"The new production lines aboard the Normandy have been producing a decent number of guns and equipment Admirals; not enough to equip the entire fleet, but enough for our little strike force." Tali reported, looking up from her data-slate; and back up to Admiral 'Gerrel and Auntie 'Raan.
"Is it possible to up the production to better equip our Fleet Reconnaissance Marines?" 'Gerrel asked.
Tali wanted to rub her eyes, furious that she still needed to wear her damned suit and mask despite her cured immune system. But they needed to keep up appearances for the rest of the fleet's sake; at least until Admiral 'Xen, damn her, was able to create a decent substitute to Antlion Extract.
"Unfortunately no, Chief Petty Officer Adams has informed me that our current production speeds have already pushed the Combine fabricators and Mold Generators as far as he's comfortable. And frankly I'm not that willing to override our expert on Combine Tech." She replied, glancing away from the Holo-Table to the rest of the bridge.
Joker was absently inputting controls into the navigation console, Captain 'Mal standing behind him; the rest of the bridge crew was made up of a mixture of Asari, Humans, and a few Turians and Salarians. Kal was the only other Quarian on the Bridge, and it seemed like he was too busy flirting with a human female; who Tali noted with some amusement was their infiltration expert, Kasumi Goto.
Redirecting her attention back to the Admirals, Tali set down the 'Enhanced 1911' that most of the human crew had begun using; "The CM1917's and the Mini-Garand's are already being churned out at record rates. The Combine are great at many things, but slapping together top notch weaponry from what can be essentially garbage is perhaps what they are best at."
She tapped a few keys on the table, and the schematic of the 'Enhanced 1911' and sent it to the Admirals; "So far, we've made up a Sniper Rifle and a Battle Rifle; now we've moved onto Pistols. The base of this weapon-" Here she waved a hand, and all the Combine upgrades were yanked away to reveal the M1911 at the base. "-is the Colt Model 1911 Automatic."
She smiled lightly as the four Admirals seemed to be taking notes, "The chief problem we have right now is that these weapons are made of metal and wood; now the wood hasn't been that big of a problem as of late, since we shifted to using plastics and a synthetic material humans call 'Kevlar'."
Her father nodded along, "It's the metals that are giving you trouble at the moment." He guessed.
Tali grimaced, "It shouldn't have surprised me, but the metals required for the barrels and inner workings of these weapons need to be upgraded. The old models used Stainless Steel, but the IME upgrades have been causing more degradation than we initially anticipated."
"How long can they last at our current Operational Tempo?" Admiral 'Koris asked, already fearing the worst.
"At most, maybe five years; and that is if these guns are taken care of like our infants. We need to use a different metal for the barrels and the receivers; but… we don't know which is best because we haven't been able to do any testing as of late." Tali explained.
Admiral 'Gerrel huffed and leaned back. "It can't really be helped. So many resources have been pulled working on this 'Escort Carrier' and it's attached Space Wing. We have every willing able body training constantly to learn fighter and strike tactics, it's a wonder we have the personnel to keep the Live-ships running."
Admiral 'Raan tapped on her table. "Those strike fighter tactics have already saved lives; Strike-craft attached to the Frigate Trelora managed to chase off a Batarian scout two days ago. My sources have confirmed they were part of a larger Pirate flotilla. We might have survived the attack, but not without casualties we can't afford." She leaned back. "I know these ground teams are important, but so is protecting the Flotilla. If it takes a little longer to fit out our Knights Errant, then so be it."
A snort drew Tali's attention to Captain 'Mal as he turned away from Joker and walked over to the Holo-Conference. She smirked and asked, "Is the Knight-Commander not satisfied with his equipment?"
The Captain bristled slightly. "The 'Knight-Commander' is quite happy with his own equipment, but is genuinely concerned about that of his 'Squires'." He leaned forward towards the holograms. "You're calling on us more and more, and the wear is showing in the equipment. Either dial back the Ops-Tempo, or allocate more resources for our gear. Otherwise there won't be any Knights; just corpses."
Everyone in the room tensed as they felt a familiar presence touch their minds.
While it was incredibly controlled and restricted; Tali could sense the apprehension and worry from Ayita, though Tali was pretty sure that she was the only one who could tell. Captain 'Mal might've sensed it as well, but if so he never said anything about it.
The roiling, inky-black mass of clouds and shadows floated into the bridge; coalescing into a familiar shape, an almost alluring female form while Emerald Green Eyes shone through the darkness.
"Mistress…" Mal said with a heavy hint of sarcasm while giving a light but still mocking bow, while Tali nodded at her.
The rest of the bridge crew stayed focused on their tasks, but all glanced at the figure from time to time. It was rare to see 'The Mistress' outside of her quarters, which just so happened to be directly across from Cato and Ayita's quarters; or away from her Apprentices.
"The Knight-Commander need not show us such deference; we are not your queen, nor shall we ever be." Ayita replied, though everyone could sense her amusement.
Tali had to resist the urge to giggle; it was a running joke that Mal would sarcastically treat 'The Mistress' like she was Queen Lun reincarnate, and Ayita always reacted the exact same way by acting like it was a case of mistaken identity; but playing along with the mans delusions.
However, the light banter fell away as a feeling of moroseness began to emanate from Ayita; "We bring grave news… The Vortessence has shown us that another has arrived here in this world. Another who is… important… to the cause of our freedom. But this one cannot hope to save this individual alone; so we, as your ally, request your assistance in this matter."
The Admirals looked at each other, before looking at Ayita; "And may we ask why?"
"You may, but our answer is likely not to be to your satisfaction." She paused and looked down, likely contemplating her words; "We have sensed, and the Vortessence has shown us, that there is another human on this colony." She said, quickly typing in some coordinates; which pointed to an Asari colony in the Terminus not far away. "But, with methods closed even to us, he has somehow… appeared there suddenly. It should be impossible, but this human was not there; and then suddenly there."
Rael crossed his arms, while everyone else shared some confused looks; "So you're saying that he just… popped in out of nowhere?"
"That is… correct; and that is what troubles us. We have not seen such a display of power since…" Ayita trailed off, while Tali swallowed.
'Raan and 'Mal both shuddered, knowing that she was referring to the Nihilanth.
The other Admirals looked at each other, and Rael gave a reluctant nod; "If only to help preserve our new alliance and to hide it from the council; we agree to assist you."
Outwardly there was no reaction, beyond Ayita inclining her head towards Rael in a show of respect that surprised the Quarians; who, even after two years of a mutually beneficial Alliance with humans, were still used to being bullied into submission.
"And so another is saved, We thank the Rael'Zorah for this display of trust." She said, before turning to leave. "We shall commune with the Vortessence to determine the best possible course of action in dealing with these… Slavers…" Ayita practically spat the last word out, while her shadowed form reached up and massaged her cloudy wrists; something everyone took note of.
Tali swallowed, remembering the broken manicals around Ulysses arms and neck; something he had hidden very well with his cloak. While Ayita herself had never been captured; others had been, and Tali knew that it was likely that the Young Woman in front of her was probably experiencing the memories of the captured.
As the Admirals nodded and their holograms disappeared, Tali felt Ayita's mind withdraw from hers; even as the mass of Shadow's and Clouds turned away and floated out of the bridge, the feeling of foreboding leaving everyone's minds.
She took a breath, and breathed a sigh of relief; even as everyone else let their shoulders drop.
The past two years had allowed Ayita to mellow out a lot, and allow her to adjust to life in a normal society; but by the Ancestors, did she frighten everyone. Tali knew the difference between 'The Mistress' and Ayita'Zorah, but she was still terrifying when channeling her persona of being a living Kelek'miin.
"Captain 'Zorah, please report to the medical bay." The intercom barked out.
Tali frowned heavily, they had only just entered FTL; and while she had been busy the past few hours, she had still noted that Garrus had yet to come talk to her.
Kal had come up to the bridge, but he hadn't seemed panicked; and he definitely would have told her if Garrus had been injured.
She turned her gaze to Kal, and he looked away from Kasumi; the woman seemingly amused by him.
Both seemed to feel the Captains eyes on them, and Kal winced before walking forward. "Er, Captain… would you mind if I accompanied you?"
Tali narrowed her eyes, while Kal and Kasumi exchanged nervous glances. "Very well, Ensign Goto if you would please follow. Captain 'Mal, you have the conn." It was an opportunity to catch up with her friend at least, as she hadn't had the chance to talk with Kas since their mission on Omega.
Although she had the distinct feeling that would be the last thing on her mind once she reached the medical bay.
Adrian may have been a veteran and long since hardened by Black Mesa and his 'Employment' by that damned Spook. But he still retained many of his old personality traits and quirks. Among others was his mouth; he may have been a Marine, but he could swear like a sailor when it came down to it.
"Oh Shit! Oh Shit! Oh Shit!" He shouted as he bobbed and weaved through the crowd, trying to get to some kind of cover; even as the four eyed aliens fired indiscriminately.
As coldhearted as it sounded, he didn't really care, just as long as they weren't shooting at him; because Adrian had no clue over whether or not his PCV could handle whatever these alien bastards were shooting.
Adrian stumbled into an alleyway; panting for breath. "Squeak!SqueSqueak!"
Adrian Scowled, "What is it sparky?" He asked between breaths. The long years spent mostly alone with only the Shockroach for company had long since allowed Adrian to learn how to decipher the Sentient Alien bugs' noises.
Aya had thought the little guy cute…
Shaking his head and refocusing on the task at hand, Adrian jostled the Shockroach; "What is it?" he repeated.
"SqueaSqueakSquea-" The Shockroach replied, and Adrian stared at the sentient bug like he had gone insane.
"Sparky are you nuts? We have no clue what the hell those guy's weapons can do to me." Adrian protested, but was already edging towards the edge of the alleyway as the crowds rushed past; no one noticing him in the confusion and panic that gripped them.
Sparky buzzed slightly, and gave a light jolt to Adrians arm, prompting a curse from the Marine; "Alright! Alright, fine… jeez you're pushy, you know that?"
"Eek…"
Adrian checked his HUD and brought up his inventory; apparently along with his MP5SD, and his grenade launcher and the ammo that came with both, the spook had left Adrian a few more weapons.
His M40A1 Sniper Rifle, which was all but useless in these close Quarters; Adrian's Sniper School Training notwithstanding. His .357 Desert Eagle, while very useful, was severely wanting in terms of ammo; meaning that it was an emergency fallback weapon and nothing more. His SPAS-12, which was again useless in these kinds of crowds; he was more likely to hit a friendly or a noncombatant than one of those four eyed bastards.
He didn't even consider his K-Bar or the Pipe Wrench.
So that left him two weapons since Adrian had long since ruled out his MP5; as even after all these years, he still had yet to master the guns recoil.
The Suppressed Glock-17 Aya had let him 'Borrow' until they got out of Black Mesa; and Sparky the Shockroach. Adrian pulled out said Glock and stared at it; even as he noted that the crowds had thinned out considerably.
He took another peek, and saw that it was just the four eyed Aliens left in the immediate area.
"SqueakEek…" Adrian gave a soft smile.
As annoying and as pushy as the little bug could be sometimes, and as much as Adrian threatened to squish Sparky or drop him in water; the two were still friends. "Thanks for letting me keep my promise Sparky."
"SqueakSqueak!"
Adrian snorted, "And now the moment is past; alrighty then…" Adrian put away the Glock, while drawing his .357 Desert Eagle in his left hand; Sparky's neon blue glow increased as Adrian adjusted his right hand to allow the Shockroach to get a better position. He took a deep breath, and felt the Nanites that his PCV regularly injected into his bloodstream to increase his healing factor, strength, and endurance practically buzz with the excitement of the prospect of combat; not that that was even possible of course.
"Let's go teach these sons a bitchs a lesson in kickassery."
Garrus paced the room nervously, even as Professor Solus and Dr. Chambers did their exam on Lutum. He still had no clue as to what he was going to tell Tali; because it was entirely dependent on the results of the test.
Personally, he was conflicted on what he hoped about those results. They could mean he was a father, but then he'd be just as culpable as Lutum's... Titan's cursed name! She deserves her real name back, the girl's mother for leaving her to her fate. Or they could say he wasn't her father, but then he'd be obligated to track down both her parents...
He growled under his breath. "And give them both a swift kick in the groin for abandoning a child!"
Dr. Chambers gave him an odd look, "Did you say something Garrus?" She asked.
Shaking himself out of his thoughts, and a little embarrassed at his loss of control, he said; "No-No… just… thinking." He looked away and sat down in a chair; giving the Girl, he refused to call her Dirt, a reassuring look as he did so.
She gave a soft buzz of unease in reply; glancing between Garrus and the humans in the room, squeaking in distress whenever Mordin got near her. Normally it would be a cause for amusement from Garrus, as Mordin tended to draw that kind of reaction from the children on the ship; but this time he didn't find it funny, as Mordin had gotten a blood sample to run the DNA and Genetic tests.
That Salarian was obsessed with needles, Garrus was sure.
"-stole some Combine Pulse Plugs from the armory in City 1?" His head perked up, recognizing the voice as Kasumi; one of the humans Tali had become friends with.
"No you didn't, perhaps you can tell me later Kas." He heard Tali reply.
"Is it alright if we come in with you?" That was Kal, and Garrus swallowed; both grateful and a little unnerved. If Tali's… brother in all but name essentially, was trying to keep her distracted; that was a pretty good indicator on how screwed he was.
"I… don't see why not; but if it is a private matter, then you should leave." Tali replied, walking through the hatchway.
Garrus stood and walked up to her, and her posture shifted from curious to concerned; "Garrus? What's wrong?" She asked, taking note of his drooping fringe and mandibles.
Kal and Kas exchanged a glance, and Garrus gave them a nod; and the two of them took the hint and walked over to talk with Dr. Chambers and Professor Solus who were currently running the tests.
"So," he shifted uneasily but maintained eye contact, "possibly congratulations, because I might be a father?"
Tali blinked and stared at him; before she closed her eyes and visor palmed, "...Did you pick up another child for the crew to adopt?" She asked, half laughing and mostly sarcastic; clearly thinking he was joking.
Garrus buzzed in that way he had when he wasn't sure he was about to piss her off. "There might not be much choice in the matter of adoption, depending on what the Doctors say."
He moved slightly and turned, revealing a malnourished and scared Turian girl. "This is Tali. I trust her with everything."
The Girl stared up at Tali in wonder, tilting her head with a curious buzz; "I sense… kindness…" the girl whispered, but edged toward Garrus nonetheless. Tali narrowed her eyes, looking back and forth between them.
"Garrus… You can't mean…" She said slowly.
He buzzed slightly in unease, "We don't know until the tests are finished, but… please don't pass out like with Ori."
"That time I was justified." Tali snapped before she took a calming breath, "And how have they not determined the parentage?" She asked.
"Something to do with the fact that she's Vortal." Garrus replied with a shrug.
"Yes. Vortal abilities messing with tests. Latched onto you mentally. Parentage is indeterminate. But presumably you are the father." Professor Solus interrupted them, the Turian girl giving a loud squeak and hiding behind Garrus.
"So what does that mean?" Tali asked, looking between the two; still trying to catch up with the fact that Garrus may have had a child out of Bonding.
Garrus was thankful she was still talking. When Tali got mad, she got quiet... or she got her shotgun. "It means I need to track her mother down and give her a sock in the mandibles for abandoning her child." He glanced over at his maybe daughter. "It also means she needs a better name than Lutum."
Tali blinked while the girl, Lutum, buzzed in surprise; "Why? What does Lutum mean?" She asked, already fearing the answer.
Garrus huffed and scratched his frill. "It means 'Dirt'. No child should go through life being told everyone is supposed to walk on them."
The child stared up at them both, "What do you mean? I was weak… that was what mother told me, that I had to use other powers to be strong." She said innocently.
Garrus had to fight down an actual growl of fury on hearing that; "That's rich, if your mother is who I think she is; considering the fact that she was a Cabal." He huffed angrily, and began to pace the room. As he began to calm down, a thought came to his mind; and felt a slight smile cross his face. "Tali… kiddo, I think I've got a name."
"What?!" The girl hopped up and looked up at Garrus with hope in her eyes; practically bouncing up and down.
Tali crossed her arms, and Garrus knew that she was smiling under her mask; "Yes Garrus, do enlighten us."
Garrus knelt down, and placed his hands on the girls shoulders; "How about Vestris?"
"You mean after the old Turian spirit of Family?" She asked with wide eyes, almost like she was reciting a dictionary.
"The very same." He replied.
Tali seemed to think it over, "Well… I certainly think it suits you Ms. Vakarian." She said, looking down at the girl; bouncing on her toes with barely contained excitement. It took a second for both Turians to fully register what she had said.
Garrus buzzed for a moment. "Well then; looks like I need to track down a laser engraver." He gently tapped Vestris' brow plate. "Can't have my daughter running around Bare-faced now, can I?"
Solus and Kelly smiled as Garrus and Tali left the room with their new daughter, having already chased Kal and Kasumi out; and returned to their respective labs. Kelly, attending to her duties as ship's Psychiatrist, already began taking notes of the newly named Vestris and her effect on Garrus and Tali; while Mordin went back to his experiments on trying to find suitable replacements for the Antlion Extract for the Quarian Cure.
Neither noticed that the terminal that they had used to test Vestris and Garrus's DNA flashed from "Data Inconclusive" to "No Match" for a very brief moment; it was only a second or two, before it flashed again and the words were replaced with "Data Corrupted".
No one would know for a long while the true results of the test.
"Commander 'Mal, could you please call the Mistress to the conference room?" Benezia heard Samara ask.
"Of Course Justicar Samara; she's on her way now." The Quarian replied.
"Our thanks." Samara said, shutting off the comms channel.
Benezia paid it little mind as she examined the latest reports regarding the production lines of the weapons and the armor systems on the ship. She wasn't sure why, but she had felt nothing but a pall of dread and despair as of late.
It had started when the ship departed into FTL for the colony under attack by the Batarians; and Shephard just so happens to sense her Father on that same planet? There were just too many coincidences this time.
Wrex and Samara sat across from her, also checking the reports. "Hm… We need to turn others to our side, my people in particular. The problem is that the Turians and Salarians are watching Tuchanka like Varren; so any attempts at starting up production facilities would probably be met with indiscriminate nuking."
"As you have told us Battlemaster… and told us… and told us." Benezia replied.
It honestly felt like they were talking in circles now, and all of them knew it. The fact of the matter was that while everyone else was busy dealing with smaller matters; the three of them had become the unofficial strategic planners for the new 'Systems Alliance' as they had started to call themselves.
It was frustrating to say the least; but the fact of the matter was that they were stuck. Any potential action taken would likely result in Tevos going on a campaign of subtle but total Genocide of the Quarian people; and all out and open Genocide of humanity and the Vortigaunts.
Benezia set down her data-slate and rubbed her eyes.
She had read up on human history to find a base to work with regarding how best to deal with them; but the fact of the matter was that even now, humanity was still mostly divided into dozens of different cultures. She had managed to compartmentalize these cultures into two camps; but it was still a dangerous degree of oversimplification in her opinion.
One side, and those most likely to support the Combine and later the Council, were the collectivists; the ones who believed society took precedence over the individual. The two biggest and most infamous Collectivists in human History were Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin. Of the two, Hitler she dismissed as a nutjob that happened to be a good speaker and a man who had everything going for him at the right time. The fact that his 'Empire' collapsed after less than a decade attested to his effectiveness as a Statesman.
It was Stalin she found to be very Asari-like; very much Like Tevos in fact.
The three of them were drawn out of their thoughts when a familiar presence touched their minds, announcing their arrival.
About time. Benezia thought to herself; wondering what had taken the girl so long to get there.
Benezia blinked and the other two started as the feminine shaped mass of shadows floated into their room; before the door shut behind her, and Ayita dropped her disguise and slumped into a chair.
"I hate this." Ayita'Zorah stated bluntly, glaring around the table at the other three. "Why am I doing this?" She demanded, for what felt like the twentieth time just this month alone.
These humans… Benezia rubbed her temples to stave off her growing headache; she had never met another species that had tried her patience as much as the Batarians when they had made first contact with them.
"Because the only thing the council respects is power and wisdom, the latter of which my people have corrupted to mean influence and age." Benezia said simply.
Shephard growled angrily, while Samara shook her head; "In the olden days, such a view was seen as correct and just; but it has since been corrupted."
"That's the problem!" Shephard snapped, "It should be up to your populaces to decide who is best to lead, not just a special few; and more than that, our leaders should not have such influence into our lives." She leaned back in her chair with a groan. "My people, Americans, our whole belief in government ran on 'Leave me the hell alone, and I'll leave you the hell alone'. What is so difficult to grasp with that?" She fumed, "Fix your problems yourself; I'm not your parent who drops everything to fix your problems."
Benezia raised an eyebrow and quickly made a note; another view into the human psyche, the individualist side of the spectrum.
Wrex just laughed, "Ah… never truer words have been spoken; but unfortunately, this messy business called politics now demands our attention."
Samara nodded, "Indeed, as much as I wish to leave you to train your apprentices, it is time for you to start learning the political game that is statecraft. As Matriarch Benezia said, 'The Mistress' is the personification of the power and wisdom you can draw upon and channel through the Vortessence; even if you yourself lack those traits, though I very much doubt that. As such, our sisters will see you; or rather The Mistress as the leader and the one pulling the strings of intrigue. Even if that is not the case."
Benezia hummed as she added, "Appearances matter, young Mistress Shephard. The very disrespect of Asari for objective truth, indeed, our disbelief in its very existence; leads us to view all stated facts as instruments for furtherance of one ulterior purpose or another." fighting down a smile as she did so.
That human Ambassador, George Kennan, may as well have been describing Asari; as accurately as he had described the Russians.
The Elder T'Soni crossed her hands and took a centering breath. They were preparing to embark on a tremendously dangerous task, even more so than the assault on the besieged colony; they were about to enter the Asari Political Arena. Benezia needed Ayita and what she represented if the Matriarch was to save her own people from themselves. She needed to be direct, clear, and above all genuine. She had to resist the centuries of ingrained political duplicity, or she would poison the young Vortal Mistress to her advice.
"Those appearances will be crucial in the coming days. By intervening on an Asari colony, we are essentially declaring that the Matriarchs of the Republics are incompetant to protect their own."
"Which they are." Wrex said bluntly, prompting a dirty look from Samara; and a resigned wince from Benezia herself.
Ayita blinked and tilted her head, "We're just there to rescue my father... and helping the people there." She said, sounding confused.
Benezia rubbed her eyes, a habit she had fallen into as of late. "By going there at all, we are intervening. The Councilors will not see it any other way, no matter the outcome. As much as we put a pretty face on it; the Asari rule through two things, the Illusion of our power, and terror. And what I mean by terror, is 'Politics through Murder'; I have little doubts that I was assigned to the Council expedition so that Tevos, in her paranoid delusions, could dismantle and quietly kill off any of my supporters in the Council governments."
"And I have little doubts that the team of Commandos, the two junior Justicars, and the Secret Police units sent to 'escort' me on Illium were there to quiet me; and just in case I refused, they brought overwhelming numbers to subdue me and drag me to mīsit'irawī chamiberi, where I would have never been heard from again." Samara added.
T'Soni sighed and leaned heavily on the table. "It is likely that the colony itself is suffering from some manner of political reprisal, though it will be framed as a tragedy and played for political favors. By saving the colony, which I wholly expect everyone intends to do, we will be treading indelicately upon the political games of women who were accomplished stateswomen and murderers while your people still thought the Earth was flat. They will not take kindly to that intrusion.
"We will need the persona of The Mistress if we are to keep them off balance long enough to rally allies. Only then can we save your people, and mine."
Shephard stared at the Matriarchs for a moment, but neither heard nor felt any duplicity from them; only an ageless weariness and resignation, but tinged with hope. "Very well. I will play the part for the time being. How should I act when we encounter your people so they... may send the right message?"
Two Matriarchs and a scarred Battlemaster began coaching the young woman on how best to confound the ancient political masters of the Citadel Council.
Zap.
Cato chuckled quietly as Ori's face practically split in half in happiness as her hands sparked in a more controlled manner. "Zappy!" She exclaimed happily, looking up at Cato as he sat in the chair; "Did it daddy!"
Cato laughed as he reached down and picked up his daughter, bouncing her on his knee as he did so; "That you did Ori, you did great!" and he meant it.
It was funny how whenever someone else's child showed you something 'amazing'; you would always plaster on a fake smile, patiently nod and agree with them while waiting to get the hell away. Cato liked kids, enough that Shala would always put him on babysitting duty on the liveships whenever he had the spare time; but even his own, seemingly infinite, patience had been stretched thin on many occasions.
It was good practice for now it seemed.
Ori's temper tantrums were very rare, but a sight to behold; blowing out every single light in the compartment being one example that came to mind. An early nap and time out had been the word of the day after that.
Still, it was impressive that she was already showing skill in manipulating her electrical powers; Cato just hoped that the mental blocks that Ulysses had put up stopping her from communing with the hive would continue to hold, as Ayita had warned him that they would fall once Ori reached a certain skill level or age.
Whichever came first apparently.
The entrance to their quarters opened; and Cato smiled as Ori exclaimed, "Mamma!" spinning around and rushing over to hug Ayita as the door closed behind her, the woman dropping her shadowy disguise.
Ayita smiled and picked up their daughter, bouncing the girl on her hip, "Hi there Ori, how was your day?" She asked, already walking over to Cato who had remained seated.
"Fun! How your day?" Ori asked in kind.
"Oh very boring Ori, but it just got a lot better now that you're here." Ayita replied, pulling up a rocking chair next to Cato; who just smiled at his bondmate and child.
"How was it really?" Cato asked telepathically, since he could sense a bit of apprehension from Ayita.
Her eyes flashed even as Ori babbled on about Cato teaching her how to focus; "Not good in all honesty. The Asari truly are masters of Terror; only the Soviets and the Combine can really challenge them in that regard." She replied, "Learning on how to deal with them and how to be a Stateswoman is… tiring."
Cato smiled as Ori turned to him and reached out with her arms. Quickly obliging her, he quickly set her on his lap; bouncing her up and down as he did so, "Terror?" He asked. Out of all the words that he could have picked to describe an Asari, Terrifying was not one word he would have chosen. If they had been talking about Krogan, or even the Vortigaunts to some degree; then he would have agreed.
"Politics through Murder." Ayita said bluntly, and Cato had fight down a scowl; remembering his peoples near genocide.
After a long moment, he said simply; "Let us not think about such dark thoughts Huneey, let us simply enjoy the time we have to play with Ori before we arrive on the planet."
Ayita's smile returned and she nodded, "On that, my husband, we are agreed."
Tali gripped the holotable as the battlegroup emerged from FTL.
She was nervous. The whole crew was nervous as a matter of fact, though everyone worked hard to control it. Ayita, being the master of emotions that she was, had closed off her mind to everyone; which Tali knew was to hide the young woman's own trepidation.
Tali herself couldn't help but think about Vestris; the poor kid had been taken from one dangerous life and thrust into another.
Tali closed her eyes.
She loved Garrus, she well and truly did; and she knew that he had been honest when he said that it had been a one time fling that he had truly believed nothing had come of it. But Tali still couldn't help but feel a little hurt that she wasn't his first relationship; but that wasn't fair to him, as unlike Quarians who mostly bonded for life, almost all of the other races did not.
Of course, there were exceptions to that rule; Kal's grandfather for example had five different relationships, all of which produced at least one child, before he had been Killed in Action.
She shook her head and refocused on the task at hand as the sensors began pinging with contacts; and the bridge crew, now mostly Quarians with a few humans to help in case something went wrong with the translation softwares or the UI's, began rattling off various reports and contacts.
"Captain, we have arrived one light minute out from Ikari."
She nodded to the helmsman. "Start the clock." A 30 second timer began counting on her console.
"Sensor imaging coming in ma'am. 20 ships detected: eight transports, eleven frigate-weight ships, and one Batarian Occupation Cruiser. All craft are in fixed orbits"
"Send the data to the Wol'Nosc. Weapons, program salvo one to strike the cruiser."
The whole ship shuddered as Normandy's spinal batteries launched a pair of the Combine modified 'Trident III' missiles. There were twin flashes as their motors kicked in, propelling them to half the speed of light.
"Carrier Wol'Nosc confirms, Captain: Alpha Flight launched and en route to staging coordinates."
She hummed absently as she imagined the heavily modified shuttles and their payloads of Disruptor Torpedoes FTL jumping to 30 seconds above and below the colony in preparation for their own attack runs.
"T-10, ma'am."
She gripped the console tighter. "All hands, make ready to jump." The light changed as the clock counted down.
5...
4...
3...
2...
1...
"Jump!"
Pilot A/N: Right, so now we get into the action after getting caught up with the past year and a half time skip. I honestly don't have much to say, beyond some behind the scenes stuff that happened for this chapter.
When we decided to bring Adrian Shepard into the story, we were actually kind of stumped as to what kind of personality he should have; since like Gordon Freeman, he really has next to none to speak of beyond what was written into the Promotional Material by Gearbox. And fittingly for Half Life lore, anything regarding Shepard is treated as "Schrodinger's Canon"; meaning maybe it's canonical, maybe it isn't, it all depends on what purpose G-Man has for Adrian.
Then I remembered something, 'Shepard's Mind'; which I remembered watching as a young lad while 'Freeman's Mind' was on its hiatus. Well, since Ian is a newcomer to the Half Life fandom; I showed it to him, and Ian got hooked and binged it within a day or two.
So while our Shepard isn't Krim's Adrian Shepard; he does take a lot of inspiration from him. Chiefly, he's Krim's Adrian Shepard after being employed for nearly 20 years by the G-Man doing all of G-Man's dirty work. He still has some of that comedic spark in him, but most of it's been ground away.
Now, I said in last chapters Authors Notes that Tevos would be drawn in contrast with Stalin; and that's on full display here with Benezia outright making said comparison.
Beyond that I don't have much to say here, how 'bout you Ian?
Ian A/N: My only real comment of note is my favorite part of this chapter: introducing the Normandy to combat.
I'll be honest that certain cliches and tropes of military sci-fi have always irked me, and everyone's fear of using 'Nukes' in combat is a big one; especially since every setting then creates a "main gun" for every ship that is just as hideously dangerous, though inevitably less powerful. So Pilot and I designed the Normandy to be built around being a long range Nuke Sniper.
You'll get the chance to really see her shine next chapter. Stay tuned.
Pilot: Right then, a TV Tropes page and review would be loved and appreciated.
Leave a review on this story, let us know what you guys think.
And we will see ya when we see ya.