Disclaimer, and stuff: I do not own Mass Effect, or anything that Bioware has any sort of claim on. Seriously :I.

A/N: With nearly TEN THOUSAND views, a whole host of followers, favorites, and reviews, I'm so proud to be bringing you guys this story. I knew it was a fairly popular market, but damn if we're not already eclipsing some of the stories that inspired me when they were at this stage. Thank you all :).

Normandy SR-1

February 8th, 4 P.M.

"So, um.. Mr. Echo, what are we going to be working on?" I smile at the scientist.

"We're going to be on a team together, Liara. Cory is fine." She nods, but still seems like a deer in the headlights. "And we're going to work on weapons handling."

Assembled are Liara and Tali, awaiting training, Garrus and Wrex, looking on because it's the most interesting thing in the cargo bay, and Ashley is conveniently distracted up top by-

"Epsilon!" She calls as she steps off of the elevator, looking very unhappy.

"Chief." I greet.

"What are you doing?" She gestures at the holographic shooting range I had set up.

"Training, what does it look like?"

"WE. Are supposed to be training them."

"Well, you seemed busy, so.." I trail off.

"By your hand." She bites.

"I'm hurt, truly." I say without an ounce of shame.

"Well, I'm here now, and these two will learn the proper way to handle weapons." She says with an air of superiority. 'Ooohoh, you have no idea of my power'.

"Well, Chief, They would've learned the proper way either way, but I'm sure your expert knowledge will come in handy. Now," I address the two trainees. " We should probably start with pistols, as a baseline."

"Good," Ashley announces suddenly. "That I'm here then. They should likely learn how to fire one from a soldier, instead of a murderer." I tense at these words. 'Murderer, huh?'

In a flash, My Five Seven is in my hands, finger flicking the safety off as it goes from the slide to the trigger, sights coming up to Ashley's face-

Only for me to pivot and take a knee. Right target, left target, center target. Three shots to a target before picking another. The twentieth round leaves the chamber eight seconds after the first.

"Garrus." He looks up from the computer monitoring the simulated 15-yard targets.

"Nineteen shots all within center target. the other one just on the outer bulls-eye."

"Hmm, I'm getting a bit sloppy." I muse, as Ashley looks as though she'd be spitting fire at me if she had the capability.

"Getting a bit sloppy?" Garrus asks. "With the spread being about an half an inch at the max, you could join C-Sec special forces."

"Nah, I have a criminal record." I chuckle. "Anyways, Liara and Tali? You two will be firing at those targets Liara, the left one, Tali, the right, at your own pace, to get a baseline of how well you can handle the weapons. Anything you'd like to add, Chief?"

"Yes. You and S... Garrus, can train those two." With that, she huffs off back to the elevator.

"I think she's upset." Garrus chuckles.

"Nah, she'll be fine. Whenever you're ready." I add to the waiting pair, armed with their respective sidearms.

"Not bad, you two." Looking over the results shows Liara has good control of her shots for someone who's never fired a weapon, and Tali's fire show her training. "Shepard wants a test with all standard weapons, so next up will be assault rifles." Already, there's trouble, as Liara has no idea how to even hold the Lancer, and Tali has a grip on it but looks entirely uncomfortable.

"Oh, come on, I've never even fired one before!" Protests Liara, as Garrus tuts at her poor performance. Tali shows a similar frustration at it, and assault rifles are crossed from the list. sniper rifles go a similar way, and shotguns do on Liara's side. Tali, however, surprises even Wrex at her skill with a rather rustic, ancient-looking shotgun.

"I think I've seen ones in better condition in museums." Garrus remarks.

"I think I've seen better ones in 300-year old war films." I reply, frowning.

"Well, we'll see if Shepard can help with that." Garrus shrugs.

"Hmm."

"Now, the moment you've all been waiting for," I exclaim dramatically. "Or, I've been waiting for at least." I set two case down in front of Liara and Tali. Liara, at least, knows what I'm talking about, but Tali looks bewildered. Well, as bewildered as a Quarian CAN look wearing something that hides their face. I flip the two cases open before them. "First, Liara, you know I picked this weapon up so you'd have something other than a pistol." I pick the machine pistol out of it's groove. "Brugger and Thomet MP9. high rate of fire, integrated-recoil compensator, fore-grip, detachable sink, stock comes out like so." I demonstrate.

"Um, why would the sink need to be detachable?" Liara asks.

"Well, it's unique, not meant to be fitted with any other weapon," I start to explain. "It extends past the base of the grip, giving it better heat absorption, but also exposing it to possible damage. Personally," I say as I gesture to the spare sink in the case, "I use that design to switch between sinks and keep my fire rate up, rather than waiting for the cool-down. But that takes practice. For now, just focus on wielding it. Safety is located above the fore-grip. You can also switch from burst fire and full-auto with it." As Liara looks over the weapon, I turn to Tali, who is studying the design manual in the case. My lips quirk slightly at this. "Tali."

"Yes?" She asks, looking up.

"Want any help, or are you just going to read the manual?" I ask, smirking.

"Well, I'm going to read the manual anyways, but you've handled this weapon before, so I'll take your advice for it." I nod.

"Alright. First off, the P90 is far different from the MP9," I start to explain as I pick it up. "More powerful, larger, more of a cross between assault rifle and sub-machine gun. Fully ambidextrous controls, heat vents upward to the sink stretched horizontally above the barrel," I gesture to the sink. "Fire control is just under the trigger, offering safe, semi-auto fire, and full-auto." She nods. "When you have it set to full auto, you can just barely squeeze the trigger, and you'll get a single shot. When the trigger goes all the way back, it'll open up on full auto. With it's fire rate, it'll overheat the sink in about six seconds of sustain, full-auto fire. This will give you about eighty or so fairly low-power shots." Her eyes widen a bit at this. "What?"

"That's a lot of shots, is all." She says.

"Well, it's mostly due to the over-sized sink." I explain." My own P90 takes the original gunpowder-propelled, full-sized rounds. So does my pistol."

"I had assumed so when those casings came out of it." She says.

"Right. Well, let's test these out."

"Okay, that's good." The two stop firing as Garrus and I look over the results. "Liara, good bursts. With practice, you'll be able to use that weapon like you we're born with it." I look over Tali's scores. "Miss Zorah, the way you handle that weapon, I might need to recruit you. Very good." It's hard to tell, but she looks damn pleased, though she tries to play it off.

"It was luck, I'm sure." She says. "This weapon is surprisingly comfortable to hold and fire."

"It's designed to be ergonomic." I say.

"Cory?" I look back to Liara. "How do you fold these up?" She asks, looking for some sort of button.

"You don't." I state, and she looks confused. "Because of their design, they don't fold together." I explain. " They still work with magnetic holders on armor. I prefer holsters," I say, more as an afterthought. "But that's just me. Garrus?" I motion for him to step forward.

"Alright," Garrus starts. " Time to get down to what happens when your opponent gets close and you don't have a weapon handy."

(Ashley POV)

I storm up to the C.I.C., so intent on finding Shepard that I walk into him before I realize he's there. "Williams. Something you need?" He says, smirking.

"Yes." I start, grinding my teeth together. "I need Epsilon ejected from the nearest Javelin tube."

"Why?" He asks, concerned.

"WE we're supposed to be teaching, and he just completely usurps my authority!"

"Your authority, Chief?" Shepard starts, and I look up at him. "I didn't put you, him, or anyone in charge of instruction. It's a team effort, literally." He stares me down, and I start to get uncomfortable. "Plus, I know what really happened down there anyways. One of the perks of being in charge. Your antagonizing him isn't helping."

"Sir, he's a killer! He's dangerous!" I argue.

"Ashley, you, of all people, know that there's more to the story than what's printed," He says, and I flinch a bit.

"But- He's- He's an asshole!" I blurt out.

"If you really don't like him, then go beat his ass," Shepard remarks in obvious sarcasm, but it makes me think. Soon, I have a plan.

"Thanks, sir. I think I'll do just that." I walk away as Shepard looks entirely confused.

"Williams, WILLIAMS! I wasn't serious!" He calls out, but it falls on deaf ears.

(Cory POV)

Left fake, right jab, bring up the-

Block! Right cross incoming!

Sidestep, hands on the arm, kick to the knee,-

Dodge!

And so it's been for the past fifteen minutes, scrapping with the Chief. We're supposed to be teaching, though our little demonstration has turned into a war, with her not budging enough for me to actually get some finishing strikes in, but every attack she throws at me only costing her. Most of engineering has come out to watch, and I'm pretty sure I saw Wrex taking bets in the corner. Tali and Liara have been all but forgotten in the scuffle.

I'm breathing hard, Ashley the same. She's far more skilled than I gave her credit for. Catcalls and cheers come from all around, and they're distracting Ashley. Good.

I fake a lunge, making her try to counter it. As she moves to tackle, I fall back, bringing her arm with me and both feet into her abdomen, flipping her over me and hard into the ground. Still gripped onto her arm, I spin as fast as I can, locking my legs across her chest and cranking down hard. Sure enough, her other hand comes down repeatedly, causing cheers among a rather small number of the people gathered. As I stand, I realize many from the command deck also came down to watch, Including Joker, Dr. Chakwas, and Shepard.

I offer a hand to Ashley, but she merely scoffs and gets up on her own. "It was your idea we spar to demonstrate." I point out. She nearly snarls at this, and walks away, apparently eager to put as much distance between us as she can.

"Not bad, Echo." Wrex smirks at me as the crowd disperses.

"Yeah, what was all of that flipping around?" Tali asks. "I've never seen fighting like that."

"Nor I," Garrus throws in. "It looked like you were just dancing around her."

"Well," I start, "It's a combat style I've adapted to my uses. Primarily, Judo." the assembled group seems confused. " It focuses on grappling, and using an opponents strength against them. Judo literally translates to 'Gentle Way.' Resisting a more powerful opponent will result in your defeat, whilst adjusting to and evading your opponent's attack will cause them to lose their balance. Their power will be reduced, and you will defeat them. This can apply whatever the relative values of power, thus making it possible for weaker opponents to beat significantly stronger ones. This is the theory of ju yoku go o seisu, or softness controls hardness. The other attacks were just strikes pulled from many different combat styles." I pause as they look at me. "Whaat?"

"You know a lot about this stuff." Garrus says.

"Damn straight." I affirm. "I'm as dangerous from two feet away as I am from two kilometers."

"Glad you're on our side then," Shepard remarks. "Keep up the good work."

"Glad to, Shepard." I look to the two trainees. "So, who wants to learn how to flip a Krogan?"

A/N: I'm glad that everyone has been enjoying the story so far. Violence will be on it's way, rest assured. Also, I post this stuff pretty much as soon as I type it, so I'm not holding out on anyone :P. Enjoy, and let me know what you think.