James Vega had rarely been back to Earth since he'd joined the Marines, and now he was here, in Vancouver. Not home, but at least the same continent. Just a quick shuttle ride from home, his abuela and Uncle Emilio, the man who'd put his life on the right track. His dad too, but his dad barely counted as family.

Maybe he ought to message Emilio, organise time to catch up. God knew he'd not spent as much time with him as he should.

He stared out the window, down at the unfamiliar skyline and the distant gleam of sunlight hitting English Bay. The Alliance base here was a far cry away from a lot of the places he'd been stationed - dedicated to training, administration and the military hospital, with none of the tight security and fortifications of a colonial base.

He shifted his weight from one foot to another. Orders were orders, but Vega didn't like waiting around while trusting Shepard's safety to some new MPs he'd just met. Even if Anderson insisted that he'd had them all triple checked.

He should've been there when that bastard Young had stabbed her.

"You can go in, Staff Sergeant," Anderson's aide told him.

"Thanks."

He stepped through the door and into Anderson's recently commandeered office. It was spartan, devoid of personal touches, with the only furniture the desk Anderson sat behind and a computer, light from the holo screen washing across the admiral's decorated uniform in soft orange.

Anderson wasn't alone, either. Lieutenant Williams stood to the side of the desk in crisp Marine dress blues, arms crossed, and a briefcase over one shoulder. Her eyes were sharp when they met his. He didn't know her, but he could see how tense she was in the way she stood, like a rubber band close to snapping.

Shepard hadn't talked about Williams much but it'd been clear pretty early on how she was still caught up on her. He'd been a bit curious, he had to admit, what kind of woman left Commander Shepard of all people in tangles.

Now, he thought he was starting to get it.

"Ma'am." He nodded to her and focused on Anderson. "You wanted to see me, sir?"

"Yes. Williams here has been investigating the attack on Shepard. She's going to go through it with us."

"Sir," Williams protested. Her look at him made it clear what she meant.

"I trust him," Anderson said firmly.

After a moment, Williams nodded. "At first glance there wasn't anything unusual about Master-At-Arms Second Class Young. While I agreed with your assessment that it was unlikely to be Cerberus, sir, I didn't want to rule anything out. But Young didn't have any unusual connections. Not to Cerberus nor to Bahak - he looked clean. Born in the UK, enlisted in 2179 at twenty, pretty normal couple of enlistments."

Vega scratched his neck. "So what, this guy just woke up one day and decided to stab his prisoner?"

Williams shook her head. "I doubt it. I spoke to his supervisor, and they're pretty eager to write him off as a bad egg. Arrived a few months ago, kept to himself. So I went to his old unit and spoke to one of the guys there - remember Sung-Ho Choe, sir? He was on the Normandy."

"I remember him. Drove Rahman up the wall."

"Anyway," she continued, "Choe was at that old unit and I asked him if he remembered Young. He'd never heard of him. So I went and looked at his service record again and found a discrepancy. Everything was uploaded on the same date," her expression was grim, "so it looks like you were right, sir."

Vega felt like he was missing half the conversation. "About what?"

"Young was likely AIA under an assumed identity. It'd have to be someone who had access to the Navy database to create his falsified record."

"Fuck."

Williams smiled humourlessly. "Yep."

"I have someone who might be able to find out more. Someone outside the Alliance," Anderson said contemplatively.

"If you trust them, sir," Williams said, a hint of curiosity in her dark eyes.

"I do. Until we know more, I want you both to keep this to yourselves. If I need some discreet muscle, I'll contact you."

"Yessir."

After a moment, Vega had to ask, "What about Shepard, sir? Shouldn't we let her know what's going on?"

"There's nothing she can do about it," Anderson dismissed.

"Because keeping her in the dark has worked out so well in the past," the sarcasm was clear in Williams' voice, and when Anderson glared at her, she met his gaze steadily.

After a moment the admiral sighed and shook his head. "You may have a point, Lieutenant. I'll speak with her."

"Sir."

"Dismissed."

When they stepped outside, Vega turned to leave.

"Vega, wait a second," Williams called.

He turned back. "Ma'am?"

She opened her briefcase and pulled something out, pressing it into his hands. A sketchbook and a tin of pencils. He blinked.

"For Shepard," she explained, resolutely not looking at him, "she likes sketching and she must be going crazy not being able to work out, so…"

That much was true. Shepard had been particularly mercurial since she'd been well enough to be moved to the apartment in Vancouver.

"I'll give it to her, ma'am."

"Thanks."

Vega stopped in the doorway, thumb hooked in his belt.

The midday sun was streaming in the glass window of the apartment, falling across Shepard on the couch. She was reading a datapad, a frown on her face and a hand resting gingerly on her abdomen. He escorted the nurse in every day to change the bandages, something Shepard always tolerated in stony silence.

She'd told him that she was healing well, but he really wasn't sure about her going back to court next week.

"Ma'am," he called, stepping into the room. "Good book?"

She looked up. "Weapons testing reports, actually."

"Fun." He handed her the sketchbook. "Williams wanted me to give this to you."

Shepard held it for a moment, something complicated flashing across her face. "I haven't...not since Alchera."

"Well," he shrugged, "now's as good a time to start again as any, right? You can't work all the time."

Shepard smiled a ghost of a smile. "You sound like Anderson."

"Admiral's a good man," he said, "and he's got some good ideas."

"I'll think about it," Shepard said, but she hesitated to put down the sketchbook. He would've liked to think it was because he gave good advice, but Vega suspected it had more to do with who had bought it for her.

"Prepared for going back to court?" he asked.

"I don't think it's ever something you can be prepared for," Shepard replied, "but it is what it is."

"True enough."

Outside the window, the city moved in streams of traffic and pedestrians far below. It felt like nothing bad could happen here, in the midday sun, but Vega knew better.

He knew better but it was hard to believe.

A week and a half later, Shepard was back in the dock, her uniform collar doing its best to strangle her and her side a low ache.

"Before the next witness is called, counsel," Captain Chakir rumbled. "I would like to give some directions to the jury at this stage in the proceedings. Do either of you wish to make submissions on that?"

Both Castillo and Vogt stood to answer. The prosecutor looked over to the other man. "My friend is more senior, he can go first."

"Very well. Mr Castillo?"

"Yes Your Honour. I don't have any specific issue with directions to be made to the jury," He paused, pushing his chair in, under the bar table. "However, my submission is simply that motive is an issue for evidence and there is potential for prejudice to be drawn from any errant comments."

The judge nodded solemnly. "Your submission is noted, Mr Castillo. Mr Vogt?"

Castillo returned to his chair and Vogt stood, scratching at his head for a moment. "My submission would be much in the same vein as that of my friend. Perhaps I will additionally point out there are still matters to be addressed and the brief of facts is still somewhat narrow."

"Also noted. I will ensure that I am careful with my choice of words. You may sit, Mr Vogt. I will collect my thoughts for a moment."

Vogt brushed his dress whites and lowered himself while Captain Chakir began to make some notes on the display next to him. There were a few minutes of silence, broken only by the occasional cough and clearing of throats.

Once the judge had finished writing, he looked down towards the jury. "This trial has been adjourned for a period of three weeks. The reason for this adjournment was because the Accused -" he gestured towards Emilia was sat, "-was the victim of an attempt against her life. She was stabbed and required surgery. As has been pointed out by counsel, the reason for this attack is a matter for evidence. Which means that you must decide after considering the evidence.

"I would like to be clear that it is unacceptable for a member of this jury to speculate, investigate, or hypothesise about why any such attack may have occurred. Additionally, in these circumstances, the mind shall not be turned to pity or sympathy. Be assured that, should a verdict of guilty be passed, these issues will be considered by this court.

"Now, with respect to how the rest of this trial will work - it shall proceed as if no interruption had occurred. The next witness will be called forthwith, and we shall carry on. At the end of this trial, in closing, counsel will sum up the evidence that so far has been adduced. That will give you the opportunity to have your collective memory refreshed."

The judge paused, clearly thinking, before turning back to the lawyers. "Anything I forgot, counsel?"

Both stood at the same time again. "No, Your Honour," said Vogt, sitting quickly back down.

Castillo lingered, wracking his brain. "Your Honour, that seemed to be a quite perfect encapsulation of the events thus far. Perhaps I might remind Your Honour that further directions will be given prior to deliberation?"

Chakir nodded. "Yes, quite right. Members of the jury, as Mr Castillo has rightly pointed out, this is not the last time you will directly be addressed by me. At the conclusion of the trial, I will again give you directions and summation prior to you deliberating. Now, if there's nothing else…"

It was mid-morning in the court room. Today, there had been a brief voir dire - a hearing where the jury wasn't present - regarding the admissibility of a particularly thrilling scrap of the original Normandy. For some reason, it had taken two hours of submissions before Commander Vogt was finally successful in having it admitted, which prompted a gleeful Castillo to admit he was wrong and sit back down.

Shepard had had to fight hard not to fall asleep.

Now, the prosecution was bringing yet another one of their witnesses. Though Shepard thought they had no idea what they were dealing with.

"The prosecution seeks leave to call its next witness, Flight Lieutenant Jeff Moreau."

"Flight Lieutenant Moreau may appear."

Joker, wearing the dress uniform she'd only ever seen him in a handful of times, entered the courtroom, escorted by a Master-at-Arms, and directed to sit at the stand to be sworn in.

"I, Jeffrey Moreau, do truly and solemnly declare and affirm that my evidence will be completely truthful."

"Thank you, Flight Lieutenant," Vogt began. "Please begin with your rank, full name, and rating for the benefit of the court."

"Flight Lieutenant Jeffrey Moreau, and I'm a Medium Dual Atmosphere Pilot, rated for Hasting and Normandy class frigates."

"Thank you. Now let's begin, shall we? How do you know the Accused?"

"I was the Chief Helmsman on the SSV Normandy, so she was the boss lady."

Vogt cocked an eyebrow. "Very interesting phrasing, Flight Lieutenant. Commander Shepard was the captain of the Normandy?"

"What is my friend trying to establish with this witness, Your Honour, we already know Commander Shepard was the Normandy's captain."

"Uh…" Vogt said in response. Shepard fought the urge to smirk.

"Mr Vogt, speed it along please."

"Uh, yes Your Honour. Did you have much contact with the Accused in that role?"

"Yeah. She likes to sneak up on her poor crew and loom at least twice a day like some kind of ninja. But yeah, when I was on duty, she'd come and talk to me on her rounds of the ship."

Vogt narrowed his eyes. "Your Honour, I seek the leave of this court to declare this witness as hostile."

"Your Honour, look at that face, how could this witness be hostile."

"I urge that the court remind my learned friend to not make light of a witness' testimony."

The Judge glared at the two of them. "Firstly, Mr Vogt, you will urge nothing of this court. Secondly, I will remind Mr Castillo that if he has an objection, he does so in the proper form. This witness is now hostile. You may continue, Mr Vogt."

"Did she talk to you about personal matters, Flight Lieutenant?"

Joker, who'd laid a hand on his chest like he was offended at being called hostile, shrugged. "Sometimes. No one's an island on a frigate, even stoic N7s."

"Did she talk to you about her relationship with Lieutenant Williams?"

"I don't think that ever came up."

"Did you suspect there was something more than a professional relationship between them?"

Joker's gaze sharpened. "Yeah, I suspected. Williams and I were friends."

"Did you ever counsel the Accused - or Lieutenant Williams - that it was inappropriate to engage in something like that?"

"Nope," he popped the 'p'.

Vogt scratched his head. "Alright. Let's go now to Alchera. What were you doing when the Normandy was attacked?"

"Flying the ship."

"That's good, considering you were the Chief Helmsman" Vogt remarked, "And-"

Castillo stood. "Your Honour," he said with mock concern, "does the court benefit from my friend quipping like he's in a vid?"

"You are both," the Judge enunciated and stressed it with his hands, "reminded to keep commentary to a minimum."

"Thank you, Your Honour," Vogt said, irked. "So you were flying the ship, when did you see the Accused?"

"Shepard was on the bridge because she was observing the FTL jump we'd just made. She was the first one to realise the other ship was on an intercept trajectory and declared General Quarters."

"And then she left the bridge, didn't she?"

"Not until we got hit the first 'd already ordered me to start running, but the first," Joker took a deep breath, "the first hit severed the main gun, destroyed Main Gunnery and damaged the drive core coolant system, so I couldn't jump. She ordered us to abandon ship then, and X told her the distress beacon wouldn't launch so then, yeah, she left the bridge to go make sure it launched."

"She left XO Pressly in charge of the evacuation while she went below?"

"In charge of the bridge, yeah."

"Why wouldn't she send the X down to check the distress beacon?"

"I object to that question, Your Honour, that witness could not speak to my client's state of mind."

"I agree, Mr Vogt. Change the question."

"Was Commander Pressly a more experienced bridge officer?"

"Yes," Joker said, looking very much like he wanted to roll his eyes, "Pressly told her he could handle things on the bridge, and she said she'd launch the beacon and make sure everyone got off the lower decks."

"That's highly unusual, isn't it? In my experience, as a bridge officer and space warfare officer, a-"

Joker smirked. "Your experience, aren't you a lawyer-"

Once again, Castillo found his feet. "Your Honour, if my friend wishes to give evidence in relation to what bridge officers ought or ought not to do, I think it would be more appropriate for him to take the stand."

"Mr Vogt," the Judge began, loath to agree with Castillo, "this court is not concerned with your experience as a space warfare officer or a bridge officer and frankly, I do not care what you have to attest in the matter. If you wish to adduce something, please, for all our sakes, do it through this witness."

Vogt's face burned. Castillo quietly chortled, looking very happy.

"Isn't it unusual that the captain would leave the bridge when their warship is under attack?"

"In some situations, yeah." Joker seemed rather entertained by the objection. "But during an evacuation they do what they need to do to make sure everyone gets off."

"Commander Pressly was more experienced to handle the bridge, did the Accused lean on him often?"

"Command teams have to 'lean' on each other. Yeah, he had the ship while she wasn't on it and she asked his advice on things."

"She was an infantry officer, it's only natural she would defer to Commander Pressly," Vogt said. "So she deferred to him when the ship and its crew were in danger?"

"Asking for advice isn't deferring. She asked me my opinion sometimes. She asked Alenko and WIlliams for their opinions on grunt stuff. I don't think anyone would say she deferred to them in the field."

"But she did defer to him when the ship was in danger, didn't she?"

"I don't think it was deferring. She asked his opinion and made a judgement call."

Vogt pinched the bridge of his nose, frustration creeping into his expression. "And that judgment call was to leave the bridge and let the XO remain in charge, instead of the captain?'

"Guess so."

"And you refused to abandon the ship, is that correct?"

"I did, yeah." The levity left his expression.

"But once Commander Shepard came up to take you, she managed to convince you?"

"Yeah. She yelled at me and then helped me up, and she was right."

"If she had remained on the bridge, maybe she could have convinced you earlier?"

"If she'd remained on the bridge she would've been dead," Joker said flatly, "well...dead earlier. Unless she was hanging onto my seat or something."

"After the Accused helped you into an escape pod, did you see her get trapped?"

"I did. The bulkhead collapsed and caught her by the legs."

"And why didn't she free herself?"

"It was pretty heavy, probably couldn't have moved it by her hand by herself. I was...trying to help, but she shut the pod on me." Joker shifted uncomfortably.

"But she's a biotic, couldn't she have lifted it?"

"Williams told me later she wasn't wearing her amp at the time of the attack because it was uncomfortable to sleep in, and she was only meant to be on the bridge briefly to oversee the jump."

"So she shut the door on you, and launched your escape pod. Did you see the Accused die?"

"No. I saw her get trapped, that her air hose was leaking, and I watched the Normandy's drive core detonate."

"But you didn't actually see her die?"

"Your Honour, that question was literally just answered."

"Rather, she could have been alive for at least some time after you left the ship?"

"Possibly, I guess, for a period. But no one survives a drive core detonation."

"Generally not. How close was the enemy vessel?"

"Probably two to four thousand kilometres, though that's a guess."

"Did you see it any launch any small craft on your instruments before you were pulled from the conn?"

"Not that I could see, but... most sensors were monitored by the CIC crew."

"So it's possible that a small craft was launched to take Shepard from the vessel - or her remains from Alchera?"

"It's possible, but I saw nothing to say that happened," Joker said.

Vogt ignored him. "And you were later grounded after the events at Alchera, is that right?"

"Yeah. I lost flight status and I was given a letter of reprimand. Not much use for a Flight Lieutenant who can't fly."

"Fair enough. Is that why you defected to Cerberus?"

"Yeah, pretty much. Not very patriotic of me, I know."

"And you worked with the Accused again?"

"I did yeah. Same job even."

"Had she improved as a captain, commanding the deck?"

"From the start of the Eden Prime War? Sure, everyone gets more experienced."

"You thought that she did a better job the second time 'round?"

Joker gave him a look that was close to a glare, "I thought she was more experienced, especially with a crew she couldn't trust the same way she trusted the SR1 crew. The SR1 crew was the Navy's best of the best, the Cerberus crew wasn't all that."

"What were the differences between the Alliance Normandy and the Cerberus Normandy?"

"Bigger," he shrugged, "leather seats, private sector style."

Vogt rubbed his forehead. "Right. And the crew, how did they differ?"

"The competent ones were former Alliance, the incompetent ones were freighter crew with a dislike for blinks."

Vogt resisted the urge to make a comment about that. Instead, he asked, "Right, and what did they… do?"

"You have experience as a bridge officer but you don't know what a frigate crew does?"

"No, no, I mean what was the difference between the crews from both versions of the Normandy." Despite himself, he let Joker get the better of him.

"The second crew was smaller, not all of them were military. Shepard spent a lot more time making sure everyone was doing their jobs properly. The job was pretty much the same though."

"And Shepard had a similar rapport with them as she did the SR1 crew?"

"Some of them."

"Right…" Vogt decided to cut his losses. "I have no further questions, Your Honour."

"If it pleases the court, I'd like to cross examine this witness."

"Go ahead, Mr Castillo."

"Thank you, Your Honour. Good morning, Flight Lieutenant. I'll start very simple. What setting do you normally have the climate control on when you flew the Normandy?"

Joker smirked. "22 degrees celsius. Not too cold, not too warm."

"Perfect. What setting was it on at Alchera?"

"The usual. I find it kept me alert to not have it up too high, y'know?"

"Of course, that makes perfect sense. In your experience, is space cold?"

Vogt's mouth was agape. He had absolutely no clue where Castillo was going with this line of inquiry.

"In my experience, yes," Joker said, schooling his expression to 'Very Serious'.

"Is it normally colder than, say 22 degrees, approximately what your climate control was set to?"

"Oh yeah. You'd freeze to death."

"Wow," Castillo said, acting as if he had never heard this information before.

"And you normally like to avoid being in space?"

"Your Honour," Vogt protested. "I'd like to know where my friend's line of questioning is going."

"As would I, Mr Vogt."

"Well, Your Honour, my friend made it a point to outline that this witness did not leave the cockpit over Alchera on that night. I am merely exploring some of his motivations for not having done so."

"Is my friend suggesting that the decision to stay in the cockpit was based on the temperature within it?"

"In the witness' own words, you'd freeze to death."

"I will allow the questioning, but try not to waste the court's time, Mr Castillo."

"Thank you, Your Honour." Vogt took his seat and felt as if Castillo was close to sticking his tongue out at him. "So, Flight Lieutenant, you don't like being in space, do you?"

"As a general rule, I like to avoid that. I prefer to stay inside the starship."

"Makes a lot of sense. And you successfully avoided going into space over Alchera, didn't you?"

"I did, yes."

"Congratulations. Did you get a medal for that achievement?"

"Nah. Pretty sure they gave Shepard a medal for it though, albeit after she was, you know, dead."

"That is a travesty. You got grounded, we heard?"

"Yeah, and reprimanded."

"Wow. So you flew the ship well, avoided being flung into space and freezing to death and then they grounded you for the privilege?"

"Yeah, pretty much."

"They treated you so unfairly… Did you take any souvenirs from the Normandy?"

"It was kind of...exploding, so no."

"Another shame…" He shook his head. "I see why you went to Cerberus to work with my client."

Vogt stood, having had enough of it. "Your Honour! Is there any probative value to this whatsoever?'

"Hmm? Oh, no." Castillo replied. "I was just interested. I thought that's what we were doing, based on my friend's questioning. I have nothing else for this witness."

The courtroom was silent for a few moments, except for idle clicking of camera drones.

"I… suppose this witness can stand down."

"Cheers," Joker drawled.

The next day, there was a new witness. Some of the original Normandy crew were stars; Garrus Vakarian, Urdnot Wrex, even Joker had some minor celebrity, but the next witness was a ghost. Not that much of a surprise from a career N7.

"Please state your full name, rank, and current billet for the record, please."

"Chief Special Warfare Operator Josh Audrey. I am a special warfare operator assigned to SASOC."

"Thank you. How do you know the Accused?"

"We served together between 2181 and 2183 within SASOC."

"In around October 2182, did you witness a… negative interaction with the Accused and another member of the military you were working alongside at the time?"

"Yes, there was an interaction between Shepard and an infantry officer I found unsettling at the time, more so now."

"Can you describe the events leading up to that interaction?"

"We were on an operation in the Traverse," Audrey replied, very carefully not looking at Shepard. "Our team was alongside an infantry company. They were conducting a large sweep of the area, we were supposed to locate and capture or kill a high value target."

"And what kind of interaction did the Accused have with this infantry officer?"

"There was a disagreement in regards to resources during this operation. Basically the infantry company wanted to use all the available air assets to support their mission, whereas we wanted a shuttle and gunship for our raid. Shepard stated to us that if we went in on foot, our target would likely escape, an assessment I agreed with. Shepard decided to talk to the infantry Staff Lieutenant herself, after looking him up and finding out he was Elysian. In that conversation, which I witnessed, she well, played up the fact that she was the 'Lion of Elysium' and her experience. He was…star struck, and agreed eventually to what she wanted."

Vogt nodded. "Did you think the Accused manipulated that Staff Lieutenant into doing what she wanted?"

"Yes. I do think that, and I don't think she'd even disagree with that assessment."

"Did she do this often?"

"I saw a few instances of that. She'd use her reputation and natural charisma to get us supplies or better quarters for example. She has a very strong personality, and a lot of other Marines and sailors were swept up in that. She had a way of making you tell her your life story, and then using what she knew about you to help 'the mission'," Audrey said strongly.

"What was the Accused's opinions of what she had done?"

Castillo stood to object.

"My apologies, Your Honour, I'll rephrase to spare my friend's objection. Chief, did the Accused express to you or other members of the team her opinions on what she had done?"

"Yeah," Audrey sighed, "she and Joseph Coyle, our team sergeant, laughed about it after the incident with the Staff Lieutenant. Shepard joked that he was gonna ask for her autograph after the mission. A lot of the people in our team thought it was funny, and well, we benefited from it most of the time. I never saw her express any guilt about it."

"Did anyone from the team say anything about it to her, express any concerns?"

"She was the charming, competent officer who always did right by us. No one said anything."

"It's not surprising you didn't. The Accused had a firm grip on the team, didn't she?"

Once again, Castillo stood, but Vogt corrected himself.

"What did you think about the leadership of the team?"

"Both Emilia Shepard and Joseph Coyle were very good operators and leaders. I followed them into battle without hesitation. But Shepard had a very strong personality, as I said, and there's few who'd argue with her about anything,and there were things said that didn't sit right with me."

"What other things didn't sit well with you?"

Audrey hesitated, "Some of the things that she said, or didn't say anything when others did."

"In relation to what, anything in particular..?"

"Comments in regards to batarians. Derogatory terms referring to batarians were commonplace in our team at the time. I also heard Shepard joke about going on a vigilante mission to kill the batarians who were accused of perpetrating the Skyllian Blitz. Said it was her retirement plan to avenge her unit on Elysium."

Vogt looked shocked. He'd heard this before, of course, he in fact had an affidavit that swore to this, but he had to play the part for the jury. "And she said this often?"

"I wouldn't say every day, but it wasn't like she only said it once. She seemed to think that war with the batarians was inevitable, and that parliament was being too weak to just get it over with."

"What did you think of when you heard about what happened at Bahak and that the Accused was behind it?"

"I thought that I'd dismissed her dislike of batarians too much, that I should have said something. That maybe after being a Spectre she thought she could just do what she wanted, and that was to attack the Hegemony, especially since Cerberus committed terrorist acts against them."

It was unethical for lawyers to 'coach' witnesses or tell them what to say - though, on the defence side, some creative advice was sometimes given in how a witness should approach their testimony - but Aubrey's answer was textbook.

"Do you think the Accused's hatred of batarians contributed towards her decision to join Cerberus?"

"I don't know, I...I imagine it didn't hurt. She wasn't a xenophobe towards other species, but Cerberus often plays up the batarians as an existential threat, and I know she felt that the Alliance wasn't proactive enough."

"You said before she made expressions that war with the batarians was inevitable, do you think the Accused was making a preemptive strike, before any war began?"

"It could be, yeah, or maybe she'd thought it'd provoke them, force the Alliance into it."

Again, Vogt nodded but Castillo didn't look too happy. "Were you… surprised by Bahak?"

"I never thought anyone I knew would do something like that. But...Shepard never had qualms about killing the HVTs we were sent after. I...yeah."

The prosecutor tried his best to look somber. "Did you see Shepard draw a distinction, in her language, between batarian civilians and batarian combatants?"

"She didn't kill noncombatants that I knew of," Audrey replied, "Nor break our ROE, but she did tell us if any of the civilians we had arrested or detained went for a weapon, we were to 'ice them' and she'd rather have an argument with our command over it then lose one of us. She'd call the civilians blinks as well."

"Mhmm. What were her reactions after killing batarians?"

"She didn't really have a reaction, negative or otherwise."

"She appeared… callous?"

"I object to that question, You Honour, my friend is leading the witness."

"I agree, Mr Vogt. Move on, please."

"Of course, Your Honour." Vogt took a breath, looking down at the lectern and the datapads in front of him. "Did you have many engagements with enemy batarians?"

"A lot. The operational tempo for our unit was very high. We didn't have a single deployment without multiple engagements."

"Did her remarks change over the course of your deployments?"

"We took a few casualties, and she'd sometimes say some...angrier comments along the same lines."

"Thank you, Chief," Vogt said. He moved his t hings from the lectern and onto the table. "That concludes my questions."

"With permission, Your Honour, I'd like to begin my cross."

"Go ahead, Mr Castillo."

"Thank you. Chief Audrey, did you hear other officers make similar remarks to the ones you've attributed to Commander Shepard?"

"Occasionally."

"Did other members of your team make similar remarks?"

"Yes."

"Did you yourself ever, in your career, make such remarks?"

"No."

"But almost all of your fellow servicemen did?"

"There were a portion that did, yes. I wouldn't say almost all, but a fair few."

"But this was in the late '70's and early '80's, wasn't it? Is it fair to say there was a reasonably large amount of anti-batarian sentiment at the time?"

"Your Honour," Vogt began quickly as he found his feet, "my friend is indicating that he intends to cross examine this witness in relation to what the entirety of the Systems Alliance Defence Force was doing at that time."

"Whether I get it from this witness, or I ask the court to take judicial notice of the fact, I will adduce it in some way."

"Almost any witness of reasonable intelligence and political acumen could attest to what was going on in the papers and tabloid of the day, Mr Vogt," the Captain said. "I will allow this question, however, I will ask that it be reframed through the lens of what this witness ought to have known."

"Very well. Did you have the opinion that there was a fair heaping of anti-batarian sentiment within the Systems Alliance Defence Force at the time?"

"Yes."

"Did you think there was, in addition to that, a culture of indifference in some of your fellow servicemembers?"

"Within SASOC, certainly."

"And you don't think Commander Shepard's remarks were simply evident of that culture within the SADF or SASOC?"

"Other crimes were committed by people with similar opinions. While the culture excused it, I don't think that makes it normal."

"Perhaps you didn't, but certainly others did. Joseph Coyle, for instance?"

"Sure."

"But you think people making those comments were indicative of a desire in those people to eliminate or destroy all batarians?"

"No, I don't think all of them wanted to commit genocide. I don't think that any of them would've been upset if we'd gone to war with the Hegemony."

"How important is unit cohesion to a combat unit?"

"Very. You live or die by trusting the people around you."

"Did attaining that cohesion sometimes require people to say or do things they didn't necessarily agree with, to fit in?"

"Sometimes, I guess."

"Is it possible that Shepard was simply repeating what she had heard, or what she thought would be expected of her to fit in, in SASOC?"

"It's possible," he admitted,"though I never thought of Shepard as the follower type of personality."

"I don't dispute that she is a capable combat leader and warship commander, simply that… She came from the regular infantry, surely she had some fear of how different SASOC would be?"

"My friend could not possibly expect this witness to know that, Your Honour!"

"Agreed. Mr Castillo, please attempt to keep things in a form that our witnesses could speak to."

"Of course, Your Honour." Castillo considered for a moment, tapping at the lectern in front of him. "What was your billet before you ended up in SASOC, Chief?"

"I was a Master-At-Arms," he replied.

"Did you experience any anxiety once you went from the MAA stream to SASOC?"

"Yes. The pipeline is intense and I worried about being...enough."

"How long have you been in SASOC?"

"Six years."

"In that time, have you seen any new operators say, or do things to fit in or achieve unit cohesion?"

"I have. Some really stupid things sometimes."

"And have you also seen existing operators 'haze' or otherwise encourage new operators to say or do things to fit in?"

"I have."

"Wouldn't you say, then, that it's possible that this was exactly what Commander Shepard was doing at the time she made those remarks?"

"It's possible, though at the time of some of those remarks, she'd been in SASOC for several years."

Castillo had to concede that point. The testimony didn't look good for Shepard regardless. He could only hope he'd done enough to undermine it.

"That concludes my questioning, Your Honour."

CODEX

Systems Alliance Citizenship:

Systems Alliance citizenship has certain rights and responsibilities owed to those it is conferred upon, much like the citizenship bestowed by Terran national governments of which it is ultimately founded upon. Alliance citizens may serve in the armed forces, work in government and bureaucracy, hold office and vote in the Parliamentary elections. They must pay Alliance taxes and register for the draft when compelled to in national emergencies. All humans born on a colony or space vehicle (ship or station) that is part of the Alliance or children of Alliance citizens are citizens by birth. Earthers can apply for Alliance citizenship, usually when leaving Earth. This is due to some Earth nations not allowing dual citizenship; it is quite easy for Earthers to attain SA citizenship.

The subject of aliens and citizenship was a hotly contested issue during the decade after the First Contact War, with supporters arguing that it was fundamentally xenophobic to prevent aliens from gaining citizenship, while opponents argued that the Alliance was humanity's representative and found support during the backlash against aliens after the war. However, as humanity integrated into the galactic community and other species began to settle in human space, most notably on Elysium-where close to half the population consists of species other than human-there was a social and political shift and after the Galactic Labor Party was elected, legislation was passed to allow aliens to seek citizenship in 2178.