Test Flight

Captain's log, stardate 49257.4. Captain Elsa Frost speaking. I am currently on Andromeda Station in Earth orbit, at the request of Federation command. I have been assigned to supervise the test flight of a new Federation starship, one that could theoretically revolutionise space warfare.

Elsa was in the observation lounge on Andromeda Station, watching the starships fly past the window. She was starting to miss being on the Archangel with her family and friends, but she knew it was only for a few days and that Kristoff would keep things running as normal until she returned.

"Elsa?" a familiar voice called to her.

Elsa looked around to see a young Asari woman enter the room. "Dr T'soni. I thought you were still on Thessia."

The Asari smiled and sat next to her. "Actually, I've been transferred."

"Oh?"

"The Asari government said they needed a representative on this mission," Liara explained. "And seeing as how I know you and your crew best…."

"You were the obvious choice," Elsa finished.

"Exactly," Liara confirmed. "Besides, it's much better being on a starship than as a teacher."

"I don't know about that. Melody was always praising you as the best teacher she ever had," Elsa joked.

"Flattering me, Elsa? You should remember: you are a married woman."

Elsa chuckled. "I know. Don't worry, Doctor; I'd never hit on a beautiful woman like you over my wife."

"You embraced eternity with my people's consort."

"That was as a sign of good faith," Elsa justified.

Suddenly there was a beep on the door. A woman wearing an admiral's uniform entered the room. "Captain Frost?"

Elsa and Liara stood up and saluted the woman. "Vice Admiral Shepard."

"At ease, Elsa," the admiral replied. "I assume you both have read the reports on the Normandy?"

"Yes, she seems like a fine ship," Elsa stated.

"Good, good," the admiral accepted. "But that's not what I truly wanted to talk to you about."

"I'll be outside if you want some privacy," Liara informed Elsa.

"Thank you, Liara."

Liara walked out of the room, leaving Elsa and the Admiral together.

"So, what is it you needed to talk to me about?" Elsa inquired curiously.

"It concerns the commanding officer of the Normandy," the admiral began. "You see…she's my daughter."

"Ah, I see."

"I suppose you have experience with that with your own daughter, Sapphira?"

"Yes, I most certainly have."

"Good. This is the first time she's been in command in three years."

"What happened?"

The admiral sighed. "Her whole unit was killed on the planet Akuze. Thresher maw attack. She was the sole survivor."

Elsa then realised who the admiral's daughter was. "Wait… is your daughter Commander Jane Shepard?"

"The very same," the admiral responded. "The hero of the Skyllian Blitz herself."

"So then…why do you need me along?"

The admiral sighed. "I wasn't there much for Jane while she was growing up. When her father died, I tried to be the best for her…. But I guess being a mother wasn't my strong point."

"So you want me to be there as a motherly figure as well for her?"

"It would help, Elsa," the admiral said.

Elsa smiled. "Don't worry. I'll take good care of her."

xXx

Some time later, Elsa and Liara walked across the docking bridge to the Normandy. It was a sleek ship, with a slender curved body. It had long wings with thrusters attached and was painted in a pure white, with a blue stripe along its hull. It had been developed as a cooperation between the Federation, the Zetans, and the Citadel Alliance.

"That's one high tech ship," Liara remarked.

"Most high tech ship ever built," Elsa agreed.

As they walked onto the bridge, a strange robot greeted them. The robot appeared to resemble a metallic human woman, with a structure similar to hair on its head and a holographic orange visor over its eyes. "Hello. I am EDI."

"What the-?" Liara asked in surprise.

"I don't recall androids serving in the Federation," Elsa stated.

"Forgive me, Captain," the robot excused herself. "I am not technically a robot, nor an android. I am an artifical inteligence installed directly into the ship."

"How do you know who I am?" Elsa inquired.

"My program was created by Tadashi Hamada," EDI explained. "I believe you knew his brother, Hiro Hamada."

"I knew him," Elsa responded. "He died a long time ago."

"Yes. Tadashi informed me. It is most tragic."

"So... are you in any way related to Baymax?"

"I suppose you could say that. Baymax's core programming was the basis for my own code. In a way, Baymax was my father. However, my programming is far more sophisticated. I am able to perform a wide variety of functions."

"How interesting," Liara commented.

"Hey EDI, stop embarrassing the newcomers," a voice called from the cockpit of the ship.

"I am not embarrassing them," EDI replied. "I am informing them of my origins."

"Who is that you're talking to?" Elsa wondered.

"That'd be me," the voice called again. A chair at the cockpit turned around to reveal a man in his mid twenties with brown hair and a beard. He had a cap with the words "SR2" printed on it. "My name's Jeff Moreau, but most people call me Joker."

"You're the ship's helmsman?" Elsa wondered.

"More like kickass pilot," Joker remarked.

"I fail to see how physically abusing a donkey is relevant," EDI stated.

Joker chuckled. "It's an expression, EDI. You'll get the hang of it."

"I see. I still have much to learn about humanoids."

Soon, a young woman with short red hair in a crewman's outfit stepped onto the bridge. "Commander on the bridge," EDI announced.

Commander Jane Shepard looked around, her eyes widening as she saw Elsa. "Captain Frost? What are you doing here? You weren't supposed to show up for another two days!"

"Apologies, Commander," Elsa said. "Things changed last minute."

"And you didn't think to let me know?"

"Your mother, the admiral, insisted on it."

Jane sighed. "Of course she did."

"I've heard a lot about you, Commander," Elsa politely stated. "I hope our time together is most beneficial."

"Yeah, yeah, me too. Just remember: you may outrank me...but this is MY ship."

"I understand, Commander," Elsa accepted.

Jane then looked at Liara, a sense of regret mixed with happiness crossing her face. "Liara...it's good to see you."

"It's been a long time, Shepard," Liara replied somberly.

Elsa looked on, confused. Clearly, the two of them had some kind of history together.

"I'll make sure you two are seen to your quarters," Jane stated.

As Shepard walked away, Liara turned away, sighing.

"Are you okay?" Elsa asked.

"I'm fine...but let's go to our quarters first." Elsa and Liara headed to their quarters on the ship and Liara sat on her bed. "I get the feeling you're going to ask me something.

"What's the deal with you and Commander Shepard?"

Liara sighed. "Before I became an archaeologist, I was an information broker on Ilium. Jane was an ensign at the time. She and her team were trying to rat out an Eclipse group that was hiding out there. I gave her the info, but we became...attached."

"Attached? In what way?"

"A romantic way... We were in love."

"Oh...sounds serious."

"Very serious. But Jane's military career always seemed to come first."

"I guess it must have come to a head at some point."

She sighed. "But there was one night...one night that I'll never forget. We'd been at a bar, and we'd both had a little too much to drink. And...we embraced eternity together in the most beautiful way possible."

"I guess it must have been heaven for you," Elsa quipped, referencing the Asari mating practice of melding.

Liara chuckled. "It was, but the week after that, she left. Aside from the occasional message, we never saw each other again until now."

"Oh..." Elsa was silent for a few seconds. "Do you think you might wanna try...sorting things out between you two?"

"Perhaps," Liara stated.

Elsa smiled. "Come on, let's go see what there is to eat on this ship."

Elsa and Liara headed down to the mess hall, grabbing some food from a replicator. Elsa got a plate of fermented shellfish while Liara decided on a traditional Asari dish, made from the ink of a jellyfish-like species native to her homeworld.

"I wonder what Sapphira would say if she were here," Elsa mused.

"Do you miss her?" Liara wondered.

"Of course," Elsa answered. "I miss her and Anna."

Liara smiled to cheer Elsa up. "I'm sure you'll get back to her once this mission is over."

Elsa smiled. "Maybe I'll take Anna to Ortalko. That's a great vacation spot."

"You have shore leave coming up?"

"Three weeks worth," Elsa remarked. "Perhaps Sapphira and Melody could come as well. Then again, maybe they should go somewhere on their own. Kids can really ruin a vacation."

"Even when they're fully adult?"

Elsa chuckled. "My little Sapphira is always a kid to me."

A woman in a blue skirt and two men in crewman's uniforms then arrived nearby. "Excuse me, is anyone else sitting here?"

"No," Elsa answered.

"Do you mind if we sit here?" one of the men asked.

"Sure, go ahead."

The three of them sat at the same table as Elsa and Liara. "Thanks. Mess hall gets real crowded on this ship."

"I can imagine, on a ship as small as this," Liara commented.

"Anyway, I'm Ashley williams," The woman introduced herself. "That's Kaidan Alenko and James Vega."

"Hey," Kadian said.

"Hola," James greeted them.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Elsa."

"We know," Kadian remarked. "Everyone in the whole damned Federation knows who you are."

"Yeah, they even sang songs about you back at the school where I grew up," Vega joked.

"Seems like you've got a fan club," Liara joked.

"So what are your jobs on this ship?" Elsa wondered.

"I'm the armoury chief," Vega explained. "I keep all the guns we carry nice and shooty."

"I'm gunnery chief," Ash informed. "I'm in charge of the ship's weaponry."

"I'm in charge of the marine detachment here," Kadian explained. "Although the commander usually takes charge when she's not on the ship."

"I thought this ship hadn't been launched yet?"

"Not officially," Ashley told her. "We've been going on unofficial missions for about six months now."

"Well, that's certainly interesting," Liara remarked.

"It helps with a ship like this," Kadian stated. "Our ship is sleek and has low warp emissions; we can practically slip past enemy radar without a cloaking device."

"I didn't think that was possible," Elsa inquired. "Crystallic fusion drives have to have high warp emissions, otherwise the warp field will overload."

"Not this ship," Vega butted in. "Our ship's engines are based on Zetan tech."

"It's like the iridium drives they used to use," Ashley finished. "Only instead of that, we use eezo."

"Like a biotic, then?" Liara wondered.

"Exactly," Kadian confirmed.

"Wait-what's 'eezo'?" Elsa asked.

"It's the shortened term for Element Zero," Ashley explained. "It's the basis for a lot of biotic technology."

Suddenly, the sound of a communication ping rang throughout the cafeteria. "Attention all crew, report to launch stations."

"Looks like we're up," Elsa stated.

xXx

The five of them went up to the bridge, Ashley, Kaidan and James taking their places. Elsa and Liara stood near the rear of the bridge as Commander Shepard stepped forward.

"Glad you could join us, Captain," she remarked. "Just remember: I give orders."

"Your ship, your rules, Commander," Elsa accommodated her.

"Alright boys and girls, we're good to go," Joker reported.

"Take her out easy, Joker," Shepard stated. "Nice and slow."

"Aye," Joker accepted.

The Normandy detached from its docking port and began to fly away from the station, the blue light of its four engines pushing into interplanetary space.

As the ship headed out into space, Joker called out, "Commander, I'm picking up some kind of fluctuation in the ship's warp drive."

"What? What's wrong down there?"

"I'm not sure, but-" The ship suddenly jolted forward as it went into warp, racing faster than the speed of light.

"Joker, I didn't give the order for you to jump to warp!" Shepard argued.

"I didn't!"

"I think we have a situation here," Elsa put in.

"No we don't," Shepard told her. "Joker, shut down the warp core."

"I'm trying! There's no response! It's like the warp engines are jammed on!"

"Well, unjam them, goddamn it!" Shepard argued.

"No, leave it," Elsa ordered. "Something has gone very wrong on this ship."

"I'm trying to fix the warp engines," Joker called.

"I think we should get down to engineering," Liara stated.

"You're right, I'll go," Jane stated. "Captain Frost, you have the bridge."

"No, you're gonna need backup," Elsa told her.

"I'll go with her," Liara volunteered.

Shepherd then looked at Liara as if to say no to her, but then changed her mind. "Alright, let's go." Liara and Shepard then left the bridge.

Elsa went to the main command console and activated it. "EDI, I'm gonna need your assistance."

An opening on the wall then revealed EDI's robotic body, which then walked towards Elsa. "What do you need, Captain Frost?"

"Bring up a schematic of the ship and highlight where Commander Shepard and Liara T'soni are," Elsa instructed.

"Affirmative." EDI brought up the schematic, with two pulsing dots on it.

"Alright," Elsa looked closely. "Commander, Liara, go down to deck four and that's where the engine core is."

"I know my way around my own ship, Captain!" Jane argued over the radio.

Down in the engine core, Liara and Shepard had reached a control console, and Shepard was running a diagnostic scan to see what was going wrong. "I can't find anything."

Liara then looked at the large spherical mass that was the engine core. She noticed a small purple disc attached to it, the logo of a red and yellow Z in its centre. "I think I found the problem."

Jane then looked at the engine core. "Elsa, do you see this?"

"I do," Elsa responded.

"Can you tell us what it is?" Jane wondered.

"From that logo, I'd say it's Zurg tech," Elsa assumed.

"Zurg? Why would that tin-headed despot want to hijack this ship?" Liara asked.

"Good question, but we'll worry about it later," Jane answered her. "We have to get it off there!"

"I'm afraid I can't quite do that!" a metallic voice then responded. On the bridge and in the engine core of the normandy, a large hologram of Emperor Zurg appeared, a devilish constant grin on his armoured purple face. "Hello, pitiful Federation scum!"

Elsa growled. "Zurg."

"Hello, Your Majesty," Zurg curtseyed. "It's so good to see you again."

"What have you done with my ship, you maniac?!" Jane demanded.

"I'm just putting it through its paces," Zurg cackled. "You see, your ship is now currently travelling at warp velocity. And due to that, it's picking up quite a bit of kinetic energy. In fact, it's picking up so much it could almost be considered a bomb. Which, unfortunately for you, is what I'm using it for!"

Elsa looked at Zurg in shock. "My God."

"And what better place to detonate my new super bomb than on the capital of the galaxy itself, the Citadel!" Zurg then broke into maniacal laughter.

"You insane bastard!" Jane yelled. "You'll kill millions of people."

"Flattery will get you absolutely nowhere," Zurg chirped. "And now I must bid you farewell and bon voyage of the damned!" Zurg broke into laughter again and his hologram disappeared.

"Well, that was certainly dramatic," Liara admitted.

"That's Zurg for you," Elsa remarked. "I don't care what you do, but get that thing off the engine core!"

"I could try pulling it off with my biotics," Liara admitted.

"No, it's too risky," Jane stated. "I'm not risking your life over my mission."

"Jane...I can do this," Liara told her.

Jane sighed. "Liara, I love you, I still do love you. I won't let you die."

"Shepard, please. Trust me."

"Um, girls? Are you gonna do something?" Joker's voiced called in. "Because we're on a collision course with the Citadel here."

"We're on it, Joker," Shepard replied. She then looked at Liara. "Just promise me one thing."

"What's that?" Liara asked.

"That you'll always be with me."

Liara leaned in, pressing her blue lips against Shepard's soft pink ones. "I will." She then walked over to the engine core and her body glowed with a blue biotic power. Her hands reached out towards the device on the core and she began to pull at it with her invisible strings, trying to pry it free of the core.

"Come on," Jane encouraged.

Liara began to strain slightly as she started to gently undo the bolts that held the device in place.

"Almost...got it..."

"You can do it Liara," Elsa cheered her on.

"Forty seconds to impact!" Joker called out.

"Just need to...undo this...last bolt...!"

Jane went behind Liara and held her. "It's okay."

Liara closed her eyes, the sweat pouring down her forehead like a waterfall. "The ship...is it...?"

"It's going to be fine," Jane told her, wrapping her arms around her waist.

At that moment, the last bold fell and the device fell to the bottom of the engine core and Liara collapsed to the floor in exhaustion.

"The device is off!" Shepard shouted. "Joker, STOP THIS THING!"

The Normandy then dropped out of warp space just in time, only a few light years from the Citadel.

"Did we make it?" Jane asked.

"We made it," Elsa reported.

Liara opened her eyes and looked up at Shepard. "I always loved being in your arms."

Back on the bridge, Elsa got a call on her radio. "Captain Frost, are you receiving us?"

Elsa smiled, recognising the voice. "Is that you, Anna? Where are you?

"Elsa! Thank the spirits! I thought something bad had happened. We were just on patrol in this sector. Are you alright?"

"Don't worry about it," Elsa replied. She then looked at the hologram of the engineering bay, seeing Shepard and Liara now kissing in each others arms. "Anna, What would you say to a second honeymoon?"

"I'd love to!" Anna cheered. "But, umm…why do you ask?"

"Let's just say I have new appreciation for the ones I love."

xXx

Captain's log, supplemental: The Archangel has arrived to tow the Normandy into the Citadel docks. Hopefully a team of Federation engineers can figure out how Zurg's little device got there.

"Sounds like you had one hell of a trip," Kristoff remarked as he and Elsa had coffee together.

"And I thought being away from here would be boring," Elsa joked.

"I'm still trying to figure out how Zurg got that thing onto the Normandy."

"Hopefully we find out soon. I'd prefer that this sort of thing not happen again."

Suddenly the door to Elsa's ready room pinged.

"Come in," Elsa stated.

Commander Shepard stepped into the room. "Captain Frost?"

"Shephard," Elsa greeted her.

"I...wanted to thank you for your help."

"Oh?"

"You see, if you hadn't alerted me to the danger that we were in... we could have all been fragged."

"Well," Elsa replied with a smile. "I was glad to be of help."

Jane looked at Elsa happily. "By the way, Liara is going to be staying on the Normandy from now on."

"As a science officer?"

"More like captain's wife," Liara replied, entering the room. She then showed off a silver engagement ring to Elsa. "I would have preferred the traditional Asari necklace of bonding, but Jane wanted to be more...Earthly in her approach."

"Well congratulations," Elsa remarked.

Jane and Liara both grinned. "We'll be sure to send pictures once we're married."

"I'm sure you will."

Elsa got up and shook the Commander's hand. "It was a pleasure working with you, Shepard."

"Likewise, Captain. If you're ever flying in our sector, give us a call," Jane agreed.

Elsa smirked. "You know, I might do just that."