Chapter 7, in which people ponder.
~0~
"Intriguing. As most stellar mappers are familiar with, there are large swaths of uncovered space beyond the Terminus Systems. The Mass Relays don't reach there for…some reason that I cannot afford to spent time on pondering. Still, how would be investigate all those allegations without the means to get there? It might be a star, or a black hole, but how do we investigate all the claims about the radiation levels and gravitational anomalies? Even worse, claims about strange and erratic energy readings have been appearing lately. How long have these supposed readings been going on?"
- Commander Rentola's logbook, entry 2
~0~
Operator Faredon looked the schematics over again, hoping to find something to help classify the vessel. It was too large to be a Frigate or Light Cruiser, but it wasn't large enough to be a Heavy Cruiser or Dreadnought. Knowing which race it belonged to ought to help too. Turians had different designs that humans did, though this ship looked like it belonged to neither.
Large, black-gray, more heavily armored than any ship should be. It just had to be a vessel of war, there was no alternative.
The krogan liked their ships boxy in the past. Could this be an old krogan warship?
But what was its purpose? What was it doing in the Terminus Systems? No amount of pirates could have done the damage that it had received. It had been completely carved in two, as if it had been struck by a massive mining laser.
"Any luck?" Operater Invidia asked as she walked by, carrying a data pad with the same schematics on it.
"Not yet," the human told the asari Commando. "What I can tell, this thing is a large brick outfitted with large brick weapons. If the boss wants to know who and what, we need a proper technician around."
"The boss already sent a technician on his way," replied the Commando. "Should arrive in a few days."
"We still prohibited from entering the derelict?"
"We are."
Operator Faredon shook his head disapprovingly. "What's so dangerous about a completely flushed ship? It's empty. Nothing inside. There hasn't been anything inside either-"
"Except for the cytogenetically lifeform," the Asari countered. "Forgot about that?"
Faredon wasn't worried. "That thing is long gone. Shepard took it."
"And you're not worried about that?"
The human Operator shrugged. "Don't see why."
"How about the fact that this thing slaughtered the entire research team and the elite guard assigned to it? Good soldiers don't grow on bushes."
"Trees," Faredon corrected her with a hint of frustration. "And that's exactly why I don't worry. That thing is gone, so we don't have to worry about anything. Shepard is dancing around with Cerberus and the Collectors now. That problem should take care of itself."
Now the Asari shrugged. "If that's your idea, go ahead and wander around the derelict."
Faredon shook his head. "Now I know you want me dead. The boss doesn't take disobedience well."
Operator Invidia sat down on one of the supply boxes and crossed her legs. "Whatever makes you say that?"
"My predecessor was shot for ignoring his orders."
"Or her."
"What?"
The asari put her data pad away. "It could be a her. We don't know."
"Sure we don't know. Could also be an 'it'. Want to call our boss it?"
"Very funny. Truly, humans are without equal with regards to humor. Can we now concentrate on the matter at hand?"
Faredon sat back against the lone chair in the room and nodded at the Asari. "Sure. Shoot."
She grabbed another data pad, brushing past her sidearm as she did. "The researchers were able to transmit a lot of data about this hostile creature before it splattered their brains across the walls. It is of alien origin."
"It is of alien origin?" Operator Faredon remarked, stroking the edge of his beard with gloved fingers. "Is that our scientific conclusion? Amongst the lanes of innovation and wisdom your kind strides."
Invidia made a sharp gesture with her head. "Would you let me finish? It is of alien origin because it does not match anything we know. Its general shape appears human-like, though it seemed to possess raw strength equal to, if not exceeding that of a Krogan."
"So it is an alien? Not just a hyper-advanced mech?"
"Mechs do not require cryogenical preservation," she countered. "And it was not a special holding cell, because the derelict had dozens of those pods. Now, the language used aboard it was…an odd human dialect."
That took Faredon by surprise. "Human?"
"Yes. The alien vessel with the alien lifeform had human words spread through its interior. How do you explain that?"
Operator Faredon glanced at the floor. "Certainly not by accusing me of vandalism."
"I wasn't. Your primitive wrists are unable to mimic a military layout."
"No wonder the boss is interested."
"It's not just that. There are no corpses, none at all. All weapons on the vessel seem to have disappeared as well."
"Well…" Faredon got to his feet again. "Let's just wait until the technicians get here, shall we?"
"One last thing. If we are to capture this thing, we need to know what to do. What to use."
"You're the Commando," the human Operator replied. No reason to worry, nothing to fret about. "Finest warriors in the galaxy, right? One alien creature should not be much trouble."
"Not really. We lost an entire team trying to capture it when Shepard found it. She killed off the team leader, while the alien creature just slaughtered all the others. Being Commandos didn't help them."
"You don't sound too depressed over the loss of your sisters, do you, Invidia?"
The asari averted her face. "They were foolish, rushing Shepard and that alien like that. We have much more powerful cards to play. And once the Councilor learns of this, there will be blood."
"Really? The Asari Councilor will listen to a random Asari Commando?"
"Well, the boss is resourceful. She'll find a way."
"Or he."
"Whatever."
~0~
Normandy SR-2
Starboard Observation Deck
Only through a great effort did Samara manage to keep her mind from wandering the paths of past and future that always attempted to lure her away from her mediation sessions. Memories and possible scenarios, all of them seemed to call her out when she was at her most serene and thus most vulnerable. Though she had learned to ignore the physical -the various alien crewmembers that wandered around the crew quarters, the constant conversations that went on around her- she seemed to be unable to properly resist the wiles of the psychological. Memories of her daughter taunted her, the victims of her uncontested debauchery having gone utterly unavenged. It could not be called just.
Yes, to say that the intangible bothered her was an accurate wager. But there was something else that greatly disturbed her. Something that, if she wanted to be true to her Oath with the Commander, needed to be ignored. However, it was not something that she could ignore.
She could still sense the lingering sensation of his presence. Unable to wash it off, unable to shift her focus away, Samara had been left with the mental imprint of something that she was still unable to comprehend.
When she had confronted the alien creature -when she had taken the decision to violently confront him over his crimes against the Code- something had happened. And it was good that the Commander had interfered when she did, because…
She was unable to properly convey it into straight thoughts. It required more meditation. Normally, the sounds of the crew in the human mess hall did not bother her. Yet now, they were detrimental to her effort of making sense of her thoughts.
The alien creature -the Commander had called it 'Chief'- was not like the rest of her crew. She had to discard the circumstances in which he had been found, for his actions and words had to speak for him more than this past. The same went for the convict Jack. The same went for the assassin Thane.
But even if she could ignore the violence in which he had been found, it was impossible for her to discard the violence that he had been born in. During their confrontation -a confrontation wherein he had impressively held his own against her- she had attempted to gauge his aura. Every sentient being had a past, a present and a future. And every sentient carried those with them. It was not telepathy -not truly- but it was something that asari were especially skillful at. Gifted asari were capable of sensing and appraising the core essence of another individual, and with a thousand years of experience, Samara was particularly gifted in that regard.
Every being aboard the Normandy had their own story, their own aura. The Commander had been forged in fire, which was among the reasons that Samara trusted her with the Oath. But this Chief…he was different. He was stained in the blood and the souls of tens of thousands of creatures. Again, it had taken her a long time to make sense out of what she had felt and she was completely unsure if she had even understood it right, but if she did...
The Commander had been forged in fire. The convict Jack had not. She had been forged for the fire. Fighting had been her goal, not her means. This Chief was like Jack. He had been forged for the fires of war even before he had ever seen them. Like a Krogan warlord felt like war and death, so felt the Chief.
The perfect soldier for this mission. But beyond it? Outside of it? How dangerous was he? Could a person drenched in death and war like him truly be trustworthy?
It was not her decision to make. Shepard trusted the Chief, and she would have to tolerate him. But…she had to be certain. Just in case.
Samara sighed. Commander Shepard was an intriguing person, but her aura was filled with highly suppressed emotions and desire for blood and violence. Thus, she was a most conflicting individual as well.
She had yet to see the Commander commit herself to wanton acts of sadism and destruction, but she had never been wrong in assessing other species before. However much she wanted to confide into the Commander, she just could not do such a thing yet. Not until she and the Commander both came to terms with the duality in her life.
~0~
Hangar Bay
As John disassembled his M5 Individual Combat Weapon System for the sixth time, point three seconds slower than the fifth time, Cortana gently and very carefully directed the nanomachines inside of his MJOLNIR towards the Heads-Up Display to make the necessary adjustments for a better long-term cooperation between the two of them. While she did that, she dissevered the information that the Codex offered her once again, comparing it to all the mission reports that had been stashed aboard the Normandy.
There was just so much of it! The very nature of this ship's existence pointed towards an intergalactic community with a size that could rival, if not surpass, that of the Covenant. It was difficult to keep concentrating on the Chief as he worked autonomously on seeing the insides of his guns. Again.
A little bit frustrating too.
Organic drone.
And then there was that. Cortana was easily the most advanced form of Artificial Intelligence that the UNSC had ever created, even to this day. She was programmed with every trick, tool and code-breaking algorithm that Section Three of the Office of Naval Intelligence could have thought of, and even a few that they hadn't. Yet for all of her capabilities and abilities, she was not immune to the mortal danger of time. As much as she wanted to ignore it -she wanted nothing more than to turn her head the other way and pretend nothing was amiss- doing so would be dangerous and stupid.
Not as dangerous as the occasional whisper that bordered on the edge of her consciousness. Before, she had thought it to be a fault in her logic system, caused by the enormous flooding-
Wrong choice of words. The enormous quantity of information offered to her by the Forerunner systems. That was better.
But the remarkably aggressive and condescending edge of the whispers had proven to be annoyingly resilient as well. It would not leave her alone. A side-effect of her time on High Charity, no doubt. Even in death the Gravemind would not leave her be. But to direct its malicious and evil ways towards John? That was low, even for a parasitic hivemind made out of corpses.
And there was little she could do about it except for ignoring it.
The Normandy's system made for a useful environment, especially in aiding her to ignore other matters. It wasn't a particularly welcome system though. Its counterintrusion systems were sophisticated, Cortana had to give it to them. This Enhanced Defense Intelligence as it was called just did not leave her alone. Delicate pings kept popping up throughout the system, routinely checking for faults and malfunctions that would most likely be brought under its immediate attention.
Cortana had no doubt what she would be classified as when this EDI found her. Risking a cyberwarfare intrusion did not seem attractive to her, and neither was the prospect of battling another AI in her current state. So she would remain hidden.
She multitasked a portion of herself to keep a watch for the other AI's presence and continued rummaging throughout the Normandy's wealth of information. The Codex was starting to become obsolete, limited and dissertated as it was. It did help her reach a balanced consensus about this community that they had found themselves in, however.
A consensus about their current position in the galaxy, for example. The war between mankind and the Covenant had been remarkably regional, compared to the size of the Milky Way which- according to Shepard's rather well-designed map- they were still positioned in. So regional in fact that it the existence of this Citadel Council and its community did not surprise her that much. After all, the Orion Arm was hardly representative for all life. There was bound to be more alien races than those of the Covenant outside of it.
Nevertheless, the foundation was an astonishing one. Their technology, in fact their entire civilization, was based upon the discovery of ancient artifacts and a rare element likely not found in the Orion arm. The mass effect they called it. Using the aforementioned Element zero -which she still didn't agree with, as that naming made no sense- these people could increase or decrease the mass of a volume of space-time when subjected to an electric current.
That was the part that intrigued Cortana the most. So much that she actually had to recheck her calculations on the Chief's nanomachines, lest they do something less than productive. The mass effect fields utilized dark energy to change the mass of solid objects, effectively granting these Citadel Races Faster Than Light-
"Chief," she said. She was so busy that she had almost missed the various odd signals that had been located in her own occasional pining. Almost. "I came across several anomalous electronic signals in the cargo hold. Three in the crates, two in the walls."
"Booby-traps?"
Cortana performed the electronic equivalent of a sigh. Everything was always centered on war-
Barbarian.
No. The Chief was raised for war. Even if he had not been on a military vessel, he had every reason to suspect that someone was trying to hurt him. Nobody would get that chance. "Unlikely. Nobody aboard the ship would have a reason to do that. One moment." She traced the faint electronic signals back towards the third deck, crew quarters. Miranda Lawson's office. "It appears Miss Lawson has a profound interest in you, Chief."
Hers.
She would ignore that as well.
"Listening devices, most likely." She traced the signals that the little bugs sent and quickly cut them, but not before corrupting the information that they had gathered. Video and audio files, it seemed. Well, the operative had better use them quickly, because Cortana would make sure that they would never be watched again.
It took the super-soldier several long seconds to locate the various electronic listening devices that Lawson seemed to have planted all across the hangar bay. When she had had the time to do so, Cortana didn't know at this moment. What she did know was that Miss Lawson had an extensive dossier, most of which this Cerberus organization was trying to keep decrypted.
Trying to keep secrets from her were they now? Cute.
They had a curious way of shielding sensitive material. Really shielding it, underneath several junk sequence codes. The Illusive Man really lived up to his illusiveness. Cortana resisted the urge to rip the encryption fields surrounding the woman apart, knowing that doing so would alert this ship's AI. Instead she gently pried apart the codes that were littering the dossier, revealing the redacted parts for a split-second before her breach would be detected, after which she quickly placed them back and retreated from that particular part of the system.
Really sophisticated software, these Cerberus people. But as any light could pierce the veil of mist, Cortana pierced his Illusiveness. Miranda Lawson was the product of extensive genetic engineering. Never had a mother, only an extremely wealthy and influential father. A father who spent a fortune creating a genetically-'perfect' daughter, it would seem. Superior physique, reflexes, immune system…she was like a Spartan 1.1. A little Orion.
There was a whole background stashed away there as well, which Cortana quickly copied and stashed in a stolen tertiary system buffer. She had more interesting things to do than blackmail Lawson when the time came.
For now.
The Citadel's FTL. Based on the Element Zero and the Mass Effect fields. And then there were the Mass Relays, which were supposed to be created by the ancient race called 'Protheans'. The relationship between the Protheans and the Reapers was similar to that of mankind and the Covenant. Taken into account that the Covenant never won, of course. The Protheans had been hunted to extinction by the Reapers, fifty-thousand years ago. Just in time to come to rise after the disappearance of the Forerunners.
Cortana monitored the internal cameras of the ship, creating several fast-escape routes for the Chief to take in case of hostilities. At the same time, she generated a counter-signal to keep the EDI at bay. There was a connection between the Forerunners, Reapers and Protheans, she was certain. Where did these races fit in? And the Element Zero technology?
She accessed several schematics of the weaponry that these people used and started analyzing them, as well as directing the nanomachines to start reworking the Chief's omnitool. There were limitations to the nanomachines, which made it hard to work with existing resources. The omnitool lacked the hardware to turn it into the offensive weapon that the Eclipse Engineers had used, but she could still allow it to trigger a burst of flashing light, allowing it to function as a wrist-mounted flash grenade. Alternatively, she could overload its power systems and flush them out in the form of an electromagnetic pulse, effectively utilizing it as an EMP charge.
Of course, the EMP could potentially ruin the omnitool, not to mention what it could do to the MJOLNIR's systems. She still needed to figure out those little kinks, but the possibility was there.
The Chief finished retrieving Lawson's bugs and he pocketed them, but he didn't destroy them. Cortana knew why, and she was impressed. It seemed that the days of nonstop fighting and the Gravemind's attempts to influence his thoughts had not dulled him in any way.
In that way, the Chief had pulled through better than she had.
Cortana turned off the feelings of guilt and regret and focused on keeping the Chief functioning in this world. His performance had been sublime so far, but there was bound to be more dangerous enemies than some ragtag group of mercenaries. They had not encountered the YMIR mechs that she had expected, but if all this fuss about the Collectors was to be believed, they would be a tough foe to fight as well.
Oh. Now that was interesting. A species called the 'Geth'. A race, if a group of machines could be called that, made entirely out of sophisticated intelligences. VI's, Virtual Intelligences. Programs that became more intelligent the more they were bundled together.
Very interesting. Cortana automated the analyzing process of the Geth as well and returned her focus to the matters at hand.
This world, where mankind was centered around their mass effecting technology, was not the world of the UNSC. It didn't take her that long to figure that out. She had reached a conclusion based on evidence that could not be ignored, but the theory behind the conclusion was incomplete.
The conclusion was that there was a second earth, a second solar system where mankind had evolved in a different path from the UNSC's. A revised history, an alternate world. The evidence was the fact that this Systems Alliance mankind was part of a vast, intergalactic community wherein their own First-Contact war had been with the Turians and not the Covenant. There was no mention, no trace, of any Covenant species in all the information that she had found. Different technology, different ships, even a different history. The Alliance Earth had only suffered one World War and it had gone completely different from the UNSC's first and second World War. Indeed, it appeared that this new mankind was more diplomatically apt than hers.
Judging from several lab reports, even their physique was different.
Now, that was the evidence. The problem was that it could not be explained. There was no theory behind it to piece the information together in a coherent manner and she hated that. The most pressing concern right now was how to break this to the Chief. While his intellect and ability to think rationally were still well beyond the average sentient being, he most likely will not be capable of coping with a change as radical as this. A different universe with a different humanity and a different threat? How could any Spartan deal with that?
The best course of action was simple. Divert the truth and allow the Master Chief to focus on surviving the battles that were to come. When the opportunity arose to get the both of them back to the UNSC, she could take it.
"Cortana," said the Master Chief.
The AI checked her automated research, performed one last sweep of her own safe zone in the Normandy's cyber systems and then replied. "Yes, Chief?"
"I need your opinion on something. Do you think the Covenant could find these Citadel races?"
Cortana held no illusions about the capabilities of the Covenant, even though they had already splintered off into multiple other factions. As such, his question could be answered on multiple facets. The Elites were likely to encounter the Citadel races if, according to the position of the Orion arm, they ventured deeper into the galaxy. The same went for the UNSC, as it was likely to assume that they would be looking for them out here. The Brutes? Not so much. The prophets? No way.
"In the future, it is possible that the Elites might encounter these races. The Covenant as it is now, is highly unlikely to interfere." She halted, feeling the EDI's focus travel towards operative Lawson's quarters. "Why the curiosity, if I might ask?"
"Just future references. Were there any plasma weapons left on the Dawn's wreck?"
His requests were as easy for Cortana to answer as calculating a swarm of Archer missiles to impact corresponding with the impact of a MAC, but she understood that the average person would find them to be without any coherence. At least, no relevance to each other.
Odd.
When the Dawn docked with the Elite's flagship above the Ark, it seemed the Marines and the Elites stashed an impressive cache inside the barracks. Shepard's crew took most, if not all of them with them aboard. In fact, it was curious that mister Taylor had not yet made a comment on the nature of the weaponry. Plasma technology seemed exceptionally rare, if the Codex was to be believed.
It was pure speculation on her part. She had managed to pull a large amount of data from the Dawn's systems. Camera footage as well. "When Avery prepped for the assault, he put made sure to take good inventory." The late Sergeant Major had performed most adequately in arming the UNSC forces aboard the Ark. "Several Plasma rifles and pistols, three of the Type-50 Sniper Rifle Systems and even several Type-33 "Needler" rifles. I believe that there might be even more, but I need to verify that later."
The Chief lowered his head when she mentioned the Sergeant. "Several of those mercenaries had body armour. The Commander's weapon proved ineffective against it."
Cortana felt a hint of annoyance when the Chief didn´t further comment on Avery´s death. Then again, it wasn't really like him to do so. She supposed that, if he had commented on it, it would be a sign of trouble.
"The protection that these hostiles enjoy has several weaknesses, Chief. As you proved, the Kinetic Barriers can easily be overcome with close quarters combat. Shepard overwhelmed the shields of multiple hostiles with rapid fire, making them appear prone to overloading. They're different from energy shields in that regard. The specific body armor that the mercenaries employed seemed to do the opposite."
"Disperse the force and energy behind multiple rapid impacts, but give away underneath hard blows."
"Exactly, but you won't need plasma to overcome the heavy armor systems." And while Cortana would have really liked to give her Spartan more advice than to simply 'punch harder', she had the feeling that he was going to need those plasma weapons. "You will have limited batteries for those weapons, Chief. Mister Taylor might be able reproduce the conventional ammunition, but once the charges are depleted, you're out."
"Copy that."
"Furthermore, there are specific threats that will require heavier firepower than your rifle can offer. While you might be able to kill Krogan with it, I doubt you would do much against those YMIR Mechs." In fact, Cortana had read the report about the Collector forms that Shepard and her ground team had faced. Those seemed like excellent candidates to test the efficiency of Plasma weaponry against.
She was about to ask the Chief when he had last eaten something, when her sensors registered the activation of the shipboard elevator.
Cortana hijacked the signal to the cameras and saw that, this time, it was Commander Shepard herself coming down to visit them. Interesting.
"Chief," said Cortana, "Heads-up, the Commander is dropping by."
"I hope she's more friendly than the last visitor." He inserted the magazine into its receiver and slung the rifle over his back, where the magnetic clips adhered it tightly to the armor.
And Cortana did not miss the readied stance he took. While an outside observer would not have noticed anything, it was impossible for her to miss his slightly adjusted footing and straightened back. He still didn't trust Shepard. There was healthy alertness and then there was this.
She let him though. After everything that he had been through, she couldn't really blame him.
The doors to the elevator opened and Shepard walked out. "Hey Chief."
Cortana saw the Master Chief stiffen in response. He snapped off a brief salute. "Commander."
"At ease, Chief," Shepard replied. Her posture suggested that she was completely relaxed. No hostile intent whatsoever -she wasn't fazed by the Chief the least.
Cortana thought the Commander to be an impressive woman. She had not met a lot of humans who could casually greet a Spartan like that, especially not after having recently spent a mission with him.. "Getting used to things?"
"Yes ma'am," he replied.
"Nice. I was hoping to ask you some questions by the way, if you don't mind. That's kind of my thing."
As long as the answer wasn't classified, sure. Why not. Cortana didn't see how the answer could not be classified though, because they were dealing with an alien species here. Sure, the alien species was human, but not the right kind of human. Not theirs. Even worse, they were working very closely with other species of aliens. Any and all information regarding combat, weapons and technology was completely off-limits. Even those plasma weapons, which luckily were a real pain to dismantle.
The Chief hesitated, but only for half a second. "Of course, ma'am."
Shepard smirked. "I can't help but notice you've got a doctorate in ass-kicking. But you didn't know about the Collectors and the Reapers, so I'm curious. Who did you fight?"
"Hostile alien species, Commander," replied the Chief. "They called themselves 'the Covenant'."
Shepard crossed her arms. "Original. Where did your people colonize? Might have been Batarians."
Cortana pulled forth all information regarding these 'Batarians'. While far from the kind of aliens that the UNSC would want to be associated with, on their own they wouldn't be a threat. And the four eyes kind of gave it away, too. Not Covenant.
According to local information -the Codex really came short at that point- their Orion arm couldn't be found on the Galaxy map. It was partially called the local cluster, but that was about it. The mapping technology of these Citadel races couldn't be perfect however, meaning that there could still be large swaths of space waiting to be mapped out. Space beyond the Terminus Systems, for example.
Cortana relayed that last bit towards the Chief, using the newly-augmented HUD to project a small map of the Galaxy map on his visor and then highlight the hypothetical area that the UNSC and the Covenant had lost billions of lives over.
She was tempted to create a small feedback-loop to prevent her from doing that in battle. While useful, the Chief really couldn't use those distractions.
It didn't appear to faze him, however. "I believe we colonized beyond the Terminus Systems, Commander. I can assure you that the Covenant has not appeared in Citadel Space."
Cortana hoped that the Spartan didn't mind loosening his lips a little. If the reports were to be believed, Shepard was a talkative woman, so gifted in the art of speaking that she could talk people to death. Literally.
Poor Saren had never seen it coming.
"Well, we've got a history of warfare too. The Council might be willing to offer compensations if it turns out it was one of the client races."
"No ma'am. The war with the Covenant was a total war, with a collection of alien Species." He halted. "Reminiscent of the Council species, but not belonging to them."
Ouch. Cortana didn't know John to take jabs like that. This whole Citadel thing didn't sit right with him after all.
If Shepard understood the link, she sure didn't show it. "A total war? How many people were involved?"
Talking numbers might be a clear giveaway that something wasn't right. Cortana didn't want Shepard thinking about a whole civilization beyond the Terminus Systems and she sure didn't want the EDI to do it either.
The Chief saw the danger of that particular truth as well. "All of us. The Covenant's military objective was the destruction of our species as a whole."
Shepard scowled. "Damn. That must have been an ugly war. How long have you been fighting?"
If she was looking for a classified answer…
"A long time, ma'am."
The commander shifted her weight to her hind leg. "Uh-huh. Is this war still going on? Are you still needed?"
"Not officially, Commander."
"Good to hear that. You're still around, so I guess the Covenant didn't reach their goal."
The Chief subtly lowered his head, as if recalling something. "Only partially, ma'am."
Casualties had been…astronomical. Billions had perished in fire due to the Covenant's holy cleansing. Shepard didn't need to know that. As a matter of fact, she didn't need to know anything about the nature of the Human-Covenant war.
Silence.
Oh, stop that.
Perhaps sensing that this wasn't really the best subject to talk about with the Chief, Shepard quickly changed the subject. At least somewhat. "You know, when I first found you, you already spoke my language. In a very odd, very unfamiliar dialect."
"Yes?" the Chief asked, seemingly without realizing the major problem that lies with that remark.
"Well, Earth lies on one end of the Galaxy. And we found you in the Terminus Systems, on the other side of the galaxy. Can you explain the problem I'm having?"
"Not really, ma'am." the Chief truthfully replied.
Shepard raised an eyebrow. "And you have no idea how that works?"
"No ma'am."
"Alright then. Guess I'll ask Mordin about that. Is there anything you need?"
The Chief was about to answer negatively when Cortana stopped him. Even if there wasn't anything that he needed, there were some things that she needed. She was really curious about the way that these species had added the mass effecting technology into their weapon systems. Asking for a fully functioning armor system would be a bit too much, but she would love to take a close look at some pieces of weapons technology.
She gave him her laundry list and sat back.
"If possible, I would requisition several of your weapons for observation," said the Chief.
His request seemed to take Shepard by surprise. "Our guns? Hmm…I'll need to ask Jacob real nice for that. What do you need them for?"
"This technology is new to me. If I know the full capabilities of the weapon systems, I can counter them more effectively."
A good point. Cortana had witnessed several moments where the Chief had managed to temporarily disable a hostile element by striking its weapon in the precise right spot, ruining it and forcing its owner to break off into close quarters combat. A death sentence when faced with a Spartan.
"Yeah, you can request some standard firearms at the Armory," replied Shepard. "I-" She cut herself off as her omnitool lit up. "Damnit…sorry, I've got a situation. I should go."
"If I can be of assistance…" said the Chief.
Shepard cast him a look. "Two biotic prodigies duking it out in Miranda's office? Both of them female? Believe me Chief, you don't want to be there. I'll take care of it."
"Wish her luck," remarked Cortana.
He didn't. Instead, the Master Chief watched the Commander turn around and rush back into the elevator, which quickly closed behind her.
"So, what do you think?" the AI asked as she watched Shepard take her leave. She hijacked the cameras in Lawson's office and sure enough, there the operative was, arguing with the tattooed human called Jack. Chairs were levitating as well. Were biotics powerful enough to cause a hull breach? The room had a window, which had to be a structural weakness. Were Jack and Miranda in danger of getting sucked out through a biotic-created hole?
"The Mass Accelerators function as effective weapons. However, the design makes little sense."
Cortana left the camera system again when she saw Shepard march into the room. "I didn't mean that. I was talking about this ship, as a whole. Its crew, its environment. Does it suit you?"
The Master Chief paused, pondering her question. "The CIC is too far removed from the bridge and the chain of command is broken."
"Broken?" Inquired Cortana. She hadn't expected that one.
"Shepard directly commands the entire ship, instead of department heads. It's not efficient."
That wasn't really the point either. "As Shepard said, Cerberus operations makes this unit unconventional. They're not the Marines, Chief. And they're definitely not Spartans."
The Spartan grunted in response.
He was being exceptionally grumpy. More than usual. Had the constant fighting on the Ark gotten to him? Or was he suffering from the same aftereffects of the Gravemind's mental influence she had?
Then, the Master Chief put his rifle down on the crate again and started his umptieth attempt at breaking his record gun-dissembling.
Cortana saw what he was doing and she didn't much feel for that. "Chief, I think you should take a break. Rest and recuperation are vital parts of any military operation."
"I don't require rest or recuperation. The last mission was no problem."
Weren't Krogan supposed to be the soldiers with the thickest heads? "Chief, when was the last time you ate? You should at least visit the crew deck to get a meal."
"I'm not- "
"John, listen to me. Ever since High Charity, you've been acting differently." No, not High Charity. Even before that. After the destruction of the Unyielding Hierophant, but it had definitely gotten worse after High Charity.
The Chief placed a new magazine next to his rifle. He went silent for a while, likely contemplating her words. "The first or second time?"
Ah, humor. Definitely a good sign. "The first. Look, you don't have to eat it there; you can just take it with you."
"Alright."
Cortana felt a flash of relief flow through her. "Just stay away from Operative Lawson's office."
"If you say so."
With a bit of luck, he would encounter someone he could muster some form of attachment for. Cortana was not willing to return to UNSC space before she had cracked this particular puzzle, so they might as well get as comfortable as they could get.
~0~
CODEX ENTRY: ASARI: RESEARCH: GENETIC MODIFICATION
While the Citadel Council has officially banned experiments with extensive genetic modification, allowing for the occasional "gene mods" only, there are several instances that still work outside these feebly-enforced laws.
Accusations of illegal genetic research against the Asari Republics have been relatively rare in comparison to the Turian Hierarchy and the Salarian Union, but the few cases that were handled have been heavily scrutinized because of the asari's natural affinity for Biotics. While Thessia officially denies every accusation of illegal research, reports of "Thessian Commandoes" have still not been dismissed.
STG investigations have either gone dark, or met with failure.
