Shepard sat silently in the Normandy's com room. Rocking one of the chairs back and forth idly as he thought.
This wasn't right.
He stopped rocking only to bring his hands together and twiddle his thumbs, he knew he was on edge but he had to keep from repeating a motion over and over.
Biotics were a bit iffy like that.
A slow exhale served to calm him enough so he wouldn't accidentally send himself floating out of his chair, yet it wasn't enough to shake his unease.
He was the first human Spectre. He was in charge of probably the single most advanced ship in Citadel space (except that dreadnaught that had almost landed on Eden Prime). And to top it all off he was on a mission to stop what could be the greatest threat the galaxy ever known… and the council almost didn't help.
Putting it like that it sounded reasonable for him to be uneasy. But Shepard knew full well it wasn't just that.
Something had felt off on Mindior.
Something had felt off on Akuze.
Something had felt off as they were going to Eden Prime.
And something felt off now.
It wasn't as bad as before, that little weight in his stomach, the anxious energy that made him want to move, just move around and do something… it was there, but it didn't demand his full attention.
They had only recently passed through their first Mass Relay on their way towards the Artemis Tau Cluster; he had a feeling that the Matriarchs daughter would be of some importance… though how much he didn't know.
It took several deep-breathing exercises for Shepard to calm himself down and to push the unease to the back of his mind. Only when he was done did he get out of the chair and go out onto the sh- no… his ship.
And he walked, wandering the ship with his hands in his pockets.
He eventually ended up heading for the elevator to the cargo bay and engineering of the Normandy, with getting to know his newest crew members in mind.
It took almost an hour of talking with them each individually before he thought he could understand them some.
Garrus was easy to read as far as Shepard could tell. He wanted to do the right thing, but he focused more on the results rather than the methods to get it. He was a C-sec officer who had started to chafe at the rules, and, seeing an opportunity to work outside of them, took it. He would need the turians skill with the sniper rifle, surprisingly surpassing Shepard's own by far; but he would also need to get the former officer to understand that the methods meant just as much as the results in their line of work.
Tali was a bit harder right now, Shepard still didn't know much about her, but he could guess at her personality. Still young and passionate, and though she seemed to understand that life wasn't all fun and roses, she was still a bit naïve and she had a good heart. She would definitely come in handy, her talents with computers and electronics was almost inhuman (figuratively speaking of course), and even though Shepard had some skill at decrypting a locked box or enhancing the kinetic shielding of his armor, he didn't hold a candle to the girl, and she was still relatively inexperienced.
And then there was Wrex.
A smile spread on Shepard's face even as he rode the elevator back up towards his quarters for a nap. The two of them had only spoken for a short while, but he knew that for all of his violence and wanton destruction, Wrex was a good person at heart. Violent, aggressive, and lacking the majority of morals most races lived by, yes, a good person at heart, still yes.
The Commander stepped into the captains' quarters, standing just inside the door and letting it close behind him with a hiss. With a sigh, he walked over and sat down in one of the two desks in the room then reached up and keyed the small com unit in his ear to a frequency Shepard had dubbed 'Wisecrack.'
"How long until we hit the last relay?"
"E.T.A. is about 8 hours Commander, should we happen to slip into a gravity well and add a few more hours so you can take a nap?" Jokers' voice teased over the com.
"No, eight is more than enough Joker. Just be sure to wake me only when we're about to hit the relay," he grinned though he knew Joker wouldn't see it, and did his best to keep his voice even, "A man needs his beauty sleep, and we both know I need every minute."
"Certainly Commander!" he caught the end of a laugh before Joker cut out.
Shepard smiled some; Joker would probably always cheer him up.
But back to business, he stretched out his arms and set his fingers to the console in front of him, his fingers flying quietly as he drug up as much information as his newfound Spectre status would grant him.
He was mildly surprised, in addition to the data the Alliance systems had, there were the occasional notes from various other races on the planets and systems in the cluster. He was also able to pull up some notes on Dr. T'Soni, though not as many as he would like.
Picture, name, age in standard years, and several notes on the digs that she had been to.
Shepard laced his fingers in front of his face and glared at the computer screen in front of him.
There was almost nothing on her. He had honestly expected more.
But that was beside the point, he would learn more about her when they met. Right now he had his hands full just finding her.
Skimming over the main systems again, he noticed that only the Knossos system had any notable Prothean ruins, and even then, only on Therum.
'Well…' he mused to himself, 'I guess that narrows the search just a bit… Prothean scientist, only one ruin in the entire cluster that she's in…. wellll…'
"Joker."
"Yes Commander? Up from your catnap already?"
"Plot a course to Therum, it's in the Knossos system. I think I found our good doctor."
"Right away sir."
As the com shut off once again Shepard stood and stretched, 'Now about that nap…'
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Shepard's eyes snapped open, his chest heaving, his skin cold and coated with sweat.
What had happened? What had he seen? Was that a nightmare? He hadn't woken up like that in years.
"Commander?"
Shepard sat up, shaking the last vestiges of the night terror from his mind, "Yes?"
"Joker says we're only an hour away from the system… he couldn't get you on the com… are you alright, sir?"
It finally registered in the alliance officers mind that it was Williams speaking through the door, "Yeah… I'll be out in a minute…" his voice was tired, worn, gravely. He banished that as he swung out of bed, "Tell Wrex and Tali to meet me by the Mako and gear up, the three of you are coming with me to Therum."
"Aye aye sir."
Shepard tugged on a nearby shirt as he headed out of the room, 'Time to get ready.'
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Fifteen minutes later he was sitting cross-legged beside the Mako, checking each of his weapons automatically as he talked to the shore party.
"Alright, I'll run this over for you once, this is an unofficial briefing Williams so feel free to ask questions. Anyways, the planet is hot, uncomfortably so for humans and Quarians, but survivable." A nod to Wrex, "You should feel right at home though," a grunt in reply.
"The mission is to find Dr. T'Soni and bring her back to the Normandy. If she is working for Saren, it may be necessary to use force to bring her along, but I doubt it."
"What if there are geth protecting her?" Tali piqued up.
Shepard glanced up at her, pausing as he finished putting his pistol back together with a soft click, "Then we shoot them."
Ashley and Wrex smiled.
"Now for the bad news, there are no starports for several thousand light-years, so we're dropping in the Mako," he jerked his head at the vehicle behind him, "Not to mention that the nearest viable drop zone is several klicks away from the ruins."
"Any questions so far?"
Wrex piped up, "So what are we going to do about the asari?"
Shepard met the krogans wide-set eyes as best he could, "We're not going to shoot her on sight if that's what you're asking," a look crossed his face that Shepard would bet money was disappointment, "The objective is to get her back on the Normandy with as few dents and scratches as possible."
Smiles at this comment, and he guessed that Tali was smiling as well though he couldn't be sure.
"Now, I chose the three of you for a reason. Wrex, you'll be comfortable in this environment and with your considerably greater mass you have less to worry about the biotics that asari are famous for. You are point."
"So… I'm just a bullet sponge..."
"A bullet sponge with a shot-gun and biotics of his own, but yes. Focus on keeping Fire off of Tali, then me before you take any for Ash. Excuse me if I'm not exactly comfortable with our lack of armor. Stick with your shotgun unless something else comes up."
"Tali, your main job is to keep the Mako running and if we have to get out you are going to stay with the vehicle," his hand shot up to halt her protest, "Because, I want someone to stay with the Mako to ensure that our exit route isn't compromised, and to provide cover fire if we have to retreat back to the Mako. You are easily the best for the job." If Shepard was reading quarian body language right, she was embarrassed, "If the Mako is compromised and you get stuck with us on foot, your job is first to bring down any hostiles' shields and weapons, then provide covering fire for Wrex and Ash."
"Williams, you're fire support. If something shoots at Wrex, you shoot it. You have leave to use whatever means necessary to take any hostile targets down," a grin had slowly been forming on her face, now it was a full blown smile, "If at all possible, match my targets or Wrex's, we want to bring down enemies as quickly as possible in any situation."
"Finally there's me. I'm going to toss any hostiles around to keep them from shooting at us and break down any equipment they have. In short, I'm going to make your jobs easier," he nodded at Wrex and Ashley.
The nearby console beeped and Joker's voice came through, "We'll be entering the atmosphere in five minutes, be ready for the drop sir."
Shepard holstered his pistol and stood, "Alright. Let's go."
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He had been right… this planet was uncomfortably hot. And Wrex was as gay as a blue-jay… for him at least.
Even as the shore party stepped out of the Mako due to a blasted pair of boulders blocking the way, Shepard still didn't feel as if the geth were protecting Dr. T'Soni.
Shepard waved Wrex and Ashley to stay behind the boulders and crept forward; his sniper rifle resting easy in his hands.
This area was prime ambush material, and the Geth seemed to love ambushes; he linked the rifles scope to his H.U.D. and edged the gun out around the edge of the boulder he was hiding behind.
And lo and behold! Geth.
Shepard eased down to the hot rocks and scooched over till only the side of his head, gun, arm, and part of his shoulder peeked out from behind his cover.
He practiced going back and forth between the available targets several times before keying in the assassination protocols on the rifle, sighting the first target (damned rocket troopers), and taking a deep breath.
The rifle kicked and the hood of the red geth ceased to exist.
Shepard swung the barrel over and down, the sights landing on a white shock trooper just as its flashlight eye landed on him.
The rifle kicked again and a hyper-accelerated round punched a hole the size of Shepard's fist through the geth's neck.
As the rounds began to rain around his position, Shepard ducked behind the rock and slipped his sniper rifle into its magnetic holster, then reached up and keyed his com, "Williams, Wrex… in case you can't already tell, I just kicked up a geth nest… so if you would kindly get your asses over here and help me out I would be ever so grateful."
A particularly fast and large mass-accelerated round blew out a chunk of rock beside his head, 'Well damn… didn't see a sniper… must've been hiding…'
At this point his two squadmates came rushing over, heavily armed and armored as bullets whizzed over Shepard's head at them.
Shepard pointed at Wrex and jerked his thumb at an outcropping closer to the geth's position.
The krogan dashed over and took cover, with little shielding left Shepard noted on his H.U.D., even as Ash dropped into a crouch beside him.
"Sir, what's the plan?"
Another sniper round tore through the rock, this time closer to his head, 'Almost 17 seconds? Good shot, bad rifle.' "Well…" Shepard drawled out before edging up and peeking over the boulder they hid behind, he ducked back down just before the boulder got a complimentary geth haircut, "I'm going to toss a tech mine over this here rock, and once it goes off," he pulled his assault rifle from it's holster and pulled it to his shoulder as it expanded, "We're going to shoot everything that moves on the other side of this rock… except for Wrex of course…"
He glanced over at her, "Sound good?"
She blinked for a moment before grinning, then the grin became a small scowl, "What about Wrex? How will he know when…?"
Shepard leaned out a bit; then shouted, "Hey Wrex! When I give the HI sign we're going to shoot the geth!"
Wrex grunted.
"That means 'yes sir'," Shepard said solemnly to his hiding companion, who was now stifling snickers.
A few moments passed with the geth raining fire on their position before his companion spoke up, "What are we waiting for?"
A sniper bullet tore through the rock, inches from Shepard's head, "That."
He stood and turned, firing the tech-mine with practiced precision, watching it explode in the midst of three geth with a crackle and a boom.
Wrex burst from his cover, running straight at the geth and firing all the way as Ashley and Shepard hosed them with rounds.
It was over in four seconds.
The two humans jogged up beside the krogan, at which point Shepard checked the map uploaded into his suit, "Well-"
The characteristic binary sound of a geth battle cry cut off whatever the Commander was going to say and sent him diving for the relative cover of a nearby low outcropping.
His companions reacted similarly, if a little slower, and caught the fringes of a rocket aimed at where they had been moments before.
The two of them ducked under the cover opposite Shepard, both with some colorful curses in their respective languages. Their Commander slowly edged out and glanced at the group shooting and them, ducking back behind cover as a rocket passed through where his face had been.
Shepard raised his voice some to be heard over the constant gunfire, "Wrex, you're going to throw up a barrier around yourself and charge in, have fun! Williams, covering fire! Focus on the sniper and rocket junky up there! I'm going to toss a singularity down there and keep them off of us! On three!"
The man swapped out the clumsy assault rifle for his trusty pistol, "One!" he focused, clenching his fist and almost pulling the kinetic barriers around him, "Two!" he clenched his left arm tightly, building the necessary charge to throw a singularity as far as needed, "Three!"
Shepard spun out of cover, dropping the mass-increasing singularity right in the middle of the most bodies on reflex and watched with satisfaction as a number of get started to orbit the small blue sun.
A part of his brain noted that Wrex gleefully dove into the mass of geth, caught up in the singularity as well, firing and swinging his shotgun at everything that moved. And that Ash had popped up and was firing continuously at the cliff ahead of them.
But Shepard's mind was focused on the rocket streaking towards them as he brought his arm up again and reflexively tossed a small bubble of force into the rocket, detonating it prematurely.
Noting the read beam on his chest, Shepard brought up his pistol and he started to move, firing into the floating mass of geth still held by his singularity.
His mental countdown finished and the geth fell to the ground as the singularity faded. Shepard palmed a tech mine and almost tossed it into the fray before noticing that only one of the synthetics was even trying to get up, which their krogan backup simply walked over to, planted a foot on its chest, and blew the poor things hooded head right off.
Shepard glanced over at Ash, who gave him a thumbs-up, "Sniper's down sir."
"Well that's good," he rolled his shoulder, his nerves protesting as always at the repeated use of biotics, "We don't have to worry about getting shot in the face for a while."
The three of them headed up the slopes, wary, until they finally came within sight of the main entrance of the ruins. Shepard was still scanning the area for threats when his personal radar suddenly flashed red, the words JAMMED bolded across it.
Movement caught his eyes; a lanky white thing dropped from a beam above and quickly crawled along the ground before bounding off.
There was nowhere near enough time to get his gun up on the thing, but head had enough to recognize the hooded head of a geth.
The loud drone of a ship caught his attention and he looked up in time to see a number of objects drop from a geth dropship that had just flown overhead.
As the dust cleared, his eyes widened and he shoved Ashley and Wrex out of the way as the armature unfolded.
The two of them stumbled over, behind the wall that separated the area, just as the accelerated rounds began to rain down around them.
Shepard jerked back, diving behind one of the large crates in the area.
He glanced at his H.U.D. and almost swore; those few seconds under the armatures light arsenal had almost eliminated his shields!
Then the crate shook with the force of the things main cannon, "Williams, Wrex, deal with those damn hopping things would you?" he forced calm onto his voice. He wasn't scared, not really, but he sure as hell was irritated.
A new kind of geth and an armature to deal with... without the Mako…
Great.
"Damn things move a lot…" That would be Wrex, grumbling about whatever those hopping geth were.
Shepard palmed a grenade, reviewing the positions of the geth that had dropped in his head, two black ones, the armature obviously-
There was a shotgun blast followed by the death scream of a geth; and Shepard's screen cleared.
Oh yes, and that shock trooper sneaking up on him from the right.
He idly chucked the grenade over to the side and watched with satisfaction as it landed at the feet of the white geth just as it rounded the edge of the crate.
He then detonated the grenade and watched with even more satisfaction as the geth went flying up into the air, only to land 'face-first' right beside him.
As it struggled to get up, Shepard idly reached over, put the barrel of his pistol within its shielding limit, and blew the 'blue box' that served as it's brain right out of its flashlight head.
As he settled back into a crouch under his cover, the crate shook with the force of the armature's main cannon slamming into it once again.
Shepard started counting idly in the back of his head as he keyed his com to be easily heard over the occasional blast from the two remaining snipers and the almost constant fire from the armatures smaller gun.
"Williams, switch to your sniper rifle and peak out from cover, take care of the sniper to the right of the armature, Wrex, can you toss the other off into the lava?"
A grunt.
"Good enough," he started to make himself comfortable, "Take your time."
Shepard watched out of the corner of his eye as his companions preformed perfectly; Ash blew the top of the geth's head clean off; moments later Wrex biotically threw the other sniper geth right into the armatures 'face', where it was cleanly blown away.
The armature began to open fire on the Commanders position with renewed vigor, firing its guns almost constantly.
"Good… now just sit tight."
"Sir-?"
The Spectre plopped down onto his behind, then reached into one of the few pouches on the skintight armor, and pulled out a granola bar.
The human and krogan stared as the Commander as he set aside his pistol and idly unwrapped the snack even as the mass-accelerated rounds began to break off pieces of the crate protecting him.
He began to munch away as the geth equivalent of a tank continued to fire on his position.
The Spectre popped the last bite into his mouth, chewed, and swallowed. He examined his fingers as if considering licking them clean.
A blast from the armature took off the corner of Shepard's crate.
Deciding against licking his armor after being in this environment, he activated his omni-tool and set several tech mines into its modified launcher, then idly palmed a pair of grenades, an incendiary and a high explosive.
The next blast from the armatures main cannon visibly cracked what was left of the crate.
This snapped Ashley out of her stupefied daze, "Commander-!"
As she started to speak, there was a pause in the armatures smaller gunfire. In one swift movement, Shepard spun out of cover, fired a pair of tech mines into the armature, and tossed one, then two grenades after them. The mines detonated in a blast of blue electricity as the Spectre threw his arm forward and seemed to throw an impossibly fast blue fog at the armature. The fog slammed into the still sparking geth, then the Commander thumbed his omni-tool.
When the dust settled, figuratively and literally, the armature was left without its hooded head and a mass of melted slag for its main body.
This took all the time it took the Gunnery Chief to say 'Commander-!'
Shepard picked up his pistol, examined it, thumped it once to nock a pebble loose, then holstered it, "Well. That takes care of that."
"...hmph… not bad…"
Shepard looked up; he hadn't expected the normally blunt and worldly krogan to be impressed by that, Ash maybe, but not him. And he knew that 'not bad' was about as close to a glowing compliment that Wrex could give.
He glanced over at her; her eyebrows were raised in an expression that somehow was sexy, impressed, and teasing all at once, "Didn't know you had such a good arm… sir."
He rolled his eyes and turned, heading for the entrance to the ruins.
As Wrex and Ashley followed after, the krogan leaned over and whispered as conspiratorially as he could, "I don't know about you, but I'm glad he's on our side."
Williams nodded and whispered back, "No kidding, he's the hero of the Skyllian Blitz, held off several platoons by himself, and later he brought down a thresher maw when it took out his entire unit."
"Both of those?" Wrex was actually surprised at this, "How'd that happen?"
She shrugged slightly, "No one really knows why he did it, but after the Blitz he requested a transfer, it ended with him at Akuze… I personally think that he saw things during the Blitz that he wish he hadn't, and wanted to get away from the harsher stuff by going to a quiet unit, but it didn't work out as he planned…"
"Could the two of you at least try to keep up?"
Shepard was standing in front of the open mining tunnel and looking back at them.
The two of them started slightly and jogged to catch up with him even as he drew his pistol and headed into the ruins.
"Though seriously sir... a granola bar?"
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A.N.): Okay, I recently got the (in my opinion) unbelievable game Mass Effect. I decided to take a look through the fanfictions and found it sadly lacking. I aim to fix that. And to those who are disappointed in my lack of updates in the Naruto department, I'm sorry. My computer is exceedingly dead and everything for my Naruto fanfics is on there. I'm doing these on another computer, but I'll eventually be able to get back to Kisses from a Rose.