-Chapter 11-
A New Home
One last ride, Jared thought to himself as the elevator smoothly ascended. The team had made their way down from the Citadel tower, through the C-Sec academy, the home of the Citadel security force, and were now heading toward the docking bay where Anderson and Udina would be waiting for them.
The day had been long, too long. So much had happened in such a short amount of time that fatigue had been racking Jared's mind and body almost endlessly. Convincing Shepard that he was "psychic" was the final nail in the coffin, the amount of mental gymnastics, it took every amount of thought he had, he had nothing left in him anymore. He began to think back onto what Shepard said:
"We're going to keep this to ourselves right now." Shepard explained. They were standing against the wall of the Citadel tower well out of earshot of the rest of the team. "If anyone knew I was following the advice of a psychic, I would be seen as unfit for duty and relieved almost immediately."
"Yeah, I guess that makes sense, not many people would believe us I suppose." Jared said.
Certainly makes it easier on me.
"So, here's the plan: Our ship, the Normandy, has been lacking an actual mess cook for a while now. We've mainly been having some crew members working in shifts to cook meals." A grimace grew on Shepard's face. "The results with that have been…less than favorable."
"You need someone who knows their way around a kitchen then?" Jared asked.
This technically is the future, would they even have the same ingredients? Maybe I shouldn't have mentioned my cooking.
Back in his universe, Jared had been cooking regularly for himself for about a year now. Once he got serious with exercising and lifting, he knew his diet needed to change as well to help support him, and he got slightly obsessed with cooking shows around this time. Slowly but surely, he began to cook more and more dishes for himself in order to have a more nutritious diet.
"Yes, since we're going after Saren, I need the crew at 100%. And having something actually edible once in a while would be a good start for them." Shepard said, clearly trying to wipe the taste of meals past out of his mind.
I don't hate the idea. But I need to be in the front lines with Shepard, if I was put in this universe with my knowledge, I have to do everything I can do to help him make the right choices, and maybe even save some people.
"But how am I supposed to get my visions to you?"
Shepard looked confused. "Can you not telepathically give them to me or something?"
"I'm psychic." Jared was clearly tired of saying this. "Not telepathic, big difference."
"Okay, could you not just give them to me before a mission?" Shepard continued to question.
Godamnit, can't this just be easy for once?
"I could, but sometimes visions come to me quite suddenly, and even then, sometimes I need to be involved for the vision to be executed correctly." Jared answered smoothly.
Shepard scratched his head, trying to find any reason on why not to drag Jared into combat. "What about communications? We could set up our own channel and you could warn me whenever you get a vision."
"Again, sometimes I need to be PHYSICALLY involved with a vision. Also, communications could be easily disrupted by a number of sources." Jared stated.
Shepard thought for a moment before speaking again. "Fine, sometimes you need to be with me to execute a vision, and you have no clue when those visions might take place?"
I do actually, I guess I could just ask to be brought along when I feel I might be able to help change something.
"Sometimes I do. If that happens, I'll let you know." Jared relented.
"Okay good, first we have to get you on the ship though." Shepard looked away from Jared toward the exit. "Not sure if Anderson is going to like me bringing a kid aboard."
That shouldn't be a problem. Jared thought this, but kept it to himself.
The elevator doors slid open and gave way to an expansive docking bay. The bay itself was made with the same metal as the wards, with many more supports to prevent any accidents. All around there were large circular docking instruments to welcome any ships that entered the bay itself. They were standing on a wide walkway surrounded by railings that extended toward the back of the bay, at the back was a large opening which led out to the Citadel's arms and space itself. Small ships zipped by as Jared couldn't help but stare, the wide arms combined with the nebula beyond mystified him, just as it had before.
"Kid acts like he's never seen space before." Wrex said, bumping Jared's shoulder as he walked past to catch up with the rest of the party who were ahead of him.
As Jared walked to join them, he looked to his left to see an elongated space ship. The ship had two prongs sticking out from its front and the body of the ship became wider with what could be best described as four thrusters running along the side of it, at the end was a plane like fin that pointed upwards. The ship was largely white, with black and red accents running along its sides and thrusters. "Normandy" was printed in large, bold letters on its side as well as an "SR1" on its left most thruster.
Jared's eyes danced along the hull of the ship, every moment filled with wonder as he took in the majestic sight. The ship was a symbol to him, one of strength and grace, the ability to carry on in the face of insurmountable odds. The fatigue he felt departing the elevator was now gone, instead, being replaced by hope.
This, this is my ticket home. A slight smile grew on his face.
As Jared walked forward, he saw a large boarding bridge extending from the ship onto the walkway. The group along with Udina and Anderson were standing near it and discussing the mission.
"I've got big news for you, Shepard. Anderson is stepping down as commanding officer, the Normandy is now yours."
Shepard was taken aback and turned toward Anderson. "Is this true sir?"
"It's true Shepard, the Normandy would be in better hands with a Spectre, and it'll prove invaluable in your mission." Anderson exhaled, clearly swallowing his emotions.
" 'Your' mission?" Shepard seemed surprised. "I'm sorry sir, this is OUR mission, I can't leave you out of this."
"It's not my choice, Shepard." Anderson relented. "There's more, personal, matters that came into play when making this decision."
Udina quickly began to speak before Anderson could say more. "Yes Commander, this arrangement works best for everyone involved."
Shepard turned toward Udina and shot a glare. "You'll have to tell me about this later sir, you owe me that much."
"Count on it." Anderson gave a half-smile. "Just get the bastard for me."
"Anyway Shepard, we've forwarded the most helpful leads we could find on Saren to your terminal." Udina's stance became more rigid. "Overall, the mission is yours to direct, considering you do not report to us anymore."
Udina looked around at the group that had gathered before him, specifically the aliens. "Just don't forget where you came from."
Once he finished, Udina began to swiftly walk toward the elevator while Anderson stayed at the entrance of the boarding bridge.
"Good luck Shepard, I know you'll make us proud." Anderson said as he extended his hand for a shake.
Shepard met his hand with his, but dragged him in close for a hug instead of a shake. "Thank you sir." As he let the former Captain go, he gave a quick salute.
With a full smile, Anderson returned the salute and began his walk toward the elevator, giving one last look at the group Shepard had gathered with him.
Shepard quickly brought his hands to his eyes for a quick wipe. "Okay, well then team, I welcome you all aboard the Normandy."
They all began to walk through the boarding bridge towards a door on the side of the ship that opened with a smooth swoosh. It led to a small room that they had trouble fitting in due to the size of the group itself.
"You know." Garrus said, attempting to find room against the wall. "Judging from the outside, I was expecting it to be bigger."
Shepard chuckled slightly as a monotone voice chimed through the room. "Stand by, Shore Party. Decontamination in progress." As the voice spoke, a white shimmer began to scan the room, along with those inside. As the light passed over Jared, he felt a faint warmth wash over him, he suspected this was what a microwave was like. After several seconds of the light making its way throughout the room, it stopped and the doors in front of them opened with the same sound as before.
The group stepped into what looked like a large hallway which was made of a dark gray metal, with small lights illuminating it. They had stepped onto a walkway that spanned the length of the hallway, to the left of them was a pilots cockpit, which was adorned with several holographic interfaces and buttons, with only two small slits to see outside. There were five chairs in the cockpit, with only one being occupied, the one in the center, presumably the pilot. The walkway also continued to the right, with several crew seats flanking the sides, each with its own personal interface, only some of the chairs seemed to be filled with crew members.
"Follow me this way if you will." Shepard said, leading the team to the right.
For once, Jared didn't feel odd for staring so much as the rest also seemed to be taking in the Normandy. He also noticed that Tali seemed to be more engrossed than the others, having to stop herself from touching some of the interfaces.
Shepard led the team past the crew seats and stopped at a fork in the walkway. Beyond the fork was an oval outline that was adorned with several terminals. In the center of the oval was a holographic galaxy map that had several locations pinpointed in different arms of the Milky Way, at the end of the oval was a small balcony overlooking the map. Behind it was a partition that had the words "Normandy" on it, similar to the ship's exterior, past the partition was another room flanked by guards. Surrounding the oval were several structural supports which lead up to the ceiling, adorned with the small lights that were over the rest of the ship.
"Here is the Combat Information Center, or CIC if you're a normal person." Shepard said, gesturing to the oval itself. "Here's where Captain Ander- I choose the Normandy's course, what planet to go to, what system to visit, everything."
"Looks like you all took some design notes from our ships," Garrus remarked. "This CIC looks awfully familiar."
"It was a joint operation actually. Turian and Human design went into creating this ship and making it what it is today." Shepard stated, as if he had said this a million times before.
"Let's continue shall we?" Shepard followed the forking path to the right once more.
"Back there is the meeting room." Shepard said, pointing toward the door at the end of the CIC. "We'll meet there for mission debriefings and the like."
At the end of the walkway this time was a door with a guard outside. The door slid open and the guard saluted Shepard as he stepped on through to a descending staircase.
"Seems like the crew knows who's in charge." Wrex said.
"Yes, Alliance ships can be very formal, I'd prefer if they weren't to be honest with you." Shepard said, leading the team down the staircase.
At the bottom was a small landing with an ascending staircase on the other side, presumably what the left path would have led to. The walkway seemed to fork once more, this time being broken up by an elevator.
Shepard pointed at the elevator. "That leads to the cargo bay and engineering. We'll see that soon enough."
Shepard went down the left path this time, stopping at a singular table with several chairs surrounding it. The path seemed to continue past this, ending at a closed door.
"The Normandy has a pretty small crew that works in shifts." Shepard said, gesturing toward the table. "Not much need for a large mess area." He then pointed toward the door at the end of the path. "I suppose those are my quarters now, no longer Andersons. I do keep an open door policy, so if you have any problems, feel free to ask me."
The rest of the room seemed to have a small kitchen area on the left and on the right lay some holographic displays and lockers, past these was another room.
Huh, that's not how the design for the ship was in the first game. Weird.
"We have a kitchen here." Shepard said, pointing at the small, unimpressive kitchen. "And over there are some emergency lockers along with some communications terminals, basic stuff."
"Excuse me," Tali, who had been relatively quiet, began to speak up. "If we're going to be traveling with you, will you have dextro-amino food stores?" She said, pointing at her and Garrus.
"Ah yes, well that responsibility lies on the cook to make sure the crew is properly fed." Shepard said, looking at Jared.
Great, I really have no clue what dextro-amino shit is, that'll be fun.
Shepard made his way up small stairs that led to the front of the ship. The area was a small walkway with what looked to be pods with beds in them lining the walls. Some of the pods appeared to have crew members sleeping in them.
Shepard stopped in front of an empty one. "These are the sleeper pods, where you all will be sleeping mainly. I know it looks uncomfortable but it's actually not terrible once you get used to it." Shepard turned to look at Garrus and Wrex. "Garrus, the pod was made with Human and Turian crews in mind so you should fit fine, same goes for you Tali. Wrex, we'll figure something out."
"Good." Wrex grunted. "I always hated the sleeper pods on Krogan ships anyway."
Shepard walked back toward the dining area and made a left for the room past the lockers and that laid on the end of the right path.
The door opened to reveal what was most certainly a medical bay. On the left wall were several operating tables with machines Jared had never dreamed of seeing accompanying them, these were far more advanced than the Citadel clinic. A man was sitting on the edge of one of the tables talking to an older woman with short gray hair. The woman was wearing what appeared to be a lab coat and seemed to be slightly scolding the man
"If you have another flare up. Come see me immediately." The woman said with a pleasing British accent. "We cannot have you dying on the battlefield over a headache."
"Aye aye ma'am" The man said with a raspy voice "I'll be sure to rush in if the L2's hit again." He got up from the operating table and made his way to the exit.
"Commander!" He said. "Congratulations on becoming THE first human Spectre, that is a hell of an honor."
The man was wearing blue military fatigues and combat boots. He had black hair and soft features on his face with a light stubble and a slight indent on his chin. He held his hand out for Shepard to shake.
Shepard took his hand and gave it a hardy pump. "Thank you Kaidan, wish you could have been there to see it."
"Don't worry Commander, have to travel light." The man said, looking at the squad. "I understand."
Shepard looked back at them as well. "Oh yeah, I almost forgot. Everyone, this is Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko." He said as he gestured at him.
Kaidan gave a small wave. "Hello there, I look forward to working with you all. For now though, I do have duties I need to square away." He said, then turning to Shepard and giving a small salute. "Commander." And he left through the door.
Shepard then directed his attention to the woman in the room"And this is Doctor Chakwas, our ship's medical director."
She looked slightly startled by the abrupt introduction. "Oh! Hello!" She scanned everyone within the group. "I see some non-humans here. I want to assure you I have experience with every race and am quite versed in alien physiology." She looked toward Tali. "I can assure you dear that the ship is quite clean so please do not worry more than you have to."
Despite the mask, it was easy to tell Tali was surprised by the warm welcome. "Thank you, that means a lot."
Doctor Chakwas gave a smile before returning to her work.
"So, this is the Med-Bay. Come here if you are feeling sick or hurt. Doctor Chakwas will be able to take care of you." Shepard finished up. "I guess we can make our way to the cargo bay now."
Shepard departed the room with the team following shortly behind him, making his way to the elevator from before. Everyone piled in as Shepard operated the panel which sent the elevator quickly down. After a few seconds, the elevator door reopened to what looked like a hangar. The room was very spacious with a walkway running down the middle of it illuminated with red lights. On the right side of it was a large vehicle with six wheels, a long wide body, and mounted turret resting on top. As soon as Jared saw the vehicle, a shiver was sent down his spine.
Anything but that.
On the left side were some more lockers, some boxes, and a table with an assortment of armaments on them. At the table was a human female operating a small terminal, she was wearing the same fatigues as Kaidan and she had her dark brown hair tied up in a bun behind her head.
"Ashley!" Shepard called out. "Come over here and meet the new recruits."
The young woman quickly snapped around and began walking over to the group, it was clear she had an extensive military background just by the way she carried herself.
"Commander." She said with a quick salute.
Shepard returned the salute"At ease soldier, no need to be so formal with me." The woman's demeanor immediately became less rigid.
"I meant to say Commander, I was surprised to hear the Council gave you Spectre status, figured they would tell us to stick it somewhere." The contrast between the woman's professional and casual personalities was great, it was also clear she preferred the latter.
"Guess they finally came around and realized this problem isn't just going to go away." Shepard said. "Anyway, team, this is Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams. She helped me out greatly on Eden Prime and I was glad to welcome her aboard here."
Ashley seemed to wince once she heard the words 'Eden Prime' but quickly shook it off. "Nice to meet you all." She said with a nod. After looking over the group, an odd look grew on her face before she turned back to Shepard.
"If you don't mind sir, I have some pre-flight adjustments I need to make."
"That's perfectly fine with me, make sure everything's squared away before we set off." Shepard said.
Ashley began her walk back to the table and resumed what she had been doing before. Shepard turned back to the group and began speaking.
"So, as you can see this is the cargo bay/hangar/armory, if you can't find what you're looking for in the other rooms, it's most likely here."
Shepard began motioning to the sides of the room. "On the left we have our equipment lockers where we'll set up before each mission. And on the right is what we'll be deploying in most of the time, our M35 Mako."
Please no.
"Final stop is engineering." Shepard said as he made his way off the walkway and took a sharp right toward a door that was on the same wall as the elevator.
The door slid open to reveal a room that was similar in size to the cargo bay. There was a square standing area with terminals that overlooked a large blue orb. The orb was being supported by three large prongs coming out of the back walls as well as what appeared to be rotating side walls. Every now and then, the orb would send out pulses that went throughout the rotating walls and made a thrumming sound. Most of the room's area was taken by this contraption as less than half of it was taken up by the small standing platform.
"This is the engineering section." Shepard said as he made his way toward the center of the standing platform. "And this," he began gesturing toward the machine on the back wall. "Is our Tantalus Drive Core. A state of the art core that puts this ship leagues above any other frigate in the Alliance fleet."
While the whole group was impressed by the core, Tali seemed to be absolutely enthralled by it as she had trouble even standing still in front of it. Shepard seemed to take notice of this.
"Tali, you're welcome to stay here to study and observe the ship if you wish." He offered.
"Really? Thank you so much!" She didn't waste any time as she made her way quickly over to the terminals monitoring the drive core.
"If you don't mind Shepard." Garrus began after seeing the display. "I'd like to take a look at that Mako you have back there. I've always wanted to see how those things tick."
"Go ahead Garrus, do whatever you feel is necessary." Shepard stated plainly.
Garrus gave a quick nod as he made his way back through the door they came through.
"The cargo bay seems relatively quiet compared to the rest of the ship." Wrex said. "I think I'll rest in there for a bit."
Without a word from the rest of them, Wrex walked the same way Garrus did.
"Well I guess this is where everyone goes their separate ways." Jared chuckled.
As he looked back toward Shepard, he had a smile on his face. Although the gesture was meant as friendly, Jared felt a menacing aura emanating from it.
"Come on Jared." He said as he made his way toward the exit. "Let us get you set up in the kitchen."
Yeah, I'm really regretting the cooking comment now.