Elevator Talk

The Citadel was huge, so the Elevator was egregious in its length of time and number of floors it could take, on top of the number of Elevators there were.

It was an interesting week. Shepard was just appointed as a SPECTRE a few days ago. A historic moment for humanity; but to him it felt just like the day before it: an insult. Now, on top of being yanked around by the Special Activities Branch, he had to pay lip service to an intergalactic order designed to prop up the interests of a jingoists, theocratic nutjobs and some skinnies that openly admit to abducting and experimenting on less developed species. That very reason is why they're the 'Council Races'.

But it was a duty, so it'll do. After the disastrous Eden Prime mission, and the Council's layout of what was ahead, the crew of the SSV Normandy was being given some time to recuperate their supplies and retrofit the ship. Especially with their additional alien crew members, there was some time that had to be taken to adjust to this new situation, assign duties and processing, and await further instructions.

Now, this mission had turned into a Defense Ministry authorized assassination order on Saren Arterius, and J-SOC and the ACI would handle the mission through N7 Specialist Commander John Alexander Shepard and his newly assembled squad representing different intergalactic interests. The non alliance personnel caused the crew of the SSV Normandy to be designated by J-SOC as 'Special Operations Task Force 40'. He killed a handful of Turians in his depressing career, but never once killed a Spectre.

In fact, Shepard thought that based on his time working with Corsairs, the nature of a SPECTRE was just a way for the Council to keep their hands clean just in case one of their agents royally fuck up. And unsurprisingly the SPECTREs have a bad reputation for being corrupt and abusing their legal power, the latest case being, of course, Saren. And now here he was, being one.

The most information the commander had was their next current objective to locate and extract an HVI named Liara T'Soni who may have information on her mother who was implicated as a collaborator with Saren.

And to make matters more interesting, the Systems Alliance was now quietly at war with the Geth, and under wraps, the Joint Chiefs of Staff were ordering the mobilization of a task force to respond to Geth incursions in the Armstrong Nebula which Shepard feels he's gonna get dragged into at some point soon.

Just another day at the office.

All these thoughts ran in the mind of Shepard as he was stuck in the elevator with his self-appointed security detail; two aliens that he recently acquired this week to partake in this "joint operation". The Turian, Garrus Vakarian. His background check returned positive; he was indeed former Turian military, no surprise with their militarization. He was a ground pounder like most of them are, but a recon specialist, sniper rifles and AR's mostly; couldn't be any better than an N7, though. He then turned to C-Sec where he had an extensive career but was cited on more than a few occasions for 'excessive use of force'. He would have to keep an eye on him. He was, nonetheless, someone whose knowledge on Saren could provide valuable tactical insight.

Then there was the Quarian, Tali'Zorah nar Rayya, that last part Shepard had learned was her birth ship name, the 'nar' indicating a child. People below the age of 18 couldn't be military personnel by Alliance standards, but she was technically 22; she was an adult in human eyes. Besides, she had the skills of an adult, and handled CQB rather proficiently based on the one simulation they ran. Would need more testing done. If a human looked at her, they would see a soldier, a tech specialist…and physically an adult.

Knowing some basic insight was not the same as working well with them, and he elected to utilize these new Aliens in place of his Marines to build rapport with them, given he felt they had unresolved tension based on some history of theirs. Humans and Turians have the First Contact War to try and get past. Nihlus, before his death already assured them that Turians 'saw the potential in humanity', so there was one comforting thought. The first galactic skirmish was still fresh in the minds of some humans though, with it even being the very basis of the Terra Firma party, the only other party in Parliament, yet has only 7 seats out of 500.

But Turians and Quarians, based on this tense silence in the elevator that Shepard had been using these thoughts to try and ignore was…something else.

Was there a war I was missing or something?

Vakarian had his arms crossed, occasionally side eyeing Zorah. He had distanced himself quite far away from her. Shepard didn't need to be a xeno-psychoanalyst to know this was a sign of mistrust, something the Turian had made clear when the Commander first brought Zorah aboard. Zorah stood slightly closer to Shepard at his 8 o'clock, clearly intent on fulfilling her security detail role. A sign of her dedication and work ethic, that much is for sure.

After Vakarian had been routinely eyeing her back and forth, and like a tea kettle, the tension was ready to blow; only words then could remove it from the heater. Suddenly, the silence was broken.

"So, Quarian…" he went. Hearing this from behind him, Shepard raised an eyebrow, but beyond that hadn't reacted, staying as stoic as ever. "Your people endangered the Galaxy when they let the Geth break free; what do you have to say about it?" There was a moment of silence as the engineer glared at him for a few seconds.

"What warrants you to ask that question?" Tali asked.

"I'm just saying, I hope your people are properly contrite."

"More than enough. I hope the Turians are properly contrite about what they did to the Krogan."

"You mean what the Salarians did?" God, here we go. "It was necessary. Besides creating the Geth wasn't; it was arrogant and pointless."

"So the Turians wouldn't have created AI if it meant taking over the Galaxy if they had the chance?"

"But we didn't, so point moot," Garrus spat back. "Besides, the Turian hierarchy works for the good of the galaxy. We contribute. The Quarians can't say the same."

"We did once. We were the most technologically advanced race even ahead of the Asari AND the Turians."

"But that's not the case anymore now, is it?" Tali turned to face him fully, hands on her hips.

"What's your problem, Vakarian!?" she exclaimed. "I'm helping the Commander, same as you!"

"Someone who knows your type should keep you in line," Garrus said. "Every Quarian I've ever seen has been a thief. Turians work hard for what they earn, and you always steal from them." So that's what Vakarian was saying when we first met her? No wonder he stopped himself. He was holding everything back in public, and now its coming out in full force.

"We're forced to steal because bigoted Turians like you do nothing but keep us down. Your kind is the worst to everyone!"

"You steal from us because we're Dextros; it's only logical you would leech off of Turians specifically."

"Someone has to keep you racist Turians in check; if we didn't, you would have all the galaxy kissing your filthy imperialist talons!"

"Here with the hyperbole? I'm merely stating a fact of experience."

"I'm also stating a fact!"

"Thief!"

"Det kazuat!" Time to intervene.

"ENOUGH, both of you!" Shepard interjected, shooting around to face them both. Then he glared at Garrus intensely. "What the hell is the matter, Vakarian!?"

"Keeping a thief in line—"

"Bosh'tet! I'm not a thief!"

"I SAID ENOUGH!" Shepard barked again. "I decide who needs to be kept in line! Now I'm deciding. You'll be scrubbing the bathroom floors with a toothbrush when we RTS!" Garrus was silently confused, but he would know the meticulous pain of it soon enough. If this at all continued beyond that, Shepard would resort to a more…cathartically Turian approach to discipline.

"We're a team, and I expect you to act like it. If you have a problem with Quarians, I frankly don't give a damn! I made the decision for both of you to be on this team; you insisted even. I can change my mind at any moment. It's not like I can't do this without you." Both Garrus and Tali were silent for the moment, and the Turian only hung his head and shook it.

"No, Commander, that isn't…" he let out. "I'm sorry. It won't happen again."

"I'm having a tough time believing that, Vakarian. What you said was uncalled for." Shepard said, approaching him and jabbing a finger on the Turian's chest plate. "You can have whatever problem you have with Quarians, but whatever problem you have with a member of MY team you better resolve that quick! Lives are at stake and I don't have time for you jeopardizing any of them if it means holding on to petty school yard grudges! Get with the program or get lost."

"Yes, commander, I'm sorry."

"You should be saying that to her. Go on now."

The Turian turned to the Quarian, and with reluctance, "I'm…sorry."

Tali only crossed her arms again and looked away, "Hmph."

Shepard wasn't done. He turned toward Tali.

"And you! I expect you not to hold on to any grudges either, are we clear?"

Tali took a moment, hesitated, almost couldn't believe she was being disciplined for what Vakarian said, but she went with it. "Of course, Commander."

"Good. Welcome to the Alliance, people."

The rest of the elevator ride Shepard was invigorated. He rarely lost his temper; always tried to keep his emotions under control. Diplomacy was what brought a balance to his life. But only if something was so unacceptable would he apply force. The argument between the Turian and the Quarian rested with him, the Human as the winner. They were going to get along or else the dysfunction could hurt innocent people when it truly mattered. Or it could get one of them hurt or killed. Not when he was in command. Not when he made that promise to himself; to her.

Never Again.