Chapter 2

"Hello Jacob."

"Hello Yeoman Ch…Kelly."

Kelly smiled. "How are you doing?"

"Not much to say really."

"You seem to be coping with things very well."

Jacob folded his arms. "You talking about the suicide mission or my father? Because I don't feel much like talking about either."

"That's okay. We can talk about whatever you want. Or I can go, if you want to be alone."

"I…sorry. I didn't mean to sound…hostile. I do like talking to you. Clears my head."

"I like talking to you, too. You're always very honest with me. I appreciate that."

"I guess I just feel like I can say things to you that I can't talk about with other people."

Kelly hesitated. "I…should tell you something. I hope you don't feel like I betrayed your trust."

"What is it?"

"I know you told me there was nothing, but…I had thought…well…I had thought maybe there was something going on between you and the Commander. So I asked her about it."

"That was you?"

"What?"

"Commander Shepard came up here last night. Said 'some of the crew' were curious about me and her."

"That was me," Kelly lied, faking an embarrassed smile. "Anyway…she assured me that you were friends, and she was your 'superior officer.'"

"The Commander likes to keep things professional."

"I was never a big fan of relationship protocol."

"I guess it doesn't really matter with Cerberus."

"Actually, the Illusive Man sees the benefit in having members who are…close."

Jacob laughed. "Really? Somehow I can't imagine him caring about that sort of thing."

You have no idea. "Anyway, um…" Kelly smiled cutely up at Jacob. "There's…a reason I asked the Commander about the two of you. I like you a lot, Jacob. I want to…get to know you better."

Jacob blinked several times. "You…really? I…um…"

"Of course you can say no," Kelly said quickly. "I wouldn't have mentioned it, I just thought…I mean, you said you liked talking to me, and…that you trusted me."

"Yeah, um…listen…" Jacob hesitated, clearing his throat. "I do like you, but…I like to keep things professional too. Yeoman Chambers."

"Okay. Just friends then."

"Yeah."

"Well, if you ever do feel like talking about anything, you know where to find me, Mr. Taylor."

"Yeah."

Kelly left, then went back to her quarters. She sat on her bed and sighed.

She had done the best that she could with Jacob. Once Shepard picked someone else, she would be there to comfort him.

The problem was getting Shepard to pick someone else.

The Krogan DMZ wasn't far, and they were heading straight for it; there would be no opportunities to interact with anyone outside of the Normandy until they landed. Kelly needed to force Shepard to pick Garrus while they were still on the ship where she had some measure of control.

Unfortunately, Kelly had absolutely no idea how to get Shepard to pick Garrus. Unlike the rest of the crew, Garrus wasn't open to talking to Kelly (it comforted her somewhat to know that he used the same "calibrations" excuse for his beloved commander), so she couldn't speak to him directly about his feelings for Shepard. And Shepard would quickly deny any interest in a crew member, claiming, as Jacob did, that she just wanted things to be professional.

With no way of knowing how to make Garrus more appealing, Kelly had also considered making the other two options less appealing, but planning this proved equally difficult. Judging by the surveillance tapes, both Jacob and Thane had been very open with Shepard, so Kelly didn't have any useful information she could blackmail them with. Jacob had just proven that he was fairly committed to Shepard, and as far as Kelly could tell Thane had some kind of spiritual attachment to her.

All three of the men were interesting in their own ways, and (somewhat shockingly) Shepard seemed attracted to all of them.

I need something good…I can't fail the Illusive Man, he's counting on me…

Kelly accessed her terminal and opened the file that contained the past weeks' surveillance videos, separated by room. She accessed the Main Battery.

Kelly yawned as she fast-forwarded through hours of Garrus calibrating and running diagnostics. Then, something caught her attention.

Of course…Shepard isn't the only person Garrus talks to on the ship…

"Hi Joker."

"Oh…hi. What's up?"

"Just on a break."

"That's cool. I was just…pushing buttons and pretending to work. That's actually pretty much my job on this ship."

"You're not the only one."

"EDI does all the work for you too?"

"Not EDI. The quarian. Ever since we picked her up she's been handling all the hard stuff."

"Yeah? Tali's cool."

"Cool?"

"Yeah."

There was a pause.

"What, you don't like her?" Joker asked.

Gabby sat on the edge of a console. "I like her, I just don't think I've ever heard you say anything nice about anyone before."

"Hey, I say nice things all the time."

"About who?"

"Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Why are you here?"

Gabby got off the console. "Sorry."

"I'm not asking you to leave, I was just kinda wondering, since no one ever comes up here except the commander."

"I like talking to you in the mess, and…I was on a break, so I thought I'd come hang out."

"While I'm on duty."

"You said you were just pushing buttons. And you're never around, except at dinnertime. Besides, I'm stuck in engineering all day. It's nice to see the view from up here."

"You and Ken broke up, huh?"

"We weren't together."

"Yeah. And you broke up."

"We're just friends! Except…not right now, because he's being a jerk."

"So to avoid him you came to talk to a real jerk."

"I…like you."

There was a pause.

"You ever seen Star Wars?" Joker asked suddenly.

"Ye…wait. Old or new?"

"The original."

"I liked four through six, but I haven't watched them since I was a kid. I haven't seen the rest."

"Don't. Ever. Episodes one through three are terrible."

"What about seven through…"

"Shhh!" Joker interrupted suddenly, almost jumping out of his chair. "They don't exist!"

"But they made…"

"No. They don't exist."

Gabby smiled. "Okay. Um…why did you ask me if I've seen Star Wars?"

"It's a test to see whether or not I should hook up with someone. You passed, by the way."

Gabby blushed. "Wh…I…"

"I'm kidding. Come to my bunk tonight, we'll watch Episode Four. I'll invite Dr. Chakwas too, since she hasn't seen it. You can bring your dinner and that guy you didn't break up with."

"I'm not talking to him."

"Okay, whatever. I'll see you later though?"

"Yeah."

"Cool."

Joker swiveled his chair around; Gabby left.

"Hello Garrus."

Garrus turned around. "Yeoman Chambers."

"How are you doing?"

"Fine. I've…been busy reviewing some diagnostics, actually…making sure the Normandy's ready for the Collectors."

"Anything you want to talk about?"

"Not really."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Okay."

Kelly walked away. Good…

She took the elevator down to engineering. Gabby and Ken were working at the same console, but there was clearly an invisible wall between them. Kelly didn't know exactly why they were fighting—she had been too focused on Shepard to give attention to the less relevant crew members' problems—but she was aware of Ken's hook-ups with Jack and figured Gabby must have found out. Normally this would interest her, but she had to focus on Shepard.

Kelly walked over to Tali. "I was wondering if we could talk. Do you have a break soon?"

"I'm technically on break, I just thought I should keep working."

"Oh…well…if you have a chance…"

"We can talk."

"Okay."

Tali signaled Kelly over to the mass effect core, which was nearby but loud enough that Ken and Gabby couldn't hear. "I actually wanted to talk to you," Tali said to Kelly. "I wanted to let you know that…I was thinking about what you said, about my father, and…it really helped me to think differently about what happened. I still miss him, but…" Tali stopped. "Thank you for helping me."

"I will always be here for you."

"You've always been very nice to me, even though initially I didn't appreciate your help because you're Cerberus. I'm sorry I was so difficult."

"That's okay. Believe me, you're much easier to talk to than most of the crew."

"Did you just come down here to check up on me, or was there something else?"

"Actually, there is. As I said, there are a few people who aren't as open with me as you've been. I'm concerned about one person in particular…I was hoping that as we got closer to the final mission he'd be able to talk, but he's very distant."

"You're talking about Garrus, aren't you?"

"I know that you're his friend. Is he okay?"

"I can't speak for him, but…I am a little bit concerned myself. He's been talking to me less. He seems even more focused on his calibrations."

"Does he really do that all day, for hours?" Kelly asked with a slight smile.

"It wouldn't surprise me," Tali said seriously. "I think he might be obsessed with that cannon. He wants it to be absolutely perfect."

"I overheard Miranda talking to the Commander when they were returning from the last mission. I've never heard her sound so confident about our success. I think all of us are realizing that we actually have a good chance of surviving, and we want to do all that we can to help that chance."

"That's part of it, but…" Tali hesitated. "Garrus may have more stake in it than the rest of us."

"You mean…what happened to his squad."

"No, I think killing Sidonis resolved that."

"Then what's wrong?"

"I…I worked with the chief engineer on the original Normandy. I helped Adams with some upgrades to the propulsion systems…I especially helped improve energy efficiency. I had selfish reasons for doing it—I wanted to learn as much as I could about the Normandy's systems so that I could bring useful knowledge back to the flotilla—but I did help. No one else really did anything for the Normandy. Garrus used to do some work on the Mako, but it was more of a hobby. I think now that Garrus is being given the opportunity to work on this ship, he's realizing how much he could have contributed before."

"Is he really that disappointed over a missed opportunity to work some calibrations on his old ship?"

"We didn't just lose the Normandy. We lost Shepard."

Kelly slowly nodded. "I see."

"Everything changed," Tali said quietly, so that Kelly had to strain her ears to hear her over the drive core. "It wasn't the Normandy that had held us together. It was Shepard. And after she died, we all went different ways. I lost contact with him pretty early on. I didn't even know if he was alive until Haestrom. The others were the same way."

"It must have been hard for everyone."

"We don't want to lose her again. We cared about her."

"Do you think Garrus might have…particularly strong feelings for the Commander?"

"Wh…what?" Tali laughed a little nervously. "Of course not, I didn't mean it that way. He respects her, but he doesn't…he's a turian. She's a human."

"Turian-human relationships aren't completely unheard of."

"They aren't? I…" Tali shook her head. "I still think that what you're suggesting is impossible."

"I don't know. Maybe you should ask him."

"Is there some reason why you would think this?"

"Intuition."

"Well…I've known him longer than you have, and I think you're wrong."

"I still think you should ask him."

"I…have to get back to work."

"Okay. If you want to talk some more, let me know."

"Of course."

"Wrex is sending the landing coordinates."

"Got it. Prepare for landing."

Shepard called the rest of her squad into the briefing room, where they held onto the railing as Joker entered the atmosphere. "This is a mandatory shore leave," she explained. "I'm not requiring you to participate in the krogan holiday celebrations, but EDI wants to save as much power as possible. Unless you have an emergency and need to come back to the ship, find something to do on Tuchanka. Only the mess and medical lab will be operational. The rest of the ship will be inaccessible."

"Great," Jack mumbled, folding her arms angrily. No one else looked particularly pleased either. Shepard's elite squad, with the exception of Tali, spent very little time associating with the rest of the Cerberus crew, and Tuchanka might give them even more privacy than the mess hall, depending on how many people were planning on staying behind on the Normandy. Unsurprisingly, many of the Cerberus crew weren't thrilled with the idea of an alien festival and planned to remain on board the ship.

"Wrex did invite us," Shepard said reassuringly. "He seems to think we'll have a good time, and I'm willing to…"

"Commander?" Joker's voice came over the comm.

"What's wrong?" Shepard asked.

"Someone took our parking space. We're being redirected to a different site."

"Another ship landed?"

"Yeah, definitely a Council ship."

"What's a Council ship doing out here?" Shepard wondered aloud, exiting the briefing room; some of the others followed her up to the cockpit.

"It's about the size of the Normandy," Joker remarked. "EDI said it's some kind of turian-asari hybrid ship."

"Wait," Garrus said suddenly. "Is…" he stopped and shook his head. "No. No, can't be."

"Can't be what?" Miranda asked curiously.

"Nothing. I'm sure it's not the ship I'm thinking of."

"The Council races aren't exactly welcome among the krogan," Miranda commented. "A Council ship likely means trouble."

"Well, I guess we'll find out who they are soon enough," Shepard said. "Joker, land at the new coordinates."

The Normandy landed in the new spot; Wrex himself was there to greet Shepard. Her squad gathered around, while Kelly Chambers lingered ambiguously in the background.

"Shepard," Wrex said.

"Wrex."

"Glad you could make it. And Urdnot Grunt. And…everyone else." He briefly nodded in acknowledgment to Tali and Garrus, ignoring the others.

"So what should we be expecting from this festival?" Shepard asked curiously.

"In ancient times, the krogan in this region were threatened by thresher maw attacks," Wrex explained. "The worst time of the year was when the thresher maws would gather in large forces and come above ground to mate. They could destroy entire settlements. So for one day every year the krogan people, regardless of clan, would gather together in a fortified city for a festival. While the thresher maws mated outside the city walls, the krogan would engage in mating rituals for the festival."

"Wait," Shepard said, narrowing her eyes. "This is a krogan mating holiday?"

"Yes," Wrex said, smiling proudly. "The holiday hasn't been celebrated for thousands of years…not since we got advanced technology. But I've decided to bring it back."

"And what exactly are we supposed to do here?" Jacob asked.

"The festival is about proving your worth as a warrior," Wrex said. "We fight in tournaments. The ancient rules don't work here, because almost all of the krogan who are participating in the festival are from Urdnot so we can't fight by clan. But we can fight by male or female."

"You mean…a battle of the sexes?" Shepard asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I mean males fight males and females fight females. You pick someone who's at your rank to mate with. That way you know it's someone who's worthy. The best of the females should have the best of the males to choose from."

"Interesting," Shepard said, imagining herself fighting Miranda and Jack and wondering what that would be like.

"You're my guests, so if you want to fight you'll be with my clan," Wrex continued.

"I thought you said there weren't clans," Shepard said, confused.

"The male clan," Wrex clarified.

Shepard blinked. "Oh."

"The tournaments are mostly for show," Wrex continued. "The top fighters from each clan get to form a krant for a team battle. Uta, the female clan leader, is betting that her krant will win, but I've got you, Shepard."

"Don't you think that makes things a little unfair?" Miranda asked, looking unexpectedly amused by all of this.

"On the contrary, it evens things up," a voice from behind the group said.

Everyone turned. A purple asari with numerous intricate facial tattoos and sleek commando armor was approaching them, with a tough-looking heavily armored female turian at her side. "Wrex," the asari said.

"Vash," Wrex grunted, looking displeased.

"Vash?" Shepard repeated.

"Shepard," Vash said, smiling and nodding her head. "We meet at last."

"Who are you?" Shepard asked, folding her arms.

"I'm…" Vash stopped suddenly. "Garrus?"

Garrus, who had been standing near Shepard last she checked, was trying to melt into the background behind Grunt and Samara when Vash spotted him. "I…hi," Garrus said lamely, turning to face her.

"What happened to you?" the turian at Vash's side asked, her beady eyes wide; Vash also looked very concerned.

"Oh, I…disobeyed Shepard's orders and she decided to teach me a lesson," Garrus said, smiling at his commander as he idly rubbed the facial mask he wore.

"You'd better be taking good care of him," Vash said, wagging a finger at Shepard. "He used to be one of mine."

"What?" Shepard asked, still unsure what was going on.

"Vash is a Spectre," Garrus explained. "Back when I was in the military I did a joint mission with her." He looked at her turian companion. "Amata and I both did, actually. Now it looks like Amata is…"

"First mate," the turian, Amata, interrupted proudly.

"Congratulations."

"Another Spectre," Shepard said, looking interestedly at Vash. "Haven't ever run into any…except for the one I killed."

Vash smiled, unmoved. "I'm guessing Wrex brought you here to join his clan in the festival."

"He did. What are you doing here?"

"My crew was invited by Uta, the female clan leader."

"So that makes us…competitors?" Shepard asked, still not really sure how the tournaments worked.

"Actually," Vash said, her smile widening, "it means we're supposed to choose each other as mates."

There was an awkward pause. "Thanks for the offer," Shepard said, raising an eyebrow, "but I'm not really interested in asari."

"I had heard you turned down even Sha'ira, the famous Citadel consort."

"She wasn't the only one."

"Well…just to be clear, I wasn't offering anything, Shepard. If your crew members want to…mingle…with any of mine, they're going to have to prove themselves in the tournament."

"I don't think we're interested."

"Some of you might change your minds," Vash said vaguely, and her eyes wandered over the faces of the crew; Shepard thought she saw her look particularly at Garrus.

"We should go," Amata said. "Uta is waiting."

"Right," Vash said with a sigh. "Well…if you'd like to see some of my other crew members, we'll be in the meeting tent. Some of them might be…familiar to you."

Shepard watched Vash and Amata walk away; then she clenched her fists. "Asari," she mumbled; Samara, standing close behind her, frowned.

"Vash is arrogant and something of a renegade, from the Council's perspective," Garrus commented. "She likes to bend rules, or ignore them completely, to get her way…which usually involves sparing convicted criminals or toppling corrupt governments to help 'the oppressed.'"

"I'm guessing the two of you didn't get along too well," Shepard asked, hoping it was true.

"She liked me, actually. Even offered me a place on her ship. I was young and stupid, but I wasn't stupid enough to say yes. I declined, finished my tour of duty, and went to C-Sec."

"But the other turian…"

"She stayed."

"I see. Do you know what she could've meant by 'familiar' crew members?"

"No, but…it's been years since I saw her, and she was working with the turian fleet at the time, not an independent crew. As a Spectre, she could've recruited anyone. Maybe someone we had dealings with in the past when we were hunting Saren."

"Well," Shepard said, turning back to Wrex, "I'd be happy to represent your clan in this tournament of yours."

"Good," Wrex said, smiling. "She's a tough one, Shepard. Do well enough in the tournament, and you'll get a chance to put her in her place."

"Excellent," Shepard said, looking over her crew. "We'll all do our best to show her who she's dealing with."

"Let me show you around the new male camp," Wrex said, gesturing for the Normandy crew to follow.

Kelly Chambers was trying not to have a meltdown.

Making sure no one saw her, she snuck back onto the Normandy immediately after Shepard's encounter with Vash. The Normandy appeared to be almost entirely shut down for power conservation, but Kelly knew this was only an illusion to force Shepard into the tournament. She ordered EDI to open a channel to the Illusive Man and hurried over to the briefing room.

It took him a couple of minutes to respond, and when he did, he looked somewhat annoyed. "The Normandy should have just landed on Tuchanka. What's the problem?"

"There's another Spectre here," Kelly said quickly and worriedly. "She's in the tournament, too, and she's got a whole crew and I don't know anything about them but they know Garrus and Shepard hates her but she hinted that she probably wants the crews to 'mingle' and…"

"Slow down," the Illusive Man ordered. "Who is this Spectre?"

"Her name is Vash."

"An asari," the Illusive Man said; he remained seated, smoking as usual, while a sophisticated information terminal projected the relevant data. "She doesn't like to file paperwork, but she's active enough that we have plenty of information on her. You mentioned Garrus?"

"He said he had served with her."

"It looks like she was requested by the Council to participate in a joint operation with his unit…but that mission only lasted a month."

"Those weeks made a pretty big impression, then, because she recognized him right away."

"There's no up-to-date crew manifest for her ship, but it would seem she likes variety…my sources show turians, quarians, krogan, possibly even a drell…and, most recently, it's been rumored that she has taken on a human. Interesting."

"This krogan holiday was supposed to be a chance for Shepard and the rest to wind down," Kelly said, frustrated. "She was supposed to relieve tension with Garrus, and now we have…"

"This is a complication, Miss Chambers, but we might be able to use it to our advantage."

"I don't understand how."

"It's quite simple. Before, we were limited to the Normandy crew. Now we have new options."

"New options…for Shepard? But she…"

"No, Shepard should choose Garrus. I'm still relying on you to make that happen. But Shepard might be more willing to loosen up if the rest of her squad is." The Illusive Man paused, inhaling deeply from his cigarette. "I need you to investigate Vash's crew. We might be able to distract Thane if there's a female drell on board."

"All right, I'll try my best…"