Authors Note: I apologize for the absence of action in this chapter. There will be action in the next one, I promise.
Once again, a big thank you for all those reviews and favs.
Update: I have changed the ratlings back to squats. This happened due to misunderstanding with my beta-reader. I know squats are not currently part of canon, but they were once, so I decided to include them.
Chapter 4: Guns, wounds and diplomacy.
Location: Phoenix Massing, Typhon System, Normandy SR-2
Shepard led both August and Maeteris to the crew deck, showing them the personal cabins. It was hard to tell if it was just a coincidence, but the cabins were divided into 'alien' and 'human' sections. Victoria pointed at the vacant ones and told them to choose any. Maeteris immediately moved to the 'alien' side, deliberately choosing the most distant cabin from the occupied ones. She stopped for a moment in front of the door and then touched the holographic lock, revealing the cabin behind it. Shepard followed the Farseer to the door.
"It's modest, but people say it's way better than the sleeper pods," Shepard explained, her tone slightly apologetic.
"It is sufficient," Maeteris replied plainly. She paused, as if the next words were hard for her to pronounce. "Thank you."
With that, the eldar entered the cabin and closed the door. Shepard turned to Gallardi who stood behind her.
"Are all eldar like this?" She asked August.
"I wouldn't be an expert on such things," he replied, slightly shrugging. "Usually we're too busy shooting each other to talk."
"Yet I found you two standing together," Victoria continued. "True, you weren't exactly friendly towards each other, but still."
"She helped to save many lives and defeat a powerful foe recently. Regardless of her reasons for doing it, I was content to let her leave peacefully," Gallardi said and turned to choose himself a cabin on the 'human' side.
He chose the next in the row after two occupied ones. August moved to open the door and stood still, perplexed by the holographic lock.
"I take it you don't have locks like these in the Imperium," Shepard approached him from behind.
"No, we have nothing of the kind," Gallardi replied, studying the orange display.
"Strange, I would have thought that so far in the future we would be more advanced than we are now," Victoria queried, and August heard a slight tone of suspicion in her voice.
"True. And we probably were at some time," Gallardi explained, turning to face the Commander. "The Tech Priesthood of Mars claims that many things were lost during the Age of Strife. One person even told me they had to reinvent flight at some time."
Shepard's eyes widened. "Wow, that bad?" She moved to show the Captain how to work the lock. "I'd really like to know what happened during this 'Age of Strife', but first I really want to get out of the armor and take a shower."
August repeated Victoria's actions to memorize how to open and lock the door and nodded to Shepard. "Likewise Commander."
"Also about the armor. I want you to go to the armory and ask Jacob Taylor, our Armory Officer, to give you a hardsuit," Victoria told him. "Some of our operations will take place in space or on planets with environmental hazards. Do you have zero gravity training in the Guard?"
"Most of the guardsmen don't, but I'm a storm trooper," Gallardi replied. "Our training is more rigorous."
"Excellent. Also you probably should look for a new weapon," Shepard pointed at his rifle. "I doubt we have ammunition for yours."
August smiled. "As long as you have electricity, I'll be fine."
That picked Shepard's interest almost instantly. "Wait, are you saying that this is an energy weapon like a... laser or blaster or what?"
"Judging by your reaction the las weapons are not a common sight. Yes, this is indeed a laser weapon," Gallardi informed her.
Shepard's mind started to buzz from this information. This was a handheld laser weapon. The impact such technology alone would have on the galaxy would be enormous. The long used kinetic barriers, the main protection against state of the art weaponry, could become obsolete. In addition, the biotic's talent of creating a powerful biotic barrier would mean nothing against such a weapon.
"I withdraw my remark about your technological level," Victoria told him, looking at the lasrifle with slight envy. "Can I somehow convince you to share this technology?"
Gallardi looked at her, slightly confused. "Why do you need to convince me? This technology does not belong to me, it belongs to all Humankind."
"But not the aliens", Shepard thought to herself, realizing that while Gallardi was probably a man of honor and dedication, he was also raised in a deeply xenophobic society. He would share this technology but only for humans to benefit from it. Convincing him that all the races need such advancement for them to stop the Reapers would be almost impossible.
"Commander?" August asked, bringing Victoria out of her reverie.
"Sorry, I must really need to have that shower," she told the Captain. "About the technology: I thought that you would not wish to share it with us since we aren't the Imperium of Man. Our ideals might be very different from yours."
"I'm just a guardsman. It's not my place to know what's best for Humanity," Gallardi said and shrugged. "If the System Alliance is interested in such technology, they will have it."
"I'm glad to hear it. If you can, please join us in the debriefing room. We might have something to discuss. Ask Taylor if you need directions," Victoria nodded to him and headed for her quarters. She abruptly stopped and turned to ask Gallardi.
"One more question: Your rank, Captain, is it a Navy or an Army rank?"
"If by Army you mean ground-based forces like the most of the Imperial Guard, then yes it's an Army rank," August told her. "Why?"
"Oh, then it makes us roughly equal in rank," Shepard smiled slightly. "I know we're not in the same command structure, but I'd hate the feeling of commanding someone who is supposed to be my superior."
Gallardi nodded. "I'll meet you at the debriefing, Commander."
August entered his cabin. It was neat and comfortable place, smaller tham his quarters aboard the 'Unwavering Watcher' but not cramped. It had a bunk, a deck with a chair hidden in the floor and a couple of lockers for personal possessions and armor. Gallardi had traveled in worse conditions.
Taking off his helmet and placing his rifle on the desk, August sat down on the bunk and finally relaxed slightly. His head right now was filled with doubts. Almost a year in the service of the Ordos taught him not to take things at their face value, that the service to the Emperor was not only about black and white, pure and heretical. Sometimes you walked in the shades of gray, dealt with things in a way some more zealous people would consider heretical. Like working with xenos. The important thing was that you never crossed that invisible line, beyond which lay damnation.
Nevertheless, all those things could not possibly prepare Gallardi for something like his current predicament. He was on the ship that was willingly shared with aliens. It seemed to him that if he attacked those xenos as he should, being a 'Proper-Bloody-Guardsman' most of his life, the humans on this ship will raise up to defend their alien comrades. While August knew he was not PDF rookie, he would probably take some of the aliens and the humans down before others will eventually overwhelm him. And that was troubling him. Not his death, he was always ready to lay down his life in the name of the Emperor, but what bothered him was that here in this strange and confusing world he was suddenly something bigger than just a soldier, a gear in the great machine that was Imperium of Man. He was a sole representative of a great nation. A nation that united a million worlds and existed for more than a ten millennia. If Gallardi decides to go on a righteous crusade against all aliens, he would fall eventually and then because of him these people will remember the Imperium just as a bitter place that hated non-humans.
The Imperium's hatred for xenos was justified by the suffering of the millions of souls that were vanquished by alien races, but the humans here didn't know that. They also didn't know about other things that were good about the Imperium. While it was true that the life in the Imperium was filled with war and sorrow, it was also a nation of dutiful and industrious people that struggled and persevered despite overwhelming odds. And right this moment it was a lone storm trooper who could recite the tale of the Imperium and its people to those, who never heard about the heroism and tremendous sacrifices that were required to ensure humanity's survival. Maybe they would learn something from it.
August sighed. All those thoughts only confused him further. For a moment, he wished nothing more than to be back on the front lines, where everything was simple: the enemy was before you and all you needed to do was giving the right orders and then point and shoot. Nevertheless, he knew that the Emperor did not make the Mankind strong by providing them with simple, easily overcome challenges. And while his current predicament was probably the toughest he had ever faced, he could start with some simple things and then see where the winds would take him, as the Harakoni proverb said.
One of the simple things was getting into the armory and attending to his gear. Gallardi stood up, picked up his lasgun and put on his helmet. He left his cabin, locked the door and stopped, realizing that he didn't know where the armory was. However, before he moved to a closest crewmember for assistance a synthetic voice he heard before sounded from above.
"If you are looking for directions Captain, I would be happy to assist."
"Um, yes I want to get to the ship's armory," Gallardi said, trying to locate the source of the voice.
"Use the elevator to get to the Combat Deck, then turn left to reach the Armory's door." The voice supplied helpfully.
"Um, thank you," August inclined his head. "I'm sorry but who are you?"
"I am the ship's Artificial Intelligence," The voice replied. "The crew refers to me as EDI."
Gallardi narrowed his eyes. It was not always a common knowledge but according to Magos Wasserman the Martian priesthood prohibited AI usage after the war with the Iron Men during the Dark Age of Technology.
"Is it common for Mankind to use Artificial Intelligences?" He asked EDI.
"No, current Citadel laws prohibit both development and usage of Artificial Intelligence in any form after the Geth Uprising," EDI replied. "I was created in secret to assist the ship's maintenance and to protect the Normandy against cyberwarfare attacks."
"I'm sorry, what is the Normandy?" Gallardi queried.
"Normandy is the name of this ship. She was named after the region on Earth where a significant battle took place during World War II," EDI explained.
"I see. Thank you," Gallardi replied and started to move towards the elevator.
"Logging you out, Captain." EDI told him and went silent.
August shook his head in confusion. He didn't know what to think about the AI. She, or it or whatever, mentioned something about 'cyberwarfare' attacks. Gallardi didn't know what those were, only that they have probably been dangerous enough to warrant the creation of AI. Gallardi decided to speak later with the Commander about it, and warn her about the Iron Men and how they almost destroyed the Humanity.
He entered the elevator, found the small holographic console and pressed the key labeled 'Combat Deck'. In a minute, the elevator's door opened revealing the familiar sight of the Galaxy map. August turned left and approached the door that led to the armory. Touching another holographic panel (it seemed that they were a common sight here) opened the door and revealed the room filled with workbenches, lockers and several weapon and armor peaces carefully lay down here and there.
The dark skinned soldier Gallardi saw earlier was working on something near one of the workbenches. He was already out of his armor, wearing only black and white bodyglove. The soldier turned to the sound of the opening door.
"Captain Gallardi, I take it?" He asked and approached August. "The Commander said you would be coming. I'm Jacob Taylor, Normandy's Armory Officer"
Jacob offered his hand and Gallardi shook it. "August Gallardi. The Commander said you could help with fully airtight armor."
"Of course, Captain, we keep several spare in case the current gear gets damaged," He waved his hand for August to follow him. "Though I'm surprised you aren't equipped with one. Most of the soldiers in the Alliance have either hard- or wetsuits."
"The Guard is usually reserved for ground work. The Space Marines are usually sent to deal with hazards that would kill a normal man. Their power armor is fully insulated." Gallardi explained.
"Huh, good to hear that even in the future the marines are still the elite." Jacob chuckled slightly.
"True, they are warriors unmatched," August confirmed.
"If you don't mind me asking, why didn't you join them?"
"I don't follow you, Officer Taylor," Gallardi replied, his expression puzzled.
"Please Captain, I'm implying anything," Jacob said, raising his hands. "It's just I'm a Marine and honestly, you don't look like a pushover to me. So the question is: why didn't you join the Marines."
"You say you're..." August looked at Jacob appraisingly and rubbed the back of his neck. "I think we might have a misunderstanding here."
"What do you mean?"
"Tell me Taylor, what is a Marine to you? What does the term imply?" Gallardi asked, laying his rifle on the nearby workbench and taking off his helmet.
"They are some of the toughest and best equipped soldiers in the Alliance, second only to the N Special Forces," Jacob replied, crossing his arms.
"And the 'N' Special Forces are?"
"They are the best of the best, they have the toughest training in almost every field. Commander Shepard is an N Seven special operative with the highest level of experience," Jacob explained.
"I understand now. You see, the Imperial Guard would be a similar to your Marines. They are better disciplined and equipped than average Planetary Defense Force units," August told him and pointed at himself. "Storm troopers like me would be like your N Special Forces, we're the Guard's elite. Now, the Space Marines are something else entirely."
"How so?"
"The Space Marines, or Adeptus Astartes as their official designation goes, are super soldiers genetically engineered using the template created by the Emperor at the dawn of the Imperium. They are around two and a half meters tall. Their strength, reflexes, endurance and speed are way beyond anything a normal man could ever achieve," Gallardi explained to the best of his knowledge. "They are armed with superior weapons and wear power armor that just shrugs off small arms fire. They say they know no fear and personally, I believe every word of that. I have never seen one break or retreat. They are the true Emperor's chosen, His Angels of Death."
"Man, they sound like really tough guys." Jacob said, impressed. "But you still haven't said why you haven't joined them."
August chuckled. "Ha! You don't just go to a recruiting station and say 'I want to be a Space Marine', no. You need to be born on one of their recruitment worlds, or happen to be in the same system when their ships arrive. You also need to be relatively young and in top physical condition for them to consider you as a supplicant. Then you have to pass some sort of initiation ritual and so on and so forth. Some say that only one in ten actually survives to become a Space Marine."
"I see. Thanks for the explanation," Jacob nodded and turned to armor lockers. "Let's get back to the reason you are here. Judging by your current armor you would prefer the heavier stuff."
Gallardi looked down at his trusty carapace armor. He did not relish the prospect changing it to something else, something untested. He looked at several hardsuits placed in the lockers and saw lighter variants that looked like a slightly armored bodygloves. An Idea struck him and he asked Jacob.
"Tell me, are those lighter variants are also fully insulated?"
"Yeah, not everyone can wear the heavy armor," Jacob said and looked at August. "Why do ask? You have some ideas?"
"Can you take the light armor and weld my armor pieces to it?" Gallardi asked, taking off his gauntlet and offering it to Jacob.
Jacob took the gauntlet examined it and used his omnitool to scan it.
"I think it can be done," he said as he looked through the readings. "You know, your armor actually is more advanced than ours. Different layers of ceramics, armored weave, ablative coating. I can use this to somehow improve our current armor. Are you okay with that, Captain?"
"I don't see why I wouldn't be." August said and took out his rebreather. "This will make my helmet fully insulated. We use them to breathe when making sub-orbit drops."
"I'll connect it to the suit's rebreather," Jacob said and added. "I'll warn you though, your kinetic barriers will be weaker than those of heavy armor."
"The kinetic barriers?"
Jacob looked at Gallardi. "I take you don't have those. Hell, you people must be braver than I think to fight without barriers."
He promptly explained the principles of the kinetic barriers. Gallardi considered this information.
"You say these barriers block only fast moving solid slug projectiles and shrapnel pieces. But what about energy weapons?"
Jacob looked at Captain's lasrifle. "Shepard mentioned about your laser weapon. Are they widespread in your time?"
August patted his weapon. "These ones? No, they're reserved mostly for the storm troopers. But Guardsmen have less powerful variants of lasrifles, and yes, they're the Guard's most commonly used weapons."
"That's probably the reason you didn't use the barriers," Jacob scratched his chin. "They're useless against directed energy weapons."
Gallardi shrugged. "I don't know. Solid slug weaponry like autocannons, stubbers or bolters are still used. Also, there's always a matter of shrapnel from grenades and shells. If we had those barriers, our casualties would be much lower."
"True," Jacob nodded and turned to the workbench. "You'll need to leave the armor here. It'll take some time but think I will finish it before next deployment."
August started to remove his armor piece by piece. "Good. Also I'll need some sort of recharge station for the powerpacks from my weapon."
"I'm not an expert on energy systems. Maybe we should ask Professor Solus for help." Jacob suggested.
"You have a magos on the ship?"
"Magos? I think he'd like that term. Yes the salarian Professor is part of our crew," Jacob said and seeing Gallardi's confusion added. "The amphibian alien with a broken horn."
The Captain's expression immediately became stern. "No! This is a valuable Imperial technology, it must not fall into xenos hands. Surely there's a human enginseer on this ship that can help us?"
Jacob looked at Gallardi appraisingly. "I see it really bothers you sir. Hm, let me think. Donnelly can probably help us with this too, he is the ship's energy systems engineer. Don't worry, he's human."
August nodded. "That would be better."
"Alright," Jacob nodded back and turned to look at the small console on the wall. "EDI?"
EDI's avatar popped up from the console. "Yes, Mr Taylor?"
"Tell Donnelly we need him here."
"Sending request," EDI was silent for a moment. "Engineer Donnelly informs me that he will arrive shortly."
"Good, thanks EDI" Jacob nodded and turned to his workbench.
"Logging you out, Mr. Taylor," EDI replied and blinked out.
Several minutes later, the door to the armory hissed open and a redheaded man entered. He blinked several times when he registered Gallardi and then turned to Jacob.
"EDI said you need my help, Operative Taylor," the man asked in heavy accent.
"Yes, Donnelly. I want you to meet Captain August Gallardi. He's one the new crew members," Jacob replied and turned to Gallardi, who already took off his armor and stood in his navy blue Harakoni uniform. "Captain, this is Engineer Kenneth Donnelly."
Donnelly stood at attention and saluted. "Sir."
August smiled slightly and offered his hand. "You don't need to salute me, Engineer Donnelly, I'm from a different military organization."
Donnelly stood at ease and shook the Captain's hand. "Yes sir. So, how can I help you?"
Gallardi showed him the powerpacks. "I need you to make a recharging station for these. The optimal specifications are inscribed on top; see if you can make sense of them."
Donnelly took the powerpack and narrowed his eyes trying to read the inscription.
"The words, they look like... I don't know, Latin? As for the numbers... Well, here is frequency and amperage and that's... Yeah, I can do it," Donnelly nodded. "How soon do you need it?"
"The sooner the better," Gallardi replied. "I would like to have them all fully charged before the next deployment."
"I'll get to it as soon as my shift in the reactor is over," Kenneth promised him, nodded to Jacob and turned to leave.
August nodded and turned to Jacob. "Now I believe I promised Commander Shepard that I would share was was behind my laser technology. I cannot give the whole production cycle of a weapon, I'm no tech priest. All I can is to disassemble the weapon and show you what each part does."
"That's fine. EDI will record everything and I'll make the scans, then we can give them to scientists so they can figure out the rest." Jacob said and took his omnitool.
Gallardi moved to the workbench and started to disassemble his weapon, loudly commentating on his every move. Unlike the majority of Guardsmen, who knew very little of the inner workings of their lasguns beside disassembling and cleaning, the storm troopers were trained to know how their hellguns and hotshot lasguns worked because they can find themselves behind enemy lines with closest tech priest hundreds of kilometers away, or even on another planet.
August finished explaining the last piece and put it down on the workbench. "Well, that's everything I know."
"And that's a lot better than us trying to figure it out ourselves." Jacob replied. "Sir, this weapon is far more advanced than anything we have so I hope you don't mind my next question. What's the deal with the sword?"
Gallardi took out his saber and activated it. "Sometimes enemy gets close enough."
"Wow, wow, wow," Jacob looked slightly mesmerized by the glowing blade. "I take it this isn't just a simple blade?"
"It's power weapon. It can cut through even a Space Marines' power armor," August replied, deactivating the power field and placing the blade on the workbench. "Unfortunately the method for their creation is long lost. I have no idea how it works. Only how to maintain it... Oh! That reminds me."
Gallardi reached for his belt and retrieved the plasma pistol. "This is another example of lost Imperial tech. We only know how to produce ammo canisters for them. It's a plasma pistol."
"It looks menacing. I take it's even better than the laser weapons?" Jacob asked curiously.
"It has a very limited amount of shots per magazine and requires time to charge before firing. It's prone to overheating and exploding, which risks killing or injuring the wielder," August replied as he placed the potent weapon on the table.
Jacob smiled and crossed his arms. "O-o-okay, I get the drawbacks. What are the benefits?"
"The enemy will need to have tank grade armor in order to survive," Gallardi answered and turned to Jacob. "Unfortunately, it has only three shots left and I have no spare canisters. Once again, I haven't the slightest idea of the inner workings."
"Hm, well I can still make scans of it and give scientists to try and figure it out."
Gallardi shrugged. "Maybe. You're lacking in some aspects of technology, but you're more advanced in others. Those... holographic tools and barriers you have, we have nothing like that. Maybe a fresh look will uncover the weapons' secrets."
"It's worth a shot," Jacob nodded. "Well, unless you have any other exotic weapons... Sir, I think you're wounded," He said as he looked at Gallardi's legs.
August looked down and saw a blood stain on his trousers from a gash on his thigh. "Damn it, with all this happening, I completely forgot about it."
"You'd better get that looked upon," Jacob said with concern. "You should see Dr Chakwas in the med bay. It is on the same side of the ship, one deck down."
"Yes, yes. And Dr Chakwas is?"
Jacob smiled. "Yes, she's human."
"Thank the Emperor for small mercies," Gallardi nodded and added before leaving. "I'll leave you to your work Officer Taylor. I look forwards to fighting alongside you in the future."
"Likewise Captain," Jacob replied and turned to continue scanning the disassembled lasgun.
Following the Jacobs directions, August soon found the med bay. Once he entered, he saw a gray-haired woman working behind the desk. She rotated on her chair to look at the newcomer.
"Dr Chakwas?" Gallardi asked her.
"That would be me. You must be the new addition to the crew the Commander told me about. It is good that that you..." The doctor began but stopped as soon as she caught the sight of a bloodstain on August's leg. "Oh bloody hell, if you're wounded, why didn't you come earlier? You want that wound to fester? Out of the uniform and on the couch. Now."
Gallardi was a little taken aback by the woman's commanding tone but quickly pulled himself together and moved towards the medical bed.
"Alright, but I'm warning you - I'm not a pretty sight." August told the woman in a light tone.
"Young man, I'm pushing 40 years in medical practice. I'm pretty sure I've seen enough war wounds," The doctor replied plainly, standing with her back to him preparing her instruments.
Chakwas almost finished her preparations when she heard a clanking noise behind her. At first, she thought that it was nothing important but when the sounds repeated, she turned to look at Gallardi. Her eyes started to widen.
The Captain was sitting on the medical bed in his undershirt and briefs, his uniform stacked nearby. He had a sizeable gash on his thigh, though clogged with congealed blood. However, it was not the wound that caught her attention. Nor the numerous burns and scars covering the man's body.
Gallardi's left arm was cybernetic from the elbow down. Both of his legs were also artificial starting from the knee joint. While cybernetics were already common in current medicine, they were usually covered in synthetic flesh. Seeing the man that looked partially like a machine was a little disconcerting.
"Alright, I take my words back. This is new to me," Chakwas said as she approached the bed and motioned the Captain to lie down. "What happened? You went through hell and then decided to go for another spin?"
Gallardi smiled only slightly. "Probably several spins. Service to the Emperor is not a kind mistress."
"I can see that," Chakwas replied and moved the medical scanner closer to the bed. "I'll need to do a full physical examination and run you through the decontamination several times. If you are indeed from the future or parallel dimension or whatever, God only knows what sort of bacteria and viruses you might have."
"I understand, doctor," Gallardi replied diligently.
Chakwas moved to take his uniform. "Also, we'll probably need to dispose of this."
Gallardi move to forestall her. "No, please. I have only a few things to remind me of the Imperium as it is."
Chakwas looked at him and nodded. "I see it's important to you. Very well, I'll ask Sergeant Gardner to clean it for you. He'll deal with it before we're done here."
The doctor exited the med bay and waived Gardner to approach her. "Sergeant could you please take this to the laundry, and there is a blood stain on one of the legs. Once you're done, could you please return it here?"
"Sure thing, doctor," Gardner nodded.
"Thank you," Chakwas replied and returned to the med bay. She took her medigel dispenser and approached the bed.
"I am going to clean your wound and apply a dose of medigel. It's substance we use to boost the tissue regeneration process." The doctor said as she started to clear the wound of congealed blood. Then she applied the medigel and Gallardi was surprised to see that the wound was already not bleeding.
"I have never seen a medication so efficient," he said in wonder. "Is this a... xenotech?"
"Xeno? Oh! Right, alien technology," Chakwas replied. "No, medigel is actually the Humanity's gift to the Galaxy. Technically the Citadel Council laws should outlaw it but it's too effective to be banned.
Gallardi looked thoughtful and then chuckled. "I don't know whether I should rejoice that it was Mankind who created something like this, or fuming with rage because it was willingly shared with aliens."
"You don't get along with aliens back home?" Chakwas asked him as she moved on to begin her tests.
"No we do not, and it's disturbing to see how easily you do," the Captain replied.
The doctor shrugged. "They have their share of saints and sinners. If you look closer, you'll see that Humanity is not so different from them in such a regard."
Gallardi looked thoughtful once again and nodded slightly. "I would have argued with you if your words weren't so close to the truth. Still, aliens are aliens and they will always place their species above everyone else's."
"The same can be said about us Humans, wouldn't you agree Captain?"
"True, but in the Imperium we believe that we have the divine right given to us by the Emperor to rule the Galaxy." Gallardi told her.
"Judging by our second guest's earlier attitude they believe in something similar," Chakwas smiled as she mentioned the eldar.
The man actually laughed at that. "Oh, you have no idea doctor."
Some time later when the tests were over, the doctor was looking through some sort of dataslate, reviewing her results.
"Some of the tests will take some time to process but at first glance I can say that you are fit for duty Captain." Chakwas told August as she looked up from her dataslate. "I'll prescribe you several immune-boosting injections later."
"Thank you doctor. I also have a question about the aliens. Should I be concerned about anything I might catch from them?"
"Now that is a good question. Are all soldiers of the Imperium so diligent with their health?" Chakwas asked, looking amused. "Alliance soldiers try to get away from the injections most of the time."
Gallardi smiled at the memory of him and Commissar Al'Hatab personally inspecting every soldier for passing the obligatory injections before each deployment. Sometimes it seemed the Guardsmen were more afraid of the needles than the enemies of the Imperium.
"No doctor, most of them are not," he told Chakwas. "I guess some things are universal."
"Or trans-universal in your case," the doctor chuckled. "But back to your question: You should not concern yourself with Garrus, the one with scales and mandibles. He is a turian and they have completely different chemical structure. Their diseases don't affect us and ours don't affect them. You also should not eat anything that is labeled for turians; it will have a 'dextro-protein' label."
August nodded. "And the...the salarian, is that correct?"
"I'll add an additional injection, although I'm sure you will not pick something from Mordin. He is a xenobiologist after all," Chakwas told him and made several notes in slate. "I also have two last questions. First, I detected several genetic modifications. Can you tell me what those are?"
"Standard storm trooper genetic tailoring," Gallardi explained. "Increased speed and endurance. Heightened pain threshold."
"I see. Some of them might be considered illegal in Council Space," The doctor mused. "But I think working with a Spectre will solve any problems. The second question is about your cybernetics. I did a scan and I can't detect any source of energy inside them, yet they are not simple prosthetics. What feeds them?"
"I have absolutely no idea. I know how to clean and maintain them, but the inner workings?" August shook his head.
"Hm, we'll probably have to ask Professor Solus for help."
"Why is it always the salarian? Don't you know some human specialist who can look into it?" Gallardi asked, slightly raising his voice.
"Please calm down Captain. I am the human specialist here. I know about all advances in the cybernetic implants at this moment and I can't help you with this," Chakwas replied evenly. "Mordin on the other hand is very good with the experimental and unknown alien technology. I can't promise you anything, but if anyone can figure it out it will be him."
August was not convinced. The doctor continued as if sensing his reluctance.
"Look, young man, I am sure that if we give the scans to a big enough human research department, in a couple of months they might produce some results," Chakwas said and crossed her arms. "But what if something happens during that time? What if the limb is damaged and we will have no means of repairing it? You'll become more of a liability than an asset to the crew."
Gallardi wanted to retort, but kept his mouth shut. The doctor was right. Back in the Imperium, he relied on the techpriests to repair his augmentics, should they become damaged somehow. Here, without the qualified help, some well-placed shots from heavy weaponry would quickly reduce him to a cripple.
"How much do you trust this salarian?" August asked the doctor.
"Well, he works on the countermeasure to a Collector weapon that allows them to render humans immobile, so I can say that every human member of the crew trusts him with their lives."
Gallardi pondered on this. It was not as if the augmentics had a great military value. They were simply replacements for the lost limbs and while had their advantages like being able to run longer or the ability to crush a man's skull with his hand they were a little less flexible than the originals.
"Very well. I'll agree for him to analyze the schematics, but on one condition," August said reluctantly. "Whatever he finds he gives to you so you can deliver it to your human colleagues. This way the Humanity will not be at a disadvantage."
"Oh, you should not worry about that. Mordin just loves to share his discoveries." Chakwas said, smiling. She turned to her console and started typing on her console. The console beeped once and the image of the salarian appeared, followed by several squawking noises.
"Sorry for interrupting you Professor but I have something I want you to look at," Chakwas said to the alien and started to explain the problem. The salarian said something in his squawking language and the doctor smiled in response. "I am sure you will, Mordin. Contact me if you find anything."
The salarian nodded and the image disappeared. Chakwas turned back to very puzzled Gallardi.
"Do you actually understand that gibberish?" He asked her.
"Of course. Why would I..." The doctor began but stopped. She smiled and tapped her temple. "You don't have a translator implant, right?"
She quickly explained on how various races managed to communicate without actually studying each other's language. "If you wish I can install one for you, we have all the equipment required for the procedure."
August nodded determinately. "Yes, yes definitely. If I am going to work alongside aliens, I'll need to understand them properly."
"Good. I will make preparations and tell EDI to inform you once everything is ready."
There was a knock on the door. The doctor stood up and approached the entrance to the med bay. When the door opened, Gallardi saw the man he noticed earlier behind the counter in the mess hall. The man was carrying Gallardi's uniform and his combat boots, so August guessed that this man was Sergeant Gardner Dr Chakwas mentioned earlier.
"There you go Doc." Gardner gave the uniform to Chakwas and looked at August. The man's eyes widened as he caught sight of Gallardi's artificial limbs. "Well I'll be damned. First it's Shepard than Zaeed and Garrus and now you, sir. You should definitely start a club." He smiled, nodded to Chakwas and left the room.
When Chakwas walked back to Gallardi to give him his uniform, she was smiling too. Gallardi started to dress.
"What was the Sergeant referring to?" He asked the doctor.
"To the fact that all of the people he mentioned managed to survive grievous wounds and have cybernetics installed," The doctor chuckled. "Garrus caught a missile to the face. Massani somehow survived a shot in the head. And the Commander... Well she's forty percent hardware by now."
"What happened?" August asked as he started to buckle up his uniform.
"Our old ship was destroyed by the Collectors two years ago..." Chakwas started to retell him the most recent story of Commander Shepard. How she died saving the ship's pilot. How her remains were recovered by someone called Cerberus. How she was rebuilt by this Cerberus and brought back to life. Because of that, some of her organs and most of the skeleton were artificial, although the doctor said her cybernetics were more subtle. If not for glowing scars that will heal in time, no one would notice that the woman was partially a machine.
Gallardi's respect for Shepard was rising by each second. The woman must have had an indomitable spirit to be able to cling to her own body so that once she was reconstructed, she would continue to serve once again.
"That is a remarkable story, doctor," August said once Chakwas finished her story.
"Indeed, though you seem to believe it quite easily," she mentioned. "In your time, do people frequently return from the dead?"
"No, but there are several documented instances when great heroes died on the battle field and then returned back as saints."
"You say documented? As in texts and witness accounts?" The doctor asked slightly incredulous.
"That too and some even have vid recordings. The Imperial cult is meticulous in such things," Gallardi nodded.
"I see," Chakwas said thoughtfully.
August looked down at his pants and saw the hole where he received the wound. "I don't suppose you can tell me where I can get a needle and thread?"
"Of course I can," Chakwas said and walked towards one of her lockers. "I'm a doctor, remember? I stitch people up," she said as he offered him a dark blue thread and a needle.
Gallardi quickly repaired his trousers. He returned the sewing kit gratefully and was starting to leave the med bay when EDI's avatar popped up from the console.
"Captain Gallardi, the Commander wishes to know if you could join her and the crew in the debriefing room."
August looked at the blue ball. "Of course I can. That is, once I know where the debriefing room is."
"You might have noticed the second room in the Armory. It leads to a corridor to the Tech Lab and a Communications Room. Once you enter the corridor, take the first door to the right," EDI directed him. "Shall I inform the Commander of your coming?"
"Please do." Gallardi replied.
"Logging you out, Captain," EDI informed him and blinked out.
Gallardi turned to Chakwas. "Thank you for your help, doctor. I shall see you once the translator implanting procedure is ready."
"Goodbye Captain," Chakwas said and rotated back to her desk.
Gallardi made his way to the Communication Room. He opened the final door and saw a spacious room with large oval table and several chairs. There were six people sitting in the room. Commander Shepard was sitting at the head of the table, dressed in black and white uniform without any markings. By her right was the skeptical brunette woman August saw earlier. She too was without her armor, wearing a skintight body suit that left little to the imagination. Next to her was the salarian. He was engrossed in his holographic tool, probably looking through the schematics Dr Chakwas sent him.
The turian, Garrus, was sitting by the Shepard's left side. He was wearing some kind dark blue clothing. August guessed he must have somehow earned the Commander's trust because the alien was one of the two people sitting next to Shepard. Next to the turian was Jacob Taylor. And the last person was a short woman wearing black bodyglove with a hood covering most of her face.
Gallardi felt the door close behind him. All of the people present turned and looked at him.
"Ah, Captain! We were just talking about you," Shepard smiled and motioned for him to sit opposite her. "My XO here, Miranda Lawson, is skeptical about my choice of accepting you into our team. Although you do strike everyone as an imposing figure, Miranda has a valid point: we know next to nothing about your military qualification and service history. Perhaps you can give us some information about yourself?"
"I understand. I won't provide you with details, because most of the worlds' names and the events that happened on them will make no sense to you." Gallardi said as he sat down and crossed his arms. "My service to the Emperor began when I was enrolled in the Schola Progenium at the age of ten. It's a military academy of sorts. There I was selected for storm trooper training. I graduated at the age of eighteen with the rank of corporal. I was assigned to the newly mustered 511th Harakoni drop trooper regiment as a part of their storm trooper detail. We specialize in sub-orbital drops and rapid deployment."
Miranda and Mordin were making notes of everything he said. Shepard nodded and motioned him to continue.
"At that time the 13th Black crusade was still raging across the Imperium, so most of the time I was fighting against the heretic forces. I was part of one operation against the necrons, though we had a support role. The Space Marines did most of the job. I was promoted to sergeant after that. Our regiment also participated in a campaign against the orks in the Loki systems..." August continued as he saw Shepard grin and several people snickering. Both Miranda and the salarian were staring at him skeptically.
"I'm sorry Captain, but did I hear you correctly? Orks?" The Commander asked.
"Yes Commander. Orks. Why, you haven't heard of them too?" Gallardi asked in return.
"Well, are they like big, green aliens with huge tusks and axes?" Shepard asked, barely containing her laughter.
"Also makeshift heavy caliber weapons and a lot of looted equipment, but yes, you have the right description," August replied. "Let me guess, they also exist just as myth and fairy tales."
Shepard nodded. "You have both space elves and space orks. What else, space dwarfs?"
"Depends on what you imply by that term." August replied evenly.
The woman in the hood leaned forward. "Ooh, they are short but broad and strong. They have long beards, winged helmets and they like to mine and drink." The woman's excitement was evident.
Gallardi rubbed the back of his neck. "You probably refer to one of the abhumans, the squats," he told them and heard more snickering. "Last I remember only several small settlements remained throughout the Imperium. Some of them serve in the Imperial Guard to avenge the near-extinction of their people."
The merry mood suddenly evaporated. "What happened?" The Commander asked.
"A tyranid splinter fleet destroyed their homeworld."
"And the tyranids are?" Miranda asked Gallardi.
August looked at Garrus and said. "If you take the turian here, make his scales, teeth and talons bigger and paint him in gaudy colors you get a rough image of tyranids. However, they may vary depending on their role. They are the race of aliens that invaded our Galaxy from Dark Space. They travel in huge Hive Fleets from world to world, consuming all life and useful resources on those planets to increase their own biomass."
"They sound awfully like the Reapers," Shepard mentioned.
"I guess," Gallardi shrugged. "Although the major difference will be that the tyranids are completely organic."
"Have you fought against them too?" Jacob asked.
Images of Sataria flashed before the Captain's eyes. He saw rows upon row of screeching horrors rushing towards his unit's positions. He heard the cries of the people he served alongside for sixteen years as they were cut down by this mindless horde. He once again heard the warning cry of Sergeant Sorenson as the man shielded him.
"Captain?" Shepard asked carefully.
"Sorry Commander. Yes, I have fought against the tyranids," August replied. He continued to recount his service history. How after the ork campaign he was promoted to Lieutenant and took command of the regiment's storm trooper detail. Mentioned several operations against the heretics including the cleansing of Cadia. Mentioned his promotion to Captain and his brief overall command of the battalion. He skipped the details about Sataria and moved on to his recruitment by the Ordo Xenos. Gallardi noted several operations for the Inquisition, where their main objective was to uproot the genestealer cults across the Segmentum Tempestus.
"Well that should tell you everything you need," August said and leaned back in his chair. "The quick summary: sixteen years as storm trooper, four years as Sergeant, ten years as an officer. Almost a year as an Inquisitorial Agent. 319 deployments, 102 of them are sub orbital drops. I have twenty two commendations but those would not mean anything to you."
"I'm sure you earned every last one of them," Shepard nodded and turned to her XO. "That answers your question, Miranda?"
"One more thing. Captain, you say you had over three hundred deployments. If my calculations are correct, your Imperium needs to be in a constant war with someone so that you could have such a busy schedule," the woman asked Gallardi.
"The Imperium of Man was at war with someone or something for the last ten thousand years," Gallardi replied. "If it is not xenos, its heretics. If not heretics, then it's just dissidents. There is always war."
"It must be a bleak world you live in." The Commander said sympathetically.
"It is not bright, yes." August nodded. "But the Emperor protects."
Shepard nodded back. "Well, I guess we will find out for certain how good you are during the next deployment. There is also another question we would like you answer. About our quest, the eldar Maeteris. What can you tell us about her and the eldar in general?"
"I have met this... Maeteris only recently, so I can't say much about her other that she is a powerful psyker and deadly with the sword," Gallardi said, shrugging. "As for the eldar in general - one can never tell. They are a very enigmatic race, who once ruled the galaxy before some great catastrophe wiped out most of their race. Now they mostly traverse the galaxy in huge ships, the Craftworlds. They are arrogant, they think that they are better than any other race."
"Is she a threat to us?" Miranda asked. Mordin also asked something, but August only recognized the word 'psyker'. Everyone was looking at him for an answer but August shook his head, not understanding the salarian's question.
"The Professor asked what is the 'psyker'," Shepard translated.
"The psykers are... Well, people with the ability to manipulate the Immaterum one way or another," Gallardi said. "Their abilities may vary from reading minds, being able to send and receive astropatic messages through space and divination to more direct skills like making lightning or fire bolts, telekinesis and other sorcery. There are many human psykers in the Imperium. The eldar are all psykers to some extent. Some are more powerful than the others."
"So, a psyker is not a biotic," Shepard said thoughtfully.
"I'm sorry Commander but what is a biotic?" August asked curiously.
"Biotics are people who were exposed to Element Zero and survived. Me, Miranda and Jacob here are biotics," Shepard started to explain. "The Eezo in our bodies allows us to manipulate mass and energy. And before you ask - no, we cannot read peoples thoughts and control minds. We do not see the future. And we certainly don't know the secret spell to always stay fit."
The last sentence elicited chuckles from both Miranda and Jacob. Seeing the confusion on Gallardi's face, the Commander continued. "Sorry Captain, it's a biotic inside joke. Because of the Eezo, our metabolism is also increased so we need to eat more than the average human does. That is why you will never see an overweight biotic. However, back to the eldar. You say that she can read people's minds. Can she also control them? If yes, could she indeed pose a threat to us?"
"I cannot tell you for certain. The eldar usually care only for their own race. They will gladly sacrifice a million of human lives to save one eldar. On the other hand or people fought side by side several times against the forces of Chaos. And now she is the only eldar in the Universe. She has no higher cause to fight for."
"So, what do you propose to do with her?" Shepard asked Gallardi.
August pondered for a moment. "I think it is better to let her stay here where we can watch her."
Shepard looked around the table, but received only shrugs. She was thoughtful for minute and then declared.
"Alright, we let her stay. I think we are done here for a moment," she said and looked at Gallardi. "We're not going to see any action in the next couple of days so I have a suggestion for you Gallardi. I will send my yeoman, Kelly Chambers, to install you a connection to the Extranet in your cabin."
"What is the Extranet?"
"Promise me to never ask such question in public or everyone will think you're some sort of savage," the Commander smiled. "The Extranet is basically a huge source of information open for public use. The information there is not an absolute truth, but it will help you to understand the Galaxy a little and familiarize yourself with different alien species. Some of the information will disturb you. Just try to keep an open mind."
"An open mind is like a fortress with its gates unbarred and unguarded." Gallardi quoted one of the holy writings.
"Well yes, you're right to some extent," the Commander told him. "Let me put it this way: leave your guard up, double check everything that comes inside but at least allow something in. Ignorance will do you no good here."
"That is a sound advice, Commander," Gallardi nodded and stood up. "Was there anything else?"
"Yes. The food will be served soon. You're welcome to join us," Shepard informed him and August suddenly felt extremely hungry.
Maeteris sat on her knees in her cabin. She was trying to find her center after the last revelation and was failing repeatedly. The knowledge that she was completely alone was gnawing at her mind. She would never hear the familiar speech of her kin and their graceful thoughts. She would never hear the beautiful music of the bonesingers or the comforting whispers of the ancestral spirits in the crystal gardens of Ulthwe. It took all of her strength and training not to break down in hysterics or even worse. The brief thought of ending her life was quickly pushed away as unworthy of a proud eldar Farseer.
Still the sense of loneliness reinforced by the almost deafening silence in the Warp was slowly driving her mad. Therefore, she decided to something she never did before. She decided not to filter out the Mon-Keigh thoughts.
The wave of thoughts assaulted immediately assaulted her and she almost shut herself off instinctively. Yet Maeteris forced herself to endure and soon she could hear every soul on the ship. Two voices immediately stood out as not human. One was stoic but troubled by feelings of guilt. The other was fast and springy despite the sense of old age. Maeteris noted to herself to try to learn the languages from this two aliens. It was not as if she had anything to do so she might at least entertain her mind with some study.
The minds of the humans we strange. They didn't feel as guarded and bitter as most of the Imperials were. They were more open, cautious but not downright distrustful. The mind of the Imperial soldier, August, immediately stood out amongst them. The Farseer didn't want to admit it but his mind was the most familiar thing she felt right now and it was... slightly comforting.
The other humans were undoubtedly curious about the newcomers. Their thoughts varied from mild distrust from an old wizened Mon-Keigh in the lower part of the ship to a barely contained excitement from a young redhead on the upper deck. Maeteris already knew that the girl practically begged the ship's mistress to allow her to talk to the Farseer. The ship's mistress politely denied the request out of respect for Maeteris' wish for solitude.
She had heard the how the ship's crew discussed her and her kin with August. She was a little surprised when he gave them not a biased, propaganda filled version but something very close to the truth. He was right in his assumption that the eldar placed their kin above everyone else. Such was their way for they indeed considered themselves superior to others in almost every aspect. Almost.
Now, here in this universe Maeteris could try to boast of her race's accomplishments, but those words would be hollow. She had almost nothing to prove her words. The only proof of her kin's craftsmanship was her armor and sword that were peacefully standing in the corner. Maeteris herself was wearing a white skintight undersuit. She decided to wear her tabard over it so that if she needed to leave her cabin the Mon-Keigh would not stare too much.
She felt that most of the Mon-Keigh started to gather in the hall. One of the aliens joined them. They gathered in a row near one of the humans, who started to distribute the food. "Yes, these Mon-Keigh are very different," Maeteris thought to herself. Imperials would never share their food with an alien.
The ship mistress, Victoria Shepard, also descended from her personal cabin, but instead of taking her food, she moved towards the Farseer's cabin. She approached the door and pressed the holographic interface to announce her arrival. For a moment, Maeteris wanted to say she did not want to be disturbed, but decided to grant the human some courtesy. She approached the door and opened it. The human was dressed casually and she slightly inclined her head as she began to speak.
"Farseer, may I come in?"
"Of course. This is your ship after all." Maeteris told her and moved further into the cabin.
Shepard entered and the door slid behind her.
"I apologize for disturbing you, but there are several things I wish to ask you"
"I'm listening," the Farseer said plainly.
"First thing is important. We are serving the food now and I suddenly understood that we know nothing about the eldar biology. I am not sure even if we have something suitable for you," Shepard queried.
"The eldar bodies are similar to humans' in this regard. Something suitable for you would be suitable for me," Maeteris replied. "I want to assure you that I will require little sustenance."
"No please, we have enough supplies. There is no need to limit yourself," the human told her.
"It is part of the eldar nature to limit oneself," Maeteris stated. "Was there anything else?"
The Mon-Keigh was silent for a moment. Maeteris knew she was probably considering her next words.
"What I'm going to say next would probably sound ridiculous. You see, you may have already met the humans in your universe but for us this is actually a first contact with your species," Shepard suddenly took a deep breath. "So, as the senior officer of this ship, it is my duty to officially greet you on behalf of the Systems Alliance and Humanity as a whole. I know not of your history with my race before, but it is my sincere hope that there will be peace between our people."
Shepard finished and bowed slightly.
Maeteris was staring at the human. "This Mon-Keigh is mocking me!" The Farseer thought. "She has to be..." Maeteris reached out with her mind to find the evidence. She looked through the woman's mind... And found nothing except honesty.
She now knew many things about this human. She did not expect to see something in Mon-Keigh. Shepard was strong, not only physically and mentally but also strong in her belief that she can make the world a better place for everyone. It was an extremely naive goal. However, with humans you can never tell. The majority of them were insignificant. They lived and died without leaving any trace in history. Yet sometimes there were individuals with enough energy to reshape the Galaxy.
Victoria Shepard was one of such individuals. She would rather die than betray her beliefs. And Maeteris knew that death already tried to claim this one and ended up with nothing.
The Farseer retreated with her psychic powers and saw that Shepard was still waiting for an answer.
"You are correct, this does sound a bit foolish," Maeteris replied and saw the human tense a little. "Yet I sense sincerity in your words. I return you greetings, if not from my kin, than from me personally."
Victoria immediately relaxed. "I am glad to hear it."
"I know why you did it. You care about the well-being of your crew," Maeteris continued. "I want to assure you that I bear them no ill will. If you are uncomfortable with my presence, I will not resist and I can leave your vessel at the earliest convenience."
"That will not be necessary. You're our guest and we will treat you as such." The human replied. "Not much escapes you, I see."
"Pretty much yes," the Farseer stated. "And therefore I have a request. Tell your pilot to either stop viewing whatever explicit material he watches or at least control his thoughts. They are... disgusting."
Shepard's eyes widened. "Oh... Um, do I even want to know?"
"No, you really don't," Maeteris told her. "Now, if that is all, I would really like to be left alone for some time."
"Then I shall leave you in peace," the human replied and turned to leave.
"Both of you, if you please," the Farseer added. Shepard looked back, clearly not understanding.
Maeteris looked at her bed. She felt the second human presence from the very beginning. The thief had slipped in right after Victoria, thinking that her stealth equipment could fool the Farseer. The air fizzled and the short human female in black suit and covered head revealed herself.
"What? Kasumi? How did you..." Shepard stuttered.
"Oh she is good," Kasumi said cheerfully. "But I guess when you have ears that big you..."
She didn't finish the sentence because the Commander clamped her hand around the thief's mouth. Shepard was smiling widely at Maeteris.
"I'm sorry Lady Maeteris. She was probably just curious."
"No. She wanted to be the first thief to steal something from the eldar," Maeteris stated, easily picking the thoughts of the thief.
Shepard glared at Kasumi, who finally managed to free her mouth.
"Ooh, that is just brilliant!" Kasumi giggled in delight. "Um, what color..."
"Red," Maeteris replied and looked at Shepard. "Commander, please."
Shepard was smiling apologetically as she pushed the struggling thief out, while Kasumi desperately tried to ask Maeteris something about the next Galactic Lottery jackpot. When the door closed, the Farseer sat down on her knees once again. Maeteris knew she should not get angry with the Mon-Keigh thief. The woman wanted to steal something not because she wants to sell the stolen and gain profit, but because it was simply her nature. If this Kasumi was an eldar, she would have been a follower of Cegorach, the Laughing God.
Maeteris could not help but smile at the human behavior. Whatever future waited for her, it was certainly a curious one.
A/N Once again, sorry for no action scene.