Mass Effect, its characters, locations, and other references are property of Bioware/Electronic Arts
Mass Effect created by Preston Watamaniuk, Drew Karpyshyn and Casey Hudson
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"Take a look, Commander Lawson," Admiral Hackett began, tapping the play button on the holo-display.
An admiral of the Systems Alliance stood tall, as then Commander Shepard approached him and saluted, "Admiral Mikhailovich? I wasn't expecting anyone. Shall I call for-"
He saluted quickly, "No. This is a surprise inspection, Commander. Wait here."
"Rear Admiral Mikhailovich. This was almost three years ago. This is how to properly down dress a higher ranking officer." Hackett noted.
Nearly ten minutes later, the admiral returned from within the Normandy SR-1.
His expression was that of grumpiness, "I don't like it one bit."
Shepard remained quiet.
Mikhailovich approached her, "First off, Commander, you have foreign nationals with free reign of an Alliance frigate! I'd love to hear you defend that."
"Sir, I'm both an officer of the Alliance, and a SpecTRe of the Citadel Council. My mission profile is both galactic security and diplomatic relations. This ship is the product of a direct collaboration between the Alliance and a former enemy: the Turian Hierarchy. I will recruit anyone I deem helpful to that mission."
"You assume the hearts and minds of the rest of the galaxy are worth winning," he scoffed.
"Sir, I know the Normandy was slated to be part of the flotilla under your command, but it is not."
He nodded, "It is definitely not a proper warship. You realize we could have built twenty thousand fighters with all the Eezo in that drive core!? All to make it move without emitting thermal energy. Useless in a real fight!"
Jane Shepard straightened herself further, and not without a tiny smirk, "The Normandy is a special forces frigate. We can monitor like a zero emission probe, deploy or disarm mines around an enemy fleet, insert and retrieve troops without detection, and evade normal sensor equipment. In a full-on battle, we can annihilate fighter screens, harass dreadnoughts, and other operations too dangerous for standard craft."
Before he could complain again, she interrupted to continue, "Everyone on the Normandy has earned their place aboard. The diverse opinions have been invaluable to our success, not a detriment. With all due respect, Admiral, I would submit that the Normandy and her crew would fair better than a chance in hell of defeating any squad flotilla from any known military in the galaxy."
It was Mikhailovich's turn to give the faintest of grins, "I still believe the Normandy is an overpriced boondoggle, but I can see that you believe otherwise, and thoroughly believe in the crew you've assembled. My final report will not be as negative as I had initially intended."
"T- thank you, Sir " Shepard stammered in contemplation.
Admiral Mikhailovich saluted the Commander, "Good hunting, Shepard."
She naturally returned the salute, "And to you, Admiral."