Off Duty

My squad piles into the shuttle at the end of a tough mission. A turian squad got pinned down by Reaper forces after their mission went horribly wrong. My team and I saved as many as we could.

After a quick debrief with my superiors, I, Commander Shepard, am officially off duty.

Diplomacy and De-stress

First things first: we’ve got some important diplomatic visitors aboard the Normandy as we try to coordinate war efforts between the Alliance and the Turian Empire. I talk with each of them, and hear their reactions to what happened on our latest mission.

While they’re important to the war effort, these kinds of talks always stress me out a little — a galactic war will do that. I head up the Normandy’s cockpit to see Joker. He tosses off a sarcastic remark about the turians I saved on my last mission, which at least lets me know that somebody else understands what I’m going through.

As I’m leaving, the comm specialist tells me I’ve got new messages. I check my mail and read a thank-you from some civilians we rescued. I also get a note from someone who wants me to come visit them on the Citadel, as well as something from James saying he’d like to talk in private. I file that away for later, then chat with the comm specialist, a technical expert who doesn’t have much experience serving on the front lines. After making sure she’s doing all right, I’m ready to see what’s happening on the rest of my ship.

Crew and Quartermaster

I head to the lower decks to check in with the crew. I talk with Garrus, who’s understandably upset about the turian soldiers who didn’t make it on that last mission. I then check on Liara, and find her chatting with Joker over the intercom. At least I think they’re chatting — she seems pretty frazzled, but that happens to most people after they talk with Joker. After getting him to lay off her, I head out.

I stop by the quartermaster and my work bench. I really liked how my assault rifle handled on the last mission, but my shotgun felt weak. I buy a new weapon mod that should give it more stopping power, along with another upgrade mod that should improve its penetration next time I’m up against something with heavy armor. I tinker a bit more on some pistols — I don’t use them, but Liara does — and buy a few cheaper things from the store. I make a note to buy a few expensive things next time I’m on the Citadel — it’s cheaper to buy direct when I’ve got the time. Then I tune up my armor a bit; I’ve been getting up close and personal on recent missions, so I add some armor pieces that’ll help in close combat.

Home Sweet Home

Finally, I head up to my cabin, turn on some music, and check on my fish. James wanted to talk, so I invite him up, and we shoot the breeze about something he understandably didn’t want to discuss in public.

Where to now? I could head to the Citadel and meet that contact. I could explore a system that recently fell under Reaper control; if I’m lucky, I could evacuate more civililans from enemy territory. Honestly, though, all that will still be there after the next mission, and I’m really ready to check out that new shotgun mod.

Looks like I’m back on duty.

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