"Congratulations, Commander," Anderson offered, shaking her hand. He smiled at her with the pride plain on his face.
"We've got a lot of work to do Shepard," Udina cut in, his calculating mind setting to work already. "You're going to need a ship, a crew, supplies . . ."
"You'll get access to special equipment and training now," Anderson jumped back in. "You should go down to C-Sec Academy and speak to the Spectre requisitions officer."
"Anderson!" Udina snapped suddenly. "Come with me. I'll need your help to set all this up."
The Captain scowled slightly at the Ambassador. He smiled at Shepard and placed a hand on her shoulder. Then he turned and let Udina lead him away again. The Commanders small company parted as the men went past, watching them.
"I thought the ambassador would be a little more grateful," Tali said.
"Hm," Wrex grunted, "The bastard didn't even thank you."
"Until I find Saren, I haven't done anything," she explained. "Come on." She stared forward.
"Where are we going?" Kaidan asked. "Are we going to be able to come with you?"
"You want to leave the Normandy?" Ash asked as they started walking back toward the elevator.
"I don't want to leave," Kaidan struggled as he tried to explain. "But I want to help the Commander see this mission through."
They stepped into the elevator again and the door slid closed.
"Actually Kaidan brings up a good point," Shepard observed. "You all helped me prove to the council what Saren really was. But from here I can't guarantee what happens or where we'll end up."
"Commander," Garrus started. He was directly to her right and closer to her than even Kaidan. All three were squished into one corner of the elevator. "If it's all the same to you, I'd like to tag along with you, wherever you go. I want to see this mission through to the end."
"What about C-Sec?" She asked.
He shook his head. "I've been thinking about that," he explained. "I think it would be good for me to see how things done outside of C-Sec."
"If you're sure," she consented, "I'd be happy to have you with me."
"Look I started this thing," Wrex interrupted. "And I'll be damned if I'm not gonna finish it."
"I'll take it that means you'll come along," Shepard said with a smile.
"And me too," Tali added. "Until the end of this."
"And me," Kaidan told her. He reached out to touch her arm and stopped. Looking around awkwardly he added, "If the Captain will give me the leave to go."
"Don't count me out either," Ash called from across the elevator. "I have a personal debt to collect for the 212 and everyone else on Eden Prime."
"I'm glad to have you, all of you," Shepard told them earnestly.
"Yeah, yeah. Cut the mushy crap," Wrex grunted as the elevator slowed to a stop. "Where the hell are we going?"
"Back to the embassy?" Ash asked as they shuffled off.
"Best bet," Shepard agreed.
"We should stop by C-Sec Academy too," Garrus reminded her.
"Right, so embassy first and then C-Sec and then we'll head up to the Normandy and see about getting you two reassigned," Shepard decided, nodding to Kaidan and Ash.
Anderson stood and looked out over the ship, his ship. He had hoped to spend the rest of his career on the Normandy. If only he'd known how right he was, or short that his stint there would be. For a moment he let himself feel the disappointment that came with knowing his military career was over. He allowed it to wash over him and consume him for a few seconds.
Then he pushed those feelings aside and locked them away.
This wasn't about him.
It was about Shepard.
She would do wonders in her career. Hell she already had. She needed this ship, needed the power and stealth it could provide. If Saren was to be stopped, and for the sake of all mankind he had to be, then Shepard was the one who could do it.
"Are you ready, Captain?" Udina asked.
"I am," he agreed with a sigh. "Show me where I have to sign."
Udina produced a small data pad. The top of the current page read:
SR1: SSV Normandy Transfer Orders
By the time Commander Shepard and her group had made it to the embassy, they'd been stopped no more than a dozen times by people, of all species, wanting to congratulate Shepard on her new role as a Spectre. Apparently the vid of her inauguration had already been edited and was circulating on every major screen and news station the galaxy over.
"Gonna have to get used to having fans, Shepard," Garrus joked as the rounded the corner toward the embassy.
"Not really," Ash remarked quietly.
"She's already got quite a few of them," Kaidan reminded him.
"Excuse me, Commander Shepard?" A man near the embassy called. "Could you spare a moment of you time?" He was a tall Indian looking man who spoke with an accent.
"Do we really have time for another fan?" Wrex asked.
"I don't think he's a fan," she said quietly as she walked over to him.
"Commander Shepard?" He asked again. "My name is Samesh Bhatia. Forgive the intrusion, but I have nowhere else to turn."
"It's no trouble," she assured him. "What can I do for you?"
"My wife was a marine," he explained, wringing his hands. "She was with the 212 on Eden Prime."
"Wait," Ash called stepping forward. "The 212? Your wife was Serviceman Nirali Bhatia? I'm Gunnery Chief Ashely Williams. I served in her unit."
"Chief Williams," he sighed sadly. "It is a pleasure. Nirali spoke of you with great respect."
"I'm so sorry for your loss, Mr. Bhatia. Nirali was a good woman. What can we do for you?" Ash asked.
"I've requested that my wife's body be returned to me for cremation, but the military has refused my request."
"Why did they refuse your request?" Shepard asked. "There's got to be some reason."
"I don't know," he replied, hanging his head in grief. "All I know is that they have declared it impossible for my wife to be returned to me."
"There's no reason for your wife's body to be held like this," she told him. "Just wait here."
"The man in charge of my case is Mr. Bosker," Samesh explained. "When I last saw him he was in that expensive bar over there." He pointed to the staircase on the left, opposite of Udina's office. "Thank you for your time. I just want to give my wife a proper funeral and the respect she deserves."
"Just wait here," Shepard told him again. "I'll go have a chat with Mr. Bosker." She turned and headed for the stairs, taking them quickly. That poor man had suffered so much already. The least she could do was be quick about things.
"Hey Shepard," Wrex called from behind her.
"What is it Wrex?"
"Do you want me to "talk" to this guy?"
She laughed. "No, I'm sure he'll listen to reason." She hoped.
"And if he won't?" Ash asked, sounding heated.
"If he won't listen to reason, then maybe he'll listen to Wrex," she sighed as they reached the door.
She heard a strange rumbling from behind and turned. Wrex had huge smile on and he was . . . well . . . laughing I guess was the best word for it. Or maybe that was a low chuckle? It was hard to tell.
Turing her attention back to the bar she walked in. Ash and Wrex were hot on her heels.
She glanced around.
There was a lot of civilians in here. It was impossible to know who was who.
"Bosker!" Ash shouted, figuring why the commander stopped.
A young man near the back of the bar looked up. He couldn't have been older than twenty-five with reddish blond hair and blue eyes. He locked onto her and blushed.
"Oh my goodness, you're Commander Shepard!" He gushed as she walked over. "Your activities made for quite the debriefing in the Diplomatic Corps! Is there something I can do to assist you?"
"Yes," she started. "A man named Samesh Bhatia is having trouble claiming his wife's body."
He looked away guiltily. "Ah, Mr. Bhatia. A good man in an understandably frustrating position. I wish I could help him. Serviceman Nirali Bhatia died on Eden Prime, as Mr. Bhatia no doubt told you. Her wounds are inconsistent with any type of weapon damage we've seen before. That is why her body's being held."
Shepard sighed. She understood now.
"You're studying her injuries to learn more about geth weaponry," she stated.
He nodded. "The tests we are conducting may lead to better defenses against geth attacks." Ash took a step forward, glaring at the clerk. "Respectfully," he added quickly. "Serviceman Bhatia may save more lives in death than she did in life."
"I understand what you're trying to do," Shepard agreed. "But holding the body is wrong."
"Commander," he started shocked. "You of all people should understand how far we must go to protect humanity!"
Her of all people.
Her.
Somehow without him having to say it, she knew it came back to the blitz.
It always came back to that damn battle.
"Not if we lose our humanity in the process!" She shouted, suddenly angry. "I'm out here fighting to stop crap like this!"
He sighed, defeated.
"All right, Commander. You win." He looked back up at her, his face resigned. "It was hard enough to refuse Mr. Bhatia. I'm not going to risk an incident by refusing you. Tell Samesh that the body is being shipped back to Earth. I'll go now and see to it myself." He nodded to her and walked started to walk away.
Shepard reached out and put a hand on his shoulder. "Thank you," she told him earnestly.
"Of course, Commander." He forced a smile and headed out.
"That was no fun at all," Wrex grumbled as Shepard turned away.
"Let's go tell Samesh," Ash said, sounding hopeful.
Together the odd band headed out and back to the main floor of the embassy.
Samesh looked up and met their eyes, hope sparking in his own.
"Hello again, Commander. Has there been any word?" He was wringing his hands again.
She nodded. "I reminded Mr. Bosker what we're fighting for. Your wife is coming home."
"Thank you," he sighed, nodding. "I will return home and begin my preparations. It does not being me happiness, but it may bring me peace. Goodbye, Commander."
"Samesh!" Ash called before he could walk away. "I don't know if this helps, but your wife, Nirali, loved you very much. She missed your cooking and she played recordings of you every night before she went to sleep."
He turned back to face her, tears in his eyes. "I know Miss. Williams. But thank you, it was good to hear again." He smiled sadly at them as the tears he had been holding back began to fall. He walked quickly away looking lighter if not just as sad.
Ash turned and looked away from the group.
"Kaidan," Shepard said quietly grabbing his hand, "why don't you take everyone up to the embassy?" She nodded to Ash slightly and he nodded.
"Yeah," he replied. "Why don't we head up there now?" Garrus seemed to understand and started to follow. Wrex just started walking.
Tali looked at Shepard and waited.
It was hard to tell exactly what she was thinking with her helmet on. But when Tali nodded toward Ash, Shepard understood. She wanted to help.
"Ash?" The Commander started, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Are you gonna be ok?"
She cleared her throat. "Yeah, Shep," she sniffled. "I'm fine."
Tali walked around and put a hand on Ash's other shoulder. She didn't say anything, just stood with her hand on the shoulder of a woman she didn't hardly know, giving her silent comfort.
They stood for a full minute before Ash stepped away and faced them.
"Thanks, both of you." She forced a smile and wiped a stray tear from her cheek. "We should go, I don't trust the boys not to mess something up."
"Good call," Shepard laughed. "Let's go." The women headed up the steps.
"You know my people used to have an embassy here," Tali ventured, trying to change the subject. "But after we created the geth the Council told us we weren't welcome anymore."
"That's . . ." Shepard ran straight into something and bounced off, landing on her ass.
"Shepard!"
She looked up to see Kaidan hastily reaching out to help her up.
"Seriously?" She laughed.
"You gotta stop this Commander," he laughed. "It can't be good for your health."
"Wait?" Ash laughed. "This has happened before?"
"Where's the Captain?" Shepard asked loudly before Kaidan could answer.
"Embassies empty," Wrex answered.
"Then let's head to C-Sec," the Commander replied, trying to ignore the sounds of laughter around her.
"Lead on," Garrus chuckled, not sure what was funny but enjoying the shade of red Shepard was turning.
She turned and headed down the stairs. She started to jog, hoping that if they were moving quickly they couldn't laugh at her. She went down the ramp to the right, following the signs for C-Sec academy. She had no idea exactly how to get there. Not that she was going to tell anyone that.
At the bottom of the ramp there was a large sign that that directed her towards an elevator.
Another elevator.
She pushed the button, not waiting for the others to catch up.
Unfortunately, by the time the door slid open, everyone had caught up, including Wrex.
She strode into the elevator and pushed the button.
"You know," Ash said, breaking the silence of the elevator ride. "Before we leave, I really need to stop by a shop or something."
"What for chief?" Kaidan asked.
"Everything," she sighed. "Everything I owned was on the base at Eden Prime. I don't even have a change of clothes."
"We can stop after we find Anderson and Udina," Shepard assured her.
"Is there a bank around here?" Ash asked. "I don't have a chit on me."
"There's a whole financial district across from the Human Embassy," Garrus explained. "I'm sure you can find what you need around there too."
"I am not going girl shopping," Wrex insisted suddenly. "I will, shoot, gut, and kill anything you want me too, but I draw the line at shopping."
"I wouldn't dream of forcing you to do that," Shepard assured him with a laugh.
The doors slid open and Garrus walked out first, headed down the stairs and to the left. Shepard followed then Kaidan, Ash, Tali, and Wrex last.
Garrus led them down a set of stairs and around a small corner. Down a smaller set of stairs there was a turian behind a desk in a small room surrounded by lockers and Keeper off to one side. Shepard paused quickly to scan the Keeper. The device pinged green and she slid it back into her pocket.
"Garrus?" The turian asked when he was the small group of people enter. "What can I do for you?"
"Nothing for me, sir," he replied motioning Shepard forward. "But the Commander might need a few things."
"Ah, Commander Shepard. It's nice to meet you, give me just a minute." He typed a few things into his computer and waited. A second later it pinged.
"Huh," he muttered typing something else in. "That's strange."
"Something the matter?" She asked.
"It's telling me to show you the reserve stock. Spectre?"
"Yup," she confirmed.
"Oh," he stammered. "I'd heard . . . I just didn't realize . . . congratulations Commander." He stood from his desk and walked over to a row of lockers on the left hand side of the room. "These are the reserve stocks, available only for Spectres and high ranking officials." He punched a code into the locker on the end.
It slid open to reveal an assortment of weapons.
He moved to the next locker and opened that.
This one contained an assortment of human armor.
The next had turian armor.
Then krogan.
Then quarian and batarian.
Finally armor for drells and asari.
"That's a very wide range armor," Kaidan commented.
"Most of it's special orders," he assured them. "Let me know if you see anything you or your team need. I'll ring you up at the desk."
"Thank you," Shepard said, examining a shotgun in the first locker. She reached forward and pulled it out. One glance at the price tag made her falter. It was over fifty-thousand credits. Putting it back into the case she turned back to the man behind the desk.
"Is all of your stock so . . . expensive?" Ash asked.
Shepard's tool pinged and the light on the back of her left had went off.
"Can you excuse me?" She asked, headed back up the stairs to the landing. She punched in her code and the omnitools vid-call interface opened.
"Shepard," Anderson greeted her.
"Captain," she replied, "What can I do for you sir?"
"I need you to head up to the Normandy for a moment."
"Of course sir," she paused. Something didn't seem right. He looked . . . off maybe. Or possibly sad. It was hard to tell through the interface. "I'm in C-Sec right now. We'll head over."
Kaidan walked up the steps toward the Commander as she closed the call. When she looked up at him he could tell there was something wrong. The way her brows came down and her mouth turned down in the corners made her look worried.
"Everything ok?" He asked her quietly.
"Something's up with the Captain," she replied quickly as the rest of the group came up. "Anderson has asked us to return to the Normandy."
After thanking the requisitions officer, the small party headed up to the main floor of the academy and into the large glass elevator that sat in the middle of the room. This elevator, although slow like all the others, was large enough for all of them to fit comfortably.
Everyone chatted quietly about the things they'd seen or would like to buy from the Spectre stock. Shepard was silent, a gnawing feeling in the pit of her stomach.
Kaidan watched her out of the corner of his eye. He side stepped closer to her, playing it off as simple shifting of his feet. He reached out and grabbed her hand, giving it a squeeze. He had intended release her immediately afterward, but Shepard clasped his hand tightly and didn't let go.
She was grateful for the contact, for the strength she could take from it.
She didn't look at him of course. She didn't think she could meet his eyes without turning as red as Wrex's armor.
The door behind her opened and she stumbled, pulling Kaidan closer.
"Shepard?" She heard Anderson's voice behind her.
She released Kaidan at once and turned. The look on the Captain's face told her he'd seen the hands, and was displeased.
Damn double door elevators.
"Captain," she said saluting him. Kaidan and Ash followed suite.
"I've got big news for you, Shepard," Udina informed her as her group approached. "Captain Anderson is stepping down as commanding officer of the Normandy. The ship is yours now." He looked very smug as he made such a devastating announcement.
She looked to Anderson, shocked.
He met her gaze head on.
"She's quick and quiet and you know the crew," he explained. "Perfect ship for a Spectre. Treat her well, Commander." His face was a mix of pride and sadness.
Shepard shook her head. "I want the truth, sir," she all but demanded. "Why are you stepping down?"
"You need your own ship," Anderson told her, stepping closer. "A Spectre can't answer to anyone but the Council. And it's time for me to step down."
She stepped up closer to him. "Come clean with me, Anderson," she pressed. "You owe me that much."
He sighed and hung his head. "I was in your shoes twenty years ago, Jen. They were considering me for the Spectres."
"Why didn't you ever mention this?" She asked, feeling empathy for her Captain and her friend.
"What was I supposed to say?!" He demanded, angry at himself. ""I could have been a Spectre but I blew it"? I failed Jennifer. It's not something I'm proud of." He glanced to Udina and then lowered his voice. "Ask me later and I'll tell you the whole story. For now, all you need to know is I was sent on a mission with Saren, and he made sure the Council rejected me.
"I had my shot," he sighed. "It came and went. Now you have a chance to make up for my mistakes."
There was more she wanted to say. A lot more. But the look on Anderson's face stopped her.
"I won't let you down, sir," she assured him.
He nodded, glad she understood. "Saren's gone," he informed her. "Don't even try to find him. But we know what he's after: the Conduit. He's got his geth scouring the Traverse looking for clues."
"We had reports of geth in the Feros system shortly before our colony there dropped out of contact," Udina informed the group. "And there have been sightings around Noveria."
"Find out what Saren was after on Feros and Noveria," Anderson jumped in. "Maybe you can figure out where the Conduit is before he does."
"What about the Reapers?" Shepard asked. "They're the real threat."
"I'm with the Council on this one, Shepard," Udina said dismissively. "I'm not sure they even exist."
"But," Anderson said quickly, seeing Shepard getting ready to argue. "If they do exist, the Conduit's the key to bringing them back. Stop Saren from getting the conduit and we stop the Reapers from returning."
"I'll stop him," she promised her friend. He let out a long breath and nodded.
"We have one more lead," Udina butted in again. "Matriarch Benezia, the other voice on that recording? She has a daughter, a scientist who specializes in the Protheans. We don't know if she's involved but it might be a good idea to try and find her. See what she knows. Her name is Liara. Dr. Liara T'Soni.
"We have reports she was exploring and archeological dig on one of the uncharted worlds in the Artemis Tau cluster."
"Sounds like we should start there," Kaidan offered.
"Agreed," Shepard said.
"It's your decision, Commander," Anderson assured her. "You're a Spectre now. You don't answer to us."
"But your actions still reflect on Humanity as a whole," Udina warned her. "You make a mess and I get stuck cleaning it up."
She glanced and Anderson who shook his head ever so slightly. "I'll try not to make things any harder for your, Ambassador," she said with forced pleasantry. There were several snickers from behind her, which he ignored.
"Glad to hear it, Commander," he boasted, not noticing her fake enthusiasm. "Remember: you were a human long before you were a Spectre."
"Of course," she nodded.
"I have few more legal things to take care of before you can depart," Udina informed her as he stroked his chin. Anderson can answer any other questions you have right now." Without another glance at any of them, he walked away and into the elevator.
Once he was gone she turned back to Anderson, more than a little concerned.
"Was there anything else you needed, Commander?" He asked, his eyes conveying how deeply he didn't wish to discuss what was going on. She respected his need to process things, but she needed answers before she was willing to take a ship from this man.
"How are you holding up?" She asked after a pause.
"Honestly?" He asked, eyeing the crowd around them. She glanced back over her shoulder and looked to Ash and Kaidan. They got the hint and started to show somethings on the ship to the others, distracting them. She looked back to Anderson and nodded. Together they turned and walked a few feet away, looking out over the arm of the ward.
"This isn't how I pictured my career coming to an end. Pushing papers really isn't my thing." He sighed. "But you're the one who can stop Saren. I believe in you Jen. If that means I have to step aside, so be it."
"Thank you," she replied quietly. "For believing."
"I knew there was something special about you," he went on. "When I saw you in that ally all those years ago. I know you'll do great things, Jen and I'm happy to do all I can to help."
"Thank you Anderson," she smiled quietly. He reached over and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. Giving her a quick squeeze they turned back to the others.
"There's more paperwork that has to be filed. Udina thinks it'll be about an hour until you can head out. I suggest you and your . . ." he faulted.
"My team," she helped him.
"Your team," he smiled. "Now would be a good time for you to get anything from the Citadel you might need. It could be a while again before you make port."
"Sounds good," she agreed. "Will you be ok?"
"I'll be fine, Commander," he assured her, a finality to his tone.
"I'll let them know." She nodded to the Captain and headed back toward the others, after explaining the situation, and loaning her chit to Ash and Tali, the group dispersed into the elevator, heading in different directions to get the things they needed.
Shepard rode the elevator down and as everyone walked away she started to wander. She had no real destination or purpose. She simply wanted to enjoy her last few moments of alone time. Life on a ship could get crowded. Space and solitude were going to be rare commodities.
After a time she found herself back at the place where she, Ash, and Kaidan had stopped to admire the view.
She walked over again and looked out, leaning against the half wall. So many shuttles and ships zipped past the huge windows. Shepard stood for a long time, just watching.
"You know how you can always tell the tourists on the station?" Garrus asked as he walked up from behind her. He leaned against the half wall, matching her posture. Something that was difficult for him, given his considerable height.
"How can you tell?" She asked with a smile.
"They always stop to see the views," he chuckled. "And complain about slow elevators."
"Hey it is not my fault this place is plagued," she chuckled too.
"Humans, always in a rush," he muttered. "So what are you doing out here alone?"
She shrugged. "What about you? No gun shopping with Wrex? That sounded like it could be pretty exciting." She pushed off the wall and started to head back. She wasn't sure how much time was left but it had to be almost time to head up.
"Well I live here," he explained. "So I've seen the shops."
"Did you get everything you need?"
"Yeah," he fell into step beside her. "Dropped a footlocker at the ship. Didn't want to wait around for half an hour on my own."
"You know I've heard something about turians not liking to be alone," she started, trying to remember.
Garrus opened his mouth to speak and stopped.
"Commander Shepard?" A young woman called from near a column to their left. She bounced up and down on her heels, waving at them. "Excuse me, Commander Shepard!"
"This really happens to you all the time, doesn't it?" Garrus asked under his breath.
"It seems to happen a lot more lately," she muttered as she approached the young woman.
She was about as tall as Shepard, with short black hair and brown eyes. She was wearing a blue dress that had way to many holes in it for the Commanders comfort. As she stood she bounced, excitedly.
"Hi," Shepard said, thinking it might have been a mistake to approach her.
"I'm Emily Wong. I'm a journalist investigating corruption on the Citadel." Shepard glanced to Garrus who nodded, he'd heard of her.
"You recently took down a man named Fist," she continued, rapidly. "Reportedly a member of some sort of organized crime ring. Did you find any evidence in his office? Is there anything you can share with me?"
"Give me one second," Shepard said politely, pulling Garrus away by the arm.
Garrus let the Commander lead him away. Most humans he'd encountered didn't readily touch a turian if they could help it. There was some kind of issue with their scales that humans didn't like. He thought humans were a bit too smooth himself. But this was the second time she'd touched him, he shouldn't be counting, but it was odd.
"What do you think?" Shepard asked him, her hand still on his arm.
"She's a reporter," he confirmed. "I don't know much about her. She's pretty small time, always showing up at crime scenes."
"Okay," she nodded. "Do you still have the disks?"
He reached into a pocket on his waist and pulled out them out.
Taking them, she released his arm and headed back toward the reporter.
"These OSD's might have the information you're looking for," Shepard said as she handed the disks over.
She gasped. "You have Fist's files?" She asked as her jaw hit the floor. "This could be even bigger than I'd hoped!" She bounced excitedly. "Here, Commander. For your trouble." She pulled her omnitool up and punched a few things in. Shepard's tool lit up, informing her of a credit transfer to her Spectre account.
"Now if you'll excuse me," she said merrily. "I should go see what's on these disks!" She nodded her thanks to the two and then bounded away.
"We should start heading back," Shepard said with a sigh. Garrus nodded and they started walking again.
"So, is it all true?" He asked after a few minutes.
"Is what all true?"
"What they say about you? About the blitz?"
Shepard slowed.
Not again.
"Don't want to talk about it?" He asked confused.
"No," she replied shortly.
"Why?" Turians loved to talk about their great battles, hell they sang about them.
"Would you really want to talk about something like that?" She demanded, she wasn't mad at Garrus, just mad that people kept asking her about it. "A battle where most of your team died and you were up against a force with unknown numbers, holding a line by yourself for days on end, knowing you were all that stood between a colony of your people and death? Would you want to talk about that?"
Garrus stared. He'd heard some of the details, but not this many.
"I'm sorry," she said at once. "I didn't mean to jump on you . . ."
"Its fine," he assured her. "I'm sorry I asked. I didn't know . . ."
"Most people don't know all the details," she sighed as she started walking again. "Everybody thinks it's some wonderful battle that should be retold over and over again."
"And all you want to do is forget about it."
"Not exactly . . ."
"Shepard."
Kaidan walked up as they approached the elevator.
"Headed back?" He asked, eyeing the two of them alone. Something akin to jealously flashed in his eyes so quickly, Shepard thought she'd missed it.
"It's about that time."
Anderson watched as Shepard's group started to trickle in. He'd received the update a little while ago that the paperwork for the transfer had gone through with Alliance brass. The ship was now hers to command now.
The elevator opened and Shepard walked out followed by Alenko and Garrus. Which reminded him that he needed to have words with her about that. She found him as she exited and he waved her over.
"Sir?" She asked.
"Do we need to have a discussion about regs, commander?" He asked, trying to be authoritative.
"I . . . regs, sir?" She stammered.
"You and Alenko."
She felt her face color. "He's a friend," she stated. "Or he will be I guess. I don't know him very well."
He looked at her, unconvinced.
"The paperwork's gone through," he informed her at last. "She's all yours now Commander."
"Thank you, sir. I won't let you down."
"I know, Shepard," he patted her on the shoulder. "I'll be here for while still if you need anything. Once HQ sets me up somewhere I'll let you know where to reach me." He saluted her.
She saluted back.
With a final pat on the back, Anderson headed into the elevator.
Shepard turned to her new crew. "Everybody have what they need?" She asked.
There were nods and murmurs of agreement all around. Except Wrex who grunted. "Okay. Then we're gonna head inside. Kaidan, can you show everyone around while I talk to Joker? I need to speak to the crew and then we'll find a place for everyone to sleep."
"I can do that," he assured her.
"Then here we go." She walked through the first set of doors.
"Stand by shore party," the ships VI announced. "Decontamination in progress." The white light of the decontaminator passed over them in a few sweeps. There was a hiss as the pressure equalized and then the interior door slid open.
Kaidan led the others off to the right while Shepard turned left toward the bridge.
Having heard the door, Joker turned in his seat to see who was coming.
"Hey," she started as she walked up. "I heard what happened to Captain Anderson. Survives a hundred battles, and then gets taken out by back room politics." He scoffed. "Just watch your back, Commander. If things go bad on this mission, you're next on their chopping block."
She nodded in agreement.
"Captain Anderson should be the one in charge," she sighed, putting a voice to her feeling of unease. "It's like I'm stealing the ship from him."
"Yeah the Captain got screwed," he commented. "But it's not like you could've stopped it." He turned in his seat and faced her, his light green eyes met hers and she could see him understanding and reassurance in them. "Nobody's blaming you. Everybody on this ship is behind you one hundred percent."
"Thank you," she told him earnestly.
He nodded. "The intercom's open. If you've got anything you want to say to the crew, now's the time."
"Okay," she took a deep breath. Joker pointed her toward the mic and she leaned forward, knowing she need to be honest with the crew. "This is Commander Shepard speaking. We have our orders: find Saren before he finds the Conduit. I won't lie to you, crew. This mission isn't going to be easy.
"This began with an attack on a human settlement in the Traverse. But we know Saren won't stop there. His geth armies aren't going to stay on the far fringes of Citadel space. For too long our species has stood apart from the others. Now it's time for us to step up and do our part for the rest of the galaxy! Time to show them what humans are made of!
"Our enemy knows we're coming. When we go into the Traverse, Saren's followers will be waiting for us. But we'll be ready for them too.
"Humanity needs to do this. Not just for our own sake, but for the sake of every other species in Citadel Space. Saren must be stopped, and I promise you all . . . we will stop him!"
