SSV Cambrai, Mass Relay Transit

Day 1, 0420

"Morning, sleeping beauties…"

Murphy chuckled at his own joke, and leant back against the war room table as Andersen and Alec wandered in, looking variously alert, variously dishevelled, and variously… awake. Alec had the expression of a rudely-woken bear as he stretched his shoulders and straightened his crew shirt. Andersen looked like he'd at least slept, but no less grumpy, pushing a flick of blonde hair up off his brow.

"Were the sirens really necessary, sir?" the engineer frowned - the sound of four-in-the-morning alarms had only just stopped echoing through the halls.

"Probably not," Murphy shrugged, simply.

Andersen sighed, and Alec gave an annoyed rumble, but the both of them just stood by, arms folded dutifully behind their backs. Carter was certainly the bigger of the two, but side by side, the captain couldn't help noticing how much his engineer had squared up in the last few months. They'd make a proper marine out him yet, he noted, with another slight chuckle.

"Alright…" the captain began, finally. "Ship's en route to the Silean Nebula. Asari colony world of Nevos."

He swiped the console behind him, and an image of the planet flickered into life on the table, blue-green and shimmering, not so different to their own homeworld…

"Another mission, sir?" Alec grunted.

"…of sorts," Murphy replied, after a moment's thought. "Not a combat op. We're dropping supplies into the capital city, Astella. Asari garrison on the edge of the city's waiting to take delivery. Arms, armour, ammo…"

"All that mess in our cargo bay?" the marine laughed. "They're welcome to it."

"Well, quite," he nodded. "I don't want trouble on this one, boys. We get down there, drop the supplies, and get out for rendezvous with the Nairobi."

There was silence for a moment, as the three men exchanged glances around the darkened war room. The Cambrai's core was throbbing gently in the background, sending a shiver through the hull as it worked away at maintaining the FTL corridor. Finally, after a few seconds of quiet, it was Andersen who spoke up:

"…seriously?"

"Hell no," Murphy retorted, with a single, harsh laugh. "With our luck, I'm expecting shit to kick off as soon as we hit atmo."

"Well. Makes more sense outta why the hell I'm here," Alec grinned.

"Quite… doubt it's escaped your notice, we're missing a lot of personnel right now, especially up top. I'm laid up on doctor's orders, Irving and Sarah are still resting up from Kahje… Rilum's handling the logistics on our drop, I've put him to work already."

"Kamur?" Andersen piped up.

"Handling security on the ship."

"Which… would imply security on the ground."

"Well, quite."

Alec chuckled, seemingly grasping half of the issue at hand as a look of comprehension passed over Andersen's features.

"I want you two managing the handover on the ground," Murphy continued. "Make it quick, keep it safe."

"Wait… me too?" Alec frowned, chuckle dying away quickly.

"You're an N7," the captain shrugged, as if that had almost been forgotten. "Leadership comes with the billing, doesn't it?"

"Err… yessir," the marine nodded, coughing slightly.

"That said… Andersen, I'll let you do the talking. Your contact's a Captain Tarenna, local battalion. Once the supplies are squared away with her, we get out quick-sharp, okay?"

"Noted, sir. What's our ETA?"

"Breakin' atmo just before midday, so you've got a while to prepare. Take whoever you like that's fighting fit, and if you need a third party for dealing with the asari, Aeryn's about. So's the justicar, she wouldn't let me send her back to bed."

"Alright… any intel on the drop site? Up high, covered…?"

The two N7s both looked at their colleague, with vaguely impressed expressions.

"Unknown," Murphy replied, after a moment. "Just got co-ordinates for the edge of the city. Prepare a couple contingencies."

"No plan survives contact with the enemy," Alec piped up, looking quite pleased with himself for remembering the quote.

"That'd be why you're there, big guy…" Andersen chuckled, already glancing down at his omni-tool.

"Indeed…" the captain agreed, straightening up from the table. "Now, we've get plenty of time to prepare for this one. Get some rations down your necks, ready up the first few guards, and pay the armoury a visit."

With a nod to them both, Murphy rose from the table, stepped around Alec's shoulder, and made for the door. Over his shoulder he called, quite casually:

"Chief, that means you! Dax says he's got something special with your name on it!"

"Chief?" Alec grunted, turning around. "The old man ain't here, sir."

"Service Chief Carter," Murphy grinned, "I believe I was talking to you."

He turned on a beat, walking backwards towards the door as he dug into his pocket, pulled out a set of service chief's bars, and tossed them at Alec's chest. The marine caught them, looking stunned, as the captain called out, cheerfully:

"Get it done, gentlemen! We're just getting started here!"