Pre-notes:

October 4th was the one-year anniversary of my best friend's parting :( I'm sorry for taking so long.

Welcome , Petulantti, and BioFox.

"Enough chame-gel and omni-gel can fix anything. That's what they say, anyway."

Through the cold expanses of space, the Artemis relay waited, incessantly turning its five-kilometer gyroscopic rings at constant velocity. A ship the size of a speck of dirt drew close to the structure which, in turn, began to rotate like the hand of an old clock. A tendril of dark energy flicks out and engulfs the space craft like wildfire. The relay stopped its rotation, the fifteen-kilometer long curved metal arms pointed at the south-western side of the Milky Way; more specifically- the Serpent Nebula. A crack roared through the darkness and the Normandy disappeared, instantly shocking it into the Widow system.

In the wide bay of the Normandy, Shepard's crew crowded around the pile of mashed and decimated metal- each bringing their own concern to their commander's attention. Shepard merely nodded away the crew's thoughts with an impatient sigh and assured them that this was a singular occurrence only. Wrex watched from the side of the room, chuckling in amusement as Tali scoured the debris in search of something of value. Ashley and Kaidan stood by Shepard as she addressed another worker's concern; they would risk glances at the young human biotic who was seated against one of the bay's central, v-shaped beams. Garrus leaned over the quarian who had been pulling roughly at the platform of a geth, crushed by its own fighter craft. "Find anything?" he asked; Tali jumped and he grinned. "Sorry. I forgot we're all a little bit on edge." The milky white eyes narrowed behind the ruby glass and Garrus couldn't help but to widen his grin in amusement. The quarian huffed and turned back to the geth. "Do you always fog up your screen when you breathe out? Doesn't that annoy you?"

"No." A violet omni-tool emanated out of her wrist, glowing dimly as she started pulling the geth's clavicle plate down just enough to fit her arm in.

"What are you doing?" The quarian huffed and grabbed a stray piece of metal. Before Garrus could ask again, she had slung the thin, hand-sized piece over her shoulder and into the turian's face. "Ow! Spirits, Tali! What's wrong with you?"

The quarian fondled a piece of bent silicon from the shattered leg of a geth. "I'm trying to salvage. Shepard doesn't know- I told her I was going to make sure everything was deactivated."

The turian's brow plates rose, "And if I tell her?" Tali spun her head at him, he could see her glowing white eyes narrowing from behind her visor, the paler pupils just begged him to try.

"I have a shotgun, Vakarian," she hissed. Garrus couldn't help but to chuckle- a kid was threatening him? Though she could handle herself... And she survived multiple assassination attempts... How fast could she summon all three of her drones? His smile dissipated. Perhaps it'd be better to taunt her from a distance. Tali huffed and spoke; her voice took a lighter tone. "Please don't tell her." She turned back to the rubble, trying to drown Garrus's voice out with her own thoughts.

"I won't," he promptly said. Tali wasn't listening to him. Something had caught her attention. It was brief- incredibly brief but something had moved a mere planck. She looked at a decimated geth's ocular unit and noticed the 'eye' was not completely dark. It was hard to see in the deep blue light of the Normandy, but there was a flicker the size of a pinprick still lit within. She blinked and once again the head moved another Planck. She reached her hand out and grabbed onto the ocular pipe, palm covering the eye. Her violet omni-tool sparked to life. The geth was dying- there was no doubt about that, but it was still enough alive to-

Data archives downloaded, the omni-tool said.

Shepard yawned and leaned over the galaxy map's railing. The hologram floated endlessly in a tight circle which served as a subliminal reminder to them all that the black holes in the galactic core would devour them all one day. Cheery. She noticed the eyes of the crew- including her squad- flicking up at her every now in then as if they expected her to say something... Which they did. "Magnify on the widow system. Show our ship too. Just the Normandy." The galaxy map narrowed in on the south west, a small sphere of the system floated up. The white dot that represented the Normandy was almost on top of the five-legged station. The crew saw this and glanced at her for longer periods of time... except for Logan who was looking at everyone with a confused expression.

"Two minutes 'til dock, commander."

And that was when the stares became constant; each pair of eyes looked up at her and waited for those two beautiful words. Shepard rolled her eyes back into her head and growled. "Yes," she said. The room filled with smiles and she scoffed. "Shore leave." She turned to Logan and spoke; "Make sure you stop by requisitions to get fitted for your armor. Grab a weapon too. XO Pressly'll escort you." Logan hummed and walked over to Pressly. "Other than that, you have twenty-four hours to visit, relax and take a couple of drinks but come back ready for work."

The crew scattered to the stairs, going down and grabbing what they'd need for a quick visit to the cornerstone of galactic civilization. A vibration hummed throughout the ship followed by a hollow 'thunk'. "Docked. Repair team requests to come on board, commander... Should I pull away just to mess with them?" joked the pilot. Shepard had been walking towards the airlock the moment it attached to the jet way. She passed Joker with an annoyed sigh.

"Just let them in, flight lieutenant." The door hissed open and Shepard nearly collided with the girl standing behind it. The girl had a cute, rounded face with wide cheekbones and jaw equally as wide. Her lips were thin on the top and full on the bottom- they had wrinkles on the side like someone who laughed a lot would. Freckles traced the upper end of her cheeks and condensed around the top of her short nose, up until the shaped brows. Her eyes were big and inquisitive; her left eye was a dark emerald color and her right was an icy blue. Her hair was pulled unevenly into a golf cap; strands of dark hair and pink hair hung loosely over her shoulders. The girl stood a few inches taller than Shepard and was definitely skinnier. The commander wrinkled her nose at the strong smell of grease coming from her oil-stained jumpsuit. The girl looked to be in her early twenties.

"Oh my god," the girl said, eyes widening like she had just seen someone splayed open. She grabbed hold of Shepard's hand and shook it energetically and then with a happy sigh, pulled her into a hug. "You're Shepard!" she said when Shepard pulled herself free.

The Spectre sighed and straightened her uniform, "You have me at a disadvantage, miss...?"

"Lynn!" the officer said, giving a strong salute.

"Are you a part of the Alliance team that worked on the Normandy's development?" Lynn nodded. "Who did you work under?"

The girl dropped her salute and fiddled with her fingers. "Well actually I'm the chief of engineering operations, division twelve sector... Umm... Well anyway I led the Alliance engineering team. When there was a problem they came to me. Had a boy get into a fight with a turian," she says with laugh- eyes someplace else. They snapped back to Shepard, wider than before, "I don't think I was supposed to tell you that. My bad."

This girl was a hurricane. Everything she said had another minute detail behind it. Shepard wasn't old by any means, but this girl made her feel exhausted. "Chief Lynn, I imagine-"

"Oh! Call me Amber please! It's my first name."

"You heard that the geth invaded the ship?"

Amber scoffed, "Um yeah? They flew in through the back and then they dented my walls." That was one way of putting it... Her walls?

Shepard bit her lip; it'd be the only way to not overheat in annoyance. "Yes" was her reply, "Are you able to help us fix or at least make it so the Normandy resist any hacking attempts in the future?"

The girl nodded and walked past her. She turned and walked backwards down the hall, "Yep. Just give me a couple of hours and some chami-gel and the dent will be gone. I'll also download an improved anti-virus into the-oof!" Amber slammed her back into the pointed crest of a certain turian's torso. Garrus steadied her and apologized. "Yeah I'll go do that now," she said with a voice squeezed by pain. She went around the turian with a wayward glance and continued down the hall. "Kay bye."

"And... Uhhh" the turian stuttered and looked back at Shepard, "Who was he?"

"Amber Lynn. She's a girl," Shepard said with an amused grin as Garrus risked a second glance at the engineer.

"She's frickin weird, that's what she is," said Joker.

Ashley sighed as she emerged from the shower, wrapped in a light blue towel. It was the first shower in a long time, between Shepard's missions and apparent geth incursions, one would find it difficult to find time and have chance to utilize it before they had to go back to their duties. Ashley's was to repair armor and clean the guns. It was a surprise the oils and grease didn't permanently stain her hands; the thought brought a stupid grin to her face. "I too love smiling for no reason." Ashley's head snapped towards the voice, her arms instinctively wrapped around her toweled figure. On the far-side of the room next to the entrance stood a woman dressed in a greasy engineer jumpsuit. Her face was pulled back into a crooked and bizarre smile. Ashley was about to ask who she was when the girl spoke again, "Amber Lynn; just came in to use the restroom," she said with a velvet soft laugh. She passed by Ashley who in turn, scrunched her nose at the strong smell of burned batteries. She used to think gun oil smelled bad but this was... Damn!

Ashley quickly slipped on her blues, wanting to avoid further interaction with this... Amber girl. She was just out of the locker rooms and in front of the elevator when the bright fuchsia glow of her omni-tool caught her attention. Weird, she thought, I didn't turn you on...

'New message; Cmdr. Shepard'

Oh boy.

'Kaidan is going to Rachel Michel for a refill on medication, Garrus and Tali will be helping Lynn fix the depression in the wall of the cargo bay, Wrex is going to gentleman's club and I'm escorting Dr. T'soni to ambassador Udina for my next assignment. The thing is that I need you to take Logan to get his armor fitted; he's joining our team and you're the only one without plans. Don't worry about paying for it- I've already given them a downpayment. It's an Ariake Technologies hub at the end of the Shalta ward. Thanks.'

Ashley's mouth formed into a thin line. She didn't know which part of the message upset her the most; the fact that her hard-ass of a commander shoved another assignment onto her during shore leave or the fact that she recruited an almost-mute freak with biotics and a healing factor.

'Ps. I told him to wait by the galaxy map.'

The chief sighed and rolled her eyes. If something needed to be done then she had better do it and enjoy the rest of her eight hours of shore leave. She stomped up the stairs and stepped into the cobalt glow of the CIC. Above the galaxy map stood the kid, leaning over the rail and gazing into the bright spiral. He turned his head to her, his face held no emotion. She noticed the dirt and ash absent from his face... And the rest of him. He must've had a shower in the first time for, what, two weeks? She waved for him to follow.

Udina sat in his office; it was a breezy cool day- just like any other day in the Presidium- far away from the crowded Wards and its warm, stuffy halls. He stacked a few datapads on top of each other and smiled as the corners lined up perfectly. A little blue sphere glided out of the top of the stack and stopped in front of him; Udina had jumped back and scowled in annoyance. Damned if this VI wasn't going to give him a heart attack one of these days.

"Sir", it chimed as if it didn't realize that it almost killed its master, "I am to inform you that Kerri Hendryx, Will Gleason, and Kahlee Sanders are all listed as having birthdays today."

Udina sat back and growled. No matter how much work he had to do, more seemed to pile on top of him. "Send them cards. I don't have time for this." He never liked having a virtual intelligence write cards to people for him. The recipients could always tell when Udina had Ringer write for him; the card would usually consist of short, blunt sentences acknowledging the fact that so-and-so was born at whatever time that morning. It would then offer its non-enthusiastic congratulations. The recipients would always tease him but he ignored them. It's not like they were ambassadors, dealing with a council of self-concerned idiots and an N7 team of a
krogan bodyguard, an AWOL C-sec officer, a quarian who knows too much and a mentally unstable biotic all led by a Spectre with questionable goals. Speaking of which...

Ringer dissipated as the door to Udina's office slid open. Behind it stood two women; Shepard and Matriarch Benezia's daughter. They approached and sat down across from him. The asari was attractive- definitely attractive- even by alien standards. Her skin was a shiny sky blue and her folds were a lighter shade of blue, like seafoam of an ocean crashing against an inexplicably blue beach. Udina chuckled at the thought of it. As for her oval face; it was noticeably pointed downward with her wide, lapis-colored eyes, surrounded by dark freckles of blue, gazing upward as if she was subconsciously attempting to hide. The asari's distinctly purple lips laid evenly under her flat but elegant nose. She had no expression on her face but the movement and energy of her eyes compensated for it. "Ambassador," Shepard said, clearing her throat, "This is-"

"I can see, commander, I still have working eyes." The Spectre scowled but kept quiet as the human ambassador turned to the asari and spoke; "Dr. Liara T'soni. It's a pleasure," he said with a polite smile despite the complications of meeting with a traitor's daughter that presented themselves. It was a skill as a politician.

"Thank you, ambassador," Liara said with a slight nod. She turned to the commander by her side, "I know that I am under suspicion, commander, but I wanted to thank you for rescuing me from that prothean ruin, if you hadn't... I honestly don't want to think about it..."

"It was Wrex that dragged us out of there but you are welcome- I'm just glad we got there in time," Shepard said.

The ambassador cleared his throat and both women looked back at him. "Yes, yes. Congratulations, commander. Dr. T'soni; I assume you know why you're here."

Liara nodded. "It is because my mother is Matriarch Benezia and she is helping a renegade Spectre. You want to know if I'm allied with her?" she asked, never skipping a beat, "And you're looking for reasons my mother would aid a traitor... Right?"

"Spot on. You're very astute, Dr. T'soni. Yes, we are wanting to know why she would willingly join- if she did- and why you didn't. After that we'll have to take appropriate action," Udina said. The girl didn't seem like one who would assist someone savaging colonies but he wasn't about to take a chance just because of appearance. "Please tell me about yourself. We should start there."

Liara flushed a light purple. "I am... Uhh," she stuttered, "I'm afraid I'm not very interesting, ambassador. I spend most of my time on archaeological digs, unearthing mundane items in long-forgotten ruins. Other than that, I just stay home and review what I learned."

Beside her, Shepard huffed in disbelief, "Do you ever take a break?" she asked.

"I hardly think you're one to speak, commander. You ought to be on maternity leave," the ambassador said. He saw Shepard's scowl deepen. She wouldn't say anything in reprisal- especially to an alliance ambassador, but she didn't mind showing her annoyance. Liara looked in-between the two and lowered her head again. "When was the last time you spoke to your mother?" Udina asked.

"I haven't spoken to her in many years."

The ambassador folded his hands and laid his chin on them. "What do you suggest we do with you then?"

"If I can, ambassador, I'd offer myself to Shepard's team. I wish to prove where my allegiances lie... If she'll-" she turned to Shepard, "if you will have me."

Udina saw the thoughtful look on the commander's face. The expression faded and was replaced by her usual indifference. "Well," she said, offering her hand to Liara, "Welcome to the Normandy." T'soni slowly grasped the hand and shook it carefully; her face turned a deep purple.

Shepard's neon green omni-tool appeared around her wrist. She pressed a key and a picture of the chief popped up along with the option to message her. Shepard pressed it. "We have enough firearms on the Normandy for you to choose from but you'll need to be fitted for armor. Luckily, two of my crew mates should be at a custom shop." She fingered a few buttons on her omni-tool and put it away. "If you have time, Dr. T'soni, I'd appreciate if you could make a dossier for my team. It'd help me understand what you're capable of."

"I understand, commander."

Shepard walked out of Udina's office, it seemed about time to head home for the night. Do a little thinking. She jogged down the stairs and made her way through the Presidium. Her apartment was in the wards so she'd either have to get a cab or pass through C-sec and risk identification screenings or desperate reporters attempting to find anything they could do a smear job on. She mindlessly tapped her pocket and heard the clicking of credits tap together. It might've been cheaper for her to walk home- might've even been safer too- but she longed for solitude and a quiet ride from the coolness of the Presidium to the warmth of the wards sounded very appealing at this point. She drew up beside a terminal at the lake's edge and called a taxi. In seconds, a skycar broke off from the traffic above and landed gently beside Shepard. The car was a metallic green with tinted windows. The door to the cab swung open and she ducked inside.

Post-Notes:

Mothaflippa, I think I remember.

Logan
Powers:
Heavy biotic lift.
Biotic wave.
Biotic crush.
Healing factor.

Weapon training:
Assault rifles.

Preferred armor:
Light.

Let's all take this time to welcome Logan to the Normandy as a squad mate. He is but one of many original characters in the Spectral Trilogy+. I can't wait for the others to make their appearance! I'm so excited!

Review. Follow. Like my page on Facebook (Stories by Celestiallight) so you can see my inspiration and concept art I leave around there. Also follow 'Klusterfrack ink' on Facebook to see what new things we have! My admin name is Icarus.

I also decided that I won't be going on hiatus. This last week of writing this has been a struggle- I didn't know what to say or how to say it. I felt uninspired... I asked around to see what was happening and why and then my sister said she thinks it's because I'm pressured to do what I love. My mom was trying to get me to write a book before I graduated but you can't force these things. You see what happens when EA does that, would it differ from me? Nope. So no, I am not leaving. I will write that book in time but for now, I will stay with this.

There is also a chance that I will rewrite previous chapters soon. If you follow me on Facebook, you'd know that I started writing for Fable 2. It's going really great!

See you sooner than later,
CelestialLight*