Eden Prime, Utopia, Exodus Cluster, Right After Last Post
Eden Prime hadn't changed a bit. Even the air smelled like it had back then - vaguely fragrant, with only a hint of flame and smoke. Yeah. Like paradise in trouble.
"This was a beautiful colony once," Shepard sighed, raising his rifle high.
Kaidan sucked in a breath of that scorched colony air, and raised his own. "Colonists came back after Saren and the geth attacked. They'll come back again."
"I grew up on ships," Shepard said slowly, his footsteps carrying him down the path into the settlement. "Lose one, you can always move to another."
"But," Liara said haltingly. She held her own pistol by her hip as she caught up to Kaidan. "You'd... still remember."
It'd looked like paradise on fire from afar. Coming down that path, seeing the scorch marks on the plasticy white building walls, it felt... different. Lonely? No, not lonely. Empty, in an oppressive, terrifying sense. That was different. With Saren and the geth... the colony had still been alive when they got here, teeming with people. Some fleeing the scene. Some trying to run away. But still. Alive.
Not so much now.
They passed by the housing units, their doors still wide open, abandoned suddenly and violently. An empty truck stood parked to their left as they made it out the corridor and onto a storage yard. Its door was open, too. Left behind.
"Look at that," Shepard said. His voice broke the silence oddly. "Bits of Prothean tech sticking out of the ground like old bone."
Kaidan could see it: giant gleaming towers, shaped like nothing a human would ever build, towering out of the grass and the soil. Not just nearby, but also off in the distance. It made the whole thing... eerier. So he tried to improve the mood. Didn't want them to get spooked. "You... ever uncover a dinosaur, Liara?"
Her answer was immediate, like he'd expected. "No, dinosaurs and other fossils would be paleontology. I am an archaeologist. I study artifacts left behind by sapient species. The two fields are completely different, and--" She stopped abruptly as something dawned on her. "You were joking."
Kaidan's mouth curved up. Spooky mood pushed aside, at least for a second. "Nah," he said fondly, casting a glance her way before he returned to the work of securing the perimeter. For as much as there was anything to secure. Place was empty.
The jovial mood went away real quick again, though. Especially after Shepard found some files nearby that confirmed the worst; Cerberus had lied to the local colonists, drafted them up for a 'program' somewhere. The people out here hadn't fled, they'd been taken-- god only knew why. He lingered that thought for a second while Liara got practical, broadcasting the info to other settlers on Eden Prime. Trying to make sure they'd at least know to avoid the same lies. Mount some kind of resistance.
How had this become their lives so quickly?
He shook it off, turning back towards the empty scrapyard. He walked a couple of paces to inspect the rest of it. It ended on a cliff, tapering down, but there was some grating on the floor left and right-- and some of it stuck rather obviously out over the emptiness down below. "Shepard? There's the elevator down to the dig site."
"Good," Liara called, rushing out of the building after him. "Now we can find what they've discovered." She passed by him, all business, settling in front of the control panel. A few button presses, and the elevator was coming up high. Kaidan wondered what they were gonna find; whether this was going to be another cave crawl, like Utukku or - god forbid - Ilos.
But no.
Instead, the elevator brought something to them. A coffin. Why would--
"Goddess," Liara said, eyes widening. "It's not a Prothean artifact!" She paced forward, getting to the elevator right as it came to a stop. "... a Prothean."
... an actual Prothean?
"You mean like those bodies we found back on Ilos?" Kaidan asked, looking up at her.
"Yes," Liara breathed, like she'd just found the most amazing thing in her life. "But this Prothean is still alive."
"You're right," Shepard said. He turned towards her. "That doesn't sound possible." Speaking for Kaidan there, too, he had to say. A living Prothean? They'd been dead for thousands upon thousands of years.
"You saw Prothean stasis chambers in the archives on Ilos," Liara pointed out, with purpose. She walked onto the elevator, running her fingers over her omni-tool, activating it. "The only reason those failed was lack of power. Cerberus found this in an underground bunker. It still has power." She sounded more excited with every word coming out of her mouth, her eyes set on the readings from her omni-tool. "He's been in stasis for the past fifty thousand years. Waiting for us. Think of what we could learn!"
"Good thing we brought our Prothean expert," Shepard said, smiling at her, fondly.
"I hope I can help," Liara said distractedly. "If this single Prothean was sent into stasis, he could be the foremost scientist of his time... or perhaps the wisest counselor." That last part came out in a rush. Damn, she was excited. "... Hm, Cerberus damaged the lifepod when they excavated it. The life signs are unstable."
"Then let's get him out of there," said Shepard with finality.
Liara shook her head violently. "No. Breaking open the pod would kill him. We have to find the command signal that ends the stasis mode. We also need to figure out how to physically open the pod without doing more damage. Cerberus took over the labs nearby to research what they found at the dig site. That's likely our best bet--"
A shuttle soared past overhead at top speeds, nearly smashing down on them. Instead it came to a screeching halt a couple dozen feet away. White and black and yellow. Cerberus colors. Of course.
"There they are!"
Kaidan snagged his rifle. Time to fight.
[[ nfi, taken from mass effect 3. post 2 out of 3. ]]
"This was a beautiful colony once," Shepard sighed, raising his rifle high.
Kaidan sucked in a breath of that scorched colony air, and raised his own. "Colonists came back after Saren and the geth attacked. They'll come back again."
"I grew up on ships," Shepard said slowly, his footsteps carrying him down the path into the settlement. "Lose one, you can always move to another."
"But," Liara said haltingly. She held her own pistol by her hip as she caught up to Kaidan. "You'd... still remember."
It'd looked like paradise on fire from afar. Coming down that path, seeing the scorch marks on the plasticy white building walls, it felt... different. Lonely? No, not lonely. Empty, in an oppressive, terrifying sense. That was different. With Saren and the geth... the colony had still been alive when they got here, teeming with people. Some fleeing the scene. Some trying to run away. But still. Alive.
Not so much now.
They passed by the housing units, their doors still wide open, abandoned suddenly and violently. An empty truck stood parked to their left as they made it out the corridor and onto a storage yard. Its door was open, too. Left behind.
"Look at that," Shepard said. His voice broke the silence oddly. "Bits of Prothean tech sticking out of the ground like old bone."
Kaidan could see it: giant gleaming towers, shaped like nothing a human would ever build, towering out of the grass and the soil. Not just nearby, but also off in the distance. It made the whole thing... eerier. So he tried to improve the mood. Didn't want them to get spooked. "You... ever uncover a dinosaur, Liara?"
Her answer was immediate, like he'd expected. "No, dinosaurs and other fossils would be paleontology. I am an archaeologist. I study artifacts left behind by sapient species. The two fields are completely different, and--" She stopped abruptly as something dawned on her. "You were joking."
Kaidan's mouth curved up. Spooky mood pushed aside, at least for a second. "Nah," he said fondly, casting a glance her way before he returned to the work of securing the perimeter. For as much as there was anything to secure. Place was empty.
The jovial mood went away real quick again, though. Especially after Shepard found some files nearby that confirmed the worst; Cerberus had lied to the local colonists, drafted them up for a 'program' somewhere. The people out here hadn't fled, they'd been taken-- god only knew why. He lingered that thought for a second while Liara got practical, broadcasting the info to other settlers on Eden Prime. Trying to make sure they'd at least know to avoid the same lies. Mount some kind of resistance.
How had this become their lives so quickly?
He shook it off, turning back towards the empty scrapyard. He walked a couple of paces to inspect the rest of it. It ended on a cliff, tapering down, but there was some grating on the floor left and right-- and some of it stuck rather obviously out over the emptiness down below. "Shepard? There's the elevator down to the dig site."
"Good," Liara called, rushing out of the building after him. "Now we can find what they've discovered." She passed by him, all business, settling in front of the control panel. A few button presses, and the elevator was coming up high. Kaidan wondered what they were gonna find; whether this was going to be another cave crawl, like Utukku or - god forbid - Ilos.
But no.
Instead, the elevator brought something to them. A coffin. Why would--
"Goddess," Liara said, eyes widening. "It's not a Prothean artifact!" She paced forward, getting to the elevator right as it came to a stop. "... a Prothean."
... an actual Prothean?
"You mean like those bodies we found back on Ilos?" Kaidan asked, looking up at her.
"Yes," Liara breathed, like she'd just found the most amazing thing in her life. "But this Prothean is still alive."
"You're right," Shepard said. He turned towards her. "That doesn't sound possible." Speaking for Kaidan there, too, he had to say. A living Prothean? They'd been dead for thousands upon thousands of years.
"You saw Prothean stasis chambers in the archives on Ilos," Liara pointed out, with purpose. She walked onto the elevator, running her fingers over her omni-tool, activating it. "The only reason those failed was lack of power. Cerberus found this in an underground bunker. It still has power." She sounded more excited with every word coming out of her mouth, her eyes set on the readings from her omni-tool. "He's been in stasis for the past fifty thousand years. Waiting for us. Think of what we could learn!"
"Good thing we brought our Prothean expert," Shepard said, smiling at her, fondly.
"I hope I can help," Liara said distractedly. "If this single Prothean was sent into stasis, he could be the foremost scientist of his time... or perhaps the wisest counselor." That last part came out in a rush. Damn, she was excited. "... Hm, Cerberus damaged the lifepod when they excavated it. The life signs are unstable."
"Then let's get him out of there," said Shepard with finality.
Liara shook her head violently. "No. Breaking open the pod would kill him. We have to find the command signal that ends the stasis mode. We also need to figure out how to physically open the pod without doing more damage. Cerberus took over the labs nearby to research what they found at the dig site. That's likely our best bet--"
A shuttle soared past overhead at top speeds, nearly smashing down on them. Instead it came to a screeching halt a couple dozen feet away. White and black and yellow. Cerberus colors. Of course.
"There they are!"
Kaidan snagged his rifle. Time to fight.
[[ nfi, taken from mass effect 3. post 2 out of 3. ]]