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 5
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Part 5
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26.04.2183GS
CDF Docks
The Citadel
The trip back to the Citadel was thankfully uneventful. The short reprieve ended the moment they approached the gargantuan station and contacted Citadel Control.
"Normandy, Citadel Control, we've been expecting you. Patching you through to a CDF Controller. Have a nice day." A husky woman's voice sounded through-out the Frigate's cockpit, making Joker whistle.
"She's a new one." The pilot added.
"Normandy, Lieutenant Titus, CDF. Please proceed to CDF Dock 7B, a ground party is waiting for you there. Spectres Shepard and Vasir are to report to the Council for debriefing." The distinct flanging voice immediately identified the new controller as a Turian.
"Affirmative, CDF Control. Dock 7B. Normandy, out." Joker responded. "Well, it seems you're up to meet the brass, Commander."
"I'm thrilled, Joker. Carry on and try not to irritate our CDF colleagues too much." Shepard said and left the cockpit.
"Who won't like my sterling personality?!" Moreau exclaimed.
"It's an acquired taste, Lieutenant." Shepard shouted over his shoulder. He activated his omni-tool and called his Asari counterpart. "Vasir, Shepard. The council wants to meet us for debriefing after we disembark."
"I wonder what has their panties in a twist this time." Came the gruff reply. "I'm near the Med Bay, keeping an eye on our VIP, meet me there. I'll arrange a transport to the Tower if neither CDF, nor C-SEC have something waiting for us. However, we should make sure that the sleeping princess over here gets to a secure facility intact first."
"That might be for the best." Certainly, Shepard wasn't looking forward to explaining to a furious Matriarch what had happened to her daughter if something went wrong with Dr T'soni on their watch. From what he knew of Asari in general, and this particular Matriarch in general, she was perfectly capable of tearing his shiny new ship apart with her mind alone. Vasir too, not to mention their resident Krogan Battlemaster. That wasn't a reassuring thought.
Five minutes later, they had Dr T'soni loaded on a hovering medical bed, complete with a squad of fully kitted out marines, who took point and passed through the decontamination chamber first in order to check the credentials of the waiting CDF party. That left Shepard, Vasir and Dr Chakwas along with the sleeping Asari to enter next, making for a rather tight fit.
There was a whole platoon of CDF troopers, including a squad of Asari Huntresses in form fitting light armour, along with multiple assault shuttles waiting nearby.
"I'm Lieutenant Karsis, is this the package?" A Turian officer walked to meet them and saluted when she approached.
"That she is." Shepard nodded and reflexively returned the salute. "Are you expecting trouble?"
"Command doesn't want to take any chances." Lieutenant Karsis answered. "We've been instructed to provide you with transport to the Citadel Tower as well." She pointed to one of the waiting shuttles. "Another platoon should be here momentarily to secure and process the captured Geth equipment you've been able to recover."
As they talked, the LT send Shepard the necessary identification codes confirming that she was genuine. Still, double and triple checking never hurt anybody, especially when the powers that be were still very much busy searching for traitors and compromised personnel.
"I've been made aware of those arrangements. We have the salvage secured and ready for transport." Shepard said. "Shall we go?"
"Please, follow me, sir." The Turian offered a bird-like sharp nod and headed for the shuttles with her soldiers falling in around them in a lose protective formation.
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Citadel Tower
The Citadel
A Turian aide led the Spectres into a small, comfortable conference room, where they found Councilor Sparatus waiting for them. The Turian Councilor sat at the far end of a long table surrounded by two stacks of data-pads.
"Vasir, Shepard." Sparatus gave them a shallow nod. "There have been some developments since you headed back. I'll go over those pertaining your primary mission first. Our agents had linked both Saren and Benezia to various corporations they've been using to fund their activities. Of especial interest is an operation on Noveria conducted by Binary Helix – those two together have controlling interest in said corporation. We've been unable to conclusively figure out what they're dealing with there. All we know for certain is that it's biological in nature, it might even be the process used to compromise Saren and Benezia. That will be your next assignment – go there, poke around, figure out what is happening at the Binary Helix compound, retrieve any relevant data and shut down the operation." Sparatus rattled out.
"You didn't call us here just to brief us, Councilor." Vasir pointed out the obvious.
"Of course not." Sparatus scoffed. "Considering the opposition you faced at Therum, we won't be sending you alone. A frigate pack will be ready to escort you in and we're gathering a Cruiser task force to follow you in. However, until our fleets are fully mobilized and deployed, available mobile assets are currently scarce. The Alliance is busy conducting reconnaissance in the sectors mentioned in the data you recovered and their scouts have detected traces of Geth activity, which needs to be shut down. That brings us to your second potential lead – six hours ago the Alliance lost contact with their colony on Feros, which is build in an abandoned Prothean city. A frigate is en route to investigate and in case they find any trace of Geth, or even, better, Saren, you'll be heading there spearheading a joint Council-Alliance task force. Politics being what they are, it won't be prudent to send you there leading only elements of the CDF, or worse, the Turian navy." Sparatus scowled at that. "Captain Anderson will be briefing you on the details once we're done. The official reason you're here is for a debriefing. There will be a meeting between flag officers from the Council Navies and the Systems' Alliance and they will have questions about your experience against the Geth."
"Everything we know is in our reports, sir." Shepard stated. This sounded like a dog and pony show, a colossal waste of time in other words.
"It can't be helped. At any rate, you won't be leaving until we have a liaison ready to accompany you to Noveria. There are potential political and economic considerations to take into account. Ideally, you'll get in and do your job without ruffing too many feathers, thus the liaison.
"And if the Corporate Authority doesn't want to play ball?" Vasir inquired.
"You'll have a frigate pack and their marines to back you up with the cruiser task force I already mentioned on call. While not ideal, if it comes to it, you'll do what you have to, Spectre."
"I'm obviously missing something." Shepard said.
"I'll fill you in later on the glorious mess that is Noveria and the Corporate Court they're part of." Vasir sounded less than pleased.
"They're useful, most of the time." Sparatus grudgingly admitted. "That said, sometimes they get delusions of grandeur and need to be slapped down."
"Noveria and other Corporate Court administered places are generally the hellholes where everyone conducts deniable experiments in basically everything too useful to disregard, yet not quite legal in Council Space, your people included." Vasir explained.
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Part 6
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26.04.2183GS
Citadel Tower
The Citadel
Shepard wasn't pleased that his prediction panned out – the meeting with the brass turned out to be a mutual waste of time. All he had to do was answer innate questions, which were already covered in the AARs the Normandy's crew sent while en route to the Citadel. It didn't help that many of said inquires pertained the naval side of the engagement, which really wasn't his domain. Either Presley or the Turian CO of the CDF task force at Knossos would have been much better suited for this.
The only silver lining was Captain Anderson's appearance at the tail end of the meeting and his former CO wasted no time in getting him away for a briefing at the first opportunity.
"Thanks you skipper," Shepard exclaimed in relief the moment they got away from prying ears. "If this is the kind of meetings you have to suffer now, I don't envy you."
"You don't know the half of it, Shepard." Anderson said tiredly and ushered him into a small briefing room. The place was barely large enough for half a dozen people to sit around a round table, which took up most of the space in the compartment. "We've got issues, Shepard." Anderson nodded at one of the chairs and sat heavily in another.
"That much I gathered. More political complications?"
"Damn straight. I understand you'll have your share of them at Noveria. We've got our own. Parties, currently unknown, leaked classified information about your deployment at Therum, complete with a spin making our navy as incompetent as possible. While your cooperation with the CDF did reassure a large percentage of the population, it also infuriated a minority, which is too big for anyone's control. It doesn't help that various fringe parties are doing their best to pour fuel on the fire and then, there's Terra Firma, whose newest stunts are making even our oldest colonies uncomfortable. They're basically lobbying that we seal Sol in order to safeguard Earth and damn the consequences." The Captain explained in exasperated voice. "As if that's not enough, the demands for our navy had skyrocketed, again and it was already stretched thin to begin with."
"How does this affect my mission?"
"As far as your trip to Noveria is concerned? That's no issue. If there's actually fire to be put down on Feros In the current political climate we can't let you go without the navy meeting one for one any commitment the CDF makes, which is going to be tough. In fact, the same goes for any deployment of allied ships in our territory. I haven't seen the full picture yet, however I know for a fact that the Alliance Intelligence Service is freaking out and requesting a free reign to go after certain subversive elements in the colonies."
"That's insane!" Shepard blurted out. He was aware that N7 operatives and Alliance Intelligence did go after certain troublemakers if they went out of hand, however declaring an open season to anyone who didn't toe the party line? Because that was how it sounded reading between the lines of what Anderson just told him.
"It hasn't really hit mainstream media, however many Extranet sites monitored by AIS show disturbing trends. I've been hearing rumours about a potential insurrection forming under the guise of local militias arming and training themselves in order to better withstand pirate, slaver and Geth incursions. There are calls to form new militias on our oldest colonies as well."
"This is happening too fast. The Geth hit Eden Prime just a few days ago." Shepard stated. "It takes longer for something like you describe to form."
"That's just it, Shepard. As far as AIS is concerned, the trend isn't new, it has been simmering under the surface since the Blitz. Now it's simply coming to a head. What's worse, those people are suspected to be receiving unofficial support by elements both within the government and military. In that regard, time and your primary mission permitting, we'll want you to investigate certain locations. Your contact about said mission will be Admiral Kahoku, he's currently on the Citadel, right here in the Tower in fact. You should talk with him before leaving for Noveria."
"No pressure then." Shepard grimaced. Frankly, he had hard time believing what the Captain was telling him. On the other hand, he was a spacer brat who spent most of his life before enlisting on various ships and stations, while his parents were shifted from one assignment to another, so what did he know about how the colonists really felt? While thinking about his parents, he hoped his mother would be all right – she was the XO of the Orizaba and was likely to be seeing action sooner rather than later.
"Just another day as an N7 and a Spectre. You're supposed to do the impossible before breakfast now and go deal with the really hard jobs before lunch."
"You know, Vasir swore to shoot the next person who mentioned anything about Blasto…" Shepard smirked. "I didn't take you for a fan."
"I'm not, but a few friends are and dragged me to watch that mess." Anderson shook his head at that thought. "But we digress. I didn't call you here just to tell you how important it is not to fuck up. You've got some paperwork to go over – that was what I've been dealing with over the past day. There was a bureaucratic snag concerning the status of the Normandy and her crew. It's more or less straightened out or it would be once you're done filling up some forms." The Captain explained and switched on his omni-tool.
"What snag?"
"The kind that listed you all as no longer being part of the Navy, so you and your people wouldn't have been able to procure supplies nor receive pay."
"What!?"
"That was my reaction as well." Anderson said dryly. "It's more or less fixed now."
"Joy. I hope whoever is responsible was sent somewhere cold and lonely." Shepard bit off a curse. That was simply embarrassing Humanity has been pushing to get a Spectre for years now and for such a fuck up to happen the moment it got one…