Tugging at her collar, the commanding officer's head tilted as she spoke, "Oh I think it's exactly what it looks like Chief Williams."

Addressed by rank, Ash gulped. She knew now she was in very serious trouble. The Spectre looked less than pleased at the gunnery chief. But then being smacked in the face several times by high velocity snowy projectiles will do that.

"I…I can explain." she snapped to a ridged stance of attention her new boom stick at her side as if it were a proper rifle.

"Uh-ah." the Spectre said disbelievingly.

The others came out of the forest to stand near the marine, what surprised Shepard most was Dr. Chakwas emerging with a tuft of snow on her already white haired head. All the faces save for the battle master had the decency to look chagrined, Tali (er…relatively speaking) perhaps looking the most guilty. It was after all her invention that led to the marine's amok antics.

Shepard turned slightly so six delinquents could not see her hand motion to Liara who coquettishly smirked with a half-smile.

"Looks to me like I have a forest blanketed in snow in my cargo bay and my gunnery chief just pointed a gun at her commanding officer. And not only that but openly fired upon said superior officer."

"Commander um yes that's what it looks like." Garrus said defensively. "But she meant to hit Wrex."

"I see." Shepard lowered her voice.

"We tried to talk her out of if but being a marine is in her blood and all." Joker said not helping. The others looked at him balefully he shrugged. "What? We did. She's too damn stubborn."

Even Shepard was a little put off by the flight lieutenant's words. You never rat out a squadmate. Then again he wasn't actually apart of the ground team…so the ties were not as strong, still he shouldn't have squealed.

Ash didn't know if she was shivering more from the wet-cold of the snow or fear of a seemingly very angry Spectre who was now standing nose to nose with her.

"I see." the Commander repeated.

"We were just having a bit of Christmas cheer, Commander." Dr. Chakwas refined British accent quickly intervened. "And it got away from us."

Shepard said nothing

"Relinquish that rifle, marine." A hand shot out expectantly.

Ash quickly obeyed and handed the miniature snow-cannon to the commander, not daring to speak until given permission. Shepard was genuinely impressed by the creation. It was in a few words a true work of art. Tali had certainly outdone herself.

Shepard tuned and took three steps back toward her asari lover, winked. "Now Liara!"

The asari's body whose body was shimmering in cyan energy which everyone only now just noticed unleashed a biotic wave directly at the little piles of snow. A whirlwind of white rose up and in a flurry of miniature proportions swathed the six mournful delinquents in a blanket of snow.

Shepard burst out laughing at each stunned, shocked, and disbelieving face. Liara was giggling at the infectious gurgles of laughter coming from her lover.

"Priceless!" Shepard hooted. "Absolutely priceless!"

Shepard had the snow cannon aimed directly at Ash. "You know, they say there is only one rule on Omega." the devilish grin grew wider. "I say there is only one rule on my ship, gunnery chief."

Ash opened her mouth but nothing came out; not a protest, not a rebuttal not a sound.

Shepard pulled the trigger but not before shifting her line of fire and hit Joker square in the chest.

"Now it was on" smirked the galactic warrior stealing a glance of the beautiful asari maiden to her side.

For those who had been in battle before – Tali, Garrus and Ashley- instinct took over and they all dove for cover within the impromptusnowcapped cargo forest. In Wrex's case- since krogan do not "duck" - he moved to a more strategic location from which to plan an offensive – behind the biggest fir tree.

As for the non-combatants, they remained standing in the open. Chakwas, ever regal and rarely flummoxed, brushed the snow from her arms, daintily raised the glass to her lips and tooka sip of eggnog which had miraculously escaped any – who hadn't moved a muscle- just stared at Shepard.

Flabbergasted, the pilot whined, "I can't believe you shot an unarmed man!"

"All's fair in love, war and snowball fights, Joker!" Shepard crouched on one knee, spanning the rifle across the line of fir trees, looking for her next shot.

Liara stepped behind her lover and raised a biotic barrier to cover them both from incoming attacks – she would drop it when signaled. Playfully, she nudged the commander with her knee. "I shall tuck that information away for safe keeping."

"I think you have enough tactical information in your arsenal already, T'Soni."

"Is that a complaint about your earlier ambush?"

As her thoughts drifted briefly to their earlier tryst, the red-head smiled mischievously. "On second thought, keep tucking that information away."

"Only for you, Shepard."

Garrus and Tali had hunkered down behind the same fir tree. As the turian snapped off a twig to sample the new tasty treat, the quarian handed him a pistol the she seemingly produced from thin air. There was an oddness about the gun though - it looked suspiciously like a smaller version of the rifle currently in Shepard's hands.

Still chomping on the needled sprig, the turian asked, "What's this?"

"What does it look like?" While frantically punching commands into her omni-tool, Tali glanced at Garrus. "Protection."

Realization dawned on the turian. "Wait... you made two?"

Exasperated, Tali said, "Garrus, I gave the Normandy's Gunnery Chief a snow gun! In what eezo-crazed universe was that ever going to end well?"

"Good point." The turian sized up the pistol and then twisted around to get a good look at the battlefield.

Ashley and Wrex flanked Liara and Shepard's right and left sides, respectively. While the chief was busy making grapefruit-sized snowballs by hand, she caught site of the krogan who had packed together ones that resembled large boulders. They nodded in silent agreement. There were now allies united under threat of a common enemy.

While Ash Williams tried to stay hidden, she couldn't help but spot the shiny new weapon in the turian's hands. Dumbfounded, the gunny's eyes raced back to her commanding officer, who was still wielding her stolen Christmas present from Tali. Gasping, the gunny chief scoffed, "Figures. And here I thought we had something special!"

Ash peeked her head out from behind cover, a quick blitz of snowy projectiles missing her by inches. She muttered to herself over how she shouldn't have fallen for Shepard's obvious ploy so easily, and grabbed one of her snowballs, giving it a few pats to make sure it was tightly packed. Mouthing a countdown from five, hearing Garrus firing away with his newfound pistol, she popped out mid-offensive and hurled the snowball at the pair of aggressors.

To her dismay, it bounced off Liara's barriers as the asari held a defensive against the group's attack. The carefree grin on Shepard's face was too much for her to handle. "Took my gun, and now she's got a freaking impossible defense…but only when she's not firing…" she mused to herself, a plan forming into place.

Wrex turned his head toward the marine across from him and grimaced in annoyance; the woman had been calling after him for nearly half a minute, and he'd finally gotten the last of his snow boulders made. He watched as she started making a series of gestures with her hands, only getting distracted momentarily as Garrus was blasted with a barrage, knocking him off his feet and into a small evergreen. Turning his focus back to her, she bundled two of her small snowballs against her chest with one arm and began a countdown with her other hand. Wrex nodded, it was time to spread some holiday carnage.

As soon as Wrex nodded she turned away, still counting down with her hand raised in the air.

Her first few steps were quick, bursting out of her cover, drawing her gleeful commander's attention. Ash smiled as a spray of snow peppered at her heels; she tossed one of her balls aimlessly in Shepard's direction, sailing wide, as snow burst against her face and chest. The blast knocked her into a small mound of snow face-first, leaving her hoping that Wrex would follow through. A thunderous series of crashes moments later and a guttural laugh from the krogan signaled that her plan had worked at least a little bit.

She rolled onto her side and looked towards where the duo had been to see Shepard completely sprawled on the ground, her face buried under the remains of the snow boulder. Liara immediately knelt down to wipe the snow away and when she removed it from Shepard's face the commander gasped for air. Ashley clutched her side laughing at the sight while Wrex gathered up the rest of his snow boulders.

Face flushed a bright red, Shepard looked up at Liara with a dramatic expression and said, "They got me, my love. I'm done for." Raising the snow gun up to the asari she added, "Here, take this. Find Tali and Garrus. Avenge me!"

Liara struggled not to laugh, and instead tried her best to nod solemnly before taking the gun and darting away towards the trees.

Now that the commander was alone and unguarded, Ashley moved in with a snowball in each hand. Standing over Shepard, she grinned and said, "Payback time," before tossing both snowballs right into Shepard's face. "This is what playing dirty gets you, Skipper. You shouldn't have turned everyone against you."

Raising a hand to wipe the snow from her face and spit out some ice that had gotten into her mouth, Shepard flashed a sly smile and said, "And if I did what then? Are you aggrieved therefore? The sea hath fish for every man, and what would you have more?"

Ashley quirked an eyebrow at that, but only managed to mouth, "Wha-?" before Shepard twisted and swept the marine's legs out from under her. Ashley fell on her butt unceremoniously and Shepard wasted no time heaving handfuls of snow onto her face in retaliation. The two women fought viciously, practically wrestling in the snow, until a sudden shadow fell over them. They stopped and looked up to see Wrex standing over them both, his face unreadable and one of his giant snow boulders in his hands. Ashley smirked and said, "Ha! You'll get it now Shepard! Go ahead and pummel her, Wrex!"

But the krogan's lips twitched up into a wicked smile and he smashed both women in the face with the boulder of snow. Lying on the ground, neither woman could properly fight back and Wrex amused himself by dropping mound after mound of snow on them as they curled up helplessly.

Back in the trees, Liara had found Garrus and Tali and they were planning a rescue mission. Since they had both guns now, an all out assault on the krogan seemed the best solution. As they prepared to move out, though, Garrus handed the gun to Tali.

"Why are you giving it to me?" she asked.

Garrus looked suddenly very tired and even yawned. "Turians don't like the cold," he grumbled. "It puts us to sleep."

Liara remembered him saying much the same on Noveria.

Tali nodded. "Ok, leave it to us." The two women stood up and ran out of cover, firing on the krogan. That got his attention long enough for him to cease in his barrage of Shepard and Ashley, and the two marines now united in scrambling to their feet and joining the assault. The combined forces of everyone working against Wrex was enough to immobilize the krogan.

"Fine, fine!" he grunted, holding up his arms. "You win."

Out of breath and wiping the excess snow from her uniform, the Normandy's commanding officer muttered to herself, "Well, that's one way to spread holiday cheer." Before musingly addressing the formidable battle master, she looked over the pile of snow which had nearly encased him. "Enjoying your first Christmas?"

"Bah," he chortled. "This," lifting his arms, indicating his surrender, "is my Christmas gift to all of you. Five against one; the odds were not in your favor."

The Spectre smirked, "What a kind and… thoughtful gift."

Rejoining the group, Joker looked at Doctor Chakwas and quipped, "For a second there, I thought the Abominable-Snow-Wrex was going to say 'bah-humbug'." The humans shared a laugh while the aliens exchanged confused glances. Joker ran a hand over the length of his face and sighed, "I'll explain later."

Chief Williams stalked around her comrade, admiring their handiwork with a mischievous smile. Walking past a nearby pine, she stopped, turned, grabbed a couple branches, handed one to Garrus, who was sleepily munching on his last bit of fir, while leaning on Tali, who was struggling with all her might to remain standing. The chocolate eyed woman then proceeded to put one branch in each of Wrex's hands, which were still outstretched. "Something's missing," she muttered, leaning as close as she dared.

They all studied the figure before them when Shepard suddenly snapped her fingers. "I've got it!" She walked over to Joker and as she had done days earlier, snatched the hat off his head and placed the small cap upon the massive warrior's enormous head. The spectre tilted it a bit, then stepped back to check her work. "There, that's better."

"A few pieces of coal and a carrot and he'd be a perfect snow-krogan," Liara said. When she received a few surprised glances from her human teammates she shrugged, "So I've read."

"Whatever," Wrex growled. "Now someone get me out of here!"

The group smiled and moved to dig him out.

Realizing that someone was missing, Liara looked back and saw Shepard looking around the cargo bay, lost in thought. She joined her love, but when the veteran soldier didn't acknowledge the asari's presence, she grew concerned. Placing a hand on her shoulder the professor inquired, "Are you all right, Shepard?"

Breaking from her thoughts, Shepard turned and smiled. "Yes, I was just remembering that before I was so rudely interrupted," she said with a glance at Williams, "I wanted to tell you how much this reminded me of winters back on Earth; the trees covered with snow, the sound of it crunching beneath your boots…" she inhaled a deep breath cool air, "even the inevitable snowball fight." The human shifted her weight as she looked across to the group and saw Wrex shake off the last remnants of snow, hand Garrus the two fir branches, and returned Joker's hat.

Liara smiled. "It is beautiful."

"Yes, it is…" Shepard replied, no longer admiring only the winter wonderland.

The young T'Soni caught her lover's gaze, a slight purple blush coloring her cheeks as she smiled in return.

A few moments later, Doctor Chakwas joined the couple. "Reminiscing?" she asked knowingly, after taking in the situation.

"Something like that," the commander replied before shifting her gaze to the other doctor. "What can I do for you, doc?"

"Well, my glass is empty and we were just discussing returning to the conference room to rejoin the party."

"Sounds great, if there was a party to go back to." Sulked the N-7 officer. Chakwas looked confused as to what the spectre was referring to, but waited patiently as she continued. "I don't know what we missed, but when we arrived the place was deserted and it looked like a bomb had gone off."

"Oh dear," the doctor replied, obviously disappointed.

Suddenly, Shepard brightened, "I have an idea. Wait here." The savior of the galaxy dashed off and disappeared out of sight.