"And the beacon...?"
"One of the humans might have used it."
Argh.
It jerked his head.
RaaRGH.
It threw his chair across the room.
ARGHHH.
It gripped her face with his talons.
Her azure eyes showed no hint of fear as he peered into them.
He spoke.
"...This...Human...must be eliminated."
One of the Normandy's many screens lit up before him.
A spike in the primary core huh?...let's see if trimming the compensators helps with that...
He clicked one of the flashing buttons on the display before him.
"Joker, the number eleven lithium heat sink just started venting, and it looks like the one across from it is too. Did you do something to the thrusters?"
Sigh.
"I saw a spike in the Normandy's drive core. So I just adjusted the compensators to decimal one-two-"
"That would explain it. Joker, if the ship's drive cores are ever acting up like that, you should just reduce the amount of Hydrogen reacting in the thruster's reaction chambers. Doing that reduces the strain on the engines and reduces our heat emissions too."
Joker struggled to keep a straight face after hearing that. "Rosey, as you know, doing that that would reduce the Normandy's maneuverability. And I don't know if you noticed, but I just had to maneuver past a fleet of Geth warships."
He definitely had not been expecting to do that when he woke up this morning.
"You're right. Although generating all that heat and releasing it kind of defeats the purpose of the ship's stealth systems. And that's Ensign Draven to you."
"And I thought my mom was a bad backseat driver."
Rosey rolled her eyes and swiveled her chair back around to her haptic interface.
Besides, if the Geth had seen us, you could be sure I would still be using the Tantalus core to be moving us instead of the ship's thrusters. Whenever the Normandy's IES isn't in use, the ship put off enough heat to signal our position to anyone in the system holding a thermometer.
He wouldn't have risked it if they had still been anywhere near Eden Prime.
Joker turned his attention back to the Normandy's window and looked on in wonder at the view before him.
Ah, the great endless expanse of space...man it creeps me the hell out. We have enough psychopathic aliens to deal with on a regular basis without evil robots appearing out of the blue to kill us all too.
His memories of their most recent mission were still fresh in his mind. He patted the arm of his chair tenderly.
Glad I got to put you through your paces and see what you got though baby. If it wasn't for your stealthyness and me being the best god damn helmsman in the fifth fleet, we'd probably be drifting around in space right now.
He shuddered reflexively at the thought.
And had he even been thanked? There was no, "Hey Joker, thanks for bravely landing in the middle of a warzone and idling in the area despite the fleet of enemy cruisers patrolling the sky," or "Wow Joker, you're sooooo amazing. I wish I could be as cool as you!" There hadn't even been as much as a pat on the back.
Ingrates.
He heard the sound of boots clanking along the bridge toward him.
The Captain was still reporting the mission to the pencil pushers on the Citadel. And already got introduced to the newest marine taking Jenkins' place...god rest his soul. And after a mission, Kaidan tends to spend a lot of time doing who knows what at his little station down below. So that only leaves...
He swiveled his chair around.
"Don't worry Commander, you don't have to thank me for anything. I just prefer-" He stopped talking when he actually laid eyes on the individual before him. "You're not Shepard."
He had thought it'd been Kaidan for a second before he actually sized up the guy.
He was about the same height, had the same suit, with the only real difference between him and Kaidan being the amount of facial hair this guy had. That and the fact that he made the Lieutenant look like a kid fresh out of boot camp. A smile formed across the stranger's face.
"Sorry to disappoint you. I can take a message for her if you'd like."
Joker glanced around at the rest of the crew on the bridge to see if they had noticed him.
Is there a complete stranger standing in the middle of our ship orrrrr am I just seeing things again?
"Do I, uh, know you?" he asked squinting at the new guy.
"No, I don't believe we've had the pleasure. The name's Shield...Marauder Shield. Thought I'd just come up to say thanks to the guy who saved our asses."
Joker decided to indulge him.
"Well, you found him. Chief Helmsman First Flight Lieutenant Jeff Moreau. But you can just refer to me as...Joker."
"Nice to meet ya...Joker." He cracked a smile at the word. "I'm guessing you were the one I overheard from Anderson's radio."
Joker looked quizzically at him. "Yeah, that might've been me."
Shield crossed his arms in front of him. "I didn't realize the Alliance allowed crewmen to back sass their commanding officers."
Wow. I've known this guy for like two seconds and he's already criticizing me. Just what I need.
He didn't make an attempt to hide his irritation. "Well, none of those guys are as talented as me. When you're the most skilled pilot in the Alliance, you're allowed to have some snark. If I wasn't flying this here ship, I'd probably be making a fortune navigating Eezo rigs along the stars."
He waved his hand across the room for emphasis. Rosey butted in.
"Better not let the Captain hear that or he might help make your dream come true."
"You always have to just rain on my parade, don't cha," Joker snipped back.
"Someone's gotta keep you in line up here while the Captain's busy."
"You should just learn to tune him out like we do," Ensign Gladstone piped in next to her. "We'd all go insane otherwise."
"Oh ha ha."
The stranger had started chuckling himself before wincing in pain, holding his side. He was obviously taking a little too much pleasure in how Joker was being viciously attacked by his coworkers. The two servicemen continued their little chat while the guy started to stare absently at them.
"So uh...I'm guessing you came in with the landing team?"
He didn't respond.
"Uh, hello?"
He jerked his head back to Joker, apparently engrossed in their conversation.
"Oh sorry, I must've spaced for a moment," he said sheepishly.
"Don't worry about it, happens to me all the time. So, judging by your appearance, were you part of the 212 down on Prime? The new girl mentioned that was her unit, Chief...ahh what was her name...I wanna say...Kimberly?"
He stared past Joker into the Normandy's shutter window.
"I just happened to see the guy responsible for the attack. I'll just be here with you all until we reach the Citadel for the guy's trial."
"Well, it just so happens that we'll be reaching it pretty soon. Should only be about an hour or so before we get to the relay."
His eyebrows raised slightly after hearing that and looked down at his arm, activating his omni-tool. He started clicking it. Then he kept clicking it. He opened and closed the same application at least six times. Joker gave him a strange look.
...is this guy for real?
"Looks like you're having some trouble with your omni-tool there bud."
He looked back up, cheeks flushing red. "Uh, yeah...it's a...new model, so still haven't quite figured out to how use it..." He looked back down, continuing to clack away on it. Apparently he thought pressing the button harder would fix the problem.
"Since my alarm went off, I haven't been able to figure out how to get the time to come up on this thing."
Joker just continued to stare at him as he futilely tried to get it to work.
"It looks like you're just opening and closing the extranet there."
He looked back up.
"Oh."
Oh my god, has this guy never used an omni-tool before?
"...Have you never used an omni-tool before?" Joker inquired, arching his brow.
He sighed, glancing to the other members of the bridge who had returned to being preoccupied with their duties. "Honestly?...No."
Joker tried to hide the look of surprise on his face to no avail.
"Wow, what rock have you been living under?" Joker blurted as he usually did. Shield shifted uncomfortably with the comment.
"I never really had much use for one up until recently," he started. "Could never really justify the purchase since it was kind of expensive too." It looked pretty awkward for him to talk about it. And now Joker regretted drawing attention to his ineptitude.
"...You know, I don't think anyone has ever used them, buuuut we do have a data pad that might have a set of instructions to help with you that." The guy in front of him seemed to perk up with the information so Joker went on. "But if you don't know how to use a data pad, I can't really help you there."
"You know, I think I'll take a look at that," he replied cheerfully, scratching his neck.
Then they both stared at each other for a while.
Oh.
"They should be in Chakwas' office," Joker added. "In her desk if I remember what the ship tour guide said correctly."
At the mention of Chakwas, he froze like a deer in headlights.
"...you know what. I just realized I have something I forgot to do." He quickly turned around to leave, but stopped mid-way, and looked back over his shoulder one last time to the helmsman. "Thanks for the advice Joker, I'll be sure to ask the doctor for where that pad might be."
"Yeah, same. Nice talking with ya," Joker muttered as the stranger started to rush back the way he came.
"You Too!" he replied back, jogging down the bridge.
Joker swiveled his chair back to face the ship's bow.
Well alright then...wonder what I can find on the radio-
"What do you think you're doing here?!"
"Uh, I just wanted to see how she was doing."
There was a pause.
"Am I not allowed in here?"
"Ugh-"
Shepard groaned as she found her eyes assaulted by the bright fluorescent lights above her.
"Doctor? Doctor Chakwas? I think she's waking up," the female voice rung up again.
Is that...the marine we ran into on Prime. Williams.
Shepard gritted her teeth as she pulled herself upright, forcing herself to open her eyes.
...what's she doing here?
The first thing she found herself staring at was a sterile white wall. And from the sight, she immediately pegged that she was in the Medbay. Her memory began to swim as she tried to recall the events that had happened before sleep had took her. She brought a hand to her head as she did, just beginning to turn herself around before Chakwas stepped into view before her.
"You had us worried there Shepard. How are you feeling?"
The doctor looked at her concerned, slightly frowning, holding a small data pad in her left hand, probably containing information on her vitals.
"Like shit," she muttered. "How long was I out?"
"About thirteen hours, something happened down there with the beacon I think."
Thirteen Hours?! What the Hell?!
Williams piped up behind her. "It's my fault. I must have triggered some kind of security field when I approached it. You had to push me out of the way."
"Where's the beacon now?" Shepard asked, closing her eyes, still trying to grasp what had happened.
"Probably back where we left it. We were a little more concerned with getting you back to the ship safe and sound than with securing that pile of junk."
Shepard froze as he spoke. She then slowly turned around to face the voice that had just addressed her. The man that accompanied them to the beacon stood to the left of the marine from Eden Prime. And the ferocity of her stare made him take a couple steps back.
"Uh-"
He barely had time to open his mouth before she sprang off the bed and sent the man flying to the wall with her biotics, pinning him there. He cried in pain as his back slammed against it.
"Ah! What the FUCK," he shouted, struggling against the mass effect field holding him place.
"Commander-" Chakwas gasped before Shepard cut her off.
"What the hell is he doing on this ship," she growled at them. "This-"
She suddenly doubled over as she felt a sharp pain in her chest, and she gripped at her sides tightly. The bright blue aura shimmering around the man faded away, causing him to fall to the ground shortly after.
Williams quickly rushed to her side to support her while Chakwas just stood in place, still appalled by Shepard's actions.
"Commander, you shouldn't have gotten up. I found that some of your ribs were fractured when they brought you aboard. While they should heal relatively quickly with the treatment I gave you, you still shouldn't exert yourself." She then directed an arm at the individual heaving on the ground. "And he's one of the reasons that you all made it back here in one piece."
"Bullshit," Shepard muttered, pushing Ashley off her. "Has he been able to just waltz around the ship this entire time?!"
"Shepard, I trust him as far about as I can throw him but-"
She held a hand to the soldier's face.
The man lying on the ground looked up at her bewildered. "What the hell did I do to deserve-" He suddenly shut his mouth, grinding his teeth, shutting his eyes as he curled up in pain. Chakwas made a move to approach him but Shepard stopped her again.
"You lied to us when we were back at that spaceport." He turned his head as quickly as he could back to her, looking as if he had no idea what she was talking about. She found herself clenching her fist as another sharp sensation of pain snaked its way to her brain. "When we first saw you...you claimed that you had seen the Turian that killed Nihlus through the crates you were hiding behind." His eyes begun to widen as he realized he had been caught. "But that dock worker claimed you had them shut. You then backtracked and said you had just seen it before you had hidden."
Ashley's eyes widened with the realization too.
"You're right...why the hell did you lie to us?" she demanded turning to him.
His eyes flitted between them, trying to scrounge up an excuse. Shepard went on.
"I had wondered that myself. I hadn't understood why he had gotten us those supplies from the smuggler either. Then he tried to invite himself along. That's when I realized the most likely answer...he killed Nihlus himself." The horrified expression that crept across his face brought her pleasure. The look of someone who had been caught. Shepard tensed herself, ready for him to make a move to escape. "The dockworker made up the story about the other turian because the actual murderer had been right there. Then he tried pinning it on what's his name and got us those mods so we'd think he was on our side."
"What?! NO-"
He was cut off before Shepard yelled at him to shut his mouth and continued. "I only let you come with us to see what you would try. While you didn't attempt anything on that tram, when we were fighting through the space port, you only killed one Geth. One."
"Okay, that was because I've never been in a gunf-," he begun to stammer before Shepard hit him with another biotic field, albeit one much weaker than the first, but strong enough to still cause his head to snap back into the wall behind him. She then doubled over in pain immediately after.
"Commander! Stop this at once! You hurting yourself as much as you're hurting him!"
Chakwas took out a stim and made a move to inoculate her arm. As it broke her skin, Shepard found her pain immediately dulled. The Doctor moved to do the same for Shield but Shepard outstretched her arm again, preventing her from doing so.
"The only way you would have known about that last detonator is if you had known it would be there in the first place!" she shouted at him.
He struggled to come up with a response.
"If I had set them up, why would have I warned you about them then?!" he cried.
"Because the Geth had already set them off without you!"
"What's going on in here!"
Anderson moved his stare from Shepard standing beside her bed, to Shield who was lying sprawled on the ground. She noticed Kaidan standing behind him, apparently accompanying him to see what all the commotion had been about too.
She wrenched her head from Anderson back to the pathetic sight before her. "This man lied to us when we first met him!"
"Just because I misspoke, you think that immediately means I worked with that lunatic!?" He then turned to Anderson, his eyes seemed to be pleading for help. "He butchered thousands down there!"
"What lunatic? As far as I know, you're the only one that knows why they attacked! Hell, you could have even led them there!"
His look of bewilderment only added to his guiltiness. "Are you really saying that I led the Geth there? That I killed Nihlus!?"
Shepard knew she was taking a large leap to conclude that he had been the one to kill the Spectre, as it didn't even seem like he knew how to hold a gun. If that other colonist hadn't agreed with him, she would've thought he had made the Turian up too.
But the Turian was made up. The colonist only said that because he was being held at gunpoint.
And even if he wasn't guilty of killing Nihlus, the man had still made up everything he had said. He avoided her gaze the entire conversation, there was a delay whenever he opened his mouth, and he blatantly had tried to change the subject when the fallacy in his story was pointed out.
"Even if you didn't kill Nihlus, you were hiding something from us back then, and you're still hiding it from us now!"
She kept her gaze fixated him.
In response, he closed his eyes and then slowly reopened them, meeting her gaze head on for the first time since she had woken. "If you really did think I was responsible for what happened there-" She noticed Anderson was reeling at all the accusations. "-why did you try to push me out of the beacon too?"
She now remembered the events before her dream in vivid detail. She had tried to push Shield back toward the ground before the screams of the dead had overwhelmed her.
"I..." She backtracked and raised her voice again. "The fact that the beacon was destroyed though only incriminates you further!"
"Shepard! There's no way he could have been accountable for that. He was caught in it too when it exploded!" She turned in shock to Alenko who was staring back at her defiantly. "He even helped us carry you back to the Normandy, through an entire war zone, when he could have left us there just as easily."
"...he's right Commander," Williams almost whispered. "Without him, we would have been sitting ducks for the Geth trying to get you back aboard."
Their defense of him infuriated her.
He just did it to get onto their ship. He was hiding something, she just knew-
"You want the truth?"
They had all turned their eyes back towards the man lying on the ship's floor. He had planted both his hands firmly on the ground and was attempting to push himself up. She had almost sent another mass effect field his way before another white flash of pain crossed her eyes. She reopened them to find him slumped on the wall, trying to use it for support.
"...you can't handle the truth!"
"What?" Ashley mouthed confused.
"But you're right...I was lying to you Shepard." The statement actually elicited a gasp from the Doctor. "I was lying to all of you about who I was. I'm not a detective. And I did make up that story about seeing Saren before I hid."
Anderson gave him a cold stare. "Why? For what possible reason could you have had to blame what happened at Eden Prime on him?"
Shield met his gaze. "Don't get me wrong, the Spectre Saren Arterius was definitely responsible for that attack. And if that colonist was telling the truth, he killed Nihlus too. We knew Saren had been planning to attack a colony in the Verge for a long time. We just didn't know which..."
"We?" Ashley asked incredulously.
"Yes...we." he replied.
Shepard kept her eyes focused on the man before her.
What was his game.
"We were sent to several different colonies throughout the cluster to watch for any sign of his activity. I had only actually arrived a couple days prior before Saren and his synthetics attacked...I saw his Geth lay waste to entire platoons. When they started slaughtering everyone, I thought I was at the end of the line. To be honest, I hid myself behind those crates just hoping that I'd at least be given a quick death when they eventually found me."
The corner of his lips curled when he looked at her next. "But fate would have it differently, as in rode the famed Commander Shepard not moments later. They tried to stop you and you just gunned them down like that. Pop-pop-pop." He mimicked a gun with his hand. "You made it look so easy."
Shepard noticed that everyone in the room was now hanging on his every word. "I saw that the only way I was getting out of that nightmare was by tagging along with you and your squad. So I came up with that bullshit story and followed you guys through that army of Geth."
He paused before looking at Anderson. "We had no idea why Saren would even want to attack a human colony. Not until I saw the beacon."
Shield turned his gaze back toward her. "He saw whatever was in that beacon Shepard. And I know you saw it too."
The images and sounds from the dream immediately started drifting in and out of her mind.
Had...had he seen the nightmare too-
The Gunnery chief asked the same question.
"Again, who is we?"
He hesitated for a moment before taking a deep breath, noticeably wincing from whatever injury Shepard had caused. Then his face hardened.
"I'm an agent of the Shadow Broker."
"The Shadow Broker?" Ashley asked obviously lost. Shepard couldn't say she had heard the term before either.
"He's an information broker. One of the best in the galaxy." Anderson answered, looking at the man with concern.
"THE best," Shield corrected him.
Alenko spoke up next. "They say that with all the information he has, the Broker could start a war between every civilization of the galaxy in less than an hour."
"So you're telling me that you guys knew there was going to be an attack and didn't warn us!?" Williams snapped, ignoring the essential point Alenko had been trying to make.
"We don't give out information for free and the Alliance never asked. Besides...we had no idea where he was going to attack, if it all," the agent shot back.
Anderson gave him a grave look. "Who gave the Shadow Broker this information on Saren?"
"I can't just-" he glanced for a second at her before turning back to Anderson. "All I know is that someone tipped the Shadow Broker off about him. He sent us to check it out." He then grimaced and slid back to the floor, grabbing his chest.
"Here let me get you something to help," Chakwas said as she crossed the room to her desk. The med bay went silent.
He had obviously practiced the alibi, not giving up even one hint that he might've been lying. But Shepard still didn't trust him.
"So what do we do about you," Shepard said, crossing her arms.
His eyes seemed empty now as she stared into them, devoid of any emotion.
"I say we throw him in the brig," Williams chimed in.
"We don't have one," Anderson replied. "And as the Captain of this ship, that's for me to decide. Williams, Alenko, you're dismissed."
"Yes sir!" they both prompted replied. The Chief didn't fail to give an accusatory glare at the slumped Shield before walking out. The Lieutenant followed her out soon after.
"Look," Shield spoke again, drawing back her and Anderson's attention. "I'm sorry that I lied to you about who I was. I didn't want to...expose my cover if I didn't have to. But after seeing what that bastard did to Prime...I was serious about offering my help Captain."
The Captain seemed to mull something over in his head. Shepard decided to give her two cents.
"I honestly don't see why we would need your help at all. We already have the testimony of that colonist who claimed Saren was present at Eden Prime. The only other way you could help is if we turned you over to the Alliance to see if you have anything else you'd like to share with them."
His face didn't betray a hint of emotion at the suggestion. She couldn't place when it happened, but his demeanor had changed at some point during the confrontation. Chakwas, after spending some time at one of the med bay's consoles, went to Shield and knelt beside him, inoculating him with the same stuff she had given Shepard.
"That should help with the pain. I'd like to take a look at you once the Captain and Commander are done here."
"Thanks Doc," he replied.
He then turned toward the Captain who had finally taken his eyes off the ground and started to speak. "Earlier, you mentioned that Saren had seen something in the beacon. I'm guessing you lied to me about not experiencing anything out of the ordinary when you were in contact with it."
"I honestly don't what I saw," he said, looking at the ground. "It was some kind of vision. Trying to describe it would have made me sound insane."
"Commander, when you were under, I did detect some unusual brain activity, abnormal beta waves. I also noticed an increase in your rapid eye movement, signs typically associated with intense dreaming."
Anderson turned to her. "Shepard?"
She hesitated as the details of the nightmare crept back into her mind. "I'm not sure what I saw either. Death. Destruction. Nothing's really clear. There were synthetics, Geth maybe, slaughtering people. Butchering them."
Shield winced, losing his facade as she described it.
"We need to report this to the Council."
"What, and tell them we had a bad dream?" Shield replied to Anderson sarcastically.
Although Shepard was infuriated at how he had addressed the Captain, she agreed. "They'll think we're crazy."
Anderson wasn't convinced. "Doctor Chakwas, could you let us talk in private for a moment?"
"Of course Captain," she replied, leaving the room.
Anderson waited until the door slid shut before speaking. "I won't lie to you Shepard. Things look bad. Nihlus is dead. The beacon was destroyed and the Geth are invading. The council's going to want answers. If both of you had these visions, they can't ignore that!"
She frowned at the mention of those freaks on the Citadel.
"The Council can kiss my ass. I won't let them blame me for losing the beacon. I did nothing wrong. The Alliance can solve this problem without their help."
"I stand behind you Shepard. You're a damned hero in my book," he reassured her. "But we can't do this alone. It's Saren. That other turian. He's a Spectre, one of the best. A living legend. If he's working with the Geth, it means he's gone rogue."
Shield opened his mouth. "As a Spectre, he has access to files on everyone and everything. He has a vast amount of resources at his disposal and the ability to do whatever he pleases. Unless we confront the council about him, just relying on the Alliance won't change that."
Anderson nodded in agreement with him. "We don't know what information was stored in that beacon. Lost Prothean technology? Blueprints for some ancient weapon of mass destruction? Whatever it was, Saren took it. But I know Saren. I know his reputation, his politics. He believes humans are a blight on the galaxy." Anderson's speech grew in fervor as he started to pace back and forth. "This attack was an act of war! He has the secrets from the beacon. He has an army of geth at his command. And he won't stop until he's wiped humanity from the face of the galaxy! I'm sure of it!"
Shepard was taken aback at how passionately Anderson detested the Turian. "...do you two have history together?"
Anderson turned to face her. "Yes, and it didn't go well last time I came face to face with him. If he's gotten something from the beacon or found whatever he's looking for..."
Shepard would take her own life before she let a Turian attack human colonies with impunity. "He won't. Not if I can help it. I'll find some way to take him down!"
She grew enraged when she noticed that Shield almost looked bored with their discourse. Then Anderson snapped her attention back to him. "That's why we need the Council on our side. As a Spectre, he can go anywhere, do almost anything. By proving he's gone rogue, we can revoke all of those advantages."
The realization hit her. "So we expose Saren and the Council will revoke his Spectre status."
"Exactly Shepard. I'll contact the ambassador and see if he can get us an audience with the Council. He'll want to see us as soon as we reach the Citadel."
"So what about him?" She motioned toward Shield who now seemed close to dozing off.
Anderson hesitated, giving the man a long hard look. He seemed to be extremely conflicted about something. "...he can stay aboard the Normandy until we reach the Citadel. Then once we get there, we'll escort him to the Council Chamber where he can give a testimony and after that...we can go our separate ways."
Shepard looked at him baffled. Shield eyes popped open at Anderson's statement, sharing her response.
"You're joking."
Anderson gave her a hard stare. "He hasn't done anything to harm the crew and hasn't broken any laws last time I checked. He also gave us vital intel on who was responsible for the attack-"
"What?! Only after he was forced too! We don't know have any idea of what he's done since he's come aboard!"
"She's right," he said. "I had free reign around your ship for more than thirteen hours." She stared at Shield in disbelief as he agreed with her. "I can't say I haven't noticed a couple things exploring the ship. Are you really sure you're okay with just letting me walk?" he asked Anderson.
His question baffled her.
What the hell is his angle?!
Thinking about it only got her angrier.
"Don't get me wrong, I'm assigning a marine to keep an eye on you until we dock...but I believe that your words are sincere."
She couldn't believe her ears.
"We should be getting near the Widow relay. In maybe another hour. Shepard, head up to the bridge and tell Joker to bring us into dock once we're close. I still expect Chakwas wants to look at you." He turned to Shield. "And you too. I'll have Chakwas come back in. And Private Emerson should be here shortly to be your escort."
"Actually," Shield replied, "the Commander seems to really mistrust me. Would she be willing to watch me instead? She can see for herself if I'm up to no good and I can show her that I'm only here to help. I'll probably be in the med bay with her 'til we get there anyway."
He thought it over for a moment. Then he looked at her. "That seems fine to me. Shepard?"
She leered at him. "I'll watch him Captain."
"Good. I'll see you both when we're ashore." He saluted. She returned it as he exited the door. And as he did, Chakwas walked back in, immediately ordering them both into bed, getting to work on Shield's apparent injuries first.
"Commander," he groaned as Chakwas tended to him.
"Stay quiet and rest, I'm surprised you were able to be walking around like you have been," Chakwas babied him.
"Sorry Doc, this will only take a sec." Begrudgingly, Shepard decided to turn her head toward him. "We got off on the wrong foot...and I'm sorry for deceiving you." His face seemed genuinely apologetic. But she didn't care. She watched him like a hawk, daring him to make a move. "But I assure you, whatever my allegiance, I'm dedicated to taking that bastard down for what he's done. He deserves to pay."
"We'll see," Shepard grumbled back to him.
"I hope I can prove to you at some point that I'm being honest Commander."
Chakwas had let them both out of bed when they heard Joker announcing they had just entered the Exodus cluster's relay. And after doing so, the Doctor didn't fail to let her amazement at the relative speeds their bodies were scheduled to recover known. A couple more days and she said they would be walking around just fine.
As they exited the room, the first people they saw were Alenko and Williams conversing with each other next to the cafeteria. And they saw her just as quickly as she had seen them. She was practically roped in as soon as she had gotten out of the room.
"Hey Commander," they both chimed in unison.
"Good to see you up," Alenko added.
"After what happened to Jenkins, the crew could use some good news. They'll be glad to hear you're okay," Williams muttered.
What the hell was that tone she used.
"You have a problem with me, Chief?" Shepard immediately bit back.
The marine furrowed her eyebrows. "You questioned my competence throughout the entire mission back on Prime!"
Alenko and Shield shifted awkwardly at the outburst.
"We'd just lost a man. I didn't know you or your capabilities. It was a bad time to integrate you into the team."
"That's fair," she replied coldly. "I just get a little defensive when someone thinks I can't hold my own."
"Best way to stop that is to show me you're competent. But I don't remember inviting you to come back onto the ship with us."
"You didn't. Captain Anderson did."
Shield nudged Alenko out of the corner of her eye. Kaidan looked at him oddly before realizing what the prompt meant. "Speaking of Jenkins Commander...I was sad to see him go like that..."
Shepard turned her attention toward him. "He was a soldier. He knew the risks and so do you. You need to get used to people dying under your command Alenko."
He looked at her appalled. "I know that! It's just...it's been a hell of a shakedown cruise. Our first mission ends with one Spectre killing another. The Citadel Council's not gonna be happy about that. Probably use it to lever more concessions out of the Alliance."
The Council?!
"Fuck the Council. There's something big coming. If they're too blind to see it then it's on them. We work for the Alliance, you read me, Lieutenant?"
"Five by five, ma'am." Alenko and Williams gave each other a look. "So, what did the Captain say we should do about him?" He motioned to the man beside him.
"I have a name you know."
"Shut it," she growled before returning attention to Alenko. "I'm keeping an eye on him until we dock. He'll be with us until Saren is stripped of his Spectre status.
"Unless you guys decide you want to bring me along!" he smiled.
They all stared at him before turning away.
"Is there anything else before we head ashore?" the Lieutenant asked.
"For you? No. I just need to go speak with Joker."
"Oh, we'll go with you! We should just be exiting the Widow Relay now."
Great.
She made sure Shield stayed a couple steps in front of her as they walked up the stairs to the Command Center. The Chief and Alenko brought up their rear.
And as they reached the bridge, Joker seemed to perk up as he heard them approaching.
"So I'm guessing you found that data pad Shield?"
Shield cursed under his breath "...no, I actually got a little...distracted."
She made a mental note to interrogate Joker about that later before she spoke. "Joker, what's our approach vector?"
Joker jumped at hearing her voice, turning over his shoulder to look at her. "Oh Commander, good timing! I was just about to bring us into the Citadel. See that taxpayer money at work."
He smirked at his own joke. Ignoring it, she found that outside the Normandy's window was a bright purple tint coming from the dense gases and particulates that surrounded them. She couldn't see a thing past the smog and half-suspected Joker to crash into oncoming traffic as he began bringing them down. But her concerns were allayed as the enormous arms of the Citadel suddenly came into view. In response, Williams and Shield ran to the window like excited children. Alenko on the other hand positioned himself behind Joker's other shoulder.
"WOW, look at the size of that ship!"
The marine could barely hide her excitement.
"The Destiny Ascension, the flagship of the Citadel Fleet," Alenko identified for them.
"Well size isn't everything," Joker muttered.
"Why so touchy Joker?"
"I'm just saying you need fire power too."
"It looks like it's got more than enough of that. I mean do you see that monster! Its main gun could rip through the barriers on any ship in the Alliance Fleet!"
"Good thing it's on our side then," Alenko added.
Shield stayed silent, opting to just stare out the window instead. His face was practically smushed against it.
"Citadel Control, this is S-S-V Normandy, requesting permission to land."
"Stand by for clearance, Normandy...Clearance granted. You may begin your approach. Transferring you to an Alliance operator."
It was the first time Shepard had actually seen the Citadel in person. She wasn't one for sight-seeing but she admitted to herself that the structure was fairly impressive.
"Normandy, this is Alliance tower. Please proceed to dock four-two-two."
"Roger that, Alliance Tower. Normandy out."
Joker then tapped a couple buttons on his haptic interface as the Normandy began descending toward the Citadel.
Author's Notes:
Definitely hadn't thought this chapter would be as long as it is when I first began writing it. I also didn't think I would have as much trouble too. Most of it was due to addressing how I would write these two different POV's but also from the fact that I was thinking short vignettes rather than lines and lines of dialogue.
I also wanted to do a solid depiction of Shepard's demeanor in this chapter, but since it was a critical building block for the plot of the game and her personal vendetta, I couldn't really skip through parts of dialogue like I've had in the story previously. Shepard isn't one to ignore her superiors or surroundings after all. In fact, she's kind of a wet blanket. Rearranging some of the scene to make sense was also pretty tough. Making it so the conversation led back to the game's script in a logical manner was particularly challenging as well. But of course, in the end, it was no match for an intellect such as mine.
But after it was all said and done, I still didn't get to the Citadel and the Council like I had wanted too... :(
In any case, glad to get this one out of the way as we look forward to actually kicking off our journey!
In the Next Chapter: Turian Councillor Sparatus Hardlines, Asari Councillor Tevos makes no promises, and Salarian Councillor Valern croaks...Literally! Getting the Council to Care!
Tune in next time on Mass Effective: A Hero Made!