The CIC’s Holographic Navigation Area was chosen for the Memorial
[This article is a FAN-FICTION based on the MASS EFFECT 2 Universe – It contains plot spoilers if you didn’t play and beat those games]
After the destruction of the SSV Normandy, Commander Solaria Shepard was sent to inspect the remains of the great ship. Her mission was to visit the site of the downed vessel, and to choose a location for the appropriate placement of a bronze memorial.
One soldier, Navigator Charles Pressley, was slain when the Collectors attacked the SSV Normandy.
Upon inspecting the wreckage, Commander Shepard found Navigator Pressley’s datapads in less-than optimal condition. The data fragments recovered from these pads showed that Navigator Pressley had undergone an intense personal change as a result of his experience upon the SSV Normandy.
Below is Commander Solaria Shepard’s letter to Admiral Hackett regarding her findings…and her decision.
To Admiral Hackett:
The inspection of the SSV Normandy wreckage is complete.
Although sifting through my old ship has been a grim experience, it has also reminded me of the great men and women who served within the Normandy’s hull.
As I walked through what was left of the SSV Normandy’s CIC, I saw the bent and torn framework of the Navigation Area. Holographic emitters strewn across the ice and snow almost blocked my path, but I was able to find a datapad in the wreckage.
The datapad belonged to Navigator Charles Pressley.
What I found on the datapad…I did not expect. During our first mission, Pressley stated his deep distrust for aliens and his apprehensions about being associated with a Turian specter. After our liaison was killed by Saren, he was equally apprehensive about working along side other non-humans on the Normandy.
Since Pressley was a veteran of the First Contact War, he had good reason to be guarded toward what was eventually a very mixed and diverse crew. But from reading his logs, I found that Pressley underwent a change in his perspective. After the crew of the SSV Normandy underwent mission after mission, fighting everything from Geth to Cerberus rogue agents to even Saren himself…Navigator Pressley saw something.
He saw how a crew could be forged by the work that they do…the missions they accomplish.
Eventually, Pressley stated that he felt honored to be part of the SSV Normandy’s crew, and his previously Xenophopic comments were replaced with words of respect and admiration for his shipmates…regardless of their genetic background.
Looking back, I see Pressley’s change as analogous to my own change and also the change in Humanities role in Council Space. I originally was apprehensive of the Council, and downright viewed Cerberus as a blight on the galaxy. But let’s face it, Cerberus didn’t just save my life…they took a lifeless husk of a woman and got her back into fighting form. That’s a debt I can never repay.
Likewise, humanity used to be an overpowered and under-disciplined fledgeling species that didn’t take a leadership role in the galaxy. Now, we’re full members of the community and we have a representative on the Council. I never thought I’d see that happen in a million years.
Navigator Pressley’s sacrifice is a guidepost for the core values that keep the Alliance what it is. He wasn’t just a soldier, he was a man who was courageous not only in the face of battle, but also in the face of his own prejudices and stereotypes.
With that said, I recommend that the SSV Normandy Memorial be located near the CIC’s Holographic Navigation Area.
– Commander Solaria Shepard