Chapter 20
Shepard and Tali met up with Baxter, Kowalski, Captain Anderson and the rest of the Normandy crew comprised of the remainder of Shepard's squad as well as a number of other Humans and Quarians. They all stared in awe at the beautiful piece of engineering that lay moored before them. In both English and Kheelish the word "Normandy" was lovingly stenciled on the hull. Since Humanity began exploring the solar system, a tradition had developed, the project lead involved in constructing the vessel would always leave a hand print on the right-hand side of the airlock entrance that the crew would all press their hands against on the way in for good luck. This time the hand print had three fingers instead of five, as would many of this next generation of ships would bear.
The hatch hissed and admitted what was to most of them the first Quarian they'd ever seen outside of a suit. She was a beautiful, middle-aged woman with straight shoulder-length black hair that had a pair of pointed ears poking through it, and light blue skin. Tali was beaming under her mask and looking forward to next week when she could try to see if the therapy took.
Admiral Raan stepped forward and said, "It has been since our flight from Rannoch that when a person is assigned to a new ship, they take its name as part of their own. As you have shared so much of our tradition with us, we wish to share some of ours with you. Anyone who doesn't wish to take the name please let me know now." Nobody objected.
"Very well." She continued, "Step forward Captain Anderson Vas Normandy." she said, and gave a traditional Quarian blessing to him. She repeated the process with Shepard and the rest, and by the time they were all on board, each proudly bore "Vas Normandy" at the end of their name.
"XO Shepard Vas Normandy, if you would." Captain Anderson said.
"Company! Board your Ship!" She said. The mixed crew of Humans and Quarians all saluted, turned then filed in, pressing a hand against the Quarian hand print on the way in. The tradition had been explained to the Quarian crew members beforehand, but it didn't seem odd to them at all, most naval forces had traditions and superstitions, they adapted as they always had. It was a refreshing reminder of their new status in this galaxy, however, to see humans pressing their hands against a Quarian hand print. It felt good to them to be viewed by peers as equals.
As it turns out, there were two other Frigates disembarking from the station that day. One was the Gettysburg and the other was The Morning War. The Geth at first were confused as to why their word for the Quarian exodus was used to name the first Quarian captained frigate, until it was explained by Admiral Korris that he had decided upon it after learning that the Alliance liked to name their frigates after significant battles of the past, not as a glorification of victory, but as a reminder of the battles of the past, in hopes that such reminders might give pause to those eager for war.
The crew finished boarding, and quickly toured the ship meeting the skeleton crew that had been in place to bring the Normandy to Arcturus. Doctor Karin Chakwas was first, and to their chagrin she informed them all that she expected them to report for a full physical at her earliest convenience. She gave a brief rundown of the medbay, which was fully equipped to service both Humans and Quarians. Half of the room was concealed behind a hermetically sealed clean room that could be separated into multiple sections in case of many Quarian casualties. She also had immuno-boosters, antibiotics, and all sorts of precautions to protect the Quarians from the hazards of exposure to foreign environments.
Next they went to engineering, where Tali received the surprise of her life. After the brief explanation from Captain Anderson, he pulled her aside to meet a team of mixed Human and Quarian engineers. After introductions were made, Captain Anderson got the attention of the crew.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to introduce you to our new Chief engineer." He said. They all looked at him expectantly as he smiled and reached into a pocket to remove a new rank insignia "Lieutenant Tali'Zorah Vas Normandy." Tali gasped in surprise.
"May I, Lieutenant?" Anderson asked.
"Yes, please." she replied, barely over a whisper. He removed her Ensign insignia and replaced it with a Lieutenant one. Admiral Raan was struggling not to cry. Shepard was broadly grinning.
Next they toured the mess, crew quarters, docking bay and armory, and stopped in the pilot section and met their Pilot, Flight Lieutenant Jeff "Joker" Moreau. Upon seeing Anderson and Raan, he went to stand, but Anderson held up a hand to stop him
"No need, Lieutenant, Just so everyone's aware Mr. Moreau here suffers from a condition called Vrolik's syndrome. In layman's terms, "brittle bone disease." so he is exempt from heavy PT and won't be expected to stand and salute." He said. Joker looked a little put off until Shepard piped up behind Anderson's
"Holy Shit, you're Joker Moreau?" She asked.
"Yes Ma'am" He replied, looking concerned.
"Good catch Captain. Moreau flew circles around his instructors during flight school. My friend Captain Ryan Davidson was one of his teachers. He kept bitching about how Joker was ruining his records, and how he'd been mad if he weren't so impressed." Shepard said.
"Oh you know Captain Davidson?" he asked. "How's he doing?" he asked.
"Great, I think he's in line for a command pretty soon. I can imagine he'll be pissed about not sitting in the pilot's chair though. " She mused.
"Yeah I'll bet." Joker chuckled while saying.
"Ok, well if you two are done catching up..." Captain Anderson said, Shepard and Joker smiled mischievously at each other. "Let's head over to the CIC where you'll find me most of the time.
The CIC was designed with interchangeable seats that could suit either Humans or Quarians. It was a row of seats with a larger, higher one in the center, obviously intended for the Captain, and in the center in plain view of everyone sitting around was a black, glass table. This hid a holo-emitter that would bring up a galaxy map, forward view screen schematics, models anything needed while he was performing his duties. The seating beside him was intended for his first officer, and the department heads and it also functioned as a makeshift conference room for holding discussions with staff or guests.
After showing everyone the general functions, he dismissed everyone to go get familiar with their stations and find their assigned living quarters. The crew all had separate cabins, though it was a stretch to call them that, their room was large enough for a toilet, which also functioned as a chair with a folding desk in front of it, and a bed. This was luxurious compared to the accommodation on older vessels though, so nobody complained. Shepard as the first officer, enjoyed a larger cabin which was fortuitous as it had a built-in clean room. When they were shown the room, Anderson explained that the Officer suites had to have both Humans and Quarians in mind, and since they were a couple it only made sense for them to share.
The only officer onboard that declined a room was Joker, because it was easier for him and comfortable enough to sleep in the cockpit, it also gave him faster response time in case of an emergency. Autopilot was great, but having a pilot literally three feet from the controls almost all the time was infinitely better. Once everyone was settled, they requested clearance to disembark, and once received they were on their way.