Author's Notes: The second chapter of my fanfic detailing the growing relationship between Shepard and Miranda! Thanks for the mostly positive feedback, and thanks for the 9 reviews that one dubious… (?) in the last chapter. Anyways, one of you has said that Miranda was OOC because she blew up when Shepard was juggling grenades. Well, I have no idea how that's OOC, because he was juggling live grenades in an armory full of ordinance. On a space station. Even Captain Price (hint hint wink wink ;)) would've gone ballistic. Also, one of you have pointed out that the Collector Assault Rifle (or the CAR, as I call it) is obtained after Horizon. Actually, that would be the Collector Beam…thingy. I find it ridiculous that Cerberus is a well funded organization, yet they can't even give Shep and his team more guns than the crappy ones we got stuck with at the beginning ingame, so I just wrote it that most weapons are already available. Anyways, enjoy the next chapter!

Finally after much joking and banter between Commander Russell Patrick Shepard and (former) Lieutenant Jacob Taylor, we finally landed on Freedom's Progress, the latest colony to be abducted. In fact, I was more than glad to be out of the Kodiak as I knew that Russell was snidely poking fun at me the whole time, but I chose to just bottle it all up and keep quiet about it.

"Here we are. Stay sharp, and look for survivors no matter how unlikely."Russell ordered crisply, his demeanor doing a drastic 180 from jovial to dead serious in a split second. Maybe he was as great a commander as everyone said he was, but he still had quite a lot to prove to me to convince me that I hadn't invested 2 years of my life in him for nothing.

Both Jacob and I nodded as he shouldered his Collector Assault Rifle at the ready and headed through the first door as we followed him. "Looks like everyone just got up and left right in the middle of dinner."Jacob muttered, his Revenant still at the ready as the three of us took in the room filled with half-eaten dinners.

"Hmm…they must've run off to the bunker in the middle of dinner."Russell mused as we exited the habitation module to the main colony proper.

I looked around me, and there were absolutely no signs of a battle or any sign of resistance despite the fact that the colony was guarded and was attacked. "Strange. No bodies, no structural damage, no signs of battle."I pondered, sweeping my own Collector Assault Rifle across the wide open courtyard as we walked to a district door, which was used in every colony to divide different districts of the colony. The theory was that they could seal off the rest of the colony from the district(s) that were under attack like one of the old ships back on Earth a hundred years ago. Fat load of good it did the colonists of Freedom's Progress and the other colonies.

Suddenly, Russell grinned and went "Yeah, baby!" as he ambled over to a pile of junk and activated his omnitool. "Shepard, what are you doing?"I asked him as he waved his active omnitool over the pile.

"I'm gathering important resources Miranda honey."He grinned as I sucked in a huge lungful of air as I calmed myself down. He called me honey. Again. I was just tempted to slap him on the face and growl at him not to call me honey anymore, but that would be completely unprofessional. So I stayed silent once more and chose to just glare at him, which had absolutely zero effect. He had a really thick skull, I can tell you that.

Finally, he was done scavenging the pile of mechanical junk, and we headed through the door. We were unexpectedly greeted by some unwelcome company though, and that took the form of three LOKI mechs and two FENRIS dog mechs. "Contact!"I yelled as I crashed into cover behind a box right next to Russell, who had popped up and hit one mech with a heavy overload pulse (which was the only tech attack he could perform besides shooting a plasma jet at someone from his omnitool, known as an incinerate, and his tactical cloak) as I did likewise, the combination of both our heavy overload pulses blowing up the mech and its nearest companion.

In the meantime, Jacob had pulled one FENRIS towards the deep chasm on my left as he weighed in with heavy support fire from his machine gun, taking down another FENRIS and one LOKI as Russell eliminated the last one, only to get hit by machine pistol fire from a habitation module from across the chasm. "What the fuck?"He grunted, his shields flickering as they absorbed the impact of the slugs. I turned and dropped two of the LOKIs firing at me and Shepard, and he took out the last one with a 4 round burst to its head.

"Strange. Security systems were disabled at the other colonies. Looks like someone reprogrammed them to attack on sight. We're not alone here."I said as we moved up the steps and into the module the mechs had come out of and all three of us spied a safe. As I had predicted, Russell went up to it and began trick-wiring the safe, and soon it opened.

"How much did you get for your trouble?"I asked, letting a bit of the exasperation I felt creep into my voice.

"2000 credits."He smiled as he walked over to a medkit and opened it, grabbing the tube of medigel inside before we went out of the habitation module and right into a LOKI and FENRIS, which didn't even manage to fully deploy before we destroyed it with our combined firepower. We then entered the module the mechs had been guarding, and suddenly, four quarians raised their weapons at us as me and Jacob aimed ours at them as Shepard took aim at one that was rushing to the front. Quarians? What the hell were they doing on a missing human colony? This wasn't adding up.

"Contact."He said evenly as he dropped the quarian with a triple tap to the stomach as everything went wild as said quarian screeched out in pain while she fell to the floor clutching her abdomen. "Shepard! Why'd you shoot me, you bosh'tet!"She screeched as Russell's jaw dropped.

"Oh shit! Tali? Wha…fuck!"He cursed as he finally noticed that the quarians were going to open fire on us.

He reacted quickly as he hit all four with a stasis as I threw a stasis of my own on them, effectively immobilizing them indefinitely as Jacob went around collecting all their weapons and throwing them into a pile far away from them. Shepard immediately administered medigel as he kneeled over Tali. "Damnit Shepard, what are you doing here? Is it really you? What are you doing with Cerberus?"The unfortunate quarian asked as the Commander replied.

"Yep, it's me. Cerberus brought me back from the dead to investigate these colony disappearances, and I'm glad for that. What are you doing here with these people? By the way, I sincerely apologize for the friendly fire. I thought that there was no one here."He asked as Tali recovered on the floor, but before she could reply, one of the trapped quarians spoke up.

"Tali, why would your old captain be working for Cerberus?"He spat the name Cerberus in disgust as I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. These quarians and their petty grudges wouldn't get any closer to defeating the geth in the next hundred years than now, that's for sure.

"Like he said, he's here to investigate why these colonies have gone missing. We're here to look for a quarian on his Pilgrimage named Veetor."

"And you think he's still alive?"Jacob blurted out as I cocked my head at the quarian on the floor, waiting for her to respond.

"When he saw us landing he hid in a security station on the far side of town. We suspect he also programmed the mechs to attack anything that moved."Tali croaked as she stood up with Shepard's help as her quarian companions were released from their stasis fields and they gingerly moved their limbs.

"Veetor's the only one who can tell us what happened here. We should work together to find him."Russell said in a commanding tone as Tali agreed. "Good idea. You'll need two teams to get past the drones anyways."

"Now we're working for Cerberus?"The talkative quarian spat in disgust as I had to fight the urge to roll my eyes once more.

"No Prazza, you're working for me. If you can't follow orders, go wait on the ship."Tali shot back as Shepard raised an eyebrow. Looks like the irritating moron had a name after all. "Head for the security station at the center of the colony. We'll circle around the far side and draw off some of the drones to clear you a path."Tali informed us as Russell just nodded.

"Okay, but before we go, what'd I miss between Cerberus and you guys? You really hate each other."He asked as Prazza spoke up, to my slight irritation. "They killed our people, infiltrated our flotilla, and tried to blow up one of our ships."

"That's not how I would've explained it exactly. It was nothing personal."I replied calmly as Jacob tried to soothe the situation. "We can argue over who killed who and who hid fugitives later. Right now, we've got a job to do."Jacob said sternly. If there was one good thing about Jacob's straight-lacedness, it was that he wouldn't let anything get in the way of the mission.

"Agreed. We work together to get to Veetor."Tali said. "Sounds like a plan. Keep in radio contact at all times. And Tali, know that I'm totally sorry for the friendly fire."Shepard said as we followed him out.

"Good luck Shepard. See you on the far side."Tali called out to us as we walked out of there unscathed, much to my surprise. We advanced forward into another habitation module where Shepard beat a mech into oblivion just because it was blocking a safe, which he cracked open. After the safe cracking, we advanced forward right into a cluster of a mix of security and rocket drones.

"Be careful Shepard! There's a squad of security drones ahead."Tali warned as we took cover.

"Yeah, really good timing you idiot."I cursed under my breath as I broke cover to down one with overload before I turned on a rocket drone atop a roof and shot it down as Shepard and Jacob took out the other three.

We continued on without any further distractions until a panicked sounding Tali came over the radio. "Shepard! Prazza and his squad just rushed on ahead! I told them to wait, but they wouldn't listen! They want to find Veetor and take him away before you get here!"She cried as I shook my head.

"We should've expected this."I said in disdain as Jacob piped up, reloading his Revenant. "Come on! We can still catch them."He said as Shepard opened a door before turning his head to look at us.

"That we'll do, Jacob, that we'll do."He said evenly as we hurried through another habitation module and down some stairs. Unfortunately, more drones flew in and pinned us down for a minute or so before those pesky things were eliminated by overload attacks from me and Shepard in addition to the heavy gunfire the three of us were laying down on the hacked robots.

Just as the last one blew up, Tali had more bad news for us. "Hurry Shepard we're inside the load-Veetor just reprogrammed a heavy mech and it's tearing Prazza's squad apart!"Tali radioed.

"Well, they did want to get to Veetor first…"I muttered derisively as Tali continued. "Get into cover and I'll open the loading bay doors."

"Alright Jacob, you take the left. Miranda, you're with me. I'm on point."Russell ordered as both Jacob and I complied, Jacob huddling against the left of the door while Shepard and I took cover behind some concrete barricades.

As soon as we got into cover, the door opened to reveal a YMIR mech gunning down Prazza's squad with its heavy caliber machine gun as it stomped one to death beneath its massive steel foot. It seemed to be completely oblivious to us as I rushed forward and took cover behind a stack of crates as Jacob did likewise. However, Shepard simply kneeled behind the same concrete barrier, just staring at the YMIR through the sights of his CAR.

"Shepard! What the bloody hell are you doing?"I screamed at him over the roar of the YMIR's machine gun and the dull smacking of the bullets against the crates I took cover behind as it killed the last quarian and turned its attention on us. Jacob fired back, the deep staccato bass pounding of his Revenant nearly drowning out my scream as Russell finally snapped back to reality as he holstered his CAR and whipped out his X29 Incisor and slammed into the crate behind me as the YMIR turned its attention to Jacob, who ducked back behind his box.

The fragile crate next to him shattered when one of the YMIR's missiles impacted the massive crate Jacob had taken cover behind, leaving a sizeable dent in it as I poured fire at the YMIR in addition to hitting it with an overload pulse while Russell was whittling its shields down with rapid bursts from his Incisor. He had even activated the heavy disruptor ammunition we had provided him with, which was a lot more effective at whittling away the YMIR's shields than my cryo ammo. Finally, with one last burst from my CAR, the mech's shield's dissipated with a flicker.

Unfortunately, it had high-grade heavy armor plating which was proving to be a complete bitch to break down. "That mech's got heavy armor plates! Those quarians never stood a chance."Jacob yelled over the sounds of gunfire as he continued pouring a steady stream of incendiary rounds at the mech. "Fuck! And this was supposed to be a simple recon!"Russell swore as he reloaded his sniper rifle before engaging the mech once more.

"Nothing's ever simple Shepard!"I yelled back over the chatter and bark of gunfire as I threw a heavy warp bolt at it, blasting a bit of its armor into nothingness as Shepard immediately concentrated fire on that spot. The mech started to stumble and its aim became erratic as Shepard, Jacob and I continued to pour gunfire into the armor breach and damage its delicate wiring and components.

After I flung another warp, a much larger piece of its armor was vaporized and both Shepard and Jacob whipped out their ML77 rocket launchers and began blasting the rest of the YMIR's armor into nothingness. I then deployed my Arc Projector and aimed it at the mech, letting it charge up. This weapon in my hands was reported by the techs at Cerberus Skunkworks to be extremely devastating against any synthetic foe, be they geth or mechs, or even shields on any living foe or vehicle.

Unfortunately, it hadn't been extensively field tested yet, which meant that I got the dubious honor of being one of the first few to see if it really worked. After the three second charge-up delay, a brilliant white bolt of electricity arced through the air and hit the mech, which promptly crashed onto its titanium kneecaps before it planted itself face first in the ground as it emitted a beeping sound.

"Clear the area! It's gonna blow!" I yelled as we ran and took cover behind the concrete barricade just as the mech went nuclear, producing a small mushroom cloud and an almighty roar as the reactor powering the mech blew up.

We braced against the harsh, hot winds as they gusted by for a few uncomfortable seconds before we warily spread across the area, making sure there were no more unpleasant surprises. "Damn Miranda, that thing's very powerful."Russell whistled appreciatively as I stowed away my Arc Projector.

"Honestly speaking, I had no idea it would be this lethal."I replied as we headed inside a habitation module where we resupplied our heavy weapon ammunition from a chest, and Russell took the opportunity to grab some medigel from a medkit nearby as well as three thousand credits from a safe.

On the way to towards the security station, both Shepard and I stopped to scan a destroyed YMIR mech while Jacob picked up a rather old-looking rifle. "Damn, this X96 Mattock is old school."Jacob murmured as he holstered the rifle on his back before we went into the security station.

Inside was a quarian who was frantically typing away as live feeds from various cameras throughout the colony filled the holoscreens in the station and he was frantically blabbering away.

"Monsters coming back. Mechs will protect. Safe from swarms. Have to hide. No monsters. No swarms. No-no-no-no-no." He whimpered, his entire form quivering as Shepard spoke up.

"Huh. He's in shock, and possibly suffering from PTSD as well. Whatever swarm scared him must have been beyond frightening, but it wouldn't take much since this is his first exposure to hostile elements outside of the fleet."Russell theorized as Veetor continued his panicked gibbering.

"No Veetor. Not here. Swarms can't find. Monsters coming. Have to hide."

"Hey, calm down, nothing's gonna hurt you."Russell said soothingly, but he was ignored by the quarian. "Great. We come all this way and our only witness is a blabbering idiot."I spat out in frustration.

Damn it. Two years, four billion credits, thousands of missing colonists and one revived Commander Russell Patrick Shepard later and we weren't any nearer to finding out who was behind the colony attacks. What a waste.

I was roused from my train of frustrated thoughts when Russell used his omnitool to shut down all the monitors, finally gaining Veetor's attention. "You're human. Where did you hide? How come they didn't find you?"He asked.

"We just got here Veetor. Who didn't find us?"I pressed him as he began to stammer. "The-the monsters. The swarms. They took everyone."

"Why didn't the colonists fight back? Were they incapacitated?"Russell asked. "You don't know. You didn't see. But I see everything."Veetor whispered as he turned on the screens to some surveillance footage.

"Looks like security footage. He must've pieced it together manually."I stated as something of great interest popped out on the screen. "What the hell is that?"Jacob asked, pointing to a bug-like creature as I studied it intently. I began to recall reading a schematic on the CAR on both Shepard's and my back…that's it, the thing in the footage was a Collector, no doubt about it! I felt my heart leap with joy at this new discovery. Finally this was going somewhere, and soon we could stop all of this. And Oriana could work in colony development without having to worry about being abducted.

"My God. I think it's a Collector."I said softly as Russell turned to face me. "What the hell's a Collector?"He asked.

"They're a species from beyond the Omega 4 relay. Only a few people have seen one in person."Jacob informed Shepard, who looked perplexed as he began running his hands through his curly blonde hair, which I noticed was a very nice shade of blonde and was unusually soft for a man's hair. What the bloody hell was I even thinking?

"They usually work through intermediaries, like slavers or hired mercs. If they're involved with the Reapers somehow, it could explain what happened to the colonies."I spoke up and filled both Jacob and Russell in as I attempted to take my mind off how attractive Shepard looked even in armor…oh no.

"The Collectors have advanced technology. They could have a weapon that disables and entire settlement at once."Jacob theorized before Veetor kindly added more information. "The seeker swarms. No one can hide. The seekers find you, freeze you. Then the monsters take you away."The terrified quarian quavered as we watched little specks fly by on the monitors, and a group of Collectors escorting pods of some kind.

"So why didn't the Collectors take you?"Russell asked Veetor.

"Swarms didn't find me. Monsters didn't know I was here."He said in a small voice as Jacob interjected. "The Collectors aren't known for being careless. Maybe his enviro suit kept him from showing up on their sensors."

"Or they were using technology specifically designed to detect humans. Only human colonies have been hit."I suggested as Shepard nodded. "Or maybe both…tell me about these swarms, Veetor."He muttered, deep in thought and looking utterly sexy-no! as he turned back to Veetor.

"It's how they find you. Seeker clouds. Machines like tiny insects. They go everywhere. They find you. Then they sting you. Freeze you." "Sounds like miniature probes, maybe. Find victims, then immobilize them with a stasis field or nerve toxin."I stated, deep in thought about how those little creatures worked as Russell turned to me.

"Possible. Although I think it's more likely to be a nerve toxin as there seem to be no sign of biotics. So what happened next Veetor?"Shepard asked. "The monsters took the people to the ship and then they left. The ship flew away. But they'll be back for me. Nobody escapes!"Veetor blabbered hysterically as Jacob sighed. "That's probably all we're getting out of him Commander."

"Thank you Veetor, you were very helpful."Russell smiled reassuringly, and I found it a very charming smile as Veetor continued while powering up his omnitool. "I studied them. The monsters. The swarms. I recorded them with my omnitool. Lots of readings. Electromagnetic. Dark energy."

"We need to get this data to the Illusive Man. Grab the quarian and call the shuttle to come pick us up." I said to Shepard, but before he could answer, we were rudely interrupted by Tali coming in through the door.

"What? Veetor is injured! He needs treatment, not an interrogation!"Tali blustered as I sighed, unable to contain my disdain at her complete foolishness. Did she really take us for fools? Did she really think that we would let our only witness to the attack slip from right under our noses so he could help the quarians to improve their weapons and kill themselves in another bloody, pointless war against the geth which they would most definitely lose and in doing so, deny us the chance to stop the colony abductions?

"We won't hurt him. We just need to know if he knows anything else. He'll be returned, unharmed."Jacob soothed before Shepard cut in. "I've got a better idea. Why don't we take his omnitool and I question him right here, right now? After I'm done, you can take him back Tali."Shepard said as he pulled out a chair and motioned for Veetor to sit, which the quarian did as Shepard himself took a seat.

"No! We need to-"Tali cried but was cut off by Shepard. "I wasn't negotiating. Or would you rather that Veetor be taken away to a secure facility?"Russell asked, his voice lowering dangerously as Tali just stepped aside as Jacob and I took our seats. "Okay Veetor, it's all over. Calm down. Now I need you to look into my eyes…"Russell ordered as Veetor obeyed, and they just stared at each other silently for about a minute before Russell suddenly smacked Veetor on his left arm lightly.

"Now Veetor, you're safe. Now I need you to tell me what I want to know…"Shepard said in a soft, soothing voice that made even me relax. "Miranda?"

"Yes Shepard?"I snapped back to his gaze as he chuckled. "It's Russell to you, Miranda. Could you please record everything on your omnitool?" "Of course Shepard-" "It's Russell, honey."He grinned like an idiot as I felt a twinge of anger welling inside my chest but I pushed it down easily. Somehow, he could read me like an open book, yet he didn't seem to know that being called 'honey' was one of my pet peeves.

On second thoughts, he probably knew, but he was just trying to get under my skin.

"You good?"The handsome idiot-Russell asked me, and I nodded as I began recording. "Okay Veetor, I need you to tell me your omnitool's password and I need you to give me your omnitool as well."Russell asked as Veetor obediently removed his omnitool and handed it to Shepard. "My password is 'I wander the galaxy like a vagabond, so that I may prosper my people.'"Veetor said in a trancelike state before Russell began the questioning proper.

It was simply amazing. Half an hour later, when the interrogation was done, the amount of information we had about the abduction of Freedom's Progress and the Collectors was staggering. I definitely couldn't even match up to Russell in terms of information extraction, even when I used extreme methods. He simply used hypnotism and he got all the answers we needed.

"Thank you Veetor. I appreciate the help. Remember, you're okay. Nothing happened."Russell smiled as he tapped Veetor, who was just sitting in the chair stiffly and silently. After that, tap, Veetor stood up. "What happened?"He asked, sounding completely confused and dazed. "What did you do to him Shepard?"Tali cried as she instantly went to Veetor's side, grabbing his arm.

"I buried his memories of what happened here so that he won't suffer for the rest of his life."The Commander replied as he nodded to me. "Miranda, call the shuttle and let's go." "Yessir, I'm on it."I replied as I summoned the AI piloted shuttle to land just outside of the door.

After a fifteen minute ride back to Minuteman filled with Russell's sexist jokes (What's the best part of a blowjob? The ten minutes of silence.) (Why do men fart more often than women? Because women just can't shut up long enough to build up the required pressure.) that simply made me want to biotically slam him against the bulkhead before mounting him and bitchslapping the sexist out of him, I was instructed to report for a debrief, but not before handing the quarian's omnitool and uploading the interrogation transcript to a clerk while Shepard himself got debriefed.

On my way to the meeting room where I would debrief my boss, I passed by Joker, who was Shepard's pilot since the Saren days as he ogled at my breasts while I pointedly ignored him, completely sidestepping him with a few quick strides, my high-heeled, knee-high boots making a staccato clatter against the mezzanine floor that I relished. I stepped into the middle of the QEF Communicator and I was instantly having a 'face to face' meeting with my boss and the head of Cerberus; the Illusive Man.

"Hello Miranda. I've heard that your mission went extremely well."The Illusive Man said while he puffed away on his trademarked cigarette. Even when I first joined Cerberus eighteen years ago, he always had a Cotierone cigarette in his hands, or in between his lips, or in the ashtray right next to his seat. "Yes sir, it did. The data from the quarian's omnitool and the transcript of the interrogation should be reaching you soon."I replied as he puffed at his cigarette, allowing us a brief moment of comfortable silence.

"Very well done Miranda. I'm beyond elated with your progress on this project thus far. So is Shepard the same man he was before he died?"

"Yes he is sir. Sir, I need to raise some concerns about Shepard. He is a complete idiot most of the time and is unfocused on the mission until he's actually groundside, and I'm afraid that this might compromise the whole mission! Also, his methods are completely unconventional and-"Before I could finish my tirade about what an arsehole my new CO was, the Illusive Man stopped me with a raised index finger.

"Miranda, do you know what unconventional warfare involves?"He asked me as I bowed my head slightly, knowing that I was beaten.

"Yes sir, it involves psychological warfare."I said as he nodded. "Correct. That means that Shepard is the perfect man for the job. Also, it's about time you threw away the Girl Scout handbook and did some really unconventional warfare, Miranda."He said as he puffed on his cigarette once more.

"Oh and Miranda?" "Yes sir?"I asked as he contemplated his reply for a split second before answering. "Why don't you come over to my station this weekend to celebrate Shepard's revival? Just you, me, a candlelit dinner and some good talk and even better wine."He asked as I barely managed to stifle my sigh, recognizing it as yet another attempt at trying to have sex with me. Even when I was seventeen, he had been trying to get into my lacy black panties, and it had persisted throughout the eighteen years I had been in his service.

I always knew that he was a suave, serial philandering bastard and all his sexual liaisons with literally hundreds, if not thousands, of women of various social statuses and marital statuses throughout the galaxy. Rumor had it that he even had an orgy with two human women, who had been voted the sexiest human females alive, as well as an asari matriarch and a powerful human female politician once (yes, all four women in the same encounter), but of course, no evidence was present. I had personally seen him with whatever pretty girl that got his pecker hard for that day on his lap countless times.

However, I had absolutely no interest in being fucked by someone who was old enough to be my father. Come to think of it, both he and my father shared a lot in common besides their age and their desire for humanity to be one of the dominant species in the galaxy, which I wholeheartedly agreed with. So for eighteen long years, I had shot down seduction attempt after seduction attempt by my boss, yet he had persisted. I guess boys will always be boys, always lusting after what they can't have.

"Thanks but no thanks sir. I'd say it's a little too early to celebrate. Besides, I'm not in the mood. Sir."I replied, emphasizing the last word as he looked disappointed for a fraction of a second before he recovered from yet another seduction attempt I shot down. "Okay then Miranda. Maybe after the Collector problem is solved, we can have a night of great sex-I mean conversation."He said as I merely raised an eyebrow at his slip as he terminated the connection.

I headed to the hangar, where Commander Shepard and Joker were presumably ogling at the new, rebuilt ship that was a vast improvement from the now destroyed SSV Normandy, courtesy of Cerberus and several established shipbuilders. "I guess we'll call her the Normandy."Russell grinned as I walked in and both men turned their attention to me. "Ah hello there Miranda sweetie. Love the new ship you're giving me."He grinned at me like a kid locked up in a candy store for a really long weekend as I clenched my jaw at his new 'pet name' for me. As if honey wasn't bad enough already.

"I'm glad you like it. It's time to board, by the way."I replied stiffly as I led them to the airlock, where we saw some of the crewmembers boarding as well. When we went in, Jacob was already waiting by the airlock for us. "Ah, Shepard, Miranda. The crewmembers are already at their stations and are awaiting orders."He informed us as I gave him a curt, artificial smile. "Thank you."I said as we strode past the cockpit, where Joker was already seated in the pilot's seat.

We then walked down the row flanked by LADARmen and women, as well as navigation specialists. Only the best of the best were picked for this mission. We finally reached the CIC, where the crew was milling about, awaiting orders from Shepard as he whistled appreciatively, clearly in awe of the CIC. Me and Jacob stood behind him as I put a hand on my hip and shifted my weight to my right while Jacob stood there in parade rest. So it was true that you could take the soldier out of the military, but you couldn't take the military out of the soldier.

"Welcome aboard the new Normandy, Commander."Jacob said, smiling as he himself admired the view. I had to admit, it was breathtaking. "I've been looking over the dossiers. I'd strongly recommend starting by acquiring Mordin Solus, the salarian professor on Omega. We know the Collectors use some type of advanced technology to immobilize their victims. We'll need him to develop a countermeasure to protect us."I advised Russell as he turned back to look at me with a rather charming smile.

"I agree, but we'll have to touch base with the Council first. Which means that the Citadel is our first stop. However, I do like your thinking. Very logical, very calculated and very intelligent."He replied as I let the ghost of a smile cross my face.

"Thank you Commander."I replied as EDI, the ship's AI, interjected. "Touching base with the Council before taking direct action is a logical move to start with, Commander."It intoned as Shepard whirled around on the spot, looking for EDI. "Who are you? Oh no, the voices in my head are talking to me again!"He chuckled as Jacob and several other crewmembers guffawed while I just shook my head in disdain. "I am the Normandy's artificial intelligence. The crew likes to refer to me as EDI."

"An AI onboard? Damn, this is gonna be interesting!"Shepard sniggered as EDI flickered out of existence. "But I'm guessing that it's gonna take more than me, Jacob, Miss Smokin' Hot Vixen and EDI to fly this ship."He grinned as Jacob chuckled before he saw my death glare directed at him, and he instantly stopped chuckling. However, Russell still kept grinning like the idiot he was even though I was giving him my most lethal, ice-cold stare.

"The Normandy has a full crew complement. They're at their stations awaiting their orders."I said icily, my hands on my perfectly curved hips as Shepard purposely ogled at my breasts before letting out a wolf whistle and permitting himself yet another idiotic chuckle, the bastard.

"Final preparations for takeoff are complete Commander. When you're ready to go, just pick a destination from the galaxy map in the CIC and I'll plot a course."Joker chimed in over the intercom as Shepard smiled. "Brilliant!"

"Jacob and I should return to our posts. Come find us if you have any questions."I finished, wanting nothing more than distance between me and this arsehole who just had to be my new Commander as both Jacob and I began walking towards the armory and lift respectively. "I expect that we'll work well together Jacob."Russell smiled, extending his hand to my ex as Jacob responded by taking the handshake.

"Likewise Commander. Honored to be on your team, sir."Jacob said with a proud smile and a sharp salute that Russell returned before he walked into the armory. "Oh Miranda? I'm beyond glad to be working with a beautiful genius like you, and I predict that we'll get along very well."He grinned at me as I plastered a false smile that I'm pretty sure came off as a snarl on my face as I accepted his outstretched hand and shook it.

"Thank you Commander. I sincerely hope that you'll do a good job."I snarked as I suddenly felt a stinging pain coming from my right butt cheek as well as a loud 'slap', eliciting a very uncharacteristic squeak of pain and embarrassment from me. The bastard! He actually slapped me on my arse while he distracted me!

"Excuse me!"I snarled at him as he just withdrew his hand, his moronic grin simply getting wider as he sauntered to the galaxy map while I stormed into the lift. Before the doors managed to close and save me from seeing his trademarked smug grin that I wanted to wipe off his face with a liberal application of my biotics, I heard him yell "To the Citadel and beyond!", earning loud roars of laughter and hoots of approval from the crew.

Nothing could even begin to describe the despair I felt at that moment as I facepalmed so hard that I'm pretty sure that there was a handprint on my face.

A/N: I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Yeah I know, "OMG TALI! NOOOO!" According to my dad (who used to be an SAS soldier who operated in the Falklands and the First Gulf War, so he knows what he's talking about), if a situation like Freedom's Progress happened in real life, Tali and her buddies would be dead. In my dad's own words, "They had guns pointed at Shepard and company, yet they didn't fire at those aliens? What kind of special operator is this?" I'm sorry I can't update fast enough for some of you , but my business management course and my boyfriend just isn't letting me update as much as I want. No, my boyfriend isn't disapproving or anything, he just keeps asking for some good ol' lovin'(NO! IT'S NOT THAT YOU PERVS! Well…it is a couple of times.) far too often. So do remember to review before you go, I'm a total despo for reviews. See you!

XOXOKatherineXOXO