So after a long writing hiatus have decided to write this idea I've had in my head for a while.

As for my first story, to be honest it needs a complete rewrite and I don't have the motivation to fix it right now. If anyone would like to have a go at continuing/rewriting, feel welcome to.

As for this story chapters will start in chronological order, but after a point I will begin uploading out of order as I get motivation to write.

If anyone knows how to make this a beta, please let me know.

"I hate this place"

"I get it, you don't need to keep going on about it"

Jerome huffed as he turned away from the Turian, Dorma, and stared out of the ships window across the landscape which consisted of nothing more than sand and dust.

"You telling me this place doesn't make you feel weird? I don't like it"

"Will you stop bitching about it, spirits it's only temporary until we're sure we won't be facing a fleet when we jump back through the relay".

Dorma was right, it was only temporary Jerome told himself, after raiding a merchant ship which had been enroute to the Citadel the pirates had decided to lay low on this uncharted world for a while before risking returning back to their client on the Citadel. Activating a dormant mass relay was against Council law, but to individuals like themselves that was a daily occurrence. They had no intention of getting caught by the fleet of the Citadel Council or the neighbouring Systems Alliance.

Their ship was currently nestled in the middle of the sprawling desert, meaning that they could easily see anything approaching, though so far all they had had to contend with was the local fauna. As a result only a few crew members were on guard duty, the rest were sorting through the loot, seeing to their equipment or making the most of the downtime.

Jerome caught movement out of the corner of his eye and turned to see three vehicles moving away from the ship towards some of the strange rock formations which dotted the landscape.

"Where they off to?"

"The boss says that Taggart found some ruins in that direction, they're going to see if there's anything of value, if we're lucky something we can sell for extra credits".

"How didn't I know about this?"

"You would have if you had been paying attention and not busy staring out the window".

Dorma turned and walk towards a console to keep an eye on the scanners which would alert them if any other ships moved through the mass relay. Jerome continued to watch the vehicle convoy as it disappeared over the dunes. The sense of foreboding remained.

…. Anomaly detected….

... Life forms detected….

... Movement towards tomb complex detected….

…. Response: Observe….

Maintain Directive 02

After an hour's drive the three vehicles stopped in the middle of a valley situated between three large rock formations. Taggart was glad to have his helmet on as he exited the lead vehicle, he didn't want to breathe in the dust which their vehicles had kicked up, that and they would have irritated all four of his eyes.

He regarded the surroundings as the other members of the crew which the boss had given him for this expedition began to gather behind him. They had stopped in the middle of two rows of strange pillars, some of which had eroded and their tops fallen to the ground. They appeared to be constructed out of a strange black stone which made them stand out in the sandy environment, the only real reason they had been noticed when Taggart had been on an earlier patrol. Structures made from the same black stone emerged from the valley walls to the north, east and west, all of them were boxlike in nature, their corners and edges bore chips and cracks. Both the ruins and the pillars bore a strange symbol, consisting of lines arranged around a circle.

"Fascinating, how long must these ruins have been here to have been so completely buried, hmmm why is this area clear? Appears to be some sort of courtyard"

Taggart turned to look at Jolen, the Salarian's head darting around as he tried to take in all of the details of this environment.

"Who gives a shit? We're here to see if there's anything valuable to sell when we get back, not to site see"

Taggart wished he could have left him on the ship but he was one of their best technical specialists and therefore would be needed to help navigate the ruins. Taggart eyed up the rest of the expedition, consisting of a dozen members of the crew who had "volunteered" to come along. Taggart was no fool they we're having the same thoughts as himself, earning themselves extra credits from finding anything they could easily hide on their person, therefore not needing to split the profits with the rest.

Notable amongst them were Jolen, Gorn a Krogan and Tyrea, an asari whom Taggart knew was acting as the bosses eyes and ears on this mission. He scowled and noted to himself that he would need to keep an eye out for an opportunity for a little accident, ruins could always be deadly after all.

"Alright, let's get this show on the road"

After finishing checking his own gear Taggart moved to the front of the group as they approached what appeared to be the main entrance of the ruins.

….Lifeforms detected outside tomb complex….

….Foreign software detected….

….Countermeasures failed….

….Gate open….

….Intrusion detected….

Directive 02 compromised

….Response: Canoptek constructs alerted….

….Response: Awaken overlord….

Maintain Directive 01

Deep in the heart of the tomb complex lay a massive chamber consisting of a shaft which disappeared into the core of the planet itself and capped by a domed ceiling. Arranged around the walls of the chamber where large mechanical centipedes, their forms unmoving as they remained in slumber. In the middle of the chamber was an octahedral structure. The anti-gravity projectors hummed quietly as they suspended it above the darkness, providing the only source of noise. A lone bridge was the only structure connecting it to the rest of the chamber.

In the middle of the bridge was a mechanical figure, with its head bowed it stood alone clutching a staff. The bottom of the staff consisted of an axe head which touched the floor, while the top ended in a scythed blade. The silent guard's wrists and shins appeared skeletal, consisting of two metal poles connecting to his hands and feet respectively while thick armour plates covered his shoulders, upper thighs and chest. Perhaps the most disturbing feature was his head, while the front was covered by a faceplate one could clearly see teeth and flesh were his cheeks should have been.

A quiet whine echoed throughout the chamber as the stasis field deactivated. Then slowly a sickly green light began to glow from between gaps in the chest armour and from the strange alien symbol in the centre of his chest. The figure lifted his head as a green pillar of energy emitted from the base of the scythed blade on his staff, reaching up to a barrel at its tip.

His eyes lit up.

Slowly he regarded the chamber, the Tomb Vault was undamaged and there were no signs of a breach on the Tesseract Vault or any pressure being exerted by the one contained within. His inspection of the chambers walls revealed the titanic Tomb Guardians remained nestled in their nests, undisturbed.

"Why have I been awakened?"

He felt a pressure originating from his cranial implant and allowed communication to be established with the tomb's central systems. He turned and moved towards the exit of the vault, his metallic feet clanking against the bridge.

"Intruders"

The large black doors let out a sound as they locked the Tomb Vault behind him. He continued communicating with the central system as he navigated the pitch black passages. Thirteen life forms were currently making their way into the tomb, while long range scanners detected a further thirty six aboard a ship approximately sixty miles from the tomb.

He evaluated the situation and the threat posed before giving a negative to the systems query on awakening the phalanxes. The tombs care takers alongside himself should be more than enough to deal with these trespassers. They had before after all.

"They cannot be allowed to discover what should remain buried".