"I believe that first impressions are very important." - F. W. de Klerk

Chapter 3 - Citadel: Expose Saren

So we ended up in a standoff that, fortunately for me, only lasted for roughly twenty seconds. I was little deaf from the explosion, had both an aching chest and strong headaches and was embarrassed that I had almost been killed by my own stupidity.

And Gunnery Chief Ashley Madeline Williams of the 212th got nothing better to do than to shove her assault rifle straight in my face and hurl a threatening order at me. 'Pissed' doesn't even remotely describe what I felt.

In retrospect, I maybe should have done as she ordered. After all, it's never a good idea to make the people angry that you 'hope' to live with in small quarters... but I was so annoyed…

... so although I raised my hands above my head, my right hand fastened the grip on my pistol, and my left was clenched. I was absolutely ready do something really stupid, if Ashley would give me a reason.

Have I already mentioned that I tended to react hot-tempered at times?

Some damned intense moments followed. Ash's expression got harder, and so got my will to be defiant.

"I said. Drop. Your. Weapon!"

I remained silent, the finger on the trigger but the barrel pointed towards the ceiling.

"Williams, stand down!"

Another female voice sounded, darker, fuller and very distinctive. I tilted my head slightly and saw Shepard approaching behind Williams, a shotgun in her hand but pointed to the ground. I met her gaze and was once again amazed by her eyes. Despite the reddish dark light, they were of a brilliant green, energetic - and curious.

But this time, I was able to quickly shake it off.

"Commander Shepard?" I asked her, trying to sound surprised and relieved at the same time. "Excellent timing."

The Commander's expression remained controlled, though I was sure that she followed my every, and tried to guess my next move, ready to take me down if necessary.

"Yes, and who are you?" Shepard's gaze wandered to Tali, who still stood at the same spot as during the fight. Her body language betrayed nervousness and surprise at the sudden arrival of our helpers.

"My name is Jess Raven.", I answered, still in the same posture. I nodded at Ashley, who shot me an icy glare in response. "Could you please tell the lady here to lower her weapon? I am not your enemy - quite the opposite, in fact."

The slightest bit of nervousness crept past my headaches into my mind. At least the lights around here are dimmed.

Shepard eyed me again, then nodded. "Alright, you may lower your arms – but please, put the pistol away, and do it slowly."

I complied, attached the Judgement to the magnetic holster on my right hip, while Ashley folded her assault rifle and stowed it on her back. She frowned. "Ma'am, no human who isn't either C-SEC or military is allowed to carry weapons on the Citadel", she told her CO. "So who-?"

"I'll explain later", I interrupted her, gaining me another angry glare, "but first, there are more important things. Miss," I turned to Tali, "are you alright?"

"I know how to look after myself", she answered just a little bit snippy, before changing to a more friendly tone. "Not that I don't appreciate the help. But..." She tilted her helmet to the N7 operative, "Who are you?"

"My name is Shepard. I'm looking for evidence to prove Saren is a traitor."

Tali turned to me, her voice full of astonishment. "So you were right!"

I nodded. "As I said, Miss, the Commander is able to help you. Ma'am, this quarian has the evidence you might need to prove that Saren's gone rogue." She glanced at me once more, and for the second time I felt like I just got thoroughly examined... which wasn't really a pleasant feeling.

What Shepard saw seemed to be in my favor, though. "What do you know about this?" she asked me, not unfriendly, but to the point.

"I was sitting in a bar close to Chora's Den when they broadcasted your 'audience' with the Council", I answered, unable to hold my disdain for these political clowns out of my voice. "A few minutes later I overheard these guys" I pointed my finger at the two dead salarians and the still smoldering turian corpse, "getting their orders from Fist. Something about them getting the evidence from the quarian... I quote: 'At any cost. Saren wants it that way."

All eyes were on me, some astonished, some curious, some suspicious. "I don't know why the hell they were dumb enough to discuss that order in public, for everyone to hear... maybe you should ask Fist about how exactly he trains his guys." I added, a bit dryly.

"That would be... difficult." Shepard answered, eyes wandering to a red krogan who met her gaze quite unimpressed. I shot a glance at Wrex, too. "Yeah... I see." Mentally, I sighed. Good. Fist being dead means a lesser risk of me walking in a trap.

"Anyway", I continued, "I'm not Alliance, but if someone thinks he can get away with slaughtering innocents, he needs to be taken down." Okay, maybe that was a little bit too hammed up... I folded my arms in front of me and tried to set up an ironic smile.

"Plus, I couldn't just stay idle and let Fist backstab the quarian here. I hate that guy." I made a point of looking at Wrex, who responded with a glare that made me shudder. "Hated, I should say. So I decided to help a bit and convince the Miss to bring you the evidence, Commander. "

"Why me, and not Ambassador Udina?"

I unfolded my arms, straightened up and looked at her. "That's because I have little respect for him, but great respect for you. You are the Lioness of Elysium. And you've made your point quite clear in that Council meeting – I think if anyone can protect Humanity, it's you and Captain Anderson. Not those politicians." I sneered at the last word.

Shepard nodded slowly. Maybe my eyes deceived me, but I think I noticed a tiny glint of flatter.

"We should discuss this at a later date. Right now... Miss, I'm a senior officer of the System Alliance and acting on behalf of Council Ambassador Udina. The Alliance needs this evidence to prove Saren's connection to the attack on our colony."

Now everyone's attention turned to the young quarian pilgrim, who was nervously fidgeting her hands under the gaze of twelve eyes. Shepard paused, then continued.

"We can indeed offer you protection in return, even a safe passage back to the Migrant Fleet if you desire. I think we may be able to come to an agreement?"

The poor girl looked a bit overwhelmed. I could relate.

"If… if that is what I can do to repay you for saving my life, then I'll show it to you", she finally answered, before hastily adding: "But not here – we need to go somewhere safe."

"We could take her to the human embassy." A double-layered voice spoke up, unknown yet oh so familiar. Garrus. "Your ambassador will want to see this anyway." Shepard nodded again, before turning to me once more. "One more thing, though..." Oh. I grimaced internally. Not good.

"Mr. Raven, I am loath to say this, but Chief Williams is right – you are neither C-SEC nor Alliance as far as I can tell, yet you are armed and I assume also wearing some sort of an infantry armor. Could you explain this, please?"

Ah, crap. Well, it was bound to happen anyway. Hoping for Shepard to overlook this… unimportant detail would have been wishful thinking one way, or another.

"I can explain," I answered while suppressing another wave of nervousness (and headaches), "but I doubt that you will like the answer."

"And that means what exactly?" Ashley asked, and my nervousness was quickly replaced with anger about her tone.

Okay. Let's be blunt, then.

"That means, Ma'am, that I'm not only carrying weapons and armor without any license," came my sharp reply, "but also technically don't exist."

That brought me yet another glare. But before Shepard could ask, I continued. "I am as far as I know not even an Alliance citizen, nor do I have any ID papers. Really, my whole stay on the Citadel is somewhat illegal."

I crossed my arms in front of me, barely avoiding saying too much.

"Where are your from, then?" Shepard asked. I was genuinely surprised that she didn't ask any other questions.

I sighed an bought myself time to fight back the urge to rub my hurting head.

"From Earth... it's a bit of a story", I added, interrupting whatever Kaidan wanted to say, "and frankly, I would be a lot more comfortable talking about this somewhere in private, too".

"Alright then." Shepard stretched her hand out, looking at me apologetic. "Mr. Raven, I am sorry that I have to do this... but I need you to hand me your guns and consider yourself in custody."

I reflexively opened my mouth to protest, but she cut me off with a wave off her hand. "I'm fairly sure that you had only the best intentions, but you must understand that we can't just let you run around like that. We should however be able to help you, too. After all, you are an important witness. "

And here I was hoping she wouldn't play by the books 100%. At least she was trying, and to be fair, I should have been considering this possibility some more.

Plus, I was exhausted.

"It's ok." I answered, my voice soaked with tired resignation. "I had a feeling this wouldn't work out as I planned… And maybe that's for the best."

I took the pistol from the holster once more, gave Ashley a tiredly-annoyed look - her hand had briefly twitched to her sidearm - and ran my thumb over its body one last time. Then, I flipped the gun around and placed the grip in Shepard's open palm.

"The rest of my equipment is in that bag over there. And under this jacket, I got an armored vest and some shields."

I rose my hands to fold them behind my head, but Shepard immediately shook her head.

"That won't be necessary, I believe." She gave me a small, but genuine smile. "As long as you don't try anything. We only need you to come with us, we are not arresting you."

"Well, I should be glad that you aren't C-SEC, then." From the corner of my eyes, I saw how Garrus' mandibles twitched ever so briefly. Well, except for... "Hell no."

"Don't worry about me. If Commander Shepard says she can handle this, I won't interfere." I nodded, but behind my eyes my thinking apparatus started to go wayward again. Hm. Mass Effect 1 - Garrus without a stick up his ass? Now that is a first. Looks like Shepard already made an impression. I grinned unnoticed, despite the stress it put on my aching head. Maybe this will actually be awesome.

"Works for me, Sir." Then my gaze fell on the bodies behind us. "What about these guys?"

I still had no idea how turian mimic worked, but what Garrus did felt damned close to a human smile. A remarkably devilish one at that. "The same thing as with the other dozens of criminals we took down today." I raised an eyebrow.

"Body bags and the crematory... Executor Pallin's going to have a lot of paperwork." Shepard added, an almost unnoticeable grin tugging on her lips. I couldn't resist to rising the second eyebrow. That's not how a ME1-Paragon F!Shep speaks.

I snorted to blend in. "Yeah, I did hear some rumors along those lines." I turned and saw Kaidan picking up my backpack. "I am ready to go, if you are."

"One more thing... turn around, please." I did that and found Shepard scanning me with her omni-tool. "That was a pretty by-the-book stunt you performed there," she said, a bit sarcastically but also honestly concerned. "Are you feeling alright?"

The throbbing bouts of pain in my head and my aching chest - and back - and everywhere – were now omnipresent and impossible to suppress. I grimaced and briefly touched the wound on my head. "I did feel better already. Got a hell of a headache."

"Hold still for a second, please." She typed something in her omnitool and waved it over my head. I held my breath. "Applying medigel."

The yellow substance made contact with my skin. It felt like a cool but not overly cold shower, without actually being wet. A moment later the worst of discomfort subsided.
"You got a laceration and a slight concussion... Medigel should do the job for the time being. Your chest has not taken significant damage, as far as I can tell. You should see a doc soon, though... and stay away from explosions for a while", she dryly added and deactivated her orange glowing gauntlet.

Yeah, fat chance of that. You are Commander Shepard, after all.

If there was one thing I had learned during my playthroughs of Mass Effect, it was that explosions were following Shepard's every step. Mass Effect 1 alone was quite impressive in itself. An exploding volcano, a destroyed lab complex, Sovereign, the… I felt like someone had emptied a bucket of icy water above me. The nuke on Virmire.

And my glance fell on Ashley who kept staring at me and Kaidan who was busy strapping my bag on his back.

The seven of us walked from the Lower Wards to the human embassy, a trip that we spent mostly in silence. The only ones talking were Ashley and Kaidan. What they were talking about, I couldn't understand.

I was more than busy keeping a neutral-yet-nervous mask on my face, befitting of someone whom either prison awaits - or the big price. But my thoughts made it hard to keep my facial expression in check.

Pictures of people were ghosting around my head. And if everything would happen as it was supposed to, then they would be ghosts again, before three years had passed.

I tried to my hardest to keep these thoughts at bay. My head was only supposed to worry about the upcoming few hours, their importance could not be overestimated.

But Saphyria T'Maris had set something in motion that should haunt me for a long time. Mostly somewhere in background, suppressed by other worries. Sometimes, almost gone.

Still, an annoying little dark cloud never left me.

I only noticed our arrival when Udina began his monologue. I instantly snapped back to attention and hoped that nobody had noticed just how deep I had been lost in thoughts. I hadn't even consciously noticed that we had entered the Presidium - let alone the Embassies - although I now remembered how our surroundings had become gradually lighter.

And suddenly, we were right in the middle of the human embassy. I ended up standing to Shepard's left, Tali to her right. Sure enough, there stood Ambassador Udina seemingly overlooking the Presidium lake, and Captain Anderson next to him.

I couldn't see it from here, but I knew that the ambassador's eyes were closed and that a deep frown was showing on his forehead.

"You're not making my life easy, Shepard." Life's hard, Udina. Deal with it. "Firefights in the Wards, an all out assault on Choras Den? "

He turned around while continuing in his annoying annoyed voice. "Do you know how many -"

Seeing him stop dead his tracks when he noticed us was, from my perspective, very funny. Udina's gaze darted first to the quarian, and then to the unknown human in makeshift combat clothing. "Who are these? A quarian? A ... civilian? What are you up to, Shepard?"

Shepard crossed her arms behind her back. There was no way that anyone could ignore the smugness in her voice. "Making your day, Ambassador. The two of them have information linking Saren to the Geth." She tilted her head to look at me. "Actually, this quarian has the evidence that we're looking for, but our young friend here was very helpful in saving it from Fist. Fist was in fact working for Saren, by the way."

I remained impassive, but in my mind I applauded her very diplomatic, yet attention-demanding tone. Shepard really knew how to get people to do what she wanted. For me, that was one more piece of evidence for a Paragon-like personality.

"But there is a problem I hope we can solve discreetly... and to everyone's favor."

Both Udina and Anderson responded by raising their eyebrows, the former a little annoyed and the latter while throughout scanning me. If Shepard's examination from before had been unsettling, the Captain's gaze quickly made me feel really, really uncomfortable. Ah. Right. Anderson's an N7, too…

Like in the game, Udina was the first one to speak. "A problem, huh?" he said, his intonation a strange mix of interest and annoyance. "What kind of problem?"

I decided that now was a good time to speak for myself and took a single step forward. "The kind that I'm afraid takes a lot of paperwork to solve... Ambassador Udina, I assume?"

He slowly nodded. "Yes, I am. And you are...?"

"Jess Raven, Sir."

"He was with the quarian when we arrived," Shepard spoke up. "He claims that he has no paperwork at all... No clearance for the Citadel, no licenses for any of his weapons... but most importantly, no Systems Alliance citizenship."

That go some reaction from the two elderly men, but the Commander continued. "Mr. Raven helped us fighting off the mobsters that Fist had sent, so I offered him my help in sorting this out."

"Hm." Udina brought his hand up to his chin. Anderson folded his hands behind his back and gave me another intense look.

"Well, maybe you should start at the beginning, Mr. Raven. Where are you from?"

I copied Anderson's stance and closed my eyes for a brief moment, ordering the notes I had made inside my head. Fake Bio. No stutter, don't be monotone. Go.

"I'm from Earth, Sir, or more specifically, the European Union. My parents were part of the German chapter of the Isolationist-faction and kept me locked away for sixteen years of my live. Only then I learned that there was something like the Systems Alliance... or Aliens, for that matter."

Isolationist-faction. That does sound like something from a work of fiction, doesn't it?

Unfortunately, in the Mass Effect-reality, this was actually a thing. And a very maddening one at that.

When Humanity found the Prothean archives on Mars, thus confirming the existence of alien life, many people had outright denied this (almost literally) earth-shattering discovery. Not surprising, if you're cynical about the human race as a whole. The reasons for such a reaction had been the same as always in history... fear, religiosity, political calculus or outright stupidity. 'What I don't know about, cannot be.'

As soon as the First Contact War started, most of those people finally had been forced to see and acknowledge the truth, even if for them that meant joining ultra-nationalistic groups like Terra Firma.

But a small group of fanatics had gone even further down the dark path. They had secluded themselves from every human government, particularly the Systems Alliance, and went onto live in complete seclusion from everything outside their own little bands. This also included the outright dismissal of most modern-age (meaning, post year 2100) technology - and basically a life in the dark underbelly of human society.

Because what do you do if you can't handle the reality of a big universe? You deny it. And what do you do if society doesn't let you deny it? Well, shit! You build your own society. A very secluded society, closed off to every foreign influence. A 'pure' human society.

They even went so far to keep their children off any official records, raising and teaching them themselves, with no regard to the inevitable failings of such an approach. Everything to 'keep themselves clear off xenos-influence.'

Earth's governments had a vested interest in preventing their people from falling off the grid on a larger scale. As such, most of those who had created such a cult-like 'paradise' were soon discovered and ... dealt with, one way or another. The children were sent to other families, thus preventing the worst of damage.

But there were confirmed reports of some of these children - at the time grown adults of 25, even 30 years - getting in contact with the bigger world around them once their parents' veils of secrecy and lies - inevitably - got torn apart.

Many of them tried to commit suicide and had to be treated for mental stress and all what followed. They just couldn't handle the shock of having their entire world destroyed in such a way.

And Earth's megacities were vast, and often very dark, unmapped places. 'Informal districts'. Which is nothing but a very nice euphemism for an area that authorities have no control about and are cesspools much like Omega. There was no way of knowing for certain how many of these chapters, organizations or factions were left. And some had founded illegal colonies outside Alliance control...

When I had first learned of these groups while researching what I could about Humanity in 2183, my blood boiled so hot that I had almost crushed the iron nightstand on my hotel room's solid steel wall.

I just can't deal with mindblowing stupidity.

I felt bad seeing the people around me reacting to my 'revelation'. A bit of shock and disgust was evident with all of the humans, and I knew that I had hit a nerve. And since I was lying, I felt outright sick. But it was necessary. Or so I had convinced myself.

The aliens were, understandably, very confused (except for Wrex, who remained unbothered), but I didn't give them time to ask.

"When I turned sixteen, I finally got contact to the outside world. Was a little bit of a shock, I have to say." I continued with a tiny, sarcastic grin. "When I turned eighteen, I grabbed everything I could and made a run for it. My father, the head of that group, tried to stop me." My voice gained a slight edge of ice. "He failed. To cut things short, I spent the next three years mostly on the streets. I ran with some small, some minor gangs."

I paused to prevent it from sounding like I was reeling it off. My small audience was listening intensly. But so far, nobody had objected.

"I used what spare time I had to catch up and read everything about the galaxy and its inhabitants that I could find in both the Extra- and Internet. And then, when I turned twenty-one, I decided that it was time for me to get away from Earth. I smuggled myself on a freighter and was lucky enough to reach the Citadel and slip past C-SEC without getting noticed. And, well," I felt like making a small gesture, "Here I am."

"Why did you leave Earth?", Anderson asked. "What were you trying to gain by getting on the Citadel, of all places?"

A good question, hopefully-soon-to-be-Councilor. "To be completely honest… I don't really know it myself," I sighed, which wasn't even faked. "Ever since I left my 'beloved family'", the finger quotes were impossible to overhear, "My main concern was to stay alive, and then to not starve or drop too low in the food chain. I know a bit of stuff at least, and have picked up a little bit of gun handling from my time in the gangs. And, I always wanted to see the galaxy. Some of the people I hung around with had been off Earth a while ago, one guy even went to the Citadel. He loved to tell us all about it."

I shrugged a bit and looked to Shepard. "I don't really make plans, they never work anyway. All I wanted is to get away from Earth, and the Citadel sounded like a place where I could start. The colonies sounded boring, and I wanted to see the other races. Then, I thought, maybe I could catch a ride to Omega. Sounded just like the right place to put my knowledge to use. And nobody asking questions."

"A very risky way of living your life, don't you think?" asks Kaiden behind me. I turned around and cringed inwardly at the frown he gave me.

"Not to mention highly illegal," Ashley added, voice sharp like a razor's edge.

I sighed once again. Getting on friendly terms with that woman would be difficult. "Yes, I am aware of that. I just almost got killed, remember?"

"So why..."

"I wouldn't call myself suicidal", I interrupted, "but I'm not the one to play things safe either. If I wanted to do that, I'd still be stuck in the past like my fucking parents." The bitterness in the last few words was real, but it was directed at the isolationists, not at my real parents. They don't deserve this. "And yeah, what I'm doing is probably highly illegal. But I'm no pirate, ma'am. If anything, I'd call myself a soldier of fortune."

That resulted in a few seconds of silence, before Shepard continued.

"I see... but have you never considered to sign up with the Alliance? They have multiple programs to help people with beginning a new life. A few of my N7 colleagues have come from have a background in gang criminality."

Like your Earthborn sibling? I couldn't shake that thought off, but it was a valid question – the Alliance' recruitment efforts especially in Earth's poorer regions had been significant in the last ten years. Or so I had read.

"Yeah, I've seen some of the advertisements." I shrugged. "But honestly, I have never really considered it. The Alliance never came looking for us, I think the only Alliance guys I've ever seen are the crew of the ship I came here with. It's sorta hard to be loyal to a government that doesn't govern you."

That was a bold statement to make, but the people concerned – namely, the Commander, the Lieutenant, not to mention the Captain or the Ambassador – stayed remarkably cool. The only one who reacted morosely was, of course, Ashley Williams.

I decided that, even if everything would go according to plan, I would need some drastic measures to win her respect.

Mass Vexations had only been a fanfiction, sure; But main character Art's conflict with Ashley had cost him dearly. I had to proceed more carefully.

Udina intervened in the conversation, interrupting my line of thoughts. He surprised me by for once being what he was paid for – diplomatic. One hand placed on his chin and seemingly deep in thoughts, he addressed me. "Hm... Well, now that we know how you ended up on the Citadel, how did you end up with the quarian?"

"My name is Tali'Zorah nar Rayya," said Quarian spoke up, despite her obvious nervousness with noticeable agitation in her voice. Everyone calling her 'the quarian' had been quite disrespectful, admittedly.

I cast a short glance in her direction. "When I arrived on the Citadel, I used some 'contacts' I had acquired on Earth to get myself fully equipped." I pointed at the pistol Shepard still had attached to her hip. "Then I tried to get to know some more people and find a passage to Omega. I even hoped to get myself a contract as a hired gun, and it actually didn't look too bad for me. But before I could make something of it, I happened to sit in a bar near the Den. There they had the the pictures of the attack on Eden Prime and then your hearing in the Presidium Tower on their screens. At first, I thought nothing of it – and then I was just in the right place, at the right time."

I repeated what I had told Shepard back in the alley. When I was finished, Anderson shot a glance at Udina and folded his arms behind his back – like he often does in Mass Effect 1.

"What you're saying, makes sense, Mr. Raven.", he said, slowly and emphasizing every single word. Then he met my gaze directly, his expression not betraying whether he liked what he saw or not.

"I have to ask you, however. Why did you risk everything to help the Alliance out in such a way? You could've gotten yourself in a lot of trouble, and not to insult you, but I have difficulties believing that you intervened out of altruism."

I didn't like the underlying tone in this question, but had to admit that it was actually a good point. Is he testing me?

"Well, to tell the truth, the original plan was to be long gone by the time you would talk to Miss... Zorah, right?" She nodded. "I just wanted to set the things in motion. But to answer your question, Sir: I actually did." I straightened myself and faced Anderson. Perhaps a bit more challenging than was necessary, but I didn't had to fake my pride. "I can assure you, Sir, that my sense for right or wrong is quite intact. And what they showed on television, Eden Prime burning and how arrogant that SPECTRE was, that was more than enough for me to get interested. And then Fist got himself involved and wanted to backstab the miss here in Saren's name." I grinned sarcastically. "Hurting one of his operations was a nice bonus."

"What kind of problem did you have with Fist?"

"Fist tried to - excuse my language - fuck me over when I tried to strike a deal with him. I got out of his trap, but he got away, too." I nod to Wrex. "If I understood this correctly, he's dead now. Thank you."

"You're welcome." The krogan merc deadpanned in his gruff voice.

I took a look around and looked at all the people surrounding me. Despite my rising anxiety, I manage another crooked grin. "I must admit though, the plan was to help Miss Zorah with those mobsters, sending her to you, Commander, and then to get the hell out without getting further involved. Your sudden arrival was kinda... unexpected." I added dryly.

Shepard grinned. "Yeah, I figured that." The blink of an eye later, she stood at attention, eye to eye with Anderson and Udina.

"Captain, Ambassador: I promised to help Mr. Raven solving his 'problem', and I think we all would prefer him not getting arrested. Is there a way to make this happen?"

Anderson and Udina exchanged a glance. Then the human ambassador touched his chin again, seemingly contemplating. "I can think of a few ways, actually.. After all, he did Humanity a favor... if that data is any good."

"I am fairly sure of that, Ambassador." I responded firmly. "Saren paid enough to turn Fist against the Shadow Broker. That's a de facto declaration of war … and you don't go against the Broker without a very good reason."

He nodded slowly, then, with a last glimpse on me, turned his full attention to Tali.

"We don't see many quarians here, Miss nar Rayya. Why did you leave the flotilla?"

"I was on my pilgrimage, "she said and took a few steps to the side, "my rite of passage into adulthood."

"I've never heard of this before", Shepard interrupted with a tad of curiosity.

"It is a tradition among my people. 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 found something of value..."

The conversation went on for a few minutes, but I only listened with half an ear. After all, I already knew everything said. Flotilla, proving that Tali was worthy of adulthood, her curiosity with the Geth, the memory core. It might have been interesting regardless, but I had to quick-check how good my acting performance had been.

The fact that I had not being arrested immediately was obviously… good. But it wasn't enough. I wanted, I needed more. But I knew very well that I had so far been lucky. I hadn't been interrogated really, rather politely asked.

That confused me, then I suddenly realized that I had been treated just the same as Wrex, Garrus or Tali. Why should Shepard regard me, the alleged former gang member from Earth, any different than the krogan mercenary? The only difference was that the former three had shown already that they could fight. My performance in that alley had, in contrast, been not exactly stellar. If I could convince the Commander of my usefulness nevertheless… maybe, my chances were actually not that bad.

This line of thought gave me a small and much needed boost in confidence… before I noticed that a pair of eyes was still resting on me.

I had spent a lot of time preparing for this… let's call it a 'job interview'. I had deliberated a lot of possibilities, and set up a rough scaffolding from which I could expand my story as needed, tweaked and polished it with facettes like a small feud with Fist, but keeping it flexible enough to adapt as necessary if things changed - and enough parts that I could dodge, talk around to prevent being nailed down on something that I couldn't talk myself out of. It had been a hell lot of work.

But I had made one mistake. I had underestimated Captain Anderson, N7 by trade.

I tried to maintain a neutral expression, but even though he was listening to Tali, the Captain never left me out of his view. I pretended to pay full attention to their conversation, however, I grew more and more uneasy.

It was clear that he still didn't buy my story. But I didn't know how to fix that. And maybe I was just interpreting too much into it. But this bout of paranoia -

"Eden Prime was a major victory."

Fuck! Me!

Saren's recorded voice made me almost literally jump out of my thoughts. Luckily, everyone else in a similar fashion – even Anderson.

"The beacon has brought us one step closer to finding the Conduit."

"That's Sarens voice!" Anderson exclaimed, excitedly. "This proves he was involved in the attack!"

"He said Eden Prime brought him one step closer to finding 'the Conduit'" Shepard added thoughtfully. "Any idea what that means?"

"The Conduit must have something to do with the beacon. Maybe it's some kind of prothean technology... like a weapon."

Yeah, Anderson, because we all know that conduits usually are used as weapons, the sarcasm center in my brain sounded. A crowbar is better suited for that job.

I risked to speak up. "Or a connection between some points" I mused quietly, but for everyone to hear. For theatrical purposes, I took a page from Udina's book of moron and placed my chin between my right hand's' thumb and index finger. "A device to transport something?"

"Possibly," Anderson agreed while looking inquiringly at me and Shepard, "but what?"

"Wait, there is more" Tali interrupted our thoughts and nervously fidgeted at her omnitool, "Saren wasn't working alone." She pushed a few 'buttons', the we heard the full message.

"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 female voice, disquieting to everyone listening to it. Benezia sounded so much darker than in the game, so much colder, even cruel. It send a cold shiver down my spine.

Udina did not appear to feel very comfortable either. "I don't recognize that other voice, the one talking about Reapers."

Shepard cast a questioning look at Tali. "Are they some kind of new alien species?"

"According to the memory core, the Reapers were a hyper-advanced machine race that existed 50,000 years ago," Tali spoke, voice increasingly laden with agitation. "The Reapers hunted the Protheans to total extinction, and then they vanished! A-at least that's what the Geth believe.", she finished a bit shyly.

"Sounds a little far-fetched", Udina responded more than a little derogative. Had it not been a completely awful, horrible and illogical idea, I would've either facepalmed, choked him, or screamed. Instead of what would have been a somewhat typical reaction for me, I just felt deep sad- and bitterness. You have no idea, idiot. I call dibs on your head.

"The vision on Eden Prime!" Shepard exclaimed, then rubbed her forehead with her armored sleeve, "I understand it now. I saw the Protheans being wiped out by the Reapers!"

Yupp. And right now you have no idea what they are capable of. My heart grew even heavier. Oh, how petty this all is compared to what is going to happen in just a few years.

"The Geth revere the Reapers as gods, the pinnacle of all non-organic life." Tali made herself heard. "And they believe Saren knows how to bring the Reapers back." The Heretics do, Tali. The true Geth are probably still assembling Legion.

"The Council is just going to love this." Udina muttered through clenched teeth. As they will seeing their homes burn, Udina. Tevos will absolutely swoon at the sight of Thessia slowly turning to ash. And Earth and Arcturus Station going down will turn you Cerberus - and fair game.

"The Reapers are a threat to every species in Citadel space. We have to tell them!" I had to keep the bitter laugh in my throat. They won't believe you until it's too late, Shepard. But you're welcome to try.

"No matter what they think about the rest of this, those audio files prove Saren's a traitor!" Anderson insisted with resolution.

"The Captain's right," the Ambassador admitted. "We need to present this to the Council right away."

If I have not miscalculated anything, then now...

"What about them?", Wrex' growling voice comes from behind me. "The quarian and that other human?" I stiffened and folded my hands behind my back.

Now it counts!

"My name is Tali!," the quarian in question reiterated for the third time in under one hour. "You saw me in the alley, Commander. You know what I can do. Let me come with you!"

"I thought you were on your Pilgrimage?"

"The Pilgrimage proves we are willing to give of ourselves for the greater good." Tali insisted, half firmly, half begging. "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."

Shepard did not look too convinced … but before she or Tali could add anything, I saw the opportunity for an actually smart comment.

"I heard that quarians are among the greatest engineers and technicians in the whole galaxy." I kept my voice calmer than I felt. That was easier said than done - Shepard's eyes were burning holes in me and Tali's - incredulous? - gaze in my direction wasn't helping, either. "Also, every single quarian pilgrim has some sort of combat training. And if the makeshift grenade I saw her use and her shotgun handling is anything to go by, then Miss Zorah nar Rayya is more than capable of protecting herself."

Shepard glanced at me, thought about it for a moment, then she nodded. "Alright. I can use any help I can get."

Tali tilted her head, looked at both me and Shepard, then she walked over to stand by Shepard's side. "Thanks. You won't regret this." I would very much regret not having you on board, Tali, I thought and couldn't suppress a small grin. It vanished a second later. Because I now had the full and undivided attention of everyone in the embassy.

"And now to you, Mr. Raven..." the Ambassador says. "What should we do with you?"

I gulped, for a fracture of a second I almost panicked. Last scene of the first act. Keep it together! It's just stagefright!

"If that is a possibility... I would like to join in as well, Commander." I said. Shepard merely watched me, waiting for me to continue.

"You're going to hunt Saren now, right?" She nodded. " He definitely needs to be stopped, and all this other stuff… Reapers, Geth, Conduits… that sounds more than just interesting. If you want my help, too, I'm in."

Shepard bit her lower lip - a move that surprised me. "This will be extremely dangerous. Especially since you have never received proper military training." She shifted her weight to her other leg. I had the impression that she didn't feel too comfortable. "I don't want to insult you, Raven - " I noticed that she had dropped the 'Mister', "- but this is not going to be some romantic adventure. We're trying to hunt down a SPECTRE; one of the most dangerous individuals in the entire galaxy. A man who has proven that he'll even kill his friends to reach his goal. Not to mention the army he's allied with. Are you really sure that you know what you're getting yourself into?"

I shrugged it off, but was getting more and more desperate. "That doesn't matter. It still sounds better than going to Omega, or another three years in these bloody gang conflicts. I'm tired of always the same repetitive wars for always the same shitty streets and districts." My voice grew more urgent, more pressing.

"I got enough of that, and this, this is my chance to do something useful with my life."

I forced myself to pause and calm down. The language barrier began to bother me. I was not used to speaking English for an extended amount of time, and I began to heavily struggle for words.

Once I found them, I was much calmer, and spoke in a much quieter voice.

"You've said yourself that you'll take every help you can get, Commander. And while I'll admit that I'm probably the least experienced fighter in this room, I'm more than willing to undergo whatever training you deem necessary."

Shepard stood still. She gazed at me intensely, her green eyes virtually screening me. I merely looked back. Even today, I don't know what she was looking for. But I know that Shepard must have seen how my fists clenched, the palms sweaty, how I had my lips pressed together or how my eyes conveyed both anxiety and determination.

The moment seemed to last for a long time, but in reality, only a few seconds had passed when she finally turned around and addressed her fellow human squadmates. "Your opinions?"

Kaidan and Ashley looked at me, the former thoughtful, the second kinda inquisitional.

"I think we can risk it." The L2-biotic responded first. "The only reason Mr. Raven got injured back in the alley was that he got surprised from behind by Detective Vakarian's gunfire. And even when he got downed by that explosion, he was quick to stand back up and recover. He may have to work hard, and we'll have to teach him well, but I think he can pass the Alliance Marine training. If we're giving Miss Zorah a chance, why not Mr. Raven?"

Thanks, Mr. Nice Guy Alenko, I thought and barely keep the smirk from forming on my lips. I knew that I could trust you to help me out here. But I doubt that Ashley…

"I agree with the Lieutenant." she said.

Huh?

"I think he will need a lot of workout -" I am not that fat, ya stupid...! " - and a good bit of time on the shooting range as well. But the way he handled his gun wasn't completely helpless, and that Molotov cocktail was almost impressively effective. Especially if you take into account that he had to improvise that weapon. He seems rather bright for a mobster."

I smiled sourly at that... well, praise. She paused and faced her superior, gesturing dismissively in the process.

"Ma'am, you already suggested that we take some time to mesh everyone together. I think we should be able to take the time for both Raven and the quarian to get some actual training. At least I think they're not just dead weight."

Somehow I get the feeling that Tali is not too happy that someone called her pilgrimage preparations 'not actually training'. I deliberately avoided looking her direction. And yet, somehow Ashley ends up - will end up - calling Tali her little sister in ME3. Well, who would've thought she actually would help me? Maybe she isn't all that bad in Real Life? Miracles tend to happen around here…

I willed myself to subdue my fleeting thoughts and focused back on reality, anxiously awaiting Shepard's judgement.

The Commander seemed to consider it for a few more moments. Then she had made her decision.

"Alright, Raven. We will take you with us and see what our doc says about you. If you pass her med-exam and can keep up with Alliance' marine training, then I'll consider to bring you with me on our missions. If," at that she looked at the Ambassador and her captain, "we can sort out that issue with your papers."

"That is actually not a big deal, Commander." Udina exchanged another quick glance with Anderson, then crossed his arm behind his back and faced me. "Mr. Raven, under usual circumstances, you would have to be arrested, both for your illegal stay on the Citadel and for carrying unauthorized weapons. As you served Humanity while doing so, I could keep you out of prison, but you would likely be banned from the Citadel for the rest of your life. The fact that you aren't even an Alliance citizen would only cause even more legal problems."

He walked over to his terminal and began to browse through its contents.

"However, there is a legislation called the Alliance Emergency Recruitment Act" he continued. "It states that in times of war, the Systems Alliance is authorized to recruit any human fit for military service into either the Navy or the Marine Corps for the duration of the conflict. This act also protects the recruits in concern from prosecution, if they are not being prosecuted for a serious criminal offense."

Seemingly content with what he had found, the Ambassador turned around. "Arcturus Station and Alliance High Command have both declared the state of war three hours ago." He focused back on me.

"I propose this: You apply for the Systems Alliance Citizenship, retroactive to you birth as it is any human's right. I can explain, and help you with the details later on. When you have done that, Commander Shepard can apply her right as commissioned officer of the Alliance and recruit you into her marine detachment, with retroactive effect to the moment the state of war was declared. That would mean that your actions were legally authorized by the Commander. The little discrepancies in your timing are fairly easy to explain... or do not need to be explained at all."

Wow. I sucked in a sharp breath and felt a bit dizzy. That… sounds amazing. It would solve almost everything. But...

"I assume that there would also be some negative consequences for me, Ambassador?", I asked, carefully not to react too enthusiastically. If anyone knew all the legal ways to fuck with someone, it had to be Udina. And the reasoning behind my distrust was quite good.

"As a matter of fact, yes. Once you are enlisted, you will have to remain enlisted until the state of war has been reversed - or your commanding officer officially discharges you."

"Or you receive a dishonorable discharged. Should that be the case, any crimes you committed during your service will be fully prosecuted by a military or civilian court." Anderson added an open warning.

So, effectively, this would bind me to Shepard's command until the end of Mass Effect 1 - until Shepard dies, a tiny voice whispered to me - and I needed to keep my record of service mostly spotless. Considering that that was what I was going for, my decision was only a formality. My paranoid streak made me admitteldy rather wary any consequences of signing a deal with the Devil - Udina, of course. But I didn't feel like pushing my luck, and I could be very happy with the agreement we'd made.

I asked for two minutes of respite and quickly checked if I had secretly screwed anything up. Then I spoke the two words I had been anxiously hoping to say for over a week.

"I accept."

Shepard and her squad, now including Tali, moved on to enjoy a brief shore leave. Or, more likely, to complete some side quests. Next up on their list would be the second Council hearing, scheduled in roughly two and a half hours.

No, I corrected myself, on our list. They're your squadmates now. I still felt insecure, and only entering the NORMANDY would really make me believe that I had made it. Still, I couldn't help but to grin like a bloody lunatic.

Even actually being aboard the NORMANDY would not magically solve everything. I was aware that I wasn't in the best shape. If Dr. Chakwas wouldn't clear me for duty, I was likely going to spend most of Mass Effect 1 on the substitutes bench.

But even thinking about this prospect, I felt rather serene than anything else. I had done whatever I could in the short amount of time I had been given, and I was as close to my goal as I had possibly could hope to be.

If I needed half the game for my time to come, then I was going to accept it. The stronger I could hope to be in the final missions.

I stayed behind in the embassy and had Udina help me with the paperwork. As that kind of work tends to be, it was tedious, felt fruitless and most of the time bordered on bullshit, the kind of BS that triggered my irony.

How was I supposed to not roll my eyes at questions like What is your highest level of graduation? - I graduated from a type of school that doesn't exist anymore, 170 years ago...

It took almost two hour and at least thirty signatures, but finally, I had been granted Alliance citizenship and had applied for citizenship in the European Union as well.

Udina showed aside of himself I didn't thought existed – he calmly explained everything and actually helped me with filling in the formulas. I was tempted to ask why he didn't bitch around... but one does not simply look a gifted horse in the mouth.

Lastly, I signed probably the most important paper and the one I had been most looking forward to. I formally accepted my enlistment into the Human Systems Alliance Marine Corps.

As someone who - officially - had been drafted due to Humanities' declaration of war against the Geth, I was granted the rank of Private 2nd Class with all the rights and duties that it entailed.

Private 2nd Class was the lowest rank in the Alliance Marine Corps, but it still allowed me to skip a six months of bootcamp and allowed me to be deployed immediately.

Private Raven, I thought with a grin. Sounds not too shabby. Not as good as Private Ryan, but, what the hell.

Due to the lack of a proper uniform at the moment, Anderson had handed me a substitute brassard to wear on my left upper arm, with both the single silver chevron insignia of my rank and the insignia of the Systems Alliance below it. The globe between the insignia's two clasps had been replaced by my home country's flag … the black-red-gold of Germany.

"Never thought I'd represent my country in such a way", I quietly laughed when I fastened the brassard on my jacket.

My equipment and other possessions had already been transferred to the NORMANDY.

All that was left now was to convince the Council to let us save the galaxy, and then to do just that.

Easy enough, right?

Twenty minutes before the hearing was scheduled to start, Udina, Anderson and I left the embassies and made our way to the Council Chambers. We spent the elevator ride in an almost comfortable silence, the Udina went on to address the Council. Anderson and I stayed behind and waited for Shepard and the team to arrive.

I let my gaze wander around the Chamber. Breathtaking. Yet I couldn't shake off the thought of what would happen to these precious looking trees when Saren would come there to wreak havoc. And even worse, what all of this was going to look like in a few years.

I was understandably really uncomfortable standing there alone with Anderson, but the Captain told me to get comfortable and enjoy the 'peace before the storm' as he phrased it, stepped aside and made a few calls. Unsure, I sat down on the stairs, something that got me a raised eyebrow, but in hindsight not unexpected for someone who was not used to political etiquette.

Then, five minutes or so before the hearing was due to begin, I spotted Shepard and her following approach the upper area where Anderson and were standing

Just like in the game, Anderson turned arounds to the podium once Shepard came close enough. "Come on." he saids, "Udina will present the quarians evidence to the Council in a few." Shepard followed him quickly, and side by side they walked up the stairs. The squad followed more or less enthusiastically. Kaidan caught my eye and waved at me to follow as well, which I hesitantly did.

Strange. In the game, Shepard would arrive just in time to hear Udina presenting the audio files to the Council... then again, in the game Udina doesn't have to help the players with that kind of paperwork and delay the meeting for that long. So even without actually intending it, my simple presence manipulates the reality…

Which, for the first time, left me alone with my new and future brothers and sisters in arms. I was slightly fraught … ah, cut the slightly, I was tense as all hell. Now the burning question was: How do you introduce yourself to a bunch of future heroes, of whom literally everybody was able to smoke me in a pipe no problem? Not to mention that I knew almost everything about everyone and needed to be careful as hell not to prattle away?

Unfortunately, the way I tensed up was not lost on them either.

"Gee, calm down, soldier" Ashley said and rolled her eyes in slight amusement, sarcastic to my eyes. "We're not biting your head off or something."

"Hmph. Yeah, you don't look that tasty." Wrex rumbled. In a way that did not give away if he jerks me around or is serious…

I gulp. "Well, I was going to try and introduce me without things getting awkward", I say slowly, feeling extremely awkward. "But thank you anyway."

"You will get used to it soon enough." Kaidan assured me dryly. "You wanted to introduce yourself, you said?" I nod. "I don't think that'll be necessary." He grinned in a friendly and encouraging manner. "I followed your story with a lot of interest, and I think you'll fit in just well. We should probably introduce ourselves to you, instead."

I nodded thankfully and bit back the 'I know you all already' that had been placed on the tip of my tongue. I began to have the feeling that that was not true... and in more ways than the obvious.

He offered me his right, which I shook. A firm handshake, good sign. "I am Staff Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko, and I am the head of the NORMANDY's marine detail. So once you finished your basic training, I am going to be your superior officer if the Commander is not around."

Kaidan's my superior? Not bad. He's reasonable enough. "Nice to meet you, Sir. I'll try my best."

He smiled. "Don't worry, you don't have to salute me or anything. I'm not that much into formalities, especially since we're going to be in the field together. Neither is the Commander."

Pleased with that respond, I returned his smile. "Looking forward to the action, Lieutenant."

He nodded and gestured towards Ashley. With her hands folded before the chest plate of her armor and with her hair in a strict fringe, she was quite a formidable sight... even in white and pink. She didn't smile at all. "This is Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams. She will be in charge of your training, including both the physical exercises as well as the general combat training. Aside from that, she's also responsible for most of our equipment maintenance and upgrading."

She kept her posture, which vaguely resembled her picture in the squad selection screen. She looked grim, and now that I had a chance to cool down, I almost felt bad about my earlier recklessness. Not that it was okay to do what she had done either, but well. The wiser head gives in, right? Fortunately, I had an idea about how to defuse the situation. It was an unexpected move, but I scintillated in unexpected moves. That was at least what my wicked mind believed.

"Ashley Williams? As in, the granddaughter of General Williams, the famous general of the Siege of Shanxi?"

From the frown of her face and the expression in Kaidan's face, I could roughly guess that I had stepped on dangerous territory. Not that I didn't knew that before…

"Yes. And - ?"

She probably expected me to make some sort of fun of her. Judging by the way her jaw dropped, she did not expect me to snap to attention - and salute her.

"I have read everything I could find about the First Contact War", I said, my voice firm but respectful. "Your grandfather was a hero, even if most people think otherwise. He surrendered his own honor to ensure that hundreds of thousands other humans survived the siege. It is an honor to fight alongside you, ma'am."

I relaxed and folded my arms behind my back, setting up an apologetic smile. "I also want to apologize for the tone I spoke to you earlier. I was injured and on edge, but I still shouldn't have snapped like that. Sorry."

Also, you really shouldn't have pointed that rifle at my face. But saying that would've kinda ruined the mood.

Seeing that Ashley is momentarily unable to answer, Kaidan cleared his throat and pointed at Garrus. "This is Detective Garrus Vakarian, a C-SEC agent. He was leading the investigation against Saren and now comes with us to bring him down."

The turian and I shake hands, briefly, but amicably. "A pleasure to meet you, Detective Vakarian", I smiled.

I am sure, if he would have been physically able to, he would have smiled, too. Instead, he chuckled. "Likewise, Private Raven. But if am allowed to ask for something: You call me Garrus, and I call you Jess. Is that alright?"

I grinned a little bit sheepishly. And here's the downside to that stage name. "Well, actually I would prefer if you'd call me 'Raven'. During my time with the gangs, my surname became something of a callsign... I probably won't even notice that you talk to me if you call me 'Jess'."

His mandibles twitched briefly, I figured it was a turian sign of amusement. "Okay. Just don't call me Vakarian. My surname just doesn't have that ring to it."

I was and I am sure that many humans are disagreeing with that name. For the sake of not moving this conversation in an absolutely embarrassing direction, I simply nodded and smiled. Then, a deep rumbling caught me off-guard.

"Before you try to introduce me, Lieutenant, let me introduce myself." Wrex' red eyes intensely stared down on me. "I am Urdnot Wrex, I am responsible for killing the big things, and if you don't get on my nerves, I won't kill you."

"Now that's a statement." I said, a tiny smile tugging on my lips. But that didn't stop the worry. The thing is, I have no doubt that he has the means to back up what he says. "I think I heard about you, Urdnot Wrex. Some guy back on Earth told me about you, once."

"Uh-huh." Wrex kept me firmly "And what story?"

"According to that guy, you are a legend even among your own people. You're over 700 years old, the most dangerous mercenary in the galaxy and, uh, once had a little 'problem' with an asari merc. A problem you resolved by having a duel on a pirate space station... and once the two of you had duked it out, there was nobody left to tell the tale."

The people around us showed various signs of nervousness, but Wrex only sounded a short bellow. "Hah! Guess you're right, pyjak. Maybe I'll tell you that story someday..." He sighed. "Good times."

"And finally... well, Tali'Zorah nar Rayya", Kaidan added and did his best to ignore Wrex. "I guess the two of you know each other better then the rest of us do", he added bit lamely and scratched his ear.

I laughed. "Only by a few minutes". I reached my hand out. Tali took after a moment of hesitation. "Still, it was and it is a pleasure to meet you, Miss Zorah nar Rayya."

"Please, call me Tali" she answered a little shyly. "I never thanked you for helping me against Fist's men... A-and I am sorry for dragging you into this." Again, she wrings her hands. Wonder if every quarian does this when they're nervous?

I smirked and shook my head. "Don't worry, I'm not blaming you for anything. On the contrary, I should thank you for - even if unintentionally - giving me that chance to do something meaningful with my life." I tried to catch her eyes behind the mask. Come to think, could it be that her mask is much more translucent in ME2?

"You... seem to know a lot about my people..." She said slowly. I nodded.

"Everything I could learn from the Extranet. You are a fascinating people. A damned shame that only so few people appreciate you." She tilted her head slightly to the side and looked like she was about to say something, but Kaidan interrupted us and gestured towards the podium. On cue, I could hear how the evidence was being played.

"Eden Prime was a major victory. The beacon -" Yeah, we know it by now, Saren.

As Shepard stood before the Council, we positioned ourselves behind our Commander, the captain and Udina, who, no doubt, tried to look some kind of mediagenic... Well,in his defence, it was about to be an historic moment…

I switched off my brain for the next roughly three minutes, allowing myself to relax and digest the past introduction. I could do that without feeling too guilty. After all, the Council would slobber around like…

Saren's a traitor blah blah blah Can't do a thing about it blah blah blah Reapers we have dismissed that claim - no, wait, that would happened later - blah blah blah aaah let's send Shepard to sort out that mess.

Despite being in close proximity to four of the worst morons in the whole game series, I have to admit that I quite enjoyed the moment. I had every reason to do that. The adventure of my life was awaiting me, and I felt more than ready to accept the challenge.

In hindsight, I can't help but to smirk tiredly. And still, I envy the enthusiasm I had these days...

I'm afraid that's part of getting older.

Even as I stood there recollecting and reconsidering what had just happened, I felt at least two set of eyes burning holes in my back. Ashley undoubtedly was going to have a word or two with me, and Tali must have had a lot of questions, too. I was too calm though to care right now.

It was Sparatus of all people who startled me out of my tranquil moment. "No! It's too soon. Humanity is not yet ready for the responsibilities that come with joining the SPECTREs."

Shepard disagreed, and made it heard. "You don't have to send a fleet into the Traverse, and the Ambassador gets his human SPECTRE. Everybody's happy."

Sparatus was unable to argue with that logic (and also, he seemingly did not want to go against Tevos ), and so he too ended up typing something into his terminal. A moment later, the asari councilor formally addressed Shepard. Her tone made sure that nobody could underestimate the solemnity of the moment.

"Commander Shepard - step forward."

I could hear a lot of murmurs from the balconies around us. Wow. These weren't just seven, maybe eight people spectating this scene like the game suggested. Easily two hundred, maybe three hundred people of all species who were eager to witness the appointment of the first human to the rank of a SPECTRE.

For the fracture of a second, I smiled at the thought that nobody here knew just what kind of a legend was about to be born here.

Then I straightened up, following Ashley and Kaidan, and folded my hands behind my back. The smile remained.

Shepard was going to become a SPECTRE.

We were going to hunt down Saren.

The rest… we would see in time.

Meanwhile, in a bar in the Lower Wards, but in another man's head…

Almost two hundred years in the future and I still can't drink some cheap Jim Beam whiskey without having the urge to mix it with coke to actually make it bearable. You would have thought that they finally changed their recipe to something less terrible. But maybe clinging to something terrible is called 'tradition', nowadays... and that's something you can earn money with.

So I glare at my glass - which is still almost full - as if it was at fault for my whole situation. I sigh and let my shoulders slump down. Just should have asked the barkeeper what kind of whiskey he has instead of instinctively ordering the cheapest one.

I let my gaze sweep through the small bar. Only a few tables, most of them empty. A few aliens here and there, not a single human. The barkeeper looks at what you might call a TV back where I come from. It is some kind of holographic display, but with a surprisingly sharp image.

I decide to find out what is so interesting … and immediately recognize the scene. How wouldn't I? I lost count of the amount of times I played through this game.

"So it is already this part, huh?" I quietly mutter to myself before deciding to have a sip of whiskey despite the terrible taste. Damned! If only I would have had some time to prepare I might have been able to make a difference. Now it is to late for that.

I let my gaze wander back to my glass. No need to watch it, even now. I can almost remember every single line of dialog. Udina presents the sound data to the Council, they accept it (without openly admitting that they failed, of course) and remove Saren's SPECTRE status. After that, Shepard becomes the first human SPECTRE and goes on to take the rogue one down.

I never understood how the Council who is sometimes pretty racist accepts a audio recording from a quarian just like that, after they dismissed two human N7 and their ambassador. I am pretty sure that it would be easy to create false recordings with the technology they have at this point in time but whatever. I hear the barkeeper say something to one of the turians on the other end of the bar and perk up my ears.

"Well, I wouldn't have believed it - but it looks like you've lost your bet with that human."

The turian grumbles something in response but it is to low for my translator to pick up.

"Wait - isn't that him there in the back? Next to that quarian."

I raise an eyebrow and try to remember who's present during the induction who would make a bet with a turian in some bar. My eyes go back to the screen while I take a sip from my drink to empty it and finally order a new one. Sure enough, I see a human at the back of the group next to Tali. Hm. He's neither Kaidan nor Ashley...

Well maybe some stuff changed in this RL version, I think. I lower my gaze again until something clicks in my mind. Wait a second.

I bob my head back to the screen where Shepard now speaks her part, bowing her head to the Council. "I'm honored, Councilor."

Then the camera zoomed out to reveal Shepard's squad behind her. Ashley Williams and Kaidan Alenko, both slightly awed. Wrex and Garrus, not quite as awed but – at least Garrus – with a respectful pose. Tali, nervously wringing her hands and -

My eyes go wide in surprise and I suck in a sharp breath - which is pretty stupid considering there is still whiskey in my mouth. I start to cough and choke, turning all the attention in the small pub to me. I went red. Both from the coughing and the embarrassment, but also a bit from the shock-

I recognize that guy. That guy!

I almost choke to death, but all I can think is what the fuck?!

I thought I was stranded alone!

In this crazy universe I know so much about, yet can't do a single thing here because I was too late!

Am I dreaming or on drugs or something? Am I so insane that I see familiar faces everywhere? Was it a last attempt of my brain to keep me from going completely insane?

I go seamless from coughing to laughing, a little bit hysterical maybe. Yeah, it's to late for that. Since the whole bar's attention is already on me from the coughing fit, they now look at each other with questioning looks like I am a madman. Which, all things considered, is not that far from the truth.

"Everything okay with you, human?" asks the bartender with a kinda careful look on his face.

I shoot him a wide grin. "Never better. Hey, the next round is on me. I have something to celebrate."

That calms them slightly. They must think that I talk about the induction of the first human SPECTRE... and they are not completely wrong. After all that woman over there will eventually save the universe. But that turn of events...!

And not only I'm not alone here, no, of course he already managed to get into the squad, I think, still with a big grin in my face.

It takes me a solid quarter-hour to regain my composure. That's at least faster than the last time.

Now what to make of it...

My mind goes into overdrive. For the first time since I got here I have some solid information – and in time to work with them. Plan after plan went through my head.

First, I need to contact him, I concluded. Without breaking his cover... he would be unbelievably brainless to work without false background.

Problem is that they will now do the first main mission. I guess. No time for me to contact him without a risk... I need more time. They'll be back to the Citadel soon enough. Have to intercept him when he's on shore leave.

I need to somehow stay low until they're back. I need credits. And for that I need some skills. Then I need a way to contact him without raising suspicion.

A few minutes later, I still grin like a lunatic. I won't be able to get onto the Normandy now. Probably not for the entirety of the first game. But there's a silver lining on the horizon... even more than that.

Of all people, it must be him. The only I know beside me who knows enough to make a difference here. Fun times ahead!

I am happy enough to down my drink in one single swoop. Another error, my brain realizes a second too late. Or rather, three. First: It's Jim Beam. Second: It's now literally hand-warm from me holding it in my hand for almost an hour.

I barely keep me from throwing up and slam the glass on the counter. The salarian who dares to call himself a barkeeper gives me a questioning look from his black eyes.

When my stomach finally calms down, I grin at him."Gimme another one, please. This time with cola and ice!"

The bartender hands me another drink and I raise it, with yet another grin on my lips.

"To you, my friend!" I exclaim before downing it. And to being partners in crime in this goddamned game universe fucking turned reality.

Keelah Se'lai, and all the other stuff as well.

Addendum, August 2018 - Can anyone tell me why I never noticed just how much I effed up the first time? Well, it's largely changed now... but rewriting the majority of a 10.000-words chapter and somehow ending up at over 12.000 is... frightening. I hope it speaks for improved quality, rather than just me writing drivel. Lemme know if you find something that I haven't noticed! (I know there must be something.)

Original A/N, 2015: Over 10k words in one chapter. I don't know how, the chapter just kept growing... and growing...

I hope the dialogue parts and everything are to your liking. If I somehow managed to get logical errors inside, tell me - there's nothing worse for me than writing something that makes no sense at all.

Well, I guess I will be editing this chapter for the next weeks anyway... like I still do with 1-3. Ah, whatever, it pays off.

Before anything else, I want to point out that the last scene of this chapter is not my doing. No, I have not become schizophrenic - the guy in the bar is my partner in crime Armnorn, who wrote that part as an introduction for himself... you can fully expect him around chapter 6, I guess.

So, anything else to say? Hm. Well, not really, for the moment... only that I hope to see ou guys around for the next chapter, scheduled for the 29th June!

Ah, and as always... if you happen to find any errors (and there are error, I just know it)... you know. The usual.

P.S. Last Edit: 13.08.2015