AN:- So, after much editing, here we are, Chapter Eight: Of Scientists and Weapons (I apologise for the title, I just thought it sounded interesting)

Chapter Eight: Of Scientists and Weapons

After a good eight hours' sleep Shepard stepped out of her room and wandered back over to the meal table. Everyone had left, which wasn't that surprising, and only Kaidan was left, apparently working on something by one of the computer terminals. "Lieutenant," She stepped up and waited until he had turned to face her. "Do you have some insight on where the crew is right now?"

He shuffled a little and rubbed his arm, "Shouldn't you be talking to someone else about that, maybe the doctor?"

"I think you keep your ear to the ground on things like this Alenko, just looking for some personal input."

He sighed, "Off the record?"

"Of course."

"I don't know how sure people are about this. Williams isn't the only one with reservations about letting the alien crew-members have such a free run of the ship."

"Yourself?"

"I don't think anyone on this ship is going to betray us. For Garrus it would be against his code of honour, Wrex is just happy as long as he's got people to kill, Tali would only tell the Migrant Fleet and I frankly don't think they're a threat to humanity, and the good doctor is a little too shy to go spreading our secrets."

"Good to hear it, but you think some of the crew do feel uneasy?"

"We're still an Alliance ship, people need to see that."

"Thanks for the insight Kaidan."

"Anytime commander."

She wanted to head over to eh med bay and chat with Liara again, but she knew it was far too soon after Liara's embarrassment. Instead she stepped into the lift and crossed her arms, wishing the thing would move a little faster. She needed to decide where they were going next, but she wanted to have a quick chat with her crew before they went off again.

The elevator opened out to the usual scene below-decks, Ashley still maintaining their weapons, Wrex still up against his bulkhead, but on further inspection Garrus wasn't calibrating the mako. Shepard frowned and strolled over, hoping that Williams had learned her lesson after the previous evening.

"Good morning Garrus, you seem distracted."

"Morning?" He looked up, startled, "Oh, hello Shepard."

"Are you working on anything important?" She asked.

"It's, just a personal project, something I didn't have time to focus on when I was with C-Sec." If he had been human Shepard would have thought he was acting deliberately cagey.

"If there's anything I can help with, be sure to let me know."

"I will Shepard, and I wanted to thank you for taking me on board your crew."

"It's good to have you Garrus."

"You're too kind. But it's more than just a chance to take down Saren, it's getting away from C-Sec as well. Things were starting to get intolerable there, and I'm just glad that I've been given another chance to start doing things the right way again."

Shepard was curious now. "What was so bad about C-Sec?"

"It wasn't anything major, just the red tape piling up around my head. And you say the way that Palin treated me. I knew Saren was bad, and my instinct as an investigative officer should have counted for something, but to him it was no evidence, no case."

"That's not the wrong way Garrus, that's the way we have to work. Otherwise how are we different?"

"It's different for humans, there's less of you. You like to think that it's better to let ten guilty prisoners go free if it means saving one innocent. Well, turians have never been able to take that risk. We would rather have the one innocent wrongfully convicted, if it means catching out people like Saren."

"That's a dangerous attitude to take Garrus." She folded her arms and realised she was seeing him in a whole new light, and not a very flattering one, "We do things right, we do things by the book, to the law. C-Sec might have a bureaucracy, but without that it would nothing more than thugs with badges as well as guns."

"You see it your way Shepard, but I stand by my view."

She nodded, "As long as you follow orders you can hold whatever opinions you like."

"But let me guess, don't share them round the crew?"

Her only response was a tight smile, "Let me know if you need any help with your project."

She managed to resist sighing until she was into the engine room. It had seemed like her crew was composed of safe, stable individuals, and now it looked more like Wrex was the only one not hiding any trauma. And you'd be a fine one to talk about hiding trauma, Her inner-voice reminded her. Oh shut up.

Tali didn't seem her usual chipper self, her voice dull as she responded to Shepard's greeting.

"Is something wrong Tali?"

"Not really, I'm just finding it a little difficult to sleep."

"Why, you sleep here don't you?"

"I sleep in the engine room because it is the loudest part of the ship, but it's still too quiet."

"How is it being quite making it hard to sleep?"

The quarian sighed and looked back to the gigantic drive core, "You don't understand Shepard. To you a quiet ship is ideal, it means everything is running properly, but to me, if a ship is quiet, it means the air filter has broken, or the airlock seals are about to quit." She turned back to Shepard, "My home has always been noisy Shepard, this place is not."

"You're homesick Tali. It's understandable, you'll just have to adapt a little more."

"It's easy for you Shepard, you humans don't have to live in the same conditions we do every day on the flotilla." There was anger in her voice now, subtle, but Tali could easily have been accusing her. Shepard frowned.

"Tali, I didn't even set foot on a starship until I was sixteen. I've lived on them ever since. I spent years, wishing that I could spend some time with dirt beneath my feet, but I couldn't. I finished my education on space stations and joined the Alliance right after. I know how it feels to leave your home, and never going back."

"I'm sorry Shepard, I didn't mean to..."

"It's okay. You're still young, and you'll go back to the flotilla when your Pilgrimage is over, right?"

The quarian nodded, "That's the plan, but don't worry, I'm not going to just leave you without an engineer."

"Glad to hear it." Shepard wasn't quite sure about how quarians felt about personal space, but she touched Tali's arm lightly anyway, "Until then, just give it time, you'll get used to the ship."

The young engineer's shoulders were still slumped, but her goodbye at least had a little more cheer to it. Shepard left the engine room and passed by Wrex on her way to elevator, she had almost stepped in when the krogan made a grunt which could have been her name.

"Yes Wrex?" She asked, turning to him.

"Shepard," If she didn't know better she would have thought the krogan was embarrassed, "I wanted to know our next destination."

"I'm not certain yet, we have Feros and Noveria to check, but Joker left me a message about another geth incursion we need to look at."

"It should be a glorious fight." It wasn't quite a statement.

She felt like teasing him a little, "You're allowed to ask if you want to go along on the mission."

He bristled, "I am not used to humans Shepard."

She smiled, "I think geth hunting sounds fun, don't you?"

"Yes."

"Good choice, I'll go set the course."

She activated the elevator and smiled a little to herself as it climbed. She was starting to get the hang of talking to her crew members, and if Captain Anderson had taught her anything it was the importance of knowing the people under your command. She stepped out into the mess hall and nodded to the two crew members who were eating.

"Are we moving out soon Commander?" One of them, Ipkis, asked.

She nodded, "We're going geth hunting, we've received some reports of geth in the Traverse. We need to protect our colonies out there."

The two smiled as she walked off, and she heard the woman telling her friend, "See, I told you we were going to be taking care of the colonies."

At least some people are happy. She tramped out to the galaxy map and stepped up, "Set a course, Joker, we're going to the Armstrong Nebula."

"Aye aye Commander, setting the course. ETA twelve hours."

That's the problem with space travel, Shepard stepped down from the galaxy map and headed back to her quarters. The vids always make it look instant, but there's a lot of travel out here. Back in her quarters she dragged up the Codex entry on the Armstrong Nebula and started reading.

She was about halfway through the in-depth planet analysis when her door chimed, "It's open." She called.

Kaidan came in and stood to attention right by the door. "Lieutenant, good to see you. Is there something you wanted?"

"I wanted to know about the next mission. Where we're going, what the load out needs to be, who we're taking." He might have made the personnel request last, but he wasn't exactly being subtle.

"Gunnery Chief Williams will not be accompanying us on this mission Alenko. As to your other questions, tell her to get the heaviest loads possible, and have Garrus double check the mako. Wrex will be taking point on this mission."

"Yes ma'am."

Shepard turned back to her computer, "Tell Williams that if she wants to ask me for her position back, she has to ask me herself, not get her crewmates to do it."

"Yes Commander." He saluted again and left.

Once the door had cycled shut Shepard dropped her head into her hands, The crew must think I'm an absolute hardass. She hated to come down on Williams so hard, but there wasn't another option. Everyone else was following her command to the letter, and she needed to know that the Chief could as well. Even Wrex trusts my judgement, and he's a mercenary. She forced her attention back to the Codex, I need to know this system.

When the Normandy came into the Armstrong Nebula she had her entire crew gathered in the cargo hold, ready to pile into the mako again. "This has got to be done quickly people," She told them, "The geth are setting up a series of bases in this system, and we have to smash them. Intelligence doesn't suggest this is anything more than random raiding, but if it is, then we need to make sure we make sure they're not coming back."

Her crew nodded, "If we're on foot, Wrex is taking point, Garrus you stick with Tali, and Kaidan you back up those two. Liara, you stay with me," The asari had heard about their mission, and insisted that it was time for her to pull her weight. Chakwas had okayed it, so Shepard was bringing her along.

Of course, that meant that the only member staying behind was Williams, and it was clear the Chief wasn't happy about it. She was staying up in the cockpit with Joker and Pressly, monitoring the mission status.

"Saddle up," She told them, "We drop in ten."

The first planet they dropped onto was an ice ball, and before they had even touched down a vicious gust of air had carried them several feet away from their drop zone. Tali was quick on the thrusters and saved them from slamming into a rocky outcropping, but it was close.

"You sure you can get us through this Shepard?" Garrus asked.

"Stow it Garrus, I can drive this thing just fine."

Of course, her actions weren't exactly matching up with that, and several times as she tried to follow the beacon on her radar she forgot to compensate for the cross-winds and the mako slid for several feet before she regained control. Her passengers were thoroughly shaken by the time they finally pulled within range of the geth outpost.

"Shouldn't be too hard," Garrus was already bringing the turret into position. Wrex was on the assault gun next to him.

While she didn't respond, Shepard had to agree with him, there were barely a dozen geth out there, and the combination of cannon and machine gun took half of them before they could even return fire.

Just as they were celebrating an easy victory Kaidan spoke up. "I've got something on the scanners."

A geth drop-ship roared overhead, depositing troops right on top of them. Their shields dropped in the first barrage and within second the mako was subjected to heavy fire. "Everyone out, Wrex take the lead."

The krogan's lips pulled back from his teeth and he charged from the vehicle, his rifle spitting fire before he was even fully out. Garrus followed him, concentrated bursts taking down some of the rocket troops who were about to destroy the tank. Shepard leapt out with her pistol in hand, it was too close for her sniper rifle to be any use, and she needed to rapid fire of the sidearm more than the shotgun. Tali was at her side in a second, and together they headed to the opposite side of the mako to deal with the troops gathered there.

Wrex snarled as his shields dropped and fire started peppering his armour, but Kaidan was by his side in a second, supporting the bulky alien and snapping off shots from his pistol. Shepard saw a rocket troop targeting her and Tali and knocked the quarian out of the way just as the rocket was launched. There was no way she could get out of the way in time but then a black hole opened up in front of the rocket and swallowed it.

Shepard looked over to see Liara, her hand outstretched and a blue corona all around her. "Thanks for the save."

"It was my pleasure."

The corona dropped and the team got back into the ruined tank. "Let's keep the ball rolling people," Shepard said as she signalled for the Normandy, "Garrus, you've got one hour of in-system travel to get this thing ready for a fight, Wrex, you have an hour to get yourself battle ready."

Everyone nodded, and Shepard relayed the call.

Sixty-five minutes later they were touching down on a pre-garden world with a battered but functional mako and a similarly battered krogan. This time when they found the geth outpost they didn't rush in, but everyone set up with sniper rifles and picked off the rocket troops from afar. "This is almost too easy." Garrus complained.

"Yeah well according to me Shepard has four to your two." Kaidan was watching the action through a scope.

"What?"

"You said you wanted a shooting contest," The lieutenant continued, "Well Shepard's got double your score."

The turian shouldered his rifle and kept firing, the crack of sniper rifles echoing off the mountain they were perched on. Once all the targets were down the three snipers looked to the others, "Score?" Garrus asked.

Tali consulted her omni-tool, "Of thirteen total geth, Shepard has six, Garrus has four and Wrex has three."

The two aliens stared at their commander, who merely shouldered her rifle and signalled the Normandy, "Two more outposts left," She reminded them, "We're not done yet."

The third planet was a dustball, and their route to the outpost was blocked by turrets. By the time they reached a suitable sniping position the mako had already sustained a lot of damage, but they jumped out anyway and started firing. Forty seconds later every geth lay dead, "Score?" Garrus asked.

"Of nineteen total, Shepard has nine, Garrus has six, Wrex has four."

"That's impossible," The krogan snarled, but was cut off when a drop-ship swooped over them and dropped a colossus down metres from their position.

"Into the mako," Shepard instructed as the thing unfolded, and everyone followed her, the first energy bolt dropping their shields the moment the door was sealed.

"It's too close," Garrus tried to swing the barrel down, but his shot went wide over the thing's head.

Shepard made an executive decision, "Hang on."

The tyres bit down into the dirt and the mako leapt forward, barrelling down the slope at the thing. "You can't be serious," Tali moaned from her seat, crossing her hands over the harness. A second later, everyone else realised that yes, she really was serious.

The mako hit the colossus dead centre, entangling its legs on the main turret, Shepard kept the throttle down, launching them over the rim of the cliff they were on. There was barely time for a brief yelp from Liara and they were already halfway down. Shepard locked her shoulders and yelled, "Tali, thrusters, now."

The quarian slapped the button and the mako twisted in mid air, coming to a crashing halt on the cliff face, the tyres scrabbling for purchase as they carried on down. The colossus turned its head to look at them, a ball of energy gathering in its visor, and they hit the ground.

After a moment of unconsciousness Shepard looked back to her crew, "Everyone alright?"

Kaidan was first to respond, "I think my collarbone's broken, but otherwise fine."

"I'll have a headache," Garrus said dryly as blood poured from just above his eye, "But I'll be fine."

The others sounded off as well, with nothing more severe than bruising, and Shepard turned her attention to their situation.

The mako was standing upright in the dirt, pinning the colossus to the floor with its cannon. "Like a bug on a needle," Shepard grimaced, "Lovely." She signalled the Normandy, "Alright people, just one more to go and we can all relax."

"Shepard, it looks like there's another signal." Kaidan had joined Williams and the others in the cockpit as Shepard took her alien crewmates to the last outpost, "You've still got to destroy the main outpost before we're done."

For a moment, even Wrex groaned.

AN:- Wrex isn't as good a sniper as Garrus and Shepard for two reason. 1. I'm making a subtle jab at the friendly AI in this game (specifically their targeting AI) 2. I don't think Wrex would really have spent so much time practicing as a sniper. He's an up-close kinda guy, not a sniper. Garrus in ME2 is revealed to be a very good sniper, and my Shepard is an infiltrator.

Some more background on my Shepard here as well. When she saved by the Alliance, the first few years she was almost irrationally afraid of being on planets, afraid that they would get raided again while she was on them (yes the same could be said of space-stations, but that's why it's an irrational fear) After that she was with the Alliance and so any planet time was strictly business, and she never had one planet she would ever call home (the way Ashley did) so she just lived on space stations. I wanted to introduce that story idea earlier, but I couldn't find a way to include it, so I thought I'd just put it here in case I never get the chance to add it.