Ashley Williams marched through the military complex and did not intend on stopping until she reached her destination. If anyone got in her way today, there would be hell to pay. Normally she would be a notch less murderous, but after what just happened, she didn't feel like toning it down. Luckily, no one had stopped her march to the target practice room. Ashley quickly situated herself in front of a station and began firing away.

"Stupid." One shot to the head.

"Stuck up." Another to the heart.

"Assholes!" A shot that hit its much lower mark.

"Just because I'm..." When she thought about the 'incident' as she had dubbed it, she unloaded her entire clip on what was left of the hologram.

Just as she finished annihilating the last of the holograms, she heard footsteps behind her. Caught by surprise, she turned around still holding the pistol in front of her.

"Whoa! At ease soldier!" The turian at the end of the barrel lifted up both hands in surrender.

"Sorry sir!" Ashley lowered her weapon and saluted to the higher ranked soldier. Even if he wasn't Alliance or human, she had to respect authority.

"It's alright. Just put that pistol on safety if you're going to point that at me again. Better yet, don't point that at me again."

"Yes sir." Ashley reloaded her clip and turned around to resume venting out her anger. She aimed at the hologram, but she felt the turian watching her. Without looking back, she took a shot. "Excuse me sir, but do you need something?"

The turian unaffected by her tone responded, "No, not really it's just your marksmanship is incredible compared to what I've been seeing lately."

Ashley decided she wasn't going to be able to concentrate if the turian kept talking to her and put away her supplies, "and what exactly have you been seeing, sir?

"It's fine, call me Nihlus. Some Corporals were holding a demonstration for me, but they practically missed the level 10 holograms. You on the other hand hit all of them in very disturbing vital areas."

She finished putting away her supplies and sat down on the bench. "Private Ashley Williams. What you saw out there was a poor excuse group of soldiers."

Nihlus joined her on the bench. "With your marksmanship, I would have assumed that you had a higher rank than those poor excuse group of soldiers. Why are you still a private?"

Ashley scoffed, "They wouldn't know what talent was even if it smacked them right in the face."

Nihlus nodded. "Yes, I've heard they were stupid stuck up assholes."

Ashley did a double take on the turian. "You heard that…."

"Affirmative. Care to share?"

She barely knew this turian, but maybe that's what made it easier. She didn't trust him, but he was one of the few to compliment her talents even if he was an alien.

"Do you know who I am?"

"Private Ashley Williams? I'm sure you just introduced yourself."

"I'm sure you remember the First Contact War. Do you know what happened on Shanxi?"

"Yes, the humans surrendered to the turian fleets."

"The General in charge thought that their best chance was to surrender."Ashley shook her head. "After that, the war ended and he was the only human to surrender to… aliens. He was a disgrace to the alliance. He was my grandfather."

Nihlus rested his chin on his hand. "I see, so the Alliance does not wish to promote you because of your predecessors."

"You got it. My military career was over before it even began." Ashley sighed in resignation.

Nihlus turned towards Ashley. "You remind me of me."

Ashley turned to look at him. "You? Spectre Nihlus?"

"We're actually very similar. The turian military isn't so different from the Alliance. We have to follow orders even if they don't make sense. I was what they called a 'bad turian'. I didn't follow orders even if it meant saving my entire platoon. For a time, my military career was at a standstill much like yours."

"How did you go from failing military career to spectre?"

"I found someone to believe in me."

"Sorry sir but I'm calling out bullshit."

Nihlus chuckled. "I'm sure you've heard of the Spectre Saren. He said he saw some talent in me and took me under his wing. Trained me up to be a spectre."

Ashley slowly nodded in understanding. "So what you're saying is to find my own Saren?"

"Something like that. So what do you say?"

"Excuse me sir?"

"You're not a bad shot and I could use someone like you. No rules no authority. I could even train you to be a spectre candidate too. What do you say?"

"As much as I appreciate the offer, I think I'll stand by the Alliance. My father and my father's father were Alliance and I think I should keep the tradition alive even if I'm going nowhere. I'm already a lot further than I thought I would ever be. I think I'll see where this takes me." Ashley faced towards him and gave him a small smile. "Thank you, Nihlus."

Nihlus stared at her for a few minutes before turning away. "Didn't expect to get shot down so quickly. Well, the offer is always on the table if you change your mind. Moving on though, you never finished your story about the stupid stuck up assholes."

Ashley groaned in frustration. "It's petty really not really worth getting mad about but it just gets to me."

"If it gets to you this much it must mean something then."

"It's just some stupid asshole from the academy who graduated the same time as me. Even though my rap sheet looks better than his, he got promoted twice already. Look at me. I'm still stuck a private." Ashley sighed again.

Nihlus jumped off from the bench and turned towards Ashley. "Don't worry I got this covered."

She eyed him suspiciously."What do you mean I got this?"

Nihlus gave her an equivalent of a smile and said, "Don't worry about it. Let's just call it a favor from a fellow soldier."

"I don't know how much weight you have in the Alliance but it'll be a miracle if you could actually do something about it."

Nihlus nodded. "I have enough."

"I appreciate it but I want to be promoted on my own merits. Not because a spectre threatened high ranking officials to shoot off their heads."

"That's better than my idea. Thanks."

Ashley gave him a look and he began to chuckle. "Alright, no shooting. But at least let me put some pressure on them. With your military career, you should have been promoted a long time ago."

Ashley looked him in the eye. "Thanks Nihlus. Really. But why go through all of this for someone you've just met?"

Nihlus paced back and forth. "Maybe because you're just like me. Maybe because you deserve it." He turned towards her. "Or maybe I believe you'll change this galaxy somehow."

Ashley scoffed. "Me? Change the galaxy? I doubt it."

"Don't sell yourself short. That day will come I'm sure. My intuition is never wrong."

Nihlus extended his hand. "It was nice meeting you Williams and don't forget the offer is always there"

Ashley shook his hand."I'll think about it. If you don't mind me asking, what next big adventure does this spectre have planned?"

"That's usually classified but I'll give you a hint. It has something to do with stupid stuck up assholes getting their heads out of their posterior."

Ashley suppressed her laughter and saluted him. "Ah yes. The notorious assholes. Be careful out there sir. And thank you. I appreciate everything you're doing for me."

Nihlus saluted back. "It's no problem really. Now, if you'll excuse me I've got some business to take care of. I hope you find your Saren."

"Yeah I hope so too."