Chapter 41: Black Sails
Dr. Liara T'Soni is an astonishing accomplished young woman, who in her early life was already the youngest expert in the field of Prothean archaeology, a daring partisan guerrilla. She was a measured, articulate, and persuasive voice of reason with the academia circles of Thessia, the daughter of a one of the most respected Matriarchs and high Priestess and very good information broker.
At the moment she was none of these things. She is not shy about using her reputation for fierce physical courage to her advantage in political debate—but her inmost reality, the most fundamental, unbreakable core of her being, is something entirely different.
She is Spectre Samantha Shepard's bondmate.
Yet bondmate is a word too weak to carry the truth of her, bondmate is such a small word, such a common word, a word that come from a downturned mouth with so many petty, unpleasant echoes. For Liara, saying I am Samantha Shepard's bondmate is saying neither more nor less than I am alive.
Her real life before Samantha belonged to someone else, some lesser being. Someone so deeply mired into her research she had no outside interests, who could never suspect how profoundly life should be lived.
Her real life began the first time she looked into Samantha Shepard's eyes and found in there not the critical expectations of a matriarch's daughter, the suspicions of a geth collaborator, but the direct, unashamed, smoldering passion of a powerful Spectre: a young woman, no question—but a woman whose legend was already growing within the Spectres and beyond. A woman who knew exactly what she wanted and was honest enough to simply ask for it; a woman strong enough to unveil her deepest feelings before her without fear and without shame.
A woman who loved her, with a faithful and patient heart. She loved Liara with a great fire, undeniable and true. Liara was decades older than Samantha, and wise enough to know the human better than she knew herself. Samantha was stubborn, wilful, moody and quick to anger—but these faults only made Liara love her the more, for every flaw was balanced with equal greatness: her capacity for joy over the smallest things, cleansing laughter, a charming albeit sarcastic wit, her extraordinary generosity of spirit, her unflinching dedication to duty even when faced with challenging adversity, her passionate devotion not only to Liara but also to the service of every living being.
That devotion worried Liara to the core of her soul, to the very depths of it. Radiant blue eyes stared at the monitor and closed again. Oh Samantha. She opened them again to the frozen image of her bondmate unleashing the tsunami. A truly devastating biotic attack but at such a cost. And those creatures they fought, how monstrous they were, how terrible they were. Dark and formidable.
Blue eyes glistened as tears welled behind them and slipped their hold and trailed down azure cheeks dappled with freckles. For this academic, guerrilla, this archaeologist cum information broker, motherless daughter, this married woman knew her bondmate; her Samantha would face many more such horrors before she was able to come home to her and their child. And even after she did, she would be readying her forces to face off the Reapers. But it would take far more than a single ship and a crew of determined dedicated souls for such to be pushed back and defeated. A small part of Liara orbited around the very thought this was the fight, this malignant evil her Samantha would sacrifice her life to put an end to.
The tears were belligerently whipped away. Now wasn't the time for such weaknesses. Even in the privacy of her own home, Liara could ill afford to succumb now. Without even looking at the keyboard, T'soni activated the play button and watched as the scene of Horizon's battlefield switched to the private meeting Sam had with Williams. The words and accusations spilling from the woman she called friend were as toxic as the fallout world of 433 Spidau.
The massive exchange of weapons had not been nuclear as it had upon that world but of words and nearly as devastation of those that had reduced at least ninety cities to rubble. 433 Spidau still bore radioactive markers even after a 1,000 years had passed, how long would the scars left by accusations of treachery last? While the concerns over the lasting effects of interfacing with Prothean artefacts was valid questioning of Samantha's loyalties was not- more to the fact they were way over the line. Williams couldn't even make up her mind as to what she was accusing Sam of: collaborating with the enemy pro-human group of terrorists or turning her back on humanity and joining with the aliens insuring their continued dominance of the galaxy.
Liara hit the replay button and listened for a second and third time. Then a fourth.
Skipper I can't believe you're actually working with her?"
"Her? Her who?"
"That Cerberus bitch! Why in the hell isn't she in Alliance custody?"
"You know why. I need her to get to TIM. To do that I need to turn her. I can't do that if she's locked away in a cell or did you forget the plan?" Liara heard the cold puzzlement in Sam's voice, as if she could not fathom why Ashley was suddenly accusatory.
"No, I didn't forget, but maybe you're buying a little too much into your own long-con."
"You want to back that statement up soldier?" pure anger now. Liara could almost feel it even through the recording.
"The news is filled with your supposed alliance with Cerberus. Even the Alliance Admiralty is wary and thinks you're the one that got turned by Lawson not the other way around."
"Which of the Admiralty. Not Hackett or my mother, not Anderson. So then who?"
"I can't say. I have my orders."
"Of course. And you know damned well TIM wanted to incite a plan that would make me lose all credibility with the Alliance Command and the Council, leaving me in disgrace and dishonored with no recourse but to ally with him.
"You know damned well the Council wants me to get close to kill the bastard. Why the doubts now Ash? What's gotten into you?"
Indeed why the doubts now? It didn't make any sense at all. It was almost as if Williams was deliberately baiting Samantha. Was she taking recordings of the meeting for her 'Admiralty' to hear—what a confession or deniability to prove her innocence?
"Gotten into me?! Nothing! I'm not the one that melded with an asari indoctrinated not only by Sovereign but by that thorian thing-who got so wrapped up in ancient Prothean devices it nearly turned my brain to mush."
"You're talking about the CS? I was border-line. And I got better. Clean bill of health both physically and mentally. I've had so many psych-exams…I can nearly quote the damned questions by rote."
They took great pains to cover up the cyan syndrome. Now here was Williams deliberately dragging it out. Why? This was a direct betrayal of trust. Of all else—outing Samantha-this was pure treachery. Everything else was pure speculations, but not this: unforgivable.
"And that's the problem though isn't it? You could tell the shrinks what they need to hear to pass. How do you know? How do you know you're still not being manipulated by those things? You still have nightmares you can't wake from? Headaches. I can see it in your eyes you have one now. Still getting all those flashbacks to memories that aren't yours? Say words that aren't yours? See things others don't."
Liara's anger rose. This wasn't Ashley trying to help Sam against the accusations the Admiralty may have had, she was trying to set her friend up. Make Sam admit to being incompetent, mental unstable. Why? Why now?
"That would be called hallucinations. And no Ash I don't see things that aren't there, or hear sickly yellow songs. I'm going to ask you one last time - what in the hell is wrong?"
"Those psych-exams you think you passed. I don't think you did. I was pressed by Alliance Health. They're concerned about you."
"You mean my fitness for command."
"Among other things. Yes."
"And what did my Trusted, my former XO, my flagship team's 2IC tell these oh so concerned shrinks?"
"That you're a woman of immeasurable integrity and sense of duty. Who doesn't shrink in the face of impossible odds. Anyone is lucky to be under your command."
"Why do I sense a but in there?"
"Skipper, you went though a hell of a lot. I mean just look at it from their perspective, from anyone not close to you would think. I mean you get changed by the beacons and no one can say just how much. You died, got put back together again and now you're mostly cyborg parts, went through some weird asari gestalt that changed you again! Then you were connected to your daughter in some meld I can't even begin explain, when she died in her mother's womb.
"Your life was torn apart by some fucking Prothean vinculum memory storage thing and put on display for all to see. It got all meshed up with other Prothean memories stored inside so now you have their memories as if you lived them. Can you even separate them anymore? You have cipher locked into your head that changes the way you see and think. It came from a creature that indoctrinates others. How do you know for certain that Shiala didn't pass this indoctrination on to you like some mental mumbo-jumbo STD? You can speak and understand a language long since dead and no one for nearly fifty thousand years not even Liara has heard spoken.
"You became a victim of CS. That disease had your emotional state all over the place; you declared war on all the merc guilds in the Terminus Systems because of it. It had Liara so convinced there was a thing between us she asked me into a triple marriage deal with the both of you. And it touched her mind too, tainting it. And …then this deal with Cerberus? It's a bit much for an outsider to accept without question. Hell it's a bit much for those who were there to not question it."
However much the words were heated there was validity to them. What if the Thorian's influence passed from Shiala into Sam just as the Cipher was. It could be meshed in with the Cipher on a subliminal level just as the indoctrination of Sovereign could have been passed along. And there was no denying the influence the Prothean devices had over Samantha.
Nor could the incident of cyan syndrome. The touch of it had significant effects on Samantha's mental health. And though cleared it might have made her will weak enough for the influences of the Thorian / Prothean / Reapers to gain a foothold.
Liara revolved back to Ash sharing this information with those that could diminish Samantha. To question her loyalty after all they had been through was inconceivable. The Prothean expert replayed the conversation for a fifth time and a sixth. Past the anger of the outward betrayal was the hint of a warning. A warning about the how the public at large within the Earth Systems Alliance viewed the first human Spectre-what many in the top brass thought of her.
Liara knew Cerberus was at the heart of what was being spread. She had heard vague rumors even out here so close to the Terminus borders. Nos Austra paid little heed to them, not when the capital knew that the Spectre traveled with a Justicar who had sworn The Third Oath of Subsumation to her. None that lived in the city believed the lies spewing from the mouths of Cerberus scum. It was vulgar slander at best-character assassination at worse No Justicar would ever serve with one they deemed unworthy, and most certainly they would never offer such a powerful oath as Justicar Samara had to Samantha.
Precinct Captain Anaya sent Liara a CCTV recording of the Oath being sworn and Samantha's humbled response to it. Liara leaked it not only to the Wizard the leading conspiracy guru of the extranet underworld but various agents on Thessia as well as to the Asari Councilor. Samantha's convictions and dedication to duty could not be denied. Let Cerberus try. They will not succeed.
Armed with the feed of the battle on Horizon, minus the confrontation with 2nd LT. Williams, and the inspirational speech Sam made after the battle on the Normandy Liara once more leaked the footage to The Wizard as well as to her various agents throughout the systems with orders to ensure the word was spread. The truth would win out. The Collectors were real, and they were abducting humans and turning them into monstrous abominations. It was the Commander and the stalwart crew of the Normandy that was fighting them, pushing them back. It was a 'prop' piece to be sure but sometimes propaganda vids were necessary and extremely useful to turn the tides of the minds of the undecided and to inspire those who already believed.
The diehard Shepard supporters, those thousands that owed their very lives to her: Elysium, Terra Nova, the Destiny Ascension, the colonies on Franklin and Jonus to name just a few. The people so touched by the Spectre would never allow her name to be besmirched by a duplicitous fascist organization, or scheming and conniving-grudge holding politicians and Rear Admirals or the hesitant doubters: be they high ranking politicians or the military. It wasn't enough but it would have to do.
Liara leaned back into her chair hand rubbed her tired eyes with long fingered hands. She didn't even try to stifle a yawn building up behind lungs. Her hands went from her eyes to rub her forehead. Maybe it was psychosomatic in sympathy for the migraine she knew her bondmate was no doubt suffering after unleashing the tsunami. Maybe it was just a build of tension, or the hours staring at multiple monitors, maybe it was the lack of sleep that was the culprit for the headache building up behind her eyes. Maybe it was all of the above.
A soft almost unpleasant sensation struck her lower belly. Not that Liara needed a reminder that she was no longer alone, but apparently her daughter was not entirely pleased with her.
"I know, I know Zia." she stroked the swell of her belly. "Your Naneth needs her rest. You are so like your Arda always fussing over me." Her lips curled into a soft smile that preceded a tiny chuckle. "Not that I mind." She continued to rub her belly. "Arda will want to see the new pictures of you my sweet girl. She will love to hear the new heart rhythms. You should know she loves you so very much. So very much. She thinks of you all the time." she cooed as she massaged the swell. "She sent me some new recordings; I believe the books she is reading are a human favourite by someone named Dr. Seuss he lived in their twentieth century. They are rather silly books and rhyme almost absurdly so. And your Qáqna? also sent stories that she and your Arda made up when she was just a little girl. Captain Sam and her gallant crew aboard her starship: The Last Resort racing off to save the galaxy in one mission after the other."
Liara deliberately used the Salish word for Grandmother (on the father's side), making sure to use the correct phonemic pronunciation: ya'yeah'. As often with dialects the spelling does not often reflect its phonemes.
When Liara was pregnant with Secura...Little Sparrow, she and Sam had agreed that their daughters would learn not only Asarian, Earth Basic but Salish as well so they might touch their mothers' cultures and know them well.
Liara stood with a slight moan escaping her lips as she stretched her back trying to take the kinks out of her spine. She should have moved hours ago. She rubbed the small of her back, yes definitely should have moved more before now. Not to mention filling her belly And then perhaps a bit of a lie down.
There was so much work to be done, there didn't seem to be enough hours within the day to accomplish them all. But the health of her child must always come first. The loss of Secura had devastated the couple, nearly shattering them. They could not suffer such loss again, to be torn asunder as they had.
Liara ever mindful to seal away the despair of Little Sparrow's loss lest it touch tiny Zia Tomorrow was her bi-weekly medical exam. There was no risks taken with this child, over caution was not unprecedented.
With normal asari pregnancies the mother forms a bond with her daughter during her first trimester and it steadily grows stronger as the fetus grows. That bond grows when the arda joins the connection. Of course typically it tends to be another asari, even if she isn't the siring donor. Samantha's bond with Secura had everything to do with the gestalt and the nature of how Secura was conceived. The uniqueness of this gestalt changed everything. No one had accounted for Samantha's connection to the fetus. Much was attributed to the loss of the child because of the injuries Liara had suffered, but no one could have foreseen that Sam's own injuries she suffered during the incident on the Presidium, the loss of blood, the brink of a biotic flare up directly affected Secura.
Secura suffered from cardiac dysrhythmia which is an abnormal electrical activity in the heart. There were palpitations in the heartbeat; it was too fast, causing arterial ventricular fibrillation. The blood clotted within the heart lowering the blood pressure causing arrhythmia-a weakening the heart. If caught in time, the condition can be corrected via in-utero gene therapy. It had not been.
Liara and Sam were wary now, there was a possibility of that future children may have this condition but not likely. Secura was a special case because of the nature of her conception. There was no prior genetic predisposition for heart conditions in the T'Soni bloodline. Even still Liara was not willing to take any sort of risks, any gamble with Zia. Before she went to the kitchen to find something to fill the hollowness of her stomach she issued one more order to one of her agents. She was confident the message in the delivery would be absolutely understood by its recipient. She took extraordinary care in its crafting, each aspect seen too down to the smallest detail.
In the kitchen as she fashioned her meal Liara could not help but think of Samantha giving her pleasure on the table, against the wall, and countertop. She bit her lower lip and blushed for its warm memory. Her Arda once told her 'if it's all civilized you're not doing it right.' It certainly wasn't all civilized that evening or the following morn or late afternoon. Indeed it was all passion. Wondrous glorious wild unfettered passion. She didn't need a drell's eidetic memory to recall the taste of their lovemaking, the feel of it, tides of ecstasy washing in over and over again. .
A deep coy smile spread across Liara's lips as she allowed the memory to slip into her mind's hidden place so that she might revisit it later when she was in a far more comfortable quiet place. At least there she could do something about the energy building up. And for a moment the asari maiden escaped her uneasy thoughts had had been so mired in shadows she almost forgotten what the light tasted like. In that moment the world was warm again.
It would not last long, the peace evaporated when Liara at last succumbed to sleep. A nap intended for only an hour maybe half that again lasted long into the night. At first there was the sweetness of memory, of kisses and touches, of warmth and holding, of tenderness and passion.
The dreams darkened and dripped in sick oily coils of half faced people blinking in and out of existence. Dark and cold. A gun raised—aimed—yet not fired.—blood. The face of a friend flickering proteusly into an enemy. The enemy once disenfranchised shimmered surreally into friend. The gun fires, life is taken. Bodies fall, broken and shattered. Liara watched as her dream-self cradled to her bosom the shattered-bloody body of her bondmate, lifted up from the rubble of war-torn streets from some ancient city.
The sun was cresting over the edge of the city pulling Liara from her nightmares. Grateful for the sun streaming into the large bay windows she rose from her bed feeling less rested than when she had laid down to catch her rest in the first place. She felt as if she had not slept at all or perhaps would have been better off had she not. Restless sleep was just as unhealthy for the baby as no sleep at all.
As per her typical morning ritual Liara took care of her body's hygienic needs, then stepped into the shower. Life on the Normandy had taught the Prothean expert how to wash in five minutes—granted the water in the head was typically tepid to cold, so no one lingered long under the spray.
Still damp from the shower, Liara sat nude tailor style in the middle of her bedroom floor and sank into deep meditative state. It was here in the inner universe of her mind, Liara found her center. She found rest she had not found in slumber even if it was only for a little while.
The water droplets on her body had long since evaporated, and she felt well rested, rested enough to jump into her day's work.
Along with the data cache from Horizon and what the research from Dr. Solas, Samantha sent a request for Liara to use her resources to harvest any information on a Cerberus Agent named Dr. Henrico Vorschslagg. Under TIM's directive he created test-subjects that were preconditioned with white noise indoctrination stimulus control experimentation. Cerberus called it the WNISCE.
According to Miranda, Vorschslagg's solution meant that a subject became open to suggestion and mind control without the invasive procedures of an implanted control chip in the brain. It had some successes on Cerberus neo-soldiers. They possessed a tenacity for combat unparalleled save for maybe the krogan. They did not stop for pain, or question orders that may have caused moral dilemma such as firing upon unarmed civilians. They were more like clankers then men.
How strange this request came at this point in time. Right now there was a dangerous new extranet bug called 'Wee-Cee'. It ripped through several thousand public extranet terminals several nights ago and infested millions of private connections. The bug targeted simulstim watchers, randomly cutting into programs with static feedback that caused a rash of severe headaches and even seizures in many viewers.
Synthetic Insights senior programmer a salarian named Nearanlis Ontant had been consulted on how individuals might be able to protect themselves. He gave a pedestrian if not a vapid answer: "Simple: buy and register an accredited, VI-monitored anti-virus program and keep it updated. I don't understand why people won't spend fifty credits to shield themselves when plugging stimuli directly into their brains."
Panic swept the extranet as programmers studying the Wee-Cree bug discovered that the 'static' it generated in simulstim programs contained masked data. Although scientists insist that the data is scrambled in a way that it can't be 'read' by organic minds., the simulstim industry lost hundreds of millions of credits over the weekend as downloads dropped by eighty percent. Rumors circulated that Wee-Cee was everything from a geth infiltration program to a malfunctioning AI, but authorities insists there is no indication that the malware is sentient.
With Sam's timely inquiry, Liara wondered if this Wee-Cee was in some way related to the WNISCE. It was too much of a coincidence. The start-up corporation Shared Visions the cross-promotional media company was responsible for unleashing the virus. So far fifteen arrests had been made; no doubt more to come. Apparently there was a link in the unscrambled data to Wee-Cee and an advertisement for 'Razor Pumps' a line of athletic footwear, which was a Shared Visions account.
Liara paid little attention at first to the malware as all her systems were clean and so were her agents and their Omni-tools. T'Soni had firewalls for firewalls and backup files for backup files that rivaled the Wizard's own and was on par with the Shadow Broker's.
While the whole idea of subliminal adverting was being debunked by CEOs of various advertisement companies, Liara now directed her attention into a new line of thought. The Wee-Cee was indeed subliminal but not for advertisement that was a mere red herring. It had to be, it fit too conveniently. This was a means to test the WNISCE on a broad scale; it was just the sort of thing Cerberus would try. How to prove it, though? That was the tricky part.
This was the prefect line of investigation one of Liara's agents, a salarian named Sekat could unravel. Liara would set the man to task and trust his unwavering competence to produce results one way or the other she would have the truth of it. Often times information brokering wasn't getting Intel you preferred but getting answers.
It was a lesson that some of her clients were ever so reluctant to learn. They foolishly thought that buying the services of an information broker automatically guaranteed you the answers you wanted. They also were foolish enough to believe that if it wasn't favorable they didn't have to pay. Liara made sure they learned the error of their ways very swiftly.
A task regularly delegated to Naga'sadow. The young huntress was apt at handling the more aggressive negotiations. In fact she had an exceptional talent for it. This was the prime reason why she was placed in charge of Liara's commando unit. Naga'sadow was also Liara's self proclaimed personal bodyguard. Perhaps self-proclaimed was not exactly the correct term as it was Samantha that had placed the huntress to the task It was a high responsibility and an even greater honor for huntress to accept. In many ways Naga'sadow became to Liara what Shiala had been for her mother: all save for the sometimes lover part of course. Though if asked Naga'sadow would have readily if not eagerly complied with such a request. She was there to serve at Liara's pleasure whatever that may be.
The day's agenda was to stop into the office, to check on the progress of the various projects on hand then off to the obstetrician's. Nual was as competent at her profession as an administrative assistant as Naga'sadow was as an assassin and body-guard. Indeed Nual had a propensity for correlating data, processing and coordinating clientele far more efficiently than Nyxeris ever had.
Liara took a small breakfast before radioing down to Naga'sadow who had taken up residence in the apartment below Liara's penthouse she that she might carry out her omnipresent vigilance. Once Liara asked if Naga'sadow if she was ever not at the ready, the huntress merely answered that it was the duty of every commando to be at the call as needed whenever and however required. So it was now when Liara summoned her guardian.
It was a matter of seconds before Naga'sadow showed up in full combat leathers and armed with an Acolyte pistol and the Disciple shotgun both weapons were standard issue for all asari commandos. Of course the Disciple was once exclusive to the Justicar Order, but after years of negotiations it had been finally released to the military. Both firearms were two of the most accurate weapons to ever be manufactured. Both were exceptionally light-weight which was another reason why it was favored amongst huntresses, especially the vanguards who danced in equal measure with biotics and firearms.
When Liara opened the door of her apartment Naga'sadow was already standing there at parade rest waiting for her. They exchanged pleasantries before the huntress assumed her position a half a step ahead of Liara. Always watchful-ever alert. Only when they were in the skycar did Naga'sadow speak again.
"I have some news from huntresses Te'Kari Etain and Saphyria S'Tharin. It appears that Corporal Merkson had rather unfortunate case of mistaken identity. Apparently he was a dead-ringer for a pedophile. Someone shouted 'short-eyes' into the general population of the convicts and they took exception. Merkson took a shiv to his carotid artery when he was laboring in the prison laundry. They found his genitals shoved down his throat. It had been sawed off."
"I see." Liara's voice neutral and even. "And the true perpetrator of such a heinous crimes as to assault children?"
"A mix-up in the paper work. That particular convict was on the Purgatory when it went down, when the warden foolishly attempted to imprison a Council Spectre. There were several explosions. The perpetrator was killed by a brutal biotic assault, presumably by one of the other convicts incarcerated there, a person called Jack aka Subject Zero. There is video-fed of that particular incident if you wish to view it. I must say it is a rather impressive display of power. I wonder if this Jack knew of his crimes. She seemed to take great pleasure in his death."
Liara said nothing as she piloted the car into the downtown traffic and into the expressway.
"I should also report that Pvt. Stevenson had rather nasty reaction to previously unknown food allergy. It was sudden and acute. Apparently the prison physicians could not reach her in time to counteract the effects due to an outbreak of the Wee-Cee several privileged inmates suffered. Unfortunately for Stevenson it was not the most pleasant of deaths, I'm told. It was not quick nor was it painless."
"Strange this allergy was not detected during Stevenson's induction into the Alliance Military or reported by the prison physician during her incarceration."
"Very." Naga'sadow said coyly. "Of course that is often the case with all these new food preservatives they add to lengthen the shelf life on institutional foodstuffs."
"Indeed, perhaps the administration of these establishments should take more care in selecting suppliers. It is difficult to say weather or not one may have an adverse reaction to new chemicals they are injecting into products. The lowest bid is not often the better offer. The prison should have gone with a slightly more reputable corporation than Black Horse with better standards of health and safety."
"No doubt." Naga'sadow said conversationally. "I heard on the news their Skale diet was linked to the deaths to at least thirty-five people if not more. While it was recalled from the shelves of commercial outlets, they apparently forgot to recall it from the correctional facilities. The Skale is still approved for prescriptions in cases of severe allergies or food restrictions. How queer that Stevenson had such an obvert reaction to the Skale that she would succumb so violently."
"Yes isn't it?" Liara answered nonchalantly as she landed the skycar. "Commend your team for job well done, Lieutenant. I may have another task for them soon."
"I'll let them know Dr. T'Soni." Naga'sadow touched her finger tips to her brow then lowered her hand palm side up to which T'Soni returned the salute palm side down.
She waited for her bodyguard to disembark first and walk around the car to her side covering before she opened the door. "You know Doc; it would be easier if you just let me drive."
"I told you before, Lieutenant. I am not my mother. I will not travel with a full contingent of commandos and I do not need a chauffer. I agreed to you serving as my bodyguard for Samantha's sake as well as for my daughter. I'm fully capable of driving myself."
"Yes ma'am." the huntress tipped her head once more, she knew better then to push the issue. It wasn't as though Naga'sadow was the only guardian. They both pretended that Shori Tau wasn't tailing them at sniper range keeping a wavecrest's-eye-view, or that Lt. Morwen and three other sharpshooters trailed their flanks. The incident on the Citadel would not be repeated.
ME~ ME~ ME~ ME~ ME~ ME~ ME~ ME
2nd Lieutenant Ashley Williams stepped off the monorail and headed towards the lift, weaving in and out of the crowds. No matter how many times Ash visited the Citadel, she would never get used to all the people or seeing so many alien faces. She might have acclimatized during her time on the Victory where the majority of the 150 souls aboard the vessel were aliens. Even then she had little contact with them considering most of them belong to the science division.
On the military side of things, the asari and turians militant personal personnel kept to themselves: human, asari, and turian all had very different ways in training their soldiers. It was hard to relate to other branches military service when they all had different philosophies. At least in the science community even on the Victory there was common ground found in scientific theories, there was a consensus.
Turians mistrusted their biotics and none held officer ranks within their military. Asari no one with limited talent in biotics could serve, all Huntresses were expected not only to be highly skilled but have mastery in several techniques. In the last decade biotics were valued within the System Alliance were valued even the N7s had specialists. How can you find commonality in that?
How had Shepard?
A love of firearms? Martial skills? Battle?
Ash looked around her seeing so many faces, most of them were not human, how were all these people going to unite to fight the Reapers?
Without Shepard it was unlikely there would ever be a united front. But if she were compromised, if her mind wasn't stable…then the war was lost before it began. People had to believe in the Commander, if they didn't then she couldn't lead them What if she had been turned? Even if she wasn't her mind was still not her own. It couldn't be.
But what if Shepard lost herself in the long con, what if she was trying too hard to prove that she knew the color of her own blood and took a theatrical stance to prove it like joining Cerberus? Maybe it was still the long con…maybe.
Ash closed her eyes tight and tried to settle her mind. She needed clear thoughts when debriefing Anderson and Tevos. She didn't know how much to say, how much to reveal. She didn't know if she could trust the asari Councilor. She was the foremost voice on the Council. And all save for Anderson voted against taking any action to defend the outlying colonies within the Terminus System from the sudden upheaval of violence taken against them. The claim was that they could not interfere with what was clearly an internal problem and the Terminus System was outside their jurisdiction. Still they hadn't wholly turned their backs upon situation entirely.
Their answer was Shepard. Just like with Saran they sent in one Spectre. Their excuse was they didn't want to incite a war with the Terminus Systems. If humans chose to live outside the protection of Council controlled space and the Earth Systems Alliance they must accept the consequences of that decision.
Maybe it was because Tevos was the strongest voice on the Council that Shepard wanted her in on the briefing. Maybe it was because Shepard was a Spectre and therefore another member of the Council should be present. Maybe it was as half the rumors said Shepard had gone native, feeling she owed something to asari government because of Liara. Of course if the other half the rumors were true Shepard was playing the Council in order to carry out her mission as a triple agent.
You're over thinking this Williams; Tevos is there because Shepard requested it. Anderson passed it up the chain. She's gotta have a plan. Has to have. Let the Council know what's going on. They wouldn't just believe Anderson; they'd claim he's covering for the Skipper. But that old crone, they'd believe that bitch if she saw the crap that went down on Horizon Tevos has to witness it. It was the only way—two witnesses. Maybe they'll wake up and see the shit that is building up. Gotta be Shepard's plan. She always thinks way outside the box. Well time start the show…
Williams arrived yesterday but was unable to meet with Anderson due to his hectic schedule, but he made it a priority to meet with her this morning. While the meeting with wasn't expected both Councilors made an effort to accommodate the request. Councilor Tevos was even harder to nail down a meeting with. The matriarch seemed to be constantly busy; it was a minor coup for a call to even pass through the matriarch's personal assistant. Fortunately the only one Ash had to make the appointment with was Anderson, after that all the arrangements were left up to him.
Williams was 'penciled' in the appointment books in the late afternoon. She was admitted into the office almost immediately upon arrival. Williams marched smartly across the floor and stopped directly in front of the desk, standing at attention as she snapped a crisp formal salute. She dare not look to her left where stood the asari Councilor.
It always struck Williams strange to see Anderson out of uniform and in an expensive upscale business suit. Guess it's just another kind of uniform. "At ease, Lieutenant," Anderson ordered, instinctively returning the salute.
Williams did as she was told, relaxing her stance into parade rest with her hands clasped behind her back, her feet spread shoulder width apart. Before the humans could even utter another word it was Tevos that spoke.
"You have a report about Horizon. A report apparently you believe of such importance it must be hand delivered. Very well. Do so."
Reporting to the former Captain with the asari present was one thing, giving her that report was another altogether. Ash wasn't easily rattled or shaken but she hesitated now, she gave a look to her former CO as if to ask his permission to divulge something she clearly believed belonged to the Alliance.
"Second Lieutenant Williams, I will remind you your information centers around a Council Spectre, therefore whatever Intel you hold is not in the purview of the Alliance Command." Tevos's blue eyes not as beneficent as she played out in previous congress, clearly she didn't see it the same way.
This was going to be a very long meeting. Where to start the briefing with the installation of the AA towers? Or the fact they didn't work, the suspected saboteurs who were deliberately setting the project back by disrupting the comm-systems and power relays to the tower, thus proving the ineffectualness of the Alliance. Williams had neither practice nor tolerance for insurrectionists.
The only consolation was for Williams the most of those suspected traitors had been harvested by the Collectors; too damn bad Delan hadn't been amongst them. He was one Williams's prime suspects for Horizon's anti-Alliance insurrectionists, possibly even their leader, though he didn't seem capable of finding his own backside without a map much less trying to lead anyone. Then again it didn't take much to lead a bunch of idiots. All you had to do was to thump your chest, leave a bigger piss puddle and buy the beer. Not necessarily in that order.
Of the attack itself Williams could give very few details. After being stung by a seeker her whole body was paralyzed. And though she could see and hear it was all limited to ten meters directly in front of her. And her hearing felt as if she had cotton wool stuffed into her ears. What surprised her was the krogan rushing past her full bore and tearing the head off a Collector as it was encasing people into pod-like things. He sure as hell enjoyed what he was doing, given the creepy laugh he belted out as he did so.
"Shepard gave me the findings she and her crew discovered in order to counteract the seeker swarms toxin. She also ordered her team to capture one of the Collectors in order to interrogate him. But the one leading that taskforce…um…an asari…a Justicar advised against it. Somehow the Collectors were being controlled, their bodies became possessed. Shepard thinks it's a new Reaper, one she calls Harbinger."
"A new Reaper." Tevos shook her head disbelievingly "Harbinger, nonetheless. How dramatic. Dare I ask what it is the harbinger of? The death of all sentient organics or the harvest of said organics? "
"Shepard claims it called itself that." Williams said her voice growing more stilted. "I viewed the footage she handed over or what I was allowed to anyway. It's true I heard some kind of audio transmission. It sounded like Sovereign back on Virmire."
"What do you mean 'allowed' to?" Anderson frowned. Unless information was highly classified, Shepard would not withhold anything of such great importance from her crew. Even though Williams was no longer a part of it she was still a trusted confidante. Williams was Shepard's XO or was until Williams requested reassignment so she could serve at the Spectre's side as the flagship team's 2IC. She was Shepard's god-damn maid of honor…her Trusted. Someone reliable. What was in there that Shepard didn't want or trust Williams to know?
"The rest of the data is heavily encrypted: Spectre authority only," Williams explained "The Commander is under the impression that there are some within the Alliance brass that can't be trusted—that they have connections to Cerberus. She didn't want the data falling into the wrong hands. In fact she was extremely insistent I bring it directly to you sir and to you Councilor Tevos. And only the two of you."
The Councilors looked at one another then back to Williams. There was some truth to this. There were suspicions that Cerberus had sleeper agents within the Alliance military, the political arena, ambassadorial syndicates, along with almost every branch of the entertainment industry, sports, corporate and law and medical franchises. They could not move as they do without such influences backing them however covertly it was managed.
It would be all too easy to place mistrust in others because they may have ties to the 'Big Bad.' Such behavior breeds paranoia, there was enough of that going around already. It'd be one more mark against Shepard's mental stability if she were to be labeled as such. Something Councilor Sparatus sorely wanted to use against the Commander ever since she was granted the title of Spectre at the cost of one of Pavlon's most decorated war heroes. Nevermind the rat-bastard was as dirty as they came and was long before he was indoctrinated by Sovereign.
Of course deliberately withholding such vital Intel from Alliance Brass would win the Spectre no favors, especially amongst the doubters from both sides of the opinion poll that Shepard belonged to Cerberus or she had forsworn her humanity for the Blue. It did not aid the Commander's cause that the information from Horizon to be shared only with the asari Councilor and a man a few assumed was nothing more than a shill for Shepard to maneuver on the political game-board thus granting her immeasurable power that would be beyond her grasp by any other means.
"I see" Tevos committed dryly. "I can assume this data Spectre Shepard assembled reflects proof of this new Reaper?"
"Hard to say Ma'am without first reviewing the footage but I would think so. Shepard is committed to fighting any and all remnants of the Reaper forces and their allies." Ash took a moment to collect her thoughts before she gave a rebuttal or any preconceived denial the asari may have offered. "Regardless of what you may think of the Reaper threat, the Collectors are real and they are attacking our people. Proof of that you now have in your hand sir. The proof lies in the cargohold of my shuttle."
"The Collector POW," Anderson said. "And the samples of the new husks."
"To which we are to understand from your report have been considered first generation and those the geth created were substandard copies." Tevos added.
"I've seen the bodies of the husks, Ma'am they are nothing like the ones Saran and the geth created. Husks that were created out of the hundreds massacred humans the Council never wanted to admit happened like on Eden Prime…"
"Lieutenant!" Anderson barked, "Button that flap."
Williams snapped to attention. "Yes sir."
Tevos rested her eyes upon the young woman, "I understand your frustrations Lieutenant. Rest assured the data will be reviewed and the specimens thoroughly studied. But as this is now a Council matter as it pertains to one of our own Spectres it is no longer an Alliance Military matter."
"What the..." Williams shut up before the last word of the sentence could be uttered. She knew she was walking a fine line already. If she crossed it there would be no going back. But damn it all if she didn't hate being railroaded.
Anderson took exception as well. He wasn't about let this pass or be suppressed by Council politics. "This is an Alliance matter, Councilor. It is my people being targeted and systematically hunted. They may have renounced the Alliance but they are still human.
"Lieutenant Williams has every right as does the Earth Systems Alliance to not only be concerned but involved with what is happening to our colonies despite the means and ways this information was given to us."
Tevos assumed a more sympatric look to her eyes. "Of course Councilor, I do not intend to demean the tragedy that has befallen humanity. But you know as well as I do the moment Spectre Shepard classified the data with Spectre status this became a Council issue. I dare say that she intended it this way or she would not have taken such measures as to encrypt the data from Horizon." she drove straight to the heart of the matter.
Ash looked from the asari matriarch to Anderson and back again. "Sir?" Surely he would not allow this to stand.
It took only a moment, shorter then the beat of a heart for Anderson to respond. Clarity struck, that was exactly Shepard's plan. By deliberately labeling the data the Normandy crew had gathered and compiled coupled with the surveillance recorded form the battles on Horizon, Shepard forced the Council to acknowledge what was happening. She was forcing the Council to admit, to witness that what was happening with in the boarders of the Terminus Systems.
There was no doubt in his mind the way Shepard went about it was to place a fire under Williams, and motivate her to act in the precise way Shepard knew she would act. The zealousness of her loyalty to the Alliance It was after all in her blood. Williams would spread word of what happened to Horizon to all who had ears to hear. Shepard was relying on Williams's hot-temper, self-righteousness to fuel the troops who were just like her, which would cause a stir within the military, bit by bit the fire of action would spread. In way it was a carefully constructed Machiavellian or perhaps not - more of a maneuver worthy of Sun Tzu. If ever there was a disciple of the Chinese philosopher a great strategist it was Commander Samantha Secura Shepard first human Spectre.
"For he wins his victories without erring, whatever he does insures his victory; he conquers an enemy already defeated. In planning, never a useless move, in strategy, no step taken in vain. Therefore a skillful commander takes up a position in which he cannot be defeated and misses no opportunity to master his enemy"
Tevos turned to Anderson. "The words sounded remarkably like those that were taught to our huntresses by the mistresses of games and strategy."
"Strategies of war can be often common place, Councilor." Anderson returned. "This is exactly what Shepard is doing, taking up positions in which she can not be defeated. She is seizing every opportunity to master her enemies." Slyly Anderson smiled. "Of course that has always been what Shepard done. She did it on Elysium; it was why she was put through N7 training virtually upon graduating from Boot. It was what she did during the hunt for Saren and what she did during the battle of the Citadel. And what she will do as she faces the Collectors and this new threat that calls itself Harbinger."
"Indeed. Perhaps it is best that we see this evidence you have amassed Lieutenant then we can judge how best to proceed." Tevos said austerely. "As you so clearly put it Councilor this does fall into the purview of the Alliance and I have no issue nor dare say I will any of the other Councilors on how you chose to divulge this information to the Alliance. However as Commander Shepard took significant measures to mark this under Spectre coding, therefore Lieutenant Williams I have to ask you to leave." The timbre of nobility gave strength to a thinly made command. "The species you brought back will be collected by the Spectre office."
Words of protest itched on the lips of the young woman but checked harshly in her throat as she swallowed them down. "Ma'am." her head bobbed curtly. "Sir."
Anderson picked up the almost question in the young officer's voice, seeking to stay and asking permission to leave. "Dismissed Lieutenant, we'll brief at 1600 tomorrow."
That put a faint smile on the young woman's face. "Aye, aye sir." she snapped off another crisp salute, spun on her heel and walked out of the Anderson's office. She didn't know what to feel first dejected, pissed off or relieved that maybe this time somebody would listen to what Shepard was saying.
Williams knew for certain the one emotion that remained unquestionable was her utter confusion over Shepard—of what Anderson said about her or rather quoted. The Skipper had her come to Citadel to hand deliver the OSD to Anderson and Tevos then code locked it with Spectre security knowing that Williams would be ordered to leave before its viewing. Shepard had deliberately strategized it all. What else was she strategizing, had she strategized? Williams knew there was some great game commencing but she be damned if she knew what it was.
Who were the players? Who were the pieces? And it sickened her that Shepard was playing it now. Maybe this is what it means to be Spectre, to being a part of the larger galactic scene. Ash didn't know if she could play the game. She was a straight up fighter, a straight up soldier, a marine constant and dedicated. She didn't have the capacity to bend the truth, to see all the shades of gray, or to think so far out of the box that you were in orbit the way Shepard did.
It's been said several times that Shepard's mind was like a corkscrew caught up in a twister and that was before her mind got jumbled by Prothean tech. Now it was almost impossible to track the way the Commander thought. It made her far more dangerous and unpredictable. A combination Williams had a difficult time reconciling of the heroic image Shepard's name conjured.
Yet it was that mindset that had saved the colony of Elysium during the Skillian Blitz. Shepard's quick sharp mind, her knack for hyperbolae, misdirection and obfuscation against overwhelming enemy forces was the only reason colony was still standing. Shepard had used those same tricks on the Cerberus hunting parties back on Illium when she and Liara used their biotic powers to literally maneuver a defunct geth frigate back into the sky and crash it into their base camp.
It was how she was able to seemingly beat the odds and do the impossible. Maybe what Shepard said about the long-con on Cerberus was true? But what if the Skipper was using those games against the Alliance on the behest of The Illusive Man? He gave her everything she needed to battle the Collectors and a means to shore up defenses against the coming invasion of the Reapers.
Shepard was desperate to find any means she could to repel the Reapers, desperate enough to make a deal with the devil. Williams knew Shepard had made several concessions with the Pirate Queen Arian T'Loak, how many more was she willing to make to The Illusive Man in order to win?
ME~ ME~ ME~ ME~ ME~ ME~ ME