"Sorry it took me so long to visit, Snips," General Skywalker spoke as they were sat across from each-other. A makeshift table had been set up in the middle of the Auditorium, obviously, to allow them to chat. He continued, "The Separatists aren't doing us any favors. Grievous also got a lot more bold in recent weeks. An entire task force of Subjugators under his command, as if the Malevolence alone wasn't bad enough," with a mild annoyance in his voice.
"It's fine, Master," Ahsoka smiled, raising a hand to show him to relax. She gazed around the table at everyone present, stating, "We keep up with the War Effort from here. It's why I'm surprised they sent general Cheyeli and her Legion all the way to us, but I guess the Chancellor really wants to keep his new investment safe…"
"Sure seems that way," Shepard replied as she gazed upon the woman and her Clone Commander XO, who Shepard now noticed was wearing blue and freakin' Red. Guess her eyes had deceived her there for a moment when she first spotted him. She also noticed a lot of the Clones present from the 476th were clad in similar colors, with some of the rookies seemingly having more white on their armors.
"Good to finally meet you, too, by the way, Commander," Anakin stated jovially, which took the Commander by surprise. She looked at him with surprise, to which he motioned toward his former Padawan and said, "Ahsoka wrote about you and your team in reports. Says that you guys function weirdly well together despite the variety in your forces."
"She's part and parcel one of the reasons we're so tight-knit," Shepard spoke as she turned toward the General. Jester squad smiled a bit at that, watching their General crack a wide smile as well. Shepard knew how to compliment people, at least. Par for the course, the Commander herself thought, considering these were the people helping them deal with the Collectors and Reapers.
"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Commander, but you do have a certain charm to you," Ahsoka replied to Shepard after a moment. There were other issues, including the fact that Shepard had defused a potentially dangerous situation with her, Kyra and Lord Rhasits aboard the Normandy, one that could've wound up with them coming here for repairs instead.
"Considering she has a Sith buddy aboard her ship, yeah, I can tell," Anakin replied with a smirk, looking at the two. Kyra herself was holding a glass of what seemed to be some kind of sweetened fruit-based drink in her hands, sipping happily from it. Rhasits himself was also beside her, simply listening to the interactions, his face impassive.
"Meant to ask you fellas about that," Rex stated, looking over at Jesse as he walked over to the table and sat down next to his Commander. Knowledge that Rex was the acting Commander for Ahsoka's legion also made Shepard respect the man a lot. Ahsoka had never really talked much about him, but she figured there was a reason.
"We don't know either, sir," Jesse spoke to Rex calmly, then shrugged, "They just came up to the Normandy with the pair," and Shepard giggled awkwardly as both Anakin and Rex stared at her, confused.
"General Tano nearly took the Sith master's head off with her lightsaber," Fives added, motioning to Ahsoka. The girl blanked, stared at her subordinate for a moment with a glare that could pierce tank armor and garnered a laugh out of Shepard and Anakin. Rhasits himself smirked a little at that, while Kyra chuckled.
"She also had a lightsaber pointed at her throat a second later, though, so…" Jesse replied to fives, causing Ahsoka to double over and glare at Jester Squad's CO once more. Jesse himself ignored it, staring at Ahsoka's previous assailant. Rex and Anakin both followed his gaze to note that Kyra was the one who'd done it. Feeling she was being looked at, she gave a wave of the hand.
"Heh," General Skywalker smirked, then looked at Ahsoka and asked her, "Let your guard down?" as if he was trying to push her buttons. Shepard and Rex exchanged a quick glance, Shepard curious and Rex, exasperated. He offered her a nod, the answer to the unasked question. Yes, they had always been like this. Shepard cracked a smile.
"His apprentice caught me by surprise, yes," She shot back, annoyed.
"Talk about a bad day…" The General chuckled. Cheyeli and Bastion, to their credit, remained relatively straight-faced, however, while Shepard snorted, too, much to Ahsoka's annoyance. The Commander raised both hands defensively when she saw Ahsoka was glaring at her, with the General letting out a deep, deep sigh as she crossed her arms.
The Commander then turned back to Skywalker and told him, "Honestly, it was weird, seeing what was on Tuchanka. A whole Sith research site and all…" before she shrugged. She was trying to get some of the pressure off of Ahsoka there, just as a thanks for withstanding the jabs. Ahsoka noticed this and simply returned to her usual calm demeanor.
"The doctor sent a message to the Waystation to tell us about it. Said she's working on it to the best of her abilities," Rex told the group, mostly looking at Anakin as he lifted up a tablet that contained some of the preliminary notes left by Doctor Halsey to the Waystation's Council. Admiral Thrawn was quite intrigued by it, too.
"It's got Forerunner tech in it, too," Shepard added, then leaned onto the table and took a sip from her water glass before adding, "which means the Forerunners have been bouncing around between at least this Milky Way and the UNSC's, if not yours as well. And most symbols match the kind of stuff we saw on Ilos, an ancient alien colony."
"The Forerunner tech's concerning…" Anakin replied with a nod, scratching his cheek with his robotic hand, then adding, "But then again, so's a Sith studying them. What did you say her name was?"
"Darth Nox. My unit's leader," Rhasits replied. Going by the face both Cheyeli and Anakin made, the Jedi must've been aware of Nox even before the Schism. Not a surprise, genuinely, considering the kind of reach that woman had and how historical her contributions to kriffing with the Jedi Order were. She was a downright prankster at times.
"... Oh…" Skywalker finally let out, a bit surprised that that was who Rhas and Kyra were under.
"Yeah," Ahsoka nodded, casting a glance over at a stunned Cheyeli. An awkward silence momentarily settled upon the group as time passed. It was then that most of them turned upon hearing a surprisingly melodious, but distant chortle and saw the Arbiter and Master Chief, alongside Shipmaster 'Vadum and Blue Team, engaged in small-talk, with Cortana chuckling, too.
"Good friends, I take it?" Shepard smiled a little at the sight, watching as the Chief and Blues removed their helmets so they could look Thel and Rtas in their eyes. The exchange was unsurprisingly open and friendly, what with the UNSC and Swords of Sanghelios staff providing the company with the food they needed to eat.
"Best of," Anakin replied, putting his hands behind his head and leaning back with a smirk. He saw the others staring at him, then said, "I talked to the Arbiter before you all reached us and it turns out he and the Chief go way back," then he looked over and watched as Colonial Administration members from the 12 Colonies fleet walked in as well, meeting the Chief and Arbiter midway.
"They seem pretty friendly with each-other," Shepard smiled again.
"When everything you know is proven to be a lie and you have a choice between losing your mind or attempting to right your people's wrongs, not a lot of us can say we'd make the second choice. The Arbiter and his people did," Anakin spoke sagely, which even the two Sith present appreciated. It was honestly a good bit of wisdom.
"Huh…" Ahsoka herself smirked a little at her master, then looked at the human and alien.
"Sort of like us and the Turians, minus the near-Genocide, I guess," Shepard spoke in a murmur. She watched the Colonials, apparently their Marines who were part of the Waystation's joint security detail, exchanging small-talk with the Elites and Spartans. The men and women all seemed to be getting along swimmingly.
"Close," Anakin nodded. That was a part that was hard to forgive, a lot of them thought, and that Chief and the Blues could showed that they were also bigger people than the average joe. He then hummed and remembered something as he watched Shepard lift up her Omni-Tool, which showed the Normandy in Drydock.
"Alright, well… Refit's apparently going well," She told them, turning off the Omni-Tool and leaning onto the table, "Guess that means we'll have bigger guns to back us up now, not to mention the UNSC apparently decided adding their own stealth systems to the Old Girl is a good idea," before opening the Tool again and noticing Tali freaking out(happily, one might say) about the mods.
"Speaking of, Commander," Rex started as he looked at the woman, with Ahsoka smirking immediately, aware of what this was about. He stated, "The Captain of the Tribunal told me to let you know the ship is on tap as QRF for you at any given moment of the day, considering you're carrying our Division's general aboard."
Shepard's grin grew wide as she said, "Nice, glad to know we've got a whole carrier as support if we need it," before remembering just how easily the ship had pretty much hammered one of the Collectors' own warships. Though the main issue was traveling through the Terminus without causing a scene.
"'Course, we're working with some of the representatives of the Terminus to be allowed to operate within its borders," Rex immediately clarified. Discussing matters with pirates and raiders was probably not gonna be easy, but at least they were trying to play by the books. They could've just cleaned the Terminus up on their own.
"And from what little chatter time I got with the Admiral of the UNSC force present, the staff has already managed to secure at least Supply Routes for our ships to pass through with Relief," Anakin offered as he checked a tablet. Well, that was a fast move, honestly. Stuff happening in the background and Shepard didn't really even need to lift a finger.
"The Colonials, in the meanwhile, are attempting to secure another local ally:The Quarians. My heart breaks for both of them and what they had to endure, but it's rather telling that the Citadel Council did not dare help Quarians…" Cheyeli mumbled, arms crossed to her chest. The Citadel had left the Quarians to die.
"Theirs is a sad, slow death. Should they wait any longer to either find a location to settle on, or to retake their homeworld, they may perish from what little I've gathered while speaking with miss Vas Neema," Rhasits offered, arms crossed to his chest. It was a rather obvious blunder and a sad ending for an inventive species, both he and Kyra thought.
"Yeah… Hope we can get moving soon," Shepard thought to herself, looking at the status of the upgrades…
"Just a half-hour more," Anakin stated calmly, leaning on the table.
"... Uh, master? Why are you aware of-" Ahsoka blanked, already well aware of what was coming.
"I'm joining you all on this mission. Figured I should see what my Padawan's working with on the Normandy, " the man replied as he cracked a grin, much to both Ahsoka's and Shepard's surprise. He told the Commander, "If you'll have me, Commander," while motioning with his hand toward her. Ahsoka looked at Shepard, as did the Sith, with concern.
"Ha, you kidding, General? Adding one more badass Space Wizard to my crew, especially someone with an actual 'Chosen One' title? Welcome aboard," Shepard smirked, too, with Ahsoka immediately sighing and planting a palm on her own face. She shook her head and mumbled something about the Commander…
Another couple of hours of restocking supplies had passed, what with the Waystation having a Dispensary for medical supplies, armory for guns and even a few repair areas for armor and ships. Karl had even taken the Raptor for refitting at a nearby weapons station meant for Colonial patrol craft… And come back with it armed to the teeth.
Shepard, however, was more focused on what they'd done to the old girl in the span of a few freaking hours. The Normandy, though a sleek bird already, looked strangely even more so despite all the extra panels and layers. Light-refracting panels lay attached to the slim shape of the warship. The single-barrel turbolaser batteries themselves had been folded within those panels and covered by them, presenting nothing in terms of additional radar cross-section for the ship.
Her nose remained impressively similar, if not a bit more armored up and layered in those panels which Shepard soon realized were used in UNSC Prowlers for active camouflage duties. Aside from the turbolasers, on the wingspan of the girl, additional heat sinks had been installed, matching those of the ship and blending perfectly into the engine cowlings.
One of the engineers walked off the deck of the ship, scratching the top of his head, his face covered by gunk. He said, "Oh, Commander. Welcome back… Didn't take you that long to brief the General," and she soon realized he was a Grand Army engineer, meaning a human auxiliary attached as support to the GAR. To their left, the crew were unloading the corpses of the Reaper-Cylons in special cases for study.
"... What did you do to my ship and how did you manage to do it in so little time, " The woman sounded impressed and giddy, though she could also hear Joker losing his mind in there. In a good way, rather obviously, meaning they probably refitted some new chairs into the Girl's cockpit so she could provide comfort while kicking ass.
The Engineer replied, "Turns out when you've got the minds of four separate factions modifying an already modular warship, ma'am, anything's possible," before jabbing a thumb back toward some of the Alliance, UNSC and even Colonial Military engineers adding upon the ship's last few uncovered spots. He added, "EDI also seems impressed to have extra cyberwarfare capabilities."
"Aw, you guys actually added those new CI Protocols I asked for!" Cortana smiled as she appeared on Chief's shoulder. The GAR Engineer smiled and gave a quick salute to the woman, while Anakin looked at the ship and let out a low whistle, grinning. Ahsoka, already aware that her master was thinking of asking to borrow her, gave him a gentle elbow in the shoulder. He looked at her, confused.
Rex, who was also pretty aware of his own former General's shenanigans, sighed and rubbed his eyes, before stating, "She looks good, Commander. Suggest you depart ASAP for the Meeting. I'm sure Captain Agathon would like his wife back ASAP. Remember, if anything goes awry, you have us on tap to respond, alongside a UNSC formation for Reinforcement."
"Thanks, Commander," She nodded, then showed everyone to board the Normandy . As they passed through the airlock, they found the ship to have remained relatively the same interior-wise, save a few more additional stations around the CIC meant for the turbolaser battery gunners and some of the Electronic Warfare specialists.
Yeoman Chambers was talking to a young, dark-skinned woman in the meanwhile, the two seemingly laughing. When the two saw the Commander, both snapped salutes, with Chambers stating, "Commander! Welcome aboar-" only to stagger as she saw General Skywalker there as well. She saluted even harder, blushing a little, to which the dark-skinned girl chuckled.
"Kelly," The Commander nodded. She then looked at the woman to her left, one in an Alliance Uniform, then asked, "Aaaand…?"
"O-oh, right! Specialist Traynor, sir, err, ma'am!" The girl seemed a little flustered. She added, "Alliance coms specialist! I came aboard the Normandy as an assistant to the UNSC staff, mostly to see about copying the Quantum Entanglement Communicator system for easier use aboard all Alliance vessels within the Fleet."
"I see," Shepard nodded, "Glad to see an Alliance uniform aboard, then."
"I won't be staying long, ma'am," Traynor smiled, "Just have to say it's… It's a pleasure to meet you. And thank you for Horizon. You saved the lives of me and my parents there…" to which Shepard smiled back and gave the girl a nod to dismiss her. She looked at Kelly and mouthed something that caused her to laugh, before walking away.
Walking into the com/staff meeting room, Shepard asked from General Skywalker, "You really wanted to accompany us here, sir?"
"I figured it'd be interesting. Had I known I'd be walking into another trial to prove someone's innocence, I might've actually worn my proper general's outfit," Anakin quipped, pulling up a chair and sitting down. Shepard blinked, to which Ahsoka, who was also in the room, raised a hand. The Commander looked at both of them with confusion…
Ahsoka sighed deeply, looking at her friend and master as if asking for permission. He gave a nod of approval, to which Ahsoka started, "Alright, well, I'll keep it simple. It was a while ago that I underwent a trial for suspicion of treason after the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, current base of operations for the Knights of the Republic, was bombed, killing innocents in the blast."
Shepard's eyes widened, as did Miranda's when she walked in. Ahsoka continued, calm, "As is obvious, I didn't do it, else I'd be in jail or dead. To be blunt… A former close friend, a fellow Padawan named Barriss Ophee, detonated the bomb due to some sort of visions she's been having. She's currently in jail."
"It was one of the big events that led to the Schism," Anakin added, "Ahsoka lost faith in the Order, as did several dozen other Padawans who saw what had happened to her. The Order, instead of protecting her like she was one of their own, allowed the Coruscant Guard to chase her, allowed her to strive to prove her innocence on her own. I barely managed to help."
"I left for a while after," Ahsoka stated, shrugging, "To find myself. Find my peace… I returned, though, obviously. During the Siege of Mandalore, they needed my help, so I went," and she sighed, then smiled, "And I'm sort of glad I did. Because, hey, I got to meet Skyguy's kids," and she chuckled, "And obviously I got promoted to General, so…"
"And given the rank of Knight immediately after," Anakin snorted, "So, yeah."
"... I'm sure Tali's gonna appreciate having someone to help exonerate her beside me," Shepard smiled, "If you don't mind joining us aboard the Fleet, you two," to which she got shakes of the head from both of them. Shepard nodded, then looked to Miranda and said, "Ah, miss Lawson. Apologies, but we're taking on another passenger."
"So I see," Miranda spoke through grit teeth. She nodded, then put on her polite face and voice and said, "Welcome aboard, General."
"Thank you. Hope I won't be too much of a bother this op," The man replied, though he had a specifically Shepard demeanor about him as he said that. With that in mind, however, the ship was then allowed to slowly prepare for departure. After dismissing Shepard, Anakin took some time to walk through the place and get accustomed to it.
It was a nice ship. A lively one, too, considering the presence of all three sides of the Alliance, not to mention the Cerberus crews. Though not all of them seemed as nominally friendly to the new arrivals, or the Systems' Alliance crew modifying the vessel for future use. Shepard was an Alliance officer first and foremost and she'd always made that clear in her reports.
Still, he wanted to talk to a specific someone. Taking the lift down to the crew deck, where the last modifications had been put in place(There was not a lot modified on the inside of the vessel, just some adjustments made for the ship upgrades), he entered the observation deck where the Justicar, Samara, was, to find the Sith.
Rhasits turned his head and greeted, "General Skywalker. Welcome," before standing up from his meditating position. He motioned for the man to follow him out so they didn't bother the two women who were currently deep in meditation and Skywalker followed calmly. When the door closed behind them, Rhasits stated, "I never thought I would see the day the Chosen One is born, much less here."
"Yeah," Anakin rubbed the back of his neck, "And I never thought I'd see the day a Sith would be this friendly with an admittedly former Jedi, now just a Light Side user…" and he paused, blinked, then corrected himself, "No, I never thought I'd see a living Sith, much less a Lord-Apprentice Pair from the Cold War era. Do you have any idea how much they taught us about you all at the Temple?"
"Take it it would be to 'recognize the enemy, should they ever rise again'," Rhasits quipped, crossing his arms, "A pretty normal approach, though last I heard, very few Sith have shown their faces over the course of the last few decades," and he scratched his cheek and one of the strange attached facial appendages. Anakin made a choice not to say anything about those when he first saw the man.
Purebloods… Weird species.
"Master Kenobi and his former Master, Qui-Gon Jin, found a couple," Anakin answered, looking at the Pureblood Sith like he was seeing just the most strangest thing in the Galaxy, "Or, well, one. And we've had to deal with one for a while now. Darth Maul, a Zabrak who's really got a bone to pick with Obi-Wan. And the leader of the Seppies is a Sith. Dooku."
"Sounds about right for them," Rhasits murmured, "How fares the war in your Galaxy? General Tano hasn't been very forthcoming about it."
"It's going," Anakin shrugged, "When they attacked Coruscant, it turns out it was a gambit. A diversionary tactic. Grievous then deployed their entire reserve force, that being several new heavy fleets, into the battle with billions of new Droids. Right now, it's just a slog as our new ships come online to deal with that."
"New ships such as the Chimaera and that Star Dreadnought that the 476th came with," Rhastis spoke. Both of them felt a slight pit in their stomachs as the vessel detached and its engines powered on alongside the ship's inertial dampeners. The vessel began to distance itself from the station, moving toward their jump point.
Anakin hummed and said, "Guess I'd better go find my seat."
"Very well. Farewell, General," Rhasits replied with a nod. He turned around and walked back to the meditation area while the General went to find Shepard and Tali, keep up the talk and maybe iron out a defense. They'd also need to talk to Helo about how to help get Sharon out of jail, but that could wait for now.
Two trials, two people to help out with said trials. The Normandy gently glided toward the launch-off point, Joker humming a tune as he powered the vessel's Eezoo core with a few touches of a button. EDI herself made some scans unto herself, then felt a flicker of something in her systems. She hummed, then pinged Cortana, requesting help with keeping her memory banks safe.
Cortana agreed. Something wasn't sitting too well with either AI. EDI had nearly failed to enter the gun system once on Horizon and, when they first met the Reaper-Cylons, the bastards had blocked her access from something, then again on Tuchanka. She felt strange, almost as if this could prove to be a later problem…
With that in mind, though, she simply sat, waiting for diagnostics to finish,