They had indeed found the engineers. Unfortunately, they could only bring Simon Atwell news of their demise. He had again thanked them for their help and they had left, Shepard now the happy owner of a Colossus armor. Now they were back aboard the Normandy on their way to the Hades Gamma cluster and then further to the Attican Beta cluster.
By the time the mission debrief was over Kaidan's head was throbbing. He tried keeping a straight face as he made his way to the med bay, as well as getting there without falling over his own feet. While stripping out of his armor he had felt Shepard's scrutinizing gaze. As much as he wished she had watched him because she enjoyed watching him undress he was certain she knew he was in pain. After they had found the third engineer he had noticed her throwing him the first concerned looks when he had been trying to loosen his increasingly stiff muscles in his neck and shoulders.
The doctor looked up at him as he stumbled gracelessly into the med bay and went straight to the locker where she stowed his medicine.
"How bad?" was all she asked.
"Eight," he managed to force out. It sounded more like a whimper as a flash of pain seared through his head.
"Aura phase?"
Kaidan grunted in conformation.
"Can you tell me what triggered it, or would you rather give me the answer later?" she inquired as she injected his medication into his arm.
"Later, doc. If that's okay," he forced out through gritted teeth.
"Of course, Kaidan. Lay down over there, I'll let the Commander know you're out of the game at least until tomorrow."
Kaidan didn't answer. He was paying for the unchecked use of his biotics on that blasted asteroid and he felt a wave of nausea sweeping over him. He swallowed and tried to focus on his breathing. The aura that had been dancing in front of his eyes during the mission debrief was gone but his sense of position was still messed up. He slowly relaxed as the pain killers numbed the pain and he drifted off into a dreamless drug-induced sleep.
He didn't notice the Commander come in and stand next to him a short time later. His features were carefree and the lines of pain around his eyes were wiped away. Nick breathed in deeply. Foremost she smelled the typical smell of disinfecting agent but also the scent of Kaidan's aftershave and a hint of ozone from his biotics. She had noticed it earlier already but only today in the Mako had her brain made the connection that this combination was uniquely Kaidan.
Dr. Chakwas had left the med bay a few minutes earlier and was only mildly surprised when she came back to find Shepard there.
"Commander," she said by way of greeting, trying to keep a smile off her face. The doctor was very aware of the attraction between the CO and the Head of Marine Detail. Unfortunately she was also aware of the regulations concerning fraternization and she was worried for both of them. They were both career soldiers. And while Shepard was willing to bend the rules, Kaidan was strictly by-the-book. But bending rules and breaking them were two different things.
Nick turned around. "Doctor. Will he be fit for duty in the morning?" Yeah, exactly. Like she believes that you're here for solely professional reasons.
"Yes, Commander. Lieutenant Alenko should be fully recovered by morning."
Shepard shifted uncomfortably. "Good. Thank you, Doctor. I should go," she finished lamely.
"Of course, Commander." There was a hint of amusement in the doctor's voice. Shepard felt a blush creeping up from her neck as she left the med bay. Damn Doc and her perceptiveness.
Shepard decided to go down to the cargo hold. She hadn't talked much with Tali or Wrex ever since the business on the MSV Ontario and figured she had some catching up to do. She rolled her shoulders as she waited for the elevator. When the doors finally opened she almost bumped into Liara who wanted to get out.
"Sorry, Liara." Shepard side-stepped and took Liara's place in the elevator. Liara opened her mouth to say something but closed it again and just gave Shepard a funny look. Nick wasn't sure what to make of it. She shook herself. No use worrying about it now. She would talk to Liara later.
Engineer Adams looked up hopefully from his work station where he was working with one of the engineering crew and Tali. His expression fell slightly when he saw Shepard enter.
"Were you waiting for someone else, Adams?" Shepard asked wryly.
"Yes, ma'am. Sorry, but have you seen the lieutenant? Tali here told me about an idea the two of them had come up and we had wanted to give it a try. You know, Alenko would make a fine engineer with the proper schooling."
"Sorry to disappoint you, but Alenko is in the med bay. Migraine," she told them. "Apart from that I think he is a valuable asset to the team as sentinel. And now I would like to steal Tali away for a moment yet too." Shepard smiled at the young quarian and gestured over to a corner where they could talk.
"How are you settling in?" Shepard began.
"Good. You're crew have been great, especially Chief Engineer Adams and Lieutenant Alenko, but," the quarian hesitated, "I still feel out of place. It's so quiet here and the Normandy runs so smooth it feels as if we aren't moving at all. The silence wakes me up at night."
"The silence wakes you up?" Shepard repeated with a quizzical expression.
Tali let out a small huff. "On the Flotilla silence is the last thing you want to hear. It usually means an engine has died or an air filter has shut down. But it's not only that. Also the ship feels so...empty, like half the crew is missing. Funny, before my pilgrimage I couldn't wait to get away from the crowd. Now I miss them."
"Maybe you're a little homesick," Shepard offered softly. Tali turned her head away for a moment before looking back at Shepard.
"You could be right. Thank you."
"I'll let you get back to work." Shepard nodded once and left Engineering, walking over to Wrex. She actually quite enjoyed the krogan's presence. He had a straight-forward way that she knew well from herself.
He sniffed the air as she stepped closer and grinned at her. "Gone to see the biotic again, huh Shepard?"
"Who? Liara? Nah, just passed her in the elevator," she deflected.
"Not the asari. The human. No need to deny it." Wrex tapped his nose. "Where is he anyway? The quarian said he wanted to come down to Engineering and work on something with her and Adams."
"Med bay. Has a killer migraine, I take it," Shepard began only to be interrupted by Wrex.
"So you did go and see him," he chuckled. Shepard rolled her eyes.
"Is there something you want to say, Wrex?"
"Nope. He's a pretty good biotic, just holds back too much. I get the feeling he tries to hold back a lot of things. He could be really powerful if he let go once in a while. Preferably during battle."
"He's not holding back nearly as much as when I first met him," Shepard said. It was true, Kaidan's biotics had improved and today she had seen some of the most powerful biotic attacks she had witnessed from him so far. But maybe Wrex was also right and Kaidan wasn't at the end of his potential yet. She wondered though if his migraines also had something to do with him holding back. Did they get worse, if he used his biotics to the max? Was it her fault he was having migraines so frequently, because he was trying to fulfill her expectations? No more holding back. That was, after all, what she had told him on Eden Prime.
They talked for a few more minutes before Shepard took her leave and Wrex turned his attention watching Garrus with a sceptical expression.
Ashley was standing in the corner watching something on her omni-tool. As Shepard drew closer she heard a female voice speak.
"We saw Kaidan on a news vid about the Normandy. He's cute! Later, sis!"
Ashley must have heard her approach. She turned around looking slightly self-conscious. "You didn't hear that, did you? If you did, let's pretend it never happened."
Nick raised he eyebrows.
"Kaidan, huh? Are you interested in the Lieutenant, Chief?" she kept her voice level, keeping the surge of jealousy that ran through her out.
Ash shook her head. "No, ma'am. I see him more like a shy older brother who needs a brash younger sister to keep him on his toes now and then. And anyway, scuttlebutt says he's already sweet on someone."
Shepard's heartbeat picked up and her eyebrows traveled even higher. "Really? And who would that be?"
"You don't know?" Ashley grinned at her. "I'm sure you'll figure it out, Skipper."
As much as she liked Ash for a fleeting moment Nick felt like socking her one. Instead she picked up a different part of the conversation. "Brash younger sister?"
"Yep. LT is so uptight sometimes, he needs someone to tease him and push him out of his comfort zone. That's what younger sisters do. I should know. I have three younger sisters after all. And sometimes his insecurities are kind of cute, but also painful to watch." Ashley was still smirking.
"Uh-huh. He has a sister, you know. A few years his elder."
"Older sisters and younger sisters are two totally different things, skipper."
"I wouldn't know," Shepard admitted. "I'm an only child. With both parents in the Alliance military I guess having more than one was kind of difficult."
"True."
Shepard inquired more about Ashley's family. She could not imagine what it would be like to have three younger sisters. Or elder siblings. And she couldn't help but wonder if maybe Ashley had it wrong. That she wasn't acting like a brash younger sister but a brash older sister instead. After all she was was the eldest of four while Kaidan was the youngest of three.
It was past midnight when she had finished her report. She had rewritten it again and again. Nick still was not certain if her choice in letting Balak go had truly been the correct one. In her mind she heard Atwell's voice stating Balak could do the same somewhere else. But let the hostages die just to get one batarian asshole? The Alliance had his description, they would be on the lookout now. There was nothing more she could do just now. She had made her decision, for better or for worse. And she was certain she would make the same decision again.
She stretched and left her cabin to get herself some comfort food. She was craving some ice cream and hoped there would be some in the freezer. If not it would be the first thing on the requisitions list.
Strawberry. She frowned as she peered into the freezer. That was just as bad as no ice cream.
Instead she began rummaging through the cabinets, finally taking out a jar of peanut butter and a jar of Nutella and began eating straight out of the jars.
She heard the whoosh of a bulkhead door and turned to see Kaidan squinting his eyes at the light in the mess.
"Feeling better, Lieutenant?" she asked, keeping her voice down. He hadn't noticed her at first and began straightening his crinkled uniform and soon as he heard her speak.
"Ma'am, I - ."
"Those migraines must mess up your memory. Or is it the meds? Don't call me ma'am, Kaidan. I'm not my mom. Anyway, it's almost 0-dark-thirty and there's nobody else here." Nick spooned some peanut butter out of the jar and stuck the spoon in her mouth. "And you haven't answered my question."
"Sorry. I'm not quite there yet." He rubbed the back of his neck, watching her lick off the spoon. As he realized he was staring he quickly looked away and walked to the cabinet containing the energy bars specifically for biotics. "The migraine's not quite gone yet but at least I don't feel sick any more. And after missing a meal I'm hungry but don't feel like going through the trouble of making myself something." Kaidan pulled one out and began unwrapping it. After taking he bite he grimaced.
"Doesn't taste good?"
"Grabbed the wrong flavor." He threw a disgusted look at the wrapper, then at the box it had been in. "I don't generally expect pineapple in the cherry-flavor box."
"You don't like pineapples?"
"Not when we're talking about energy bars for biotics. The texture of sawdust mixed with glue and artificial pineapple flavor?" He shook himself and took another bite of the revolting bar, chewing quickly and swallowing it. "Fresh pineapples are fine, but I can't stand the artificial flavor."
"That's me with strawberries," Shepard said, tipping the spoon against her chin. "I love them fresh but I don't like anything with strawberry flavor. I think I would even go so far as to call strawberry ice cream a major aversion."
Kaidan laughed. "I think there are probably worse things yet than strawberry ice cream, Shepard."
"What, like pineapple ice cream?" she smirked at him.
"Touché." He watched her eat more peanut butter straight out of the jar. She stopped with the spoon halfway to her mouth.
"Something wrong, Kaidan?"
"Uh, I just always thought only my sister did that. You know, go and eat peanut butter and other stuff like that straight out of the jar."
"Nope." She stuck the spoon in her mouth keeping her eyes on him.
"Uh-huh." He glanced down at the empty wrapper. "I, uh, I think I'll hit the rack now."
"Don't you think Doc will miss you in the morning?"
He laughed again quietly. "I'm a big boy, I think I'll risk it. I'm not really fond of sleeping in my uniform. Better than sleeping in armor, sure, but still not my favorite."
And what is your favorite way to sleep? The question popped up in Nick's mind unbidden and she bit her tongue to refrain from actually asking it. "Glad to see you're feeling better. Go and grab a few more hours of shut-eye then. I'm gonna do the same."
"Will do. Good night, Shepard."
She put the spoon in the dishwasher and the jars back in the cabinet and hesitated just long enough to see Kaidan pull his shirt over his head. Move, stupid! Before he turns around and sees his CO ogling him with her tongue hanging out. With what seemed like immeasurable willpower she withdrew her gaze and quickly walked back to her cabin.
They reached the Attican Beta cluster the following night and Shepard ordered Joker to put the Normandy on a slow flame.
"No need for us to get to Feros in the middle of the night," was her explanation.
The first thing Shepard and her shore party noticed as they disembarked the Normandy after reaching Zhu's Hope was a strange sweetish odor. Mixed with the high amount of dust in Feros' atmosphere it gave the air a heavy, difficult to breathe quality.
Kaidan wasn't sure if it was the heavy air or the ruins of the prothean megalopolis but something didn't feel right. He let his hand rest on his sidearm. Throwing a glance over at Wrex he realized that the krogan had pulled his shotgun. Guess I'm not the only one with a bad feeling here.
Shepard signaled them to wait as she walked up to a man standing at the end of the platform beside a crate. She talked to him for a short time.
"I don't like this," Kaidan muttered, his eyes darting to the tunnel past the platform. Wrex grunted in response.
Just as Shepard turned around signaling them to follow her the man's head exploded and Nick crashed onto the floor. What the hell? There, at the end of the platform a geth trooper stepped into view. For a fleeting second Kaidan felt his heart stop as he took cover, fearing she had been hit as well. He drew a quick breath when she scrambled into cover staying low. That was the problem when he wasn't wearing his helmet. Better view but less info about the status of his squad mates due to the missing HUD. In cases like this he wasn't sure what he preferred.
Kaidan powered up his omni-tool. He pulled out a tech grenade and then waited shortly for his omni-tool to beep, indicating the tech attack was primed. He peered out of his cover, seeing three geth standing close together. With a quick movement he tossed the primed grenade right between them and advanced to the next cover. He aimed quickly and shot a geth square in its head with a grim smile.
Wrex had taken out another one with his shotgun while Shepard focused on a Geth Rocket Trooper to the rear with her sniper rifle. No sooner had Wrex noticed the fact that Kaidan's tech attack had sabotaged three geth he shot the first one of the group. The last geth was just coming round when Wrex unceremoniously shot it from close range.
They advanced toward the stairwell slowly. Shepard made the sign for them to halt as she peered carefully around a corner. Kaidan checked his omni-tool and signaled that he had readings of at least two hostiles. She nodded and headed carefully up the stairs, keeping her back against the wall. She froze. There, on the far side of the pillar, was a Geth Hopper. It had not noticed her yet and she slid slowly one step down again as its position was unfavorable. She had no possibilty of lining up a good shot without breaking cover.
"Lieutenant," she whispered to Kaidan over the comm system as she readied her rifle, "there is a Hopper behind this pillar. Can you either throw or lift it somewhere for me to get a shot at it?"
"Not without breaking cover, Commander."
She frowned. Then it didn't matter who advanced first. She continued up the stairway. Suddenly the Hopper moved, training in on her. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a swirl of blue and the Hopper flew through the air. Pulling up her sniper rifle, aiming and firing came automatically. The second Hopper shared its fate as Wrex Warped it just as Kaidan hit it with a Lift.
"Nice," Shepard commented before heading further up. As she rounded the pillar she saw another Hopper lurking over the entrance to the next hallway. She dropped to her knee, brought her rifle in position and fired. It jumped just before her shot hit and she cursed. Luckily both Kaidan and Wrex were ready though and took it down.
Before advancing she gave Kaidan a quizzical look as she had seen him glance at his omni-tool again.
"No more tangos. We're clear for now," he answered her unasked question.
"Perfect. Let's find this Fai Dan that supposedly wants to talk to us."
They reached the colony and slowed down as they took in its appearance. A downed Kowloon class freighter dominated large parts of the visible area. Oddly enough nobody seemed to be interested in getting the freighter flight-worthy again. Two men were arguing behind a makeshift barricade. Shepard frowned. For a colony under geth attack everyone else seemed oddly calm.
"Commander, do you also get the feeling something is... wrong here?" Kaidan asked in a low voice as he stepped close to her but keeping his eyes on the colonists. "And that strange sweetish smell is stronger here as well."
"Smell?" Wrex interrupted before Shepard could answer. "It's more than just a smell."
"Yes. To all questions. Stay frosty, people." Nick replied as she headed for a woman working on a water pipe.
"Excuse me, where can I find Fai Dan?" she asked as soon as she was close enough.
The woman cast a look over her shoulder and then pointed at the freighter. "Head through there. He should be on the other side." She turned back to her work, ignoring Shepard. Nick raised her eyebrows and then nodded toward the freighter.
They passed through the freighter and on the other side they saw a man and a woman standing off to their right.
"Fai Dan?" Shepard inquired as they approached.
The man in question turned to them with an expression of relief on his face, while the woman next to him defiantly crossed her arms and muttered something under her breath.
"Thank you for coming," Fai Dan began.
"Why are you thanking them? It's kinda late for help and then they show up here with three people?" the woman scoffed. Nick grit her teeth. Ungrateful bitch.
"Arcelia!" the colony leader chided. Before they could speak much more a group of geth suddenly attacked. She dove behind a defense barrier. Again, she saw her lieutenant flare blue as he Threw the first two geth back forcefully and made a third stumble, shooting it with his pistol. Sexy. The thought shot through her head unbidden even as she lined up a shot and took out a geth sniper that had left cover. Wrex was advancing up the stairwell with his shotgun at the ready and Threw a Geth Hopper out of his way.
They pushed on, passing the corpse of a colonist laying at the top of the staircase. The geth hiding behind the doorway found themselves forcefully Thrown against a wall. Shepard hesitated shortly when the hallway divided. The passage to the right looked deserted and she could see another stairwell at its end. She continued down the left passage slowly.
"Tangos up ahead," Kaidan said. "Not too many. My 'tool shows four right now."
The passage widened into a larger room and Shepard instantly spotted the hostiles Kaidan had seen on his omni-tool. There weren't many and it didn't take long until the last geth dropped.
"Commander!" Kaidan's voice was quiet but urgent.
She stopped in her tracks just as she was going to leave cover and looked back over her shoulder. "Alenko?"
"Dropship!" No sooner had he uttered the word when she could hear the characteristic sound of the approaching dropship.
The dropship unloaded a mass of geth ground troops and recon drones. Nick swore under her breath. This was not going to be easy. She almost regretted not having taken her assault rifle along. Sometimes a sniper rifle was just too slow. Nevertheless she lined up a target and shot. As she huddled down again to reload she saw Kaidan ready a tech grenade. He quickly sighted a target and tossed the tech grenade just in front of two advancing Shock Troopers. He had primed it to explode in midair for maximum efficiency and the two geth soldiers stopped dead in their tracks only to be hit by a massive Warp.
Nick had sniped another geth but now several drones were closing in on them and she pulled her pistol instead. She was no fan of sidearms but now she needed something with a higher fire rate than her sniper rifle of even her shotgun. Wrex had exchanged his preferred shotgun for his assault rifle and Kaidan had already taken down one of the recon drones with his pistol. His marksmanship with pistols definitely surpassed hers.
Suddenly a she heard the sound of a sniper rifle and Wrex went down. Both Shepard and Kaidan dropped lower into cover and she pulled her own sniper rifle again.
"Bess," she said quietly to her rifle, "let's see what we find, shall we?" There, the geth sniper hadn't sought out the best cover. As soon as it was in her crosshairs she shot. By now Wrex was scrambling back to his feet. "Wrex? You okay?"
"Gotta love krogan redundant systems!"
She laughed. The laughter practically died on her lips though when she saw the next group of hostiles, though. Two Geth Destroyers accompanied by a Juggernaut. "That is just fucking perfect."
In the end it didn't prove to be as bad as she had feared. Her lieutenant had a knack for deploying his tech attacks in a most efficient way and combined with his own biotics as well as Wrex's and their firearms they had surprisingly little trouble.
"Alenko, I knew your tech skills were good but you just continue to impress me. Very well done, Lieutenant," she said to him as they headed for the far end of the room.
"Skill comes with practice, Commander. And I've been getting an ample amount of that," was his prosaic answer as they made their way back to Zhu's Hope.
"And by the looks of this place you'll be getting more."
"Yeah, I think we can safely agree on that."
Once they reached the colony Shepard talked to Fai Dan, trying to get more information about the colony's status. It appeared there were yet more geth and a number of more or less minor problems that needed taking care of. They found themselves talking to a number of people and Nick couldn't shake the feeling again that something strange was going on. Everyone of them evaded answering any questions concerning the colony and as much as they claimed to need help against the geth it didn't seem to be the main objective.
"Come on, let's see what else we can find out here," Shepard muttered to them. Then she radioed the Normandy. "Joker, there is something strange going on here. Stay sharp."
"Aye-aye, ma'am."
To say the tunnels were geth infested was almost an understatement. They had gone down the stairwell at the end of the right hand passage and encountered several Geth Hoppers again. As they continued they came to a roadblock which forced them to take a left, only to find a number of geth ground troops and a water valve. Due to the amount of cover available taking out the geth was not that difficult. Shepard had to admit that this was a good-working team in close quarters and she almost felt like patting herself on the shoulder for her decision to take Kaidan and Wrex along.
They passed through a door to their left, entering a room with obviously rabid varren. The animals attacked them on sight. Again Nick congratulated herself on her choice of squad mates as the biotics proved valuable in keeping the varren at a distance. As soon as the last beast was down they explored the room, finding a wrecked M29 Grizzly with intact power cells.
"Huh, I think this took care of the varren meat problem and the power cells for the colony," Shepard stated as they left the room going back to the crossing. She turned left again leading them further into the tunnels. And to more geth. To her utmost surprise they ran into a colonist who was rambling rather nonsensical stuff.
All attempts to get reliable information proved to be vain. He just laughed almost maniacally, stating he is just invoking the master's whip.
"Which master?" Nick was confounded.
Newstead ignored a spasm of pain. "The geth are a thorn in the side of – aargh!"
"I think he's completely lost it, Commander," Kaidan said quietly. Shepard nodded and turned away from the pained man. She hated not being able to help him and she almost felt tempted to put him out of his misery. She threw a last look back before ordering her squad to move out. She glanced at her squad mates. Wrex looked impassive but Kaidan's features looked as troubled as she felt.
As they entered the tunnel leading back they came face to face with yet more geth.
"Didn't we just clean this place?" Wrex growled, shooting a Shock Trooper with his shotgun.
"Maybe they were late for the party," Kaidan deadpanned as he Sabotaged the Juggernaut and a Destroyer giving Shepard a good opportunity to take them out.
"Well, if I were in their stead I'd say the party sucked." Shepard said after the last geth went down. She nudged on with a boot and then shrugged. "Let's find this geth transmitter yet and then get back to the colony."
There was only one passageway they hadn't inspected yet. They crossed the bridge and walked through the door only to see two Geth Snipers. Before she even had her shotgun at the ready the snipers went sailing through the air. In turn she blew off a Shock Troopers head, while Kaidan took care of an Assault Drone that had suddenly spawned.
"Three more hostiles up ahead," he let them know after a quick sweep with his omni-tool.
"Three? That shouldn't be too bad." Nick rolled her shoulders and followed the passageway.
You and your big mouth, Shepard thought after peering around the corner and seeing three krogan. She carefully slipped away and faced her squad. "We have three krogan between us and the transmitter. I will try to snipe one. Then I'll fall back while you two keep them off of me with your biotics so I can line up another shot. Apart from that I'd say we swap our tungsten ammo for incendiary."
She turned to Kaidan. "You sure that pea-shooter of yours will suffice against those krogan?"
He tsked. "Commander, you'd be surprised what you can do with a pistol. You don't always need the biggest weapon to pack a punch. Size isn't everything."
She grinned at him. "Well then, Lieutenant. Let's rock."
The execution of her tactics worked smoothly. The three Krogan Warriors were taken by surprise as the first shot hit one of them square in the head. The other two charged but Wrex Threw one back while Kaidan Lifted the other, then he shot at the floating krogan until his pistol was nearly overheated. Wrex had charged the other krogan and Nick had finished off the first one with another head shot.
"Wrex, is it okay for you to kill other krogan?" she asked as she walked toward the transmitter and unceremoniously shot it.
"Why shouldn't it? Anyone who fights us is either stupid or on Saren's payroll. Killing the latter is business. Killing the former is a favor to the galaxy," the krogan answered with a shrug.
"Sounds good enough for me," Kaidan said.
"Yep. I'll take it," Nick agreed and they returned to the colony.