I think I will introduce the three OC's one after another to Shepard. After all, she has enough on her list as it is, no need to make even more trouble for her, right?

Chapter 2: A soldier

There were lot's of lingering bad feelings between Turian's and humans after the first contact war. Many Turian's felt that humans wanted too much too fast, that they were unprepared and cocky, while many humans did not think too highly of Turian's thanks to the disastrous first contact between them and thought of them as arrogant and rude. That does not mean that there was a war about to break out, because the relationship between the two societies wasn't that bad.

It was just a fact that many humans did not like Turian's and vica versa, nothing more. A hate-crime here and there, a few slurred insults in a bar, nothing too serious in the grand scale.

Jeff "Joker" Morreau was not exactly what you would call a xenophobic asshole or a rascist. He thought of himself as someone with a healthy mistrust of strange things like overly friendly, attractive women, good luck out of nowhere, aliens who gave him the stinky eye, Turians in general. The last thing by the way not because he disliked Turians as a species, but because he disliked their way of thinking, it being way too strict and regulated to be healthy.

So when Jeff stepped into the cockpit of the brand new Normandy, the ship he would make dance under his fingers, and he saw a turian sitting in the co-pilot seat, he felt a bit put off, to put it lightly. He knew that the ship had been a joined project by the Human System Alliance and the Turian Hierarchy, but as far as he knew it was an alliance ship and thus had no alien crew.

And the day had started so nice.

So why was that turian not only gracing the cockpit with his presence, but also had his feet kicked up on the instruments and was, apparently, listening to music via headphones. That was no way to treat his new baby, no way at all.

Mustering all the courage he could find, and he had a lot of it, he hobbled up to the alien and tapped him on the shoulder. The effect was as immediate as it was explosive. With a speed that belied the alien's size it was on it's feet, headphones ripped off, turned around and babbled: "There was nothing to do but wait and I know I shouldn't do that but it was just so tempting and I'm sorry and, hey wait, you're not my boss!"

"Ummm... no, I'm not", Jeff answered after a few seconds of trying to understand what had actually been said. And after he realized, that the HE was actually a woman, indicated by the somewhat softer features, the lack of a crest and the different cut in armor, making her seem somewhat more slender. "Still, you can't do that? That's a sacrilege."

The woman in turn now took a moment to take him in, eying him with a scrutinizing look, then something akin to recognition dawned on her face. "You're the pilot, Flight Lieutenant Morreau", she said as if that was somewhat very clever. "I'm sorry I defiled your beauty like that, but there is no other place where I could kick back and relax without being bothered all the time."

She did not really sound sorry, but he took it. After all, he prided himself on the fact that he was the forgiving type. "It's okay, just don't ever do that to my baby again. Like, ever."

"Oh come on, it's not like I had sex on it. And anyway, it wasn't even your seat."

"Great now I have that image stuck in my head."

The woman chuckled at that, a quite strange sound to Joker's ears. He had never before heard one of these aliens laugh and it did not sound like he had imagined it at all. There was no booming, evil laughter like one would see in vids, no loud grunting like he had thought would that sound, but more of a melodic whistling, reminding him of a songbird.

"Could you please stop that?", he then asked. "You make me feel really stupid."

"I'm sure you can do that all on your own, can't you?", she teased with what could have been a smirk on her features. At least he thought that it was a smirk, he couldn't be too sure with her features and whole face just being so different from what he was used to. Couldn't this have been an Asari? Then he would at least been able to clearly identify the expressions.

"Yes, I can, I assure you. I'm all grown up, I can even feed me all by myself and clean up behind me", he replied half joking and half serious. "Now, who are you and why are you on this ship?"

For a second she seemed to think really hard about this, fighting with herself seemingly, before letting her shoulders drop in a very human fashion. But then she forced herself to stand upright and answer the question. "My name is Chareen Tinius and I'm the assistant of Nihlus Kryik, council SpecTre."

"Actually she is my trainee", a second voice suddenly said from behind Joker and if he could, he would have jumped from surprise. Calming his heartbeat he turned around and found himself face to face with a very serious looking, tall Turian with white facial markings and dressed in a black and red armor. Other than this Chareen, he looked every bit as stiff and hard as Joker had always imagined Turian's to look. "Is she causing you trouble?"

"Hey, why is it always me who you think is causing trouble?"

The protest from the woman went ignored and Joker just now understood, that the question had been aimed at him. "Um... no, no trouble here. We're just getting acquainted, nothing more."

For a moment the dark skinned Turian studied him, then he nodded. "Good. I will trouble you no longer Flight Lieutenant."

And with that he turned around and left the cockpit with seemingly the same silent elegance with which he had come in, unnoticed by Joker. The human watched him go and when he was certain that he was out of earshot, he turned back to Chareen. "Is that your boss? Damn, my condolences."

"Nah, he's fine", she replied with, again rather human like, a shrug of her shoulders. "A bit too stiff, a bit too serious, but still, a good guy. And if you think I am to be pitied for having him as superior, you have clearly not yet met your captain."

"Yeah, I have not", he answered, also shrugging. "He can't be that bad, can he?"

"Nope, I just wanted to pull your leg", she replied with something that could have been a grin. "Anyway, I'll leave you to make yourself acquainted with the ship. I'll see you around Flight Lieutenant."

Joker had no idea why he said that, but perhaps something in the way she had called him by his rank made him feel uneasy. She was, apparently, not someone who was big on protocol, so if just felt right to say to her: "Please, don't call me that, every time I hear it I think I'm about to get yelled at. Call me Joker."

"Sure. Call me Face."

/

David Anderson was a good commanding officer, at least he thought of himself as such. He had made it a practice of his to read every of his subordinates files, to memorize them, even if they just remained on the crew for a short time. And though his two guests weren't even part of the crew, he had read their files as well. That means, as much as he could.

Nihlus' file was not only short, it was practically not existing. There were two things written in it: His first name and his family name. Nothing more. Well, what did he expect, the man was a SpecTre, they were practically the secrets of secrets. Even his trainee, Chareen Tinius, had only a very short file, yet at least he had a list of where she had been posted during her stint in the military and what her abilities were.

And also a few comments about her personality which someone seemed to have missed when blacking the file. Attitude problem. Troublemaker. Disobedient. Those were just a few words written about her, but he tried not to think too much about it. She was not his trainee after all, he wasn't even her superior, neither in rank nor in station. Technically she was a civilian on board of his ship.

"May I ask you a question?", he asked the male Turian sitting on the other side of the small office table. He and Nihlus were sitting inside his small ready room, talking about the mission and, of course, Commander Shepard. Still, there was something he wanted to know.

"Of course Captain", the SpecTre replied and took a sip from his coffee. It was dextro-coffee and like always he was drinking it from a bright red cup. When he had come on board he had informed the crew that if they wanted to avoid poisoning thanks to drinking dextro-amino based beverages, they should refrain from drinking from the bright red cups. So far everything had gone smoothly.

"You already have a trainee. Why have you volunteered to evaluate Commander Shepard as well?"

"Because she is a damn good candidate and deserves a shot", he replied without missing a beat. "Your species is ready, you have great potential. One of yours making SpecTre is the next logical step, a big one."

"But why you?", Anderson asked him while leaning back. "There are other SpecTres, most of them not having a candidate to evaluate already."

"Yes, that is true, but I wanted to do this", Nihlus answered. Then he added: "You don't need to concern yourself with the details, not that I am allowed to tell you more anyway. Just be assured that I will judge your candidate fairly."

That was enough for Anderson, he was sure he would not get more out of the man anyway.

/

Since joining Nihlus Kryik as possible SpecTre candidate, Chareen had trouble sleeping. Some nights sleep eluded her at all, others she would wake up and drift back to sleep countless times and on other occasions she would wake up in the middle of the night and stare at the ceiling with her mind racing. In such nights she usually got up and went for a run to clear her head.

As this was not possible on board the Normandy, when she woke up in the middle of the night, she simply got up and went to the kitchen to get herself something to bite. To her pleasant surprise the Normandy was actually bigger than shown in the game, including proper sleeping quarters, bathrooms as well as a small but proper caboose. She would not have thought she would meet someone during two in the morning, except perhaps the night shift, yet as she opened to door to the kitchen she found herself facing a somewhat startled red head.

For a moment the two looked at each other in confusion, before Chareen decided that she really wanted a bite and made her way up to the fridge. Grabbing her chocolate, clearly labeled as dextro-amino based with big red letters, she then sat down on a kitchen stool, the only one remaining. On the other one was Jessica Shepard sitting, eying her carefully.

"Evening. I would offer you some, but then you would puke out your innards", Chareen said with a tired smile and took the moment to get a good look at the future savior of the galaxy. Like most of these hero types, even Shepard did not look like much when dressed in pajamas. Still, she looked nearly exactly like the default Shepard, red hair, green eyes, heart shaped face. Not too much in the bust department and a athletic figure. Clearly no super model but no face to hide from either.

"Thanks no", the woman replied with a tired smile herself, nodding towards her steaming cup of cacao. "Can't sleep either?"

"Nope. The bed smells like, sorry, human", Chareen answered. "I'm Chareen Tinius, but everyone calls me Face. Nice to meet you."

"Likewise", Shepard said and took the offered hand, giving it a firm squeeze. "I'm Commander Jessica Shepard. Can I ask you a question?"

"You just did. But shoot."

"Why are you called Face?"

At this Chareen had to chuckle. Of all the questions and she asks this. But then again, so far this wasn't the big-shot hero either, so far this woman was just a very brave, very good soldier. A soldier of whom she did neither know the skills, nor the deeds. Perhaps she should have taken more time beforehand to get her hands on some more information. "Because of my facial markings."

"But you don't have any at all." Shepard looked at her in confusion.

"Exactly." Chareen shrugged. "I'm a Bareface, which is also a slur for someone who is unreliable or untrustworthy. So in basic training they all called me Bareface to rile me up. In my next unit they did that as a joke and finally they shortened it to simply Face. I kept it since then."

"You're still in the military?"

"Nope, I took my leave last year. Tried to join C-Sec but they did not want me. So here I am, playing secretary and assistant for a big-shot SpecTre." Again she chuckled and took a bite from the chocolate. "May I ask you a question too?"

"Sure, shoot."

"Is it true that humans with red hair have no soul?"

Shepard's mouth fell open and she tried to answer but no sound came out and so she closed it again. Then she tried again and managed to say: "Wh... Where have you heard such stupid bull?"

"Extra-net."

"Sure, where else?", the human thought out loud and rolled with her eyes. "No, that is total bull. We humans with red hair are just as normal as any other human."

"So you're not especially, and I quote, wild in the sack?"

"That you have to ask my ex-boyfriends", Shepard replied with a sigh. "But no. Hair color, skin color, all that have nothing to do with a persons personality. A few hundred years back my people apparently used every excuse of someone being different to shun them. And red hair is rather rare."

"Ah, I see."

For a few minutes the two sat there in silence, one drinking her cacao, the other nibbling on her chocolate. For the moment they weren't soldiers or special forces, for the moment they were just two girls who could not sleep and did something to calm their nerves. "How is working for a SpecTre? It's not like in all that spyvids, is it?"

"I wish it was", the Turian replied. "No, in truth it's a lot more boring. Lot's of investigating, waiting, more investigating, more waiting, an interrogation here and there, a bit shooting thugs and hanging criminals upside down, but not much. But that is mostly because my boss is not much off a trouble-shooter. Other SpecTres are a lot more direct."

Shepard smiled at that. "I admit, I always thought SpecTres work alone."

"Most of them do, they don't trust outsiders with critical information", Chareen replied. "But it's not forbidden to have a team, just very uncommon. And to be honest, it wasn't his intention of hiring me as assistant when he approach me."

"So why are you his assistant then?"

"Originally he approached me to evaluate me as SpecTre-candidate. Only I didn't make the cut."

"Oh... I'm sorry to hear."

"Don't, it's okay." In a very human gesture, Chareen shrugged with her shoulders. "It's not even officially decided yet. The council will have to decide on my case, but if they'd make me a SpecTre, then they are either completely idiotic or desperate... But then again, they're politicians, so it could be."

"Not a great fan of the council, huh?"

"Not a great fan of politics in general."

"Yeah, I can get that", Shepard said. "Hey, it was nice talking to you, but I'll try to hit the sack now. I'm sure we see each other around, the ship isn't that big."

"Okay, good night."

"Night." And with that Shepard stood up and left the kitchen, the door automatically closing behind her, leaving behind a somewhat amused Chareen.

That wasn't the first hero she had ever met, not by a long shot, and certainly not the first hero she had seen in her sleeping garments. Still, it was a nice chance to meet the hero of the story in such a relaxed surrounding, better than at gun-point like it was normally the case. Chuckling to herself she devoured the remaining chocolate and decided to try to get some sleep on her own.

/

No new ship is thrown from the dock directly into the fray, no matter how advanced it was. Especially not when it was such an experimental vessel as the Normandy. Every ship had hiccups, so it was only natural to run them through a series of test runs. So of course the Normandy was put through a series of stress tests, followed by minor adjustments to work out the problems and then another stress test, so long until it worked perfectly.

And though it was strange to do this with not just a skeleton crew but actually a complete full department, such an arrangement gave the crew some more time to get familiar with one another before being thrown into the action.

It was three days after first stepping on board of his new home, when Joker had again a run in with Face. Three days filled with one boring flight after another, the same ship movements one after another. Flying through a spectacular series of stunts is fun when you do it. Doing it for twenty times one after another, not so fun.

So he was thankful for any kind of distraction and wasn't even put out when he noticed someone taking place in the co-pilot seat and it not being Alenko like usual, but the resident female Turian. "Face, what brings my favorite Turian to my humble abode?"

"The view", she answered lightheartedly. "And the opportunity to catch up on some gossip. I mean, you weren't in the mess, so I thought I'd visit our resident hermit in his hideout. I brought snacks."

"Face, you're a woman after my heart", Joker said with a overly affectionate voice as he took the offering of tortilla chips. "If I weren't practically bound to this seat, I would get on my knees and thank you."

"Oh, I can think of a few better situations where you could and even should kneel before me", she answered playfully.

"Argh, stop giving me these images! Evil woman, begone witch, begone!"

Chareen broke down in laughter and again kicked up her feet to get into an overly comfortable position. "Ah, it's not like you don't want it too. Admit it, you dream every night of me."

"As if", he snorted. "Only because you want some of Jeff inside of you, doesn't mean I want to work my magic on you. I'm a one woman man."

"Aaaawww... And there is no room for a second beauty in your live? One with less chrome and steel?", she asked him with mock hurt in her voice. She was of course aware of the fact that he was talking about the Normandy, the one true love of this hot-shot pilot.

"No, no more room", Jeff replied. "She dances like none other, she glides and flies like a goddess and my fingers can do wonders on her."

"Woooooooooooo, now you made me all tingly", she teased him with a smirk on her face. "Come on, talk dirty to me, you naughty boy."

"Better not, or you will fire off right where you are. And I will not explain to the Alenko why there are spots on his chair."

"What, spots on my chair?", asked said man as he came into the cockpit. Apparently he had only heard the last few words and had been spared from some bad images in his head. Lucky him. "Miss Tinius, would you please leave my station?"

"Sure thing", Chareen answered and slid off the co-pilots seat, making it free for the man who was actually supposed to sit there. She and him had not talked with another so far and most likely the only thing he knew of her was that she was a biotic, nothing more. "So, do we have any special plans for today? Are we going pirate hunting or perhaps racing?"

"No, nothing special", Kaidan told her as he took place in his seat, though only after checking for spots. Happy not to see any he sat down and began working on the display in front of him. "The Captain has said that we will set course towards Eden Prime by tomorrow, when all the test runs are finished. But today... maneuver 105 one more time."

"Awww, come on now", whined Joker. "We've done that at least a thousand times. If the tech guys have not found the problem by now they never will."

"Joker."

"Yes?"

"Shut up and do your job."

"Righto, great leader, as you command mon capitan."

While Kaidan just groaned and rolled with the eyes, Chareen found it hilarious and yelled: "Hey boss, can we keep the pilot?! I will feed him and train him and bath him!"

"Dammit woman, stop giving me those images!"

/

"What do you know about Eden Prime?", Nihlus asked Shepard after turning away from the large screen inside the communications room. Besides these two also Captain Anderson and the SpecTre's trainee were inside the darkened room, though both remained silent for the moment and the female Turian even seemed to be totally disinterested in the entire conversation, being engrossed in something on her omni-tool.

"Not much", Shepard replied in a business like manner. "One of humanities oldest colonies, said to be very pleasant. You should ask Private Jenkins, as far as I know he grew up there."

Now Nihlus turned to face her, his expression unreadable. "It is said to be a paradise. It is also a symbol for humanity. You have proven that you can reach out and colonize space. However, can you also hold it and defend what is yours?"

"What is that supposed to mean?" Though that question could have been understood as aggressive, Shepard managed to ask it in a neutral, rather bland way. She only tensed a bit in the shoulders and her stance got a bit firmer.

"I think it is about time we told the Commander what this mission is really about", Captain Anderson now threw in his two cents.

Immediately the red haired commander muttered: "I knew this wasn't just a simple shakedown run."

"What gave it away?", Nihlus asked with what would have been a smirk if he had been a human on his features.

"You mean between the fact that we have a full marine department on board and also a fully fledged council SpecTre?", she replied in a dry tone. "A gut feeling if you like."

"I like her", Chareen muttered to her boss.

"I knew you would", he thought out loud at that, before turning his attention back towards Shepard. "We're making a covert-pick up on Eden Prime. A research team on Eden Prime unearthed some kind of beacon during an excavation. It was prothean. I don't think I must explain to you what that could mean for the galaxy at large, do I?"

"No", she answered. "However, Eden Prime is a human colony last time I checked. So why is a SpecTre interested in such a relict?"

Instead of answering the turian male turned his head towards Chareen, giving her a pointed look, indicating that she should answer the question. What she promptly did: "According to council law, all prothean artifacts are to be given over to the Council for proper examination. Which the System Alliance will not like, I'm sure, and neither will the population should this become public knowledge. Because, come on, why should everyone just roll over an-"

"Thank you, Chareen, that's enough", Nihlus groaned with a somewhat pained expression on his face. It was obvious from this reaction, that this was not the first time he had to intervene before she said something too stupid or overstepped some line.

"You're welcome."

Shepard bit back a smirk at that exchange, as did Anderson, though the older human managed it better. Was this woman always this cheeky? Not a very common trait amongst Turians, who were more known for their rigid discipline and upstanding nature than their loose mouth'. That thought was shoved to the side by what Nihlus said next: "However, that is only part of my reason being here. The other, more important one, is you Commander."

"Me?"

"Yes, you."

Again Anderson stepped in to explain in detail what the alien meant. "Humanity has pushed hard for a more active role in the galactic community. Nihlus is not only here to make sure the beacon is safely delivered, but also to observe your performance in this and following missions to evaluate your potential as candidate for SpecTre."

Shepard looked as if she was just hit with a baseball bat into the gut. "SpecTre? Me?!"

"I know that this is much to take in", the Captain replied. "Humanity depends on you. You're the best we have to offer and if one can make it, it's you."

"You're right, that is much to take in", she gave back. "I must admit, I have thought of many different possibilities what this mission is truly about, but this wasn't among it. May I ask why me?"

"You're name was among those put forward by the human embassy", Nihlus answered her. "On top of the list too. I too think that humanity is ready for such a responsibility and I volunteered to take a look at your embassies request. Your file impressed me and I decided to give you a chance."

"I see." For a few seconds there was silence as the red head was apparently thinking about what to say next, before she then asked: "May I speak freely?"

"Of course."

"Why not Gunderson? He survived Akuze."

"Gunderson is a good soldier, a damn good one, that is true", Anderson replied. "But he does not have the drive you possess, he lacks your ability to think on your own and not just blindly follow orders."

"I understand", she said, then she added: "What about Torfan? I did some really bad things back then, things people would most likely not be reminded of."

"You did what you had to do to get the job done", Nihlus said to her. "That is, in escence, what we SpecTres do. Sometimes we do the unhonorable things to do good. However, I need to see your skills for myself, Commander. Eden Prime will be the first of several missions together."

"You'll be in charge of the ground team", Captain Anderson explained to her. "Secure the beacon and get it onto the ship ASAP. Nihlus will accompany you to observe the mission."

Every other conversation was put aside as Joker's voice came over internal communication's network. "Captain, we've got a problem!"

Perhaps out of an inborn reflex, every face turned upwards, as if they could see Joker when doing this. However, everyone noticed that the usual humor in the voice of the flippant pilot was missing, alerting everyone. Anderson asked: "What's wrong Joker?"

"Emergency transmission from Eden Prime. You better see this!"

"Bring it up on the screen."

The peaceful scenery of Eden Prime vanished from sight and was replaced by a much more horrible sight. It was still Eden Prime, several trees and rocks in the background, while several Alliance marines were more or less cut down by enemy fire. It was not visible who was attacking them, only that the humans were under heavy fire and were fighting for their bare lives.

/

This was not how Chareen had imagined the start of Mass Effect to work. Originally she had not planned to be even be there, she would have preferred to be on the Citadel and join Shepard there. Changes to the story which were made too early could screw up the entire story-line, like Shepard dying or the beacon being destroyed without anyone getting the visions from it or what else.

Damn, that had been a really confusing time back in the world of Kung-Fu-Panda, when Po had died before being found by his adoptive father thanks to some SI screwing up. Fun, but confusing. But as Chareen and the others had agreed to try to turn this story, run, loop, whatever-you-like-to-call-it, into a quite normal one which should follow the main story-line, she tried to intervene as little as possible.

But hell, how could she have known that she would end up as trainee, assistant, coffee-bringer of exactly the SpecTre who was meant to mentor Shepard? At least she had performed so badly that no one would ever think of making her a SpecTre over Shepard. Would they? God, hopefully not, cause that would be really messed up.

That in mind, Chareen did not feel comfortable as she put on her medium armor. Other than most biotics, who could only comfortably move in the lightest of armor, she had learned to move and fight in heavier encumbrance, thanks to her long active service in the turian military forces. Like she had learned she checked her sidearm before clipping it to her upper thigh, then checked her assault rifle and fastened it to the back of her hip.

The plan was simple: Stick to the canon. No matter what happens, stick to the canon. Jenkins has to die. Nihlus has to die. The beacon has to explode with Shepard getting the visions. Stick to the canon.

Pity, she actually liked her boss.

She actually felt a bit bad when Jenkins eyed Shepard and her boss with his big, naive eyes, all hopes and dreams and innocence. Damn, he may be a tool, but did he deserve to die? No, but then again, most people don't.

"Your team's the muscle in this operation, Commander", Captain Anderson told the Commander as she was putting on her helmet. He, Commander Shepard, Kaidan and Jenkins were standing in a loose semi-circle inside the cargo hold, the Captain giving last orders. Chareen stood a few feet away, waiting for the arrival of her boss and orders for her, though she had a feeling what she was about to do. Meanwhile Anderson kept on giving the orders. "Go in heavy and head straight for the dig site."

"What about survivors, Captain?", Shepard asked immediately.

"Helping survivors is a secondary objective", the older man answered. "The beacon's your top priority."

It was that moment that Chareen saw Nihlus approach the group, or to be more precise the opening hold, as Joker informed the team of the ship approaching the first drop point. That means, where Nihlus would jump out.

"Nihlus? You're coming with us?", Jenkins asked with his voice barely containing the excitement.

"I move faster on my own", her boss replied without even looking at the hopeful human. "Chareen will accompany you. She is an accomplished soldier and trained biotic."

One last time he checked his shotgun, then he jogged to the exit. In that moment Chareen realized, that when everyone would go as planned, this would be the last time she would see him alive. The guy who had been not only her employer but also a mentor and sort of a friend to her was about to meet his end at the hands of a traitorous bastard he thought was his friend.

Suddenly her mouth felt very dry. She could warn him. She could go with him against his orders. She could do anything, hell, she should do something. So she said: "Good luck boss."

"You too Face."

And with that he was gone and Chareen was fully aware, that he would die. For about a year he had been her closest companion and now he was about to die. He wasn't the first of her precious people who would die, he wouldn't be the last. She was an SI. Something like that happened all the time.

After about a hundred deaths you get used to it.

And that's the first chapter centering around one single SI. I'll try not to tell everything from their perspective, I hope I can manage that.

Anyway, I thought about changing the story in some significant ways, like Nihlus surviving the confrontation with Saren or some other detail which will then lead to the well known butterfly effect. If you have thoughts on the matter, write me a comment, I'm always open to suggestions.