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Then Is Now: The Journey Begins
Chapter 3: Citadel I
Nathan walked across the cargo hold, his mind wandering across the plain of thoughts, memories of his previous life flashing before his eyes. His eyes watered for his lost friends, and his family, despite not being close to any but Conner. The Quarians followed behind him cautiously, not wanting to attract any more attention than they already did.
"So where are we meant to be going?" Nathan asked, not wanting to be caught in the sad memories.
"What we're doing now, is trying to get to the Citadel, so we can talk to the Council." Tali answered. Nathan and Conner just looked at each other, already knowing the outcome to their attempt, as well as what happens on the way there.
"Well, might as well as find a place to wait for this ship to take us there then." Nathan said as he scanned the rooms, looking for where the strange group could rest, but seeing none.
"You know, this would not have happened if we weren't following you." Conner said playfully.
"True, but then who would excite you with stimulating conversation?" Nathan replied with an incline of the head. While the group were talking and listening, they drew the attention of a Krogan.
The Krogan stalked towards the Quarians, finding it offensive that they should be allowed to find passage with Acceptable members of society, his eyes burning with intent.
"Pathetic Quarians, why are you here? No-one wants you smelling up the ship." The Krogan said darkly, oblivious to the stare of the Human, Conner however, saw the sudden stiffness of the Human.
"Hey, Frog-boy, you can't just go up to these Quarians and berate them like that! Your species is worse, you lot got sterilised remember?! At least they have a chance to continue theirs!" Nathan yelled at the racist. In hindsight, the genophage might not have been a good thing to bring up. Especially to a Krogan. The Quarians just stood there, shocked to their core. Conner even more so, never before had he heard Nathan say something like that.
The Krogan just stares for a second, and then, with a enormous roar, rushes Nathan, using his larger mass to push him back, launching him into a wall.
"You dare say that to me?! Do you know what I will do to you?!" The Krogan yelled, his anger only rising. Nathan slowly got up, grunting at the pain that shot through his side.
'Broken Ribs hurt like a mother! Not doing that again anytime soon.' Nathan thought to himself, eventually, he stood up straight.
"You know, that would hurt a lot more if I wasn't hit by a train in my youth." Nathan said, referencing a long running joke about his awareness. He could remember Conner saying: 'You could get hit by a train and not even notice.' In fairness, that was probably true.
Nathan waited for the Krogan to charge again, he didn't have to wait long. The Krogan began his second charge, only to find his feet swept from under him as he reached where Nathan was standing, and fell face first into the wall. Nathan got up from tripping the Krogan, and jumped on his back, throwing fist after fist at his exposed neck. Nathan didn't want to kill him, so was trying to knock him unconscious.
"Rharrg!" The Krogan yelled as he stood up, and threw Nathan from his back, clicking the vertebrae in his neck, knocked out of alignment from Nathan's enhanced strength and the suits extra mass. The Krogan roared again, but this time, he took his Claymore shotgun from his lower back, and fired a quick shot a Nathan, the loud retort of the weapon deafening any who were too close to it, like Nathan.
Nathan's shields flared up and failed as they took the brunt of the force, the armour taking the rest, staggering Nathan. He fixed his balance quickly, and ran for the Krogan, unsheathing his energy sword, the blue glow lighting up the small room. Nathan slashed across the shotgun, cutting it in half, and cutting the Krogans' wrist, with his other hand, Nathan caught the falling piece of gun before it hit the floor, and rammed it into the Krogan's temple, staggering him. Again and again Nathan rammed the gun into the Krogans head, only for him to fall silent after 6 different hits.
Nathan stood up and stretched his back. "Phew! That was fun." He turned to see all the Quarians just looking at him. "I can't be sure, but are you staring at me through those masks?" He asked curiously.
Conner immediately answered. "Yes. I am. Are you surprised?"
Nathan just shrugged. "Not in the slightest. Now then, onwards to the Citadel." Nathan said, walking off to a different area of the ship.
Tali looked at Conner. "How in the name of the ancestors did you become friends with him?" Tali questioned, disbelief obvious in her synthesised voice.
"Much like this." He simply said, and followed Nathan, leaving the rest of the group behind.
The group walked from the ship onto the Citadel, ignoring the stares that were shot their way. They slowly made their way to wherever Tali felt like they needed to go, she had the data after all.
"So, Tali, you're the one leading this little band of merry men, where to?" Nathan asked after a few minutes of seemingly pointless walking.
"The Citadel Tower of course, how else will we speak to the Council?" Tali answered.
"Tali, we both know that they won't listen to us." Keenah said, pleadingly.
Nathan walked over to Conner and pulled him over to a corner discreetly.
"What's stopping her from just going to the Human embassy? We could hold her up until Shepard gets here, even if they exist!" Nathan asked quietly, only now realising that they didn't know what gender this Shepard was.
"She has to be found by Shepard, that's how she gets on the ship, and how we go with her, she goes to the embassy, she doesn't meet Fist, the assassins, and we might not be chosen to be on the team. I hate to say it, but we have to play this out, at least for now. We can start cannon breaking later." Conner said with a grin both in his voice and on his face.
"Speaking of cannon breaking, I wonder how my shields stand up against mass accelerated rounds?" Nathan asked, genuinely curious.
"I don't know, would you like me to shoot you?"
"Perhaps some other time, where you wouldn't be killed for it." Nathan joked.
Suddenly Tali appeared next to Conner. "Are you two coming, or are you just going to stand there, gossiping like a pair of women?!" Tali practically shouted at them, before walking off back to Keenah
Nathan raised a hand to speak, as he always did when he was about to make a sarcastic comment.
"Say it, and I'll kill you." Conner whispered to Nathan, not wanting to further enrage Tali, and dragged him back to the group.
"Like you don't see the hypocrisy there." Nathan grumbled begrudgingly.
"-to the upper wards." Tali finished saying as Conner and Nathan came closer. "What do you guys think?" Tali turned to the newly joined members of the group.
"Upper wards? Sure, why not?" Conner said.
"You're the boss, I'm here to help, you make the decisions on where we should go." Nathan said noncommittally, letting her follow cannon like Conner suggested.
"Then that's where we're going if everyones agreed." No one argued and the group continued on in silence, with nothing left to say.
"Tali, I really think you should re-consider this, if this data is worth so much, we would only be putting ourselves in danger." Keenah said.
"Keenah, you were one of the people who agreed to this! How can you back out from this now?" Tali asked, shocked at his sudden change of heart.
Keenah didn't get a chance to answer before a bullet pierced Tali's stomach, rupturing the suit, a gasp escaping her vocaliser as a loud clap of a rifle followed.
"Shit! Quick, we've got to take her to a Med-clinic!" Conner yelled as Keenah began dragging her limp body down the corridor, Nathan being sure to cover them with his body as best as he can.
Conner followed, grabbing a hold of Tali's other arm to help. "Which one is nearest?"
Nathan knew the area well and found that it was the right location. "Dr Michel's one is nearest to here." He turned around and saw the shooter, but there were too many innocents in between him and his target. "Shit, I can't get a clear visual on him, keep moving." He said as he kept an eye on the shooter, seeing the glint shine and then disappear as the Sniper stopped looking at him and focused his attention on someone else, that someone else was Conner. "Conner, get the fu-" He was cut off by another loud clap and a white trail let in its wake, Nathan tracked the trail and saw it lead directly to Conner, seeing his form slump.
Conner felt the pain raise right the way up his back, the pain stopping at his neck but his shoulder was on fire. He looked at it and saw a hole in the suit, about the size of a 5p coin, with the material of the suit splayed apart as well.
"Conner!" Nathan screamed, grabbing hold of Conner while Keenah kept hold of Tali, and the two began to drag them towards the nearest exit.
"Quick, through the shaft!" Tali said, in a gasp of pain, they followed her direction,and entered the shaft, closing the security door behind them. Inside the shaft, was a massive incinerator.
"Nice job, Tali, this led us into an incinerator!" Keenah said, louder than he meant to.
"Upstairs, there is a way out, should take us right by Dr. Michel's." Nathan said, already moving Conner up the stairs. "Tali, can you hack this to begin the incineration cycle after we leave?" Nathan asked, worried about the Turian now knocking hard on the door.
"Yeah, give me a moment...and it's done. We just need to leave, then I can activate it."
"Then let's get moving, come on." Nathan said to Tali and Keenah, reaching out his other hand to Keenah, encouraging him.
"Tali, we're good, begin the incineration." Keenah said once he cleared the next security door.
Tali began the incineration as the Turian fell through the door, having it close behind him as the flames began to lick the edge of the room, the temperature beginning to rise.
Back outside the room, the screaming could be heard, a high pitched screamed that chilled the bones of all who heard it.
"Come on, we're nearly there, only a little bit more." Nathan was becoming worried at Conner's limp form, he had not moved or spoken from the moment he was shot.
As the group of four walked into the Med-clinic, Dr. Chloe Michel ran over to them, but before she could ask what happened, Nathan decided to speak.
"Please, help them, they've been shot." Nathan pleaded, hoping that they wouldn't be turned down, that the two would survive.
Chloe Michel walked out of the sterile room, her face flushed red, purple blood staining her robe.
"They're going to live, but they're going to be out for a while. But can you tell me how you got in such in a state?" She asked.
Nathan took the liberty to tell her how they got there, excluding the part about Conners' and his past, and what was contained in the message.
"-and that's how we got to here. We need to see the Council when they wake up."
"Well, you won't have to wait that long then. Bet that's made your day, eh Nath?" Conner asked, walking out of the room next to Tali and Keenah, who said that he would watch them for any complications. Nathan immediately stood up, and ran to the smaller Quarian, and embraced him in a bone shattering embrace.
"Yeah...Can't...Breathe...Please..Let go!" Conner said, pushing Nathan away, who just stood awkwardly.
"Well, not that I was worried, I'm just glad that I don't have to toughen you up." Nathan said, his voice wavering.
"Did you just hug him?" Keenah asked, unused to seeing any form of affection to Quarians.
"Doesn't matter." Nathan said simply, turning to the Tali. "Are you alright?" Nathan asked, wanting to hear it from her mouth.
"So long as you don't give me a hug, yeah, I'm fine." Tali said, a small giggle in her voice.
"Well, you lot are safe now, but that recording you found…" Chloe trailed off.
"Well, I was hoping to give it to the Council, but it seems like that won't be happening." Tali said dejectedly.
"Well, I know someone who can give you protection for it. His name is Fist, and he owns Chora's Den in the lower wards."
"Thank you, I don't know how to repay you for all you've done." The group said, although in different ways. Nathan and Conner just saying 'Thank you.' Knowing that she wouldn't ask or accept anything.
"There's nothing to repay, I was doing my job, but please, think about Fist." Chloe Said.
"Don't worry, we're going to go there now." Tali said, deciding for the group.
The four friends walked out of the clinic, filled with new determination.
"We're here to see Fist." Nathan said, his voice hard, giving nothing away. It was decided that Nathan would do the talking, so to avoid any racism.
"What for? No-one just walks in." The bouncer said.
"We want to set up a meeting. A Special meeting." Nathan made sure to emphasise the word 'special.'
"Then go right in, there'll be guards inside, so don't try anything." The bouncer said, a hard edge entering his voice as his eyes wandered over the Quarians.
The small crew walked into Fist's office, he was sitting behind a desk, two turrets on either side, with two guards by the door. Fist was a fairly short man, black hair, small build.
Tali stepped forward, taking this as her time to shine.
"We have information to offer for protection, we want to meet the shadow broker." She said, making her demands obvious.
"The broker doesn't meet for just any reason, what information are we talking about?" Fist said, sounding amused at the prospect of a Quarian having anything that there Broker didn't.
"Data surrounding the Geth attack on Eden Prime, that's all I'm willing to say before meeting the broker." Tail replied.
"Very well, it seems like this data might prove valuable. However, until the data can be verified, I can't offer you protection, but I can set up a meeting. Would you be willing to show this data to me?" He asked.
Tali was unaccustomed to any sort of information trading, so did as he asked, and played the audio file. After the file was played, the room was silent.
"Ok, then, I'll set up the meeting." He raised his arm, and typed on the Omni-tool, Tali's tool lit up in response. "That is where the meeting will take place. I'll send a time when I can." He began to type on the Omni tool again, before looking up to the group. "You can leave now." He said before drawing his attention back to his arm.
The group walked out of the bar before Keenah spoke. "Do you think we should go to where the meeting is before hand, make sure that it's good for us as well?" he asked.
Conner and Nathan shared a glance. They both shrugged and spoke at the same time. "Couldn't hurt."
Tali looked at them. "That's weird, never do that again please?" She asked, he palm hitting her facemask.
"Do what?" The pair asked in perfect unison again.
Tali just gave them what they assumed was an evil look, before turning and walking, leading the way towards the meeting place
On the way to the alleyway that would act as the meeting location, Tali received a message from Fist, telling the group of the meeting time, only a few hours away.
"When we get there, we might as well wait." Conner said to no one in particular.
"Gives me time to set up if this doesn't go as we want it to." Nathan said, thinking about Tali's recruitment mission.
"Why would things go bad?" Tali asked, not once having thought about what may happen.
"Things might not, but it doesn't hurt to be prepared." Nathan said. Tali considered this, and concluded that it did make sense.
"Fine, but only if things go bad, got that?" She asked.
"Yes Ma'am." Nathan stiffly replied.
Tali left to talk to Keenah. "Lock it down Nath, no need to go all Reeger on her, you won't have to worry about her." Conner moved into the alleyway, seeing a few boxes scattered about the place, with a ledge above him, He thought for a minute about how they could set up just incase Shepard doesn't show up.
"Right, Nathan, you will sit up there and stay in the shadow that will be produced if you knock out that light, Conner made his point by shutting off the Power to the light, the ledge becoming pitch black and Nathan knew that his armour wouldn't give his position away due to the dark colour. Tali and Keenah, you will be standing here, next to the pair of boxes, a defensible position should you be attacked. I will be sitting on the box on the left hand side of the room, If things go south, then I can take down the nearest guy and make sure that anyone else doesn't get nosy."
"And this was all thought up in your head? Well, might as well." Nathan said as the time for the meeting was a few minutes away, he jumped and grasped the ledge, climbing up and crouching in the shadow, his sniper ready on its bipod. Tali and Keenah moved themselves next to the boxes and leaned on them. Conner was about to move into position before he remembered, he actually needed something that will hurt someone. He moved and waved down Nathan, who was tunnel visioned down his scope. He saw Conner and removed his eyes from his scope.
"What do you want?" Asked Nathan through his comm.
"Sword, give." Conner said through his comm as well. Nathan sighed and pulled the sword off his hip and dropped the grip down, which clanged against the floor. Conner picked it up and held it in his three fingered hand, making it feel comfortable. Then moving back down the alley, sitting atop of the box. Then they waited.
All 4 of them waited for the 'Shadow Broker' Agents to arrive in the corridor, watching a Turian and two Salarians walking down the corridor towards them, the Salarians breaking off and leaning against some stacked crates, right where Conner was, as the Turian blew right past him, and walked up to Tali.
Nathan could see the Turian and Tali talking by his mandibles, but couldn't hear them. He didn't need to, he knew when things would break down.
The Turian ran his hand down Tali's arm, making Keenah approach and trade harsh words, Tali just looking up at him, and gave him a subtle nod.
"It's go time, follow after my shot. Acknowledge?" Nathan said to Conner, who gave a small wave of his hand. Nathan raised his rifle towards his visor, and looked through the scope, bringing the crosshairs over the Turians skull, right where the temple of a Human would be. Taking a deep breath, he pulled on the trigger, the rifle kicking against his shoulder, and the high calibre bullet piercing the Turians skull and brain, blood and shards of bone followed the bullet out of him, painting the wall behind him blue.
Following the crack of the rifle, Conner unsheathed Nathans sword, the blue light bathing the two Salarians in a light blue light, and he swung his sword up, catching a Salarian across the chest, opening him up, and letting his blood spill, as he brought his sword down upon the second Salarian as he brought his SMG up, but not fast enough before the sword entered his skull, killing him instantly.
Nathan looked towards where Shepard was meant to appear, and upon seeing the door open, he came down from the balcony. "Shepard's here, don't know the gender though." He said.
"Well let's go find out, shall we?" Conner said, excited about meeting Shepard for the first official time.
Nathan and Conner began moving towards the group as Shepard was approaching.
As Nathan and Conner met up with the group, Shepard came into the light, and the questions floating around Nathans' and Conners' heads were answered. There, in the light, was Shepard, a Female Shepard, flank by the Turian Garrus, and the Soldier Ashley.
"Hey, look, Good ol' Gunnery Chief Asshole Williams." Nathan pointed out quietly to Conner, whose shoulders shook with his attempts to not laugh.
"Which one of you is Tali?" The soon-to-be Spectre asked, patience either worn thin with fisk, or a renegade. Only one of the two were acceptable to the pair.
"Well, I'm sure you can ask a bit nicer than that." Kenneh said, wanting at least some respect from the mystery woman.
"Kenneh, it doesn't matter. I'm Tali, Tali'Zorah Nar Rayya. Who are you? Are you the broker?" She asked, still insistent upon getting that data safe.
"I'm Commander Shepard, Earth Systems Alliance. This is Garrus Vakarian, and Ashley Williams, Alliance Marines." She replied, gesturing towards the squad when appropriate. "I am sorry for my rather upfront manner, but I've just met Fist, and missed out on a fight, got to relieve the tension some how." She explained.
"He set us up! I knew I couldn't trust him!" Tali piped up.
"You didn't say that when you met him." Nathan reminded her.
"He told us you have some data about the attack on Eden Prime. Is this true?" Shepard asked, wanting to hear it for herself.
"Yes, but I would rather play it somewhere safe." Tali replied.
"We could go to the Human embassy, this concerns The ambassador after all." Conner said, putting in his two cents.
"Why didn't you do that first?" Garrus asked, his inner detective emerging.
"We would have if everyone didn't think we were lying. They denied us everytime." Nathan said, obviously angry that there was so much racism for no reason.
"Well, let's go now then, better late than never." Conner said, ending the conversation.
10 Minutes Later
Ambassador Udina's Office
"The Council need to hear this, we'll bring it to their attention soon. Meet us there when you can Shepard." The man known as Undina said, his white suit doing very little to hide his wider frame.
He walked out of his office, and was followed by the well built Captain Anderson, a good friend of Shepard's.
"Shepard, I would like to thank you for accepting me on the squad, but I don't have many combat skills." Tali said.
"I won't need your combat skills, from what I know of your people, you are stunning engineers and I need one of them in my crew to support the engineer deck of the Normandy." Shepard replied.
"Oh, thank you then." She nodded, then looked at Conner, Nathan and Keenah. "What about them?"
"Why?" Shepard asked.
"Nathan has a new kind of suit that I have never seen before, looks like some sort of R&D, but I cannot be sure, it makes him the most powerful person I've seen, being able to take down a Turian in a few seconds." As she said that, Garrus gave a watchful eye to the human in sage armour.
"Looks like nothing like Alliance R&D from here, too advanced." Anderson interrupted.
"Same here, but that is beside the point." Shepard added.
Nathan took notice of Garrus' watchful gaze. "Hey, I'm not going to beat the shit out of you." He said and turned back to the group. "Yet…"
"Whatever, he's a powerhouse that can match a Krogan." She pointed at Conner next.
"Conner'Caineson, he is a brilliant tactician and has gotten the four of us out of three situations already with his mind and tactics, The alleyway earlier? He was the reason we survived, because he took the initiative to plan for anything. He doesn't have much in the way of gun skills as he has only handled Nathan's pistol over there, but I'm sure he is as efficient in Tech as me."
"So, two Quarians in Engineering? That will be useful, and a back-up Krogan? Even better!" Shepard said. Then she looked at the Quarian in dark blue. "What about him?"
Tali carried on with the explanation. "Keenah'Breizh is a Migrant Fleet Marine, he has exceptional qualities in the field of weapons that I think can be passed by Nathan, he was the brute of our crew before we had to split up back on Illium."
"So, we have two engi's and a badass Marine? Sure, but Conner over there is going to have to be trained in the field of combat before he can go on any missions that we set out to do.
"Suits me just fine." Conner simply said, staring at the Gunnery Chief from the corner of his eye. 'I swear to God if I have to train with her, I will have to kill her myself.' He thought as the group started to talk amongst themselves.
"Right, all four of you. Welcome to the Normandy, anything you need will have to fit in one locker, nothing more, we are overcrowding as it is, don't make me seriously regret this decision or I will have to push you out of the airlock." She looked over the group. "And I'm not joking either." She said with a stern voice. The sound of that voice sent shivers down the spines of Conner and Nathan. Nathan moved closer to Conner.
"Shit, we might need to fix this Renegade issue, or we are going to have a baaaaaddd time here, no paragon and my brain is going to fry from all the hate and crap. "
"Well, of course we are going to have to fix this, nothing is the same as we can never bring it to ourselves to actually have a renegade path in the story, Jesus, we couldn't even finish the game with a Renegade score, if it sticks, absolutely nothing is going to be what we think it is." Conner said back.
The group started to walk to the Citadel Tower, Conner and Nathan still conversing quietly along the way. When the group finally arrived at the Citadel tower, both Nathan and Conner as struck by it's size and elegance, the beauty and atmosphere of the room.
"Oh my damn, the Council do like to make an impression don't they?" Nathan asked in slightly higher pitched voice, unable to control his awe.
"That they do. Come on, the meetings started." Shepard answered, signaling to the group that now was not the time to stand around and gawk at the architecture.
As the squad was walking the final distance to the bridge, where all had to stand for an audience with the Council, they could hear Saren's voice, the evidence was being given.
"You wanted proof? There it is!" Undina shouted at the Council, pointing an accusing finger their way.
The Turian Council decided to speak. "This evidence is irrefutable, Ambassador. Saren will be striped of his Spectre status, and all efforts will be made to bring him in to answer for his crimes." His authoritative voice rang out.
"But do we know what this 'Conduit' is?" The Salarian Councilor asked.
Nathan and Conner just stood quietly, despite knowing exactly what it is, and where it is, instead Captain Anderson answered. "We believe it to be a weapon of possible Prothean origin. It would explain why he needed the beacon on Eden Prime."
"Listen to what you're saying, a Prothean weapon that has not been mention, even in the slightest bit mentioned, in all the Prothean data we've collected. It's impossible, it has to be."
"I tried to warn you about Saren, don't make that mistake again Councillors." Shepard said, putting her input into the conversation.
"This is different. You proved Saren betrayed the Council, we all agree he's using the Geth to obtain, or at least search for this 'Conduit' but we don't know why." The Asari Councilor said, trying to deflect the points made by the Humans.
"If Saren is willing to ally with the Geth and attack a Human colony to find it, it's bad enough! He has to be stopped!" Shepard shouted, finally reaching the end of her tether with the Council. Nathan looked towards Conner, who simply shook his head. 'Not here, later.' He seemed to say.
'Fine, but we are sorting this renegade streak out.' Nathan thought.
"Saren is already on the run for his life, he no longer has the rights or privileges of a Spectre, the council has stripped him of his position." The Turian Councilor says, living up to his reputation of a massive ass hole.
"That is not good enough! You know he's hiding somewhere in the traverse, send your fleets in!" Undina shouted, enraged that the Council were doing so little about the attack on a Human colony.
The Salarian spoke up, hoping to calm down the Human. "A fleet cannot track down one man."
Udina was not letting up though. "A Citadel fleet could secure the entire region, stop the Geth from attacking any more of our colonies."
"Or it could trigger a war with the Terminus systems." Trust the Turians to think about wars. "We won't be dragged into a war over a few dozen Human colonies!" The Turian Councilor shouted, ignoring that as a councillor, that is what he is meant to do.
Shepard bunched a fist, and drove it into her open palm, a smacking sound echoing around the large empty room. "I can take Saren down." She said, fury evident in her eyes.
"The Commander's right. There is a way to stop Saren that doesn't require fleets or armies." The Asari Councilor said, trying to diffuse the hostility between the Turian and the Humans.
"No! It's too soon! Humanity is not ready for the responsibilities that come with joining the spectres." The Turian said, angering the gathered Humans, Conner included, even more.
"You don't have to send a fleet into the traverse, you don't have to threaten your precious peace, and the Ambassador gets what he wants. Everybody but Saren wins." Shepard said quickly, not wanting to hear anymore of the Turians racism.
The Turian nodded, showing that he had relented, and would allow Shepard to become a Spectre. The three Councilors typed into their computers, making small beeping noises.
"Commander Shepard, step forward." The Asari commanded. Shepard looked at the crowed gathered behind her, we all nodded, showing that we thought this the right thing to do.
People started to gather on the stands, overlooking the ceremony. Turians, Humans, Asari, Salarians, looked on with interest.
"It is the decision of the Council that you be granted all the powers and privileges of the special tactics and reconnaissance branch of the Citadel." The Asari began, as music began playing throughout the room, creating a truly epic atmosphere.
"Spectre's are not trained, but chosen, individuals forged in the fire of service and battle, those whose actions elevate them above the rank and file." The Salarian continued, the music reaching a new height.
"Spectre's are an ideal, a symbol. The embodiment of courage, determination, and self-reliance, they are the right hand of the Council, instruments of our will." The Asari spoke again.
"Spectres bear a great burden. Protectors of galactic peace, both out first and last line of defense. The safety of the Galaxy is theirs to uphold." The Turian said as the music reached a crescendo, and faded back into nothingness.
"You are the first Human Spectre, Commander. This is a great accomplishment for you and your entire species." The Asari said, left with the more diplomatic of parts.
"I am Honoured, Councillors." Shepard said, not knowing what else to say.
"We are sending you into the Traverse after Saren. He is a fugitive from justice, you are authorised to use any means necessary to apprehend or eliminate him." The Salarian said, a commanding tone entering into his voice.
Shepard thought for a moment. "Any idea's where to find him?" She asked, having no leads of her own.
The Turian answered, taking military matters into his hands. "We will forward any relevant files to Ambassador Udina."
"This meeting of the Council is adjourned." The Asari said, ending all discussion as they turned and left, their action followed seconds after by the group Shepard had brought with her.
"Congratulations Commander." Captain Anderson said, offering a hand to Shepard, as Nathan walked over to Conner, leaving the higher ups to talk about the ship and weapons Shepard would need.
"We need to curve that streak of hers, before things blow up in our face." Nathan said, wanting to get that out of the way. "How are we going to do it? Talk to her? Change orders or just go behind her back? She won't like any of them." Nathan said, offering all he knew.
"Until it becomes a real problem, we'll just tweak our interpretations a bit. Major disagreements, we can sort out later." Conner answered vaguely, wanting to talk about this on the ship.
"Well, at least we know the Turian Councilor is still a dick. Thankfully he didn't air quote us." Nathan joked.
Shepard finished her conversation with the Ambassador and the Captain and turned to those gathered. "Until Udina and Anderson find us a ship, feel free to treat this as shore leave." She said, wanting to give the new recruits some time to pack and buy whatever they will need before they set off on what would inevitably be a long tour in space.
The small group dispersed, Ashley and Garrus following the newly made Spectre, while Tali and Kenneh made their way to wherever they felt they needed to go. Knowing Tali's love for electronics, probably to Saronis Applications to make sure she had the best possible tech.
Nathan and Conner saw fit to just move towards where the Normandy was parked, and wait there, until they were mesaged to get there.
"You do remember the way to the Normandy, right? Cause I don't." Nathan said, remembering how many time he got lost during his multiple playthroughs.
"You are an idiot. But yeah, I know the way, come along." Conner said as he walked towards one of the many elevators.
It only took an hour for the Ambassador to arrange everything for Shepard, who promptly messaged the squad. One problem however, is that she had never gotten Nathan's or Conner's Omni tool address, and Tali was unable to provide one. She would have sorted this out at the Normandy, if they weren't sitting there, waiting for her.
"How did you know this ship would be the one allocated to me?" She asked the pair, not believing her eyes.
"Well, this is the one ship in docks that we know about that you have had experience being stationed on. It's not that big of a leap." Nathan said, after a small pause for thought.
"Well, now we just wait for the others. What were you talking about?" She asked, wanting to get to know her new crew.
"Just sitting here, talking about came to mind, mostly what we were expecting Saren to throw at us." Conner said, taking over for Nathan. "Where will we be going to first then, Commander?" He asked, wanting to know what effect the shortened audio clip will have.
"So far, the Council only have a few Geth sightings of Noveria, a business planet, home to several powerful businessmen and women.
"That's it? A few sightings? No 'Last seen here' business or anything else?" Nathan asked, wondering what was going on at Noveria, normally, Feros would be up first.
"No that's it. Not much to go on, I know, but it's something." She replied, saddened by her lack of ability to help the Colonies.
It was at this point that the rest of the group decided it was a good idea to show up.
"Well, now that everyone's here, let's get you settled in, shall we?" Shepard asked as she turned, and walked into the Normandy, leaving the rest of us to follow.
After a full twelve minutes of decontamination, we finally entered the ship, and it was almost exactly like the games said it was, only a bit larger. A centre podium housing the galaxy map with the bridge in front, and a wall behind, which leads to the conference room. Everybody but Ashley and Shepard, who had been stationed here before, stopped, and just stared.
"Now, this is the CiC and Bridge, on level two, you will find the medical bay and other such things. Level four is the garage, where we store the Mako and the power core. Level three is the crew quarters. Now you are intelligent people, so I shouldn't need to explain what happens there, any questions, come see me here. Five minutes to claim your beds before I show you too your stations." Shepard said, giving the extremely brief tour, the boredom of having to do this quite evident in her voice. Luckily, Conner and Nathan already knew the layout, and were the first to claim their beds.
True to her word, Shepard walked into the crew's quarters five minutes later, and gave everyone a run down of what they are doing, and who they report to. Unsurprisingly, Tali, Conner and Kenneh were put in engineering, while Nathan was told that he would work anywhere he wanted so long as it didn't conflict with a ground mission.
"I got to admit, never thought we would actually be on here, 'eh Con?" Nathan asked as he was becoming accustomed to his station.
"No, it's amazing how far Humans have come isn't it? Before, we could barely make a decision about what to legalise, now, here we are, standing amongst the elite of the aliens." Conner said in awe.
"If that was a crack at Halo, then extra points for you." Nathan replied. "Bet the Governments still up in arms about gay marriage though, as if it makes a difference."
Tali began walking over, seeing that Nathan was here in engineering, and quite willing to chat. "What are you guys talking about? From what I've seen, you only talk to each other." Tali said, still not believing that a Quarian would get so friendly with a Human.
"We're talking about what it's like to be here, and we do mostly talk to each other, extended periods of time alone with no one but a Human would do that to you." Conner replied.
"Well, it is just breath-taking, isn't it? The ship?" She asked.
"Indeed it is. Absolutely stunning." Nathan said, looking around the room, bathed in the calming blue light from the power core. The last bit of calm before the raging storm. "I don't know about you guys, but I've got to repair my sniper rifle, so I'll leave you to your little romances." Nathan said, purposely playing on Conner's Talimancing past.
Conner threw up his arms shouting "We're not romancing, we just met each other!" It did nothing to stop Nathan's laughs.