That's big
"You're focused" I said, surprising Ashley
"Are you, are you smoking a cigar? Is that whiskey?"
"I'm a spectre"
"Yeah, tell that to Shepard" she said, returning to her guns
"I'll have to pass" I said, finishing off my whiskey, "but that was some speech though, can I ask a favor?"
"And what exactly would this favor entail?"
"I just need some mods that I bought put in my rifle" I said, turning my focus to some crates on the ground, "Are those from the Spectre's office?"
"Yeah, the two sets of armor need a little calibrating, along with the two guns. I can get to your rifle after that"
"Thanks, and you don't have to worry about my armor, I prefer the set I have now. We can keep it as back up just in case" I said, turning my attention to the elevator door opening, and Shepard stepped out and went straight for engineering
"Huh, Joker wasn't lying"
"Care to fill me in?" I asked
"He said Shepard tends to make rounds throughout the day, figured he was just messing with me"
"And that's my que to leave" I said, nodding good bye and making my way to the elevator, going up to the crew deck to grab a tray of food, bottle of water, and retire to my room for the night. The food isn't the worst, it's gotten better since we stocked up on the citadel.
"Chase?" someone asked from the door way
"Shepard?"
"Why don't you have a shirt on?"
"Because I'm in my room, and I thought people would have the decency to knock" I stated bluntly, moving to my dresser, throwing on my hoodie, "I take it I'm the last round of the night?"
"What?"
"I heard through the grape vine that you like to make rounds around the ship, it's kind of late, they might get the wrong idea"
"It's only seven, I doubt that. Is that, is that whiskey?" she asked
"I'm a spectre?" I said, sliding the bottle over to her
"I'm good" she said putting her hand up, "I just wanted to get to know who I'm working with"
"It's not for you, you owe me a few drinks" I said, and she just slid the bottle back to me, and I put it away, "Thank you, your debt is now paid. So, tit for tat, you ask me a question, I'll ask you a question, deal?"
"Okay" she agreed, "Where are you from?"
"Mindoir, I think. What about you?" I asked
"Mindoir too, what do you mean 'you think'?"
"I woke up on an Alliance transport leaving Mindoir, I guess they found me after the Batarian attack. Were you there, during the attack?"
"Fortunately, no, my mother is in the Alliance and was on leave on Earth. My dad thought it'd be fun to surprise her, and the Batarians attacked while we were away visiting Earth. Do you not know where you're from, you said you think you're from Mindoir?"
"I don't actually have any memory before waking up on that transport, they asked me for my name, and the first thing I could come up with is Chase, Coates was just the brand of my jacket. How big is your family?" I asked
"Me, my sister Eden, Dad, and my mother. You don't have any family?"
"No, I don't have anyone, at least no one came to claim me. On a more serious note, what's our first step?" I asked, trying to turn the conversation, this topic makes me uncomfortable
"Well, we know Benezia's daughter is in the Artemus Tau cluster, we'll start there"
"Who's daughter?" I asked, I'm pretty sure I wasn't privy to this info yet
"Oh, right. I almost forgot you were late, Benezia was the other voice on the recording. She has a daughter that's a prothean expert on a dig site somewhere, we're going for her first"
"Okay, and if she's not involved? Or if she's being hunted by Saren herself, what's our play?" I questioned
"We'll deal with it when we come to it, I'll talk to you later, I have paperwork" she said, starting to walk away
"Ohh" I said, "sounds like fun. One quick question, what exactly is my role here? Where am I on the chain of command"
"Good question" she said, stopping at the door, "I guess you'd be like a co-captain. I'm above you, obviously, but you'd be above Pressley, the XO. However, you don't have any duties aboard the ship, with the exception of mission reports to the council" she commented as she walked out the door, I completely forgot about that. At least now I can sleep without being walked in on.
"Shit" I shoot up and see it's only 2:00am, 3 hours, this sucks. Waking up in sweats over that damn vision is starting to get on my nerves. It doesn't even scare me anymore, it just won't let me get any good sleep. I take a trip up to the mess to get a glass for my whiskey. I'm not such a barbarian as to drink from the bottle, and I just want a little to get me sleepy, but I hit the elevator button to the top floor and walk out into the CIC. Walking out I see some officer commanding the bridge, and a small amount of people on the floor. Night crew is small, kind of worrying if we get into some engagement. I walk down the stairs and passing by the mess hall I could see Shepard at a table, entrenched on some old book. And let me tell you, paper books, while not crazy expensive, are a very niche hobby, and not a lot of people actually read them, they just like the looks of them.
"Anything good?" I asked, startling her
"What are you doing awake?"
"I could ask you the same thing" I responded, "but to tell the truth, I can't get but a few hours before I wake up in sweats, damn beacon"
"Well, I'm a bit of an insomniac, and the beacon doesn't help"
"This will" I said, grabbing two glasses, and sitting across from her. "And one drink won't hurt you, so I won't take a no"
"Thanks" she said, sipping her whiskey, "Damn! This is amazing, and it's so smooth"
"It better be, it's 125,000 credits a bottle" I said, and she near spit it all out
"How the hell can you afford that?"
"I have some wealthy benefactors" I stated arrogantly
"Oh?" she asked, "and what exactly do you have to offer to your benefactors?"
"Not revealing information that can unravel them and their entire operation" I claimed, pouring myself a glass
"Extortion?"
"Trust me, this guy is as evil as it comes" I said, "Okay, let's not have such serious talk for once, what're you reading?"
"It's called 'The Maze Runner' from early 21st century, my dad sent it to me. He's obsessed with that time period for some unknown reason"
"For good reason, and while I've never read the books, I enjoyed the movies" I claimed
"Oh? I guess my dad's not the only one then"
"So, Jane, can I call you Jane?" I asked, and she nodded as she poured herself another, that's her third, "Tell me about yourself"
"Well, I started my service when I was 18, I-"
"No" I said, interrupting her, "you're giving me the story of Commander Shepard" I said with my best reporter voice, "I want to know who Jane is"
"I like reading" she said, and I nodded
"Any boyfriends?"
"Not currently, but I've had a few, but I don't care to talk much about my love life. My last one didn't end so well"
"I can relate" I nodded, finishing my glass. "My last girlfriend dumped me and went back to her flotilla, I honestly thought she was the one"
"How'd you get over her?"
"This" I said, raising my glass, "Truth is I got over her awhile ago, but my habits haven't died. So, were those boyfriends' human?"
"Yes?" she questioned back
"Well, Kaiden will be ecstatic to hear that" I said with a grin
"Is it that obvious?"
"He was following you around like a puppy Jane. How long have you worked with him?"
"About three months"
"That makes sense" I said, "before, you were his superior, but now that doesn't matter"
"Why wouldn't it matter?"
"You're a spectre now, you can't get in trouble for things like that" I said, and she finally understood, "So? Is Kaiden an op-"
"No, he's one of my best friends, but, not like that" she said, and we kept talking for a while, but I'm not exactly sure how long, we both got wasted. Next thing I know I'm opening my eyes, and I'm staring a desk, but it ain't mine, and my room isn't this big. I can't feel my left arm, looking over I see a sleeping Shepard on my arm, and an empty bottle of whiskey on the floor. That was supposed to last me two weeks, now I have to ration my other two bottles.
"Jane" I said, poking her, "JANE" I raised my voice, and she just opened her eyes, and looked at me for a few seconds.
"Oh my god" she nearly yelled, jumping up from the couch
"I've had worse reactions" I deadpanned, "But no, nothing happened. We both got drunk, somehow ended up in your office"
"We drank the whole bottle?"
"You owe me 62,500 credits" I deadpanned, "Well, I'm starving, and it's 7am, chow is in full swing"
"No, we can't walk out at the same time, they'll get the wrong idea"
"So, what's the plan? Because I'm starving, and that was the first bit of sleep that I'd had that I didn't wake up in sweats because of some nightmare, I wanna celebrate with food" I claimed, and her doorbell rang
"Who is it?" she asked nervously
"It's Kaiden" came from the door, and I couldn't hold back my massive grin
"In, now!" she demanded, pushing me into the bathroom, locking the door. Who makes sound proof bathroom doors? About five minutes later the door unlocks and I immediately open it and I see the door behind Kaiden close.
"How'd it-" I got interrupted by the door opening and Kaiden stepping back in
"Did I leave- Chase?"
"Kaiden" I responded, poker face engaged
"How'd you get in here?"
"I was in the bathroom, must have ate something that disagrees with me" I stated, pointing my thumb towards the bathroom, "and before that Jane and myself were discussing on what to do with Benezias daughter, depending on the situation. I'm sure Shepard can forward a report. I'll be in the chow hall if you have any more questions." I claimed, walking out of her room and into the Chow hall. I grab a tray of breakfast and take a seat next to Garrus and across from Tali.
"How's the dextro rations?"
"I've had worse" Garrus claimed
"I like them" Tali claimed
"You know that they ordered an entire case of Dextro steaks" I started, getting Talis attention, "If you ask, the chef will cook it for you, he's probably just not sure how to cook or prepare them"
"Really? I can have some?" Tali asked
"If you want, there's like 50 in a case, there's plenty for the two of you" I said, and we all returned to eating our food
"You've dated another quarian?" Tali asked out of nowhere, this conversation was bound to come, didn't think it'd happen with Garrus next to me
"Yes, for a little over a year, her name was Safi'Les nar Sudir, though I suppose it's vas something now. Any questions, like how we avoided her getting sick?" I asked
"I'll see you later" she said, quickly getting up and walking away
"How did you get intimate with a quarian?" Garrus asked
"Immuno boosters, among other things that temporarily gave her immune system strength. And after awhile she became acclimated to me, not that she couldn't become deathly sick, but we were cautious. Why are you so curious about quarian relations?" I asked, and he just nodded and walked away. Well, that was unexpected, I didn't think that would happen so quick.
"Thank you, I hate you, and thank you" Shepard said as she sat across from me.
"I'm sorry?"
"Thank you for coming up with that genius excuse, I don't think he suspects anything. I hate you because now he's waiting me to send a report on it"
"At least you didn't have to have the talk with him, at least not yet" I said with a grin, and she just stared at me
"Yeah, you're helping me with that report" and I could hear the seriousness from her voice
"and the second thank you?"
"I just got a call from Ashley saying that she finished working on my new guns, the ones I didn't buy from the spectres office"
"How do you know that it was me?" I asked, "Maybe it was the council"
"It came in your armor set, along with a data pad receipt, thank you"
"Commander" Jokers voice came over the intercom
"Joker"
"One of the planets we were scanning has an alliance distress signal coming from it, we're about 30 minutes out"
"Copy that Joker, go ahead and get a landing site for the mako" she said, turning towards me, "So, who do we bring?"
"Ashley and Wrex"
"Why them?"
"Well, Wrex has been around for a long time, and he's basically a walking tank. And we'll need to have a talk with Ashley about her anti-alien stance, and her being stuck close quarters with a Krogan will help" I claimed, and she nodded and activated her omnitool
"Wrex, Williams, get ready, you're dropping with us" she said, turning towards me. "You ready?"
"Oh yeah, I'm bringing my rocket launcher"
"You have a rocket launcher?"
"I had one on Eden Prime, custom made, but I ditched it because of the long run. I had a new one rushed when we reached Citadel space, this is non-negotiable" I said, standing up and walking for the elevator, "I'll see you down there" I said as I walked into the elevator, making my way down. Exiting the door, I start walking over to Wrex
"Wrex" I said, and I don't think I've seen a Krogan so happy
"Pyjak"
"Quick question, you mind helping me and Shepard? Ashley over there is a little alien phobic, and we're trying to fix that"
"Sure, unless there's action" he said with a smile
"You know she's related to the General from our first contact war, the one that didn't fight the Turians"
"I was in a bar when word came out about Turians little scuffle with you, smart decision to not fight an enemy who has superior numbers and weapons, shows you're not as stupid as the Krogan"
"Yeah, well, her and her family are kind of blacklisted for not fighting, not a lot of respect from humans, or the Alliance"
"Really?" he said, "While most Krogan would have fought, I know most people think he's a hero, that's interesting"
"Yeah, I need to get ready, you can be on the guns" I said, and he just grunted happily, and I went and got ready
"Drop's in two minutes" Shepard yelled, and Wrex just walked over and climbed into the Mako, did you know that there's two Makos?
"Shotgun" I yelled, getting into the Mako
"You're excited" Shepard muttered
"How good is your driving exactly?" I asked
"I'm an excellent driver"
"Oh, great" I claimed
"What?" Wrex asked from the back
"That means she's a horrible driver"
"30 seconds till drop" Joker came over the intercom
"Hey Wrex, ever dropped in a Mako?" I asked
"Fifteen seconds"
"No" Wrex responded
"It's a ton of fun" I said, and the cargo bay door opened up, and Shepard floored it, sending us flying towards the planet, and we tumbled for about 100 feet until we came to a stop.
"You're right, it is fun" he said, and without looking I could tell he was smiling, and Shepard started smiling
"So, Wrex, what was the biggest mistake the Krogan made during the rebellion?" I asked with a wink
"Friends" he replyed, "we had no friends to turn to. Krogan dislike most races, we alienated ourselves and no one came to help"
"You see what we're doing here?" I asked, looking as Ashley
"Why?"
"Because you've displayed a distrust for the Aliens on board the Normandy" I started
"And we want you to not distrust them, they are our Allies. And if you give them a chance, just have a conversation with them, I think you'll agree" Shepard finished
"It's not, okay, I really didn't mean any disrespect"
"We know" I started, "It's an occupational hazard in the Alliance, compounded by your family history. Try with Garrus first, talk about fixing stuff or something, you do that, right?"
"We're coming up on the distress beacon" Shepard said
"Wrex, eyes wide, something smells fishy" I claimed
"I don't smell anything"
"It's an idiom, means he thinks something's going to happen, like this is a trap" Ashley interrupted
"Humans, always speaking in damn riddles" Wrex muttered out
"See, not bad" I said towards Ashley, and she just smiled and flipped me off
"You hear that?" Wrex asked
"Hear what?" Shepard asked, and on que the Thresher maw erupted out of the ground, and Shepard just slammed on the brakes, meanwhile Wrex just started unleashing hell, roaring in the back. That's big.
"Shepard" I said, trying to get her attention, but she hasn't moved since the Thresher maw popped up a few seconds ago
"Shields at 50%" Ashley yelled as the shields are being chipped away
"We need to move" Wrex ordered, overheating the minigun
"SHEPARD!" I yelled, but she's frozen solid
"Shields are gone!" Ashley yelled, and nearly immediately I could hear searing coming from the hull. I grab the wheel from Shepard, push on her leg flooring the Mako, moving past the Maw.
"Wrex" I said, squinting from the light beaming through the holes in the mako, "distract it for a minute" I ordered, throwing my rocket launcher towards him
"This will work" he said, smiling. This guy's nuts.
"Help me out" I said towards Ashley, and we tried moving Shepard out of the tight compartment, but she went limp as soon as we tried moving her
"Is she asleep?" she asked, explosions going off not too far from us, Wrex is having fun
"She must have passed out, clearly not the first time dealing with thresher maws, this never happened, understood?" I asked, but didn't asked
"Are you okay?" she asked, "You got a lot of that acid on you"
"I'll be fine, we need to speed up" I muttered, didn't even realize that I got the acid on me, "Wrex, get your ass in here" I yelled, and simultaneously I saw the Thresher maw fall over dead. "Did you just kill it?"
"Your launcher was effective" he said as he stumbled in, covered in his own blood
"You're covered in blood"
"Nothing that won't heal, it was a baby anyways, not my first time killing one, I've taken bigger ones on one-on-one" he said, and me and Ashley just stared at each other with blank faces. I know he killed one in his rite of passage, but still, this is insane
"Well, what happened with Shepard didn't happen, understood?"
"Fine, I'm keeping the launcher" he said, smiling
"You're having a good day, aren't you?" I asked, and he just smiled, "Joker, we're ready for a pickup, tell Chakwas to get ready for acid related injuries"
"Is Shepard not in charge anymore?" he asked in a smart-ass tone
"If she was conscious, she would be" I said, closing the line, "Williams, go plant a bomb on that beacon, and see what the hell is over there", and about five minutes later Joker swooped in, and I drove in, parking the Mako. I think I heard Garrus have a heart attack as I jumped out carrying Shepard, placing her in the Gurnee for Chakwas.
"You're coming as well" Chakwas said, as she started pushing the gurnee
"I'll be up in a minute" I said, walking over to the lockers
"What happened?" Garrus asked
"Thresher Maw" I said, "I'll have Williams help you, I need to see the doctor" and I took off my armor, and I quickly applied medigel all over my right arm, where the acid got me the worse. My skin is on fire, and I make my way up to the med bay and walking in I could see Alenko sitting at her bedside.
"Alenko, get out" I muttered, collapsing on the closest bed
"What?"
"Sitting next to her isn't going to speed anything up, go find something to occupy your time. And I need to talk with Chakwas" I said, and he walked out, giving me an eye
"Your arm's really bad, I've never dealt with acid like this. Don't leave the floor"
"I don't care about my arm, how's Jane?"
"Physically fine, though she hasn't woken up yet"
"She froze" I stated, "She froze then passed out, what happened?"
"I'm not sure it's my place to say"
"Is it Akuze?" I asked
"You know about it?"
"I know enough regarding it, I figured she had help after"
"She did" Chakwas stated, "But-"
"I'm sorry" we both turn and see Shepard sitting up
"How much did you hear?" I asked
"The entire thing, including kicking out Kaiden"
"That was fun" I stated, "I'm going to go lay down"
"Not in your room" Chakwas stated
"Well I'm not staying in here" I started, "I'm pretty sure that these beds are recycled from Alliance secret torture chambers"
"You can use my room" Shepard said, stepping into the conversation
"Okay, you know where to find me then"
"Wait" Chakwas said, "I need to bandage that arm"
"You're not going to ask?" Shepard asked towards me while I'm getting my arm bandaged
"No, you'll tell me when you're ready" I said, "And by the way, no one knows you passed out. I got Williams and Wrex to not say anything, and when people ask we'll just say you got hit hard in the head"
"But that's not what happened, I failed-"
"Yes, you did, now take what happened and learn from it. You will fail in life, and you will fail again. Learn from it, and don't make the same mistake. I'm going to lay down" I said, leaving the med bay and making my way to her room, it's completely empty on this floor, it's a little weird. The second I enter the room I crash onto the couch.
"Commander?" I heard over the intercom, I got up and realized someone was trying to get in. I get up and walk to the door, opening it up to see Kaiden
"Chase?"
"Yes?"
"Is Shepard in there?" he asked
"Yes, but she's not exactly decent" I said with a wink, and his cheeks looked like cherries, "I'm just messing with you, she's not here. She was letting me take a nap here since the doc won't let me leave the floor, and those beds are absurdly uncomfortable. She's probably in the gym sweating off some stress if I were to guess"
"Oh, okay, thank you"
"What did you want to talk to her about?" I asked
"It's a personal matter"
"She's not interested Kaiden" I said, and he just turned towards me
"What are you talking about?"
"Don't play dumb, I know she's not interested, it's a little obvious. I also know that she cherishes you as a close friend"
"This doesn't concern you" he said, walking towards the elevator. This isn't going to end well, back to sleep. I wake up from the couch I was laying on, sweating, staring at the ceiling, damn vision.
"He just confronted you about it?" A voice came from my left, and I see Shepard at her terminal with someone
"Yeah, it was an awkward conversation. I don't know what I did to make him think that" Shepard responded
"I don't know, I thought he was cute. Or do you prefer the other guy?"
"What?" Shepard asked quickly, and quietly
"That other spectre is cute, you prefer him?"
"I would like to know the answer to that as well" I said, she quickly spun around and stared at me, and without looking, hung up on the call. "Sister?" I asked, and she just nodded, "Eden, right?"
"Didn't know you were awake"
"I don't sleep very well. So, last time I was awake, Kaiden came to the door looking for you" I said, slight grin on my face
"Yeah, that was horrible. You should go see Chakwas, get your arm checked out"
"Okay, if ever need to talk, I'm good at keeping my mouth shut" I said, walking out the door and towards the med bay.