XxX-XxX-XxX

Official Supporters:

Compulsive Reader, The Impossible Muffin

Adeptus Militaris, Wilger

Commissioner, Gib, Death Daddy, Le Spork, Polemoduke

If you want to be on the Supporter list, PM me for details or join our private server for details. Hope you enjoy reading my stories, please leave me a comment to let me know if you did, or where I can improve. Link here, where able to be seen : /2UZncAm

Second link here, remove ( and ) and it SHOULD work : D(i) (slash)kfhkfUb

I have a kofi account now, too, under this name for those interested.

Beta(s) :

XxX-XxX-XxX

Requested By :

Espacole and Spork

XxX-XxX-XxX

Days passed peacefully on into weeks as Pyrrha's stay on the Citadel stretched on. The time passed quickly, of course, between all the work signing documents, accepting records and generally handling the processing of the Treaty of the Evening Peace into the Citadel's official record - and through it, Citadel law. But, just under a month after her arrival, it was all done. Every document, signed. Every official diplomatic inquiry, responded to. Everything that the people angry about the end of the MorningWar - the true end, that was - could throw at her?

Dealt with.

And now…

"You know, if you had told me a year ago that the Geth would have an ambassador on the Citadel…" Admiral Anderson sighed, shaking his head and chuckling as he reclined in his comfortable chair, looking out on the Presidium while Pyrrha stacked the plates from their lunch neatly. Quietly, as if the peace of the Presidium somehow bled into him just by virtue of them being there, he went on, "You should know, Alliance intelligence has been hearing whispers."

"Whispers…?"

"Sorry, old Navy term." The man chuckled, "What I mean is politicians talking against what you've done and… Movements."

"What manner of movements?"

"The usual." He shrugged, leaning forward to rest his elbows on the table between them. "Mercenaries and privateers in the Terminus systems are the most pertinent to you, though. The Traverse has some activity too. And the Batarians are running a tour of their navy."

"What does that mean?" Anderson's brow rose and she grimaced, "I-I may have some media training, Councilor, but, in spite of recent developments… I'm not a politician."

"Fair enough." He chuckled, "In fairness, I'm not much of one either. But I've found that pretending to be… Helps, when I'm dealing with certain people."

"My agent gave me the same advice…"

"Oh?" He cocked his head and smiled warmly, "You had an agent? I had no idea I was dealing with a celebrity. Or, well, someone who'd been a celebrity before all the nonsense you've been wrapped up in lately."

"You wouldn't have heard of me." She chuckled, turning to him and smiling nervously, suddenly awkward as she realised her slip-up and rushed to try and cover her trail. "I was, um, only a local celebrity. But young enough my mother thought it best that I have an adult represent me."

"Ah, that makes more sense." Anderson nodded, "What did you do?"

"Tournament fighting." She shrugged, turning to look out on Presidium again and sighing wistfully. Anderson's brows shot up and she chuckled as the obvious occurred to her - the Alliance wasn't overly fond of pitting children against each other and handing them swords. For some reason she supposed had to be related to the lack of Grimm. Laughing, she said, "It was all perfectly safe, for the most part. And the match set-ups were incredibly strict, to avoid injuries. You don't have to be concerned."

"Well, I suppose it's a bit late either way, isn't it?"

"I suppose it is, yes." She laughed, "And besides, the skills I learned from it lead us all to where we are now. Without them, the Geth and the Quarians would likely still be at war."

"True enough, true enough." The door chimed quietly from across the room and Anderson sighed and stood, idly straightening his uniform jacket and the few medals he usually wore on it. "That will be her. It's been a pleasure, Ambassador Nikos."

"The same to you, Councilor." She nodded and stood, following him to the door and picking up her spear where she'd left it, leaning against the wall just inside the entry. A simple press of the door's release switch and it slid open, just as an orange and green blur rocketed in and slammed into her, carrying her back a couple feet before she planted a heel and wrapped an arm around the smaller form. Smiling, she said, "Penny! It's so good to see you."

"It is truly wondrous to see you as well, best friend!" She said, voice somewhat muffled from talking more or less into Pyrrha's chest. She flushed a bit for it and nudged her back, and Penny was kind enough to get the message and back away, beaming a smile. "How has your adventure on the Citadel been? I trust it was most productive?"

"It was." She chuckled, "Though I wouldn't call it an 'adventure' per se…"

"That is odd." Penny hummed, "Because I would!"

"I bet…" She sighed and looked up as, dressed to impress in a pressed dress uniform, Shepard stepped around the corner and through the door. Smiling, Pyrrha asked, "She ran ahead of you, didn't she?"

"Of course she did." Commander Shepard shrugged, "Because why would she actually follow orders? Clearly seeing you again was far more important."

"Of course." She smiled and rolled her eyes, letting Penny cuddle in against her side affectionately and turning to the Councilor with a bit more wan of a smile. "I'm sorry if-"

"None of this is a bother, Nikos, I can promise you that." The Councilor laughed, the sound booming through the office as he waved her off, shaking his head and sighing. "If anything, I'm glad to see it. You two being happy, and Shepard getting some of her edges worn down… Does an old heart when it spends so damn much time here, in the Presidium, with all the stiff-necks and thin lipped politicians."

"You're one too, now, you know…"

"Don't remind me, Commander." He grunted, pointing a finger at her and grinning toothily, "And don't think I didn't notice you not arguing against what I said, either. I may be old, but I'm as sharp as ever."

"Sure you are." Shepard deadpanned, cocking a hip and resting a hand on it. "You said you had something important to talk about."

"Right, that I did." He nodded, waving them in and, when the door closed behind them, pressing a button. Heavy, metal shutters lowered over the open-air side of the room protectively, fluorescents on their inside side lighting up to keep it all bright, and he frowned. "I already told Nikos some of this, but the Batarians aren't happy with the recent developments out in the Terminus and Traverse. And I don't mean the business with the Geth, either. Not on it's own."

"We've not done terribly much that should be all that effective out there…" Pyrrha murmured, "Have we?"

"Well-"

"Our destabilization of the mercenary and gang presence in and around Omega and Ilium likely would have affected the Batarian economy." Penny spoke up quietly, pulling away just enough to face the others, though her arms stayed around Pyrrha."The Blood Pack were known to frequently sell captured persons to the Batarians, though the Hegemony of course denies this proposition. Further, Ilium was a front for drug exports from numerous cartels in Hegemony space, many of whom are suspected to act at the direction, and even directly under, the Hegemony's leadership."

"Exactly…" Councilor Anderson chuckled, "Smart girl."

"Thank you!"

"She is rather bright, yes." Pyrrha smiled, though it turned thin and bitter shortly after she said it. Sighing, she said, "I hadn't thought we were making such waves… Or rather, I hadn't thought on the matter. In hindsight, it's rather obvious."

"It was always a risk." Shepard sighed, frowning and going on, "Still… The timing bothers me."

"Oh?"

"So soon after you destroyed the Collector ship, the Batarians are acting out?" Anderson hummed, turning to Pyrrha and sighing. "It's suspicious. I've had Alliance assets running down rumors that the Hegemony traded slaves to the Collectors, like the Pack did, but… Well, short of them sending them back with the Pack, we don't have any contact avenues we can actually verify at all."

"Officially." Shepard nodded, "Unofficially?"

"They trade." Anderson sighed, "Rarely, but… They trade. Like most in that region of space do. My assets are certain of it."

"But they have no evidence?"

"Evidence and certainty don't always go hand in hand, Nikos." Commander Shepard grunted quietly, lips pursed as she thought until she finally explained, "For instance, I could have a dozen accounts from slaves rescued from Batarian, or Blood Pack, ships. But accounts from traumatised people aren't going to stand up on their own. Not without something to back their reports up."

"So that is what we need, then?" Pyrrha asked, "Something to… Back up whatever you already believe- What you already know?"

"Something to prove it." Anderson nodded, "While you see to it, Councilor Valern and I have… Come to an agreement, and we will both be dispatching specialists to analyse the Omega-4 Relay for anything that can help you traverse it."

"A big offer…"

"It's not done yet." Anderson smirked, crossing his arms and adding. "He's also agreed to put his best analysts on the data you've already recovered, from Horizon and beyond, as well as the Normandy's combat logs from its first destruction. And the most recent conflict. If his analysts can prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that the Collectors targeted you-"

"They they'll have killed a Council Spectre." Shepard whispered, "An act of war…"

"And he'll vote with me on it." Anderson nodded, turning to Pyrrha and adding, "And you seem to have Tevos well in hand, somehow, too. So that will lock in three votes."

"R-Right…" She chuckled, "I-I may have found a certain-"

"I don't want to know how you got her under your thumb." Anderson grunted, holding up a hand to stop her before she could go on. Smiling, he dropped it and shrugged, "Politics and plausible deniability, Nikos. Whatever you did, to whoever or for whoever, it's better I don't know unless I need to know."

"Ah, I-I see." She didn't really, but the gist was simple enough to understand - knowing could put him in a bad way - and she went with that. Nodding, she said, "Alright. What is the plan, then?"

"I have provided the Commander with a set of coordinates, provided by Alliance intelligence as well as STG infiltrators across the Terminus." Anderson answered coolly, "Her strike team will hit each, one after another, to put pressure on the local mercenaries, pirates, privateers and raiders. She will collect whatever contraband her… Contacts may be interested in-"

"He means Cerberus." She explained quietly, then grunted a short thing Pyrrha was sure was meant to pass for a laugh and added. "Or Aria, now, I suppose."

"Either or." Anderson nodded, "She passes contraband to them, where she's comfortable with, and passes data to me. And the STG and AIS through me."

"AIS…?"

"Alliance Intelligence Service." Penny explained quickly, "Information analysis, retrieval and special operations all fall under their purview."

"I see…"

"If we do this right, it will put a lot of hurt on the Batarians." Shepard said quietly, staring down at the floor as if she were more thinking aloud rather than talking to them. Finally, though, she flicked the Councilor a look and frowned. "If we do, that could put a lot of pressure on our colonials. The Hegemony won't take this lying down. They already just view us being out there as us attacking them. This won't help that."

"I know." Anderson frowned, "I'm hopeful that I can get some motions through, when all is said and done, to allow more heavy patrols out there to ward them off. If the Hegemony acts out, that can only help."

"I suppose." Shepard sighed, "And the colonists knew the risks of leaving protected space…"

"Wait…" Pyrrha blinked as she suddenly realized what was being said. Smiling unsurely, she asked, "Are… Are we just leaving these people out to hang so we can do this? Just-Just setting them on a platter for the wolves?"

"Nikos-"

"Sacrifices need to be made for the greater good, sometimes, Nikos." Anderson frowned deeply, his face twisting up in displeasure - either at the plan, at her for talking back, or some mixture of the two Pyrrha couldn't decide. And he didn't clarify, arguing instead, "Sometimes, we just have to do what needs to be done, and accept that we can't help everyone. Especially those who quite purposefully turned their back on our help in the first place."

"Being helped isn't their duty. They have none." Pyrrha argued, "Ours, however, is to help them. Not-"

"Nikos." Shepard cut her off, frowning deeply as she stepped between them. Anderson backed away willingly, but Shepard had to push her back, with a powerful hand on her shoulder to do it. "No one is happy about this. But even if we don't do this, those people are still on a platter. Slavers, raiders and more, working for the Hegemony or not, will keep hitting them until the Alliance is allowed to act. And the Collectors- The Reapers will only make it worse."

"I know, but…"

"The swifter we act," Penny cut in gently, "the swifter we can help them all. And the longer we wait the more harm will compound, as the harm our actions would allow awaits while the harm already to come regardless of our actions adds up."

"I…" She wanted to argue more, but she couldn't fault the logic. Even if it was cold comfort, she was right. The sooner they set to work, the sooner it would be done - and the sooner they could help people. So she nodded and said, "Fine. We will… Do what we must do, I suppose. I'm sorry."

"Don't be." Anderson chuckled, "We should all be so dead set against this kind of thing."

"It's just unfortunate how necessary it often is…"

"Mhm." But only because they allowed it to be, she left unsaid. It would only rekindle a pointless argument - things, as they stood, could not be changed. They could only be dealt with. Finally, she asked, "When do we leave?"

"Six hours." Shepard answered, "It's short, but I'm letting the crew rest up from work in Geth- In Rannoch space, I guess, now."

"Mhm." Pyrrha smiled, glad for the change in topic, and said, "Officially, now. Thanks to yours truly, Geth and Quarian space has officially been set up and recognized.."

"Uh huh…"

"No, she's right, more or less." Anderson chuckled, "The Council voted yesterday to officially recognize the space past the Persean Veil as the People of Rannoch's space. Pending a more permanent name for their nation, that is. I've also dispatched an ambassador of the Alliance's own, in the hopes of setting up trade routes. Particularly of the technological line."

"Geth shields on our ships could do a lot when the Reapers come…"

"Shields and more." Anderson nodded, "If things continue apace, then we have a bright future ahead of ourselves. And with the Geth no less. There's a sentence I never thought I'd say."

"I'll say…" Shepard sighed and turned halfway towards the door, "If that will be all?"

"It will, Commander." He nodded, pushing the button and raising the privacy security barriers as he turned away. As he did, he added, "Good luck, Commander, and tread carefully."

"You too, Anderson." Shepard nodded, catching Pyrrha's gaze and frowning softly as she turned and lead the two of them out.

XxX-XxX-XxX

Short, quiet chapter to get things moving into the next arc. Hope ya like it, and take care~!

XxX-XxX-XxX