Ashley Williams

Ashley Williams is a human soldier who served in the Systems Alliance as a Gunnery Chief in the 2nd Frontier Division on Eden Prime, and was later assigned to Commander Shepard's squad after the geth attack on Eden Prime.

Born on April 14th, 2158 on the colony world Sirona in the 61 Ursae Majoris system, Ashley Madeline Williams comes from a large family that includes a long line of Alliance soldiers. Her father was an enlisted man and she is the oldest of four daughters in the family, followed by Abby, Lynn, and Sarah. Due to her father's frequent deployments, she helped to raise her sisters, and the four siblings grew close to one another as a result. Despite his hard work and dedication, Ashley's father never rose above the rank of Serviceman third class, a fact she is deeply bitter about.

Following her family's tradition, Ashley enlisted in the Alliance Navy as a marine after high school and was assigned to the Recruit Training Depot in Macapá, Brazil. During training, Chief Williams was certified proficient with the standard-issue M7 Lancer assault rifle and light to standard-weight combat hardsuits. She also completed certification in zero-gravity combat aboard the Rakesh Sharma Orbital Platform in Earth geosynchronous orbit. For Hostile Environment Assault Training, she was assigned to Fort Charles Upham on Saturn's moon, Titan, where she was awarded a commendation for her bold assault technique in a field exercise simulating an attack on turian point defense emplacements. Drill Instructor Gunnery Chief Ellison noted her steadfast endurance and aggressive instincts, and promoted her to squad leader, and subsequently to platoon guide after observing her effective tutelage of the less skilled members of her training unit. Her platoon had logged unanimous positive feedback on her leadership in the recent fitness review cycle. Private Nirali Bhatia praised her focus on team-building exercises and "tough but fair" discipline.

Later, it was revealed that her grandfather was General Williams, who surrendered the garrison at Shanxi to the turians during the First Contact War, thus becoming the first human to surrender to an alien force. Her superiors' prejudice against her family meant she had mostly been stuck on groundside garrison posts — preventing her from gaining actual combat experience — despite her exemplary technical scores. She repeatedly requested a transfer to a shipboard posting, but each request had been denied, without explicit reasons. Possibly due to the discrimination she experienced, Ashley asserts that a Williams has to be better than the best, to make up for Shanxi, making her dedicated to her job, but also prickly, blunt and quick-tempered. Her aggressive instincts and tendency to speak bluntly are suitable as a field unit, but might lead to complications if her duties require her to interact with civilians. Additionally, her political opinions may be problematic, given the focus on improving relations with the Citadel.

Ashley Williams is first encountered on Eden Prime during the course of Commander Shepard's mission to retrieve a Prothean Beacon. Ashley's unit, the 212, was wiped out by an army of geth also intent on retrieving the beacon. As sole survivor of her unit, and having demonstrated her combat abilities on Eden Prime, Captain Anderson has her transferred to the SSV Normandy. Ashley is uncomfortable about filling a dead man's shoes after the loss of Corporal Jenkins, and blames herself for not being more alert during the geth attack. Over time, she becomes accustomed to the crew, even getting along well with Kaidan Alenko.

While off duty, Ashley spends her time in the Normandy's storage section, cleaning rifles. Upon interaction, she will give feedback on recent missions, or the latest shipboard gossip before anyone else. Ashley enjoys talking about her family and is interested in Shepard's background. She is amazed that she and Shepard went to the same training facility and even reminisces about getting yelled at by Gunnery Chief Ellison.

Ashley has strong religious beliefs but is hesitant to discuss it with Shepard because she's concerned of the uneasiness it may cause in others. Her faith is strengthened by her work in space — "How can you look out at this galaxy and not believe in something?" — and she believes that her father who had passed away is with God. She still remembers his favorite poem, Tennyson's Ulysses, by heart. When Shepard jokingly states that Ashley is the last person the Commander would expect to hear quoting classical literature, Ashley indignantly replies "just because I can drill you between the eyes from a hundred meters, doesn't mean I can't like sensitive stuff! But don't spread it around." Though she is tough and aggressive, Ashley has displayed a compassionate side; when meeting Samesh Bhatia she is very respectful and sympathetic, taking the time to say how much his wife Nirali loved him.

Due to her family history, groundside assignments, and lack of experience in working with other races, she tends to be distrustful of aliens. Ashley doesn't trust the Citadel Council and believes humanity can't rely on them staying allies. She questions the wisdom of allowing Urdnot Wrex and Garrus Vakarian to wander around freely, and dismisses the Prothean Cipher as "some asari mumbo jumbo", believing the Commander has suffered needlessly to get it. However, Ashley acknowledges that Shepard is in command and the presence of aliens on the Normandy is not her decision. That being said, Ashley isn't xenophobic. She dismisses Terra Firma as a group of xenophobic "jackals" who have replaced the original noble aims of the party with anti-alien paranoia. Also, even though she will not hesitate to shoot Wrex if she believes he presents a threat to Shepard on Virmire, she happily volunteers to go with Captain Kirrahe's team and works well with the salarians, respecting their tenacity and skill.

At the operation on Virmire, Shepard can choose to save Ashley's life, but at the cost of losing Kaidan. During the debriefing, Ashley gets angry at Shepard's decision, saying Kaidan was a superior officer and she should have been the one left behind. However, Shepard responds by asking how far Ashley is willing to go in order to clear her grandfather's name. Ashley does have qualms about facing the Reapers, claiming she's infantry and will have no place in the upcoming battles but Shepard assures her that she's needed. Eventually Ashley comes to her senses and agrees to work with the Normandy's multi-species crew to stop Saren.

(From the Mass Effect Wikia)