They got a message from a Nassana Dantius, who asked to meet him on the Citadel in the diplomats lounge on the Presidium.
They were going to head there anyway to resupply and when they landed at the docks they found someone waiting for them.
Kaidan looked at Shepard. "Is that—?"
"Rear Admiral Mikhailovich," said Shepard. "This doesn't bode well."
"Why is that Commander?" Ashley asked.
"The Normandy was supposed to be slated for his Scout Flotilla after shakedown," Shepard explained. "And after I became Spectre I was given the ship, I imagine that he is quite steamed."
"He's also pro-human," said Kaidan. "He didn't approve of building the Normandy in the first place and hated even more when the turian were involved."
"We better greet him," said Shepard. "Joker inform our non-Alliance members of the situation."
"Yes, sir," said Joker.
They made their way to the airlock and met up with the Rear Admiral.
"Ten-hut!" Kaidan saluted.
"At ease," said Mikhailovich. He then looked to Shepard and saluted. "Rear Admiral Mikhailovich, Fifth Fleet."
"We weren't told to expect you, sir," Shepard saluted. "I would have prepared a formal greeting."
"Spare me the pleasantries," said Mikhailovich waving his hand dismissively. "I command the 63rd Scout Flotilla. You and the Normandy were slated for my unit after shakedown. Then the Council got their paws… Claws. Tentacles. Whatever. They got them on our ship. And you."
"I still serve the Alliance, sir," Shepard pointed out. "As a Spectre, I can advance our interests to the Council."
Mikhailovich scoffed. "Hmph. You still know what colour your blood is, Shepard? I don't begrudge the politicians' decision to throw you to the Council. It's an… opportunity." He then gestured to the Normandy. "I do begrudge this overdesigned piece of tin, though."
"The Normandy is a fine ship, sir. She's served us well so far."
"It's a gimmick, Commander. Useless in a stand-up fight." He then slammed his hand angrily into his palm. "This experiment diverted billions from our appropriations bills. For the same price, we could've had a heavy cruiser. But no, we have to make nice to the turians. Throw money at a co-developed boondoggle."
He then made his way over to Shepard. "I'm here to make an inspection, Commander. Normally is an Alliance warship. I intend to see she's up to snuff."
"We'd be honoured to show her to you, Admiral," said Shepard standing aside.
Mikhailovich narrowed his eyes. "I'll just bet. Wait here. I won't be long."
Half an hour later he emerged from the Normandy with a disappointed look on his face, that was not entirely surprising.
"Commander. I'm not happy," he said.
"I'm sorry to hear that, sir," said Shepard tried to keep his calm as possible.
"Who designed that CIC?" he said shaking his head. "Putting the commander aft of everyone else is ineffective. What if he needs to discuss with the operations towards the bow?"
"Modified turian style. They preferred commanders looking over their subordinates, rather than in the middle of them. We want to see how effectively they can command with that setup," Shepard explained.
Mikhailovich pondered for a moment. "Hm. Reasonable goal. But they should have study that in a lab rather than a front-line warship."
He then looked back at Shepard still wearing a disapproving face. "I had a shake at that drive core of yours. 120 billion credits of element zero to make this thing able to move without giving itself away. You realise we could have made drive cause for 12,000 fighters with that money? What good is it to hide for a few hours, anyway? Useless!"
"We can loiter in enemy space and monitor traffic, or drop infiltration teams on enemy worlds," Shepard explained. "Normandy can be more effective than the salarian STG."
"Maybe, maybe. But that's not the job of a proper warship. Were supposed to find and kill the enemy fleet, not count how many times their garrison goes to the bathroom."
He then narrowed his eyes at Shepard. "And we need to talk about your crew, Commander. Krogan? Asari? Turians? What are you thinking, Commander? We can't allow alien nationalists free access to Alliance equipment!"
"Between Saren and the geth, we have enough enemies out there," said Shepard plainly. "Treating other species with suspicion and distrust won't win hearts and minds."
Mikhailovich didn't stop narrowing his eyes. "That assumes that the hearts and minds are worth winning. That hasn't been proven yet. You have anything else to say, Commander? Any other jurisdictions for the state of this vessel?"
"I think the Normandy's a good ship, sir," said Shepard standing straight. "Even if you disagree, you have to see that her joint construction and multiracial crew makes the Alliance look better."
"Your job is to look good, Commander. The Alliance Navy's is to win wars. I'm not convinced Normandy isn't a waste of taxpayers money. But I am convinced that you believe otherwise. And you'll use it to its best ability. I'll be submitting a report to the Joint Military Council." He took a deep breath and continued. "It will not be as negative as I had planned."
He then saluted Shepard. "Good hunting, Commander Shepard. Make us proud."
They saluted and he made his way to elevator.
"That went well," said Ashley.
"It could have been a lot worse," said Shepard. "Come on we got some resupplying to do."
They soon entered into the wards after they assisted with Dr. Michelle with a blackmailer they left and no sooner had they turn around the corner that Shepard was ambushed by Conrad.
"There are rumours on the extranet that you've been made the first human Spectre!" he said excitedly. "That's incredible!"
"Being a Spectre is a big responsibility," said Shepard. "I just want to make humanity proud."
"The vids are all talking about 'Commander Shepard fighting for all of us back home'," Conrad said saluting, badly. "And they also say that you don't take crap from anyone! You're showing them what humans can do. Hey, could I get your picture?"
"I don't have a problem with it, but…" Shepard loaded Conrad suspiciously. "Why?"
"You're a hero, Shepard," said Conrad. "Decades from now humanity is going to remember you. And I'll have your picture. Just hold your gun up."
Shepard rolled his eyes and turned around and held out his pistol as if he was taking shot at an enemy trooper.
"Perfect!" said Conrad taking the picture with his omnitool.
Shepard then lowered his gun down and faced Conrad. "Thanks again, Commander! I'm going to hang this in my living room! My wife will love it!"
Ashley just watched as Conrad left. "I'm surprised anyone married that guy."
As Shepard head to the Council room to inform Admiral Kahoku he met Emily Wong again and this time she asked him to place a bug in in the control room for traffic so that she could monitor the working conditions so that lives were saved and systems would be updated.
Shepard was reluctant to do so, fearing that the board might tamper with the traffic controls, but he can deny that controlling the traffic situation was important. So he agreed and she gave in the bug.
He then went up to Admiral Kahoku. "Commander. Any word on my missing men?"
"I'm a not sure how to tell you this, Admiral," said Shepard in the back of his neck. "Your men were killed by a thresher maw."
Kahoku stared at him. "A…a thresher maw? That's not… my men wouldn't just stumble into a thresher nest! Not the entire unit!"
"Somebody lured them there with an Alliance distress beacon. Placed it perfectly so they'd land right beside the thresher nest," Shepard explained.
"Damn it!" said Kahoku furiously. "I had a bad feeling about this ever since my team disappeared. An Alliance beacon used as bait, my unit wiped out…and nobody seems to know anything about it!"
He then looked up at Shepard. "Commander, I appreciate what you did. Now I need to do my part. The families of those marines deserve to know why they died."
"Anything you need from the?" Shepard asked.
Kahoku shook his head. "Not right now, Shepard. But I'll let you know as soon as I find something out."
Shepard then informed the brother of the now dead captain of Majesty what had happened to him. He had hoped to hear that he was alive, but agreed that it was better than not knowing.
As Shepard walked around the presidium he ran into couple that were arguing. They were arguing about how to treat the child, whose father had their heart disease. Shepard wasn't entirely sure which side to back, but he believed that the mother should decide what to do with a child. It took convincing, but the father's brother eventually agreed.
He then met up with a woman named Helena Blake who asked him to kill some smugglers and slavers. Apparently they had once been her partners, but she did not agree with their methods and wanted him to kill them so that she could take over. Under normal circumstances Shepard would never even considered to assist the criminal, but there was no denying that these men need to be taken care of.
Shepard then found Nassana in the diplomats lounge and she turned out to be an asari.
"I see you got my message," she said when they approached her.
"It sounded like you need some help," said Shepard sitting down opposite.
"I do. My sister Dahlia is a crewman on a cargo vessel operating out beyond the fringes of the Traverse. Her ship was attacked by privateers. There were no reported survivors."
"I'm sorry for your loss," said Shepard, unsure how this affected him.
"This is where it gets complicated," Nassana continued. "Last week, I received a message with her voice on it. Dahlia is alive! The rest of the crew was killed, but she was taken prisoner. The slavers demanded a huge ransom from me in exchange for returning her on harmed."
"Coming up with the ransom seems like the best way to ensure Dahlia safety," Shepard frowned.
"That's what I thought," Nassana sighed. "I did what they wanted, transfer the funds to the account they specified. Only, they never released her. They haven't contacted me since."
She then placed her head in her hands. "I made a terrible mistake, Shepard. I'm a diplomatic emissary! By law, I am required to report any attempted extortion to C-Sec immediately. But I was afraid for Dahlia, so I just paid the ransom. Now she is still missing, and if anyone finds out what I did I end up in jail!"
"You want me to find her and bring her back," said Shepard.
"You only need to bring her back. I have already found for you. I tracked the ransom payment through several account. Eventually, it lead to a small mercenary band operating out of the Artemus Tau cluster. I need you to go to the merc base, take them out, and bring my sister back. You shall be rewarded."
"Keep your reward," said Shepard. "I'll bring your sister back. I promise."
"Thank you, Shepard," said Nassana gratefully. "I knew you were the right man for the job. Come back and see me when the job is done."
Shepard then went up to see Udina, who had read his report on Feros.
"I saw your Feros report," said Udina grimly. "If we had known anything about the Thorian, ExoGeni would never have been given the permit to start a colony there. Thank God that the colony survived. We can't afford to have too many failures out in the Traverse. It's one of our major expansion regions."
"You don't give a damn about the colonists," said Shepard angrily. "It's all just politics to you, isn't it?"
Udina glared at him. "We all can't be the hero who charges into save the day, Commander. But we each serve humanity in our own way. You can't escape interstellar politics. It's part of the big picture. And sometimes it isn't pretty."
Udina then left his office angrily.
Anderson just shook his head. "Just ignore him, Shepard. The ambassador's a little bitter sometimes. Comes with the job."
"How are you holding up?" Shepard asked.
Anderson shrugged. "Honestly? This isn't how I pictured my career coming to an end. Pushing papers really isn't my thing." He then looked at Shepard with pride. "But you're the one who can stop Saren. I believe in you, Shepard. If that means I have to step aside, so be it."
"Tell me what happened between you and Saren twenty years ago?" Shepard asked.
"It's close to twenty years ago now. Ambassador Goyle was our representative here on the Citadel. Like Udina, she wanted to get a human in the Spectres. She chose me. The Council sent Saren to keep an eye on me and evaluate my performance. Just like they sent Nihlus to keep tabs on you."
"Why weren't you honest with me?" Shepard frowned.
"It's not something I'm proud of," Anderson sighed. "I had a chance to become the first human Spectre and I failed. Saren made sure that."
"I think I deserve the whole story."
Anderson nodded. "We had intel on a rogue scientist being funded by batarian interests. He was trying to set up a facility to develop illegal AI technology out in the Verge. Alliance intel had done all the work, but the Council wanted a Spectre involved. We compromised: I was assigned to help Saren in his investigations. We tracked the scientist to a facility on Camala. He was hidden away somewhere inside, protected by an army of batarian mercenaries. The plan was simple: sneak into the plant, capture the scientist, sneaked back out. Quick, quiet and a minimal of bloodshed."
"I'm guessing things didn't go as planned."
"Saren and I split up to cover more ground. Then, about halfway through the mission, there was a massive explosion in the refinery core. Officially, it was ruled an accident. But I think Saren detonated it on purpose to draw off the enemy guards."
"How many casualties?"
"The explosion tore the refinery to shreds. The whole place was on fire. Black chemical clouds poured out into the atmosphere. Nobody inside survived. There was a camp for the workers and their families nearby. Between the fire and the toxic fumes, the final death count was over five hundred. Mostly civilians. Saren didn't care. The target was eliminated. Mission accomplished. And I ended up taking the blame. That ended all talks of me joining the Spectres."
"Saren cause the explosion. How'd he pin it on you?" Shepard frowned.
"In his report. Saren accuse me of blowing his cover. He said it was my fault the guards were ready for us. He claimed that's why it turned into a massacre. Saren's report was all the proof the Council needed to kill my chance of becoming a Spectre."
"Don't blame yourself, Captain."
"I don't. I blame Saren. I think he wanted things to go bad. He was looking for an excuse to blow up that refinery. Maybe he just likes violence. Maybe he was just trying to make me look bad to keep humans out of the Spectres. If so, he pulled it off."
"The only thing I care about is stopping Saren," said Shepard slamming his fist into his palm.
Anderson nodded. "You're right, Commander. Is no good living in the past."
They soon made their way to the casino named Flux and no sooner have they got there that a salarian was tossed out the cheating. He denied the charges and explained that he created a device that increases odds which was in fact cheating.
Shepard said that he would complete the survey, but instead he gave it to the owner, who was very grateful. He then met the serving go, who was extremely worried about her sister, who was an informant for C-Sec and he promised to help her out.
He found Jenna at Chora's Den.
"Hi! I'll be with you in just sec," she said.
"I'll wait right here," said Shepard.
Jenna looked at him nervously. "My do I have a feeling that you're not here for drinks?"
He then leaned in closer so they wouldn't be overheard. "I need to talk about your work with C-Sec."
Jenna laughed nervously. "I don't know what you're talking about. Now, if you don't mind I need to get back to my customers."
"This isn't a game, Jenna. These people are dangerous."
"Now you sound like my sister," Jenna glared. "Why is everyone so concerned about me? I can take care of myself. I need to go. I'm not a stripper. I don't get paid to stand around and look pretty."
"Lovely girl," Kaidan joked.
They were making their way out of the bar when a turian ran into Shepard looking a bit drunk. "If you've got questions about Jenna, meet me at C-Sec academy," he whispered.
"What did you just say?" Shepard blinked.
"Push off!" said the turian shoving him away. "I never did nothing to you. Damn newcomers. Think they can run the place."
"What was that about?" Kaidan frowned.
"I guess we better go find out," said Shepard.
They entered into the academy and met up with the turian after placing the burger that Emily gave him. It turned out he was a C-Sec officer.
"No offence, Commander, but what the hell were you thinking?" he said.
"I don't follow you."
He glared. "You could have blown Jenna's cover."
"We were just getting information, Chellick," said Garrus.
Chellick narrowed his eyes. "I gathered that. It might seem cold letting her take all the risk. But we're keeping a close eye on her."
"Do you really need to risk her life to get the information you want?" Shepard asked.
"This job isn't easy and it's usually unpleasant," Chellick admitted. "I'll take help anyway I can find it. But since you're so concerned with her safety, maybe there's a way we can help each other."
Kaidan raised an eyebrow. "Always playing the angles, Detective?"
"It's part of the job," said Chellick and then he looked at Shepard. "Now are you going to help out or not?"
"Your smart guy, Chellick," said Shepard. "Figure out another way."
"I do have several contingencies; she's just my option 'A'. I'll cut her loose, even get her out of Chora's Den, no strings attached. But… That still leaves my case unsolved. I could still use your help."
"I'll help you, but I need some details."
Chellick nodded. "I'm trying to track down an illegal arms producer. I just need some of their product. Thanks to Jenna's intel, I've learned there's a seller on the Citadel. Meet a man, named Jax, pick up the mods and bring them back here. That'll give me everything I need."
"Where can I find this Jax?" Shepard asked.
"Jax is down in the lower level of the markets. I'll send word through our channels that you're the buyer."
Shepard nodded.
They made their way down to lower market and found Jax, who turned out to be a krogan, who didn't look too pleased and seen them.
"Hold it," he said. "That's close enough, army. You got my payment?"
Shepard gestured to the case in his hand courtesies of Chellick. "Do you have the mods?"
Jax looked to his turian bodyguards. "Show him the merchandise."
A turian then opened the case revealing the mods and Shepard had Garrus exam them.
"Looks good," he said.
"Damn straight! These mods are the best on the market," said Jax impatiently. "Now hand over my credits."
"Here you go," said Shepard handing in the briefcase.
Jax took it and gestured his turian bodyguard to hand over the mods. "Here you go. Enjoy it. Come on, boys. We're done here."
They soon returned to C-Sec and met up with Chellick.
"Commander, I hear you have something for me," he said.
"Here's your shipment, Chellick," said Shepard placing the mods on his desk.
Chellick examined them. "Excellent. This is everything I need. Hmm… maybe more than I need." Chellick then handed him a few credits. "Here, Commander, take this. I won't need it and you've earned some payment for your work.
"I appreciate your help. It shows a lot of integrity. You don't need to do anything after I let Jenna go. Now, I need to get these mods into evidence. Thanks again, Shepard."
After Shepard informed Emily that he had placed the bug in traffic control Shepard got a message on his comm.
"Commander Shepard?" said a human French voice. "Sorry to bother you. This is Lieutenant Girard down in the docking bay. There's a woman here, uh… She was rescued from batarian slavers a few weeks ago. She's from Mindoir. I guess she was taken. In the raid on your town."
The memory still haunted Shepard to this day. "She's been a slave for the past 13 years? Is she all right?"
"Not really," said Girard sounding concerned. "She's a little messed up. She got free somehow. Grabbed a gun from one of my guys. Now she's holed up here in the docking bay. She, uh—She says she wants to die. I hoped you'd talk to her. It's a long shot, but you went through the same thing. The raid. I figured maybe you could talk out of her tree."
"I'm on my way, Lieutenant. Sit tight."
"Anything you can do would be great. I don't want to—She's been through enough. I'll have my men stand by for you."
Shepard made his way to the docking bay and found the Lieutenant there with several men.
"Commander," said Girard saluting. "Glad to see you."
"Wish it was under better circumstances," said Shepard. "Where is she?"
"Behind though shipping containers," Girard gestured. "I've got a sniper positioned, but I don't think we'll need him. She's only a danger to herself. We've got a sedative to calm her down, but we can't get close to her. Every step we take get some more wound up."
"You seem awfully worried about her," Shepard noted.
"I—I just doing my job, Commander," said Girard, looking slightly uneasy.
Girard then gave him the sedative. "I hope I don't need it. Tell your men to stand by."
"Don't push her too hard," said Girard. "If she seems liable to pull the trigger, back off. Or walk away. I'm willing to wait her out." He then saluted. "Good luck, Commander."
Shepard informed the rest of his companions to wait with the Lieutenant's men. He should really do it alone or she might get frantic.
Shepard made his way towards the shipping containers and found the girl. She was wearing rags and there were large scars across her arms and her head had been completely shaven off. The moment she saw him she aimed the gun at him.
"S—Stop! What do you—What are you?" she said shakenly.
"My name is Shepard," said Shepard calmly. "Lieutenant Girard sent me to talk to you. What's your name?"
"Animals don't get names. The masters put their symbols on her. Heart metal all over her back. She screams when they did it."
"You're not an animal. Your parents? What did they call you? Do you remember them?"
"She remembers a lot of things. Talitha. They called her that." She then slowly lowered the gun. "Sh—She doesn't remember the rest. Leave her alone."
"What's the last thing you remember from Mindoir?" Shepard asked.
"Fires. Smells of smokes and burning meat. Animal screaming as the masters cage them. As they put the metal to their backs. Put the wires in their brains. She pretends to be dead. If she's dead, she can't work. But they know. She hopes they'll leave. But they put her in the pen. She didn't fight. She was already broken when they put the wires in."
"Talitha, you were what? Six years old? No one blames you for staying quiet and hoping they'd go away. The only person blaming you is you."
"She wants to believe that. She wants to believe nothing would change. She doesn't want to be there anymore. In the pen. In the cages. Lying quiet while they do things to her."
"How did you get here? Did you escape?" Shepard asked.
Talitha shook her head. "She can't escape. They have chains. Wires. Needles. You go too far, they take your brains away. Animals like her came. Animals with guns. They made the masters explode. She tries to fix the masters. So they won't be mad at her. She put all the reds and purples back in, but they don't move. The other animals take her."
Shepard realised that she was suffering from Stockholm Syndrome. "You were afraid. All you'd known for 13 years was the 'masters' abuse. So you try to heal them."
"She doesn't want to see other animals. They're not real. They can't be real. They can't see her. If the animal see her, then this is real. But it can't be. The wires. The chains. The hitting. This doesn't happen to her. It's another girl. A dirty girl. A stupid girl. She deserves it! It—it happens to her. Doesn't it? They see her, so it's real. She doesn't want it to be real."
"What happened to your parents?" Shepard asked.
"There's—She sees them. They're yelling. Run. Hide. They hit the masters. But the masters, they have lights and hoses." Tears and trickled down her eyes. "Daddy's—He's melting! Sh—She doesn't want to see that! Don't make a look. Don't look! Stupid, stupid!"
Shepard could understand her pain, but she needed to live through it. "I know it hurts, Talitha. I'm sorry. But you need to deal with this. What happened to them? Think."
"When she thinks, water comes out of her eyes. The masters beat her when she wastes water. So she doesn't think anymore. She sees them. Mummy and Daddy. Burning in white light. Melting. Going to pieces. They can't even say anything to her." She then looked up at Shepard with tears falling down her cheeks. "They're dead, Shepard. They try to save her, and the masters burn them. Can she stop remembering now? Please?"
"I was on Mindoir," said Shepard in an understanding voice. "My parents died in the raid."
"Lying," Talitha snapped. "You get hit for lying. Get the buzz or the burning. Can't be there." She then pointed the gun back at him. "Why are you alive? Why are you—Why aren't you like? Broken. Only fit to dig and carry."
"For a while I was broken," said Shepard. "I lost my whole family, Talitha. My friends. My childhood. I had to pull myself up and keep going."
Talitha lowered the gun instead of him. "You lose your mummy and daddy. But you don't dig. You don't carry. You stand up. She wishes she could stand up."
Shepard carefully approached, try to make himself not look like a threat and then held out the sedative.
"Talitha, this will make you sleep," he said. "If you fall asleep, they'll take you to a place where you can get better."
Talitha looked at him for a while and then took the sedative. She looked at him one last time and and placed it in her mouth.
"Will she have bad dreams?" Talitha asked.
Shepard then hugged her and placed his head close to her ear. "You'll dream of a warm place. And when you wake up, you'll be in it."
"She'd like that," said Talitha drowsily. "It hurts when she—when I remembers me. But she wants to remember."
She then collapsed into his arms and he carried her in his arms towards Girard.
"Is it over, Commander?" he asked.
"She took the sedative," he said handing her to him. "She wants to get better, Lieutenant."
"Thanks, Commander," said Girard gratefully. "That means a lot. I don't want to hurt her." She then looked at Talitha, his face for sympathy. "It's just, when I see her curled into a ball, shivering…" He then looked at Shepard angrily. "She was only six when they took her. Why the hell are we out there if we can't even keep one little girl safe?"
"Bad things happen to good people, Lieutenant," said Shepard, speaking from experience. "That's why you and I are here. Don't wring your hands over her—help her."
Girard nodded. "Yes sir! Thanks for your help, Commander. We are taking her to a counselling centre. They'll help her get better."