[For my monthly musing, I decided to write a little story based on the Mass Effect franchise. It's something I cooked up over the past couple of days. In my alternate reality, I see myself as a Commander Shepard fighting to make the right decisions. Hopefully you guys like it.]

I woke up sore today. That battle on Hawking Eta really took a toll on my body. At least I got the mission done and my comrades out of there alive. I promised myself that I wouldn't lose anymore of my comrades after that battle on Akuzer. I won't. I refuse go through what I went through on that planet again. The guilt and the loneliness almost consumed me. I thought I had made the right call that day. If I did, I wouldn't have been the only survivor rescued off of that planet.

I finally have a chance to make things right. I've been promoted to Commander of this ship and was granted Spectre status by the council. I've got a well-trained crew at my side, ready to fight the good fight. But most importantly, she's on my ship. I've had my eyes on her the second I saw her handle herself against the Krogans on Therum. Marissa was a beauty to watch. Her exceptional adept powers make her all the more attractive. Now that she's on my ship, I want her even more than I could ever imagine.



"Commander, we've got an incoming transmission from Hades Gamma." said Ace from the intercom. I instantly told him to patch it through without giving it much thought.

"Hello? Is anyone there?" said a distressed voice from the transmission. I told the voice my name and asked what had been the matter. "The Geth has begun to invade our colony, but our soldiers aren't enough to hold them back. Their tearing through our defenses and it won't be long until they've wiped us out. We need some help." said the voice, sounding even more distressed. Before responding back, I took a second to weigh my options. I could have easily told the distressed voice that I had bigger problems to worry about than some space colony I had no interest in. I could have also decided to send another, smaller fleet to go check on the colony. However, I remembered my time back on Akuzer, how I was a Sole Survivor. I couldn't let anyone else go through what I went through. I had to help this colony. I requested that the coordinates to their colony be sent and I told the distressed voice not worry, we'd be there as soon as possible.

Ace came over the intercom again and recommended I checked up on the rest of the team to make sure they've gotten themselves prepared before we arrived at the colony.



I decided to go check on Ethan first. Ethan's a natural-born Infiltrator. I've heard stories of how he picked up his first sniper rifle at the age of three and obtained his first kill when he was only 9 years old. His father was known as the Piercing Bullet, due to his uncanny ability to line up a sniper shot on the weakest part of someone's helmet and have it pierce straight through until you were able to see right through the victims skull. However, Ethan's known as The Flash because of his quick, yet accurate shots on groups of enemies. Trust me, I've seen him take out a group of 8 Geth within a blink of the eye. His nickname's well deserved.

The scent of tobacco grasped my lungs as I approached his room. Laying on his bed staring at the ceiling, Ethan took a breath in, then as he exhaled, he watched the smoke flow out from his mouth and into the air. As I walked into his room, he let out a very smooth, "Hey boss." I checked in on him and then quickly briefed him on our mission. After getting caught up, he then proceeded to ask me something. "Do you ever think I'll have a home to go to one day?" With his colony having been overrun by the Krogan days before he was born, and due the high bounty on his father's head from his days as a bounty hunter, Ethan was always moving from place to place and never really had a home.

Having known Ethan for a few years now, I knew in the back of my mind what I should say. But I had to make sure I said the right thing or else he'd be in a bad mood, and I couldn't have him in a bad mood, especially not before a mission. It would ruin his performance and could cause harm to the mission. To be on the safe side, I studied my options. I could tell him that I'll always have a place he could call home right here on the ship, but I don't think he'd take too well to that idea. He also could have just been joking around and as a joke back, I could tell him to grow a shell and call that place your home. But if he wasn't joking, he'd probably be offended. So I decided to stick with what he told me when I first met him, "Your home is wherever your sniper rifle is, Ethan. When you have that sniper in your hand, that's when you feel the safest and that's when you feel closest to your dad." "Heh, I'm surprised you still remember I told you that Boss. I was sure you'd forgotten." said Ethan. I told him, "I never forget things that are important to my comrades, let alone my friends. Now get yourself ready for battle, we'll be at the colony soon." A smirk ran across his face as I headed toward the door.



I had decided that Jinx was going to be my next stop. However, heading toward his room, I noticed Marissa in the Observatory, staring out in to space. The reflection of her beautiful face on the glass had caste a spell on me, causing me to forget about Jinx. As I made my way toward her, I could smell the sweet aroma from her perfume. Her lips began to move and she said, "Hello Commander. You're looking a lot better today. That battle on Hawking Eta yesterday was tough, but at least we got through it in one piece." The melody of her voice almost put me in a state of trance. I had to say something, but I couldn't just say anything. I'm in love with this woman and I couldn't say anything that might jeopardize my chances with her. I could tell her how beautiful she looked even after that big battle on Hawking Eta, but that might be going too fast. I didn't want to rush this. I wanted to build a foundation for what our relationship could stand upon in the future. I could always have told her how exceptional she was in battle and that she was a valuable asset to our survival, but that's what any commander would say to a member of their team. I needed to say something that would nudge the idea of me being interested in her, but not go too far. I decided to go with, "You look good yourself. It's always nice to see you smile even after a battle like that takes place. It gives me something to look forward to after every mission." She responded with, "That's sweet of you Commander. It also helps that every time I see your face I know that everything will be alright. That's what keeps me smiling." It sounded like she was flirting with me. I almost confessed my love to her right then and there, but I couldn't. I'd be rushing into it, which is what I didn't want to do.

I took a glance outside of the Observatory and noticed that we were almost at the Colony and I still haven't checked in on Jinx. As much as I didn't want to, I had to end our chat and go check on Jinx. I had to make sure I ended our chat on the right foot, so that we could easily pick up where we left off when I got back. If I were to reply with a simple yet straight-forward "I should go", that would probably give her the impression that I had better things to do and that I had no problem brushing her aside. I decided to tell her, "I'm sorry to have to cut this short, but I've got to go make sure everyone's ready for the mission. I'd love to see another smile from you when I get back, then we can pick this up where we left off." She replied with, "I'll always have a smile for you Commander. I'll be waiting for your return." Damn I love this woman.



Jinx is one of the best engineers I know. He can fix any machine and build any defense drone to help aid us in battle. He works with what ever he has at his disposal and makes the best of it. That's a true engineer. He's a very resourceful type of engineer. You don't see too many of those type of engineers around. I guess when you come from a poor upbringing, you have to learn to rely on what you have.

He's a hero back on his home planet. He helped stave off numerous attacks from a rivaling colony by using of old military weapons and modifying them into turrets in which he built around his camp. He also repaired old security drones to keep watch over his camp while he's out helping me. He worries about the people of his camp day in and day out. I want to get him back home as soon as possible, but we all, even himself, know that he's needed on this ship.

I walked by Jinx's room and noticed that he wasn't in there. I figured he was in the Lab cooking up some new inventions, so I made my way over there.

I was greeted with, "Ah, Commander Savage. How are you doing today?" from Jinx when I entered the lab. "I'm good Jinx. What's that you're working on?" I replied. With his usual jittery movements, Jinx stopped his work to tell me, "This here is a mini robot that can shoot darts that will stun enemies just long enough to get the drop on them. I've been testing him out on my little test subjects and so far he's been a success, but he still needs a lot of work. Would you like me to demonstrate what he can do so far? It will leave you in awe." As much as I would have wanted to see Jinx's new project, I knew that I couldn't waste anymore time. We had to prepare ourselves. I couldn't flat out just tell him no because he might take offense. So I responded with, "I'll have to check it out later Jinx. Right now we have a mission that needs to be carried out." "Absolutely Commander. Missions take top priority. So what exactly is this mission Commander?" asked Jinx. "I received a transmission from a colony on Hades Gamma saying that they were under attack by the Geth and needed back up. We're going in to help them." I replied. "Hades Gamma? Last I heard, the last remaining colony there was wiped out years ago." Said Jinx suspiciously. He continued, "Are you sure you received a transmission from there? Because it's not very likely to ever receive transmissions from colonies in Hades Gamma anymore." I told him that I was positive and that we still needed to go check out what was going on. "Alright Commander. We just need to take caution while we're down there. You never know what could happen." said Jinx. Part of me wanted to snap at Jinx for second judging me on what I heard in the transmission and for telling me how I should proceed with the mission. I know what I heard, and I know how to take care of my team. But, Jinx had every right to be concerned. This was all very suspicious. I told him, "I appreciate your concern Jinx, I'll make sure we proceed to Hades Gamma with caution. Now go prepare yourself for battle, we'll be landing soon."

"Commander we are now approaching Hades Gamma. I hope you're just about ready sir." said Ace over the intercom. I told him that we were going to be ready by the time we arrived and to make sure to approach the colony with caution. Right before Ace ended the intercom, he let out an "Aye aye Commander."

I made my way back to my quarters to go suit up. As I was preparing myself, all I could think of was what if this mission goes bad. From what Jinx was telling me, it sounded like it could be a trap. But I know what I heard. It was a distressed voice in need of my help. I had to go figure out what was going on. If there was truly a colony down there, I just couldn't leave it to be wiped out. But if it was a trap, I also couldn't leave who ever was there to wait and spring a trap on another unsuspecting ship. The only way I could figure out anything was by going down there to see for myself.

As long as I took the time to make the right decisions, everything would be okay. Nothing should go wrong. Right?