Political Maelstrom

Anderson and the squad from Eden Prime were all standing around silently in the ambassador's office, on the Citadel's presidium. There was a grand view from the office balcony: clean white stone that was used for the buildings, accompanied by the exotic fauna and a shimmering blue lake that ran down the middle of the presidium gave it an almost tranquil feel. The embassies of the most dominant races in the galaxy were dotted all along its landscape, their citizens wandered around the presidium to and fro, running errands or simply doing business. If the Citadel was the hub of the galactic community, then the presidium was the hub of the Citadel, ironically making it just as crooked as some parts in the Terminus systems.

"This is an outrage! The Council would step in if the geth attacked a turian Colony!" Ambassador Udina spat at the three council members who were displayed on holographic projections in his office.

"The turians don't found colonies on the borders of the Terminus Systems Ambassador." The Salarian Councilor, Valern, said in a very matter-of-fact way. He was easily able to destroy the logic behind Udina's comparison.

"Humanity was well aware of the risks when you went into the traverse," Tevos added. She was the Asari Councilor, and as such boasted a regal appearance. As a Matriarch, Tevos had centuries worth of diplomatic experience and it clearly showed.

"What about Saren? You can't just ignore a rogue Spectre I demand action!" Udina exclaimed. He was absolutely livid. It was understandable considering that a Council-sanction Spectre had just attacked a human colony.

"You don't get to make demands of the Council, Ambassador," Sparatus responded with a smug tone. Being a Turian, he was still more than a little upset over the First Contact War, or the Relay 314 incident as the Hierarchy liked to put it. His dislike for the Alliance in general could be easily seen in his tone, position, and overall contempt for any advances made by humanity. The fact that Udina was accusing a Council Spectre, a turian and arguably the best one at that, it was clear Sparatus was not going to be cooperative.

"Citadel security is looking into your charges against Saren. We will discuss the C-sec findings at the hearing, not before." Tevos said before leaning forward to press a button on the panel in front of her. The council's holographic projections then blinked and vanished.

The ambassador walked over from where he had been standing with his hands bolted behind his back and approached Anderson and Shepard who had been listening in silently from the other side of the large office.

"Captain Anderson. I see you brought half your crew with you." The ambassador said as a cold, snide remark.

"Just the ground team from Eden Prime. In case you had any questions." Anderson explained not rising to the ambassador's hostility.

"I read the mission report. I assume it is accurate."

"It is. Sounds like you've convinced the council to give us an audience."

"They aren't happy about it, Saren is their top agent. They aren't taking kindly to him being accused of treason." Udina said crossing his arms in front of him.

"It's the truth. Saren is a threat to every human colony out there. The council has to listen to us!" Shepard butted in.

"Settle down Commander. You've already done enough to jeopardize your Spectre candidacy, what with Nihlus dead and the beacon being destroyed." Udina said irritably.

"That's on Saren not her." Anderson defended.

"Then we better hope C-sec find something in their investigation. Otherwise the council will use this as an excuse to keep you out of the Spectres." Udina continued. "Anderson, come with me. Shepard, bring yourself and your team up to the Citadel tower in half an hour, so we can get on with this hearing."

Anderson and Udina then headed out of the office.

"And that's why I hate politicians." Ashley said quietly to Derek.

…

As Shepard and her team entered the Council chambers they saw two turians having an argument.

"Saren's hiding something, give me more time! Stall them!" The one wearing blue armour said.

"Stall the Council? Don't be ridiculous! Your investigation is over, Garrus." The other one, dressed in dark red armour, replied. He then walked away to the exit.

Garrus then noticed Shepard and her squad approaching.

"Commander Shepard? I'm Garrus Vakarian. I was the officer in charge of the C-sec investigation into Saren."

"Sounds like you really want to bring him down." Shepard replied.

"I don't trust him at all. Something bout him rubs me the wrong way. As a Spectre his movements are classified. I'm unable to find any hard evidence." Garrus explained.

"I think the Council's ready for us Commander." Kaidan said when he saw Anderson beckoning them over from the top of the staircase.

"Good luck Shepard, maybe they'll listen to you." Garrus said, before she left him.

They took a long ascent up the large staircase to where the council were stood. The chambers were even grander than the Presidium. There was a large window that ran the scale of the tower, allowing light from the outside to flood in and illuminate the entirety of the chamber. There were balconies above surrounding where the council stood, where multitudes of politicians and dignitaries from all different species stood, watching over the hearing that was about to take place.

"The hearing has already started come on." Anderson said hurriedly once they got him

"The geth attack is a matter of concern but there is no evidence to indicate Saren's involvement." Tevos was talking to Udina who was giving the council a cold glare, much like he had done in his office half an hour ago.

There was a large holographic projection of Saren towering over everyone in the chamber, Shepard and her squad began to feel uncomfortable under his threatening gaze.

"An eye witness saw him kill Nihlus in cold blood!" Udina countered, pointing at Saren accusingly.

"We read the Eden Prime report. The testimony of one traumatised dock-worker is hardly compelling evidence." Valern said as if the statement was obvious.

"I resent these accusations. Nihlus was a fellow Spectre and a friend." Saren's dual-toned voice resonated in the chambers.

"That just let you catch him off guard!" Anderson said angrily.

"Ah, Captain Anderson. You always seem to be involved when humanity presses false charges against me." Saren said unsurprised. "And this must be your protégé, Commander Shepard. The one who let the beacon get destroyed." He said mockingly.

"How do you even know about that? It was classified information. The only way you could know is if you were there!" Shepard said with fury in her voice.

"I read Nihlus' files; they were passed on to me after his death. I was unimpressed Shepard." Saren said judgingly, shaking his head in disapproval.

"You blew up the beacon and now you're trying to cover it up!" Shepard said sharply.

"Shift the blame on someone else, typical. Captain Anderson as taught you well. But what can you expect from a human?" The large hologram of Saren turned to face the council.

"You see? He hates humanity. That's why he attacked Eden Prime!" Shepard defended.

"Your species need to learn its place, Shepard. Humanity isn't ready to join the council. You're not even ready to join the Spectres." Saren pointed one of his taloned fingers at her.

Councilor Sparatus gave a slow nod of agreement but said nothing.

"He has no right to say that! That's not his decision!" Udina's voice roared through the chamber as he reached his breaking point.

"Commander Shepard's Spectre candidacy is not the purpose of this hearing," Tevos said in an attempt to calm the fuming ambassador.

"This meeting has no purpose. The humans are wasting our time Councilor." Saren responded impatiently.

"There is still one outstanding issue, Commander Shepard's vision." Anderson spoke up.

"How can I defend my innocence against this kind of testimony?" Saren questioned in disgust.

"I agree. We need solid evidence, not wild imaginings and speculations." Sparatus said.

"Is there anything more you wish to add Commander?" Valern asked. He appeared slightly sympathetic to the Alliance entourage, perhaps understanding their position. After all the salarians and humans did share a lot of qualities, the ability of constantly pushing any limits being one of them.

Shepard shook her head in disbelief "You've clearly made your choice I won't waste my breath."

The Councilor's looked at each other, shaking their heads, confirming their verdict in silence.

"Ambassador your petition to have Saren's Spectre status removed has been denied."

"I'm glad to see justice has been served." Saren said triumphantly, his hologram then blinking out of the chambers.

The party of humans walked back down the stairs with their heads lowered, in defeat.

"It was a mistake bringing you into that hearing Captain you and Saren's history made the council question our motives." Udina said after a long pause.

"I know Saren. The only reason he is working with the geth is to exterminate the entire human race. Every colony we have is at risk. Every world we control is in danger. Even Earth isn't safe!" Anderson was beginning to sound distressed, something Shepard hadn't seen in him ever.

"We need to deal with Saren ourselves." Shepard concluded

"As a Spectre he is virtually untouchable. We need to find some way to expose him." Udina said.

"What about that turian C-sec investigator, what was his name? Garrus." Derek offered.

"That's right! He seemed like he was close to finding something on Saren." Kaidan added.

"Any idea where we could find him?" Shepard said, turning to face Udina.

"I have a contact in C-sec, Harkin. He will help us track Garrus down."

"Forget Harkin." Anderson scoffed. "They suspended him last month for drinking on the job. I won't waste my time with that loser."

"You won't have to. I don't want the Council using you and Saren's history as an excuse. Shepard will handle this."

"You're right. I'll step aside for this one." Anderson said reluctantly knowing Udina was right.

"Don't worry Captain I'll find us something." Shepard said, aware of Anderson's unwillingness.

"Very well, good luck finding some evidence Shepard. Captain, come see me in my office later." Udina said before creeping away back down the stairs to the elevator.

"Harkin will likely be in Chora's Den. It's a dingy little club down in the lower wards." Anderson added before turning to walk away.

"Hold up Captain. What happened between you and Saren that is so major you can't be involved in this investigation?" Shepard asked, concerned for her Captain.

It took Anderson a few seconds before he began "Twenty years ago I was sent on an assignment with Saren into the Skyllian Verge to eliminate a known terrorist threat. But a lot of innocent people died along the way, the official records just covered it all up." Anderson said with a sorrowful expression on his face.

After listening to Anderson, Derek's brow lowered. His fists clenched into tight balls. His nostrils flared. His shoulders tensed. His breath became heavier, as he tried to contain his sudden boiling anger. He didn't want to embarrass himself by venting it all out in front of his fellow crewmen but his sudden, aggressive change in appearance was noticed by one of them, although they decided not to say anything then and there.

"But I've seen how he operates. No conscience. No hesitation. He'd kill a thousand innocent civilians to end a war without a second thought." Anderson continued.

"Sometimes a thousand have to die so a million can live." Shepard said not understanding Anderson's disposition.

Anderson glared "That's only if there is no other way." He snapped. "Saren doesn't look for an alternative he rushes in without a second thought. He's a twisted, monster who enjoys the violence and the killing."

Shepard didn't say anything and gave a single slow nod, understanding that Saren didn't think in the moral sense. There was no 'lesser of two evil's' in his mind, only the 'easiest option'.

"Good luck Commander." Anderson said more calmly now and walked away with his arms tensely behind his back, down the stairs towards the elevator.

…

Shepard had led her squad over to a citadel transit station, located outside the council chambers where they picked up a cab. Kaidan sat in the front, next to Shepard who was driving. Ashley and Derek sat in the back.

A couple of minutes had passed. Kaidan and Shepard had been talking over what had happened during the hearing as well as about Anderson and Saren. Ashley and Derek had been sitting in an awkward silence.

Ashley turned to look over at Derek whose face was turned away from her as he stared out of the tiny window, resting his elbow on his knee and his chin on his fist; his shoulders were still tensed from when Anderson had been speaking.

Ashley, having been the one to notice this, decided to try and ease him out of whatever was bugging him. "LT?" She said at a volume low enough so that neither Shepard nor Kaidan would hear them.

"Hmm?" He snapped his head around to look at her, breaking out of his trance. His blue eyes stared at hers in mild shock.

"What happened to you back there?"

His eyes widened a fraction, enough for her to detect. Shit! She noticed. He thought to himself. "Back where?" He tried feigning confusion.

Ashley didn't say anything; she didn't have to with the look she gave him. Her dark brown eyes frowned back at him almost as if to say 'Don't ever try and lie to me again.'

Derek gave a heavy sigh under her scrutiny, burying his face into his hands before looking back up but his eyes did not meet hers, instead he stared at the back of the seat in front of him. "Just…Something Anderson said." He mumbled.

"About Saren?" She asked.

"Yeah…Well, no, not about Saren specifically." He was beginning to get annoyed with her prying.

"I don't understand…"

"Yeah, well don't trouble yourself." He said in a sharp hiss but still only loud enough so that only Ashley heard him, Kaidan and Shepard were still in deep conversation. He ran both his hands through his short blonde hair and then rubbed the bridge of his nose with his thumb and fore finger, his eyes were shut gently.

In a given situation such as this, Ashley would have thought of Derek as an 'asshole', plain and simple and would have happily gone out of her way to ensure they never spoke again. However, she was aware this was not usual of him. Up until now he had been extremely hospitable towards her, for him to suddenly transform into this only meant something had been eating away at him, for a long time.

"Derek." She tried again this time in a gentle voice. "You can talk to me."

It took him a second to register just how quickly the tables had turned. A few hours ago he'd been helping to pull her out of that 'dark place' and now he found her doing the exact same for him.

He let out yet another sigh "The official records just covered it all up." He said slowly, not mumbling this time.

"What?"

"What Anderson said 'the official records just covered it all up.'." He looked at her to see whether she got what he was talking about.

"Has something along those lines happen to you?"

He nodded slowly "It's a long story, too long to explain right now. If you really want to find out, do both of us a favour and ask me some other time."

She nodded at him in understanding "Ok."

They remained silent again until the cab eventually arrived at the lower wards.

Just before they got out Derek grabbed Ashley's wrist softly so as to keep her seated.

"Hey. I'm sorry for getting angry at you. That was rude of me. I appreciate you trying to help." His eyes were stricken with guilt.

"It would take a lot more than that for me to get mad at you." She said tenderly her eyes showed him that she was being serious and not in the least bit cynical. In that split second time seemed to slow down drastically for Derek before speeding back up as she quickly got out of the cab to rejoin Shepard.

Derek noticed his heart was beating very heavily. He blamed it on the fact that old memories were beginning to resurface, no thanks to Anderson but something in the back of his mind suggested something else had caused this. Nevertheless he ignored it and followed Ashley out of the cab.