There were few things that annoyed the Commander as much as inefficient Council meetings, and that day there was just something about Councillor Valern that had her grinding her teeth. The whole stalling game, waiting to see who would give in first, who would yield in their demands, who would be fed up with the game first? It wasn't in her nature to put up with it, neither was it Sparatus' forte if the irritable thrum coming from him was any indication; she doubted anyone but her and her new Turian acquaintance could actually hear it and they both knew better than to say anything. They were all in a Council-Spectre meeting, all Spectres on the Citadel were to attend it - all four of them - and wait for further orders while the Council was reviewing her mission debrief and debating if they could even pull more resources with the supposed 'imminent return' of the Reapers. Councillor Valern was still stalling, his nasal voice was beginning to irritate her beyond belief.
"Are we sure these are even necessary? Attacks on colonies have ceased with Vakarian's actions and with it all concern for human-dominated territories in the Terminus," Valern pondered, again.
She had sent footage of the Omega 4 Relay as soon as they were back in the Terminus, a high-priority message directly to the Councillors as well as a few Hierarchy generals, the Alliance brass and some Asari Matriarchs - she had even gotten a somewhat hasty reply from Aethyta which said simply 'well, fuck me!' - thought she left the Salarians for Mordin to handle, she was beginning to think that may have been a mistake.
"You've seen the footage she sent, we've all seen the footage of that prototype human-coded-hybrid, as well as undeniable proof the Collectors exist, or existed." Tevos said curtly, her jaw set in annoyance. Sophia could definitely relate.
"Yes as we've all seen she has been working with Cerberus for the past year, if not longer."
"As well as undeniable proof she has ceased all contact with Cerberus," Sparatus said, a certain flick of his mandibles that made him seem, at least to her, at the end of his rather short patience.
"Is that undeniable proof?" Valern asked, looking at her, she supposed it could've been a rhetorical question but she was at the end of her patience and no one had ever accused Sophia of being particularly level headed when dealing with politicians.
"Unless the Illusive Man has a kink for humiliation, I think telling him that he can shove the Omega 4 relay up his arse counts as me ceasing contact with known Cerberus cells and, in fact, terminating my short contract with them," she pointed out rather calmly, sitting in-between the Turian Spectre and Udina, her new Turian acquaintance trying to stifle a laugh while the human Councillor looked at her as if she was a particularly fetid Vorcha; she had no idea when Anderson had handed the Council seat to the weasel but it was for the worst in her opinion.
"Known Cerberus Cells?" Valern asked in that archway of his that usually meant he knew something she didn't. She refrained from rolling her eyes.
"Well I can't very well know about the agents in the cells I don't know exist, can I?" Sophia asked in a tone similar to the councillor's, snappish, a certain holier-than-thou tone and definitely beyond fed-up with the procedures.
"Shepar- Spectre Vakarian is right," Udina intoned, a sour look on his face, "there's no way to know of other Cerberus cells unless we send in infiltrators, and since they only deal with humans your STG would be next useless while dealing with Cerberus, Valern." Udina looked as if every word pained him, even as he mentioned the Councillor's name as if savouring a favourite candy, it was an odd combination. If she had to guess she went from fetid Vorcha, in his eyes, to a particular nasty puss-oozing wound he had to personally see. Thankfully Udina's moods were no longer her problem, unlike a certain spiky councillor sitting to her far left.
"Be that as it may, this is not what we're here to discuss, the recently uploaded footage of the mission beyond the Omega 4 was troubling to say the least," Sparatus cut in sharply before anyone else could get a word-in, "the data we got on that humanoid construct is beyond anything we're currently capable of-" the Councillor continued to make his case while Sophia tuned him out.
She focused on the other participants of the meeting. The Council had ordered all Spectres on the Citadel to attend the meeting, given the news she had shared, so that made it three other people in an unnecessarily large room. Besides her and the Turian, he seemed to be a year or two older than Garrus if she were to guess, there was an Asari Spectre near Tevos and a Salarian one near Valern, she didn't recognize either one of them. What she really wanted was to be back with her husband - and damn if the word didn't leave her giddy - for their long overdue honeymoon.
"The Asari is Iilia Nuwani, her cousin was on Fehl Prime during a Collector attack," the Turian muttered next to her, loud enough for her and Sparatus to hear, but low enough it wouldn't draw attention from the politicians, "the Salarian is Cest'ach Tann, as far as I know he only read the reports on your missions, his focus is in something called the Andromeda Initiative." He glanced around the room, briefly nodding to his fellow spectres before focusing once again on Sophia.
"Still as much of a gossip as ever, aren't you Kaius?" Sparatus muttered to them while Valern droned on about the lack of resources. Most of them knew it was bullshit and simply the Salarian Councillor dragging his proverbial feet.
"I think it's important for your pet Turian to know who she's gonna be dealing with, also that most of us believed her when she first brought up the reapers," Kaius muttered, a faint rumble of mild disdain in his subvocals.
"Pet Turian?" She mouthed, a stifled laugh from Iilia getting a flicker of her attention before she focused on both men near her; Udina doing an outstanding job of ignoring them.
She refocused on the meeting when Tevos begun speaking about at least getting their security up, if not for the 'Reapers' then a possible backslash from the Collectors. It was an appeasement, she could see that, she would have to grit her teeth and take what she could, but it still grated her how, in the face of undeniable proof, the supposed leaders of the galaxy could only offer a token effort to help defend their civilization.
She took a deep breath, in-out, in-out, like Samara had taught her, she was getting emotional again and seeing Council actions as slights against her; it was all just politics.
The meeting ended with a sour note for her, probably token resources, maybe missions that would lead nowhere and, according to muttered words on both sides, a waste of resources. All she wanted right then was go get back to Garrus, if only for comfort. Maybe he had better news with the Hierarchy than she did with the Council.
"Ah yes, the uselessness of the Council in the face of a threat, charming isn't it?" Kaius signed next to her, stretching his neck, probably trying to get the kinks out, that's what G used to do.
"Tobastic, kindly shut up," Sparatus muttered as he passed them by, only a lingering look to make both Spectres know they were to follow him.
"So what's this about a pet Turian?" Sophia asked falling in step with them, focusing on anything besides that failure of a meeting. She was close enough to brush against both as they walked back to the councillor's office.
"Sparatus has a tendency to fall into bed with a few of the Spectre candidates, especially the Turian ones," Kaius smirked, a flick of his mandible and a tilt of his head and neck. Supposedly she should be insulted by the insinuation but it didn't even register of her radar. Yes her and Decilliam used to fuck, he was deliciously good at it, but that one particular affair was behind her now; she had, after all, promised to be a one-Turian kind of woman.
"And he's still sore he never managed to get even close to my bed," the councillor said deadpanned as he ignored both spectres while checking his omni-tool, an annoyed click from his throat made Sophia start to pay attention, that was rarely a good sound coming from him. "Well Valern will not approve of any budget request to up security, the Human Councillor backs him up in this decision."
"Great," She let slip before her brain caught up with her mouth, "perfect. Nice. Fuck this." She threw her hands up, ignoring the looks from a myriad of diplomats as she attempted to turn, only to be caught by a hand on her shoulder, firmly leading her on.
"I know you're upset, but you will not be causing a scene in my office," Decilliam muttered harshly as they neared the opulent room, "I've got Vakarian on vidcom, and I've still got plans to keep us going. So do you, if my reports are right, so don't let this set back stop you."
"How do you-?" She trailed off, looking from one man to the other.
"He sent me to gauge your work, Commander," Kaius muttered, an amused flick of his mandible as he looked down at her, "the last thing we needed was another rogue Turian Spectre so he sent me to watch while you worked with Cerberus. Kaius Tobastic, reconnaissance specialist." He offered her a hand as they entered the office, "I'm happy to say both you and that C-Sec officer passed with flying colours, as the human say."
"Since when?" She hadn't even caught anyone following them, or anyone not Cerberus or her ground team aboard the Normandy.
"Since you first approached Councillor Sparatus." He shrugged, sitting on the couch as Sophia started pacing. "As much as he likes you, the Hierarchy couldn't take the chance of another Rogue, nor of a crazy Spectre, not so soon. I was to be their eyes, ears and judgement, and can I just say for a human you put a lot of Turians to shame? Well done."