Disclaimer: I do not own the Mass Effect games. This story is written with no profit in mind. I make no money from it. It isn't for sale or rent.

Chapter 1: Of cops and spectres

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Part 1

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22.04.2183 GS

Council Audience Chamber

Citadel Tower

The Citadel

The audience chamber was cavernous – as tall if not taller than the hangars of the largest carrier Shepard had been onboard. It was situated at the top of the Citadel Tower and in fact it took most of its upper floors. The chamber itself vaguely resembled a steep canyon surrounded by open terraces and walkways that were ideal for a lot of spectators to cram in relatively easily controlled spaces and little to no cover on the upper levels making it practically impossible to sneak a sniper there. That is not to say that there was a lack of snipers – at least some of those were visible along their spotters and they all wore armour painted in C-SEC's colours. Marginally less conspicuous lightly armoured or even merely uniformed agents walked all over the place. Shepard was sure that there were multiple heavy armed and armoured fast response units just out of sight ready to pounce in case of an emergency.

Even down there, where mere mortals who went to petition the Council instead of diplomats and functionaries merely there to watch the show from various upper floors, it was evident that the whole place had been designed with security in mind. Oh, there were small copses with all kinds of trees – some endangered species even, more that a few fountains, yet behind this outward display of grandeur hid a simple truth. Those trees and strategically placed shrubs would offer concealment for defending forces and nicely cut the line of sight leading towards the podium where the Council usually appeared. The multiple stairways, placed in such a way that you had to walk around tall enclosures with flora meant that defenders not only had clear if relatively short lanes of fire but solid cover if they needed to retreat to the next level.

"Those are some nice shooting galleries down here, sir." Williams commented as they turned the corner around the third stairway with only four more to go.

"I made four obvious sniper teams without even trying." Alenko added. "And I won't be surprised if there are pop-up turrets and armoured walls to further constrict access and bleed attackers dry."

"Some of those decorative panels are just the right shape and have curious spacing, don't they?" Shepard nodded at one such as he passed it.

"It may be just in case they need to keep the politicians in to get stuff done." Williams joked.

"If they're anything like our Parliament, I won't be surprised." Alenko agreed.

Shepard began to wonder if he should begin to pay attention to domestic politics again – ever since he became N7 couple of years ago, he had better things to spent his brief free time on. However, if his Spectre candidacy actually came through, he would need to pick up the slack in that regard, not only about back home but galaxy wide too. That certainly wasn't something he looked up to, though right then and there such a possibility appeared rather remote.

As they approached the heart of the audience chamber, Shepard blanketed his face off any emotion. From down here it certainly looked much more impressive and different from what little he had seen on the news. Usually they displayed images captured from much higher with better angles. From the bottom it felt like the Council was making a statement about who was in charge. It certainly wouldn't help anyone's composure to have to look couple of stores up when speaking with the Councillors "face to face". On the other hand, the Council didn't even try to sell an illusion of the big three being anything approaching equal to the Associate Members… something that caused a lot of grumbling as he understood it.

They found Captain Anderson at the foot of the last stairway leading to the petitioners platform with Udina already up there and reading something from his omni-tool.

"Shepard, just in time. It's about to begin." Anderson nodded in approval. "No issues I hope?"

"We're all good, sir."

"Good."

The ever present noise of hundreds of speaking being picked up for a bit before a chime sounded hushing any and all conversation. The general lighting dimmed a bit while the Councillors arrived on their raised podium.

"Good afternoon." The Asari Councillor smiled pleasantly and spoke in a soft, soothing voice that nevertheless carried. "This meeting was requested by Humanity's Ambassador in order to discuss the unprovoked Geth attack upon the Human Colony of Eden Prime. We've seen your evidence, Ambassador Udina. The Geth's reappearance and hostile actions are of great concern and will be addressed with all due diligence. However, I'm afraid that the came cannot be said about your allegations towards Spectre Saren Arterius. There is nothing to indicate his involvement with either the death of Spectre Kryik nor the attack itself." She subtly turned her head to the Turian on her right, a gesture that made light dance upon her skin and make it look as if her facial tattoos flowed from pink to white and back again.

"An investigation by Citadel Security has turned no evidence, much less something that could support your charge of treason. While the time they had was certainly limited, in light of the evidence you presented, or should I say, lack of, I see no reason let this witch hunt continue."

From where Shepard stood, he couldn't see Udina's expression, though he was sure the man was scowling at the Council. Up on the platform the Ambassador stood alone and perhaps it was an intentional trick of the light, however he looked small and tired.

"An eyewitness saw him shoot Nihlus in cold blood!" Udina raised his voice, putting an accent on the dead Spectre's name.

While Shepard was no expert in politics, much less of this level, he could understand putting a face and name to one of the victims. The average citadel citizen might not have heard of Eden Prime before, much less knew where it was. Hell, even with all he was required to know on the top of his head, Shepard himself couldn't put a name and location even to a fraction of alien colonies, not even most of the Human ones if they weren't of particular interest to him personally.

A very brief commotion followed as some of the spectators got blind-sided by Udina's words. However, the Salarian's clear if rapid speech cut through the already dying chatter like a knife.

"We've reviewed your reports, Ambassador. The testimony of a single, traumatized dockworker is hardly compelling proof. A dockworker that your relief force couldn't locate upon arrival at Eden Prime. All we have is camera recording from Commander Shepard's ground team." The Salarian's eyes flickered down to John before refocusing on Udina. "The same recording that casts doubt upon that man's character. Slept through the attack? Stole from equipment shipments to your garrison and then sold military grade weaponry and explosives? That is all the proof you have?" The Salarian shook his head.

Shepard had to agree and he wasn't alone. From what he gathered earlier, Udina himself wasn't a fan of going forward with this course of action. He really needed to have a word with the Ambassador. Doubly so if a miracle happened and he somehow became a Spectre.

A towering hologram flashed to life to Shepard's left. It was of a Turian with no face paint and a very obvious artificial arm.

"Thank you, Councillor Valern." The intangible image gave the newly named Valern a respectful nod.

Then he turned towards Udina and the sheer disparity of sized made it appear as an angry god just stepped from up on high to chastise a sinner. Shepard had to give the Council this much – they knew how to put up a show.

"I resent these unfounded accusations!" Saren's voice thundered all over the audience chamber. "Nihlus was a fellow Spectre, more importantly…" The Spectre's voice suddenly dropped and got a mournful tang to it. "… a friend."

Disregarding any and all protocol, Anderson took the few steps separating him from the petitioner's platform in moments and glared at Saren.

"That merely let you catch him off guard!" He accused.

"Ah, Captain Anderson." Saren scoffed. "I should have known. You seem to always be involved when Humanity makes false charges against me." The Spectre put up an impressive sneer and pure condescension dripped from every word. The look he gave Anderson was one better suited for something nasty one might scape from the soles of their boots. Saren paused to survey his audience and now it was his turn to look at Shepard. "And this must be your protegee." Saren's sneer picked up a notch and he crossed his arms. "The same one who let the beacon be destroyed and my friend get murdered. I'm not impressed. If this is the best Humanity has to offer, it should be obvious to all that your people aren't ready!" The Spectre scoffed.

Sounds of both approval and disapproval came from the spectators up on high.

Shepard wisely kept his thoughts to himself. Frankly, he himself wasn't convinced that Saren was behind Eden Prime and the only thing he had personally against Saren as of now was the way Anderson disliked him and his current offensive behaviour. The Turian might just be attempting to deflect the blame, or perhaps he was genuinely pissed off at the accusations.

When Saren saw John wasn't about to take the bait and make a fool of himself, he continued to needle him. "Your species needs to learn its place, Anderson, Shepard. You aren't ready to join the Council! You aren't even ready to join the Spectres!"

"He has no right to say that! It's not his decision to make!" To Shepard's surprise, Udina didn't miss a beat and immediately jumped in his defence. He put out a rather impressive snarl too.

"Ambassador Udina is correct." Tevos spoke in a calming tone. "Shepard's admission to the Spectres isn't the purpose of this meeting."

"This meeting has no purpose!" Saren barked. "The Humans are merely wasting your time, Councillors!"

"That is not your decision to make, either, Saren." Was that a hint of gentle rebuke in the Asari's voice?

"My apologies, Councillor Tevos. The murder of my friend and these baseless accusations have my temper frayed today." Saren apologized. He sounded humble too.

"It is understandable, Saren." Tevos nodded and turned her attention back to Udina. "Have your people on the ground found any new evidence that wasn't in the reports you sent us before this meeting?" She asked.

"Unfortunately no, Councillor. The investigation on Eden Prime is still in progress. As of half hour ago, there had been no surviving cameras and data drives that caught more than a glimpse of the Geth. We will forward any and all data recovered from the destroyed enemy platforms as well as samples of their technology as soon as practical." Udina admitted.

"If this is all then..." This time it was Anderson who interrupted the Council.

"My apologies for speaking out of turn, Councillor, however there is still one outstanding issue." Anderson glanced at Shepard and sent him an apologetic look. "Commander Shepard's vision."

Now the whole chamber became deadly silent and everyone focused their eyes upon John. To say that he felt uncomfortable it would be a charming understatement.

"A vision?" Saren chortled. "Are we taking this seriously now? How can anyone profess their innocence against this kind of testimony?"

"I must agree. We can only act on facts and evidence." The Turian Councillor announced. "Not speculation. I've read your after action report, Commander. You yourself wrote that the partial vision you received made no sense. While it does you credit that you survived it, no one I've seen even suggests Saren was on Eden Prime, much less leading the Geth. For all anyone knows, what you remember of it might be just stress induced dream. After all, you just had fought on a battlefield where machines were busy slaughtered organics." The Councillor sent Anderson a pointed look.

"Unless you have anything else to add, Commander Shepard?" This came from the Salarian, Valern.

"The vision doesn't make any more sense now than it did a few hours ago after I awoke and wrote my AAR, Councillor. If it wasn't for the beacon, I would have chalked it up as a dream caused by the fighting on Eden Prime. As it is, I deemed it notable enough to add it to said report. It is not for me to decide how credible it is. That was my first encounter with a beacon and I hadn't studied Protean tech."

"Your diligence and adherence to duty is admirable, especially when doing the right thing might cause questions as to your current mental state." The Turian Councillor gave Shepard a nod of respect, something that caught him off guard.

"Thank you, sir." John responded on autopilot.

The Councillors looked at each other and for some reason Shepard was convinced they could hold a whole conversation with merely a look or a few subtle gestures.

Tevos turned to look at Udina then the gathered spectators. "This Council finds no evidence of Spectre Saren Arterius involvement in the events on Eden Prime. Ambassador Udina, your petition to remove his Spectre status is denied. The C-SEC investigation in his affair is at its end."

"I am glad to see justice was served. You have my thanks, Councillors. I am as always at your disposal." Saren bowed and cut off the connection from his end.

"We will meet later to discuss the resurgent Geth threat. Commander Shepard, as the ranking surviving military officer who had an encounter with the Geth on Eden Prime, please make yourself available for a debriefing about their tactics and capabilities. This meeting is now adjourned."

The Council took their leave followed by the spectators who were busy animately discussing the show. Only Udina remained behind, staring forlornly at the ground before he too left with his head bowed and dark thoughts running through his mind.

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Part 2

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22.04.2183 GS

Council Audience Chamber

Citadel Tower

The Citadel

Shepard, along with Anderson and his team waited at the foot of the stairs for the Ambassador. A sharp look was enough to silence his subordinates' grumbling, especially Williams'. Alenko, bless his soul, knew better than to vocally disagree aloud with the Citadel Council at this place, where everyone, especially journalists, could hear. It didn't help that Shepard himself couldn't really disagree with said Council's train of thought. The evidence was very thin and while no politician, he didn't know if they could have given it any public support the way it was presented. He wasn't happy at his CO either – Anderson practically threw him to the wolves by speaking aloud about his vision or was that merely a PTSD borne nightmare? The last thing he needed was another round of psych evaluations or worse, being stuck as Category Six.

"Well, this was hopefully both the lowest point of my career and the worst blunder the Alliance government ever made on the galactic stage." Udina scowled at Anderson. "For all our sakes!" He hissed venomously.

"Saren's a menace! We need to stop him!"

"You've done enough, Captain. It's clear you can't maintain the necessary emotional distance as far as that Turian is concerned. It's a miracle the Council didn't throw away Shepard's candidacy and that's something we should be thankful." He jabbed a finger at the Captain. "You're with me back to my office. We're about to report to our political lords and masters back at Arcturus to be chewed out for our 'failure' to do the impossible. As for you..." Udina turned to face Shepard and his team. He took a deep breath and visibly reined in his temper. "Go find Harkin and hope he has something we can use. And for God's sake, don't go slinging wild accusations unless you actually find some credible evidence. We're in a bad position already!"

"That's a most fascinating conversation you've got here." An alluring and quite amused voice interrupted them.

An Asari walked out of a shadowed corner nearby, where Shepard could have sworn no one could hide, much less sneak up to them on a such an open venue. "The Ambassador is right, this isn't the time or place. I can assure you, the walls here do have ears..." She tilted her head and smirked. "Sensors too."

Atypically for Asari, even those in their military, she wore quite the heavy armour that nonetheless was moulded around her to show her curves. It did look very functional nevertheless, which meant it was even more expensive than a comparable utilitarian design.

"And who are you, ma'am?" Udina asked pleasantly. There was not a trace of his temper so he was back under complete control.

"Tela Vasir, Special Tactics and Reconnaissance. That debriefing Councillor Tevos spoke about? It's about to begin. Commander Shepard and minions," She glanced at Alenko and Williams, you three are with me. I'm stealing you for the next few hours at least."

"No accusations that we got your friend killed?" Shepard sampled the waters.

"That's something the debriefing will cover as well. I knew Nihlus rather well. He was known for being quite the lone wolf." Vasir shrugged. "We aren't here to speak about him but the Geth. Do follow me, we don't have the whole day."

Shepard glanced at Anderson and Udina for guidance. The Ambassador gave him a thoughtful look and nodded in the direction of the Spectre.

"I hope you'll return our people intact, ma'am?" Udina asked.

"Bow-tied too if you want." Vasir's lips twitched.

"You're free to go, Commander. The Captain and I need to have a private conversation."

"Good, follow me." Vasir gracefully turned around and marched down the stairs.

Heavy armour or no, she put enough swing in her hips to fix everyone's eyes on her backside. It was a very nice ass too, very distracting as the Asari intended. Shepard shook his head and snapped his sight up then began looking around for anyone else he had missed. The fact that the Spectre came practically close enough to engage him in close combat without him being none the wiser offended his professional sensibilities. He had to remind himself that she potentially had centuries of experience on him, however that didn't really make him feel any better.

Vasir silently led them through a small bridge over a pond until they reached an unremarkable door – just like the rest lining the walkways around the chamber. She swiped her arm in front of her with her omni-tool activated for a brief moment. The door blinked green and slid open. Vasir strode in and waved them to follow.

They found themselves within a long corridor and a few moments after the door behind them closed, two others opened – very well concealed in the walls too. A group of four Turians appeared in front of them, their leader nodded at Vasir and took point. Shepard didn't need to glance behind to figure out that another fire-team was behind them.

"Is there a problem, Spectre?" John suddenly felt very naked and vulnerable in only his fatigues. All he had for protection was a weak shield emitter and a service pistol – nothing to write home about. The same was true for his people, with Alenko's biotics being their only possible edge, however he didn't like the LT's chance against an Asari Spectre. If those two went off against each other in such a confined space, Shepard and Williams would become smears on the walls and ceiling.

"In a manner of speaking. I do have a good and bad news for you, Commander. However, it will need to wait until we're into a secure room."

Shepard could feel Alenko's and William's eyes staring into his back and he made a small gesture telling them to stand down for now all the while he looked around for any and all possible advantages. The eight Turians – not C-SEC, those were fleet marines, were surprising and given the disparity in equipment as dangerous if not more than the Spectre. If it came to a fight then and there, Shepard knew that it wasn't a question if he and his people would go down, merely how many of the bastards they could take with them. On the other hand, both the Ambassador and Captain knew they came with Vasir, so it didn't make sense that this was a hostile action… unless she was working with Saren and he was indeed behind Eden Prime. Doubt and adrenaline raced through Shepard's veins and he was ready to explode at a moment's notice.

"Calm down, soldier. If I wanted you dead, I would have found a less conspicuous way to pull it off." Something in Vasir's voice had a calming effect on Shepard, which by itself given the situation was concerning. "We're here."

The corridor ended with a door, which the leading Turian opened then went inside along with two of his people and swept it for hostiles, then made an omni-tool scan. "It's clear ma'am. We'll make sure you aren't disrupted." The soldier saluted and took position flanking the door.

"Come on it." Vasir walked in.

Shepard shrugged and followed. This better be good.

The room was a comfortably furnished conference one – a long wooden table in the centre surrounded by leather chairs off a different kinds that could accommodate all known Council species.

"Take a seat, Shepard. Which one do you want, the good or bad news?" Vasir sat at the head of the table and nodded at the free chairs.

"I can use some good news right now." Shepard bit the bullet and went to sit to Vasir's right.

"This whole Council meeting? It was mostly for a show, though I don't know what your government was thinking accusing a Spectre with so little evidence." She shook her head in wonder. "I've been in charge of investigating Saren ever since we learned of his possible involvement with Eden Prime. While at this time we lack credible evidence about his presence there nor involvement, we did get enough to raise some questions to his mental stability at the very least. It was initially circumstantial – he wants a Quarian who arrived on the Citadel a day after the attack dead."

"That's thin indeed. Quarian doesn't necessary meant she has had a run in with Geth." Shepard nodded.

"Then, couple of hours ago, he ordered the assassination of all surviving crew of the Normandy who were deployed ground side on Eden Prime. You're the primary target, Commander."

"That's the good news?" Williams exclaimed.

"Yep." Vasir smiled at them.

"Do I dare ask what's the bad one?"

"You're still being evaluated for the Spectres. For my many sins, you're my problem now, Shepard. We're going to see if you're a proper Spectre material and if that's the case, you're going to make one of the best Spectres the galaxy has seen or die trying. First, we're going to find that Quarian girl and figure out why Saren wants her dead. Meanwhile, you're going to play bait so we can knock off a few hit-men and I can see if you're any good in a firefight for myself." Vasir gave him a critical look. "You'll need to gear up."

"What about my people?"

"That's why those nice marines are out there," Vasir nodded at the door. "The Council would appreciate if you don't get assassinated by Saren's people just after they officially cleared him of any wrongdoings."

"Hey, we're trained soldiers! We can help!" Williams exclaimed.

"You're giving him enough rope to hang himself." Shepard concluded after sending an admonishing look at the Sergeant. "She's right, you know. Besides, them I trust at my back. The jury is still out about you, Spectre."

"Good, you aren't quite as dumb as you look." Vasir nodded happily.