Story Idea

[Blze]

Just an idea I had, think I should run with it?

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Just Another Routine Mission

 

“Commander Shepard. Admiral Hackett is on the line.” EDI’s orb appeared on Mara’s desk, causing her to jump slightly in surprise. “I apologize for startling you, Commander.”

Mara set her pistol down and shrugged, “Not a problem. I’m just jumpy. A side effect of the job, I imagine. Put him through, EDI.”

The clear display case slowly darkened and went opaque before giving way to a video feed of Admiral Hackett. “Commander. I hope I’m not interrupting anything.”

A shrug, “Not at all. Really isn’t much we can do at the time, Sir.”

“I think I might have a remedy for that. Eldfell-Ashland contacted fleet headquarters. A few hours ago, an experimental mining vessel sent a message reporting large-scale equipment malfunction-”

Mara snorted, “Guess that experiment went wrong.”

“Possibly.” Hackett glared at her, making sure she knew further interruption wouldn’t be tolerated, “They dispatched a repair vessel to ascertain the extent of the damage a few hours ago. Both vessels have gone silent and aren’t answering any hails.”

“Does Ashland suspect foul play, Admiral?” Mara leaned forward, tenting her fingers.

Hackett shrugged, “They can’t say. All they know is that they don’t want to risk sending another unarmed recovery vessel in until they know what is going on. This is where you come in. You and the Normandy are currently the closest ship, plus you have a knack for handling odd situations.”

“I’m under investigation, remember? The investigators made it quite clear I wasn’t available for official duties.” Although she tried to hide it, her distaste of the whole investigation was apparent.

“Which is why this is not an official assignment. This is a... notification about a mission that might interest a Spectre, nothing more. The missing vessel is home to 300 people, after all.” Hackett grinned wryly.

Mara laughed, “Admiral, if you ever entered politics you would be president in a month, I know it. Thanks for the heads up, we’ll take a look.”

“I can’t order you to do anything, but helping Eldfell-Ashland with this problem would greatly improve our relations with the company. Hackett out.”

Mara stood and stretched, letting out a loud yawn and cracking her neck bones.

“You know I dislike it when you do that.” Liara leaned against the display case and crossed her arms disapprovingly, “Another mission, then?”

Mara kissed Liara on the cheek, “I wish. Either the ship was taken by slavers and they’re long gone, or whatever this new tech they’re playing with went critical and took half the system with it. I’ll go tell Joker to get us in system. At the very least this is a distraction.” She winked and headed for the door, snatching a data-pad with the mission info from Hackett as she left.

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“Hey Joker, we need to make for the Tyr system.” Mara bounded into the cockpit, leaning against Jeff’s seat, “Make it happen, mister.”

“The Tyr system? You looking to explore a thoroughly useless system for giggles, Commander?” Jeff quipped.

“You know it. Nothing gets the blood flowing like a bunch of empty rocks circling a yellow sun.” She smacked him lightly with her data-pad, “A mining ship went missing there a few hours ago. We’re going to poke around.”

“Missing mining vessel? Again with the bitch details, Commander? I dunno who you pissed of at command, but make sure they know it was your fault and not mine, okay?” He tapped his controls and set a course, “By the way, the FTL drive has been acting up. We might want to have that looked at.”

“Well....” Mara tapped her data-pad, “the Tyr system isn’t too terribly far from the Asgard system. We can put the Normandy in for a looky look at Terra Nova and I’ll take the team to poke around for our missing miners with the Kodiak.”

“If you want to run into a bunch of mercs with an unarmed shuttle, hey, I’m not going to stop you. Just remember the Illusive Man isn’t going to put humpty-dumpty back together again this time.”

Mara glared at him, “Was that a fat joke, Lieutenant?”

Jeff froze and glanced up, “Uhhh.... no ma’am, not at all. I was just quoting a nursery rhyme.” He fidgeted slightly, “So, ahh, what do you know about this ship you’re trying to find?”

“Not much.” She looked back at her data-pad and scrolled up and down, “She’s some experimental mining ship. Everything about her is extremely hush-hush. A skeleton crew of 300, full expected crew of 1,000... has the designation PCS, whatever that means.”

“If they want to keep details quiet, why ask for outside help?” Joker looked over his shoulder, “And wouldn’t patents keep their competitors from stealing their ideas? Most companies jump at the chance to brag about their new tech. Makes you think they’re hiding something.”

Mara stood and patted him on the shoulder, “Well, we’ll know for sure once we reach the Ishimura. Let me know when we’re approaching Terra Nova.” She turned and made her way back to the elevator, whistling softly to herself.

A nice easy mission. Just what she needed to break the stress of this bullshit investigation.

[jOHN bULLOCK]

nice easy mission indeed, I think she should fair much better than Clarke

[Xiarmethes]

Husks, Necromorphs.  Same difference.  I think Weyland-Yutani's got a problem with a colony they lost contact with, can check that out afterwards.