Reinstatement
Despite all of the destruction that Sovereign and Saren caused two years ago, the Council meeting chambers were not much changed. It was still a large room with a long platform in the middle that extended out so the Council could address whomever it was coming to see them. The podiums they stood at looked like they had been upgraded slightly but nothing too dramatic had been done to it. On lookers could still watch from balconies and view the dealings of the Council.
Each of the Council representatives took their respective places on their balcony and pushed a couple of buttons on the pads in front of them. Anderson stood tall and proud between the Turian and Asari representatives. He had a new found confidence and revitalized vigor about moving humanity forward, alongside of the rest of the galaxy. Just like Shepard, Anderson knew that in order for humanity to be accepted they had to try and play nice with the other council races. With races such as the Turians being so skeptical about humanity, it behooved Anderson to do what he could to stay on the good side of the representative.
All four of the representatives looked at each other and nodded, letting the others now that they were ready to begin. A series of lights began to switch on over the platform in the middle of the room, as well as a series of lights that outlined the walkway up to the platform. It was the new way to signal those who sought an audience with the Council to know that they were up. The four representatives watched on as Udina first began to appear walking up the steps. Behind him was Shepard, Miranda, and Jacob. Miranda and Jacob looked around at the grandeur of the Council's meeting area. Shepard stood next to Udina and surveyed the Councilors. Anderson looked like her belonged up there with them.
The last time Shepard was here, the scenery was completely different. Saren and his army had been very successful in creating chaos and damn near destroying the center of galactic affairs. Trees were on fire, buildings were destroyed, and hundreds of humans and aliens alike were left dead. In Shepard's mind he began to imagine how the Citadel looked two years ago. He remembered what he and the rest of the Alliance sacrificed during the Eden Prime War. Many human lives were lost in the preservation of galactic freedom. A lot of good men like Kaiden Alenko lost their lives because of Saren's treachery, but Shepard and the crew of the original Normandy made sure that all of their sacrifices were not in vain.
Memories of that day came to an abrupt end when the Turian representative cleared his throat and began to speak. "Commander Shepard, it has been awhile since have got to see you in person. Of course the last time we saw you, you were not working for Cerberus."
Shepard did not like it when people told him that he worked for Cerberus. "I never once said I worked for the organization. I simply worked along side of them because they were the only ones who cared to do anything about the vanishing human colonies. And we found out was behind it, the Collectors."
"Interesting, the Collectors," the Salarian said. "They were a race that we never considered. Of course why would we have? They are normally a quite race that tens to keep to themselves and rarely travel outside of the Omega 4 Relay, let alone traveling outside of the Traverse. How did Cerberus go about dealing with this? Surely Cerberus funded you greatly."
"Cerberus and The Illusive Man gave me the money and means to create a squad of ten people," Shepard began. "Together we were able to make passage through the Omega 4 Relay and to the Collector base. It was a remarkable thing to behold, its size put the Omega space station to shame. My team was strong and willing to go through hell in a hand basket for me. We stopped the Collectors and destroyed their base. Everyone of my squad and crew members were able to escape that base with our lives and the Normandy still intact. A lot of the members on my crew called it a suicide mission, and we survived it."
"Our congratulations Commander Shepard," the Asari said. "But what of Cerberus and The Illusive Man? How did you deal with them once after you destroyed the Collector Base?"
Shepard chuckled to himself under his breath. "Let's just say that I put in my resignation with Cerberus and told The Illusive Man what I thought about he and his company. If humanity is going to prosper in galactic affairs then we need to learn how to work along side the rest of the council races. Cerberus did not view it that way. They only wanted what was best for them. The Illusive Man preached about human progression, but to me it only seemed as if he cared about Cerberus and not humanity alone. The rest of my crew shares the same opinion as I do. Here with me are both former Cerberus Operatives, Miranda Lawson and Jacob Taylor."
"How can we trust that they are not just telling you what you want to hear Commander?" the Turian asked, trying to ruffle up Shepard's feathers.
He took a step forward and glared at the Councilor, "I trust Miranda and Jacob with my life. They stood by my side against the Collectors as did the rest of my crew. Miranda and Jacob have both proven themselves to me time and time again as competent soldiers and worthy of being called my allies." He purposefully failed to mention his and Miranda's more than personal relationship.
"You keep referring to a strong team Commander. What kinds of people do you have assembled on this team of yours?" the Turian asked.
"Myself and the two others you see in front of you of course," the Commander began. "An Asari Justicar named Samara." An 'impressed' look came over the face of the Asari Councilor. "A Drell named Thank Krios, a Krogan named Grunt, the Salarian doctor Mordin Solus, Tali'Zorah Vas Normandy, a former criminal named Jack, Garrus Valkarian, and a reprogrammed Geth known as Legion." There was a moment of silence after Shepard finished with the mentioning of Legion. The Councilors looked around at each other, then at Anderson directly. He shook his head and they all looked back to Shepard.
"You have an intact Geth on your ship that fights along side of you?" Anderson asked. This definitely piqued his interest. "I am surprised that he has not tried to kill any of you, or the Quarian on your vessel."
"Legion explained to me that all Geth are actually apathetic towards organics," Shepard explained. "He referred to the Geth that fought along side of Saren as 'heretics' and 'The Old Machines'. Before we passed through the Omega 4 Relay Legion gave us the coordinates for an old Quarian space station that was over ran with these 'heretics'. They had been creating a virus that would have all Geth work directly for the Reapers." He paused for a moment and realized that mentions of the Reapers was probably a bad idea. The Councilors, save Anderson, did not believe that the Reapers were a threat to all sentient life forms. "Legion was able to reverse the virus and upload it to the 'heretics' and have them peacefully rejoin the normal Geth. We have been waiting on reports of how that is going. And as far as Tali and Legion go, they have been sharing non-confidential files and technology with each other and have been getting along very well."
"Impressive Commander Shepard," the Asari said. "It would appear that a lot could be learned from you in regards to intergalactic politics." She paused. "Now the real reason why you are here Commander Shepard; to be reinstated into the Alliance Military, along with your ship. We all know the talent that you possess and how great of an asset you are to the Alliance, but more importantly we know how great of an ally you are to the Council. You saved our lives and we are eternally thankful for that Commander. At the urging of Councilor Anderson we have decided unanimously to grant you and the Normandy the right back into the Alliance military. All crew members of the Normandy will be also be allowed into the Alliance, should they accept the offer."
Shepard looked up to Anderson and Anderson gave him a nod and a half cracked smile. He had to maintain a sense of professionalism while standing up there with the council. Standing in front of the Council was an intimidating feeling, although Shepard would never let them know he felt that way. They could possibly use that to their advantage and have Shepard and his crew run around doing meaningless tasks for them. Shepard simply stood his ground and kept a cold look on his face, one that could not be read or interpretated in any way.
"Thank you Councilors," he said. "It is good to be back where I feel I belong. I will share the news and the offer with the rest of my crew. I doubt I will have a hard time trying to convince any of them to continue working with Cerberus."
"Councilor Anderson will meet with you in office once our meeting here is adjourned," the Turian spoke up again. "He will explain to you in greater detail what it is that we expect out of you." Shepard did not like him. It was almost like the Turian looked down upon Shepard and humans, like most Turians did. Garrus was one of the few who did see the good that could potentially arise from having humans as allies and on the Council. Shepard was grateful that the Asari Councilor, like most Asari, was generous and kind towards himself and the rest of the human race. It had always seemed like an uphill struggle with the Council when it came to getting things down, but this visit with them was a little easier and less confrontational.
Shepard felt at an ease when the meeting had finally ended and he was seated in Councilor Anderson's office. The artificial sky on the Citadel was no longer the bright blue but it had changes colors to very deep and dark purple with an orange hue, to simulate night time and a sun setting. Most of the politicians and workers from different organizations were already back in their homes, but a few were just now leaving their offices for one reason or another. He shifted his body a little bit waited for the Councilor to get confirmation from his personal assistant that everything had finally cleared. A few of the files and articles that needed to be redone still had Shepard listed as K.I.A., and it was not common that this process had to be done. Jack's criminal background and shady past did not help things go any smoother either, but Shepard was able to have many of the things she did erased and forgotten about.
"Well Shepard that just about is everything," Anderson finally had said. The Councilor did enjoy seeing Shepard again but it was beginning to get late and he wanted to go home. "Everyone is on file and you are once again officially Commander Christian Shepard, alive and well." Shepard smiled and stood. He stretched out a little bit and let out a small yawn. "I am sorry for it taking so long. We just wanted to make sure that we got everything in the right place."
"No need for apologies Councilor," Shepard said extending his hand. "You are my oldest friend and I would do anything for you, you know that." Anderson stood and shook the Commander's hand. It did not seem that long ago when Shepard first became a Spectre and was chasing after Saren. Now he had twice saved the galaxy from an evil threat and proved himself as one of the best soldiers that the Alliance had.
"I wish there were more men like you Commander Shepard," Anderson said. "We could use an entire army of hard working ass kickers like yourself. It is good to have you back son." Shepard smiled, thanked him, and left with Miranda and Jacob. He was tired. It had been a long day of doing nothing but paperwork and sitting on his ass. The Rapid Transit Shuttle ride back to the docking bay seemed to drag on, but they were finally back at the Normandy. Shepard looked at the hull and noticed that the removal of the Cerberus logo had already began and a the new N7 logo would be put on sometime the next day.
The airlock hissed open and much to Shepard's delight, the crew was continually working and running maintenance on the ship. Joker hobbled out of the bathroom and sat down in the cockpit and brought up screen after screen of potential problems that could arise with the ship. It was good to know that even during his absence the crew still worked diligently. The Normandy did indeed have the best crew of any ship that he had ever seen. The only small problem that Shepard ever had to deal with was the blending in of such a diverse group of soldiers, mercs, doctors, etc. The personal issues did go deeper than that with Miranda and Jack having their big blow up and Tali threatening to shoot Legion down in the AI Core. Everyone put their differences aside when it came down to business and almost forgotten there were even any fights at all.
Jacob immediately took off for the armory after they had gotten on board. He had made it a goal for he and EDI to make cataloging the weapons easier and trying to find a way to improve the thermal clips they had used. All to often they had been left without any clips in their main weapons and had to resort to using their pistols and sniper rifles in sticky situations.
The Commander approached his private terminal and saw out of the corner of his eye Miranda take the elevator up to his cabin. She winked as the door shut, sending shivers up his spine and giving him goose bumps. He quickly sorted through his messages and went up to his cabin also. It was getting late and most of the crew would be going to bed for the night. On the ride up he did wonder what Legion did most nights, but quickly put that in the back of his mind. After seeing Miranda head up to his cabin nothing else mattered to him.
He stepped off of the elevator and once the door opened to his cabin he saw her standing at his desk with her back to him. Instantly he thought back to the engine room, the first time they had shared a more than intimate moment together. Gently, the Commander walked up behind her and began to kiss her neck. She leaned back into him and closed her eyes, enjoying the sensation of Shepard's touch. He was glad that she had put her hair up. It made things much easier since he did not have her hair to deal with. Not wasting anytime, Shepard reached on around Miranda and unzipped her suit and watched as it gracefully came off of her shoulders and down her sides. He remembered her telling him that she did not mind if Shepard admired her body. Admiring was the least of what he was doing with her body at this time.
She pushed the Commander back a little and turned to face him. Miranda pressed her lips against his and began to remove his shirt. Shepard was reluctant to break the kiss but finally did once Miranda got the shirt close enough to his face. She smiled once the shirt was off and kissed him once more. Christian grinned in the kiss and broke it once more to finish getting Miranda's clothes off of her. She teased him by playfully pushing his hands away and moving around on his desk. Shepard stopped and grabbed her around the waist and lifted her into his arms.
She grinned and stared into Shepard's green eyes as he carried her over to his bed and laid her down on it. A devilish smile came across his face as he finished taking off her clothes and then his as well. Shepard crawled into the bed and looked deep into Miranda's eyes when he got up to her. She mouthed 'I love you', and he mouthed it back to her. He kissed her once more and held her smooth body in his hands. This was the only way in his eyes to end such a successful day.