Slowly the five humans walked out of the Council's chambers and headed down the narrow flight of steps to where Shepard had met up with Anderson only moments ago. As she walked she was began to run scenarios in her mind.
If the Captain could delay the Normandy being sent off to join the fleet for a while, they'd have a cutting edge frigate they could use to track Saren down. With its stealth capabilities and Anderson's mind for strategy, they might stand a chance to bring him down on their own.
Doing so, of course, would get them court martialed.
But if they stopped Saren and whatever crazy plan he was hatching, that would be worth it. Wouldn't it?
"It was a mistake bringing you into that hearing, Captain," Udina stated as though it was all Anderson's fault. "You and Saren have too much history. It made the Council question our motives."
Anderson didn't look up to being put down by this angry little man. "I know Saren," he nearly shouted, defensively. "He's working with the geth for one reason: to exterminate the entire human race. Every colony we have is at risk. Every world we control is in danger. Even Earth isn't safe."
Before Udina could speak, Shepard stepped in, "We need to deal with Saren ourselves."
The Ambassador shook his head, looking more defeated than angry. "As a Spectre he's virtually untouchable. We need to find some way to expose him."
"What about Garrus," Kaidan offered. "That C-Sec investigator? We saw him arguing with the executor."
"That's right!" Ash chimed, jumping into the conversation. "He was asking for more time to finish his report. Seems like he was close to finding something on Saren."
Udina brought his hand up to his chin and seemed to be considering the notion. The way he stood and rubbed his bare face made her wonder if he used to have a beard. Knowing that Anderson wouldn't let them act without his consent, she pressed the issued.
"Any idea where we could find him?" She asked.
"I have a contact at C-Sec who can help us track Garrus down," he contemplated slowly. Every second he seemed more and more open to the idea. "His name is Harkin."
Anderson made a noise that was somewhere in between a scoff and a laugh. "Forget it. They suspended Harkin last month. Drinking on the job. I won't waste my time with that loser."
Udina rounded on him. "You won't have to," he quipped matter-of-factly "I don't want the Council using your past history with Saren as an excuse to ignore anything we turn up. Shepard will handle this."
"You can't just cut Captain Anderson out of this investigation!" She shouted, outraged for her mentor and friend.
"The Ambassador's right," he admitted sounding almost sad. "I need to step aside."
She wanted to argue with him, tell him that she needed him to help head this thing. She was a solider, a good one, and a biotic, something she was even better at. But she was not in any way a detective. How was she supposed to track down this turian and help him hunt for clues about Saren on her own?
She needed him.
As she looked up and met his eye, ready to argue with him, she stopped.
The look in his face quelled any fire she felt about the issue.
He was a man lost in his own memories.
Dark memories by the look of it.
"I need to take care of some business," Udina said finally. "Captain, meet me in my office later." Without a nod or goodbye to the three marines before him, the Ambassador turned and left.
"Harkin's probably getting drunk at Chora's Den," Anderson explained, still partially lost in his own thoughts. "It's a dingy little club in the lower section of the wards."
"I thought you said he was a drunken loser." She stated.
He sighed, "Couldn't hurt to go talk to him. Just be careful. I wouldn't call him reliable."
She wanted to ask him what he was thinking about, see if maybe she could help somehow. He looked up at her and his big brown eyes seemed so far away. After another seconds hesitation she nodded to Ash and Kaidan.
"I should go," she told the Captain.
"Good luck, Shepard," he said, forcing a smile. "I'll be in the ambassador's office if you need anything else." He put a hand on her shoulder and then slowly headed down the stairs they had entered from.
"This," Ash said pointedly, "is why I hate politicians."
"I hate to agree with you Chief," Kaidan sighed, "but that was a disaster. I can't believe the Council just shut us down like that."
"What did you expect from a bunch of aliens?" She demanded. "They're all just looking out for themselves. "
"Not here, Ash," Shepard said, noticing a few too many eyes on them. "We should get going. See if we can find this Harkin guy and get some answers."
"Sorry, Commander," Ash apologized, suddenly very formal. "Lead the way."
Shepard started down the next set of steps and was turning to go around the left side of the large garden area when Ash spoke up again.
"That guys' up to something," she stated quietly.
"What guy?" Kaidan asked.
"The one over by the Keeper," she nodded her head to their right.
Crouched down next to one of the bug like sentinels of the Citadel, was a salarian. He was most definitely up to something. Changing course she doubled back and stepped up behind the salarian.
"What?" He asked alarmed. He stood up and took two very measured steps away from the Keeper. "Oh. No. I wasn't . . . Never mind. Um, yes. Is there something you want?" He asked as he stumbled over his words.
"Why are you so interested in the Keepers?" Shepard asked. She knew very little about the things. Except that they reminded her of bugs and that didn't exactly endear them to her. She assumed people living on the Citadel knew all about them.
"Keepers?" He asked in mock surprise. "I've got no interest in the kee . . ."
"Don't get coy," Ash cut in. "I know what I saw."
"I uh . . . I'm not sure I should be talking to you about this," he stammered. He was an odd looking salarian. Not that she had many examples to compare him with. But his eyes were purple and his skin was blood red. If she squinted her eyes, he looked like a giant, talking, blood clot.
"Just tell me what you're doing," she assured him in a calm voice. "I'm not here to get you into trouble."
"Alright," he sighed, visibly relaxing. "I guess it wouldn't hurt to tell you. My name is Chorban and I'm using a small scanner to gather readings on the keepers. So far I've had mixed results. I find it difficult to get near the creatures."
"Why were you being so secretive about it though?" The Commander asked, confused.
He shifted back and forth, scanning the area around them, ensuring no one was listening. "Well, technically we're not supposed to disturb the Keepers. I don't really thing my scanning disturbs them, but the authorities might disagree. I'd like to do it more openly, but it's not really worth getting arrested over."
"I can help you out," she offered, finding her own curiosity sparked. "I'm not really worried about the authorities."
He looked at her doubtfully. "I don't even know who you are," he stated.
"I'm Commander Shepard, with the alliance military."
"Commander Jennifer Shepard," Ash added.
She turned and glared daggers at the chief.
"Hmm," he mumbled considering. "Well I suppose I could use the help. You'll need this." He handed her a small device that easily fit in the palm of her hand. "It's a small scanning device I developed. Activate it each time you see a keeper. All collected data with automatically upload to my database. I'll even send a few credits your way for each unique scan."
"How do I activate it?" She asked. Kaidan leaned over her shoulder and looked down at the odd device. She noticed, again, how tall the LT was. At least a full head taller than her.
"Is that a button," he asked, pointing to a small depression on the top.
"Precisely," Chorban consented. "Point the scanner at any Keeper you pass and press the button at the top. If it pings you've scanned a keeper that hasn't been entered into the database."
"And if it's already in the database?" Ash asked.
"Then the scanner's button will flash red," he explained.
"Sounds simple enough," Shepard commented. "If that's all I should go."
"Yes," he agreed. "I have much work myself. So long and good luck with the scanning." He nodded to the three and headed off toward a hallway branching off from the main floor.
"Should we test it out?" Ash asked, nodding toward the Keeper closest to them.
"Might as well," she agreed. Holding up the scanner she pointed it at the Keeper. She pressed the button and waited. After a seconds hesitation the button turned green and made a high pitched pinging noise.
"That was easy," Kaidan commented.
"Let's hope everything else today is as simple," she commented, tucking the scanner in one of the pouches on her belt. "Let's get moving."
"Right behind you," Ash said.
Together the three set out again. Down through the rest of the beautiful room and finally back to the elevator. They stepped in and she brought up the menu. There were a lot of floors in this tower. Most of them were business or embassies. It looked like each councilor had their own floor. She could see the garage they had parked in, one floor below, and the then the presidium all the way at the bottom.
"Are you guys okay with walking?" She asked. "I don't' think it's far to the wards and it would give us a chance to see more of the station."
"I'm down for that," Kaidan agreed readily.
"Yeah that could be exciting, I guess," Ash added.
Ignoring her tone, the commander pushed the button for the bottom floor and watched as the large glass door slid closed before them. She stepped back and waited.
Slowly the lift began to lower them toward the ground.
"It's contagious," she muttered, putting her head in her hands.
"What's contagious?" Ash asked alarmed.
"Slow elevators," Kaidan whispered with a laugh.
"I don't get it," she said as the two started to giggle.
"Everywhere I go lately," Shepard explained, "I encounter slow elevators. I mean really slow."
"Like on the Normandy." She stated, catching on.
"Exactly," Kaidan nodded.
"I wonder why that is?" She pondered out loud.
"Maybe nobody else in the galaxy has places to be," Shepard offered.
"At least not in a timely manner," Kaidan added.
She sighed as she checked the display. "We've gone down three floors. That's it."
"Maybe we should have brought snacks," Ash sighed, leaning against the wall.
"Commander," Kaidan started. "Can I ask you something?"
"Of course," she replied, leaning against the wall near Ash.
"If the council won't come around about Saren and the Geth, what do you think our next move will be?"
She ran a hand through the stray hairs framing her face. "That's hard to say," she answered honestly. "It depends on the Captain and the Ambassador. It's their call where we go and when."
"But if it was up to you?" Ash pressed.
"Then we'd chase that turian to the end of the galaxy."
When the elevator finally reached the bottom the three all but ran out the glass door laughing. They stopped when they got a look around themselves. The lake was very close now, just dozen or so yards away. Several fountains dotted the inside of the lake as far in each direction as they could see. The sidewalk, if you could call it that, wrapped around a corner to their right.
Around that corner in the lake just beyond, stood a statue of mass relay. It looked to scale from what she could tell. It was huge by her standards, but not anywhere close to its actual size.
"Ya know most art, I don't get," Ash commented as they stared. "But that statue, I like."
Shepard laughed. "Good to know. Now which way do you think it is to the wards?"
Kaidan pulled up his omnitool and punched a few things into the interface. A second later it pinged and then hers pinged too. She pulled it up to find a map of the presidium, including a small red star next to the words "you are here."
"Thanks," she smiled at him.
He nodded and returned the smile.
With a destination the three set off through the crowded walkways of the Citadel. Every so often they would catch the end of a conversation between to aliens. Some of what they were talking about made sense to her, some of it was over her head.
Eventually they came to a large set of stairs leading down. A sign on the wall read "Wards Access".
"This is us," Shepard announced. She glanced around and pulled the small scanner from her pouch. She discreetly pointed it at the Keeper near the top of the stairs and smiled when the light flashed green. Tucking it back away, they started down the stairs.
Around the corner they found an elevator.
Hoping this one would be better than the last two she'd had to ride, they filed in and Kaidan hit the button. The door hissed closed and it began to descend at an angle.
"Oh, god," she muttered. "It's an epidemic!" The others laughed as they once again waited for a slow elevator to take them down.
At least the trip here was short. The elevator opened up to reveal a long hallway with several rooms shooting off to the left and right.
Shepard started moving, enjoying the sights here as well. It wasn't beautiful scenery, but it was a completely different society than she was used to. Other than that fiasco with the council, she was enjoying her time on the Citadel.
At the end of the hall they found another elevator stating that this one would take them to the Wards.
She sighed, defeated, and pushed the button to call it up.
"Do you think they have enough elevators around here?" Ash asked.
"Apparently not," Shepard muttered.
A few moments later they were being let out into another long hallway. There was a door at the end and one about halfway down on the right. Checking her map she headed toward the exit on the right. The door opened up to reveal a hallway washed in red light. There were a few sets of stairs and another Keeper.
Not enjoying the feel of this particular hallway, she started forward none the less. After stopping briefly to scan the Keeper, they headed up one set of stairs only to find that at the top there was another door and then a set of stairs leading down.
"Pointless much?" Ash asked.
"I think this is the place we're looking for," Kaidan said as he tool pinged a few times. There was a taxi stand next to the door, but no car to be seen. Shepard tapped the screen. It lit up orange and declared that they were, in fact, at Chora's Den.
"Oh good," she stated. "A gentleman's club. What are the odds it means the same thing here as it does on earth?"
"Probably too high to say," Ash said sounding as displeased as Shepard.
"This could be fun," Kaidan offered with a laugh. "Just kidding!" He added quickly when both women rounded on him.
"Let's get this over with," Shepard muttered.
As soon as they stepped through the entry way she could tell something was off. She un-holstered her pistol and switched the safety off.
The walkway went around in a square, leaving the middle open to view the cars rushing past below. On the far left wall there was neon sign of an asari next to the words "Chora's Den". To the right there was only more empty space and cars.
"That's her," she heard someone call on the other side of the walk way.
She dove for cover as automatic weapons opened fire on them.
Ash and Kaidan were next her before she could blink.
"What the hell kind of place is this?" Kaidan demanded as he moved to return fire.
"I count two hostiles," Ash called over the noise.
"Take 'em down," Shepard shouted as she popped out of cover. She spotted one hostile, a turian male, coming around the corner fast. She threw a warp field at him and he went down. She could hear Ash and Kaidan engage the other as she moved to finish him off.
Just before she could fire her pistol, the turian jumped to his feet and rolled away from her. He fired off one shot before she put him down.
In her rush she hadn't put her barrier up.
The bullet hit her suits shields and bounced off.
Bounced, painfully, off.
"Ugh!" She grunted as she felt the impact. She doubled over for a moment.
"Commander!" Kaidan shouted rushing over.
"I'm okay!" She assured them as she straightened up.
"Those were Saren's men," he confirmed as he looked at the dead turian on the floor.
"How can you tell?" She asked, pleased her breathing wasn't as painful now.
"The other one was trying to call him after you took this one down," Ash explained.
"Were you able to trace the call?" She asked suddenly hopeful.
Ash shook her head. "He never got a chance to actually make the call. He just told his tool to place the call right before I took him down."
"Damn," she muttered. "What do we do about them?"
"I'm already got a call into C-Sec," Kaidan assured her. "We'll need to file a report later, but they're on their way to take care of this."
"Let's keep moving then," she decided, stepping over the puddle of blue blood that was seeping out of the bullet hole in the turians head.
"Are you sure you're ok?" Kaidan pressed.
"I'm fine Lieutenant," she stated, her voice taking a formal edge.
He stepped back and let her go, looking not the least bit stung by her tone.
Ignoring the look on his face she kept walking.
As they got closer to the door a heavy baseline could be felt pulsing from within the club. The closer they got the louder the music became. By the time they reached the door it was already too loud for her.
The door slid open and they all stopped.
It was exactly like a gentleman's club on Earth.
"Millions of LY from Earth and we walk into a club filled with half naked women shaking their ass on stage," Ash shouted over the music. "I don't know if I should cry or be impressed."
"I'm not sure either of those is the best option," Shepard shouted, scanning the crowd for a man in C-Sec clothing.
"What about you Lt?" Ash asked. "You're kind of place?"
Kaidan shook his head. "Too many lights, too much noise."
"Agreed," Shepard sighed. She caught sight of a man around the bar who she thought might be Harkin.
"You don't do the club scene, Commander?" Ash asked as they started walking.
"I grew up in the slums of Chicago," she explained. "Constant noise and too many people all the time. I like the quiet."
As they came around the bar a set of Krogan arguing blocked their path.
"Back off Wrex," the krogan who was clearly a bouncer shouted. "Fist told us to take you down if you showed up."
The other krogan, Wrex, just laughed at the threat. "What are you waiting for?" He demanded. "I'm standing right here." When the other krogan looked around unsure, he added, "This is Fist's only chance. If he's smart, he'll take it."
"He's not coming out, Wrex. End of story."
Wrex laughed again. "This story is just beginning." He turned and walked away from the bouncer, and almost directly into Shepard.
He was dressed all in red. Even his doubled head plate was red in a pattern that reminded her of fire. His eyes were red, like the rest of him and he bore three long scratches on his face starting on his plate and trailing all the way down his neck.
He was very intimidating.
Not that she let him know that.
"Out of my way humans," he said as he pushed past them. "I have no quarrel with you."
"What was that all about?" Kaidan asked as they watched him leave.
"Who knows?" Ash asked, sounding put off by the appearance of the krogan. "Let's just try not to get caught in the middle."
She didn't say out loud, but Shepard thought the odds of them not getting sucked into the middle were stacked pretty high against them. She always gets dragged in the middle of things that had nothing to do with her. The fact that she was often sticking her nose in the middle was neither here nor there.
Shaking such thoughts away, she turned her attention back to the man she thought might be Harkin. As she got close he looked up and saw her.
Saw isn't exactly what he did, more like his eyes raked in every inch of her body in a way that made her want to bioticly throw him against a wall.
"Hey there sweetheart," he slurred, clearly drunk. "You looking for some fun? Cause I gotta say that soldier getup looks real good on that bod of yours. Why don't you sit your sweet little ass down beside old Harkin? Have a drink and we'll see where this goes."
Kaidan was stepping up before she could reach out to stop him. Thankfully Ash grabbed him by the arm and restrained him before he could do anything . . . drastic.
"Yeah . . ." Shepard started, not sure if she should tell him to piss off or be kind in the hopes he would tell her what she needed to know. "Maybe later."
"Suit yourself princess," he muttered, taking another drink. "You know if more marines looked like you, I might've joined the alliance instead of C-Sec."
"Harkin right?" She asked, hoping to get on with this and get out of here. "I was told you could help me find someone. A turian C-sec officer name Garrus."
"Garrus? Ha!" He laughed. "You must be one of Captain Anderson's crew. Poor bastard's still trying to bring Saren down, eh?
"I know where Garrus is. But you gotta tell me something first. Did the captain let you in on his big secret?"
"I just need to know where Garrus is," she told him, not interested in hearing the supposed secrets of drunk man.
"But it's all related. Don't you see?" He leaned forward wobbling even though he was seated. He was clearly well past drunk and working hard on plastered. "The captain used to be a Spectre. Didn't know that did you? It was all very hush-hush. The first human ever given that honor. And then he blew it. Screwed up the mission so bad they kicked him out. Of course, he blames Saren. Says the turian set him up."
Shepard hesitated.
Anderson hated Saren that much was true. The anger he had displayed during the meeting with the Council had been so far beyond anything she'd ever seen from him. If Saren had done something to compromise Anderson's ability to do his job, or cost him something like being the first human Spectre . . .
She shook her head.
"Just tell me where Garrus went," she demanded, done with this drunken fool.
Harkin shook his head. He could tell he wasn't going to get the reaction out of her he wanted. "Garrus was sniffing around Dr. Michel's office. She runs the med clinic on the other side of the wards. Last I heard, he was going back there."
"Thank you," she said begrudgingly. "I should go."
"Yeah whatever," he muttered, taking another deep drink of his red liquor. "Get outta here and let me drink in peace."
Shepard headed straight out of the bar, not wanting to have to spend another minute in that damned place. Ash and Kaidan followed without a word. Once they were outside and the door slid closed she stopped.
"Why didn't Captain Anderson tell us he used to be a Spectre?" Ash asked confused.
Shepard looked to Kaidan. It was a look that carried both concern and understanding. They had both known the Captain a while now. Both respected the man.
"Maybe it's not true," Kaidan offered after a while. "Harkin's an ass. I bet he's just messing with our heads."
"You're probably right," Ash agreed, not sounding at all convinced. "Still, I'd like to hear what the captain has to say about all this."
"Wouldn't we all," Shepard whispered. "Let's get going."
"Where?" Kaidan asked.
"To talk to the Captain."
Ten minutes and another taxi ride later, the three marines were once again outside the door to the human embassy.
The doors slid open with a hiss that was becoming familiar. Captain Anderson was standing on the balcony looking down at the presidium below. He must not have heard the door because he started slightly when she reached out and tapped him on the shoulder.
"Oh," he started. "Yes, commander? Is there something you need?"
She hesitated for a moment. Taking a deep breath she asked, "You and Saren have a history. What happened?"
Now he sighed and turned away from the balcony. He walked over to the desk in the middle of the room and stopped. Running a hand through his short hair he turned back to her.
"About 20 years ago I was part of a mission in the Skyllian Verge," Anderson started to explain. "I was working with Saren to find and remove a known terrorist threat. Saren eliminated his target. But a lot of people died along the way. Innocent people. And the official records just covered it all up. But I saw how he operates. No conscience. No hesitation. He'd kill a thousand innocent civilians to end a war without a second thought."
Shepard listened quietly as Anderson spoke, taking in all he said. He hadn't mentioned anything about the Spectres. Maybe there was nothing there to mention? Or maybe he was still holding something back? It was hard to know what the right answer was. There were too many unknowns.
She looked up at the man who had saved her from the streets. The man who had given her a second chance when she was nothing more than a dirty orphan on the streets of Chicago. If she only knew one thing here, it was that she trusted him, implicitly.
"Killing innocents doesn't end wars," she said finally. "It causes them."
"I know how the world works Commander," he assured her. "Sometimes you're forced to make unpleasant decisions. But only if there's no other way. Saren doesn't even look for another option. He's twisted, broken. He likes the violence, the killing. And he knows how to cover his tracks."
Anderson was clearly upset. It was obvious that she wouldn't get any more information from him right now. With a nod she said, "I should go."
"I'll be here if you need anything," he told her. He voice was strained and he was clearly glad to be done talking.
She turned and met Kaidan's eye.
He could tell there was more that wasn't being said also. Still, he stepped aside and let her pass, following her out into the hall. Once the door was closed he walked around and blocked her path.
She stopped, not wanting to bounce off him again, and folded her arms across her chest. "What?"
"He's not telling us everything."
"Is there a question in there lieutenant?" She asked impatiently.
"You know the Captain, probably better than most of us. Do you think what Harkin said is true? Was the Captain a Spectre?"
"I don't know," she sighed, throwing her arms up as she stepped past him. She started down the stairs, but had only gone a few feet before he caught up to her.
"Do you think he'd keep something like that a secret?" He asked, not letting up.
She stopped and rounded on him. "Look, Kaidan," she started. "I don't know Anderson as well as you're implying. But I do know that if they asked me to be a Spectre and I screwed it up bad enough to them to fire me; I'd probably be pretty tight lipped about it too."
He stepped back, in line with Ash, and raised his hands. "I'm sorry Shepard. I just don't like being kept in the dark."
"None of us do," she sighed, feeling bad for snapping at him.
They stared at each other, neither sure what to say, both confused by their feelings of hurt. Things seemed to be getting complicated.
"Well we should probably go find Garrus," Ash offered, trying to cut the awkward silence.
"Right," Shepard said, truing away. "Let's head down and speak with this Doctor Michel."
Anderson watched the Commander leave. He'd been shorter with her than he had intended. It was just so damn hard to deal with everything Saren had cost him. Not just with the Spectres, but with Sanders. Because of him things between them had never been the same. He had wanted to keep that secret buried for the rest of his life if he could manage it.
But he should have known bringing Shepard aboard, while she was being considered for the Spectre's, would open that old wound.
With a sigh he walked back out to the balcony and watched the water flow slowly by in a never ending circle.
Shepard, Kaidan, and Ash headed up the long set of steps that lead from the lower markets up to where they hoped the med clinic was. There had been a few silent elevator rides from there to here and she was really starting to feel the stress now.
As they approached the top she could see a man, maybe in his late thirties with bright blonde hair staring at her. She met his eyes once and then looked away. When she got to the top she tried to move past him, but he called out to her.
"Is that . . . wow! It really is you!" He exclaimed as she cleared the last step. "Hey you're Commander Shepard right? Hero of Eden Prime! It's an honor to meet you."
She stopped and smiled at him, glad to be remember from something other than the blitz. Not that Eden Prime was much better.
"The pleasure's all mine," she said awkwardly as she shook his extended hand. It was only after this that she realized he hadn't actually told her his name.
"My name is Conrad," he gushed in an excited rush. "Conrad Verner. They say you killed more than a hundred geth on Eden Prime!"
"I spent most of my time trying to stay alive and help the colonists," she told him honestly.
"Hey I know you're probably busy," he continued, as though he hadn't heard her at all. "But do you have time for a quick autograph?"
She glanced back to Kaidan and Ash. They both shrugged.
Not sure what else to do, she signed the paper he had extended and said, "Anything for a fan. Here." She handed it back to him, still a little unsure of his exuberance.
He looked at her like she had just handed him a billion credits. His eyes lit up and for a moment she thought he might actually cry.
"Thanks!" He exclaimed. "I really appreciate it. My wife is going to be so impressed! I'll let you get back to work, but next time you're on Earth, I'd love to buy you a drink! Thanks again!" He held the paper to his chest and walked off toward the taxi service at the other end of the market.
"What was that?" Ash demanded as soon as he was out of earshot. "Soldiers have fans?"
Shepard sighed. "This," she said gesturing toward Conrad, "Is actually pretty normal for me. Although to be fair it hasn't happened in a while."
"You have dedicated fans?" Kaidan asked with a chuckle.
"After the blitz I did," she admitted.
"Oh," Kaidan whispered. He didn't know why the Commander disliked talking about the blitz so much. If it had been him who'd saved all those lives he would enjoy talking about how he'd beaten the odds and saved an entire colony.
Still, he knew she didn't like talking about it, so he changed the subject. "Look at that view," he said gesturing to their left. The market floor eventually ended near small half wall that appeared to overlook the entire ward.
The three walked over and leaned against the small wall; Shepard at the right, Ash in the middle, and Kaidan at the end. For a moment they silently took in the size and scale of the Citadel.
"Big place," Kaidan commented.
"That your professional opinion, sir?" Ash asked.
"This isn't a station," Shepard commented, agreeing with Kaidan. "It's a city."
"There must be millions here," he went on. "It can't be possible to track everyone coming and going."
"This makes jump-zero look like a porta-john," Ash remarked, not sounding as in awe as the others. "And it's the largest deep space station the Alliance has."
"Jump-zero was big," Kaidan agreed, his voice falling slightly. "But this is a whole 'nother scale. Look at the ward arms. How do they keep all that mass from flying apart?"
"The Council represents more races than I thought," Shepard realized. "No wonder they're careful with newcomers."
"They probably just want to keep everything running," he went on. "It has to be hard keeping all these cultures working together."
"Or maybe they just don't like humans," Ash observed bitterly.
"Why not?" Shepard asked with a laugh. "We've got oceans, beautiful women, this emotion called love. According to the old vids, we have everything they want."
"When you put it that way," Kaidan smiled. "There's no reason they wouldn't like you."
Ash turned and looked him with one eyebrow raised.
"I mean, us," he added in a rush. "Humans. Ma'am." He looked away and scratched his neck awkwardly.
"You don't take much shore leave, do you, LT?" Ash asked with a laugh.
"All right, laugh it up, Chief. I appreciate the thought, Kaidan, but we're on duty here."
"Uh," he stammered for a moment. "Aye, aye, ma'am."
"I'll walk drag, ma'am," Ash laughed as they turned to leave.
"Come on," she sighed, "the clinic's that way."
At last they came to the door marked "Clinic."
Shepard punched the panel next to the door and waited.
After a seconds hesitation the door separated and the two halves slid away.
Inside she could see Garrus, crouched down and moving toward cover. The room itself was divided in two by a large cement barrier. The side closest to the door was filled with chairs and small tables, clearly a waiting room.
There was a woman with short red hair on the other side. A man had a hold of her, clearly threatening her. There was at least three other men off to the side, maybe more. She couldn't tell from this angle.
"I didn't tell anyone I swear," she pleaded. She had accent that made Shepard think she was French or had grown up in a French colony.
"That was smart doc," the man touching her was saying. "Now if Garrus comes around, you stay smart. Keep your mouth shut or we'll . . ." He looked up and his eyes locked on hers. He pulled his gun and flipped the woman so that her back was against his chest and his gun was to her head.
Shepard, Kaidan, and Ash pulled their guns, ready to negotiate or open fire. Whichever was needed of them first.
"Who are you?" He demanded.
"Let her go!" She shouted.
Before Shepard could open her mouth to try and talk the man down, Garrus rolled out from behind his cover and shot the man in the head. He crumpled to the floor dead. The woman hit the deck, covering her head with her hands.
"Light um up!" Shepard shouted as she moved further in the room.
With four trained guns, two strong biotics, and one turian who knew his way around an omnitool, they dispatched the other men in seconds.
"Perfect timing, Shepard," Garrus howled as he returned his rifle to his back. "Gave me a clear shot at that bastard."
She was furious.
"What were you thinking?" She shouted. "You could have hit the hostage!"
"There wasn't time to think!" He hollered, trying to defend himself. "I just reacted. I didn't mean to . . . Dr. Michel? Are you hurt?"
The doctor stood slowly and turned to face them.
"No," she replied smiling. "I'm okay. Thanks to you. All of you."
Garrus turned back to the Commander, searching her eyes for . . . understanding maybe? Ignoring the turian she returned her attention to the doctor.
"I know those men threatened you," she started. "But if you tell us who they work for, we can protect you."
"They work for Fist," she explained with a nod. "They wanted to shut me up, keep me from telling Garrus about the quarian."
"What quarian?"
"A few days ago, a quarian came by my office. She'd been shot, but she wouldn't tell me who did it. I could tell she was scared, probably on the run. She asked me about the Shadow Broker. She wanted to trade information in exchange for a safe place to hide."
"Then what?" Shepard asked.
"I put her in contact with Fist," she sighed. "He's an agent for the Shadow Broker."
"Not anymore," Garrus cut in. "Now he works for Saren, and the Shadow Broker isn't too happy about it."
Dr. Michel looked floored. "Fist betrayed the Shadow Broker?" She asked, floored. "That's stupid even for him. Saren must have made him quite the offer.
"That quarian must have something Saren wants." Garrus observed. "Something worth crossing the Shadow Broker to get."
"She must have something that proves he's a traitor. Did the quarian mention anything about Saren? Or the geth?" Shepard asked insistently
"She did!" The doctor said. "The information she was going to trade. She said it had something to do with the geth!"
"She must be able to link Saren to the geth. There's no way the council can ignore this!" Garrus shouted, almost gleefully.
Shepard looked around, making sure her team was with her. "Time we paid Fist a visit."
Garrus stepped up to the Commander, less than a foot away in fact.
It was the closest she'd ever been to a turian. Even Nihlus had kept a respectable distance.
"This is your show Shepard," he told her earnestly. "But I want to bring Saren down as much as you do. I'm going with you!"
She heard Ash groan quietly behind her. She really needed to talk to the chief about this issue she seemed to have with aliens. Knowing that she needed the help, and finding something very compelling about Garrus and his story, she extended her hand.
"Welcome aboard, Garrus," she said as he clasped her hand.
"You know," he said, not letting go of her hand. "We aren't the only ones going after Fist. The Shadow Broker hired a krogan bounty hunger named Wrex to take him out." He stepped back, finally releasing her hand.
"Yeah," Ash commented, seeing where this conversation was headed. "We saw him at the bar."
"A krogan might come in handy," she thought as she puzzled over whether it would be worth the trouble.
"Last I heard he was at C-Sec Academy," Garrus offered.
"What's he doing there?" Kaidan asked.
"Fist accused him of making threats," he explained. "We brought Wrex in for a little talk. If you hurry, you can catch him at the academy before he leaves."
"Move out," she ordered, knowing they had to hurry.
Together the four nodded their farewells to the doctor and hurried out the door. Garrus took point, leading them around a glass railing and down the flight of stairs next to it. At the bottom there was a number of sky cars, a keeper, and a human C-Sec officer.
When he officer saw them coming his eyes passed over Garrus and stopped on her.
"Hey I know you. You're Shepard right?" He asked excitedly. "I was on Mindoir during the blitz. Saw you on the vids when you got your medal. You saved the whole colony!"
The group stopped, not sure what to do.
"Looks like you have another fan," Kaidan whispered quietly.
"I'm sorry," they young man apologized. "I've just never met someone like you in person. My name's Lang. Officer Eddie Lang, Citadel Security. It's an honor to meet you, Commander. What are you doing down here in the wards? Anything I can help you with?"
"Not right now," she explained, feeling bad when she saw the look of disappointment on his face. "But if I need any help I'll be back."
"Right," he said feeling slightly better. "You're probably really busy. Well, see you around, Commander." He turned back to the car he was working on.
"Let's go," Garrus urged her.
Again the group set out, through the door to their left and down another oddly long hallway. He tapped the green pad and the door slid open. Revealing another elevator. Hoping this one would be different, the four pilled in and Garrus punched the button for C-Sec.
A catchy tune started to play as the lift set out at a crawl.
"You can't be serious," Shepard muttered.
"What's wrong?" Garrus asked.
"Elevators," Kaidan responded.
"I don't' get it," he replied.
"This place is riddled with slow moving elevators," Shepard explained. "This super advanced, seat of our government, station is plagued by elevators that don't have a speed above crawl."
"Why are your humans always in such a rush?" Garrus asked.
As the elevator pinged that it had reached its destination, the conversation dropped.
Garrus was out first leading them past a salarian officer, who nodded to the turian as he passed. Around a wall and up a small set of steps and they found themselves on the main floor of the C-Sec academy. The wall they had just passed was in fact the elevator that would lead them back to the Normandy.
To their left they could see Wrex arguing with four C-Sec officers.
"Witnesses saw you making threats in Fist's bar," one of the officers told Wrex. He was much shorter than the krogan and was speaking to him in a way that made Shepard wonder if he valued his life. "Stay away from him."
"I don't take orders from you," Wrex argued.
"This is your only warning, Wrex," he all but growled, getting in the krogan's face.
"You should warn Fist," he countered, not backing down. "I will kill him."
The officer looked beyond frustrated. Still, to his credit, he didn't buckle under the krogan's glare. "Do you want me to arrest you?" He demanded.
"I want you to try." A clear challenge.
Wrex glanced over the man's head, an easy task for him, and met her eye. Recognition flashed in his red eyes. Glancing back at the officer he brushed past him, knocking into him with his arm, and walked over to Shepard and her small group.
"Go on. Get out of here," the officer called after him, relived to see the krogan leave.
"Do I know you, human?" He demanded of her.
Knowing that the krogan were a straight forward people, she decided to lay it all out.
"My name is Shepard," she stated. "I'm going after Fist. Thought you might want to come along."
"Ah," he said, thinking. "Shepard? Commander Shepard? I've heard a lot about you." He closed the small distance between them. "We're both warriors, Shepard. Out of respect, I'll give you fair warning. I'm going to kill Fist."
"Fist knows you're coming," Garrus chimed in. "We'll have a better chance if we all work together."
"My people have a saying: Seek the enemy of your enemy, and you will find a friend." Wrex took a step back and extended his hand to her.
"Glad to have you on the team, Wrex," she replied, shaking his hand.
"Let's go. I hate to keep Fist waiting."
"What's the quickest way to Chora's Den from here?" Kaidan asked.
"Taxi," Wrex grunted.
"Don't they only seat four?" Ash asked?
"Humans are squishy," he called over his shoulder as he headed over to the taxi console.
"Should we follow him?" Garrus asked.
"Probably better if we don't lose track of the homicidal krogan on the Citadel," Shepard commented as she started after Wrex.
"Good point, Commander," Kaidan agreed as he followed. Garrus was right behind with Ash taking up the rear, if not somewhat, begrudgingly.
Wrex jumped into the driver's seat and stared at the others impatiently.
"Uh, how is this going to work?" Ash asked, sounding uneasy.
"Garrus take the passenger seat, we'll squish in the back I guess." Shepard sighed as she stepped in, followed by Kaidan and then Ash.
It wasn't the most uncomfortable ride she'd ever been on.
There was a time back in the gangs when she'd had to squish in a taxi no bigger than this with twelve other kids.
That had been, uncomfortable.
Somehow, and she was sure Ash had a large hand in it, she'd ended up in the middle. All but sitting on Kaidan's lap.
As the car settled outside Chora's Den the dashboard pinged.
"Thank you for using Freedom Taxi Services. A balance of forty credits remains."
"Hey who's payin for this?" Wrex grunted from the front seat.
After a moment of silence Shepard leaned forward, "I guess I am."
The car pinged again.
"A fee of forty credits has been charge to Jennifer Shepard's account."
Ash and Kaidan snickered quietly behind her. Garrus turned and looked her over again. Wrex just laughed.
"You humans have the weirdest names," he chuckled as he hauled himself out of the car.
"Yeah cause Wrex is so normal," she muttered as everyone else made their way slowly out of the car.
Once the five were out of the taxi and moving toward the bar Shepard stopped. Garrus, being the tallest in the group, was at the end and ran right into her, nearly toppling the Commander to the ground.
"Are you alright?" He asked alarmed.
"Something's not right," she stated, not answering.
"What do you mean?" Kaidan asked.
By now the whole group had stopped to see what was going on. Wrex looked most displeased by the delay.
"Listen," she instructed.
"All I hear is music," Ash remarked.
"Exactly. Why can't we hear the people inside?" She turned to Garrus. "Turian's have excellent hearing; what do you hear?"
He was silent for a moment.
"There's people in there," he confirmed. "But I don't think it's their regular patrons."
"Weapon's hot," she commanded as she moved past the others and took the lead. She checked her pistol, making sure it was ready. Then she summoned up a warp field and held it in the palm of her hand, ready.
Wrex was surprised the human could tell something was off. He had been so eager to finish what he'd started he hadn't noticed the unusual quite behind the thumping base of the music. Maybe they weren't all as useless as he thought.
Shepard moved away and for a moment Garrus watched her. Her instincts were sharp. Sharper than his. He'd heard the lack of noise and had passed it off as nothing. Something she couldn't even hear had tipped her off that all was not right.
He'd heard stories about her and the blitz, always assumed they were greatly exaggerated.
Now, though.
Now he wondered if he could join her team permanently. Or at least until Saren was dealt with. She moved with authority and command that he couldn't while he was bogged down in the red tape of C-Sec.
For the first time since he'd started this investigation, he had hope.
Shepard positioned herself to the left of the door with Kaidan and Ash flanking her. Garrus was directly across from her with Wrex standing directly in front of the door. She'd tried to get him to take cover, but the krogan had simply laughed in reply.
Their omnitools had pinged when they were close to the door. More than two dozen enemies, and that was only the ones they could pick up. Wrex seemed to think there would be more in the private rooms Fist kept in the back.
She looked to Garrus and nodded.
He punched the button for the abnormally closed door and Wrex rushed in, completely ignoring the hail of bullets that beat against his barrier. Still he opened fire and within a few seconds he had cleared the area immediately in front of the door.
"Move!" Shepard commanded. The other four moved in and took cover by the door, throwing the warp she'd been holding on to. There was more than they had anticipated. Sensing a hard push on Garrus' side, she rolled to his cover and with a nod they both sprang up and opened fire. With a biotic on each side and Wrex charging everything that moved, the hired guns didn't stand a chance.
With a nod to Garrus, he popped up and gave her cover. She darted out from behind the small half wall by the door and flipped a table a few feet a head of her with a small shockwave. She crouched behind it and then popped out and opened fire.
A few seconds later she felt Garrus at her side. A quick glance behind told her that both Ash and Kaidan had moved up too. A bullet glanced her shoulder pad and knocked her back.
"You ok?" Garrus shouted as she moved back behind the cover.
"Fine," she called. "It caught the barrier."
"Get down!" He called suddenly.
Not questioning him, she ducked down as he lifted his rifle. A shot rang out and a merc, who had taken the shot at her from above the bar, came tumbling to the ground. He nodded to her and she popped back up and opened fire on the mercs again.
A few moments later they had cleared the room.
"Clear," Ash called from behind a table to Shepard's left.
"Clear," Garrus informed the group.
"Whatever," Wrex grunted as he moved to the door at the back of the bar. "Let's get this done."
They moved around the large containers that the thugs had been using for cover and Wrex pushed the button for the door.
As the door separated and disappeared into the floor and ceiling, two men came out from behind more crates, guns drawn. It took her less than a second to ascertain from their clothes and the way they held their guns, these were not mercs.
"Stop right there! Don't come any closer!" The one closest to them shouted. Shepard reached out signaled for the others to lower their weapons. Everyone did as she requested, except for Wrex.
"Warehouse workers," Garrus informed her. "All the real guards must be dead."
"Stay back or we'll shoot," the other worker called, his hands shaking.
"This would be a good time to find somewhere else to work," she informed the men, hoping they would choose to live.
The two men glanced at each other and nodded. "Yeah." The first one agreed, putting his gun away. "Yeah, you're right. That's a good idea."
"I never liked Fist anyway," the other agreed. With guns holstered, they put their hands up and slipped past the odd group. Never before had they even heard of a human, a krogan, and a turian working together, let alone seen it.
"I would've never thought of that," Garrus remarked, watching the men run from the club.
"Would've been easier to kill them," Wrex grunted, sounding displeased.
"Shooting people isn't always the answers," Kaidan commented.
Wrex walked past him, laughing as though he had said something hilarious.
Past a few more crates and a row of lockers there was another door. Wrex hit the button and stepped into a short hallway. All five filled in and waited.
Shepard checked her omnitool.
She could only see one lifeform in the room beyond. But she was certain that there was something more beyond the door. A quick glance around told her everyone was ready. With a nod to Wrex, he punched the button for the door and they all ran in.
"Why do I have to do everything myself?" Shepard heard a man say. She ran past the main opening of the room and ducked behind a half wall for cover. "Time to die, little solider!"
A second later Kaidan was at her side, she could see Ash and Garrus across from them with Wrex barreling down the middle again. A strange electronic clicking made her blood run suddenly cold. She popped up and saw the covers begin to lower over two defensive turrets on either side of the room.
"Wrex!" She shouted.
It was too late.
The turrets zeroed in on him and opened fire. He had just enough time to throw up a barrier before the rained bullets down on him. He fell back and ducked down next to her and Kaidan.
"You alright?" She shouted.
"I will be once he's dead," Wrex grunted. She assumed that meant he was fine.
"Kaidan, can you use your tech to short out that turret?" She asked.
"I can try." He pulled up his omnitool and punched a few things in. After a second they both popped up and while the commander laid down cover fire, he launched an override command at the turret directly across from them.
Sparks began to fly from the gun as it struggled to override the command. Shepard fired off a few shots at it and it exploded.
Garrus, having seen what Kaidan and Shepard were doing, fired off a similar command at the turret across from him. Ash took it down with precision shot to the motherboard.
Wrex started forward again.
Fist popped out from behind his overturned desk to find a very large, angry, krogan bearing down him. One shot to the shoulder took him down and alleviated him of his weapon.
"Wait!" Fist shouted as the rest of the group bore down on him. "Don't kill me! I surrender!"
She pointed her pistol at him, knowing all too well what kind of man he was and that time was against him. She wouldn't shoot him of course, not while he was unarmed, but the gun would help motivate him.
"Where's the quarian?" She demanded.
"She's not here," he cried, shrinking away from the gun. "I don't know where she is! That's the truth!"
"He's lying," Kaidan stated. There were nods and a general murmur of agreement from the group.
"He's no use to you know," Wrex said, "let me kill him."
"You better start explaining before I lose my temper," Shepard said, stepping up closer. "Or before he does," she added with a nod to Wrex.
He chuckled darkly and cocked his shotgun.
"The quarian isn't here," he explained. "She said she'd only deal with the Shadow Broker himself."
"Face to face? Impossible," Wrex stated. "Even I was hired through an agent."
Shepard looked at him and motioned with her gun for him to stand. He did so slowly, keeping his eyes on Wrex and his primed shotgun.
"Nobody meets the Shadow Broker. Ever," he agreed. "Even I don't know his true identity. But she didn't know that. I told her I'd set a meeting up. But when she shows up, it'll be Saren's men waiting for her."
Shepard reached forward suddenly, grabbing the man by the collar of his armor and pulling him close. She pushed the gun up under his chin. "Give me the location. Now."
"Here on the wards," he cried. She released him with shove. "The back ally by the markets. She's supposed to meet them right now. You can make it if you hurry."
She was about to say something else when the sound of a shotgun rang out.
Everybody jumped.
Everybody but Wrex.
He lifted his shotgun, smoke still rising from the end, and reattached it to his back mag.
"What are you doing?!" Garrus demanded.
"The Shadow Broker paid me to kill him," Wrex explained unremorsefully. "I don't leave jobs half done."
"We don't shoot unarmed prisoners!" Shepard shouted at him.
"How many people died because of him?" Wrex asked. "He brought this on himself. Besides, we have more pressing concerns."
"That quarian's dead if we don't go now," Garrus stated, not enjoying having to agree with the krogan.
"Fine," Shepard relented begrudgingly.
"Should we look around?" Ash asked. "See if there's anything here we can use?"
Garrus scanned the room quickly. He walked over and pulled up out the data drives of Fist's computer. "We can take these," he said. "They may have useful information we can use later."
"Then let's take them and go," Shepard ordered.
They turned to leave, knowing that time was against them. Once they were out of the bar the commander would order them to move double time. Before they could even clear the small hallway, every omnitool pinged the locations of another several dozen mercs on the other side of the door.
"How many men does Fist have?" Garrus demanded
"Maybe they would stop fighting if they knew he was dead?" Kaidan asked.
"Not likely," Wrex replied.
"Let's just do this and do it fast," she ordered. "We don't have time."
Ash punched the door and at once they were set upon by a hail of bullets. Shepard used her biotics to create a small barrier between her group and the incoming ammunition.
"Return fire!" She shouted when there was pause in enemy fire.
The four responded at once. Two on each side of the commander unloaded their guns. Every merc within range was down. Dropping the shield they advanced again, spreading out into small groups that worked their way back around each side of the bar.
By the time they'd reached the door on the other side they'd lost more time than she was comfortable with.
"Double time!" She shouted, "Let's move!" Together they took off running.
Down past the overlook where cars rushed past.
Through the door.
Past the rapid transit.
Up the stairs and through the next door.
Across that level; she could hear voices just down the next set of stairs.
They had to hurry.
She could see a turian approach a quarian female. It was impossible to determine anything else about her through her suite.
"Did you bring it?" The turian asked approaching her.
"Where's the Shadow Broker?" She asked, clearly on edge. "Where's Fist?"
"They'll be here," he told her offhandedly. "Where's the evidence?" He reached up and ran a hand down the side of her helmet to the top of her shoulder. Before his hand could go any farther it was slapped away.
"No way," the quarian informed him, sounding disgusted. "The deals off."
He took a step back, looking almost glad.
Shepard saw two salarians in armor appear from behind a crate as she stated down the last set of steps. The quarian took notice of them as well.
Throwing something, she took off toward cover.
A grenade went off, taking one of the salarians down with it.
The turian, and several more salarians then Shepard had originally seen, opened fire on the quarian and the five others they hadn't noticed until then.
With six people working in tandem, Saren's men were easily dispatched.
"Clear," Kaidan called as the turian finally went down.
"Fist set me up!" The quarian shouted turning to face the group that had fought with her.
"Were you hurt in the fight?" Shepard asked, knowing how delicate a quarian's suit and system could be.
"I know how to take care of myself," she assured the Commander. "Not that I don't appreciate the help. Who are you? All of you?" She glanced around and noted how odd this small group was. A turian, a krogan, and three humans coming to the aid of a quarian. It was unheard of.
"My name is Shepard," she explained. "And I'm looking for evidence to prove Saren's a traitor. These are two members of my crew: Ashley Williams and Kaidan Alenko. This is Garrus Vakarian, a C-Sec officer assigned to Saren's case. And Wrex . . ." Shepard wasn't sure what to say about the krogan. All she knew about him was his name and the fact that he was contracted to kill Fist by the Shadow Broker.
She shook her head and said, "Then I have a chance to repay you for saving my life." She looked around again, clearly uncomfortable. "But not here. We need to go somewhere safe."
"The ambassador's office. It's safe there," Kaidan offered. "He'll want to see this anyway."
"If you think it's safe there," the quarian consented.
"Safer than a seedy back ally, that's for sure," Wrex grunted.
"Let's get going then," Shepard said. "We'll walk, if that's ok with everyone." She didn't think she could fit another person in a taxi right then. She certainly didn't want to try.
She started forward and the others fell into step behind her. Through the red hallway and out into the very brightly lit hallway with the elevator at the far end.
"How did you know where I was?" The quarian asked her.
"We paid Fist a visit," she replied grimly.
"I see. I take it he didn't survive this visit?"
"Nope," Wrex responded from the back of the group.
"Good," she replied bitterly. "I hope that bosh'tet got what he deserved."
"Oh he did," Wrex chuckled.
Tali fell back a step. No longer shoulder to shoulder with this Shepard woman. She seemed to be the leader of this strange band of aliens. She was grateful for the help they had provided. She was sure she could have taken all of Saren's men if she'd had to. But one tear to her suit would have been the end of her.
Still she didn't know anything about these people.
Keelah, she was so far in over her head.
How had her Pilgrimage gone so far off the course she had set?
She'd almost been killed twice in the same week.
Now she was relying on three humans, a turian and a krogan for help.
When she finally returned to the flotilla, assuming she lived that long, no one was going to believe the tails of her Pilgrimage.
Shepard closed the distance to the control for the ambassador's door.
She hesitated.
For a moment a feeling of dread circled her heart and she couldn't move.
Something terrible was coming.
Kaidan stopped short, nearly running into the commander.
She had halted just outside the door to Udina's office.
Now she wasn't moving at all.
He stepped up close to her right side.
"Commander?" He asked quietly. "Is everything alright?"
"Fine," she lied brightly. "Let's get this done." She pushed the door open and headed inside.
Shepard walked in to see Udina standing in front of his desk facing the open balcony. Anderson was directly to his right looking at the small strange party that came walking through the door. His eyes got wide as he caught sight of all the non-humans filing though the door.
"You're not making my life easy, Shepard," he started, still facing away from her. "Firefights in the wards? An all-out assault on Chora's Den? Do you know how many . . ." he words trailed away as he turned and took in the sight of the commander and her group.
"Who are all these . . . people? What are you up to Shepard?"
"Making your day Ambassador," she explained motioning for the quarian to step forward. "She has information linking Saren to the geth."
"Really?" He asked disbelievingly. "Maybe you better start at the beginning, Miss . . ?"
It was in this moment that Shepard realized she'd never asked the quarian's name.
"My name is Tali," she explained. "Tali'Zora nar Rayya."
"We don't see many quarians here," Udina stated. "Why did you leave the flotilla?" His tone was polite but Shepard could hear something else just under the surface.
Tali sighed and walked away from the group and toward one of the windows.
"I was on my Pilgrimage, my rite of passage into adulthood."
"I've never heard of this before," Shepard blurted out before she could stop herself. Her curiosity was something she could usually keep in check. But now it seemed to have taken on a life of its own.
Udina shot her a look but Tali didn't see it.
"It's a tradition among my people," she explained. "When we reach maturity, we leave the ships of our parents and our people behind. Alone we search the stars, only returning to the flotilla once we have discovered something of value. In this way, we prove ourselves worthy of adulthood."
"What kinds of things do you look for?" Shepard asked, not caring if Udina was in a hurry.
"It could be resources like food or fuel. Or some type of useful technology. Or even knowledge that will make like easier on the flotilla. Through our pilgrimage, we prove that we will contribute to the community, rather than being a burden on our limited resources." Tali seemed to swell with pride as she explained what was, clearly, a very important custom to her people.
Shepard nodded, pleased to know more about Tali and her people. "Tell us what you found."
"During my travels," she started, "I began hearing reports of geth. Since they drove my people into exile, the geth have never ventured beyond the veil. I was curious.
"I tracked a patrol of geth to an uncharted world. I waited for one to become separated from its unit. Then I disabled it and removed its memory core."
"I though all geth fried their memory cores when they died. Some kind of defense mechanism," Anderson stated.
"How did you manage to preserve a memory core?" Shepard asked.
"My people created the geth," she explained with a mix of pride and guilt. "If you're quick, careful and lucky small caches of data can sometimes be saved. Most of the core was wiped clean. But I salvaged something from its audio banks." She brought her omnitool out and punched a few things into the display.
There was a clicking sound and followed by a faint sound of white noise.
"Eden Prime was a major victory! The beacon has brought us one step closer to finding the Conduit," Saren's voice rang through the empty room.
"That's Saren's voice!" Anderson shouted, "This proves he was involved in the attack!"
"He said Eden Prime brought him once step closer to finding the Conduit. Any idea what that means?" Shepard asked.
"The Conduit must have something to do with the beacon. Maybe it's some kind of Prothean technology . . ." Anderson contemplated. "Like a weapon."
The room went silent as everyone there considered what Saren with an advanced weapon might mean.
"Wait . . . there's more," Tali said after a moment. "Saren wasn't working alone." She brought up her omnitool and punched a few more things in.
The recording of Saren started again.
"Eden Prime was a major victory! The beacon has brought us one step closer to finding the Conduit."
"And one step closer to the return of the reapers," a second, female, voice intoned.
Udina shook his head. "I don't recognize that other voice. The one talking about the Reapers."
"Are they some kind of new alien species?" Shepard asked.
"I've never heard of anything like that," Garrus commented.
"Me either," Ash agreed.
"According to the memory core," Tali cut in, "the Reapers were a hyper-advanced machine race that existed 50,000 years ago. The Reapers hunted the Protheans to total extinction, and then they vanished. At least, that's what the geth believe."
I chill shuddered down Shepard's spine.
Something about what Tali was saying made her blood run cold.
Reapers.
That word made the little hairs on the back of her neck stand on end.
"Sounds a little far-fetched," Udina's voice sounded from far away as she struggled to place her feeling.
"The vision on Eden Prime," she said at once. "I understand it now. I saw the Protheans being wiped out by the Reapers."
"The geth revere the Reapers as gods," Tali stated. "The pinnacle of non-organic life. And they believe Saren knows how to bring the Reapers back."
"The council is just going to love this," Udina muttered. She could hear the disbelief in his voice. He would try and silence her or down play the threat.
"The Reapers are a threat to every species in Citadel space. We have to tell them," she pressed.
Udina looked ready to argue.
"No matter what they think about the rest of this," Anderson cut in. "Those audio files prove Saren's a traitor."
"The captain's right," Udina agreed. "We need to present this to the Council right away."
"What about her?" Kaidan asked nodding to Tali. "The quarian?"
"My name is Tali," she replied defensively. "You saw me in the ally, Commander. You know what I can do. Let me come with you."
"I thought you were on your Pilgrimage," Sheppard replied. She didn't mind the thought of bringing Tali with her, the girl seemed tough and her knowledge of the geth could be invaluable in their fight with Saran.
"The Pilgrimage proves that we are willing to give of ourselves for the greater good," she explained passionately. "What does it say about me if I turn my back on this? Saren is a danger to the entire galaxy. My Pilgrimage can wait."
She nodded, impressed by her dedication. "I'll take all the help I can get," she told her.
"Thanks," Tali sighed. She walked away from Udina and came to stand at Shepard's right hand side. "You won't regret this." She was smiling, or at least the Commander thought she was smiling. The helmet made it hard to tell.
Udina pulled a face, clearly displeased by Shepard's decision. "Anderson and I will go ahead to get things ready with the Council. Take a few moments to collect yourself, then meet us at the tower. He walked past the Commander and then skirted to the side to avoid running into Wrex.
Anderson walked up and put a hand on her shoulder. He didn't say anything but his eyes conveyed a sense of gratitude he couldn't find the words for. Giving her a slight squeeze, he headed after the ambassador.
They turned to watch the men go. As the door slid closed behind them every eye, Amber, red, brown, blue, and purple (It was hard to see through the helmet) turned to face her.
"Now what do we do?" Tali asked.
"We should head to the Tower and show the Council what you've found," Shepard said as though it should have been obvious.
"All of us?" Ash asked, looking around.
"We all had a part to play in tracking down this information," she explained. "We should all be there to present these finding to the Council."
"And we all want to take Saren down," Garrus added.
"It makes us a team," Kaidan agreed.
"Let's go do this then," Wrex grunted looking displeased.
"Don't like the team?" Garrus laughed, enjoying the look of displeasure on the krogan's face.
"I've been a part of worse," he grumbled. "At least there aren't any asari."
"And on that note let's get going," Shepard stated, starting toward the door.
"You wanna take a cab again?" Wrex joked as she walked past.
"Only if they have a bus."
Tali walked with this strange new group, on the Presidium. A place no quarian had been in over a hundred years. She was in awe at all she saw.
A sky with clouds. A lake with waterfalls splashing water around like it didn't matter if it got wasted or not. Then there was all the green! Live trees and planets everywhere.
Then there was all the space!
She'd never seen so much space on an artificial construct.
Her whole race could live here.
She looked at the Commander, leading them around.
Quarians in general had very little interaction with humans.
Even less with krogan.
This was going to be a very interesting Pilgrimage.
Shepard pushed the green button next to the Tower's elevator and waited as it scanned her. The door parted with a hiss and slid away. Then the six shuffled onto the elevator. Originally there had been so much room in the small glass box.
Now it seemed there wasn't enough space for just Wrex.
They shuffled around for a minute, trying to get everyone situated. Finally Wrex was in the center with Shepard next to Garrus by the control panel, Kaidan was next to Tali directly across from them, and Ash was somewhere Shepard couldn't see.
She opened the menu up and punched the button for the top floor.
Again the elevator crawled forward, seeming to struggle under the combined weight of everyone inside.
"You know this elevator is slow too," Garrus observed quietly next to her.
"It's a pandemic," Shepard agreed with a smile.
"I've lived here for years and never noticed their speed before."
She looked up at him and the little visor that sat over his left eye. "So what you're say," she joked, "Is that if we ever end up in a situation where you perception is all that stand between us and certain doom . . . ?"
"We'd all die," he laughed.
"Good to know." She chuckled.
"So . . ." Tali ventured quietly. "Why is the elevator going so slowly?"
Garrus, Kaidan, Ash, and Shepard laughed as Wrex and Tali glanced around confused.
"You know," Garrus commented as neared the top, "not too many people have free access to the Tower. Even less get to meet the council."
"This is our second time seeing them," Ash informed the group. "Today."
Wrex shook his head and muttered something about humans Shepard couldn't understand. She was going to ask what he meant, but then she realized she probably didn't want to know.
The elevator stopped and the glass doors slid open.
It was still an amazing sight to see.
Shepard wondered if she would ever grow accustomed to seeing it.
Before the small group could even get off the elevator they were attracting attention. The humans and the turian didn't seem to faze anyone, but the krogan and the quarian seemed to be a bit of a problem.
As they started forward security she hadn't seen originally swooped in from all sides.
"I'm sorry but you can't be here," a salarian with faint green skin and dark red eyes told Wrex.
"Yeah? Says who?" He challenged.
"Sir . . ." A turian with dark brown scales and white face paint added.
Shepard stepped up between the security and Wrex. "I'm Commander Shepard with the Systems Alliance Navy, is there a problem here?"
"Ma'am," an asari dressed as a commando said, "We, as a policy, do not allow krogan or quarians into the top of the tower unrestricted, or without a summons."
"The council is expecting us," Shepard informed her before Wrex could say something. "This is my team and I take full responsibility for them while we're here."
A look of unease passed between the three. The salarian moved away from group and spoke quietly into his comm. After a few seconds he returned, looking more than a little displeased.
"Commander Shepard and her team are expected it the council chambers at once," he announced. "We are to let her team pass on the understanding that they are her responsibility."
"I understand," she confirmed with a nod.
"Then you may pass," the salarian sighed, disgruntled.
"Thank you," she moved forward as the security parted. Wrex "accidentally" bumped into the salarian as they passed, grumbling a half-assed apology to him after.
Not wanting to keep the Council waiting, the Commander and her group hurried through the rest of the beautiful tower and up the steps where Captain Anderson was awaiting her again. He chuckled when he saw them and when she was close enough he told her, "Come on. Udina's presenting the quarian's evidence to the Council."
They hurried up the steps and had just entered the Council Chambers when the sound of Saren's voice drifted over.
"Eden Prime was a major victory! The beacon has brought us one step closer to finding the Conduit."
"And one step closer to the return of the Reapers."
"You wanted proof," Udina declared, "There it is."
Sparatus shook his head, clearly ashamed. "This evidence is irrefutable, Ambassador. Saren will be stripped of his Spectre status and all efforts will be made to bring him in to answer for his crimes."
"I recognize the other voice," Tevos announced. "The one speaking with Saren. Matriarch Benezia." She looked back to Shepard, shame and grief plain on her face.
"Who's she?" The Commander asked.
"Matriarchs are powerful asari who have entered the final stage of their lives," she explained. "Revered for their wisdom and experience, they serve as guides and mentors to my people. Matriarch Benezia is a powerful biotic, and she had many followers. She will make a formidable ally for Saren."
"I'm more interested in the Reapers," Valern observed. "What do you know about them?"
There were certainly more qualified people in the room to answer. People with more experience and rank than she had. Still the salarian councilor, as well Sparatus and Tevos, turned and addressed her directly.
She glanced to Anderson who nodded.
"Only what was extracted from the geth's memory core," he explained. "The Reapers were an ancient race of machines that wiped out the Protheans. Then they vanished."
"The geth believe the Reapers are gods. And Saren is the prophet for their return," Shepard added.
"We think the Conduit is the key to bringing them back. Saren's searching for it. That's why he attacked Eden Prime," Anderson finished.
"Do we even know what this Conduit is?" Valern asked.
"Saren thinks it can bring back the Reapers. That's bad enough," Shepard offered in lieu of the truth. Which was that they had no idea what the Conduit was or where it might be.
"Listen to what you're saying!" Sparatus scoffed. "Saren wants to bring back the machines that wiped out all life in the galaxy? Impossible. It has to be." There was defiance in his voice, but also uncertainty and a hint of fear.
"Where did the Reapers go?" He demanded. "Why did they vanish? How come we've found no trace of their existence? If they were real, we'd have found something!" Shepard wasn't sure if he was trying to convince the other members of the Council or himself.
The Commander was starting to get frustrated. She had given them the evidence they had asked for. "I tried to warn you about Saren, and you refused to face the truth. Don't make the same mistake again."
"This is different," Tevos explained. "You proved Saren betrayed the Council. We all agree he's using the geth to search for the Conduit, but we don't really know why."
"The Reapers are obviously just a myth, Commander," Valern agreed. "A convenient lie to cover Saren's true purpose. A legend he is using to bend the geth to his will."
They were afraid.
That fear was keeping them from seeing the truth and it was going to get a lot of people killed if she couldn't make them see.
Anger and just a bit of indignation boiled under her surface. "Fifty thousand years ago, the Reapers wiped out all galactic civilization. If Saren finds the Conduit, it will happen again!"
Sparatus looked at her like an adult would look at child telling tall tales. "Saren is a rouge agent on the run for his life," he explained. "He no longer has the rights or resources of a Spectre. The Council has stripped him of his position."
"That's not good enough!" Udina shouted. "You know he's hiding somewhere in the Traverse. Send you fleet in!"
"A fleet cannot track down one man," Valern explained simply.
Udina shook his head, pissed. "A Citadel fleet could secure the region. Keep the geth from attacking anymore of our colonies!"
"Or it could trigger a war with the Terminus systems!" Sparatus shouted, his patience for the humans wearing thin. "We won't be dragged into a galactic confrontation over a few dozen human colonies!"
She was angry. Those were human lives that were being lost. How could be so blind to the danger Saren presented? She looked to the council and then back to Udina and Anderson. Everyone was heated and no one would budge from the whole they'd dug themselves into.
They needed an alternate option.
"I can take Saren down."
The room fell silent as everyone considered her words.
"The Commander is right," Tevos conceded. "There is a way to stop Saren that doesn't require fleets or armies."
"No!" Sparatus insisted. "It's too soon. Humanity is not ready for the responsibilities that come with joining the Spectres."
"You don't have to send a fleet into the traverse," Shepard told them. "And the Ambassador gets his human Spectre. Everybody's happy."
Tevos and Valern looked to Sparatus. After a second or so of hesitation he nodded. Each councilor reached forward and touched a button on a control panel in front of them. There was a sound of hydraulics and a few seconds later unmanned cameras flew up and encircled the area. Confused the Commander looked around.
"Commander Shepard," Tevos intoned, "step forward."
She looked to Anderson who nodded, beaming with pride. She walked up past him and Udina until she stood at the very edge of the walkway.
People were starting to gather. On sidewalks, balconies and even the steps behind them. A crowd was forming.
"It is the decision of the Council that you be granted all the powers and privileges of the Special Tactics and Reconnaissance branch of the Citadel," Tevos elaborated.
"Spectres are not trained but chosen," Valern intoned now. "Individuals forged in the fire of service and battle; those whose actions elevate them above the rank and file."
"Spectres are an ideal, a symbol. The embodiment of courage, determination, and self-reliance. They are the right hand of the Council, instruments of our will." Tevos added.
"Spectres bear a great burden," Sparatus proclaimed. "They are protectors of galactic peace, both our first and last line of defense. The safety of the galaxy is theirs to uphold."
"You are the first human Spectre, Commander," Tevos acknowledged. "This is a great accomplishment for you and your entire species."
A small camera drone flew before her as she bowed. "I'm honored, Councilor."
"We're sending you into the Travers after Saren," Valern informed her. "He's a fugitive from justice, so you are authorized to use any means necessary to apprehend or eliminate him."
"Any idea where to find him?" Shepard asked.
"We will forward any relevant files to Ambassador Udina," Sparatus replied.
"This meeting of the Council is adjourned," Tevos intoned as the camera drones flew back to wherever they had come from. Shepard bowed slightly to the Councilors as they walked away and back to their private chambers. Once they had gone, everyone who had come to witness Shepard's inauguration began to disperse.
