First, she felt a numbing pain pulsing all around her, stirring her from her slumber into a half-awake state. She felt her muscles ache with each breath, signaling the brain that there was some healing to do. Then, she felt the nausea ripple through her as her eyes opened, culminating in a rather graceless bout of vomiting off the side of the medical bed she'd been laid onto at some point in time, her body coursing in dull pain as she'd leant over onto her side to keep from heaving on herself. What a start to the day… she thought, groggily.
Her eyes caught sight of someone with a suction device and an antibacterial cloth cleaning up the mess in front of her while another set of hands held a bucket in front of her face. Shepard pushed out as much of the vile juices that she could before slumping onto her back again, her throat feeling like she'd made out with a thresher maw. Or at least, what I figure it feels like. This might be worse. Ugh.
"Alenko, can you wait outside while I give the Commander a checkup?" she heard the doctor ask. Alenko? Why's he here? Did he get injured? "And don't tell the Captain quite yet, I am sure he's anxious to get a hold of her, but she's off-limits until I am done with her, are we clear?"
She heard the door close as Chakwas approached her with a frown. The older woman gestured for her aide to leave, someone Shepard couldn't really muster up the energy to look at, given her condition. Well, at least the doctor will get some sleep around here. Always nice to have help…
"You had us worried there, Commander. How are you feeling?" Chakwas asked kindly. Shepard did her best to smile, but it likely looked more like a grimace.
"Not great. Like I got thrown at a wall by a giant robot." Shepard groaned, memories of her antics on Eden Prime coming back to her. "And call me Shepard, you've obviously seen me naked. Apparently that means some level of intimacy is in order." She said, grinning as she scooted herself closer to a sitting position, wincing all the way as she felt a headache begin to take shape.
"Well, from the amount of shrapnel you had sticking out of your body, Shepard, I'd say you more likely got thrown into a giant robot." Chakwas noted, taking a seat at her bedside. "In truth, it was mostly minor injuries. A lot of cuts and bruises, alongside exhaustion, dehydration and a minor concussion. Only some minor fractures in your ribs as well, but they're healing nicely at the moment."
"How long was I out for, Chakwas?" she asked, wiping the sleep from her eyes. Not much of a sleep, though. I feel tired as hell. And my head's hurting…
"Oh, nearly fifteen hours. I…have some concerns, Shepard. Something apparently happened with the beacon and…well, your readings are rather normal, but I detected some abnormal beta-waves while you were out, alongside an increase in your rapid eye movement. Normally, that would leave me to believe you were dreaming rather intensely, but it remained consistent for the whole duration, which is…unusual." The doctor stated, face etched with concern.
"Well, I guess…" Shepard started, trying to figure out what she wanted to say. God, my head is just pounding! "I uh…you could say I was dreaming, yeah. More like a nightmare, though. I saw…fuck, I don't know. Death, destruction…nothing's really clear there, but I...I don't know." Shepard babbled, running a hand through her hair, brushing her curly brown locks out of her face.
"Hmmm, I had better add this to my report. You should be healed up in no time, Shepard, but I want to keep you here for observation. Just a few more hours, if you'll allow it." The doctor requested, eliciting a nod from Shepard.
"I don't think I have anywhere to go right now. Not that I feel up to walking, really." She stated, shrugging her shoulders and feeling a ripple of pain shoot through her body. She held in her gasp, biting hard down onto her lip, and scooted back further.
"Also, Shepard, I…I do not mean to pry, but you had some old injuries. I took the liberty to repair your right shoulder, as it hadn't healed quite properly. I hope you'll forgive me for that, but I'm sure it must have been uncomfortable beforehand." Chakwas said, before adjusting her seat to fully face the brunette. "And…you have some rather intense scarring that appears to be old. Again, I do not mean to pry, but…"
"Doc, it's fine. Thanks for fixing my shoulder up. Hurts now, but…well, it always got really stiff before. Maybe that's why." Shepard said, offering Chakwas a reassuring glance. "And the scarring…that's from a lifetime ago. I'm surprised Anderson didn't spill about it on my dossier."
"To be frank, Shepard, there's nothing from before you joined the Alliance's 'UNAS North' academy. It's not something I've ever experienced…normally I have some childhood records to look back on." Chakwas stated bluntly, taking a sip from a small teacup.
"I was held off official records before as a kid. Then I was pulled from Alliance records when I was twelve or so because of some extremist group. I don't think they ever really recovered those records, so that's probably why I'm a blank slate before joining the Alliance." She said, nonchalantly, wishing she could have something to drink that wouldn't terrorize the back of her throat.
Shepard heard the teacup placed harshly back on the desk. "Extremist group?" Chakwas's voice was low, her eyes urging Shepard to clarify. Not something I really feel like talking about right now, doc…not with this headache, at least… she thought holding the side of her head in hopes the pounding would subside a little.
"Note the scars on my back. I'll tell you some other time, but my throat is burning." Shepard groaned, sitting up fully, thankful that she didn't have many abdominal wounds. "And I've got a crazy headache."
The doctor quickly made her way off her chair and over to a nearby cabinet, hastily making a cocktail of fluids, and then dropping two pills in them. "This should help your ailments, Shepard, but you will probably feel a little sluggish."
Shepard nodded, taking the cup of milky liquid from her and downing it in a single go. Odd…it's kind of spicy…She wiped her mouth and smiled at the gray-haired woman. "Thanks, doc. I don't know what I'd do without you."
"Probably walk around with robot parts sticking out of you. Anyway, I'm done here, so I'll go get Anderson, I'm sure he's desperate to speak with you." Chakwas joked, moving toward the door and exiting out of it. To Shepard's dismay, Anderson marched in a few seconds afterward, stopping at the foot of her bed. Not even enough time for me to roll my eyes, and he comes in the room…
"How are you holding up, Commander?" he asked, drawing an annoyed sigh from her.
"I imagine you've got the reports by now, Captain. Probably the medical ones now too. I've got a bad headache and my throat feels like it's made of acid, and my body hurts everywhere. Besides all that, I'm feeling alright, though. All my readings are good, whatever that means." She offered, rolling her eyes a little and glancing over at the teacup Chakwas had been drinking from. My voice is sounding pretty creaky…
"Sounds like the beacon hit you pretty hard, Commander. You sure you're alright?" the older man asked. Shepard would have glared at him if she wasn't already feeling the effects of Chakwas' pick-me-up. I owe you doc, I'm going to have to find out what you splurge credits on…
"I'm fine, I'll live. That mission was a wreck, sir. Did you bring Williams on board and have Chakwas check her out? She was a little roughed up." She muttered, eyeing up the ring of blue detailing near the lip of the cup.
"We did bring her on board. With the loss of Jenkins, I figured we could use a good soldier like her. She's been reassigned to the Normandy." Anderson stated, earning a rare smile from the Commander.
"Good. She deserves it. She really held her own in there, really good marine. Jenkins, though…I feel bad about him. I don't like soldiers dying under my command. Even if they ignore my commands and run out of cover into the open. Just set the tone for the whole thing, you know?" she said, shaking her head slowly. "If I'd just sat him down before the mission and talked things out with him, maybe he'd be alive right now."
"Jenkins wasn't your fault, Shepard. You did a good job. I should have listened to you when you said he didn't seem fit. With everything that was going on, it would have been a wise choice." Anderson said somberly.
"No, no. In the end, you trusted he'd be capable on the ground, and I did too, but…I'm not sure it's right to blame yourself on this. You've been training him for a year and he'd performed well. I understand you not seeing that coming. I regret that you sent him, but I don't blame you." Shepard conceded. "In the end, I blame the damned geth. Intel dropped the ball again, Captain. We had no idea what we were walking into down there. That's why things went to hell, that's why they always go to hell."
Anderson moved over to the left side of her bed and leaned up against a cabinet. "The geth haven't been seen outside the veil in over two centuries. No one could have predicted this."
"Not specifically the geth, sir. They let info leak, they didn't contain the situation. With something as important as this, you need to ensure secrecy, or else things go wrong. The geth probably found out just like any slaver would find out. Catching unencrypted transmissions. I'm sure plenty of information brokers had the drop on us, but the geth, that turian, and that ship…they beat them to it. At least we got the beacon, though." She stated, breathing a sigh of relief before noticing Anderson's downcast expression.
"I won't lie to you, Shepard. Things look bad. Nihlus is dead, a whole earth colony was basically wiped out, the geth are invading, and the beacon…was destroyed. The council will want answers." Anderson said, turning his back to her as her face paled, feeling a little nauseous again.
"What do you mean the beacon's destroyed?" she asked, her voice's calmness hiding the currents of anger boiling beneath it.
"When it pulled you in, there must have been some overload and…it exploded. I'm sorry, Shepard." He apologized, fiddling with a datapad in his hands.
"Well…fuck! I did my job. We went in, neutralized the geth threat and saved some civvies, and when we got to the beacon, it went on the fritz. Not my fault, and if they feel it is, the council can kiss my ass. I didn't do anything wrong. I hope they can see that. Christ…" Shepard said, exasperated at the revelation.
"I'll stand behind your report, Shepard. You're a damned hero in my books." He said, pausing as she glared at him. She'd told him once before not to utter that word to her. "That's not actually why I'm here. It's that turian you and Kaidan saw on Eden Prime…Kaidan recognized him and I want to know if this is the one." Anderson mentioned, showing Shepard a holo of the turian on his datapad. Shepard nodded at the picture, noticing the uncommon fringe and the cybernetics. Although that must be an older picture, his eyes and shoulders were a little different.
"Yeah, that's the one." Shepard replied with certainty. What the hell was that guy doing down there? And does Alenko have the eyes of a hawk or something? Christ…
"His name is Saren, he's a Council Spectre, one of the best in the galaxy. A living legend…but if he's working with the geth, it means he's gone rogue. A rogue Spectre's trouble, and Saren's already dangerous. It doesn't help that he hates humans." Anderson muttered, drawing Shepard's interest.
"He hates humans? Not sure he'd go to Eden Prime and terrorize it because of that. He wanted to destroy the beacon." Shepard said, firmly. "We defused a number of bombs that would have destroyed it back when it was functioning. Unless he got what he wanted from it, which isn't likely…but might have happened…"
"You're right, he allied with the geth to get a hold of the beacon. Perhaps the geth had ways of copying the contents of it…who knows? But it's no coincidence he was there. He thinks humanity is growing too fast, taking over the galaxy. A lot of aliens think that way about us, but most don't do anything about it. Saren has the means, especially now with the geth." Anderson ranted, drawing a nod from Shepard. "You were there just before the beacon exploded. Did it tell you anything, show you anything? A clue that might help us know what Saren's after?"
"Well, I'm not sure." Shepard said, scratching the back of her neck lightly. "Just before I blacked out I…I don't know. I saw some kind of vision or nightmare or something. It was really brutal. There was a lot of death…maybe a war. Whole cities aflame and corpses as far as my eyes could see, and blood…and fear. People were being slaughtered, just…just getting absolutely butchered. I think I saw some synthetics near the end, but it was pretty horrific stuff, Anderson. I don't know what to make of it, it all seems jumbled."
"We need to report this to the Council, Shepard." Anderson noted quickly, before Shepard's hoarse laugh cut him off.
"What? That I had a bad dream? There's nothing to report, Anderson. They'll think I'm crazy, forget it. Leave it out. If we want to take down a Spectre that the Council trusts, we need facts, we need personal accounts that can be verified. Not some nightmare I was given. You need to promise me this, Anderson. If I'm already about to be thrown to the wolves, don't give them any more ammo." She said, her voice gravelly and serious.
"We don't know what information was on that beacon. Lost prothean technology? Blueprints for some ancient weapon of mass destruction? Whatever it was, Saren probably took it, but I know his style, his politics, his reputation. He believes humans are a blight on the galaxy, and this attack was an act of war! He has whatever secrets this beacon had, and an army of geth at his command, and he won't stop until all of humanity is wiped from the face of the galaxy!" Anderson raged, moving back to the foot of her bed. "But he's a Spectre, almost untouchable! He can go anywhere, do almost anything, and that's why we need the council on our side."
"And that's why I'll need you to not mention the stuff from the beacon. I might say that it showed me something, but it was unclear, that I'm working on figuring it out. Don't link that to Saren. Don't bring up his feelings against humanity, that won't win us any brownie points by saying one of the Council's pet Spectres is xenophobic. That will get us laughed out of whatever meeting we get, and he'll walk. No matter what, we should not try to make that link, or agree with it if it's brought up, alright?" Shepard stated, trying to formulate a plan. "Look, you're more worked up about this Spectre than I am, which is crazy… and you're in charge… but we should be reasonable here. The Council won't want to see the Alliance freaking out and having a temper tantrum. Again, they're pissed that their Spectre is dead and they lost a beacon, we don't want them any angrier at us, playing pin the tail on the turian. Play it safe. Please. We need to buy time to expose Saren as a traitor, get proof that he's gone rogue, and then they'll revoke his status. That's the goal. In the end, it's your call, but if we make those connections, bring up my dreams…we'll be dismissed."
Anderson stood and pondered her words for a few moments and tilted his head. "Since when did you become a diplomat?"
Shepard laughed, grinning. "Never been one. An old librarian friend taught me to learn how to fit in, how to play a part and be believable. Besides, the Alliance whined and whined about the Blitz, that didn't win us any points. Neither has expanding so fast, as much as it's not fair to say. They're going to have expectations. We need to rise above them and prove ourselves. Asari are known to play the long game in decisions, and salarians are rational, logical people. We get those two on our side, and it won't matter what the turian councilor says. "
"I'll contact the ambassador and...tell him not to do anything hasty. See if he can get us an audience with the council. He'll want to see us as soon as we reach the Citadel, though. We should probably be getting close by now. Head up to the bridge and tell Joker to bring us into dock when you have the time." Anderson stated, quickly leaving the med-bay. Shepard sunk back against her bed and rubbed her face, wondering if she was dreaming. Nope. This is reality. Fuck. So much for sticking around the med-bay, Chakwas…sorry.
It took her a few minutes to raise the will to swing her legs to the side of the bed and step onto the floor. She felt her legs wobble slightly for a moment, her hand gripping the nearby desk for balance, before she stabilized herself and took some steps over to the far end of the med-bay where she'd spotted her change of clothes. It wasn't a pleasant experience with all the recent wounds, but she managed to get into her casual blues with only a little wincing and a few obscenities.
Still feeling exhausted, as if she hadn't gotten a good night's sleep, she lumbered out of the med-bay, nearly running into a stationary Ashley Williams, who was too busy checking something on her omni-tool to notice the Commander approaching. Shepard stumbled into the nearby wall that Williams had been leaning up against and just stayed there, leaning her forehead against it.
"Uhhh… commander? Are you alright?" the marine asked, holding Shepard's back to keep her balanced. She nodded and waved Williams off.
"I'm fine. Just a headache that's taking its time going away, and a bit of dizziness." Shepard mumbled, pushing herself gently off the wall and turning to face the Gunnery Chief. "Glad Anderson brought you on board."
"Well, I'm glad you're doing alright, considering, Commander. The crew could use some good news after what happened to Jenkins." Williams noted, smiling sadly. "Part of me feels guilty, though. If Jenkins was still alive, I might not be here."
Shepard shook her head; immediately realizing it was a bad idea, she tried to grab Williams' shoulder for balance, but instead grabbed the top of the woman's head. Shepard took a moment to get her legs under her before letting go, drawing an amused smirk from the marine.
"You sure you don't need to see a doctor, Commander? Or even take a nap?" she asked, holding back her laughter. "I mean, you basically bowled over half the husks and geth we fought…not sure I've seen anything like it before."
"I should be fine. And honestly, Williams, from how you handled yourself down there, I'd petition Anderson relentlessly until you were reassigned here. I could only do what I did because you and Alenko gave me perfect cover fire and gave me room to breathe. You belong here." She said, smiling at the blushing Gunnery Chief. "How are you holding up? Things were pretty rough down there…are you okay?"
"I've seen friends die before…it comes with being a marine. But to see my whole unit wiped out…and you never get used to seeing dead civilians. Things would have been a lot worse if you hadn't shown up." The marine said, her voice more restrained than Shepard had heard it before. Though I'll admit, I haven't really talked to her off the field, so…but I know that tone…
"Williams, you helped a lot down there. We couldn't have gotten to that beacon without you, and you got some civilians to safety. Not often I see someone who represents the Alliance ideology so closely." Shepard noted, taking deeper breaths to prepare for the trek up to the cockpit.
"Thanks, Commander. I have to admit, I was a little worried about being assigned to the Normandy. It's nice when someone makes you feel welcome." Williams stated, looking a little relieved.
"I think you're going to fit in here just fine, Williams. Seeing as I'm the XO, if you ever need someone to talk to about…well, anything…I have an open door policy." Shepard said, slowly making her way toward the staircase. "I need to go speak with Joker, so I'll catch you later."
"Goodbye, Commander." Williams replied clearly, returning her focus to her omni-tool as Shepard slowly and carefully ascended the stairs.
The citadel was a masterpiece, the crown jewel of the galaxy; she hadn't felt an experience so new and exhilarating as flying into the Citadel, not since her first windowed shuttle trip in Ottawa as a child. She marveled at the different wards, aglow in light and life even from the distance she witnessed them from. Hundreds of ships were coming in and out of the Citadel's docks, allowing her a glimpse of the familiar Turian vessels, as well as some Asari, Salarian, and a number of unknown types that mystified her. It's truly the cradle of galactic life…Even docking had been exciting. Unfortunately, that all seemed a distant memory to Shepard from the moment she heard words coming out of Ambassador Udina's mouth.
"This is an outrage! The council would step in if the geth attacked a turian colony!" she heard the ambassador yell as they approached his office. Anderson led Shepard, Alenko and Williams into the room and settled themselves in a nook, just outside the range of the vid conference.
"The turians don't found colonies on the borders of the Terminus Systems, Ambassador." The salarian Councilor piped up as the asari gave a half nod.
"Humanity was well aware of the risks when you went into the Traverse." Shepard was slightly entranced at the asari's facial pattern, and kept her gaze on it in hopes that she'd block out Udina's rambling. The idiot may just have cost us a neutral meeting…Christ…
"What about Saren? You can't just ignore a rogue Spectre. I demand action!" the diplomat yelled at the three holographic forms in front of him, slamming his fist down on his palm.
The turian Councilor shook his head and spoke up. "You don't get to make demands of the Council, Ambassador."
The asari Councilor once again nodded in agreement, appearing almost bored. "Citadel security is investigating your charges against Saren. We will discuss the C-Sec findings at the hearing. Not before."
At that, the transmission cut off, leaving the Normandy crew alone with a fuming mess of a human Ambassador. Udina spun around to look at the four and huffed angrily, looking very much like he'd taken a severe diplomatic beating.
"Captain Anderson, I see you brought half your crew with you." Udina sneered, sounding entirely too disgusted for Shepard's liking. First impression: Not good.
"Just the ground team from Eden Prime, in case you had any questions." Anderson noted civilly, earning the ground team a brief glare from the Ambassador before his focus was back on the Captain.
"I have the mission reports. I assume they're accurate?" he asked through clenched teeth, pacing across a small tract of his office before deciding to move behind his desk and it down.
"They are. Sounds like you convinced the Council to give us an audience." Anderson stated, appearing oblivious to Udina's bad mood. Why the hell is Anderson grinning like that?
"They were not happy about it. Saren's their top agent, they don't like him being accused of treason." Udina sulked, drawing a sigh from Shepard. It's just too much…he's like a caricature of what other species think we are.
"Then you should have acted like a politician, Ambassador. You don't make too many friends by criticizing your superiors, I should know." Shepard blurted out, annoyed at the man's lack of tact.
"Commander, you've already done more than enough to jeopardize your candidacy for the Spectres." The man said coolly, glaring at her. "And now humanity has faced a setback at your hands. At least I can take pleasure knowing your sterling reputation will be bolstered by this setback. Eden Prime was a chance to prove you could get the job done. Instead, Nihlus ended up dead and the beacon was destroyed!"
"Udina, Shepard didn't kill Nihlus, Saren did. And she didn't destroy the beacon, it did that on its own." Anderson interjected, earned a nod from Shepard.
"Ambassador Udina, I got the job done, whatever of it that was possible." She stated, walking slowly up to his desk and leaning over it. "Just like how I'm going to have to get this job done despite the handicaps you've given us. I advise that during the audience, you say as little as possible if you want humanity to be seen as a capable species because your representation of us was childish. We need them to listen to us, not just hear us, Ambassador."
Shepard kept Udina's glare until the older man turned his eyes to Anderson. "Captain, I need to have a word with you in private about a few things before the hearing. The rest of you can get to the Citadel Tower, top level. I'll make sure you don't have to wait too long for clearance. Try not to destroy anything." He grumbled, swiftly leaving his chair and leading Anderson out of his office.
"And that's why I hate politicians." Williams muttered, crossing her arms.
Shepard remained at the desk for a moment, hoping silently that the hearing would go much better than Udina's conference call, but she had a bad feeling about it. A hand on her shoulder snapped her out of her reverie, a concerned looking Alenko looking conflicted.
"What's on your mind, LT?" Shepard asked mutely, straightening her posture slightly and stretching her shoulders.
"Do you, uh…always talk to your superiors like that?" Kaidan chuckled, though she could easily hear the hints of concern in his voice.
"When it's necessary, Alenko. Right now, that guy is the person who can make sure Eden Prime wasn't for nothing. If he's too invested in his pity party, he won't earn any respect from the Councilors." She said, earning a quirked eyebrow from Williams. "Look, we need to be taken seriously, and we can't do that if we're really emotional, justified or not. Politics is half acting and half manipulation, and Udina's doing none of that for us. We only have eye witness testimony, which doesn't stick, and it won't win the Council away from Saren. We need more than that, and we don't have it, so we're already up shit creek. We need to show that we're mature and can be reasonable and neutral in a crisis. We do that, we might get some support. Believe me, I'm pissed as shit about Eden Prime, but it does no good airing that to the Council. Not right now."
"I get you Commander. It's just, you know. Alliance chain of command and all. The Ambassador's not Alliance, but he's kind of sitting at the top." Alenko noted thoughtfully.
"LT, he might be the top of US, but he's not the top authority in the galaxy. Like it or not, the Council are our superiors in this scenario, and if he's disrespecting them, that looks bad on all of us. He's our only voice. I'll gladly speak up and let him know he's doing a shit job if that's what's needed. Chain of command means nothing if you're not capable of performing your duties properly, and holding onto chain of command like a lifeline tends to cause disasters like Eden Prime, Torfan, Elysium…the list goes on." Shepard noted, moving toward the door. "Anyway, let's get some sightseeing before heading up. I'm sure Udina will accidentally forget to give us clearance for a while."
The trio passed through the embassies and out into the presidium, Shepard smiling as she basked in the beauty of the place. Everything's so sleek and elegant…and those fountains! And those ponds! What I'd do to dive into one of them…
"It's real peaceful here." Alenko noted, moving up to join Shepard at the railing, Williams quick in tow. Shepard nodded as she wistfully recalled swimming with her sister in the Ottawa River as children. I wonder if they let people swim…you'd think they'd have a beach somewhere…
"Yeah. Whoever designed this place has a sense for tranquility. I mean…look at all this water, and the trees! There's so much nature here…so many flowers and plants I've never seen before." Shepard openly mused, taking interest in a tree across the water that seemed to have different types of leaves throughout; some smaller ones coloured a dusty pink while the rest were much larger and coloured vibrant red. I should find out what kind that is…I think Heather would love it!I wonder if she's ever been here before…
"Didn't take you for a botanist, ma'am." Williams noted, sounding surprised.
"I'm not, but I find it interesting to see what grows where. In the end, they're usually different solutions to the same kind of problems. I can appreciate that…and it doesn't hurt that they're nice to look at." She laughed, pushing off from the railing and motioning the group toward a walkway leading across the pond. Shepard grazed against the rail and reached out her hand toward the spray of water erupting from the fountain beneath them, feeling giddy as it wet her hand.
Shepard walked slightly ahead of the duo, content that they had hit it off somewhat, the two marines sharing stories and commenting on the pros and cons of the sightseeing they were accomplishing. For her own part, she was just happy to see so many other species living their lives, allowing her mind to drift away from the previous day's destruction. Her headache was fleeting, often beginning abruptly only to fade away less than a half hour later. Makes for a hell of a nuisance, but at least I'm feeling fine right now, and I've got some meds in case it gets real bad.
"I can hardly tell the animals from the aliens." Williams noted with what could best be described as spiteful wonder, bringing Shepard's attention back to the duo, Kaidan sputtering and looking around nervously. She gestured for the two to follow her to a more discreet location.
"First time around aliens, Williams?" Shepard asked, hoping none of the nearby turians had heard her, and praying that Williams wasn't a Terra Firma member. Christ, if she is, I don't know…that's one hell of a leap of logic, Shepard…what, next person you see holding a knife is a serial killer?
"Uh, yes ma'am. I've spent basically all my life in Alliance space or groundside in small colonies. Haven't really had the chance, not that I was looking forward to it." Williams stated abashedly, realizing it likely wasn't the best idea to say something like that in a space station predominantly filled with non-humans.
Best to try and use some empathy here. Maybe some humour, too… Shepard considered. She just doesn't know any aliens yet. "I made similar mistakes as a kid. My sister would tell me all about these crazy sounding alien races, and I'd keep telling her that she was wrong, that none but the turians sounded real. The asari seemed a bit like medusas, and the hanar like jellyfish, and the…the elcor…well, you get the point." Shepard stated, stammering slightly at the end as her face blushed, remembering her old comparisons as a child that had often riled up her sister.
"The elcor, ma'am?" Alenko asked, curiously.
"I was thirteen! They seemed a lot like…I thought they sounded like space elephants." She said defensively, feeling like her cheeks were on fire, ignoring the laughter of the two marines. "It's not funny! Anyways, Williams, they're just like us, deep down."
"That's worse than me! I'm sorry, Commander." Williams stated, chuckling to herself. "Still, I kind of find it hard to believe. I mean, they look so different, and their cultures…"
"Cultures are just ways of how we act and think. Earth has dozens, thousands across its history. Many similar to other species, Williams. That's not the important stuff. They fear, they hate, they hope, they love. They want from life what we want, generally. You get to know some, you visit a group of them and strike up a conversation, and you might be surprised." Shepard stated, looking back at a sheepish looking Gunnery Chief and a thoughtful looking Alenko.
"Thought you would have been a bit more…hostile toward other species, given your background, ma'am." The lieutenant stated, Shepard's teeth grating at the insinuation. To his credit, it seems he knew he made a mistake as soon as the words left his mouth…did he want to talk to me in the med-bay earlier? Was this what he wanted to bring up? No, probably not, don't be paranoid, Shep...she thought as she wheeled around and faced him fully, unable to mask the bubbling anger from her body language entirely.
"And what exactly is my background Alenko?" her voice was dead calm, almost icy in tone as her eyes bored into his. It was an innocent question…maybe…just calm down Shep. No need to get riled up on an empty stomach and with no hours of sleep, you might say something stupid.
"I just meant…with Elysium and Torfan and all." He said, his voice trailing off in the last few syllables, shrinking slightly backward, away from Shepard as he spoke.
The Commander sighed and rubbed her face, looking up at a bird flying overhead. Focus…calm…"You think the only dead people there were humans and batarians, Alenko? I don't know what you've both heard about that mess, but I want you to forget it. The less you think you know about it, the less you talk about it, the better we'll get along."
"Aye aye, ma'am." Williams said quickly, considering saluting but thinking better of it. "So…you have a sister?"
Shepard heard her omni-tool beep, and opened a message from Anderson telling the three to get to the Citadel tower as soon as possible. "Yeah, let's head off to the tower now, and I'll tell you about her along the way." She started, gesturing for the three to follow her, which amused her since she was only following the blatant signs all over the walls. "So imagine a scrawny little redhead, freckles everywhere, full of energy…"
A/N: Figured I'd put this up now, have been fairly productive school-wise all weekend, and I've finished an outline for the next chapter. Thus, this gets uploaded. :)
The Citadel! Hurray! Udina! Booooo!
Welp, hopefully this chapter was enjoyable. ZOUNDS of dialogue. But...when people are really moving, or doing anything but talking, it's a bit hard to do anything else. Tried to stick with what went on in the game, but tried to spice it up in a way or two as well.
Thank you to everyone who's been reading this, and to everyone checking back on Flotsam. Honestly, it's been a very thrilling and confusing week, seeing so much activity on my old fic. Kinda flattering, so thanks go out to all of you who've made the effort to catch up on the prequel and get a better idea of who my Shep is :) Makes me feel it was totally worthwhile :D
And thank you to all who've been favouriting/alerting the story and writing reviews/giving feedback, you all make this so much easier than it would normally be.
So thank you all, I appreciate all the support, it's been kind of overwhelming. :P Have yourselves a good week!