Leaving the Citadel, a mass effect fanfic

This story is a sequel to Mass Effect: Commander Shulon Shepard.

For now, this story will be titled Leaving the Citadel, however, i believe i will be changing its title to another one before long. The reason behind that these parts of the Mass Effect story will all be posted under a specific title. I have these ideas posted on a poll on my profile page, and i am always accepting more ideas.

Anyone who is reading this, I humbly ask that you include your own vote on said poll. I could really use the input. Also, please comment anything on this particular fanfic. This is another 'test' fic, of sorts. I could use the input on this one as well.

Thank you and enjoy!

Spectre Agent Commander Shepard, of the SSV Normandy, was walking to the CIC, heading towards one of the doors on the side that lead down the stairs and to the ships elevator. The Normandy had just taken off from the Citadel and was making its way to its first destination in its pursuit against Saren, a rogue Spectre seeking to bring back genocidal machines to wipe out all life in the galaxy. Not even a minute ago, Commander Shepard had given his first words as the Commanding Officer of the Normandy to the crew, in hopes of preparing and encouraging them for the mission to come. From the nods and thumbs ups that some of the crew were giving him, he assumed he did just that.

As he veered right, towards the right door to the stairs, Shepard noticed Navigator Pressly stepping away from his terminal and saluting him. Shepard stopped and returned the salute.

"If anyone has to take over for Captain Anderson, I'm glad its you. I'm not sure about having non-humans on our ship though."

"We're all on the same team here, Pressly," Shepard said, remembering Pressly's apprehension when Nihlus, a late turian Spectre, was aboard the Normandy. Apparently not all humans had fully adjusted to working and living alongside alien races, especially after the First Contact War.

"With all due respect, sir," Pressly stated formally, "that's what they said about Nihlus. Look how that turned out."

Shepard didn't fully understand where he was going with this, but he was curious as to what exactly Pressly was feeling about the situation. "Speak freely, Pressly. I want to know if you have a problem with non-humans."

"Its not that, Commander. Humanity has always handled its own problems. Saren attacked one of our colonies. We should be the ones to stop him. We don't need their help."

Shepard shook his head slightly before saying in a neutral, yet blunt, voice, "Some people think asking for help is a sign of weakness. That's just being stupid and stubborn. No matter how strong you are, allies can make you stronger."

"I guess so," Pressly said, "Maybe I'm just stuck in the old way of thinking. Don't worry, Commander, this won't be a problem."

"You sure, Pressly? We need to trust each other and work together, and I'd like to hear your thoughts."

Pressly nodded to him, saying, "I trust you, Commander. If you think they belong here, then so do I."

Shepard talked with Pressly for a few more moments about his military career and his assignment to the Normandy before he excused himself and again made his way to the stairs.

After the slow elevator ride to the Engineering level, Shepard stepped out and saw that Wrex was to his left, leaning against some crates and that Garrus was by the Mako, apparently now having the access he needed to use the terminal for diagnostics. Shepard walked over to Wrex, since he was closer.

"Nice ship you've got, Shepard. What can I do for you?"

"Tali reminded me earlier that you guys would need a tour of the ship, get to know where everything is."

Before Shepard could say anything else, Wrex said, "Already took enough of a look-around just before your speech. Your two soldier buddies pointed out what I needed to know: sleeper pods, mess hall, even the med-bay."

Shepard nodded his understanding. When they had first come aboard the Normandy with their new crew, he had completely forgotten to make sure that the new members knew where everything was onboard the ship. So he was very glad that Alenko and Williams helped with that.

Deciding to continue the conversation instead of leaving it as it was, Shepard asked, "So what's your story, Wrex?"

"There's no story. Go ask the quarian if you want stories."

Shepard ignored Wrex's quarian comment, knowing that Tali didn't liked to be referred to just as 'the quarian', and instead tried a different way to get him to talk a bit. "You krogan live for centuries. Don't tell me you haven't had a few interesting adventures."

It was really hard to read a krogan, so Shepard couldn't tell if Wrex was offended or intrigued at his question. But his response was definitely sarcastic. "Well, there was this one time the turians almost wiped out our entire race. That was fun."

"I heard about that," Shepard said, recalling the genophage the turians used to keep the krogan population from growing. He had heard a bit about it from some terminal next to a krogan statue back on the Citadel. Keeping the conversation going, sarcastic or not, Shepard said, referring to the First Contact War, "You know, they almost did the same to us."

"Its not the same," Wrex said, shaking his head.

"How so?"

"Were your people infected with a genetic mutation? An infection that makes only a few in a thousand children survive birth? Is it destroying your entire species?" Wrex was clearly upset at Shepard's question about both of their people's fate.

Shepard knew that he needed to tread carefully with what he said now, "I suppose it isn't all the same."

"I don't expect you to understand," Wrex said, still sounding mad, "but don't compare humanity's fate with the krogan."

"I'm sorry, Wrex. I wasn't trying to get you upset."

"Your ignorance doesn't upset me, Shepard," Wrex said, his tone making Shepard a bit unbelieving. He continued, saying, "As for the krogan, I gave up on them long ago. The genophage infected us, but its not what's killing us."

"Are your people really dying?" Shepard asked, honestly curious. He didn't think that the turians would have tried to wipe out their entire race, even with the genophage.

"We're sure not getting any stronger. We're too spread out. None of us are interested in staying in our own system." As Wrex said the last part, Shepard couldn't help but notice how Wrex seemed to have thought it out and almost sounded regretful of the state of his species.

Thinking about that, Shepard asked, "But lot's of species have left their homes and prospered."

"But they go to colonize new worlds," Wrex pointed out, saying, "We're not settlers. We're warriors. We want to fight. So we leave. Hire ourselves out. And most of us never go back."

Shepard nodded to show that he had listened, but he didn't know what to say in response. So instead he told Wrex he would see him later on and walked away. He nodded to Williams when she looked over as he made his way over to the Mako where Garrus was working at the terminal next to it.

He looked up when Shepard said, "I see you got the access you needed."

Garrus nodded and finished the diagnostic he was running at the time. "I'm running a few basic diagnostics to get an idea of how the Mako runs. How do you humans say, 'getting a feel for her'?" Shepard nodded to let him know he got it right, smiling a bit.

The turian saved his progress and turned to the Commander, saying, "Thanks for bringing me onboard, Commander. I knew working with a Spectre would be better than life at C-Sec."

"Have you worked with a Spectre before?" Shepard asked.

"Well, no, but I know what they're like. Spectre's make their own rules. You're free to handle things your way," he said, stating what everyone else seemed to think about Spectres. Shepard was beginning to wonder whether or not all the other Spectres really were like that or not. Garrus continued, saying, "At C-Sec, you're buried by rules. The damn bureaucrats are always on your back."

"Not really a fan of the politics either," Shepard said, "or the politicians. But you know, for the most part, the rules are there for a reason."

"Maybe," Garrus said, almost sounding unconvinced, "but sometimes it feels like the rules are just there to told me back. I mean, if I'm trying to take down a suspect, it shouldn't matter how I do it, as long as I do it. But C-Sec wants it done their way. Protocol and procedure comes first. That's why I left."

That surprised Shepard a bit at first, hearing that Garrus had quit C-Sec. Then as he thought about it, it made sense. After all, that would be the only way that Garrus could come with them. It must have been one of the things he went to take care of before the last Council meeting, just before Shepard became a Spectre.

But something about what he said bothered Shepard. Did he really leave just because of the rules? "So you just quit because you didn't like the way they do things?"

"There's more to it than that. It didn't start out bad, but as I rose in rank, I got saddled with more and more red tape. C-Sec's handling of Saren was typical. I just couldn't take it anymore. I hate leaving…" Garrus trailed off, but Shepard understood what he was saying.

"I hope you made the right choice, Garrus. I'd hate for you to regret it later," Shepard said.

"Well, that's sort of why I teamed up with you. It's a chance for me to get off the Citadel, see how things are done outside of C-Sec," Garrus explained. "Either way, I plan to make the most of this. And without C-Sec headquarters looking over my shoulder, well, maybe I can get the job done my way for a change."

"If getting the job done means endangering innocent people, then no. We get the job done right, not fast," Shepard said quickly after Garrus finished.

"I wasn't trying to-," Garrus started, then took a breath and said, "Yes, Commander."

Shaking his head slightly, Shepard said, "I'm sorry, Garrus. I didn't mean to sound rough. But most times when someone says they'll do whatever it takes to get the job done, it's usually at the expense of someone else. That's something I'd like to avoid."

"I understand, Commander. I'll do my best."

Shepard nodded at that, glad that Garrus heard what he had said and would try. Since that was out of the way, Shepard asked to make sure that Garrus didn't need a tour of the ship. Like with Wrex, Garus said that he had asked both Williams and Alenko where things were just before Shepard's speech. So Shepard again said that he would talk with him later and turned away from Garrus and made his way back towards the drive core.

Right as the door to the drive core opened, Chief Engineer Adams stepped through. Shepard just barely stopped from running into him, returning the salute that Adams gave him as soon as he saw him.

"Hey, Comamnder, you know that quarian, Tali? She's been spending all her time down here asking me about our engines."

Shepard frowned slightly, thinking that Adams wasn't too keen on having Tali work on the engines. "I had sent her down here to see if she could help out. But if she is bothering you, then I can talk to her."

"What? No!" Adams said, quickly shaking his head negative before continuing, "She's amazing. I wish my guys were half as smart as she is." This made Shepard smile a bit knowing that there wasn't any problems and that Adams seemed almost excited to have another helping hand. Adams then said, "Give her a month onboard and she'll know more about our engines than I do. She's got a real knack for technology, that one. I can see why you wanted her to come along."

Shepard shrugged, saying, "I figured she'd be a real asset to the team."

"You got an eye for talent, Commander. But I'm guessing that's not why you came down here."

It was Shepard's turn to shake his head, saying, "I forgot to make sure our new crew knows where everything is at, so I figured I'd give them the tour and at the same time I thought I'd make sure they're getting settled." Shepard gestured behind Adams, "Sounds like Tali has gotten herself settled in," then he gestured behind himself, saying, "and our krogan and turian friends have already looked around and gotten settled themselves."

Adams nodded his understanding before saying, "Sounds like all that's left is for Tali to take a look-around. I've got her setup at a terminal just to the left as you walk in. I've got to check something right quick and then I'll be back down, so if you need something else, Commander…?" Shepard shook his and let Adams walk on past.

As he walked in, Shepard merely stood there for a moment to stare at the Normandy's drive core. The room was rather bright, with slight humming here or there from the core doing its job. This was the main feature of the Normandy, the main reason for its design. A stealth ship with advance systems built for missions just like the one they were on now. Even on the inside, it was nice and quiet compared to most other ships.

Shepard just stood there letting that information and the knowledge knowing that this ship was now under his command sink in for a few moments before he noticed Tali to his left. She was standing over a terminal facing the core. She didn't notice him walking up behind her, nor did she notice that he had stood there for a few moments because of how engrossed into the information on the terminal she was. After a moment, Shepard cleared his throat slightly and said her name. She just barely started and looked over her shoulder, turning around completely at seeing who it was.

"Your ship's amazing, Shepard!" she started excitedly, "I've never seen a drive core like this before. I can't believe you were able to fit it into a ship this small."

Shepard couldn't help but smile a bit at hearing her excitement. While he couldn't see her face at all because of her mask, Shepard could almost see her smile in her eyes, and he could definitely see it in her body posture. Shepard couldn't help but think that if she had just a tiny bit less of self-control, she would be jumping up and down in joy.

"I'm starting to understand why you humans have been so successful," she continued, "I had no idea Alliance vessels were so advanced!"

Still smiling, Shepard said, "The Normandy's a prototype. Cutting edge technology."

"A month ago, I was patching a makeshift fuel line into a converted tug ship on the Flotilla. Now, I'm sitting onboard one of the most advanced vessels in Citadel space," Tali said, taking a look around the room they were in while doing so. She turned back to Shepard, saying, "I have to thank you again for bringing me along. Traveling on a vessel like this is a dream come true for me."

"I had no idea you found ship technology so fascinating," Shepard commented.

"It comes with being a quarian," she explained, "The Migrant Fleet is the key to the survival of my people. Ships are our most valuable resource. But we don't have anything like this," she said, motioning to the ship around them. "We have to do with castoffs and second-hand equipment, and try to keep them running as long as we can. Some of the Fleet's larger vessels date all the way back to our original flight from the geth."

Shepard's eyes widened slightly at hearing that, saying, "I can't believe your fleet's still using ships that are three centuries old."

"They are constantly being repaired, modified and refitted," she said, sounding a bit irritated at recalling all the problems with her people's ships. "They aren't pretty, but they work. Mostly," she added at the end before continuing, "We've tried to make ourselves as independent as possible on the Flotilla. Grow our own food, mine and process our own fuel. But some things we just can't make on our own. A patch to maintain the full integrity requires raw materials we just don't have. That's why our Pilgrimages are so important."

"Because when you return from your Pilgrimage, you are bringing back something of value to the Fleet," Shepard recalled, "things like the raw materials needed to fix a hull breach or even fuel for some of the ships, right?"

"Right, exactly," Tali nodded, then said, "But there is more to it then just search for supplies and such."

"You'll have to tell me more about that sometime. Sounds pretty interesting. But for now, though, unless you're too busy," Shepard said, indicating the terminal that Tali had been working on behind her, "I don't believe you've had a tour of the ship yet. Would you like to take a look around?"

"Yes, I would like that. Give me just one moment," she said, turning back around to her terminal. After a few seconds of what Shepard could only assume was her saving what she had been doing and logging herself out, Tali turned back around and said, "Ok, I'm ready. Are you sure you don't mind, Commander?"

Shaking his head, he said, "Not at all. If you're going to be a part of the crew, then you'll need to know where everything is at. I already asked Wrex and Garrus, and they said they have already taken a look around themselves, so it'll just be you and me. I hope you don't mind that."

"Not at all," she replied, and she and Shepard made their way out of Engineering and onto the elevator that would take them to the upper levels of the ship. During the elevator ride, Shepard asked Tali whether she wanted to see the CIC again, as they had passed it on their way towards Engineering when they first came aboard the ship. She said that it didn't matter to her either way, so Shepard decided to at least make a quick stop by the Galaxy Map on the CIC anyway.

After the long elevator ride, Shepard led Tali to the right set of stairs and up to the CIC. She took in everything as they made it to the Galaxy Map, obviously enthralled by the ships design and the CIC's setup. She asked some questions and Shepard did his best to answer what he knew, though that honestly wasn't as much as he was being asked. When she had seemed satisfied with her question, at least for the time being, Shepard led Tali to the Comm. Room. that was between the doors that lead down the stairs to the crew deck, informing her that this was where the ground team, namely her, Garrus, Williams, Alenko, Wrex and himself, would meet when needed. She asked only a few questions regarding the FTL comm. systems in the back of the room.

When they were done there, they headed back down the stairs towards the crew deck, where Shepard showed Tali the med-bay, introducing her to Doctor Chakwas. They had a quick but friendly chat with one another, which mostly consisted of what would happen should Tali become sick or injured and if Dr. Chakwas was able to help her in anyway. Dr. Chakwas told Tali that while she wasn't too fluent with quarian physiology, she did have a basic understanding of what would be required and she would also be doing research to learn more about a quarians health, as well as for the two other alien crewmembers that they now had.

Shepard then let Tali over to the sleeper-pods, greeting Alenko while they were there, who was standing by a monitoring station of sorts next to the pods. Alenko helped Tali set herself up a schedule into the pods system so that she could eventually get some sleep. Shepard mostly just stood there while this was happening, thankful that the new crew seemed to already be getting along with the Normandy's original crew.

Once Tali had a sleeping schedule set up, and when Alenko told him that he already had Garrus and Wrex setup too, Shepard and Tali walked towards the mess hall, which was right near the sleeper pods. Before they made it to the tables though, Shepard gestured to their right, around a corner, and said, "Also, that small hallway there leads right to the Captain's Quarters."

"Don't you mean your quarters, Commander?" Alenko spoke up from behind them at his station.

His statement caused Shepard to stop in his place for a moment. While it wasn't a long pause in which Shepard took time to think about it, it was long enough for anyone who had overheard that little exchange to notice. Shepard quickly shook his head and turned slightly towards Alenko and said, "Yeah, I… I guess I do."

Tali looked at Shepard as he turned back from looking at Alenko, having also taken notice of his pause, and asked, "Are you alright, Commander?"

He looked down for a moment and said, "Yeah, I'm fine. I guess… it just hasn't hit home yet that… well, that I'm captain of the Normandy."

"You will, Commander," Alenko reassured from his station, "You're a good leader, sir. I'm sure it'll set in before long."

Shepard turned back and nodded his appreciation for Alenko's words. He was right, something like that would take time. It would have to. It was too late now to change how things worked out. Like before, Shepard would just have to make do with what he was given. God give me strength, Shepard thought as he turned back around and continued to lead Tali towards the mess hall tables.

"Getting back to the tour," Shepard started, "this, of course, is the mess hall."

Tali giggled slightly and replied, "I was going to guess that."

Smiling a bit himself, Shepard asked, "Now, do you have any allergies or anything we should be aware of while you're apart of the crew?"

"Well," she started, searching through pockets in her suit, "I don't know if you know or not, but we quarians are dextro-protien, the same as turians. We can't eat the same foods as humans, since they are levo-protien based."

She seemed to have found what she was looking for because she then held up in her hand a tube that was filled with what appeared to be some kind of fluid. "Also, because of our immune system and enviro-suits, we have to have purified food to avoid bacteria, among other things. So for now I have this nutrient paste to eat," she indicated the tube in her hand, letting Shepard take it and look at it. As she had said, it was a paste inside said tube, not a fluid. He could only assume that it being in this tube meant that it was purified and safe to eat for quarians. Taste, however, was probably another matter.

Shepard put that thought in the back of his mind to mull over later, and instead thought of a more immediate issue. There was no way that Tali had enough tubes of this paste to last this entire mission, especially since they didn't know how long they would be on this mission. They would have to make sure to stock up on some food for all of their non-human crew the next time they got the chance.

Handing back the nutrient paste, Shepard asked, "How many of those do you have? Do you have enough until we can stock up on foods you can eat?"

She put away the tube back into the pocket she had taken it out of and said, "I should have enough. We are given a number of tubes when we leave for our Pilgrimage to last us until we find a place to get some of our own. I can get it myself the next time we are somewhere they are available, so you won't have to go out of your way for anything."

Shepard held up his hand to keep her from saying anything else, and said, "Nonsense. You're a part of this crew. We'll make sure that you have something in stock on the ship. Though," he said with a smile, "you might need to help us with knowing where or how to get it."

"I-uh… th-thank you, Commander, I… I appreciate it," she said, taken aback. Shepard wasn't completely sure why, but he could only guess that it was because of how quarians are generally treated. While he had not met a quarian before Tali, he still knew what the general opinion about them was. Fortunately, he wasn't one to just go on the general opinion.

"So, I believe you've now seen everything there is to see on the ship. Any questions or concerns?"

Tali shook herself out of her shock and thought for a moment before replying, "I don't think so, but if I do think of something, I will come ask you. If that's alright…?" she trailed off so as to sound like a question. Shepard nodded, saying that it was fine. As she left to head back down to Engineering, Shepard turned towards the direction that headed towards the Captain's Quarters. Ever since Alenko mentioned that the Captain's Quarters were his just a few moments ago, it continued to bother him. The Captain's Quarters were for the Captain of a vessel and he wasn't a Captain. He was merely a Commander. It just didn't feel right to him.

But, Alenko… Kaiden was right. They were his Quarters, and he was the CO, the commanding officer, the acting Captain. He would have to get used to it. So with that in mind, Shepard began to walk towards the Capt- his quarters.

When he reached the door, he stopped for just a moment and then walked in, the doors automatically opening and then shutting behind him. Looking around, he saw that the room seemed to have two sections: a 'common area' of sorts and a personal area. The 'common area' took up most of the room. To the right as you first walk in, there is a desk with a terminal, and behind it, in the center-right section of the room was a small round table with two chairs. There was a wall that cut into the left end of the room, creating the smaller area, the personal area. Shepard noticed another desk and terminal set up against the right wall and a bed big enough for two people against the far end of the wall. In the very back right corner next to the second desk, he noticed there were lockers for his personal things.

Shepard's first thought was, This is big… too big. It had been years since he had a full room of his own, let alone one that was this big. Even on Mindoir, his room was only about the size of the common area in this one, maybe even a bit smaller. Here he had that plus a sleeping area and personal computer terminal. This was definitely going to take getting some used to, Shepard thought, shaking his head.

He walked over to the terminal beside his bed, sat down and activated it. At first, there was an initial program that asked for confirmation that it was the new captain accessing the terminal, then asked for a new password and other access information. When he had done that, he found that the terminal had all of his other accounts information and preferences, but it also had personnel records of the Alliance crew and other information that the Commanding Officer would need to know. One thing he noticed was missing was a dossier or personnel file on the non-Alliance crew. He made note to get those later. After all, he wanted to know about his crew.

Shepard sat there for a while, going over everything he needed to know regarding is new duties and checking the files that Udina forwarded to him from the Council about their current assignment. As he was reading, he suddenly stopped and took a brief look around him. So this is where we ended up, eh Shepard? he asked himself. He smiled and shook his head, just barely whispering, "Don't know where this'll take us, Lord, but I trust You to see us through it."

He muttered a quick "Amen" and then turned back to his terminal to finish reading, but before he started to read again he looked to the side of the screen. Shepard smirked, opened the program and pressed play, letting the music fill the room while he continued to work.

One thing that I am sure that some of you noticed is that Shepard did not talk to Ashley in this one. Sadly I did not think it should be in this particular fic. While yes, she is still as new as the non-Alliance crew, she had indeed been on the Normandy before the others. This was more for the new crew than the others.

I do hope you enjoyed this. Please comment anything, I will take any comments whatsoever. And please, do not forget to check the polls on my profile page.

Until next time!

-halbreed