I began to write this last week and have had problems posting it to Fanfiction.net so i'm posting it here in the mean time. Tell me what you think.
{NOTE: Title and chapter names are still in the works}
I am planning to make about 10 chapters.
Chapter 1 : Messages
The cup made a dull thudding sound as Joker put it on the table, it was his second cup of coffee this morning and it wouldn’t be his last. As he finished his breakfast, the rest of the crew began to file in as the day shift began to wake up. Joker began to make his way to the elevator, as he passed by the life support center he heard a faint wheezing sound from inside. He wasn’t alarmed by this, thane’s condition had been accelerating since they left the collector base. The elevator door opened onto the CIC and as he began limping to the bridge, he heard muffled footsteps pacing on the deck above. It had been little over a month since they destroyed the collector base but already he was sensing that the commander was beginning to go stir-crazy over the Reapers, although Joker shared his concern he did not believe Harbinger and the rest of the reapers would show up for at least a few more months. After all, if the reapers really did hibernate in dark space it would take them a long time to reach a mass relay.
Finally reaching his chair, he sat down and brought his console online.
“Good morning Jeff, did you sleep well? Although your extranet browsing habits would suggest not.” Said EDI her usual semi-monotone voice.
“You still need to work on that sense of humor, but thanks for asking” Mumbled Joker in a slightly annoyed tone…
As Shepard awoke his quarters were dark, the only source of light was the window above their bed. The silence of the Normandy was pierced only by the mellow breathing of Tali’Zorah, who was asleep with her arms wrapped around his chest. He was attempting to conceive a way to get up without waking her when she finally stirred, the starlight began to reflect off her eyes as she gradually began to regain her senses.
“Sleep well?” Shepard asked his one and only love.
“Better than that thanks to you.” She responded from behind her mask while smiling as she began to stretch.
As a sensor detected her movement, the lights began to come up to full illumination. The air still smelled of the vaporized antiseptic and antihistamine mix that he added to the air supply for when Tali took her suit off. When he began to get out of bed, she pulled him back down.
“Don’t go yet!” Tali whined, before she finally let him go.
“I’ll be back with breakfast.” He replied while kissing her visor.
“Ok, but don’t get lost on the way!” She playfully replied.
But just before he was about to leave, his personal terminal began beeping with a new message. He sighed, and walked over to read it. As he read, his smile began to deteriorate and he began pacing back and forth across the room.
“What happened?” Asked Tali, dismayed at his sudden change of mood.
“That was from Admiral Hackett, the alliance military lost contact with the Orizaba last week.” He replied in a saddened voice.
“That’s the ship that your mother commands right?” She asked after a moment of puzzlement.
“Yes, it’s not un usual for a ship to be out of communication for a few days due to FTL transit, but they were on a survey mission in the Urla Minor system in the Shrike Abyssal when they last transmitted, and were scheduled to stay in that system for another month.” He paused for a moment, as if to consider how to phrase the next few sentences.
“The problem is, they sent a scout ship to investigate two days ago and it has gone out of contact as well. I’m not worried about her, I’m just a little concerned.” He said while trailing off…
“Do you want to go and look for her?” She asked while slowly embracing him.
“Hackett actually requested our assistance, the only other ship with a heat sinking stealth system is the Ain Jalut, and it’s currently undergoing a layover at the Citadel. He doesn’t want to risk sending in another ship without one, that’s why he’s asked us to go to the Urla Minor system to investigate.” He said in a slightly uplifted voice.
“In that case, maybe we should skip breakfast and go right away.” She said in a comforting tone.
“Most of the crew isn’t up yet, so we still have a few more minutes.” He said softly while stroking her back.
Chapter 2: Salarian Sunrise
The ceiling seethed from within as if it were alive, as Jacob looked around he saw figures standing on top of posts. As his vision came into focus he realized that the figures were his crewmates, and they weren’t standing on posts but impaled on the spikes he saw on the derelict reaper. Then he came to the terrifying realization that he was being dragged along the ground by two collectors. He tried to break free but as he fought they just held on tighter. He was dragged past an impaled Thane, Garrus, Jack, Kasumi, and the rest of the squad before they finally stopped in front of a retracted spike. As they lifted him on top of it, he made a final attempt to escape before the spike pierced his rib cage.
Jacob sprung from his bunk so violently that he nearly hit his head on the ceiling, his skin was covered with sweat and he was shivering. He slid over the side of the bunk and landed feet first as he regained his balance. It wasn’t the first nightmare he had since the collector base but it was definitely the most vivid.
“I need a drink” He whispered quietly to himself.
“What was that?” Miranda inquired while eating her breakfast at the table.
“Oh nothing mam, just a dream.” He said calmly, not wanting her to know of his nightmares.
“Chambers might be able to help you with that.” She knowingly replied.
Jacob didn’t hear her as he was already out in the hall and walking towards the Port Observation room. When he walked through the door, the light from the hallway fell on Kasumi’s bed and she began to roll over and moan.
“Tell me it isn’t morning.” She said in a highly dissatisfied tone, as if reviewing a side dish at a restaurant.
“I didn’t mean to wake you, I can leave if you want” He replied apologetically.
“No, I was already awake, come in.” She said while burying her face in her pillow.
Jacob walked over to the bar and poured himself a Salarian Sunburst from one of the bottles on the wall. As he began to drink it, the drink began to emit its own light as it chemically reacted with his saliva and lit up his neck as he swallowed.
“I never get used to watching that.” Kasumi said from the corner of the room.
“I’m not done yet.” He replied, pouring himself another glass.
After two more drinks, the shaky feeling began started to dissipate and he decided he had had enough for the moment.
“What made you want alcohol this early in the morning?” She asked, awaiting a response for several seconds she was about to ask again when he finally spoke.
“I’ve been having some bad dreams lately.” He said, wanting to talk to someone that would not direct him to a counselor.
He proceeded to retell his dream in detail, leaving out seeing her impaled.
“That’s……….. unsettling.” She replied in a dismayed voice, her expression nearly blank expression before beginning to cry.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.” He quickly walked across the room and placed a hand on her shoulder.
“It’s not that, it’s just that I… have been having a similar dream as well.” She replied while digging her head into his chest. She quickly realized what she was doing. “Oh sorry, I didn’t mean to-“ She was cut off by Jacob “It’s ok, go ahead I can take it.” He said calmingly.
“I just don’t know if I can stay much longer, I just don’t know if I can keep my head strait while fighting the reapers.” She said while slowly descending onto the couch.
“I’m used to infiltration, not frontal assaults, when we were fighting on the collector base I was almost killed several times by Harbinger. If I couldn’t pull through that without nearly getting my head blown off, how am I going to help with massive sentient starships?” She said, lowering her head as she spoke.
When Garrus walked into the mess hall, he was greeted by unusual disturbance in the kitchen. The forward panel had been folded out to reveal what looked like a has-mat lab, with Shepard laboring heavily over it. As he walked over, Gardner was still pestering the commander to let him cook the meal…
“I told you, you need to keep the heat down or it will flare up!” Gardner exclaimed as a sudden flash of light emanated from a containment chamber.
“Crap, well at least the eggs are done.” Shepard said in a slightly disappointed tone as he removed a sealed platter from the housing.
“What’s all this then?” Garrus asked while gesturing toward the equipment.
The commander finished extracting several sealed bottles as he answered him. “Last time we were at the Citadel, I picked up some dextro-amino-acid Turian food, as well as several hundred credits in sterilization gear so I could prepare some for Tali”. He said while handing him a plate with a strange colored meat on it. “I also picked this up for you, I thought you might be getting tired of the artificial stuff.”
“Is that real Turian viper wolf?” He asked while his face suddenly tuned to excitement.
“You bet, but I might have burned the edges a little.” He said in a joking manner as Garrus sat down with the delicacy.
“I’m sure it will be alright, I haven’t been able to get my hands on any since I quit C-Sec. Thanks Shepard, you just made my day.” He said while happily savoring every bite.
“Time to make a delivery.” Shepard said in an up-beat tempo as he carefully balanced his breakfast and Tali’s surprise on a tray. He then began walking towards the aft elevator while passing Jacob on his way from the crew bunks.
“Morning Jacob, how are the new weapon upgrades coming along?” He said while awaiting the arrival of the elevator.
He hugged the wall while giving a salute before answering. “The shotgun focus upgrade should be completed by oh’nine hundred sir.” He said in a very formal tone.
“Please stop saluting me, were not in Cerberus anymore and please don’t call me sir, Commander will do fine.” He said in a slightly annoyed tone.
“Sorry s- I mean Commander.” He said before Shepard disappeared into the elevator as he chuckled.
Chapter 3: Breakfast n' Guns
Shepard contacted Joker over the intercom as he rode in the elevator to brief him.
“Joker, I need you to take us to the Urla Minor system in the Shrike Abyssal.” He began in a informative tone. “We were asked to investigate two ships disappearing in that area.”
“Ok, but might I ask why the Alliance would ask an outside ship for help?” He asked inquisitively.
“They don’t want to send in another ship without stealth technology…” He paused for a moment before continuing. “One of the ships missing is the Orizaba.” He said calmly.
“We should be across the mass relays in about a half hour, and then another three hours to the system.” He stated as the low pulsating sounds of the FTL drive revving up began to fill the ship.
Tali was just finishing her morning routine when the door hissed open revealing Shepard with a large tray that was filled containers.
“Close your eyes.” He playfully commanded as she sat down on the couch. Tali was wondering what would greet her on the table, she expected one of the flavored nutria-paste tubes she saw him purchase last week. When Shepard told her to open them, she gasped as she saw a full dextro-amino compatible breakfast spread out on the table before her.
“Keelah…” She said at loss for words while she stared at the plate.
“I got them at the Citadel last week.” He said while beginning to consume his bagel.
“I-I don’t know what to say.” She said while stuttering.
“Then don’t say anything.” He said happily while slowly he undid the clasps sealing her visor.
He was once again mesmerized by the un-fathomable beauty of her face as she began to eat the meal in front of her.
“I haven’t had real food since I completed by pilgrimage.” She said gratefully as she put one of the fried eggs in her mouth.
“What was the Orizaba doing in the Urla Minor system?” She asked as she advanced on the buttered wheat loaf.
“They were tasked with determining the binary gas giants’ gravitational effect on each other’s atmosphere.” Responded Shepard as he finished his bagel and began to drink his coffee.
“Maybe they got a distress call and went to investigate.” Tali replied while finishing the last of her breakfast.
“We will find out when we get there, but we still have another two hours before we get there.” He said as he put away the dishware.
“I need to get down to engineering, we have a navigation array calibration scheduled for today.” She said regretfully, as she re-attached her visor to her helmet.
Zaeed was woken up by the trash compactor running through the mornings refuse. He walked from his bed to the window overlooking the shuttle bay. His old M-7 rifle was sitting on the table below him as always. As he sat down, the elevator down the hall opened revealing Shepard saying good bye to Tali.
“I could get used to this.” The commander said lovingly as she began to turn the corner to engineering.
“No reason you can’t.” Replied the engineer as the door hissed shut behind her.
Zaeed glanced down at the rusty old bucket he called Jessie and wondered to himself if that quarian could help him fix it. When he passed the staircase down to the sub-deck, he heard a loud crashing noise from below. Curious as to what had Jack pissed off this time, he began to head down to her little den. When he reached the foot of the stairs, he almost tripped on the shattered remains of her computer terminal were spread across half the room.
“What the devil happened? Did your terminal yell back this time?” He said sarcastically as he kicked the bulk of it back to Jack.
“No, I just located my parents, I began searching for them shortly after we returned from the Omega-4 relay. I thought that if I met them, it might let me remember my childhood before I was kidnapped by Cerberus.” She began to trail off and began punching the wall.
“Well come on, where are they?” He said while trying to guess where they might be.
“Their dead...I found them in a ten year old obituary column on the extra-net.” She finished her sentence as she sank down onto her cot once more.
“How did they-“ Zaeed began before he was cut off. “A mugger on the Citadel.” Jack was suddenly distracted by the large and rusted riffle in his hands.
“Still carrying that thing around?” Jack almost began to chuckle at the sad excuse for a gun.
“Thanks for reminding me.” He began up the stairs before turning around. “Maybe it was for the best, that you didn’t meet them.” He said in the most comforting tone he could muster.
“Yah, maybe…I just wish that…never mind.” Jack slowly began to collect the pieces of the terminal as Zaeed finally continued up the staircase.
Tali was buried deep in her calculations when the door behind her rudely interrupted her train of thought as it hissed opened to reveal Zaeed holding his rusty old gun.
“Sorry to disturb you, I was wondering if you could take a quick look at Jessie here”. He said in an almost pleading tone while holding out the riffle.
“I have a lot of work to do, but I guess I could take a quick look at it.” She said with a hint of annoyance as she examined the riffle from several angles. Tali suddenly began form a notably malicious mile beneath her visor as she gave it back to him.
“Did you find something?” He exclaimed in an agitated tone.
“When you modified it to accept thermal clips, you used a capacitor with an improper rating, I just found one burned out. Leave it on the desk and I’ll have it working by the end of the morning.”
Zaeed was not amused with the simplicity of his mistake. He began to almost yell while angrily walking back and forth. “I took that blasted gun to every weapon smith I could find, and not one of them was able to fix her”
“They are not familiar with adapted weapons, and neither am I. The only reason I found it was because of my experience in the flotilla salvaging weapons.” She said while turning back to her consoled.
“Thanks.” He said while walking out before turning around and finishing his sentence. “If manage to pull this off, I’ll buy you a drink back on the citadel.” He returned to his room while beginning to imagine what he could do one he got his hands on Jessie once more.
