One Month Later
Shepard could taste the blood leaking from his nose. He was once again in the cargo bay, and in the middle of a brawl. Batarians circled around him. Two were Shepard's age, the other a Senior crew member. The rest of the crew had gathered in a crowd, some cheering for Shepard, most for the Batarians. They had already given him a scar across his waist, a bloody nose, and a black eye. Shepard raised his fists, preparing for the next attack. He blocked a punch from the oldest Batarian, before feeling his jaw crack. A younger Batarian shook his fist, smiling. Shepard rushed him, slamming his knuckles into the Batarian's top row of eyes. He grabbed the boy by his shoulders, and spun him around, a knife entering the alien's back. The older Batarian ripped it out of his crewmate, before feeling the force of the body hit him. John moved towards the man, stomping his face in, blood covering his boot. The third slaver tackled Shepard, and pinned him on his face. The alien twisted John's elbow, causing him to grunt in pain. He had endured this kind of abuse constantly in the past few weeks. He was far past screaming. The Batarian reached for his senior's knife. Gripping it, he admired the shine.
"I'm gonna enjoy this hu-"
-BANG-
The alien slid off of Shepard, dead. The human picked himself up, only to find himself face to face with Grarak.
"I warned you all, not to touch a hair on this kid's head! He's human, he's a colonist, but he is one. Of. Us! You may not like it, neither does he, but that doesn't give you the freedom to do whatever you want. This is still my ship, and you are still my crew! If I find out that someone even thought of doing something to him, I will end them! Understood?"
The whole of the crew mumbled out some variation of the words: "Yes sir".
"Excuse me!?"
"Yes sir!" yelled out the crew.
"Good! Now get back to your posts."
The captain watched the crew as they scattered, and then turned to Shepard.
"Why?" was the boy's only response."
"Why what?"
"Why save me? Why help? I don't want to be a slaver, and I definitely don't want to be a Batrian slaver!"
"Kid, look. I don't let people go to waste. Someone's good at cleaning, I give them to someone with a dust problem. Someone's interested in alien culture, I send them off to the Bahak System.
But you? You got heart. And not that bullshit 'inner strength', no you have a fire in you. I see how you fight, how you talk. You talk a fair game and can back it up fought when there was no chance of survival, but you took the chance at the best time."
"That doesn't answer my question."
"Like I said kid. I don't let people go to waste."