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Shall We Play A Game, a story that is technically a Yu-Gi-Oh and Red River/Anatolia Story crossover, but is mostly as historical romance/drama set in Ancient Egypt. I'm sure duels will happen at some point... Currently on Chapter Nine. This currently may be undergoing a major shift and rewrite.
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Wrex, Battlemaster of Clan Urdnot, was not a particularly common sight on the Citadel, and with damn good reason. He wasn't a big fan of all the noise, the bright lights, the perfect cleanliness, the facade of enlightenment and civilization. It was disgusting, a putrid, filthy, wretched lie wrapped in a beautiful illusion to keep the masses ignorant and happy, unaware of -and uninterested in becoming aware of- what lay beneath the skin. It was a trap, the Citadel, drawing people in with all of it's grandeur and beauty before leaving them with nothing, or worse, before they realized what was happening.
He gave a soft (for him, it still sent several people in earshot scrambling away anxiously, which was hilarious) grunt of laughter at his thoughts. Urdnot Wrex, poet and philosopher, eh? Who would have thought it even a half-century ago! Not him, certainly, caring for nothing besides the next fight, the next contract. Too mired in his own resignation -he would never use the word depression, even now!- over the apathy that was driving his people slowly and steadily towards oblivion these last few centuries. But now, here he was, planning and plotting and thinking, and it was all thanks to the damn humans.
Well, a couple of very specific humans, actually, and a few other very specific asari.
He scratched his chin and chuckled again, wondering what his new favorite species was going to do as a result of the attack on Eden Prime, the very same attack that had brought him here. Aethyta had told him that his favorite little human had been involved and was on track to becoming a SPECTRE, and floated the idea that she might be interested in having her old GrUncle (he vocally rued the day she had developed that little epithet, for all that he silently cherished the affection it bore) Wrex helping her crack some skulls. And he didn't doubt she would be cracking some skulls, because either the Council would be smart enough to involve her in the investigation from the outset -he wanted to doubt that they were that smart, but they were political animals, and probably weren't oblivious of the risks and gains involved- or the littler Shepard would decide to involve herself, and drag her mentor into it.
She was almost krogan-like in that way, always pushing forward, in battle or out of it alike. Benezia had always blamed him and Aethyta for that, eheh heh heh.
He had rarely felt pride, lacking children of his own and surrounded by a people that induced every possible emotion except pride, but he certainly felt pride for Cassandra Shepard, their connection, and the involvement he had had in her development into the woman that she was today. When he had heard that his girl had single-handedly killed a thresher maw on foot, before going on to do the lion's share of killing a second and saving the survivors of her unit, he had been torn between roaring with laughter and beaming with paternalistic approval. Of course, in the end, he had opted for both and sent her a congratulatory message alongside a very nice pair of submachine guns with some very less-than-totally-legal mods. Not as good as a nice shotgun, naturally, but still, fine weapons. Of course, that had earned him an earful of a lecture from Benezia about sending weapons to someone being treated for PTSD, but he'd had the last laugh, hadn't he? She'd put them to good use on the Blood Pack, right before she had sent that little worm Garm running for his life. That 'superior regeneration' hadn't done him any good against Wrex's girl, now had it?
Eheh heh heh.
His omni-tool chimed, and he lifted it to his eyes, reading the brief message that was there. If he had eyebrows, they would have raised halfway through, but as it was his eyes widened slightly before their crimson depths took on a distinct gleam. A gleam that would have caused shivers to run down the spines of anyone that was still close enough to see them, if they hadn't already vacated the area out of anxiety. So, their girl was already hunting down information on the Eden Prime attack, was she? On the Citadel itself? With trouble following on the heels of the informant? And at Chora's Den?
Eheh heh heh.
As he trundled towards the nearest priority transit terminal, Wrex didn't even try to restrain the satisfied grin on his face. Taking apart stupid whelps with more greed than sense and more balls than brains would never stop being old, and the fact that he would be getting to do it on the Citadel itself just made it so much better. Maybe this visit to the Citadel would be more exciting than he had feared.
Not for the first time, he thanks whatever higher beings there may or may not be for ensuring that he and Cassandra Shepard had met. His life was a damn sight better, and he'd never had this much fun!
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"...and just what the hell did you think you were doing?!" Ambassador Udina's voice reached a pitch that made the glass in his office vibrate dangerously, his face a fascinating shade of puce and his eyes distinctly wild. "Thirty dead mercenaries! Thirty! Do you have any idea what kind of diplomatic nightmare this creates? An alliance soldier on leave, teaming up with a well-known bounty hunter to slaughter thirty sentients in the middle of a bar on the damned Citadel!"
Cassandra stood at parade rest, her face a careful mask of polite and professional interest that anyone intimately familiar with her would have recognized. She'd perfected that expression during her teens, usually right before Aethyta would call her out for whatever mischief she was pretending not to have caused. Not that Aethyta ever made an issue out of it, but Aethyta catching her out inevitably meant that Benezia and Hannah either knew or were about to, and that particular pair wasn't inclined to let shenanigans pass unremarked. Granted, even at her worst, she didn't have quite so much blood on her back then as she did right now, but a bloody-nose or two wasn't the fairest thing to compare to a close-quarters gun-and-sword brawl in the middle of a bar.
For his part, an utterly unconcerned -nigh on bored- Wrex was leaning against the wall by the door , an anxious Tali'zorah looking torn between trying to hide behind him from the screaming human male and trying to get as far away from his imposing, armor-clad bulk as possible. "They were all criminals. I checked. Even got a few bounties out of it."
"That is NOT the point, damnit!" Udina slammed his fist on the desk, and if he wasn't screaming at her Cassandra would have winced, because she was pretty sure he had just given himself a hairline fracture or two with that, even if he didn't feel it yet. "The damage estimates are in the millions! The C-Sec cleanup crews had to use industrial-grade disinfectant to remove the bloodstains! Or at least they would have, if they hadn't given up because the entire damned building was declared a write-off that they're going to slate for demolition!"
"Well, that's not really our fault," Cassandra replied with exquisite courtesy, still maintaining her perfect parade rest. "If C-Sec had better response times, we wouldn't have had to handle the situation ourselves. And if you're concerned about property damage, perhaps you should take that up with the mercenaries who thought that firing rocket launchers in an enclosed space was a good tactical decision."
Udina made a remarkably 'kettle-boiling-over' sound, his eyes bulging in a way that had to be unhealthy. "You—you—" He sputtered, seemingly unable to form coherent words through his rage.
Captain Anderson, who had been silently observing from the corner of the room with a mingled look of pride and exasperation, finally stepped forward and cleared his throat. "Ambassador, while I agree the situation could have been handled more... discreetly, Lieutenant Commander Shepard was following a lead on the geth attack on Eden Prime. Time was of the essence. Might I remind you that the source was being tracked by those mercenaries. They probably would have killed her and absconded with her data before a more conventional action could be taken on our part."
Udina's jaw worked silently for a moment before he managed to collect himself enough to speak without shouting. "And I suppose you're going to tell me that bringing a krogan bounty hunter and—" he gestured somewhat wildly at Tali, who flinched slightly. "—a quarian into this mess was also completely necessary?"
"The quarian," Cassandra emphasized the word with just enough edge to make Udina flinch, "has a name. Tali'Zorah nar Rayya. And she happens to be the source. I wasn't able to get all the details, under the circumstances, but from what she told me it's a clear-cut and unambiguous voice recording between multiple organics discussing the attack's success and how it helps their plans."
"Organics? Working with the Geth?" Nihlus asked, frowning as he made his own presence known for the first time, verbally speaking at least, from where he had been waiting off to the side with Alenko and Williams. Bhatia, of course, was still…somewhere private with her husband, getting reacquainted.
"Not just working with, directing. From what they said, it was pretty clear that they were the ones running things." Tali correcting, shaking her head in disbelief. "Which makes no sense at all, geth hate organics, they kill them on sight. They always have, since they almost wiped out my people three-hundred years ago. Them taking orders from organics is absurd, unfathomable!"
"Was there nothing in the data that explains why?" Nihlus pressed, stepping forward even as he started tapping away at his omni-tool. At Udina's look, his mandibles fluttered in the equivalent of a tight smile. "I'm requesting an immediate private meeting with the Council so we can present this intelligence to them. While you, Ambassador, could request and receive a public hearing, that would be a grave error in this case. Control of intelligence is vital right now, not least to prevent the people behind this from knowing that we are on to them."
"If they don't know already. Whoever is behind this chased my ship and crew across half of Citadel space, killed most of the crew, killed my captain, and tried several times to kill me. Including in Chora's Den." Tali pointed out, getting the equivalent of a grimace in response.
"Believe me, I'm aware, but I have to assume -and hope, Spirits hear my prayers!- that the two events are completely unrelated until proven otherwise. Paranoia is, to use the human phrase, 'bread and butter' for people in my position. Especially in a situation like this." he responds, getting an involuntary snort of agreement from the humans in the room and a confused head-tilt from the young quarian. His omni-tool chimed, and he grunted in satisfaction at the message there. "The Council wants us to come immediately and present the evidence to them and a cadre of Intelligence officers that are on-station at the moment. Ambassador Udina, are there any members of Alliance Intelligence available?"
"Not on such short notice, no." Udina admitted reluctantly, his anger momentarily set aside by the practicalities of the situation, drumming his fingers on the table and wincing as the pain started to set in. "I can have someone here within three hours, but no sooner."
"That's not workable." Nihlus said with a dismissive flick of his talons, shaking his head as he tapped at his omni-tool again. "We'll have to proceed without them. The Council won't wait. We'll need to share whatever information is offered and discussions are had with your intelligence services after the fact."
"And neither will whoever orchestrated this attack." Cassandra added, finally abandoning her rigid and professional pose to settle back on her left leg and cross her arms over her chest now that the lecture was over. "Every minute we waste is another minute they have to cover their tracks, or make their next move."
Wrex pushed himself off the wall with a grunt, intent by all appearances in joining the group at the meeting whether they liked it or not. "Whoever they are, they've got resources, good ones. Those weren't just random, ten-credit thugs at Chora's Den. Most of them were ex-military. Trained. Coordinated. It wasn't their first time working together either, I could tell that much."
"Which means there is a lot of money involved. Or a lot of influence." Anderson sighed, before snorting softly. "Or, far more likely, both. Though we could have guessed that whoever is behind this had power, if they're managing to make geth toe the line."
"We'll know for sure sooner rather than later. Even if none of us recognize the voices immediately, they'll get found. A voice call, a recording, passing an agent in the street. No one can escape our reach forever." Nihlus said firmly, turning towards the door. "Let's get moving, the Council is waiting and this isn't the sort of thing we let sit."
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Tevos wasn't sure how, exactly, she should feel about the imminent meeting, as she sat in her exquisitely shaped and sinfully comfortable chair at the head of the largest, most advanced private meeting room the Council possessed. On the one hand, she would finally be meeting the young human who was nigh-on guaranteed to become Humanity's first SPECTRE, not to mention the only daughter of the fascinating -and somewhat frightening- human that had accompanied Matriarch Benezia on many diplomatic occasions. On the other, that particular young human had spent a good portion of the afternoon slaughtering criminals by the handful and causing a genuinely impressive amount of property destruction in the effort.
On the third hand, the girl had been directly raised, trained, and mentored by two of the most famous and influential asari in history for most of her life, and had apparently managed to scare the Citadel Intelligence Services with the kinds of things that she had done over the course of her life. They quite clearly considered the human to be something of a force of nature, and were torn on whether the Council should try to get it as out of the way as possible or try to exert some modicum of control over it. Not to mention that this very same girl had the audacity to waltz into Chora's Den during her leave, though Tevos had questions about that claim, before getting into a firefight that wouldn't have looked out of place on Omega, and somehow walk out with a quarian refugee who had critical intelligence regarding the attack on Eden Prime.
Sparatus looked distinctly uncomfortable beside her, mandibles flickering in a way that suggested he was fighting the urge to pace. "Nihlus is bringing a krogan mercenary to this meeting. A krogan mercenary, Tevos. And not just any krogan, but Urdnot Wrex. Who Shepard invited to her little tete-a-tete down in the Wards. Who, apparently, according to a…Detective Vakarian, tore at least a couple of the attackers apart limb from limb. This is insane."
"Chaos seems to follow the Shepard family quite closely. The influence of House T'soni and the likes of Clan Urdnot does seem to enhance it, I admit." Valern added, sounding oddly comfortable with the situation for someone whose race was famous both for being somewhat nervous and for hating unknown and uncontrollable variables, which the Goddess knew the collected Shepard/T'soni clan and their allies/friends/acquaintances/subordinates most certainly qualified as. It brought to mind an old method of entertainment that Humanity had dug out of their past and introduced to the Citadel, the 'pinball machine'. Bouncing around randomly and with only a semblance of planning and control, only a pair of simple levers providing any sort of real direction at all.
"Nothing wrong with a little chaos, Councilors. Variety is the spice of life, as the humans would say." Tela Vasir drawled from her own seat further down the table, lounging with an entirely typical disregard for any sort of propriety. Too much undercover time in the Terminus Systems, no doubt, and not enough time in proper asari society. Unfortunately, she was too damned useful and well-connected in the Terminus to pull out to re-smooth those rough edges she seemed bound and determined to keep sporting. Grinning at the looks all three of them gave her, she continued. "Besides, I think it's a rather large mitigating factor that they keep being successful, wouldn't you say? There is 'a method to their madness', right?"
"I wouldn't call it 'madness' so much as 'controlled chaos,' or 'unconventional thinking'." Jondum Bau interjected from his position near the door, his large eyes scanning a data stream on his omni-tool. The STG agent, who himself was on top of the shortlist for SPECTRE-hood, rarely spoke at these sorts of gatherings unless he had something specific to contribute. "The pattern suggests deliberate escalation followed by precise resolution. Quite effective, if unorthodox."
Tevos suppressed a sigh. "Regardless of our opinions on their methods, we are here to receive critical intelligence regarding Eden Prime. Let us focus on that."
The door slid open with a soft hiss, admitting Nihlus first, followed by the human commander and her human subordinates, the quarian, the krogan battlemaster, and finally Ambassador Udina and Captain Anderson. Tevos found herself immediately drawn to Commander Shepard, who was quite tall for a human female, moving with a grace that made the asari influence in her upbringing blatantly clear, her eyes sharp and almost predatory as they dissected the room and it's occupants, taking each and every one of them in.
"Agent Kryik, Ambassador, Captain, Lieutenant Commander." she greeted politely, gesturing to the table and the open chairs. Waiting for them to seat themselves, she leaned forward and laced her hands together in front of her. "We understand that you have a significant breakthrough in the matter of Eden Prime?"
"Yes, Councilors. Cassandra?" Nihlus responded, glancing at his Prospect, who nodded in return.
"That's correct. Approximately five hours ago, I received information from a confidential source that there was a young woman, a Quarian on her pilgrimage, that had information in regards to the attack on Eden Prime. The source informed me that she had tried to take it to C-Sec, but had been rebuffed, and that the source could arrange for she and I to meet. I made my way to Chora's Den, where I met the young lady in question, Tali'zorah nar Rayya." she gestured briefly to the quarian in question, and Tevos remembered rather abruptly that one of the Quarian Admiralty Board members was a Rael'zorah, which added a whole additional level to this situation. "However, before we could talk or leave, a group of mercenaries -mostly turian, mostly ex-military- entered the premises with the clear intention of causing her harm. Regrettably, they refused to see reason and depart unmolested, so a fight broke out."
"A fight? Still understating things, huh kid?" Tela muttered from the side, the crimson-haired human flashing a glance at her, eyes gleaming with amusement and affection before continuing.
"Urdnot Wrex, who by coincidence was visiting the Citadel, lent his support until the fight was over. At that point, we made our statements to C-Sec and returned as quickly as possible to the Alliance Embassy to request this meeting."
There was…alot of detail that very obviously wasn't being mentioned there, and she questioned the veracity of the 'coincidences', but in fairness Tevos didn't really think the human was lying about anything, only mentioning what she deemed important to the current situation. The important part of this meeting, after all, was the evidence, and with that in mind she turned her attention into the Pilgrim that was carrying it.
"My name is Tali'zorah nar Rayya, formerly of the Honorata under Captain Keenah'breizh. We were enroute to Illium to start a Pilgrimage, but came across a geth presence on a world in the Crescent Nebula. We were able to isolate, ambush, and disable a geth platform and extract large portions of it's memory core, including the recording in question." the girl started, sounding more professional than Tevos would have expected from any quarian, but perhaps she was simply treating this as a conversation with the Admiralty Board or something similar. "Concerned about galactic stability and security, we planned to turn the recording over to authorities on Illium. However, we were attacked by a turian named Jacobus and his subordinates before we could take off. We were able to escape, but they followed us. By the time the authorities on Illium allowed us to land, he had already arrived and planned an ambush. The rest of our crew were killed, with only the Captain and I surviving. We were forced to stow away on a transport here to the Citadel, hoping to deliver the recording to you. Unfortunately, C-Sec refused to hear the matter and ordered us off the station. Before we could do anything else, Jacobus and his men arrived. I was shot and injured, my Captain was killed, and I was trying to find another solution when I was put in touch with the Lieutenant Commander."
"It is fortunate that Miss Zorah's determination to do the right thing outweighed the prejudice and cruelty that she was subjected to. Otherwise, she might have left the Citadel as C-Sec demanded, leaving the Council and the Alliance completely in the dark and without leads to pursue in their effort to find justice for the slaughtered citizens and soldiers of Eden Prime." Shepard mused with a casual air that was so obviously feigned that it was painfully pointed, which was doubtlessly the idea. Not, perhaps, the most ideal attitude for a prospective SPECTRE to have towards their superiors, but she certainly wasn't wrong that the quarian could have quite easily decided that enough was enough, leaving the Council and the Alliance entirely in the dark. The Council would have to ask Executor Pallin to remind his officers not to dismiss every report from vagrants or potentially problematic individuals out of hand, lest something like this happen again and end far more poorly.
"The recording, if you please." Sparatus didn't even bother addressing the human's comment, moving instead directly onto what he deemed to be the higher priority -or even a priority at all, really- without an ounce of hesitation. Shepard eyed him for a moment, looking somewhat disappointed, even if she hid it well, before nodding to the quarian. A few seconds of omni-tool work later, and the audio was playing loud and clear for the whole room to hear.
"Eden Prime was a major victory, but it was not total. You failed to finish the job. The colony still stands." the first voice, carrying the accented harmonics of a batarian -a member of the higher class, at that, that was the aristocratic accent of Kar'shan itself she heard- was cold as it spoke, and Tevos resisted the urge to close her eyes in despair. If the batarians were behind yet another attack on humanity, one far more brutal and bloody than any before, she didn't think the Alliance would be willing to stand down yet again. Really, this was the worst possible scenario. The situation could hardly get worse than this!
"A colony of the dead. Sovereign's might destroyed any digital data, they have nothing but the recollections and distant observations of a handful of soldiers, and whatever thin clues they might be able to pick out of the ashes." a second voice responded, and despite centuries of training and practice in control and composure, Tevos couldn't restrain her reaction as her spine straightened into steel and turned to ice, her eyes wide and breath catching in her chest from horror. She knew that voice very, very well.
She was wrong, very wrong. It could get worse, and they weren't even done talking yet.
"You had best hope not. This was meant to be but the first step to restoring the proper balance to the galaxy. The first step to ensuring things return to the way that they are meant to be." the first voice continued, sounding severe, though still as cold as space itself. "The first step to returning the galaxy to it's rightful place."
"The first step to the return of the Reapers. The Beacon brought us closer to finding the Conduit." the second voice, that dreaded, awful, painful second voice said, and despite her turmoil Tevos couldn't help but hear an edge of chastisement, or disagreement, lurking in that voice. The recording cut off, leaving the room in silence for a long, terrible moment, before Anderson and Vasir slammed their hands onto the table in unison, each shooting to their feet. The human was quicker of the mark in speech however, and the name he spoke confirmed aloud what Tevos had known the instant that she had heard the second voice.
"Saren! The second voice is Saren!" he snarled, voice dark with rage that had more than a little bit of a personal edge to it, and it was Shepard who spoke next.
"Wait, Saren?" she blinked, looking over at Vasir. "Tela, isn't that the guy who was…"
"Supposed to answer my call and help me keep you safe on Anhur? The SPECTRE agent that I thought I could rely on because he hated the batarians and their 'culture' just as much as I did? The person I considered a colleague, if not a friendly acquaintance?" she hissed, a slight flicker of black-blue lightning crawling along her arms. "Yes, that's exactly who that fucking was! Working with a batarian, and that bastard of all people, to attack a human colony? He's a fucking disgrace!"
"Who was the first voice, then? You seem to know who he was to, and he has to be someone special if he's commanding the geth and, by the sound of things, a SPECTRE as well." Alenko asked, nervously eyeing the furious matron, and it was Urdnot Wrex who answered.
"Batarian big-wig. One of those people that runs their 'irregular' military forces. Hell of a strategist. They call him The Warmaster. If there is a clandestine or false-flag operation connected to the Hegemony, he's probably behind it. I've run into his people before, they're brutal and very, very good. What happened on Eden Prime might be bigger and flashier than what he normally does, but it's got his filthy fingerprints all over it. Fast, ruthless, no warning, high casualties. If it wasn't for Cassie and her team, there wouldn't have been any evidence to investigate, either, which matches his style."
"Fundamentally correct. The STG believes that he has been active since the early 2160's, though the very nature of his activities makes it difficult to be sure." Bau confirmed, eyes flicking back and forth rapidly as he clearly read information on the enigmatic figure. "His alliance with SPECTRE Agent Saren is highly unusual. As SPECTRE Agent Vasir noted, Agent Saren's distaste for batarians and slavery is a well-known and significant feature of his personality. By his profile, I would never have expected him to be approached by someone like The Warmaster to begin with. Likewise, I would expect him to have shot the man the minute that he identified himself."
"Saren hates humans…" Anderson started to say, only for Nihlus to cut him off.
"Yes, he does, but he wouldn't do something like this. Leave a few dozen factory workers to die to catch a target, make a potential SPECTRE look bad, yes. Work with slavers and genodical AI to kick off a galactic war? No." he shook his head firmly, denying it, before sighing heavily and looking down the table at the Council. "That being said, Councilors, I must ask that you assign Prospect Shepard to this mission. And I must ask that you reassign me. Saren was my training officer, my judgement is compromised. Therefore, if another Senior Agent can't be assigned, I am officially recommending that she be made a Junior Agent immediately."
Tevos glanced at her fellow councilors. Sparatus looked like he'd swallowed something particularly unpleasant, his right eye twitching spasmodically, while Valern's expression remained carefully neutral, though his rapid blinking betrayed his agitation.
"That's... quite a drastic measure, Agent Kryik." she said slowly, carefully. "While we appreciate and approve of your candor regarding your personal connection to Saren, elevating a Prospect directly to Junior Agent status without completing the evaluation period is unprecedented."
"So is having one of our most decorated agents apparently conspiring with batarian extremists and the geth to slaughter an entire colony, thousands of people." Vasir shot back, her biotic aura finally fading as she regained control of her emotions. "Unprecedented times call for unprecedented measures. Shepard needs to be involved no matter what, and spreading our efforts out is necessary if we want to put a stop to this before more people die."
Sparatus's mandibles flared, his jaw working in the closest thing to grinding his teeth that his species could get. "This is absurd. We have one recording, and while it certainly sounds like Saren, voice modulation technology exists! This recording has gone through no verification process and has been provided by a quarian of all things, supposedly from the databanks of a geth. Which, as everyone knows, wipe themselves entirely when destroyed!"
"Actually, Councilor," Tali interrupted, her voice surprisingly steady despite her obvious nervousness and the…less than diplomatic statement on Sparatus' part. "that's not entirely correct. The geth do have a self-destruct protocol, but it's not instantaneous. If you're quick enough and know what you're doing, you can extract portions of data before it completes the wipe. That's exactly what I did."
"And how convenient that a random quarian on pilgrimage just happens to have the technical expertise to do what STG specialists and SPECTREs have failed to accomplish for centuries." Sparatus countered, his tone dripping with skepticism.
"We built the geth, Councilor, and have been struggling to survive them and reclaim our homeworld for three hundred years!" the girl snapped back, indignation now drowning out nervousness entirely. "You can call it 'convenient' if you like, we would call it personal and intimate knowledge borne from long practice! Besides," she drew herself up proudly, glaring at him through her mask. "I'm not just any quarian, Councilor. I'm the daughter of Admiral Rael'Zorah, creator of the most advanced cybersecurity systems in the Migrant Fleet. I've been studying geth technology since I was old enough to hold a datapad."
Sparatus's mandibles twitched in barely-concealed irritation, clearly caught off-guard by the quarian's impassioned response, and mildly impressed by it if Tevos was going to guess. Not as impressed as he was irritated, perhaps, but impressed all the same. Before he could formulate a response, Valern raised a hand.
"The technical qualifications of Miss Zorah are not in question at this time, nor frankly is it a matter of importance." the salarian councilor said smoothly. "What matters is verification and prevention. I propose we have STG specialists examine the audio immediately, and otherwise act on the assumption that the information is legitimate. Time is of the essence regardless."
"Agreed. Miss Zorah, were you able to discern any information about these 'Reapers' that were referenced? They seemed to be important, given the way that they were spoken of in the recording. Indeed, if that was actually Agent Saren speaking, they seem to be the focal point of his alliance with The Warmaster." Tevos added, neatly cutting any potential rejoinder off, and the girl gave a half-nod, half-shrug.
"Not much. There was a reference in the fragments we recovered. The geth believe that the Reapers were a hyper-advanced mechanical species that hunted the Protheans to extinction before vanishing." she explained, far too casually for the sort of bomb that kind of claim made, and a stir went around the room as soft exclamations and murmurs flowed back and forth, the gathered movers and shakers and soldiers exchanging glances.
"The beacon…did show me images of a mechanical race, and the emotions attached were…not positive ones." Shepard said slowly, grimacing as every eye immediately focused on her. "I thought that they were just references to the Prothean war with the Metacons, but…Lia has always said that the Prothean extinction didn't make sense, anthropologically, and that there was evidence that it wasn't the first time it had happened. Maybe there is more to it."
"With all due respect to Doctor T'soni, her theories are…somewhat unconventional." Tevos responded delicately, not wanting to say that she thought the young maiden was -despite being highly educated and, by all appearances and evidence, brilliant- rather caught up in her flights of fancy. It wasn't unusual for the young, after all, to think that they had stumbled across something that would change the galaxy and immortalize their names for all time. Why, when she was that age…, well, suffice to say she hadn't been any different, if in her own fields of pursuit. "We've never found any sort of concrete evidence that the Protheans were annihilated by some sort of machine race. The explanation likely lays in propaganda and deception. The geth are being fed a line about some superior mechanical race to gain their allegiance, in yet another false-flag of the like that The Warmaster is so famous for. By inciting a war between the Citadel and the geth, both sides will be horrifically weakened and vulnerable, something he doubtlessly plans to take advantage of. That tangible, immediate threat is the one that should be focused on."
"I would love to agree with you, Councilor," Shepard replied, her tone respectful but with an unmistakable undercurrent of steel. "But I've learned to trust Liara's academic instincts. She's spent her entire life studying the Protheans, their ruins and history and every surviving detail of their extinction. If she says something doesn't add up, I'm inclined to believe her."
Sparatus made a dismissive gesture, saving Tevos from figuring out how to gently point out that the human wasn't exactly unbiased on the subject, given her -by all accounts- devoted and passionate relationship with the maiden in question. "Regardless of what may or may not have happened fifty thousand years ago, we have a clear and present danger to address in the here and now. An allegedly rogue SPECTRE working with batarian extremists and commanding geth forces. Likely, as Councilor Tevos suggested, to destabilize and make vulnerable all of known space."
"Agreed." Valern nodded sharply, not remotely interested in getting drawn into a debate on archaeology. "Priority must be verification, then containment. If this recording is authentic, Saren must be stripped of his SPECTRE status and resources immediately, then brought to justice. A decision must be made in reference to SPECTRE Nihlus' request. Agent Vasir would make an appropriate replacement…"
"Bad idea. The kid and I work way too differently, we'd drive each other crazy. Besides, the Alliance will want to see their SPECTRE actually doing something, and getting seen is kind of the opposite of how I prefer to do things." the asari immediately cut him off, shaking her head and going so far as to make an imperative severing gesture with her right hand. "I say you make her a Junior Agent, like Nihlus said, but make it Probationary. She operates on her own and with her own team, but checks in periodically and is evaluated at the end of a certain period of time. It gives her the flexibility she needs to operate, makes sure that our resources aren't too concentrated to get things done, and still maintains Council oversight."
It wasn't the worst recommendation, Tevos reflected, and to be fair it wasn't as if Shepard would really be expected to actually hunt down and confront the people responsible herself. She was capable, certainly, but a Senior Agent or the STG was far more likely to hunt down a couple of fugitives across the width and breadth of known space than a single human with whatever support she could muster. Goddess, even if her matriarch 'aunts' lent her a hand, the likelihood that Shepard accomplished more than the rest of the Citadel's resources was too absurd to even consider.
This suggestion would allow them to 'throw humanity a bone' while evaluating Shepard without her being able to mess things up too badly if she wasn't ready for the position or it's responsibilities. It wasn't ideal, but under the circumstances it might be the closest thing possible. A short message outlining her thoughts flicked across her two compatriots' omni-tools, and after a moment of reading and consideration both nodded their approval, though of course Sparatus was…significantly less enthusiastic about the idea.
"Very well then." she intoned solemnly, meeting the young woman's eyes across the table. "Commander Shepard, present yourself in one hour in the Audience Chamber for your formal investiture. It is the decision of this Council that you will be named a Junior Agent of the Office of Special Tactics and Reconnaissance, with your Probationary status being known only to the people in this room and select members of our governments and militaries. At that time, you will be officially given your first mission: to investigate the nature, purpose, and instigators of the attack on the human colony of Eden Prime. Will you accept this charge?"
"I will, Councilor, and I promise that you will not regret giving me, giving my people, this opportunity." the girl half-bowed in respect, eyes shining with a mix of emotions, and Tevos hoped that she was right about that.
She didn't want to deal with the fallout if she wasn't.
[1] https://www.patreon.com/astandupphilosopher
[2] https://subscribestar.adult/a-standup-philosopher
[3] https://discord.gg/3VKjmXBYY8