Through the Motions

Carrine locked the door to her cabin behind her, and sat down heavily on her bed, head supported by her hands. She had been deemed the first human Spectre, and that forced Anderson to step down and hand his ship over to her. He did so with a smile, but she didn't buy it, not one bit. She knew the man too well. Yes, she knew he would do anything in his power to help her succeed - he was practically her father - but...it didn't feel right.

She sighed. Moping in frustration was unlike her, and it wasn't going to help solve anything. The crew needed to plan for the mission, and they needed to figure out where there were going to head first. Shutting herself in her head was the easiest solution until she could punch something in the exercise room (also known as the area by the the Mako), and she headed out to get Joker to announce a debriefing in 5.

Joker craned his neck to see who was approaching, and grinned when he saw the commander. "Aw, well if it isn't our little Spectre!"

Carrine glared at him. "Call me little and I break all your brittle little bones, Joker. Announce a debriefing in 5." As he punched in the announcement for the VI to say, she rubbed the bridge of her nose. "What destination is closest to our current location?"

Joker frowned, scratching his head in thought. "Uh...Therum is probably closest, in the Artemis Tau Cluster. And that's where Benezia's daughter is supposed to be. Getting to her fast would probably work in our favor. Plus, asari are hot," he smirked at the last part.

Carrine groaned. "Keep your porn to yourself, Joker."

"Aw, Commander, you're gonna let me keep it? Nicest commander I've ever had," he grinned up at her.

She rolled her eyes. "Get back to work, flyboy." As he turned back around, Carrine walked back around navigation to head into the comm room to wait for the rest of the ground team. They trickled in slowly, Kaidan being the first and taking the seat to her immediate right, with Ashley not far behind and sitting beside him. Garrus, Tali, and Wrex followed in shortly, all on the opposite side of the room. "Okay," she said, clearing her throat, "we're headed to the Artemis Tau Cluster first to find Dr. T'Soni. We need to find her before Saren does and we need whatever information she may have."

"What if she is working for Benezia?" Garrus asked, mandibles flaring a bit, which Carrine took to be a frown. "We could be walking straight into a trap."

She shrugged. "We've gotta try. There are gonna be a lot of groundside geth, so I'm taking three of you with me. Two will be with me on the ground, and one of you will be with the Mako in case we need to make a quick exit and get back to the Normandy." She looked up, sizing up her team. "Garrus, you man the Mako. Tali and Alenko, you're on shore party. I need you guys to hack anything that gets in the way and has a flashlight for a damn head. Dismissed." They stood to go, and Carrine craned her head up to the speaker. "Joker, what's our ETA?"

"3 hours, Commander," he replied. "Unless you let me make her dance, and we can get there in 2."

"No, Joker, you're not pulling crazy shit on my ship."

He snorted. "Your ship. Yeah. Okay. She's my baby. Miiiiine."

- - - -
Therum was a lava planet. This terrified the shore party because they soon realized Carrine was a horrible driver on anything but a flat surface. They also discovered that, though she may wear a helmet at all times, Tali can certainly scream, and it makes the Commander laugh.

"Commander," Kaidan said uneasily, "why are we stopped?"

Carrine had pulled the Mako to a halt on the crest of a small hill, and had moved the navigation map Tali and Garrus were using closer to her. "There's a geth armature or two right over this hill. They haven't seen us yet, and I'm pretty sure if I get a missile in between them and crash onto them, we'll get 'em solid."

"Oka-wait, we're going to jump off a hill onto geth!?" Tali exclaimed, shock evident in her voice. "Shepard, are you insane?"

She didn't look up from the map, but smiled and made a pinching motion with her right hand. "Just a little bit, I think. Just enough to make me not second-guess myself. Comes in handy with adrenaline rushes." She slid the navigation map back over to Garrus and Tali, satisfied with her plan. "Alenko, are the missiles ready?"

He swallowed audibly. "Yes, ma'am. Ready to aim and fire."

She creeped the Mako up the slight incline left to fire the main cannon and locked the vehicle into place. "Now!" she ordered, and Kaidan fired two quick missiles in between the armatures, heavily damaging both and creating confusion. She threw the Mako into high gear and gunned it off the top of the hill, sending the land rover flying and making Tali scream again. The landed on top of the two geth, eliminating both as Carrine ran them over to make sure they weren't getting up again. She laughed once they pulled off to the side.

"Shepard?" Garrus said. "Please don't do that again. You're terrifying on a good day, no need to go all-out on us."

Carrine grinned, reclining as much as she could in the driver's seat. "Who cares? That was awesome!"

"Commander," Joker cracked over the Mako's comm line, "I'm getting some really weird readings, like off the damn charts, a few clicks north of you. Be careful. Oh, and no more stunts in the Mako. We're watching the feed here from the interior cameras and you're fucking crazy."

"Shut up, Joker," she smirked. "I'm Commander fucking Shepard, I drive however I want. How much are you picking up?"

"Too much, it's messing with our radars bad."

"We'll kill 'em all," she said, maniacal grin on her face.

- - - -
After dealing with the amount of geth the dropship produced, dealing with a Juggernaut, and dealing with drones inside the excavation site, Carrine was convinced her assault rifle was her best friend. It took a lot to overheat and fired quickly, and it was extremely reactive to position changes. Considering she was usually the brute force of her shore parties (unless Wrex was there, then they had killstreak competition), this was a great thing to happen.

Alenko and Tali were now with her, as no one could get the Mako through the rock crevice. Garrus had radioed for its pickup and the other three headed to the main site. They were now in the ruins trying to figure out how to get Dr. T'Soni out of whatever Prothean cage she had activated. Alenko suggested trying to use the mining laser he could see on a lower level, and so they headed down to the elevator to activate it. The area was quickly cleared while Tali got the laser working, blasing a massive hole into the ground and causing the room to shake.

Carrine had a very uneasy feeling about this, like she was being watched. She noticed Kaidan giving her a questioning look while Tali activated the elevator, and she sighed. "Is it just me or does it feel like someone's keeping track of us?"

He nodded. "It does. And that's never a good thing."

The elevator came to a stop behind Liara, and Carrine sent Tali to deactivate it while she and Kaidan held guard in case any more geth showed up.

"How-how did you get in here?" the asari said, startled at how soon they had gotten to her. "I didn't think there was any way past the barrier.

"Don't worry about that," Carrine said as Liara touched down to the ground. "There's a battlemaster around here somewhere, and I don't really feel like fighting a krogan right now. Let's move out, we can question each other's motives back on the Normandy. If it helps, we used the mining laser."

The ruins shook, causing Liara to pitch forward a bit, but Kaidan caught her before she hit the ground. "Ah, thank you. That must have triggered a seismic event." She straightened herself up once the tremors ceased, and brushed the little bit of dust off her clothes. "We need to get out of here, quickly."

'Didn't I just say that?' Carrine thought, signaling for Tali and Kaidan to keep Liara in the middle as she stood in front, activating the elevator panel. She knew the three of them were chattering behind her, but she paid them no mind. She was still worried about the battlemaster that was somewhere in the ruins, and if she knew krogan, he wouldn't pass up the chance to fight her. She radioed Joker as the elevator was moving. "Joker, get the Normandy up and going, and lock in on my signal, on the double!"

"Aye, aye, Commander! ETA eight minutes," he responded.

Carrine cursed. Eight minutes was too long. She pulled her assault rifle and signaled for the rest of her team to take cover Liara as the elevator slammed into a stop and they were greeted by the battlemaster she was worried about. She didn't give him time to speak, instead aiming her assault rifle at his face. "Is there a reason you're in my way?" she snarled.

"The same reason you're here," he said, pulling out his own weapon and advancing on Carrine. "The asari."

She snorted. "Yeah, how 'bout you go fuck yourself? I bet it'd be a spectacle, you two-balled beast."

The battlemaster roared, preparing himself to charge Carrine. She dropped into a crouch and prepared to do the same. She heard Kaidan screaming at her to fire, but she paid him no mind. The battlemaster charged her, and she did the same, using the momentum from the jump from her crouch to slam the butt of her assault rifle into the krogan's eye before headbutting him, sending him stumbling backwards. She felt biotics shoot past her and he was lifted into the air; she unloaded a full clip into him before the body crashed onto the elevator. Tali had taken care of the geth.

The barrier shimmered then collapsed, and the rest of the ruins followed suit. "Come on!" she yelled at her team. "Move, move, move!"

Tali led the group, with Liara behind her, and Kaidan and Carrine bringing up the rear. Carrine was ignoring the blood dripping down her face where she had headbutted the battlemaster, and realized she likely had a concussion from it because of her swimming vision. She stumbled and clutched the railing for support.

She flinched as someone slung her arm over a shoulder, and another supported her around her waist. "Dammit, Commander, I told you you should have fired at him," Kaidan gritted out through his teeth. "C'mon, I can support you."

Slightly in shock, Carrine allowed him to lead her out of the cavern, exiting just as the Normandy touched down.

- - - - -
The mission debriefing was set for a half hour after the ground team boarded. Kaidan forced Carrine to go straight to Dr. Chakwas, who was absolutely livid that she headbutted a krogan without even a helmet on.

"What were you thinking!?" she sighed, completely exasperated and stitching the last bit of the gash on Carrine's skull up. "Were you thinking!? That could have killed you, Commander! I'll take in a wounded soldier any day, but most of you don't go in charging a krogan battlemaster like you yourself are a krogan."

Carrine smiled at the older doctor. "It was so much fun though! The swimming vision part and the bleeding, not so much, but you should've seen him! He couldn't believe a human was willing to face him head on!"

Dr. Chakwas sighed. "You, Commander, are a very unique case. I have a feeling I won't be bored on this ship." She sighed, stepping away to clean her hands. "Off you go, just don't go headbutting Wrex every chance you get."

Carrine hopped down from the med bay bed, and she and Kaidan headed down to the comm room for the debriefing. She coughed. "Uh...thanks for that. Y'know. For the helping me. And yeah."

He smiled. "Never a problem, ma'am. Although it would be best for all of us if you didn't do that on a regular basis."

She snorted. "Me? Getting into trouble all the time? You must have me confused with a different Shepard."

"Uh, I doubt that, ma'am. A lot."

They entered the room to see everyone in the seat they were in previously, with Liara in between Garrus and Wrex, who came up to Carrine and clapped her on the shoulder. "Shepard, you would make a fine krogan!" he bellowed.

She grinned, and clapped him on the forearm. "Damn straight, Wrex." He laughed, and Carrine and Kaidan continued to their seats.

"Too close, Commander," Joker bit over the intercom. "Ten more seconds and we would've been swimming in molten sulfur. The Normandy isn't equipped to land in exploding volcanoes, they tend to fry our sensors and melt our hull. Just for future reference," he said, adding an extra dose of sarcasm in the last bit.

Liara looked appalled. "We almost died out there and your pilot is making jokes?"

Carrine smiled. "Ah, that's just Joker being Joker. He did save us, give him a break."

A discussion began about Liara's knowledge of the Protheans, or rather, the lack thereof, as she had found nearly everything of theirs to have been wiped off the timeline. When the beacon was mentioned, Liara was startled, and a brief look of jealousy crossed her expression.

"Commander," she said, rising out of her seat, "could you make any sense of the beacon's message?"

Carrine snorted. "Aside from the screaming and the smell of burning flesh? No, not really," she said darkly. "I've seen more than enough of that for one lifetime, wish this wasn't in my brain too." She snapped her jaw shut, realizing she said a little more than she'd intended to, and avoided the questioning glances from the majority of her team.

"I...I could join my consciousness to yours, Commander, with your permission," Liara continued, "and maybe I could decipher some of the vision."

Carrine swallowed, uncertain. "This won't cause any damage, correct?"

The asari nodded. "The worst you will feel is a little fatigue and perhaps a light headache."

"Alright. Let's get this over with." Carrine fell into a parade rest in the center of the floor as Liara approached her.

"Commander," she said, "relax, and embrace eternity!"

The vision danced in front of her eyes again, a little clearer and a little more coherent than the last time. In her opinion, this made it worse; she could feel the terror coming from the victims, the screams stood out more...everything stood out more. After a few moments, she felt the connection break and she saw Liara stumble back a bit. Carrine's legs were braced, and she refused to let herself show any more weakness.

"That was...incredible," Liara said, breathless. "All this time, all my research, and I - I never dreamed..." She shook her head. "I am sorry, the images were so vivid, I never imagined the experience would be so intense. You are remarkably strong-willed, Commander. What you have been through, what you have seen, would have destroyed a lesser mind." Carrine sensed Kaidan and Ashley tense behind her.

"So, get to it, what did you find?" Ashley demanded.

"The beacon you encountered on Eden Prime must have been badly damaged," Liara answered. "Large parts of the vision are missing. The data transferred into the commander's mind is...incomplete. You were right about the Reapers."

The team discussed where they should go from there before Liara mentioned she felt faint, and Kaidan offered to take her to see Dr. Chakwas. She dismissed her crew, and turned to deal with the Council.