Hey everybody! Blue here with another ME fic that I finally broke down to write. I know, I know, I've already got a few up that aren't finished but this is one I've been itching to do for a while. I see this as an interim project anyway so just bear with me here. I fully intend on this being a FemShepxGarrus and an MShepxTali but with not two but three Shepard sibs, I'm a little torn on who the third pairing should be. And yes, I plan on having Nihlus survive. His role in the first game was way too short if you ask me. Maybe when you guys read this, you'll help me figure it out. Again just bear with me and hopefully it'll all come out right. Enjoy!

"Iii" = speech

"Iii" = radio speech

Iii = thought

Chapter 1: Eden Prime

Lieutenant Commander Ranleigh Shepard stood at one of the few windows of the prototype starship SSV Normandy, or SR1 depending on who you spoke to. Standing at a rather daunting 6'5", Ranleigh needed such height if his enemies were going to fall to his biotic skills or his sharp shooting. And if those weren't enough, he always had his fists. Looking out into the abyss of space like he'd always done as a kid, he easily ignored the ogling all the female crew members were giving him easily. If anything their attention was because of his large size and appeasing looks, while men just looked at him with envy, sometimes with the same looks women gave him. Brown hair cut short so that most of it came over his forehead, a small beard on his chin all with matching rosewood eyes, it was hard for most to believe he was the famous Commander Hayden Shepard's younger brother. As kids, their parents had taken equal note of everything they did, Hayden as well as Bercan the youngest and himself. Just like Hayden and himself, Bercan had been dragged onto the Normandy for its shakedown run. A red flag if the LC ever saw one. As the second oldest, and the oldest boy, quite a bit of expectation was pressed down on him. Expectations he took just like a hailstorm of bullets with his biotic barrier active: like none of it could touch him. A tactic he'd, thankfully, had yet to resort to in battle. The sound of boots on the metal floor plating brought Ranleigh out of his thoughts, making him turn to face his only sister Hayden as she came to stand next to him. at an average height of 5'4", Hayden looked as average as they came: her brown hair cut to her chin in accordance with Alliance regs and swept lazily out of her face in a slight curve, silver grey eyes bright as they were sharp with an underlying intelligence that got her to her current rank. Just like the women stared at him, all the men stared at her. Until he glared at them, making them turn away like rats from sunlight coming down on them for the first time.

"There you are. You comin' to the cockpit?" Hayden asked, keeping her voice down for only them to hear.

Lifting his large shoulders in a shrug, Ranleigh moved to follow as she began to walk on towards the bow of the ship. "I don't see why not." As they passed the terminals, he gave her a questioning glance. "You see Bercan yet?"

A part of him winced when his sister's delicate lips twisted in a frown. "Yeah and he's not happy."

"He'll settle down. He always does." Ranleigh assured her, but in a way himself. Since surviving Akuze, Bercan rarely spoke if not at all. Their youngest brother was dangerously close to impaired if not for his willingness to function as part of the engineering crew with the head engineer Adams. The twenty-two year old ensign had been the tech expert of his team, but the mission to Akuze had changed him from the kind, soft-spoken young man they remembered to a recluse who even then still had trouble sleeping.

Hayden's frown deepened, her brow knotted with disapproval. "Not this time. He was really anxious. Check on him later?"

"You bet." Ranleigh said in his usual, timber voice. Looking ahead, his own face shifted into irritation. "Ugh it's that guy again." Standing behind the pilot's chair was their VIP passenger and the reason for his unease was Nihlus Kryik, his black and red armor matching his almost black plates and pure white facial markings. Eyes small but vibrant as they were attentive were a shocking color green.

"Be nice." Hayden warned lower than normal, both knowing that turians could hear better than any other Council race. Stepping into the cockpit to stand next to the turian, just behind the pilot seat, she greeted him politely. "Spectre Kryik."

"Commander, lieutenant commander." The turian's dual-toned voice responded with the same courtesy, glancing back at Ranleigh, who had hung back near the doorway to the fairly confined space.

"LC is just fine sir." He responded calmly, ignoring the female ensign and her deep blush as he examined her terminal's holographic screen. Being a biotic, his skills lay in combat but he liked to have some idea on what to look for should worse come to worse in terms of navigating the ship.

Nihlus stared for a few brief seconds, nodding at this information in the tell-tale way turians gave away their unfamiliarity with human mannerisms and speech patterns. Instead, he went on in the same polite tone. "Of course." Turning to the windows ahead, he and Hayden watched as the giant mass relay got closer and closer, the pilot's hands moving quick and in time with the ship's displays. As they got closer, his muttering was hard to follow but in the end, the entire ship seemed to stretch before becoming enveloped in the familiar blue rippling of FTL flight. Glancing down at the man readjusting his position in his chair, Nihlus spoke with a firm voice, barely hinting at his approval of what he'd just witnessed. "Well done, you should take pride in your work. Your captain should commend you on your skills. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to see if he's available."

"I hate that guy." Jeff 'Joker' Moreau grumbled as the turian practically marched down the walkway and towards the CIC, his armored back glistening in the artificial lights.

Sitting in the chair next to his, staff lieutenant Kaidan Alenko gave the pilot a puzzled look. "He just paid you a compliment…and you hate him?"

Leaning back in the chair, Joker scoffed loudly, bright green eyes flashing. "Oh please! I just got us into a mass relay stream the size of a pinhead. You're lucky if you remember to zip up your pants after usin' the can. I'm lucky if I don't break a hip doin' the same thing."

This didn't keep the raven-haired biotic from staring at him as if he were crazy. "You got a compliment from Nihlus, one of the Council's most prospective Spectres, yet you're acting like he just gave you the finger! Sometimes I don't get you, man." The man declared, his dark brown orbs all but glaring at his terminal screen.

"Joker, what's our eta to Eden Prime?" a rough voice asked through the ship's comm., distracting the scraggly bearded pilot from making another snarky remark.

"Roughly two hours sir, and look out for Nihlus comin' your way." He informed the voice with just the barest hint of respect. Captain Anderson was by far the one man on the whole ship they respected the most, and the reason they'd all been recruited for the Normandy's shakedown mission. Joker profusely called it 'drafting'.

"He's already here." Anderson's gruff voice sounded annoyed over the line, making Joker shake his head at not seeing that particular response coming. "Inform Commander Shepard to come to the comm. room." He ordered before the line went dead.

"Now you made him mad, just what I need." Hayden grumbled, though the curve of her lips told all she wasn't annoyed herself.

Turning in his chair, Joker grinned like an idiot. "You can take him commander, no sweat. Ol' Anderson's a grouch anyway."

This earned him a smirk and a twist of his SR-1 baseball cap, forcing the invalid to shout 'hey!' after her, which she pointedly ignored as she too headed back towards the CIC and thus the debriefing room just past it. Watching it all with an air of amusement, Ranleigh couldn't help but let out a small chuckle, the rough noise earning him more than a few stares. To be expected since he rarely expressed himself beyond simple responses and hard looks.

"Did you just laugh?" the pilot remarked with an awestruck look, his mussed up hair looking like he'd just gotten out of bed.

Ranleigh's smirk was a ghostly expression that died quickly. "Yes."

Joker stared, his jaw a bit slack. "Yet I feel like I should wet myself…please tell me you're not a super villain in your off hours."

"Shut up Joker." Ranleigh said, voice lacking emotion as he turned to leave.

Joker's mouth snapped shut as he put his cap back on and turned back to his console, somehow hiding the shiver of fear in his eyes. "Right, shutting up."

As he walked away, Ranleigh could hear Kaidan chuckling, Joker grumbling as most joined in at his expense. But he ignored it in favor of seeing his sister talking to the ship's medic, Dr. Karin Chakwas and one of the young officers. Richard Jenkins his mind provided as the marine shifted in obvious excitement. He vaguely remembered feeling that way on his first mission, most of it anxiety rather than joy. Coming to a stop by one of the open consoles along the holo-interface, Ranleigh busied himself with the readings, once again ignoring one or two crew members who stared at his unusual height. Since the past hundred years had made it difficult to make one's ethnicity overly distinctive, racial divides had since vanished completely in favor of more basic labels like rich or poor, smart or ignorant. Sadly gender was still a tough issue but in general terms all were accepted. Including him, despite his unusually intense growth spurts as a teenager that caused him to be one of the tallest humans on record. If they stood side by side, Ranleigh knew he stood a bit taller than Nihlus, topping the turian by perhaps half a foot. But all that didn't mean that humanity coming onto the galactic scene didn't cause an uproar either: where color and origin no longer mattered, what species you were drew all the age-old suspicion and hate needed to make most humans look at their new neighbors with looks of disgust. From experience, he, Hayden and even his brother knew these to be baseless. Aside from slavers and pirates, most aliens were actually trustworthy and honorable. Much like Nihlus but it wasn't that he was a turian that Ranleigh found to be an issue. It was the fact that he was a Council Spectre on a human/turian designed ship for a reason that most certainly wasn't to see how the ship performed. Looking up, Ranleigh saw his sister finally get past the doctor and the marine in favor of the comm. room where Nihlus had vanished. Bringing his gaze back down to the console, Ranleigh put himself to use by fiddling with the controls. He wasn't a tech but he knew his way around, and it didn't hurt to get familiar with the systems if they ever got into a pinch.

Hayden hated being kept in the dark but kept her suspicions under wraps. Or at least she had until Anderson finally met her and Nihlus in the comm. room to debrief them on what their real reason for the shakedown was. A deep chill settled in her bones when the vid from the human colony came in, her unexpected recommendation to the Spectres a minor bump in the road compared to the devastation she saw in the few seconds of film. Wandering around the lush hills with gun in hand that, maybe hours or even days earlier had been peaceful and untouched, were pocked with black blots from explosions and small spots of fire. Upon first touching down, she and Kaidan had stared at the odd, floating masses of cream and yellow bulbs, their pale pink tendrils hanging down as they lazily hung without any sort of palpable suspension. 'Gas bags' he'd called them, even told them to 'pop' one. Having pointed her rifle at it, Hayden almost jumped a mile high when it exploded with a loud bang! Like an old rubber balloon when you took a pin to it. Aside from that, the trio was able to ignore them. Pain gripped at her heart at the thought of seeing Jenkins go down when the turrets had appeared, their bullets cutting through his shields like they were tissue paper. Whether or not her remaining companion saw her tears of regret she didn't know, and as she cut down another of the odd beings shooting at them, she didn't particularly care. Hiding behind a rock some distance away was a female marine she recognized from the vid sent to the Normandy who was now trying to get up and shoot back after running for who knew how long. Too much of this reminded her of Elysium. Except the targets weren't batarian, and these machines seemed intent on taking no prisoners.

After a few tense minutes the fighting ended, leaving her, Kaidan and the female marine with ample opportunity to get properly acquainted. Dressed in what looked like light Phoenix armor with its oddly pink and white coloring, the woman approached and snapped into a quick salute. Her rough voice and dark brown eyes, along with her stance, quickly told Hayden she was looking at a hardened soldier and not a raw rookie. "Thanks for the help ma'am. Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams of the 212, at your service. Am I glad to see a friendly face aside from all these light bulb heads."

"Commander Shepard and Lt. Alenko of the Normandy, glad we could help. What's the situation?"

"Just a regular day, but sideways: at first no one knew what was going on. That ship just came out of nowhere, and then all these mechs showed up, started killing everybody they saw. It was a massacre. My unit did the best we could to hold them off but now I'm the only one left. If I didn't know any better, I'd say these things were geth."

"Geth? That's impossible! Those things haven't gone beyond the Perseus Veil in over 300 years. Why would they come here, now?" Kaidan declared, his scowl of confusion only mirroring Hayden's.

"Crazy right? But I have to say they're after the beacon." Ashley told them, brown eyes dark with suspicion.

"That's what we're here to retrieve. Maybe you can lead us to where it is." Hayden suggested, knowing that with the loss of Jenkins, they would need an extra gun until they found Nihlus.

At that, the new addition to their team nodded grimly, checking her gun to see if it'd cooled off yet. "Sure thing, it's just up the hill at the dig site where they found it. Give me ample opportunity to get those bastards back for killing my teammates."

"Keep it steady chief, we've got to get moving if we're going to get that beacon. See if they're anyone left to talk to." Hayden warned, earning a nod from both marines.

"Yes ma'am." Ashley affirmed before falling in behind Hayden's determined march.

They then went back up the road, saw the spikes. Holy shit those damn spikes and what they produced. Killing the not-zombies had been hard, not to mention troubling. Why would the geth put live people on them? What purpose did it serve? Those questions had to wait for they ran into what few colonists were left. Turned out a pair of scientists were still around. Dr. Warren, the woman was clearly in control of her senses though there was no denying she was afraid. Her companion, Dr. Manuel seemed a bit out of touch which Hayden ignored. Not that it was his fault after all, as Dr. Warren pointed out, genius had a price. In a way the man reminded her of Bercan but she quickly pushed it down. Bercan was just withdrawn not…scrambled like this man was. In the end she got the information she wanted and moved on, telling them to wait in the shack until help arrived. At the dig site, Hayden ground her teeth as more geth popped up, forcing them to take cover and shoot them before being able to examine the exposed space. Off to the side, she heard Williams comment that the beacon must've been taken to the starport for transport as she led them up and away. The walk was peaceful for once until the gunshot that echoed over them, making Hayden's blood run cold. Dealing with the farmers they encountered went by in a blur for her, pressing them for any tech and weapons which they gave with some persuasion. From there, getting to the starport looked easy…if not for all the geth troopers all over the place. Killing them took time, and the body lying on the metal plating of the supply deck was too ominous to ignore. Cutting past their opponents, Hayden felt a rush of relief to find it wasn't just Nihlus, he was alive if wounded.

"Here, just lie still." She soothed as the down turian tried to move, his breath heavy and wet, ragged as he struggled to breathe. Opening a pack of medigel from one of her pouches, Hayden spread as much of it over the wound in his side as best she could, watching him relax as the goop did its job. His breathing quickly became easier as he slumped in relief.

A scrap to the side drew their attention, making them all turn to its source behind a bunch of crates. "Movement!" Williams bit out as she pointed her gun at the organized mess.

"Check it out!" Hayden growled back, spreading more medigel over the fallen turian's wounds, glancing up at her other team member. "Alenko, cover us."

"Yes ma'am." The biotic retorted, Avenger rifle in hand as he stood ready to shoot anything that dared rise against him.

Off to the side, Williams was practically dragging a man out from behind the box piles, his hands in the air. "Whoa, whoa no need for that! I'm comin' out!"

"Who are you? Did you see what happened to this turian?" Hayden demanded, rising from his side, satisfied she'd done what was needed.

The man, an average looking human, kept his hands up as he glanced between the guns pointed at him. "I'm Powell, I work here. I nap here sometimes to catch up on sleep. I'm unarmed, promise."

"Powell, part of the gun smuggling ring?" Kaidan queried.

The man's face fell. "Dammit it's just a side thing I swear! No one's gonna miss a few extra pistols and grenades."

Williams gave him a hard poke with her own rifle, what amount of her face visible through the helmet twisted in righteous anger. "You idiot! Some people could've used those against this hell we're in!"

"Calm down, he's not worth it. He's going to stay here and watch over Nihlus until back up arrives. Then he can be put under arrest for theft and smuggling charges." Hayden cut in, not bothering to point her own gun at the man. They way Powell cowered at the fury in her eyes was warning enough. "You run, and I really will shoot you. Got me?"

"I get it, I get it! I won't go nowhere!" Powell stammered, practically on edge of wetting himself in the face of her wrath.

Taking a quiet breath, Hayden backed off, holding the man in place with her steady glare that was as steely as their color. "Now tell me, who attacked this turian?"

"Another turian, never seen him before now since it's mostly humans here. All grey, real scary lookin', nasty vibe so I stayed put. Could almost swear he was half machine cuz he had some comin' up from his neckline." Powell stated with a bit more confidence though subdued.

Hayden mulled over this information for a few seconds before going on to ask. "Did this turian do anything?"

Powell nodded with some enthusiasm, pointing down to Nihlus, who was watching them all with tired eyes. "Yeah, he and this one, Nihlus you called him, came up to each other and spoke. Sounded real surprised to see each other too, and I heard 'em talkin'. The guy called him 'Saren', didn't seem bothered by him." the dock worker cringed at the memory as he went on, too caught up in his tale to notice. "Then he turns around and the other turian pulls a gun! He must've sensed it cuz he moved outta the way in time. Nearly shit myself watchin' 'em beat the shit outta each other. Then the Saren guy gets a good shot in, made that big ol' hole you just patched up and ran off when he saw you on the hill. Then all those mechs came to try and stop you. I got some extra medigel over here if he needs it."

Next to her, Kaidan looked thoughtful. "Saren Arterius. Why would one Spectre try to kill another? Especially his own student? Somethin' doesn't add up commander."

"Yeah, and now we get to go find out." Glaring at Powell again, Hayden let her voice drop a cold-toned octave. "Help him hide, keep him healthy until help arrives. If one of us comes back to find that you're gone, I'll hunt you down myself."

"Just take the tram to the starport, over there. That's where the other turian went. I won't try to leave, promise." Powell said with an exaggerated nod, pointing to the side. Sure enough there was a cart like train waiting on the long tracks leading off into the distance. "There are even some grenades here if you need 'em."

From his spot on the ground, Nihlus managed to speak. "Go get 'em Shepard." He coughed, holding his side in pain but still spoke past it. "I'll be fine. Recover the beacon."

She nodded for Powell to move, the dock worker shuffling over to a box to pull out the grenades as he promised, giving them each a few. Giving Nihlus a nod of his own, Hayden spoke in a purely professional voice. "Yes sir. Let's move out." Hayden told them, giving another medigel pack to the dock worker prior to drawing her pistol, heading right for the tram in a steady march.

"We've got your six." Kaidan responded behind her as he and Williams moved to follow. Hayden didn't look away from Nihlus until Powell knelt next to him, applying some of the medigel with a fair amount of expertise.

The ride to the starport was filled with more excitement than Hayden would've liked, what with all the gunfire, explosions and the damn geth coming from nowhere to try and stop them from going any further. If that wasn't enough, the bombs were another unpleasant surprise she could've done without. After that, even more fighting the annoyingly persistent geth just to get to the beacon, which was thankfully untouched and intact. Even more so, it was letting off an odd green light that shifted and swirled almost like a fog off the pillar of metal. As they looked around for more opponents, Williams commented that the beacon had been deactivated when they'd found it and had no clue on why it was active. Finding no more geth and Saren nowhere to be found, Hayden was making her report when she noticed that Alenko was acting strangely. Almost like he was struggling against something. That's when she noticed that the beacon was glowing and pulsing with energy.

Oh shit! Was her thought as she ran forward, calling his name, grabbing hold of him and tossing him aside only to feel the tug of the beacon as it lifted her up. Pain quickly consumed her senses, strange images and horrible screams dominated everything. After what she didn't know how long, it became too much and all went black. She didn't feel a thing when she hit the ground, unable to hear the two marines calling her name.

Ranleigh was livid. Not only had the mission to Eden Prime gone sideways, his only sister nearly lost her life to an ancient hunk of junk and was on edge of losing her mind. He was going to lose his if she didn't wake up and reassure both him and Bercan that she was okay. When Bercan had heard she was in the med bay, his reaction had been less than accepting. Last he knew, Adams and the other engineers were still trying to coax him out of his hiding spot under his bunk. He would've gone to help but he was angry and his brother seeing him angry wouldn't help things. He was angry with Anderson and Nihlus for not telling anyone what was really going on but he was most furious with Alenko. In hind sight, the L2 biotic really couldn't be blamed for thinking the beacon was safe to approach but if his dejected slouching was to go by, he felt guilty either way. The sound of the automatic doors swishing open diverted his attention to the med bay's entrance, where his sister came walking out. Aside from looking a bit pale, she looked no worse for the wear. He would've gone to talk to her if Anderson didn't appear behind her, waving for him to come in. nodding at his captain, Ranleigh got up from his chair to obey, pausing long enough to give his sister a hard look. "Check on Bercan and get some rest. You look like shit."

"That bad huh?" Hayden muttered back, her lips barely curved in a tired smile.

"It really is." Ranleigh stated bluntly, pointing a thumb at Kaidan like the man was an afterthought. "Get going. Don't let that dope hold you up."

At that her smile spread, letting out quiet chuckles as she moved away. "Be nice!"

"Nice? What's that?" he queried, earning more chuckles. Letting the door shut behind him, Ranleigh faced the dark skinned Anderson still standing by where his sister had been laid up the past few hours. Giving the older man a calm look, Ranleigh's voice rumbled in the quiet of the infirmary. "You wanted to see me sir?"

Nodding, the captain appeared grave as he spoke. "Yes, I did. Your sister and I are going to see the Council when we get to the Citadel and I want you to stay here with Pressly to watch over the ship."

"I'm not going sir?" Ranleigh asked, his face marred by hints of confusion.

"No, I need you here to watch the ship."

"You mean our brother." He retorted, a part of him hating the fact his younger sibling was seen as an issue.

A look of true regret passed over the older man's face, his dark eyes clouded by regret at how the subject of their discussion had ended up. "As much as I hate to say it, yes. I didn't like uprooting him like I did but this ship needs any specialists of the highest order and despite his condition he fits the bill. No one thought Joker would fit as pilot but he got the posting anyway."

Ranleigh let out a dry laugh. "Only because he hijacked the ship and you supported him."

Anderson chuckled in turn, nodding his agreement. "An interesting turn of events, that's for certain. But that's beside the point. My point is, you're the most experienced man I've got aside from Pressly. Plus, I trust you to keep things under control. You clearly have your father's restraint since you haven't tried to the throttle me yet."

"I'll take that as a compliment sir." Ranleigh stated neutrally.

That got Anderson chuckling again, smiling a little too. "I'm sure you will. Neither of us knows what the Council will say when we report in but I need someone I can trust here to make sure the Normandy isn't snatched from us. For now, I have to write this up. Be sure to get plenty of rest before we get there."

"Yes sir."Ranleigh said respectfully as the captain moved to leave.

The aging captain gave Chakwas a nod of acknowledgment. Two professionals giving each other their due respect. "Doctor."

"Anderson." Chakwas returned with the same courtesy before turning back to her work, pointedly ignoring the only other two people left in the room.

Lying in bed, having watched it all in patient silence, Nihlus watched Ranleigh as the large man turned to look at him in turn. Calmly approaching the bed where the wounded Spectre lay, Ranleigh only stared as the turian began to speak. "For what it's worth, I had no idea what the beacon would do if it was active. All I knew was there was a beacon in perfect condition I had to help retrieve and little else. Anything else is classified. I'm sorry." He paused, as though waiting for a certain kind of response. When Ranleigh didn't move, or speak, Nihlus looked up at him questioningly. "Isn't this the point you try to break something?"

"I would but you're in the med bay and patients aren't to be disturbed or agitated. Once out though…you're fair game. Hopefully you'll be able to find a way to keep me from killing you for almost killing my only sister." Ranleigh informed him in a disturbingly neutral tone, only making the turian's mandibles twitch at how almost deathly calm the man over him was. "As I'm sure you can imagine, having any of the Shepard family mad at you is a dangerous thing."

If he was afraid, the turian was a master at hiding it. "So I'm discovering. I'll keep that in mind next I recruit you and your siblings for top secret work. Either way, I'm sure you'll be delighted to know I'm planning on giving your sister an impressive report on her actions. She's not at fault for the beacon destroying itself, and having done everything else right, I don't see why she shouldn't become a Spectre herself."

"Nice to know you're already on the right track. Get well soon sir." He responded, deep voice suddenly pleasant. "If you ever need a sparring partner when you get out of here, I'm your man. Have a pleasant day doctor." Ranleigh said to the grey-haired woman as he exited at a casual pace.

Smiling as he left, Chakwas responded easily. "You as well LC." The door shut soon after, leaving the pair alone. "And if he does manage to hurt you while sparring, at the very least you can expect it to be from a clean move. Whether it's an accident or not depends on his mood but I think you've managed to win some points with him."

Nihlus let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding as the elderly woman got up to scan him with her omni-tool. "Are you sure? I thought for certain he was going to suffocate me with my pillow."

Standing above him, Chakwas let out an amused chuckle. "Ranleigh is a few things but he's not a murderer. And he's certainly not about to kill a Spectre, certainly not one as qualified as you, all simply because he's angry at him for withholding the truth about his mission. Now you rest easy. I need to be sure you're ready to be transferred to the hospital when we arrive."

"Good enough for me. If his sister is accepted, I'll need you to patch me up in case he really does let loose on me." Nihlus stated as the human doctor activated the IV he was connected to, the machine obeying her order to distribute its drug supply.

"On that, I'll do my best." The woman stated, giving him a reassuring pat on the arm before moving away. A wave of her omni-tool dimmed the lights. "Have a good rest Mr. Kryik."

"Night Dr. Chakwas." He murmured as he felt the pain killers kick in, sending him into a dreamless sleep without a fight.

Bercan didn't like feeling upset but he was. Most new things disturbed him in ways they shouldn't and he hated it. At least his family had understood when he refused to talk about Akuze, about what happened. Even Captain Anderson had gone out of his way to make sure others understood him when he got a new posting. If not for his willingness to work in spite of his past ordeal, the Alliance would've tossed him years ago. But even they knew better than to toss away a Shepard like trash. Oh no, the Shepards were like the Victus clan from the Turian Hierarchy: war was in their blood, bred and built for the field. It was bad enough he could barely leave the ship except when on leave to go get personal items he didn't want others to get for him, to take pity on him. Now he was given yet another new post, but the only upsides he saw were that Anderson was in charge and his siblings had been dragged along for the ride. Shoved against the cool metal wall under his bunk, Bercan scowled at the shadows that surrounded him at the thought of his sister getting hurt. Despite being there for over three hours, the cool metal panels still felt good on the scar running through this left eyebrow. Most were surprised whatever caused it didn't nick his eye in the process. He never took news of one of his older siblings getting hurt very well. It was why he was 'hiding' so to speak. Adams and some of the other engineering staff had given up over an hour ago. He wouldn't come out, not even for his favorite sweet, a fresh chocolate chip cookie. He wasn't Scooby-Doo. Simply bribing him wasn't going to work this time. And he wasn't in the mood for food anyway so their attempts were pointless.

"Bercan? You still under there buddy?" a familiar voice queried gently.

He turned to look at the other side of the bunk, and in turn what little of the room he could see. Kneeling next to his bunk was none other than his big sister Hayden. Silver grey eyes that matched his stared in at him, worry in their depths. Much to his surprise, she looked tired. His sister rarely looked tired unless she'd been up longer than she planned or she worked too hard during training. But this was more than just tired, it was mental exhaustion too. It made him scowl at the thoughts of just what his only sister had endured. She must've seen it because she was soon smiling tiredly at him. "I know, I got a little reckless but I'm okay. Really I am. Chakwas just let me go and everything. Now will you come out now?"

Bercan thought this over. If Chakwas had released her, then that meant she was more or less healthy. Other than looking horribly tired, he could see nothing wrong with her. After a tense moment, he finally nodded, shifting to wriggle out of the enclosed space. Hayden moved to let him out, extending her hand to help him up. Much like Ranleigh, he towered over her but only by a few inches. Also much like their brother, Bercan shared a muscular physique, yet a bit wirier than bulky flesh. Coming to his full height with her help, Bercan stood over her at a modest 5'10", again another cross between his older siblings. He shared the brown hair they had though he was clean shaven, his hair kept short with only a few strands sticking up at the front. He felt a tad foolish as he stood there and let Hayden brush off what little dust his uniform had picked up, moving to get rid of some of it himself so to make it all less awkward. When they finished, she smiled a little more brightly at him. "There. Are you hungry? It's been few hours since you went down there."

He shook his head. He didn't want food now, at least not for a while. Instead he looked at his sister carefully, still uncertain if she was just hiding any injuries or not. Hayden blinked at his scrutiny before smiling again, letting a chuckle escape. "I'm fine, honest. That beacon just knocked me out, that's all."

Something in the way she said it told him she was hiding something but he knew she'd tell him eventually so he just nodded. Her smile became less forced when he did. "Good. I just wanted to check on you before I went to bed. Get something to eat soon okay? Ranleigh should be by to see you."

Again Bercan nodded, again accepting her words. He hadn't seen Ranleigh since he'd come on board and it was starting to bother him a little. Whenever he got a new posting, both of his siblings sent messages to him, or just got him on the vid. Even their mother, Hannah, gave him a call to check up on him. Getting those calls always cheered him up when he was sent someplace new, especially now that he had yet again been transferred. The hiss of the door leading to the bunk room caught his attention, making him look up and Hayden turn for them both to see Ranleigh stroll in. In spite of his size, his older brother could move with a stealth that was disturbingly uncanny. Another reason why he hadn't noticed Hayden coming in to see him, she moved with an equally uncanny silence ever since they were kids. Hoping to emphasize his displeasure with the larger man, Bercan frowned dejectedly, earning yet another chuckle from his sister. "Uh-oh, looks like you're in trouble Ranleigh."

Ranleigh scowled in turn, his normally straight features knotted in regret. "I know, I know, you're mad I didn't come see you. But I was still getting my bearings, same as you. I didn't mean to ignore you. Forgive me?"

Bercan folded his arms, still frowning. Next to him, Hayden only shook her head. "No point. Adams said they tried with his cookies but he wouldn't budge. You might have to try something else."

"Figured as much. Which is why I have this: that game you've been really wanting to play." The larger man activated his omni-tool, the glowing orange gauntlet starting up a small display window with a flashy title going across it.

The sight of it got his siblings' attention, both staring in wonderment as Hayden voiced it for them both. "Ooh I heard about that one. You got it already?"

"I know a guy." Ranleigh stated vaguely, his smile a welcome sight. "What do ya say? Wanna give it a go? It'll be a few hours before we get to the Citadel."

Bercan openly stared at the display same a child would stare at a new toy in a store window. The adult in him chided him for skipping work for so long while his inner child demanded that the new game be discovered same as exploring an alien planet. After a moment, Bercan gave his older sibling a cocky grin with a nod. Seeing it brightened his sister's face, glancing between them in anticipation. "Looks like we've got a challenge. Well you two have fun, I'm going to try and get some sleep. Be sure he eats." She said as she gave them both a half-hug and moved to leave, leaving the two by themselves.

"Right." Ranleigh acknowledged before facing his opponent. "Let's see if you've still got it."

Bercan's answer was to crack his knuckles, earning a deep laugh from his older brother, the two settling down on the bunk. Activating his own omni-tool, the game quickly appeared on it and the two quickly got to playing after sifting through the tutorial. They spent the entire trip to the Citadel playing, exaggerated game noises filling the quiet of the room around them.

Ugh man glad that's over. Well? What do you guys think? I'm still on the fence but that's how I am with everything really. Either way I'm glad I got this out of my system. Please understand that everything from the first game is mostly from memory or from the game's Wiki site. I'm still working on getting that trilogy pack but it's slow going. Hayden is an old favorite of mine but Ranleigh is my rare male character. Bercan was thrown in for more than kicks. My real hope for him is to pair him with Tali later on, help him get out of the shell he's made for himself. The question now is: should Ranleigh get with another character or should I wait until the second part for Kasumi? And please don't say Liara. She's just a very pretty nerd who annoys the hell out of me. But until then Ranleigh is officially the bachelor in this and no this isn't that stupid show from the local channels. Whoever comes up with that crap needs a good punch in the face… but now I'm ranting. Sorry. Hope you guys liked this so review as soon as you're done. On to:

Next:

Chapter 2: Black & Blue Truth

Following the game (a tad religiously to be honest), we come to the Citadel to try (once again) to talk some sense into the Council. Can the truth be found in time to get Saren to be held accountable for all he's done? Watch it all unfold in:

Chapter 2: Black & Blue Truth!