I am still working on the next couple chapters. So this will be the last update for a day or two.
Reviews and criticism are welcome.
The walls were moving shaking, falling apart. Cracks could be seen in the dark steel and red lights flickered as Nox walked along the remnants of her meditation chamber. Finally they gave way and exploded outward revealing the stars of the galaxy, her galaxy. It was quite the view as she marveled at the stars and that swirled around the core.
What was doing she here, standing with this magnificent view. Her thoughts sped wildly as she tried to recall, and then she remembered how she got here in this dreamscape. The last bomb in her gut exploded after Nihilus died. She didn't remember much after that.
"An amazing sight is it not?" A deep baritone voice said next to her.
She turned to see a middle aged man with graying hair and beard. He was dressed in bright white armor with black cloth in between the armor plates. His front chest piece had a serpent-like insignia on it as well.
This stranger she saw was anything but as she felt his force signature. He smiled at her recognition.
"You!" she growled, reaching for her lightsaber. Her hand grasped at nothing, however. She looked down and saw she was in her armor. She had other weapons at her disposal. She reached out her hands let loose a torrent of Force lightning. The purple bolts arced and raced toward the white clad figure.
He let out a small chuckle as it passed harmlessly through him, not even laying a scratch on his armor's surface.
"If you are done fooling around we have much to discuss." He stated plainly, his pale face emotionless, but his voice betrayed annoyance.
"I will not discuss anything with you. You should be dead. I killed you." Her shock was carefully hidden behind her anger, but the Emperor could see it regardless.
He smirked, "Were it so easy to kill an immortal entity such as I. What you thought you destroyed is a mere fragment, nothing more." He walked up to her and stood closer to her, "and even that now resides in you.
She wanted to snuff him out right there, but that cruel smile stopped her. There was nothing she could do.
He stalked around her, sizing her up. "Such fire. I now see why slavery, Korriban, your master, and Thanaton could not break you. Funny it took eradicating an entire planet to see it, but you were something of myself I wished to keep. A reminder." He turned his back to her lost in thought.
His high and mighty attitude was grating, but she forced herself to speak and ask the one question that had been weighing on her mind since he had revealed himself.
"Was it you who brought me here?" her tone a bit somber and content with his presence.
She could almost see the amusement radiating off him.
"No. It was not part of the plan to be honest. I had intended for you to be lured to my Empire in Zakuul, but your friends tracked down one of my fragments instead. I took the opportunity to solve another problem in the process. Of course if you should return it may yet happen. I know Darth Marr had been busy gathering a force to find me."
"Fifty years and just now he is starting to look…" she stopped and considered that perhaps this reality moved faster than hers. The Emperor nodded in approval as she came to the conclusion without having to help her along.
"And another fifty years and only another week would go by in ours at least with the current state of the gateway. If it is tampered with, that may change. That is not the reason you were brought you here, however." He turned back to face her.
"Then why?" she spread her arms out. "Why did you bring me here? To this place, this hell."
His response came without that annoying look, "I did not, I too was sucked in. Can you feel it? This reality harbors a darkness. One that is uncaring or unforgiving…"
"So, it's like you then," Nox snarled. Even so she agreed the force was wounded not just a piece but the whole. It was concerning.
The Emperor glared at his fire colored eyes narrowed at her, but continued past her interruption.
"This force of repetition has been a threat to this reality for many eras, but soon it may even become a threat to ours as well as these two realities have been linked for some time. I brought you here to stop it once and for all before it comes to our own. After all, a large fleet of warships, could do much damage to the spent Republic and Imperial forces." He finished with a grin, looking to Nox for a response.
Her hands balled into fists, her anger creating a red mist around her. She was beyond angry. She didn't want this. She wanted to go back to be with Lana. He took that away. Among all the rage one other thought stood out. Her sacrifice was for nothing.
The son-of-kath-hound standing in front of her tricked her. Even if she wasn't sucked into a different universe she would have died regardless.
All he did was stand there, waiting her to calm down. He half expected her to attack him. She proved smarter than many would have done and forced herself to calm down. Her rage and hate would only get her so far. Instead she used it as a focus.
"Are you done?" he asked with a bored tone, ready to continue. She gave a curt nod.
"Good, this presence is composed of an ancient machine race that wipes out organic life every fifty thousand years. Their motives are a mystery other than what is apparent, but they must be stopped before they find the door to our reality. That is the mission this Force has given you. Now you must wake. Your friend Shepard however…"
His face became deep in thought as he focused on the Commander.
"Interesting… the Force here has marked him for greatness." he muttered. Nox was about to ask his thoughts.
"No, you must go. Protect Shepard and you may yet see your love again."
Nox didn't even get a chance to give a snarky reply as everything around her faded away. She opened her eyes to the Med bay of the Normandy. She did not get up, but laid there for some time thinking about the message from the Emperor. She briefly meditated to access the damage to her body. That life energy she siphoned from nearby dock worker did the trick.
She sat up and looked around the medbay only to stare at her reflection in the mirrored glass of the medbay. She seen her beautiful face and smiled and looked do see a simple medical gown preserving her modesty. She shook her head and ran her hands threw her hair and then checked her stomach for any scarring. There was none. She smiled.
"You're awake?" The kindly voice of Dr. Karen Chakwas spoke. Her accent sounded Imperial like home. If it wasn't for the bright metallic finish of the medbay she could have sworn she was home in the Empire again. All that was missing was the eerie red lighting and the those creepy statues of the Vitiate.
"Where is my gear?" Nox asked hopping out of bed. Chakwas shook her head.
"None of that until I can fully examine you. Your injuries were severe, yet healed quite rapidly. I have make sure nothing is out of place. It is quite remarkable really." Nox sighed and waved her hand in front of the Doctors face using the Force to influence the woman, "There is nothing wrong with me," There wasn't, "You will bring me my gear and erase any data you have on me."
Doctor Chakwas repeated the words and went off to do the Sith Lords bidding. To be honest the data wipe was secondary to her concerns. She just wanted to be clothed. She wanted to get out of this room. It wasn't long before the Doctor returned, wheeling a cart of Nox's armor. As she was dressing herself, she had a thought. "What happened? Since I was... indisposed?"
The doctor looked up from her desk. "Hmm, oh, You were incoherent in your current state and mentioned the Spectre Saren. After saving the Colony, Shepard and Anderson used your words as evidence."
Nox raised an eyebrow, "Oh, there must be more. I do not exactly think my mumbling would do as evidence."
The Doctor sighed, "From my understanding Shepard was forced to go looking for more evidence picking up a Krogan mercenary, a Turian C-sec officer, and a young Quarian pilgrim."
"Huh," Nox said before throwing on the last of her armor. She picked up her lightsaber and hefted it. She activated it. Karen recoiled. Nox frowned before she deactivated the blade. There was a slight unstable waver to it. The blade must have been mishandled while she was out. She would have to adjust the pearl later. The pearl needed to be set just right. It didn't hinder the blade's performance, but Nox like any other force-user, Sith or Jedi, was a perfectionist when it came to her weapon.
"Thank you," Nox made a small bowing gesture before leaving to go and find a spot to think and meditate.
The Normandy was on the move pulling out the dock and gunning it for that that giant tuning fork shaped slingshot that would propel it the other side of the Galaxy in a blink of an eye. Nox tilted her head a bit as she stood in the cockpit behind Joker. The pilot losing all his generally more outgoing demeanor and becoming a verified badass of flying a starship. Nox was impressed yet again by the quality of the crew assembled on this ship.
It reminded her of her own crew in a way, only Andronikos Revel could fly circles around Joker. She sat co-pilot hoping to meditate. On her own ship, she and Andronikos would often just cruise, no worries. The former accountant turned deadly pirate was a servant who she eventually called friend. These moments she found a great time to meditate on the force, simply listening to the clicks and whines of various equipment.
She looked out into space after entering the system of Shepard's choosing. She looked to see another Mass Relay, its glowing blue center across the system. While being much faster than hyperspace travel, hyperspace travel still felt a bit more independent than the giant ship cannons that populated this reality.
No doubt part of the Reaper's plan. Get rid of independent travel and the galaxy will be nerfs ready to be put to slaughter, Vitiate's voice echoed in her head. It was annoying, but Nox did find herself agreeing with the evil life consuming Emperor at least in this regard. To this she muttered to herself.
"Can't believe I am agreeing with you," she crossed her arms in annoyance still staring at the relay.
"Agree with what? How handsome I am?" Joker remarked running his hand through his bearded stubble.
Nox huffed irritably, "Not you."
Joker looked around a bit confused seeing no one else present in the Normandy cockpit.
"Are you sure you're okay there, Ma'am?" Joker asked razing an eyebrow.
Nox growled and turned to walk down to the CIC, "Never mind me, I have to go make sure the Gunnery Chief isn't completely hogging the armory bench."
"Okay," Joker drawled out as he watched intently while she strutted away. She was aware of his lingering gaze, but was too out of focus to really care. This was a terrible place to try and meditate. The pilot turned back to his one job on the ship and immediately began beginning the pre-drive check to jump to the Knossos system.
Her mood soured by the Emperor again, she stomped down from the CIC to the elevator to the cargo bay. She noticed Kaidan speaking with Chief Williams much to her relief as she stepped into the elevator. She bumped into a technician from down below, probably going on break, but she didn't care as he tripped and fell out of the elevator. Standing alone in the wretched box tapping her foot impatiently while the infernal thing crept slowly down to the cargo bay was grating. It left her alone with her thoughts, and the voice that plagued her mind.
The four other Sith Lords in her head had been dismantled and their power taken for herself. The Voss ritual she had undertaken had reinforced her mind to keep them in check was being used heavily now for one purpose. Vitiate was a whole different animal all together as he wasn't really a Force ghost. She had to believe all the trouble of finding a kriffing dreamrock in the Shadowlands on Voss was worth it.
While she could limit his influence greatly, he could still find a way to weasel around the walls in her mind and put in his two creds from time to time. Hopefully that was the extent of the Fragment's influence.
The elevator door opened drawing her from her thoughts. She made her way across to the armory work bench. She walked by Wrex who was leaning on a stack of crates, checking his shotgun with bored expression. The big krogan simply nodded at her to which she returned the gesture.
The cargo bays lighting wasn't the best making things like the white armory bench stick out more as she approached it. She stopped by the locker next to it to take her sniper rifle out of her locker. It seemed someone was kind enough to store the damn thing for her. Then she set it down gently on the bench. There were some rifle parts already on the bench which she pushed out of the way with the Force into the corners of the table, whoever left them there be damned.
She began to dissemble her sniper rifle mechanically, piece by piece, and began cleaning. Falling into a meditation of sorts, her hands moved with robotic precision while her mind was elsewhere. Nihilus had insisted on her using a rifle. Her lightsword was a bit too flashy for Spectre work. Reaching out through the Force she felt the ship once again and its inhabitants were tense, but optimistically so. Her strange and miraculous recovery was still just starting to make the rounds. People were angry she didn't wake up sooner to give her testimony of what happened. Nihilus was dead and now she wondered what her next step would be. The Fragment mentioned that Shepard was the key to this reality's survival. Perhaps tagging along with the newly minted Spectre would do for now.
She looked down only to notice her rifle was put back together just as it was before. She rechecked the gas cartridge and sights once more. The rifle was truly an amazing piece, custom made and best quality her companies could produce. In the end it was a piece of garbage compared to her lightsword. She halted for a moment. Nihilus was dead, she didn't need to bother with this inelegant hulk of metal anymore.
"What the hell!" Nox's thoughts were interrupted as she looked over to see Chief Williams stomping over to her.
"Is there a problem Chief?" Nox inquired with a bit of venom.
"Yeah, there is," she gestured to the parts of the disassembled rifle shoved into the corners of the work bench. Nox raised an eyebrow under her mask.
"Oh, that cheap junk heap was yours. My condolences." Nox stated with an uncaring tone.
"You think you can just come over and mess with other people's shit, then you got another thing comin'."
"Yeah, because leaving a weapon dissembled on the workbench to go chat up Lieutenant Alenko is completely within regulation." Nox smiled as the Chief lifted her finger to make a point, but stopped short realizing Nox was right. She glared at Nox before roughly shoving past her.
Nox snorted in an amusement, "Here," The Sith Lord shoved her own rifle into Ashley's arms. The grunt took it, but only to not drop the beautifully crafted weapon. "I really don't need it anymore." Nox leaned in close. "You can thank me later... more personally."
The chief stiffened a bit and Nox took that moment as an opportune time to strut away. Having kriffed with the NCO long enough, the Dark Lord's mood lightened. She ventured to go to the mess and grab something edible.
While she ate at the table she pulled out her lightsaber. She used the Force to undo the screws from the inside before sliding it a part. She used a single blade now mostly she so could keep the other half of her lightsaber for spare parts. She eventually decided to experiment with her pearl, the blade now had two small crossguards that faced upward at a thirty-degree angle. They were a flight of fancy really. Just something for her to do. She went through and cleaned all the blade hilt's parts with a special rag.
She lifted the pearl out of its housing and inspected it. Smiling, Nox was filled with pride as she remembered being jumped by the Krayt Dragon in a cave on Tatooine. It was massive. Nox and her bodyguard Khem Val took most of the day to bring the beast down. She had originally been disappointed to find only one pearl, but the violet color made her realize what a rarity she had stumbled upon. Well, more like stumbled upon her.
She placed the pearl back, and checked her emitter housing one more time. She looked around, seeing no one. She did sense a presence getting of the elevator. She held out her hand and reassembled the blade hilt. It floated off the table. The parts clicked and slid together over the course a few seconds. She ran her hands over the hilt, admiring the phrik and beskar plating. There were were small rings of electrum placed in between the gray and black plates. Golden electrum plating signified mastery of lightsaber combat and prowess in the Force among members of the Jedi Order. Since she was a member of the Dark Council and a master of the Dark Side, the Sith figured it was a good way to thumb her nose at her self-righteous rivals.
There was no visible activation switch on the outside. Instead it was on the inside. She took pride in the fact no ordinary rabble could use the blade beside her. This was something she intentionally mentioned off the cuff at a Dark Council meeting once. When the other Dark Lords took to the idea, the rest of the lesser Sith followed suit. It became a fashion trend, one exclusive to the Sith as the new design only further elevated them among the mundanes. The Jedi even eventually took the hint for "utilitarian" purposes of course. It was her small mark on Galactic history. She hoped it would stick.
She activated it feeling the blade focus and the pearl's alignment in the housing. Perfect, she thought. She again deactivated the blade and was about to get up from the table. She sensed that same presence behind her. It wasn't malevolent, it was curious.
"What was that?" A soft voice spoke. Nox instead turned around on the bench to see a young quarian girl in a gray exo-suit with black cloth tailored to fit over most of it. Nox gave the Quarian an appraising look. The young woman had nice hips... for an alien. Nox crossed her legs and leaned back.
"My lightsaber. You must be the Quarian I have been hearing about." Nox tried to change the subject. She really had no interest in discussing the blade. Mostly because it was hers and mundanes wouldn't benefit in no way from knowing about them.
"Oh, I am Tali'Zorah was Neema nor Rayya," She held a nervous posture and rung her hands together. "You can just call me Tali." Nox realized from searching the girls feelings, that the mask the Dark Lord always wore unsettled the girl.
"Well Tali, I am known as Darth Nox. You can just call me Nox. The title of Darth rings a bit hollow in this place." Nox held out her hand, and the Quarian bent down and gently shook it. The translucent blue face plate and the white glowing eyes underneath looked to the blade sitting on the table with a curious and intense fascination.
"That blade, how does it work?" Nox mentally sighed, but she figured that there really wasn't anything the Quarian could gain from knowledge of its construction. Not like any mundane could use a lightsaber without cutting off a limb or worse?
"That is my secret. It is one of a kind." Nox lifted up her arm, palm up. The lightsaber floated up level in front of Tali's face. The Sith undid the screws once again, exploding the hilt before the Quarian's eyes. The pieces floated and the alien's eyes moved from piece to piece. Her head tilted as she examined each piece.
"That must be the battery." The Quarian started pointing to the other pieces. "That's the focusing lens. That must be the housing for a shield emitter to contain the plasma. The pearl? It seems to be a focus like in a blaster only bigger." Nox was taken aback by the girl's quick deductions. The Sith slid the hilt back together once more. The Quarian reached out and tentatively grasped the hilt. Nox allowed it. She weighed it in her hands.
"It is actually quite heavy." Nox felt a small sense unease for just a moment in letting the young quarian actually touch a Sith's most prized possession. The delicate and professional way the alien's tri-fingered hands moved about the hilt soothed any concerns the Sith had. The hands of an artist as well as a talented engineer.
"Yes, a small price to pay for a blade that weighs nothing at all." Nox uncrossed her legs and stood, gesturing for Tali to give the weapon back.
"There is no switch to turn it on?" Tali held out the hilt. Nox levitated it out of her hand and the weapon zoomed to the clip on Nox's belt. The Quarian's emotions were a whirl as the blade's construction played across her thoughts. Her mind barely even registered Nox's telekinetic powers. Impressive, thought the Sith. Then again, the girl probably presumes I am a biotic.
"Not on the outside." Nox clarified.
"Oh, so only biotics can activate it? I didn't see that part." Tali voice was desperate to learn more. An insatiable hunger for all things technological. Nox shook her head.
"No, Biotics are not precise enough to activate it. Good day, Tali. I must attend to other matters." Nox walked away heading for the stairs leading to the CIC.
"But how do...?" Tali's voice was cut off by the opening of the door to the CIC and it shutting behind Nox.
These overlooked nomads are quite intriguing, The Fragment of Vitiate said. Their talents are wasted here in this plane.
"And slavery under the Empire would be so much better for them." Nox frowned feeling a bit miffed at the Fragment's intrusion. She walked up the stairs leading to the CIC.
In time they would earn their freedom and place under the Sith as servants wouldn't you agree, and they would be stronger for it. Like you were made.
"The upkeep wouldn't be worth it. Their suits require too many materials and resources to maintain." Nox countered.
Yes, but the Empire has the technology to fix that and would gain a loyal race who wished to serve out of gratitude rather than conquest.
"Your talking about bringing a whole race through to our reality. Could that even be done?" Nox already knew what the Fragment would say.
Nothing is Impossible with the Force at your back. However I suspect that this species will be instrumental in bringing down the looming threat. Nox couldn't help but agree remembering the technical prowess of how the Quarian's fingers moving over the plates and curves of her lightsaber. They would indeed be needed. She resumed her trek to find the Commander and request that she be taken on the next mission. She hoped to get off the ship for a little while.
Joker was not having a very good day. Shepard was stuck trying to outrun a volcano, his porn stash was almost discovered by Pressly, and to top it off, he had Lady Creepyface sitting co-pilot. The woman was muttering to herself in the co-pilot's seat next to him. He didn't understand why the woman was still on board the ship. With Nihilus dead, one would think she would find other things to do. No, she just stayed a board and creeped everyone out with that creepy mask and armor. Dr. Chakwas was the only person to actually see her face under the mask. Even then the old doctor could not really recall the woman's face.
"Why didn't he take me? I have the most experience. Force, I worked with the cursed Turian for five years. The Krogan I can understand, but the taking that dumb schutta."
"That's enough Ma'am, I am having a hard time focusing on rescuing Shepard so could you kindly shut your face hole, then I can go back to getting our Commander back onboard in one piece as is stated in my job description." The scathing tone surprised even him, but he would be damned if he was going let his CO die due a little distraction.
The masked woman looked at him. He could somehow feel the glare underneath could have melted his face off. At any other time he would have shit his pants. When he was at the helm however, there was nothing in the universe that could make him back down. He noticed as he turned back to swooping into pull out Shepard that she did shut up, but a quick sideways glance revealed that she was still staring. He shook his head muttering about she should stick that weird purple sword of hers where the sun doesn't shine.
While he barely knew anything about the dead Spectre's "Consultant", he had never really seen an enough to give a close guess of her personality was. She never spoke with anyone. After the Nihilus died, she acted no different. Then she just gave Ashley a sniper rifle worth more the combined salaries of the ship's crew. The woman made no sense.
As he pulled into float the ship above the mine entrance, another glance at Lady Creepyface revealed she was still staring. At least she might have been. Joker couldn't tell with that dead eyed mask on her face. If he hadn't been more focused on saving the ground team he swore he would have told her to creep some else out. It would leave him to do his job at least.
The Consultant growled with a snort. She actually bristled like she heard his thoughts. Joker paid her no mind as the all board signal chimed and he didn't hesitate to pull out of the volcano's eruption. Just in time too. Lady Creepface got up to leave in a pissed off huff as his refusal to let her vent in the cockpit.
He shrugged while checking over the latest diagnostics of the ships systems, making sure everything was in the green. He was sure that Lady Creepyface wouldn't be hanging around the cockpit any time soon.
"I'll tell you how the Prothean's were wiped out," Shepard stated plainly after the long winded account by Dr. T'soni about her theories on the Prothean's extinction. The doctor was what they needed in a prothean expert, but could she ramble on and on. Shepard made a mental note not to mention Protheans any way shape or form unless it was for the mission's sake around the good doctor. His head already had enough Prothean crap to deal with.
"I assure you that I have heard every theory out there." The doctor replied with a bit of exasperation like this was an old conversation she had repeated before.
"They were wiped out by a race of machines called the Reapers. I was exposed to a damaged Prothean beacon on Eden Prime. I had a vision burned into my mind." He noticed Nihilus' consulant. What did Nihilus call her? Nox, that was it. Nox rested her arms on her legs as if she was intrigued to learn more. The newly minted Sepctre briefly remembered the conversation they had in the bridge. She had not taken well to his decision not to bring her along. He would ask after her later, but for now the Doctor's insight could be valuable.
"That makes sense," she said to herself. Everyone's reactions were varied, most were surprised say for Nox and Shepard himself.
"It fits into how the Protheans were wiped out like those that came before them and so on. The galaxy seems to have series of extinction level events killing all space faring species." Seeing everyone looking at her weird, she crossed her arms nervously, "Sorry, just a theory I have after studying the Protheans for so long."
Shepard nodded, turning back to give the order to dismiss the session. He was interrupted with a "Commander you said that the beacon burned a vision into your brain. Perhaps I can try an Asari meld."
"What? Like Spock?" Joker said over the comm from the cockpit.
"Who?" Liara and Nox both said. Seeing both the look on the asari's face and hearing the tone in the human's voice, Joker took it upon himself to give a quick overview.
"What!" Joker said, "Star Trek, Captian Kirk, Scotty?" The both shook their heads," The Doctor, I can understand, but you Miss Creepypants. You are a shame to your entire race. Don't worry we'll rectify that later. You owe me for earlier anyway." The last bit forced Nox to grumble to herself. Shepard heard her mention something about a… whatever a gundark was and a bath in Mustafarian lava pits in her mumbling. He shook his head at his subordinates before looking to the Doc once again.
"You think that will reveal something useful about these visions?" he asked. She nodded.
"Alright, let's see if you can make sense of it better than I can." He stood off the railing of the projector and walked to the center. Liara got up and walked there as well. They stood close together.
Liara mentioned a mantra that her people said before a meld. Most of it was lost to his brain as soon as the meld started anyway. The only words he remembered were 'Embrace Eternity' and the dark vision the Prothean baecon burned into his mind played out once again, just as unreadable as ever. When it finished, he saw Liara step back wavering like the meld exhausted her.
"Amazing, truly, how you still have any brain function at all is beyond me. A lesser mind would have been torn apart."
Liara damn nearly fell over and he remembered that she had been deprived of food and water for at least a day or two.
"When was the last you ate or slept for that matter?" his concern was evident as he held the blue-skinned woman up to keep her from feinting.
"Too long I am afraid. The meld only added to that." The asari admitted.
"Lieutenant Alenko, get her to the med bay right away." Alenko to his credit didn't hesitate and took the young asari and lead the young woman to the infirmary.
"Everyone dismissed, I have a debriefing with the Council in a few minutes." As ordered everyone left.
"Good luck with that," Nox said sourly as she left.
He shook his head as the Consultant's attitude. What had gotten into her?" He was beginning to miss the early days where she hardly spoke to anyone.
He left that problem to deal with later right now he had a call to make.
Three holographic figures appeared making up the Council.
"Commander Shepard, we just received your report. We understand you were able to find Matriarch Benezia's daughter." Tevos' calm voice chimed in.
"I hope you're taking the proper precautions?" Valern asked. Shepard inwardly rolled his eyes at the Salarian and his species naturally occurring paranoia.
"Yes, but any connection between the Doctor and Saren has yet to be found. I for one believe her. I think that Saren merely wanted a way to reinforce his hold on his associate." Shepard replied and Valern seemed impressed with the deduction.
"Was it really necessary to destroy a Prothean ruin in the process?" Shepard resisted every fiber of his being not to sigh aloud as Spartacus' interruption.
"Councilor, the mission took priority and it didn't help that the Geth were already setting up shop to get at the Doctor." Shepard answered swiftly. The turian councilor seemed satisfied with answer, but his attempt to poke at any fault in Shepard's future missions would be noted from now on.
"If there is nothing else, Councilors?"
"No you may resume your hunt," Councilor Tevos replied. Shepard bowed his head and the Councilor's did so as well, ending the call.
Joker voice came over the speakers almost instantly. "Wow Commander, just wow. Ever think about going into politics?"
"Not in this lifetime." Shepard muttered as he exited the QEC room.