Me: Time for chapter 3.
Trin: So now what are you gonna do? EDI doesn't have a body, yet Cortana does.
Jane: 500 creds say that every ChiefxCortana shipper is gonna be gunning for you.
Me: Oh they will. I've basically curb-stomped their hopes, put the rest in a wood chipper, and stuffed the remains into an incinerator.
Trin: Ha! Well…on with-…
Random Cerberus Soldier: On with-…+Kicked to floor before being curb-stomped+
Me: Trin…continue.
Trin: On with the story!
"Talking."
"Thinking."
"[Electronic communication.]"
{AI intercommunication}
Visiting Light of Sol
[Nova Galaxy, UNSC Light of Sol (New Council headquarters), Location Unknown:]-John
John looked at the main monitor for the SR3's control room. Currently, it showed the Light of Sol. The UNSC's greatest achievement, which almost bankrupted them, was even larger than both the new and old Citadel combined. John wasn't sure what compelled them to build it, though rumors said that it was the UNSC's attempt at creating a Forerunner Planet Crusher class vessel. John shuddered at the thought.
"Commander, the Captain is waiting for you on the SR2," a com officer told him.
"On my way," John replied as he went to the elevator.
The doors closed as he felt himself lowering. After one minute, the doors opened to reveal the SR2's hanger. He walked off the elevator to see a Japanese school girl in a semi-military uniform helping someone that looked like Cortana's hologram with black hair that was highlighted blue at the ends. John shrugged before noticing someone with cat ears and a matching tail walk towards the Normandy.
"You know that's illegal right?" John asked.
"Yep," the person replied. "What you gonna arrest me?"
"Nope, just thought you might want to know."
John walked over to the ramp and went inside. In the SR2's hanger, he found Ashley talking to Kaiden about something. He walked up to them to figure out what the conversation was about.
"…upgraded the body's shields, yet uses armor with its own shielding," Ash said.
"What's going on?" John asked.
"Just talking about Cortana's new body Commander," Kaiden replied.
"Wait…what?"
"They were talking about this," someone said behind John.
He spun around to see the woman with black and blue hair standing there, her arms crossed. She had an amused smile on her face and an intelligent glint in her eyes.
"And you are?" John asked, crossing his own arms.
"UNSC AI CTN-0452-10, Cortana 2.0, at your service," the woman said with a small bow.
"Well…I'm not really sure how to react to that," John said as he went to the elevator.
John got inside and waited as it took him to the Captain's Cabin on level 1. The doors opened to reveal Jane trying to knock the head off the cat woman he saw earlier. Said cat person had a large smile on her face, while Jane was glaring at her with blood lust.
"Luna, you are dead!" Jane shouted as she threw a biotic warp at the S-III.
John stepped to the side, allowing Luna to jump into the elevator, and walked into the small hallway. Before Jane could do anything else, the doors closed and the elevator went to the hanger.
"Do I want to know?" John asked.
"I hate cats," Jane replied before heading back into her room.
John shrugged before following. The CO quarters were the same as always, except for the open trap door above the bed. John sniffed the air, and got a hint of something he didn't recognize. Deciding he didn't want to know, he shrugged it off.
"You wanted to see me sis?"
"Yeah, you, Angel, Cortana, and SPARTAN 117 are coming with me on our next mission, so grab what you'll need and bring them to the SR2. Also I want you, 117, Liara, and Cortana coming with me to Sol's Council Chambers."
"Any specific reason?"
"We're Council Spectres, they want a new human Spectre for the UNSC, I'm thinking either the SPARTAN or he and Cortana pick from the ranks, and Liara was the one that discovered the schematics."
"Makes sense, but I don't think we have to take them for that."
"[Actually that would make it easier,]" Cortana said over the coms.
"What. The. Fuck." John said simply.
"Were you spying on us?" Jane asked in an annoyed voice.
"Well yeah, what did you expect? I was designed for infiltration and sabotage," Cortana said as her new body walked into the room.
"She's got the infiltrator's attitude down," John said as Jane sighed.
"John isn't the kind of person that would be good for the image of the Spectres," Cortana told them. "I have several possible candidates if you need them."
"The candidates are 117 or candidates he picks from a list he makes, it's our choice."
"…Well, it's either someone who has a family to go home to, and who is slightly anti-social to anyone outside of the SPARTAN's select group of trusted people, or a handful of ODSTs, S-IVs, or maybe a GHOST."
"Wait, 117 has a kid?" John asked, shocked.
"Six year old daughter," Cortana said with a smile. "Cute kid, smart to."
"Didn't know that."
"I better get my stuff together for the mission."
"Hey Cortana," Jane asked as the AI turned to leave. "What happened to that Cerberus AI?"
"I deleted it. It was lower grade than even a UNSC dumb AI."
With that, Cortana left the room. John looked at Jane and smiled. Jane sighed before nodding her head.
"It'll be easier for someone else to be a Spectre than it would 117," Jane said.
"My thoughts exactly sis," John said as they both felt the SR2 starting to move. "Guess we're there."
"We'll dock the SR2 at a closer hanger and launch a shuttle to take us the rest of the way," Jane said as she went over to her weapons locker and grabbed a Phalanx before tossing John a Paladin.
John smiled as he holstered the pistol on his lower back. His sisters had managed to get two of the three most difficult weapons to get in their galaxy, and one of them had modified hers. John walked out of the room, Jane following, before getting into the elevator. He then noticed that Jane was wearing an N7 jacket that was white with blue stripes on both arms over a black shirt, jeans, and white boots. As usual, it was the same outfit as his, only opposite colors.
"We really need to stop doing this," John said as Jane noticed it to.
"…I didn't notice until just now," Jane said to him.
He sighed before the elevator brought them to the Cargo Bay. They exited it and went to the airlock, 117, Cortana, and Liara already waiting there for them. As they were boarding the shuttle, Angel ran and jumped aboard. John looked at her to see she was wearing an N7 hoodie, grey pants, and black shoes. He also noticed that Angel had cut the sleeves off of her Hoodie, revealing grey sleeves. As usual, she kept the hood up. Angel looked between her older siblings and sighed.
"You two really need to stop doing that," she said.
"We know," Jane and John replied at the same time.
The shuttle's door closed as they took off. John went to the cockpit to see Cortez flying them towards the main hub of the LoS. He looked at the co-pilot seat to see a UNSC pilot sitting there. The blonde turned to look at the Commander, then to Cortez, before looking back at her console and smiling, the same smile John used when he had one of his ideas.
"Oh shit," he thought to himself before grabbing onto something with a death grip.
"Hey Steve, how about we go NAG?" she said.
Cortez thought about it for a second before smiling and nodding.
"Alright Sheila, we'll go No Artificial Gravity," Cortez said as he started pressing a few buttons.
"Grab hold of something!" John shouted as he ran to the back and buckled in.
Everyone else followed his example and buckle in on random seats. Suddenly John stopped feeling the pull of gravity from the shuttle's floor. Instead, it was trying to pull him towards the rear of the shuttle. He looked towards the cockpit to see Cortez rapidly pressing buttons across his console. He looked back to see Liara and Jane holding on for dear life, something he was also doing, yet the other three people weren't. Commander Andrews, wearing the standard UNSC Navy Uniform, was just sitting there, no reaction at all. Cortana was the same way. John then looked towards Angel.
"WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH HER!" he screamed in his head as he saw Angel laughing like a maniac and throwing her arms in the air, treating this like some sort of thrill ride.
"I fucking love this shit!" Angel shouted as Cortez rolled the shuttle over a LoS inter-ship transport. "Hey Steve, what else you got!?"
"You sure LT?" the Alliance pilot asked her. 'We aren't exactly used to actual g-force pull."
"Didn't you hear what I said first? Almost wish I was a pilot…scratch that, I want pilot training."
"Oh dear God," John and Jane thought at the same time.
"With that attitude, you might be perfect for it," the UNSC pilot shouted back to her.
"I took the tests, got second only to Joker."
"So all that's left is actual vehicles."
"Bingo," Angel shouted as Cortez put them into a tight turn, making Angel scream in excitement.
"There is something wrong with you!" Liara said.
"We don't have any problems," Cortana said as she stretched out her arms.
"We are used to this, Alliance vessels have had AG for most of its existence," Commander Andrews said.
"And Asari vessels have had it for longer!"
"Sis, we really need to have a talk about you becoming a pilot," Jane said.
"The only one who can out fly me is my boyfriend. I don't think I'll have any problems."
"Not what we're getting at sis," John said as the shuttle began to slow.
"Aw, over already?" Angel whined sadly.
"Unfortunately yeah, we're here," Cortez said as he landed the shuttle and the doors opened.
"[Welcome to LoS Council Zone,]" a hologram said to them.
John turned to see what looked like General Eisenhower of Earth's history. He turned back to see the others getting out of the shuttle. He watched as Commander Andrews looked around the area, being awestruck even if it was his government's creation.
"[Wait…Cortana?]" John heard Eisenhower say. "[Nice upgrade, wish I had my own body.]"
"Sorry Ike, I stole it from Cerberus," the female AI replied.
"[Damn. Well I was told to inform your group that the Council is already waiting for you, and that Commander Andrew's family is currently here.]"
"They are?" the SPARTAN asked.
He was answered when a little girl ran up and jumped at him. He easily caught her and held her close.
"Dad!" she shouted as she hugged him.
John watched the SPARTAN's interaction with her, expecting a very strict parent, and was shocked to discover the SPARTAN actually smiled. He noticed that the girl had his eyes, but darker black hair. He turned his head a bit to see a woman in UNSC Urban color BDUs walking up, the black and grey armor matching the coloring of the ship around them.
"Emily, I know you haven't seen dad for two months, but you can't just run off," the woman said with a smile.
"But you always say that this is the safest place in either galaxy," Emily said in response.
"…True, but you still have to do what I say," the woman replied.
"Your mother's right Emily, you need to do what we say,' the Commander said as he put the girl down.
John turned back see angel staring at her, or at least he thought she was. She managed to always hide her face from her nose and above thanks to the hood's shadow. All he could see was her smile, one that he didn't really like.
"Don't say it," he told her.
"Should I tell Ash that you're starting to want a kid, or will you…or maybe Jane can…or-…" Angel was stopped by Jane putting a hand over the younger Shepard's mouth.
"Come on sis, I don't think you want to continue that," Jane said as she dragged Angel towards the Council Meeting Room.
John turned to look back at the SPARTAN and his family to notice that Cortana had apparently started talking to the woman, who now had an amused smile on her face. John whistled to get their attention.
"We do have a meeting to get to," John said as Cortana rubbed Emily's head before running over.
The SPARTAN hugged his daughter once more before heading over to John and Cortana. John smiled as they started walking to the meeting room again. They entered to find Jane already talking with them. John went over to the other side of her and waited for the conversation to finish.
"…I hope you understand," the new Turian Councilor said.
"…Of course," Jane said with a sigh.
"Now onto other matters. Do you have any suggestions for the UNSC's Spectre?" The new Asari Councilor said.
"Yes…somewhat. Commander John Andrews of the SPARTAN IIs or anyone from a list he compiles."
"Is there any reason why you aren't suggesting only him?"
"The Commander has a family. That would be hard for a Spectre."
"Based on the SPARTAN II mission parameters, nothing would be different if he were to join the Spectres," the new Salarian Councilor said.
"Spectres need to also act as diplomats, SPARTANs are not diplomats," the S-II said as he stepped forward. "Mission parameters for Spectres show things that I wouldn't be a good choice for. An ONI agent would be a better selection. Cortana has compiled a list of candidates I would give you."
At that, the Councilors' Omni-Tools lit up. They brought the devices closer to their faces and looked at the bios of the candidates. John heard a beep from his Omni-Tool and brought it to his face. The images of several UNSC soldiers appeared on the screen. John tapped the only one he knew, the image of ONI GHOST Helix. Her bio appeared on his Omni-Tool, along with pros and cons of adding her to the Spectres. The con list had only one, the possibility of security leaks from her team. John backed out of hers and went to a different one. This one was of a SPARTAN III that he recognized. He looked over at Jane to see her eye twitching.
"You know she'd be best for this shit," John said with a smirk. "Plus, I like her. She reminds me of myself…somewhat."
"I am not choosing her," Jane said.
"And why not, she has never lost an Op; does my form of diplomacy, don't argue, you know it works; and doesn't have any attachments that could get in the way."
"She's known to abandon her teams."
"Spectres tend to work alone either way, we're the exception."
"…Fine…I know I'm gonna regret this," Jane said as she selected the S-III and sent it to the Councilors.
John smiled before doing the same. The Councilors looked at the given candidate and nodded to each other. They then looked back at John and Jane to confirm it.
"The selected candidate for the Spectres is Luna 'AWOL' Cole. S-III that tends to abandon her team," the Asari councilor said.
"Gets the job done, you can't argue against that," the UNSC Human said as the Alliance Human Councilor, Udina, nodded in agreement.
"This is a very small list of people she trusts are you sure?" the Quarion Coucilor asked.
"She has a personal AI. This increases her effectiveness in combat and will allow the AI to help her with diplomacy," the Geth Councilor said.
"SPARTAN IIIs are known for taking missions that even S-IIs saw as suicide ops," The Turian Councilor said.
"Yes, Luna Cole is the best selection for Spectres from this list," the Salarain Councilor said.
"Agreed," Jane said through gritted teeth.
John smirked at her before nodding. Her activated his Omni-Tool and activated the tracker he put on Luna. Jane walked over and raised an eyebrow at that.
"What? I don't wanna miss out on the next joy ride she does," John said, resulting in Jane slapping the back of his head.
"Please bring Lieutenant Cole to the Council chambers," the Quarion Councilor said.
"Hey Luna, yeah its Angel," the youngest of the Shepard sibling said, making the other two look over to see her on her Omni-Tool, "no it's not about another joyride…you're in the Spectres…no it's not a joke…yeah that was how she reacted…she think's she'll regret it…well you need to get here now to actually join…you get to break laws and not get in trouble."
To say that John was surprised to see the S-III nearly instantaneously run into the room was an understatement. He almost had a heart attack from her appearing out of nowhere, using a Cheshire cat style at that.
"We need to talk to Kasumi about who she upgrades the Active Camo for," John said as he clutched his chest.
He looked behind him to see Luna standing there, a smile plastered on her face and her new cat ears twitching in excitement.
"So where do I join at?" she asked.
"You only wanna join so people will stop nagging at you when you break a law," Angel said with a laugh.
"Why Angel Shepard, I would nev…ok yeah that's really it," the S-III admitted.
John looked over to see the Commander holding his head in his hand and shaking it. Apparently Luna wasn't liked by most of the SPARTAN community, be it IIs, IIIs, or IVs.
"Lieutenant Cole, step forward," the Turian Councilor said.
Luna complied, her new tail still swinging back and forth. John looked over at Jane to see her grating her teeth.
"Spectres are not trained, they are chosen," the Salarian Councilor said.
"They are forged in the field," the Asari Councilor continued.
"They are the best that every species has to offer," Udina said.
"They uphold everything that the Council stands for," the UNSC Councilor said.
"Welcome to the Spectres, Agent Cole."
Luna nodded before turning around to leave. John walked up to her and grabbed her shoulder.
"First Op, you help us take down the Reapers and Cerberus. You'll make a team of your own and focus on Cerberus, and any other groups that may help the Reapers," John said as Jane smiled.
"Understood, but I'm doing it my way," Luna replied.
"Good, that's what you're supposed to do," John told her as they left.
"Agent Shepard," the Turian Councilor called after them.
John and Jane turned back to look at them.
"The Turian Primarch went missing on one of Palaven's moons. We need someone to go and find him, and I'd prefer if it were you two."
"Understood Councilor," the twins said as they and the others went back to the Normandy.
Me: Well that's done.
Trin: Next up, recruiting Garrus.
Jane: Another old friend, I'll be fine with that.
Trin: Quick question, when will THORs show up?
Me: Ops of high importance. So expect to see a few on Palaven's moon, and in my eventual Spec Ops missions.
March 9th, 2566: Spartan III Luna 'AWOL' Cole is inducted into the New Council's Special Tactics and Recon division (Spectres). First Op was given to her by Spectre veterans John and Jane Shepard. Lieutenant AWOL was given an ONI Prowler to complete mission.