"…I want to join the Alliance."

Jack spewed the hot coffee he had been drinking out of surprise, resulting in the brown liquid covering the lower portion of his body. "Dammit Nate, you can't surprise me like that. I'm too old." He sighed looking at the liquid-stained pants. "Now repeat that again. I thought I heard you say you're joining the Alliance but I must have misheard."

"I said I want to join the military." I reiterated firmly. Sitting down on the portion of the couch next to him that was still untouched by the hot brown fluid.

Daxyrus scratched his fringe awkwardly in a display reminiscent of how we humans scratched our head when we were nervous. "I'll let you two guys talk it out between yourselves. You need me I'll be in the other room."

As he left, the ex-soldier spoke up. "Now what brought you to that decision? I'm not against it. Hell I was a Marine back in the day myself, fought the Turians in First Contact. But anyway, that's another story for another time. I know you have a little bit of a tendency to make impulse decisions but this isn't a small thing to decide. You sign the form that's five years of your life, minimum. You are property of the Alliance for that time. You do what they say, when they say, exactly how they say you do it. Do you think you have the discipline and patience to not snap when you have a drill instructor screaming in your face? I don't want to come off like I'm trying to scare you because that's not my intention but I had a few fellow recruits who just broke down and couldn't handle it. You enter the military and you're gonna leave a different person. Whether it's for better or worse…you'll definitely change."

Leaning back into the couch, he took a deep breath then exhaled loudly. "Now that I've gone over the bad portion let me tell you some good things. I met some of my closest friends that I'm still in contact with to this day through the Alliance. There's nothing quite like the bonds you forge in the trenches when you've got nothing to rely on but your buddies having your back and you having theirs. Hell, as strange as it sounds that's where I met the love of my life." He chuckled, probably engrossed in some memory of the times before snapping out of it and turning towards me. "Sorry, got distracted there. What I was going to say is that if you're set on the Alliance as your future then I'll support you in it. I'll even pull some strings with some old contacts still in there to get you in right away. You're already pretty lethal with those pistols and rifles I trained you with and from what the Turian told me it's not just on the range." He paused for a moment. "Tell me something. Did you really shoot that bastard Curt in the leg? God I would've paid some credits to see that."

"Yeah I did, right in the kneecap. Unfortunately I had to do the same thing to Finch too. You know for a half-second I almost went through it because I didn't want to disappoint him. He was really a good friend. It just sucks I didn't realize 'till I was in too deep that the Reds were racist scum and that Finch had the same views as them."

"Hey people make mistakes sometimes. That's just a part of growing up. It's how you learn. Now I'm not saying everybody gets in a situation where they have to shoot both their best friend and their boss in in a big life or death moral dilemma but I guess that just means you'll learn even more from this situation." The store owner paused, trying to get the conversation back on track after the derailment on the subject of the Reds incident. "Back to the Alliance talk though. Like I said, you're nineteen now and capable of making your own decisions. Whatever you think is the best path I'll back you one-hundred percent and help you out in whatever way I reasonably can."

Thinking for a moment, I contemplated alternative options but the thing that kept popping back into the forefront of my mind was the interview with the Alliance Lieutenant who had saved the entire colony of Elysium. "I think this is what I want to do Jack. I don't want to go to some other town and fall in with the wrong crowd again and this is a way I can do something for somebody else for a change. There aren't really any other options that come to mind so I think this is it. I don't really know what I have to do to join though…"

Mr. Ramsey waved his hand in a dismissive manner as he stood up. "That's no big deal at all. There's an Alliance recruitment center downtown that I'll take you to today. All you have to do is provide them with some basic info, they'll give you a physical and usually after that you'd have to wait a while before leaving for Boot Camp but I think I can get you in immediately by calling in some old favors that I'm owed. From then on though, unless you're on leave, all your time is at the base or the surrounding area doing basic training. That lasts about three months and then you get your MOS training. So we should probably get going now then I guess. No time like the present." He looked down at his soiled clothing. "But first I should probably change out of these pants."

LINE BREAK

"So you talked to Jack then?" Daxyrus, brought me out of my daze.

"Sorry what was that?"

"I was asking if you'd gone over your plans for joining the Alliance with Jack. You seem like your mind is someplace else right now so I was just wondering how everything went, as long as you don't mind talking about it of course."

"No not all. I don't mind." I shook my head. "You know, I think everything went pretty well all things considered. He had a few concerns of course but I expected that. Overall though I think he supported the idea. Honestly, I think the whole thing really surprised him. The military lifestyle was never really something I had previously considered…I'm not the most disciplined guy in case you didn't notice." I gave a self-deprecating smirk. "He told me a little bit about his military past but it wasn't like I was constantly bugging him about every little detail. I think he never really considered that I would want to sign up too."

"I'm not surprised that he was concerned. He's not your dad technically but he might as well have been from what you and he have said. The guy pretty much raised you from your teenage years so I think you should cut him a bit of slack. It's pretty much his job to be concerned." Dax sat down across from me at the kitchen table, plate full of dextro amino food in hand. He set it down and began to eat as he talked. "So what do you want to do once you join? There's hundreds of different jobs that are available to you so you should start to get an idea now." I just gave a bewildered look. "Alright. First off, I know the Alliance is technically entirely compromised of a Navy but there is a Marine component that specializes in ground-based warfare if the idea of living your whole life ship-bound seems unappealing to you."

I propped my elbows up on the table, leaning forward to talk. "Do you need anything special to get into the Marines? Is it something performance based that you're promoted into or do you sign up when you first join? Hell, you probably don't even know, never mind. Forget I said anything."

"Well I did actually study the military structure of other cultures a little bit back when I was younger. Other societies have always interested me and as one of your famous generals said, 'know your enemy.' No offence meant but tensions were a lot higher twenty years ago before you were born and it seemed like a good idea at the time." Pausing, he took a sip from a large mug and set it back down with a contented sigh. "But to actually answer your question. If I remember correctly the Marines is something you sign up for when you first join. Biotics are especially encouraged to join as they're extremely useful in a fight. The training regimen for the Marines is also much different. From what I've heard they specialize almost entirely in combat training and on ships they pretty much serve guard duty and the actual engineering and all that is left to the non-Marines."

Leaning back I took in all the info that had been given to me by the Turian. "And here I was thinking you wouldn't know much about other species military structure. Proved me wrong on that one. I'm really leaning towards the Marines from what you've said so far. The whole ship life doesn't really appeal to me too much. I'd much rather keep my feet on solid ground given the option and this sounds like the best way."

The conversation came to a standstill after that as Dax resumed his eating and I waited for Jack to return with his new pair of pants. As I intently studied the intricacies of the woodwork on the table a thought came into my head. "Hey you said you were military right? Now I know you don't really like talking about your past you said but you could at least tell me a bit about your training, please?" I gave my best puppy dog eyes which at nineteen years of age and being used on an adult Turian probably would have negative effects if any, but luckily he was in a talking mood at the moment.

"Hmmm. Well I guess it wouldn't hurt. I was the tech specialist in my unit. My job was to disrupt the enemy electronics and firearms with my omni-tool at every given opportunity." He took a sip of his drink. "I was damn good at it too if you'll allow me to brag. I also was a crack shot with a sniper rifle. Haven't fired one in ages but back in the day I could nail any target I wanted and put it down quick." He stood up from the table and walked over to the fridge, rummaging through for another drink. His voice echoed as he continued. "I was also a go-between guy for the Turian Cabals and the normal military branches since I could actually get along well with both sides."

Raising my hand, I spoke up. "Hold on. Human here needs an explanation. What in the hell are the Cabals?"

"Oh, right. Well the Cabals are biotic specialists in the Turian military. Unlike your Alliance where both work cohesively together, biotics work in completely separate branches from the other soldiers. Prejudices against them ran high and since I was one of the few who got along with both sides, I was appointed to be spokesman since others wouldn't." He chuckled as he walked back and pulled out the chair, holding an orange Tupari sports drink he started gesturing with. "Those crazy bastards could raise hell. You should've seen 'em then. An entire platoon of biotic warriors just tearing through whatever got in their way. It was a beautiful thing to see."

"I'll bet. So now that we've reminisced about both our pasts and discussed my future the only thing left is you. I know what I'm doing, well for the next five years at least, but what about you. What are you planning?" I raised my index finger. "Sorry, hold on one sec." I raised my voice and called into the other room. "Hey Jack! You almost ready or did you slip and fall in there? How long does it take for a guy to change into new pants?"

A coarse voice could be heard from the other room joking back. "I'm just giving you and Dax time to finish your heart to heart in there, I'll be ready in five minutes though so be ready to go to the recruitment center once I get out, unless of course you'd like to go back and meet Weisman at the Reds HQ."

I put my fingers to my chin in mock thought. "I think I'll pass on that, thanks for the offer though." I turned back to the turian sitting across from me. "Sorry about that, now I think I was asking you about your plans for the future."

"You know, I've been thinking about that since we busted out of that hellhole. If Mr. Ramsey lets me, I wouldn't mind staying on and working for him here at the shop. It wouldn't take too long to get reacquainted with modern firearms and I could give him a break and watch the shop every once in a while when I do catch back up. You've known him a lot longer than I have though, think he'll let me work for him if I ask?"

"I know he's been looking for someone to help him out for a while now but it's been hard to find a guy who he can trust with the place when he's not there and I'm not knowledgeable enough yet to do it. If I was in your shoes I'd give it a shot, I mean what's the worst that can happen?" I gave a shrug. "He says no and then it's not like you've lost anything anyway."

At that Jack walked out of the back room after completing his change into attire that wasn't coffee stained. "Hey Nate, you ready to go? The skycar is out back so we can just hop in and head straight to the recruitment center."

I waved him out. "Yeah you can go ahead. I'm gonna say bye to Dax and then I'll be right out to the skycar to join you."

As the older human left the building I turned back to say farewell to my newfound companion of the last couple days. "Well, guess this it Dax. I hope everything goes well for you and maybe when I come back on leave in a few months you'll be tending shop with the old man."

"I sure hope so Nate." A wide Turian grin spread across his mandibles. "Thanks for not shooting me in the head back there, I really appreciate it. If there's any way I can help you out just reach out to me and I'll do what I can, after all you did technically save my life so I owe you one."

I put my hand out to shake and he took it in his three-fingered grip and shook. "Thanks Dax, I might have to take you up on that someday so watch out." Chuckling lightly, he gave a final goodbye as I walked through the Armory for what could be the last time in a long while. I took in once again the sights of various weaponry and military posters that covered the walls. Stepping up to one of the posters advertising the bright career a soldier could have in the Alliance, I traced my finger absentmindedly down the side of it, pondering my new future as I left the store to the sound of clanging bells.

LINE BREAK

"So Jack, just how far is this recruitment center?" I looked over at the driver of the shiny blue skycar I was currently riding shotgun in as the urban metropolis of Detroit passed us by. Skyscrapers were around us on all sides and the chaotic flow of rush hour traffic swept us up and rolled us along to our destination. As the silence continued I waved my hand in front of Jack. "Hey, what's up, you alright?"

He shook his head, as if to snap out of a reverie. "Sorry bud, I was just thinking about how different things were when I joined up twenty-five years ago. Things have changed so much in that little timeframe. Hell, back then we still thought we were all alone in the galaxy." He gave a dry chuckle and glanced over towards me.

"I think you're just getting old." I said with a chuckle, giving him a friendly nudge with my elbow. Leaning back into my seat, I propped my feet up on the dash. "But seriously, when you signed up did you ever think that once you retired you'd be guardian slash babysitter to some punk kid from the streets? I can't imagine that was what you had in mind once you left the Corps."

He laughed mirthfully. "Nope, can't say that I ever thought I'd be taking care of a kid. I always wanted to come back home to Detroit, then my interest in firearms and experience in the Marines naturally led me to opening up the Armory. The kid part though, definitely not. 'Specially since I didn't really plan on ever settling down." Putting the car on autopilot he looked over at me and ruffled my shaggy black hair good-naturedly. "But I'd do the whole thing over again if you gave me the choice, don't regret one bit of it."

Pulling at my hair I tried to repair the damage that had been caused by the hand of Jack Ramsey. "Thanks Jack, that means a lot…I know I act like a smart ass sometimes." He glanced back over and gave me a look. "Okay most of the time, but despite my sarcasm and general jerkiness I appreciate everything you've done for me. If it wasn't for you I think that situation with Dax would have gone a lot differently. Now that I think about it, I might not even be alive right now. If you wouldn't have taken me in back then who knows what would have happened."

"Hey, it's no problem at all. Like I said, I don't regret any of it." I opened my mouth to ask a question but before I could he interrupted. "And I know that with your tough guy act you can't handle the whole feelings thing yet without changing the subject as soon as possible, so before you even ask the recruitment center is five minutes out according to the nav system."

I shut my mouth since his preemptive answer beat me to the punch, deciding to simply take in the last few minutes of the ride in silence. As we flew through the urban metropolis I looked at the bright array of cars surrounding us as we weaved in and out of traffic. Down below, crowds of citizens walked about, attending to their daily lives. From this height they looked almost like little ants, scurrying about their work and not concerned with anything but their personal task that they had to accomplish right then. As we got closer to the Alliance building I pondered my life in this city I'd grown up in. Things had ended pretty poorly…now that I think about it they hadn't started great either, but the middle portion wasn't too bad. Living out on the streets was alright and if I wanted a place to stay consistently then Jack's was always available, but now the whole thing was over. I was being flung headlong into a world that I knew next to nothing about besides a quick speech from Jack and what I'd read on the net. For better or worse, the next phase of my life had begun.

LINE BREAK

As we touched down at the center I surveyed the building, taking in all the details. It was painted in a deep royal blue with a large Alliance symbol arching over the entrance, which was illuminated by bright white lights from the lawn on both sides. As Jack led me into the building, we walked through the automatic doors single file and into a large lobby which continued the color theme by being furnished with large blue couches which looked like they had all the comfort of sitting on the hard tile floor for as big as they were in size.

As we walked over to the front desk a brunette receptionist who was probably about twenty looked up from her paperwork. "Good afternoon gentlemen, if you could hold on one minute I'll be right with you. If you could just take a seat right over there." She pointed over to the deep blue furniture. "I'll call you back up as soon as I can."

We turned from the desk, walked over to the furniture and took a seat on some empty chairs. Jack grabbed an Alliance news magazine and started reading. Tapping my foot nervously I waited in silence for the receptionist to call me back up to the desk to be registered for military service. The sterile blue room didn't give much scenery to take in and my patience began to wear thin until the receptionist came back and called us.

"Sir? If you come back up we can get you signed up right now." She grabbed some papers from behind her station and handed them over the counter. "If you could just fill these out everything will be taken care of. I'll also review it with you afterwards to make sure all your personal information is correct."

LINE BREAK

Sighing, I stood up from the chair. "Finally done with this crap, Jack there better not be this much paperwork to fill out once I actually join up."

His voice came from behind the magazine he was still reading. "You'd be surprised. If you make it to NCO status you'll have your fair share to fill out daily. There's a lot more to the army than just shooting a gun and training."

"I'm the unluckiest guy on the planet. Think I'll go back and take my chances with the Reds."

As I walked back over to the receptionist I heard a mumbled answer. "Much too late for that now kid."

As I handed the info over to the chestnut haired woman she motioned me to come to the back. We walked through the winding hallways until we came a room filled to the brim with basic medical equipment. "Alright, now I'll just go over everything you filled out real quick. After that we'll give you a basic scan and then you can go on your way. Now your height is 6'2", weight is 185 pounds, your hair color is black and eyes are brown is that correct?" Pausing for a moment, she looked at me from behind her clipboard.

"Yup."

"Okay now it also says you have never received a scan for biotic potential either?"

"No, I was raised in a…" Pausing, I tried to search for the correct way of phrasing it. "Rough neighborhood. Never had many spare creds to take some random medical test that probably wouldn't affect me in any way."

She marked the clipboard. "Okay, that will need to be done along with the basic scan then. Most of the time your biotic potential would have manifested itself in some way by now from my understanding but you know what they say, better safe than sorry. So, let's just get your shot, get the scans and then as long as everything goes well you can ship out as soon as possible."

Holding up my hand, I interrupted the nurse. "Excuse me, did you say shot? It's just I'm not a big fan of needles, it's a common phobia or so I'm told."

"We get that all the time." She smiled in a friendly manner, as she once again put a mark on the clipboard. I could feel my face heat up as I realized I was staring. "It's no big deal at all."

Turning away from me she reached into a large glass cabinet from which she retrieved a bottle containing a clear liquid into which she inserted what to me looked like a medieval instrument of torture. As she walked back over with the giant medical spike I turned my head away in distress. "Just, let me know when it's done please? Watching just makes everything worse."

"Of course, just roll up your right sleeve please and it'll all be over before you know it. It's really nothing more than a pinch, a bandage to go over the puncture mark and that's it." A few seconds passed and then I felt a sting in my forearm. "And we're done." She cleared her throat loudly to get my attention. "I said, we're done…that means you can open your eyes now Mr. Wolfert." She poked me in the head and I barely opened one eye.

As the world came back into focus, I looked to the doorway where the woman was standing with a teasing smile. "Come on, now we're heading to where you get your scan. It'll take a bit longer because of the biotic portion that's needed but after that this'll be nothing more than a bad memory of the scary lady with the sharp needle."

As we strolled through the center once again I tried making small talk to pass the time. "So, receptionist, nurse and apparently comedian too. Do you fix the lighting in your spare time?"

"Yep and I also fight space aliens on the weekends and vacation days." I chuckled at the sarcasm she fired right back with. I can respect that. "But to answer your question seriously, no. The recruiting center here doesn't get much in terms of pass through traffic so I guess they figured you might as well hire a few less people and just have the ones already there fill a couple different roles." She raised her shoulders in a shrugging motion. "But hey, I don't care. It's a bit of extra work but I make more money in my paycheck so it works out just fine for me. Helps pay for college."

"I guess that makes sense. My name's Nate by the way." I stuck out my hand, which she took and shook in turn.

"I know, you did just hand me over all your personal info. Did you think I just took it and pretended to read it all before tossing it in the garbage?"

"Well, actually I was just trying to find out your name but couldn't think of any other way to ask. When I talk to pretty girls this thing happens where my tongue swells up and my brain doesn't work like it should. It's actually my second greatest weakness, besides needles of course, so you have the misfortune of seeing me at my very worst today."

"Oh that's too bad, maybe we'll have to catch up sometime when I don't have a needle so it's only one flaw. And my name is Emma by the way."

I smiled back at the nurse. "I'd like that Emma." Wait a second, did I just get asked out to a date? I definitely hope that was how being asked out works. Never really done the whole, "dating," thing before, having zero money and being a street thug kind of hampers your love life.

She pointed into a large room, which was practically empty besides a large piece of circular sterile white machinery with a stretcher-like bed extended from the center. "Go ahead and hang your shirt over the chairs here. Then lie down on the bed while I put the finishing touches on the machine here."

I added a wink to the large smirk that was already plastered on my face as I removed my shirt and hung it on the furniture. "Wow, this is moving pretty fast. Are you always this forward or is it just my rugged good looks?"

"Seriously?" Emma gave a small annoyed moan and a look to back up her statement as she rolled her eyes. "I shouldn't have tried being so nice." She mumbled. Turning around she started pressing buttons to prepare everything before she looked up at me and gave a frightened gasp and pointed. "What the hell, I mean heck, happened to your chest?"

Looking down I panicked for a moment before coming up with a cover story. "Oh this thing? I got that as a kid. Pulled a scalding hot pan off the stove and it fell right on my chest." Wow, that was absolutely terrible, a five year old child could see through that story.

"But…it looks like it's in the shape of a ten."

Scratching my hair I looked off to the side of the room apprehensively. "Yeah, I think that was the company logo or something. I uh, can't really remember though, it was a long time ago and I was just a kid."

"Sure, ok." An awkward silence filled the room before Emma brought up another topic of discussion. "So Nate, why are you joining the Alliance? Usually it seems like it runs in the family but I'm always curious about people's reasons."

Pondering for a moment whether or not to lie to the girl again I decided that honesty was the best policy this time. So, taking on a deadpan tone of voice and my best poker face I launched into the story. "Actually I'm on the run from a local gang. They have a kill on sight order since I shot their boss and my best friend in the knee during my hazing ritual. They wanted me to kill some random Turian but I declined and instead escaped with said Turian they were holding captive so now I'm getting the hell out of town before they can hunt me down and kill me. My legal guardian, who happened to take me in after I attempted to burglarize his store, joined the Alliance Marines when he was young and fought the Turians in the fifties so I decided to follow in his footsteps. And now I'm here talking to Emma, the pretty Alliance nurse and receptionist. And I'm really, really sorry for being such a difficult patient…and a smart ass."

"Well fine then." She fake-pouted and crossed her arms. "Don't tell me the story." I breathed a sigh of relief at her letting it go. "Oh and everything is ready by the way, just lie down and I'll begin the test. And try not to fall asleep during it. Thirty minutes is a long time and you have to stay awake for the whole thing otherwise you might move around, it won't scan properly and it all has to be re-done. Nobody wants that of course." She paused as she started to walk away. "Oh, the compliment and apology did not work in distracting me by the way." She gave a wink before the door closed behind her.

Geez, she's a pretty damned tenacious woman.

LINE BREAK

The next thirty minutes were probably the most boring of my life to date. I tried all the tried and true tactics of keeping yourself conscious. I hummed the few tunes I knew, tried to count the lights around the machine, thought of what I was gonna do once I actually joined the military and generally boring stuff like that, but trust me, when you're in a tiny, enclosed space like that with nothing to do then there's only so long you can fight off the rebellion by your eyelids. I was almost surrendering to sleep when I heard a loud knock on the machine. Now this might not seem like a big deal but when you're in a cramped space for half an hour with no sound except the light hum of the machine, the echoing sound of someone knocking is ear-splitting.

"Ow, motherf-," I brought my hands up, trying to cover my ears in protest.

"Hey! You still awake in there Nathan? I would hate to have to re-calibrate this whole thing and do it again."

"I'm fine, my eardrums might be permanently damaged. Other than that, awake and all good." At that the sound of laughter could be heard echoing from just outside the machine. As I exited the machine, Emma could be seen standing at the doorway, indicating for me to follow her.

We walked back through the hallways and into the main lobby, where she took her spot behind the desk back. "Alright, now the scan results will be completed in about ten minutes. Assuming those are all clear, how soon were you hoping to ship out?"

"As soon as possible I guess. My guardian actually said he's taking care of things though. I'm pretty eager to get out of here and get started so I think he's going to handle it. Said some mysterious things about reaching out to some of his old contacts and pulling some strings so we'll see how that goes."

Reaching into her desk drawers the brunette pulled out a large list that she started paging through on her omni-tool. "…Huh, ok, well, it looks like an airbus headed to Basic is coming through the day after tomorrow, if you want to let him know it might help him out on his end."

"Hold on a second." I looked over to Jack who just gave a nod of assent from behind his magazine. "I guess that'll work then, Jack says he's got it taken care of. Does it say where I'll be assigned?"

"Let me take a look here, alright it looks like this particular bus is assigned to the 1st Battalion, 4th Marine regiment. As long as you pass through the thirteen weeks of training then you'll be assigned to them." At the sound of a loud ding behind her, Emma raised up her index finger and apologized. "Sorry I've got to work with these scans, if you could just sit over there I'll have them up in just a couple minutes now."

"No problem, just let me know whenever things are ready and I'll come back up."

I strolled back into the lobby and took a seat next to the ex-soldier. "So, how did things go?"

"Eh, alright I guess." I shrugged and relaxed back into my chair. "The scans are just about done, it took longer since they had to do a biotic one too but I think they're just about ready. Oh, and I'm assigned to the 1st battalion in the 4th Marine regiment. Other than that I don't really know too much."

He set down his magazine and glanced up at me. "You should probably get all the info you can about them off the 'net possible. Most battalions have their own specialization like heavy artillery, vehicles, et cetera, so you should know what you're getting into."

"Huh, ok then. I do have a bit of time to kill before the results are in, and it's not like I've got better to do anyway. After flirting with the cute receptionist I can't just go back to talking to the old guy. It'll ruin my sterling reputation."

"For your sake Nate, I'm gonna pretend I didn't hear that." He brought the magazine back up to his face and continued our tradition of insults followed by empty threats. "And just remember that you're not a Marine yet, barely an adult and I can still thrash you any day of the week little man."

"Of course you can old-timer." Chuckling, I pulled up the bright orange display and searched for the particular battalion I was to be assigned to. Apparently the "China Marines" had been around for over two-hundred fifty years and were one of the few American Marine units that had survived since the early world wars and were grandfathered directly into Alliance service. According to everything I could find the battalion specialized in hard-hitting, fast moving light infantry whose primary objective was to seek out the enemy force and destroy them in close combat. That sounded like something I could do, being cooped up in a hot vehicle sweating your ass off didn't sound too appealing. Plus, I had to admit to myself, the logo was pretty bad ass, you could do worse than an oriental-looking dragon coiled around a dagger.

I browsed through for a while longer before my search was interrupted by the receptionist, Emma. "Hey Nate, your scans are in if you want to take a quick look. I'll transfer everything to your omni-tool if that's ok."

"Sure thing, Jack'll want to look over everything with me anyway so that'd be great, thanks." She gave a friendly smile as she started typing into the large holographic display on her desk. Nervously, I started scratching at the back of my head as tried to gather the courage to ask her something. "So, I know we were talking a bit earlier about hanging out sometime and I was thinking since, y' know, I'm leaving soon and I'll be gone for a while…"

Thankfully my nervous ramblings were interrupted before I could make an even bigger fool of myself. "There's a new Italian place downtown I'd like to try. I'm free tomorrow night, can I pick you up at six?"

"Yeah, yeah for sure," I stammered like an idiot, "that sounds great. So uh…I guess I'll see you then?"

I started to walk away but was interrupted by a female voice. "Oh, and just wondering. Where did all the stupid comments go? I was waiting for some cheesy pick-up line, seemed like it'd be something you'd pull."

"You're right. That would have been much more in-character for me." I smiled back, waving goodbye as Mr. Ramsey and I left. "Don't worry I'll be re-stocked with the smart-assery come tomorrow night."

"Good, although, I don't think smart-assery is an actual word." In answer to which I simply shrugged. "I'll see you tomorrow Nathan."

I walked out to the skycar, which was already started, courtesy of Jack who had grown tired of waiting. As I climbed up into the passenger seat, he put into drive and quipped. "So, you done flirting with the lady or can we go now?"

A/N: So, I think I've finally got my schedule sorted out. A new chapter will be posted on Fridays at around 3pm as long as nothing unforeseen comes up. I'm comfortably cranking out about 6,000 words a week which puts me at one chapter on average. I decided from the beginning that I wanted to have a steady production rate so between that and the backlog I already have that's what the update schedule will be. Big thanks to everyone who's read, reviewed, followed and favorited!

Another chapter done. Same deal, no big changes just some tweaking here and there.

Unity9: No problem. I like talking to the people who take the time to read my story so as long as work and school don't completely swamp me I'm going to try and give everybody who reviews at least a brief response in answer. And as far as the updating goes, what I wrote above is pretty much how it's going to go unless I get fired from work and stop going to school that's how it'll be…then I'll have other issues though.

SoMuchGerry: Gotcha, that makes sense. I knew going in that the pre-ME1 stuff was going to take a while but once I actually started sitting down and writing it just kind of took a life of its own. Right now I've written over 150k words and I'm just finishing up the year 2179. I've been thinking about making the first book strictly backstory stuff but we'll see how it goes when I get to that point.

UnkownArtyom: Thanks for the review and glad you're liking it! I know that was really the first thing I decided when I started going over my concepts for the story was that Wolf (even though I didn't have the name at the time) would be someone who a rather nice and outgoing, if somewhat snarky, person in social settings but when it comes to other stuff he'd be…not so nice. Sort of a, "combat pragmatist," to use a Tv Tropes term. Also, just wanted to say I'm a big fan of your Mass Eject series and hope you update it soon.