Chapter 6

"Nihlus," the deep and steady voice of Saren greeted the younger turian as he entered the hospital room. He was in the bed with his legs and lower torso covered with the hospital blanket and a large white bandage with just a small cobalt circle around the entry wound all the while an IV line snaked under the bandage, pumping out the deadly poison that was trying its best to end his life.

Nihlus straightened his posture a little more as he entered the room, always feeling a little on edge when around Saren. He was highly respected, that was part of it, but the icy blue eyes always had a predatory look and made him feel like he was being evaluated for weaknesses.

"Glad to see that you made it through," the younger turian said as he approached.

"Is that so?" Saren's voice was inflectionless and did not give away anything.

"Of course. If you had been killed on a human colony, I would be buried in paperwork and be busy trying to untangle a mess like that. Speaking of messes, your report really stirred up a vorcha's hive. Was it really that necessary to rip into the humans so badly? I mean, that young officer did save your life."

"And my report reflects that, Nihlus. Doesn't change the fact that the humans were careless around the Prothean artifact and failed to notice the anti-tamper device the geth had placed on beacon. We would have benefited greatly by acquiring such a device."

"I can't argue with your assessment, sir," Nihlus said as he nodded his head slightly as there was really no flaw in the argument.

"However, it does seem like your evaluation is based on hindsight and not the situation as it unfolded. The beacon was not ours until it was offloaded from the Normandy while your report makes it seem like they destroyed Council property."

"You really don't see the big picture, do you Nihlus. The humans are merely a puppet state of our true enemy, my brother's ship was among the force that got annihilated when that spirit damned fleet answered the call of the Alliance. We still have no idea how strong of a bridgehead the Pax has established in our galaxy and the beacon would have given us the edge when they broke the armistice."

As Nihlus listened, it dawned on him what he believed Saren had been doing on Eden Prime. He wasn't there to bring the beacon to the Citadel first in order to discredit himself and the Alliance. He wanted the Hierarchy to have the beacon.

"Saren, ever since three one four, they have made no aggressive postures."

"They are a patient race, Nihlus. The humans don't see it, they think that the Hiigarans are their great liberators. They are simply using the humans to expand their empire without raising the suspicion of the Council. They are master manipulators. Listen, I'm in no shape to fight in the foreseeable future and while I'm laid up, my missions remain on hold. I need you to meet with Barla Von, I told him to expect you."

Nihlus was unsure of Saren, his methods and clandestine attitude even towards fellow Spectres put him on edge, but at the same time he also needed to know what the bigger game was and with a flaring of his mandibles, he gave Saren a respectful nod.

"I'm begging you Nihlus, find out what the Pax is after. I would take no pleasure in seeing the humans fate tied into the fate of the Exiles."

"Of course, Saren," Nihlus said as he turned to leave. There was a game and he had just been dealt a hand. Not the greatest hand, but still a hand.

"Oh, and Nihlus, don't trust that half-breed, Shepard. Anyone with dual loyalties can't be trusted."


"Group Sergeant, your report is troubling," Ashley stood at attention in the office of the Hiigaran ambassador, Radiim LiirHra. He was an older man with olive skin, a neatly trimmed beard and salt and pepper hair at his temples.

"You don't need to remind me, sir," Ashley said as she recalled the horror of seeing Vaygr infiltration frigates swoop down, and instead of warriors coming out of the pods, they were filled with geth.

"You've proven yourself in the past, hopelessly outnumbered but here your squad was annihilated in hours. Is Alliance training that much further behind Kiith Soban?"

Ashely stiffened slightly at this as she remembered she sounds of her squad dying, mostly she remembered Nirali. She was not a marine, she was a serviceman. Their corpsman had come down with Redbite Fever and she was pulled off her ship and attached to the two one two.

"Our tactics were useless against this enemy. Living beings have a survival instinct, so when you lay down a base of suppressive fire, people will take cover. These geth have no such instincts and once they got in range, they would just return fire no matter how much of their kind we dropped. The Alliance marines fought like a cornered Skaal-Fa, but we were still cornered. I ordered everyone to fall back to the Ridgeline Forest tram station, but they steadily picked us off one by one."

"Any reason why you survived?"

"I think most of them pulled back after their super dreadnought lifted off. This was a raid, not an invasion."

"Did you see any Vaygr or Imperialist Taiidan personnel planet side?"

"Negative sir, just the ships."

The ambassador seemed to be in thought for the moment, looking at Ashley and down at the report biting his lower lip before he finally spoke up.

"Group Sergeant, I will be sending out this report as well as a message to your Sa. Given the situation you encountered and the very short time you had to respond, I will recommend that no disciplinary measures will be levied against you. However, I'm going to place you on modified duty until such a time that we can evaluate you for combat."

Ashley did not know if she should feel relief or guilt. She was the only one who made it out alive, the rest of the squad had died. She did not make her last stand like a proper Sobani but instead had run. Eventually she did make her last stand and would have died in that station had Shepard and Alenko not shown up.

Turning, she left the ambassador's office and after receiving her orders she headed off to her billeted quarters on the Citadel. Walking among the people of the station, very few paid her much notice, barring the few who knew what a person carrying a longsword on their hip signified.

Her thoughts were interrupted when she got a ping on her omni-tool, something she was given when she had entered the Milky Way. The ping was a message from Alenko, the young lieutenant who had saved the life of the lippy turian. He asked her if she wanted to join him at Chora's Den.

A dive bar name if ever there was one, and from the way that she was feeling, a few good drinks and maybe a good old-fashioned fight afterwards was just what the doctor prescribed and so she told him that she would be there after she got changed.


"Alenko!" Ashley called out as she entered the bar, even her commanding voice was hard to hear over the heavy bump and grind of the music. Her long hair was draped down her shoulders and she was wearing a white tank top with form fitting black pants. The only thing that put her out of place was the sword on her hip and she strode over confidently where Kaidan was sitting with the pilot.

"Group Sergeant, I'm glad you could make it!" Kaidan called out as she approached.

"Alenko, call me Ash or you're going to make me think you're an officer!"

"Ouch," Joker who was listening to the exchange said as she took a swig of his beer and offered a seat to Ashley, who simply gave Kaidan a grin and took her seat offered by the pilot.

"So, Moreau, what made you choose this place."

"The view, Ash. The view," Joker replied with a grin.

"Sadly, I think the lieutenant's tongue might become a tripping hazard." Ashley said as she tilted her head in the direction of Kaidan.

"Hey! Here I thought I was being the good guy offering the uptight grunt a drink."

"Uptight?" Ashley looked at Kaidan with a raised brow but her slight grin gave away that she wasn't mad, only amused by his statement.

"Well, you did kill a geth with a sword."

"Whoa, woah, woah," Joker said as he leaned forward and looked over at Ashley.

"You did what now?"

"Weapon malfunction," Ashley said with a shrug. "I improvised. Figure the geth wouldn't mind a cultural exchange. They introduced us to their plasma weapons and introduced them to Somtaaw steel."

Joker raised a hand, and a waitress came up to the table.

"What can I get you, hun?" The redhead asked.

"Jenna, this is my new best friend, Ashley. Whatever she drinks tonight, I'll buy."

"Just a lager," Ashley said as she looked up at the woman.

"Sure, we got several."

"Any with a honey or fruit flavor is fine."

"Coming right up," the waitress said as she left.

"Ash, what do you do when you're not being a badass?" Joker said, looking over at the woman with vested interest.

"Joker, remember the regs," Kaiden spoke up, seeing the way the pilot had turned to bring most his attention towards the marine.

"Alliance regs," Joker said as he didn't bother turning towards Kaiden.

"Your funeral if the skipper finds out."

"Sand Sailing," Ashley said which got both their attention.

"What?" Kaiden being the one to speak up this time and Ashley looked toward the lieutenant.

"What I like doing on my spare time is Sand Sailing," she said and it was clear they were not exactly certain what that was.

"Basically, it's a small catamaran, except it sits on some low drag runners. You have a main sail as well as a kite sail for steering and extra speed. You run it out on the desert. It's an endurance race. I find it very relaxing."

"That's actually pretty cool," Kaiden said as he heard the story, a genuine smile crept across his lips and his brown eyes seemed animated at hearing about the activity.

"That so, Alenko?"

"Yeah, reminds me of inlet sailing on Vancouver Island. Can be tricky as the current is strong, but it's far enough a way from the Vancouver-Seattle megalopolis that you don't hear much in the way of traffic. Don't think anyone makes your sand catamarans this side of the jump gate."

It was Ashey's turn to return the smile, as she reclined in the seat.

"Not something you rent, Kaidan. Everyone makes their own sand sailer, that's part of the charm of the sport. There's a tradition to it, which is why the activity has not been exported."

"Kind of a shame, I wouldn't mind getting in on that action."

"Moreau, you didn't strike me as someone who would be interested in it."

"He's interested in his bookie setting the odds," Kaidan said with a laugh as he took a swig of his drink.

"Ah," Ashley said as her drink arrived, and she took a long sip out of her glass.

"Nothing wrong with planning for my retirement."

"Moreau, how does paying Krystal with a K help you with your retirement, exactly?"

This got both a loud laughter from both Joker and Kaidan, Ashley joining in and all three of them were very much feeling relaxed, a tear even rolling down Ashley's cheek from the intense laughter.

"Oh man," Joker finally said as he held his ribs.

"You're okay, Ash," Kaidan added, finishing his beer.

"Same goes for the two of you. You guys cruise together for some time?"

"That obvious?" Joker asked as he put down his glass as well and seemed to be getting ready for a story.

"Alenko here was fresh out of OCS a couple years back on the Lepanto. He was very much by the book and kind of still is. Thought he was a stick in the mud until we were on the same night rotation and bumped into each other in the mess. Don't let those boyish charms fool you, he is ruthless at Skyllian Five. Knows how to relax when the time is right, biotics just have to be more careful."

"I hear that," Ashley said as she took a gulp of her beer.

"Kind of like our heavy weapons guys, respect the hell out of them."

"Really?" Kaidan was almost surprised at hearing this as he leaned forward a little with his arms folded and resting on the table.

"I've seen you in action," Ashley continued as she also finished her beer, glancing occasionally in Joker's direction.

"Moreau and I have it easy. My gun is simple, you just point and pull the trigger. Joker here pushes buttons, and the ship does what it's told. You must somehow control what you can't see."

"Thanks, Ash," Kaidan replied just as a large krogan lumbered past them towards the back of the bar and Ashley called the waitress over.

"Hey there," she smiled as she began taking the empty glasses.

"Jenna is it? We're not here to order another round, just figured you might want to take these before they break."

"Why would they break, hun?"

"That krogan looked pretty pissed," she said as she soon saw him exchanging words with a bouncer.

"Uhhh….yeah," the waitress said as she cast a nervous glance in the direction of the krogan before flitting away.

"So, we joining?" Ashley cast the others a mischievous grin.

"What? You crazy?" Joker had an incredulous look.

Ashley merely shrugged her shoulders and glanced towards the exit.

"Better leg it then," Ashley said and both the lieutenant and pilot headed to the exit while Ashley headed towards the krogan.