Chapter 38
Mess Hall - SSV Normandy SR1
He'd had a rough start as XO on the Normandy. It was bad enough seeing Captain Anderson replaced, but then came the aliens on board. He knew the commander was smart, and her decisions thus far had led to some of the greatest finds and accomplishments the galaxy had seen yet. But even seeing their skill only added more onto the pile. If they were skilled enough to hack a group of geth, or strong enough to conquer a sentient plant monster, then he wondered what would happen if they turned.
He grew nervous around them, as if his brain were telling him that they were watching him despite knowing that Shepard trusted them. He knew they were good people, for their kind anyway. But he still couldn't help keeping his eyes on them any time they entered the CIC.
Adams down in engineering said that he was being paranoid, but he considered himself on his toes, ready to strike if needed. He was thankful that the commander hadn't thrown him off the ship after the Edolus incident because he saw the rest of the human crew and knew how comfortable they were. Some of the bridge crew didn't even look up as one of the aliens passed to make sure they weren't seeing things they weren't supposed to. He knew this and knew that he was the only one standing between them and Shepard in case something happened.
So deep was he in thought that he didn't notice that one of them had taken a seat across from him. When he finally snapped out of his stupor, he looked at her curiously. It was the quarian girl, her suit hugging her form as if she'd been born in it. For a split second, he wondered what quarians looked like beneath their suits. Information about the quarians was still scarce given that most of their data lie on their home world, which was now swarming with geth. But he shook the thoughts from his head and eyed her suspiciously.
"Can I help you?" he asked firmly as he defensively held onto his tray of food.
The quarian eyed his defensive stance and started to fidget briefly. "Umm… I… I was wondering if I upset you."
He cocked an eyebrow curiously as his grip loosened slightly. "Upset me?"
She nodded but kept her eyes down as if she were ashamed. "I notice that every time I'm in the same room with you, you are staring at me. And if I walk near you, you take a few steps back. So, I was wondering if I did something to upset you."
"I…" he started, his eyes squinting at her slightly. "You noticed all that?"
"I kinda have eyes all over my helmet," she said, causing his eyes to widen. But she raised her hands defensively. "Not literally, of course. I just mean that quarians have learned to be aware of their surroundings. When we are away from the Migrant Fleet, we are usually either in Citadel Space, where we are often arrested unfairly or robbed when we don't pay attention; or we are near geth space scouting or spying. And not paying attention near geth space could be a death sentence," she said nervously.
"Oh, I see," he said as he looked down at his food with a sigh. "No, you didn't do anything to upset me. I'm just like you, in that I like to keep my eyes on things."
She stared up at him for a moment, her glowing eyes giving him a curious look. "But you seem less attentive around the human crew. I can see it when I enter a room before you are aware I'm there. Is it because I'm quarian?"
He cleared his throat lightly, his face flushing, but he doubted it would be noticed in the dim light. If the girl even noticed herself that is. It was hard enough to present this to the commander, but to have to tell one of them to their face made him cringe. "N-No…" he said as he tapped his fingers on the table, his food now forgotten. "Look, I don't hate you, and I'm not upset at you or any other quarian. I'm just… wary of aliens is all," he mumbled, trying not to alert anyone else to the conversation.
"Oh!" said the quarian with a start, making him stare at her curiously. "Is that all? I understand completely!" she said as she waved her hand dismissively.
"You do?" he asked incredulously as he sat back in his chair.
"Of course. We quarians are brought up on the Migrant Fleet, and when we leave to areas populated by other species, we are mostly detested or ignored. So, I grew up with the same distrust of other species! It wasn't until Shepard put me on her crew that I finally started to overcome my own prejudices," she said, almost sounding happy.
"So, let me get this straight. You're not upset or angry that I don't trust you?" he asked, almost bewildered by the revelation.
"Of course not. You don't know me from a rock in the ground. What reason would you have to trust me?" she asked curiously, her helmeted head tilted to the side.
"I…" he started, unsure of how to answer that question. "I guess nobody has ever come out and said that to me."
"Believe me, I understand trust issues. But I assure you that if you got to know me, you wouldn't have anything more to worry about," she said as she smiled through her face shield.
He reached up and scratched the scruff on his chin thoughtfully. "I suppose it wouldn't hurt to know more about you… Tali was it?" he asked, getting a nod. "So, I heard that you're here on your Pilgrimage. What exactly does that involve?"
"On the cusp of adulthood, we are sent out into the world to learn about it and seek to make life on the Migrant Fleet easier. After all, living on a fleet of ships, some of which are from the original flight from Rannoch isn't an easy life. So, we go out to seek things that would help our people," she said happily.
He was almost charmed about how cheerful she was to explain her people's traditions. Setting his near empty tray aside, Pressly nodded. "That's a pretty good cause. Most humans who leave do so because they want nothing to do with the place they're leaving," he said with a smirk. "They tend to come back anyway…"
"I've studied a lot on humans, actually!" she said as she held up a finger. "Is it true that there are humans on Earth living in minus fifty-degree temperatures?"
He nodded and smiled slightly. "Humans are softer than other species. We don't have scales like the turians or drell to protect us, and we don't have regenerative cells like the asari or krogan. But we're survivors. We'll see a dead landscape from heat or cold and turn it into a livable habitat," he said proudly.
Tali clapped excitedly at the information. "That's so interesting! Quarians mostly settled in less hostile areas of our world. Its surface temperature is a bit hotter than Earth's on average, so we did a lot of desert dwelling as well. But nothing like I've seen on Earth!"
He chuckled slightly at her excitement. "Yeah, humans are pretty resilient. I imagine that's how we lasted so long during the First Contact War," he said as his eyes turned down. "You know, my grandfather fought in that war."
Her eyes widened slightly as she tilted her head. "How is that possible. Wasn't that twenty-six years ago?" she asked curiously.
He nodded and let out a sigh. "Both my grandfather and father were sowing their oats almost as young as they could. My own father was sixteen when he had me," he said as he noticed her curious expression. "Oh, uhhh… sowing oats is a human expression for… um… breeding," he said, slightly flushing again.
"Oh, I see," she said as she caught on to what he was saying. "Unfortunately, quarians do not have a say in how many children we have. After all, overpopulation on the fleet is a serious problem. So, they put restrictions on how many children we can have, and when we can have them."
His eyebrows shot up at her statement. "I'm… sorry to hear that." He reached up and ran a hand over his balding head gently. His eyes turned down again as he let out a heavy sigh. "Look, Tali…" he started, his voice quieting as he spoke. "I'm sorry I made you feel uncomfortable. And thank you for being so understanding."
"Of course! We aren't so different after all… uhhh…" she started to say.
"Charles. You can call me Charles," he responded firmly.
"Alright, Charles. We aren't so different, after all. Nobody should immediately trust someone they've never met. Shepard herself is a prime example, as anyone new she invited onto the Normandy immediately got their entire histories scanned so thoroughly that I wouldn't be surprised if she knew more about us than we did about ourselves," she said with a playful giggle.
"I… I guess so, yes…" he said nervously, now imagining Shepard as some kind of overlord in front of a thousand terminals, her piercing green eyes scanning everything that happened in each of their lives.
"I've had the benefit of being on Shepard's team and being able to work with many different species. It wasn't immediate, but eventually I grew to trust them as well. And I hope we can have that same experience," she said as she held out her hand apprehensively.
He chuckled again at her attempt of a human gesture. Reaching forward, he shook her hand, and received a pleased smile in return. "I hope so too, Tali."
CIC - SSV Normandy SR1
"Do we have access?" asked Shepard from the dais where the galaxy map now showed the surface of the moon known as Presrop. They had been orbiting with the moon around Klendagon for a while trying to pick up on any communications that came to or from the base that was fairly easily spotted on the crust.
"We've got the signal. We should be able to hijack it in a few seconds," said Chief Tanaka as he tapped away at his terminal.
Joker turned and looked at the man curiously. "Anyone else think we're becoming too comfortable doing this kinda thing?"
"What's the matter, Joker? You getting cold feet over a few communication hijackings?" asked Kaidan playfully.
"See how casually you said that?" asked Joker as he looked at the lieutenant that sat in the co-pilot seat. "I've got my eye on you, Alenko."
Shepard chuckled at the interaction before Tanaka, who had a smirk of his own, turned and nodded to her. "You're in, Spectre."
Reaching over, Shepard typed at her terminal before a comm window popped up in front of her. The other side showed nothing but the wall of a room, but she knew she would be heard. "Major Kyle, I know you can hear me. This is Spectre Jane Shepard, and I'd advise you to take this call."
After a few seconds, a dark-skinned man with hair that looked to have been neatly cut at one time now wildly growing free came into view on the comm screen, his face a mask of confusion. "I'm sorry, did you say Spectre?" he asked curiously.
"That's right Major. You are speaking to the first, and currently the only human Spectre," she said firmly, any hint of her previous amusement at Joker's antics now frosted over by her business demeanor.
The man looked off the screen for a moment, then shook his head before turning back to look at her. "Apologies, Spectre. I wasn't expecting your call," he replied as Shepard scanned his face.
He looked worn down, tired, especially around the eyes. His file said he oversaw a special ops group in the Alliance that specialized in uprooting batarian invasions from Alliance planets. "No need to apologize, Major. But I, unfortunately, need some answers. And I doubt walking up and knocking on the door would have ended well."
Immediately, the major's face hardened. "I see. Well, Spectre, I will answer what I can."
She nodded, then pulled his file up on the terminal. "It says here that after Mindoir, you were put in charge of a special operative's group that was tasked with removing batarian infiltration groups from Alliance space," she said as she looked back to him.
He let out a sigh and nodded. "That's correct."
"And after you were directed to remove an underground colony on the moon Torfan, you came back a changed man," she said, then let out a sigh herself. She folded her arms over her chest but kept eye contact with him. "How many?"
"Too many," he said as he looked away for a brief moment. "Fifteen dead, seven injured so severely that they will never recover, and ten more that weren't injured, but are just as fucked up as I am," he said, his voice as cold as ice now. "Is there a reason for these questions, Spectre? Are you here to be my therapist?"
"No, I'm not. I just want to understand what's going on in your head, Major," she responded solidly despite his frigid attitude.
"You can't understand! Nobody can. What I saw that day, nobody but those who witnessed it could imagine what it's like!" shouted the Major as his face warped into a mask of anger. "Not you! Not the goddamn Alliance! Nobody!"
"Corporal Richard L. Jenkins, MOS 0351, date of birth December 15th, 2161," she said firmly, her stare returning the ice that he gave her.
"Spectre, what are you…?" started the man again, but she interrupted him.
"Nihlus Kryik, fellow Special Tasks and Reconnaissance. Date of birth, 4th day of Harvest Season, 2144." As she said the name, his eyes widened slightly. "Both of them died on my watch, on the same mission because I didn't have a firm enough grasp on command, and because I wasn't moving fast enough."
He nodded solemnly. "All of them, even those who survived. Their names are etched into my mind and will never fade."
"I know, Major. I know all too well what it feels like to have those under your command die," she said as her face softened.
"I see…" he said as his own mask of stone lifted as well.
"Now, I want you to tell me what happened to the Alliance representatives who were sent to you," she ordered.
He grew stern again and sat up straight in his chair. "I'm sorry to say, Spectre, that they tried to take me from my people. They… will not be returning to the Alliance."
Nodding, the commander's eyes narrowed again. "Your people. You mean the biotic commune?"
"Yes, MY people," he growled at her.
"Do you love your people, Major?" asked Shepard sharply, catching the man by surprise.
"Of course! They are my children! I would do anything for them!" he snapped back, slamming his fist on the arm of his chair.
"Then do your people a favor and exit the compound with your hands raised," she commanded, cutting him off as he tried to speak again. "Because you and I both know that someone has to pay for what happened to those Alliance representatives," she said, noticing that he had gone quiet. "I'm making you a deal, Major. Come out quietly, and you will go back to the Alliance. If you do not take these terms, then you will be forcing me to enter the compound and bring you out myself. And I assure you that you will not get the same response from me that you did from those Alliance reps."
"Alright! Don't do anything rash!" he shouted as he began breathing heavily. He looked around the room as if lost in thought for a moment before finally meeting her gaze again. "Alright, Spectre, you win. I will surrender myself in exactly one hour. You must give me the chance to explain to them!"
She nodded and held up a single finger. "You have one hour, Major. A minute longer and I'll be coming through the front door, ready to take you by force."
"You won't have to worry about that. I love my people, and do not want to see them hurt. I… I don't know if I could take it again," he said solemnly as he rubbed his eyes tiredly. "One hour, Spectre."
Brig - SSV Normandy SR1
Her footsteps echoed through the empty halls of the brig as she moved sharply through the wide hallway. The only time they'd ever had to use this area of the ship had been for the survivors of the Cerberus base. But it seemed that its necessity was growing with every step. She highly doubted it but wouldn't be surprised if they soon had to drag Saren down here kicking and screaming.
As she finally approached the cell, she opened the door as the guards nodded to her respectfully. Stepping inside, she stared down at the man with a glare. "On your feet, Major!" she snapped.
The man looked up at her and stood up slowly, his arms crossed his chest as he did. "I've complied with your orders, Spectre. You were very forthcoming previously when we talked, I don't exactly understand the attitude you have now that I'm your prisoner."
She gave him a long, hard stare, wondering if he had set this set up as some kind of contingency plan. "Exactly thirty minutes ago, a group of biotic extremists kidnapped the head of the Alliance Parliamentary Subcommittee for Transhuman Studies," she said angrily. "I suppose you had nothing to do with that, huh?"
His eyes widened as he raised his hands defensively. "I didn't call anyone, I swear!"
"I know you didn't, Major. We had a scrambler active as soon as we entered the system. You couldn't have called anyone!" she said as she pointed at him. "But I know how cults work. And they often have contingency plans for just this sort of occasion!"
"You must believe me, Spectre! I have no idea about any of this!" he said frantically as he raised his hands higher. "I know the Alliance. They do not negotiate with terrorists, so it would have done me no good to set this kind of thing up!" he said, his arms sagging slightly. "And, my group was not a cult, Shepard. We were a family. A true family."
"A family who kills two Alliance officers that were sent to help you," she growled before snorting. "Fine. Let's say you had nothing to do with this. Could this be a response from your group regardless? Some of them couldn't have been happy that we took you off Presrop."
He shook his head lightly, but then looked at the ground, deep in thought. After a moment, he met her eyes again. "Spectre, I do not know if my people are responsible. But I know how we can find out."
"Explain," she ordered, crossing her own arms now.
"Was the kidnap of Martin captured on vid?" he asked, his arms finally falling to his sides.
"You know his name?" she asked, her eyebrow raising suspiciously.
"I was the head of a biotic family that needed help, Spectre. I didn't decide to join them to make a clubhouse on a backwoods moon at the ass end of the galaxy," he said wryly as he put his hands on his hips. "I spoke and had meetings with Mister Burns many times. He… had trouble taking me seriously."
"I see. So, this may be less revenge for you, and more them reacting desperately," she said as she rubbed her chin gently.
"Perhaps. They may believe that without me there to guide them, they will no longer have a voice," he said as he shook his head. "But there's only one way I'll know if it's my group or not. I need to see his capture."
She stared at him long and hard for a moment before finally sighing and raising her omni-tool. "They warped the cameras as soon as they entered the building. This is all they got," she said as she opened the video feed. The clip was only fifteen seconds long, but she saw his brows furrow as he saw the helmeted men look up at the camera, then reach up with one arm before the feed went dark. "Well?"
Inhaling deeply, the man let his breath out as he looked up to her. "Not one of mine, but I know who it is," he said, getting a wide-eyed stare from her. "Months ago, a small group that used to stay with us on Presrop grew frustrated and felt that I wasn't moving fast enough in getting them reparations, as well as help. They left the compound, and I hadn't heard from them since… until now."
"Names?" she asked as she faced him fully.
Letting out a tired sigh, he nodded. "Kyle McKinley…"
CIC - SSV Normandy SR1
She watched the video again. Shortly after her talk with the Major down in the brig, a video had surfaced from the same spectre source that had posted about the missing specialist. The video was a short one, featuring the same masked figures that had been caught on the camera before now standing, faceless behind their helmets, before a kneeling Martin Burns. She felt chills go down her spine because of how eerily similar this was to the execution videos that batarian extremists used to put out into the public. Alliance soldiers, on their knees, often on a world that had no oxygen or atmosphere. They would remove their helmets and watch them die slowly, then cut the eyes from their heads as an insult.
She frowned as she saw the men in the video lined up almost exactly like those batarian extremists, all faceless, all holding weapons, and all taking that rigid, militaristic stance. She had to wonder to herself if they were just trying to be intimidating or if they actually intended to act out one of those videos. But she knew she had to cut the head off this snake before it struck. Turning from the video, she eyed Joker in the cockpit. "How are we doing?"
"Greico just found them with the scanners. Looks like they're still on the ship they used to kidnap him," came the pilot's voice over the comm.
"Good. Barret, I want that ship shut down as soon as we're in range. Make sure their O2 supply and pressure are still intact, but I specifically want you to turn off the gravity on my signal. Understand?" she asked, getting a thumbs up from the man. "Now, Tanaka, get me a feed on that ship. If you can, to the clown who's talking in the video."
"Already on it, Spectre," said the man. Within minutes, the Normandy had snuck up on the drifting ship and disabled it. As soon as its engines shut down, Tanaka had linked the Normandy into their comm system itself. "You're on speaker, Spectre!"
Smirking at the man's talent, she nodded. "This is Jane Shepard with the Citadel Special Tactics and Reconnaissance. We have seized and have full control of your ship."
"Yeah, I fucking saw that. And if you don't unseize them, I'm going to put a bullet right between this crybaby's eyes," growled a voice from the comm.
"No, you're not, and here's why," she said as she leaned into the comm. "You're going to connect your airlock to mine, and I'm going to board your ship. As soon as I do, you are going to release Mister Burns onto the Normandy. And I will take his place as your hostage." As soon as the words left her mouth, everyone in the CIC turned and stared at her incredulously.
"Shepard, you can't seriously-" started Pressly as he approached her. But she held up a finger, stopping him mid-sentence.
"And why the hell would I allow that?" he asked, his tone changed from threatening to almost laughing.
"Because the man you're threatening right now is an office worker. The Alliance can replace him in seconds, and not give it a second thought. But they'd sure as hell take you more seriously with their only Spectre captive, now wouldn't they?"
The comm was quiet for a moment before the man from before spoke again. "Alright cupcake, you wanna stroll in here and become my prized chess piece, then that's fine by me. But our trigger fingers are a bit on edge today, so don't do anything stupid," he finished before Shepard stepped back from the console.
She stepped down from the galaxy map in full armor and moved towards the airlock. "Joker, bring us in for docking," she ordered as she stood before the airlock and secured her helmet on her head.
Joker turned around in his seat and frowned at her. "Alright, Shepard, I know this may be seen as insubordination, but I have a list of reasons why this is a stupid idea."
"Commander, let me go for you," said Ash as she stepped up and stopped the woman.
"Everyone knock it off!" shouted Shepard as she turned to look at them all. "I know you're trying to look out for me…"
"Trying to look out for my paycheck. You know I got a raise when I became the permanent pilot for the Normandy," said Joker, getting a playful glare from her.
"Jane…" came Liara's voice as she stepped up as well.
Shepard looked at her and sighed heavily. "You've come to stop me too?"
But the asari shook her head, a worried look in her eyes. "Just… stay safe. I know you can handle this, but we all care about you and don't want to see something happen," she said as she folded her hands behind her back. "Be careful."
Shepard stared at her for a moment through her visor, then looked around at everyone else who was now looking between the two of them. "I will. Don't worry," she said as she turned around again. "Barret, have your finger on the trigger," she ordered as she looked back. The man fist pumped the air before spinning around back into his seat, much to her amusement.
"Alright, fine. You wanna throw yourself into danger, don't call the cripple to come drag you out cuz I forgot my cane in the barracks," he said as he spun back around to pilot the ship. It had only taken a few minutes to line up the airlocks.
Shepard eyed him curiously. "That was quick."
"Of course it was. The ship is dead weight right now, so I didn't have to fight anyone else's inferior flying skills," he said, getting a chuckle out of her as she turned back to the door. By now, everyone else had gone back to their stations, all of them aiming worried glances at her.
But finally, the decontamination airlock had opened. Shepard stepped inside and heard the door slam closed behind her. As soon as the equalization process was finished, the front opened, and she walked through the small tunnel until she reached the other ship's airlock, which was already open for her. Stepping inside, the chamber was much smaller than the Normandy's. But then, the ship was a quarter of her size as well.
After the process finished again, the door opened and there were five figures there pointing pistols at her. "Alright, now don't you move-"
"Let him go now. I'll stand wherever you want me to stand but hold up your end of the deal or this gets ugly," she threatened menacingly as she put her hands on her hips.
The men looked at each other momentarily, then looked over at the man on his knees. Unlike in the video where he had been wearing little more than his office clothing, the worn-out looking man now had on a pressurized space suit. The leader jerked his head towards the airlock, and two of the men holstered their pistols before grabbing him and shoving him into the airlock.
Once the door closed, the leader looked towards the spectre again, his pistol raised. "Now, you're going to get over there, and get on your knees. We've got a new vid to film for the Alliance."
Before she moved anywhere, the commander eyed him through her helmet. "You know, these are pretty tight hallways. You don't want to fight with your biotics here, because one little mix of biotics spells hull rupture," she said, getting confused looks from them all.
"What the hell are you-" started the man again, but he inhaled sharply as she spoke over him.
"Barret, now," she ordered. Her spider boots activated immediately a loud thump was heard throughout the ship. Suddenly, all five of the biotic soldiers began drifting off the ground, some flailing wildly to try and regain their balance. The leader tried to aim his weapon, but the heat sinks flew from all of their weapons before he could pull the trigger as Shepard hit them with a cyber-attack.
Growling to himself, he lit up with biotics. "Traitorous bitch!" he shouted, but she held up her hand with her omni-tool lit and stunned him with an electrical shock.
"Remember what I said, moron. If you want to fly out into oblivion for eternity, then go ahead and try using your biotics," she growled as she pulled a concealed turian-style knife from her omni-tool strap and grabbed him sharply before jamming it into his helmet. The hiss of escaping atmosphere sounded before she shoved him back to continue spinning down the cargo area of the ship.
She repeated the process several more times until each of their suits was breached by the blade. As she tossed the last of them away, she felt herself lift off the ground as dark energy enveloped her. "Got you now!" shouted the leader, who managed to anchor himself to the ceiling with a cargo strap.
"Barret," she started as she glared at the leader.
"Yes, Spectre?" asked the man from the Normandy.
"If this asshole uses his biotics, or puts up a fight one more time, I want you to vent the atmosphere from the ship," she ordered, her eyes now locked onto his.
The leader's smug smirk vanished as his eyes turned to look at the slice in his face shield. He now knew what game she was playing. "Just to clarify, the forced decompression will damage the bridge between the ships."
"Then we'll pick their bodies up with the shuttle," she said threateningly as she continued to stare at the leader. "So, the look on your face says you know exactly what will happen if he follows that order," she said, pushing herself back to the ground where her spider boots locked again now that the biotic energy was gone.
"You were gonna space us?" he asked, incredulously.
"Only if you did anything stupid. But you're not stupid, are you?" she asked as she began walking towards his upside-down form. His face stared at her incredulously as she approached, her knife now long gone again. "You're actually really smart, Kyle. Flew through primary and secondary education, built your own aircar by the time you were sixteen, graduated with top marks in mechanical engineering," she said his eyes widening as his history was told back to him. "You're not stupid, you're just desperate."
"You don't know the half of it," he growled at her.
"I do, actually. As a matter of fact, I have an L2 on my crew," she said as she waved her hand dismissively. "I know what kind of things L2's have had to go through. And I know that you deserved, and still deserve better." Suddenly, his glare softened. "I also know how politicians have their heads so far up their own asses that if we pulled them free, they'd need methane masks just to survive."
She could tell that he tried to hold back, but he couldn't hide the smirk on his face. "So, what then? You gonna arrest me? Take the scary biotic back to the Alliance so they can fuck my head some more?" he asked, wiping his former grin away.
"No," she said with her hands on her hips. "I'm going to take Mister Burns on my ship back to Alliance Space, and you're going to take your ship back to Presrop."
"Presrop? What do you know…" he started, but stopped as his glare darkened. "You're the one who got to Kyle?"
"That's right. He's going back to the Alliance to face justice for the Alliance representatives that he killed. And you are going back to take his place. You're going to gather the biotics there and wait for me as I put so much pressure on the Alliance that their testicles will explode," she said as she stared at him firmly. "You will reform this little cult that Kyle had running and turn it into a legitimate group that does things the right way."
"And what makes you think that they'll cave to you?" he asked, the bite from his tone now all but gone.
"Let's just say that the Alliance aren't the perfect little angels that they try to say they are. I know how to push buttons to get things done." She finally stood before him, staring into his upside-down eyes as she shrugged. "So, what's it gonna be? Go back to your family, and turn them around for the better? Or continue to kidnap and threaten? Because I can assure you, if we have this meeting again, I will not be making any offers."
His brows furrowed under the breached mask before he finally let out a sigh. "Alright, Spectre. You've got a deal."
CIC - SSV Normandy SR1
After she had reboarded the Normandy, Joker detached the tunnel that led the other ship and set them to drift away. As soon as they were a good distance from each other, the biotics' ship was released, and it immediately headed for the nearby relay. Shepard watched it go through the cockpit's open viewport.
When it was finally gone, she turned around and headed down the walkway to the galaxy map before being stopped by a frantic Martin Burns. His helmet now gone, he reached out and grabbed her arm, practically crying as he did. "Thank you, Spectre! Thank you! I thought I was dead!"
But his crying stopped as she glared down at him with ice colder than the terran arctic. "With how you've been dragging your feet on getting these people what they need, I sometimes wonder whether you'd be better off dead or not," she said, causing the man to release her. Everyone on the bridge watched silently as she stepped over his now cowering form. "Get on your feet!" she shouted, surprising those closest around her.
Kaidan stepped up behind Shepard as well, his stony look meaning the man wasn't getting any sympathy from him either. "The Spectre gave you an order, Burns," he said coldly.
The man stood back up on his shaky legs and looked back and forth between the glaring pair. "We're going to take you back to Alliance space so you can sit your lazy ass in your comfy chair again. But the thing is, I have zero tolerance for politicians who sit around and do nothing but abuse their position. So, you're going to go back to your department with Lieutenant Alenko here, and you're going to get these people the help they need," she said as she stepped into his personal space, making him back against the hull. "And if the Lieutenant here detects any kind of bullshit from you, or any sandbagging, he's going to come to me. And if he does, you better pray those biotics get ahold of you again before I do. Do I make myself clear?" she asked, her no-nonsense tone so anger-filled that she could swear she felt flames shooting from her nose.
"Y-Yes, of course Spectre!" he snapped as he stood straight. His face morphed from terrified to what she surprisingly read as guilty. "I… I didn't realize… I just took the job so I could add more to my resume. I didn't realize that these people were this desperate!" he said defensively.
But this time, Kaidan stepped forward, his dark eyes now locked onto the man. "Of course you didn't realize it. You weren't looking to help people; you were looking out for yourself. And it took them putting a gun to your head to finally open your damn eyes," he growled, his muscular arms folded over his chest. "Follow me to the crew quarters. Tyson will find you a room while you're aboard. After we get back to Arcturus, you and I are gonna become very close friends," he said before grabbing the man by his collar and leading him away from the CIC.
CODEX ENTRIES
Sandbagging | Translation | English and Galactic Common
A common phrase among humans used to describe someone who intentionally drags something out. Whether it's work, a project, or something they need to do in daily life, sandbagging indicates that the person in question is intentionally lengthening and procrastinating finishing whatever it is that needs done.