Chapter 1
(Alston's Point of view)
Aston groggily woke up to the familiar surroundings of his room. Looking over at the clock he saw that it was 1 in the afternoon. On the desk next to the clock he saw his Omni-tool blinking signifying he had a message he grabbed it and started to read it. "Good Morning, sorry but I had to leave. There was a problem in engineering, but last night was fun maybe we can make it more permanent?" The message was from Rain, who was no longer sleeping beside him. Alston elected to delete the message before going into the shower. He came out the shower and put on some casual clothes. He had on a black button up shirt that was half buttoned with a white t-shirt underneath, and regular black jeans. Alston looked over himself in the mirror. He had a dark but still light skin tone, his hair in dreads that went to his neck and had a beard growing in due to not shaving. Satisfied with what he saw he walked out of his room which was right next to the mess hall. Currently the mess hall was teeming with Batarians and Alston shook his head he didn't know why he hated the four eyed bastards. If it was one thing he hated it was Batarians. He decided to not sit at any of the tables and instead sat at the bar. There was a Quarian behind the bar and Alston knocked on the table getting his attention. "Whoa I'm surprised your even up now, I was sure you was having a late night" he said cleaning a glass. "Come on I don't sleep late everyday" Alston said slightly offended. "But you do whenever you and Rain… spend the night together" he paused not sure what word to use. "What makes you so sure Kalar" Alston said trying to get out of the situation. Even though Kalar had on a mask Alston was sure he was smirking. "Because unlike you I get up early to prepare food and guess who I saw leaving your room this morning looking very happy I might add" Kalar said putting down the glass he was cleaning. "Alright you win" Alston said admitting defeat. Kalar laughed before walking in the back to the kitchen and brought back a plate with some food on it. "I saved you some" Kalar said putting the plate on the table. It was what was left from breakfast. Alston happily took the food not realizing how hungry he really was. "Kalar let me ask you a question" Alston said between bites. "Shoot" he said busying himself with something behind the bar. "Since Quarian's don't have to wear the filtration mask things anymore, why do you?" Alston asked finishing his plate. "Oh that's easy. I feel naked without it" he said and some of the Batarians laughed, then one spoke. "That's interesting, I thought it was because all Quarians look like shit" Once it was said all the Batarians started laughing harder. "Really, I always thought you Batarians were the ugliest things in the universe" Alston said turning around in his chair to face the group. "I don't think this concerned you human" The Batarian that made the joke said standing up. Alston knew him as Clutch, the 'leader' of the Batarians on the ship. "I never was good at minding my own business" he said standing up. There wasn't a doubt in Alston's mind that he could beat Clutch, he's even wanted to do this for a while now. "Knock it off the both of you" A voice came through the cafeteria and everyone looked in the direction of an Asari. "Alston to the bridge now" she said "Yes Captain" clutch said then she walked back up the stairs from where she came. Alston shook his head regrettably before he started walking towards the stairs to the bridge. "Maybe we'll finish this later so I can stick your head up your ass" he said before walking up the stairs. If it's one thing Alston liked it was having the last word.
Once walking up the stairs Alston waited in front of a door, after it beeped two times it opened. The bridge was always lively, it was about 10 people walking around or at consoles. They always looked busy but Alston wasn't sure what they did exactly. The Asari was standing by a monitor and Alston walked over to her. "Fighting in the lunchroom again" she said without looking at him. "It wasn't my fault, he started it and" "you were going to finish it" she cut him off finishing his sentence. "I thought we talked about this" she said as if a mother was scolding her child. "I know, but the bastard has it coming to him" he said defensively. "Are you sure this has nothing to do with your hatred for Batarians?" she inquired but it was more like a rhetorical question. "It's not my fault that he was a dirty four eyed Batarian fuck face" Alston said a little temperamental. The Asari turned to look at him clearly mad. "What have I told you about using that language around me" she said. "I'm sorry, Enria" Alston apologized. Enria was one of the only people that Alston could say that he cared for. "What do you think?" Enria said directing his attention to the monitor. Alston took a look at the monitor. It was a video feed of a ship. "Is this our next target?" he asked. "You tell me" she answered simply and Alston started to study the image. It had no identifiable marks on it that meant it wasn't alliance or any other military force, that's a good sign. It was also a little oversized to be a transport ship and also far off the travel route. This only left one thing a cargo ship. Cargo ships always meant good money. "I'd say yes" Alston said and Enria shook her head approvingly. "Looks like I taught you well" she said proudly. "I learned from the best" he said with a smile. "Now, go suit up" she instructed and Alston went off to his room. Upon arriving he went to his closet and put on his light armor. Alston preferred light armor because it wasn't heavy and let him move more freely. Although the armor doesn't have a lot of plating Alston upgraded the kinetic barrier generator (shields). Using his Omni-Tool he took a quick look at the suits systems. Satisfied with what he saw, he turned his attention to the bottom of his closet. Pulling out a draw revealed his weapons. He grabbed his N7 Eagle pistol and his Vindicator assault rifle, putting each in their respective holsters. Once he was finished he headed down to the boarding tube. The rest of the boarding party was there. Enria was there as well but she wasn't suited up. She came over to Alston. "You'll be in charge of this" she said bluntly. "Nothing I can't handle" he replied and she went back up to the bridge. There wasn't any pressure for Alston, this isn't something new. He was actually accustomed to leading now. Alston looked over his squad including him there were 6 members. Alston inwardly frowned when he noticed they were all Batarians, no doubt Enria did that on purpose. There was nothing left to do now but wait until they were able to board the other ship. An announcement came over the coms saying prepare to board. Alston took his vindicator off his back and did a last minute weapons check.
A few seconds later there was the familiar vibration running through the ship as the boarding tunnel funneled into the neighboring ship. As soon as the doors opened the group rushed into the next ship. They were met with gunfire. Two Batarians in the front threw out some deployable cover. It wouldn't last long but it gave time for Alston and the rest to take cover behind structures jutting out from the side of the wall. Once everyone was in cover Alston took the time to peek over his cover to see the enemy. There were three people at the end of the hall taking up a defensive position. Alston signaled a Batarian to toss a grenade down the hall, then instructing everyone else to lay down suppressing fire. The plan sprang into action with everyone shooting down the hall keeping the enemy pinned, while the Batarian tossed the grenade, a few seconds later it went off. On cue Alston charged after the explosion and made it to the end of the hall. There was one enemy down and the other two went fled deeper into the ship. Looking closely at the dead man's armor it became clear that this was a Blue Suns operation. There were now two paths to take and Alston thought it best to split the group up, with his group taking the right path and the other taking the left. Alston took point as they continued down the hallway. Checking each room as they passed them it was clear these were the barracks. By taking count of the number of beds Alston figured there were 22 people on the ship. His thoughts were cut short as bullets began firing again. He ducked into a room one of the Batarians weren't as lucky as he was. Alston fired down the hallway draining one of the combatants' shields and the Batarian finished him off. There were now three of them left and Alston remembered that this particular Batarian was a biotic. Alston instructed the Batarian to throw a shockwave down the corridor. He did just that knocking the men down. Alston advanced on their position, the fired from on their backs but they were inaccurate and some missed none of the bullets that hit got through his shields. One of the men tried to move further back down the hall. Anticipating this Alston already had his sights on him and ended his life. The Batarian quickly shot another one with his kishook, the harpoon impaling the intended target on the wall. There was only one guy left alive and Alston decided to toss a fake grenade near him. The man tried to run turning his back Alston closed the distance between them and pulled out his eagle. Once the man turned around Alston and him was face to face Alston put two rounds in the man's head. At close range shields meant nothing, the man dropped lifeless on the floor. Just then another person came around the corner before he could get a shot, the Batarian ended it all with a well-placed shot with the Kishook. Alston hated to admit it but Batarians were good at shooting things. "Report" Alston said into his com. Another Batarian answered a few seconds later. "We're clear on our end 8 dead" Alston took count that meant there were already 13 of the 22 dead. Barging into the room at the end of the hall, there were 6 people in the room. Sadly they were non-combatants, people just here to run the ship. "We surrender" one of them shouted from out the crowd. This wasn't one of Alston's favorite parts, but it was necessary. "It's alright no one else needs to die here, take them to the hallway" Alston said to the Batarian and did just that. The other Batarians were also outside and when the door closed the shooting began. "All clear" Alston said over the com this time talking back to their ship.
Alston searched the room they were hauling medical equipment and Medi-Gel. Which would turn good profit in of itself, but there was too much security just for this. Alston looked at a closet it was the only one in the room and it's strange to have one in the storage area. He walked over to it and opened it. The closet was empty but looked even more conspicuous tapping the back Alston discovered that it was a false back. Opening it he found red sand, now this definitely was worth the trouble. Once informing Enria of the haul it was time for them to return to a world to dump off this stuff. "Not a bad job" Enria said looking over the storage area herself sometime later. "This calls for a celebration" she said. "I'll pass, I'll drive this ship behind ours" Alston didn't want any part of a celebration. Batarians were already unbearable them drunk was worse. "Ok, since you volunteered" she said taking the walk back to the ship. Alston walked through the ship and made his way to the cockpit. All the bodies got tossed out the airlock and once all the goods can be unloaded this ship is going to be thrown into the nearest sun. Alston relaxed into the Driver's seat and felt the other ship disengage. Clicking in the coordinates the ship hit the mass effect relay and was now in FTL-drive (Faster than Light). Alston's vision was clouded when hands came over his eyes. "Guess who?" the voice said. Alston already knew who it was, he had heard her come in. "What are you doing here Rain" he said and the girl swung the chair around and now they were facing each other. Rain was a white skinned woman with red hair. She was a slender build and was very well proportioned. "I thought we could have our own party" she said and Alston noticed the bottle of liquor in her hand. She set the bottle on the floor and got in his lap, then proceeded to take off her shirt. "That sounds like a plan" Alston said. Needless to say the flight wasn't boring in the least.