EDIT: Fixed the Adam plot hole. Also, there has been some concern that this is going to be Shepard/Kaidan. It's not. It will have bits of, in no particular order: Shep/Kaidan, Shep/Garrus, Shep/Thane, Shep/Liara,, a hinting of Shep/Ashley, and finally a whole lot of Shepard/Jack waaaaay down the road. Kaykay
A voice came out over the loudspeaker, announcing that the ship departing for Mindoir was now boarding. Lillith leaned against the bulkhead and watched people slowly shuffle for the gate. She was due on the far side of the station, well away from this tourist haven, this temple to the civilian. The public areas of Arcturus were, in comparison to the military quarters in the back, and the Parliament chambers on the lower decks, extravagant, posh, and gaudy. Advertisements lined the walls, shops displayed their brightest merchandise, all proudly displaying the Alliance flag, in clear fronts, the less expensive travel necessities spilling out into the walkways.
Normally, Lillith didn't like it here. She didn't like the constant noise and the endless parade of people who took for granted everything she worked so hard to give them. She didn't like that they recognized her. Shouts of 'The Butcher' as common as requests for autographs, and tales of her daring adventures. She tried very hard not to laugh at the latter. She didn't think she'd ever had a daring adventure. Her entire life, since she'd turned sixteen, had been a long, desperate struggle just to stay alive. Today, though, things were different. Today, she'd much rather be among this crowd, carefree and oblivious. She'd found a home on the Tokyo over the last couple of years. She found something close to a friend in Chakwas, and a sense of security in knowing that the crew of that ship wasn't going to suddenly take off. She wouldn't be losing another family.
She glanced down at the patch affixed to her canvas jacket. The N7 on her chest glared back at her; laughed at her. Two weeks before she'd been excited. Happy. Clara had called her, apologized for not being able to make it, and even if she hadn't sounded sincere, Lillith had accepted it gladly. Anderson had brought them to Arcturus, given them a few days shore leave, and then gone to take a look at whatever project they'd come here for. She'd gone to Benning, lost a substantial amount of credits at an underground poker ring, then returned to find her life flipped upside down, again.
Anderson was leaving the Tokyo. Some imbecile captain that probably got his promotion by sleeping with an admiral was taking over. Chakwas was leaving with Anderson. And Lillith was going to be stuck...stuck with an entirely new crew and having to retrain them all on how to be a productive member of the Alliance. It had taken her six months before, and Anderson's crew had been fairly competent, mostly.
The only crew member staying on the Tokyo, besides Shepard herself, was the overly chipper pilot. Lillith rubbed the heels of her hands into her eyes and watched a family of five pass their boarding passes to the tall blond man working the gate. In a blink her family was gone, again. In a blink, everything was turned on its head. In a blink, her life had taken a turn for the worst. She didn't understand it, she refused to accept it. Except, she had to. Anderson was taking a handful of crew members: Jenkins - who had only joined the Tokyo's crew a month prior - Chakwas, Smith-Gonzalez, Gregory, and taking over some top secret, classified project. She'd heard rumors about it, some sort of joint venture with the turians, or maybe the asari, she wasn't sure, but didn't have near high enough clearance to know all the details. And he was leaving her behind. Not sending her to to some new assignment, like most of the remaining crew, but leaving her on the Tokyo. Leaving her with a bunch of idiots who couldn't find their asses with both hands.
The Tokyo was due to depart in an hour or so. She'd been putting off going back to the ship. She knew she had to. She knew that regardless of what she wanted, it was what the brass wanted that mattered. But, she figured, that didn't mean she had to like it. She pushed off the bulkhead with a heavy sigh and shoved her hands in her pockets. She kept her face down, hoping she wouldn't be spotted on her walk out. A few people had noticed her standing where she had been, but a quick glare had sent them shuffling away. That didn't work as well when she was walking. They tended to walk with her, and not look at her face, not noticed that she really didn't want company. Didn't want to give autographs. She scratched at the scar above her eye, a present from a twelve year old batarian on Torfan, and slipped through the security check.
"Commander Shepard, aren't you supposed to be on the other side of the station?" the serviceman standing at the body scan asked.
"Tokyo's in bay 8," she answered curtly, uncomfortable with the slight buzz the scan caused in her head. Every time she passed through them it caused a ringing in her ears that would last for well over an hour. It was a fairly common reaction she'd been told, and over the years she'd just come to deal with it, but it put her in a sour mood nevertheless.
"Yeah, but the clearance briefing's in the lecture hall on deck 4." He held up a data pad and waggled it at her.
"That's well and good, but why would I need to be at a clearance briefing?"
He shrugged and tapped at the pad. "Why? I'm not sure, ma'am. But I've got your name on the list."
She sighed and looked at the pad that the serviceman held out. Sure enough, she was there, her name flashing to be signed in at a briefing on the far side of the station. Her name had been added just an hour before, which was why she hadn't heard of it until now. With a curse she sprinted back through the security scan and towards the lecture hall. She bypassed the elevator and took the stairs three at a time down to deck four. Anderson was waiting for her outside the open doors to the briefing.
"There you are Commander. They were about to start without you."
"I wasn't aware I was slated for the briefing. sir."
Anderson chuckled, "I can't very well have my XO not have clearance to know about the ship she's serving on, now can I?"
"Sir?"
"I've been trying to reach you for days," Anderson continued as they moved along the rows of seats. There were perhaps three dozen people scattered in the hundred plus chairs. Anderson slipped into a seat near the front and Shepard sat directly behind him. "There was a mix up with the paperwork." Shepard saw Jenkins come bounding down the walkway, followed by a dark haired marine, slightly baby faced with slicked back hair. He's eyes clearly told that he was fighting a massive headache. Jenkins sat by himself right up at the front, the other marine slipped into the seat across the aisle from Shepard. She smiled at him, letting her eyes drink him in for a moment.
"Paperwork, sir?" she asked, dragging her eyes away and turning her attention back to the captain.
"I'm not sure what happened, but your transfer got lost in the shuffle. Took some time to get it cleared up." Anderson stood, smiled at her. "Don't worry about it, soldier. Now you get to meet the Normandy."
The Normandy was beautiful. The sleek edges, the bright lights. She was easy on the eyes, and Shepard loved it. Loved that she was here, on this ship. And that Anderson had hand picked a crew that, at least from their records, seemed competent if not perfect. The Normandy was a technological marvel. She'd spent all morning sitting on the railing in engineering, just listening to the engine. It was so quiet.
Adams had gushed over the systems. He had been more than happy to let her poke around, something she'd done often indulged with with on the Tokyo. He'd given her the grand tour, finally letting slip that he, like Anderson, had been part of the project, at least distantly, since the design phases. She hadn't wanted to leave. There had been so much to learn from the drive core. She hadn't even had time to look at the stealth systems.
She strode back onto the ship, having spent the last hour in a debriefing about the turian spectre that would be joining them on the Normandy's maiden voyage. She ran a hand along the bulkhead as she made her way toward the bridge. It still felt strange that it was so small. There was no command chair, barely enough space for the four soldiers that were supposed to man it regularly. She stepped up behind the pilot - a flippant man who she felt would rub her the wrong way - but one that had proved himself more than once to be better than his peers. While she was certain she'd hate him, she was also certain that she could respect him.
The turian was there as well, as she approached. As she came up he turned and left without giving her so much as a passing glance. She kept her eyes out at the stars, even while the pilot bickered with the Lieutenant. It was hard to keep her eyes off him, the baby faced marine from the briefing the week before, but she managed. Anderson ran a tight ship, and she had no intention of breaking his rules over some pretty boy.
"Joker, status report," Anderson barked over the coms. She made a mental note of his call sign, having known a few pilots in her time They were touchy at best, the good ones more than most. And if his record was even half right, this Joker was one of the best.
It was rumored that Joker could enter a Mass Relay and determine where the ship would end up on the other side. That he was able to out maneuver turian fighters in a carrier. She doubted that that was really true, but it made a good story. And in the few days she had known him he had lived up to the hype. He was also fairly quick on the uptake. Ever since Anderson had told her that morning that the turian Spectre was coming aboard she'd known something was up, and this Joker had already sniffed it out as well. Baby-face seemed entirely too trusting.
She had never served on a new class of ship like this before, but common sense said that quick flybys on stable colonies didn't require the presence of a spectre. Some low level turian diplomat she could accept - this project had been heavily funded by the turian meritocracy - but a spectre? Spectre's were the left hand of the council, not some puppet of their home governments. They answered directly to the councilors. They were outside all normal chains of command. They were the sort of creatures that, as a child, she had believed only existed in storybooks.
She heard, through her distracted musing, Anderson ask her to meet him.
"Did'ya catch that, Commander?" Joker asked as the comm went dead.
"I'm to meet with the Captain and the spectre. If I'm not back in 30, make sure they don't send me to the stars in my dress blues. They itch." She turned on a heel before they could answer, and walked away to the sound of Joker's laughter. Maybe they might get along after all.
She returned Jenkins' salute and smiled at Chakwas. They were due a drink.
The spectre was alone staring at stock images of Eden Prime.
There was a video playing, and Shepard recognized it as the tourist bureau ad. Children ran through the streets of the colony. Farm equipment sat in the sun, animals grazed. A couple, dressed in white, sipped lemonade on a bed and breakfast's porch. Shepard shook her head as she watched it. If the equipment was ever left out like that, the elements would soon destroy it. Thousands of dollars down the drain because some farmer was too lazy to take their tractor back to the barn. It made pretty picture for a laid back vacation though. She didn't know much about Eden Prime. It was older than Mindoir, though not my much. They seemed to be doing well, and in her time with the Alliance, Shepard had never had to stop by the colony for anything other than relief work for natural disasters.
"Ah Commander. There are you are. I was hoping to speak with you in private," the turian told her. Nivilus? Nakus? Nihlus? That was it, Nihlus.
"Captain Anderson said he would meet me here. It's probably best to wait for him. I'd hate for you to have to repeat yourself." She knew she was overstepping a bit, but she kept her voice light. She's long ago learned to mask intended offense with a polite tone.
"How much do you know about this colony we are heading to?" he asked, ignoring her.
"Not much," she answered, forced into playing his games, "it's fairly stable. On the smaller side for a colony of its age. It was the first successful attempt by us to colonize another world. I hear there's a place in the main colony that makes a mean brisket."
"Beyond all that, you humans like to raise it up as proof of your success. Of your ingenuity. Of your ability to colonize and protect. You were in the colony on Mindoir when it was attacked by batarian slavers twelves years ago, were you not?"
The smell of blood. The cries of the slaughtered. They rang in her ears. She hadn't had this reaction to watching the transport the week before. Hadn't connected herself to the happy families that were on their way to the rebuilt colony world. Had stopped thinking of the planet as home long ago. Her shoulder began to ache and she rolled it, unable to find the words to answer the spectre. "I was," she finally blurted out, and the act of speaking washed the memories away. "Is that some lame attempt at a threat?"
Nihlus was saved from answering by Anderson's arrival. The captain glanced between his XO and the spectre and closed his eyes. Lillith watched him take a deep breath, and felt the desire to slip into the shadows. It was a reaction she hadn't felt since Torfan, when she'd been called before the admirals. She gathered all her emotions together, again, and pushed them away. Locked them away. The excitement of this ship, of the upcoming tour, had caused her to loosen her reign on them, and she was paying the price as she always did.
"What did you want to speak to me about, sir?" she asked, her voice once again devoid of the turmoil that raged within her, though now only in a small corner of her mind.
"This isn't a simple shakedown run, Shepard," Anderson said, and Lillith almost rolled her eyes.
"I had sort of gathered that, sir. Turian Spectre, full crew. Why couldn't you tell me?" She shoved the hurt at not being told before away with all the other emotions.
"I'm telling you now, Commander. Things weren't finalized until just before we left dock."
"Yes, sir. Why are we going to Eden Prime, then?"
He began to explain. The Prothean artifact, this beacon. It's ability to change the course of human history. Of galactic history. She cast a sideways glance at Nihlus while Anderson spoke, curious as to why they'd let the council in on the secret before they'd at least done some basic tests themselves, but she kept her mouth shut. Anderson was the closest thing she had to a father, but he was still her commanding officer.
Anderson had just started in on mission details. Shepard would take Jenkins and Alenko, Baby-face if Lillith remembered correctly, secure the beacon for transport, and they'd be on their way to the citadel by dinner bell. In all her years with the Alliance, Shepard had never set foot on the space station that was the heart of galactic government, and she had no real desire to. Before she could ask if she'd be overseeing the transfer at the other end, Joker cut in.
"Captain, we're receiving an emergency broadcast from the 212 stationed on Eden Prime. Video and audio are patchy."
"Send it back here, Joker," Anderson answered, taking a step towards the screen despite it still being black.
Static took over before the image resolved. Lillith took a half step away. The sky was red, either from the early dawn or from the attack. Soldiers ran, chaotic, screaming at their cameras. Gun fire crackled in the background. As she watched sd something stabbed the soldier through the chest. She'd been involved in many ground fight. She'd see more than her share of death. What she saw on the screen wasn't a battle though, it was a massacre. The soldier's helmet came off, and the camera rolled with it, across blood stained grass.
It caught a brief view of something in the sky. A creature, perhaps? No, it was too big. A ship? She didn't know anything about the local fauna or technology.
"What was that?" she asked, leaning forward.
They reset the transmission, stopping it on the brief second where the thing was in frame. It was monstrous. It looked like some massive sea monster, descending from the heavens. Bile rose in her throat at the sight.
She had never had such a strong reaction to something unknown before. There had been many a time when something that others had thought was dangerous had turned out to be nothing more that faulty wire in a VI.
This, though. This was evil. Even through the transmission she could feel it radiating. There was nothing good about whatever that was, and every part of her that wasn't trained soldier wanted to run away and hide.
"Suit up, Commander. Grab Alenko and Jenkins. You hit the ground in twenty."
"Aye, aye, sir," she answered, backing out of the room, her eyes still plastered to the screen.