Nikki had just taken her seat in the mess, first forkful of the Alliance's dubitable interpretation of 'stew' still en route to her mouth when the call came. Forcing her to abandon her meal and head for the CIC.
"Alright what've we got?" She demanded as she took her place by the galaxy map. Casually noting how it was already zoomed in on their current star system, along with the little flashing ident that informed her they were in stealth mode.
"We're picking up an automated distress beacon from the planet's surface." The planet in question glowed on the display. "Not registering any ships on scan but they could be using the other planets as a shield."
She nodded her understanding, if there were no ships in orbit there were only three likely scenarios: they were too late to help, the beacon was from a ship that suffered damage and had to land, or it was an ambush.
"How long will it take us to get there?"
"Four hours at FTL or five days at standard." They couldn't maintain stealth at Faster-than-light speeds but then the IES system's heat sinks wouldn't last for five days without venting any way. Not to mention that if it was a genuine distress call, the people on the other end might not be able to wait that long.
"Ok, on my mark vent the heat sinks and jump to FTL. Adams, I know your department's going to be busy but your team plus Miss Zorah have just over three hours to make me some kind of deployable buoy that will emit readings consistent with a ship at full stop. If someone is waiting then simply vanishing will put them on high alert. We'll launch decoy on arrival and re-stealth to a new location. If it's not possible let me know ASAP."
"Aye aye ma'am, thought you'd never ask." The response from engineering was in the tones of someone who already had at least half a plan and was merely waiting for permission to get started.
It shouldn't come as a surprise, she reminded herself. Anderson did hand pick the crew after all and he had an eye for talent.
"Pressly, I'm thinking here and here, any objections?"
The navigator analysed her choices on the map, aware that she wasn't just asking about the co-ordinates. While she had the superior rank, he had more experience in ship side operations and combat. Her area of expertise being on the ground, or water, or... Well, anything except ship-on-ship space combat really.
Point was, if she made a blunder, she'd rather know in the planning stages rather than when it was too late.
"Looks good ma'am."
"Ok, everybody know what they're doing? If you've got any questions or objections now's the time."
There was relative silence except for a few 'understood ma'am's then a voice radiated from the cockpit: "Commander, where do babies-"
"Finish that Joker and I'll let Crossfield take the helm. Anybody else? Ok then, venting heat sinks in three, two, one, mark."
...
They had been lucky on Therum. Nobody suffering anything worse than cuts and bruises.
That, combined with Shepard feeling comfortable enough about Liara's sincerity and intentions to be willing to leave the young asari to pick through the accumulated notes of her life's work on the Normandy without the need of a guard, meant that they had the same team as before.
The mako dropped with far less fanfare this time round, with everybody now knowing what to expect. A brief: 'everyone still breathing?' and their acknowledgements the sole chatter before Shepard drove off, aiming for the beacon's signal.
...
Without warning the mako suddenly slammed to a halt as they crested a slope, the valley laid out before them in all its gory glory.
Shepard had long ago mastered the art of recognising a flashback and grounding herself before it could pull her in too deep, but it was a hell of a lot harder when all her senses were returning nearly identical results as on that distant, fateful day.
She concentrated on the slight differences.
The sound of Tali's quiet, but slightly shy of silent, filtration system as it worked constantly to provide the quarian with safe air.
The smell of stagnant sweat inside the mako. Admittedly there had been plenty of perspiration last time round, but none had had that musky undertone of a krogan slowly being boiled inside a tin can.
Despite her best efforts, the sight before her remained unchanged.
"Wrex, does this look like what I think it looks like to you?"
The clipped, controlled tone of voice clued the big krogan in on what he was likely to find even before he maneuvered around the cramped interior so he could see out.
"Yeah, that's maw territory alright... So, what now? We heading back to the ship?"
He watched the team's reactions to his assessment, most of them were clearly uneasy at the prospect of facing one of the legendary beasts. They didn't truly understand what they were up against though. To them it was just some creature from a horror vid.
The commander knew the truth however. They'd talked about it often enough in the cargo hold, the human determined to learn as much as she possibly could about the creatures. Then again, even if they hadn't, he would have been able to tell from the look in her eye right now.
It was the same look he'd seen in asari huntresses: haunted, slightly scared, but determined as hell and he knew her answer a full two seconds before she shook her head grimly.
"Still got to disable that beacon before someone else tries to answer the distress call. At least we know what we're getting into." The smile on her face when she turned to face him was wry, but at least it wasn't manic as she asked: "Fancy a walk big guy?"
He nodded, thankful that her prohibition on him using his Graal spike thrower on anything organic hadn't gone as far as banning him from storing it in the mako. He pulled it out from storage now as he checked:
"Sure, as long as I can bring this?"
"You're definitely bringing that." She growled before turning to face the others. She was silent for a moment as she mentally ran through their files, working out the best positions for them all.
"Ok people, this ain't going to be easy. Tali, Ash stay where you are. Don't even bother trying to keep an eye on the shields though Tali, you could have a hole clear through both sides of the armour and still have ninety percent plus shielding. Focus on the radar and letting everybody know where the enemy is, it'll keep diving underground and resurfacing somewhere else. Kaidan you get to drive. Stay on the slope, to the best of my knowledge maws usually only ever surface on flat ground."
She glanced to Wrex for confirmation and got a nod.
"That doesn't mean you're going to be safe though, the range on their acid is at least a hundred and twenty metres, probably more. Nobody's ever had time to measure it exactly. You've got to constantly twist and turn, stay random. Maws may be monsters but they're not stupid. You develop even the slightest hint of a pattern the bastards will work it out and learn to anticipate your moves."
Kaidan nodded his understanding, although Shepard wasn't entirely sure anyone could truly understand until they had actually tried to outmaneuver a thresher maw.
She'd feel more comfortable if she was driving but she wasn't about to order anybody to do what she was about to. Oh sure Wrex was coming too, but she wouldn't have forced him to if he'd said no, and he was the only one other than her who had experience with this.
She took a deep breath before turning to the final member of the team.
"Garrus, if you're willing I'd like you and your rifle outside the Mako. Make sure you're at least two hundred metres away from the nearest flat ground at all times and focus on the weak spots. Wrex you got any photos of maws? Would save me time trying to access the extranet."
He activated his omni-tool passing it over to her and she chuckled slightly at the picture, the much younger warrior in it clearly the same krogan despite having far less scars.
"Typical."
"What? You're telling me you never took a victory photo?"
"I was a bit preoccupied trying to find a way off world."
He made a noise of disbelieve but dropped the subject as she started to point out the weak spots to the rest of the team, only speaking again to point out one that she'd missed.
Eventually they were as prepared as they could be and he disembarked from the vehicle with the commander. Before the door closed she gave some final instructions:
"No matter what happens you don't stop on flat ground, even if you think we need extraction, you stay away. And if Wrex gives you an order you don't question it and you don't hesitate. Consider him second in command until we get back to the Normandy."
The mako shot off, skirting the edge of the valley to drop off Garrus on the other side and they started the short walk down to the beacon that seemed to stretch out for an eternity.
"So... No advice for me?" Wrex asked, breaking the silence.
Except it hadn't been silent. Not to him.
He had been painfully aware of the human's deliberately controlled breathing.
He knew the amount of concentration and effort she was expending to keep it that way instead of allowing her breath to run ragged like her racing heart.
Knew that no matter how imaginative the rest of the squad may be, whatever they envisioned the next few minutes going like, was nothing compared to the horrors the woman next to him was likely remembering.
He wasn't really expecting any advice. They both knew he had more experience than her, but she turned to him anyway and offered:
"Don't let it spit on you, it fucking hurts!"
He chuckled, debating with himself for a moment before deciding that in his limited knowledge and experience of humans they seemed closer mentally to asari than krogan and asking:
"Are you sure you want to do this? I can disable the beacon."
She shook her head determinably.
"Got to do it."
Ok, not like asari, more like turians with that damn sense of duty, he mused.
He considered protesting and pointing out again how he was quite capable of turning off a transmitter. Then he got another look at her face and he realised the real meaning behind her words.
This wasn't about the mission objectives, or keeping up appearances in front of her crew. This was something she had to do for herself. He shut up, resolving to watch her back and see she made it through.
After all, if the human spectre died, who knew how long it would be before someone else in a position of power was willing to take a chance on the krogan.
...
Nikki let out the breath she'd been holding as she shut down the beacon and it finally stopped transmitting. Glancing around at the still peaceful valley.
Well, peaceful if you ignored the sight of the dead marines and the stench of rotting flesh and thresher acid anyway.
It was certainly still and quiet though.
She could see the mako up on the distant ridge, sticking to sloped ground like she'd instructed. Closer by was Wrex, scanning the surroundings with casual ease as he stood relatively nearby, yet far enough away that if a thresher did strike at them it wouldn't be able to get both of them in a single hit.
Still a sense of unease prevailed as she started the grim task of collecting dog tags, and it wasn't merely from the thought of coming up against another acid worm after all these years.
No, the whole situation was wrong.
The beacon was a civilian model. That meant the marines hadn't been the ones to activate it but rather were answering it.
Only there was no colony on Edolus.
No mining crews or pioneer teams.
No sign of a crashed ship or any other explanation for who could have set it up in the middle of nowhere and why.
Speaking of ships, where was the marines'? They had to have got to the planet somehow, they didn't just magically spawn down here. Yet there was no ship in orbit and no wreckage on land.
Even if it had left to report back to the fleet, Alliance protocol dictated they should have left a beacon in orbit transmitting a 'do not land' advisory notice.
The whole thing was highly suspicious but she didn't have time to dwell on it further as a faint tremor spread under ground.
Despite the years since she last felt it, there was no mistaking what it was, and adrenaline flooded her veins in preparation for her imminent need to run.
The running she should in fact already be doing.
She knew perfectly well she needed to be running. It was actually a rather integral part of the plan to stay alive. So why the fuck was she still rooted to the spot?
"Maw inbound!" Wrex bellowed into the comms, a warning to the Mako crew that she was supposed to have issued.
The vehicle in the distance instantly started moving. Shepard still did not.
The thresher erupted from the ground about a hundred metres away from her position and Wrex cursed himself for letting her enter the valley.
He'd known damn it! Asari or human, it made no difference. The squishy species were always the same.
He was debating whether knocking her out the way with his biotics if the maw focused on her would be more or less dangerous for her health when she finally sprung to life. Opening fire with her assault rifle and zigzagging away.
The krogan breathed a sigh of relief and focused on the fight.
...
"Shitting sake Shep! You trying to kill us before the worm can?" Badger demanded as she narrowly avoided the burnt out remains of half a Grizzly that she swore hadn't been there a second ago despite the fact it must have been. Their's was the only IFV still moving after all.
"Shut up and shoot the bastard!" She shouted back as the monster in question resurfaced a mere sixty metres away on their one o'clock and she sharply twisted the steering wheel to change direction.
"Brilliant! Why didn't I think of that? Any other advice?!"
Nikki inhaled deeply, the familiar aroma of strawberry and chamomile tea helping to bring her back out of the memory. She stared blankly for a moment at the orange screen of her personal computer and the half typed mission report for Alliance brass.
She still couldn't believe they had made it through today without a single casualty. No deaths and not even any injuries. She wasn't sure she'd ever read a report of a thresher attack with less than two deaths in it.
Of course, she'd never got to read any krogan after action reports, maybe that's all it took to have success. The secret anti-thresher weapon galactic civilizations had been trying to develop for centuries.
She took a sip of tea, dimly noting how the previously scorching liquid was now only lukewarm as she read back what she'd written so far.
"This one's had it too." The mechanic kicked frustratedly at what on first glance had been one of the more promising looking vehicles. "Fuck, I don't know if I can fix any of these."
"Hey, you can fix anything." Badger encouraged and she scoffed, running a hand through her short hair.
"Sure, give me a couple weeks and a proper workshop maybe, but here? Now?" She sighed deeply. "The gun's good at least. Strip it off and when I find something I can make move we'll jury rig it on, solve that problem with cooling times we had earlier."
Badger nodded as she let her eyes roam across the battlefield, finally landing on a vehicle on the outer limits of the valley floor.
"I'm gonna check that one out. Radio if you need me."
The tea was definitely cold now as Shepard took another sip and she debated whether or not to get a fresh cup. It didn't seem to be as effective as usual but maybe a different flavour would work.
She should be glad, proud even, of her squad's success today.
Certainly there was a celebratory mood among the rest of the ground team. One that seemed to have infected large chunks of the ship side crew as well.
She could hardly blame them.
They'd emerged victorious against an enemy that routinely destroyed forces ten times bigger than them and with centuries more experience.
Escaped unscathed from the jaws of nearly certain death.
It was the simple joy of being alive.
She should feel good about beating the old foe so decisively.
Instead her mind kept drifting back to her first encounter with the monsters.
If it had been that easy today, why couldn't she save anybody last time?
Logically and rationally she knew the answer of course. Unfortunately that didn't stop the maudlin feeling that had overcome her.
She'd cited paperwork as an excuse to seclude herself in her cabin, not wanting to put a dampener on everyone else's well deserved frivolities, but truthfully she wasn't getting very far with it.
She couldn't go back outside though, not yet.
Someone was bound to notice her despondent attitude and she really didn't feel like talking. Not to anybody onboard ship any way.
Her hand hovered over her omni-tool and she found herself subconsciously speed dialing the only person she didn't want to shut out right now.
"Hngh, Nick? You alright?" A bleary looking Trish answered the call and Shepard mentally cursed herself for not checking the time before calling.
"Yeah I'm alright. Sorry, didn't mean to wake you. What time is it over there?"
Trish glanced around the room in all directions before declaring: "Dark. It's dark time."
Nikki couldn't help chuckling, apparently her genius girlfriend was too tired to remember that the omni-tool they were communicating with also had a clock function.
"Go back to sleep babe, I'll call you when it's light time."
Trish nodded, curling back up under the duvet.
"Night Nick, love you."
"Love you too babe." She disconnected the call, the momentary lightness in her chest fading the moment she glanced back at her desk and she sighed. She really needed to finish that damned report.
Before she could unlock the timed out screen however, her omni-tool vibrated on her wrist and she looked down to see an incoming vid call. She hit the accept button.
"What's wrong sweetheart?" Trish still looked tired, messy bed hair only one of many indicators, but her eyes were slightly more alert and it was evident her brain had just woken up.
"Nothing, it's alright. I just forgot to check the time. We can talk later, get some rest."
Trish shook her head, disbelievingly.
"You don't 'just' forget things like that unless something's on your mind. Look… I'm awake now sweetie. Either you can talk to me about whatever you needed to call me about, or I lay awake the rest of the night anyway. Overthinking everything it could possibly be."
"Sorry. It's... My brain's just being stupid again is all. I wanted a distraction. Don't think I'm going to get any sleep tonight."
"Want me to sing you a lullaby? Read a bedtime story." There was a slight teasing tone in Trish's voice but it wasn't anything malicious and Nick got the feeling that if she said yes, her girlfriend probably would.
Not that Nikki ever would say yes. She might act like a kid sometimes but that didn't mean she wanted to be treated like one. The offer still warmed her heart though.
"Correction, I don't think I want to get any sleep tonight."
Trish, bless her, immediately got the distinction.
"You got any kind of preference for what kind of distraction you want?"
Nick shrugged.
"I hadn't thought that far ahead... Anything interesting happening back home?"
There were a few things. Some of them not mentionable enough to serve as a distraction and others that would just piss the soldier off for one reason or another. Trish took a second to decide on the best topic.
"Hmm, Ben's got a new girlfriend. Well... old girlfriend. Do you remember Chantel?"
"Chantel, Chantel..." Nikki had to think about it. "I swear he's had more girlfriends since we moved in than I've had promotions in my whole life. Was that the blond or the red head?"
"The blond."
"Really? The man's an idiot! I honestly don't know what he sees in her."
"I can think of a couple of things." Trish said suggestively and Nikki snorted.
"The only thing faker than her tits is her personality!"
"Now that's not very nice." Trish stated, although she didn't sound particularly upset.
"Hang on, isn't she the one who dumped him because he wouldn't give up all his friends and hobbies?"
"Maybe she's finally matured."
"Yeah right, she was a piece of work. I bet she's gone right past mature and straight into mouldy! What time is it over there? I should ring Ben up, tell him he's an idiot."
Trish didn't bother answering the question. Even though her partner was grumbling she knew that (mad as it sounded) it was the right kind of grumbling.
"You can't just wish them luck and happiness?"
"Hey, I wish Ben all the happiness he can get, but I'm afraid I can't wish that cow anything more than a quick death."
"A quick death? That's really the best you can wish her? You can't wish her a happy birthday or something?"
"Hmm, I don't know... maybe leprosy?" They shared a chuckle despite the inappropriateness of the joke.
"So I guess this means you don't want me leaving Judy at Ben's house if I have to go on business trips anymore then?"
"I don't know, reckon we can train Jude to bite anything with a high silicone content?"
"Nikki!" Trish vehemently protested the idea until curiosity got the better of her. "How would we even do that?"
"I don't know, give me a couple minutes, I'm sure I'll think of something."
Trish smiled as her partner started describing increasingly convoluted and dastardly plans to get their dog to attack breast implants.
She was tired, she knew she'd struggle to get through work later today and she still had no idea what exactly triggered the need for this call in the first place, but despite all that, she didn't regret or begrudge it for a moment.