(Note: The following was a collaboration between RedBelle, Shotgun Julia, and me)
Naleena boarded the ship and walked back to the CIC. She acknowledged Commander Selani who stopped her and wanted to speak with her.
"Yes, Commander, what is it?" Naleena asked.
Selani motioned for Naleena to move away from the rest of the bridge crew. "There was an altercation between one of my commandos and your team. It was Jenus and Capt. Jess Stone. Jenus slammed Stone against the bulkhead," Selani said.
"I will deal with this." Naleena replied.
"Spectre, with all due respect, the commandos are part of my crew and are my responsibility," Selani countered, "I believe it would be better if we had a meeting with Captain Stone, the commando’s leader, you, and I, in the conference room. There are differences that need to be aired and you and I need to be there as mediators. The commandos are highly qualified and I would like to keep them on this ship."
"Where are they now?" Naleena asked.
"I gave them KP for the time being," Selani replied.
"I see," Naleena said, "then after they finish cleanup have them report to the conference room. I want to get this over with. Let's get this ship underway and set a course for Illium."
"Aye aye, Ma'am."
It would take an hour to reach the mass relay and leave the Serpent Nebula.
~ ~ ~ ~
The conference and communication room of the Janiri was private host to three asari and a human.
With a flick of her wrist, Naleena pulled a cigarette out from a case, lit it, and leaned back in her chair. She took a long drag, and simply said. "Who wants to go first?"
"I do," Mira answered immediately, and then spoke directly to Jess. "Captain Stone, I want to apologize on behalf of myself and my team for what you went through earlier. It was absolutely uncalled for and an embarrassment. Not to mention the potential for someone getting hurt."
Mira paused. She felt heat rising in her cheeks. She would have been able to stand for everything Jenus had done, her team had done, right up to the point that control was lost. Jenus had turned what was a justified, and difficult but excusable situation into a wreckage. The woman looking back at Mira was at least five to six times younger in years than Mira, and yet Mira felt like she had to worry about the immaturity of those she worked with. It killed her, to have to speak for her team that she loved so much in the way she was. And yet it was needed.
A heavy sigh escaped Mira, in contrast to the look of determination she had to get through anything that had to be said. Her light blue skin gave away the faintest hint of a deeper color and she stared Stone directly with clear eyes. Mira rested her arms and palms on the table. "Captain, if there's some way you can find to forgive us for what we've done, it would be deeply appreciated. If it is at all possible, I'd like to find a way to move past what happened."
Stone looked over at the Asari sitting across from her. Looking properly contrite for the action's of one of hers.... perhaps a touch too....
"Look luv. Let's settle this in one fell swoop shall we? Back then we weren't on the same side. Now we are. In my line of work deals go bad and it usually happen's because someone got one over on you. We're working to stop a group of beings called Collector's from taking human lives.... kidnapping or killing, we just don't don't know at this point. And let's be frank. The major issue at this point is a matter of principal that Naleena here is soon about to learn. Being a captain".
Jess turned her gaze to Naleena. "We succeed. We get the job done, everytime. It's nice to be sitting on a ship custom built for the job of fighting Collector's and whatnot. But at the time? This ship wasn't part of the plan. The Audron was. We can't rely on luck or some force from above to pull us out of the fire because we're all there is in this enterprise. The Turian's won't touch the problem, it's not near their border's. The Asari are being hailed as hitting a nail with a tactical nuke. They won't throw anymore resources at this without taking a political hit. And Asari politic's doesn't do weakness. The Salarians? Pft, their fleet's not up to fighting this fight. And human's are still recovering from the Citadel assault and are stretched to thin".
"The point.... is this.... One Ship. One crew. One captain to make it work. It doesn't matter what you do to stop the threat as long as everything you do goes towards stopping the threat and critically..... you succeed. That means not failing. That's what happened in the train job. You may say what the hey we can let it slide no harm done.... No captain can afford to think that way. Because we just don't know what failure will mean in the long run".
Jess looked back at Mira. "I don't like that your team cost us that principle. We screw up, people die. Simple as that. The council actually doing something that could be conceived as useful is a miracle in and of itself. But we can't rely on luck anymore".
Pausing Jess leaned back in her chair twisted to rest an arm on the chair. "As for tall blue and brooding.... I get it. She's got steam to vent. It happens. you need to find a way to get her to vent it somehow because Anika was ready to put her through that bulkhead. You saw her. No offense but as much as she's not that keen on her upbringing it's still an important part of her and she never got cut any slack. She's mellowed, but so you know... I've never seen that that side of her come out so strong. She's as upset as I am on the train fiasco, because? Principle. And to rub salt into the wound, she went away and left me in that situation when she's supposed to be my bodyguard. And then discovered that her helmet was the only thing that stopped some of the shrapnel your explosion caused from sending a jagged piece of sheet through my eye sockets. Much as I appreciate everyone downplaying this.... the group who are working together now have some history in that your people tried to kill our people. Intention's don't matter. you don't let off explosive's and then laugh it away as a 'Gee, I hope no one got hurt in that explosion right under their feet'.
Jess looked around. "We have a potential situation ready to go off under us unless we ensure that any bad blood get's dealt with. If this were my ship I'd go the usual way. Get it out into the open". She looked at Mira. "What do you think luv? How do your people deal with this sorta thing"?
Mira tilted her chin slightly to the left, moved back into her chair slightly. "I can't speak for my people in general, but how I deal with this sort of thing is, well, talking about it like we are."
"It was my call about the explosion. If I didn't approve of it, no one would have executed it. It probably doesn't make a difference to say the idea was not intentionally to hurt anyone, but keep in mind what was done to the ship, and what was done to us directly before the explosion..." Mira stopped, closed her eyes, and opened them after her pause. "This is not how I want this to go. I want to walk away from here with you knowing that I and the other commandos know what happened on the bridge was wrong. And inexcusable."
Now, Mira was having a hard time. This was about the train. This was about someone getting hurt with no mention of the hurt they caused. And she was being lectured, which she could tolerate somewhat. But she wasn't going to have the whole conversation unravel in the room. It wasn't going to get anyone anywhere. Something Stone had said....
"Get it out in the open. What exactly do you mean by that?"
Jess purposely ignored the question and addressed Mira. "What was done to your ride and what was done to your comrade's was a quick and non-lethal take down to keep the problem from escalating. It's part and parcel of the way I do business. Make sure the big guns stay in their holsters so no one gets hurt. Last resort when all hell breaks lose solution..... I can guess your not enjoying the lecture luv.... But I've been traversing the stars and gotten the fact's of life down packed. What we did was business. You made it combat. Now I can do business and combat..... right now all I've seen you do is combat.... that leaves you and your team unable to figure when there's more profit to talk than fight. I get it. Anika was the same. Went for the guns every time because that's the response drilled into her. Took awhile to get that boot camp mentality out of her head and start seeing the possibilities".
"Right now the possibilities are this. We brush this under the carpet and pretend it never happened. Which, and this is just experience talking.... is a bad idea. Whatever caused that little eruption back there.... Okay, let me guess. She can be a hot head. She like the physical solution. In which case this talk you and I are having.... won't do her any good and she's the one with the problem. She wants a piece of me.... She’s welcome to try it. But under the eye of a referee in a controlled environment. She wants to beat me? Fine. I don't care one wick. But if this is what we need for her to clear up the issue then that's what we'll do".
Jess grinned. "Frankly luv. I'm happy to see something like this does happen on military ships. Makes me feel right at home. Like there's a little piece of the Medusa on the Jeniri".
Commander Selani could see the meeting was getting beyond the scope of what she originally intended. She was by the book military, and Jess was lecturing the crew. In her eyes, this meant she was lecturing her.
“Spectre, may I speak?” Commander Selani asked.
Naleena nodded.
The commander leaned forward in her chair with her hands on the table, fingers interlaced. “With all due respect Captain Stone, Spectre T’sarius not the commanding officer of this vessel. The Council delegated that authority to me. In essence, as captain of this vessel, I have authority over the crew, and have the latitude to run the unit I see fit, within the bounds of military law. In this respect, I have significant responsibilities pertaining to the use of force, finances, equipment, Council treaties, duties to higher authority, mission effectiveness, duty of care to personnel, and powers relating to discipline and punishment of personnel within certain limits of military law.
“Spectre T’sarius is in charge of the missions and their planning. She and I called this meeting to settle the dispute that occurred on the foredeck of the ship. By lecturing my crew, you are lecturing me. From what I saw, Commando Jenus owes you an apology, and I will handle the rest of her punishment. Her action was way out of line. And her peers are already letting her know. However, if the two of you want to have a referred sparring match in the gym, that can be arranged, but it will not change the punishment.
“What happened on Duellos happened while under direction of another commander and is not my responsibility. I’ve read the reports from the Council and the commanders in charge of both operations have been punished for exceeding their authority. It is in the past. We don’t even know what our current mission is at the moment. Once we do we will deal with that.
“Spectre T’sarius may overrule my authority; I trust she won’t given my experience.”
Naleena felt the need to speak. She stood. “I think everyone needs to settle down. Jess is right that there is an immediate need to stop the Collectors that the team thwarted, but the commandos and the train robbery were under orders from other Spectres. Both Spectres were punished,” Naleena smiled at Jess, “And Jess, the armor for the retrofit of the Audron was unloaded from the Janiri after it docked. That mission was not aborted. The Council listened. The net loss of time was two days. Commander Selani is the captain of this ship. This is her crew, and I trust her judgment.
“Something else you should know, Jess. This ship wasn’t built to fight the Collectors. I’ll call a briefing while we’re stopped at Illium. Do you remember the Battle of the Citadel? This ship is part of a secret fleet being built to fight ships like the giant ship that tore through the Citadel Fleet. The Council officially denied the Reaper threat, but unofficially acknowledged it. Shadow budgets were set up within system governments to fund this project under innocuous names including environmental protection, education, energy, and budget oversight. This fleet is also exempt from the Treaty of Farixen because of a loophole. The Collectors, we suspect, are merely pawns of the real threat: the Reapers. They are coming. Our mission is to find a way to stop them.”
Jess settled back. "Luv... You ask me to jump, I'll ask how high. you ask me to wash out the washrooms, I'll wash out the washrooms. You ask me to keep the engine running and I'll make it purr. You’re right. I'm not the captain of this ship. There can only be one. That's you". She pointed to Commander Selani. "Naleena.... you mission commander, right? That's a big promotion from your.... last occupation". Jess phased the term. "Much as I'd love to sit back and enjoy the ride, there's something I think your overlooking.
"I'm not by the by the book. Anika's not by the book. The crew you just took on likewise like the rest of us, tore up a rulebook long ago and wrote our own. You stopped commanding a group of dedicated trained, 'predictable' Asari the moment you took us aboard commander'". Jess stressed the commander part. "Meanwhile I've been captaining the worst low lifes and riff raff's and turning them into people you could actually invite to dinner. I'm mentioning this because commander.... you are going to have conflicts. There will be disputes. Challanges. If things go really bad, maybe the odd crew who want to get off this ship and head back to where ever they hailed from. My point is that nothing's changed. The Audron was staffed by professional's and a tough as old boots XO. And thing's still happened that went against the mold of what was deemed acceptable Turian military behaviour.... but they rolled with it and let the pressure out the cooker as it were..... you do what you like with Jenus. She's your crew. But whatever punishment you derive, won't get to the core of what's bothering her. That's the root to weed out first"
Jess sniffed. "And frankly luv I'd hope you see that I'm doing you a favour. I was long over what happened on the train. Jenus it seems isn't. But Mira here needs to know our side if she's going to bring her girl down some". Jess turned to her. "But after she vents. Punish her before it'll just add to her anger. Do it after and if I can get her to let what's eating her out, maybe she'll be okay". Jess smiled. "Difficult crew member? A ring? Some will see it a fight. But speaking as a captain.... it's the one place where some hard head's will open up to some counselling".
With that Jess turned. "And.... Reapers? Really? That's..... a thing.... Probably better to stick to the Collector's luv. I mean... Reapers? Let's say your right. They’re a fairy tale. People think their a fairy tale and go into a briefing with Reapers as your big target two things will happen..... you'll get everyone laughing and then ask you who your really after.... Or they'll believe you and wonder.... how do Collector's and Reapers go together? Cause luv... so far there's no link between the enemy our team has met, and the fairy tale the councils shot down in flames as having any foot hold in reality".
Selani said, “This ship may be deceptive in that it has a more civilian comfort with the military design. To be honest, it’s more comfort than I’m used to. I’m not a green commander, Captain. I commanded the frigate Cyone in the Battle of the Citadel. I’ve fought Geth. I saw the giant warship that Naleena is talking about. It was called Sovereign. It was nearly unstoppable.”
Naleena listened. “Okay, Jess, we tell them it’s Collectors, and we still focus on the real mission. I haven’t had the time to pour through all the intel, but I have copies of the suit recordings from Commander Shepard’s mission to Virmire and Ilos: copies that were stowed away because they would panic the public. I’ll be spending a lot of time watching them over the next few hours in my quarters. You are welcome to join me if you think you can help me better spin this mission to the rest of the team.”
Selani then addressed Stone. “Look around the ship. This is a multi-species effort. This is not a group of ‘predictable Asari.’ Now apparently you haven’t finished with your side of the issue, and this wound goes back to that planet. Sergeant T’riel, this is your team. How do you want to handle this?”
"I want the Captain to feel that she has gotten her message across," Mira relaxed her countenance. “Serving under this command, and aboard this vessel, and with the crew involved is an honor. Perhaps you won’t believe me Captain, but that extends to you. Now, nobody in this room knows Jenus better than I do. You're close, Captain Stone, if I may, but not quite on the mark about her."
Mira lifted her head, "I think I've got your side, Captain. We come from different places. But I'm here to make amends. The issue I see is, for the kind of satisfaction you may be looking for, it won't come from Jenus."
With a slide of her eyes to Commander Selani and Naleena, Mira went on, "I am the subordinate here and defer to the ultimate decisions of my superiors. But I would like you to know that Jenus, while she might have said and acted out of line, was done venting the moment she was put in her place, and not just by the bodyguard. However, Jenus is not like anyone sitting here, either. What she is going to be confronted by next is that she feels that her leaders didn't come to her defense, even if she was wrong. That is my fault, to a degree. Captain, when your bodyguard stepped in, I didn't want to cause further aggravation. And clearly the bodyguard is familiar with asari military customs.
"But I know Jenus," Mira emphasized. "She'll live with whatever happens. Yet if you want her to trust again, to put this all behind her,...for it to stop 'eating' at her, then I think it is resolved best in a way that meets somewhere between what the Captain and our own little team are used to. Call it a compromise, if you will, that takes care of everything.
"The satisfaction, Captain that you'll be looking to give and receive, won't come from Jenus. It will come from me. And when it’s done, I believe you'll find Jenus to be a different person. What do you say, Captain Stone?"
Jess was wincing still from Selani’s comments. "Luv....". She said to the commander. "Much as I defer to any captain aboard her ship. You don't get to tell me what I feel. And I hope to blazes you listen to your orders better than you spin conversations". She folded her arms and stared at her. "Our group..... the ones you took aboard.... are not a group of predictable Asari. That is what I said..... Tell them what to do and how to do it, they'll do it. Tell them what to do with no guidance.... And they'll come up with a crazy plan that defies conventional wisdom and will take the enemy by surprise. I'm assuming those past ships where you spent the majority of time were staffed by Asari since it's the way militaries run. Your not dealing with clean cut boot camped career military officer's anymore. You are dealing with rugged individualists who won't appreciate the heavy hand your taking with me". She pointed a finger. "Don't argue. I'm not trying to make your life difficult. Your the captain and that mean's you don't get the bedside manner. You run the ship. That mean's you have to be told how it is..... by any and everyone aboard. My job, the collector teams job is to do what your crews does insofar that we can cover your ass, so you in turn can make sure ours is protected. Your in charge. Say what you like. Believe what you like. Just don't expect any of the original collector hunting team to pretend their a part of your reality".
Jess turned to Naleena. "I think it's a good idea to keep the Reaper's out luv... Maybe suggest the connection, but don't go overboard with it. I don't know if Reapers are real, but now you've mentioned .... if something turns up on the missions that links to what you have in your records.... the team will have an easier time buying the Reapers.... but you don't have to listen to me luv. If you need advice or need a sounding board to bounce idea's off my door's open. Ultimately your the one the buck stops with. I'll do what I can to help you. But the best help I can offer is to not offer it until you ask". She jerked her chin over to the commander. "Turn's out having two folks with different command experience just invites bad communication. But for my money, it's always good to listen to your subordinates. Mira here knows Jenus better than any of us and if she says she knows best how to deal with her.... I'm inclined to believe her. Till she proves me right or wrong".
With that said and done, Jess turned to Mira. "Luv, on this I'll defer to you. You know her best so I'll play it how you want. One thing though. I'm going to have Anika there. your right. She knows your people. She's a professional soldier. And much as it'll pain her, she needs to see this resolved or she'll be on edge every time Jenus comes around. Personally I hope she'll get to know you folks. you've got military running through both of you. Anika's just learned some of the more dirty tricks in the book". She leaned forward. "And know this. I went after one of yours because at the time I saw yours taking mine. But as of the moment we became crewmates, there is no us and yours. Just ours. And if I see anyone taking any of ours I'll go after them to get ours back. We're crew. We're comrades". She stuck out her hand. "I hope we can bury the past here and whatever you have in store... and be friends".
Mira reached across the table and took Jess hand, though she looked at her askew. “Are you saying you don’t prefer to meet me in the training room ‘to open some hard heads’? You know, so you feel at home?”
Jess chuckled. "You want to join in luv? Sorry. Two's company. Three's a crowd. You'll probably be the go to person to referee though". She paused. "Don't go thinking my kind of star blazer is about beating on each other luv. I didn't put up with my crew attacking each other, or anyone else. But.... We're all living in a box hurtling through the most hostile environment known to life, relying on a hodgepodge of technical wizardary to stay alive out here. That's a subtle pressure every spacer lives under, so adding that to all other life's ills.... it's no surprise to me that spacer's are more inclined to go off every now and then. There's no one but us here and if you can't get on with the man or woman next to you.... things can get bad fast. Unless you get to the root and address the cause".
Naleena spoke up. "Regarding the command structure, this doesn't seem to be off to a very good start. I hope we can stop this p*ssing contest. No one is telling you how to feel, Jess. I don't understand what all this lecturing is about. First, our specialist team is separate from the crew of the ship. Second, the crew of the ship is supposed to support the specialist team. The Commander is highly qualified for the latter, and thus will take part in our mission briefings. Jess, you do not have to be concerned about the team being ordered about by the Commander unless there is an order to abandon ship. And in addition to being part of the team Eteon, who is not present at this meeting, is going to act as a liaison between the ship's crew and the team. Yes, I managed to recruit her." Why did I take this job?
Retour en haut
)). He didn't feel it, the medication helping to dull a lot of his sense of touch, but he still acted quickly to tear a bit of bedsheet, wrapping it around his hand as he stood up.
