"What about that ship? What can you tell me about that?" Sampson continues their interrogation of the group.
"I was too busy running to get a clear look at it. I think it landed over near the spaceport." The man says.
"Tell them about the noise, Cole. That awful noise." The female farmer says.
"It was emitting some kind of signal as it descended. Sounded like the shriek of the damned. Only it was coming from inside your own head." Cole says, trying to explain the situation.
"It was probably trying to block communications." Sampson says after a few moments of contemplation.
"Whatever it was, felt like it was tearing right through my skull. Almost made it impossible to think." Cole says.
"Thanks for the information, stay hunkered down here. Let's move out." Sampson says giving them a nod and turning to leave.
"Hey, Cole. We're just a bunch of farmers. These guys are soldiers. Maybe we should give them the stuff." The male farmer says.
"Geez, Blake. You gotta learn to shut up!" Cole barks back to Blake.
"You got something to tell me, Cole?" Sampson asks, stopping from turning around.
"Some guys at the spaceport were running a small smuggling ring. Nothing major. In exchange for a cut of the profits, we let them store packages in our sheds." Cole reluctantly confesses.
"That's a serious crime, Cole. You're breaking the law." Sampson chastises him with a disapproving look.
"We're not hurting anybody! Hell, most of the time, I don't even know what's in the packages. I just thought there might be something we could use." Cole says, defending his actions, "I found a pistol. Figured it would come in handy if those things came back. But you'll probably get more use out of it than we will."
"I'm only going to ask this once. Think long and hard before you lie to us again. Are you sure all you've got is one lousy pistol?" Sapphire says angrily jabbing her finger into Cole's chest.
"Uh… Oh, wait. I just remembered. I just so happen to have had this in my pocket. Might as well take that too." Cole gives an awkward laugh, before saying, "That's everything. Really."
"Who's your contact at the spaceport, Cole? What's his name?" Ashley says, grilling him for his source.
"Look, he's not a bad guy. I don't want to get him in trouble. Besides, I'm not a snitch!" Cole adamantly refuses.
"Would you rather be a snitch or a corpse?" Sapphire says pulling out her pistol and aiming it at Cole as Ashley watches in shock.
"Powell! His name's Powell!" Cole shouts in fear as his legs shake.
"Hmph, no honor amongst thieves." Sapphire says with a look of disgust before holstering her pistol.
"That's all I know. Really. So let's try to keep things friendly from here on in, okay?" Cole asks nervously.
"Sure we have to get going anyways." Sapphire says as Sampson takes the Striker II pistol with a low-grade combat scanner mod.
As the team is walking down the hill Sampson finally speaks up, "Did you really have to go so far?"
"Oh, come on. He was leading you by the nose the entire time… And besides, I had my safety on." Sapphire argues back before saying with a cheeky smile, "Probably."
Sampson just rolls his eyes and sighs in exasperation before noticing Nihlus' body on the deck of the entry platform of the spaceport.
They check his body when Ashley exclaims, "Something's moving! Over behind those crates!" Prompting the team to draw their weapons when a dock worker pops out with his arms raised.
"Wait! Don't- Don't shoot! I'm one of you! I'm human." He shouts.
"Sneaking up on us like that nearly got you killed!" Sapphire shouts.
"I… I'm sorry. I was hidding. From those creatures. My name's Powell. I saw what happened to that turian. The other one shot him." Powell says in shock.
"We need to know how Nihlus died." Sampson says, lowering his pistol.
"The other one got here first. He was waiting when your friend showed up. He called him Saren. I think they knew each other?" Powell says before continuing, "Your friend seemed to relax. He let his guard down… And Saren killed him. Shot him right in the back. I'm just lucky he didn't see me behind the crates."
"We heard the Prothean beacon was brought to the spaceport. Do you know what happened to it?" Sampson asks.
"It's over on the other platform. Probably where that guy Saren was headed. He hopped on the cargo train right after he killed your friend." Powell says pointing to the train.
"I knew that beacon was trouble. Everything's gone to hell since we found it. First, that damn mother ship showed up. Then the attack. They killed everyone. Everyone! If I hadn't been behind the crates I'd be dead, too!" Powell shouts slamming his fist into the container he was hiding behind.
"How come you're the only one who survived? Why didn't anyone else try to hide behind the crates?" Sampson questions.
"They never had a chance. I… I was already behind the crates when the attack started." Powell answers looking away from them.
"Wait a minute. You were hiding behind the crates before the attack?" Sapphire asks.
"I… Sometimes I need a nap to get through my shift. I sneak off behind the crates to grab forty winks where the supervisor can't find me." Powell says, looking at his feet guiltily.
"You survived because you're lazy?" Ashley asks with disdain.
"Hmph, if you hadn't snuck off for that nap you'd probably be dead just like the others." Sapphire says sarcastically.
"Yeah, yeah, I guess. I don't really want to think about it." Powell says with discomfort.
"Tell me about the geth attack." Sampson asks, trying to distract Powell from his sister and Williams chiding.
"It was quick. One minute, that ship was descending. The next, those geth were swarming over the platform, thousands of them. They must have been inside that mother ship. They shot anything that moved. It was a massacre." Powell says with a pained expression.