The New Councillor Quentius finds his eyes drawn to a member of the legendary crew under the Commander and Spectre Shepard. A head-strong woman who saves him during the Coup on the Citadel. When she stands between him and the bullets of Cerberus, they come to find that they share things in common and with the galaxies death hanging over their heads, there might not be enough time to discover more.
Quentius/OC
[1] - To Save a Life
Sparatus had stepped down from his post in the Council. Some found his antagonistic ways did little to foster connections at such a crucial time, and others saw it as him wanting to re-join the military. The reapers had hit, and whether his comrade knew how serious working together with the other races - and not just the Council ones - was, he wasn't sure.
It didn't matter now. The role had fallen to him.
He hadn't been certain at first, if he should accept the job. It was a huge responsibility, one he wasn't sure he would be able to fill. As any maturing Turian did, he had joined the military at the age of fifteen and stayed for the duration which was mandatory. After that, he had worked in corporations until he'd been lucky enough to find work in the Turian Hierarchy.
It had only been a desk job, but he'd been around long enough and had paid enough attention to know much of the politics and culture which surrounded each individual race. He loved his people, would die for them and was proud to be one but he felt their old hatred for the humans was holding them back.
Take the Normandy, for instance: it was at the head of the fleet which destroyed the first reaper to attacked the citadel all those years ago. A ship of co - human, Turian design. The things it and it's crew had accomplished were nothing short of miracles. Of course, it was in part to Commander Shepard who was indeed a formidable woman but then again, she had a team of not only humans but aliens too.
He believed the Normandy was not just a shining beacon of hope for winning the war, but also what could happen if the Galaxy survived. Less hostilities and more possibilities.
Quentius had been thinking on these things in his office when the Coup had hit. cSEC had charged into his rooms, yelling about the human centric group: Cerberus. He admitted, he hadn't been quite sure what to do, and had been a little frightened. He owned a gun, a small pistol as it were, but hadn't used it in a combat situation for many years. He would probably miss before the instincts could take over again, and that could end up in demise.
All before he'd had a chance to see the new changes to the Galaxy, to see them beat the reapers back and for them to rise from the ashes.
Major Alenko had come to them. Only the second human to ever be given the title and honour of Council Spectre. Aside from their former Captain Anderson, who not many knew had been given the chance. Alenko had been part of Commander Shepard's group during the take down of the rogue Spectre Saren Arterius.
"We need to get you to safety," he told them, as he was herded into a room with the other heads of the Council; Tevos for the Asari and Esheel for the Salarians. Valern had also stepped down, unable to handle the variables which came with the war.
They had followed the Spectre through the station. It was clear once he saw the panic of the citadel police, the fire which had started out and could be seen through windows, that the place was in pandemonium. His chest tightened, and his mandibles came close to his face - he wished to do something for the others, instead of running away through back allies to safety. But what could he do?
The heads of the Council needed to live, to control the chaos and lead the people through the war, he was told. He did not believe it would be the Council and himself to pull them through it at the end, it would be the people fighting out there right then. If staying alive meant he could ease their suffering and demand support where it was needed, well, he'd have to drag himself out alive and if he saw anyone who needed help on the way - he wouldn't hesitate to test the pistol he'd slipped under his shirt.
They'd stepped out into a open section of the presidium. It used to have been a peaceful sitting area, now the chairs and tables were thrown about - scorch marks were etched onto the metal walkways and there was the odd flash colour to a poor soul who hadn't made it.
He swallowed, and had to rethink again. He couldn't just leave people to die in the streets. If he was gone, then hopefully it next replacement would also see the need to stand shoulder to shoulder.
He walked numbly, and was often ushered further ahead by the hand on a fellow Turian in blue. The humans would not dare try to rush him as he stared at the damage, his eyes wide and his mouth slightly agape.
"In coming!" The major suddenly shouted.
Quentius watched as a door to the side opened to reveal Cerberus troops in the telltale orange, white and black. He was shoved down behind a low wall roughly, then told to keep his head down.
A human man squatted to his side, gun leant over the cover to aim. The Councilor wanted to open his mouth, to tell the man to get into cover or to even pull his own gun out but he was frozen in the moment. Gun fire rained overhead, and his heart seized.
He recalled being called 'A good Turian' once in his lifetime. When he was part of the Turian military, he had followed orders neatly and would have made a solider, were it not for the panic which gripped him when he heard the pop of heat sinks and saw the flashes from the barrel of the guns.
It hadn't always been that way. It had terrified him at the young age, yes, but he had learnt to block it out and get the job done. When his entire team had been caught in a crossfire non of them had been expecting during one of their routine missions, all had perished besides him.
Quentius had been hit in the shoulder and hip, which meant he limped when he walked and sometimes found it hard to use his left arm without loosing the feeling in that or his hand. He could recall it all - the cries of his fellow recruits, still only teenagers in years - as he lay on a pile of rubble beside the flames of a torn down building. He had been able to do nothing but watch as his comrades, Spirits, his friends died around him. Bled out as he did, or took bullets to the head and neck which sent them down in a contorted mass of bones and scales.
He shuddered, and was brought back to the present when the loudness of the fire fight reached his ears and contracted his breathing. The world was a haze, and he desperately felt himself decline.
The man beside him was hit. Red blood splattered put into his leg, and he felt it hot along the side of his face plates. Quentius manages to drag himself over to see the man clutching at his throat.
"Hold on," he said, uselessly. He wasn't sure if it was even coherent through the fog which clouded his senses. He reached to try and stem the blood but it was too late. The humans eyes, wide in death, rolled back in his head.
"No!" He bellowed, the sub-harmonics burst from his throat. There was much wealth in them - a haunted sound.
There was a thud to which he looked up to, and expected their to be an enemy facing him down. His end. Instead, there was a woman. He recognised her, even through the pounding in his skull. The first time he'd seen the human had been during one of the meetings he'd shared with Commander Shepard where a few of her crew had waited towards the back, near the steps.
Strands of fur...hair the colour of the deepest brown plates, and eyes which reminded him of her home planet of Earth; dark blues and greens.
She came to him, and he watched a she knelt beside the dead cSEC officer. When she neared to realise he was already dead, her fingers moved quickly to his eyelids. Quentius watched her close them.
A flash echoed from the shield she wore. A bullet which should have hit her. The human woman gritted her teeth, clenched her jaw and he thought his claws would leave permanent grooves in the steel floor.
"Get down!" He wheezed out.
She moved fast then, sliding to the cover and reached over to him. He was shocked when a cold, yet soft skinned hand pulled at the back of his neck until he ducked his head which he'd foolishly lifted out of cover.
"You get down," she scolded, and he was too taken aback to even notice that she was staring at him, basically telling him off.
Before he could speak, or even come up with a response in his jumbled brain, she leant to his side. He watched as her strange human eyes flickered over the people on their side. Quentius swallowed and followed her gaze. Three other cSEC Blues were dead, but the other Councillors and the spectre were still crouched behind their own covers.
"Kaidan!" She shouted, and it jostled him from his thoughts.
The dark haired and eyed major turned his head, and his face shifted in expression when he saw her. "Fox!" He called back. "Am I glad to see you," he added.
The second human Spectre was a fine solider, but with only him and two other cSEC officers, their chances hadn't been even against the mass of Cerberus troops at his back. With another member of Commander Shepard's squad, perhaps they would come out of his alive.
She turned her face back to him and asked, "Are you all right, Councillor?"
He was sure his plates had paled, his mandibles were clipped to his face and his eyes were painfully wide and the human looked concerned.
"I'll be fine," he managed to answer, his voice low and strange as he tried to rein in the horrendous undertones.
She paused, but nodded to his answer. When she reached for the dead man's weapon, she closed her eyes briefly and her lips moved but he did not hear any words. His mind flew back to everything he knew of her but he realised it was very little; from their Homeworld and recently joined to the Alliance. Only two years under her belt, since the Commander had died.
Quentius was riveted as she placed her body close to the cover, and began to shoot with precision. His breath held and left in a rush as he watched her control her own breathing like an experienced sniper and he sucked in a gust of air when there was a loud explosion.
A small smirk played on her lips, and he wondered if it had been her doing. The woman before him was deadly, and Spirits, was she not a sight to behold.
She unleashed more heat sink bullets with quick, fluent movements. Barely taking her eyes from her targets. A few enemy bullets collided with her shields, and one caught her cheek, leaving a line of red blood before she lowered her head behind the wall and waited for her shield to recover.
Soon the Spectre was up, and moving. "We need to keep moving! To the elevator," he ordered.
Quentius clenched his hands, and wondered if they would be able to make it through the fire-fight but then she stood, and he realised with a odd sensation in his chest that they had taken down the Cerberus troops.
"Do you need help, Councillor?" She asked him, looking down upon from while he sat on the floor.
He shook his head. "No, thank you," he forced himself to his feet, and with a hard, dry swallowed looked around.
There were so many dead. Yet he found himself not caring for those in the human centric armour. They had brought more pain and suffering to the people on the citadel, and he would not forgive them for it. That was not not say that he was a fool, and tarnished the entire race for the actions of a select few. He looked to the woman, and found she had moved to pick up more, spare heat sinks which had fallen to the ground.
There was a swish as another door opened, to the right of the elevators where the Major tried to judge their function levels. Everyone tensed, including himself, and those with guns raised them in expectance.
The human Councillor, Udina, came out from the dark hallway which lay beyond the doorway with a handful more of cSEC. He found his brow plates lower into what humans and Asari would call a frown.
"There you are," the man started. "Spectre Alenko, we've been looking for you. Blasted Cerberus cut us off, and we had to go the long way."
"Udina," the Major answered. Quentius knew that there was a history between the aged human, the major and Commander Shepard and he found he was wary of the man himself.
As the human Councillors eyes traveled over the group, he stopped when he saw the woman by his side. "Lieutenant," his voice was cold, even for a tone without sub-harmonics. "What a surprise it is to see you here."
The woman kept her expression natural, like a mask, but he could see the subtle changes which meant disgust - he'd seen in a many who spoke to the aged man. "The Normandy docked not soon after the coup was activated," she said. "Commander Bailey was hit when we found him in the docks. Shepard had moved to secure the Salarian Councillor."
"That is good news," Tevos spoke up. "But for now, we should move on. Udina is here, and we must get to safety."
"Odd that Commander Shepard should arrive soon after Cerberus," Udina spoke up, and he heard the sharp intake of air from the woman beside him.
"Now, Udina," Tevos started, no doubt starting to go on about serious claims. Quentius knew Commander Shepard was not in league with the Cerberus troops and their coup. He knew it in his good. The woman would not spread herself to the point of breaking to save the Galaxy, only to try and overthrow the Council and destroy the citadel. It made no sense, and he had seen what happened when you doubted the Commander. Both with Saren, and the reapers.
Thankfully the major prevented any such arguments by alerting them that the elevators was still functional, and could take them to evac.
As they moved to step into the small box, he hesitated when he noticed the woman was staring at the human Councillor.
"Are you coming?" He asked her, feeling himself not wanting to leave without her.
Before she could answer whoever, or do more than look to his with a curious gaze, there was another explosion and a man landed at the other end of the gardens. He was wearing black, with a viscous looking sword clasping in his metal clawed hands.
The woman beside him bared her small white teeth, then turned to the group. "Go! Now!"
More troops appeared, and began shooting as the major shouted, "Go! Go! Go!" And waved his arm into the elevator where his fellow Councillors ran.
The woman stepped in front of him as his legs didn't seem to want to move. The bullets bounced off of the back of her shield, but wouldn't hold for long.
"Councillor!" Her cry shook him from his stupor, and he turned to hurry towards the major. He looked over his shoulder to see if she followed, only to watch as a bullet came through her right shoulder.
He had visions of himself in that moment. Of him taking the first hit before he went down. The major was already in the elevator, shooting from beside the door and he was shouting at him.
Ignoring all the calls, he sprinted out, pushing through the pain in his bad leg to grab her by the arm and pull her after him as she seemed hell bent on facing down the enemy while they escaped.
He wouldn't let that happen. As soon as himself and the woman were inside the elevator, the major punched the button to close the doors.
"What are you doing?" She demanded, gripping her shoulder as blood soaked her clothes. He noticed then that she was not even in armour.
"What are you doing, more like?" The major interrupted, seeming angry. He was angry himself, for that matter.
She shook her head, as if to clear it and sighed but refused to answer.
The rest of the trip had been a blur, after that. All he could think about was the woman, and her not bleeding out. The Cerberus members had tried to bring down their elevator, but they had managed to reach the roof. Then Commander Shepard had showed up. Blonde strands of hair, the colour of the sun and blue eyes like jewels.
Garrus Vakarian had been by her side, the legendary couple and rumoured lovers. Along with Liara T'soni. The Commander had insisted that Udina was in on the coup, and Quentius had watched as the aged human tried to keep up the act before shoving Tevos out of the way. He had reached for the Asari, grabbing her before she could fall and then there was a ringing noise as one bullet found its way into the human Councillors chest from the majors gun.
The lieutenant had moved from his group then, to go and talk to her Commander. He wanted to speak, to thank her for stepping in front of the bullets which would have ended his life but he found his throat too thick. Instead he listened to the words of Tevos, and watched as the major inspected the dead Councillors body.
Before he knew it, T'soni had administered some medi-gel to the woman, and then she was moving again, along with the Commander.
He wanted to reach out, catch her attention as she saw her back leaving, but he found he was too late.
Perhaps that would be the last he ever saw her, and that thought unsettled him more than the dead Udina.
...
There aren't many stories which involve the new Turian Councillor, and he actually seems like a good guy. Thought it would be interesting to see where I could go with a piece about him.
Apologies for any mistakes. I will go back over it eventually.