Mass Effect: A Few Good Soldiers
Prologue: The Candidate
Located in the system of the same name, Arcturus Station was the artificial capital of the human-comprised Systems Alliance – the super-national government which represented mankind as a species before the rest of the galaxy. Inside the Admiralty building on the Station, three men sat around a large mahogany table, carefully engaged in conversation on a matter of the utmost importance.
Ambassador Udina - the man who represented humanity before the Citadel Council - flipped through the contents of a file chosen from a stack of over a hundred potential candidates. "What about her?" the grey haired man said, handing the dossier over to the man wearing the Admiral uniform. "She's a spacer, spent most of her life traveling on ships."
Fleet Admiral Steven Hackett, the commander of the Alliance's prestigious Fifth Fleet, took the dossier. He read it carefully before turning to the final man in the room, former N7 Special Forces Operator Captain David Anderson. "Well David," the Admiral grumbled, "she's one of yours. What can you tell us about her?"
Anderson leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table. "I know both her parents were in the service. Her father was a Marine Major who bought it in the First Contact War on Shanxi. Her mother..." he paused, concentrating. "Her mother is still with us, and is the XO on the Kilimanjaro… I think."
"Can she work with Turians after they killed her father?" Udina questioned; everyone at the table knew that anyone who couldn't work with aliens wouldn't be a feasible candidate.
"She's a professional," Anderson said coming to her defense. "She won't let her feelings get in the way."
"She got most of her unit killed on Torfan," Hackett responded, raising his eyebrow and playing devil's advocate.
"She accomplished her mission and took out that terrorist base," Anderson replied carefully. "She knew it had to be taken out, whatever the cost."
"Is that the kind of person we want defending the galaxy?" Udina said harshly, looking between the two Navy men. "We screw this up again, we can say goodbye to ever getting a human into the Spectres."
Anderson looked at the Admiral for a moment before the older officer nodded. "Ambassador, I think that's the only kind of person that can protect the galaxy."
Udina took several long minutes reading through the file again. "Very well. Where is she now?"
"She's the commander of the special operations detachment on the George Washington," Hackett replied. "It's a carrier currently on maneuvers on the borders of the Terminus systems."
"Then you'd better get her back," Udina scowled as he stood up to leave, tossing the dossier onto the table. When it hit the wood table the cover of the folder opened, revealing the first page of the file. There was a picture of a blonde haired, green eyed woman with attractive features. The page read:
Lieutenant Commander Kathryn Shepard
Service no: 5923-AC-2826
DOB: April 11, 2154
Place of Birth: Ramstein Naval Base, Germany
Nationality: American
Branch: System Alliance Navy
Specialization: N7 Special Forces Operator
Marital Status: Single, married once.
Hackett reached out, collected the file, and placed it back on the stack, "Let's hope this woman is as good as her file has suggested."
"Shepard won't fail humanity, sir," Anderson said, staring the Admiral hard in the eye. "She doesn't know how to fail."
Beta done by Thorn of the Dead Gods