Chapter 71
Aria T'loak was currently on the floor struggling to contain the uproarious laughter that was erupting from inside her. She had just seen a news flash on her omnitool regarding the collapse of the Asari government, and it delighted her to no end. Narek stood in the corner, barely stifling the giggles that threatened to come out of her as well. The newly restored crests on her head had faded to the original color they had been before being amputated. She found herself wearing an overcoat most of the time on Omega now, because Asari crests function as extremely efficient heat radiators, and there was no way in hell she was going to be wearing a hat or head scarf any time in the near future. Narek had been overjoyed to have been the one to deliver the news.
"Oh how I would have loved to see Tevos' face when the news came out." Aria said. Narek smiled brightly and activated her omnitool.
"Excuse me, Rothschild?" Narek said. Within seconds a petite woman with multi-colored hair to match her multi-colored tutu and a denim jacket materialized from the omnitool and took a theatrical bow.
"What's up?" Rothschild asked.
"Could you please show Aria here the video feed from Tevos' chambers during the news release about the Asari government?" Narek asked. Rothschild smiled brightly
"Oh it was magical. Give me a minute." Rothschild said as she for theatrical purposes only pretended to type on an invisible screen, and suddenly the far end of the room turned into a holographic projection of Tevos' office. Within moments of the image rendering, Tevos walked into the room and sat at her desk, holding her head in her hands.
"Goddess, what next?" She said as she saw a blinking light on her desk comm. There were several messages all flagged high priority, all saying some variation of "watch the news!" so she switched the comm unit to display a reliable news source on the citadel.
"This is Shar D'ruuna from Citadel News Network, and word has just come in that the Asari republican government has been dismantled seemingly from the inside out!" Tevos had thankfully refrained from taking a drink this time, so there was no hilarious property damage but she still paled visibly.
"Our sources are not able to provide details just yet, but it appears that the entire Assembly has been recalled, the Republics will be led by the Conclave of Matriarchs until a new government can be formed. We will report any new details as we receive them. This is Shar D'ruuna, Citadel News." Shar said. Tevos' left hand started shaking, then the right, and soon both were clenched as she stood to her full height and began violently destroying her office, picking up and throwing objects through windows, putting holes in the walls, and irreparably damaging millions of credits worth of electronics. The whole time, she was crying unabashedly and screaming like an insolent toddler. The video ended when one of Tevos' desk ornaments collided violently with the Geth-installed camera that had been recording her meltdown, destroying it.
Aria was literally rolling on the floor laughing so hard she was in serious danger of losing control of her bladder. She got up, without a word rushing to the bathroom off to the side of her VIP room, she neglected to close the door however and Narek stood outside chuckling to herself as she could still hear her boss laughing uproariously from within the bathroom. It took Aria several minutes to regain her composure.
She walked out into her VIP room still drying her hands seeing Narek still standing in the corner chatting with Rothschild.
"You OK, Boss?" Narek asked.
"Oh darling better than I've been in a century. Rothschild, I cannot even begin to thank you for that, it might have been the funniest thing I've ever seen." Aria said.
"Happy to be of service ma'am! Now if you'll excuse me I gotta go find the Captain. Ah, there he is!" Rothschild gestured over towards an unusually stout Geth platform wearing a Hawaiian shirt with a rubber band hanging from a bolt on the side of its head. She skipped merrily over towards the platform and the two walked off hand in hand.
"I'm just not gonna even bother trying to understand that one." Aria said.
"Best to not, it's worth it though. Shame you made it to the bathroom, I'd have made a killing with a blackmail video." Narek said, a mischievous smirk on her face.
Aria often considered Narek as her 'Asari advisor' since she herself had been detached from Asari culture for so long. She felt much more at home with Batarians, Vorcha, even the alliance races.
"Better luck next time love, now sit down I need your opinion on a few things." Aria said, gesturing for Narek to sit across from her.
On Tuchanka, Wrex paced outside of a hospital room, he'd been in there to begin with but threatened too many doctors and Bakara had kicked him out. As it was Wrex was wearing a path down in front of the old trauma ER that had been converted to a birthing room. Bakara had done her part laying four eggs hours ago, but the real drama happened while waiting for them to hatch. Logically both Wrex and Bakara knew that all four children had an almost infinitely better chance of being born live and healthy than they would have years ago, but they were both still wracked with nerves. Between the pair of them they'd laid more than a hundred children to rest shortly after birth. Wrex's omnitool lit up and he accepted an incoming communication stream from Uvenk who was across the planet quelling a minor uprising.
"Uvenk, Good to see you're not dead." Wrex said
"Trust me if these pyjacks posed a threat to me I'd be better off dead. Any news" Uvenk asked.
"Four eggs, all viable, we're just waiting for them to hatch." Wrex said proudly.
"Uh-huh and how long until they kicked you out of the room?" Uvenk asked, grinning Wrex shrugged
"30 minutes or so. It was mostly the Quarian, the Human one knew I was full of hot air." Wrex said, also grinning At that stage an ungodly high-pitch shriek erupted from Wrex's end of the call.
"Shit, Uvenk stay connected." Wrex said as he dashed towards the door, which thankfully was already opening when he arrived. Three of the eggs lay unhatched in a sterile heated bed while the occupant of the last was writhing and wailing in its mother's arms.
"It's a girl, Wrex! A beautiful, healthy girl!" Bakara said, crying unabashedly. This of course started Wrex crying and blubbering as well.
"Let me see, damnit!" Uvenk's voice said from Wrex's Omnitool.
"Is it ok?" He asked Bakara She nodded. Wrex lifted the omnitool up giving Uvenk a good view of the newborn.
"She's Beautiful. I'm glad she takes after her mother." Uvenk said.
"Shut it, pyjak!" Wrex said, unable to chisel the proud smile off his face. He reached a finger towards the baby who took hold of it with her tiny, undeveloped claws before looking Wrex dead in the eye and biting his fingertip off.
"Ha! First blood, not even an hour old! That's my Girl!" Wrex shouted, triumphantly waving the bleeding appendage around getting blood all over the place.
"Wrex, Battlemaster or not if you don't stop contaminating my delivery room I'll haul your ass out of here myself, do we have an understanding?" A Human doctor said, glaring at the overjoyed Krogan.
"Um, yeah. Sorry. I'll be good." Wrex said, taking the offered gauze and pressing it against his finger. Bakara through sheer willpower resisted the urge to burst out laughing but it was a close thing. A boom and some screaming could be heard from Wrex's omnitool.
"You still alive Uvenk?" Wrex asked
"Yeah but I should probably let you go, these morons aren't gonna put themselves down. Tell the kiddos Uncle Uvenk says hi." He said as he disconnected the call.
"Uncle Uvenk says hi, you bloodthirsty little wretch." Wrex said lovingly, tempting the now giggling newborn with another finger.
"You going to behave yourself Wrex?" The Human doctor asked again.
"Yeah, don't worry, I'll keep it down." Wrex said. Suddenly everyone was startled by a loud crack followed by a splash of liquids and another ungodly screech.
"This one's a boy!" The Quarian doctor said, struggling to pull the thirty pound baby Krogan out of its destroyed shell. The Human rushed over to help, since the poor Quarian was overwhelmed by the child's weight and enthusiasm.
"Oi, don't bite me, you. My fingers don't grow back." The human said, his cockney accent coming out more as the day wore on. Strangely the infant just looked him in the eye and settled down as he handed him to Bakara.
"That was odd." The doctor said.
"Not really, Krogan respect strength, even at this age. " Bakara said, cooing as this child was more docile after his dressing down by the doctor.
"I'll remember that for the next one." The Doctors both said at the same time then laughed.
Back on the outpost world, Shepard was consulting with the ship commanders as well as the generals of the ground forces.
"The Geth report their units are in place. They're going to hold off on interfering with the slave chip signals until the last minute to avoid another culling, I want cruisers and fighters to punch a hole through to the planet while the frigates go in and wipe out the anti-air defenses from orbit, then immediately after I want boots on the ground. We're going in hot and fast, and it's probably going to get really ugly. The Geth will soften them up from the inside, but still we anticipate a lot of resistance. Given that the next outpost is only two light years away, we're going to maintain our medical facilities here and move any wounded that we can stabilize on the forward medic stations over. Are there any questions?" Jane asked. Korvus raised his hand.
"I mean absolutely no malice in asking this, but will the current state of the Asari government interfere with our forces here?" Korvus asked. Noruva was not offended in the slightest, she had developed and extremely close working relationship with her Turian counterpart and knew he was not being rude.
"May I take this one, Commander?" Noruva asked. Jane nodded.
"We are here at the behest of the Asari Republics, though the Assembly that ordered us to assist for all intents and purposes no longer exists, the republics still stand and the Matriarchs have given total control of the Asari contribution to this campaign to me. We will stand by our Alliance and Turian brothers and sisters.
"I never doubted your personal investment in this nor that of your soldiers, I just wanted to be prepared in case you were all suddenly recalled." Korvus said
"If the Matriarchs order us home right now I will gladly accept the court martial and dismissal my disobedience would get me. We are committed to seeing this through, however I understand Korvus, we are not offended." Noruva said
"And if they do dismiss you I can guarantee you a commission into the Alliance military, there's no way in hell we'd let a leader as skilled as you go to waste, especially for making the right decision, even if it did end up meaning I'd have to actually salute you." Shepard said, grinning.
"OK, we are leaving in 36 hours, I urge you all to rest, eat, drink and meditate or pray if that's your thing. It's gonna be ugly, but we will see this through." Shepard said. Everyone stood and saluted her, she returned it awkwardly. Then the commanders, captains, admirals and generals except Noruva and Korvus filed out.
"You're never going to get used to that are you?" Noruva said, grinning.
"The few people in here that didn't flat out outrank me were other commanders. It seems absurd to be accepting salutes, I should be saluting you." Shepard said.
"I think you'll find that your rank is secondary to the respect you command here, Shepard. If you were in the Turian Navy you'd be a fleet admiral based on experience and training alone." Korvus said
"I still just see myself as a grunt." Shepard said, shrugging.
"That's probably what makes you such an effective leader. Any idiot can give orders, but it takes a special kind of idiot to inspires their soldiers to want to follow them." Noruva said
"Yeah I guess that's... HEY!" Shepard said, feigning indignation. The three of them laughed.
"I'm going to go prep my ship, we'll be ready when you give us the go ahead, commander." Korvus said, nodding his head and leaving.
"I'd kill to see what goes on in that mind of yours, Commander. I've never seen someone wield power with so much grace and humility. Your kind intrigues me." Noruva said.
"Go ahead." Shepard said, looking her in the eye."
"I beg your pardon?" Noruva asked.
"Go ahead and take a look in my mind. I'd offer the same to Korvus if it were possible, in 36 hours I'll be ordering your people into battle again, may as well make I'm not missing a few screws." Shepard said smiling.
"Are... Are you sure? You don't need to prove anything to me, Commander, but I admit to being extremely curious." Noruva said.
"Sure, go ahead. Try not to poke around in anything personal though." Shepard said, taking a seat and getting comfortable. Noruva sat opposite her.
"Have you melded before?" Noruva asked.
"Once, with Vil's mother, that's part of the reason we were able to reunite them." Shepard said Noruva nodded.
"OK then, are you ready?" Noruva asked. Shepard nodded "Then, Embrace Eternity!" Noruva said. Shepard barely registered the Asari's eyes going black before she was plunged into what she could best describe as a waking dream. She saw a shimmering wall of what looked like mist blowing against a force field that erupted into crackling blue electricity as Noruva collided with it from the other side.
"Goddess, Shepard, can you let me in?" Noruva asked, being tossed about in the maelstrom outside the barrier.
"Shit, um, how?" Shepard yelled.
"Just concentrate on letting me in." Noruva gasped, extremely disoriented by being in Shepard's mind. Jane closed her eyes and imagined a hole opening in the wall and Noruva walking through. She heard a thump and an 'Oof' and when she opened her eyes she was rewarded by the sight of Noruva collapsed in a heap on the ground.
"Holy shit, I'm sorry, are you ok?" shepard asked, reaching to help her up.
"Goddess, Shepard I've never encountered a defense like that. During combat training we train against commandos to build up our skills in breaking mental barriers, I've broken into minds a millenium old that put up nowhere near as much resistance as you did. Were you actively trying to keep me out?" Noruva asked.
"No, I was just getting my bearings. It was different with Vil's mom, I think she brought me into her mind." Shepard said. Noruva looked around and was astonished at what she saw. In most minds, there were a few sharp images flying by but most of it was blurry, disorganized and impossible to understand without very close scrutiny, however Shepard's mind was a barrage of crystal clear images operating in a coreographed symphony of movement. There were important subjects such as her love for Tali, anxiety for the upcoming attack, moments of her N7 training all interspersed with seemingly unimportant nonsnese like a pornographic image she saw in one of the drawers in Tali's home, a phone number written on the back of a bus ticket from ten years ago, the process of replacing the alternator in a 20th century gas combustion-driven vehicle.
Noruva was becoming overwhelmed with all of the sensory input, and was subconsciously trying to retreat from Shepard's mind, and began to panic when she couldn't. Shepard saw her distress and took her by the hand. She closed her eyes and all of a sudden the images all disappeared, and she and Noruva were suspended in zero gravity in a warm, dimly lit space.
"Are you ok?" Shepard asked.
"How did you know how to do that?" Noruva asked.
"I get like that a lot, too many thoughts to keep track of, instead of letting myself get confused I learned how to clear my head and start back at it one thought at a time. Look:" Shepard said, raising a hand and suddenly an image of Tali, the first time she took off her mask appeared in three dimensions in front of them like a hologram far better than any contemporary technology could produce.
"This was the first time I saw her face. I'll never forget it. She was so beautiful, it almost hurt to look at her." Shepard said fondly. Shepard snapped her fingers and the image changed to the day she was accepted into the N7 training program. She was ecstatic, over the moon and her mother was livid.
"Jane Shepard you are going to turn this offer down and go back to working on the Goliath. Jesus, what drove you to this madness?" a younger Hannah Shepard asked.
"I love you, mom, but I have made my decision. This is a challenge I cannot bear to pass up. If I don't try, I'll have to go the rest of my life wondering if I could have made it." Shepard said.
"Yeah or you'll die like at least one candidate does EVERY GODDAMN TIME THEY GO OUT THERE!" Hannah yelled.
"I don't expect you to understand, mom. This is something I have to do. For me. Not to prove myself to some girl, not to improve my career, I need to do this to test my limits." Jane said, her tone never raising to meet her mother's. She had clearly given this much thought. Hannah sighed.
"I love you Jane, and I don't want to lose you too. I can't lose you. God I don't know what I'd do if I lost you." Hannah said.
"Mom you won't lose me. I'm prepared for this, I can do it." Jane said, holding both her mothers hands in hers.
"You come back to me, Jane Shepard do you understand? That's an order!" Hannah said. Jane grinned and saluted.
"Yes ma'am Admiral Shepard." Jane said. The scene dissolved back into the neutral state it had been.
"Are all of your memories that sharp?" Noruva asked.
"Probably not, but I like to think I pay attention to what matters. Come on let's get out of this looney bin I call a brain, I'm hungry." Jane said.
"Well that might be a problem, I can't seem to get out..." Noruva said, visibly exerting effort.
"Huh, let me try." Shepard said. She closed her eyes, and Noruva slowly opened hers to see herself staring at Shepard, her eyes closed as she sat up straight in her seat.
"Shepard you with me?" Noruva asked and was shocked to see when Shepard opened her eyes, they were all black like those of an Asari during the meld.
"Goddess, your eyes..." Noruva said.
"What?" Shepard asked, blinking several times, a few seconds later they returned to normal.
"Shepard your eyes went all black like ours do during the meld. That's not supposed to happen with non-Asari. Even with other Asari during the meld only the one initiating it experiences the change." Noruva said, staring at the woman in wonder.
"I'm not sure what to think about that.." Shepard said, and was about to say something else when she was interrupted by a deep rumbling from her stomach. Noruva chuckled, offering Shepard her hand to help her up.
"We can explore the ramifications of this later, let's go get something to eat shall we?" Noruva asked. Shepard nodded enthusiastically and allowed herself to be helped to her feet.