AN: Just your nine billionth reminder, This is an act of fiction, based on two other acts of fiction, written by an amateur. There will be mistakes. There will be departures from canon. A lot of them. Like really a lot. There will also be oversimplified descriptions of scientific, military and philosophical topics as I am not a scientist, nor a soldier, nor a philosopher.
If your ego requires you to pepper a fanfic's comments with dissertations about how much more you know about astrophysics than some dork writing a story about space magic, then I really recommend you invest your time in seeking therapy instead of reading my idiotic drivel. That being said, inconsistencies, spelling and grammar please feel free to rip me a new asshole, some day I'll sit down and revise this and the many, many, MANY errors in my first fic.
Chapter 10
"It is the decision of the Council that you be granted all the rights and privileges of the Special Tactics and Reconnaissance Branch of the Citadel." Councilor Tevos said
"Spectres are not trained, but chosen. Individuals forged in the fire of service and battle; those whose actions lift them above the rank and file." Councilor Valern said
"Spectres are an ideal, a symbol, the embodiment of courage, determination and self-reliance. They are the right hand of the Council, instruments of our will." Councilor Tevos said
"Spectres bear a great burden. They are protectors of galactic peace. Both our first and last line of defense, the safety of the galaxy is theirs to behold." Councilor Spartaus said.
"You are the first Human spectre, Lieutenant Commander. This is a great accomplishment for you and your entire species." Councilor Tevos said.
"I'm honored, Councilors." Shepard said with a polite bow.
"We're sending you into the Traverse after Saren. He is a fugitive from justice so you are authorized to use any means necessary to apprehend or eliminate him." Councilor Valern said.
"Any idea where to find him?" Shepard asked.
"We will forward any relevant files to whomever replaces Ambassador Udina." Councilor Spartaus said.
"This meeting of the council is adjourned." Councilor Tevos said. The councilors turned and walked away, ignoring the whispers of the gathered crowed who were pleased to have witnessed such a pivotal moment in galactic history. Shepard turned and stared, Harry and Captain Anderson were both beaming at her with tears streaming down their eyes.
"Uh, Captain? Admiral?" Shepard asked.
"I'm so proud of you Janey." Harry said, his voice hitched.
"I never had any doubts, Shepard." Anderson said. She smiled and walked away with them towards the Presidium. When they arrived at the Human embassy, they were surprised to see Garrus there waiting with an unfamiliar Turian.
"Congratulations, Spectre Shepard." Garrus said with a grin and cheesy bow.
"Thanks, Garrus. I don't believe I've had the pleasure of meeting your companion." Shepard said.
"This is my father, Castis Vakarian. He will be stepping in to handle the office of Earth's Embassy until a Human candidate is selected." Garrus said.
"Ah! Nice to put a face to the name! It's a pleasure, Mr. Vakarian. How is your lovely wife?" Harry asked.
"She is well, thank you. She speaks very highly of you." Castis said. Harry laughed.
"She and I have been writing since the First Contact war." Harry said. Garrus stiffened at that. Harry grinned and looked menacingly at him.
"She had loads of stories about her trouble-making children." Harry said.
"Yes, well, I'd better go... calibrate... something." Garrus said, making a hasty retreat.
"I mean no disrespect, but why were you, a Turian, assigned to represent humanity on the Citadel?" Shepard asked, not unkindly.
"They're having difficulty choosing between the Human candidates, and they needed someone to submit complaints, recommendations, requests and whatnot in the meantime. I happen to live here, and a certain Alliance Admiral has been singing my praises to the Prime Minister." Castis said, giving Harry a meaningful look.
"He's talking about me!" Harry stage whispered to Shepard, causing them all to laugh.
"I'll probably only be here today and tomorrow. The Primarch is grateful that Humanity trusts a Turian to represent them even if it's for only a few days." Castis said. Harry nodded. Just then Admiral Hackett walked into the room and everyone, including Castis, saluted.
"Admiral, to what do we owe the pleasure?" Shepard asked. Anderson and Harry shared a knowing glance and grinned.
"We have a couple of changes in rank to discuss. First, Admiral Potter..." Hackett said. Harry nodded.
"I Admiral Harry James Potter of the Alliance Navy do hereby stand down and announce my provisional and temporary retirement from the Alliance Navy effective immediately." Harry said, carefully removing his rank insignias and handing them To Hackett who accepted them with a nod and a salute.
"Harry!" Shepard said, forgetting the situation she was in.
"I'll explain in a few minutes, Janey." Harry said. She nodded but looked unhappy.
"Next..." Hackett said, turning to Shepard.
"Lieutenant Commander Jane Shepard, you are hereby promoted to the rank of Commander, and will as of today be assuming command of the Alliance Frigate MSV Normandy." Hackett said, exchanging Shepard's LC insignia for a full commander one.
"Wha?" Shepard said, so shell shocked she didn't hear Anderson and Harry laughing at her expense.
"You've earned it, Commander. You're Humanity's first spectre, you have the admiration and loyalty of your crew, and you have been repeatedly put up for command by multiple senior ranking officers, three of whom are in this room." Hackett said with a proud smile.
"And finally.." Hackett said, turning to a confused looking Anderson.
"Captain David Anderson, you are hereby promoted to the rank of Admiral, and will serve as Admiral Kensington's assistant until her retirement next year at which you will assume her role in the Fifth Fleet." Hackett said. He then replaced Anderson's insignia and saluted, followed by everyone else.
"I need to borrow our new civilian for a few moments, but Admiral Anderson, Commander Shepard you are free to go." Hackett said. They saluted and left, along with Castis, all three recognizing the dismissal as what it was.
"You're 100% sure about this, Harry?" Hackett asked.
"Definitely Steve. If need be I will come back, my arrangement with the military allows for it. There's some messed up shit happening, and I can't do anything about it from behind a desk or even on the bridge of a dreadnought, especially while I'm expected to follow military regs. It's gonna get ugly out there." Harry said. Hackett nodded.
"We'll be waiting for you." Hackett said, offering his hand, which Harry shook.
"I'd better get going, I owe a certain redhead an explanation." Harry said, grinning.
"That you do. By the way I pushed the paperwork through, you're officially under contract to the Alliance Navy as a strategic consultant." Hackett said.
"Ooh nice, that'll look good on the resume." Harry said.
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"Did you know anything about this, Admiral?" Shepard asked as they both made their way to the Normandy.
"I knew he was promoting you, that we were giving you the Normandy, and that Harry was retiring, I didn't know about my own promotion." Anderson said.
"Why didn't you guys say anything?" Shepard asked, clearly frustrated.
"Because you would have objected, and this needed to be done. We need both of you hunting down Saren and the reapers, we know nothing about them and we can't go to the council without definitive proof." Anderson said.
"I understand, but I still think it sucks, and I'm still going to kick his ass for it now that he can't demote me for it." Shepard said with a grin.
"Good luck with that, Shepard. He's as strong as you physically and stronger than you magically." Anderson said, laughing.
"Shut up. Er, Sir." Shepard said, Anderson laughed even louder. They arrived, and Anderson made a short speech explaining the change of command, the crew cheered, and Anderson transferred the command authorization from himself to Shepard. It was right after the transfer that they were interrupted.
"Huh, so this is what the inside of an Alliance Frigate looks like..." Harry said, sauntering up to the CIC.
"Civilians aren't allowed in the CIC, I'm afraid I'm going to have to arrest you." Shepard said with a mischievous grin.
"FASICST!" Harry yelled, before they broke down laughing.
"So did Dave give you the run-down?" Harry asked.
"Yes, but I still don't like it. You worked hard to earn that rank, Harry." Shepard said.
"Yeah, like fifty years ago, and I've retired three times since. Knowing my luck I'll probably be ordering you schmucks around again in like six months." Harry said.
"Well go find somewhere and be someone else's problem, I gotta learn how to captain this thing." Shepard said.
"Aye aye skipper!" He said with a salute. As the doors to the lift closed and it descended, Anderson turned to her.
"I'd like to remind you, Commander, there are no rules against fraternizing with civilians." Anderson said with a knowing grin. She stared incredulously at him.
"He told you?" Shepard whispered.
"He never said a word, Commander. I have eyes." Anderson said. She deflated.
"It'll never happen. We talked about it years ago, but he's said nothing since." Shepard said.
"I'm guessing that's because he didn't want to get you in trouble." Anderson said, reaching up and squeezing her shoulder.
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The Normandy made its way out to the Widow relay and soon they were underway. Admiral Raan had expressed concern that Harry's retirement would affect their upcoming meeting, but Harry and Shepard had insisted on meeting with them regardless. At the very least it would be a chance for Tali to see her father. They arrived at a relay outside of the traverse, and after a short FTL journey they approached the mass of mismatched ships that made up the Quarian Migrant Fleet. Harry and Shepard donned their environmental hardsuits, and met Tali in the docking bay.
They'd adjusted the decontamination cycle so that it was extremely thorough, so when they were greeted by Quarian marines they were actually cleaner than the soldiers that had geeted them. After a quick scan showed they had no suit breaches or contaminants they were lead into a large room with a table and chairs. Shepard and Harry sat cross-legged in them because they were suited to Quarian legs instead of Human ones.
"We appreciate you taking the time to meet with us Admiral Potter, Commander Shepard." Raan said.
"It's just Harry now, but thank you. Before we proceed with the official stuff, I'm sure our Engineer would love to catch up with her father and aunt." Harry said. Raan nodded enthusiastically and the three of them broke off to speak in private.
"I wanted to thank you Harry, we've been receiving reports from Pilgrims on the Citadel that you've made dextro rations available at the Human embassy." Admiral Korris said.
"It was my pleasure. We'll be keeping that stocked for whomever needs it. Primarch Fedorian is also working on food relief from the Turian side of things, since they produce so much dextro food." Harry said.
"That... that's surprising." Korris said. Harry nodded.
"The Primarch was furious when I explained how C-Sec officers, especially the Turian ones, were treating pilgrims. Did Admiral Raan tell you about the woman I encountered the day I met Tali?" Harry asked. Korris and Gerrel looked at each other and shook their heads.
"She was being berated by a Turian C-Sec agent. I stepped in, God her suit was hanging off her. She couldn't even make it to the clinic I had to carry her. There's no way she weighed a gram over 35kg" Harry said.
"Keelah.." Gerrel said.
"Dr. Michel reached out last night, the poor girl almost died. She sent her back to Earth for treatment." Harry said.
"Please send the bill for her treatment to us, we'll gladly pay whatever it is." Gerrel said.
"We don't charge for medical care, Admiral. As soon as she's healthy they'll transport her back to the Citadel, or the fleet, or wherever she wants to go. Hell maybe she will find a pilgrimage gift on Earth while she's recovering." Shepard said. Korris and Gerrel looked at each other again momentarily. They discussed general topics, Gerrel and Korris argued about what they'd have done regarding the Geth on Eden Prime. Xen was still and silent, to the point that Harry forgot she was sitting there. Before long Tali returned with Raan and her father.
"Thank you, Commander, Harry. We've both missed her." Raan said.
"Not at all, Admiral." Shepard said.
"So, we have signed and forwarded the work permit to Alliance command." Rael said.
"Sounds good." Shepard said.
"If I may, Adm... Harry. The information you gave us regarding this 'magic' is intriguing. Would you be willing to demonstrate it?" Xen asked, speaking for the first time.
"Xen, this is hardly the-" Gerrel stated but was interrupted by an enthusiastic "Sure!" from Harry. He raised a hand and concentrated, before waving it and conjuring a patronus. Prongs materialized out of nowhere and began prancing around the room they were in.
"Keelah!" Raan said, staring in wonder
"Go ahead and touch him." Harry said. Tentatively she reached out a hand and rested it on Prongs' head, between his antlers.
"Amazing... Xen come over here and try this." Raan said. Xen enthusiastically made her way over and touched the stag,
"Remarkable..." Xen observed.
"This spell is designed to chase off creatures that feed off of misery and pain. Specifically lethifolds and dementors. Both are extinct now, so we use it mostly for relaying messages." Harry said, before walking over to Prongs, leaning forward and whispering into his ear. Prongs reared up on his hind legs and pranced around the room before slowly making his way to Xen.
"You're more than welcome to scan me, Admiral, you don't need to hide it." Prongs said in Harry's voice, before dissipating.
"Xen!" Rael shouted. Harry raised his hand to forestall the argument.
"I don't blame her. She has no idea whether I'm a threat to the fleet or not, and she's never encountered a creature like us. After our mission is complete I'd be happy to return and submit to any non-invasive scans she'd like to subject me to." Harry said evenly.
"Why would you be so forthcoming?" Korris asked.
"Because fear's greatest weaknesses are knowledge and understanding. If we take the time to get to know those whom we see as potential enemies, we may discover that we are in fact friends." Harry said with a meaningful look at Gerrel. Gerrel cocked his head to the side but said nothing. They spoke some more, and the Admirals were shocked when Shepard relayed the Prime Minister's request for the admiralty to visit Earth to discuss an exchange of embassies. Earth was rapidly turning into a galactic hub of diplomacy, every sentient space-faring race except the Quarians currently had diplomatic representation on Earth.