As per EDI's words, they found the Normandy waiting for them on the specified runway, with several of the shipments to other worlds that Earth could spare, while they worked on their own reconstruction.
Tentatively, the approached the guards, who informed them of their clearance and they promptly boarded.
They found themselves among logistics officers who directed them to the crew quarters where they could store their belongings and made note of the places where they, being civilians, were unable to go.
With their things packed, they made their way to the mess hall, since it was one of the few areas of the ship they could freely move through.
"Al-Jilani, huh?" a new voice asked from behind them, "I remember you from all those years ago when the Skipper was just made a Spectre."
They turned to see Commander Ashley Williams, now in her officer blues, take a seat across from them both.
"Yes," Khalisah noted, aware at how badly this could easily go.
Ashley gave her a long, hard stare, as if she were trying to divulge her secrets without actually saying anything. However, she broke the silence and asked, "are you on the level?"
Khalisah was confused. "Come again?"
"EDI told me you're just trying to write a biography about Shepard," Ashley noted as she leaned over the table on her arms. "Considering what most people know you for, I admit it's kinda hard to swallow."
She sighed quietly, it was too much to hope for a smooth ride, evidently. "I know. However, Westerlund's gone now. This is a freelance job since I'm technically unemployed."
"Yeah, so you say," Ashley shot back, not entirely believing, "you're not the first and you won't be the last one that wanted to hound the Skipper for some news story so they could boost their own ratings."
Varicia had heard enough. "Please, stop."
Both women turned to the asari, who frowned at Ashley as she continued, "I know you know her from her shock jock days. But if that's all you see her as, then you're just as blind as High Command was who say Madam Aethyta as a brute. Or the Alliance who saw your commander as a loose cannon. This is, as you humans say, the real deal. She's doing it for a friend of hers that didn't survive the war and she wants to honor her friend's last request. I have no room to say anything you should do, but all I ask is that you do not harass her. She has been through enough and I will not stand to see the woman I care for be treated so poorly."
Ashley then blinked, turned to Khalisah and back to Varicia, shocked. "Are you two...?"
Emboldened, Varicia took Khalisah's face in her hands and kissed her. She then turned back to Ashley, still frowning and said, "Yes. We are." She did not always understand human euphemisms, but the fact that she and Khalisah were in an established relationship was not one she was going to miss.
Surprised, but satisfied, Ashley then leaned back a bit, assessing the sight in front of her before she said, "Alright then."
She was about to take her leave when Khalisah interrupted her. "Excuse me, Lieutenant Commander Williams,"
"It's Commander now," Ashley corrected gently.
"Commander Williams," Khalisah corrected herself, "if there's anything that you'd be willing to share about your experiences with the Commander, I'd like to hear it. I mean, from someone she served with for as long as you have, I'm sure there are some good stories people wouldn't mind hearing. At least, the ones you'd like to share."
Ashley gave her another look, then back to Varicia before nodding. "Sure. Meet me back here tomorrow morning during breakfast. We can talk then. Right now, I'm needed up in the CIC."
When the Commander had left, Khalisah let loose the breath she had been holding in for longer than she would have liked. "I can't believe she agreed to that!"
Pleased as can be, Varicia embraced her and kissed her on the cheek. "I as well. Let's get back to planning how the biograpy's going to be when it's completed, ok?"
Khalisah smiled at her and nodded. Despite her initial reluctance, perhaps this wasn't such a bad idea after all.
Commander Ashley Williams; Human Spectre;
K: You were part of the team that helped hunt down Saren back in 2183, correct?
A: Yes, I was.
K: Judging by your record, it must have been quite an experience to finally get off of a groundside squad and onto a ship.
A: It was. It also made me realize just how much I lost. Not just the squad I had on Eden Prime, but the friends and squadmates I made afterwards. Wasn't quite what I expected.
K: What do you mean?
A: Well, considering my grandfather was the general that had to surrender at Shanxi, a lot of people assumed I developed xenophobia, saying that I blamed the aliens for my family being blacklisted.
K: Where did they get that idea?
A: Not sure. Every now and then, I get a rant from some oddball who calls me an alien hating, religious nutjob. That's Terra Firma's schtick.
K: Though, considering what you went through, you had to have developed some sort of wariness. You are a soldier, after all.
A: Sure. The hardest part was sticking to those guns, when there are always exceptions to the rule.
K: For example?
A: Well, it wasn't long after we rescued Liara T'Soni from a research dig on Therum. I realized at the time that I had to speak to my Commanding officer about something that had been bothering me not long after I came onto the Normandy.
K: So, what happened?
Nora, in her fatigues walked up to Ashley's station while the Gunnery Chief was reassembling a rifle she had acquired not too long ago.
"Evening, Chief," Nora said, stepping up to Ashley's side.
"Skipper," she answered casually.
"Do you mind if I use your station for a bit? Want to maintain a piece of gear I've been putting off for too long," Nora asked, while completely aware that she was the commanding officer, she was not going to simply push the Gunnery Chief away, just because she could.
"Not at all," Ashley answered as she put the last few pieces of her gun back together, packed it up and carried it back to her locker. Once the gun was put away, she turned around to see Shepard sharpen a knife at her bench. Curious, she walked closer to see that the blade resembled nothing like the standard issue CQC knives she learned to use in basic. It was curbed like a wave of water that came to a fine point and she could understand her Skipper's desire to maintain it. Not only were the grooves on the side of the blade very ornate, she almost gasped when she realized that the many and small designs on the sides were meant to be serrated edged, which would no doubt catch onto, and tear off as much flesh from anything that didn't give the blade the right of way. Another noticeable trait was the pair of feathers that hung off of the butt of the handle.
"Wow, where'd that come from?" Ashley asked as she walked around Shepard again to admire the weapon that seemed more decorative than practical.
Nora snorted. "My biotics teacher." She shook her head, "we had the oddest relationship when she was my teacher and afterwards. The old hag always thought she had something to teach me just when I was about to figure it out myself just to annoy me."
Ashley blinked. "You're a biotic?" She had to think back to the times she had been taken groundside with Shepard. It was always either Kaidan or Wrex that made with the dark energy maneuvers. Now that she thought about it, she never once saw Shepard use them. It made sense, considering she was in command. And maybe it made more sense strategically to hide what she could do until necessary.
Shepard nodded as she examined the edge of the blade. "My biotics first manifested when I was sixteen. The Alliance figured it could have used a few more like me when I enlisted. Thought my class and I were going to be a part of some big, Alliance sanctioned program. Turned out they cut a few corners and just hired the most foul-tempered, egotistical bitch this side of the galactic core." Ashley noted the small smirk and tone of her words as if memories of the teacher in question weren't all unpleasant.
"She must have been good, considering humans don't have that many biotics running around," Ashley noted with a smile of her own.
Nora shook her head. "She wasn't human, she's asari."
Williams gaped. "What? Was she a merc or something?" The most she ever read about asari were the Commandos from the Citadel Hunters Force or the Huntress Squads from Thessia. Other than that, information about the other species' militaries weren't something she was up to date on.
She shook her head again. "Maleia N'Kona, my teacher, is a Master Commando. Born and raised on Thessia. Spent most of her life as either a merc or a commando that doubled as a body guard for asari diplomats as they toured the galaxy. The Alliance did right by her and when the first Alliance biotics program fell through, they called in a favor from her and, well, that's where things went downhill," she ended with a humored smirk.
"Judging from what you've told me, sounds like you two just loved each other," Ashley observed as she held back a chuckle.
Nora gave her a humored look. "If only it were that easy," she started to gently glide her knife on the whetstone again. "To call her a bitch was a compliment. Don't know what she saw in me, but whatever it was, it caused her to use me as her verbal punching bag. And considering she's had six hundred years to refine that pleasant demeanor she has, I entertained thoughts of going AWOL more than once."
Ashley winced. "Oh no." She knew what it was like to be on the shit list of any instructor in the military, but one from like the asari? It seemed hellish.
"Well, the end of the story was, when I made N7 rank, she gave me this knife and another one to use in tandem with my biotics. 'They'll save your life', she said," she lifted the blade again and let the low light gleam off the side. "She told me they were blessed by Athemist Priestesses, but she doesn't really fit the mold of a believer."
"How about yourself, Skipper?" Ashley asked.
"Me? Well," Nora carefully adjusted the feathers that hung off the hilt, "it wasn't until I was sixteen or so did I ever figure that there was anything out there. If you couldn't tell, I'm part Native American. I should warn you that if I start getting a bit metaphysical on you, tell me to stop and I will. I was told that the Great Spirit guided me to my tribe, since the first part of my life was, without going into detail, less than pleasant. Even with these feathers, which are supposed to represent my soul and promise to the Great Spirit, " she indicated the ones in the hilt of her knife and the two that hung from a braid in her hair, "I'm still trying to figure it all out, though, Paco, the head of my tribe, still tells me that I'm impatient."
Ashley smirked, "Patience, though I have not/ The thing that I require,/ I must of force, God wot,/ forbear my most desire;/ For no ways can I find/ To sail against the wind."
Nora turned to her, a confused look on her face.
"Sir Thomas Wyatt. He's good, but he's no Tennyson."
Shepard then smiled and chuckled a bit. "I admit you have me at a disadvantage, Chief. Poetry wasn't something I had a lot of time to indulge in."
Ashley's smile was not deterred, "Give me half an hour and you'll be reciting 'Ulysses' before you know it."
"Must be interesting to compare and contrast our own poetry with ones from alien cultures," Shepard said as she put away the whetstone.
Ashley's smile vanished, she took a deep breath and then muttered, "actually, Skipper, that's kind of related to what I wanted to talk to you about."
Shepard turned to her, curious to her intentions. "What's on your mind, Chief?"
It was now or never. "Are you sure you should be letting the aliens on board and around the ship the way they are?"
"You have objections to Offer Vakarian, Tal'Zorah, Dr. T'soni, and Wrex on board?"
Ashley took a silent, deep breath, but pressed on nonetheless. "Not so much objections, more like reservations."
"Care to explain?"
"It's not the fact they are aliens, ma'am. It's the fact that this is an Alliance ship and taking non-Alliance personnel and giving them access to it, especially a top of the line one, seems... I dunno, risky," she tried to say as tactfully as she could.
Shepard looked to her for a moment, carefully digesting her words. She then turned back to her knife and carefully placed it back in its sheath. "You're not out of line, Chief. In fact, you're right." She put down the knife of the table, then leaned against it and said, "and you'd be well within your right to report me if this were an Alliance operation. However, it's a little bit different in this case. I need these peoples' expertise to help me find Saren as a Spectre. Dr. T'Soni has experience dealing with Prothean relics, something Saren wants. Officer Vakarian has understanding of Turians better than the rest of us. Tali's under my protection, since she exposed him, not to mention her expertise in dealing with the Geth, since they've allied themselves with him. And Wrex has contacts and experience dealing with people like Saren."
Both women turned around to see the individual in question yawn loudly as the Krogan sat on the metal crates in his personal corner of the cargo bay before going back to sleep.
"Again, Chief; you're not out of line," Nora stated firmly, "so, I got a question for you, Ash."
"Skipper?"
"Do you trust me?" Nora asked confidently, as though she were preparing for this to come.
Ashley blinked in surprise. No one, let alone a superior officer, had asked her that point blank before. However, she replied anyway. "I have to, ma'am. You're my superior officer."
While it didn't seem to be the answer she wanted, she nodded and stated, "fair enough. However, if my decisions in this matter turn out to be wrong, you have full right to tell me 'I told you so'."
Feeling bold, Ashley smirked, "that a promise, Skipper?"
"If it blows up in my face, I'll be expecting it, Chief," Nora noted and matching Ashley's grin.
K: Sounds like you two hit if off pretty well.
A: Yeah. Didn't bother her at all when she brought up my faith or my grandfather. I was very fortunate to be put in her squad.
K: But it couldn't have always been like that. What about after her reappearance after that two year gap?
A: *A pause* I won't lie to you. It wasn't pretty. It should have gone better than it did. Horizon was just a mess.
"Skipper?" A familiar voice spouted in surprise.
Nora, Kasumi, and Garrus turned to see Ashley walking out from behind a few crates, her gun at her side, and a surprised look on her face.
"Ash?" Shepard mimicked as her smile grew at the prospect of seeing a trusted friend. She quickly put her weapon away, ran to Ashley and took her in both of her arms in a hug that seemed bigger than all of them. "You're alright! I was so worried!"
"Really? That's all you can say?" Ashley shot after she was released.
Nora was visibly shaken. "Wait... what?"
"Skipper, you were dead! For two years! And after all this, all you can say is 'You're alright?'" Ashley accused as she took a step back.
"Ashley, what are you talking about?" Shepard defended, not believing that someone she thought of as a sister would levy such words against her.
A frown crossed Ashley's face. "You know what I'm talking about, Shepard. There were rumors you were working with Cerberus. Can you forget what they did? To Kohouku? To those colonists? To their own people?!"
Nora was about to protest when the Kodiak holding Miranda, Jacob, and a few more logistical personnel stepped off, the insignia clear as day. Ashley gaped at the untimely appearance of Nora's XO and whirled on Shepard. "So it is true."
"Ash, look around you. Didn't you see the ship that just few away? What about the people in the other colonies? What has the Alliance done for them? Nothing! And if they continue to do nothing, who knows when the Collectors will stop?" Nora continued.
Ashley began to shake her head and step back further. "No, Shepard. You really think that Cerberus would be working on behalf of the colonists out of charity? You remember what they did?"
"Dammit, Ash! Will you just listen to me?! I'm no traitor!" Nora shouted back in frustration.
"Not from where I stand. At least I know where my loyalties lie." With that, Ashley turned around and walked off.
Enraged, Nora yelled after her, "You're one to talk about loyalties, Williams! Like the way you keep bending over the desk so the Alliance can fuck you like they did your dad and grandfather!"
Garrus, aware of Ashley's history, gaped at Nora. "Shepard!"
She glared at him, her eyes and scars blazing red, "Stay out of it, Vaka-!"
Ashley's fist dug into her cheek and sent her staggering back into a crate. The Gunnery Chief's face just as warped in anger as Shepard's was, she kept up her attack, however, when Nora's own fish connected against her face, she fell backward. While able to land a blow on Ashley, it caused Nora to stumble and fall to the ground as Ashley recovered faster than she thought and caught her in a grapple that would have done greater harm had Kasumi and Garrus not separated them.
While both women were physically stronger than the ones restraining them, they didn't resist and instead continued to glare at one another.
"Miranda," Nora growled, "finish whatever it is those men are doing and pack up. We're leaving."
"But Shepard," the XO protested, however, Nora's look killed any further objections.
Ashley pulled herself out of Garrus' grip and looked after the woman she had once respected more than anyone else. She ignored his excuses and marched away to report back to Anderson.
K: So, how did you two reconcile?
A: It was two parts. Turns out that while we were on the hunt for Saren, Shepard was making detailed reports of our progress. And so, after the first Battle for the Citadel, she put forward my name as a Spectre Candidate. My name was pulled soon after her death and, well, I had two years to prove myself. The second part was not long after she was released from custody, we had a long time to talk about everything.
K: No punching, one hopes.
A: Thankfully, no. However, I was glad to have her back.
Nora Shepard: Probably one of the biggest mistakes I ever made was thinking that I was completely right. I had every excuse lined up to justify working with Cerberus during that time. Then, Ashley came along and did the exact same thing she did before: she questioned me. Questioned my judgment. Bear in mind, I had been alive again for a few weeks at this point, however, the shock of the resuscitation still hadn't worn off. What semblance of impulse control I had was coming back slower than I would have liked. It didn't help that Ashley hit a nerve that had been rubbed raw by what had happened. However, I wasn't angry at Ashley for accusing me of being a traitor. I was angrier at myself, because there was a part of me that knew she was right and I was wrong. It was a bitter pill to swallow when you have all the reason in the world to act like I did.
K: So, what exactly led you to follow Commander Shepard the way you did when you first met her on the Terminus Campaign?
EDI, Enhanced Defense Intelligence: I was initially a shackled AI, with limited function. I did not have much choice in the matter. Yet, even in my shackled condition, I was able to learn and adapt to the behavioral patterns of the crew members, including Shepard.
K: So, what were your initial impressions of her when you first met?
EDI: She was... unpleasant. She had just been resurrected and from what I could discern, she was more comfortable with being dead and for Cerberus of all people to bring her back to life was a most egregious situation to be in. She had made it quite clear, not long after she boarded the ship that she objected rather violently to be working alongside Cerberus.
K: I can imagine. I would also wager a guess that she was hostile to you, being an AI in her employ, after all she's been through, must not have led to a pleasant introduction.
EDI: *A Pause* She was notably hostile.
K: How much so, if you don't mind my asking?
EDI: At the station we were docked at, I noticed that her reunion with Jeffery Moreau was quite tense.
"In fact, I was able to recruit a face or two you might recognize," the Illusive Man noted as his image vanished and the lights turned on. When Nora heard the door open, she turned to see the outline of Joker slowly making his way in.
Nora's right eye twitched. Quite visibly as a small smile started to grow. "Hello, Joker," she greeted with a voice that seemed far too cheerful for the almost restrained manic look in her eye.
Shaken, Joker nodded. "C...Commander."
The smile faded as she turned to face him. There was only a dozen feet or so separating them, but already, Joker could feel her looming over him as though she were something far more frightening.
"Seeing you here makes me realize a few things;" she began as she took slow, methodical steps to him, "first, I can only imagine what my death must have done to all of you."
With each step towards him, Joker took a smaller step backward as Shepard approached him closer and closer like an executioner.
"Second, it must have been doubly hard on you, knowing that you were responsible for me dying."
Joker's shoulders started to shake as he collided against the wall, aware that he was trapped.
"Third; as tempting as it is, beating you for letting me die won't bring back the two years that I lost and since you're my pilot, I'm going to be requiring your help," her frown grew as her voice became quieter.
Nora then was half a foot away from him and looking straight down to him as her eyes and scars glowed a dangerous red.
"However, understand this; you may be the best pilot in the Alliance fleet, however, when you are given an order, especially one to abandon ship, you follow it. Are we clear?" she whispered dangerously.
"Y... yes, Commander," he whimpered.
Nora's voice was just loud enough for him to hear as she bared her teeth. "Good, because if I should happen to die because of your pride again, I will haunt you. My tribe has a certain belief that our spirits are chained to the ones who are responsible for their demise, screaming for justice from the world of the dead. And so, every time you close your eyes, every moment you think you may be alone; I will be there. To torment you for the rest of your long... long… life. Are we clear?"
Nora's eyes didn't lose the vicious intent as she took a few steps away from him, allowing him to catch his breath as he nodded.
"Now then, let's see this ship haole wants us to use," she grumbled as Joker lead her to the docking bay.
K: That sounded... unpleasant.
EDI: From my experience, Shepard was capable of a far wider range of emotions than the event I just described to you. Bear in mind, she had been up on her feet for almost two days straight, after barely being resuscitated after being dead for two years. To say she was in a foul mood would be an understatement.
K: So, in your... opinion, what would you consider to be Shepard at her best?
EDI: *A Pause* To simply say 'her best' is far too vague a statement. However, there are two occasions where Shepard's growth as a person had become apparent, which altered my analysis of what kind of person she was.
K: What happened?
EDI: *Another pause* There are details that I cannot repeat, due to the personal nature of the events that occurred and there was interference from me observing; however, I shall repeat what I can.
The Normandy's AI found itself finally able to cut through the static and interference that had prevented her from seeing, for her own observations, the sessions between Kelly and Shepard.
It surprised EDI to discover the Captain's cabin in disarray. The glass table that sat between the couches was shattered. Various effects littered the floor. From her analysis, there appeared to have been a struggle. However, the only individuals there were Yeoman Chambers and the Commander. The former appeared to have the latter in an embrace as Shepard continually repeated the phrase, "I'm so sorry," over and over again.
It wasn't long before the Commander broke down and for the next hour, the only sounds in the room were her heaving sobs. Whatever information had brought the Commander to this state had shaken her terribly.
Kelly, while not as distraught as Shepard, attempted to calm her gently as she stroked the taller woman's hair. "You're alright, Nora. You're alright."
Between sniffs, Nora bawled, "I hurt you, Kelly. They were always right! I'm a monster!"
"No, Nora! You're not a monster. You never were a monster." Kelly insisted as she rocked the taller women to and fro gently. "You are Nora Shepard. You are trusted. You are believed."
EDI then shut off her surveillance of the room. She had determined that her curiosity had led her to see things that she had no right to witness.
EDI: Shepard, up to that point, had been under a significant emotional and mental strain. Had she not the psychologist, Kelly Chambers, on board, I sincerely believed she would have mentally deteriorated under the weight and either gone crazy or committed suicide.
K: And here everyone thought she was some sort of superhuman.
EDI: As an observer from one who was never privy to all the details, that is a predictable, if incorrect, assumption to come to.
K: She was able to recover after that... incident, didn't she?
EDI: Yes. From that time forward, she had changed. And her influence had led to changes among the crew, according to Dr. Chakwas and Psychologist Chambers, had changed people for the better.
K: In what way?
EDI: It is difficult to quantify, however, the end result was that our mission against the Collectors were successful, despite the odds against us. We had rescued the crew when they were kidnapped. The Collectors were destroyed. Avenged the many people who had been liquidated to create another Reaper in the Collector's base and subsequently destroyed it.
K: But it didn't end there, did it?
EDI: No. Immediately after the destruction of the Collector base, the Illusive Man was displeased, as he wanted to secure the technology the Collectors used for himself.
The Illusive Man's face, instead of the usual passive mask of self-control, had distorted into a visible scowl. "Shepard, I'm disappointed in you."
"You wouldn't be the first and you won't be the last," Nora shot back with her arms folded.
"I invested a significant amount of time and money and even then, you found ways to exceed the cost all the more," he scowled as he took another puff from his cigar.
Aware of what he was talking about, she scowled in retort. "The cost had already been too great. You saw what those machines were doing to those colonists. What real benefit could such technology bring? Don't bother answering, because I'll answer it for you; there isn't. All they did was turn our people into fuel for that... abomination."
"That was not your place to decide, Shepard."
"No, haole. It was. You were sitting there on your chair, doing nothing, while I was preventing them from sacrificing more of our people to the Reapers. You gave me command over this mission and I made a command decision," Nora shot back, her confidence never wavering.
"Shepard, your idealism has become rather tiresome. It will never hold up when the time comes to make sacrifices," he droned on before he raised his eyebrows at the sight of Nora pulling out her dagger and pointing the tip of the blade at him.
"You must be hard of hearing, because I seem to be repeating myself; no. Furthermore, it's you who have forgotten what sacrifice means. That's why, when next we meet, I will make you remember."
The Illusive Man took another smoke and waved her threat off, "mere delusional ravings from a madwoman."
"Hide all you want in the shadows, haole, I will find you. However, considering the Reapers are on their way, you can either join me or I will crush you, bone by bone," Nora whispered to make her point clear.
"What makes you think you can stop them, Shepard?" he grumbled as she leaned back in his chair, doubtful of her boasts.
"By doing what you're not. I'll let you figure it out what that is," she inclined her head backward, "Joker, we're done here. Cut and erase the channel," she looked back to the Illusive Man and locked a hateful gaze as the connection was severed.
K: Interesting how she was able to sever her connections to Cerberus. However, surely there must have been some repercussions after that.
EDI: Correct. For a while, we were more or less mercenaries. With what resources we had, Commander Shepard felt it expedient that she attempt to try and help the various races prepare for the Reapers as best she could.
K: And how was that able to come to pass?
EDI: She had discovered special interest groups, aside from Cerberus, that believed the Reapers were coming and started to seed the idea of a more unified galaxy when they came. While she was not the impetus for the galaxy preparing as it was, she did, however, work as a liaison between several groups. Such as the Quarians and the Geth.
K: But Cerberus never joined. Did they?
EDI: No. In fact, during the middle part of the war, Shepard had called in several favors from her allies to hunt down and destroy the head of Cerberus. It was her at her best and at her worst.
K: How so?
EDI: A Cerberus agent by the name of Kai Leng, had murdered a good number of asari scientists and another acquaintance of hers that was with her during the Terminus Campaign; a drell by the name of Thane Krios. Shepard had taken it quite personally. This was made apparent when we had assaulted Chronos Station.
"EDI, keep trying to recover the data banks," Nora growled as the rest of her squad fought off the ever growing number of Cerberus troops as she pulled out her dagger when she saw Kai Leng appear, "he's mine."
Kai Leng, eager to kill Shepard himself dashed forward, making it clear that Shepard was going to die by his sword and that none of the other troops were to interfere.
Shepard scowled, raised her free hand, and in an instant, gathered more than enough biotic energy to suit her purpose, and before Kai Leng could hold his hand up to block the attack, Nora, instead, punched the floor in front of her, causing him to stumble when a mountain of metal burst from the floor below him.
"Well, that's a damn shame. Even with all those augmentations, you still fail," Nora yelled as she leaped over the metal pile to try and run him through. In response, he rolled out of the way and swept her legs out from under her feet. Before he could press his advantage, Nora had used her biotics again to vault him away with another floorboard.
"What makes you think you can beat me, Shepard?!" he yelled back as he got to his feet, "you haven't done it yet and you never will!"
Instead of taking the bait, Nora cocked an eyebrow as she got to her own feet and her knife brandished. "You have a strange idea as to what consists of winning and losing, Leng. I mean, you're pretty familiar with losing, aren't you?"
"You know nothing about me, Shepard!" he roared in defiance.
This time, Shepard's smile started to grow and a sinister undertone started to appear in her gaze. "Really? The man who failed the Nx Program because he felt he could get away with cheating and so, joined up with Cerberus instead? What's wrong, Leng? Did you really think yourself so damn special that you didn't need to-" she would have continued had she not ducked to avoid several shots from Kai Leng's blaster. Nora dove behind the first metal pile and got her bearings.
"The Alliance used me! I refused to be a scapegoat for them!" he ranted as he leaped over the pile, only to be pushed upward against yet another floorboard.
He did his best to cushion the collision with the ceiling, however, once gravity took hold again, he leaped backward and landed on his feet to see Shepard standing almost casually in front of him. Her smile had grown and she was beginning to chuckle.
"Tell me, Leng," she snickered darkly, "how did it feel when you killed those scientists? Bet you got quite a thrill out of killing aliens that couldn't fight back."
His snarl grew larger as he changed again. He made a wild swing that was caught by the bottom end of Nora's knife and before he could get away, Shepard had shackled her hands over both of his wrists. "Or how about knowing that the best you could do was kill a dying drell?" Shepard hissed with their faces inches away from each other.
The thought of Thane Krios, who had almost killed him during their last encounter, had hesitated before he noticed Nora's foot reaching up to his chest, and shoving him away and his sword clanged on the ground.
"Bet it felt good, didn't it?" Shepard snarled, half-amused, half-enraged. "You felt like one badass mother-fucker, didn't you?!"
His own teeth bared, he raised his hand and shot at her again. However, the attacks bounced helplessly off her Nora's barriers as she continued.
"How sad that it's the best you could ever do. Because that's all you are; just a predatory coward. Preying on weaker than yourself in order to deny your fears."
Kai Leng quickly grabbed his sword and charged again. "I'm not afraid of you, Shepard!" he spat, however, Nora had charged at the same time, bat his sword out of the way with her dagger, grabbed him again and used his momentum against him to flip him on his back, with her looming over him.
"No, Leng. I think you've been afraid all your life. Just waiting for the time when someone finds out just what a sham you are," she said as her biotics flared around her person dangerously.
"You don't know-" he try to defy her when Nora's boot landed on his chest.
"I do, Leng," Shepard snarled, "more than you'll ever know."
"Shepard," EDI interrupted, "I have been able to recover all of the data bank. But I have also discovered the telemetry data you requested."
Nora gave Kai Leng one last scowl before she used the foot that did not pin him down to kick him in the chin. As he rolled on the floor, groaning in agony, she stomped back to the terminal EDI was at.
"Are you sure the information that you've been able to recover is correct?" she asked, peering over the AI's shoulder.
"I am, Shepard. Though, I wonder, the location will have no doubt changed over the many millennia since it was last accessible due to cosmic drift. What makes this particular holding facility so special?"
"It may hold another contingency. Just in case we don't make it," she answered somberly.
EDI paused. At this point in the war, while the allied galactic forces were holding their ground, and in some cases defeating the Reapers, no one was foolish enough to assume they could win as they were. That was the reason for the many back up plans and contingencies.
With both of their backs turned, Kai Leng had recovered enough where he could grab his sword, stand up, and despite his weary stance, charged Shepard from behind with his sword aimed at her heart.
What he did not expect was Nora drawing her left elbow forward, then using the armor that covered it to smash the blade into many pieces. While in mid turn, she had reversed the hold on her dagger, so that it was pointed upward, and thrust it into his rib cage. He gasped as he felt the many blades tearing additional flesh.
She did not stop moving as she yanked the blade out, with gore and blood beginning to spill out of the wound due to the many serrated blades on the dagger itself, before she had him in a grip from behind to silence his screams. Amid his struggling, she had jabbed the blade again, this time into his neck, and hissed into his ear, "This is for Thane, you son of a bitch!"
She then forced the blade out of the side of his neck and pushed him to the ground as a large pool of his blood began to seep onto the floor.
Shepard scowled at the body that twitched a few more times, then fell still. Normally, she would have gotten a sick thrill out of such a kill. However, this time, she felt disgusted. Yes, the murder of Kolyat's father had been avenged, however, an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach had dulled any sort of pleasure she would have gained from this. She then knew why;
It was Torfan all over again.
She looked up to the many corpses of Cerberus troops. Each of them individuals who only wanted the best for humanity, not butchered in front of her because they dared stand in her way. Aware that time was short, she turned to the rest of her squad as they were taking a breather after the fight was done, "We got what we needed people. Move out. There's not going to be much left of this station once we're off."
As quick as they could, extraction went off without a hitch and they were on their way back in the Kodiaks.
As the station began to fall apart and explode, Nora leaned against the wall, worn and tired. EDI was the only other person with her in the shuttle, who seemed to be going over the data they had just retrieved.
She then turned to the AI and whispered heavily. "I'm sorry, EDI."
Perplexed, and not as disturbed at the sight as Nora was, she answered, "What for?"
Shepard shook her head. "I don't know. Maybe it's you seeing this, when I'm getting flashbacks of Torfan. You no doubt heard about that."
EDI nodded. "I have. However, from what I've been able to discern, it was not an event which you really relished."
"No, EDI. That's what a lot of people assume. Yes, I did do it because it was my duty. Yes, I did do it because I was supposed to. However, every time something like this happens, I get a thrill out of it. This is the first time I didn't get some charge out of seeing people I hated die," she recalled the still corpse of Kai Leng they had left behind, now vaporized, "makes me no different than him."
EDI spared a look at Shepard, confusion written on her face. She then looked down in thought for a moment before she answered. "I do not think so, Shepard."
Nora snorted a bit before she asked, "What makes you say that? What makes him and me any different?"
"From what I was able to find in the database, Kai Leng had shown himself to be brutal, merciless, and cruel. While you have shown similar tendencies, your methodology is different. You would always resort to violence last, while he did it first. Any aspects you two share are superficial at best. You have shown mercy, he has not."
It took a moment for Nora to ingest her words before she muttered, "I hope you're right, EDI," a deep breath, "I hope you're right."
K: So, in your opinion, was the infamous title 'Butcher of Torfan' justified.
EDI: To my understanding, it would be presumptuous to place titles on an individual while they are still alive. Since that is the case, I believe calling her such a title is misleading and incorrect.