Summary: The Normandy's team attempts a dangerous grab at some information, putting the crew and the ship and the crew in harm's way in an attempt to possibly catch up to Saren. Later a prank goes off a little too well.

a/n: Mounds of appreciation to the wonderful ladies who beta'd this chapter: LadyAmesIndy and Chyrstis. And my thanks and appreciation to all the folks who have left comments and kudos on this piece, I'm glad you are enjoying it. I hope you continue to take as much pleasure from reading it as I do from writing it.

14 Stand Alone Systems

/1/

Kaidan's fingertips drummed against the wall of the elevator. Standing orders were to clear the cargo bay after the jump into whatever system the Normandy was headed to and keep it so until they hit the relay again on their way back out. If his guess was right, the crew were likely still avoiding the bay until whatever had the ship virtually locked down into grids lifted. They had spent mere hours in the system, moving toward a location, dropping an asset, and getting out as fast as they could. The entire time spent under the protective blanket of the stealth systems, pushing the system to its limits. It was highly likely Adams might have sprouted more than a few gray hairs from the stress of the situation.

Alenko knew the drill with things like this, they all did-need to know. Those were the magic words that left 98% of the crew out of the loop. Most of whom were perfectly happy not to know; Kaidan was not entirely sure if he was among the majority or not on that particular matter. Regardless, they all just followed the adjusted orders, made due without the systems that were locked out entirely or choked for specific users, and did their jobs as best they could until things went back to some semblance of normal operating procedure.

The lieutenant spent most of the last fifty hours with Tali'Zorah and Commander Zingel trying to find a way around having to return to the Citadel so soon. Shepard made it inordinately clear that returning to any Fleet facility at this point was a last resort. The trouble was that on a ship the size of the Normandy it was nearly impossible to find a system not part of her network grid.

Or so it had seemed at first. Alenko was still a little surprised that neither he nor Tali had thought of the solution that came to him just prior to the jump. The lieutenant thought there might be one system that could fit the bill, but hated that it took him so long to come up with that possible approach.

When the door lowered, he discovered his earlier guess was right. The bay was deserted, except for Shepard who was leaning against the knobby front tire of the Mako, studying her knife rather intently. In that instant, a voice in his head reminded him of the supposed reason he was there. All the while he knew that checking in on her ranked as high on his priority list as telling the commander he had a viable alternative to returning to Fleet.

Deciding to keep his distance, he stopped and leaned near the open door of the Mako. "How are you doing, Shepard?"

"Oh, me?"

He could hear it in her voice, the strain, even though he had already seen it in the anxious tension that seemed to tie her up for the past few days. She never even glanced in his direction, just stared at the blackened blade as it moved too easily in her hands.

"I am stellar. Yep. Just abandoned my best friend in the galaxy in extremely hostile territory and now I'm going to do a wellness check on some damn backwater planet, because the big guys don't want this to blow back on the Alliance, the Normandy, or the first human Spectre just in case this all goes to hell in a hand cart. So, I'm just peachy."

Kaidan ignored the tone. He understood it. It was worse than leaving someone behind. He could only imagine precisely what she must be feeling, because, as uncomfortable as Alenko was with the situation on an operational level, he barely knew the officer they just left in some unknown corner of the galaxy.

"Shit," she grumbled as she got to her feet. "Sorry. Just kind of … Ignore me."

"I get it," the lieutenant replied, certain there was practically no way he would be able to comply with her suggestion even if he wanted to. He already tried that approach and it failed as miserably as the other tactics he had employed to get a handle on his interest.

Shepard set her foot on one of the protrusions on the tire and sheathed the knife. It fit quite snuggly in her boot-barely noticeable except for the red circle-R on the knob at the base of the hilt. "What can I do for you, Lieutenant?"

He stared at her for a moment trying to reclaim the reason he found to justify his being in the bay. "I think I might have a solution to the network issue."

The news curved her lips into a smile and her eyebrows rose curiously. "Do tell."

Kaidan ran his hand over the metal shell of the vehicle they were leaning on then tapped it. "The Mako."

Her brow furrowed.

"Her systems aren't on the Normandy's grid. Totally self-contained and self-powered, unless we are pulling the logs or telemetry, or, you know, other system maintenance. So, we should be able to use the computers on the Mako to crack the data. Once we separate the data from any malicious programming running we can pull it off the system."

"And what happens if that thing breaks my ground vehicle?"

"We can totally wipe and refresh the Mako's systems on a whim. Without connecting her to the Normandy. It's a win-win. Before we start we can disconnect the drive shafts and clear the weapons, which will leave the Mako stranded and innocuous, even if the program infiltrates the vehicle's systems. It might mess with the life support in the compartment, but if we're suited up first it won't be an issue. She's perfect for the job," he noted, patting the vehicle again and watching Shepard.

"Sounds like you've thought of everything, Alenko. Nice work. When can you have everything ready?"

"Handful of hours."

"Do it," she stated, patting him on the shoulder as she passed to the elevator. "Pull whoever you need and call me when you're ready."

"Yes, ma'am." He straightened as she entered the elevator. As soon as the doors closed his pushed his hands through his hair then laced them together behind his neck as he looked around at the empty bay.

/2/

Adams and Pressly were not pleased with the idea. Shepard listened to their arguments one more time. They focused mainly on the fact that the Normandy's ground vehicle could be virtually hijacked on the ship. No matter the precautions that were taken there was a great deal of concern that any malicious software could merely overload the power core on the Mako and blow a hole in the ship. While it was a viable possibility, the commander was willing to place her faith in Alenko and the quarian keeping that from happening.

"Look, I get it. I really do. And if we lose the Mako that'll be a crying damn shame. But Saren is running free and clear right now because between the Council, the Alliance, and us-no one can find dick on this slippery bastard," Shepard stated frankly. Both men stared at her a little shocked, and she remembered who she was talking to. Fleet officers were a lot different than marines she recalled quickly. Suddenly she was glad they were in the elevator when she said it or she could have had an entire deck full of crew staring at her the same way her ranking officers on the ship were.

"Tali'Zorah and Lieutenant Alenko assure me that they have taken measures to ensure that even if there is something on this disc that can affect the vehicle that it will not have the chance to do so. And to be safe, once we crack the encryption, we are wiping the Mako's system. Believe me. I do not like to take chances where it can be avoided."

"Then why aren't we going back to the Citadel to do this at Command?" Pressly demanded, his hand still on the panel, securing the door in place to keep it from lowering.

"Because orders state we are going to Hades Gamma. We are to stay in that system for at least one Earth cycle, though they'd prefer more."

"Then why don't we get there, do our cycle, then get this data?"

"Saren already has the head start dreams are made of, Pressly. We were playing catch up before the Council defrocked him. And while I snatched the asari out of his hands I don't think she was anything more than a way to guarantee he could keep her mother in check. She was a tool not an asset. We have nothing. That disc. This risk. It is our only chance at something right now."

"I don't think it's worth it."

"Neither do I," Adams agreed.

"Your disapproval is duly noted. Feel free to record it in the log, X-O. Now if you gentlemen will excuse me."

Pressly glared at her as he removed his hand from the controls. As the door fell, Shepard squared her shoulders and gritted her teeth. It felt like too many of the arguments she had with the brass most of her career. Operatives in the field take a risk and catch hell from the Fleet because the flags feel they should have found some way to jump through ten hoops to makes sure it was done with as little liability as possible.

You know what, sometimes the reward is worth the prospect of peril. Or at least that's what told herself. She weighed the options again. Seven days, that was all the time it would take to get to the Antaeus System, look in on some surveyors on Trebin, then get back to the Citadel.

Nyx chewed at the inside of her lip as she slowly crossed the bustling bay. A palpable tension filled the entire ship, but here it was thickest. Several MPs were on hand, there was a large representation from the engineering crew, and everyone was wearing hardsuits. Everyone was prepared for the possibility that the hull could be breached by the explosion of the Mako's core. It was the only eventually they could not outright prevent mechanically.

Is seven days worth the ship? Worth the crew? Worth the three lives that would surely be taken if the unlikely took place? That's always the question. Even if they failed, Shepard knew the data would not be lost. She was also certain that whatever Caz delivered to her was not unique. He would have a backup of it somewhere.

Grabbing her helmet off the table next to Ashley, she gave the chief a wink and a nod. Even if her confidence was not 100%, Shepard was going to make damn sure she was the only one aware of that fact.

"All right people." Her voice boomed through the open space. "Non-vital personal will remove themselves from my cargo bay." Her eyes moved through the room, locking with Wrex, Garrus, Ashley, and Liara for a moment. "Joker, start the monitoring systems so that Command can have a copy for my posthumous court martial if this goes south."

"Sure thing, Commander."

Goddamn, he sounds way to chipper about that idea. "Hey Wrex, remind me if I live through this, to slap the pilot."

Wrex's laugh grumbled through the bay. It was not particularly relaxing, but Nyx found an odd comfort in the sound. It felt almost as if he was certain he would have the pleasure of participating in that exchange. Five minutes after the call to clear the bay a handful of people remained. An emergency response team gathered near the door to engineering, farthest from the vehicle.

Shepard pointed at them. "You boys keep your heads down. If this thing goes up, do your jobs fast and safe. That will get these people home. You read me?"

"Five-by-five, ma'am," Adams acknowledged.

Shepard rolled her head from shoulder to shoulder. This is almost worse than facing down that batarian unarmed. Let's just hope this works out half as well, Shepard. She tugged her helmet on and connected the seals. A quick tap on her omnitool told her the environmental system of her suit was functioning properly.

When she climbed into the Mako, Shepard nodded at the two members of her squad who worked out all the details of this little scheme. Tali knelt on the back seat as she unscrewed the back panel of the vehicle. She was essentially the kill switch if something went hairy.

"We good?" Shepard asked on a closed channel with her squad.

The affirmative responses held traces of anxiety, for which she could not blame either of them. Though it was not evident in her voice, Shepard was keenly aware of her own nerves.

"Joker, we're going to go ahead and get this started. Adams, is your team ready?"

"Aye aye, Commander," the engineer replied. He had insisted on being part of the response team. She allowed it because she knew he would be able to keep his team calm and under control, at least relatively, if things did go wrong.

"All right Alenko. It's your ball," Shepard stated. She glanced at Tali who nodded then Nyx leaned back into the little nook behind the driver's seat occupied by the lieutenant.

The power came on in the vehicle and Nyx noticed Alenko ball his hands in fists before flexing and wriggling his fingers. Everyone was walking on the knife's edge. But Nyx knew they had to try it. They were already too far behind Saren and whatever he was planning to wait another week. You hope.

Inserting the disk with the intelligence occurred without incident, but the addition of the second disk was not so innocuous. Shepard's attention pulled away from the screen when the whirring started. The brownout made the lights dim for a moment before they came back up to full power and dimmed again. Tali's hands were busy at an anterior console, attending to the Mako's systems, Shepard knew from the briefing on the plan, while Kaidan's attention was completely focused on cracking the data. When the door of the Mako slammed shut, Nyx bit her bottom lip.

Useless. That's how she felt. But that was the plan. She trusted Alenko and the quarian to have it all under control, but Shepard refused to let them do this on their own. While there was little support the Spectre could offer her team beyond blowing up the damn vehicle herself, Nyx did have one job-the only task they needed an extra pair of hands for.

Tali'Zorah and the lieutenant prepared for every eventuality anyone suggested in the briefing. To the commander's estimation they planned out every possible and probable outcome. When Shepard suggested that the quarian be the one to hack through Saren's files, because she was more suited to that task, Tali stated that they considered that option already, but decided on this route because of her familiarity with repairing hacked systems. Tali felt her experience there would be more vital and thereby offer Alenko more time to crack the files.

Shepard's nerves frayed with every ticking second and the while the cabin lights continued to flicker they did not seem to be affecting the computer systems. The telltale hiss of the cabin venting made Nyx cross her arms a little tighter over her chest. Her thumb brushed her wrist and the timer flashed on the HUD of her visor. Three minutes. Feels like ten. She felt more than heard the quick exhalation she made as her eyes moved from the back of the Mako to the front seat again.

Her lips pursed as the silence continued. This was not how she worked-standing watch as her people go after some invisible enemy. Caz always said you needed to read up more. Keep up on the latest tech. If nothing else just so you could keep your own damn omnitool in top shape. Why the hell didn't you listen? He even offered to teach you to code. But no. You just had to train with Sergeant Egami. Shepard rested the front of her visor in her one hand as she closed her eyes against the clock that seemed to tick by so slowly.

Syncopated beeping, a dying hiss, more tapping, and a little wavering whirring hum. The sounds seemed to get louder as it drew on. The whole time Shepard wondered what was going on, even watching them she really could not determine what either of her teammates was doing, other than saving her ass and her ship. The clock spun past the seven minute mark.

"Yes!"

It was muffled, as if unintended. Shepard caught the tail end of a quick little celebratory gesture.

"Saving the decrypted data now," Alenko announced more clearly.

"Give me the word," Tali replied with a heavy note of relief, her fingers still whizzing over her console. "Shepard. I need you to grab that conduit now."

"On it." Nyx took the step and a half to the back and knelt near the quarian's feet.

"Done!"

"Done," Tali called, repeating the lieutenant's all clear. "Shepard."

With that the commander twisted and unlocked the conduit. The entire vehicle went dark and silent. Nyx sat back on the floor, taking a long slow breath, before she keyed her mic. "Joker, could you please inform the ship that we will not be making any emergency stops on this flight. Nicely done, you two," she added on the secure channel she shared with the squad.

"Thank you, Shepard," the pair replied in unison, both their voices communicating their obvious satisfaction at having pulled it off.

"Guess I should be glad neither of you are afraid of the dark." They all laughed.

/3/

The Mako spent several hours with the status of large and glorified paperweight. No chances were being taken. The commander stood vigil the entire time. No one could touch the data until the vehicle's systems were back online, because while some risks were acceptable, putting anything like that in the Normandy's network was not going to happen. Ashley leaned against the table next to Shepard and eyed her for a moment. The tension still obvious in the tightness of her pose, the relaxed recline against the table was anything but as the shorter woman kept her arms crossed tightly over her chest.

"Penny for your thoughts, Commander."

"I want those files," Shepard replied lowly.

Williams nodded. That much was obvious.

Once the engineering crew pried the squad out of the vehicle, Shepard had taken up the spot she still held. The CO stared at the Mako so intensely that it was almost as if she was trying to will the vehicle back online. "Adams' guys did say it would take a few hours to get her back up once you guys downed her."

"And the two hour timetable came and went five minutes ago."

"Damn, C-O, give them a little leeway." Ashley regretted it the moment Shepard turned those sharp appraising eyes on her. Instinct made the chief straighten rigidly. "Sorry, ma'am."

Nyx took a deep breath and shook her head. "No. You're right. I just have never been all that good at waiting. I kind of suck at it actually."

"Never would have guessed," Williams muttered.

"Don't push it, Chief," Shepard replied with a grin.

Both women stepped forward when the Mako started to purr like a drunk kitten from hell. A wide grin crossed the blonde woman's face when the lieutenant hopped out the door a few minutes later holding up the shiny little disc and wearing a pleased look.

"All clear, Shepard," he called as he crossed the deck at a trot, toward the advancing N7.

"My squad. My quarters," Shepard called in a booming voice, inspecting the shimmering circle in her hands. "Joker, have Pressly meet us there. Adams the bridge is yours, sir."

The ground team fell into step behind her; all of them had been hovering. After all this was the reason most of them were on the Normandy in the first place, well except for Williams and Alenko. The others assisted with whatever came up, never grumbling about the work that mainly came from the Alliance. But the reason they remained might well be found on that little sliver of shiny material, and they were all keyed up to know what was on it. Williams leaned against the wall and the nervous tension in the elevator seemed to overpower everything else. There was a sense of anticipation that seemed odd considering what they were looking forward to was a fight and not something enjoyable.

Nyx wore a calculating little smile as she twirled the OSD between her fingers. Alenko's brow was drawn tightly, but there was a pleased little curve to his lips. Tali's arms folded tightly over her chest, but she bounced lithely on the balls of her feet as the elevator seemed to creep toward the crew deck. Vakarian's back was ramrod straight as he smoothed a hand nervously down the center of his chest. The doctor fidgeted, yet again obviously demonstrating her lack of familiarity with this type of situation. The choreography of each of squad member's anxiety played out to the low grumble that emanated from deep within the krogan's thick chest.

Pressly was a few steps ahead of them when the group exited the elevator. "Commander?" he greeted, noticing the pack she led toward the area that served as her office and her personal space.

"X-O."

The curt formality between the two of them was not lost on the chief. The whole squad had borne witness to the disagreement, if you could call it that, between the operator and two of her line officers. The exchange still played in the forefront of Ashley's mind as a testament to the differences between the various sides of the fence even within the Alliance. Shepard was an operator, and Ashley, while she might be hard pressed to give name to the differences between Nyx, Pressly, and Adams, Williams could still see them painted in bold colors.

Crossing the room at something akin to a march, Shepard stopped and glanced over her shoulder before she put the disc into her console. Williams understood the hesitation. If Tali and Alenko had missed anything, it could access every system on the ship from that device. Trust. It was a vital part of any team. They all trusted the commander with their lives, not just the squad, the whole damn crew. Her sliding that OSD into the system was her exhibition of trust in her squad's abilities.

"Mr. Adams, if your guys detect any anomalies, inform me at once."

"Aye aye, ma'am."

She tapped a few other keys on the console and the room locked down. No one would enter or leave for this digital excursion.

"Let's see what Saren left behind."

/4/

Six hours, four consoles, and a few omnitools. That's what it took to dig through the disheveled data Saren had left behind. Not surprisingly it was the researcher that found the key. On a whim Liara pulled up a program she used when doing research for articles in the past. It paid off. A few noticed references that tied back to the Attican Beta and they found evidence that there was something in the Theseus System that heavily interested the defrocked Spectre.

Liara and Pressly opted to combine efforts to refine the rest of the data in Saren's files. While they compiled a more comprehensive briefing, which left Shepard sifting through Arterius' files on her own.

Concentrating on the reports the turian crafted, the commander hoped that they might lend some insight into the way he thought. The way he worked. She did not have the background on him that she usually did on her targets. But then again usually her targets were a little less large and a lot more open about themselves. There was almost nothing on Saren since he joined the Spectres, and anything that might have been known about him before had been locked down by the Hierarchy after his appointment; or so she discovered after a few careful and diplomatically crafted requests.

It made her wonder if the Alliance had done something similar, perhaps locking away her own files in some dusty place where the skeletons of her own career could not be disturbed. Nyx shook off that thought. If they did or did not, it would not change the fact that she finally had something on Saren.

Insight into her adversary might have come easier if the Hierarchy was less rigid, but she held out little expectation that the turian government would offer her any assistance or insight into one of their own who had just been branded a traitor, but she asked anyway. Officially and unofficially. Marric Toran, an old associate, had been much gentler in his rebuff, reminding her that the turian culture still largely functioned on the tenuous currency of honor. She could not really blame them for not wanting to acknowledge Saren or what he was doing. His actions were a black mark, a smudge that their government, and the Council as well, would rather pretend did not exist.

"Commander," Pressly's voice rang off the metal surfaces and the interior of her skull, jerking her out of her contemplative state. "Encrypted communication incoming. Caller's in a window."

With that revelation Shepard was on her feet and out the door at a run. From the notation that the transmission was on a channel with limited communications access, the commander half expected it to be a quick whisper that she should not be receiving. Or at least she hoped it might be Caz offering her a respite from the guilty feeling she carried for being the one to drop him off alone on some god-forsaken moon.

The voices she heard, though familiar, did not belong to Calev Zingel. In all honesty she knew it was too soon to hear anything, good or bad, from her friend, but that did not stop the slump of her shoulders when the wave of disappointment washed over her.

"Greetings from the Valhallan Threshold," Commander James Lassiter said with way too much glee. But then again her old commanding officer always had been a little on the chipper side.

"You must be beside yourself, you crazy Viking. Laid eyes on any Valkyrie?" she asked lightly.

"Not yet, but a little bird did tell me you're slated to do a flyby on Trebin. Just wanted to give you a heads up. They went dark a few days ago."

"They've been transmitting requests for assistance regularly for a while now, looks like an automated beacon."

"We know. And it did not send up any flags until our boys found some poorly scraped data that suggests there was a little more going on there than a colonization survey."

Shepard leaned back against the railing and stared at her boots. "Like?"

"No idea. Vague references to experiments is all Tzon and the twidgetsi can pull."

As if hearing his name were a summons to the conversation, Shepard's former primary sniper made his presence known. Jacob Tzon swore up and down that becoming a Spectre was a promotion and she owed them all a round of drinks. Shepard politely reminded him about the bottle of whiskey she'd left at the team's HQ, which her old teammate felt did not adequately cover the debt.

"Wish I had more for you, Shepard, but this place was stripped to the bones before we got here. I think we got lucky to find this much," Lassiter concluded.

"Dead on. Whoever cleared this place, they were … thorough," Chief Dave Jensen added with wariness.

"I'll forward the pieces to you on the tail end of this," Lassiter broke back in.

Nyx had a sneaking suspicion that there was more to the scene at her old team's location than either man was giving her, based on familiarity with them and the types of situations her old team handled in the past.

"So it's all working out up there in Citadel Space?" Chief Jensen asked, shifting gears and feeling out his old CO.

"About as well as it can on no intel and running from fight to fight," Shepard replied.

Jensen laughed to cover up his irritation. "You're doing the same job then, just with better equipment."

"And the pay raise was kind of nice."

"Yeah, and a hundred credits says, you're using it to stuff your mattress like always."

Operations Chief Dave Jensen had known Shepard since she was a wet behind the ears pup. He was not just her chief, he was her friend, but that came part in parcel to having married Lin Apraxin, who was one of the few people closest to Shepard. Lin and Shepard grew up together, as much as one could given their situations, Calev Zingel was also part of that rotating mix of kids Shepard met on her father's postings. The chief and the commander always worked well together and were cordial, but when he married into her extended family, they became much closer.

He was one of the very few people that could claim to know Commander Shepard and Nyx-and in the officer's own mind the two parts of herself were not always synonymous, though they did bear striking similarity to one another in some ways.

"How's your new bunch? Any standouts?" Jensen queried.

Nyx knew he wanted to know how they measured up to her old team. "Pretty solid, and they all stand out from the crowd."

"Heard some whispers about that. A krogan, huh?"

Her laugh was light. Last krogans her team happened upon were just as capable as Urdnot Wrex, but a lot less personable. "Bring 'em home, Chief, and thank Lassie for the intel. Let him know we're headed out now for all intents and purposes. And I'll keep him posted, even if it's just through official channels."

"Will do. Watch your back, Shep. And good hunting," he grumbled at her.

Dave was as protective of his people as Shepard was, she was also fully aware that regardless of where she was stationed, her old friend would only ever count her as one of his people. It was a feeling she reciprocated; Shepard might not head Arcturus Seven any longer, but in many ways they were still all her guys, her friends.

The new information did not sit well with the officer. While the intelligence they already had suggested that the regular transmission might just be automated, if that was indeed the case there was no reason for it to suddenly go dark. What was worse, A7's updated intelligence hinted at the possibility that there might be something more to the site than was officially on record. When she saw the name ExoGeni, Shepard's hackles went up. It was the same name Liara and Pressly found in Saren's files.

Her pace out of the comm room was as swift as when she entered. "Pressly send the data that just came in through to my quarters." She heard the start of the aye aye, but passed through the hatch before it could finish.

"Commander," Liara greeted quietly as Shepard crossed the deck at a good clip.

"Doctor." The nod was polite if not curt, given the commander's distraction. Shepard continued past the asari, waving her along with encouragement to follow. "Forgive my distraction. Is there something I can help you with?"

The asari took a few steps into the room then stopped. When Shepard finally looked over at her, the commander noticed the box and the rather sheepish look. "I understand. I just thought I should drop this off."

"Oh?" Shepard asked, watching the researcher set the white box on the table.

"I hope you won't be offended. It is a child's toy, at least in my culture. Used to help develop precision. I thought perhaps it might help you with … what we talked about." Liara tucked her hands behind her back when Shepard glanced at the fidgeting.

"That's… very… kind. Umm, thank you, Liara."

"My pleasure, Shepard."

The demure bow of the head that T'Soni offered as she left seemed a little odd to the commander. But with the distraction removed, Shepard's mind returned quickly to the situation laid before her, literally as she eyed the collection of devices that littered her desk with data from Saren's files, reports, briefings.

"Commander." Pressly's voice rang off the bulkheads of her quarters.

"XO."

"You should have those files, ma'am."

"Appreciate it."

Shepard took up the box and lifted the lid-a collection of silvery rings of varying sizes lay carefully packed in navy blue paper. The note suggested that she start with the largest of the rings and work to the smallest. Nyx shook her head and set the box aside on her desk. That is a experiment for a different day, she told herself as she pulled up the fragments from the Valhallan Threshold.

/5/

Ashley, slated for the ground team hitting Trebin, kept herself hard at work prepping weapons for the rest of those that would going as well. Whether she was putting boots on the ground or not, the chief handled all the team's weapons, except Wrex's shotgun-he refused let anyone near it. By the time she finished the load out, about twenty minutes before their estimated time of arrival, she heard the lift. The chief expected a reaction, but part of her still was not quite sure how Shepard would take the playful bit of payback.

"Chief!" The small blonde's voice boomed off the metallic surfaces.

Ash turned quickly, fear tickling the back of her neck for a moment at the tone in the commander's voice and the way the vowels were drawn out. When the brunette caught sight of Shepard, Williams raised her fist in front of her mouth as she tried not to laugh.

"What the hell is this?" Shepard shouted, holding her hands out to her side as she looked down at the armor set the chief had procured.

Swallowing heard at the retributive glee bubbling inside her, Ashley straightened and mustered all the composure she could scrape together. "I have no idea what you mean, Skipper," Williams said. She bit her cheek when she felt the smile creeping across her face again. The stutter in her voice hinted at the young woman's battle not to laugh. "You told me to find you an armor upgrade with more tech resistance. That's what I did."

The commander was not amused, or at least she did not look amused as she strode across the deck purposefully. Usually you could not hear Shepard's approach, but this time each step rang off the deck until she stopped within inches of the chief and narrowed her eyes at the soldier.

"Ma'am!" the chief barked straightening, as she suddenly lost the ability to find humor in the situation.

The commander glared at her for a moment, then took a step back as she took a deep breath and propped her hands on her hips, shifting her weight to one foot. Shepard stared at the younger woman.

The stance doesn't help, Williams thought. The mostly grayish-white armor was trimmed to accentuate the curves of the female human, or that's what the volus had told Ashley in a breathier voice than normal. And he had been right. The detailing was compounded by the fact that the breastplate, and only the breast plate, was finished in a dark grey which made the Commander's assets more prominent.

"Seriously?" Shepard finally said. "This is my tech defense upgrade."

"Hey," Williams shrugged as she turned back to the disassembled weapon on her worktable. "I just do what I'm told."

"It's actually quite practical, Shepard," Liara offered from the locker she was leaning against. The asari ignored the glaring glance the human shot her in response. "For urban combat situations the pattern and coloring is ideal. It will more than adequately serve to break up your silhouette if the team meets any resistance in urban locales."

"I think I'd rather be seen by every geth under Saren's command, than go unseen in this," Shepard retorted, with a trace of unease, as she crossed her arms over her chest as if it might help her feel less exposed.

"Look at it this way, it could be safety fucking yellow," Williams interjected with quick glance at the commander. Ash referred to the last upgrade Shepard procured for the chief from the quartermaster-black undersuit, bright yellow plating. It made Williams look like an assault bumblebee, and she hated it.

Shepard howled in recognition, her laughter lightening the mood tremendously.

"Payback's a son of bitch, ain't it, Skipper?"

"Just remember that," Shepard muttered as she leaned past the chief and grabbed her assault rifle.

Ashley realized she had not thought her little plan through entirely when Alenko arrived not long after. She turned her head toward the sound of the arriving lift out of instinct and nearly choked when she noticed his gaze fixate on the commander. Shepard's attention was thankfully wrapped up in her weapons for the moment. The chief's eyes darted to the turian's. Garrus had been in on her little prank.

Deciding she should be chivalrous and allow the L-T a moment to recover his senses, Williams cleared her throat. "That reminds me. I did get you one thing you'll like."

The chief finished reassembling the pistol and held it out grip first to Shepard. Williams felt relieved that the distraction seemed to keep the blonde's attention. With a covert glance across the bay, Ashley noticed Alenko's eyes were still wide and glued to the new hardsuit that clearly defined the commander's feminine curves. The chief's intention had only been to embarrass the commander a little, not to shock the lieutenant into a stupor.

Nyx took the proffered pistol and turned to lean on the edge of the table as she tested the weight of it in her hands. She checked to make sure it was unloaded, even though she had just seen Williams reassemble it, then raised it to dry fire a few times to get a feel for the trigger. The chief took no offense that Shepard checked the weapon again, Ash would have done the same thing; she knew all too well that some habits just became ingrained after doing them so often.

While the CO seemed focused on her new toy, the lieutenant's eyes moved slowly, guided along by the lines of the Ursa armor, and it was all Williams could do not to lose it then and there. Ashley found she needed a new direction to look, and turned a little to the right to see a similar inspection being made by the asari. To her credit, Liara seemed a little less panicked as her attention followed similar lines as the lieutenant.

Ashely closed her eyes for a moment then the soldier took a deep breath and looked at the gun, which Shepard was touching rather delicately; the chief figured it was the only safe place to look to keep from embarrassing one or all three of them. Glancing up again, Williams saw the slight hint of panic in Alenko's eyes, she almost felt bad for him, since he was part of the ground team this go around.

"Very nice, Chief. How much is the Alliance paying for this?"

Garrus moved toward them and placed himself between Alenko and Shepard. Ashley knew Vakarian and the lieutenant got on well, and she assumed the turian was doing exactly what she was-trying to lessen anyone's embarrassment. She wondered if he might feel some pangs of the same guilt she noticed shades of. Ashley realized in their rush to mess with the commander they had not thought about the other possible consequences; and of all people, Williams thought she should have since she had borne witness to a few signs that Alenko might be at least a little interested in their CO prior to this exchange.

In all truthfulness, Ashley never expected the volus' claims about accentuation to be all that accurate. In her wildest imaginings she could not have expected the Ursa hardsuit to be quite so scandalous. The armor seemed to accentuate everything to excess. The volus might have been more correct than any of them could have realized when he said it was the sexiest armor in the galaxy. Both, Garrus and the chief merely chalked that up to a sales tactic

"Actually, the Chief here got the volus to throw it in, gratis. She can be very convincing," Garrus said with a reverberating little laugh that held a nervous note. "Though it might have helped that Wrex and I were with her. And, come to think of it, Wrex was fondling his shotgun in some very suggestive and provocative ways."

Shepard held the pistol out, testing the trigger again and checking the sight.

"Aww. You even lined up my sights." She set the weapon onto her hip and put both hands over her heart. "I'm touched, Chief," her voice was sickeningly sweet, but there was a sincerely appreciative look in the commander's eyes.

"Whatever," Ashley replied playfully as she cleared her own assault rifle in preparation.

"Five minutes, Commander," Joker added. "And for the record, I bet if you just shake your hips at the geth, their heads will explode from a computation error."

That did it, the room erupted in laughter as Shepard looked straight ahead, the barest hint of a smile lifting at the corners of her mouth, and said, "Thank you for your input, Flight Lieutenant."

"Always happy to help, Commander."

/6/

The lieutenant slumped against the back of the passenger compartment staring at the seam in the ceiling after quickly discovering it to be the only safe place to direct his gaze. Taken with the lingering conversations, the ease with which he would let himself recall the same, Kaidan's head usually spun around Shepard. And Kaidan knew there was no way he was going to get the image of that armor out of his head. The newest spotlight cast on her was bound to just add more fuel to the fire blazing through his already distracted brain. Inadvertently, he made the situation that much worse by his misguided attempt to get some distance from her. Sitting in the back of the Mako had been a bigger mistake than he realized at first.

He closed his eyes and shook his head again, trying to force out the memory of her slithering past him before climbing into her chair. Kaidan shifted quickly, screwing his eyes closed and pressing the heels of his hands against them. What the hell is wrong with you? You're a damned professional, Alenko. Well then, act like it, Lieutenant, the voice in the back of his head taunted. Rubbing his hands against the tops of his thighs, he stared at the ceiling again, continuing his silent chastisement.

Checking the panel in front of the chief, he could tell they were closing in on the location where the base camp was supposed to be. Two minutes, he guesstimated. Two minutes to get your shit together, Staff Lieutenant. Can't believe I'm acting like some damn school boy in heat. His head bobbed with the motion of the vehicle, and he started to think maybe he was getting closer to some semblance of calm when that little voice that like to prod from the dark corners of his mind whispered some of the same things that had run through his head when he first entered the cargo bay.

Armor is not supposed to look like that, he thought as he fought with his rebellious and stirred up subconcious.

When they reached the destination, Alenko broke form. The entire squad knew Shepard's habit of being the first to put boots on the ground, though it had taken on the guise of standing order. But Kaidan doubted he could just sit there and watch her wriggle past him. The lieutenant secured his helmet and, once everyone else had done the same, he popped the hatch and ducked out.

Just breathe. And don't look at her. You'll be fine. Or at least that was what he told himself. Clearing the abandoned camp quickly, he was able to distract himself with the task of breaking into a secured terminal in what seemed to be the administrative building of the little settlement, and pulling any and all useful information off it.

"Normandy," Shepard called matter-of-factly over the comm channel.

Static was the only response.

"Williams, check your link."

Their voices played in the back of his head, while his attention focused on the terminal. When the chief's response went unanswered, Shepard sent the chief to the Mako to check the tightbeam link.

"No dice, C-O. I try a few more freqs see if I can raise her," Williams advised over their channel.

Kaidan felt himself jump with the pressure of Shepard's hand on his shoulder. The reaction was not out of surprise. It was her, and he knew it. She patted him lightly, a reassuring gesture, he knew.

"What's up with the comms?" she asked.

"Give me a second, I might have an answer in here for you," he replied, not taking his eyes off the console. He shifted slightly when she leaned toward the console just over his shoulder.

It was the first time he could recall having been glad to be on a planet that required a breather helmet. His jaw tightened and his breath caught in his throat. The reaction disturbed him slightly. He shook his head clear and tapped the screen.

"According to their logs, they thought some kind of atmospheric anomaly had been interfering with their communications and GPS satellites. But that doesn't seem right," he told himself as much as her when his omnitool interface slid open. Typing furiously, Alenko pulled up the scans the Normandy had performed before they disembarked. "Our scans don't show anything like that."

His muscles tightened as he felt and saw her shift slightly closer, reading over his shoulder. Kaidan was all too aware of her hand still on him.

"Anything on our scan suggest what could be causing it?" She took a few steps back, finally, and leaned on a nearby desk as he went over the data again.

"Looks, like Pressly marked off some sort of anomalous signal, a few clicks south of us. It's in some rocky terrain," Kaidan advised.

Through the face mask the only part of her face still clearly visible were her vibrant blue eyes, and the crinkle at the edges of them were the only display of the grin that brightened her voice. "And now everyone wishes Tali were here." Her laugh rang through his head. "You almost done here?"

"Just about."

Ashley ran up to the building, keying her mic. Her voice was shockingly calm, but Alenko attributed that to the fact that she had likely taken some extra time to consider the situation. "Still nothing, Skipper. It's like once they broke atmo, we lost 'em."

"Yeah, looks like Pressly's scans might have picked up the culprit, though. We're going to check it out and see if we can't reestablish contact. I'm sure Pressly is in Joker's lap just about now."

"No doubt. I can imagine this might have him on edge."

Shepard straightened and moved for the door. "Let's go find that signal."

"Just remember to buckle up, Williams," Alenko jested, cluing his teammate in to the fact that the terrain where they were headed was bumpy.

"Aw, shit. Really?"

The three of them just laughed. When they climbed in the Mako this go around, Alenko was first, and called shotgun. It was a lot easier to take the proximity the vehicle forced on them with consoles between them, as well as the distraction of the systems which required monitoring. With the added dilemma of a loss in communications, he found it much easier to concentrate on something other than the commander and her thought-provoking armor; though in those moments of calm she seemed to creep back into his mind.

There was an easy answer for the communications issue that plagued the survey team as well as the Normandy's squad-sabotage. A beacon placed in some high terrain was reprogramming the satellites to crash land. It had also been set to sabotage communication off planet at a prescheduled date and time. The beacon itself bore no signs of who left it there. The generic after market piece of equipment was completely untraceable, and the programming bore no traces of its creator. Despite the questions this raised, the team still bathed in a sense of relief once communications were reestablished with the Normandy.

The whole situation was shifty from the get go. Teams just did not disappear without a trace leaving no signs of anything. The terminals had been scrubbed, though not completely, Alenko managed to pull some piecemeal data off them, though most of it was going to have to be reconstructed. Then there was the beacon. When they reached the excavation site, things got a little stranger. Shepard toed at the welding unit lolling on the grating near the entrance after they discovered that the entrance to the mine completely sealed, from the outside.

"Pirates or slavers?" Ashley asked as she examined at the door.

"Slavers don't typically work this clean," Shepard noted, staring out at the terrain.

"Pirates wouldn't cut off a supply chain," Alenko added before he relit the torch.

"Then, what?" Williams queried. The chief stood next to the commander, assault rifle in hand.

"Not sure."

Shepard's voice was low and held that note of wariness that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. Alenko was nearly certain that was a partial truth at best. There were rumors about things like this. Most soldiers heard the whispers about mercenaries with vendettas or just masochistic streaks that would employ extreme methods of torture when they came across smaller groups with less than adequate security. Then there were the more extreme tales about the things that happened at the edge of the traverse. The thought of it made his stomach turn. One thing was certain though, his desire to find out what was in this dig site ranked below nil. At best they were going to find a lot of bodies, and he chose not to consider any of the possibilities on negative side of that particular bell curve.

Entering the excavation site, things were eerily quiet. Their slow movement through the tunnels, suggested Kaidan's at best had been an accurate guess. When they initially entered the main chamber, there was a brief moment when it seemed like he might have been wrong. There was nothing there, save for supplies and tools. The splash of a boot in a shallow puddle was answered with a scream that ripped through the silence.

The site was filled with husks. The team held their ground as long as they could, but there were a lot of them. The trio wound up slowly back tracking toward the entrance. When they reached the shaft, the lieutenant holstered his pistol and relied solely on his biotics trying to keep as much distance between the husks and the team.

"What the hell?" Williams gasped.

"I didn't see any of those spikes," Kaidan agreed, trying to catch his breath as well. "Geth might explain why the site was so clean."

"True, but not why the site was sealed shut. The husks aren't a threat to the geth," Shepard stated as she strode back toward the main cavern. "You two, get me a count and any identifying … whatever. If you can."

The two subordinates watched as Shepard unholstered her pistol and turned behind a stack of crates. Kaidan and Ashley set to the task of trying to identify anyone, but there was nothing left. He did take a few scans and photos of these creatures to compare with the data from Eden Prime variety they had seen.

When another screech echoed off the rock, he and Williams were on their feet quickly, pistols in hand. The single shot was preceded but a familiar liquidy sound followed by a sharp clap, the distant pull and the sharp tingle in the air made Kaidan smile involuntarily. The clear signs of the biotic detonation were tinted with the field bleed common to the commander, all followed by the very characteristic sound of a powerful handgun.

Moments later, Shepard met them back near the entrance, holstering the new pistol. "Count?"

"Thirty-four," Alenko responded.

"Including the party crasher in the back?" she asked, thumbing past her shoulder.

"Yes, ma'am."

The commander eyed the site one last time. "Means we are six short. Let me guess no way to ID these … remains, right?"

"Nothing that we could find."

The facts tumbled through his head as he studied the gray face of one of the dead creatures. Forty people missing-six unaccounted for and no way to identify the six unless they popped up on someone's radar. Communications and all data links off planet cut intentionally. Someone wanted these people alone and lost. Someone wanted them to disappear. From the empty weapons lockers at base camp, not all of them were civilians, or at least not all civilian-trained. They would have put up a fight if they had been beset by slavers, but there was no sign of conflict at the camp. Then there was the missing data and the empty, sealed excavation site.

"This was not the geth. We're going to have to get alerts out on every one that was supposed to be part of this group," Shepard determined as they climbed back out of the shaft. Her head turned toward Kaidan as they continued out and toward the Mako. "I need that data cleaned up ASAP. I want to know what these people were doing here and what made them start that distress call. If they found something in that hole, I want to know what."

"Aye aye, Commander," the lieutenant replied.

"Pull Tali to help, might go faster."

Alenko nodded when she looked back at him over her shoulder.

i Twidgets: a slang term for tech-minded people, technicians, and engineers.