"Wow."

Kaidan Alenko couldn't think of any other words to say as he stepped out of the elevator and onto the Alliance docking bay. He'd heard that the S.S.V Normandy, the Alliance warship he was going to be serving on, was a special prototype, but no-one had informed him of just how amazing it looked. Sleek and armed with an array of powerful looking weapons, a deadly combination.

"She's a beautiful ship isn't she?"

Kaidan looked away from the Normandy as a man roughly the same age as him and wearing a standard Systems Alliance Navy uniform, plus a baseball cap with SR1 printed on it, moved toward him on a set of crutches.

"You can say that again," Kaidan agreed. "Are you going to be serving on the Normandy?"

"Sure am," the man grinned. "Flight Lieutenant Jeff Moreau at your service. You can just call me Joker."

"Nice to meet you Joker," Kaidan replied, shaking the pilot's hand. "I'm Staff Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko."

"Sir!" Joker smirked as he managed to balance on one crutch and saluted Kaidan.

"At ease," Kaidan replied with a laugh. "So, have you met any of the other crew yet?"

"Just Navigator Pressly and this kid called Jenkins," Joker replied as he and Kaidan headed for the Normandy's entrance. "He's a corporal I think."

"Lucky bastard," Kaidan replied as the door closed behind them and a female voice advised them to stand by and that the decontamination sequence was in progress. "I'd have given anything to serve on a ship like this when I was a corporal."

After the decontamination ended, the door slid open and the two lieutenants took their first step aboard the Normandy.

"I know I'm going to sound like a broken record," Kaidan said quietly. "But wow . . ."

The SSV Normandy, in his opinion was just as impressive inside as it was outside. Its size was deceptive. From the outside, the Normandy looked small compared to most other warships, but there was more than enough space inside.

"I can't wait to make her dance," Joker said as he hobbled over to the pilot's seat and sat down with a sigh of relief. "You just know she's going to have amazing speed."

Kaidan smiled as Joker began acquainting himself with the numerous control panels in front of him. He was like a kid in a candy story with unlimited credits.

"Any clue who our captain and executive officer are going to be?" Kaidan asked as he settled down in the co-pilot's seat.

"They're keeping it all very hush-hush," Joker replied. "They must be important whoever they are. You've got to have a pretty distinguished service record to serve on the Normandy."

"I'm going to greet the others and have a look around the rest of the ship," Kaidan announced as he stood up. "You coming Joker?"

"No. I've got to rest my legs for a little bit," Joker replied, still engrossed in the panels in front of him. "They're killing me."

Making a mental note to ask Joker about his legs later, Kaidan walked past the heat load monitors and down to the Galaxy Map area which seemed to have become a meeting area for the Normandy's crew. He met Pressly, the over eager Jenkins, engineer Adams who was raving about the Normandy's 'revolutionary' drive core and said a quick hello to Doctor Chakwas who he'd served with once or twice before. Everyone had theories on who the captain and exo were going to be, but no one knew for certain. Kaidan checked out the mess, the infirmary where he would eventually be spending time due to his more severe migraines, the sleeping pods which looked less than comfortable, the massive drive core that was just as impressive as Adams had made it out to be and the cargo hold before he decided to head back to Joker. Kaidan rode the elevator back up and made his way to the bridge.

"Man this ship is impressive," he said as he stood beside the pilot. "I've never seen a drive core like that."

"I just can't wait to see how this beauty handles," Joker said with a wide smile. "Let's hope the captain and . . ."

Before Joker could finish his sentence, the decontamination door slid open and a man, presumably the ship's captain judging by his uniform, in his late forties walked onto the bridge.

"No way," Joker and Kaidan muttered in almost perfect unison.

David Anderson was one of the most decorated Alliance Special Forces officers. In many ways, he was the perfect captain for a ship as special as the Normandy. He'd fought in the First Contact War and had been on dozens of special missions after that.

"I never thought for a moment he'd be our captain," Kaidan murmured as he sat down and stretched out his legs.

"I wonder if this means we're being sent on some sort of special classified assignment?" Joker replied as turned his attention to the lieutenant. "It explains what Captain Anderson is doing here and why we seem to have a full crew."

"Maybe," Kaidan said thoughtfully. "It'll be interesting to see who Captain Anderson picked to be his exo."

"I wonder if it'll be Commander Shepard?" Joker wondered thoughtfully. "There are rumours she's his protégée, plus she's just as famous and respected as he is."

"The hero of the Blitz? I doubt it," Kaidan replied. "There's really no reason for the Alliance to pick someone as highly ranked as her. She has N7 status and she's been awarded the Star of Terra, so they've probably got her working on something more important than taking a new ship for a test run."

"I've only ever seen her in vids," Joker replied as he cracked his neck. "I wonder what she's like?"

"Dunno. The only time I've seen her in person is at the ceremony when they awarded her the Star of Terra," Kaidan replied. "She's the most beautiful war hero I've ever seen."

"Thank you for the compliment Lieutenant Alenko."

Kaidan turned in his seat and then quickly sprang to his feet at the sight of the woman in her late twenties and wearingN7 armour standing just behind him. She was similar in height to him with short brown hair, dark brown eyes, fair skin and a small but deep scar under her right eye. Kaidan's mind couldn't help but make a comparison of her to the Normandy. There were obvious similarities. Both were beautiful, sleek and heavily armed. The woman was carrying an assault rifle, a shotgun, a pistol and a sniper rifle. There was no doubt in Kaidan's mind that she could wield each of the four weapons with deadly proficiency.

"Ma'am!" Kaidan saluted as Joker too got to his feet and saluted.

"At ease lieutenants," Shepard smiled. "And feel free to call me commander."

"Welcome aboard the Normandy commander," Joker said as he shook hands with her. "What do you think of her so far?"

"Alliance brass weren't kidding when they said the Normandy was one of a kind," Shepard replied. "Your last assignment was aboard the Ishimura wasn't it?"

"I see you've read my case file," Joker grinned. "Ishimura was the best ship I served on. It flew like a dream."

"I hope you don't mind," Shepard said with a smile. "I make a habit of reading the files of the people I'm going to be serving with, which brings me to you lieutenant."

"Ma'am?" Kaidan said with a little uncertainty as Joker hobbled back into his chair.

"You've got at least a dozen special commendations," Shepard said, smiling inwardly at the still embarrassed look on her subordinates face. "That's very impressive. So is your service record."

"Thank you ma'am," Kaidan said with a sense of pride.

"You two would make quite the team," Joker said, smirking as Kaidan shot him a look that clearly meant 'shut the hell up'.

"I look forward to serving with two such fine officers. Now, if you'll excuse me," Shepard said warmly, nodding her head slightly at them before walking away to find Captain Anderson.

"The expression on your face was priceless," Joker laughed when she was far enough out of ear shot. "I wasn't kidding though. You two would make a good team, or rather a good couple."

"She's going to think I'm a total moron," Kaidan said with a mournful expression.

"Maybe you're just type," Joker smirked. "Maybe she likes tall, dark and stupid."

oooooooooo

Half an hour later, the Normandy's crew were assembling in the communication room for Captain Anderson's address before they flew out. When Kaidan walked in, the first thing he noticed was Shepard. She was casually chatting with the captain and flashing a brilliant smile. He noticed she wasn't wearing her armour anymore. The commander was wearing the regulation Alliance Marine uniform just like the rest of the crew. Kaidan smiled slightly as he realised how good she looked in it. Shepard was constantly being portrayed as a war hero and an extremely talented soldier, but seeing her now acting so casual and smiling, Kaidan realised she really was just a regular earth girl. That didn't make him feel any less intimidated by her. It was then Kaidan noticed the Shepard was watching him with a small smile on her lips.

"Lieutenant," she said as she weaved through the assembled crowd and came over to him.

"Ma'am," he said formally. "I want to apologise for earlier."

'Forget about it," Shepard smiled. "It's nice to get a compliment occasionally."

"You don't get a lot of compliments?" Kaidan asked with mild surprise.

"No, no I don't," Shepard laughed. "I hardly ever get shore leave so the only guys I'm ever around are my crew. Most of them are too intimidated to say anything. I think my guns put them off."

"I just wanted to make sure things weren't awkward between us," Kaidan said, managing a small smile.

"Everything's fine," Shepard said quietly. "Just remember lieutenant. I'm just an old fashioned gal. Don't let the armour and weapon's put you off."

With those words and a small nod, Shepard weaved back through the crowd and took her place beside Captain Anderson.

"You move fast," Joker said as he appeared at Kaidan's side. "You're having private chats with her already. What's next? A romantic dinner in the mess?"

"Shut up," Kaidan said quietly as Captain Anderson began his address. "Although, I do think you were right about one thing."

"What's that?" Joker asked.

"I think I might just be her type," Kaidan said with a satisfied smile.