Love's Constant Choice part 1
On board the Normandy recovery operations began. Using the mine as a makeshift prison, they shuttled pirates down from disabled ships and escape pods. A prison ship was dispatched from the citadel to deal with the prisoners. There were services for the crew members who had been killed. The four of the five disabled ships were common freighters. The fifth was unique among the ones that had ambushed them, it was designed for longer range operations then the others. It had more fuel and a core that was able to sustain speeds for longer.
According to Citidel Spectre Law, all property of pirates who's owner could not be identified or was owned by the pirates was property of the Spectre to offset costs. Three of the freighters ID's had been changed so many times that it was impossible to determine who's they had been originally. One of them was the distance freighter. Shepard considered his three new ships. Money was tight, however, he needed to start his Roanoke Gambit quickly. Three ships, soon as he could crew them with trusted personnel he could start the search for a system that they could work with.
He leaned back in his chair. Command weighed on him. While Jacob, Kelly, and the rest of the senior staff would handle implementation, he had to decide what to do. Of the four crew members who had been seriously injured in the attack, Ziara was still in danger. She had gotten blood in her lungs, bacteria everywhere, and her face was not healing as well as it should from having her mask smashed in by the pirate leader. Chakwas was still trying to get the pieces of glass out. Her face would be covered in scars. Fari, her ship mate from before, had been by her side almost the entire time.
He had to write the letters and pay the death benefits of the crew members who had been killed. That was going to be painful as well. He did not know any of them well, but their deaths still weighed on his mind. A lot of people had died under his command in all the years. There were times he wondered if it was worth all the bloodshed. His eyes flicked up to the array of ships he had slowly been adding to.
His father had been killed doing this kind of work. However, before he had died, he instilled into John the importance of what they did in the Military. However, when dealing with dead friends and subordinates, it was difficult for him to muster up much enthusiasm for protecting people who he would never see. Cognitive dissonance uncle Alonzo called it. Dissonance between "I'm Saving Lives with what I'm doing" and "Lives are being taken by what I'm doing."
In the final analysis, Shepard came back to one thing. He knew in his heart of hearts, he was doing the right thing. It drove him, made him happy. Before Tali, had had been married to it. Now, he also had to think about her. The Reapers are coming. He had to prepare for that, he would find a way to win. He would find a way for Tali.
It was late. Tali came in and fell into bed. Shepard could tell that she was asleep almost before she hit the covers. She had been working hard and the loss of two of her engineers did not help. She was beautiful asleep. He sat there for a moment and just watched her, listening to her breathing. He looked at the paperwork. It could be done in the morning.
He went to bed, curled up with Tali in his arms and went to sleep. He didn't know when Tali woke up, but when he woke up, she was gone again. He plodded back to his paperwork. He decided to take the ships with him and sell them where he could. The Citadel likely, the council would want to give him his next assignment. That would require him to have Joker slave the ships together. Less then optimal but it would have to do.
Then he made a quick tour of the ship. Informing his staff and the crew of what they would have to do. The last parts of the hole were being patched by Songbird and another engineer. Songbird in her exosuit seemed at home floating outside the ship. She was quite good at navigating in three dimensional space. Then again, her species was the only known sentient species that could fly on their homeworld. Shepard almost felt sorry for them, coming onto the galactic scene right as the Reapers returned a few hundred more years and they might have been the first ones to emerge after the Galaxy was free from the Reapers one way or another.
Tali was less then pleased about the change. Taking away half her department to slave together the ships when they were already stretched thin. However, she understood it. Chakwas gave her report on Ziara's health. Ziara was swimming in antibiotics but there were five or six infections running around her body and it looked like it was deeply entrenched in several of her organs. She was fighting for life, Shepard sat by her bed. Though the glass of her new clear faceplate, he could see the wounds that crisscrossed her face. He could tell she was in pain and scared. His heart went out to her, seeing the many young privates that had been wounded under his command.
"Am I going to be alright?" She asked, in the same voice that they had all asked.
Shepard nodded and looked into her glowing eyes, "You'll be fine." He said sincerely. She was a member of his crew. He would do his best for her. He could never do any less.
When Shepard went to see Ashley, Grunt came over to him. "Shepard," He greeted John.
"Grunt." Shepard responded. "What do you want?" He asked.
Grunt was to the point, "We don't have any other krogans. I want to stand beside other Krogans, when I fight."
One of the Marines, the one who had argued with Grunt earlier gave him a dirty look. Almost asking if he was not good enough. Offended that he was not good enough. Shepard saw it. He looked at the Marine. "You got a problem with Grunt, Marine?" He asked.
The Marine stiffened, "No Sir."
Shepard was slightly annoyed at the Marine. "Don't lie to me, Marine. You don't like him, do you?" He asked.
"Sir, I was in the Marines for six years. We're good enough to fight anything and win, sir." He said, with conviction. That was the core of the problem, Shepard guessed. He was intimidated by Grunt and his races reputation.
"You think you can beat Grunt one on one?" Shepard asked.
The Marine looked a little surprised by the question. Marines always stepped up to challenge. Although Shepard could tell he was not quite up for it. "Yes Sir." The Marine said.
"Good, one week." Shepard said before talking to Ashley about recruiting new Marines. Two krogan would fit the bill nicely. They would stop by Tuchanka to see Wrex or at the Citadel soon enough. Shepard went up to the CIC to check on the progress. The ship was FTL capable now, and so were the five ships. Their hull was filled with useful things and junk that could be sold. Shepard considered well his next course. His most immediate concern was Ziara. Setting course for the Migrant fleet. They engaged their engines.
