The chair's back was digging into her arms. Shepard tried to shift her position to alleviate the pressure, but with her ankles cuffed to the chair, there wasn't enough room to move. She winced when her limbs started to go numb. She sighed. Soon, the pinpricks will start and she wouldn't be able to massage or stomp it away.

She cringed as it finally started. The pain sporadically shot up her arms and legs, and there was nothing she could do about it. She bit her lip in frustration. It wasn't as painful as a gunshot, a knife cut, or broken bones, but it was extremely annoying.

Shepard tried to focus her mind elsewhere to ignore the pain. Why was she here? Every now and then she questioned herself why she fought. Simply put, the Alliance was her family. She was born and raised on the various ships her parents served. She knew nothing else. This war put her family in danger and she had to fight to protect it. However, she didn't believe in the reason for the war. Technically, the humans did break the law, and if she looked at it from the perspective of the turians, she somewhat understood their reaction, even if it was extreme.

It was almost like saying you didn't know there was a law against a crime you just committed. Well, there was really no way for her kind to have known that starting up and using a Mass Relay was illegal, but all this bloodshed could have been prevented if they had just laid down arms and talked. It didn't help that the turians' reaction was shoot first, ask questions later, but it's been years since the start of the First Contact War. Neither did it help that both sides were stubborn mules.

Personally, Shepard was tired of the war.

She sighed in relief as the pain stopped. Despite her uncomfortable position, she could take this opportunity to catch some shut eye. Although, she didn't relish the thought of her nightmares coming back, ever since that mission in—

A door slid open somewhere to her right, followed by footsteps that approached her. The hood over her head was lifted off. She blinked and cringed as she adjusted to the light. Finally being able to focus, she looked up to the face of another male turian. He also had blue markings, though only on his mandibles, and they were a different shade.

Shepard looked around her. She was in a typical interrogation room, with a couple of cameras pointing at her, and a two way mirror across her. There was a simple metal table in front of her and another chair. The turian took the chair and sat across her. He didn't say anything and just stared at her. Not knowing what else to do, she stared back. He tilted his head and one of his mandibles twitched. She wondered what that meant.

Another minute passed before he mumbled something and looked down to tap some commands into his omni-tool. He looked up and started speaking. She frowned and was about to tell him that she didn't have a translation implant (don't these people communicate?), when a voice came out from somewhere above her.

"Commander Shepard, my name is Lantar Sidonis, and I'll be conducting this interview."

"You mean interrogation."

Unlike the translation of his words, hers was instantaneous because he immediately chuckled. "No, I really meant interview. There will be an interrogation, just not now."

Shepard grunted in reply. No translation required.

"Name and rank."

Just as she was trained, she gave her full name and rank, and then threw in her birth date, identification number. Was the Geneva Convention even relevant here? She did hope though that the turians had some equivalent that they followed. Either way, giving her personal information meant nothing.

He paused and blinked. Did she say something funny? It was probably nothing though, since he continued with a question. "How many were there in the team you sent to infiltrate the outpost?"

"Four, including myself." The faces of her team flashed in her mind. "What happened to Jenkins' body? What happened to the others?"

Lantar quirked an eyebrow plate. "I thought I was asking the questions." Shepard just glared at him. Assuming she was referring to her felled teammate, "We buried him on the spot. The others escaped for all I know. They'd better have some sort of survival gear. Nothing there is edible for humans."

They did. She just hoped it would last them till rescue arrives. Now that she thought about it, she never stuck around to see how her people treated the fallen enemy. All she could do was hope they were treated with the same respect, assuming that this turian was being truthful.

After a pause, "What were you hoping to accomplish in this mission?"

"Why ask questions which you already know the answers to?"

Lantar shrugged. "Consider this a getting to know you session."

"You haven't really asked any questions about me really."

"Patience, Shepard. We'll get to that later," he replied with a tilt of his head. He got up and stood behind her. He tapped her cuffs, and a now familiar set of beeps sounded off from his omni-tool. Her wrists were still cuffed, but free from each other again. She rubbed her numb arms and legs, which were also released from the chair.

Shepard sat back down and glared at him. "Data. Anything we could get our hands on. Maybe communication protocols and encryption keys. If not, equipment or code to reverse engineer."

"That makes sense," Lantar said, nodding. "If you were able to retrieve something, what would you have done with it?"

Shepard raised an eyebrow. This was getting ridiculous. She didn't need to answer the questions for them to know what she'd do. If there was a point to all this, she couldn't figure out what it was. "Uh… I'd give it to my superiors or have some analysts figure it out first."

"If it was ridiculously simple, like a substitution cipher, or you had an analyst at hand and he or she figured it out, what would you do?"

"That doesn't change anything."

"If the information you retrieved could end the war, but you have to act on it immediately, would you? Say you require clearance, but that would take too long. Would you go ahead without it or wait and hope there's enough time… assuming you even get clearance."

"This war needs to end," Shepard answered. It was almost a whisper.

Lantar nodded. He opened his mouth to ask the next question, but paused. He tilted his head to the side, as if listening. Someone behind the two-way mirror? He nodded again and looked back at Shepard. "You rose up the ranks quickly after you enlisted. Why haven't you been promoted past Lieutenant-Commander?"

The sudden change in topic threw Shepard off. She blinked away her confusion and considered the question. It never really bothered Shepard that she was… stuck as a Lieutenant-Commander. What did was when someone would ask her about it, especially when the focus was on rank, insinuating that she was somehow… defective. "Rank isn't as important as what you did with it."

Lantar was about to ask a follow up question, but whoever was speaking into his ear must have told him to move on. Besides, Shepard looked like she didn't want to continue with this line of questioning. "Going back to the outpost, how did the Alliance learn of its existence and location?"

There was no harm in telling him the truth. "We did our own… interviewing."

"I see," Lantar said, followed by a short cough. He leaned forward with his elbows on the table. Shepard noted a slight change in his demeanor, though she couldn't quite name it. "So, how about sharing your communication protocols with us?"

"They change the key at irregular intervals. I couldn't tell you how to crack our encryption even if I wanted to." Her eyebrows furrowed as she tried to figure out the change. That tone and body language… Was he… "Which I don't, by the way."

"True," Lantar said as he got up. "So, I was thinking, what would you say to a drink after this is all over?"

Shepard stared at him, dumfounded. …flirting?

Her expression must have really been hilarious because her interrogator was doubling up in laughter, the flanging in his voice amplifying the sound. Lantar straightened up and moved to leave.

Shepard regained her composure and got up as he headed for the door. "Why even hold me prisoner? I don't know anything."

Lantar paused right before the door. It sensed his presence and slid open.

"I'm just a soldier."

He turned to answer, and that was when she punched him.