Commander Shepard / Jane

“Christ Shepard, you're not making my life easy. Firefights in the wards, and all out assault on Chora’s Den. Do you know how many--” They had made their way to Ambassador Udina’s office, the 15 minute walk plus elevator ride was spent mostly in silence, some light chit chat as the introduced Wrex and Garrus and the rest of the crew with one another and to Tali. Wrex split off before heading into the office saying he had to meet with his contact for the Shadow Broker, but that he ‘had fun killing shit with you.’ Which seemed a high compliment to the Krogan. With Jenkins returning to the ship to get his armor patched and see Chakwas to ensure the medigel was doing it’s job that left only Ashley, Kaidan, Garrus and Jane meeting Udina with their new comrade Tali. The latter of which seemed to surprise the Ambassador with her presence cutting off what was likely to be a dressing down of sorts.

“Who’s this? A Quarian? What are you up to Shepard?” He was dismissive and smug, and frankly the Ambassador got on Jane’s nerves in a way she couldn’t fully justify. Perhaps it was just a hatred of self motivated politicians, but she was going to enjoy the opportunity to be smug herself.

“You wanted proof that Saren's a traitor. This is it.” The fleeting look of shock on the Ambassador's face was well worth the direct introduction.

“Really? Maybe you better start at the beginning, miss…?” Udina left the question open, turning to face the Quarian directly.

“My name is Tali. Tali’Zorah nar Raya.”

“We don’t see many Quarians here, why did you leave the flotilla?” It was actually a question Jane was wondering as well. She had only encountered Quarians once before, a pair of them that were negotiating the price of an old Alliance fighter to bring back to the fleet. They were a fairly tight knit race, and didn’t travel much on account of the danger should they face a suit breach.

“I was on my pilgrimage. My right of passage into adulthood.” Interesting, a cultural thing most likely, not something that Jane had heard of before.

“Pilgrimage? What’s that?” She asked the question, hoping Udina wouldn’t mind gathering additional context before getting right to the Intel.

“It’s a tradition among my people. When we reach maturity we leave the ships of our parents and our people behind. Alone, we search the stars, only returning to the flotilla when we have found something of value. In this way we prove ourselves worthy of adulthood.” Interesting, but the use of the word value was incredibly vague.

“What kinds of things do you search for?” She figured the first question didn’t garner any complaints, so one more wouldn’t be a problem.

“It could be resources, food or fuel. Or some kind of useful technology. Or even knowledge that makes life easier on the flotilla. Through the pilgrimage we prove that we will contribute to the community, and not be a burden on our limited resources.” Tali was gentle as she talked, her voice sounding young and soft even through the mechanical suit filtering her dialogue through a speaker. She sounded almost sorrowful, likely missing her home. Unfortunately Udina didn’t notice or didn’t care as he pushed the conversation forward without care.

“That’s enough pleasantries, it was said you have evidence. What is it you found?” Tali seemed startled by the abruptness of Udina, but carried on after only a moment.

“During my travels I began to hear reports of the Geth. Since my people were driven into exile from our home world the Geth have never left the Veil. I was curious.I tracked a patrol of Geth to an uncharted world. I waited for one to become separated from its unit. Then I disabled it, and removed its memory core.”

“How? I thought the Geth fired their memory cores when they died. Some kind of defence mechanism.”

“My people created the Geth. If you’re quick and remove the memory core as fast as possible, then if you're lucky some data can still be salvaged. Most of the core was wiped clean, but I could recover information from its audio banks.” Activating her omni tool she pressed a few buttons before audio began to play out.

“Eden Prime was a major victory. The beacon has brought us one step closer to finding the conduit.” That was Saren’s voice, loud and clear and in direct mention of both Eden Prime and the beacon.

“That’s Saren’s voice, this proves he was involved in the attack.” Kaidan spoke in excitement but I was worried. We already had an audio file and it went ignored.

“If you recall we already tried convincing the council with an audio file, but they ignored us, claiming they couldn’t verify its integrity. What’s to stop them from doing the same here.” Jane voiced her concern out loud, turning to the Quarian in hope she had an answer. To her relief it seemed she did.

“It’s one thing to pull data off of a Geth data core, putting false information is nearly impossible. I still have the original data core with the data on it. I find it unlikely anyone could deny its authenticity.” The sigh of relief was audible in the room. They actually had usable evidence. The council may try to deny it but they would find much more trouble with this evidence then they did our first attempt. Still the message itself was concerning.

“He said the beacon brought him closer to finding the conduit. Any idea what that means.” She asked Tali once more, hoping she had more information on the audio itself.

“I don’t know, but there’s more. Saren wasn’t working alone.” She fiddled with her omni tool once more, before the audio played out once more. It repeated once more, but at the end was replaced by the cold soft tone of a woman.

“And one step closer to the return of the Reapers.”

“I don’t recognize that other voice, the one mentioning Reapers.” Udina spoke up, clarifying whoever they were likely weren’t directly involved with the Citadel and the Council at least.

“What are the Reapers? Some kind of new alien species?” Ashley asked out loud, voicing a question Jane herself was about to ask.

“According to the data I found on the memory core, the Geth believed the Reapers to be an ancient hyper-advanced machine race that existed 50,000 years ago. They were the ones that wiped out the Protheans, before disappearing just as fast. At least, that’s what the Geth believe.” Jane was surprised the Quarian had an answer, but the description filled her with dread. The description she gave reminded her starkly of the visions the beacon had given her.

“Sounds a little far-fetched.” Udina crossed his arms, unconvinced that this little story was anything other than fiction. But Shepard couldn’t let the feeling go.

“No, the vision on Eden Prime, what the Beacon showed me. Synthetics wiping out a race of people. I saw the Reapers exterminating the Protheans.” Saying it out loud almost made her feel sick, the idea that the destruction she had seen was real, and not just a bad dream was hard to process.

“The Council is just going to love this.” Udina looked frustrated, but not entirely defeated at least.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

“Will they believe it, or just shove the whole mess under a rug to hide.” Jane asked the Ambassador directly, hoping that they wouldn’t be ignored once more, not when the threat had the potential of being this great.

“It’s unlikely they’ll buy the whole story of Reapers and Prothean extinction, but they will have no choice but to accept that Saren is a traitor. We need to inform the Council immediately.”

“What about her, the Quarian?” Garrus spoke for the first time this meeting, he had been mostly minding his business at the edge of the room, but decided to speak now.

“My name is Tali!” She spoke, sounding rather annoyed, but continued turning towards Shepard. “I know you may not know me, but your team saw me in that alley. They know I can help. Let me come with you.” Shepard was surprised to hear her volunteer, and giving a glance towards Ashley who had interacted with the Quarian most, she saw only a shrug in return. She wasn’t objecting to Tali’s skill, but wasn’t outright confirming her approval either.

“What about your pilgrimage?” No need to decide just this second, figure out her motivations.

“The pilgrimage proves we are willing to give ourselves for the greater good. What would it say about me if I turn my back on this? Saren is a threat to the whole galaxy. My pilgrimage can wait.”

Jane wasn’t certain. Her inner voice told her the Quarian was too young, just matured for their species apparently. She didn’t want to drag her into the possible dangers that could be waiting for them if they fought Saren.

But she had another voice that stuck in her head. Before he went back to the ship for repairs and a check up Jenkins had pulled her aside. He was unusually serious and had told her that she needed to recruit the Quarian if they had the opportunity. He claimed their species were experts when it came to the Geth, and were talented engineers as a whole. She would be an incredible asset. She had nodded, not expecting the opportunity to even arrive, and yet here it was. Jenkins was still a partial mystery to her, but after everything that had happened on Eden Prime she had grown to trust him. She’s not exactly sure when, or why it happened to be so much. But she just knew that whatever happened she could trust his judgment to be in the best interest of her and the mission. She shook the thought aside and stuck out her hand to the Quarian.

“I’ll take all the help I can get.” Tali shook the hand after a moment of surprise, thanking her.

“I’ll get Anderson and prepare things for the Council. Take a few minutes to collect yourself and meet me at the tower.” Udina spoke, for once rather softly, and gave the group a nod before heading out on his own.

They took only a moment to share pleasantries before heading out themselves, planning to make their way right to the tower. Shepard was surprised to see Jenkins standing in the lobby of the embassy, and even more surprised to see him talking to Wrex. They approached but they were engrossed in conversation.

“So you primarily focus on using biotics to just enhance your movements? None of the flashy telekinesis we see among the other races?” Of course he was talking about biotics. Whatever information caught his interest seemed to become his sole focus for the time. Hyper fixation at its finest. She was surprised to see Wrex was engaging as well though

“Yeah, none of that pansy shit you other races like to pull. While there are Krogan who can and will use strategies like that, they’re for the weak. A true Krogan relies on their body first, biotics only enhance that first weapon.”

“Yeah? Shrug it off all you want Shepard saved my life with that ‘pansy shit’. Pulled a section of ceiling right out of its space, even you have to respect that kind of power.” Shepard felt her breath catch as Jenkins praised her strength. She didn’t know why, countless others have told her that she was exceptional in her biotic output. But something about how Jenkins always seemed so enraptured, so utterly in awe of everything made it hit differently. Like if I child walked up and asked if you were a superhero. Hard to keep a straight face through that.

“Hah, sure it was impressive, but I recall just running through that sheet of metal. Didn’t even slow me down.” Wrex rolled his eyes, as one of the largest features on his almost frog like face they were exceptionally expressive, and quite intimidating. Shepard had enough listening in and closed the distance.

“Jenkins, Wrex. What are you doing here?” She asked the question, not hiding she was glad to see them both.

‘Well I got a clean bill of health, and my armor patched up. Figured I’d wait to hear the good news so we can throw our accusation back in the Council’s face. Wrex showed up while I was waiting, and said he needed to speak with you.” Jenkins' complete faith in things to work out was almost inspiring, and brought a smile to her face.

Wrex waiting on her felt a little more concerning. He was strong, a hell of a fighter and a great ally to have, but his handling of Fist left her cautious. They had him cornered, defeated. Shepard didn’t like killing a surrendered enemy, they should be captured, treated humanely and tried. Wrex had warned her when she joined up with her and Kaidan, that he planned on killing Fist, she just hadn't expected him to be so uncaring about it. Completely closed to negotiation, or alternatives. Kaidan had questioned her decision to bring the Krogan with her, but she thought the extra firepower would be useful if they were attacking Chora’s Den.

Kaidan had questioned a few of her decisions today actually. Not in a way that was disruptive or disrespectful of course, but more in the sense of voicing his own opinions and wanting an explanation. Frankly that made Jane like him more, she didn’t like unintuitive soldiers. They need to be able to follow orders but they should still think for themselves, the more opinions and ideas that are run by someone the better able they are to make their own decisions. He had questioned her decision to put Ashley in charge of the two man unit to the wards, and to send Jenkins with her. She could see how it appeared odd, and she had in fact expected Jenkins to question it as well.

Ashley was new to them, she was an experienced soldier, and incredibly well trained. Her rank as an E-9 earned her a great deal of respect and proved she was more than capable of leading a squad. The problem that could arise was her approach. She wasn’t used to a place like the Normandy, or the type of people that formed its crew. Shepard was worried she wouldn’t be able to handle the more casual environment and would try to demand the same perfection she held herself too. It was an aspiring goal, and might even be useful in basic training, but here on an already functioning team, it could be a problem. If anyone would get on the professionals nerves it would be Jenkins, so if she couldn’t handle a mission with him then she would know Ashley couldn’t lead on this team. She would still make a good ally and soldier, but she wouldn’t be asked to lead again.

However to her pleasant surprise Jenkins had said there wasn’t any trouble. Ashley was direct, but made good calls and utilized her team well given the little time they had known each other. She was glad to hear her judgment hadn’t been wrong, and would be certain to make use of Ashley’s skills more often if this was the case. Still Jane was getting distracted with her own train of thoughts, Wrex was here to speak with her for some reason.

“What did you need Wrex, I figured you’d be back to doing jobs for the Shadow Broker.”

“That’s just it Shepard. The Shadow Broker wants an example made of Saren. He’s shown a lack of respect, and interfered with the Brokers business. That makes him someone who has to be dealt with. I could chase him down alone, but I figured you’d be interested in taking him out. I want in. You’re fun to fight alongside, and I like my odds against an army of Geth better if I’m not slaughtering them by myself.” Really, Wrex too? It seemed like Jane had gotten mighty popular over the last 24 hours. She wasn’t entirely sure she wanted Wrex though, he’d be a powerful asset but was strong willed, and could prove to be a problem.

“Wrex, I won’t deny you’re a powerful ally to have. But I need the soldiers under my command able to follow orders. I can’t have another incident of you killing a target without there being a discussion involved.” His reaction to this would determine her answer, if he couldn’t handle this then they couldn’t risk him on the team.

“Hm, I know how to follow orders, Shepard. That was what the Fist situation was, I had orders to kill him. If I’m following you I’ll follow your orders, but I’ll tell you again, the Shadow Broker wants Saren dead. There won’t be a discussion on that. I get the job done.” Hm, it wasn’t perfect, but it made sense. She could handle that deal, because she didn’t plan on letting Saren get out alive if she had any say in it.

“I can promise you Saren doesn't get away with this alive. I think we can make this work.”

“Hmph. Smart choice. I’ll join you for this council meeting if you don’t mind then. Since you seem to be bringing your whole ship with you.”

At his words Shepard looked around. They were a large group, and a diverse one at that. Although Garrus was only there to present his findings as a C-Sec officer and view the outcome of the Council's decision, all together it was almost a 50/50 split between alien and human. A Quarian, a Krogan and a Turian walk into the Council Chambers with the Alliance. It’s like the start of a bad joke. Still, looking across them she couldn’t help but feel a sense of hope. These men and women were her squad, and for the first time the idea of leading them didn’t make her anxious, or feel unworthy. They all trusted her to lead them, and she trusted them to have her back. She smiled as she realized what Jenkins had said before was right. Saren had no idea how screwed he was.