Disclaimer: I do no own Mass Effect, I do not claim to own Mass Effect, I am only doing this for fun.
Author Notes: Here we are, another part of what I have started to call the "Roman arc".
Episode 55: Caesar and Cleopatra
Shepard woke up early the next morning feeling as if she had not gone to sleep at all. It certainly did not help that she woke up on her stomach, with her head and neck at a rather uncomfortable angle, a clear indication that she had been tossing and turning more than usual. As a result it took her much longer than normal to drag herself out of bed and into the bathroom for a shower. Only when she stepped out of the bathroom, dressed but still toweling her hair, did she feel capable of dealing with the world.
"Good morning EDI."
"Good morning, Commander," EDI replied automatically.
While looking into her mirror Shepard realized that she should never fault Gino for forgetting to trim his hair. Her own had once been at chin level, but now it was some centimeters below. Her fringe was also beginning to poke her in the eyes. It was time to consider a trim herself. "Any urgent messages for me?"
"None urgent. However you received a private message from Urdnot Wrex."
Shepard pulled the towel down around her neck. "From Wrex? Can you route it to my terminal here?" She asked as she moved toward her desk.
"Of course, Commander."
The terminal pinged even before Shepard sat down. A few keystrokes brought it up. It was not a terribly long message, but by line two she was smiling from ear to ear. Wrex saw the news feeds and learned that someone had, to quote him, worked up a quad to accuse her of murders she clearly could not have committed. Then he went on to offer her asylum if she ever did kill someone and needed somewhere to hide. Which segued nicely into the briefest, most succinct way of saying that he was now the leader of Clan Urdnot, and it only took a relatively one-sided fight with his brood-brother. He was proceeding to forge alliances with the smaller clans, giving them their lost things as he went. The bigger clans were less than amused, but Wrex expected to have more warriors than them by the time they got over their rivalries and united against him.
Shepard typed up an equally succinct reply, congratulating Wrex and adding advice that he might not mind. Her suggestion was that he not squander his allies prematurely, and that he should organize scouts to keep an eye on his biggest rivals, namely who was coming and going from the places where the leaders gathered. She suspected Wrex already knew that, but figured she could get away with it. She called it asserting sisterly privileges. She got to worry about him all she wanted. Wrex would probably get a good laugh out of that thought.
After sending her reply she felt buoyed enough to go down for breakfast. It was still a little early, so Matthews did not have anything entirely ready. The night shift was not done either, but the morning crowd was already milling about, waiting for their food.
"Morning, Adams, Daniels, Donnelly," Shepard greeted as she sat at their table with a hastily-thrown-together cheese sandwich and coffee. It was a bit unusual to see all three engineers in the same place, because one of them was always supposed to stay in engineering to keep an eye on the Normandy's fusion plant.
"Good morning, Commander," Adams replied.
"Good morning, Commander." Gabriella echoed quietly.
"Should we even call it a good morning?" Donnelly asked.
"Kenneth! If the Commander says it's a good morning, it's a good morning!" Gabriella stepped in.
"Alright, Alright!" Donnelly protested.
Gabriella turned back to her, "Don't mind him, Commander. How are you?"
"I won't complain," Shepard replied. She could not call her life good right then, and decided not to spoil the mood.
"I understand," The woman replied. "I will not pry."
Shepard smiled faintly, but then then turned to the chief engineer, "Adams, has anyone contacted you about anything?"
"Not yet," Adams replied.
"I see. Thanks." Shepard would not be surprised if Lindholm came after Adams, and since Lindholm was conducting an official inquiry he would have to answer her.
"I will only say that they know about the Thanix. Our IES is safe. I was there, hovering over the shoulder of the technicians in engineering. They never found the maintenance crawlspace that takes you under the internal emission sinks. All they know is that we have an oversized power core, and that's hardly a crime," Adams explained, smiling. "The Thanix is a power-hungry system. We need to generate both the constriction field and excite the particles through induction. Of course it is also possible to reroute core plasma to excite the particles directly, though it's less efficient. Not that they know what we u- oh… my apologies, Commander." Adams gave her a sheepish ghost of a smile.
Shepard grinned, "Nothing to be sorry about. It's good that you have it all thought out. Admiral Lindholm appreciates thoroughness, don't spare her the details. But… how did you manage to keep them from seeing the crawlspace hatch?" It was kind of impossible to miss, as it was labelled and covered in hazard signs. The air in the crawlspace reached dangerous temperatures when the IES were approaching maximum capacity.
"I removed all the signs. It's a five minute job with the right screwdriver." Donnelly said, grinning from ear to ear.
"And when EDI announced that Citadel Security arrived, Tali came up and sat with her back to it the whole time, tinkering with her drone. I joined her, and we had a long conversation about power optimization possibilities for Chatika." Gabriella added shyly.
Shepard smiled, by the sound of it the engineers kept their wits about them. "I can't believe you got away with that."
"Me too!" Gabriella exclaimed, her whole face lighting up with mirth. "I thought for certain that they would make us move!"
"And do not worry, Commander, I restored the signs. No one will know they were ever removed," Donnelly added.
"It was a bit of an inspired conspiracy on their part," Adams slipped in.
"We kind of had an idea of what we would do in such an emergency for a while now." Gabriella said. "Ever since Garrus mentioned having a contingency for the Thanix."
"It was brilliant, that's what it was." Shepard said. "Thank you very much for doing what you could."
"You are welcome," Gabriella chorused.
Shepard nodded. She needed to introduce Tali to Gino. If the young quarian was still tinkering with her drone, Gino was the person to help her out. Gabriella was a power systems engineer, used to working with complex, massive ship power plants. Drones were a different beast entirely, but right up Gino's alley. Then, she only had to mention that Chatika's hardware was mostly Heretic, and Gino would be all over the opportunity. They could probably spare him some of the hardware still in the cargo hold too.
"For not being an engineer, Garrus does know a lot about ship systems," Donnelly ventured. "He adapted to our systems easily."
"Well, our configuration is actually very similar to the source material. The difference is input language." Adams replied.
"I really think that Garrus is one part genius when it comes to those things." Shepard smiled, "He's also a maestro with an HVR."
"Of course, we are not overlooking that," Adams replied.
"We did have a debate who the number two best shot on board is. And that's something, given that it's a competition between Garrus and Legion." Donnelly said. "But I hear Legion can make long distance shots while standing. That's got to be the clincher."
"Come off it, Kenneth, even I know that one part of sniper training is concealment. Snipers are not meant to be seen from a kilometer away because they have a light on."
"Well, Donnelly, you're right, and I've seen them do it, but Gabriella has a point as well," Shepard replied. "So did you ever settle the question?"
"We didn't," Gabriella replied. "Obviously I think Garrus is better, but Kenneth thinks Legion is better."
"I stayed out of the debate," Adams added blandly as he took a sip of his coffee.
"Ah." Shepard replied. In other words, they were at a stalemate, and Adams knew better than to get into the middle of it. However before she could say anything more she heard heavy but relatively quiet footsteps coming from behind her in the direction of the medbay. "Good morning, Legion!" She called.
The footsteps stopped and changed direction, growing closer to the table, and then a light landed its surface. "Good morning, Shepard-Commander. Good morning, Engineer-Adams, Engineer-Daniels, Engineer-Donnelly."
"Morning," Kenneth said around his sandwich.
"Morning, Legion!" Gabriella chirped.
"Good morning." Adam said.
Shepard hummed, since she was already on a roll this morning, there was something she needed know. She turned to face the geth properly. "Legion, if you're not terribly busy, I wanted to ask you about the rifle you built. Could you meet me in the shuttle bay in about oh… half an hour?"
"Acknowledged. We will be waiting for Shepard-Commander in the shuttle bay."
"Thank you," Shepard replied.
Then, before anyone could say anything more Legion turned and walked off toward the elevator.
Shepard blinked, surprised, but then decided that maybe Legion had been on the way somewhere when she had called out to them. With that she turned back to her meal.
"No rest for the weary, huh, Commander?" Adams asked.
"Oh no, I have a feeling that this morning is all the rest I'm going to get in the next couple days," she replied.
"It's so odd, don't you think? Legion calls everyone rank hyphen last name, but with the Commander, they reverse it," Donnelly spoke up.
"Maybe it is odd, but kind of adorable," Gabriella replied.
Shepard turned back to her hitherto forgotten sandwich. She figured maybe it was some Geth way of showing her respect. It probably only made sense to them, but who was she to fault that?
After parting with the engineers, Shepard took the elevator down to the shuttle bay. As the doors opened and she stepped out, she saw Legion was already there and waiting for her. They had even taken out the rifle and laid it out on the weapons maintenance bench.
"Shepard-Commander."
"Hey Legion, were you waiting here the whole time?" She replied.
"Shepard-Commander requested us to be here at a designated time. During the preceding interval we performed routine memory core optimization, error corrections, and a complete internal hardware diagnostic. No memory core errors were detected. No hardware faults were found. This platform is operating at optimal capacity."
Ever efficient they had been multitasking, in other words, yes, they had been here the whole time. "I didn't interrupt anything, right?"
"Negative."
Well Shepard could live with that. She stopped at the weapon maintenance table and stared down at the rifle. "So Legion, what's the story of this?" She turned to the geth, "Why did you color your rifle like my armor?"
Their emotive plates rippled, with the ones at the top rising at the back, but drooping at the front, then they flicked and furrowed again. "We constructed this rifle for Shepard-Commander."
Shepard opened her mouth to say something, but the words just hung there. Nihlus had been right? Well, if she was at all honest with herself, it was kind of obvious. The gun was the exact same shade of black as her armor. If the rifle had been for them, why would they deviate from greys? Geth were not exactly into decorating their things. "Isn't your rifle too powerful for me?"
"Affirmative." Legion replied. "However we modified and reengineered the design for Shepard-Commander."
"Reengineered?" Shepard repeated numbly, just how much work had Legion put into it?
"Affirmative. We observed and analyzed Shepard-Commander's operational preferences and designed the rifle to be suitable in performance and features. However, the primary objective was operational safety. We reduced projectile acceleration by twenty percent and projectile mass by ten percent. As a result the recoil force generated is now within safe tolerances for humans. We reduced weapon mass by using lighter polymer materials salvaged from captured Heretic units. We were also able to replicate the thermal dispersion of the N7 Valiant. Finally, we added both disruptor and armor-piercing ammunition modification capabilities. Shepard-Commander, do you approve of our design?"
"Legion, you thought of everything, so of course I approve. I do not know what to say. Other than just… thank you. Thank you very much." Shepard breathed. If she sounded a little breathless right them, it was because she was. The rifle still looked like theirs, down to the physical size, however, from listening to Legion, it seemed like it was radically different inside. No wonder that Legion had been working on it for a few weeks. It was staggering to think that anyone would go this far to make something for her.
"Shepard-Commander is… welcome." Legion replied.
Their emotive plates positively danced as they rippled. Say what they will, but Shepard could not call that response anything but joy. She turned, picked the rifle up, and fitted it against her shoulder. Now that she knew the rifle was definitely for her, there were little details that should have given it away from the get-go. The grip was contoured for a five-fingered hand, and the stock was curved and padded, for comfort. Neither of those things were necessary for Legion. They probably had tipped off Nihlus, but she had been busy obstinately denying the obvious. She flicked her finger across the rifle's mechanism, making it fold up. "You really shouldn't have, Legion. This was a lot of work."
"Affirmative, the process of manufacturing of the rifle took one hundred and three Terran hours from first conception to paint application. Encoding the control system for the weapon took another fifty hours. We wished to ensure the system would be deemed reliable and error-free. We understand why Shepard-Commander insists that we should not have manufactured this rifle. We calculated the likelihood of putting Shepard-Commander in the state of discomfort to be seventy-five percent. Regardless, we achieved consensus. We would produce the rifle for Shepard-Commander."
Shepard blinked. Statistics aside, translated into common parlance it was their round-about way of saying that they just wanted to do it, and that was that. Shepard rolled the rifle in her arms, cradling it against her shoulder. There was no point in refusing the gift, was there? Legion would still deem it given and leave it in the locker. Sure, they would probably not take it adversely if she never used it, but that seemed wasteful. Add to that, she had not refused Wrex when he gave her Shiagur's knife, which could be considered more priceless. Refusing Legion would be a touch hypocritical. She turned back to the geth, "Is there a user's manual for it?"
"Negative." The emotive plates flickered up and down, "However, we will answer all questions pertaining to the rifle's manufacturing, performance, and maintenance."
Shepard smiled, "Well, I just want to know one thing outright. How much more kinetic energy does a round from this rifle carry, compared to my Valiant?"
"A shot from this rifle carries thirty percent more kinetic energy than a round fired from the N7 Valiant." Legion answered without hesitation.
Shepard hummed. So Legion's rifle carried an upward of fifty percent more energy than the Valiant. Had Legion factored in Nike's rail-extension muzzle brake? Well, it really did not matter. Ultimately theoretical questions only took her so far, she would need to practice. However, therein lay a problem, was there a range that could accommodate an anti-materiel rifle? She did not want to have to pay damages if the rifle punctured holes through a range wall, and worst case scenario, she could hurt someone if they were on the other side of the wall. It was also quite a bit heavier than Nike, so she would not be able to carry it around like nothing. Then the final thing to consider was a name. What to call a weapon that could deliver so much carnage?
"Legion, again, thank you, but I am going to stow it for now. I need to learn what this rifle can do and how to use it properly. Until then I can't use it in the field."
"Acknowledged. Addendum: we are willing to assist Shepard-Commander, should Shepard-Commander require assistance."
Shepard smiled, turned, and made her way over to their weapon lockers. "If we can find a range that can work with this caliber, sure." She called back even as she opened her locker and laid the rifle inside. Somehow the thought of shooting clips with Legion sounded unbelievably good right then. She really did have the best crew in the galaxy.
Shepard spent the rest of her day keeping busy. She found it difficult to stay still for very long, too much anxiety. So she found little thing to occupy herself with. Toward evening she drifted into her quarters to set up the ground work for what was to come once things got back to a more manage normal.
She found Doctor T'Soni through her academic footprints, she also had a rather simple, but elegant biography page which gave her professional contact information as well as full bibliography of written works. This allowed Shepard to understand the asari on a professional level. Liara worked as a junior researcher in the Prothean Studies department at the biggest university on Thessia, and published more than a dozen thesis-length papers with relatively-known academic journals. This said she was a professional academic, in good standing, a hard worker, and could probably be trusted.
The page also mentioned of her family, which quickly proved to be the one wrinkle in Shepard's plan to involve the asari. Liara's mother, Matriarch Benezia, happened to be a respected spiritual leader with politician on the side, advising members of the Thessian Assembly. That assembly was basically the Asari Republics version of the United Nations. This connection raised two very important questions. Would Liara be interested in working with, if not for, the Alliance? Because Shepard's scheme would definitely benefit the Alliance first. It was a fact typically acknowledged only in whispers that, reputation as diplomats and mediators aside, when push came to shove the Asari wanted to keep their leg up on everyone else. If the Alliance got in contact with living Protheans ahead of them, there would be conflict with the Asari. Liara being the daughter of someone so highly placed could be a security hazard.
There was also the issue of the Protheans themselves. Were it up to Shepard, she would have automatically given any surviving Protheans a protected status and let them resume their lives such as they could in peace. If need be give them a colony world, material support, and maybe even protection, to ensure they could become self-sufficient and prevent Batarian slavers from getting ideas. However, it was not up to her. Any survivors could potentially become pawns in a political tug-of-war. Any highly-trained engineers or scientists would be seen as a resource first, person second, and that did not sit well with Shepard. If it came down to it, she would have to insist that the survivors be accorded the same respect as any other sapient species. It would be first contact, not tug-of-war over living relics.
That is, assuming there were survivors of course. After all, fifty thousand years was a long time for suspended animation. Realistically speaking much could go wrong in the intervening millennia. However, Shepard decided to be optimistic. Some part of her was excited at the prospect of meeting a living Prothean.
In the end, she sent Liara a brief message. Mostly just pleasantries, just to open that channel of communications. She could not do anything more than that right then. She also did not want to come off as caddish by just cold-requesting the doctor's participation in what could, very well, prove to be the most complicated scheme Shepard had even thought to pull. Possibly even more complicated than getting around Admiral Ines Lindholm.
Feeling a fair bit accomplished Shepard leaned back in her seat and sighed. The door chimed behind her. Shepard jumped and whirled right around in time to see it open and Nihlus step in. Shepard was glad her surprise was instantly overpowered by a flash of annoyance. It was much easier not to show it. "Is something wrong?"
"No. I just got a message from a colleague of mine. Apparently, Sparatus assigned him as additional security to the Primarch's delegation."
Shepard's eyebrows rose before she could stop it, "And he sent you that message to tell you he would be arriving on Arcturus soon, yes?"
"How did you guess?" Nihlus asked, his mandibles spreading into a very toothy grin.
"Your tone turns smug like you own the universe when you have good news, and after that, it's just connecting the dots." Shepard replied blandly.
Nihlus chuckled, "I should not have asked."
"But you did, and got an honest reply." Shepard replied. Most of her mind was already elsewhere. A Spectre assigned as additional security? Well it clearly was not Saren, he would not have tipped Nihlus off like this. "Well that answers one question." She murmured to herself. "The involvement of a Spectre can only mean that the Primarch is coming in person."
"Safe to bet, yes." Nihlus rumbled.
"Did your colleague give you a timeframe?"
"They should be here by morning."
"That's not much of a heads up, but I'll take it. Now what about this colleague of yours, what's he like?"
"His name is Avitus Rix. He has been a Spectre for about thirteen years now. He was Saren's trainee before me."
Shepard blinked, Nihlus was not the type to joke about something like that. Thirteen years? Nihlus mentioned becoming a Spectre in twenty-one-seventy-six, seven years ago. That was some gap between trainees. Then again, Shepard could see it. Saren was hardly mister congeniality. Then there was also the Impera. Saren would have had to be absolutely sure he could trust someone before he allowed them anywhere near his little secret. "Is he going to be a complication?"
"No!" Nihlus laughed. "Avitus has nothing against humans."
"Oh good." Shepard replied. Frankly the last thing she needed was one more enemy.
"In fact, I think he will like you. You have similar… idealistic leanings."
"Me, idealistic?" Shepard asked. In what universe could she be called an idealist? Shepard fancied herself more of a benign, slightly-paranoid cynic with nihilistic tendencies and a smidgeon of a temper. She had no qualms about using lethal force, when the situation left her no other choice. However, in any situation where there was a realistic choice, she would much prefer a more peaceful resolution. If that made her an idealist, then people have really lost the meaning of the word.
"You will see," Nihlus replied cheekily.
"Alright." She knew better than to mention her off-hand suspicion that Sparatus expected her to try and pull something. Likely thinking it would be to the benefit of the Alliance, hence abusing whatever status she had as Spectre-in-training. Sending a Spectre was likely more of him wanting to have a set of reliable eyes and ears on the whole thing. He likely would have even sent in Saren, were it not for the obvious anti-Alliance and anti-human track record the Spectre had never bothered to conceal.
Which meant that when all was said and done, she needed to become a Spectre, she would have back Sparatus into a corner. She would have to make sure he could not continue to withhold his approval. The cards were somewhat in her favor. She could offer Councilor Valern to pass along any and all information on Cerberus, becoming a resource rather than a liability. As for Councilor Tevos, the closest thing she had was indeed the Prothean connection. If she could avoid burning the bridge then perhaps she could figure something out. Besides, which other Spectre could work as a mediator between the Asari and Alliance, and agree to do something so impossibly dull and potentially lacking in firefights? Once again she would be an asset rather than a liability. Shepard would ponder the finer points of the arrangement when she had a little more spare time.
"Shepard?"
Shepard emerged from the thoughts she had gotten lost in, looked up and grinned sheepishly.
"Avitus said he would sent me another message when they dock. In the meantime I think it would be best if I leave you to your scheming."
"Sorry." Shepard replied, the word tumbled from her mouth automatically.
Nihlus tipped his head to side and spared her a teeth-flashing smile. "Sorry for what? I came here to tell that so you could start scheming."
"Of course." Shepard should have known that much. "I do love how you go straight for 'scheming' there. My, what faith you have in me." She would not even bother trying to keep the bland sarcasm out of her tone.
"I get free entertainment when you are... how they say, on a roll."
"Incorrigible rogue is as incorrigible rogue does," Shepard muttered, there was nothing else to say after such a cheeky admission.
"Oh, but you like it, admit it!"
"I admit nothing," Shepard replied blandly.
Nihlus laughed, turned, and stepped out of her quarters.
As the door closed behind him, Shepard shook her head and turned back to her console. She should probably look over her presentation again. Nothing could be left up to chance, she only had one shot at this. Nevertheless, she could not force her facial muscles to relax right then. She was grinning, and that incorrigible rogue mentor of hers was to blame. Privately, she could admit that his antics were oddly loveable. She could call him incorrigible rogue, but at the end of the day Nihlus was laser-guided with his levity. He had a way of making her feel better. One day, when the worst was over, maybe she should tell him that she appreciated it. Maybe when they had a week of straight leave, which ought to be enough for his ego to deflate after an admission like that.
It had to be the middle of the night, and Shepard snapped awake all at once, blinking hazily, wondering what had woken her. Then her door chimed again, and she realized that something was going on. She reached over to the small control pad mounted on the wall over her bed and tapped the door override.
It swooshed open and Nihlus stepped in, wearing a thin tunic and pants that clung to him, but no shoes or gloves. This told Shepard much. She groaned and flopped onto her back. "Let me guess, Avitus sent you another message."
"Yes. Sorry Shepard, but this is important. Their ship just docked. It will be a few hours before anything can happen, but we should arrange a meeting as soon as possible."
"Alright." Shepard sat up and dropped her feet on the floor, running her fingers through her hair in a vain attempt to kick-start her higher brain functions.
"Where do you want to meet?" Nihlus asked as he made his way down the steps and toward her couch.
Shepard watched him, but said nothing about the familiarity. If she was at all honest, she was sitting on her bed in an oversized tee-shirt and panties. The last thing she wanted to do was draw attention to propriety. "I'm not operating on official capacity. In fact, this is pretty much against official policy, I'm saving my own hide. So anywhere that's convenient to the Primarch would work for me. I just need an hour of his time."
"Alright." Nihlus replied as he perched on couch, facing her. "I will have Avitus arrange for the Primarch to meet you aboard their ship. The Alliance will not have access to it, so you can talk without interruptions."
"Perfect." That arrangement might even make the Primarch more amenable. Of course, it would also make some parts of her setup with Admiral Hackett unnecessary, but in her defense Shepard could not have known that Sparatus would send a Spectre that Nihlus knew. Nor that said Spectre would be amenable to this whole arrangement. There was no use wasting an opportunity due to inflexibility in the planning.
Then again, the paranoid part of her mind whispered about an alternative possibility. This connection to Saren could very well be a trap. She doubted Nihlus would vouch for Avitus if he knew it was a trap. She trusted Nihlus implicitly. However, how much should she trust someone whom she had never met, who had been a student of one of her foes? Doubly so given Saren's previous attempt to convince Nihlus to sabotage her. There was a chance that Avitus might just be a snake in the grass. She needed to take the measure of him before she showed him any meaningful cards.
"Well, now I have to consider how to get there." Shepard murmured. "Enough time has elapsed that someone will be monitoring the comings and goings from the Normandy. If we are seen going somewhere, it will raise an alarm somewhere." Shepard suspected Lindholm would have people for that. Shepard would have done the same.
"You have a point," Nihlus murmured.
Then, like a flash of enlightenment, it came to her, and she suddenly could not contain her grin. She had already likened this whole thing to an episode from the life of Julius Caesar. So, what was one more inspiration? Admittedly slightly different. Sure, there would be no carpet involved, but she could still borrow the general idea Cleopatra had way back in the day. "I do have a cloak. We could stage-craft it to look like you were acting on your own, with Avitus. No one on the station would dare stop two Spectres. They also wouldn't stare long enough to notice the cloaked figure with you."
Nihlus rumbled in amusement.
"I would have to go strictly unarmed, and we would have to move fairly quickly, as my cloak is not meant to be used continuously for very long, but that's fine."
"And what about Vakarian?" Nihlus asked.
Shepard blinked and stared at him for a long moment. What about Garrus? As far as she was concerned it was elementary, "I can't ask him to become involved." She did not want him to regret it later, doubly so if it got him in trouble with the Primarch of Palaven himself.
Nihlus leaned into the back of the couch, but then said nothing.
Shepard could only wonder. Did Nihlus expect her to involve Garrus? "Do I want to know?"
"I may or may not have… encouraged him to get involved." Nihlus muttered.
"Except there was no 'may not'. You did encourage him to get involved, and he just hasn't had the time to approach me with a well-rehearsed proposal. Nihlus, did you even consider the consequences that might have for Garrus?"
"I did, and at the time… it looked like you could use all the help you could get." Nihlus replied.
Shepard sighed. She would be lying if she said he did not have a point. "Nihlus, I do not want to involve Garrus in this. You have immunity. Nothing you do here will be grounds for Sparatus to revoke your status. That means no one can come after you for all those things you knew about the Normandy but never reported. Garrus does not have that privilege. If this goes south, if he has to look for another job two weeks from now, I don't want anyone to say that he willingly betrayed his people for a crazy human woman. I don't want to have to apologize to Castis Vakarian, from behind a prison visiting room screen, for screwing up his son's whole life. I do not want Garrus to make that sacrifice for me. It's not worth it."
"And have you asked him what he thinks qualifies as not worth it?"
"I don't need to! I know he would do this for me, but I will not let him!" Shepard closed her eyes and balled her fists to tamp down her emotions. Why was that so hard to understand? She would not let someone sacrifice that much for her. Never again. Arthur had done it, and she had struggled to forgive him. She lost more than few hours dwelling on the ifs and the maybes of that night. She did not want anyone to sacrifice anything like that for her ever again. If that was selfish, then she was selfish.
When she felt a warm hand settle over her fist she opened her eyes again. Nihlus was kneeling in front of her, green eyes shining in the gloom, his mandibles pressed to his chin defensively. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to shout." She mumbled. Had she even shouted? Nihlus' hearing was acute, and the Normandy was quiet, especially on this deck, so maybe it sounded like she had.
"You have nothing to be sorry for. I should apologize for pressing this," Nihlus whispered.
"You never apologize," Shepard replied, sounding almost hoarse. His hand felt impossibly warm, if rough. She forced herself to loosen her grip, to flatten her hands on the bed. However, he did not withdraw his. Shepard tried not to think on it, but there was no not thinking about it. She liked the warmth of this contact almost as much as she liked the one time he had been reading over her head, enveloping her in his body heat. On that thought she withdrew her hand and clasped them in her lap. Now was not the time to think about how much she had enjoyed that almost-hug.
"You are right. I would not be sorry." Nihlus chuckled, deep and rumbling, resonating through the space between them. "I love to break rules."
Shepard smiled, of course he did.
He rose to his feet, never once breaking eye contact. "Especially if they are my own," he added, voice deepening even more.
A weird shiver passed right down to her spine and she clasped her fists again. That was not the first time he said anything while rumbling like a jungle cat lazing in the sunlight. That was not the first time it had a weird effect on her either. She definitely could not deny it that maybe, just maybe, the turian voice registers kind of worked on her. It was a weird response she did not want to analyze right then.
"But not tonight. We need to get all of this figured out first." He added. "Just be ready when time comes."
"A- Alright." Shepard muttered, but then froze. Had she just stuttered? What the heck?
Nihlus spared her a teeth-flashing smirk, turned, and made his way back toward her door.
Shepard heard the door swish open and then close behind him. Her eyes remained glued to the floor. Just what had just happened? Since when did she stutter? Then something clicked and she whipped her gaze to the door. Had there been something in that exchange that she missed? No. It was best she did not linger on that. She needed to focus on the battle ahead. She could ponder whatever weird reactions she was having when her career was safe. Yes. That was what she would do. Damn Nihlus and his lack of a concept of personal space!
By breakfast time it was like the whole moment in her quarters did not happen. That morning she found a message from Leif on her terminal, to quote him, 'the fairy called, busy day for her.' Which was Leifese for saying Aisha had notified them that she had been summoned for guard duty. Shepard sent replied, thanking him, pretending that she had not been tipped off already. She would call it a small kindness.
After that it was a bit of a rush, she knew that Nihlus would arrange everything for her. She was finishing her small breakfast before Nihlus finally came to her to announce that Avitus was on his way over. The two of them would play at a reunion, just two turians getting together for a chat. Shepard doubted that anyone would buy that entirely, but it might just be enough that her trailing behind them, cloaked, would go unnoticed.
Thus Shepard inhaled the rest of her food and rushed off to get ready. First, she needed to fetch the materials that she wanted to show the Primarch. After that she had to don her armor. Leaving her weapons behind felt very uncomfortable, but she knew better than to cause an incident by coming anywhere near Primarch Fedorian while armed. Thus when she finally reached the CIC, as ready as she would ever be for what might be the most important moment for her career to date, she was surprised to see both Nihlus and Garrus waiting for her at the airlock. Both wore armor, but only Nihlus carried a side-arm.
"Commander," Garrus greeted even as he side-stepped to block her path into the airlock.
"Garrus." Shepard replied. There was no way he blocked her path by accident. "Shall we cut the pleasantries?"
"Alright. I wish to come with you," Garrus replied.
Shepard heard the CIC grow deathly quiet. She knew, without a doubt, that the two enlisted crewmen in charge of monitoring the ship's systems up here were listening. Oh, Nihlus was in so much trouble. By the time she finished explaining his many faults he would have tinnitus! "No." She replied bluntly.
The former detective's mandibles twitched and his gaze shot over her shoulder toward Nihlus.
Shepard shifted her weight. If Nihlus decided to help Garrus here and now, she would give both of them tinnitus. Nihlus' armor creaked behind her, but he said absolutely nothing that she could hear. Nevertheless Garrus' mandibles gave a few twitches and his gaze dropped back to her.
"I insist."
"This will be deemed as a breach of contract, Officer Vakarian," Shepard replied. It was a bit of a low blow, but she deemed it necessary.
Garrus crossed his arms over his chest. "With all due respect Commander, if this plan of yours does not work, you will not be in position to… ah… worry about that."
Shepard felt her jaw loosen. Did he really just tell her that, to her face? Did Garrus really just openly defy her?
Nihlus made a sound that was clearly a vain attempt to hold back a chuckle with a fake snort.
Shepard ground her teeth together. In that instant it became abundantly clear that they must have planned this. She could not believe that Nihlus would go this far after what she told him! What was he thinking?!
"Com- Shepard, let me do this. Please." Garrus whispered, all pretense of defiance abandoned. "I know you do not wish me to be involved. But I am already involved. I refuse to sit idly by."
Shepard held his gaze. These was no disguising the pleading look in his eyes. It probably took quite a bit for him to work up the gumption to bar her path in the first place. Shepard sighed, she could not bring herself to be harsh with him. In all likelihood this was entirely Nihlus' doing. "Garrus, they can accuse you of betraying your own people. I can't let you do that."
"Maybe, but if I do not do this, I will be betraying you. I refuse to do that."
Shepard opened her mouth, willing some clever rebuff to spring forth. However, everything that she could say would only come across as caddish. Garrus clearly saw this as his duty, or at the very least, portrayed this as his duty. Shepard knew better than to try and persuade him to abandon duty. "Fine. But on the record, you two are in deep trouble. I do not take conspiracies against me lightly."
"I will volunteer to help whichever crewmembers need help, with any task, for any amount of time." Garrus said as he stepped aside and then poked at the console to open the airlock.
Shepard raised an eyebrow.
"See? He is willing to punish himself," Nihlus said as he stepped past her into the airlock.
Shepard glared at his back as she followed him, perfectly aware that Garrus was right on her heels. However as the door closed behind them a devious idea crossed her mind. "Oh Nihlus, I am serious about both of you being in trouble." She said as she triggered the airlock's cycle so that Nihlus and Garrus would have nowhere to run. "And I know just what will make both you remember my wrath for a good, long while. Both of you will take full inventory of our cargo bays, and without EDI's assistance." Garrus and Nihlus both turned to her, their eyes widening. "And that's an order EDI. Do not help them with anything."
"Understood, Commander," EDI replied.
Shepard decided to be positively cruel, "I want every crate itemized, and a full log on my desk. I also want you to give to Matthews a second itemized list, of the foodstuffs, sorted by dextro and levo. And I expect you two to be very conscious of our medical supplies. If Doctor Chakwas tells me she can't find something, you will hear from me. Am I understood?" It was not only utterly menial, but also entirely redundant. Exactly the sort of punishment they deserved for colluding against her.
"Yes, Commander." Garrus replied.
Nihlus remained silent.
Shepard was less than amused. "And yes, I do actually mean the both of you." Then, to punctuate the point, she rolled her wrist to activate her omni-tool, and looked down to access her cloak controls. As far as she was concerned that was the end of that discussion.
By the time her cloak had settled and she looked up again, Garrus had turned to stare into the airlock wall, but Nihlus was giving her one of his biggest grins, as if daring her to come up with something else. Shepard was tempted, oh so tempted to come up with something absolutely heinously dull and redundant, just to wipe that smirk off his face, but then the airlock's outer door opened, and she had to abandon the scheme for the time being.
The Normandy's airlock opened onto the end of a sealed retractable gangway which allowed people to come and go without EVA suits. Standing some meters away from the door was a single turian. His white and teal armor blended with his pearl-white plates, latte-hued hide, and blue eyes. His currant red colonial markings were minimal, a single chevron over the forehead, descending down the center of his eye gaps, intercepting a single curving bar below the eyes.
"Rix! Good to see you! Been a while!" Nihlus greeted as he stepped out of the airlock.
Shepard had to try her best not to laugh, Nihlus was trying his best to act casual. She hung back and allowed Garrus to step out ahead of her.
"Kryik. Bringing a friend?" Avitus replied.
"This is Garrus Vakarian, ordnance officer on the Normandy. Garrus, this is Avitus Rix, fellow Spectre."
Shepard drew close as silently as she could. Nihlus and Garrus would know what to listen for, and maybe even the scent of her armor. Avitus would not.
"Vakarian, huh?" Avitus replied, clearly completely unaware. "Heard the name somewhere. And where is the illustrious Commander Shepard?"
Shepard made a note that Avitus' voice flanged more than Nihlus' ever did. He also carried himself without the hauteur that Nihlus could muster. There was just a calm confidence, and what seemed to be an open, easy-going manner. If Nihlus had not mentioned it, she would have never thought he could be another of Saren's protégés.
Nihlus chuckled but said nothing.
"Spectre Rix, pleasure to meet you," Shepard whispered, knowing he would hear her just fine, doubly so that she stood just a meter away.
Avitus instantly stiffened, but then relaxed. "Ah, a cloak. Of course." He whispered back.
"We should go," Nihlus said.
"Yes, alright. Follow me." Avitus turned and began to walk.
Without saying another word Nihlus followed Avitus, but Garrus hung back to walk beside her instead. Shepard patted him on the shoulder, just to tell him that she was moving, and followed the Spectres.
From there Nihlus and Avitus made an almost farcical attempt to act casual, but there was no denying that Nihlus was tense, Garrus was too much of a third wheel, and Avitus' gaze slipped in her direction a little too often. As they made their way down the length of the station's arm Shepard focused on their surroundings. She was happy to note that the Alliance personnel they passed paid them only token attention, mostly curious to see three turians on a walkabout.
Fortunately it was not long before Shepard saw more Hierarchy soldiers, all four in full armor. Standing opposite were four Alliance soldiers, and Shepard instantly focused on the only woman among them. She was easily meter eighty-five tall, with dark skin, brown eyes, and a black pixie cut that framed the face of a model. But it was her armor that stood out the most. It was tight-fitting with minimal ceramics, colored abyss black with accents of cerise pink. She also carried a single side-arm compared to the automatics of the other three.
She stood out compared to the other three in their standard-issue grey armors. Doubly so since that shade of abyss black was the same as Shepard's own. It was somewhat proprietary because it required an expensive triple-coating to achieve it. Leif, Ethan, and Gino had adopted it as the major color in their armors as a sign of comradery. It was too much of a coincidence that someone else would go for it and then only use one accent color without duplicating any of theirs on top. Shepard instantly knew that the woman had to be Lieutenant Aisha Morgan.
Shepard looked to her left, up the length of an extendable gangway, toward the ship on the other side. She saw no hint of curvature or angles, which meant the ship at least cruiser-sized. Shepard would also not be surprised if it was not the only Hierarchy vessel in the system either. The Primarch of Palaven would not just walk into the lion's den without plenty of guards, and even more guns.
Avitus turned to walk up the gangway and Nihlus followed. Shepard glanced to her side and realized that Garrus was hanging back. She followed the Spectres, and Garrus followed her. She stepped past the turian guards as smoothly and as quietly as she could muster. It would not do for them to notice her and alert the Alliance personnel. Shepard could not rule out the possibility that one of the other men was on Lindholm's payroll.
There were two more Hierarchy soldiers standing right next to the ship's outer airlock door, but they did not move when Avitus tapped at the panel to open it, nor when they all filed in. Shepard waited for the airlock to close and begin to cycle before she rolled her wrist and tapped the key to deactivate her cloak.
"Commander Shepard, it is good to finally… see you," Avitus said.
Shepard smiled, but said nothing.
The airlock ran them through a full decontamination cycle on top of equalization. By the time the inner doors opened Shepard began to twitch due to nerves. Sure, she knew what needed to be said and covered, but there were too many uncertainties in the whole thing. Her case of nerves was certainly not helped by the sight of even more armed personnel across from the inner door.
"Spectre Rix, welcome back!" A voice greeted them. It was a turian male in an official dark green tunic outfit with white paneling and matching gloves. "I assume these are…"
"Spectre Kryik and Commander Shepard, with Garrus Vakarian," Avitus replied.
"Welcome! The Primarch ordered me to escort you to the meeting room. Please follow me."
Even before any of them could reply the errant runner turned and took lead, leaving them no options. He seemed relatively young. She followed first, with Nihlus falling in line with her and Garrus a step behind, ever at her back. Avitus walked behind them, clearly an additional guard.
The young soldier led them down the corridor, and the walk allowed her to guesstimate the ship's length. The recessed ceiling lighting was navigable, but not excessively bright. The bulkheads were bare, grey in color, and claustrophobically too close, like the old naval aircraft carriers from two centuries before. Currently they were on one of the ship's crew decks, as very few of those they passed wore armor or a uniform of any sort. They also passed what might have been a cantina, judging from the scents emanating from the door. Mercifully few soldiers cared to stop and gawp.
Their guide eventually led them to an elevator that took them some levels above. Here the environment changed entirely. The corridors were just as tight and identical-looking, but it was quieter and everyone wore uniforms. After walking what must have been halfway down the length of the ship Shepard saw a set of double door flanked by armed soldiers. Their guide tapped the console, and when the door opened, stepped inside the room, allowing the rest of them to file in behind him.
"Primarch, I brought our guests, per your orders." The young officer announced as he bowed, right fist clasped and placed over his keel.
"Good." A deep voice replied calmly. "You are dismissed."
Shepard flicked her gaze about the room, as was her norm. It was circular, and rather small, with no viewports, but there was a large flat panel screen on her left, displaying the Hierarchy seal as its standby screensaver. Nearly the entire space was dominated by a single, circular highly-polished black table with matching chairs.
"Yes, Primarch," their guide straightened, made an about face, and stepped out of the room.
Shepard turned to the figure seated opposite of the screen. Avitus was already behind him, the dutiful bodyguard. The Primarch himself was a rather fine, austere figure. Chocolate-colored plates over fawn-hued hide, bright gold eyes, a long, mirror-symmetrical fringe ending in sharp points, and thick, robust mandibles. His warm cream-colored colonial markings were almost identical to Castis' except for the extra lines framing the forehead plate. However, his most distinguishing feature was the light brown vertical scar running up his left zygomatic plate and terminating a centimeter or two above a rough notch in the very edge of his brow plate. Someone had tried to stab him in the eye. He wore a black tunic outfit with rich purple accents, trimmed in fine silver thread, with an elaborate drape of matching purple material wrapped around his shoulders and cowl. The large silver pins holding it in place over his shoulders bore Hierarchy heraldic sigils and a silver ribbon between them.
"Welcome," He said. "Spectre Kryik, Commander Shepard."
Shepard hesitated, unsure what the proper greeting protocol to use here.
"Primarch," Nihlus replied as he raised his right fist, pressed it to the center of his keel, and bowed.
"Primarch, sir." Shepard hastily imitated her mentor, almost comically late, but it was better to be safe than sorry. "Thank you, for agreeing to meet with me."
The primarch nodded but his gaze was thrown over her shoulder. "Garrus." He finished, tone turning slightly warmer, flanging more.
Garrus repeated the gesture, "Primarch."
"Now that the formalities are out of the way, please take a seat, and we can talk."
Shepard pulled the closest chair out and sat down, mindful not to lean too far back, as the arched chair backs were designed to accommodate a carapace, not her. She took a deep breath and let it out of mouth. Leader of the Hierarchy or not, the Primarch was ultimately a turian, and they were not known for unnecessarily-elaborate rituals. "Primarch, if I may begin..." she stopped there.
"Proceed."
Shepard tried not the fidget, but fact was she was acutely aware of just how out of her depth she was. "First, I would like to say that though I am an Alliance officer, today I come as a Spectre in training under the supervision and authorization of Spectre Kryik."
"You are also the Commanding officer of the Normandy, correct?"
"Yes, Primarch. And the Normandy has much to do with what I wished to discuss with you. Yes, it does have a Thanix system, however, the Alliance obtained the tech after the discovery of a scuttled frigate in the Skyllian Verge. The ship in question, the Vercinix, was registered to the Citadel Fleet, and according to my research was damaged in combat with Batarian privateers at the beginning of this century, before humanity even achieved faster than light capability. Her crew sank her into the methane of an ice moon, where she remained until natural cryovolcanism brought her up to the surface decades later. There was no act of aggression, no breach of the armistice accords."
"I assume you have proof of that?" the Primarch asked.
"Yes, sir." Shepard replied automatically. "I brought with me an OSD with all the relevant information."
"Spectre Rix, please retrieve it."
Avitus nodded and moved around the room toward her. Shepard reached into her webbing, withdrew the disk, and was all too glad to hand it to him. Then she turned back to the Primarch. "Please believe me sir, the last thing I would want is to do anything that might increase the tensions between the Hierarchy and Alliance."
The primarch nodded, but said nothing.
Shepard watched as Avitus scanned the OSD with his omni-tool. She figured she should give everyone some explanation to its contents. "That disk contains detailed information on the development and construction of the Normandy's Thanix system. I received the information from my superior officer, Admiral Steven Hackett of the Fifth Fleet."
"I saw the data as well, and was able to corroborate it using my Spectre clearances," Nihlus added.
"That is good, but we will still need to confirm things in our own records."
Avitus slipped the OSD into the reader of a terminal set into the large desk. The primarch turned to his personal terminal as soon as it showed him the disk's contents. Shepard could only sit, watch him peruse the files, and wait.
It was a few minutes before the Primarch finally looked up, and his gaze landed squarely on her, "This is indeed quite a bit of data. It will take some time to verify everything."
"I understand, Primarch."
"I do have questions. The answers to which I assume would not be in this data."
"I will try to answer questions as best I can," Shepard replied.
"Good. My first one is why am I receiving this information from you and not Alliance officials directly?"
Shepard figured that question would be on the list somewhere, but opening with it was uncomfortable. Now she had seconds to decide how much to share. Did she want to bend the facts? How much truth would be enough? She clasped her hands in front of her, hoping that the Primarch would not see through the action. "There are some differences of opinion within the Alliance's highest echelons. Some would see cooperation as capitulation to foreigner demands. As for Admiral Hackett, he wishes to avoid conflict, but he cannot act without authorization. Fortunately, I happen to have a certain amount of… leeway to act, and a little less misplaced pride." That was as close as she would come to openly criticizing her superiors to a third party. "Please pardon my presumption, but I believe neither side would benefit from increased tensions, or worse, open hostility. I wish for peace, and I refuse to allow certain individuals within the Alliance to upend it for their pride and personal interests." Especially like this, and doubly so when it was someone like Ines Lindholm.
The primarch leaned back in his seat throughout her explanation, his gold eyes boring right through her. There was no way to tell if he believed her, but Shepard fervently hoped he did.
"And your involvement with the ship in question?"
Shepard had to contain her urge to grin sheepishly, "Admittedly, there is some personal interest there. I was given command of the Normandy before I met Spectre Kryik, before he graciously put my name forward as a Spectre candidate. I wish to keep my command, sir."
"I see." The primarch straightened in his seat, "As I have already said, we will need to verify the information you provided, and until then I cannot promise you anything. However if what you said is true, then I do not foresee any problems. Now, I was told some rather interesting things about you, both by Castis Vakarian and Councilor Sparatus. I am wondering how much of that is true."
Shepard blinked, unsure what to say to that. There was more than one way to understand the words 'interesting things'.
"I was told you that you achieved two hundred and fifty nine confirmed kills in less than a day. You also prevented catastrophic damage to a rare garden class planet, saving three million lives in the process, at the hands of Batarian terrorists. Castis was also impressed with your intellect and observational skills." The Primarch listed.
Shepard shook her head, "Elysium and Terra Nova were about protecting my people, nothing more." The words sounded canned, but they were not a lie. "I cannot take all the credit for Terra Nova, my whole combat team was involved. Furthermore, Balak rigged three rooms full of hostages with bombs, wanting to trade their lives for his. It was Garrus, Tali'Zorah vas Neema, and Legion, who risked their lives to defuse the bombs. They ensured that the situation would have a near-perfect outcome." She heard Garrus rumble, but then he bit it back.
"Legion… it is your Geth associate, correct?"
"Yes sir." Shepard replied.
The primarch hummed, but said nothing to that.
Shepard took it as he cue to continue. "Now, as for the incident on the Citadel… Senior Detective Vakarian should have mentioned that it was a frame job, orchestrated by a certain group of individuals who are not too keen on me bringing them to justice. Making enemies is an unavoidable occupational hazard for a Spectre."
"Is that what Spectre Kryik called it?" Avitus asked, his eyes glowing with mirth.
"I wish I did, but no. Skill with glib understatements is distinctly human." Nihlus replied.
Shepard caught the primarch's mandibles give a very faint flicker, a tiny little hint of amusement. She would let Nihlus have that one, only because it might have cracked the ice. Anything that amused the primarch, however lightly, probably would not come back to bite her in the butt.
"And is it true that Spectre Kryik and you were also involved in a recent incident involving Facinus on Taetrus?"
Shepard was not surprised that the primarch heard about that. Councilor Sparatus probably dragged their failure through the mud. "Technically… yes." Shepard glanced at Nihlus, but then turned back to the primarch. "However we have to thank General Ignatia Aurelia for her invaluable assistance." Out of the corner of her eye she saw Nihlus' mandibles draw up to his chin. However it seemed like her sanitization of the facts did not anger him too much.
"I see." The primarch hummed.
Shepard got the distinct feeling that she might have just bent the facts a little too far and something had cracked. Then again, if the Primarch really knew what happened on Taetrus, either from Sparatus or the government sources, then he would know that she had not actually lied. They could be excused for not wanting to talk about that, right?
"Very well, Commander. I think I have what I want. I expect to meet with Alliance officials in the next day. If everything is as you say, then I expect we will be able to reach an agreement. However, I will not conceal your involvement."
"Thank you, and I should say that it isn't possible to conceal my involvement, sir. I suspect that my movements are tracked. But, I did my job. I can handle the consequences." Ultimately, if the Hierarchy and Alliance indeed reached a peaceful resolution, she would be in an almost-perfect position to argue that her involvement helped bring it about.
"Is there anything else you would like to say?" The primarch asked.
"No sir, I will not take up more of your time." Shepard replied.
"Very well."
Nihlus clearly took that as a dismissal, because he got up. Shepard hesitated for all a second, but then followed him toward the door.
"Garrus, if I may have a few words with you. In private." The Primarch added.
Shepard broke step, but she managed to avoid tripping on air, or instinctively looking back, no matter how much she was tempted right then.
"Yes, of course, Primarch," Garrus replied.
It did not take the ability to hear turian subvocals to pick up that Garrus was instantly nervous. However there was nothing Shepard could do, she had to follow Nihlus out of the room.
Author Notes: Yes, this was a bit of an interlude episode, because I had to make a time skip. In my defense I tried to make the filler interesting. Thus the snippet from the lives of the lower decks, Legion being adorable, and more evil ship teasing.
General Notes:
Episode Title – This a reference to the fateful first meeting between Cleopatra VII and Julius Caesar in 48 BCE. Supposedly (historical accounts differ) Cleopatra was smuggled into Caesar's quarters wrapped up in a carpet. The subterfuge was necessary to avoid Ptolemy XIII's forces, with whom she was fighting for power. Caesar was in Alexandria with an army, and Cleopatra saw an opportunity to make a powerful ally.
Chapter Notes:
Shepard's New Gun – Yes, Legion basically built Shepard the "Black Widow" variant of their Widow. In my canon it is no longer something Alliance R&D come up with on their own. And the reason Shepard has not named it yet is because I cannot make up my mind.
Avitus Rix – For those who have not played Mass Effect Andromeda, Avitus is a canon character. I rather liked Avitus, and what the writers did was cruel. That and I could justify giving him a cameo appearance.