Chapter 2: Instruments of their will.
Life on the Citadel has grown more chaotic since the attacks started. People were protesting the councils inaction and often belittling way of handling of the Reaper problem. C-sec was nearly over come with complaints of violence on the wards and protests turning violent was a growing problem. Anti human sentiment has grown with the successful assassination of the turian politician Joram Talid and the death of executor Venari Pallin. Non humans on the station believe this to be a calculated elimination of humanities critics on the station.
Shepard smiled thinking about the council being forced to take action against "the immortal race of sentient machines from dark space" they previously refused to believe in. Now they have no choice but to investigate the Reapers. They have every mass relay leading into the Terminus systems blocked, they're dealing with anti-council protesting on the Citadel and they are trying to keep things running smoothly in a panicking galaxy.
The elevator stopped at the council chamber, the chamber was for the most part quieter and had an unsettling feeling to it. The place was a lot emptier as well, with the only people walking around seemed to be twenty or more people all dressed in very expensive looking body armor and all of them had a bit of an intimidating feeling to them.
"Yes Shepard they are all Spectres and you should be in awe." A voice sarcastically whispered behind him.
Shepard turned around and immediately recognized the person who made the remark. This was the asari Spectre who hunted him a little more than a year ago and also helped him repel the attack on Arcturus station. Her name was Raina Howlit. "Long time no see Shepard." she said, playfully punching Shepard in the arm.
"Where have you been in the last year?" Shepard asked curiously, knowing Raina's reputation for being sent on missions the council would rather not have any hand in.
"Garvug if you must know." She yawned, stretching her arms out. "The bosses wanted me to make sure the corporations wagging war on that cold miserable little rock are behaving themselves."
Shepard and Raina walked ahead to the front of the council chamber. "Do you know what this is about?" Raina asked.
"Not even a little." Shepard replied.
Shepard and Raina continued walked up the stairs to the council who weren't at their usual spot above whom ever is having an audience with them at the time. "So this is the famous Commander Skcih Shepard, champion of humanity and savior of the Citadel!" Someone loudly proclaimed behind him.
Shepard turned around and to see who was doing all the talking, it was a rough looking turian who had a long jagged scar across his face and had a mandible missing from the left side of his face. "Excuse me Commander I am Velentrian Tenais." The turian greeted mockingly. "I just never thought I'd see a liar,cheat and most of all a traitor walking around freely with the title Spectre."
Shepard made his way over to the turian, standing face to face with him. "Do you have some thing to say to me turian?" Shepard grunted, looking the turian in the starring him down, neither of them breaking contact with each others eyes.
"Not only are you a joke of a Spectre, you betrayed this council by working with it's enemies." Velentrian growled. "You also murdered a member of this organization!"
"You remember Tela Vasir don't you?" he questioned.
Shepard scoffed. "She blew up a building and killed civilians!"
"That is no different than you keeping your ties to Cerberus!" he retorted.
"The council might think your on their side for now and yes I know full well of the councils dealings with Cerberus!" he shouted. "But you are nothing but a repeat of Saren and the geth!"
"I am nothing like him!" Shepard yelled.
"No you're worse!" He shot back. "And unlike some of us." he paused and turned away to give a spiteful glare at Raina. "When you do go rouge and the council comes to their senses I'll be the one to kill you!"
Shepard clenched his fists and his biotics lit up the room, catching the eye of the other Spectre's in the room. "Since you apparently know so much about me then you should know what's gonna happen next." Shepard snarled, drawing his shot gun on the turian.
The turian now had his pistol drawn." So you want to die sooner rather than later."
Velentrian chuckled. "That is perfectly fine with me."
"That's enough both of you!" A voice exploded from the front of the council chamber. Both Spectre's turned around to see the council had finally arrived. When Shepard looked at the council he immediately noticed one member of the council was missing. "Where is councilor Anderson?" Shepard asked.
The asari councilor stepped forward. "Councilor Anderson has resigned and has been replaced with..."
Before the councilor could finish speaking human ambassador Donald Udina joined the rest of the council. "Sorry I'm late I had some things to take care of." he said.
"You've got to be kidding." Shepard thought to himself. Out of all the humans in the galaxy the council had picked in Shepard's opinion the worst possible replacement for Anderson.
"We've called this meeting today to discuss the situation on the edges of Council territory." The turian councilor said. "For the past year entire colonies have either been destroyed or colonists have gone missing altogether."
The salarian council member pressed a button on his console and an image of a Reaper projected out to the Spectre's. "We all are familiar with this model of ship." Udina stated. "This... thing is what some of us call a Reaper."
"We've had some success in fighting these ships with the technology Cerberus has been able to provide." The turian councilor explained. "But we're still losing ground and these ships could very well attack the Citadel at any moment."
"We need to stop them before they get to the Citadel!" A voice shouted from somewhere in the crowd.
"Why call this many Spectre's to the Citadel?" Raina asked.
"Most of the Citadel fleet is out patrolling the Traverse and border regions to the Terminus systems" Udina began to answer. "We are in a very vulnerable position and having a large number of Spectre's active on the Citadel at the same time... "
" Helps the four of you sleep better at night." Raina interrupted. "I've seen these things in action, it's going to take a lot more than a couple dozen of us to fight the Reapers."
The crowd began to become more unruly. Shepard couldn't think of what to do but didn't have the slightest idea of what to say. Shepard started thinking about the last two years, time with Cerberus and then a thought came to him. "I think I have an idea" he said aloud.
"Now how can the savior of the galaxy save us this time?" Velantrian wondered sarcastically.
Shepard ignored the turian. "When I used the Omega four relay I used a Reaper IFF."
"I fail to see your point Shepard." Udina snapped.
"From the Omega four relay me and my team hit the collectors." Shepard explained "The Citadel is a giant mass relay is it not?"
"Even if what your suggesting was possible wouldn't that mean opening a portal to dark space and allowing possibly even more Reapers into the galaxy?" The turian councilor asked.
"Then how long do we wait?" Shepard questioned "A week, another month or a year until the Reapers get to the Citadel and open the Citadel mass relay anyway?"
"Our forces are stretched far to thing to even attempt an invasion." The salarian councilor said back.
"Not what I'm asking at all." Shepard said, raising his voice slightly in aggravation. "We need to focus on making sure that the Reapers can't use the Citadel to bring the rest of their fleet in." Shepard turned around to face the Spectre's behind him. "The council has every mass relay in Citadel space blockaded and the Alliance and every other council race are busy protecting their colonies from being destroyed."
"Are numbers are stretched far to thin to really defend the Citadel and if the Reapers attacked right now all of us might as well be dead!"
"Well since you seem to have all the answers Shepard what do you suggest we do about it?" Udina asked in a condescending tone.
Shepard turned back to the councilors. "I'm thinking we'll need to get help. Most likely from the quarians and the geth." Shepard answered sounding unconvinced that would even work. "Hell maybe even from the krogen and the rachni." he exhaled.
"I'm going to forget you even brought up the geth you allowed to be rewritten to make them stronger." Udina mumbled. "The quarians haven't been heard from in months!"
"Allowing krogen aid would be a mistake and our investigations have turned up nothing in the whereabouts of the rachni." The salarian councilor added.
The crowd of Spectre's stirred into whispers and some even looked surprised by the mention of rachni in the first place. "Shepard... is right." The turian councilor hesitantly agreed. "We can't wait for them to attack us."
"Shepard you're mission is to gather possible allies in repelling and possibly eliminating this Reaper threat." The asari councilor decreed. "Any Spectre agents not currently on a mission elsewhere or with any pressing matters outside of the Citadel are to remain here on the station."
"This is insane!" Velentrian yelled. "Shepard alone cannot be aloud to have this much freedom when this much is at stake!"
"Shepard is a Spectre of this council." the salarian councilor dismissed. "He has shown time and again..."
"That his decisions risk the safety of this galaxy!" He interrupted again, pointing an accusing finger at Shepard. "I and every "real" Spectre in this room swore an oath to protect the galaxy!"
"What the hell is your problem?" Shepard questioned, glaring at the turian Spectre infront of him.
"Everyone expects you and humanity to save us once again!" The turian growled. "But who is going to save us from you?"
"Shepard has proved him self as an agent of the council." the asari councilor said, defending Shepard.
"Shepard cannot be trusted and you all will see this for your selves!" The spectre yelled, pushing past several other agents. "Watch your back Shepard I'll be watching you!" He yelled one last time before he stormed out of the council chamber.
The asari councilor took a deep breath and then exhaled heavily. "This meeting of the council is adjourned."
End.