Chapter 4: Debrief and Enter the Citadel
The events has made its mark on Dominikk. With the beacon destroyed and Nihlus -his one hope of making him a Spectre- dead, the situation is starting to look grim to the Hellion Leader. Now he must prove one of the galaxies greatest Spectres has gone rogue and joined the galaxy. All while making sense of what the beacon said to him.
0630
SSV Normandy
Medical Bay
Cmdr. Dominikk Shepard
"Doctor Chakwas! Doctor Chakwas, the Commander is waking up." I heard, fluttering my eyes open. As soon as I did I saw Williams at the door with Kaidan and the Doctor who both had relieved expressions as I slowly sat up.
"Welcome back to the living, Dominic." Kaidan smirked and I returned the camaraderie gesture.
"You had us worried, Commander. Being in a coma for three days isn't easy. How do you feel?" Chakwas asked slowly as I allowed myself to get my head back into reality.
"Minor throbbing… give me some aspirin and I'll be good." I sighed softly with a nod. "What happened exactly..?"
"Sorry sir, I got caught in some kind of kinetic pull from the beacon, you had to push me out of the way…" Williams said with a frown as I lifted my hand.
"It's alright Williams. You had no idea of what would happen." I said sympathetic and a small smile crept her face. "How did you guys get me here anyway?"
"We carried you, though Williams was adamant on doing it herself." Kaidan smirked at me and her.
"W-well I was the one who screwed things up so I figured I had to." She answered with a bit of flush on her cheeks.
"Well I appreciate it." I smiled at her and she looked down slightly.
"Anyways, while you were comatose Commander," Chakwas said changing the subject. "Your body is physically fine, but there was an increased amount of brain activity. And also, there were clear signs of rapid eye movement. These signs are usual for intense dreaming and mental cognition. What were you dreaming of exactly?" She asked and everyone's eyes were on me.
"I saw…" I began and paused remembering the whispers and scenes of destruction and massacre. "I'm not really sure what I saw… death, destruction… nothing is really clear." I answered as best as I could.
"Hmm, I'd better add this to my report, it may-" She paused looking at the door as it hissed open. "Ah, Captain Anderson." She said respectfully as Kaidan and Williams saluted. He nodded at them and they dropped their hands as he looked at Chakwas.
"How's our XO holding up, ma'am?" He asked kindly. "Well, all the physical readings look normal so I'd say he is clear for duty." She said without pause.
A smile escaped Anderson's face. "Glad to hear it, Doc." He said before turning his full attention to me. "Shepard, I am going have to speak to you, in private." He said in the room and Kaidan and Williams saluted. "Aye aye, cap'n." Kaidan said and led the chief out of the med bay with the doctor.
As soon as they left, Anderson's expression went to that of a mentor. "Sounds like that beacon hit you pretty hard, Dominikk. You sure you're okay?"
"I am fine Anderson, really. Sir if I may ask, Chief Williams was stationed on Eden Prime, I figured she'd have stayed." I asked him.
"I figured we could use a soldier like her. She's been reassigned to the Normandy. Does it bother you?" He asked me and I couldn't hold back the chuckle.
"Not at all sir. Williams is a good soldier, she deserves it." I answered.
"Lieutenant Alenko agrees with you, that's why I added her to Hellion." He smirked. I smiled and it soon vanished at the thought of what happened to Jenkins. "Commander, you alright?" Anderson asked.
"It's just that… I don't like soldiers dying under my command Captain," I said with a frown and looked up when I felt his hand pat my shoulder.
"Death is an inevitable fate, Dom. Jenkins wasn't your fault." He said trying to be sympathetic as his hand dropped. But the more I thought about the mission, the more it angered me.
"With all due respect sir, intel dropped the ball. We didn't have an inkling of what we were walking into down there. That's why the mission went straight to hell, why Jenkins was unprepared when he died." I said irritated.
"I understand your frustration Dom, but the geth hadn't been outside the Veil in centuries. No one could have seen this coming." He answered.
"Yeah… you said you needed to speak in private sir?" I asked and his expression went grim as he crossed his hands behind his back. "I won't lie to you, Dominic. Things look bad, real bad." He uttered as I leaned against the bed.
"Nihlus is dead, the beacon on Eden Prime was destroyed, and the geth are invading. The Council is going to want answers."
"Well I didn't do anything wrong Captain, I just hope the Council will see that." I answered and he nodded. "I will stand by you and your report, Shepard. As far as I am concerned, you are a damned hero in my book." He said being supportive. "But, that isn't the main reason I am here. It's Saren."
"Saren? The turian that farmer, Powell, mentioned?" I asked him confused. "Who is he exactly, sir?"
He then looked at me in the eyes. "Saren Arterius is a Council Spectre, one of the best they ever produced. A living legend." He said allowing the words to sink in. "But if he is working with the geth, it means he has gone rogue, and when a Spectre goes rogue, even the smallest one, then it means trouble. A rogue Spectre of Saren's reputation is like an atom bomb waiting to go off. He is very cunning, and he has a reputation with hating and degrading humans whenever he speaks of them." He said shaking his head.
"Hates us? Why?" I asked puzzled. "Because he thinks we're growing too fast as a species in the galactic community, taking over the galaxy," He looked down with a sigh. "A lot of races think that as well. Most do nothing about it, but Saren has allied himself with the geth. I don't know how nor why, I only know it may have something to do with what was inside the beacon." He explained.
"You made contact with the beacon before it had self-destructed. Did you see anything, any clue that could tell us what he was after?" He asked.
I crossed my arms and closed my eyes thinking. "Just before I lost consciousness, I had some kind of vision…"
"A vision? Of what exactly?"
"I saw synthetics… geth maybe… slaughtering people. Butchering them…" I said looking up.
"You realize what this means. We'll need to report this to the Council, Dominikk." He told me and I snorted.
"And what, tell them I had a bad dream?" I asked sarcastically. "Dom, we don't know what was stored in that beacon. Lost Prothean technology, blueprints to some ancient weapon of mass destruction, whatever it was Saren took it. And now you both are the only ones with a clue to what it is." He said.
"And I know Saren, his methods and politics. He would risk anything to keep humans in the dark inside the galactic community. Although considering what he has just done, this may have very well been an act of war. While you couldn't, he may have cracked what was inside the beacon, and now he has an army of geth with him. If he isn't stopped, he may wipe humanity off the face of the galaxy." He said and I nodded.
"Alright David, then what are our options?" I asked.
"As you know Dominikk, Spectres are almost untouchable and unlimited in their power, Saren being no different. But that is only the Council fund them." He said with a smirk and I understood.
"We prove Saren is guilty and the Council will revoke his status?" I asked with the same smirk.
"Exactly. I will contact Udina, our human ambassador, and see if he can get us an audience. He will want to see us as soon as we reach the Citadel. We should be getting close now, head up to the bridge and tell Joker to bring us into the docks." He ordered and walked out.
When I left I decided to check on Williams, who had her hair bun unwrapped and flow. She soon turned and saluted. "Commander, sorry about what happened with the beacon, if I didn't get too close then this mission wouldn't have been such a failure." She answered guiltily.
"You had no way of knowing Williams. It's alright." I smiled at her and she nodded smiling. Soon it became uncomfortable in the silence so I broke it. "How are things settling for you in the squad?" I asked.
"It's going good actually. Never thought I would be a part of the Hellions to be honest. Not every day you learn your new CO is a man who earned the Star of Terra." She smirked and I scratched the back of my head. "Well… it doesn't feel like it was hard." I answered modestly.
"Saving over thousands of lives against an armada of slavers? With all due respect sir, I think you have an angel watching over you." She smirked.
"Well Ashley, I am glad you feel acquainted." I smiled and walked up to the bridge.
As I walked to the bridge everyone gave me condolences for Jenkins' death. The guilt isn't something I am not used to, I endured the same type of pain from the Blitz. Ever since then I have strived to do better. Obviously I was failing.
I shrugged off the thought and quickly moved to the bridge. "Joker,"
"Ah, good timing Commander, I was just entering Citadel Space. Time to see that tax payer money at work." He grinned and I smirked agreeing.
We soon entered the clouds of the Citadel, gases that formed around the station like a shroud, and within seconds was face to face with the deep-space station. First found by the asari, the Citadel has been the center of the galactic community for over many a millennia. With the salarians and turians as council races, they try to keep order in the galaxy, though I use the word loosely.
Soon, Joker and I were not alone as Kaidan and Ashley already moved to the windows. Ashley was already mystified by the station but it wasn't the main thing that caught her eyes. "Look at the size of that ship." She smirked.
"The Destiny Ascension, it's the flagship of the citadel fleet." Kaidan explained. "Yeah well size isn't everything." Joker muttered earning a playful grin from the chief.
"Why so touchy Joker?" She asked. "Hey I am just saying, you need firepower too." He smiled back.
"Are you kidding? Look at that monster! Its main cannon can rip through any kinetic barrier in the alliance fleet." She argued. "Let's just be glad it's on our side." I said diplomatically.
"I heard that," Kaidan agreed. "Citadel Control, this the Normandy, requesting permission to enter the docks."
"Stand by for clearance, Normandy... clearance granted, you may begin your approach. Transferring you to an Alliance operator." The voice answered.
"Roger that, Normandy out." Joker said and brought us into the docks.
0700
Alliance Embassy
Ambassador Udina's Office
GC. Ashley Williams
"THIS IS AN OUTRAGE! The Council Fleets would bring action if it were a turian colony that was attacked!" The ambassador screamed, though I didnt disagree with his anger.
"Eden Prime resides in the Attican Traverse, the colonists knew what they were doing when they resided there." The salarian councilor answered.
"But there were sightings of the Spectre, Saren Arterius, leading the attack, I DEMAND action!"
"You don't get to make demands of the Council, Ambassador Udina." The turian councilor answered, and from the tone, he sounded like a cross between disgusted and pissed off.
"Citadel Security will investigate further into your findings. We are sorry ambassador, but we cannot engage this any further until the meeting." The asari councilor answered sounding like the peacekeeper and ended the transmission. As soon as she did, Udina turned his eyes on us.
Ah hell…
"Captain Anderson," He said with a great amount of disdain in his voice aws me and Kaidan turned away. "I see that you brought half your crew with you."
I was half a mind to turn my head and glare, if Alenko didn't shake his head to not to. I just looked the other way with a sigh.
"Just the ground team from Eden Prime, in case you had any questions." The captain said. Though the two seemed to be acquainted, it was clear they weren't really… friendly.
"I read the reports, Anderson. I can safely assume theyre accurate?"
"They are," Anderson nodded in response. "Sounds like you convinced the Council to grant us an audience."
"They were not happy about it." Udina acknowledged. "Saren was one of their top Spectre agents, they don't like it when one of their best is accused of treason."
That response seemed to bring the silent Commander out of his, well, silence. "Saren is a threat to every human colony out there! He needs to be stopped!"
Damn, never thought the Commander could lose his cool like that. Wonders never cease I guess.
"Settle down, Commander. You've already done more than enough to jeapordize your candidacy into the Spectres." Udina said having none of it. "The mission on Eden Prime was to prove you could get the job done. Instead, Nihlus ended up DEAD and the beacon was destroyed."
"That's Saren's fault, not the Commander's!" Anderson defended angrily. I turned and saw that the look the commander had was that of failure. He wouldn't admit it, but he probably felt it was his fault.
"Then we better hope C-Sec brings us something that confirms our accusations, otherwise the Council may use this to keep YOU out the Spectres." He said glaring at the commander, who glared right back. "Come with me, Captain. I want to go over a few things before the hearing." He said and they left, leaving the three of us Hellions in the office.
"Arrogant asshole…" I heard Shepard say bitterly.
"Suits, ties and flashy smiles, Dom. It's all Udina is." Kaidan said patting his friends shoulder.
"And that is why I hate politicians." I said, earning a cheer and "here, here" from both men.
"C'mon you two, lets get to that meeting." Shepard said and we left the ambassadors office.