"You think he's ready?"
"Yes. Udina and I rarely see eye to eye, but he could be the game changer we've been looking for."
"For once, we agree Anderson. This man is our best bet for this mission. He's our soldier."
"That's not what I asked, gentlemen. Captain Anderson, is he ready?"
"No offense, Admiral Hackett, sir, but I can personally vouch for him. He's the best soldier I've ever seen. Spacer kid, raised in the heart of the military. Best recruit I've ever had the privilege of laying my eyes on. Trained him myself for a while. I watched him grow from the smallest tech expert on his mother's ship, the USS Orizaba, into the man that saved Elysium."
"Anderson, quit your babbling and tell the man what he wants to hear. He's ready, sir."
"Udina, I want every detail I can get on the Commander, and if Anderson needs to babble so I can hear it, then so be it. So quit interrupting."
"Yes sir… of course. Didn't mean to offend…"
"As I was saying, Admiral, he's the best of the best. N7 at the age of 22. Highest rank possible. One of the most talented biotics I've seen. Tech expert. Knows his way around everything, ranging from guns, diplomacy, ships… Awarded the Star of Terra after the Skylian Blitz. He's young, but he has that fire in him. He'll see the mission through."
"Good. That's what I wanted to hear. Let's just hope you're right Anderson. For our sakes and that of humanity's."
"And deities help us all if he fails."
…
3 days later
"Commander!"
Commander John Shepard awoke with a voice calling him through the ships loudspeakers. He'd been sleeping for a couple of hours now, taking in every moment of silence he could get in the crew quarters, which really isn't saying much. "Still, the ship itself is quieter than any other ship I've served on before. Wonder if it bothers anyone else?" he thought to himself. Recollecting his thoughts, he turned his attention towards the speakers and activated his communicator.
"I read you Joker. What's up?"
"Besides from you now? Anderson wants to see you in the bridge. Also, Nyhlus wanted to speak to you later in the comm room."
"Alright, then, here we go. Thanks for the info. And Joker?"
"What?"
"That joke was terrible, even by your very low standards."
He heard a loud sigh through the speakers and smiled. Leaving the crew quarters and heading for the upper deck, Shepard remembered he'd have to go see Dr. Chakwas about his sleep. He'd usually have no trouble sleeping, seeing as he'd never slept much after the Blitz, but still, the Normandy was far too quiet for his liking. He'd gotten used to some noise, any noise really, that normal engines would do, but the SR1 was just so quiet not even the engines made noise. And that made Shepard very uncomfortable.
"Well, could be worst. At least some of the crew snores. Never thought I'd be thankful for that though. And let's not forget about the loudest, meanest mother out there…" He was suddenly interrupted by a voice he'd become very acquainted with. The Canadian accent wasn't too great, but it was still there and he would have noticed it from a mile away.
"Shepard!"- Staff lieutenant Kaiden Alenko shouted has he went down the stairs.
"Kaidan, how are you doing? Still have that headache?-Shepard smiled at one of his only friends, a man he'd come to trust with his life. Alenko had been there since Shepard was in recruit, and they'd been brothers in arms shortly after. No matter how tough Alenko was to get along, Shepard thought of Kaiden as his brother. Plus, the two of them put together could harness so much biotic energy it would make an asari cringe in frustration.
"Yeah, yeah Shepard. This is the part where you boast about your L3's isn't it?"
"What can I say Alenko? Only the best of the best for our proudest N7 commander, and that means no more L2's. Wouldn't want me to be running around getting shot at with those old things, now would you?"
"With all do respect Commander, shut it. You know damn well those prototypes might fail you when you need them the most, that's why they're prototypes. My L2's are as reliable as they come nowadays."
"Sure they are, Alenko, that's why you get a headache every time you use them" Shepard had a big smile plastered across his face. He had used the L2 implants many times before, and even though he never experienced the horrible headaches and muscle pain as is friend did, he remembered feeling very unpleasant after strenuous use of his biotics.
"No offense, sir, but I repeat my former statement. Shut it."
"You know, I could technically court martial your ass for disrespecting a superior" Shepard was joking, of course, but he still kept a straight face. But, alas, he broke down and started laughing when he saw Kaiden suddenly start fidgeting and saying he was sorry.
"Just messing with you Alenko! Right now, I don't think I could ask for a better friend! Just keep getting my ass out of the fire and you can tell me to shut it… most of the time, at least."
Kaiden's uneasy smile came through, and he quickly replied:
"Shepard, if we're being honest here, I've got to put this out there, I am not gonna haul your ass out of fire anymore than you've already hauled mine. We're a team."
"Well, gotta keep going. Anderson and Nyhlus want to talk with me."
"Great talk, Commander. See ya later then"
As Kaiden stepped away, Shepard remembered a bet he'd made with him a while back. So he turned around and screamed from the bottom of his lungs:
"HEY LIEUTENANT!"
"What?"
"I SHOULD GO."
Both men laughed for a while before going back to their own business.
