From Ashes
Chapter Three: Mission-Critical Communications
"I still cannot believe it…" The conversation had progressed, and the reasoning behind Benezia's self-inflicted death had been very clear. Shepard and the councilor had started off speaking while out on the presidium, but their conversation had taken them to the asari embassy. The councilor had finally sat down in a chair in her office; her eyes finally meeting Shepard's. "I fully understand her reasoning behind it, but knowing her as I did…"
"I take it you knew her well." Shepard had taken the seat adjacent to her and was regarding the asari with some interest.
"Personally, yes. She was a friend and advisor."
"From what I've heard, she was very wise." Shepard and Liara had discussed Benezia on occasion before they had found her on Noveria.
"She was." There was an odd expression that crossed the councilor's face as she continued. "Truth be told, she should have had my position."
"They wanted her for the council?" This was surprising. Liara hadn't mentioned it, but there was a possibility that she didn't know. "She turned it down?"
"Publicly." Cut off by an alert that there was an incoming message, Tevos rose and looked it over with a wary expression. Once done, she shook her head slightly. "It seems that your arrival has been noticed by the others." At Shepard's questioning look, the asari elaborated. "The other councilors are on their way." Sure enough, after about five minutes, the door to the office opened, and the turian and salarian councilors entered.
"Councilors." Shepard greeted with a nod. The two nodded in return; Valern speaking as he did.
"Commander Shepard, it is good that you returned to the station at this time." The salarian said as he retrieved a datapad from a pocket of his robe. "We have just received information that may be critical in your mission against Saren."
"A message was received from one of our infiltration regiments in the Traverse." Sparatus finished Valern's thought.
"Infiltration teams? I assume they are reserved for sensitive operations." Shepard mused. "Spectres seem to be more for hardline fronts."
"This is correct." Tevos commented. "Spectres tend to attract attention, but they are only one arm of the council. Special task groups and shadow teams are more equipped to monitor sensitive or developing situations that do not yet require action."
"We currently have several infiltration regiments scattered throughout the border regions of Council space." The turian councilor said flatly. "This particular unit was gathering information on Saren."
"Have they found anything conclusive?" Shepard hoped that they had. While she respected the council's neutral position, it would be nice to have them start really seeing the situation for what it was.
"Unfortunately, the transmission we received was little more than static." Valern managed with a sad shake of the head. "The infiltration unit must be in a position where they cannot establish proper interstellar communications, but the message came in over a channel reserved for mission-critical communications. Whatever they were trying to tell us seemed urgent."
"Given your interest in Saren, Shepard, we assumed that you may wish to investigate this;" Sparatus finished. "To find out what happened and what information they may or may not have recorded. If so, the signal originated from the planet Virmire in the Sentry Omega Cluster."
"I'll definitely look into it." Shepard said with a nod.
"It is not common practice for the council to influence any Spectre's actions. We simply wish to make sure you are aware of all options; including Virmire."
"Understood." Shepard acknowledged the asari councilor's statement with another nod. "From what we learned on Noveria, we know Saren needs to use the Mu relay to reach a conduit of some sort. He mentioned it in the fragment Tali'Zorah retrieved from the Geth's memory core." At the council's nod, she went on. "Benezia didn't know what the conduit was or where it might be. She did say that Saren was being influenced by the ship he was traveling on; she called it Sovereign."
"Influenced by a ship?" Valern's curiosity was piqued. "How is that possible?"
"We don't know."
"Regarding your mission to Noveria," Tevos looked back through the filed mission brief quickly before continuing. "Are these reports accurate; you found Rachni in the labs at Peak 15?"
"And that you released a queen?" Judging by the anger in the turian's voice, Shepard could guess that he had hoped this would come up. "What were you thinking, Shepard? Have you forgotten what happened when they were unleashed on the galaxy before?"
"This queen is different, Councilor." Not really appreciating the stern tone the turian was using, Shepard kept her own even as she went on. "From what she described, it seemed something influenced them. It was hard to figure out, but the queen mentioned that all she remembered was the struggling sounds of her mother in her dreams; oily shadows and a sour yellow note replacing the songs they should have heard."
"But what does that mean, Commander?" Tevos questioned before Sparatus could speak. "Did it seem that this queen was a threat?"
"No. She stated that given the chance, she would seek a hidden place and teach songs of peace and coexistence to her children." Shepard remembered the one commando that had been used as a means of communication as she explained what had happened in the labs. "She said that we had to kill the remaining rachni in the labs and throughout Rift Station on Peak 15; they were unreachable and would need to be stopped."
"One can only hope you are correct, Shepard." The turian managed with a slight bitter note. "Our children's children will pay the ultimate price if you are wrong."
"I understand your concerns, Councilor." Shepard spoke as the salarian and turian were turning on their heels to leave. "The same thought passed through my mind as I made the choice to let her go. I will say this: I will not condemn an entire species due to the sins or misguidance of their ancestors."
"An interesting and wise choice, Commander." The asari too watched as the others left without another word. "One that I believe applies to the Krogan as well. It is my understanding that Urdnot Wrex is currently working with you to find and stop Saren."
"That's right."
"He seems different compared to the majority of his species."
"He does seem different." Wrex had mentioned the quarrel he had with his father and how he had hopes for the Krogan as a whole before that day. "Seems to genuinely want something good for his people; not for them to just go off and seek revenge on the turians and salarians for what they did with the genophage."
"Each species had a hand in their own undoing in regard to the deployment of the genophage." Tevos remarked with a slightly mystic tone. "It is all I can officially say."
Hearing the chime of her omni tool, Shepard activated it and saw a message from Anderson. Conceding to the fact that she would have to speak with him and Udina eventually, she settled on sooner rather than later. Deactivating the mini display, she turned back to the councilor, who was looking out over the presidium again. "To my displeasure, I have to speak with the ambassador. I assume the urgent business had to do with Virmire."
"For the most part, yes." Turning back to the spectre again, two pairs of green eyes met, and Tevos nodded in understanding. "I wish you luck in your travels, Commander. In regard to Benezia, I will do everything within my power to ensure that she is not remembered as a traitor to my people."
"I appreciate that, Councilor. Good day."
With that, Shepard eft the asari embassy and started on a slow pace to the human ambassador's office. She wasn't looking forward to speaking to Udina, which was normal, but this time it had been different; he had shown a blatant dislike for their sudden return to the station and the reason why they had. In her opinion, his didn't matter, but it wouldn't do to get into an all-out brawl with the leading representative for humanity on the Citadel. Moving back into the embassy lobby, Shepard noticed a few other people standing around; notably more asari. While walking past the information desk, she saw many of them look up. Pausing for a moment, she addressed the "receptionist".
"Good day, Saphyria."
"Good day, Commander. Is there something I can assist you with?"
"Just seeing if Ambassador Udina is still in his office."
"He is. I believe he and David Anderson are looking for you."
"Thank you." Turning to the right, Shepard took the stairs and headed up the hallway before making another right to enter Udina's office. Upon entering, she saw the ambassador and Captain Anderson standing on the other side of the desk. Both were engaged in a conversation that didn't end when she crossed the threshold.
"You might not like it, Ambassador, but that's how she is." Anderson said this as he crossed his arms. "I wouldn't want to leave anyone behind either. Had you been in the military and faced something serious, you'd understand that."
"It doesn't matter." Udina growled out. "The time she spent coming back here could have been spent finding Saren and stopping him from attacking anymore human colonies."
"It was actually good that I came back, Ambassador." Shepard announced her presence and had the two men turn to face her. "I just heard about a possible lead on Saren from the Council."
"Lead?" Anderson leaned forward on the desk between them and looked on in interest. "What did they find?"
"A communication from the planet Virmire." And Shepard elaborated on what the council had discussed. When she had finished, she noticed that both men were still silent; thinking.
"The most logical move would be to investigate there first." Anderson mused. "If the teams there went silent, then that could mean trouble."
"That's what I was thinking." Shepard agreed as she looked from Anderson to Udina. "Something's not right. They send a message that is only static over a mission-critical channel…"
"Sounds like the communications off of Elysium before the raiders hit, doesn't it?"
"Yes Sir, that's exactly what I was thinking about."
"What about Feros?" Udina questioned. "We've lost communications with a colony there."
"I'll head there as soon as I'm done with the sweep on Virmire." Shepard straightened up and faced the ambassador. "The infiltration team had information on Saren, or so it seemed."
"The more we know about Saren the better." Anderson straightened up as well; arms pinned by his sides in a typical military pose. "Do what you have to do, Shepard."
"Before you leave," Udina conceded to the thought that Shepard was headed for Virmire first as he thought again. "The reason I summoned you here was to question whether or not your crew suits your needs. The turian and quarian will be useful, but a Krogan and Benezia's daughter could prove to be an issue. Both have experiences that could cloud their judgment."
"On the contrary, Ambassador." Shepard said as she was prepared to leave. "Liara has more of a reason to see this through. Saren's mission to bring the reapers back took her mother from her. She wants him stopped as badly as the rest of us."
"And the krogan?"
"Wrex seems impartial;" Shepard thought aloud. "He says he's committed to stopping Saren, and he's given me no reason not to trust him. It's because of him that I found Tali and the information on the memory core."
"Keep them in check, Shepard." Udina's warning was simple. "We need this mission to be a success."
"We all do, Ambassador."
Shepard chose that time to leave. Walking back down to and away from the embassy lobby, she headed back the way they came to get to Normandy's dock. There was still a good bit to do; people had asked her to look into things while she was out in the Traverse, and for the most part, she had. They had disbanded two mercenary bands and convinced Helena Blake to stand down. There had been a lost captain whose brother had asked her to look into the Majesty's disappearance; she had found the man's body in a privateers' base. She still had to investigate The rogue VI on Luna along with a few other things, though. They had also been mining their own resources and tagging others as they were drawn to uncharted worlds. Leaving the wards' access area, Shepard found Kaidan and Garrus standing out by the ship.
"No way to really know by rumors alone." Garrus was saying as he crossed his arms. "Wonder what Udina wanted."
"No telling." Kaidan muttered. "Seemed urgent, but it always does with him."
"He was questioning whether my crew was suitable." Shepard went and stood by them for a moment while the ship's requisitions officer moved another shipment of munitions into the cargo bay. "He assumed there would be a conflict of interest when it came to Liara and Wrex."
"I doubt there'd be a problem." Kaidan managed to say this before they were joined by Ashley. "Both seem devoted to stopping Saren; Liara especially."
"Udina saying our crew isn't suitable for this op huh, Skipper?"
"He has his concerns, but then again, they don't really matter to me." Shepard admitted. "He's not the one out in the Attican Traverse dealing with all of this." She turned and headed for the ship's portside gangway. As the others followed in boarding, she finished her thought. "I need people ready to take a punch, and I've got them."
"Heard that." Ashley quipped as they waited through the brief decontamination process. "So, where are we headed now?"
"That's what I was just finding out. While meeting with the asari councilor, the others dropped in and informed me of a possible lead on Saren." Shepard headed to the right and back into the CIC toward the galaxy map interface. "Setting a course for the planet Virmire."
"Virmire…" While the two humans and turian flanked their CO, Kaidan thought aloud. "Isn't that the one that is mostly beaches and ocean that people have been wanting to colonize for years?"
"They'd make a killing if they did." Pressly joined in their conversation. "Beautiful world from what I hear, but due to its proximity to the Terminus, no one will touch it due to possible attacks by raiders."
"Interesting that they were concerned with raiders there." Shepard plotted the course and stepped back down off of the platform; leaning against it as she addressed Ash, Kaidan, and Pressly. "We've seen just how close to home raiders can hit. X57 was a good enough lesson."
"That was touchy." Ash managed through gritted teeth. "Batarians going off and hijacking an asteroid to crash into Terra Nova."
"Lucky Kate Bowman managed to get that message off before she and her brother were caught."
"Ever hear anything else on him?"
"Aaron?" Shepard thought for a moment. She hadn't checked her personal terminal for a bit since the raid on X57, but she would do it when returning to her cabin. "Last I heard, he was still unresponsive. Balak didn't anticipate the gun's recoil when he shot him."
"That's grim." Kaidan managed as he broke away and headed for the stairs that led down to his post. "Hope he recovers."
"Balak's actions will catch up with him." Ashley added as she and Garrus followed.
From that point, Shepard left the CIC as well and went for her cabin. There, she checked her terminal and saw no real news on anything. The funeral for the Majesty's CO, Captain William, was going to be held soon. The Alliance had gone in and secured the Armstrong Nebula after Shepard, Tali, and the rest of the crew had investigated Geth activity in the region. One thing did get her attention, though; a message from Admiral Tadius Ahern had just arrived, and she was surprised by its contents. Shepard and her squad had gone to Pinnacle Station, a former turian command center during the rebellions turned Council-run training facility. They had gone through all of the simulations, and Admiral Ahern had presented a challenge. He had also mentioned making it worth Shepard's while by offering up an apartment he had been asked to take as a means of retirement. Thinking he was kidding, Shepard had accepted the challenge and with the help of Liara, Ashley, and Wrex, she had completed his difficult simulation. This message that had just been pushed through contained the newly transferred title to the apartment.
Shepard,
Saved me a lot of arguing by agreeing to this challenge. With my "retirement" place taken over, it gives me more of an excuse to keep on doing what I'm good at. We need the best if this reaper threat is as real as you say. With that in mind, remember to come up for air every now and again. This might allow you to do it on occasion. Stay sharp out there.
-Ahern
Going through a few more messages, Shepard saw nothing of particular interest. Locking her terminal again, she left her cabin and passed the mess hall. She saw Ash, Karin, and Liara sitting around one of the tables talking, and by the looks of it, the latter was doing alright; all things considered. When the spectre rounded the lift, she found Garrus waiting for her. "Something up, Garrus?"
"Actually, I was just thinking about that past investigation I mentioned earlier; the one we dealt with on that freighter." Finally seeing the lift door open, Garrus stepped in and waited for Shepard to follow. When she did, he sent the lift down to the lower deck. "Doctor Saleon and his experiments… The brief on Noveria reminded me of him."
"I can see where you'd draw a connection. What Binary Helix was doing, raising an army of rachni, was reckless."
"Beyond reckless; seeing as they didn't have a clue what they were getting themselves into." The turian stepped out of the lift and passed the requisitions officer to tweak with the Mako's cannon. He had been researching an upgrade and it had finally come through. The extra power and shredder ammunition would tear through the increasing number of geth colossus that they seemed to be encountering. "Saleon was doing all of that for profit, but what was Binary Helix' stake in what they were doing?"
"No real clue." Shepard had wondered that herself. What had they been set to gain from it? Saren had orchestrated the whole thing no doubt, but she hadn't looked too far into it. Yaraslev Tartakovsky hadn't had much time to say anything other than what they had done was a mistake before he had been speared by that rachni drone.
"Also, I thought it might be worth mentioning;" Garrus paused as he worked with the gun so that the ammunition wouldn't tear apart the barrel as it fired. "Benezia must have been in high regard with the asari."
"Why do you say that?"
"Well, aside from the councilor being there in person," Garrus finished aligning the barrel and turned around to face her again. "There was that other commando; the one in dress uniform."
"Who was she?" They had caught her name when she had been addressed back on the dock, but it hadn't rang a bell.
"Matriarch Lidanya. She's the commanding officer of the Destiny Ascension. Rumor has it that she is just on loan to captain the Council's flagship, but I highly doubt it."
"You're thinking it's more of a permanent arrangement."
"Probably. I've heard that she has had past dealings with the council's operations before, and her service record is solid. For her to be there in person…"
"I gathered that Benezia was highly respected." Shepard remembered when the matriarch had been identified the first time before she had been made a spectre. "It was a shock to think she was involved with Saren."
"More than a shock it seems…" Finishing loading the shells into the mako before he closed out his diagnostics, Garrus finally turned back for the final time and leaned against the tank's front. "Speaking of, how's Liara doing? I talked to her a bit earlier."
"She's doing as well as possible, I think; talking with Ash and Chakwas now."
"Good. Best not to be alone in times like this. Dark thoughts are just a second's dwelling away."
"No kidding."
"So, where to now?"
"Virmire. I'd like you all in the comm room for a briefing on that in five minutes. I need a quick word with the requisitions officer. Could you let Tali know? She was checking something with the drive core."
"Sure. I'll pass it on to the others on the crew deck as well." Garrus headed back for the lift while Shepard stopped short to speak to the requisitions officer. They had been scheduled for a shipment of supplies from one of Nassana Dantius' contacts. Sure enough, when the younger man went through the shipment, he found it. Armor, pistols, and sniper rifles stood in cases, and Shepard had to admit that the asari had been right; these were higher class munitions. Rifles with high end IR scopes, pistols with rail amps to increase impact and damage, and there were even grenades that used eezo for a lifting effect upon impact. Leaving them where they were for the moment, Shepard took the lift back up to the crew deck and changed from her dress uniform to casual fatigues before leaving for the command deck. Once there, she stopped by the galaxy map interface and plotted course before she rounded the corner and entered the comm room. Ash, Liara, and Wrex were on one side while Kaidan, Garrus, and Tali were on the other. Choosing not to sit down immediately, Shepard decided to take a direct approach to the upcoming op.
"The council came through with some information that might prove useful." Seeing the others' heads turn in interest, she continued. "There is an STG regiment on the planet Virmire that has stopped reporting in. The last message they sent was too degraded to make out, but it was sent on a priority channel for mission-critical communications. The council passed along their last known coordinates so that we might investigate and confirm their findings on Saren."
"So the council did have others investigating Saren…" Garrus muttered this more to himself, but the others caught it easily in the silence. "Figures they would have STG running background shadow ops while we're on the forefront."
"Strategic move;" Ashley nodded slowly. "Have us on his tail and make it a big thing. He'll just be looking for us and not a shadow team looking into his affairs. Got to hand it to them, it's creative and effective."
"They seemed to think that whatever the salarians found was going to be an intel boost on Saren's plans, so this is top priority."
"Anything to give us an idea of what we're in for down there?" Kaidan asked. "Would be good to know we're not just going in blind down there."
"Nothing." Shepard shook her head to emphasize. "The salarians were going to give their initial findings, according to their councilor, but they never received anything. This came through, but all it is is static."
"Hitting the widow relay now, Commander." Joker's voice came over the comm, and everyone looked up. "ETA to the Hoc system, four minutes."
"Understood, Joker."
