0600 Zulu 09.11.2184
Arcturus Station was buzzing with electricity. The usually quiet base was teaming with conversations about the latest strategy and the 'tennis match' fighting that was going on between the two races. It was less of a chess game and more about taking pot shots when they could. Both races locked in a stalemate for the last year and neither side was willing to back down. The asari mediators had failed at drawing a respectable conclusion to the fighting. Both races were too stubborn to back off and be the bigger man about it.
"It's a pissing contest and nothing more," mumbled Nevara under her breath.
She kept watching out the window as the cruisers and frigates made their patrols around the station. Some were leaving for skirmishes but since the bulk of the fleet was here, it made the time full of tension, and rightfully so. If the turians really wanted to attempt a killing blow, now was the time.
"Commander, when is this briefing supposed to happen?" Kaidan asked, as he leaned against the bulkhead.
Nevara took a drag off her cigarette and looked at her watch. "The mission briefing will be starting when they tell us to go in. Not before."
"Understood." Kaidan said with a hurt expression. He stared out the glass at the void of space and looked back at Nevara before starting again. "Shepard, I'm sorry I've been prying so much lately. You're one of my closest friends and I don't want anything to happen to you. About what was said before we got here, I was out of line."
Nevara turned to him and looked down the hall. "Kaidan, I understand your concerns, alright. I've been more on edge, I'll give you that. You didn't hurt my feelings, just let me be."
Finally a small squad of marines entered the briefing room followed by a familiar face. Captain Anderson smiled at both of them as they made their way into the room.
Sitting at the row of tables at the back of the room Nevara sat, prepared for whatever this life or death mission called for. The lights dimmed and the room grew quiet. Kaidan sat next to her and leaned back in the chair. Captain Anderson made his way to the center of the room. A holographic projection came up behind him. A young private walked in with a stack of datapads in his arms. He walked around passing them out to the others. When he was finished, he walked back to the door and waited to be acknowledged.
"Thank you, Corporal Jenkins. You are dismissed." Captain Anderson told him before turning back to the hologram.
Corporal Jenkins saluted and left the room. It was still dead silent when Anderson cleared his throat to begin his speech.
"Let me start by saying this before we get to the meat of what this mission is all about." He looked at Nevara with a sullen look before continuing. "Everyone here knows what happened on Mindoir. The colony was completely destroyed by the turians just over a year ago."
Nevara became rigid in her seat. She hadn't expected any news. Not anything concrete, just an abstract update. She'd been constantly asking about who perpetrated the act, just so she could exact her own personal punishment on them. Nothing ever came from it and most of the intelligence teams were busy or under orders not to discuss ongoing investigations. Whatever she had thought she'd been prepared for had turned hard to port leaving her dumbfounded and annoyed. Her attention was completely taken and her breathing became shallower. Finally, some news.
Captain Anderson continued. "We have intel on the commander that led the force that attacked. We don't have a name, but we know where he's bunkered down at." He clicked a button and a picture of the turian came on the holo.
An individual, how intriguing. A little vigilantism never hurt anyone before. Well it might, but that'll be their problem; not mine.
Nevara stared intently at the profile of the damn turian. Finding her companion turian left her imaginings and was now replaced by the eternal hatred she felt for her enemy. As much as she tried to ignore her feelings for her mate- mate?, she still realized that their courtship couldn't work until her loose thread was dealt with.
The armor was familiar, but a lot of turian officers wore it. His helmet was on, so there was nothing to really distinguish him from any other turian. Nevara stared at him drilling it into her mind. A new rage filled her when the thought of drilling him between the eyes came into her mind. It would be sweet satisfaction. Captain Anderson's voice faded away while she imagined all the things that she would do to that turian bastard when she got her hands on him.
"Commander Shepard. Commander Shepard?" Anderson's voice interrupted her thoughts and shocked her back into the now.
She looked at Anderson with her full attention. Everyone was looking at her with the utmost concern. She hadn't thrown a fit, but everyone in the room knew her history with the colony and knew that this was a personal vendetta that she'd held on to.
Anderson continued the presentation by pushing another button and the holo of a planet came up. "This is Aeia, it is in the Rosetta Nebula. It's an oxygen rich planet, so breathers will not be necessary. Latest reconnaissance reports say that the turians are planning small skirmishes on our colonies out in the Terminus. Expect between two and three platoons worth of turians. Turrets will be along the perimeter. This squad's mission is to bring this commander in for questioning. It will not be an easy task. The planet is undergoing its storm season and it is constantly raining there. Resources will be limited, so prepare accordingly. There will be patrols out in the jungle areas, but they shouldn't be too much of a problem to avoid."
"How are we supposed to undertake this mission; if we are supposed to sneak in and grab a turian from his post?" A female to Shepard's left asked.
Captain Anderson responded, crossing his arms. "This is just your mission. There is a mission that is going to be running in conjunction with yours. Ground teams and air strikes will give you cover and draw most of the forces away from your destination."
The female nodded and looked at Shepard.
"You will be given more detailed instructions once you are in orbit. Until then, crew dismissed." Captain Anderson explained.
The squad rose from their seats to leave. A low rumble from some of the marines made Nevara nervous. Most of the people were new recruits, though they tested well for Special Forces.
"Commander Shepard, can I speak with you for a second?" Anderson asked.
"I'll wait for you outside." Kaidan told Nevara before walking out of the room.
Nevara rose from her seat and walked to Anderson who was staring down the datapad in his hand.
"You need something, Captain," asked Nevara.
"Yes, Commander, there is something that I'd like to speak with you about." He walked to the desk and set the datapad down. "What are your thoughts on the mission? I know that this is highly personal for you."
"I'm good with it. If the Alliance wants him alive then I'll serve him up. I might not like it, but what else can I do about it?"
"True enough. There's one other thing that I'd like to discuss with you before you go." He paused and grabbed another datapad lying on the desk. "This is from the Resistance."
He handed it to her and she stared. Anderson's the mole?
"What is it?" She asked without looking at him.
"You're alternate objective. Your job is to keep him out of Alliance hands."
"How the hell am I supposed to do that? You've got me assigned to lead at least ten marines."
"You won't be taking all ten. You'll be divided into two groups to flank the perimeter. "
"Not to seem pessimistic about the whole plan but, where are we supposed to take him? If you are having ground troops and bombings, then that doesn't leave us much time or places to hide."
"There's a covert base that the Alliance was setting up to use before the Council nixed our plans. The turian military has been using it to hide their ranking military officials in the event of attack. There shouldn't be anyone there at the time, if there is; you know what to do about that. You're only objective is to get that officer out alive and away from the Alliance."
"How long are we supposed to wait before we can get him out of Alliance hands? I take it that this is not going to be as simple as a turian shuttle picking him up and taking him away."
"No, Commander. You are going to have to wait till we can get in contact with his superiors. We're looking at a window of about two weeks. Anytime within that span will be when he will be picked up."
"So you're telling me that I have to save the asshole that bombed my home, again? I think I should be reassigned because of my bias, sir." Nevara stated, coldly examining the datapad.
"That's not an option, Commander." Anderson stared blankly.
"What am I supposed to do about the other marines? They will eventually figure out what I'm up to."
"You'll have to do what you need to do to complete your mission. I know it won't be easy, but I am confident that you can do it. If you can reason with them, even better, but if not, then steps will need to be taken. Your identity can't be compromised. If it is, then you are a target to both sides and the Resistance within the Alliance will disavow any knowledge of you. You will be on your own, and I won't be able to help you."
"You are asking me to commit murder if they don't follow me. Not to mention treason."
"If you were so worried about it, Commander, then you shouldn't have accepted our offer. Other than that, I just want reiterate that I am sorry, but I know that you can come up with a plan with minimal casualties." Anderson frowned.
"I understand, Captain. I'll think of something," sighed Nevara.
"One more thing, Commander." Anderson said grabbing Nevara by the wrist. He pulled Nevara's collar aside exposing her shoulder. The truth was written all over it. He saw the scars that dotted her collarbone. He shook his head with concern and let her go. "You can't trust everyone here. Hold everyone with suspicion once you get out in the field. There are people within the Alliance that know what you are doing. Sleeper agents are already assigned to take you out, so just heed my warning."
"How did you know about that?" Nevara asked. She adjusted her collar again and blushed with shame.
"Please, Shepard, I'm not a fool. I was the one that sent you there to meet him. I know him personally. You two would work well together. The perfect mesh of personalities, if you will. That's why I picked you for it. I knew you could do it. I just didn't know it would go that far." Anderson chuckled while pointing at her shoulder.
"Yeah, neither did I," smirked Nevara.
"Well that'll be all. Just remember what I said." Anderson told her.
"I will." Nevara told him before walking out the door.
Kaidan was waiting for Nevara. He was talking to the brunette woman that sat near them. Nevara approached them and they both stopped and looked at her.
"Commander Shepard, this is Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams." Kaidan introduced her with a smile.
"Nice to meet you, ma'am. I've heard a lot about you." Ashley said, shuffling her feet with excitement.
"It's nice to meet you, too. So, what are you two talking about?" Nevara asked the both of them. Their smiles faded and they looked at the floor. They didn't look happy. It was like catching a child with its hand in the cookie jar. Nevara knew exactly what they were talking about. She lit a cigarette and folded her arms across her chest. "Look, if we are working together, I want utter honesty. If you were talking about me, then fine. Just understand this: I don't like being talked about behind my back."
"We sincerely apologize, ma'am." Kaidan said. Ashley nodded in agreement.
"Let's get out of here. We're supposed to be leaving in a couple of days according to the report." Nevara said to both of them.
"Aye, aye, ma'am. I'll be ready to go when needed." Ashley stated. She saluted both of them and left the two alone.
Nevara watched as Ashley walked away. When Ashley rounded a corner, she turned back to Kaidan.
"Walk with me, Kaidan. We need to talk." Nevara ordered.
"Whatever you need. Permission to speak freely, ma'am?" Kaidan implored.
"Sure, why not." Nevara nodded, expelling the used smoke from her mouth.
They turned and walked in silence. Nevara was lost in her thoughts letting Kaidan ramble on about things that were beyond his understanding. When they reached her quarters, she stopped and stared at him.
"Kaidan don't gripe about the situation; do something about it." Nevara told him.
"Shepard, there's just something up with this mission and I don't like it."
"Well, what do you want me to tell you? I can't hold your hand every time you think something is hinky."
"I know that, Shepard. I'm not an idiot."
"I never said you were. Look, you're my friend, and I trust you deeply. We've seen more things than any other person on this station could possibly imagine. Just because something doesn't feel right or you get the inkling that something catastrophic is going to happen doesn't mean that the worse is going to happen."
"Coming from you, Commander, that's quite shocking." Kaidan jabbed with a smirk.
"Yeah, yeah, the cynic acting like an optimist. Don't read into it too much." Nevara winked.
"No guts, no glory right?" Kaidan chuckled.
"You could say that." Nevara said looking at her door. "Is there something else you wanted?"
"No, Commander. Well, maybe one thing." Kaidan stopped before proceeding. "Do you want to have a drink later? Just as friends, nothing more."
Nevara's jaw clenched. Regs are regs for a reason. "No, that wouldn't be appropriate, Lieutenant."
Pulling rank on her friend, felt certainly like a betrayal. She'd never done it before when they were in private. Amongst the other lower ranking marines, she'd just accepted it as part of the job. It gave her a sickening feeling. Kaidan's face melted into a frown. He knew that the question was over the line, but it was worth a shot. Right?
"Sorry, Kaidan. I'm just not in the mood right now. I've got to prepare for the mission, and you should do the same." Nevara snapped.
"Shepard, I'm sorry. I was out of line for even asking." Kaidan apologized.
"You weren't; remember I said you could speak freely. I just didn't think you'd throw a curveball like that out there." Nevara said as she opened her door.
"Well then, ma'am. I'll see you at lunch then."
"Sure. If I'm not busy; I don't see why not."
"You're always busy."
"I know. My work is never done."
"I hear that. Well, I'll see you whenever then."
"Absolutely."
Nevara walked into her room and shut the door behind her. How the hell was she going to prepare something like this? She knew the mission wasn't going to be as cut and dry as she thought it was going to be. Yet, she enjoyed the challenge. She sat down at her desk and opened up several of the files on the datapad. Most of it was obscure knowledge about the planet. Strategy and exit routes. Plans of attack, suggestions for what to do when they infiltrate the complex. There were a lot of troops there for such a small complex. Obviously if they were going to try and attack more settled human colonies that was the jump point for it. It was, in fact, the perfect hiding place for the turian fleet to take out some of their colonies. The Council had banned that area. Whether they told them that they were going to use it or not, she didn't know. The Council had told the Alliance that they couldn't colonize that planet. With good reason, she was guessing.
She didn't want to deal with the fluff of the mission. Fluff, being her personal rage, regret for accepting the rebel forces. It didn't make much sense to her why the bastard had to survive and why it was her job to keep him out of Alliance hands. What was she supposed to do? Put my life on the line just to get that turian bastard's ass off the planet? Sacrifice countless marines, just for him? Hell no!
She lit a cigarette and continued reading. The dossier on the turian was little more than a couple of sentences and a brief description of his appearance. Obviously recon didn't get a good look at him or he never took off his damn helmet. She chuckled at the ineptitude of the Alliance's recon teams. Send in a good old fashioned marine to get the job done and you'd have not only a good description of what the enemy looked like, but what their favorite food was for bonus points.
She grabbed a beer from her personal fridge and turned on the daily Alliance vids. Nothing new. It said the same thing every day: colonies on both sides were being seized and destroyed, and propaganda up the ass about hating turians and other races. Terra Firma is having a field day with this. Nevara flipped off the vids and sighed.
"VI, tell me when its noon. I'm going to have lunch with a friend." Nevara ordered.
"Yes Commander Shepard, will that be all?" The VI asked.
"No, just tell me when its time."
"Logging out, Commander."
