It was a long trip to the Higgs Starport; the six days travel to where the Normandy had been built was mostly done in excruciating silence. Shepard wasn't the super talkative mile-a-minute type, and she found comfort in silence when around friends, but Anderson's close proximity to her across such a span of time had started to wear on her. The first two days were great… got on a nice shuttle, transferred to a nice ship, didn't need to see anyone or talk to anyone…but the last four days I've been on this tiny coffin of a shuttle for some inexplicable reason…The shuttle they had taken was large enough to house some minor amenities, and certainly would never see field duty to transport troops, but there was only one sitting area, and the sleeping quarters were the type to make anyone claustrophobic. So for what felt like the fourth month of steady travel, she had sat across from Anderson as he typed away on his omni-tool or read a number of datapads. Occasionally he would leave to the cockpit, or would escape to the small storage bay to send a message, but the reprieve would never last long enough. And I have to spend a few months on a ship with him? This is going to be horrible.
Anderson looked up from his datapad and across the aisle to Shepard, a slight smile on his face.
"Won't be much longer, Shepard. We'll be docking at the port in about thirty minutes." He stated, starting to chuckle. "I'm sure you can't wait to get off this thing."
"Might be the happiest moment of my life." She said sarcastically, swinging her legs onto the cushioned bench she was sitting on, propping her head up against a worn out and pathetically uncomfortable cushion. Christ, what did they cover this with? The driest, itchiest wool in the galaxy? This is 2183! Come on! Why is the only cushion around this…augh! She tossed the offending object across the room and huffed, crossing her arms as her head rested painfully on the steel bulkhead. "Oh wait…no, probably not. I'll still be getting MREs on the Normandy. Couldn't convince them to spend some of their budget on better food, could you? You do realize the Alliance gives biotics MREs that are just a bunch of packets of nutrient paste, don't you? It's like I'm back on the streets all over again!"
Anderson gave a laugh at her behavior and shook his head. "You've been with the Alliance since before your seventeenth birthday, and you're deciding to complain now?"
Shepard grimaced, remembering signing her life away when she was sixteen. Well, sixteen and a half…and it seemed like a good idea at the time…hell, it still WAS a good idea in general, but…I still kind of wonder what life would have been like if I had more options…
"When you're grounded for a few straight months and get used to freshly grown food, it's kind of hard to go back." She said, smirking at the thought of fresh apple cinnamon pies and homemade pizza. "I swear... you want to win me over, Anderson? Get me some pizza. Get me some pizza somewhere down the line, when I'm desperate and grumpy, and yearning for actual food or something. That's the price my loyalty will be a month or two from now."
Anderson leaned forward slightly, seemingly amused, which only annoyed her more. "And the price of your loyalty now? A promotion and a one way trip from Alliance purgatory didn't earn it…but food will?"
"I'm a biotic, Anderson. We eat a lot. Food is important to us, but because we eat so much, we're usually shoveled cheap nutrient pastes and all this tasteless crap. It's not fair, so when I get sick of that crap after a month, you better believe a pizza will win me over. Hell, if you give me fresh ingredients so I can make my own, then I'll probably be loyal for at least a year." She ranted, her stomach protesting at the teasing she was inflicting on herself. "Like I said, it'd go a long way in making up to me. Food. Consider it. I'm giving you a head start, here."
"Shepard, I'm not attempting to make up for anything with this mission." Anderson started, pausing as a glare from the woman across from him urged him to be honest. "Alright, I'm trying to make up for the Alliance grounding you, but I know I've done you wrong in the past. I don't think there's anything that could appropriately make up for any of that in your eyes, so I won't even try. I do hope you come to trust me, though."
Shepard rolled her eyes, not entirely believing his words. It's true, I'm not sure anything he could do would really make up for that. At least he's being straight up with me about it, but…I don't know, this just seems like a bit much to get me out of forced leave.
"Just prove yourself to me that you're capable, and we'll get along fine. I'll try to give you a fresh start, even. You've made it to Captain, so you're obviously doing something right." She stated, stretching her shoulders, which had gotten stiff over the span of the trip. Christ, I wish I knew a masseuse. My shoulders get stiff pretty quick these days… "Look, I don't mean any offense, Anderson, but you fell for two traps and didn't double-check your intel on either, or follow-up on one of them…and you were too late to the other one. Might just be bad luck. Might be that whole 'third time's a charm' thing this time around will make it better, but can you blame me for being a little nervous about this? I don't see how this won't be a train wreck."
I mean, here I am, the Butcher of Torfan in all her glory, being the person the crew goes to for any help, complaints, requisition orders, or whatever, she thought, chewing on her lip anxiously as she saw the port come into view from her window. Last time I was on the Arc, some parents hid their kids from me. Can I really expect better from people who might actually feel their lives are at risk with me on board? What the hell can I do to get rid of that reputation? I mean…I'm not the most social person…Anderson must have some sort of plan…
"I prom-…I'm sure that you'll get used to everything quickly, and the crew will get used to you. Just be yourself around them, and they'll learn what I've learned about you." Anderson stated. Shepard was pleased that he amended what he almost let slip. Still, that means he's not entirely sure…this is going to be a train wreck, I just know it…
"Yeah, well, I'll give it a shot, but…Anderson, I won't hold this position if they're not comfortable with me. I'll give myself chance here, I'll give them a chance…but I'm not going to spend a few months on a ship with a crew that's scared of me. With that ship out there, you're going to need it running smooth, and you can't do that if everyone's terrified." She stated, sighing as thoughts of the gossip that had spread about her after Torfan filled her mind. Shepard closed her eyes and lightly flicked her hand in the air, trying to clear her mind of the memories. Last thing I need to think about is that crap, especially right before I meet a bunch of new people. "Look, tell me about the ship. What's so special about it?"
Anderson picked up a nearby datapad and scanned through it for a few seconds before turning his eyes back to her. "It was built by human and turian R&D teams, using a mixture of both architectural styles. Apparently, it takes the best of both worlds, but I haven't commanded it yet, so I'm simply taking their word for it. The CIC at the back doesn't seem like that great of a change, and the crew hasn't really complained about it so far. The Normandy's meant to be a stealth frigate, and it's fast. Can get in and out of a system before anyone knows it's been there, which is pivotal, as the Alliance navy hasn't had anything of the sort in its fleets before. Hell, Shepard, I'm not sure the Salarians have anything like the IES stealth system. I'm sure Lieutenant Adams will be happy to fill you in on how it works, he's the lead engineer on the ship. We use sleeping pods instead of bunks to save space…because real estate is valuable on a ship this small. We've got an M35 Mako onboard in the cargo hold for any ground missions we might encounter."
Shepard nodded, impressed. "So stealth. That's pretty damn good to have. Is it just a flying piece of glass, or is it at least a glass cannon?"
"Well, it's a frigate, so it's not meant for much combat, but there's a set of GARDIAN defense lasers and a mass accelerator cannon. It's not harmless, but if we're using its weapons in a fight, we're probably in a bad position." Anderson stated. "Anyway, on top of that we have a med-bay. It's not large, but there are a few beds and enough supplies for our resident Doctor and her aide to do their jobs effectively. Outside of that, there isn't much else to say."
Soon, Shepard felt the shuttle gracefully land, Anderson quickly moving to the cockpit to go over some final instructions before they were to transfer over to the larger Frigate docked a few hundred metres away. After a few minutes, Anderson walked back into the room and motioned her toward the exit.
Here goes nothing, I guess…
The closer the duo got to the Normandy, the more Shepard was entranced by the ship. It's sleek like a Turian frigate, but much better looking…and a little less pointy and phallic…but only a little bit…love the paint job, too. The fact that there's not a lick of blue on it is pretty damn amazing, considering the Alliance and their damn branding. Maybe that's half the stealth system right there, using a better paint job…
The doors of the airlock opened, allowing them into decontamination. As the process finished its course and the doors to the ship swung open, Anderson looked back at her and smiled. "Welcome to the Normandy, Shepard."
An announcement rang out in hall that Captain Anderson had relieved someone of duties, but Shepard wasn't really paying much attention. She could feel the blood pounding between her ears and felt her shoulders tense up as she took her first steps onto the ship. Anderson had careened off to the left into the cockpit, so Shepard followed, seeing him chatting casually with a hat-wearing pilot. Interesting choice of clothing…never seen a pilot with a hat before… she thought to herself stepping into the small room. Or a full beard. Christ…well, I've grown my hair out since my last mission and Anderson hasn't taken a pair of clippers to it yet, so maybe I'll be able to keep it. Even if I have to put it up…
"Flight Lieutenant Moreau, may I introduce to you Lieutenant Commander Shepard, your new executive officer." She heard Anderson state, dragging her out of her thoughts and woefully into the conversation. She smiled as politely as she could at the gawking pilot, unsure about his reaction.
"Um…uh…wel…welcome aboard ma'am." He stammered nervously, though from his eyes, she wasn't sure whether he was scanning her for weapons or for something else. Okay Shep, just stop and focus.
"Pleasure to meet you. So you're the lucky guy who gets to fly this beast?" she asked, eyes darting around the cockpit at the nearby systems. Pilot's seat, co-pilot seats, battery control terminals…and a whole lot of other stuff I don't recognize. Been too long since I've been in a cockpit…
"Hell yeah…I mean, yes ma'am." He blurted out, quickly catching himself. Shepard held back a giggle, amused at the man's inability to follow protocol or seem the least bit formal. Maybe I'm not the only ugly duckling here… she thought as the pilot puffed out his chest slightly. "Anderson insists there should be another pilot for when I'm sleeping, but they can't handle my baby. This ship was practically made for me. I'm the best pilot in the Alliance, I could fly this beauty in my sleep better than anyone else could awake. "
She smiled and nodded, looking to where Anderson was and realizing he'd slipped away. Mystified, she looked back to the pilot, who shrugged his shoulders.
"He does that all the time, you'll get used to it." Joker said flatly as Shepard made her way to the co-pilot's chair and sat down. "It's uh…well, pardon my language, but…"
"Don't worry about your language around me, flight lieutenant. I care more about what you do and how well you do it. You fly this ship the way it needs to be and you can be as informal as you want. At least around me. Honestly, I don't think Anderson cares too much either, which seems a little weird for him." Shepard stated as she stretched out in the fairly comfortable seat.
"Fine by me. Anyway, I was gonna say, they sunk over a billion credits into this thing, or something, and they give it these fifty credit seats. I mean, come on! Where's the leather? I'd kill for leather. I'd run five hundred sims for leather. Anyway, if we're all chummy and tossing formalities to the wind, call me Joker." He said, pulling up a recent diagnostic on his HUD.
"Alright, Joker. Just go by Shepard for me, then. Or Commander if you're feeling fancy." She joked, though her expression sobered as she realized she had the rest of the ship to tour.
"I'm always feeling fancy, Commander." He said with a grin and a waggle of his eyebrows. Shepard stood up and moved around Joker, back toward the corridor.
"Anyway, I'll probably be back later to discuss…whatever it is I'm supposed to talk to you about. Actual ship business and operations and stuff. Maybe you can run through a sim while I watch, let me see how good you are. Until then, I'll be figuring out who everyone is here."
"All right, see ya." She heard from behind her as she walked slowly down the corridor toward the CIC. The place wasn't too different than what she'd seen before; the corridor was lined with terminals and people seated at them, running comms and diagnostics and the plethora of other processes Shepard wasn't too familiar with. Got a feeling I'll be getting to know a whole lot more about how ships work…been too long since my exams…
As she entered into the CIC's main room, her path split off to the sides of her, arcing toward the twin doors at the far end of the space; a galaxy map and a number of unmanned terminals took up the majority of the space between. Two figures stood at the front of the CIC having a quiet discussion, going silent as soon as they saw her enter the room and walk toward them.
One of the figures, a tall dark haired man turned to her and saluted, prompting the older, balding man to salute as well. She suppressed a smile at his resemblance to an old twentieth century pop music idol, Elvis, and returned the salutes. This guy looks a little too…suave… to be in the military. Alliance should be using him as a poster boy if he isn't already…
"Commander Shepard, welcome aboard the Normandy." The older man said, his voice flat and his body slightly tensed up. "I'm Charles Pressly, navigator of the Normandy. This…" he said, gesturing to the younger man beside him. "Is Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko."
Kaidan politely offered his hand, which Shepard accepted and shook firmly, but not hard.
"It's great to have someone with your…experience on the ship, ma'am." He stated hesitantly. "If you need anything, just ask. I run the ship's marine detail, so if you have any concerns with the ground team, just let me know."
Shepard nodded her head and smiled. Well, if he's been in charge of the people I'm going to be taking into the field…at least, I'm thinking I will end up doing that…then having him on my side will probably help tremendously. Definitely something to make note of…
"Thank you, officers. And good to know, Alenko. Just what kind of numbers are we looking at?" she asked, curious about the manpower on the ship.
Kaidan rubbed his left temple slightly. "We have about as much as you could expect on a ship this size. Just a small ground team, really. So far in the drills, I take lead with Jenkins, Pynchon, Murakami and Martin. This isn't a frigate meant for a lot of planetary assaults, so a small team to get in and out is usually all that's needed."
"That sounds fine to me." She nodded, turning to the older man. "Thank you for the introductions, Pressly. I'm sure I'll see you two around, but I'd best make my way through the ship before Anderson tears me a new one for slacking. Good day, sirs."
She could hear their quiet discussion begin immediately after she'd begun her trek toward one of the twin doors and hoped that they hadn't judged her too harshly. I'm doing my best to sound friendly or at least normal. She mused, making her way down a level toward the crew quarters. As she entered the mess hall she spotted an older gray-haired woman exiting from the med-bay looking positively annoyed, glancing in all directions before locking her gaze on Shepard.
"Have you seen anyone come out of my med-bay recently?" she asked, in a British accent that Shepard couldn't quite place, marching up to her. The woman paused, giving Shepard a look over, and then nodded. "Hrm, you have scarring, so it wouldn't likely be you…"
Shepard tilted her head to the side and grinned, feeling slightly confused. "What are you asking? What wouldn't be me?"
"Some trickster began spreading rumours to the communications staff that medi-gel is a…stimulating lubricant." She said, exasperated. Shepard couldn't help but let out a laugh, covering her mouth to hide her amusement. "It isn't funny! For the past two days, I have had seven packets go missing. Medi-gel isn't cheap, and we only have a limited quantity for our trial runs coming up. They're wasting precious resources out of boredom." She sighed, bringing her hand to her head in frustration. Shepard finally suppressed her smile and straightened herself out. Stealing medi-gel's pretty serious…we might need that for later, instead of…ugh…
"Uh…Doctor…if there's anything I can do to stop this prank, just let me know. I'm pretty sure I could scare them straight if you want." Shepard said, hoping it wouldn't have to come to that. I mean, wasting resources might be the difference between life and death. They should be more concerned about the whole crew instead of undermining it with an unnecessary joke. Especially when there are other ways to have fun, I'm sure…
"Oh heavens, I must apologize for my lack of manners, I haven't introduced myself. I'm Doctor Karin Chakwas." The woman stated, offering a flustered smile.
"Don't worry about it, sometimes you can't help but get wrapped up in what you're doing." She said, shrugging. "I'm Commander Shepard, Anderson…the Captain… just brought me on board today. I suppose I'm the XO here now…just been making the rounds and meeting the crew. It's a pleasure, doc."
Chakwas' face paled slightly. "Oh! Well…I look forward to working with you, commander. Honestly, I was wondering why I thought I'd recognized you from somewhere. I had just assumed you were one of the many that have been hiding from me. Pardon my assumption, please."
Shepard chuckled a little and shook her head at the thought of Alliance officers running away from an angry Chakwas. "Hiding from you? I could see the ones stealing your supplies, but…I mean, you're a Doctor. You're not exactly an intimidating woman, if you don't mind me saying." Shepard said, amused at the woman's predicament.
"Commander, you may be surprised at how many servicemen and women happily avoid getting check-ups and medicals." The woman said, crossing her arms and quirking her eyebrows. "I take it you shall be cooperative?"
The commander nodded and smiled. "My body's my temple, Doctor. Gotta make sure I'm healthy, I don't want any surprises when I'm groundside and doing…well, whatever I need to do. I just don't see the point of not knowing." She clapped her hand on the other woman's shoulder and laughed. "Now I won't pretend that I'll always lay in bed resting any time I have a cold or a sore foot, but knowing what part of my body's hurt helps me be more efficient, helps keep me alive. I hope you won't have to put up with me too often while I'm here, doc, but…well, bad luck tends to follow me around. Fair warning."
"Duly noted, Commander." Chakwas said simply, a bit of colour having returned to her face. "Well, if you could do something about the missing medi-gel, I would appreciate it. David's been gone for weeks and Pressly hasn't seemed to have any luck with it."
"I will, Doctor." She stated as she moved away from the woman and further into the mess. She calls Anderson by his first name? Interesting…they must be old friends or something… "Is there anyone down in the battery, or should I just go down another level?"
"The battery's usually empty while we're docked, Commander." Chakwas confirmed, leaving Shepard to wheel back and make her way into the elevator.
Well, she was nice. Can't blame her for being a little flustered, really. She thought, wondering why the elevator was taking so long. What, am I going to some hidden dimension or something? One floor. I have a feeling I'm going to hate this thing...what if there's an emergency and some engineer in the crew deck needs to get to engineering fast? This…Christ, this is unacceptable. It's been three minutes! What the…
The doors to the elevator surprisingly opened as the elevator made contact with the Engineering deck. Finally. She stepped out and noticed the large, sturdy looking vehicle at the far corner of the cargo hold. So you must be the Mako…I have a feeling I'll end up having a lot of fun with you… she mused, her head turning toward the armoury's bench as a clatter rang through the large cavernous room. Hrm. That's weird.
A partially assembled assault rifle lay alongside its pieces on the floor, and behind the bench, crates were stacked up a few feet high with ammo and other supplies. Closer to her, she saw a few crew lockers. Well, if someone's there, they don't want to see me, so I'm just going to head into the drive core's room…hopefully whoever caused that mess fixes it before I get back to the elevator, or I'll find them.
As she turned the corner and made her way into the second room on the deck, she couldn't help but gasp at the size of the drive core. That thing is huge! How the…how the hell did they fit it into this thing? She thought, staring in amazement at it as she stepped further into the room, eventually halting at the railing.
"It's amazing, isn't it?" she heard beside her, a smaller man joining her in leaning on the railing. "They kept saying we couldn't do it but…even now, after a few months of it being operational, I still get shivers."
"It's…damn impressive. I've never seen anything like it." She said quietly, in awe of the massive object wreathed in blue.
"There's nothing like it in the galaxy, really. Outside of the Destiny Ascension I'm not sure anything can really compare in terms of how advanced the technology is. The Normandy really is in a class of its own." He said, turning and saluting. "Lieutenant Greg Adams, lead engineer for the Normandy. I helped design this ship, it's my life's work."
Shepard returned the salute, managing to turn her gaze away from the marvelous sight for a moment. "Commander Shepard. I'm your new XO, it seems, so you might see me waltzing around here a lot…especially with this view."
Adams took a small step back. "Shepard? THE Commander Shepard?" he asked, startled. Shepard could barely hold back a grimace. Things were going so well… "The one from Elysium?"
This time Shepard paused, surprised at the mention of one of her earlier missions instead of the one which soured her reputation. "Uh…yeah. I was at Elysium, though I was just commanding two small militia forces there. Can't say I had a real memorable part, from what I recall. At least, not compared to that Locke guy."
"You took a squad over to the hospital and held off the batarians. You mght not think it was memorable, but you bought us all enough time to get out of the building. I just wanted to thank you for that." Adams stated, jubilantly, taking Shepard by surprise. Yeah, I remember that…bottlenecked the crap out of them in the emergency room. By the time the batarians had signaled for an air strike, all the patients had been evacuated. Hard to remember that with all the carnage, and with Torfan and all… but…huh…I think that was the last real vacation I've had. Heather told me to go there, I think.
"Oh. Uh, well, no worries. I was just trying to help...didn't want to lose any more civilians than we had already. Why were you there, anyway?" she asked, her curiosity now piqued.
"I was stationed on Elysium, my wife had just given birth a few hours before the attack. I wasn't about to leave my wife and child. I remember trying to get out, but everyone was panicking and the whole place was chaos. Still can't believe you were able to get everyone calm and in line with all that was going on, Commander. You helped a lot of people that day, I owe you. If you hadn't come by…" Adams said, pausing as his face began to flush.
"I'm glad to have helped. Family…it's the most important thing we've got. If you want to pay back that 'debt'…" she said, making sure she had his full attention. "You can install a camera in the med bay overlooking the medi-gel dispenser. Maybe two or three to be sure. Can you do that?"
"Cameras?" he asked, seemingly baffled at the request. "I think we have a few extra ones laying around…why?"
"Someone's been stealing the medi-gel, and I'm sure you can understand why it's important that we stop that. If you can have it record the live feed, triggering when the dispenser is first used, and running…say, ten seconds afterward? There's some prank going around, and I understand it can get boring just waiting…I've had to do that a lot lately…but wasting that kind of stuff could put lives at risk in the future. If it isn't too much trouble?" Shepard asked, her voice a low whisper. Adams nodded and grinned.
"Yeah, I can do that. If it helps you and Karin, then definitely. It shouldn't take longer than two hours to set everything up, and we won't be leaving for at least twelve hours…absolutely, Commander. It'll be a pleasure." Adams stated, pushing himself off the railing. "Is that all?"
"Yeah, I'd best get up and visit the captain. Let him know I'm done my rounds." She said, turning to head toward the exit. "Take it easy, Adams. And thanks again."
Entering back into the cargo bay, she noticed the gun equipment had all been cleaned up. Well that's a nice way to finish the meet and greet. You know, I think it went slightly better than expected…weird.
Shepard pressed the button for the lift, noticing someone had gone to the crew deck with it while she'd been in engineering talking to Adams. Well shit. Looks like I'll be here for a while…maybe I should have had Adams check into the elevator instead…or both…both would be nice. Maybe later…
"Thrusters…check. Navigation…check. Internal emissions sink engaged. All systems online. Drift…just under fifteen hundred K." Joker stated calmly as he scanned the ship's readings. The trip through the relay hadn't been eventful, but Shepard had insisted on being in the cockpit for the event. She liked watching the starlight bend around them as they blasted from one point in the galaxy to another. It was strangely soothing. Unfortunately, the shadow of Nihlus Kryik had ruined that by hovering over her shoulder ever since they had picked him up at the Arc. He's like a tiny little fairy always trying to get my attention…except in big pointy silent turian form. Which makes him more annoying.
"Fifteen hundred is good. Your captain will be pleased." Nihlus said, turning and leaving the cockpit and Shepard's side for the first time in hours. Thank fucking god that guy's gone. For now. He'll be back.
"I hate that guy." Joker stated emphatically, eliciting something of a snort from Shepard, who smirked amusedly at the pilot.
"Nihlus gave you a compliment, so you hate him." Kaidan said flatly.
"You remember to zip up your jumpsuit on the way out of the bathroom? That's 'good'. I just jumped us halfway across the galaxy and hit the target the size of a pinhead. So that's incredible!" Joker ranted, turning to Shepard. "Besides, Spectres are trouble. I don't think I'm the only one here who doesn't like having him onboard, am I right Commander? I mean, call me paranoid, but…" he finished, looking for support from his commander, who only shrugged.
"You're paranoid. The Council helped fund this project, they have a right to send someone to keep an eye on their investment." Kaidan said, earning a nod from Shepard.
"Yeah, that is the 'official' story, but only an idiot would believe that." Joker responded, rolling his eyes.
"I'm going to have to agree with Joker on this one, Kaidan." Shepard said not unkindly, hoping to covey her reasoning without screwing up too much. "Nothing's added up since Anderson offered me the job. He kept quiet about what we were even doing with this ship, and now there's this big turian on board from the Council. We've got a full crew on board for a shakedown run when a skeleton crew would do. I'm more of a soldier than someone who's experienced in ships, yet I'm brought in as an XO. If we're doing a shakedown run somewhere, why not one of the planets in the Arc's cluster? We didn't need to come all the way out here, so what are we doing here?"
As Kaidan opened his mouth to retort, Anderson's voice blared over the comms.
"Joker! Status report!" Anderson seemed more than a bit agitated, something Shepard really hadn't experienced in the past. And he calls him Joker too? Hrm. Must really know this crew well…
"Just cleared the mass relay, Captain. Stealth systems engaged. Everything looks solid." Joker replied casually.
"Good. Find a comm buoy and link us into the network. I want mission reports relayed back to Alliance brass before we reach Eden Prime." Anderson asked hastily. Something's not right…
"Aye aye, Captain. Better brace yourself, sir. I think Nihlus is headed your way." Joker stated, with some apprehension.
"He's already here, Lieutenant." Anderson confirmed, his voice cool but still riddled with impatience. Joker face palmed at his slip of the tongue and shook his head. "Tell Commander Shepard to meet me in the comm room for a debriefing."
"You get that?" Joker grumbled, the comm. channel having cut off.
"Yeah. Something's not right. I can just feel it. I've never heard him sounding this…tense. Or agitated." Shepard stated, getting up out of one of the co-pilot's chairs.
"Pfft. The captain always sounds like that when he's talking to me." Joker noted, grinning.
"I can't possibly imagine why." Kaidan said, offhandedly, rolling his eyes. Shepard gave the two a wave as she made her way down the corridor toward the CIC and the comm room. She noticed Jenkins, one of the marines, had spotted her from afar and abruptly made his way down to the second level, leaving his conversation with the doctor unfinished by the looks of the Doctor's expression. Shepard strode over to Chakwas and looked off toward where Jenkins had escaped to.
"I'm not sure whether he's running from me because the cameras caught him taking the medi-gel, or because of my reputation." Shepard stated out loud, shaking her head. That kid's been hiding from me ever since I came on board. I swear, I've never seen anyone sprint so fast in the middle of breakfast. Right off the bench and out into the elevator. I'm going to have to actually make an effort to talk to him sometime, set him straight.
"He was the one taking the medi-gel?" Chakwas asked, shocked. She nodded at the older woman and shrugged.
"Cameras caught him this morning. I sent you the footage, but it's understandable if you haven't read it yet. It was only about an hour and a half ago." Shepard said, hoping the doctor wouldn't be too hard on the soldier. Or maybe she should be, since I can't afford to.
"I was so busy doing last minute checkups. The amount of soldiers I've had to drag into the med-bay today kicking and screaming…it was nearly enough to drive me mad. Thank you for corralling them, Commander." Shepard nodded as the relieved doctor.
"It wasn't any trouble, Doctor. I just reminded them of the consequences of not having their required tests done by the deadline. Suspension without pay and potential dismissal isn't anything to take lightly." Shepard said, taking a further step toward the comm. room. "I'll catch up with you later, Doc. Gotta go see Anderson."
"I still haven't had the opportunity to look you over, Commander. I hope you're not being a hypocrite." Chakwas said playfully, crossing her arms and tapping her foot.
"Had my medical done two months ago, don't need another for a long time." she called out over her shoulder, pausing at the nearby wall. "Unless you bribe me with something." Shepard smiled, and walked into the comm. room, finding it empty aside from a certain turian.
"Commander Shepard, I was hoping you'd get here first. It will give us a chance to talk." The large turian stated coolly. She had to admit that between his facial markings and his armor, he looked the part of a highly trained warrior. Let's not assume he's here to be hostile, Shep. Just focus.
"Where'd Captain Anderson run off to?" She asked casually. "He said he'd meet me here. And why do you want to talk? You've been creeping over my shoulder for the past day, barely saying a word. You've had your chances."
"Captain Anderson is on his way…I'm interested in this world we're going to. Eden Prime…I hear it's quite beautiful." The turian said, pacing slowly around the room. Shepard decided to cut off his ability to circle her and propped herself against the wall.
"Don't know, never been." She responded nonchalantly, waving her hand dismissively. "Get to the point."
"But you know about it. It's become something of a symbol to your people, hasn't it? Proof that humanity can not only establish colonies across the galaxy, but also protect them. But…how safe is it, really?" Nihlus asked, his condescending tone irritating her to no end.
Shepard shook her head and laughed. "What's your point? Every race's fleets are capped and no one has enough to fully protect each colony. I know that, you know that. You don't think an organized band of slavers could waltz into some backwater turian colony and get out before reinforcements arrive? Come on. Planets are as safe as the forces protecting them can make them, and that's just how it is. What are you getting at?"
"Your people are still newcomers, Shepard. Humanity has expanded quickly… some might say too quickly. The galaxy can be a very dangerous place. Is the Alliance truly ready for this?" the turian asked, stopping his pacing as Anderson marched into the room.
"I think it's about time we told the commander what's really going on." Anderson said, stopping a few feet beside Nihlus. Shepard rolled her eyes at the confirmation. Kind of wish the higher ups would stop playing these games. They're stupid.
"It's pretty obvious that there's something bigger going on. Finally deciding to fill me in, Captain?" Shepard asked, trying to keep her tone civil, but her gut was telling her she was in for some bad news.
"We're making a covert pickup on Eden Prime, that's why we needed the IES online. Information was on a strictly need-to-know basis, the brass decided that." Anderson said, his voice softening in an attempt to appease the Commander, but Shepard wasn't having it. She burst away from the wall and began clenching and unclenching her hands, pacing to try and calm herself down. Need to know basis? Fuck that. This is rotten…this…fuck, I should have stayed home on Amaterasu!
"Anderson…" she gritted out slowly, "I don't like being kept in the dark. There's no such thing as a 'need-to-know' basis when you're housing a full team of specialists who've been willingly isolated from outside channels for months. What exactly are you going to ask your crew to accomplish with zero preparation and without proper intel?"
"Shepard, you know how the Alliance is with this. There are reasons why information is withheld. Anyway, a research team on Eden Prime unearthed some kind of beacon during an excavation. It was Prothean." Anderson stated, bringing Shepard to pause mid-step.
"Prothean? Didn't those guys vanish fifty thousand years ago?" Shepard asked, confused at why a beacon would be on Eden Prime.
"Their legacy still remains. The mass relays, the Citadel, our ship drives…it's all based on Prothean technology." Nihlus noted, looking to Anderson.
"This is big, Shepard. The last time humanity made a discovery like this, it jumped our technology forward two hundred years." He said firmly, Shepard quickly grasping the importance of the situation. "But Eden Prime doesn't have the facilities to handle something like this. We need to bring the beacon back to the Citadel for proper study."
"This obviously goes beyond mere human interests, Commander. This discovery could affect every species in Council space." Nihlus added, Anderson nodding along with him.
"Okay, so we find a beacon, we can't study it ourselves so we take it to the Citadel. We get brownie points from the Council, and everyone wins." Shepard stated, processing the situation. "But Eden Prime's in the traverse. Even if you kept it a need-to-know basis here on this ship, there's an entire colony down below with researchers and scientists and farmers and everything. Can we trust the intel we have or are we going in blind? Word leaks out to ANYONE down there and suddenly we could have batarians on our doorstep. Slaver rings coming in fast. Omega and all of terminus might be licking their chops at this if intel was leaked."
"That was my point earlier, Commander." Nihlus noted, drawing a glare from Shepard.
"No colony is safe from a massive intel breach, Spectre." Shepard growled. "Please tell me you have someone on the ground feeding you reports in real time, or I swear to god…"
"Shepard, you know that's a security risk. You know I'm keeping this whole thing low-key. Anyway, you're right. Sharing the beacon will improve humanity's relations with the Council. Plus, we need their scientific expertise…they know more about the Protheans than we do." Anderson said, nodding to Nihlus after, who stepped toward her.
"The beacon's not the only reason I'm here, Shepard." The turian stated, which got Shepard's attention. Here comes the punchline for this sick joke of a mission…
"Well, it can't hurt to help, either way. The Council did help build this ship, it'd be a shame if it was ruined on a 'shakedown run'. I'm expecting the worst kind of trouble, so please, what else are you here for?" she said cooly, with a touch of sarcasm.
"Nihlus wants to see you in action, Commander. He's here to evaluate you." Anderson said, Shepard stopping to stare at him blankly. What. Well then…
"What, you mean to tell me that the last twelve hours of him creeping in my personal space hasn't just been for his pleasure? Pray tell, what findings have you made?" her sarcasm was in full force this time, drawing a flicker of ire from her Captain as Nihlus's mandibles moved slightly.
Anderson stepped toward her, beckoning her to calm down. "You're smart enough to know how things work, Commander. The Alliance has been pushing for this for a long time. Humanity wants a larger role in shaping interstellar policy. We want more say with the Citadel Council. The Spectres represent the Council's power and authority…if they accept a human into their ranks, it shows how far the Alliance has come."
Shepard stood still, taking in Anderson's words in pieces as her brain fumbled to make sense of it. A Spectre? Like…like Blasto?
"I was impressed when I studied the reports from Torfan. A grim business…but you got the job done. That's why I put your name forward as a candidate for the Spectres. After a number of years waiting, it seems that I'm finally able to evaluate you personally." Nihlus interjected, having noticed Shepard was about to blow a gasket on Anderson.
Shepard placed her hands on the top of her head and began pacing again, wide-eyed in shock. I've been sitting around for months…years…and only doing stupid missions or brutally dangerous missions in the meantime. I figured it was politics after Torfan but…they went all this way to keep me hidden because of this?
"Anderson, why didn't the Alliance choose Locke…hell, even Atwood would have been a more politically correct choice. The woman survived Akuze! It makes no sense that the Alliance settled on me. Not after this long." Shepard stated, staring at Anderson.
"Yet, they did eventually decide on you." Anderson said simply.
"Need I remind you that I was branded a 'hero' by the Alliance, which was pretty much revoked when the public reaction was so bad that people kind of saw me as a murderer. I don't think I'm a good representative for the Alliance, for humanity…at least in how they want to see themselves represented. And you…" she said, turning her focus to Nihlus, who seemed amused, from his body language. "Why would you nominate a human?"
"Not all turians resent humanity. Some of us see the potential in your species. We see what you have to offer to the rest of the galaxy…and to the Spectres. We are an elite group. It's rare to find an individual with the skills we seek. I don't care that you're human, Shepard. I care that you can do the job." Nihlus stated firmly, eliciting a nod from Shepard.
"I can accept that. If humanity…if the Alliance wants this so bad, I'll give it a shot." She declared, stopping her pacing and turning to the duo.
"This isn't about you, Shepard. This is about Humanity. We need this. Nihlus will need to see your abilities personally, and he'll be escorting you on a number of missions after this one." Anderson said, bringing his hands behind his back and straightening his posture. "For now, you'll be in charge of the ground team on Eden Prime. Secure the beacon and get it back into the ship asap. Nihlus will accompany you and observe the mission, as I said before."
Shepard shrugged, resigning herself to her fate. "I'm ready to go whenever you need me." She said, patting her body-armor. Not the heaviest around, but I like the balance of mobility and protection. Just right for my front line antics… "Just give the word, Captain."
"We should be getting close to Eden…" Anderson stated before Joker came over the comms, cutting him off.
"Captain! We have a problem!" Shepard heard the pilot say, the duo too busy to hear her exasperated sigh. Great… "We've got a transmission from Eden Prime, sir. You'd better see this!"
"Bring it up onscreen." Anderson said, a video soon appearing on the screen, showing what seemed to be a firefight between some Alliance soldiers and an unseen foe.
The footage was madness, bodies being torn down where they stood, explosions ringing off in all directions, one of the soldiers ranting about a surprise attack before his cover was attacked and the footage cut out. No shit, heavy casualties…that looks like a massacre…fucking Torfan all over again, and I'm supposed to walk into that unprepared? Christ…
"Everything cuts out after that. No comm traffic at all. Just goes dead…there's nothing." Joker noted somberly.
"Anderson, we need to get down there right now!" Shepard yelled, but Anderson didn't seem to notice.
"Reverse and hold at thirty-eight point five seconds. Status report." He said flatly, too focused on what was frozen on the screen to notice Shepard waving a hand in front of his face.
"Seventeen minutes out, Captain. No other Alliance ships in the area." Shepard nodded, seething with rage and began to move toward the door when Anderson reached out and grabbed her. She turned slightly and looked back at the screen, noticing a large dark spacecraft emanating what appeared to be lightning from tentacle-like protrusions. Thrusters? What the hell is that thing?
"Take us in, Joker. Fast and quiet. This mission just got a lot more complicated." He said, before turning his focus to Shepard. "Grab your gear and meet us in the cargo hold. Tell Alenko and Jenkins to suit up, Commander. You're going in."
Shepard shook her head animatedly, glaring at Anderson. "I can't take Jenkins, sir. He's real antsy around me and he'll be a hazard to himself down there. Let me take Murakami instead."
"Jenkins is the most experienced, we need as much of that as we can muster. You'll lead a small strike team to the beacon, it'll help you move quickly and without drawing undue attention. It's our best chance." Anderson said firmly, letting go of her shoulder. Shepard shrugged him off, moving out the door and downstairs to the elevator.
This just got a hell of a lot more complicated, Anderson. Christ, why do these things always happen when I'm around? Here comes the butcher to save the day…I'm sure no one will possibly blame me for any of this, when all's said and done…and seriously, this fucking elevator. Come on! She thought, pounding repeatedly at the button for the lift.
A/N: Alright, so today was really efficient. I ate, finished my readings, and blitzed out this chapter with the help of the game's script. Kinda want to get this and Eden Prime over with, but Eden Prime will probably be hell to write. It's a mission I've done so many times that I find it boring, and writing about it might be a bit of a drag. Meaning next chapter will likely be next weekend. Which shouldn't be a negative since I finished this one early. :)
I tried to spice the dialogue up a bit and figure out how my Shepard would introduce herself. She's under the impression that she's not very socially capable, but…well, that doesn't appear to be very true, considering her success. Either way, I needed introductions; I didn't feel I could skip them and still respect the Normandy's crew at the same time.
Thank you so much for reading, and to all of you who have favourited or alerted this story (or Flotsam), and to all who have kindly reviewed so far. As usual, any feedback is greatly appreciated (but not required, it warms my heart enough to know it's being read).
Anywho, here's hoping you all have a fantastic week! Next time I post, it'll be Autumn here! :O