Chapter 3
In Good Faith
Two Years Later
The academy was relatively small, but enough to house four hundred students. Some, like Shepard, were there for N7 training. The rest were there as a part of Grissom Academy's Ascension Program, a school for potential biotics. After the discovery of the Prothean ruins on Mars, the scientists discovered technology that fused with organic DNA to give the user telekinetic abilities. But, like anything having to do with genetics, not everyone was compatible with it. So far, the asari were the only ones with every member of their species able to use biotics. The Ascension Program allowed humans with the right genes to learn to control their abilities. The program's campus happened to be shared with that of N7 Academy's.
Shepard slowly headed to his dorm. Classes were especially brutal, with technical theory once again proving to be a pain in the ass. The majority of Shepard's technical knowledge was hacking into door locks with his omni-tool. But the class taught about the different types of armor, the technical advantages of each of them, the importance of using omni-gel for Mako repairs, what exactly omni-gel does in the systems, and those were the easiest of the lessons. He wasn't in danger of failing the class, so far as he knew, but he wasn't in much of a hurry to get to the next lesson. The homework for this week was a three page essay on the salarian Verned Foers' dissertation on elcor communication technologies. Kill me now, Shepard thought.
Shepard reached his dorm room, opened the door, and stopped cold. His roommate, Kaidan Alenko, was laying in bed, and the way it was rocking, Shepard had a feeling Alenko wasn't having a bad night's sleep. "Shit," he muttered. He quickly closed the door and waited in the hallway. A few minutes later, the door opened back up and an asari shyly stepped out and walked away quickly. Asari came to the academy from time to time, hoping the program could help them control their abilities better. That, and to study humans. Shepard stepped inside his room and saw a blushing Alenko sitting on his bed.
"Sorry about that, Shepard," he said quietly.
Shepard shrugged. "Don't worry about it," he said. "Not like I've never done the same thing." He hadn't, actually. It wasn't that there were no attractive women at the academy. He was just preoccupied with trying to get through and achieve N7 status. But Alenko didn't need to know that. Especially since he was just caught in the act. "How's the implant?" he asked.
Biotics from Alenko's generation were given L2 implants to help them harness their biotic potential. The problem was, the implants were never developed properly, causing severe headaches and even death to the users. Alenko was one of the lucky ones, though he was still often plagued by headaches. Alenko shrugged. "No worse than usual. It's actually starting to dumb down a little bit." Shepard nodded. "How's the ranking?"
"Coming along. Slowly, though. I'm starting to wonder if Udina's offer was so bad after all." Udina had offered Shepard N7 status without academy training, mostly to gain support from the people. Shepard had declined, partly because he wanted to earn it, and partly as an insult to Udina.
Alenko grinned. "Yeah, well if the Human Ambassador to the Council offered me a pass, I'm not sure I could pass it up.
Shepard shrugged. "Wasn't that hard, really," he explained. "Udina's a prick. Not really that hard to say no to him." He sat down at his kiosk and pulled up his messages. There was the usual, spam, offers to subscribe to an omni-tool magazine, a report on a quarian immune system breakthrough that was falsified. One thing caught his eye: a message from Commander David Anderson.
"Lieutenant. A turian ambassador is arriving at Earth tomorrow for a meeting with Udina. A political show of good faith on both sides. Udina and I would like you to be there to help oversee security. Please contact me with your response. Staff Commander David Anderson."
Shepard read the message over several times before sending his response. Of course he wanted to do some work. Beat writing an essay. And a turian ambassador on Earth? It was history in the making. One step closer to humanity being accepted in the galaxy. Being part of the security detail was a big deal, as only the top operatives in the Alliance military were allowed for such an event. Shepard contacted Anderson and accepted the offer. Who knows? he thought. Maybe I'll actually enjoy a bit of politics, for once.
Later that night, Shepard was put on a transport bound for Earth. Arcturus was far behind him by the time Shepard could look out of a window. As the mass relay charged the ship and prepared it for the jump to the Sol system, Shepard felt the familiar tingling of mass effect energy running through him and everyone else on the ship. Immediately after, the void of space seemed to disappear behind the transport. Shepard closed his eyes. Headed home, he thought.
On Shepard's arrival, he was immediately taken to the turian embassy to prepare for the ambassador's arrival. Anderson greeted him as he exited the shuttle. "How's the academy treating you?" he asked.
"About as well as you'd expect, I guess," Shepard replied. He figured he'd leave out the part about his struggling tech grades. Not that he could keep it from Anderson. As a superior officer and N7 status operative himself, Anderson had access to all of Shepard's files. Shepard decided to change the subject. "So who's this ambassador coming in?" he asked.
"Dhalen Orion," Anderson replied. "One of Palaven's oldest and wisest politicians. He's the one who handled the turian surrender at Shanxi."
Shepard nodded. He remembered hearing Orion's name a number of times through the galactic news. Decorated war veteran, former general, retired after the First Contact War. He was personally responsible for getting humans the reinforcements they needed to hold off the batarians during the Skyllian Blitz. Now here he was again, pulling a publicity stunt with Udina. At least, that's how Shepard saw it. Tense as the relationship between humans and turians was, a meeting between the two ambassadors was unnecessary. Thing was, Shepard had a feeling Udina had more of a hand in this get-together than Orion. Humans had been trying to get a seat on the council for over three decades. And the word of the turian ambassador carried a lot of weight.
Anderson noticed Shepard's expression and guessed what he was thinking. "It's a big deal that he's here. Proof that humans and turians can cooperate. At least, it's supposed to be."
Shepard shrugged. "Political psychology wasn't exactly my major, Commander," he said, a bit too bluntly.
Anderson didn't seem to mind. "Fair enough," he replied, smiling slightly. "Better get some rest. There's a big day tomorrow."
"Understood, sir."
The following morning, Shepard stood anxiously alongside Anderson, four other Alliance soldiers, and Udina. He'd seen plenty of turians, of course. Even had the chance to serve with a few. But he still felt uneasy. He couldn't put a finger on what it was.
As the shuttle landed, Udina bounded forward, followed closely by his security detail. The shuttle door opened, and an aging turian stepped out, followed by three younger turians. Each of them had a serious face, yet Orion seemed less somber. He even greeted Udina with a warm smile (at least, Shepard thought he was smiling) and a firm handshake. "Ambassador Udina. How are you?" he asked.
Udina returned Orion's smile, though Shepard noted a hint of disdain that he saw as common for the human ambassador. "Dhalen Orion," he replied, not bothering to answer Orion's question. "Welcome to Earth."
Orion looked around, seemingly impressed. "It looks even more beautiful than in the vids," he replied. He turned to one of his colleagues. "Callus, sweep the perimeter, if you don't mind." The turian nodded and set off.
Udina frowned. "I assure you, Ambassador, that is not necessary."
"It's just an added precaution," explained Orion calmly. "You never know what might happen. If it makes you feel any better, one of your own can accompany him."
Udina nodded, obviously unhappy. He turned to Shepard. "Shepard, sweep the perimeter with the turian. Report any problems directly to me."
Shepard nodded and jogged to catch up to the turian. Orion looked after them for a moment. "You know," he said, "sometimes I miss being a soldier. Things were much more… simple then." He turned back to the group of humans and looked straight at Anderson. "Wouldn't you agree, Commander?"
Anderson clasped his hands behind his back. "Yes, sir," he replied. "I would."
Orion chuckled. "I'm not a 'sir'. Not anymore." He looked back to the two soldiers walking along the landing pad, looking for any sign of trouble."No, I'm just an old man, waiting for eternity. Trying to make the galaxy a bit brighter. Trying to pass on everything I've learned. Callus is… difficult to teach. He understands morality, but not trust. I've been trying to teach him for years that trust is just as important as any weapon he can get his hands on."
Anderson smiled slightly. "So you've known him for a long time, then?" he asked, much to the disdain of Udina.
Orion turned back to Anderson, clearly enjoying his conversation with the veteran. "Well, I should. He's my son."
At that moment Shepard and Callus returned to the group. "Perimeter's clear, so far as I can tell," the turian said, an icy edge to his tone.
"Very good," Udina said, happy to once again be relevant. "Let's continue this conversation indoors. Perhaps over a drink?"
Orion smiled again. "Ah, yes. That sounds like an excellent idea. I'm absolutely parched."
The group took a few steps to the entrance when Orion stopped suddenly. Callus looked over at his father, concerned. "Sir?" he asked. Orion looked down at his abdomen as blood began to spill from it. Then he fell over, dead. "No!" Callus yelled, running to him. He looked around frantically, trying to locate the source of the shot. Shepard did the same, trying to rememver his training. Where the ambassador was standing, where the bullet hit… He and Callus saw the spot at the same time. "There!" Callus yelled, running to the shuttle.
Damn it! Shepard thought. This got out of hand in a hurry…