"Joker, meet us at the rendezvous point. There's nothing here. The tip off was a lie."
Shepard had gotten coordinates through the email the Alliance supplied her with to receive new missions and Intel updates. An anonymous person sent her coordinates that seemed suspicious, but Shepard thought to be important. The following message concluded that there was a group of tourists that were trapped by Cerberus for unknown reasons and since Shepard's interest in Cerberus was peaked by the recent Admiral's death, she had decided to take the chance.
"You got it Commander." Joker radioed back, setting up his station to maneuver the Normandy toward the rendezvous point. But his pilot gut instinct told him to move quicker, to get to Shepard faster. Whether it was caused by Joker's need to see Shepard, though he'd never admit that openly, or because something felt wrong he couldn't tell but he went faster nonetheless.
If only he could be a soldier on the ground with Shepard instead of being cooped up in the ship everyday…
Shepard kept one hand on her side near her pistol, staring straight ahead. Her team which consisted of Kaidan and Garrus were standing by, keeping watch on both sides for any intruders. Shepard was vaguely disappointed that she hadn't found any tourists or any sign of Cerberus but decided to call it a good day. No sign of the enemy usually was that.
"…talk to me LT." Shepard glanced over at Kaidan, whose sudden pick up in nervous movement and rifle raising caught her attention.
"Commander. I can't be sure but I'm pretty positive someone's following us." Kaidan continued walking on, rifle now fully raised.
"You sure?" Shepard questioned, glancing behind them for any evidence of Kaidan's claims. There were none.
"I'm sure Commander." Kaidan said firmly. "Call it gut feeling."
"Alright. On the count of three, we all spin around and hopefully he or she will appear. Keep an eye out. Okay…one…two…thr-" Shepard got abruptly cut off, her dark blue eyes staring out at nothing in particular before collapsing.
Kaidan and Garrus swiveled around to see their Commander on the ground, knocked out by a stun round to the head. Kaidan cried out, "Take cover!"
But Garrus already did, glancing worriedly over at Shepard's exposed body just lying there. Garrus shook his head, setting up his sniper rifle and swept the place, looking for the other sniper.
Garrus saw a glint and quickly pulled the trigger. His shot rang out and Kaidan looked over at him then up into the trees. A thud followed but also did Kaidan's pained yelp.
Garrus' mandibles fluttered, seeing Kaidan's exaggerated twitches. His first thought was that Kaidan had been stunned too but then Kaidan revealed himself to be strangled. Garrus' blue eyes narrowed seeing who the enemy was. Batarian slavers.
Garrus brought up his sniper rifle to bear, aim on the batarian who was using piano wire to nearly garrote Kaidan, and fired. His shot was straight and true, the batarian's head being blown off and Kaidan's choked coughs following.
"Alenko!" Garrus warned, seeing more batarians swarming them. Kaidan rubbed his neck tenderly, glancing around him and his dark brown eyes widened immediately. "We have to go. We can't take them all."
"No! We can't leave Shepard behind." Kaidan argued, his voice hoarse. His gaze was directed at Shepard's stunned body which was several feet away.
"We have to get going. Shepard will only slow us down." Garrus didn't like the thought of leaving behind his commanding officer, the one who gave him a second chance to prove himself, but it was for the best. "We're not close enough to the rendezvous point to carry her there or call for reinforcements. Let's go."
Garrus pulled out his rifle, gunning down nearby batarians. The slavers seemed more organized then he thought. Kaidan complied, if only reluctantly, and the two sprinted off. The aching decision to leave Shepard behind because she would slow them down hurt them both, but it was the right choice. Or was it?
Blinding lights. Echoing alien voices. Unbearable pain. Shepard groaned loudly, feeling restraints on her ankles and hands. "Oh look. The human is waking up."
"We finally got someone valuable. Commander Shepard…how interesting." Another batarian spoke up, walking over to Shepard's side.
At the sound of an alien's voice and figuring out that they have her captured made Shepard's blood boil with anger. "Screw you." She spat out, still feeling dizzy.
"No no. Not my type you humans are. Although someone else might…for the right price." The batarian slavers all shared a laugh and it only made Shepard more angry.
"I suggest you let me go…I'm on an important mission for the Spectres. Or else I'll have the Alliance on your ass faster then you can say-"
"Shut up human." A batarian slaver whacked her across the back, Shepard's yelp echoing in the small space. He only whacked her again, except harder and while laughing at her pain.
"What do you want from me?" Shepard questioned, glaring at them all with hatred clear in her eye.
"…to show you that not all aliens are incompetent as you think. I mean, we did manage to capture you…human." One turian slaver came up, towering over Shepard on the ground.
"Racist little human. Your views are small minded indeed." Another turian piped in, shaking his head.
"No." Shepard said calmly, clenching her jaw. "It is you that are small minded. You aliens are all the same…you have nothing to prove. You're all just worthless…" Views and words from years past came into her mind and out her mouth without her knowing it.
"Ha!" One batarian slaver kicked her for those comments. Shepard's grunt only made him kick her harder.
"Idiot human." One turian got a nice swing at Shepard's arm, her whimper only making him laugh.
"I believe it is you human, who needs to prove themselves." A turian commented on her hate filled speech.
"We already have. I'm the first human spectre. And I'm searching for one of your own species, Saren. …you turians think you're all high and mighty but in the end…you're going down." Shepard said quietly, allowing her words to sink in. But all she got was several more hits and kicks, feeling the bruises forming already.
"If so, then why is there a turian on your team? Answer that human." One turian spit into her face, mandibles fluttering numerous times.
For once, Shepard couldn't provide an answer for that question.
"What happened down there exactly? Tell me again." Joker demanded from his seat in the cockpit.
"Joker. The story doesn't change. Shepard is gone." Kaidan said firmly, still unable to accept that reality. "We…left her behind. We had no choice."
"There's always a choice." Joker retorted, disbelief coloring his actions. "Its either a pop tart or cereal for breakfast. Its either saving your Commander or ditching your Commander."
"…did you seriously just say pop tart?" Kaidan questioned, staring at Joker.
"You're missing the point dude." Joker shook his head. "…now what are we supposed to do? Leave her behind? Are you going to leave your girl behind Alenko?" As much as it felt weird and wrong to say that, he had to tease Kaidan about that, even though he felt something for his commanding officer too.
For once Kaidan didn't blush, he only sighed. "No. We're going to find her."
Garrus was silent the entire time, feeling rather bad for leaving her behind. He knew that Shepard was never fully comfortable around him, Liara, and Tali. And he also knew Shepard wasn't exactly pro-alien either. But he always put aside their racial differences, its just that Shepard never did the same for him…