"Speech"

'Thoughts'

'EDI'

Flashback

Garrus threw the tool across the workbench in frustration, once again having messed up his scope's calibration. The mission he had gone on a few days before had been a resounding success, with no one having gotten injured and all objectives having been completed.

Garrus was a little miffed that the Krogan thay had lifted off still wasn't awake, as he thought that it would be beneficial to awaken the tank bred as soon as possible. Especially considering the sheer combat prowess of a single member of that species, one specifically tailored to be the best could be unstoppable.

Well. Unstoppable for him at least. The warrior who seemed to be blessed by the Valluvian Priests that currently served as his commander might see it as an amusing distraction for a bit before tearing it apart in a biotic blaze of unholy fury.

His mandibles twitched involuntarily at the thought. Garrus had thought that maybe - just maybe - Shepard's ability in combat was a fluke, and that she had been strained to keep his squad in check in that facility, that it was simply bad luck and unfortunate circumstances for them, but no.

It was the exact opposite.

Shepard could only be described as a whirlwind of raw biotic power flinging all that crosses her path to their doom. No mercy. No hesitation. Simply actions and results. The prowess she showed on Korlus assured him of that.

The Turian couldn't even try to debase her lack of strategy and tactical positioning considering the fact that she had the equivalent of a Spirit shadowing her at all times and covering her bases in the most effective way.

That, and her use of cover on the fly was as effective as it gets.

The Spectre groaned. It could be easy to stay and wallow in the bitterness of feeling so easily outclassed, but he couldn't even do that. How could he, when everything she did left him so awed.

She was pretty much what he strived to be. Not in the biotics flaring, mercenary throwing kind of way; he would leave that to the little Asari who viewed films like Blasto and thought to do the same.

No, what she was was a commander, a leader through and through. Despite the small number of people that she was familiar with on her ship at this moment, when she spoke, everyone listened. Not out of fear, but of respect. They were… inspired, for lack of a better term.

She'd been trying - and somewhat succeeding - to get to know his crew as well. She and Wrex had spent a good amount of time lost in their own little world when they'd come back from Okeer's lab just speaking in the observation deck, and the frost that had settled between the four humans and his crew after their confrontation had been nearly completely thawed out, despite some lingering uneasiness concerning the redhead.

Garrus was a little envious, if he had to be honest. Ever since he'd been put in charge of the Eurus, he had a lot of difficulty being a good leader to his crew, instead letting Liara awkwardly settle in the role of second in command, and commander in all but name. He simply didn't know what to do.

Leaving C-Sec to try and get dirt on Saren, only to be picked up from a bad spot by the Council and turned into a Spectre of all things didn't prepare him for the burden of leadership. He had sacrificed his career to pursue his version of justice, not follow orders and have the responsibility of a few dozen lives on his hands at all times. How that had turned out wasn't exactly a surprise to him.

Still, going back to being directly under someone and not being in command of the ship he was staying on was a bit of a hit to his personal pride, despite his own set of problems with the position. His militaristic upbringing should, and had, prepared him for the possibility, but it stung a little, even if the pragmatic in him understood the political machine powering the decision from his superiors.

Garrus continued fiddling with the lens of the scope in his hands. In truth, what bothered him wasn't even the fact that he was back under the leadership of someone. No it was that this someone was so much better than him, seemingly without even trying.

The Spectre squeezed the attachment a bit tighter, a twinge of bitterness spreading though his body. Shepard had been nothing if supportive of him ever since they'd been put in this situation by the Council, even going out of her way to reassure him of his usefulness both on and out the ship after they'd picked up the tank bred Krogan. That conversation was more than a little awkward, with the both of them stumbling over their words and large, uncomfortable stretches of silence popping up, but the Turian would be lying if he said it didn't help ease some of his worries.

And here he vas, sulking like a jealous little kid. How bothersome.

Perhaps he should just try and speak with her more.

His mandibles clicked in irritation. Dealing with his butthurt feelings was a hassle.

Katherine sighed in frustration as the warm water stopped hitting her skin. She was currently in a facility of some kind, obviously helmed by the Federation's military, as evidenced by the pair of uniformed guards that escorted her to the shower she was using. The logo was quite prominent on their chest after all.

They had the decency to stay outside the door, or at least she guessed they did; she didn't bother going out of her way to check if they actually stayed put the entire time, but considering they were still waiting for her by the door the first two times she had been told that she could use the shower, it had no reason to change. True enough, they were there to fall into her steps as she exited the communal bathroom to go back to her assigned room, her time in the shower having reached its limits. The walk back was quick and silent, the only distractions from the white walls and the occasional patrol being the ever constant soft hum of thrusters passing over the roof of the building.

Shepard had not yet managed to figure out the size of the building, having been confined in a relatively small area, nor where she was, though she doubted they had taken her off world. She had heard some soldiers complaining about the constant storms over the district after all, something she was quite familiar with. Despite the lack of information, she wasn't especially worried, the ever present flame comprising the Federation's recognizable logo reassuring her that she had reached her initial objective, despite the slight hiccup along the way.

She had awoken a couple of days ago, being tended to by a rather nice nurse, if a bit frigid. They had apparently cleaned her wound and taken care of some small injuries caused by her latest scuffle, but she was apparently required to stay in observation inside the base while she waited for 'someone more qualified to take a look at her case'.

Not exactly the words that someone who just woke up in an infirmary would want to hear, and the nurse's tone somehow becoming even more clipped as she spoke to her wasn't all that great either, but at least the bed was more comfortable than her usual resting places, so Shepard wouldn't complain. Too much.

She was, after all, basically at the end of her journey. She didn't know where her credits or her knife went, but the two guards she had pestered had reluctantly told her that someone important was coming with the doctor she was supposed to be meeting, and that there was a high chance for her to be drafted in some sort of program, so the credits didn't matter anymore. Their only purpose had been to buy her way into the military anyway. The knife had something of a sentimental value to it, but she would not lose sleep over a single tool.

All in all, a bit of a bumpy road, but it would seem she would get what she wanted in the end.

What she didn't want though, was for the girl that had tried to take away everything she had worked for to be stuck with her while she moved on from this cesspool. Apparently the girl was the leader of a group of two-bit thieves that the Federation base in the area had been looking for for quite a while now, in order to… recruit her into service.

Basically threatening her into working for them.

Not that she didn't deserve any of it. Katherine had her fair share of run-ins with thieves looking to take away the little food or money she managed to scrounge up on her escapades, enough to develop a bit of a vendetta.

Despite that, she would bear with it. Nothing ever came free in this world, and if being stuck with a thief would get her her freedom, she'd do it without hesitation.

She would eventually be free of her. And this planet.

They really didn't have to make them roommates though.

"It's been like a day already, and you still haven't spoken to me! All you do is brood in your corner over there, it's so boring! Live a little! So, what's your name, hot stuff?"

The increasingly familiar voice rang in her ears as she finally reached her room, and went straight for her assigned bed. The girl, a Japanese 14 year old apparently named Kasumi Goto, was an annoyingly bright ball of sunshine, whose mood and determination to bother Shepard weren't deterred by the girl's attempts at rebuffing her.

She had basically ignored her for the first day, with a disappointing amount of success. Perhaps, if her needs for conversation were sated, the girl would be more susceptible to the idea of not bothering her.

"Katherine Shepard."

"Hmm. I don't like that."

The redhead felt her brows knitting despite trying to keep a straight face. "You don't like my name?"

"Nah. I mean, the last name is fine but, Katherine, ugh. It's just so… boring, you know? It feels weird on you."

"Well, I am deeply sorry my name doesn't please you."

"Apology accepted."

Shepard rolled her eyes, more than fed up with the asinine conversation, before shifting her position on her bed, to face away from the girl.

"We do need to find you a name though." A quick glance at Kasumi's scrunched eyes told her that she would not be free of her torment any time soon.

"I really don't think we do."

"Well, you're obviously wrong, but it's alright, I forgive you because you're cute. Speaking of… I'lll just call you Kat!"

She sighed in aggravation, before rolling back to face the girl. "Do you really hate my name this much?"

"Yes. But anyway! Kat is perfect! It's cute, just like you, and fluffy, just like a cat! And there's also the fact that I love puss-"

The redhead coughed, stopping what would obviously be a rather embarrassing sentence. "Alright, alright I got it. Look, I don't really care, so do what you want, just… leave me alone, okay?"

"No can do, I'd die of boredom if I do that! I mean, the people we're supposed to meet don't arrive for another three days, dude! That's so long!"

"How'd you know when they're coming? And why do they want to meet you too? I haven't been told anything."

"Psh, me neither, I just snuck into the break room and stole some stuff. Hey, did you know that that one guy who's always following you around has already been married two times? He's only 31, that's crazy right?"

Shepard did a double take. "What?"

"Yeah! The first one died six months after their marriage, and he cheated on the second one so she left! Man, that's crazy, isn't it?"

"No! I mean, yeah, it's kinda odd, and definitely surprising, but no! What the fuck!?"

Kasumi tilted her head to the side. "I mean, I get that it's not the most common thing out there, but the reaction is a bit over the top."

Katherine groaned. "No, not that! Why'd you break into there?"

"I mean, in my defense, I was bored."

"That's not an excuse! You could have… Oh for fuck's sake…"

Shepard took her pillow and screamed in it.

The other girl chuckled haplessly. "Come on, it's fine! I mean, what the hell are they gonna do anyway, sue us? We're already gonna be conscripted into a militaristic program that may or may not be breaking some old ass convention or something. Let me have some fun while I can!"

"Well, if we're going to disappear into the bum fuck middle of nowhere, maybe don't piss off the dudes who're gonna be responsible for us, you dumbass!"

"As if! No one's gonna care that I stole some random guy's stuff anyway, the thing they wanna send us into is way above their pay grade. Believe me, no one here's going to do anything to us, so don't worry sweet cheeks, we'll be fine."

The reasoning was sound. Come to think of it, nobody had really given her any rules to follow, and the guards following her seemed to be wary of her, to some degree. Still, it wasn't an excuse to start trouble just because she could. No, she'd stay right where she was and wait for her chance at freedom.

As was the plan.

"Hey, wanna help me sneak into the kitchen?"

Shepard sighed in aggravation.

Liara hummed as Kasumi continued her retelling of her first meeting with Commander Shepard.

Shepard…

Despite having had some time to come to terms with the situation, being in the presence of the mythical hero the Protheans whispered about in various poems and epics was something unbelievable. And, so far, Liara could understand why even Sovereign emphasized her existence, back on Virmire.

The human was brash, bold, and extremely skilled. There was a sort of charisma, a magnetic pull backed up by no small amount of recklessness and bravery in her actions that made it hard to go against her, even for her supposed allies.

She was a storm, one that swept her surroundings into her wake and forced everyone to follow her. Even if they'd rather not.

One only had to look at their meeting with the Council. No punch was pulled, and the Commander even had their AI breach the Councilors' personal console. Liara had managed to keep her expression schooled when Kasumi told the crew of the ploy afterwards, but the reactions of her crewmates were far more varied, and a whole lot more antagonistic.

Which made sense, considering their current situation. As it stood, the only thing that Shepard showed was power. She dismantled what could be considered one of the most dangerous ground teams in the Galaxy, before she managed to have the most secure infrastructure infiltrated, with no one being the wiser.

The one ground mission they did only reaffirmed the feeling of restlessness within the crew. While not impossible to achieve by any means, there was something about the ease with which she recovered the mission objective that underlined the feeling of uselessness that festered in the crew.

It is no wonder that Councilor Tevos asked her to keep an eye on the human, for all the good that it'd do. The Asari had no illusions; it was almost assured that EDI knew about her semi-regular reports to the Galactic seat of power, but no measure had been taken to stop it.

It was an odd situation. The Council was basically forced to agree with whatever Shepard asked of them, both from fear of the now proven Reaper threat, and from fear of consequences of whatever EDI did while she was connected to the Citadel Network's inner kernel. Without mentioning the feeling of uneasiness that was caused by Shepard's mere presence.

While Liara was almost certain that other races could not feel it, an Asari certainly could, as Tevos confirmed much the same. The Asari were a race specifically attuned to harness and feel the power of Eezo, after all, though within reason. That reason was thrown out the window when it came to the red-headed human.

A seemingly endless bundle of unstable biotic energy, simmering and crackling with power at all times, as if only barely controlled. There was something deeply intimidating about being so close to something, someone, who had the gift of your race, previously thought to be unique, only on an unfathomable level of power.

So familiar, yet so different at the same time.

A sharp poke to her midsection brought Liara out of her musings.

"What are you even thinking about in that pretty head of yours, huh?"

The doctor blinked as she focused on Kasumi's hooded figure, hovering above her seated position. "My apologies, Ms. Goto, it appears as though I was lost in thought."

A giggle escaped her interlocutor. "Well, yeah, I noticed. And I told you to call me Kasumi, Ka-su-mi. It's not that hard, is it?"

"No, no, I… I suppose it isn't."

Silence filled the room, only accompanied by the hum of the ship's thrusters and the various notifications filling her workstation while she wasn't tending to it.

"Wanna fill me in?"

Liara hesitated for a brief second. "No, it was not important."

She had not even managed to convince herself.

Kasumi hummed. "Well, it doesn't matter." She turned to the screens, filled with a multitude of windows. "What are you working on here, anyway? Seems to me like you were Vakarian's XO, so I'd expect you to be out there giving the crew pep talks or something."

Liara made a disbelieving noise. "Is that how it looks from the outside? No, I assure you, I would be quite remiss to ah… give 'pep talks' as you put it."

"That so, huh? Well, you do you. It sure looks like you're some sort of spokesperson for the crew though."

"How so?"

"It's part of my job to be observant, you know. Your crew, well, our crew now, I guess, they come to you, even if Vakarian's supposed to lead them. Our former XO, Miranda, she spent quite a bit of time out of her lab to simply talk with the men. Said it helped her relax when whatever she was tinkering didn't work out the way she wanted to. Not that I want to tell you how to do your job, if that even is your job in the first place…"

"Well, while it is true that most of the Eurus' crew looked to me as their Executing Officer, I never was officially sworn into the role. My primary role was to gather information about whatever foe we were chasing at the time, as well as bringing whatever event I deemed important to Garrus' attention."

"Ah, I see. Well, uh… Since I'm supposed to do that XO stuff now uh… That's good! Um… Yeah. Continue, I guess?"

The woman's evident hesitation brought a smile to the Asari's lips. "While I can't say that my observational skills are as refined as yours, you don't seem in your element here, Kasumi."

The hooded thief's shoulders slumped as she whined. "Oh god no. Miranda was, like, perfect as XO, but uh… Well, let's just say that between Joker being the pilot, Chakwas barricading herself into the med bay as she does and Kat being her usual self, I was all that's left, so here I am."

Liara hesitantly spoke up. "Her usual self?"

A fond smile appeared on Kasumi's lips. "As much as I love her, Kat always had problems fitting in with the rest of the crew. They liked her alright, you'd be hard pressed to find a more loyal crew actually, but… It's like, how you admire someone who seems larger than life, you know? There always was a bit of distance between Kat and the rest. Miranda bridged the gap."

"And where did you end up?"

"Ha! I was a bit of an odd case. I fitted in really easily but, I didn't especially care all that much. I was there for Kat. Not to say that I didn't give a damn about the crew itself, but…"

"They were secondary?"

Kasumi nodded. "It might seem cold, but at the end of the day, Kat is my priority. I kept my distance back then, and it worked well enough. The crew had almost no problems, despite me and Kat not being part of the family, so to speak. Now, I've got to socialize and shit."

"And why not let Commander Shepard do it?"

"Hmm. That's a hard question to answer. Kat, she… She has a hard time dealing with people. It's kinda like, she watches from afar. Despite it being Miranda who dealt with Human Resources - name to change, by the way - there was no doubt in any mind: we were Commander Shepard's crew. But it wouldn't be possible for her to just mingle. It's like a daycare, she's the one who's responsible for the children, but the children don't really consider her as a friend."

Liara nodded, absorbing the information she'd been given. "She has been interacting with some people though. Why?"

"Well, I guess she understands the situation. Both of our crews have suffered, and now she's supposed to lead people she doesn't know. In her mind, the crew has to get to know her, at least on some basic level. She's laying the groundwork right now, but when she's done, I expect she'll go back to overseeing, rather than directly interacting."

The Asari nodded her understanding. "You certainly seem to know her quite well."

"More than even herself. Inside and out, if you catch my drift!"

The grin on Kasumi's face did nothing to stop Liara's sigh.

Shepard sighed as she fidgeted with her blade while she waited for Wrex to arrive in the cargo bay.

A quick glance at Kasumi told her that her partner was already ready to leave, as was expected. Liara and Garrus were just about ready as well, though Tali was still adjusting her shotgun on her back.

'EDI, would you be a dear and tell Wrex to hurry up, please?'

'Yes, Commander.'

The redhead shook her head as she reviewed the information she was given by the Asari Councilor just an hour prior. The politicians had told her back on the Citadel, despite their pussy footing around the issue, that she was to follow the orders of the Council for the time being. The fact that their first task for her was to rebuild her crew was logical, despite the mixed feelings she had about it.

Still, she would have liked a bit more freedom in the choice of individuals she would allow on her ship. Instead, she had been given a list of various criminals to recruit into her service. Not that she had any qualms about allowing such people on the Normandy, given her rather colorful past. The fact that the three aliens had not taken this as an opportunity to plant their own agents on the frigate was also somewhat surprising, but a welcome respite.

No, what truly annoyed her was the fact that her orders were self-conflicting. She had been told to build up the number of crew members on the ship, but Tevos had just told her that she should free up her schedule in order to aid her in a 'delicate matter'.

How annoying.

Still, Shepard was quite good at shutting up and following orders, so she put a clamp on her tongue in order to keep any snark from leaking out and nodded curtly. At least EDI had informed her that she had been curt in her interaction. Not that she cared all that much.

What she hadn't bothered to tell Tevos was that she had already chosen the next member to be inducted under her command. Which was why the Normandy was currently nearing the Omega Station in the 'Terminus Systems'. A supposedly lawless haven of crime and conflict outside of the jurisdiction of the Council. They had already entered them a few days earlier back when Kasumi had emitted the idea of introducing another Krogan on the ship.

The thief had thought that Wrex could use the company, the centuries old warlord having apparently been in a bit of a funk ever since their encounter. Having no reason to doubt the word of her partner, and also having no idea of who to choose from the rather extensive list given to her by the Council, Shepard agreed with the motion.

Not that it ended particularly well, Okeer having died in the mess with the mercenary group they had encountered on Korlus. The tank they had managed to extract was still sitting in the cargo bay, not far from her current position. While potentially useful in the long run, Shepard had decided to hold off on waking the Krogan, instead choosing to bolster the medical personnel of her crew, in case of an emergency. That led her to the profile of Mordin Solus, a Salarian scientist whose renown in medicine and the field of genetics was apparently close to unmatched.

While Shepard had wanted to remain somewhat covert with her recruitment, a conversation with Liara had informed her that operating on Omega required to deal with Aria T'Loak, the apparent leader of the station. Despite her initial hesitation, the Asari archeologist assured her that T'Loak would not be a problem. Having no reason to doubt the Doctor's words, she had merely nodded in response, though internally she had wondered internally what exactly would cause a warlord of an unaffiliated region to bow to the whims of the Council. That particular conversion had happened a few minutes prior, the rest of the time having been spent preparing their gear.

The lumbering mass of Wrex exiting the elevator brought the N7 out of her reminiscence. The Krogan was already prepared for combat, though that wasn't surprising. EDI had given her semi-regular reports on the Krogan's restlessness and, while it was slowly getting better, maybe taking the Battlemaster out on the field would help his state of mind.

Since everyone concerned was finally here, the redhead put her blade back in its sheath before clearing her throat, claiming everyone's attention.

"The mission is simple. Our sole objective is to locate and secure one Mordin Solus, a Salarian scientist, in order to recruit him into the Normandy's crew. As the most astute among you might have noticed, we are currently on a course to Omega. Now, Dr. T'Soni assured me that we would not have a problem with the station's leadership, so the point should be moot, however discretion is the better part of valor."

While you are under my command, my first priority will be your continued survival. And, while I would be willing to cause a large amount of collateral damage in order to ensure that everyone of us leaves in one piece, I doubt that the killjoys who give me orders would be particularly pleased with this choice of approach."

So please, don't shoot anything I don't tell you to. Or, at the very least, do it quietly."

A quick glance at Kasumi's amused smirk told the Commander that she wasn't especially convinced by her words, but was willing to leave it be.

'Commander, we've been approved for landing on Omega. ETA 2 minutes.'

Shepard put on her helmet, the airtight seals clasping on with a mechanical hiss. "If I'm ever incapacitated, you listen to Kasumi. If we're both unable to give out orders, well… things would honestly have to go to utter shit to get to that point, so run for your lives I guess."

Yo.

Kept you waiting, huh?

My apologies for that, but college really isn't all that forgiving when it comes to free time. At least I finally finished my year, so there's that. Still have an internship starting July, but that shouldn't take up as much of my time.

Now then. Onto the story.

I'm actually quite satisfied with how this turned out. A bit slow, and not much happens, but there's some nice setup for later things, and what's there is interesting.

In my opinion at least, though I guess it would be quite worrying if I came up with something that even I find dreadfully boring.

The only thing I can think of that could use a bit of work is that Shepard is still very much bland, at least in the present timeline. The flashbacks give her a bit more umph, but the N7 version of herself isn't quite how I want her to be. Something that I am working on and will be fixed very soon.

Well. Very soon doesn't mean anything considering I am writing it and well, we can all see how that's going when it comes to speed.

Speaking of. Next chapter is going to introduce Omega, and Mordin (maybe). I actually have quite a bit planned for this mission, and it should lead into a totally new arc I'm currently working on.

Something that you'll see by 2030 I imagine.

I joke around, but I can't exactly tell you when the next update is going to land, considering I seem to multiply my projects, and I still am writing several Tabletop RPG storylines, but it'll be coming. At some point.

I'll try and post something before September, though my next fic update probably won't be on this one.

Anyway. Happy Pride, love you all, review, comment and shit if you want, and I'll see you later :D