Chapter 28: It Never Changes
"That Kasumi is an interesting addition to the crew." Kelly said. "I can see why she's good at her work. She never revels anything meaningful about herself. It's all out on the surface. It will be a challenge to know who she truly is."
"Maybe she just doesn't want your boss snooping into her business." Garrus snorted. "I know I don't. No one on this ship does."
Kelly had a point. As far as interviews went, the one Kasumi had been by far the most interesting. But what did Shepard really know about Miss Goto. It wall there on the surface. Kasumi Goto was romantic sentimentalist with a passion for saving kids from slavers. She was also very confident, self-assured and capable. She had a quick charming wit. That perhaps was the most dangerous for it was used as magicians use scantily clad assistances to distract the viewers from the trickery.
"My boss Mr. Garrus is the same as yours." Kelly said rather forcefully if not defensively. "Commander Shepard." she stood with her arms folded in a very 'Shepard-like' way trying to make herself seem more imposing than she truly was. It did not have the effect she wished. All it did was to want you to pat her on the head and say 'There's a good girl,'
Chambers knew that the crew of the original Normandy did not trust her. The ironic thing was Tali and Garrus's mistrust of her was deeper than it was of Miranda, a known loyalist to The Illusive Man. But Kelly's sweet face and disarming mannerisms were questioned at every turn. Not openly of course but it was in their eyes.
The rest of the crew was deliberately kept in the dark including Lawson. But that only made it worse. The crew was suspect of Chambers without knowing the reason why. It was as if a new wide spread philosophy sprung up and spread like a zealot's religion: the XO and Chief Engineer were suspicious of Kelly so maybe they should be as well. Hell Jack already stated the reason and she didn't have solid proof that she was indeed 'snitching' to TIM. With Miranda on the flagship team and the crew figured that after the Collector mission she'd stab them in the back and return to her master's feet. But until then she was a team player just like they were.
It had Chambers knew to do with the fact that during her interrogation by Shepard the young woman had admitted that she was to report the crews' mental health especially Shepard and Miranda's to The Illusive Man after each mission. Shepard had told Kelly to keep the reports going yet keep the fact Shepard knew of them from him. It was her first offering of trust. Or rather it should be said the Commander's second, as her first was to allow Chambers to remain on the Normandy and not shipped off to prison as she has with Jacob Taylor.
Still Shepard continued to treat her with respect, courtesy and kindness as much as her rank and position allowed. And that accounted for something. Actually to Kelly it accounted for a lot. It was too damn bad the woman was married because Chambers didn't want to admit just how accurate Jack had been about every thing. The dreams, the feelings...her wants.
During one of their briefings held in Shepard's cabin was fuel for her dreams that night. Granted in reality all they did was talk. The dreams…were vastly different. Shepard was making good use Chamber's training as a councilor. She wanted to know the mental health of her crew more superficially the flagship team and how they acclimatizing to the Normandy and to each other.
"Ease off Garrus." Shepard said coming up behind the pair and placing a protective hand on Chamber's shoulder at least that was how the younger woman chose to see it. "She's doing me a service. And you already know I told her to keep her reports going to TIMmy. I need him believing he has as much influence as possible. She's been feeding him misinformation. We both know how such tools are vital and necessary in war. You openly questioning her loyalty isn't making her job any easier."
Garrus looked chagrined. His mandibles flexed showing his embarrassment. "You're right of course. It's just not knowing exactly what she's telling that bastard that had me on edge. Until recently she idolized as much as she does with you. It makes me uneasy. How do we really know that she's feeding him the right things?"
"Because she shows me what she's telling him before she sends off the messages. Garrus look I get where you're coming from. Hell for a while was I was there too but being paranoid won't help. In fact it's something TIMmy will want us to be and use as a weapon against us. Why in the hell do you think he pressed the team in the first place? Independents-every one of them. And they are all unaccustomed with working well with others, leading or taking orders. It's like he looked at skill sets first. Then of those he could have chosen from he made sure that personalities, personal philosophies clashed and were at odds with each other.
"A krogan and salarian with a turian on the side. Two cut throat criminals: one an assassin the other a hardcore convict with a rap sheet longer than I am tall. Now add a Justicar whose sole purpose in life is to end corruption, and criminal activies. Then add a Cerberus loyalist and a quirky thief. TIM wants me off balance with this crew. He wants them off balance.
"He wants far more than to stop the Collectors. He wants their tech that has to be what he's truly after. The Collectors are working for the Reapers. Bet they have lots of their toys and TIMmy wasn't a piece of it."
"But surely he wants the Collectors stopped!" Chambers protested in her innocent way.
Shepard nodded. "Oh yes he does and he wants the Cerberus label all over it when they are. But that's not all he's after. He wants a lot more than some good press. I'd bet my pension that it's all tied up in what the Collectors have."
"Reaper tech." Garrus finished the sentence.
"Yeah and I'm thinking he's betting on Lawson getting it for him. It's all tide up in that Operation Lazarus or Creaser or whatever it's called. Kelly's reports will make him think his Lazarus project is working in his favour. He needs to believe it."
The hint was there. Big and heavy. 'He needs to believe and Chambers needs to make him believe. Make her life easier will you? Because making her life easier makes my life easier. It doesn't need to be more complex then this bloody conflict with the damned Collectors, politics, TIM's fracking bullshit and the general crap is making it out to be.'
Garrus titled his head in the silently understanding that comes from a team that has worked long and hard together for years. He was her unvoiced Trusted. Her Archangel. He would be there to pick her up when she needed it, dust her off and ask who needs their ass kicked now.
He turned to the younger human woman. "Chambers keep it up." it was all he offered. It was enough. A head tilt to Shepard and he dismissed himself from the War Room.
The girl smiled. She had been validated in the eyes of Shepard's most trusted. When she had been rescued ironically from her own people by Shepard, Kelly still clung to the ideals of Cerberus. To the truth that the organization the Illusive Man built was there to protect humanity. She was hand-picked by the man himself to serve Shepard when she joined them.
The great Commander hadn't so much as joined as commandeered. At the time Chambers was serving in the capacity that The Illusive Man wanted her too. And she still believed in the truth, in the vision of Cerberus. Then Shepard showed her what lay behind the truth, behind the polish. She had shown Kelly the shadows.
The red head didn't want to see the shadows, to know that the real reason people outside the Origination thought Cerberus as nothing but a fanatical -pro-human terrorist group. They had been harsh yes; Kelly so much as admitted it. But there was harsh and there was brutality. The seed of doubt was there, maybe it always had been but Chambers had stubbornly refused to acknowledge it. But it had stayed and every now and then sent out a little root. It changed everything, to have that seed growing. It made Chambers listen more carefully to what people meant, instead of what they said. When she gave her reports she started to listen to what the Illusive Man meant rather than what he said. She did this with Shepard and Miranda too. It made her wise. Aware.
Shepard was wily. She wielded words with deft care to make you want to believe in them. The Illusive man did this too, perhaps with more flare than the blunt round-about-way Shepard did. With her...it was like she followed into a revolving door but came out first.
Shepard could persuade other people to her point of view—she could convince them they wanted what she wanted them to want. They followed her because they believed.
The Illusive Man on the other hand could make them fear what he wanted them to fear. And they followed him because he offered up a chance not to be afraid.
They both controlled people-exploited them. And not just control what they did. They could control, in a way, what they wanted to do. The Illusive Man or TIM as Kelly sometimes caught herself thinking of him now took open pleasure in it, while the Spectre was more silent about such maters. They were two faces of the same coin and the universe was the medal in the middle. They both inserted ideas into the public mind. The only thing was TIM was better at it. A lot better that that was the problem. He could influence a large amount of the right people and they in-turn influenced others. It had to do with the shadows again. The ones Chambers didn't want to admit she knew where there.
Shepard influenced those under her command. It was how she had gotten Garrus to back down. She had influenced his perspective. Kelly knew as all the crew knew that Shepard was frustrated that no one outside the Normandy crew and Cerberus was taking this thing with the Collectors seriously or the Reapers had active agents in play. Why were only humans being taken? It bothered Kelly. There had to be a reason. She knew it was tied up with that plague on Omega. She had tried to talk to Mordin about but every time she did, the salarian would stop half way thorough as if he was saying things he aught not say.
Even though she didn't wear the badge of Cerberus on her uniform anymore it was still there, stencilled in invisible ink on her skin like one of Jack's many tattoos or so the crew had convinced themselves of this. This was why Garrus's validation was so important. If Shepard trusted right-hand-man could believe Chambers was not a triple agent for Cerberus then perhaps they should too.
ME~ME~ ME~ME~ ME~ME~ ME~ME
You could ask pretty much any CO what his or her lest favorite task was and it all boiled down to admen crap. Instead of dealing with the Top Brass of the Earth Systems Alliance, Shepard had to face the Council. Most of who was hell bent on publicly disbelieving the looming threat of the Reapers were not real and all in the Commander's head. Despite the fact they were all secretly creating bunkers…or rather vast vaults should the fallout happen. The Council had publicly denounced Shepard and yet they wanted people to believe in her or rather the iconic hero.
Tevos had once told her that it was imperative the general public saw her at the forefront of a crew of Alliance soldiers when dealing with the supposed Collector threat. It was to be treated like another Skillian Blitz.
They must see that you have seized assets of Cerberus, they will see the truth. Commander Samantha Shepard's truth. It may account for more than you know. People know about you, Commander. Commander Samantha Shepard who once arrested a rouge Spectre for treason. And Commander Shepard who destroyed a Reaper for gross acts of genocide and Commander Shepard who stopped a wholesale slaughter by standing before an entire platoon of batarian soldiers, pirates and slavers to save a colony. She's an arresting soul, Commander Samantha Shepard.
Listen to me; the truth is what we need. Rumour and uncertainty are the enemies now. The chatterers have started; they know how to turn words into weapons. They need Commander Shepard to tell them what to believe because that would be the truth.
If you want the truth, need me to spread it then why derail me at every turn? Why say the vaults are precautions against geth building Sovereign class dreadnoughts? Why conceal the truth from them and yourselves?
When this question was put to them it was Anderson that had answered her.
The short answer: Politics. The longer truncated version:
The enemy is no match for your meretricious duplicity. They are up against a mind that regards truth as a reference point but certainly not as a shackle. You can think yourself through a corkscrew in a tornado and not touch the sides.
Yeah well the enemy at this given point wasn't the Reapers, hell it wasn't even the Collectors. It's Cerberus. And TIM is a far better master at 'meretricious duplicity' than I am. She hated how paranoid he was making her. Probably something he had planned on in his Operation Creaser.
Between the lot of them, TIM and the Council Shepard wondered at times at her own sanity. Both camps it seemed strive to push her over the edge. More often then not she was beginning to sympathize with the lunatic Saren for wanting to kill off the ineffectual Council. That was never a good thing. Sam wondered how in the hell Tala Vasir dealt with the Council's crap. How often was she scrutinized, chastised and tested?
Not as often as I am that's for damn sure. Shepard thought bitterly as she mounted the long stairs leading to the Audience Chamber. She had taken note when she had first entered the chambers there was a definite lack of people in attendance. Even the C-Sec guards were vacant leaving only the Council in view. Shepard wasn't naive enough to believe that they were the only five within the Great Hall. The personal guard were lurking somewhere. And Shepard spotted an asari silhouette on the upper balcony. Because the Commander took note of the distinct lines of a hard suit she knew it was not Tevos's attaché.
Probably Vasir or another asari Spectre. Shepard speculated. Yeah Vasir. Has to be. She's the only one that some vague connection to all of this shit. Of course that was by accident.
"You can't help it can you? You simply can't resist it." Sparatus started as soon as Shepard stood before them. No other greeting, no salutations- just straight in with an accusatory question.
"And just what is it that I'm unable to help or resist sir?" Shepard responded in a clipped professional tone. Her back was straight, legs slightly apart in the model stance of a soldier at ease.
"Purgatory! You blew up an entire prison ship! Ninety percent of all souls lost! And for what? One highly dangerous, highly volatile convict? A human woman with multiple consecutive life-sentences? A woman high on Cerberus's recruiting list?"
Oh…that…..the words crossed the Spectre's eyes but not her lips. Inwardly she winced. And she couldn't blame the turian for his question. It was not unlike a bad habit. It was ridiculous the way explosions followed her around like a lost hungry puppy. It was becoming a running joke, a bad one if you asked the Commander.
"Not to mention the destruction of property on Illium and the death of one of the cities propitiate financiers as well as a whole warehouse up in flames." Sparatus continued to rave.
"To clarify sir the destruction of Purgatory could have been avoided had its Warden not double crossed the deal. Apparently someone wanted to buy me. I was worth more to him than Jack. Now unless the Council has some unknown stipulation or undisclosed amendment to its regulations regarding Spectres being sold off as slaves or taken as hostages as permissible, I took great exception to that.
"The death of the Warden occurred when I was forced into a fight I never wanted. He and his men died because of his own greed and stupidity. Had the transaction of prisoner transfer gone according to the agreement, Purgatory would still be operational and not a smoldering ruin." Shepard explained without emotion. Then added as an afterthought: "sir."
"And what of Illium?" Tevos questioned. "Have you carried your personal war with the mercenary guilds there was well?"
Oh ho! So now 'we're' concerned about a colony out on the Terminus Systems. Didn't I say if it was an asari colony you'd get your panties in a twist? "The destruction of the Dantius Towers was as much of Nassana Dantius's fault as they were mine. I highly doubt the Nos Astra PD neglected to mention she ordered the execution of all her workers by the Eclipse thugs. Nassana didn't care how her orders were carried out, only that they were. She terrorized, brutalized and murdered the vast majority of her employees. Only a few managed to escape her crazed vendetta and that was only because of me and my team's intervention and that includes Thane Krios.
"Now I know with the right paperwork almost everything on Illium is legal but that's going a bit far, don't you think?" the Spectre didn't wait for a response from the collective Councilors. Instead she ploughed headlong into her explanation of events.
"I also doubt the NAPD failed mentioned the chapter known as the Eclipse Sisters was harboring an ardat yakshi who was being hunted by a Justicar. A Justicar that by sacred Oath swore to aid me in the pursuit of the Collectors. The destruction of the Eclipse base was out of necessity. Had their people complied with Justicar Samara's demands and relinquished the name of the ship that smuggled the fugitive offworld there would have been a lot less explosions and fewer deaths.
"I also find it difficult to believe that the NAPD failed to report the disruption at the shipping warehouse was do to the fact that this same group—the Eclipse Sisters were hired by some lunatic to kidnap a young adult in my custody. That wasn't going to happen. I put a stop to it.
"You'd be amazed how many people simply do not want to cooperate with the law, come quietly or simply act in a civilized fashion. But every damn time someone gets it into their fool heads that it's a great idea to pull their weapons and open fire on a Spectre." She shrugged. "Then you get explosions, death and paperwork."
The joke was a little flat at the end. Even Anderson grimaced at that last part despite the fact his lips had curled upwards during most of her explanation.
"I see." Tevos commented in the award stillness that followed Shepard's words. "Your report coincides with the reports we received from the Illium police. A clarification of events was simply needed to place all into context."
"I wrote everything down and passed it along the chain-of-command despite the fact you said I didn't need to file reports on my activities in the Terminus Systems." Shepard resented the unsaid implications that she was on a rampage of destruction.
From a certain point of view it could have been surmised that she was a one-woman wreaking ball bent on destroying or disrupting the colonies of the other Council races because the Council had refused to lend military aid to the humans that were being targeted.
Valern stepped up. "A defunct prison ship raised many questions, Commander. You can understand why. The law is supposed to put criminals in prisons, not to break them out."
"Spectre." Shepard said automatically correcting the Councilor.
"What?" Sparatus snapped more coolly then he perhaps had intended as the other three all looked at him with varying degrees of dissension.
"The Council made it abundantly clear that I was to resign my commission to the Alliance. Therefore I am to be addressed not by rank but by the salutation Spectre. Is this not so?" She challenged with her simple redirecting of the question. Truth-be-told she wasn't bothered by being addressed by her rank most of the time. It was familiar to her as simply being called by her family name.
Even her closest friends called her Shepard. But she wasn't going to allow the Council such amenities after they blatantly forced her to resign from the Alliance. Something they had all failed to mention during her induction into the Spectres two years ago. Had they done so she would have complied. It wasn't until she was given her new ship the Victory they informed her of this oversight and berated her lateness. When she had countered their rebuffs of her failure with this fact they backed down. It had been laid at Udina's feet she who was supposed to take care of such details. But he wanted full control of her actions, insuring her loyally never wavered from the Alliance or by in large part to him.
All this had been discussed at length before. Brining it up again was redundant
"Of course." Tevos quickly interceded. "It was not a discourtesy you were so addressed but one I fear out of habit. Commander Shepard is a known quality." she placed an emphasis on the first word as one might have spoken of a celebrity. Or rather the character role said actor played rather then their given name.
"Spectre." Anderson started deliberately addressing her by her true title. "This new crew, the one Cerberus wanted you to head hunt. Do you trust them?"
That was a hard question to answer honestly. Did she? She trusted elements of them to be sure. She trusted the word of Samara without hesitation. The Justicar's whole life was her Code. She trusted Zaeed to be a self-interested prick but a good shot. So far he hadn't disappointed. Jack hard to say. Kasumi? Trust a thief to steal and you'll never be disappointed. Thane? He was an assassin with a monk's code of honor. Mordin was a scientist who pledged his aid, and besides Kirrahe said while he could be trusted to carry out his duties. Grunt? The punk kid had a lot to learn but he bowed to Shepard's dominance. Miranda and Chambers? Chambers was wet but desperate to prove herself. Miranda? The thing was…
"I trust them as much as I trust this Council, sir." Shepard avoided a direct answer. "They will complete the mission."
"Why has Cerberus pressed these particular people into service?" Valern asked. "Most seem loyal only to themselves."
"I've been wondering that myself, Councilor. On the surface it might be too easy to think it's for publicity: 'See we're not terrorists that hate aliens. Really.' No one is stupid enough to swallow that." Well maybe Chambers was at first… After a pause Shepard outlaid her own ideas on the matter. "I think TIM wants distraction. As much of it as he can muster so he can do whatever it is he's really planning with the Collectors."
"You believe Cerberus is in corporation with the Collectors?" Tevos asked almost fearful of the response.
"I don't disbelieve it." another careful answer. "What I do know is that this new crew is even more independent then the one I put together to chase down Saren. I also think Cerberus views them as extremely expendable. Most of them aren't human, so TIM will not care if they fall in battle. But he's no one's fool. Every new member has unique skill sets I need to get the job done.
"And yes before you ask I could have done the mission with the crew of the Victory." She laid heavy emphasis on the ship's original name, refusing to call the Wavecrest by the IDC the Council had forced upon her. "But that isn't an option is it?"
"You were given the reasons why." Sparatus crisply rebuked the young woman. "You know the Council can not become involved in…."
"'A purely human matter.' Yes sir I got that the first time."
"Then why are you insisting that Terminus Systems believe otherwise? You are flagrantly flying the colors of the Council on the captured vessel. Against orders I might add."
"Council colors? No sir. The Normandy SR2 is a Spectre ship. My ship. I'm a Spectre. I fly the blue and white of my station. You may as well try and claim they are the same colors of the Alliance but their ships have more gray on them." she smiled. "My uniform has the Spectre wings and halo. Would you rather I fly the colors of Cerberus? Wear their uniform? Or do you want me back in Alliance uniforms? I'll always be an N7 even when I'm cold and dead in the grave. Just like every asari Spectre or Justicar will always be a huntress. I'll be happy to wear the honored black and red of the N7s again believe me."
She left out of course the little detail that when on the Normandy the N7 BDUs were exactly what she wore. Hell most of her off-duty clothing had the very distinctive N7 insignia upon them.
Sparatus's mandibles twisted in rising anger but Anderson interceded. You could see the pride shimmering in his dark brown eyes. "I think we're getting off point here. Shepard if you can believe in this new crew, trust them, then go for it. There was no reason to believe you could whip such a diverse group into a unified crew as you had against Saren. But you did. Make it work again."
"Yes sir." Shepard inclined her head to acknowledge the order.
"Spectre Shepard," Tevos called all attention to her. "Our interrogations of the prisoner Jacob Taylor have yielded little in favorable progress. We have uncovered a number of bases but we have not yet captured the Illusive Man. And there has been another development. One I think you will wish to confront your Miss Lawson about." There was a barely perceptible nod of the head.
The shadow from the balcony far above the chamber floor moved. There was a sudden flash of blue and white biotic powers and then Tala Vasir was standing beside her fellow Spectre. She has used a charge to loft her from the balcony to the ground floor.
Showoff
Shepard didn't say anything. Tevos had an undeniable however extremely subtle hunger for the dramatics. This little drama would be played out according to the matriarch's desires. The faces of the other Councilors betrayed no hint of what dramatics were pending, not even that of Anderson's.
Ether they were all playing this close to the chest or they were not in the know. As there was no smirking expression on the smug turian's craggy face and no warning in Anderson's eyes Shepard assumed that perhaps they were as much in the dark as she was.
How provincial of the Tevos.
And they called Shepard duplicitous.
"It maybe wise to consider in your calculations when dealing with Cerberus that they are manipulating you to their own ends." Vasir said. "While you were out playing pirate and stealing a ship your friend the Illusive Man sent one of his little piss-ant minions here to collect data on you."
"WHAT?!"
"Got your attention did it?" Sparatus baited Shepard.
"What?" Shepard looked from the Councilors to Tala and back again. "Somebody better start making a little sense here." she demanded then recalled she was talking to her superiors. She didn't give any hint that she had overstepped her bounds as a subordinate, even if she stood a little straighter. The only one to read the expression: 'Oh bugger' in her eyes was the only other human in the room.
Tala seemed to smirk, pleased by Shepard folly or she had one hell of a trump card to play. "I will be happy to clarify Shepard." She turned. "You were correct in believing the Illusive Man is playing you. He has by allowing you to uncover the means and way to steal the duplicate Normandy-built specifically for you, had you incapacitorially distract the Council's attention. Or so he had hoped."
A slithering smile. "A changeling, a chameleon slipped onto the Citadel on the pretence that she was doing a runner from Cerberus. She was smart. Stupid but smart. Smart enough not to lie when I caught her trying to hack into the Spectre files. Apparently she assumed non-humans are gullible, guileless and naive.
"Oh she played her part well: a quivering little speck of a girl, pleading for safety. She ran directly for the big bold powerful Spectre begging to be protected from Cerberus and in trade she had details on them. It was so easy to see though such façades. So I let her play her game. Left alone in the little room in the Spectre offices she went directly for the records as soon as I was out of the room. I caught her of course. This little wench wore a blonde wig, colored contracts and used chemicals to lighten her skin. She believed she was clever, clever enough to outsmart a mere asari Spectre.
"She can't be trusted of course. But she was desperate to continue to be a slave, useful to 'TIM'. So much so that she agreed to be of use to me. As a Spectre you know of course you can make sure the DNA of a captive spreads to all Council-controlled cities making it impossible for the scum to set foot in them without immediate arrest. That sort of thing makes Cerberus agents useless to their boss or any other employer for that matter."
"Who was she?" Shepard ignored the Council's presence entirely.
"Does it matter? Her assumed name was a lie. I doubt she even knows what her true name is any more. She of course doesn't truly know what 'TIM' wants just as you don't. But you are smart enough to know it's not just to stop the Collectors and save your wayward colonies. I gave her she wanted. All the data on you. Everything."
Shepard glowered. Her body sparked in cyan and quickly cooled. She looked from the Spectre to the Council's impassive faces to Tela and back to an enraged Anderson. Shepard was being set up, just as she had been when Udina and the Council turned their backs on her after Virmire.
"You knew about this!" Anderson roared pinning Tevos with a glare so deadly it could have killed a thresher maw. "You allowed that son-of -a-bitch to get everything on Shepard. You BETRYAED her!"
"No!" Tevos shock her head. "No. It might have seemed so, but no. I promise you. The disk contains a virus. If it isn't uploaded we know that the spy warned them and she will become a wanted criminal thought the galaxy."
"That's it? And so what if this fucking bitch becomes a wanted criminal you gave Cerberus…The Illusive Man everything he needs to use against Shepard. Do you think they won't have the means to circumvent that virus?"
"Councilor Anderson it was a risk we had to take." Tala said calmly. "The agent's cover has been broken. She's done in the field. Wherever data The Illusive Man managed to siphon will not be of any use to him or his organization once he is dead. And he will be in short time."
"I was not speaking to you Spectre Vasir." Anderson barked in his most cold and hard command voice. It had such an effect on the asari that she actually snapped to attention. Her glowered at Tevos, looked past her to Sparatus. "You're always berating her, baiting her, always questioning her decisions, her loyalty to the Council, to the Specters. That ends now! And not one of you has shown the same integrity, the same loyalty of duty to her as she has to you. And now… now you throw her to the wolves? Accuse her of colluding with the enemy when she has done nothing of the sort.
"I'm apart of this Council like it or not and I will not allow you to burn her. Not like this. And you Tevos, she actually had faith in you." He roared at the asari. "Trusted you and you do this to her? How dare you?! How dare you? I will lodge a formal complaint to Hierarchy, the Matriarchy and the Dalatrass for the flagrant betrayal of one of our own agents."
A heavy silence dipped into the chambers. One could almost hear the thundering heart of anger beating and growing.
"That is hardly necessary." Sparatus said in equal cold disdain. "SHE…." he pointed to Shepard. "Agreed to this."
"I did not." Shepard took a step forward. "I had no knowledge this action. How could I possibly agree to it?"
"But you did Spectre. You did. When you agreed to infiltrate their origination. To play the farce of this alliance between you and them. It is a poor solider who whimpers when the plan is carried out simply because they don't have all the details."
"And it is a poor general that sacrifices his people deliberately…needlessly for his own ambitions." Anderson shifted his gaze to Tevos, "or hers."
"This should be interesting." Tela whispered to Shepard. "Perhaps we should place wages."
Shepard turned to her colleague, "You're enjoying this." she said incredulously.
The asari Spectre smirked.
"What was done was done out of necessity. Spectre Vasir understood this and took the imitative." Tevos said unapologetically. "This is how a Spectre is supposed to function. Independently, sizing the initiative and opportunity when it's presented to disable or destroy enemies of Council. Commander….Spectre Shepard when she did the same in taking the Cerberus built Normandy. Spectre Vasir did no less when she was given the opportunity to cripple Cerberus with perhaps a more subtle blow."
"I suspect that the issue is not that act was done but that Shepard had been deliberately left in the dark." Valern commented. "If this mission against Cerberus is to come to fruition our agent who is nearer the inside should have all available information necessary." As a former STG member, Valern understood that having all information at hand before committing to any action was imperative.
"She is being told now." Sparatus growled at the others. "She need not be coddled simply because she is the only human Spectre."
Shepard glowed. She was accused of being coddled by Okeer now the fracking turian Councilor. She gave an appreciative nod to Anderson then turned to the others. "It's not coddling to give your agents proper weapons. It occurs to me that three out of four of you don't actually see me as a true Spectre.
"When I went up against Saren, I would have been more effective to have had access to his reports to understand how he thinks. But I didn't. When I asked for more information you told me anything relevant would be passed to my ambassador who would then inform me. The only thing Udina did was to lodge complaints. Complained that the geth blew up Prothean ruins not once but twice. He complained I would not commit genocide. Which was why when you told him, yes told him to lock down the Normandy and force me to stand down he did without hesitation, despite the fact Spectres are answerable only to the Council and not to the governments of their species. I had always wondered why there was such hypocrisy and double-standards with me.
"I was told that there is no training to become a Spectre. They are not made they are born. Born from battle and fire, and trials. I had no recourse but to fall back onto my N7 training. Incase you need a reminder, Councilors it means Special Forces. It has served me well. I will continue to use that training. Human soldiers see the N7 and they know what it means, what's expected of us. They may even have an inkling of what it takes to become one. As an N7 I know what is expected of me. The standard I must live up to, the duties, regulations and code of conduct.
"The only things I know about being a Spectre is that we are a law unto ourselves, not bound by restrictions, laws or regulations. We are expected to adhere to a certain code only no one tells you what that code is. I believed I was still under trial, to prove my worthiness in a gauntlet of fire. Like the first day of N7 training. You are given basic gear, then separated and stranded on an asteroid with no nav data. The test ends when the last person runs out of oxygen. If you're the first to run out of air you're out of the program. The best N7s can survive alone, but if we work together we can survive even longer.
"And by the way if you're wondering during my trials I was the last to run out of air. I found two other recruits and we worked together and beat the odds. When I assembled my crew against Saren we beat the odds. I survived because there was no other option. Those months of hunting Saren I treated them like that day on the asteroid. The only think I knew then was I had to overcome, adapt and survive.
"I spoke with one of my crew he's now my XO. He told me he was selected for Spectre training. And I thought….hang-on Spectre's were not trained at least not like an N7. They didn't have a direct chain of command, answerable only to the Council. But if this is so why did my guy talk about special training? Do turians specially train candidates to become Spectres? If so why are they given this special dispensation?
"I reasoned I was left in the dark on purpose. So was the Alliance. I reasoned that some on the Council wanted to prove their point and made sure I was given as little as possible to confront Saren. It was the reason I had to outfit my entire crew using first my own expenses then those we recovered along the way.
"Fortunately our survey teams uncovered a vast array of minerals, gasses and precious metals to fund our campaign. We had salvaging teams that uncovered lost relics as well which we returned for a 'finder's fee'. We made a substantial amount selling reclaimed arms and armours as well. We made enough to outfit the entire flagship team with the top of the line armour and weaponry.
"When I was asked by my crew why the Council wasn't paying for the venture I replied you are undoubtedly testing my resourcefulness. Councilor Sparatus said it was too early for a human to be a Spectre, that we're not ready. I have to prove I am.
"When I was asked why the Alliance wasn't giving any more funding, I told them what I knew to be true. That the Alliance believed the Council would do its part as this was now a Council mission. And besides they would only pay for Alliance military, more than half my flagship team was non-human. For all intensive purposes we were completely on our own."
"I did not think you were ready to be a Spectre then, maybe not even now." The turian said. "What is your point of all of this?"
"Really? You believe that still? If were true then you'd be dead now Councilor killed by a 'real' Spectre." she did finger quotes in the air, mocking the man as he once had her so long ago. "A turian Spectre. Who no doubt received Spectre training before he was inducted into the ranks. I told you before I proved my readiness when I revealed your beloved Saren the traitor." Shepard retorted in a voice devoid of emotion. She was not going to allow the man the satisfaction of getting a further rise out of her. She was not going to ring the bell.
"I'm working with a Justicar. She has five thousand sutras to dictate her every action, her every decision. She has certainty in what is expected of her and where her boundaries lay. From what I hear no asari would ever question the judgment of a Justicar. But it's not so clear cut with a Spectre. I refuse to behave like a thug with a badge. That's my point Councilor." Shepard said keeping her face as impassive as a stone wall.
"I know the value of good intelligence, the necessity of keeping in operations close to the chest and need to know only. An N7 can't operate without both nor can a Spectre. I know when the Brass drops the ball on Intel they love to blame their subordinates when it all goes to hell. They like to call it 'plausible deniability'. I've done more than a few missions like that when I was still in the Alliance. I know it's expected of the Spectres.
"But I will not stand here in a private meeting and take any blame when I wasn't given the necessary information to complete my task by those that gave it to me. Nor will I stand in the line of fire of something I was completely unaware of and out of my control.
"I want a full copy of what was given to TIM. I want the reports on this agent Vasir delt with. I want to know what sort of weapons TIM has against me. All of it."
"Now you're learning." Vasir said in a hushed tone.
For a moment it looked as Sparatus was going to argue, even Tevos was taken aback by the demand. Her dark blue lips thinned into a line of censure. "Very well. As you say, it will be imprudent leave you deprived the tools necessary to confront The Illusive Man. However you will know that it is not customary for our agents to demand anything of the Council. Do not get in the habit of doing so." a clear warning.
Shepard knew she was close to overstepping her bounds if she hadn't already. But she knew she was right, as did the Council. It was why they acquiesced. Besides they had no superior moral ground in which to stand. They had allowed her records to 'slip' into enemy hands and were blatantly using her as a pawn upon the game board. Everyone in the chamber knew it.
"As you progress with this alliance with Cerberus you will no doubt be asked to go on several missions for them as you had with the Alliance when Admiral Hackett ordered you to do so." Sparatus said. "It will appear to many that you are aiding and abetting the known enemy. Where as when Hackett commanded you to go on no less then six missions for the Alliance it only appeared that you were unwilling to forgo your allegiance to Earth."
Why is it every time he speaks it's an accusation? "The missions I went on for the Admiral were out of duty and loyalty yes. I was still a Commander in the Navy. And may I remind you sir and the rest of the Council had I refused then the Admiral would not have been so inclined to listen to me when the Destiny Ascension was in peril. He would have ordered a full attack on Sovereign rather then sail to your rescue. If you have issues with your continued existence sir, I am led to believe turians commit a version of seppuku do they not?"
Sparatus lips curled backwards but no words issued out. Anderson's small chuckle was heard in the din of silence that followed.
"I believe my colleague meant to say was that to the outside eye it will appear as if this alliance despite being a fabrication is very real. Already there are rumours abroad that speculate that you have in fact joined Cerberus." Valern said.
"All the more reason why I ordered the paint job on my ship. I will never work for Cerberus." she looked to Vasir then back to Tevos. "Isn't this is how a real Spectre is supposed to function? 'Independently, sizing the initiative and opportunity when it's presented to disable or destroy enemies of Council space'? So yes I will use Cerberus resource to do just that."
"Spectre so far there has been no concrete evidence, no intelligence that the Collectors are directly involved." Valern stated.
"No? I gave you the data on the plague on Omega and the recordings of the vorcha leader. He professed he was working for the Collectors. Mordin Sullus even accredited the plague to Collectors. You saw the recordings from Freedoms Progress! You can not deny they hit the colony. And since when do raiders and slavers leave whole buildings intact? No evidence of offensive or defensive weapons fire anywhere, no explosions, no collateral damage. Nothing. Nothing but missing colonists.
"With all do respect sir, if you looked with your former STG eyes rather than his: 'she's-a-human-therefore-lying-and-raving-don't-trust-her' eyes," she pointed to Sparatus, "then you'd see what I saw. And you can not stand here and deny the first Normandy was attacked by a Collector ship! I sent the recordings of the black box. You saw the enemy ship's profile. It matches sightings of Collector vessels!" She knew she had done it. Completely step over the line but she didn't care.
Hang it all! If she had to she'd take the Normandy SR2 and stop the Collectors on her own she'd do it. The ship was hers now, the crew loyal to her, each of them committed to the mission. It wouldn't be the first time she had to fund her own mission. She'd done it before she'd do it again.
Tevos stepped up before a full blown argument could erupt. Perhaps she saw the resolved burring in the younger woman's eyes. Or perhaps in her aura. Vasir seemed to have seen something as she took a step back and focused her attention to the asari Councilor: as if to ask 'are you seeing this?'
"This is why Spectre you are allowed to further your investigations into the matter and complete your mission." She gave a warning glance to the turian and another to Anderson. "Do what you need to do. We will not detain you further."
A clear dismissal.
Shepard saluted, turned a crisp180 and headed back down the length of the chambers to the stairs that led to the elevator. A heartbeat later she was joined by Tala Vasir.