"That is borderline horrific." Kaidan said as the pair exited the elevator to the shuttle bay, "Why the hell would anyone do that?"
"No idea." Kacey replied, heading towards the weapon lockers, "The guy was a sick bastard and I'm quite happy to be a million miles away from all of that."
The pair began to prep their weapons for the mission. The whole squad was going to ensure that the planetary defence cannon was taken down and to hopefully find Admiral Koris. Kaidan wanted to take the more optimistic approach of the quarian admiral being okay, but he wasn't so sure. He wasn't sure if the Admiral was alive or would be able to hold until they arrived.
They headed towards the weapons lockers to grab their gear; the entire squad except Tali was going, as Tali had some admiral duties to take care of. Kaidan took his pistol out first and made sure that the weapon was ready for combat.
"I can believe that." Kaidan replied, looking over his pistol, "I find it hard to imagine that anyone would be capable of doing that."
"I know." Kacey said, looking over her assault rifle, "I still don't understand why—"
"Hey! Hey, Shepard!" Someone shouted angrily, "I'm not through with you yet!"
Kaidan could see Kacey roll her eyes as they turned around to see a very angry marine approaching the pair. James had stepped out from his area of the shuttle bay and moved immediately in front of the marine as the rest of the squad arrived.
"This again?!" Kacey said frustrated, "I already told you: if you've got a problem with me, you can take it up with Admiral Hackett."
"Yeah, and get pushed around like an idiot?" Ensign Copeland said, "Do you think I'm stupid?"
"Do you want me to answer that?" Kacey replied.
"You want to fight?" Copeland said angrily, "Quit hiding behind James and hit me! Go on! Do it!"
"If I do that, you'll be in the Med-Bay for the next month." Kacey shouted back, pushing James aside, "Walk away, Copeland. At least try to keep your dignity intact."
Kaidan watched on, confused. The sight was familiar in the sense that he had seen this situation before; ten years ago, in fact. But he felt like he was missing something as he watched the pair argue.
"Please, you're the last person I want to hear about dignity from." Copeland said, getting into Kacey's face.
"What, trying to intimidate me are we?" Kacey spat back.
"What the hell is going on?" Kaidan spoke up as he pulled Kacey away from Copeland. If this plays out as it had done before, he had to stay close.
"You tell me!" Copeland shouted, "You're telling me you actually believe her lies now?"
"She isn't lying, Copeland." Kaidan replied calmly, "What I saw on the Citadel proved it."
"Yeah right." Copeland crossed his arms, "I know you two have history. Looks to me like you'd rather get back in her panties than do your damn job!"
"Watch it, Copeland." Kaidan snapped sternly, "If that's how you speak to your superior officers, you can go talk to Admiral Hackett with a disciplinary notice."
"Did you just seriously pull rank?"
"He won't have to." Kacey spoke up, "EDI is typing up the notice right now, it's your choice whether we send it or not."
"You can't do that!"
"This is the third time this has happened, Copeland." James mused.
"And I'm out of patience, so yeah." Kacey mused, "I'm doing it."
"Fuck you!"
Copeland ran up and took a swing at Kacey, who had retaliated with defensive moves. While James and Liara focused on holding back Copeland, Kaidan and Garrus focused on pulling Kacey away. Garrus moved in between the pair while Javik and EDI looked on.
"Get the hell out of here, Copeland!" Kaidan said as Kacey calmed herself and looked away.
"One minute you don't trust a damn thing she says and the next you're buying her lies?" Copeland snapped as he broke free from James and Liara's grip, "You really are blind, aren't you?"
"Just go, Copeland." Garrus interjected before Kaidan could respond.
"Come on," Kacey said through gritted teeth, "We've got an admiral to save."
Kaidan glared at Copeland as he stormed off in a huff, before heading onto the shuttle. He could see that Kacey was fuming, but she remained composed. It seemed that everyone believed the lie across her face; it was subtle. But Kaidan knew better. She wasn't okay, he knew that.
She hadn't been okay for a long time.
…
The shuttle ride to Rannoch was quiet. Kacey remained composed and quiet; and Kaidan was concerned by the sudden shift in her behaviour. He still felt like he was missing huge parts of Kacey's problem. Whatever was going on inside her head, he didn't have the full picture, and she was reluctant to share it. What she had divulged already had given Kaidan more than enough reason to be worried about her. She was under a lot of pressure. And she shouldn't have to be. Nobody should be under that type of pressure.
"So, what happened on the dreadnought?" James asked out of the blue.
"What do you mean?" Kaidan looked at the marine, confused.
"It sounds like you had a crazy ride over there." James explained, "That, and Shepard going crazy at the quarian admiral."
"He blew up the dreadnought with us still on it." Kacey said, "So yeah, I did go crazy."
"Still can't believe you found Legion, though." Garrus mused.
"I know. It really is a small galaxy huh?"
"Commander, are you sure we can trust it?" James asked.
"Yeah, we can." Kacey replied confident, "Legion's not like other geth. We can trust them."
"if you say so." James mused, "I guess you can't always judge an individual by their…species. Look at Sparks. If all the quarians were like her, we wouldn't be stuck refereeing their war with the geth."
"Sparks?"
"Yeah, your quarian friend. The jumpy one with the glowing eyes? Sparks."
"Uh huh." Kacey smirked, "Careful Garrus, looks like you've got some competition."
Kaidan smirked as Garrus looked away, laughing nervously. Clearly there was some truth to what Kacey was saying about the pair.
"Still, crazy that they pick now to start a fight, but I guess the end of life as we know it can make everybody a little loco."
"Just a little?" Kacey mused.
"Not everybody is as crazy as you, ma'am."
"You know what? Fair." Kacey replied.
"Commander Shepard?" Xen's voice came through the shuttle's comms, "This is Admiral Xen. Have you reached Zaal'Koris' escape pod?"
"Not yet." Kacey replied, "What's your status?"
"The Civilian Fleet has taken significant losses since Zaal'Koris sacrifice his ship to destroy a geth ground cannon." Xen explained, "Searching for their lost admiral is the only thing keeping the captains from panicking."
"Why's that?"
"Despite opposing the invasion, he did an admirable job protecting our civilian ships. Without him, some of our noncombatants are planning to live the flotilla. Picture the consequences if you will."
"I don't blame them." Kacey said through gritted teeth, "They've lost a leader in a war they didn't want."
"Their wants are immaterial." Xen said catching the squad off-guard, "We are committed. Even Zaal'Koris understood the Civilian Fleet's importance. The invasion would be stalled without a supply chain after all."
"Then protect your civilians." Kacey said.
"I make no promises." Xen replied, "My own ships must be coordinated for our final strike on Rannoch."
Xen was starting to break up as Kacey rolled her eyes, "I'm getting some static."
"It appears Zaal'Koris crashed within range of a geth jamming tower." Xen explained, "You must disable it to contact him."
The communications were cut shortly after. Kaidan couldn't believe how apathic the admiral was. She was clearly off her rocker, that much was certain.
"Well, this should make things interesting." Garrus mused.
"Of course you would find this situation exciting." Liara said.
"Garrus is nothing if not consistent." Kacey mused, "Cortez, take us into the tower."
Kaidan saw the turian feign offense as the small group had a laugh. He had forgotten how this had felt lately, the humour, the camaraderie. This squad was truly something special and unique. And it was all down to Kacey, pulling them all together in the first place.
It didn't take long for the shuttle to start moving sharply, like it was avoiding something. Kaidan held on tight, as did the rest of the squad as Cortez called saying, "We're taking fire! The geth have installed anti-aircraft guns beside the jamming tower."
"We'll have to disable them on foot." Kacey said firmly, "Once the guns are gone, you take out that tower."
"Right, Commander. Setting you down here."