MASS EFFECT: ANDROMEDA SERIES II

CHAPTER 1

Garrus was going through reports on his datapad, when he heard the sound of someone stopping at his desk. He peered up to see Executor Pallin standing there. His white tattooed face seemed to be a little whiter and his mandible flinched. "Garrus," He began in his usual commanding tone. "The Council just sent an investigation request down marked urgent. I need you to find all what you can and report back to me by the end of the day. The Council has called an unscheduled meeting with the human ambassador and they need the report for it." He tossed a small datapad down on Garrus' desk.

Curious, Garrus glanced down and swiped through the various screens about what the information was on. He blinked. "The humans are claiming that Saren attacked a human colony?" He was a bit skeptical by this accusation; after all, relations between the Turians and the Humans have not been solid since the Relay Incident 314. On the other hand, the idea that the Spectre named Saren Arterius, known for his brutal tactics, interested him.

"Just see if this claim has any merit and if we need to take any further action," Pallin replied pained. Garrus knew the Executor was not a fan of the human ambassador, Udina, and his continuous propaganda to bring the humans further to the top with the Council's good graces.

After seeing his superior walk away to head back up to the Presidium to his cushy office, Garrus nonchalantly placed the datapad down and redirected his attention to the flat terminal screen before him. "Ok...let's look at the Alliance report." Technology throughout the years rapidly advanced and it only took the computer microseconds to display the fetched data. Skimming over the report with his hawk like eyes, Garrus paused and his mouth gaped at what he was reading before him. Nihlus Kryick found dead with a headshot at the docks on Eden Prime. "Hmm, Pallin failed to mention this interesting detail." He mused and went on to further read. Eden Prime attacked by Geth led by Saren. The Geth? Now that was a term he had not heard for awhile. The Geth were sentient machines developed by the Quarians that went rogue. The Geth revolted against their creators and had them exiled to live in live ships known as the Flotilla. Because of their development of a dangerous AI race, the Quarians have been looked down upon by all Council races. Garrus figured his first query would be to learn more about Eden Prime and the deceased and hopefully that would shine some light on the Alliance's claim.

He tapped his right hand talons lightly on his desk as the terminal brought up a display of various photos of Eden Prime and articles that related to it. Glancing over the details, he made note that fifteen years ago, that both Nihlus and Saren visited Eden Prime after mercenaries attacked the human colony. Since then, no travel was made to the colony or it wasn't logged. However, given the specs on the colony up until recent, there was no indication as to why Saren would want to attack Eden Prime. The Alliance did mention that a strange artifact beacon was unearthed. He recorded "beacon" in his log. Maybe more evidence would clear up that clue. As for his research into Nihlus, he turned up that Nihlus joined the Turian military when he was sixteen after his father died. Not well liked because he was born on a small mercenary outpost and then after the military, he was mentored by Saren and eventually joined the Spectres. It seemed that Nihlus and Saren worked well together from what he could tell. A lot of the Spectre files were classified and not even the Executor could gain access to them. Only a few reports would turn up on minor events, but nothing that seemed to jump out. Garrus shook his head as he looked at the screen. "This makes no sense…why would Saren kill Nihlus?" He asked himself. He swiped the screen back to the Alliance Report to see that Nihlus was last on board of the ship known as Normandy to give inspection on a potential human candidate named John Shepard. Captain Anderson met with Nihlus and gave the recommendation for the Spectre candidacy.

Placing Anderson's name in the database, Garrus waited for the information to come back. A picture of Anderson's current photo displayed on the screen and his credentials. Amusingly, there was a category that stated "Spectre Training: Failed." The C-Sec Officer continued downward and read that David Anderson served in the military during the First Contact War. Eventually because of his high performance, he was listed as a potential candidate for the Spectres. Saren, himself, had to give the evaluation. The testing details were limited, and only Saren's final report came back was that lives were lost due to Anderson's poor handling of the situation at a refinery. The refinery's location was not listed and due to that he was announced as a failure. It seemed that the Council took Saren's recommendation on good faith because no human had become a Spectre since that time twenty years ago and it looked like the man himself was trying to give another push in.

"Ok…let's see what I can find on Saren," Garrus mouthed out loud under his breath. So far, this investigation was not leading into anything beneficial that C-Sec could use for any more formal queries. The terminal chimed indicating that a lot of the data it found was locked and not even he could encrypt it to gain access. "Where's a keeper when I need one," He sighed as he started at the top. Garrus figured maybe something in Saren's past could link why he may have attacked a human colony. Entered military at fifteen…2155 promoted to active service…brother killed in Relay Incident 314…2159 accepted into the Spectres and served for twenty-four years so far. "One of the Council's top agent…" The officer mumbled as he read. "Whoa…what's this? Outspoken on numerous occasions about human expansion..." His voice trailed off as he tried to explore the Turian's psychy. It made sense that Saren would want to retaliate for his brother's death right after the war, but many years later? That made no sense...and with the Geth? Something just wasn't adding up. Garrus stared hard at the screen in hopes that it would fall into place; Nihlus' death, David Anderson, Saren, Eden Prime. He could see Anderson wanting to get back at Saren failing him and maybe that's why he's pushing John Shepard to be the new Spectre, but what interest would Saren have in Eden Prime? "What the hell are you up to?"

A tone came through on his desk's communicator. "Garrus, here." The C-Sec officer answered.

"Garrus, the Council bumped up the meeting and they have Saren on vid-comm. Bring what you have found so far to the Council Chambers now." Pallin's voice clearly spoke over the speaker.

Flabbergasted, Garrus protested, "Sir, I haven't had enough time to gather all the facts to make sense of it all." The idea of Saren hiding something was aggravating him. It made no sense for the Alliance to shoot Nihlus...after all Anderson did not accompany the away team on Eden Prime and why would a candidate for the Spectre kill him?

"Now, Garrus. That's an order," Pallin's voice boomed and then the line disconnected, interrupting Garrus from his musings.

Scrambling with his datapad in tow, Garrus made his way towards the elevator that would lead him to the Presidium and the Council Tower.

The transportation over to the Chambers seemed to go a little bit slower than normal even though he took a skycar over. He kept his eyes forward as he made his way down the long corridor of the tower, bypassing many politicians who were gossiping amongst themselves as to why a C-Sec Officer seemed to be in a hurry in this area. With the chamber's multiple water fountains, the area seemed to be of peace and tranquility despite the many floor arguments and debates. Pallin was standing near the final set of stairs that led up to the petitioner's platform. His face remained neutral like he always did. The Executor never expressed emotion. His held out hand awaiting the information that Garrus was bringing to him. "Saren is hiding something," Vakarian spoke out urgently. "Give me more time," He motioned towards the direction of the Council with his head. "Stall 'em."

"Stall the Council?" Pallin asked in disbelief. "Don't be ridiculous," He shook his head. "Your investigation is over, Garrus." He turned and made his way up the stairs, not giving the C-Sec Investigations Officer a chance for rebuttal.

Garrus bawled his fists as he looked on. A part of him wanted to pursue him all the way up to the Council, themselves, but he knew it was against regulations for him to do such a thing. He did not have the "title" to approach the Council without the appropriate documentation. Something caught the corner of his eye and he glanced back towards where he came from. Three humans were standing nearby and seemed to have heard the entire conversation. The first human was wearing a uniform with the lettering N7 on the right side. His hair was dark with a military style buzz cut with dark eyes and broad shoulders. His chin was cleaned shaven but you can still see the black spots of stubs coming out. Behind him on the left was a female officer. She had darker skin with brown hair in a pony tail. Her uniform was white with some pink on the sides. Her brown eyes studied him with quizzical interest. Her companion on the right was more her age also in standard military uniform, but his was more beige and brown camouflaged. His hair was also dark but he seemed to be more around the same age as her rather than their leading officer.

The Turian's blue eyes flicked back over to the man in front. What luck did he have…the man's appearance matched perfectly to what he found in the database...the figure before him was none other than Commander Shepard.