Author's Note
Sorry for the long wait with this one. Work and the Avatar series (both of them) got me distracted. This chapter was also pretty difficult to write, so I apologize if some moments seem awkward. Also, I just wanted to get this one done so I apologize for any grammar errors. Please leave a review and tell me what you think.
(Edit: fixed a few grammar mistakes, and added an updated author's note at the end)
The Renegades
Part 1: Respite
Command
The previous night
"Your company will be the reflection of yourself. If you have a rotten company it will be because you are a rotten leader."
My company's dead dad, so what does that make me?
"What do you think?"
He sat alone on the couch in his cabin. His eyes were glued to the ethereal Prothean relic in front of him. His thoughts focused on memories of the only emotion he felt right now, regret.
"Fuck this."
Within his hand was a nice cold bottle of Serrice Ice Brandy, it seemed Chakwas had gotten him hooked on the stuff. However, at that moment he put the drink down and headed to the bathroom.
You look like shit, John.
As he looked into the bathroom mirror, Shepard stared deeply into his glowing eyes and lifted his hand to trace the reemerging scars running along his cheek.
"Why don't you simply get the scar surgery Shepard? With the upgrade I got to the med-bay it'd be easy."
Dr. Chakwas's voice echoed through his head.
Why don't I? Because I won't let myself forget…
Still looking into the mirror, Shepard lowered his view to his bare chest. There, reflected in the mirror, was a list of tattooed names written backwards so that one would require a mirror to read them properly. He read these names off in his head.
Langford, Hudson, Hicks, Vasquez, Latifah, Schaefer, Pyle, Howlett, Jenkins, Kaidan, Shinyang, Emden, Jakarta, Cairo, Seoul, Capetown, Warsaw, Madrid, and Samara. Sorry I let you guys down again…I wasn't good enough. Some new people will be joining you in a few.
At that moment, he burst out laughing, he didn't know why.
"I really have a fucking problem."
His thoughts drifted to his drink. Although he didn't drink a lot, the stuff was potent enough to get a buzz going.
Alright, that's enough alcohol for tonight.
Despite his reputation as the feared and insane 'Butcher', he never really did like losing control of himself, especially when booze was involved. Shepard left the bathroom and strolled over to his bed. He climbed on top of the mattress and then stared upwards into the vast nothingness of space.
"You're the reason why their dead son."
"How could you just leave him down there!"
"Ruthless, always were, always will be."
"The code will compel me to kill you if we cross paths again."
Shepard took in a deep breath and let out an exasperated exhale. This time spent alone was the haunting period. The hours where there was no distraction to keep his mind occupied. He dreaded these moments, he hated them, and now his memories would run rampant.
It used to be so easy.
Years ago, he didn't have this problem. He could make the tough calls with out an ounce of hindsight or regret. He could sacrifice lives, and even commit genocide. Back then he was the Butcher of Lives and his actions resulted in many dead on a daily basis.
But then the Butcher died, and everything changed.
His fists clenched with the mixed emotions of annoyance and rage. He hated what he was feeling, but eventually he realized there was nothing he could do but accept his own fate. Shepard clapped his hands and the lights in the cabin turned off. The only lights remaining came from the stars above and the faint red glow omitting from his face. He wasn't going to be getting any sleep tonight.
"Fuck it."
He got up from his bed, which automatically turned the lights back on, and grabbed the bottle of brandy on his coffee table. He took a swig and headed straight for the bathroom. All the while, his memories ate away at his conscious.
"Those men on that moon deserved more than you."
"Those colonists could've been saved!"
"We will not embrace the great silence!"
"It should've been me, Skipper."
"You will regret your choice."
Throughout all of this, his face remained stoic. He took another sip of brandy before he walked underneath the bathroom shower and turned it on. It was a small relief. For nothing but a few precious seconds, his mind could only focus on the icy cold water pouring down on top of him. He shuddered in a mock ecstasy as he felt the water drench his clothes and slowly weigh him down. He pressed his back against the bathroom wall and slowly slid down it. The only sound that could be heard was the relaxing pitter-patter of water hitting his body. At that one moment, Shepard found his thoughts focusing on a memory of a recent mission.
"The realities of command…they change you."
He awoke with a sore…everything, and the uncomfortable feeling of wet clothes on his skin. His thoughts were jumbled, making him grumble incoherently as he attempted to get a grasp of his surroundings. He sloppily pulled himself off the freezing bathroom floor as the memories of last night slowly came back to him. He stretched out his muscles and looked up towards the showerhead.
EDI must have turned it off.
He shook out his limbs and pulled at his clothes in an attempt to get the soaked articles unstuck from his skin. With that taken care of, he looked down and noticed the empty bottle of brandy at his feet.
Empty…and no hangover? Must be the cybernetic enhancements.
Shepard shrugged and walked out of the bathroom.
"Good morning, Shepard." EDI's loud synthetic voice almost made Shepard jump.
"Uh…good morning EDI…how're you feeling?" Shepard asked groggily.
Wait…what did I just say?
"If I could feel emotions, then I'd assume they would be better then what your feeling right now."
"Ha, very funny EDI, but work on that delivery."
Shepard took off his soaking wet clothes and placed them on his desk before heading to his wardrobe.
"That was not a joke. Despite your cybernetics increasing your resistance to outside temperatures, if I hadn't turned off the shower after you passed out then you could've gotten very sick. Organics don't act like this when they're in a healthy state of mind," EDI said as Shepard put on some new clothes.
"I'm sure it would've been nothing Mordin couldn't of taken care of. Now what's our status?"
"…Very well Shepard. The crew is still asleep with the exception of Dr. Chakwas, Kasumi, and Joker. Joker woke up early to assist me with some problems that arose with our FTL travel. Kasumi is utilizing Keiji's graybox in the Normandy's lounge. Dr. Chakwas is in the med bay…she seems unwell. I recommend speaking with her. For the rest of the crew, I've set their sleeper pods to wake them up in an hour. Also, the Illusive Man called exactly 47 minutes ago, he's requesting a meeting."
Great, just what I need to start the day.
"Ok, call him up. After I talk with Chakwas, I'll head to the comm. room. Once the crew wakes up, call them up for a debrief."
"Acknowledged."
Now
He got up from the couch in the Normandy's lounge and headed for the door to the mess. However, before he left, he gave Kasumi one more look.
"Kasumi, make sure that greybox is still functioning. It could prove useful in the future, so make copies of those memories if you have too."
"Ok…may I ask why?"
"In this war our biggest problem is finding allies. With the secrets on that greybox, specifically the ones against the Alliance, we have a way to guarantee the Alliance's support."
With that the Commander left the lounge, leaving the thief alone once again.
Kasumi appears to be holding up well for a woman who isn't used to so much death. All things considered, it's fortunate that she decided to stay. She's an essential part of the team, with her infiltration skills being third only to Legion and Thane's. However, I'm cautious about the relationship she has with that greybox, she's grown to be very attached to it.
He was currently doing his usual rounds. Taking stock on the crew's thoughts and feelings was something his mother had taught him.
"It can help build team chemistry… but more importantly it gives you something to do besides paperwork."
That's what Hannah Shepard had told him years ago when he finally took on leadership roles regularly. However, he only started doing those kind of rounds during his mission against Saren. Oddly, the time he spent with the individuals of his squad grew on him, and eventually became a habit.
Now, with new information causing thoughts to fly wild in his calculating mind, Shepard headed into life support intent on speaking with the drell inside. When he entered through the door, the commander found Thane sitting down in his familiar pose of meditation. Surprisingly, he found Jack in a similar position right next to the assassin.
What?
Having heard the door open, the convict quickly snapped out of her relaxed position and got to her feet. Her eyes were wide with surprise, but she quickly recomposed herself. She gave her trademark sneer before storming past Shepard and out the door. Shepard's curious gaze followed her before the door slid shut behind her.
There's something you don't see everyday.
Shepard laughed at the strange situation, and focused his attention on the still meditating drell.
"I must say, it's good our local convict is finally connecting with the squad," Shepard says as he walks over to one of the two chairs in the room.
"Indeed, she sought me out for lessons on how to improve her biotic capabilities. I guess her incident in the Collector base altered something in her…it's a welcome change." Thane's eyes snapped open, and he got up from his meditation
"I'd finished running over those files before Jack had sought me out. In doing so, I've discovered something…interesting."
Shepard nodded as the assassin sat down across from him.
"Great, what do you got?"
"There was one file you possessed that wasn't fully translated, however, I recognized a word on it."
"Wait a minute, that word doesn't happen to be 'Realite'?"
"…Yes."
Excellent.
"Kasumi recognized that word as well. She had stolen a datapad that was labeled Realite from some Asari a while back…you wouldn't happen to be familiar with the name Rezia would you?"
"Yes, a powerful Asari who works for Exogeni. Unfortunately, I only know such a name because I was once offered the chance to assassinate her…I chose Ms. Dantius as my target instead."
Oh.
"Well…glad you did then. But if you didn't know Rezia, how do you know about 'Realite'?
"It's a word that comes up numerous times in Hanar religious accounts of the Protheans. Nobody knows what Realite means, but the Hanar know its context."
"Context?"
"It's the name of a project."
Shepard leaned back in his chair and rubbed his forehead. His mind began to process the revelation just presented to him.
Alright, this is good info.
"Can we assume that it was a project the Collectors were possibly undergoing? Could it be a codename for what they were planning on doing to humans?"
"Doubtful, the oldest text in which the word 'Realite' appears existed 3000 years ago."
Well that takes my species out of the equation.
"Right…" Shepard pauses, and leans forward in his chair.
"Thanks for the information Thane. This 'project' is probably our next point of interest since it's currently our only lead for more information on the Reapers."
"Your welcome Shepard."
The commander sighed and got out of his chair. He walked over to window and stared intently unto the massive eezo core down below. Still in his chair, Thane turned to face the human.
"Your eyes are glowing again, but I don't need that to tell you're troubled."
Shepard laughed.
"Maybe I should get that scar surgery. It's getting annoying having people reading me like a book."
"It never killed anyone to show a little distress…well there are exceptions to that. But tell me, what's on your mind?"
"…There isn't really a guide for what we're doing Thane. We were never taught how to stop billion year old space machines. For all we know Project 'Realite' could be nothing but a wild goose chase."
"True, but I must say we're doing ok without a guide…"
The drell was met with silence, so he continued.
"…Perhaps you should look at it differently. There isn't a in depth guide on how to properly assassinate someone. However, there's an end goal in assassination. To reach that end goal, you must first understand and study your target. Once you've achieved that knowledge, you may then end the target's life. To stop these machines, we must first learn anything we can about them. If that means finding this Project Realite, so be it."
"…So your saying think about this as an assassination mission? I could live with that."
"Of course it's never that simple when we're involved," Thane replied with a smile.
"Of course."
The pair chuckled.
Shepard turned and started making his way to exit the life support room.
"Thanks for the talk Thane. How's Kolyat?"
"Your welcome, and Kolyat is doing fine; he actually assisted Captain Bailey in taking down a red sand operation on the Citadel. He's a little upset that I won't be spending more time with him, but he understands my reasons. I believe he's simply relieved and happy that we lived through the mission."
"That's great."
Oh right.
"Could you send me any texts the Hanar have on Project Realite?" SHepard asked just before he left the room.
"Of course, Commander."
"Thanks."
Thane seems to be in a good mood, I guess he's excited to see Kolyat again. His Kepral's Syndrome doesn't seem to be causing him any problems either… if Thane were to die now, just as he's found his son...I really hope Mordin can find a cure in time, fortunately our local Salarian hasn't failed us yet.
The commander exited Life Support in a good mood, but that mood quickly soured as he headed over to the Starboard Observation Deck. Still walking, his features tensed as he walked through the door opposite to the Normandy's lounge.
Anymore talks with this woman, and I'll gladly let the Reapers fuck us in the ass.
Shepard was greeted with the sight of a very alluring Asari sprawled out on the couch in the corner. Her attention was focused on a screen that an omni-tool projected in front of her. Whatever she was watching, she watched it with a lustful look glazed over her eyes, and Shepard couldn't help but notice that when she saw him enter that look increased tenfold before quickly vanishing. Now her features were stoic, but Shepard could still see that hungry look in her eyes.
Your mask is getting sloppy, Morinth.
"You're interrupting my show, Shepard. However, I suppose I should be grateful you're stopping by to say hi." Morinth smiled, and the lustful look returned to her eyes.
"Or maybe…you're interested in something more?"
"Knock it off Morinth, I don't have time for your games."
"Oh! Your eyes are glowing again. Is something getting too you Commander? Feeling a little…tense?"
"Don't test me, Asari. My patience does in fact have a limit," Shepard growled, and the Ardat-Yakshi gave him a foxy grin in return.
She's infuriating.
"Oh but I like testing you Shepard…but very well. Tell me your troubles." Morinth shut off the omni-tool and focused her attention on the commander.
In response, he walked over to the smaller alien until his form loomed over her. Looking down, his blood red eyes glared holes into Morinth's pale blue irises.
"Did you read over the files I sent you?" Shepard made sure to keep his tone stern.
"I will, but Vienna is on now. I'll maybe take a peek later on." At those words, Shepard unintentionally clenched his fists. It wasn't actually the words that got him so angry, it was Morinth's tone and body language that got to him. The air of superiority she kept whenever he talked to her alone enraged him.
…Calm down, and move on. If she wants a verbal spar, give it to her.
"Back during debrief. Did you mean what you said?"
"What, the part where I-."
"The part where you said you wanted to stay, and actually not want to kill us."
"I'd appreciate it if you didn't cut me-,"
"Morinth, you're even better at dodging questions than Jack. I can't afford to not cut you off. Now answer the original question."
"…Yes, I meant it." When she said that, anything resembling a look of lust left her features; she adopted a serious composure as she sat up on the couch.
Acceptable…but your going to have to do better than that.
"…Very well, I'll believe you…but the fact that you keep giving me looks like your going to try and rape me doesn't help your case"
Shepard backed away from the Asari and slowly made his way for the exit. However, he stopped when he heard a mocking laugh behind him.
"I'll give you credit Shepard, your very good at lying…I know you still don't trust me." With that the Ardat-Yakshi got up from her couch, and slowly made her way over to him. She gently rubbed her hands along Shepard's shoulders.
"Perhaps…you even fear me?"
You're losing her Shepard. Make her remember who's in charge.
"…You're forgetting your place, Morinth. I'm sure the genetic destiny of the Asari would remember what our simple deal was when you entered this ship?"
Shepard felt her hand leave his back. He smirked at the sudden moment of silence.
"If anything, you better hope I can still trust you as an ally. You already know what happens to my enemies."
"…Understood Commander."
"Good! Now read over those files I sent you. Your shows can wait."
He exited the Port Observation Deck, not even bothering to spare Morinth a second glance.
She's dangerous, untrustworthy, and unpredictable. She's a threat to everybody on this ship, but I can't deny that she's one of the squad's deadliest assets. With the mission over and her mother dead she really doesn't have much of a reason to stay…I'll have to continue to keep her in line since I may be the only one who can...I can deal with that, I won't lie; it felt good putting her in her place. What was that line Gianna told me back on Illium?
"I love nailing asari - so ageless and superior -Then you get them and they squeal like school girls."
Shepard walked around the elevator to the mess, and looked through the med bay window. Inside was Chakwas, Miranda, and Mordin running tests on an unconscious Jacob.
Better check in on them.
"How's he doing?" Shepard says as he enters the medbay. He took it as a bad sign that none of the doctors responded. The trio was too busy running tests on the wounded soldier. All three of them, especially Chakwas, weren't looking too good. Eventually, Miranda finally acknowledged the commander's presence.
"He's stable Shepard…he'll make it to the Citadel…" She said.
That tone isn't good.
"…But."
"Recovery period extensive. Extensive physical therapy required if Operative Taylor wishes to return to a combat position," Mordin interjected.
Shit…Jacob was valuable. While he wasn't the best at anything, he was a good soldier, and a good leader. He was loyal as well. His upbeat attitude, along with Kasumi's, was always a big impact on the squad's moral. However, if he can't fight…then I'm afraid I don't have much use for him until he can. I'll need to think about this.
"I was afraid of this…at least he'll live," he says solemnly. He didn't get a reply.
"I'll let you guys continue your work. When you get the chance look over the files I sent you. Keep up the good work."
He received an acknowledging nod from Mordin and a downcast smile from Miranda, but Chakwas. Chakwas sat at her desk rapidly typing up some new medical report. Her eyes were glazed over, and there were bags forming underneath her eyes. Shepard frowned.
She's still not feeling well…the collector base changed her.
Shepard gave the trio one last look before leaving the med bay. He made his way over to the main battery before realizing Garrus wasn't there.
Right, he and Tali are helping Joker…down to the Engineering deck then.
Shepard wheeled around and headed for the elevator.
He found the three residents of the Engineering deck (with the exception of Tali) all grouped together in Zaeed's room. Inside, Shepard found the squad's most unusual members relaxing together. Zaeed and Grunt were playing a game of Skyllian Five on a couple of crates they set up. Jack was on the other side of the room typing away at a datapad. He received grunts of acknowledgement on his entrance.
"Well it seems like you three are enjoying yourselves," Shepard said as he took a seat on a crate next to Grunt.
"I would've never guess that you knew how to play Skyllian Five, Grunt."
"He doesn't," Zaeed interjected, "I'm teachin' him."
Grunt glared at the bounty hunter from behind the cards in his massive hands.
"Too bad you're a shitty teacher," Grunt growled.
"I can't do anythin' about a piss-poor poker face."
"Give him some botox, that shit will have his face set in stone," Jack said from her post on top of a table. Zaeed let out a deep laugh as Grunt glared at the tattooed woman. In response, Jack's eyes glowed with anticipation.
"You better hope your face is set in stone, Human. Maybe then I'll have to punch it twice to cave it in all the way."
"You threatening me bastard? I'll tear you apart."
Grunt shot up from his crate as Jack's body began to glow blue.
Time to break this up.
As Grunt began to stomp his way over to the smaller woman, Shepard managed to quickly move himself in between the two before things got ugly.
"And to think you guys were so relaxed before I showed up. Hell, Jack was meditating earlier," Shepard said with a mock sigh. He held the Krogan at arm's distance, not that it would do much if Grunt wanted to get Shepard out of the way.
These two are always fighting.
It was like they were brother and sister in some weird way. During the first weeks of the suicide mission, Shepard had to constantly put the two in the sparring ring down in the cargo bay so that they could work out their differences.
Well…they aren't exactly different. Both of them are pretty messed up in the head. It's just their temper's are shorter than a Volus.
Their spars usually resulted in draws. Grunts raw strength and endurance were too evenly matched with Jack's raw biotic power. Whenever either of them landed a hit, the other would respond with an even more powerful counter attack.
"Your lucky Shepard is here to save you, weakling," Grunt snarled.
"Yeah? Well your not!" Jack exclaimed as she pulled her arm back to unleash her biotic potential.
"I don't think so Jack," Shepard said as he stepped in front of her and started to show his own biotic aura.
"I order both of you to sit your asses down and cool off."
I swear it's like I have to babysit these two sometimes.
Jack responded with a sneer to both Shepard and Grunt, but she slowly backed down to her original position on the table. Her aura faded away as Grunt scoffed and returned to his game of Skyllian Five.
"Excellent, now that you kids have calmed down. Anyone mind telling why you aren't looking over the files I sent you?"
"We already looked over your files boss man. They were pretty shitty if you ask me," Jack said nonchalantly as she returned to fidgeting with her datapad.
"Than it was fortunate nobody asked you. Did any of you find anything useful?"
"Well, when Jack says we looked over them, she means I did," Zaeed said in a matter of fact tone.
Shepard gave the tattooed biotic an annoyed look and the convict responded with a simple shrug.
"Alright what do you got for me Zaeed?"
"Gimme a second will you…Game." Zaeed placed his cards down in front of Grunt; who could only gawk at the sight before him.
"What! You had to have cheated!"
"Unfortunately your just that bad. Don't worry kid, we'll play again in a bit."
Grunt glowered at Zaeed as the bounty hunter turned his attention to Shepard.
"I'll keep this short and to the point. You want to have that Collector tech mass-produced don't you?"
"Yes, it's the most advanced technology out there. I figure that if the Reapers do ever crawl out of dark space, we'd want our armies to be using the deadliest weapons around."
"Yeah that's what I figured. Unfortunately, makin' collector tech would be guddamn expensive since it all involves an organic component. See, this tech is powered by biotic energy, only a biotic would be able to use this stuff in combat. So lookin' at this from a political angle…the entire Asari military force is composed of biotics. By mass-producing these weapons and armor, we'd be giving the Asari a stupidly huge advantage over the rest of the galaxy. So I'm no guddamn politician, but it isn't that hard to tell that the other species wouldn't want the Asari getting such a clear advantage over them. Honestly you can kiss any dreams you had on this shit going legal in Council Space goodbye.
"Unless we get them to realize the threat the Reapers pose."
"No offense, but unless the Council races see the Reapers with their own eyes, tech like this would never be mass produced…The Terminus systems on the other hand. Those people would scoop shit like this up within a second. Once those crazy bastards on the black market figure out how to make this stuff, you'd probably see every biotic in the Terminus using these weapons within a month or two."
"…Alright I'll take what I can get. Anything else?"
"Yeah, movin' on. One of your files said we need to assemble a new crew for the Normandy right. Well, I know a small group of people that I used to work with a couple years back. They're a group of gunship operators, and damn good ones at that. If you want, I could call in a favor and have them at the Citadel in a week."
Shepard nodded and considered Zaeed's offer.
We definitely could use some more air support now and then…
"Alright Zaeed make the call. Just make sure they know what they're getting into."
"Don't worry their some tough bastards. Should fit in fine with our lot. Wouldn't hurt to have a gunship actually on our side you know. Now Grunt, where were we?"
Shepard let the Krogan and veteran return to their game as he turned his attention to the only other biotic in the room.
I should probably check up on her.
"Jack, talk with me outside for a minute," Shepard said with a concerned tone.
"…Whatever you say boss man," Jack said, obviously annoyed as she put her datapad down and sluggishly followed the commander out the door. As soon as they were both in the hallway Shepard began.
"What's with the meditation?" Shepard said, getting straight to the point. He crossed his arms around his chest.
"I can do what I fucking want Shepard," Jack replied angrily. She crossed her arms and leaned against the nearby window. Her gaze was focused on the ground
What is with these people and dodging my questions!
"That's not what I asked Jack," Shepard said austerely.
"I don't need to explain-" Jack's statement was cut off as she finally made eye contact with her commander. Her expression seemed to falter as she took in his scarred features.
I guess the eyes and scars can have their benefactors.
"Alright look. I fucked up on the Collector Base. I used Reave too many times or some shit… Point is, I nearly got killed cause I exhausted my biotics. Can you believe that? Me over using MY biotics! That's never fucking happened…ever!"
"So…you meditate now?"
"…Hey you were the one who said I was a killer. I can't be that fucking killer if I get fucked by overusing my biotics," Jack inhaled, and calmed down. "Morinth said I need more control or some crap. So I figured frog boy would know a thing about that stuff. He told me to try meditation and I did..."
She's being honest, but I'm still worried for her.
Back on Pragia, Shepard had Jack kill Aresh. He always figured that everyone had a different way of solving their own problems. With Jack, making peace was not that way, she was more of a eliminate your problems forever type of girl. From that point on, Jack started to connect with the crew more. Not only that, but she also seemed to be more comfortable with herself. It was around that point in time that she started training with Morinth to improve her biotics. Shepard had been cautious about the relationship at first, and he's still cautious even now, however, the ship's most powerful biotics seemed to get along just fine. More importantly it didn't seem like Morinth was trying to turn the troubled convict into one of her thralls.
Well...if she's even going to Thane for help, then I can only see this as a good thing.
"Alright Jack. Just checking in."
"Can't say I like it when you pull this boy scout shit Shepard. It's too soft for the Butcher of Torfan."
On the inside, Shepard felt a burst of anger within him that was quickly replaced with a feeling of content.
Most people who know how I feel about that mission won't dare mention it around me…but Jack.
"I could always run this ship military Jack. Then you'd actually have to do something instead of lounge about on the extranet until we have a mission."
"Yeah right, I'd be off this fucking boat in a minute if you ever did that."
"I bet…Well, it was good talking to you Jack," Shepard chuckled and turned to make his way to the elevator.
"Whatever…thanks for asking," Jack muttered. The latter part of that statement was practically a whisper.
If I didn't have my hearing cybernetically enhanced. I may not have heard that.
Shepard stepped into the elevator and made his way to the captain's cabin.
The commander of the Normandy SR-2 once again found himself in his cabin at the top of the ship. He was sitting at his desk, drinking a coffee, and intently reading over the files Kasumi had sent him a few minutes ago.
Kasumi wasn't lying when she said Rezia was powerful. This Asari pretty much had her hands on the establishment of every major human colony there is… she even was involved in some major alien colonies too. She lives on Thessia, but likes to go out and visit her 'projects' every now and then. Family includes three daughters, Liah, Rayla, and Zila. The latter is an Asari commando, Liah is a notable scientist for the Armali council, and Rayla...owns Baria Frontiers.
A rare, surprised expression found it's way unto Shepard's features.
Damn, if I hadn't already saved the galaxy a couple times, I'd be quite impressed. That's a hell of a legacy.
Shepard continued to read over Rezia's file, and while he couldn't find anything on Realite, he did find something else.
There are multiple periods of time where Rezia seems to just have dropped off the grid. She seemingly stops existing. For these periods of time, there are no data records on anything. You can't find where she's going, or what she's doing. When Keiji and I were tracking her she entered one of these periods. Even when Keiji contacted the Shadow Broker to find out exactly what she was doing, even it didn't know.
Shepard took another drink from his coffee.
Ok, dodging the Shadow Broker network? Now I'm really impressed.
At that moment, the door to the elevator opened and in walked Garrus.
"Doesn't anybody ever knock anymore?" asks Shepard, still reading through his files.
"Knocking isn't really a Turian custom, Shepard. It always confuses me when you knock every time you enter the main battery," replied Garrus. The Turian walked over and plopped down on Shepard's couch.
"It's because I never know what's going on behind that door Vakarian," Shepard says lacing the sentence with implication.
"Oh yeah, because this ship is full of female Turians," Garrus said sarcastically as he started examining the Prothean artifact on Shepard's coffee table.
However, this ship is home to a particular Quarian...
"Well we're almost at the Citadel maybe we'll finally be able to regroup," Shepard says, his attention not entirely focused on the conversation.
"Yeah, you see that's why I came here to talk to you. With the old crew…gone. I want to talk about the inevitable third crew of the Normandy," says Garrus as he brings his gaze up to the commander.
"…I sent out a file for that, did you get a chance to look it over?"
"No, I just got finished running some tests on the main battery with Joker. So do you have a plan?" Garrus got up from the couch and walked over to Shepard's desk.
"Not exactly. I was going to ask Hackett and Anderson if they had any personnel to spare, but I don't think that'll work out. I haven't talked to either of them since I...came back. Not only that but this ship needs the best, Garrus, so I sent out a file asking the ground team to find anybody they'd think would be fit for a job here on this ship."
"Well that's just perfect. I know a couple people who fit the requirements," Garrus said excitedly.
Shepard gave him an odd look.
"You seem a little too happy about this, we just lost a lot of good people."
"Don't get me wrong Shepard. I do miss them, but look at it from my perspective. The crew, for the most part, was Cerberus to the core. It's hard to look at another as a friend if you don't trust them. There were a few exceptions, people I liked…Gabby and Ken…but look…forget it. I know how you felt about the crew, Shepard, and I'm sorry. I was only thinking that we've always had a completely human crew, it'd be interesting to see some change."
"…Yeah, I guess it would be interesting to see this ship become even more of a zoo for the clinically insane."
The two friends laughed together before letting a comfortable silence fall over the cabin.
"So how's Tali?" Shepard says mockingly.
"You're the funniest man I know Shepard. Seriously, your damn hilarious," Garrus replies sarcastically.
"No need to get defensive. I just remembered seeing you two in the main battery with your arms around-,"
"Alright, alright, alright," Garrus spurts, not wanting his friend to go into all the details of the embarrassing moment.
"She's doing fine…"
"…You two are together aren't you." It wasn't a question it was a statement.
"…You could call it that."
"Vakarian, you son of a bitch! Do you realize what this means?" Shepard exclaimed as he clapped his hands together mockingly.
"Calm down, its not that serious."
"In hindsight…I could of called this coming years ago," Shepard said thoughtfully all while watching Garrus squirm uncomfortably.
"I swear you're the most bipolar person I know," Garrus groaned as he slowly dropped his face down into his palms.
"Oh I gotta tell Wrex! He's going to fucking love this!"
"Honestly, one minute your serious, calm, and collected. The next minute, you adopt the maturity level of a two year old."
"Liara's probably going to squeal like a little girl when I tell her. She'll be like 'aww'…Actually, she probably already knows."
"You're not telling anybody!" Garrus face shoots up and he gives a look of warning to Shepard.
"Don't worry, don't worry,' Shepard assured his friend, "I won't tell anyone. Really I'm happy for both you and Tali."
Garrus visibly seemed to calm down at those words, and slumped back down on the couch.
"Yeah well, thanks. Things are going nicely so far-." Garrus was cut off as he witnessed a sinister smile appearing on the commander's face.
"Shepard…what are you thinking?" Garrus asks worryingly.
"…Wait a minute…Garrus…plus Tali…equals!"
"Shepard…"
"GARI!" Shepard roared with laughter and slammed his fists down on his desk.
"I can't take it! This is too much! Gari!" Shepard howled.
Once again the Turian placed his face into his palms as Shepard's laughter echoed throughout the cabin.
This is great!
When the missions were over, when the killing was done, when the guns were put away, and when the armor came off these were the moments Shepard lived for. The moment's that remind him of why he does what he does.
Author's Note: Reviews/Shepard/Romances
Reviews:
Yeah so this chapter was really used to establish the relationships Shepard has with his crew members. The chapter also gave you a little insight into how Shepard ticks. Anyways, please leave a review and let me know what you think. I know I still need to work on my grammar, but if please tell me any thoughts you have on the story (IE: If you felt the characters were good or out of character). Writing a story like this is all new to me so I'm still trying to get better.
Shepard's Background:
Full name: John Shepard
Appearance: I don't have a set appearance for Shepard. He's anything you want him to look like (Just remember he's a big dude).
Age: 28, technically should be 30 but he was clinically dead for 2 years.
Background: Spacer
Psychological profile: Ruthless
Family: Hannah Shepard (mother), Charles Shepard (father), ? (older sister) ? (younger sister) ? (cousin)
Class: Sentinel. Formerly a vanguard, but picked up tech abilities from comrades and teachers.
Feros Colonists: Dead, with the exception of Shiala.
Status of the Rachni: Extinct
Status of Wrex: Alive
Virmire Survivor: Ashley
Status of Council: Alive
Aresh: Dead
Collector Base: Destroyed (unintentionally)
Personality: On matters of importance he's calculative and serious. On missions he appears to become somewhat violent and fierce. He has also shown some self resentment after Project Lazarus. For most other situations, he's a joker. These distinct changes in his personality may be a result of ?.
The question marks and more of Shepard's previous decisions will be revealed as the story goes on.
Romances:
For anybody wondering, the only pairings I've decided on is Garrus x Tali. Sorry Talimancers, but Shepard won't be with our favorite Quarian (at least for a while). For Shepard, any character is up in the air still, and if you'd like to leave a review on who you think Shepard should be with I'm open to suggestions. Shepard will be interacting with a lot of different people on a fairly regular basis, so really any romance is possible. Just let me know what you think, and try not to make your suggestions too crazy (No volus and elcor lol)
Next time: The team finally arrives on the Citadel for a week of rest. Shepard meets the Council after two years, creates a controversial interview, and receives a request from Hackett. Meanwhile, the squad celebrates and goes recruiting all while trying to stay out of trouble.