Shepard and friends thought it would be a fantastic idea for everyone to get to know each other before training together, but it became more of an orientation day. I hate these. Do not get me wrong, it is a good idea but the whole thing feels forced. Shepard, Kaiden, Ashley then myself gave brief summaries of ourselves and our strengths. I had to keep mine simple, which did not exempt me from strange looks from the aliens.
"Hey don't look at me like that. It is not like I am the only strange one here" I said.
"Sure but even with our species standards you are, what is the word… special" Garrus kindly puts it.
"You sound like a pilgrim who never returned to the fleet" Tali says.
"If you won't as emotionally sappy as an asari, I would think of you as krogan" Wrex adds.
"You seem to share traits from each species," Shepard says.
Hey I do. I never realized it before. I do like to incorporate ways of life from all the cultures I met, as long as it improves the quality of my life. I forget how much I have learned.
"So is the sex appeal a human trait or just all me?" I ask.
"He's even as annoying as an asari" Wrex said. I cannot tell if he is joking or not.
"We are getting off topic. As humans are still relatively new to the galactic community, I want each of you to give a brief talk about your species and how they view humans" Shepard asks.
Garrus, Wrex, and Tali look at each other. Deciding who should go first. Garrus volunteers.
"The relay incident has given turians mixed opinions of humans. My history teacher told us how you were very cunning in battle without mass effect weaponry. We heard rumors of some pretty messed up things that happened to turian POWs, while most of it was proven to be just words, it caused us to fear humans for a while" Garrus finishes.
"Over the decades, your race has expanded rapidly. I think you guys are a little too ambitious" Wrex folds his arm and leans back.
"Quarians tend to view humans favorably. A substantial amount of donations to the fleet come from humans. Although some of them treat us harshly when they find out about how the geth gained awareness. The admirals are worried that the geth attacks on humans will tear up an already fragile relationship. It is not like we can offer much anyway except some technology. We would like a friendly ally from at least one race as the others ostracize the quarians for creating the geth" Tali says.
"Thank you for your honesty. I will admit humanity did not give a great impression. We are working hard to prove ourselves to the rest of the galaxy" Shepard said.
"You guys did better than the Rachni" Wrex said.
"Who are they?" Shepard asks.
"They were an intelligent insect like race. The turians were guarding the relay that led to their homeworld. The stories my father told me scared me as a kid. The krogan drove them out of citadel space, that is why there is a statue of a krogan on the citadel" Wrex said.
"So, they won't be a problem?" Shepard asks.
… Do not say anything.
"No one has seen one in centuries" Wrex said.
"Ok. Now I want everyone to share their specialties. How would you be most effective in combat? My training covered most types of firearms" Shepard said.
"I am a biotic and tend to use pistols. I rely heavily on my biotics to knockout my enemies" Kaiden said.
"I am a gunnery Chief. I am great with most weapons except sniper rifles" Ashley said.
"That is my specialty" Garrus said.
"I am also a biotic. I use shotguns and get close up to the enemy" Wrex said.
"Me too. Well, I am not a biotic but I like shotguns" Tali said.
"You do? What about your immune system?" Garrus asked.
"My suit is very durable, and the visor makes aiming difficult. I can also hack one geth and a time and make it turn on others, but only for a brief moment. The geth will restore backups and erase my virus" Tali said.
"That will be useful. Tali and ********* you both have solo combat experience but have not really worked with a group. I do not want friendly fire in the field. I will have Kaiden and Ashley teach you to control your trigger fingers. I want to see Garrus and Wrex in private" Shepard gets up and walks out of the room.
"What is that about?" I ask.
"Garrus told Shepard he was afraid for his safety from Wrex. He is going to straighten them up" Kaiden explained.
"That is horrible. What happened?" Tali asked.
I drop my head. My chin touches my chest. I didn't mean to make him feel that bad.
"It is my fault. We were pulling a prank on Garrus. I told him to lock his door at night" I said.
"I don't understand" Tali said.
"Krogan really hate turians for unleashing the genophage. A bioweapon that makes them as close to sterile as possible. Wrex told me he does not hate the current turians but does not trust them. I thought we were having some fun. Garrus must be more scared of him then he let on" I said.
"I am sure they will come to an understanding" Kaiden said.
I pulled Garrus and Wrex away. A feud between them could spill over and fuel the quiet but present xenophobia on the ship. The research I found on the extranet revealed a hostile relationship between the two races. Garrus came to me this morning and told me he had to barricade his door last night to fall asleep.
"Look you two. You are on my ship and will be a part of my team. I do not care what has happened to your people's past. We are on a mission to stop Saren and the mission comes first. If you can not or will not come to an agreement, then I need you to leave this ship. Do I make myself clear?" Shepard said.
"I see what this is about. Look kid, we were just messing with you. Giving you a hissy fit was not the goal. I am mad about what your ancestors did. You are too young to have caused me any problems. I am only going to say this once but you seem alright, but it is not something I would say if I was sober" Wrex said.
"You're drunk?" Shepard asked.
"I'm going to be soon. Don't piss me off and you will be good" Wrex said.
"Ohhhhhh I am so getting ********* back for this. Thank you, Wrex. I feel much better" Garrus said.
Ashley and Kaidem taught us to control our trigger fingers by playing a game of simon says. Instead of firing (empty guns) when we were told. We only were allowed to fire if one of her hands were out of her pockets while Kaiden tried to spook us. Tali caught on pretty quick. I was great at first, but as the game went on longer, I would slip up occasionally. She warned us that our instincts will be to shoot when something startles us and to keep our weapons pointed down until we get the hang of it when we are in the field. It has been a long time since I used a gun, besides the one at Eden prime. Guns are alright but I do not like the loud noise. Ashley then told us about rounding the corners and reducing our surface area to the enemy. Tali gave some good advice on how the geth process vision and how to use it to our advantage.
We trained for at least an hour then it was around 1700 hours. I figured it was time to start cooking. I entered the kitchen and grabbed the ingredients to make dinner. I washed all the alien fruit. I am a good cook. There was a time I would just create food from my own energy if I wanted something to enjoy but it soon became bland and boring. I learned that eating a wide variety of food makes each meal tastier. I also changed up the amounts of spices each time. Sometimes more salt, sometimes more pepper, maybe add garlic if there is meat in the dish.
Many lifetimes of experience taught me how to make decent meals from ingredients I never used before. I would have to taste test each ingredient and decide if I should leave it raw or cook. Sometimes it is hard to tell. For example, steamed carrots taste slightly sweet and soft, while uncooked carrots are not my favorite. I really hoped I would not have any surprises. Just in case I will eat everything I cooked before deciding what to do with it. While the food looked funny, certain clues gave away what was what. An oval shaped lumpy purple skinned item was very hard and tastes starchy. It was lightly covered in dirt. Asari potato? I'll make baked… whatever it is called. It took an hour and many stabbings of the fork until it came out clean. I made a dozen. There was also this fuzzy red thing with a green stem. The texture was without a doubt broccoli. I steamed the asari broccoli until soft. It tasted earthy or thesian I guess, but it needed something to balance out the slight bitterness. I lightly added parmasean cheese.
A few items I did not use because they tasted sweet. I do not like sweet things for dinner. I tend to save sugar for dessert. I baked the pyjak meat at the same temperature as steak, but for longer and flipping often to prevent burning. I am pretty sure it will kill any bacteria or parasites assuming it has any. The Asari sauce taste was unique, slightly spicy. It is hard to describe. I think it will go well with the meat. I chose not to marinate it and left it out like BBQ sauce.
We picked up some meat for turians. It was rather large but that may be a normal portion for a turian. It is ¾ inch thick. I cooked it in a pan on the stove. Butter was almost added if it wasn't for the mental image of Garrus comedically grabbing his throat and choking. I did want to risk food poisoning, so I cooked it well. I cooked each side for 10 minutes and sliced into the middle to see if it was done. The middle looked different compared to its raw look. If I didn't know better, it would look like a normal steak. I cooked it for another 10 minutes at a lower temperature. I hope Garrus likes it. I still feel bad for traumatizing him.
I kept everything warm in the oven. I made enough for 15 people. Crap, I forgot I couldn't make anything for Tali. Oh no, she doesn't know what real food tastes like. A fate worse than death. Eh, what she doesn't know won't kill her. It took over an hour to taste, cook, retaste, and prepare dinner. The pyjak meat reminded me of chicken. The asari sauce was very good. It enhanced the savory juices of the meat while giving it an enjoyable spice. The baked potatoes did not come out entirely as I wanted. It appears the ratio of starch to protein is different, so it was firmer than I liked. It was ok. I should have cooked it for longer. I am hoping melted garlic butter will hide the flaws. I grab everyone for dinner. Their faces seemed skeptical since I never cooked asari and turian food before. Garrus had to check if the meat was cooked properly. The turian steak was basic and I did not know what side to use. I didn't want to test it and give myself a reaction. Fortunately, he liked it, although he mentioned it was cooked a little too well for him. I'll cook it for less time if I make it again. He added salt which caused Ashely to ask if it was safe. Since salt is a basic compound, it would not give him a reaction. The pyjak meat with sauce was really tasty and surprisingly the potatoes were very popular. Kaiden took a plate to Joker. Wrex seemed really happy.
"You are cooking every night. This will be why I tolerate your smart mouth" Shepard said.
"Every night?! We will run out of food, and I barely threw this together. I got lucky, this turned out so good. How about every 2-3 nights until I get more familiar with asari ingredients or until we get human ingredients. Unless you want food poisoning." I said.
"I'll see what I can do. How did you know how to cook this?" Shepard said.
"Food is food. The ingredients were unfamiliar, but cooking is really modifying food with heat to make it safe or softer or to alter the taste. Pretty much everything succumbs to the flame. Kaiden picked everything out, so I did not have to worry about any reactions" I said.
"I wish I could try. It looks so good" Tali said. My heart sinks below my lower ribs.
"Do you want me to put it in a blender for you?" Ashley said.
"Thanks, but my body can only eat quarian and turian food. Something about the chirality of proteins. I could get very sick eating anything else" Tali explained.
"Yeah, do not eat turian food as I can't have asari, krogan, salarian, or human food. Restaurants can get away with scrubbing their pans twice before cooking different foods, so you do not need to worry about having separate pots and pans for me.
"Good to know. So who is doing the dishes?" I asked.
Just then a blink came from Shepard's arm.
"The geth are attacking a colony on Feros. Everyone hurry and get ready. I'll tell Joker to change course.
"Seriously now?" I asked,
"Welcome to being a soldier" Shepard said.