"Well, why not a space flower? Why do we always expect metal sips?" - Nancy Bellicec, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, 1978
Hadley's Hope, Feros, Theseus System, Attican Beta Cluster, July 10, 2183
Authors' Note: If you had guessed the Pod People from the Invasion of the Body Snatchers from the previous chapter, pat yourselves on the back.
This chapter represents a couple of keystones. First? SIX MONTH ANNIVERSARY (3/7-9/7)! Mass Effect: Of Lions And Angels is now six months old. It is my third most read story with more reviews, fav's, and follows than the rest of my stories. I also hit an all-time high of over 300 views in a day with The Siege Of Hadley's Hope, II (I got close a couple of times with A Forest Of Spines and The Battle of LaGrange Point Two, the previous titled winner being Mass Effect vs. Aliens: The Siege Of Hadley's Hope: Chapter 15, Global Extinction Event). I've been typing future chapters to keep the ideas coming, and to plan what's going on. If I can keep myself from coming up with too many ideas… this will be at 110 chapters when completed, averaging at about 11,500 words per chapter (start doing the math when Ive been doing a 5-chapter ARC per month!) I literally typed the last and final chapter just so I know where the goal line was.
To all of those who've read, rated, commented, suggested, snarked, fav'ed, followed, and even the imperious inclusion of GUEST and ANONYMOUS, thank you all for making this a fun write, to looking forward to see what wonderful (and horrifying) ideas I can come up with next. Keep up with the love, and I'll keep up with the suspense.
Now, an important question…
Would you like to install the Aliens DLC (Y/N)? [oh… oh shit]
Petty Officer (Second Class) Sara Elaine Ryder felt like she had fully stepped into a horror immersevid. Except it wasn't a movie.
She held her custom-made M-37 Falcon Duel-Purpose Objective Weapon in her hands as she scanned the lengthy corridor of the Hadley's Hope complex, just a few meters in front of the airlock that would lead back to the colony proper. By her side was 2nd Lieutenant James Ernesto Vega, hoisting his Devlon Industries' M-56 Marshal Medium Machine Gun, his face exuding sweat as his dark eyes scanned the same corridor, the barrel of his weapon pointing down the length of the pre-fab hallway that was crafted from AlumniSteel and barely illuminated, light fixtures cracked or inoperable. It was dark in the corridor, shadows deepening every corner and giving a pall of despairing gloom as Sara tried to see down the full length of the interior but couldn't. That might have been for the best.
"This might be worse than the Horizon." Ryder said softly as her blue eyes touched upon the nearest object in the corridor, what they had seen when Vega had punched in the access code for the airlock to open up the main building. It was tall, taller than either Vega or STG Agent Zevin Raeka's two meter height, fatter in the middle and coming to nubs at the ends. Its greenish surface looked distinctly organic, almost as if flesh but not quite, and the object itself was stuck to the wall of the corridor by means of some sort of slimy adhesive, strands of the ropey-like substance seemingly cradling the cocoon-like… pod… to the wall and ceiling. James looked at her in confusion, not understanding the reference to the ACV Horizon and its many Husks. That had been a terrible thing indeed, but something that TEAM LION had been expecting. This was something else entirely.
"Are those the colonists?" Sergeant First Class Ashley Madeline Williams asked, her voice in a hushed tone, as if speaking too loudly would burst one of the pods open by accident, or alert something they didn't want alerted. Ash was hoisting her Kassa Fabrications' Armageddon Objective Shotgun, cradling it in her hands as she looked down the corridor, and then to Sara. "What in the good Goddamn fuck happened to them? This wasn't because of the Marines. Or, at the least, they didn't have anything to do with this."
"El-Tee, were there any biological warnings or environmental considerations passed down to your command when the Fourth Marine Expeditionary Unit was deployed to Feros?" Ryder asked, her assault rifle/shotgun combination weapon pointing down the length of the corridor as she looked to the Latino man. She could easily tell that he was afraid, a bit unnerved. He hadn't seen horror like she and the others of TEAM LION had.
"No." The burly man replied, looking to her for a moment before returning his attention to the corridor. "We were told of the pressure issues on Feros, being at five atmos, and the dust advisory for anyone with lung issues or known allergies. But the colonists were walking out in the open without breathers for the most part unless there were windstorms that would black out the sky with dust and debris. They weren't worried about anything… different." His dark eyes were on the nearest chrysalis, almost bugging out of his head. "This mierda waddn't here before, I can tell you that. Been in this building several times before the lockdown. Certainly weren't no cocoons then." The man look shaken and nervous, but that Marshal was as steady as stone. "The fuck happened here? Esto no puede estar sucediendo." The Lieutenant breathed out. He was unnerved. Sara didn't blame him.
"Keep it together, Oso." Federal Marshal Samantha Lynn Collins said as she moved to Lieutenant Vega's side, placing a gentle hand on his armored shoulder, the Level Two Council Agent giving him the advice he needed. "There might be people here still, and they're going to need our help."
"Got it." James replied, looking a little more resolved, though his eyes still darted from the cocoons that were placed down the length of the corridor. There were easily dozens in sight. "No lies, way over my head on this one." Vega admitted, rolling his shoulders uncomfortably as he looked down the corridor. Admitting to his lack of assurance seemed to take a toll on the man, but better to admit to it now than later one when bad decisions or inexperience cost lives. At he wasn't so macho that he couldn't admit he wasn't the best for the job, Sara realized.
"Raeka? Spin up a drone oriented towards motion detection and life form identification." Marshal Sam Collins said almost immediately after Vega's admittance, the Latino man looking visibly relieved at the fact. The STG Agent was already working on her Kassa Fabrications' Polaris OmniTool, queuing up and configuring the programming for an assistance drone. "Doc? We're going to clear down to the first chrysalis, and then I want you to investigate it without opening it. I'm not running the risk of a biological contamination or a quarantine risk." Sara nodded, the order making sense. They needed to know what happened here first before they could search the complex for the fate of Hadley's Hopes' colonists. While this was a rescue mission of sorts, doing it wrong meant there would be no rescue, and likely make the situation worse. Ryder didn't want Auntie coming here and finding something worse to deal with, and she certainly wasn't interested in creating more danger for the colonists or the Marines outside of the complex. "Keep it tight, keep it quiet, and keep it slow."
Sam had her HMWSM MasterGear SPECTRE Mk. I Submachine Gun in her hands, more appropriate for urban and interior situations. Sara drew hers off her right hip and extended it into combat operations as she lifted her left hand and pantomimed pushing against a wall as she felt a heat building up at the base of her skull, a trail of pins and needles crawling down her neck to her arm, the tingling sensation extending to her hand, where her skin itched and little arcs danced in between her armored fingers as she erected a shield around herself, feeling the hum of negative field Biokinetic energy surrounding her. She then lifted her left arm towards her, and with her trigger finger activated her OmniGel dispersal nodes, gushing a centimeter thick layer of high-grade OmniGel over her chest, arms, shoulders, back, thighs, shins, and helmet, which activated and surrounded her head with the activation of her Tech Armor. She could keep up the Barrier with some concentration, though after some time she'd have to collapse it from strain and caloric depletion.
"Whoa! Damn, you don't fuck around, do ya Doc?" Vega looked at her with shock. "Biotics and a nifty suit of armor. Tough customer." The Latino man had approval in his tone as he activated his own helmet, his Aldrin Labs' Onyx Heavy Interceptor Armor extending it from the collar of his armor. "Ladies don't mind if I take the lead? Me being a gentleman an' all." He hefted the Marshal to its proper combat configuration and height, the carrying harness steadying his movements, walking forward as the barrel of the medium machine gun swung back and forth slow and steady to search and scan as a violet orb danced over his left shoulder, the scanning drone of Raeka's. The Salarian had a holographic field displayed over her OmniTool showing the motion sensor and life sign detection field, and Sara noted that it only had a fifty meter range. That was at best in optimal conditions, which this corridor was anything but. Ash walked right next to Vega, her Kassa Fabrications' M-76 Reverent Light Machine Gun to her shoulder as the Colonial Soldier kept pace with the Marine Lieutenant, taking the starboard side as Vega had port, keeping their fields of fire and scanning cross-sections to clear corners without flagging their companion. James and Ash moved forward at a half-pace, their respective weapons sweeping as the drone above Vega's shoulder pulsed out a sub-sonic waves every second for motion and life form signals, letting off a small tick every time it sent its wave. Agent Raeka huddled in the middle of the formation with her Kassa Fabrications' M-55 Argus Battle Rifle held upward as she monitored her OmniTool, while Sam and Sara took the rear of the formation, guarding their rear while being able to action in on anything different or unusual, or even able to clear rooms if necessary.
"Approaching pod." Ash vox'ed through the helmet of her Rosenkov Materials' Titan Heavy Armor, her Reverent pointing at the object in question in the gloom of the corridor. "Looks like a big walnut seed. If walnut seeds were green and squishy."
"Less chatter." Marshal Collins invoked, though there was no reproof in her voice. "Vega, Williams, take far-side security." Both Marine and Soldier stepped past the pod that was attached to the wall and ceiling by organic strands, Vega purposefully rounding around the pod as far as he possibly could, obviously afraid to touch it. Sara moved forward as she stored her SPECTRE Submachine Gun on her right hip, collapsing it as she pulled out a Medical Monitoring Device on the side of her MedBag's pouch as she approached the organic-looking pod warily, her eyes on the details. The cocoon looked to be a chrysalis, with a hardened organic flesh colored a leafy green, with molted-like surface with hardened dark-green veins webbing over its pitted surface. It was easily taller than two meters, and Sara doubt James could wrap his arms around he middle, where it bulged out the most. It tapered to nubs at the end and didn't even touch the floor of the complex, fully suspended by the sticky-looking strands that held it, like a spiders' web but much thicker. It looked to be some sort of organic resin of the likes Ryder had never seen or heard of before, though likening it to an insects' metamorphosis chamber seemed to be accurate; it looked like a much larger version of a butterfly's pupa. Sara took a couple of steps closer, slowly, as she raised the MMD with its ultrasound App toggled to give her an interior view through the use of reflected sub-sonic soundwaves.
She pressed the device against the stiff-yet-pliable shell of the cocoon, and watched as a holographic screen pop up over the device to give her a view of what laid inside.
It took a minute or two for Sara to get a sense of what she was seeing. There was interference from the cocoons' shell, making her recalibrate the frequency and hertz of the ultrasound minutely to get a better picture until she got a clear picture of… what looked to be a humanoid-shaped sentient inside, in what appeared to be an upright position though with arm-like appendages wrapped around its thoratic chest and legs crossed together and slightly bent. It was almost like a fetal position except less extreme, and she found the head analogue, slightly downward, almost… almost like a sleeping position.
Now, what are you, Sara thought as she focused on the anatomical portions of the creature inside, what she could see that would specify what it was. Was it a new species or something that she knew of? There were thirty-nine recognized species known to the Citadel Council of Law, but Sara had never heard of any of them having a metamorphic phase in their development. She noted that the hands had five phalanges; five fingers. Only five species had five fingers; the Asari, Batarians, the Drell, Humans, and the Vor'reen. The device went downward and Ryder saw five phalanges coming from the metatarsals; five toes from the foot. Sara gulped at that. Only the Asari and Humans had five toes. The Device went up towards the trunk and looked at the interior portion of the lumbar, going downward slowly until she found, yes… there were the hips, and in between the symmetrical bottom extremities…
…was fully-exposed intromittent organ, type male.
"Oh God…" Sara pulled away from the pod, the Device still in her hand as she stepped back, looking at the cocoon in horror. Only one sapient species in the entirety of the galaxy was known to have an intromittent organ, and only one planet had evolved for that kind of copulation. Thirty-nine sapient species and millions of non-sapient lifeforms throughout the galaxy, and only on Earth did creatures evolve with an externally exposed sexual organ.
"There's a man in that cocoon. A Human man." Ryder looked to Sam, her tone betraying what she felt; shock and horror. Someone had captured a man and cocooned him for purposes unknown. There would be nothing good of this.
"So these cocoons… are the colonists?" Williams asked, her tone dubious. "I mean, how did they let themselves get captured and wrapped up in the first place?"
"They didn't have any weapons, no real ones, at least." James supplied, his tone glum. "If something bad happened here, it would have been improvised weapons or fistfighting."
"Could this be environmental?" Collins asked, though she didn't sound like she believed the possibility herself, just merely covering bases.
"No, this is certainly the doing of something organic." She didn't know the purpose of the cocoon; was it a metamorphose chamber, or a preservation chamber, much like what spiders did with their food? Had the colonists of Feros discover a new species? Had they unleashed something by accident?
Was it inside with them right now?
"Command post is this way." 2nd Lieutenant James Vega said as they approached an intersection of the Hadley's Hope Main Complex, Sergeant First Class Ashley Madeline Williams grunting acknowledgment as she used the angel of her approach to begin clearing the opposite corridor. She hated the Complex and all it was. It was dark, most of the interior lights broken or malfunctioning, with a few amber emergency lights strobing for poor illumination. The corridor was thick with shadows and gloom, and despite her helmet being on, Ash felt like she could almost choke on the dust and mold inside the complex. She had been through a absolute ton of Urban Warfare Training Courses in the Eden Prime Colonial Army, the ground forces against invasion and criminality, the SACA knowing fully well that cities and towns would be the main target for slavers and enterprising criminals. But this Complex represented the worst she had ever seen, a massive pre-fab structure that was built to be self-sufficient, with AlumniSteel walls and reinforced structure meant for many an environment out in the various territories of Earth Alliance Space. It could be planted in a high-grav world, a high-pressure world, a high-temp world, and even those with a fraction of Earths' conditions. It was a structure meant to survive.
And it was hell to clear out.
Dozens and dozens of rooms existed along the corridor, each one needing clearing to check for survivors, Agent Zevin Raeka's scanning drone only so effective. It was meant to pick up movement and lifeforms, but the Salarian not-Dalatrass had fully admitted that it was more programmed for Salarian biological lifesigns, and could easily miss someone in a fully-sealed environmental suit that wasn't moving, or even a sleeping person. Walls and closed rooms wouldn't be penetrated by the drones' scans, and the strange cocoon things weren't either Even then, Ash doubted she would accept that something was clear unless she saw it with her own eyes. As the five-man team moved down the corridor, checking every corner, nook, and cranny, Chief Sara Ryder and Marshal Samantha Collins checked each room that they encountered, opening the door and sweeping inside with a two-man team as Agent Zevin Raeka watched their rear while Vega and Williams held the front while the Marshal and the Corpsman cleared each and every individual room, many of them just being personal quarters. Ash got the sense that Sara and Sam worked together well, especially after the first couple of rooms; the small kinks getting ironed out as they became more proficient, learning each others' routines and moves to better integrate themselves, what made the difference between a mere combatant and a true professional. By the fifth room, they weren't even needing words to coordinate themselves, having meshed with the other that allowed non-verbal communication to be all that was needed.
You'd be proud of her, Skipper, Williams thought to herself, keeping an eye on the Petty Officer. No one needed to tell the oldest child of the Williams family what Sara Ryder meant to Jane Shepard; hell, there was a fucking movie about it! This was the part of Sara that the Lion never really got a chance to see, the part that existed whenever her Auntie wasn't there. Whenever Jane was in a room, it was easy to see Sara immediately looking to her direction, the young woman who had looked up to the redhead as a hero when she was a little girl, that feeling still there. It took a big sister like herself to see the signs, the mark of family when an older sibling and a younger one had a much larger gulf in age between them than the normal average. Generally, brothers and sisters were only separated by a year or two, some at most three. Seeing a pair with a five year separation was rare. Jane Catherine Shepard was nine years older than Sara Elaine Ryder; damn near a teenager when she first held Sara in her hands. No doubt 'Auntie' became something of a babysitter for the Ryder twins, Ash knowing that Jane was practically half-raised by the Ryder family herself.
The scuttlebutt about that one was fierce on the Normandy, though no one dared breathe it around either the Captain or Doc. It hadn't gotten any better after the Battle of LaGrange Point Two, with Rear Admiral (Lower Half) Hannah Singer and Captain Jane Shepard on the same boat for nearly two days. Every time the Skipper talked about her mother or referred to her mother, it had always been in the third person; the Admiral, she would say. The dispassionate tone was as clear as day with anyone with a pair of ears, and even Doc Ryder seemed to hold no real emotion to a woman that was the mother to someone she saw a sister and personal hero. There were guesses and rumors, but both Williams and First Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko squashed them down pretty hard before things got out of hand and word got back to either the Skipper or Doc. Ash hadn't been told (she certainly didn't ask and had zero intentions of ever asking) but Commander Mark Vanderloo had happened upon the Sergeant dressing down one of the Bosun's Mates talking about it while performing maintenance on the Normandy's main elevator, literally the busiest part of the ship concerning foot traffic. Navy was just as bad as the Army when it came to rumors and sticking ones' foot in ones' mouth.
"Some bridges may never be mended," the Executive Officer had said simply, and had left it at that. Ash hadn't asked, but considering that the Skipper had her ex-husband working as her XO and keeping the drama to near-zero activity, that said something fierce. Oh, Ash wasn't under any illusion that the Captain still had some feelings for her XO; it was next to impossible not to feel anything for someone one once loved, even if it was a desire to set the other person on fire. Williams doubted that was the case between Captain Shepard and Commander Vanderloo, though.
"Where's your head at, Gunny?" Vega asked softly, Ash wincing that she had been called out as well as the Marine nickname for an E-7.
"Ain't a Gunny, Loot, and you know it." Williams fired back, rolling her shoulders uncomfortably as she kept her eyes on the corridor in front of her. One could maintain a position and let the mind wander, but generally it wasn't a good idea. But times like these? Sometimes it helped keep the horror and grief away. "Just… trying not to picture this."
"Yeah, I get that." James replied softly, the barrel of his M-56 Marshal pointing down the corridor, where cocoons were stuck to the walls. "Anywhere else but here." Ash cleared the opposite corridor as she gave the Lieutenant a nod, and Vega stepped out into the intersection, his Marshal raised and ready as he pointed it in the direction they needed to go as Williams crossed behind him and stood at his back, aiming her M-76 Reverent down the opposite path of travel, keeping their flank protected. "Corridor's clear as clear can be." The Marine Lieutenant said as he walked forward, Sara moving forward and tapping Ash's shoulder to replace her as Williams pivoted and took a position near Vega, her light machine gun pointing in the same direction as James, the team ensuring they always had three-hundred and sixty-degree security. Thoughts of the Horizon came to Ash all too well, the vessel filled with Husks screaming and rushing in their need to kill them all, and the Colonial Soldier repressed a shudder. This was better than the Cruise Liner, but only just. STG Agent Zevin 'snick'ed' as taking the rear position, letting Vega and Williams know to move forward, the Salarian having adopted the Human signal for 'set'. Vega and Williams moved forward slowly, their respective weapons sweeping and clearing all in front of them as they moved to Hadley's Hopes' Command Center, where if anyone were to be found, it would likely be there.
Ash didn't know how many cocoons they had seen or passed by, but it was easily well over a hundred, some of them side-by-side, or clumped together. Sometimes the corridor was clogged with them, forcing the team to go through one at a time, taking care not to brush up against the organic-looking pod. Doc Ryder's revelation that there was a Human man inside the first one they had inspected pretty much confirmed what they had all thought before; the colonists were inside the cocoons, and there was no way in hell that was a good thing. They needed to know what had happened to the colonists, and the best place for answers was the command post; either there would be survivors there, or at the least the Complex would have some evidence what had happened here. It would give them an idea on what to do next… if there was anything to do.
Williams wasn't very hopeful; the whole thing felt wrong on so many levels.
They continued down the corridor as Raeka's monitoring drone kept hovering over Vega's shoulder, rhythmically thumping like a quiet heartbeat with each pulse of sub-decimal ultrasound waves being emitted and bouncing back for motion and life signs. So far, the drone hadn't noticed anything they hadn't figured out for themselves, though its capabilities wouldn't let it see past walls, inside rooms, or inside the cocoons. Ash ignored the stiffness in her shoulders, the ache in her lower back, and the nervous sweat that beaded her forehead inside her helmet, glad her Rosenkov Materials' Titan Heavy Armor had its own environmental regulator that would keep her cool enough from perspiring too much. She could hear Vega softly praying over his SquadComm, and she didn't blame him at all. With the dark and the gloom, the cocoons stuck to the walls, and the very feel of fear inside the Complex, one could easily mistake this for Hell. Whatever had done this to the colonists was likely still inside the Complex, and they had no idea what it was or how it did it. The corridor continued to run forward, clogged with cocoons as Zevin's drone pulsed quietly, the only sound in the Complex was the odd settling of metal and the scrape of their armored boots on the grate flooring of the Complex. There were no voices, no footsteps, and no sound of activity to be heard as Ash rounded around a cocoon, keeping several centimeters between it and herself as she continued to aim her Reverent down the hall, wishing she could wipe the sweat off her forehead. But there was no way in hell she was going to take off her helmet in a hostile situation. God only knew what the air tasted like with all these pods littering the Complex.
"Command post is about another hundred meters." Vega informed the softly as they passed by another cluster of pods, almost thick enough that Vega had trouble fitting through without disturbing what was inside. The back of his Aldrin Labs' Onyx Heavy Interceptor Armor scrapped against the wall as Ash covered far-side security, having gone first when they noted the narrow passage, having elected to go first to provide a defense while James worked his bulk and his Marshal through the tight fit. The high-impact ceramic armor scrapped along the alumnisteel wall as the Marine squeezed his way through, the Lieutenant vocally taking a breath before shimmying his way through the tight corridor blocked by the half-a-dozen or so cocoons. He made it through with a bare centimeter or two to spare, pushing his bulk and armor as tight against the wall as he could, opting for noise rather than disturbing the cocoons. Williams didn't blame him at all.
They passed through the pinch-point without any issues, but it certainly didn't make their job or lives any easier or better.
Ash continued sweeping as they cleared the corridor, the darkness and gloom of the ill-lit hall playing with her mind. She cleared every corner, every pod, every door as Sam and Sara took to the interior of the rooms, clearing them like a pair of cops. Thankfully the quarters weren't large themselves, but each represented a small living area, a bedroom, and a bathroom meant for a small family to use. That had Williams pause; had there been kids on Hadley's Hope? Statistically, it was impossible to avoid; even the shittiest of colonies had kids on them, and there were some pioneers who would drag their kids off to some Tier I Colony shithole no matter how many people told them it was a dumb fucking idea. And then there was just the bound-to-happen pregnancies, though the usual initial set-up of a colony had women implanted with sub-dermal contraceptive chips to avoid putting a newborn baby at risk when medical facilities were generally very limited and meagerly stocked due to a variety of reasons. Unfortunately, no one had invented an anti-moron chip, so Ash assumed that there were probably children in the Complex, playing in these very corridors as adults worked with little ones underfoot. God, kids, the Soldier felt that vice return, the one that crushed her heart in Eden Prime and came back on the ACV Horizon. Supposedly, no one wanted to hurt kids, but somehow kids ended up getting hurt in battles and wars. Well, that was ignoring what the fucking Slugs thought, like anyone gave a shit about those four-eyed motherfuckers.
Please don't let me find any kids here, Ash thought, that heavy weight tearing at her heart. Despite being lesbian, kids was something she always wanted to have, having helped her Mom raise three sisters while Dad was away on ship deployments. She had been older by Abigail by three years, Lynn six, and Sarah by nearly ten, and it had always fallen to Ash to be the big sister, to be the responsible one. A lifetime of being a big sister meant she was always looking out for little ones, and in her heart, Williams knew that she had that female guardian thing in her. She'd make a good mother, and there were days she wondered why she hadn't started yet. Mostly because you're having too much fun shooting shit during the day, and lapping pussy during the night, she admitted to herself if she were being completely honest. There was nothing wrong with adoption, but Ash would have her own kids. Wouldn't be that hard, finding some male stud and easily coaxing him into a room for a good time on the right night and let biology do its thing. But that would have meant getting out. Williams hadn't been ready for that yet.
Because of that decision, she was now a part of one of the most lethal teams in Human history, serving Humanity's First SPECTRE, serving when Humanity needed them most. Some days, that filled with pride. Other days, anger or grief. Days like today? She really wished she had pulled the 'fuck it' card back when there was a chance, before June Sixth.
Head back in the game, Blockhead, Sarah Williams' voice came to her, such an old soul for a girl so young. Whenever Ash had her doubts or the grief got bad, she heard her sisters. When that happened, she took the opportunity to actually call them so she really could hear them. She fought for them, and they in returned saved her. That's what family was for. Something the Skipper and Doc would completely get; sometimes family just made you better, even if they weren't right there beside you. You got some kids in there right now, looking up at you. Sam's tough, but she's a cop; she needs you to back her up and keep her from making a cops' decision in a military action. She just lost her husband, and I doubt she's doing well. Keep your head clear for her, help her down the right paths and decisions so she doesn't make any mistakes she'll regret. Raeka's Salarian; she might be smarter, but there's a million things that you know about Humans she'll never get, so she needs you to be her eyes. She's looking out for us, volunteering during our most despairing hours. Return the favor by looking out for her. Look at James, a twenty-two year old boy desperate to be a man, trying to fill that role. Probably didn't have a real male figure in his life, which is why he's so buffed out and throwing that tough boy persona; deep inside, he's afraid, but he'll never show it. All he needs is someone to keep him from being too macho. And Sara? She practically is a kid! She's younger that Lynn, almost my age. She's use to being the big sister herself to her twin brother; ever notice her looking for something when she enters a room but never finding it? She's walking around with half-a-soul, filling that void with science, experiments, tech, and her team, desperate to fill that hole. She's use to having someone to lean on, and Scottie Ryder and her Auntie aren't here. She's strong, but inside she needs to know she has that shoulder when that time comes.
Thanks, Brat, Ash smiled as she thought of her youngest sister, knowing that Sarah was right. TEAM LION might be what Humanity needed, but it was really just individuals working together, their hopes and dreams cemented together in a common cause. And like family, those individuals found ways to fill in the gaps of what they need with what they had.
Skipper was the leader, pure and simple, their beacon and guiding light. Sara was the caretaker, fussing over them and nagging them with check-ups and jokes, her way of showing she cared. Kaidan was like a Dad, a silent smile here or a touch of an encouragement here, just enough to give someone the inspiration they needed. Niki and Tali were the kid sisters everyone wished they had, effervescent and full of life, quick to help and to gossip. Wrex was the gruff old grandfather, full of wisdom, anecdotes, and mild insults that equaled suck it up, Junior. Garrus was the silent guardian, watching over all, and then pinpointing the very thing they needed help with, as if he knew all along. The Marines were the kids that were always underfoot, Louis, Holland, Oblong, and Nate a bunch of unruly children one had to keep an eye on 'lest they get into trouble. Liara was the shy, nerdy sister, a little wallflower just dying to bloom and have someone watch. Raeka was like the cool Aunt one never knew they had until she'd come in with a jaw-dropper of a gift. Sam, oh so silent Sam, was the one who had come back home after life took an enormous shit on her, a little lost and reeling, trying to reconnect and find herself once more.
During the days when they weren't actively trying to kill something (or something, more accurately, wasn't trying to kill them), they filled their time with duties and priorities, to work upon a mission bigger than any of them could ever hope to accomplish. Yet they gravitated towards one another, began meshing and bonding, a pseudo-family of rather weird proportions. Ash tried arm-wrestling Garrus once (and lost horribly, much to her charign), and loved gossiping with the Pilgrims, showing off pictures of her family as they returned the favor (a suited Tali standing next to a suited father, Niki with a suited adoptive mother). Wrex had an eye for a million and one ways to improve someone, be it stance, or hand positions, or even a better way of cleaning ones' armor while drunk (that had been a hoot of a story!), watching over them all with those eternal eyes of his that had seen way, way too much. Liara… Liara…
Her Liara.
Oh it wasn't that, though thankfully if there was scuttlebutt about it, everyone was wiser not to mention it to the Colonial Soldier who had the second biggest arms for a female on the ship (yeah, Ash had rubbed it in just a little with the Skipper, Shepard a little glum about that loss). Ever since that little impromptu date on the Cit at Alshar, the poetry club, Ash found herself… spending time with Doctor Liara T'soni. Whenever her Watch was over and she wasn't fixing weapons or armor, and Liara wasn't trying to discover Prothean poetry written in stone somewhere, somehow they found themselves talking and interacting with one another. Sharing likes and dislikes. Sharing culture and pop culture. Testing tastes and flavors from the others' native environment and seeing what the reaction would be. Liara instantly fell in love with chocolate, and Ash had to admit that gooshela berries were like fruity yogurt bites but much better. They watched Holovision shows, usually Salarian comedies, and somehow their meals were always taken together. During their last day on the Cit, Liara had wanted to do some casual shopping with Ash (and the excuse to do so only with Ash had been rather obvious to anyone with a pulse), going to the Regency District where she had lived for five years, the Protheantologist showing Williams where she had lived, and some of the better memories she had of the Cit. They had gone to a park that had been one of the few last good memories that Liara had with the Matriarch, the Asarikin's hand shyly slipping into Ash's own as the Doctor fought back tears, obviously reliving the past. Liara finally broke down and told Ashley what had occurred between mother and daughter, what had fractured their family. Ash learned what had the Matriarch disown her only child… and Liara accepting it gladly.
Williams had never know such jealous rage in her life at the truth. Who could do that to their child?
They had left the park together, their hands still holding one another's. Ash knew that, in her heart (or hearts in the Doctors' case, actually), Liara was saying goodbye to a mother she had lost long ago.
Williams was… conflicted with her strange relationship with the Asari Protheantologist. She enjoyed spending time with Liara, who was always effervescent and happy to see Ash. Liara could talk forever about the Protheans… and Ash didn't mind. Liara made it fun to learn about the extinct species, listening to her dreams of finding artwork and statues, of uncovering a schoolhouse and learning how Prothean children lived, the essence of any species. Doctor T'soni wasn't one of those Protheantologists (the Asarikin said with utter disdain) who was interested in ancient tech or weapons designs to exchange for Credits and fame. No, Liara wanted to see a Prothean, to look upon a relief of a race who had created so much, whose legacy every race in the galaxy enjoyed. It wasn't hard to figure out that the Protheans were a symbolic replacement to a father figure that Liara never spoke of and likely didn't know of; an absentee 'sire' who was a myth, but to be revered. Liara's devotion to her chosen profession was endearing, really, and Ash found herself downloading primers and Prothean History texts (to keep up, of course). For a good solid week, Ash almost didn't realize that she had spent more time with Liara than anyone else in TEAM LION… and it didn't bother her in the least. A far cry from the woman she was just a year prior. Nothing considered fraternization was happening, of course, but Ash… wondered.
Everything changed with the Battle of LaGrange Point Two.
With the Fourth Fleet falling to pieces, nursing its wounds and literally trying to hold itself together in some cases, the SSV Normandy and its crew were at its finest. Many aboard the Stealth Reconnaissance Frigate had volunteered to board other vessels in their time of need, those not on Active Watch jumping onto the UT-47 Kodiak Utility Transport Vessel "Rey Kenobi" to be transfered over to ships that needed their trade or, at the least, their hands. Both Doctor T'soni and Sergeant Williams had been amongst the first volunteers (though practically everyone volunteered within seconds of one another) to throw their efforts into the aiding of the IVY Fleet. While all Sailors were Damage Control like all Marines were Riflemen, Ash was Army; she didn't know a bilge pump from a maintenance ladder. But ten years in this woman's Army had certainly taught her how to turn a wrench, splice some wires, slap some cold weld or tact two pieces of metal together, and Ash had been sent to the York-Class Cruiser SSV Timbuktu to aid in maintenance, so many of its Bosun's Mates and Engineers gone. Ash had filled in repairing bulkheads with her OmniTools' spot-welder and getting the cooling system back into operation with the Tim's crew. During the Nelson Drive where the Skipper led the charge that devastated the Geth Fleet with the Mighty Kili, Ash had jumped on a LAM-C Gun Seat and shot the shit out of Geth vessels as only an Army NCO could. During the drive, a piece of debris from an exploding ship had punched through the hull of the Tim, centimeters away from Ash's helmeted head. It had been too small to create a depressurization event and suck her out into space, but when Ash looked at the Gunners' Seat after the battle, she found the piece of debris lodged into the headrest right where her head was. It should have fucking killed her on the spot… but it didn't.
Liara had been on the SSV Ypres.
The Protheantologist had been instrumental helping the ailing Hastings-Class Frigate during its time of need. While not at all mechanically-inclined, Doctor Liara T'soni came with an ability that very few could match; that of an Asari Biotic. Liara had gently warped and fused metal plates to the half-shattered, half-crippled Frigate in times that it would have taken three Human Sailors to do so, freeing up hands and buying the crew time. During the battle itself, when the Ypres pushed itself beyond its limit to fight the Geth, a nearby explosion had dislodged a Navy Sleeper Pod that had been on its last legs, flying through the Main Deck. Liara, strapped to a crash seat as she had no idea how to operate any Navy equipment, had caught the Pod with her Biotics and warped its grounding plate to the deck, preventing it from injuring or likely killing anyone. Several crew members aboard the Ypres had vocally recognized Doctor T'soni's efforts, and supposedly one Sailor who had spoken up about the Doctors' species had gotten punched in the face for the infraction, laid low by fellow Sailor who simply said who gives a shit?
The Ypres had been dead in the water after the Nelson Drive, when the Geth Dreadnought and its twenty-vessel reinforcement force came.
Ash saw what happened on the Haptic Overlay Suite of the Gunners' Station on the Tim, seeing the Langemarck and the Ypres drifting, one with a broken spine, the other with a melting core. Tali'Zorah, the ever-so-shy Quarian Engineer who always fidgeted whenever the Skipper came into a room, had heroically taken charge of an Alliance vessel when the Langemarck's secondary Bridge crew had been sucked out into space, rescuing the survivors of the Mighty Kili in their lifepods as well as somehow magnetically attaching the Ypres to the hull of the Lange. Ash didn't have a doubt in her mind that the Pilgrim would have done so in the face of Geth adversity, fighting for vessel and species no matter the danger. Both Rear Admiral (Lower Half) Hannah Singer and Captain Jane Shepard had written recommendations in response to Tali's actions, but what really nailed the point home was the fact that several Normandiers had been on the Ypres.
Liara included.
When Ash and Liara made their way back onto the Normandy after the remnant of the IVY Fleet had collected together, Williams had thrown everything she had ever thought or known to the wind and held Liara when they were finally reunited, the grief and stress leaking out. Only a few sobs had escaped her, but the fact that she could do so in the arms of a non-Human said everything. Hell, a month ago Ash would have scoffed at the notion, but there she was, holding an Asari close enough to press bodies with, holding her in a moment of weakness as the Doctor returned the favor. Williams told her what had happened on the Tim, what should have happened to her, and the thought of how she would have felt if the Ypres had been lost. Ash had the revelation shake her very heart when she realized that the Ypres could have been destroyed outright without a chance and… and it had sent a very painful lance of fear and denial right through her. She cared for Liara, but up until that moment she didn't realize that it had been so profound. When Liara had been reunited with the Normandy, Williams hadn't given a shit less who saw her run over to the Asari Doctor and practically tackle her with a hug. She had babbled something to the Protheantologist as Williams held her, whispering to her ear analog situated under her lowest crest flaps on the side of her head, words that basically boiled down to I thought that I had lost you and I don't want that. Ash had shocked her even more by tilting her back and leaning forward to kiss her, the Asarikin putty in her hands as Liara closed her eyes and let herself be swept away as Ash gave the Doctor her first kiss, one that seemed to last a blissful eternity. It had tingled in an unusual fashion thanks to the Maidens' Biotics, but Ash didn't mind at all. It was rather… exhilarating.
"Please don't scare me like that again," Ash had told Liara, holding her tenderly after sharing her heart with the Asari Doctor, the fear and the reunion simmering down as the Soldier held the Protheantologist. "I thought I'd lost you. I don't want to lose you."
"Nor I you, Ashley." Liara had returned, her cerulean eyes going to her own brown ones, a tentative, gentle hand going to Ash's cheek, cupping her face. "I… I have never felt this way about another before, have never wanted someone this way before. Until you." Liara smiled, her cerulean lips shy as she showed her own hearts to Ash. "I… am smitten by you, Ashley Madeline Williams. You are so full of life and zeal, brave against adversity yet graceful under pressure. When you walk into a room, you fill it with strength and promise, and it can be… overwhelming." Liara's cheeks turned a deeper shade of blue, blushing. "And yet, you have love in your soul; love for your fellow man, for the crew that you serve. You look out for us in a million little ways, both sharing and receiving. You have grown since I have met you, and… I…" The Doctor struggled with the words, the emotions, but she set her fears aside and told Ash what she needed to say, what could have been lost before. "I am falling for you, Ashley. And I will not let that be unknown anymore."
"I'd like that, Liara Delphoria E'Shora of House T'soni," Ash replied a little breathlessly, using the Maidens' full name. She knew that Liara had to have some feelings for her, but Williams hadn't been sure what they were. Liara was a super-smart Doctor of Anthropology, specializing in Prothean Paleosociology. She was just a stupid Human cowboy more interested in shooting guns and blowing shit up. How the hell was she to guess that this exotic, caring creature would ever have feelings for a person in a species most considered barbaric and backwards? Yet Liara was in her arms, looking into her eyes, showing her what she guarded most; her hearts, her feelings, her hopes, and her dreams. Ash was touched by it, moved by it. She sealed what she felt by kissing the Protheantologist once more, practically making out with her like a teenager. Not that Liara complained, not with the little gasps she gave with each kiss.
"Ahem?" Ash cut off the latest kiss to see Petty Officer Sara Ryder standing there, her arms folded across her chest and with a rather amused look upon her face. "Sorry to interrupt, ladies," her tone was completely insufferable, just full of piss and vinegar, "but we're going to have inbound patients coming to the Normandy so we can start assessing and treating more of the more-seriously wounded members of the Fourth right here in the Cargo Bay."
"I'll help out where I can." Williams volunteered, knowing she had some of the basics down pat thanks to her time in the Army. Liara had laid her head on Ash's shoulder to give her a final hug before parting, and Williams was most certainly treated to retreating look and a shy smile from the Protheantologist. Sara was smirking way too big. "Not a fucking word, Navy."
"Thought I was going to need a crowbar to peel you two apart." That had Ash growl at the Corpsman, who chuckled. "Seriously, though? Happy for you. I really am." Ryder looked to where the Normandy's Bosun's Mates were already beginning to assemble what appeared to be a field hospital right in the middle of the Cargo Bay. Damn, Doc hadn't been kidding. "I think we could all use a little happiness after the day we've had." They had lost too many; sons and daughters, husbands and wives, fathers and mothers, Sailors committed to fighting for Humanity and paying the price. Sara was right; nothing wrong with a little happiness on a day like they had.
"We're here." Ash called out as she covered the corridor on their way to the Complex Command Post, finding a sealed door at the end of the corridor, with a dozen or so cocoons attached to the alumnisteel walls, the lights practically all broken down this final section. "I don't see any kind of intercom to call inside. Closed from within?"
"I can use a program that will let me use the acoustics of the next room as if a speaker." Agent Zevin Raeka replied, still hoisting her M-55 Argus in her right three-fingered hand as she monitored her OmniTool screen for movement or lifesigns. So far, they had found none. There were supposedly over nine hundred people in the Complex, and they had yet to find a single one of them. Ash didn't like the feeling it gave her. When the reached the sealed door, the Salarian not-Dalatrass moved forward as Lieutenant Vega did an about-face to cover their rears as the STG Agent mag-locked her Argus to her chestpiece and began typing on her right-handed OmniTool for a moment or two before pressing it against the wall of the next room where the Command Post was. "Basic premise is to connect electrical wiring and attune it to a frequency to amplify any distortions for reception." The ovaloid helmeted head looked over to them, and Ash just figured out why the Salarian had that program.
"Nice spywork, STG." That had Sara guffaw out loud, Marshal Collins merely shaking her head. "Knock-knock time." Williams moved to the door and rapped on it with the oldest code in the book; tap, tap-tap-tap, tap. I wonder who invented the whole 'shave and a haircut' thing, Ash briefly wondered.
"Really, Gunny?" James asked, his tone a little amused. "Not exactly an appropriate introduction."
"That means something else in Mexico." Marse Collins explained when Ash didn't get it. "Translates to chinga tu madre, cabrón."
"Um… don't exactly speak Spanish." Ryder said, sounding a little quaint. "Six galactic languages, but the Earth ones? Not so much."
"Means 'fuck your mother, asshole'." Williams translated, knowing the words but not the cultural reference.
"Charming."
On the other side of the door, there was a response. Tap, tap.
"I hear voices, lots of confusion." Raeka said softly, her holographically-glowing right hand pressed against the wall of the Command Post. "Debating if they should open the door. Very frightened. Something attacked them. Identified as 'they'?"
"Means something they couldn't identify." Williams replied, biting her lower lip. There were threats out there in the black, to be sure, but just because someone didn't know the allegiance of an attacker didn't meant someone wouldn't use a species to identify them with. Batarians were a popular one, along with slavers. If those words weren't popping up? It fit in the category of unknown/other. That could be bad. All they had to do was look at the cocoons to emphasize that point.
"Who is it?" A vox'ed male voice came over a speaker that was over the door.
"Federal Marshal Samantha Collins with the Marshal Services." The Butcher spoke up just enough to hope that her voice was picked up without having her words potentially disturbing anything within the Complex. "With me is Sergeant 'Lone Wolf' Williams of the Eden Prime Colonial Army, and Chief Sara Ryder, the Angel of Illyeria. We're here looking for survivors and find out what the hell happened here."
There was a distinct pause.
"They're discussing something." Raeka replied softly. "Arguing about your identity and if they should open the door. I believe there's a dozen inside." The Salarian twisted her gauntleted hand slightly. "One is most certainly arguing in favor of opening the door. Another is arguing to keep it closed, but offers no alternatives on how to escape the situation." The Salarians' helmeted head turned back to the team. "I believe there is at least one Human child inside. They keep referring to 'the kids' safety', or 'the girl'." The hand twisted again. "I detect approximately twelve different voices, but there might be a few more who aren't speaking. Too much yelling to count individual breathing patterns." The helmet returned to looking downward. "The one in favor has authority of some kind, many defer to him. The one against uses others as a defense, but no one is speaking up for him or in his favor. They are voting." Ash winced at that; hell of a time to play democracy. "They vote to open, but they want to ascertain if we are who we say we are."
The speaker came back on.
"What was the nickname of your CHU back on Therum?"
Ash was taken back by the question as she looked to Sam, whose helmeted head did a double-take.
"The Icebox." Ouch. That wasn't exactly the… nicest compliment for a woman. Someone declared frigid because they didn't go out and fuck. "Chad? Is that you, Chad Gaultier?" Obviously, someone inside knew the Butcher of Torfan before she put foot-to-ass to slaver scum. Perhaps… even before she became the Marshal of Therum.
"Marse. We're openin' the door, so skittle your asses inside so we can promptly close it." The male voice replied as the speaker went off.
And with that, the door opened.
Sergeant First Class Ashley Williams found herself looking to sixteen pairs of eyes in a pretty standard Command Post as soon as the door closed, turning around now that security wasn't needed anymore.
"Chad!" Marshal Samantha Collins declared as she touched at her HMOT MasterGear SPECTRE Mk. I OmniTool to deactivate her helmet, the object collapsing and folding back to her collar as the former Marshal of Therum strode forward towards a tall, muscular man with the beginnings of graying temples in his short brown hair, a well-weathered face that was breaking out in a grin as Sam moved forward to embrace him. Ashley vaguely recalled the name of Marshal Deputy Chad Gaultier; he had been a Deputy on Therum when Sam Collins had been, before the famous shootout that netted her the President of the Interplanetary Brotherhood of Teamsters and her own crooked Marshal. A dozen Deputies in the Marshal's Office of Nova Yekaterinburg had been equally as corrupt as Marshal Bart Weathers; most, but not all. Chad Gaultier had been proven innocent of allegations, investigated by the newly-minted Marshal of Therum herself, Sam taking over her boss's job as she collared the biggest criminal on her planet as well as his greatest contributor, Marshal Weathers. Deputy Chad Gaultier hadn't been just a Deputy on Therum alongside Marshal Collins; he had been on Torfan, too.
"Good seein' you again, Marse." The former Deputy smiled to his once-upon-a-time boss, looking at her Turian-marked face. "Hey, knew you married the big guy, but a little surprised you went full out after all this time." That implied that Gaultier actually knew Nihlus Kryik, though not if he were a Council Agent or not. If Ash had to guess, she would say that he did know. 'Big guy' didn't mean Turian necessarily, but a lot could be put into that term, including authority. "They ain't givin' you grief back at the Home Office, are they? 'Cuz I'll put Human foot to non-Human ass if I got to, I don't give a shit who they answer to." Williams looked over to Petty Officer Sara Ryder, who was looking back at her with a wry expression, one eyebrow raised. Chad Gaultier knew who and what Sam was. This was likely her best friend, someone she trusted deeply due to events on Therum and Torfan. When she went to the Office of Special Tactics, Deputy Gaultier had known Humanity was gaining a SPECTRE.
"Chad… Nihlus was killed on Eden Prime during the Assault." The Marshal replied, her voice barely strong enough to get the words out, and the man's face fell. "I'm with Captain Shepard now, stopping the Geth and hunting the Turian that killed his protege."
"Jesus. I've heard stories about that guy. Mostly from Nihlus." The former Deputy shook his head. "I'm real sorry to hear that, Sam. I knew how much he meant to you, and what he did for us on Therum. Hell, he looked out for Humanity because of you, we both know that." That… that made a lot of sense, though Ash wondered what Nihlus was doing looking out for Humanity. Obviously something discrete… and obviously final. It wasn't like the Skipper was out hunting common criminals now that she had a SPECTRE's authority. Nihlus and Sam must have been rounding up the elements that slipped through the fingers of Systems Alliance justice, be it the military or the Marshals, the ones too tough to track or crack. Ash had been proud when Commander Jane Shepard had asked her to come with, newly-minted SPECTRE just hours before the call from Therum came, an Angel calling for a Lion. But it seemed that there had been not one but two SPECTREs looking in on Mankind.
Williams' eye caught sight of the littlest in the group, and her heart skipped a beat.
"Doc." Ash got Sara's attention as she looked at the group of colonists… no, survivors, seeing them for what they really were. A bit bedraggled, a bit disheveled, all of them standing close to one another out of sheer despair and struggle. Yet amongst their numbers was in fact a little girl; Agent Zevin Raeka was right. Kid couldn't been more than eight. Three adults were standing very close to the child, protective and sheltering, but Ash noted that none of them really looked like the girl at all; different heritages. Three adults were looking out for a child that wasn't their own.
Orphan, Ash realized with a pang in her heart.
"Everyone, I'm Petty Officer Sara Ryder, the Angel of Illyeria and a Navy Corpsman." Doc moved forward, her custom-made M-37 Falcon Duel-Purpose Objective Weapon mag'ed to her chest to free her hands and make her less threatening. Sam was talking to Chad, and Ash noted one man scowling at the Turian colonial mark-faced woman. Fuck him. Lieutenant James Vega was standing at-ease, his Devlon Industries' M-56 Marshal Medium Machine Gun resting in a carrying configuration with its muzzle pointed at the ground and his hands rest on the top of the weapon, while the Salarian not-Dalatrass was standing to one side, silently observing. Williams briefly wondered if any one of the survivors actually realized there was a non-Human in the room with them, their attention split between Collins, Ryder, and their own shitty situation. Sixteen… out of over nine hundred. How the fuck had they survived whatever happened here? Ash had to guess someone closed the door and left it closed whenever shit went down, and some people probably got abandoned, wisely or not. At least they weren't cocooned and stapled to a wall. "If you would, please come over here so I can do a quick check-up on everyone for any injuries and concerns, and I can address them now while we have the time." Good job, Doc, Williams thought, knowing what Ryder was doing. Playing the caretaker to get people out of their shells and a little one-on-one interaction would get the story out, away from overbearing presences. These people had been pushed into the Complex by the military, and some deaths had occurred. It wouldn't be too far of a stretch to imagine they probably blamed Big Blue for their situation.
"You can go right out that door and go fuck yourself!" That was the scowler, no doubt the same man who argued to keep the door closed. The group of survivors moved a meter or so away from him, and that was telling. Ash knew the type; loudmouth braggart. Probably made every endeavor difficult by arguing with everything, insisting that he should be the one in charge without any real qualifications or experience, and poisoned others with words and insinuations. There were people who tried to be heroes… and then there were people who tried too hard to be heroes, legends in their own minds but rather lacking in the actual physical department. The man had the look of a roughneck, miner or perhaps an equipment operator. If he were bulky, it was because the pudge rounding out his belly suggested that whatever athleticism the man had was supported by fat. Given that he had a cruel-looking face, early balding that left his forehead and the top of his skull bare, and a weeks' worth of stubble that made his sallow skin even more unpleasant to look at, it wasn't hard to believe that the man won himself no friends or favor. He looked to be the quintessential rube, the colony redneck who'd bitch about the Alliance and their rules… and then turn around and expect the SA to plop everything on his lap and kiss his ass, too. A petty little man with a puffed up sense of importance. Humanity was filled with them, sadly.
"Are you offering a lady an escort?" Sara just aimed a smile, her tone pleasant but her eyes anything but. "It would be the gentlemanly thing to do, after all." Ash tried to hide her smirk, knowing that the Corpsman was either goading the man into doing something stupid, or branding him a coward. Well, he'd have no one to blame but himself. It'd take a special sort of stupid for someone to try and physically accost an armed member of the Systems Alliance Military. And he didn't even know that Sara was Biotic and able to run mental laps around him.
"Ten Credits says he's too dumb to recognize her armor." Williams told Vega out loud, her voice definitely vocal enough for the colonists in the Complex to hear. Vega just snorted, shaking his head and smiling. Sara was wearing HMWA MasterGear SPECTRE Mk. I Armor, plain for anyone with a pair of eyeballs to see.
"Ain't looking to lose money, Lone Wolf." The burly Latino replied, rotating his shoulders. "Looks like he had too many fatburgers and French cries to me." That had the Colonial Soldier chuckle as the man in question went red in the face, but thankfully went silent. Either he did in fact recognize Sara's SPECTRE Armor… or realized he was about to get his ass kicked hard if he tried anything. He stood silent and sulking in the pit of the Command Post with the others, his face dark as he looked at the team that had arrived.
"Okay, folks, if you could," Ryder continued with her original plan, "I'll string up a privacy curtain and get you checked out. I want to make sure everyone is in good health before we have to do anything. That gives us time to come up with a plan that gets you out of here and in a condition in which you can do so." The argumentative man muttered loud enough to let everyone know that he was while keeping his words from reaching a point where someone could justifiably do something about it. That man was a walking, talking liability case that was going to get other people hurt. "Is there anyone with more serious injuries that need to be looked upon first?" Sara was playing the nice nurse routine, kickstarting with the bedside manner to coax a few of the survivors out of their protective shells.
Ash felt a tap against her thigh armor, and she looked down to see the little girl from before standing next to her, looking up to her with big blue eyes, dirty unruly blonde hair, and a dirty face.
"Are you here to stop the monsters?" The little girl asked, her British-accented voice not even afraid, just… resigned. Ash took to a knee and looked into the girls' eyes, seeing her dressed in a colonists' work-related dungaree sized for a child. The uniform was dirty as well, and torn a little at one shoulder and along another sleeve. Those big blue eyes had seen too much horror, Williams saw.
"We don't exactly know what we're facing, so we're going to learn first." The Soldier replied, her left hand passing over the child's bracelet on her left wrist on purpose; a Colonial Identification Tag. "See those two, Sara and Raeka? They're the brains." The little girl looked to the Corpsman and the Salarian. "Me and the big guy over here, James? We're the heavy hitters. Sam over there is a bit of both, but she's been through tough situations before. We all have." Ash queued up her Aldrin Labs' Bluewire OmniTool, having scanned the girls' CID marker, and got her name. "We're going to get you out of here, Rebecca." The tag had come back with Jorden, Rebecca as a name.
"Newt." The little girl replied.
"My name is Newt."
Author's Notes: Yes, this is pretty much the sweep-and-clear of Aliens mixed with the pod people of Invasion of the Body Snatchers. No facehuggers or xenomorphs, thankfully. You'll be seeing where I'm going with this in the next two chapters.
I touched a little more about the early life of Jane Shepard and Sara Ryder, where I've mentioned that Jane spent her mothers' deployments with the Ryders.
Aww, Ash and Li are getting sweet with one another. This is most certainly what I've been planning on for some time, working on more non-standard relationships. I know I keep getting asked on who I'm shipping Shepard with, but seriously? Four combat tours in the Middle East and I didn't have a relationship with anyone and I certainly didn't shrivel up and die.
Shave-and-a-haircut, ten-cents! Yes, for some reason in the Mexican culture, this tune is an insult. I guess Looney Toons didn't make that much of an impression.
For those who read Where The Law Stands Tall, Deputy Chad Gaultier was a minor OC who survived the Purge along with Mark O'Brien. In this story, he continues on with Marshal Samantha Collins, and was even on Torfan with her.
The Icebox? - I can't remember the name of the kid-oriented sports movie back in the 90's where there was a female athlete named Icebox. Back when I was ten, I had no idea what that actually implied; a frigid c-word. This was a Disney live-action movie! (I want to say it was one of the Mighty Ducks movies) [thank you Google, it was Little Giants, Becky O'Shea being the best player of a football team made of weaklings]
Rebecca Jorden is, in fact, the little girl from the movie Aliens, the one that insists being called 'Newt'. I used her back during the Mass Effect vs. Aliens: The Siege Of Hadley's Hope story, and it just seemed right to place her here. After all, bad shit happens, and there are generally kids around when bad shit happens. Newt will represent that (just like she did in Aliens).