Shepard scratched the back of her neck, staring at her bowl of gumbo while processing just exactly what had happened on her visit to the Waystation. The Normandy had been underway for a little over an hour, traveling to the system's Mass Relay in order to jump out and she still couldn't quite fathom it all. Genuinely, what?
She saw a blur move ahead of her and looked up. Garrus sat across from her, a tray of dextro rations in front of him as he spoke, "I take it something happened aboard the station?" before watching her seemingly wake from her stupor. He then added, "Because I've never seen that look on your face before. You look like someone just woke you up."
"Yeah, something like that," Shepard replied in a mumble. She picked up her spoon and started eating, then looked at Garrus, who seemed to be waiting for her to tell him what had happened. With a sigh and a proud smirk, she told him, "They listened to me, Garrus. They actually listened ! About the Reaper Threat!"
"... Wait, so they didn't slam the door in your nose like the Council did?" Garrus snorted, crossing his arms to his chest. She shook her head, to which he commented, "Politicians and leaders whose heads aren't up their asses. That's harder to believe than the Collectors existing, honestly," while still bearing that standard Turian blank expression.
" I know!" Shepard answered, raising her hands and laughing, "It's like someone just slapped me in the face and woke me up from a fever dream! Competent people agreeing that we have an actual threat coming up!?" then she threw her hands up in the air again and stated jovially, "God, it feels good to be validated…"
Garrus chuckled at that, then said, "Don't I know it," though he seemed a bit more grim.
Shepard blinked, leaned forward and, with a sudden seriousness, asked, "Something the matter, Garrus?"
He waved it off and said, "We'll talk about it later, heh. Would rather not sour your good mood," before what passed for a Turian smirk, of expanded mandibles and a slightly open mouth, greeted Shepard as he teased, "I already miss the cute smile from before," which got the Commander to start stuttering like one heck of a mess.
He was proud of himself for that one as he leaned over to eat his food. He and Shepard quietly shared a meal together before the Commander departed from the place, mildly embarrassed at Garrus's jabs, with Garrus himself a bit surprised she had no comeback for that one. With a heavy sigh, he stood up and put his now-empty tray away to be washed, then walked back to the main gun.
Shepard, meanwhile, shook off the embarrassment as she entered the elevator. She held the door open when she saw Miranda approach, with Miss Lawson nodding, "Thank you, Commander. Good thing I caught up with you, too, because the Illusive Man has sent forward several new Dossiers and reminded us to go retrieve Miss Goto from the Citadel."
"We're gonna be heading for the Citadel first thing. I figure the legendary thief could be a fun encounter," Shepard replied, arms crossed. She asked, "I'm guessing you heard the scuttlebutt," when she saw the title on the datapad in the girl's hand. 'The Waystation and Assistance Against The Reapers(Working On Title)'. It was funny to know even Lady Lawson had to have drafts.
Miranda replied with a certain degree of joviality, "Yes. I am quite pleasantly surprised your new-found friends have decided to throw their lot in with us this quickly," before checking on the report on her tablet. She sighed deeply, mildly annoyed at a few grammatical mistakes, before pocketing the datapad.
"I know, right?" Shepard snorted as the Elevator started, moving down toward the cargo hold areas. She thought for a moment, shrugged and added, "But, hey. If the Reapers take us out, who's to say they won't use the Waystation to break out into their Galaxies and try and kill them, too? Self-preservation's one hell of a motivator for cooperation"
"Agreed," The black-haired beauty shrugged, then fully turned to face the Commander, "It's just refreshing to know there's people with actual brains in other parts of the Universe. Having three new factions to count on is great."
"Hopefully, Cerberus's actions won't put too much of a damper on that," The Commander shrugged and received a slight glare from Miranda. She continued, "Though from the mails I got, The Illusive Man seems happy to share resources if it means easing stress on us all..." with a smirk. Obviously, he'd want them to 'cooperate'. Part of her did wonder, though, if the man had tipped the Batarians off about the Waystation.
"Of course," The woman's expression relaxed back into a calm smile. She told Shepard, "We are all on the same side, after all…" then paused. Their allies still had a lot of issues, though. She asked Shepard, "The Republic's issues are troublesome, though. Have you read the reports?" as she scratched her chest.
"The Confederacy's advance and the Outer Rim?" Shepard nodded, "Yeah, I have. Ahsoka shared the reports."
"Hopefully, they won't be a problem for any future operations," The woman said rather pragmatically, but Shepard could feel the concern in her voice. Her XO then added, "The UNSC, meanwhile, seems to have relegated themselves to policing the UEG's territories while they rebuild. That and, per Doctor Halsey's reports as head of the Office of Naval Intelligence, they've helped one of their allies deal with the Civil War on their homeworld."
"Good to know," The Commander offered, then quipped, "Means said ally might swing by to help us… It sure sounds like you've got your finger on the pulse of the situation," as the Elevator stopped. The two women exited into the hallway leading to the various portions of the ships 'skunkworks'. Miranda must've come here to check on Ken and Gabby.
"Our friends are keen on sharing information, despite appearances," The Executive Officer started, "All the better for us," and all the while she pulled up data on what the Galactica and its crew were doing while they leaned against the armored glass separating them from the Hangar several feet below them.
"Agreed… What's your take on everyone so far, by the way?" Shep then asked, looking around and wondering if anyone else was listening. She continued, "Our crew, I mean," before motioning broadly at the area they were in. She figured it'd be nice to ask her executive just what she thought of everyone, all while casting a glance down at the Hangar where General Tano was tending to her fighter again, while Helo and the Clones were playing a game of basketball…
And the Spartans sat idly.
"The whole crew? I have no complaints, not even with our extra-galactic allies, though Clone Trooper Fives certainly enjoys helping Jack make trouble for us…" Miranda joked, grinning a little, though there was obviously a bit of pain behind those words. She added in a murmur, "I think those two might like each-other."
"That, or they just found a level of kinship," Shepard suggested with half a mouth. Noting Miranda's confusion, she clarified to her, "I mean, clones raised from birth to be soldiers and a young girl, torn away from all she knew to become a biotic superweapon? Hell, I'd be surprised if they didn't find common ground."
"Fair enough…" The woman shrugged, then sighed and noted the Spartans staying out of the basketball game and/or the conversations ongoing, probably just chatting with one-another, and told Shepard, "One complaint, now that I think about it. Lieutenant Frederic-104 and, now, the rest of his team… They're reclusive. Barely interacting."
"Halsey warned us they're not exactly talkative, though I am kinda surprised they dumped the entire Fireteam on us," Shepard shrugged, then added, "You'd have figured Halsey would want to keep them ready for any other interventions against either the Batarians or someone else."
"True enough…" Miri sighed. "Though, like you said before, I don't think any of us are complaining about the extra guns. Especially if the mission reports doctor Halsey sent us are anything to go by. Blue Team is the highest-performing Fireteam of Spartans in the Branch. Dangerous, deadly, with the Master Chief himself being the Hero of Mankind and a Hyper-Lethal Vector."
The Commander snorted, "Send them my way, too. I wanna read what kind of stuff they got up to."
"Sure thing, though you should probably go see what the Warlord wants to speak to you about," Miranda reminded Shepard why she'd even come down here in the first place. She bowed out, walking toward the engine room and saying, "Have a good day, Commander."
"Likewise, Miranda. Take care," She waved back, then walked toward the Cargo Hold.
Upon entering it, Shepard started, "Okeer-" only to gasp, eyes widening to saucers before she rolled out of the way and screamed, "HOLY SHIT!" as one of the boxes in the room struck the wall behind her with enough strength to dent it. It had been thrown by Grunt, obviously, the tankbred Krogan glaring at his former father angrily.
"You do not own me, Warlord!" The fighter of the two snapped, jabbing a finger at the very man that was attempting, by all means, to calm him down. Shepard was sort of still reeling at the box that nearly hit her straight in the face, looking at it and at the dented wall for a moment, then back at the two Krogan.
"Calm yourself, child!" Okeer warned, already in a stance that denoted he was about to throw hands with Grunt, which would result in even more destruction. Once the good Commander registered this, she blanked, glared at both of them, then walked forward.
"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE!?" The woman then barked, stepping in-between them and pushing them away from each-other, which surprised both Krogans for but a moment. That a human, a spindly little female, too, had the quads to step in-between two arguing Krogan was honestly awe-inspiring.
Grunt, in his momentary mood-swings, however, soon returned to being angry, pointing an accusatory finger at Okeer and stating, "The Old Man thinks he can command me. I do not belong to his clan! His authority does not touch me!"
"I am attempting to guide you on the right path, you petulant infant!" Okeer snapped back, cracking his knuckles like a dad about to whip some sense into his kid. He told him, "What you are feeling right now is a normal part of being Krogan and only one of your kin can help you!"
"Enough! Both of you, separate! Each one takes a side of the Hold!" Shepard snapped at the two of them, seemingly managing to corral both Krogan away from each-other and pushing them to their respective positions. She then demanded, "Give me a rundown in terms I can understand and we'll see if we can solve this without breaking a window!"
"He thinks he knows what's wrong with me…" The tankbred Krogan growled, "I'm only furious because I haven't got anything to fight! And he's trying to guide me into his battles, not my own, not the ones I picked. Not the ones I swore I would fight for you."
She blinked, then looked to Okeer, who nodded. She craned her head back at the boy and asked him, "Grunt… Have you maybe considered he actually just wants to help you? Considering you're a Krogan born in a tank, he probably knows better what is happening to you, considering…" and motioned at him and at Okeer.
"I doubt it. He just wants to use me, take away my right to choose," He replied, scoffing at Okeer and starting to pace, his muscles visibly tensing underneath his armor plating, his eyes slightly bloodshot. He bared his sharp teeth at the two of them, but his eyes were locked on the Krogan Warlord that had made him.
Shepard breathed a sigh, then looked over at Okeer and asked, "What's going on with him?"
"I'm afraid I will only be able to fully answer that when we head for Tuchanka," Okeer spoke.
"Are you serious?" Shepard demanded, annoyed, "How long until he tries killing you again? And are you even allowed to go back to Tuchanka, considering…" and ,yet again, she gestured vaguely at him. She wasn't trying to be rude, but she might as well have been, honestly, what with implying that, maybe the Krogan who cloned Krogan for the Mercenary Corps.
Okeer scoffed, however, then waved off the accusations and said, "If those deluded old fools will not see reason when the perfect Krogan walks among them, then I will not care for Tuchanka anymore anyways… Otherwise, it is our best bet to ensure that he is ready for whatever lay ahead of us all," and, obviously, Shepard could feel the man's hidden agenda.
"And you can't tell me what's wrong with Grunt right now because…?" She raised a brow. Seriously, this smoke and mirrors crap really needed to stop. She needed answers if she was gonna trust someone like Okeer. Doubly so if she was gonna trust anything he ever made, like poor Grunt, though it probably wasn't the kid's fault.
"It is a Krogan matter, Commander. I'm sure you wouldn't like me prying too deep about human matters, would you?" The Warlord seemed a bit miffed.
Shepard breathed an annoyed sigh, then told him, "We'll set course for Tuchanka as soon as we're done on the Citadel. Make sure you don't destroy the god-damn cargo hold, alright?" with a hint of anger behind her voice. She looked at Grunt, pointed at him and yelled, "That means you, too! Fix the dent while you're at it!"
After leaving the two Krogan and praying she won't have to task the Spartans to deal with restraining them, the woman descended with the Elevator down to the hangar, where the basketball game was still ongoing to the tune of a Jimi Hendrix piece. She walked over to Ahsoka, who was finally done with some sort of calibration to her ship's cannons when she turned to see Shepard.
"Ah, Commander," Ahsoka smiled, then greeted, "Hello," as she set what looked to be some sort of super-advanced spanner aside, on top of the fighter. She turned fully to face the Commander and stood to her feet while looking for what Shepard could only assume was something to wipe her face of the grime and oil.
"General," Shepard smiled back, then joked, "Hope I'm not bothering you… Again… " and leaned against the starfighter. Beside them, the ball thumped against the steel floor of the starship as the men played and 'dueled' each-other for control and to score points through the hoops. She could swear she heard Helo's shoes creaking against the floor, too, causing her to wince.
"Oh, no, quite the opposite," The General replied, finally finding a rag with which to wipe her face clean. She told her, "Was just done with re-aligning the emitter array on this cannon," and she gave the ship a gentle tap with her fist, a quiet 'clang' echoing as she explained, "It was pulling a little to the right on the last 'ballistic test'. What can I help you with?"
"I wanted to…"
It was then that Shepard grew a bit awkward, realizing that she was really here just to thank one of the people that had stood up for her. It was still odd to have someone believe you. Especially extra-galactic aliens. "Well, use you and the others here to thank you and the others for listening to me. The Citadel's been stonewalling me even before I died about the Reapers. And now the Collectors, as you saw from Sparatus…"
The General rolled her eyes, set the rag aside, then crossed her arms to her chest as she jokingly asked, "Politicians never change much, do they?" in a slightly amused tone. She thought to herself that she had dealt with politics and politicians before, even during the six-year conflict between the Republic and the CIS. It was good to see they weren't the only ones with this kind of issue.
"I guess they don't," Shepard snorted, then inquired, "You guys had problems with yours, too?" before she deflected a ball that was about to hit her in the face away through the use of biotics. Ahsoka chuckled at that and looked at the Clones and Helo, all of whom gave a quick apology before turning back to the game.
"I was friends with a few politicians' kids and I'm currently the godmother of the Skywalker-Amidala family's kids, too," The General shrugged. Then, she let out a joke, "You can only imagine how much politicking goes on with them around…" which garnered a chuckle out of the Commander. The General also joined in on the short laugh.
Once she calmed down enough, Shepard offered, "Fair enough," and her face grew a bit grim as she added, "I hear the war's going rough, though," which caused the General to frown. Yes, the war wasn't going exactly the way Republic planners had hoped, but it also was not going awfully for them. At least for the most part.
"A little rougher than previous, yes," She affirmed, then clarified, "But we're managing. Don't worry. My master's nothing if not resourceful in dealing with the Droids," all while she retrieved a bottle of water from her bag. It was good to see that someone cared about their war, though it wasn't like the folks didn't talk about it beforehand. The Spartans did seem interested.
"I'm a little more worried over them kicking our doors down, honestly, but…" The Commander shrugged, "Alright."
"Heh. Unlikely, unless they somehow find out about the Star Road Terminus in our Galaxy," Ahsoka told the Commander. When she saw it wasn't exactly recomforting, she told her, "It's a fairly well-kept military secret, though," in an attempt to reassure her. In truth, it would all be fine unless the location got leaked somehow.
"Fair enough. Thanks again, Ahsoka…" Shepard smiled, then patted the General on the shoulder. She told the girl, "I owe you and everyone else here and back on the Waystation the peace of mind I have right now, heh."
"Hey, if we get to stop a Galactic Apocalypse from occurring and have a little fun blasting ancient Clankers? Heh, we're all in," The General smirked and offered a fist, which Shepard calmly bumped. It felt fun to have someone as young as Ahsoka around. Despite the whole 'child soldier Force user' angle, she seemed normal enough.
So, Shepard said to her, "Glad to have you all aboard. Do let me know if you need anything, though, okay?" then turned toward the Spartans, all of whom sat in their own little corner far away from everyone else. Four seven-foot tall figures in power armor were currently aboard, so being friends with them felt like a normal survival instinct.
"Sure. Going to talk to the Spartans, I'm assuming?" Ahsoka inquired, raising her painted brow at the Commander.
"Yeah. Figured it's best to get to know them before our next op," Shepard nodded in reply, tugged at her own hoodie, then sighed and mumbled something to herself about having to change clothes to something more suitable to wear on a military ship at some point. Especially when going to talk with other career soldiers like the frankly mythical Spartans.
"Heh," The Knight of the Republic nodded approvingly, then sat herself down on a box nearby and said, "Yeah, they seem interesting. I'll chat with them after you're done, though. Right now, I promised the boys I'm gonna be playing basketball with them… Tell Jacob thanks for showing us this sport, though."
"Will do," The Commander smiled, then told her, "I should go," and waved to Ahsoka. Ahsoka waved back and started preparing to join the basket game as well. Shepard, meanwhile, marched over to the little secluded corner of the Spartans, a dark little spot in the Hangar where the four could seemingly talk away from prying eyes.
"Blue Team," She greeted, causing them all to turn and face her almost in unison, creepily enough.
All four soon replied, "Ma'am," before standing up from their seats, metallic boots clanging together as they snapped-to and saluted their new Commanding Officer in terms of future combat operations. What little interaction she'd had with Fred had told her that she should've expected professionalism of this kind from them, and yet…
"At ease," She saluted back, then nodded at them. She jabbed a thumb back at the game, which the General now joined, and asked them, "You folks not gonna join the game? Seems like the numbers are pretty skewed toward one team of Clones over the other," and she turned back to watch Helo's team score another point. Well, skewed in numbers, not in skill, she thought.
"No," The Master Chief, the de facto commanding officer of the team, replied monotonically.
"Don't think it'd be fair, ma'am," Quipped another female member of the Spartans, gently shifting her own EVA helmet off her thigh and onto the box she now sat down on. The long gun behind her was an M45 shotgun, if she recalled what Fred had told them during their travel back to the Waystation correctly, meaning this was the team's scout.
"A pleasure to finally meet you, by the way," The other girl of the team spoke, her Sniper Rifle cradled in her arms. The team's sharpshooter, then. Though Shepard didn't have their names, she knew that the team was supposedly famous in the UNSC, courtesy of some of the chatter she'd been hearing here and there.
"Fred has been telling us of your recent exploits. We're glad to know he's been working well with your team," She did recognize the Master Chief, though. He was a calm man, exactly as the few reports she'd managed to read on Blue Team painted him as. Fred also hadn't exaggerated. Chief gave off that air of an elite soldier of mankind.
"Ya kidding? Having a seven foot tall man in an energy-shield-encased Titanium shell felt like having cheat codes. Now, with the rest of you here, this should be a breeze," Shepard quipped, smiling at the Spartan.
"Suppose so," he shrugged. He seemed to be quite humble, honestly.
"Right, anyways. Introductions. I'm Commander Shepard, though you all obviously know that, seeing as I'm sure they gave you a briefing on what to expect when you came aboard the Normandy ," The Commander decided to break the awkwardness by finally doing some proper small-talk instead of just awkward greetings.
"Master Chief Petty Officer 117, ma'am," The man replied with his unshakable calm.
"Petty Officer Kelly-087. Ignore John, he's a bit less friendly," The EVA-wearer quipped, smiling a little and giving the MCPO a light tap on the helmet. He sighed deeply at that, while Shepard let out a chuckle. Fred, in the meanwhile, glanced at Kelly. Kelly raised her hands as if to show she meant it as a joke.
"PO Linda-058," Linda, the sharpshooter, meanwhile, seemed to ignore the bout.
"Don't forget about me!" Another voice joined in, a woman's, though her voice came from the Chief's own armor. She greeted again, "Hello, Commander. I'm Cortana, the Chief's personal Artificial Intelligence," before the blue avatar of a young woman with a familiar face appeared, arms crossed below her chest and a smirk on her face.
"Holy-... Did we meet before?" Shepard blinked, a bit stunned.
"Doubt it, though you might recognize me because I share a face with Doctor Halsey," The AI Smirked, then she told Shepard, "Before you ask, I do pretty much what EDI does. Cyberwarfare, counter-intrusion and all that. No, I have not met EDI yet. I and John were planning to go say hello in a few minutes."
"... EDI's gonna be glad to have backup." The Commander mumbled.
"Heh. Aye. Glad to meet you, Commander," The AI replied, snapping a salute.
"Likewise, Cortana," She replied in kind, smiling back, then added, "Glad to have more integrated cyber-support just in case we run into the Geth or something. I suppose I took enough of your time, though, folks, so I'm going to head back to the CIC, get us moving to the Citadel."
"Understood, ma'am," The Chief replied. After bidding a quick goodbye, Shepard took the elevator back upstairs just as Ahsoka scored another hoop for her team. Moments later, she was in the CIC, plotting a path back to the Citadel itself, which was strangely the last place Shepard thought she'd be returning to today…he'd be returning to today…