Chapter 9
"Commander, that was too close. Those hostiles almost buried us in those ruins, you may be tough but I don't think even you could take a mass accelerator weapon to the face." Joker said over the PA as the ground team was gathered in the comm room, minus one marine.
"While I can't understand why your pilot would make jokes at a time like this, I am relieved to be out of there." Liara looked at the commander while she sat uneasily in the chair.
"I don't know why these people wanted you dead, but if they work with Saren I think it's better to have you with us."
"Thank-you commander, I will do my best to help you." Liara affirmed.
"Well, first we need to find out why your mother has allied herself with Saren." Sophia said, leaning forward in her seat and resting her elbows on her knees with her hands clasped together. It was something she knew Liara did not want to hear, but better finding out now rather than later.
"Benezia? What has she done?" Liara reeled back slightly at the news.
"As far as we can tell, she and her cohort Saren had attacked Eden Prime to get at a working beacon and used Geth to do so." Sophia said, summing up that very horrible day which brought another thought to the forefront.
"Commander, I have not spoken to Benezia in years and have no idea why she would do such a thing, she has always been an advocate of peace. I'm guessing it has to do with that working beacon, where is it now?" Liara asked, looking ready to leave the room that very moment.
"Hold on doctor, the beacon is now in pieces in our auxiliary lab. It had drawn in my gunnery chief and downloaded something into her mind before the whole thing exploded." Sophia explained, seeing the look of disappointment in her eyes before she seemed to perk up a second later.
"Wait, you said the beacon gave her something? I'm not sure how well you know my people but I can meld my mind with hers and perhaps glean some information out of the event."
"Forget it doctor, there is no way I'm potentially exposing another person to that, our ship's doctor has enough dealing with one patient, let alone two in that condition." Sophia's tone was resolute.
"Commander, I'm sure that if I limit my interaction I can minimize the risk." Liara offered, those blue eyes filled with hope and anticipation.
"Perhaps if it was just a human memory, sure, but we have no idea what would actually happen. So while you are not military, I am ordering you to keep your distance for now. Besides, the chief doesn't strike me as a willing participant to the whole process." Sophia explained, having gone through the gunnery chief's file. "She has had very limited exposure to non-humans and I don't want to force her into something she's not ready for. Besides, she probably would not understand even if we explained it to her."
"What do you mean?" Liara was surprised to hear this.
"She had some sort of episode while we were ground side evacuating you, and it appears that the beacon has been having a strange effect on her brain functions. From what the doctor explained to me, she is experiencing debilitating migraines and as a result has difficulty understanding others." Sophia finished and heard a chime on her omni-tool.
"That would be the ship's doctor, it seems that Ashley is waking up. Wrex and Garrus, both of you can return to your posts, I want Lieutenant Alenko to help Mr. Moreau to sort through that data capture of the hostile ships. Tali, you can return to sorting through that beacon with Liara. Questions?" Sophia looked at the crew gathered, none of them said a word, affirming their duties in the positive as they stood up and filtered out of the room.
"Commander, the report is filed and we can set up a link with the Council if you like." Joker offered.
"Set up the link Joker, tell them it will be brief as I will be heading back to the Citadel very soon." Sophia said as the holographic images of the councillors appeared.
"Commander, I see the mission was a success and you have Doctor T'Soni aboard." The asari Tevos was the first to congratulate her.
"I assume you are taking the necessary security precautions?" Sparatus interrupted, already heaping accusations at her. It then hit her while she forced back a smile.
"Of course, because treating aliens with suspicion and contempt is the best way to forge alliances, took that right out of the Hierarchy playbook."
"Commander Shepard, remember who you are speaking to." Sparatus growled.
"I will councillor, if you endeavor to do the same. This is not my first rodeo, and I think the fact that the Taiidan were trying to take her out of the equation is glaring proof that she is most likely not in league with Saren."
"The….Taiidan?" Valern took this moment to speak up.
"Correct, the hostile patrol group that engaged us over Therum. It's all in the mission report, including the armored units and infantry that we encountered." Sophia responded to the salarian's question.
"We read your reports, this mercenary group while is of some concern still falls under territory that is Alliance jurisdiction." Tevos concluded.
"Wait, what?" Sophia was temporarily silenced at their response.
"From your reports and image captures, they are clearly a human mercenary group using unconventional ship designs to mask their origins." Sparatus dismissed.
"Mercenary group? Since when do mercenary groups fire heavy ordinance the size of skycars?" Sophia asked, folding her arms over her chest. "Since when do merc ships register no element zero masses and when do merc groups possess detection protocols that render the IES system effective to only six thousand meters?"
"Commander Shepard are you insinuating that this is an alien race? An alien race that looks just like your own people?" Valern said with a surprised glance.
"I'm not insinuating anything, but it is safe to assume that this unknown party is called the Taiidan based on that evidence from Miss Zorah. It is also evident that they are using vastly different technology, some of it seems to be very effective. I don't know who they are or what they want, but dismissing them as a merc group outright is not a wise move, councillors." Sophia explained to them. She had put her diplomatic face on and did her best to hold their hands, one of the advantages of virtually growing up in the Alliance. She knew how to play the game and for the most part played it rather well when she needed to.
"Very well commander, we will send out a study group to verify your claims." Tevos was quick to diffuse a situation developing between Shepard and Sparatus. "Good luck with your investigation, we look forward to your next report."
Sophia left the room once the call had ended, she felt responsible for what had happened to Ashley, it should have been her dealing with these problems and her bed ridden and not the soldier who was just doing her job. Ashley made her way into the medical bay where a very concerned Doctor Chakwas was standing near Ashley who was up in her bed, clearly very confused.
"Chief Williams, do you understand me?" The doctor said in a most soothing voice but it was not having the desired effect on the marine.
"Maavir. Ailkaa sha noveem." The chief replied, running her fingers through her hair and then clutching onto the mass.
"Commander, we have good news and bad news. The severe episode she had recently has passed, but now she doesn't seem to be able to understand us. If I had to guess, I would say that the beacon has affected her brain functions in overriding the portion that deals with language comprehension speaking and understanding only what I assume to be the Prothean language." The doctor explained, but Sophia was busy looking at Ashley and the look that she got told a different story.
"Hold on doc, I have an idea." Sophia said, walking over to Ashley's bed. "Soldier, name, rank and service number." Sophia ordered out.
"Sornaal'kav Ashley Madeline Williams. Rek-taam-vaardis-vaardis-saak-toolim." The woman stated.
"You see doc, she understands us just fine. We just can't understand her." Sophia said, looking back at the doctor before returning her attention back to Ashley. "I don't know what you did in a previous life, but it seems karma is obsessed with kicking you in the balls, lately."
"Aikaa moriia." Ashley said as she was staring downward.
"Hey doc, is there any reason she has to stay in this bed?" Sophia asked, seeing that despite the strange language she was speaking, she physically looked better than she had since the whole incident with the beacon.
"Her brain scans are still unexplained, but they have not been manifesting themselves in any strange way, so I see no reason why she couldn't return to shipboard duty." Doctor Chakwas said, signing her off on a partial medical clearance. "I still want her checking in every few hours to check on her progress."
It was clear that Ashley was relieved at this news as she hopped out of bed. She looked at the doctor and opened her mouth to speak, but then closed it and shook her head in frustration before promptly leaving the medical bay.
"As you were, doctor." Sophia said, following the chief.
"All stations, report in!" Anya heard the captain order while she was wondering what had happened and couldn't believe that he had ordered them through a slipgate without having the faintest idea where they would end up. While she respected the man immensely, she also realized that there was some truth to the accusation of her Kiith in regards to Sobani frigate captains. They were rash, impulsive and didn't even look when the leapt, it was if they did not care about the consequences. The rational part of her mind understood why they had committed to this, they needed to know what the Taiidan were up to, but without knowing where they were going it was a risk she would not have taken.
"All stations report minimal damage sir, the bulk of it being caused by the battle itself and not by our transition. Navigation reports that we're going to have to launch a trio of probes to calculate our position as they can't get a proper fix with current nav data." Anya announced, remembering her job she began getting reports coming in from all stations. While the crew compliment was not large, there was still a myriad of systems and status reports that had to be sent to the bridge, which is where the executive officer came in. It was her job to relay the information to the captain so that he could make an informed decision about where to go from here.
"I see, tell sensors to fire off a sensors ping." Hiirel said to Anya.
"Sir, won't that give away our position to any hostile units in the area?" The captain shot her a look that she had never seen before and swallowed a lump in her throat that felt as big as the angel moon. "Y-yes sir, sending the order now." Anya said as she typed into her holographic console. Within moments, the blue sphere around the ship grew in size for a moment and the captain got out of his chair and walked up to the sensors manager, resting his hands on the railing.
"Okay, here are the orders." The captain said as he typed into the controls and a waypoint ping appeared in the black portion of the holographic projection. "We will move into cover in this asteroid belt and use the harvester drones to extract the raw material while the repair drones get to work on the hull. Once we are safely in the belt, I want us running at minimal power while navigation deploys its probes to get a position fix. Get the men down in PDA control to fire up the emitters and get the torpedo arsenal re-stocked ASAP. Finally, arrange training sessions for the point defense crews to work on their anti-fighter repulsion skills, too many strike craft made it through last time." The captain then turned to Anya. "Commander S'jet, walk with me."
Anya knew she would get it, she had made a serious mistake that she knew the captain would in no way let slide. When they were out of sight in the corridor, the captain gave her the same look that he gave on the bridge and she felt that knot in her stomach return. Once again she remembered that while her people were respectable officers in the navy, the man now securitizing her was from Kiith Soban. This was their life, this was their home and here she was questioning his decision.
"Commander, what in the name of Sajuuk was that?" The captain said, his intense gaze not lessening a single iota.
"Sorry sir, I just thought that perhaps we shouldn't be performing a sensors ping without knowing the area." Anya offered, her voice much weaker than she planned.
"I see, and questioning my orders on the bridge, what do you think that does to morale? I appreciate officers who can think for themselves and there is a place and time for us to have these discussions, but on the bridge is not the place for that. The crew needs to know that a clear chain of command exists and when the time comes, everyone from the officers down to the technicians will be performing their duties." The captain finally stopped, clearly waiting for an answer.
"Sir, I do not know what to say, I thought we had to be more cautious." Anya said, once again sticking to her original thought on the matter. She still had a hard time holding his gaze and wanted to stare down at the floor but her training told her to hold her head high and look the captain in the eyes.
"I was fully aware of the risk, but we need to know what is out there." The captain said, finally easing up his severe look. "I want you to address the bridge crew with a formal apology for breaking the chain of command and afterwards you are going to report to engineering and assist the team there in any way necessary. Perhaps this little lesson will give you a newfound appreciation for the chain of command. No one is above it, and the sooner you learn that valuable lesson, the sooner your odds of survival will improve."
Anya stood there in silence for a few minutes before she could move, the captain had left the corridor and returned to the bridge. Finally able to will her feet to move, Anya also made her way back to the bridge where the command crew was standing at attention with all eyes focused on her, clearly the captain had got their attention.
"Go ahead, commander. The officers are waiting." Hiirel looked at her, not with contempt nor of anger but a look of expectation. Expectation that she would do as instructed.
Anya clenched her fists, trying to calm her nerves, this was both hard on her pride and her fears. She hated public speaking and so far had been able to direct her career in such a way that she was not thrust into even the simplest of limelight. Clearing her throat, she began and her voice was wavering and a little weak. "I…I wanted to explain my previous actions, when we arrived here." Anya began as she looked over at the captain who gave her this look, this was not time to justify her actions. "I was not thinking clearly and broke the chain of command. As an officer I want to express my regrets about my actions and submit myself to the captain's judgement and punishment."
"Apology accepted commander, now report to engineering." The captain said as Anya left the bridge after giving a proper salute. On her way down, she at least had the chance to get a look at the interior of the ship, much more than she had before. The vessel was clearly designed not only to perform military functions but also to serve as a symbol of the Hiigaran race, everything on board the ship seemed to be designed to impress. Yet something else sparked her curiosity, the question that had been plaguing her since she boarded the vessel. Why? Every race in the galaxy knew who the Hiigarans were, this was no big surprise so why build a diplomatic vessel with military capability? They didn't need to make a show of force, everyone knew what the fleets were capable of even in the very limited numbers they could field.
"Commander S'jet, I hear you're here to help us with some maintenance?" The chief engineer asked, reaching the heart of the ship.
"Um yes, the captain said you could use a hand." Anya said, trying to make this seem not out of the ordinary.
"Don't worry, we all make mistakes now and again. Live and learn." The man assured her before giving out a whistle that silenced everyone in the large room. "Listen up, we have an extra hand for the next little while, I want you to extend her the courtesy demanding of an officer but that does not mean she is above the work. Someone get her some work clothes and get her to work, I hear the number five relief valve has been causing trouble and we need someone in the tube, start there." The man ordered.
Anya was given the coveralls and changed out of her crisp and pressed uniform into the pale blue uniform, zipping up the micro clasp and felt the slight hiss of the air escaping the inside and clinging to her body. The clothes left nothing to the imagination, but it protected her from injury and no loose fabric meant no losing limbs to lose fabric getting caught in machinery.
"Here you go, commander." A large man with a wide grin said, handing a specialized tool to her as she tied her hair back so it would not get in the way. It was clear that the man was Somtaaw based on his size and his job. True, Somtaaw were not considered warriors in their own right, but centuries of mining tradition did not just go away and many still preferred that life. Somtaaw miners made the best technicians and their famed 'workers' were known to be able to harvest the most dangerous of asteroid belts. As a result, they were usually very well built, one of the few groups that could almost pass themselves off as a Vaygr leaving to some rather nasty jokes. Jokes that only the most suicidal people would say to their faces.
"Commander," a young woman who looked to have just graduated from the academy said to her, she had short sandy hair and her sea blue eyes looked at Anya. "We're pretty sure the slip plate is causing us problems, you should be able to re-align it from inside the tube. We have a reading of your vitals, when we tell you to get out of there, listen to us as it is very warm in there and we don't want you getting sick from dehydration."
The woman opened the access hatch for her as steam billowed out of the small pipe. She thought the punishment was relatively light until this moment, it would be something she would remember for quite some time. Making her way into the open hatch, she wormed her way into the pipe, the air was humid and absolutely stifling as she worked her way to the problematic valve. She verbally cursed the designers of the ship for this 'oversight' wondering if they were in fact sadists who got sick pleasure out of subjecting crews to this. Something she would bring to her Sa, personally.
Ashley was almost at her workstation when Shepard had caught up to her, and while she just wanted to be left alone for now, she knew the commander would not let it go that easy. "Williams, you want to talk about this?"
Ashley rolled her eyes at this. Seriously, she wanted to talk? What would she say? Oh she could say whatever she wanted but the commander wouldn't understand a word that came from her mouth. Wait, she could say what she wanted and Shepard wouldn't understand, a small smile crept over her mouth.
"Come on Ash, just look at me." Sophia had protested.
"What do you want me to say skipper? I feel like a friggin' alien on my own species' damn ship? I don't want to have a turian playing creeper everytime we go to the citadel?" Ashley said, knowing the commander couldn't understand her and confirmed by her confused look. "Nothing at all? How about, take me to your leader?"
"Don't get smart with me, Ash." Sophia said, crossing her arms over her chest.
"You understand me ma'am?" Ashley asked, surprised at this news.
"Look, I might not be able to understand you, but I can pick up on postures and tones pretty good and I know when a marine is getting smart with me. Look, I know this has been a shitty hand you have been dealt, but we are marines and we're usually getting the short end of the stick. You may not believe me, but we'll get this sorted out." Sophia said, her expressions softening. "So can I count on you to hold on until we get this sorted out?"
"Yes ma'am," Ashley said, coming to a salute but then deriding herself why she was bothering with a response, no one could understand her anyways.
"That's more like it. Hey, do me a favor and refrain from talking on the Citadel, we have enough problems without worrying about you ending up in some salarain lab. I'll just have your escort inform anyone who asks, that you are unable to speak."
Ashley nodded her head as she left the commander to her duties and made her way back to the hangar where she had made a home servicing the squad's weapons. When the elevator door opened, she saw something that made her blood boil. Her black tool case was open and that turian was servicing his rifle with her tools, her tools. As she approached the station, she could see that several of the tools had just been sort of dropped in the top tray and not in their proper place.
"Chief, I see you're awake. I must say, the Normandy is a well-stocked ship. These tools are aftermarket, not even Hahne Kedar." His statement was interrupted as Ashley stood beside him, picked up a rag and wiped off the tools that had not been cleaned properly before putting them away in their proper places and then snatched the one out of his hands and then shut the lid firmly on her tool case.
"Don't touch my tools again, you've been warned, turian." Ashely growled, looking up at the turian and her clear look of displeasure made evident.
"Um chief, what did you say? All I understood was 'turian'." Garrus said, the C-Sec officer clearly very confused.
Ashley let out a sigh, pointed at the tool case and then at herself, clasping her arms over her chest. She then pointed at Garrus, then the toolbox and finally at the hangar door. This little game of charades soon made it dawn at what she was getting at and what would happen if he touched her tools again.
"This is Commander Shepard speaking," the ship's PA came active as the crew was addressed. "What I am about to say is not to leave this ship. Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams had an encounter with a piece of Prothean technology and as such seems to only be able to speak the Prothean language. She can understand us just fine, but won't be able to answer you verbally. This doesn't mean that you need to treat her any different nor should you, don't forget villa rule number 22."
Garrus looked back at the requisitions officer who has stopped what he was doing. "What is villa rule 22?" He asked the man before directing his attention back at Ashley.
"Don't play head games with a marine, if you want to live." The man explained, "The rule about messing with a gunnery chief's tools runs along similar lines. Difference being that not even God, Jesus and Muhammad can save you if you incur the wrath of a marine gunnery chief."
"Well thanks a lot, no one bothered telling me this before?" Garrus asked as he looked at Ashley who had the look of an apex predator.
"Who am I to get in the way, a good fight is almost as much fun to watch as participate in." Wrex rumbled, getting up from where he was reclining. "Besides, how much damage could a human female actually do?"
"For crying out loud Wrex, stop trying to bait Ashley." The voice belonged to Sophia who had returned to the hangar deck. "I was just going to check on Adams and see if he was managing okay without Tali, and wander into this hornet's nest. Everyone get back to your stations, we're going to arrive back at the citadel in a few hours." Sophia looked at the group.
Ashely got the message and got to work servicing the weapons, and also time to think. Perhaps she had been too hard on Garrus, he was just trying to service his weapon and for all he knew she was out of action. Yet she felt like she couldn't help herself, not only had someone used something of hers without her permission, but when he was caught in the act he acted like there was no problem with it. Clearly the turian had no respect for her, some things never changed.