The Commanders Shepard
Chapter 10
The entire squad was gathered in the conference room for debriefing after the mission.
"Too close Commanders," Joker said over the comm. In his usual snide tone he continued. "10 more seconds and we would have been swimming in molten sulfur." Dialing up the snark, he said, "The Normandy isn't equipped to land in exploding volcanoes. They tend to fry our sensors and melt our hull. Just for future reference."
John wasn't having it. After escaping by the skin of their teeth, the last thing he wanted to hear was snappy trash talk. "Me and my squad just jumped out of the palm of the Grim Reaper's hand and you're cracking wise?! Shut your trap, smart ass! You try getting your brittle ass out there in some of the heat we deal with on these missions! It's bad enough we're about to have the entire galaxy shooting at us on a daily basis. I don't need to hear crap from a chair bound fobbit like you while I'm extracting buckshot pellets from the joints of my hardsuit! And if you ever disrespect a ranking officer on my ship again, so help me, I'll shatter every last one of those glass bones of yours and jettison what's left of you out the airlock! Do I make myself clear, lieutenant?!"
Realizing he grossly overstepped his boundaries, Joker froze for a moment. He always used gags and sarcasm as a way to deflect the harshness of reality, hence his moniker. However, given the frequency and sheer gusto of his jabs, it was only a matter of time before he got too deep under someone's skin. "My apologies, sir," he said meekly into the comm.
John had a well documented history of his overprotective nature having a strong tendency to overwrite his logical thought processes. It was part of the reason for his nickname, as even as a kid, the results of him losing his temper trended toward "cataclysmic". Him losing his temper more often than not led to bouts of anger, particularly when it involved anyone doubting his efforts in keeping his team safe. He had to cool hit jets after dealing with Joker.
He'd normally appreciate a moment of levity after a mission, but considering how narrowly they had just cut it, he had hoped Joker would understand the gravity of the situation. "Sorry you had to witness that, Dr. T'Soni," John said with arms crossed, brow furrowed, and a vein pulsating violently on his neck.
James interjected. "Down boy... If that vein in your forehead gets anymore overworked, you may achieve lift strong enough to break orbit with the force behind the blood it'll be spraying." That was a quip John was more apt to stomach at that moment. Catastrophe went on to say, "Sorry about Joker, Liara. Our pilot can be quite the ass if we don't tug on the choke chain to rein him in from time to time. Just try to ignore him."
"I see… It must be a human thing." Liara replied. "I don't have a lot of experience dealing with your species, Commander," she admitted. "But I am grateful to you all. You saved my life back there. Not just from the volcano. Those Geth would have killed me. Or dragged me off to Saren."
Hearing Saren's name got Kaiden's attention. "What would Saren want with you? Do you know something about the Conduit?"
Liara replied with, "Only that it was connected to the mass extinction of the Protheans 50,000 years ago. That is my area of expertise." She adjusted herself in the conference room chair as she continued. "I have spent the last fifty years trying to figure out what happened to them."
"50 years?" John said in disbelief. "How old are you exactly?" The mountain that was John had dealt with many species throughout his service. Batarians. Salarians. Vorcha. But never Asari. Considering Liara physically looked to be in the comparative human age range of late teens to early twenties, he was confused.
"I hate to admit it," Liara began, "but I am only one hundred and six."
"Damn!" Ashley exclaimed with a chuckle. "I hope I look half that good at that age."
Her response was lost on Liara. As stated, she was fairly unfamiliar with humans.
Jane chose then to step in. Having had past interactions with Asari, as several Huntresses and Commandos had helped hone her Biotic ability, she had some knowledge of the comparisons between their species. "Humans are very short lived compared to Asari," she asserted. "Where your average Asari can live between nine hundred and eighty to eleven hundred years, the longest lived human ever officially documented made it to one hundred and twenty two." Calamity took note of the shock that showed plain as day on Liara's face. She finished with, "And that's the absolute max. The average tends to hover between seventy five and eighty." Again, she noticed the shock the addendum to her statement laid on Liara.
Liara was taken aback by this information. Her eyes widened and the look of shock and wonder seemed to morph into one of contemplation. Suddenly, she somewhat understood why had humans gained a reputation in the eyes of the galactic community for being rash and far too quick on decisions. She couldn't fathom such a short lifespan (having also not dealt with Salarians) and now understood why Humanity always seemed to be in such a hurry in regard to practically everything.
After a moment of gaining some perspective on her new allies, Liara spoke again. "A century may seem like a long time to a short lived species like yours. But among the Asari, I am considered just barely more than a child." She shifted in her seat a bit, noticeably emoting that the topic was not a pleasant one for her to discuss. "That is why my research has not received the attention it deserves. Because of my youth, other Asari scholars tend to dismiss my theories on the extinction of the Protheans."
All three of the Shepard Triplets raised an eye brow at the same time. They were all thinking the same thing. Jane would be the one to put those thoughts to words. "Well, doctor. I think we may be able to shed a bit of light on your years of work."
"Really? How so?"
Calamity stood from her seat. "On a mission to Eden Prime, the three of us were all zapped by a damaged Prothean data beacon," she said, motioning toward her brothers. Mention of the beacon got Liara's full attention. "We all saw visions that we weren't able to understand at first. They were all a garbled mess. When we met up with Tali, we learned from a Geth memory core that the Geth are serving Saren to help in the return of the ones that wiped out the Protheans. The Reapers. A race of hyper advanced machines that the Geth see as the pinnacle an inorganic being can achieve, and they revere the Reapers as gods. Then we realized our visions were likely of the Reapers destroying Prothean civilization. However, what we were each seeing is still muddled. Difficult to make heads or tails of."
Liara felt like she was going to burst. She jumped from her seat and almost instantly closed most of the distance that stood between her and Jane. "That's it!" she proclaimed excitedly. Well within Jane's bubble of personal space at that point, she continued, "Your visions could help prove my theory!" She noticed the eye brow shoot upward on Calamity's face. While still within Jane's bubble, Liara said, "But first allow me to elaborate on the beacon. They were designed to transmit information directly into the user's mind. Finding a working one in this age is exceedingly rare and well worth any risk to obtain. It is no wonder Saren and the Geth attacked Eden Prime."
Liara looked Jane square in the eye as she went on. "The beacons were coded to work with Prothean physiology. It makes sense that anything you did get from it was so unclear. The fact that you even survived the data transfer proves just how resilient you are. A lesser mind may have been driven mad or even destroyed by it." Liara hadn't realized it, but she was very close to Jane. Calamity didn't seem to mind her personal space being invaded though. She herself had always been an "up close and personal" type anyway.
"Over the course of my research, I have uncovered clues pointing toward something no one else has ever posited. That the Protheans were not the first to just up and vanish after prospering for so long." She had all three of the Shepard Triplets' full attention. Liara went on. "Though hard evidence is scant at best, my study has uncovered certain patterns. Patterns that show some kind of cycle. The galaxy is built upon this cycle of extinction. One where a civilization would rise up, prosper greatly, then are suddenly and violently cast down. The vexing part is that it seems something went after their extinction and attempted to scrub all proof of their existence from history."
Jane was intrigued. Her body language showed she was taking genuine interest. She listened intently as Liara continued. "The Protheans rose up from a single world until they built an empire that spanned the entire galaxy. Yet even they climbed to the top on the ashes of those who came before. Their greatest contributions, the mass relays and the Citadel, are based on the technology of those that came before them. And then, like all the other forgotten civilizations throughout galactic history, the Protheans disappeared. I have dedicated my life to figuring out why."
"Amazing," John said. He was genuinely impressed by Liara's knowledge and dedication to her field. "Fifty years of digging seems to have paid off for you," he said. He stepped one feet back, throwing back his shoulders and rubbing his chin in thought. "You said our visions could help you. How would you go about seeing them for yourself to confirm?"
Hearing that, Liara further closed the space between herself and Jane. "Well, Commander, I... ohh..." Liara staggered forward. Jane braced to catch her in case she fell over, but wound up not having to. "I am afraid I am feeling a bit lightheaded."
Concerned, Kaiden said, "When was the last time you ate? Or slept? Dr. Chakwas should have a look at you."
Trying to make sense of it herself, Liara replied, "It is probably mental exhaustion coupled with the shock of discovering the Protheans true fate. I need some time to process all this."
"Good point," John said. "Okay folks. Maintenance mode. Get cleaned up. Get some chow. Get your gear in order. Get rested. Dismissed!"
Author's Note: In case it wasn't obvious, I don't like Joker. I don't like people that think overuse of sarcasm is a way of life. I don't like that smartass personality archetype on the whole. And given that they are in the military, I never understood why Shepard just took his shit. Hell, my son started developing traits like that when he was younger. That is, until I put the boot in. Let's just say he knows better than to disrespect me or his stepfather anymore.