Perspective 2

Something in Ashley rebelled against the cold modern styles which decorated so many homes and apartments in cities on the well-off planets. She had spent the first few years of her life in a cramped colonial housing unit on Sirona, until her father was reassigned to a base on one of Jupiter's moons. Then it had been a cramped eleventh floor condominium in Toronto. Then she had been thrust out into the colony world in the Hades Gamma cluster. After that she had joined the Alliance and somewhere along the line, lost count of everywhere she'd been.

But no matter where she was, Home was always a place full of and noise and the smells of cooking food. The tables were clean but not polished, the beds rumpled, and there was always a small amount of dust in the corners of the room. Home was by no means a dirty place, but it was meant to be lived in. But this sterile silent apartment the Alliance had given her was something different. With its perfectly folded sheets, brushed spotless counters, and bland artwork, this apartment was nothing more than a place to wait, and she did not have to wait long. Today was exactly one week from John's trial, and she felt on edge. She had woken up that morning and realized that suddenly the trial wasn't a dark cloud looming on a distant horizon anymore, but an immediate issue. She would be asked to testify, she knew. There was no way they wouldn't force the two of them into the same room. She had not visited him at all while he was in lockdown. She couldn't bring herself to witness what Cerberus had turned him into. Watching the videos was hard enough, and something in her blanched at the thought of seeing it in person.

Ashley was halfway through her breakfast when Admiral Anderson came to call. She was shocked; sometime in the near future, she had expected an alliance rep of some sort to brief her, but she hadn't expected Shepard's mentor. The man who had first welcomed her aboard the Normandy. The former captain-turned-councilor member looked haggard and grim as he maintained a stiff, official air. He was a bulky man, larger than Shepard. And in his youth he must have been an imposing figure when seen at the wrong end of a weapon. But now? Age had taken its toll. He was still strong, but muscle had been replaced and worn down by the citadel's excellent food. His years as Council member had not been kind to him.

"Commander Williams." He greeted.

Ashley reflexively drew herself into a salute. "Sir."

"Hmmm…" the captain hesitated a moment as if unpleasantly surprised at the action, then he returned it. "May I come in."

"Of course, sir." Ashley moved aside and allowed him to enter.

The man took a few steps inside and looked around the spacious living area. As if trying to ward off an unpleasant topic, he said, "This is a nice place, Williams."

"The Alliance looks after its own, sir."

"That it does." Anderson's frown deepened. "Most of us, anyway."

"Sir." Ashley said in a neutral tone.

He turned. "Williams, something has happened, and I need to ask you a very important question."

"Is this related to the Skip- to Shepard's trial, sir?" Ashley felt panic grip her as she pondered what he could have meant. Had the Alliance found out about her surreptitious relationship with Shepard? Fraternization was against regulations, after all. Was she in trouble? Had Shepard said something?

"Williams, this morning a few scouting ships in the Asgard system stopped reporting in." Anderson softly informed her. He reached out with one enormous hand and shut the door to her apartment.

Now it was Ashley's turn to frown. Were they shipping her out again? A week before Shepard's trial? Her own experiences would be invaluable to determining his loyalties. How could they hold it without her in attendance?

Anderson let out a heavy breath. "…Williams, the council always believed Shepard had been tricked by Saren. They don't believe in the Reapers. I've questioned it myself on many occasions. I myself didn't want to believe it, but…" As he activated his omnitool, Ashley felt ice slither down her spine. The air seemed to freeze in her lungs and a great weight seemed to press in on her, causing her to slump, stunned.

NO! She thought, a deep terror gripping her soul. All her fears and worries about the trial vanished, to be replaced by something far worse. Please god no! Not them! Let them have been a myth! Let Shepard have been duped! John was tricked! John was tricked! John was tricked! I was tricked! They don't exist!

"You believe, then?" he asked carefully, studying her reaction. He held out his omnitool. "This was the last image we received from the scouting vessels."

They don't exist! This can't be happening! This isn't happening! This isn't happening! This isn't happening! This isn't happening! This isn't happening! This isn't happening! This isn't happening! This isn't happening! This isn't happening! This isn't… can't… isn't….

But there was no denying the picture Anderson was holding out in front of her. The alien curves, the dark coloring, those horrible appendages dangling behind the armoured exoskeleton like some demonic cyclopean crustacean. The image showed thousands of the enormous monsters, flowing from the black Abyss beyond the galaxy's rim, bearing down on the helpless ships.

They had arrived. The shock hit her with all the weight of an angry Krogan, and her knees went weak. She reached out a hand and pressed it against the wall to steady herself. She felt on the verge of vomiting, and fought to keep herself under control.

Ashley could not honestly justify why she had put aside the Reaper threat. How she had somehow allowed the dull, humdrum of everyday life to take precedence over what she knew, and what she had seen.

Perhaps she had never truly believed in the first place. Perhaps she had faith that God would not allow something like them to exist. Perhaps it had ended with Shepard. Somehow in her mind, he was connected to the reapers, and they to him. The day he had died, Ashley had been forced to close that chapter of her life. Perhaps the Reaper threat had been left there with her memories of him. They were connected, and remembering him, as much joy as that had brought her, meant remembering them as well. Perhaps she hadn't wanted that.

Perhaps it was all of the above, and a little more.

"I've already sent word to Admiral Hackett." Anderson's voice was grim as he closed the image. "We're keeping things under wraps until we've confirmed it beyond any doubt. An emergency war tribunal is being assembled across the bay. You're going to be there. You fought along with Shepard and the Turian. You three faced Saren and Sovereign. Right now, according to the tribunal, you're our most reliable source of intel."

Ashley stared, still trying to overcome her feelings. She grimaced and pulled herself together. "Yes sir."

"I have a skycar parked at the apartment entrance. Be there in ten minutes." Anderson ordered. "Full kit. Make yourself presentable!"

"Yes sir."

"And… Williams?" he laid a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Stay calm. This can be won."

"Do you honestly believe that, sir?" she asked quietly, trying not to tremble.

Anderson chewed his lip thoughtfully. "I believe that giving up before we start is not going to help."


"We've looked over John Shepard's reports, Commander Williams." The female admiral said, leaning over her enormous desk to look down at Ashley. "He appears to feel that these are some sort of… doomsday machines. Would you care to elaborate?"

"I… They are, Admiral." Ashley confirmed, feeling very small. The room was designed like a cathedral, with the Tribunal's enormous communal desk at the far end in front of a set of enormous bay windows. The desk formed a semi-circle around a small central area where anyone being interrogated was to stand. Smaller desks and monitoring stations lined both side walls, manned by dozens of clerks, all of whom seemed to be in constant motion. "The Skipper felt that-"

"I'm sorry, the Skipper?" an admiral on her left interrupted.

"Commander Shepard, I mean…" Ashley blurted out awkwardly.

"His rank had been revoked." The naval officer admonished, his voice severe. "He was dishonorably discharged and held for ques-"

"It doesn't matter." The female cut him off. "Commander Williams, tell us about the Reapers. As much as you know. Your tactical analysis."

"Well… Sovereign was one of them, and… look we are in a lot of trouble right now."

"What can you tell us about their construction? What are they made of?"

"I… don't really know." Ashley admitted.

"Well…" the woman tried again. "What are their tactics? How do they make war?"

"I…don't know that either. I'm sorry, Ma'am. Sovereign mostly operated through Saren and the Geth. I know how the Geth fight." Ashley paused a moment. "But I'm not sure it is war to them. More like extermination."

The councilmembers exchanged glances.

"Williams," the woman said, putting her hands together thoughtfully, "You were stationed on Horizon. According to Commander Shepard's reports-"

"Unreliable reports." One of the other admirals interrupted.

A few nods of agreement passed through the crowd, but the woman persisted. "According to his reports, the race known as the Collectors are the only species we have ever encountered who were directly under Reaper control."

"He also claims they were former Protheans!" the argumentative one laughed. "He is not a reliable source."

Despite herself, Ashley felt a small amount of loyalty spark for her former lover. She said, "I Don't know about the Protheans, but he could well be right about the Collectors being under control of the Reapers."

"There. See?" the female admiral leaned forward eagerly. "And how did they fight? How did they operate."

"I… don't really know, Ma'am." Ashley was once again forced to admit, red-faced. "I was frozen by a swarm of their bugs before I had a chance to engage the enemy in open combat."

"Thank you, Commander. You've been very helpful." The admiral sat back, looking disappointed, and Ashley felt a surge of frustration. She hated not being able to give the Admirals any useful intelligence. Ashley had no idea how bad it would get, except that Sovereign by itself had destroyed eight alliance warships. The Alliance was going into the fight completely blind.

Despite her personal feelings about him, she hoped John would be able to give them some answers. Maybe instead of working with Cerberus, he could finally turn his attention towards savinglives.

"Dismissed, Commander Williams." Came the harsh order. Feeling hollow, she saluted and left without another word.


I'm debating whether or not to include Shepard's POV. I'm not sure I want this to turn into a full novelization, and if I include his perspective, it might. But by the same token, being able to see and hear things through his eyes would add a hell of a lot more to their conflict (for lack of a better word), and the bigger picture of the war. I'm just not keen on writing out all those missions…. I have enough action scenes incoming just from Fallout by itself.

I could use your guys' thoughts on this. It's partly why I cut the chapter so short.