Party Mix

Normandy – Comm Room, on the way to Eden Prime

"With all due respect, I should be with the grounding team, Captain."

Rarely had Shepard heard someone go with the line 'with all due respect' and making it as obvious as Udina that he really meant 'kiss my ass'. And the tune of his voice certainly was not the only disturbing thing about the officer. The uniform he had changed into at a first glance was the same Anderson and Shepard wore, but I had been crafted from that special Asari stuff: breathable, touch-sensitive and all that. In his hand he held a Chinese-porcelain tea cup, the content alone costly enough to feed a family for a day. Shepard had no doubt that it was an original.

'I'm rich and you're nothing', this massage was written all over the man, but to his own irritation Shepard heard himself agree. "He's right. I know nothing about some 'prothean beacon'. Among the crew members," – had he really thought of Udina as a crew member? – "Udina is certainly the most likely one with at least some useful knowledge about it."

Udina shot an amused look at Shepard, the slight approval therein more fitting a kindergartner padding a child on his head for doing something right. And Logan Shepard surely wasn't a child to be played around. Even larger than Udina with shoulders that would made a Krogan proud he moved like the elite soldier he was, with some kind of grace and a barely-contained strength in his steps. The pitch-black hair was cut very short and the small beard around his mouth only accentuated the broad chin. His hands seemed to be crafted for breaking things and the horny skin around the knuckles was testimony of more than one bare-handed brawl and extensive Martial Arts training.

However, after a first look at his imposing stature it was his dark-brown eyes that fetched the attention of those around him. They seemed to be warm, caring and somehow telling you that he would give everything to protect you. These eyes could make a frightened child believe without a single word that this man meant no harm despite any weapon he'd carry around.

"I already fetched the tiny bits of information Dr. Warren sent about the beacon. She is the leader of the scientific team preparing the beacon to be moved off-planet. This beacon could easily be one of the most important discoveries since the Charon Mass Portal." Udina took a sip of tea before he continued. "It is only too bad that we promised to share it with … others."

Anderson stared at Udina for a moment. "Humanity made many enemies around the other civilizations. Most of them see us as a kind of upstart children, achieving too much in a short time and still demanding more. This beacon and the knowledge within could better our standing."

"Sure, but fetching this knowledge for ourselves and holding it tight would be a better plan in the long run. Think about the Asari. Do you really expect they would do the same in our stead? Their high position among the other races is only thanks to their advance in knowledge." After a moment he added: "and thanks to their biotics and their lifespan and their blue skin." Udina smirked, his hand rubbing his head where he felt the contact of his brand new bio-amp.

He had not been able to fully test this new bio-amp, one of the famous L4 that were planned to be given to special biotics in the near future. Only with the help of a former colleague, he had been able to lay his hands on this on so early. The first test showed that they improved his already strong biotics by another 25 to 30 percent and that without disabling the security lock – a unique feature of his bio-amp.

"You sound a bit jealous, Udina." Shepard remarked with a loop-sided grin.

"Jealous? Not really." Udina answered. "I only have enough of this condescending behavior the other races show us, especially the Asari and the Turians. And now we have in fact a turian Spectre on board to assess our performance." Shepard frowned and shot a quick glance at Anderson, the captain wincing for a split second.

"Oh, you haven't told him?" Udina's grin broadened. Shepard shortly felt the urge to punch Udina in his face, but more so he wanted to know what the damned bastard was speaking about.

"Nay, I haven't. I didn't know that you were informed already but with Ambassador Udina your uncle …" Anderson's words trailed away. Anew it was clearly visible that he was no real friend of the Ambassador. But why has he agreed to get his nephew commissioned to the Normandy, Shepard pondered?

Udina made a deterrent wave with his hand. "I didn't need to ask him. I have other … possibilities."

"Whatever," Anderson sighed, clearly unconvinced. "Shepard, this Spectre is on board to assess the performance of Udina and you. He'll accompany you both on the next missions and then report his findings."

Shepard looked irritated. "And to what end should he do that? Since when do we have to justify our actions …?"

"Has nothing to do with justifying. He is here because he put you on the list of possible Spectre aspirants. If his assessment is positive you'll be the first human Spectre."

He put me on the list, but why? A turian put a human on the list; that was weird. And what about Udina, Shepard pondered?

"But only if you want too. It is a hell of a burden, certainly." Udina blinked at Shepard and took another sip of his tea. The commander seemed very composed in spite of the possible outcomes of this 'assessment'. Doesn't he care about it, about becoming a Spectre?

Shepard only frowned at him before he addressed Anderson anew. "You said that he is assessing the performance of me and Udina. So we're some kind of competitors in this?"

Before Anderson had a chance to answer, Udina interrupted anew. "The donkey calls himself always first. Oh, sorry, only an old idiom; has nothing to say. However, to soothe your fears: we're not competitors. This whole thing could end with you or me a Spectre, both or none of us. Regarding the past events I would expect 'none' to be the outcome." Udina did nothing to explain what 'past events' he spoke about.

Shepard sniffed amused. "Why should I fear your competition?"

Udina not even blinked or smiled as he answered: "Because you're at least intelligent enough to distinguish your betters. It would be no real competition."

"Enough," Anderson stopped the discussion, drawing a low growl from Shepard. "So it is agreed: you'll both go down and fetch the beacon. You'll work together flawlessly. I don't want this to go awry because you two have to slug it out like some teenagers. Understood, gentlemen?"

"I have no problem with that," Udina stated while Shepard only nodded.

"Alright, prepare yourself. Shepard, you'll lead the team. You'll take Kaidan and Jenkins with you."

With that Anderson and Shepard left the comm room. Udina waited for a few moments before he sat down his cup and pressed a button. "Joker, back to work now, else I'll find some cleaning job for you. And tell Kaidan that I expect him at the electronic storage room in five." Without waiting for an answer Udina stopped the transmission and allowed himself a small smile.

Normandy – Electronic Storage Room, on the way to Eden Prime

As Kaidan entered the room exactly five minutes later he saw Udina inspecting the contents of a box on the table. Engineer Adams stood beside him with a bland face. A small smile crossed his lips as he thought about the moment Joker jumped nearly off his seat when Udina addressed him through the comm. Joker simply felt to secure about his monitoring the whole ship, a bit startling could only be good for him; a lesson in behavior, so to say.

"Ah, there you are, Kaidan. I wanted to speak about our equipment. As far as I saw, you're still using the standard 81C radio sets." Udina gave Kaidan a moment to nod before he continued. "They're good and reliable but I think we could use something better." He pointed at the box. "These are Bronwill-482 radio sets, especially constructed for commando units. They have double circuits and special features to avert electronic countermeasures and eavesdropping. Please make sure that all team members have one of them. One set give to Nihlus in case he wants to speak with us lowly humans."

Kaidan ignored the snappish remark and suppressed a frown. "Shouldn't we ask the Captain …?"

Udina glared at Kaidan. "I'm the Communication Officer on board of the Normandy. Don't you agree it would be my job to decide which radio sets should be used?" After a moment of hesitation Kaidan nodded. He had to admit that he was impressed that somehow Udina had been able to lay his hands on these brand new communicators, impressed and a bit disgusted. Another point to the family bonds, he thought, unknowing how wrong he was.

"Good, then to another point." He showed Kaidan and Adams his Omni Tool. "I saw that you use Bluewire Tools as most alliance officers do. Surely you have improved them with your own programs but perhaps you'll allow me to show you some other models."

He pulled two Omni tools from the box and laid them on the table. "This is a Nexus Omni Tool, especially crafted to support quick handling of electronics. And this is a Logic Arrest, slower than the Nexus but faster than your Bluewire. But the real strength lies in its control of personal shields and medical monitoring. I would assume it could fit exceptional well to you and your kind of duties in the field, Kaidan. However, this is only my suggestion, you have to decide in the end. Contrary to the radio sets, everyone should decide for himself with which Omni tool he feels comfortable."

While Adams seemed delighted about his new toy, Kaidan was far more hesitant. But at last he nodded: "I'll give it a try."

"Good," Udina smiled. "And if you need something, anything, electronic then don't hesitate to contact me. This applies to you, too, Adams."

Adams shook his head. "The Normandy is well equipped. Certainly we could need one thing or another but so shortly after equipping the red tape will be heavy on our way."

Udina smiled at him. "I haven't been a Logistic Officer on that shithole planet for two years without learning one thing or another. Need something? I'll fetch it. And now let us discuss what we have to do to prepare the storeroom for the beacon …"

Normandy – MAKO Hangar, nearing Eden Prime

Shepard looked up from his Eviscerator Shotgun after he made sure that his equipment was ready for the drop. He only hoped that these new radio sets held up to the promises made. But even if he despised Udina, the officer so far had made the impression that he understood something of his job; if he could only be a bit less irritating. Only minutes ago he had made Shepard's blood pumping with his remark about "we don't wish you to accidentally blow up the beacon" as he presented him photos of the object. Deep down Shepard knew that he was only angry because he hadn't thought about this himself.

And what kind of madness was this choice of weapons? Aside from a normal looking pistol and a reliable Locust SMG Udina had a low holster fastened to his left thigh with an old-fashioned revolver, one Shepard had only seen before in 20th-century vids. What did Udina think to carry around such an antiquity? Not that Shepard himself looked quite ordinary with that short sword on his back. At least Kaidan and Jenkins looked more like traditional marines. For a moment, Shepard's eyes stopped at the brand new Omni tool at Kaidan's arm before he watched Nihlus jump from the ship, executing a graceful and perfect low flight drop. The Spectre had decided to scout ahead on his own after they got the message about an attack of unknown forces on the harbor of Eden Prime.

So far they didn't know who the attacker was, only that he used some kind of robots and drones to attack the small contingent of soldiers defending the colony under a certain Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams. Shepard hoped that she would be able to protect the scientists long enough. And the beacon …

"We jump in 5 … 4 … 3 …"