Allers: It sounds like you accepted her in the end then.

Ashley: We did. But it wasn't until after the next mission that her allegiance was confirmed.

Allers: What was your next mission?

Ashley: Noveria.

Allers: Did your visit coincide with the problems at Peak 15?

Ashley: We arrived after the problems started. With Noveria not being part of Council space they have extensive labs that conduct research and experiments the civilized world wouldn't dream of.

Allers: Such as Commander?

Ashley: Rachni.

We had been in FTL for couple of days making our way towards Noveria. No one had spoken to the Commander since she had returned from seeing the Council, the only order she gave was to Joker. As for the rest of us we all had our own issues to be getting on with. At that moment I was currently in the armoury making sure that my weapon was up to scratch. Whilst going over the barrel Joker came over the radio.

"Errr, Ground Team the Commander wants to see you all in the Comm room."

That was unusual. Not the fact that the Commander wanted to see us, but the fact that Joker was the one to tell us. Something had clearly put the Commander in a bad mood, no doubt it was the Council. As we all gathered in the Comm room we ended up having to wait for the Commander. After several minutes she walked and the briefing began.

"I realise I've been distant of late since seeing the Council. But I've needed time to think, in this time we've disobeyed the Councils orders. Not that any of you knew what they were. Firstly they gave us new intel on Saren. An STG team were sent to Virmire to infiltrate a facility which has been suspected of working with Saren, since then however the team has gone dark, our orders are to find out what happened to them. Since we've still got the lead on Noveria to follow that's where Joker is taking us and our ETA is ten minutes. I want all of you on the ground for this mission."

"So what did you disobey then?"

"The order I disobeyed concerned Shiala." As one we all turned towards Shiala, it was like we all had the same idea. "The Council wanted me to turn you over to them. Apparently you would have been better suited to a C-Sec cell under interrogation than onboard the Normandy. Sparatus was practically calling for blood. I was ordered to return to the Normandyand hand you over to C-Sec. But my first order once aboard was to set a course for Noveria. I argued your case Shiala but they wouldn't listen. So here we are. Any questions?"

"You did all that for me Commander? You disobeyed the Council for me?"

"The Council may speak for the betterment of the galaxy, but I speak for the Normandy. You'll be an asset to the crew Shiala if I didn't think you would be I'd have left you on Feros."

"What happens when we touchdown Shepard?"

"We find a way to Peak 15 and find out what's going on."

"Something tells me this is going to go well."

Garrus always the smart mouth. This time though he was right, what the Commander had said wasn't much of a plan. But it was what we were going to do. As the briefing ended Joker came over the radio and told us we were approaching Noveria. The Commander made her way to the bridge and we all headed down to the armoury to gear up. As the Normandy was in the process of docking we made our way up to the airlock by the bridge. With all hands on deck we headed towards the Noveria Processing centre. Where we were met by three armed guards.

"Stand down and relinquish your weapons."

"You're not taking our weapons."

"No admittance without relinquishing you weapons. What's your business here?"

"Spectre business."

"Horseshit ma'am, there's no human spectre."

"Captain Matsuo stand down, Spectre status confirmed." A voice suddenly interrupted over the port comm system. "Carry on Commander."

With that we were allowed to move into the port, security stepping away. Once we were in the port building was when we met the voice of the comm.

"Commander Shepard, Gianna Parasini I work for Administrator Anoleis. You've been given clearance to carry weapons whilst on Noveria, is there anything I can help you with?"

"We're hoping to reach Peak 15 and investigate the communication black out."

"I'm sorry Commander that area is currently in lockdown due to a storm raging out on the pass. No ones being allowed access, the owner has already sent a Matriarch Benezia ahead in order to solve it."

"Benezia's here."

"She came through a couple of days ago, with a squad of Asari commandos. As the representative for Binary Helix she was allowed complete access to the Peak 15 research station."

"Will Anoleis see us?"

"You're a Spectre he can't refuse. Take the elevator down and follow the signs Commander."

We made our way over to the elevator and as we waited it Liara spoke up.

"Commander I presume at this point you'd want to talk to me."

"What about Liara?"

"My mother is here Commander..."

"You're not your mother Liara. If I thought you were a liability, you wouldn't be here. Now please remove this doubt from your mind. You're here because of who you are, not because of your mother. We'll take two elevators down, Garrus, Wrex and Kaiden you're with me. We'll go straight to see Anoleis. Ash, Liara, Shiala and Tali we'll meet you in the hotel lounge afterwards."

As the Commander finished the first lift arrived and they promptly got in and headed down. It wasn't long before a second lift had arrived and we all piled in. The ride down was quick, definitely quicker than the Normandy lift. Once the lift doors opened we all moved out and headed towards the hotel lounge which ended up with us having to take another lift upwards. After arriving at the in the hotel lounge we all moved towards a table on the fair side of the room, from there we could look out at the rest of the room. Chosen for a more military reasoning than pleasure. As soon as we sat down we broke out into conversation, mainly about Liara's mother and making sure that Liara was really okay with it.

"Are you sure your okay with all this Liara?"

"I'm fine Tali; I knew that we would eventually encounter my mother. I've made preparations for this; no doubt Shiala has done the same."

"I have Liara. Although my bond to Benezia isn't genetic like yours it is still rather strong. Since I've been aboard the NormandyI've been creating new bonds and these will help me when the time comes."

"What are these bonds?"

"The bonds are our way of connecting to one another, an Asari is genetically bonded to their mother. This connection allows the mother to always know where their child, but this connection can be turned off or even ignored. When it comes to friends there is always a slight bond even if they are not Asari. The bond in this regard doesn't actually do anything, but we know it's there and in times of need we can find shelter within these bonds. Then the third bond is that between an Asari and their life mate."

"So are you saying you both have this bond with all of us?"

"The bond exists with all of the crew; it is stronger with those in this group and even stronger within the Commander and you Ash."

"Me?"

"Yes, whilst the Commander is the overall leader of the group and he has our loyalty and friendship making the bond much stronger. The connection with you is different again, within this little group you are the alpha. We are the only females amongst the ground crew and whether you like it or not we all look towards you as the unofficial leader of us."

I had no idea that I was seen as the unofficial leader of the women. After taking it in, it all made sense. I'd always taken the lead when it came to choices and the conversations. It was even on my insistence that we all shared a room and they had all picked up on it.

"You had no idea did you Ash?"

"None whatsoever."

Our conversation was interrupted as the Commander came in over the radio.

"Williams its Shepard come in."

"Williams here Commander."

"We've spoken with Anoleis, he's not going to help us. We've been given two leads by Gianna Parasini. We'll follow one and you follow the other. Apparently there's a Turian called Lorik'Quin in the hotel lounge. He's got problems and a garage pass that he might be willing to part with. That one's yours. We've got a Hanar to find."

"Understood Commander, good hunting."

In what way could a Hanar possibly help out? At least that wasn't our problem we had to find a Turian. With their only being one Turian in the entire room that would be our man. I quickly explained the situation to the rest of my team and we all went over to the Turian.

"Lorik'Quin?"

"Who wants to know?"

"I'm Gunnery Chief Williams. I understand that you're looking for some help."

"You've heard right then Commander. My business Synthetic Insights has been closed down by Anoleis. His thugs are currently helping themselves to anything they can find, they are ruining my business destroying anything they don't understand. I require your services in order to remove this infestation and collect the data that my company was working on."

"What's the catch?"

"Anoleis thugs, well they're part of the guard. Corrupt individuals who are in it for the money. Do you have any problems with that?"

"Dirty cops we can handle."

He gave us the coordinates for his offices and we set off. We followed the elevator back down towards the ground floor and headed towards the garage. Once we reached the coordinates given to us, we opened the final door into Synthetic Insights. The first thing that greeted was the sight of two of Anoleis' thugs guarding the front door. Before they could react to our presence Tali dispatched them both with two quick shotgun blasts. Alerting everybody else in the nearby vicinity. It wasn't long before we had more thugs arriving from the different sections of the complex. They had us pinned down by the entrance but not for long. Tali used her override capability and removed the shields of the nearest combatant. This followed by a quick burst of rifle fire quickly brought an end to the nearest thug. Whilst we did this Liara and Shiala were combining their biotics. Liara would place a singularity at a group of enemies and then Shiala would throw a biotic warp at the singularity causing it to explode and leave the enemies decimated. It was brutal but it was very effective and it quickly decimated the ranks of Anoleis' thugs. When the numbers finally dwindled we moved out of cover and headed up the stairs towards the offices dealing with any resistance that was left. We made it to Lorik'Quins office with no more incidents and quickly downloaded the data that he was after. It was on our return journey that we found more trouble.

"Well well, look what we have here. Do you know what we did to cop killers on my world."

"Your dirty cops taking money on the side from Anoleis."

"That maybe, but we can't allow you to leave. Kill them."

With that Sergeant Stirlings men opened fire. There was only five of them, but with Stirling being a biotic it was made up for the difference. Through my comm channel I advised everyone to concentrate their fire on the biotic. With that Sergeant Stirlings men opened fire. There was only five of them, but with Stirling being a biotic it was made up for the difference. Through my comm channel I advised everyone to concentrate their fire on the biotic. Her shields wouldn't be able to take everything that we could throw at her and soon as they collapsed she would be ours. We left it Shiala and Liara to take out her shields with two well placed singularities. Which quickly dropped her shields, which then left Tali to place a well aimed shotgun blast to her torso. As the Sergeant's body landed on the ground her comrades picked up the slag and started towards us. They were in such a rage that they forgot about the singularities which soon exploded and ended their attack. It was time to leave.

We left synthetic insights in the exact manor that we arrived through the elevator back to the main level. It was upon disembarking the elevator that we were met by Gianna Parasini.

"What's going on up there?"

"It's properly Anoleis thugs roughing up the businesses."

"Be careful what you say Chief. Meet me in the hotel lounge before you see Lorik'Quin."

We made our way back to the hotel lounge and took up our previous seats and waited for our targets to arrive.

"What do we do, give it straight to Lorik'Quin or see Parasini first?"

"There's no harm in seeing what Parasini has to say before we make up our mind Ash."

"Good idea Liara."

We chatted and we waited. It was Gianna Parasini who arrived first and headed straight towards us. She arrived promptly and sat herself down in the empty chair.

"Well?"

"I work for Noveria Internal Affairs, we've been after Anoleis for years. The board know about his extra activities but every time we get a good lead something always happens to remove it. What you've acquired might be the best lead we've had in yours. With that data we could remove Anoleis from his role. Plus if you could get Lorik'Quin to testify to Anoleis activities then he would go down for life."

"We need Lorik'Quins garage pass."

"He's not the only one with a garage pass; if you do this you'll get your garage pass from the board."

A quick look around the table told me all I needed to know, everyone nodded their head in approval.

"We'll see what we can do. Have a drink; we've still got to wait for him to arrive."

By the time Lorik'Quin arrived we had started to grow restless. For a man who didn't have a business anymore he was certainly a busy bee. We signalled him to come join us and to sit down next Gianna. When he reached us you could easily see that he was worn out, something had been keeping him busy.

"We have what you wanted, but Ms Parasini has another suggestion?"

"Now that you have it, you're going to dictate what I am to do with it."

"If needs be, just listen."

"If you'll except, Noveria Internal Affairs would like to use your data in order to bring down Anoleis. It could make or break the case."

"Fine, you can have the data, since I don't really have much of a choice."

With that he left and skulked away to find his own table and drown away the misery that we had clearly caused. He wasn't the only one to leave, shortly afterwards Gianna got up to leave as well to take the data to her superiors.

"Come down to Anoleis' office in two hours to see the show."

It was time we checked in with the Commander, bringing up my omni-tool I called into her comm channel.

"Commander, we've got the garage pass."

"Good work Ash, that's more than we've got. Never try to work with a Hanar."

"There's something you'll want to see at Anoleis' office, be there in a couple of hours and you'll be rewarded."

"Roger that Ash, we'll be there."

A/NI don't know about this chapter, I'm not overly fond of it. It's there because it's a necessity, other than that I would have bypassed it. Currently working on another story at the same time now, so updates may be infrequent, the flames of creativity are currently burning for my other story, but I'll be back to work on this.