Dr Shepard, I Presume

by darthsquirt2

Instead of enlisting in the Alliance marine corps when she turned 16, Shepard enrolled in Vancouver university instead. Years later, in 2182, she is one of the senior research staff in the prothean archives on Mars. That is to say, until Captain David Anderson pays her a visit to recruit her for the maiden voyage of the S.S.V. Normandy, and its top secret mission to Eden Prime.

4. Ready to Drop

"I'm not saying it again, Shepard. The answer is no."

"Captain Anderson, I must-"

"No, Shepard."

Anderson stepped into the elevator, Shepard hot on his heels Nihlus calmly stepped in after them, and Anderson hit the controls to lower them down to the cargo bay.

"I need to go down with the shore party." Shepard declared, a fierce intensity behind her spectacles.

"Shepard, I just said-"

"Can Lt. Alenko or Cpl. Jenkins secure the beacon? Do they have degrees in prothean studies that I'm unaware of? Have they spent years studying the only other beacon humanity has ever encountered?"

"Shepard-"

"How about surgical training? There's going to be casualties down there. Military and civilian."

"Alright!" Anderson cave in, his hand massaging his temples. "You've made your point."

"I will secure a path for your ground team." Nihlus declared, all of his former levity banished. "Your marines will escort Dr. Shepard to the dig site, where we will establish a perimeter with any survivors we encounter while she secures the beacon."

Anderson sighed, but was forced to concede. As much as the Alliance would like it otherwise, this was Nihlus' mission. As a SpecTRe, he had command. The elevator hit the bottom deck.

"Fine." Anderson relented as they stepped forward into the cargo bay. "I'll prep a secondary team for perimeter detail and triage. Just get me an LZ."

Nihlus nodded, then hit the control to lower the cargo door.

"Nihlus!" Cpl. Jenkins exclaimed, just noticing the turian. "You're coming with us?"

Nihlus grinned back at the young man, one hand grasping a handhold at the edge of the ramp tightly. "I move faster on my own." Then he let go, and was swallowed up by the winds.

"New mission parameters." Anderson addressed Lieutenant Alenko." You're to escort Dr. Shepard here to these coordinates." Alenko's omni-tool flashed as it received the data. "Regroup with any survivors you encounter and establish a secure LZ. There is an ABSOLUTE priority asset that we need to recover." Kaidan's eyes grew wide at that. "Everything else is secondary."

"Sir," he began tentatively, "ABSOLUTE priority?"

"You heard me, Lieutenant!" Anderson barked, causing Kaidan to snap to attention.

"Yes, sir!"

Lt. Alenko would've groaned in any other situation. Unfortunately, he'd just been handed a mission profile dire enough to merit N7 response. And he had at his disposal a single marine, and a babysitting job. And an ABSOLUTE-level objective mean one thing to him: no C.A.S. They couldn't risk the Normandy to hostile fire, even with the stealth systems.

"Good. Because you just volunteered to carry Dr. Shepard down. She isn't trained on the drop harness."

And now Lt. Alenko did groan.