After the ceremony was finished, Shepard dismissed the three aliens, allowing them time to get whatever supplies they needed, and told them to meet him at the Normandy's docking bay. While they did that, he went down to C-Sec academy, and thanks to his newly appointed role, got himself an upgraded set of N7 armor, more fit for heavy combat, something Shepard knew would happen sooner or later.
On his way to the markets in the wards, he stopped to look over the expanse of the Citadel through a massive bulkhead window. He saw different skycars flying by, and massive skyscrapers piercing into the bluish-pink dust of the Widow Nebula, with light shining from them, adding a calm feeling to the place. Then he looked at his reflection; he looked about the same as he always had, brown hair, dark brown eyes with a small scar above his left eye, and a bit of stubble, though it seemed to have gotten a bit longer from when they left Earth to now. 'Maybe I should shave…' Shepard thought, rubbing his chin, but shrugged it off.
Shepard walked into the market area, which consisted of about eight stores, all relatively small. As he searched through each stores selections, he saw relatively the same products and layout; a little datapad on the counter indicating any and all weapons there were C-Sec approved, packs of medi-gel on one side, with different nic-nacs and gadgets on the other. The weapons, Shepard learned, were usually kept under the counter. He slowly looked through all the merchandise of each store and came to the conclusion that, in regard to weapons, what he had was already better than what was offered. It didn't surprise him though, since these aren't exactly the places he should be looking at{perhaps, "since this wasn't exactly the best place to be looking. He was able to find a couple of guns for his new crew, and a few types of grenades, including a new 'Biotic grenade' however. He raised an eyebrow upon seeing this. This 'biotic grenade' intrigued him a bit, as he didn't know a lot about biotics, and didn't know that something like this was possible. A few more minutes of searching, and he decided that this was enough, and was about to leave where he entered from, when he heard a man call out.
"Oh, wow! Are you the Commander Shepard?"
Shepard turned around, and saw a blonde human man, a bit shorter than himself, blue eyes, with a goatee, standing by the stairs looking at him, grinning. "That's me," Shepard said with a small smile of his own. While he had prepared himself for people like this, it still boggled his mind that he had fans.
"Wow! I can't believe you're actually here! My name's Conrad. Conrad Verner. It's such an honor to meet you." Conrad said, as he shook Shepard's hand, "Hey, do you think I can get a picture?"
"Ehm..." Shepard muttered, before mentally shrugging, smiling and agreeing to Conrad's request, "I don't see why not."
"Great! Just pose with your gun..." his omni-tool flashed "aaand perfect!" Conrad smiled. "Thank you so much Commander! My wife is going to love this." He said, before leaving the markets, leaving an amused Shepard to himself.
Garrus headed towards Executor Pallin's office in the Presidium. Not long after joining Shepard and the other humans, he had made up his mind that he was going to quit his job at C-Sec. He would get hell from his father about it, but he didn't care. He was going to quit either way, the fact that he would get to work with a Spectre was just a plus. The overall frustration of having to always work 'by the books' and letting crooks and bastards get away was getting to him. So what if he had to bend the laws a bit? As long as the job was done and the criminal was caught it shouldn't matter.
Before he knew it, he'd reached the door to Pallin's office. He walked in without hesitation. Executor Pallin looked up from his screen, "Vakarian, what do you want? I thought I told you you couldn't just-"
"I'm done, Pallin. I'm sick of doing things your way, or the high way," Garrus said, his mandibles twitching. "You know how damn frustrating it is, letting murderers get away just because 'You're not authorized to do that' or 'That's against the book'? Well, I'm done with it," he said taking a deep breath, glad to have gotten that off his chest "I quit."
Executor Pallin simply stared at Garrus for a few seconds, eyes wide, before regaining his composure, and looking back at his screen. "Very well then, Vakarian. I'll make sure your things are ready to get picked up." Just before the other turian walked out the door, he added, "Despite your stubbornness and your lack of appreciation for the rules... it was a pleasure working with you."
Garrus looked back at the Executor for a second, before nodding and leaving, ready to start this new chapter of his life.
Wrex entered his 'safe house', as humans called it, and opened each and every drawer, brief case, and closet door, gathering all his weapons and grenades. 'This is going to be one of my biggest jobs yet. Killing crime lords and dumb-asses are one thing, hunting one of the most wanted men in the galaxy is another.'
A couple minutes later, he left the worn down place for the final time, and decided to take the long route to the docking bay. If Wrex was honest with himself, all the peace and tidiness of the embassies made him a bit sick. The wards were much more interesting, but even then, it reeked of calmness. He had to go on vacation sometime soon. Maybe to that place in the Terminus he's heard about.
Factory smoke filled the krogan's nostrils as he made his way through the working district, which was recognized as the factory orientated, more questionable side of the wards. Just as Wrex was about to take the elevator to the upper wards, he heard an unfortunately familiar voice.
"Wrex, buddy! Long time no see," a brownish batarian in black, scarred armor said.
The krogan begrudgingly turned around, "What are you doing here Dhakis? I thought the Citadel wasn't your kind of place."
Dhakis leaned on a near-by wall and smiled, "It isn't. But I was hired to take out this asshole who messed with the wrong guy. When I heard that there was a big firefight by Chora's Den, I just knew it was you."
"Yeah, well I don't have time for you. I've got places to be, and things to do." Wrex said as he walked towards the elevator door.
Dhakis moved in front of him, "You know, Wrex, my memory isn't always the best, but if I remember correctly, you owe me 1,000 credits for that time I lent you my gun. So why don't you just give me the credits now and I'll let you get back to your 'things'," Dhakis scowled at Wrex.
"Hah! Is that a threat?" Wrex asked, amused at the batarian in front of him. He shoved Dhakis to the right, almost knocking the batarian off his feet.
"Of course not. C'mon Wrex, I'm not stupid enough to threaten you. My friend on the other hand…." Just as Dhakis said this, another krogan, a much larger one, came from the other side of the elevator, wearing traditional Blood pack armor, "That's a whole 'nother story."
The blood pack krogan walked up to Wrex until they were face to face, "You better give Dhakis his credits, weakling, or else it won't end well for you."
"That, right there, is Krulak, of the Jarlok clan. He's a blood pack veteran, and given the right price, is also a body guard," Dhakis said with a smug look on his face.
Wrex paused for a bit, sizing the krogan up, before charging at Krulak, ramming him into the elevator. Krulak punched Wrex square in the jaw, knocking the red-armored krogan off him. Wrex quickly recovered, and punched Krulak in the ribs multiple times, before giving him a hard headbutt. That sudden headbutt dazed the blood pack krogan long enough for Wrex to unleash a shockwave to the krogan, knocking him into the window of a nearby shop, cracking the glass heavily, much to the people inside's horror. After that, he walked up to the downed krogan, got out his shotgun, and shot the krogan twice, killing Krulak.
Wrex whizzed his Omni-Tool over Krulak's body and walked up to Dhakis. The batarian was watching the spectacle with wide eyes, shocked at how fast Wrex was able to take out the blood pack member. "You want your credits? Here," Wrex said, giving him the credits he had just stole from Krulak, "Now stay out of my way, Dhakis."
With that, Wrex entered the elevator, and made his way to the Normandy's docking bay, acting like nothing ever happened.
Tali walked through the markets in the wards, looking for a store that sold nutrition paste, as it was all she could afford. She didn't bring anything of value, and she didn't have a place to stay on the Citadel, so she didn't need to go somewhere and get stuff. As she searched through the markets, her mind wondered to the events of the past couple of days. Not only had she encountered actual geth, but she also met at least one of every major species, such as Hanar, Elcor, Turians, Salarians, Asari, and many more, including the Council. The Council! Some people needed to wait at least seven months to meet them, but it only took her a couple of days. Although, that was thanks to the Commander.
Commander Shepard… Now that she thought about it, she'd heard bits and pieces about him. Mainly just that he was the 'Hero of Elysium'. The fact that she got to meet a man who is considered a hero among all the people here amazes her. Even more so that he gave her a second glance. Most of the people she's encountered gave her dirty looks, or called her racial slurs, such as 'Suit Rat' and 'Ship Dweller'. But Commander Shepard was different... He seems to treat her as an actual person.
"Welcome to Morlan's famous shop! How may I help you?" The sudden voice made her jump on the inside, but she quickly turned to face the Salarian.
"Uh-Uhm, do you have any n-nutrition paste?" Tali asked.
"Lucky for you we just restocked! How many would you like?" The salarian, who Tali presumed to be Morlan, asked.
"Can I have, ehm, four, please?" Tali asked
"That you can," Morlan got out four containers of nutrition paste, and handed them to her, "That'll be thirty credits."
Tali quickly gave the salarian the credits, to which Morlan smiled and thanked her, "Have a nice day ma'am!"
Tali smiled and nodded, then left for the docking bay. As she entered the hallway that lead to the C-Sec academy, she noticed two C-Sec officers look at her, and walking towards her, one human and the other turian. The turian officer stood back a couple of feet, while the human officer approached her and stopped her.
"Hold it right there, sweetheart. We don't usually see your kind around here. What brings you?" He asked her, crossing his arms.
"I'm supposed to meet a friend of mine at the docking bays. H-He said that the C-Sec academy had an elevator that lead to it," Tali replied.
"Yeah that's right. Why do you need to meet him there? Not in trouble are you?" the human asked, already deciding in his mind the answer.
The turian officer stepped a bit closer, "Yeah, that seems a bit sketchy. We might have to bring you in, give you a run down,"
"What? But I didn't do anything wrong!" Tali said.
"We don't know that yet. For all we know, you could've pick-pocketed someone, and now you're trying to get away," the human officer said.
"Wouldn't surprise me, Mark. Quarians tend to do that sort of stuff," the turian officer said.
Tali began to get angry now, "My people are not thieves!"
"Whatever you say, girly," Mark said, "But the fact of the matter is, we can't let you go until we know for sure you didn't do anything wrong. C'mon Casrius, let's bring her in,"
The turian officer obliged, and grabbed Tali, who pushed him off her, and stepped back. Right when the two C-Sec officers were about to arrest her by force, the door they had their backs to opened, and a man came out. When Tali looked past the men, she noticed it was Shepard, who had a look of annoyance on his face.
Shepard grabbed Mark's arm and pulled him out of the way, knocking him on his rear. The sudden appearance of Shepard surprised Casrius, so he stepped back next to his partner, and helped him up.
Shepard crossed his arms, and glared at the two, "Is there a reason you two are harassing my friend here?"
"She's being brought in in suspicion of thievery and resisting arrest. And you're under arrest for putting your hands on an officer!" Mark yelled.
Shepard raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms, "You gonna arrest the first human Spectre?"
The officers gave him a look of realization, before Mark muttered a curse under his breath, "Walk away from this if you know what's good for you," Shepard said, to which they obliged, muttering to themselves a bit.
Shepard turned to face Tali and smiled, "You okay? Those guys seemed like assholes,"
"Yeah, t-thank you." Tali smiled, despite her mask covering it, "How did you know to come here?"
"I was waiting outside the Spectre requisitions office for a weapon to come in when I heard the commotion," he said. "C'mon, we should only have to wait for a few more minutes,"
They made the short walk to a bench outside the requisitions office and sat down.
"So, ehm, how did you and Captain Anderson meet?" Tali asked, "From what I've seen you two seem close."
Shepard glances over at Tali, and smiles at her question, "Anderson was an old friend of my dads. Both served in the First Contact war. For as long as I remember he's been around. So when I joined the Alliance he made sure I got good training and got on a good ship. After the Skyllian Blitz and I received my N7 training, he asked if I wanted to join his crew, so I said yes, of course."
"How is it on the Normandy? Is the crew nice there?" Tali asked.
"Oh yeah, you don't have to worry about that. Back when I joined the Normandy they were pretty accepting. It's quite a nice ship too. The Normandy has one of the best drive core's in the whole Alliance from what I've heard," Shepard said, "Engineering isn't really my specialty, so I don't know all the details, but I do know that it's a prototype unlike anything the Alliance has in any of their current models."
This part fascinated Tali, as she's always been interested in the specs of the other species ships. She was about to ask more into this, but Shepard's omni-tool buzzed, indicating his weapon had arrived. He informed her that he'd only be a minute, then went to receive his purchase. After hearing more about the Normandy, Tali was starting to become excited to get there now. Not that she wasn't before, but before, the ship was a complete mystery. Hopefully she was allowed into the engineering room. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Shepard walking out of the door to the Spectre requisitions, and, after asking if she needed any last minute things, lead her to the Normandy docking bays.
[Normandy docking bay]
Garrus and Wrex were exchanging in small talk, when Shepard and Tali walked out of the elevator. Shepard immediately saw Anderson and Udina, so he told Tali to wait with the turian and krogan as he walked over to them.
Udina noticed Shepard out of the corner of his eye, and put on a small smile, "I got big news for you, Shepard. Captain Anderson is stepping down as commanding officer of the Normandy. The ship is yours now." Shepard's eyes widened, and looked at Anderson, who nodded.
"She's quick and quiet, and you know the crew. Perfect ship for a Spectre," Anderson smiled, "Treat her well Commander."
Still processing all this, Shepard shook his head, "This isn't like you, sir. I want the truth. Why are you really stepping down?
Anderson sighed quietly, "You needed a ship of your own Shepard. A Spectre answers only to the council. And it's time for me to step down."
"Come clean with me, Captain," Shepard said with a pleading look in his eyes, "You owe me that much."
Anderson paused for a few seconds, then brought his eyes back to Shepard's "I was in your shoes twenty years ago, David. They were considering me for the Spectres."
Shepard had a surprised look on his face "What? Why didn't you ever tell me this?"
"What was I supposed to say? "I could've been a Spectre but I blew it"?" Anderson paused for a moment, then sighed, "I failed, Shepard… It's not something I'm proud of. Ask me later and I'll tell you the full story. For right now all you need to know is I was sent on a mission with Saren and he made sure the council rejected me." He said, taking a moment to look at the city behind him, before looking back at Shepard "I had my shot. It came and went… Now you have a chance to make up for my mistakes."
"Alright, I won't let you down sir. I promise," Shepard said.
"Saren's gone. Don't even try to find him. But we know what he's after: the Conduit. He's got his geth scouring the Traverse looking for clues." Anderson said.
Udina cleared his throat, "We had reports of geth in the Feros system shortly before we lost contact with our colony there. And there have been sightings around Noveria."
"Find out what Saren was after on Feros and Noveria. Maybe you can figure out where the conduit is before he does." Anderson said.
"What about the Reapers? They're the real threat." Shepard said, raising an eyebrow.
"I'm with the council on this one, Shepard." Udina said, "I'm not sure they even exist."
"But if they do exist, then the conduit's the key to bringing them back. Stop Saren from getting the conduit, and we stop the Reapers from coming back." Anderson said.
"I'll stop him." Shepard said with a serious tone, to which Anderson nodded.
"We have one more lead," Udina said, "Matriarch Benezia, the other voice on that recording? She has a daughter who specializes in the Protheans. We don't know if she's involved, but it might be a good idea to try and find her. Her name's Liara. Dr. Liara T'Soni. We have reports that she was exploring an archeological dig on one of the uncharted worlds in the Artemis Tau cluster."
"Alright, we'll head there first," Shepard said.
"It's your decision, Commander. You're a Spectre now. You don't answer to us," Anderson said.
"But your actions still reflect on humanity. You make a mess and I get stuck cleaning it up," Udina said, quick to clarify.
Shepard mentally rolled his eyes, "I'll try not to make your job any harder, Ambassador."
Udina smiled slightly, "Glad to hear it, Commander. Remember: you were a human long before you were a Spectre." With a final nod, Udina started for the elevator, saying "I have a meeting to get to."
"There's no time to waste." Shepard said, then turned to face the aliens, "You go on ahead inside, I'll be there in a minute."
Garrus, Tali and Wrex all obliged, and entered the ship.
Shepard turned to face Anderson, "Are you really sure about this Anderson? I mean, I never figured you much for retirement,"
Anderson thought for a moment "Honestly? This isn't how I pictured my career coming to an end." He smiled, "Pushing papers isn't really my thing. 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."
"Well, thank you, sir. Really," Shepard said, shaking his hand "You don't know how much this means to me."
"No need to thank me, Shepard. Good luck out there," Anderson said, "I know wherever your father is, he's proud of you right now."