Author's Note: Welcome back! Hope this wasn't too long a wait for any of you; life got in the way for quite a bit. But here it is!
I would like to dedicate this chapter to Write or Die, which helped me start it, and to the movie Starship Troopers, which helped me finish it.
And thank you, readers, for all the attention you've given Stay With Me. Every chapter is for you.
Captain Kaidan Alenko of the SSV Normandy watched from the cockpit of the frigate as four teenagers approached the dock. He shook his head and put a hand to his temple, trying to massage away the oncoming migraine before it gained a foothold.
"What is the Alliance thinking?" He muttered.
"Couldn't say, Captain," a familiar voice replied. "My personal theory is that they're sadistic bastards."
Kaidan turned to see a man balancing on crutches behind him, his dry, sarcastic grin matching his personality. "So who put you in charge?" Joker asked.
"Some sadistic bastard," Kaidan replied, reaching out a hand to shake with the pilot. Joker managed it easily, letting his armpit take the weight of one side. Kaidan wasn't sure how he did it--he'd been on crutches before, and tottered around like a drunk Salarian the entire time. But then, he hadn't had to use them for years, the way Joker had.
"Good to see I've got someone who knows what they're doing," Kaidan said. "I wasn't sure about having such raw recruits, and seeing them now...they're just kids."
"Tell me about it," Joker replied, peering out the viewport over Kaidan's shoulder. "Ran into one of 'em in the bar yesterday. He was dumb enough to try and talk down to me."
Kaidan raised an eyebrow. "Were you in civvies?"
"Yeah, but I had my hat on," Joker lifted one hand to tap on the familiar brim. "The kid thought I was a fan of the Commander. Offered to get me an autograph for enough credits."
At the mention of Shepard--there was no other Commander that Joker would refer to that way--Kaidan frowned. "Which kid was it?"
Joker squinted, trying to make out the tiny figures below. "See the Rambo wanna-be?"
"Yeah."
"That's the one."
Rambo wanna-be sized the kid up perfectly. His hair was dark, and just short enough to fit regulations, but he'd tied a strip of cloth around his forehead and apparently ripped the sleeves off of his uniform. It must have been recent, because the other three teenagers were all agitated, pointing fingers at him and at the ship, obviously trying to talk him out of his getup.
Nice to see that Basic knocked a little common sense into them, Kaidan thought, but they obviously hadn't had enough time for the attitude adjustment that Rambo-kid needed. Two months really just wasn't cutting it these days.
Now that they were closer, Kaidan could make out their features better. The shortest one, Rhona Solis, kept inching between the two boys, swaying her hips in an exaggerated movement. Her hair had been tied back in a braid with--God help him--a pink ribbon. The other girl kept shooting glares at her and running a hand through her much shorter dark hair. She was built short and stocky, like a compact version of Ashley Williams. This would have to be Esme Alacrán.
The tallest one was a brown-haired boy, and he walked so stiffly that Kaidan was sure that someone had stuck a sniper rifle down his back. From the reports, that would be Jacen Shanahan. Meaning that the Rambo wanna-be was Aldon Makara. The kid had pulled out his assault rifle (who gave that idiot a weapon?) and was currently waving it around, a la Mr. Stallone. Jacen reached for it, apparently trying to get him to put it up, but Aldon twisted around, holding it out of his reach.
"Someone's going to get shot," Kaidan muttered, already moving out of the cabin.
"Don't stop 'em now, Captain!" Joker called. "If we're lucky, all of 'em will get put in the hospital and out of our hair."
#
"Aldon, for the last time, put it away!"
Jacen made another swipe at the rifle, but the other boy side-stepped him, holding out his foot to trip him as well. Aldon grinned, holding his assault rifle over his head.
"Not so light on your feet after basic, eh Shanahan?" Aldon said, shooting a glance at Rhona. "Maybe I've got shot at actually going groundside instead of you."
For a moment, Jacen stood frozen, bent over from his stumble. His jaw clenched, and he stared straight ahead at the Normandy's hull. Then he straightened, and his voice came out in his usual formal tone.
"That's not very likely, Aldon. New recruits like us will be onboard the ship at all times. Just the chance to be aboard the Normandy is an honor."
Rhona lifted a hand to her face, tucked a stray hair behind her ear. "Jeez, lighten up! There's no way we're going to stay on the ship forever. I mean, we've had the best biotic training, right?" She smiled, flicking her gaze between Aldon and Jacen.
Aldon grinned back. "Sure," he said. "And that's why I'm going to fry some Geth heads!" He pumped his assault rifle above his head one more time, his mouth opening to shout some war cry. A hand reached out and snatched the rifle.
"Hey," he yelled, "what the--"
"You should handle your weapons properly," Esme said. She gripped the rifle in both hands, holding it as possessively as a child holds a favorite toy. "It's dangerous to mishandle a firearm."
Aldon's brow lowered as he glared at her. "Fuck off, Esme," he said. He made a dive for the gun, trying to pull it out of her hands. The girl swiveled the butt of the gun in her grip, hitting Aldon on the chin. He let go, reaching to cradle his face. Esme backed away, her eyes widening.
"Bitch," Aldon spat. "I going to--"
"Do what, Private Makara?"
The four teenagers spun around, inwardly flinching that a man in combat armor had managed to sneak up on them. The man looked at each of them before letting his gaze settle on Aldon.
"Well? I'm waiting for an answer."
Aldon stepped forward, going toe-to-toe with the man. They stood at almost the same height. "I don't have to answer to you," Aldon said.
The man seemed to double in height, his hands going behind his back to broaden his chest. "That," he said, "is not how you address a superior officer, Private."
It took less than a second for Aldon's face to turn pale.
Kaidan looked at the others, who wore similar mortified expressions, and went on. "I am Captain Alenko of the SSV Normandy. And as your commanding officer, let me make myself clear. I won't tolerate stupid recruits. I've seen what happens when a soldier gets cocky and makes mistakes. They die. And I've seen it happen to better men and women than you four. So while you are on my ship, I will expect the absolute best from all of you. If you can't do that, then I will boot you off my ship. Am I clear?"
The four snapped into a salute, shouting, "Yes, sir!"
"Good. Now get on board. One of the crewmembers will show you around. And Makara?"
Aldon turned.
"Get in uniform. Now."
#
They were bound for the Horse Head Nebula, not too far from the system where Endymion was located. After Shepard's report of the corruption on Noveria, and the fate of the MSV Majesty, the Alliance had decided that they needed to keep a closer eye on the system. Normandy would run silent whenever possible, monitoring the area.
Lifting off from port, seated at the Normandy's helm, brought on waves of déjà vu for Kaidan. Any minute now, Shepard would stride up from the CIC and watch as they entered the mass relay. Nihilus would say something to Joker, and then...
"I hate that guy."
Kaidan started, caught between the past and present. He looked at Joker, and then glanced behind him to make sure that there wasn't a turian standing there.
"What?"
Joker glanced at him. "Rambo kid. You could've had him discharged, you know."
"Yeah," Kaidan shrugged. "There's no denying the kid's a snot, but he's got potential. I want to see what he can do when he's not shooting off his mouth."
"Your problem now," Joker said. One of the monitors flashed, and Joker frowned. "Speaking of problems...it's a communication from the quarian flotilla. It's coming from the Exodus Cluster."
"The flotilla?" Kaidan stood up. "I didn't know that they were in that sector."
"They're there, and they're sending a message to Commander Shepard of the SSV Normandy." He glanced at Kaidan. "Guess they haven't heard about your promotion."
The quarians sending a message for Shepard? The flotilla on the edge of human space? Something was wrong. Maybe they just needed the help of a council Spectre, and the Normandy happened to be in the area. But this only made it more likely that there was some sort of trouble with the quarians.
"I'll take the message in the comm room," Kaidan said.
Walking through the CIC, Kaidan hardly noticed Esme Alacrán standing to one side until she intercepted him.
"Sir, I would like to apologize for earlier--"
"Not now, Private."
"But, sir--"
Kaidan turned, raised an eyebrow. "Private Alacrán, as far as I'm concerned, that incident has already been dealt with. If you need to talk later, my door is open."
Esme froze, her mouth slightly open. Then she snapped up into military posture, and nodded, "Yes, sir."
He left her behind, continuing into the communications room, and missed the guilty look that passed over her face.
A holographic image appeared almost immediately after the doors closed behind Kaidan. The messenger was definitely quarian, wearing the full body suit distinctive to their race. But the figure, and the style of the suit, seemed very familiar.
"Tali?"
"Kaidan?"
The quarian's image shook her head. "I wondered who would be on the Normandy. I'm glad it's you."
"You and me both," Kaidan replied. "But what are you doing in this part of the galaxy?"
"We're building your ships," Tali said. "So a part of the flotilla has moved closer to the construction site."
"Oh." Kaidan sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "I've been getting paranoid. I heard the flotilla was in an unusual part of space for them, and I assumed the worst."
Tali shook her head again, this time with the dread of bad news. "You might not have been wrong. Ever since our last mission with the Commander, I have been trying to decipher the code we found on Endymion."
Kaidan leaned forward. "You've cracked it?"
"Yes. Most of the message was still incomplete, and the last entry is still entirely beyond my grasp. But here's what I was able to translate."
Text scrolled up in front of the hologram, large block white letters against a red background.
OUR SURVEY TEAM TURNED UP SOMETHING INTERESTING TODAY. THOUGH WE DON'T HAVE THE RESOURCES TO STUDY IT PROPERLY, DR. MENNO BELIEVES THE DEVICE TO BE PROTHEAN.
....
THE CONTAINER HAD A STRANGE ARTIFACT INSIDE OF IT. SEVERAL OF THE STAFF REFUSE TO BE IN THE SAME ROOM WITH IT, BUT I FIND ITS PRESENCE REASSURING, LIKE A VOICE AT THE BACK OF MY MIND.
....
HE WAS TOLD NOT TO MEDDLE WITH THE ARTIFACT IN ANY WAY, BUT REFUSED TO OBEY ORDERS. I WILL NOT TOLERATE IT.
....
THEY WANT THE PROTHEAN DEVICE, BUT THEY WILL NOT HAVE IT. THEY WILL NOT--
"Is that all?" Kaidan asked, squinting at the message.
"Until I decrypt the last day's transmission, yes," Tali replied. "What do you make of it?"
"It gives me a bad feeling," he said. "An artifact...reminds me of the logs on the Cornucopia."
"That ship full of husks? You think the staff of Endymion found a similar artifact?"
"I don't doubt it. That would explain the presence of the Geth. But what does a Prothean device have to do with it?"
Tali shrugged. "Perhaps the two items were found together. I was hoping Shepard might know, but--"
"Yeah," Kaidan said. "But I have no way to reach her. I can send this up to Captain Anderson. Maybe the council can figure it out."
"You don't want to investigate this yourself?" Tali asked, surprised.
Kaidan grinned. "Afraid not. Right now, the Normandy is an Alliance vessel, and it's on patrol duty. Endymion's outside of my jurisdiction."
Tali sighed. "I see. It's times like this that I realize how useful Spectres are. I miss Shepard."
"Me too, Tali." Kaidan leaned over on the console, putting his head in his hands. "I wouldn't mind her being gone half as much if I at least knew she was alright."
"She's fine," Tali said. "Hordes of Geth tried to kill her and failed. She's indestructible."
Kaidan lifted his head, looking at the chairs in a ring around the room. The one on his left had been Shepard's, and he stared at it now as he replied.
"You're probably right. She's fine."
Final Author's Note: So there it is. I was hesitant about throwing OCs into the mix; if they're not handled properly, they can ruin perfectly good canon (Guilty!). But Kaidan needed someone to run around with besides Joker, and with Shepard's crew split up, I was going to have to find someone new. So there they are. Next time I'll give more FAQs on the kids, if anyone's interested.
Next chapter will be one of Shepard's. And before anyone asks, I DO have a rough estimate of when Shenko will be reunited. The number, including the next chapter, is five. This might change, but we're going to go for five.
Be well, and do good work!