Disclaimer: I do not own Mass Effect. If you believe otherwise then there is a bridge I'd like to talk to you about.
As usual AN at the end of the chapter.
"Speech"
'Thoughts'
"Radio Conversations/Disembodied Voices"
Chapter Two- Politicians
Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko liked to think he had a firm grasp on his temper. His time at Brain Camp at Jump Zero as well as a few punitive details during boot had taught him the cost of losing one's cool. A marine losing their temper was bad enough but a biotic marine was more than capable of doing some damage…
"You're not making my life any easier Shepard."
And right now Donnel Udina was a very tempting target for a singularity. The ambassador's back was to them as they entered the embassy, his tone was that of a disappointed parent attempting to scold a child. A quick glance at Shepard told him that the Commander was not impressed with the Ambassador's posturing. Shaking his head Udina turned to face them.
"Firefights in the Wards? An all out assault on Chora's Den? Do you enjoying causing me problems or…" the ambassador trailed off as he caught sight of Tali and Dee. The ambassador frowned before turning to Shepard, "A Quarian and a colonist? What are you playing at Shepard?"
"Making your day ambassador," with one hand the commander gestured to the two before continuing, "Tali'Zorah nar Rayya and Dee'Tasi, they have some information I think you'll appreciate."
The ambassador frowned before speaking, "I'm sure they do commander. But I'll admit that I'm a little curious as to why a Quarian is this far from the Flotilla, and in the company of a human as well."
Even through the tinted visor of her envirosuit Kaiden could see the girl glaring at Udina.
"My name is Tali," she began hotly before calming down and continuing, "I'm on my Pilgrimage, my Rite of Passage into adulthood," she clarified at seeing the questioning look on the Commander's face, "during my travels I received word that the Geth had been seen beyond the Perseus Veil. As my people originally created the Geth I was naturally curious." She then motioned towards Dee who began to fiddle with his omni tool, "I met Dee while I was following a Geth patrol and he helped me pick off a straggler and do a data rip of its memory core."
At this point Captain Anderson interjected, "I thought the Geth wiped their memory cores as some sort of failsafe to prevent that from happening."
Dee looked up from his work and spoke up, "They do but it takes a few seconds for it to happen since the failsafe is independent from the Geth's higher functions." Dee then seemed to realize that all attention was on him. Nervously he adjusted his glasses before continuing, "If you can take one unaware and work quickly enough then with a little luck you can snatch parts of the core before it's lost."
With one final adjustment he held out his omni tool and an image of a familiar Turian Spectre sprang up from it. The image was awash with holographic static for a moment before clearing up and the audio began.
"Eden Prime was a major victory! The beacon has brought us one step closer to the Conduit."
"That's Saren alright," Anderson said triumphantly as Dee halted the playback, "This proves that he was involved in the attack."
Tali held up a hand to forestall further comment, "Wait, he wasn't working alone," she then nodded at Dee who resumed the playback. On the display another figure walked to Saren's side before speaking.
"And one step closer to the return of the Reapers."
Udina shook his head as the image dissolved into static before disappearing, "The Council could argue that both the audio and the video were doctored."
Dee shook his head before speaking up, "They can argue about the audio and visual all they want but that wasn't all the Geth recorded."
Anderson looked at him in confusion.
"What do you mean?"
Dee tapped a few keys on the omni tool to display what looked like bio scanner readings.
"The Geth have a standard scanner suite installed on all of the mobile units," he explained as he cycled through a series of displays, "and one of the things that they were good enough to record was a sample of the pheromones that were present at the recording." The omni tool shut down as he pulled a small OSD out of the wrist unit and held it out for Udina. "Audio and video may be easy to fake but it takes time to falsify biometric scanner readings, time that we haven't had yet."
Kaidan felt a grin form on his face.
They had the bastard!
His grin faltered as he saw Shepard had thoughtful look on his face.
"Reapers…" the Commander said seemingly to himself, "I feel like I've heard that name before…" before Kaidan could ask him what he meant Dee spoke up again.
"According to the Geth the Reapers, or Old Machines as they call them, were a race of highly advanced synthetics that played a part in the disappearance of the Protheans 50,000 years ago." Dee faltered as everyone's attention was once again focused on him. Blushing he continued, "the ah…the information isn't very clear but apparently about the same time that the Protheans went extinct the Old Machines disappeared and the Mass Relays went quiet…n-nothing else is very clear."
Udina let off a derisive snort, "That's a little farfetched don't you think?"
Shepard shook his head, "The vision on Eden Prime… The synthetics I saw must have been these Reapers, or Old Machines, killing off the Protheans!"
It was Udina's turn to shake his head, "The Council is going to love this," he muttered.
"We have to tell them," Anderson moved to stand in front of Udina before continuing, "and even if they don't believe us about the Reapers that data prove that Saren is a traitor."
Udina gave an exasperated sigh, "Very well I'll contact the Council so we can present the evidence," as he activated his desk terminal he gave a sidelong glance at Tali and Dee, "what about those two?"
In a flash of movement Tali was standing in front of Shepard with a pleading tone in her voice, "You saw us in the alley Shepard you know what we can do!"
Shepard gave them both a look before speaking, "What about your Pilgrimage Tali?"
"Our Pilgrimage proves we are willing to give of ourselves for the greater good. What does it say about me if I turn my back on this?"
Shepard turned to Dee, "What about you?"
Dee gave a shrug, "Where Tali goes I go," he said quietly before smiling, "besides you are all important."
Shepard gave him a look before turning to Anderson, "We could use their help sir."
Before Anderson could answer Udina interrupted them, "The Council is prepared to meet with us Anderson," he held up a hand as the rest of the squad stood up, "This time it will be a closed meeting, Anderson, Shepard, and myself will be the only ones attending."
As the three made their way out the door Udina turned to give them one last look.
"All of you stay here the last thing I need is you blowing up another bar or something."
Wrex gave a snort as the door closed behind the retreating politician.
"Spoilsport."
Kaidan gave him an incredulous look before speaking.
"Didn't we just shoot up Chora's Den not more than an hour ago?"
Wrex gave him a wry grin before answering, "That was with guns Alenko not explosives," his grin became feral, "explosives are more fun."
From his position by the balcony Garrus gave a chuckle before turning to Dee.
"So I have to ask," he started in a nonchalant tone before grinning.
"…Vas Rust Bucket?"
Dee gave a laugh before explaining.
"Honorary Quarian remember? The courier shuttle we were using before didn't really have a name so I started to call it The Rust Bucket and the name kind of stuck."
Dee then made his way over to the Ambassadors terminal and began to punch in commands as he continued.
"Although if Anderson agrees to take me along I may have to change it to Vas Normandy…"
At that Kaidan gave a start.
"When did we tell you the name of our ship?"
Dee paused for a moment before speaking, "You didn't Lieutenant Alenko," he then turned to face them fully, "I already knew the name."
Out of the corner of his eye Kaidan saw Ashley tense up.
"How do you know that name," he asked.
Dee shrugged, "I just know it. I know a lot of things that I shouldn't." He continued to work on the terminal as he spoke, "It probably makes up for the fact that I can't remember anything else."
This time Tali spoke up, "He means he cannot remember anything personal about himself," she shook her head sadly, "his name, his family, his home world it's all blank to him. In its place is information that nobody else seems to have."
She then turned to speak to him, "I'm guessing that information on the Reapers was part of it right?"
Dee nodded absently as he continued to type at the terminal.
Kaidan studied him for a moment before speaking, "The captain will need to speak to you this when he is finished with the council."
As Dee nodded again Garrus spoke up, "What are you doing with that terminal anyways?"
Dee hesitated for a moment before finishing the last command and studying the results. Satisfied with them he turned to face the rest of the group.
"Well the truth is that I was looking for something to watch and thought you might be interested in the subject matter."
With a flourish Dee activated the screen to reveal something that Kaidan was not expecting.
On the screen was the security feed for the Council's private meeting chambers, and in them Udina, Anderson, and Shepard were taking their seats in front of the Council.
AN: Another chapter up. Sorry it's so short.
One thing that had bothered me in the game was how easily the Council accepted a simple audio recording as definitive proof of treason.
The name Meer Wards actually comes from Mark Meer, the voice actor for the Male Shepard.
On my profile is a link for a picture of the gun that I based Dee's and Tali's Thanatos pistols off of.
A quick thank you to everyone who reviewed they are most appreciated.
Next chapter is the council's 'private' meeting with Shepard as well as a brief interrogation of Dee by Captain Anderson.
See you Next time
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