Mass Effect 1

Night and Day: From Akuze to Earth and Back Again

Chapter 4 – Noveria I

Ashley dropped the oily rag onto the bench and returned the rifle to its case. She enjoyed her work in the armoury; enjoyed organising requisitions and armour and weapons. The look of pleasure on Liara's face as she had slipped into the armour Ash had found and prepared for her, had given her an immense feeling of satisfaction. She had been surprised at the ease with which the asari archaeologist had adjusted to military life, then again, when you've been around for a hundred years it's not surprising that you'd pick up a few tricks. This trip was going to be tough on her though. If they did manage to track Matriarch Benezia down, Ashley wasn't at all confident that the confrontation would go well and the fear of what was to come was taking a toll on her friend. She had barely left her room behind the med bay since she'd been told about the mission. It was time to check in on her.

She collected Wrex and Garrus on her way. They were both terrible at sticking to their timetables; Wrex due to some misguided sense of rebellion and Garrus due to some sort of obsession with finishing whatever task he had started. It was almost absentmindedness on his part. She bustled them into the elevator and once again marvelled that it should be so slow on a ship as new as this one. If she'd been by herself, she would have climbed the service ladder, but it had been designed to fit humans and taurians. Wrex had been obliged to climb the into the slow-moving crate whenever he moved to and from the lower levels. Rather than let it bother him, the krogan seemed to take perverse pride in it. He had often teased Ashley as she climbed the ladder. "That's right, little pyjak, into your hole you go. Heh, heh."

When they arrived, the mess was full and bustling. People were eagerly packing calories into their bodies in preparation for landing on Noveria. It finally felt like they were getting somewhere, and the voices were high and light-hearted. Kaiden waved them over to where he was sitting but it was difficult to navigate through the crowded space. Ashley sent Wrex and Garrus to find a spot and she went to pick up the appropriate meal packs, greeting people as she went. She took the two trays over to where the trio were now sitting, squeezed together on a bench, and made her excuses. On her way out she picked up another pair of trays and went in search of Liara.

The medical bay was empty. The lights flickered on with Ashley's arrival. The cold sterility of the place was vastly different to the environment of the shuttle bay and Ashely was suddenly very conscious of the gun oil still beneath her fingernails. She placed the trays down and made use of the medical grade soap to clean and scrub her hands. She took her time. Liara was always meticulous about her appearance, for all that she enjoyed digging about in the dirt for her studies, and Ashley's father had always explained the art of fitting in was mostly about doing as Romans do. She heard the door behind her open, so she picked up the trays expecting to see Liara. Instead, it was Shepard smiling at her. There was something very warm about her smile in that moment, and in the way her brown eyes sparkled. Ashley couldn't help but return the look with a toothy smile of her own.

"I better get up to the cockpit," Shepard said, eyeing the two trays, the smile never leaving her eyes. "Everything at your end ready to go?"

"Yes, ma'am." Ashley let her own smile creep into her voice.

Shepard cocked an eyebrow, "Well, all right then. I'll be seeing you soon."

Ashley watched Shepard leave. She inhaled deeply before breathing the air out of her nose. Then she squared her shoulders and turned towards Liara's door.

Liara's cabin was even more empty than Shepard's. But at least Shepard's was a purpose-built space. It had a small comms area and a desk. It looked lived in, and it contained… something. A soul… or something. But this was a storage area. Heavy crates were stacked and strapped against the wall. There was nothing at all in view that belonged to Liara, except datapads. It made Ashley feel incredibly sad. She could not have said why. Marines typically aren't allowed personal space on board frigates, and they quickly learn to live without bulky personal items. But there, in that grey, empty, soulless space, Liara seemed incredibly small.

She smiled weakly, "Oh, thank you, Ashley."

They ate side by side in companionable silence.

"How are you doing?" Ashley asked, watching the asari carefully to be sure her direct line of questioning hadn't offended her friend.

"Oh, you know, I'm not sure what I feel or how I am supposed to feel. My mother would never do those things. I must see her, to find out what has happened to change her from the mother I loved to the woman responsible for… for…."

Liara's piping voice stuttered to a halt.

"I'm so sorry, Liara." She took Liara's blue hand in her own. Ashley felt incredibly inadequate. She searched for something, anything to say. "We'll look after you out there. Shepard will do her best for your mother."

"I know. Shepard has been—"

"Normandy, we are entering Noveria's atmosphere. Please prepare to dock. Shore party to assemble. Updated instructions have been sent to your omni-tools. Yadda, yadda, yadda. Have a wonderful day." Joker's comm messages were not exactly military standard, but he got the essential information across well enough.

Liara and Ashley's omni-tools buzzed simultaneously. They had less than an hour to make their final preparations and get battle ready. Shepard insisted they wear full armour for this mission. In fact, any mission where there was a chance of a skirmish. She believed that if you went in looking ready for a fight and then acted completely reasonably, people were often so grateful they'd often supply more than they ordinarily would have. And then, if things did go sideways and fighting was required, you were ready for it.

"Liara, I better get down and give people a hand with the new stuff. I'll see you down there when you are ready?" She made the last part a question, knowing that Liara might need more time alone.

"Yes. I'll see you soon."

Ashley gathered up the trays. She dropped them off to the mess and grasped the maintenance ladder with a childish glee that she had never really grown out of. Her boots and callused hands pressed into the rails. She had done this too many times to feel any pain of friction as the rungs blurred past and she slid between the levels. Her knees bent gracefully to take the impact. As she stepped away from the ladder, she turned in time to see Shepard and Garrus watching. She was suddenly grateful it had been a perfectly executed dismount. Not two days ago, she'd misjudged and jarred her knees. Shepard looked away but Ashley was sure she had seen a grin.

It was time to get to work.

She went from person to person checking they had what they needed and that the armour was snug and wasn't going to pinch or rub. She talked Shepard through the options for ammo and showed Liara the new pistols. Finally, everything else was tidied away or locked in cases and it was time to dock. The other two were already waiting when Ashley made it to the crew deck. Shepard excused herself, presumably to head to the cockpit or to leave her final instructions with Pressley. Ashley made herself comfortable, leaning forward so she could look through the viewport. She would never get tired of looking out of these windows. Even as a kid she'd dreamed of serving on a starship. Seeing the stars, serving the Alliance, meeting new people, fighting for humanity's interests.

She turned to face Liara. "Do you ever miss being an archaeologist?"

"Of course. But stopping the Reapers is more important. It feels good knowing I can offer something. That there is something I can do to help. Going back to my studies and feeling powerless to stop what is coming would be much worse."

Ashley let that digest. She supposed that was why she loved the military. Sure, there was a lot of doing nothing and waiting, but most of the time you at least felt like you were serving some noble purpose, some greater good. Ashley very much believed in serving high powers and the greater good. On reflection, the teachings of the Catholic church had set her family up nicely for their military training. She turned back to the viewport to see a raging blizzard. She wondered if the asari had a religion that would offer Liara some comfort. She was about to ask but was interrupted by the ship docking and Shepard's return.

She let the VI's familiar voice wash over her as it informed the crew that XO Pressley would be in command during Shepard's absence. It was familiar and comforting. It helped put Ashley into a relaxed state of readiness. The trio walked out of the airlock and onto Port Hanshan. It was quiet for a port, but there was cargo everywhere that spoke of work that had stopped recently, or that would soon begin. Shepard led them confidently along the walkway. Their heavy footsteps echoed off the hard surfaces of the hangar. Finally, beyond a concrete arch, Ashley saw a party of three waiting for them. The human in the middle appeared to be unarmed but was flanked by a human and a turian, both armed, all three were wearing combat armour. Ashley was instantly wary.

"That's far enough." The woman in the middle raised her hand in the universal sign for stop.

"Something wrong, officer?" Shepard asked calmly. It was not her most polite voice. Ashley wondered what had happened to take her mood from cheerful and smiling on board the Normandy to sounding like she was ready to fight these three at the slightest provocation.

"You better hope there isn't." This came from the second human, the one who was armed. She sounded like she was itching for a fight as well.

"This is an unscheduled arrival. I need to see your credentials."

"You first." Ashley didn't look at Shepard's face. She didn't need to. This was her no-nonsense tone. It was the tone she used when she had just about given up on being diplomatic. Instead, Ashley eyed up the area. She decided that the best cover was behind a large metal crate that they had just passed, but it was probably too far away to be immediately helpful. The archway beside them had large support walls. The squad would have to use those.

"We're the law here. Show some respect." This from the blonde woman. She was starting to get on Ashley's nerves.

She was obviously starting to irritate her commanding officer, too. The pair exchanged looks. "I'm Captain Maeko Matsuo. Elanus Risk Control Services."

"I'm a Spectre. My name is Shepard."

"A load of horse crap, ma'am."

"We will need to confirm that. Also, I must advise you that firearms are not permitted on Noveria. Sergeant Stirling, secure their weapons."

Shepard pulled out her gun. Ashley saw Liara's biotics flair as she automatically raised her own pistol. She was quietly impressed by the control shown by the Elanus security team. It was easy for people who aren't properly combat trained to get overly excited. Ashley had a deep mistrust of people who got excited while holding guns. Always a little too keen to pull the trigger. Luckily, these people were willing to wait for Shepard to decide what to do. She clearly wasn't in the mood for diplomacy and Ash was here to support her.

"Back away. Nice and slow." Ashley tried to instil a confidence in her voice that she wasn't really feeling.

The two groups eyed each other as the silence stretched on. Shepard lowered her gun and at last seemed willing to hand their weapons over. It would only have been a token gesture. The Normandy was a warship and armed to the teeth, had weapons been required.

"Stand down. Their house; their rules." Shepard said calmly, as if it been Liara and Ashley who had lost control. Ashley could not work out what was going on. Shepard was normally much more collected than this. Normally much better at deescalating situations. This had been unnecessarily dangerous.

"Captain Matsuo, stand down. We confirmed their identity. Spectres are authorised to carry weapons here, Captain."

"You may proceed, Spectre. I hope the rest of your visit will be less confrontational." Ashley silently agreed. "Parasini san will meet you upstairs. Behave yourselves."

And just like that, they were dismissed like naughty children. The blizzard continued to rage outside. Ashley felt cold and confused.

Gianna Parasini was the most attractive woman Ash had ever met. Her voice was like melted butter. Her dress was modest but perfectly fitted to her frame and Ashley struggled to stop looking at her hands. They were long fingered and graceful, and she wore a ring that drew attention to the sensual curves of her thumb. Ashley was incredibly grateful Parasini seemed not to have noticed her staring. Her eyes sparkled as she smiled, giving the commander her full attention. Shepard, for her part, was back to being her most professional self. She was not above flirting a little if it got her what she wanted, but Parasini did not seem to require her to work too hard. Peak 15 was where Benezia had headed, so Peak 15 was where they were going. In a snowstorm. They were just working through the bureaucratic loopholes required to get them there. Ashley felt her mind wandering again. It had been a bit of a shock finding out that Parasini had been working for Noveria Internal Affairs undercover. Ashley had enjoyed helping her take down a load of corrupt security personnel, and convincing Qui'in to testify against Anoleis had been a nice touch, but now it felt like a distraction. Finally, Parasini had what she wanted and handed over the pass to the garage.

"See you round the galaxy, Commander. I owe you a beer."

Ashley wondered if it would be worth trying to wear her hair down.

The moment the garage door was opened, Ashley felt a prickle on her neck. The others were clearly just as ill at ease. Liara's biotics flared and Shepard pulled out her pistol. Ashley's assault rifle was in her hands before she'd even had time to fully register what was happening. She thought she heard a mechanical whirr, and before she could feel confident that she knew where it had come from, she saw two huge geth looming in front of them. There was no time for instructions, the geth immediately began firing on them, Ashley dove for cover and checked Liara had done the same. She couldn't see where Shepard had dived to, but she was more than capable of looking after herself. The fire fight did not take long. Her squad was too well armed and armoured for a drawn-out battle with a couple of machines with legs. Still, there was long pause once the last geth went down. The squad listened carefully for sounds of others. Instead, they heard the garage door open. Maeko Matsuo and some of her guards had arrived, no doubt drawn by the sound of gunshots. Ashley decided to let Shepard and Liara handle that one. She wasn't feeling particularly good. She looked down to see her hands were shaking. Jesus, Ashley. Get it together. She looked back to check that the others were still occupied. They were quite engrossed and there seemed to be some minor disagreement taking place. Shepard hadn't seemed to notice she was missing. She felt her body begin to shake. Ashley Madeline Williams you need to calm the fuck d—. She had time to feel herself heave before she vomited between the tyres of the M29 Grizzly she'd been crouched beside. This is not Eden Prime. You're with Shepard and Liara. You can do this. A tear trickled down her face and she wiped it roughly away. She stood gingerly. Then walked slowly and carefully away from the group, away from the incriminating puddle she'd left. She felt a momentary pang of guilt for whoever was going to be given the job of clean up. Breathing in and out slowly, she kept walking towards the massive hangar doors. Parked in front was a Mako, the one they'd been given to drive to Peak 15. Idiot. She walked slowly around the Mako, mentally imitating Garrus' inspections. She felt calmer. Breathe in… and out. She heard the clanking of armoured people approaching and steeled herself before turning to look. Shepard looked grim and Liara looked ashen.

"Everything ok?" Shepard and Ashley asked each other simultaneously. There was no humour at all in the look they shared.

"My mother is almost certainly still on Peak 15. It is also likely she is responsible for smuggling the geth onto Noveria," Liara answered.

What was there to say to that?

Ashley looked down at her feet and felt rather than saw Shepard's gaze sweep over her. When Ashley raised her eyes, she could see that Shepard's were watching her hands closely. Ashley did her own visual assessment and was pleased to see they had stopped shaking.

Ashley gripped Liara's shoulder in sympathy and led the way to the Mako's entry hatch. It was time to head into the blizzard.

A/N:

Ashley makes note of a lesson her dad taught her. The full idiom is: when in Rome do as Romans do. Basically saying if you want to fit in, act like the people around you are acting

I have been playing Mirror's Edge recently. It is a game that rewards you if you don't kill people and has the mechanics to disarm people with guns and then calmly knock them out with them. Not killing people in a high stakes game is quite a charming idea. In this chapter of Mass Effect, I cannot believe that this version of the paragon Spectre would have killed a bunch of guards. So, in my version, she didn't. It's not mentioned in the story but if you like, assume this Shepard still saves lives (even corrupt ones) whenever she can. Things will not be like that in my ME2 story. Not at all. But for now, she is a good cop. Even if she did act really weird on this mission.