Here you go guys and girls hope you all like the new chapter, as always a big shout out to my proofreader.
Gods-own.
Chapter 29: The Calling of the Abyss.
The good doctor had not been all that impressed with my behaviour when I'd finally come around in the Normandy medical bay, nor had she seen fit to remove the magnetic straps that kept me pinned to my sickbed.
"Will you keep it down." grumbled Wrex irritably as he glanced over at me from his own enforced confinement. "Some people are trying to sleep."
"And here I thought you'd been left here to annoyingly me." I countered snidely as I felt a small stab of pain flashing through my chest as I stupidly attempted to readjust my current sleeping arrangements.
"You shouldn't move too much." muttered the krogan tiredly as he cast a sleepy stare over in my general direction. "The doc was pretty pissed when she had to stitch you back together twice in the same day." I let out a low snort as I gazed unblinkingly up at the ceiling above me.
"I would be too in her position." I sighed as I gave an arm a weak tug, half hoping that in the last few minutes that I've been talking they'd come loose somehow, I was to be thoroughly disappointed yet again.
"Don't even bother commander." stated Doctor Chakwas firmly as she came strolling into the pristine space. "Those are electromagnetic shackles designed to restrain augmented individuals such as yourself during surgery, you're not going anywhere."
"Would it help if I apologized for injecting you with your own sedative?" I questioned weakly as I caught the steely expression that had painted itself across the specialists face.
"It wouldn't hurt." came the curt reply as the medical professional picked up yet another imposing looking auto injector from a nearby work desk. "Now lie still." I duly obliged much to the clear enjoyment of my hulking subordinate just across the way. "Now it's your turn Mister Urdnot." which quickly vanished as she turned her attention fully onto the prone mercenary.
"I'm really regretting signing up with you agent." mumbled the krogan weakly as he glanced away from the rapidly approaching needle.
"If I was in your position Wrex I'd been feeling exactly the same way." I chuckled coldly as I turned sombre one small. "How are the others?" the good doctor didn't bother to look up from her current task as she responded.
"They're fine Shepard, Liara has a mild concussion, while the others all have a multitude of lesser injuries, none of which are serious." there came a rather loud cough from below her.
"With the mild exception of my current patient of course." added the women as she raised a sceptical eyebrow. "Happy now?" the imposing alien muttered something under his breath as he looked away. "What was that?" questioned the specialists sharply.
"Nothing ma'am." spluttered the imposing figure as he took on a terrified air.
"Good" she turned her attention back toward the question. "Tali had a few bruised ribs but fortunately that new suit you purchased for her really came in handy." She said with a small smile. "That was awfully kind of you by the way." she teased.
"It was a necessary equipment upgrade, I couldn't risk a team specialist out in the field" I quickly countered as I desperately attempted to change the topic of the conversation back to more pressing. "What about the STG teams, how many of them made it?"
"Just under a quarter." grimaced Chakwas as she lost her happy atmosphere. "Captain Kirrahe and his direct subordinate survived if only barely, Alenko took a rifle round in the right bicep, but it only hit muscle so it should heal relatively quickly." the women brought up a long list on her omni-tool as she continued her medical evaluation. "Everyone else, including Wrex." she added "Should be back on the active roster in the next couple of days."
"Good" I muttered as I started to mentally planning out what to do next after the rather horrifying revelations that had been laid bare on Virmire about Saren's true intentions.
"How long till I'm fit for active duty?" the doctors glare turned cold as she stared down at me with righteous indignation.
"I don't know if I should allow you to return to active duty giving your current state." snapped the specialist as she brought up by medical charts for the two of us to see.
"Multiple fractures all across your rib cage, internal bleeding, stimulant overdose, the list goes on." she chastised sharply as the physician pointed at the various glow points that dotted my holographic read out. "If we weren't on such a tight schedule I would demand that you be released from active duty and placed on immediate medical leave." I couldn't help but grimace slightly at the threat, I'd already spent far too much time confined to hospital rooms for my liking, I had no intention of repeating such an experience if I could help it.
"Can you at least take the restraints off, please?" I question tiredly as I felt the next round of painkillers taking hold. "It's rather demeaning"
"Then you should have thought about that before you pushed your body harder than you should have." countered Chakwas sharply as she strode out of the room.
"I'm going to pay for that later aren't I" I commented dryly.
"Your fault not mine." grumbled the mercenary as he quickly fell back to sleep, much to my rather obvious frustration.
"Why do I keep you around?" I muttered as I quickly joined him in dreamless bless.
"Andrew, Andrew, wake up!" the rather unmistakable voice of my quarian tech expert forced its way into my ear drums as I found myself being rudely shaken awake by said individual.
"I said wake up!" the slap wasn't necessary, not even in the slightest and I clearly let the woman know it as I blindly swore at her for a few moments as I cradled my aching jaw in a prosthetic hand as I was helped out of my sickbed.
"What the hell is the matter with you?" I demanded weakly as the two of us slowly made our way across the empty crew quarters as we headed towards my private quarters. "Do all quarian women like slapping people or is it just you?"
"I'm not going to dignify that with a response." replied Tali steadily as she helped me over the threshold. "Besides, Doctor Chakwas told me to hit you if I had trouble waking you up."
"The good doctor really has it in for me." I sighed as I was slowly guided towards my chest of drawers that was tucked away in on corner of the room.
"You need to put on some fresh clothes, we discussed getting some of the male crew to change you while you were sleeping after the surgery but no one was willing to step forward." commented the teenager nervously as she quickly spun around to give me some privacy as I began pulling the ruined pieces of clothing from my bruised and battered body.
"Much appreciated." I grumbled as I dragged a shirt into its final resting place on my shoulders. "But I've been on enough operating tables in my life that nudity is something that just comes with the territory." the spluttering that echoed out over my shoulder seemed to indicate that Tali seemed to have rather different views on the subject, but I was polite enough not to broach the subject any further as I finally finished dressing myself, if a little scruffily given my current condition. "I take it that this sudden demand for appearances is an indicator that I'm needed on the bridge." I stated evenly as turned my fully attention back towards the tech expert, who by this point had found a particularly interesting section of paneling that held her entire attention. "Am I correct?"
"Yes commander." replied the women as she quickly took on a flustered air. "We received an immediate return orders from Ambassador Udina while you were out, it looks like the Citadel council is forming a joint task force to deal with Saren and his geth, looks like we're going to be part of it." she fixed me with a questioning gaze. "We thought that it might be a good idea to have a debriefing before the Normandy reaches dry-dock."
"I take it by the way you're speaking." I remarked dryly as I returned her stare "That you haven't been spreading unnecessary rumours around my ship." the quarian shook her head.
"None of us have, we thought it would be better if you explained it to the key crew members beforehand." I let out a tired sigh.
"Which basically means Liara, Alenko and the senior alliance personnel." I grimaced "That's going to be an interesting undertaking with the STG on board." my subordinate nodded grimly.
"We could always lock them in the cargo hold, say it's a problem with the elevator." she suggested as the mechanical genius tried to help me come up with a solution for the dilemma.
"It'll be a little cramped, but it's worth a shot, how long would it take you to get something in place?" I questioned as I placed my sunglasses back upon my face, the reassuring pressure almost instinctively lessening the imaginary burden on my metallic shoulders.
"Not too long, give me fifteen minutes and we'd be all set to go." answered the suited girl confidently before she slipped into a more concerned tone. "How's your head, is the information that we found on Virmire helping?" I paused in my planning as I glanced back over towards her.
"It seems to be, the headaches are less frequent, if that's what you're asking." the comment seemed to be well received by my subordinate as she let out a soft sigh of relief before she shifted her attentions back to the task at hand.
"I'd better get busy 'fixing' the elevator." she quickly spluttered as the teenager hurriedly showed herself out of my private quarters.
"Why do I get the feeling I'm going to regret doing that?" I muttered bitterly as I quietly retrieved a whiskey bottle from its hiding place inside a closet draw before planting myself firmly down into a waiting chair. I had time after all, why not spend it appropriately, digging myself into an early grave.
"You've been drinking." criticized the good doctor sharply as she stepped into the sealed confines of the conference room, the rest of my ground team trudging in behind her at a weary pace. "Are you completely out of your mind, do you have any idea how many prescription drugs are floating around inside your system!"
"More than enough probably. You may need to think about how many prescriptions you give out." came my disinterested reply as I seated myself at the head of this little gathering. "Is everyone here Tali?" my subordinate glanced up from here omni-tool for half a moment as she quickly took stock of her surroundings.
"It seems like it, Chief Engineer Adams thought it might be better if he didn't attend, the STG might get even more suspicious if the man in charge of the engineers wasn't seen trying to fix the problems with the cargo elevator."
"That was you?" Questioned Garrus lazily as he turned to face her. "I was wondering what you were doing sticking out of that access panel."
"It was nothing major, just crossed a few wires and misplaced a few plugs; it won't take the team that long to fix the various issues that I left them to find."
"Remind me to keep you away from my prosthetics." I stated levelly as the last few members of our little group came traipsing in over the threshold.
"I take it that this meeting is about what we discovered down on Virmire?" rumbled Wrex darkly as he carefully made himself comfortable in the rather well cushioned chair that he'd picked for himself. "This is going to be an interesting conversation."
"You don't say?" snorted Vakarian dismissively as he placed himself on the other side of the room.
"Well it sounds like we're gonna be talking about rainbows and kittens. Yeah, nothing ominous at all." commented Joker dryly as he hobbled past the gathered ground team as he homed in on one the few remaining empty seats.
"You don't know the half of it." sighed Tali as she occupied the space next to the pilot.
"It's going to be one of those debriefings isn't it?" groaned the man as he ran a tired hand over his face.
"Alright that's enough." I ordered sharply as I took control of the overriding conversation. "We have a limited timeframe so let's get this meeting out of the way as soon as possible." there was a low murmur of agreement from the general onlookers as everyone made themselves comfortable as I got down to the task at hand.
"Right, first off, obviously what you're about to hear is considered top-secret, so under no circumstances are you allowed to repeat what you're about to hear to anyone, do you all understand me?" there was a chorus of confirmations from the assembled listeners as I kept talking. "Good, I won't bore you with say what will happen to you if you do, I'm pretty sure all of you know me well enough by now to make an educated guess." I took a deep breath before continuing.
"I'm sure all of you know the rough details of what took place on Virmire and the events that led to the death of Gunnery Chief Williams." I glanced around at the hard expressions in the room. "But we must remain focused on the primary goal, stopping Saren, especially after what was discovered on the planet surface."
"I take it by your tone of voice that whatever this 'thing' was it means trouble for the rest of us." commented Pressly coldly.
"Like Tali said; you've got no idea." rumbled Wrex darkly from his well cushioned seat.
"Then why don't you explain it to me?" snapped the executive officer sharply as he glared at the mercenary.
"There was a prothean beacon on the planet." Tali declared as she stepped into the conversation.
"By the goddess was it fully functional?" questioned Liara in stunned disbelief as she quickly turned her fully attention back towards me. "Did you use it?"
"It was, and I did" my answer sent a small shockwave rippling out amongst those that hadn't been there. "And it seems to have filled in the missing gaps in the data from Eden Prime." I quickly raised a hand silencing the young asari as she opened her mouth to reply "We'll get to that in a minute Liara, right now we have more immediate problems" I grimaced slightly as I took on a professional air. "We have clear confirmation that Saren is indeed working for the Reapers." I paused briefly before continuing. "What's more, we unearthed undeniable evidence that Sarens ship Sovereign is a fully sentient life form in its own right and is in fact the one that's been controlling the whole situation for quite some time." a deafening silence greeted me at this sudden declaration as the assembled desperately attempted to wrap their heads around the almost unbelievable allegation that I'd laid bare for all to see.
"But you said that Saren is working for the Reapers." stammered Joker as he cast nervous looks around at the other gathered onlookers. "Are you suggesting that Sovereign is a..."
"Reaper, yes I am." I interjected firmly as I fixed every single person with an unwavering glare "I know this sounds unbelievable but it's the truth and the sooner that you deal with this fact the better" I turned to look at my ships medical officer, who's face had turned deadly white at this sudden news. "Doctor, Doctor Chakwas!" the woman snapped herself out of whatever personal contemplation that she'd found herself in.
"My apologies, it just seems so implausible." whispered the specialist as her face screw itself up in deep contemplation. "I just can't seem to wrap my head around it."
"It's a lot to take in doctor, spirits I'm having trouble with it myself and I was there to see it." stated Garrus reassuringly as he stepped into the conversation. "And don't even get me started on those experiments."
"Experiments?" Questioned the middle-aged woman as she turned to look at me expectantly. "What experiments?" much to my quiet relief Tali decided that she was better at explaining this particular topic then I was.
"Saren was conducting inhuman testing on prisoners in the heart of the facility." stated the quarian grimly as she sent a cold glare at her turian teammate, who wisely decided to keep well out of her way as she continued her explanation. "He was seemingly doing research into indoctrination and the effects it has on the sufferer."
"Why would he be doing something like that?" Enquired Liara quietly, as she seemingly attempted to block out the revulsion that she was apparently feeling at this new, unpleasant revelation.
"Because he was scared that he was being affected." whispered Chakwas as realization began dawning as she pieced the pieces together. "It would be the most obvious conclusion if we look at the available evidence."
"What exactly is this 'indoctrination'? added the Lieutenant as he looked around uncertainly. "I mean we know that it controls minds, but what is it when we get down to the crux of the issue?"
"It's nanobots. Fucking nanobots." muttered Wrex bitterly as he glared at the room in general. "It infects anyone that comes near it with a swarm of the little blighters, controls them like bloody flesh puppets, that's what Saren is terrified of, he knows that he's already infect and is trying to fight of sovereigns influence on his mind"
"Well it doesn't look like he's doing a particular good job of it" muttered Joker bitterly as he looked over towards me. "What about you guys, you were down there with him, are you infected?" he demanded quietly.
"Probably" I replied levelly as I picked up on the air of concern that was permeating the surrounding space. "Tali should be fine; her environmental suit should protect her from such things."
"And what about the rest of you?" Enquired Pressly as he turned ever so slightly defensive air.
"Short-term exposure to nanobots in weak concentrations shouldn't pose that great a risk to the host." commented Chakwas professionally as she glanced over towards me. "Though the commander has more experience in these matters than I do" added the women suggestively.
"There shouldn't be a problem short term." I stated levelly as I mulled the question over. "Nanobots in small numbers take quite some time to multiply to dangerous levels so we should have time to complete the mission, but I would strongly suggest that the two of you get some dialysis treatment when all of this is over"
"What about you Agent?" grumbled the krogan irritably as he contemplated having go to hospital something that no full blooded warrior enjoyed. "Won't you need to get check?"
"I already have nanobots in my body so I'll need specialist treatment from Synthetic Insights before I'm back to normal." the deafening silence which greeted the statement was slightly unnerving, I will admit.
"You have nanobots in your bloodstream?" questioned Liara in stunned disbelief as she desperately tried to wrap her head around this sudden revelation.
"Nearly all high ranking corporate agents and personnel have minute amounts of nanobots contained within them, if for identification purposes if nothing else" I explained evenly. "I believe that there is something similar in the migrant fleet correct?" Tali nodded.
"In small amounts, we couldn't afford to implement it on a race wide scale, so normally only exploration ships and fleet marines get the injections." explains the teenager as she brought up a glowing image of her omni-tool. "It functions as a kind of artificial immune system, helping to rapidly treat infection before it becomes a problem."
"I always wonder how your people could engage in conventional warfare." rumbled the mercenary.
"That isn't strictly legal." stated Garrus carefully as he looked around at the other individuals in the space. "The Citadel council has rather strict laws on nanotechnology and its implications."
"If you've haven't noticed Garrus, my people don't really care for the Council or its laws." snorted the quarian dismissively as she brushed the question away with a wave of her gloved hand. "If we did, the migrant fleet would have been destroyed long ago."
"Getting back on topic." I barked forcefully as I steered the conversation back towards its intended destination. "Saren is being manipulated into helping the Reapers by Sovereign and now that our enemy knows that we have discovered him he'll be pushing hard to reach his end game."
"Which is the destruction of all galactic life." muttered Vakarian darkly as he crossed his arms defensively. "Apparently they feed on all advanced civilizations every so often, we're just their latest snack apparently." rather understandably this information was rather poorly received by those who hadn't been witness to the glowing holographic space squid.
"Are you saying that the protheans were...?"
"Eaten for lunch? then yes they were." Stated Garrus as he interrupted the young maiden.
"This is like something out of a bad twentieth century B-movie" groaned the helmsman tiredly as he buried his face into his hands. "You're pulling my leg Commander, right, this can't be real?"
"It's very real." I replied unflinchingly as I fixed everyone with an uncompromising stare. "And I know that I'm asking a lot of you all to go on my word alone but we don't have the time to discuss this" I looked at Liara "As I've already said I came in contact with another prothean beacon while on the planet, this one was fully functional, I need you to conduct another melding as soon as possible to ascertain exactly where this 'conduit' is located, do you think that you can manage that Liara?"
"I believe that I am capable of undertaking such an action" replied the doctor determinedly as she returned my stare. "And even if I weren't I'd still try "The mission comes first." after all" she quoting, much to my internal cringing.
"Alright, let's get this over with." I instructed as the archaeologist quickly scooted over towards me as everyone else gave the two of us some space. "Detach the moment you have the information, I don't want you to put yourself at unnecessary risk." I instructed firmly as I glare at Benezias' only child. "Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes Shepard." replied the young asari as she gently removed my sunglasses from my face. "Now, embrace eternity!" the world burned, blazing images flashed by as breathtaking battles washed over me with every passing moment, until like the early morning tide they simply slipped away until I found myself standing alone in the darkness.
"It will burn." the voice whispered from behind me "Everything will be as dust before the coming storm." it paused before letting out a small chuckle that sent shivers down my spine "Unless you stop it little fox, but then again you never were one to turn away from the hard choices were you?" it sniggered as the world went white. "Now wake up, wake up and set the world aflame!"
Reality came rushing back as the two of us staggered away from each other with ragged breaths.
"Commander!"
"Andrew!" the onlookers were on us before we'd even touched the ground, Doctor Chakwas quickly forcing her way to the fore and running her omni-tool over my sweating features.
"You're heart rate is nearly three times its base level, what happened?" she demanded angrily as she exchanged a withering stare with the two of us. "I've never seen either of you react in such a way to a mind meld before."
"Was it that bad?" I rasped weakly as I gratefully accepted a bottle of water from one of my clear concerned subordinate.
"It was fine for about five minutes Commander." started Alenko carefully as he ran a similar check on Doctor T'soni "Then you both started violently shaking, Doctor Chakwas was terrified that you were having some kind of joint epileptic seizure."
"It was kinda weird Commander." added Joker grimly. "And that's coming from me."
"Your sympathy is overwhelming." I muttered tiredly as I flexed my aching body. "I'll definitely remember this moment when it comes to approving your Christmas bonus." there was a pained cry from the pilot which was quickly pushed to one side as the good doctor forced her way back into the conversation.
"We're getting of topic!" she declared sharply as she sent a withering glare at the other parties involved. "What happened?"
"Why are you asking me?" I countered pointed as a jabbed a thumb towards the other half of the event in question. "She's the one with all the cultural understanding."
"He has a point Doc." added the helmsman carefully as he picked up on the air of pissed off frustration that was pouring off of the women in nearly invisible waves. "I'm just saying."
"Well Doctor I'll ask you the same question, what happened?" Demanded the medical specialist sharply as she turned the full force of her stare onto the unfortunate asari. "Well?" the maiden seemed to visibly shrink under the intense gaze. "I'm waiting."
"I apologize I think I might have strayed too deep into the commanders subconscious when I was looking at the artificial memories." spluttered Liara apologetically as she remained transfixed in her seat, like a rabbit trapped in the headlights.
"That doesn't explain the seizures" snapped Chakwas "Nothing I've read about consensual mind melding indicates such a reaction."
"You read up on my people's physiology?" commented the young maiden in stunned surprise.
"Of course, you're a member of the ship's company, I have a duty to care for you." chastised the woman heatedly as she took on a motherly tone. "Now explain to me what exactly happened with the joining." instructed the specialist.
"It was strange, normally when one joins another's mind, you can feel that persons consciousness hovering around you, like it's looking over your shoulder." described the asari as she kept glancing in my general direction. "But every time I've melded with the commander it always felt like he wasn't really there, like his mind was somewhere else"
"So you went looking for it?" stated Tali in disbelief. "That sounds really stupid"
"I will admit that it could have been more thoroughly thought out." agreed Liara sheepishly. "But my personal curiosity got the better of me." she admitted.
"For future reference my mind is not a tourist attraction." I stated dryly as I butted in on the conversation.
"Quiet, please continue my dear." instructed Chakwas as she shot me a withering glare.
"As Tali summarized I did indeed go look for the Commanders consciousness." explained T'soni as she continued with her explanation. "But it was strange; when I finally found it I could have sworn that there was something else stopping me from getting too close."
"So you tried to force your way through." summarized the medical personal "In the future I would strongly recommend that you refrain from such an action." recommended the specialist as I let out of tired sigh.
"This has all been fascinating." I drawled "But can we focus on apocalyptic scenario playing out in front of us? It's kind of important."
"I second that opinion." rumbled Wrex gruffly. "We have more pressing concerns then the state of the agents mind." the rest of the assembled onlookers nodded grimly though some of them shot concerned looks my way.
"If that's what you wish to discuss" replied Liara calmly as she slipped into a professional tone "The data is some kind of warning that was sent throughout the prothean empire during their fall, unfortunately it seems to have come too late"
"But how does all of this tie into the conduit?" Questioned Garrus impatiently as he waded into the discussion. "Why did Saren go to all the trouble of attack Eden Prime for a distress signal?"
"Because it pointed to where the conduit was located" answered the asari as she glanced over towards me.
"And where is that?" I requested resignedly.
"Ilos" I let out a low hiss.
"And I'm going to hazard guess that the only way to reach the system is by going through the Mu relay." I added grimly.
"You would be correct" the answer was already expected but it was still met with multiple groans from the more experienced members of my team.
"I take it that's a bad thing" guessed Tali as she caught the looks that were plastered across several individuals' faces.
"It definitely throws doubt on the reasons for the recall notice." grimaced Pressly as he ran a hand over his weathered face. "And I fell for it like a blind idiot."
"You were simply following protocol Pressly you've done nothing wrong." I commented levelly as I looked over at the man . "What matters is how we manage the situation from now on"
"Is there even going to be a problem?" Questioned Garrus uneasily. "I mean they mentioned forming a task force to deal with Saren and his geth, isn't that a good thing?"
"It is if they're being honest." growled the krogan mercenary sharply. "There's no guarantee that they won't pull some kind of stunt after the Normandy docks at the Citadel."
"But we know that Saren is a major threat!" Demanded Tali in angry disbelief. "Their own STG teams would back us up on that."
"Never underestimate politics." I countered coldly as I fixed her with long stare. "I may be a council spectre but the Normandy flies Alliance colours which will cause them no end of problems if we chased out target into the Terminus systems."
"Don't they understand the risk that Saren poses?" Spluttered Liara "After anything we've shown them are they still just going to wait for Armageddon?"
"It's not that simple." countered Wrex "We got no solid proof that the reapers exist, everything we've found could suggest that Saren is just using them as a ruse to control the geth."
"And because they'll have to choose between either an apocalyptic event, or a small scale problem, the council members will pick the lesser of two evils every time." groaned Garrus as his mind finally finished joining the dots together.
"Exactly." I took on a grim air. "And knowing that we should have a plan of action in place for when we reach the Citadel."
"Doubting your superiors agent? That's unlike you." teased the krogan mockingly as we exchanged icy stares.
"My orders where to protect the Galaxy and I'm willing to do whatever it takes to make sure that I do that." I responded sharply.
"Even if it means going rogue?" there was a long silence.
"Whatever it takes." I repeated forcefully as I slowly staggered to my feet. "I want contingencies plans in place by the time we reach the Citadel, but keep it discrete, the last thing we need right now is the STG finding out and informing the council"
"And if they do?" Questioned Alenko uneasily as I headed towards the waiting exit.
"Then we do what's necessary for the sake of the mission." I replied coldly as I stepped confidently over the threshold.
I sighed as I entered my private quarters. We still had a few hours until we arrived at the Citadel. I stripped down and laid on my bunk, hoping to catch some much needed shuteye. But after staring at the ceiling for almost twenty minutes I realized I wasn't going to be sleeping anytime soon.
I got up and walked over to the small collection of liquor and poured myself some scotch. I glanced at my private terminal and realized there was something else I still hadn't done.
I sat down at the terminal and booted it up, taking another sip of my drink before I started typing.
Dear Maria Williams,
It is with a heavy heart I must inform you that your daughter; Gunnery Chief Ashley Madeline Williams, was killed in the line of duty during an Alliance Operation on the planet Virmire.
I spent a good ten minutes typing up the letter I would send to Ashley's' mother, then twenty minutes writing a letter to Admiral Hackett recommending the deceased soldier for a Medal of Honor and sent it. He would make sure it happened.
"You're playing a dangerous game lad." Stated my employer sharply as he gazed at me over the communication link. "If you get this wrong then you'll have the entire force of the Citadel Council bearing down on you."
"I know." I sighed deeply. "But right now I don't see any other options, they'll never admit to the Reapers existing and Ambassador Udina is too concerned with getting us a seat on the council to even think of standing up to them right now."
"Agreed." grumbled the chairman darkly as he took another long drag on his cigar. "But I hope you realize that the company will not be able to support you in anyway after you go ahead with this, I'll have enough trouble keeping the other board members from sending people after you." I grimaced at the declaration.
"That would be very much appreciated." the last thing I need was fellow company agents hunting me down for allegedly going rogue.
"I'll also get in contact with Councilor Tevos after we finish this call, just to let her know what's about to happen" added Mr. Coyle distractedly as he began typing away on his omni-tool at a frantic pace.
"Is that wise sir?" I questioned uneasily. "She'll undoubtedly take steps to stop us." the man waved away my concerns with a well-manicured hand.
"I've known Tevos for nearly twenty years and if there is one thing I can say with any certainty is that that particular asari loves compromises, especially if it's advantageous for her people in the long run." explained the older gentleman as he took on a smug air. "She's rather predictable in that way."
"And this benefits us how?" I enquired in mild confusion.
"Because I'll explain to her the potential benefits of such an action and being the level minded individual that she is the good councilor will jump at the chance to get involved."
"And what are the potential benefits, besides warding off Armageddon?" I countered professionally.
"Well if you are correct and Saren is a pawn for the Reapers then they'll be rather relieved when you save their wrinkly asses from the void." chuckled the businessman "And if you're wrong then they can give you a slap on the wrist while praising you for being pro-active in protecting galactic peace." I frowned at the statement.
"You make it sound like you don't believe in the Reapers." I countered which earned a sigh from my superior as he stamped out the last remnants of his cigar.
"It's not that I doubt your judgement but you have to understand my position, everything you've told me is circumstantial evidence at best so you'll understand if I air on the side of caution with this."
"And If I am right?" I snapped irritably as I felt my anger slowly grow.
"Then I deeply hope that you succeed in stopping him, for all our sakes." replied my superior seriously as he fixed me with hard gaze. "I have total faith that you know what you're doing Andrew, get it done."
"Yes Sir" the man smiled at me as he heard my response.
"And agent, try and stay in one piece this time."
The meeting with the council went just as poorly as I predicted, the bureaucratic elite of the Galaxy decided to completely ignore my warnings and focus on the rather delusional belief that it was just a single lone element rather than an overriding threat, though for half a moment I could have sworn that I sure the slightest look of approval from Councillor Tevos when I requested that I'd be sent in pursuit of the rogue spectre; unfortunately the idea was quickly shot down by the other members of the meeting, who quickly dismissed my evidence as being purely scaremongering on the enemies part, rather understandably my ground team had not taken the news very well and it had only been made worse when I'd informed them of the other half of the predicament.
"What do you mean they've grounded the ship?" Demanded Tali angrily as she almost seem to grow in size in front of me.
"Ambassador Udina placed a lock down order on the Normandy, I think he reckons that I'll disobey the council and go after Saren." I explained.
"But we are going after Saren!" Declared the quarian woman heatedly.
"Yes but we didn't want them figuring that out yet." my comment was met with a disbelieving grown from my teams tech expert as she buried her face plate in her hands.
"So we go with the plan then." growled Wrex from his spot on the other side of the cargo bay.
"Looks like it, unfortunately." I glanced over towards Garrus "They used the station's magnetic locks to keep us in place, any ideas about how to get around it Vakarian?" the turian grimaced at the question.
"Not unless you want to fight your way through Citadel control, which is a course of action that I couldn't advise against more strongly." warned the C-sec officer in a slightly pleading tone.
"Have to agree with Garrus commander." added Alenko as the man turned to face me. "We could really do without making ourselves even more wanted by the authorities then we'd already be for deserting.
"So we're going to have to hack the system somehow." mumbled Tail as she fixed me with concerned stare. "But we'd probably need a hard-line connection to the Citadel mainframe."
"Which is also heavily guarded." stated the turian grimly.
"Well we have to do something." Stammered Liara nervously "We can't let Saren win!"
"I have no intention of allowing such a thing" I countered as I ran the problem over in my mind until suddenly an idea came crashing to the floor. "And I think I know how"
"Do we even want to know?" Questioned the alliance officer nervously.
"Probably not." I replied as a worrying smile spread across my features.
"I'm in." Anderson couldn't help but smile as I outlined my plan to him as the two of us sat, hunched over at one of the bars that dotted Zekera ward from one end to the other. "I've been meaning to pay the good ambassador a visit for some time, now I have justification."
"Just don't do any permanent damage" I warned professionally "You're going to be enough trouble as it is, we're committing treason after all."
"Thanks for reminding me." chuckled the man as he took a long sip of his drink. "If it wasn't the end of the world I'd be reconsidering my options"
"Very funny"
"I thought so." commented the captain as he downed the last of his whiskey. "Well I better be off, I'd wish you the best of luck but given how things will turn out if you fail I think I'll put money on your ability to get the job done instead." I nodded grimly as I shook the officers' hand.
"You have my word Anderson I won't fail." the man smiled sadly as he picked up on the determined resolution in my tone.
"Just don't get yourself killed Commander; the alliance needs people like you." I snorted in disbelief.
"Then we're in more trouble than I thought."
"Did you talk to Captain Anderson?" Enquired Joker as I came trudging back onto the Normandy.
"Yes, he's on board, looks like he's got an axe to grind with Udina though, I don't think he took his reassignment to desk duties to well." I explained tiredly as I glanced down at my helmsman. "Any problems since I've been away?"
"Not that I can tell." muttered the pilot as he turned his chair around to face me. "Tali and Adams have been down in engineering tinkering away like madmen for the last hour or so, something about wanting to outrun pursuit." the man let out a disbelieving snort. "Like anything could outrun my baby."
"Just make sure to be ready to go when we know." I instructed wearily as I dragged my aching body back towards my cabin, unfortunately lady luck had other ideas as no sooner had I come staggering down the flight of stairs then I was meet with an imposing glare from my chief medical officer, who manhandled me into the waiting sickbay for in her own words "A much needed nap."
"I can't really afford to be a sleep right now Doctor." I'd argued, but the medical practitioner had simply smiled before handing me a warm glass of milk that had been leased from the mild sedative, something I only found out about a few moments later as I drifted off into the land of Nod.
"Do you really have to wake him, the Commander really needs his rest." the voice roused me from my slumber as reality came slowly into focus.
"I'm up" I declared groggily as I dragged myself upright only to be meet with concerned stares from the female members of my ground team that had funneled into the sterilized space. "I take it," I stated sleepily "That we've already left the Citadel?"
"About six hours ago." commented Liara uneasily as she took in my presumably disheveled state. "We weren't pursued."
"That's something at least." I grumbled as my augmentations pumped my system full of mild stimulants as it worked overtime to purge my body of the unwanted sedatives. "Any word from Captain Anderson?"
"Not since we left the Citadel." whispered Tali sadly.
"He'll be fine" I replied confidently as I dragged my coat over my broad shoulders. "Anderson is one of the most decorated special forces operatives in the Systems Alliance, I'm pretty sure that he can look after himself" I smiled slightly at the pair "Besides we have more pressing concerns, don't you think?" the young women nodded quickly in clear embarrassment. "Good, now on to more pressing matters" I glanced over at my tech expert. "How is the ship looking?"
"She's as good as she going to be." declared the female quarian confidently as she took on a professional air. "Chief engineer Adams and I have been working around the clock making sure that everything is running smoothly, if we run into any enemies they'll be in for a hard fight."
"Good" I glanced at my internal heads up display as I ran some quick calculations on our rough arrival time. "Now all we have to do is wait."
So the final leg of the story begins.
Please read and review if you can, I would love to know how you the readers are finding the current story, also if there any questions about items mentioned in past chapters I will try to answer them without spoiling later installments.
See you all next time.
Gods-own.
