Hi all you wonderful Readers!
New chapter is up! Now the first human Spectre will be chosen!
Fixed 2021
Hope you like it!
Escape the Fate
Chapter 10: The First Human Spectre
*John's POV
The large group of people entered the human Ambassador's office and found the man standing at his desk with his back turned to them. But John could see on the man's tense shoulders, he was not happy and soon growled his displeasure.
"You're not making my life easy, Shepard."
His tone had darkened some as he spoke the last name, but John wasn't sure which of the two siblings he was referring to. Most likely his sister, but John wasn't blameless either for whatever the man was referring to. After all, he had let the pirate go off without his supervision and even though John had thought that the Lieutenant could handle her, he had not yet gotten a full explanation to why he had let Quinn go off as she had. He turned to look at his sister who now leaned against one of the tables with a smirk pasted on her face. It was clear she did not feel guilty about her actions.
Captain Anderson were also there, and he too, didn't look amused. The man had his eyes on the pirate which indicated they had walked in on the pair in the middle of a discussion. Most likely about their recent activities in the wards and the death and destruction they had left behind.
The Ambassador turned swiftly around once the door closed behind them and the group came to a stop, not at all fazed by the increased numbers and presence of the other races. The growl which came for the man matched the sour expression on his face as he continued his angry rant, shifting his gaze between the two siblings. "Threats? Firefights in the wards? An all-out assault on Chora's Den?"
The man's eyes landed on John's, letting him know he was putting the ultimate blame on him, although he knew that most of it were Quinn's actions. But Udina knew that even if he tried to have the pirate explain her actions, he knew it was a waste of energy as she would only shrug it off or worse, have to hear more of her insults, which would result in nothing. Besides, the Commander had been put in charge of the pirate, and Udina had expected him to know how to handle her and stop her before anything like this happened. Clearly, he was wrong.
John let it all sink in. He knew the Ambassador were right. There was no excuse, and he fully accepted the blame, just like any Commander would whenever one of their subordinates did something wrong. It came with the job and most times, he took it without any complaint. But this time, it bothered him to do so, even though he did not voice it to the Ambassador. John threw an eye towards the Captain to see if he too, felt the same disappointment. But Anderson's attention was solely on the pirate and stared her down with his disappointment, knowing that she was the one at fault. John turned his eyes to Quinn, who were returning the Captain's gaze with a nonchalant one. But then her head lowered, and a wide proud smirk crawled upon her lips. It was like she told the Captain; "What did you expect?" And all Anderson could do, was to shake his head with disappointment and then turn back to the conversation at hand.
"Do you know how many—" Udina cut himself off suddenly as the female quarian stepped up next to John. "Who's this? A quarian?" The perplexed look on the man turned suspicious when he turned his head to John. "What are you up to, Shepard?"
John straightened his back and while doing so, he felt some of the knots in his back and shoulder muscles pop, revealing the stress and pressure he had been under for the last few days, and placed his hands behind his back. "Making your day, Ambassador." He did not miss the familiar scoffing snort from his left, yet he tried his best to ignore her. "She has information linking Saren to the geth."
Udina had his chocked expression jump between the Commander and the quarian like he couldn't believe what he had just heard. He never expected them to find any evidence against the Spectre and even if they did, he never thought they would get it so quickly. At least, it should have taken them a few days to find even the tiniest piece of evidence to use against him. At first, he was surprised, but then got conflicted and then suspicious. Why would a quarian have this kind of information and how did she acquire it?
"Really?" He said, his skepticism within the tone. He turned to the quarian. "Maybe you better start at the beginning. Miss...?"
With a soft nod, she introduced herself politely, her eyes shimmering from behind the hazy purple mask which covered her face. "My name is Tali. Tali'Zorah nar Rayya."
The Ambassador cupped his chin with his hand and supported the arm with the other crossed over his chest, looking like he was contemplating something. "We don't see many quarians here. Why did you leave the flotilla?" He sounded just like the politician he truly was. The politeness in the man's tone was diplomatic, like it was supposed to erase or cover up the outburst just a few seconds ago.
"I was on my Pilgrimage, my rite of passage into adulthood," Zorah explained.
"Pilgrimage?" John asked curious
She turned her head to him. "It's a tradition among my people," she happily, or more so proudly explained, and seemed to straighten her back some more. "When we reach maturity, we leave the ship of our parents and our people behind. Alone, we search the stars, only returning to the flotilla once we have discovered something of value." She turned to the Ambassador. "In this way, we prove ourselves worthy of adulthood."
John was both amazed and intrigued. It was quite the task the quarians put on their young. Going out alone into the unknown galaxy would be intimidating and discouraging by most young, but this young woman seemed to embrace the challenge head on. He tried to see the facial expression behind the mask, but it was nearly impossible to make out the face. Only the eyes, which had a mysterious shimmer to them, could be visual and John couldn't help but wonder what they truly looked like beneath the mask.
"What kind of things do you look for?" He then asked, letting his curiosity take hold.
"It could be resources like food or fuel," she explained simply. "Or some type of useful technology." She turned to the Ambassador once more. "Or maybe knowledge that will make life easier on the flotilla."
"Cut this crap!" Quinn finally barked and he could hear her push herself away from the table and walked over to the quarian, her patience finally reached its peak. She dug her finger into Zorah's armor, shoving her a little as she demanded; "Where the hell's that damned proof you promised? That's what you're here for. Not your life story."
Uncertain on how to react at the human woman's actions, Tali took a step away as she debated if she should be offended or intimidated. Her eyes went to the rest of the people around to see their reactions and John Shepard came to her rescue immediately by grabbing a hold of the woman's shoulder and pulled her away.
"Cut it out, Quinn!"
His sister shoved his hand off of her shoulder by raising it some and turned to him, her eyes staring daggers at him while shouting; "No!" Then pointed an accusing finger at the quarian. "She said she had proof against Saren. That's why we came for her. That's why she's here." She turned her head to stare the quarian down. "I've yet to see it and all you do is ask her pointless questions that has – nothing – to do with this!"
All John could do was to release a heavy sigh at her lack of patience. Sure, they had gone off topic a little, but did she really have to put it like that? They would get there soon enough and even though they got the evidence, there were nothing they could do about it until tomorrow anyway. The Council wouldn't meet them at this hour no matter what kind of evidence they had gotten as they still saw him as innocent.
But to not risk any nastier outburst from the impatient pirate, John turned to Zorah and asked politely; "Could you please tell us what you found?
Her apprehensive gaze seemed to go from John to Quinn and then back to John once more before she gave him a slight nod. "During my travels I began hearing reports of geth." She shot the pirate a quick glance to see if she were going to interrupt or something, then quickly back to John. "Since they drove my people into exile, the geth have never ventured beyond the Veil. I was curious." Her tone grew slightly more confident as she spoke. "I tracked a patrol of geth to an uncharted world. I waited for one to become separated from its unit. Then I disabled it and removed its memory core."
The way she spoke was like it hadn't been a big deal, yet something in her tone made him think differently. The way she spoke was like she tried to distance herself emotionally from story, almost like she was talking about someone else. Yet John couldn't help but to be impressed. This young woman had gone off alone and put herself in life threatening danger to find something of value to help her people. Either her people had an exceedingly high expectation on their people, or Zorah had taken on a difficult task all on her own to prove her worth. Either way, John hoped she had gotten something worthwhile for both their own investigation and to help her people.
"I thought the geth fried their memory cores when they died," Anderson said, quite puzzled. He then turned to John. "Some kind of defense mechanism."
"How did you managed to preserve the memory core?" Quinn asked and actually sounding like she genially wanted to know the answer.
Zorah turned to the pirate and spoke bluntly; "My people created the geth. If you're quick and lucky, small cashes of data can sometimes be saved." She paused to open up her omni-tool and pressed on the holographic buttons. "Most of the core was wiped clean. But I salvaged something from its audio banks."
As she turned on the audio recording, the room didn't dare to breathe, in case they missed it. The familiar voice began to speak in a pleased, yet harsh tone.
"Eden Prime was a major victory. The beacon has brought us one step closer to finding the Conduit."
There was no doubt it was Saren's voice and finally they had crucial evidence against him and proof he had been at Eden Prime. Next to him, Quinn had tensed up as soon as the Spectre had spoken the first word and her fists had clenched tightly.
"Try talking your way out of this one, you damned bastard," Quinn muttered under her breath.
"That's Saren's voice," Anderson exclaimed whit hope in his tone, then turned to the Ambassador. "This proves he was involved in the attack!"
The Conduit? John thought and tried to figure out what that meant but came up with nothing. Still with his thoughtful look upon him, he said; "He said, "Eden Prime brought him one step closer to finding the Conduit"—" He turned to the Captain, hoping he would have the answer. "Any idea what that means?"
Anderson took a few moments to think. As the silence dragged on and the Captain had nothing, John was beginning to get concerned. If they didn't know what it was, then they didn't know what to look for to find the rouge Specre.
When the Captain spoke, he chose his words carefully. "The Conduit must have something to do with the beacon," he said, then his eyes fell upon Quinn as he mentioned the beacon.
John turned his eyes to the pirate, who inhaled sharply, and her eyes closed hard, and a hand shot up to her temple like just mentioning the beacon made her remember the intense pain it had brough upon branding the vision into her brain. John could somewhat relate as he too remembered the pain of the image branding itself into his mind all too clearly even though he had only gotten a slight taste of it. It was always there underneath every thought he had, just waiting to get a chance to remind him of it and the hidden meaning of the message within. The slightest mention of the beacon had the pain triggered and he cursed the Protheans for leaving something like this behind. Whatever the Protheans had wanted to tell the next civilization, they had damned well made sure it would not be easily forgotten. He could only hope the effect would fade with time.
Suddenly, Quinn stumbled and lost her balance, almost like all the energy within her was sucked out. Williams and Vakarian stood closest to her and caught her before she fell to the floor and held her up.
"You okay?" Vakarian asked her as they guided her to one of the chairs and placed her in it.
It took her a moment to answer, and she had to swallow hard before she could open her mouth. "Yeah…" She tried to assure but failed as no one was buying it. Even though her eyes were open now, the color in her face had disappeared and she looked just as sick as she had when she had awoken back on the Normandy.
"You look sick," Williams declared bluntly, which earned her a cold stare from the pirate.
"I'm fine… just—" she muttered through clenched teeth, but the headache and nausea had her swallow hard once more and Vakarian had to place a hand on her shoulder to keep her from falling out of the chair. "—just continue." Her hands were placed on each side of her temple and the fingers began to rub.
Anderson had his eyes on her for a moment longer, like he couldn't believe the intense reaction he had just witnessed by just mentioning the beacon. But then he turned his gaze back on the Commander as he continued; "Maybe it's some kind of Prothean technology… like a weapon."
"Wait… there's more," Zorah said urgently and turn on the recording once more. "Saren wasn't working alone."
Once again, Saren's voice spoke through the speakers of her omni-tool. "Eden Prime was a major victory! The beacon has brought us one closer to finding the Conduit."
Then an unfamiliar female voice spoke; "And one step closer to the return of the Reapers."
When the recording had ended, the silence in the office lingered heavily among them all as each and every one of them contemplated on what they had just heard. Conduit? Reapers? What the hell were Saren up to?
It was Udina who first broke the silence by saying; "I don't recognize that other voice. The one talking about the Reapers." His hand dropped from his chin where it had been for quite some time now and turned to the Captain.
"Are they some kind of new alien species?" John asked as he had never heard of them before.
Both the Ambassador and the Captain turned to each other to see if the other one knew the answer to that but once they realized neither did, they turned back to the Commander with no answer to his question. Instead, they turned to the other people in the room to see if they had one instead.
"No idea," Alenko said just as clueless and shrugged his shoulders.
Williams also shook her head unknowing. Vakarian gave him a single glance as an answer and with his arms crossed over his chest as he stood next to Quinn to keep an eye on her as she was still sitting in the chair, too occupied with rubbing her head and barley listening to what was being said. Some of the color in her face had returned, but she still looked pale.
"Never heard of them, and I'm old," the krogan said frankly and almost dismissive like it was preposterous there were a race out there he had never heard of.
"According to the memory core, the Reapers were a hyper-advanced machine race that existed fifty-thousand years ago," Zorah said and brough everyone's attention back to her. But the quarian had her gaze down on her omni-tool and the orange glow from the hologram illuminating on her mask and helmet, then she looked up at John once more and spoke like she was suddenly telling a ghost story; "The Reapers hunted the Protheans to total extinction, and then they vanished. At least, that's what the geth believe."
The Ambassador were quick to throw away that theory and spoke with a frown on his face; "Sounds a little far-fetched to—"
"The vision on Eden Prime—" Quinn spoke up suddenly, cutting the man off. John turned to his sister who had been quiet for some time. "I understand it now." There was certainty in her tone which drew the rooms attention to her, but her eyes were focused on the quarian as she continued; "I saw the Protheans being wiped out by the Reapers."
"The geth revere the Reapers as gods, the pinnacle of non-organic life," Zorah then explain before turning to the Ambassador. "And they believe Saren knows how to bring back the Reapers."
"The Council is just going to love this!" Udina muttered under his breath as his arms crossed over his chest and he got an even deeper frown upon his face. It would be up to him to convince the Council of this threat, and he already knew they would not take it well.
"From what we just heard, the Reapers are a threat to every species in Citadel space," John snapped sternly towards the Ambassador 's dismissive attitude. "We have to tell them."
John knew there was truth to what Quinn had said and the image in his head were hinting at the same thing even though that one alone had not all the information. The Reapers were a real threat, he just knew it even though there were no real proof of that or of their existence. And even if Saren were on a wild goose chase, they could not take the risk of it not being real. Billions of people could die if they did not heed this threat.
The Captain was quick to agree with him, and he too didn't like Udina's attitude. "No matter what they think about the rest of this, those audio files prove Saren's a traitor."
Quinn scoffed at that. "The Council won't believe an ancient mechanical race is coming back to annihilate the whole galaxy. Just keep them out of this." It was clear she had no faith nor high hopes in the Council.
"We have to tell them!" Anderson snapped at her. "Even if they don't believe anything else, this is the proof we need."
"The Captain's right," Udina said rather reluctantly. Although he did not believe about the Reapers, he knew that Saren were a threat to humanity and had already killed too many of his kind. He wanted the Spectre stopped and now they had the proof to shove up into the Council's faces and that was all he really needed. "We need to present this to the Council right away."
The Ambassador walked over to Zorah with his omni-tool opened o his forearm to have the quarian give him a copy of the audio bank, while Quinn fired off one of her sarcastic remarks.
"In the middle of their nigh caps? They sure going to love that."
The Ambassador ignored the pirate and turned to John once he had the copy stored safely. "Anderson and I will go ahead and try to get an audience with the Council as quickly as possible," he said and headed for the exit. "Stand by for the next hour or so. Anderson will contact you when you should meet us in the Tower."
The Captain quickly followed the Ambassador as time was of the essence and they had to reach the tower and the Council until it was too late, and they had to wait until morning. It was already a possibility they wouldn't even get in to see the Council but at least they had to try.
The door closed behind the two and John turned to the people behind him and suggested; "We should probably get something to eat until we hear something." He looked at the time and somehow, it was already close to 9 p.m. and his stomach were beginning to growl.
"What about her?" the krogan said and hinted to Zorah. "The quarian?"
Zorah was quick to snap at the krogan, clearly offended of him not remembering her name. "My name is Tali!" She then turned to John, her tone strong but still pleading. "You saw me in the alley, Commander. You know what I can do. Let me come with you."
"All I saw were you hiding behind a crate and fire your pistol frantically," Quinn commented harshly. "Besides, I thought you were looking for scrap to prove you're an adult."
The condescending in her tone were evident enough to let everyone know she did not think highly of the woman. But that wasn't much of a surprise to John as he had realized Quinn didn't think highly of anyone. At least her attitude was coming back, indicating she was beginning to feel better.
But the woman stood her ground and her tone never wavering as she said; "The Pilgrimage proves we are willing to give of ourselves for the greater good." Her head turned back to John. "What does it say about me if I turn my back on this?" John could hear there were something deeper which motivated her. "Saren is a danger to the entire galaxy. My Pilgrimage can wait."
He considered her request very carefully. The young woman sure seemed eager, and he felt there were something personal behind her reasons. Not only that she had something to prove to her people, but something he couldn't quite put his fingers on. It reminded him a bit of Quinn's motivation, but not as extreme and highly focused as his sister's. But this woman wasn't a soldier, nor did she have any specific combat training even though she could use a pistol. However, she knew more about the geth than anyone else on his team and that would certainly come in handy as Saren had allied himself with the quarian made artificial intelligence race.
He smiled at the woman and said; "I'll take all the help I can get."
Her eyes grew wider and brighter underneath the mask and, in her tone, he could hear her relief, gratitude and better yet, her excitement; "Thanks. You won't regret this."
"Now we're bringing children with us?" Quinn spat disapprovingly as she stood up on her feet. "What's next? A space cow for moral support?"
"You're here, aren't you?" John commented, which earned him some laughs from the rest of the group.
But Zorah exclaimed straight away; "I am not a child!"
The pirate turned an eye to the quarian and tilted her head slightly like it was one of the most amusing things she had ever heard and said with an accusing tone; "You're not a soldier, either." Then she turned her hard, unamused eyes on John. "Ha, ha, very funny."
John turned to the quarian and said; "Feel free to ignore her—" then turned to look at Quinn with satisfied, yet teasing smile, "—she's just cranky she can't do thinks her way anymore."
Quinn narrowed her eyes as she stared back at him, but there was no rude remark thrown his way, instead, she turned on her heel and headed for the door before saying unamused; "Hardy-har, John. Ever thought about becoming a comedian?"
John smiled a little to himself as he watched her go. There was still a part of the old Quinn still in there even though he had to fight her to get that part out. She had never liked his jokes and had often just rolled her eyes at him before leaving, and this was exactly what he saw now. Granted, it was probably the exhaustion from the headache she had gotten, but he took that as a victory.
"Should I be concerned?" Zorah asked a bit wary.
"Don't worry about her," he reassured before he too, walked to the door. "Let's get something to eat."
*Quinn's POV
The headache was still lingering as the large party of people walked into the Councilors chamber. The food they had gotten as they waited to hear from Anderson about the meeting had not done much to help subdue the throbbing in her head but at least she was walking. Her mood on the other hand, were not the greatest and she just knew the Council would somehow worsen it. While they had waited to hear anything, she had been forced to listen to most of them sharing stories of their time in the Alliance, C-Sec or the flotilla like it were some damned summer camp or something. Like, hey now that we're stuck with one another, lets share stories...! And the worst part of it all — she had no booze to tune them all out or ease the headache with.
Fortunately, she wasn't the only one who seemed to think that way, the Krogan Mercenary had looked just as annoyed and had not shared any stories either. He too, had been on the sideline, only staying put to wait for news about the meeting with the Council and to know what to do next.
The Alliance idiots had been the ones who had shared and compared most, which had somehow forced Quinn to relive some of her own stuff from when she was enlisted and it didn't matter how much she had tried to force the out of her head, the stuff kept coming back to her. The more she remembered, the angrier and crankier she got and only got a short break once Big-Blue, and Rat-Suit had their own input of their own experiences.
All she knew was that these were the people she was supposed to work with— Have her life depend on. Trust…. —when all she really wanted were to get rid of them all. Most of the times, she hoped this was just another part of the weird dream the beacon had stoved upon her and she were still lying knocked out on Eden Prime. Unfortunately, this was real, and she were stuck with these pyjaks.
Given the hour, Quinn had actually been surprised the Ambassador had managed to get another hearing with the Council. It was close to midnight and she thought they would have to wait until morning before they would even get a chance to present the evidence. Their case was urgent, but the Council had already dismissed their suspicions once and hadn't seemed so fond of what they had presented with then. But she guessed the damned Ambassador were not only annoying the hell out of her, but he actively annoyed the hell out of the Council so to just shut the man up, they agreed only to get him off of their backs for the night. She couldn't blame them if that were the case.
As they entered the chamber, Quinn kept to the back of the group, intentionally putting herself as far away from the stage as she could possibly manage, while still be able to hear what was being said. Her bad mood would certainly compromise things and if she let it explode once more the Council could throw them all out on their asses and Saren would get further away from her grasp than he already was. No, she had to control herself this time and remind herself why she was there.
As they walked further into the chamber and towards the Petitioner's Stage, Quinn noticed there were still a lot of people there even though it was so late and the Council's office hours had ended some time ago. Most of the people were aliens, and neither of them seemed pleased to see the group head for the stage.
At the foot of the last flight of stairs, Anderson stood, waiting for them with a look of impatience on his face. As soon as he spotted the large party, he said with haste in his tone; "Come on. Udina's presenting the quarian's evidence to the Council." He barley even finished the sentence before he had climbed the stairs, leaving them to follow.
They were met with the recording of Saren being played for the Council who stood at their respective podiums, looking down at Ambassador Udina who stood on the stage, waiting for their reactions to the undeniable proof.
"Eden Prime was a major victory! The beacon has brought us one step closer to finding the Conduit."
Knowing it was coming, Quinn had prepared herself mentally for the intense pain the mentioning of the beacon would bring and the threatening of the vision which would follow. And true enough, the headache she already had were intensifying and she had to grab a hold of the railing to the stage to keep herself standing while Anderson and John entered the stage to join the Ambassador at the end of it. Although she was a bit surprised that the pulsing and throbbing weren't as intense as the last time, but still powerful enough to leave her mentally exhausted afterwards.
"And one step closer to the return of the Reaper." The mysterious female voice ended the recording and eerie silence followed throughout the chamber.
"You wanted proof—" The Ambassador said as reached out his hand over the garden beneath, like he was handing it over to them. "—There it is."
"The evidence is irrefutable, Ambassador," the turian Councilor, Sparatus said, not able to deny it any longer, although his tone had a hint of anger and resentment in it. "Saren will be stripped of his Spectre status and all effort will be made to bring him in to answer for his crimes."
Tevos, the asari Councilor turned to her turian colleague, and surprised everyone by saying; "I recognize the other voice, the one speaking with Saren." She paused for a moment as she herself couldn't believe what she was about to say next. She turned to the people on the stage. "Matriarch Benezia."
Before she knew it, Quinn had pushed herself through their group and on to the stage, walking up to the end of it all the while demanding; "Who's she?"
"Matriarchs are powerful asari who have entered the final stage of their lives," Tevos began to explain and kept her eyes on Quinn. "Revered for their wisdom and experience, they serve as guides and mentors to my people."
"I didn't ask about your culture shit. I asked; "who is she"," Quinn spat impatiently and felt her temper already beginning to flare up. Why did every politician insist on never answering the damn question straight on?
"Quinn!" Both John and Anderson barked into her ears as they stood on either side of her.
"Show some respect, your lowlife pirate scum!" The Ambassador were quick to roar afterwards. "If it wasn't for the Council, you would be rotting by now in a cell for the rest of your miserable life."
Her hard stare flicked to the man with a warning before returning her piercing eyes to the asari Councilor whose own gaze were calm and collected. There was no way she would show these people any amount of respect. "Answer the damn question."
Tevos rose her head a little, letting the pirate know she had no power here and looked down upon her as she answered the question. "Matriarch Benezia is a powerful biotic, and she had many followers. She will make a formidable ally for Saren."
Quinn did not miss the subtle way Tevos told her she would have it difficult dealing with this asari. That Quinn may be powerful, but it was nothing compared to what a Matriarch had learned and experienced throughout her long lifespan. But Quinn didn't care about that. All her focus were on getting to Saren and if this asari were going to stand in her way, then she would crush that Matriarch's skull just as she had done with all the rest who had stood in her way.
"I'm more interested in the Reapers," Valern, the salarian Councilor said to his colleague, then turned to the humans. "What do you know about them?"
Anderson took a step closer to the Councilors. "Only what was extracted from the geth memory core," he said, then seemed to hesitate for a moment before he continued; "The Reapers were an ancient race of machines that wiped out the Protheans. Then they vanished."
"The geth believe the Reapers are gods," John then chipped in. "And Saren is the prophet for their return."
As it was spoken out loud, Quinn couldn't help but find it ludicrous. Machines who worshipped machines? A turian who was going to bring these ancient gods back? It was like a plot to a bad movie or something. If she hadn't seen it, she would have believed they were all mad.
"We think the Conduit is the key to bringing them back," Anderson continued. "Saren's searching for it. That's why he attacked Eden Prime."
"Do we even know what this Conduit is?" Valern asked, not really sounding convinced and crossed his arms over his chest.
"Saren thinks it can bring back the Reapers. That's bad enough," John pushed bluntly.
"Listen to what you're saying!" Sparatus, the turian Councilor spat, even less convinced. "Saren wants to bring back the machines that wiped out all life in the galaxy? Impossible. It has to be." He turned to his fellow Councilors to see if they actually bought all of this, then turned to the humans once more. "Where did the Reapers go? Why did they vanish? How come we've found no trace of their existence?" Irritation filled his tone as he crossed his arms in front of him. "If they were real, we'd have found something!"
John walked up to the edge of the stage, the frustration clear on his face, "I tried to warn you about Saren, and you refused to face the truth." His tone grew darker and more severe. "Don't make the same mistake again."
Surprised by her brother's demand, she looked at him quite stunned. She understood his frustration and anger, but honestly, what did he expect? They had evidence against Saren's treachery, but nothing concrete about any Reapers other than someone's wild belief. How did he expect the Council to act against something which they couldn't prove existed nor what the hell it was or looked like? It would have been easier to keep the Reapers out of the discussion and then gone off on their own to find more about them. Instead, they were now stuck in another pointless argument which would be more time consuming and bring Saren further away from them.
Quinn turned to John and said bluntly; "I told you they wouldn't listen." It earned her a harsh glance from him.
"This is different," Tevos spoke, her tone still calm and unwavering. "You proved Saren betrayed the Council. We all agree he's using the geth to search for the Conduit, but we don't know why."
"The Reapers are obviously just a myth, Commander," Valern said, his skepticism at high peak. "A convenient lie to cover Saren's true purpose. A legend he is using to bend the geth to his will."
She gloated as John met her eyes for a quick glance, knowing it bothered him that she had been right. He turned his eyes back to the Council, his tone now a bit harsher, more pushing as he said;
"Fifty thousand years ago, the Reapers wiped out all galactic civilization. If Saren finds the Conduit, it will happen again!"
"Really John?" Quinn said loud enough for everyone to hear. "Enough with the Reaper talk, they won't listen. Focus on the fucking Spectre instead."
"Saren is a rouge agent on the run for his life," Sparatus explained, his tone harsh yet it almost sounded like he was disciplining a child. "He no longer has the rights or resources of a Spectre. The Council has stripped him of his position."
"Like that would stop him," Quinn dismissed and turned her head to John and Anderson and crossed her arms under her breasts.
"That's not good enough!" Udina roared, his tone echoing throughout the large chamber. "You know he's hiding somewhere in the Traverse. Send your fleet in!"
The Attican Traverse? Quinn thought and turned to the human Ambassador. That's where Saren was hiding? Somewhere in the thirteen clusters with each one containing various systems and all the more planets? It would be impossible to find the damned Spectre there as long as they had no clue where to start looking. It was a ridiculous demand and Quinn couldn't contain her laughter.
The people in the chamber turned their heads to her, then she abruptly stopped her mocking laughter to ask the foolish man; "Are you an idiot?" with a harsh condescending tone. The man's face crumbled into anger, but she continued; "Do you know how many clusters the Traverse has? It would be like looking for a grain in a desert!"
Even Valern thought the demand were preposterous and scoffed the Ambassador off. "A fleet cannot track down one man."
Udina's shoulder slumped a little, knowing his demand had been a long shot. Yet he could not help but feel like if any of the other Council races had made the same demand, it would have been taken seriously and had been acted upon. Just because they were humans, the Council would not give them the resources they needed.
But he couldn't give up and pressed on; "A Citadel fleet could secure the entire region. Keep the geth from attacking any more of our colonies."
The Ambassador barley had the time to finish his sentence before Sparatus countered; "Or it could trigger a war with the Terminus Systems!"
"That's your reason for not doing anything?" Quinn scoffed in surprise and disbelief. The Councilors turned their attentions to her as she continued; "You're scared of a war with petty criminals?" Her tone turned mocking and disdained as she turned her head away from them. "That's fucking hilarious. Had I known that I would've invaded more worlds a plundered a whole lot more." Her eyes turned back to the Councilors, now dark and challenging. "To think I was scared of your fleets messing up my business."
"You think we're wrong?" Tevos asked, quite curious yet calm.
Quinn popped her hip as she answered simply; "No. We don't want you involved in our dealings in any way. Most are careful not to step on your toes." The Council gave each other a glance. "But don't get me wrong—" The shift in her tone had the Council turn their attentions back before they could plot anything they would regret. "—If your fleets even think of entering the Terminus System, then every pirate, mercenary, slave trader and all the other criminal gangs will join in an all-out assault. And believe me when I'm telling you—" She turned to look directly at John. "—you would lose more than you would gain because you have no idea what you're getting yourselves into."
"There you have it, Ambassador, straight from the source." Although Sparatus tried to sound disgusted by that, he somehow sounded more pleased underneath the cruel tone. "We won't be dragged into a galactic confrontation over a few dozen human colonies!"
That was enough to have John nearly explode of anger, "Every time humanity asks for help you ignore us!"
"Shepard's right!" The Ambassador exclaimed, growing even more furious. "I'm sick of this Council and its anti-human bull—"
"Ambassador!" Trevos cut him off sharply, finally letting go of some of her calm exterior and held up her hand to show him he was stepping over the line.
The Ambassador reluctantly lowered his head and took a step back as a result. Knowing he had crossed the line if the calm and unshakable asari Councilor had lost her cool. Yet he couldn't help but mutter under his breathe.
Tevos continued, and her tone regained its calm. "There is another solution. A way to stop Saren that doesn't require fleet or armies."
"No!" Sparatus exclaimed and Tevos turned to him as he continued with his protest; "It's too soon. Humanity is not ready for the responsibilities that come with joining the Spectres."
Quinn turned to look at John with a bit of dread in her eyes. She vaguely remembered hearing John being a candidate from that dead guy and Pretty-Boy and the thought of giving him the authority to grant life and death to all the inhabitants of the galaxy made her realize her brother would have the power to decide whatever he wanted with her and the protection she currently had with the Alliance would mean nothing if he so desired. It would literally mean her life were in his hands.
John had missed the look in his sister's eyes and had kept his sight straight at the turian Councilor. "You don't have to send a fleet into the Traverse, and the Ambassador gets his human Spectre. Everybody's happy."
Not everybody, Quinn though bitterly and gritted her teeth and turned her eyes to the Councilors and hoped the turian Councilor's protest would weight heavier than the other Councilors proposition. Sparatus eyed her brother in silence and even though she were sure most of the humans in the chamber were unable to read the turian, Quinn had no such problems. She could clearly see it were hurting the man's pride to have to agree to have a human join their elite group all the while their top agent who happened to be a turian, was now a traitor. The pressure from his colleagues were growing even though they were waiting for the turian Councilor to come to his senses.
Finally, the man turned to his fellow Councilors once he had admitted defeat and gave them his consent. Tevos were first to reach for her console, like she had known she would get her way, then Sparatus and lastly Valern who now showed them he too wasn't as pleased with the thought but knew that was the only way.
"Commander John Shepard—" Tevos said, her tone filled with authority. "—step forward."
Quinn watched her brother do what he was told, and he walked up to the edge of the stage and she considered for a moment, to have him pushed off. As much as she wanted him off of her back, she still knew this were the only way of ever getting to Saren. No matter how much she hated the damned aliens, she knew the Council were right in not sending in a fleet as the consequences of such an action would indeed end in a war. The different gangs in the Terminus Systems may be rivals and hate each other, but it was nothing compared what they thought of the Council. They were a real threat and each leader had agreed to stand against the Council if they were to interfere or enter the system.
Tevos continued to speak, and everyone in the chamber had her attention. "It is the decision of the Council that you be granted all the powers and privileges of the Special Tactics and Reconnaissance branch of the Citadel."
Valern crossed his arms over his chest and continued from where his asari colleague had paused, but his tone where far from pleased. "Spectres are not trained, but chosen. Individuals forged in the fire of service and battle; those whose actions elevate them above the rank and file."
"Spectres are an ideal, a symbol," Tevos continued. "The embodiment of courage, determination, and self-reliance. They are the right hand of the Council, instruments of our will."
"Spectres bear a burden," Sparatus finally spoke up, his tone now more businesslike and there were no trace of the previous anger and resentment, like it had been practiced until perfection. "They are protectors of galactic peace, both our first and last line of defense. The safety of the galaxy is theirs to uphold."
Then there was a moment of silence to let it all sink in.
"You are the first human Spectre, Commander," Tevos then announced, being the first to speak it out loud and declared it official. "This is a great accomplishment for you and your entire species."
"I'm honored, Councilor." John bowed his head to show them his appreciation and gratefulness.
But Quinn was far from feeling the same and let them all know by scoffing at that and crossed her arms to show them her displeasure, but kept her mouth shut. There was nothing she could do about it anyways, so why waste energy speaking it.
"We're sending you into the Traverse after Saren," Valern announced. "He's a fugitive from justice, so you are authorized to use any means necessary to apprehend or eliminate him."
"He will be eliminated for sure," Quinn guaranteed. No, she promised it. Even if it were the last thing, she did, that man would not live for long, not even if he tried to run to the darkest corner of the galaxy.
"Any idea where to find him?" John asked, ignoring Quinn's comment.
"We will forward any relevant files to Ambassador Udina," Sparatus answered simply.
The Ambassador answered with a bow to his head.
"This meeting of the Council is adjourned," Tevos then announced.
Quinn watched how most of the people in the chamber bowed to the Council before the three Councilors left the Petitioner's Stage and the chamber. Quinn eyed the three departing aliens with her cold stare. She did not trust them at all and had a hard time seeing these three as the ones who decided the future and wellbeing of every single life in Citadel Space. She did not care about their agenda towards human issues, but she found them extremely narrow minded and that would eventually be the end of them.
John, Udina and Anderson walked off the stage to where the rest of the party had waited patiently.
"Congratulations, Commander," she heard Anderson commend her brother, who answered a bit modest;
"Thank you, sir."
Quinn turned to them to see the two shake hands like her brother had accomplished something spectacular and she rolled her eyes at the gesture. He had done nothing to get praises for and had only gotten another rank to his title. The Council had said that Spectres were born, not trained and honestly, she could not see John as Spectre material.
"We've got a lot of work to do, Shepard," the Ambassador growled. His frown had deepened now when the Council had gone, and the man wasn't in a celebrating mood. "You're going to need a ship, a crew, supplies…"
The man grew even more deterred as he realized how much more work, he now had in front of him and little time to do it. It was already after midnight, and this would mean an all-nighter a man in his age wasn't as found of. But Udina knew it had to be done before Saren got further away and more colonies got hit. Therefore, his mood got sourer.
But the Captain wouldn't let the Ambassador's sour mood get in the way of this great accomplishment, and his tone were light as he said to John; "You'll get access to special equipment and training now." The man got more intrigued. "You should go down to the C-Sec Academy and speak to the Spectre requisition officer the first thing tomorrow morning."
"Anderson, come with me," Udina barked suddenly, barley letting the man finish before he marched off, yelling over his shoulder; "I'll need your help to set all this up."
"Get a good night sleep and we'll see you in the Ambassador's office tomorrow at noon," Anderson said, then congratulated John once again before he too, walked off.
The two higher ups didn't get far before John was thrown more congratulations from the party. Girly-Scout nearly knocked Pretty-Boy in the face as she eagerly took John's hand to shake it.
"Congratulations, Commander!" she said, her tone light and happy for him.
After recovering, Pretty-Boy were quick to follow with his own praises, not even bothering on commenting on the female soldier's behavior. "The first human Spectre. What an honor. How does it feel?"
"Thanks. A bit unreal, to be honest," John answered a bit awkward, like it hadn't sunken in yet and scratched the back of his head.
"I expected your ambassador to be more grateful," Big-Blue said, sounding a bit offended. "He didn't even thank you."
"What did you expect from a politician? They're all asses," Quinn was quick to scoff, then turned her head to John. "Though I don't see why he should be — it's not like John were in a hurry to find the proof."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Girly-Scout demanded and stepped a bit closer to the pirate, which had both John and Pretty-Boy on the alert.
Looking up at the taller female soldier, Quinn took a step closer. "I mean; he was keeping himself busy with helping every sucker who can't fix their own problems than doing what he was supposed to."
"Those people needed help," the woman defended, growing more antagonized by the second.
"Yeah, scanning keepers, helping a bar wrench, tying someone's shoes… yeah, that's really what's going to stop Saren," the despise in her tone were evident of what she thought about helping others.
Girly-Scout were about to get up in her face, when John exhaled sharply, before he plastered on a fake smile and filled his voice with dry sarcasm as he said; "Yes. Thank you, Quinn, for all the dead bodies you left in your wake to find the proof we needed. You were so helpful…"
Without turning to him and kept her stare at the female soldier, she said; "You're welcome."
"I was sarcastic."
She turned her head to him. "I wasn't."
John shook his head, then turned to the rest of the group. "Well, let's go get some sleep. You're all dismissed until tomorrow at noon."
Girly-Scout stared at her for a few moments longer, then she turned to salute her superior, wished him a good night and then took off with the rest of the party who were going their respective places to sleep and finish whatever business they had on the Citadel before being able to leave for some time to find the rouge Spectre.
Quinn was about to leave as well, feeling the urge of drowning the headache with alcohol and hopefully, get some sleep after that. She was exhausted even though she had slept for fifteen hours straight just this morning, but the damned vision was still lying underneath the surface and were ready to give another taste of it. But before she could take a single step down the stairs, John said;
"Quinn, wait."
A frustrated sigh escaped her as soon as she heard his voice and she just knew, he was about to ruin her plans. She turned and spat between her teeth; "What?"
He walked to the stairs and said; "You're coming with me. We're going to my apartment." Then he past her and walked down.
Her eyes narrowed as she protested; "No, I'm not."
He didn't even turn around. "Yeah, you are. I'm not letting you out of my sight."
Thank you so much for reading!
If you like the story, then please comment, fave and/or follow! It really keeps me going if you do!
If there is something I've missed, gotten wrong or anything, please tell me so I can fix it!
I'm already working on the next chapter, but I want your thoughts on something. So instead of a teaser this time, I want your opinion on this;
Go to Feros?
Go to Noveria?
or
Go and get Liara?
Which one do you prefere?