AN: CW implied rape. I won't be going into detail, I'm not a victim so I cannot speak with authority on the experience, nor am I in any way trying to glorify it. The point is to explain the characters involved.
Chapter 23
"Captain Anderson you're just in time, they're slowing." Joker reported as Captain Anderson walked over to the cockpit to get a status report.
"How's the Normandy doing?" He asked.
"Everything except heat sinks in the green, the sinks are just barely in the yellow, we're alright for now but we'll have to vent some smoke if we keep the stealth going for more than another hour or so." Joker reported.
"Acknowledged." Anderson said then walked over to the CIC. "All stations report." He ordered over the intercom. All stations reported everything was ready go to. Engineering was all set up, everything in the cargo bay was secured including the MAKO it housed, and Shepard along with Baxter, Jameson, and Kowalski were in the armory suiting up and getting ready to launch an invasion on the big transport. If they were carrying slaves, the goal was to unload them onto the Normandy in case there was a remote control self-destruct If it turned out to be a troop transport then the invasion party would stand down.
"Baxter you got your med supplies all together?" Shepard asked.
"Aye LC I'm fully stocked. Even got some dextro friendly stuff in case they've got offworld slaves aboard. I still can't believe they keep slaves." Baxter replied.
"It's disgusting, and I hope the Alliance is planning on doing more to stop this shit." Jameson chimed in.
"Agreed, but for now we have orders and we're going to follow them to the letter." Shepard reminded, they both nodded. "If we're lucky it's a troop ship and we can let the Mayhem handle them." She added. Kowalski laughed at that.
"Ma'am I almost think using the Mayhem against this fleet is overkill. It's like killing a fly with a shotgun." Kowalski added.
"Don't underestimate the enemy, Kowalski. Our history books are full of stories of armies crushed due to their own hubris." Shepard warned.
"Understood, ma'am. Sorry." She said. Shepard returned to checking her weapons. She'd been issued a new assault rifle and pistol, both equipped with updated heat dispersal systems. Once again, Quarian engineering had filled in the holes left by Human engineering, resulting in a rifle that boasted the ability to fire a thousand rounds before a new heat sink was needed. The pistol, while it didn't have an extended magazine so to speak, its stopping power doubled, this however also produced a hell of a kick, but the Quarians came to the rescue on this as well, with their integrated shock dispersal systems built into Alliance hardsuits. Marines were taught to assume a rigid stance when firing their heavy pistols because upon doing so their armor would momentarily lock spreading the recoil's force throughout the marine's entire body. This innovation lead to some soldiers foregoing a service rifle and instead carrying additional heavy pistols and extra heat sinks.
"Hey Tuuv, you good to go?" Kowalski asked their new sniper, Tuuv'Reegar Vas Normandy. He was brought in, ostensibly as a replacement for Luis Jiminez, but he was politely distant from the group giving them time to get to know him. He had been on squads that required reinforcement before, so he knew not to approach the situation as though he was replacing their fallen comrade, instead on the few occasions when Jiminez's name came up he politely asked to learn more about him. This endeared him to the group, who quickly accepted him amongst them.
"Yeah this new rifle weighs nothing. I'm a bit wary about the Rothschild integration features though." He said.
"Yeah we're gonna save that one for emergencies." Shepard grinned. The feature in question allowed Rothschild to temporarily inhabit his scope's optics and guide his aim if they ever needed a precision shot to disable enemy vehicles, installations or equipment. Rothschild had to be made aware of the mission beforehand if there was a chance of it being used. Also there was the matter of the command one needed to issue in order to activate the feature. It was, to say the least, ridiculous. Needless to say nobody was in a hurry to test that one out.
Up in the CIC, Anderson waited with baited breath until suddenly the region came alive with panicked Batarian traffic as their proximity scans picked up the Alliance fleet waiting for them. Communications officers and decryption specialists aboard the Mayhem were working feverishly on decoding the transmissions, thankfully Batarian encryption was far from sophisticated, and within minutes they had a working cipher matrix going, allowing them to listen in realtime.
To their horror, it was indeed a slave convoy, but the transport ship was only 25% full. They had planned on making a run on a human colony! This was beyond unacceptable, and definitely required punitive action. As such, the Mayhem demanded an open channel with the lead Batarian ship, and got one.
"Batarian ships, this is Admiral Simon Chambers of the MSV Mayhem. You have violated Alliance space and are carrying contraband. Prepare to be boarded." the Mayhem broadcast to the Batarians. While panicked, they were not quite ready to go down without a fight and responded by powering weapons.
"Lieutenant Frakes. Box their ears." Chambers ordered, Frakes launched two low-yield antimatter torpedoes, one on each side of the lead ship and detonated them 5,000km away from each side. The result was a massive concussive blast that rocked the ship and the people aboard it hard and dislodged a fair amount of equipment.
"Excellent work Lieutenant. Would you please open the channel again." Chambers said.
"Aye aye, sir." Frakes responded and signaled that the channel was open.
"Again, I say, Batarian Vessels, you are in violation of Alliance space and carrying illegal cargo. Do you understand?" He grinned at the silence he got in response. The plan had already been set in motion when they discovered the cargo aboard the troop carrier. The detonation of the warheads was a signal to Rothschild, who began flooding space with garbage data all over the Batarian's comm channels. Meanwhile the Normandy appeared seemingly out of nowhere alongside the troop carrier and attached to their dock. Shepard aimed her rifle over Kowalski's head as she cut through the Batarian hatch with a plasma torch, ready to rush past any resistance before securing the ship. Normally they'd have waited for a ship with a larger marine detachment, but the information they mined from the Batarians suggested that the ship's crew were civilians, mostly unarmed, many slaves themselves. There were three Hegemony slavers on board, and they would be Shepard's primary targets.
"We're Through!" Kowalski reported as she ducked behind Shepard and switched his cutting torch for his shotgun. Shepard led them through in a tight formation, securing each room as they made their way down the ship. Along the way they found slaves of many races, all terrified of the unknown Alliance aliens, but complying when ordered to get down and stay down. Room by room, they cleared each one. One of the last rooms it turns out was a morgue filled with dead slaves. Shepard didn't have time to dwell on this though, so they moved to the next room, and found two of the slavers holding up a device with a big black button.
"Come any closer, Alien and we'll kill all of the slaves on this ship!" one of the Batarians said.
"You getting this Admirals?" Shepard asked into her communicator.
"Yes we are, Lieutenant Commander." Xen responded from the Mayhem.
"Can Rothschild come out to play?" She asked.
"He's outside with the ball waiting for you." Xen responded.
"Aye aye Admiral." She responded and opened fire on the two slavers. They dropped dead with two satisfying thuds. Searching the room, they couldn't find evidence of the third Batarian so they doubled back and opened one of the doors with slaves inside.
"Excuse me, can you understand me?" Baxter asked a trembling Asari with several bruises.
"Please don't hurt me any more!" She begged.
"Permission to remove my helmet, Ma'am" He asked Shepard.
"Granted. Everyone except Tuuv, take off your helmets, let's see if we can't calm these people down." Shepard said. Everyone, obviously except Tuuv, removed their helmets and were met with confusion form the slaves.
"You're.. You're not Batarian?" The Asari woman asked.
"No, We are human, except Tuuv over there who is Quarian. We're with the Alliance, and we've come to free you." Shepard said, slowly reaching a hand forward, offering her help up. She reluctantly took it and was on her feet.
"Why aren't we dead? We heard you shoot the Batarians." She asked.
"Let's just say we have a friend who was interfering with the chip signals. With your permission, our doctors will happily remove the slave chips for you once you are aboard our ships." Jameson offered.
"We should leave soon, I overheard one of those bastards saying that the other one locked himself in the cockpit and was getting ready to jettison this whole section and destroy it." a badly beaten Turian said, still laying on the ground.
"Forgive me sir, I've never met one of your kind. Are you Turian?" Shepard asked.
"I am" he said, then started coughing.
"Baxter, did they give you a rundown on Turian anatomy?" Shepard asked. Baxter nodded
"I won't be doing thoracic surgery on a Turian any time soon but I can keep them stable." He said, and without waiting for orders he was on his knees next to the Turian asking permission to treat him which was easily granted.
"We need to get everyone off this ship as soon as possible. Once we're off I'll ask the fleet to disable the cockpit to make it safe to retrieve the bodies in the morgue, there is sufficient cold storage space aboard the Mayhem to keep them until they are returned home for burial, or whatever your people do." Shepard said.
"Thank you, human. We are in your debt." The Turian said.
"My name is Lieutenant Commander Jane Shepard of the Alliance navy, and we don't do debts here." She said as Baxter worked to bind his torso and stabilize his potentially broken ribs.
"Castis Vakarian, and still, thank you." He said.
"Excuse me miss... oh wait Asari are monogendered, what pronouns do you use?" Shepard asked.
"Miss is fine, most of us tend to identify female, it makes things easier with the binary races. My name is Liselle T'Loak. I also thank you, from the bottom of my heart." She offered.
"No thanks necessary ma'am. Are you well enough to move?" Shepard asked.
"Yes I think so." She responded.
"Good, would you please go and inform the other slaves as to why we're here and what we're going to do? I don't want to panic people and I think coming from you it would ease their concerns.
"Yes, of course, right away." Liselle said. She was confused by how aware and sensitive this being was. It was a pleasant change from the way the rest of the galaxy tended to treat her kind. Plus it was nice to see a woman in a position of authority.
"Alright people, we have a plan let's enact it. Baxter is he ready to move?" Shepard asked.
"As ready as he's going to be. I ain't gonna lie, Castis, if your nerves are anything like ours I can promise you this is going to hurt like hell." Baxter said.
"Thanks for not sugar-coating it." Castis responded, before groaning while Baxter hoisted him onto a stretcher.
Twenty minutes later, all of the slaves were cramped, but safely aboard the Normandy. Those without critical injuries were sitting in close quarters in the cargo bay, staring In wonder at the advanced alien tech around them. This was until Mess Sargent Gardner wheeled in buffet trays full of steaming dextro and levo food of all varieties, some Turian some Asari and some Batarian for the Batarian slaves aboard. Having not eaten adequately in what was in some cases years, the sound of rumbling stomachs was almost deafening.
"Form up a line and grab a plate, take as much as you feel you can safely eat I have two more of these being prepared down In the mess now. It's separated, Levo in the blue, Dextro in the red, so be careful what you eat. Seriously though, take it slow, some of you are literally starving. Baxter here will help any of you that need assistance." Gardner announced. Cooking was a passion of his, and having so many mouths to feed made him giddy with anticipation. He would happily be up all night preparing more food for their "guests" to take with them when the other ships dock to unload some of them. As it was the sheer number of living beings on the Normandy was stressing its life support.
Thankfully there were only two people requiring immediate medical assistance, Liselle and Castis. They had been put in the same room on the slave ship in case they developed contagious infections due to their systems being compromised by injury. Karin was fussing over them, and with the miracle of medigel Liselle was back to normal in a matter of minutes, though Castis would need to stay overnight.
"You are free to leave, sweetheart." Chakwas said to Liselle
"Um, would it be alright if I stayed here? There's... there's a lot of people down there." Liselle said, her nerves nearly getting the better of her.
"Of course, dear. I'll ask Gardner to bring some food up for you. We have fabrication devices that can make food safe for you to eat." She replied.
"What do you mean?" Liselle asked.
"Protien Chirality. We share it with the Quarians and Turians, whereas you, and the Batarians are Levo-protien based. I'm afraid our food would probably make you very ill."
At the word "batarian" Liselle shuddered involuntarily, and Karin noticed immediately.
"What's wrong dear?" the doctor asked.
"It was... on the ship.. The b-b-batarian, I don't know his name, he... he put me in a room alone... and..." she struggled.
"Oh dear, I'm so sorry. You don't need to tell me any more if you don't want to." Karin said. Something about her voice and manner reassured the relatively young asari, whose eyes were brimming with tears remembering her recent trauma.
"Oh, come here child." Chakwas said, opening her arms. Liselle stepped into her embrace and began sobbing into her jacket.
"Shh. You're safe now, we're going to get you back home, everything is ok right now." She said, rubbing the girl's back as she purged her tear ducts into the material of her jacket.
"I don't know if our psychologies are the same, dear, but are there counselors, therapists, psychologists on your home world?" She asked.
"We have what we call mind healers." She said "They help with t-trauma." Liselle said, slowly regaining her composure.
"I won't tell anyone what happened, I can't, though I wouldn't even if I could. Human doctors are bound to keep the secrets of their patients. But please, consider talking to one of these mind doctors, dear. I know humans who have gone through similar things, talking to someone trained to help does wonders." Karin said.
"Thank you s-so much." Liselle said, hugging her again.
"Don't worry dear. I'm going to put a cot in the storage room behind you and you can stay there. That way you won't be startled by anyone coming in, and you'll have a safe place all to yourself for a little while, ok?" She said. Liselle nodded emphatically.
"What about Castis?" Liselle asked, realizing for a second that he might have heard that exchange.
"Well first off he's quite unconscious. Our narcotics work well on Turians it turns out. Secondly, because of the privacy rule I told you about, this area has a noise cancelling field around it. Didn't you notice the ships engine go silent when I pulled you over here?" She asked.
"Goddess, I didn't notice until you mentioned it." Liselle said.
"So, how would you like a nice fresh change of subject?" Karin asked. Liselle laughed.
"Sure I'd love one." She said.
"So what is your home planet like?" She asked.
"Oh Thessia is a paradise. I especially like Armali, it's the fashion capital of the Asari republics!" She said
"Oh you simply must tell me all about it." Karin said, her inner fashionista excited at the prospect of a whole new culture of clothing to explore.
Back in the briefing room, Captain Anderson, Shepard, Baxter, Jameson, Reegar and Kowalski were discussing the evacuation of the slaves.
"We then made our way to the aft of the vessel securing each compartment along the way, and at the end we found two of the three slavers." Shepard said.
"And then?" Anderson asked.
"The slavers held up a device and threatened to kill the slaves on board. We then confirmed that Rothschild's countermeasure was in place, and then we neutralized the two Batarians. At that point we proceeded to assist the slaves off the ship." Shepard said.
"And your reason for killing the Batarians outright?" Anderson asked. He agreed wholeheartedly with the action but needed to verify it was for the right reasons.
"Threefold sir. One, they were threatening the lives of the slaves with the remote control device which we were briefed could be used to induce a fatal neural shock from their implanted slave chips. Two, if the Batarians were given the chance they could have easily escaped and activated a secondary self-destruct device. Three they were slaver shitheads whose faces were in dire need of ventilation." She responded, eliciting chuckles from the human crewmembers.
"Very good Lieutenant Commander, though I think I'll be omitting that last one from the official report. Dismissed, go wash up get something to eat and grab some rack time, you've earned it." Anderson said.
"Yes Sir. Move out guys." Shepard ordered, and they did just that. As the others walked off, Tuuv'Reegar tapped Shepard on the shoulder.
"Lieutenant Commander, I have a question." He said.
"Yes, Reegar?" She replied.
"Ma'am, was it really necessary to kill the Batarians? What if they'd offered to surrender?" He asked.
"Well first Reegar thanks for asking this in private, I have no problem with questions as long as they' re respectful and not questioning my decisions in front of the rest of the squad. Secondly, Humanity's history is fraught with slavery, even up into just before the great war. It had dwindled but was still there. It is a big black stain on our history, one we will never wash away nor would we want to because if we failed to remember it we would never learn from it. That they were engaging in the active trade of slaves was bad enough, but that they crossed our borders to do it, and then threatened the lives of innocent slaves in our territory, harsh actions were merited. Furthermore, though they were not made public, I was acting on orders. A message must be sent that slavery will not be tolerated." Shepard said.
"Of course, I apologize Lieutenant commander." Reegar said.
"Never apologize for asking questions, Reegar. I am human, we make mistakes, and I depend on you guys to keep me from straying from the path as much as you depend on me. So long as you do so respectfully and in private, I welcome feedback from all of my soldiers." She said.
"Understood. If you'll excuse me I'm going to go wash the dead slaver off this suit." Reegar said.
"Of course." Shepard said and continued on her way towards engineering. She had been without her Quarian for far too long.