Note: I know that chapter one was short. The other chapters will be longer.

About a month earier…

Calum grabbed his suitcase and stepped out of the shuttle. He looked around- he was in the skycar depot of the Zakera ward. He went to the elevator to find his way to the alliance docks to meet up with his crew, but he was interrupted.

"Hello Captain Reyes." He turned and saw a holographic Asari standing next to him. "My name is Avina, the Citadel's holographic interface. What can I assist you with?"

"I'm not even going to ask how you know my name… But how do I get to alliance docks, bay E7"

"Take the elevator up three levels, go down the hallway 200 meters, take a left and proceed 50 meter's, then turn right and proceed 50 meters. You have arrived at your destination.

"I'm just going to pretend that I'll remember that…" So he turned away and stepped into the elevator.

The elevator was half-full of people when he got in. He was on the 134th floor, which meant he had to go to the 137th. He went to press it, but realized someone had already hit the button.

"Going to the docks?" It was a Quarian's voice.

"Yeah, what about you?"

"I'm a mechanic on one of the ships." He looked at the datapad he was carrying. "The SSV Verius, I believe."

He looked back at him for a moment, before saying "I'm the new captain of the Verius, so I guess we'll be seeing lots of each other. The name's Calum, by the way. Calum Reyes."

"Mines Zaan'shar nar Rayya."

Then the elevator door opened.

"You know the way to the docks? That VI was useless." Calum asked.

"Yes, follow me." And Zaar begun down the hallway.

A few minutes later, they had reached the docks. Zaan and Calum walked in together and looked out the window, and there it was. The Verius was held in place by electromagnetic docking clamps, with a docking tube leading up to the airlock. It was a small cruiser- lacking in armament but making up for it in speed. It had a shuttle bay in the back, probably with a shuttle and a Mako in it. Repairs and retrofits were just being finished up, and would probably take another hour to be ready.

When they reached the ship, they were greeted by someone holding a datapad. She approached them only acknowledging them with a quick glance. She grabbed something out of her pocket and aimed it towards them. At first they thought it was a gun, so they almost jumped into cover, but then they realized it was a scanner. A thin, holographic beam washed over them and she looked at the scanner.

"Ah, Captain Reyes. I was wondering when you'd arrive. And I see you met up with Zaan along the way."

"Umm, yeah. And you are?"

"Sorry, my name is Helen Moore. I'm the Yeoman of the Verius. Come, let me show you around."

She gave them a tour of the ship, starting from the top heading down, which meant the bridge was first. It was a small, circular room. It had a viewport in the front, and control panels going around the room. There was also a communication interface in the middle of the room.

Next was the mess hall. A few Turian's and a salarian sat around the tables, chatting about past combat missions.

Then she showed them the sleeping quarters. It had a few lockers, as well as a couple of bunks. There were a couple of people sitting around a table waiting for departure.

Finally, there was the engine room. The ship was powered by an eezo core, which had tubes heading all throughout it.

"And there you have it." Helen said "Zaan, I assume you'll be wanting to stay in here for a while?"

"Well, this engine could use a bit of tuning." Zaan said.

"Ha, fair enough." She replied.

"Captain Reyes, report to the bridge. Captain Reyes, to the bridge." Said a voice over the intercom.

Calum said his goodbyes to Zaan and Helen, and then proceeded into the elevator to get to the bridge.