Chapter 1
"Recruiting Drive"
May 2, 2203
20 years after the attack on Eden Prime
Citadel Station
You can bring a man to the strangest places in the galaxy and put him through the greatest of tests, but at the end of the day, he's still a man. If there's one thing about men that never change, it's a love for food. The Presidium had virtually no grab-and-go food to speak of. It was all catering and eat-in, and all in the financial district. This made the man in the trenchcoat obviously upset as he approached the human embassy. He hadn't been able to get anything to eat for several hours. On the Citadel, there was always something to do, and never enough time to do it.
The area around the embassies was quite busy. The man in the trenchcoat expected as much. It wasn't every day that word got out that Commander Shepard was looking for crewmen, spies, and warriors. Of course it wasn't something that everyone had heard all around the Citadel, but the man in the trenchcoat was just connected enough to know what was going on. He spotted a few people he knew, and more that he didn't. There were about twenty people gathered outside the embassies. Every now and again, Miranda Lawson would step out, point to someone, and they would go inside. She never came out with anyone.
If he didn't know any better…
"I see you got my message, Jim," a Turian chuckled. Jim looked over his shoulder to see Heppanah, an aging Turian woman, with one cybernetic eye and a robotic hand. Jim smiled and offered a Turian salute, which she returned, before offering her hand. He grabbed it, then pulled her over, giving her a hug.
"Handshakes are for strangers, friend," Jim replied, "Thanks for letting me know. I never thought I would have had this chance. Are you going to sign on?"
"I don't know. Maybe. I've got a good thing with C-Sec. With the Councilor retiring, they're thinking that Executor Pallin might take the spot, and I'm a prime candidate to take his. Going off on one of Commander Shepard's wild adventures...I'm not young anymore."
"Who is?" Jim asked, "I've sent two of my kids through college already, and I've got an Asari daughter that's already throwing things around with her mind. Believe me, this is probably the last chance we're going to get for another adventure before we're sent out to the pastures."
"Sent out to the…?" Heppanah scowled.
"Pastures. Retirement home, taken off active duty, moving aside for the younger crowd."
"I see. Human idioms never cease to amaze me. I'll need to do some planning, let people know that I'm leaving. I've got a lot of responsibilities at C-Sec."
"They'll understand. But you should do something impulsive for once. It's not breaking the rules, but it's certainly doing the unorthodox, Hep. I've always encouraged you to do something different, and here's your chance to get me to shut up," Jim smiled.
They both watched as Miranda walked out, pointed to a Salarian, and entered the building again. This was going to be a while. Jim opened his mouth to speak when he saw a Hanar and a Drell join the group. He could only mouth an expletive of disbelief at the sight. Heppanah noticed his expression and turned to see what he was looking at.
"Well, Hanar can play their own role," Heppanah laughed.
"I suppose. I suppose whatever Shepard's planning, we'll need all sorts of help," Jim surmised.
"Is anyone coming in as a pair or a group?" they heard a deep voice yell out. Jim and Happanah looked at each other, and she shrugged. They both looked to the Hanar and the Drell, who didn't respond. Jim raised his hand.
"We are!" he called, and they walked to Jacob. He motioned them to follow, and they entered the embassy together. The Biotic didn't say anything, but he didn't seem solemn or anything like that. Jim noticed that he wasn't wearing a Cerberus symbol. He'd heard that Commander Shepard had begun to distance the crew of the Normandy from Cerberus, but if Jacob Taylor wasn't wearing the symbol that must mean that the schism was complete.
"In here," he instructed, and the two entered a darkened room. They could see the faint outline of a human sitting behind a desk.
"Oh, this is rich," Happanah muttered. The lights brightened, and someone neither of them recognized was sitting there. He was a tall, pale man without any hair. He wore a formal Alliance two-piece, the kind that diplomats and businessmen wore when they were on the citadel. Jim couldn't help but remember the days when those outfits were only worn to government proceedings, and everyone else still wore ties. Hell, Jim was wearing a tie at the present. He just liked ties.
"James Stone and Happanah K'Venn. I never thought either of you would be interested in hitting the stars again."
"I figured there still aren't enough children out there that look like me. Best way to fix that is to travel," Jim remarked.
"I suppose this is my last chance to do something outside of the Citadel before they send me out to the pastures," Happanah added.
"So a washed-out bounty hunter and an overworked Turian C-Sec administrator want to join the crew of the Normandy, then?"
"Excuse me! A post-prime personnel allocator, thank you very much," Jim objected.
"Whatever. Both of you have excellent records. Jim has some history as a pirate, but that was undercover work anyway. Nothing more than a few bumps in the road, I don't see why you wouldn't be an asset to the operation."
"Sounds like you've already made up your mind," Happanah stated.
"It's not difficult when all the information I need is right here," the man stated, tapping his hairless head. His head was so shaved that the dim light actually reflected off of it, "You've got my recommendation. We leave in a week, get your affairs in line before that."
"Where are we going?"
"That's for Shepard to know and for you to find out. Don't worry, you're not going to be used as cannon fodder. If we needed that, we would have approached the Citadel for military assistance. The only thing I can tell you is that you should be prepared to be leaving for several months, if not years. Kiss your kids good-bye and pack well."
"I wouldn't be much of a bounty hunter if I didn't ask how much the pay was," Jim said.
"For a personnel allocator of your skill and aptitude, I would have to say substantial. Nobody who's ever lived through one of Shepard's missions has ever gone home impoverished because the Commander wasn't generous. I can't give you numbers because we don't have any. But every time the Normandy goes out, it comes back with more than enough to pay for whatever operations it's been on."
"Believe me, I've had to crawl through that thing's cargo bays enough times that I can tell you, they find all sorts of things to sell. Mostly weapons and minerals. Every now and again we've caught them with something illegal, but only because they forgot to sell it or dump it while in the Terminus systems," Happanah explained.
"And here I was all ready to give him the argument of a lifetime. All right, I suppose I'm in."
"You wouldn't be here if you weren't already, Jim. Good to have you on board. You will be contacted. Next Sunday," the bald man stood and shook their respective hands, "If you can provide your own weapons, that would be optimal."
"I'll do what I can," Happanah agreed.
"You don't have anything that I want when it comes to weapons. I'll have my own guns," Jim informed him.
"Good. But if you need it, we will have a requisitions officer, and you can buy your weapons on credit if you need to. Please, there are other waiting."
Jim nodded, and exited the room with his Turian friend. Jacob Taylor was already approaching with the Hanar and the Drell.
"I'll give them this, they're efficient," Jim commented, "I suppose you've got to get ready, then? If you need anything, I'll be at my apartment. I just gotta have another screaming match with my land-lady and I'll be ready to go. Other than that, all I have to do is shove some clothes into my old bag from my Marine days, clean my weapons, and buy some booze, I'll be ready to go."
"There are a few things I can have you do, thank you, Jim," Happanah assured him, "I'd hate for you to be bored. Every time you go longer than two days without something to do, you seem to find trouble."
"Hey, trouble finds me. I just happen to be in a very conspicuous place when it looks!" Jim objected.
"Yeah, well, tell that to your lawyer!" she laughed as she approached the rapid transit system, and Jim had nothing to retort with. He looked over his shoulder to the embassies and thought,
Man, I'm hungry.