Mass Effect

Back In Time

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Disclaimer; I don't own Mass Effect, or Turians, but I'm taking claim of my 'OCs.' Therefore, if any of you out there want to write a story, or draw a picture including Nahvah, Tar, Chev, ShockWave, Wilson, or my Shepard's(Melanie, John, and/or Rachel Hawking), please ask me first. I seriously doubt any of you would want to, though. Lol.
Author's Note; With the graduation tests coming up, I'm sure I'll have some extra time to write. This will still be a two-chapter update. :(
P.S. I'm giving a shout-out to Dracconnis, FORD B, and the mysterious Guest. Thank you all for reviewing.

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Back In Time

Chapter Twenty-Nine

"Your name is Nahvah, right?"

The female Turian nodded, her eyes flicking to the ground of the metal room they sat in.

"We need to get out of here. We need to break out the men."

"How?" the Turian asked, voice small. "There are only four of us."

Melanie shrugged. She looked to the other women.

They were all watching the ground at their feet.

"We can't give up hope."

Nahvah looked up at her.

"Why can't we? It's been two weeks. I'm pretty sure that your Commander isn't coming after us."

She whipped around to the other Turian.

"He will never give up on us!"

She watched as she stretched her mandibles, turning to the thick door of the vault.

"I'm sorry." The Turian's eyes closed as her head tilted downwards. "I don't know your Commander, but in the Turian military, it's against protocol to go after a missing squad. If the leader orders you not to go after them… You'd be breaking laws."

"Vah, if I remember ShockWave correctly, ordered or not, he will come for us."

Wait a second-

"You're with ShockWave?"

"Yes," the one sitting called.

The Turian women weren't very talkative. Or friendly, to say the least.

"I met him in the bar a few days before we were captured."

"The man doesn't like people," Nahvah stated, eyes opening. "When there's a stranger, he plays cool, and remains silent. The most citizens ever learn about him is his name."

Before Melanie could speak, the other Turian spoke.

"Yeah," then she laughed. "That's probably why they didn't let him become our leader when Rajj died."

The mood of the room had almost been cheerful.

Yet it remained gloomy.

"Melanie," Tali called. "Still no signals sent. Comms are jammed. Something isn't right…"

"Why did they even let us keep our omni-tools and weapons?" the Turian on the floor asked.

Nahvah pulled back her mandibles. "So that they can tease us. We can't find a way out. And if we do, there's bound to be enough men between us and the exits."

"Humans took us here, right?"

"Yes, Ny. Humans brought us here."

"So does that mean they want to start another war?"

"I can't understand why they would take members of their own species. If their intentions were to start another war between us… Why would they take members of the Cabals? We work in the shadows. Why wouldn't they take someone higher up in our society? Someone that has a say in the Turian government."

Ny looked up, eyes saddening as she saw the other's point. "It has to be something else, then, doesn't it?"

One nod, and no words were spoken.

.~*~.

"Okay, guys, in the Mako, just like we planned."

Ashley halted in her steps as the two Turians climbed in.

"Sir… You never told us what planet we're landing on."

He didn't even look up from the datapad he held in his hand.

"In the Mako, Williams, I'll tell you on the way."

She looked at him. The longer it was taking them to find the others, the more withdrawn he was becoming.

Her eyes scanned over him, looking for a way to read his mood.

The way he stood didn't say anything.

Neither did the expression on his face.

Or the color of his new medium armor, a white bodysuit with light blue and light purple in a camouflage pattern.

She shook her head, walking away from the commander and towards the Mako.

It took her a few moments to climb inside.

Her seat was next to ShockWave on the bench.

Garrus was the tech expert for this mission.

Not even a minute later, the Commander was inside, crossing his seatbelts over his chest.

He took a second to put his comlink in his ear before putting on his helmet.

"You all ready?" he asked, voice blank.

"Yes, sir," she responded.

"Affirmative," ShockWave stated.

"Ready to go planet-side," was Garrus' answer.

The Commander reached his hand forward to the driver's panels.

He hesitated, before hitting the button.

"We're ready, Joker."

There was a moment of silence.

"Flying into the atmosphere of Amaterasu. Approaching landing zone one. ETA is one minute."

"Standing by."

Ashley felt alarmed, excited, happy, and angry.

Why didn't he tell her?

"Sir," she called, letting her emotions into her voice. "With all due respect, why wasn't I informed that we were dropping on my home planet?"

He didn't answer, his eyes locked on the wheel of the Mako.

"Well?"

"No distractions," was all he said.

"Opening the Bay. ETA thirty second."

"Acknowledged," he responded in that blank tone.

In that moment, Ashley couldn't have hated him more.

.~*~.

"I'm taking point. Don't take any unnecessary risks. Stay behind cover. Understood?"

Garrus nodded with the others.

Shepard opened the door to the base, striding into the darkness.

"Garrus, run a thermal scan of the base."

He nodded, answering the Commander's order by typing into his omni-tool.

"The base is larger than it looks, Shepard. I can't get a good scan."

The Commander's hand rose to his helmet.

"Joker? Can you get a thermal scan?"

"Working on it, Commander."

The group stood in the darkness in silence.

"There's only fourteen people in the base. Four of them are you guys."

"Thank you, Joker." He turned to them. "Keep your eyes open. Don't use the flashlights; we don't want to give away our positions. We are strictly searching this place. Any hostages, we want alive for interrogation."

"Yes, Sir," Williams responded, her voice full of anger.

He nodded to them before opening the door.

The technician put a three-fingered hand on the woman's shoulder, holding her back.

"What do you want, Vakarian," she hissed.

"Don't take your anger into the fight. We have better things to worry about than the Commander's motives."

There was a tense moment before she sighed.

Her shoulder relaxed under his hand.

"Thanks, Vakarian. I guess I'm a little upset that he can't trust me."

He pulled his hand back.

"I don't think it's an issue of trust. If he didn't trust us, we wouldn't be on his ship."

"Then what is it," she asked, one eyebrow rising behind her visor.

"To be honest, I have no idea."

She nodded, snapping the safety of the assault rifle that was in her hands.

"Search and capture. They're wanted alive."

The assault rifle was on her back before she grabbed her pistol.

"Ready?" he asked.

She nodded. "Ready."

.~*~.

The Commander walked along the line of the men that were tied on the ground.

"What organization runs this base?"

The men looked at one another, fear in their eyes.

"Tell me. Now."

"The Tenth-"

"Shut it, Wilson!"

The one man turned to the other.

"What's the point?"

"Our boss will kill us if we tell him."

"I have a feeling that-"

Shepard strode up to the men, towering over their figures.

"I won't need to use this, will I?" he asked the men as he admired his pistol.

"Will you give us protection if we tell you?"

Shepard nodded.

There was silence.

He raised his gun to the ceiling.

The sound of the discharge tore through the air.

The one called Wilson spoke up once more.

"The Tenth Street Reds run this base."

"Why? What do they want?"

Wilson's eyes widened.

"What do they want?"

One of the men struggled free of his bindings, getting up from the ground.

Shepard didn't even look away from Wilson as he raised his pistol, and fired.

The man fell to the ground, moaning his pain.

"I think I will ask a different question," he stated. "What do the Reds have to gain by kidnapping my squad and the Cabals?"

Wilson squirmed, pushing back to the wall.

Shepard knelt down.

"Where are they?"

The man sobbed.

"I don't know. I don't know!"

"What do you know?"

"We held them for a day," the man cried. "We were prepping them for the base on Earth!"

"Tell me about the base."

"I'm only the maintenance guy," Wilson stated, voice quiet. "They didn't tell us anything important; we were abandoning this base."

"Why?"

"They expected you."

"Did you guys delete the files?"

Wilson shook his head, swallowing roughly before answering. "We didn't have the time."

Shepard looked over his shoulder.

"Garrus?"

"On it, Sir."

"Thank you, Wilson," he stated, standing. "I'll make sure that the lot of you are put in jail."

"But you said that you'd give us protection!" another man shouted.

He laughed. "Being in the jail, you have people watching your every move. The Reds won't be able to get to you, there. I'd call that protection."

"Shepard," ShockWave called. "What do you want done with them?"

"We'll make some Mako drops up to the Normandy. You'll be taking shifts in the Bay to keep an eye on them."

ShockWave nodded. "Then we turn them in to the authorities on Earth."

.~*~.

"Commander?"

"Yes, Williams?"

"Why are we still in the Mako? We've done all we can on this planet."

In the driver's seat, he shrugged.

Then he gestured to the empty technician's seat before patting it.

"Joker?"

"Approaching drop point two."

Ashley climbed over to the tech's seat, buckling in.

"Sir, I hope you know what you're doing- I'm no technician."

He gave another shrug. "For this, we won't need a technician."

"Drop. Now."

"Dropping."

The Commander put his foot on the pedal, letting the Mako fly out of the bay.

"We're in the clear," he stated as freefall kicked in.

"We'll head into orbit," Joker called.

"Understood."

After a few moments, Shepard looked at her.

"Do you know how to activate the visuals?"

She nodded. They had taught her that much in boot camp.

She watched the visuals as Shepard skillfully flew them down.

It was near silent.

She noted a town off in the distance.

The Mako slammed into the ground, throwing its occupants against their belts.

Shepard angled the Mako towards that town.

Ashley's heart began to race as she saw the group standing at the entrance of the town.

The Mako slowed to a stop.

"Get out," he ordered.

She did as he said, popping the lock on the ceiling of the Mako before climbing out.

"Ashley!"

She jumped off the Mako, knocking twice on the metal before running towards the group.

She slammed into the nearest person.

"Ashley, it's been far too long."

"I know, Mom. I know."