Chapter 2

"She's beautiful, sir." Shepard exhaled as he took in the long, gleaming decks and the dozen or so haptic interfaces for crewmembers. Farther down the hall, he could just make out the CIC with its glowing galaxy map, where the captain would select their destinations.

"Yes she is." Anderson agreed. "She's a frigate, full name is the SSV Normandy SR-1."

"SR-1?" Shepard asked inquisitively.

"It stands for Stealth/Reconnaissance 1. The Normandy was a joint effort by both the Turian Hierarchy and the Systems Alliance, and was built in complete secrecy. Hence the difficulty you may have had in finding us." Anderson smiled at Shepard.

"Yeah, I was gonna ask you about that. . ." Shepard trailed off and stared around the ship, completely fascinated by the Normandy.

"This is Flight Lieutenant Jeff Moreau, our helmsman." Anderson said, trying to get Shepard's attention. "Who should be getting us away from the dock right about now, correct helmsman?"

"Yes sir." The pilot replied, and his hands started flying over the controls. Shepard turned back towards the cockpit. "Nice to meet you, Helmsman." He offered his hand out to the pilot.

"You too, uh, Commander." Moreau declined to shake the offered hand, instead keeping his hands busy getting the Normandy out of her berth and headed for the Mass Relay. He looked up at Shepard, then Anderson. Whatever he was silently asking was lost to the Commander, but luckily, Anderson understood.

"Commander Shepard is going to be my XO, Joker."

"Ah, right, I get it. So I have to do what you say too, huh?" The pilot asked with a grimace.

"Apparently." What the fuck is the Alliance thinking? I don't know how to be an XO. Not to mention I'd rather burn my eyes out with a plasma torch than do paperwork. I wonder if I could request a transfer? Nah. I don't wanna leave Anderson in the lurch. He's always had my back, so I guess I owe him. But seriously, Anderson, couldn't you have told me to go kill somebody for you? Why'd you make me your X fucking O? Wait, what did he just call the pilot? "And did the Captain just call you 'Joker?'"

"Yes."

"I thought your name was Jeff."

"It is. Joker is a nickname somebody gave me during flight school, and it stuck."

"Huh. Why -"

"Commander Shepard." Anderson called from the CIC, interrupting whatever Shepard was going to ask next.

"Shit." Shepard whispered under his breath. I've been the XO for all of thirty seconds and I'm already shitting the bed. This is gonna be the longest damn assignment in the history of the world. "Bye Joker." He said a little louder, as he turned and walked quickly to the CIC.

"See ya Commander." Joker's voice floated out behind him.

After his extensive tour of the Normandy, Shepard walked up to the Normandy's bridge as she completed her jump through the mass relay. The turian Spectre who was along for the ride passed him by without a second glance. Coming to a stop just behind the pilot, he silently listened to the conversation between the pilot and a marine sitting to his right. Anderson told me his name. Ummm, Alenko? Yep. Staff Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko. Ha. Damn, I am good.

"I hate that guy." Joker whined.

"Nihlus gave you a compliment. Sooo you hate him?" Alenko countered.

"You remember to zip up your jumpsuit on the way outta the bathroom, that's good. I just jumped us halfway across the galaxy and hit a target the size of a pinhead, so that's incredible. Besides, Spectres are trouble. I don't like having 'em on board. Call me paranoid." The pilot finished his diatribe with a shake of his head.

"You're paranoid." Kaidan agreed. "The Council helped fund this project; they have the right to send someone to keep an eye on their investment."

"Yeah, that is the official story. But only an idiot believes the official story." Joker said.

"They don't send Spectres on shakedown runs." Shepard agreed, speaking up for the first time.

"So there's more going on here than the Captain is letting on." Joker started to say. Suddenly, the intercom crackled to life.

"Joker! Status report!" Anderson's voice emanated from the console in front of Joker.

"Just cleared the mass relay, Captain." Joker responded respectfully. "Stealth systems engaged, everything looks solid."

"Good. Find a comm buoy and link us into the network. I want mission reports relayed back to Alliance brass before we reach Eden Prime."

"Aye aye, Captain." Joker couldn't help but continue talking, even though Shepard had a feeling Anderson had already heard all he wanted to from the pilot. "Better brace yourself, sir. I think Nihlus is headed your way."

"He's already here, Lieutenant." Anderson's reply was icy and carried a mild rebuke. Joker winced, before the Captain continued. "Tell Commander Shepard to meet me in the comm room for a debriefing."

"You get that Commander?" Joker asked the imposing figure behind him.

"He sounds angry. Something must have gone wrong with the mission." Shepard replied. How can something have gone wrong with the mission already, though? We just made it through the mass relay, and that was perfect. This has to be more than just a simple shakedown cruise.

"Pfft. The Captain always sounds like that when he's talking to me." Joker sounded unconcerned.

"Can't imagine why." Alenko added his two cents with a roll of his eyes.

Shaking his head, Shepard turned away and started down the hallway to the CIC and the comm room. Joker must be a damn good pilot if Anderson puts up with that kind of behavior from him.

On his way to the comm room, Shepard passed by an animated discussion between one of the ship's marines and the chief medical officer. Before he could make it past them, the marine called out to the Commander.

"What do you think, Commander? We won't be staying on Eden Prime too long, will we? I'm itching for some real action."

"I sincerely hope you're kidding, Corporal. Your 'real action' usually ends with me patching up crew members in the infirmary." The doctor answered with a frown.

"You need to calm down, Corporal. A good soldier stays calm under fire." Shepard gently tried to reign in the exuberant young marine.

"Sorry, Commander. But this waiting's killing me. I've never been on a mission like this before. Not one with a Spectre on board!"

"Just treat this like every other assignment you've had, and everything will work out." Shepard again tried to take it easy on the corporal. I remember when I was waiting for my first taste of "real action." I can't really blame him. All that training, and suddenly everything's so real.

"Easy for you to say, Commander, you proved yourself in the Blitz. This is my big chance. I need to show the brass what I can do!"

"You're young, Corporal. You have a long career ahead of you. Don't do something to mess it up."

"Don't worry, sir. I'm not going to screw this up."

"The Captain's waiting for me." The Commander said as a means of excusing himself. He finished the walk to the comm room still remembering the first time he went into action.

When he entered the comm room, Shepard got an unpleasant surprise. The turian Spectre, Nihlus, rather than the Captain, stood there waiting for Shepard. Nihlus turned around at the sound of the opening door. Once Shepard had closed the distance, he started to speak. "Commander Shepard. I was hoping you'd get here first. It will give us a chance to talk."

"The captain said he'd meet me here." Shepard's response was surly.

"He's on his way." Nihlus replied.

Great. Some alone time with a turian. Just because I've started to forgive you bastards for Shanxi doesn't mean I want to put up with your bullshit. As if this day wasn't already fucked beyond repair.

"I'm interested in this world we're going to – Eden Prime. I've heard it's quite beautiful." Nihlus didn't seem to care that Shepard's attention was elsewhere.

"I'm a soldier, not some tourist on vacation." Shepard's tone was hard, and his dislike for the turian was starting to show on his face.

"It's more than just a tourist destination, isn't it Shepard?" Nihlus ignored the look on the Commander's face and continued to press. "Eden Prime is a symbol of your people, a perfect little world on the edges of your territory. Proof that humanity can not only establish colonies across the galaxy, but also protect them. But how safe is it, really?"

"Are you trying to scare me, Spectre?" Shepard growled. Don't threaten me, you scaly bastard! I'll put you down like a rabid fucking dog if you threaten me or my people.

"Your people are still newcomers, Shepard. The galaxy can be a dangerous place. Is the Alliance truly ready for this?"

Fuck you! "F-" Shepard was interrupted by the Captain entering the comm room.

Shepard put out a hand to stop Kaidan and motioned for him to take cover. I need to take a minute to get my head back in the game. What if that corporal died because I was too busy thinking about becoming a Spectre, or trying to figure out what Nihlus is really up to? Why would a turian put my name forward for Spectre candidacy? There's no love lost between our two races. What sorta game is that damn turian playing? In other news, how are we supposed to stop a ship that's that fucking big? How can a dreadnought even make planetfall anyway? What the hell is happening on Eden Prime?

Shepard took a few deep breaths and focused; on the heft of his sniper rifle, on the smell of the vaporized ozone from the supersonic rounds, and on the silence of the environment. That's it. Focus on your senses, let your instincts and reflexes take over. Fighting is something you do well. Find solace in it until later. The silence was suddenly broken by the sounds of gunfire, which grew louder as it got closer. Alright, mental shit compartmentalized. Mount up, Spike.

Looking up, Shepard motioned to Alenko to form up on him. Shepard took point, and Alenko took up position back and to the left, with about three yards separating the two men. Shepard reached the top of a small rise and looked down towards the source of the gunfire. As his brain processed that there was a soldier running for her life from two of the flying drone things that had killed his corporal, his body was already removing his sniper rifle from his back and sinking down into a crouched shooting position. As he brought the scope to his eye, the soldier fell to the ground.

He zoomed in on the drone in front, and breathed in, preparing to fire. But before he got a chance to pull the trigger, both drones exploded. Pulling his face away from the scope, Shepard looked over at Kaidan. Alenko shook his head, sensing the Commander's question, and pointed down at the soldier. Looking where the lieutenant was pointing, Shepard saw the soldier taking cover behind a rock outcropping. While he watched, the soldier put a pistol back on their hip, and removed an AR from their back.

Sensing movement beyond the soldier, Shepard swiftly brought the scope of his rifle back to his eye and aimed downrange. Two machine-like things were gently laying a person down atop a small table or pedestal. What are those things? Shepard wondered to himself. And what are they doing to that colonist? It looks like they're trying to put a little kid to sleep or something. Holy shit! As the machine-looking things had taken a step back from the colonist, a metallic spike had shot up through the colonist's torso, killing him instantly.

Suddenly the machines drew strange-looking weapons and started moving toward the outcropping of rock, behind which hid the soldier. Shit. They must have heard the soldier moving, or maybe the soldier made a noise when those bastards killed the colonist. That poor sod could probably use some help. Shepard stood up and switched to his pistol, then motioned for Kaidan to move out. "AR out, Kaidan," he muttered into his radio.

"Yes, sir." Alenko replied, and pulled a Kedar Lancer off his back and slid it out to its full size.

"Double time. We need to save that soldier."

Shepard and Alenko sprinted down the hill and joined their fire with that of the unknown soldier. "Use sabotage on the one on the left, LT. I'll take the one on the right." Shepard ordered. Both soldiers activated their omni-tools in unison, and sent out a burst of electrical energy towards their designated targets. I hope this works on whatever-the-hell kind of weapons those things are using. If not, those weapons will tear right through us, just like what happened to the corporal.

As two simultaneous bursts of orange lightning surrounded the metal bipeds, Shepard's fears were put to rest. Both enemies looked down at their weapons, pulling the trigger to no avail. Smiling, Shepard drew down on the "head" of his target. Huh, those flashlight looking things make it really easy to aim for the head and put out the lights. Ha. Put out the lights. I crack myself up. I bet Alenko wouldn't laugh, though. Stick-in-the-mud.

The Commander saw his fourth shot frizzle and drop the metal thing's shields, and his fifth and sixth shots impacted the circle of light in the center of the thing's head. The last shot made the head explode in a shower of sparks. Hmm. Those last two shots were a little far apart. I might need to take my Stiletto apart once I get back on the ship and make sure everything's as it should be. I don't like almost missing.

"Thanks for the help, Commander. I didn't know if I was going to make it." The soldier said to Shepard after the shooting stopped.

That soldier's a lady. Sounds hot, too. Wonder what she looks like under that armor. I should try to get her out of this alive so I can find out. Is it bad that I'm ogling another lady when my girlfriend is probably royally pissed off at me somewhere on Arcturus Station? Yeah, sure, why not? No harm in window-shopping. Oh, she's talking again. I should probably pay attention.

"Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams of the 212." She said with a salute.