CHAPTER 28: INTERVIEWS
The skycar pulled to a halt next to the human embassy. It was mildly crowded, and a trio of people stopped to stare and gawk momentarily at the first human Spectre. Said Spectre ignored them as she entered the embassy and walked into the interview prep room, wringing her hands. Several people were already there, including Captain Anderson, and before anyone else could say anything he spoke up.
"Thank you for getting here early, Commander," her mentor told her.
"All of the interviewers were human, and we wanted to add an asari interviewer," a senior diplomat interjected, who she hadn't seen before.
Shepard gave a quick nod before interjecting. "Excuse me, but I need to speak to Captain Anderson for a minute."
"We need to review the – "
"Commander Wilson," Anderson said. "Everyone, please give us a minute."
The handful of diplomats and press officers reluctantly filed out, and once the two were alone the commander spoke up. "Sir, our secure comms may be compromised."
Anderson nodded gravely. "I'm afraid you may be right. The geth ship dropping out of FTL just minutes before you arrived isn't a coincidence," he told her. "Not many are convinced, though. We'll use one-time pads to get information to you, Commander."
The Spectre nodded. "We'll use the same in our transmissions. It's the only way to be sure."
"Agreed. I'll try more convincing on this end that our communications, at the least, are being intercepted. That geth ship was waiting for you, Commander. Be careful," he cautioned. Shepard was about to respond but the door to the room opened and a diplomat began to enter. "Another minute," Anderson said, his tone not allowing debate on the subject. The door closed again, though with a frown from the diplomat. "Anything else?"
"One more thing, sir. Sovereign is a prothean ship."
Anderson looked skeptical. "A prothean ship?"
"Its composition is a match to the mass relays and the Citadel," she replied. "Our ship and station databases don't include those."
Anderson didn't respond for several moments. "And so we never checked…" he muttered before scowling.
"It was luck, sir. Several of us have been thinking about Sovereign, and it came up that we have never actually checked it against prothean designs. So we did, and it was a near perfect match, the uncertainly only coming from the relative lack of data from Sovereign. Fifth Fleet will run their own checks, and it will match."
The door opened again, and the diplomat entered, followed by another, their stride showing that they were not going to be dissuaded again. Anderson frowned, then looked back to Shepard. "That's good to know. Very concerning, and brings up more questions." He patted her on the shoulder. "Good thinking, Commander."
"We need to begin preparations for Lieutenant Commander Shepard's interviews," the first diplomat said, a little harshly as he emphasized the first portion of her rank.
Prep that would be entirely unnecessary if you hadn't scheduled these interviews in the first place, Shepard thought.
"Commander Shepard and I had important operational topics to discuss," Anderson replied.
"Something that you should have discussed beforehand," the diplomat shot back.
"Unlike diplomacy, the current military situation in the galaxy requires quick action and response," the captain responded, not bothering to hide the insult.
Shepard's eyes widened as her gaze flickered between the two men. She saw the diplomat's face redden, but he did not reply. Anderson wasn't going to back down, and the diplomat saw the look in the captain's eyes. He remained silent under Anderson's withering stare.
An O-5 from the Press Corps began to brief her on all the interviewers, what her responses should be, and how to respond to certain questions. Oh, nothing to worry about. Except for the fact that they expect hundreds of billions of sapients to eventually watch parts of these interviews. No pressure, Layla. No pressure at all, she thought. The interviews were picked from random at a pool to be afforded the "honor" of interviewing the first human Spectre. Some honor, she thought. Feels more like a curse to me.
The Press Corps and embassy finished their overviews, and one of the production aides took her to a mirror, where the commander did a couple last-minute touch ups on her hair and makeup. She removed her omni-tool, noting that the health app had been sending her notifications that her heart rate was far too high and she probably needed to relax. Huh. Wonder why that could be? She could indeed feel her heart pulse hard in her chest.
Anderson patted her on the shoulder as she walked toward the interview room. "You'll do great, Layla."
"Thank you, sir." Only words of encouragement any of the people here have given me…why does it feel like I'm being thrown to the wolves?
Her first interviewer of the day – the order of interviews were entirely random as well – turned out to be a woman in her mid thirties in an elaborate asari-styled dress with dark hair and eyes that complemented her brown skin. Introductions were exchanged, and she took her seat across from the interviewer as the already-short countdown to start ticked lower.
Despite the fact that interviews weren't exactly new to her, they still put her on edge and tied her stomach in knots every time she did one, and now the stakes were much higher. Many people were expected to watch the not-quite-live interview, and many more would either catch the rebroadcast done in evening and morning news services around the galaxy, or catch clips and highlights after the fact. Why did they even tell me that hundreds of billions could end up eventually watching these interviews across the galaxy? The Press Corps is supposed to help calm me, not stress me out!
The key was to look confident yet relaxed, so Shepard sat straight against the back of the chair, not leaning forward but not slouching either. She crossed her legs and placed her hands in her lap, putting a calm, neutral expression on her face that hid her nerves and a sudden spike of panic. Her eyes glanced to the door off to the side, where she could just run and leave this all behind…she was an officer in the Alliance, and she had a job to do, even when she couldn't stand parts of said job.
Just behind and to the right was a screen where she could see the live feed of the cameras. Three of them were placed around the room; one showed both interviewer and interviewee, while the other two were focused on one of the two individuals in the room, giving the director several choices on which feed to use. She took a deep breath as the clock counted down…5…4…3…oh God why me why do I have to do this OH SHIT –
"Hello everyone. This is Westerlund News, and I'm Khalish bint Sinan Al-Jinali," the woman said with a charming smile for the camera. "I'm sitting here today with Lieutenant Commander Layla Shepard, known to you all as the Angel of Elysium, and now the first human Spectre." The camera view switched to show a close up of the commander, then zoomed out to get both persons in the next shot. "Commander, thank you for being here today," she continued, this time turning to look at the officer in front of her, and the camera switched to show Shepard.
If you only knew how much I DON'T want to be here today. "Of course," the Spectre replied, putting her best charming smile of her own for the cameras, working to control her breathing and her nerves. At least she had done this a few times so that she only barely had the shakes.
"First of all, congratulations on your admittance into the Spectres."
Another smile. "Thank you."
"What are you feelings on being the first human admitted into the Spectre ranks?"
"The Spectres represent the best of every species in the galaxy. To be asked to join them is a tremendous honor." Easy enough question, though those won't last.
Khalish nodded. "You were appointed a Spectre just a few days after the geth attack on Eden Prime. What happened?"
"A terrible geth attack occurred. The marines and colonists heroically fought off the geth until Alliance reinforcements arrived," Shepard said solemnly and softly, in a tone that she didn't have to fake, and it showed. She looked down sadly for a brief moment before looking back towards the interview, sadness on her face.
"This is your first public appearance since your appointment a month ago. However, as you said, this is a tremendous honor for not only you, but humanity as a whole. Given all of the discussion and speculation that has arisen since your appointment, one would think that you would have available for at least a public appearance. What have your assignments been?" the reporter asked.
"I'm afraid that I cannot discuss details of any assignments in an open forum," Shepard stated evenly.
"But the Normandy was at Terra Nova and helped to stop the redirected asteroid X57 from impacting the planet."
"Alliance and colonial personnel worked to prevent planetary impact and are moving X57 into a more stable, supersynchronous planetary orbit," Shepard responded, restating the official Alliance position on the matter that had been endlessly circulating across the extranet.
A quick exhale from the reporter almost sounded like a snort to the commander. "The Alliance has been parroting that position for days, Commander. We know X57 was being maneuvered to be used as a resource hub, but asteroids don't just redirect themselves to impact a colony with millions of inhabitants," the reporter stated. "What really happened on X57?" she asked softly
"I am not aware of every detail of the events at X57," the commander stated, as it was the truth, and she instantly regretting it. She didn't want to provide the "No comment" answer or any of its more verbose forms, but this time she had left an opening for the reporter. Reporter 1, me 0.
"But you do know some details, then," the reporter stated. "There have been a couple sources commenting that X57 was actually the work of batarian terrorists. How do you think the Alliance will respond?"
Balak grinned upon seeing her, sending a chill down her spine…she screamed as… "I…cannot provide any additional information about what occurred at X57, and I cannot speculate on what an Alliance response may or may not be," Shepard stated, a momentary hitch in her voice at the start, distracted by the memories. This had left another opening for the reporter.
"So there will be an Alliance response to batarian aggression?" the reporter again jumped at the words.
"I cannot comment further on X57." Shepard inwardly cringed – this reporter was quickly jumping on her mistakes. Reporter 2, me 0.
"Does the Alliance have the resources to counter additional geth attacks on colonies, and to respond to the new batarian aggression?"
Shepard sighed inwardly, using all of her self-control to keep her expression neutral. She had been in tough interviews before, and had survived them…right? Not with near as many people watching as this, Layla. "The Alliance is doing everything in its power to keep us safe from threats."
"But they failed on Eden Prime. The geth attack came as a complete surprise, and just a few weeks later an asteroid was less than two days from impacting one of the most populated human colonies." The reporter smiled at her, though the smile was anything but warm and friendly. "That isn't the best track record for just the past couple months, is it, Commander?"
This is bad…reporter 3, me 0… Shepard cringed slightly, almost imperceptibly, but the camera was focused on her face and had picked up her expression. She paused for a moment to control her nerves before speaking. "As you are aware, Ms. Al-Jilani, the geth have not been seen outside the Perseus Veil in three centuries. Humans were still nearly a hundred years away from manned spaceflight when the geth retreated behind the Veil, and have not had any contact with organics since. It is very difficult to forecast geth actions with any degree of confidence when there is no new information on their intentions."
"So will the geth attack any more colonies?"
"The Alliance is doing everything in its power to prevent that," Shepard responded with as much conviction as she could.
"There are one and a half victories, representing ships destroyed, painted on the side of the Normandy. Clearly you have been busy, and based on publicly releasable information about the ship, those engagements must be close to colonies, given the known location of the SR-1 over the last few weeks. How many other attacks have been foiled? Or is the SR-1 much faster than the publicly stated five light years per day?"
"I cannot discuss classified details of the Normandy's capabilities," Shepard stated. Al-Jilani apparently had excellent on-the-ground sources, as the data was a bit out of date only by a few hours – they were probably just now painting the second full ship kill on the side – the geth scout ship did not rate as such, being little more than a shuttle. Shepard had gotten trapped by this reporter yet again, and even though this one wasn't her fault at all, it didn't make her feel any better about the situation. She didn't realize she was tightly gripping her hands in her lap.
"Speaking of the Normandy, under these circumstances, do you think it was wise to hand the most advanced ship in the galaxy over to the Council's command?" Al-Jilani continued.
This interviewer was smart and apparently had done her research. But giving canned Alliance answers wasn't working, as it had been allowing the reporter to walk circles around her. Shepard would have to change her approach and improvise. "The Normandy has not been handed over; she is a warship of the System Alliance. I'm the commanding officer, and I'm Alliance, along with the crew."
"But you have several non-humans aboard." This reporter really had done her research.
Shepard nodded, the move looking more confident than she felt. "That is correct. The Normandy does have several non-Alliance personnel aboard that have expertise that complements our own. Expertise on the geth, for instance."
"But aren't there security concerns about having non-Alliance personnel on board the most advanced ship in the Alliance?" the reporter pressed.
Now the reporter had left an opening. She might get in a little trouble for this, but she had to do something. She couldn't constantly be on the defensive with this particular reporter; Khalish was too smart for that. The commander allowed herself a quick laugh, and then responded with a grin, "There are security concerns about having Spectres talk to reporters, yet I'm still here doing just that." She kept an expression to show that she was joking, then realizing that depending on the reaction, this could be really bad…think twice about what you say next time Layla…
The reporter actually laughed in a response that wasn't faked for the cameras, and said, "Touché, Commander."
Shepard responded with a quick smile, an enormous wave of relief that the reporter took the comment in stride rather than take one of several other options, all of which would have been bad. She continued, "To answer your question seriously, appropriate security precautions are in place to ensure that any individual that does not need to know details about the Normandy's capabilities or operations does not. As an example, I do not know any details about the advanced construction methods used for the ship, since I do not need to know that information as her commanding officer."
Khalish actually regarded her with a nod, and something about her had…changed, ever so slightly. "So you don't have concerns about the crew?"
Shepard realized that she had been gripping her hands so tightly that they were starting to lose a bit of circulation. She relaxed her hands, praying that they hadn't turned red and the cameras hadn't noticed…unlikely. "The entire crew is tremendously talented, and I'm honored and humbled to serve with them."
The rest of the interview went better, as the reporter, while not giving easy questions, didn't look for any more chances to turn words against the commander, and the Spectre had the opportunity for a few other quick-witted responses to reduce the tension and formality. They concluded, the cameras shut off, and the reporter congratulated Shepard again and wished her future success on assignments with a pleasant, honest handshake. Shepard opened the door to enter the Alliance interview prep room, and the moment the door closed let out an enormous sigh as she immediately grabbed a partially full glass of water and drank the entire thing. She then realized that she was shaking ever so slightly. She just hoped it didn't show in the interview.
The full commander from the Press Corps burst into the room a moment later. "Lieutenant Commander, you need to stick to the responses and to the script," the woman scolded her. "If you said what we told you to say, she wouldn't have been able to make you look so uncomfortable."
"With all due respect, ma'am," Shepard said as calmly as she could, despite her anger growing. "If reading from a script is what was desired, a press release or a speech might have been better."
"Commander Wilson," Captain Anderson said as he entered the room a moment later.
"Sir!" came the surprised response from the O-5, as she hadn't seen the captain and was preparing to scold the commander.
"Before we continue, what's been the initial response to the interview?" the captain asked Wilson, his expression a slight frown.
Commander Wilson remained silent for several moments. "It actually looks to have been positive, sir," she reluctantly conceded.
A civilian man, probably only a couple years older than Shepard, entered the room, his eyes glued the datapad he was holding. "Lieutenant Commander Shepard was seen at times as nervous and 'toting the Alliance line' at the start, but also as sympathetic, caring, and respectful. People noticed that the response about Eden Prime wasn't faked and had genuine empathy. Other common trends were 'funny', 'quick-witted', and…well…" he finally glanced up from the datapad for a moment "…several variations of 'pretty'." The man immediately returned his gaze to the datapad, quickly swiping it in various directions.
That 'quick wit' nearly got me in a lot of trouble, Shepard thought.
"So the interview went well?" Captain Anderson asked.
"Well…yes sir," the press officer admitted.
Why does PAO focus so much on what people say on those platforms? Why do they obsess over the instant reaction rather than detailed, substantive analysis? Shepard asked herself idly. It wasn't her call, of course, but there seemed to be too much emphasis on style instead of substance.
"Glad to hear it," the captain responded gently.
"Just keep remember to keep calm," the O-5 reminded her.
Easy for you to say. I'm the one out there with these reporters, and these vids are going to be viewed, re-viewed, and dissected for Lord knows how long…
"Can I have a moment alone with the lieutenant commander?" Captain Anderson asked. Both the full commander and the civilian left the room, leaving mentor and protégé alone. "Why the Alliance cares so much about these instant responses…" he growled with a frown before turning to her, his expression immediately softening. "You did fine. Contrary to what the press people tell you to say, just be yourself. You've done interviews like this before, Commander."
"Yes sir, but a lot more people are watching this time around," she responded.
Completely correct, he thought but didn't say. "It isn't any different. Same interviews, similar questions, just a little different stage," he reassured her softly. He checked the clock. The next interview started in seven minutes. "Take a quick breather. Remember, the first one is always the hardest. And now the toughest questions are out of the way. You got this."
Anderson left her alone, and she looked at herself in the mirror, examining her face closely so as to not focus on her nerves. Hair still looked fine…eyeliner, eyeshadow, lipstick, blush…no touchups needed on makeup…she stepped back and then looked in the full length mirror. Jacket straight, Star of Terra even, skirt smooth. She wasn't wearing anything inside out and wasn't wearing pink fuzzy slippers…no issues there. Her nerves, on the other hand…she took a deep, shaky breath.
She gave a forced smile for the mirror and went out for the second interview.
The next two interviews had gone better, since the reporters had already seen what the highly coveted first interviewer had asked, and had tailored their questions accordingly based on what happened in the first slot. The one-on-one interviews didn't have the chaos of a typical press conference, lacking dozens of voices shouting for their questions to be heard, so that made them a bit better. But they lacked a press officer to keep unruly questions in line.
The third one-on-one turned out to be a bit more interesting, though she only realized the reason at the end. He said a couple phrases that seemed odd during the interview, but made more sense after one of his final comments. She didn't know whether to be amused, disgusted, or flattered. She hadn't expected for someone to accidentally admit he had a crush on her, and she hadn't been briefed on how to handle that highly strange scenario, so she settled on pretending to be oblivious to his comments, despite the reporter's obvious embarrassment before composing himself. She then thought about who could be watching these, watching her, and some of her "fans," briefly remembering that Conrad guy. Her skin crawled at the thought, glad that she had biotics, before she focused back on the interviews.
The fourth reporter was a woman a few years older than Shepard, with what seemed to be a perpetual frown to go along with the odd sense of style, with everything about this particular reporter screaming odd to the Spectre. This reporter didn't offer her hand, and simply stated her name in greeting. Now, alarm bells were ringing in Shepard's head. Something was off here, but with just a few seconds to go until the interview started, it was too late now to stop or do anything about it. Uh oh. Danger, Layla Shepard.
The interviewer did her introduction, smiling pleasantly for the camera, then the smile instantly faded when she mentioned the commander. "How do you feel about being the first human Spectre?" she asked.
Simple question…what's she going to ask to try to trap me? "The Spectres represent the best of every species in the galaxy. Being asked to join their ranks is a tremendous honor," Shepard responded, not realizing this was nearly identical answer she had given earlier.
"With you now appointed as a Spectre, do you think humanity is finally getting respect it deserves from the galactic community?"
What kind of question is that? What angle is she playing? "Respect is an interesting thing. People always assume they deserve it. The fact of the matter is that respect is earned. And I firmly believe we can earn it."
"So you're an idealist. What were the reasons you were chosen to represent humanity as the first human Spectre?"
"The Alliance military has many extremely talented and qualified candidates to offer to the Spectres," Shepard stated, evading a substantive answer.
"You're evading my question. Why were you picked over the other qualified candidates you mentioned?" the reporter asked, her eyes narrowing.
"Since it was known that there would be some ceremony and public scrutiny involved with the position, as can be seen here, selecting an individual that already has a public identity was a factor."
"Or to just be the pretty face to represent humanity. What other factors were there?"
"I was not involved in the decision-making process," Shepard dodged, though her expression began to show slight frustration at this reporter. Isn't the Press Corps supposed to jump in and STOP this if things start to go sideways!?
"Yet you were selected, and you can't say it was just because of Elysium and the Star of Terra. You have other high honors. Where were those received?"
Screams of marines as they plummeted to the ground hundreds of meters below, she was unable to save any of them –
Gunfire. Explosions. Cries of pain. Death. And blood. So much blood it just wouldn't stop why wouldn't the blood stop –
"I cannot comment on many of the operations I have participated in," the commander responded neutrally, keeping her face impassive despite the unbidden memories and the lump in her throat.
"Yet they call you the heroine from the Blitz?"
"Everyone who defended Elysium that day is a hero. I wear this Star of Terra for those who can't," the commander responded solemnly, pointing to the platinum seven-pointed star on her uniform.
The next question from the reporter shocked the commander into momentary silence, but then her eyes glared at the reporter as the corona flickered around her hands in a subconscious response.
"Many good people fell defending Elysium that day. Do not disrespect them again," she stated forcefully with anger seeping into her voice. Shepard had heard enough from this interviewer, and after that comment, she was tempted to just walk out.
The reporter was visibly taken aback by the verbal dressing down from the commander, and noticed the angry biotic flare around her hands that Shepard didn't even realize she had done. There was a noticeable pause before asking her next question. "Have…you ever encountered any situations where the Citadel Council asked you to place its needs before the needs of Earth?" she finally asked, her voice and posture much more subdued.
"The Council is concerned with the needs of the whole galactic community. We're part of that community now. Our needs are on their agenda, but we're one of many," Shepard replied with more calm than she felt towards this woman. She felt a sudden urge to biotic punch the reporter in the face. It'd be doing the face a favor, Shepard thought.
"You have previously said that the Council species are our allies. Yet the Council has not responded with any support whatsoever since the geth attack on Eden Prime. Your faith in the Council could be called naïve," the reporter stated pointedly.
Shepard didn't respond.
"Commander?" she half-asked, half-accused. "Are you going to answer?"
Well, since I'm on my own with this reporter… "I did not hear a question," Shepard stated matter-of-factly, keeping her tone even and managing not to glare at this obnoxious reporter.
The reporter's face visibly reddened with anger, and this time it looked that she was the one about ready to come out of her seat. She narrowed her eyes at the petite woman. "Did the Council order you to sabotage human research concerns on Noveria?"
"I cannot discuss the details of any missions undertaken as a Spectre."
"I've also heard that Noveria may be prohibiting any Council representative, including Spectres, from setting foot on Noveria again. What happened while you were there?"
"As I have stated before, I cannot comment on details of many assignments, either as a Spectre or a lieutenant commander in the Alliance," Shepard replied mostly evenly, frustration evident in her tone that she had to repeat herself again.
For some reason this reporter really hated the Alliance military, hated Shepard, hated biotics, or some combination of those three. She continued asking questions, and Shepard continued responding matter-of-factly or evading the questions if the response would be or hint at anything classified. She was tempted to get in another put down or another dig at this reporter, but once for each was two times too many.
The interview concluded, and neither the Spectre nor the reporter bothered to say another word to the other. Shepard stormed back into the prep room and half-slammed the door, venting her built-up frustration with a dark energy flare that rattled the room and any small objects inside. Commander Wilson and the civilian media representative were in there, both surprised by the biotic outburst, and Shepard spoke up before either could. "With all due respect, ma'am, where does PAO find some of these!?" she snapped at the full commander with an exasperated sigh. The lunatic asylum? she thought sourly and was very tempted to say.
The civilian jumped in to the conversation, eyes not leaving the datapad in his hand. "The news organizations were selected entirely at random, but each organization selects their interviewers. Several reporters at that particular organization have publicly expressed unhappiness with your level of fame and appointment to the Spectres."
"Yeah. I gathered that from the questions, sir," Shepard said dryly. She sighed, and took a long drink of water from a glass. "And why was this reporter not vetoed?"
"It would have been in poor form to reject interviewers drawn at random."
As opposed to poor form when I give a disrespectful reporter facial reconstruction surgery courtesy of a biotic punch? Shepard thought.
"The immediate response to the interview has been positive," the civilian stated, eyes still glued to the datapad.
Does he ever even look at anything else? Shepard thought. He's going to be hit by a stray skycar one of these days if all he does is stare down at that datapad.
"That reporter in particular was known to express disappointment at your promotion to the Spectres as well as possessing a human supremacist stance. The public response is that you handled her well, and, a common quote, 'put her in her place.'"
"Remember: the next interviewer is asari. Keep in mind what we discussed," Commander Wilson reminded her.
"Yes, ma'am," Shepard replied, managing not to roll her eyes and keeping the sarcasm out of her response, then letting out another long sigh. She touched up her hair for a few minutes – dark energy flares tended to have a negative effect on one's hairstyle – and walked out to finish the gauntlet. At least this was the last one for the day.
The next interview began a couple minutes after she sat back down, and Shepard got some odd vibes from this asari, starting with the asari's smile and continuing with the introduction. Unfortunately she hadn't met many asari before, and she couldn't quite place what felt off about the situation, other than it wasn't a good feeling and it made her uneasy.
"Humans have only been traveling faster than light for a tiny fraction of a lifespan," the asari said. "Yet in that short time, you've advanced incredibly rapidly. Why do you think humanity is so comparatively advanced, when factoring in your very recent discovery of Prothean ruins?"
Shepard looked puzzled at the question, and her eyes narrowed. "Could...would you mind elaborating? I'm afraid I don't fully understand your question," she said after a moment's consideration.
"You've developed both very novel and advanced technologies and military tactics that other species, despite having FTL travel for thousands of years, had never thought of. Why is that?"
Shepard paused a moment before responding. "Every species had vastly different experiences before discovering spaceflight," she said slowly, pausing for a moment again. "With the exception of Kahje, our homeworld is the only one with vast oceans, in some cases with no land for long distances. The naval aircraft carrier resulted from the need to deploy airpower across those vast oceans. Other homeworlds all have islands close to one another that could provide land-based airpower, instead of vast oceans that cover most of the planet's surface."
The commander did wonder about that for a second. Humanity had come very far in just a single generation, thirty five years. Technologically, humans had advanced faster than even the quick-minded salarians. She put aside the stray thoughts and brought herself back to the interview.
The reporter regarded the Spectre, and the commander sensed that the asari was searching for a slightly different answer. The reporter then began to discuss Layla's biotic powers. Shepard was instantly on edge, subconsciously gripping her hands tighter.
"Only humans under the age of thirty five Earth years have had biotic powers. Each asari has several hundred years to hone her own abilities. Yet your abilities are regarded as being immensely powerful," the interviewer stated.
Shepard immediately tensed up. "It is difficult to quantify biotic power. So many variables come into play. Training, amount of eezo in your body. What abilities are being used, how quickly you draw on dark energy," she responded evenly, but despite that she was unable to keep a very slight tremor out of her voice.
"Is that how you were able to defeat an asari commando in a biotic duel on Noveria?" the asari asked.
Shepard was expecting any number of questions, all of them bad, but that one was not on the list. She was surprised by the question, and it showed. Her eyes widened and her mouth opened, and she had been tightly gripping her hands when they brought up her biotics. "I-It…I cannot comment on details of any assignments," she said, a slight pause as she partially recovered from the shock.
"We have some footage here, given to us by a source, and we can confirm it is authentic," the reporter brought up a screen, showing a grainy clip from a security camera. It showed a petite blonde human woman exit an elevator, only to be "hit" with a biotic attack from an asari who jumped out of hiding, corona glowing bright blue. The stasis did absolutely nothing to the human. The human under attack charged her own biotics for a moment, utilizing the energy from the asari's attack. The woman then unleashed a massive biotic throw on the asari that slammed the commando into the wall, followed by two ripped up floor panels. The impact was censored, but the spurts of blood escaping from the blacked out area made it clear that the asari was dead.
Shepard watched the entire clip with dread, wondering how the news agency had gotten a hold of the footage, and wondered what the follow up would be…she had moved her hands to the chair arms, and she clutched the posh armrests so hard that her knuckles began to turn red.
"Commander, you have a…distinctive and easily identifiable appearance for your species. While we apologize to our viewers for the low quality of the video, it does seem to even a casual viewer that the individual shown in this fighting is you."
The commander didn't respond, still looking wide-eyed at the screen.
"Was that you?"
"No comment," came the response a moment later.
"In addition, sources report that Matriarch Benezia arrived on Noveria several hours before you did, but Lady Benezia did not leave the planet and you did. Is that true?"
Shepard couldn't keep the dread off of her face at the revelations. "No comment."
"While Spectres are above the law, do you think the Systems Alliance owes the Asari Republics an apology for the apparent death of a matriarch?"
"I cannot comment on details of assignments," the commander responded, knowing she sounded like a broken record, but not sure what else to say. How the hell did they even find out about that!? Shepard realized she had a death grip on the armrests. She placed her hands back into her lap and took a slow, deep breath, trying to calm herself as best she could. Do they know about the rachni?
After a couple more related questions from the reporter and non-answers from the commander, the asari switched to other topics, none of which were near as concerning as what had already been discussed. Though the comment that Shepard had generated curiosity and interest amongst some of the asari had left the commander visibly confused.
The interview concluded, and Shepard walked back to the prep room, only venting her frustration after the door had closed.
Shepard didn't give any of them a chance to talk. "How the hell did they even find out about Noveria!?" she half asked, half-shouted, her corona flaring for the second time today after interviews, placing her hands on a counter. The dark energy outburst rattled the small objects near her.
No one seemed happy about the leak either. "I presume that footage is genuine?" the O-5 asked.
She pushed back from the counter, slowly turning to face the others in the room. "It appears that way, ma'am. That is probably how the fight would have looked from a camera at that angle." She paused, a sinking feeling entering her gut.
"But there is no indication that anyone knows about the rachni," a one-star admiral replied, and Shepard recognized him as the man in charge of a large counterintelligence office which was identified with a very long acronym that she always mixed up. "The news agency isn't telling their source, but we determined who it was. He was a security guard at Binary Helix, who was apparently paid quite the fee to turn it over to the press."
"Is there anything we can do about it, sir?" Shepard asked.
"No, Commander," he replied. "He has done nothing illegal with respect to Council or Alliance laws. Binary Helix will likely take action against him, but he will probably receive some sort of protection by the news organization."
Don't these vid media organizations have anything better to do with their time and money? "How should I react to any future comments to questions like that, ma'am? Should I stick with 'no comment' for now?" the O-4 asked.
"Yes," the O-5 responded. "We may have something else for you to say in the future, but for the ceremony, just say 'no comment'. Though all of the people there know about your activities and the details of what occurred on Noveria. Minus the rachni, of course."
Shepard sighed. "With all due respect, I think this highlights why doing one-on-one interviews is not the best idea."
For the first time today, she had a point that they all agreed with. After ten minutes of discussion on the leaks, everyone else had left, leaving Shepard alone. She took a deep breath. Now she had to endure a few hours at the latest ceremony.
Alenko strolled slowly to the Presidium bar, taking in the sights of the center of galactic politics. For the first time, he could take his time here to take in the view while he walked, and before long he had reached the lounge where the crew had planned their attitude adjustment.
Much of the crew had already congregated in the Presidium bar which had a generic name of Neutron, taking one of the entire side rooms where they could talk in relative privacy.
The ground team, along with Joker, sat at one of the tables, and the rest of the crew spread out amongst the other tables and booths. After a little time passed they began to order a second round. In Wrex's case, fourth, fifth, and sixths rounds at the same time, all consisting of ryncol. The tales of krogan drinking were true, it seemed, and Alenko started to get concerned if Wrex got a bit out of hand. He didn't know who was the most likely demographic to start a barroom brawl, but krogan downing ryncol as if it were water were probably close to the top of the list.
Joker whistled. "Three krogan-sized shots of ryncol."
"You want one?" the krogan asked.
"No," Joker said emphatically. "I want to live, and not grow a third arm in the process of dying."
"So…how do you even drink that stuff?" Ashley asked.
"Like this," he replied, then downed one of the shots in one gulp, expelling with a loud "pah."
Joker snorted. "Nice. Chug. Chug. Chug," the pilot chanted. Garrus joined in, but Wrex did not need any encouragement, downing the last two shots in moments, letting out a content "pah" as he finished.
"That's…oh keelah," Tali said. "We're not carrying you back to the ship."
"No need. I was going to drive myself," Wrex replied. Liara looked momentarily horrified before she realized the krogan was joking.
"Huh," Joker said in disbelief, looking at Garrus. "Does C-Sec actually have a wheelbarrow big enough or something that we can use to cart him back to the ship?"
"No. We can just roll him back. It's mostly downhill from here, right?"
Alenko couldn't help but chuckle as he stood, walking over to the bartop along with several other crew, and was a little surprised at what followed.
A chief saw what was happening and laughed. "Damn, take a look at the L-T," he said, gesturing to the lieutenant, and crew that was ordering drinks followed his gesture, as two young women currently chatted with Alenko. One was flirting with him, and the second was talking up her friend to the lieutenant. The crew looked over in his direction, with a series of laughs and jokes, as the lieutenant's luck became the new topic of conversation.
Alenko was slightly surprised at the way the two women approached him. Both were being quite flirty with him, and both were friendly, pretty, and well dressed. He was single, but…why didn't he feel any sort of interest towards them?
It took several moments of thought for him to determine why. That realization stopped his pondering mind cold for several moments as if he was hit with a bag of power cells. Well shit, was his next thought.
He made an excuse to the young ladies that he had a girlfriend. Yeah, she's not your girlfriend, and she never WILL be your girlfriend, except in your dreams. It certainly wasn't the first time attraction had ever happened between Alliance personnel, but…this was different, he knew. Much different. One does not simply act on their crush on the Angel of Elysium. Nothing good would come of it, he was certain.
The women left after a couple more minutes, stating how his girlfriend was indeed a lucky woman. The lieutenant returned last to the corner of the lounge a few minutes later.
"How'd it go, kid?" Wrex asked him with an enormous shit-eating grin. Everyone on the crew was highly amused as well.
"How'd what go?" he replied quickly.
"Those ladies. It can't be too good, since you're back here with us instead of there with them," the battlemaster continued.
"I fail to see how that is any of your business, Wrex," the lieutenant responded.
"Take this from an old krogan. Never turn down an opportunity to mate," Wrex growled.
"Talking for a few minutes does not automatically mean we will 'mate'," Alenko replied with narrowed eyes.
The krogan's head turned slightly to one side as he regarded the human. "Hmph. Your human mating rituals are strange. For krogan, foreplay – "
"I don't want to hear about krogan mating rituals!" Tali screamed to interrupt Wrex.
"The bartenders here probably do," Joker added quickly. "Helps their business, the need for brain bleach to wash away the mental imagery."
The krogan paused before deciding to continue making comments that would cause squick, and grinned widely. "Oh, and I don't want to leave out the – "
"And I don't want to hear it!" Tali shouted again. Wrex chuckled from the reactions around the table
"I'm with Tali on this one," Ashley said, looking slightly squeamish.
"Agreed," Liara added, looking queasy.
"Same, though it probably won't match some of the sick shit C-Sec has had to clean up," Garrus added.
"You'd be surprised," Wrex replied.
"Some of the parties thrown here that we had to break up were…messy."
"Please do NOT elaborate on that point, Garrus," Williams said.
"And I think it's time for you to stop trolling us, Wrex, and to move on to something that won't haunt our nightmares for the remainder of our lives," Alenko said. He changed the topic quickly by telling an amusing story to get them off the prior topic. It was always good for a few laughs, and of course Joker would add snark wherever he could, which would also help distract the crew from the young women at the bar.
No one had paid much heed to the vid screens in the lounge, but one of the crew glanced up at one of the screens and did a double take. "Huh, look who's on the news."
It turned out to be their own CO, seated and conducting interviews, and the crew got quiet as they listened to the excerpts. Joker watched the screen cut to the questions from a very attractive thirty-something woman whose name he knew he couldn't pronounce even when completely sober, then shifted back to an equally attractive Shepard. There was a back and forth question, then the commander grinned and fired back her own response.
The news then cut to a male interviewer, who apparently had a bit of a crush on the commander that was commented on for a minute. Then the interviews shifted to another human woman, who was rather confrontational, and it showed the commander's corona flare around her hands as her eyes narrowed at a rather inappropriate question.
"Wow," Chief Williams muttered.
"Bitch," Joker said.
Even Liara seemed put off by the reporter's disrespect. "Who would ever think that is appropriate?"
Next came clips from the final interview of the day, an asari, who asked a rather pointed question about Noveria that caught the commander off guard, and it showed. She responded with the standard "can't comment" phraseology, but she seemed very nervous and on edge for the rest of the interview, even more so than at the start of the first interview.
Pressly stood up at another table after the last clip had finished, large mug of beer in hand, as he stated to the entire crew, "Now remember, if anyone approaches any one of you for information, you are to respond with 'No comment' or 'Please direct all inquiries to the Systems Alliance Public Affairs Office'. Do not say 'Go fuck yourself,' 'Up yours,' or threaten to shove their cameras and/or datapads into any and/or all of their orifices. Are we clear?" The XO paused. "Well, non-Alliance folks can technically say whatever you all want," he stated, shrugging and gesturing to the non-Alliance crew. "Can't stop you. But Alliance members: don't say anything."
"You mean we can't just feed them to Wrex?" Garrus asked.
"No, or threaten to," Pressly responded. "As tempting as it might be."
"Hmm…how do humans taste? You all haven't been in the galactic scene long enough. You seem too…squishy. Hopefully you taste better than turian," the old krogan responded.
"Seriously, anything tastes better than turian. Even krogan tastes better than turian," Garrus chimed in.
"Not by much," Wrex countered.
"And you would know how all of that?" Garrus responded. "Turians are levo anyway."
Wrex remain silent for several moments, then his mouth broke into a wide grin. "I'm taking a phrase from Shepard. No comment."
"No party like a Donner Party," Joker added.
Most looked confused by the comment, so Joker explained the unfortunate fate of the Donner Party.
Wrex regarded the pilot for a moment. "Huh. For krogan, that's –"
"Standard operating procedure?" Joker cut in.
"Hah!" Wrex snorted.
After the jokes subsided, the crew looked back to the screen to see a news anchor with two asari and a human male discussing the interviews. Judging by the caption, they were discussing the fact that the commander had apparently killed an asari commando in a biotic duel, and hadn't seemed to be affected by the commando's biotic attacks.
From the discussion, apparently a security camera at Port Hanshan had caught the rather brief biotic duel between Shepard and the commando. Someone on the security team had been offered a pile of money to provide the footage, as it gave that news agency an exclusive on actual combat from the newest Spectre. There had been a couple salvaged clips of Shepard in combat from Elysium, but the galaxy's news networks were still humming about the first human Spectre, especially after X57, and craved more raw footage.
Ashley shook her head. "Where do they find this shit?"
"Come on, money talks," a crewman snorted in amusement. "Bet the guy who was paid to turn over the footage got fired."
"Probably was enough dough that he doesn't have to work anymore," another responded.
"It's Noveria—I'd be more worried about hitmen coming after you before you even get a chance to enjoy the payday," Garrus added.
"True enough." The crewman closed his eyes and shook his head. "And now she's off at a ceremony, where every little thing she does that reaches the public is dissected at length by the media. I can't imagine dealing with that shit."
"From what she said when we left Arcturus, she just tries to ignore it as much as possible. Not a bad idea, but…you have to hear snippets from the news, and the PAO breathing down your neck all the time. Shit. Would make me want to be deployed on a ship all of the time."
They listened for the commentary for a minute as the asari and human commentators discussed the apparent biotic power level of the commander. Many had noted Shepard left Noveria and Benezia had not, which apparently had caused people to wonder why the Asari Republics were not angry about that fact. Speculation spread on the possibility that Matriarch Benezia had been up to something, something serious enough to send a Spectre after her. They were right, Alenko knew, though no one from the Normandy would leak anything. Well, they called the old submariners the "silent service."
He noticed that his omni-tool pinged. Slightly surprised given the hour and it overrode the silent mode he had it on, Alenko opened it to see he had a message. There were only a few people, or situations, that would override silent mode. And none of them were good.
"Uh oh L-T. Thought you had that thing on silent?" a crewman asked.
"Yeah I do," he replied. The message indeed turned out to be from Shepard, and a spike of worry rose up in his stomach for a moment before he read it. Managed to leave the ceremony! :) Are you all still out and around? Another message
He paused before responding. We are. He wondered for a few moments why Commander Shepard, first human Spectre and biotic fundamental force of nature, was sending omni-tool messages with smiley faces. He couldn't come up with an answer, despite pondering it. Nothing came over the tool for another twenty seconds before the next message from Shepard. Would it be a problem if I joined you all?
"Who is it?" Joker asked. "Girlfriend?"
"No." The lieutenant shook his head emphatically. "It's actually the commander." He didn't notice Joker and Williams exchange an amused look. Joker tapped the chief on the shoulder, and leaned over as best he could. Ashley leaned over the rest of the way.
"Pretty sure he'd like them to be one and the same, and she would be perfectly fine with that arrangement as well," the pilot whispered in the chief's ear.
Williams snorted, covering her mouth before breaking into laughter. Joker looked rather proud of himself, as if he had just stolen the Normandy from an Arcturus dock under the noses of dozens of MPs. Wrex, meanwhile, chuckled, staring right at Alenko. Joker and Williams were up to something, and that krogan laugh was too mischievous, Alenko thought, but he had no idea what they found so funny.
"What?" the lieutenant asked, completely confused as his gaze shifted between the three.
"We want you to go back to the bar," Williams said after a moment.
"See what happens," Joker said.
Alenko shook his head in disagreement before returning to the message. "The commander left the ceremony and wants to know whether we're still out," the lieutenant said, hiding his sudden apprehension.
The consensus was for her to join them. He messaged back, trying to sound as relaxed as possible. Come join us. We're at a lounge in the Presidium called Neutron. Very imaginative name, I know.
He typed in a response, and she replied that she would be there shortly. He took a deep breath as he closed his omni-tool. His thoughts lingered on the commander, and his recent personal revelation about her. This is a bad idea, he thought.
The crew resumed talking, though not talking about their CO anymore as the news screen continued dissecting every scene from the fight. Pressly shut of the screen as Wrex told an amusing story.
Kaidan kept an eye on the time. Three minutes had passed, then five, then ten. The alcohol has slowed his thinking, and he didn't make the connection that she probably shouldn't be walking around the Citadel alone, given what had happened on their first visit to the Presidium. And with Saren wanting her alive…the concern turned to worry. He narrowed his eyes and looked at his Omni-tool. Nothing.
"Everything alright, L-T?" a crewman asked upon noticing his expression.
"Hmm," he said. "She said she was just a couple minutes out."
"There isn't another Neutron lounge, is there?"
"Despite the generic name, no." He temporized, knowing there were hundreds of reasons why she was late, and only a few of them were bad. But there had been assassins on the Citadel just a few weeks ago, and it was known that she was here, Saren wanted her alive…he decided to send a quick message to her. Everything OK?
He waited for a couple minutes. No response.
Now he was worried, she had responded instantly last time…"I'm going to step outside to see if she got lost."
"Yeah, not a bad idea," Emerson said. "I'll come with you."
"Me too," Ashley said.
Alenko nodded. He had his biotics, but he wished he had more than the tiny sidearm that he carried concealed in his jacket. He noticed Emerson had unzipped his jacket as well, and both he and the chief looked slightly worried. Commander Shepard was the most powerful biotic he had ever seen, wiping out geth squads and even an asari matriarch in mere seconds. But despite that, he wondered…could something have happened to her?