I don't own the Mass Effect.

Operation: Mechanical Accelerant

SA Seventh Fleet – Meeting Notes

- Marked Top Secret by Adm. Zheng -

Admiral Zheng: The instructions are clear, simple, and well thought out politically. However, they are absolutely useless when it comes to the reality on the ground.

Prime Minister Shastri: Do explain, Admiral.

Admiral Zheng: You want me to treat the single least uniform, least organized, least centralized region in the galaxy as a monolithic bloc and apply Alliance authority to a region that the Council has spent a millennium failing to pacify... and you want me to do it with a fleet that is still coming online and is extremely light on heavy assets.

Prime Minister Shastri: Confidentially... yes, I am aware that the instructions are writ insanity, but my hands are tied politically. Terra Firma is going to walk out of the coalition if we don't do it and the last thing we need right now is for the government to collapse.

Admiral Zheng: ...all right, will I at least have your back if I attempt to mitigate some sections? Moving into the Hegemony border zone could unify that nation against an outside actor, and while they are crippled we very much do not need them deciding that death and glory is better that avoiding a fight.

Prime Minister Shastri: Agreed... and if you could avoid irritating the Empress, I would appreciate it as well. The Council would be all too happy to look the other way if that bitch decided to take a few swipes at us, and Parliament would explode with demands for a war we can't afford.

Admiral Zheng: We are in agreement there. My initial plan is to secure those areas closest to the Verge, and to dispatch picket groups to those colonies that invite us in. I believe it imperative that we do not appear to be invaders, a coalition of local worlds deciding to support the pirates moving into the Deep Zone and Hegemony border territories would be problematic.

Prime Minister Shastri: Learning from the Corsairs mistakes?

Admiral Zheng: I don't suppose I'll have command authority over those maniacs?

Prime Minister Shastri: Regrettably, Admiral Mannfeld remains extremely popular with both Arcturas and Vancouver. You'll have to mitigate the damage as best you can.

Silent Witness

(Voya'chi vas Xentha)

Date: 12-06-2187

Location: Normandy II Lounge, en route to the Perseus Veil

I stared at the starry expanse, absently lifting my glass to my lips, hardly tasting the brandy as it washed over my tongue. For once I was alone in the lounge, having slipped out of our quarters while the other slept, though experience told me I could expect company sooner or later. Cieran tended to wake up rather quickly after my departure, the lack of my warmth rousing him no matter how deeply he might be sleeping.

But for now... it was just me, alone.

A voice whispered from my memories, gravelly and mocking. As you should be, little beast. Alone in the dark, hidden in your cave where your new master cannot find you.

My fingers tightened furiously, trying to stop myself from remembering what that thing had said, what it had done. The connection between my skull and the stupid orb hadn't lasted more than a few seconds according to everyone, but it... had seemed like forever. More than enough time for a Leviathan to rummage around in my memories, to taunt and mock me as it did so. It had seemed to have no interest in killing me, or any of us, but causing pain? That... that had interested it.

They will tire of you, just as your prior owners tired of mounting your filthy body. Sooner or later they will realize you are not worth the effort it takes to hold your leash... the effort to correct your mistakes... to hide your victims. They will cover your eyes, fill the air with sweet words, and slit your throat... and then, little beast, you will die like the kine you are.

Squeezing my eyes shut, I threw the rest of my drink back, spilling some of it over my chin thanks to the shaking of my hand.

Flee into the dark, little beast, die alone like the animal you know yourself to be... before you force them to put you down.

I managed to set the glass onto the end table without breaking the stupid thing, but it was a near run. My hands clenched into fists in my lap as I fought to control my breathing, to push the memories back into the hidden valley they deserved to be locked within. It was enough to distract me entirely, to block out the sound of the door opening behind me, and my first warning that I wasn't alone was the shifting of the couch as someone sat beside me.

But as I was pulled against a warm frame, rather than a Human who always found a way to smell of chehala and rum, I inhaled the oddly sweet scent of Asari skin.

"Let..." I exhaled sharply, focusing on the anger her touch brought, using it to push everything else aside. "...go of me."

"No." Illyan replied placidly, gently wiping at the booze on my chin.

I made a low, growling sound in my throat, the only warning I gave before I snapped a hand up to strike her jaw. The big idiot took the blow with a quiet grunt, then brought her own hand around. Asari weren't as strong as Quarians, pound for pound... but Illyan was Illyan. The blow snapped my head to the side, bounced it off of the hard back of the couch, and left me entirely open for a follow-up grab at my mane.

Pain flared across my scalp as she effortlessly hauled me down, leaving my head in her lap and my body awkwardly thrashed, desperately trying to angle itself to lessen the pressure.

"No." She spoke in the same tones, not even having the grace to sound annoyed. "Calm down."

"Fuck off." I hissed in reply, trying to get my right arm out from under me, my left going for her wrist. Illyan easily grabbed me with her free hand before I could punch or claw her, abusing both her strength and the terrible position I was stuck in. My flailing redoubled, real pain spiking as she tightened her grip on my hair, refusing to let me get away. She didn't slam my head against anything else, or really do much beyond hold on, but that was all she had to do.

That had been my second drink, and I hadn't been getting much sleep. Within five minutes I was exhausted and panting, my legs up and over the armrest of the couch while my head was stuck on her thighs, glaring up at her as best I could while I tried to catch my breath.

"You done?" She asked, looking down at me, disapproval and annoyance etched in her features.

I glared at her as best I could given my position, "I hate you."

Blue eyes rolled, "If you hated me, you'd have gone for the knife in your shoe."

A muscle in my cheek twitched sharply. "I'm not going to talk with you."

She didn't deign reply to that, instead simply relaxing her fingers from their death drip on my mane. Moments later the pain began to fade as she began to stroke my hair in the same fashion Cieran would to soothe me, and I had to fight the reflexive urge to close my eyes. Of course, no sooner had my eyelids started to move, then the ancestor's damned memory came back.

Little pet...

"Stop!" I growled, ready to start a second effort to escape... only to blink in surprise when she did cease the motions. That left my brain scrambling to figure out what it should do instead of futilely attempting violence once more. "Let go of me and go away."

There was a snort, making my lips twist in displeasure when she simply shifted a hand to flick my nose with a finger. I considered biting the digit, realized she'd just hold onto my scalp, and settled for glaring up at her. My glare was pretty good, but she'd been inoculated thanks to being on the receiving end of Cieran's more times than I could count. Her arm shifted down until it was resting on my stomach, and she leaned back as if prepared to simply wait me out.

She'd been trying to corner me for the last three days, and it had only been by sinking my claws into Cieran, sometimes literally, that had let me avoid this very situation. That she was touching me was not helping in the slightest, I was entirely too aware of where her arms were, and the weight of them on me. I could tolerate small things from Shyeel, and more from Cieran, but that had come through a lot of time and adjustments.

Illyan and I were... more complicated.

"I don't need a sister, or a parent, or whatever the fuck you want to call it." I said, speaking quietly, trying to force myself to remain calm, "We've been over that shit before, on Omega."

Illyan made a quiet rumbling noise, "I'm not here to act like that and you bloody know it, you're just trying to avoid shit."

Closing my eyes, I concentrated on my breathing again. "Illyan-"

"No, Voya." She effortlessly spoke over me, "This drinking yourself into a stupor on your own crap doesn't suit you. You're going to talk with me or I'm going to beat you senseless... and then you're going to talk with me anyway."

"I talked with Cie." I replied darkly, not opening my eyes. "I don't need to talk with you."

"Liar." Her voice turned flat. "There's been more than one of us with you at all times, you've never dragged him off for a conversation."

Another growl made my throat vibrate, "I'm going to talk with him about it, not with you. Let go of me, and fuck off."

"No." This time she actually growled as well, "You are going to talk with me for once in your goddess-damned life... or you're at least going to listen to me when I talk with you. I fucking know what it's like to have one of those... things break into your head and taunt you with all the shit it finds."

I sucked in a sharp breath... and once again tried to get away from her. She held me down even more easily this time, ignoring the punches and elbows I managed to land with a stoic indifference before grabbing my wrist and tightening her grip on my hair once again. Hissing in pain, I threw my free palm into her chin, making her grunt quietly, the sound choking off when I pressed onto her throat. That let me feel a bit of metal; she was wearing a necklace.

Baring my teeth in a snarl, I grabbed at it, forcing her to bend over slightly. She strained against it, sensibly more focused on my attempts to free my other wrist, and my grip shifted as we struggled, drawing the necklace itself out of her shirt. Metal clinked against metal as two small tabs, plus a black shard, emerged. I recognized all three objects at once and felt my fingers snap open in surprise.

Illyan's head whipped back as the pressure faded, blue eyes blinking before glancing down to see what had drawn my attention and made me stop struggling

My own eyes narrowed a little, "Why are you wearing those."

The hand in my hair released the strands, and snapped up to grab the chain and push it back beneath her shirt. I glowered more deeply, seizing her wrist before she could hide them. I couldn't read the Human writing on the small metal tabs, but glimpses of the other sides revealed stylized blue flames on one, and red fire on the other. The identification tags that Krom and Zero One had been wearing when we'd... when she had killed them. Between them was a single shard of Emperor Ganar's crest, three of the best kills we'd had.

My claws broke her skin as I tightened my grip, "Illyan... you never liked the practice."

The big idiot regarded me without any real expression on her face, then she looked away and exhaled. "We're not here to talk about me, I wanted to-"

"We are now." I snapped, not letting go. "Why?"

Lips pulled back from teeth, "Because I'm useless right now, and they remind me of when I wasn't, all right? You don't have any idea what it's like to be stuck behind while you three go off to fight shit, especially husked shit again."

I flicked my tongue over my lips, trying not to wince as I pictured myself with a mangled leg, being left behind as the others went off. Keelah, I'd probably start twitching inside of the first couple of minutes. "Oh."

She merely grunted and twisted her wrist free, pushing the trophies back beneath her dark shirt. "Look, as much as I want to force you to actually talk to me for once in your goddess-damned life... I won't make you say crap if you really don't want to. That said, I'm not going to leave you in here drinking alone either. You should fucking know better, considering what it led Cieran to end up doing."

I flinched at the memories of how many drinks he'd downed in between Redcliffe and Illium. He hadn't exactly been the only one, none of us had been sober for very long on that trip, but he'd been the only one to get someone pregnant in the same time-frame. My hand fell back and rubbed furiously at my face, trying to bury the reminder that Erana wasn't Cieran's only child... and that I had no idea how I felt about the subject as a whole.

"...I've only had two." I muttered defensively, mostly talking for the sake of finding a distraction.

"Two in what, fifteen minutes?" Her head shook, "I'm not letting you up to get more."

I felt my upper lip twitch away from my teeth, "So I'm just going to be stuck here, neither of us saying anything, until when?"

"Until Cieran wakes up, eats, and decides to find us." She replied simply.

Huffing out a breath through my nose, I shifted my body back and forth a bit, trying to get comfortable. Illyan rolled her eyes when I crossed my arms over my chest, my toes flexing as I kept my legs twitching, making it clear that I didn't consider myself comfortable in the slightest. That lasted until Illyan withdrew her arms, stretching one along the back of the couch, the other bringing her omni-tool up to read something.

And then... the only part of us touching was my head in her lap... where I could see her upper torso right above me.

My eyes closed firmly against the sight, even as I chased the logic through my mental valleys. Illyan was a lot of things... overbearing, irritating, annoying strong, but she was about as bad of a liar as Cieran was. Oh she'd technically told me the truth about why she was wearing the trophies, told me a logical reason, but definitely not the only reason. It was the same reason she'd come in here instead of sending Cieran... or why'd she blocked him and sent him off to eat and volunteered to take the first attempt.

She wanted to talk with me alone, wanted to comfort me... and she was up to something. Something that involved her wearing three trophies that put anything that I owned to shame.

I sucked in a sharp breath, snapping my eyes open to glare at her. "Who?"

She glanced down at me, "Hm?"

"Who did you talk to?" I demanded, before belatedly realizing that we weren't exactly alone. "No, wait, EDI! Privacy!"

"Logging you out, Miss Chi." The AI replied politely. For her part, Illyan blinked, still seemingly confused as to what I was even talking about.

"Harro? Halia?" I continued, pressing her, "Who?"

"Oh." Blue lips pressed together as she glanced away from me, clearly embarrassed at having been caught out. "...think it's better that I don't say."

Hissing in anger, I hauled myself up, and this time she made no move to stop me. Pulling my legs in, I turned and settled in a crouch beside her, fighting the urge to grab her necklace and tear it off of her. When I spoke again, my voice was a low, angry growl. "Illyan..."

She kept looking away, "What?"

"You..." I needed a moment, sucking in a sharp breath, fighting to keep myself from attacking her. "You're declaring yourself a peer, a rival."

That made her blink, "Wait, what?"

I narrowed my eyes to slits. "For Cieran, obviously!"

Her mouth opened, then closed, then she shook her head and sighed. "Voya, use your brain. I physically can't meld with Cie. You have no idea how agonizing it is, and even with the notes that Aria gave us in that deal Ghai isn't sure it'll ever be a pain-free process. Even if she cures him he probably won't ever be able to bond without driving his partner mad, then going crazy in turn."

"Then what are..." It was my turn to blink and shake my head, my jealous anger abruptly retreating. If she wasn't wearing them to point out that her kills were superior to mine, to tacitly declare herself the better prize to Cieran, then why wear them? It wasn't as if there was a Xenthan around whom she wanted to show off... for... oh keelah... "You can't be serious."

Illyan swallowed as her cheeks darkened from a deep blue to something closer to the color of our uniforms, "Um, it depends on what you're asking if I'm serious about?"

I opened my mouth to reply, realized that my throat wasn't working because my mind had just run right into a cliff wall in its confusion. I mean, I'd known Illyan just as long as I'd known Cieran, but... we'd been closer to hostile acquaintances stuck together for Cieran's sake more than actual friends. It had taken a lot of arguments, fist fights, ambushes, cruel pranks, and the occasional irate beat-down by the hands of said Human before we'd gotten anywhere close to 'friendly'.

So instead of talking, I simply pointed a finger at her, and then at me. When her flush only deepened, I just kept gaping at her. "I... you... what? Tell me this is just get into Cieran's bed again."

"Um," She swallowed, "What if it-"

I grabbed her by the throat, her words becoming a gasping sound, and leaned in close to her face as I growled, "My brain is about to break in half, do you understand?"

"It is?" Cieran's voice interrupted us, and I snapped my head around to see him standing in the doorway. He held a glass of gently steaming tea in one hand, and a plate of food in the other, and looked entirely too amused at the scene in front of him... but thankfully seemed to have missed the first part of this conversation. "What did she say to send you to the edge of sanity?"

"Nothing." I replied flatly, turning to give Illyan a slit-eyed glare as I tightened my grip a bit. "Nothing."

She managed a nod, and only then did I let go. Her blush hadn't faded however, and I pointedly got up, shifted over to one of the other couch, and dropped into it instead. Cieran shook his head bemusedly, taking the spot beside me and starting in on his food. Despite the light smile on his face, I noted his pale green eyes taking in the room, and the two glasses and spilled brandy on the end table between our couch and Illyan's.

I winced when his attention shifted to me, concern and disappointment making something in my chest twist unpleasantly.

"Well," He offered quietly, "Not sure what that was about, but at least you're doing all right."

I opened my mouth to reply, only for Illyan to beat me to it, "She isn't boss. Got her distracted but she'd downed those even before I limped in here."

"I'm fine." I said, shaking my head and making my hair rustle. "It's not like being abused is a new experience."

Illyan winced while Cieran went still, his breath escaping sharply between his teeth. "True, but it didn't make it any easier for me to have to go through that shit again... and you could at least hunt down and kill the assholes who raped you physically."

Even by his standards, that was rather blunt, and I felt myself flinch back a little. "Cie... I don't-"

A pale hand rose, and I shut my mouth on reflex. "I'm not asking you to talk about it, but don't tell us you're fine. You're not fine."

Swallowing, I felt the confusion of my conversation with Illyan fading as the memories came easily, too easily, back to me. Almost unconsciously I found myself shifting closer to him, leaning in to rub my cheek across his goatee, feeling the gentle scratching of his hair. Then I curled into a ball and rested my head on his shoulder, inhaling his scent and finding myself far more comfortable than I had been near Illyan.

"Illyan told me some of what hers hit her with." He spoke quietly, setting his barely-touched food aside. "It wasn't much like what happened to me. I just got broken memories as it tried to turn me into a puppet, but suddenly thinking of it as a kind of god wasn't exactly pleasant."

I closed my eyes, realizing that this must have been some kind of arranged plan between the two keshin. Illyan came in first, see if she could get me to open up on her own... and Cieran came in later, after she inevitably failed. Then the pair of them would talk about their own shitty experiences, remind me that I wasn't alone, that they had suffered beside me and would continue to do so. Me discovering Illyan's necklace, and whatever the fuck that was about, had been an accident that had distracted the both of us.

"Where's Shyeel?" I asked quietly.

"Meeting with Lawson about what's happening on Haestrom." Cieran replied, "So I could be in here with you."

Guilt over yet another instance of him dropping everything else to take care of me made me flinch, a hand tightening in his shirt as I took in a deep breath. "I'm... not fine, but I don't-"

"Mine was... more pain oriented." Illyan spoke from across the room, her voice soft as she interrupted me once again, "It knew someone else would smash the orb, even if I didn't, so it just wanted to fuck with me. Told me I'd die alone, that Cie and I would never last, that I'd go mad, just like that bitch Zero-One. That he'd just become a new version of Krom.. that we'd be that bitch's playthings, that you and Shyeel would have to hunt us down, put us out of our misery."

My eyes squeezed more tightly shut. It had probably been the same Leviathan to affect her as me, the similarities were there. "I hate you, I hate both of you."

I felt Cieran smile as he bent his head slightly, not quite nuzzling my mane. "You love me. Her you might hate a bit, but you love me."

"Don't remind me." The reflexive words came out, before I lowered my head a bit more.

Silence fell, but it was a comfortable one. The pair of them just remaining nearby, telling me that they were here without so much as speaking, without pushing. Offering me companionship without demanding anything in return.

That lasted all of a minute before I felt my mouth keep moving without any input from my brain. Words tumbled out, telling them how it had told me that I was little more than a wild animal, held on a leash. How Cieran was merely my latest slave master, replacing the ones who had raped me. That sooner or later I would cause too many problems with my attitude, that I would kill the wrong person at the wrong time... that they would decide to put me down like a pet that had outlived its usefulness.

Cieran's arms had wrapped around me at some point during the retelling, pulling me entirely into his lap, his fingers clenching almost painfully where he held my shoulder and my waist. He'd slid them both beneath my shirt, as if clutching my skin and hair, feeling me directly was critical to him knowing that I was still here.

That, I think, far more than merely speaking what had happened aloud, made me feel slightly better. His very real rage was making his jaw clench, and I could feel his heart thrumming with the emotion in his chest. Whatever that fucking... what had he called them, delusional space squid had said, he didn't consider himself my master. He was mine, my Promised, though he didn't know it, and I knew that he wanted nothing more than to butcher the Leviathan that had hurt me.

Preferably in as slow a fashion as he could devise.

"You're angry." I muttered quietly, speaking after ten or fifteen minutes of silence, and pointedly not looking at the Asari. I didn't think my fragile sanity could take seeing a similar expression on her features.

"Obviously." He replied, letting out a long, furious breath as he forced his fingers to relax. "...please tell me it isn't turning you on."

"It isn't turning me on." I lied flatly, not quite burying my face in the exposed skin around his neck, inhaling deeply once again. Dammit, we should have stayed on Omega... there I could have tried to do something for Cieran, to repay him for that anger, but I wasn't about to give Cerberus's pet AI a show. So instead of kicking Illyan out, biting him, and trying to guide his hands to my breasts... I leaned back and let out a long breath. "Please tell me we're done with the talking."

Cieran glanced down at me, then over at Illyan. When she twitched a shoulder, he did the same, "We're done. You want to work on something, spar?"

Those options sounded good... though anything would have sounded good when compared to my emotions bouncing around. Everything that had happened in the last hour or so was... something I no longer wanted to think about, not in the slightest. Not about what that thing had done to me, not about whatever the fuck that Illyan was thinking, or scheming, or whatever. Although, bringing her up...

"Beating a giant idiot sounds rather good." I purred, finally turning to regard my target.

Her own eyes narrowed in reply, a hand waving at her stiffly bound leg. "I'm injured, remember?"

I cocked my head, "What's your point?"

There was a sigh from Cieran, "I'll spar with you after I finish eating. Illyan, you might want to stay up here, unless you want to have your leg broken again."

I glared at him, far less pleased than I had been a few moments before. "Keshin, always ruining my fun..."

The Shepherd

(Kaya Shepard)

Date: 12-06-2187

Location: SSV North Cape, Dholen System, Perseus Veil

I stared at the holographic display in the back of the comm room, the map of the system hovering in front of us as we tried to work out what the hell we were going to do with the latest crisis.

Two of the three factions involved in the fighting had lived up to their ends of the bargain that we'd worked out on Haestrom's ruined surface. Legion's faction of the Geth had done something, released some kind of virus into the Heretic's main network to effectively reset or brainwash as many programs as they could. That had evidently been enough to give them control of Rannoch once again, even if the Heretics had found a way to block the signal elsewhere. Still, their remaining assets were paltry compared to what they'd been a few days ago, and the true Geth had highlighted their positions for the Terminus fleets to dispose of.

For his part, Die Waffe had been something close to thrilled that he wouldn't have to take his fleet into action against Rannoch's defenses, and he'd more or less confirmed everything that T'Voth had told me about Terminus Warlords. None of them had seriously wanted to risk their big ships, and had grown increasingly irritated towards their Quarian 'allies'. As a result, he, Leska Sederis, and Oran T'Loak had all but fallen over themselves to sign an agreement promising to leave the Geth at Rannoch alone in exchange for their help against the Reapers, Leviathans, and Heretics.

But as always you only needed one side to start a war, or to keep one going.

The Quarian Admirals had refused to so much as send a representative to speak with Legion, and had in fact called me a fool, a moron, and worse for being so naive as to trust the collection of programs. They'd also railed at the Warlords for breaking the agreement they'd made before the war started, which had nearly started a shooting match between the two groups as the pirates had viciously thrown back the Migrant Fleet's continued refusal to engage the Get at all.

"All right Admiral." I sighed, wishing I could lean on something. "What's the latest?"

Admiral Zaal'Koris exhaled, suited arms crossing his chest on the screen beside the map, "It remains confused. The other Admirals confirmed their intent to continue the war this morning, I was the only dissenting vote. They also refused to have the Conclave ratify the decision."

Beside me, Ash frowned, a hand planting itself on her right hip. "Meaning?"

"Meaning we're a few seconds away from political chaos." He replied, shaking his head. "The original declaration of martial law was that it would last until the Geth rebellion had ended, by any sane definition, it has. That would turn political power over to the Conclave, which is dominated by my Civilian Fleet."

I exhaled, "Who would immediately accept the armistice and open peace negotiations."

"In all probability." Koris said simply, "We would be given anything we needed from Rannoch to create a new home on Haestrom, would be promised Geth aid in the case of Council or Terminus action against us, and we would be free to live in peace... and those crusading keshin will never accept because all they care about is vengeance."

Ash pursed her lips, "Can they force it, without the Terminus fleet?"

"Xen has us with a seventy percent chance of victory." Glowing eyes narrowed, "Casualties are estimated in the millions, and the fool Gerrel is demanding the Live-ships accompany the attack despite the fact that losing them would kill us all even if we take the planet. It isn't as if the Geth have been politely farming and stockpiling food for us."

Jesus Christ... "Are they insane?"

Koris was silent for a few moments before he spoke again, his voice cautious. "The dream of retaking Rannoch is... more than merely a material goal, it is a religion unto itself, a symbol, something that many children are raised to believe in. A dream that dying in the process of doing is the greatest death a Quarian can have. It's most pervasive on the Heavy Fleet, and Raan, Gerrel, and Zorah were all raised in that culture."

I exhaled sharply at that. Three fifths of the Quarian leadership were, for lack of a better word, indoctrinated then, and I realized that his choice of words had been precise. When he'd said that they were crusading, he'd meant it literally. Taking back their homeworld wasn't about rationality and logic, or even about justice... it was a holy purpose.

"Christ." I breathed, this time aloud. "You can't convince any of them to change? At least hold back and let the Geth prove their on the level?"

He shook his head once, "Xen, she has no real interest in Rannoch and only wants to test her technological toys. I convinced her that hunting Reaper and Leviathan agents would probably be more intriguing to hunt and experiment upon, but that still left us outvoted three to two. Zorah and Gerrel will never change their minds, and Raan is... submissive to them."

It was Ash's turn to narrow her eyes, "What do you mean?"

"Meaning that she was given an Admiral's post because those two keshin new she'd do whatever they said." He growled, "She's technically skilled enough, but she has no real willpower of her own."

"Damn." My fellow Spectre muttered, "What's the plan then? The Armada and the Black Fleet are still blocking the relay, so they aren't going anywhere unless they want to pick a fight with their own allies."

"They can't afford to." I spoke before Koris could, waving a hand towards where the Steel Fleet and about seven pirate formations were lurking. "Waffe would be all over their asses if they tried, and he'd go for the live-ships."

The Quarian Admiral was again silent for a while, twenty or thirty seconds passing before he spoke again. "He may not have to. If the flotilla is ordered to move, I have given instructions to the civilian fleet to ignore the order. I will not continue this war without a calling of the Conclave, without knowing the will of the people we claim to defend."

His words made me bow my head slightly, half closing my eyes as I exhaled. How long had it been since I'd heard an authority figure actually speak words like that and mean then? "And if the Conclave voted for war?"

"Then... I would command my fleet to the best of my ability." He said, with only the briefest of hesitations. "My plan is to call for a vote across the Flotilla's Intranet in five hours. Not on the war, but on an in-person gathering of the Conclave on the Rayya. If the others refuse to allow their captains to attend, I will have all the proof I need to rally the general population against them. If they accept, we will have at least another day or two to work with, it will take that long to gather all of the Captains."

I nodded slightly, "Understood Admiral. Good luck, and keep us informed."

"Thank you for giving me the chance." He replied before signing off, leaving Ash and I alone in the room. Sighing and shaking my head, I turned away from the display and walked over to a chair. She watched as I collapsed in it, letting my head fall back against the rest, snorting and smiling with a bit of nostalgia as she did.

"Like old times." She crossed her arms across her chest, emphasizing the dark uniform she wore. "Just a new set of politicians giving us the same old problems."

I snorted softly. "Yeah."

The last few days, being on a real Alliance ship again, had been... different. Like coming home but finding out that someone had re-arranged everything while you were gone. The crew discovering just who I was, who my companions were, had been easier to handle than I'd worried, mostly thanks to Ash's quick thinking. She'd 'revealed' that I'd been nearly killed in the attack on Alchera, and had been undergoing extensive treatment and rehab in secret before using my supposed 'death' as a cover to help take down Cerberus.

It was... nice to be amongst Alliance soldiers once again, surrounded by people who had volunteered for service in the defense of their homes, of their liberty. It was a pleasant change from the company we'd been keeping for the last several months. Still, this wasn't the Normandy, with its crack complement of experienced veterans, used to the moral gray areas that Spectres had to work in. Most of Ash's crew were young recruits and recent graduates from various officer's schools, still innocent and idealistic.

The fact that Heinrich 'Die Waffe' Bauer, the closest thing to an arch-traitor Humanity had, was sitting right next door as our technical ally wasn't going over well. That we were, more or less, stopping the warlords from throwing their heaviest forces into a meat grinder was going over even more poorly. Things were fairly tense on board as a result, with no one openly questioning their CO, but it was clear what was on everyone's minds. Her prejudiced XO was not at all helping with that, to the point where I'd asked Miranda if the guy was Cerberus, and wasn't sure I believed her when she'd said no.

"Kean and Lawson will be here tomorrow, or the day after." I spoke into the quiet that had fallen, "You'll be able to get out of here after that."

Ash exhaled heavily, her faint smile vanishing as quickly as it had come. "How did their operation go?"

"Mixed." I replied, "They had both Geth and the Matriarch's cult try and interfere with their operation. Picked up what might be the right hardware to let us through the Omega-Four relay, but they got pretty beat up. No deaths, but... walking around inside a Reaper wasn't good for them. They're shaken, took a few wounds."

Her face twitched a little. "So you want to send me away when a bunch of unstable mercs and terrorists show up?"

"Want to? No." I admitted quietly, "Think it might be best? Unfortunately. Your people are barely tolerating what we're doing as it is, discipline might not hold if they have to deal with said mercs and terrorists in person."

Lips pressed into a thin line as she considered that. Watching her expression, I leaned in, resting my elbows on my knees, and asked a follow-up. "Ash, what the hell is up with this ship? You're the Alliance's only Spectre, why do you have a trainee crew filled with Terra Firma types?"

The other woman stared back at me for a few seconds, sighed, then made her way to collapse into the chair beside me. "Politics."

I grimaced. We hadn't really had the chance to talk over the last few days, mostly because I'd been too occupied interrogating Tali as to what we could expect when we got here, and trying to help her deal with some very severe parental issues. As a result I'd been slower to notice things like the crew's attitude towards the alien members of my team. It had been Liara and Garrus who'd brought it up over lunch yesterday, comparing the ship to the old Normandy and finding it wanting.

"You're going to have to explain that one." I prodded.

She inhaled heavily, chest heaving, then slowly let it out. "Long story short, the only reason the last government pushed me as a candidate was because of my last name, and the only reason the Council let me get to the trial period was my attachment to you."

That was easy to translate. Terra Firma, or someone in that political bloc, had proposed her because they'd obviously expected any Williams to entirely support them. The Council, in turn, would have looked at her time with me and hoped she'd turn out to be as pro-Citadel as I had been. Which would have left her stuck, more than most combat Spectres typically tended to be.

"Oh, shit." I breathed as I connected a few more dots. "Ship's log had you in the Fortieth Scout, is that still run by...?"

"Rear Admiral Rizzo." I winced before I could stop myself, and saw her nod. "Yeah. They're the break on my authority, or at least supposed to be. Last thing the brass wants right now is another alien-loving Specture prioritizing the Citadel over the Alliance."

I felt my upper lip twitch at the old argument. "Never-mind that's what the job actually is."

"Yeah, well... as far as they're concerned I exist to clean up the Alliance's dirty secrets without any red tape getting in the way." Ash shook her head tiredly. "If you want to say you told me so, feel free."

"I won't."

Her eyes closed as she sighed again, "Well... yeah. Apart from James I wasn't allowed to pick out my own crew, and I had to fight tooth and nail just to get him. Pretty sure the AIS is reading all the mail coming off the ship, and it's been made abundantly clear by the brass that I need to remember which oaths I took first."

Grimacing, I glanced at her and tried to inject some levity, "Well, at least now I'm not the only one who knows that feeling."

Ash snorted, "Honor I could have done without... to be honest, one of the reasons I said yes when you called was because the last thing I wanted was to have to deal with the Council riding my ass on one side while Rizzo screams at me about letting," She made air quotes like Sparatus would have, "Alien mercenary scum defile a Human world."

I couldn't help but smile a little, "Sounds fun."

"So much fun." She replied, "But hey, you'll be stuck doing it soon enough too. Bet they'll have all kinds of questions for you about what you've been doing, where you've been."

And just like that, the levity was gone. "Ash..."

A hand rose, "Shep, I'm not saying it to be a bitch, I'm saying it because you really need to start preparing for that moment. I can order the crew to not talk about who you are, but I think we both know how well that would hold. The Alliance is going to find out, and when they do, there's going to be a recall order. They'll stick you in front of a million cameras and demand answers... and I don't think they'll buy the coma and revived story."

Which was correct. The doctors would probably back me up, once they had a time to see how much of a cybernetic zombie I was on the inside, but by that point the public and political damage would be done. And, if half of what she'd told me was true, I couldn't go with my original plan of framing the whole thing as a top-secret Council operation that had gone wrong. That would just play right into Harper's hands and drum up even more anti-Citadel support.

"I can't turn myself in." I spoke quietly, "Not until this is done. People are dying, Ash."

"Yeah." A hand stretched across the space between us, and I reached out to take it, feeling her strong fingers squeezing mine. "I wouldn't either, just... warning you, I guess. I don't want to be sent out to hunt you down. Still not apologizing for decking you, or accepting your apology... but it is good to have you back."

"It's good to be back." I replied, squeezing back before we both let go. "Even with a bunch of kids running your ship, it's damned good to be on an Alliance ship again."

"I can imagine." She smiled, leaning back in her chair, "Help a girl out, give me some details? AIS is all over me about some team that vanished on Omega last week, were supposed to infiltrate your friend's place. He kill them?"

I considered that, settling back as well. "He probably would, if he found them. Guy is a territorial, paranoid asshole, he wouldn't hesitate to drop spies wandering around his territory... but it could have just as easily been Omega. Place is... I don't really words to describe it."

She nodded slightly, "So I've heard. You sure they aren't up to crap? Rumor has it that they just got a whole fleet's worth of refugees from the Hegemony that they're sticking on Novgorod, and ExoGeni is howling about them being on a colony they own the rights to at all."

"Two weeks ago I'd have said I'm sure." I narrowed my eyes as I thought about it, "But... they went into some kind of panic mode right before we left, some crisis they wouldn't talk about. Happened right before Shaaryak and her people showed up. Not sure what it's about, but my bet is Aria did or said something to them."

Ash frowned, "They obey her?"

My left hand rose and shifted back and forth, "Kean doesn't like her, not even slightly, but she owns Omega, and he's got a small city of people to protect... and yeah, he does care about them. Doesn't really care about anyone outside of his borders, but if you're on his turf he''ll go to extremes to protect you."

"He said she had a gun to his head on Horizon." It was her turn to lean forwards, resting her elbows on her knees. "Think he might try and bolt to the Traverse? He'd be trading one crisis for another."

The thought made me frown. I hadn't really considered that before, though I probably should have. It fit with T'Voth's advice about how to predict Kean and the other warlords, especially if he was getting tired of Aria's ability to threaten his life. "Maybe... I'll keep an eye out, see what Liara and the Broker can figure out. You heading back to Horizon after this?"

"El Dorado." She corrected me, "Depending on how the next day or two goes. I'm not jut going to bail on you, and both the SA and the Council will want a report on how all of this goes."

"Mmm, good point." I nodded. "Still leaves us with what to do if the Flotilla starts to fall apart."

A hand rose to rub at her face, "Shep, we've been over this. Quarians and the Geth aren't under Council authority, neither are those pirates. My authorization is only to investigate the disappearances in the Traverse, even as a Spectre I'm pushing things by being here at all."

I considered that for twenty or thirty seconds, then nodded slightly, "I might need to borrow the ship's shuttle in five hours or so, for a routine trip to the surface with my team."

Brown eyes regarded me flatly, then rolled. "Christ... yeah, we'll see if we make that excuse work. Let me go put it in the logs so it at least looks legit, then I want to try and talk you out of your crazy romp around the Citadel idea."

"Thanks Ash."

Codex: Spectres

The popular notion of Spectres as lawless gunslingers, immune to all rules as they swagger around the galaxy having adventures is mostly fiction. For the first part, of the nearly six hundred Spectres currently in service, only a hundred or so are considered 'combat' agents. The remainder are, for lack of a better description, super-detectives and highly specialized researchers, given their extra-legal authority to investigate crimes of galactic significance.

Even those Spectres who live in the mold of Saren Arterius or Kaya Shepard do have restrictions. Their protection and ability to ignore galactic and national law are confined to either a regional zone, the context of a specific mission, or even a set amount of time, depending on the Council's orders. Historically the Council is very permissive in all three areas, and are entirely willing to post-date orders if a Spectre can convince them their actions were undertaken on the Council's behalf.

The greatest difficulty that most Spectres face is their dual loyalties to their species and to the Council. Many, especially those combat-oriented Spectre, also remain officers in their national militaries, and are forced to constantly decide whose orders take precedence. Legally this is always in the Council's favor, though as always reality is not so neat. More Spectres resign due to stress or pressure from their superior officers than those who die in the line of action.

Next up is Mechanical Accelerant V

Why yes, this is a double chapter, for the first time in a long time. Hoping to resume these moving forwards. Not entirely sure if this will cut the number of chapters in this operation down from six to five, but it may, so, fair warning.

Here we get a bunch of personal stuff from Voya, Illyan, and Cie, a look-in at Quarian politics, and a bit of Shep-Ash interaction. Next chapter will see the Normandy showing up just in time for the Quarians to make their decision.

Please read and review, criticism is welcome, flames not so much, as usual. Reviews are my lifeblood as a writer.. every-time my email goes off with a review it makes me want to write more, so please take the time to leave one. Guests can leave them as well, and it only takes a minute, so please. Even if it's as simple as "I enjoyed it, please continue."

Thanks, Kat