Disclaimer: I do not own Mass Effect or the various X-COM games. They belong to their respective copyright owners. This story is not written for profit. I make no money from it. It is not for sale or rent.
Chapter 6: A different perspective
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Part 3
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12 December, 2176 CE
Human Embassy
Presidium
The Citadel
A single engagement changed the course of history.
At least that's what everyone on the extranet blabbed about ever since the powers that be deemed me safe to release from confinement.
Fortunately, I missed most of that excitement. A month of tests, another of mandatory visits to the shrink and almost a third where they were strongly encouraged while I was stuck at Arcturus station after my return to Alliance space. At least I was technically on duty for most of that time – I was attached to one of the security platoons stationed there. On the bright side, I did learn a lot about doing the administrative side of my job. On the downside, politics reared their ugly head again and being stuck at a reasonably visible position didn't help my case.
I don't know who came with the brainstorm but soon after my second month of deployment at Arcturus began I got new orders that brought me to the Citadel.
That's how I ended in the Alliance Ambassador's office – one Donnel Udina, a middle aged man with dusky skin and short black curly hair. He wore a brown and white suit that looked quite strange to my archaic sensibilities. At least he wasn't as much of an eyesore as one of the other occupants of the room. That one was Executor Palin, a Turian wearing a weird suit with clashing blue, red and green colors. It might look great to alien eyes or perhaps it was because of my eye-mods but I found it hard to even look at his general direction. Occupant number three I was familiar with – a grumpy looking Tela Vasir stuck in a long elegant gown made of a silky stuff that reflected the light falling upon it making it sparkle. While it nicely showed up her figure, that thing had to be hard to move in, which was probably one of the reasons of her evident displeasure.
"You wanted to see me, Ambassador Udina?" I asked politely.
"Sergeant Veil." Udina sounded even sourer than Vasir's expression.
What bloody mess was I about to find myself in, I wondered while the Ambassador made brief introductions. I got orders to report in here the moment I arrived on the Citadel.
"For my sins," Palin began in the flagging voice typical for his species, "I just got saddled with you two." His mandibles moved in what I recalled was a sign of frustration.
The fuck?!
I glanced at Vasir, then looked back at the Ambassador.
"Sir?" I asked in a tone that I'm pretty sure conveyed how I felt. Seriously. What the fuck?!
"Politics at its finest, Sergeant." Udina grumbled. "After what you found out in the middle of nowhere, all hell has been breaking lose both here and at home. How much do you know about the political situation?"
"Only what I caught on the net when off duty. Inter-species cooperation is the future, closer economic and military ties with the Council, defensive alliance against the Ethereal is supposedly in the works."
"That's where you two come in." Palin's tone was almost identical to Udina's. Not a happy camper this one. "Someone leaked Vasir's presence during your operation on our side and your participation was never a secret as far as the Alliance was concerned." The Executor explained. "As a consequences people in both our governments believe that making you two very visible symbols of cooperation between the Citadel and System's Alliance would be an excellent idea." Palin glared at Vasir, who responded in kind.
"What are my orders?" I asked while trying to process what I was just told. What did they expect? That we would go out to make recruitment tours or something? Bloody speeches?! God damn it...
"We're here to hash out the details, Sergeant." Udina said. "We do have a few options..."
Vasir snorted and continued to balefully glare at the Executor.
"They want to stick us as liaisons to C-SEC and let us die of boredom." Tela spat.
"How would that work?" I wondered aloud. I was X-COM and had no law-enforcement training whatsoever. Perhaps if we were lucky enough to be stuck as a part of C-SEC's equivalent to SWAT units...
"Beat-cops." Vasir growled. "They want us to be a show for the tourists."
I stared at Udina who shrugged as if saying it wasn't his idea, just his problem.
"Just until you get acclimatized to not shooting or blowing up everything that moves." I wasn't sure if Palin was trying to be soothing or trolling the Spectre. "You'll get through a condensed version of certain C-SEC Academy courses and then attached to one of the more visible investigation units."
I think my brain finally processed what they were saying, you know after dismissing it at first as being a bloody insanity. Who the hell makes a Spectre and X-COM operative cops?! Okay, back in the Alliance there were X-COM cops policing all the psionics, but...
"What exactly is my role in this..." I fought not to scream insanity, "scheme, Ambassador?"
"You're going to be the face of Humanity, Sergeant. Congratulations." Udina said in a dry tone. He activated his omni-tool and sent me a message. Probably the written orders.
It took me couple of minutes to skim through them, while Vasir and Palin argued about what we were supposed to be actually doing. The orders were in order – right format and codes, and they did say that I would be on detached tour duty working with C-SEC for an unspecified period of time. So barring a disaster there was a hope it would be for just long enough for the furor to settle down. If I was lucky. I was to be under Palin's nominal command and would receive my day to day orders through the Spectre, who was supposed to actually obey C-SEC's chain of command. Oh, I would be attached to Vasir like a limpet if I got both the letter and spirit of my orders right; all in the name of inter-species cooperation and approval ratings for politicians unknown.
"Anything else I need to know about this assignment, Ambassador?" I inquired.
"Don't create a diplomatic accident." Udina ordered. "If this pans out, it will be good both for Humanity and the Citadel. As of this moment, I'm leaving you in the Executor's capable hands." The tone said: 'Don't dare fuck up or else!'.
"Understood, loud and clear, sir."
Why did that sound much easier said than done? I glanced between Vasir and Palin. The Executor appeared much more concerned that the Spectre would be stuck on his station for extended period of time than about the X-COM operative forced upon him.
"Ambassador Udina, it's been a pleasure." Palin ignored Vasir and turned my way. "Sergeant, Spectre, walk with me."
"Have a nice day, Executor." And just like that Udina dismissed us.
Why the hell I felt like I was just sold for political gain?
"Come, let's get this circus over with. Then we can go out and get plastered." Vasir muttered as she walked past me.
That sounded like a great idea.
=SF=
Part 4
=SF=
12 December, 2176 CE
Foreign Minister's office
Arcturus Station
Walking inside her office, Erin Kurroka always marveled at the contrast. It was almost enough to give her a culture shock. Outside, the station was a typical Alliance design – utilitarian if somewhat tasteful, which was made possible thanks to technology looted from the Ethereals.
Inside, Kurroka's office provided a taste of Old Earth, a reminder why Humanity fought for, what it lost and most importantly, what it preserved despite everything the aliens threw at them. Replicas of relics from all over the world – both statues and paintings adored walls hidden by genuine wood paneling. If you didn't know better, it would be hard to believe that the room was within a station light-years from Earth.
Erin's only regret was that genuine relics weren't allowed on Arcturus. While the place was one of the best defended facilities the Alliance had, in a case of a war it was going to be a primary target. Too many relics of the past were lost during the Ethereal war to risk more, even for the office of someone like the Foreign Minister. Her predecessor actually tried it and the moment someone leaked the presence of a century old painting, Kurroka grimaced. Even years later, her office still caught flack over that fiasco.
The Minister went behind her desk and plopped into her sinfully comfortable chair. She pressed a button and soft calming buzz surrounded her as it began to massage her back. She let out a low sensual moan and finally relaxed.
Kurroka spent the last four hours on the comm negotiating non-critical details about a possible military alliance with the Hierarchy and it was exhausting. While the Turians were a breath of fresh air compared to the byzantine politics of the Asari and the various hang-ups of the Salarians, there were still various issues and that meant even more headaches for her.
Erin accessed her schedule and browsed through it. If it wasn't for her AI assistant she didn't know how she would manage. Perhaps she would have to be surrounded by an even bigger army of staffers who desperately attempted do deal with all the shenanigans that came with foreign relations between different species.
"Minister, we have an issue." Alaya, said AI assistant spoke in her soft motherly voice.
"Why every time you call me Minister in private, I'm in for another headache?" Erin whined.
"Because both of us are, dear."
"You don't get headaches."
"Says you. Our newest hero got shipped to the Citadel without receiving a briefing and instruction by our office." Alaya's tone became serious.
"What." Erin immediately shot up.
"I just got notification from Udina. Half an hour ago the Sergeant was in his office, met with Executor Palin and Spectre Vasir and they already left together." Alaya continued.
Most people seeing Kurroka snarl would be shocked – she had a galaxy-wide reputation of being sickeningly nice and sweet lady. "Whose idea was that? Who got him cleared to leave without hammering in his head what to do or not to do while stuck on the Citadel with the whole galaxy watching?!"
"Everything I can access on X-COM's side looks legit." Alaya hummed. "Their AIs claim no record of our office requesting to brief Sergeant Veil before his departure."
"You did sent it through proper channels?" Erin frowned.
"Yes. And there's no record in our system of such a request ever being sent."
"Michael's department?" The Minister groaned.
"I should have handled that personally." Alaya grumbled. "Of course it's his department."
"Do we have enough to do something about it?"
"Perhaps. He's likely to claim a human error by a staffer of his. There would be volunteers to take the blame."
"Remind me again, why do we have so many people wanting nothing to do with aliens working in the Foreign office?" Erin grimaced.
"So they can make our life harder. It was never viable to discriminate on that metric, not even in our line of work."
"Goddamn it." Erin sighed. "Arrange a conference call with Veil in our embassy on the Citadel. I'll be briefing him personally. Call Michael in here now."
=SF=
12 December, 2176 CE
Spectre Offices
Presidium
The Citadel
Deep within the Spectre Offices existed a number of black rooms. They were meant for discussing everything that could never see the light of day. At least officially. The Spectres would never confirm or deny if all the rumors of what went on in there were true.
A pair of Turians in plain clothes walked in one such room to meet a Salarian who waited for them. They spent two whole minutes being propped by the best scanners the Spectres could buy or steal before internal security let them in.
"Bau." Saren Arterius, the bare-faced Turian greeted.
"Nihlus, Saren." Their young Salarian colleague smiled.
They took seats around a simple metal table covered with computer terminals and data-pads.
"Did you finally catch that ghost of yours?" Saren asked with a fanged grin.
"Not yet but I got confirmation she's human." Bau grinned. "I think I finally have a practical way to see through her cloak."
"Practical for us or mass deployment?" Kryik's fringe perked up contrasting with his extensive white facial paint.
"For critical facilities? Flooding them with Eezo gas might work. We can recycle it and the Asari at least won't mind. No, I have some toys I want to test against human cloaks and we might get the chance."
"Some of the Primarchs aren't thrilled at the prospect of an alliance with the Humans." Nihlus' mandibles drooped.
"The fools are either scared or angry. For too long we thought we were the uncontested military power in the galaxy. That made us complacent. I would argue that running into the Alliance and now the Ethereals could be a good thing in the long run." Saren argued.
That was an old argument between the two friends. Oh, no one could accuse Arterius of actually liking Humanity. However, he did respect them and saw the opportunities they represented.
"Still better than what's happening at Surkesh." Bau's cheerful expression vanished as if someone switched it off with the press of a button. "We aren't here to talk politics."
"What's happening to Vasir is political." Saren pointed out.
"It's well founded paranoia." Nihlus countered.
"I'll go with both." Bau interrupted them before they could start another argument and worsen his headache. "So who volunteers to keep tabs on her?"
"You love to sneak around and stalk people." Saren leveled a particularly sharp talon at the Salarian Spectre.
"Moi?" Bau put a hand on his chest and did his best confused expression. His huge eyes blinked at the Turians in heart-moving picture of innocence. "I have no idea what you're talking about!" The Salarian's voice pitched up in a righteous anger.
"My mistake." Saren grinned. "You prefer ghosts. Admit it, you're after that girl only because of her cloak."
"She has skills too!"
"And they tell me Salarians know nothing of romance." Nihlus smirked.
"Nah. See there!" Saren nodded at Bau. "Those are his scientist eyes."
"That's even worse." Nihlus nodded sagely.
"Should I mention a certain former Kabal girl undergoing Spectre training as we speak?" Bau smiled sweetly at the Turians.
"Unfounded hearsay." Saren answered a tiny bit too fast.
"Oh? Do tell!" Nihlus perked up and turned to look at his friend.
"There's nothing to tell!"
"I hear she's very flexible. So far her scores are actually better than yours were." Bau cheerfully added.
"Really?" Saren's fringe shot up.
"That's my line." Nihlus mandibles opened in fascination. "Bay, we need to get the kid under our wings and tell her all about this reprobate."
"Sounds like plan." The Salarian agreed and beamed at Saren.
"I hate you two so much right now." Arterius grumbled. "We're off topic. Tela."
"She's his girlfriend." Bau grinned at Kyrik.
"We just slept a few times to let out some steam. Nothing came out of it." Nihlus sighed. "What are we going to do about her?"
Bau sobered up. "Keep an eye on her at all times. There's a reason we requested a Psionic for a liaison from the Alliance, especially one with experience with Ethereal time bombs."
"He might be one too." Saren played devil's advocate.
"I'm more afraid of them making Tela one of their own. If Veil was compromised, X-COM wouldn't have let him see the light of day, much less keep him at Arcturus for a few months and then agreeing on shipping him here to play cop." Nihlus disagreed.
"There's that." Bau nodded. "One of you two takes first dibs on tracking Tela and stopping her if she blows up in our faces. I've got orders to shut down her status ready if it comes to that."
"Saren's the biotic. I don't fancy going toe to toe with Tela if she goes on the deep end. I've seen her handiwork firsthand." Nihlus threw his buddy under the bus.
"Thank you so much." Saren groused. "What about the human? He is a Psionic."
"Not the first, neither the last we'll have to deal with. One of the reasons he's officially here is to help C-SEC evolve procedures to handle his kind." Bau explained. "What we have in place is good enough to handle the worst of Asari Night Demons, but we still don't really know the full extent of what a Psionic could really do."
"We're to watch Veil too and take care to note how he uses his gift." Saren noted.
"We already do it to every human Psionic we know about in Citadel space." Nihlus shrugged. "That goes without saying."
"Look it from the bright side – the Council didn't can Tela over a suspicion so that should hold up for us too." Bau smiled brightly. "If everything goes terribly wrong you will at least help science!"
"I don't want to be experimented on. Even if its for science." Saren shook his head.
"I'll pass too. Especially when vivisection or dissection are concerned." Nihlus hastily added.
"Spoilsports." Bau's expression dropped.
"Salarians." Both Turians spoke as one.
"Barbarians!" Bau shot back and the bickering intensified.