Recap: "Well lets go." Shepard said ready to go find anymore information on Saren. In doing so Fist stood in his way, and chances were he was going to need Wrex to help him. He and everyone then made their way to the C-Sec academy.
Now
After walking to the c-sec academy the whole gang had arrived to see Wrex talking to several c-sec officers. One human and two turians.
"Witnesses saw you making threats in Fist bar. Stay away from him." the human officer said.
"I don't take orders from you." Wrex said. Shepard immediately knew Wrex was not impressed by the intimidation tactic. In fact he was sure Wrex was only annoyed by the guy.
"This is your only warning Wrex." said the officer.
"You should warn Fist, I will kill him." Wrex said.
"Do you want me to arrest you?" the officer asked with a glare.
"I want you to try." Wrex said with the krogan equivalent of a smirk on his face. That was when he noticed Shepard, Garrus, Ashley and Kaidan. Wrex walked over to them.
"Go on. Get out of here." the officer said as Wrex walked away.
"Do I know you human?" Wrex said as he walked towards Shepard. Then Shepard did something no one saw coming. He reared his head back and head-butted Wrex. Everyone looked at him as if he was insane.
"The name's Shepard, or Ghost as I'm sometimes called. I have to meet someone and I have to go through Fist to meet her. Wanna help out?" Shepard said. Wrex recovered quickly and studied the human in front of him. This was Ghost? The man who defeated numerous slavers and 3 thresher maws? He then took a closer look at him and noticed the confidence in Shepard's eyes. Eyes that held know fear in them only an unwavering fire to do the impossible. Wrex noticed that the head-butt Shepard gave him was strong enough to send him back a few inches. This was a human he could respect.
"You've got a quad human! Shepard huh? Ghost? I've heard a lot about you. We're both warriors Shepard. Out of respect I will warn you, I will kill Fist." Wrex said
"Good, I'm counting on it." Shepard said with a smile.
"Fist will be expecting us. We would have a better chance if we work together." Garrus said
"My people have a saying: Seek the enemy of your enemy, and you will find a friend." Wrex said.
"Enemy of my enemy is my friend huh? I can get on board with that." Shepard said grinning. Wrex grinned at Shepard.
"Well what are we waiting for here? Let's go I would hate to keep Fist waiting." Wrex said. With that all 5 of them made their way to Chora's Den only to see the club appearing to be closed.
"What the hell?" Ashley said.
"We were here only an hour or 2 ago." Kaidan said.
"I did say Fist would be expecting us." Garrus said. That was when they noticed Shepard was putting his hand on the door lightly patting it with a biotic aura surrounding him.
"What are you doing?" Wrex asked.
"I have a strange sense of energy waves such electricity and Eezo. I can even sense you are a biotic Wrex." Shepard said. Everyone looked from him to Wrex who was shocked. Wrex had not mentioned his abilities to them yet and the other 3 had assumed that he was a simple krogan mercenary.
"Wait, what do you mean by you can sense biotics?" Kaidan asked.
"Well, ever since I was a child I could always sense... something when I was around very powerful power stations or incredible powerful biotics. When my biotics manifested the sense got stronger 100 fold. Now I can sense any biotic or significant electrical signal any time I want. I could even tell you how powerful anyone with biotics are depending on their biotic aura." Shepard responded.
"Well what can you tell about Alenko and Wrex?" Ashley asked. Shepard then stared at Alenko for a minute and then looked at Wrex.
"From the feeling of their auras, they are very powerful for a vanguard and a sentinel." Shepard said.
"Wait how did you know what their classes were?" Garrus asks.
"Well I can usually tell by the radiance of their auras as well as the weaponry in their arsenal. Both their auras are strong but not as radiant as an adept is." Shepard explained.
"Okay Shepard, that is strange. So what are you doing with the door?" Kaidan asked him.
"I'm sending a biotic pulse through the door to tell what's in there. Currently the doors been locked and I can sense over a dozen armed men, including a couple krogan too." Shepard said as he backed away from the door. He then started gathering a warp field in his hand and started increasing the power of it.
"Shepard, what are you doing?" Ashley asked a little wary of what he was doing.
"I'm going to break down the door, what's it look like?" Shepard responded.
"Shepard, you do know that we could hack the door right?" Garrus asked nervous of what Shepard was doing.
"No you can't. They have taken out the door pad. You can see that, can't you Garrus?" Shepard simply said. Everyone started backing away from him. Then Shepard used the Power Strike(I don't know if there could be another name for it, if any of you got a decent name send it.) on the door. The effect was immediate and spectacular. The door stood strong for a few seconds, but then the door began groan and screech as it started to get crushed under the power of Shepard's attack. Shepard's team as well as the ones inside Chora's Den looked on in shock as Shepard's attack destroyed the door. With one final thrust (Not that kind you perverts!) the door exploded into Chora's Den, shrapnel flying everywhere hitting several of the armed men, killing them. Shepard flew in with omni-blades out and began slashing at the nearest enemy. By the time the others got in he was on the other side of the club. They surveyed what happened and noticed that Shepard was stabbing a krogan in the chest. That was when the other enemies had their trained on Shepard. Moving quickly, he grabbed the krogan's arm, twisted it behind it's back and used the krogan for a shield. The move worked and killed the krogan in the process while leaving Shepard unscathed. Then Shepard's team finally joined in taking on the remaining enemies in the room. Shepard turned his left omni-blade into an omni-shield and blocked gunfire from the entrance to the club's backroom. He noticed a fire canister along wall in the back and used incinerate on causing it to explode and kill one of the 2 men shooting at him. He then used his shotgun on the remaining guy and blew his head off with one shot. As the fighting ended Shepard surveyed the damage they did to Chora's Den. He had to admit he hadn't cause this much damage to a club since that one time Aria gave him Ryncol at Afterlife. He couldn't help, but grimace at that particular memory. It had been bad from the second that awful liquid went down his throat . As soon as he ingested it he was drunk off his ass and started trashing the club. The guards couldn't stop him and when Aria had to jump in it just got worse. Chairs and tables flew through the room as a biotic battle erupted between him and her. Poor Patriarch ended getting thrown around the room in all the confusion. The dancers were scared out of their minds and the guards were crying for their mommies. When he finally got out of it he came face to face with an extremely pissed off Aria and a messed up Afterlife. After that he had to repair the club as well as pay for any other damages that may have occurred and any drinks that were destroyed in the fight. What a shitty month.
"Damn Shepard, if you find more fights like this I'm going to have to follow you for awhile." Wrex said bringing Shepard out of his thoughts.
"Sure Wrex, though honestly this hasn't happened for a few weeks." Shepard replied. With that they all walked toward the backroom and came face to face with something that was ridiculous.
"Hold it right there! Don't come any closer." said a young worker.
"You've gotta be kidding me." Kaidan said.
"Warehouse workers. All the real guards must be dead." Ashley said.
"Stay back or we'll shoot." One of the workers said.
"This would be a good time to find another place to work at." Shepard said pointing outside.
"Yeah, yeah right. That's a good idea." The first worker said with obvious relief.
"Yea, I never liked Fist anyway." The second one said. The 2 ran out fast.
"Would have been easier to shoot them." Wrex commented.
"Shooting people isn't always the answer." Garrus retorted. They then walked toward Fist's office. Almost immediately, turrents from the side fired on them with Fist joining in. Shepard and company took cover quickly. Shepard began immediately hacking the turrents and caused them to self-destruct, injuring Fist in the process.
"Ugh Dammit. Wait! Don't kill me! I surrender." Fist said. Shepard then took his pistol and aimed it at Fist right between the eyes.
"Where is the quarian?" Shepard said in an even tone.
"She's not here! I don't know where she is. That's the truth." Fist said. Shepard immediately knew he was lying. He then biotically grabbed Fist and slammed him on the wall and held him there.
"He is no use to you now, let me kill him." Wrex said eager to shoot Fist.
"Wait, wait! I don't know where she is, but I can tell you where she'll be." Fist said frantic.
"I'm listening." Shepard said.
"Like I said, the quarian isn't here. She said she'd only deal with the Shadow Broker himself." Fist said.
"Face to face? Impossible! Even I was hired by an agent." Wrex stated. It was true no one ever saw the Shadow Broker as far as Shepard knew. Shepard released Fist and let him onto the ground.
"No one meets the Shadow Broker. Ever. Even I don't know who he is. She didn't know that though. I told her I'd set a meeting up. And when she shows up, it will be Saren's men waiting for her." Fist continued. Shepard then threw Fist around the room before he slammed Fist onto the ground.
"Give me the damn location now before I break your arms and legs." Shepard growled.
"Here on the wards. The back alley by the markets. She is supposed to meet them now. You can make it if you hurry." Fist squeaked out. Wrex then took his shotgun out and shot Fist killing the crimelord. Ashley immediately had her rifle on Wrex.
"Drop the gun, krogan." she snarled.
"Why did you do that?!" Garrus asked horrified. Kaidan looked shocked at what happened. The only one who was calm was Shepard.
"The Shadow Broker paid me to kill him. I don't leave jobs half done." Wrex said.
"But still..." Garrus said. That was when Shepard spoke up.
"Look Wrex, a little warning would have been nice so I could back up a little. Williams lower your gun, no one is going to miss Fist." Shepard said.
"We don't shoot unarmed prisoners Shepard." Kaidan said.
"How many people died because of him? He brought this on himself. Besides, we have more pressing concerns." Wrex said.
"He's right, that quarian's dead if we don't get to her." Ashley said finally relenting.
"Well then, I haven't been on the Citadel long and I'm sure Ash, Kaidan and Wrex haven't either. Garrus think you could find the place Fist was talking about." Shepard asked.
"Yea, I know it like..what's the human saying? Like the back of my hand?" Garrus stated. Shepard nodded.
"Let's get moving." Shepard stated. Everyone but Shepard left the room.
"Hey Isaac, you there?" Shepard asked.
"Yea?" Isaac said.
"Hack the console over there please and transfer any files to my omni-tool. I get the feeling that a lot of people would want it. Just need to give it to the right one." Shepard said.
"Gotcha." Isaac said and began remotely downloading into an OSD. With that they ran out of the club and met several more armed men. They quickly mopped them up with their various talents and made their way to the back alley. Once there they saw the meeting had just started. Unlike everyone else Shepard heard the whole thing.
"Did you bring it?" the lone turian said.
"Where's the Shadow Broker? Where's Fist?" he could hear the quarian say in a cautious tone.
"They'll be here. Where's the evidence?" the assassin said trailing his hand down her arm. She quickly slapped it away.
"No way. The deals off." She said with an even tone. The turian backed off and then Shepard noticed 2 salarians walk out from behind a crate. The quarian also noticed them and threw something at them before she jumped into cover. It must have been a grenade because an explosion went off between the 2 salarians killing one and knocking the other on his back. The others then sprung into action catching the assassins of guard quickly overwhelming them. When the massacre ended Shepard walked towards the quarian. He could tell she was mad if her body language was anything to go by.
"Fist set me up! I knew I couldn't trust that bosh'tet!" She hissed. Shepard couldn't help but smile at her attitude.
"Don't worry about Fist, he's gone now. Are you okay?" Shepard asked.
"I know how to look after myself. Not that I don't appreciate the help. Who are you?" she asked with a little suspicion.
"A friend. I'm Shepard or Ghost, which ever one you want to go with. I'm looking for any evidence that could prove Saren's a traitor." Shepard explained.
"I've heard of you Ghost, you helped other quarians who were on their Pilgrimage when they were taken by slavers." she said.
"Well it's nice to meet you miss..." Shepard said wanting to know her name.
"Tali, I think I can help you with Saren, but we need to be somewhere safe." Tali said.
"We can go to the ambassador's office. It should be safe there." Kaidan said.
"Well then lets go." Shepard said. With that they all made their way over to the presidium.
Presidium Embassies
"Anderson do you see the reports I'm getting?!" Udina boomed at him. A few minutes ago Udina was sent reports of Ghost/Shepard who had caused huge amounts of damage in credits.
"Seriously! A door to a club, an all out assault on Chora's Den and then the firefight in the wards? I'm starting to think this guy should be locked away." Udina said.
"Well things might have been far worse." Anderson said.
"Udina you don't need to yell. We could hear you from the outside at the entrance." Shepard said as he and everyone else walked in. Udina and Anderson turned to see them.
"You are not making my life easier Shepard. With all the damage you caused it will cost us a heavy sum of credits and-" Udina said until Shepard cut him off.
"And we have evidence that proves that Saren is a traitor. So calm down." Shepard said. He noticed Udina quieted down, but was still giving him his best death glare.
"Who is this? A quarian? What are you up to Shepard?" Udina said.
"This lovely young lady has the evidence." Shepard said grinning. For once Tali was grateful to have a mask on since it could hide her blush. Then Shepard said something that shocked her and may have shocked everyone else.
"Why are you blushing?" Shepard said.
"Y-Y-You can see me?" Tali said in strained voice.
"You can see through her mask?" Everyone else said shocked.
"Yea you guys can't?" Shepard said. Everyone else shook there heads no. Tali was shocked. Someone could actually see her behind her mask.
"Anyway, you might want to start at the beginning miss..." Udina said bringing the conversation back on track.
"Uh umm my name is Tali. Tali'Zorah nar Rayya." Tali said regaining her composure.
"We don't see many quarians here. Why did you leave the flotilla?" Udina asked.
"I was on my Pilgrimage, my rite of passage into a adulthood." Tali explained.
"What did you find?" Shepard asked. He wanted to ask about the Pilgrimage, but he would have time for that later.
"During my travels I heard reports of geth. Since they drove my people into exile, the geth never ventured beyond the Veil. I was curious." Tali explained. Shepard could understand that. It was natural. Tali then continued.
"I had tracked a patrol of gethto an uncharted world. I waited for one to become separated from it's unit. Then I disabled it and removed its memory core." She continued to say. He had to admit she was impressive with that much skill.
"I thought the geth fried their memory cores when they died. Some kind of defense mechanism." Anderson said.
"How did you manage to preserve it?" Shepard asked curious.
"My people created the geth. If you are quick, careful, and lucky small caches of data can sometimes be saved." Tali explained. Shepard knew then and there she was very smart. Now he just needed to know if she was better in a fight. He had seen her fight but not by much.
"Most of the core was wiped clean, but I managed to salvage this from its audio banks." Tali said as she activated her omni-tool. After a minute Saren's voice came out.
"Eden Prime was a major victory! The beacon has brought us one step closer to finding the Conduit." Anderson looked like he had won the lottery.
"That's Saren's voice. This proves everything!" Anderson said excited.
"Well he's in trouble now." Shepard said.
"Wait Saren wasn't acting alone." Tali said as she continued to play the recording. This time a feminine voice played.
"And one step closer to the return of the reapers. What of the human who attacked you though?"
"The Council will never believe someone from the Terminus especially if it's one of Aria's agents. Besides even if they were of Council space, they still wouldn't listen. Wouldn't want anything happening to their top spectre after all." Everyone in the room looked at Shepard to see his reactions. The next second they wish they never did it when they saw the downright evil smile on his face. Oh he was going to get Saren.
"I don't recognize that other voice, the one talking about Reapers." Udina said. For some reason when the word 'Reapers' was said, Shepard felt a wave of nostalgia and something else wash over him.
"I feel like I've heard that name before..." Shepard said not liking the feeling he was getting.
"According to the memory core, the Reapers were a hyper-advanced machine race that existed 50,000 years ago. The Reapers hunted the protheans to total extinction, and then vanished. At least that's what the geth believe." Tali explained.
"Sounds a little far-fetched." Udina said with blatant skepticism.
"Now I understand the vision on Eden Prime. It was the protheans being wiped out by the reapers!" Shepard said finally starting to piece the puzzle together.
"The geth revere the reapers as gods, the pinnacle of non-organic life. They believe Saren knows how to bring them back." Tali said.
"The Council is just going to love this." Udina said dryly.
"Tell them or not, they will never believe it unless it shows up at their door." Shepard said not believing the Council will do anything about it. He was a firm believer that all the Council could do was talk, never fight. When the krogan rebellions ended they had grown soft in these peaceful times. Hell Shepard was positive that was a factor in the First Contact War when humanity came on the scene. He knew humanity was strong, no doubt about it, but he had to look at other factors as well. That 1000 years of peace had made the Council arrogant and soft for believing that they finished things with the rebellions. Shepard was sure the took credit for the Rachni Wars to. And when humanity showed the turians believed that they could gain a new client race easily. That wasn't the case when humanity punched back and gave the turians a bloody nose, along with resentment from all the other races as well. That didn't mean Shepard didn't believe in working together with the other races. He believed that they needed to work together since each race called this galaxy their home.
"No matter what they think about the rest of this, those audio files prove Saren's a traitor." Anderson said happy that he finally had something to condemn Saren.
"The Captain's right, we need to get this to the Council right away." Udina agreed.
"What about her? The quarian?" Wrex said. He was surprised when Tali whipped her head to him and showed a little backbone.
"My name is Tali!" She said in a raised voice. Wrex just grinned at her.
"Shepard you saw me in that alley. You know what I can do. Let me come with you." Tali said.
"Why?" Shepard asked.
"The Pilgrimage is to show my people how we can support one another, if I don't do anything what does that say about me?" Tali said.
"No why should I let you join in? What skills do you have to bring to the fight?" Shepard clarified. She then knew if she wanted to join, Shepard needed to know what she could do.
"I have been given hand to hand training on the Flotilla, I'm a decent shot with a pistol and a shotgun." Tali said.
"Anything else, I'm going to need more than that." Shepard said.
"I can also hack through geth defenses including firewalls, drones and other units." She added. Shepard grinned at that.
" Okay your in." Shepard said
"Thank you, you won't regret this." Tali said obviously happy.
"Anderson and I will go ahead to get things ready with the Council. Take a few minutes to collect yourselves, then meet us in the tower." Udina said. With that Udina and Anderson left toward the tower.
"Come on guys I'd like to see the Council's faces when we prove them wrong." Shepard as he walked out toward the tower. Everyone soon followed him out.
At the Tower
As he walked towards the Council seats he saw Anderson.
"Come on. Udina's presenting the quarian's evidence to the Council." Anderson said.
"Great, can't wait to see their faces." Shepard said grinning. Anderson smirked at Shepard's humor as well as everyone else. As they walked up the stairs he could hear the recording playing. As he and everyone else got to the podium he took his omni-tool out and took a digital picture of their faces. Each of their faces wore a look of utter shock and outrage.
"You wanted proof? There it is." Udina said sticking is arm out smugly. The Council was incredibly shocked. They had played right into Saren's hands just as he had expected. Each of their reactions was priceless to Shepard. Tevos was in utter shock as if she hadn't even expected it. It was awesome in Shepard's mind to see the wise councilor completely thrown for a loop. With Valern, it was a look of humiliation and anger. Shepard had to guess the humiliation was from being outwitted by a turian. Shepard noticed that every race had some general thing they feel into. With turians, it was military discipline. Salarians, it was intelligence. Asari, it was more diplomacy and politics of sorts. With krogan, it was fighting. Volus, business and money. With humans, if he had to say anything, it was diversity and individuality. Finally he saw his favorite reaction which was from Sparatus. Sparatus looked so humiliated and pissed off that he could have sworn Sparatus was ready to kill someone. He was glad he had taken the picture earlier, who knows he might post it on the extranet.
"This evidence is irrefutable, Ambassador." Sparatus said in a controlled tone that showed just how angry he was. He then continued on, "Saren will be stripped of his Spectre status, hunted down and brought to justice."
"I recognize the other voice, the one talking with Saren. Matriarch Benezia." Tevos said sounding sadden.
"Just so you know, some of us in the room don't know every politician or powerful person in the galaxy. Mind telling us who she is?" Shepard said. Tevos looked at him strangely as she regarded him as someone else, not like the others he was with.
"She is a very powerful biotic with many followers." Tevos explained. She then continued, "She will make a formidable ally for Saren."
"I'm more interested in these reapers. What do you know of them?" Valern asked.
"Only what we learned from the memory core, that they were responsible for the prothean's extiction 50,000 years ago." Anderson said.
"The geth also revere them to as their gods. With Saren being the prophet for their return." Shepard continued.
"Saren is looking for something called the Conduit. It could be a way for bringing the reapers back." Anderson finished.
"Do we even know what this Conduit is?" Valern asked.
"Would we be talking about if we did?" Shepard asked sarcastically. Then he continued seriously, "If Saren is after it, it has to be dangerous."
"Listen to what your saying! Saren wants to bring back machines that will wipe everyone out? Impossible, it has to be." Sparatus said dismissing the notion.
"We can all agree that Saren betrayed us, but what we do not know his real reason for finding the Conduit or using the geth." Tevos said in a calmer voice.
"The reapers are obviously a myth, a lie to use geth." Valern concluded.
"You should never completely dismiss something no matter how ludicrous it is. You oughta know that by now." Shepard said looking right at Sparatus.
"Very well then answer me this: Where did the Reapers go? Why did they vanish? How come we have found no trace of them before? We obviously would have found something before." Sparatus said smugly thinking he had upped Shepard.
"Perhaps you did find something or encountered something and didn't realize it. Possibly mistook it for prothean tech." Shepard retorted wiping of the smug look Sparatus wore. Shepard then continued, "You have doubted me before about Saren, you did not even bother to truly investigate him even."
"What are you talking about Shepard?" Tevos said.
"Earlier before the hearing, we ran into Garrus Vakarian the c-sec officer in charge of Saren's investigation. When we ran into him he was asking his superior for more time." Shepard said
"Your point being?" Sparatus said annoyed with Shepard's attitude.
"The time it took for the Normandy to get to the Citadel from Eden Prime was short. Chances are when Udina found out what happened from Anderson, he immediately petitioned that Saren be removed from the Spectres. Afterwards, when Udina called the hearing, you immediately went with it in the same day the investigation was started." Shepard explained.
"What are you saying?" Valern asked.
"What he is saying is that it you only allowed the investigation to humor us, only to stop it, sweep it under the rug and use it as an excuse to say that they didn't find anything." Udina said catching onto what Shepard was doing. Udina continued on, "If you had given c-sec more time, then you would have set the hearing later on in the week. Instead you stopped it."
"It's a good thing I told Garrus to keep going before we arrived at the hearing." Shepard stated. He then stared at all the Councilors.
"Now tell me is Saren special or is it all the same routine with your Spectres?" He asked grinning.
"Are you saying we deliberately stopped the investigation so we could keep Saren innocent?" Tevos asked him with a strained voice.
"Yea, that's exactly what I'm saying." He said bluntly. "Honestly I don't see the point with dealing you guys when you continue to sweep us under the rug, and when we do it your way you dismiss us. I swear I don't understand how Udina can deal with you guys day after day. I've only talked with you for one day and I already want to blow my brains out." Shepard ranted.
"Then what would you do if you were us?" Sparatus asked in an angry voice.
"Send your fleet in to get him." Udina said.
"It could secure an entire region and protect our colonies." Udina continued.
"Or it could start a war with the Terminus systems. We will not be dragged into a galactic war over a few dozen human colonies!" Sparatus growled out.
"Sounds fun." Shepard said gaining the attention from everyone. He then turned to Anderson, "Anderson, I'll be taking my leave now and I'm changing the price." He said. Everyone, but Ashley and Kaidan looked confused.
"What is it now?" Anderson said sweating a bit. Was Shepard going to up the price?
"It's free now." Shepard simply said. Anderson was now shocked.
"In case your wondering why, it's because I no longer have to do this. I need to do this. So don't worry, I'll personally stop Saren." Shepard said to Anderson. This garnered some raised brows from everyone. Then Sparatus let out a humorless chuckle.
"Do you really think you can take on Saren with what he has now, human?" Sparatus said as if he was insulted that Shepard could even think he has a chance against turian ex-spectre.
"Yep, you doubted me before and look how it came back and bit you in the ass." Shepard said.
"What did you say?" Sparatus growled to him.
"You heard me! You can help me by either backing me up or standing aside. Or just be quite." Shepard said with no fear at all. That was when Nihlus walked up.
"Councilors if may make a suggestion?" Nihlus said.
"What is it Spectre Nihlus?" Valern asked
"I believe it would be best to have Shepard inducted into the Spectres." Nihlus stated. Everyone looked at him in total shock.
"Why would a turian want a human in the spectres?" Ashley asked.
"Not all of us resent your species. Some of us see the potential in your species, what humanity can bring to the galaxy." Nihlus explained.
"Why me?" Shepard asked.
"Yes why him?" Udina repeated. He would prefer humanity's first spectre actually be part of the alliance.
"Shepard the Council has been looking into for some time now. Personally I believe you fit the bill for a spectre. You are proficient in all attacks and defenses including guns, biotics and tech attacks. You plan ahead or in the heat of battle perfectly. Not to mention your accomplishments over the years. On Elysium you held of an enemy assault single-handed. You showed remarkable courage and skill. Not many could've survived what you went through on Akuze. There you showed a remarkable will to live, a particularly useful talent. On Torfan, you showed a commitment to your mission no matter the cost." Nihlus said pointing out the qualifications.
"No, it is too soon for humanity to join the spectres!" Sparatus said.
"Sir, Saren knows all the spectres. He knows our strengths and our weaknesses. Shepard is an unknown that can take him down, but he needs the resources of spectre to do so." Nihlus said. Tevos and Valern thought it would be best to have Shepard in the spectres to at the very least to keep an eye on him. They both looked at Sparatus and he knew he lost the argument.
"Shepard step forward." Tevos said.
"Wait, I think there is someone who should know about this." Shepard said as started fiddling with his omni-tool. Everyone was curious at what he was doing until a hologram of an asari matriarch appeared in front of him. The Council was shocked when they realized it was Aria T'Loak.
"Shepard, where are you? You were supposed to be back a day ago." She said in an annoyed voice.
"Well Aria, I ran into some big trouble on Eden Prime when I was about to leave." Shepard then explained what happened from there getting to where he was now.
"So now you are going to be humanities first spectre?" Aria said looking at the Council specifically Tevos.
"I'm being offered, thought you might want in." Shepard said. Aria stood there in a thinking pose for a minute or so.
"Do it Shepard, I know you are going to go after Saren either way and with this you could finish him faster." Aria said a little annoyed that her best agent would be leaving her services.
"Don't worry Aria, I'll be back before you know it." Shepard said smirking. Aria hmphed as her hologram winked out.
"Sorry about that, I had to alert my boss and all. You know the drill." Shepard said.
"It's quite alright, that just shows your commitment to your employers." Tevos said. Shepard then walked up to the podium. All eyes were now on him.
"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." Tevos said.
"Spectres are not trained, but chosen. Individuals forged in the fire of service and battle; those whose action elevate them above rank and file." Valern added.
"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." Tevos said.
"Spectres bear a great burden. They are protectors of galactic peace, both our first and last line of defense. The safety of the galaxy is theirs to uphold." Sparatus continued for them.
"You are the first human spectre, Shepard. This is a great accomplishment you and your entire species." Tevos finished.
"Thank you, Councilors. So what now?" Shepard said.
"We are sending you into the Traverse after Saren. He's a fugitive from justice, so you are authorized to use any means necessary to apprehend or eliminate him." Valern said.
"Any leads or clues to his location?" Shepard asked.
"We will forward any relevant information to Ambassador Udina." Sparatus replied.
"This meeting of the Council is adjourned." Tevos said finishing the conversation. Everyone left the Chambers then. Shepard saw Anderson walk up to him and shook his hand.
"Congradulations, Ghost." Anderson said.
"We've got a lot of work to do Shepard. You need a ship, a crew, supplies..." Udina listed off.
"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." Anderson added.
"Anderson, come with me. I'll need your help to set all this up." Udina said as the 2 walked off.
"Well I'm heading toward the Spectre Requisitions officer Anderson mentioned. Shepard then headed down to the academy with everyone following him since they didn't know what to do. On the way over he passed Fist's files to Emily Wong who was looking for anything that could be a good story. When he entered the academy he saw who he was looking for.
"Hey I going need some armor and weapons." Shepard said.
"Alright let just run you through our system...Wait this can't be right. It's saying offer you our select stock. Spectre?" the turian said.
"Yep." Shepard said.
"I heard about that." the guy responded.
"Let's see what ya got." Shepard said. When Shepard saw what was on the market he grinned like a madman.
"Hey guys, go find Udina and Anderson. Get the brief from them and get on whatever ship we are using." When they left Ashley said she would send him the location of where they would meet up.
At the docks
Anderson and Udina were waiting. Shepard's team was already onboard the Normandy and now they were waiting for the man himself.
"Anderson I'm beginning to think Shepard ditched us." Udina said losing whatever faith he had in Ghost.
"He'll be here Udina. When he commits to something, he fully commits. Just look at that business with the slavers a few years back." Anderson said.
"True." Udina said. That was when they heard the elevator beep. They both turned around to see Shepard in a new outfit with new weaponry. He had changed out of his N7 heavy armor and into Colossus X armor. His rifle was now replaced with a HMWA Master X. His sniper was replaced with a HMWSR Master X. His shotgun had been replaced with a HMWSG Master X. Finally his pistol was now a HMWP Master X. All in all Shepard looked like he was ready to go to war. They also noticed Shepard had a big crate he was having transported to the Normandy.
"You really look like a spectre now Shepard. What was with the crate though?" Anderson asked curious.
"The crate was holding the armor that was the same brand as mine but for my team, plus weapon and armor mods. Any other gadgets like bio-amps and omni-tools too. If we are fighting an army of geth we are going to need all we can get." Shepard responded. Anderson and Udina knew that Shepard was going to do everything he could to make sure they could stop Saren.
"How much did it cost?" Udina asked knowing it was very expensive.
"Too damn much, I hope it's worth it." Shepard said with a cloud over his head, depressed that it cost him so much. This caused the 2 men to smirk at Shepard.
"Okay Shepard I have big news for you. Captain Anderson is stepping down as commanding officer of the Normandy. She's your's now." Udina said.
"She's quick and quiet. The crew respects you. Perfect ship for a spectre. Treat her well, Shepard." Anderson said.
"I have to admit Anderson, I feel like I'm stealing the ship from you, don't worry I'll take great care of her and the crew." Shepard said. Anderson smiled at Shepard. He knew when Shepard said the crew, he was a real leader.
"I know you will Shepard." Anderson said.
"Any leads?" Shepard asked.
"Currently one, Matriarch Benezia, the other voice in the recording? She has a daughter, a scientist who specializes in protheans." Udina said. He then continued, "We don't know if she is involved, but it would be a good idea to try and find her. See what she knows. Her name is Dr. Liara T'soni."
"Location?" Shepard asked.
"We have reports she was studying an archaeological dig on one of the uncharted worlds in the Artemis Tau Cluster." Udina said.
"Looks like I'm starting there then." Shepard said
"Your a spectre now Shepard, you don't answer to us." Anderson said.
"But your actions still reflect on humanity as a whole. You make a mess and I get stuck cleaning it up." Udina said eyeing Shepard.
"Don't worry, I'll try to keep it to a minimum, Udina." Shepard said with his hands up in a placating gesture.
"Good, now I have a meeting to get to. Captain Anderson will answer any questions you have. Good day." Udina said as he walked away.
"To you as well." Shepard replied as he left. He then turned to Anderson.
"So what's the real reason your doing this? Furthermore what happened between you and Saren?" Shepard asked. Anderson then told him what happened. After hearing it, Shepard was more driven to go after Saren now.
"Don't worry Anderson, I'll give him a good kick to the crotch for you when I see him." Shepard said. Anderson smirked at Shepard and nodded as he left. After Anderson went down the elevator, Shepard walked toward the Normandy, ready to begin his mission.