Being the first one

Author's note: This story isn't about Commander Shepard or another squad member. Why? Because I think the universe of Mass Effect is large and exciting enough to have some different stories. And I love the Citadel, but who doesn't? That's why I write a story about the Citadel and the C-Sec.

Mass Effect doesn't belong to me, the brilliant heads from BioWare had have the idea. But I'm in love with the game so yeah. Why not? Have fun and a wonderful

Prologue

Five years had passed by since the turian and the humans had fought against each other in a senseless and brutal battle. Both sides had lost good soldiers, ships and the moral of their people. Nevertheless do the humans have a ambassador and the turian a permanent seat in the Citadel Council. They don't trust each other and the other races lost all their hope that this will change in the next hundred years.

The turian mourn their lost and they complain about the humans' power. And the humans mourn their dead people and complain about their little power in the political game on the Citadel, the capital of the universe.

The air is full of rumors, lies and accusations. The new alien race is still a stranger to the universe, young and hotheaded but with a military power that shouldn't be underestimate. Even the first human ambassador Anita Goyle knows it. She feels it in her bones. But it needs a young and ambitious politician to show her the resolving for this problem.

The woman in the early fifty observes the politician going back and forth, his hands fold behind his back and a restless look on his face. He is a quick thinker, a good talker and absolute loyal to the human race. Maybe a little bit too loyal. The humans don't need a man that will seizures the power within a minute, if he could.
After the First Contact War they need someone like her as the representing head of the human race. Serious and strict, but not obsessed on power. Anita Goyle wants peace and a permanent place in the politic. The young man, Udina, wants everything too fast. He wants the absolute power over the other species, he wants more ships and more weapons. But that wouldn't help against the mistrust of the aliens.

They are unknown, strange. Some call them unrealistic. They look like aliens from old movies.

"Please, calm down and take a seat. Your behavior isn't worthy for a respected politician. Everybody is able to see how unsure you are", she says and cocks an eyebrow. Goyle doesn't think that anybody will look into the open office. The people outside the Presidium don't care a lot about their jobs. That's how it should be.

But Donnel Udina doesn't have her experience. He stops his move and breaths out.

Although he is more than ten years younger than the ambassador, he looks way older. Deep wrinkles around his dark brown eyes show how serious he is.
As a female politician and the first ambassador for the human race Anita Goyle was a very serious person too. She has to be. Otherwise she wouldn't be able to handle the pressure and the fights. She has to stand up for her people.
But the woman can relax in her rare free time. On the earth, next to her adult son with a drink in her hand Goyle becomes a different person and for one week she forgets about the problems. At least she tries.
Udina doesn't have a big family, she knows about his fiancee on Eden Prime and about a brother he had lost in a battle while the First Contact War. But she never sees him without this effort and this look on his face, like he thinks about something all the time.

The man sits down and massages the bridge of his nose, a sign about his insomnia.
"How long since you sleep a whole night?", Anita asks with a worried undertone. Even in the year 2162 CE people need sleep to be sound in mind and body. And Udina doesn't look like a man who gets a lot of sleep.
"That's not the point! Did you listen to me?" The man sounds outraged and impatient.

The gray haired woman groans and nods shortly. That was the first and the last time that she worried about Donnel Udina and his health. This man is worse than a child.

She folds her hands on the table and stares at her fingernails. The politician doesn't understand all these women which worry about their make up or their clothes. It is more difficult to survive the subliminal war than to find the right color for the shoes.
"Of course I'd listen to you. But you go too far, Udina. Neither the Executor nor the Council will accept this or at least understand it. We already lost a war. Do you want us to lose the last respect?"
His brown eyes widen in confusing and amazement and it takes Udina a few moments to handle what the human ambassador just said. "No! I want to help! I want us to grow!"

"Then stop with this wild fantasies and think realistic!"
"It is realistic!", he persists with his opinion. He is such a stubborn! "Just think about our possibilities!"

Enough is enough! She admits that Undina has great ideas sometimes and that he will be a very good politician someday. But she is the ambassador! And she has the right to decide!
Udina flinchs and breaths heavily as her hand hits the desk. Anita doesn't do things like that often. But if she does it has to be very serious.
"It's my right to say no! A human as a Citadel Security officer? That's impossible. Almost every human had lost a relative or a friend in the war!"
"Not everyone", he mumbles and Goyle stops her angry speech.
She leads back in her comfortable chair and lifts up an eyebrow. "What does that mean?"
The young man sees his chance and explains: "I already have a candidate."
"What? You abused your power to look into personal files?"
"But I found someone! She is perfect. She hadn't lost a friend or a relative! She doesn't hate the turian or the other aliens. She is pure and unbiased." He reaches into his chest pocket and puts a little, almost invisible chip up. Before Antia Goyle could say anything he takes the datapad and sticks the chip into it. After a few clicks the work is done and he gives the datapad to the older woman. She stares at it, indecisive whether to read the text or not. If she does she will admit that the idea of looking into secret files is justifiable. But if she refuses it she will never knew if he is right or not.

Private 2nd Class Jennifer Range. It's actually a personal file.
Goyle looks at the picture on the upper left. She seems young, with a bold jaw, a flattened nose and big eyes. She isn't a real beauty, but Goyle wouldn't say that she is ugly. Although everything has a light orange shade she is able to say that Range has red hair and a pale skin. She graduated a week ago. A week?

"She is very young", the ambassador notices and looks up to Udina, who stares at the woman, anxious to see her reaction to the report.

He nods. "Yes. Very young. But she will be used to the aliens and to the Citadel."
"How do you know?", she asks sceptically. They're talking about the future of a young woman, which hadn't seen anything except the academy and her home.

"I just do. Believe in me. She will be the first of many human officers here on the Citadel."
Goyle looks back to the picture. Maybe he isn't wrong. Maybe it will help the human race to fit into the universe.
"I'll talk to Executor Dacis and to the Council. You'll talk to her."

She can see the relieve on his aged face. The corners of his mouth lift up and Anita thinks that this is the nearest to a smile she had ever seen at Udina. Instead of calming her down, she suddenly feels a big knot in her stomach. She overlooks something. But she isn't able to figure out what it is.

"Of course I will. I will use the comm relay and talk to her. She will be proud and glad about your trust in her. The Council can't say no. It can't. We are part of the universe. They can't say no." Udina says it too often to sound very sure of his plan.

He pushes himself up from the chair and nods one more time before he leaves the room.

The door closes with a bling and Goyle is all alone with the file and the exercise to handle Dacis and the Citadel Council. She doesn't know what will be more difficult. To get the Executor on her side or to talk to the Council. The asari can say whatever she wants to but she can't hide that she doesn't trust the humans more than the turian does.

Her green eyes slide again to the datapad. Range is very young, but the teachers can't say anything bad about her. She respects the Alliance, she is loyal and she is strong enough to fight against most of the men. It seems like she is a good shooter, hits the target almost every time she wants to. A good soldier with the potential to become a Commander. And now she will be a C-Sec's detective. Far away from her home or other humans, at a job that is filled with turian, asari and salarian. That doesn't sound like a good future.

There is still the possibility that the Council will reject the idea.
There is still some hope for Jennifer Range down on earth.