Chapter 10
Captain's Quarters - SSV Normandy SR1
She was definitely annoyed as her first guest stepped into her cabin. As the man entered, she could see the nervous mannerisms in his walk. He was trying to be professional, despite his current disassociation with the Alliance, by standing tall with his hands firmly at his side. As she stood up from her terminal, she glared at him, noticing that his eyes were straight forward, never looking directly at her even as she stood before him.
"State your name and rank," Shepard ordered as she crossed her muscular arms. She hadn't bothered to get dressed to officially do any reprimanding, leaving her in an N7 branded tank top, as well as a pair of PT pants to match.
"Staff Lieutenant and Navigator Charles Pressly, sir!" he belted out loudly as he stood at attention.
"Lieutenant Pressly, due to your rank and experience in battle, you are my executive officer when I leave this ship, is that correct?" she asked, her glare practically piercing him at this point.
"That is correct, sir!" he said in the same solid tone.
"So, when my body is not present on this ship, that means all commands given to the crew, including the fire team, are given by you! Is that correct?" asked the commander, her tone rising in anger.
"That is correct, sir!" said the man, who was practically shaking in his uniform.
Stepping forward, she stood dead in front of him, practically nose to nose, his brown eyes now having nowhere to look except directly into her bright green. "So, when your commander and ground team are planetside, and you fire a goddamn MAC canon right next to them, that could only be done by your orders! Is that correct XO Pressly!?" she snapped angrily.
"Th-That is correct, sir!" he yelled, now as rigid as a statue.
Finally, her fire died away and she gave him a look that was more annoyance than anything else. "What the hell were you thinking, Pressly?"
"I-I think that maybe I jumped the gun a bit...Commander. N-No pun intended," he said, nearly sweating by this point.
"And?" she asked as she sat back in her chair.
"And I reacted poorly to the situation, Commander. Not only did I fire nearby without warning you ahead of time, but I also failed to analyze the situation with a level head. The result being that I nearly caused severe harm to you and the ground team, sir!" he said as he returned to his rigid stance with a heavy sigh.
"Have you learned anything from this mistake Pressly?" she asked, finally taking the towel from around her shoulders and tossing it haphazardly into a small hamper at the foot of her bed.
"I-I most certainly have, sir!" he answered as he watched her worriedly.
"Good," she said as she stood again and once more got into his face. "I hope we don't have a repeat incident in the future. Otherwise I'll have to find a new XO. I hope I've made myself clear."
"Crystal clear, Commander!" he said, a sigh of relief escaping his lips as he realized he wasn't about to be ejected out of the airlock.
"Good. Now go eat breakfast before I load you into the Excalibur and fire you into the nearest star," she said with a smirk, getting a chuckle from the man who held a hand over his rapidly beating heart. Turning around, he left the commander in solitude.
She was about to get up and go join the crew for breakfast when she looked over at her terminal and noticed a flashing message in the Spectre Channel. It wasn't in her personal file, but instead sat in the Spectre Information side of the box. Tapping it on her screen, she opened it up to find a request from the Council themselves for an investigation to take place in a special R&D lab on Arcturus. A lead biochemist had disappeared from the laboratory entirely, along with all of his samples, his chemical schematics, everything. Feeling like the humans would feel a bit more comfortable with her investigating rather than another spectre, she claimed the mission and sent Joker the hail.
Finally, she stood up and stretched, her body full of knots from tossing and turning in her sleep. Stepping out of her room and into the main chow hall, she saw a couple of the crew sitting and eating at the tables. There were a small group of turians at the far end, and Williams sat alone with her own food closest to the mess counter. The commander walked over and got her own tray of breakfast before sitting down directly across from the gunnery chief.
Ashley's head raised as she saw the redheaded commander sit down. "Oh...hey Commander."
"Good to see you integrating to your new position Armory Chief," said Shepard as she immediately began to destroy the biscuits and gravy with her fork.
"Thanks Commander. I...really wanted to thank you for giving me this chance. I know it couldn't have been an easy choice, what with my family history and all," said the gunnery chief as she looked down at her breakfast.
"Your family history has nothing to do with you, Williams," said the commander with a stern stare, the seriousness of which was erased when she began to shovel the concoction into her mouth.
Williams stared at her CO for a long moment before tilting her head curiously. "I've...never heard someone say that to me before."
After swallowing her food, Shepard took a drink of her orange juice and sighed. "Look Ash, I know all about you. That's kinda my job. And I know the kind of shit you have to deal with because of something that happened before you were even born," she said as she sat back in her chair, her serious manner returning. "My political opinion has nothing to do with you and what you can do. Despite that, you've been set on the back burner for most of your career. But I've seen what you're capable of, and I gave you your position based on what you can do, not what your family did."
Williams stared at her commander wide-eyed for a long moment before letting herself smile. "Thanks Commander, that means a lot to me," she said as she looked over towards the turians seated not far away from them. "I did want to talk to you about the crew…"
"Is there an issue?" asked Shepard before she began digging into her food again.
"I...I know things are different aboard the Normandy, but I'm concerned about the aliens. With all due respect Commander, should they have full access to the ship?" she asked, her tone low enough to ensure that the nearby crew couldn't hear her.
Shepard's eyes narrowed at the question, and again her fork went down. Immediately, Williams sat back in her seat, expecting a dress down immediately. But instead, Shepard answered her question with another question. "You don't trust their motives because they're aliens?"
"Well, it's just...this mission is important Commander. Saren is a threat to the galaxy, and we shouldn't be giving them free reign to vital systems. If...when we find him, there's no telling who they'll side with," she said as her hardened gaze finally returned to the commander's own blue eyes. "When it finally happens, who knows if they'll follow your orders over those of a former turian Spectre."
Shepard smirked as she leaned her head into her hand and stared at the gunnery chief. "It seems to me like you've answered your own question there, Williams. Tell me, if it came down to an asari stopping a human mass murderer who had slaughtered turians, would you side with the murderer because he was human?"
Ash's eyes widened slightly at the question. "Of course not Commander!"
"Then what makes you think that any of these crew members would side with Saren when it came time to take him down?" asked Shepard firmly.
"I...I don't know. I just don't want to take that risk Shepard. Humanity has to learn to rely on itself rather than others," responded Ashley solidly.
Shepard sighed and stared at the armory chief and shook her head. "You don't get it Ash. It's like you said yourself, Saren is a threat to the whole galaxy, including turians. They see that and have provided us with a ship and crew to help us stop him. I'm not going to take that gift horse and lock all of our allies in sleeper pods just because some turians might hold some grudges against humans."
Holding up her hands defensively, Ash shook her head. "I don't mean we should turn down allies Commander. I just think that we shouldn't bet everything on them staying allies. As noble as the Council members may seem, if their backs are against a wall, they'll abandon us."
Snorting in annoyance, Shepard just stared at the gunnery chief. "I don't see that as inevitable. The Council's decision on Saren is pretty clear."
Leaning forward again, Ash continued. "Maybe on Saren, but what about other issues? They've already shown that they don't intend to do anything about colony attacks in the Traverse. What if something happened that affected all of humanity? They would likely ditch us in a heartbeat," she said, then looked at the table again, measuring the next words that came out of her mouth. "Look, if you're fighting a bear, and the only way to survive is to sic your dog on it and run, you'll do it. As much as you love your dog, it isn't human. It's not racism, not really. Members of their species will always be more important to them than humans are."
It took every fiber in Shepard's being not to lash out at the comment. Her disgust must have shown on her face, because Williams immediately leaned back with a defensive expression on her face. But, instead, Shepard tempered down her anger into a fine point and hurled it towards the gunnery chief with her next statement. "Xenophobia is the term you're looking for," she started, immediately making Williams don a look of regret. "And to make my position blatantly clear, I do not appreciate members of a sapient species being compared to animals."
"U-Understood Commander!" snapped Ash as she stared down at her food, the coloring in her face draining somewhat as she realized that she had charged headlong across the line.
Shepard sighed, her anger dying out as she continued. "Look Ash, I understand what you're saying, and why you're saying it. Humans and turians both still hold grudges from the First Contact War, and there'll never be a time when every member of every race will be accepting of every other. But what you need to learn is that there are just as many scheming and spiteful humans that'll throw you under the proverbial bus as soon as it benefits them," said the commander as she leaned forward on her elbows. "You of all people should know how hurtful it is to judge someone based on their history."
Williams slumped back in her seat, the redhead's words sinking into her head. "I...I guess I never thought about it like that."
"This mission requires the cooperation of many races, and the longer we hold onto this suspicion that we're all waiting to stab each other in the back, then the longer you spend your life looking over your shoulder," said the commander as she finished off her orange juice. "If you want to spend the rest of your life thinking that everyone is out to get you, then you're bound to live a miserable life. It's fine to be cautious around others, but just know that a human knife in the back will kill you just as fast as a turian one."
"U-Understood," said the soldier as she pushed her tray aside. "Thank you for talking with me Commander. And thank you for your patience."
Shepard smiled at Williams after finally finishing her food. "I have an open-door policy Ash, you're free to use it any time you like. Just be prepared for me to speak honestly."
Grinning, the dark-haired woman stood. "I wouldn't have it any other way Shepard."
Engineering Bay - SSV Normandy SR1
"Lieutenant Alenko and Tali'Zorah report to the CIC in twenty minutes for departure," came the voice of Shepard over the intercom. Tali looked up from her station, which had been assigned to her by Engineer Adams as she heard the announcement.
"M-Me?" she asked hesitantly before logging out of her console and turning towards the door to the engineering department. "Why me?" she asked, her insecurities flaring wildly as she entered the loading bay and passed by the armory where the human named Ashley'Williams was doing maintenance checks on the racks. As the young engineer walked by, the human turned and stopped her with a small smile.
"Hey, Tali was it?" asked the sergeant as the quarian stopped in front of her station. Tali hadn't been too fond of their last encounter on the Citadel. In fact, she had been quite rude. So, seeing the smile on her face was a bit of a surprise. But, given the lack of sleep the woman had gotten at their last meeting, she supposed she could understand. "What's your preference kid?" she asked in a friendly enough tone.
"Preference?" asked Tali as she tilted her head curiously.
"What kind of weapon do you like to use?" asked Ashley as she gave the young quarian an unusual look.
"Oh...will I not be using my own?" asked Tali in surprise.
Ashley sighed and shook her head. "Sorry kid, but that thing needs put out to pasture."
"Put out to…?" asked the perplexed quarian, wholly unfamiliar with the phrase.
"Right...I mean, it needs to be recycled for parts. So, we'll be providing you with a newer one," replied Ash as she waved a hand to her wall of weapons.
"I-I see," responded Tali as she looked up at her options. "U-Umm...Shotgun I think." Nodding, Williams turned to one of the racks and unlocked a shotgun that practically sparkled before handing it to her. Tali examined the weapon with awe, running her two main fingers over the surface. "It's so...new!"
"It's in pretty good condition. But I have a better idea…" she said as she reached out for the weapon. With a confused look on her masked face, the quarian handed the weapon back. Williams locked it back into the rack and chose another one, this one gleaming under the dim light of the armory. "Here, this one's brand new, never been fired except for testing."
Tali looked up at Ash, her voice laced with surprise. "Y-You're giving me a brand new one?" she asked incredulously.
"I know quarians aren't used to using prime equipment. So why not use one while you can?" asked the woman as she crossed her arms with a small smile.
Tali looked down at the weapon again, then back up to Ashley. She didn't know exactly how to show gratitude towards humans. So, she simply bowed her head and said, "I am grateful. This means a lot to me."
The soldier smirked lightly. "Make sure you put it to work. Would be a shame to see it go to waste," said the woman as she took the weapon back and put it on the rack marked with Tali's name. "You should probably head up to the CIC now. Shepard is waiting."
"Right, sorry," said the quarian as she bowed her head again and turned around. The elevator took her up to the proper floor and she stepped off, staring at the human named Kaiden'Alenko. Next to him was Shepard, both of them fully armored. However, the only one with a weapon was Shepard herself.
Looking up, Shepard smiled. "Welcome to the group Tali. Now that you're here…"
"Can we please move on with this mission?" asked an annoyed Zellin from the entrance of the airlock.
Shepard gave him an annoyed look before turning back to Tali. "You ready for your first ground mission?" she asked as she patted the quarian on the shoulder.
Tali let out a sigh and nodded. "Let's do it." And with those words, all four of them stepped into the airlock.
"Equalizing interior pressure with exterior atmosphere. Logged: The commanding officer is ashore. XO Pressly has the deck," said the Normandy's resident VI. Seconds after the announcement, the outer airlock opened, and they were immediately met by three human soldiers in Alliance uniforms rather than armor.
"Spectre," said the lead man, who had a head of grey hair and a face that looked like it had seen some wear and tear. Tali spied his chest curiously, noting that it had many medals on it. From her limited knowledge human military history, she knew that each medal meant something different, some kind of significant milestone or action. However, what any of those actions were was far beyond her comprehension. One thing was very clear, however; this man was very high in the Alliance food chain. Her eyes snapped up to him as he suddenly looked at her, then the salarian curiously. "I wasn't aware you'd be bringing guests."
"This is Lanis Tol Vura Vassos Casso Zellin. He's a fellow Spectre and is to be given the same greeting I am. I also have Tali'Zorah nar Rayya, who is proficient with electronics and engineering, and Staff Lieutenant Alenko who will be assisting me. Are there any disputes Admiral?" asked Shepard firmly as she stepped up to the man.
Tali's eyes almost bugged out through her face shield as she saw the woman going face to face with him in such a casual fashion. She was so used to her Admirals garnering immediate head bows and respect, that seeing Shepard talk to a human admiral so firmly seemed so alien, so to speak. The man stared at Shepard for a long moment before finally nodding. "I see you've acclimated well to your role as a Spectre," he said with a small smile. "However you want to run the show is up to you Shepard. As long as we get results."
The commander smiled back respectfully. "Understood. So, care to show us the lab?"
Chemical R&D Lab 31D - Arcturus Station
Looking around, it was a little too clean for Zellin's liking. Were this his case, he'd immediately pin it as a runner rather than a kidnapping. His voluminous eyes scanned the room curiously. The floors and room were completely white with several desks and terminals available to the science team available. But according to the Admiral, the team leader, named Ronald Harris stopped showing up two days ago. After a thorough investigation of the lab, Shepard quickly came to the same conclusion as he did.
He looked over to her, his curiosity about the potential spectre piqued after he saw how well she worked and talked with her crew. It was rather startling to see, considering most spectres were loners who did things by themselves. But she preferred to have a team, and he had to admit that she did well commanding others.
As Shepard walked up to the main terminal that the man used, she brought the quarian over to help hack into the device to see if there was anything left. Walking behind the pair, he watched intensely as the quarian tried to impress the commander.
"A-Almost...wait…" said the quarian nervously as she looked over to Shepard's omni-tool and mimicked her motions exactly. "There we go!" she claimed proudly as the terminal beeped and opened.
Shepard smiled with a nod. "Good work Tali," she said, then turned to the terminal. Selecting the option on the screen labeled Human, a keyboard fit for human hands materialized out of hard-light and her fingers immediately began typing away at its keys. "I can't find any kind of research material on here. If he was working on his project here, then that means he wiped it clean."
"What was he working on exactly?" asked Alenko as he looked to the Admiral at the door.
"He was working on a project funded by the Council and the Alliance. It was meant to find a way to ease or even reverse the effects of eezo exposure, perhaps giving us a way to form new biotics with no bad side effects," replied the stoic man.
Nodding, Alenko looked over to Shepard and Tali. "What do you make of it, Commander?"
"Do you have footage of him leaving?" asked the commander as she looked up at her former superior.
"We do, in fact. He left by himself with nobody around to coerce him. However, we can't count out that someone forced him to do what he did through other means," said the Admiral as he looked over to her.
"Well, all this tells us is that he took his work, all the samples and the data and left of his own will. The question is why," she said as she closed down the terminal. "Do you have records of messages coming and going from his personal omni-tool?"
Looking slightly surprised, the Admiral nodded. "We do," he said and stepped out of the door so they could follow him. It took minutes to reach the security office where there were maybe thirty people working furiously at terminals. The floor lieutenant immediately called them all to attention and the admiral waved them off as he approached the man. "We need records dating from two days ago for personal omni-tools."
Nodding, the lieutenant turned to one of the terminal workers. As they began pulling up the information, Shepard scanned it quickly with her piercing green stare. "Stop," she commanded as on particular message came up. Most of the others were to others on the team relating to work. But there was one oddball message that simply read K12 2252. Zellin spied the commander curiously. He knew the location referenced colony in question, but he was interested to see how she would proceed.
"K12 2252? What the hell is that supposed to mean?" asked the admiral curiously.
Shepard stood up and tapped her chin with the salarian narrowing his eyes at her. "It's pirate code for the planet Kopanis. The next couple numbers are likely meant to be a time in which they meet," she said, then looked back at Zellin. "That means they've already met up, so we have to move quickly to find out what's going on."
Zellin nodded his head, slightly impressed at her knowledge of the Terminus systems. Turning, he and the others immediately left the lab and headed back towards the Normandy. "Commander…" started the admiral, before shaking his head. "Spectre, will you keep us updated on what you find?"
"Of course, Admiral. Everything I find will be reported to both the Alliance and the Council. I don't want to leave you in the dark," said the woman as she entered the airlock again. "Keep your eye on your mailbox," she said, saluting to the astounded man with her familiar smirk on her face just as the airlock closed.
Kopanis - Terevus System - Far Rim
"We must be careful here. The entire colony is swarming with cultist behavior. We've never been able to get very close because they are heavily armed," said Zellin right off the bat as he stared out of the shield towards the planet.
"To be that heavily armed, they must have some kind of funding," said Shepard as she too stared out of the cockpit.
"Humans have a kind of history of supporting the crazy," said Joker as he shook his head. "Remember that trend a couple centuries back where a group of people popped up with the theory that the Earth was flat?"
Zellin stared at Joker incredulously. "You must be joking…"
"Fraid not. One or two idiotic celebrities claimed to believe it and people just jumped right on that boat. They believed that all the satellite photos we had were fake, and the edges of the flat Earth were surrounded by an ice wall," said Shepard with a smirk. "Then there's the anti-vaccine crowd…"
Zellin sighed as he turned away from the commander and stared at the planet again. "I suppose I should be happy we only have the Lystheni," he said solemnly.
Kopanis Colony – Kopanis
Given the flat surface of their landing spot, the mako didn't jar them nearly as much as it had on their previous mission. Shepard gripped the steering device and began to move the vehicle slowly towards the colony's borders. But, much to the surprise of everyone in the vehicle, they received no fire as they approached the gate.
Shepard stared up at the old school drawbridge gate that they used for the entrance, her eyebrows lowering in a stare of suspicion. "I don't like this…"
"Neither do I," said Zellin as he zoomed in on the guard posts. Still, there was nobody there. "It's a small colony, but they always had their people armed to the teeth for any visitors."
"You think this has something to do with Harris?" asked Alenko from the gunner seat.
"I don't believe in a coincidence this strong," said the commander as she looked back at the lieutenant. "Aim for the mechanism holding up the gate."
Doing as ordered, the gunner swung the weapon around and aimed directly for one of the chains that held the gate in place. Pulling the trigger, the shot echoed across the plain and smashed into the metal hoops, shattering them to pieces. With one more well-placed shot, the iron gate groaned heavily before smashing down in front of them.
Slowly, Shepard drove over the gateway and into the main colony. It was incredibly small, with typical human houses dotted all over the inside of the walls. But it felt like a ghost town. Nobody was to be seen anywhere. The streets, houses, marketplace, all of it was as barren of life as a desert.
"I've got a bad feeling about this…" said Tali anxiously as she gripped her shotgun.
Suddenly, the Mako's targeting sensors went off. Shepard activated the zoom on the cameras and immediately spotted a young child, no older than ten years spying at them from around a corner
"We've got someone! We need to get them and find out what happened here!" shouted Shepard as she slowly drove towards the child in question. However, as soon as they realized they were seen, the face vanished around the corner. "Dammit! Alenko, Tali, exit the vehicle and track them down!"
The lieutenant nodded and popped the hatch on the tank before jumping out and dashing after the vanishing figure. Tali too jumped out, but she clenched her shotgun nervously as she watched the mako take off around the corner. Spying a nearby alleyway, she nodded to herself. "I have to help!" she shouted to herself as she dashed into the darkened tunnel.
Kopanis Colony – Kopanis
It had taken a few minutes, but with the assistance of her combat drone, Tali had managed to track the runner down. Admittedly, the human was fast. It wasn't often that a human, with their plantigrade legs could outpace a digitigrade like herself. But the skilled individual employed some very unique tactics of climbing and jumping over obstacles in order to evade her.
However, Tali was a skilled runner. As a child, she constantly played Kesh'lan, a simple game made by quarian children. Or, perhaps adults made it to train the children...either way, the goal was for them to sprint from one end of the ship to the other. The first child to arrive, being the winner, was hailed as the hero who managed to reach a failing engine and get it working again. She had been the champion for years until finally it was time for her pilgrimage, allowing her to sprint around obstacles that the evader climbed over in time to keep up with them.
Finally, they were cornered, and Tali had barely broken a sweat from exertion as she stepped down the alley. The other side of the long, outside corridor was covered by Chatikka, her trusty, and speedy, combat drone. This left nowhere for the runner to escape as she approached with her shotgun lowered. "Alright, that's far enough!" she tried to shout with authority.
The human, who was wearing a hood not unlike her own, spun around and looked at her in horror. That was when she almost dropped her shotgun as she realized that she had been chasing a child. The young human, perhaps a female, was maybe half of Shepard's height with a full head of wiry brown hair. But, despite her face being covered with dirt and grime that looked to be layered on from days of exposure, Tali could easily see the horrified look on the young one's face.
Tali put her shotgun away on her back and raised her hands to show she had disarmed. "It's alright little one. The gun is gone, so please calm down. I'm not going to hurt you," she said as she stood to her full height.
"L-Lies! You're lying!" shouted the girl as she turned to run again. However, she stopped as she noticed that the glowing drone had gotten even closer. Stumbling backwards, she began to crawl away until she bumped into the quarian's leg. Looking up, she stared directly into the helmeted head of the suited alien.
Tali sighed and knelt down in front of her. "If you move, I will grab you. If I miss, then my drone will stun you, and I will grab you. But if you stay where you are, then I will not touch you. Do you understand?" asked the quarian woman. The girl went wide-eyed but nodded frantically and curled up into a ball. Activating her comm, she signaled the others. "Shepard, I have her. No weapons needed. Activating navigation beacon."
"H-How do you speak our language?" asked the girl as she stared up at the suit-wearing quarian. "D-Did the devil teach you?"
Tali closed her comm and cocked a curious eye at the young one. "I'm not quite sure what this devil is. But no, it's here." she said tapping the omni-tool on her arm. "It's a computer, and it translates what I say so that you can understand me. Unfortunately, I do not know the human language." For a split second, it looked as if the girl was awestruck rather than terrified, but her expression flipped in a split second. To take her mind off her fear, and hopefully calm her down, Tali continued to talk to her. "What is this devil you speak of?"
The girl's expression soured, and she crossed her arms as she leaned against the wall. "He's evil, the biggest evil. He created everything bad in the universe, including aliens."
The quarian's eyes widened curiously. "Oh, so he created me, did he?" she asked, almost amused as the girl nodded. "Well, I hate to break it to you, but my parents made me, not this devil person you speak of."
"Well duuuuuh, but the devil made your parents! Or...grandparents...I don't know. Just shut up!" she snapped angrily at having her logic questioned. Suddenly, her eyes widened again as Kaidan burst around the corner panting heavily. Both Tali and the girl stared at him, the girl now crawling backwards again before bumping into her captor once more. But Tali gripped her shoulders firmly.
"It's alright, we're here to help," said Kaidan as he approached with his hands up. But the girl's look of horror faded as she realized that he was human. Immediately, she got to her feet and sprinted towards him. Tali sprung to her feet quickly but didn't have to react as the girl threw herself into his arms. The lieutenant looked down at the crying girl, then up at Tali curiously. "What'd I miss?"
"She's convinced that all aliens were created by this devil character, so she's probably relieved to see a human," said Tali with her arms akimbo.
The human cocked on eyebrow in amusement before looking back down at the girl and patting her back gently. The sound of the mako was clearly getting louder as it approached as well. "Hey kiddo, you gonna be alright?"
"Please! You're human too! You have to help them!" she shouted, her voice now grief stricken.
"Help who? Why don't you tell me what's going on?" asked Kaidan as he knelt down next to the girl.
"Please! Everyone...they're all dying!" she pled, getting a shocked look from both the quarian engineer and the human lieutenant.
"Shit…" was all Kaidan could say, and Tali nodded at the sentiment, realizing that whatever Harris came to this place for, they may already be too late.
CODEX ENTRIES
PT | Military | General
A military acronym meaning Physical Training. It's used to describe the constant exercises that the military makes their soldiers do on a typically daily basis. This particular colloquialism is used by the Alliance; however, all militaries have this same training regimen required by their units. Specific clothing is often given for this training, and are commonly referred to as PT uniforms, or simply PTs.
Lystheni | Organizations | Salarian
A group of rogue salarians that are not welcome in Council Space nor salarian space. Well known for destruction and theft of property, the Lystheni are a faction of salarians who are obsessed with technological advancement. Similar to batarian slavers, they use mind control technology implanted into the minds of their members to do everything from spying on the Sur'Kesh government to carrying out terrorist attacks on those who oppose them.
Kesh'lan | Culture | Quarian
A simple game of speed, the concept was created by quarian teachers. The goal of the game is to get from one end of the ship to the other as fast as possible. While fast runners typically won, some became creative in their maneuvering methods and ended up with the victory. The game was created as a method of teaching quarian children to familiarize themselves with the ship they were on and training them to be able to react to a potentially dangerous situation that may be in another part of their ship.