Citadel
Her hand gripped the back of Joker's chair as they hit the mass relay leading into the Citadel Space.
"See the taxpayer's money at work Commander." He joked as he tilted his head towards the window.
She moved towards the window, and made space for Ashley to look out the window with her. Both sharing a smile of glee. She brought her Omni-Tool up and quickly took a few pictures and sent one to Clara with an apology for not having time to talk to her thoroughly.
They drifted closer, looking at the five petal like arms of the citadel and the twinkling lights of civilization.
"Oh wow look at that ship!" Ashley pointed out to a gigantic dreadnaught called Destiny Ascension.
"Not impressed." Joker growled out snidely.
"Sounds like someone's jealous!" Kaidan teased.
"Yeah yeah, the Normandy is way better." Joker said back while patting his console.
Emily shook her head at their antics and reminded Kaidan and Ashley to gear up and meet Captain Anderson.
They arrived at the Citadel and was immediately herded into Ambassador Udina's office to hear him having an argument with the Council. Both Ashley and Kaidan leaned against the banister while Emily stood at attention behind Captain Anderson's shoulder, her usual expressive face hardened into a mask.
She wasn't a huge fan of Udina, and he wasn't to thrilled about her either.
"I see you've brought your whole crew with you Anderson." Udina bit out as he glared at Shepard.
"Just the ground crew, just incase you have any questions about what happened at Eden Prime." Anderson nodded to Shepard.
She saluted smartly and debriefed Udina on the whole incident. Emphasising that the Spectre, Saren has gone rogue. Only to be told she had jeopardized her candidacy for being a Spectre. She bit her lip at the retort building in the tip of her tongue.
"You're lucky the Council has agreed to meet with us so head to the Citadel Tower." Anderson ordered.
Walking out of the room, she balled her hand into a fist letting a current of biotics travel up and down her arm as she struggled to control her anger.
Kaidan's felt his biotics respond but he clamped down hard on them to prevent them from flickering to life.
"Commander, it'll be okay. You'll convince them." He nodded reassuringly.
"Yes well, lets hope you're right." She smiled back and nodded towards the rapid transit console.
"Let's get the show on the road." She said as she punched in the tower location.
Arriving at the tower, they noticed two Turian's arguing and she heard one mention Saren.
"Commander Shepard? I'm Garrus Vakarian, I WAS the officer in charge of the C-Sec investigation on Saren." He flanged as he studied her.
"Was?" She asked raising her eyebrow at him.
"That was Executor Pallin, he was not too thrilled at my investigation on Saren. But I know I'm right. He's a disgrace to the Turians and the Council needs to see that." He continued on.
"I'll keep that in mind, Garrus." She gave him a quick smile and nodded towards the tower.
"I hope they listen to you." He said as he walked away.
She let out a soft sigh as they walked into the lions den so to speak. Only to be told that they need actual evidence to bring against Saren, and that one cowardly dock worker's words were not enough. Now, being tasked to finding actual evidence they were directed to find Garrus Vakarian to ask him if he had any other information for them.
After hours of running around, dealing with a drunk bitter cop, her temper barely in check she finally tracked down a lead that directed her to the Upper Wards.
"Wow, look at that view." Ashley said pointing ahead of them.
"Big place." Kaidan said as he leaned against the banister overlooking the Citadel.
"There are so many different races here, its no wonder why they're hesitant in letting anyone in." Emily agreed nodding at him.
"Nah, they probably just don't like humans." Ashley growled out.
"Why not? We've got oceans, beautiful women, this emotion called love. According to the old vids, we have everything they want." Emily said with a smile on her face.
"When you put it that way, there's no reason they wouldn't like you. I mean us. Humans. Ma'am." Kaidan responded flustered.
Ashley turned to look at Kaidan and smirked.
"Not enough shore leave huh?" She said as a blush spread across his face.
"Oh that's enough you two. And thank you Kaidan but we're on duty here." She blushed slightly and walked away heading to Dr. Michel's office.
"I didn't say anything I swear!" A woman screamed as the door whooshed open.
She quickly palmed her shotgun and pointed it at the man holding the woman hostage.
"I suggest letting her go." She said distracting the man while Garrus came around the corner and put a bullet through the man's head.
"Shit!" Ashley yelled as they turned their attention to the two other mercenaries in the room. Dispatching them quickly, she turned her attention back to the doctor asking her if she was alright.
She was able to tell them about a Qurian who would have information about Saren. She also gave them a lead on where to find Wrex, a Krogan that was sent by the Shadow Broker to take down a traitor named Fist. As they turned to leave, Garrus offered to join Shepard's investigation.
She nodded at him and sent Ashley back to Captain Anderson to report their progress. And quickly made their way back to get Wrex to get his help on taking down Fist.
Fist gave them the info they needed to find the Quarian Tali, who was in danger of being killed by assassins. Luckily they managed to save her and bring her in front of the Council to present her evidence against Saren. She stood at attention, after being turned into the first Human Spectre. Now tasked on taking Saren down who had gone rogue. After being dismissed she shared a small smile with Kaidan as a small blush stained her cheeks.
"You're giving me the Normandy?!" Shepard started in disbelief at Captain Anderson.
"Why would you do that?" She continued as she turned her attention to Udina.
"You are a Spectre now, you need your own ship, your own crew. The ship is a perfect ship for you, and the crew already look up and respect you." Anderson says as he gestures to the crew already standing behind her.
She nodded and shook Captain Anderson's hand as everyone filed back into the ship.
"We'll stop him Captain. You can count on me." She told him as the last of her crew walked in.
She was staring at the galaxy map trying to figure out where to go first when Kaidan casually walked up behind her and gave her a smile.
"That was quite a speech you gave there Commander. Despite the Normandy losing Captain Anderson it seems like the crew is excited to be serving under you." He said with a sideways smile.
"Now if I only knew what to do first, then we can actually get underway." She grumbled as she looked at him and gave him a smile.
"Well, if we go after Dr. T'Soni she might be able to help us figure out what the deal is with her mother. But then again, she might be in league with her mother and we could be walking into a trap." She gestured to the map.
"But that is just a risk we'll have to take." Kaidan said while he leaned in close.
"Yeah. Yeah it is." She said.
"Okay Joker set a course for Therum."
"Aye Ma'am!" He responded as the Normandy left Citadel space.
"See ya around Alenko." Emily told him as she made her way to her quarters to respond to Clara's excited message.
"Yes, Ma'am..." He said with his voice going slightly deeper causing a small shiver to travel down her spine.
Therum was hot, with pockets of lava and volcanic activities. She stared apprehensively at the Mako and bit her lip.
"Glad you upgraded the Mako abit Garrus." She told him with a slight smile on her face.
"Why...?" He asked slightly worried.
"Oh no reason...just uh hang on and if you have to throw up you're on your own." She said while the Mako lurched ahead at her prompting.
She bit her lip nervously as she drove the mako, but things suddenly changed when a geth ship began dropping geth troopers along their path.
"Oh hell yes!" She crowed out as she shot a missile at one of the geth and watched it explode.
"And here I thought it would just be a quick, easy pick up mission." Kaidan complained while he tightened his hold on the strap.
"Are things ever quick and easy when it comes to Shepard?" Garrus asked dryly as he pressed himself into the seat.
"Man, now I know why you hired me. You just need someone to fix the Mako after your driving sessions!" Garrus teased as Emily giggled and blew up another Geth.
"You probably shouldn't encourage her." Kaidan groaned out as they came to a path no where near wide enough to fit the Mako.
"Guess we're on foot from here?" Kaidan continued as he reached for the door.
"Foot? Ha. Funny." Emily said with a devilish smile on her face.
She pushed her foot gently on the pedal as the nose of the Mako poked the entrance of the tunnel. Quickly pushing the thrusters, she managed to get the Mako vertical, and with another thrust the mako thudded on the other side.
"See I told you, I could get it through." She said smugly while the Mako gave a slight electrical cough.
"Anyone ever tell you that you're a bit crazy?" Garrus asked as he shook his head in amazement.
"Oh who me?" She blinked innocently at him.
"Look there is the entrance, now we go on foot." Kaidan pointed at a ramp after they dispatched with a Geth Colossus.
They quickly made their way inside and killed a few geth.
"Hello? Is anyone there? Can someone help me please?!" An Asari woman said behind a stasis field.
"I must have triggered something, and now I'm stuck. If it weren't for those geth..." She continued on biting her lip nervously.
Emily smirked and looked around. Noting a giant laser in the tunnel below she gestured to Kaidan and Garrus.
"I call dibs on playing with the giant laser!" She said as she made her way down the path.
Kaidan and Garrus both shared a worried but exasperated look as they followed behind her.
Activating the laser, they were able to get around to the other side of the barrier and free Dr. T'soni. Making their way towards the elevator, the ground shook.
"Oh great Shepard, you triggered an earthquake with that laser." Garrus growled out.
"Well that just means we gotta get out of here quickly!" Kaidan pointed out. But before they were able to escape they were attacked by a group of geth lead by a Krogan Battlemaster who demanded that they turn over the doctor to them.
Not having it, they managed to kill them quickly and escape the dig site before the volcano erupted.
"That was...fun." Kaidan groaned out as he pushed himself up from the ground and dusted himself off.
Emily tossed him a cheeky grin as they boarded the Normandy and had a meeting on what information Dr. T'soni was able to share. Which sadly wasn't much. Plotting the next course, she dismissed the crew and went to talk to the Council to debrief them of why the dig site was destroyed.
Feeling slightly dejected she went to the crew quarters to see Kaidan tinkering with a console.
"Hey." She said while she walked up to him.
"Got a minute?" He asked as he gestured to the console.
She nodded and leaned against it and looked up at him with a slight smile playing along her lips.
"Didn't think things would go this way. Well, I mean with the Council, for a group that have been around they didn't see anything like this coming." He said as he rubbed the grease from his hands.
"Well, it is expected I guess, it is human nature...and well they're not humans." She continued as she watched his hands, her mind going down a path she shouldn't.
A blush stained her cheeks as she turned her attention back to his face, noting him smirking at her reaction.
"Well...I uh..I'm gonna go now. Catch you later...Kaidan." She stammered as she made her way to her quarters.