Chapter 52 – Fall Of A Councilor
Year 2203 CE
The Citadel, Serpent Nebula
Spectre Miranda Lawson smiled serenely to herself, taking away the remains of the takeaway dinner she had shared with Kasumi, dropping the disposable utensils and dishes into a garbage compactor, then turning to glance over to where her friend sat cross-legged on a sofa in the little entertainment corner, idly watching some documentary that was trying exceptionally hard to debunk the myths about asari promiscuity.
Her apartment was only a couple of blocks away from the Silversun Strip, still in a very glamorous part of the Citadel, slightly smaller in size than Shepard's, but of almost identical layout. Say what you want about the Council, but they do take good care of their Spectres, Miranda thought to herself. Probably because they know that without us they would be close to helpless. She had taken Kasumi back to her apartment on the second day following their return to the Citadel. Of course, Miranda knew that Shepard was genuine when she allowed them to use her apartment, but Miranda simply was not the kind of person who felt comfortable relying on the goodwill of others unless she absolutely needed it.
Kasumi had taken the brief skycar trip well, not showing much of a reaction to being back on the Citadel again. Still, she had been showing signs of improvement over the past few days, and that pleased Miranda immensely. The meds prescribed by Dr. Chakwas seemed to be working, the mood swings between angry and depressed still occurred now and then, but the time gap between the episodes was steadily increasing. And most importantly, Kasumi began to engage her in conversations again, even if they were about trivial, casual things, her friend never bringing up the issue of her imprisonment and the many months spent on the Shadow Broker's secret base.
But Kasumi was a strong-willed individual, and Miranda had no doubts that she would soon be back to her old self. Every sign so far pointed towards a rapid recovery, and Miranda's thoughts were no longer dominated with worries about Kasumi's health. And right now, her thoughts were focused on the brief message she had received from Shepard a few hours ago. She knew where Shepard and Liara had taken the Normandy to, and what they intended to investigate... and the brief message relaying only the words 'you were right' made Miranda's body shake with cold shivers.
So, my greatest fear comes true. The Reapers have their tentacles firmly into the humanity... and they will inevitably drag our people down into hell with them when Shepard leads the galactic forces to destroy this Leviathan. Everyone within SA, everyone within Sol System... they are likely to be affected by indoctrination... can their minds be saved if the Reapers are defeated swiftly? We must hope for the best. But... so much of what the humanity has gained in the past forty years... will be erased by this. The Council seat, our trade agreements, political, economical and cultural influence... everything will be marginalized... our people could become like the batarians after this next war, fading from the scene entirely...
But perhaps I am being too pessimistic, Miranda told herself. There are billions of humans today living in the Traverse colonies as well as on many alien worlds... they would have escaped the indoctrination. We will have a viable population to rebuild with, as long as we can defeat this Reaper quickly. And with someone like my sister in charge of the colonies... I think this might even be what the humanity needs. Wiping the slate clean, following someone like Oriana, leading our people towards a new age? Ha, now I'm probably dreaming, how silly-
Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a message notification on her omni-tool, the raven-haired Spectre's eyes widening in surprise as she noticed the caller's ID. "What the hell?" she exclaimed aloud, interrupting Kasumi from watching her vid, the Asian woman turning around to look at her inquiringly. "Sorry, it's my sister," Miranda explained, Kasumi smiling and nodding before returning to watch the documentary. Has Ori gone insane, calling me on an open channel?
"Oriana Lawson, have you lost your mind?" were the harsh words with which she opened their conversation. "You should know better than to contact me on an unsecure line!"
"Hey, sis, glad to hear from you too," Miranda could literally imagine her sister making an eye roll while saying those words. "That's just what I wanted to speak with you about, though."
"About losing your mind?" Miranda quipped.
"No," Oriana gave a long-suffering sigh. "About these lines no longer being unsecure. You won't believe this, Miri, but... the Alliance just pulled out a few hours ago... without any warning! I've been in contact with Terra Nova, Eden Prime, Fehl Prime, and it's the same everywhere! I just wondered... maybe you have an idea on what's happening?"
"Huh… well, yes, I might have an idea, indeed," Miranda nodded. "I think that with Shepard meddling into their matters, the Leviathan is now aware that we know about its plans regarding humanity. This might have been a reaction to Shepard's trip to Sigurd's Cradle... Ori, were your people able to extrapolate the destination of the Alliance ships?"
"Yes, with reasonable certainty," came the quick answer. "They are all returning to the Sol System. What's going on, Miri? What should we do?"
"I imagine that there will be war soon, Ori," Miranda spoke grimly. "And I would actually call for you to not get involved. Lay low and try to restore order to the colony worlds. I have a bad feeling that when this war ends, there will be a lot less humans left in the galaxy... at least ones we could trust for certain to not be indoctrinated. It could very well happen that the humanity will be forced to depend on the colony worlds for it's very survival."
"No pressure, indeed," Oriana said, faking a laugh. "Restoring order... rebuilding... seems like that's all we get to do lately, isn't it, Miri? Instead of being able to move forward onto something greater... we get bogged down in a web of intrigue, infighting and outright galactic wars... we should be better than this, sister."
"Yes. And I still believe that we are better than this, especially when I hear these words from you, Ori," Miranda smiled as she spoke. "And how is everything on Horizon? I imagine you all feel very relieved now that the Systems Alliance have withdrawn, no longer hunting civilians to indoctrinate... but what is the situation like?"
"Well… at least both sides were careful not to destroy the infrastructure. It seems as if the Alliance only wanted to snatch as many people as possible without damaging the buildings and installations," Oriana explained. "But… we're en route to Discovery now, and I can tell you that the streets are very empty. We're going to need specialists of almost every kind to get this place running efficiently again, and it will be the same on every colony world that the Alliance visited. Of course I don't have all the numbers right now… but there could be as many as half the people taken."
"That kind of a void will be hard to replace," Miranda clicked her tongue thoughtfully.
"I don't think that we can do it alone, Miri," Oriana said. "You know how much I believe in humanity, but… I don't think that means we should do everything alone."
"Maybe I could ask Shepard to send the geth to help," Miranda mused.
"That would help," her sister agreed. "But I also think we should leave our doors opened wide to the other species as well. I have already begun to preach this to the leaders of the other colonies… and I think I can get them on my side."
"I… suppose," Miranda acceded, still a little doubtful about giving too many concessions to the other species, but intellectually understanding that Oriana was more than likely right about this. "And privately? Everything alright?"
"Yeah, we're fine. Sam is sitting right next to me, steering the skycar. Oh yes, and she says 'hi'. We're going to see what is the state of our apartment… I know for certain that the Alliance searched it several times, hopefully they have not thrashed the place too badly."
"At least you're no longer in danger, Ori. That's one less thing for me to worry about… thank you for letting me know," Miranda said gratefully. "I shouldn't delay you, though… best of luck, sister, and don't let some opportunistic scumbag push you aside from the decision making now. You've done so much for the colonies to deserve having a say in what happens next."
"Uh… well, I… could actually do with a bit less attention…" Oriana replied sounding a little embarrassed.
"What do you mean, Ori?" Miranda asked.
"Eh… you don't really want to know…" came the evasive sounding reply, followed by the sounds of brief struggle and frantic arguing.
"Oh, hey there Miranda," she suddenly heard the voice of Samantha Traynor. "Ori's being very silly about this… but we're getting like crazy amount of messages of support from every corner of the Traverse. People know that Ori's connections, quick thinking and organizational skills saved hundreds of thousands from being abducted… heck, I think that if Ori would want to create some kind of a colonial empire and declare herself the Queen of Traverse, these people would be all for it!"
"Then perhaps you should benefit from their generosity, while it is still there," Miranda said, feeling immensely proud of her sister. "Remember that we humans do not have long memories. In a few months, they will have forgotten everything you have done for them, so make sure to cash in while you can."
"Uh… I'll take that under consideration, sis," Oriana said uncertainly, having successfully batted Samantha away and back to steering the skycar. "But now I really have to run… we're coming up on our apartment block. See ya, Miri!"
"Everything okay?" Kasumi called out when Miranda had simply stood in place for a while after disconnecting the call. "Is Oriana in some kind of trouble?"
"No, Kasumi… she's alright," Miranda replied, her smile broadening as she looked back at her friend. "For once… everything is alright…"
Council Chambers, The Citadel
It took two days after Shepard's return from Psi Tophet, until the next Council session was called. Before that, Morgan had passed the gathered evidence to Councilor Tevos to share it with the other councilors and the Joint Council Command, while keeping it under the wraps from the human representatives for now. Tevos herself was increasingly busy over these two days, but true to her word, continued to keep Shepard updated with the latest developments, such as her decision to also keep the turians out of the loop for now, not trusting Sparatus to react reasonably once he learned that it had been the human fleets who had wiped out the turian forces under the command of his old friend, the late Primarch Victus.
Much as Shepard and Liara wanted to head back home to their daughter on Thessia, the circumstances certainly were important enough to warrant their stay on the Citadel for a few more days. They made sure to chat with Lita regularly, rest of the time spent visiting with Miranda and Kasumi, and going out with Aria during the evenings, keeping the frustrated Pirate Queen company, trying to distract her while Tevos worked throughout the nights in the face of these new developments, only grabbing an hour or two of sleep in her office and relying on stims, at least until this crisis passed by.
Aria hadn't been very happy with this, the famously self-centered ruler of Omega not taking well to her relegation to being less important than the return of the Reapers. To prevent Aria's volatile temper from spilling over, Morgan and Liara had taken it upon themselves to entertain their friend, and despite Aria obviously being pissed off about her bondmate being too busy to accompany them, they had still had quite a lot of fun, stirring trouble in the nightclubs down in the Wards. Despite Morgan's doubts, Aria had insisted that the Normandy would remain on the Citadel as well, banking on the fact that the indoctrinated human leaders would have other things to worry about than looking for a single frigate.
On the morning of their third day back on the Citadel, Morgan finally received a notification from one of Tevos' aides that they were expected to attend an emergency session of the Galactic Council in two hours. When Morgan and Liara arrived at the top of the Presidium Tower, they could sense the palpable tension in the air. Something big was going to happen, they would have been able to feel it even without knowing that Tevos would soon be bringing up the evidence of the Reaper return and of the damning attack by one Council species against their allies.
One by one, the councilors filled the chamber and took their seats, not looking particularly surprised to see Shepard and Liara in attendance. Morgan herself had already grown a little accustomed to the hall in which the highest authorities in the galaxy made their all important decisions. Tevos, while outwardly calm and composed, appeared a little jumpy at times. Raan did not say much, sitting there and likely feeling grateful for the mask covering her face. As a salarian, Oluara had the perfect poker face, logical and inquisitive as always. Ngagong looked as bored as always, and Legion was… just being Legion. Sparatus most likely expected that this would be another session to discuss strategy against the Leviathan, while Hock probably did not think anything other than what the Leviathan allowed her to think.
"My dear fellow councilors, and esteemed guests of our meeting," as always it was Tevos who opened the proceedings. "Today, I bring before you troubling discoveries that were made while investigating the Psi Tophet System in the Sigurd's Cradle cluster."
"Don't tell me that your geth pets managed to stumble onto something interesting?" Hock asked mockingly. Morgan felt a little curious about the human councilor's remark. How come she doesn't know that we found something? Leviathan's thralls sensed the presence of the Normandy… they must know that we have the evidence. Then again… while Leviathan knows everything that its thralls know, the exchange likely doesn't work both ways. His thralls are probably being kept in the dark… even the councilor.
"I'm afraid so, Councilor Hock," Tevos replied neutrally. "I'm sure that Councilor Sparatus in particular has been wondering what kind of force could have destroyed a large turian fleet so thoroughly that not a single ship managed to flee the battle. A single Reaper would have never been able to do so without help… and largely due to the efforts of the geth, as well as Spectre Shepard and Doctor T'Soni, we have managed to discover the truth."
"You know who killed our people?" Sparatus barked angrily. "Why have I not been informed until now? Why keep this information from me?" He glared fiercely at the asari councilor.
"It was not my intention to offend you, my friend," Tevos replied in her most patient, calming tones. "But since I knew that as soon as this information came to light we would need to call an emergency Council session, I sought it wiser to do both at once. I hope you can forgive me."
"Perhaps, but only if you stop stalling now and tell me what Shepard and the geth have learned!" Sparatus demanded angrily.
"Of course," Tevos said, activating the large holo projectors above the crescent shaped table the councilors were seated at. "The first image shows the thermal scans made by the geth and sent to the nearby stationed ship under the command of Spectre Shepard. They reveal a fleet of between three and four hundred ships."
"You have already identified these energy signatures, I'm sure," Sparatus growled impatiently. "Just tell us whose fleets are these? Humans, they must be!" he added with an angry glare at Hock who merely shrugged emotionlessly.
"In a moment, Councilor Sparatus, I appeal to your patience for a while longer," Tevos said calmly, switching to another image showing the scans made by geth. "As you can see, these scans reveal the presence of a massive ship with dramatically different energy emissions than the rest of the fleet."
"The Reaper," Urdnot Ngagong finally looked up with interest, no doubt eager to have himself and his people tested against this dangerous enemy.
"So we believe, yes," Tevos nodded. "As you can see, the Reaper is freely moving amongst these ships and is never seen firing on them."
"Yes, yes, they're allies of the Leviathan, we get it!" Sparatus exclaimed.
"I think calling them thralls would be a little more accurate," Morgan pointed out, knowing that Sparatus would not care much for the distinction.
"Semantics," the turian spat, giving Tevos another glare to urge the asari on.
"Very well. And lastly, we have the visual of a ship of this fleet allied with the Reapers," Tevos nodded, bringing up the image of the stealth dreadnaught that they had managed to get a very close look at from onboard the Normandy.
"What… what is that?" Sparatus gasped, his mandibles twitching with surprise. "It… almost looks like a human dreadnaught… but it's all wrong… spirits," he turned towards Hock, almost shaking with rage. "What atrocities have your people committed now?"
"It is true, Councilor Hock," Tevos nodded grimly. "Some of these ships have been identified as belonging to the Alliance Second Fleet and the Fourth Fleet. And while we do not know... and I suspect will never learn the true circumstances under which your people fell under this Reaper's sway-…"
"Insignificant!" Sparatus roared, swiftly rising from his seat and bearing down on Katherine Hock before anyone else could react. "This… monster… sat beside us, smiling and making her snide comments… while her people were killing mine! Hundreds, thousands of good, honest turian soldiers have been slaughtered, many of whom I called friends! I care not if you throw them off the Council or not, I just want to kill this lying bitch!" his clawed hands wrapped around the human councilor's throat, clamping down and starting to suffocate the wide-eyed woman.
"Sparatus, this isn't the way!" Morgan rose from her seat, shouting at the turian councilor, everyone else too stunned to react... except for Ngagong, the krogan councilor clapping his hands and encouraging his turian colleague to continue.
"H-help… me…" Councilor Hock wheezed, starting to become a little blue in the face, but whether she was appealing to anyone in this room, or to her hidden master, nobody knew. They could not hear the voices in Hock's head whispering the traitorous words 'you have been compromised completely and thus, you have outlived your uselessness. Do not expect us to save you. Your fate was never of consequence to us… and now, even less so.'
"Councilor Sparatus!" Tevos regained her voice, speaking with regal confidence and volume. "You will release her immediately!"
The turian's claws around Hock's throat slackened a little, Sparatus looking at Tevos, then at Shepard, Morgan poised to pounce should he not release his prey. "Why should I not kill her?" he demanded.
"Because despite you being a total pain in the ass, I would hate to shoot you, Sparatus," Morgan snapped. "Which is what will happen if you don't release her."
"You will also release her because she is not Councilor Hock," Tevos added. "At least not anymore… the woman we see before us is just an empty shell, with few thoughts of her own. Any revenge taken against someone like her would be an empty one!"
"I… yes… I see," Sparatus nodded slowly, releasing the human female, Hock whimpering as she rubbed her aching throat and wheezing, struggling to breathe. Raan was the only one who reluctantly moved to push a glass of water towards the human councilor. "Very well… I apologize for my rash actions," he muttered, retaking his seat. "I will follow any course this Council decides upon."
"Under any other conditions, there would be only one course of action in light of such devastating attack of one Council race upon another," Tevos continued. "And while the humans may indeed be innocent victims of the Reapers in all of this, the truth of the matter is that their continued presence on the Council has now become a massive security risk that we cannot allow. Thus, I am asking you to deliver your judgment based on these considerations, the formal reason being unjustified aggression of the Systems Alliance towards the Turian Hierarchy."
"The Salarian Union proposes that the humanity be suspended from the Council, until the resolution of this crisis," Oluara was the first to respond.
"The Quarian Admiralty concurs," Raan echoed the statement, Morgan feeling pleasantly surprised that the other councilors had not voted for outright expulsion.
"Asari Republics also vote for temporary suspension," Tevos nodded, giving Shepard a supportive stare, Morgan smiling back, realizing that her friend had been working behind the scenes to soften the punishment for her people.
"The turians vote for full exclusion," Sparatus snarled, predictably.
"Bah, must we really kick them out?" Urdnot Ngagong groused. "At least they've stirred up a bit of fun, unlike the rest of you, peace loving pyjaks."
"Councilor Ngagong, this is a serious matter. Please, I ask that you treat it accordingly," Tevos reminded the krogan sternly.
"Whatever," Ngagong shrugged. "But the krogan don't believe in half-measures. You want to kick them out, do it properly or not at all. Which is why the krogan are saying good riddance to the human participation."
"Very well," Tevos nodded, not looking overly pleased, even if the vote was still in her favor. "Since the hostilities have also involved the geth fleet, under the existing treaties the geth are therefore also eligible to vote in the matter. Ambassador Legion, what is the decision of the geth consensus?"
Legion turned its flashlight-head towards Morgan, hesitating. "Shepard-Commander?" the geth spoke. Morgan simply nodded in reply, signaling that she would be accepting of any decision by the geth. "The geth consensus believes that a temporary suspension of the human participation would be an adequate punishment," Legion delivered a moment later, Morgan looking on as Tevos breathed out a sigh of relief.
"Then such is the will of this Council," Tevos spoke up with authority. "The humanity is henceforth suspended from the Council, until the end of the war with this Reaper, and until the time that evidence of humanity being free from the taint of indoctrination can be established. Katherine Hock, with this you are stripped from your rank of councilor, and your diplomatic immunity has been revoked."
"What will happen to her?" Liara blurted out suddenly, then blushing wildly for daring to speak up, even though such was her right given by the invitation.
"It will be difficult, perhaps impossible, to accurately determine her guilt in the events that have come to pass," Tevos explained, smiling at Liara. "But for now, it would be wise to keep the former councilor incarcerated until the current crisis is resolved. The C-Sec officers will arrive shortly to take her away."
"I find it odd that only humans have been indoctrinated by this Reaper," Councilor Shala'Raan spoke up, sounding uncertain. "Can we really be sure that this is the case and that the human expulsion will guarantee the necessary confidentiality? Why is this Reaper so focused upon humans in the first place?"
"Because they are superior to all the other species," came the words from the mouth of Councilor Hock, but it was doubtful whether she was the one speaking them, her voice sounding cold and alien. "The humans were instrumental in breaking the cycle and defeating the machines you call the Reapers. By the actions of this one organic you call Shepard, the whole of humanity has been elevated above the rest. They will become the blessed tools of the Leviathan, the instruments of our will, the gatherers of the tribute flowing from the rest of you, inferior species. You are not even fit to hear our whispers, only to bow and scurry before our might."
Stunned silence ruled the Council Chambers for the next minute or so, until a four man strong C-Sec security detail arrived at the scene, blinking in surprise when Councilor Tevos explained in a slightly shaken voice that they were to take the former human councilor into their custody. In order to avoid controversy, Tevos had requested that the security detail contained no human officers, this one consisting of an asari commanding officer, two drell and a salarian, and after some uncertain milling about, the asari leader ordered the two drell to grab the suddenly limp body of former councilor Hock and all but carry her away from the premises.
"Well... I suppose I got my answer why this Reaper considers humans special," Raan said, shuddering a little.
"Yeah, it's all my fault again, isn't it?" Shepard sighed. "It's the same as following the Sovereign, really. If that thing had been taken down by an asari or salarian Spectre, the Reapers would not have sent the Collectors to hunt me down, and to harvest human colonies, they would have gone after the asari or salarians instead. Talk about attracting the wrong kind of interest..."
"I doubt that anyone else would have been able to achieve what you have done, Shepard," Tevos smiled encouragingly. "What happened as unforeseen consequences of your heroic deeds is... unfortunate, but we are here to deal with these matters. Together. Finally by working together."
"Yeah, don't be so glum, Shepard," Urdnot Ngagong nodded. "After all, a species can evolve only by testing itself against greater challenges, not against pathetic, unworthy foes. And there are no greater challenges than the Reapers."
"Well, that's one way to look at it," Liara whispered, smiling to Morgan while holding her bondmate's hand supportively.
Tevos then clapped her hands, trying to stop the small-talk and refocus everyone's attention back to the meeting. "With this... unpleasantness out of the way," she spoke, "we should move onwards to the next issue on our agenda. In a matter of moments, I will ask a representative of the Joint Council Command to deliver a report based on the intel gathered by Spectre Shepard and Doctor T'Soni, but before that... Councilor Sparatus, the Council must once again inquire whether the turians will be able to deliver the promised ships? We understand that the relationships between your homeworlds remain... volatile?"
"The Council will have our ships, I can assure you," Sparatus growled, looking as if he had been kicked in an extremely sore spot. "There has been progress in talks between Digeris and Palaven, albeit not as much as I hoped for. The new Primarch is still learning all the ropes, I'm afraid."
"Untimely death of political rival," Councilor Oluara shook her head, looking displeased. "Clumsy, ill-advised, if arranged. General Vakarian widely respected on Palaven. STG reports increasing discontent. Progress in talks a clear exaggeration."
Sparatus gave his salarian colleague a withering glare, before turning to Shepard, looking accusing. "There would have been progress, if not for your friend Garrus, asking all kinds of inappropriate, ill-timed questions that sow further division! We need to stand united now more than ever, not be driven further apart by... insinuations! I'd prefer that you had a talk with him, Shepard... suggest him to drop his interest into this accident!"
Shepard merely shrugged her shoulders, staring back coldly at Sparatus. "If Garrus believes that his father's death was not an accident, then I will most certainly not try to discourage him from further investigation," she snapped harshly, watching with satisfaction as the turian councilor shrunk a little in size. That said... we do need the turians to be united, Morgan realized with an unpleasant feeling in her gut. Maybe... maybe I can speak with Garrus, maybe he can put it aside just for now and resume the investigation after we've dealt with the Reapers. Ugh... the thought of asking something like that from a friend, it's... just repulsive, unpleasant. But... I might still have to do that.
"Very well, we will continue to eagerly await a resolution to the turian situation," Tevos said, looking none too pleased, but unable to argue it for now. As she turned to look at Shepard, something in her eyes suggested that the two of them would be having a talk soon, and that it would not be a pleasant discussion. "Obviously, any kind of war against the Reaper forces without the turian fleets would be... likely short-lived, especially now that we are also deprived of the human forces, so I hope that everyone gathered here understands the necessity of full participation by the turians." Tevos paused briefly, gathering herself before continuing. "With that in mind, I would like to ask the representative of the Joint Council Command to deliver their report now. Please welcome, Matriarch Lidanya," she said, welcoming the experienced commander of the asari fleets into the Council Chambers.
"Councilor Tevos, honored councilors and esteemed guests," Lidanya returned pleasantly, smiling at everyone in turn, her eyes lingering on Shepard and Liara, looking slightly surprised to see them present, but nonetheless pleased and grateful for their presence. "I must apologize for the time that was necessary to digest and analyze the data provided by our exploration forces. And I must also say that after analyzing this data, there are still more questions than answers regarding just what kind of enemy we are dealing with."
"Please, start from the beginning, Matriarch," Tevos urged kindly, again activating the displays showing the thermal emission scans and the visual of the modified Alliance dreadnaught. "We have already established that we are dealing with... upgraded Alliance ships under the influence of a sole Reaper."
"Indeed. According to our analysis, only the Alliance dreadnaughts have received these new upgrades. I am referring to these new Warlock class dreadnaughts, that we still have limited information on. But at least, largely due to the actions of our geth allies," Lidanya gave Legion a grateful nod, "we have been able to gather reliable data about their combat capabilities. Their stealth technology has already been mentioned. This allows them strategic advantage, but considering the salarian dreadnaughts on our side, and some of the quarian ships currently being upgraded with the same stealth technology, we believe that we can counter this disadvantage. However, the sheer firepower of these dreadnaughts still remains immense. These added weapons systems," Lidanya pointed at the appendage like enhancements running along the hull of the dreadnaughts, giving them a distinct 'corrupted by Reapers' appearance. "These are of Reaper capital ship grade. While our shielding has become more effective against such weapons, the kinetic barriers of our dreadnaughts are still inferior against the kind of continuous fire these weapons systems are able to sustain."
"You have access to the capitol ship weapons systems of the downed Reaper ships," Sparatus spoke, sounding irritated. "Analyze them and provide countermeasures! It should be that easy!"
"It would be that easy, if these weapons systems were direct copies from the Reaper ships," if Lidanya was irritated at the interruption, she hid it masterfully. "However, they are not. Our analysis reveals a surprisingly large amount of previously unseen... organic components. Their purpose is as of yet unknown."
"Organic components?" Oluara blinked, her reaction mirroring that of everyone present. "Unexpected development."
"There are more unexpected developments, Councilor Oluara," Lidanya continued. "Honorable Councilor Tevos mentioned that we are dealing with human fleets under the control of a sole Reaper. However... our analysis of this... Reaper... have also provided something startling."
"Joker... our pilot on the Normandy... mentioned that there was something off about the Reaper's energy signatures," Morgan suddenly remembered.
"Yes, exactly. They are extremely strange," Lidanya nodded, looking a little unsettled. "These signatures do not match any known type of Reaper, and for a good reason. We do not detect a central mass effect core within this Reaper, but we have discovered several eezo cores placed alongside its body. Also, there is no central weapons chamber either, but it possesses weapons systems identical to the human dreadnaughts, and they are placed alongside it's tentacle shaped legs," Lidanya pointed at the scans.
"We knew that this Reaper was different from the way that it was indoctrinating others through its control orbs," Liara said thoughtfully. "It is possible that after it rebelled against the others of its kin, it has proceeded down a different path of evolution, and that there would be other differences as well."
"It is an interesting theory, Liara," Lidanya nodded with a smile. "But we must also consider another explanation." Everyone seemingly froze at her words, looking impatiently at the asari matriarch. "The explanation being that this creature... is not a Reaper."
"Not a Reaper?" Morgan shook her head, refusing to believe these words. "I know a Reaper when I see one... what makes you think that the Leviathan is something else, Matriarch Lidanya?"
"All Reapers that we have examined thus far have been a fusion between synthetic and organic matter," Lidanya explained to the silent, anxious public. "However... the opinion of our scientists is unanimous, even after I asked them to check the facts eight times. The creature we are dealing with is not like any Reaper we know... it is a fully organic being... wearing a synthetic exoskeleton..."
