Okay, this chap should give a general direction of where the next element of this story is going to go.
RR
Greatazuredragon: The Batarians yes are scapegoats, but not through their own fault. In the future, it is not the Batarians who are going to be the main 'agressors', but rather another species. (And when I say future, I mean a fair bit away.)
deitarionSSokolow: I've had to make the Reapers start to make their moves through pawns so that things can align up later on. Things will still be slow.
Darkcush: I'm not going to focus on that bit too much, rather it is going to be going on in the back ground. This chapter will explain where the story is going to go.
The Prime Cronos: Yeah, the Batarians were the Reapers play toy this time. I had tempted to use a Turian ship to get some more interesting dynamics from the fleet commander, but I decided against it as I want things to progress, even if slowly.
I wasted my life: Well, it is in the story description 'Heavy focus on FC aspects'. It is a gripe of mine that there are no really in depth first contact stories that look into the details of what would actually happen. 99% of people flick over it, when actually, it would be a really big element of how future relations are made and develop. I did want to go more into how the stock markets etc would be effected, but that much depth did start to bore me, and doesn't make for the most interesting story, not going to lie. I like to think I've struck a balance, some agree, some don't.
Tom712: Thanks.
Shepard eyes the machine with equal amounts of hopeful curiosity and caution, she is about to let these aliens do something to her body, and she doesn't really understand what they are about to do. She knows that it is a recipe for disaster, these aliens know little about Human biology, so why would they know how her biology will react to this machine? In truth, she is only doing this out of desperation for a cure, the UNSC have no idea, or at least this is her opinion, but these Asari seem to sound like they know what they are talking about. In life, Shepard has realised that if you look confident, and sound confident, then you can fool a lot of people, she just hopes she isn't the one being deceived this time. "So, this is the machine?" She eventually asks.
The Asari doctor blinks as she does something on a terminal, after a moment to enter some information into the computer she replies, "Yes, this machine has been developed for those who have been exposed to extreme amounts of element zero. The problem is you have such a small amount in you." The translation is a little broken, but Shepard gets the idea. "This machine is designed to reduce the amount of eezo in a biological body down to 1 microgram per kg, but you are already at an estimated 0.25 micrograms per kilo; its settings need to be tweaked." Whether or not Shepard understands a gram to be the same weight that the Asari understand a gram to be is unclear.
"Is 1 microgram a lot?" Shepard asks with a noticeable, forced amount of curiosity. Despite feeling ill, and not particularly wanting to ask a bunch of questions, Shepard knows she needs to get as much information as she can to assist with her own doctors and scientists who are working on the mysterious radiation sickness.
It is Tevos who provides a response, "No, a standard Asari will have anywhere from 1-2 grams per kilo, and elite athletes can have anything up to 10 grams. Turians, Elcor, Hanar, Salarians, and Krogan, can all have up to 1 gram. Your species just seem to be very sensitive to the element." This knowledge is similar to how most humans know they have enough iron in their bodies to make a single nail.
After a few moments, the Asari medic gestures with her head towards the bed, "Lie down, the machine needs to take your biometrics." Then to Tevos, the Asari continues, "I would step back a metre, this is about to strip her of whatever eezo dust she has picked up. Not advisable for you or me."
Shepard perks her ears at the comment, "How so?"
"As mentioned," The doctor begins to speak, but she regularly pauses every so many spoken words as she enters information into her machines and computers, "A healthy Asari have 1-2 grams. Removing that eezo will make us anaemic." Shepard is sure that the translation for the final word is wrong, but she understands the intent, an Asari without eezo is not a healthy Asari.
Once Shepard is laid down, a machine lined up next to the bed begins to give off an ominous whirr as it powers up, it is the type of buzz that makes hairs stand on end. After listening to the machine's inauspicious drone for a few seconds, Shepard realises she needs to distract herself from it, "So, I was told you asked for me." The question is obviously aimed at Tevos.
"Yes, we did." Tevos is quick to reply from her position a few meters away, "I guess you want to know why?"
"Because you are sick of the suits?" Shepard tries. "Talking policy."
"I live and breath policy and law," Tevos comes back with before going on, "But that is loosely connected to why..." Tevos is interrupted as the lights in the room change tone to have an ever so slight but noticeable yellow hue to them, "...You. Please excuse me."
Finding Tevos's exit from the room strange, Shepard shakes her head slightly before turning attention to the medic. "So, how does this gizmo work?" The word gizmo does not translate, resulting in Shepard dumbing down her lexicon. The response she receives is an extensive ramble of words, some of them translate, and those that do fly above her head in understanding. She has a grasp of fundamental physics, above that of the average Human, but when you start talking about inducing some type of particle field and deep physics, things go past her.
After about ten minutes, the Councillor returns, and she looks moderately annoyed, prompting Shepard to say, "You have a face of thunder, nearly matches mine."
"Lightning does not..." Tevos starts with evident agitation in her voice, but she stops her self short, "A Human idiom; but yes, unruly Batarians and anti-matter weaponry will do that." Seeing a bucket of what must be human vomit nearby, and smelling it, Tevos looks to the doctor before asking, "How is it going?"
"The process is pretty much finished there now." The medic reveals before turning to Shepard, "You are going to have to use whatever techniques your people have for overcoming mass cellular damage. We have played our part. I would advise getting this sorted sooner rather than later, but I am sure you are already well aware."
"Yeah, leave that to us," Shepard grumbles as she stands from the medical bed, "Plenty of experience in that."
Tevos does not like what this statement implies, but she has had enough bad news today, so instead, she asks, "Are you going to be well enough to reattend the party?"
"Is that still going ahead?" Shepard asks? A small hope in the augment says that no, it isn't, this is because she is still feeling ill, the doctor may have removed the Eezo, but her body is still damaged and feeling its effects.
Tevos is confused, does the Human think the party was only for half an hour, or does she believe time has passed far quicker than it has? "Yes. It has only been a short time."
"Even with our fleets being at odd ends?" Shepard speaks. "Would be strange to continue celebrating."
Tevos looks to the medic, "Did you tell her?" The physician seems visibly confused, so Tevos clenches her fists a little before saying, "I don't know how you know that, but yes, your fleet is standing down, and ours never stood up to stand down. Both of our people intend to enact the ceasefire as if nothing happened. Anyway, we should go."
"Hmm." Shepard retorts as she steps in line with the Asari Councillor. "So, you never did tell me why you asked for me."
"Then let me enlighten you," Tevos begins, "You were the Human to make first contact with Captain Corvinus, and you did so peacefully, then you provided security on your world, before visiting this ship as a 'friendly face'. Now images and videos of you have been broadcasted to our people to familiarise them with Humans, so your image, whether you like it or not, is coming associated within Council Space as Human. You are proving to be a familiar and reliable figurehead."
"So because I'm familiar, and reliable for whatever that means, you want me here?"
It turns out that after returning to the party, Tevos wanted Shepard in attendance so that she could receive a gift from the Council to Humanity for rescuing the Avian's crew above their world. The gift was a medium-sized oil painting depicting Shepard and team on the CV Avian giving Captain Corvinus his choice of rescue, all in all, for Shepard it was seen as a publicity stunt for the Council. In Human space, the Council are seen to be acknowledging Human efforts to save their people, it makes them look like people who appreciate the assisting hand, and are willing to recognise that. In Council space, it makes the Council look humble, they are willing to admit that they would have lost people without Humanity, and it shows that they are trying to bring them into the fold peacefully, which may rest some concerns regarding this new species. By the end of the party, Shepard was more than ready to return to her ship and find out if the Asari treatment worked.
/.../
Two days later, the Councillor finds Shepard on the Praetorian, where the Augment is sprawled out on a camp cot that is frankly too small for her lumbering size. "You should have informed us." The Asari says, causing Shepard to remove an arm that is covering her face and open her eyes.
"About?" There should be no illusions, Shepard is still ill, recovering from mass cellular damage takes more than a few days, even with modern miracle medicines and designed genetics. Still, she is in a far better place than the days prior. When she returned to the Praetorian, the medical crew seemed to perform every known test on her, and their evaluation was that whatever the Asari did, it had removed whatever was causing the continual and lethal radiation damage. The medicines they are giving her are now repairing the damage, and not slowing down the inevitable and depressing march to death.
Tevos gestures around, on the current deck, several dozen people are laying on cots, many are in dire conditions, some are on their death beds. "There is no advantage to struggling alone." After the second day of seeing Shepard recover, the Praetorian and advising scientists admitted they needed the Asari to help their people, or they were going to have mass casualties, and so a formal request was made. The Council first contact team, expecting this, already had a deployable medical section on standby, meaning it did not take long for medicinal assistance to arrive on the Praetorian. Many people do not realise how big the Council First Contact teams are, on the Ascension, there are more than one thousand people dedicated to the job, all enabling First Contact to go ahead, and in Council space, more than 50 thousand council employees are going over data and sending up analysis of the new species, and in the private sector, there is an unknown amount of people working on it too. On top of the 50,000, each individual species will have their own experts giving their own evaluation and analysis, working out what this species can give their own, and where the best trade opportunity lies.
Everything you could think of is analysed, from the clothes worn to the fondness of stealth vessels. The result of this is that medical teams dedicated to first Contact were quick to realise what would probably happen after Shepard's treatment, and formulated a plan to help the Praetorian, what they could not plan for was how many people they needed to help. Human Stealth technology made predicting this number next to impossible, so they set an approximate number in stone and went with it, planning the logistics, and everything else attached.
What this also confirmed to the Council is that this species is not yet FTL capable, or Relay capable, which also has intriguing weights attached. From the military perspective, any advance into the solar system protected by the Praetorian and its small stealth fleet would be against a fanatical force, they had everything to lose. This would also not be a war against a foe which favours traditional manoeuvre warfare, for they have no room to move, but who will go for stealth attacks and unconventional guerilla warfare. Combined, this leaves the Primarch's Chosen the difficult task of planning a war against a foe they never anticipated should they need to conduct pacification operations. This news also asked a question, how could a species with no FTL have certain advanced technologies the Citadel could only dream of? Many bets were hedged on some lucrative Prothean cache and some who could only see profits wanted to take it. And why not? With only one system, the Humans would have limited resources, yes, blood would be spilt, but the sacrifice of the few would be for the benefit of the greater good.
Tevos, however, knew better, the Humans may not have FTL, and to measure their technological advances off of this single development would be foolish. Already the Batarians have lost blood for trying to surge forward and through their Relay, at the hands of horrific weaponry, and from paintings witnessed, the Humans like things that cause big bangs. No, for Tevos and her understanding of the situation it would take the sacrifice of the many, to benefit the many, and that is not something she is willing to permit.
There are many other fallouts of course from this single confirmation of discovery, such as what economic influence and resource impact the species would have on the intergalactic market. Truth be told, for the Council the news was positive in this regard, stock markets made a significant comeback, no longer was there a threat of significant proportions. These Humans could have a superweapon that ends solar systems, but they have no means of deploying such a weapon, the Council could handle them, and certain financial investments became safe again. In the diplomatic sphere, efforts change from pacifying the species to initiating events into motion that will allow for access to Prothean cache's. It is curious, Tevos must think, how such a little bit of information can have such an enormous impact on wider galactic affairs. Tevos is dragged back to reality as Shepard replies, saying, "I'm just a grunt."
"A what?" Tevos has to ask.
"A jarhead." The expression is still lost; idioms are some of the hardest things to understand in a language, and it will take years to understand them. "Just a soldier. Informing is above my pay grade."
Tevos raises a brow as a question comes to her, "Did you inform regarding my status?" The fact she arrived on this vessel with no one stopping or greeting her is curious.
Shepard shakes her head, something Tevos and the first contact teams have come to realise means 'no' for Humans, as she points to a corner on the deck, "I've been too busy throwing my guts up over there." In truth, Shepard informed her higher chain of command; however, their current plan is to not act on this information in a public manner until the Councilor makes an official statement to Humanity's first contact team of her societal status. An argument could be made that this has already happened, but the higher echelons wanted an official statement made through official channels, no doubt for some political reason or for some other plan they have, or maybe they just don't believe she is who she claims to be. Shepard herself is to continue on as per usual and see what else she can learn, and maybe try to foster some sort of friendship, her orders were vague in this regard.
Tevos clenches her fists, her own species of saying 'no' or disagreeing without speaking "Now why wouldn't you tell?" Of course, this conversation takes place with the difficulties of half hashed translation.
Shepard fakes a shrug as she sits up on her bed and swings her legs over the side, "You did me, and them a favour," 'Them' obviously refers to the others on the camp cots. "So I've done you a favour. Why are you here?"
Tevos takes a moment before sitting down on the cot next to Shepard, "Accordingly? Career, honestly, interest. Most people in my position dream of seeing a First Contact with a species like your own. You have Relay Metal, and other advanced technologies, and it is something that has profound consequences on the galaxy and makes careers. Yet, instead of overseeing from a desk on the Citadel like my peers, my interests align with living it."
Shepard grunts a little as a thought hits her, "Being in a position of power ain't all that it is built up to be is it? When I was of other ranks, my job was bashing down doors, doing room clearance and facing the opposition head-on. I had a great time, and I was quite good at it. Now, with rank, I command from what is a relative distance and miss the fun stuff. Telling someone to bash down a door is not as fun as bashing down that door." Granted, bashing down a door, and not knowing what or who you will face on the far side is a terrifying thought, that moment of seeing the light turn to dark, and waiting for your eyes to adjust so you can do your thing can feel like a lifetime of horror, it is enough time someone can end you. It is, however, a horror that people can get addicted to, the adrenalin rush is like nothing you can artificially experience. Going skydiving you know you have a parachute, with a secondary reserve cord, bashing down doors is knowing someone wants to shoot at you, you just don't know where, when or how, and you don't have a reserve chord to save your behind.
"But you did do first contact." Tevos counters.
Shepard shrugs, "Alright, of my last few hundred assignments, I've had one or two good jobs, of which landing on some alien ship was one of them. The scales seem very one-sided still."
Tevos raises a brow as she asks, "No. I would say you have had a few good jobs lately, wouldn't you?"
"I suppose." Shepard initially replies, knowing she is fighting a futile battle, in truth, she is chuffed to smithereens she got this assignment, no other assignment will ever be able to compare, and an operational medal is all but assured, not that she medal chases but operational medals are far and few between these days. "So, now you are here, what is your job?"
"Officially? Talking," Tevos says, "I am to find out all I can, with an emphasis on Human culture."
"And if we recognised you as a species representative on your landing?"
"Then," Tevos begins to reply, "Acknowledge that it is the Council sending aid, and not one individual species despite all of the medical section and equipment being Asari, which it is." Tevos may be a Councillor, who is supposed to represent all of the Council, but she is still Asari and a patriot who wants to see her people flourish.
"Okay," Shepard tells Tevos before adding, "Please excuse me for one moment." The soldier stands and moves to a corner of the room where she is violently sick, projecting dark red vomit. On her return, Shepard asks, "So, what is next. We have a ceasefire, so maybe a peace deal?"
Tevos begins to laugh, and it is the type that one could identify as a 'belly laugh'. After a while, Tevos says, "I'm sorry, I do not mean to offend. It humours me greatly how you jump from ceasefire to a peace deal, you have missed a few big steps to get there."
Shepard has a blank gaze at this comment, "So, as a simpleton jarhead, what is next?"
"Establishing a means of mutual understanding." Tevos begins, "We have already started with a fundamental understanding for the ceasefire, but for a peace treaty, we need to understand more than what simple military terms mean, we need to understand each other culturally. You need to be aware that a peace deal can take decades if not longer to reach, anything less is a fantasy or a rushed deal which will collapse with the first scent of trouble. First Contact is not a fast process, it is slow, painfully slow."
"It can't be that bad?"
Tevos clenches her fists, "No, it can be much worse. We had a species which we tried to rush, and because of our impatience, we lost an entire contact team, entirely because they failed to take this step with enough gravity. Now we need to understand you as a people before we can think of peace. It is a process we have already started through our limited interactions, but now things need to start speeding up, and things need to begin happening."
"So," This begs the simple question, "How do we do that?"
"Ideally exposure," Tevos replies, "You send teams to live in Council space, and we send teams to live on your worlds. As we live in each other's cultures and societies, we will learn what it is to be a Human civilian or a Council civilian, and we will naturally find where frictions will occur. This information can then be analysed by first contact teams who will then use this information to tune any agreements between ourselves and highlight any issues."
"Do you get many issues during this phase?"
"Yes." Tevos tells, "But this is a good thing, as it highlights issues in a safe environment, allowing us to deal with it. An example within our own Council is that all of our individual species are administered by our own politics, and we all have a different idea of what a normal society is, and how a government should work. For example, Batarians have a strict cast system, my own species have the Matriarchs, and the Turians have a fanatic loyalty to their Primarchs. There are certain aspects of all three of our cultures that do not mix and even cause significant tensions between our domains, but by having an understanding of their culture, we have been able to manage the differences and prevent conflict. Could all of this information be gained through talks? Yes, but would we understand it without living it? Not always. By identifying it early, and understanding it by living it, we can react appropriately."
"Hmph," Shepard breaths out, "So, what other types of things get highlighted?"
"Well, it is at this stage you find out the dark parts of the different societies, the stuff that you don't want to talk about too much. Maybe you find our legal punishments are barbaric and need to implement a set of rules regarding criminal deportations, or perhaps we find your species enjoy constructing weapons of mass destruction, and we need to try and mitigate. There are more topics than you could imagine we will look for, as I imagine your species will think of and actively pursue with an investigation. But I am not suggesting we have a barbaric legal system or you own weapons of mass destruction, this is just for explanatory purposes."
"Yeah, I got the idea you were using examples. So to summarise, this is where we find all the skeletons in each other's closets. Gotchya." The word skeleton does not translate, nor does 'gotchya', and the saying needs to be elaborated on. Many of the long sentences spoken have similar issues.
Over the next few days, everyone from the Human side is treated for eezo exposure, with a few people requiring two or even three sessions of Asari treatment. The outcome from this was that it was determined that there were only 4 of the known Stealth vessels, as each of the Stealth vessels docked one after another so their crews could receive treatment. Curiously, not a single unknown stealth vessel docked with the Praetorian, which caused a few to question if the constructs were unmanned. After everyone was treated, a small team of Asari stayed behind on the Praetorian to help the Humans develop their own device to cure the Eezo radiation.
Eventually, a week to the day that the last person was 'cured' of their radiation poisoning, the Human's got busy. At first, they started to broadcast a set of light signals via a high-intensity laser to two set points in space, and following each laser signal the reason for why came clear. Following the path of the lasers, the Citadel forces discover a small Geth stealth ship, and a far larger unknown vessel that the Humans had previously shown them. The two vessels would not receive the light signals for another two days, and their response would take two days to travel back via light. Quirinus, of course, is concerned, not only can his fleet not detect the Human stealth vessels, but now he has had it proven the Geth and some unknown race can operate relatively right next to his fleet, and he would never know. By a citadel decree, Quirinus knows he should be arming up to tackle the Geth vessel, but under his own analysis of the situation and reassurance from Tevos and the Primarch's Chosen, his urge to chase the Geth were dispirited. If the Humans were trying to make contact with them, and the Citadel forces actively attacked the Geth, it would look terrible on his people. In addition, the Humans being able to detect the stealth vessels just reinforced to Quirinus that their Stealth detection technology is leaps and bounds ahead of his own navy, and serious resources will need to be spent to catch up.
Later on, the Human's invited the Citadel negotiators back to their vessel to try and negotiate the next part of organising peace between their people, in which the Citadel diplomats informed of their plan to invite people back to their worlds. The Humans were keen on such an idea, however, as with anything first contact related, the process is not as easy as a verbal agreement, and pen needed to be put to paper, and agreements need to be made. Who is allowed? How long? Who pays? What is allowed? Many questions need answers, including who will transport Humans to citadel worlds? The Humans still need to admit if they have FTL or not. The Humans meanwhile wanted to establish what space is theirs, and lay claim to space immediately surrounding the Relay as their sovereign space so that they could start the process of building defences outside of their home system.
On the same day, the Human Relay powered up once more, and a large ship sailed through from Human space. The vessel is not a military vessel by any means, the ship lacks armour, weapons, and a crew that were trained in naval tactics. Instead, the ship features a wafer-thin hull made of a titanium composite and a large observation deck that features a glass window 200 meters long by 100 meters wide. The vessels only self-defence capabilities come in the form of a shield that is to deflect space debris, not superheated tungsten rounds fired from a cannon. The ship's purpose quickly comes clear when its appearance is enlarged, and you can see all its features. Instead of sending another warship, the Humans had sent a km long 'cruise' ship. Unlike the Praetorian, the vessel is incredibly light in comparison, with the heaviest part being a large room with a thick lead-lined set of walls to protect the crew from eezo radiation when transiting the Relay.
The purpose of the ship is clear, the Humans obviously don't want to invite a war fleet back to their home system, so they brought a little of their home system to this part of the galaxy. Half a day after the ship arrived and its crew checked in with the Asari team on the Praetorian to check for eezo sickness, the cruise ship placed itself halfway between the Citadel forces and the Praetorian before an invite was sent to the Council forces.
Onboard the cruise ship, the first contact teams found a vast variety of entertainment types, they found bars, restaurants, night clubs, casinos, sports halls, an artificial beach, saunas, theatres, gardens, a 0g deck and even a small petting zoo. Truth be told, there is something for every species to enjoy onboard, and it is obvious the Humans had gone to some effort to make the vessel as friendly to ET visitors as possible. To provide further Human interaction, crews from the various Human ships in the system were allowed to visit on a rota, so that at any time, they still had some fully manned ships that could do their job at peak efficiency. At first, everything on the ship ran smoothly as the various crews that mixed on the vessel interacted well. Sure, at first there was a bit of groupthink with people wanting to stay interacting with their own species, but throw in some alcohol, and things quickly change. Of course, it is during this phase that certain curiosities are peaked. When you throw in soldiers and serving personnel with a species which have always filled that 'green space babe role', then sexual interests are peaked too, and certain physiological features of different species are discovered.
Not everything goes smoothly though when you offer free alcohol, many will abuse this offer, and a few scuffles are reported, mostly due to drunken arguments, and a few Turians have medical reactions to food served on the ship. Some capabilities of Asari 'space magic' is discovered, as is Turian hatred of deep water, and the Salarians can't be dragged from the sauna's where they have taken a particular liking to consuming tea, hot chocolate and coffee, resulting in the saunas running 24/7. Apparently tea and coffee is very similar to a Salarian 'mud water'. By the end of day two of the cruise ship's attendance, it is affectionately known as the 'party boat' from all sides.
Two days later.
Shepard does not turn to look at her biological sibling as says, "Blue 6 is about to be knocked out." Sure enough, a few seconds later, blue competitor 6 is hit by a paintball and is eliminated from the competitive 0g capture the flag game. The 0g sports hall in front of them has been set up so that two or three teams can compete in a game of 0g paintball, with the end goal being to capture a flag in the centre of the hall.
The younger Shepard does not acknowledge the older Shepards statement; instead, he simply says, "I've received my next AO." AO being short for Assignment Order.
"Good or bad?" The older Shepard asks between mouthfuls of a rather high-quality chicken kebab she got from one of the cruise ships food halls.
"I'm not sure. What do you make of this." The younger Shepard produces their phone from their pocket and hands it over with the screen showing an assignment order. The assignment order has Alexei reporting to an R&D division of the UNSC, but neither Shepard has heard of the department before, which is unusual given their time served.
"Have you spoken to anyone about it?"
"Yes." The naval Shepard responds, "I had a chat with Hackett. Without spilling too many details, apparently, whatever it is, it will beat my current assignment. I will be reporting directly to my old CO, Anderson."
This causes the sister to raise a brow, she is not naval, but even she knows commanding a Stealth Destroyer is one of the most chased after jobs for Naval officers. The stealth destroyers are often engaged on the most missions and have the most sophisticated technology deployed; if you wanted action, you wanted to be on a Stealth Destroyer. "Well, sounds like you are going to be doing some sneaky beaky stuff. Were you even supposed to tell me?"
The brother shrugs, "Don't know, don't really care." The siblings usually keep some things to themselves, but given their roles, both have a high level of security clearance and can be trusted with information. "Besides, you would have figured it out."
"Probably. Red 2 is about to be eliminated." Sure enough, red 2 is removed from the game. "Do you know who will be replacing you?"
"No idea yet. Anyway, looks like you've got company. I'll have a catch up in a bit."
The older Shepard watches her sibling wander over to a few Asari who are nearby before turning her attention back to the game in front of her and saying, "Red 2 is about to be eliminated." When the Asari councillor is stood by her side.
Sure enough, red competitor 2 is eliminated from the game in short order, prompting Tevos to say, "Good observation. You are looking a lot healthier than a few days ago."
"Yeah, this ship brought with it a bunch of nano-bots and a few experts who know everything about radiation treatment." Shepard takes another bite from her kebab before saying, "And trust me, its good to be back on my feet."
"Yes, one can easily imagine. I also have heard you put up quite a performance yourself in this earlier." It is easy to see that the Asari use of 'this' refers to the 0g paintballing currently ongoing.
"That is my job." Shepard replies simply as she gestures to the 0g hall with her head, "Would be disappointing if I didn't." Seeing an Asari camera crew nearby, Shepard is prompted into asking, "How is your media work going?"
"It is going." The answer does not sound enthusiastic, even through the half hashed translation, "I have done multiple takes now of multiple topics."
"Hmm," Shepard grunts, knowing how laborious media can be, Shepard herself has had to do it a few times in the past for various operations she has been on that has held public interest. "How are the talks going then?"
"Smoothly, and it is what I've come to talk to you about."
"It is?" Shepard asks with a raised brow before taking another bite from her kebab.
"We want you for the civilian exchange program." Tevos ousts.
Shepard has a small chuckle before saying, "You will be lucky. My superiors will never sign it off." She knows too much and has the experience that the armed forces need right now.
"They already have," Tevos reveals, "You are going to be given the role of looking into our military history from the Citadel, while also adjusting to being a guest on the citadel itself."
Shepard turns her head to look at the Councillor, "Sending an augment to do such a job is deranged."
Tevos tilts her head slightly at the comment, "To the contrary, you are experienced in conflict, and will be far more suited to the role than a civilian who does not understand the complexities or requirements of operations. We will be sending someone to your worlds who also has military experience to make a similar assessment." In other words, a Spectre will be sent. If the Spectre is ever discovered, the Council can claim that they did a one for one exchange with the Human augment.
Shepard shakes her head a little at the thought before asking, "What else will be required of me."
"Some media work." Tevos says, "Mostly for your own people, so they can see what my people consider as entertainment, food and so on."
Shepard breaths out a deep breath before nodding, "Well, if that is what my assignment order says. When am I expected to be leaving?"
"A weeks time. As much as I would love to stay out here, I must return to the Citadel so it would make sense to transport the people your government has selected to go to Council worlds with me then. Also, what is that you are consuming?"
Shepard looks down to her half-eaten chicken kebab, "A chicken kebab with mint sauce? It is probably one of the better ones I've had in a while. Want some?"
"I would much prefer if you could show me where to get some."
/.../
Cheers All