Note: Moving right along now, here's Virmire fresh from the mint. Enjoy and please, by all means, feedback is welcome. Thanks for reading.

Mass Effect
"Foreign Relations"

Chapter Thirteen: Virmire

Sidda had showered already but she couldn't shake the feeling that blood was on her hands, she could still smell it. She'd changed out of her armor and into her typical Alliance blues, her armor had been splattered with blood, human blood, and she hadn't cleaned it yet. It had taken damage during the fighting; bullets, tech powers, biotics, and hand to hand had all put her top of the line gear through the ringer. She lost a lot on Virmire; trust, Vidinos' pistol, her quarry…people. It was the last one that had her in a nearly catatonic state outside Medical.

The Normandy was docked at the Citadel, the Council's lead panned out…it wasn't pretty but it certainly answered some questions. Showed them how much shit they were really in, upset part of Saren's plan, and put Sidda hand to hand with the man himself. Of course now she looked like she'd gone toe to toe with a Krogan, bruising around her neck, on the left side of her face, swollen lip and jaw, black eye, and the bandaged flesh wound on her right upper arm.

"Shepard," a voice announced pulling her eyes away from the spot on the deck that she'd been staring at for an unknown amount of time. It was Anderson, she remembered that he'd asked to see her but it was something she clearly decided to ignore. She didn't want to drift too far from medical at the moment. Anderson judged her body language and the first thing he picked up was that she looked tired, exhausted really, the second thing was that she was obviously wrestling with the outcome of her mission to Virmire. "How is he?" he asked and sat down across from her.

Sidda sighed heavily but didn't make much eye contact. "Stable. Chakwas said that he lost a lot of blood but nothing vital was hit."

Anderson was careful, Sidda didn't look like she was ready to snap but he'd rather not be on the receiving end of her losing her damn mind. "What happened out there, Sidda?"

"I sent you the report," she replied quietly.

Anderson nodded, he'd read it…twice in fact. "I want to hear it from you, Sidda."

Sidda let out a deep breath and rubbed her eyes. "We made the drop on Virmire and fought our way through Geth controlling checkpoints along the river. When we cleared the last one we found the Salarian team, I ordered the Normandy to land, which turned out to be a giant mistake," she told him and her tone reflected irritation, not with him but with herself. He'd gotten the basics from Garrus and Pressley but wanted to know from her everything that took place. "My team and I had disabled the outlying defenses surrounding the base but when the ship landed every AA gun blanketed the airspace. If we took off we'd be blown to tiny little bits."

Anderson listened and poured himself a cup of coffee from the pitcher that was on the table. "The Salarians?" he asked.

"They were mostly intact, fought hard, lost some people but had set up a little basecamp," she went on. "That's when he told us that Virmire was Saren's main base of operations the one we found on Rothla was a satellite…testing facility, we also found out that Saren was breeding an army of Krogan to offset the Geth…apparently he didn't have enough muscle. We had to destroy it and although Wrex disagreed he proved he's smarter than he looks. The Salarians had converted their ships drive core into a thermonuclear weapon."

Anderson's eyebrows lifted. "Well, that's one way to destroy a secret base."

Sidda snorted. "Solid plan too…Kirahee's smart…talked a lot though," she commented and then went back to it. "For as solid as the plan was it was bound to be…costly. I divided my people, took Cerrus and Garrus with me as an infiltration team, sent Kaidan with the Salarians to help with the distraction, left everyone else to guard the Normandy, and…and the Chief to attend to the bomb."

"I spoke to Garrus on the way in and I asked him about the…" he trailed off as if trying to find the right words to describe it without actually saying it, "well, what you found in the base…."

Sidda's pause was long, tired and thoughtful. "Sovereign."

"Care to explain?"

**Virmire days earlier

Another beacon, another download, more Prothean crap force fed into her brain. The dreadful images only added to the nightmare pile she was collecting. The feelings associated with the first one on Eden Prime, Nihlus…his execution plagued her dreams, the horrific slaughter of the Protheans that took Liara to help her understand. These images were different, more pieces to the puzzle that she still couldn't figure out. She could feel the boys behind her; Garrus no doubt worried about her well-being and Cerrus ready to pounce on any type of threat…which included her. It was a comfort really; she knew Cerrus wouldn't hesitate if she became a threat.

The beacon dropped her and she felt her stomach turn, she didn't vomit though, the feelings that were associated with the images combine with the ones she had associated with Nihlus' death were hard to overcome. She felt Garrus' hands steady her, had to be Garrus, Cerrus would never show that kind of concern for her. "Oh, not another one," she groaned, her head hurt, her stomach churned…all she wanted to do was hide in her quarters for a week.

"Sidda, are you okay?" Garrus asked plenty concerned.

She took in a deep slow breath to help steady her stomach and nodded. "What's one more download…I'm starting to feel like a computer," she muttered and Cerrus looked to the holographic interface on the level above.

"Shepard," he began and gestured up toward it. It wasn't active when they had passed it earlier, "I think that activated when you activated the beacon." Sidda tracked what he was referring to and nodded at his observation, he was right, she'd walked to the end of that catwalk and nothing was there.

Whatever it was, it was eerie. It was just an interface…until it spoke.

"You are not Saren," it said, the voice was deep, mechanical, sounding like a thousand voices speaking at once. It was alien and something that Garrus and Cerrus were creeped out by but Sidda found an air of familiarity about it. Not her memories though, this familiarity came from somewhere else. The pit in her stomach grew.

"Who are you?" she asked suspiciously.

"Rudimentary creatures of blood and flesh, you touch my mind. Fumbling in your ignorance you are incapable of understanding," the 'VI' said as the red holographic interface revealed the design of the ship that was on Eden Prime and the one that plagued her 'memories' from the beacons.

Garrus nervously twitched holding the assault rifle; just the voice of this 'thing' was enough to instill fear. "What the hell is this?" Sidda's only inkling was the growing pit of fear within, deep down she knew what this was but to her it did not have a face.

"There is a realm of existence so far beyond your own you cannot even imagine it. I am beyond your comprehension, I am Sovereign," it replied and Sidda swallowed hard. Sovereign was reported to be a Reaper ship that had the ability to warp the minds of those that were aboard it.

Her heart started to thud against her chest; it was beginning to make sense. "You're not just some Reaper relic that Saren found…you're a real live Reaper." Garrus and Cerrus blinked at her deduction and looked at each other, both with the same expression on their faces, just trying to grasp the implication of that. Sovereign wasn't just a ship, it was an actual Reaper.

"Reaper? A label given by the Protheans to give voice to their destruction, in the end what they chose to call us is irrelevant…we simply, are."

"Condescending for a machine" Garrus thought, the Reapers were a bedtime story, a myth, a race of sentient machines that plagued the galaxy. "The Protheans vanished 50,000 years ago…how is this possible?"

"Organic life is nothing but a genetic mutation, an accident. Your lives are measured in years and decades, you wither and die. We are eternal, the pinnacle of evolution and existence. Before us, you are nothing, your extinction is inevitable. We are the end of everything," Sovereign answered and Sidda's mind raced with idea of how impossible this was.

Whatever the case was, she wasn't about to just let a single Reaper rain down it's destruction without a fight. "Bring it on," she hissed in defiance.

"Confidence born of ignorance, the cycle cannot be broken," Sovereign replied.

"What cycle?" Cerrus spoke up, his tone firm and direct. So far he didn't put much stock in the Reaper theory, he was here to help catch Saren but clearly there was more to this.

"The cycle has repeated itself more times than you can fathom. Organic civilizations rise, they evolve, they advance, and at the apex of their glory they are extinguished. The Protheans were not the first, they did not create the Citadel or the mass relays. They merely found them, the legacy of my kind."

Garrus' expression narrowed, everyone knew that the Protheans built the technology that was used today, the Citadel, the Relays, the Relay Monument on the Citadel…to say that was all wrong was like telling him that his DNA wasn't dextro based. "You built them? Why?" he asked letting the investigator in him take over for a minute and the Reaper seemed glad to answer, he found it strange that the thing was happily answering their questions, albeit, in a condescending manner. He wasn't sure how he felt about that…he just knew he didn't like it.

"Your civilization is built on the technology we provided, by using it, you develop along the paths we desire. We impose order on the chaos of organic evolution. You exist because we allow it and you will end because we demand it."

None of them liked the sound of that but Cerrus was the first to put it together, he wasn't just a dumb grunt. "They're harvesting us, letting us evolve to our most powerful before they kill us and start again," he simplified.

Now it was falling into place, the cycles that Sovereign referred to, the destruction of the Reapers, the images from the beacons. "Where did you come from?" she asked, she understood how screwed they were but there was no point in losing her cool now.

"We have no beginning. We have no end. We are infinite. Millions of years after your civilizations have been eradicated we will endure." Eradicated. That sounded ominous, they looked on them like vermin, she didn't know the capacity or the abilities of her enemy beyond the idea that why could wipe out an entire galaxy of civilizations.

So long as Sovereign was feeling chatty she asked the tactical question, the Reaper didn't view them as a threat so it was probable that it would answer. "How many are you?" she asked and true enough the sentient machine answered.

"We are legion. The time of our return has come; we will darken the sky with our presence. You cannot escape your doom."

The defiance in Sidda flared, she wasn't going to roll over and let this Reaper have is way with the galaxy, if more were to come she was going to make things as difficult as she could for them for as long as she could. "I will beat you, you say the cycle can't be broke, I'll prove to you it can."

"Your words mean nothing, as empty as your future. I am the vanguard of your destruction. This exchange is over."

Anderson blinked several times as she explained speaking to a real live Reaper, her retelling was downright unsettling. 'Vanguard of our destruction', harvesting the apex civilizations, the idea that there were more of them of the same size as Sovereign was even worse, just one of those ships was going to rough enough to handle. "'Vanguard of our destruction' eh?" he commented and Sidda snorted.

"Ominous ain't it?" she asked and he scoffed and gestured at her head. "Liara kicked her way around again…helped me make sense of everything, the Conduit that Saren has been searching for is the portal that the Reapers have to use to get here…I still don't know where it is but I'm pretty sure Saren hasn't found it yet," she said. "Liara mentioned some architecture and flashes from a planet called Ilos."

"Ilos is in the Terminus, only accessible through the Mu Relay," Anderson said and Sidda understood that getting the Council to back them when it came to the Mu Relay was going to be worse than convincing them that Saren was a traitor.

"Therein lies the rub," she replied. "It requires passage through the Mu Relay and the Mu Relay is in the Terminus that no one has been able to find thanks to the supernova."

Anderson nodded, he knew that getting the Council to get off their asses was going to be a bitch but they'd jump off that bridge when they got there, right now he wanted to know what happened with the rogue Spectre. "Tell me what happened with Saren?"

"We managed to get the Normandy into position and we were on our way to pull Alenko and the Salarians out of the fire, that's when the shit hit the fan."

**Virmire

The drop ship that came over head was not a good sign as Sidda and her team hugged the wall but it didn't escape any of them that it was on course for Ashley's position. "Chief, you have inbound," Sidda said into her comm.

"Skipper, keep going I can hold them off."

"Shepard, that's a drop ship, there are at least a dozen or more Geth in that thing," Cerrus said quickly. "No way she can hold them off."

"Shut up, Cerrus, I can do it," Ashley said but Cerrus ignored her, he could hear gunfire from her end of the comm just as she ended her sentence.

"She can't, let me go back. I can get her out of there," He said.

"Commander, we're getting overrun. We can't hold much longer," Kaidan's voice was serious and she could hear the weapons fire.

Sidda was torn; Kaidan and Kirahee's teams were being swarmed. She was now warring with herself as to who to go back for, Kaidan and the Salarians or Ashley with the nuke that would vaporize the base. "FUCK!" she yelled in irritation stuck between the choices. Probably not the most professional thing to do but all she wanted was one mission to actually go right.

Sidda was taking too long in Cerrus' mind. "I'm going back," Cerrus decided and turned to leave but heard Sidda shouted after him.

"Stand fast!" she barked and Cerrus spun sharply, his fierce glare boring a hole through her.

"What?" he snapped, he wasn't going to lose someone, not even someone he didn't care for. Ashley was a part of his team and he'd break his neck to save a member of his team.

Choices blasted through her mind: emotional ones, she got along better with Kaidan than she did with the Chief; logical ones, she'd save more lives by saving Kaidan and she was closer to his location; then there was the tactical one, the Chief had the bomb…the thing that was going to blow this place sky high, if they lost that they were screwed. "We're closer to Kaidan's team than we are to her, the Chief will hold," Sidda stated firmly, she was making a logical choice but Cerrus disagreed.

"Williams has the bomb, we have to protect that," Cerrus argued.

"I can hold the position, Commander, get the L.T. and get the hell out of here," Ashley piped up, she didn't sound too distressed at the moment but that was sure to change.

Cerrus couldn't handle losing squad mates if there was something he could do to prevent it. He caused the deaths of nearly every member of his team and vowed that he'd never lose someone again. Under Victus' guidance he realized that there was nothing he could do to ensure that he never lost anyone, the only thing he could do was do everything in his power to prevent it. "No, I'm coming back for you."

"For God sake, Cerrus don't be all chivalrous now," she hissed and Cerrus headed started to head back for the lift they used earlier. It took a hit from a destroyer and was now a burning ruin, there had to be a way back down.

"Cerrus! Get your ass back here," Sidda barked and he ignored it. "That's an order, Captain!" Cerrus stopped at that, he needed to try and save her but he understood the chain of command. Sidda already threatened to shoot him for disobeying an order and he remembered the last time he went off book. She nearly broke his jaw. "Chief," Sidda began her tone one of solemn resignation. "I'm sorry."

"It's alright, Skip, just go get the L.T., I'll make sure this bomb goes off."

She swallowed hard and nodded. "Let's go," Sidda said, her tone firm and jaw clenched tight.

"Commander!" Cerrus shouted and she spun moving up to him.

"NOW, Captain!" she roared as she dangerously close to losing her temper with him. "If you want to stay and succeed in committing suicide this time, fine! Garrus, let's go."

Cerrus blinked, not at her roaring in his face but at her comment about suicide, he'd tried that once and it hadn't panned out; he'd only succeeded in killing his team. "It's okay, Cerrus," he heard through the comm. He didn't like Ashley but that wasn't the point. "Thanks for trying." His throat tightened and he jogged after Sidda and Garrus.

It was crunch time, they hadn't heard much on the radio from Kaidan or Kirahee, just gunfire but it was hard to determine exactly where it was coming from. Sidda's team worked well together and they cut through the Geth resistance to reach the platform that the teams were stranded on. "Hold on, Lieutenant, we're coming!"

They walked into a hailstorm; Geth had backed the Salarian team into a corner and began to close in. The firefight commenced between the three parties, with the addition of Sidda's team it gave them a tactical advantage by flanking the Geth. Tech powers and biotics from Garrus and Sidda toppled the enemy, and grenades from Cerrus took care of the rest. The two Turians were able to fight their way to the other team and quickly turned the tide for them.

Cerrus tore through the Geth vicious precision and he and Garrus got into cover with them freeing Kaidan up to tend to the wounded Capt. Rentola. There was still a good deal of Geth out there so Cerrus took over his position to pick them off. Garrus' sniper rifle barked twice as he one shot a Destroyer with a headshot. He made a mental note to not piss him off, he was a better shot than himself, Maridus, and Ruvvak put together. He could see the biotics flying from Sidda until a warp practically landed on him.

"It's Saren!" Garrus shouted and Sidda didn't get much time to react as a biotic power threw her into the wall. She grunted at the feeling of the biotics spreading through her body but recovered quick enough to get back into cover and avoid fire from the Geth.

"Deal with the Geth, I got Saren!" she barked and fired up at him quickly, her pistol didn't have enough punch power to penetrate his barriers. The bastard had an added attraction…he had a hover craft.

"Shepard," Saren began as he dodged one of her warps. "I commend you…the Geth were utterly convinced the Salarians were the true threat."

Sidda scoffed as she sucked up against the cover she had. "Glad you approve, now why don't you step off that thing and come have a chat with me."

"And let you undo my work? You couldn't possibly fathom the work that I have done here."

"You mean researching indoctrination, skipping arm and arm with Sovereign toward the destruction of the galaxy?" she hissed and examined the area; she needed to get Saren off that hovercraft and onto the deck with her. She spied a container that looked like it carried fuel or something combustible, she could ask Cerrus or Garrus to hit with a well-placed shot but from the sound of what was going on behind her they had their hands full. She sent another warp up toward Saren making sure the only real evasion direction put him over top of the tank that she wanted to blow sky high. Sure enough the hovercraft settled over the tank as Saren also sent a biotic power toward her. She was able to dodge it and mustered all she could into a shockwave burst directed toward the tank.

The tank exploded with the a bit more force thanks to the biotics that ripped it in half. Saren's hover craft flipped like a tossed coin, dumping the Turian onto the deck.

The explosion drew Cerrus' attention as a mere handful of Geth troopers remained. Something bit into the left side of his neck and he skittered back, his hand going to whatever it was. He knew a bullet wound when he felt it. One of those bastards shot got a luck shot in the neck. He didn't realize that he'd growled and hissed enough to get Kaidan's attention. The medic shifted over to him and for a brief moment Kaidan appeared over him, Cerrus actually saw the round that hit Kaidan…a single shot that bore into his left breast causing the Medic to topple back like he'd been jerked by a leash.

"Alenko!" he cried as he heard Garrus' rifle speak again. He could feel the blood seeping from his neck as he rolled over and hovered over Kaidan pressing his right hand over the wound in Kaidan's left chest. "Alenko's hit!" he shouted but all he heard was Garrus answer with another shot.

Sidda could hear the distinctive shots from the sniper rifle but her target was now on even ground with her. There was a reason she brought Garrus and Cerrus, they didn't need her direction, they were both seasoned in their own right and Cerrus was an experienced commander.

Saren picked himself up off the deck and Sidda looked him up and down, a threat assessment. Saren was a biotic, a capable strategist, and last but not least the best Spectre in the whole damn galaxy, renegade or not. The arm she'd noticed on Eden Prime bore a striking resemblance to that of a Geth limb…what in the hell had they done to him or what had he let them do to him? "Isn't subjugation preferable to extinction?" he asked and she stopped short.

Sidda couldn't help but furrow her brow; no sane Turian would ever say that. Saren was so far gone it was almost sad, with as much time as he'd spent around Reaper technology he was obviously indoctrinated. "What the hell are you talking about?" she snarled loudly. "The Reapers are going to destroy us all and you are helping them. You've been indoctrinated and you don't even realize it."

"The more control Sovereign exerts the less useful I become," he said sending more biotics her way causing her scramble out of the way. He fired at her with the pistol making her duck and roll to avoid it, the continuous fire knocked out her shields and she felt a round cut though the armor of her right upper arm. She staggered the other direction dropping her pistol and it slid off the platform.

After recovering she turned on him reverting to strict hand to hand, every kick and punch was augmented with biotics. Saren was a tough son of a bitch but he didn't use his left arm so that was a weakness, on the other hand that side was incredible strong and durable. She got behind Saren and moved lightning fast, employing her now unique mix of Turian and Human fighting styles. Sidda never stood still enough for him, his biotics were impressive and he was still armed so she stayed behind him as well as she could. Her right fist glowed blue as she drove a hard punch into his lower right back, he hissed and growled bring his right arm around to elbow the pest in the side of the head. Sidda barely blocked it and stripped the pistol but found her arm now caught by his and he yanked her around. When he let her go she clung to his arm forcing him to bring her right back within striking distance. Another punch from her connected with his jaw, again assisted with biotics. The Turian grunted and got his hand free from her returning the favor.

Sidda saw stars for a moment and felt her mouth fill with blood as she rolled away from him. She wasn't just going to beat him; she was going to kill him. She didn't care how he got back to the Citadel, the Council was a little vague on that, all she could think of was Nihlus and witnessing his death was the driving force for her. On her feet now she closed the distance between them in a quick sprint, dropping to her knees sliding on the platform under whatever biotic he was conjuring and landed where she needed to be, behind him.

Saren growled loudly as she kneed him in the back with a biotic assist, he staggered forward which wasn't her plan, she'd intended to him knock him forward onto his face but he was too controlled for that. He roared at her, spun and she dropped him with a swift sweep from the back. The big Turian slammed onto his back and she got back to her feet.

"You were a Spectre, the best, and you threw it all away, you murdered your protégé. You're indoctrinated!" she roared at him venting the sheer anger on him finally. She was enraged with him, she'd been a Spectre for a fraction of the time he had and was disgusted and appalled with him.

Saren growled loudly at the pesky Human he'd clearly underestimated and as Sidda's body glowed a brilliant blue, he saw the Warp coming. She let it fly and Saren blocked it with a barrier causing a biotic explosion with enough force to knock Sidda head over heels back. It dazed her and she laid flat for a moment trying to recover; Saren got the last word with that match. His shadow loomed over her and he grabbed her throat picking her up and holding her at least a foot off the ground. It took Sidda a moment to realize that she was almost dangling over the edge of the platform.

"I will not let you undo my work," he growled fiercely as she felt his fingers squeeze.

"Look at what they've done to you," she managed out as it had become hard to speak, she couldn't move her jaw and the space her throat had was shrinking rapidly. "We don't have to fight…," she added as the struggle to breathe and talk worsened, "help me stop this. We can still stop this."

"I no longer believe that," he answered and though his words showed his confidence his eyes didn't. He was still in there, still a Turian in control of at least part of himself. Her world was starting to close in on itself as he slowly squeezed the life from her and then…she heard it…the familiar bark of a sniper rifle.

Garrus could hear the commotion going on behind him, a few Salarians had moved up to help Cerrus with Kaidan who had been hit with what sounded like a pretty serious wound. Kirahee had moved past Garrus after he'd picked off the remaining Geth and looked down range for any sign of Sidda and Saren. They'd heard a biotic explosion but didn't see either of them.

"End of the platform," Kirahee called out and Garrus sighted down with the scope, he saw Saren holding Sidda by the throat as high as his arm length would allow. Things went still around him as he focused on the target. Saren had his back to him and Garrus hunted for a shot, the head was obvious but given the modification to both his rifle and ammo the likelihood the round would penetrate clean through was extremely high in which case it would hit Sidda in the chest and probably kill her. His crosshairs drifted lower to the shoulders and back, it was clear that he needed to wing him, if his round went clean through it would catch Sidda in the side below the ribcage. That was much better than a large bore high velocity to the chest. He exhaled and fired. Saren's shields and barriers died a silent death as the round ripped into Saren's right upper back and he dropped Sidda. He panicked a moment as it seemed like she fell through the floor but was able to grapple her way back onto the deck, Saren barely kept his feet but dropped off the edge to be rescued by his hovercraft and sailed off into the distance. He hadn't even noticed that the craft was no longer over turned where it finally landed after the explosion.

Sidda jogged back to them with the intention of giving Garrus the biggest wettest kiss she could muster but instead found more of a problem, there was plenty wounded but the obvious ones were Rentola and Kaidan.

"Shepard!" Cerrus roared as he apparently demanded her presence.

Blood was everywhere under Kaidan, the wound was centered on his left breast just below his collar bone. Cerrus was holding significant pressure on it with his right hand but also hold his own neck with his left. Kaidan was pale and not moving when she dropped to her knees across from Cerrus.

"Kaidan? Kaidan, can you hear me?" she demanded slapping his cheek lightly to bring him around. The medic stirred as Sidda looked to Cerrus. "Are you alright?" she asked, the question directed toward him as she started to rummage through Kaidan's medical kit.

"I'm fine," he growled his wound didn't seem serious; he'd maintained manual pressure on it and hadn't passed out yet so he figured that the round didn't hit anything vital on its passage through.

The Normandy arrived as Sidda applied a very generous amount of Medigel to Kaidan's entry wound and took over holding pressure from Cerrus as everyone who couldn't walk was picked up and put on the Normandy's open ramp. They had to beat feet quickly or they were going to become a part of the atmosphere.

"Joker, we're in, get us out of here," Sidda ordered sharply as she settled back down on her knees holding steady pressure to Kaidan's still bleeding wound. "And get Chakwas down here, multiple wounded."

She ignored Joker's acknowledgement as she felt the subtle movement of the ship beneath her. It accelerated quickly but the fact that she'd left the Chief behind did not escape her. "I'm sorry, Gunny," She thought to herself as medical teams arrived along with Liara, Wrex, and Tali.

"I left a teammate to die on that rock," she said to Anderson while her mentor simply listened. "According to some I made the wrong decision, 'a tactically bad decision that could have endangered the outcome of the mission'," she finished sounding as if she was quoting someone. Cerrus had made his opinion clear but she told him to take a flying leap she was in command not him. The Turian was a puzzle; he liked Kaidan more than Ashley yet was apparently okay with sacrificing his friend to protect the bomb.

Anderson wasn't there so he didn't have any room to sit back and judge, he trusted Sidda's judgement; she was a fine officer and natural leader. "You did what you had to, Shepard."

She scoffed and shook her head. "I wish people would stop saying that, because the more I hear it less I believe it," she said sharply and Anderson sighed, the memory of her sitting in Anderson's place talking to Nov after he lost Tobius and Zek came to mind; now she understood how he felt. "We need to get the Council onboard with this, it's only a matter of time before they attack the Citadel and with Sovereign heading that fleet of Geth…once Saren finds what he wants that'll be all she wrote."

"That might take some convincing," Anderson sighed, the Council was about as narrow-minded as they came; they barely believed that Saren was a traitor, to tell them that a mythological sentient race of machines was back to harvest organic life would be a hard pill for them to swallow.

"Well, I'm not gonna hand over the galaxy because they're too stupid to think outside the box," she said and he shrugged.

"We'll talk to the Council; Udina might have some sway over them," he offered and Sidda said nothing. Udina had his uses but so far she wasn't truly sure he was an ally. There was something that she didn't like about him, something she didn't trust. Anderson stood while Sidda remained where she was. "I'll have Udina assemble the Council, you meet us there."

She nodded at him and watched him leave taking a few minutes before she got up from the table and headed off. Chatting with the Council was something she had to mentally prepare for, Tevos was the typical narrow-minded Asari, Valern was also the typical Salarian, they were inconsequential to her…it was Sparatus that she could potentially get to see the threat for what it was.

To say Cerrus had been quiet since they'd left Saren's base a smoldering ruin was an understatement. He was quiet anyway but this was excessive even for him. He had an argument with Sidda outside the medical bay as he gave her a piece of his mind. He didn't agree with how the mission ended, she lost Saren, she sacrificed one of her own, she put the mission in jeopardy by aiding Kaidan and Kirahee, Ashely clearly was able to hold her position and protect the bomb but if she hadn't they could have lost everything.

He was busily cleaning the blood off his armor, his blood and Kaidan's blood. Chakwas commended him on his constant pressure on the wound, Kaidan had lost a considerable amount of blood but it wasn't anything she couldn't fix. There was a bandage covering the left side of his neck, under it was a slow healing wound coated with antibiotic salve. It was a badly healing scar that had been initially treated with medigel, now he was probably going to have a rather unsightly scar to add to his collection. It was a small price to pay, after getting onto the Normandy he all most passed out; apparently he'd lost more blood than he thought.

He ignored Sidda as she appeared next to him carrying her armor that smelled of human blood. "Can you make sure there's no lasting damage?" she asked and Cerrus growled at her.

"What do I look like your fucking tailor?" he growled harshly and Sidda huffed, obviously he was still sour about multiple aspects of the mission.

"You know, I don't get you," she began sounding irritated with him, "you always preach about the 'mission', and duty, and command….I had to make the hard choice and I made it."

Cerrus growled louder and stepped closer to her getting into her face. "Well, you made the wrong one!" he barked loudly, there was a clear rumble in his throat as he kept growling at her.

Sidda gave him a sharp shove backward, it didn't push him far but it sent the clear message to back off. "Get out of my face," she snarled back. "I am not gonna go through this with you again. I made a decision and I don't give a flying fuck if Cerrus the Great disagrees, deal with it."

"I may not have liked the Chief but that is not the point. Tactically, it was the better decision. The decision you made jeopardized the entire mission, do you realize what could have happened if the Chief hadn't held her position?" he continued and Sidda was already tired of this same circular argument.

Sidda growled, irritated. "I do not need tactical advice from a man who led his team to their deaths because he wanted to commit suicide." Cerrus' temper flared, offended by her persistent use of his worst mistake, and punched her in the mouth. The hit wasn't hard enough knock her out or knock her down but it did set her off balance just enough to take a half step back with a grunt. Blood filled her mouth and she took a moment as Cerrus took one step closer to her holding up his right forefinger. "That is the last time you use that against me. Do it again and I will kill you where you stand, do I make myself clear, Commander?"

Sidda got the message and wiped the blood from her mouth on her hand. "Fine. Fix my armor…I have to go talk to the council," she didn't feel like going a few rounds with him and, in hindsight, he was right she did use a glaring mistake from his past against him and it was over the line.

Cerrus' fist tightened and he glared at her as she turned from him and left alone. He couldn't wait to get off this ship. Sidda wasn't a bad commander, she was actually very good but when they clashed it felt like he was in hell. He was stuck on this ship until it was over, if he left or stayed on the Citadel Victus would whoop his ass for disobeying orders. People who judged him for the incident with Blackwatch still called him a coward, if he left mid mission it would only get worse. Tali was his only saving grace, he'd never leave her.

The only Council member that looked even remotely concerned about Sidda's appearance was Sparatus; the Turian had a better understanding of her than the rest did. He'd read reports from her mission on the Lante but it didn't mean that he took everything she said on faith. He knew what kind of soldier she was. Sidda had come back from Virmire looking like she'd been through the mill a few times with a report that was worrisome at best.

"Whoa. Whoa, whoa, back up…a blockade? That's it?" she asked, there was no why in hell a blockade would do a damn thing against Sovereign except irritate it. "A blockade is not going to stop Sovereign it's a Reaper for Christ sake."

"Commander, you have to understand, Saren is a threat we can recognize," Tevos said and Sidda shook her head. "If he and the Geth are foolish enough to attack the Citadel we have more than enough defenses."

"Well, you're gonna recognize the threat when it shows up on your doorstep. Don't be stupid, when Saren shows up with the full force of his Geth at his back and Sovereign leading the charge a blockade isn't gonna do squat," she replied and looked to Sparatus who had been curiously quiet the whole time. "Sparatus, you read the report?" she asked and got a single nod from him. "I'm not making this stuff up, Sovereign's real and you need to be prepared. Send the fleet with me to Ilos and I'll stop Saren before he finds the Conduit."

Sparatus was quiet for a moment as he took in what she said. "Sending the fleet into the Terminus would be considered an act of war," he said finally and Sidda's expression narrowed.

"So creating a blockade is the answer? Wait for them to come to you? Get your ass handed to you in the process?" she snarked back and Udina turned toward her.

"Easy, Commander now is the time for discretion." Udina said and Sidda's brown furrowed. "Saren has been exposed, now he is no longer a threat."

"Then let me got to Ilos, one ship in stealth mode…I can be descreet," she suggested but was met with a scoff from Sparatus.

"You detonated a nuclear device on Virmire," he scolded. "I wouldn't call that discreet."

"I destroyed a Krogan Breeding facility…somehow I knew a firecracker just wasn't gonna cut it." She defended and they had to admit, taking out the Krogan was a huge win. Saren with an army of Krogan and Geth would be disastrous on countless levels.

"Commander, we have the situation well in hand, we cannot send you to Ilos on a whim," Tevos began, "You say the Reapers are the real threat but only you have seen them and even then it was only in a vision, we will not invade the Terminus simply because you tell us to."

It was getting harder and harder for Sidda not to blow up on all three of them; she scoffed loudly like she was trying to stifle a sarcastic laugh and shrugged wildly. "If Saren gets ahold of the Conduit we're all screwed…case closed. I don't know what the hell it is or does but I'd really rather find out before he does."

Her argument died a silent death as her warnings bounced off the Council, narrow-minded fools. "Ambassador, I get the feeling that the Commander isn't willing to let this go," Sparatus said and Sidda didn't bother to hide it. She'd gnaw on this until someone listened.

"Commander, be careful…," Udina warned, "you've helped Humanity make great strides in the galactic community but now you're becoming more trouble than you're worth."

Sidda blinked, now she knew what it felt like to be stabbed in the back. "You, slimy, son of a-…"

"It's just politics, Commander, you've done your job now let me do mine," he replied sharply as he moved ahead of her.

"And which job is that?" she snorted though her tone said she wasn't being jovial about this. "Stabbing me in the back, sticking your head in the sand just like them, or kissing their ass? I'm a little fuzzy on which 'job' you mean."

Udina ignored her snappy comment. "Until further notice, the Normandy is grounded. We've locked out all operational codes. Thank you for your service but now it is time for you to leave."

A billion things ran through her mind, at the forefront was Ashley, she sacrificed one of her people on Virmire to stop Saren and she was going to be damned if she let that be in vain. Udina sold her out; she saw that coming like an atom bomb, the Councilor she thought might be able to see reason was as stubborn as every other Turian she'd ever met. Saren was on Ilos right now tearing the planet apart to find the Conduit and she was grounded by a fucking politician. "Fuck you, Udina," she hissed loudly so the obscenity could hang there as she stormed out. She wasn't going to let Ashley's death be in vain and she wasn't about to let Saren and Sovereign win.

Garrus wasn't exactly sure what made the noise in the Rec Room but he followed the sound. It sounded liked someone threw something across the room; metal on the metal, and whatever it was now clattered on the deck. "Sidda?" he questioned seeing her facing her locker and noting that it seemed to be a metal cup that she threw. He knew she'd gone to talk to the Council and based on how she was acting it didn't go so well. "How'd it go with the Council?"

She scoffed a disgusted, irritated noise. "They grounded us," she replied and Garrus blinked.

"Why?" he blurted. "What happened?"

"Well, for one, they're fucking idiots…they don't want me to go to Ilos and start a full scale war with the Terminus, they don't believe the Reapers are a threat, they don't believe the Conduit exists so they are content to sit on their ass and wait to die," she snapped back, she wasn't angry with him and he knew that. She was frustrated with the Council's crap and that was something he whole heartedly understood.

"You said 'for one', what's the rest?" he pressed.

Sidda grunted. "Udina," she growled as she thought of what she wanted to do that smarmy politician. "that motherfucker sold me out…he's the one who grounded me when I wouldn't play ball and make believe the Council has Saren contained with a measly blockade. He locked out all operation codes, we are stuck."

Garrus had moved over to the now still cup that she'd thrown and picked it up, it hadn't escaped him that she treated him like her second in command even though it was clear that Pressley was the ship's XO and Kaidan should be her XO when it came to the teams. He was flattered and proud, she trusted him and they really barely knew each other. He protected her outside Chora's Den from the assassin without even a question and now he was convinced that got his foot in the door. Then there was Virmire, he saved her life and she had already thanked him about a dozen times for it. He hadn't really had too much experience with Humans who accepted Turians as readily as she had. "There are ways around a lockdown, Sidda," he commented as he fiddled with the cup. "Most of them illegal of course."

Sidda chuckled lightly and shook her head with a smile. "You know, for a cop you do like breaking the law," she said and Garrus shrugged slightly with a chuckle of his own.

"Sorry to interrupt, Commander," Joker chimed in through the ship's comm system. "I got a note from Capt. Anderson, wants you to meet him at Flux."

"Speaking of illegal activity," Garrus commented dryly and received another chuckle from her as she patted his chest on her way past him.

"Come on, Vakarian, let's go."