Here is the next installment of the dlc. I hope everyone enjoys what I did to explain the detour to pinnacle station. Please r&r and enjoy.
The restaurant was more like a cafeteria but the food was fantastic. Luke had ordered for Ashley as well as himself hoping for a nice romantic meal, but the food was so good, it did not leave much time for conversation until they were back up in their room looking out of the view port and the star filled void of space. There was something oddly romantic about the view. They felt alone where nothing else existed in that moment but them.
Luke lay on the bed with Ashley snuggled up next to him with her head on his chest. Surely, life could not get much better.
"Hey, Luke." Luke looked down at the top of Ashley's head. "I want you to meet my family. I know that that is a big step but I really do want you to meet them. They are really important to me, and so are you." Luke smiled noticing that Ashley was trying to explain why she wanted him to meet her family.
"Ash, I would love to meet them." Luke said kissing her lightly on the top of her head as his fingers gently traced her spine.
"I'm sorry. I just want you to like them and them to like you." Ashley said turning her head to look up at him.
"I'm a sexy, rugged, operative for a spectre, what's not to like?" Luke asked grinning down at her. Ashley punched him lightly in the stomach.
"You know what I mean. You are the first guy that I'm willing to bring home to meet my family since I joined the military. I really want this to work." Ashley responded.
"Me too." Luke kissed her on the forehead and continued to gently run his fingers up and down her back.
This moment was perfection for him. This beautiful woman in his arms that he loved with all his heart loved him back. She wanted him in her life. There was nothing that could separate them. Luke felt safe offering her everything. Every secret, every mistake, and every dream he held in the dark corners of his memories.
"I love you." He whispered as the two of them drifted into a comfortable and long anticipated slumber.
"I love you too." She answered as their eyes shut.
000
Claire slid to a stop behind some of the barriers in the ring as the simulated enemy fire rained down on her. Garrus was tucked away in a hidden perch picking off any enemy that exposed itself long enough for him to get a clear shot while Wrex blasted away at the close range enemies.
"I'll tell you what Shepard, You find some of the best places to have fun!" Wrex shouted blasting a simulated pirate in the head with his shotgun.
"I'm glad you like it." Claire responded firing a burst from her assault rifle taking down another pirate. "Are you glad you came with us then?" Claire asked taking cover once more as Garrus' sniper rifle reported three times in rapid succession and the more pirates fell dissolving.
"Hell, Shepard you've done more for me on the past few months than my family did in the past century…or three." Wrex replied firing and other shot. "You got a quad Spepard. No doubt about it."
Claire laughed and tossed a grenade onto one of the walls and detonated it as the pirated tried to swarm them taking almost an entire squad out at once. "That's me. The human spectre with a quad." She could almost hear Luke rolling with laughter at the statement and the onslaught of jokes to follow, which no doubt Joker would join in on too. Mallory would probably just have rolled her eyes.
Maybe it was what happened on Torfan, or perhaps even before that, but somewhere in Mallory's career she had lost her sense humor and her childish wonder that she saw the world in. Claire remembered what even with their parents dead and their brother missing, Mallory would still find beauty in the world and hope to keep moving forward. The assignments that Mallory had been given before N-school were fairly small backwater posts, the raid on Torfan changed everything for her. Just like the attack on Elysium had changed everything for Claire.
Torfan was bloody. That was all anyone ever really wanted to say about it. Claire had read the mission reports and according to the files. Mallory had done her job and done it well, but it was a tough battle. Mallory's unit had nearly been obliterated along with most of her battalion under the command of Major Kyle. The other marines started talking about how Mallory had lead her unit into the deepest strongholds of Torfan and only she emerged alive. The Butcher of Torfan was actually meant to label Mallory as a butcher of batarians, but the other marines started to talk about how her men died. The title quickly turned ugly and Mallory became known as a butcher of her own men.
Claire on the other hand had already been labeled as a hero and savior for innocent people, especially when she was awarded the Star of Terra. Claire seemed to get the lucky assignments that gave her the opportunities to do well while Mallory got assignments that put her in tough situations. Claire hoped that serving on the Normandy with her would help and possibly help get back to the way she was before.
Claire shook her head and listened as the end of the simulation was announced. Garrus repelled down from his perch as Wrex stretched. With a small smile, Claire checked the time of their simulation and it was only a few minutes. Well, below the times that were already displayed. They were off to a good start.
As the squad exited the simulator, Admiral Ahern met them with an admiring grin. "Damn fine job commander. You already have hit the top of the scores for that simulation." Claire glanced up at the leader board and she was already ranked number one for kills, damage taken, and overall time. Garrus was number one on accuracy and Wrex was number two on kills and number three on accuracy.
"I'll let you two get some rest. Send Ashley and Luke down for the next round. Since I'm the commander I have to be in ever round." Claire smiled as Wrex nodded and started heading toward the lifts. Garrus leaned against the wall and crossed his arms.
"I'm going to stick around and watch the matches. How about you?" Claire smiled at her friend and teammate.
"I'm thinking that we should grab a bite to eat while we have a chance. The other matches can wait." Claire said grabbing Garrus by the chest plate of his armor and pulling him toward the cafeteria. Garrus laughed allowing her to pull him.
Hopefully this time we won't get interrupted. Garrus thought as they made their way into the food line.
000
Luke leaned against the wall of the lift as Ashley adjusted her armor. Luke's eyes could not really decide where to settle but he did not want to look away from the beauty that stood before him. Ashley turned and saw him staring and gave him a look placing her hands on her hips.
"See something you like?" Luke smirked and looked up into her eyes.
"Like…yes. Love…absolutely." Luke said taking her by the wrist. As his lips met hers, a pulse of passion careened through his veins. Her kisses and love had become his addiction. He didn't have a craving for the J-11 serum anymore. He was satisfied. His sisters, his best friend, and his girlfriend were all together and they were a team, maybe even a family.
"Luke, you know that we are going to be at the simulator level any minute now right?" Ashley said pulling back from their kiss.
"Yeah, so?" Luke said turning his head and placing his lips on her cheek.
"So we should probably act a little more professional in front of the others, don't you think?" Luke leaned back and pursed his lips in thought before shrugging kissing her quickly one more time.
"You're right. Can't have the rest of the people on this station getting to jealous of me now can we?" Luke replied. He grunted as he flexed his arms and did a modeling pose in front of the lift doors. Ashley laughed as she covered her face with her hand turning a vibrant shade of pink almost matching the under suit for her Phoenix class armor.
As the doors opened, they could see Claire and Garrus talking outside the food court. The turian was showing her something on his omni-tool, but Claire was obviously paying more attention to the fact that Garrus was talking to her than what he was actually talking about. Luke nodded, he figured that Claire was just not interested in whatever was on the omni-tool and was trying to be respectful.
"What are you two love birds up to?" Luke asked as he approached with his arm around Ashley. Garrus' eyes turned toward the floor. Luke smirked. He knew that his friend looking down as his way of blushing.
"Oh, you know, the usual. Dodging glances, dodging questions, dodging bullets. Fun stuff." Claire responded without missing a beat. Luke chuckled as his sister cracked her knuckles.
"So, Wrex said you wanted us in the next match?" Luke asked crossing his arms.
"Yeah, it is a timed mission. Kill all the enemies as fast as possible. It might also give you a chance to start some real training with your biotics." Claire said. She saw the pause her brother felt toward his biotics, but he was a gifted fighter and biotics would aid him in future battles.
"Alright," Luke said apprehensively. "But nothing too big. I'm not conditioned to fight with biotics."
"Noted. You ready?" Claire asked turning to Ashley.
"As always skipper. Ready and willing." Ashley responded.
"Good, grab your weapons and meet me at the simulator. We've got ten minutes before our match starts." Luke and Ashley nodded and jogged off to the weapons locker to retrieve their equipment.