On the bridge of the Normandy SR-1 sat the ship's pilot, affectionally named Joker, with the ships third in command, Kaidan Alenko. Joker was taking him through the last of the controls of the Normandy, as the resident councilor Spectre, Nihlus, walked onto the bridge. He was there to check on the ship's status. Behind Nihlus was the ship's second in command, or XO, Jane Shepard.

"All systems online. Drift…" Joker said. "Just under 1500 k, right?" Kaidan finished for him, and shot his long time friend, Jane, an award-winning smile. As the XO, Jane has already had this training under her belt in case she was left in charge. "1500 is good. Your captain…" Nihlus said standing tall, also looking at Jane with his mandibles slightly clicking. "…will be pleased" he finished, before smiling at Jane.

Just before he turned to leave, Nihlus let his three talons, brush across Shepard's five fingers. Jane lifted her chin slightly to catch his eyes, and the spark between them would have electrocuted any human to death. To the humans, this gesture would not have been a big deal. Many Turian's did not have a human fetish, and no human in history had ever had a Turian fetish. However, for Kaidan, whom had been 'chasing' Shepard since their boot camp days, it was a challenge.

"They don't send Spectres on shakedown runs," Joker blurted after Nihlus was out of earshot. Kaidan shook his head out of his thoughts, and focused. "He sounds angry, something must have gone wrong with the mission". Shepard hardly heard what they said, as she was looking back at where Nihlus just was, lost in her memory of when she first met him.

She and Kaidan had been in the same military boot camp program. They were a month away from the highly anticipated, "War Games" which essentially placed the new recruits into their intended careers. Jane was hoping to be chosen for the N7. She was in the gym working off some steam when the handsome Turian, only known as, Nihlus was watching her from afar.

Shepard was so lost in herself and her anger. She thought, 'How dare they look at Kaidan as the captain for our team. I am twice the solider he is, I can shoot better, run faster, and make better decisions". She hit the bag harder.

Left hook.

Right hook.

Duck.

Back kick.

Jab.

She kept going harder, faster, and all the time getting angrier with herself. She knew why Kaidan was chosen. He was the top of the class. He had better scores in all of his practical tests, and he moved better in combat with his biotics. She also knew that he was a shoe in for the N7 program.

Nihlus propped himself against a beam with his arms crossed in the way someone who was intrigued, or about to make a wise crack would. He watched Shepard carefully, calculating her speed, strength and agility. He liked what he saw, but he also saw a fire in her eyes that only people in his line of work had. He approached Shepard, and was stunned when he was thrown into the wall behind him by Shepard's singularity.

He coughed and regained his composure a bit amused. "That was impressive. I will remember to not sneak up behind a pissed off biotic unarmed again" he said.

"Oh my god, I am so sorry sir. See I thought you were, well, someone else coming to gloat in, uhh, well its not important. Are you hurt?" Jane babbled as she ran toward Nihlus to help him up. He allowed her to help him; it was a way to size her up.

As Jane helped Nihlus to his feet she noticed his strong jaw, and his copper color. She knew the N7 program brought in a Spectre every now and then to help in random skills. Hell, she even knew a few Turians that the program had employed to help in combat. However, this handsome Turian before her was not any shade of grey that she had seen before. He was a pristine copper-red. They same color she insisted on dying her hair to prove she was different.

Whatever Nihlus was saying to her right now was utterly lost as she gazed upon this fine specimen. "Do you even care about being the best?" was all it took for her to come out of her trance. "Uhh, yeah, sorry. What?" She stuttered as her cheeks flushed. On any other Turian, this simple human gesture would have been lost, but to Nihlus, who found beauty in strength, will, and determination, this was the only thing he needed to pursue his infatuation further.

"Joker. Status report" boomed through the bridge. Anderson's bellowed voice awoke Jane from her memories. Slightly embarrassed she fixed her posture, and looked to Kaidan to see if he had noticed she was out of it. Fortunately for her, he was too focused on getting his piloting training done. She simply turned on her heel and followed Nihlus to the debriefing room.

Kaidan watched her as she went after Nihlus. "Don't really like him do you? Well neither do I. Spectre's always mean trouble" Joker stated. Kaidan just looked at his friend, and shrugged. "Right now, I just want to get this finished so I can go back to my duties", he said solemnly. "What are your duties exactly? Following the Commander around like a lost puppy dog?" Joker teased. Kaidan's focus was gone as he was remembering the first time he laid eyes on Shepard.

Kaidan had just finished cleaning his barracks. Boot camp wasn't at all like he thought it would be. When he had read up about it, he was under the impression that it was all physical training to get you ready for the military. Then again his resources were grossly outdated. This boot camp was as much an intellectual thing as it was a physical thing.

Then he saw her. The most beautiful woman he has even seen in his life. She was sweeping the dirt out of her barracks, and then stopped to look at the sky. She had the most interesting color hair. It was the strangest red that looked purple in the sunlight. She had the greenest eyes that he had ever seen in his life. Kaidan was mesmerized, intrigued and suddenly walking directly to her.

"Hey, couldn't help but notice that you were stuck on cleaning duty too" Kaidan began. All that Jane did was smile at him and finish her sweeping. "I'm Kaidan," he said forcefully, throwing his hand practically into hers. "Shepard" she said amused. "What no first name?" he inquired. "No, its just Shepard" she said grabbing her broom. Kaidan knew that no matter what happens at boot camp, he wanted to know her, and her first name.