A Spectre's words
"Citadel Security is investigating your charges against Saren," the Asari Councilor said. "We will discuss the C-Sec findings at the hearing, not before." And with that, the orange holograms disappeared, leaving Udina with a look of pained frustration on his face. "Well, that went well," Shepard muttered. Udina turned to the Captain, glaring at Shepard as he did.
"Shepard came along," Anderson told him. "In case you had any questions."
"I have the mission reports. I assume they're accurate?" Udina asked.
"They are," Anderson replied and gestured to the where the Council stood a moment ago. "Sounds like you convinced the Council to give us an audience."
"They were not happy about it. Saren is their top agent. They don't like him being accused of treason," Udina shot a look at Shepard. Shepard ignored him.
"Saren's a threat to humanity, regardless of what the Council thinks of him," Shepard shot at the ambassador. "If they don't stop him, I will."
"Settle down, Commander," Udina shot back, matching Shepard's glare. "You've already done more than enough to jeopardize your candidacy for the Spectres! The mission on Eden Prime was to prove you could get the job done; instead Nihlus ended up dead, and the beacon was destroyed!"
"None of that was my fault, ambassador!" "If you read the mission reports like you said you did, you'd know that!" Anderson grabbed her shoulder before she could take another step and gave a strong squeeze. Not here, not now, it said. Shepard took another look at Udina before turning away sharply and walking towards the balcony.
"The commander is right, ambassador. All of that was Saren's fault, not his," Anderson told Udina. Udina crossed his arms.
"Then we'd better hope the C-Sec investigations turns up evidence to support our accusations," Udina told them. "Otherwise the Council may use this as an excuse to keep you out of the Spectres," Shepard rolled her eyes.
"Their loss," Shepard muttered under her breath. "Come with me, Captain," Udina continued. "I want to go over a few things before the hearing. Shepard! You can meet us at the Citadel Tower. Top level. I'll make sure you have clearance to get in." With that, the ambassador and the captain strode away towards the door.
When someone exited the elevator to enter the Citadel Council chambers, the first thing they would see is a hallway of flowers and beautiful plant life. This hallway would open up to a beautiful fountain that was meant to convey a sense of peace and tranquility. This set up was to remind all incomers that the Council chambers were a place where peaceful negotiations could take place.
The first thing Calista saw when she exited the elevator, however, were two turians in a heated argument.
"Saren's hiding something! Give me more time! Stall them!" one of the turians shouted. From what Shepard could see, this turian was young, an agent from C-Sec, who wore an eyepiece that extended from the ear. The turian he was talking to wore more formal clothing, and was obviously his superior officer. The way the second turian stood with this arms crossed and head shaking gave away all of these signs.
"Stall the Council?" the other turian asked incredulously. "Don't be ridiculous. Your investigation is over Garrus."
"But everything on Saren is either classified or restricted. How exactly am I supposed to find any hard evidence on him if I keep on running into these walls?" Garrus asked in a rough voice.
"You don't. You had your chance, and you didn't find anything. Now, your investigation is over," the other turian told him firmly.
"But-!" Garrus began.
"It's over, Garrus. End of discussion," and with that, the other turian turned sharply and walked towards the elevator. He brushed by Shepard momentarily and kept on walking, never looking back. Garrus bristled with anger as he clenched his fists. He then saw Shepard and approached him.
"Commander Calista Shepard?" Garrus began. "Garrus Vakarian. I was the C-Sec Agent in charge of the investigation into Saren."
"Who's the hard ass?" Shepard asked bluntly.
"That was Executor Pallin, the man in charge of C-Sec," Garrus said contemptuously. "My superior officer. But you're right, I guess. He is kind of a hard ass, as you say."
"You find anything useful against Saren?" Shepard asked. "It sounded like you really wanted to bring him down."
"I don't trust that barefaced turian," Garrus crossed his arms vehemently. "Something about him rubs me the wrong way. But he's a Spectre, so everything he touches is classified. I couldn't find anything solid. But I know he's up to something. As you humans say, I feel it in my gut."
"Good luck, commander," Garrus said. "Maybe the Council will listen to you." Shepard nodded and walked past him. She looked over her shoulder and saw Garrus hurriedly walking out. Shepard smiled to herself. The turian was probably off trying to find evidence on Saren.
Shepard walked up the stairs towards the podium, seeing Captain Anderson waiting for her.
"The hearing's already started, come on," Anderson told them quickly as they walked up the stairs. When he reached the top, Shepard could see the ambassador standing in front of the council, in person this time. He also saw a large holographic image planted next to the council. It was the figure of Saren, with his arms crossed and head held high.
"The geth attack is a matter of some concern," the asari councilor was saying. "But there was nothing to indicate that Saren was involved in any way." Her voice was soft and melodious, attempting to cool Udina's anger.
"The investigation by Citadel Security turned up no evidence to support your charge of treason," the turian councilor's rough voice reminded. This didn't satisfy Udina.
"An eyewitness saw him kill Nihlus in cold blood," Udina held his anger in check this time.
"We've read the Eden Prime reports, ambassador," the salarian councilor said. "The testimony of one traumatized dock worker is hardly compelling proof."
"I resent these accusations!" Saren said roughly. "Nihlus was a fellow Spectre, and a friend."
"That just let you catch him off guard!" Anderson pointed an accusing finger at Saren. Shepard looked at Anderson's eyes and saw hatred. Complete and utter hatred. It was clear to Shepard now that Anderson knows Saren on a more 'personal' level.
"Captain Anderson!" Saren said amusingly, as if he had just noticed him standing there. "You always seem to be involved when humanity makes false charges against me. And this must be your protégé, Commander Shepard. The one who let the beacon get destroyed." Shepard looked at Saren right in his eyes.
"The mission to Eden Prime was top secret," Shepard told him. "What I can't figure out is how come you were there in the first place, that mission was top secret. The only way you could know about the beacon was if you were there." Shepard was trying to keep himself calm, but the more Saren looked down at him, the harder it was.
"Your species needs to learn its place, Shepard," Saren said slowly and strongly. "You're not ready to join the council. You're not even ready to join the Spectres!"
"I think I am!" Shepard shouted back. "Want to come down here and prove me wrong?"
"He has no right to say whether or not Shepard can join the Spectres! That's not his decision!" Udina shot a glare at Shepard. Keep out of this, it said.
"Shepard's admission into the Spectres is not the purpose of this meeting," the asari councilor reminded Saren.
"This meeting has no purpose! The humans are wasting your time, councilors, and mine!" Saren exclaimed.
"So, you got better things to do than hide behind the council? Would you like to share what they are exactly?" Shepard shouted. Anderson gripped Shepard's shoulder.
"Do you have anything else to say, Commander Shepard?" the Salarian councilor asked. "You've made your decision," was all Shepard said. She turned away and walked off the podium. As she walked away, she heard their answer.
"The council has found no evidence of any connection between Saren and the Geth. Ambassador, your petition to have him disbarred from the Spectres' is denied," she heard the Asari councilor.
"I'm glad to see justice was served," she heard Saren say. Shepard turned and looked at Saren in the eye. "The next time I see you, this knife," Shepard said as she withdrew her 9" Tanto, "is going through your eye!" Saren smiled and then disappeared.
"This meeting is adjourned."
"It was a mistake bringing you into that hearing, Captain. You and Saren have too much history. It made the council question our motives. And you, Shepard," Udina glowered.
"Yes?" Shepard asked innocently.
"What were you thinking?" Udina exclaimed. "Blowing up in front of the Council! We are trying to get you into Spectres and just for that outburst; they may ban you from it altogether!"
"I wanted to tell them to fuck off," Shepard said simply, "Be glad I didn't."
Udina gritted his teeth.
"Besides, they had already made their decision before we ever got there. And they let Saren go free because we didn't have any evidence," Shepard said. Udina nodded. She was right.
"Still, Captain Anderson…" Udina didn't need to finish.
"I know Saren," Anderson told them. "He's working with the geth for one reason: 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!" Shepard wanted to know more about what happened between Saren and Anderson, but he knew that now wasn't the time for it.
"The Council isn't going to help us now," Shepard noted. "We'll have to do it ourselves for now."
"As a Spectre," Udina rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "He's virtually untouchable. We need some way to expose him."
"Any idea where we can find Garrus? We need to know if he found out anything," Shepard asked.
"I have a contact in C-Sec who might help us. His name is Harkin," Udina was going to say something else but Anderson cut in.
"Forget it! They suspended Harkin last month, drinking on the job," Anderson said, disgusted. "I won't waste my time with that loser."
"You won't have to!" Udina told him. "I don't want the Council to use your past history with Saren to ignore anything we turn up. Shepard can handle it." Shepard furrowed her brow.
"You can't just cut Captain Anderson out of this investigation," Shepard said. "He has every right to be here as I do."
"No, Shepard," Anderson sighed. "The ambassador's right. I need to step aside." Shepard could see the pain in his eyes. Shepard nodded.
"I need to take care of some business," Udina rubbed his forehead. "Captain, meet me in my office later." He turned and walked away towards the elevator.
"He may be an ass, but he's right," Anderson said. "You can probably find Harkin getting drunk in Chora's Den. It'd be worth talking to him, just don't believe everything you hear." Shepard smiled.
"Are there any other leads?" Shepard asked, rubbing the back of her neck.
"Uh, yeah, there is a volus over in the financial district, his name is Barla Von, and I believe he is an agent for the Shadow Broker. He might know something about Saren. But his information won't come cheap." Anderson said. "Shepard!" Anderson called after her. "Stay safe."
Shepard turned around and smiled. She smiled, gave a small salute with two fingers, and set off. Anderson crossed his arms and watched her enter the elevator. He sighed. All he could do now was waiting.
Shepard left the Council chambers to find a volus banker named Barla Von. It was a possibility that he knew something about Saren. Time was of the essence, and that meant that she couldn't take a break every now and then.
Shepard clutched her side as pain tore through her broken ribs; she administered a painkiller from her spinal insert. She made her way to the CRT terminal and boarded a sky car headed towards the financial district. She exited and made her way to Barla Von's office. "I hear that you are an agent for the Shadow Broker, I was wondering if you have any information about Saren."
"You're very blunt, Shepard. But you're right. I am an agent for the Shadow Broker. And I do know something about Saren.
"How much will it cost?" Shepard asked will tapping on her Omni-tool.
"Normally this information would cost a small fortune, but I will make an exception in this case."
"What's the catch?" asked Shepard.
"There is no catch. The Shadow Broker is quite upset with Saren right now. They used to do a lot of business. Until Saren turned on him."
"What a shock, that seems to be a common occurrence these days."
"Saren isn't stupid, it makes no logical sense for him to turn on the shadow broker. He must have had a very good reason for betraying him. What I do know, is that the Shadow Broker hired a freelancer to deal with it. A krogan mercenary. You will find him down in the C-Sec Academy."
"Thanks for the information."
"My pleasure Commander."
"I would like to open an account with you."
"Uh, Commander the minimum amount to open an account with me is six figures."
"I understand, I have enough to cover that," Shepard replied tapping on her Omni-tool, allowing her balance to appear on his monitor.
"My, my commander, it would appear that my information was wrong, I had assumed that you were just an alliance marine, I had no idea that you would have a balance exceeding 25,000,000 credits."
"Not a problem."
"Ok I have set up an account, are there any instructions that you would like to add to the account?"
"Yes, if I am declared missing or killed in action, I wish for you to hold onto my balance for five years, as those two properties may be necessary for my current mission. If after those five years have passed, I give you permission to transfer the full balance to the John Grissom Academy."
"I understand commander, thank you for your business."
Shepard left his office, and boarded the skycar to C-Sec.
~end of chapter 7~