What Could Possibly Happen In Mass Effect 3?
A dull buzzing sound emitted from the docking bay as its sensors detected a spacecraft coming in to dock. The Normandy glided smoothly as ever into the docking area, and several clamps from the bay rose to meet it, locking the space vessel in place. A mechanical arm from the docking bay turned and attached itself securely to the Normandy's airlock with a faint hissing sound of the air levels changing; but these things were not noticed by Commander Shepard: he was having some… difficulties with the ship's pilot.
"But I don't see why we have to give them the Normandy, Commander!" exclaimed Joker for the fourth time. Shepard placed a hand on his forehead in exasperation; he could only explain so many times.
"Look, Joker…" he began, trying to sound understanding; however his patience was running thin. "The Normandy is Alliance property. It-"
"No, it's not!" Joker cut him off abruptly. "It was built by Cerberus! It has nothing to do with the Alliance!"
Shepard sighed. "No, Joker. Cerberus built the Normandy using the schematics from the original Normandy without permission, so that way, both Normandys belong to the Alliance." Shepard explained slowly. "believe me, I don't want to have to give her up." He looked around the bridge sadly.
"But… but this ship has EDI! It's not the same at all!" tried Joker desperately; then, realizing the hopelessness of his argument, he put his elbows on his knees and held his face in his hands. "No…" he wailed hopelessly.
"Joker, I'm sorry, there's nothing I can do without getting on the Alliance's bad side," Shepard consoled.
"This ship is my home, Commander," confessed Joker, rubbing his eyes with both palms. "And… and EDI lives here, too." He said, looking fondly at the AI's blue dome. He looked around, and stared for a moment in the vague area of Shepard's feet; then he looked up, and in a defeated voice said "All right, then. I guess I have no choice." He then carefully swung his brittle-boned legs around and off his well-worn leather chair. Shepard extended a hand to Joker, who accepted, and used it to help gently lever him out of the chair. He then looked at Shepard.
"I'll… see you in a few minutes, Commander," he said anxiously. "There's some… things I've got to clear up before I go."
Shepard understood; he stood back, and turned around. He retreated slowly back down the corridor to the CIC, where most of his crew was waiting, along with Garrus, Jacob and Miranda. Miranda was standing arms folded near the front of the small group of former Cerberus crewmen, clearly impatient. Jacob was leaning against the wall near the elevator, examining his shotgun carefully. Garrus was talking with Engineer Donnelly, gesturing wildly; then both of them laughed. As Shepard got closer, he could hear Donnelly start speaking again.
"So, Garrus, how long do weapons calibrations take?" he asked, before bursting out laughing again. Garrus, however, looked slightly confused.
Miranda approached Shepard; she looked slightly peeved. "Commander?" She began, with a very slight Australian accent. "I don't think it's a good idea to turn the Normandy over to the Alliance so quickly. It's understandable that you don't want to get on their bad side before your trial, but I am quite sure that it is not the best option. Who knows what they'll do with it, with EDI. They could get valuable information on Cerberus and-"
"Miranda," Shepard cut her off, "We're no longer part of Cerberus, are we?" he reminded her. Miranda looked slightly put out, and then stepped down. She was clearly still loyal to Cerberus, even after quitting due to events inside the Collector Base.
The elevator doors suddenly slid open; revealing Tali'Zorah vas Normandy. Everybody in the room turned to look at her. Shepard, having known her for quite some time, could tell that she was rather embarrassed at having so much attention; she was wringing her three-fingered hands together nervously.
"Uh, don't mind me," she said in that peculiar accent of hers. "It's only… me."
After about a second of thought, the crew mostly turned back to their conversations. However, Donnelly remained looking intently at her. She, Garrus and Shepard all noticed this.
"Um… Ken? What is it?" asked Tali, wondering why Donnelly was staring at her. Donnelly looked away, pretending to look embarrassed.
"Oh, nothing," he said. "Just thinking how lovely you look today, Miss Zorah. Have you done something different with your…" He looked her up and down, "…helmet?" he asked cheekily. It was quite obvious that Tali blushed at that comment, even through her visor. Shepard took that moment to step up behind Donnelly. Jacob looked over at Donnelly, first in surprise, then with a grin. "Hitting on the Commander's girlfriend?" he said. "Heavy risk… but the priiize…"
Everyone in the room seemed to hear this, and they all looked at Jacob quizzically. Shepard raised an eyebrow as Jacob himself went red. "I- I don't know why I said that," he dismissed, embarrassed. Tali stepped out of the elevator and walked over to Shepard's side.
"Jacob, you seem to say 'but the priiize' a lot these days," noted Garrus.
"and you seem to do a lot of calibrations these days, Garrus," shot back Jacob. Garrus looked at the floor. Shepard decided to spare Garrus' embarrassment and announced to the crew, "I am now going to meet with the Alliance landing party," He said. "Please be ready to leave when I get back."
There were a few groans and some sighs as the crew collectively realized they would be leaving the Normandy, possibly for the last time.
Shepard took Tali's gloved hand and walked with her in the direction of the airlock. Garrus hurried over to Shepard's side.
"I'm coming with you, Commander," he stated simply.
"Thanks, Garrus," replied Shepard.
The human, the quarian, and the turian made their way over to the airlock. Shepard caught a glimpse of Joker in conversation with EDI; it did not look like a happy one. Poor guy, thought Shepard, he must be taking it worse than I thought.
The outer airlock doors slid open to let them leave the ship, revealing a metal walkway leading into Alliance Headquarters. The doors leading to the second deck of the Normandy slid silently shut behind them.
Shepard surveyed the group that had come to meet them, and then recoiled in shock. There were two people he hadn't expected to meet: Alliance Admiral David Anderson, and his former teammate Ashley Williams.
A/N: So there is chapter 3, with the intro of Ashley. Hope I didn't make the Garrus/Jacob scene TOO out of place; anyways, please review, I wanna hear your thoughts!
