Talk with Traynor and James and Noveria Fighter Base:
After a short nap I felt refreshed, and I saw that both Traynor and James had sent me an e-mail to meet up with me.
I invited Traynor up for our chess match, however she was very fascinated with my shower. I told her she can use it, seeing she seems to like it that much. She expressed how good the showering felt and mentioned someone she might hope to date. I wished her good luck and let her know to just tell me if she needs anything (poor Traynor, and Hannah - totally oblivious to it! That was mean from me, but I had to try it out
).
Traynor is very good, she beat me in our chess match. After a nice relaxing time and a joke involving me and a krogan we settled for a rematch, then Traynor left.
I let James know I have a bit of time if he wanted to talk, and he came up. It went a bit more serious than with Traynor. He asked me about the N7 program, if it had been easy for me to accept. I was eager to join back then, be the best soldier I could, so yes, it was. He revealed that someone forwarded an N7 commendation, but he's hesitant, telling me he's not sure if he wanted that, or if he was even ready to lead again. Our conversation shifted back to his mission on Fehl Prime, and I asked him again what had happened. He was willing to tell me about it now. What he experienced there sounded bad. I know all too well what it's like to loose people, it can either break you or make you into what you are today. I don't think it broke James yet, but it's clear he is still very troubled and haunted by what happened, his voice missing the usual confident tone.
A part of me wanted to toughen him up, tell him that every soldier is expendable and that as a leader, you have to be ready to send your squad to their deaths, but... I didn't have the heart. It might be too late for me, but not for him. He is a good and kind man, and I'd rather he would not loose that quality. You can be a great leader without being like I am... ready to sacrifice anything to get something done, no matter what.
James cares for people a great deal, I saw it many times, and I'm sure he can make the right calls for himself if he had the confidence. He just has to come to terms with the fact that something like Fehl Prime can happen anytime.
Maybe I see a younger, more innocent me in him... So I just tried to comfort him as best as I could, saying he can't blame himself for being put into that situation on Fehl Prime. And that if he was promoted, something must've gone right. I told him that the right choice is often not the easy one, and that every N7 has sacrificed a piece of themselves, or their soldiers. It's tough, but ultimately rewarding, so I encouraged James to go for it.
I hope our conversation helped him, he shows a lot of potential and I can see him as a good leader. He just has to find the courage to do it again.
And then the James I knew came back out again, commenting about how things around here were a little too soft for him. I teased him that the bed is a lot harder than it looks. I don't know if he took that serious, but he seemed to honestly ask me if I'm flirting with him.
Haha, all in good fun, right, Vega? I folded my arms and he backed down. The game is still on.
Afterwards we headed for Noveria, and it's still as cold as back then when we dealt with the Rachni queen. Seems like ages ago.
Hackett has requested our help with a Cerberus fighter base there. James, Javik and I went in to disable the defenses so Hackett could seize the base. We were in and out quick, got rid of the Cerberus troops there, and gained some of their fighters for our war effort.
James and Cortez discussed the Mako and the Hammerhead today. I love that one
Too bad the first line is buggy and doesn't play (need to check if it was the same in my other playthroughs).
Oh, and Cap, I made a trial run on the Fighter Base mission with the Phaeston, but due to the weight the cooldowns of my powers were not at 200% . It was okay though and I will use it a bit more when I replay missions for James's dialogue to see if it really bothers me that the cooldown is a bit slower than usual 