Hi everyone! This story will cover the events of Mass effect 1 with a slight change to the original story, in that I am introducing an original character. I am also going to refrain from using any scenes from the game that are not essential to the main plot development, so if I miss stuff out it will be deliberate.

I rarely do anything in way of 'creative writing' so this is a first for me. I am open to any type of feedback, as I am always looking to improve.

Hope you enjoy it.

Clean Slate

2183

Earth

Vancouver – Alliance Docks

Second Lieutenant Derek Shaw found himself staring, kit bag over shoulder, at the Alliance's newest prototype stealth ship, the [SSV Normandy]. Built in conjunction with the Turian Hierarchy, the Normandy was a revolution in naval design, having a long and sleek body frame. Reaching around two hundred meters in length, the mighty frigate was equipped with state-of-the-art stealth technology, perfect for deep space reconnaissance. Its internal emission sink allowed it to hide its heat signatures in sinks within its hull, turning the hull into a refrigerated exterior. The Normandy's drive core was just as much of a prototype as the ship itself, giving it the ability to travel without its thrusters. Her GARDIAN laser defense, kinetic barriers, and spinal Mass Accelerator Cannon were all standard-issue, but this did not take away from her alluring features.

The background noise of the spaceport, ranging from the sound of talk and footsteps produced by the hundreds of people there to the periodic whistle of a ship taking off or coming into dock was drowned out as Derek stared silently, still trying to process the fact that he had been assigned to this exceptional specimen of a ship. Given how things had been going for him the past five years this seemed like an unbelievable dream.

He had been told to report to Captain David Anderson on the Crew deck of the Normandy at 1500 hours. Looking down at his Omni-tool, he found that he was in good time. Derek walked up the ramp of the dock to the boarding arm, where he was met by the entrance door. He suddenly heard a male voice over the PA system; it was mixed with a tone of disdain and boredom "look into the scanner." it said.

Derek's head began to wander as he searched for said scanner.

"It's above you head." the voice snapped.

Derek saw it and look at it, a couple of seconds later he heard a different animated female voice begin to speak.

"Name: Shaw, Derek. Rank: Second Lieutenant. Date of Birth: June 28th, 2156. Nationality: British. Eye colour: blue. Hair colour: blonde. Height: 6'1". Weight: 190lbs."

"Alright that matches up, come on through." The previous male voice said, sounding more unenthusiastic than the pre-recorded female voice.

The door suddenly hissed opened and Derek stepped through it. As soon as he was through, he door shut behind him automatically. "Decontamination in progress," he heard the same female voice say. He guessed it was most likely a V.I onboard the ship.

A series of lights began to turn on and a chemical spray began to spout out of the ceiling accompanied by a white beam that moved along the ceiling and wall, across the small room towards him. I can see this is going to take some getting used to he thought with a sigh, as the beam passed over him again.

After the process had ended, the door in front of him opened up. He found himself on board what appeared to be the Normandy's command deck. The airlock he had entered from was at one end of the bridge, which was a long, narrow corridor with rows of chairs and consoles running down either side of it, there were people seated at the consoled furiously tapping away. To Derek's left, at one end of the bridge was a cramped cockpit.

The owner of the voice that he had heard on the PA system, a man with mousey brown hair and a light beard, presumably the pilot, given where he was seated in the cockpit and the fact that he was wearing a cap, turned around, and said

"The Captain is in the CIC." he pointed down to the other end of the metallic corridor, which opened up into a large, brightly lit room.

"Cheers," Derek mumbled.

The pilot had already turned around to look at the dashboard and simply waved over his shoulder not bothering to say anything in reply.

Derek walked down the gloomy corridor and found a surge of people moving at frantic pace around the CIC, much like in the spaceport outside. The room was almost semi-circular in shape and like the bridge; the room had several chairs and screens skirting the edge of the room. In the middle of the CIC was a large Galaxy map display, used to help navigate the ship.

Derek immediately spotted, a dark-skinned man wearing a blue Alliance officer uniform at the back of the crowd, the man whom he had been looking for. Captain David Anderson, commanding officer of the SSV Normandy, stood at the far end of the room by a wall talking to a red-haired woman. Derek could have sworn he recognised her from somewhere but could not quite place her.

Derek meandered his way across the room over to Anderson, avoiding any collisions with the other crewmembers. He stood at a distance behind the Anderson, at which point the red-haired woman said something to the Captain and nodded her head towards Derek. Anderson turned to face him. Derek placed his kit bag on the floor.

"Second Lieutenant, Derek Shaw reporting for duty, sir." He said proudly while snapping into a quick salute.

"At ease lieutenant." The older man said in a deep homely voice.

"I'll give you some space." The red-haired woman said and turned to leave to a lower deck of the ship.

"I take it you are aware of the mission details?" Anderson asked.

"The description was very vague, sir. I read we were heading to Eden Prime on a shakedown run and something about a Turian Spectre joining us?"

"That's correct lieutenant, don't worry about the Spectre for now, you'll be filled in with more detail when we get closer to our destination."

"Alright, do you need me anywhere now Sir?"

"You're alright for now lieutenant, just talk to Shepard, my XO and she'll help you get settled in."

Derek's eyes widened, now he knew why he had found the red-haired woman to be so familiar. She was Commander Jane Shepard, renowned for being the only member of her unit to survive an attack of Thresher Maw's on Akuze back in 2177.

"The Commander Shepard?" Derek asked in a slightly quieter tone to what he had been using previously mainly due to the shock of his discovery.

"The one and only." Anderson chuckled. "I wouldn't go looking at her like that when she's in the room though. She isn't big on people gawping at her." He continued, in his model professional tone.

"Sure, got it Sir." Derek replied, with a sheepish smile, slightly embarrassed by his juvenile reaction.

"Alright, make sure she introduces you to all the major personnel on this vessel and the people you'll be working with during the mission. I'll see you later when we're closer to the colony."

"Thank you Sir." Derek said and shook his Captain's hand before he departed to the lower levels of the ship.

Derek picked up his kitbag and walked down to the Crew Deck to look for the Commander. He walked past the elevator at the bottom of the staircase and turned the corner passed a central elevator to see the near-empty Mess hall. To the far left of it was a series of seats with a monitor screen, at which a tall dark haired, olive-skinned man was working. To the right of the mess hall was the Med-bay, which had mildly tinted windows. Extending from the Mess hall down the middle of the deck was a corridor with multiple sleeper pods on either side.

Derek decided it best to ask the man by the monitor where he could find Shepard as there was no sign of her, he was sure he would have to speak with him at some stage eventually anyway.

"Hey there." Derek said to the man.

The man turned from the monitor to look at Derek.

"Hi. I am Staff Lieutenant Alenko, head of Marine detail, what can I help you with," he replied in a gravely voice and extended his hand.

Derek shook it, grateful for his friendly manner.

"Second Lieutenant Derek Shaw, good to meet you. I don't suppose you have any idea where I could find Commander Shepard?"

"Sure, I think I saw her head down to the cargo bay just a moment ago, just take that elevator down." He pointed over Derek's shoulder.

"Thanks." Derek replied with an appreciative smile.

Once the elevator had finally reached the cargo bay, the doors opened and he scanned the darkened room for a sign of the Commander. He spotted her inspecting a large tank-like vehicle to the right side of the bay, more commonly known as a Mako.

Derek had been informed when receiving his assignment that he would be driving the Mako during any missions that required him to during his time on the Normandy. Thankfully that did not mean he needed to do maintenance on it.

He strode across the cavernous bay towards her, his footsteps echoing as he did so.

"Commander Shepard?" He said.

She turned her head to meet him with piercing green eyes. Then she gave him a welcoming smile.

"Second Lieutenant Shaw, isn't it?" She asked, shaking his hand.

"Yes Ma'am." He said with a smile, impressed with how quickly she had picked his name up from just hearing him say it once to Anderson.

"Good to have you here, welcome aboard. I suppose I should show you around so can get settled in."

"Sounds good to me." He said with an enthusiastic edge to his voice.

"That's what I like to hear, you can drop your kitbag in one of those lockers by that workbench." She pointed towards the other side of the bay.

He did as he was told and slung the bag into the bottom of one of the unclaimed lockers.

"Alright follow me and I'll need to introduce you to the core personnel who keep this ship functioning." She said.

They took the elevator back up to the Crew deck, where she led him across to the Med-bay. There Derek could see several beds on one side and an impressive range of medical equipment on the other side. There was a middle-aged, grey-haired woman attending to a young man, who by the looks of things was receiving a medical check-up. She turned to face him and the Commander and gave them a warm smile.

"Oh. Hello Commander." She replied in a warm British accent.

This made Derek beam back at her given that he was British as well.

"Lieutenant Shaw this is Doctor Karin Chakwas. Given her profession you will probably want to try and avoid seeing her as much as possible if you know what's good for you." Shepard said in a joking tone.

This made the Doctor chuckle.

"It's good to hear a voice that's close to home Doctor." Derek said.

"Oh my, what a pleasant surprise, just as I was beginning to think there were no Brits left in the Alliance." She replied cheerfully.

"Well at least I know you two will get along fine." Shepard said with a smirk on her face. "Oh I almost forgot. Lieutenant, this is Corporal Richard Jenkins, one of your squad mates."

"Hey there." Derek nodded to the younger man who was still being examined by the Doctor.

"Hi Sir." He nodded, acknowledging Derek.

This made Derek smirk to himself at the though of being called "Sir" the first time that day, he had to admit he felt more comfortable being reminded that he was one of the higher ranks on the ship.

"Alright, let's move on." Shepard said.

They crossed the mess hall to where Lieutenant Alenko was still working at the monitor. He turned to face them, as he heard them approaching. He gave them both a wide smile, wider than he had given to Derek during their first encounter.

"Lieutenant Shaw this is Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko head of..."

"We've already met Commander." Kaidan said interrupting her.

"Wow! I'm impressed Kaidan. I didn't know you had it in you to make friends so quickly." She teased.

Kaidan rolled his eyes and shook his head but smiled all the same.

"If you were wondering if she is always this patronising, you'll be relieved to hear it's only towards me." He said to Derek, who had his brows furrowed by the exchange between his two senior officers.

"If you have any trouble with any of your crewmates, you can always have a discreet word with you're XO, Alenko. Oh wait…" She said with a subtle gleam in her eyes.

"I'll bare that in mind for the future, thanks Commander." Kaidan retorted, playing along with Shepard's mockery.

Shepard gave Kaidan a very brief but warm smile and turned to Derek.

"Another one of your squad mates for the mission. Come on, we should leave the Lieutenant so he can think over his troubles alone."

She then turned back to Kaidan and winked at him, leading Derek away to the staircase. Derek looked back over his shoulder quizzically at Kaidan who was leaning back, arms-crossed, shaking his head and smirking. He just shrugged in response.

Derek then found himself back in the CIC, where Shepard led him passed the large galaxy map in the centre of the room to a tall balding man, wearing Alliance dress blues who stood at the front of the CIC.

"Derek, this is Navigator Charles Pressley. His team will be giving you the details about the planets we'll be landing on for when you'll be driving the Mako or just in case you ever feel that our pilot has managed to get us lost." Shepard said light-heartedly.

"In case you were wondering, we're still on Earth." The older man smiled, giving his hand for Derek to shake.

Derek took it "Lieutenant Shaw, good to meet you Presley."

They then walked down the corridor, past the entrance of the ship to the plot, who was still seated in his chair.

Shepard began her introduction with a sigh

"And last but by no means least, Lieutenant Shaw this is our pilot, Flight Lieutenant Jeff "Joker" Monroe."

"Welcome aboard the SSV Normandy, the best ship in the fleet, accompanied by me the best pilot in the fleet." The pilot said introducing himself in a showman-like manner by removing his cap and gave it a flourish as he brought it down to his chest, although he did not stand up.

Derek chuckled, "Don't lack for modesty do you pal?" he said sarcastically.

"Wait until you see me get this bird in the air, then you'll realise that I'm not gloating." The pilot said, replacing the cap on his head and giving a light adjustment.

"At least now you don't have to ask why we call him "Joker"." Shepard said, rolling her eyes.

"Who says I'm joking?" Joker asked.

Shepard shook her head and Derek just laughed at the eccentricity of the man.

"How has everything been going up here Jeff?" Shepard asked, ignoring his boast.

"Oh, you mean me being the ships doorman? Yeah it's great, best part of the job if you ask me." He said sarcastically. "Seriously though I'm glad I went to flight school I don't know how I would be able to identify people through a camera lense if I hadn't gone." He continued, more bitterly now.

"Someone's got to make sure that we have the correct crew, we don't want some imposter showing up and jeopardising our mission. Besides it's not like you can fly the ship while we're grounded." Shepard said coolly not even remotely angry with the cynical pilot.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. I get a little impatient when I stop flying for a long time."

"Oh yeah, when was your last tour of duty?" Derek inquired.

"About a month ago." Joker said in a 'can-you-believe-it' kind of tone.

Derek gave a silent gulp. A month! Try five years! He almost screamed but contained himself.

"Oh. Right." He said instead.

"We've got one more stop to make before I let you go." Shepard said to Derek in a hope to prevent any more small talk between him and Joker.

"What you're leaving me here? Weak!" Joker called from his seat, as they left him.

Derek followed Shepard all the way back down to the crew deck.

"Alright, over there are the sleeper pods and this is the mess hall. The Captains quarters are right over there." She gestured to a door on the far left of the deck.

"I recommend that you rest up here until we are in orbit of Eden Prime." She looked down at her Omni-tool giving it a few taps, then back up at him.

"ETA is in 0600 hours. I think you will do just fine once things get rolling. I look forward to seeing what you can do out on the field. I've heard a lot about you." She said with a knowing look on her face.

The last comment threw Derek, causing him to subconsciously gulp. He didn't know how to respond to that.

His thoughts were cut off as an announcement came over the PA "XO Shepard to the CIC. Repeat, XO Shepard to the CIC."

"And that would be our Spectre guest who's coming with us. I suppose this is when I say, 'see you later'." She said.

"Thank you for the tour." He replied.

"You're welcome."

And with that she shook his hand one final time and headed back up to the CIC, leaving him to his own devices.

Her previous words were still buzzing in his head. For the past five years he had been struggling to earn any recognition from his superior officers, so he found it hard to believe when Shepard of all people told him that they had even the slightest degree of confidence in him and that they were even considering giving him a chance to prove his potential.

Could this be break he needed to get himself and his career back on track?