The good mood only lasted until the initial production meeting. With everyone gathered in the comm room, the producers opened a large duffel bag, before producing a clutch of rifles.

"For insurance reasons, we aren't allowed to let you use your regular firearms during filming, as someone in legal was worried you might injure a random passer-by, or write off a Geth unit if something went wrong." Al Ursus, the chief producer said. "These are blank-fire-only M-7 lancers, which have been modified only to fire a mass effect field when triggered."

"With respect, Al," Shepard said. "Can I ask which museum you raided to get those things? They were front line issue during the damned First Contact War, and haven't been used since the alliance got hold of more modern weapons when the council stepped in after Shanxi and stopped the fighting."

"I know, Shepard. Legal put them in a crate, and informed me that not using the damn things would invalidate our insurance. They are known for being a collector's item, and reported to be very accurate, as well as not using thermal clips, which saves us a bit of money."

"I guess we won't complain too much, then." Shepard commented dryly. "I'm going to give you an all-areas pass on my spectre authority. Don't abuse it."

"I won't" The producer said, before opening a large file.

"First, we'll need some shots of the Normandy heading for and jumping through the relay…"

-000-

Despite the slight breach of protocol that wearing armour and carrying weapons aboard ship formed, Shepard kitted himself out on the main deck, pulling his gear out of the locker next to medbay, before heading up the stairs, followed by one of the dozens of camera drones that had become ubiquitous aboard the ship since the film crew arrived.

Just as he got to the entrance into CIC, Jeff Moreau, aka Joker, began his running commentary of the approach to the Charon relay, making several gratuitous flypasts of gas giants for the entertainment of the cluster of ships being used for tracking shots by the SPECTRE filming department. Normally, it would have just been audible to anyone in the cockpit, but, for the sake of the film crew, the commentary was being broadcast over the tannoy.

"The Arcturus Prime relay is in range, Initiating transmission sequence." He said, as Shepard walked past Doctor Chakwas, the Normandy's chief medic, into CIC, before stepping past Jenkins, his ground team leader and primary back-up.

"We are connected," Joker continued. "Calculating transit mass and destination." As he said the next sentence in his checklist, Shepard stepped past XO Presley, who was doing the sums at the Nav terminal, before continuing into the main control section, home to the wide range of sensor techs, gunnery engineers and heat control experts who enabled Joker to do his job without having to worry about the hundred and one ways a modern starship could go wrong.

"The relay is hot. Acquiring approach vector." Joker continued, the minus one warning causing Shepard to thumb active the magnetic fastenings on his boots, simply to avoid any embarrassing stumbles.

"All stations secure for transit."

At the final warning, Shepard braced for the jump, but continued towards the flightdeck.

Finally, when he reached the flight deck, a variety of warning lights flashed green, telling Joker it was safe to launch.

"The board is green, approach run has begun." Joker finished, as the Normandy made her final run in towards the relay.

"Hitting the Relay in three, two, one." Joker counted down as the kilometres fell rapidly, before the Normandy was hammered forwards, as if a giant had just drop-kicked the ship towards a distant set of posts.

After the relay jump was over, which seemed like a heartbeat and an eternity at the same time, Joker began his arrivals checklist of systems.

"Thrusters, check. Navigation, check. Internal emissions sink engaged. All systems online. Drift, Just under fifteen hundred k."

"Fifteen hundred is good." Nilhus stated, from his position immediately behind the pilot, doing his best to seem abrupt and grumpy. "Your captain will be pleased." He finished, before turning away from the flightdeck and heading down to the communication centre, where the vessel's naval commander, Captain Anderson, was waiting for him.

"I hate that guy." Joker muttered, not leaving enough time for Nihlus to get out of hearing range, leading to a muffled grunt of amusement from the Turian SPECTRE at the comment from his primary drinking partner and fellow Azureaddict.

"Nihlus gave you a compliment, so you hate him?" Kaiden asked, doing his best to act as if it was banter, rather than something he was reading off of the terminal in front of him.

"You remember to zip up your jumpsuit on the way out of the bathroom, that's good." Joker replied, keeping his eyes on the flight display, rather than the script in a small window inside it. "I just jumped us halfway across the galaxy and hit a target the size of a pinhead. So that's incredible."

Behind him, Shepard glanced over at Kaiden, before glancing upwards slightly in exasperation.

"Besides." The primary pilot of a ship that served as the mobile base of operations of several Spectres continued, still reading from the script, "Spectres are trouble. I don't like having him on board. Call me paranoid." He finished, as Shepard grinned, amused by the roles the script seemed to be creating.

"You're paranoid." Kaiden retorted, deviating from the script. "The council helped fund this project. They have a right to send someone to keep an eye on their investment."

"Yeah, That is the official story." Joker replied, minimising his script. "but only an idiot believes the official story."

"You always expert the worst." Shepard interjected.

"So there's more going on here than the captain is letting on." Joker commented; aiming the shot at the filming team ensconced in the lab behind med-bay.

"Joker! Status report." Anderson broke in, using the intercom, and presumably listening in via the microphones scattered around the ship.

"Just cleared the mass relay, captain." Joker replied, going professional again. "Stealth Systems engaged, everything looks solid."

"Good." Anderson said. "Find a comm buoy and link us into the network. I want mission reports relayed back to alliance brass before we reach Eden prime.

"Aye, aye, captain." Joker responded. "Better brace yourself, sir. I think Nihlus is heading your way."

"He's already here, Lieutenant." Anderson responded, knowing that the editing systems would be able to remove the sound of glasses being filled with dual chirality whiskey, based on a blend of grains that produced a chirality free flavouring protein. "Tell Commander Shepard to meet me in the comm room for a debriefing."

"On my way." Shepard responded, before turning to leave the flight deck.

"I think he sounded angry." Joker responded.

"Only when he's talking to you." Kaiden responded, before turning back to the console on which he was trying to look busy without pressing any of the buttons, most of which, according to Joker, could do anything from triggering a barrel roll to activating the fire suppression systems.

As Shepard walked back down the ship, he could hear the chief engineer, Adams, talking to Presley.

"I'm telling you, I just saw him," Presley said, holding his ever-present datapad and reading off of it, acting like it was mission data. "He just marched by like he was on a mission."

"He's a Spectre." Adams responded, ad-libing the line without the benefit of a prompt sheet. They're always on a mission."

Shepard continued past, reaching Jenkins, who didn't want a screen role of any duration for fear of repercussions against his family.

"I'm telling you," The marine said, slightly uncomfortable with even the limited exposure. "I grew up on Eden Prime, Doc. It's not the kind of place Spectres visit. There's something Nihlus isn't telling us about this mission."

"That's crazy." Chakwas responded. "The captain's in charge here. He wouldn't take orders from a Spectre.

Shepard passed them before they could say more, although he heard the discussion continuing behind him as he stepped into the comm-room, seeing Captain Anderson dart out of shoot, taking with him two glasses of whiskey.

"Commander Shepard." The Turian spectre said, reading the lines off of a board one of the production assistants was holding up over Shepard's right shoulder. "I was hoping you would get here first. It'll give us a chance to talk."

"What about?" Shepard responded, relying on his old acting skills to recall the complicated series of questions he was supposed to ask.

"I'm interested in this world we're going to, Eden Prime. I've heard it has quite a reputation for large numbers of extremely generous Asari."

"CUT!" One of the film team yelled. "That wasn't in the script, Nihlus, and I have no idea what PC would make of it. Asari are trying to avoid being depicted as sex objects in human and Turian media, and we cannot have a SPECTRE, of all people, promoting that image. The fines would be massive."

"Nihlus, remember the script." Shepard reminded him, noticing the slight tremble of the turian's shoulders. "You can find a spare Asari later."

"Yes, Commander." Nihlus responded, deadpan, not allowing his embarrassment to colour his voice, before clocking the production assistant behind Shepard. Her skin was an almost perfect azure blue, like the bottom of a sandy lagoon viewed from space. Her crests were unusually short on top of her head, but extended around the sides to a greater extent than usual. When she noticed the unintentional stare, Shepard was surprised to see a blush spread across her cheeks, before she looked away from the predatory Turian.

"Right, we'll go again. From Shepard's line."

"What about?" Shepard asked again, trying to break into the byplay off camera.

"I'm interested in this world we're going to, Eden Prime. I've heard it is quite beautiful."

"They say it's a paradise." Shepard replied, meeting the turian's eyes and making a 'later' gesture below the line of the camera.

"Yes… a paradise. Serene. Tranquil. Safe. Eden Prime has become something of a symbol for your people, hasn't it?" The Turian read, keeping one eye on the furiously blushing production aide.

"Proof that humanity can not only establish colonies across the galaxy, but protect them. But how safe is it really?" As he read out the next line, the Normandy swerved slightly, skimming the hull of a dreadnought and passing inside its escort shell.

"Did you know something?" Shepard challenged, not bothering with the FM handles or anything that fancy to retain his balance.

"Your people are still newcomers, Shepard. The galaxy can be a very dangerous place." The Turian spectre continued, bracing himself slightly against the console out of shot. "Is the Alliance truly ready for this?"

"I think it's about time we told the Commander what's really going on." Anderson broke in, coming down the ramp from behind the doors, which had served him as an extremely efficient lurking place, handing off the now empty whiskey glasses just before coming into shot.

"This mission is far more than a simple shakedown run." Nihlus said, his mandibles flaring in the Turian equivalent of a grin.

"I figured there was something you weren't telling us." Shepard responded, sticking to the script.

"We're making a covert pick-up on Eden Prime." Anderson explained, as if Shepard hadn't already been made aware during the pre-deployment briefing. "That's why we needed the stealth systems operational."

"What's the payload?" Shepard asked, backing the all business card to the hilt.

"A research team on Eden Prime unearthed some kind of beacon during an excavation." Anderson stated. "It was Prothean."

"I thought the Protheans vanished 50,000 years ago?" Shepard asked.

"Their legacy still remains: the Mass relays, the citadel, our ship drives - it's all based on Prothean technology."

"This is big, Shepard." Anderson broke in, needlessly. "The last time humanity made a discovery like this, it jumped our technology forward two hundred years. But Eden prime doesn't have the facilities to handle something like this. We need to bring it back to the citadel for proper study."

"Obviously, this goes beyond mere human interests, commander." Nihlus stated. "This discovery could affect every species in Council space."

Restraining the urge to roll his eyes, Shepard replied; "it never hurts to have a few extra hands on board."

"The beacon is not the only reason I'm here, commander." Nihlus explained.

"Nihlus wants to see you in action, commander. He's here to evaluate you."

"Guess that explains why I bump into him every time I turn around." Shepard commented, pretending it wasn't because the turian was after a drink, some money, or both.

"The alliance has been pushing for this for a long time." Anderson stated, referring to the appointment, due in several months, of the first human council member. "Humanity wants a larger role in shaping interstellar policy. We want more say with the citadel council."

A/N. This has been ready for a while, but I've had real life getting in the way. I should be able to post more again now.

Please send me reviews.

Firecadet