Eden Prime

Description
This idyllic agrarian world was one of the first human colonies established beyond the Charon mass relay. Eden Prime's biosphere is unusually well-suited for importation of Earth-native life. This fertility drew heavy immigration and development by the Systems Alliance and various corporations.

Today Eden Prime is a model of sustainable, organized development. The population is housed in space-efficient arcologies that tower over thousands of kilometers of green fields and orchards.

Codex Entry
Eden Prime is a human colony founded on the borders of the Terminus Systems. Known for its pristine, Earth-like greenery and suitability for sustaining life, it has become a kind of symbol for humanity's ability to create functioning colonies in an interstellar community. Eden Prime is known for being a beautiful paradise for all species. Most long time colonists are in the agriculture business.



Plot
"We thought this world was safe. Until the geth showed up." - Ashley Williams

Shakedown
The SSV Normandy is en route to Eden Prime for her shakedown mission, but as Captain Anderson and Nihlus Kryik explain to Commander Shepard in private, there is more at stake here than a test run. A Prothean Beacon has been unearthed on Eden Prime and the Normandy has been sent to retrieve it. This is also going to be an evaluation mission for Shepard, to see if the commander is ready to become a Council Spectre.

As they approach the planet, Joker picks up a transmission of Alliance marines - including a female gunnery chief - on the surface taking heavy losses against an unseen enemy. The message shows an enormous dreadnought in the sky before it cuts out.

Once they reach Eden Prime, Joker drops Nihlus off - he's planning to scout ahead - then brings the Normandy to the second insertion point. Along with Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko and Corporal Jenkins, Shepard heads out onto the surface. The colony is burning and there are bodies everywhere - radio chatter from Nihlus suggests there is worse to come. As they head toward the dig site, they are ambushed by geth assault drones and Jenkins is killed. Shepard and Alenko have to leave him and continue on. An Alliance marine comes running from the other direction, the woman who was on the distress transmission, who is being chased by more drones and geth troopers. With her help they manage to kill the geth and earn a brief respite.

The marine introduces herself as Ashley Williams. Her unit was dispatched to guard the beacon, but then the geth arrived and her whole unit has been killed. The geth must be here for the beacon. Shepard asks Williams to come along and lead them to the dig site, but when they arrive, the beacon has been moved. Over the radio Nihlus says he's going to the local spaceport to see what he can find. Shepard's team heads up to the dig site's camp looking for survivors and run into Husks, corpses that have been reanimated by the geth. Once the area is secure Shepard finds two survivors in the camp, Dr Warren and her assistant Manuel. Warren says the beacon was taken to the spaceport this morning. Shepard asks if they have seen Nihlus, their turian ally. Manuel gibbers that he's seen a turian, but it was before the attack. This confuses Shepard and Alenko - wasn't Nihlus on the Normandy?

Spectres and Survivors
Ahead at the spaceport, Nihlus is checking the area when he sees Saren Arterius, another turian Spectre. Surprised, Nihlus asks what he's doing here. Saren speaks reassuringly, saying he's come to back Nihlus up. Nihlus starts looking around: Saren points a pistol at the back of his head.

A shot echoes as Shepard leads the team to the spaceport, but they are distracted as an enormous ship, the dreadnought from the transmission, takes off from the surface from somewhere up ahead. Shepard clears the area of geth and finds three survivors hiding nearby. They tell Shepard that the geth came out of that ship, which was emitting some sort of horrible noise. Under questioning one of the survivors, Cole, confesses he was involved in a small smuggling ring on Eden Prime and hands over the weapons he was hoarding.

Down at the spaceport platform, Alenko spots Nihlus' body. As they go to investigate, a man pops up from behind the crates and Shepard nearly shoots him by accident. His name is Powell; he tells them that he saw everything, a turian called Saren killing Nihlus. Saren is leading the geth. Powell (the ringleader of the smuggling operation that Cole mentioned; he can be coerced into handing over a stash of grenades and a compatible upgrade) also tells them that the beacon was taken to the other train platform earlier on and that Saren has gone that way. Shepard takes the team on the cargo train to intercept him.

The Beacon
Approaching the Prothean beacon, Saren tells one of the geth to set charges to destroy the colony and all evidence that they were here. As he gets closer to the beacon, a mysterious force suddenly pulls him off the ground.

Shepard's team arrives at the other platform and spots a demolition charge. Alenko and Williams hold off the geth while the commander disables the charges one by one. Finally they spot the beacon, intact and apparently active. Shepard calls the Normandy to report their success. Williams and Alenko, curious about the beacon, take a look at it, but one of them gets too close and the beacon reacts with some sort of security field. Shepard intervenes but is caught in the field instead, pulled off the ground like Saren was. The commander's mind is assaulted by a horrific vision - war, synthetics murdering thousands of people. The beacon explodes and the blast knocks Shepard unconscious.

Trivia
Concept art of Eden Prime shows mobile "fields" of crops that could be moved on the cargo train.