Who Saves the Hero (New-AU Version)

by Kudara

Rewrite of my work: Who Saves the Hero? Humanity is very much a minor newcomer to the Galactic scene, comprising only 15 B out of 3.5 T sentients. The Citadel Council has been in existence for 10,000 years, and the Asari Republics space faring for 18000 years prior to its founding. In such a Galaxy, the recently revived Shepard must determine who are her allies and who her foes.

16. Part 1: Chapter 16

Disclaimer: The Mass Effect universe is the property of Bioware/Electronic Arts. No infringement of these copyrights is intended as this is a not for profit fan fiction work.

Rewrite Notes: Still inspired by the Beyonce song "Save the Hero," from the album I am…Sasha Fierce.

Author's Notes: Spectre Alena M'Tara is based on LuckyFK's Confidence picture on DeviantArt.

Revision History: 1/28/2018

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Part 1: Chapter 16::12 Days Post-Awakening: Citadel Part 4

"Shepard," Anderson greeted her as she approached, his dark eyes searching but also seeming somehow lost as to what to say next.

Shepard withheld her sigh, she could guess at the information he had recently received from Dr. T'Rani. Though the other Spectres hadn't discussed any of the results with her, it was clear that the asari doctor had not only confirmed her identity, but also found evidence to back up her statements of what had happened to her. The changes in her memory, and the experiments with increasing her biotic abilities. "Councilor Anderson," before the incident out in the hallway with Udina and what she had just learned she might have saluted him just as a reminder of their shared background. Now though, she settled for respectful nod and an earnest, "It is good to see you again Sir."

She glanced over toward the holograms of the other Councilors only to see that Tevos and Valern were reading something on their omni-tools while Councilor Sparatus was watching the two of them, his mandibles tight to his face in an expression of distaste. A flash of hostility arose as she recalled the speech he had made dismissing her 'interpretation' of the beacons messages, she clamped down on it though, willing her expression to remain calm as she nodded to him and then returned her attention to Anderson. She had a guess as to what Tevos and Valern were reading, and as she glanced at Anderson's omni-bracelet she saw that it was flashing. "You might want to look at that Sir," she nodded toward it, "I had an unexpected…and interesting meeting with Ambassador Udina on the way to this meeting."

He stiffened at that, a brief expression of wariness flashing across his face before he said with a disgusted sigh, "Udina." He lifted his arm, "I can guess what this might be," he commented as he activated it and began reading.

Shepard remained silent, digesting his response. He was the Alliance's Councilor now, and had access to much more information than he had in the past when she had been made a Spectre. It was entirely possible he knew what Udina had done, or at least suspected it. Since Udina was still present, either he hadn't had enough proof to risk the backlash from Udina's supporters in the government and military, or had simply chosen not to push the matter for the same reason she had chosen not to reach out to the Council to get the information - unwillingness to risk that backlash for the perceived level of gain. She had been dead after all and any successor he would be able to make sure didn't face the same issues…or at least faced less of them. Now though here she was alive again, and the issue forced, of all things, by Udina himself.

After a few minutes the conference room doors opened again, and Senior Spectres Vasir and M'Tara entered the room. This was unexpected, thought Shepard, especially since they had clearly said their goodbyes in the hallway. She inclined her head to them as they did the same as they walked up to stand on either side of her. Shepard stifled an irritated sigh, feeling height disadvantaged between them, especially by Spectre M'Tara who was almost a good third of a meter taller. At least their auras were still harmonious with her own, an invisible signal of reassurance to her by them and one they intended to make since it took an effort to do and maintain. A ripple in the aura to her left, had her turning her head toward M'Tara, looking up to meet inquisitive lavender eyes. Ah, Shepard looked up, turned her head and looked up at Vasir, then turned back to M'Tara with an aggrieved expression.

The tall Senior Spectre's lips tightened as the amusement in her eyes grew, the nais leaned over toward her and whispered, "Shall I find you something to stand on?"

A slight clearing of a throat had them both straightening to look at Councilor Anderson who gave them a bemused look before he turned back toward the holograms of the other Councilors. They were apparently done with their reading, and were now all paying attention to her…and had, of course, seen the little aside with M'Tara. Tevos in particular was watching them rather intently though Shepard couldn't tell from her expression if she were pleased, displeased or simply observing their interaction.

"Shall we begin of with the recent discovery that the Alliance did not forward the data file we sent them for Spectre Shepard, or with her unexpected reappearance and the intriguing results of Dr. T'Rani medical examination," Councilor Valern jumped right into it, apparently not interested in dancing around…well anything.

From the expressions of the other Councilor's they had not expected it either, yet it was Councilor Sparatus who recovered first. "Let us start with the Alliances withholding of the data file. I for one want to know why it occurred, and why Commander Shepard did not come forward when she suspected she had not been received all of the information she should have received from the Council." Sparatus pointed challengingly toward Shepard, "What were these politics you referred to and how did they affect your mission?"

Shepard did not immediately respond, instead taking a moment to think about her reply. Before she could speak however Councilor Anderson stepped forward, "The same ones that I didn't want to unnecessarily make enemies of when I became aware of the fact that the Council had sent a data file and that to my knowledge Shepard had not received it. If I may remind the Council of the fact that you chose to let the Alliance have sole support of Spectre Shepard's mission to track down and stop Spectre Saren, one of your most decorated Spectre's. That effectively meant that Shepard could not afford to make an enemy of Ambassador Udina, the Alliance's representative to the Council, or she would risk the success of her mission."

Sparatus jumped on the admission, "Are you saying that your own government, who in their own words accused the Council of failing to sufficiently defend their colonies would then turn around and risk those same colonies over the feelings of one individual? Since apparently your colonies mean so little to you, was the Alliance being intentionally deceptive in their dealings with the Council?"

"No," Shepard interrupted, "he is not saying that, since I do not think Udina would have let anything stand in the way of the success of that mission. Yet consider this from Udina's point of view, all he would have had to do is claim that he handed the file over to me and that I had failed to meet the requirements of the Council to get rid of a Spectre whom he considered difficult and not receptive enough to his demands. You would have revoked my Spectre status for non-compliance and he would have been free to suggest a new applicant who would be more amiable to his suggestions."

"Amenable how?" Valern questioned.

Shepard directed her attention to the salarian Councilor's hologram, "One that didn't recruit non-humans and then insist that they stay over his objections for one. For another, one that let him micro-manage his or her missions and keep him filled in on the smallest details of what was going on, even those things that the Council decided to classify above his level of clearance to know." That had torqued Udina's ass when she had refused to answer some of his questions about what had occurred on Feros. It had also been when she knew for certain that someone aboard the ship was his mole, instead of just suspecting it. Fortunately, whomever it was not on the ground team, but one of the Alliance personnel on the ship so though they knew something about mind controlling spores they hadn't known exactly what had produced them other than it being a plant which was destroyed by the ground team. They hadn't known that the plant in question was intelligent and called itself a Thorian, or the fact that they found one of Benezia's Commandos who had been given to the Thorian, or about the Cipher that Shiala had transferred to her mind.

The salarian Councilor blinked once as he thoughtfully tapped his lips, "Yes," Valern admitted, "I can see how he might have thought that would work. He had objections then before you were inducted as a Spectre?"

Shepard inclined her head, "He did not like me working so closely with C-Sec, in the form of the assistance of then Detective Garrus Valkarian, in tracking down information about Saren's involvement in the attack on Eden Prime immediately prior to my induction."

Anderson made an aggrieved sound, "I can vouch for that, he was very vocal about it. I think everyone in the office knew that he thought you should have cut Valkarian out the moment you got a solid lead instead of reaching out to bring him in on it."

Shepard snorted, "He was very vocal, as you say, to me about it as well and did not like the fact that I essentially ignored him about it. He badly wanted the credit given for it to go solely to Alliance."

"Why did you ignore him?" the unexpected question came from Councilor Tevos.

Pure curiosity? Something else? Shepard couldn't even guess given the asari matriarch's even expression. "Because I knew Detective Valkarian, then Tali'Zora nar Rayya and Urdnot Wrex all had knowledge, experiences and viewpoints that were substantially different from both mine and from my crew," Shepard gave the asari Councilor the same answers she had Udina, only she hoped this time it would be given more consideration than he had given it two years ago. "They would be able to give me options for problems that might otherwise never be considered without their presence and would already have valuable experience in implementing those options. I felt their presence on my team gave me not only added adaptability, but also made available sources of intelligence I would not have had otherwise, and increased my chances of success in tracking down Saren." She drew in a breath, "Plus, I was aware of how much attention was being paid to the mission and felt it was an excellent opportunity to show the other races of the Citadel that we could work with them as well as showing those on Earth who have never met any alien the same."

"A well throughout answer," noted Valern.

"It's the same one I gave Udina that he ignored, that didn't and still doesn't make it untrue," Shepard defended her response.

"Indeed," the salarian responded mildly, "I wasn't challenging you, only noting the thought that went into your reply. It is the same reason why our advisory sub-councils are as diverse as possible; many different viewpoints lead to better solutions for problems. As for the other, the xenophobia of Earth's population is well documented."

Shepard dipped her head, "Unfortunate, but true. Thus, my effort, however small, to remedy it. As for the other, the benefits of diversity are taught in our leadership courses at the Academy. The courses referred only to diversity among humans, but I didn't see why it wouldn't apply in a wider sense and I did gain insight, tactical advice and intelligence from them that I would not have otherwise that greatly contributed to the success of the mission."

"Diverse teams normally also have divergent ideas and viewpoints, it can make it difficult to maintain a sense of camaraderie among them as a team without strong leadership skills," Councilor Tevos noted, "that you were able to do so speaks highly of your abilities in that area."

The praise from the matriarch caught Shepard by surprise. "Thank you," she dipped her head toward Tevos's hologram, "it wasn't' easy," she admitted, "but it was definitely worth it." No, it hadn't been easy to get so many strong personalities to work together, especially given the historical animosity between turian and human and turian and krogan. Really, almost no one had initially wanted Garrus on board except for Tali and she.

"That is all very well and good," Sparatus broke in to their discussion, his tone betraying his irritation with it. "However, going back to what you say Ambassador Udina was doing to pressure you into going along with his wishes. You were someone the Alliance claimed was one of their best, yet you apparently believe that you had so little support or loyalty from your own superiors that Ambassador Udina's scheming against you would have succeeded. A turian would know that she had the loyalty of the Hierarchy to back her against the word of one Ambassador no matter how well connected," he challenged her, "are you admitting that the Alliance only wanted a Spectre they controlled, one that held no true allegiance to the Council despite their oath to do so?"

Shepard stared at the smug two-faced bastard at first in disbelief, and then with growing anger and disdain. He had worked hand in glove with Udina to undermine her standing with the Alliance military and make it seem as if she were a complete failure as a Spectre. From early on, she had suspected that the Council had intended her to fail. Then with the steady stream of 'Council's complaints about her performance,' which Udina had copied her on as he forwarded them to the Alliance in an effort to force her into complying with his demands, she had become certain that at least one of them intended her to fail while the other two were apparently content to wait and see if she would sink, swim, or get eaten when they threw her into the middle of the ocean. At least Valern and Tevos hadn't been throwing chum in the water like Sparatus. The entire mission to track down Saren became a mini-nightmare of alienation, heartache and stress as she had to devote valuable time to securing funding and supplies, which thankfully due to her 'mercenary' missions out in the Terminus at least she had some ideas about how to accomplish, and trying to protect herself and her crew from Udina and Councilor Sparatus machinations as they went about methodically destroying her reputation and standing in the Alliance military while she was fighting to keep Saren from destroying the Galaxy.

"I am only saying that when the voices claiming that I was incompetent and failure were so highly placed, that I had every reason to think those claims would be believed over my own as a mid-grade officer and nothing else," Shepard finally responded in a tone as chill as an arctic wind. She forced herself to bite off the rest of what she wanted to say, chanting 'you need your Spectre status, you need your Spectre status' over and over in her mind to remind herself of what was really important here. She had thought this was over after she had been proven right after the Battle of the Citadel, but here he was trying to score points by bringing it up to her face. 'It did prepare you however for The Illusive Man's attempts to control you by taking away Cerberus support,' part of her mind reminded her. Which she had to admit was true, TIM's efforts in that area at least were laughable compared to what she went through chasing Saren. She was aware of Anderson and the other Councilors staring at her, even Sparatus seemed taken aback by her response to his statement. The two Spectres on either side of her were standing stiffly as well, doubtless Vasir and M'Tara were wondering what exactly was going on between them. Somehow, she doubted Sparatus treated either of them we way he normally treated her.

Then Anderson's brown eyes widened, "Udina did copy you on those reports he sent to Alliance Command."

"Of course he did," Shepard responded, "he was using them to place more pressure on me."

"What reports?" Councilor Valern immediately jumped back into the conversation.

"Indeed," Councilor Tevos came in on the end of the salarian's statement, "I too wish to know about these reports." From the tone of her voice she wasn't pleased at all, with the situation and, Shepard suspected, the growing amount of information Councilor Anderson had apparently kept from his fellow Councilors.

Councilor Anderson stared at them for a brief moment, his face set in careful non-expressive lines. Shepard knew it well, he was considering what to share. That made her suspicious, why hadn't he already shared this? "The ones where Councilor Sparatus's confidential diplomatic communications were misrepresented to the Alliance as official communications by the Council detailing Commander Shepard's poor performance as a Spectre along with Udina's own comments about how her dismal performance was undermining the Alliance's reputation and increasing the amount of work he had to do to cover up for her errors and diplomatic missteps. Those reports have all been removed from Shepard's Alliance records, and in their place is a notice that they contained falsified data, indicating to anyone who previously read it that the information contained within those reports was untrue."

He paused for a second before continuing, "The reason it was not reported to the Council was that Admiral Hackett and I considered the it an internal matter to the Alliance government. They were notified of Udina's actions, he was reprimanded and punished, but left in place under supervision to act as my adviser while I learned what I needed to know from him to function as Councilor. He might be untrustworthy in certain situations, notably in promoting his own authority, but not in matters of Alliance interests. Thus, it was judged safe to keep him in place for the time being."

Shepard let herself have a moment of relief, and yes, a moment too of vindication at the thought of Udina getting at least some of what he deserved for the difficulties he put her through and the damage he tried to do to her reputation and career. It was a very brief moment of victory though, because something just didn't sound right. What Anderson had said seemed plausible, but honestly it was more likely they would have chosen to quietly removed Udina rather than risk exactly what was happening right now - the rest of the Council finding out about it and not being pleased. Unless…the dreadnoughts, Shepard realized, Anderson and Hackett must have gotten the agreement of Udina's supporters in the military to back their pressuring of the Assembly for funding in exchange for letting Udina keep his job. That gave them a presence on the inside to keep up with what Anderson was doing, and a voice to express their opinions - and do their will, which was likely what was behind that little scene out in the hallway.

"That seems to have been a miscalculation," Councilor Valern observed in a dry tone, "given his actions just minutes ago."

Anderson drew in a deep breath, disgust evident in his expression, "Indeed, I have to wonder what he was thinking confronting Shepard like that, especially in front of three other Spectres as witnesses." That was a good point, mused Shepard, why had he done it so openly and then threatened her in addition. It was almost like he wanted to force the issue, but she couldn't see immediately what he had to gain from it.

"I for one will be placing a formal protest of Ambassador Udina's actions in passing along confidential diplomatic communications to the Alliance military, Councilor Anderson," Councilor Sparatus's growled comment refocused her attention on his hologram, "for misuse of his position to gain access to those documents and then for releasing them without permission. Something he knew was expressly forbidden."

To Shepard's surprise, the turian shifted his attention from Anderson to her. "Spectre Shepard," the turian Councilor addressed her, "my comments were never meant to be seen by your military superiors and should have never made their way into your official military records to mar a distinguished military career." Shepard stared at him in bemusement, not having expected any sort of apology from him.

Then Sparatus continued, "I opposed your induction to the Spectres on the grounds that Humanity was not ready for such a position. And that you in particular were not mentally stable enough for such a responsibility after your contact with the Prothean beacon." Ok, she took it all back, Shepard thought, that hadn't been an apology at all. That or he had a really poor idea of what an apology should actually sound like.

"Nothing you did persuaded me otherwise, especially with your persistent warnings about 'Reapers'," Shepard stared at the turian as he actually air-quoted the word, "a myth used by Saren to control the Geth that was obviously based upon some message in the beacon about the Prothean's war with the Metacons. One which you mistook as a fact when it fit in with your superstitious beliefs in an upcoming Armageddon." Shepard's grey eyes narrowed on him, but she didn't say anything. After all, it wasn't like she hadn't already watched a video of him making these claims. "Due to a lack of factual evidence supporting your claim we have dismissed it," Sparatus finished with a tone of satisfaction. "The dreadnought present at the Battle of the Citadel was merely an advanced Geth ship and nothing more."

"Vigil?" she said, referring to the VI on Ilos.

"Unfortunately inoperable by the time we reached Ilos due to a catastrophic power failure," Anderson responded with a shake of his head.

Shepard scowled, that was very unfortunate, however, "And the fact that it also just happened to match the exact ship outline of the one in the beacon message?"

Sparatus shrugged, "Perhaps the Geth based it on an ancient Metacon ship that they recovered, but nothing more."

"Nothing more?" She exclaimed, dumbfounded and aghast as she stared at him in disbelief recalling what she had learned from both Thalion and Lindariel's memories. "Are you…" she stopped, realizing she could go no further with the two other Spectre's in the room. She shook her head, "You should not dismiss the threat represented by the Metacons, but I can say no further while Spectre's Vasir and M'Tara are present without your authorization." She was aware that the two asari on either side of her turned their hooded heads slightly her way before they too returned their attention to the Council and waited for them to respond to her.

"You are referring to what you termed the Cipher," Councilor Tevos commented, "received from Commando Shiala T'Jrai?"

Ok… that sort of sounded like authorization, Shepard decided, "I am, in the neurological scans Dr. T'Rani performed the Cipher should have showed up as memories in the same location an asari would store memories she received from another."

The asari Councilor stared at her consideringly for a long moment before responding, "She did mention that in her report. You have positively identified them as such?"

Shepard nodded, "I accessed a memory I believed was from the Cipher while the doctor aboard my ship was scanning and that was the area that activated."

Tevos gave her a look over her careful phrasing, letting her know it hadn't gone unnoticed, but only inquired, "What has been the content of these memories?"

Something caused Shepard to hesitate to reveal the true extent of the memories. "Bits and pieces of memory of different protheans," she replied, which was close to the full truth. "Fortunately for me, the area above where the Thorian grew seems to have been an educational complex." That seemed to sharpen the asari Councilor's interest Shepard noticed. "Because quite a few of the more complete memories I have found have been instructional ones, several of which have been in various biotic techniques."

"Which biotic techniques?" Tevos continued with her questioning.

"Umm," Shepard decided to just name the off in the order in which she had discovered them, "Advanced barrier techniques, mass effect field sound manipulation, aura sensing, aura training, aura sensing training, general biotic energy conservation techniques, biotic charge, biotic flash step, more advanced barrier training, advanced general biotic energy conservation techniques, general biotic manipulation techniques, the prothean equivalent of susano called thelrhaw, or the resolute body, basic bladed weapon and staff techniques, and basic warp blade techniques."

"Sound manipulation," broke in Anderson, "what would you use that for?"

Shepard turned toward him, "Shattering or fracturing materials with a lattice molecular structure."

His eyes widened for a moment and then a smile tugged at his lips, "Like breaking out a window without activating a few YMIR mechs?"

"Ah," she realized and then smirked, "heard about that did you, Warden Kuril's probably still trying to figure out how I managed that one."

"I notice you mentioned biotic charge and biotic flash step separately?" Councilor Tevos commented as soon as it was clear Shepard was finished replying to Anderson.

She turned toward the hologram of the asari Councilor, smirk fading into a slight frown, "Yes? The biotic charge was from the memories of Senior Instructor Suiadan Ildroun, while the biotic flash step was from the memories of Dragahîr Thalion Elendel." Shepard frowned, that was odd, she could have sworn she just saw Tevos' face twitch, but surely it was a flicker of the hologram.

"Spectre Shepard," Tevos sounded oddly stilted, "that is an exceptionally dangerous technique to perform without having a full understanding of each intermediate step."

Ah that was it, realized Shepard, and then she was actually touched. Maybe it hadn't been an act all along and Tevos actually did care a small bit about her, at least as someone technically in her employ. "I have been being very careful with the biotic charge," she assured the Councilor, "one of Instructor Ildroun's memories revealed what happened to one of his students when they failed to form the mass effect tunnel properly. I have been being very cautions since then to ensure that I do all the underlying charge techniques perfectly before actually performing the charge itself."

"Technique maiden," Vasir growled from beside her, "not techniques." Startled, Shepard wiped her head around to look at the asari on her right meeting narrowed brown eyes and a deep scowl head on. Vasir looked quite angry with her, "The flash-step is an advanced charge not a separate technique. Everything you mentioned about being careful in preparing for a biotic charge counts triple for a flash step."

What? Shepard's mind was a blank for a moment, the same? It was obvious they were closely related techniques of course, but the same?

Then to her left she heard M'Tara quietly laugh, "I've been being careful with charging, but not concerned at all with flash stepping everywhere. Shepard, whatever deity you believe in must have been watching very closely over you." Shepard turned to give the tall asari a wary look, but M'Tara was actually looking over her at her at Vasir on her other side - annoying. "No Tela," M'Tara said, "she should go on as she has been, let her continue focusing on the charge, it will naturally have a positive effect on the safety of her flash-step. Trying to go back and train her the way we learned would likely endanger her at this point. The entire point of flash stepping is to understand how to charge so well that it becomes instinctive to perform it correctly with little to no thought or time taken to perform it. If she starts thinking about it because you tell her to then you will be putting her in danger." The tall Spectre looked down at Shepard, "Go on doing what you have been when flash stepping," M'Tara directed her, "you obviously have the level of instinctive knowledge required otherwise you simply wouldn't be able to perform the technique."

"Alright," Shepard easily agreed, her thoughts still dealing with the notion that the charge and flash step were one and the same.

"I don't understand how these memories could have taught her how to flash step at all," Vasir complained from her other side, "what exactly is this Cipher?"

While she was a bit annoyed over how far afield they were getting from the subject of the Metacons, neverless Shepard quickly gave a condensed version of the events on Feros. The attack of the Geth, the strange behavior of the colonists, their discovery that ExoGeni had intentionally and very illegally exposed them to the Thorian spores to research how they worked. Then the meeting with the Shiala clone the Thorian had used to communicate with them and the eventual break down of discussions followed by the Thorian's destruction and freeing of Shiala T'Jrai from being its thrall.

"The Cipher she transferred to me was supposed to allow me to think enough like a prothean to actually understand the beacon's message as something more than disjointed scenes of destruction and gibberish," Shepard explained, "and after a few weeks I could finally actually understand the complete message. By the time we went to Ilos, I was able to understand the Prothean language well enough to translate an automated message on one of the consoles we found on the surface."

Shepard hesitated for a moment then continued, "These bits of actual coherent memories though, their entirely new. I certainly didn't experience the Cipher this way before my death."

Councilor Valern broke the silence that briefly fell after she finished speaking, "The Council sent Prothean researchers to Feros after the Battle of the Citadel to speak with Shiala T'Jria to obtain more information about the Thorian and the Cipher she transferred to you through a meld as well as gathering more information about the indoctrination effects she reported concerning the Geth dreadnought. Spectres Vasir and M'Tara, you now have access to these files and can read further about the Cipher at your leisure." That was news to Shepard, it wasn't surprising though, it wasn't like the Council had ever spent much time filling her in on their plans. More importantly it was a clear indication that the salarian Councilor felt they had wasted enough of his time in explaining the Cipher and they should move onto another topic of his choosing. "As for the changes in the Cipher Spectre Shepard, they are likely due to the drell neurochemicals used by Cerberus. The increased LPT Dr. T'Rani noted in the scans might allow you to access the individual memories which made up the Cipher."

She nodded, "I had considered that as a possibility as well, especially since I've noticed that I recall things from the past now that I'm fairly certain I had forgotten."

"Hmm, interesting," Valern commented thoughtfully, "however, before we diverted to the topic of biotic techniques you had a comment on the Metacons in response to Councilor Sparatus?"

"While I agree that should be a topic of discussion," the asari Councilor broke in, "I wish to further discuss these biotic techniques Spectre Shepard has discovered before moving onto that topic." They broke script, thought Shepard in astonishment, Tevos must really want to know about what she had found out from the Cipher to practically speak over one of the others.

Valern seemed just as surprised. "I am interested as well," he responded to her, "the techniques Spectre Shepard has discovered from do sound interesting and potentially very useful, but I would suggest that she explains these techniques to Spectre's Vasir and M'Tara after this meeting. They can record the session for us to review later as well as preparing training for any other Spectres interested in learning the techniques."

"I can absolutely do that," Shepard quickly agreed with his suggestion. She really didn't want to spend another hour or so discussing biotics, as interesting as it was, instead of working the conversation around to the topic she had come to the Citadel to discuss with the Council in the first place.

Tevos didn't look quite as pleased with the salarian's suggestion, but then the matriarch turned her attention to the two Spectres standing on either side of Shepard. Upon seeing both incline their heads in agreement, the asari Councilor turned back to Valern, "Very well," she agreed.

"Good," he replied, "now with that settled, back to the subject of the Metacons."

Shepard nodded, "Of the four prothean's whose memories I have accessed, three of them have memories specific to the Empire's war with the Metacons. Elder Instructor Lindariel Ealoeth was five hundred and fifteen at the time of her memory, and the war with the Metacons had been going on for her entire lifetime. In fact, when she was young the Empire was losing the war until they began to uplift and incorporate other species to fight against them." She shifted her attention to Councilor Sparatus's hologram. "If the Geth have access to Metacon runtimes and technology, then we should not dismiss that possibility as if it were not a potential threat, not when the Metacons almost defeated the Protheans."

The turian just shook his head, "And again we have nothing but your word for this and your claim of memories from this so-called Cipher. I fail to see how a plant, intelligent or not, could absorb memories from decomposing corpses."

For once Shepard had to admit he had a point, "That was what Shiala said to me," she acknowledged, "but I think what may have actually happened is that the Thorian somehow established a mental link with them similar to what it did I with the colonists. That is just a guess however, because I haven't yet come across any reference to the Thorian at all in the memories."

"Memories," he all but sneered, "this just sounds like another attempt to persuade us of your Reaper and Armageddon obsession." He gestured wildly with one arm, "There is no mysterious enemy out there preparing to destroy us all."

In that he was spectacularly wrong, Shepard knew, but the turian was bound and determined to disbelieve everything she said on the matter. "Le tulca caul nin alestel (You ceaselessly accuse me of lying)," as if she were looking out through another's eyes Shepard was aware of the asari on either side of her whirling around and bringing up their barriers, almost humorously startled looks on their faces as Lindariel's clear, patrician voice rang out in the room, "harya nin alharyasama Edhilr cuina ar thuia lebenmeneg idhrrin (claiming that I do not possess the memories of Edhilr who lived and breathed 50,000 years ago). Er nincar…er Lindariel Ealoeth cuina ettelëa lenûr nineitha mintalaf ar alvalda Arnad amhaul ar anno ahyanë arad ialla Edhilr(Yet I do…I Lindariel Ealoeth lived primitive when your race was still scratching in the dirt and was not yet deemed worthy by the Empire to be uplifted and granted the opportunity of one day calling yourselves Edhilr)."

In response, Sparatus growled at her, "Speaking gibberish at me is not going to persuade me of anything other than your growing mental instability!"

"Everyone just calm down," Anderson ordered, glancing between the turian Councilor, the two asari Spectres and Shepard. "Shepard what was that?" He didn't look very pleased with her dramatic presentation.

It took Shepard a moment to wrestle control fully back from the elder prothean, to feel as if she were fully back in control over her own body. "Hardly gibberish," she growled back at Sparatus, "I can speak, read, and write in both Eldalie and the trade language, and I most certainly do possess the very clear memories of four different protheans." She glared back at the turian, but then found herself distracted by the holograms of Valern and Tevos, both of whom were paying more attention to their omni-tools than the current spat between her and Sparatus.

On either side of her Vasir and M'Tara kept their barriers raised though they seemed less threatened and threatening than they had a moment earlier. "Shepard?" Vasir warily questioned her.

"Vasir?" Shepard mocked her in turn, earning herself a scowl, but really why had they reacted so strongly to her pulling Lindariel's memory forward to speak in Prothean? Reacting to a language they didn't recognize as if they were about to be attacked seemed a bit of an overreaction.

"Your aura altered," the matron snapped at her, "what just happened? How did you even manage to do that?"

Her aura altered? Shepard was confused, "I didn't do anything to change it, and I don't have an overexertion headache." She frowned at the other Spectre, what was Vasir going on about?

"Not modulated, Shepard," M'Tara let her barrier drop as she stepped forward, "it altered, as if it were changing to that of another person."

"What?" Shepard turned and frowned at the tall asari in confusion, "But that shouldn't happen, its unique per person, that's why the Protheans used it as a biometric identifier."

M'Tara's lavender eyes widened a bit at that, "Really?" she sounded intrigued, "but as interesting as that is, I assure you your aura just shifted in a very odd manner."

Shepard frowned thoughtfully, "Well, now that I think about it they didn't take the biometric readings for those non-protheans entering government service until they had their amplifiers implanted and they were fully recovered from the surgery."

M'Tara inclined her head, "Having an amplifier installed will alter your aura slightly, but that was not what we just felt from you."

"Zeukeso," Councilor Tevos spoke causing them to turn toward her hologram, "asari maidens are taught not to meld too deeply just because of the potential problems associated with taking too intense a memory imprint of another person."

"Zeukeso can cause your aura to alter toward that of the imprinted person?" Vasir questioned her, "I was not aware of that."

"If the imprint taken is very strong it can," Tevos responded to the Senior Spectre, but her gaze was fixed intently upon Shepard, "especially if the imprint is of someone with much greater life experience." Alright, she couldn't really argue with that thought Shepard, Elder Instructor Lindariel Ealoeth was a pretty amazing and frightening woman who was also over five centuries old compared to her twenty-seven…or twenty-nine years. "There are meditative techniques that Spectre Vasir and M'Tara can teach you which should help you control the effects…" the matriarch paused and then frowned at her. "Normally such memories would fade, but with what was done to preserve your memories I am not certain when or even if that will occur."

"One hundred years," Shepard supplied the answer, "that's how long they think it will take for the neurochemicals to degrade enough for them to stop affecting my memories." Miranda had gotten back to her a few days after they had first discussed the difference in her memories with the answer. Effectively that was pretty much for the rest of her life, provided she lived long enough to even pass the century mark.

Tevos brow furrowed at that and her expression grew pensive, "Then the techniques should assist you in controlling the effects." The matriarch fixed her with a surprisingly stern gaze, "I understand why you would be tempted to further explore the Cipher, but I request that you be cautious at least until you have a better sense of what effects these memories may have on you. We discourage our maidens from forming strong memory imprints because they can too easily dominate a maiden's perceptions, in essence overshadowing their growth as an individual with another's thoughts and feelings. I am not certain what effect these prothean imprints might have on a mature human such as you Shepard, but suspect there is reason to be cautious of their influence on your own mind and personality."

Surprised, Shepard nodded her head, that actually sounded like a justifiable concern. She would do what she felt she needed to in order to stop the Reapers and their current intermediaries, the Collectors, but she would definitely keep the Councilor's warning in mind.

"Surely we are not taking this preposterous idea that she has prothean memories stored in her mind seriously?" Councilor Sparatus broke into the conversation. "Her explanation for how the Thorian might have obtained such memories is weak at best."

Councilor Valern turned toward him, "Unlike her unsubstantiated claims about the Reapers, there is a rather steadily growing body of evidence to support Spectre Shepard's claim that she possesses actual Prothean memories. There is the information provided to our research team by Shiala T'Jrai about the nature of the Cipher she transferred to Spectre Shepard, the physical evidence of the neurological scan done by Dr. T'Rani, and now what both Senior Spectres sensed about the bioelectrical changes in Spectre Shepard's aura when she focused on one of the memory imprints to speak in Prothean to you. The last is the strongest evidence that she is speaking the truth as before the discovery of Ilos Prothean researchers did not possess enough auditory samples of the language to create a translation program for the spoken language. The only translation program available was for the written language. She does not currently possess an omni-tool capable of translating the language and she could not have gained the knowledge prior to obtaining the Cipher as it did not exist at that time. Thus, the knowledge of how to speak it now must reside within her own mind. The most reasonable explanation then is that not only does Spectre Shepard believe that she carries within her mind the memories of actual protheans, but that she is also telling the factual truth." The salarian Councilor paused to take a breath," As for how she obtained such memories, she stated that her proposed explanation was only a theory, one she admits she has no way of knowing whether or not it is true."

Even though he had just spoken out in support of her, Shepard was still rather offended at the salarian's implication that she was normally deluded in her beliefs. The betrayed expression Councilor Sparatus was directing toward Councilor Valern though made it just about worth it. It was clear that he had expected his co-Councilor to back up his position, not set about disproving it.

"You have mentioned twice now that the Prothean Empire uplifted races to assist them in their war against the Metacons?" Shepard reluctantly shifted her attention away from watching Sparatus and Valern, finding the way the turian glaring was glaring at the Valern and the salarian was steadfastly ignoring him in favor of checking something on his omni-tool rather satisfyingly amusing, to respond to Councilor Tevos.

"It was an act of desperation to ensure their survival," she admitted to the matriarch, "but the Empire also strongly suspected that if they were defeated then the Metacons would return to the worlds they had initially bypassed and eradicate the primitive races upon them."

"What happened to them afterward, once the Metacons were defeated," Anderson inquired with a frown.

She truly only had bits and pieces of the period of time following the end of the Metacon War and the attack by the Reapers. "I don't know much about after the war, what I do know comes from the memories of Dragahîr Thalion Elendel, who was involved with anti-slavery and anti-piracy efforts along the borders of the Empire in an effort to reclaim the full extent of their prior territory." She fell silent, the next part…unlike what Liara had thought, the Protheans were not very progressive or tolerant toward other races at all. Personally, she found the reality of their attitude toward other races very difficult to reconcile with the fact that she admired and respected Thalion and Lindariel's dedication to their people and how they held to their personal honor. Especially since the traits that she admired were directly responsible for their intolerance of those who weren't as dedicated and honorable. She drew in a breath, "The races they had uplifted were either entirely integrated into the Empire as Protheans or…they were deemed racially incapable of it and wiped out." Anderson looked stunned at her words, Valern thoughtful, Sparatus unsurprisingly was still scowling, probably undecided whether or not to even believe she was telling the truth, while Tevos looked frankly disturbed by the information. "The Protheans had a very regimented way of life, bound first by their dedication to the Empire which demanded strict discipline and piety, and second to their dedication to their family and personal honor," she attempted to explain, "they did not feel as if they could tolerate those who could not adopt their ways as their own and maintain their Empire. Also, as they had demonstrated they were the strongest, at least in their minds, of all the races they felt that proved the superiority of their way of life and of the Empire. Thus all other races should strive to rise to be as they were, to do less was considered a sign of moral degeneracy and rebellion against the Empire."

"The word Dragahîr, what does it mean?" M'Tara inquired once she fell silent, "is it a title?"

Shepard turned toward the taller asari, "Yes it is, the closest translation I can think of is Battlemaster and it is the highest rank of three ranks of the Order of Varnor. In human terms," she glanced over toward Anderson, "the Order of Varnor would be considered a modern order of templars as it was attached to the state religion of the Empire and dedicated to the fraternal twin Gods Thalion and Callionel, the Protectors of the Empire." Just then her stomach rumbled rather loudly, startling her and reminding her that it had been almost twelve hours now since she had last eaten something. The bad thing was she still didn't really feel that particularly hungry, but apparently that was a side effect of her implants and the amount of bio-synthetic muscle used to reconstruct her body.

"How long has it been since you've last eaten?" Anderson asked her in a stern tone, "Dr. T'Rani said you were around fifteen pounds underweight."

Shepard looked over to see him frowning at her, "Twelve hours," she responded to him. "I have been attempting to eat enough to maintain my weight, but I didn't realize I needed to account for the cybernetics," she explained and then grumbled, "it would be a lot easier if I actually got hungry when I needed to eat."

Councilor Valern joined the conversation, "That is a common side effect of cybernetic and bio-synthetic reconstruction and Spectre Shepard's body has been extensively reconstructed, so I would expect the effects to be pronounced."

"So Dr. T'Rani informed me," Shepard replied and then sighed as her gut gave another pronounced gurgle of dissatisfaction.

"Perhaps we should break for a few hours and let Shepard get something to eat," Anderson suggested, "I could use a short break as well since it looks like we have quite a few topics to still cover."

"Not before she explains why she has been working with Cerberus," Sparatus demanded, scowling at her. "I will accept that she is indeed Spectre Shepard given the results of the DNA testing, but that does not answer why she hasn't reported to the Citadel before now."

"Information gathering," Shepard promptly responded, she wasn't about to mention the Reapers given the Council's stance, but then she didn't need to mention them. "I needed to figure out the real reason Cerberus had brought me back, what the Illusive Man's actual goal was other than the one he stated to me."

"What was his stated goal?" Anderson asked her.

"To stop the Collectors from taking more human colonies," she replied, "to that end he had me visit the site of the latest Collector attack, Freedom's Progress. I assume Tali forwarded a copy of the data Veetor collected on the attack?" At his nod she continued, "I was suspicious of that from the start, as it didn't really make any sense that they would spend two years and four billion dollars in research and reconstructive efforts to bring back one person instead of using that money directly to help the colonies develop better defenses. And my initial suspicions were then borne out by the state of the crew and ship provided to me to accomplish the task."

"What do you mean by that?" Sparatus's question was grudging, but at least it indicated he was listening to her.

"I've got a ship that's almost a duplicate of the Normandy except for being slightly larger, but has no significant advantages in armoring, defensive barriers or stealth abilities to go up against the Collectors. The ship's crew is made up exclusively of colonists with civilian-only training, not a one of them has ever even been in the military or has any combat experience." Sparatus's mandibles fluttered at that, a sign of unease. He knew as well as she did that was a recipe for disaster on a ship expecting to see combat. "Given the number of colonists on Freedom's Progress and the time taken for the Collectors to remove all of them from the colony we estimated that a force of at least 15,000 Collectors attacked the colony." She shook her head, "The ship and crew are terribly mismatched for the mission." She groaned as she recalled the results of the first drill, "I sprang the first attack drill on them and the results were about what you would expect, about a quarter of them froze up and couldn't figure out how to respond to the information they were getting from their consoles." On either side of her she noticed that both Spectres had turned their heads to listen to her.

Shepard continued, "Given everything I previously mentioned, I began considering what might actually be the Illusive Man's goal since I judged the possibility of us successfully completing his stated one to be rather low." She turned her attention to the salarian Councilor, "Councilor Valern would you consider four billion to be a reasonable amount to spend for an expedition to go through the Omega 4 relay and provide the Council access to the Collector technology on the other side?"

The salarian stared at her for a moment then actually smiled, "I would consider four billion to be quite an acceptable investment in that case. The technology the Collectors trade is more advanced than what we have and it is reasonable to assume that they have been trading their older technologies."

"So, Cerberus wants whatever is on the other side of that relay, Collector technology and research to further their goals. That does sound like them," agreed Anderson.

Shepard nodded, "It does," she agreed, "so I believe the Illusive Man actually just wants me to figure out how to get safely through the relay for him…" she paused, "then I suspect I'll turn into a liability rather than an investment and he's given me a disposable crew and ship."

Anderson grunted, "Estimated number of actual Cerberus personnel onboard?"

"Two for certain, Miranda Lawson, the research team lead for my reconstruction and Jacob Taylor, ex-Alliance corsair," Shepard replied, giving up the two names with little remorse. "Probably at least one buried in the crew," she paused then added, "if I had to make a guess I'd say Rupert Gardner, the Mess Sargent. He's perfectly placed with his duties as cook and general maintenance person to listen into the crew and spends time in the Starboard Cargo Area which besides containing a trash compactor also contains the ships video surveillance monitoring station." She paused for a moment, second guessing herself, but really there was no way around the fact that when Council forces took the ship they would find out about EDI. "Probably at least one more somewhere, I'd guess in one of the sensor technicians as their best placed to monitor inbound and outbound communications though their job is made much easier by the ship's shackled AI which is hardwired into all the ship's systems."

Councilor Valern nodded at her first comment and then snapped his head up at the second, "Shackled AI," the salarian repeated, his large dark eyes blinking in surprise, "Cerberus developed and installed an AI aboard the ship they provided you?"

Shepard glanced around, she was definitely the focus of everyone's attention right now. "They did," she affirmed, "crew calls her EDI for Enhanced Defense Intelligence, she's installed to run the ships cyber warfare defenses. However, she's also wired into the monitoring devices aboard the ship and forwards regular reports onto the Illusive Man."

"Hmm an AI," the salarian murmured, "that will make things more difficult."

"No kidding," snorted Shepard, "providing we actually survive what's on the other side of the relay, I'm betting TIM will send her a signal to cause her to lock down the ship. Miranda already told me that she wanted to put in a control chip as a measure of last resort to keep me from betraying them. He forbid it, but that might have been because there was already another control measure in place."

"That's provided your mind is truly your own right now and hasn't already been meddled with by Cerberus," Councilor Sparatus remarked as he stared stonily at her.

The turian's remark earned glares from both Anderson and Tevos, but Valern just waved his hand dismissively, "In a clone that would have been a possibility, but not in Shepard herself. We consulted several neuroscientists about the theoretical possibility once it was raised and they all agreed that it simply would not work on a mind with already existing memories. You can do an exact replacement, such as what was done for President Huerta, but you cannot alter the information in any manner without risking memory degradation and psychological instability. Besides, if they had utilized that method then the drell neurochemicals would not have been needed and we have multiple pieces of evidence proving their use."

"What?" Shepard inquired, puzzled about what they might be talking about, but also concerned at Sparatus's insinuation, "what other method could Cerberus have used?"

"Recent technological advances allowed human doctors to take a synthetic copy of President Huerta's memory functions which then gave them extra time to restore his body after a stroke. The memories were then re-uploaded to his mind," Councilor Valern explained. "We were initially concerned that such technology might have been used upon you and that it might allow for the addition of conditioning triggers. At Councilor Anderson's insistence we consulted with several experts in the neurosciences field and they cast considerable doubt on the viability of such a method. However, they believed it might be quite successful when used upon a clone which would have no prior memories present to conflict with the altered copy."

'Matacemen, he intended to plant doubt into your mind, do not let him succeed, and do not show any before him. He is looking to see if he exposed any weakness.' Thalion's voice rang within her mind. At the same time, Vasir and M'Tara turned their heads to look at her, her aura must have changed, realized Shepard.

"The Omega 4 relay," commented Tevos, "we would need to obtain permission and likely assistance from Warlord T'Loak to keep watch over it." The matriarch looked like she was about to say something else but Shepard's stomach interrupted her with quite a loud squiggling sound, signaling its complete emptiness. The asari raised her brow at it, "But perhaps the remainder of this conversation can be conducted without the presence of our Spectres. Unless anyone has any objections," Tevos glanced pointedly over toward Sparatus who declined to say anything, "then the three of you are dismissed until further notice. Spectre Shepard how long were you planning on remaining on the Citadel?"

"I can stay another 32 or so hours but then I need to either send a message or return to my ship," Shepard immediately responded.

"Very well," Tevos acknowledged, "we will either contact you later today or first thing tomorrow to go over the details of your proposed mission. If you wish to discuss biotic techniques over your meal I believe Conference room 137 is free for the remainder of the day. Spectres Vasir and M'Tara are aware of the procedure for ordering meals and having them delivered to the security checkpoint for pickup."

That was an obvious dismissal, and as the two asari Spectres bowed to the Council Shepard quickly followed suit and then trailed behind them as they headed toward the door. There was more she wanted to say to the Council about Cerberus and the Collectors, but apparently the Councilors wanted to have a private discussion among the four of them. Probably a good idea, and it would give her time to consider exactly what she wanted to say to them. Hopefully their second session would focus more on Cerberus and their plans instead of meandering from topic to topic at the whims of the various Council members. She really had no clue before now that Tevos was quite so interested in biotic techniques or in the Protheans.