Lost Soul

Chapter 3

Mercer was just finished making his purchases from a Volus merchant called Expat when he received a call on his RIG from Shepard. He excused himself from the merchant who was packing his purchases into a small case, explaining he needed to take the call.

After stepping away from the counter and into a corner he accepted the call on his RIG, the holo-projector on his chest cast a real time projection of his new CO in front of him. He noticed both Williams and Alenko in the background with Anderson but failed to notice that an ivory skinned woman with long dark brown hair was watching him.

"Mercer, we have a problem," Shepard said over the RIG-link.
"I was right, wasn't I?" Anthony asked grimly, he sighed as Shepard nodded.
"The investigating detective didn't have high enough clearance to find anything worthwhile, and then the meeting prevented him from following up his only lead, Nihlus couldn't give evidence as he's still in Huerta Memorial," Shepard explained, grinning slightly as Anthony swore.
"I should get my new gear back to the ship and join you, do I need to collect the rest of my weapons?" he asked.
Shepard shook his head, "no, however it wouldn't hurt to have the C-99 on hand," Shepard said before adding, "We're looking for a turian C-sec officer called Garrus Vakarian."
"Right, if I see him I'll call you so we can meet up," he said ending the call. He collected his purchases and headed back through the ward to the dock where Normandy was berthed, passing a quarian heading the opposite way and stepping aside to allow a red crested krogan to pass.

He'd just stepped into the lift to the dock when Shepard sent him a message telling him to meet them at a club called Chora's Den. As the lift continued to ascend he pulled up an area map to look for the club, it was at the far end of the ward, not far from the market he just left really.

Closing the map as the lift reached the dock, he stepped out of the lift when the door opened and crossed the bridge to the ship. He resisted the urge to bang his head on the wall during the decon cycle and waited for the door to open.

He stepped through the door, greeting Joker as he passed, and headed to the stairs at the far end of the CIC. He nodded to Pressly as he passed and continued past the marine guarding the door to the crew deck. He turned right into a narrow corridor on the crew deck where there were two observation rooms, one on each side of the ship, and the quarters for the XO and Chief Medical Officer. He entered Starboard Observation, his new quarters and left his purchases on the bed made up for him.

He turned and left the room, locking the door as he left, and entered the lift after exiting the corridor. He went down to the hangar, retrieved his Contact Beam with some ammunition and returned to the crew deck. He left the lift and made his back to the airlock, as he reached the airlock door Joker told him that Shepard had found Garrus and they were heading for Chora's Den.

He told Joker to tell Shepard that he was on his way and left the ship.

When Mercer arrived in the main foyer of the C-sec academy, he spotted the red-crested krogan from earlier being detained by some officers, something about threatening a business owner called Fist.

He turned away and continued to the lift to the wards. On the way down, an announcement was played over the loudspeakers that an archaeological team in the Artemis Tau cluster had gone dark.
"I wonder if we'll be roped in to investigate," Anthony thought as the lift slowed as it reached the wards level.

About halfway across the Ward, the marker on Mercer's HUD indicated for him to enter an alley as it was the fastest route to the club, he noted as he entered that the lighting seemed particularly poor except for an area around an alcove halfway down the alley… and a quarian was hovering on the edge of pool of light.

Just as he reached a set of stairs leading down to the level of the alcove, a turian stepped out of the alcove as two salarians hovered suspiciously near some crates, prompting Mercer to draw his plasma pistol and crouch down behind a set of crates just outside the lit area.

"Did you bring it?" a flanged voice asked, Mercer slid to the edge of the crates.

"Where's the Shadow Broker?" a synthesised female voice with an accent similar to a Russians asks, "Where's Fist?" she asks again, this time sounding nervous.

Mercer looked around the corner of the crates and had to suppress a snarl as the turian ran his hand over the quarian's arm, "Don't worry they'll be here."

"No way, the deals off," the quarian replied, slapping away the turian's hand.

The turian glared at the quarian as they both stepped back slowly, the turian nodded to the salarians.

The salarians drew pistols and moved towards the quarian, who glanced between the turian and salarians in panic before quickly throwing a disk shaped explosive at the salarian's feet.

The small explosion knocked the salarians back, but the turian growled, drawing his own pistol, he fired before the quarian could get to cover.

The girl screamed as the bullet went through her ankle and fell, she rolled over and tried to draw a pistol but it was kicked out of her hand.

The turian raised his weapon to fire but a shout distracted him.

Mercer watched the deal go sour fast, he was about to fire when the salarians were blasted off their feet, he looked back to see the quarian running and the turian drawing his pistol, but the salarians were getting up.

"Here!" Mercer shouted drawing the salarian's attention and distracting the turian.

He fired a stasis orb at the salarians and then the turian, he raised his pistol and fired three times at each salarian and then four at the turian.

The salarians sluggishly tried to fire on Mercer but were cut down by the bolts of super-heated plasma, the turian panicked when he saw his comrade's shields fail to activate but wasn't able to overcome the strange energy and was hit and killed before he could raise his weapon.

Mercer ejected the spent plasma cell and loaded a fresh one as he checked the bodies, picking up the used cell as replacements were virtually non-existent and the could be recharged.

Silence reigned for several seconds before Mercer moved toward the quarian, who was shaking her head slightly and glancing between the three bodies.

"Are you alright? Where did he hit you?"

Tali panicked slightly when the turian caressed her arm, "No way, the deal is off," she said, slapping away the turian's hand.

Fear churned violently in her stomach at the glare the turian gave her, which exploded when he nodded at two salarians, who started drawing their pistols.

She glanced back at the turian and then back to the salarians, quickly throwing a small disk grenade before running for cover at her end of the alley, a shot ended her flight.

The bullet slammed through her ankle, send her to the ground, Tali managed to see the salarians getting up as she rolled over but her pistol was knocked of her hand by the turian. For a brief moment, she stared into the turian's eyes through the sights of his pistol and all she could think was 'this is it; I'm going to die… Ancestors save me'.

The shout that came from the other end of the alley and the two balls of energy seemed to be in answer to her short prayer.

She looked through the turian's legs just as one of the energy balls hit him; the turian seemed to turn slowly around, every movement slowed by the energy like the slow-motion effects in a human Sci-Fi film, the salarians seemed to have the same problem themselves, both hadn't even raised their pistols half way when bolts of yellowish-white light struck first one, and then the other, ignoring the pairs, admittedly pitiful, kinetic barriers.

Tali gagged involuntarily as the smell of scorched flesh and ceramics passed through her olfactory filters, nearly missing the turian above being struck down by the same weapon. She stared for several seconds as a figure stepped into the light holding a strange sidearm.

The figure was wearing a green and white bodysuit that had what looked like armoured ribbing over the arms and legs with an integrated armoured cuirass and pauldrons of a deep blue colour, a segmented helmet with two glowing horizontal slits and angular, armoured boots and greaves.

The figure checked the bodies as they switched what looked like a power cell from the pistol, before looking over to her, "Are you alright? Where did he hit you?"

Mercer walked over to the fallen alien who noticeably blinked before replying, "I was shot in my leg, I… Thank you, but I don't…"

"Don't panic," Mercer said gently as the girl's breathing sped up as she cradled her wounded ankle and examined the damage, "If you have any medi-gel, slap it on and I'll carry you to the free clinic near C-Sec."

"You really don't need…" Tali tried to protest as she applied the tiny pack of medi-gel she carried.

"You won't make it on your own," Mercer stated, picking the girl up bridal style after making sure the gel was holding.

The walk to the clinic was strange, nearly everyone stared at the odd sight of a human carrying a quarian, but the small trail of blood and the fact they were heading in the direction of the Ward's free clinic kept them from asking questions, in fact the trip wasn't too long.

He let Tali stand when they reached the clinic doors; he waited until she was ready before opening the doors and stepping through.

"I didn't say anything, I swear!" exclaimed a French accented woman.

Mercer counted four men with pistols, assault rifles and shield harness' like the one the turian had surrounding a red haired woman.

"That's good doctor," one of the thugs, the one in the doctor's face, said, "now, when Garrus gets here…" he noticed Mercer and Tali in the doorway, "Who are you?" he bellowed, drawing his pistol and taking the doctor hostage.

Mercer materialised the C-99 and slammed the muzzle into the deck plating and fired, severing an I beam and bending it from the force, the sheared beam's opposite end being driven up through the deck plates beneath the thug and doctor's feet sending them both tumbling, the other thugs were also knocked of balance and stumbled before the stasis effect generated by the ground blast struck them.

Mercer charged and fired the Contact Beam at the three thugs away from the doctor, killing all three before the stasis effect wore off; he then stepped around the counter between the door and the doctor and fired his last round into the last thug, now having a clear shot.

Silence reined for several seconds, broken only by the hiss of steam off the cooling fins of the Contact Beam as Mercer inserted a new power cell.

"Are you alright?" he asked the doctor, who was still shaking.

"Yes, thank you," she said, taking the offered hand and got up.

"Who were those guys?" Mercer asked, before shaking his head, "scratch that, Tali was shot and needs treatment."

Both the doctor and Tali were surprised, but the doctor quickly looked the gently swaying quarian over and began examining her.

Mercer waited at the front of the clinic after dragging the dead thugs out of the doctor's way, leaving her to her craft; in fact he hadn't returned the Contact Beam to his equipment buffer instead leaving it out on the counter.

After about forty minutes, a loud thump came from the other side of the clinic's door.

Mercer snatched up the Contact Beam and aimed at the door, ready for any intruder as the lock cycled.

"WOAH! Mercer! Hold your fire!"

"Kaidan?"

"Jesus! What made you so jumpy?" the Alliance sentinel asked, relief flooding his face as Mercer returned the C-99 to his Equipment Buffer.

"A gunfight in an alley on the way to Chora's Den and an ambush here," Mercer replied, he looked around Kaidan to see a confused turian with blue facial markings and the other end of the severed I beam poking slightly through the deck plating, "Someone fall?"

"Ashley," Shepard answered as he walked through the door, followed by a very red Chief Williams.

"Stupid deck plating… keepers should have fixed it," she mumbled.

"Have a nice trip, cheeks?" Mercer asked innocently.

Ashley went bright red in humiliation and anger as Kaidan and Shepard fought to keep a straight face.

"Pardon?" the turian asked.

"Nothing, just a little friendly teasing between shipmates," Mercer replied, "I take it you came here for a reason?"

"We're looking for Doctor Michel," the turian said, "Garrus Vakarian," he added holding out his hand.

"Anthony Mercer, Doctor's out back with a patient," Anthony replied, taking Garrus' hand and lowering his visor.

"So what did I miss?"

"We stormed through Chora's Den looking for Fist…" Kaidan started.

"Fist? Isn't he a former agent for the Shadow Broker?"

"How did you know?" Ashley asked.

"I was talking to a volus named Barla Von after getting my credits exchanged; he told me Fist was in Dutch with his former boss."

"Anyway, we fought through the club and found Fist, Shepard convinced him to tell us where Garrus' lead went, he told us he'd arranged a meeting for her in an alley on the Wards, except it would be Saren's men meeting her…"

"Let me guess, you arrive to find the party's over? Leaving behind a dead turian and two salarians with gunshot wounds inconsistent with any known weapon?"

Shepard and Ashley exchange a look as Garrus' mandibles flare slightly as Kaidan's jaw dropped, "How'd you know?"

"That was the fight I got into on the Wards forty minutes ago, my HUD said to use the Alley and I walked into the meeting, saw things go south and fired, if I hadn't it seems you would have lost your lead," Mercer replied.

"Yeah, so after that we ask about any quarians in the market, which is where we heard a human had carried a quarian to the free clinic earlier, so we headed here," Kaidan finished.

Anthony was about to say something but Doctor Michel came out from the clean room, Tali behind her, "Garrus? I take it you are here to see my patient?"

The C-sec detective was slightly surprised, "How did you know?"

"There were four idiots threatening her not to talk to you when I came in," Mercer answered.

"I must admit it was quite an entrance," the doctor added.

Shepard, Ashley and Kaidan now noticed the hole in the floor, the ruptured deck plates on the other side of the counter and the dead thugs, Ashley glared at Anthony before muttering under her breath.

"Mr Mercer brought Ms Zorah in just after Fist's thugs got here, thankfully he dispatched them swiftly, before alerting to Ms Zorah's injury," Doctor Michel continued.

"Is it alright for us to speak with her?"

"I'm standing right here!"

Mercer grinned at the girl's exclamation.

"She is fine, her injury was treated in time; just don't go running into any more fights for at least three days,"

"Yes doctor, and… thank you," Tali said.

"I'm Commander Shepard of the SSV Normandy and this is Detective Vakarian from C-sec, we were told that you may have evidence against Spectre Saren Arterius," Shepard said, introducing himself and Garrus.

"My name is Tali'Zorah nar Rayya, and yes, I was trying to trade information on Saren for protection," Tali replied.

"I think we should take this to the Embassy, Commander, It'll be safer," Mercer interrupted.

"I think you're right," Shepard replied, "Will you come with us?"

Tali nodded and followed the group out after saying goodbye to Doctor Michel, Mercer and Kaidan had to bite their lips to keep from laughing when Ashley tripped again on the dislodged I beam outside the clinic.

The trip to the Embassy was filled with small talk, mostly Mercer asking the two aliens questions about their species, something that surprised both but they answered every question, the conversation helping everyone to relax.

The meeting with the Ambassador, however, was anything but calm.

"You are NOT making my life easy, Shepard," Udina says angrily as we step in, "Gunfights in the Wards, an all-out assault on Chora's Den… what's this? A quarian? What are you up to Shepard?"

"Her name is Tali," Mercer retorts, his voice barely above a growl, "And if you'd can it and let us explain you'd know she can help us nail that metal skinned bastard to the wall."

Tali and Garrus stared at the strangely armoured human, Tali in surprise and a little respect and gratitude and Garrus frowning at the comment.

"Mercer's right, Tali found evidence to connect Saren to the Eden Prime attack," Shepard added.

Udina's entire demeanour changed, "Well then, perhaps it's best to start from the beginning, miss…"

Tali stepped forward and lit up her Omni-tool, "My name is Tali'Zorah nar Rayya, I was on my pilgrimage when I heard that the Geth had come beyond the Veil."

"Pilgrimage?" Kaidan asked.

"Rite of Passage, the adolescent leaves the Flotilla and only returns when they collect a gift to present to the Captain of the ship they wish to join, usually resources or systems upgrades but most quarians aim to return with a ship," Mercer explained, having asked Tali the exact same question earlier.

"Correct," Tali continued, "I managed to isolate a single Geth on an uncharted planet and I managed to extract some files from its data core."

Both Mercer and Anderson frowned, "Don't the Geth rig the data cores on the platforms to flash after the platform stops functioning?" Mercer asked before the Captain could.

"They do, it's a defence mechanism, but my people created the Geth, if you're quick and careful you can save some files, one of my old friends was able to save 40% of the files during a simulation on an old memory core.

She fiddled with her Omni-tool for a moment, "The attack on Eden Prime was a success, we are one step closer to finding the Conduit," a malevolent male voice said.

"And one step closer to the return of the Reapers," a second soft, female voice replied.

"That's Saren's voice!" Anderson exclaims.

"I don't recognise the second voice, or the reference to the Reapers," Udina says thoughtfully.

"I read an Extranet discussion this morning on the Prothean extinction, one of the theories was that an external force destroyed the Empire over several decades, if not centuries, one of the speakers flippantly described this force as an 'Army of Grim Reapers'," Mercer said thoughtfully.

"Exactly," Tali said, "The Geth believe the Reapers to be a Hyper-Advanced machine race that destroyed the Protheans; they revere them as the pinnacle of synthetic life."

"Okay now I've seen everything, religious fanatic AI," Mercer said in disbelief.

"We need to report this to the Council," Anderson says.

"I don't know about those Reapers but this proves Saren was involved with Eden Prime," Udina says.

"Anderson come with me, Shepard we'll meet you in the Tower," Udina says, walking past the ground team and out of the office.

"No need to thank us… you ungrateful…" Ashley starts to mutter angrily.

"Preaching to the choir, cheeks," Mercer looked to Shepard, ignoring Ashley's indignant squeak, "Shall we head up or hang around for a while?"

"We should go up," Shepard decides and leads the way out.

The journey to the Presidium Tower was swift, broken only by a comment on Shepard's driving after the auto-pilot on the sky car he; Kaidan and Mercer were in failed.

"Shepard! It's a car, not a tank!" Kaidan yelled as Shepard brought the sky car down heavily on a Presidium landing pad.

"I'm never stepping foot in the Mako if he's driving," Mercer declared, looking a little green.

Shepard just smiled at them and opened the door, Mercer and Kaidan exchanged a worried look as he got out.

Captain Anderson met them at the bottom of the steps, "Come on, the Ambassador's presenting Ms Zorah's evidence."

The group arrived just as the recording ended.

"You wanted proof?" Udina said, "There it is."

The Councillors look very uncomfortable. The turian Councillor, Sparatus, speaks first, "this evidence is irrefutable, Saren will be stripped of his Spectre status and resources immediately and all efforts made to bring him in."

"I recognise the second voice," Tevos the asari Councillor adds, "its Matriarch Benezia."

"Another traitor," Shepard says loudly as Mercer mutters, "that's not good."

"Matriarch Benezia is a powerful biotic and had many followers, she'll be a powerful ally for Saren," Tevos warns.

"I'm more interested in the Reapers, what do you know about them?" Valern, the Salarian Councillor says.

"Only what the Geth memory core says," Anderson answers, "They were an advanced machine race that wiped out the Protheans, then they vanished."

"The Geth believe the Reapers are Gods, and Saren the Prophet for their return," Shepard continued.

"We think the Conduit is the key to bringing them back and Saren is searching for it, that's why Saren attacked Eden Prime," Anderson says.

"Do we know what the Conduit is?" Valern asks.

"Saren thinks it can bring back the Reapers, that's bad enough," Shepard replies.

"Listen to what you're saying," Sparatus retorts, "Saren wants to bring back the machines that destroyed all life in the Galaxy? Where did the Reapers go? Why did they vanish? Why have we never encountered evidence of their existence?"

"He's got a point," Mercer says to Shepard and Anderson, "It would take centuries for the Reapers to police their brass after a war on a galactic scale, assuming they're actually bothered to do so."

"I tried to warn you about Saren but you refused to face the truth," Shepard shouts, "Don't make the same mistake."

"This is different," Tevos interrupts, "You've proven Saren has betrayed the Council and is searching for the Conduit, but we don't know the reason why.

"The Reapers are obviously just a myth Commander, a convenient lie to cover Saren's true purpose. A legend to bend the Geth to his will," Valern adds dismissively.

"50,000 years ago the Reapers wiped out all Galactic civilisation. If Saren finds the Conduit, it WILL happen again," Shepards retorts.

"Saren is a rogue agent on the run for his life, he no longer has the resources or privileges of being a Spectre. The Council has stripped him of his position," Sparatus replies.

"That's not good enough, you know he's in the Traverse, send in your fleet," Udina challenges.

"Bad idea," Mercer says, causing everyone to look at him, "Space is a big place, he could be anywhere in the Traverse, a Council Fleet hanging around for any period of time could cause a pre-emptive strike from either the Hegemony or make the Pirate holdings work together to confront it. You need to use a fast, stealthy ship to find Saren, THEN send the Fleet to finish him."

"The Lieutenant is right," Valern agrees, "Saren must be found before we send a Fleet in, assuming his forces aren't taken care of first."

"Every time we ask for help, you ignore us!" Shepard says.

"Shepard's right, I'm sick of this Council and it's Anti-human Bull – " Udina shouts.

"Ambassador!" Tevos interrupts, trying to placate Udina, "There is another solution that doesn't require Fleets or Armies."

"NO! It's too soon!" Sparatus declares, "Humanity isn't ready to join the Spectres."

"I take down Saren without you sending a Fleet in and Udina gets his human Spectre, everybody's happy," Shepard replies.

"Shepard's right, there is a way to achieve both goals," Tevos says.

Valern nods when she looks at him but Sparatus doesn't meet her eyes nodding reluctantly after a minute.

"Commander Shepard, step forward."

Shepard looked to Anderson who nodded and stepped to the front of the bridge, standing in front of Udina, drawing all eyes onto him.

"It is the decision of the Council that you be granted all the powers and privileges of the Special Tactics and Reconnaissance branch of the Citadel," Tevos begins.

"Spectres aren't trained, but chosen. Individuals forged in the fire of service and battle, whose actions elevate the above the rank and file," Valern picks up.

"Spectres are an ideal, a symbol. The embodiment of Courage, Determination and Self-Reliance. They are the right hand of the Council, they are the instruments of our will" Tevos continues.

"Spectres bear a great burden. They are the protectors of Galactic Peace, they are our first and last line of defence. The safety of the Galaxy is theirs to uphold," Sparatus said.

"You are the first human Spectre, Commander. This is a great accomplishment for you and your entire species," Tevos continues.

"This is a great honour Councillors, I won't let you down," Shepard replies.

"We are sending you into the Traverse after Saren. He's a fugitive from justice so you are authorised to use any means to apprehend or eliminate him," Valern adds.

"Are there any leads?" Shepard asks.

"We will forward all relevant files to Udina," Sparatus replies.

"This meeting of the Council is adjourned," Tevos concludes.

The group converged as the Councillors left and the crowd dispersed.

"We have a lot of work to do; you need a ship, crew supplies…" Udina muttered, "Anderson, come with me, I'll need your help to set this up. Shepard, meet us at the dock." He then walked away with Anderson behind him.

"Ass," Arse," Ashley and Mercer muttered together and turned back to Shepard.

"Congratulations!" Kaidan and Ashley chorus.

"Well done Commander," Mercer said.

"You're a Spectre now, Shepard, no red tape holding you back," Garrus commented.

"I can't believe the ambassador didn't congratulate you," Tali commented, staring at the spot where Udina had left.

"He's a politician," Mercer shrugged.

"So what happens now? What happens to these two?" Kaidan asked.

"They'd be safest coming with us," Mercer said, "Both are targets for retribution; Tali for acquiring and presenting the evidence and Garrus for his determined investigation."

Ashley looked miffed at allowing two aliens to join the crew but it was obvious she agreed, Kaidan brought up another point, "It would also be useful to have people with different skill sets on the ground team."

"Tali's got to be good at hacking if she pulled that data from a geth memory core and I heard a turian C-sec regular complaining about a Detective Vakarian out shooting him on the range last week," Mercer commented.

Ashley looked like she wanted to argue but stayed silent as Shepard said they could join the team.

Shepard told the two to finish up any business on the station and meet them at C-sec, taking the team to collect a few things from the markets before heading back to the Academy, when they arrived a scarred krogan approached.

"You go left," Mercer murmured to Kaidan, who nodded and drew his pistol discreetly. Kaidan circled around opposite Mercer who had selected the C-99.

"You! Human, you're the one called Shepard?" the Krogan said, getting right into Shepard's face, causing Ashley and the approaching Tali and Garrus to tense up.

"I am," Shepard replied neutrally, holding the ancient and bad tempered krogan's gaze.

The krogan stared at him, then gave a slightly approving grunt, "I'm Urdnot Wrex, I was hired to kill Fist by the Shadow Broker…

But I didn't, YOU got to him first."

"I did," Shepard replied, watching the krogan and not letting the half ton lizard intimidate him (something they'd learn two years later had earned him a lot of respect from ALL the C-sec regulars).

"When I take a job, I finish it!" Wrex growled, stepping right into Shepard's face, their noses inches apart, making Ashley reach for her pistol.

The krogan glanced slightly to his left at Ashley, but Mercer knew that he and Kaidan had been noticed and was certain the krogan was eyeing up his Contact Beam.

"I didn't finish this job, you did, I've already transferred to your account," that made everyone stare in disbelief.

"A mercenary with integrity," Mercer muttered mildly impressed, earning a feral looking but friendly, for a krogan, grin.

"You didn't need to do that," Shepard commented after checking his account balance (up by 4,000 credits), "Is there anything else I can help you with?"

"I want to come with you," everyone stared at him, "There's a storm coming Shepard, you and Saren will be at the centre of it.

I wanna be there when you face him."

"You want to come along… because you want to sit in the middle of a shit storm?" Ashley asked sceptically.

"Krogan are bulletproof compared to other organics, and he isn't a typical krogan merc," Mercer mused.

Shepard stared at Wrex, thinking it over for several moments, "Alright, you're on the team Wrex."

Wrex shook Shepard's hand, grinning, "You won't regret tis Shepard."

Kaidan and Mercer replaced their weapons as the team squeezed into the lift from the Academy Lobby to the docks.

To find a surprise waiting for them, in the form of an armed transport familiar to Mercer and a red head in Alliance Issue armour, watching as Anderson and Udina talked, all three looking up as the motley crew approached.

"Shepard," Udina greeted, "Anderson and I were just going over the interim arrangements for your mission."

"The Normandy is to undergo a quick refit," Anderson explained, "The technology from the Cossack has been examined to the point where we can actually fit it to our ships, the Normandy's mass accelerator and Barriers are to be replaced with reverse-engineered systems from the Cossack, among other things." He then gestured to the ocean grey armed vessel in the adjacent berth, "until the refit is complete in a month's time, you'll have to use a…"

"Kestrel-class gunship, armed with twin chin Particle Cannon, dorsal Torpedo Launchers and Laser based CIWS with port and starboard auto-cannon for ground support missions and electronic warfare suite," he turned to look at Anderson, "Are we taking a Sabre or a Mako?"

"A Mako unfortunately, the Sabres are still being examined, and it does possess a fully functioning Shockpoint Drive so I need you to teach Joker how to fly it," Anderson continued as if nothing had happened, although everyone else was staring at the Gendarme trooper.

"What? These things were used for heavy support and customs duties; it's actually a job requirement for squad leaders to know how to fly one on the Sprawl," Mercer defended.

"They were going to send you its Kellion-class half-sister, but Udina made the case for the gunship, you'll need it for your first mission," Anderson finished.

"Normally we'd give you our leads and cut you loose, Shepard," Udina picked up, "But due to the Normandy's refit you're being sent after only one lead, Matriarch Benezia's daughter, Liara T'Soni. She's an archaeologist and specialises in the Prothean extinction, her last known location was the planet Therum."

"The dig team went silent two days ago, we don't know why but Geth activity in the cluster was reported yesterday, so she is your priority, if she's complicit then eliminate her, if not, get her out of there," Anderson added.

"Finally, you'll be taking another member on your team," the red head stood up straighter, "Lieutenant Shepard is assigned to the ground team," Anderson finished.

"Shepard?" Mercer and Kaidan asked, the two shared a look as Joker walked onto the Kestrel's boarding ramp with a rating carrying his duffel bag.

"I don't believe it," Kaidan muttered, noticing the family resemblance.

"God knows, one Shepard is bad enough," Mercer agreed.

"But now…"

"…We've got it in stereo."

"I hope she's a better driver, if not I'm never getting in that tank,"

"Hey!" Shepard shouted at the slur on his driving as everyone laughed, even Udina smiled.

"Well, I'll take my leave, good luck Shepard," Udina finished and left.

"Mercer, you should get settled in and start Joker's driving lessons (Hey!), the rest of you should get settled too, do you have any questions, Shepard?"

Mercer walked up the loading ramp into the starboard mess area, two tables in recessed alcoves that sat four people which converted into bunks in an emergency, and on into the main cabin which ran the length of the flight deck and half the length of the ship, Jeff 'Joker' Moreau was already in the co-pilot's seat.

"I still don't see why you have to be the pilot, I mean, I am the best pilot in the Alliance," he grumbled.

"You don't have a RIG and this ship requires one on startup," Mercer retorted, "Besides, these things are called flying guntrucks for a reason, the weights well balanced overall but there's a lot of it."

He went to the rear of the flight deck to claim a bunk as Joker pouted childishly, the rest of the team, minus the two Shepard's, boarding behind him.

He took the top bunk under an overhead beam and swung onto the bunk using the beam.

"Comfy?" Kaidan asked as he took the bunk underneath.

"It ain't exactly the Ritz, but it'll do," Mercer replied, climbing out and finding his other weapons in a nearby locker.

"Everyone," Shepard called out, "this is my baby sister, Valerie," wincing as the girl in question hit him.

"Hey, nice to meet you all," the girl said, her emerald green eyes flashing in annoyance at her brother.

"Woof."

Kaidan burst out laughing, as did an eavesdropping Joker, as everyone else stared at Mercer, who was staring at the pretty, curvy and now blushing red head with a slightly love struck look and glazed eyes.

"Snap out of it," Kaidan wheezed out, punching Mercer's leg, bringing him back to Earth.

"Oh, and I guess I didn't catch you staring at certain shapely parts on a certain hazel eyed ground pounder earlier?" both Kaidan and Ashley went bright red at Mercer's retort.

"If I didn't know that they only met two days ago, I'd think they were brothers," Shepard muttered to his sister.

"Alright, fun's over, I need to start Joker's driving lessons," Mercer said, ignoring the indignant shout from the cockpit as he walked up, syncing his RIG to everyone's curiosity as he passed.

Joker eyed the holographic interface as Mercer ran the sync program and started up the main control panel.

Seconds later large holographic panels lit up in front of the pair, Mercer kicked off with the pre-flight checklist after checking that Joker's implants to use native holographic controls worked on the screens.

Once the checks were complete, the engines were idling and the Alliance Control Tower had given clearance to take off, Mercer turned on the deck comm, "Welcome aboard flight Kestrel-001, our destination is the planet Therum in the Artemis Tau star cluster, please fasten your seatbelts and do not unfasten them until the signal is given, refreshments will be available from the galley in the centre portside of the Flight deck after take-off, your crew and Captain wish you a pleasant trip and thank you for flying with the Cactus Air Force," he cut the comm and looked to meet Joker's massive grin as the docking clamps disengaged.

"Beautiful, couldn't have said it better myself," the grinning pilot said.

The armed transport slide backwards from the berth at a slow steady speed, its travel was checked 100m from the berth as the main engines ignited and the manoeuvring thrusters spun the nose around. The small ship then accelerated away from the dock and the station towards the Nebula's Mass Relay, beyond which lay the first mission for its crew.