Chapter 11

Spectre

Time to wrap the events of the Citadel, make Shepard a Spectre and send him and his crew on their way. By the way, does anyone have any requests for side quests that I should include in this story? If so put them in a review or a private message. Please note that just because you ask for it does not mean that you will get it, this is just to give me some ideas that I might carry out.

Shepard walked into the UNSC's Embassy, his group, Demas and his group, Tali and Iasa right behind him. Udina, who was inside the Embassy, sighed as he turned around to face them. "You're not making this easy Shepard," he said "You can't just go around shooting up..." he broke off when he saw exactly how many people were standing behind Shepard. "Shepard, may I ask why you have a small army with you?"

"Long story," Shepard said dismissively, "The important thing, is that Tali here," he gestured towards the Quarian "Has got evidence to take down Saren."

"You might want to start at the beginning ms..." Anderson said "What did you say her name was again?"

"My name is Tali'Zorah," Tali said.

"If you don't mind me asking," Anderson said "We don't see that many Quarians off of Sanctuary, would you mind telling us what brought you do the Citadel." Anderson's voice wasn't accusatory, merely curious.

"To be honest, I'm on leave," Tali replied, almost sheepishly. "Normally I would be on my Pilgrimage, but since the RSN gave us a planet, that practice has almost been forgotten. I thought I would look around and see if I could find anything useful to buy to help with the colonization, after all, RSN doesn't use Mass Effect technology that much."

"To be honest, we don't use it that much either," Shepard said "ODSTs get omni-tools, and from what I've heard Sangheili soldiers get it too, but we prefer to develop our own technology. Getting back on topic, what kind of evidence do you have, and how did you get it?"

"While on my way here, I heard rumors of Geth beyond the veil, and curiosity got the better of me," Tali said "I was able to track a Geth to an uncharted planet, then I disabled it and removed it's memory core."

"I thought Geth fired their memory cores when they were killed, as a defense mechanism," Anderson said, the faintest bit of confusion on his face.

"Most of the time that is true," Tali said "But if you're fast enough, and a little lucky, you can salvage bits of data. The Geth did a thorough job of wiping it's memory, but I managed to salvage something from it's audio logs." As she spoke, she activated her omni-tool, pressing a button and playing a recording.

"Eden Prime was a major victory," said a voice that was recognizable as Saren's "The beacon has brought us one step closer to finding the Conduit."

"And one step closer to the return of the Reapers," said another voice, this one female, although it was not apparent who it belonged to.

"That voice defiantly, belonged to Saren," Udina said "But I don't recognize the other one, the one talking about the Reapers."

"What are the Reapers?" Shepard asked "And while we're at it, what's the Conduit?"

"According to the memory core, the Reapers were a hyper-advanced machine race, that hunted the Protheans to extinction and then vanished," Tali said "That's what the Geth believed anyway.

"Sounds a little far-fetched," Udina said crossing his arms.

Something in Shepard's mind clicked "The vision I had on Eden Prime," he said as he rubbed his forehead "It all makes sense now, it was the Protheans being wiped out by the Reapers."

"From what I can see," Tali said "The Geth worship the Reapers as gods and believe that Saren knows how to bring them back. I have no idea if it's true or if Saren is just playing them though."

"This might be a little much for the Council to take in all at once," Shepard said, looking at Anderson "They might just ignore us."

"That may be true about the Reapers," Anderson said "But they can't deny that Saren had a hand in Eden Prime." The faintest of smiles spread across Anderson's face as he said "We've got him."

"The Captain's right," Udina said "We need to get this to the Council as fast as we can."

"What about Tali?" Ashley asked concern in here voice "I doubt Saren will be that happy that she helped blow his cover."

"You saw what I did the ally Commander," she said, looking at Shepard "I'm not helpless. Let me come with you."

"Allow me to accompany you as well," Iasa said "If Saren thinks he can strike at the RSN and it's allies and just walk aware he is sadly mistaken."

Shepard nodded "I'll take all of the help that I can get." Both Iasa and Tali nodded at Shepard.

"The Captain and I will arrange things with the Council, meet us at the tower," Udina said as he and Anderson exited the Embassy. "Do me a favor Shepard, and don't bring your platoon with you," Udina said as he left "We wouldn't want the Council to think that we're trying to assassinate them."

Shepard nodded as he left the Embassy. "So," Kaiden said, clearly trying to break the tension "Anyone have a pack of cards?"

As Shepard stepped off of the Rapid Transit and began to walk towards the Council chamber, he found Anderson waiting for him outside. "That was quick," he said as Shepard approached him "Come on, Udina is presenting Tali's evidence to the Council."

As Anderson and Shepard walked into the Council chamber, they heard the recording of Saren playing. As the entered the chamber, they saw Rtas and Ramos standing off to the side, while Udina was playing the evidence. "You wanted proof, there it is," Udina said, a bit of arrogance present in his voice.

"This evidence is irrefutable," the Turian Councilor said angrily "Saren will be stripped of his Spectre status and all efforts will be to bring him in."

"I recognize the other voice," the Asari Councilor said, a strange tone to her voice. It sounded like it was somewhere between disbelief and fear. "Matriarch Benezia."

"You know her?" Shepard asked.

The Asari Councilor nodded "We knew each other for a brief time before we parted ways. I have not seen her in over a century or heard much about her. She's a powerful biotic and she has many followers," she shook her head "She will be a formidable ally for Saren."

"I'm interested about these Reapers," The Salarian Councilor said, apparently obviously to the conflicted feelings of the Asari Councilor, "What do you know about them?"

"Apparently the Geth believe that the Reapers were a sapient race of machines that wiped out of the Protheans before the disappeared," Anderson said.

"The Geth worship them like gods, and apparently they think that Saren is the prophet for their return," Shepard said.

"If this is true then the Conduit most likely holds a key position in their return," Anderson said grimly. "Most likely that's why he attacked Eden Prime."

"Do we even know what is is?" The Salarian councilor asked curiously.

"Not yet," Shepard said "But is Saren's looking for it because he thinks it can help bring the Reapers back, it probably isn't going to be anything good."

"Listen to yourself," the Turian Councilor said, annoyance in his voice "Saren wants to bring back a race of machines that wiped out all life in the galaxy, it's impossible. If they were real, we would have found a trace of their existence."

"Really?" Rtas asked, speaking for the first time since the meeting began "You are certain of that?

"Have you ever heard of a race that even posed the technology that made them capable of wiping all life in the galaxy?" the Turian Councilor asked sternly.

Rtas shook his head "You have no idea," he said.

"What?" asked the Turian Councilor, but Rtas said nothing. Shepard and Anderson glanced at Rtas. All information regarding Halo and the Flood were among the most carefully guarded secrets of the UNSC and the RSN, in fact only a handful of the Council races even knew of the Forerunners, and fewer still believed in them. Only military personal were allowed to known, and revealing said secrets was punishable by death. The main reason for this was to prevent a mass panic and to prevent experiments on both that could end in disaster. If either a Halo or the Flood were encountered, the Hood Protocol was to be carried out, which stated that both were to be destroyed by any means necessary.

Glancing back at the Turian Councilor, Shepard spoke. "Don't be so quick to say it's impossible Councilor," he said "Space is vast, they could be hiding anywhere, unless you've explored every last planet in the Milky Way, we can't be sure of what is out there."

"The Reapers are obviously a myth Commander," the Salarian Councilor said "A convent lie that Saren is using to bend the Geth to his will."

"Saren is a rouge Spectre on the run for his life, not a fanatic about to kill every last thing in the galaxy," the Turian Councilor said. "We've stripped him of his position and he has lost all of his influence."

"But he's still out there," Udina said angrily "He's your agent, send in your fleets to track him down."

"A fleet can not track down one man," the Salarian Councilor said bluntly.

"Perhaps there is another way," the Asari Councilor said, eyeing Shepard thoughtfully. "A way that would not require the contribution of thousands."

"No," the Turian Councilor said dismissively, "It's too soon, Humanity has not been a part of the galactic community long enough to be prepared for the responsibilities of joining the Spectres."

"With all due respect Councilor," said a voice "I have to disagree with you on that one." Everyone turned towards the entrance of the chamber, to see non other than Nihlus entering the chamber, with no evidence that he had been wounded besides the crutch he was using. "Commander Shepard is like no other soldier I've ever seen, if anyone else had been in his place, Eden Prime would have been destroyed, and Saren would still be a Spectre."

"Up on your feet already?" Shepard said, looking at Nihlus and grinning slightly.

"Spectres are hard to kill," Nihlus said "Another reason why you're a good candidate."

The Asari Councilor glanced at the Salarian Councilor, and then at the Turian Councilor who mirrored his moves, although rather reluctantly. "Commander Shepard," she said "It is the decision of this Council that you join the Special Tactics and Reconnoissance branch of the Citadel."

"We're sending you after Saren," the Salarian Councilor said "He's is highly dangerous and you are authorized to stop him by any means necessary."

Shepard nodded "I'll get the job done."

"This meeting of the Council is adjourned," he Asari Councilor said as everyone exited the chamber.

"I'd go with you Shepard," Nihlus said as the left the chamber "But I'm supposed to take it easy. Besides I'm sure you'll be able to handle the situation just fine on your own. I'll see you around," he said as he limped off.

"I believe this one is better off in Human hands," Ramos said to Rtas, who nodded in agreement. Ramos glanced at Shepard, smiling as he spoke. "Take care of my brother," and with that, both of the Sangheili left.

"We've got I lot to do Shepard," Udina said "You're going to need a ship and crew if you want to hunt down Saren."

"I think I can solve that one," Anderson said "As of now, I am stepping down as Captain of the Normandy, and I'm turning command over to Shepard. She's quick, quite, and you know the crew, perfect ship for a Spectre."

Shepard nodded "I will sir. Do we have any leads on Saren?"

"A couple," Anderson said, "We have a colony out in the Feros, system. A largely underdeveloped research colony that's showing poor results. The UNSC was actually considering abandoning it when we lost contact, it's probably worth checking out. Also, there have been sightings of Geth around Noveria."

"There's also one more lead," Udina said "They other voice on the recording, Matriarch Benezia, she has a daughter, a scientist who specializes in the Protheans. We don't know if she's in on her mothers plan or not, we're inclined to believe that she isn't, since we've received no evidence that they have spoken in years. Still she may be helpful, her name is Dr. Liara T'Soni. Last we heard she was on a dig in the Artemis Tau cluster."

"Whichever lead you choose to follow is your choose Commander," Anderson said.

"Excuse me," said a voice, and Shepard, Anderson, and Udina turned to see a man in an officer's uniform and wearing a beret approaching them. "You Commander Shepard?" the man asked. Shepard nodded. "I'm Colonel Mack Norman, I trust that you're familiar with Taylor Winters?"

"Yes," Shepard said "He's going to be helping me track down Saren."

Mack smiled "He would do something like that, anyway I knew his parents and I was around a lot when he was growing up. He knew I was on the Citadel and he contacted me, asking if I could do anything to help you." As he spoke he produced a data crystal chip from his pocket. "And I've done just that," he said, throwing the chip to Shepard, who caught it.

As Shepard looked at the chip, it began to project a hologram. The hologram was of a man dressed in 21st winter combat gear, his body completely hidden by it. The hologram was pure white, and it's code seemed to flow like lightly drifting snow. "Hey there," the hologram said, looking at Shepard. His voice sounded odd, as if it was coming out of an old radio. "My name's Richard, UNSC Smart A.I. at your service."

"I had to pull a couple of strings to get him to you," Mack said "Richard's one of the best A.I.s we've got right now, he's one of the experimental 8th generation. He should last twenty years, at the minimum."

"Yup," Richard said "My specialty is flying dropships, from what I've heard about the Normandy, it has three Pelicans, but no pilots."

Shepard nodded, "I imagine you'll be very helpful," he said, as Richard nodded and deactivated his avatar.

"Well Shepard," Anderson said "From here on out it's all up to you, good luck, although you probably don't need it."

Author's Note I just wanted to explain why Rtas and Ramos are there, Rtas is basically the RSN's Udina (Minus the assholeishness) and Ramos is the RSN's Anderson. Next chapter will deal with rescuing Liara, then Feros, then Noveria, maybe with a side quest here and there. Is it just me, or does everyone in the Milky Way go to Shepard for help?