MASS EFFECT: WINTER EYES

CHAPTER 13: Omega

"Thank you for taking my call, Wrex." Liara welcomed their old friend on the other end when Garrus walked into the small room aboard their transport ship that was inbound to Omega. ETA was twenty minutes to the relay. As soon as they entered the system, their ship would be marked and contacted. From their last fiasco, Aria most likely wasn't going to take any chances of being outwitted. It looked bad upon her and weakness exploitation was not her game.

Garrus observed that behind the burly krogan were others of his species bustling around a makeshift command center, most likely on Tuchanka. Wrex's facial expression showed a stubborn, determined krogan who was most likely going to ignore whatever advice that was thrown to him. He hoped that Liara could handle the delicate matter. They both agreed that she should be the one to reach out to him after their meeting with the councilor versus Garrus. Despite being old squadmates, Wrex's opinion of him shattered and was almost to the state they were in when they first teamed up with Shepard. Yellow eyes on the screen watched Garrus enter the room suspiciously and return to Liara. "You ready to believe me, Liara? Or what piss did the Turian Councilor throw on you?"

"Wrex…" Garrus seethed, biting at his tongue not to say anymore.

Liara held up her right hand to silence him. "You know I don't take sides, Wrex. Yes, I did speak with the Councilor and he has no knowledge about what happened on Korlus."

"Screw that." The krogan spat.

It took every fiber of her being not to verbally attack him. Taking a breath, Liara paused to collect herself before addressing him. "I believe him, Wrex. There's nothing coming through the feeds that the Turian military orchestrated the attack."

"That means they just covered their tracks," Wrex huffed.

"I have a suspicion that Charon may be involved."

"The admiral spoke to the colony before he annihilated every single krogan on Korlus. Scouts observed the turian ship's salvage on the colony. Now you have the audacity to say it's some human group?" Pained, Wrex's voice strained at his words. The death of Bakara and his sons was still fresh to him.

"The Hierarchy should have been allowed to assess the ship. Cross check the logs." Garrus spoke up, unable to remain calm any longer.

"So, they could just remove the evidence?" Wrex glared at him coldly. "Nice try, Vakarian. You, turians, are all the same."

"And you krogan- "

"Enough!" Liara raised her voice to stop the exchange of words. It angered her to see her friends fight like this. With her fists clenched at her sides, her chest tight, she sharply turned to Garrus to look at him, before returning her focus to the task at hand. "Shepard tried to take out Garrus on the Citadel."

"Good."

"This is serious. We believe she fled to Omega. Garrus and I are on our way to find her and figure out what exactly is going on."

"Have fun there. In the meantime, I'm sending troops to Carborix."

"What for?" Garrus questioned.

This time, the krogan turned to look at him. "You mean your councilor didn't tell you?" He paused to allow his words plague their minds with worry. "Your Hierarchy, Garrus, are sending troops there within the colony to make another sneak attack. If the Turians don't mind spilling blood, then neither do the krogan!" Several roars of agreement could be heard in from clan members that picked up on the heated exchange.

Vakarian' s eyes became wide as he listened in. He knew of that colony, but why would his own leaders tell him one thing and do something else behind his back. Perhaps, his friend was right. Did the Turians intentionally attack Korlus to prevent any further expansion? Was a krogan rebellion on the verge again? "Hold up!" Liara spoke up at the discretion. "What proof do you have?"

"Sorry, Liara. I cannot disclose everything. Not with- "A beat. "Him in the room." His eyes narrowed some at Garrus. "Besides, how can I trust you?"

"Give us seventy-two hours. I know I can find evidence of Charon's hand in this."

"I'm not going to turn a blind eye to what's going on, Liara." Wrex sternly said. "Seventy-two hours will give the turians time to bulk up their defenses. Korlus didn't have that type of time to prepare. Why should I give them that courtesy?" Hatred seethed at his lips.

Liara held it together as she took another breath. "We need time to find Shepard. You know how difficult Aria can be."

"Forty-Eight and not a second more." He snapped back. "Krogan honor."

Allowing a brief sigh of relief, Liara smiled slightly. "Thank you, Wrex." She knew if the krogan attacked the turian colony then the war would begin, and it would take more than friendly talks to dissolve the conflict. She didn't want to see another genophage and this time, the krogan would be ready for it. Ending the call, she turned to look at Garrus, mentally drained. "That went…well."

Still unbalanced by the idea that the turians were planning on attacking the krogan again without his knowledge, Garrus allowed a few chuckles to escape his lips, to shrug everything off the best that he could. "You surprise me, Liara. You have your mother's tone." He thought back to their run-in with Matriarch Benezia on Noveria.

"Or my father's…." Liara smiled slightly at him.

"That's right…you are like half krogan?" Garrus grinned slyly at her.

The smile on the asari's face faded quickly. "That's not fair."

"I need to talk to the Primarch. I can't believe they are actually going to go through with it."

"I agree. Let's just hope that Kaidan gets the Council's blessing to show up on Omega. If not, Aria may not be pleased that we showed up again uninvited."

Kaidan Alenko interlaced his fingertips behind his back with his shoulders squared as he stood before the four council members: Tevos, Valern, Sparatus and Sorvel. All seated comfortably before him in the room with their assistants off to the side, waiting dutifully. The audience chamber was not as lavish as the Council Chambers was on the old Citadel. Accompanying Alenko were Tali and Miranda, who stood near the door for moral support. Tali was a little closer since as an Admiral and representative of the Quarian race, she would have more weight to tip the scale in Alenko' s favor if needed. Miranda was a former Cerberus operative which the Council slighted but respected her for show only for her termination with the known terrorist group. Any affiliation with Cerberus was an act of treason in the Council's eyes. Even after her departure, they never really trusted her. Miranda could feel their eyes upon her as soon as she entered. Her appearance was shocking to them. Would it hurt their request? Prior to the meeting that was scheduled three hours after the attack on the station, the Council was able to read the petition that Kaidan submitted. Their neutral faces made it hard for Kaidan to know if they were granting or denying his request to use his Spectre status to go into the Terminus systems to find the assassin. Shepard's name was never dropped. "I want to verify this report, Spectre Alenko." Sorvel Gupta, representing humanity, spoke first as if he was cued by the others. "You believe that the assassin, affiliated with the Cerberus splinter cell, Charon, has fled to the Terminus systems?"

"Yes. Omega to be exact." Kaidan could sense the doubt in Gupta's voice.

The charcoal black haired man in his fifties studied Alenko before eying his cohorts. "How come Charon has not come across any C-Sec feeds until recently? Have you verified this information?"

"It has been verified. Charon was a well-hidden group, sir."

"Here it comes…" Miranda mumbled under her breath as she listened in.

"This takes me back…" Tali thought to herself as she listened in carefully. She remembered standing before the original three council members when Macha displayed the evidence she submitted into Saren's treason.

"Verified by whom?" Valern, the Salarian Councilor, piped in. His dark glossy bulbous eyes staring at Alenko.

Alenko never let go of his posture. "That's classified, sir." He paused. "A reliable source."

"We need hard evidence, Spectre Alenko. Withholding information from the Council is unwise." Sparatus, the Turian Councilor, chimed in as his avian eyes focused on him.

"Spectre Alenko," Tevos, the Asari Councilor, interjected softly. "Your service record is commendable."

"Thank you, mam."

"However, what you are asking us is dangerous. Sending a representative of the Council into the Terminus systems is ill-advised. Aria will not take this likely."

"I'm aware of that, mam."

"And yet, you want us to risk open war with the Terminus systems?" Sparatus barked.

"With the Krogan rebellion going on, I don't think it's wise to do this. The assassin is no longer on this station. I'm sure we can increase C-Sec patrols."

Tevos turned to look at him. "We have not identified the conflict between the turians and krogan currently as another rebellion, Councilor Valern."

The salarian appeared confused by her correction. "Their false accusation of- "

"With all due respect, Councilor Valern and Councilor Tevos. I don't think the krogan are the issue at hand now, nor the subject of my petition." Kaidan stepped in to remind of them why he was there. He silently prayed that the Krogan Ambassador could not hear what was being said. That's all he needed to add to this.

"Bosh'tet." Tali fumed and stormed to take Kaidan's side, despite the protocol of her being announced first as a testifying witness. "When Shepard went to the Terminus systems, you allowed this to happen. You found a way around it. You can do it again. C-Sec failed to protect Dr. Chakwas. There was an attack on my life as well."

"C-Sec has increased their force since the event, Admiral Tali vas Rannoch." Sparatus addressed her.

"Yet, the assassin almost got to Garrus Vakarian easily. Luckily, he was able to thwart the attack." Kaidan took to the center again. "That's two on this station. Who will be next?"

"Garrus Vakarian should testify about his encounter. Was he able to identify the attacker or provide C-Sec a description?" Valern spoke up once more.

"He left to find the assassin." Alenko smiled softly. "He doesn't seem to give up his old days as a C-Sec officer. He tracked the ship the assassin left on to Omega."

"And no identification on the assassin?" Tevos asked.

Kaidan shook his head without the hint of hesitation. "No, mam. Witnesses describe her to be a female human posing as a C-Sec officer with purple hair, but that's about it."

"Her physical appearance would be altered from the true form. All field agents do that with Cerberus." Miranda decided to give her two cents on the matter. She knew they wouldn't really appreciate her input, but any information on Charon would help.

"Provoking Aria T'Loak is not wise." Gupta informed the group. "She will use this as a way to exploit the Council."

"I agree. We have enough to worry about as it is." Sparatus nodded.

Alenko chewed his lip. He was losing traction on this fast! "We cannot ignore this, Councilors." His voice projected louder than planned. "Charon is becoming dangerous and if we are not careful, we will lose more valuable people. I understand there are other pressing matters to intend to, but this enemy will not come at you directly. They work in the shadows and can easily infiltrate. They have showed these numerous times. I fear the safety of the Council is at hand. My job is to invoke the Council concerns, but it is to also protect you. Going into Terminus System is the only way to handle this."

"Kai Leng almost got you years ago, Council Valern." Tali reminded the salarian in front of her. "You were lucky because Thane and Shepard were around to save you."

"I remember. I am grateful to my rescue."

"As stated before by your companion, Spectre Alenko. We were able to grant Commander Shepard access before under strict privileges. You would be acting alone. We could not send you aid."

"You can be replaced." Gupta reminded him coldly as he eyed him. Kaidan wondered if the threat was more of a foreshadow of what was to come down the road for him. He never heard of Spectre's being stripped of their titles without serious offenses like Saren.

"I understand all of this." He said calmly, ignoring the threat for now. "Am I free to leave now?"

Sparatus exchanged a silent look with the asari before waving his hand to dismiss.

"About damn time." Miranda said under her breath as she quickly took Kaidan's left side as he turned to leave the room.

"I hope we make it there in time." Tali was on their heels in distress.

"Me too, Tali. At least, I got the okay." Alenko kept his dark eyes straight ahead as he walked, avoiding any looks on passerby's who were quietly questioning his appearance at the Council Chambers.

"Your ship will be marked as Spectre. You really think Aria will let us land?" Miranda hated to be the pessimist of the group, but clearance from the Council was not good enough.

"She didn't shoot down the Normandy when Shepard went there. Maybe, I'll get the same welcoming." Kaidan gave a crooked grin.