Chapter 9
I don't own any of the Mass Effect games
Guest thanks for your reviews, I'll try to stop the walls of text, the mako is in between the original mako and the legendary. Not as fragile as the original but lava is going to do more than damage the paint.
Mass effect 1 will be more or less cannon with changes such as a reduction of side missions as well as some others. The real changes will happen in mass effect 2 and onwards. Callum does this because he knows he can use his future knowledge to his advantage and too much change could have disastrous consequences.
For example what if the intelligence behind the reapers realised that someone was on to it? There was one fanfic which I can't remember where the intelligence killed itself the reapers formed three factions. One that wanted to continue harvesting, a second that wanted the harvest to stop and a third that wanted to wipe all life out.
Also something always seemed funny to me about the actions of the salarians in mass effect three especially since they love to win wars before they even started or even before the other guys knew there was a war. But then I remembered Tevos talking about the fall of earth buying them time...so I though why would salarians fight a battle they knew they were unlikely at most to win and then it occurred to me that they weren't. They're much likely to retreat until the odds are in their favour sacrificing the other species to give them extra time to do so, basically they would do what the protheans did.
Like a deer frozen in headlights Liara stood there, looking at me. Her face showing absolute shock and mortification. I looked at her, she looked at me. The sound of the door opening behind me just made everything worse.
"Callum, Shepard wan...the fuck is going on here?" asked Ash
Finally regaining her senses, Liara started pushing every button she could see until the doors closed.
"...please don't tell anyone about this." begged Liara quietly, honestly sounding like she could cry not that I could blame her
"She pressed the wrong button and the door opened." I answered Ash unasked question
"Ahhh, yeah I can see that happening. Listen Shepard wants to see you, I'll stay with the asari, considering what just happened...that's probably for the best. If it was me I wouldn't want to see a guy I flashed accidently." said Ash
"Thanks, and Liara I'm sorry. I should have given better instructions." I apologized
"It's okay, i-it was an accident." said Liara
Leaving the bathroom I headed to Shepard's quarters where I found her in the midst of typing out a report.
"Commander, you wanted to speak to me?" I ask
"Yes." said Shepard standing up "As of now keep an eye on Liara, don't go full stalker on her, give her space but still keep an eye open."
"But I thought you believed Liara was telling the truth?" I asked genuinely confused
"Yes, but that doesn't mean I'm going to let her run around the ship, I'm not going to let ship blow up because I made a mistake." answered Shepard
"But what about Solana, Garrus, Tali or Wrex?"
"Tali got the evidence we needed, Saren went after her, Solana can vouch for Tali as we can. Garrus can vouch for Solana and as Garrus has worked for C-sec for years...The only weak links or threats at this point are Wrex and Liara. A bounty hunter that wants to work for free and the daughter of Saren's second in command, Wrex doesn't seem the subtle kind of person, more of the in your face person also he doesn't have a record of betraying people he works with or for. Liara though...I'm not saying she's bad, in fact, I think the opposite but I'm not taking the chance of her walking into life support with a grenade and taking us all out."
"Good point." I agreed, I knew...I hoped Liara was on our side but I couldn't tell Shepard that and this world had already shown that there were differeces to to reality where this was just a game.
"Oh and Callum...good work today. I have to say that I wasn't too sure about having you on the team but you've shown you can hold your own. Also, we have a couple of days until we reach our next mission and at this point I'll be taking Wrex, Kaiden and possible Tali if she's recovered enough that is. Use the time to get some rest from the mission and teach Kaiden some of your tricks." said Shepard before sitting back down
"Thanks Commander...hey I was wondering since we have a lot of new people including me if we could have some recreational bonding? Say a movie night?"
"Okay, what kind of movie are you suggesting?" asked Shepard
"I'm thinking classic, something that our teammates can connect with and enjoy, say Indiana Jones, Lethal weapon, Jurrasic Park."
"Make it Jurrasic Park and you've got a deal, anyone on duty can watch it later." said Shepard "I ahh..used to love dinosaurs as a kid."
"Done, now I've just over thirty minutes till our meeting so I'll use that time to some do weapons maintance so I can start to teach Kaiden later without having to worry about it."
"Good idea, speaking of your weapons whats with that pistol? You took out a krogan with a single shot, some sniper rifles can't even do that...so what makes your pistol so different?"
"Well you know those removable heat sinks I found on Eden Prime?" I ask
"Yeah?"
"Well I went to a custom gun and armour shop called Qorach custom guns and armour, they used the heat sinks ability to absorb a greater amount of heat but it will still overheat. What you saw before with the krogan was the hyper rail kicking in. It basically overheats the gun in one shot, it's increadably powerful but like my bow it's got it's drawbacks, with most guns the drawbacks out do to the gains but with this gun that's not the case." I said handing it over
"Why does it have two barrels?" asked Shepard
"One is the hyper barrel the other is a scram rail, both have extended barrels to increase damage and power." I said
"Interesting, I have to give this store a look myself. Do you think they can modify my shotgun to use these heat sinks?" asked Shepard
"I can ask." I answered, getting a curious look from Shepard
Clarifying I answered
"We have a three-way patient on the design used for my gun. I supplied the heat sinks and idea, they made it happen, I picked up some heat sinks in the last mission when I could so we could use them if Yarrick and Sheita haven't worked out a way to reproduce them yet."
"Ahhh, if you could that would be great." answered Shepard
Leaving Shepard's quarters I head to the elevator and begin writing an email to Yarrick and Sheita about Shepard's request. Honestly it sounded like a good idea to have some sort of patch or attachment to upgrade our guns without having to almost completely remake them. I also put in a request for them to start designing another gun for me, modelled after a shortened 303 rifle with multiple grain sizes to choose from. In the last mission, I realised something, my bow filled a niche. I could ramp up the power, lower it etc, but what happened if I suddenly lost the bow or it was destroyed? It would cost too much and take too long to have the bow replaced or repaired and I didn't exactly want to use a sniper so why not prepare a backup in advance just in case? Something that would work best at medium to long-range just like my bow and altering the round size meant I could make the most out of each shot.
Exiting the elevator I went over to the weapons bench where Ash was already doing maitanice.
"If you want you can just leave your gear with me." said Ash as I stood next to her
"No thanks I prefer to do it myself. Besides my weapons are quite different than the usual." I responded
"I've noticed." remarked Ash dryly as started working on my pistol, taking it apart and cleaning it.
When that was done I moved onto my bow, which got the attention of Solana
"That's quite the unusual weapon you have there." said Solana coming up behind us
"Thanks I'm quite fond of it." I replied
"It reminds me of a bow I had when I was a kid but it was made of horn and scales of a Trista...it's a deer-like animal on Palaven. Once treated their flexible enough to be used for a bow." said Solana
"Sweet, we did a similar thing back on earth. One of the most advanced bows of its time was the Mongolian bow which was made of sinew, wood and horn, it was incredibly small but incredibly powerful. Most traditional bows though are made up of wood, my first bow was a recure. Damn I loved that thing, shot it all the time at my dad's farm." I said with a smile
"Do you speak with your dad often?" asked Solana
"...he and my mum died in a shuttle accident some years ago, the farm is currently rented out to an old friend of my fathers." I said quietly
"I'm sorry I didn't know." apologised Solana
"It's okay, what about you? You said something about the way you left your home?" I asked hoping I wasn't pushing too much
"Oh that, you ever notice that most of the turians at C-sec are male? That's because most want female turians to stay home." said Solana
"Wait what? I thought all turian served, men and women?" asked Ash a touch of outrage in her voice
"Hey but the way we serve is different." answered Solana "The mortality and injury rate for females is much lower than the males."
"What are they sexist?!" asked Ash upset
"No, at least not really. Females are more likely to have a desk job over a combat role and those in combat are less likely to be injured than the males. But that's usually because they think going above and beyond will help them get lucky any females around."
"Men, always have to be the big shot and come to the rescue." said Ash, as one Ash and Solana turned to look to me
"Yeah...I'm not saying anything." I said
"Hmm, well as I was saying females are put in slightly safer combat zones for the most part, sniper, tech specialist etc though we do have more active roles. Also most females are part of the home defence for their colonies or planet while males are more likely to serve on ships or off-planet and are thus more likely to see combat, also females and the younger males are ofter prioritised if say the ship was going down and they only had one space left on the escape pod, one can have babies while the other has more years they can give the hierarchy. That said both males and females are expected to serve the same number of years, that said if the female is the captain she is expected to go down with the ship just like a male would. Also, if they are put into a position where they can save their teammates and don't they are judged just as harshly. If they are the secretary of the Primarch or someone else of importance they are expected to lay down their life just like they were their bodyguard, male or female. In turian society, there's not much difference between a secretary and a bodyguard except one deals with more paperwork. Put that all together and the males have higher chance of fatality than females but females are expected to serve just as much as the males and be prepared to risk or even their lives just the same."
"Really?" asked Ash
"Really, though there are fields where the rates are much closer. Such as Cabal, special forces, first response teams etc. Some even where the females have a higher rate than the males, though that's mainly because they have a higher proportion of females."
"Nice, it took centuries for human women to serve in the same ways as the men, it's nice to see some species did that sooner." said Ash genuinely impressed
"It's how we are raised, family, city, colony, planet, species, all comes before the individual. Other species see us as very militaristic and that's true and it comes pros and cons. Every if not most turians are combat-ready so we make tough targets for raiding parties, however it comes at a cost. It's hard for us to think outside the box and we prioritise military funding which can be a problem as other things fall by the way side. The addition of the volus helped us in that area and addition of humans improved it even further." informed Solana
"And how is that?" asked Ash curiously
"In turian society it is considered...rude? Disrespectful? To not serve in some compacity till your 30's, whether it's as a soldier to sanitation workers it doesn't really matter. If you don't or even worse you don't have a job to support yourself or family...well the equivalent is slapping someone bodies grandparent, everyone will remember it years later and its' nearly impossible to remove the stigma from it. Because of this a lot of turians favour serving a few years longer, especially when the role involves some sort of combat or protection role in order to show that they are an exemplary turian, some even longer still. But what do they do after that? They could retire but most feel like they could still do more...they don't feel like there ready to sit on the porch watching time go by just yet so what could they do?" asked Solana before continuing
"They could say train other turians, but only the best or those who have made a name for themselves given those jobs, they could also find a different career but that's also hard to do that late in life and it's quite a shift from what their used to. It was a human that came up with a solution, one of the common jobs for turians after they finish serving is getting some sort of job on a cruiser, from transporting supplies, standard space travel to luxury yachts full of rich people. It's good pay and has good job security unless your ships attacked but you still have to retire at a certain age."
"So what do they do?" I asked curious
"As said it was a human that came up with it, niche market I believe their called. It turns out rich older turians and asari matriachs prefer older turians over the younger ones. I guess the old gizzards feel a greater kinship and trust in those that look like they could have served alongside, one gets a job and other gets to reminded when they were young, fit and ready to take on the world. With the matriachs I guess it's because they feel they older turians are more capable and less likely to hit on them. Thanks to human ideas old turians can have a few more years of serving in some sort of capacity if they want." said Solana
"Ahhh thanks, I guess." replied Ash
"So how did you end up on the Citadel?" I asked, trying to get back on the original topic
"I got sick of my job and wanted a change. l wanted to see the stars and the rest of the galaxy without having to wait until my 30's." said Solana
"Why not C-sec like your brother" asked Ash
"You're still stuck in the same position, my brother has six years left before he can decide and what he wants to do without stigma. I'm younger and I don't want to wait that long." said Solana
"So what were you plaining?" I ask
"Honestly I don't know, I wasn't about to become a pirate or merchanary though...there just as bad a bare faces, but I certainly wanted to see more than the skys of Palaven. But on the Citadel I was nearly knocked over by a couple of quarian, I was about to say something about being careful and watching where your going when I noticed one of them was bleeding heavily and both scared out of their wits. So when I saw a fellow turian chase after them looking like he meant business I followed, then one thing led to another and I wound up here." said Solana
"What's a bare face?" asked Ash
"You might have noticed that most turians wear face paint of one kind or another." at Ash's nod Solana continued "That face paint, well it's really a tattoo. Anyway the shape is the colony, planet or even city you are from, those that have overlapping tattoos are usually displaying their city and planet. " said Solana before continuing
"The colour is more personal and depends on your family, the term bare face or barefaced is when a turian doesn't have these features. Usually, it's viewed as they are either come from a colony without them, thus aren't trustworthy, proved unworthy to wear them them and were ordered to have them removed and are thus untrustworthy, they don't think allegiance to their home is important enough and are untrustworthy or they are hiding what colony they are from and are thus untrustworthy." finished Solana
"So basically no markings means no trust?" asked Ash
"Yes, it's also a term for our politicians. The turian we're hunting is a barefaced, but for a different reason than most. He used to have face paint but had it removed when he became a spectre...said it was because he wanted to show that he wasn't going to favour his own colonies and that he was a turian first and foremost." said Solana
"I guess the colonies of other species don't count." said Ash angrily
"We'll get him one way or another Ash." I said calmly
"We better, to many people died because of that bastard." said Ash
After that we continued talking until it was time for the meeting, a few minutes after everyone was there Shepard walked in.
"We all here? Good, alright our first mission was a success. It could have been better but it could have been worse and Joker's still bitching."
"Well excuse me for having a problem with lava damaging the paint." shot Joker over comms
"You were nowhere near any lava." replied Shepard
"We almost died and your pilot is worrying about the paint?" asked Liara
"He's joking and being an ass about it, plus you know how pilots are about their ships." answered Shepard
"I see, I'm sorry not really familiar with your species. But still to joke about it." said Liara
"It can be a way to release tension and stess, also as I said he's being an ass." clarified Shepard
"Oh, okay." replied Liara
"Enough about Joker, what else can you tell us about why Saren's after you?" asked Ash
"As I said before they are definitely after my knowledge of Protheans." answered Liara
"I have a question, why you in particular? There must be hundreds if not more of other Prothean experts out there?" asked Kaiden
"There are, it is possible my remote location was the reason I was chosen as I was the most vulnerable, or maybe I was the first thought of and they simply did not want to waste time looking for another. I did say that the krogan made it clear that while I would useful I would not be indispensable. Perhaps it was because of both of these reasons. Despite the reason I am an expert on all thing Prothean and though I am young for my species my knowledge is greater than many who are significantly older than me." said Liara
"Just how young are you?" asked Shepard with some worry that the new addition might be the asari equivalent of a child or a human 16 year old
"It's embarrassing to admit but I am only a hundred and six." said Liara self-consciously
"Damn, a hundred? I hope I look as good as you when I'm that age." said Ash causing Liara to blush purple, probably in memory of what happened in the bathroom and just how much Ash saw
"M-my species are quite long lived compared to most. To most asari I'm considered barely more than an adult, this makes it hard to get other asari to listen to me and give my research the credit it would usually be given." said Liara
"How long have you been researching Protheans?" asked Shepard
"For the last fifty years of my life." answered Liara
"And they still don't give your research credit? That's nearly half of your life." said Shepard surprised
"It a consequence of their life span, if something is temporarily you'll appreciate it more. Asari live for hundred of years, maybe even a thousand or more. Because they have so much time they tend to at least let some of it go to waste. Much like a college student waiting until a week or even a few days until an assignment is due to start working on it. Basically, until they get to around 200 or even 300 they act like a human 18 to 24 year old that's on summer break. Liara here seems to be the exception for to this, I honestly believe that if the asari had more people like her their race would be significantly more advanced than they currently are. Not that they aren't currently one of the more advanced species."
"T-thank you." said Liara greatfully, the purple blush once again returning "It is...nice to be appreciated."
"So this conduit? Do you know what it is?" asked Shepard
"The only thing I know for sure is that it played some role in the extinction of the Protheans." spoke Liara
"We currently have an idea on what caused the extinction of the Protheans." said Liara
"To be perfectly frank commander I have heard nearly every theory out there, the problem is proving them. The Protheans arose from a single world and formed a civilization that spread further than Citadel space. Then suddenly they seemed to vanish leaving barely any evidence that they were there, it's as if someone went around and removed as much evidence as they could. Also I believe that it is not the first time either, I believe that other races came before and each race built on what the previous race left behind. Even the Prothean's greatest achievements the relay's and the Citadel wouldn't have been possible without the race before them."
"What makes you think there were species before the Protheans?" asked Shepard
"There is little evidence to prove the existence of the Protheans or their culture and history and there is even less on the species that came before then but eventually clues started to appear and I developed a hunch that something was causing galactic civilations to vanish. The question is why? Is it deaseses? Did the civilation just grow too big to support itself or did their technology or food supply suddenly failed and they couldn't recover?" asked Liara outloud
"It's because of an ancient race of machines called Reapers." answered Shepard bluntly
"What? How do you know this? Where is your proof?" demanded Liara
"Prothean beacon on Eden Prime downloaded it onto my brain before it exploded but I still can't make much of it out. Also, Tali here managed to download some data from a geth unit and the existence of the Reapers was apart of that." answered Shepard
"That's too bad, Prothean beacons are incredibly rare. The exact number is a secret to only a few, but every time one is found the technology of the Citadel races improves. To gain one is worth almost any cost, even if the beacon is broken or highly damaged as it likely was in this case. But Commander you must have an incredible mind and will power, Prothean beacons were designed to implant information directly the brain, not just in writing or information but images and feelings as well. However they were made to to work for Protheans, not other species, even my own species with our ability to mind meld it can be dangerous and not to be taken lightly. Again it is quite the impressive feat." said Liara impressed
"Thanks, but Callum has already told me this." said Shepard nodding in my direction causing Liara's eyes to widen
"I see, are you a fellow also study Protheans?" asked Liara
"No, I just know a lot of random facts, for example it is thought that earth beer orginated in Egypt." I said randomly
"Oh." said Liara sounding disappointed "Anyway perhaps my knowledge would reveal more of the message?" asked Liara
"What do you suggest?" asked Shepard
"I join my mind with yours and we look at the message together." suggested Liara
"Wait, isn't that how you make kids?" Ash asked making Liara look slightly offended for the first time
"There is many versions of the joining, while it is true we use one of them is used to reproduce there others or to be correct, many other way the ability can be used. A meld between mother and daughter to help teach her how to speak, one between colleges that is used to better convey ideas or thoughts and many other examples. What I am suggesting is a simple melding of memories and experiences you gained from the beacon, nothing more and nothing less...and no I won't get pregnant." shot Liara at the end looking at Ash who had the grace to look sheepish
"Alright if it can help I'm all for it." said Shepard walking forward to the centre of the room and after she stood up Liara joined her.
"Relax commander...and embrace eternity." said Liara, her voice almost echoing as her eyes turned pitch black
For a few moments they stood there, unmoving before Liara stubbled back
"That was...goddess I never thought that I'd get to experience anything like that." said Liara breathlessly
"Did it work Commander?" asked Kaiden "Does the beacon's message make anymore sense?"
"No, it's still a mess, organics under attack from machines." answered Shepard "But there was something different this time around, the first time it was like I was in a room where flash grenade, everything was a mess of confusion. This time however I was able to get a sense of...emotions?"
"What kind of emotion?" asked Ash
"...Fear, worry? Something along those lines but also a sense of relief or even hope. It was like I was in a dark, cold cave, even lost but I knew that the sun would soon be up and I could...get to safety?" asked Shepard confused "I still can't really make sense of it but I 'feel' like something bad happened or was still happening but better days were ahead."
"Despite being completely different all sentient species have the same basic emotions, fear, hate, joy an love. It's not strange that you'd get a wow." breathed Liara almost falling down
"Are you okay?" asked Shepard
"I'm fine, the joining just took a lot out of me." answered Liara
"Is that normal?" asked Shepard
"Some species can subcounchuly resist the joining more than others making it harder but there is also the fact that even a secondary degree contact with a beacon can be exhausting. Also there is still the fact that I've been trapped for a number of days with little chance to sleep." answered Liara
"I see, go see if their are any spare sleep pods, if not use one of the beds in the medical bay to get some sleep." suggested Shepard
"Thank you, now if it's okay I'd like to go do that now." said Liara getting a nod from Shepard before leaving
After Liara left the room Shepard continued
"Okay the next place we'll be landing is Feros. Tali are you feeling better?" asked Shepard
"I'm still feeling some mild symptoms but they should be gone by tomorrow." answered Tali
"Good but let me know if that changes. Now the next mission will have myself, Tali, Kaiden and Wrex on the ground, I'm fowarding out ETA so make sure your bright eyed and bushy-tailed when we land." ordered Shepard
"Bright-eyed?" asked Garrus in confusion
"It's a human expression, basically it means be ready and well rested for the day ahead." answered Shepard "Also if anyone's interested there'll be a movie playing in the cargo bay in a few hours. The ground crew and everyone not on rostered duty are welcome."
"What's the movie?" asked Kaiden interested
"An old classic, very old, Jurassic Park I recon that Wrex will be one to enjoy it the most." said Shepard
"Huh, I'll see about that." said Wrex skeptically
"Alright meetings over now I have to take a call with the council. Tali can you stay behind for a second there's something I want to ask you." said Shepard
"Oh, okay." said Tali sounding nervous
"Don't worry I just want to ask you something and your welcome to say no to it." consolated Shepard
With that we all left the room, most of us going back down to the cargo bay.
"Alright you ready?" I ask Kaiden
"Almost, before we begin Shepard wants me to ask for a list of your abilities and a description as well as which are your strongest or weakest." said Kaiden openning his omni-tool
"Okay, well I'll start off with the basics as you know I can do the standard push and pull, though I think I can do them better than most also derivatives of them such as pushing them to the sides instead of backward. Next is the singularity and warp which I have to say are my weakest abilities."
"And your other abilites?" asked Kaiden
"Well there is Slam which is one of my preferred and stronger abilites. It's basically lifting one or multiple targets and reducing their weight before rapidly increasing it and performing a reverse lift to send them flying back towards the ground. Then is Slash which requires a bladed weapon, longer is better to get more coverage but you can use a knife or even a omni-blade. Then is the shield, it's a biotic barrier that forms around my forearm. I can increase or decrease the size, the larger it is the harder it is to maintain and the more fragile it is." I said
"Okay, anything else?" asked Kaiden
"A few, there's shockwave which sends out waves of biotic energy. Shot, which is a small to medium-sized ball of biotic energy thrown at the enemy, good for single targets and detonations. Finally, I'm trying to work out some biotic ability to make me move or evade faster possibly by creating a pull file around me and some sort of massive biotic attack but I've had no luck so far."
"Well Slam seems to be a good start, later on I'd like to learn Shield and Shot. As for Slash...I'm not that into melee combat." said Kaiden
"Okay I'll give a brief explanation how to learn Shield first, what I did was create a barrier over my arm if were you I'd use my shower time to test the it, that's what I did. Now have you ever played tennis?" I ask
"...no?" said Kaiden questionaly
"Okay, in tennis you serve the ball by lifting it into the air, before slamming it down as hard as you can." I said
"I just said I never played tennis and even I know that's not how it works." responded Kaiden
"Yeah I know, there's how you hit it, where you hit it, the rachet's sweet spot etc. It's just to get the image into your head, you lift them up and then slam that barstard down as hard as you can. The key is doing the slam at the right time, the second the lift and weightloss wears off, any sooner or later and you lose force or waste effort." I instructed
From there I continued to teach Kaiden and show him how it's done, using a spare rubber ammo block as a test dummy. He wasn't good enough to use it in combat just yet but he'd get there. I also managed to start him Shield but that was nowhere near ready.
Later on we had to stop as people started to arrive for the movie, some even bring snacks. Aside from the ground crew there were 10 crew members attending which I think was the majority of those off duty.
When everyone arrived and found a seat either on the floor, a crate or even an actual chair the movie started, I was lucky enough to get a spot next to Solana.
"So is this movie any good?" asked Solana quietly
"Yeah it is, it's a classic that's stood the test of time, has a ton of sequels and you'd swear it's not as old as it is because the effects are so good." I answered equally quietly
"I see." said Solana "When was it made?"
"A year before I was born." I answered I think my 'shit!'
"Wait, I thought this was a really old movie?" asked a nearby Garrus
"It is, I mispoke, I meant a hundred years before I was born." I answered 'shit!'
Thankfully they didn't enquire amount my mistake any further as we say back and started to enjoy the movie.
...
...
...
"Goddess!" shrieked Liara as a raptor suddenly appeared behind the female paleontologist and forced itself past the pipes and mesh.
"Hehehe, sweet." chuckled Wrex as the game warden got ambushed and eaten.
Eventually the movie ended and the lights turned back on
"Did everyone enjoy the movie?" asked Shepard
"Yes, although I don't usually movies that often I believe that you can learn a lot about..." started Liara before suddenly shrieked and jumped with biotics flickering over her skin as someone in the back played velociraptor sounds
And she wasn't the only one, I swear Wrex almost went for his shotgun and Tali definitely did, thank fuck that all guns were in the lockers.
"Knock it off Kent." said Shepard sternly, relising just how close Liara came to reacting with a biotic attack
"Sorry commander, couldn't resist."
"Anyway you were saying Liara?" asked Shepard when Liara and everyone else got their breathing under control
"I was saying how movies can give one an insight into the culture and values of those who lived around at that time." answered Liara "I quite enjoyed it."
"In that case would anyone like to watch another?" asked Shepard getting a number of yes
"I too would like to see another, but could we have a change in genre?" pleaded Liara
"Good idea, Callum any suggestion?" asked Shepard
"Several, but at this point I'd recommend either Indiana Jones or Red Notice. Red Notice would be suggestion as it's a comedy and most people here will love it." I answered
"Okay put it on."
OMAKE, Red and Blue Effect
"Hey babe, I'm blue, your blue so how about we go make some blue together?" said Tucker with his arm over a clearly uncomfortable Liara
"Hey how about to stop harrasing everything with a set of tits for a couple of seconds." said Ash pushing him away.
"Okay." said Tucker before standing still "There done and now back to our usual service."
"You have to be kidding me!" said Ash angrily
"What? It's not my fault, there's a whole species of blue babes out there." defended Tucker
"I keep telling you asari are monogendered." said Liara
"And that is what anyway?" asked Tucker
"It means there's only one sex." answered Simons, one of the least annoying of the group...except paper kept coming out of his ass for some reason whenever he was near control or communications
"Exactly a race of space babes, how could I resist that?" asked Tucker
"If they only have women how did their race procreate on the there planet?" asked Simons
"?????"
"He's saying they can get each other pregnant idiot." said Griff to the side which made Tucker immediately back off
"You've got a dick? Oh hell no! Am not going through that again, giving birth once was more than enough!" exclaimed Tucker
"How is your little abomination anyway?" asked Griff
"First of fuck off, he's a wonderful boy. Second...actually quite good, he graduated and is serving on a ship in the military. Probably getting lucky with the ladies like his old man." said Tucker proudly
"And which one is that? You or the actual 'father'...'mummy.'" said Griff
"Oh fuck off!" said Tucker before marching away
"W-wait it don't have a..." started Liars before being stopped by Ash
"Trust me and let him think that, that's the only time he's ever walked away this easy."
"But..."
"Trust me." repeated Ash
"Okay...but I thought human males couldn't get pregnant?" asked Liara in confusion
"They can't." answered Ash
"Then how?"
"I don't know, I don't want to know and you don't want to know."