Before leaving the council chambers they had a run-in with a salarian scanning a Keeper. The Keepers was an insectoid race that kept the Citadel maintained, but knew very little about them apart from the fact that they were docile and harmless.
The salarian explained that he wanted to know more about the Keepers, but due to Citadel law disturbing Keepers was illegal. Shepard to was interested about the Keepers and their function and offered to do the scanning for him to which the salarian was very grateful.
"I don't like the sound of this Harkin," said Shepard as they made their way down the elevator.
"Sounds like a sleazebag to me," Ashley agreed.
"So are going to see Barla Von, sir?" Kaidan asked.
"We can at least see how much is information will cost as if it's too pricey then we'll talk to Harkin," said Shepard.
Once we reach the Presidium they began making their way to Barla Von's place of business. Along the way the encountered a C-Sec officer trying to a hanar to stop preaching without a permit.
The hanar resembled jellyfish that lived on a water world. They were extremely polite and always talked in the third person as such it was very difficult to communicate with one of them. They also revered the prothean as gods or as they call them Enkindlers.
Convincing the hanar to stop preaching was difficult, but after asking if this is what the Enkindlers would want him to preach or break Citadel rules. Surprisingly the hanar agreed to follow the terms and when to purchase a preaching permit.
Once they reached Barla Von they discovered that he was a volus. The volus were species that had to wear special environment suits so they could survive in other worlds for they lived in a highly-pressured greenhouse atmosphere. If they did not wear the suits they would have been ripped in two.
"What's this? One of the Earth-clan? Ah, a very famous one, yes?" said the volus once he saw Shepard. "You were the one called Shepard. It is a great honour to welcome the hero of the Blitz."
"You've got me disadvantage here," said Shepard.
"Forgive me, Earth-clan," said Barla Von apologetically. "My name is Barla Von. My job is to make it necessary for me to keep informed. I am a financial adviser to make important clients here on the Citadel. When someone is important at yourself arise on the station, I take notice."
Shepard leaning towards him. "I heard you work for the Shadow Broker. Do you have any information about Saren?"
"You're very blunt, Shepard," Barla Von noted. "But you're right. I am an agent of the Shadow Broker. And I do know something about Saren."
"I hear your information can be expensive."
"Normally, this information would cost you a small fortune. But these are exceptional circumstances. So I'm going to give it to you for free."
"What's the catch?" Ashley asked suspiciously.
"There is no catch," Barla Von assured. "The Shadow Broker is quite upset with Saren right now. The use do a lot of business. Until Saren turned on him."
This information was oddly satisfying to Shepard. "That's what happens when you deal with a traitor like Saren."
"No matter what you think of Saren, he's not stupid," Barla Von pointed out. "He knows the Shadow Broker is a valuable ally. Turning on him doesn't make sense. Not unless something huge was at stake. I don't know the details, but the Shadow Broker hired a freelancer to do with it. A krogan mercenary."
If a krogan was involved then things certainly got more interesting. "How do I find him?"
"I heard he was paying Citadel Security a visit," said Barla Von. "If you hurry you can probably catch him before he leaves the C-Sec Academy."
"Isn't it strange that a krogan would want to speak with C-Sec?" Shepard frowned.
"Very," Barla Von agreed. "However, I doubt the visit was entirely his choice. You'll need to speak with him if you want to know more."
"I should go."
They grabbed a cab and made their way to C-Sec Academy, but once they left the cab the three of them looked at the view. They could see tall towers and millions of sky cars flying around.
"Big place," said Kaidan in awe.
"That your professional opinion, sir?" Ashley smirked.
"This isn't a station; it's a city," said Shepard, he had never seen so many sky cars in his life.
"There must be millions here," said Kaidan. "It can't be possible to track everyone coming and going."
"This makes Jump Zero like a porta-john," said Ashley. "And it's the largest deep space station the Alliance has."
"Jump Zero was big," Kaidan admitted. "But this this is a whole another scale. Look at the ward arms. How do they keep all that mass from flying apart?"
"The Council represents more races than I thought," said Shepard. "No wonder they're careful with newcomers."
Kaidan nodded. "They probably just want to keep everything running. It has to be hard keeping all these cultures working together."
"Or maybe they just don't like humans," Ashley grumbled.
Shepard shrugged. "Why not? We've got oceans, beautiful women, this emotion called love. According to the old vids, we have everything they want."
"If you expect to get me in a tinfoil skirt and thigh-high boots, I want dinner first," said Ashley narrowing her eyes. She then remembered who she was talking to. "Sir."
"That'll be enough, Chief," Kaidan laughed.
"At ease, Lieutenant," said Shepard. "I can't see in a skirt, anyway."
Ashley blushed. "Damn straight you can't."
"Ready to move out, sir," said Kaidan.
"Come on, we better head to C-Sec," said Shepard.
Along the way they met up with a reporter called Emily Wrong. She told them that she was looking into organised crime on the Citadel and Shepard promise that he found any information he would pass it along.
They soon reached C-Sec and it didn't take them long to find the krogan. In truth it was very hard to miss a heavily armoured krogan. They were a large reptilian bipeds and well known for their aggression and bad temper.
Once the krogan were heroes, but they lived on a hostile planet and before the salarian came along they were at war with each other with nuclear weapons. This meant that with their long life spans and large birthrates their population exploded.
This soon led to what was known of the Krogan Rebellions and if it wasn't for the involvement of the turian they would have won. They were defeated when the turian unleashed a salarian biological weapon known as the genophage which caused the krogan birthweights to drop to one percent.
This certain krogan looked as if he had seen quite a lot of battle judging by the deep scars on the right side of his face. He looked completely unconcerned with the heavily armed C-Sec officers surrounding him.
"Witnesses saw you making threats in Fist's bar. Stay away from him," the C-Sec officer warned.
"I don't take orders from you," said the krogan towering over the human officer.
"This is your only warning, Wrex." The officer glared.
"You should warn Fist. I will kill him," said Wrex returning the glare, and leaned forward in a way that made it clear he was fully capable of literally biting the officer's head off.
"You want me to arrest you?" The officer gestured.
The krogan actually chuckled. "I want you to try." He waited a beat, and none of the officers moved. He shrugged, and started walking.
"Go on. Get out of here." The officer spoke to the krogan's back.
He saw Shepard watching, and stopped. "Yes, human?"
"I'm trying to bring down Saren," said Shepard. "Barla Von said to talk to you."
"Barla Von is a wise man. We may share a common goals, human," said Wrex.
"Enlighten me."
"I've been hired to kill the owner of Chora's Den. A man named Fist. He did something very foolish."
"What did he do?"
"He betrayed the Shadow Broker," said Wrex simply. "A quarian showed up on the Citadel. She was on the run. She wanted to trade information for a safe place to hide, so she went after Fist. He promised to arrange a meeting between her and the Shadow Broker. Instead, he contacted Saren."
"Fist's not too smart."
"He's just greedy," Wrex shrugged. "Saren paid him a small fortune for the quarrian. He has to. She has evidence connecting him to the geth."
"If we get our hands on that evidence, we can prove that Saren's a traitor!" said Kaidan. "The Council will have to listen to us."
Shepard looked at Wrex. "Where's the quarian now?"
"Last I heard, Fist still had her," said Wrex. "Probably somewhere inside his club. You help me kill Fist, she's all yours."
Shepard would normally not condone such a thing, but taking down Saren was much more important. "Time we paid Fist visit," he said shaking hands with Wrex.
"What about Garrus?" Ashley asked. "That turian? He wanted to take Saren down, too."
Shepard nodded. "He might come in handy."
"He was here just before you showed up," said Wrex. "Said he was going to follow the lead on his investigation. Wanted to speak to the doctor at the med clinic."
"Move out!"
A shot impacted the wall just a couple inches from where Shepard's head had been a moment before as he pulled Ashley down and out of the line of fire. Wrex pulled out his shotgun and blasted them to bits.
"Someone want you dead, Shepard," he said.
"I have a feeling that were closing in on Saren," said Shepard as he pulled himself up.
They walked into the medical clinic to find Garrus crouched behind a low wall and several thugs holding weapons on a panicking doctor. "I didn't tell anyone. I swear!"
"That was smart, Doc." The lead thug smiled threateningly. On the other side of the wall, Garrus was moving into a shooting position. "Now, if Garrus comes around, you stay smart. Keep your mouth shut, or we'll—" The door behind Shepard slid shut with an audible click, drawing the attention of the thugs. The thug immediately grabbed the doctor and used her as a shield. "Who are you?"
Shepard pulled out his pistol and gestured for his companions to start spreading out. "Let her go!"
Garrus immediately moved out of cover and put a slug in the lead thug's head. Shepard put his own slug through the head of the thug that had been standing next to him. Once clear, the doctor wasted no time in diving behind a desk. He moved in to provide Garrus with some cover fire.
The remaining thugs dove behind a low wall and a file cabinet. Wrex's hand flared up, revealing that he was in fact a biotic. The thugs were thrown across the room and Ashley fired a few slugs into them.
"Perfect timing, Shepard." Garrus nodded to Shepard. "Gave me a clear shot at that bastard."
"What were you thinking?" Shepard snapped. "You could've had the hostage!"
"There wasn't time to think!" said Garrus defensively. "I just reacted. I didn't mean to—" He stopped and looked at Dr. Michel. "Dr. Michel? Are you hurt?"
"No." She wiped her hands on her tunic. "I'm okay. Thanks to you. All of you."
"I know those men threatened you but if you can tell us who they work for, we can protect you." Shepard collected the weapons, handing them off to Ashley and Wrex.
"They work for Fist," said Dr. Michel looked from Shepard to Garrus as if not certain which of them she should be talking to. "They wanted to shut me up, keep me from telling Garrus about the quarian."
"The one I told you about, Shepard," said Wrex.
"She must be able to link Saren with the geth," said Garrus scratching his chin. "There's no way the Council can ignore this!"
"Time we paid Fist a visit," said Shepard.
"This is your show, Shepard." Garrus took a small step forward. "But I want to bring Saren down as much as you do. I'm coming with you."
Shepard frowned. "You're a turain. Why do you want to bring him down?"
"I couldn't find the proof I needed in my investigations. But I knew what was really going on," said Garrus angrily. "Saren's a traitor to the Council, and a disgrace to my people!"
Shepard nodded. "Welcome aboard, Garrus."
"Fist is going to be waiting for us," said Garrus. "When we hit him, we better to hit him hard."
Someone must have tipped Fist off. The only people in the bar were heavily armed mercenaries, all of which were shooting at them.
They cleared the bar in under a minute. Shepard gestured for Kaidan and Ashley to hold position. Garrus and Wrex followed him through the door.
Where two unarmoured men stood, pointing crappy pistols at him. "Stop right there! Don't come any closer!"
"Warehouse workers." Garrus shook his head. "All the real guards must be dead."
"Stay back or we'll shoot!" The pistol shook a little in the man's hand.
"This will be a good time to find somewhere else to work," said Shepard.
The two guards lowered their pistols. "Yeah. Yeah, right. That's a good idea."
"I never liked Fist anyway."
Ashley and Kadian let them pass.
"It would've been quicker to just kill them." Wrex shrugged and started walking towards the next door.
"Shooting people isn't always the answer," said Garrus.
They kept on moving and then they encountered Fist, he didn't waste anytime and sent drones at them. Wrex then revealed that he was a biotic and sent the drones flying into the wall. Fist tried to make a get away, but Garrus fired a shot at his leg and he collapsed.
He then looked up at Shepard, who aimed his pistol at him. "Wait! Don't kill me! I surrender!"
"Where's the quarrian?"
Fist flinched. "She's not here. I don't know where she is. That's the truth!"
"He's no use to you now." Wrex cocked his shotgun. "Let me kill him."
"Wait! Wait!" Fist held up his hands. "I don't know where the quarian is, but I know where you can find her." He looked up at Michael. "The quarian isn't here. Said she'd only deal with the Shadow Broker himself."
"Face to face?" Wrex shook his head. "Impossible! Even I was hired through an agent."
"Nobody meets the Shadow Broker." Fist stood up, a little shaky. "Ever. Even I don't know his true identity. But she didn't know that. I told her I'd set a meeting up. But when she shows up, it'll be Saren's men waiting for her."
Shepard grabbed the helm of his arm and pulled him towards him. "Give me the location. Now."
"Here on the wards." Fist swallowed nervously. "The back alley by the markets. She's supposed to meet them right now. You can make it if you hurry."
He stepped back, and Wrex promptly shot the guy.
"What are you doing?!" Garrus roared.
"The Shadow Broker paid me to kill him. I don't leave jobs half done."
"We don't shoot unarmed prisoners!" Shepard yelled as he scooped up the the OSDs scattered on Fist's table.
"How many people died because of him?" Wrex glared. "He brought this on himself. Besides, we have more pressing concerns."
Garrus nodded. "That quarian's dead if we don't go now!"
When they got outside the office they found Ashley and Kadian in a firefight. Garrus soon proved that the shot in the doctor's clinic was not a lucky shot, because he fired a slug riding between the eyes of a thug.
With the five of them they were able to kill all the guards and rushed outside.
They started running towards the alleys and there they could see a quarian talking to a bunch of thugs. It was hard to describe her, because every single part of her body was covered up and special armour and a face was hidden behind a helmet.
Shepard knew that the quarian had very weak immune systems as one germ could easily put them in hospital. They had always been like this, but ever since they lost their home planet to the geth the immune systems collapsed forcing them to wear special suits just to stay alive.
"Did you bring it?" said one of the mercs.
"Where is the Shadow Broker? Where's Fist? The quarian enquired.
"They'll be here," said the merc as he brushed his fingers across her helmet. "Where's the evidence?"
"No way," said the quarian slapping his hand away. "The deal's off."
Two of the mercs pulled out their pistols, but in a surprising turn of events the quarian tossed a flashbang at them and dive for cover. With that bit of chaos, taking out the mercs was easy.
She stood up from behind the crates as soon as the fire ceased. "Fist set me up! I knew I couldn't trust him!"
"Were you hurt in the fight?" Shepard asked.
"I know how to handle myself," she said. "Not that I don't appreciate the help. Who are you?"
"My name's Shepard. I'm looking for evidence to prove Saren's a traitor."
"Then I have a chance to repair you for saving my life. "She adjusted the hood on her envirosuit. "But not out here in the open. We need to go somewhere safe."
"We could take to the human embassy," Garrus offered. "Your ambassador will want to see this anyway."
Udina didn't look happy when they entered into his office. "You're not making my life easy, Shepard. Firefights in the wards? An all-out assault on Chora's Den? Do you know how many—" He turned around, and then took a step backward when he realised Shepard wasn't alone. "Who's this? A quarian? What are you up to, Shepard?"
"Making your day, Ambassador," said Shepard calmly. "She has information linking Saren to the geth."
"Really?" said Udina and turned his attention onto the quarrian. "Maybe we should just start at the beginning, Miss…?"
"My name is Tali. Tali'Zorah nar Rayya."
"We don't see many quarians here. Why did you leave the flotilla?" Udina actually sounded personable when he was playing the diplomat.
Tali paced a few steps. "I was on my Pilgrimage, my rite of passage into adulthood."
Shepard had heard rumours that the quarians sent the young into space as a rite of passage into adulthood. From what he could gather it was mostly a way to find supplies or equipment there would help the fleet to survive since they didn't have any natural resources.
"Tell us what you found."
"During my travels I began hearing reports of the geth. Since they drove my people into exile, the geth have never ventured beyond the Veil. I was curious." She stopped pacing. "I tracked a patrol of geth to an uncharted world. I waited for one to become separated from its unit. Then I disabled it and removed its memory core."
Captain Anderson raised an eyebrow. "I thought the geth fried their memory cores when they died. Some kind of defence mechanism."
"How did you manage to preserve the memory core?" Shepard frowned.
"My people created the geth. If you're quick, careful and lucky small caches of data can sometimes be saved." She began pulling up something on her omnitool. "Most of the core was wiped clean. But I salvaged something from its audio banks."
A recording came out of her omnitool. "Eden Prime was a major victory! The beacon has brought us one step closer to finding the Conduit."
Anderson actually smiled. "That's Saren's voice. This proves he was involved in the attack!"
"He said Eden Prime brought him one step closer to finding the Conduit," Shepard frowned. "Any idea what that means?"
Anderson shook his head. "The Conduit must have something to do with the beacon. Maybe at some kind of Prothean technology… like a weapon."
"Wait…" Tali touched a couple more buttons. "There's more. Saren wasn't working alone."
The recording replayed, and this time a feminine voice answered Saren's. "And one step closer to the return of the Reapers."
"I don't recognise that other voice." Udina frowned. "The one talking about the Reapers."
Why would he? The galaxy had trillions of life forms. Something about the Reapers tickled his memory. Where had he heard that? "I feel like I've heard that name before…"
"According to the memory core, the Reapers were a hyper-advanced machine race that existed 50,000 years ago." Tali spread her hands. "The Reapers hunted the Protheans to total extinction, and then they vanished. At least, that's what the geth believe."
"Sounds a little far-fetched." Udina folded his arms.
One of the images from the beacon tried to crawl across his mind. He shoved it away. "The vision on Eden Prime—" It kept trying to come back. "I understand it now. I saw the Protheans being wiped out by the Reapers."
"The geth revere the Reapers as gods, the pinnacle of non-organic life. And they believe Saren knows how to bring the Reapers back." Tali looked from him to Udina and back again.
"The Council is just going to love this!" Udina shook his head.
"The Reapers are a threat to every species in Citadel space," said Shepard firmly. "We have to tell them."
"No matter what they think about the rest of this, those audio files prove Saren's a traitor," said Anderson.
"The captain's right." Udina waved a hand. "We need to present this to the Council right away."
Wrex's deep voice came from behind him. "What about her? The quarian?"
"My name is Tali!" She turned to face Shepard. He couldn't see her face behind the mask, but he was pretty sure if he could, her eyes would be wide and excited. "You saw me in the alley, Commander. You know what I can do. Let me come with you."
Having a geth expert along could be useful. "I'll take all the help I can get."
She moving back to join the others. "Thanks. You won't regret this."
"Anderson and I will go ahead and get things ready with the Council. Take a few minutes to collect yourself, then meet us in the Tower."
The husband of one of Ashley' former squadmates met them as they were leaving the embassy. A few minutes later, Shepard found himself dealing with a clerk who was refusing to relinquish the body of the squadmate. "I understand what you're trying to do, but holding the body is wrong."
"Commander, you will all people should understand how far we must go to protect humanity!"
"Not if we lose our humanity and the process!" Shepard roared. "I'm out fighting to stop crap like this!"
"All right, Commander," the clerk sighed. "You win. It was hard enough refusing Mr. Bhatia. I'm not going to risk an incident by refusing you."
"Come on." Anderson was waiting at the base of the stairs. "Udina's presenting the quarian's evidence to the Council."
Shepard followed him to the dais. Udina had already finished presenting the recording when they got there.
"You wanted proof. There it is."
It was hard to read the Turian Councillor's expression, but Shepard was fairly confident the man was not enjoying this. "This evidence is irrefutable, Ambassador. Saren will be stripped of his Spectre status and all efforts will be made to bring him in to answer for his crimes."
"I recognise the other voice, the one speaking with Saren." The Asari Councillor clasped her hands behind her back. "Matriarch Benezia."
"Who's she?" Shepard asked.
"Matriarch are powerful asari who have entered their final stage of their lives. Revered for their wisdom and experience, they serve as guides and mentors to my people. Matriarch Benezia is a powerful biotic, and she had many followers. She will make a formidable ally for Saren." The Asari Councilor nodded.
"I'm more interested in the Reapers." The Salarian Councillor tapped his fingers on its chin. "What do you know about them?"
Anderson stepped forward. "Only what was extracted from the geth's memory core. The Reapers were an ancient race of machines that wiped out the Protheans. Then they vanished."
The image tried to crawl across his mind again. "The geth believe the Reapers are gods. And Saren is the prophet for their return."
"We think the Conduit is the key to bringing them back. Saren's searching for it. That's why he attacked Eden Prime." Anderson nodded.
"Do we even know what this Conduit is?" The Salarian Councillor asked.
Shepard wasn't sure it mattered. "Saren thinks it can bring back Reapers. That's bad enough."
"Listen to what you're saying!" The Turian Councillor shook his head. "Saren wants to bring back the machines that wiped out all life in the galaxy? Impossible. It has to be. Where did the Reapers go? Why did they vanish? How come we've found no trace of their existence? If they were real, we'd have found something!"
Shepard was starting to get annoyed with the Council, especially the Turian Councillor. "I tried to warn you about Saren, and you refused to face the truth. Don't make the same mistake again."
"This is different," said the Asari Councillor stepped in to play peacemaker. "You proved Saren betrayed the Council. We all agree he's using the geth to search for the Conduit, but we don't really know why."
"The Reapers are obviously just a myth, Commander." The Salarian Councillor waved a hand dismissively. "A convenient lie to cover Saren's true purpose. A legend he is using to bend the geth to his will."
The images that had seared into his mind were far too real to dismiss so casually. "Fifty thousand years ago, the Reapers wiped out all galactic civilization. If Saren finds the Conduit, it will happen again!"
"Saren is a rogue agent on the run for his life." The Turian Councillor leaned on his podium. "He no longer has the rights or resources of a Spectre. The Council has stripped him of his position."
"That is not good enough!" Udina pointed a hand at the council. "You know he's hiding somewhere in the Traverse. Send your fleet in!"
The Salarian Councillor shook its head. "A fleet cannot track down one man."
"A Citadel fleet could secure the entire region." Udina gestured sharply. "Keep the geth from attacking any more of our colonies."
"Or it could trigger a war with the Terminus Systems!" The Turian Councillor's mandibles clicked. "We won't be dragged into a galactic confrontation over a few dozen human colonies!"
As if it hadn't been their Spectre that had set all this in motion. Shepard stepped forward. "Every time humanity asks for help you ignore us!"
"Shepard's right." Udina nodded to him. "I'm sick of this Council and its anti-human bull—"
"Ambassador!" The Asari Councillor held up a hand. "There is another solution. A way to stop Saren that does not require fleets or armies." She glanced over at the Turian Councillor.
The Turian Councillor immediate started protesting. "No! It's too soon. Humanity is not ready for the responsibilities that come with joining the Spectres."
"You don't have to send a fleet into the Traverse, and the Ambassador gets his human Spectre," Shepard pointed out. "Everyone's happy."
Both the salarian and the asari turned to stare at the Turian Councillor. Though he was clearly reluctant, the Turian Councillor nodded.
"Commander Shepard." The Asari Councillor straightened. "Step forward."
Shepard glanced at Anderson, who nodded. He stepped forward. Udina was actually smiling. He looked around to see that others in the vicinity had stopped what they were doing to come observe.
"It is the decision of the Council that you be granted all the powers and privileges of the Special Tactics and Reconnaissance branch of the Citadel."
"Spectres are not trained, but chosen. Individuals forged in the fire of service and battle; those whose actions elevate them above the rank and file."
"Spectres are an ideal, a symbol. The embodiment of courage, determination, and self-reliance. They are the right hand of the Council, instruments of our will."
"Spectres bear a great burden. They are protectors of galactic peace, both our first and last line of defence. The safety of the galaxy is theirs to uphold."
"You are the first human Spectre, Commander. This is a great accomplishment for you and your entire species."
"I am honoured, Councillor," Shepard bowed.
"We're sending you into the Traverse after Saren," said the Salarian Councillor. "He's a fugitive for justice, so you are authorised to use any means necessary to apprehend or eliminate him."
"Any idea where I can find him?"
"We will forward any related files to Ambassador Udina," said the Turian Councillor.
"This meeting of the Council is adjourned," said the Asari Councillor.
Anderson held out a hand. Shepard took it. He was starting to feel like one of the times he'd been shot in the head. "Congratulations, Commander."
"We've got a lot of work to do, Shepard." Udina was having trouble not smiling. "You're going to need a ship, a crew, supplies…"
"You'll get access to special equipment and training now. You should go down to the C-Sec Academy and speak to the Spectre requisitions officer."
Udina gestured. "Anderson, come with me. I'll need your help to set all this up." He walked off. Anderson nodded at Shepard again before following.
"I thought the ambassador would be a little more grateful," said Tail. "He didn't even thank you."
"Until I find Saren, I haven't done anything," said Shepard. "Come on."
"Right behind you, Shepard," said Garrus.