geth at the dig site.

"It was here earlier" Williams mutters towards us, and I could hear Kaiden arguing with Shepard, no doubt about me

-You should've worn your other armor, this may bring up complications-

It's nothing we can't handle.

"Like I said" getting all their attentions, "it got moved to the space port, we can take the tram that's just past the encampment above"

"Okay, let's move. Shade, you'll be overwatch, Kaiden support, and Williams in the front with me" she ordered, and we started up the path

-I have the holding cell ready, you should capture one of the husks-

I was thinking the same thing, go ahead and bring the ship over here.

We reach the top of the hill, and three husks drop from down from the Dragons teeth, and immediately Shepard and Ashley engage in one, Alenko warping at another, leaving the third one running at me.

-SAM, 150%-

I rush at the husk, quickly moving behind it. I activate my omnitool, and quickly pull out emp proof set of handcuffs and collar, slaming it onto the ground disabling the thing.

ETA?

-30 seconds away-

"What are you doing?" Ashley asked

-Overclock limit hit, fifteen minutes until second pack's ready-

"Collecting a sample" I said, picking up the flailing husk and making my way towards the clearing Cortana had pegged for me. As I walked up to the clearing, the ship rippled into existence and landed right in front of me, the door opening. "I'll be a minute" I said, walking into my ship, tossing the body into the cell. Walking out the ship I could see the three of them walking out of the buildings.

"Anything of note?" I asked, and Shepard just shook her head no

"How about you" Kaiden asked, "Never seen anything like that" he pointed to my now cloaking ship taking off

"Then you're going to be in for a long day" I muttered, walking towards the ridge, "Are we going?" I asked, and they all followed me up, and on que Nazara's screech came loud across our ears, and she started taking off.

"Look at the size of that thing!" Ashley Screamed

"The mass effect core must be massive!" Kaiden commented

"What is that thing?" Ashley questioned, and I just started laughing hysterically, taking off my helmet so I could see her with my own eyes, in a way, it's beautiful.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you" I laughed, getting a concerned look from Shepard. Suddenly we heard a loud shot in the distance, followed by a couple more shots.

Let's hope the virus worked.

-Can we go? We're moving slowly-

Welcome to working with a team.

"Let's move!" Shepard ordered, and we started down the hill, I quickly drop the husks before they can come up and do there whole electric kamikaze thing.

"Watch your left!" I yelled, killing the Geth that was arms within reach as Kaiden went around a boulder, not checking his flank. We quickly mopped up the Geth, only running into basic ones, no shock, hunters, or primes yet. As the fight ended we started towards the space port, but they all walked towards the shed with the colonists in it.

"There's nothing of interest in there, and we're on a time limit" I stated

"And if there's colonists?" Shepard asked

"Then leave them in there perfectly good hiding spot. We're not a rescue team, if we point them out and send them into some direction, there chance of dying increases exponentially. We should keep moving" I stated, turning towards the space port without giving them a chance to argue, and make my way towards Nihlus, his body is in the same spot.

"Is that your Turian?" I heard Ashley ask Shepard

"His name's Nihlus Kryik, and he's one of the most decorated spectre's there is" I commented

"What happened to him?" Kaiden asked

"Call the Normandy" I said, kneeling down next to Nihlus, "He's alive, but barely, he needs a doctor now"

"Normandy" Shepard called over the coms, "We need a medical evac now, Joker". I picked up Nihlus, started moving over to the field we ran through.

"I'll give him some emergency first aid, find out what the guy behind those crates know" I said, hearing a gulp from the rat behind there, and I brought Nihlus to the middle of the field, surrounded by dead Geth parts.

-Looks like the virus worked-

Barely, he's almost dead.

I pulled out a blue sack from my bag, and placed a needle attached to it into Nihlus, and pumped the Turian blood laced with anti-biotics into his system. I then covered him with as much medigel as I could.

What did we get from his omnitool?

-Nothing, it was destroyed by Saren when they battled, the recording was destroyed, beyond recovery-

I get up, and make my way up to where Shepard was, the guy ducking back down to where he was hiding. "Anything good?"

"It was another Turian" Shepard said, "He thinks his name was Saren"

"Okay, we should get moving"

"Wait" Kaiden stopped us, "how did you know about the Normandy?"

"That's classified" I muttered, "We need to keep moving", and Shepard led the way, taking out the few Geth on the platform. We run onto the train, and suddenly there was four rockets heading straight at us, and a Geth Prime right behind it.

75% to shield!

"Take cover!" I heard Shepard yell

I ran in front of our group, and as the rockets came in range my biotic shield rose up out of my fabricator, and the shield broke when the rockets detonated on it, pushing me back a good 4 meters. I quickly recovered, running back towards the front to deal with the prime.

25% to right arm.

I jumped at the prime, threw a drain with my left arm, and slammed it with my right, destroying it. As I laid in the pile of rubble for a few seconds, I quickly rolled over into some cover.

That was fun.

-It's been awhile since you've had to give some effort-

Well, I find being an assassin very boring, this is so much more fun.

"Shade!" I look over to Shep, "Drop those heavies!" she ordered, and I pulled out my sniper, dropping two of them before I had to take cover from them, getting constant fire them is a real pain. My shields recharged, and I rolled into the middle of the train, aimed up and dropped the last two heavies, and ran forward, probably catching the last four regular Geths off guard and operating with a slower reaction now that their programs have dropped in numbers. I pulled out my shotgun, dropping two on the left, and Shepard dropped the two on the right with a quick charge and blast from her own shotgun.

"Looks like I still got it" I said with a grin behind my helmet, and she just nodded as she went and activated the tram, taking us to the space port.

"That was something to watch" Ashley commented

"I've been doing this for a long time, nothing new for me" I commented, checking my shotgun

-I'm detecting the bombs on the space port-

Can you remotely disable them?

-Yes I can, do you want me to stop them?-

No, let's wait till we get to them.

"You don't talk much" Ashley stated, trying to carry the conversation

"I know" I muttered, and the rest of the ride was in silence, with the occasional glare from Kaiden, this is probably not going to end well.

"Let's move" Shepard ordered, but we only got a few meters until we ran into the first bomb, "Kaiden, can you-"

"I got this" I interrupted her, and I typed on my omnitool for a few seconds to make it seem like I was doing it, and the bomb deactivated. "I was able to disable the three other bombs as well, lets make for the beacon, I'm picking it up on the other side"

The other three are disabled, right?

-Yes-

We make our way up, killing the Geth on the platform's bridge, running across and being shot by a charging hunter. I quickly throw a drain at the Hunter, followed by a warp from Kaiden and a charge from Shepard, destroying the hunter. I run up, getting cover fire from Ashley and I cover Shepard, dropping two shock troopers before I dove for cover. I got a quick nod from Shepard, and we pushed forward, eventually clearing the Geth.

"That wasn't too bad" Ashley commented

"But they weren't prepared for a team led by N7's" Shepard muttered

"What do you mean 'N7's'? You're the only one here that's an N7" Kaiden questioned

"No, no she's not" I said, getting a surprised look from him, "Let's go, the beacon's right over there" I said, leading over to the other side where the beacons sitting. We walk over there, and I'm just leaning against the wall as Shepard and Ashley talk. Kaiden starts getting close to the Beacon, and suddenly he starts getting pulled close, and just stares directly a me, but I'm acting like I'm on my omnitool. Shepard sprints over to him, grabbing him and throwing him away, and she gets pulled up. She's up there for about five seconds before the beacon explodes, and I run over and catch her before she hits the ground.

"Call the Normandy" I ordered