The Citadel, March 14, 2183
Jane and Garrus walked next to each other at the back of the group heading towards the embassy. Looking at the front, Garrus could see the Commander holding the quarian in a bit of an embrace. He hadn't let go of her for the entire walk, and he really had no idea why. Did they know each other? Sure, he could ask the human beside him, she was his sister after all, so she probably knew.
"Why has your brother not let go of her?" Garrus asked looking at Jane while pointing at the Commander and the quarian.
"Hmm?" She asked before her eyes widened in realization of what he was asking "Oh. Yeah, they are very good friends."
Garrus's mandibles widened in surprise "So you do know her?"
Jane looked back at the two and smiled "Met her during first contact with quarians."
"You've known her for 13 years?" He asked as his eyes went wide at the news.
"Yup. Known each other since Mindoir." She faintly smiled as she remembered those events. From Tali and John meeting, to them escaping that room just to see the drive core, getting in trouble, and Tali leaving. It was something that she would have liked to see for the first time again, something that began their friendship, and their love, even if they wouldn't admit it yet.
It shocked him quite a lot, but also didn't completely surprise him. He saw what the Commander had done to Fist. Cold, ruthless torture, precise enough as to not kill him, but just enough pain to make Fist sing.
But not 5 minutes later, he had seen him with a quarian. Looking fragile, and sad. The LTC's words played in his head 'Very good friends', he would have believed it if he wasn't so good at reading people. When you work at C-Sec after all, you gain some very impressive skills. Skills that helped him see very damn well this was more than friendship. He could see the way the Commander looked at the quarian, and despite the mask, he could see that the quarian also looked at him the same way.
Garrus looked at Jane and felt like this was the start of an investigation he wanted a confession to "Do they have a thing for eac-?"
"Yup." Jane admitted immediately. Garrus' mandibles widened in a frown, he was hoping he could get this investigation to go a little longer, learn about the Commander and her, but at least he had gotten his answer.
"So... your brother likes a quarian?" Garrus asked trying to at least keep the conversation going as they got closer to the exit towards the Presidium.
Jane scoffed at his question and frowned "I'd say it's almost more the other way around. But I am pretty sure he does like her, but won't admit it."
In truth, Jane knew very damn well her brother definitely liked Tali. She had seen it in the way he acted, his constant hugging, the way his voice pitched while talking with her, and how much his posture relaxed. But of course, he was far too dense to ever realize the tells Tali had thrown at him. It had gotten to the point where Tali could hold a sign saying "I love you John" and he likely would think it was for another quarian conveniently named John. And if he had noticed the signs, she was sure that John believed that he could never be good enough for her, and that she deserved someone better than he could ever be.
Tali on the other hand, she had tried to make her move on John, but his Alliance career, being such a decorated soldier, N7 graduate, and quite likely a spectre very soon? It meant that Tali thought she would never be worthy of him.
It really pissed her off. 13 years. 13 god damn years of watching the two dance around each other's flirts and moves. If she had to, she would find out how to break an elevator and lock them in there until they finally confessed. Because she was growing more and more aggravated every time they did this 'Oh we're just friends' bullshit. And it had to end. Soon.
Shaking her head and taking deep breaths to calm down, Jane tried to change subjects as they reached the Presidium "Nice shooting back there by the way."
Garrus seemed taken aback by the sudden change in subject, but Jane could also see that he was grateful for the complement as his mandibles tightened in what she could only assume was the turian equivalent of blushing, not realizing that his neck had become slightly bluer "Well I only took out the long range ones, but I do believe that without me you'd had gotten swarmed by the ones on top."
Jane chuckled "Uh huh, but we do have that krogan helping us, I'm sure we could have gotten it done even without you." She finished with a smirk.
Garrus let out an indignant sigh "That truly hurts me."
"Good." She laughed.
Garrus watched as Jane laughed. Although he didn't really have much experience with humans, he kind of liked this one. He supposed that her red hair and green eyes interested him quite a lot. Her brother, he had seen had blue eyes, and brown-black hair through his buzz cut. Yet from what he knew, they were twins. And they were still so different.
But the part that interested him more than anything was the scar running from just the top-left of her mouth to below her right eye. Now that must have been a good story of how she had gotten it.
They went up the stairs of the embassies and soon stood outside of the human embassy as John opened the door.
Almost immediately after they entered, they saw Anderson look at them and Udina sigh, knowing immediately who it was "You're not making my life easy Commander," He said irately as he turned around to face them "Firefights in the wards, a full out assault on Chora's Den? Do you know how many-" He stopped as he looked at the suddenly bigger team. Immediately noting the still blood-soaked krogan, turian C-Sec officer, and a quarian "Who are all of them? What are you up to Shepard?"
"They helped us get the evidence against Saren. Of course, if there's ever a time you don't jump down my throat the second I walk through those doors then maybe I'll have time to explain it beforehand." John's sudden change in mood took Tali aback. She knew very well that he could be very mean when someone either threatened him, his family, or friends, but he must have truly hated this guy to antagonize him that quickly when he hadn't insulted them yet.
"I apologize Commander. This whole thing with Saren has me on edge." He breathed deeply as he looked over the team "Let's start over, you have the evidence then?"
"I've got it." Tali chimed in.
"How did you get it?" Anderson asked.
"I was on my Pilgrimage with some other quarians, we came upon a transmission from... from the geth. Outside the veil." Tali said as she looked over the room, noting that no one looked bothered by the news "None of you care that the geth are outside the veil?"
John sighed as he looked at Tali and frowned "Tali, the geth attacked Eden Prime. Almost the entire galaxy knows."
"Wait, what?!"
"Admiral Hackett and Raan already locked down Earth, we don't know if they will try to attack there too, but everyone knows about the geth."
"I see..." Tali gulped as she took in the news.
"So, how did the geth factor into you getting the evidence?" Anderson asked.
"I scanned one's memory core after killing it." Tali's tone took a switch from almost scared to smug as she told them.
"I thought they fried their cores after dying?"
"Please Anderson. If there's anything I've learned about Tali it's that she can make things that still seem impossible to us happen. I'm sure scanning one's memory core was like opening a door for her." John said as he patted her shoulder causing her to feel the heat rising to her face.
Anderson however, noted that the compliment was more than 'friendly' when accounting for his usual compliments towards anyone else. Still, pushing past it he nodded and looked at Tali "So, would you mind showing us the evidence?"
John looked over at Tali and gave her a nod with a warm smile. She immediately pulled out her omni-tool and input a few commands. After a few seconds of static Saren's voice could be heard "Eden Prime was a major victory! The beacon has brought us one step closer to finding the Conduit!"
Before the recording ended however, another voice came through, a woman "And one step closer to the return of the Reapers."
Everyone in the room looked at each other, they knew that they had won, Saren was finished, and there was now way the council would be able to dismiss any of this. But the Conduit? Reapers? Wait a second... Reapers...
"Well, we definitely have Saren now." Udina broke the silence "But that other voice. What are these 'Reapers' that person was talking about?"
"I'm not sure, but from what I could tell from it's memory core, the geth revere them as gods. The pinnacle of non-organic life. They believe that the Reapers hunted the protheans to total extinction and vanished over 50,000 years ago." Tali explained.
As those words came to John, he began replaying the visions on his head, they weren't something he yet understood, but he knew it had something to do with them "The vision from Eden Prime... I... I think I saw the protheans getting wiped out by the Reapers."
"Vision?"
"I interacted with a beacon. It burned some images onto my brain, I think I saw their war with these 'Reapers'... I saw their extinction..." John explained leaving Tali in complete shock of what she had missed.
"Keelah..."
They heard as Udina groaned and shook his head "Now the council is just going to love this one even more..."
"We've got to tell them about this." Anderson said.
"They're not going to believe us you know?" John said causing Anderson to sigh.
"I know, but we have to try to tell them."
"We should hear what the council has to say about this first." Udina interrupted before John could answer "Commander, meet us over at the council chambers when you are ready. And if you're going to bring that krogan, please get that blood off him." He demanded causing Wrex to growl as he and Anderson left the embassy.
The room was filled with silence momentarily before Jane spoke up "Well... that went well."
"At least the council won't have a choice but to listen to us this time." John added.
"I feel like they will ignore you again Commander." Garrus added "They'll likely think it's edited."
"If those bosh'tets ignore it too I will be so mad. I nearly died for that damn evidence." Tali said.
"We're not going to find out anything here. Tali, stay here, the rest with me." John said as his team went to leave the embassy.
"What?!" Tali yelled causing the John to stop "I got that evidence. I want to be there to see Saren's face when he hears that evidence." Tali demanded as she got closer to him.
"Tali you probably still have assassins after you. This is likely the safest spot." John argued.
"By being alone?" Tali crossed her arms "The safest spot I can think of is with you."
"I..."
"Please." Tali pleaded. John looked directly at her eyes, trying to come up with any excuse to leave her here and keep her safe. But she did have a point. With a giant window right behind her, any sniper could easily get to her, and really, this place wasn't too well guarded. He closed his eyes and sighed before opening them back up and nodding causing Tali to jump in place and let out a small triumphant 'yes' as she went with John to catch up to the others who had left the embassy during their small argument.
Getting to the council chambers was difficult. As it was apparent, hoping a krogan would clean blood off of them without some major retaliation was more of a wish than anything else. They quite literally had to stop Wrex from trying to tear Garrus apart after the turian opened his mouth about the subject, and stupidly tried arguing against Wrex.
Another complication was that the first time they went into the elevator, they had had four people that barely even fit into it. Now? They had a krogan, turian, and quarian with them. And of course Wrex had decided to take the middle part of the elevator leaving the others squished against the elevators walls, and left Tali and John squished together. Not anything they hadn't experienced before, but still somewhat awkward.
The one that was truly awkward though, was how Wrex caused Garrus and Jane to be much closer to each than either of them found comfortable.
Once the elevator finally stopped, they could immediately hear that Saren was indeed back in hologram form. He was once again trying to defend himself, but Udina had clearly not shown the evidence yet. Going up the stairs, John saw Anderson glaring daggers at Saren with the councilors trying to deny everything.
"You tried this not five hours ago Ambassador. Unless proper evidence is shown, we cannot take action." Valern argued, trying to stay as calm as he could.
"Please. They have no evidence! They still only wish to turn us against our best spectre and waste our time!" Sparatus yelled trying to end this hearing as fast as he could.
"Ambassador." Tevos spoke in a calmer matter than the others "Is there a reason for why you called for another hearing?"
Everyone could see as Udina grinned and looked at Saren "Absolutely councilors." He said as he opened his omni-tool and played the recording.
"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."
John smiled as he watched Saren's face shift from looking so smugly to a face of pure horror. Oh yes, they had him. Even the councilors looked shocked. But he also noted that Tevos's face was mortified. She looked far more shocked than the others by a lot.
"You wanted your evidence? There you have it!" Udina yelled as he pointed at the councilors.
"They're lying!" Saren's voice carried that hint of fear every single person of that group wanted to hear "They must have edited it to make it sound like me."
"Yeah! You could have very well edited it." Sparatus tried arguing.
Oh so help me I am going to shoot this asshole...
"You already tried arguing before!" John stepped in "If we really tried to frame him by editing his voice then explain who that second voice is. Why add someone we don't even know into that?"
Everyone could see as each of the councilors looked at Saren very confused on what to do. They obviously didn't want to do what they knew was inevitable, but if they didn't, the galaxy would definitely rip them a new one.
"No. It's likely you simply added it to add to your story." Sparatus once again tried to stop this, but John could see just how afraid he was of doing what was right.
"Oh for fuck sake..." Jane muttered into her hands "Are you really that ignorant?!" She yelled, finally having enough of their idiocy "We give your sorry asses hard proof twice! And twice you try to spew out some bullshit to protect your 'golden child' because you can't accept they did something wrong!" She continued her outburst as she stepped onto the platform with a bewildered Udina trying to stop her. Oh she was not helping their case by yelling, that was for sure.
"Watch your tone Shepard!" Sparatus yelled.
"Or what?!"
"Jane stop." John said as he grabbed her shoulders and turned her away from the councilors "You're not helping us by insulting them..." He heard as Jane groaned and she began walking back towards the group.
"Listen," John started as he looked back at the councilors "Why would we be stupid enough to try to lie to you this quickly? And besides, getting a clear recording like that is almost impossible."
He saw as Valern looked down and sighed "I hate to say it Sparatus. But he's right."
"The evidence they have shown us is irrefutable." Tevos joined in "And he does make some good points."
"You can't be serious." Sparatus tried to argue.
"These claims against me can't be believed. Why would I shoot Nihlus when I personally recommended and trained him?" Saren said, trying his last resort to plead his innocence.
"Yes, why would you indeed?" A voice joined in, somewhat far away but still close enough to be noticeable. Looking behind him, John saw as a still wounded Nihlus came up the stairs and looked at Saren with hatred in his eyes. Indeed, Saren was also shocked. "Commander Shepard is telling the truth councilors. Saren Arterius attempted to execute me during our mission on Eden Prime. I was only saved by the Commander's quick response." He said without ever breaking his gaze from Saren who was looking at him without muttering so much as a word.
Sparatus sighed as he looked towards the other councilors and nodded, each of them doing the same before looking at Saren "Spectre Arterius, this council has reached a conclusion. We have judged that you are to be found guilty of the attack on the human colony of Eden Prime."
Tevos continued the statement as Saren was now watching them "You are to be stripped of all your spectre resources and status, effective immediately, there will be no appeals."
Saren hadn't muttered a single word, everyone believed it was fear that he had indeed been caught, but they saw as his mandibles moved in an expression of rage as he looked towards John "Let this be known Commander Shepard. This is but a simple victory that means nothing in the grand scale of the galaxy. What I am doing will preserve all species, and if you come after me, your species will burn and be forgotten once this cycle ends." He said as he cut the communication and his hologram form disappeared, leaving everyone confused.
Cycle? The hell is he talking about? Do these Reapers have something to do with it?
"You can't leave it at that!" Udina began yelling "You know Saren is hiding somewhere in the Traverse, send your fleet in!"
"A fleet cannot track down just one man." Sparatus said.
"Saren is now a rogue spectre on the run. He has no more resources to aid him." Tevos said.
"Except the geth. You know, the machines that drove the quarians into exile? The ones that just attacked one of our colonies and won without breaking a sweat?" Udina argued.
"Ambassador." Valern joined in "If we sent a fleet into the Terminus, we could trigger a war with them. A war that is not worth it."
"Then just send one ship." Nihlus said as he walked to be in front of the Commander "One ship could easily get through undetected without starting too much of a conflict."
The councilors looked at each other for a few seconds before nodding and looking at Nihlus "Spectre Kryik, will you lead the hunt for the rogue spectre Saren?" Sparatus asked.
Nihlus however, stayed silent and looked at the ground. He looked... sad? He couldn't tell, but there was definitely something wrong.
"I'm afraid I can't councilors." Nihlus said in a low voice leaving everyone shocked "The damage I sustained on Eden Prime has left me with a damaged lung, and my combat abilities have taken a severe hit. It would be months of training before I can be as I was previously."
"Months?! We might not have months!" Udina yelled looking at Nihlus.
"Saren is working with the geth. For what reason, we don't know. But I agree, whatever Saren is up to could very well be dangerous to everyone." Tevos said.
"Well, since Spectre Kryik is unable to do the task, there is still one way to get the job done." Valern said as he began looking at John, causing Sparatus to shake his head and scoff.
"No. Humanity is not ready for the responsibility that comes with joining the spectres!"
"It's either that, or let Saren run loose."
"If you do it, you don't have to send a fleet into the Traverse, and humanity gets their spectre. You are happy, humanity is happy." John argued causing each of the councilors to stay silent for a while "Besides, it was a turian spectre that betrayed you, it was a human who exposed him. Tell me again how we are not ready for the responsibility?"
After some time, they all nodded at each other and pressed a few buttons on their terminals before Tevos looked back at him "Commander Shepard, please step forward."
Jane saw as John stepped closer towards the end of the platform and her eyes went wide. This was actually happening, today, right in front of her. And her brother no less. Looking around her, everyone was equally shocked. Especially Tali.
"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 spoke.
Around him, he could see as so many viewers leaned on the railings, all just as shocked as the ones next to them.
"Spectres are not trained, but chosen. Individuals forged in the fire of service and battle, those whose actions elevate them above the rank and file." Valern continued.
"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."
"Spectres bear a great burden." Sparatus continued "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 Shepard. This is a great accomplishment for both you and your entire species." Tevos said as she smiled towards the Commander.
"Your mission will be to hunt the rogue spectre known as Saren Arterius. You are free to do so in any way you wish, all resources you require will be granted to you." Valern said.
"This meeting is now adjourned." Tevos said as each of the councilors began walking away.
He was now the first human Spectre. Something he never expected to be. As he began walking back towards the others, he could see Jane smiling and nodding "So. Do I now have to retire then? I feel like you just beat me at almost everything."
"Yeah..." John replied sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his neck "No hard feelings for beating you?"
Jane laughed at his question "I hate the press. They'll be all over you instead of me so I have no problems with it."
"You don't care because you hate the press?"
"Yup."
"That's stupid."
"Oh trust me, you'll likely be singing a different tune when the press is on you far more than after Elysium."
"Ehem..." Udina cleared his throat next to them "If you're done, you will need a ship, a crew and supplies Commander. I can get Anderson to help us with it. You should find your crew."
"Well, actually." He said as he looked back at the ones that had helped him storm Chora's Den. But Tali? She had no combat experience when compared to the others. So what to do with her?
"Ah, of course. Well, get them ready. Anderson, come with me, we need to get things ready." Udina said as he walked away, Anderson behind him.
"Wow." Tali said behind John "I would have thought he would be more grateful. He didn't even thank you."
"Yeah. That's politicians for you..." John replied. What do I do with her?
"Hey John?" Tali asked causing him to turn to face her "Would it be okay if I came with you?"
"What?"
"You saw me in the alley. You know I'm not weak. Besides, if you're going to fight geth, I could help you!" She explained.
"Tali, we're going to go to what amounts to a suicide mission. I can't risk you getting hurt." He said, trying his best to not sound disappointed. In reality, he wanted to take her with him, but if he did he would place her in extreme danger. Something he wouldn't forgive himself for.
Tali however, was not willing to relent "John. I already told you what my Pilgrimage basically is right?"
He nodded as she continued "A chance to prove you're willing to give yourself for the greater good. So, what does it say about me if I turn my back on this?"
"I can't..."
"Please John. I know what I'm getting myself into for coming with you. And there are still many things I could help with. You know, if your ship has a drive core..." She said as her voice became somewhat playful and she tapped the bottom of her mouthpiece as if in contemplation.
"Oh, so that's why you really want to go?"
She put her hands in the air and giggled "Guilty as charged."
John faintly smiled at her use of a human idiom. She could in fact be useful to the mission, but he really didn't want to put her in harms way. Although he could leave her on whatever ship they gave them, he knew very damn well she was going to beg him to take her on ground missions, if they had any. There really was only one way to make sure she was at the very least ready "Okay look..." He said as he rubbed the bridge of his nose "You are not combat ready. Don't argue with me on that. But, if you agree to being trained at least a bit, maybe I'll consider you for ground missions." He looked away and muttered "Much as I don't want to..."
"Will it help you trust me on missions?" She asked as she wringed her hands together.
"Only if you are good at it."
She stayed quiet as she looked towards the group she knew John would take with him. She could probably offer mostly support and let the others - especially the krogan - do the heavy lifting. If they were going to fight geth after all, she would be good on a battlefield. She looked towards John and nodded "Then yes."
John smiled a bit as he nodded and patted her shoulder "I'll try not to be too hard on you. Trust me, if I give you even 5% of what N7 training amounted to you will hate me for life."
He could see her smile at that with the way her eyes turned into crescents "Making me hate you will be hard."
"You never know." He shrugged "I have an uncanny ability to make even the nicest people hate me."
"I've put up with you for 13 years you bosh'tet."
"Point taken." He smirked as she let out a frustrated sigh.
The entire team had been waiting for their Commander's orders, he could see Wrex simply leaning against a wall, Jane and Garrus talking, both exchanging glances at John constantly likely talking about his spectre inauguration and how it had just happened in front of them. Kaidan and Ashley though looked like they were in a deep argument. He didn't know what one of them had said to end up in an argument that fast, but he could still see Kaidan getting more and more frustrated. However, before he could go over there and put an end to whatever argument they were in, he was called over by the voice of the asari councilor.
"Commander Shepard, a moment of your time please?" Tevos said behind him. He looked back at the argument and gulped as it was also escalating, he glanced at Jane and pointed towards it, catching the hint she went over to it to try to stop it as John looked at Tevos and nodded.
"Something you need councilor?" He asked as he crossed his arms.
"Yes, it's about the second voice in the recording. The one that mentioned 'Reapers'."
"You know something about it?"
"The voice belongs to Matriarch Benezia. She is one of the wisest asari, and a very powerful biotic. She will likely make a great ally for Saren."
"Shit..." He muttered as he let out a deep exhale "Anything you can tell me about her?"
"There is one thing that may aid you. She has a daughter, Liara T'Soni. We've tracked her movements to Therum, a planet in the Artemis Tau cluster."
"You've been spying on her?" He asked surprised at the confession that they would keep track of someone like that without consent. And Tevos admitting it out of anyone.
"Matriarch's daughters, especially the one of Benezia, are very susceptible to being hunted for others benefits. We simply kept track of her to make sure she was safe." She explained.
"And how do you know she's still on that planet?"
"Because she was leading an exploration team to a prothean dig site. But we lost any kind of communications with them only 2 hours after Eden Prime."
"Any chance she may be dead?"
Tevos gulped and sighed "I hope not. If Benezia is working for Saren as the recording implied, then losing her daughter would likely lead to Benezia going into a rage."
John nodded as he tried to take in the information. At least he had a destination, he figured. But two hours after Eden Prime? That would mean that she had been possibly attacked almost an entire day ago. And couple that with the time whatever ship they gave him would take to reach the planet, and she would likely be dead by the time they got there.
"I've sent any relevant files to Ambassador Udina. He will fill you in for the rest." She said as she turned around before suddenly stopping and looking at him "Good luck Commander."
He nodded and walked away from there to meet up with the group just as his omni-tool pinged with a new message.
03/14/2183, 20:36
CDA: John, we have everything we need in place for you. Meet us at the Normandy's dock whenever possible.
Captain David Anderson
Systems Alliance
He raised a brow in confusion as he read the message. Why the Normandy? Was the ship he would get there? He didn't know, but right now he had his destination, he just needed to make sure that his entire team had every affair in order. Walking towards them, he realized that Kaidan and Ashley had stopped arguing, instead looking absolutely frightened. He rolled his eyes as he realized Jane had yelled something he didn't want to know at them to stop the argument. However, he also realized that Jane and Garrus were nowhere to be seen. Looking around he tried to find them but found no trace of any turians apart from the civilians. Nihlus having disappeared as well. He walked over towards the two marines "Either of you see where my sister and Garrus went?"
"I overheard them saying something about C-Sec." Kaidan answered.
"Why?"
"I think the turian said something about quitting." Ashley responded causing John's eyes to go wide. Sure he knew Garrus would likely want to go with them too, but he didn't intend for him to quit his job while doing so. "Anything else Commander?"
"Yeah, Anderson wants us at the Normandy's dock to give us our ship."
"The Normandy's dock? Why there? He trying to get us to cry at not being able to be on that ship except for one mission?" Kaidan asked.
He shrugged as he rubbed the back of his neck "Not sure, all I know is he has everything we need in place. I'll inform Tali and Wrex, you two should get to the elevator fast if you don't want a krogan there."
He barely finished before watching the two of them run as fast as they possibly could towards the elevator and grinned as he watched the two marines fade out of view as the elevator doors closed. Looking at Wrex he walked over towards him "Hey, so now that Fist is dead and Saren has been exposed, what will you do now?"
"I'm coming with you." He responded blankly.
"You sure?"
"I saw how many enemies Fist threw at us. And if you will hunt down Saren then I can already tell you will find some very powerful enemies. And in great quantity." Wrex explained as he grinned.
"Okay then... Well, we have to go to dock 422 to get our ship, so if you would like to get ahead of us, you should go, either way I have to tell her about it too." John said as he nodded towards Tali.
"The quarian?"
"My name is Tali!" They looked over at her, having apparently picked up on the conversation between the two and now walking towards them.
Wrex grinned as he looked at the quarian now crossing her arms and standing a short distance from him "Heh, you've got a quad quarian. There is hope for you yet." He said as he began walking out of view.
"Do I even wanna know what he means by that?" Tali asked.
"Probably not... a krogan's definition of hope is likely ending up with a crap-ton of bullet holes, suit breaches, and blood all over you." John's explanation caused Tali to shudder at the thought of that. "My hope is that he doesn't squish us in the elevator this time..." John said as he and Tali began walking off behind Wrex who was now waiting for the elevator. He had to also suppress a smirk as he heard Tali mutter "Oh no..." as low as possible, thinking that he wouldn't be able to hear her.
"So, you're perfectly fine with this?" Jane asked as she walked next to Garrus, heading to the C-Sec office.
"Saren is a danger to everyone. Plus C-Sec has put so much red tape on me that I know this is the right decision." He explained as they went up the stairs "You know you didn't have to come with right?"
Jane scoffed "And let you get all lost trying to find us?"
"I'll have you know that turians have a great sense of direction."
"That remains to be seen Vakarian." She said with a smirk.
Once they stood outside the C-Sec office, Garrus went to open the door, but Jane stopped him "You're sure? This is your career after all."
Garrus narrowed his eyes as he looked at her, almost frustrated by her attempts to dissuade him "My 'career' has stopped me from getting the job done many times. Besides, hunting a rogue spectre? I'd say that beats C-Sec any day."
Jane sighed and smiled at him as she let go of his hand "I'm pleased that what is likely the destruction of hundreds of lives has improved your career opportunities..."
Although turians couldn't actually 'smile', his mandibles still moved to express his smirk at her joke. Looking back at the door, he opened it, and without hesitation immediately moved towards a confused Pallin as he grabbed his gun and badge "I'm out Pallin. I quit." He said as he placed them both in the table in front of him.
Garrus's sudden entrance and resignation took the Executor aback "Vakarian. You know that is not proto-"
"I really don't care about C-Sec's protocol. I'm out, and that's final." Garrus said as he began walking out towards Jane.
"You know your father will not be happy when he hears of this right?" Pallin said behind him.
"Oh, has he ever been happy with a single decision I've made in my life?" He asked without turning around "I don't care what he thinks of this. C-Sec has been a baggage the entire time. So now it's time I do something without your dumb restrictions." He said as he walked out of the C-Sec office and huffed as he looked at Jane "That went well..."
Jane crossed her arms and raised a brow at his comment "If by well you mean you likely pissed him, and apparently your father off too, then yeah, it went well."
"Not anything new. Besides C-Sec won't really help in anything right now."
Jane sighed as she placed a palm on her face. She felt her omni-tool ping with a new message.
03/14/2183, 20:53
CJS: Dock 422, same place the Normandy docked. Meet us there when you have the time.
Commander John Shepard
Systems Alliance
She closed her omni-tool and looked at Garrus "We've got our destination."
"Then let's go." Garrus said as he walked away from the C-Sec office, not looking back. Quite honestly, he wouldn't miss it. Countless times he had tried to catch criminals only to get screwed over by the red tape C-Sec wrapped around him. Preventing him from catching criminals. And none still made him as mad as Saleon.
They walked through the Presidium, to C-Sec and used the elevator there to reach their dock. Sure enough, the Commander was speaking with Anderson and Udina. Garrus could note that his posture represented something of shock. But he wasn't about to interrupt whatever they were talking about to sate his curiosity.
He could see Ashley and Kaidan conversing, much more calmer than when they were in the council chambers. Wrex was simply leaning against a wall, looking bored out of his mind. Tali was staring at the ship docked there, she was bouncing on her toes and was beaming at the sight of it.
He decided to lean on the railing to look at the ship. He was quite impressed by it, sure not as much as the quarian, but still impressed. The Normandy was indeed an incredible ship.
"Quite a ship huh?" Jane suddenly asked, nearly startling Garrus as he didn't realize she had leaned on the railing next to him "I'm gonna miss it... even if I was only in her for one mission." She chuckled at her own comment "She's still incredible."
"Yeah..." was his only answer. What surprised him more than anything though, was that as soon as he saw her, he couldn't keep his eyes off her. He supposed it was simply because he was waiting for her to respond, but he could have easily thrown his gaze at the Normandy instead.
There was an immensely awkward silence between the two. Jane stared at the Normandy, scanning over the details, Garrus however stared at a... different view. Finding it difficult to strafe away from it. Much more difficult than it should have been.
However, he realized he must have been staring for far too long, as in the corner of his vision he could see Wrex frowning at him, giving him a disgusted look. Then again, it could easily be because of the whole ordeal with the genophage, but then Wrex would have done this too in the council chambers then.
His only saving graze was when the Commander suddenly yelled "What?!" Causing everyone to look his way.
"What do you mean you're giving me the Normandy?! She's your ship Anderson." Garrus heard the Commander argue. Everyone's eyes went wide at the news. They figured that they would get some different vessel that would dock here too. But no. They were instead getting the ship they were staring at.
"You're a spectre now Shepard. You need the Normandy much more than I do if you are going to the Terminus Systems." They heard as Anderson explained.
"Yeah but..."
"No buts. The councilor already told you to head to Therum. You can get in and out quickly with the Normandy."
"It's not right..." The Commander tried arguing one final time, but to no avail.
"Your needs surpass those of an Alliance captain now. Take the Normandy, and take good care of her."
John sighed as he saluted "Yes sir."
"And don't salute me son. You don't need to do so anymore."
"And please Commander. Try not to make big messes of things, otherwise I will have to fix them." Udina interrupted "You may be a spectre, but you still represent humanity. Any messes you make will be mine to clean."
Way to ruin the moment... John frowned and narrowed his eyes "I'll try not to make your job any harder... but no promises" He mumbled the last part as low as possible.
"Good. Come with me Anderson, we have work to do." Udina said as he walked back to the elevator, leaving the dock alongside Anderson, who gave everyone a nod as the elevator doors closed.
"Wait hold on." Jane said as she approached John "Did you just say he gave you the Normandy?"
"Yeah..." John responded in a low voice.
Everyone was shocked at the sudden news of what their ship was going to be. Definitely better than any of then expected, but really surprising. John quickly made sure that everyone had any affairs they had were over and done with. Once satisfied with everyone, he ordered them to go inside. One by one, the crew entered the ship. He pitied Kaidan and Ashley who ended up going in the same airlock cycle as Wrex, but they did escape his elevator ride before.
John walked over to Tali, who was having problems with stopping at her viewing of the Normandy. Smiling, he strode over to her and tapped her shoulder "We should probably go inside no?"
Taken by surprise, Tali wringed her hands as she realized she had been there for a very long time "Oh, yeah, sorry... I kinda got too distracted with it."
John chuckled and shook his head "I did the same thing when I saw it the first time. Come on, I'll give you a tour when we are inside, just wait until you see the drive core." As soon as he made that comment, he saw Tali's eyes suddenly widen with a bigger brightness covering them, and her beginning to practically bounce at the anticipation.
He had to practically push her to the airlock so she would enter the damn ship instead of staring at the outside when he himself was suddenly stopped by someone clearing their throat. Looking behind him, he could see a turian with their hands clasped behind their back staring at him. John signed for Tali to enter alongside Jane and Garrus as he went over towards the turian, only making out who he was as he got closer.
"Nihlus? What are you doing here?"
"You're going after Saren correct?"
"Yeah? You were there when I got the mission..."
"Yes, but I just had to make sure." Nihlus said as he walked towards the airlock.
"Uh, what are you doing?" John asked.
"I'm coming with you Commander." Nihlus stated plainly.
"You're hurt though. You said it yourself, ground missions are out of the question." John argued.
Nihlus stopped walking and sighed "That is correct Commander. But I know more about Saren than you. At the very least I can help with providing information and training your teammates to fight him."
"You'd do that?"
"Not exactly what I am used to. But I want to make sure you stop him... and find out why he is doing this." Nihlus explained as his voice became low at the last portion.
John figured that indeed, Nihlus had much more experience than him, and if he was going to train Tali, then maybe he could he help them even when injured. Reluctantly, he walked to the airlock and nodded for Nihlus to follow inside.
As soon as the decontamination procedure ended, John saw Tali waiting for him, and Nihlus immediately made his way to the CIC and down the stairs to the mess hall, leaving everyone shocked as they had not just one, but TWO spectres on the ship now.
"What in the?" John heard from the cockpit and saw Joker looking at him "You brought him back then? So one turian with a stick up their ass wasn't enough, you got the one with the broom up theirs."
"Joker..."
"Alright, alright..." He said defeatedly.
John sighed as he looked out one of the windows "It doesn't feel right to take the ship from him..."
"You're not taking it John. He gave it to you." Tali said as she squeezed his shoulder.
"She's right Commander. We're with you 100% of the way." Joker spoke as he pressed a few buttons on his console "Intercom is open, you know, if you want to give a motivational speech."
"I hate doing that..." John mumbled as he walked to the intercom and sighed Please don't screw this up... "Everyone, this is your Commander speaking. We're about to go on a mission that could very well be the most dangerous of your lives."
"Saren was behind Eden Prime. He killed hundreds of lives alongside the geth. But we will not leave him the chance to do so again. Wherever he tries to go, we will be there. And we will stop him."
"But remember, we are not alone. We do have allies, human or otherwise, we are all in this together. We will show everyone that we can do anything, if we work together. And together, we will stop Saren." He closed the intercom and sighed, pleased that at least he hadn't accidentally screwed up the speech.
"Well said Commander. Captain would be proud." Joker said beside him, smiling.
"He gave up everything to give us this chance. I won't let him down. Get us to Therum Joker."
"Aye aye sir!"
John walked towards Tali who was nodding at him "Didn't know you could give speeches too."
"You also didn't think I could give massages, but I always prove you wrong."
"Can you change a ship's engines to make sure that they operate at exactly 1.74% more efficiency than before without causing an overflow of power in the ship's shields and main cannons in less than 30 minutes?"
"..."
"Didn't think so." She said playfully as she walked towards the CIC "Now, I do believe you said something about a tour?"
John rolled his eyes and smiled as he went with Tali to show her the ship. They both saw through one of the viewing windows as the Normandy lifted off and left the dock, the arms eventually ending, and the Citadel slowly fading out of view as they neared the mass relay.
As he had predicted, Tali had jumped and squealed as soon as she had seen the drive core. Saying she was ecstatic was an absolute understatement. To her major surprise as well, Chief Engineer Adams had welcomed her with open arms and immediately took her to explain the basics of the drive core. He smiled as he saw just how excited she was throughout the presentation of it.
She quickly got to work on engineering and John gave her a pleased nod as he left engineering. Tali looked as he left and smiled, she hadn't said anything for 13 years about her feelings. But now that she and John were in the same ship. Maybe, just maybe there was hope...
Ah, who am I kidding? Now that there's someone like Ashley in here. He'll likely pick her instead... She figured but quickly took a deep breath and shook her head. No. No I haven't tried for 13 years just to give up now. Tali was absolutely determined to at the very least try to make John hers. She had trouble before, with him being human and her being a quarian, usually being on different ships.
Now though they were working together in the same ship, and ancestors help her, she was not going to give up on her plans just yet. She would try, and she would not give him up. To anyone.
