I'll relinquish one bullet. Where do you want it?

Commander Eliza Shepard ~Paragade~ Soldier - Spacer - Sole Survivor [RP Blog for Mass Effect Unknown]

[urdnotgrunt-blog]

Home is Where The Bodies Are - Shepard

[urdnotgrunt-blog]

“I did, Shepard.” He replied, looking at her but not stopping his nearly feverish pacing.

“I need help. The Pod has either stopped working properly or there never was a certain amount of information on it. I need to know this information. I can only think of one place it could be. Tuchanka.”

He stopped pacing and looked at her. “I need to know everything about where I came from, and why the Doctor decided to do what he did to me. The information isn’t here, but I think it can be at his labs.”

He looked at her sternly. “I want you to take me there and help me find it. Please.”

[cmdrelizashepard-blog]

Shepard watched Grunt a little cautiously. He seemed agitated and that worried her. "Sure, Grunt," she said. It wasn't like they had anything more pressing going on as of the moment... They were basically hanging in space waiting for something to go down. 

She moved across to the comms. unit. "Joker, set a course for Tuchanka," she said, then turned it off. "Is everything all right, Grunt? What is it you need?"

[urdnotgrunt-blog]

Home is Where The Bodies Are - Shepard

Grunt paced angrily back and forth, his mind reeling with thoughts of everything from killing something with his bare hands to running around the ship until there were marks in the deck from his feet.

He had messaged Shepard, asking her to meet him down in the Cargo Bay. He needed Shepard right now, she was the only one who might understand what he really needed to do.

Something in his pod had failed, or maybe it wasn’t ever there to begin with. But he wanted to know something about himself, and the pod didn’t have the answers. There was only one place that could possibly have the answers.

And he needed Shepard to help him get there.

[cmdrelizashepard-blog]

In all the time Shepard had known Grunt, he'd only called for her once, so being called for again at this time was... surprising, but not unwelcome. In fact, it was the kind of scenery change she needed - even if it was just down to the cargo bay.

It still took her a little while to finish with her duties, but then she found herself heading down to the cargo bay to see the youngest Krogan on the Normandy.

"Hey Grunt," she said, stepping inside the cargo bay. "You wanted to see me?"

[hacksawmedical-blog]

In Pursuit of Justice | Commander Shepard

[hacksawmedical-blog]

Chakwas nodded slowly, crossing her arms over her chest to help her keep control of herself.

“Yes. Well, at least, a 99% likelihood and a perfect midochondrial DNA match.” Chakwas drew in a shaky breath.

“Jack is my daughter. Or at least, she was, twenty years ago. I haven’t told her of my findings yet.”

[cmdrelizashepard-blog]

Shepard looked at her hands in her lap for a moment. This was a lot to take in and she can't even imagine what Chakwas must be feeling.

"She should know," she said, quietly. "Both about you being her mother and about Castor. I can't in good conscience let you bring Castor to justice without telling Jack. She deserves to know. She's been lied to enough for one lifetime, don't you think?" 

[hacksawmedical-blog]

In Pursuit of Justice | Commander Shepard

[hacksawmedical-blog]

Chakwas dropped her eyes and shook her head. She moved closer, sitting on the corner of the Commander’s desk. It was inappropriate, but she needed to sit. She couldn’t keep standing if she was going to talk about this.

“I had a child once. Did you know that? I was twenty three, still in medical school. I was young, and fairly stupid and I thought I knew it all. Everyone told me I shouldn’t have her, or keep her, but I wanted her, so I did.” The trembling left Chakwas’s voice, replaced with a soft wistful tone.

“Stupid as it was, I loved her. When she was two, she started showing signs of biotic abilities. I was exposed to Element Zero at what was considered ‘moderate’ levels almost regularly throughout my pregnancy. When she was three, she started having complications. By this time I was out of medical school, doing my residency. I was assigned to Eden Prime. I did not know what to do to make her better. So, just before her fourth birthday in 2165, I took her to the best specialist I knew.” The hint of malice and anger that had been welling in her voice crested.

“Doctor Jeffrey Castor.” She had to bite back, keep herself from continuing. She closed her eyes tightly again for a long moment before looking at Shepard again.

“He told me my little girl was dead, Commander. He looked me in the eye and convinced me to relinquish my baby’s body to science for the greater good. Then he sold her to monsters who tortured her for almost a decade. He stole her from me, and he stole her life from her.”

[cmdrelizashepard-blog]

Shepard remembered the Shadow Broker files she read very clearly, but for a moment the connection wasn't made, then the penny dropped and she looked up at Chakwas with wide eyes.

"You..." It took her a moment and she kept her breathing even, despite the fact she wanted to freak out. 

In some ways, it made no sense - what were the odds of Chakwas and Jack ending up on the same ship? What were the odds of them even meeting again after all these years but... But then it made sense. It did. She could see Chakwas in Jack now, just a little bit, enough for it to ring true. 

"Doctor... Are you talking about Jack? Is she... your daughter?"

[hacksawmedical-blog]

In Pursuit of Justice | Commander Shepard

[hacksawmedical-blog]

Chakwas watched the Commander and then looked away, staring at the fish tank that lined the one wall. She had hoped to avoid admitting anything, but clearly that was not an option right now. Turning back to look at the Commander she closed her eyes for a long moment before speaking.

“Doctor Jeffrey Castor was the leading specialist in human biotics on Eden Prime in 2165. He’s the doctor who sold Jack to Cerberus.” She was oddly proud that she kept most of the tearful waver out of her voice as she said it. She wanted to kill him, a disturbing feeling and one she could honestly say she’d never felt before. Death was too fair though, he needed to be punished, and the Alliance would do that. She knew that much.

“You cannot tell Jack. I don’t want him dead. I want him court marshalled and executed for treason. I want him ruined. Forever.”

[cmdrelizashepard-blog]

There was something amiss in Chakwas' voice, something wrong and unstable. Shepard knew Chakwas and Jack were close, but this kind of reaction was... more. 

"Doctor," Shepard said again. "Why do you care so much? I understand that you and Jack are close, that this Castor guy is a bad guy, but when you consider what else we have to face, he's just a little fish in a big pond for now, isn't he?"

She licked her lips, leant back in her chair. "And surely Jack should know. She has more of a say in this than you do, after all. It's her life we'd be messing with, not yours."

[cmdrelizashepard-blog]

Tal Vera | Everyone

[snipervakarian-blog]

With rifle in one hand and helmet in the other, Garrus walked toward the airlock with eyes lowered. He had no interest in knowing who was or wasn’t there already. In fact, he wanted his crewmates to be the furthest thing from his mind right now. He settled against an open section of wall and began re-checking his equipment—inlcuding the sidearm on his hip in case of… problems. If the two other sniper team members were there, he’d leave them to their own preparations. They were just as skilled, or nearly anyway, even if he wouldn’t admit to it aloud.

Unfortunately, his decision to avoid speaking with anyone only brought those gloomy thoughts to the forefront. The loss of anyone would make the Normandy feel empty, even if it was someone he normally would rather avoid. But what if they lost Shepard? Or… Tali? He closed his eyes and concentrated on visualizing his role in this mission as he slid on his helmet. Line up the enemy and fire. That’s all he needed to worry about. He was ready to get this started and over with.

[cmdrelizashepard-blog]

Shepard smiled a little as Liara took her place by Shepard's side, where she belonged. Tali hadn't arrived yet, so she took a moment to just look at Liara, then she turned to the others who had arrived.

She'd left her fear in her quarters, so she felt nothing but pride at her team as she looked them over. She took a breath, checked her weapons, then turned to them all.

"Do we all know what we're doing?" 

[hacksawmedical-blog]

In Pursuit of Justice | Commander Shepard

[hacksawmedical-blog]

Chakwas frowned at Shepard’s answer and drew in a slow, faintly trembling breath. She needed to stay in control of her faculties, remain professional. Everything was too personal lately, and she still had to figure out exactly how to handle Jack. She couldn’t afford to break down right now.

“Commander, I understand that but…” Chakwas shook her head, hearing a faint tremble in her voice. Whether it was her imagination or not she couldn’t be sure of.

“I assure you, this is a matter the Council would be concerned with. If we don’t have the time, could you at least see it handled by another Spectre perhaps? I have all the proof needed to prove human smuggling.”

[cmdrelizashepard-blog]

There was a tremble in Chakwas' voice and it caught Shepard by surprise. Why did she seem so... off kilter? There was something wrong. 

Shepard put the datapad down, moved out from her desk, leaned forward resting her forearms on her knees and looked up at Chakwas. 

"Okay, Doctor," she said. "What's going on? There's something you're not telling me and I don't like that."

[cmdrelizashepard-blog]

Tal Vera | Everyone

Shepard pulled on her clothes with military precision. She'd been lax lately, let herself slip a bit, but not while she was on a mission. Nothing else was important and she wasn't going to let anything get in the way of this mission; not fear, not stupid awkward triangles and not the way her life had gone in the last few months.

She pulled her armour on, enjoying the feeling of being protected and secure and ready for battle again, and clipped her visor on. All equipped and ready to go, she grabbed her favourite guns and headed down to the airlock, where she hoped the four teams would already be assembled and ready to get in the shuttle. 

[cmdrelizashepard-blog]

ooc: I AM COMMANDER SHEPARD AND I WILL CONTINUE USING MISSING-E AS LONG AS I LIKE.

[hacksawmedical-blog]

In Pursuit of Justice | Commander Shepard

[hacksawmedical-blog]

Chakwas frowned and faltered a bit. Her anger didn’t disappear, or even diminish, but she remembered herself at Shepard’s comment. Although the jab at her age didn’t exactly go unnoticed either. She relaxed her rigid posture, remembering just how long she had known the Commander and how friendly they had always been.

“I am sorry, Commander. And no. We didn’t have doors in my century. We had huts and caves but no doors.” She actually managed a small laugh and a small shake of her head. But when she looked at the datapad the anger came back and she clenched her jaw a bit.

“I have the contact information of a Doctor Jeffrey Castor on that datapad. He’s currently working, of all places, at the Ascension project. He’s a criminal, of the worst sort. I’d like to see him brought before the Alliance Command on court martial.”

[cmdrelizashepard-blog]

Shepard lifted the datapad up and glanced at what was on it, then she looked up at the doctor. 

"Doctor," she said, carefully, "I hate these kinds of people as much as you do, but there are... other people more qualified for bringing Castor to justice." She put the datapad down. "We do have more pressing concerns at the moment."

It was bad enough she spent all of the last year bouncing about doing stupid little missions for her friends with time better spent shooting Collectors in the face. She wasn't really planning on doing that again. 

[cmdrelizashepard-blog]

OOC: The Tal Vera teams.

Just to break it down so that you don't all have to go through the other paras to remember what's going on like I just did, here are the teams:

Shepard's team: Liara and Tali, checking out the underground science facility...thing.

Miranda's team: Grunt and Ashley, looking for anything else useful they can find on Tal Vera. 

Samara and Kasumi are going to clear a path and destroy the Reaper's core. 

Garrus' sniping team: Thane and Legion are sniping in case there are enemies around. 

Wrex will fuck shit up if anything goes wrong. 

Did I forget anything? 

[hacksawmedical-blog]

In Pursuit of Justice | Commander Shepard

Chakwas stood with purpose, a grim expression on her face as she grabbed the datapad and disconnected it from her terminal. She walked through the mess hall without even looking to see if anyone was around. Of course, her departure from the medical bay would likely to be noticed if anyone was about, she rarely left it these days. Instead she stared straight ahead as she made her way to the elevator. Even the normally annoying lag of the elevator did not make her gaze waver as she rode it up to the Commander’s Deck.

She had never been to the Commander’s private quarters; not on the original Normandy and not on this ship. In fact, she had only ever been to any Commanding Officer’s quarters a handful of times in her career. That little fact did nothing to stop her as she walked through the still opening doors into Shepard’s office. She stopped at the edge of the Commander’s desk and tossed the data pad down, letting it slide toward the Commander.

“I need to speak with you.” There was a long pause before she remembered herself, a little. “Commander.”

[cmdrelizashepard-blog]

Shepard was working, and working, in Shepard's opinion, means playing solitaire on her terminal while waiting for her paperwork to do itself. She was considering going down to the mess and getting some food, but there was no one - no one - she really wanted to run into right now, so instead she kept herself to herself in her cabin and continued to will her paperwork to write itself.

When the door opened and Doctor Chakwas strode in without knocking or beeping, though, Shepard was, understandably, a little taken-aback, and even more so when she got a datapad all but thrown at her.

"Doctor." Shepard raised an eyebrow. "Did they not knock in your century?" She let her lips quirk into amusement so that Chakwas would know she was kidding and reached for the datapad. "What's going on?"

[cmdrelizashepard-blog]

Hey guys, roll call time!

Everyone still around and about? I'm just checking you're still all up for playing and the like. I thought this would be a good time to check! If you're not and don't reply (-looks suspiciously at Legion-) we'll replace you. No hard feelings.

I'll be leaving this up for a while though, so don't stress out. Just answer and let me know, okay?

[masseffectheadcanons]

[yeoman-chambers-deactivated2012]

I was wondering about that. *raises eyebrow* You could have just asked, Shepard. 

[cmdrelizashepard-blog]

-Splutters-

I feed my own fish and they're just fine, thank you.

[cmdrelizashepard-blog]

ooc: I'm still alive, just so you all know. I'm just vaguely hiding out at the moment due to Christmas. I'll be back full force once Christmas hell is over.

Most of you know this anyway, because you follow my main tumblr.

[snipervakarian-blog]

@ Shepard

cmdrelizashepard replied to your post: What’s the thing you love most about F!Shep?

-Shepard shuffles awkwardly- I’m not suffering. Thanks for saying nice things about me, though. I’m not sure why there are so many male pictures of me knocking around the extranet these days or why that causes people to have to specify my gender.

You ought to see if maybe Cerebus was thinking of… altering you when they wanted to bring you back. Don’t know why they’d want to, but it’s the only reason I can think of to explain that.

[cmdrelizashepard-blog]

I'm finding it very disturbing. I don't need a dick to be able to save the universe. Stupid Cerberus...

[snipervakarian-blog]

@ Shepard

cmdrelizashepard replied to your post: What’s the best thing about each of your teammates?

What, I’m not a team-mate anymore, Garrus?

Well I figured since I had just answered one specifically about you, the Anon was asking about everyone else…

[cmdrelizashepard-blog]

I'll let you off the hook this time.