Chapter 6: Consequences

Several holographic screens floated before the Citadel Council. In one, a large insectile creature ran down a fleeing batarian family and bloodily ripped them apart. In another, batarian military forces fought a desperate battle to bring down a trio of the creatures and succeeded, only for the survivors to be slain as their dead rose out of the creature's ashes and descended on them in a murderous frenzy. A third showed a group of the creatures assaulting an armored position in massive leaps, shrugging off small arms fire like it was rain. One of them landed on the entrenched vehicle and promptly tore through its armor and forced its way inside. Blood flew out a moment later, painting the area yellow.

Each and every display showed another slaughter or desperate battle against the chitinous horrors or mutilated corpses. "Goddess," Councillor Tevos said in a rush, a purple tinge settling over her features. "I am going to be sick."

For the first time in a long while, Sparatus, official representative of the Turian Hierarchy to the Citadel Council, found himself in complete agreement with his asari colleague. The STG footage Councillor Arolith had supplied was truly gruesome. "What is this? Where did it come from? And when?"

"Adek, Batarian Hegemony Space," came the rapid-fire response from the Salarian Councillor. "Humans attacked yesterday. Left these behind."

"What?" Tevos asked softly. "Why?"

"After Mindoir, Coalition issued statement of intent." Arolith gestured at the screens. "This is the result."

Tevos opened her mouth to continue, but Sparatus couldn't stop himself from interjecting. "What the hell are they?" Tevos gave him a mild glare for interrupting, but settled to listen to their Salarian counterpart.

"Predatory insectoid," Arolith tapped a pattern into his omnitool. All but one of the screens winked out and the remaining one grew to dominate the space. The remaining screen showed the creature undulating over one of its victims as a spike of some sort stabbed the body. The creature scampered off and the unfortunate soul climbed back to their feet and stumbled away. "Apparently parasitic in nature. Beyond that, we may never know." Another wave of his omnitool played the clip Sparatus noted before of the creatures dying amidst a batarian force. Arolith paused playback at the moment of their death. "Disintegration on death. Most likely, humans fit them with incendiary deadman triggers."

Sparatus shivered as Arolith restarted the clip and the dead batarians climbed back to their feet. That was just wrong. The dead should stay that way. Spirits, just watching that was deeply disturbing. "Do we know how they do... that?" he waved weakly at the screen, where the zombies, for lack of a better term, had attacked their former comrades.

"Yes." Sparatus blinked. He was not expecting that, and judging by Tevos' expression, neither was she.

"How?"

"These creatures reproduce by implanting an egg into their victims." The clip of the creature undulating over a victim played again, freezing in the middle of the motion. Arolith gestured at a chitinous spike that extended from the creature into the body of its victim. "This spike plants the egg and injects a potent drug. The victim is driven into a frenzy and can no longer feel pain. They ignore their injuries, stand back up and start to kill anything they see."

Tevos suddenly looked very worried. "Egg?" she queried, dread in her tone. "How long until they hatch?"

Arolith twitched slightly and spoke. "Never." His colleagues looked at him askance. He blinked, bemused. "STG operatives on site have examined several of these zombies. None of the eggs contained an embryo."

Sparatus wasn't too proud to admit he felt a rush of relief at that. "You mean..."

"Yes. They're sterile."

"Thank the Goddess for small mercies." Tevos said gratefully. "Do we know why the Coalition attacked?"

"Does it matter?" Sparatus countered. "They unleashed that," he waved a talon at the screen. He suppressed another shiver. "What possible justification is there for that?"

Tevos frowned at him. "You know as well as I do that one of their colonies was attacked. It would not surprise me if Adek was somehow involved."

"Correct," Arolith interjected. "Slave auction was to take place one hour after attack. Featuring the first human slaves."

Sparatus felt his mandibles twitch. Almost despite himself, he felt the first hints of approval tinting his disgust for the raid. He could admire their intentions, even if the result disturbed him at a very basic level. "Fantastic," he sighed heavily "Yet again the Hegemony creates larger problems than it is worth."

"You know it is not that simple," Tevos argued gently. "However, in this case I fear you are correct. They will demand blood."

"Blood we cannot afford to shed," Arolith said simply.

Something in the salarian's tone told Sparatus there was something more to the simple statement. "What do you mean by that?"

Arolith answered with another wave of his omnitool, replacing the on-screen still with a picture of space. A vessel floated serenely above the world of Adek and Sparatus couldn't stop himself from boggling at the sight. Small dots of what were most likely human fighters, absolutely miniscule compared to the enormous eye-shaped craft, were scattered through space around it. Arolith voice broke through his surprise. "This vessel is nine by three by three kilometers." The image burst to life, the small dots converging on it in a swarm. "It carries the craft we have seen before now." Arolith scowled fiercely. "That is nearly all we know."

"By the spirits..." Sparatus murmured, unable to tear his eyes away from the massive vessel. "Nine kilometers..." A mass accelerator shot from that could instantly kill anything in the Hierarchy fleet. He forced himself to recover his composure. "How many do they have?"

"Current estimates based on known force deployments range from six to twenty. Each carries an unknown number of small craft and, from what we can see here, four dreadnoughts, six cruisers, and twelve frigates."

Dear spirits... Worst case, the Coalition outgunned the entire Citadel. And they were willing to feed most of a city to their hell beasts to avenge less than five thousand deaths. "We cannot let this continue," Sparatus said slowly. "Humanity is a threat to the entirety of Citadel Space. We must use this opportunity to at least learn the full extent of their military ability, if not curtail it."

"Agreed," Arolith said. "But we must be careful not to reach too far. We cannot afford a war on that scale, especially since they do not rely on the Relay network."

"They would not take kindly to perceived interference from us," Tevos warned. "I fear disclosure may be the best we can do."

"So be it," Sparatus said. "We need to start preparing before they decide to turn on us."

The portal slid smoothly open, giving Anderson an excellent view of what had to be the entire remaining populace of Mindoir, most of them holding welcome back signs in one form or another. A moment later, the cheers hit him almost like a physical force. The freed captives surged through the portal, eager to reunite with their families. A young man shot out of the pack and all but tackled a young woman with a joyful cry. The pair kissed fiercely, completely ignoring the similar scenes playing out all around them.

Anderson couldn't stop the silly grin that stretched across his lips at the sight. This was why he joined XCOM. Sometimes the job sucked, but then you get days like this that make all the pain and effort worthwhile. He basked in the feeling as the returned captives streamed past him through the portal, most offering profuse thanks to him and all the other soldiers gathered to see them off.

Several minutes later, the carrier had been emptied of civilian humans. Then it was time for the other side of the return. Masterfully crafted yet spartan coffins were carried out by teams of four, accorded every honor those carrying them could bestow. The assembled crowd hushed quickly, subdued by the presence of the dead. Over three hundred coffins were laid on the earth in six rows a few minutes later. Anderson and a few of the other soldiers stepped through the portal to pay their respects to the dead they were forced to slay.

A group of officers followed behind the soldiers, swiftly moving to the front of coffins. One of them stepped forward and addressed the now-subdued crowd. "People of Mindoir, it is to my deepest sorrow that not all of our brothers and sisters, husbands and wives, mothers and fathers could be saved. Many were slain by the scum who had taken them. If you have not found your family or friends yet, I fear they may be among this number. My associates and I," he waved a hand at the officers beside him. "Are here to assist you in this difficult time." The group split apart to stand in a widely spaced line. "If you think your family is one of the slain, please form a line in front of each of us and we will do everything we can to help you locate them."

A worried group formed before each of the officers, nervously providing names to look for. Some people left the line with a happy shout and relieved expression, but many more were led to one of the coffins. One of these unfortunate souls was led to the coffin directly in front of Anderson. The woman fell to her knees and threw herself, sobbing, over the casket. Anderson's heart wrenched. This part always hurt the most.

The officer who had escorted the woman laid a hand on her shoulder, whispering words of encouragement. She stiffened at his touch, hiccupped and said, "I want to see him."

The officer looked distinctly uncomfortable at the request and took a step back. "Ma'am, that... that is not a good idea. Your husband did... did not die cleanly." Guilt churned in Anderson's gut at the understatement. There wasn't much left intact in this particular coffin. He should know; he'd been the one responsible.

She whirled on the officer with a glare. "I don't care! He-" her sudden anger evaporated and her voice broke into sobs. "He's m-my hus-husband d-d-damnit."

The officer sighed and readied himself to deny her again. Anderson's guilt forced him to step in. "It's alright, Lieutenant. I'll handle this." The officer saluted, looking extremely relieved, and moved back to the lines. Anderson watched him go, mentally steeling himself for what was coming. He knelt beside the woman and she glanced at him through her tears. "Ma'am, I... I have no idea what you must be going through, but if there's anything I can do, please let me know."

"I-I want to see him," she said, composing herself as best she could. He grimaced internally, but could not find it in himself to deny her again.

"Are you sure? It won't be pleasant." She nodded, tears still sliding down her cheeks. He sighed explosively. "Alright." He stepped over to the head of the casket while the woman shifted back to give the lid room to swing. "Are you sure about this?" he asked again.

"Just do it already!" she snapped through her tears. Anger temporarily overcoming her sorrow.

He looked at her for a long moment. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry," he said and flipped open the lid. The woman just stared at the mangled, but clean, torso and hand that was all that was in the coffin. After a long moment she threw herself at it with a cry, hugging the body for all she was worth, as if she could heal the man if she squeezed hard enough.

Anderson stepped back to give her some privacy, his emotions whirling rapidly. His hands balled into fists at his side. The sacking of Adek was peanuts compared to this. He would gladly do it as many times as necessary to stop innocent people from dying to pad some alien dipshit's wallet.

He took one last look at the crying woman and swore to himself. Never again.

A loud crack echoed through the well-appointed, cavernous chamber. "What the hell were you doing, Gor'vak?!" the Chancellor of the Batarian Hegemony roared from his seat behind his massive desk, small pieces of shattered plastic falling from his grip. "You had one job Captain, and you failed miserably."

"Chancellor, I had no choice," Gor'vak protested, cowering slightly on the far side of the desk. "Commander Varnegak ord-"

"I don't care what that idiot ordered!" the Chancellor countered fiercely. He slammed his palms against the desk. "He was dead, you incompetent buffoon." His voice lowered into a dangerous hiss. "You allowed less than two hundred pathetic, two-eyed freaks to walk in and steal over five thousand slaves without contest! Even worse, you let those abominations run rampant for over a day!" Gor'vak forced himself to ignore the thick tendrils of fear caressing the edges of his mind. If he gave in, he would not survive this meeting.

"I did everything in my power to stop them," he said, his defense starting strong. Memories flashed behind his eyes, of chitinous horrors ripping apart heavy armor; of men cut down like chaff only to rise again; of being forced to kill his entire ground team. His voice dropped to a whisper, the true horrors he had borne witness to only hinted at in his tone. "It was not enough. No one could be ready for such creatures." All four of his eyes glazed over as he lost himself in the memories.

The Chancellor growled, only further angered by the captain's lack of attention. "Your incompetence has seen an entire city dead and over a trillion credits lost in freed slaves and damages!" Gor'vak started and visibly brought his mind back to the present. The Chancellor glared at him, all four eyes narrowed. "I do not tolerate failure. Guar-"

"Let us not be hasty, Chancellor," a voice called, the holographic form of the Batarian Ambassador to the Citadel, Jath'Amon, flickered to life beside the desk. "He could still be of substantial use."

The Chancellor turned a glare on the interruptor. "Explain."

"Captain Gor'vak here is one of the only living Batarians who has seen the human military in action. There is a wealth of knowledge to be mined from such a resource."

The Chancellor leaned back in his chair and gave off a thoughtful hum. "You're correct as always, Jath," he said a moment later. Gor'vak nearly collapsed in relief at that.

"Indeed old friend. The good captain here also has plenty of reason to seek vengeance against the humans for what they have done," the ambassador said leadingly. Gor'vak felt his relief slowly evaporating with every word from the ambassador. "If you were to, say, order him to take no action, it would not be unexpected for him to desert, gather the other survivors and strike out on his own against the humans, would it not?"

When the Chancellor voiced his agreement, Gor'vak couldn't stop himself from asking incredulously, "Are you insane?! That's suicide!"

The Chancellor scowled thunderously at his outburst. "You showed the entire galaxy that the Hegemony will stand aside and allow an entire world to be slaughtered without a fight," he hissed, glaring death at the captain. "You will redeem yourself, or I will have you strung up by your entrails."

Gor'vak quailed under the Chancellor's glare. A flash of memory, his second in command being torn apart only to rise again, shot through his mind. The thought overcame even his fear of the Chancellor. His eyes hardened and he returned the Chancellor's glare. "No."

"What?!" the supreme leader of the Batarian Hegemony roared in shock. Gor'vak smiled wryly. It had been many years since anyone had defied the Chancellor.

"You may kill me," Gor'vak said, strangely serene, despite what he knew was coming. "They will do far worse."

The Chancellor roared in anger, whipped a pistol out from underneath his desk and shot the captain in an instant. Gor'vak stumbled back, hands clamping over the wound in his stomach as pain robbed him of strength. He collapsed to the floor in a slowly spreading pool of blood. Black began to creep along the edges of his vision.

"This idiot will serve as an example," he heard the Chancellor say. "The humans will pay for this insult." Dark fingers encroached further into his sight. The ambassador said something unintelligible. "We are members of the Citadel and we were attacked. They can't ignore that. We will have vengeance." He heaved a bloody breath. At least he wouldn't be around to see the result. The room went black.

Commodore Hackett strode into his office without fanfare. He threw himself into the chair behind his desk and allowed himself to seethe at what he had learned. When he felt able to control himself, he opened contact with the Commander. The man's stocky form appeared in a hologram on the far side of his desk.

The Commander took one look at Hackett and frowned. "I take it we do not have good news then, Commodore?"

"No," he replied. "We don't." Hackett took a deep breath and forged ahead. "We attempted to interrogate Vaas about his collaborators. He proved... uncooperative."

"I see," the Commander said slowly. "That is unfortunate, but I can't say I sympathize with him."

"Not at all," Hackett agreed. "We introduced him to the chamber and retrieved a wealth of information." The Commander eyed him as he paused, the unspoken 'get on with it' being clearly communicated. "To begin, the plasma rifles he used against Strike-1. We learned that Vaas acquired them through his human collaborators. The investigation is ongoing, but the current leading theory is a 'misplaced' weapons shipment to one of the fringe world garrisons. We believe the traitors either bribed or subverted one of the logistical officers supplying them."

"I don't like my organization being compromised," the Commander said brusquely. "Vet everyone involved with the shipments."

"It's in progress as we speak."

"Good. What do we know about Vaas' collaborators?"

"This part, you won't like, Commander," Hackett said carefully. He tapped a sequence onto his desktop, sending Vaas' interrogation report to the Commander. "First, the collaborators chose Mindoir. Vaas had been contemplating a raid for some time, but he could not find a way around our defenses. The traitors gave him that information."

The Commander scowled thunderously. "Who were they?"

Hackett tapped a sequence into his desk and a holographic display came to life, holding an image with the telltale mild distortions of being torn from a living mind by the interrogation chamber. In the image, a man and a woman sat, frozen in mid-conversation, in rickety chairs in a surprisingly vibrant room. "This is the best image we could get of them," he said quietly, a tremor of anger running through his voice. "We have not yet identified the woman, but the man turned up a hit on facial recognition in under an hour."

"That was fast," the Commander said, his surprise obvious. "Who is he?"

"His name is Jonathan Montgomery, son of Captain William Montgomery of the XCS Legetho." Hackett's hands curled into fists on his desk. Military families should know better than to pull this shit.

The Commander hissed low in his throat. "This is not good Commodore."

"No, it's not," he agreed. "We're working to ID the woman with him, but there's no ETA on it at this time."

"Damn." The Commander's scowl deepened. "Bill is not going to be happy." The hologram sagged in place. "God I hate this shit," he muttered. He took a deep breath and straightened, looking Hackett straight in the eye. The raw determination in his gaze reminded the commodore why he was chosen to lead the defense of humanity. "So be it. We cannot countenance traitors. Take him into custody and find out everything he knows. Whatever it takes. He could lead us to the rest of them."

"Yes sir," Hackett saluted. "Vigilo Confido." The Commander returned the gesture and the hologram winked out.

"Esteemed members of the Citadel Council," Jath'Amon started smoothly from where he stood on the petitioning platform of the cavernous Council Chambers. "I come to you with distressing news. No more than 48 hours ago, the Batarian planet of Adek was laid to waste by the Human Coalition. The humans then unleashed ferocious beasts the likes of which this galaxy has never seen. Tens of thousands of my people are dead and bllions of credits in damages were dealt to the city of Granak." Jath'Amon made a small motion of supplication. "I humbly beseech this august Council for military aid against our attackers, before they target another world."

"Tch. Bit off more than you could chew, this time then?," Sparatus asked dismissively.

Jath'Amon adopted a look of abject confusion. "I'm sorry Councillor, but I don't understand."

"Of course you don-"

"Sparatus!" Councillor Tevos barked sharply. "Now is not the time."

The turian started then nodded to his asari colleague, quickly re-composing himself. "Of course, my apologies."

Tevos turned back to the batarian ambassador. "Forgive my colleague, Ambassador. Now, what, exactly, is the Batarian Hegemony requesting?"

"I should think that would be obvious," Jath'Amon said bluntly, carefully modulating his voice to convey the slightest hint of pleading in his tone. "We must strike first and ensure they can never attack again, before they can regroup and murder another colony! There's no telling where the humans will strike next!"

"Just look for the colonies with human captives," Sparatus said under his breath, barely audible by the time it reached the petition stage. Jath'Amon glanced at him warily. The turian councillor was the greatest obstacle to getting the Council involved; he had never hidden his disdain for the Hegemony.

"That was the act of pirates! The Hegemony had no knowledge of any human captives!" Jath'Amon said emphatically. "The humans fed an entire city of innocents to those... things because a psychopath felt it necessary to sell his captives on a batarian world!"

"Then you shou-" Sparatus began, only for Councillor Arolith to talk over him.

"Regardless of culpability, human captives were on Adek and humans attacked," the salarian said with a note of finality. "There is no reason to believe there will be further violence."

The batarian ambassador set his features in as fearful an expression as he could manage. "There is no reason to believe there won't be!" he insisted. "Councillors, humans are a violent species by nature. My people are terrified they will be made to suffer and die for the actions of a depraved lunatic. The attack on Mindoir was a terrible tragedy, but my people had nothing to do with it! Do not let them die to feed the human thirst for blood."

Tevos' gaze softened fractionally. "That will not happen, Ambassador," she said firmly. "But we are responsible for far more lives than just the Hegemony. We will not start a war without at least attempting to hear what they have to say."

"But-" Jath'Amon began.

"This Council has spoken," Tevos said, her tone making it clear dissent would not be allowed. "If the humans show any sign of pressing the attack, we will bring the full might of this Council to bear against them. But we will not enter a war without due cause."

Jath'Amon scowled internally. This meeting had been far less productive than he had hoped. Externally, he nodded graciously to the Council. "As always, your wisdom is boundless. Thank you for your time, Councillors."

"We have eyes on the target," the call came over the radio of XCIS Special Agent Samuel Rejev. "He is approaching the building from the south. Prepare to execute."

Rejev acknowledged the info and shifted slightly in his position atop a building across the street from the target's two-story home. The young man stepped into view after a brief wait, briskly strolling along the sidewalk. Two blocks from the building, he stopped abruptly as a tall, blonde woman stepped out of a building into the street in front of him. The target looked shocked and said something to the woman, but distance and poor angle made it impossible for Rejev to determine what. As best he could tell from the back of her head, the woman responded. Montgomery scowled at her and shook his head, then took a step around her and continued toward his home. She whirled around to follow and Rejev got his first good look at the face he had obsessively studied for several hours.

Excitement surged through him in a rush. "Boss, Cassiopeia is with him," he said excitedly, using the codename for the unknown woman who met with Vaas.

"You sure, Sam?" the leader of his squad asked, surprise obvious in his voice.

"Very. I'd recognize her anywhere," Rejev answered calmly. "She confronted him 200 meters from the house. Looked like she said something to him but he brushed her off and she's following him inside." True to his words, the pair reached the house and started to move inside.

"Interesting..." the boss' murmur came over the radio. "Plan's the same people. In and out, no mess, no fuss, and no casualties. Take them both, priority on Cassiopeia. Understood?" A chorus of acknowledgements came over the radio. "Good. Targets are in the building, confirm status and execute on my mark."

Rejev tensed in place and brought his grapple to bear on the target's home as a series of clicks sounded over the radio, each member of the five-man squad signifying readiness. The last click came through and the squad leader's voice came back. "Mark. Go go go!"

The grapple shot from Rejev's forearm and stuck firmly to the roof of the building with a soft thump. The rope pulled taut and he slapped the button on the belt of his lightly armored suit of Titan Armor to activate his ghost module as he was yanked off his feet. He crossed the ten meter gap in a matter of moments, landing with a barely-audible crunch of roofing tile. A similar sound a moment later alerted him to the arrival of his also-invisible partner, Erin Salm. An outline of her form appeared on his hud, thanks to the sync between their suits.

The pair quickly and noiselessly reached their insertion point, a patio on the second floor facing away from the street. Rejev noiselessly lowered himself to the patio, Erin right beside him. A glance through the glass doors revealed the empty master bedroom, so with a deft motion he picked the lock and carefully slid the door open. Rejev led the way deeper into the house, pausing outside an open door as he heard voices.

"-ou can't be serious," a male voice, probably Montgomery's, said. "They wouldn't dare."

"Really?" a lightly-accented female voice replied, from her tone Rejev could almost visualize the raised eyebrow. So that was the voice of Cassiopeia. He double checked to ensure his recording equipment was running. "You don't get out much do you, Jonathan?"

"I am well aware of what XCOM is capable of, Sarah," Montgomery said heatedly. "I grew up among them. They will not touch me without proof." Rejev scowled.

"They have proof you simpleton," Cassiopeia almost growled back. "Vaas was removed from the interrogation chamber this morning. They'll be after both of us by this evening. I have explicit orders to get you away from them."

Fierce pride swelled in Rejev's chest at that revelation. At least XCIS wasn't involved in the leak. He waved Erin forward and slipped into the room. Montgomery sat relaxed behind an impressively overcompensatory desk while Cassiopeia stood with her back to the door mere feet away from Rejev. "That's not going to happen," Montgomery insisted. "I'll know about it long before they make their move." Rejev grinned wryly. That was just too perfect an invitation.

Rejev smoothly moved behind the woman, taking great pains to keep his movements smooth and silent. Erin slipped around him, swiftly taking up her position beside the male traitor. The woman began to speak, but froze as the barrel of Rejev's plasma pistol pressed against her skull. A soft crackle filled the room as both Erin and Rejev's ghost modules were turned off. "Give us an excuse, love," he said calmly. "We only need one of you."

The expression of pure shock gracing the face of the arrogant fuck in the chair was sure to become one of Rejev's most treasured memories.

A moment later, Montgomery jerked and collapsed as Erin hit him with her arc thrower. Rejev made to do the same when the woman whirled without warning, her heel striking cleanly against his helmet, sending him toppling over. His grip instinctively tightened and the distinctive roar of plasma discharge filled the air as the woman threw herself up and over the floundering Rejev and disappeared down the hall, further into the house.

"Fuck!" he cried, thoroughly cursing his need to gloat. He activated his comm. "Casiopeia's making a break for it! Second floor, heading east! She knows we're here!" His mic turned off and he muttered, "and she's got one hell of a kick." He glanced at Erin and ordered, "Stay here and watch that idiot, I'll go after her."

She acknowledged his order and he took off after the woman in a bound. He caught sight of her disappearing down the stairs as he approached. "Fuck it," he muttered, and threw himself over the railing. He landed with a mighty crash mere feet from the woman as she hit the ground floor. She instantly spun around, one foot extended to take his legs out from under him.

The limb hit his armored calf and stopped cold. He was sure he was grinning ferally as he said, "Bit too heavy there, love." His fist shot out in a picture-perfect right cross and she toppled back with a cry, blood trailing through the air from her broken nose. He whipped out his arc thrower and shocked her before she could recover. "Now that's how you end a chase."

"The Citadel Council calls on Donnel Udina, Emissary from the Human Coalition," Councillor Tevos said formally. "Many concerns have been raised by the actions of your government. We would like answers."

The human dignitary stepped forward, close-cropped dark hair framing a hawkish visage. He bowed elaborately to the Council and nodded obligingly to the batarian ambassador to the side. "The Coalition would be happy to address any of your concerns, Councillors, Ambassador."

"At 22:37 Citadel Standard Time two days ago, the Human Coalition launched an assa-" Sparatus began, only to be cut off by an insistent chime from the petitioning platform. The human mumbled an apology, raised a hand, palm forward, and took a step back. He then moved his hand up to his ear and began to speak quietly, clearly into a communicator of some kind. Sparatus could only stare in shock. It had been many centuries since the Council had been told to wait. Eventually, he managed to give a sidelong glance at the other Councillors.

His colleagues were faring little better than he. Silence, broken only by the unintelligibly soft human voice, ruled the chamber for a long moment. Finally, Jath'Amon could take no more. "What do you think you're doing?!" he roared, pounding a fist into the podium before him.

Udina looked at the batarian sharply, then cut his eyes over to the Councillors. He mumbled something into his device then spoke audibly. "My apologies Councillors," he bowed again. "My people have recovered some items we believe belongs to you. I was merely attempting to arrange for their delivery."

"Oh?" Councillor Arolith said interestedly. His tone turned playful, almost sly. "What could that be?"

Udina ducked his head and said to his unknown partner, "Do it." He looked up again, locking his gaze with every member of the Council in turn, ending with the salarian. Something passed through their gaze, though Sparatus could not tell what. "Simply something that you had lost."

As he finished, an enormous whirl of purple light appeared at the top of the stairs before the Council's platform. It quickly spread out, forming a circle almost ten meters across. The interior of the circle swirled wildly before abruptly disappearing, taking with it most of Sparatus' view of the Council Chambers. Instead, the purple disk appeared to serve as a window into a small, obviously artificial, park, where a collection of thousands of individuals, from every species in Citadel Space stood calmly. A moment later, they were moving through what he now recognized as a human wormhole and filling the Council Chamber as far as he could see.

Sparatus barely noticed his mandibles flexing wildly as he tried to recover from his shock. The sputtering noises Tevos was making made it clear he was not the only one having trouble with the surprise. "Wh- What is this?" he said, completely bewildered by the sudden appearance of thousands of new faces.

Udina looked decidedly smug as the portal closed behind him. "These good people are those we rescued from a lifetime of slavery on Adek." He directed a significant look at Jath'Amon and spoke, all the while glaring at the batarian. "To my understanding, a grievous violation of standing Citadel law."

Almost despite himself, Sparatus felt a great deal of respect for this move. He had been pushing for something to be done about the Hegemony's practice of slavery since before he had even been appointed Councillor. That the Coalition would put them in such a position was definitely testing the bounds of his self control. "That it is, Emissary," he said, a trace of his good cheer slipping through his disciplined countenance. "You have our thanks for their return." The other Council members nodded their agreement.

"Indeed," Jath'Amon interjected suddenly, the faintest trace of bitterness in his voice. Sparatus grinned internally. It was about time. The batarian glared viciously at the human. "However, we are not here for that. We are here to discuss the way you humans murdered an entire city!"

Jeers and angry cries rang from the returned civilians, drowning out all other sound as their voices echoed throughout the gigantic chamber. The cacophony forced the human to cover his ears and the soundproofing barriers of the Council platform to spring to life. The freed slaves surged at the batarian ambassador angrily and Sparatus felt a jolt of fear. A riot would be deadly in the suddenly far too small room. C-Sec would never calm them in time.

The human emissary shouted something, obviously assisted by an amplifier of some kind since it was loud enough to be audible, though not intelligible, even through the soundproofed kinetic barrier. The group stilled abruptly at the sure to be almost deafening noise, though those closest to the human were clutching their ears in pain. He began to speak and Sparatus quickly turned off the barrier.

"-lping. Please, return to your homes, or wait in or near my office in the Presidium if you have further business with the Human Coalition. I will do everything in my power to help you after I am done here." An interminable moment passed as the crowd and the human regarded each other. Finally, the crowd began to disperse, trooping through the elevators down to the presidium or hopping in aircar taxis to wherever they needed to go. In less than twenty minutes, the crowd had all but completely vanished.

The human emissary turned back to the Council. "My apologies. You were saying?"

Sam Rejev regarded the woman on the far side of the interrogation room's two-way mirror with grim satisfaction. The boss had granted his request to lead Cassiopeia's interrogation. A small smile graced his lips at the thought. At least he'd have a chance to make up for his mistake during her capture. After several minutes of observing, and paging through XCIS' sparse dossier on her, he decided to start the process. He left the small recording room and swiftly made his way into the interrogation room proper.

The woman sat stonily, completely ignoring his presence. Her hands and feet had been bound tightly to the steel chair she sat in. He wasn't going to risk letting her use the cybernetic augments they'd found in her. He strolled calmly to the open chair and sat leisurely, the dossier in his hands placed onto the table. "Hello, Sarah... Walker, isn't it?" he said amiably.

The woman continued to ignore him. He grinned at her and shook his head. "It's rather rude to ignore people, you know?"

Still, she practiced her statue imitation. Rejev sighed heavily. "You realize that you're not helping yourself here, right?" Silence. He picked the dossier back up and continued, watching her out of his peripheral vision. Time to take it up a notch. "Alrighty then. I'll just keep you company for a while. I'm sure your father will be by to collect you soon enough, Ms. Lawson."

Her face went white, naked terror etched into every line. "Ah, I thought that might grab your attention," Rejev said casually. She mumbled something, too quietly for him to understand. "What was that?"

"Don't," she said softly. Her fear hung thick in the air. "Don't involve him. You have no idea what he'll do to me."

Rejev heaved a dramatic sigh, still affecting a friendly persona. "I'm afraid I know exactly what he'll do to you, Miranda. Henry Lawson is a very bad man, after all. But you know what?"" He locked gazes with his subject. "I don't care," he said firmly. He leaned over the table, making every effort to appear as imposing as possible. "Your actions have cost thousands of people their lives and jeopardized nearly everything the Coalition has been working towards. You'll be getting what's coming to you, as far as I'm concerned. But!" he leaned back in his chair with that exclamation, re-donning his affable mask. "I'm willing to help you to... disappear. All you have to do is cooperate. You'll still be going to prison of course, but no one needs to know who you really are."

She floundered for a long moment, clearly still off balance from being forced to face her deepest fear. "I can help you Miranda, but only if you help me," he prodded her, determined to keep her from recovering.

Her eyes hardened, fear giving way to something deeper, more primal. Rejev couldn't help but admire the fire in her gaze. "I can't," she said firmly, in a voice as unbending as steel. "I talk and she's dead. Do your worst, muton."

He shrugged, presenting a blasé exterior to cover his internal scowl. He really didn't want to cross this line. Steeling himself, he said, "As you wish, Miranda," he said and stood up. He picked up the dossier, subtly sliding a pre-selected page out of the folder such that it fell to the table before her. Her sudden gasp told him everything he needed to know.

He looked her in the eye, ensuring the message was conveyed. She surged at him, her bindings snapping taut without even an inch of give. "You tell him anything and I will bathe in your blood!" she shouted wildly, visibly straining against her restraints. "You sectoid-fucking bastards won't touch her!"

Rejev weathered her rage, forcibly keeping his face blank. "I can and I will," he said calmly, reminding himself what this woman had done to force his gorge down. "Unless you tell me what I want to know."

She locked gazes with him, impassioned fury meeting detached professionalism. Several minutes passed in a silent battle of wills before she sagged in her seat. Her gaze falling to the paper that had fallen from the dossier. The photo and current location of one Oriana Lawson. "Cerberus," she said weakly, defeat clear in her tone and posture. "They call themselves Cerberus."

Sparatus quickly smothered the potent mixture of respect for the emissary's style and disdain for the man's audacity before it could show on his features. Tevos gave no external sign, but he had known her long enough to know she was going through something similar. Arolith, on the other talon, was much harder to read. The salarian impassively looked on, but Sparatus could not shake the feeling he had known this was coming. Arolith glanced over at him and flicked his gaze back to the human. Sparatus sighed internally. At least this salarian Councillor wasn't quite as aggravating as his predecessor had described Jaroll.

"That was... most enlightening, Emissary," Tevos' calm voice broke the long silence, a slight undercurrent of tension running through it. Udina, obviously certain his message had been conveyed, bowed to the Council and flashed a smug grin at the batarian ambassador, head cocked ever so slightly to his right.

Jath'Amon's grip on his podium tightened visibly as he glared heatedly at the emissary. Sparatus let a slight grin cross his features. It was good to finally see the self-righteous, slaving bastard put in his place. He forcibly stopped himself from further indulging in schadenfreude however. There were more important matters to discuss.

"Yes, most enlightening," he said softly. With an, externally, almost casual ease, Sparatus brought years of military discipline to the forefront of his mind. The human emissary stiffened as the turian's sheer presence filled the room. "And most distressing." He leveled a glare on Udina. "I will be blunt Emissary. What is the Coalition planning?"

The man stood tall, clearly affected by the sudden change in atmosphere and just as clearly unwilling to let it show. "We have no further plans for conflict at this time, Councillor," he said simply. "Our people were taken. We found where they were held and took them back, freeing over 2500 of your people from slavery in the process. We have no interest in further violence."

Tevos tapped a quick sequence into her omnitool. The chamber's enormous holographic projector sprung to life, showing one of the tamer videos captured from Adek. "You call this no interest?" she asked sharply. "These abominations butchered tens of thousands of innocent people Emissary. You will understand if we say we are... skeptical of your claims."

"As you should be," he replied. Sparatus felt a jolt of fear at the admission. There was nothing the Citadel Fleet could do if the Coalition decided to push a bomb through into the Council chamber via portal. "After all, that was the point of deploying them." Udina waved at the hologram.

"Explain yourself," Arolith half-asked, half-said.

"The Chryssalids were once used against my people, in the Ethereal War, to break our wills," Udina began. "We know full well the terror they inflict. Anyone who attacks our people, supports those who attack our people, or attempts to profit off of the results of attacks on our people will be subjected to the same. We make neither excuses nor apologies." He smiled wryly. "If you were not wary of us for being willing to do so, you would not be members of this body."

"T-That's insane!" Tevos stuttered out. "You would kill thousands of innocents for the crimes of a single individual?!"

Udina glared fiercely at the asari. "No. We would do anything to protect our people," he said fervently. "We do not seek war. We want nothing more than to be allowed to live in peace. But we have been forced to the brink of extinction before. We will not allow anyone to harm our people. No matter the cost."

Sparatus refused to admit it aloud, but approval sang through his veins at the human's words. They all too clearly echoed the very foundation of the Hierarchy's ideals. Fortunately, Tevos was far more objective. "Such actions will not be tolerated, Emissary," she all but hissed. "I am aware of your people's history, but such a course is not acceptable."

Udina's nostrils flared and he opened his mouth to respond, and stopped abruptly. His mouth closed with an audible clack and he closed his eyes and breathed heavily for several seconds. His eyes opened and he appeared much calmer. "Councillor, I will be frank. We do not care about your opinion of our methods." Tevos sputtered faintly. "I am here to answer your concerns and assuage your fears. Not to debate morality. The Coalition would like the violence to stop here. What would that require?"

"Information on this vessel," Sparatus chimed in quickly, seizing the initiative while Tevos recovered. He tapped a swift sequence and replaced the Chryssalid video with an image of the massive ship hovering above Adek.

"And viable DNA samples of a fertile Chry- Chryssalid," Arolith said, stumbling slightly over the unfamiliar word. "As well as birth conditions and other miscellania."

Udina turned a surprised look on Arolith. "You want to clone fertile Chryssalids?" he asked. He looked back at Tevos. Sheer incredulity filled his tone. "And you call us insane?"

"Oh?" Arolith interrupted before she could speak. "How is that any different from what you have done?"

The human stared Arolith straight in the eye and said, "If the Chryssalids we had unleashed had been fertile, there wouldn't be a sapient being left on that planet by now."

Sparatus choked on the air. "W-What?!" he shouted. Quickly re-composing himself, he barked, "Explain yourself. Now!"

Udina weathered his glare admirably, the only sign of his discomfort a tightening around his eyes. "Chryssalids have a gestation period of approximately fifteen seconds. When born, they burst from the zombie that carried their egg and are approximately half the size of the full grown samples you have seen. They then mature fully within thirty seconds."

"Impossible!" Arolith exclaimed. "Nothing can grow that fast!"

"Yet they do it anyway," Udina agreed. "That is why all of our Chryssalids are sterile and we have destroyed all samples of fertile Chryssalid DNA."

Tevos exhaled heavily. "Finally, something we can agree on," she said in a rush. Udina simply nodded. "However, in that case, I must insist that all Chryssalid samples be destroyed, their production banned, and their use outlawed."

Udina regarded her steadily for a long moment, then turned to face Sparatus. "First, I will address your concerns." When the turian nodded, he continued, gesturing at the hologram. "This vessel is the XCS O'Connell, the first of XCOM's Supercarriers, finest warship in our fleet."

Sparatus eyed the man, pushing every ounce of his military training into his glare. "And?"

Udina met his gaze for a long moment, but eventually was forced to look away. Sparatus enjoyed the small victory as the emissary continued. "And it is a non-combat craft." Sparatus couldn't keep his surprise off his face. Udina snorted. "A supercarrier is a completely self-sustaining delivery mechanism for the combat craft. Nothing more."

That was different, Sparatus thought. The Hierarchy had never considered building a warship not actually meant to be in combat. Such a design would not be terribly practical for a Hierarchy craft however. It would require far too much element zero. It made sense for the humans though, from what little he knew of their wormhole technology. He examined the image floating above them one last time. "One last question, emissary. How many do you have?"

Udina set his expression into a stubborn mold. "Enough." Sparatus sighed internally. He should have expected that. He met the human's eyes again, but this time the man's gaze was steady and unflinching. He nodded to his colleagues. They were not going to get any more.

"Very well," Tevos said. "Now, as for the Chryssalids..." she trailed off leadingly.

"The Coalition is prepared to sign and ratify a treaty classifying the use of Chryssalids as a crime against sapient life, and violators subject to everything that entails," Udina answered, surprising Sparatus. That was far easier than he had expected. What the human had left out was clear to the entire Council however.

"And the other conditions?" Arolith asked pointedly.

"No," Udina answered bluntly. Sparatus twitched in annoyance. That was not what he wanted to hear.

"Then we are at an impasse," Tevos said. "We will not permit your people to operate within our borders or conduct business with your government until such time as our conditions are met."

Udina's lip furled. "Fine," he conceded after several minutes thought. "We will agree to outlawing the production of complete Chryssalids, and we will allow no more than three Council Spectres at a time to operate within human space to ensure it. But we will keep our existing stock."

The Councillors glanced at each other, silently communicating as only long-time friends and allies can. Finally, Tevos spoke. "An acceptable compromise."

"Rejev, in position," he reported over the squad's comm from his assigned post, watching over the entrance to the underground bunker their investigation had revealed as the refuge of Cerberus' leader. "No movement." A beat later he said to his partner, "I can't shake the feeling we're gonna walk in there and find this guy petting a white cat and saying he expects us to die."

Erin rolled her eyes. "Shut it, Sam," she said. "This isn't a movie, that's not going to happen."

"C'mon, you can't honestly tell me this guy isn't going to be moustache-twirling-evil." She smacked the back of his head, but he persisted. "Ten credits says he puts on the act."

She glared at him, but sighed after a moment. "Fine, you're on," she grumbled good-naturedly. Rejev grinned. Easiest credits he'd ever made. There was no way this guy wasn't a drama queen.

Just then, their boss' voice came over the radio. "We are green. Remember, capture if possible, but don't risk yourselves for it. Go on my mark, weapons hot. Three... two... one... MARK!"

Rejev burst into motion, Erin and their SHIV, nicknamed Artoo, hot on his heels. He slid to a stop behind some cover from the door and swept his plasma rifle around, looking for hostiles. Erin slid past behind him and slapped a breaching charge against the door. Artoo hovered beside him, heavy plasma primed and ready. "Fire in the hole!" she cried, a moment before the charge exploded, filling the hallway beyond with deadly shrapnel. A beat later, another explosion sounded from the southeast. Rejev smiled grimly. He pitied anyone who tried to get out the back door. That meant going through the boss. "Clear!" Erin's voice cued him to abandon his overwatch and follow her into the bunker.

He stepped inside to an unexpected scene. A man, decked out in a grey-white uniform of some kind, hung pinned to the sloping ceiling by a foot long fragment of the door, blood dripping in a steady stream to the floor below, where it ran in channels down the slope before pooling outside the door at the end of the tunnel. Rejev rushed past the corpse and moved to the door under Erin's watch. He propped himself against the frame and slapped a charge on the door. He mimed a countdown with his fingers. At zero, the door blew open and a withering volley of plasma fire came bursting out.

"Holy fuck!" he shouted. "That's a heavy plasma!"

"I know!" Erin responded from her position. The edge of the doorframe he hid behind began to glow.

"Where the fuck did they get a heavy plasma?!" he shouted indignantly, panic beginning to edge into his tone. He had ten seconds, tops, before the frame gave way. His gaze flicked wildly around for a solution and landed on the robot. He sagged in relief. Now he had an idea. He ripped a smoke grenade off his belt and flicked it just past the doorway, then called, "Artoo! Clear the room!"

The drone chirped a string of beeps and whistles and shot down the hall, flying past Rejev with a rush of displaced air. Plasma cannons roared as the drone forced the enemy heavy to divert their fire. Rejev breathed a sigh of relief and rolled out from behind cover, half a dozen enemies visible through the smoke as bright outlines on his hud thanks to Artoo's targeting uplink. Plasma lanced from Erin's position behind him, tearing into and through the closest target, likely the only one she could reach from so far up the slope. He snapped his rifle around to the next target and let loose a bolt of brilliant green plasma, ending another life.

A quick motion activated his Ghost module, fully concealing him within the smoke. He bolted from the cloud and charged around to support the struggling Artoo. Thankfully, its kinetic barriers had lasted long enough to take down the heavy, but the three survivors were steadily chipping away at the drone. It had been designed to take a beating, far more so than even the strongest set of Titan Armor, but it couldn't take that kind of sustained fire for too long. Rejev circled around the fight and found a flanking position from the opposite wall. Plasma lanced out from his rifle and one of the hostiles collapsed, suddenly missing most of his head.

The remaining pair startled at their comrade's sudden death, giving the SHIV the opportunity to rain plasma on one while Erin picked off the last from the doorway. Rejev hesitantly peered around the now-still room, the remnants of his smoke grenade still hanging thick on the air. Finally, he announced, "Clear!" and the group relaxed marginally.

The trio regrouped, impatiently waiting that incredibly long handful of seconds for Artoo's shields to recharge, and arranged themselves around the room's only exit. Faint sounds of combat reached their ears from beyond the door. Rejev frowned. Hopefully the boss' team was having better luck than his was.

Erin stepped forward and slapped another breaching charge on the door, blowing it open with an earsplitting roar. The dust cleared quickly to show an empty hallway, ending in another door some twenty meters down and a third doorway between them, forming a T intersection. Their inspection of the hallway was cut short however, when the far door exploded inwards, sending the squishy members of the team back behind cover to avoid the shrapnel.

Weapons were brought to bear, but trigger fingers relaxed as a voice came over the comm. "Team-2 coming through," the boss said. "Let's get the son of a bitch."

"You got it boss-man," Rejev said, slipping around the doorframe and moving to the edge of the intersection, woman and drone trailing behind him. The boss' team settled in opposite them and he gave Rejev a finger countdown. As it reached the end, he slapped a charge on the door and blew it wide open.

The pair rushed into the room, rifles raised and pointed at the man facing away from them in a chair in the otherwise empty room, a hologram of some kind of dim star decorating the far walls. He took a final drag from his cigarette and extinguished it against the chair's armrest. "Ah," he said, still not moving to face them. "So you did find me. I had hoped to evade your notice. Alas, it seems your resources outmatch even my own considerable skills."

Despite himself, Rejev felt himself grinning. This nutjob really did fancy himself a Bond villain. "Jack Harper," he said, as sternly as he could manage. He kept his rifle trained on the bastard's head. "You are under arrest for treason."

The chair slowly spun around to face the agents, giving them their first good view of the man. He was handsome, in a way. The kind of chiseled good looks that only come naturally. Dark, neatly kept hair swept back over glittering eyes. Locking gazes with the man chilled Rejev to the bone. This was a true believer. "Is it truly treason to protect humanity?" he asked softly, his voice containing just enough innocent curiosity that Rejev almost believed he thought he was doing the right thing.

"You call siccing a group of slavers on defenseless people protecting humanity?" he asked incredulously, slowly moving toward the man and wary of a trap.

"Of course," the maniac said, pure conviction in his tone. He stood slowly, hands held freely before him. "It was bound to happen eventually. By sending them to Mindoir, we suffered minimal casualties, and XCOM's inevitable response has made quite clear to the rest of the galaxy what humanity can and will do when provoked. My actions have saved countless lives."

"You really believe that don't you?" Rejev asked incredulously. Harper nodded. "You're insane," he said simply, inching towards the maniac.

Harper merely smiled indulgently at him. "The distance between insanity and genius is measured only by success."

Harper jerked suddenly and collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut. Rejev slipped his Arc Thrower back into his belt and looked back at the doorway. His voice turned smug. "Looks like you owe me ten credits, Erin."

"The Council's business with the Human Coalition is concluded," Tevos announced formally. "We shall now serve as mediators to determine peace between the Coalition and the Batarian Hegemony. Ambassador, state your terms."

Jath'Amon cleared his throat, carefully regarding the assembled beings, and spoke firmly. "The Batarian Hegemony demands no less than 1.5 trillion credits and four tons of Elerium" Sparatus' mandibles flexed. That was not going to go over well with the humans.

True enough, when Udina spoke, it was with an undercurrent of tightly controlled anger. "No. That is ridiculous. You will not see an ounce of Elerium. And just for that, you won't see a dime."

"Your pets murdered tens of thousands of innocent batarians for the actions of a depraved lunatic," Jath'Amon countered, surprisingly calmly. "You will pay for your actions."

Udina glared at the batarian then took a long moment to compose himself. "You mean the tens of thousands of innocents in blatant violation of Citadel law?" he asked. Sparatus couldn't help but enjoy the way the ambassador's expression tightened at the transparent ploy.

"Most of those slain were not slavers, but slaves," he bit out angrily.

Udina smiled slightly. "So you admit the Hegemony has been ignoring this Council's decree outlawing slavery?"

Jath'Amon sputtered for a few seconds. "The cultural heritage of the Hegemony is not the issue at hand, human!" he finally said. "Your people butchered thousands of innocents. You cannot escape that. You will pay reparations."

Udina regarded the ambassador shrewdly and said, "You're right." Sparatus gave the emissary a piercing look. That was not what he had expected at all. "The Human Coalition will pay reparations." A beat passed. "If, and only if, the Batarian Hegemony finally brings itself in line with Citadel law."

Sparatus all but gaped at the human, barely contained mirth bubbling beneath his exoskeleton. That was just perfect. "W-What?!" Jath'Amon thundered.

"You said it yourself, Ambassador," Udina answered smoothly. "The majority of the deaths were slaves. They wouldn't have been there, nor would Vaas have had reason to bring my people to your world, if the Hegemony had complied with the Citadel Council and outlawed slavery. The Coalition will offer 1.2 trillion credits in reparations, on the condition that the Hegemony outlaws slavery and allows a joint XCOM and C-SEC task force to visit your worlds and ensure it."

The batarian ambassador's expression darkened rapidly, but Sparatus chose to speak before him. This was simply too perfect a chance to finally solve the problem of the Hegemony. "I agree." His fellow Councillors whirled on him. At Tevos' sharp look, he elaborated. "The Hegemony has been allowed to flaunt Citadel law for centuries, Ambassador. If you wish for our support, you will abide by our agreements." The emissary caught Sparatus' gaze and nodded sharply, relief briefly passing over his expression.

Jath'Amon's mouth worked soundlessly for several moments. "W-w-w-what?!" he repeated himself. "We have been members of the Citadel for centur-"

"It hardly counts as membership if you ignore the rules when they don't suit you," Arolith interrupted bluntly. "I third the motion."

The salarian's support caught Sparatus' off-guard, but it was very welcome. He looked to Tevos with a questioning expression. She sighed. "Very well," she said, so quietly only her fellow Councillors could hear. Louder, she continued. "It is the decision of this Council that we will support the Batarian Hegemony's claim for reparations from the Human Coalition only if they bring their laws in line with Citadel law."

Jath'Amon gaped at the Council. "This is an outrage!" he roared. "We have an agreement, Councillors!"

"An agreement your people have been willfully ignoring for centuries," Sparatus spat. "Do not be surprised when we do the same."

The ambassador gave a wordless scream of rage and pounded a fist into his podium. "As you wish," he spat angrily. "It is clear to me that the Batarian Hegemony is no longer welcome among this Council. Consider our embassy closed." Sparatus allowed himself to bask in his satisfaction. Finally, he no longer had to tacitly support slavers. Jath'Amon turned a four-eyed glare on the human. "This is not over human! We will have vengeance!"

With that, the batarian turned and stormed from the chamber, voluminous robes swirling in his wake. Sparatus resisted the urge for a parting shot, instead turning his attention to the emissary. "That was... interesting, Emissary," he said. "Masterfully done."

Tevos leveled a glare at the turian. "And most unfortunate," she said. "I find myself forced to admit to loathing your people's brand of diplomacy, Emissary."

Udina smiled slightly, allowing the asari's displeasure to slide off him. "I would be concerned if you didn't, Councillor. Is there anything further to discuss at this time?"

"No," she admitted tiredly. "I will be in contact later to work out the details of our agreement."

"As you wish." The human bowed and walked away.

"The accused shall stand," the judge declared firmly. Jack Harper stood smoothly, ignoring the camera flashes and constant undercurrent of commentary from the media box of the courtroom. He gazed steadily back at the judge, expression regal despite the circumstances. "Jack Harper, you have been found guilty of conspiracy to commit treason, conspiracy to commit terrorism, 16 counts of illegal arms trading, 2872 counts of accessory to kidnapping, and 4,123 counts of accessory to murder, all in direct relation to the attack on Mindoir two weeks ago. You have been sentenced to death by firing squad, to be carried out immediately. Do you have any last words for this court?"

Harper regarded the judge steadily and exhaled strongly. "I do, Your Honor." Jeers erupted from the crowd, and more than a few pieces of garbage were thrown his way. He carefully schooled his expression into regal neutrality. "I will be remembered as a monster. I am a monster. I am personally responsible for the deaths of over four thousand innocent people, and for the suffering of thousands more." The crowd began to still at his words, enraptured by the man's sheer presence. He let a slight hint of the very real grief he felt leak into his voice. "I have crossed the line. There is no forgiveness for me, in this life or the next." The courtroom was silent, save the gentle hum of the media's recording equipment. He looked over to the reporters. "You will speak of me as a butcher. A bloodthirsty lunatic," he said matter of factly. "It is in your nature. But know this. My every action is, and has always been, for the betterment of mankind."

It was a testament to his oratory skills that no one reacted to his proclamation. "The people of Mindoir died to prove to the galaxy that Humanity is not to be trifled with." The fires of conviction burst to life behind his eyes, and none could meet his gaze for long. "We are mighty. We are powerful. We are Human!" he almost shouted. He continued after a beat, somewhat subdued. "I will pay for my sins, as must we all. I go willingly to my death. One such as I, one responsible for so much suffering and death, does not deserve to live." He panned his gaze around the spellbound audience. "You will hate me. You will kill me. And you will remember my words this day," he said, a note of finality creeping into his voice. "My actions killed thousands, but ultimately saved billions. Life demands sacrifice." He looked back to the judge. "I ask for no mercy nor leniency; my hands are stained with far too much red. I ask only that Humanity stands strong. Terra Victoria."

Jack Harper sat down. The courtroom remained silent for several minutes.