**Sorry for reupload had to fix first upload which just went as a wall of text**

Firstly I have to apologise for the time till this update. I'm so sorry but real life really caught up with me and this new job is really sucking the life out of me so im struggling to do the things I enjoy i.e. writing this story :). and so I present the final part of our opening chapter into Mass Effect with my biggest chapter yet a 7500+ words to make up for the long wait.

Any ways enough fishing for pity I really want to thank everyone who has followed and fav'ed this story so far and actually sticking with it through the prologue that went a lot longer than I had originally planned. Also thank you especially to the people who have given the time to review so far. This time I've learnt my lesson about predicting the next update so I'm just gonna say it'll be out when its out :p. Giving everyone a heads up this is where the story starts to alter canon a little but nothing major which I'll explain in my post comments.

Follow and Favourite if you want. And if you want feel free to review all feedback is welcome.

All rights belong to Bioware.

The rain on the window continued to fall as John stood peering out into the world below. He couldn't help but think back to how much his life had changed over the past 10 years, not just his but Claire's as well. A chance encounter that more than likely saved their lives. After that day when they were given shelter for the night by Anderson their lives had changed and for the better.

John was never a man who believed in destiny as he always felt that a person chose how they wished to life there life and it was always possible to change your life for the better. He had seen too much of the cruelty of man to his brothers to believe that people didn't choose to do bad things. Even with believing all of this he still wondered whether it was fate that meant he would meet David Anderson that day when he saved Johns life. His life had changed so much in only a couple of years and it was all due to the influence of Anderson. Looking back at the last few years it all seemed to happen in a blur, from moments of great hardship but also times of great joy and happiness.

When they came to Anderson's home they met Kahlee and she and Claire seemed to instantly hit it off. While they stayed there John and Claire had to decide what they would do with their future. They did not have much save for a few belongings and the credit chit that John had picked up after killing Mickey. After checking its contents it was discovered that there was quite a substantial amount of credits on it and it was decided that it would be used to pay to send Claire to the best school that they could. He knew it was better to spend it on her as he had never been one for school. While this didn't sit well with Claire at first they really had no idea what to do with all of the credits they had, John had no need for them and he felt that it would be best to use them for Claire's benefit.

The best school just so happened to be an alliance run boarding school which would mean Claire would be away for a very long time leaving John at a loose end.

Since he wouldn't need to look after her all the time now he had no idea what to do with himself until Anderson suggested that he join the Alliance and become a marine. At first John was completely against the idea as it wasn't something that he believed in. All that changed with talking to Anderson, at first John was wary of the man who turned out to be their saviour. John had no idea why he would help them but soon he saw it as his nature that as a marine it was his duty to help those who couldn't help themselves.

It was this reason that John felt he had to join. He was one of those people who had been affected by the selflessness of a marine a person in need and he felt it was now his chance to return the favour in any way he could.

Since John would be away on duty and unable to get away and look after Claire if she needed it they had decided that Claire would stay with Kahlee when she got holidays from school as both had developed a close relationship and she had nowhere else to go. But here in lay a problem since John was her only guardian as they had no family that they knew of so in case there was an emergency that John wasn't able to respond to due to being out of contact for whatever reason it was decided that both Anderson and Kahlee would apply to become her guardians. To this effect Claire changed her second name to Anderson and for all intends and purposes was regarded as David's adopted daughter.

While John had very little education and zero training in any skills that could help him get a job in any other profession he really had no other alternative but to sign up. So at the time an opportunity to join the alliance was quite an attractive one. That being said he was no fool he knew it was a difficult job, one where death was a constant threat.

And so a few months before his 18th birthday he signed up. He passed the tests with flying colours after some tutelage from Anderson and the recruiters seemed very interested in him for his biotic potential. Eventually he shipped out a couple of weeks before Claire had to start school so he could at least spend some time with her before they both had to split up which mostly involved the two of them fighting over why each had to leave then laughing at each other followed by the inevitable sobs from Claire.

Soon enough though John had left and was finishing up basic training. To say he enjoyed basic would be the exaggeration of the century. To him it was hell mostly for the fact that it was during basic that he was finally being trained to use his biotic abilities properly without the fear of charging off a ledge or accidently sending a shockwave into a group of his own squad mates instead of the dummies while taking part in a live fire drill which only ever happened once.

But the main goal of the training was to help him develop his stamina as most of his instructors were quite impressed with both the strength and power of his charges and shockwaves but he required more work on his barriers or warps and it was only in the last few weeks of basic that he realised that he could pull of a rather nasty nova.

And so after graduating from basic he started quickly moved up the ranks due to his hard work and dedication and the occasional good word in someone's ear from Anderson. Different squad mates and the occasional female companion came and went as he was transferred from posting to posting, while John didn't mind as he always seemed to get on well with any of the new squad mates that he had and he really wasn't looking for a long term relationship as meaningless and carefree sex seemed to offer him all the comfort that he required at this period in his life.

Eventually he reached the rank of lieutenant and was given his own unit. It was one of the proudest moments in John's life but soon he would also face one of the toughest periods of his life and a planet he would forever hope to forget.

Akuze.

A lot of what happened had been suppressed so deeply that most of what he could consciously remember was a blur of screaming, blood and thresher maws. Some nights he would wake up in the middle of the night sweating and gasping for breath after reliving what happened again, seeing the faces of the men and women he had led into combat that would never return home. It was the single most terrifying moment of his life.

After he was debriefed and given a pysch evaluation he was deemed to be suffering from PTSD which was to be expected for someone who just went through an experience like that and was therefore given time off to recover until he could pass a psych eval that would clear him for duty.

A couple of days after he was released and placed on medical leave Anderson called in a couple of favours to have John moved to back to Earth for treatment as Claire was on holidays and he knew that seeing her would help him recover. So the plan was to have John come home and spend a week or two before he would have to go back to an alliance barracks, if he was able.

The night John came home Claire didn't see him; he simply went up to one of the spare rooms and stayed in bed till the next day. This was supposed to be a happy time for her as she had just got her exam results from her final exams and she had been accepted into an Alliance engineering program that she had applied for. She knew that John would be happy and proud of her for everything she had achieved but it was now dampened by his fragile state of mind.

At first she wanted to just run up and see him but was advised against it by Anderson who had said to give him some time and space, which he would come down when he was ready. The next day when she saw him for the first time her heart broke to see him as he was. He looked so distant when he stepped down the stairs and Claire couldn't control herself anymore as she just ran straight up to him and grabbed him in a vice grip of a hug.

"John god, I was so worried." She exclaimed as tears started to well up in her eyes.

At first John barely reacted but after he realised who it was he hugged her back with equal vigour. It had been so long since he had seen Claire in person, obviously they had stayed in touch through mails and vids but it was never enough, they were as close as brother and sister that they were basically best friends.

John and Claire would constantly send mails to each other letting the other know how they were getting on followed by the obligatory teasing of each other over any significant 'friends' that they may be seeing.

Standing there hugging Claire, John felt all of his emotions and tensions release as tears roll down from his eyes. "I missed you sis" was all that John could say.

"You ok John?" Claire asked after a minute.

"Yeah I'm fine Claire." He replied his voice braking slightly as he spoke.

Slowly he let the go of the hug and moved to look into Claire's face and showed her the first genuine smile that he had made in what felt like a very long time. Seeing him smile Claire couldn't help but smile back and grabbed him for another hug. "I just so happy that you're ok"

Turning to see Anderson walking down the hall towards them John finally let go of Claire. "Good to see you up on your feet son. We were about to sit down for some dinner you feel like joining us"

"Please John" Claire added as she held on to one of John's arms with her own and slightly pulled him towards the kitchen.

John just nodded his head and allowed himself to be guided towards the table. There wasn't much spoken between everyone eating around the table but that suited John fine. He knew that he had to start getting some normalcy back into his life and this was as good a way as any other to do that. For Claire she didn't care all that mattered was that John was here and safe, obviously not at 100% yet but still he seemed to be getting better.

John stayed there for a couple of days more before he had to return to an alliance base based in Seville. While Claire wasn't happy that she couldn't stay with John any longer she was glad for the time she got to spend with him. She had also managed to blackmail john into keeping in touch with her more often as it seemed the only way that she was ever going to let John leave her sight.

It took a couple of weeks of psych tests and rest until the alliance released him back into active duty and it was only until after a few months after that he could finally sleep a full night without waking up in the middle of the night sweating and shaking from yet another nightmare. It had taken a long time but now he finally felt that he wasn't a complete wreck obviously he still had the odd nightmare every now and again but that now only happened every other week.

His talks with Anderson had helped a lot too. The fact that he had someone to talk and vent to let him get most of the stuff that had bottled up since he made it back. It was during one of his talks to him where he asked how he could ever get over something like this.

"I'll be honest with you John you'll never truly get over something like this the pain of what happened will be with you until the day you die. Events like these are what define people either by braking them or can use it to help change you for the better but only if you are strong enough and don't let it destroy you. You will grieve for the men and women that you fought beside but I cannot promise that the pain of their loss will ever disappear but I tell you now that with time it will lessen. This may sound harsh but you owe it to the memory of your fellow marines to use this to make yourself a better man and a better marine." At hearing Anderson speak these words gave John the will to keep going and try getting his life back. Looking back now had Anderson not told him this John doubted that he would have been able to carry on.

He was given command again and was starting to really feel at home again. It had nearly been a year since the incident on Akuze and John's unit had been on a number of successful missions and according to Anderson there had been a number rumours suggesting that John might be in the running for selection into the N7 program.

To John this was a huge surprise he had no idea that the brass would feel that he was worthy of the program or that they even felt that he was mentally fit after Akuze. According to Anderson it was too early to tell but if John kept himself in the brass's good books and didn't have a massive mental break he was very likely to be asked to join the program.

Luckily John had some shore leave coming up in the next few days that he could hopefully rest and recharge so that he was ready and able both physically and mentally if the call came down. And so to that end when he finally got leave John booked a transport to the colony of Elysium, while it wasn't exactly the place to go for sun sea and sand it did however have a reputation for being a great place to spent a couple of days shore leave as was proved by the large number of off duty marines that could often be found in one of the many bars and taverns on the colony and that is exactly what John needed a place where he could drink himself silly for a couple of days and then get back to work.

When he first arrived on the planet he was surprised by how cold it was as it was just coming into the planets winter season but this was quickly remedied by a quick walk into the nearest bar. Those first two days where nothing but paradise. He spent them drinking and laughing with the other marines in the bar and then spending his nights in the warm comfort of woman whose names had been lost to the annals of time.

On the third day John had spent most of his day looking around at the sights of the colony and was near the edge of the town when the first bombardment began. First to get hit was the Alliance command on the colony; this had the effect of essentially wiping out most of the command on Elysium and leaving them open to attack.

As soon as John heard the attack begin he headed straight back into the centre of town to meet up with whatever remained of the colonies defenders to help in any way he could. He fought and bled with the colonists and remaining marines to protect the planet from what now turned out to be much more than just a raid, a massive pirate and merc force had laid siege to the colony. While John was not the highest ranking officer on site he was the most experienced and he eventually was looked to for what to do so he managed to organise and rally a defence force consisting of what remained of the marine contingent and whatever colonists capable of bearing arms around the main colony to hold off the invaders until the Alliance could send in reinforcements.

John knew that if they could hold out for just a little longer, maybe another day, then the alliance would get here but they were stretched so thin already that a breach in the defence would mean the end for them all so when he heard the report of an attack on the already weakened eastern flank he had no one else to send but himself. By then time he had gotten there most of the troops he had stationed there were already dead or dying with the pirate forces still trying to get past the makeshift blockades.

For nearly eighteen hours John held the flank single-handedly and forced the attacking ground force to retreat several times, constantly swapping his empty weapons for any he could scavenge off of fallen mercs.

When the alliance finally did come the next day their shuttles landed near the centre of the colony near the now smouldering Alliance HQ dropping off squads of marines who quickly moved to sure up the defences. Along with the troops was a command squad that began asking for who was in charge and they were immediately told of the heroics of a lowly lieutenant who rallied the defences and held the line when the battle got to its fiercest.

After the battle John was brought before Alliance command back on Earth, hailed as a war hero and given the Alliances highest honour the Star of Terra. He was paraded around as the poster boy for the Alliance and also sent to join the N7 program. Only at the beginning of his career in the marines and he had already seen and done things that most retired marines had only heard about in stories or rumours.

An N7 marine, the very best of the best and that was what John had to become to finish the program. While his basic training could hardly be described as a walk in the park either what with Gunny Ellison constantly riding him and making sure that he reached his full potential. Most everyone at basic was chewed out by Ellison but for some reason John seemed to get a lot more than most which had him wondering if Anderson had insisted he be pushed as hard as possible, which of course he would never confirm or deny.

The N7 program was the most difficult thing that John had ever experienced, even the warning from Anderson did nothing to prepare him for the mental and physical strain that he was put under. The instructors knew what they were getting, marines and individuals that have shown that they are capable of fighting against any enemy, but that alone would not get you through N7 training. An N7 candidate had to first be broken and then molded and sculpted into an angel of death. A soldier capable of getting the job done no matter the odds or opposition.

When he was awake he was pushed and tested constantly, on many occasions brought to the point that his body literally collapsed and then when he could go no more he was drilled again. If and when he was given time for rest his body ached and sleep was not always a certainty. There was many times where he feared he wouldn't survive till the next day, never mind failing and dropping out, as deaths during training seemed to be expected. But survive it he did.

Of course the first to congratulate him was Anderson; being an N7 himself he knew just how hard it was to finish and exactly what John had to go through to achieve it. Now at twenty six years John spent the next eighteen months on classified missions solving the Alliance's problem that either where too dangerous for a regular unit or one they simply just wanted to be handled quietly.

Meanwhile Claire had finished her Internship with the Alliance and had impressed her supervisors so much that she was working now as part of a new top secret project. For Claire it was heaven, it was possibly one of the few times in her life that she had happy and enjoying life as it came. She still kept in touch with John but recently the time between catching up seemed to be getting long due to John constantly being out of contact for long periods because of his missions.

She of course missed John and hoped he was not in danger, which was nearly impossible for an N7 she knew, but she was so buried in her work that most of the time she barely had time to breath. Honestly she felt privileged to be working at the very top of her field at such a young age. The work was hard but it extremely rewarding and it had opened her to a world she had never seen before. Never in her wildest dreams did she picture herself working with aliens. When she would speak to John she would constantly blush from how he would keep telling her how proud he was of her for making something out of her life.

The project was well under way but was still a number of months away from completion when she happened to have a couple of days off and was currently taking full advantage of it by lounging around in the apartment that she shared with one of the other girls that she worked with but was out at the moment. She was lying on her bed trying to decide what to do with the rest of her day when the terminal at the desk started to ping indicating an incoming call.

Walking over and sitting at the desk she answered the call to see Johns face pop up on the screen. "Hey John" she said at seeing her brother for the first time in three weeks.

"Hey sis how's Arcturus station?" John asked with a smile. He loved talking to Claire and seeing her always seemed to put a smile on his face.

"It's been great but what about you I haven't seen you in so long. I've missed you"

"Wow I never knew you cared so much for me. I should have waited another couple of days just to make you stew" he teased. He knew he missed not talking to Claire but he just couldn't pass up teasing her a little.

Claire knew he was only teasing but it still annoyed her that he seemed to be enjoying it a little too much. "John not fair." She replied giving him a stern look that that was a family trait.

"Ok ok I was only messing with you. I missed you to Claire"

"You better have. So what's up?"

"Oh nothing just got a little time off and I felt like calling my sister to check in." He replied with a cheeky smile.

"As much as I love that you called why do I get the feeling that there is something else"

"Oh well I might have a little bit of news"

"Which is?"

"Well I might have been given an XO's position on a cruiser but I didn't think it was big news."

"John that's brilliant" Claire beamed. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Oh you know I just thought it would be pretty boring considering that you are off doing top secret projects"

"You are so not funny John. We both know your life is much more exciting than mine. So come on tell everything. Where you being posted and when"

"Well actually I'm already there just got in two days ago. You are looking at the new XO for the Tokyo."

"The Tokyo? But isn't that "

"Yep Anderson is my new CO" he said cutting her off before she could finish.

"But I was just talking to him the other day and he didn't say anything"

"Yeah I kinda told him I wanted to tell you the news so he promised not to say anything"

"So I take it now they will stop sending you on all those classified missions since you'll be needed to run the ship"

"Honestly I don't know I suppose that if they really needed me then I'll be shipped out but you never really know"

"Good hopefully from now on you'll be doing something that I won't have to worry so much about"

"Worried about me, you're the one who's still involved with all these black ops science projects. You know you've never actually told me what you're up to"

"You of all people know that I can't talk about it John"

"Oh come on Claire, you can tell me" he begged using his softest voice trying to coax any info out of her. "Even give me a hint. New weapons or armour?"

Claire loved it when she had something to hold over him, it didn't happen often but when it did it always seemed to frustrate John immensely much to her own amusement. "Oh I don't know if I can trust you with such dangerous and sensitive information for all I know you could go off and sell what I tell you to some unscrupulous individuals" she teased.

"Oh please if you had any idea of the stuff I'd done that was classed as top secret. Don't forget Claire I've been trained in some unpleasant techniques for extracting Intel from uncooperative people"

"Haha that may work on people that don't know you like I do John" she giggled.

"Come on Claire you can trust me"

"Fine but only cause you sound really annoying when you beg. I can't say too much obviously but we are working with the turians to develop a new prototype ship that'll be completely different from anything we've built before."

"Wow working with the turians that's got to be an experience. I had the pleasure of working with a squad of them before and to say they have no sense of humour is an understatement"

"Yeah tell me about it they are so intense"

"So my little sis is working on a top secret WMD with the turians, anything else I should know about. Any guys I should know about?"

"Shut up John. I'm not seeing anyone at the moment"

"Well make sure anyone who trys their luck knows that they'll be answering to an N7 if they try anything funny" he added.

"Oh grow up John. Sure what about you I'm sure there are tons of desperate women throwing themselves at the Lion of Elysium." Claire couldn't help but use the nickname that a lot of media outlets had started to call John since his heroics on Elysium.

"Haha I was only messing Claire but you know I hate that name" he winked. "So what else is new with you?"

John still stood staring out the window of his apartment provided to him by the Alliance in Vancouver while he awaited redeployment. Word had come down from HQ that Captain Anderson was being deployed on a top secret mission and at first John thought that as Staff Commander he was going to be left in charge of the Tokyo as acting Captain until Anderson returned but it turned out it was a new command for a new ship and he got to hand pick his own crew so obviously he took John with him. John wasn't privy to the rest of the crew or even what ship they would be serving on but he had been assured by Anderson that the ship was incredible and that the crew was the best of the best.

Looking at his Omni tool he saw that it was time to go so he grabbed his bag from the bed and left. Walking out of the building into the street the air still held some of the moisture from the storm earlier in the day that had just passed. Street lights began to flicker on as the last of the suns light dipped below the horizon. It hadn't been a cold day but now in the early evening a chill started to creep through the air and John could see his breath as he walked the short distance to the bay that held his new posting.

Passing through a number of security posts on his way being screened and scanned at every checkpoint John began to realise just how classified this mission was. Finally walking into the main docking bay he got the first look at the new ship where he would live and work for the foreseeable future. Quite unlike anything he had ever seen before in his life the SSV Normandy was laid out right in front of him in all her glory and splendour. He stood there for a moment just enjoying the view before his senses told him that there was someone approaching behind him only to turn around to see the ship's captain walking toward him.

Dropping his bag by his side his right hand came up on instinct to salute the man now standing in front of him. "Captain" he spoke.

"At ease Shepard. She's quite a sight isn't she." Anderson replied returning Johns salute.

"Yes she is sir. I've never seen anything like her before. Looks more like a turian cruiser than an Alliance frigate"

"Haha who do think helped build it. This is the Alliances new pet project, paid for by the Galactic Council and designed in conjunction with the turians."

"Turians sir" asked John. "I know we have pretty good relations with them at the moment but since when have they built us a ship and given us command of it"

"They haven't given us the keys yet so don't start rushing off to see what she can do. They've got one of their own here to supervise our shake down runs to see how we operate. He's one of their best and a council SPECTRE no less. His name is Nihlus, I'll introduce you to him he's really looking forward to meeting you and was impressed with all of the stuff you've been done as well"

John didn't know why but it seemed that there was something that Anderson wasn't telling him but he assumed it had something to do with him and this Nihlus. "Looking forward to it sir" was all he replied.

"Good lets go and I'll show you around and introduce you to the crew" Anderson said as he led the way onto the ship.

Walking on to the ship for the first time John took in just how different it was to any of the ships that he had served on before. After being introduced to the ships pilot who seemed to be quite different to any he'd seen fly before they moved to the CIC which was full of advanced hardware and sensors with a large Galaxy map in the middle of the deck. After talking for a moment with a number of the crew they walked down one set of stairs to the second deck where most of the living quarters where situated as well as the med-bay.

Walking first over to one of the stations where there was a single crew member working. Turning to the two of them he saluted once they reached him.

"Captain. Commander" said the marine.

"At ease lieutenant. Commander this is Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko" Anderson said introducing the two men.

"It's a pleasure to meet you sir" Alenko said as he shook the hand that John offered.

"Good to meet you lieutenant" replied John.

"Alenko here is our resident combat medic so he'll look after you out there in the field" joked Anderson. "He's also pretty good with tech and has biotic abilities that should complement your own in combat"

"Is that so? I look forward to seeing what you can do lieutenant"

"We'll catch up with you later lieutenant I've got to finish showing the Commander here around"

Finally saying their farewells they left Alenko at his station and walked into the med-bay. As the doors opened John stepped in to see an elderly woman standing at a console who he assumed to be the ship's doctor talking to one of her assistants.

"Doctor I'd like to introduce our XO" Anderson said trying to get the doctors attention.

"Oh Captain I didn't hear you come in. Hello Commander, David has told me all about you" Doctor Chakwas replied with her beautiful English accent.

"It's a pleasure Doc" replied John.

"I'm just showing Shepard here around so he can get a feel for the place. I thought it wise to show him the med-bay as knowing him I can see him spending a lot of time in here" joked Anderson.

"Well I'm sure that the Commander will do his very best to try to stay out of the line of fire as much as possible. Isn't that right Commander?"

"Yes ma'am" replied John. John couldn't help but feel slightly intimidated by the elderly doctor as she seemed to speak with an authoritative confidence that could only have come from years of experience of dealing with immature marines but also there was something about her that made John feel like a young child being scolded by a mother.

"Well now that you've put my XO in his place Doctor how is the crew I assume all the medical checks are done" asked Anderson.

"Yes Captain aside for the Commander who I've yet to screen for obvious reasons all crew members have been scanned and there is nothing that we need to be worried about. Apart from lieutenant Alenkos migraines and another marine who has a rash in a rather unpleasant place all crew are in perfect health. I'll have my full report ready for you by the en d of the day."

"Thank you Doctor. That will be all"

Leaving the med-bay now the two men walked across the mess towards the elevator to make their way to the lower level that held the engineering section and the landing bay/garage. Stepping into the elevator Anderson hit the button to head down before turning to John. "So what to do you think so far?"

"It's a fine ship sir. The crew all seem to have their heads screwed on, if they're as good as I think they are I'm not sure what I really will have to do around here. I doubt I'll really have much to do to get them to work to their best, you can see it in their eyes sir they are so proud to be here under your command"

"Haha that may be so but don't worry Shepard I'm sure there will be enough action to keep you occupied"

"If there is one thing I can complain about it would be how slow this elevator is sir" John replied with a smile.

"I hear that I've already had a couple of engineers look at it and they assure me that they have a solution but I'm not holding out" returned Anderson.

Finally after what was an agonizingly long time the elevator arrived at the garage level and they stepped out. "This is the garage where we've got our mako, crew lockers and quartermaster. Currently at the moment we've only got half our complement of marines but I'm sure that you'll be able to make up for any lack in numbers"

"They don't teach us to be mild mannered in N7 training you know that sir"

"No they don't. Come on I'll show you the core"

Turning to walkthrough a sealed door into the main drive core of the Normandy John was astonished to see such a large core on a ship this size. The last time he had seen one this size he had been serving a term aboard a dreadnaught. For a few moments John just stood there staring at this wonder of human ingenuity when he was brought out of it by Anderson speaking again.

"This is what makes this ship so special the drive core makes us able to run faster and for longer than any ship in the Council fleets. Plus add in our new Internal Emission Sink and we can run quick and quiet in any system we like and no one will even know we are there. This gives us the ability to perform surgical strikes deep behind enemy lines without the enemy knowing we were even there"

"If that's true sir then this ship could be used for so many different operations sir from quick attacks to intel gathering behind enemy lines"

"That it could. This section is run by our Chief Engineer Lieutenant Adams who keeps this ship running at 100 percent. He's served with me before and I've always been impressed with how he runs things. Obviously as you can imagine with a new ship like this we needed to have the best engineers available to make sure things run smoothly, so I might have requisitioned a number of the people who developed the project. I believe you are familiar with one of our Service Chiefs" said Anderson while motioning to someone standing over at a terminal.

John couldn't believe his eyes there standing on the same ship that he was going to be serving on was Claire. Without any further notice he started to walk over and was surprised when she turned and saluted with a large smile on her face.

"Commander" Claire spoke as she smiled at the brother that she had not seen in person for many months.

"At ease Chief" John said as he returned the salute."How long have you been aboard?"

"Captain Anderson had me stationed here as soon as he found out that I had worked on the development project. Figured that since I had a hand in building it then I'd be of use if something was to go wrong"

"You could have told me"

"And what ruin the surprise or the look on your face" Claire said obviously very impressed with the fact that she had surprised John.

"We felt this would be a nice surprise" Anderson added as he walked over to the pair. "Service Chief Anderson here is one of the best engineers the Alliance has at the moment so who better to help run this ship"

"Is that so?"

"Guess you're not the only Shepard that's the best in their field" Claire said with a smile. "Maybe now I'll be able to make sure you're not getting up to too much trouble from now on" she giggled.

"And what makes you think you'll be able to do that, you do know I outrank you"

"As much as I'm enjoying this family reunion we need to head up to meet with Nihlus Shepard. You can continue this later. As you were Claire." said Anderson as he turned and started heading out of engineering.

"We'll catch up later Claire ok" John added as he headed off to catch up with Anderson.

"Sure see you later John"

Catching up to Anderson at the elevator John saw what he assumed was a satisfied smirk on his face. "Thanks for the heads up"

"Haha even I know that never to takes sides against a Shepard"

"Coward" muttered John as the elevator began to ascend to the upper deck. "So what can you tell me about our mission sir?"

"Our job is to take the Normandy out to do a few test runs to check out the new systems. We'll be running out to one of our colonies and on the way we have to monitor how we are running"

"I see and what about Nihlus sir. If you don't mind my saying it seems a bit much to send a Spectre for a shakedown run". As the doors opened the two men exited and started to make their way to briefing room where Shepard assumed Nihlus was waiting for them.

"Nihlus is here representing both the Council and the Turian Hierarchy. They've both invested heavily in this project and want to make sure we are going to be putting the resources to good use"

"Understood sir" replied John as they proceeded to enter the briefing room where standing with his back to them was Nihlus standing in the middle of the room with his hands resting behind his back.

What surprised John first was the fact that he stood in full combat armour while the ship was still in port but assumed as a Spectre he always wanted to be ready for any attack at any moment.

"Captain I assume we are nearly ready to make way" Nihlus spoke while turning to acknowledge their presence.

"Yes we are just waiting for final clearance from command and then we will be under way. This is our XO Staff Commander John Shepard" said Anderson introducing John to the turian Spectre.

"Ah yes Commander I've been very looking forward to meeting you". Mandibles twitching as he looked over the human male standing in front of him. "I've read a number of the reports from many of your missions including what you did on Elysium. I look forward to seeing how you handle yourself while we complete our mission"

"Likewise" responded John.

"Right I think it's about time we get this show on the road. Commander head up to the bridge and tell Joker to get under way when the clearance comes in then come back here so we can go over the mission brief for the tests we will be running"

"Yes sir" was all that John replied before snapping a salute and turning on his heel to leave the briefing room.

Now alone in the briefing room Anderson turned to Nihlus before speaking. "So what is your first impression?"

Nihlus stood in silence for a moment still looking to where Shepard had left considering his response. "He holds himself quite well for someone who is still quite young even by your standards but that could be due to what he has experienced at places like Akuze. Tall and well built his stature must help him inspire the men he leads and I would assume intimidate those who stand in his way these will be key tools that will help him. While his combat skills and biotic ability are impressive it takes much more than that to make it as a Spectre so I shall have to see how he performs in combat situations before I make my decision"

"Well after we deliver the beacon back to the Citadel, I'm sure he'll get the chance to show you what he's capable of."

So here is where ill explain some of my decisions for the story.

First I had John survive both Akuze and Elysium because I felt it would help create a different and stronger character for what I wanted in the story. I knew i didnt want a cold bastard of a character so I didn't go for Torfan.

Probably the strangest thing in this chapter that wasnt really explained was Kahlee and Anderson's relationship. Basicly the way I'm seeing it for the story is that they are very much together and in "wuv" but not married with Anderson still serving actively in the Alliance while Kahlee most works on research projects for the Alliance R&D on Earth.

Them adopting Claire served a dual purpose of becoming her guardian but also protecting her in case any Reds wanted to get back at John. And I have some cool ideas to play with about her identity further down the line.

And then with Claire I could really do whatever I wanted since shes my OC and had to justify her being on the normandy in the first place so I made her a super engineer.

Thats pretty much it so Bye-Bye until next time.