Ashley Williams

A 25-year-old human Alliance Marine who enlisted straight out of high school, Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams is a competent non-commissioned officer. She joins the party during the first mission, replacing Corporal Richard L. Jenkins (who was killed in action). Ashley is a pure soldier, skilled with weapons and heavy armor but unable to use advanced tech abilities or biotics. She is a possible romance interest for a male Commander Shepard. She hails from a military family: her great-grandmother, grandfather, and father all served in the Alliance Navy. Her family suffers from the dubious service history of her grandfather, however, as he was the only human officer to ever surrender to an alien force, specifically the turian fleet at the colony of Shanxi. Ashley says that she and her father have been passed over for many a promotion because of the stigma her grandfather still holds among the Alliance brass. Her mother raised Ash and her three younger sisters on various colonial worlds while her father was on duty. Williams is highly religious, though her precise faith and denomination are never elaborated upon, except for her belief in judgment day. She also occasionally expresses "human-centric" views, as a result of her grandfather having been disgraced in the First Contact War against the turians.

Late in the game, on the planet Virmire, Ashley is one of two characters who can opt to assist a salarian commando unit in their assault on Saren's lab complex. During the assault, the player is confronted with a choice that may result in Ashley being killed when a nuclear warhead is detonated.

Ashley appears in Mass Effect 2, provided she lived through the first game. The Illusive Man, using Ashley's connection to Shepard as bait, lured the Collectors to Horizon. She is first seen defending a colony against a swarm of paralyzing Collector "seekers," but ultimately is overwhelmed and paralyzed by a bug. Upon being rescued, she voices disapproval towards Shepard's alliance with Cerberus. Should there have been a romance between Shepard and Ashley, she will send him an email after her encounter with him on Horizon. In the email she apologizes for her behavior, and expresses her desire to be with him once more.

It has been rumored that Ashley will make an appearance in Mass Effect 3 and players that keep her as a romance interest (as indicated by her portrait on Shepard's desk not being face down) in Mass Effect 2 will be rewarded

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