Ch 4: Exposing Saren

—-pov Eitri—-

"It was a mistake bringing you to the trial, Captain. You and Saren have too much history. It made them question our motives." Udina said

"I know Saren, and he's working with the Geth for one reason: to exterminate all humans. If he's not stopped, every colony, every world we control will be in danger. Even Earth won't be safe." said Anderson.

"What's the history between you two?" Shepard asked.

"I went on a mission with him a long time ago and it got bad, real bad. But we shouldn't talk about this here."

"We need to find a way to take Saren down ourselves." Shepard said.

"As a Spectre, he's virtually untouchable. We need to expose him, find some legal evidence of his crime." Udina said thoughtfully.

"What about that officer in charge of the investigation, Garrus? He was asking to extend his investigation, seemed to have some leads." Suggested Kaiden.

"Better than nothing. Any idea where we can find him?" asked Shepard.

"I have an old contact in C-sec who can help track Garrus down. His name is Harkin." Udina suggested.

"Forget it. They suspended Harkin last month. Drinking on the job and harassing asari coworkers. I won't waste my time with that loser." Anderson said.

"You don't have to. I don't want the Council using your past history with Saren to dismiss any evidence we obtain. Shepard will handle this." Udina snapped at Anderson.

"I'll take care of it." Shepard said.

"I have some things to take care of. Captain, meet me in my office later." Udina said.

"Harkin's probably getting drunk in the Chora's Den, a dingy little club in the lower section of the Wards." Anderson said.

"I thought you said he was a drunken loser." Shepard said.

"Couldn't hurt to talk to him. Just be careful. I wouldn't call him reliable."

"There must be some other way to find evidence on Saren."

"You should check up on Barla Von in the financial district. Rumor has he's an agent of the Shadow Broker, an information broker that has eyes and ears everywhere. He should have something on Saren, but it probably won't be cheap."

"You and Saren have a history. What is it?"

"About 20 years ago, we were both on a mission in the Skyllian Verge. We were supposed to find and remove a known terrorist threat. Saren eliminated his target, but a lot of people died along the way. Innocent people. And the official records just… covered it up. But I saw how he operates. No conscious, no hesitation. He'd kill a thousand innocents to end a war without a second thought."

"Killing innocents doesn't end wars. It causes them." Shepard said.

"I know how the world works. Sometimes you're forced to make unpleasant decisions. But only if there's no other way. Saren doesn't look for another option. He's twisted, broken. He likes the violence, the reef. And he knows how to cover his tracks."

"We should go"

"Good luck, Shepard. I'll be in Udina's office if you need me." Anderson said, leaving.

"Soc what do we do now? Harkin sounds like an asshole and a pervert. I'd suggest Kaiden and I follow the lead on Garrus while you and Ashley go to the Von guy." Eitri said to Shepard.

"That's probably for the best. Probably wouldn't be able to stop myself from beating the shit outta him if he started catcalling me, from the way Anderson talked about him." Shepard said. "Williams, you're with me. We're heading to the financial district. Alenko, Eitri, you guys head to Chora's Den and look for Garrus. Keep a comm call open so we can communicate."

"Gladly." Ashley said.

"Roger""Got it."

—10 minutes later, Chora's Den—-

"What do you mean I can't enter?!" Eitri shouted.

"No human under 21 is allowed to enter. Alliance rules. You're what, 18, 19 max? Go wait a few years before coming back." said the bouncer.

"Void dammit I'm fifty-you know what, fine. Kaiden, you find Harkin. I'll look for our friend the conventional way." Said Eitri.

"Sure." Kaiden said, walking into the club.

"Is there a problem? We heard yelling on your end." Shepard said over the comm.

"Eitri got barred from the club. I'm looking for Harkin, Eitri's going to look elsewhere." Kaiden said.

"I'm 53 void dammit! 1053 if you count my time in stasis. It's not my fault my appearance was halted at 18! By the way Shepard, there are a bunch of shady armed thugs outside the club. One muttered your name and description to the others. I think they're Saren's thugs. Seems Saren doesn't want any other users of the beacon to exist. Be careful." Eitri said.

"Thanks for the warning. I'll be on the lookout." Shepard said.

Eitri started exploring the Wards area near the club. As he passed a nearby med clinic, he heard shouting from inside.

"I didn't tell anyone, I swear!" A female voice cried from outside the door.

Eitri decided to enter to see what was happening. "Kaiden, something's happening at the med clinic near the club. Going in to investigate."

When he entered, he saw a few of Saren's thugs threatening a doctor and Garrus sneaking behind the half-wall towards them.

"That was smart, doc. Now if Garrus comes around, you stay smart. Keep your mouth shut or we'll-" the thug nearest the doctor said before noticing Eitri, putting the doctor in a headlock and pointing his gun at him. "-Who are you?!"

Garrus used the distraction to shoot the thug holding the doctor. Eitri used his Void sling to appear behind the next thug and behead him using his Skiajati, turning invisible immediately after. The other thugs panicked and started shooting haphazardly in all directions, forcing the doctor and Garrus to hide behind the half wall for cover. Eitri appeared briefly behind one of the remaining thugs and stabbed him in the back before turning invisible again. The final thug fired wildly at where he saw Eitri, riddling his dead comrade with holes.

"Where are you?!"screamed the thug in desperation.

"Here" Eitri said from behind the thug, appearing and knocking the thug out with a quick chop of his hand.

Hearing the shooting stop, Garrus and the doctor peeked over the wall to see that along with the thug that Garrus shot, one thug was headless, another covered in gunshot wounds, and the last one was unconscious underneath Eitri's shoe as he sheathed his sword.

"Sorry about the mess. I forgot how bloody decapitations were." Eitri said, looking at them.

"It's fine… the keepers will take care of it. Thanks for saving me." said the doctor

"Garrus helped too. He stopped the fight from getting… complicated… by freeing you and distracting the other thugs. Nice shot by the way."

"You came at the perfect time." said Garrus "Dr. Michel, are you okay?"

"I'm fine thanks to you guys." Dr. Michel said.

At this time, Kaiden ran in with his gun drawn. Garrus pointed his gun at him, but Eitri pushed the gun down gently when he saw who it was.

"Guess you didn't need my help after all. And it looks like you found Garrus" Kaiden said.

"You were looking for me?" Asked Garrus.

"Yeah. Thought you might have found something on Saren, so we wanted to ask you what it was. I'm guessing the doctor is your lead." Eitri said. "Why were you being attacked? Who were those guys?"

"They worked for Fist, the proprietor of Chora's Den. He didn't want me telling Garrus about the quarian." Dr Michel said.

"What quarian?" Eitri asked

"A few days ago, a quarian came by my office. She had been shot, but wouldn't tell me who did it. She was scared, probably on the run. She asked me about the Shadow Broker. She wanted to trade important information for a safe place to hide. I put her in contact with Fist, one of his agents."

"Not anymore. Fist works for Saren now, and the Shadow Broker isn't too happy about it." Garrus said.

"Explains why they started kicking everyone out, talking about a murderous Krogan mercenary trying to kill Fist. He's bunkering down, setting up defenses." Kaiden said.

"Fist betrayed the Shadow Broker? That's stupid, even for him. Saren must have made him quite the offer." Dr. Michel said.

"That quarian must have something Saren wants. Something worth crossing the Shadow Broker for." Garrus said.

"Evidence of treason, probably. Did she mention anything about Saren or the Geth?" Eitri said.

"She did! The information she was going to trade. She said it had something to do with the Geth!" Said Dr. Michel.

"Probably found something connecting Saren to the Geth. The Council can't ignore this!" Garrus said.

"They have once already. If they try to do so again, it will damage their reputations for being impartial. But first we need to find the quarian. Time to pay Fist a visit." Eitri said, putting his hand on the hilt of his sword.

Kaiden lifted his comm and called Shepard. "Commander, we found Garrus. We also found a lead on some evidence. A quarian went to Fist to contact the Shadow Broker, but Fist is now Saren's spy. On our way back to Chora's Den now."

"We found the same thing from Barla Von. Detoured to retrieve a krogan bounty hunter named Wrex. On our way over there now." Shepard responded.

"You might wanna hurry if you want Fist intact. Joey just ran out the door with his sword in hand." Kaiden said as he and Garrus chased after the Tenno.

—-pov Shepard—-

When Shepard, Ashley, and Wrex reached Chora's Den, they were met with two workers running out of the club

"I was hired to move boxes, not fight fucking ninjas! Did you see how he tore through all of Fist's guards?" The first guy said.

"Yeah, fuck that! Never liked Fist anyway." Said the other.

"Looks like we missed the party." Wrex said, amused.

The group walked into the club and saw the sight of a massacre. There must have been 30 guards in the club, all sliced open with a blade.

"This must have been one hell of a party. You say one of your squad did this with a sword? Impressive" Wrex looked at the destruction with a little bit of awe.

"Let's go find Fist." Shepard said, carefully stepping past the bodies.

They reached the door to the back rooms and saw Garrus and Kaiden staring at the door.

"Where's Fist?" Shepard asked them.

"Probably should call him 'Stumpy' now. He tried to shoot Eitri with both hands on his gun and Eitri literally disarmed him. Eitri's taking his anger out on him right now." Garrus said, making Wrex chuckle. The group walked closer to the door and they heard what was going on behind it.

"You know what my job is, Stumpy? I protect humanity and other innocents from extinction. And it gets exponentially harder when greedy people with no morals like you start selling innocent people who can help change things for the better to people like Saren. Now tell me where the quarian is before I chop off something else." They heard Eitri say.

"Okay, okay. I don't know where to find her, but I know where she will be. She said she wouldn't meet anyone but the Broker himself." The fistless Fist said.

"Impossible. Even I was hired through an agent." Wrex said.

"Nobody meets the Shadow Broker in person. But she didn't know that. I told her I'd set up a meeting for her. But when she shows up, it'll be Saren's men waiting for her."

"Tell me where the meeting is. Now." Shepard said.

"Here in the wards. In the back alley near the market not far from here. She's supposed to meet them now. You can make it if you run." Fist stuttered.

Wrex took his shotgun and shot Fist in the chest, killing him.

"What are you doing?!" Garrus shouted.

"The Shadow Broker paid me to kill him. I don't leave jobs half done." Wrex said.

"We don't kill unarmed prisoners!"

"He was also reaching for a button of some sort. Probably to activate the turrets in the room. So while he was armless, he wasn't fully unarmed." Eitri said.

Wrex chuckled at that.

"We should hurry. We have a quarian to save." Shepard said.

"More thugs entered the club. Guess you got your party after all, Wrex." Ashley said.

"Good. I needed some exercise." Wrex said.

The group charged in and made short work of the thugs, with Garrus, Shepard, and Wrex taking the left side and Kaiden and Ashley to the right.

Garrus and Wrex noticed Shepard's strange gun and how effective it was at destroying whatever it was pointed at and asked where she got it.

"Someone asked Eitri to show us a magic trick because Eitri's 'armor' looks like an armored magician and he pulled this out of his hat and gave it to me. Something about girls and big guns." Shepard said.

"Is that a dick joke or something?" Garrus asked.

"What's a dick joke? I was talking about how almost every girl I know carries a gun that size or bigger." Eitri said as he caught up to them.

(AN: remember, Eitri grew up essentially homeschooled in a world where the only memes were propaganda and boomer jokes)

"Where were you?" Shepard asked.

"I was searching the place. I have no qualms for looting people who sell others to their enemies. Found his OSD with records of all his shady dealings, too. Might be useful."

"Let's keep moving."

The group rushed into the market area ener an explosion went off in a nearby alley. They rushed over to it to see a quarian in a shootout with two salarians and a turian. Shepard sniped the turian and Wrex charged at the salarians, knocking one over and shooting the other point-blank with his shotgun. Wrex shot the final salarian thug and the quarian got up from cover.

"Fist set me up! I knew I couldn't trust him!" The quarian said.

"Fist was working for Saren. He got what he deserved." Eitri said.

"I guess I have two reasons to thank you then. Who are you guys?"

"I'm Commander Shepard of the Alliance. We were looking for evidence that Saren is a traitor."

"Then I have a way to repay you for saving me. But first we need to get somewhere safe."

"The Ambassador's office is safe. He'll want to see this anyway." Ashley said.

As they walked towards the taxi area, a woman came over.

"Commander Shepard! I'm Emily Wong, an investigative journalist here on the Citadel. I am doing an article on crime syndicates. I saw you going into Chora's Den with your weapons drawn. I was wondering if you happened to find anything I could use for my report. I'll make it worth your time." The lady said.

"We found his OSD in his office. He was an agent for the Shadow Broker who betrayed him for another employer." Shepard said, handing her the OSD.

"You found this?! This is more than I could have hoped for! And Fist being a traitor to the Shadow Broker is a very important detail. Thank you so much. I'll make sure you are well rewarded for this." Emily said, running off to find out what was in the OSD.

"You know you could've probably sold that to the Broker for a lot." Wrex said.

"I know, but this way we might light a fire under the Council's asses about Saren." Shepard said. "Let's go see Udina."

The group got in an extended taxi meant for larger groups and traveled to the embassy. They went to the front desk and the lady said that Udina was waiting for them. When they entered Udina's office, he was at the balcony with his back turned to the door. Anderson was next to him, and looked slightly confused when he saw the quarian. He and Shepard seemed to have a silent conversation, and he smirked.

"You're not making my life easier, Shepard. A shootout in the wards, an all out assault on Chora's Den? Do you know how many-" Udina said as he turned to face the group. "Who's this? A quarian? What are you up to, Shepard?"

"Doing what you asked me to do. Find evidence on Saren's treason. She has evidence that would incriminate him, something bad enough to send assassins after her." Shepard said.

"I apologize, Shepard. This whole thing with Saren has me a bit on edge. Maybe we should start at the beginning. Miss…?"

"My name is Tali. Tali'Zorah nar Rayya." The quarian said.

"We don't see many quarians around here. Why did you leave the floatilla?" Udina questioned.

"I was on my Pilgrimage, my right of passage to become an adult." Tali said.

"I've never heard of the Pilgrimage. What is it?" Shepard asked.

"When quarians come of age, we leave the ships of our parents and our people behind. We wander the stars, and only return once we discover something of value to the flotilla. In this way, we prove ourselves worthy of adulthood."

"What kinds of things do you look for?"

"It could be resources, useful technology, or knowledge that would benefit the fleet. Through the Pilgrimage, we prove we can be an asset to the flotilla and not a burden wasting out limited resources."

"What did you find?"

"During my travels, I began hearing reports about the Geth. Since they drove my people into exile, they had never left the Veil. I tracked a small group to an uninhabited world and waited for one to separate from it. I disabled it and removed its memory core."

"I thought the Geth fried their memory cores" Anderson said.

"My people created the Geth. If you know where to look and are quick, careful, and lucky, small caches of data can sometimes be saved.most of the data was wiped, but I managed to find something in its audio databanks." Tali said, turning on her Omni-tool and playing the audio file.

"Eden Prime was a major victory! The beacon has brought us one step closer to finding the Conduit." Saren's voice said.

"And one step closer to the return of the Reapers." Said a feminine voice.

"What is the Conduit and what are the Reapers?" asked Shepard.

"The Conduit has to have something to do with the beacon. Maybe it's some kind of Prothean technology. Like a weapon." Anderson said.

"The word 'Reaper' sounds familiar somehow" Shepard said.

"According to the Geth, the Reapers are a race of hyper-advanced synthetic beings that existed 50000 years ago. They wiped out the Protheans and vanished. At least, that's what the Geth believed." Tali said.

"Sounds a little far-fetched," Udina said.

"That must've been the synthetics I saw in the vision the beacon showed me. Eitri, didn't Ordis say something about an ancient program that was corrupting the Geth? That could be made by the Reapers." Shepard said.

Tali jolted in shock. "What are you talking about? The Geth have firewalls that adapt and overpower any form of virus. It's something we have been trying to bypass for centuries."

"This program is hundreds of millions of years old, and activated every 50000 years like clockwork, corrupting and controlling synthetic beings to its will. Well, it is more like brainwashing or indoctrination, but you get my point. Whatever made that program takes over synthetic beings every 50000 years, uses them for something, then erases all traces of their existence and all of the synthetics they controlled. Now, the Protheans called these synthetics the Reapers. What do you think the Reapers do, given they are the ones who created and used the program and killed the Protheans while leaving races like the Turians, Krogan, Quarians, and Humans alive? They harvest civilizations that reach a certain level of advancement, which all the species currently alive didn't have at the time of harvest. Their primary directive is probably something that justifies that through a gigantic leap in logic such as 'preserve life and culture' or something stupid like that." Eitri said.

"That's a terrifying idea. How would the directive 'preserve life and culture' lead to harvesting advanced civilizations? And it doesn't explain why they disappear after they finish." Anderson asked.

"It happens in basically the same way as Asimov's 3 Rules of Robotics. Their calculations would tell them that since organic species will eventually die out and have a lifespan, while having tendencies to be self-destructive, it would be better to 'preserve' them by converting them into a synthetic form, with all data on the race's culture included. So once every 50000 years, they return to harvest the races that reach a certain level of technology, such as using the Relays. As for why they disappear and erase everything about themselves, it's simple. If you found out you were being grown in order to be slaughtered like livestock, would you quietly let yourself be killed?"

"Hell no!" Shepard said.

"That being said, the Reapers probably left at least one of themselves behind to watch and to call for the others to start the harvest. Saren probably encountered them and was told that they would 'ascend' the turian race or some bullshit like that if he helped start the harvest. So all humans die and he becomes the savior of all Turians. A win-win for Saren."

"We need to tell the Council this." Anderson said.

"It'll end the same way Shepard's vision initially did. They will call it Saren's fearmongering or way of controlling the Geth without concrete proof. Even then, they'll probably try to deny it. Anderson, how do your history books talk about the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in the USA?"

"That was actually a whole chapter in my Historical Politics class back on Earth, an example of ways that bad leadership can cause massive damage to a country. The president at the time denied its existence until it had ravaged the whole country and promoted usage of untested drugs and treatments while claiming the vaccines were dangerous. It started an anti-vaccination group that still persists on Earth today, and helped prolong the pandemic for years." Udina said. "Are you implying that the Council will deny the existence of the Reapers until it is too late?"

(AN: before any of you start ranting about Trump, I just want to say that the respect I had for him dropped to the negatives the moment he talked about injecting large amounts of UV light into the skin and tried to suggest injecting disinfectant into the body on live national television once he heard about the tests about bleach killing the virus quickly. This was after he started promoting an anti-parasitic as a cure for the virus. A little more than a month before Trump tear gassed his way through a Black Lives Matter protest during the start of the George Floyd movement for a photo-op where he held a Bible in front of a black church. And before you talk about how bad Biden is, he's still better than someone who promoted a literal insurrection, regularly ripped up classified documents during office, and took 15 boxes containing 184 classified documents, 25 of which were top secret and posed a risk to national security when he left office and hid them in his house, claiming he had a standing order to declassify anything he took from the White House, which, considering none of them were properly marked as declassified, is either false or Trump thought he could declassify things by simply saying they were. That was just the boxes he "returned" to the National Archives in January, and not the things they found during the FBI raid a few weeks ago. I wish I was making this shit up, but everything I said is well documented.)

"The Reapers are an unknown in terms of number, capabilities, and firepower other than that they were able to kill the Protheans and possibly tens or hundreds of thousands of other races as advanced as them. Against a threat like that, what can they do except deny its existence to prevent mass panic while secretly trying to come up with countermeasures? So until a Reaper reveals itself, they will deny, deny, deny. We should still tell them, but that is probably going to be their immediate reaction to the threat of the Reapers."

"Even if they ignore the existence of the Reapers, the recording proves Saren is a traitor!" Anderson said.

"The Captain's right. We need to show them this immediately." Udina said.

"What do we do with her? The quarian?" Wrex said.

"My name is Tali! You saw me in the alley, Commander. You saw what I can do. Let me come with you." Tali said.

"I thought you were on your Pilgrimage." Shepard said.

"The Pilgrimage proves that we are willing to give ourselves for the greater good. What does it say for me if I turn my back on this? Saren and the Reapers are a danger to the entire galaxy. My Pilgrimage can wait."

"I'll take all the help I can get." Shepard said.

"Thanks. You won't regret this."

"Anderson and I will head over to the Council Chambers and prepare the file for evidence. You can take a few minutes to collect yourselves before joining us in the Council Chambers." Udina said, leaving with Anderson.

When the group reached the entrance to the embassy, they ran into a man that was obviously distraught. When he spotted Shepard, he called her over.

"Commoner Shepard! My name is Samesh Bhatia. Forgive the intrusion, but I have nowhere else to turn." Said the man.

"What do you need?" Shepard asked.

"My wife was a marine. She was in the 212 on Eden Prime." Samesh said.

"Wait, the 212th? Your wife was Serviceman Nirali Bhatia? I'm Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams, I served in her unit." Ashley said.

"Chief Williams? A pleasure. Nirali spoke of you with great respect."

"I am so sorry for your loss, Mr. Bhatia. Nirali was a good woman. What can we do for you?"

"I've requested that my wife's body be returned to me for cremation, but the military refused my request."

"Do you know why?" Shepard asked.

"They wouldn't tell me."

"There's no reason for your wife's body to be held like that. I'll see what I can do." Shepard said.

"The man in charge of my case is Mr. Bosker. Last I saw him, he was at the expensive bar over there" Samesh said, pointing to the other side of the embassy. "Thank you for doing this. I just want to give my wife a proper funeral and the respect she deserves."

The group headed over to the bar where they found a man leaning on one of the pillars. The man noticed Shepard and greeted them.

"My goodness, Commander Shepard! Your activities made for quite a briefing in the Diplomatic Corps! Is there something I can do to help you?" The man said.

"Are you Clerk Bosker? I hope you can help return a woman's body to her grieving husband and release Nirali Bhatia's body." Shepard said.

"Commander, nothing would make me happier. I'm afraid that it's not that simple. Serviceman Nirali Bhatia died on Eden Prime, as Mr. Bhatia no doubt told you. Her wounds are inconsistent with any type of weapon damage we've ever seen before. That is why her body is being held." Bosker said.

"Was she toxic or turned into one of those husks?" Shepard asked.

"No on both counts. We are, frankly, holding her body for research. The tests we're conducting may lead to better defences against Geth attacks."

"Shepard, didn't we turn over several sets of Geth weaponry on arrival at the Citadel? Why would they need a corpse to study Geth ballistics if they have those guns?" Eitri asked.

"I don't know. Why don't we ask him." Shepard said, turning to glare at Bosker.

"You turned in Geth weaponry found on Eden Prime? I wasn't informed of this. If I was, we wouldn't be having this conversation. Let me check with my superiors." Bosker said frantically, walking off to call someone for a couple of minutes before walking back. "I am so sorry about this. The weapons were immediately taken to the weapon development labs without us being notified. The project has become a joint one between their department and ours. We will release Nirali's body back to her husband immediately."

"See that it does. She died protecting her people, and she should be treated with respect." Ashley said.

The group went back to Samesh.

"Nirali is being released. Your wife is coming home." Shepard said.

"Thank you. I will return home and begin my preparations. It does not bring me happiness, but it may bring me peace. Goodbye, Shepard." Samesh said, leaving the building.

"We should get going ourselves. We've given Anderson and Udina enough time to make their preparations." Shepard said.

The group took a cab to the Council Chambers. When they got there, Anderson was waiting for them.

"Udina's presenting the evidence now." Anderson said, walking up to the stand.

"Our group's gotten ay little big. You guys should find somewhere to watch. Eitri and Tali, stay with me in case they have any questions." Shepard said.

The three walked up to the podium as the others moved to somewhere they could see tae meeting. As they walked up, they heard Tali's evidence playing on a speaker.

"-the beacon brought us one step closer to the Conduit. "

"And one step closer to the return of the Reapers"

"You wanted proof? Here it is." Udina said smugly.

"This evidence along with the video are irrefutable. Saren will be stripped of his Spectre status and all efforts will be made to bring him in to answer for his crimes." The Turian councilor said.

"Wait, didn't you deny the video due to some law about recording Spectres?" Shepard asked.

"At our last meeting, your friend there brought up some concerning flaws in our investigative processes. We decided that, going forward, Spectres will be assigned to assist in the investigation of other Spectres and that evidence such as the video will be allowed into evidence, though it would be restricted to Spectre status or higher." The asari councilor said.

"Well, at least we found out Saren's motive from the recording" Eitri muttered.

"I also recognize the other voice speaking with Saren. Matriarch Benezia. Asari matriarchs are powerful asari who have entered the final stage of their lives. They serve as guides, mentors, and leaders to my people. Matriarch Benezia is a powerful biotic and has many followers. She would make a powerful ally to Saren." The Asari councilor said.

"I'm more interested in this talk about the Reapers. What do you know about them?" The Salarian councilor asked.

"According to the files retrieved from the Geth, they are ancient machines that wiped out the Protheans and disappeared 50000 years ago. This matches the warning from the prothean beacon. A program found in the Geth on Eden Prime has traces of being used every 50000 years over a several hundred million year timespan. This implies that the Protheans were far from the first to come across the Reapers. For whatever reason, the Reapers farm, for lack of a better word, advanced civilizations, then harvest them while erasing traces of their own existence, leaving behind planet-locked races and civilizations." Eitri said

"What about the Conduit?" The Salarian councilor asked.

"We know as little as you do, only that it has something to do with the return of the Reapers. It could be a secret Relay they use to move in and out of the galaxy or something."

"Listen to yourselves! Saren wants to bring back the machines that wiped out all life in the galaxy? Impossible. It has to be false. Where did the Reapers go? Why did they vanish? How come we've found no trace of their existence? If they existed, we would have found traces." The Turian councilor said.

"Void fucking- didn't you hear what I just said? Deep breaths, Eitri, deep breaths." Eitri cursed under his breath, activating an Omni Tool. Shepard looked at him weirdly.

"There has been evidence. The beacon playing a warning and distress call on repeat for 50000 years, for one. But the most obvious one was the billion year old genetically engineered ship that was found on Jartar 20 years ago, known as the Leviathan of Dis, but 'mysteriously' disappeared shortly after a Batarian dreadnought appeared near the planet. The salarian science team still got video footage and pictures before that, though, and with some digging, I found this" Eitri said, bringing up an image of the crashed ship. He then brought up an image of the ship seen on Eden Prime. "These ships are almost exactly the same, other than the difference in size. As for why they vanished and no other traces were found… Councilor, I'm assuming you spent time in the Turian military, as is traditional in your culture?"

"I was part of the military for 30 years before I became a council member in charge of the Citadel military. Why do you ask?" The Turian councilor said with a hint of pride in his voice.

"Good, so you should be familiar with war strategies and tactics. What would be the most efficient way to start and end a war with an enemy that outnumbers you and is spread out over several locations, but has moderately inferior individual firepower, a mostly centralized power structure, and no knowledge of your existence?"

"I would probably send a force to cripple their chain of command and communications, then attack the other major population centers and military installations while the enemy is disoriented, forcing them to submit. Any remaining resistance would be eliminated soon after."

"And if you were on the other side of this scenario, where a more advanced enemy you never heard of or knew about suddenly appeared at the Citadel, taking advantage of the nebula to perform a sneak attack and the Relays to access the rest of the Galaxy? Because if the data on the Reapers is real, they have done this almost 20 thousand times and are far more experienced at wiping out biological races than the war experiences of all living races combined, including the krogan. An advanced machine with that amount of experience could easily erase traces of its existence from electronic records, considering how easy it was for them to control synthetic lifeforms, leaving only enough for future species to find ruins and connect them with anything they left behind. If you found out you and everyone you knew were being groomed for the slaughter like livestock, would you let yourself go quietly?"

"I see your point, and of course not. You speak like a seasoned tactician for someone so young."

"I'm far older than I look, Councilor. I have also been in command of an elite squad before."

"I see. Either way, there is nothing we can do about the Reapers, if they exist, until we know their capabilities. Until then, we can only do our best to increase our arsenal. Saren is on the run for his life, and has been stripped of his position, and no longer has access to a Spectre's rights or resources."

"That is not enough! You know he's hiding somewhere in the Traverse! Send your fleet after him!" Udina demanded.

"A fleet can't track down one man." The Salarian councilor said.

"A Citadel fleet could secure the entire region! Keep the Geth from attacking any more of our colonies!" Udina shouted.

"Or it could trigger a war with the Terminus Systems! We won't be dragged into a galactic confrontation due to one man and a few dozen human colonies that were aware of the risks!" The Turian councilor said.

"You could send me. Sending a human to combat a problem started with an attack on a human colony would be a way to avoid any confrontation with foreign powers." Shepard said.

"The Commander's right. There is a way to stop Saren that doesn't require fleets or armies." The Asari councilor said.

"No, it's too soon! Humanity is not ready for the responsibilities that come with being a Spectre!" The Turian councilor said.

"You don't have to send a fleet into the Traverse, and the ambassador gets his Spectre. Everyone's happy." Shepard said.

The other councilors looked at the Turian councilor, before he reluctantly nodded. They entered something into the consoles in front of them, then looked at Shepard.

"Commander Shepard, step forward." The Asacon said.

Shepard looked at Anderson, who nodded, then stepped to the front of the podium.

"It is the decision of the Council that you be granted the powers of the Special Tactics and Reconnaissance branch of the Citadel." The Asari councilor said.

"Spectres are not trained, they are chosen. Individuals forged in the fire of service and battle; those whose actions elevate them above the rank and file." The Salarian councilor 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." The Asari councilor 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 uphold." The Turian councilor said.

"You are the first human Spectre, Commander. This is a great accomplishment for you and your entire species." The Asari councilor said.

"I'm honored." Shepard said.

"We're sending you into the traverse after Saren. Is a fugitive from justice you're so you're allowed to use any means necessary to apprehend or eliminate him." The Salarian councilor said.

"Any leads?" Shepard asked.

"We'll forward any relevant files to Ambassador Udina." The Turian councilor said.

"This meeting of the Council is adjourned." The Asari councilor said.

After descending from the platform, Anderson shook hands with Shepard.

"Congratulations, Shepard." Anderson said.

"We've got a lot of work to do, Shepard. You're going to need a ship, a crew, supplies…" Udina said, pondering.

"You'll get access to special training and resources. You should go to the Spectre requisitions office in the C-Sec Academy." Anderson said.

"Anderson, come with me. I need your help to set all this up." Udina said, walking towards the exit.

"I thought he would be grateful. He didn't even thank you." Tali said.

"Until I catch Saren, I haven't really done anything yet." Shepard said. "Eitri. I have to ask, where the hell did you get an Omnitool, when did you learn to use it, and where did you get that information?!"

"1. I took it off of Fist. He had a specialized one that has a nifty 'incognito mode' that makes the Omni nearly invisible to everyone in the surroundings. 2. I learned it on the ride to the Embassies. 3. Fist's Omni still had connections to the Shadow Broker, who gladly gave me evidence of the Leviathan of Dis after I sent them a copy of the clip of Saren shooting Nihlus and all the information that Fist had on Saren, including the business he and Benezia are primary investors in. It's Binary Helix, a major genetic modification and biotech company, by the way. Unfortunately, we can't just barge into their headquarters and demand Saren and Benezia."

The rest of the group walked up to Shepard.

"Congratulations Shepard. Becoming a Spectre is a great honor. You also have little red tape to worry about. I'm jealous." Garrus said.

"You could come with us. We need all the firepower we can get." Shepard said.

"I'll actually take you up on that offer. I'll send in my resignation now." Garrus said.

"I hope you're not thinking of leaving me out of the fun." Wrex said.

"Never. Having a krogan battlemaster on our side makes things a bit more interesting." Shepard said.

"Let's get to the Academy before heading back to the Normandy. I wanna see how the top of the line weapons compare to the ones I'm familiar with." Eitri said, walking towards the cab.

"What does he mean by that?" Tali says.

"Eitri's… not Alliance or anything. We actually found him drifting in space when investigating a spatial anomaly on our way to Eden Prime. Claims he is from a future version of Earth that didn't have the Relays. From what I've seen, he's telling the truth. Either that, or the Alliance has been doing some crazy shit behind the public's backs and have developed technology at least a few centuries ahead of the rest of the galaxy, while committing countless war crimes and human experiments. Same goes for his Cephalon friend." Shepard said as the group walked their way over to the cab where Eitri was waiting.

"What's a Cephalon?" Garrus asked.

"A human mind transferred into a digital form, usually used to monitor ship processes, teach children, or be inserted into mechanical bodies to act as soldiers or support. Are you getting in or not?" Eitri said nonchalantly, holding the cab door open.

"Wait, you have a sentient robot with you?!" Tali exclaimed, looking at him in panic.

"Clam down. Ordis is just like any other human, but he doesn't have to eat, sleep, or worry about fragile organic body parts. Instead he uses that part of his mind to monitor for enemies, maintain a ship's life support and self repairs, and maintain a historical archive of my universe. He's had the chance to kill me for 13 years, but instead saved my life several times. Also, he is my best friend, so please try not to prematurely judge him before meeting him."

"Sorry. It's just that my people have had bad experiences with synthetic lifeforms." Tali said, sheepishly.

"It's okay. Let's go."

The group got in the cabs and traveled to the C-Sec Academy and went downstairs to the Acquisitions office. Shepard talked to the turian at the desk and after finding out that Shepard was a Spectre, gave her access to the best weapons they had.

Leaving the Acquisitions office with a new gun.

"I can't believe that made you pay for your gun! Shouldn't they be providing you with the resources you need, not just authorizing you to buy them?! They didn't even give you a discount! 250000 credits for an assault rifle! And from the scans I took of it, it's barely better than the weakest of the guns we were issued at the start of the Old War! That rifle I gave you is at least twice as effective at taking down enemies unmodified, even if it fires slower. It also cost me ten times less to make, even if I had to scavenge the materials myself. Only real advantage it has is its ease of carry." Joey said.

(AN: I'm setting the RW price of a credit in both universes as $0.25/credit, so the HMWA VII Shepard bought cost her $62,500 US)

"Wait, you made this?" Shepard asked, motioning to her gun, shocked.

"I told you I make and upgrade guns and ships as a hobby, right? That was made using a blueprint from the Old War. Then modified so it could use a scope and be able to punch through 6 meters of reinforced steel unhindered so I could shoot down fighters during my 'using regular weapons during space skirmish' phase." Eitri said.

"I think I just heard something ridiculous." Kaiden said, with Ashley nodding in agreement.

"You know what? Once we get back to the ship, everyone on the ground team is getting a set of Tenno weapons created and modified by yours truly. Can't have you all dying on me due to negligence." Eitri declared, walking towards the elevator to the Alliance docks.

Everyone looked excited. Wrex clapped Shepard hard on the back, causing her to stumble.

"Saving the galaxy, fighting strong enemies, and a gun that might be a war crime due to excessive use of force? Ha! Shepard, if you started with that, you wouldn't be able to stop me from joining." Wrex said humoredly.

"Joy." Shepard said, following the group into the elevator.

When they reached the area the Normandy was docked at, they saw Udina and Anderson standing near the airlock.

" I've got big news for you Shepard . Captain Anderson is stepping down as commanding officer of the Normandy. The ship is yours now." Udina said.

"This isn't right! This is Anderson's ship!" Shepard said.

"You needed your own ship. A Spectre can't answer to anyone by the Council. And it's time for me to step down." Anderson said. " I was in your shoes 20 years ago, Shepard. They were considering me for the Spectres."

"What happened?" Shepard said, shocked.

"Long story short, I went on a mission with Saren. He made sure the Council rejected me. I can tell you about it later. I had my chance, and now you have yours."

"Saren won't get away this time."

"Saren's gone. Don't bother even trying to find him. But we do know his goal, what he's trying to find. The Conduit. He's got his Geth scouring the Traverse for clues.

"We do have one lead so far. Matriarch Benezia, the other voice from the recording, has a daughter who majors in the Protheans. We don't know if she's involved, but it might be a good idea to look for her. Find out what she knows. Her name is Doctor Liara T'Soni. We have reports she was exploring an archeological dig on an uncharted world in the Artemis Tau cluster." Udina said.

(AN: I'm spreading the major quests over a longer time, where it'll go from finding Liara, Ferros, then Noveria. If they all happened at the same time, Shepard would be forced to choose one, probably Ferros because people were in danger, and the others would fail, stopping them from learning about Ilos and allowing Saren to win with an indoctrinated Rachni army and Liara, or a zombie plague due to the Thorian.)

"We'll head over there, then." Shepard said.

"It's your decision, Shepard. You're a Spectre now. You don't answer to us." Anderson said.

"But your actions still reflect on humanity as a whole. You make a mess and I get stuck cleaning it up." Udina said.

"I'll try to minimize the amount of political fallout you have to face because of me." Shepard said.

"Not exactly the answer I was looking for, Shepard. Remember, you were a human long before you were a Spectre." Udina said. "I have a meeting to get to. Captain Anderson will answer any questions you have." He said before leaving.

"How are you holding up?" Shepard asked.

"Honestly, this isn't the way I pictured my career coming to an end. Pushing papers really isn't my thing." Anderson said. "But if anyone I know can stop Saren, it'd be you, Shepard. If that means I need to step aside, so be it."

"Would you tell us the story between you and Saren? You were a Spectre candidate?" Shepard asked.

"It's been close to 20 years now. Ambassador Goyle was our representative here on the Citadel. Like Udina, she wanted to get a human into the Spectres. She chose me. The Council sent Saren to keep tabs on me, like they had Nihlus do for you."

"What happened?"

"We had intel on a rogue scientist being funded by batarian interest. He was trying to set up a facility to develop illegal AI technology out in the Verge. Alliance intel had done all the work, but the Council wanted a Spectre involved. We compromised: I was assigned to help Saren in his investigation. We tracked the scientist to a refining facility on Camala. He was hidden away somewhere inside, protected by an army of batarian mercenaries. The plan was simple, sneak inside, capture the scientist, get out. Quick, quiet, and a minimum of bloodshed."

"I'm guessing things didn't go as planned?" Shepard asked.

"Saren and I split up to cover more ground. Then about halfway through the mission, a massive explosion happened at the refinery core. Officially, it was ruled an accident, but I think Saren purposefully detonated it to draw off enemy guards."

"How many casualties were there?"

"The explosion tore the whole refinery to shreds. The whole place was on fire. Black chemical clouds poured into the atmosphere. Nobody inside survived. There was a camp for workers and their families nearby. Between the fires and the toxic fumes, the final death count was over five hundred. Mostly civilians. Saren didn't care. The target was dead. Mission accomplished. And I ended up taking the blame. That ended all talks about me joining the Spectres."

"Saren caused the explosion. How'd he pin it on you?"

"He said that I blew his cover and my fault the guards were ready for us and that was why it turned into a massacre. His testimony was all the Council needed to kill my chances of becoming a Spectre."

"So it ended with you becoming a scapegoat. Knowing how much Saren hates humanity, he probably did it on purpose to prevent humanity from gaining more power."

"We'll make sure to get him this time." Shepard said.

With that, the group entered the Normandy. Shepard walked over to Joker at the front of the ship.

"I heard what happened to Captain Anderson. Survived a hundred battles, only to be taken down by backroom politics. Just watch your back, Commander. Things go bad on this mission, you're next on their chopping block." Joker said.

"This feels wrong, like I'm stealing his ship." Shepard said.

"Yeah, the Captain got screwed. But it's not like you could've stopped it. Nobody's blaming you. Everyone on this ship is behind you, Commander. One hundred percent. Intercom's open. If you have anything you want to say to the crew, now's the time."

Shepard thought for a bit, then started broadcasting across the ship.

"This is Commander Shepard speaking. We have our orders: find Saren before he finds the Conduit. I won't lie, this mission won't be easy. For too long, our species has stood apart from the others. Now it's time to step up and do our part for the rest of the Galaxy! Time to show everyone what humans are made of! This began with an attack on a human settlement in the Traverse. But we know Saren won't stop there. His Geth armies aren't going to simply stay on the fringes of Citadel space. When we go into the Traverse, Saren's followers will be waiting for us. But we'll be ready for them, too. Humanity needs to do this. Not just for our own sake, but for the sake of every species in the galaxy. And I promise you all: We will stop him!"

"Good speech, Commander. The Captain would be proud."

"The Captain gave up everything so I could have this chance! We can't fail! Joker, set a course for the Artemis Tau cluster. We have a doctor to find."

"Yes Commander!"

(AN: 8500 words. Longest chapter I've ever wrote. School started back up, so update time will slow down a lot. Got 2 research papers to do, and even though together they are much smaller than this chapter, work that you're being forced to do is 100x worse than work you want to do, which is why I'm trying not to feel too obligated to write this, as it would cause burnout quickly.)