Chapter 15
Nevermore idly shifted the tentacled form he had assumed as the delegation from the Citadel sat down in front of him. He shifted his eyes down from his “face” down to his “arms” to check himself. Admittedly, his body was imperfect as his lower half was still anchored to the floor but he had at least a vaguely humanoid appearance which his visitors could look at. His many eyes didn’t miss how the Salarian Councilor flinched at the sight, with the Asari putting up a polite but strained smile, while the Turian merely blinked before nodding at him.
It was atop his mediterranean islands that he and his companions met with the Citadel Councils along with Captain Anderson and Shepard, who was now a full fledged Spectre. She wasn’t the only Spectre in attendance either as the Councilors brought with them their own to stand guard. There, the councilors and Captain Anderson sat around a Circular table with his Avatar and Raven sitting opposite them with Jinx and the Spectres standing in guard. It was a rather small delegation, but that served him just fine as they were hidden away from the prying eyes of the public.
Now with everyone properly seated, he cleared his throat to catch everyone's attention, “Greetings! I’d like to welcome you all to my surface. While you might know me and my wife from our mutual friend here,” He started, gesturing to the aged officer before continuing, “I’m not too familiar with you my dear councilors. You have us at a disadvantage.”
“Our apologies,” The Asari replied as she stood up before giving him a courteous bow, “I’m Councilor Tevos, representative of the Asari Republics. To my right is Councilor Sparatus of the Turian Hierarchy while the one on my left is Councilor Valern”
“Greetings,” Sparatus greeted as he gave him a salute.
“It’s a pleasure to finally meet you,” The Salarian nervously replied, managing to keep his voice from cracking by the slightest hair. He fidgeted as many eyes stared focused on him but his attention soon drifted back to the Asari.
“Oh no, the pleasure’s all mine. Is the current location to your liking Councilors? As you can see, I’m not really capable of stepping on the surface of the Citadel,” He chuckled out in reply as he gestured around the pillars coated with veins of tentacles which moved at random, “Is the current climate to your liking? The landmass is, at the moment, in the tropics but I can shift the islands to a more temperate climate if you wish,” He then asked, offering them a change in climate if they choose too.
“We don’t mean to impose. The venue is rather lovely and having the meeting by the ocean with the sea breeze blowing and carrying in the scent of the local flora is quite the change of pace,” Tevos claimed as she settled back on her seat before the others followed suit.
“Indeed. While us Turians are not too fond of the water, I can certainly see myself enjoying this island, especially the forested interior.” Sparatus nodded as he looked over the forest below. Even from a distance, the calls of the songbirds he had copied and bred from a pet store could be heard from where they were.
“I’m glad you like it. We’ll, enough of the small talk. I’m sure you have other places to be and I’d rather keep this meeting short, So shall we begin?” He asked as he directed his many eyes towards the Asari directly opposite him.
The woman nodded as she gave him quite the bright and diplomatic smile before she spoke up, “First of all, I’d like to thank Nevermore for being willing to have an open dialogue with the council. While our fleets might have been rather hastily deployed, we assure you that we mean you no harm.”
“No problem. I get why my sudden presence could cause quite the alarm along with my rather destructive citizen’s arrest,” He admitted before trailing off as he downplayed his actions. His excuse was flimsy at best and that didn’t really cover for his rather extensive collateral damage. His tentacles were not so fine when it came to catching ships in a panic.
“We certainly wouldn’t fault you there, for your actions did uncover something far more sinister. While you and your companion temporarily held a planet captive, you did uncover illegal experimentation involving the Rachni of all things. Who knows what havoc they could have made if they were allowed to continue,” She assured him appeasingly, making him visibly sigh out in relief. He really would not have wanted a negative image as it would have hurt the prospects of him finding future tenants. Oh sure, he could make do without them but he was going to have children soon and he’d rather have them have friends than grow up isolated. The way they relaxed in their seats after had him relax as well.
“The Rachni are an ancient threat we thought we had long vanquished. Is the Rachni Queen still alive?” The Turian then inquired as he leaned in forward. His attention briefly shifted to the sleeping form of the Rachi as she slept in the cave he had made for her little island somewhere in his oceans tropics. There were plenty of fruits to pick as well as plenty of animals to hunt if she chose to. A bit primitive but it gave her something to do and keep her mind busy if she were to wake up.
“She is alive, yes but still sedated. She has a clean bill of health and would be more than healthy enough to find her home in one of my islands if she so wished,” He answered easily, letting them know that he had her somewhere safe.
There were frowns and conflicted looks sported by the Councilors before Valern spoke up, catching his attention, “I’m sorry to presume but is it wise to have the queen live on your surface? They can reproduce at a prodigious rate, enough that only the Krogans can match them. Citadel Space has more than enough planets to house them,” He hazarded, offering a cautionary explanation to him. Nevermore nodded, acknowledging the danger before looking over to his wife.
“Maybe it's best to have her decide what’s best for her,” Raven suggested, placing her foot down for them on this matter. Given how the war had been genocidal for the Queen’s people, they were a bit apprehensive of letting the council know, but it was for the best for them to be open about things.
“Of course,” Tevos nodded along but the light frown she sported told him otherwise.
Nevermore quickly shifted the topic away from the Rachni as he brought up a previous one, “Going back to the illegal detention of Noveria, I’d like to extend my apologies to those that I have captured in my attempt to apprehend Matriarch Benezia and, as a gesture of goodwill, I would like to offer to every last person as I detained with their weight in high grade Eezo,” he declared, letting his intention of repaying everyone for their troubles be known. Jinx balked at the amount of Eezo he was practically giving away, but he gave her a look which she pouted at. It was a lot but it wasn’t like he was aching for Eezo when he could just make more now that it’s a part of his crust.
“A rather generous offer,” The turian whispered out with wide eyed wonder as Nevermore pulled up some chest out filled to the brim with Eezo. At a neutral charge, Eezo indeed weighed something and was rather heavy at that.
“It’s the least of what I can do. I’m also giving a lump sum of Eezo to the government of the species that I had detained.” He further added, making sure that everyone got their share. Was it effectively bribing everyone? Yes. Eezo was expensive and he’d rather just pay everyone to forgive him and forget about this incident rather than dealing with it through words.
“We would like to extend our gratitude to you and we hope that we can move on forward from this misunderstanding,” Tevos happily answered for the council with the two nodding eagerly as well. He smiled briefly knowing at least that money did all the talking for him.
“With that out of the way, shall we discuss the threat now looming over the galaxy we live in?” He then ventured, something that soured the mood of the room as everyone in the delegation now sported worried expressions.
“Yes. These reapers… quite fantastical I might admit but then we are currently on top of a sapient planet,” She pointed out.
“With the Eden Prime Beacon backing it up and after it had imprinted visions on several scientists along with Spectre Shepard over here, we have more than enough evidence to support the fact that we are indeed in grave danger from a rogue fleet of AI’s,” Anderson disclosed to them, adding further evidence to what they already had.
“And if that is not enough proof for most people, I have one of the Reapers that’s currently active in our galaxy safely locked up inside my moon,” He reminded them, which only served as the final nail on the coffin on this topic. There was no way for them to hide their heads under the sand when the threat was already here, “Unfortunately, there’s still one more active reaper within the galaxy and I do not know where they’re currently hiding,” he admitted.
“These Reapers would find that we will not fall so easily given how our predecessors have warned us of their eventual return,” Sparatus growled out as he clenched his jaws in grim determination.
“Destroying the other one would be the priority. One less Reaper is a one less enemy to deal with,” Valern remarked as he gazed towards Sparatus.
“They must be destroyed given how they can subvert even the most loyal of citizens,” Nevermore muttered out darkly as his attention briefly shifted to that of the moon prison.
“Indoctrination, what an insidious process. Is there any way to reverse it?” Valern asked as he looked back at him.
“We’re currently in the process of trying to figure it out with Matriarch Benezia and Spectre Saren. Saren is far more stable and can be detained in a regular cell as he had willingly isolated himself. Benezia on the other hand…” He replied before he trailed off toward the end. Even in his prison, the woman was a handful thanks to her biotics.
“Benezia has attempted to escape twice and almost killed herself in one attempt. My husband had to restrain her for her own safety,” Raven sighed out with a shake of her head.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“Would it be possible if Saren is to be transferred to one of our facilities? While we may lack your exotic abilities, the Salarian Union has the finest medical doctors. Having data and a replicable procedure to reverse Indoctrination would be invaluable,” Valern then requested. He hummed in thought as he started weighing his options.
“While Benezia might be in the deep end of Indoctrination, she is still a citizen of Citadel Space and a rather prominent one at that. We can’t have her detained by just anyone,” Tevos implored him to which he shook his head at that.
“I understand your concern but while I’m willing to let Saren go given the man's immense will power to fight off years of Indoctrination, I’m still not confident in letting Benezia go,” He acquiesced to letting Saren go but voiced his concerns for Benezia. Given how deeply she was indoctrinated, she could also serve as his practice to remove that conditioning from her so he wasn’t going to let her just go.
“It seems that we have come to an impasse. We can’t let her be imprisoned in a facility not under Citadel jurisdiction but you will not let her go given your perceived danger she poses,” Tevos stated, letting him know that this was one issue she couldn’t let go and he sympathized with her given how the Matriarch had a large pull. It was for this exact reason that he couldn't let her go.
They sat there, mulling over what they could do when the Turian interjected, “How about a compromise?”
Everyone turned to the voice of reason as he gestured for him to go on, “Oh?” he asked, letting surprise color his tone.
“From what my intern had gathered about you on the Extranet, you are looking for willing buyers for your land, yes?” He queried, making Nevermore frown. He hadn’t written anything in the Extranet or even visited it aside from watching some movies with Raven. He then turned to the only other person who had access to the extranet on his surface. Jinx refused to look at him as her nervousness seeped in through their connection.
He glared at her lightly before turning back towards the Turian before affirming his question, “... Yes actually. I’m currently looking at my options for citizenship as well in fact.” He had offers from the system alliance but it wouldn't hurt to have his other concern be heard by the representative of the other races.
“In exchange for buying up parts of your land, the Citadel can create temporary accommodation for the Matriarch. She is technically free to go, but let's just say that the Spectre’s that would be tasked in guarding her might have some choice words with her,” The Turian suggested as Nevermore exchanged glances with Tevos.
“I’d like to volunteer for this task, Councilor,” The Spectre behind Sparatus piped in.
“And we already have a possible candidate for this extended mission,” The old Turian nodded before he reassured him, “Rest assured Nevermore, Octavia is quite the skilled Spectre.”
The female Turian preened at the praise as she puffed up her chest. She was definitely quite the looker and he was quick to avert his away from the woman's rather enticing curves. He looked away from Raven’s eyes as she saw him smirk at him just as he gave his tentacle a squeeze.
“That could work. It would technically be house arrest but it’s a far better and more palatable option for the Republic to swallow, especially if we have some Asari Spectres in to watch her as well,” The woman speculated as she stroked her chin.
“Well, I certainly wouldn’t mind and there wouldn’t be any need for construction or any purchase of land. I can simply gift you the land and the mansion I’ll be growing in said plot. It’s not like I’ll have any shortage of real estate soon as I’ll be eating some uninhabited planets,” Nevermore offered them. Land wasn’t an issue for him when he could simply make more and he was planning on adding mass to bulk up.
“So long as it’s not in Citadel Space,” The Turian groaned as he pinched the bridge of his nose.
“Naturally,” Nevermore snorted in amusement. Besides, he wasn’t a destroyer of worlds with life on it. He’d rather just harvest the remnants of a system that had undergone supernova as there were more Eezo along with heavier elements there he could gather.
“With that settled, let’s get back to the topic of Reapers. What are our options?” Valern voiced it, pushing the topic of the discussion back to the reapers.
“My husband and I can destroy them if we catch up, but we are one and they’re an entire fleet,” Raven cautioned, reminding them while they were an asset that they couldn’t be relied on all the time. Yes, they could destroy them but they could quickly spread out and scatter like rats.
“It’s entirely possible that they’ll avoid any pitched combat with you, Nevermore,” Anderson then pointed out. Given how he had battered his current prisoner, the reaper might have warned the others about him before he captured him.
“It’s certainly what I’d do given how you have the mass of a dwarf planet, and that’s not talking about your planned growth later on,” Sparatus noted, agreeing with the old soldier on that matter. It was the only way they could complete a cycle. They simply just had to ignore him until they’re done before directing their attention to him.
“There’s also that lone Reaper you speak off,” Tevos then brought up.
“I could help with the mining efforts for any fleet build up. Crushing planets is something I’m already going to do, so tossing in a core or two along with the necessary Eezo at either a steep price discount or favors which I could call upon would be easy,” He volunteered his service. Why scrape away at the crust of a planet when he could offer up the solidified core of a planet.
“It would have been ruinously expensive to build up a fleet all of the sudden, but with the raw materials at a discount it would be manageable,” Salern speculated as he tapped on the table as if he was counting something.
“We can even outfit this potential fleet with the technology we have gathered from the beacon so far. If the scientist that had touched it is to be believed, there might be an intact weapons cache in Eden Prime just waiting to be used as well,” Anderson then added. He vaguely remembered Javick being a thing. Was he on Eden prime all this time? If he was there, the System Alliance would be helping him with the trouble of having to find the last of the Prothean.
“I can also fix your problems with lack of manpower as well. From what we’ve researched, the Krogans are quite the fierce race but they are afflicted with the genophage,” Nevermore then said. The Husks would be a problem and the fight against them would be a literal meat grinder.
“Yes, it was an action most… regrettable,“ The Salarian grimaced out in reply.
“I can fix the genophage and replace it with something that wouldn’t make their population explode once this war is over,” He not so subtly hinted how he could not only solve their problem with having to fight the ground force of the reapers but another problem they had inadvertently caused in their rash actions.
The councilors exchanged glances before Valern motioned for him to continue, “We’re listening.”
“I simply need as many of them on my surface and have them consent to me altering their biology so that they have something more akin to Asari or Human reproduction.” He answered, letting them know of that ability. It was one ability he’d rather not have them freak on about as it was limited in more than one way but minds could run rampant. Still, he held his cards close and simply didn’t bring up how far his control extended to.
“You can do that?” Valern asked rather uneasily as he squirmed in his seat.
“I can only do it to those that willingly submit to it. You will feel it if I try to do something. I’m also willing to do cosmetic and aesthetic procedures such as bigger breasts, crests, and co-” He listed out before he was cuffed on the back of the head by an irate Raven.
“Back on topic Nevermore,” Raven hissed out with a blush as Tevos coughed out with a light blue tinge in her cheeks. Everyone looked away from him but at least no one looked uncomfortable.
“Yes, while your abilities are impressive. We are currently discussing the future of the citadel,” Tevos coughed out as she gazed back at him even while her face heated up.
“I was merely lightening the mood. So that’s the manpower and the matter of the fleet for the invasion from outside which leaves the lone reaper still operating at large,” He then said as he turned their attention to the last problem they had on hand.
“I volunteer myself on this mission,” Shepard was the first to volunteer, at which Tevos and Sparatus nodded approvingly.
“I would also offer my help in finding this reaper. Having more eyes in the sky would definitely help, pun not intended,” Nevermore requested to join her, letting her know that she could rely on him and Raven for support.
“Your help will be invaluable in dealing with this future threat,” Tevos all too happily agreed to his help with the Spectre in question smiling with her. The sooner they could capture the other reaper, the sooner they could focus on the incoming threat.
“Well, that settles it then. I’m glad we can all come to an agreement. Is there anything else we can discuss?” He asked as he clapped his hands, he was certainly feeling elated right now as the talks went better than expected. Sure the Citadel was suspiciously accommodating, but he had to remind himself just what he was right now.
The Asari was quick to catch his attention as she called out and offered him something that he hadn’t been expecting, “Speaking of things we have interest in, your citizenship is certainly a topic we would like to discuss in private,” She offered, which made his eyebrow raise at her choice of her words. Raven blinked in surprise as well as the councilor pressed on, “Asari laws can be quite flexible given the autonomy given to each republic under the banner,” She certainly came in strong and it didn’t hurt that almost every Asari was good looking. Was his weakness to good looks that obvious?
“Now hold on to Councilor Benezia, we found him first. Besides, System Alliance citizenship offers the most benefits.” Anderson lightheartedly called out, chuckling as things quickly devolved into a rather strange situation.
“Hah, certainly the Turian Heirarchy’s citizenship offers far more privileges. Given you can be classified as a ship all on your own on top of your nature, you could attain quite the tier of citizenship,” He barked out in boisterous laughter as he extolled the virtues of becoming a Turian Citizen.
“As a representative of the Salarian Union, we would like to offer ours as well,” The Salarian politely and reluctantly offered. He only said it half heartedly as he gazed towards the ships down at the bottom of the hill. He would have given him a pat in the back if this meeting was a formal one. He held his hand as he listened on while Tevos, Anderson and Sparatus went on to debate about who had a better form of citizenship. This was certainly one way to end a productive discussion.