Author's Note: Just wanted to take a moment to say thank you for the favorites and follows. It's very encouraging. If you have a minute, please leave a comment and let me know what you think. Enjoy... - TLC
Chapter Three
Kaidan had taken it upon himself to join Joker in the cockpit. The tense atmosphere of the ship was only amplified once Nihlus was actually on board. It made for a very uncomfortable environment, but Joker's sarcastic sense of humor kept the cockpit light. After promising Joker he wouldn't get in his way, Kaidan sat himself in the co-pilot's chair. Being at this console allowed him access to the ship's navigation computers and he was able to lose himself in the coding and ignore the tension on board. Kaidan had specialized Sentinel training, as well as first aid. Being trained as a Sentinel allowed him to use his biotics and his interest and talent in technology together as the defensive backbone of a ground team. The first aid training made him the team's field medic.
Kaidan felt the shift in the cockpit when Nihlus entered and stood behind the pair with his arms at his sides. They were headed towards the relay to get back on route to Eden Prime. Kaidan glanced at the Turian, quickly, before turning his attention back to his console. When humans first encountered the alien race, they didn't quite fit what alien lore had dictated. Turians looked almost avian, resembling humanoid birds. Kaidan could see how Captain Anderson would be reminded of the evolutionary link between birds and dinosaurs. They typically stand over six feet tall. Their most distinguishing feature is the metallic carapace, like the shell of a turtle, over their shoulders which contains trace amounts of thulium. This evolved as a defense against the greater levels of solar radiation that penetrate their homeworld Palaven's weak magnetic field. Their reflective plate-like skin makes them less susceptible to long-term, low-level radiation exposure, but unfortunately, does not act as any type of natural protection. A Turian's thick skin will not stop projectiles or directed energy bolts. Males and Females of the species do not differ greatly in physical appearance, except that the females lack the crest of horns that the males have.
They are an intimidating species, more predatory than prey. They have forward-facing alert eyes with outstanding eyesight. Their slender bodies betray their ability to move at high speeds. Their teeth and jaws mimic those of apex predators, like crocodiles or carnivorous dinosaurs. Their mouths are framed by a set of mandibles. They have two proportionately thick fingers and an opposable thumb on each hand. The talons on both their feet and hands are more than capable of ripping flesh. While their diet consists mostly of meat, they are part of a galactic minority as a dextro-protein reliant race. Foods consumed by humans, asari or salarians offer no nutrition and could cause a deadly allergic reaction.
"Get ready for the magic," Joker whispered bringing Kaidan out of the code and back into the cockpit to watch the jump. Kaidan watched as they headed towards the relay. He loved watching jumps up close like this. The way the blue energy swirled around the relay was beautiful, powerful. Joker spoke over the comm, his voice ringing throughout the CIC, "The Arcturus Prime relay is in range. Initiating transmission sequence. We are connected. Calculating transit mass and destination. The relay is hot. Acquiring approach vector. All stations secure for transit. The board is green. Approach run has begun," Kaidan caught a hint of a gentle floral scent, and looked and found that Shepard had also joined them to watch the jump, "Hitting the relay in 3 … 2 … 1…" They entered the energy of the relay and it felt like gravity was suspended for a brief second as their centers shifted and the ship was shot through the stars. Less than a minute later, the ship slowed, and Kaidan felt his stomach settle back up from his toes as he and Joker ran through the ship's systems. Joker continued to dictate, "Thrusters, check. Navigation, check. Internal emissions sync engaged. All systems online. Drift, just under 1500K."
"1500 is good. Your Captain will be pleased," Nihlus's two-toned, flanging voice rang out in the cockpit before he turned on his heel and headed out to the CIC.
"I hate that guy," Joker grunted as his hands continued to fly over his console. His annoyance evident in his posture.
"Nihlus gave you a compliment, so you hate him?" Kaidan asked glancing over his shoulder at Shepard. They made eye contact and exchanged an amused glance before Kaidan tore his eyes away and focused again on the console.
Joker's tone was still angry and harsh as he continued, "You remember to zip up your jumpsuit on the way out of the bathroom, that's good. I just jumped us halfway across the galaxy and hit a target the size of a pinhead. So that's incredible," His hands slowed on the console as the ship balanced out after the jump. His tone softened, "Besides, Spectres are trouble. I don't like having him on board. Call me paranoid."
Kaidan shook his head. It really was everyone on the ship who felt suspicious. "You're paranoid. The Council helped fund this project. They have a right to send someone to keep an eye on their investment." He only partially believed it was that simple, but would stick with what he had been told.
Joker let out a sarcastic chuckle, "Yeah, that is the official story, but only an idiot believes the official story."
"They don't send Spectres on shakedown runs," Shepard spoke under her breath. She sounded almost absent minded. Kaidan looked back at her and she shrugged.
"So, there is more going on here than the Captain's letting on," Joker said, like he'd been let in on a secret.
"Look, truthfully, I don't know any more than you do. Neither Anderson nor Nihlus have given me any information to indicate there's anything else going on. I'm suspicious, but I've got to agree with Alenko. At least until my CO tells me different," Shepard expanded on her thoughts as she looked to the back of Joker's head.
"Joker! Status report," Anderson's disembodied voice interrupted their conversation and Kaidan took the moment to look back at Shepard again. He was surprised she had shared her opinion with them. Her candor was contradictory to her reputation, but it was a pleasant contradiction.
"Just cleared the mass relay, Captain. Stealth systems engaged. Everything looks solid," Joker answered.
"Good. Find a comm buoy and link us into the network. I want mission reports relayed back to Alliance Brass before we reach Eden Prime," Anderson ordered.
"Aye, aye, Captain," Joker answered as he started his search for the buoy. His voice dropped to a softer tone when he continued, "Better brace yourself, Sir. I think Nihlus is headed your way."
The Captain's voice was annoyed when he responded, "He's already here, Lieutenant." Kaidan heard Shepard's soft laugh and turned to look at her. He noticed the brightness the humor brought to her eyes as they made eye contact again. He cleared his throat and looked away, reminding himself she was his CO, and he shouldn't be paying that much attention to the color of her eyes. The Captain continued, "Tell Commander Shepard to meet me in the comm room for a debriefing." He heard her sigh.
"You get that, Commander?" Joker asked without looking at her.
"He sounds angry. Something must have affected the mission," She tapped the back of his chair and turned on her heel to make her way to the comm room.
"Captain always sounds like that when he's talking to me," Joker mumbled.
"Can't possibly imagine why," Kaidan responded and heard Shepard laugh loudly as she left the cockpit and crossed the CIC. She had a great laugh, breathy and rich.
"She's not what I expected," Joker said after a silent minute and Kaidan looked over to him. "I expected this bad ass super bitch who didn't give a damn about the means as long as the ends meet. She's not though. She talks to her crew, wants to get to know them," Joker looked over at Kaidan and nodded his head over his shoulder, back the way the Shepard had gone, "She laughs."
"She is certainly impressive," Kaidan agreed under his breath as he turned his attention back to the console. He missed the smirk Joker had sent his way. He was impressed by her. It wasn't too different from the way Jenkins spoke about her, Kaidan was just more disciplined and his appreciation was more subdued. The fact that she was so decorated yet still so down to earth surprised him. He knew it was just a case of hero worship and would pass, most likely after they fought together for the first time. Fighting side by side with someone, having their back and knowing they have yours, will always humanize them.
"Holy shit…" Joker said when the first images from Eden Prime came through the comm and were displayed on their consoles. It was an unclear image, but the sound of gunshots and explosions were clear. Immediately, Kaidan ran a program to fix the image. It was still choppy, but there was no doubt the colony was under attack. Neither Kaidan nor Joker could tear their eyes away from the feed. A woman's voice rang out an order to get down, followed quickly by more gunshots.
A male officer's face filled the screen. "We're under attack! Taking heavy casualties. I repeat: heavy casualties! We can't… argh! ... –eed evac! They came out of nowhere. We need…" The image panned away from the officer as more gunshots rang out. Then the screen went black. The cockpit was silent, and Kaidan and Joker looked to each other. Kaidan attempted to reach out to the colony again as Joker rang into the comm room.
"Captain, we've got a problem," He said simply, his voice panicked, as he brought the footage around to the beginning.
"What's wrong, Joker?" Anderson answered, alarm in his voice.
"Transmission from Eden Prime, sir. You better see this!" Joker was already putting the images through as Anderson told him to put it on their screen. Kaidan and Joker stopped and watched it through again. Kaidan felt his stomach drop and his heart race. What made it worse was that there was no clear shot of who was attacking the colony. They'd be going in blind. The feed ended again and Kaidan swallowed hard. "Everything cuts out after that. No comm traffic at all. Just goes dead. There's nothing." Anderson asked him to reverse the feed and hold it at a specific frame and ask for a status report. "Seventeen minutes out Captain. No other Alliance ships in the area."
"Take us in, Joker, fast and quiet. This mission just got a lot more complicated," The end of the order was spoken almost under his breath.
Joker had left the comm open and Kaidan could hear Nihlus's two-toned voice ring out, "A small strike team can move more quickly without drawing attention. It's our best chance to secure the beacon." Beacon? Kaidan was suddenly very uncomfortable with the Turian.
Anderson asked Nihlus to get his gear and to meet down in the cargo hold. "Tell Alenko and Jenkins to suit up, Commander. You're going in."
"Aye, aye, Captain," Shepard answered and Kaidan felt himself straighten in his seat. They heard the soft sigh of the comm room door open and close. "Alright, Alenko, I know you're still listening. Get Jenkins and meet me down in the cargo bay. I'll brief you as we gear up." Kaidan answered in the affirmative and logged off the console. He left the cockpit and made his way down to the cargo bay.
The ground team met up at their lockers. Shepard was waiting for them, already in her armor. Her light armor was black and thin. The protection was in the weaving. It allowed her to move more freely in battle and it wouldn't hinder her biotics. Kaidan's armor was very similar, the major difference was the white N7 on her chest and the red stripe that stretched from her shoulder guard, down her gauntlet to her covered hand. Her features lit by the omni-tool she was working on. Her face was hard, a deep crease between her sculpted eyebrows and her lips pressed into a thin line. The way her brows angled in concentration made her scar more prominent. She was shorter than him, and had a petite frame, but she exuded a confidence that made her more intimidating than Kaidan would have thought possible.
Kaidan and Jenkins opened their lockers and started to pull out their armor. Shepard pulled up the video again on her 'tool, her face unclear as she turned to Jenkins. "Listen, Corporal, this may be difficult to see considering you grew up here. You need to see it before we hit the ground. I need to know if I can trust you to focus on the goal regardless," Her voice was firm, leaving no room for question as he nodded buckling his greaves at the knee. Kaidan locked eyes with Shepard as she started the footage. She looked away and loaded her pistol before sliding it into position at her hip. Kaidan watched Jenkins's face as the images played. He watched the shock turn to horror and end at anger as the screen flickered off. "Can you do it, Jenkins?"
"Yes, Commander," He answered, his voice thick with emotion. Shepard stared at him unblinking as the seconds ticked by. Kaidan had the feeling she was still unsure of the young man, but she wasn't going to tell him to stay behind, she had to take him at his word.
She nodded before speaking, "Clearly, this mission is not what we were told it was." Kaidan's jaw clenched at the confirmation of their suspicions. She turned her attention to Kaidan as she continued; she offered the Captain's explanation to him. "The order for secrecy came from the top. It's strictly need to know. We were scheduled to make a covert pick up from Eden Prime, hence the stealth systems being operational. A research team unearthed some kind of beacon during an excavation. It was Prothean. Eden Prime doesn't have the facilities to handle something like this. We are taking the beacon back to the Citadel for proper study. This goes far beyond mere human interest and this discovery could affect every species in Council space. The last time humanity discovered something like this it jumped our technology forward 200 years."
"Why didn't we keep it for ourselves?" Jenkins asked, as he secured his chestplate. Shepard glared at him for a moment at the interruption.
Kaidan could feel her tension, in her tone and in the way she stood. Jenkins was oblivious. "Humans don't have the best reputation. Some species see us as selfish, unpredictable, too independent, and even dangerous. Keeping it would only validate that. By sharing the beacon we can improve relations with the Council. Plus, they know more about the Protheans than we do. We need their scientific expertise," Kaidan answered, as he secured his own armor.
He looked over at Shepard and she nodded at him before continuing, "The Protheans vanished 50,000 years ago. Yet, their legacy remains. The mass relays, the Citadel, our ship drives, it's all based on Prothean technology. Alenko, you seem to have a firm grasp on what this means for the Alliance's position in the galactic community. Jenkins, what do you know about the Protheans?" She asked, leaning against the lockers. Her helmet on the bench in front of her and she crossed her arms over her chest.
"Just what they taught in school," He said and looked at Shepard. She raised an eyebrow as a way to tell him to continue. "Uh, they were a technologically-advanced species that ruled the galaxy 50,000 years ago. Then they vanished, nobody really knows how or why, though, there are plenty of theories. Everyone agrees galactic civilization wouldn't exist without them. It is their Citadel that is very center of society out here. It's their mass relays that make interstellar travel possible. We all owe the Protheans a great debt. If humanity hadn't discovered the Prothean ruins on Mars, we'd still be stuck on Earth," Jenkins answered and Shepard nodded.
"The Mars ruins were just a small data cache. Who knows what we can learn from this beacon?" Kaidan contemplated.
"What if it's a weapons archive?" Jenkins added, almost sounding giddy in his attempt to put thoughts of his family aside.
"I don't deal in what ifs," Shepard snapped, Jenkins's gaze dropped down away from her and Kaidan moved his eyes to hers as she continued. "Regardless, whatever it is, we can't let it fall into the wrong hands," Shepard stated. Kaidan clamped his mouth shut at the annoyed tone in her voice. Jenkins piped up and asked what she meant by wrong hands. "The Attican Traverse isn't the most stable sector of Citadel space. There are plenty of raiders and criminal groups active in the region. They might figure a Prothean beacon is worth the risk of attacking an Alliance ship. Plus, Eden Prime itself is on the edge of Citadel space. It's right on the border of the Terminus Systems."
"But the Attican Traverse is under Citadel protection, if the Terminus Systems attack it's an act of war!" Jenkins exclaimed, his eyes wide.
"Technically, yes. The concern is that some of the species in the Terminus might be willing to start a war over this," Shepard replied.
"I'm sure the last thing the Council wants is to be dragged into a major conflict with the Terminus System," Kaidan added and Shepard nodded with a raised eyebrow.
"That's why we have to keep this low key," Shepard finished and the three looked to each other in silence for a minute. Shepard asked if there were any questions, and neither Kaidan nor Jenkins spoke up. "We're about two minutes out," She added. "Get ready to drop." She gave the order and moved towards the door at the back of the bay. Kaidan gestured for Jenkins to stand and he ran over the clasps of his armor, ensuring they were sealed properly. He gave Jenkins the all clear and looked over his shoulder at Shepard. She seemed off. She had been laughing the last time he'd seen her. Was this simply the mission? Was this where her unforgiving reputation came from or was there something she still wasn't sharing?
Kaidan went to stand with Shepard near the drop door. He noticed a loose latch at the top of her shoulder guard. "Excuse me, Commander?"
"Yeah, L.T.?" She answered turning to face him, and abbreviating his title. He told her of the missed latch and she cursed, "Thanks, Alenko." She went to make the adjustment but Kaidan's hand was already there, securing it. She made eye contact with him, and slowly lowered her hand to her side without looking away. He urged her to turn so he could check the rest of the closures. Her eyes narrowed at him, and he didn't look away. Almost reluctantly, she turned and let him double check her armor. "Watch your hands, Lieutenant," She cracked quietly as his hands followed the seams of the armor along her sides.
"Of course, Commander. You're all set," He said before tapping her shoulder with the all clear. She turned to look at him, and motioned for him to turn around. He obliged and she ran her hands over the seals on his armor performing her own check. When she finished, she told him he was clear and he turned towards her. Captain Anderson called for their attention. As they gathered around the Captain, they put on their helmets. "Alright, Shepard's in charge of the ground team. Secure the beacon and get it to the ship ASAP. That is your main objective. Survivors are a secondary concern. Nihlus will accompany you to observe the mission," Anderson ordered. Nihlus dropped first, stating he moved faster on his own.
"Approaching drop zone two," Joker's disembodied voice announced. The ground team prepared for the jump. Anderson watched as they dropped from the Normandy to the red dirt ground of Eden Prime.