Chapter 81 - Queen's Gambit Declined
All the reports have been filed, the rounds have been made, the crew has been spoken to, and a brief visit to the medbay had revealed that Liara is fast asleep in fortifying slumber, as Normandy slowly leaves its docking bay on the Citadel and speeds towards the mass relay. Commander Morgan Shepard straightens her back in the chair, sighs and reaches for the intercom. "Sam?" she speaks, awaiting Traynor's swift confirmation. "Come on up. I should have a few hours free. And bring your famous chessboard with you."
Traynor arrives not even thirty seconds later, looking flushed and terribly nervous. "Your cabin is gorgeous," she gushes, looking around wide-eyed. "I've seen apartments smaller than this."
"Don't tell me that you didn't sneak up here to take a peek during the retrofits," Shepard gives her an inquisitive glance.
"Oh no... no, I was never going to risk my place on the Normandy by sticking my nose somewhere where it didn't belong!" Samantha looks horrified at the thought. Much to Shepard's surprise, she actually decides to step into the bathroom. "Oh... an actual shower! The faucets in the women's bathroom are crap, by the way," she adds with a wink.
"Something should be done about that, I'm sure," Shepard says, trying to guess Traynor's intent. Surely she doesn't expect me to invite her to have shower up here, in my quarters? I guess it would give her opportunities to get nude and all soaped up, with rivulets of water streaming down her breasts... yeah, I don't really think so.
"So... are you in a mood to play, Commander?" Samantha eventually asks, when an invitation for a nudie-shower romp isn't forthcoming.
"As long as we're still talking about chess, sure," Shepard smiles, pointing at the sofa and Traynor quickly takes a seat, clearing the nearby table from empty glasses and discarded datapads to free some space.
"I bought a board on the Citadel," she says. "GUI interface, not nearly as much fun as when playing with real pieces... like I said, there's nothing like the feeling of having something solid in your hands..."
Gods, for someone with such innocent looking face, this girl is loaded with innuendoes. "I'm sure we'll do fine with the GUI interface, just set us up," she urges Traynor.
"Very well..." Traynor fiddles with her omni-tool, summoning a stylized representation of a chessboard before them. "I think it's only fair if you get to choose, Commander... black or white?"
"I'll go with black, just to be unorthodox," Shepard chuckles.
"Really, Commander, I don't need any extra help," Traynor shakes her head. "I do reasonably well against EDI and her quantum computing, so you're just digging your own grave here!"
"Ha, don't count your chickens before they have hatched, or whatever that proverb was," Shepard rubs her hands in anticipation. "Alright, let's get this show on the road!"
The first few moves are exchanged, pawns moved, and she realizes the beginning that Traynor has chosen, Queen's Gambit. Intentional? She might be looking to tell me something... She moves her own pawn to E6, giving Traynor a meaningful stare. "Sorry, Samantha... but I must decline your Queen's Gambit," she says.
There is only a barely perceptible twitch in Sam's cheeks, a little shake of her hands, as the young Comm Specialist realizes that Shepard's words refer to more than just this chess game, but she recovers quickly, continuing to play the game as if nothing had happened. However, her next few choices of moves are far from ideal, even Shepard is able to see that, Traynor's thoughts clearly elsewhere.
While feeling a little guilty for using Traynor's distracted state to her advantage, Shepard decides to go on the offensive, launching her kingside pawns into a brave attack that succeeds in trapping Traynor's dark-square bishop. Massive melee erupts in the middle of the board as figures fall left and right, and when they recount their losses and gains, Shepard is surprised to find herself a bishop to the good, albeit in exchange for three pawns and completely exposed king, the patriarch having been forced to wander to a rather unsafe part of the board, losing the opportunity to hide behind the still intact wall of pawns on the queenside.
"What just happened there?" Shepard blinks, not entirely sure how she has ended up with the slim advantage.
"I think I... might have made an oversight," Traynor admits, looking a little peeved. "But this is not over yet!" she adds with renewed determination, calling in her queen and starting to harass Morgan's poor, exposed king, while in the meantime hiding her own patriarch from Shepard's attacks by executing kingside castling.
Morgan isn't really sure how she should go about pressing her advantage home, but she does her best to bring her pieces into play to defend her king, while trying her utmost to force the exchange of Traynor's more active pieces. She actually starts to get confident about her chances after forcing Samantha into exchanging the queens, but then gets confused in the endgame, getting fooled into the threefold repetition, having to settle for a draw that restores some smugness to Samantha's grin.
"Bah," Shepard complains. "I had you there. Still, you have to admit, that wasn't too bad for someone who has only ever played against themselves for an opponent."
"Point taken, Commander," Samantha nods. "That was fairly impressive, indeed. You are a woman of surprises and many talents, Shepard."
"Yes, EDI also saw the potential of a stand-up comedian in me," Shepard grumbles.
"Ha!" Traynor bursts into laughter. "But Commander, we cannot call this game night to an end until we have settled who is the ultimate victor. I insist on another match!"
"Fair enough, Traynor, fair enough," Shepard raises her hands in acceptance, watching Samantha fiddling with the omni-tool and resetting the board, swapping the grid around to give Shepard control of the white pieces. "Okay, now that I'm white, you have no hope, Traynor," she chuckles, even knowing that she is probably going to be beaten convincingly, now that Traynor's focus is back.
Her prediction has proved very accurate, as she stands in her quarters all alone an hour later, Traynor having just departed as a glorious victor, smiling even if the game night probably hadn't turned out as she had hoped, finding herself naked in the Commander's bed.
She reaches out and contacts Joker first to find out their ETA to the system indicated by the asari distress signal. Apparently, their target has been since narrowed down to the planet of Lesuss that Shepard has no knowledge of, but she expects Liara to bring her up to speed when they get there, in approximately eight hours.
Shepard contacts Dr. Chakwas after that, hoping to learn that Liara is awake and doing well, but Karin leaves her partially disappointed. "I'm sorry Shepard, but she woke up an hour ago. After I brought her something to eat, she still felt exhausted and agreed to go back to sleep. I do not think it would be prudent to wake her, especially if your intention is to engage in something that would probably leave her even more exhausted."
"Ugh... you just had to add that, didn't you? But I suppose you are right," Morgan grudgingly agrees, their little exchange with Liara earlier having filled her with longing for some quality time together with her bondmate, but despite her disappointment, she knows that Liara's recovery is far more important.
"The good news is that all the scans confirm complete recovery," Chakwas continues. "I can clear Liara for duty as soon as we arrive at our destination."
"Now that is excellent news indeed," Shepard smiles. "You know, Karin, I'm going to use these eight hours to get some shuteye myself. Something tells me that we're going to have less and less opportunities for uninterrupted sleep as this bloody war keeps heating up..."
"Alright, Liara, hit us with all the intel you've got," Shepard says, looking at her bondmate as they both sit in the cargo space of the Kodiak, EDI piloting the shuttle as Normandy has already left the Mesana System, on its way to the planet Gellix.
"Very well," Liara nods. "The asari High Command has always been quiet about the garden world of Lesuss. I suspected some kind of secret scientific facilities or sensitive military targets, but the reality is quite different. This place is not spoken of because it houses an Ardat-Yakshi monastery. Which was also the origin of the distress signal."
"That's... worrying," Shepard says quietly, the memories of Samara and Morinth coming back in a flood, reminding Morgan of her failure to help the justicar.
"You're not asking me what the Ardat-Yakshi are, so I assume you know," Liara says. "Or what they can be, if they do not submit to peaceful and supervised existence in what is effectively a comfortable prison for life."
"I have collected considerable amount of information regarding the Ardat-Yakshi," EDI replies from the pilot's seat. "Even dismissing the most outrageous tales as urban legends, these genetically defective asari pose considerable danger."
"Samara was tracking one of them, when I recruited her for our mission against the Collectors," Shepard confesses. "Ultimately, she failed to capture the Ardat-Yakshi... Morinth, she was Samara's own daughter. I believe this failure contributed to her death during the suicide mission."
"You can't know that," Liara tells her softly. "And these Ardat-Yakshi are nothing like this Morinth. They have isolated themselves to avoid the temptation of using their terrible gift. But... if the monastery's security has been compromised... we cannot rule anything out, Shepard. The commandos sent there never reported back."
"So we are heading to face something dangerous enough to wipe out several squads of asari commandos?" Shepard asks, shaking her head with worry. "Alright. Just making sure I got that right. No problem there," she turns her head away, starting to whistle a deceptively merry tune.
"I have calculated the estimates of this mission being successful, based on the new data provided by Dr. T'Soni," EDI pipes up again. "Would you like to hear them, Shepard?"
"NO!" Shepard exclaims quickly. "No... I... I think I'll settle with ignorance being a bliss on this occasion."
"The commandos were authorized to purge the facility, in case the Ardat-Yakshi had broken loose," Liara continues. "Which means they would have brought plenty of explosives. The High Command does not want to risk a single Ardat-Yakshi escaping the monastery."
"So what, they expect us to blow up a few asari maidens because they could potentially become like Morinth?" Shepard asks, feeling a little squeamish at the thought. "I want to first see for myself what's going on down there, before I commit to anything. Besides, I doubt they will be able to harm us, we certainly do not intend to have sex with any of them." She then grins, looking at EDI in the pilot's seat. "Unless EDI has been making some plans..."
"Despite Dr. T'Soni being irritatingly tight-lipped about asari reproduction processes, my extranet searches imply that a synthetic like myself would not be able to participate in asari mind meld," EDI replies, completely seriously. "So, I have not been making any plans, Commander."
"But I do agree with you, Morgan," Liara speaks up. "Simply deploying explosives before making sure that it wasn't the Ardat-Yakshi themselves who sent the distress call... would be wrong."
"Exactly my thoughts," Shepard nods, before picking up a datapad and quickly going over a dossier forwarded to her by Admiral Hackett. "Been reading more about that Cerberus assassin and I'm starting to figure maybe I shouldn't underestimate this idiot completely. Here, take a look at this. Maybe you can use your resources to find out more about the guy."
"Kai Leng? Sounds very familiar, I think there is something on him in my information broker files... is he our assassin?" Liara asks, Shepard giving an affirmative nod in reply. "Let me see, he enlisted the same year as you did."
"Hopefully that's where the similarities end," Shepard mutters. "While I was bleeding out during the Skyllian Blitz, Clown Leng was stabbing some random krogan in a Citadel bar."
"You even received your N7 designation the same year as he did," Liara notes with some surprise.
"Yes, I noticed, but I never ran into anyone like him, not on Rio, nor on Arcturus," Shepard replies. "I would certainly have remembered meeting someone with a frigging sword!"
"I do not like what Anderson writes about Leng's cybernetic implants," Liara looks concerned. "I agree that he could prove to be a dangerous foe, Morgan. His kinetic shields were far more powerful than my biotic barriers, which is alarming. He might prove difficult to kill."
"Dr. T'Soni correctly estimates the threat that this assassin poses," EDI voices her agreement. "But Shepard, if you would ever decide that wielding a sword on ground missions would be a good idea, I might just forget to recycle oxygen in your quarters on the Normandy."
Shepard can't help but laugh at that. "You can't imagine how relieved I am to hear that, EDI..."
Garrus winces, looking outside the shuttle window and seeing the planet below them growing larger, encased in white crust of snow and ice, painfully reminding him of Noveria. I wonder if I could mutiny if Shepard sends me to another one of these ice holes, he thinks bitterly, barely aware of Javik and James bickering about something, trying to drag the reluctant Cortez into one of their disputes.
"So James," he turns towards the Lieutenant, a little irritated by his boisterous attitude as he keeps constantly provoking Javik. Garrus can understand the temptation, but being in charge of the mission, he cannot help getting annoyed at Vega's behavior. "You never told us just what happened on Benning. There's an ugly rumor going around just how you ended up losing your armor."
This is a sure way to make Lieutenant James Vega shut up, Garrus has discovered it ever since picking the human up on Benning, Vega wearing a makeshift 'suit' cut out from a cardboard box. "You're not going to let that one slide, are you?" Vega sighs. "Wish Lola would have taken me with her and the Doc. You two compadres are totally killing my mojo."
"You are truly naive if you think that Shepard and Liara would not have jumped at the chance to tease you mercilessly about Benning," Garrus laughs.
Javik butts in, nodding his head. "For once the turian is right. Those two have truly mastered the irritating art of pointless conversation."
"At least the company would be far better looking," James flashes one of his irrepressible grins. "Besides, I should have been the one leading this mission. My score of accomplishments is by far more impressive than yours, Vakarian."
"Oh really, and what leads you to that conclusion?" Garrus asks, feeling his professional pride challenged.
"Please, don't tell me that you're going to get them out and take measurements," Cortez groans in the pilot's seat.
"Don't worry, Cortez, once we finish this game, Lieutenant Vega will be feeling very small, deflated and humiliated," Garrus smirks. "Alright, where do I start... back in my C-Sec days, I busted a batarian spy ring that was trying to assassinate a councilor."
"Pah, I fought off dozens of angry batarians on Omega single-handedly," James scoffs. "Used one of them as a landing pad off a three-story jump."
"Right, just warming up. Okay, so I tracked down this guy, Saren. Stopped him from raising a geth army and unleashing the Reapers three years ago," Garrus plays his trump card.
"That doesn't count, you were there with Shepard," James shrugs, still looking annoyingly unimpressed.
"You're right. I was with Shepard. From the very beginning," Garrus adds meaningfully, but James is undeterred.
"That just means you're old!" he exclaims, chuckling.
"In my cycle, trying to pass the achievements of a fellow officer for your own would earn a swift-" Javik tries to join in, but gets rudely interrupted.
"Yes, yes, we know, some kind of brutal punishment again," Garrus sighs, his mood souring quickly. "Right, where were we... oh yes, you ever heard the name Archangel? That was me." James still doesn't look one bit impressed. "For a couple of months, the crime rate on Omega mysteriously dropped while Archangel did a little... 'housecleaning'."
James shrugs again. "So you ran a cleaning service on Omega, Scars? Big deal. Now just listen to this. Back on Fehl Prime, I uncovered a pair of harvesters. Had to kill them all by myself."
"That is almost impressive, human," Javik nods approvingly, much to Garrus' further annoyance.
"I hadn't gotten to the best part yet. They left behind an egg. It hatched, and I trained it to let me fly it," James finishes with a broad grin.
"In my cycle, soldiers who exaggerated their accomplishments were-"
"Oh do SHUT up!" James and Garrus speak as one, then both looking highly affronted about agreeing on something.
"At least we are getting close to our destination," Cortez sighs deeply in the pilot's seat, sounding extremely frustrated. "Perhaps you would like to actually discuss intel relevant to your mission?"
"Yes, we probably should do that," Garrus agrees, suddenly feeling foolish for getting himself involved in the silly shenanigans. Damn that Vega, it's all his fault, he started it all. "According to our information, the scientists have settled into one of the many penal colonies on the planet's surface, abandoned by the Alliance seven years ago. We currently have no other intel available..."
"I'm picking up chatter from a Cerberus squad down on the planet's surface," Cortez says quietly. "They are engaging the supply depot of the facility that is our destination. And there appear to be great many other troops on the way..."
"So, the Illusive Man has decided to bring these lost scientists back under his protective wing?" Garrus says, his mandibles twitching in anticipation of battle. ""Well, boys?" he looks at James and Javik. "This mission just got really interesting..."