The Hunt for Saren

In Shepard's opinion, the meeting with the council went well. Not only was he able to get enlisted as a spectre, but it seemed that the Council didn't suspect a thing. Unfortunately, not all went well, Ambassador Udina seemed hellbent on publicizing Malphas' kidnapping. If the higher ups hadn't ordered him to put a tight lid on the news, then the galaxy would probably already know. According to them, it would cause unrest with many of humanities big shots and give Cerberus fuel for recruitment. While Shepard knows that those are valid reasons, he also isn't naive enough to think that the other race's view of humanity isn't a big part of it. If word got out that one of humanities' elites was so easily abducted, then they would look weak in the galactic stage. That's the last thing they need right now. Especially, not after they were finally able to get human into the spectres; it would make people question whether or not humanity really is ready for such a thing.

After the Council meeting, Nihlus led them to financial adviser Barlo Von. As it turns out, Saren has managed to somehow convince an employee of the shadow broker, Fist, to betray the shadow broker. This prompted the shadow broker to hire a krogan mercenary to take him out. According to Barlo Von, the mercenary, Urdnot Wrex, can be found at the C-Sec headquarters.

When they arrived at the C-Sec headquarters, they found Wrex there antagonizing an officer. After introductions and a quick exchange of information, it was decided that they would storm Fist's headquarters as a group.

After taking down Fist's henchmen, they learned from Fist that the reason why he's wanted dead is because he set up a trap to kill a quarian that possesses vital proof of Saren's betrayal after he promised her safety using the shadow broker's name. After obtaining what they came for, and watching Wrex kill Fist, the group immediately hurried to the meeting place to save the quarian and finally aquire proof of Saren's betrayal.

Arriving at the meeting place, the group was immediately set upon by gunfire from Fist's mercenaries. They managed to make quick work of them and saved the quarian, Tali'Zorah. According to Tali'Zorah, she managed to aquire a sound recording of Saren admiting to the betrayal while also implicating Matriarch Benezia as an accomplice. Ever since then, she's been hunted down by Saren and, the now dead, Fist's men. After thinking about her options, Tali'Zorah decided to help Shepard and crew capture Saren as part of her pilgrimage and to get him off her back.

With the evidence now in their possession, the group returned to the Citadel with a request for an audience. Once inside, Nihlus told the council of his suspicions. After listening to Nihlus' testimony and the voice recording, the Council stripped Saren of his spectre status and charged Shepard with apprehending him. However, they seem to disregard any mention of the reapers. Before leaving, the asari councilwoman, Tevos, informs Shepard of Liara T'soni's whereabouts, who may know where her mother is.

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It started out as a whisper, a voice in her darkness filled mind. At first, she thought that she was going mad. It was the most the logical answer. It made no sense as to why she would be hearing a voice in her mind that didn't belong to those disgusting reapers. Then she focused, she listened to what it said. At first, all she heard were snippets of words, however that didn't deter her. She tried to track down the voice and found that it was coming from the reapers' mind hive and she immediately stopped. She initially suspected that it was an attempt by the reapers to give her a semblance of hope before ripping it away in an effort to finally indoctrinate her completely. Then, the voice spoke in a complete sentence. It was male and from what she could tell it was of human origin.

As an asari matriarch, Benezia was not only well versed in her people's mind melding techniques but she considered herself to be one of the most, if not the most skilled asari. As such, her surprise at seeing another mind not only defending but also attacking the reapers' hive mind, using a technique she's never seen before, could be understood. Looking closer, she noticed that it was the source of the voice that she'd been hearing lately. After debating on the decision to reach out to the mind, she finally decided that the only thing that she could lose was the last of her free will. At the rate things are going, she'll lose sooner rather than later. With her decision made, Matriarch Benezia took a leap of faith.

At first it seemed like any other human mind she's seen before. However, upon closer inspection she found that the mind was split into three partitions. One defended from the reapers, while the second one attacked, and finally the last one reached out to her. It was perhaps the most fascinating thing she's seen in a while. Reinforcing her decision, she connected her mind to the one reaching out to her and was bombarded with a set of memories and emotions not her own. With herculean effort, she managed to disconnect herself from the emotions while viewing the memories. Once done she was finally able to understand the voice.

"Matriarch Benezia, we finally meet at last. It is unfortunate that it isn't under better circumstances" spoke the voice of N7 Shadow Infiltration Ambrosius Malphas.

"It is a pleasure to meet you Infiltrator Malphas. Why have you reached out to me?" she asks.

"It's simple" he begins "I want to be free from these abominations and completely destroy them for even attempting to subjugate me to their will. While I could do it on my own eventually, with your help it could be accomplished before Sovereign finishes whatever their plans are. So what do you say?"

Thinking on it, she decides that she has nothing to lose and that if she dies or is completely indoctrinated in the process, than she'll go knowing that she hastened the reapers' defeat. With a wicked gleam in her eyes, Matriarch Benezia answers "Very well, what do you have in mind and when do we begin?"