The Commanders Shepard
Chapter 11
After their successful rescue op on Therum and debriefing afterward, the Disasters Squad were all decompressing on the Normandy. After filing a report and having a (rather large) bite to eat that included bacon, Calamity Jane went to go see how Liara was settling in. This task had fallen to her by default as she had had previous contact with Asari, whereas neither of her brothers had. Also, they figured that after the harrowing situation she had just lived through, Liara would most likely respond more positively to Calamity, given her far less imposing stature than either of her brothers.
They put Liara up in a small office space isolated from the rest of the crew so she could have some peace and time to process all of what was going on in her life. When Liara heard the door to the office open, she turned and stood to greet her visitor. "Commander. Have you come to check up on me?"
Without her armor on, adrenaline pumping from the situation, and enemy fire incoming, Jane finally had the chance to fully take in the sight of their new ally. She instantly took note of Liara's piercing deep ultramarine blue eyes and what amounted to little blue freckles under them. She also noticed that, while she certainly didn't tower over her like her brothers, Liara was a bit taller than Jane, even if only by about three inches. She saw that as odd, considering Asari tended to be relatively tall and leggy. She imagined that was probably a bit of a sore spot Liara had had to deal with. Her subconscious mind imagined Liara as the short, freckled, brainy kid with glasses in school that sat in the front row of the class and was the teacher's pet. Still, she was glad to see Liara seemed to have enjoyed a bit of quiet rest. With a hint of relief in her voice, Jane said, "You look much better. How are you feeling?"
In a fairly matter of fact kind of tone, Liara responded with, "Dr. Chakwas assures me I am going to be alright. I was quite impressed with her knowledge of Asari physiology." Jane noticed she was trying her best to hide it, but she could tell Liara was glad for her company. She was never really sure how, but Jane had always been better at reading people than most others.
"You're in good hands," Jane confidently replied. "Dr. Chakwas knows what she's doing."
"I never properly thanked you and your team for saving me from the Geth, Commander." Jane could sense the genuine gratitude in Liara's voice and body language. "If you and your squad hadn't shown up, I…"
Liara trailed off, then paused for a second. To avoid it getting awkward, Jane filled in the gap before the silence went on for too long. "I'm just glad we got there in time."
Thankful she didn't have to finish that thought out loud, Liara replied, "So am I." Again, Jane could hear the gratitude. Liara went on. "I know you took a chance bringing me aboard this ship. I have seen the way your crew looks at me. They do not trust me." Jane could feel the unease in her tone. She could tell Liara was hurt by the situation. "But I am not like Benezia. I will do whatever I can to help you stop Saren. Of that, I promise."
She felt Liara's sincerity. Calamity replied in kind with reassuring positivity. "Don't worry Liara. I trust you. I know you won't let us down."
"It means a lot to me to hear you say that, Commander. Thank you." Again, sincerity. The "young" Asari wore her heart on her sleeve. Jane found Liara very easy to read. It was almost refreshing not to have to deal with layers of complexity to one's personality and know pretty much instantly what that person was really like.
She thought it was a shame she couldn't have met Liara in times of peace. Calamity would have loved to have to gotten to know her better without a galactic threat looming in the background. With that not being the case, she figured that if Liara was going to be traveling with them, that she should at least know something about her. "Tell me a bit about yourself, Liara."
"Me?" Jane felt her momentary fluster. "I am afraid I am not very interesting, Commander. I spend most of my time on remote digs, unearthing mundane items buried in long forgotten Prothean ruins."
"That sounds dangerous," Jane said. With a slight change to her tone, she added, "And lonely." Calamity was conscious of their spacing and purposely inched ever so slightly closer.
Completely missing the hints, Liara replied, "Sometimes I would run afoul of indigenous lifeforms or stumble across a small band of pirates or mercenaries, but I was always careful. Until the Geth followed me to Artemis Tau, I never found myself in any situation my biotics could not handle." Liara paused momentarily and looked to the floor as she continued. "As for the solitude... Well, that was one aspect that most appealed to me. I suppose I... just need to be away from other people sometimes. "
And there it was. With that statement, Jane knew the source of Liara's awkwardness. Jane had her pegged as the archetypal introverted intellectual with a chatty bug, but that confirmed it. Without knowing it, Liara had just handed Jane a thread off her sweater to pull on. And indeed, pull she did. "You don't like other people?" She asked the question knowing that Liara's talkative nature (which she saw as contradictory to her reclusive nature) would end up revealing some insider tidbits she could latch on to for later use.
Falling head first into Calamity's verbal snare, Liara responded with, "I suppose it comes from being the only child of a matriarch. I grew up alone and once I had grown up, I found that I preferred to be alone."
Subtly creeping closer again, Jane said, "That entire mindset almost seems foreign to me. I grew up side by side with my brothers. And even with Mom away on military orders so often, both of our parents were in our lives. Plus, my father's brother and their father both lived close. We were pretty much always together as a family. First time I was ever really separated from my brothers was when we joined the Alliance. Yet here we are, back together again." She noticed Liara had broken eye contact and looking down and off to the side. Jane used that as an opportunity to inch closer again.
"Oh. Your mother was military also?"
"Still is," Jane said pridefully. "She's an Admiral and very nearly had command of this ship." Calamity noticed that Liara seemed unaware of just how much within her personal space she managed to get. Liara didn't put up a word of protest or attempt to move away, so she stayed her course.
Liara looked down at her feet again before speaking. "You and your brothers chose to follow your mother's path. I, on the other hand, did the polar opposite." Jane was very interested in hearing what Liara had to say. She continued, "People expected me to follow in Benezia's footsteps. They wanted me to become a leader of our people. Matriarchs guide our people into the future. They seek the truth of what is yet to come. Maybe that is why I became so interested in the secrets of the past." Her tone shifted and Jane took notice. "It sounds so foolish when I say it out loud. It sounds like I became an archaeologist simply to spite Benezia," she said in an almost self deprecating manner.
In an attempt to sway the mood toward something a bit more positive, Jane said, "There must be something about it you enjoy."
Looking back up to Jane and taking the bait, Liara said, "I love my work! Seeking out history's lost secrets has a special appeal to me." Jane could feel the pep return to Liara's step when she said that. "You and you brothers were actually touched by working Prothean technology! That is why I find you so fascinating, Commander."
Jane suddenly felt the proverbial devil horns growing in. She was having fun poking and prodding Liara throughout their conversation, while also gaining valuable insight on a new ally. She wanted to push her just a bit to see what kind of reaction she would get. With a smirk, she said, "Sounds like you want to dissect me in a lab somewhere."
In an instant, Liara's eyes widened. Frantically, Liara spouted, "What?! No! I did not mean to insinuate..." Jane had to concentrate with all her might to keep from bursting into frenetic hysterical laughter. Liara's frustration right then and there was delicious. "Uh... um... I never meant to offend you, Shepard. I only meant that you would be an interesting specimen for an in depth study. Uh, nooooo... That makes it sound even worse."
Calamity was eating it all up. She was loving how adorable Liara was tripping over her own words and not being able to properly string together her thoughts. Cracking a full on smile, she said, "Calm down, Liara. I was only joking."
Hearing that created a complete shift in Liara's tone and body language. And Jane loved seeing it. "Joking? Oh! By the goddess! How could I be SO dense? You must see me as a complete and utter fool." Calamity was basking in how cute Liara was in all that. "Now you know why I prefer to spend my time in the field with data discs and computers. I always seem to say something embarrassing around other people. Please, just pretend this conversation never happened..."
Standing there, well within Liara's bubble, Calamity Jane outwardly looked cool as a cucumber. On the inside though, she was hooting and rolling all over the place, her internal laughter metaphorically powerful enough to stir the dead. For Liara's sake, Jane chose to steer the conversation in a different direction. "Do you have any idea why Benezia would join up with Saren?"
In defense of her mother, Liara said, "I don't understand it. She was always outspoken about the need for the Asari to become more involved in shaping galactic events." Jane could tell Liara was still having trouble piecing it all together. "Maybe she thought allying herself with Saren would somehow be for the greater good in the long run." At the end of that statement, Calamity noticed Liara's eyes drop instantly to the floor. With a sullen look washed over her face, she added, "Or at least I hope so..."
Calamity could tell by the way she trailed off at the end that the entire situation with her mother was bothering Liara. With sympathy in voice, Jane said, "This hurts you, doesn't it?"
Frustration mounting, Liara replied, "None of this makes any sense to me! I have not spoken to Benezia in many years, but I know her! And this was not like her. Something MUST have changed!"
Sensing that talk of her mother was only serving to further foul Liara's mood, Jane shifted gears again. "I'd like to know a bit more about the Asari." It was an innocuous statement. Jane knew plenty about the Asari, but she wanted to attempt to get Liara's train of thought away from her mother. She figured that having Liara rattle off a bit of history about her people would a good way to start down that path.
Again, Liara did as expected. "We were the first species to discover the Citadel. We were instrumental in forming the Council, and we always strive to be the voice of peaceful cooperation in galactic disputes. My people believe we are all part of a single galactic community. With the mindset that each species contributes something to the greater whole." Jane knew to expect her textbook response. She was getting better at predicting Liara's responses based on what she had seen of her personality thus far. She took note of the shift in the tone of Liara's voice as she continued. "And although we seek to understand other species, it seems few of them seek to understand us." Calamity knew exactly where Liara was headed. Having spent quite a bit of time with Asari during her biotics training and rise through the Alliance ranks, Jane knew quite well what many people thought of the Asari. Regardless, she listened intently for Liara's take on it all. "The galaxy is full of rumors and misinformation about my people."
"Like what?" Jane knew full well about the can worms she was about to open. However, she was quite taken with Liara's intellectual interpretations of the things they had discussed up to that point.
"Most of the inaccuracies are centered around our mating rituals." Any other Alliance soldier would not have been able to stay quiet at that statement. Their juvenile nature, no matter how deeply hidden beneath the professional, would have responded in some kind of way. Calamity, however, kept her composure and stood there as Liara's captive audience. "My species is monogendered. Male and female have no real meaning for us." Jane took note of just how matter-of-fact the tone of Liara's explanation was. She was beginning to take a liking to Liara's innocent demeanor. She continued, "We still require a partner to reproduce. This second 'parent' however maybe of any species and any gender. Physical contact may or may not even occur. The true connection is mental. Our physiology allows us to touch the very depths of our partners' minds. We explore the genetic memory of their species. We share the most basic elements of their individual and racial identities. We then pass these traits on to our daughters. It is how we learn to grow as a species and how we developed a greater understanding of other races. Asari offspring, regardless of partner, are always Asari."
Jane was already aware of everything Liara had said, but she let her go to keep her mind off her mother. Initially, Jane had thought to ask if Liara knew her "father", but she decided against crawling back into that minefield. She chose to simply stand back and allow Liara's chatty bug to continue biting. Though she didn't expect for Liara to broach the subject herself.
"Though we have never met, I know that my 'father', for lack of better terminology, was another Asari," Liara said. "Benezia never spoke of her, as the Asari tend to look negatively upon unions among our own species. They see it nothing having been gained. I am known as what some would call a 'Pureblood', though no Asari would ever say it to my face. It is considered the gravest of insults among my people."
"Well, Liara," Jane began, "Pureblood or not, you're with my crew now. Welcome aboard." She made sure how tone and body language conveyed how sincere she was.
"Thank you, Commander." The smile included with Liara's response did Calamity Jane a world of good. She felt like genuinely connected, and looked forward to having Liara by her side from then on out.
Author's Note: Holy exposition dump, Batman! Well, Mass Effect is an RPG series after all. Every scenario can't be a riveting escape sequence or firefight in a cramped alleyway.