The Goddess Military Complex. East of Serrice, Thessia.
Vasir.
Tela Vasir got out of the gunship she was riding and stepped out onto the landing zone. She had arrived to participate in a joint military exercise. Officially the exercise was 'to establish a basis of understanding between human and asari militaries' but that was just the diplomats talking without actually saying anything. The truth was obvious to anyone who thought about it for two seconds. If the goal was a to establish an understanding, then there are better ways than having two teams of commandos going up against each other.
No, the truth was much simpler. Spec ops are what the asari excel in militarily. The turian have the best navy. The salarians are espionage experts. The asari are commandos, and they wanted to show them off to these newcomers. The humans agreed because having a joint military exercise with a council race is generally good, even if it is something as small as a squad going up against another squad. Refusing looks bad and agreeing gives them chance to show off as well.
Technically Vasir wasn't supposed to be here but being a spectre has its perks. She would just bump off one of the junior huntresses and join up. Vasir wanted to get the measure of these humans. If she was right, there would be millions swarming the galaxy soon. She would have to deal with them in her official capacity and knowing their capabilities would be important. If she could take on their best, then she could take on any of them. Besides she was an asari and took pride in being, as the turians put it 'the best warriors in the galaxy'. Add to that the fact that one doesn't become a spectre without a healthy spirit of competition, and the fact that the unit the Asari were sending was her old unit before she became a spectre and it was almost inevitable that she would get involved.
She breathed in the crisp Thessian air. It was always nice to return to the homeworld. The citadel may be the heart of galactic politics but Thessia was the cultural, scientific, and economic center. It was also stunningly beautiful. She had traveled far in the galaxy and never once found a place that came close to competing with its natural beauty.
She walked towards the bunkhouses the two teams were assigned to. The humans were out if front of one of them, playing a game with some cards. She was shocked to recognize one of the faces. It was that white haired, green eyed human she met at the citadel. One of the guards. The man in question looked up and waved. She had thought him a show guard. Someone who was there just to look impressive. Evidently, he wasn't that. Curiosity driving her she decided to go talk to him. He saw her change in direction, excused himself from the table and walked to her.
Walking up he said "rebonjour madame la représentant en mission." Vasir scowled her translator must be off or he was speaking a language it didn't have software for.
He noticed and spoke again. "Hello again madam representative on mission." Vasir thought back to their conversation. If she recalled correctly a representative on mission was someone given a mission by a nation and absolute power to do it, kind of like a spectre. Unfortunately, they weren't exactly stringent with recruiting and it did not end well. She didn't particularly like being compared to those petty tyrants, but she had to admit she saw the similarities. She like usual decided to skip the pleasantries.
"Didn't think I would see you again. No offence, I thought you were simply placed on the guard to look impressive."
"Oh, I was, but I can do other things as well. My question is why are you here?"
"Spectres can do what they want."
"Yes, but why do you want to do this or are you here for another reason."
"I'm here to see how you humans hold up in a fight, and to have some fun."
He looked at her and smiled. Looking ridiculous with the white hair all over his head and face. She still had trouble accepting the fact that he was over a thousand years old. Apparently, that was what the hair color meant. His face however didn't show it, or if it did, she couldn't tell. From her point of view, it looked just like any other human face she saw, not lined like an old krogan.
"Well then, I'll see you on the battlefield spectre." He paused and then continued. "You asked me many questions now I have one of my own. How does one become a spectre."
Vasirs brow shot up, "looking to join?"
The human shook his head "No, I'm just curious. The spectres are a more than a thousand-year-old institution and things don't last that long unless people see value in it. The times humans have tried something like this it didn't last. If spectres made a habit of going rouge, then the office would not last so long. The process must be extremely extensive."
Vasir thought about it, she wanted to say 'have the council appoint you one and leave it at that, but he was complete in his answers to her so she might as well return the favor. "It's a deceptively simple process. Get on the testing list. Pass the tests and get chosen by the council. To get on the testing list one usually has to get noticed by someone up high. Normally this happens when someone does something spectacular but there are other ways." The most common other way was to be recommended by a current spectre. "That higher up puts your name forward to the council representatives and if they like what they see, you get put on the testing list."
The human stroked the short hair below his mouth in what was a gesture of thoughtfulness, or at least that's what Vasir assumed. "I assume the testing list means exactly that? You get put through the wringer?"
Vasir nodded "I don't know what a wringer is, but you get the most extensive series of examinations in your life. Starts with a physical examination, and by the end of that they'll know how many scales you have on your crest. If they find anything wrong, you're done. Then they move onto other things, gunplay, biotics if you have them. The hardest intelligence test you'll ever face. They won't give this kind of power to a healthy moron who's good with guns. Psych evals to make sure you're not a psychopath that will go around shooting anyone who looks at you funny. The council prefers their psychopaths high functioning. Along with tons of other exams, including testing in hypothetical situations with paid actors. Pass all of that and they'll place you with an active spectre and if that spectre gives the green light then that's where the council gets involved. The council decides if they like you or not, and if they do, you're officially a candidate." She paused to set that all sink in and continued.
"After that you wait to get lucky. The council doesn't like to inflate the number of spectres. It only happens when something big happens like a new species shows up or during a galactic crisis. You wait for a current one to retire one way or another. Then you hope the council chooses you from the pool of candidates. Then presto you're a spectre. Of course, this is how it usually works but the council can decide to get involved at any point for any reason."
Shepard whistled. "That's an extensive process, but then again they only want the best. Now what do spectres do exactly?"
"Lot's of things, but the mission statement is to protect galactic stability at any cost."
The human went silent for a moment then spoke. "At any cost, eh? So, you'll help a criminal kill a good person if it keeps the galaxy stable right?"
The human picked up on the truth very quickly. "Good to see you understand the meaning of simple words. Yes, too many people watch vids and think being a spectre is about helping the good guys or bringing justice. It's about keeping the galaxy stable and peaceful. If that means blowing up a military outpost with civilians onboard, we do that. It's dirty work, but it's also a necessary evil."
Shepard didn't seem phased or surprised by such admissions. "It's been good to see you again spectre. See you tomorrow on the field, goodbye and good luck."
"I won't need it." She said, if she did her job right, when the time came these humans would never see her, and luck would be unnecessary.
The Goddess Military complex.
Shepard.
Shepard woke up and got dressed. It was going to be a busy day today. They had gotten through all the cooperative exercises. Now what was left was the head to head. The teams would be dropped in a designated area and left to seek and destroy each other. If either team left the area they forfeited and if time ran out without one team finishing off the other, it was a draw. Unless one team was in control of a hill on the edge of the boundary, in that case that team won. This was done so that the teams wouldn't just spend time wandering opposite sides of the area. First team to three wins gets declared the victor. Winning the head to head was where the bragging rights lay. As Shepard saw it the previous exercises were going through the motions. He doubted the asari would be undertaking any joint missions with humans anytime soon. This was the point of the whole ordeal.
Shepard wasn't sure of the odds. Humans were stronger, had more endurance, longer legs meant higher top speeds, larger overall strength meant they were better climbers as well. They also had superior sensory abilities. Shepard noticed that often during the exercises the human team would notice something, like a sound or scent long before the asari did. They also seemed to be better able to pick out objects at a distance. Personally, Shepard was surprised that asari could hear at all. They had no ears. Animals on earth that are known for good hearing have large ears dogs, cats, bats and the like. All in all, humans were definitely physically superior.
Asari were more agile admittedly but they weren't agile enough to dodge bullets. The agility also wasn't that big a help in hand to hand either. Shepard would always rather fight a more agile opponent if that person was smaller and weaker than Shepard rather than one who a less agile than Shepard but stronger and bigger. Assuming both were equally competent fighters that is. Fights are separated by weight class not agility levels.
Biotics however changed everything. He knew that asari were known for their biotic abilities, but the past few days had shown him just how useful and powerful they were. He would rather get into an unarmed fight with those krogan he heard of rather than one of these asari. Without shields or weapons there was nothing to be done, he would be lifted up and smashed into paste against the nearest wall. The krogan would at least have to touch him to hurt him. With biotics asari could lift more, jump farther, climb better, and run faster, and many other things. They were a complete gamechanger.
Seeing just how useful biotics were, just how much of an advantage they were, caused Shepard to rethink his stance on his own ability. Shepard practiced biotics on his own for a bit before all the risks were known and he had managed to gain some simple abilities like push or pull. It seemed to come naturally to him unlike some other humans. However, it was nothing close to what these asari could do. He had stopped when the dangers became apparent, considering the tumors and insanity some suffered he had seen practicing the ability as a risk he was not willing to take.
However, these asari didn't seem to suffer any ill effects and neither had Shepard despite having the ability present for over a decade now. He had decided on once again trying to cultivate the ability. He still wasn't going to let the alliance try anything with him, considering the horror stories he heard. He had decided on trying to hire some asari tutors. Surely there would be some Asari who specialized in teaching biotics who needed a big pile of money.
Shepard got out and went to the mess hall. He had enjoyed his time on Thessia which was admittedly very pretty. He thought earth more beautiful, but he was sure the asari would argue. Earth defiantly had a different type of beauty than thessia. Earth was a mountain, and thessia was a flower, both beautiful but in their own ways. Entering the hall, he saw Anderson already sitting down. Anand, Hao, and Alekseekno must still be getting up. The alliance was impressed enough with their performance on Shanxi that they decided to keep the team together.
Shepard got his own meal and walked over to Anderson "Ready for today?"
"I'm ready but not exactly confident." Came the reply
"Well we know what we can do and what they can do, according to Sun Tzu that's all you need to not fear a hundred battles."
Anderson scoffed "Sun Tzu never had to fight aliens with space magic."
"True but we have our own strengths and a plan that plays to them. We certainly have a chance." At this point some of the asari team started filling in.
Anderson leaned over and said, "I think it funny how humanity spent so much time as picturing aliens as little green men, but the reality turned out to be little blue women."
"Agreed but as I understand it, they're not exactly women." Was Shepard's reply.
"Doesn't seem to have stopped Alekseenko."
Shepard smiled one, the man clearly had a thing for one of the commandos. Fauma Aveios had managed to capture the N7's attention. Luckily for Alekseenko it seemed mutual. Shepard would have had a chat with Alekseenko about it, just making sure it wouldn't get in the way of the exercises. However, he wasn't the CO and he wouldn't go over Andersons head like that. Beside he was certain Anderson had already done something like that. He also trusted Alekseenko to be professional.
It was an interesting paring. Aveios was roughly 3 centuries older than alekseenko but that didn't matter to asari. Apparently a 500-year-old asari will take a 10-year-old salarian as a 'bondmate'. Didn't much matter to humans either, if people live to be well over a thousand what difference does a few centuries make? Alekseenko was a mature adult and had been for several decades. He could make his own decisions.
Shepard train of thought was distracted by salarians. How can someone be fully grown at 10? It made sense considering they only live around 40 years and 10 was a quarter of their lifespan, but it still baffled him. Apparently krogan also mature really fast, but they live for over a millennia.
Anderson continued bringing Shepard back from his musings, "Well at least it seems mutual, if it gets serious after this, we will have had the pleasure of witnessing the beginning of one of the first human-alien romances."
"It's an age of firsts."
"That it is and speak of the devil." Alekeseenko was walking out with the rest of the squad. He flashed a nervous smile at one of the commandos at the other table. Aveios returned the smile and was flooded with a torrent of quiet ribbing from her teammates. Alekseenko was also subjected to ribbing by his teammates. After finishing the meal, the teams geared up and went into their insertion vehicles. Both teams would be dropped in blind into a random spot on the map. They had maps of the area but would have to figure out where they were themselves.
They're plan was to force the asari into a pitched fight they could not retreat from. The asari couldn't hold up in a firefight for as long as other species. That was one of the reasons they favored commandos. They are not built for the frontlines. If they could force them into a fight without the possibility of retreat, they could slowly grind them down. To do this the team would rely heavily on sensory superiority. The idea was to find the asari and shadow their movement until an opportune moment to strike appears.
Humans had a slight ability to track by scent. It wasn't anything near the ability of a dog or bear. Bears could smell food twenty miles away and make a beeline toward it. However, if the scent was fresh or the person was relatively nearby humans could track them. This was ideal in such a scenario. A small restricted area on a time limit. This added to tracking by sight (looking for signs something passed through recently) should make it possible to track the asari anywhere they go. The fact that Anderson, Shepard and Hao were very capable hunters would prove beneficial.
After being dropped into the forest the group slowly made their way to the hill. Asari would undoubtably head there as well. While on their way they caught a scent in the air. Following that they found the trial the asari took. The asari were careful not to make their passing obvious but is almost impossible to leave no signs of passage on earth, especially when smell is brought into the equation.
The team followed the trail slowly as they did not want to alert the asari to their presence. As they walked, they formulated a plan. Shepard and Alekseenko would try to overtake the asari by running in a wide semicircle. The asari were travelling slowly to keep quiet, if the humans were fast enough, they could overtake them without drawing attention. They would set up a crossfire at the base of the hill. One side would be covered by Anderson, Hao, and Anand, the other by Shepard and Alkeseenko, the third would be covered by the border. There was direction the asari could retreat to but there was nothing to be done about that.
Shepard and Alekseenko ran through a brush giving the asari a wide berth. They made it to their positions alright and pulled out their sniper rifles and waited. The asari appeared not long after, shepard let them come out further into view and then he and Alekseenko both snipped the lead asari. She was physically fine; in this exercise the rounds were being shot at very low power and shields weren't breached at all. However, the hardsuit computer registered the hit and compensated for it. Depending on where the shot hit the computer calculated whether it was enough to take the person out of action. If it was then that person was out. This also meant there was no cheating since the computer called the hits and kept track whether the person wearing it did anything else. If they did it was an automatic forfeit for the team. The hardsuit also made sure the biotic barriers asari put up weren't normal strength as the low power bullets couldn't breach them. They tried hard to minimize the risk of injury, but it still could happen.
The targeted asari dropped on the ground out of action. Then more shots rang out from behind them. This dropped another commando. The remaining three immediately summoned a barrier bubble and ran for cover. They made it to cover but they were now pinned down. Shepard left Alekseenko on overwatch and made his way forward towards the enemy. However, before he could make it to close the asari sprinted from cover and towards the one retreat path hey had. More shots rang out and the barrier fell. Then more sniper rifles boomed, and Shepard let out controlled bursts from his assault rifle. Two more asari fell but one made in into the cover of the trees.
Shepard sprinted after her. It was probably unnecessary, since they could just camp the hill. However, it was a good idea to not let the asari get her bearings. Keep her running and she won't be able to do much of anything else. He stormed after the asari her trail clearly visible and her scent still lingering on the air. By the scent he could tell it was Vasir. Just their luck that the best Asari was the one that escaped.
Eventually through the trees he could see a clearing and she could tell that the asari ran right through it. Deciding it was a good spot for an impromptu ambush he stopped before reaching it. He pulled out his rifle and scanned the other side. He could just barely make out behind some branches an asari with a rifle in her hands. He radioed her position in and waited. No point in taking a shot. A single hit wouldn't be a 'killing blow' and it would spook her. Best to get everyone to surround her and take her down.
Eventually the rest of the squad made it. Vasir hadn't moved yet probably thinking she got away. Perphaps thinking of what to do next. They started a slow crawl towards her position from all sides. Shepard kept watch from his position through his scope. Unfortunately, things didn't go so well. Anand accidentally snapped a twig which alerted the spectre. She immediately manifested a biotic barrier to supplement her shields. The shot Shepard took simply ricocheted off. She was also shot by Anderson and this dropped her barrier.
The spectre biotically charged away hoping loose them. Luckily at the end of her charge path was Hao who shot her near point blank with a shotgun. This dropped the spectre's shields but wasn't enough for 'killing blow' her biotic counterattack crashed through Hao's shields and smashed him right into a tree. He got back up, but he wasn't in the fight anymore. However, the moment Vasir took to crash through Hao allowed Shepard to take another shot and without a barrier or shields the spectre was taken out of action.
Walking up shepard asked "Hao you alright?"Biotics were one way to get hurt. There was no way for the computer to calculate what their effect would be because there was no standard. They had to be full strength otherwise their effectiveness was nil.
Groaning the man replied, "I'll be fine."
Vasir on the other hand scowled and left to rejoin her team without muttering a word.
The squad returned to the barracks with high spirits, after all they had won the first fight. Morale naturally wasn't good in the asari squad.
Shepard walked outside to view the sunset. In his opinion there were a few things that were always beautiful no matter how much you see it. A sunset was one of those things. He didn't have many opportunities to see one these days. He spent most of his time in starships now and there's no chance of seeing a sunset there. Taking an opportunity to see an alien sun set behind a grand alien city was an opportunity not to be lost. The ability to see and appreciate beauty was one of the great consolations in this galaxy so full of tribulations in shepherd's opinion, people shouldn't let it pass by unless necessary.
Settling down int one of the benches he lit up his cigar and took a sip of the asari tea from his canteen. He had not enjoyed asari cuisine generally, but he had come to enjoy their drinks. Shepard's attention was pulled away from the sunset by one of the asari practicing in the yard. However, she wasn't practicing with guns, or biotics, but a sword of all things. He never heard of the asari using swords in combat. He assumed she was using a sword for enjoyment and not practicing for actual combat uses. They hadn't used one in any of the previous exercises. In shepherd's experience one rarely if ever got that close and even then, guns are still more useful. He himself hadn't truly fought with a sword in centuries, he practiced but that wasn't the same. He pulled his attention back towards the sunset and simply admired the view.
The second exercise went much like the first one. The humans found the asari's trails and followed them until an opportunity presented itself for a pitched battle the asari couldn't retreat easily from. This time the asari were pinned against a sheer side of that same hill. Once again Vasir was the last one standing and this time managed to take out Alekseenko and Anderson before being brought down. The spectre was proving why she was chosen for the job.
The Goddess Military Complex.
Vasir.
The mood in the squad of huntresses was miserable. The humans were winning 2-0. While it occasionally happened that the salarian STG or turian blackwatch occasionally pulled out a win against the asari in such exercises it was rare. These humans were winning in their first ever exercise. They could not let that happen. Vasir had decided they needed a change of strategy. Their original plan was to capture the obvious defensible point, then send out a lone huntress to draw out the humans into an attack on the hill. At attack on such a defensible position would end terribly.
The team leader however was willing to face the facts. Somehow these humans were finding them before the asari could find them. They had picked the best moment to attack in both cases and that doesn't happen by accident. The most likely explanation was that the humans were following them. The fact that the managed to do so was impressive. The fact that they didn't get seen doing so was even more impressive. It was decided that if the humans were following them then they would use that fact to their advantage.
So, when the dropped again they again acted the same. Located their bearing and made towards the hill. However, some ways before they came near the hill, they began making a wide circle. Their path took them in the shape of a fishhook. Soon they were overlooking the path they had walked not long ago. If the humans were following their trail they would pass by.
Sure, enough soon they spotted the humans making their way through the trees slowly and methodically making as little noise as possible. Shepard and Anderson led them keeping a close eye on the trail ahead. The other spent time looking of into various directions. Suddenly Shepard stopped. He stayed still turning his head in various directions, it was hard to tell what he was doing as his face was covered by his helmet, however if Vasir had to guess he was sniffing the air like a krogan. Was that how they kept finding them? She knew krogan had an excellent sense of smell and could track by it. Were humans able to as well? It did explain several things. Shepard brought up his rifle in Vasir's general direction and was about to call out. However, he was not given the chance, Vasir and another commando dropped him with sniper fire.
Another duo dropped Anderson their commander. The rest immediately returned fire and attempted a fighting retreat. However, it was not to be. They fell rapidly before they could get away.
Vasir walked up to Shepard. "So that's how you've been following us. Well we fought krogan before, we know how to deal with opponents with excellent senses of smell."
She could not see behind his face behind his visor, but the shrug he gave showed that he wasn't worried. "You adjusted your strategy and now we will."
On the return journey the morale was high, jokes were made, and laughter could be heard. It was night and day compared to the previous day's return. The humans had been close to winning the whole thing and yet were wiped out without a single casualty. The victory was a salve to the wounded pride, and an encouragement to keep fighting.
After making their way back to the barracks, Anthyda Ledavo and Narthada D'raala decided to celebrate the victory with a sword fight. Vasir decided to watch, she had never picked up the sword herself since guns were simply better, but some commandos like practicing with it nonetheless, even though they don't use it for combat. Vasir had nothing else to do and watching a good fight was better than sitting inside doing nothing.
The asari squared off on a flat patch of ground and went at it. While Vasir never fought with a sword she was excellent at unarmed combat, as well as knife fighting. Swordfighting was very different and yet in some ways similar. Instead of striking, grappling and trying to get leverage with your body they were doing it with the blades.
She saw that the spectacle had also attracted Shepard who walked up and watched the two asari score points on each other. A thought occurred to her, if this human was as old as he said and humanity just recently made it to the stars, there was a real chance he had used such weapons in actual pitched battles.
She decided to ask him. "You know anything about swordfighting?"
He looked at her quizzically, "Yes, I do know quite a bit about the art of swordfighting. I am just curious as to why asari practice it. It's a dead form of combat even for my people, and asari have been a spaceflight species for thousands of years."
"Apparently it's fun. Never got into it myself, but many asari commandos do. They have time to kill apparently. So, what's your professional opinion on these two?"
He looked at the pair still going at it and said, "I'm surprised how similar the fighting styles are to our human ones, although I guess it makes sense once you think about it."
That caught Vasir off guard, "Why does it make sense for them to be so similar?"
"It's not that surprising that two rational species with a very similar body plan would come to similar conclusions on how to best use a very similar tool."
It did make certain sense after thinking about it. After all every single species independently came to similar conclusions on how to use guns, why not extend that concept to swords.
While she thought Shepard spoke again. "I assume biotics are forbidden? Otherwise it would just turn into a biotic duel."
"Yes, another reason I never found no point practice with swords. Biotics are simply better."
Shepard nodded, "Having seen them in action I have to agree."
By this point Anthyda had emerged the victor and caught sight of the human. Pointing her sword at him she said, "Hey you, Shepard interested in a match?"
He seemed to be taken aback by this question but asked "What are the rules?"
Anthyda smiled probably unaware of how much this human knew of bladed weapons. "Simple you tag the other you get a point. First to 3 points wins. Oh and no biotics in case you were worried."
The human gave a vicious smile and said, "I'll go get my helmet." He jogged back to the barracks and emerged sometime later with a helmet on.
Seeing this Anthyda said "You sure you don't want anything else? These swords may be dull, but they are steel, they hurt."
Shepard merely shrugged and said, "I'll be fine." Turning to Narthada he asked, "May I borrow your sword?" Narthada nodded and handed it to him handle first. Taking it Shepard walked to his starting point.
As soon as Narthada shouted "begin" Shepard strode forward attacking. Anthyda parried but shepard gave her no time to counterattack, again he stepped froward closing in close to the asari. Anthyda blocked and gave ground. But once again Shepard stepped forward crowding out the much smaller asari. Shepard went for an upward stroke and Anthyda lunged forward. Her sword was aimed for shepherd's midsection, if executed properly it would block Shepard's strike while stabbing the man in the gut. Shepards strike however connected harder than Anthyda anticipated, the blow threw her own sword off to the side.
Shepard twisted his wrist, transposing from his upward slash into a strike to the head. Anthyda ducked and went low, If Shepard's sword was up high it would not be able to stop a slash to the midsection. The man stepped back and dropped his sword down low blocking the strike however his other hand shot out and grabbed anthyda's collar. Using his size and strength advantage he dragged her off her feet and then threw her down. She fell and rolled trying to get away, but rolling was not faster than walking and Shepard's sword came down with a light thud. The strike was light but strong enough for everyone to tell what happened.
"Point to Shepard" called out Narthada. Vasir was slightly amused, if Anthyda's scowl was anything to go by she had clearly not expected the human to know what he was doing with a blade. Shepard had expertly used his advantage in both size and strength. Getting back to their positions they began again.
This time it was Anthyda who launched forward striking downward from on high. Shepard launched both hands up. His blade contacted Anthyda's and forced it up, his other hand grabbed the wrist. With the other sword under control Shepard brought his down and made what would have been a vicious cut down the midsection. This was much shorter exchange than the first.
"Point to Shepard" and again the two walked up to their starting positions.
Once again, they began but this time neither started a rapid assault. Instead one attacked the other parried then a counter was launched that the first parried, the it repeated. For a second it looked like something out of a mythological vid, like one about an ancient justicar. Vasir could see it in her head 'A heroic justicar defends a village from some big hairy monster.' And like in all vids the villain wins the first few times. Suddenly Shepard took a step back and spread out his arms. Anthyda launched forward in lunge hoping to skewer him. Shepard however struck in an upward swing, the base of his blade catching Anthyda's point and driving it aside, while the tip of his struck her in the thigh.
"Point to Shepard, he wins the match." Spoke out Narthada who took the sword Shepard handed back.
Anthyda walked up and held her hand out "Good fight, do humans spend time practicing with ancient weapons as well?"
Taking her hand Shepard answered, "No I'm just old enough to have used them in battle. To you it may be a hobby to me it was a way of life. Thank you for the match, it was fun sparing against someone who knows what they're doing. It's a rare pleasure these days." With that the man pulled of his helmet and walked away.
The next day the asari got lucky. The humans walked into an ambush that wasn't planned. The team was simply walking slowly when one of them noticed the humans, the human didn't notice them, and the rest was easy. The asari were upwind so that human sense of smell didn't warn them. Sometimes you get lucky and this was one of those times. It was nice for luck to be on their side for a change, usually when the STG or Blackwatch manage to win in these exercises it's because of a string of good luck.
Coming back the mood was tense in both teams. The humans had blown through their lead, while the asari knew they could still easily loose this. It was a subdued evening with neither side being very inclined to do much of anything other than plan.
The Goddess Military complex.
Shepard.
The morning went like the previous few mornings, at least in routine, wake up, eat and get prepared to head out. The mood had changed however, a somber cloud hovered above the team, they all knew they had royally fucked up yesterday. All that sensory superiority and yet they blundered into an ambush that wasn't even planned. Under normal circumstances a 2-3 defeat would be fine especially against an enemy as capable as asari commandos. An STG squad would be happy with such a performance, but this had become a matter of national pride for both sides. Asari wanted to get back at going 2-0. The humans wanted to prove that they didn't just get lucky.
After talking over how best to approach the final fight, they had decided on a simple strategy. In essence it was a very similar to the asari's initial plan. Make haste for the hill and defend. Trying to get sneaky was too risky now. That asari were too on edge, and they knew the humans could track them. However, if they could take the hill then the asari would have to attack them. They were sure the asari had the same idea, so it was a race.
Jumping off the transport the crew immediately set about to figuring out where they were on the map, after that was done the team wasted no time in traveling as fast as they dared toward the hill. Soon however Anand spoke up through the radio.
"I think we are being followed."
"Anderson cursed "Damn it, Shepard you're the rearguard stay here and make as much noise as possible, delay them."
"Yes, sir." Shepard understood getting control of the hill was top priority. Stopping here to fight might score a win but the asari could always retreat. If the hill was taken, then a confrontation was inevitable with the humans defending a defensible high ground. So, staying behind he found a spot where he could run from cover to cover and pulled out both his assault rifle and sniper.
Taking up a position he waited for the asari to get into view. As soon as he saw one, he opened fire. Normally in an ambush one would wait until the whole enemy could be seen, but this was a delaying action. It was best to keep the enemy at a distance to keep them from realizing how few of you there are. He dropped his sniper, picked up his assault rifle and let out a long burst. Firing at where the asari used to be as she had taken cover by this point. A hail fire poured out at him including biotics but that was just as well. He had already picked up the sniper and was moving.
Finding another piece of cover away from the original position he once again took a shot on an asari peeking from cover trying to find him. Again, she took cover and he let out a burst with the rifle. Again, a wave of fire came down on his position. He moved and fired several more times but eventually the reply dwindled to near nothing. The this could mean several things, the enemy disengaged and was either flanking him or going around. The other option was they were trying got draw him out to investigate. He guessed it was one of the first two since someone was still returning fire, if they wanted him to come out no one would return fire.
He called to Anderson on the radio. "Be advised the enemy has disengaged they are likely going around."
The reply came. "Understood, good news is you bought us enough time to get there first."
"I'll deal with the rearguard they left and work my way up to you guys."
"Roger that."
Giving one burst of gunfire and receiving one in reply shepard reattached his weapons and left making a wide semicircle toward were the asari(s) were waiting. Luckily for him the asari had a similar idea but a few minutes after him. He had come to a stop and was looking around when he spotted and asari making her way toward him. He thought about how to take her down. It would have to be quick since otherwise she could put up a biotic barrier and possibly run away. So, he pulled out 2 grenade and the sniper rifle. He tossed the grenades as the asari came in range and immediately aimed and shot with the sniper rifle. The shot drained the shield and the grenades finished her off before she could do anything.
Of course, the grenades weren't real high explosives, they just had enough force to be felt. It also sent out a signal the told the hard suit computer that the person was hit with a grenade and was out. Scowling the asari sat down.
Shepard was about to turn for the hill when all of a sudden, he heard a cry Anand's cry on the radio.
"They're behind us!" Then one by one his squamates started to drop, their status going dark on his HUD.
He started running but soon enough he was the last one left. Unfortunately, that meant he had to make an assault on the hill, or he would loose on time. He decided to be sneaky about it since he had no idea how many asari were left. He went around the hill toward a cliff face against which they pinned the asari a few days before. He had decided to climb up the cliff. The armor he wore made it slightly awkward, but armor was not nearly as restricting as it used to be.
As he climbed, he had a thought. The asari had biotics, they could just lighten themselves and scamper up this cliff with little difficulty. Perhaps that's what they were trying to do a few days ago. The radio message did say that the asari came from behind. He hoped that the asari would think it impossible to do the same without biotics, it might give him a fighting chance. Peering up over the cliff edge he saw nothing, so he slowly made his way toward the very top.
On his way he saw two asari on the ground. They seemed shocked to see him. That was good, it meant that at maximum he only had to deal with two asari and if the shock of these asari was anything to go by it was unlikely the others would expect him to come from this side. The bad news was neither of them was Vasir. He could tell because the asari didn't wear helmets. Maybe it was a cultural thing, but Shepard thought it was stupid. Helmets were so useful that only an idiot would voluntarily forego one.
He was slowly stalking when he smelled an asari. He pulled out two grenades and his sniper, hoping to repeat what he had done not long ago. He poked his head out and saw Vasir staring straight at him. Long experience kept him firmly rooted. The asari had not done anything to indicate she saw his head and moving would just attract attention. Slowly she turned her head and Shepard tossed his grenades, then brought up his sniper and fired. Unfortunately, Vasir was very aware of her surroundings. She noticed the movement out of the corner of her eye and reacted immediately. Shepard's shot drained her shield, but she activated her barrier. The grenades dropped it, but she had survived the assault. Picking up a nearby pile of rocks with her biotics she hurled them at him. Cursing he dropped behind cover and pulled out his assault rifle. He popped out hoping a few shots will finish the spectre off, but instead of going for cover Vasir had gone on the offensive. She slammed into Shepard having biotically charged at him forcing him to drop his gun.
His shields held up but Vasir unleashed a biotic push that smashed through them and knocked him down on his back. Luckily, he had not yet been knocked out of the fight, unluckily Vasir was unsheathing her shotgun and shepard's remaining weapons were still sheathed. Acting instinctively Shepard unleashed his own biotic abilities and pulled Vasir. Her shields had not recharged yet, so she was knocked off her feet and launched down toward him. Laying on his back Shepard kicked at her with his boot and hit Vasir right on the jaw. The spectre's body went limp and she fell face first with a thud.
Shepard got up to run after all there was still another asari out there, but he noticed a violet puddle forming in the dirt. He knew asari blood was violet and despite his better judgement stopped to make sure the asari was alright. It was a good thing that he did because when he flipped her over, he saw something that would have made him laugh if it was told to him in a story. Vasir didn't were a helmet, and her breastplate did not adequately protect her neck. Apparently, she fell onto a jagged rock that cut a gash in her throat.
Shepard knew basically nothing about asari first aid, but he knew that losing as much blood as the spectre was losing cannot be good. So, he brought out his medpouch and applied a large amount of medigel to close the wound. At this point the other asari ran up and was about to shoot Shepard before she realized what was happening.
"Call a medical evac!" He yelled at her, and the asari hastily obeyed. With that the exercise was over for the day.
Serrice Military Hospital, Thessia.
Shepard.
Shepard walked into the hospital and checked into the front desk. He thought that if you put someone in the hospital it was a good idea to visit them. He even had a gift shipped in from earth. Getting it through security proved a hassle but eventually they let it go through. He walked to Vasir's room the door of which opened as he approached. Anthyda Ledavo walked out and gave Shepard a sour look. He understood it even if he didn't think he did anything wrong. Even if it was an accident, he had just put her friend in the hospital.
Walking in he saw Vasir in bed, she looked up and said, "Hello Shepard." Her tone surprised him. He had assumed she would be somewhat hostile, as she clearly was proud, confident, extremely competitive, and hypercompetent. These traits usually make people sore losers in Shepard's experience.
"How are you feeling?"
"Good, or as well as possible. I'll make a full recovery, won't even have a scar. One of the things we asari are very good at is healing. We will regrow legs and arms and even eyes given enough time. Granted we're not as good as the krogan, they'll heal much faster but, in their case, if a wound is so bad it almost kills them then it will leave a scar."
Shepard smiled "Yet another similarity between species. If humans couldn't heal without leaving scars, I'd be a walking pile of scar tissue, and if we couldn't regrow limbs and other things I'd long since be dead. One handed, one eyed, warriors generally have a lower survival rate."
Vasir smiled again and finally noticed the box shepard was carrying. "What's that? Don't tell me it's an apology. You have nothing to apologize for. You did what you had to. You even did something you didn't have to and saved my life in the process."
That was probably as close to a thank you as he was going to get form the spectre. Still it was better than her teammates had treated him in the last few days. "No, it's not an apology present, it's a 'get well soon' present." He handed the box to Vasir.
Looking at him skeptically she opened the box and pulled out the late 19nth century revolver. Her eyes went wide, and she practiced proper firearm safety. Finger off the trigger and pointing the barrel away from anything important.
"I know a gun when I see one, Shepard. How did you get it past security?"
"Well I simply explained that it's a gunpowder firearm and that without bullets it's basically an oddly shaped club."
The purple markings above her eyes went up, in an expression of surprise. "The guards bought that?"
Shepard smiled, "Well, the wording I used was slightly more convincing." He coughed "I also may have namedropped you to expedite their decision-making."
Vasir smirked and looked at the handle noticing the writing on it "What does that say?"
"It's a little rhyme carved by the original owner. I found it entertaining, so I bought it from an auction a century ago. I think it's topical to this situation. Flip it over, I carved a version in Thessian on the other side."
She did and read it aloud
"Be not afraid of any man that walks beneath the skies, though big he be, or small you be, for I will equalize." She smiled "I like it, definitely apropos. You bring any ammo?"
"Well you don't give a toy without batteries. However, I left them behind, I thought that if I brought ammo, they might actually bother you. I'll have it sent to you later, along with a manual on how to operate the thing."
"Thanks, now onto the main topic. Why didn't you tell me you're a biotic? Why did you never use them in the other matches?"
"Because I wasn't born a biotic…"
Immediately Vasir jumped in "What do you mean by 'wasn't born a biotic'?"
"Just what I said. I was not a biotic for the vast majority of my life, only after an accident that exposed me to element zero did, I develop the ability." He saw Vasir's stunned expression. Her mouth open wide. "Is that unusual?"
"Unusual? It's unheard of! For all races you are either born a biotic as a result from prenatal exposure to element zero or you never become one. The only exception are the asari, we evolved on an eezo rich world so we can incorporate eezo later in life. Does earth have any eezo reserves?"
"Not an atom of the stuff. Weirdly, not every human reacts to eezo exposure the same way. We've been trying to figure biotics for decades but there are many irregularities. For example, some can incorporate eezo but not do anything with it. They can barely lift a feather. Other can't stop incorporating eezo and have died horrible deaths, luckily that's very rare. Others can't incorporate any at all, and a few rare cases are like me. They can incorporate eezo and do something useful. We still have very few ideas as to why people react so differently. Until recently I didn't want to risk any health complication by practicing but recent events have changed my mind."
Vasir sat there in stunned silence before she spoke again "Did I hear you right? You don't have an amp regulating your nerve impulses? You're all natural?"
Shepard was getting confused. He had assumed that biotics in other species worked similarly to how they worked in humans, with the possible exception of asari but now it seems that's not the case. His distrust of the discipline was returning. "No, I have no amp whatever that is, and don't want one. Getting piece of tech, untested on humans, jammed into my head is not something I wish for."
Again, Vasir paused and then continued. "Non asari needs amps otherwise they couldn't send the same signal to all the nodes in the body. That's why non asari biotics can't do anything useful without an amp, their nervous systems aren't wired for it. I'm not a scientist, I can't even begin to guess why humans react so differently to element zero. I can say with certainty that soon every biotic expert in the galaxy will be trying to puzzle out the answer. I can also say that based on what you told me you're a natural biotic. Meaning you don't need an amp and can incorporate eezo naturally. Do not waste that gift. To many asari go their entire lives without practicing and are lesser for it. You say recent events changed your mind; good biotics are to useful to be left unexploited. Do not waste that potential."
Shepard pondered these new revelations for a moment, before deciding on a course of action. "Do you know of any tutors in biotics who might be willing to devote their full time on one student for a big pile of money?"
Again, the purple markings rose up "I may know some, but they won't come cheap. Doubt your salary will cover it."
Shepard simply smiled "Honestly I don't even know my salary, that's one of the benefits of being rich."
"I see you didn't spend a thousand years sitting on your ass doing nothing. I'll send you some info, now moving on. What was that stuff you used to seal the wound? Doctors say it saved my life, and yet they've never seen anything like it."
"Oh, that's medigel. An all-purpose salve combining anesthetic and clotting agents. It seals wounds quickly and gets a grip on flesh so hard even gases can't get through. The stuff is ubiquitous on any human world. The doctors had to call me in because they couldn't figure out how to get the stuff off. It's made to only release if a certain frequency of ultrasound is played."
"Damn, sounds useful, why were you guys the first to think of something like that?"
"Because it's technically illegal. It's a bioengineered organism. Honestly, I hope they council will make an exception, the stuff is to useful to just be banned."
"Even if they don't, it's not stopping me. Now one last question what happened with the exercise?"
"Anthyda didn't tell you?"
"She said it was declared a draw but can't say why, you have any more info?"
"Well that last exercise was called a draw and the alliance didn't want to continue. If I heard correctly the excuse they used, was that they didn't want me on the field as they thought I might suffer a terrible accident should I go in the field again. Considering the look Anthyda gave me as she walked out, I am thankful for that."
A wide grin spread on Vasir's face. "The Alliance is backing down. They could send someone to replace you. They're quitting while they can still say they didn't lose. Good to know we Asari still got it."
"That's one way of looking at it. I look at it as a tactical retreat. We'll get better. Just wait until I actually learn biotics."
Vasir jumped at the last sentence. "Deal, I want a rematch anyway. No way am I just gonna let you go around saying you kicked a spectre and got away with it. Just think of the corps' reputation."
Cosidering what he saw of the spectre abilities in the last few days a possibility rematch was something was both exciting and frightening, but he wasn't about to back down. "Deal."
Author's Notes
1
Chapter one of the ME1 story was published same time as this chapter. The story is called "Bloody Path Through the Stars"
Please review and I would very much like to hear your opinion on the entire story and what you think about the potential for the future stories.
Sorry about the wait, work was killer. Hopefully it was worth it.
2
So, this is the last chapter of the first contact story. I said it was going to be different and it was. Honestly, I was thinking about just scrapping the whole idea, it felt tacked on and didn't gel well with the rest. But I promised one more. I thought about breaking it into two because it was getting too long but decided against that as well. Thus, large chunks had to be shortened drastically.
Looking back at the whole story there are a whole host of things I want to change, rewrite, or add. Doing that would take time away from going forward so I'm going to leave it as is at least for now.
3
I wanted to show its really, really hard to become a spectre you truly have to be the best both physically and mentally. In the game it's kinds presented as 'oh you didn't die from some giant space worms? Obviously, you're spectre material.' I think it should be much harder and I hope my description at least kind off shows that.
4
One I wanted to introduce some other aspects of these AU humans from killer earth. So, think of them as 'Humans made from sterner stuff'. Essentially same as you or me in looks and size but with denser muscles, tougher skin, harder bones, better senses. I already mentioned biotics in chapter 3 AN's, so I won't mention them here.
Prey animals generally have excellent senses. In fact, some scientists think deer have a better sense of smell than dogs (can't exactly test that deer are too skittish). Krogan in the story have good senses of smell. One sniff and a 7-day old tank bred can tell you aren't from Korlus. Since Earth is basically Tuchanka lite (still has all its native animals, it hasn't been nuked like Tuchanka). I thought I made sense to give humans good senses of smell as well as they are a mix of hunter and prey.
5
As I see it there are 2 main baddass races in ME universe Asari and Krogan. Krogan because they're krogan not much to say about that. Asari because biotics, which are straight up physics defying cheats. If an asari doesn't practice biotics, then well she's not all that impressive other than the long-life span. However, krogan live longer. Both live over a thousand years, so they got plenty of time to be scary good at a whole bunch of things.
Well humans are the third in this story. They are much tougher than asari and other species but not nearly as tough as the krogan. They have a much higher average biotic potential than krogan but not as high as the asari. They however can live longer than either.
6
So, I always found it weird how you never see an asari with a scar so I thought I made sense that they can regen but slowly. I also had to do the same with humans as otherwise Shepard would just be a pile of scar tissue missing limbs. I thought that since krogan have scars but regen really fast I thought it made sense that the only type of injury that makes scars are those that almost killed them. That would explain why they think they're sexy. It a brag "See this (points to scar) this went through my fuckin heart and almost killed me, but I'm so tough it didn't." I think it also makes sense for long lived species to be able to regen cause otherwise 900 years is a really long time to go without eyes, or limbs.
I know this goes against some dialogue heard in game but this is already an AU so I went with it.
7
Some asked about the possibilities of a Vasir/Shepard romance. I want to say that is not where I'm going with it. My intentions with Vasir are what I said in the AN's for chapter 6. I felt a spectre you got to know better was missing from the games, so I decided to make one. Coopting an existing character that doesn't get much screen time is easier than making a new one and shoehorning it into the story. It also allows for more interesting stories once we get to ME2.
I don't have any concrete plans involving Shepard's love life. Honestly, I have thought of everything from him being already married to a Chakwas romance. If you have any ideas put them in a review or PM me (About this or anything else I should know.) I take both seriously as anyone who takes the time to read, enjoy and comment on the story deserves to have their ideas at least considered.
8
Representative on mission was an office in France during the French revolution. Well the big revolution everyone talks about, not the other ones.
9
A picture of a revolver with the little rhyme was sent to me by a friend. I thought it cool and appropriate, so I included it.