Now this chapter is more my speed honestly, Traynor gets a proper introduction and we also meet Liara and get some of that sweet sweet Tali interaction.

Shepard quickly closed the door into the captain's cabin behind herself and with a deep sigh, she let the bag filled with her stuff fall on the ground from her shoulder before her head leaned onto the door behind her. She tried to calm her racing heart. Truth be told she didn't have any idea what to do now. "You can do this Chloe, you can do this Chloe, you can do this Chloe…" She tried to quietly pep talk herself when suddenly there was a knock on her door. She jumped away from it, trying to embrace her commander persona just as the door opened and the same woman she saw yesterday with Anderson was standing there.

The woman opened her mouth to speak but as she saw the commander she frowned and then suddenly her eyes filled with panic. "I….I'm sorry! I didn't know…" She quickly looked around, checking again that she is indeed standing in front of the captain's cabin. Once she was sure the frown was back. "Where is captain Anderson?"

Her words made Chloe sigh, she really hoped she won't need to explain this to every single crewmate, hopefully, doctor Chakwas is quick in spreading the news. "I'm the new captain. Chloe Shepard is the name and you are…?"

The woman immediately straightened and saluted her. "Samantha Traynor, comm specialist." Once Chloe waved her down she relaxed. "Captain promised to show me around the ship…"

There was a clear question behind her words which made Chloe nod. "Alright, Traynor, I guess that's my job now." She waited for the woman to move from the door before she walked outside. "Well, I guess you already saw the crew quarters as well as the mess hall…" She looked at Traynor only to get an affirmation which the woman gladly delivered with a nod. "Alright, so the lower deck it is. At least you meet the squad if you didn't already…" Just as they took another step both of them could hear Traynor's stomach growling.

The specialist turned bright red as the commander raised a brow and let out a quiet giggle. "Alright…change of plans. To the mess hall first!" She didn't let the other woman say anything, believing that she will automatically follow as she picked two trays with rations and soda for each before going to one of the tables and placing the things down. She motioned for the chair on the opposite side of her as she was sitting down herself.

Traynor, still red as a tomato, took the chair offered to her. "I-I'm sorry. Jeez! The first day on the job and I'm already messing up." She said the last sentence pretty much to herself but the commander could still hear her. She quickly looked at the redhead. "I understand if you have things to do. I'll show up later…or-or-or ask someone else for the tour."

Chloe shook her head with a light chuckle and raised her hand to stop the specialist from panicking even more. "Calm down Traynor. I should probably thank you. I didn't eat the whole day and didn't really realize it until now…"

Her words seemed to do the trick as Samantha relaxed a bit and started eating, same as the commander.

They were eating quietly for several minutes before Traynor's curiosity got the better of her. "Soooo what happened to captain Anderson?"

Shepard cast a quick glance towards Samantha before taking a napkin and cleaning her mouth, really just buying herself some time before the inevitable answer. "Officially? He stepped down because I was promoted to Specter and needed a ship."

Her words made Traynor's brows shoot up in surprise. You're a Specter? Like-like 'I answer only to the council' kind of Specter?" Even before the commander could answer she frowned and another question popped into her mind. Her mouth worked faster than her brain so of course she voiced it. "And unofficially?"

Chloe chuckled a bit at the first question and scratched the back of her neck, a little nervous habit. She wasn't really used to this much attention, well, except for the mess on Akuze, but she refused to think about that one. "Yeah, exactly that kind of Specter." Her next question though made her fall quiet, with obvious disdain on her face. The look almost made Traynor apologize for asking but before she could though the commander spoke up. "There are rumors that Alliance didn't want to look bad because you know, having a first Spectre without a ship kinda sucks."

Whatever else Traynor wanted to ask or say was cut off by Joker. "We are nearing Therum commander. ETA 20 minutes."

"Tell Wrex and Tali to gear up." Chloe's shoulders straightened as she spoke up before getting up.

"So I guess you won't get to finish…?" The specialist pointed to the food with her chin to explain.

The commander simply shook her head. "Gotta go…we finish the tour some other time."

As it was clearly an order all Samantha could do was nod. It really felt like a different person is standing in front of her. She felt like she should apologize again for stealing the captain's time but before she could do so Shepard was already walking away.

"Dismissed!" The commander was standing in the middle of the com room after their briefing on Therum. The mission went, well, not as planned but at least no one got injured, and they saved Liara, Benezia's daughter. She didn't know where Benezia is but she at least merged her mind with Shepard and tried to help with her vision. Sadly for Liara, it took a lot of her energy.

As the crew was filtering out, with Tali and Kaidan helping Liara and bringing her to medical, Samantha's voice came through over the coms. "Want me to patch you to the council commander?"

"Yes." Was the only answer she got as the commander turned to the comm to talk to the council. "We secured Benezia's daughter. She is now part of the team." She thought fast, trying to find a reason that not even the three aliens can complain about. "Her expertise on protheans will be helpful…"

It seemed to satisfy the asari councilor, Tevos, but not the turian one. "Are you sure she isn't a threat? If she still has any ties with her mother…" Sparatus let the end of the sentence hang in the air, wanting to sound threatening.

Shepard fought really hard so she won't roll her eyes at him. "She was hunted by geth. I'm pretty sure that if she worked with her mother that wouldn't happen…"

The councilour didn't seem convinced if the angry movement of his mandibles was anything to go by. So it was Tevos's time to speak. "We believe you know what you're doing commander and we wish you luck on your next mission. Keep us updated." With that, the council hung up while Shepard tried her best to not slam her fist into the doors on her way out.

She took a few deep breaths while storming through the command center, stopping at the map and setting the course to Noveria, before heading down and to the medical, wanting to know how is Liara doing and maybe also doing her rounds around the ship.

She found the asari sitting on the medical bed as doctor Chakwas just finished checking on her. As the doctor saw the commander she immediately started with her report. "She will be okay Shepard. Just needs some sleep and nutrients…"

The commander nodded her acknowledgment and thanks before turning to Liara. "How are you feeling?" She was curiously watching over her while Chakwas left the two alone and went to the other side of the medical but of course, she kept her ears peeled, wanting any gossip she can get.

Liara gave her a little yet honest smile. "I'll be okay, thank you, commander."

The human nodded once more and unintentionally straightened up as she saw Liara watch her with hardly concealed awe in her eyes. "Take some rest then. I'll check on you later." And with one more nod, she left. She spent a few more hours doing her rounds, speaking to Kaiden, Ashley, and Wrex with Garrus before finally getting to her last stop: Tali. Talking with her crew definitely made her feel better after the talk with the council.

So with a smile, she tapped Tali's shoulder to get the girl's attention before speaking up. "Hi, Tali, how are you acclimatizing to the Normandy?"

The quarian looked at her surprised, obviously not expecting her to visit her, "Oh! Hello commander Shepard. I-I mean captain!"

Chloe chuckled quietly and leaned into the railing next to the poor, now probably blushing, girl. "Hey, Chloe is fine. I just came to check up on you, wanting to make sure you're okay after the mission."

Tali followed the commander's movement and seemed a bit more relaxed after her words. "All is okay cap-Chloe."

There was a little frown on the human's face as she noticed Tali playing with her own hands, seeming like she is nervous. She tilted her head before she looked back at the quarian's helmet. "Are you sure…?"

There was a few beats of silence before the younger girl spoke up again. "I feel like your crew has never seen a quarian before." One of the brows on Shephard's face raised, prompting Tali to continue. "Most of the galaxy thinks about us as thieves." This time she didn't let her even react before panicking and quickly continuing. "We are not like that! It's just hard to live on the fleet and need to find all the resources all the time…"

Shepard pushed away from the railing and softly touched Tali's arm. "Hey take a breath." She gave her a second to do so, before continuing. "Is someone here bothering you?"

Tali quickly shook her head. N-no! I mean not openly, but I have eyes you know? Even tho they're behind a helmet…" She saw the human taking a breath to speak so she quickly continued. "I can take care of myself, commander, don't worry about it."

Chloe was about to say something before she changed her mind, making sure she will keep an eye on her crew while letting Tali handle it. She was more than capable of it in the commander's eyes anyway. She still shook her head and chuckled softly. "What did I say?" When Tali shot her what seemed like a confused look she answered her own question. "It's Chloe…" The amusement was obvious in her voice and a smile appeared on her face as she could swear she saw the other girl blush.

"Y-yes, sorry Chloe."

"So…" The soft smile stayed on the commander's face as she leaned back into the railing. "...tell me about your people."