Recap: As his consciousness faded he could hear Alenko going, "We have injured, need immediate evac." He could feel two three fingered hands hoist him up. He then heard Ash go, "Ghost don't you dare die on me!" She sounded pretty scared. Then he went unconscious. After that the visions started up again and replayed into an eternal loop.
Now
Anderson was in the Normandy's medbay as he looked on at the figure that the ground team had brought in from. He had not thought he would see this person again after Torfan. Anderson had heard that he was still active in the Terminus, in fact the Alliance was still trying to find Ghost and recruit him into the military. Unfortunately, Ghost had been incredibly illusive. He could remember how some recruiters had been lucky enough to find him, or perhaps he had let them, and tried to recruit him. He always gave the same answer: No. When more of the jaded or serious ones tried to force him into joining, Ghost would break one of their arms and any escorts would be beaten down fast. Now Ghost was unconscious in his medbay. Anderson looked at the medical officer, Doctor Karin Chakwas.
"Make sure he is well taken care of doctor. He needs to explain what happened on Eden Prime." Anderson told Chakwas.
"Yes Captain. He is in good hands." Chakwas responded as she got to work examining Ghost. That was when Nihlus, Ashley, and Kaiden walked into the medbay to see Anderson watching Chakwas start removing Ghost's outfit. When she removed his mask, everyone had various thoughts to seeing his face.
'So that is what he looks like' Anderson and Kaiden thought
'So that is the face of Aria's spectre equivalent.' Nihlus thought to himself. The spectres as well as the Council had been looking for Ghost since they had heard his reputation. The councilors had various reasons for seeing Ghost. The turian councilor, Sparatus, was looking for Ghost to see what was so special about the human. He had been skeptical about the stories of the human that freed people taken by slavers. The salarian councilor, Valern, wanted him taken to be studied. He knew that Ghost was no ordinary human with his tactics and biotics along with the things he did. He also knew Ghost had someone helping him behind the scenes. The question was who? With the asari councilor, Tevos, he could not find out. He could only guess why she would want to find Ghost.
'Wow, so that is what Ghost looks like.' Ash thought to herself. To her, he was handsome in a soldier like way.
Chakwas was now removing his armor and cloak. The man before her was well built, like he had trained everyday. He had been wearing black fatigues so it was easy to get his armor. Chakwas had now been researching Ghost's blood, mind, and anything else. As she looked at his blood work, she noticed something strange. She turned to Anderson.
"Captain Anderson, look at this." Chakwas said to Anderson. Anderson walked over a saw what looked to be Ghost's genetic structure that Chakwas put on the overhead monitor.
"What am I looking at here doctor?" Anderson asked confused.
"His genetic structure is slightly different than others. It has additions that seem to make his biotics stronger, his muscles more durable and stronger, even helps increase his intellect and learning capability." Chakwas explained to everyone. They all turned to look at Ghost, shocked at this news. From what it sounds like the guy was supposed to be some kind of super soldier.
"Did he go through genetic therapy or something." Kaiden asked.
"No, by looks of this, it has been in his DNA structure for a very long time. Probably at a very young age, he might not know it himself." Chakwas continued to say. Now Nihlus knew that Valern would definitely want to study him in some lab, an STG base most likely.
"What I do not understand is this sequence of genomes in his DNA right here." Chakwas said she pointed toward a screen with Ghost's DNA showing. What she was pointing at was an odd anomaly in his DNA structure. It had actually surrounded his DNA structure and looked similar to a synthetic structure meant to hold it together or protect it. It was really strange. That was when Ashley noticed Ghost had started moving around almost as if...
"Doctor! Doctor Chakwas! I think he's waking up." Ashley said and everyone turned to look at Ghost who's eyes had finally opened.
"Ughh." Shepard groaned. He felt terrible and exhausted.
"How are you feeling Ghost?" Chakwas asked him. Shepard froze, then quickly turned to see the 3 who were on Eden Prime with him, some middle-aged lady with grey hair and Anderson. He then realized that the doctor had asked him a question.
"I feel shitty. Who are you?" Shepard said. In response he got a flick on his forehead.
"Watch your language here! You can call me Doctor Chakwas." she said after hitting him.
"What was that for crazy lady!" Shepard said rubbing his forehead. Flicks didn't hurt much but they were annoying on the head if enough force was used. Chkwas responded by kicking him in the shin for the crazy lady comment.
"The flick was for cursing, the kick was for the 'crazy lady' comment, and you also haven't told us your name." Chakwas answered, explained and stated at the same time. Shepard was nursing his shin. Who knew a small lady like her could hurt him like that?
"Okay fine Doc, I apologize for 'crazy lady' comment." Shepard said. Chakwas eased up on that.
"I'm not apologizing for my language though, your are not my mother." Shepard said with a cheeky grin. That was when Chakwas got out a needle of lemon juice and a scalpel.
"It was a joke Doc! Just a joke!" Shepard said quickly scooting away from what he wanted to call 'Doctor Sadist'
"Good boy. Now whats your name?" Chakwas said putting the needle and scalpel away. Anderson and the others were looking at how fast the situation changed in shock. They had never seen Chakwas act like that to anyone. Must be because Ghost was non-alliance personnel.
"You took my mask off huh? Well you can call me Shepard if you want." Shepard told them. Anderson was now shocked at that name. that was one of the few names of people who had not been found after the Mindoir attack. Over the years the Alliance had tried to narrow down Ghost's identity with his connection to Mindoir. The little boy John Shepard was on the list of suspects since no one had seen him since.
'So he was a little boy on Mindoir when it was attacked. The things he must have gone through.' Anderson thought to himself. He was saddened that the man in front of him had lost so much at a young age. Other thoughts were whirling in his mind though. Where had he been all this time? Why didn't he enlist, it would have helped early on? How did he survive? Anderson schooled his features for a debriefing.
"Shepard we need you tell us what happened on Eden Prime." Anderson said to Shepard.
"Well Anderson..." Shepard then continued on to why he was on Eden Prime, how his ship was destroyed, running into Kaiden and Ashley, then saving Nihlus. After that he explained what happened with his fight with Saren. Shepard noticed Anderson's face gained a dark look.
"How long was I out anyway?" Shepard asked.
"Around 15 hours Shepard." Chakwas stated.
"Its my fault. When I approached the beacon I must have set off some kind of security field. You had to push me out of the way." Ashley said. Shepard stared at her and noticed she seemed to be beating herself up over it. He decided to alleviate her of her guilt.
"Look, you didn't know what was going to happen, we can't change it so there is no use feeling guilty over it. Besides I'm fine. Though I think it would have been better if you took me to a hospital on Eden Prime instead of here. At the least I wouldn't have to deal with her." Shepard said pointing to Chakwas. Ashley blushed and smiled a little with how Shepard had taken it easy on her when he could snapped at her. That was when Shepard noticed Chakwas had taken out the scalpel again.
"Chakwas, it was a joke to cheer her up! Come on!" Shepard said a little nervous. That was when the needle came out.
"Come on Doc you can't take a joke?" Kaiden said. Chakwas then turned to him with an eerie look in her eyes.
"On second thought, what Shepard said was kind of rude." Kaiden said looking scared. Shepard gave him a betrayed look as Chakwas turned to him. She then approached Shepard slowly. Without warning Shepard freaked.
"STAY BACK!" He yelled and used stasis on her. Everyone looked at him in shock.
"What? You saw what she was doing. Anyone else and I might have killed them." Shepard defended himself. Anderson couldn't help but sigh. Shepard had not changed at all with his antics.
"Shepard, did the beacon show you anything before it exploded." Nihlus asked.
"Yea actually it did. It showed me... something a vision." Shepard said uncertain.
"A vision? A vision of what?" Anderson asked him. Shepard was quiet at first. In that time the stasis on Chakwas had ended and she settled on glaring at Shepard, but he didn't notice. Everyone was starting to worry when he spoke up.
"I saw... I'm not sure what I saw. Death? Destruction? Synthetics killing organics. I think I saw something about the prothean's demise." Shepard said shocking all of them.
"Hmmm. We will have to report this to the council." Anderson said.
"And what? Tell them I had a bad dream? You know they won't believe a human, much less me Anderson." Shepard said making everyone silently agree with him.
"Maybe we can get them to revoke Saren's spectre status." Anderson said hopeful.
"Yeaaaa. I'm not going Anderson. I have a condition." Shepard said. Everyone looked at him concerned now.
"What do you have maybe Shepard?" Chakwas asked him out of concern.
"I'm allergic to politicians and their bullshit." Shepard said with all seriousness.
"You are going to go testify do you understand." Chakwas said pulling out a thermometer from out of nowhere.
"Yes ma'am." Shepard said standing ram rod straight scared of what Chakwas would do to him if he said no. Everyone was laughing or snickering at him now at his reaction to Chakwas' fear tactic. Looking at the 2 of them was like looking at a mother and son interacting with each other. Anderson decided too take things to the Citadel.
"Okay Shepard go tell Joker to go pull us into dock." Anderson told him.
"Two things Anderson: Whose Joker? and Why do I have to talk to him?" Shepard asked confused
"Cause after this, I'm hiring you to take down Saren, in case things do not go well with the Council we will need someone who can take him on. You proved that on Eden Prime." Anderson explained.
"Fine, since I know you well enough you get a 50 percent discount." Shepard said getting up.
"How much?" Anderson asked nervous about the price Shepard wanted.
"500,000 credits." Shepard said freaking everyone, but Anderson out at the price. He was expecting something heavier than that.
"Okay deal." Anderson said happy that it was a 50% discount.
"Okay I'm going now." Shepard said heading up the stairs. As he got to the CIC he noticed everyone was looking at him. He froze looking at everyone and then just kept walking toward the cockpit until he got stopped by a grey-haired man who was dressed in his dress blue uniform.
"Who are you?" He asked.
"It's customary to tell your name first, but I am Shepard or Ghost as I am called sometimes." Shepard said casually. That was when everyone was looking at him in shock.
"What?" Shepard said. That was when the guy in front of him grabbed his hand and Started shaking it.
"It is an honor to meet the man who saved Elysium, Sir. I'm Navigator Charles Pressly. I was there at Elysium serving on the SSV Agincourt. We had seen footage of you in action against the slavers." Pressly said excited.
"Thank you for the compliment, but it wasn't just me who saved Elysium. There were others who helped." Shepard said blushing under the praise. He never was used to the praise he got for his deeds.
"Well sir, you played a very pivotal part in the battle. You became an inspiration for people all over the Alliance." Pressly said.
"Well thank you Pressly. I appreciate the thanks. Listen, Anderson told me to talk to someone named Joker." Shepard said.
"Oh Joker is the pilot in the cockpit over there." Pressly said pointing to the cockpit.
"Thank you." Shepard said making his way to the cockpit. As he made his way over he could see Joker in the pilot seat. Joker was wearing the Alliance standard fatigues as well as a cap. He had a beard from he could tell from his angle of approach. As he came up to him he began to speak.
"Hello, are you Joker?" Shepard asked.
"Yea, who is asking." Joker asked before he looked at who was talking to him.
"My name is Shepard or Ghost as some call me." Shepard responded. That was when Joker froze staring at him.
"Now what? Cat got your tongue?" Shepard asked.
"How do you know my name?" Joker asked a little wierded out.
"Anderson told me." Shepard said as he stuck his hand out for a handshake. Joker just looked at it but didn't shake it.
"What's wrong? Not into handshakes?" Shepard asked.
"Its not that, I have a sickness called vorlik syndrome which pretty much makes my bones brittle and very easy to break." Joker explained.
"Then why are you flying the ship." Shepard asked confused. He didn't mean to offend, he honestly didn't, but Joker took it that way.
"Hey, I earned all my commendations. I'm not good, I'm not even great. I'm the best damn helmsman in the Alliance fleet. Put the Normandy in my hands and I'll make her dance, just don't ask me to dance unless you enjoy the sound of snapping shinbones." Joker told him.
"Sorry Joker, I didn't mean to offend you honestly." Shepard said. Joker looked at him for a few seconds and noticed that he was genuinely sorry about it.
"Alright, its okay. Look did you come to tell me something or just to have girl talk." Joker said grinning at him. Shepard couldn't help but chuckle at Joker he knew he was going to get along with Joker if stayed on board the Normandy.
"Yea, Anderson told me to tell you to bring us into dock. Also if you don't want to shake hands then lets do a fist bump. We won't have to punch, just tap. Sound good?" Shepard said putting out his fist. Joker took his own fist and gently bumped.
"Awesome. Ya know Shepard, I think you and I will get along just fine." Joker said
"You and me both." Shepard responded.
With Saren
The gigantic ship sailed through the empty void that was space. Inside Saren was thinking up his next move in his plan to find the conduit when he heard his partner approach.
"Ahem. We identified the ship that touched down on Eden Prime. The Normandy, a Human Alliance vessel, it was under the command of Captain Anderson, they saved the colony." the voice said in a controlled tone.
"And the beacon?" Saren asked.
"We believe the human who fought you may have used it." his accomplice said. That tipped Saren over the edge. In rage he lept out of his seat and started hitting things randomly, causing them to fly into the air, a few almost hitting his accomplice. He then walked toward his accomplice and put his talons on her face.
"Find out more about this human and have him eliminated." Saren commanded his partner, Matriarch Benezia T'soni.
Back on the Normandy
The Normandy was just pulling into the Citadel's docks, as Ashley, Shepard and Kaiden looked out the window.
"Look at the size of that ship!" Ashley said in wonder.
"The Destiny Ascension, flag ship of the Citadel Fleet." Kaiden said.
"Well size isn't everything." Joker said.
"Why so touchy Joker?" Ashley teased.
"Just saying you need firepower too." Joker responded.
"Look at that monster! It's main gun could rip through the barriers of any ship in the Alliance fleet." Ashley stated.
"Good thing it's on our side then." Kaiden stated back. Shepard wasn't impressed. Sure the Citadel was beautiful and all but that was it. He heard Joker talking with the dock operators when he decided to voice his thoughts of what was to come.
"Well now we are going to face the most evil force in the galaxy." Shepard said with everyone turning to him. That was when Anderson came up.
"I didn't know my Ex-wife was here." He said bemused. Shepard couldn't help but chuckle at it.
"Okay the second most evil force in the galaxy: Politics." Shepard stated.
"What do have against politics, Shepard?" asked Nihlus coming up to see the citadel.
"I have a personal definition for politics that would explain it if you are interested Nihlus." Shepard said.
"Sure." Nihlus said with everyone nodding curious as to what Shepard's definition was.
"Okay Politics. It comes in 2 words: Poly the latin word meaning many; and tics which are blood sucking leaches." Shepard said getting everyone to chuckle at him.
"Captain, can we keep him please. I could probably use a challenge." Joker said. Everyone was laughing now.