May 19th, 2186
Riley examined the datapad once more, now amended with notes she'd made the night before after talking to all of the candidates. Despite Anderson's belief that she was too dismissive of the potential Drift candidates, she had made an effort to get to know all of them.

Some were better suited than others, and the Drift Compatibility tests would either prove or disprove her theories, but she wasn't new to the game and already had a good inkling.

One of the candidates she'd already dismissed, much to Anderson's displeasure. Lieutenant-Commander Spencer Shelton had looked good on paper, but when she'd caught up to him late last night, he'd practically tripped over himself, gushing over her accomplishments in the military while simultaneously trying to make himself stand out above the crowd. He'd insinuated on more than one occasion that he 'felt it' and thought they'd make great partners because he'd served on the now decommissioned Coyote Willow.

So while Anderson disapproved of her dismissing a candidate before the tests even started, he didn't doubt her judgment and told her he'd make Shelton disappear.

Riley was grateful.

"Who's first?"

"Staff-Lieutenant Danielle Hughes."

Her notes on the young staff-lieutenant were sparse yet favorable. "Best of four?"

Anderson nodded.

"I'll get ready."

She shoved away from the table pushed against the wall so a small gym mat could be brought in for the tests and headed for the door in the back leading to a smaller office temporarily repurposed as a changing room.

When she came back out, Lieutenant Hughes was already standing on the mat, waiting for her, thin quarterstaff in hand.

It only took two 'kills' before Riley dismissed her. The moves were there, but the coordination wasn't and Riley took her down. Too easy and the energy was lacking. Riley didn't need four wins to know she and Hughes didn't have Drift Compatibility.

Of course, the combat test wasn't the onlytest, but it was the one Riley paid the most attention to because if the combat was out of sync, coordinated fighting in a Jaeger would be next to impossible.

Hughes left looking for all the world like a kicked puppy, but not totally surprised about being a kick puppy.

"Major, your appointment is coming up."

Kaidan craned his head to peer over his shoulder at the young corporal standing in the doorway of the lab.

"Admiral Anderson sent me to retrieve you, sir."

He returned his attention back to the console when the panel shifted dangerously in his grasp. "Is it noon already?"

"No, sir. But Major Shepard is moving through the list faster than anticipated."

"Huh- shit!"

He stared at the sparking wire and muttered another curse as the whole board went dead. That circuit was now fried.

"Alright," he sighed as he stood up and wiped his brow. "Lead the way."

"The compatibility test is combat, sir."

"Better to fight in your uniform than piss of a Spectre. Let's go, Corporal."

"Aye, sir," he replied, though he disapproving glint in his eyes indicated an express desire to voice his opinion. Kaidan let it slide.

He'd have to finish his work here later. A quick glance at the clock on his way out revealed that it was only 10:30. Shepard really was moving through the candidates fast.

All the more reason to not take the time to change out of his uniform into his gym clothes. If she was burning through the list, she probably wasn't too happy about it. He certainly wouldn't be if he were in her position.

When they arrived in the testing room five minutes later, his suspicions were proven correct. The corners of Shepard's mouth were pinched inwards as she stood in quiet discussion with Anderson. Kaidan dismissed the Corporal and removed his harness, setting it on the table, followed quickly by his sidearm, omni-tool, and various gadgets sequestered in his pockets. Which included, much to his amusement if no one else's, a miniature Jaeger model.

After gleaning a few words from their conversation he decided it was none of his business and backed off to the mat to wait.

When Shepard spun around to face him, she seemed marginally less pissed off. "What's with the get up?"

He shrugged. "It's not noon. I was down in the labs when Corporal Kensington arrived."

"Oh," she tossed him a quarterstaff without warning. Instead of reaching out and fumbling with his hands, he captured it in a pull and let it float into his fingers. Much more graceful, but only barely.

Shepard grunted and grabbed her own quarterstaff.

Major Kaidan Alenko, the second human Spectre, sparring in his uniform because he hadn't wanted to piss her off even more after rightly assuming that moving through the candidate list faster than anticipated wouldpiss her off, was the first person to pin her to the ground in a kill maneuver.

To top it off, he'd done it in five moves.

The quarterstaff at her throat exerted just enough pressure to make its presence known. Amber eyes stared down at her from above. He hadn't even broken a sweat.

"One - zero." With that he removed the quarterstaff from her neck and helped her up.

She didn't bother waiting for the countdown before attacking as soon as she was back on her feet, knocking his legs out from under him - earning a surprised yelp that made her smile. She jumped as he attempted to sweep her off her feet, his foot sailing through air instead of connecting with her shins, and brought the quarterstaff down on his chest with enough force to keep him in place.

He breathed hard as she stared down at him. One bead of sweat newly evident on his brow. She grinned. "One - one."

Kaidan didn't even let her help him up. His quarterstaff cracked against the side of her ribs and she hissed as he rolled over when the pressure on his chest relented. She barely managed to parry his incoming blow, reluctantly giving ground under his brutal attack. The air filled with the harsh clack of wood on wood, the whistling of barely dodged hits as the other managed to duck or bend out of the way just enough.

Kaidan used that counterbalancing against her as she leaned back, the staff rushing through the air inches above her face, by throwing her biotically with his free hand.

She hit the wall hard, too shocked to notice the harsh pain indicative of a bruise already forming between her shoulder blades.

"Two - one," he shouted from across the room.

Riley didn't bother rising from her knee, instead amassing energy around herself and pullingKaidan off his feet then quickly slamming him onto the mat. Definitely harder than necessary but fuckhis throw had hurt.

More than that, it had been completely unexpected. None of the other biotic candidates had even thought to attack her biotically when things weren't going in their favor.

She was on her feet and running towards him before he had a chance to completely rise.

If she was actually looking to kill him, she would have spun and roundhouse kicked him, snapping his neck. Instead, she swung her staff around, intending to put him off balance, and was surprised when he managed to bring his staff up and halt her attack.

Not so surprised that she didn't headbutt him.

He flew backwards but managed to stay on his feet.

She was breathing hard and so was he, both covered in sweat, eyes radiating challenge. That small little detail made her smile as she brought her quarterstaff up, landing against his neck. Hard enough to sting, not hard enough to actually break skin.

Though he'd probably have a bruise there come morning.

"Two - two."

Kaidan bit back a curse as Riley's staff connected with his neck. Her hair plastered to her forehead, chest heaving as she breathed hard, but steadily.

Her eyes dark pools of challenge and fury and something else that made him want to swallow and rub the back of his neck.

"Two - two."

The staff fell away. He could already feel the red welt it left behind, though he didn't give her the satisfaction of rubbing it.

"It's done," she turned to look at Anderson. "It's done."

"You sure, Shepard? First to four wins."

"I don't need four." She looked back at him. "You felt it too, right?"

This time he did clear his throat, and nodded.

So thatwas Drift Compatibility.

He'd certainly felt the focus that came with knowing you were fighting an N7 therefore the playing field was already uneven along with the thrill of realizing he was fighting an N7 and holding his ground, followed by the excitement that was just fightingand losing himself in the moment, allowing himself to react without thinking. Outside of the requisite 'not actually trying to kill her' mantra.

He'd absolutely felt the energy in the room kick up the moment his staff met hers the first time and she'd been less than half a meter from his face and had grinned. He'd grinned back.

Anderson made a note on his datapad. "He did have the best movement out of all of them. Plus," Anderson smirked, "he was the only one to hand your ass to you on a silver platter."

Kaidan sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck, careful of the blooming welt, as he followed Riley across the room to the table and retrieved his items. He couldn't have been the only person, could he? Butler was an N2. If anyone was capable of kicking Riley's ass it should have been her.

Then again, if he remembered correctly, Butler's time-slot had taken place in the morning. Only one candidate was up for testing after him.

Anderson poked his head into the hall, presumably relaying information to Corporal Kensington that the final candidate would be unnecessary.

"You know you're the only biotic who thought of hitting me with a throw?"

He slipped his head the rest of the way through his harness and found Riley standing right next to him, leaning against the table. "Really?"

She shrugged. "No one else did."

"It wasn't strictly written in the rules."

"I never fight by the rules anyway."

He shook his head in agreement and replied, "Me neither."