Eden Prime, Utopia, Exodus Cluster, Wednesday
Eden Prime.
It was the colony where all of this had started, years ago now: Kaidan, a young lieutenant, had gone down to shore for a routine mission with Shepard, and then it had all gotten outrageously out of hand. It was weird to be back there. So much history... Saren. The geth. The Prothean beacon that had lodged itself in Shepard's head-- damn.
And Ashley, of course. The memory was a jarring one. Kaidan found himself thinking of her as the shuttle descended.
The significance wasn't lost on Shepard and Liara, either. Kaidan could see it on their faces. "We lost a lot of good people when Saren and the geth hit this place," Kaidan said, meeting Shepard's eyes.
"Yes," Liara agreed. There was a solemnity to her, too. "And now with Cerberus here, Eden Prime's colonists are under attack again."
Shepard closed his eyes for a second. When he opened them, he was looking directly at Kaidan. "Seems like more than just three years ago," he said.
"Lot of memories here," Kaidan agreed. "Jenkins and that damn geth recon drone..." Their first loss. Not exactly the last.
"And Nihlus." The Spectre, just doing his job, killed by one of his own.
"Guess we've got a lot of people to remember down here," Kaidan said. "Even if we're not fighting geth this time..."
Shepard nodded. He didn't mention Ash. Neither of them had to. "Not a lot of people have had my back from the beginning," he said. "Thanks for coming."
A strange ball of emotion wrenched itself up into Kaidan's throat, and for a second he couldn't get the words out. Yeah. It'd been a long time, and-- Shepard. "I wasn't going to miss this one," he said softly, not quite willing to break the eye contact, somehow.
When Liara broke the silence, she almost sounded embarrassed to be doing so. "Cerberus hit Eden Prime hard. Whatever they found here was worth a major offensive. There are survivors elsewhere on the colony, but they killed everyone near the dig site."
"They deserve better," Shepard said.
"I know," Liara said. Her expression softened. "The Alliance did what it could to evacuate the colonists, but Cerberus came in so quickly..."
Shepard straightened. The emotion that had poured into his voice dissipated, leaving behind the all-business commander. "If we find survivors, we'll do what we can. What about this artifact? Any idea whether it's part of the Crucible?"
"The Alliance didn't get any specifics about what Cerberus has uncovered. Since the original dig site here contained a warning about the Reapers, it could be connected to the Crucible." Liara looked like she knew it was a long shot. Maybe a medium one.
If she had anything else to say, though, she didn't have the time. Cortez - the shuttle pilot - raised his voice. "We're coming up close on the dig site. No way we'll avoid detection, but you should have a few minutes."
Shepard paced towards the cockpit, snagging a handle to keep himself steady. "Appreciate it," he said warmly.
"All part of the service, Commander."
Right. This was gonna be it. Kaidan grabbed a handle himself, and looked out the window at an old, familiar landscape, smoke billowing up from the buildings everywhere, and felt a pang of real pain in his heart. Ashley.
[[ let's see if i can actually finish one of these in a few days' time this go around. nfi, taken from Mass Effect 3. ]]
It was the colony where all of this had started, years ago now: Kaidan, a young lieutenant, had gone down to shore for a routine mission with Shepard, and then it had all gotten outrageously out of hand. It was weird to be back there. So much history... Saren. The geth. The Prothean beacon that had lodged itself in Shepard's head-- damn.
And Ashley, of course. The memory was a jarring one. Kaidan found himself thinking of her as the shuttle descended.
The significance wasn't lost on Shepard and Liara, either. Kaidan could see it on their faces. "We lost a lot of good people when Saren and the geth hit this place," Kaidan said, meeting Shepard's eyes.
"Yes," Liara agreed. There was a solemnity to her, too. "And now with Cerberus here, Eden Prime's colonists are under attack again."
Shepard closed his eyes for a second. When he opened them, he was looking directly at Kaidan. "Seems like more than just three years ago," he said.
"Lot of memories here," Kaidan agreed. "Jenkins and that damn geth recon drone..." Their first loss. Not exactly the last.
"And Nihlus." The Spectre, just doing his job, killed by one of his own.
"Guess we've got a lot of people to remember down here," Kaidan said. "Even if we're not fighting geth this time..."
Shepard nodded. He didn't mention Ash. Neither of them had to. "Not a lot of people have had my back from the beginning," he said. "Thanks for coming."
A strange ball of emotion wrenched itself up into Kaidan's throat, and for a second he couldn't get the words out. Yeah. It'd been a long time, and-- Shepard. "I wasn't going to miss this one," he said softly, not quite willing to break the eye contact, somehow.
When Liara broke the silence, she almost sounded embarrassed to be doing so. "Cerberus hit Eden Prime hard. Whatever they found here was worth a major offensive. There are survivors elsewhere on the colony, but they killed everyone near the dig site."
"They deserve better," Shepard said.
"I know," Liara said. Her expression softened. "The Alliance did what it could to evacuate the colonists, but Cerberus came in so quickly..."
Shepard straightened. The emotion that had poured into his voice dissipated, leaving behind the all-business commander. "If we find survivors, we'll do what we can. What about this artifact? Any idea whether it's part of the Crucible?"
"The Alliance didn't get any specifics about what Cerberus has uncovered. Since the original dig site here contained a warning about the Reapers, it could be connected to the Crucible." Liara looked like she knew it was a long shot. Maybe a medium one.
If she had anything else to say, though, she didn't have the time. Cortez - the shuttle pilot - raised his voice. "We're coming up close on the dig site. No way we'll avoid detection, but you should have a few minutes."
Shepard paced towards the cockpit, snagging a handle to keep himself steady. "Appreciate it," he said warmly.
"All part of the service, Commander."
Right. This was gonna be it. Kaidan grabbed a handle himself, and looked out the window at an old, familiar landscape, smoke billowing up from the buildings everywhere, and felt a pang of real pain in his heart. Ashley.
[[ let's see if i can actually finish one of these in a few days' time this go around. nfi, taken from Mass Effect 3. ]]