The rain came down in sheets. Visibility had been poor to begin with; the trees too dense to get a very clear picture of what was going on below. They'd held the base for the last three hours. Not long after they had arrived, gotten past the few soldiers that were guarding the place and secured the drone in this high-tech game of capture the flag, orders had come through from the Villa. They were not to return to the base. They were to leave the drone where they found it, secure their position, and wait for reinforcements. The reinforcements, if Lillith was going to make a guess, would be the rest of the recruits. She'd expected a few of them up here already. She had, in truth, expected them to all be fighting each other to get to the base. Instead, it had just been the four of them, Lillith in command of the three N1s.

Who now took her orders without question.

The first mile out from the villa had been the three soldiers, who had gone through this training together, just the month before, laughing and attempting to take control of the group from her. It had been a subtle undermining, and had she not been expecting it, she probably wouldn't have noticed it. But she had expected it. And she had noticed it. And they hadn't been terribly pleased with her when she told them to shut up, remember their orders that she was in charge, and to pick up the pace. She'd yelled at them more than once when they had lagged behind. They had had to take more than one break because, despite being the best of their class – or so they said, they hadn't been able to keep up with her. Jones had almost given them away when they'd first neared the base, he had been so out of breath.

She knew she kept a hard pace, that the miles they had traveled were long and rough, but they were part of the N-school. Despite having had a full nights rest, upon receiving their new orders her team had breathed a sigh of relief. They'd looked drained, and despite having been up now for over twenty-four hours, she'd told Jones and Casey to get some sleep and then taken Kipling with her to stand watch. The automated security systems that she had disarmed as part of their plan to get in here were reinstated, and from there it was a simple matter for her to watch the perimeter on her omni-tool while walking the parapet, and have Kipling guard the 'enemy' troops they had taken prisoner.

Upon capture, the Alliance soldiers holding the base had been shocked, but had quickly told her that they were now at her disposal. She had met the requirements of the assignment, and they would help her and her team watch for friend or foe that might approach. She had laughed at them, locked them in one of the empty offices and begun locking all entrances.

Which they should have done in the first place. Especially since it wasn't a huge leap to think that they would know that they were coming.

She wondered exactly how it was that the N-school got its reputation of being the best of the best, the elite forces, the cream of the Alliance crop. Because to her it didn't seem like this was any more difficult that basic. She was more tired, certainly, and hungrier, but if a soldier couldn't function while tired and hungry in her opinion they should have stayed a civilian.

She eyed the trees, certain she'd caught movement. Other than the rustling on the leaves in the wind and the rain, she didn't see anything though. She glanced down the parapet and sighed. She'd probably get a better view from the cameras, but she didn't want to leave the perimeter unguarded. The security office was too far away to effectively launch a defense with only four people. It would have been difficult even if she used the 'enemy' combatants at her disposal. She wiped the rain from her eyes, tucked her damp hair, which had fallen loose of the tight bun at the base of her skull, behind her ears and leaned against the walls. Her eyes were drawn, again, to the tree line.

In her minds eye she saw the ships landing in the school yard. Heard the screams of her family, her friends, her neighbors. She watched the crops burn.

"Halt! This base is held by the Alliance. Declare yourselves!" she shouted, hoping to be heard over the wind. It was unlikely, but if she shot friendlies, that would be the end of her chances here, more than likely.

Her comm crackled.

"This is 1st Lieutenant Baker. We're here to help."

"Serial, Lieutenant." It was a risk, using that curt tone with a superior, but if she let them approach and it wasn't Baker, it would be even worse.

Baker called back his numbers. She brought up her omni and checked them against the Alliance database. Few people were aware that it was possible to do such a thing, were unaware that with the exception of deep cover operatives, with some of the darker operations, everyone's name, serial and rank were available a single click away to every service member with the Alliance.

The numbers matched. The photo attached to the record didn't match anyone she remembered from the long hours spent in that tiny room waiting for her assignment.

That didn't really mean anything. It was possible that Baker had succeeded in taking control of the fire team from the recruit. She stood, indecisive, for only half a second before responding.

"This is 2nd Lieutenant Shepard. We've succeeded in securing the base. Approach, but keep your hands where I can see them."

She changed channels, woke, much to her annoyance, all three of the N1s assigned to her, and called them to her location. The four soldiers were already halfway to the base before they arrived. If they hadn't been friendly, she'd probably have been dead except that her cloak had kept her mostly hidden. It didn't work well in the rain, but it was better than nothing.

"Tim-meh!" Casey called down to the approaching group, and the one Shepard assumed was Baker raised a hand in greeting.

"You been keeping her on her toes?" Baker called back, and the three N1s chuckled.

"More like she's been keeping us on ours. She pushed us all in line! If she could, she'd bring us up on charges for falling asleep!"

"Bet she's was sleeping against the side of the wall earlier," Baker chuckled, showing his hands and grinning at her. She didn't smile back. She didn't like being talked about like she wasn't even there. She especially didn't like it when she wasn't sure of the intentions of half the conversationalists.

"Hasn't slept a wink. Haven't seen her snag a stim, either. She's gonna beat you in seconds, Tim."

Baker looked up at her, showing her his empty hands, and regarded her with deep appraisal. She'd been looked at like that a lot since joining the Alliance. She generally got looks like that just before they promoted her, or after she'd completed a task they'd assumed was impossible. No one had expected much from a colony kid. She just wished she could feel some pride for beating their expectations, rather than thinking that they'd simply set those expectations too low.

"Permission to enter the base, Lieutenant."

"He's an N2," Jones whispered, her eyes sparkling with laughter, "I'd let him in."

Shepard glared at the N1, and radioed the base. The four in front of her were the second fire team, and now that she looked she recognized the sulking brunette in the back. She let them in, where Baker congratulated her, released her 'prisoners' with a deep belly laugh, and told them to report back to the villa. After she got an hour's sleep.

She refused to let him know how thankful she was to lie down. The hour was barely enough to keep her upright, and if anything she felt worse after she woke up, but if the next few weeks were all going to be like this, she needed to get used to the short sleeping hours.

She'd heard rumors, and they were being proven right. The more so on the trip back, when the N1s easily kept pace with her. They were quieter on their return journey as well. They complained less.

They hadn't gone more than a quarter mile before it dawned on her that everything up until Baker had shown up had been part of the test. And if the way they joked with her was any indication, she had a feel she'd passed.

"So, I hear David Anderson was supposed to be coming to the villa for part of this training session, but he got called up by the council for something," Kipling said as they neared the tree line.

"Damn aliens are such a pain in the ass. I'd been hoping to meet him. First N7. The man's a damned legend," Jones replied, sounding a little star struck.

"He's just a man," Shepard told them.

"Aw, man, Shepard! Don't tell me you've met him!" Kipling groaned.

"Of course not. But I've yet to meet a soldier that is anything more than human. We all have the same weaknesses, the same frailties. The difference between him and us is just what he did with it. His ability to push passed it. We're all just human."

"Whatever, Shepard," Jones chuckled, "when we went through our training, not a single one of us actually secured the base. And, what? Kip, you were the only one that didn't lose command of your squad, right? I got cuffed by mine. I'd put money on you outshining Anderson. Good money."

Shepard remained silent as they broke into the school proper. There were people around this time, more than she'd seen since the shuttle had first dropped her off.

They were approached by a woman, her light armor shining in the light. She nodded at the three N1s, "Get cleaned up, hit the mess. Debrief'll be in the morning." The three nodded and trotted off toward the showers. "Those three are pretty good, really. Heard they fell asleep on you though," she continued after they'd left. She waited for Shepard to reply, but the an answer wasn't forthcoming, she chuckled and pointed toward the outdoor firing range to the west. "They're going to have you stripping the rifles for teams leaving in the morning. Get them all cleaned, and reassembled by 0400. I wouldn't expect any help, you're breaking villa records."

She didn't want for Shepard to acknowledge that she understood, just turned on a heel and headed back into the maze of buildings. Shepard counted to four, and headed for the range.

She was hungry. She was exhausted. Field stripping weapons sounded like heaven – she'd be able to sit down.