Chapter 40
Batarians it seemed were very gifted football players. A week after the dreadnought had been cleared, and the loyalists had been detained on a prison ship now in orbit around Saturn, the refugees who'd given themselves up voluntarily were enjoying the best recreation tha Earth provided, which comparatively was quite a lot. A group of alliance soldiers challenged a group of colonists to a football game, after of course arguing between the Americans and everyone else over whether it was called soccer or football, and many refugees gathered around to observe. The next day there were a series of unofficial tournaments between "Team Human, Team Batarian, Team Turian, Team Quarian and Team Asari." and so far despite the human's significant experience advantage, they were currently second in the rankings behind Team Batarian.
Between the exercise and significantly improved nutrition, the former slaves all looked significantly healthier, and between the Council species many were arranging transportation home. The alliance was offering free transportation to anyone unless the stated destination was Kar'Shan or the Citadel, in which case a third party was brought in. Unsurprisingly, fewer than six Batarians wished to return to Kar'Shan. This didn't bother the colonists in the slightest though, the Batarians were eager and hard workers, and more often than not had to be made to take breaks, and were shocked when the Humans and Quarians insisted on paying them. Many had been born into slavery and never compensated for their work.
The lack of a rigid social structure also confused the Batarians immensely. They were shocked to see among the Colonists the owner of a bank living in a house smaller than and right next to the house of a cobalt miner, and that the two were friendly and often their families ate at each other's houses. In Batarian culture there were strict separations between the leadership, military, merchants, laborers and what they called the Gun'Raga or 'Lost souls' In their language. These were equivalent to the "Untouchables" in the Indian caste system, Gun'Raga were almost always slaves, and were delegated to the most dangerous, degrading or menial tasks. Alliance egalitarianism was exciting to them but also terrifying.
Shepard was currently playing on the Human team against Team Turian when a soldier came jogging up to her, delivering a message.
"Aww crap, someone fill in for me, the brass is calling." Shepard said, jogging off the field as someone else yelled for a time out. She stopped and grabbed a towel, wiping the sweat off her head, and made her way into the temporary command center.
"You wanted to see me sir?" She asked Admiral Hackett, who was seated reading reports.
"Yes, please sit down Shepard." He said and she did.
"The Normandy's repairs are nearing completion. Once it's ready to fly, you're probably going to be assigned to patrol duty along the Alliance border, we're stepping them up in response to the invasion attempt." He said to her.
"Yes, sir. I was expecting something along these lines." Shepard acknowledged.
"We're also going to be issuing you and your marines new armor and weapons, and I'd like you to run some drills with them to accustom them to their new equipment. They heavily incorporate Quarian improvements so Tali will be suited to assist you in training them." Hackett said.
"Very good sir, is there anything else?" She asked.
"There is one thing. The Asari you asked about, Vil D'inan? We inquired with the Asari ambassador about her, and her... status. The Matriarch was adamant that she belonged in the Monastery, and explained that they were very dangerous." Hackett said.
"Sir, may I speak freely?" Shepard asked.
"Granted." Hackett said.
"Sir, she hasn't hurt anyone. She was on that tub for months with unfettered access to dozens of potential victims. All of the bodies in the morgue were either verifiable sickness, injury or destined for the black market organ trade. None of them showed signs of the neurological damage that comes with being attacked by an Ardat Yakshi. With all due respect to the Ambassador, sir, we didn't just liberate thousands of slaves just to give one up to be imprisoned against her will having done nothing wrong." She said.
"I agree wholeheartedly. However, because of the nature of our tenuous relationship with the Asari Republics, we cannot at this time offer her political asylum. However.." Hackett said, but was cut off by the angry Lieutenant Commander.
"Sir this is bullshit. That woman has done nothing wrong. We cannot send her to what is essentially a prison just to score brownie points with the Matriarchs." She said.
"Let me finish, Lieutenant Commander." He said sternly.
"Sorry sir." She said, fixing her posture and standing at attention.
"As I Was saying, we cannot offer her political asylum at this time, however I'm to understand she has extensive medical experience, and your ship has only one doctor. Prime Minister Shepard cannot offer her asylum, but she was careful to inform me that she had no direct control over whom I attach to one of my ship's crews, Military or Civilian." Hackett said.
"Oh..." Shepard said, embarrassed for her outburst. Hackett offered her a rare smile.
"Shepard I'm sure I'll regret saying this one day, but off the record, I commend you for standing up for this young woman. We must never forget the ideals our society is based on." He said.
"Thank you, Sir. How are we going to handle any blow back if the Ambassador finds out?" She asked.
"You leave that up to me. She'll be informed should Ms. D'inan accept, and if she doesn't like it she's welcome to lodge a complaint. Prime minister Shepard was adamant when setting up the agreements between us and the other governments that no foreign power was to have jurisdiction or influence over our military. In the meantime, why don't you go offer Ms. D'inan a job, and I'll get started on the paperwork?" Hackett said.
"Aye aye sir. Thank you, sir." She said.
"You're welcome Shepard. Now get the hell out of here." He said, and she left. She wasted no time in tracking D'inan down, and asked her to follow her to a prefab that She and Tali were using as quarters while they awaited their next assignment.
"Tali, you in?" Shepard asked.
"Right here, Jane, oh who's your friend?" Tali asked.
"Vill D'inan, one of the refugees from the dreadnought. I was going to ask if we could have a moment, I need to discuss something with her in private." Shepard said.
"Oh, so now you're going to come in here and take my girlfriend from me are you?" Tali said with a grin.
"Goddess no, I'm only here to... Shepard asked me... You're joking." She stammered. Tali laughed.
"I'm only teasing, go ahead guys I'll be down at the markets. I hear there's a Quarian clothing store opening today in the city!" She said.
"Thanks Tali! I love you." Shepard said.
"Love you too Shep. Nice to meet you, Ms. D'inan." Tali said, offering her hand. She shook it.
"Call me Vil, please and it was nice to meet you as well." She said.
"Call me Tali, by the way." Tali said as she walked out the door.
"So, you wanted to speak with me?" Vil asked Shepard, who gestured for her to take a seat. She did as well
"We heard back on your Asylum request. I have Good news and bad news. Which do you want first." She asked.
"Bad, please, better to get this over with." Vil said, already feeling her stomach churning with dread.
"Because of the new, tenuous relationship between the Alliance and the Asari Republics, we cannot at this time offer you political asylum." Shepard said. With this Vil's shoulders slumped and a tear fell down her face.
"I... I understand." She said, cursing herself for letting herself hope.
"Now for the good news. You have an impressive background in medicine, if your conversations with our Dr. Chakwas are any indication." Shepard said.
"Yes... I spoke with Karin a lot after we met. I went to med school at Serrice and specialized in thoracic surgery, but also have qualifications in neurosurgery, orthopedics, and general medicine." She said blankly.
"So we cannot offer you asylum, however we can offer you a job. On a military ship. Surrounded by armed soldiers who could easily fight off an attempt at apprehending you." She said.
"What are you saying?" Vil asked.
"Admiral Hackett already approved it, you just need to agree. You'd be brought on to assist Dr. Chakwas with her duties, given the likelihood of war with the Batarians it's probable that all alliance warships will have increased medical staff. You would have to disclose your condition, but Humans and Quarians don't have millennia of prejudice regarding it." Shepard said. Vil's lower lip trembled.
"You... You mean..." She said.
"You'd come with us, we keep you safe and free, and you keep us alive. Oh we'll also pay you. You'd just have to get used to hanging around a bunch of smelly Humans and Quarians." She said, grinning. Tears were flowing freely down Vil's face now.
"Thank you. I can't... I can't... I just... Thank you so much!" She said, launching herself at Shepard who embraced her in return, struggling not to be toppled over.
"You're welcome Vil. Nobody should be forced to hide just because of how they were born. Stop by the Normandy and ask Lieutenant Pressley for clearance and a tour of the ship. I apologize in advance for Joker." She said.
"Joker? What's a Joker?" Vil asked.
"We haven't been able to determine that yet." Shepard said, laughing. Then continued, "He's our Pilot. A human, he has a unique sense of humor but he's a genuinely good person. Just don't take any of his shit." She said. Vil smiled, and wiped the tears from her eyes.
"Thank you again, Shepard. Oh I should go tell Karin!" She said, Shepard nodded and bid her farewell. Sitting in the quiet room she caught a whiff of her own body odor and was glad she'd warned Vil about the smelly Humans and Quarians, and walked over to the bathroom to take a shower. When she was finished she noticed a message waiting on her omnitool, all alliance personnel, Military and Civilian were to meet in the Town Square in three hours for a "general briefing." She shrugged and dug out her dress blues, as well as Tali's.
Hours later, Tali walked out of the bedroom area to see what had rapidly become one of her favorite things in the universe, Shepard, topless. Her eyes raked over her lover, and she was tempted to act on it but unfortunately they were expected in just a few minutes.
"Hey, eyes up here, pervert." Shepard said smiling at Tali.
"Nope. My eyes go where they want." She said, unabashedly ogling her. Shepard rolled her eyes and resumed dressing.
"Any idea what this is about?" tali asked.
"No idea, probably just an update on what we're doing to prepare. I heard the ship is almost ready to go, oh and the Asari you met earlier, she's going to assist Dr. Chakwas in the medbay." Shepard said.
"Oh, that's good. I feel like half the time I'd walk by the medbay I'd see her sleeping on one of the hospital beds. She could really use some proper time to herself." Tali said.
"Agreed. Alright you ready?" She asked, doing the last button on her uniform.
"Sure, let's go." Tali said, holding Shepard's hand and walking out the door. It was a short trip to Town Square, and when Tali and Shepard went to sit towards the back, a young Quarian soldier ran up to them and informed them they had reserved seating at the front. They shrugged and took their seats. Shepard looked around and was surprised to sell the entire Quarian admiralty were in attendance, as well as her mother, and a small contingent of Geth Primes, standing off to the side to avoid breaking chairs or blocking the view. Soon enough the seats were occupied and Admiral Gerrel was at a microphone asking for everyone's attention.
"Good afternoon to you all. Today we will be making a few announcements, as well as getting you all up to date on our progress with war preparation." Korris said, activating his omnitool.
"All ground soldiers will be issued new advanced weaponry and armor. We've incorporated Quarian homeostasis technology that will allow the wearer to remain independent of support in harsh environments for ten times as long as the current armor will, as well as advanced shielding technology given to us by the Geth. Weapons will remain based on the current universal heat sink standard, however we've incorporated active cooling devices in your load out that will allow you to reuse a heat sink ten minutes after saturating it. Training on its use will be provided, but the most important thing is to not repeat this process more than five times with each heat sink, as by the fourth cooldown its efficiency is dangerously low." Gerrel said.
"Three more supercarriers have been completed and are undergoing their shakedown cruises. Once completed they will be deployed to the border with Batarian space. Now, Admiral Hackett stood and replaced him
"As we increase our forces, we find ourselves with a shortage of leadership at the highest levels. As such, we have determined to remedy that situation immediately. Captain Anderson, please come up here." Hackett said. Anderson jogged up to the podium and saluted him.
"Captain Anderson, for your years of valued service, and valor, and your accomplishments during and after first contact with the Quarian race, you have been promoted to the rank of Rear Admiral, and will assist me in leading the Fifth Fleet." Hackett said. Anderson was stunned, he had not expected this in the slightest. He barely had time to assimilate the information before Hackett was affixing the Rear Admiral insignia to his uniform.
"Congratulations, Admiral Anderson." Hackett said, saluting him. He returned it.
"Thank you sir." he said. Hackett whispered something in his ear that made him grin and nod, and he took the podium in Hackett's place.
"Well this is completely unexpected, and I am extremely grateful. However, if I am to assume this new role, I will need to step down as the commanding officer of the Normandy. I'd like to call Lieutenant Commander Jane Shepard up to the podium please." He said, at this Hannah Shepard stood up beside him holding a small box. Shepard's knees were weak, as she made her way up to the stage.
"Lieutenant Commander, Shepard. Your leadership was crucial to fighting off the ground invasion of this colony, and was nothing short of exemplary. I mean that in the most literal way, you serve as an example to which the rest of the Alliance should now compare themselves. It is with no small pleasure then that I promote you to the rank of Commander, and as my first official act as an Admiral of the Fifth Fleet, is to assign you command of the MSV Normandy." He said, She and her mother both had tears in their eyes, and her lower lip was trembling.
"Sir, she's your ship." She rasped out.
"Not anymore, Commander." Anderson said, nodding at Hannah who affixed the commander rank insignia to her uniform. He shook Shepard's hand and leaned in to her, whispering
"Commander, I expect to be pinning Captain's bars on you soon. You've made an old man very proud." He said.
"Thank you, sir. Thank you so much." She whispered back, then Hannah went to shake her hand, then audibly over the microphone said "Fuck it." And leaned in for a hug, causing a laugh to ripple through the assembled soldiers. Shepard returned the hug, Saluted the Admirals and made her way back to her seat, where she was immediately kissed by Tali. She tried not to be embarrassed by the well intentioned wolf whistles.
"So while I'm up here, let me get you guys up to speed on some current events. Talks with the Geth have been going spectacularly, as you can likely tell by the contingent of Primes in attendance, as well as their vital assistance during the fight against the Hegemony. We sought and received authorization to invite the Geth to join the Alliance, and they have after careful consideration accepted. Next week when the documents are signed, the Geth will officially be citizens of the Alliance, and will have unfettered access to Earth and its colonies, and as well, we will have unfettered access to Rannoch. They are our siblings now, and we are elated and proud to accept them into our family." the Prime minister said, to uproarious applause, especially to the Quarians who were all mentally booking their next shore leave on the homeworld.
"Also, our work on curing the genophage has born fruit already. As of now there are five pregnant Krogan women on Tuchanka!" She said, once again to uproarious applause, this pleasantly surprised the Krogan in attendance. Living with the humans for the few weeks they had was an enlightening experience. At first with the exception of Kurg who basically worshiped Shepard, they had expected the Alliance to simply be paying them lip service in an attempt at exploiting their military skill, but after seeing the disgusted reaction they had at the genophage as well as the enthusiasm with which they'd cured it, they felt for the first time ever that they might have a true ally.
Hannah wound down her speech with a few jokes interwoven in to the rest of the update about how things back home were going, then dismissed everyone. A group of people went to swarm Shepard to congratulate her, but before they could she caught the attention of Admiral Hackett. She waved him over and whispered into his ear.
"Jesus you people love to make paperwork for me don't you?" He said, smiling, then he nodded.
"Thank you, Admiral. You won't regret it." She promised. He was inclined to believe her. She walked back to Tali and endured nearly endless congratulations, and as one group finished they'd cycle over to Anderson to do the same, leaving her with a whole new group of people whose hands she was expected to shake. Finally hanging back towards the back of the crowd was a bruised, subdued but still smiling Ashley Williams.
"Congratulations, Commander Shepard." She said, saluting, then hugging her friend.
"Thanks Lieutenant Commander Williams." She replied with a grin.
"Wait... What?" Ashley said.
"I need an executive officer, Ash, I can't think of anyone better." Shepard said
"Oh my god, Shepard! Wait, what about Tali, wouldn't she be better?" Ashley asked.
"Keelah no thank you. I'm an engineer Ash. I'm happy where I am." Tali reassured her.
"Yeah, seriously if she could convince me to agree I think Tali would just drag our bed down to the engine room." Shepard said, earning a nudge to the side from her girlfriend.