Commander Patrick Shepard gazed out at the vast expanse of space in front of him, his mind racing with the revelations revealed to him. Hours earlier, Patrick and his team just returned from the Omega-4 relay, leaving behind them a destroyed Collector home base, and the abomination that was being created for the Collector master's, the Reapers.
Abomination.
The word had struck Patrick with some weight and truth to the whole situation. Even as The Illusive Man tried to reason with him to keep the base and its technology intact, but he wasn't at that base, he didn't see the bodies of the human colonists, live human colonists Patrick corrected himself, melted down for resources to build the abomination, a Human Reaper. The Illusive Man didn't see the terrified look on a colonist's face as she saw her body slowly melted right before her very eyes. Illusive Man's short sightedness was his weakness, stating over and over that the ends justify the means. What Patrick saw was someone who would use this technology for themselves, in this case, humanity, and secure its dominance in the galaxy. Patrick decided for the best of the galaxy that this technology wasn't right keep this technology, not after so many human lives were used to create these weapons. The only moral thing to do was destroy the base.
Patrick sighed, running his hand through his short cropped red hair. He knew the consequences of his decision, as he realized that it would be a challenge to defeat the Reaper armada, even more now that Collector technology was destroyed, leaving them with a severe technological handicap. It took almost the whole Citadel Fleet and several ships from the Fifth Fleet to take down Sovereign, it going to be impossible to destroy the armada, Patrick thought
You built your career on doing the impossible, Thane Krios once told him upon his first meeting with the famed Drell assassin, and that memory brought him small smile to his face. There were few things to be happy about these days, especially looking toward the future. His past was filled with many hardships, with the loss of his family on Mindoir and his platoon on Akuze left him with many scars, both physical and mental. The most prominent seen by his crew was the scar that stretched from his left eye diagonally down through his lips. It was a reminder given by a Batarian slaver when they attacked Mindoir and changed Patrick's life forever.
The cold blade of the knife gingerly danced across the young boy's face, crossing beads of sweat and tears from the boy as he stared at the devastation of the place he called home for the past 16 years. The wielder of the blade, finding a suitable place to place his mark, began to apply pressure to the blade working vertically down the boy's face. All the boy could do was stare at the devastation. Stare and accept it.-
"Commander?" a voice pulled Patrick away from Mindoir and back to reality. He turned around to face the Joker and the rest of the team who were all gathered in the Cargo Bay.
"Yes, sorry Joker," Patrick stated, "What is it?
"Well Commander, what are your orders?" Joker asked..
"Is everyone's wounds taken care of?" Patrick asked loudly to the whole crew, with everyone minus Garrus nodding in agreement.
"Took a bit of shrapnel back on the Collector Base," Garrus exclaimed, holding his abdomen, where Patrick could see a large hole in his armor where purple blood had stained the armor around the wound.
"All right everybody, take a couple hours to recoup, and meet back in the relay room at, "Patrick checked his Omni tool, "1000 hours. Crew dismissed." As Jacob, Jack, Grunt, Mordin, Legion, Zaeed, Kasumi, Thane, Miranda, and Samara went to the elevator up to the sleeping area, Patrick motioned for Garrus to speak with him.
"Head up to the sick bay and have Chakwas examine your wounds. I need you at your best as soon as possible. "
"Shepard, I don't need Chakwas, All I need to do is clean the wound and make sure the round is out. I was a vigilante before I joined you again, and I've done my fair share of operations."
"Garrus, I'm just asking you to have her you wound, not your reach," Patrick teased.
Garrus's jaws twitched slightly, as nervous look came over him. "Shepard, it seems I can't tell you anything these days…."Garrus said as he walked over to the lift.
Patrick chuckled, and looked around at the remaining crew making repairs on the cargo bay, he finally he found Tali, who was working with Ken and Gabby on a pair of power couplings along the bay wall panels. He walked over and reached out and wrapped his arms around her waist, bring her closer to him.
"Patrick," Tali cooed, turning around and fully embracing Patrick, wrapping her arms around his neck and bring them both in closer. Patrick stared through her visor, focusing on her eyes, highlighted by the silver implants that were part of the Quarian physiology. "We haven't had much time to talk since the mission, "she spoke after a moment, "what was on your mind a few minutes ago? Joker was calling your name for several minutes." Tali saw his expression change, a pained look appear on his face. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked about what you were-"
"Tali, it's all right," Patrick said, reaching for her hands to stop her hands nervously rubbing each other. "I was just dwelling on the mission, and what needs to be done now. " Seeing her relax, he continued. "But enough about that, go get some rest Tali. You can use my bed if you would like," he added, trying to act subtle as he lead Tali toward the lift.
"Wait, like sleep up in your cabin?" Tali exclaimed, "But that's reserved for you, it's what you deserve."
"Tali, I not asking you as a crewman, but I'm asking because I love you," Patrick said holding her hands in his. "I really want our relationship to continue, and hey, I bet you've never slept in a real before, "he exclaimed. "
Tali blushed under her visor, which made Patrick swell with joy with her reaction. "Oh Patrick she said, "You don't know how happy you've made me. Yes, yes I would like that."
The couple entered the elevator and Patrick pressed the button for the captain's cabin. As the elevator slowly hummed and began to rise, Patrick Shepard felt that even in this dark hour, Tali was there to fill the void that had been missing for many years. For the first time since Mindoir, Patrick Shepard felt at peace.