In late 2183, Commander Shepard, with the help of his friends and comrades on the SSV Normandy and the Systems Alliance, defeated rouge spectre Saren Artuerius; an indoctrinated agent of the Reaper Vanguard, Sovereign.

"One month after the devastating geth attack on the Citadel, the galactic community struggles to rebuild.
The Alliance fleet made a tremendous sacrifice to save the Citadel
Council and earned humanity membership in this prestigious group. Now the Council is forced to respond to evidence that the Reapers -
enormous machines that eradicate all organic civilization every 50,000
years, have returned..."

Nonetheless the Council is cautious and doubting, refusing to officially accept Commander Shepard's warnings of the Reaper threat. You have already heard the story of Shepard, his squadmates, and their journey through the galaxy to defeat Saren, the Collectors, and the Reapers; but what about those other people? Those seemingly insignificant individuals who where proceeding with their dull daily lives in the tedium of everyday monotony. The angst and terror, the opinions and concerns of those you may have only seen in passing. This is a story about two of those people. Two intelligent but flawed characters who also tried to help in a fight that, at first, many did not wish to hear about. Though these people where not soldiers - conventional soldiers at least. We shall start in 2183, after the battle of the Citadel.

This is a tale of their efforts...

Chapter 1: Meeting in the Wards

"Sartu Hof, my favourite Volus. How are you?"

"Fine...I suppose. This 'Sovereign' issue hasn't left my outlook in an optimistic manner...Call me a nihilist."

"Depends on your nihilistic avenue. There are varying nihilists, good and detestable. Optimism is over-rated anyway, it is not congruent with happiness Otherwise, on a less profound note, I hear the humans shall be getting a Council seat."

"And yet the Volus have been accountants to the masses of species on the Citadel... Nepotism for the human race based on the heroism of one man... hardly gives humanity the right to a seat on the citadel...At least the Salarians give back to the other species."

"Labels of exceptionalism are often given to people who do not deserve them. In this rare case, Commander Shepard is quite an exceptional individual - an exemplar even. Think why he is not really being listened to. Some of my old contacts in STG are studying this "indoctrination" subject which Saren was also apparently studying, whereas the Council is still officially blaming Sovereign's attack on the Geth, led by Saren. Reapers don't exist for them. This council seat acts more as meagre pacification - should we be preparing? In other news, we now have these thermal clip things from the Geth."

"My 'friend' Barla Von also heard of a galaxy wide security upgrade to void the usage of Omni-gel... The Council appear to be ignoring a somewhat serious issue of a Reaper, Saren Arterius ...and a Geth uprising. ...As per usual I sit here thinking of how much more efficient the Council would be if I was...if the council was actually listening to the other species... Not just accepting the tenacious vows of truth from their ass kissers."

"Omni-gel, hey Sartu? Can the Council void the use of it as a...lubricant? ;) "

"Arlorn. ...As much as you are endearing...you do not have any notable sensitivity on subjects some might consider inappropriate... UNDERSTAND Arlorn?!... That was rhetorical in case you were wondering".

"Just because I can flip between profounder concerns and trivial pursuits on a whim does not mean I'm insensitive, Sartu; I'm simply revelling in ludic spontaneity. And I hadn't seen a naked volus before. Not to mention one in "sex face". It was quite a memorable experience. I am almost thankful salarians have no sex drive...Well, except for the Asari...but, never mind".

"Ooh... so you like Asari... Not so asexual after all?"

"Everybody loves the Asari - apart from xenophobes at least. I swear it's some biological weapon of seduction they use. I'll have to research Asari physiology some time."

"You and your science...Nothing is simple with you. ...Can't you accept that Asari are just beautiful and not a honed weapon?"

"Maybe. One day. As of now I only see egotism. I could be less cynical, but I left my poems at home, so...

"Cheeky Bastard"

But besides that foreplay; it's easy to be stupid, and stupidity has a knack of getting its way. Thus, arse kissing is a simple reality. We would not have a universal galactic economy without the Volus, yet the Hanar will probably get a seat before them. ...Oh, and tell Barla Von that despite his unscrupulous activities and hiding of financial nasties, he is not technically doing anything 'illegal', so C-Sec are not pursuing him any longer - "bigger fish to fry" as the human cliché goes."

"Glad to hear C-Sec is concentrating on actual crime... instead of 'someone may have stolen my credit chit'... Hardly a good use of time. ...Anyway I'm sure Barla will be glad to know... Out of curiosity...what does C-Sec think Barla has done?"

"He has been hiding the financial affairs of various important officials that C-Sec would like to know about. But he knows loopholes, he's clever, so we can't pursue him. C-Sec have also had to replace all their weapons after the start of the galactic wide implementation of thermal clips; it's a bit of a hassle, so, in fact, we are not completely focusing on 'actual crime'. One of the Council's reactions to the "Geth attack" is replace the traditional weapon cooling systems we use with these "clips" that the Geth are now using, which can discharge heat quickly - no cooling down - and, somehow, create more damage per shot and have a better time at breaking through modern kinetic barriers. We are effectively back to the days of limited ammunition, but...but the speed of the implementation is quite staggering. Usually the Council is slow and incompetent - the same goes for C-Sec. Yet thermal clips should be fully available and have replaced our older weapons in at least a year."

"I'm sceptical that this is an 'upgrade' in the truest sense of the word... Having limited munitions is a hilarious reconstruction of ancient warfare... It's stepping out of the history book... Cycle after cycle."

"I would partly agree. With a good enough a frictionless materials modification, one can effectively keep firing a pistol forever. But that is quite expensive, and Elkoss Combine can produce thermal clips quickly and cheaply; a universal design applicable to all new weapons. Clips should litter modern battle fields. But I'm sure we could come up with something better. Anyway, should we go off to the bar or something? I would prefer to continue our conversation there rather than in the middle of Lower Wards. Most of it still needs repairing."

"Indeed...Let's go."

(End of Chapter 1)